Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Jeremiah · Chapter 21
CHAP. XXI.
Ver. 1. THe word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord] This Hiſtory is here ſet down out of courſe. For Jeruſalem was not beſieged till chap. 32. and Jehoiakim reigned Chapter. 25. It was in the ninth year of Zedekiah that this preſent Prophecy was uttered,Eſt hic hyſterologia ſive praepoſterus ordo. 2 King. 25.1, 2. This Zedekiah was one of thoſe ſemiperfectae virtutis homines (as Philo calleth ſome Profeſſours) cakes halfbaked, Hoſ. 7.8. no flat Atheiſt, nor yet a pious Prince. Of Galba the Emperour, as alſo of our Richard the third it is recorded, that they were bad men but good Princes: We cannot ſay ſo much of Zedekiah: Two things he is cheifly charged with: 1. That he brake his oath and faith plighted to the King of Babylon, Ezek. 17.16. 2. That he humbled not himſelf before Jeremiah the Prophet, ſpeaking from the mouth of the Lord, 2 Chron. 36.12, 13. Hitherto he had not: but now in his diſtreſſe he ſeeketh to this Prophet: yea ſendeth an Embaſſage. Kings care not for ſouldiers (ſaid a great Commander) till their crowns hang on the one ſide of their heads. Sure it is, that ſome of them ſlight Gods Miniſters, till they cannot tell what to doe without them, as here. Kingdomes have their cares: and Thrones their thornes. Antigonus cried out of his diadem O vilis pannus, O baſe rag, not worth taking up at a mans feet. Julian complained of his own unhappineſſe in being made Emperour. Diocleſian laid down the Empire as weary of it. Thirty of the ancient Kings of this our Land, ſaith Capgrave, reſigned their crowns: ſuch were their cares, croſſes and emulations. Zedekiah now could gladly have done as much. But ſith that might not be, He ſendeth to Jeremiah, whom in his proſperity he had ſlighted; and (to gratifie his wicked Counſellours) wrongfully impriſoned.
He ſent unto him Paſhur] Not that Magor-miſſabib, chap. 20.1. but another of his name: though not much better, as it afterwards appeared: when, ſeeing Jeremies ſtoutneſſe for the Truth, he counſelled the King to put him to death, Chap. 38.
And Zephaniah the ſon of Maaſciah] Of whom ſee further, chap. 29.25, 29. & 37.3.
Ver. 2. Enquire I pray thee of the Lord for us] He ſeeketh now to the Lord, whom in his proſperity he regarded not: ſo doth a drowning man catch at the tree or twig, which before he made no reckoning of. Rarae fumant felicibus arae, In their affliction they will ſeek me early, Hoſ. 5. ult. When he ſlew them, then they ſought him, and enquired earely after God, Pſal. 78.34. Pharaoh when plagued, calleth earneſtly for Moſes to pray for him: and Joab when in danger of his life, runneth to the horns of the Altar.
If ſo be the Lord will deal with us according to his wondrous works] Or, it may be the Lord will deal with us, &c. ſc. As he did not long ſince with Hezekiah, when invaded by Sennacherib. Thus wicked wretches are willing to preſume, and promiſe themſelves impunity: See Deut. 29.19. with the Note.
Ver. 3. Then ſaid Jeremiah unto them] He anſwereth them modeſtly, and without inſultation: but freely and boldly, as a man of an heroik ſpirit, and the Meſſenger of the King of Kings.
Ver. 4. Behold I will turn back the weapons of War] i. e. I will render them vain and uſeleſſe: as it is God who in battel ordereth the ammunition, chap. 50.25. and maketh the weapons vain or proſperous, Iſa. 54. ult. Jer. 50.9. This was plainly ſeen at Edge-hill-fight.
Ver. 5. And I my ſelf will fight againſt you] This was heavy tidings to Zedekiah and his Courtiers. Optaſſent ſibi Prophetas qui dixiſſent laeta, ſaith Oecolampadius: they could have wiſhed for more pleaſing Prophecies; but thoſe that do what they ſhould not, muſt look to hear what they would not. Such bitter anſwers as this they muſt look for, who ſeek to God only in a time of neceſſity: ſilence, or elſe ſad anſwers they ſhall be ſure of.
Ver. 6. They ſhall dye of a great Peſtilence] See chap. 16.4. & 18.21. Hippocrates calleth the Peſtilence foreign, the divine diſeaſe; Sr. Jo. Heyw. Life of Edw. the ſixth.becauſe there is much of Gods hand in it: like as there was here in the ſweating ſickneſſe, wherewith the Engliſh only were chaſed, not only in England, but in all Countries.
Ver. 7. And afterward ſaith the Lord] This is noted by the Hebrew Criticks for a very long verſe (as having in it two and forty words, which conſiſt of one hundred and threeſcore letters:) and it ſounds very heavily all along, to the Courtiers eſpecially: Potentes potenter torquebuntur.
Ver. 8. Behold I will ſet before you the way of life, and the way of death] They ſhould have their option, but a very ſad one: Saved they could not be from their enemies, but by their enemies: nor eſcape death but by captivity, which is a kind of living death, and not much to be preferred before death. Only life is ſweet, as the Gibeonites held it: and therefore choſe rather to be hewers of wood, and drawers of water, then to be cut off with the reſt of the Canaanites.
Ver. 9. His life ſhall be unto him for a prey] And lawful prey or booty is counted good purchaſe, Iſa. 49.24 He ſhall ſave his life, though he loſe his goods. And it ſhould not be grievous to any man to ſacrifice his eſtate to the ſervice of his life: why elſe did Solomon make ſo many hundreds of targets and ſheilds of gold?
Ver. 10. For I have ſet my face againſt this City] I have looked this City to deſtruction: I have decreed it, and will do it. When our Saviour ſet his face to go towards this City, Luke 9.51. he was fully reſolved on it, and nothing ſhould hinder him. See Levit. 17.10. & 20.5.
Ver. 11. And touching the houſe of the King of Judah, ſay] i. e. His Courtiers and his Counſellours, which probably were now as bad or worſe then they had been in his Father Joſias dayes, Zeph. 3.3. Her Princes within her were roaring Lions, her Judges evening wolves. See the Notes.
Ver. 12. O houſe of David] But much degenerated from the piety of David. So Mic. 2.7. O thou that art named the houſe of Jacob —are theſe his doings, &c. See the Notes there. To be a degenerate plant of ſo noble a vine, is no ſmall diſcommendation.
Thus ſaith the Lord] After that the Court had ſent to him, he is ſent to the Court with theſe Inſtructions.
Execute juſtice in the morning] As David your Progenitour and pattern did, Pſal. 101.8. Be up and at it betime, and make quick diſpatch of cauſes, that poor men may go home about their buſineſſes, who have other things to do beſides going to Law. It is a lamentable thing that a ſuit ſhould depend ten or twenty years in ſome Courts,Oecolamp. quo ſaturentur avariſſimi rabulae, omnia bona pauperum exugentes, through the avarice of ſome Pleaders, to the utter undoing of their poor Clients. This made one ſuch (when he was perſwaded to patience by the example of Job) to reply,Mane i. e. Maturè. What do ye tell me of Job? Job never had any ſuits in Chancery. Jethro adviſeth Moſes, Exod. 18. to diſmſſe thoſe timely, whom he cannot diſpatch preſently.
Ver. 13. Behold I am againſt thee] I, who alone am a whole army of men, Van and Reare both, Iſa. 52.12. and may better ſay then any other, How many reckon you me at?
O inhabitant of the valley] i. e. Of Jeruſalem: called elſewhere the valley of viſion. It ſtood high, but yet was compaſſed about with mountains that were higher, Pſal. 125.2. See there.
And rock of the plain] The bulwark and beauty of the whole adjacent Country. Pliny ſaith, that it was the moſt famous of all the Cities of the Eaſt: he might have ſaid of the whole world, if he had known all.
Which ſay Who ſhall come down againſt us? or who, &c.] This they ſaid out of carnal confidence in the natural ſtrength of the place, increaſed by their fortifications. The Jebuſites had done ſo, 2 Sam. 5.6. and were unrooted. Security uſhereth in deſtruction.
Who ſhall enter into our habitations?] Which we hold impregnable: Such like vaunts precede and preſage ruine, See chap. 49. Obad. 3.
Puniam vos pro meritis.Ver. 14. But I will puniſh you] And if I take you once to doe, you are ſure of your full payment. Heb. I will viſite upon thee according to the fruit of your actions, i. e. I will lay upon you a puniſhment anſwerable to your ſins; the ſin being as the ſeed, and the puniſhment as the fruit that cometh of it: q. d. Ye have ſown the wind, and ye ſhall reap the whirl-wind.
And I will kindle a fire in the Forreſt thereof] i. e. In the ſtreets which ſtand as thick with houſes, as the forreſt of Lebanon doth with trees: and are built with timber fetcht from that forreſt.