\*Ver. 10. \\For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell\\, &c.] Meaning, not in the place of the damned, where Christ never went, nor was; for at his death his soul was committed to his father, and was the same day in paradise: but rather, %sheol% here, as %hades% in the Near Testament, signifies the state of the dead, the separate state of souls after death, the invisible world of souls, where Christ's soul was; though it was not left there, nor did it continue, but on the third day returned to its body again; though it seems best of all to interpret it of the grave, as the word is rendered in \\#Ge 42:38 Isa 38:18\\; and then by his %soul% must be meant, not the more noble part of his human nature, the soul, in distinction from the body; for as it died not, but went to God, it was not laid in the grave; but either he himself, in which sense the word %soul% is sometimes used, even for a man's self, \\#Ps 3:2 11:1\\. For it might be truly said of him, God's holy One, that he was laid in the grave, though not left there; or rather his dead body, for so the word %nephesh% is rendered in \\#Nu 9:6,10 19:11, 1-3\\; so %anima% is used in Latin authors {u}: this was laid in the grave; for Joseph having begged it of Pilate, took it down from the cross, and laid it in his own new tomb; though it was the will of God it should not be left there, but be raised from the dead, as it was on the third day, before it was corrupted, as follows: \*\\neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption\\; that is, to lie so long in the grave as to putrefy and be corrupted; wherefore he was raised from the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures, before the time bodies begin to be corrupted; see \\#Joh 11:39\\; and this was owing not to the care of Joseph or Nicodemus, in providing spices to preserve it, but of God who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; and who would not suffer his body to be corrupted, because he was holy, and because he was his holy One; that so as there was no moral corruption in him, there should be no natural corruption in him; so the Jewish Midrash {w} interprets it, that \*"no worm "or maggot should have power over him;"\* \*which is not true of David, nor of any but the Messiah. This character of %holy One% eminently belongs to Christ above angels and men, yea, it is often used of the divine Being, and it agrees with Christ in his divine nature, and is true of him as man; he is the holy thing, the holy child Jesus; his nature is pure and spotless, free from the taint of original sin; his life and conversation were holy and harmless, he did no sin, nor knew any, nor could any be found in him by men or devils; his doctrines were holy, and tended to promote holiness of life; all his works are holy, and such is the work of redemption, which is wrought out in consistence with and to the glory of the holiness and righteousness of God; Christ is holy in all his offices, and is the fountain of holiness to his people; and he is God's holy One, he has property in him as his Son, and as Mediator, and even as an holy One; for he was sanctified and sent into the world by him, being anointed with the holy oil of his spirit without measure. The word may be rendered, a %merciful% {x} or %liberal% and %beneficent one%: for Christ is all this; he is a merciful as well as a faithful high priest, and he generously distributes grace and glory to his people. \*Ver. 11. \\Thou wilt show me the path of life\\, &c.] Not the way of life and salvation for lost sinners, which is Christ himself; but the resurrection of the dead, which is a passing from death to life; and was shown to Christ, not doctrinally, or by illuminating his mind, and leading him into the doctrine of it, for so he himself has brought it to light by the Gospel; practically and experimentally, by raising him the dead, or by causing him to pass from death to life; and he was the first to whom the path of life was shown in this sense, or the that who ever trod in it, and so has led the way for others: hence he is called the that fruits of them that slept, the firstborn and first-begotten from the dead; for though others were raised before, yet not to an immortal life, never to die more, as he was; now the view, the faith, and hope of this, of not being left in the grave so long as to see corruption, and of being raised from the dead to an immortal life, caused joy and gladness in Christ, at the time of his sufferings and death, as well as what follows; \*\\in thy presence [is] fulness of joy\\: Christ, being raised from the dead, ascended to heaven, and was received up into glory into his father's presence, and is glorified with his own self, with his glorious presence, for which he prayed, \\#Joh 17:5\\; and which fills his human nature with fulness of joy, with a joy unspeakable and full of glory; see \\#Ac 2:28\\; and as it is with the head it will be with the members in some measure; now the presence of God puts more joy and gladness into them than any thing else can do; but as yet their joy is not full; but it will be when they shall enter into the joy of their Lord, into the presence of God in the other world then everlasting joy will be upon their heads; \*\\at thy right hand [there are] pleasures for evermore\\; Christ being entered into heaven is set down at the right hand of God inhuman nature, an honour which is not conferred on any of the angels, \\#Heb 1:13\\; where the man Christ Jesus is infinitely deed with the presence of God, the never-fading joys of heaven, the company of angels and glorified saints; here he sits and sees of the travail of his soul; he prolongs his days and sees his seed, souls called by grace, and brought to glory one after another, until they are all brought in, in whom is all his delight; and which was the joy set before him at the time of his sufferings and death: or the words may be rendered %in thy right are pleasant things for ever% {y}, and may design those gifts and graces, which Christ, being exalted at the right hand of God, received from thence and gives to men, for the use and service, of his church and people, in the several successive ages of time; and so Aben Ezra takes the words to be an allusion to a man's giving pleasant gifts to his friend with his right hand. {u} %--animamque sepulchro coudimus%. Virgil. Aeneid. 3. v. 67. {w} Apud Kimchi in v. 9. {x} \^Kydox\^ %misericordem tuum%, Pagninus, Montanus; %beneficus tuus%, Piscator. {y} \xun Knymyb twmyen\^ %amoenorum quae sunt in dextera tua perpetuo%, Cocceius; %delectationes in dextera tua usque in seculum%, Musculas.