Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_300.lzh/6_378.TXT

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teedlug fat and fruitful, and abounding with corn, wine,
and oil; all travellers agree they never saw the like:
one says {p} of this plain or Valley, formerly the lot of
the tribe. of Issachar, this is the most fertile portion of
the !and of Cans_an, where that tribe might well be sup-
posed to have rejoiced in their tents, Dent. xxxiii. 18. at
present, indeed, it is not mannred, as another irayel-
ler {q}` observes, and yet very fruitful; who says, it is of
a vast extent, and very fertile, but uncultivated, 0nly
serving the Arabs for pasturage; and, according to the
same writer, the ancient river Kishon runs through
the middle of it: from the Iargeness of it, it is fre-
quently called by writers the great plain or valley; and
sometimes, from the places near it, or on it, the great
plain of Legio, the great plain of Samada, the great
plain or valley of Megiddo, 2 Chron. xxxv. 22. and the
great plain of Esdraelon, and here the valley ofJezreel;
Jezreel or Esdraela being situated in this great plain or
valley between Scythopolis and Legio, a very large vil-
lage, as Jerom says {R} it was in his days; and also on this
passage observes, that Jezreel, from whence this valley
had its name, is now near Maximianopolis, and was the
metropolis of the kingdom of Samaria, near which were
very large plains, and a valley of a very great length, ex-'
.tending more than ten miles: here Ahab had a palace
in his days, near to which was Naboth's vineyard, and
where God revenged his blood: this city is called by
Josephus {} Azure and Azarus, or Izarus; and in the
times of Gulielmus Tyrius {t} it went by the.name of
Little Getinure. The bow is put for all instruments of
war, and every thing in which confidence was put,
which was weakenedor removed from them: this re-
fers either to Menhchem's slaughter of Shallum, and
wasting some parts of the land of Israel, 2 Kings xv.
14, 16. or rather it may be to a battle fought between
Hoshea king of Israel and Salmaneser king of Assyria
in this valley, which was not far from Samaria; in
which the former was defeated, and the latter, having
the victory, proceeded to Samaria, besieged and took
it, 2 Kings xvii. 6. though of the action the Scripture
is silent; but it is not. improbable. The Targum is,
"I will break the strength of the warriors of Israel in
"the valley of Jezreel;" which seems to confirm the
same conjecture. Some render it, because of the valley
of Jezreel {u}; that is, because of the idolatry, bloodshed,
and other sins, committed there.
Ver. 6. And she conceived again, and bare a daughter,
&c.] One of the weaker sex; denoting the weaker
state of the kingdom of Israel after Jeroboam, as Kim-
chi thinks; Zachariah his son reigning but six months,
and ,Shallum the son of Jabesh, his successor, reigned
but one month, o. Kings xv. 8, 13: and God said unto
him, call her name Lo-ruhamah ; which signifies, she
hath not obtained mere!!: and what follows explains it
to the same sense. The Targum is, "and they added
"and did evil works; and he said unto him call their
"name, who obtained not mercy by their works:"
for I will no more have mercy upon the house qf Israel;
as he had heretofore, sparing them time after time,
though they. continued to sin against him; but now he
would spare them no longer, but deliver them up into
the hands of their enemies, as he did' a part of them,
first into the hands of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria,
and then to Salmaneser., 2 Kings xv. 29. and xvii. 6.
otherwise, in the latter day, mercy will be shewn them
again, especially in a spiritual way, when they shall be
converted, and believe iu Christ, and all Israel shall be
saved, as. well as possess their own land again; see
vet. 10, 11. Rom. 11. 26: but I will utterly take them
away; out of their land, from being a kin/gdom and
nation, which was done by Salmaneser, another king
of Assyria, 2. Kings xvii. 6. or, bringing I will bring into
them, or against them {w}; that is, an enemy, the same
king of Assyria: or, but forgetting I will forget them {x},
as some render it, and remember them no more, till
the fulness of time comes: or, through pardoning I have
pardoned, or spared them {y}; that is, in times past. The
Targum is, "but if they return, pardoning I.will par-
" don them ;" which will be done in the latter day.
Ver. 7. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah,
&c.] .The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which
retained the true worship of God among them; see ch.
xi. l2. and though they often sinned against the Lord,
he shewed them mercy, and spared them longer than
the ten tribes; and though he suffered them to be car-
ried cap.tire into Babylon, he returned them again after
seventy years: this is mentioned as an aggravation Of
the punishment o. fIsrael, that Judah was spared, when
they were not; and to shew that God will have a peo-
ple to seek and serve him, and, when he rejects some,
he'll make a reserve of others: and will save them by
the Lord their God; by his own arm and power, and
not theirs, or any creature's; nor by any warlike means
or instruments whatever,' as follows: and will not save
them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses,
nor by horsemen: which may respect either the deli-
verance of the Jews from the invasion and siege of Sen-
nacherib's army; which was done without shooting
an arrow, or drawing the sword, or engaging in a
pitched battle, or by a cavalry rushing into his camp,
discomfitlug his army, and pursuing them; but by an
angel sent from heaven, Which in one night destroyed a
hundred and fourscore and five thousand, 2 Kings xix.
35. or else refers to Cyrus being stirred up by the Lord
to issue forth a proclamation, giving liberty to the
Jewish captives to go free, without price or reward; and
so was brought about, not by the might and .power of'
man, but by the spirit of the Lord; see Ezra i. 1. Isa.
xlv. 13. Zech. iv. 6. though agreater salvation is pointed
at, or at least shadowed forth, by this, even the spiritual.
and eternal salvation of God's elect by Christ; which
is the fruit of mercy, and not the effect of the merits
of men; is obtained not by human power, or by man's
righteousness; but by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
Jehovah our righteousness, the Lord God of his people;
who stands in a relation to them prior to his being the

{p} Dr. Shaw's Travels, tom. 2. ch. 1. p. 275. Ed. 2.
{q} Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 57. Ed. 7.
{r} De locis Hebraicis, fol. 92. I.
{s} Antiqu. I. 8. c. 13. sect. 6, 8.
{t} Tyr. Hist. 1. 22. c. 26.
{u} \^laerzy qmeb\^ "propter vallem Jisreelis", Junius & Tremellius, Pis-
cator,
{w} \^Mhl ava avn\^ "adducendo adducam contra cos", Munster; "im-
portando importabo eis", Drusius; so Kimchi and Ben Melech.
{x} "Obliviscendo obliviscar eorum", Vulg. Lat. Pagninus.
{y} "Quamvis omnino condonaverim eis", Piscator; "quamvis haetenus
condonando condonaverim eis", so some in Drusius.