"will seduce thee ;" so Jarchi seems to understand it: and the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, I will lead thee, agreeably to what follows: and will cause thee to come up from the north parts; see the note on ch. xxxviii. 15: and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel;not to inherit them, but to fall upon them, as in ver. 4. Vet. 3. And I will smite thy botv out of thy left hand, &c.] In which it is usually held, to have the arrow fitted to it: and I will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand; where they are commonly held when put into the bow, and then the bow is drawn with it; signifying hereby, that though he should come into the land of Israel, he should not succeed; he would be stripped of his armour, and it would be useless to him: bows and arrows.are put for all kind of warlike instru- ments; and are particularly mentioned because they were chiefly used in war when this prophecy. was delivered.. Vet. 4. Thou shatt fall upon the mountains of Israel, &c.] Be slain, and his carcass lie there; so the Tar- gum, "upon the mountains of the land of Israel thy "carcass shall be cast :" thou and allthy bands, and the people that is with thee; Gog and his army, auxili.- aries and allies: I will give thee to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured: great part of his army being slain, should not be buried, but be devoured by birds of prey, and savage beasts; such as eagles and vultures of the former sort, and lions, bears, wolves, &e. of the latter. This was always reckoned a very sore judgment and dreadful calamity, not to have a burial, but to be exposed to birds and beasts of prey; this was threatened to the Israelites, in case of disobedience to the law of God, Deut. xxviii. 26. and to the wicked Jews in the times of Jeremiah; and to that evil king of Judah, Jehoiakim. Jet. xvi. 4. and xxii. 18, 19. and is lamented as one of the greatest evils that could befall good men, Psal. lxxix. 2. and nothing was more dreadful among the Heathens themselves; hence Homer {x}, among the many calamities Achilles was the cause of to the Grecians, mentions this as one, that he was the means of giving the bodies of a great number of their heroes to the dogs, and to the fowls of the air; so Virgil {a} represents the want of a burial, and being left to be fed upon by birds of prey, as severe a punishment of a wicked man as can be wished for. Ver. 5. Thou shalt .fall upon the open field, &c.] Some part of his army should fall upon the mountains, and others upon the plain; wherever they will be found, they'll be destroyed, either by the sword of the Jews and Christian princes, or by God's judgments from heaven: .for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God; and therefore it should surely come to pass, since no word of his ever fails; this is added to assure of the truth of it, since it might be thought incredible that so large an army shonld be destroyed. Vet. 6. And I will send afire on Mago.g, &e.] On the land of Magog; see ch. xxxviii. 2. whilst Gog is in the land of Israel, and he and his army perish there, Iris country shall be destroyed by fire, or by some judgment or judgments of God, which shall consume like/ire. The Septuagint version rt, nders it, I will send afire on Cog; but he before is said to fall upon the mount. alas of Israel; his country is meant; it de-. signs the destruction of the Ottoman empire: and amon.g them that dwell carelessly in the isles: that belong to the Turkish dominions; not only the habitants of the Continent shall be consumed, but those that dwell in islands, and think themselves safe and secure, and so live carelessly; or such who live on the sea-coasts, it being usual in Scripture to call such places isles; and may intend those who dwell near tile Euxine and Caspian seas: and they shall know that 1 am the Lord: by his judgments executed upon them. Vet..7. So will I melee my holy name Ionown in the midst ofmy people Israel, &c.] That is, Iris perfec- tions ;. his holiness and justice in punishing their ene.- rules; his truth and faithfulness in telfilling his pro- mises to them; his power in inflicting judgments on Gog and his army; and his goodness in their preserva- tion and protection: and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: either the Heathens round about. who beforc'blasphemed it, .saying that God was not able to deliver hisp.eople from such a potent enemy; but now their mouth will be stopped, and they'll not dare to speak any more after this manner: or else the Israelites, who shall be so influenced by the grace and goodness of God unto them, as to fear the Lord and his goodness, and not dare to commit the sins they formerly did, whereby his name was polluted and blasphemed among the Iteathens: and the Heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the holy One in Israel; they shall know, by these judgments and provideaces, that he is the true God, and they shall acknowledge and confess it; and that he is a holy andjust God, and dwells in Israel, and grants Iris gracious as well as powerful presence to his people; nor shall they dare to molest them any more. Vet. 8. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God, &c.] That is, the salvation of his people, and the destruction of their enemies; the prophecy concerning all this is come to pass, and the whole is accomplished; thus, because of the certainty thereof, it is represented as if the time was actually. come, and the thing was really done; for the event is as sure as if it was now fulfilled: this is the day whereof I have spoken; by the Prophet Ezekiel and others; see the note on ch. xxxviii. 17. Ver. 9. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shah go forth, &c.] Out of their houses into the streets, where Gog's soldiers will lie dead, and their armour by thern; or rather out of their cities, where they dwelt safely, and where they kept themselves, and were secure from the enemy: these seem to be dist, inct from the militia of Israel, engaged in battle with Gog; these were the inhabitants that will stay at home, and yet share in the spoil and plunder; see Psal. lxviii. 12. these, after the battle is over, and the victory obtained, of which they will have information, will then march out without fear into the open fields and mountains, where the army of Gog will fall, ver. 4, 5: and shall set on fire and burn the weapons; the armour of Gog's {z} Iliad. 1. 1. 4, 5. {a} non te optima mater Condet humi, patriove onerrabit membra sepulchro Alitibus linquere feris. AEneid. 1. 10.