afflictions and persecutions from their enemies in the
first times of Christianity, returns to the controversy
between him and the idolatrous Heathens, and chal-
lenges them to bring their cause into open court,
ahd let it be publicly tried, that it may be seen
on what side truth lies: bring forth your strong
reasons, saith the King of Jacob; or King of saints,
the true Israel of God, who acknowledge the-Lord
as their King and their God, and whom he rules
over, protects and defends; and this title is assumed
for the comfort of them, that though he is King over
all the nations of the world, yet in an eminent and
peculiar sense their King; and he does not style him-
self the God of Jacob, though he was, because this
was the thing in controversy, and the cause to be
decided, whether he was the true God, or the gods of
the Gentiles; and therefore their votaries are char- 
lenged to bring forth the strongest reasons and argu-
ments they could muster together, in proof of the divi-
nity of their idols; their bony arguments, as the word {x}
signifies; for what bones are to the body, that strong
arguments are to a cause, the support and stability
of it.
Ver. ee. Let them bring them forth, &c.] Not their
reasons, as before, but their gods; let them cause them
to come nigh, let them appear in court, and speak for
themselves, when their worshippers have said all they
can in defence of their deity: and skew us what shall
happen: what shall come to pass hereafter; and by
that prove their divinity; for none but God can foretel
things to come with certainty; for every thing else but
what comes from God, by his prophets, i.s all conjec-
ture, ambiguous, uncertain, mere juggle, trick, and
deception, as were the oracles of the Heathens; but
what is clearly and plainly foretold, and agreeably to
the prediction comes to pass, is a proof of deity, and
as such is here challenged. The us here, and the we in
the following clauses, either design God, and the Chris-
tians, the true worshippets of him; or rather the three
divine Persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit,
the one true God, in opposition to the gods of the
Heathens. The Targum renders it, "what shall Imp-
" pen to us :" let them skew the former things what they
be: either what were before the creation of the world,
as Jarchi; what were purposed, decreed, and deter-
mined so early to be done; or let them write, or inspire
their prophets to write, a history of the creation, and
of the transactions of former times, as Moses did, under
the inspiration of God; or let them skew what things
before predicted by them have come to pass, agreeably
to their predictions; or rather the first things, which
may be, skew {y}; what will first or presently come to
pass, that shew unto us if you can: that we may con-
sider them, and know the latter end of them ; or, and we
will set our hearts upon them {z}; weigh them well in
our minds, and diligently and attentively consider them,
how and in what manner it is foretold they shall come
to pass, and take notice-and observe the issue of
them, and whether :the event answers to the pre-
diction: or declare- us things for to come; which are at
a great distance; tell us not only what shall be
done in the present age, but onward to the end of the
world.
Ver. 23. Skew the things that are to come hereafter,
&c.] From henceforward to the consummation of all
things: so the Targum," skew what shall come to the
"end ;" or at the end, the end of all things; or skew
wonderful things, which shall be hereafter; so Jarchi
interprets the word; a word like. this having the signi-
ficati9n of signs and wonders: that we may know that
ye are gods; as ye are said to be; that we may own and
acknowledge you to be such, there being this clear proof
of it, if it can be made out, foretelling things to come,
both near and athr off. The Targum is, "that we
"may know whether ye worship idols, in whom there
"is any profit ;" as if the words were spoken not to
the idols, but to the worshippers of them: yea, do
good, or do evil; not in a moral, but in a civil sense;
do good to your friends, to your worshippers; bestow
layouts upon them, as I do on mine; or inflict punish-
ment on your enetnies, such as despise your deity, and
will not worship you, as I do on those that despise me,
and will not regard my service and worship: that we
,nay be dismayed, and behold it together: that when
we see your deity, and are convinced of it bythe above
proofs, we may be amazed and astonished, as not ex-
pecting snch proof, .and be confounded, and have no
more to object unto it. The Targum is, "that we
"may consider and reason together;" and bring the
matter in controversy to an issue, as it is in the next
verse.
Ver. 24. Behold, ye are ofnothin.g, &c.] Not as to
the matter of them, for they were made of gold, silver,
brass, 4-c. but as to the divinity of them: there was
none in them, they were of.no worth and value; they
could do nothing, either good or evil, either help their
friends, or hurt their enemies; yea, they were less
than nothing; for the words may be rendered by way
of comparison, behold, ye are less than nothing ú: see
ch. xl. 17: and your work of nought ; the workman-
ship bestowed on them, in casting or carving them,
was all to no purpo. se, and answered no end; or the
work they did, or pretended to do, their reigned ora-
cles, and false predictions: or, worse than nothing:
some render it, worse than a viper {b}; a word like this
is used for one, oh. lix. 5. and so denotes the poisonous
and pernicious effects of idolatry: an abomination is he
that chooseth you; as the object of his worship; he is
not only abominable, but an abomination itself to God,
and to all men of sense and religion; for the choice he
makes 'of an idol to be. his god skews him to be
a man void of common sense and reason, and destitute
of all true religion and godliness, and must be a stupid
sottish creature. The Targum is, "an abomination
"is that which ye have chosen for yourselves, or in
"which ye delight;" meaning their idols. This is
the final issue of the controversy, and the judgment
passed both upon the idols and their worshippers.

{x} \^Mkytwmue\^ \^Mue\^ os.
{y} \^ydynh hnh hm twnwvarh\^ priora quid ipsa, nuntiate, Montanus;
piora quaenam sint indicate, Piscator.
{z} \^wnbl hmyvnw\^ & ponemus cor nostrum, Vulg. Lat. Pagninus,
Montanus.
{a} \^Nyam Mta\^ vos minus quam nihil estis, Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator.
{b} \^epam\^ pejus opere viperae, Junius & Tremellius; pejus est oper
basilisci, Piscator.