Annotations upon the Holy Bible. Vol. I wherein the sacred text is inserted, and various readings annex'd, together with parallel scriptures, the more difficult terms in each verse are explained, seeming contradictions reconciled, questions and doubts resolved, and the whole text opened / by the late reverend and learned divine Mr. Matthew Poole.

CHAP. XXVI.

IN that day a 1.1 shall this song be sung in the land of Judah b 1.2, We have a strong city c 1.3, * 1.4 salva∣tion will God appoint for walls and bulwarks d 1.5.

2 * 1.6 Open ye the gates e 1.7, that the righteous na∣tion f 1.8 which keepeth the † 1.9 truth g 1.10 may enter in.

3 Thou wilt keep him in † 1.11 perfect peace, whose ‖ 1.12 mind is staied on thee h 1.13: because he trusteth in thee.

4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever i 1.14: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is † 1.15 everlasting strength k 1.16.

5 For he bringeth down l 1.17 them that dwell on high m 1.18, the * 1.19 lofty city n 1.20, he layeth it low, he layeth it low, even to the ground, he bringeth it even to the dust.

6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy o 1.21.

7 The way of the just is uprightness p 1.22: thou most upright, dost weigh the path of the just q 1.23.

8 Yea, * 1.24 in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee r 1.25; the desire of our soul is to thy Name, and to the remembrance of thee s 1.26.

9 * 1.27 With my soul t 1.28 have I u 1.29 desired thee in the night x 1.30, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee y 1.31 early z 1.32: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness a 1.33.

10 * 1.34 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness b 1.35: in the land of uprightness c 1.36 will he deal unjustly, and will not be∣hold the majesty of the LORD d 1.37.

11 LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they * 1.38 will not see e 1.39: but they shall see f 1.40, and be asha∣med for their envy ‖ 1.41 at the people g 1.42; yea, the fire of thine enemies h 1.43 shall devour them.

12 LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us i 1.44: for thou also hast wrought all our works k 1.45 ‖ 1.46 in us l 1.47.

13 O LORD our God, * 1.48 other lords besides thee m 1.49 have had dominion over us n 1.50: but by thee onely o 1.51 will we make mention of thy Name p 1.52.

14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise q 1.53: therefore r 1.54 hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish s 1.55.

15 Thou hast increased the nation t 1.56, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation, thou art glori∣fied u 1.57; thou hast removed it far unto all the ends of the earth x 1.58.

16 O LORD, in trouble have they y 1.59 visited thee z 1.60, they poured out a 1.61 a † 1.62 prayer b 1.63 when thy chastning was upon them c 1.64.

17 Like as * 1.65 a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cri∣eth out in her pangs: so have we been d 1.66 in thy sight e 1.67, O LORD.

18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind f 1.68, we have not wrought any deliverance g 1.69 in the earth h 1.70, neither have the inhabitants of the world i 1.71 fallen.

19 Thy dead men shall live k 1.72, together with my dead body l 1.73 shall they arise m 1.74: awake n 1.75, and sing, ye that dwell in the dust o 1.76: for thy dew p 1.77 is as the dew of herbs q 1.78, and the earth shall cast out the dead r.* 1.79

20 Come, my people s 1.80, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee t 1.81: hide thy self as it were * 1.82 for a little moment u 1.83, until the indignation x 1.84 be overpast.

21 For behold, the LORD * 1.85 cometh out of his place y 1.86 to punish the inhabitants of the earth z 1.87 for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her † 1.88 blood, and shall no more cover her slain a 1.89.

Notes

• a 1.1

  When God shall do such glorious Works for the Com∣fort of his People, and for the Ruine of his and their Ene∣mies, as he hath described in the foregoing Chapter.
• b 1.2

  In the Church of God, which in Scripture is oft signified by the Titles of Iudah, and Ierusalem, and Sion, or the like.
• c 1.3

  Ierusalem, or the Church, which is oft called or compared to a City, as Psal. 87. 3. Revel. 3. 12. & 11. 2. & 21. 2.
• * 1.4

  Chap. 60. 18.
• d 1.5

  God's immediate and saving Protection shall be to his Church in stead of Walls, &c. But I conceive, with submis∣sion, the Words may very fitly be thus rendred, He will set or put or make her walls and bulwarks salvation, i. e. as safe as Salvation it self: or, in safety, there being onely a defect of the Preposition, which is very frequent in Scripture.
• * 1.6

  Psal. 118. 19, 20.
• e 1.7

  Of the City mentioned v. 1.
• f 1.8

  Either, 1. those godly Jews who are returning from Babylon; or, 2. the whole Body of righteous and holy Men, whether Jews or Gentiles. For he seems to speak here, as he apparently did in the fore∣going Chapter, of the Times of the Gospel.
• † 1.9

  Heb. truths.
• g 1.10

  Which is sincere and stedfast in the Profession and Practice of the True Religion.
• † 1.11

  Heb. peace, peace.
• ‖ 1.12

  Or, thought, •…•…r, imaginati∣on.
• h 1.13

  Heb. the fixed thought or mind (i. e. the Man whose Mind and Thoughts are fixed and setled upon thee by Faith, as the next Clause explains it, the Qualification being put for the Person so qualified, as folly and wisdom are put for a Fool and a Wise man, Prov. 24. 9. Mic. 6. 9. and peace for a Man of peace, Psal. 120. 7.) thou wilt keep in peace peace, i. e. in all manner of peace, in constant and perfect peace. In the foregoing Verse the Righteous were admitted into the City, and here they are preserved and defended in it by God's Almighty Power.
• i 1.14

  In all Times and Conditions.
• † 1.15

  Heb. the rock of ages. Deut. 32. 4.
• k 1.16

  Heb. the rock of ages, a sure Refuge to all those that trust in him, through all gene∣rations; therefore you may safely trust in him, and that for ever.
• l 1.17

  Heb. he hath brought down, which yet may be put for the future, he will bring down, &c. You may trust him; for he can and doth raise some, and throw down others, according to his own good pleasure.
• m 1.18

  He speaks not so much of heighth of Place, as of Dignity and Power; in which sence also he mentions the lofty city in the next Clause.
• * 1.19

  Chap. 25. 12. & 32. 19.
• n 1.20

  Which may be understood either of proud Babylon; or, collective∣ly, of all the strong and stately Cities of God's Enemies.
• o 1.21

  God will bring it under the Feet of his poor and weak and despised People.
• p 1.22

  Or, most even or plain. Heb. evenness or plainness. Which is understood either, 1. of the Rectitude or Goodness of his Actions or Course: or rather, 2. of the good Success of his Affairs: for this suits best with the Coherence. When the way of the Wicked is rugged, in which they easily stumble and fall into mischief, of which he spoke v. 5, 6. the path of Just men is plain and smooth, and they walk safely and comfortably in it.
• q 1.23

  The sence of the Words thus ren∣dred is, Thou, O God, who art most upright in all thy ways, and therefore a Lover of Uprightness, and of all upright Men, dost weigh (i. e. examine) the path of the just, the Course of his Actions, and, which is implied, dost approve of them, and therefore direct them to an happy issue. But the Words are otherwise rendred by some late Learned Inter∣preters, to this purpose, Thou dost level or make plain (as this very Word signifies Psal 78. 50.) the path of the just exactly. Heb. with evenness, or evenly, so as to make it very even. Thus the first Clause declares that it was even or plain, and this sheweth whence or by whom it is made such, even by God.
• * 1.24

  Chap. 6•…•…. •…•…
• r 1.25

  And as we thy People have loved and served thee when thou hast made our way plain and easie for us; so we have not forsaken thee, but waited upon thee, when thou hast made it rugged and troublesom by thy Judgments. He speaks of the same Just men, v. 7, 8, 9. though it be with a change of the Numbers and Persons, which is usual in Pro∣phetical Writings, the just, v. 7. we, v. 8. I, v. 9.
• s 1.26

  Heb. to thy name and thy memory; which, by a known Figure called Hendiaduo, may be put for the remembrance of thy Name. And the Name of God is here, as it is in many other places, put for God himself, as he hath made himself known by his Word and Works. And so the sence of this Clause is, Our Affections are not alienated from thee by thy Judg∣ments, but we still continue to desire thy Presence and Fa∣vour, and we support and comfort our selves with the re∣membrance of what thou art, and what thou hast done, and what thou hast promised to be and do to thy People.
• * 1.27

  C•…•…nt. 3. 1.
• t 1.28

  Sincerely and most affectionately, as Psal. 63. 1. and elsewhere.
• u 1.29

  The Prophet speaks this in the name of all God's People, by comparing this with the foregoing Verse.
• x 1.30

  Either, 1. figuratively, in the time of Afflicti∣on, which is oft called night or darkness; or rather, 2. pro∣perly, as appears from the next Clause, wherein early or in the morning is opposed to it. When others are sleeping, my Thoughts and Desires are working towards God.
• y 1.31

  By fervent Prayer for thy Loving-kindness.
• z 1.32

  Betimes in the morning, as the Word signifies.
• a 1.33

  And good reason it is that we should thus desire and seek thee in the way of thy Judgments, because this is the very design of thy Judg∣ments, that men should thereby be awakened to learn and return to their Duty; and this is a common effect of them, that those who have been careless in Prosperity, are made wiser and better by Afflictions. The inhabitants of the world seem to be here taken not in opposition to God's People, as if not they onely, but even the wicked World would do thus; but in a general Notion, so as to include, yea prin∣cipally to design God's People, as may be gathered both from the former part of this, and the foregoing Verse, in which he describes their pious Carriage under Affliction; as also from the two following Verses, in which he speaks of the wicked, whom he seems to oppose to these inhabitants of the world, because these learn Righteousness, whilst those wicked men remain incorrigible both under Mercies and Judgments, v. 10, 11.
• * 1.34

  Eccl. 8. 11.
• b 1.35

  This is the Carriage of thy People; but the Course of Wicked men is directly contrary in all conditions: For if thou dost spare them, when thou punishest thine own People, they will not accept of that gracious Invitation to Repentance, nor walk worthy of so great a Mercy.
• c 1.36

  Even in God's Church, and among his People, where Righteous∣ness is professed and taught, and by many practised; and where Unrighteousness is discountenanced and punished: all which things are Aggravations of his Sin.
• d 1.37

  Although God gives such plain and clear Discoveries of his Majesty and Glory, not onely in his Word, but also in his Works, and especially in this glorious Work of his Patience and Mercy to Wicked men, yet they wilfully shut their Eyes at it, and will not acknowledge it.
• * 1.38

  Job 34. 27. Psal. 28. 5. Chap. 5. 12.
• e 1.39

  And they are guilty of the same obstinate Blindness when thou dost smite and punish them, which is commonly signified by lifting up the hand, as Ezek. 44. 12. Micah 5. 9. Compare also 2 Sam. 20. 21. 1 Kings 11. 26. Or, as others render it, When thine hand is high or exalied, i. e. When thy Works are most evident and most glorious, when thou appearest most gloriously for the defence of thy Peo∣ple, and for the punishment of thine and their Enemies, they will not see.
• f 1.40

  The same Word is repeated in another sence: They shall feel and know that by sad and costly Ex∣perience, which they would not learn by other and easier ways. Seeing is oft put for feeling; in which sence Men are said to see affliction, Lam. 3. 1. and to see death, Psal. 89. 48. and the like.
• ‖ 1.41

  Or, towards thy people.
• g 1.42

  Or, at or towards thy people, the Pronoun thy be∣ing repeated out of the following Clause, as it is in many other places of Scripture, as hath been before noted. Their Envy and Hatred against God's People blinded their Minds, that they neither could nor would see that God was on their side, though the Tokens of it were most manifest and unde∣niable. Which was the Case of Pharach and the Egyptians, who were not sensible that the Lord fought for Israel against the Egyptians, as they said Exod. 14. 25. till it was too late.
• h 1.43

  Not efficiently, but objectively: Such Fire or Wrath as thou usest to pour forth upon thine implacable Enemies. As my wrong, Gen. 16. 5. is not the Wrong done by me, but to me; and my violence, Ier. 51. 35. is the violence done to me, as we translate it, not by me.
• i 1.44

  As thou wilt destroy thine and our Enemies, so thou wilt bless us thy People with Peace and Prosperity.
• k 1.45

  Ei∣ther, 1. all the Good Works done by us▪ which are the Ef∣fects of thy Grace: or rather, 2. all the Good and Great Works which have been wrought for us, all our wonderful Deliverances and singular Blessings come from thee. And so the Argument is this, God hath delivered us formerly upon all occasions, and therefore he will still deliver us, and give us Peace: Which Inference is frequently made by Ho∣ly Men in Scripture.
• ‖ 1.46

  Or, for us.
• l 1.47

  Heb. to or for us.
• * 1.48

  2 Chron. 12. 8.
• m 1.49

  Others besides thee, who art our onely Iudge, and King, and Lawgiver, Isa. 33. 22. and besides those Governours who have been set up by thee, and have ruled us for thee, and in subordination to thee, even Foreign and Heathenish Lords, such as the Philistins, and lately the Assyrians.
• n 1.50

  Have exercised a Tyrannical Power over us.
• o 1.51

  By thy Favour and Help, by which alone (and not by our Strength or Me∣rits) we have been rescued from their Tyranny.
• p 1.52

  We will celebrate thy Praise, and trust in thee for the future. Thou onely hast given us both Ability and Occasion to mag∣nifie thy Name, whereas without thy Succour we had gone into the place of Silence, where there is no remembrance of thee, as is said Psal. 6. 5.
• q 1.53

  Those Tyrants and Enemies are utterly and irrecove∣rably destroyed, so as they shall never live or rise again to molest us. Possibly he speaks of the miraculous Destructi∣on of Sennacherib's Army before Ierusalem.
• r 1.54

  That they might be so effectually destroyed, thou didst undertake the Work. Or, rather, because (as this Particle is used Numb. 14. 43. Psal. 42. 6.) thou hast, &c. as it follows.
• s 1.55

  Thou hast destroyed both them and theirs, and all the Monuments or Memorials of their Greatness and Glory.
• t 1.56

  Heb. Thou hast added to the nation. Which may be un∣derstood either, 1. in way of Mercy, of adding to their Numbers, as our Translation takes it; and so we have in effect the same Phrase, 2 Sam. 24. 3. The Lord add to the peo∣ple, &c. and Psal. 115. 14. in the Hebrew Text, The Lord shall add upon or to you: or, 2. in way of Judgment, of adding to their Plagues or Miscries, of which we read Rev. 22. 18. in which sence the Phrase is found in the Hebrew Text, Psal. 120. 3. What shall be added to thee; and in that usual Form of Imprecation, The Lord do so to me and more, Ruth 1. 17. 1 Sam. 3. 16. &c. where it is in the Hebrew, The Lord do so to me and add. And this sence seems to be favoured by the Con∣text, as also by the ancient Greek Translators, who render the Words, add to them evil or punishments. And so the Word adding may be used emphatically and sarcastically: God in∣deed will add to them; but what? Not Numbers, and Pow∣er, and Glory, as they expected; but Plagues or Judgments, one after another. This nation is supposed by the Current of Interpreters to be the People of Israel, emphatically called the nation. Possibly it may be the Assyrians, of whom he spoke in the last Verse. But this I propose with submis∣sion.
• u 1.57

  Thy Justice is glorified in their Punishment or De∣struction.
• x 1.58

  Which may be understood either, 1. of Israel, and that either in a way of Mercy, Thou hast by destroying the Assyrians enlarged thy People, who were shut up in Ie∣rusalem▪ so that now they may go to the remotest parts of the Land; or in way of Judgment: Thou hast removed thy People out of their own Land, and suffered them to be carried Captive to the ends of the Earth: Or, 2. of the Assyrians; Thou hast removed them from Ierusalem, which they had besieged, and caused them to flee into their own Country, which in Scripture-phrase was in the ends of the earth; of which see Isa. 5. 26. & 13. 5.
• y 1.59

  To wit, thy People, as appears both from the Matter of this Verse, and from the following Verses.
• z 1.60

  Come into thy Presence, with their Prayers and Supplications, as the next Clause explains it.
• a 1.61

  Which notes the Plenty or ra∣ther the Earnestness of their Prayers, as Psal. 42. 4. & 142. 2•…•…
• † 1.62

  Heb. secret speech.
• b 1.63

  Heb. a muttering or lowly speech, such as Charmers use, and such as Hezekiah used when he was in great distress, Isa. 38. 14. Like a crane or swallow so did I chatter, I did mourn as a dove; and such as is usual in case of great humiliation and deje∣ction of Mind.
• c 1.64

  When thou wast punishing them for their Sins.
• * 1.65

  Joh. 16. 21.
• d 1.66

  Such was our Anguish and Danger.
• e 1.67

  Whilst thou didst onely look upon us like a meer Spectator, without af∣fording us the least degree of Pity or Help. Or, this Phrase notes onely the reality of the Thing; God was Witness of this our Misery, and knoweth the Truth of what I say.
• f 1.68

  We have had the Torment of a Woman in Child∣bearing, but not the Comfort of a Living Child, Ioh. 16. 21. for we have brought forth nothing but Wind, all our La∣bours and Hopes were vain and unsuccessful. The Prophet here represents their deplorable and desperate Condition, before God appeared so eminently to deliver them.
• g 1.69

  We found that we were utterly unable to deliver our selves.
• h 1.70

  Or, in the land, in our own Country, where yet we had far greater Advantages than we could have had elsewhere.
• i 1.71

  The Assyrians, or our other Enemies; for they are here opposed to God's People.
• k 1.72

  The Prophet here turneth his Speech to God's People, and gives them a Cordial to support them in their deep Di∣stress, expressed in the foregoing Verse. Thy dead Men are not like those v. 14. for they shall not live, as I there said; but thine shall live. You shall certainly be delivered from all your Fears and Dangers. Nothing is more fre∣quent, both in Scripture and other Authors, than for great Calamities to be compared to death▪ and Deliverance from them to life, and reviving, and resurrection: And particular∣ly the Captivity of the Iews in Babylon, and their Deliverance out of it, is largely expressed by this very Similitude, Ezek. 37. 11, &c.
• l 1.73

  As I my self, who am one of your number, and of these Dead men, shall live again. You shall be de∣livered together with me. Which he might add, to meet with an Objection; for they might think that God would take some special Care of this Holy Prophet, and would preserve him when they should be destroyed. No, saith he, As I am at present like a dead Carkass no less than you, so you shall be restored to Life no less than I. If the Sup∣plement of our Translation seems to be too liberal, it may be rendred to the same purpose, as my body, the Particle as being oft understood, as I have divers times observed: As my dead Body shall rise, so shall theirs also; we are equal∣ly dead, and shall equally live again.
• m 1.74

  Unto Life, as ap∣pears from the former Clause.
• n 1.75

  Out of your sleep, even the sleep of death, as it is called Psal. 13. 3. Death being oft compared to a Sleep, as Ioh. 11. 11. Act. 7. 60. and Restau∣ration to Life unto awaking, as 2 Kings 4. 31.
• o 1.76

  You that are dead and buried in the Dust, as the Dead are said to sleep in the dust, Dan. 12. 2.
• p 1.77

  The Favour and Blessing of God upon thee, which is oft compared to the dew, as Hos. 14. 5. Mich. 5. 7. The Pronoun thy is here taken not effici∣ently, but objectively, as thy curse, Gen. 27. 13. is the Curse coming upon thee.
• q 1.78

  Which gently refresheth and revi∣veth them, and maketh them to grow and flourish.
• * 1.79

  qAs an abortive Birth is cast out of the Womb, to which the Grave is compared, Iob 1. 21. But because the Verb here used doth not signifie to cast out, but to cast down, which seems not proper here, these Words may be and are, both by ancient and later Interpreters, rendred otherwise, and thou wilt cast down the land of the giants, or of the violent ones, of the proud and potent Tyrants of the World. For the Word here rendred dead, is elsewhere rendred giants, as 2 Sam. 21. 16. 18. See also on Iob 26. 5. Prov. 9. 18. & 21. 16. But then the Words seem to be better rendred, and thou wilt cast the giants down to the ground: Either, 1. thou, O God, who is oft understood in such Cases▪ or rather, 2. thou, O my People, to whom he speaks in the foregoing Clauses of the Verse, thy dead body, and thy dew, and here continueth his Speech, thou wilt or shalt cast, &c. thou shalt subdue even thy most Giant-like and mighty Enemies. Which, though it be properly God's Work▪ the Church is oft said to do, because she by her Prayers engageth God to do it. And so as the former Clauses of the Verse speak of the Deliverance and Prosperity of God's Church and People, so this Clause speaks of the Destruction of their Enemies, which usually accompanieth it.
• s 1.80

  Having foretold the wonderful Deliverance and great Happiness of God's People, and the utter Destruction of their Enemies, lest they should think they were now en∣tring into the possession of this Felicity, he adds what here follows, and intimates, that for the present they were to expect Storms, and to prepare for them, and patiently to wait God's time for the Accomplishment of so great a Mercy.
• t 1.81

  Withdraw thy self from the Company and Con∣versation of the Wicked World, lest partaking with them in their Sins, thou dost also partake of their Plagues; pour out thy Prayers to God in thy Closet, as this may be ex∣plained by comparing Mat. 6. 6. put thy self under the protection of my Providence and Grace by Faith and Pray∣er. He alludes to the common practice of Men, who when there are Storms or Dangers abroad, betake themselves into their own Houses or Chambers for safety; or, as some think, to that History Exod. 9. 19, 20. or to that Command of not going out of their houses, Exod. 12. 22. or to the like Charge given to Rohab, as the Condition of her Preservation, Ios. 2.
• * 1.82

  Psal. 30. 5. Chap. 54. 7, 8. 2 Cor. 4. 17.
• u 1.83

  Whereby he intimates, that all their Afflictions, how long and tedious soever they may seem, are but short and mo∣mentary, in comparison of that Happiness which is reserved for them.
• x 1.84

  The dreadful Effects of God's Anger, those sore Judgments of God mentioned in the following Verse.
• * 1.85

  Mic. 1. 3.
• y 1.86

  Cometh down from Heaven; which God in Scripture is frequently said to do, when he undertaketh any great and glorious Work, either of Delivering his People, or of De∣stroying their Enemies. The Speech is borrowed from the manner of Princes, who come out of their Palaces either to fit in Judgment, or to fight against their Enemies, which is the Case here.
• z 1.87

  All the Enemies of God and of his Peo∣ple; for these are here opposed to God's People: There∣fore take heed you be not found in the number of them.
• † 1.88

  Heb. bloods.
• a 1.89

  The innocent Blood which hath been spilled upon the Earth shall be brought to light, and shall be severely reven∣ged upon the Murderers. For the Phrase see on Gen. 4. 10. Iob 16. 18. Ezek. 24. •…•….