Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_400.lzh/6_437.TXT

Text File | 1994-09-07 | 7KB | 129 lines

taking him for their guide, by whom they will be led
into all truth, as it is in Jesus; they will walk in his
ways, in all the paths of faith and holiness, truth and
righteousness; in all the commandments and ordi-
nances of the Lord, .according to his word. The Tar-
gum is, "they shall go after the worship of the Lord."
Be shall roar lilce a lion: the Lord Christ they walk
after; who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Israel-
ites shall now follow after; receiving, etnbracing,
and confessing him the true Messiah. So the Targurn,
"and his Word shall be as a lion that roars;" Christ,
the essential Word of God: and so Jarchi, according to
Lyra, interprets it or' the Messiah to come; who is
compared to a lion for Iris strength and courage, and
for the fierceness of his wrath against his enemies.;
and his voice, in his word, is like the roaring of a
lion, exceeding loud, and reaching far, even the utter-
most parts of the earth; as it ,lid in the first times of
the Gospel, and will in the last; and which the Jews
particularly, in the several parts or' the world, will hear,
and Gentiles also, and be affected with it; for it will be
also very strong, powerful, and etticacious; which is
another reason of its being compared to a lion roaring;
see Joel iii. 16. Rev. x. c2. When he shall roar, then the
children shall tremble from the west; the children of
Israel, the children of God, his adopted ones, whom he
has predestinated to the adoption of children; these,
through the first impressions of Christ's voice or word
upon them,. shall startle, and be set a trembling, and
be astonished, as Saul was, when called and converted;
as it is reported of the lion, that, when it roars, other
beasts are so terrilied that they are quite stunned and
amazed, and are not able to stir; but though the first
sound of the voice of Christ may have some effect upon
the Jews, yet this will not cause them to tremble at
him so as to flee from him, but to cause them to flee to
him: for the phrase is expressive of motion towards
him, and to their own land, as appears from the follow'
ing verse; when filled with a sense of his majesty and
grace, they shall approach him with a holy awe of
him, with fear ancl trembling: or come with honeurn;
agreeably to 1 Sam. xvi. 4. having high, honearable, and
grand sentiments and apprehensions of him; so that
this trembling, at least, issues in a godly and filial fear
and reverence of him, suitable to their character as
children. The phrase, from the west, or from the sea {i},
meaning the Mediterranean sea, which lay west of
Jades, and is often used for the west, may signify the
western or European part of the world, where the Jews
for the most part are, and from whence they Will be
gathered. The Targum is, "for he shall roar, and the
"captives shall be gathered from the west."
Ver. 11. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt,
&e.] They Shall come from thence with fear and
trembling; which may allude to the trembling of birds
at the roaring of a lion, or to the trembling motion of
their wings in flying; and denotes the swiftness of the
motion of the Israelites and Jews to Christ, and to his
church and people, and to their own land, underdivine
influence and direction: or shall come with henour {k};
with all readiness and cheerfulness, in the obedience
of thith: and as a dove out of the land of Assyria ; which.
is expressive of the same things, the dove being 'both
a timorous and swift creature. Birds in con;men are
very timerous, and tremble at any noise, and fearful of
every thing that disturbs them, and therefore make all
the haste and speed they can to get out of the way,
and to do which they are naturally provided; and more
especially the dove is always represented as very fearful
and trembling, especially when pursued by the hawk,
as the poet {l} observes. Though, it may be, these
figures may only signify, as the weak and impotent
state of the Jews, considered in themselves at this
time, so the quick speed and haste they shatl make to
their own land. And perhaps there may be something
alluded to in the text, that may refer to the dove as
peculiar to Assyria, as it should seem to be. Now it
is said of Semiramis, an ancient queen of Assyria, that
being exposed when an infant, was nourished by doves,
and at her death was tattled into one; and from hence
it is not only said she had her name, which signifies a
dove, in the Syriac tongue, but doves by the Syrians
were worshipped as deities {m}. And Derceto, a Syrian
goddess, supposed to be her mother, having a temple
at Ascalon, perhaps the above story may be the reason
why the inhabitants of that place reckoned doves so
sacred that they did not kill them; for Philo {n}, who
lived there some time, having observed great numbers
of them iu the highways, and in every house, asked
the reason of it; and he was answered, that the ci-
tizens were of old forbid the use of them: and it may
be further observed, that, in henour of Semiramis, t. he
kings of Assyria bore a dove in their coat of arms 0;
but whether there is any thing peculiar or no in this
reference is not certain: and, besides what has been
observed of the fearfulness of this creature, and its
swiftness and haste it makes in flying, it may also de-
note the characters ofmeekness, humility, and harm-
lessness, whfich the Jews, now converted, will have
by the grace of God, as well as their mournful dis-
position. Egypt and Assyria are particularly men-
tioned, as they generally are where the return of Israel
and Judah into their own land is prophesied of, Isa.
xi. 11. Zech. x. 10. and may signify the Turks, in
whose possession these countries are, and among
whom many Jews live: and the one lying to the south,
and the other to the north of Judea, and the west being
observed before, this shews that these people should
be gathered from all parts of the world, where they are
dispersed; the east is not mentioned, because their
!and they will be returned unto lies there. And I will
place them in their houses, saith the Lord; it is not
said in towns and cities, and forrifled places, but
in houses, signifying that they should dwell in their
own land, in a civil sense, securely, and in their ha.,
bitaliens, under their vines and fig-trees, being in no

{h} \^wdrxyw\^ "& cum honore accedent", Schmidt.
{i} \^Mym\^ "a mari", Montanus,Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.
{k} \^wdrxy\^ "cum honore advenient", Schmidt.
{l} "Sic ego, currebam, sic me ferus ille premebat,
Ut fugere accipitrem penna trepidante columba,
Ut solet accipiter trepidas urgere columbas".
Ovid. Metamorph. 1. 5. Fab. 10.
{m} Diodor. Sicul. Bibliothec. 1. 2. p. 92, 93, 107.
{n} Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. I. 8. p. 398.
{o} Vid. Gregor. Posthuma, p. 235.