Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_600_p.lzh/5_638.TXT

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rant; as all men are by creation, and as he was in a
very eminent sense, being an instrument in his hand
of executing his designs, both oa the Jews and other
nations; him he would send for, and take to perform
his counsel; secretly work upon and dispose his mind
to such an undertaking, and lay a train of providenoes,
and, by a concourse of them, bring him to Egypt to do
his will: and will set his throne upon these stones that 1
have hid; which he had ordered the prophet to hide,
and which he did by him; signifying, that the king at
Babylon should come with his army against this city,
and should take it, and set up his throne, and keep his
court here: and he. shall spread his royal payill, on over
them; his tent; he shall place here his beautiful one,
as the word {i}signifies; this should be set up where
these stones were laid, as if they were designed for the
foundation of it, though they were only a symbol of it;
and would be a token to the Jews, when accomplished,
of the certainty of the divine prescience, and of pro-
phecy, with respect to future events, even those the
most minute and contingent.
Ver. 11. And when he cometh, he shall smite the land
of Egypt, &c.] Here is a various reading: the Cetib,
or textual writing, is, when it cometh, it shall smite;
which Kimchi rightly interprets of the camp or army
of Nebuchadnezzar; and the Keri, or marginal reading,
which we follow, is, when he comethet!s, he shall smite;
that is, the king of Babylon; both are to be received:
when Nebuchadnezzar should come with his army to
Tahpanhes, he would not only take that, but go through
the land of Egypt, and subdue and destroy the inha-
bitants of it, all that dwelt in it, sojourners as well as
natives; and so the Jews that were come hither to
dwell, against the express command of God, to whom
this prophecy was delivered, and to whom it has a
particular respect: and deliver such as are for death to
death; who are appointed to death, either by pestilence'
or famine; that is, he shall oblige them to flee to, or
block them up in, places where they shall perish by
one or other of these: and such as are for captivity to
captivity: such as are designed to be carried captive,
these shall be taken by him, and carried captive into
Babylon, and the provinces of it: and such as are for
the sword to the sword; who are destined to fall by the
sword, these should be slain by the sword of Nebu-
chadnezzar, and his soldiers; so that, what by one way
or another, a general destruction should be made.
Ver. 12. And I will kindle afire in the houses of the
gods of Egypt, &c.] Not only men should not be
spared, but their gods also, and their temples should
be burnt, as was usually done when cities were taken
and destroyed: this is ascribed to God,, to his wrath
and vengeance; idolatry being a sin higbly displeasing
to him; though the Chaldeans were the instruments of
it, yet it being d.one by the order, direction, and pro-
vidence of God, it is rightly attributed to him: and he
shall burn them, and carry them away captives; that is,
Nebuchadnezzar shall do this; he shall burn their
temples, and carry away their idols of gold and silver;
so Kimchi, who adds, or the sense is, he shall carry cap-
live their warshippers; but rather the meaning is, he
shall burn their idols, such as are made of wood, or
any .base matter, not worth saving; and he shall carry
away with him their idols, such as are made of gold
and silver, or any precious matter: and he shall array
himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on
his garment. The Targum is, "he shall spoil the
"land of Egypt." The meaning is, that he shall load
and cover himself and his army with the spoil of the
land of Egypt, as a shepherd covers himself with his
garment; and he shall do it as easily as a shepherd
puts on his coat; and as completely he shall roll up
all the spoil, wealth, and riches of the land, and carry
it off, even as a shepherd rolls up the covering of his
tent; and, as Kimchi's father observes, as well as puts
on his garment, and leaves nothing behind him, when
he removes from place to place; and as he is unmind-
ful of his clothes, or what he wears in the heat of the
day; but at night, when he returns home from keeping
his sheep, puts on his clothes, the best he'has; so
should the king of Babylon and his army return richly
laden with the spoil of Egypt, when he should leave it.
Or the sense rather is, he shall cover the land of Egypt
with his forces, as a shepherd is covered and wrapped
up in his garment against the inclemency of the wea-
ther; or else, as Bachart{k} suggests, the destruction of
Egypt may be compared to an old worn-out garment,
or such a mean and sordid garment as shepherds wear:
and he shall go forth .from thence in peace: there shall
be none to molest and disturb him, to stop him and
take away the spoil from him, or hinder his return to
his own country; whither he should go in safety, and
with great booty.
Vet. 13. He shall break also the images of Beth-she-
mesh, that is in the land of Egypt, &c.] Or, of Hello-
polls, as the Septuagint; the city of the sun; and so
Beth-shemesh here signifies the house of the sun;
either it designs the temple of the sun, or the city
where it was warshipped; as Hellopolls was famous
for the worship of the sun, and for a magnificent
temple in it, built for that purpose, and where abun-
dance of persons resorted on that account, as Hero-
dotus {l} observes; here were many images of the sun;
and these now should be broke to pieces, when this
city should become the city of destruction, as is fore-
told it should by Isaiah, ch. xix. 18. where the Tar-
gum expressly calls it the city Beth-shemesh, that is
to be destroyed; see the note there. This is the same
city that was formerly called On, and had a priest in
Joseph's time, Gen. xli. 45: and the houses of the gods of
the Egyptians shall he burn with fire ; which is repeated,
that it might be taken notice of, and for the confirmation
of it; though the words may be rendered, so as to re-
move the tautology, and with the houses of the gods of
the Egyptians shall he burn it with fire {m]; that is, Beth-
shemesh,or the house of the sun, that shall not escape,
being a principal temple. The gods they warshipped
were Mnevis and A pis, which were oxen consecrated
to the sun and moon ". So says Porphyry°, speaking
of the Egyptians, "they consecrate oxen to the sun

{i} \^wryrpv\^ teutorium elegans, Montanus, Vatablus; pulchrum, Mun-
ster. So Ben Melech.
{k} Hierozoic. par. 1. 1. 2. c.44. col. 456.
{l} Euterpe, sive I. 2. c. 59.
{m} So Schmidt.
{n} Vid. AElian. de Animal. I, 11, c. 11.
{o} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. I. 3. c. 13. p. 117.