Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/4_000_t.lzh/4_051.TXT

Text File | 1994-09-06 | 7KB | 130 lines

reign, and princes decree .justice; by whom princes
rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth; and
to whom they are all accountable, and will be them-
selves judged by him another day, Prov. viii. 15, 16. so
the Targum, "in the midst of the judges of truth
"he judges."
Ver. c2-. How long will ye judge unjustly, &c.] These
are the words not of the psalmist, but of the divine
Person that stands in the congregation of the mighty,
and judges among the gods; calling the unjust judges
to an account, and reproving them for their unrighteous
proceedings and perversion of justice, in which they
had long continued, and which was an aggravation of
their sin; this is very applicable to the rulers and
judges of the Jewish nation in the times of Christ,
who had long dealt very unjustly, and continued to
do so; they judged wrong judgment, or judgment of
iniquity, as Aben Ezra renders it, both in civil and
ecclesiastical things; their judgment was depraved
concerning the law, which they transgressed and made
void by adhering to the traditions of the elders; they
passed an unrighteous judgment on John the Baptist,
the forerunner of Christ, rejecting his baptism, and
calling him a devil; and upon Christ himself, adju, dging.
him to death for crimes he was not guilty of; ann upon
his followers, whom they cast out of the synagogue;
the character of an unjust judge see in Luke xviii. 2.
and accept the persons of the wicked ? Selah ; gave the
cause in favour of them, and against the righteous,
because they were rich, or related to them, or had
bribes from them, contrary to the law in Deut. xvi. 19.
so the judges among the Jews, in Christ's time, judged
according to appearance, the outward circumstances
of men, and not righteous judgment, as our Lord
suggests, John vii. -c2_4.
Ver. 3. 1)efend the poor and .fatherless, &c.] Or,
judge a them; such as have no money to enter and carry
on a suit, and have no friends to assist and advise them,
and abide by them; these should be taken under the
care and wing of .judges; their cause should be at-
tended to, and justice done them; their persons should
be protected, and their property defended and secured
for, since they are called gods, they ought to imitate
him whose name they bear, who is the Father of the
fatherless, the Judge of the widows, and the helper of
the poor that commit themselves to him, Psal. x. 14.
and ixviii. 5. such a righteous judge and good
magistrate was Job; see ch. xxix. 12. do fiestice
to the afflicted and needy.; or .justify {e} them, pro-
nounce them righteous, give the cause for them, not
right or wrong, nor because they are poor and
needy, but because they are in the right; -for, if
wicked, they are not to be justified, this is an abomi-
nation to the Lord; see Lev. xix. 15. Deut. xxv. 1.
Prov. xvii. 15.
Vet. 4. Deliver the poor and needy, &c.] From his
adversarv and oppressor, who is mightier than he, and
draws him to the judgment-seat; when it is not in his
power to defend himself against him, and get out of his
hands, unless a righteous judge will shew a regard to
him and his cause; and sometimes even an unjust
judge, through importunity, will do this, as every one
ought, and every righteous one will: rid them out of
the hand of the wicked; this was what the poor widow
importuned the unjust judge for, and obtained, Luke
xviii. 3, 4, 5.
Ver. 5. They knew not, &c.] The Targum adds, to
do well. This is to be understood of un. just judges
and wicked magistrates, who know not God, and have
not the fear of him before their eyes, though he stands
in the midst of them, and judges among them; which
is the source of their unjust judging and unrighteous
proceedings: for because they know not God, nor fear
him, therefore they regard not men: nor do such
know themselves; they are called gods, and they think
they are so, and don't consider they are but men; they
are the ministers of God, deputies under him, and are
accountable to him: nor do they know their duty be-
fore pointed out; it is for them to know judgment,
what is right, and what is wrong, that they may pro-
nounce righteous judgment, Mic. iii. 2. but they do
not know it, at least so as to practise it: nor did the
Jewish rulers know Christ, which was the reason of
their unrighteous dealing with him and with his fol-
lowers; they put him to death, and so they did them,
because they knew him not, 1 Cor. ii. 8. John xvi. 2, 3.
neither will they understand: the Targum adds, by way
of explanation, the law, the rule of judgment, which
judges ought to understand; so the Jewish rulers,
Pharisees and Sadducees, were upbraided by Christ
with ignorance of the Scriptures, and the law of God,
their false glosses of which he refutes, Matt. ch. v.
see ch. xxii. 29. and their ignorance was wilful and
affected, they shut their eyes against light and evi-
dence, especially with respect to Christ; they could
discern the face of the sky, but not the signs of the
times, Matt. xvi. 3. who so blind as they that will not
see ? and such were the Jewish rulers; see Isa. xlii. 19.
they walk on in darkness; they chose darkness rather
than light, and so were blind leaders of the blind, and
were wilfully so, having their eyes blinded with gifts,
Dent. xvi. 19. all the foundations of the earth are out of
course; or shaken or moved f: by the perversion of jus-
tice, towns, cities, commonwealths, kingdoms, and
states, are thrown into the utmost disorder and con-
fusion: as the king by judgment stablisheth the land;
Prov. xxix. 4. so when judgment is not executed, it is
unsettled, and thrown into confusion; or though g the
foundation, &c. though this is the case, yet unjust
judges will go on, perverting judgment, even though,
as at the deluge, the foundations of the earth were
shaken and moved, for the violence, rapine, and op-
pression, the earth was then filled with, which Kimchi
thinks is here referred to; and though a dissolution of
the Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, was threat-
ened, because of such injustice; that God would once
more shake the heavens and the earth, remove their
church and civil state, when they should cease to be a
nation, their city be destroyed, and their temple, not one
stone left upon another; and yet such was the obsti-


{d} \^wjpv\^ judicate, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Junius &
Tremellius, Gejerus, Michaelis.
{e} \^wqyduh\^ justificate, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Musculus,
Cocceius, &c.
{f} \^wjwmy\^ moventur, Vatablus; dimoventur, Junius & Tremellius, Pis-
cator; commoventur, Gejerus; nutant, Tigurine version.
{g} So Ainsworth.