Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_100.lzh/6_159.TXT

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and ddminion; meaning that that part of his kingdom
which lay between the two rivers-of Egypt and Eu-
phrates, .that had been taken away by the king of
Babylon, should remain so; ahd the other part of his
his kingdom should fall a prey to him also: and I will
cause the sword to fall out of his hand; so that he should
be so far 'from being so able to make use of the sword,
that he sfiould not be able to hold it; it should drop
out of Iris hand; nor should he be able to take it up
again, an.d make war, either offensive or defensive.
Vet. o. 3. And ! will scatter the Egyptians among the
nations, &c.] Among the several provinces of Babylon,
and otherplaces, where the Chaldeans should carry or
send them :. and willdisperse them through the countries:
the same. thing repeated in different words for the con-
firmation of it.
Vet. 24. And I will strengthen the. arms of the king of
Babylon, &c.] Give him a con(mission to make war;
direct Iris councils; supply him with all necessaries;
animate and encourage his soldiers; and give him
success in all his enterprises: and put my sword in his
hand; which confu'ms the above sense, that he should
have power and authority fi'om the Lord to attack the
king of Egypt, and should gain a victory over him;
since it was not his own sword he drew, but the sword
of the Lord of hosts; which coining fr6m him, and
having his commission, cannot fail of doing execution;
but will break Pharaoh's arms; as before in ver. 21, 22:
and he shall groan before him with the groanlags of a
deadly wonndeal man; that is, before the king 'of Ba-
balon; by whom, as an ins.trument, his' arms shall be
broken, and his power destroyed;and he be like a
man in the agonies of death, just expiring, not able to
speak, butgroaning out his life under the inexpressible
anguish of broken bones, and none to set them.
Ver. 25. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of
Babylon, .&c.] Which is repeated for the sake of con-
firmation: and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down : as
when a man's arms are broken; and he shall not be
able to lift them up and defend himself: and they shall
know that .I am the Lord; namely, the Egyptians, as in
ver. 19: when I shall have put my sword into the hand of
the king oJ' Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the
land oJ' Egypt; that is, when he shall have a com-
mission to carry the war into Egypt; and he shall
spread desolation over all the land, cutting off the
inhabitants of it everywhere, as before described in
this chapter.
Vet. 26. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the
nations, and disperse them among the countries, &c.]
Of which they might assure themselves, since the
Lord had before spoken it, and here again repeats it:
and they shall know that I am the Ldrd ; whose name
 alone is Jehovah, and does whatsoever he pleases; sets
np kings, and puts them down; strengthens and weakens
kingdoms just as seems good in his sight; none having
any power but what is given by him, and which he can
take away when he thinks fit.

C H A P. XXXI.

THIS chapter contains a confirmation of the pre-
ceding prophecy, of the ruin of the king of Egypt, by
the example of 'the king of Assyria, to whom he was
like in grandeur and pride, and would be in his fall.
The time of the prophecy is observed, vet. 1. the pro-
phet is ordered to give the following relation to the
king of Egypt, ver. 2. in which the king of Assyria is
compared to a large and flonrishing cedar, for the ex-
tent of his dominions, the prosperous state of his era-.
pits, and his exaltation above all other princes, which
drew upon him their envy, vet. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. where-
fore because of his. pride, his heart being lifted up with
these things, ver. tO, ruin came upon him; which is
described by the instruments and manner of it, and the
effects following it; mourning and fear in some, solace
and comfort to others, and destruction to his associates,
vet. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. wherefore Pharaoh is
called upon to consider all this, wh6 was like to him
in greatness and pride, and should have the like fate
with him; nor could his greatness any more secure
him than it did the Assyrian monarch, ver. 18.
Ver. 1..And it came to pass in the eleventh year, &c.]
Of Zedekiah's reign, and Jeconiah's captivity: in the
third month, in the first day of" the month: the month
Sivan, which began on the twentieth of our May, and
answers to part of May, and part of June; this was
about seven weeks after the former prophecy, and
about five weeks before the destruction of Jerusalem;
according to Bishop Usher ", this was on the nineteenth
of June, on the first day of the week, in the year of the
Julian period 41c26, ,and before Christ588: that the word
of the Lord came unto me, saying; as follows:
Ver. 2. Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king. of
Egypt, &c.] To Pharaoh-hophra, the then reigning
king; not to him personally by word of mouth, for
the prophet was now in Chaldea; but by delivering
out a prophecy concerning him, and which he might
have an opportunity of sending.to him: and to his
multitude; the multitude of his subjects, of which he
boasted, and in whom he trusted: whom art thou like in
thy greatness ? look over all the records of time, and
into all the empires,. kingdoms, and states that have
been; draw a comparison between thyself and the
greatest potentate that ever was; fancy thyself to be
equal to him; this will not secure thee from ruin and
destruction; for as they have been humbled, and are
fallen, so wilt thou be: pitch for instance on the As-
syrian monarch, whose empire has been the most
ancient, extensive, and flourishing,-and yet .now
crushed; and as thou art like him in greatness, ,at least
thou thinkest so, so thou art in pride, and wilt be in
thine end; tO assure of which is the drift of the 'fol-
lowing account Of the king of Assyria.
Vet. 3. Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon,
&c.] Here grew the tallest, most stately, broad and
flourishing ones. ThiS sense is, that he was as one of

{n} Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3416.