"those that slay With the sword, in the time of their ~
" destruction :" "in the time that their iniquity had an
end; when either the measure of that was full; or
when they received for it full correction and chastise-
ment; at the consummation of that.
Vet. 6. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, &c.]]
Theform of an oath; the Lord swears by himself, be-
cause he could swear by no greater; and which he
never does but in matters of importance, and for the
confirmation of them, .as the following is: I will pre-
pare thee unto blood; prepare them for war, which will
issue in slaughter and blood, such as the battle at Ar-
mageddon, Rev. xvi. 14, 16. and xix. 18, 19: or, I will
make thee blood {w}; nothing else but blood; a mere
Aceldama, a field of blood; turn 'thee into blood, as
the sea, rivers, and fountains will ,be, at the pouring out
the scented and third vials, Rev..xvi. 3, 4: 'and blood
shallpursue thee; the guilt and vengeance of blood;
or the avengers of the blood of the saints; the angels
that shall pour put .the vials of .wrath on Rome; the
ten kings that' shall hate the whore. So the Targum;
"they that slay with the Sword shall pursue thee ;" or
the shedtiers of blood, .as Ben Moloch: sith thou hast
not hated blood; Jarchi reads it;hast hated blood: which
he interprets of the blood of the sacrifices; as others,
mentioned by him, of the blood of circumcision; and
others, of his brother, who was his flesh and blood, and
hated by 'him; .but it is a figurative phrase, by. which
less is. expressed than is intended. The sense is, thou
hast loved blood; thou hast delighted in shedding
blood; hast thirsted after it, and drank pieall;fully of
it, and even been drunk with it, as the whore of Rome
is said to be, Rev. xvii. 5: even blood shall pursue thee;
this is repeated for the confirmation of it; and this was
measure for measure; a just retaliation; having shed
blood, it was but right that blood should pursue, and
be given, Rev. xvi. 5, 6.
   Vet. 7- Thus will I make Mount Seir most desolate,'
&c.] By shedding the blood of the inhabitants of it;
and as tome will be, when it will be utterly burnt
with fire, as that city will, and the flesh of the wh6re
also, and made desolate.; and when all the vials shall
bep0u. red out on the antichristian states trader her
jurisdiction, Roy. xvi. 1. and xvii. 16 and xviii, 8:
and cut off from it him that passeth ou.t and him that
returncth: every, traveller that pusseth to and fro; it
shall no more be frequented by merchants; nor will
there be any merchandise any more in it, Rev. xviii. tl.
   Ver. 8. ,4nd I will fill his mountains with his slain
men, &c.] Not only 'Mount Self, but all the rest of
the mountait}s ,in Idarues; where they shall flee for
refuge, and the enemy shall pursue them, and slay
them; and where their carcasses will fall in such num-
bers, as to cover the mountains with them; campare
with this Rev. xix. 18, 19: in thy hills, and in thy valleys,'
and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the
sword: expressive of the greatness and universality of
the slaughter, that it should be a general one every.-
where; hence rivers and fountains are said to become
blood, through the number of the slain, Rev. xvi. 3, 4.
Ver. 9. I will make thee perpetualdesolations, and thtj
cities shall not return, &c.3 To their former dignity
and glory; should not be built and inhabited again,
but lie waste for ever: this agrees with what is pro-
phesied of Edom, Mal. i. 4. and will be true of Rome
or Babylon when destroyed; it will never rise more,
but be like a millstone in the midst of the sea, Rev.
xviii'. 21: and ye shall know that I am the Lord; see
the note on vet. 4.
Ver. 10. Because thou hast said, these two nations and
these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it,
&c.] Meaning either Idamen he was no-w possessed
of, and Israel he hoped to be, upon the people of it
being carried captive; or rather the two nations of
Israel and Judah, and their countries; which he pleased
-himself with would fall into his hands, as next heir to
them ;.-the -posterity of his brother being dispossessed
of them. This may denote the claim. that Rome makes
upon the several Protestant nations and countries;
and which she will think-all her own, and that she is
in the p6ssession of them, upon the slaying of the. wit-
nesses; and when she will say, I sit a queen, and am no.
widow, Rev. xviii. 7- Whereas the Lord was there; and
heard their words, as Kimchi; and knew their thoughts,
asJarchi; so the Targum, "and before the Lord the
"thoughts of the heart wer.e manifest." The land of
Jades was Immanuel's land; and as the Lord had been
in it, and g,'anted his gracious presence in the taber-
nacle and ternple, so he still continued his powerful
presence in it, to protect and keep it for h,is people;
,who should return to it after their captivity, and in-
habit it until the Messiah came, who was. to be born
-in it. Or it may be rendered, though the Lord was or
dwelt there{x}; denoting the grea:t impiety and daring
wickedness of the Edomites, to think and talk of pos'
sessing a country that was the Lord's, and where he
was: and this holdsgood of the true reformed  churches
of Christ; the Lord is there, an'd therefore, though they
may be brought very low, and antichrist may triumph-
over them, and imagine he has. got them under his-
power again, where they shall continue; yet on a sud-
den his destruction will come, and their deliverance.
Or, where the Lord wasr; but he has.now departed, and
-will never return more, the temple being destroyed ;.
so they said, encouraging themselves.-
Vet. 11. There. fore, as I live, saith the Lord, &c.] A n
oath, as before in vet. G: -/, will do according to thine
anger, and according to!thine envy which thou hast used 
out of thy hatred against them :. as. thou hast been angry
with them, and hated them, and done mischief to. them,
so will I be angry with thee, and hate thee, and inflict-
punishment on thee; I'll retaliate all the anger, envy,
and hatred shewed unto my people,. and punish thee
according to, thy just demerits. So the Romish anti'-
christ shall be dealt with; he who has led into captivity
shaltgo into it, and he that has killed with the sword
shall be killed by it. Babylon sha1l be rewarded
double, as she has rewarded, others, Rev. xiii... !0. and
xviii. 6.. And I will males myself: known among them,
when I have judged tItee; the Tat'gum is, "and I will

{w} \^Kvea Mdl\^ in sanguinem redigam te, Munster; in sanguinem
faciam te, Grotius; sanguinem faciam te, Coceeius, Starckius.
{x} \^hyh Mv hwhyw\^ licet Dominus ibi habitaverit, Piscator. So Syr.
{y} Ubi Jehovah fuit, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; et Jehovah ibi
fuit, Starckius.