Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_600_p.lzh/5_695.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-16 | 7KB | 130 lines

finch in Syria: where he ,gave judgment upon him; or
spake with him. judgments {}: chid and reproached him
for his perfidy and ingratitude; cxpostulated and rea-
soned with him upon this subject, exposing his ini-
quity; and then passed sentence upon him, which was
after executed; see the note on ch. xxxix. 5.
Ver. 10. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of
Zedelciah before.his eyes, &c.] Or, however, ordered
them to be slain; see the note on oh. xxxix. 6: he slew
also all the princes of Judah in Riblab ; who, together
with the king's sons, were taken with him; or, how-
ever, were taken in Jerusalem, and brought to Riblah;
which of them is not certain, very probably the former.
Ver. 11. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, &c.]
After he had seen his children and princes executed,
which must be very terrible to him; see the note on oh.
xxxix. 7: and the king of Babylon bound him in chains,
and carried him to Babylon; in oh. xxxix. 7, it is said,
he bound him, to carry him there; here it it affirmed
he did carry him thither: and 'tis added, and put him
in prison till the day of his death; from this place only
we learn that King Zedekiah was put into a prison,
and died a prisoner.
Ver. l2. Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of
the month, &c.] Hence tim fast of the fifth month,
for the burning of the city, which was the month Ab,
and answers to part of July and part of August, Zech.
viii. 19: which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchad-
rezzar king of Babylon; that is, the nineteenth year
of his reign; who reigned in all forty-three years, ac-
cording to Ptolemy's canon: came Nebuzaradan cap-
tain of the guard, which served the Icing of Babylon, into
Jerusalem; or stood before the ki,.g of Babylon {}; mi-
nistered to him, was a servant of his, the provost-
marshal, or chief marshal; he was sent, and catne from
Riblah to Jerusalem, with a commission to burn
the city. In 2 Kings xxv. 8. it is said to be on the
seventh day of the tilth month that he came thither;
here, on the tenth day; which difficulty may be solved,
without supposing different copies, or any error: he
might set out from Riblah on the seventh day, and
come to Jerusalem on the tenth; or he might come
thither on the seventh, and not set fire to the city till
the tenth; or, if he set fire to it on the seventh, it
might be burning to the tenth, before it was wholly
consumed. The Jewst account for it thus," strangers
" entered into the temple, and ate in it, and defiled it,
"the seventh and eighth days; and on the ninth, to-
'' wards dark, they set fire to it; and it burned and
"continued all that whole day, as it is said, Jet. vi. 4."
R. Johanan was saying, if I had been in that genera-
tion, I should have fixed on that day, for the greatest
part of the temple was burnt on that day. The authors
of the Universal History say {u} it was on Wednesday
the 11thofthefourth month, answering to our 27th of
July; but, according to the express words of the text,
the city was broke up on the 9th of the fourth month,
and burnt on the 101h day of the fifth month; and
which was, according to Bishop Usher ", the 27th of
August, on a sabbath-day, and in the year of the world
3416, and before Christ 588; and is placed by them in
the same years; and by Mr. Whiston {x} in 589; and by
Mr. Bedlbrd {y} in the year 587. Thiswasa month after
the taking of the city.
Vet. 13. And burnt the house of the Lord, &c.] The
temple built by Solomon, after it had stood four hun-
dred and seventy years, six months, and ten days, ac-
cording to Josephus {z}: but the Jews say it stood but
410 years {a}: and the king's house the royal palace; pro-
bably that which was built by Solomon, 1 Kings vii. 1:
and all the houses of Jerusalem: of any note or strength:
and all the houses of the great men burnt he with fire ;
of the princes and nobles in Jerusalem; it is iu the
singular number, and every house of the great one; or
every great house {B}; Jarchi interprets it of the syna-
gogue, where prayer was magnified; and others, he
says, understood it of the schools, where the law was
magnified.
Ver. 14. And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were
with the captain of the guard, &c.] Which he brought
with him from Riblah, or were left at Jerusalem by
those that pursued after Zedekiah when the city was
taken, which the captain of the guard now had the
command of: broke down all the walls of Jerusalem
round about: see the note on ch. xxxix. 8.
Ver. 15. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard
carried await captive certain of the poor of the people,
&c.] That is, of the city, as distinct from the poor of
the land of Judea he left, afterwards observed: and the
residue of the people that remained in the city; that
died not by the sword or famine, and fled not with
Zedekiah: or even the residue of the people ; and so are
the same with the poor people in the former clause;
though Kimchi explains it thus, "some of the poor of
"the people he carried captive, and some of them he
"left :" and those that fell away, that fell to the Icing of
Babylon; that fell off from the Jews, and surrendered
to the king of Babylon during the siege; or that vo-
luntarily came in, and put themselves into the hands
of the captain of the guard: and the rest of the multi-
tude: of the people, both in city and country.
Vet. 16. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard
left certain of the poor of the land, &c.] Of the land
of Judea, who lived in the country, and had not been
concerned in defending the city against the Chal-
deans: for vine-dressers, and for husbandmen; to look
after the vineyards and fields, and dress and manure
them, that the king of Babylon might receive some
advantage by the conquest he had made; see the note
on ch. xxxix. 10.
Ver. 17. Also the pillars of brass that were in the
house of the Lord, &c.] The two pillars in the tem-
ple, called Jachin and Boaz, which were made of cast
brass,, 1 Kings vii. 15: and the-bases; which were ia
number ten, and which were also made of cast brass,
and were all of one measure and size; and on which

{r} \^Myjpvm wta rbdyw\^ qui cum eo locutus est judicia, Schmidt. So
Cocceius.
{s} \^Klm ynpl dme\^ qui setit coram rege, Schmidt.
{t} T. Bab. Taanith Vet. Test. p. 131.
{u} Vol 4. p. 189. & vol. 21. p. 61.
{w} Annales Vet. Test. p. 131.
{x} Chronological Tables, cent, 10.
{y} Scripture Chronology, p 684.
{z} Autiqu. I. 1o. c. 8. sect. 5.
{a} T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 3. 2. & Gloss. in ib.
{b} \^lwdgh tyb lk taw\^ omnem domum magnatis, Cocceius; omnem-
que domum magnam, Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt.