Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_100.lzh/6_144.TXT

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Ver. 35. All the inhabitants of the isles shall be as-
tonished at thee, &c.] Both near and afar off; and not
only the inhabitants of the isles, properly so called, but
all that dwelt on the continent by the sea-side; who
would all be amazed when they heard of the ruin of
Tyro, which they thonght inexpugnable, by reason of
its natural and artificial strength: and their Icings shall
be sore afraid; that it will be their turn next; and as
well knowing that they were less able to contend with
so mighty a monarch as the king of Babylon, or A lex-
ander the great, than Tyro was; see Rev. xviii. 9, 10:
.they shall be troubled in their countenance; their inward
passions of grief and fear shall be seen in their counte-
nances; which will wax pale, be dejected, distorted,
and furrowed.
Ver. 36. The merchants among the people shall hiss
at thee, &c.] As Tyro had done at Jerusalem, cb.
xxvi. 2. as she hoped to make better markets upon the
fall of Jerusalem, and therefore rejoiced at it; so these
merchants upon her fall will hope that her trade will
come into their hands, and therefore despise her, his,
and laugh at her in her abject state. The Targum is,
"shall be astonished at thee; struck with wonder,
and even with a stupor at her fall: and thou shalt be a
terror; not only to thyself, but to kings and merchants,
and to all the inhabitants of the isles, and to all that
trade by sea; who wiil be struck with surprise and
dread when they hear of thy destruction; see ltev.
xviii. 9, 10, 11, 15, 17: and never shall be any more;
upon the same spot, and in the same grandeur and
glory: some understand this only ofa long time, as
70 years, when it was rebuilt; see Isa. xxiii. 15, 17.
it may respect its last destruction, since which it has
not been, nor now is, or ever will be: this will be
true of mystical Babylon, the antitype of Tyro, Roy.
xviii.

CHAP.

This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction
of the prince of Tyre; a lamentation for the king of
Tyre; a denunciation of judgments ou Zidou, and a
promise of peace and safety to Israel. The order given
the prophet to prophesy of the ruin of the prince of
Tyre, yet. 1, 2. the cause of his ruin, Iris pride on ac-
count of his wisdom and riches, which rose to such a
pitch, as to make himself God, ver. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. the
manner in which his destruction shall be accomplished,
yet. 7, 8, 9, 10. the lamentation for the king of Tyro
begins yet. 11, 12. setting forth his former grandeur
and dignity, yet. 13, 14, 15. his fall, and the cause of
it, injustice and violence in merchandise, pride becanse
of beauty and wisdom, and profanation of sanetan{los,
ver. 16, 17, 18, ] 9. next follow the judgments on Zidon,
ver. 20, 21, 22, 23. and the chapter is concluded with
a promise of the restoration of the Jews to their own
land, and of great tranquillity and safety in it, ver. 24,
25, 26.
Ver. 1. The word of the Lord came a..o;ain unto me,
&c.3 With another7 prophecy; as before against the
city of Tyro, now against the king of Tyro: saying'; as
follows:
Ver. 2. Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, &c.]
Whose name was Ethbaai, or Ithobalus, as he is called
in Josephus ;_ for that this was Hiram that was in the
days of Solomon, and lived a thousand years, is a fable
of the Jewish Rabbins, as Jerom relates: this prince of
Tyro is thought by some to be an emblem of the devil;
bnt rather of antichrist; and between them there is a
great agreement, and it seems to have a prophetic re-
spect to him: thus saith the Lord God, because thine
heart is lifted up: with pride, on account of his wis-
dom and knowledge, weal.th and riches, as after men-
rioned: and thou hast said, I am a .god; this he said
in his heart, in the pride of it, and perhaps expressed
it with his lips, and required divine homage to be given
him by his subjects, as some insolent, proud, and
haughty monarchs have {lone; in which he was a
lively type of antichrist, who shows himself, and be-
haves, aS if he was God, taking upon him what belongs
to God; pardoning the sins of men; opening and shut-
ting the gates of heaven; binding men's consciences
with laws of his own making, and dispensing with the
laws of God and man; and calling himself or suffering
himself to be called God, and to be worshippod as such;
see the note on 2 Thess. ii. 4: I sit in the seat of God;
in a .place as delightful, safe and happy, as heaven it-
self, where the throne of God is; so antichrist is said
to sit in the temple of God, in the house and church of
God; where he assumes a power that don't belong to
hi-m, calling himself. God's vicegerent, and Christ's
vicar; see 2 Thess. ii. 4. and the Arabic version here
renders it in the house of God: it follows, in the midst
ofthe seas; surrounded with them as Tyre was, and
lord of them as its king was; sending his ships into all
parts, and to whom all brought their wares; thus the
whore of Rome is said to sit upon many waters, Roy.
xvii. 2: yet thou art a man, and not God; a frail, weak,
mortal man, and not the mighty God, as his after-de-
struction shews; and as the popes of Rome appear to
be, by their dying as other men; and as antichrist will
plainly be seen to be when he shall be destroyed with
the breath of Christ's mouth, an{l the brightness of his
coming: though thou set thine heart as the heart of God;
as flit was as lull of wisdom and knowledge as his;
and thinkest as well of thyself, that thou art a sovereign
as he, and to be feared, obeyed, and submitted to by all.
Vet. 3. Behold; thou art wiser than Daniel, &c.] That
is, in his own opinion; or it is ironically said. The
Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it by
way of interrogation, art thou not wiser than Daniel ?
who was now at the court of Babylon, and was fitmous
throughout all Chairlea for his knowledge in politics,
his wisdom and prudence in government, as well as his
skill in intrepreting dreams. The Jews have a saying,
that "if all the wise men of the nations were in one
"scale, and Daniel in the other, he would weigh them
"all down." And perhaps the fame of him had
reached the king of Tyre, and yet he thought himself
wiser than he; see Zech. ix. 2. antichrist thinks him-
self wiser than Daniel, or any of the prophets and