Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_000_p.lzh/5_086.TXT

Text File | 1995-02-09 | 7KB | 125 lines

entrance into the dark regions of death, the grave, and
hell; a biting sarcasm: \*\\it stirreth up the dead for thee\\;
the dead that are in it, in hell or the grave; not to
oppose him, but to welcome him into their parts, as
being now one of them, and to be joined to their com-
pany; hell or the grave is said to rouse them, as if
they were asleep, and took no notice of the death of so
great a monarch, who was just making his public
entry among them. The word %Rephaim%, here used, is
sometimes rendered %giants%, as in \\#De 2:11,20\\ and
Jarchi interprets it of the Anakim; and so the Targum,
\*"it raiseth up unto thee mighty men;"\* for not the
common people among the dead, but the princes and
great ones of the earth, whom the Babylonian monarch
had subdued and slain, and to whom he was well
known, are intended, as appears by what follows:
\*\\[even] all the chief ones of the earth\\; or the %great goats%;
the leaders and commanders of the people, who, as
goats go before and lead the flock, so they the people.
The Targum calls them \*"all the rich in substance;"\*
who were persons of wealth, power, and authority,
when on earth: \*\\it hath raised up from their thrones
all the kings of the nations\\; to offer in a jeering manner
their thrones to him, who had been obliged, in their
life time and his, to surrender to him their crowns, and
thrones, and kingdoms; but by their thrones here are
meant their sepulchres, built, as many of them were,
in great pomp and splendour; for kings at death have
no other thrones but their graves. Aben Ezra says,
it was the custom of the Babylonians to set thrones in
the sepulchres of their kings.
\*Ver. 10. \\All they shall speak, and say unto thee\\, &c.]
So they would say, could they speak, and are here re-
presented as if they did: \*\\art thou become also weak as
we\\? who had been more powerful than they, had been
too many for them, and had subdued them, and ruled
over them, and was not only looked upon as invincible
but as immortal, yea, as a deity; and yet now was
become %sick%, as the word {b} signifies, or by sickness
brought to death, and by death enfeebled and rendered
weak and strengthless, stripped of all natural strength,
as well as of all civil power and authority: \*\\art thou
become like unto us\\? who thought himself, and was
flattered by others, that there were none like unto
him; but now as the rest of the dead, and upon a level
with them. So will it be with the Romish antichrist,
who now exalts himself above all that is called God,
and reigns over the kings of the earth, and shews him-
self as if he was God, and of whom his parasites say,
%who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with
him?% when he shall be consumed by Christ, and cast
into the lake of fire with the devil and false prophet,
he will be like the kings of the earth deceived by
him, and the rest of the worshippers of him, and be
as weak as they, \\#2Th 2:4,8 Re 13:4 20:10\\.
\*Ver. 11. \\Thy pomp is brought down to the grave\\, &c.]
Or %hell%; all the state and majesty in which he appeared,
when sitting on the throne of his kingdom, with a
glittering crown on his head, a sceptre in his hand,
clad in the richest apparel, and attended by his princes
and nobles with the utmost reverence and submission;
all this, with much more, followed him to the regions
of the dead, and there it left him; see \\#Ps 49:17\\:
\*\\[and] the noise of thy viols\\; or musical instruments,
even all of them, one being put for all; such as were
used at festivals, and at times of joy and rejoicing, of
which the Babylonians had many, and very probably
were used at the feast by Belshazzar, when the city was
taken, and he was slain; to which reference may be
had in this place, \\#Da 3:5 5:1,30\\ compare
with this \\#Re 18:16,22\\: \*\\the worm is spread under
thee, and the worms cover thee\\; who used to have rich
carpets spread for him to tread upon, and stately
canopies under which he sat, beds of down to lie
upon, and the richest covering over him, and now,
nothing but worms over him, and worms under him;
or instead of being wrapped in gold and silk, and em-
balmed with the most precious spices, as the eastern
kings used to be, he had not so much as a grave, but
was cast out of that, as is after said, and so was liable
to putrefaction, and to be covered with worms at once;
worms his bed, and worms his bed clothes! see \\#Job 21:26\\.
\*Ver. 12. \\How art thou fallen from heaven\\, &c.] This
is not to be understood of the fall of Satan, and the
apostate angels, from their first estate, when they were
cast down from heaven to hell, though there may be
an allusion to it; see \\#Lu 10:18\\ but the words are a
continuation of the speech of the dead to the king of
Babylon, wondering at it, as a thing almost incredible,
that he who seemed to be so established on the throne
of his kingdom, which was his heaven, that he should
be deposed or fall from it. So the destruction of the
Roman Pagan emperors is signified by the casting out
of the dragon and his angels from heaven, \\#Re 12:7-9\\
and in like manner Rome Papal, or the Romish
antichrist, will fall from his heaven of outward splen-
dour and happiness, of honour and authority, now,
possessed by him: \*\\O Lucifer, son of the morning\\! al-
luding to the star Venus, which is the phosphorus or
morning star, which ushers in the light of the morning,
and shews that day is at hand; by which is meant, not
Satan, who is never in Scripture called Lucifer, though
he was once an angel of light, and sometimes trans-
forms himself into one, and the good angels are called
morning stars, \\#Job 38:7\\ and such he and his
angels once were; but the king of Babylon is intended,
whose royal glory and majesty, as outshining all the
rest of the kings of the earth, is expressed by those
names; and which perhaps were such as he took
himself, or were given him by his courtiers. The
Targum is, \*"how art thou fallen from on high, who
"was shining among the sons of men, as the star
"Venus among the stars."\* Jarchi, as the Talmud {c},
applies it to Nebuchadnezzar; though, if any particular
person is pointed at, Belshazzar is rather designed, the
last of the kings of Babylon. The church of Rome,
in the times of the apostles, was famous for its light
and knowledge; its faith was spoken of throughout all
the earth; and its bishops or pastors were bright stars,
in the morning of the Gospel dispensation:

{b} \^tylx\^ a \^hlx\^ %aegrotuss fuit%.
{c} T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 89. 1. Gloss. in Pesachim, fol. 94. 1. &
    Chagiga, fol. 13. 1.