a way of mercy and equity, are exetnplitied in the fol- lowing cases. Ver. 7- At what instant f shall spealc concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, &c.] By way of threatening: or, the moment I shall speak ', &c.; as soon as ever I have declared concerning any people what- ever, Jews or Gentiles; that if they go on in their sins, and remain impenitent, and do not turn front them, that they must expect I will quickly come out against such a nation and kingdom in a providential way, as threatened.: to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; as the proprietor of a garden, when it don't turn to his account, plucks up the plants, and pulls down the lettees, and lets it go to ruin. Ver. 8. If that nation against whom I have pronounced, &c.] Such a sentence as this, should immediately, upon the above declaration, do as Nineveh did: turn from their evil; their evil of sin, their evil ways and works, as an evidence of the truth of their repentance for former sins: I will repent of the evil that 1 thought to do unto them; as they change their course of life, God will change the dispensations of his providence towards them, and not bring upon them the evil of punishment he threatened them with; in which sense repentance can only be understood of God, he doing that which is simihtr to what men do when they repent of any thing; they stop their proceedings, and change their outward conduct; so God proceeds not to do what he threatened to do, and changes his outward behaviour to men; he wills a change, and makes one in his methods of acting, but never changes his will. Ver. 9. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, &c.] By way of promise on the other hand: or, and the moment I shall speak, &c. as in ver. 7- in favour to a people; signify- ing, that if they do that which is right and good, and continue therein, it may be expected that I will ap- pear for and among such a nation and kingdom: to build and to plant it; to build up its fences that have been broken down, and to plant it with pleasant plants, and make it prosperous and flourishing, and protect and defend it, and keep it safe, and in a secure con- dition; so that it shall be in very thriving circum- stances, and be out of' the power of its enemies to hurt it. Ver. 10. U'it do evil in my sight, &c.] What is sinful, contrary to the hw and will of God, openly and pub- licly, in abold and daring manner: that it obey not my voice: in my word, and by my prophets, but turn a deaf ear to them, and slight and despise all instruc- tions, admonitions, and reproofs: then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them; or, do them goodt; that is, withhold it. from them, and not bestow it on them; but, on the contrary, correct or punish them according to their deserts. Thus, though God is a sovereign God, yet, in the dispensations of his providence towards kingdoms and nations, he deals with them in such a merciful and equitable manner, that there is no just reason to complain of him; and yet he maintains and keeps up his power and authority, such as the potter exercises over the clay. Ver. 11. Now therefore go to, &c.] This is the ap- plication of the above general rules of procedure to the people of the Jews, and particularly that which relates to the destruction of a nation or kingdom, and the de- claration of it in order to reclaim them: speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, say- ing, thus saith the Lord; or, to the man of Judah {}; the body of the Jewish nation, and especially the inhabit- ants of the metropolis of it; which was the source of sin to the whole kingdom, and on which the calamity threatened would chiefly come, if not prevented by a reformation: behold, I frame evil against you; as the potter frames his clay upon the wheel, to which the allusion is; which is to be understood of the evil of punishment, but not of any secret purpose, and settled detertmination, in the mind of God to bring it upon them; for that is never disannulled by himself or others, or ever changed; but some operation in Pro- vidence, which began to work towards their destruc- tion; some providential step which God had taken, and which threatened their ruin: and devise a device against you; the same as before; by which it looked as if he had thought of the matter, and had contrived a scheme, wltich"if he went on with, would issue in the subversion of their whole state: return you every one .from his evil way; that so the reformation may be as general as the corruption was: it supposes a sense of the evil of their fortnor conduct, and repentance for their sins, of which their forsaking and abstaining from them would be an evidence: and make your ways and .your doings good; for it is not sufficient barely to abstain from sin, which is only a negative holiness;. but there must be a performance of good works, a walking in them, a constant series and course of ohe-. dienee to God, according to the rule of his word. Ver. l2. And they said, there is no hope, &c.] Or, but the?! said {w}; not that there was no hope of the grace and mercy of God, upon their repentance and reforma- tion, for that is before declared; but that they were so hardened in their sins, so fixed in their wicked courses, and so determined to go on in them, that there was no room for the prophet to hope of ever reclaiming them; signifying, that it was to little purpose to talk to them, or exhort thent; his labour would be in vain; for they were at a point, and resolved to continue in their evil practices, let the consequences be..what they would. Jarchi's note is, "but I know that they will say to "thee concerning thy words, that we don't care for "them ;" no, not a rush; you may as well hohl your peace and say nothing; we are in no pain about future judgments, these give us no uneasiness. The Targum is," we are turned from thy worship ;" and we are resolved to continue as we are, and not to return to say what you will: but we will walk after our own de- vices; God may take his way, and we will take ours; he has devised evil against us, you say, and he may bring it if he pleases; we have devised sin, and we'll go on in it: and we will do every one the imagination of {s} \^rbda egr\^ momento loquor, Schmidt; momento, eloquor, Junius & Tremellius; momento ut loquutus fuero, Tigurine version. {t} \^wtwa byjyhl\^ ad benefaciendum ei Montanus; ut benefacerem ei, Valablus, Pagninus; benefacturum ei, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {u} \^hdwhy vya la\^ ad virum Jehudah, Montanus, Cocceius, Schmidt. {w} \^wrmaw\ sed dixerunt, Schmidt; sed dicunt, Piscator.