Commentary on Malachi, Essay
AN EXERCITATION VPONUPON THE PROPHESIE OF MALACHY.
IN the whole Booke of Malachy which ſeemes to be but one Prophecy or Sermon, we may (without any prejudice of others whoſe opinions the Reader may ſee, in Ioh. Tarnovius, in Mal. proleg 6.) obſerve as the parts of it.
Firſt, The inſcription or the preface verſ. 1.
Secondly, The prophecy it ſelfe. Verſ. 2. &c. ad fin. proph.
I. The inſcription or the preface. verſ. 1. The burden of the Word of the Lord to Iſrael by Malachy.] Which is the title or head of the whole prophecy, wherein we have,
Firſt, The ſubject. The burden of the Word.
Secondly, The circumſtances of the perſons.
1. From whom, The Lord.
2. To whom, To Iſrael.
3. By whom, By Malachy.
I. The ſubiect, or the ſubiect matter of the whole booke. The burden of the Word] So our laſt tranſlation, the Geneva Engliſh, the Italian of Deodate aIl Carico., Mintan, Winkleman. The Prophecy] ſo Pagnin: and Piſcator. The burthen ſome prophecy] ſo Tremell. The word is foreign, the roote in Hebr. Naſa, ſignifies To lift or take up, to carry, to beare. According to which wee have a phraſe in Scripture, To take up a proverb. And ſo wheras the Septuagint ſometimes renders the word, foreign, Verbum, The word, ſometimes foreign, The Oracle or Divine anſwer, ſometimes foreign, The viſion, here they render it foreign, The aſſumption or lifting or taking up the word of the Lord. And they have expreſt the Originall, The lifting up of the Word againſt Iſrael. Though the Greeks uſe the word foreign, and eſpecially the Latines in another ſenſe, among whom, Lemma is that word or ſhort ſentence, which is lifted up upon the head of the diſcourſe, to bee the title or ſummary argument of the reſt,
So the titles of Epigrams are called Lemmata, as in Martial. Epigr. Lib. 14.
Lemmata ſi quaeras cur ſint ad ſcripta, Docebo;
Ʋt ſi malueris, Lemmata ſola legas.
If why the titles are ore-writ, you aske; I ſay;
The titles only if y'had rather reade, you may.
And in another place,
Vivida componis epigrammata, Mortua ponis
Lemmata—
The Epigramm's thou doſt compoſe are quick, but dull
The titles are—
Much unto which purpoſe wee uſually call the Verſus intercalaris or the foote of the ditty which ordinarily containes and repeates the chiefe ſumme, The burden in the Song. But wee muſt finde more in the uſe and application of the word Burden, here; the burden of the whole prophecy is a burden againſt and upon Iſrael: or, the inſcription, title, head, or argument of this prophecy carries its ſignification with it, It is a burden taken up at the command of God by the Prophet, to bee layd upon Iſrael, to cruſh them, to make them ſenſible of their ſinne and Gods wrath. And therefore the Tigurine tranſlation (though it have, as the French bLa charge contre Iſrael.alſo hath, miſtaken the particle foreign which uſually ſignifies Ad, To, and ſo both our engliſh tranſlations have it, according to moſt other tranſlaturs, To Iſrael, And nevercSee Schindler pentagl. in verbo foreign, as I can finde, Contra Againſt) hath expreſt unto us the meaning of the Prophets phraſe, in rendring it, The burden againſt Iſrael. And our old Engliſh autoriſed, before this laſt, for the Church, hath a marginall note (which ſhort notes were made before thoſe of Geneva) which gives us the ſame meaning; The Burden, that is, The grievous and threatning prophecy, layd upon them as a Burden. So in 2 Kin. 9.25. where the words are, Naſa eth hammaſſa, which Schindler renders, He lift up that prophecy againſt him. And ſo alſo Druſius lect. in Nahum. 1.1. That we have in our laſt tranſlation, The Lord layd this Burden upon him.
Secondly, the circumſtances of the perſons.
I. The Author, from whom; the Lord. The burden of the Word of the Lord.] There is no difficulty in the words; but for the emergent queſtions hence, One, that this booke is canonicall, and from the Lord, I refer the Reader to the commentary: Another, that prophecying or divining is not naturall, I referre to Cornel à lapide, Canones in min. proph. Can. 21. And to a much larger diſcourſe of it, in Gabr. Pennot. Propug. hum. libert. lib. 10. cap. 7 8.11.
II. The Object. To whom. To Iſrael] the Jewes returned from the captivity, principally Judah and Benjamin with ſuch of the ten Tribes as were diſperſed among them, to which ten Tribes the name of Iſrael did properly and ſolely belong after the ſchiſme made by Ieroboam, and till the captivity; but after that, the names of Iſrael and Iudah were uſed alike, and chiefly if not ſolely, for the two other Tribes of Iudea and Benjamin. An obſervation that will give light to many places. Of the name Iſrael, the diverſe abſurd derivations of it among the fathers, and the true and genuine originall of it, ſee Sixtiu. Amama in his Antibarb. Bibl. p. 428. 429. ad Gen. 32.28.
III. The Miniſter. By whom. By Malachy, or, by the hand,or, In the hand of Malachy.] or, as the French, By the meanes dPar le moyen de Malachie.of Malachy. That is, by the miniſtry of Malachy, by his mouth, the Mouth being called the Hand, by a Catachreſis; ſee Exod. 9.35. As the Lord ſpake by the hand of Moſes. (1) by his mouth. Num. 4.37.45. Accordingly the ſpirit of prophecy in the mouth of the prophets, is called, The hand of the Lord. 2 King. 3.15. foreign. The hand of the Lord (which the Targum renders, the ſpirit of prophecy from the Lord.) Came upon him. Eſa. 8.11. The Lord ſpake to me with a ſtrong hand (or, in the ſtrength of hand) and inſtructed me.
By Malachy] foreign. Tremell: reades it Maleaci. Piſcator well findes fault with that, becauſe Caph having not a point in the belly of it, ſounds as Ch, and reades Maleachi, and ſo Montan. The vulgar Malachias, both our Engl. Malachy. For the ſignification of it, foreign, and thence Maleach is the ſame that foreign Angel is in the Greeke, that is, A meſſenger, or, One that is ſent. Minſhieu enterprets it, The Angel of the Lord, compounding it of Malach and Iah, upon a miſtake, and miſtaking his author too, for hee cites Iſidore, the place he meanes though he name it not, is, lib. 7. cap. 8. and the words there though ſomewhat obſcure, ſeeme to mee to carry another meaning, for following the reading of the Lxx, hee gives that ſenſe of the word that they doe, not The meſſenger or Angel of the Lord, but foreign, my Angel, which Etymon alſo Hierom gives in his Preface to Ioel, where hee derives the names of all the Prophets: and hee is followed not onelyonly by the compoſer of the table of proper names to the Geneva, and by Rob. F. Herrey the corrector and enlarger of that table printed with our authoriſed tranſlation, but our laſt tranſlators alſo themſelves have ſo rendred the very ſame word into Engliſh, in the Text of Eſa. 42.19. Who is deafe foreign as my meſſenger.
But to leave this, the greateſt a doe is, who this Malachy ſhould be.
Firſt, the LXX (as was ſaid) turne it, my Angel, which reading as the ancients generally follow, ſo Origen tooke thence an occaſion to conceive that it was an heavenly Angel in humane converſation whom God employed, and Tertullian ſeemes to be of that opinion.
2. But 'tis more generally received, and upon better grounds, that hee was a man. 1. Some ſay, ſome man of another name, and called an Angel for his office ſake, and becauſe of his eminency. The Iewes, ſome of them thinke he was Mordecai, ſome that he was Zachary, ſome (as Deodate notes becauſe of that Hag. 1.13) that hee was Hagge; but the moſt of them that hee was Ezra, according to Buxtorfius in comment: Maſoretico cap. 3. who having ſet down Elias Levita his preface in Hebr. rythme beginning, Aala Eezra his Mal chi eEzra went up, The ſame is Malachy., upon occaſion of that quotes R. David in Loc. affirming it to be the generall opinion. Yet ſee in his 1…. Chap. Abarbanel and Ma…mony alledged, who ſeem to be of another mind, reckoning Malachy and Ezra, as diſtinct men in the catalogue of the heads of the great Synagogue. But the moſt are, that he was the ſame with Ezra, a man indeed very eminent, who though he were not high prieſt was next, in dignity, and of great autority both with his own and the Perſians, of notable ſanctity, and of that age, that hee ſaw both temples (ſee the learned Biſhop of Chicheſter, now of Norwich, his Apparatus ad Orig: Eccleſ. App. vsus. ſect. 23.) being borne to Saraiah before the captivity, as appeares Ezr. 7.1. compared with, 2 Ki 25.18.21. and returned into the land about the 130. yeare of his age, about the time of this prophecy, where he dealt alſo in the ſame ſubject and againſt the ſame corruptions, which was one argument that led the Iewes, and after them S. Hierom, Remigius, Rupertus, & of late Ribera the Pontifician, and our Pet. Martyr. (Loc. Commun. Clauſ. 3. cap. 15. ſect. 48.) to be of that conceit, that he was Ezra, or at leaſt that it is probable, as Luc. Oſiander and Dav. Pareus. proleg. 1. ad Hoſ. Who would ſee the reaſons, (ſuch as they are) for this opinion, I referre him to the following commentary, where they are alſo anſwered. Secondly, I follow thoſe that take this name of Malachy to be the Prophets own proper name. And ſo beſides that Aben-Ezra quoted by Buxtorfius in the place recited, Athanaſius, Chryſoſt. Theo. Aug. Lyran. Vatabl: Montan. and Genebrard too (though hee ſpeake obſcurely, Chro. p. 180.4.) diſti…guiſh Ezra and this Prophet; It ſeemes alſo to be ſo taken by the Apocryphall Ezra, lib. 2. c. 1. v. 40. who reckons his name among the other Prophets, and then adds the ſignification of it; for I aſſent not unto Iunius his reading and his note upon the place, which the reader may ſee. After the Captivity as they brought with them from Babylon the names of Angels, not proper names (as Iacob Bonfrerius diſcourſeth it, comment. in Iudic. c. 13. v. 17. Where hee purpoſely handles the queſtion, whether Angels have any names:) but of their office, as Gabriel. Raphael, Ʋriel, ſo it is likely they might more uſually call their ſonnes Angells, that manner of language ſeeming to bee very ordinary with them, and our Prophet oft uſeth it, ſo hee calls the Prieſt, Cap. 2.7. and Chriſt, Cap. 3.1. and Iohn Baptiſt, in the ſame Verſe. T'was his name, and I ſuppoſe given him, not by the people (as Epiphanius tells us in his life,) who becauſe of his comely forme and holy life, called him ſo, but by his father at his birth or circumciſion. It was a commendable practiſe of the Iewes to give their children the names of ſuch as had formerly exceld in vertue, (a cuſtome imitated by Chriſtians who uſed to call ſuch children, as were borne to them upon or neare the feſtivalls of any of the Apoſtles or others, by their names, which cuſtome Philip Pareus in the life of his father David Pareus, tells us was obſerved in his country, and that, for that reaſon his Father had that name given him) or for the remembrance of ſome event, or for the foretelling of ſome thing to come to paſſe; But however, uſually they gave them names of a good ſignification. Which though wee are not bound to imitate, (as ſome doe even unto ſuperſtition,) but have a liberty to impoſe ſuch names as are in uſe in our Country, though haply wee know not the ſignification of them; yet it hath beene alſo the piety of Chriſtian Churches, to provide that no unfitting names bee given in Baptiſme; among others wee have a good conſtitution of Iohn Pecham ſometimes Archbiſhop of Canterbury. Attendant Sacerdotes ne laſciva nomina quae ſcilicet mox prolata ſonent in laſciviam, imponi permittant parvulis baptizatis, ſexus praecipuè foeminini, & ſi contrarium fiat, per confirmantes epiſcopos corrigatur. Let the Prieſts ſee, that they ſuffer no wanton names which ſound laſciviouſly to bee given unto infants in their Baptiſm, eſpecially to the female ſexe, and if there bee, let the Biſhops change them at their confirmation. Lyndw. provinc. lib. 3. De Bapt. cap. Circ. Sacramentum. See alſo the gloſſe there. But this only by the way.
Who the Father of Malachy was we finde not, and yet that his Father was not a prophet is not to be concluded, for that rule of latter Hebrewes, That ſuch Prophets whole Fathers are named were the ſonnes of Prophets, and otherwiſe not; Is found to bee uncertaine by Burgenſis in Hoſ. 1. and by Franc. Riber a praelud. 4. in Expoſ. proph. and condemned alſo by Ioh. Druſius, Lect. in Hoſ. 1.1.
The place alſo of his birth is as uncertaine, ſave that Epiphanius and out of him Ribera, praelud. 5. tell us it was Sopha a Towne of Zabulon, A place not at all mentioned or obſerved by Euſebius or S. Hierom in Bonfrerius his Onomaſticon, nor by M. Iohn More in his exact map of the Land.
For the time of his prophecying, ſee the following commentary with which I ſit downe in this point, unwilling to endeavour to reconcile Chronologers about the preciſe yeare. Ioh. Alſted. in Theſauro Chronol. Titulo 13. places him. An. M. 3537. Our Iſaackson in that diligent and induſtrious worke of his places him an hundred yeares ſooner, not farre from which time the Hebrewes in their Seder Olam Zuta or briefer Chronicle, tranſlated by Genebrard, doe pitch, ſetting his death, An. M. 3404. But the Sepher hakkabala, (writ by R. Abraham Davidis, as Genebrard calls him, who alſo tranſlated ſome part of it, or R. Abraham bar dior, as Buxtorfius names him in Bibliotheca Rabbinica, litera P.) yet nearer to the yeare of Iſaackson, and our commentary, about A. M. 3450. Let ſuch as have leaſure, and thinke it worth the time, ſatisfy themſelves farther; to me it is plaine by the matter that he handles, that he prophecyed after the Temple was built (for he reproves their profaning of the Altar) and a little before the comming of Ezra, for he inveighed againſt their marrying with ſtrangers, which Ezra by his authority did remedy. Epiphanius tells us hee was borne after the captivity and dyed young. As if he had beene an Angel, onelyonly came and told his errand and preſently returned. But thus much for the inſcription, by way of preface, wee are next to conſider the prophecie it ſelfe, from Verſ. 2. to the end of the Booke.
II. The prophecy it ſelfe: which containes diverſe conteſtations with them all, both prieſts and people, for many things that were amiſſe among them. But being conciſe and patheticall, as moſt of the Prophets are, and abounding in affection, hee intermingleth with his conteſtations and reproofes, ſometimes perſuaſions, ſometimes threatnings, ſometimes promiſes: Yet (ſaving the judgment of others who have handled this booke) I reſolve the whole prophecy into eight conteſtations.
Firſt, for their ingratitude and contempt of Gods worſhip from cap. 1. verſ. 2. to Chap. 2. v. 10.
Secondly, for their unequall and unrighteous dealing with each other. Cap. 2. ver. 10.
Thirdly, for their marrying with ſtrangers and infidells. Cap. 2. ver. 11.12.
Fourthly, for their polygamy. Chap. 2. ver. 13.14, 15, 16.
Fifthly, for their blaſphemy againſt God, and his providence from Chap. 2. ver. 17. to Chap. 3. ver. 7.
Sixthly, for their impenitence. Chap. 3. ver. 7.
Seventhly, for their Sacriledge. Chap. 3. ver. 8, 9, 10, 11.12.
Eightly, againe for their Blaſphemy and Atheiſme, from Chap. 3. ver, 13. to the end of the Booke.