fiecting on past terror with pleasure, being free.d from
it, and in no danger of a foreign en. emy, ver. 17, !8,
19. and the chapter is concluded wttha famous pro-
phecy of the peace, prosperity, and safety of the
church, and of the healthfulhess of its inhabitants,
under the protection of Christ, its King and "Lawgiver,
its enemies being also an easy prey to it, ver. 20, 21,
22, 23, 2`4.
Vet. 1. Woe to thee that $poilest, and thou wast not
spoiled, &c.] Which some understand of Nebuchad-
nezzar; others of Sennacherib, which is more proba-
ble; it seems best to interpret it of the Romish anti-
christ. Kimchi thinks that, if it respects the times
of Hezekiah, Sennacherib is meant; but if the times
of the Messiah, then the king of nations that shall be
in those days; and he adds, this is the kingdom of
Persia, in the vision of Daniel. Vatrings applies this
to Antiochus Epiphanes, and the whole prophecy to
the times of the Maccabees; but it best agrees with
the beast of Rome, to whom power has been given
over aH kindreds, and tongues, and nations, the Apol-
lyon, the spoiler and destroyer of the earth, espe-
cially of the saints, whom he has made war with and
overcome; see Rev. ix. 11. and xi. 7, 18. and xiii. 7.
now. this spoiler of msn, of their substance by confis-
cation, of their bodies by imprisonment and death,
and of their societies and families by his violent perse-
cutions, and of the souls of others by his false doc-
trine; though he may continue long in prosperity
and glory, and not be spoiled, or destroyed, yet not
always. The Vulgate Latin version renders the last
clause interrogatively, and perhaps not amiss, shall
thou not be spoiled? verily thou shalt; the same
measure he has meted to others shall be measured to
him again; the spoiler of others shall be stripped of all
himself; he that destroyed the earth shall be de-
stroyed from off the earth; he that leads into capti-
vity shall go into it; and he that kills with the sword
shall be slain by it, Rev. xi. 18. and xiii. 10: and
de,lest treacherousl!t, and they dealt not treacherously
with thee; or, shah they not deal treacherously with
thee? so the above version renders.it with an interro-
gation; and both this and the preceding clause are
thus paraphrased by the Targum, "woe to thee that
". comest to spoil, and shall they not spoil thee ? and
"who comest to oppress, and shall they not oppress
"thee ?" truly they shall; the kings of the earth that
were in confederacy with the beast, and gave their
khagdoms to him, shall hate the whore, eat her flesh,
and burn her with fire, Rev. xvii. 16: when thou $halt
cease to spoil, tho.u shall be spoiled; when the time is
come that antichrist shall be suffered no longer to
ravage in the .earth, and spoil the bodies, souls, and
substance of men, then shall he himself be spoiled of
his power and authority,-riches and grandeur; his
plagues shall come upon him at once, fire, famine,
and death; for his cessation from spoiling will not be
hisown option, nor the fruit and effect of repentance
and reformation, but will be owing to the sovereign
power of God in restraining him.: and when thou shalt
make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal trea-
cherously with thee; for the coming of antichrist was
with lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness; he has the appearance of.a lamb,
but speaks like a dragon; has used many wiles, arts,
and stratagems, and treacherous methods to deceive
and impose on men, and to insnare and entrap them;
and when the time is come that he will not be permit-
ted to proceed any further and longer in his deceitful
practices, the kings of the earth, who have been de-
ceived by him, and brought in subjection to him, will
pay him in his own coin; see 1 Thess. ii. 9, 10. Rev.
xiii. 11. and xvii. 12, 13, 16.
Ver. 2. 0 Lord, be gracious unto us, &c.] This 
is a prayer of the church under the persecutions of
antichrist, imploring the grace and favour of God
in their miserable and distressed circumstances; de-
siring his gracious help, assistance, and deliverance;
pleading not any merits of their own, but casting them-
selves upon the mercy and kindness of God: we have
waited for thee; time after time, year after year, in the
use of means; hoping for the manifestations of thyself,
and kind appearance for us; expecting succour and sal-
vation, and still continue to wait, believing the time
will come when favour will be shewn: be thou their
arm every morning; when they pray unto thee, the 
morning being the time of prayer; and also be their arm
all the day long, to lean and depend upon, to support, 
protect, and defend them; there is a change of person
from the first to the third, usual in prophetic and
poetic writings: some take them to be the words of
the Old-Testainent church, praying for the New-Tes-
tament church; and others a prayer of the church for
her children and members. The Vulgate Latin version
renders it, our arm; and the Syriac version, our helper;
and the Targum, '" our strength :" some read the
words in connexion with the following clause, thus, be
thou, who wast their arm every morning, referring to
their forefathers, whose strength and support the
Lord was, our salvation also in the time of trouble{s}; the
'deliverer of us from the antichristian yoke of bondage,
i from all his persecutions and oppressions, from the
last struggle of the beast, from that hour of trouble and
temptation that shall' come upon all the earth.
Ver. 3. At the noise of the tumult the people fled, &c.]
The Vulgate Latin Version renders it, at the voice of
the angel; and Jerom reports it as the opinion of the'
Jews, that it was Gabriel; and many interpret the
words either of the noise the angel made in the air, of
was made in the Assyrian camp, when the angel de-
scended, and smote such a vast number of them, at
which the remnant, being aftrighted, fled, 2 Kings xix.
35, 36. but either this is to be understood as express-
ing what had been done in time past, and therefore the
church took encouragement that it might and would"
be so again; or as a continuance of her prayer, thus,
at the noise of the tumult, or multitude {t}, let the people
flee {u}; or as a prediction, they shall flee {w}; that is, at the
noise of the multitude of saints, the faithful, called,
and chosen armies of heaven, that follow Christ on

{s} So some in De Dieu.
{t} \^Nwmh lwqm\^ a voce multitudinis, Pagninus; a voce turbae, Mon-
tanus, Cocceius.
{u} Fugiant, so some in Gataker.
{s} Profugient, Piscator.