land k observes that this could not be, if Josephus is to
be credited, who makes En-gedi to be three hundred
furlongs from Jerusalem {l}; therefore could not be far
from the beginning of the Dead sea, and not where it
ended; since the Dead sea, or the lake of Asphaltites,
Was in length five hundred and eighty fur!ongs, and,
consequently, En-gedi must be more than six or seven
hundred furlongs from Jerusalem; but that it was at
the beginning of it is still further manifest from the
same writer making the lake to be just such a number
of furlongs from Jerusalem {m} as he does En-gedi; and
whereas En-gedi was on the western shore of the lake,
as appears from Pliny {n}, it is probable there was another
city on the eastern shore, opposite to it, called En-
eglaim; and there was a city on that side, the name of
which was Agallim, which, according to Eusebius, was
eight miles from Areopolis: and so it may signify the
extent of the Gospel ministry, which, in the latter day,
will be from one end of the earth to the other; and
which took a large circuit in the times of the apostles,
and particularly by the Apostle Paul, Rom. xv. 19.
They shall be a place to spread forth nets; that is, the
abovesaid places shall be made use of for that pur-
pose; which design the Gospel, and the ministry
of it, compared to a net, for its meanness in the esteem
of the world; and yet is a piece of curious artifice
and wisdom, even the manifold wisdom of God, and
is contrived for the gathering in of sinners to Christ;
and, though it may be like a net per accidens, the
means of troubling the world, and drawing out the
corruptions of the men of it; yet its principal de-
sign, and the use that is made of it, is to draw souls
out of the depths of sin unto the grace of Christ;
see Matt. xiii. 47, 48. the spreading and casting of
nets design the preaching of the Gospel, and the
opening and explaining the doctrines of it, which
are shut up and hidden to men; and to do which re-
quires wisdom and skill, strength, diligence, and pa-
tience, and is done at a venture; and sometimes is cast
where fish are, and sometimes not; but here, and at
this time, with great success. For their fish shall be
according to their kind, as the fish of the great sea, ex-
ceeding many: that is, there shall be fish of all sorts,
small and great, and in large numbers, as in the great
ocean, or as in the Mediterranean sea. These signify
regenerated persons, who are born of water and the
spirit by the word of God, which is their element; they
can't live but in these waters of the sanctuary, and
where the doctrines of grace are preached. Now
many of all nations, and men of all ranks, will be
called; kings, princes, nobles, as well as peasants;
men high and low, rich and poor, and multitudes of
them, like the fishes of the sea; which will be the case
when the Jews will be converted, and the fulness of the
Gentiles brought in.
Ver. 11. But the miry places thereof, and the marshes
thereof, &c.] That is, of the sea; the waters of which
were healed, by the waters of the sanctuary coming
into them: but the ditches and lakes, the miry and
marsh ground, separate from the sea, which lay near
it, and upon the borders of it, shall not be healed; these
design the reprobate part of the world, obstinate and
perverse sinners, that abandon themselves to their
filthy lusts, and sensual pleasures; that wallow like
swine in the mire and dirt of sin; are wholly immersed
in the things of this world, mind nothing but earth and
earthly things, and load themselves with thick clay;
whose god is their belly, and who glory in their shame:
also hypocrites and apostates may be here meant, who,
despising the GospeL, and the doctrines of it, put it
away from them, and judge themselves unworthy of
everlasting life, and so receive no benefit by it; but,
on the contrary, it is the savour of death unto death
unto them; see Isa. vi. 9, 10: they shall be given to
salt; left to the hardness of their hearts; given up to
the lusts of them; devoted to ruin and destruction
and remain barren and unfruitful, as places' demolished
and sown with salt are; see Deut. xxix. 23. Judg. ix.
45. or made an example of, as Lot's wife was; that
others may learn wisdom, and shun those things that
have been the cause of their ruin. The Targum is,
"its pools and lakes shall not be healed; they shall be
"for salt-pits."
Ver. 12. And by the river on the banks thereof, on this
side and on that side, &c.'l On each side of the river,
on the banks of it: shall grow all trees for meat; such
as bear fruit, that may be eaten, and is good for food: by
these trees are meant truly gracious souls, converted
persons, real Christians, true believers in Christ; who
like trees have a root, are rooted in the love of God, in
the person and grace of Christ, and have the root of the
matter in them, the grace of the blessed Spirit; and
who also is their sap, of which they are full, and so
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ; grow
up in him, and grow upwards and heavenwards in
their affections and desires, and in the exercise of faith
and hope: they are the trees of the Lord, trees of
righteousness, good trees, that bring forth good fruit;
and are often in Scripture compared to trees the most
excellent, as palm-trees, cedars, olives, myrtles, &e.
and wherever the Gospel comes, these trees arise, and
are watered and made fruitful by it; sometimes in
lesser, and sometimes in greater numbers, as in the
first times of the Gospel, and as they will in the latter
day; see Psal. xcii. 12. Isa. lxi. 3: whose leaf shall not
fade; as the leaves of trees in autumn do, and drop off
and fall;to which some professors of religion are
compared, who bear no fruit, only have the leaves of a
profession, and this they drop when any trouble or dif-
ficulty arises, Jude, ver. 12. Matt. xiii. 21. but true be-
lievers, as they take up a profession on principles of
grace, they hold it fast without wavering; their root,
seed, and sap, remain, and so never wither and die in
their profession; see Psal. i. 3. Jet. xvii. 8: neither shall
the fruit thereof be consumed; which are the graces of
the spirit, and good works flowing from them: the
graces of the spirit are abiding. ones, as faith, hope, and
love; these never die, are an incorruptible seed, a well
of water springing up unto everlasting life; and good
works, which are fruits meet for repentance, and evi-
dences of faith, and by which trees are known to be
good, always continue to be wrought by believers, in

{k} Palestina Illustrata, I. 2. p. 449. & 1. 3. p. 763.
{l} Antiqu. I. 9. c. 1. sect. 2.
{m} Antiqu. I. 15. c. 6. sect 2.
{n} Nat. Hist. I. 5. c. 17.