Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_500_e.lzh/3_585.TXT

Text File | 1995-01-27 | 7KB | 129 lines

\*Ver. 10. \\For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell\\, &c.]
Meaning, not in the place of the damned, where
Christ never went, nor was; for at his death his soul
was committed to his father, and was the same day in
paradise: but rather, %sheol% here, as %hades% in the Near
Testament, signifies the state of the dead, the separate
state of souls after death, the invisible world of
souls, where Christ's soul was; though it was not left
there, nor did it continue, but on the third day returned
to its body again; though it seems best of all to
interpret it of the grave, as the word is rendered in
\\#Ge 42:38 Isa 38:18\\; and then by his %soul%
must be meant, not the more noble part of his human
nature, the soul, in distinction from the body; for as
it died not, but went to God, it was not laid in the
grave; but either he himself, in which sense the word
%soul% is sometimes used, even for a man's self, \\#Ps 3:2
11:1\\. For it might be truly said of him, God's
holy One, that he was laid in the grave, though not
left there; or rather his dead body, for so the word
%nephesh% is rendered in \\#Nu 9:6,10 19:11,
1-3\\; so %anima% is used in Latin authors {u}: this was laid
in the grave; for Joseph having begged it of Pilate,
took it down from the cross, and laid it in his own
new tomb; though it was the will of God it should
not be left there, but be raised from the dead, as it
was on the third day, before it was corrupted, as follows:
\*\\neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption\\;
that is, to lie so long in the grave as to putrefy
and be corrupted; wherefore he was raised from the
dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures,
before the time bodies begin to be corrupted; see
\\#Joh 11:39\\; and this was owing not to the care of Joseph
or Nicodemus, in providing spices to preserve it,
but of God who raised him from the dead, and gave
him glory; and who would not suffer his body to be
corrupted, because he was holy, and because he was
his holy One; that so as there was no moral corruption
in him, there should be no natural corruption in him;
so the Jewish Midrash {w} interprets it, that
\*"no worm
"or maggot should have power over him;"\*
\*which is not true of David, nor of any but the Messiah. This
character of %holy One% eminently belongs to Christ
above angels and men, yea, it is often used of the divine
Being, and it agrees with Christ in his divine nature,
and is true of him as man; he is the holy thing,
the holy child Jesus; his nature is pure and spotless,
free from the taint of original sin; his life and conversation
were holy and harmless, he did no sin, nor
knew any, nor could any be found in him by men or
devils; his doctrines were holy, and tended to
promote holiness of life; all his works are holy, and such
is the work of redemption, which is wrought out in
consistence with and to the glory of the holiness and
righteousness of God; Christ is holy in all his offices,
and is the fountain of holiness to his people; and he is
God's holy One, he has property in him as his Son,
and as Mediator, and even as an holy One; for he was
sanctified and sent into the world by him, being
anointed with the holy oil of his spirit without measure.
The word may be rendered, a %merciful% {x} or
%liberal% and %beneficent one%: for Christ is all this; he is a
merciful as well as a faithful high priest, and he generously
distributes grace and glory to his people.

\*Ver. 11. \\Thou wilt show me the path of life\\, &c.]
Not the way of life and salvation for lost sinners,
which is Christ himself; but the resurrection of the
dead, which is a passing from death to life; and was
shown to Christ, not doctrinally, or by illuminating
his mind, and leading him into the doctrine of it, for
so he himself has brought it to light by the Gospel;
practically and experimentally, by raising him
the dead, or by causing him to pass from death
to life; and he was the first to whom the path of life
was shown in this sense, or the that who ever trod in
it, and so has led the way for others: hence he is called
the that fruits of them that slept, the firstborn and
first-begotten from the dead; for though others were
raised before, yet not to an immortal life, never to die
more, as he was; now the view, the faith, and hope
of this, of not being left in the grave so long as to see
corruption, and of being raised from the dead to an
immortal life, caused joy and gladness in Christ, at
the time of his sufferings and death, as well as what
follows;
\*\\in thy presence [is] fulness of joy\\: Christ, being
raised from the dead, ascended to heaven, and was received
up into glory into his father's presence, and is
glorified with his own self, with his glorious presence,
for which he prayed, \\#Joh 17:5\\; and which fills his
human nature with fulness of joy, with a joy unspeakable
and full of glory; see \\#Ac 2:28\\; and as it is with
the head it will be with the members in some measure;
now the presence of God puts more joy and
gladness into them than any thing else can do; but as
yet their joy is not full; but it will be when they shall
enter into the joy of their Lord, into the presence of
God in the other world then everlasting joy will be
upon their heads;
\*\\at thy right hand [there are] pleasures
for evermore\\; Christ being entered into heaven is set
down at the right hand of God inhuman nature, an
honour which is not conferred on any of the angels,
\\#Heb 1:13\\; where the man Christ Jesus is infinitely deed
with the presence of God, the never-fading
joys of heaven, the company of angels and glorified
saints; here he sits and sees of the travail of his soul;
he prolongs his days and sees his seed, souls called by
grace, and brought to glory one after another, until
they are all brought in, in whom is all his delight;
and which was the joy set before him at the time of his
sufferings and death: or the words may be rendered
%in thy right are pleasant things for ever% {y}, and may
design those gifts and graces, which Christ, being exalted
at the right hand of God, received from thence
and gives to men, for the use and service, of his church
and people, in the several successive ages of time; and
so Aben Ezra takes the words to be an allusion to a
man's giving pleasant gifts to his friend with his right
hand.

{u} %--animamque sepulchro coudimus%. Virgil. Aeneid. 3. v. 67.
{w} Apud Kimchi in v. 9.
{x} \^Kydox\^ %misericordem tuum%, Pagninus, Montanus; %beneficus tuus%,
Piscator.
{y} \xun Knymyb twmyen\^ %amoenorum quae sunt in dextera tua perpetuo%,
Cocceius; %delectationes in dextera tua usque in seculum%, Musculas.