Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_200_p.lzh/5_220.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-09 | 6KB | 117 lines

zekiah, &e.] Q,.zickly after the ambassadors had been
with the king, and he had shewn them all his trea-
sures; the prophet did not come of himself, but was
sent by the Lord, though he was not sent for by the king;
in the time of his distress and illness he could send for
him, but now being well, and in prosperity, he tbrgot
the prophet, to .send for him, and have his advice, how
he should behave towsrds these men, as not to offend
the Lord: .and said unto him, what said these men ?
what was theirerrand to thee, and their business to thee ?
what did they communicate to thee, or request of
thee ? and from whettee came they unto thee ? from what
country ? these questions thc prophet put to the king,
not as ig9orant of the men, and their bnsincss, and
country, but in order to have' every thing from the
king himself, and to lead on to further conversation
with him on these things: and Hezelciah said, they
.are come from afar country unto me, even from Baby-
lon; he makes no answer to the [irst question, but at
once replies to the second, as being what his heart was
lifted up with; that ambassadors should come to him
from a very. distant country, and from so famous and
renowned a place as Babylon; which shewed that his
name was great in foreign parts, and was in high
esteem in distant countries, and even so great a prince
as the king of Babylon' courted his friendship.
Ver. 4. Then said he,-what have they seen ia thine
house ? &c.] Coming nearer to the point he had in view,
and which was the thihg that was displeasing to the
Lord; not that he had received the ambassadors, and
used them in such a manner as persons in such a qua-
lity ought to be used; but that he had shewn them
what he ought not to have done, and especially from
such a principle of pride and vanity as he did:and
Hezekiah answered. without any reserve, very openly,
not suspecting that the prophet was come with a re-
proof to him, or to blame him, or would blame him
for what he had done : all that is in my house have they
seen; the several royal apartments, and the furniture
of them: there is nothing among my treasures that I have
not shewed them: which were more secret, laid up in
cabinets, under lock and key; his gold, silver, jewels,
and precious stones, spices, and ointments. Jerom
thinks he shewed them the furniture and vessels of the
temple, though he does not mention them.
Ver. 5. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, &c.] Now
he begins to let him know that he came not of himself,
and that he did not ask these questions to gratify his
own curiosity, but that he came from the Lord, and
with a word of rebuke from him: hear the word of
the Lord of hosts; a greater King than thou art, who art
so elated with thy riches, and grandeur, and fame; or
than the king of Babylon, whose ambassadors these are;
even the King of kings, and Lord of armies above and
below, and who is able to make good every word that
is spoken by him, and therefore should be so!thinly at-
tended to.
Vet. 6. Bchold, t!te days come, &c.] Or, are
coming *; and which quickly came; after a few reigns
|more, even in Jehoiakim's time:that all that is in
thine house, a,d that which th!/ fathers have laid up in
store until this doy, shall be carried to .Babylon ; as it
waS, when Jehoiakim king of Judah, his mother, ser-
vants, princes, and officers, were taken by the king of
Babylon, and carried captive, and along with theni
the treasures of the king's house, and also all the trea-
sures of' the housc of the Lord, 2 !Kings xxiv. le, 13:
nothing shall be left, saith the Lord; this was, as Jarchi
says, measure fbr measure; as there was nothing that
was not shewn to thc ambassadors, so nothing should
be left untakcn away by the Babyloninns.
Vet. 7. And of thy sons that shall issue from. thee,
which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, &c.] Ma
nasseh his immediate son was taken and carried to Ba-
bylon, though afterwards released; nor does it ap-
pear that he was made an eunuch or an otficcr there;
this had its fulfilment in Jeconiah and his children, and
in others that were of the seed-royal, us Daniel, Hana-
niah, Mishael, and Azariah, to whom the Jewish com-
mentators apply this ;. this is expressed in different
words, signifying much the same, to affect the mind
of Hezekiah the more: and they shall be eunuchs in the
palace of the Icing of Babylon; or chamberlains; and
who very often were castrated for that purpose, though
it does not necessarily signify such, being used of
officers in general. The Targum renders it princes f;
and such an one was Daniel in the court of the king of
Babylon; and his three companions were also pro-
moted, Dan.. it. 48, 49, and iii. 80.
V. er. 8. Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, good is the
word of the Lord which thou hast spolcen, &c.] Heze-
kiah was at once convinced of his sin, acknowledged it
and repented of it, and owned that the sentence pro-
nounced wasbut just and right; and that there was a
mixture of mercy and goodness in it, in that time
was given, and it was not immediately 'executed-: he
said moreover, for there shall be peace and truth in my
days; or a confirmed peace, lasting prosperity, peace
in the state, and truth in the church, plenty of tem-
poral mercies, and the truth of doctrine and worship,
which he understood by the prophet would continua
in his days, and for which he was thankful; not that
hc was unconcerned about posterity, but inasmuch as
it must be, what was foretold, and which he could not
object to as unjust, he looked upon it as a mercy to
him that there was a delay of it to future times ;--or
it may be considered as a wish, O that there wera
peace g, &c.

{e} \^Myab\^ venientes, Montanus; venturi sunt, Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator.
{f} So Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it princes and govenors.
{g} \^Mwlv hyhy yk\^ \~genesyw de eirhnh\~, Sept.; so the Vulg. Lat.
Syriac and Arabic versions; O si fieret pax, Forerius; precor ut sit
pax, Vatablus; which is prefered by Noldius~ Ebr. Cocord. Part. p. 407.
No. 1153.