Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_400.lzh/6_432.TXT

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he also speaks of an Arbela, the border of the tribe of
Judah to the east; perhaps'the same with Har-baa|ah,
whence Arbela, or the mount of Baalah, Josh. xv. 11.
now one or other of these places might be laid waste
by this king of Assyria, in the first year of Hashes,
when he came up against him, and made him tributary:
though some think Arbela in Assyria or Armenia is
meant, famous for the utter defeat of Darius by Alex-
ander, four hundred years after this, when it might
have been rebuilt, and become considerable again:
some of the Jewish writers {o} sa.y there was a place
near Nineveh so called; Benjamin of Tudela says {p},
from Nineveh to Arbel is one parsa, or four miles: and
others {q} think Samaria itself is meant; but that cannot
be, since the destruction of that city is here prophesied
of, which should be as tuis: some conjecture it was
the temple of a deity called Arbel, as Schmidt: but,
be it what or where it will, here was a great devastation
and slaughter made; which at this time was well
known, and to which the desolation that would be
made in the land of Israel is compared. The Vulgate
Latin version is, as Salraana was wasted by the house o
him who judged Baal in the day of battle; which
patrons and defenders of interpret of the slaughter of
Z-almunna by Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon; but the
names of the one and the other are very different; nor
does the text speak of the slaughter of a prince, but
of the destruction of a city, and not of Shalman, but
of Arbel; and refers not to an ancient, but recent his-
tory. Mr. Whiston {r} places the spoil of Arbela in the
year of the Julian period 3982, and before Christ 732.
The mother was dashed in pieces with her children:
women big with-child, or having their children in their
arms, had no mercy shewn them, but were destroyed
together; so it had been at Arbel, and would be again
in Israel, which was dreadful to think of: according
to Kimchi and Ben Melech, Arbel was the name of a
great man in those days, whose family, meant by beth
or a house, was thus cruelly destroyed.
Ver. 15. So shall Beth-el do unto you, because of your
great wickedness, &c.] Or, because of the evil o.f your
evil {}; their extreme wickedness, and exceeding sin-.
fulness; the evil of evils they were guilty of was their
idolatry, their worshipping the calf at Beth-el; and this
was the cause of all their ruin: God was the efficient
of it; the king of Assyria the instrument; but the pro-
curing or meritorious cause was their abominable
wickedness at Beth-el; which therefore should be as
Beth-arbel; yea, the whole land should be, on the ac-
count of that, -like unto it, or be spoiled as that was.
Or the words may be rendered, so will he do unto you,
0 Beth-el {}; that is, either God, or Shalman or Sal-
maneser, shall do the same to Beth-el as he did to
Beth-arbel; utterly destroy it and its inhabitants,
shewing no mercy to age or sex. In a morning shall
the king of Israel be utterly cut .off; meaning Hoshea
the last king of Israel, and the kingdom entirely de-
stroyed; so that afterwards there was no more king in
Israel, nor has been to this day; there was not only an
utter destruction of that king, but of all kingly power
and government, and ever since the children of Israel
have been without a king, ch. iii. 4. and this was to be
done, and was done, in a morning: in the beginning
of his reign, as Joseph Kimchi; but this seems not so
well to agree with the history, since it was in the
ninth year of his reign that Samaria was taken: but the
sense is, either that it would be certainly done, as sure
as the morning came; or suddenly and quickly, as the
morning light breaks forth; or in the morning of pro-
sperity, when they were expecting light and good
days, from their alliance with the king of Egypt,
against the king of Assyria.

CHAP. XI.

THIS chapter gives an account of the free and ancient
love of God to Israel, and of the benefits and blessings
of goodness he bestowed upon them; and of their in-
gratitude in not owning them, nor hearkening to his
prophets, but sacrificing and burning inceuse to idols,
vet, 1, c2, 3, 4. wherefore they are threatened with dis-
appointment of relief from Egypt, with captivity into
Assyria, and with the ravages of the sword in all places,
being a people bent to backsliding, and incorrigible,
yet. 5, 6, 7. and yet, notwithstanding all this, the
bowels of the Lord yearn after them, and promises of
mercy are made to them; that they shall not utterly be
destroyed, but a remnant shall be spared; which in
the latter day shall be called and follow after the Lord,
theKing Messiah, and be returned from their captivity,
and be resettied in their own land, and replaced in
their own houses, vet. 8, 9, 10, 11. the chapter is con-
cluded with an honourable character ofJudah, ver. 12.
Ver. 1. When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
&c.] Or, for Israel was a child {}; a rebellious and
disobedient one, therefore his king was cut off in a
morning, and he has been, and will be, without a king
many days; yet still I loved him: or, though Israel was
a child"; a weak, helpless, foolish, and imprudent
one, yet t loved him: or, when a child; in the infancy
of his civil and church state, when in Egypt, and in the
wilderness; the Lord loved him, not only as his crea-
ture, as he does all the works of his hands, but with
a more special love than he loved others; choosing
them to be a special people above all others; giving
them his law, his statutes, and his judgments, his
word and his worship, which he did not give to other
nations. So he loves spiritual and mystical Israel, all
the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, when
children, as soon as born, and though born in sin,
carnal and corrupt; yea, before they are born, and

{o} Juchasin, ut supra.
{p} Itinerar. p. 62.
{q} Juchasin, ib. R. Joseph Kimchi in David Kimchi in loc.
{r} Chronological Tables, cent. 8.
{s} \^Mkter ter ynpm\^ "propter malitiam malitiae vestrae", Pagninus,
Cocceius, Schmidt.
{t} \^la-tyb Mkl hve hkk\^ "sic faciet vobis Deus, O Beth-el", Drusius
"sic faciet vobis Salman, O Beth-el", Schmidt.
{u} \^yk\^ "quia", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius.
{w} "Quamvis sit puer", Tarnovius, Rivet.