Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Jeremiah · Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII.
Ver. 1. GO, get thee a linnen girdle] Or belt, or ſwath.
And put it not in water] Or lye, to waſh it or whiten it; but take it as it is firſt made, us ſord…ciem magis contrahat, to ſhew, ſay ſome, that the Jewiſh Nation, when firſt choſen, was black by ſin and nothing amiable; better skilled and exerciſed in making morter and bricks in Egypt, then in the worſhip of God; and in good manners.
Or put it not in water] i. e. Keep it from being rotted, as a type of Gods care of, and kindneſſes to that people.
Ver. 2. So I got a girdle] God is to be obeyed readily, and without ſciſcitation.
Ver. 3. And the Word of the Lord came to me] Heb. Was to me. At ſundry times, or piece-meal, God ſpake to his ſervants the Prophets, Heb. 1.1.foreign per gradus & momenta, non ſ… mul & ſemel.
Ver. 4. Ariſe, go to Euphrates] A river which ran by Babylon, ſix hundred and foureſcore miles from Jeruſalem. The Prophets journey therefore thither ſeemeth to have been but viſional, as was Iſay's going barefoot, Hoſea's marriage with a whore, Ezekiels lying on one ſide three hundred and ninety dayes together; his journey from Chaldea to Jeruſalem, chap. 8.3, &c.
Ver. 5. So I went and hid it by Euphrates] In the cliffe of a rock, where it might lye dry: never once asking the reaſon. This was ſimple and acceptable obedience; far beyond that of the Popiſh Novices, who yet if their Padres or Superiours ſend them to China or Peru, without diſpute or delay they do preſently ſet forward.
Ver. 6. And it came to paſſe after many dayes] See on ver. 3.
Ver. 7. Then I went to Euphrates] See on ver. 4. Thoſe that are for an actual journey, alledge, that Jeremy might do this without danger in the dayes of Jehoiakim, who was the King of Babylons Vaſſal, and paid him tribute.
And behold the girdle was rotted, it was profitable for nothing] This ſhewed that the Jews ſhould in that Country lye rotting, as it were in baſeneſſe and ſervility and ſin together, many years: ſo that God might juſtly have left them there ſtill in miſery, as a man leaves his rotten girdle to become dung.
Ver. 8. Then the word, &c.] Adaptat ſimile. See ver. 3.
Ver. 9. After this manner will I marre the pride] Their pomp and power, wherein they pride themſelves.
Ver. 10. This evil people] Populus ille peſſimus, theſe P…neropolitans, who are naught all over, nequitiâ cooperti.
Walk in the imagination of their heart] See chap. 9.13. and 11.8.
Ver. 11. So have I cauſed to cleave unto me] For nearneſs and dearneſs: the loines are the ſeat of ſtrongeſt deſires and affections.
And for a name and for a praiſe] That I might be magnified and glorified in them: and for them alſo, among other nations.
Ver. 12 Therefore] Or, Moreover.
Thou ſhalt speak unto them this word] This other paradigm… or parable: an excellent way of teaching, and much uſed in both Teſtaments.
Every bottle ſhall be filled with wine] Wine they loved well, and a great vintage they now expected. They ſhall have it, ſaith God; but of another nature then they look for; Their heads (not altogether unlike bottles for roundneſs, and emptineſs of all good) ſhall be filled with a dry drunkenneſſe: even with errours and terrours, a ſpirit of giddineſſe, &c.
Do not we certainly know, &c.] This they ſeem to ſpeak inſolently and jearingly, q. d. you ſhould tell us ſome news.
Ver. 13. Behold I will fill] Heb. Lo, I am filling: but the l…quour is ſuch as whereof you ſhall have ſmall joy. See ver. 12.
Ver. 14. And I will daſh them one againſt another] As ſo many earthen bottles, brittle and ſoon broken: Si collidimur frangimur, ſaid thoſe in the fable.
Ver. 15. Hear and give ear] Or, Hear and hearken, be not haughty. Here the Prophet calleth upon them again to repent, and to that end, to liſten diligently, and to lay aſide the highneſs of their hearts, and the ſtoutneſs of their ſtomacks, ſith it is the Lord that ſpeaketh. The Lyon roareth: who can but fear? Am. 3.8. Repentance is the Removens prohibens, as being founded in humility, and wrought by the Word preached, Jonah 3. Act. 2.
Ver. 16. Give glory to the Lord your God] Confeſs your ſins, Joſh. 7.19. one part of repentance put for the whole. Jeremy was as conſtant a Preacher of Repentance, as Paul, and after him Austin, were of the free-grace of God. The impenitent perſon robbeth God of his right: the penitent man ſarcit injuriam Deo irrogatam, ſeemeth to make ſome kind of amends to God whom he had wronged, by reſtoring him his glory, which he had run away with, whileſt he putteth himſelf into the hands of juſtice, in hope of mercy.
Before he cauſe darkneſſe] ſc. Of calamity and captivity. Currat poenitentia, ne praecurrat ſententia.
Modeſtiſſima explicatio infaelicitatis.Before your feet ſtumble] So, before ye fall upon the dark and dangerous cragges and precipices of eternal perdition. Which to prevent, work whiles the light laſteth: walk whiles it is yet day.
Ver. 17. My ſoul ſhall weep in ſecret places] Good men are apt to weep; Et faciles motus mens generoſa capit. Good Miniſters ſhould be full of compaſſionate tears, weeping in ſecret for their peoples unprofitableneſs, and their danger thereby. The breaſt and right ſhoulder of the ſacrifice belonged to the Prieſt; to ſhew that he ſhould be a breaſt to love, and a ſhoulder to ſupport the people, in their troubles and burthens.
Ver. 18. Say to the King and to the Queen] Or Madam, the Lady or Miſtreſſe: that is, to the Queen Regent, even to Necuſtah the mother of Jeconiab, ſay the Jews. When Beza, in the behalf of the reformed Churches in France, made a ſpeech at Poſſiacum before the young King and the Queen-Mother, he ſpake ſo effectually, ſaith Rivet, that a great Cardinal who heard it, wiſhed, that either he had been dumb that day, or that they had all been deaf. This King and Queen in the text might be as much convinced, though not throughly converted.
Humble your ſelves, ſit down] Heb. Humble, ſit below.
For your Principalities] Or, your head-attires.
The crown of your glory] Or, your crown of glory, that is, your glorious crown: of which you ſhall have cauſe enough to ſay as Antigonus did of his Diadem, O vilis pannus, &c. Or, as another Monarch,
Nobilis es, fateor, rutiliſque onerata lapillis,
Innumeris curis ſed comitata venis:
Quod benè ſi noſſent, omnes expendere; nemo,
Nemo foret qui te tollere vellet humo.
Ver. 19. The Cities of the South ſhall be ſhut up] i. e. The Cities of Egypt, whither ye think to fly, ſhall be ſhut up againſt you, through fear of the Chaldees.
Ver. 20. Lift up your eyes, &c.] Still he beſpeaketh the King and the Queen.
Where is the flock that was given thee] Thee. O Queen Regent (for the Pronoun is Feminine) or Thee, O State; Redde, Vare, legiones, ſaid Auguſtus, bewailing the loſſe of ſo many gallant ſouldiers in Germany under the command of Varus, who was there alſo ſlain.
Thy beautiful flock] Heb. Thy flock of goodlineſſe. See Prov. 14.28. with the Note.
Ver. 21. For thou hast taught them to be Captaines, and as chief over thee] ſc. By thy crouching unto them, and craving their help, thou haſt made the Chaldeans maſters of all thou haſt: So did the Brittiſh Princes Vortiger and Vortimer bring in the Saxons here: and the Greeks the Turkes.
Ver. 22. Are thy skirts diſcovered] Thou art brought to moſt miſerable ſhame and ſervitude; having ſcarce a rag to thy back, or a ſhooe for thy foot.
Ver. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin?] Proverbial ſpeeches arguing a very great difficulty, if not an utter impoſſibility. Aethiopem abluo ut candidum reddam, ſaid Diogenes, when he reproved an ill man to no purpoſe: I do but waſh a blackmore. And the like ſaid Nazianzen concerning Julian the Apoſtate. It is ſaid that the Negro's paint the devil white, as being a colour contrary to their own, and which they leſſe well affect. Will the Ethiopian change his skin? ſo the Hebrew hath it.
Or the leopard his ſpots] Sin is in us as the ſpots of a Leopard, not by accident, but by nature, which no art can cure, no water waſh off: becauſe they are not in the skin but in the fleſh and bones, in the ſinews and in the moſt inner parts. Where then is mans free-will to good, &c?
Then may ye alſo do good that are accuſtomed to do evil] Cuſtome in ſin takes away the ſenſe of it, and becomes a ſecond nature: which though expeld with a fork as it were, will yet return again. It looks for continual entertainment where it hath once gotten a haunt, as humours fall toward their old iſſue. Can…s qui ſemel didicerit edere corium, nunquam deſiſtet, ſaith Lucian: an evil cuſtome is not eaſie left. Nothing ſo weak as water: yet let much water (ſo ſin, Satan, and cuſtome) be joyned together, and nothing ſtronger. It was not for nothing therefore that the Cretians, when they would curſe their enemies, with moſt bitter execrations, they wiſhed that they might take delight in ſome or other evil cuſtome; modeſtoque voti genere efficaciſſimum ultionis genus reperiunt, ſaith the Hiſtorian: by a modeſt kind of with,V…l. M…x. they ſufficiently avenged themſelves.
Ver. 24. Therefore I will ſcatter them] This was no ſmall aggravation of their miſery, that they ſhould be thus ſevered one from another. So the Perſecutors of the Primitive times relegated and confined the poor Chriſtians to Iſles and mines,Cyprian epiſt. where they could not have acceſſe one to another, for mutual comfort and ſupport, as Cyprian complaineth.
Ver. 25. This is thy lot] Look for no better, ſith thou, by going after lying-vanities, forſakeſt thine own mercies, being miſerable by thine own election.
Becauſe thou haſt forgotten me]
Eſque oblita mei, vitiorumque oblita coeno.
Ver. 26. Therefore I will diſcover thy skirts] Sith thou haſt diſcovered and proſtituted thy ſelf to other lovers, I will ſhame thee before all men.
Ver. 27. Woe unto thee O Jeruſalem, wilt thou not be made clean?] He cloſeth with this emphatical and moſt affectionate conteſtation, preſſing them to hearty and ſpeedy repentance, as he had done oft before, but with little good ſucceſſe. The cock crowed, though Peter ſtill denyed his Maſter. Peter knockt ſtill, though Rhode opened not to him. He launched out into the deep, though he had laboured all night for nothing. So did good Jeremy here, in obedience to God, and good will to his unworthy countrymen.