~le, Whom he had conquered, and were given up into
is hands by the-Lord, according to his purposes, or
he had never been lord over them:they were dis-
mayed and confounded; not so much at the sight of
$ennacherib's army, but because the Lord had dispi-
rited them, and took away their natural courage from
them, so that they became an easy prey to him: they
were as the grass of the field : which. has no strength to
stand before the mower: and as the green herb; which
is easily cropped with the hand of man, or eaten by
the beasts of the field: as the grass on the house-tops:
which has no matter of root, and is dried up with the
heat of the sun: and as corn blasted before it be grown
up; before it rises up into any tiring of a stalk, and
much less into ears; so the Targum," which is blasted
"before it comes to be ears;" all which represent
the feeble condition of the people Overcome by him;
so that he had not so much to glory of, as having done
mighty things.
Vet. 28. But I know thy abode, and thy going out,
and thy coming' in, &c.] Where he dwelt, what he
did at home, his secret councils, cabals, contrivances,
schemes and plans for the compasslug of his ends, the
subduing of kingdoms, and setting up an universal
monarchy; and his going out of Babylon, his marches,
and counter-marches, and his entrance into the land of
Judea; there was not a motion made, or a step taken
in the cabinet or camp, but what were known to the
Lord; so tim Targum, "thy sitting in council, and
"thy going out abroad to make war, and thy coming
...... he land of Israel, are manifest before me:" and
thy rage against me; against his people, against the
city that was called by his name, against the temple
where he was worshippod, particularly against his ser-
vant Hezekiah, because he would not immediately
deliver up the city to him. The Targum and Syriac
versions render it, before me; and then the meaningis,
thy rage, wrath and fury, is before me: or manifest to
me; and which he could restrain at pleasure, as he
promises to do in the next verse.
Vet. 29. Because thy rage against me, and thy tu-
mult is come up into mine ears, &c.]. The rage which
Sennacherib expressed both by Rabshakeh, and in his
letter against Hezekiah and his people, is taken by
the Lord as against himself; so great was his care of
them, and concern for them; and indeed there was a
great deal of blasphemy belched out against himself;
and so the Syriac version renders the next word, tran-
slated tumult, thy blasphemy; though that may rather
intend the blustering noise that Rabshakeh made, or
the noise of the Assyrian army, the chariots and horse-
men, and the multitude of the soldiers, which was
not only heard by the Jews, and was terrible to them,
but was taken notice of by the Lord, who had it in
derision; hence he adds: therefore will I put my hook
in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips; comparing Sen-
nacherib to leviathan, or the great whale, or to some
Very large and unruly fish, not easily caught and ma-
naged; .see Job xli. 1. Ezek. xxix. 3, 4. or to a bear,
or buffaloe, in whose noses men put iron rings, and
lead them about at pleasure; and also to a horse or mule,
which are managed by the bit and bridle; signifying
hereby the strength, fierceness, and fury of the As-
syrian monarch, and the power of God to restrain him,
which he could easily do: and I will turn thee back by
the way by which thou camest ; from Jerusalem, the
same way he came to it, to his own land again, and
so he did, vet. 37.
Vet..30. And this shall be a sign unto thee, &c.]
Not to Sennacherib, but to Hezekiah; for here the
Lord turns himself from the former, and directs his
speech to the latter, in order to comfort him under the
dreadful apprehensions he had of the Assyrian monarch,
and his army; assuring him of deliverance; giving him
a sign or token of it, and which was a wonder, as the
word sometimes signifies, and was no less marvelIons
than the deliverance itself: ye shall eat this year such
as groweth of itself: and< the second year that which
springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye,
and reap andplant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof:
all which was very wonderful; for whereas, either
through the invasion of the land, and the siege of the
city, they could not till their land as they had used
to do, or what was Upon it was destroyed or eaten
up by the Assyrian army; and yet, through the won-
derful providence of God, the earth of its own accord
yielded that very year a sufficiency for them; and
though the second year was, as it is thought, a sabba-
tical year, when the land had rest, and by the law was
not to be tilled, yet it also produced of itself what
was sufficient for their support; and then the third
year being entirely free from the enemy, and all
fears of his return, they go about their business as
formerly, to sowing and reaping corn, and planting
vineyards, and enjoying the fruit of their labours; all
which falling out according to this prediction, must
greatly confirm the mind of Hezekiah, and make him
easy as to any future attempt upon him he might
fear. The Vulgate Latin version renders the secoffd
clause, ye shall eat apples the second year; and so Sym=
macbus,' but without foundation.
Vet. 31. And the remnant that is escaped of the house
ofJudah, &c.] The few that escaped out of the cities
of Judah, upon Sennacherib's invasion of the land,
and besieging and taking the fenced cities thereof,
who fled to Jerusalem for safety; these were a type of
the remnant, according to the election of grace, the
few that are cliosen of God, the special people re=
deemed by Christ, the little flock of his, the small
number that enter in at the strait gate, and are saved;
and who escape, not the fall of Adam, nor the impu-
tation of his sin, nor the corruption of nature, nor the
pollutions of the world in a state of nature; but who
escape the vengeance of divine jastice,'the curse of
a righteous law, wrath to come, and the damnation of
hell; which is owing to the love of God, the covenant
of his grace, the suretyship-engagementS of Christ, and
his performance of them; these are the household of
faith, God's confessing and professing people, who are
Jews inwardly, of whom there are but a few; of these
'tis said, they shall again take root downward, and bear
fruit upward. The Targum is," as a tree which sends
"forth its roots below, and lifts up its branches above."
The sense is, that those people that fled from their
own habitations to Jerusalem should return thither
again upon the breaking up of the siege, and be firmly
settled, and live peaceably and prosperously, abound-
ing with all good things', which may be applied, mys-