"cover the land of Judea, which upon the wind rising
: have t;een driven into the first and last seas; that is,
"into the Dead and Mediterranean seas ;.and when
"the shores of both seas have been filled with heaps
"of dead locusts, which the waters have thrown up,
"their rottenness and stench have been so very noxious
"as to corrupt the air, and produce a pestilence
"among men and beasts -"
, or this may be understood
of the fall and ruin of the enemies of the Jews, signified
by these locusts; and some apply it to Sennacherib's
army smote by the angel, when there fel1 in one night
a hundred and fourscore and five thousand of them
in the land of Israel, and lay unburied, 2 Kings xix. 35.
Theedeter interprets the seas of armies; the first sea
of the army of the Babyloninns, by which Nineveh
the royal seat of the Assyrians was destroyed; and the
other sea of the army of the Persians, who, under
Cyrus, took Babylon, the metropolis of the Chaldean
empire: because he hath done great things; evil things,
as the Targum; either the locust, which had done
much mischiefto. the fruits of the earth; or the e,nemy,
signified by it, who had behaved proudly, and done
much hurt to the inhabitants of Judea: or, though he
hath done great things {}, as some render it, yet all this
shall come to him. Some interpret it of God, for he
(God) hath done, or willdo, great things {}; in the re-
moving of the locusts, or in the destruction of those
enemies they represented, as is expressly said of tlim
in the following verse.
Vet. 2l. Fear not, 0 land, &c.] O land of Israel,
as the Targum, and the inhabitants of it; neither of
the locusts, who had so terrified them, and had done
so much mischief, and threatened more; nor of their
enemies, the Assyrians or Chaldeans, and their power-
ful armies, or any other; but, on the contrary, be glad,
and rejoice; at the removal of the locusts, and at the
destruction of their enemies: for the Lord will do great
things; good things, in opposition to the evil things
done by the locusts, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben
Melech observe; or by the destroying army of the
king of Assyria, .by delivering the Jews out of the
Babylouish captivity; and in the times of the Mac-
cabees, and especially in the times of Christ, which
are quickly prophesied of in this chapter; and which
prophecies some interpreters begin here, it not being
unusual for the prophets to pass directly from things
temporal to things spiritual, and especially to the
great deliverance and salvation by Christ, and also by
temporal blessings to design spiritual ones.
Ver. 22. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field, &c.]
Which before groaned, and were perplexed for want
of pasture, and cried because of the drought, oh. i.
18, 20. perhaps the Gentiles may be here designed, in
the mystic and spiritual sense, in distinction from the
Jews, the children of Zion, in the next verse: for the
pastures of the wilderness do spring; grass in abundance
springs up in them, and covers them, so that there
was plenty of food for the beasts of the field: for the
tree beareth her fruit; brings forth and bears fruit suit-
nble to it, agreeable to its nature: thefig-tree and the
.vine do yield their strength; send forth their branches,
put forth their buds, their leaves and fruit. This and
the preceding clause cannot be understood as a reason
why the beasts of the field should not be afraid, for
they relate not to them, but to men; and may serve to
confirm the mystic sense of the words, as they may
refer to the great fruitfulness produced in the wilder-
ness of the Gentile world, through the preaching of the
Gospel in the times of the Messiah; which are more
clearly pointed at in the following verse, and which
were introduced with great outward peace and plenty;
and the Jews f by the tree bearing her fruit, in the pre-
ceding clause, understand barren trees bearing fruit.
Ver. 23. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, &c.] The
people of the Jews, and especially the spiritual and
believing part of them; such as were born again, that
were born of Zion, and born in Zion, and brought up
by her, and in her; the children of that Zion or Jeru-
salem that is the mother of us all; and who were look-
ing for the Messiah, and to whom it would be good
news and glad tidings to hear of his coming, Zech. ix. 9.
and rejoice in the Lord your God; not in any creature
or creature-enjoyment, but in the Lord. The Targum
is, "in the Word of the Lord your God ;" in Christ the
essential Word; see Phil. iii. 3. and iv. 4. though
rather Jehovah the Father, the giver and sender of
Christ, is here meant, because of what follows; and
who is to be rejoiced in by his people, not as an ab-
solute God, but as in Christ, and as their covenant
God and Father in him; who has chosen them for
himself, and is their portion and inheritance; which
are reasons sufficient why they should rejoice in him,
and others follow :for he hath given you the former rain.
moderately; or rather, Jbr he hath given you the teacher
of righteousness {g}; to which agrees the Targum, "for
"he hath returned toyou your teacher in righteousness;"
and so Jarchi paraphrases the words, and interprets
them of the prophets in general, "your prophets that
"teach vou to return unto me, that I may justify you;"
and R. Japhet says that \^hrwm\^ signifies a prophet that
should teach them in the way of righteousness; not
Isaiah, as Grotius; but the King Messiah. as Abarbinel
interprets it; who is the teacher sent from God, and
given by him, as his presence with him, and the
miracles done by him, sufficiently prove, John iii.
for which he was abundantly qualified, being the om-
niscient God, and the Son of God that lay in the bosom
of his Father; is the Wisdom of God, as Mediator;
had the Spirit of wisdom on him, and the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge hid in him; and who is able
to make his teachings effectual, and to qualify others
for such work. This office he performed personally on
earth, both in a dbctrinal way, and by way of example;
and now executes it by his Spirit, and by his ministers:
and a teacher of righteousness he may be truly said to
be; since he not only taught the Gospel, the.word of
righteousness in general; but in particular directed
men to seek in the first place the righteousness of God,
which is no other than his own; and 'pronounced those
happy that hungered after it: he declared he came to

{d} \^twvel lydgh yk\^ "quamvis magna gesserit", Gataker.
{e} "Quia magnifica Jehovah agit", Junius & Tremellius; "aget",
Piscator, Liveleus, Castalio.
{f} T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 112. 2.
{g} \^hqdul hrwmh\^ "doctorem justitiae", Vulg. Lat. Pagninus, Montanus,
Muuster.