Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Isaiah · Chapter 14
CHAP. XIV.
Ver. 1. FOr the Lord will have mercy upon Jacob] And therefore deſtroy Babylon, as chap. 13. Such is his Love to his Church, that for her ſake, and in Revenge of her wrongs,Bern. he will fall foul upon her enemies. Si in Hieroſolymis fiat ſcrutinium, quanto magis in Babylone.
And the ſtrangers ſhall be joyned with them] Proſelyted: eſpecially when made partakers of the grace of the Goſpel.
Ver. 2. For ſervants and for hand-maids] Their Converts ſhall be willing to lay their hands under their feet, as we ſay, and glad to do them any ſervice: like as Cyprian was for Caecilius (whom be called novae vitae parentem) and Latimer for Bilney, whom he called Bleſſed Bilney. See Iſa. 49.23.
Ver. 3. That the Lord ſhall give thee reſt, &c.] The Church hath her Halcyons here; neither is ſhe ſmitten as thoſe are that ſmote her, but in meaſure, in the branches, &c. God ſtayeth his rough-wind, Iſa. 27.8. that is, ſuch afflictions as would ſhake his plants too much, or quite blow them down. Yea whether South or North-wind bloweth, all ſhall blow good to them, Cant. 4. ult. Blow off their unkindly bloſſoms: and refreſh them both under and after all their ſorrow, fear, and hardſhip.
Ver. 4. That thou ſhalt take up this Proverb] Or taunting ſpeech: Carmen foreign.this exultatory and inſultatory ſong, which upon the fall of Babylon ſhall be in every mans mouth.
How hath the Oppreſſour ceaſed!] q. d. This is wonderful and beyond all expectation.
The golden City] Or, Gold-thirſty City.Aurata vel auri avida.
Ver. 5. The Lord hath broken the ſtaffe] Wherewith theſe Exactors cudgelled men (as ſo many beaſts) into ſubjection and obedience.
And the Scepter] Or Rod of the Rulers who ruled with rigour.
Ver. 6. He that ſmote the people in wrath, &c.] This is the Tyrants Epitaph:Aurel. Victor. there is at their death a general joy, as was when the world was well rid of Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Heliogabalus, &c. When Domitian dyed, the Senate decreed that his name ſhould be razed, that all his Acts ſhould be reſcinded, and his memorial aboliſhed quite for ever. When Caligula was cut off, his monies were all melted by the decree of the Senate▪ like as King Richard the thirds cognizance,Speed the white Bore was torn from every ſign, that his memory might periſh.
Ver. 7. The whole earth is at reſt, and is quiet] Quievit, conticuit. All's huſht,foreign. Sept. that was uſed to be ſet in an uproar by theſe reſtleſs Ambitioniſts.
They break forth into ſinging] By a wide opening of the lips and lungs, as the word ſignifieth.
Ver. 8. Yea the Fir-trees rejoyce at thee] A notable Metaphor, whereby ſenſe and ſpeech is attributed to ſenſleſs creatures: the trees once afraid to be felled, are now freed from that fear. This Tyrant was the terrour of things on earth, and things under earth. Hence men and trees are ſaid to rejoyce, Hell to be in an hurry, &c.
No feller is come up againſt us] As was wont to do, for thy Shipping, Buildings, Warlike Engines, &c.
Ver. 9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee] Infernus ab inferendo: Shaeal from its unſatiableneſs, and continual craving. Here is an Ironical and Poetical repreſentation of the King of Babylons coming into Hell, and his entertainment there; the dead Kings riſing from their places for reverence, to receive him.
Even all the chief ones of the earth] Heb. The He-goats, ſuch as lead and go before the flock; ſuch Rhetorick as this we meet with in Lucians Dialogues. Of Laurentius Valla, that great Critick, who found fault with almoſt all Latine Authors, One made this Tetraſtich;
Nunc poſtquàm manes defunctus Valla petivit,Trithem.
Non audet Pluto verba Latina loqui.
Jupiter hunc caeli dignatus honore fuiſſet,
Cenſorem linguae ſed timet ipſe ſuae.
From their Thrones] i. e. From their Sepulchres, ſaith Piſcator.
Ver. 10. Art thou alſo become weak as we?] Interrogatio ſarcaſtica & inſultabunda. Haſt thou alſo an Hic fitus eſt, or Mortuus eſt, ſet upon thy Tombſtone? This if thou hadſt fore-thought, thou wouldeſt have better behaved thy ſelf, whileſt alive: the meditation of Death would have been a death to thy paſſions, and an allay to thine inſolencies. Virgil ſaith, if ſwarms of Bees meet in the ayr, they will ſometimes fight, as it were in a ſet battel with great violence; But if you caſt but a little duſt upon them, they will be all preſently quiet.
Hi motus animorum at que …aec certamina tanta,Georg. lib. ….
Pulveris exigui jactu compreſſa quieſcunt.
Had Nebuchadnezzar or his Succeſſors bethought themſelves of their Mortality and of Deaths impartiality, they would have been more moderate.
Ver. 11. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave] Ipſaque juſta ſepulta jacent, Funeral rites (thoſe Dues of the Dead) are wanting to thee. This was fulfilled in Belſhazzar ſlain at his impious Feaſt,Theſe Feaſt-dayes were called foreign like the Roman Saturnalia. whileſt he profaned the veſſels of Gods houſe to quaff in, to the honour of Shac his drunken god, and had no doubt variety of Muſick. See Jer. 51.39, 41, 47. Dan. 5.1, 30.
The worm is ſpread under thee, and worms cover thee] Pro li…eamine tinea ſternitur: pro lodice vermes ſuperimponuntur: for ſheets thou haſt Maggots, and for a coverled, worms: and this the rather, becauſe whereas the Aſſyrian Kings, as Strabo teſtifieth,Lib. 16. Lib. 1. and the Babylonian Kings, as Herodotus, were wont to be Embalmed after their death, that they might keep ſweet, Belſhazzar was not ſo, ver. 19.20.
Ver. 12. How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer!] That is, not O Belzeebub (as ſome Ancients) but O Belſhazzar rather, called Lucifer here, or the Morning-ſtar, for his beauty and brightneſs: and as much wonder it was to ſee the Chaldaean Monarch at ſuch an under, as to have ſeen Lucifer (the Suns conſtant companion) fallen from Heaven: He was the terrour of the world, and as he thought, ſuperiour to Fortune: yet a ſudden and diſmal change befell him. In the Chariot of the Roman Triumpher, there hung up a little bell and a whip; to put him in mind he might one day be whipt as a ſlave; or as an offendor, loſe his head. Nemo confidat minium ſecundis.
Ver. 13. For thou haſt ſaid in thine heart] The natural heart is a Palace of Satanical pride: it is like unto the Table of Adonibezek, at which he ſat in a Chair of State, and made others, even Kings, to eat meat like dogs, under his feet, with their thumbs cut off.
Oecolamp.I will aſcend into Heaven] Vide quomodo non ſatientur honore ſuperbi. Ambition as the Crocodile, grows is long as it lives, and is never ſatisfied.
Above the ſtars of God] i. e. Above all the Kings of the earth, or above the Saints, Rev. 12.1. thoſe earthly Angels.
I will ſit alſo upon the Mount of the Congregation] I will ſit upon the skirts of Gods Church: yea I will ſet my Throne upon Gods Throne, and take up his room. See the like madneſs in Pharaoh, Ezek. 29.3. that proud Prince of Tyre, Ezek. 22.28. Antiochus ſirnamed foreign. Herod, Act. 12. Caligula, Choſroes, Diocletian, Antichriſt, of whom and his practiſes One cryes out, O Lucifer out-devil'd, &c. 2 Theſſ. 2.4. One of the Popes Paraſites Valladerius ſaith of Paul the fifth, that he was a God, lived familiarly with the Godhead, heard Predeſtination it ſelf whiſpering to him, had a place to ſit in Council with the moſt bleſſed Trinity, &c.
In the ſides of the North] In Mount Moriah, where the Temple ſtood.
Ver. 14. I will aſcend above the height of the clouds] Vt verbo dicam, ero ſumma & ſacra majeſtas.
Hor. lib. 1. Ode. 3.Attingit ſolium Jovis, & coeleſtia tentat.
Ver. 15. Yet thou ſhalt be brought down to Hell] To the counterpoint of thy haughtieſt conceits, ad infimam Erebi ſedem. So a merry fellow ſaid that Xerxes, that great Warrior who took upon him to controul the Sea, was now mending old ſhoos under a ſhop-board in Hell.
Adagium Homer. cum.To the ſides of the pit] i. e. Of the infernal Lake: a Tarteſſo in Tartarum detruſus; from the ſides of the North, ver. 13. whether thou hadſt pierked thy ſelf, ad latera luci, to the ſides of the pit, and to an odd corner of the burying place. This was a foul fall,Rev. Hiſt. Pontif. 195. and worſe then that of Hermannus Ferrarienſis, who having been canonized for a Saint, was thirty years after unburied, and burnt for an Heretick by Pope Boniface the eight: or that of Thomas Becket, of whom, fourty eight years after he had been Sainted,Dan. Hiſt. Fol. 99. it was diſputed among the Doctors of Paris, whether he were damned or ſaved?
Ver. 16. They that ſee thee ſhall narrowly look upon thee] Shall look wiſhly upon thee, as ſcarce believing their own eyes, for the ſtrangeneſs of the thing.
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble?] The earth to quake, and mens hearts to ake? yea ſure; this is very He. At one end of the Library at Dublin was a Globe, at the other a Sceleton, to ſhew (ſaith mine Author) that though a man be Lord of all the world, yet he muſt dye, nulluſ que fiet, qui omnia eſſe affectabat.
Ver. 17. That made the world as a Wilderneſs] Nero the Tyrant came into the world an Agrippa, or born with his feet forward; and turned the world upſide down ere he went out of it: ſo that the Senate at laſt proclaimed him a publick enemy to mankind, and condemned him to be drawn through the City, and whipped to death.
That opened not the houſe of his priſoners] Or, that did not loſe his priſoners homewards, but kept them in durance with priſoners pittance, Lam. 3.34.
Ver. 18. All the Kings of the Nations] i. e. Very many of them have their ſtately Pyramides, Tombs, Mauſolaean Monuments erected, as amongſt us at Weſtminſter Henry the ſevenths Chappel is a curious and coſtly piece.
Ver. 19. But thou art caſt out of thy grave] i. e. Caſt out,Inſepultâ ſepulturâ turpiſſ…me abiectus es. …cult. and kept from thy grave. This befell Baltaſar upon the ſurprizal of the City, Dan. 5 30. And the like alſo befell Alexander the Great dying at the ſame City: and our Will. Conqueror, who having utterly ſackt the City of Mants in France, and in the deſtruction thereof got his own, dyed ſhortly after at Rouen, Dan. Hiſt. 42. 50.where his corpſe lay three dayes unburied, his interment being hindered by one that claimed the ground to be his.
Like an abominable branch] The matter is here ſet forth by three notable ſimilitudes, ſuch as this Prophet is full of.
Ver. 20. Thou ſhalt not be joyned to them in burial] i. e. To thy Compeers, thy fellow Kings in Funeral-ſtate and pomp. Chriſtians have an honeſt care foreign, with whom they be buried, and where they are laid when dead, that as they lived together and loved together, ſo in their death they may not be divided, 2 Sam. 1.23.
Becauſe thou haſt deſtroyed thy land] Tyrannized over thine own Subjects alſo.The Septuagint read it my land, and my people. So did Saul, Manaſſ…h, Herod (who butchered about Bethlehem 14000. Infants, as ſome affirm, and his own ſon among the reſt) Tyberius that Tyger, Nero that Lion, Commodus, who was (ſaith Oroſius) cunctis incommodus, Charls 9 of France, &c.
The ſeed of evil-doers ſhall never be renowned] The houſe of the wicked ſhall be ouerthrown: but the Tabernacle of the upright ſhall flouriſh, Prov. 14.11. See the Note there: & notanto hoc parentes, & à ſceleribus ſe abſtinento: ni ſibi velint parcere, ut poſteritati parcant.
Ver. 21. Prepare another ſlaughter for his children] For Baltſars poſterity. This is Gods charge to the Medes and Perſians. See on ver. 20.
Ver. 22. For I will riſe up againſt him] And therefore it is to no purpoſe for them to riſe up to poſſeſs the Land, and to fill the face of the world with Cities, as ver. 21. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, &c. Ezek. 21.27. and who ſhall gain-ſtand it?
Ver. 23. I will alſo make it a poſſeſſion for the Bittern] Which is a kind of water-fowl that maketh a hideous noiſe.
And I will ſweep it with the beſom of deſtruction] Scopa vaſtatrice verram cam, Scopis … en purgatoriis ſed perditoriis▪ R. David in Rad…c. foreign. Mercer. in Pagnin Theſaur.Vatab. I will not bruſh them for Ornament, but ſweep them, or rather ſcrub them to their ruine by my Perſian Praedones whom I will ſet upon them. And here the Jewiſh Rabbins acknowledge that they came to underſtand this Text by hearing an Arabian woman mention a broom or a beſom in her Language, to her maid. Apollos a learned Teacher may yet learn of a Tent-maker.
Ver. 24. The Lord of Hoſts hath ſworn] If he had but ſaid it only, it had been ſure enough (for he cannot lye, he cannot denye himſelf) but when he ſweareth any thing we may build upon it, eſpecially ſince he is Lord of Hoſts. He can do more then he will, but whatſoever He willeth ſhall undoubtedly be done: for what ſhould hinder? Juravit Jehovah, is the beſt aſſurance.
Ver. 25. That I will break the Aſſyrian in my Land] Or, as in breaking the Aſſyrian in my Land: for here, ſaith Junius, the overthrow of the Aſſyrian Monarchy, which ſhould ſhortly be, is given for a ſign of the overthrow of the Babylonian.
Ver. 26. This is the purpoſe that is purpoſed] Heb. The Council that is conſulted. Now there are many devices in the heart of man, but (when all's done) the Counſel of the Lord, that ſhall ſtand, Prov. 19.21.
Ver. 27. For the Lord of Hoſts hath purpoſed, and who ſhall diſannul it?] Emphaſin habet interrogatio. An excellent and unanſwerable way of arguing from the irreſiſtible Will, and Almighty power of God: the like whereof is uſed by a certain Perſian in Herodotus, In Calliope.in moſt Elegant expreſſions, as Junius here noteth.
Ver. 28. In the year that King Ahaz dyed] A very good worlds riddance: When Tiberius the Tyrant died, ſome of the people offered ſacrifice for joy: others in deteſtation of him cryed out Tiberium in Tiberim, Let Tiberius be thrown into Tiber: Think the like of Ahaz, that ſtigmatical Belialiſt. Howbeit, as bad as he was, the Philiſtins hearing of his death, hoped to find ſome advantage thereby againſt the Jews, who are therefore here encouraged.
Ver. 29. Rejoyce not thou whole Paleſtine] That is, the Philiſtins, quos Judaei animis armiſ que ſibi infeſtiſſimos habuere. Theſe were as bad Neighbours to the Jews as the Dunk…rkers now are to us. Ʋzziah had ſubdued them, 2 Chron. 26.6. but Ahaz had been much damnified and deſpoiled by them, 2 Chron. 28.18▪ and in the beginning of Hezekiahs Raign, they thought to have over-run all the Countrey. Here therefore Gods decree concerning them is publiſhed, for the comfort of his poor people, and it is this: Philiſtaeis non jubilandum ſed ejulandum. Philiſtins muſt not be over joyed but rather weep and howl for the miſeries that are coming upon them.
Becauſe the Rod of him that ſmote thee is broken] Becauſe Ʋzziah is dead, and Ahaz hath had ill ſucceſs againſt you through his own ſinfulneſs, and ſluggiſhneſs: do not you thereupon take boldneſs to ſet up your creſt, and think all's your own.
For out of the Serpents root] Out of Ʋzziah's iſſue.
Shall come forth a Cockatrice] or Baſilisk, which is ſaid to kill with his looks only: and hereby is meant Hezekiah, as alſo by the fiery flying Serpent: for thus he is called both for his fierceneſs and for his ſwiftneſs, two very commendable properties of a Commander. J. Caeſar was in omnia praeceps, very fierce, and withal notable nimble, witneſs his Veni, Vidi, Vici, I no ſooner came, but overcame. The Hebrews from this text have a Proverb,Deradice colubri egredietur regulus. i e. Afflictiſſimi, inter pauperes praecipui ac primi, atque adeò tolerandis Calamitatibus nati. Quis globu… ó cives, caligine volvitur …tra? Hoſtis adeſt. Virg. Out of the Serpents root ſhall come forth a Cockatrice, i. e. One woe is paſt, but behold a worſe at hand.
Ver. 30. And the firſt-born of the poor ſhall feed] i. e. Gods poor people ſhall: who though never ſo poor (as they were at a very low ebb under Ahaz) were Gods firſt-born, and, in that reſpect, higher then the Kings of the earth, Pſal. 89.27.
And I will kill thy root] See Zeph. 2.4. with the Note.
Ver. 31. Howle O gate] Philiſtines are elſewhere taxed for flaſhy and fooliſh mirth, Judg. 16. 2 Sam. 1. Here they are told they have more cauſe to fear then ſtear, to ſigh then ſing, to bowle then hollow.
From the North a ſmoke] i. e. Hezekiah's army raiſing a duſt, and ſetting all in a combuſtion.
Ver. 32. That the Lord hath founded Zion] Not Hezekiah but Jehovah hath done it.