Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_100.lzh/6_164.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-18 | 7KB | 128 lines

thy rivers {z}; as the crocodile iu the river Nile, by the
arms of it, or canals made out of it, sometimes went
out from thence to other parts: or, out of thy rivers{y}
upon the land, as -the crocodile does; so the king of
Egypt went forth with his armies out of his own !and,
into other countries, to disturb them, as follows: or
rather, camest forth in thy rivers{z} ; as the crocodile puts
forth its head out of the water for respiration: and thou
troublest the waters with thy feet, and foulest their rivers;
just as the feet of men or beasts, in shallow watch, nise
up the mud or clay at the bottom, and so foul them;
this best agrees with the crocodile, which has feet';
Groti us thinks, for this reason, the sea-horse is intended;
the meaning is, thatPharaoh with his soldiers entered
other nations, .made war upon them, and disturbed
their peace and tranquillity. The Targum is," thou
"hast been strong among the people, as a whale in the
"seas, thou hast fought with thine army; and thou
· ' hast moved the people with thine auxiliaries, and
·  thou hsst wasted their provinces."
Ver. 3. 'fhus saith the Lord God, &c.] The Lord
God Almighty, who is able to manage this fierce and
turbulent creature, this mighty monarch and disturber
of the nations: I will therefore spread out my net over
thee with a company of many people; meaning the Chal-
dean army, which the Lord would instigate, and
by his providence bring against the king of Egypt, and
surround him as fishes in a net, and take him and his
people; see oh. xii. 13. and xvii. 20: and they shall
bring thee up in my net; out of his rivers, out of his
fortresses, out of his own !and, and carry him captive,
or destroy him.
Ver. 4. Then will I leave thee upon the land, &c.]
Like a fish that is drawn out of the waters with a net
or hook, and laid on dry !and, and left gasping and ex-
piring, where it can't long live: I win cast thee forth on
the open field; the same in different words, signifying
that his army should fall in battle by the sword of the
Cyreneans, or Chaldeans, or both, and be left on the
surface of the earth unburied: and will cause all the
fowls. of the heavens to remain upon thee, and I will fill
the beasts of the whole earth with thee; which may be
understood either literally of the fowls of the air, that
should light upon the slain carcasses, and rest on them
till they had satisfied themselves with their flesh; and
of the beasts of the field that should gather about them
from all parts, and fill themselves with them; see Roy.
xix. 17, 18, or figurativelyof the soldiers of the enemy's
army, that should piunder them, and enrich themselves
with the spoil.
Ver. 5. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains,
&c.] The remainder of it, left by the birds and beasts
of prey, 'and who might carry it thither; or it intends
such of the Egyptians who should flee to the moun-
tains for safety, but should fall by the hands of the
enemy there. So the Targum, "and. I will give the
 ' flesh of thy slain upon the mountains." And fill the
valleys with thy height; his huge army, and with which
he prided and lifted up himself, and thought himself
safe in; which should fall in such great numbers as to
cover the plains and valleys where the battle was
fought. ,Jarchi observes, that the word for height has
with some the signification of worms; and so the Syriac
version renders it, and the valleys shall be filled with thy
worms; bred in the carcasses of the slain: and so the
Vulgate Latin version, u, ith corrupt matter; such as
issues out of putrefied wounds. The Targum very
rightly paraphrases it, "the valleys ,hall be filled with
"the carcasses of thine army.
Ver. 6. And I will also water with thy blood the land
wherewith thou swimmest, &c.] Where he resided,
over which-he ruled; alluding to his being compared
'to a fish, a whale, or a crocodile; and which land
abounded with,all good things, and he with them;
instead of being watered with the waters of the Nile,
by which it became fruitful, it should now be flooded
with the blood of his army: even to the mountains; an
hyperbolical expression, signifying the vast quantity of
blood that should be shed; see the like in Rev. xiv. 20:
and the rivers shah be full of them; of the carcasses of
his army, and of the blood of them; they should lie
about everywhere, on mountains and valleys, on the.
land and in the rivers; and which should now be
turned into blood, as the rivers of Egypt of old. were ;
and which figure is used to express the destruction of
the antichristian states; see Exod. vii. 20. Rev. xvi. 3, 4.
Ver. 7. And when I shall put thee out, &c.] As a
candle is put out, or some great light or blazing torch
is exfihguished; such was the king of Egypt in his
splendour and glory; but now should be like a lamp
put out in obscure darkness, and all his brightness and
glory removed from him, Job xviii. 5. and xx. 17.
Prov. xiii. 9. and xx. 20 : I will cover the heaven, and
make the stars thereof dark ; with the smoke that should
arise at the extinguishing of this lamp; or they should
be covered with mourning, or clad in black, at the
destruction of this monarch and his monarchy: I will
cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give
her light; all which figures are sometimes made use of
to denote the dissolution of kingdoms and states: the
heaven being an emblem of a kingdom itself; the sun of
an emperor or king, or kingly power; the moon of the
queen, or of the priesthood; the stars of nobles, princes,
counsellors, and such-like eminent persons, useful in
government; who being destroyed or removed, the
light and glory, the prosperity and happiness of a king-
dom, are gone; see ha. xiii. 10. Rev. vi, 12, 13.
The Targum is, "tribulation shall cover thee when I
"shall extinguish the splendour of the glory of thy
"kingdom from heaven; and the people of thine army
"shall be lessened, who are many as the stars; a king
"with his army shall cover thee as a cloud that
"ascends and covers the sun, and as the moon, whose
"light does not shine in the day."
Ver. 8. All the bright lights of heaven will I make
dark over thee, &c.] Or, all the lights of the light{a};.
the rest of the luminaries of heaven; the other five
planets, as Kimchi, besides the sun and moon: and
set darkness upon thy land, saith the. Lord God; as
there must needs be, the sun, moon, and stars, and all

{x} \^Kytwrhnb\^ per flumina tua, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius,
Polanus.
{y} Ex fluminibus tuis, Starckius.
{z} In fluviis tuis, V.L. Piscator; in flumnibus tuis, Cocceius.
{a} \^rwa yrwam lk\^ omnia luminaria lucis, Pagninus, Montanus,
Cocceius.