Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_700.lzh/6_732.TXT

Text File | 1994-11-26 | 7KB | 128 lines

under a pretence of long prayers; and enriched them-
selves through tithes of every thing, and hy other
methods; as the Scribes and Pharisees did: and their
own shepherds pity them not; those who should have
been concerned for the welfare of their souls had no
compassion on tilere. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben
Melech, interpret this of God, the Shepherd of Israel;
the verb being singular, though the noun is plural:
so God is called Makers, Creators, Psal. cxlix. 2.
Eccl. xii. 1. and this sense agrees with the following
words.
Ver. 6. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the
land, saith the Lord, &c.] Or spare them; but cause
Iris wrath to come upon them to the uttermost, as it
did at the time of Jcrusalem's destruction by the
Romans, but, lo, I will deliver the men every otte into his
neighbour's hand; this seems to refer to the factions and
divisions among themselves during the siege of Jeru-
salem, When multitudes fell into the hands of the
zealots, and heads of parties, 'and perished by thetn:
and into the hand of his Icing; Vespasian the Roman
emperor; the Jews having declared, long betbre this
time, that they had no king but Caesar, John xix. 15.
and now into his hands they were delivered up: and
they shall smite the land; that is, the R. omans shall
lay waste the laud of Judea: and out oJ'their hand I
will not deliver them; as formerly out of the hands of
their neigh bouts, the Philistines, Ammonites, &c. and
out of the captivity of Babylon. It denotes that their
destruction would be an utter one; nor have they
been derivered yet, though it has been near 1700 years
ago.
Vet. 7. And I will feed the flock of slaughter, &c.]
According to the call and commission he had from his
divine Father, ver. 4. he determines to do as it was
enjoined him, and as he had undertook: even you, 0
poor of the flock; besides the people of the Jews in
general, to whom Christ was sent, and he came to
feed, there were a small remnant, according to the
election of grace, he had a special regard for; and
whom he fed by the word and ordinances with him-
self, the bread of life; and with the discoveries of his
love, and with the covenant of grace, its blessings and
promises, the sure mercies of David. These are called
the poor oJ' the flock, because they were the poor of this
world, as were the disciples and followers of Christ;
the poor have the Gospel preached unto them; Matt. xi.
5. and because they were spiritually poor, or.poor in
spirit, Matt. v. 3. who saw their spiritual poverty, and
owned it; who bewailed it, and were humbled under
a sense of it; and sought after the true riches; and
acknowledged that all they had were owing to the
grace of God: and who, as to the frame of their mind,
are the meek and humble ones; or, as to their out-
ward state and Condition, afflicted ones, as the word r
may be rendered; who were-persecuted, reviled, re-
proached, and accursed by others, John vii. 49. and, as
to their gifts and graces, the meanest of God's people:
and I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty,
and the other I called Bands; Jarchi, agreeably to the
Targum, interprets this of the division of the kingdom
of Israel into two parts, in the times of Rehoboam
and Jeroboam. Some think persons are meant. In
the Talmud {} it is explained of the disciples of the
wise men in the land of Israel, who make each other
pl.easatit by. their doctrines; and of the disciples of the
wise men in Babylon that corrupt one another, or
object to one another: according to Aben Ezra, Ze-
rubbabel and Nehemiah are intended: others, the
good king Josiah, and the bad king .Zedekiah: others
the priest, and the king, as Abendana observes; and.
Kimchi explains it of the different manner in whiclt
the Lord led the people, according to their behaviour
to him; when they behaved well, they had good kings
and governors, which led them in a right way, and
they were filled with good things; but when they
behaved otherwise they had evil kings, and evil befell
them. The tirst of these staves some render clentency %
lenity, kindness, gentleness; and suppose it has respect
to the kind and gentle manner in which God dealt with
the Jews before the times of Christ, both as to civil and
religious things; as to civil things, by bringing them into
and settling them in a pleasant land, a land flowing with
milk and honey; by giving them wholesome laws, by
.which they were governed, such as no other nation had;
and by setting over them judges, to protect, defend, and
deliver them; and kings to rule over them, very wise
and good,especially some of them, David, Solomon, &c.:
and as to religious things, by giving them a revelation
of his mind and will, his word, statutes, and judgments,
he did not give to other nations; and by sending pro-
phets to instruct them in them, and stir them up to the
observance of them; and by appointing a place of
worship, and settling the form of it; setting apart
men to the office of priests, and ordering sacrifices to
be offered, with the whole of temple-service; which
were the beauty of the Lord, to be beheld in his sanc-
tuary: and then the latter, called Bands, which some
render destroyers {}, may denote either the destruction
of this people, when they sinned against God, either
by the Chaldeans or by the Romans; when severity
was exercised on them, and wrath came upon them to
the uttermost, in the ruin of their nation, city, and
temple: and others think these may refer to the dif-
ferent usage of the Roman emperors, with respect to
the Jews, who, for the most part, used them kindly,
until the times of Nero; but afterwards, by him and
other emperors, they were treated very roughly, until
they were utterly destroyed by them; but as it plainly
appears from the context that this is spoken of no
other shepherd but Christ, and of no other feeding
but his, they must design the instruments he makes
use of, and still continues 'to make use of, in feeding
his people. Shepherds commonly have but one staff,
rod, or crook; but Christ has two: so the psalmist
makes mention of a rod and staff, when speaking of
Christ as a Shepherd, Psal. xxiii. 4. and these two
staves some interpret of his twofold way of govern-
ment, lenity to his people, and severity to his enemies;
but rather it denotes the very great diligence and care

{y} \^yyne\^ mites de grege, Grotius; afflictos pecoris, Montanus; afflic-
tos gregis, Burkius.
{z} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 24. 1.
{a} \^men\^ clementia, Cocceius.
{b} \^Mylbx\^ perditores, Munster; destructores, Vatablus; perdentes,
Burkius.