rians against Israel; and they, with others mentioned,
beset them on all sides, before and behind, east and
west; aud so the Targum, Septuagint, and other ver-
sions, render it, the Syrians on the east, or from the
rising of the sun; and the Philistines on the west, or
from the setting of the sun; for, as Kimchi observes,
Syria lay east of the land of Israel, and Palestine on
the West {b}: \*\\and they shall devour Israel with open
mouth\\: greedily ahd presently; make, as it were, but
one morsel of him: \*\\for all this his anger is not turned
away, but his hand [is] stretched out still\\; that is, the
anger of God, that was not turned away; he had not
yet stirred up all his wrath, he had not done with them,
he had still other judgments to bring upon them; and
his hand continued to be stretched out to inflict them,
seeing they were not brought to repentance by what
was already done unto them; so the Targum, \*"for
"all this they do not return from their sins, that he
"may turn away his anger from them, but still re-
"tain their sins; and yet his stroke will be to take
"vengeance on them."
\*Ver. 13. \\For the people turneth not to him that smiteth
them\\, &c.] Who was the Lord of hosts, as it is ex-
plained in the next clause; it was he that had smote
the people with the rod of correction and chastisement,
by various afflictions and distresses which he had
brought upon them; in order to bring them to a sense
of their sin and duty, to reclaim and recover them from
their backslidings; but they had not such an effect
upon them; they returned not to him by repentance
and reformation, from whom they had turned them-
selves by their evil ways; nor to his worship, as the
Targum interprets it, to his word and ordinances; for
afflictions; unless sanctified, are of no use to restore
backsliders. This is to be understood of the people of
Israel, the ten tribes, whom the prophet calls %the
people%, not my people, nor the people of the Lord,
because unworthy of that character. The Septuagint
render the words, %the people returned not until they were
smitten%, and so the Syriac version intimating, as if
they did return when smitten; but the following words,
ahd the whole context, shew the contrary: \*\\neither do
they seek the Lord of hosts\\; by prayer and supplica-
tion, for pardoning grace and mercy through Christ
the Mediator; nor in his word and ordinances, for his
presence and communion with him, or instruction or
doctrine from him, as the Targum; to be taught true
doctrine, and their duty to God and man; this is one part
of the character of an unregenerate man, \\#Rom 3:11\\.
\*Ver. 14. \\Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel
head and tail\\, &c.] The former of these is afterwards
interpreted of %the ancient and honourable%, men in high
places, civil magistrates, judges, governors, and elders
of the people, the king as supreme, and all subordinate
officers; and so the Targum, \*"the Lord will destroy
"from Israel the prince and the ruler;"\* and the latter
is interpreted of the false prophet. The people of
Israel are compared to a beast with a tail, being so
sadly degenerated and corrupted; as the Romish anti-
christ, in both his capacities, civil and ecclesiastical,
is compared to a beast; the one being the head, and
the other the tail, \\#Re 13:1 2,11\\ and Rome Pagan
to a dragon with a tail, \\#Re 12:3,4\\ ?? and the Sara-
cens and Turks to locusts with tails like the tails of
scorpions, \\#Re 9:10,19\\: \*\\branch and rush, in one day\\.
The Septuagint render it, %great and small%; and so the
Arabic version; the first word intending the great men
of the nation, in flourishing circumstances, like
branches of trees; the latter the common, people, like
reeds and rushes, weak and feeble; so Kimchi ex-
plains them, \*"the strong and the weak;"\* though the
Targum interprets both of the governor and lord; and
so Jarchi says they signify kings and governors; but
Aben Ezra renders the word root and branch; and so
they may denote the utter destruction of the people of
Israel, fathers and children, high and low, rich and
poor. See \\#Mal 4:1\\.
\*Ver. 15. \\The ancient and honourable, he [is] the head\\,
&c.] The elder in office, not in age; and who, on ac-
count of his office, dignity, and riches, is honoured by
men, is of a venerable countenance himself, and is re-
verenced when seen and looked upon by others, and
received by persons with pleasure and cheerfulness; as
the phrase used signifies. The Septuagint and Arabic
versions render it, %who admire%, or %have% men's %persons
in admiration%; which is the character Jude gives of
false teachers, \\#Jude 1:16\\ who are next described:
\*\\and the prophet that teacheth lies, he [is] the tail\\; so
called from their low extract, being often of a mean
original and descent; or rather from the meanness of
their spirits, their flattery of princes and great men, to
whom they tell lies, and prophesy smooth and false
things, for the sake of a little sordid gain, in allusion
to dogs that wag their tails at their masters; or from
the poison of their doctrines, some creatures having
poison in their tails, and do much mischief with them.
See \\#Re 9:19\\.
\*Ver. 16. \\For the leaders of this people cause [them] to
err\\, &c.] Or, %who bless this people%, as the Septuagint
and Arabic versions; and so the Targum, \*"who
"praise this people;"\* that call them blessed, pro-
nounce them happy, see \\#Mal  3:15\\ and promise
them happiness, both in this world and that to come,
though guilty of notorious sins, and live a vicious
course of life; and so harden them in their iniquities,
and cause them to wander more and more from the
way of truth and righteousness; and lead them unto,
and leave them in, fatal mistakes about their state and
condition. These seem to design the ecclesiastical
leaders of the people, the blind leaders of the blind,
see \\#Isa 3:12 Mt 15:14\\: \*\\and [they that are] led
of them [are] destroyed\\; or, %they% that %are blessed of them
are swallowed up% {c}; and so irrecoverably lost; the de-
ceivers and the deceived perish together; as it is sin-
ful in teachers and leaders of the people to teach them
false things, and lead them out of the way, it is crimi-
nal in the people to be led and taught by them, who
ought to take care what they hear and receive; and
therefore both are righteously punished; for the words
are a reason why the Lord would cut off both the one
and the other.
\*Ver. 17. \\Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their
young men\\, &c.]

{b} So Noldius renders it, Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 10. No. 69.
{c} \^Myelbm wyrvamw\^ %qui ex hoc populo beati dicuntur, 
    absorbebuntur%, Vatablus.