Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_000_p.lzh/5_081.TXT

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kingdom of Phez, in Africa, has its name from hence;
and Ophir is taken to be Peru in America; though
ethers place it in India; and the Arabic version ren-
ders it, %a man shall be more precious than a little stone
that is% brought %from India%; and the Septuagint ver-
sion is, %than a stone in%, or %of sapphire%.
\*Ver. 13. \\Therefore will I shake the heavens\\, &c.]
Some think this was literally fulfilled at the taking of
Babylon, when the heavens were shook with dreadful
thunders and lightnings; as well as what is said
above of the sun, moon, and stars, not giving their
light; and so is likewise what follows, \*\\and the earth
shall remove out of her place\\; and that there was a
violent shock by an earthqnake at the same time; but
rather all this is to be understood figuratively, as ex-
pressive of the great confusion men would then be in,
it being as if all nature was convulsed, and heaven and
earth were coming together, or rather dissolving:
\*\\in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his
fierce anger\\; when that should be; or through it, or
because of it, as the Septuagint, see \\#Isa 13:6,9\\ compare
with this \\#Re 16:18-20\\ which expresses the de-
struction of mystical Babylon in much such language.
\*Ver. 14. \\And it shall be as the chased roe\\, &c.]
That is, Babylon, and the inhabitants thereof, shall be
like a roe when hunted by the dogs; which is a very
fearful creature, and at the sight and noise of the dogs
flies here and there for safety; just so should be the
most courageous of the Babylonians, when their city
should be taken. The Syriac version renders it, %they
shall be%; and the Septuagint and Arabic versions, %they
that are left shall be as the fleeing roe%, such who fall not
by the sword. Kimchi interprets it of people of other
nations that should be in Babylon when taken, which
agrees with the latter part of the verse: \*\\and as a sheep
that no man taketh up\\; the Septuagint and Arabic ver-
sions read, %as a straying sheep%, that flees from the
wolf; and there being none to fetch it back, and bring
it to the flock, it wanders about and perishes: \*\\they
shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every
one into his own land\\; this is to be understood of such
foreigners, who were called in by the king of Babylon
to his assistance, and the defence of the city; who
perceiving it to be taken, or in danger, fled to their
own coontries, from whence they came, and so
left the city naked and defenceless, see \\#Jer 50:16 51:9\\.
\*Ver. 15. \\Every one that is found shall be thrust
through\\, &c.] With a sword, spear, or lance, and
be slain; that is, every one that is found in the
city of Babylon; and so the Targum adds, \*"and
"every one that is found in it shall be slain;"\*
so Kimchi, in the midst of it, or without; in
the street, as Jarchi. The orders of Cyrus {h} were,
that those that were found without (in the streets)
should be slain; and to proclaim in the Syriac lan-
guage, that those that were within doors should con-
tinue there, but, if they were found without, they
should be put to death; which orders were executed,
and well agrees with this prophecy: \*\\and every one that
is joined [unto them] shall fall by the sword\\; or %added%
unto them; any of other nations that joined them as
auxiliaries, see \\#Re 18:4\\ or %that is gathered%; so the
Septuagint, %they that are gathered%; that are gathered
together in a body to resist the enemy, and defend
themselves. Some render the word, %every one that is
consumed%, with age; neither old nor young, as fol-
lows, should be spared. The Targum is, \*"every one
"that enters into the fortified cities,"\* flees there for
safety and protection.
\*Ver. 16. \\Their children also shall be dashed to pieces
before their eyes\\, &c.] Upon the ground, or against
the wall, as was foretold should be, \\#Ps 137:8,9\\
and in way of retaliation for what they did to the
Jews, \\#2Ch 36:17\\ and this was to be done %be-
fore their eyes%, in the sight of the inhabitants, which
must make it the more distressing and afflicting; and,
as Kimchi observes, this phrase is to be applied to the
following clauses: \*\\their houses shall be spoiled\\; plun-
dered of the substance, wealth, and riches in them, by
the Persian soldiers: \*\\and their wives ravished\\; by the
same, and both before their eyes, and after that slain,
in like manner as they had ravished the women in
Zion, \\#Lam 5:11\\.
\*Ver. 17. \\Behold, I will stir up the Medes against
them\\, &c.] The Babylonians; this explains who are
meant by the sanctified and mighty ones, \#Isa 13:3\\ the
Medes were a people that descended from Medai, one
of the sons of Japhet, \\#Ge 10:2\\ as Josephus ob-
serves {i}; under these the Persians are included, though
they are only mentioned, because Cyrus was sent by
Cyaxares king of Media on this expedition against Ba-
bylon, and was made by him general of the Medes,
and acted as such under him; and when Babylon was
taken, and Belshazzar slain, Darius the Median took
the kingdom, \\#Da 5:31\\ now these are mentioned by
name some hundreds of years before the thing came
to pass, as Cyrus their general in \\#Isa 45:1\\ which is
a strong proof of the truth of prophecy, and of divine
revelation; and, whatever might be the moving causes
of this expedition, the affair was of God; it was he
that put it into the hearts of the Medes, and stirred up
their spirits to make war against Babylon; and though
God is not the author of sin, yet he not only suffered
the things to be done before and after mentioned, but
in his providence ordered them as just punishments
on a sinful people: \*\\which shall not regard silver; and
[as for] gold, they shall not delight in it\\; not but that
they had a regard for, gold and silver, as appears by
their spoiling of the houses of the Babylonians,
\\#Isa 13:16\\ but that they had not so great a regard for these
things as to spare the lives of any for the sake of them;
they were so intent upon taking away their lives, that
they disregarded their substance; their first work was
to slay, and then to spoil; they first destroyed, and
then plundered; no man with his gold and silver could
obtain a ransom of his life from them. Cyrus {k} in his
speech to his army said, \*"O ye Medes, and all present,
"I truly know that not for want of money are ye come
"out with me,"\* &c.
\*Ver. 18. \\[Their] bows also shall dash their young men to
pieces\\, &c.] That is, the bows of the Medes should

{h} Xenophon. Cyropaedia, I. 7. sect. 23
{i} Antiqu. Jud. I. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.
{k} Cyropaedia, I. 5. sect. 3.