giving all things into his hands, in committing all
judgment to him, that men may honour him as they
do the Father, will move him to increase his govern-
ment and peace, and make him his first born higher
than the kings of the earth; and his zeal or fervent
love to his people will put him upon all this, since it
is for their good, as well as for his own glory, and the
honour of his Son; what the queen of Sheba said of So-
lomon may be said of Christ and his people, \\#1Ki 10:9\\.
\*Ver. 8. \\The Lord sent a word unto Jacob\\, &c.] The
prophet, having comforted Judah with the promise of
the Messiah, returns to denounce the judgments of
God upon the ten tribes, under the names of Jacob and
Israel, which signify the same; for the %word% here is
not the word of promise, the comfortable word con-
cerning the Messiah before mentioned; but a word of
threatening, ruin, and destruction, to the kingdom of
Israel, after enlarged upon, which the Lord sent unto
them by his prophets before hand, to warn them of it,
and bring them to repentance; by which they would
know, when it came to pass, that their destruction
was of the Lord, and not a matter of chance: the Sep-
tuagint version is, %the Lord sent death upon Jacob%; and
so the Arabic version, following it; the same word,
differently pointed, being used for the pestilence, but
is not the sense here; the Targum, Syriac, and Vul-
gate Latin versions, render it, %a word%, as we do: \*\\and
it hath lighted upon Israe\\l, or %hath fallen% {x}; as an arrow
shot out of a bow, as some think; or as seed cast upon
the earth; or rather like a thunderbolt: it denotes
the sure and full accomplishment of the word of God
upon the persons to whom it was sent; for as his word
of promise, so of threatening, does not return to him
void and empty, \\#Isa 55:10,11\\. The Targum is, \*"the
"Lord sent a word into the house of Jacob, and it
"was heard in Israel."\* KILL
\*Ver. 9. \\And all the people shall know\\, &c.] The
word of the Lord, and that it is his; and by sad ex-
perience shall feel the weight of it; or, %the people shall
know the whole of it% {y}; shall find that the whole of it
will be accomplished, every punctilio in it; whatever
is said is done, every thing predicted by it, the sub-
stance of it, and every circumstance relating to it: or
they shall be punished, they shall bear, know, and feel
the punishment of their sins; in which sense the word
%know%, in the Arabic language, is frequently used, of
which Schultens {z} has given many instances: \*\\[even]
Ephraim, and the inhabitants of Samaria\\: the ten
tribes are meant by Ephraim; and the inhabitants of
Samaria are particularly mentioned, because Samaria
was the metropolis of Ephraim, \\#Isa 7:9\\ and because
it was to suffer, and did suffer much in the threatened
calamity, being besieged three years, then taken, and
its inhabitants carried captive; and so experimentally
knew the word of the Lord, and the truth of it, \\#2Ki 17:5,6\\:
\*\\that say in the pride and stoutness of heart\\;
being proud and haughty, stout hearted, and far from
righteousness, and the fear of God; hardening them-
selves against him, despising his word, and defying, as
it were, his power and providence; saying, as follows:
\*Ver. 10. \\The bricks are fallen down\\, &c.] Houses
made of bricks, which were without the cities besieged
and destroyed by the Assyrians; of which the haughty
Israelites made no account, looking upon such a deso-
lation as little, or no loss at all: \*\\but we will build with
hewn stone\\, so that the houses will be better and
stronger, more beautiful, and more durable: \*\\the syca-
mores are cut down\\; which grew in the fields, and out-
parts of the cities, and were but a mean sort of wood,
and which the Assyrians cut down to serve several
purposes in their siege; of this sort of trees, 
\\see Gill on "Lu 19:4"\\: \*\\but we will change them into ce-
dars\\; that is, will plant cedars in the room of them;
trees tall and large, very delightful to look at, of great
worth and usefulness, and very durable; though this
may regard not so much the planting of them as the
use of them in building, and the sense be agreeable to
the former clause; that as, instead of brick, they
would build houses with hewn stone; so, instead of
sycamore wood, which was not so substantial and du-
rable, and fit for building, they would make use of ce-
dar, which was both beautiful and lasting; so the Sep-
tungist, \*"the bricks are fallen, let us hew stones, and
"cut down sycamores and cedars, and build for our-
"selves a tower;"\* and so the Arabic version; so that,
upon the whole, they flattered themselves they should
be gainers, and not losers, by the Assyrian invasion;
thus deriding it, and despising the prophecy concern-
ing it. Jarchi interprets the bricks and sycamores of
the kings that went before, as Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu,
in whose days they were lessened, and were like a
building of brick, broken and falling; but their present
king, Pekah, the son of Reimaliah, was strong, like a
building of hewn stone, and so cedars were better for
building than sycamores; and to this sense agrees the
Targum, \*"the heads (or princes) are carried captive,
"but we will appoint better in their room; goods are
"spoiled, but what are more beautiful than them we
"will purchase."\*  KILL
\*Ver. 11. \\Therefore the Lord shall set up the adver-
saries of Rezin against him\\, &c.] Set them up on high,
as the word {a} signifies; exalt them above him, and
make them superior to him, and conquerors of him,
meaning the Assyrians; who, being sent for by Abab,
went up against Damascus, took it, and carried the
people captive, and slew Rezin the king of Syria, the
head of which was Damascus, \\#2Ki 16:7-9\\
this is mentioned, because the Israelites put great trust
and confidence in this prince, with whom they were
in alliance; and this is said to abate their pride, arro-
gance, and haughtiness, before expressed: \*\\and join his
enemies together\\; or mix them; the Assyrian army,
consisting of a mixture of various nations; or %stir% them
%up%, as the Targum; instigate them against him. Some
understand the whole of Israel, against whom the ad-
versaries of Rezin, namely, the Assyrians, would come,
as they did, and invade their land, and carry them
captive; with whom were various other people, as
follows.
\*Ver. 12. \\The Syrians before, and the Philistines be-
hind\\, &c.] Rezin, king of Syria, the confederate of
the Israelites, being slain, his people joined the Assy-

{x} \^lpn\^ %cecidit%, Grotius, Cocccius.
{y} \^wlk\^ %totum ejus%.
{z} Animadv. Philol. in Job, p. 77, 78.
{a} \^bgvy\^ %elevabit, sive extollet%, Forerius.