Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 2 · Chapter 7
CHAP. VII. Verſe 1. When the Wall was built.]
FOR better defence of the City. Moenia, à munienda urbe dicuntur.
And I had ſet up the doors] We may not take this expreſſion for a vain-glorious haec ego feci, ſuch as was that of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 4.30. boaſting as if he (and not Ninus) had built Babel, when he enlarged it onelyonly, and built the Palace: Or that of Auguſtus, Ʋrbem ego lateritiam inveni, marmoream reliqui. We read of one Lampadius a Noble man in Rome, Am. Marcellini.who per omnia Civitatis membra, through all parts of the City, where other great men had beſtowed coſt in building, he would ſet up his own Name (not as a Repairer of the work neither, but) as the chief builder. Trajan the Emperour alſo is ſaid to have been ſick of this diſeaſe: and was therefore called by way of jeare Wallweed. But good Nehemiah was none ſuch: he was humiliter ſublimis, & ſublimiter humilis, Herba pa…ietina.as Cyprian phraſeth it that is, humbly lofty, and loftily humble; humble in heart,foreign and yet high in worth and works, as Nazianzen ſaith of Athanaſius.
And the Levites were appointed] Viz. to their ſeveral ſervices in the Temple, (as David had diſtributed them:) after that they had been otherwiſe imployed about the building.
Verſe 2. That I gave my brother Hanani] Of whom ſee chap. 1.2. Ezra 10. ver. 20.
And Hananiah the Ruler of the palace] The ſecond perſon next to the Governour: commanding in his Name within his Court.
Charge over Jeruſalem] Thus he that is faithful in a little, ſhall be made Maſter of much, Matth. 25.31.
For he was a faithful man] Heb. A man of Truth, Faithfulneſſe, or Firmeneſſe; a ſure man, and ſuch as one might ſafely confide in.
And feared God] No wonder therefore though faithful to men, See chap. 5.15. Gods holy fear is the ground of all goodneſſe and fidelity. Hence Jethro, in his well-qualified Ruler, places the fear of God in the middeſt of the other graces, as the heart in the body, for conveying life to all the parts, or as a dram of Musk, perfuming the whole box of ointment, Exod. 18.21. Moſt ſure it is, that nothing maketh a man ſo good a Patriot, as the true fear of God: On the other ſide, Pietate ſublatâ fides tollitur, take away Piety, and Fidelity is gone: as is to be ſeen in the unrighteous Judge, Luk. 18. ver. 2. and as Conſtantius Chlorus, father of Conſtantine the Great, did well experience in his Counſellours and Courtiers, whence that famous Maxime of his recorded by Euſebius, He cannot be faithful to me, that is unfaithful to God, Religion being the foundation of all true fidelity and loyalty to King and Countrey.1 Pet 2. Hence that cloſe connexion, Fear God, Honour the King. And hence that ſaying of Bernard, If all the World ſhould conſpire to make me complot againſt my Prince; yet I would fear God, and honour the King.
Above many] This is a ſingular praiſe, and by every man to be ſought after: ('twas Cicero's poſy and practiſe, foreign. to be the beſt at every good thing, to excel and exceed others) to be eminent and exemplary, taller then the reſt by the head and ſhoulders full of all goodneſſe, filled with all knowledge, Rom. 15.14, able and active in every good word and work. That's a low and unworthy ſtrain in ſome to labour after no more grace then will keep life & ſoul together, that is, ſoul and hell aſunder. God would have his people to be diſcontentedly contented with the meaſures they have received, and to be ſtill adding, 2 Pet. 1.5. and advancing, Philip. 3.14. aſpiring to perfection, till they come unto the meaſure of the ſtature of the fulnes of Chriſt. Eph. 4.13.
Verſe 3.foreign Job 30.28. Till the Sun be hot] The Sun hath one of his names, in Hebrew, a calefaciendo, from heating, there is nothing hid from the heat thereof, Pſal. 19.6. The name here given to the Sun ſignifieth a miniſter, or ſervant: becauſe it is the common ſervant of the World, whereby God miniſtreth light, heat, and precious fruits to all people, Deut. 4.19. and 33.14. It whirleth about the World with incredible ſwiftneſſe; and is up in a morning before moſt people. Therefore till the Sun be riſen the Gates muſt be kept ſhut, to keep out the Enemy, who watcheth his opportunity.
And while they ſtand by] to ſee it done as it ought to be; leſt by the treachery or careleſneſſe of Under-officers, it ſhould either be undone, or ill-done.Etiam Tractate, Junius. Let them feel with their hands, (ſo ſome render it) whether the Gates are made faſt or not.
And appoint watches] Heb. Set thou watches. He ſpeaketh to the two Hanani's, and bids each of them, whoſe turn it was, ſee to the well-doing of it.Hoc tu facias, Cyropaed. Xenophon ſaith of Cyrus, that when he gave any thing in command, he never ſaid, Let ſome one do this, but do thou this.
Verſe 4. Now the City was large] Heb. Broad in ſpannes, or ſpaces. And great] Yet nothing ſo great as Niniveh was of old; or Babylon then; or Alcair, and Quinſay at this day. Of the former, Bunting ſaith, that it is threeſcore miles in compaſſe. Of the Later Paulus Venetus (who himſelf dwelt therein about the year 1260) writeth, that it is an hundred miles about, being of all the Cities in the World the greateſt. Jeruſalem was a great City and ſpacious, though it fell far ſhort of theſe.
And the people were few therein] But how exceedingly they multiplyed afterwards appeareth by thoſe many thouſands of perſons there deſtroyed and carried away by the Romanes at the laſt deſolation: as teſtifieth Joſephus an eye-witneſſe, quem lege, & luge. For preſent, they were ſo few, that they were not able, without help; to defend the walles in ſo large a circuit.
And the houſes were not builded] All could not be done in a day. But ſome ſeiled houſes there were, Hag. 1. ver. 4. and Nehemiah was all his time buſie in building the old waſt places, and raiſing up the foundations of many generations: ſo that he was worthily called, The Repairer of the breach, the Reſtorer of paths to dwell in, Eſay 58.12. Euſebius ſaith Nehemiah was twelve years in building the Walls: he ſhould have ſaid, the City: Hierome likewiſe ſaith, that he came to Jeruſalem, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes: and made an end of building the Wall and City in the two and thirtieth year: ſo that, during the whole twelve years of his Government, he was in action.
Verſe 5. And my God put into my heart] Seeing how thinly the City was inhabited, and caſting in his mind, what evil might come of it, he bethinks himſelf (by a motion from Heaven) how to ſet things to rights: that the City might be better peopled, and (ſo) preſerved. This to do, God put into his heart by his holy Spirit (the ſweet motions whereof, are the ſound of his goings, the footſteps of his anointed, Pſal. 89.51.) We are not ſufficient of our ſelves (ſaith that great Apoſtle) to think any thing as of our ſelves: but our ſufficiency is of God, 2 Cor. 3.5. Nemo Vir magnus ſine aliquo afflatu Divino unquam fuit, ſaith Cicero: No man ever grew to be greatly good, without a Divine inſtinct.
To gather together the Nobles and the Rulers, &c.] That out of them a tenth man might be taken to furniſh out the City, chap. 11.1. after that they had been firſt prepared by the hearing of the Law, chap. 8.2.
That they might be reckoned by their genealogies] And ſo, Jeruſalem be inhabited again,Zach. 12, 6. in her own place, even in Jeruſalem.
Verſe 6. Theſe are the children, &c.] See Ezra 2. ver. 1, 2, 3, &c. with the Notes. Some ſmall differences there are in Names and Numbers between this Catalogue, and that: not by the negligence of the Scribes who wrote out this Regiſter, as Pellican would have it, but by other meanes, as is above-noted.