Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Ezekiel · Chapter 24
CHAP. XXIIII.
Ver. 1. AGain in the ninth year] Of Jehoiakims captivity, chap. 1.2. three years before the deſtruction of Jeruſalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
Ver. 2. This ſame day] Ezekiel in Meſopotamia is told by God, and telleth others the very day that Nebuchadnezzar laid ſeige to Jeruſalem. 2 King. 25.1. Jer. 39.1. and 52.4. Heathen hiſtorians tell us of Apollonius Tyanaeus, that in the ſelf-ſame day and hour wherein Domitian the Emperour was ſlain at Rome, he got up into a high place at Epheſus in Aſia; and calling together a great multitude of men,foreign. Dio. Domit. he ſpake theſe words foreign, well done Stephen, ſtrike the murtherer home, pay him ſoundly: Thou haſt ſtruck him, thou haſt wounded him to the heart, thou haſt ſlain him outright; I commend thee for it. This (if it were ſo) was brought to him by the devil doubtleſſe. Our Prophet had a betrer intelligencer.
Ver. 3. Set on a pot] Deus cum prophet… lequitur tanquam cum coquo: any thing to make them ſenſible of their danger, and the deſtruction of their City now fully determined.Repraſentat Tartarum, & ollam Vulcaniam inferni. This pot is Jeruſalem (and a lively repreſentation of hell, ſaith à Lapide) the pouring of water into it a long ſiege: the fleſh the Citizens, the fat the rich ones, lauti & laſcivi: the bones, the ſtouteſt and beſt warriours, &c. Theſe ſcurrilous Jewes had jeared at Jeremyes caldron or pot, Jer. 1.13. See on chap. 11.3. now they are caſt into the pot, and their jear driven back down their very throats.
Ver. 4. Gather the peices thereof into it] Let people of all ſorts flock into the City for ſafety-ſake; that there, as in a pot, they may be boyled by a long ſiege, and have ſorrow enough.
Ver. 5. Take the choyce of the flock] The King and his Peers.
And burn alſo the bones] The dry bones (the common people) for theſe will burn like wood.
And let him ſeeth the bones] The choice bones, ver. 4.
Ver. 6. Wo to the bloody City] i. e. Blood-guilty, and full of crimes capital that call for blood.
To the pot whoſe ſcum is in it] Who are hardened in their wickedneſſe, which is evident to all men, and are not amended by puniſhments.
Let no let fall upon it] i. e. Let none eſcape unpuniſhed. In warres oft-times they caſt lots to ſave ſome and ſlay ſome.
Ver. 7. For her blood is in the midſt of her] She careth not who knows of her murthers and oppreſſions. He ſeemeth to allude to that law, that blood being let out of a beaſt ſhould be covered in the ground.
She ſet it upon the top of a rock] Super limpidiſſimam petram, ſaith the Vulgar, as glorying in it. So Abimelech ſlew all his brethren upon one ſtone, Judg. 9.5. the Jews crucified our Saviour on Mount Calvary.
She poured it not] Pudet non eſſe impudentem.
Agit cum illa ex lege talionis. Pol.Ver. 8. I have ſet her blood upon the top of a rock] Where it will be ſeen afar off and for along time. As her ſin was in propatulo in open view; ſo (to cry quittance with her) ſhall her puniſhment likewiſe be: my viſible vengeance ſhall follow her cloſe at heels as a blood-hound.
Ver. 9. Woe to the bloody City] See Nah. 3.1. Hab. 2.12.
I will even make the pile for fire great] They ſhall undergoe a long and ſore ſiege.
Ver. 10. Heap on wood, &c.] See on ver. 3.
And ſpice it well] Vulg. coquatur tota compoſitio, let the whole compoſition be boiled, till all the virtue be boiled out. A Metaphor from Apothecaries.
Ver. 11. That the braſſe of it may be hot and may burn] This,J am vaecua ardet Romae: jam enim & ipſa olla conſumitur, in quae prius carnes & oſſa conſumebantur. Hom. 18. in Ezek. Gregory fitly applyeth to Rome taken and waſted by the Lombards: this City ever ſince it was Papal (and then it firſt began to be ſo) was never beſieged but it was taken by the enemy.
Ver. 12. She hath wearied her ſelf with lyes] With ſeeking and truſting to lying vanities, creature comforts. Others render it, ſhe hath wearied me with lyes, i. e. with falſe promiſes of amendment. Others, Fruſtrà ſudatum eſt, pains is taken with them to no purpoſe.
And her great ſcum went not forth out of her] But is ſodden into her partly, and partly ſodden over into the fire. A godly man cleareth himſelf of ſin, as ſpring-water worketh it ſelf clean: as the Sea will endure no poiſonful thing, but caſteth it upon the ſhore: as the ſweet water, made brackiſh by the coming in of the ſalt-water, gets to be ſweet again: ſo do Gods people work out brackiſh and ſinful diſpoſitions, &c. The good heart admitteth not the mixture of any ſin, though ſin may cleave to it as droſſe doth to ſilver, yet like right wine or hony, as the ſcum ariſeth, ſtill it caſteth it out: ſo here.
Ver. 13, In thy filthineſſe is leudneſſe] i. e. Thou art deſperately ſtiffe and ſtubborn: thy diſeaſe is complicate, and threateneth death.
Becauſe I have purged thee] i. e. Called upon thee by my Prophets to cleanſe thy ſelf of all filthineſſe of fleſh and ſpirit, ſought alſo to purge thee by the ſope of afflictions, and by the cudgel of calamities, Iſa. 1.16. & 27.9. with Iſa. 1.5, 6, 7.
And thou waſt not purged] From thy ſin, which had gotten into thy very frame and conſtitution, was weaved into the texture of thine heart.
Thou ſhalt not be purged] But ſhalt periſh in thy ſins (which is worſe then to aye in a ditch) and pine away in thine iniquities, ver. 23. He who is filthy ſhall be filthy ſtill: a fearful ſentence.
Till I have cauſed my fury to reſt upon thee] Till I have purged thee in hell-fire; which will be ever doing, but never be done; donec omnia tela vindictae meae in te exhauſero, till I have emptied my quiver, ſpent my wrath upon thee.
Ver. 14. I the Lord have ſpoken it] And you may write upon it, Sententia haec ſtabit. Think not that theſe are only big words, bug-bear terms, deviſed on purpoſe to affright ſilly people: for do it I will; yea that I will.
Ver. 15. Alſo the Word of the Lord] See chap. 18.1.
Ver. 16. Behold I take from thee the deſire of thine eyes] i. e. Thy wife who is impendiò dilecta & viſu pergratioſa, thy dearly beloved and greatly delighted in.
With a ſtroke] With peſtilence, palſy, or ſome like ſudden death: This was no ſmal trial of the Prophets patience and obedience. Let us learn to hang looſe to all outward comforts.
Yet neither ſhalt thou mourn or weep] Which might he have done,Eſt quaedam flere voluptas. Ovid. l. 4. ed Triſt. Fletus aerumnas len…t. Sen. Juſta foreign. would have been ſome eaſe to him: for Expletur lacrymis, egeriturque dolor. As hindes by calving, ſo do men by weeping caſt out their ſorrows, Job 39.3.
Ver. 17. For hear to cry] Heb. be ſilent, and ſo ſuffocate thy ſorrows: ne plangas, ne plores. Not as if the dead were not to be lamented (tears are the dues of the dead, Mors mea ne careat lachrymis) or that it were unbeſeeming a Prophet to bewail his dead Conſort: but to ſet forth by this figure, the greatneſſe of their enſuing ſorrow, bigger then any tears: for Curae leves loquuntur, ingentes ſtupent.
Bind the tire of thy head upon thee] Mourners, it ſeems, uſed to go bare-headed, and bare-footed, to cover their Muſtachoes, to eat what their friends ſent them in at ſuch a ſad time to chear up their ſpirits, Jer. 16.5, 7. The Prophet muſt do none of all this,Singultus devorat. but keep his ſorrows to himſelf.
Ver. 18. And at even my wife dyed] Though a good woman probably, and to the Prophet a great comfort, the ſweet companion of his life and miſeries: yet ſhe dyed ſuddenly, and by ſome extraordinary diſeaſe. All things come alike to all.
And I did in the morning as I was commanded] Grievous though it were, and went much againſt the hair with me, yet I did it. Ʋxorem poſthabuit praecepto Dei. Obedience muſt be yielded to God even in the moſt difficult duties: and conjugal love muſt give place to our love to him.
Ver. 19. Wilt thou not tell us] They well knew that there was ſomething in it more then ordinary: for the Prophet was no Stoike, but ſenſible enough of what he ſuffered.
Ver. 20. Then I anſwered them] The Prophet was ready to tell them the true meaning of all: ſo ſhould Miniſters be: See Job 33.23. with the Note.
Ver. 21. Behold I will profane my Sanctuary] I will put it into the hands of profane perſons to be ſpoiled and polluted, for a puniſhment of your manifold pollutions of it.
The excellency of your ſtrength] The Jewes had too high a conceit of, and did put too much confidence in their Temple, which therefore they called as here the excellency of their ſtrength, the deſire of their eyes, and that which their ſoul pittied, animarum indulgentiam. The Temple of the Lord they cryed, but the Lord of the Temple they cared not for, Jer. 7.
Ver. 22. And ye ſhall do as I have done] Your grief ſhall be above teares, you ſhall be ſo over gone with it: beſides you ſhall have neither leiſure nor leave of your enemies to bewaile your loſſes, &c.
Ye ſhall not cover] See on ver. 17. Antonius Margarita a Chriſtian Jew hath written a book of the Jewiſh rites of ſuperſtitions, at the burial of the dead, and otherwiſe: ſo hath Leo Modena, another Jew, but no Chriſtian.
Ver. 23. But ye ſhall pine away for your iniquities] Non tam ſtupidi prae moeſtitia, quam prae malitia ſtipites. Oecol.This was long ſince threatened, Levit. 26. and it is reſerved to the laſt, as not the leaſt of thoſe diſmal judgements.
Ver. 24. Thus Ezekiel is unto you a ſign] Portentum, portending no good to you: whether he were made dumb, till theſe things were fulfilled, as ſome gather from ver. 27. I have not to ſay.
Ver. 25. When I take from them their ſtrength] their Kingdom, Temple, all.
And that whereupon they ſet their minds] Heb. the lifting up of the ſoul, or the burthen of their ſouls, that whereof they are moſt ſollicitous.
Ver. 26. To cauſe thee to hear it] Viz. The performance of that which now thou foretelleſt, but canſt not be believed, till Experience (the miſtriſſe of fools) hath better taugth it them.
Ver. 27. In that day ſhall thy mouth be open…d] Mean-while make uſe of a ſacred ſilence, wait till a new Prophecy concerning this peope, ſhall be committed unto thee (as was done, chap. 33.) Till then, prophecy againſt forreiners, Ammonites, Tyrians, Egyptians.