Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_100_p.lzh/5_166.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-09 | 7KB | 128 lines

hard to be understood, in it, did not care to look into
it, and read it, and attempt to explain it to others.
Ver. 12. And the book is delivered to him that is not
learned, &c.] Or that knows not a book or letters,
as before, and so consequently can't read, having
never been put .to school, or learned to read,: saying,
read this, I pray thee; or nolo {w}, at once, immediately:
and he $aith, I am not learned; he does not excuse
himself on account of its being sealed, but on ac-
count of his want of learning; which shews the
former was but an excuse. In short, the sum of
it is this, that neither the learned nor unlearned,
among the Jews, cared to read their Bibles, or to
search the Scriptures, and the prophecies in them,
concerning the Messiah, and that neither of them
understood them; these things were hid from the
wise and prudent, as well as from the ignorant and
unlearned of the people, in common, and were only
made known to a few babes and suckl-ings. There
was great ignorance of the Scriptures in the times of
Christ, to which these passages truly belong, Matt.
xi. 25, 26. and xxii. 29.
Vet. 13. WhereiOta the Lord said, &c..'] Concern-
ing the hypocritical people of the Jews in Christ's
time, as the words are applied by our Lord himself,
Matt. xv. 7: forasmuch as this people draw near to me
with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me;
Kimchi observes, there is a double reading of the word
\^vgn\^, rendered draw near: in one reading of it, it signi-
fies to be afflicted; and then the sense is, when this
people are afflicted, with their mouth, and with their lips,
they honour me; that is, when they are in distress,
they pray unto him, and profess a great regard for
him, speak honourably of him, and reverently to him,
hoping he will help and relieve them; see ch. xxvi. 16.
but the other reading of the word, in which it has the
signification of drawing near, is confirmed, not only by
the Masora on the text, but by the citation of it in Matt.
xv. 7. and designs the approach of these people to God,
in acts of religion and devotion, in praying to him,
and praising of him, and expressing great love and af-
fection for him, and zeal for his cause and interest;
but were all outwardly, with their lips and mouths
only: but have removed their heart far from me; these
were not employed in his service, which is the main
thing he requires and regards, but were engaged else-
where; whilst theirbodies were presented before him,
and thei,r mouthsand lips were moving to him, their
affections were not set upon him, nor the desires of
their souls unto him, nor had they any real hearty
concern for his glory: and their fear towards me is
taught by the precept of men; their worship of God
was not according to the prescription.of God, and his
revealed will; but according to the traditions of the
elders, which they preferred to the word of God, and,
by observing them, transgressed it, and made it 0f no
effect; see Matt. xv. 3, 6, 9.
Vet. 14. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a mar-
velions work amongst this people, &c.] Because of
their hypocrisy and formality, their regard to men,
their doctrines and commandments, and not to the
will and word of God, therefore he determines to deal
.marvellou$ly with this people: even a marvelIons work,
and a wonder; that is, something exceedingly marvel-
1ous, which would be matter of astonishment to every'
one that observed it; and is as follows: for the wis-
dom of their wise men shall perish, and the understand-
ing of their prudent men shall be hid; and be no more:
this was eminently fulfilled in the wise men, the doc-
tors and learned Rabbius of the Jews; and they them-
selves own {x}, 'that, from the time the temple was de-.
stroyed, the wise men became like to Scribes, and the
Scribes to those that looked after the synagogues, and
these became like the common people, and they grew
worse and worse: and Maimonides acknowle.dges {y},
that this respects their present case; he says, when the
Heathen princes destroyed their best things, took
away their wisdom, and their books, and killed their
wise men, -they became ignorant and unlearned; which
evil God threatened them for their iniquities, as is
said in this passage: and also this had its accomplish-
ment in the wise philosophers of the Gentiles; see.
1 Cor. i. 18, 19, 20.
Ver. 15. Woe unto them, &c.3 Or, 0 ye, that seek
deep to hide their counsel from the Lord; which they
consulted against Christ, to take away his life, to per-
secute his apostles, and hinder the spread of Iris Gos-
!$el; which though they consulted in private,-and
formed deep schemes, imagining they were not ob-
served by the Lord, yet he that sits in the heaven saw
them, and laughed at their vain imaginations, Psal. ii.
1, 2, 3, 4: and their works are in the dark; in the dark
night, as if the darkness could conceal. them from the
all-seeing eye of God ;. such works are truly works of
darkness, but can't be hid, though they flatter them-
selves they will: and they sa.y, who seeth us ? and who.
knoweth us ? as no man, they imagined, did, so not God
himself; into such atheism do wicked men sink, when
desirous of bringing their schemes into execution, they
have taken great, pains to form; and which they please
themselves are so deeply laid, as that they cannot fail
of succeeding; but hear what follows.
Ver. 16. Surely your turning of things upside down,
&c.] Revolving things in their minds, throwing
them into different shapes, forming various schemes,
and inverting the order of things by their deep coun-
sels, and seeking to hide things from the Lord: or,
0 the perverseness of you {z}; in imagining and saying that
no eye saw, nor any one knew, what they did, not the
Lord himself. So the Vuigate Latin version, this is
your perverse thought; namely, what is before related.
The Targum is, "do you seek to pervert your works ?"
Our version joins it with what follows; though a stop
should be made here, because of the accent: shall be
esteemed as the potter'$ clay: their perverse counsels
and designs shall be made of no more account with
God, and be as easily turned about and brought to
sought, as the clay can be formed, and shaped, and
marred by the pot,tar, at his pleasure: if or surely as
the potter's clay shah it be esteemed, as the words may


{w} \^an\^ nunc, Pagninus, Montanus.
{x} Misna Sota, c. 9. sect. 15.
{y} More Nevochim, par. 2. c. 11. p. 212.
{z} So some in Gataker; \^Mkkph\^ subversio vestra, Pagninus,
Montanus.