Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_500.lzh/6_548.TXT

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it tO be a great emetic; and the like virtue of the
ricinus is observed by others {q}. Jerom allegorizes it
of the ceretnonial law, under the shadow of which
Israel dwelt for a while; and then was abrogated by
Christ, who says he was a worm, and no man: but 'it is
better to apply it to outward mercies and earthlyenjoy-
meats, which like this plant spring out of the earth, and
have their root in it, and are of the nature of it, and
therefore minded by earthly and carnal men above all
others; they are .thin, slight, and slender things;
there's no solidity and. substance in them, like the kiki,
whose stalk is hollow as a reed, as Diescar|des says;
'they are light ap.d empty things, vanity. and vexation
of spirit; spring uly suddenly sometimes, and are gone
as soon; some men come to riches and honour at once,
and rise up to a very great pitch of both, and quickly
fall into poverty and disgrace again; for these are v. ery
uncertain perishing things, like-this herb or plant, or
even as grass, which soon withers away. They are
indeed of God, who is the Father of mercies, and are
the gifts of his providence, and not the merit of men;
.they are disposed of according to his will, and prepared
by him in. his purposes, and given forth according to
them, and in his covenant to his own special people,
and are to them blessings indeed: and made it to come
up over Jonah; over his head, as follows; and it may
be over the booth he had built, which was become in
amanner useless; the leaves of the boughs of which it
was made being withered with the heat of the sun; it
came over him so as to cover him all over; which may
denote both the necessity of on|ward mercies, as food
and raiment, which the Lord knows his people have
need of; and the sutticiency of them he grants, with
which they should be content: that it might be a
shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief ;
either from the vexation of mind at .the repentance of
the Ninevites, and the mercy shewa. them; this being
a reffeshment unto him,. and which he might take as a
new token of the Lord's favourable regard to him, 'after
the offence he had given him, and gentle reproof for
it; or from the head-ach, with which he was thought
to have been aft]icted, through his vexation; or by
the heat of the sun; or rather it was to shelter him
from the heat of the sun, and .the distress that gave him::
so outward mercies, like a reviving and refreshing
shadow, exhilarate the spirits, and are a defence against.
the injuries and insults of men, and a preservative from
the grief and distress which poverty brings with it:
so Jartab was exceeding glad of the gourd; or, rejoiced
with a ,fireat joy {r}; he was excessively and above mea-
sure glad of it, because of its usefulness to him: out-
wardmercies are what we should be thankful for; and
it is good for men to rejoice in their labours, and enjoy
the good of them; to eat their bread with a merry
heart and cheerfulness; but should not be elevated
with them beyond measure, lifted up with pride, and
boast and glory of them, and rejoice in such boastings,
which is evil; or rejoice in them as their portion,
placing their happiness therein, which is to rejoice in
a thing of naught; or to overrate mercies, .and shew
more affection for .them than for God himself, the giver
of them, who only should be our exceeding joy; and,
when this is the case, it is much if they are not quickly
taken away, as Jonah's gourd was, as follows:
Ver. 7. But God prepated a worm when the morning.
rose the next day,. &c.] That God that prepared this
plant to rise so. suddenly,, almost as soon prepared a
worm to destroy it; for it rose up one night, continued
one whole day, to the great delight of Jonah; and by
the morning of the following day this worm or grub
was prepared !in, it, or sent. to it, to the root of it : this
shews that God is the Creator ot' the least as well as
the largest 0f creatures, of worms as well as whales,
contrary to the notion of Valentiuus, Marcion, and
Apelies; .who, as Jerom {s} Says, introduce another
creator of ants, worms, fleas, locusts, &c. and another
of the heavens, earth, sea, and angels: but it is much
that. Arnobius t, an orthodox ancient Christian father,
should deny such creatures to be the work of God, and
profcss his ignorance of the Maker of them. His
words are, "should we deny flies, beetles, worms,
" mice, weasels, and 'moths, to bethe work of the
" King 0mnipotent,.it does not follow that it should
"be required of us to say who made and formed them;
"for we may without blame be ignorant who gave
"them their original ;"whereas, in the miracle of the
lice, the magicians of Egypt themselves owned that the
finger of God was the. re, and were out of their power
to effect; and to the Prophet Amos the great God
was represented in a vision as making locusts or gras-
hoppers,. ch. vii. 1. and indeed the smallest insect or
reptile is a display of the wisdom and power of God,
and not at all below his dignity and greatness to pro-
duce; and for which there are wise reasons in nature
and providence, as here for the production of this
worm: the same God that prepared a great fish to
swallow Jonah, and a gourd to shadow him, and an
east wind to blow upon him, prepared this worm to
destroy his shade, and try his pat. ience: and it smote
the gourd, that it withered; it bit its root, and its
moisture dried up, and it withered away at once, and
became useless: that .same hand that gives mercies
can take them away, and that very suddenly, in a trice,
inn few hours, as in the case of Job; and sometimes
very secretly and invisibly, .that men are not aware of;
their. substance wastes, and they fall to decay, and
they can scarcely tell the reason of it; there is a worm
at the root of their enjoyments, which kills them;
God is as amoth and rottenhess unto them; and he
does this sometimes by small means, by little instru-
ments, as he plagued Pharaoh and the Egyptians with
lice and flies.
Ver. 8. And it came to pass when the sun did arise,
&c.] After that the gourd was smitten and withered;
when it was not only risen, but shone out with great
force and heat: that God prepared a vehement east
wind; or, a deafening east wind {u}; which blowed so
strong, and so loud, as, R.. Marinus in Aben Ezra and
Kimchi say, made people deaf that heard it: or, a
silencing east wind; which when it blew, all other


{q} Hillerus in Hierophytico, par. 1. p. 453. apud Burkium in loc.
{r} \^hlwdg hxmv-xmvyw\^ & laetatus est--magna laetitia, Pagninus,
Montanus; & laetabaturque laetitia magna, Junius & Tremellius, Pis-
cator; gavisus est gaudio magno, Burkius.
{s} Prooem. in Philemon. ad Paulam & Eustochium.
{t} Adv. Gentes, l. 2. p. 95.
{u} \^tyvyrx\^ surdefacientem, Munster; ex surdentem, Montanus; sur-
dum, Drusius.