Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_100_p.lzh/5_116.TXT

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and which therefore is said to dwell upon many waters,
Jet. If. l& hence it has this name of the desert of the
sea; besides, 'Abydenus {l}, from Megasthenes, informs
us, that all the places about Babylon were from the
beginning water, and were called a sea; and it should
be observed that mystical Babylon is represented by
a woman in a desert, sitting on many waters, which
are interpreted of a multitude of people and -nations,
Rev. xvii. 1, 3, 5, 15. and some here by sea understand
the multitude of its riches, power, and people. The
Targum is," the burden of the armies, which come
"from the wilderness, as the waters of the sea ;" un-
derstanding it not of Babylon, but of its enemies and
invaders, as follows: as whirlwinds in the south pass
through; and nothing can hinder them, such is their
force and power; they bear all before them, come sud-
denly, blow strongly, and 'there's no resisting them;
see Zech. ix. 14: so it cometh from the desert; or he,
that is, Cyrus; or it, the army under him, would come
with like irresistible force and power as the southern
whirlwinds do, which come from a desert country;
at least that part of it in which their soldiers were
trained up, and which in their march to Babylon must
come through the desert, that lay, as before observed,
between that and their country, and through which
Cyrus did pass {m} : from a terrible land; a land of ser-
Kents and scorpions, as Jarchi; or a !and afar off, as
imchi and Ben Melech; whose power and usage, or
customs, were not known, and so dreaded, as the
Medes and Persians were by Nitocris queen of Baby-
lon, who took care to preserve her people, and pre-
vent their falling into their hands. The Targum is,
"from a land in which terrible things are done."
Ver. 2. A grievous vision is declared unto me, &c.]
The prophet; meaning the vision of Babylon's destruc-
tion, which was hard, as the word signifies, and might
seem harsh and cruel; not to him, nor to the Jews,
but to the Chaldeans: the treacherous dealer dealeth
treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth ; that.is, accord-
ing to Jarchi, one treacherous dealer deals treacherously
with another, and one spoiler spoils another; the
]Viedes and Persians deal treacherously with and spoil
the Babylonfans, who had dealt treacherously with
and spoiled other nations: and to this sense some read
the words, the treacherous dealer hath found a trea-
cherous dealer, and the spoiler one that spoileth {n}: some
take it to be a compellation of the Medes and P, ersians,
calling upon them, under these characters, to go up
and besiege Babylon, as, O treacherous dealer, 0 spoiler°;
though the words may be understood of the perfidy
and treachery of the Babylonfans, of which they had
been frequently guilty, and which is given as a reason
of their fall and ruin; or rather they suggest the trea-
cherous means by which they should be ruined, even
by some from among themselves; particularly, his-
tory {p} informs us, that Gobrias and Gadales, two noble-
men of the king of Babylon, being used ill by him, re-
volted from him, and joined with Cyrus; and when
the river Euphrates was drained, went at the head of
his army in two parties, and guided them into the city,
and took it; or rather Belshazzar king of Babylon hint-
self is meant, who acted, and continued to act, most
irapiously and wickedly: and therefore, go up, 0 Elam;
or Elamites, as the Targum and Septuagint; see Acts
if. 9. these were Persians, so called from Elam, a pro-
vince in Persia; who are here called upon by the Lord
of armies, through the mouth of the prophet, to go
up to war against Babylon; and these are mentioned
first, because'Cyrus, who commanded the whole army,
was a Persian: or if Elam is taken tbr a province, which
was indeed subject to Babylon, of which Shushan was
the capital city, Dan. viii. 2. the governor of it, Abra-
dates, revolted from the Babylot, inns, and joined Cyrus,
and fought with him {q}: besiege, 0 Media; or, O ye
Medes, join with the Persians in the siege of Babylon;
as they did: all the sighing thereof have I made to cease;
either of the army of the Medes and Persians, who, by
reason of long and tedious marehes, frequent battles,
and hard sieges, groaned and sighed; but now it would
be over with them, when Babylon was taken; or of
the Babylonfans themselves, who would have no mercy
shewn them, nor have any time for sighing, being cut
off suddenly, and in a moment; or rather of other
people oppressed by them, and particularly the Lord's
people the Jews, who had been in captivity for the
space of seventy years, during which they had sighed
and groaned, because of the hardships they endured;
but nowsighing would be at an end, and they shoula
have deliverance, as they had, by Cyrus the Persian.
The sighing is not that with which they sighed, but
which they caused in others.
Ver. 3. Therefore are my loins filled with pain, &e.]
As a woman at the time of childbirth, as the follow-
ing words shew: these words are spoken by the pro-
phet, not with respect to himself, as if he was pained
at heart at the prophecy and vision he had of the ruin
of Babylon, since that was a mortal enemy of his peo-
ple; and besides, their sighing being made to cease
could never be a reason of distress in him, but of joy:
these words are spoken by him in the person of the
Babyloninns, and particularly of Belshazzar their king:
pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman
that travaileth; which come suddenly and at once, are
very sharp and strong, and inevitable, which cannot
be escaped; so the sudden destruction of the wicked,
and particularly of antichrist at the last day, and the
terror that shall attend it, are expressed by the same
metaphor, 2 Thess. v. 2, 3: I was bowed down at the
hearing of it; distorted and convulsed; not the prophet
at the hearing of the prophecy, but Belshazzar, whom
he pcrsonated, at hearing that Cyrus had entered the
city, and was at the gates of his palace: I was dis-
mayed at the seeing of it; the hand-writhing upon the
wall, at which his countenance changed, his thoughts
were troubled, his loins loosed, and his knees smote
one against another, Dan. v. 6.
Ver. 4. My heart panted, &c.] Fluttered about,
and could hardly keep its place: or, my mind wandered {r};

{l} Apud Euseb. Prepar. Evangel. I. 9. c. 41.
{m} Xenophon. Cyropaedia, I. 5. c. 5, 6.
{n} \^ddwv ddwvhw dgwb dgwbh\^ praevaricator pr~evaricatorem & vas-
tator, vastatorem sub. inveniet; so some in Vatablus; also Gataker.
{o} O perfide, perfidus; O vastator, vastator, De Dieu.
{p} Xenophon. Cyropaedia, I. 4.c. 24. I. 5. c. 11. & I. 7. c. 23.
{q} Ib. I. 6. sect. 7, 8~ 9, 26. & I. 7. sect. 4, 8.
{r} \^ybbl het\^ erravit cor meum, Montanus; errat animus meus,
Janius & Tremellius; errat cor meum, Piscator.