Job 1

moderation, that they may bear a change of their condition, if it come, with an equal mind. I am sure there is no man, of whatsoever. rank, or in whatsoever condition he be, but. may learn very much, if he please, from’ this admirable pattern. Which is the very first that is left us upon record, of a virtuous life, both in prosperity and in adversity, and that not only as a private man, but as a. prince: " In whom it is the greater commendation to obey the will of God; because he hath more means and temptations to fulfil his own/’. ^. That therefore shall concludethe character of Job; who, when he had no superior to control him, (as you may read chap. xxix. xxxi.),gave such an example of piety and devotion, humility and moderation, chastity and purity, justice and equity, charity and compassion, as few have done in a private condition. This is as admirable, and will be praised as much to all generations, as his generous patience. Which was so much famed in ancient times, that (from a passage, which some editions of the LXX. have added to the conclusion of tbisbook) itwentas a common tradition ov&v amarov £x wv ( as Theophanes speaks), having nothing incredible in it, that Job was one of those, who had the honour to rise but of his grave at our Saviour’s resurrection; when, as St. Matthew assures us, xxvii. 51. “Many bodies of saints which slept arose, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” " Behold, we count them happy which endure. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." (James v. 7.11.) This chapter isa plain narration of the flourishing condition wherein Job lived, before the envy and malice of the devil brought upon him the sorest calamities; which are particularly described, with the occasion of them, and his admirable constancy under Ihera; whereby he became as eminent an example of patience in adversity, as he had been of piety and all manner of virtue in his prosperity; Grand Cairo, upon tho western border of the Nile; he hurt nobody, one might touch hira, fondle him, kill him, cut him in pieces, and carry him several days’ journey from thence, and yet after all this he would appear again in tho cavern alive and well. It seemed to mako a distinction between persons; some it would go before, fondle them, and wrap its folds about them; others it would fleo away from and shun. In short, if what is said to be true, we cannot help acknowledging something miraculous in the creature, Somo have thought that it might possibly bo tho demon Asmodeus, whoso abode wo mentioned to be in these parts. One could wish it could be certainly known how long it is since it first appeared there, for the ancients say nothing of it. Or possibly the whole may be only invention, to embellish tho travels, and to entertain and amuse credulous readers. (Lucas’s Voyage into tho Levant, torn. i. cap. 9. 14.) As I have already pointed out some errors of tho Romanists, couched in this Dissertation, it may not be amiss, at the conclusion of it, to take notice, that in the old Roman Missal, and also in the Missal ofSarum, there is a proper mass of Raphael the archangel, with the following rubric, by way of preface to it, grounded plainly on this history: — Tlie following office of Raphael the archangel, may be celebratedfor pilgrims or travellers; that as he conducted and brought back (in his journey) Tobias safe and sound, so he would bring back those for whom the mass is said. It may also be said for all sick people, and such as are possessed with the devil; because he is a medicinal angel, who restored sight to Tobias, and dispossessed a devil out of Sara; his son’s wife. Then the following prayer to God: — God, who didst direct blessed Raphael the archangel, to go before thy servant Tobias, hastening in his journey, and gavest him to be his keeper, amidst the varieties and dangers of this life and way;\ grant, we beseech thee, that we may be protected by his aid, so that both tve may shun the dangers of this present life, and may be able to come to the joys of heaven, through our Lord, &c. Then a prayer to S. Raphael himself: — 1 entreat thee also, do thou assist me, O excellent prince Raphael, thou best physician of soul and body; and thou that didst presently enlighten the bodily eyes of Tobias by curing them, do thou also enlighten my spiritual and carnal eyes, and do not cease by thy heavenly prayer to cut off all the darkness of my heart and body. (Hor. Sec. us. Sarum. f. 92.) THE.a BOO.K OF TO BIT. THE BOOK OF TOBIT, forts them with accordingly, and we see actually fulfilled in the gospel. In like manner it may be presumed, and from many passages in this bodk (see chap. xiii. xiv.) it seems probable, that to Tobit, and others of the faithful Israelites, was vouchsafed in their captivity a distant prospect of this glorious appearing, and of the happy state of the church under it. A COMMENTARY UPON [chap. strictly obliged; as, the aTrapx>i> or the oblation, that was made out of the fruits of the earth, particularly corn; as also the firstlings, and tenths of their flocks,, and of the wool of their sheep, which were paid in kind to the priests themselves at the temple: then the first tithe, called here the first tenth part of all increase, viz. of wine, oil, figs, and other fruits of the earth; this was given unto the Levites, and was always paid in kind. But the learned differ w f hethcr it was always brought up to Jerusalem, as some assert, or paid unto the Lcvitcs in the several cities of tillage, as others conclude from Nch. x. 37. The decimaprima or first tithe being paid, the husbandman paid out of that which remained the second tithe, the Sturtpo&KaS*;, or the second tenth part, as it is here called; this they might either pay in kind, or by way of commutation give the worth of it, which Tobit seems to have done; this, whether in kind or in money, was brought up to Jerusalem, and the possessors made a kind of love-feast therewith, unto which were invited the priests and Levitcs. The third tithe, or, as it may be rendered, the tithe of the third year, was called the poor man’s tithe; this the possessor carried not to Jerusalem, but spent it at homo within his own gates upon the Levites, the fatherless, the widow, and the poor. (Deut.xiv. 28. xxvi. 12, 13.) Hence these sorts of tithes were called TirwxoSeKaScu. So that the first and second tithes were paid by the husbandman, the first, second, fourth, and fifth years after the sabbatical year; but upon the third and sixth years only the first tithe was paid to the Levites, and the second was spent or distributed at home, and given unto them to whom it was meet; t. e. to widows, orphans, and strangers, as Munster’s copy has it; or for the repairs of the house of God, as that of Fagius. St Chrysostom, speaking of the liberal maintenance of the Levites among the Jews, has a fine reflection on the occasion: " Observe (says he), how much the Jews gave to their priests and Levites— as, firstfruits, tenths, then tenths again, then other tenths, yet no man at that time envied them, or said they had or ate too much." (Epist. ad Philip.) There is nd reason, but the mere name, to suppose the latter to be Judith’s husband; it is more likely to be, as Junius conjectures, another name for Achiacharus, and that Nasbas should bo inserted in the text instead of it. (Sec note on xi. 18.) Nor is Aman here, that Hainan who was Mordecai’s and the Jews’ enemy, whose history we have in the book of Esther; for this is utterly incompatible with the time which Tobit is supposed to live in. The elevation of Mordccai to his great dignity, and the fall and disgrace of Haman, happened after the captivity of Babylon was ended, and after the time of Darius the Medc. This, therefore, is either an interpolation, as some suppose, in the history, and indeed it is wholly omitted by the Vulgate, or it refers to some accident or charge against Achiacharus, which Tobias was acquainted with, possibly brought against him by some haughty ungrateful courtier whom he had contributed to raise. However, from his happy escape, through God’s blessing on his deeds, from the perfidiousncss and treachery of Aman, we arc furnished with a fresh instance of the power and reward of charity, and of the truth of Tobits observation, iv. 10. That alms deliver from death, and suffer not to come into darkness; the very phrase used here. CHAP. 1-3 THE BOOK OF JUDITH. V e. Cyaxares, or Astyages, which Tobias lived long enough to hear of, and the taking of Nineveh is the last event mentioned in the book of Tobit." But it cannot be inferred from this connective particle, that Judith is a continuation of the preceding history, because these two do not synchronize, if that of Judith is rightly placed, A.M. 3348. and the taking of Nineveh, according to Usher, be in 3378. Nor ought this to be joined to Tobit, or necessarily to follow it, because so placed in most editions, the placing thereof probably being accidental and arbitrary: nor do their subjects agree, the history of Tobit being the memoirs of a private family, and Judith that of the Jewish nation. It seems more probable, as Calmpt conjectures, either that this history made a part of, and was taken from, some public registers, wherein the most remarkable events are entered and recorded, in a regular series and order; or that the partiele here is superfluous, as alike one, et, is placed at the head of several books of Scripture, where it has nothing to do with the sense. But the best way to solve this is to observe, that the Greek and other more correct versions wholly omit it. Of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, who reigned in Nineveh the great city.’] The Mcdes, after subduing several of tho neighbouring nations, under the conduct of their second king Phraortes, invaded Assyria. Saosduchinus, or Saosduehius, called here Nabuchodonosor, raised a powerful army to oppose them, summoning the whole force of his wide-spreading dominions, and inviting all the nations of the cast to his assistance. Most of those which wero summoned received his ambassadors with contempt, upon which he resolves on nothing less than being avenged on the whole earth, and choosing Holofernes for the instrument of his vengeance; as he was commander-in-chief pf bis forces, he orders him to put all to the sword who should oppose him, (ii.,11.) As to the cruelty >vith which these orders were executed, the dread and terror that merr cilcss general struck into the countries through which he marched, the courageous resolution taken by the Jews to withstand the mighty conqueror, the great strait tp Which the city of Bethulia and their whole nation were reduced, and their miraculous deliverance; and, lastly, the great slaughter of the Assyrian army; these particulars wp have a distinct and minute account of in the following chapters, Herodotus confirms the main.of this history, telling us, that Phraortes, the Mede, made war against the Assyrians, " Those I mean, (says lie, Jib, i. pap. 102.) who lived at Nineveh, who had formerly been the chief of all, but now were deserted by their friends or vassals, though nevertheless in a good condition to defend themselves." No two historical pieces can, so far as they are concerned together, more illustrate each other than Herodotus and tlijs book of Judith. (See Montfaucon, Hist. Vcr, Judith.) It hath been objected, that the king pf Nineveh is here called Nabuchodonospr, wjiich is the proper name pf the kings of Babylon; to this it may be answered, That we find not only in writers of different characters, the Greek and Hebrew, the 3acrcd nnd profane, but even in writers of the same nation, the same person under different appellations: though therefore in strictness of speech it may be counted an error in history, to call the king of Nineveh by the name of Nabuchodonosor, yet, as it was the.style and manner of the Jews to denote any prinep who lived beyond the Euphrates by that name, (see Tobit xiv. 15.) we* need not wonder to find this writer, who wrote either at Babylon or in Chaldea, and lived in an age when the fame and repur, tation of Nabuchodonosor the Great had, quite eclipsed the name of all his predecessors, calling another prince, who; lived at a far distance, viz. Saosduchinus, the king of Assyria, by the name of the king of Babylon, which perhaps at that time might be the standing name of every great and distant monarch. Others say, that this Nabuchodonosor, then king of Assyria, sprang from the royal line of the kings of Babylon, and that he chose to retain the Chaldee name of the kings of Babylon, viz. Nabuchodonosor, ap a standing memorial of his extraction, and that it might appear he was king of Babylon as well as of Assyria and Nineveh. In the days of Arphaxad, which reigned over the MedesJ] Arphaxad Seems to be a common name of all the kings of Media, as Merodaeh was of those of Babylon, and Pharaoh or Ptolemy of those of Egypt. The question is, what Ar-. phaxad is here meant? As Arphaxad is said to be that king who was the founder of Media, Prideaux contends that Deioces must be the person. (Connex. vol, i. p, 28.) But Calmet and many others are of opinion, that by Arphaxad is not here meant the Deioces in Herodotus, but his son Phraortes, who succeeded him in the kingdom of Media; which seems more probable, as the history informs us, that this Arphaxad was overcome by Nabuchodonosor, or Saosr duchinus, king of Assyria, and slain in the mountains of Ragau, by the Assyrian archers, (i. 15.) which even HeroJdotus himself makes to be the fate not of Deioces the father, but of his son Phraortes, (lib. i. cap. 97.) who, having subr dued the Persians, as he tells.us, and made himself master of almost all Asia, was not content therewith, but coming at last to attempt Nineveh and the Assyrian empire, was himself defeated and killed in the bold attempt. In JLcbatane.] This city is by the ancients, constantlycalled Ecbatan of Media, to distinguish it from another in Syria, bearing the same name. For beauty and magnificence it was little inferior to Babylon or Nineveh. In compass it is said to have been near two hundred furlongs. It was the metropolis of all JJedja, and the seat both of the JVledian and Persian mpnarchs, their ordinary residence in the heat of symnjer, as Susa was in the winter-time. The royal palace was about seven furlongs, or a mile in cora<- pass, and built with all the cost and skill that a stately edifice did requirp. (Polyb. lib. x.) Some of its beams are said to be pf silver, &nd the rest of cedar strengthened with plates of gold. A COMMENTARY UPON [chap. Y. his son, who being a prince of warlike spirit, and having many forces under his command, may not improperly be supposed to delight m works of this nature. His father indeed might lay the foundation of some great designs, and during his lifetime carry on the buildings, and leave the completion of them to his son, as undertakings of this kind are not so soon completed; and in this sense he may be considered as a joint founder, and what is here said of Arphaxad be applied to him. Particular mention, we may observe, is hero made of the largeness of the stones employed in the works, as the ancients placed a great part of the magnificence of their buildings herein, as appears from the description of old monuments in history, and from the ruins of such antique buildings as have in some measuro escaped the injury of time and the rudeness of past ages. And made the height of the wall seventy cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits. THE BOOK OF JUDITH. Judea, the power and credit of iho kings of Assyria began to dwindle; and among others who broke from that government was Merodach-Baladan, king of Babylon, who before was tributary to the king of Assyria;’ Or probably, the nations mentioned in the foregoing verses, instructed by the misfortunes of others, and seeing that their submission served only to render the conqueror more fierce and’ insolent, might take the resolution here mentioned/ though seemingly rash and imprudent. It seems, most probable that this message and invitation to the inhabitants of the several places here mentioned to come to his assistance,.was before the engagement with Arphaxad, as our version, following the Greek, represents it; but the Vulgate makes it to be after that battle, to induce them by a sense of his conquests; and the terror of his arms, to submit to his dominion and empire; or whether he sent to the same people twice, as some have conjectured, both before and after the engagement: however this be, it is certain that his pride.was very sensibly piqued at the disappointment, when’ he found so many people, whom, in his own mind, he looked upon as already vanquished and subdued, daring to dispute his orders, and affronting him in the person of his ambassadors. They regarded him, says the text, only as one man, i. e. as a private man, without respecting his public dignity or character, as one that had no right or business to command them to attend, and, therefore, as their equal, wg awt)n Iffbc, as some copies have it, or being but a man, no better than themselves. Ver.l. J1.ND these are the words of the book.] It begins abruptly, as if it was a part or continuation of some former work; but the connective particle koI, or et, is often to be observed in the beginning of books, particularly the historical ones of the Hebrews. (See Exod. i. 1. Lev. i. 1. Numb. i. 1. Josh. i. 1. and 1 Mace. i. 1. Judith L 1. in the Vulgate.) By book we are to understand the letter (see ver. 14.) which Baruch wrote from those that were carried into Babylon to such as remained in Judea, and begins at ver. 10. (the first part is a sort of preface) and contains that confession which the Jews were to use in their public worship, upon solemn days, during their captivity. It begins, i. 15; and is continued to iii. 8. Wldch Baruch the son of Nerias, &c] It is certain that the true Baruch, whom this writer seems to personate, was of an illustrious family; his father and grandfather were of great note in their times, and distinguished in their country. His brother, Seraiah, was sent on an important commission to Nebuchadnezzar, to request him to send back the holy vessels which he had carried to Babylon, when Jerusalem was taken in the time of Jechonias. Josephus confirms the account of his being of a very eminent family, and that he was well skilled in the language of his country; (Antiq. lib. x. cap. 11.) which two characters, says a learned writer, seem to imply, that Josephus had read the genealogy of Baruch prefixed to this book, and that it was written in the language of his country, either in Hebrew or Chaldee. (Authen. Rec. vol. i.) Grotius, on the other hand, maintains, that it was not wrote in Hebrew (which St. Jerome urges as the reason of its not being received into the Jewish canon), but the work of some Hellenistic Jew, well skilled in Greek, who exercised his fancy in composing the letter contained herein, framing it as if it was wrote from those who were carried to Babylon, and addressed to those of their brethren who still continued at Jerusalem. Wrote in Babylon.] Probably, says Calmet, in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, when he accompanied his brother to Babylon; and whilst the latter was soliciting the return of the holy vessels, belonging to the temple, Baruch repeated to the captive Jews residing there, the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning the fall of Babylon, (li. 60. 64.) and the encouraging promises of their future deliverance. THE BOOK OF BARUCH. made vessels of silver for the use of the temple, &c. — circumstances so promising and favourable, as but ill comport with the melancholy times which followed the destruction of the city and temple, and the unparalleled misery described in some of the following chapters.

Job 1:1

J\0W it came to pass, after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites. The fight between Saul and the Philistines fell out, when David was in pursuit of the Amalekites. And David had abode about two days in Ziklag.] Whicb it seems the Amalekites iad not quite burnt; contenting themselves with the spoil. x HEN Moab rebelled against Israel after the death ofAhab.] They paid them no more tribute, but utterly disclaimed their authority over them;.which they had owned ever since the days of David, (2 Sam. xiii. 2.) Whereas Edom (which, it seems, in the division of the kingdom, fell to Judah, as Moab did to Israel) continued still under the dominion of the king of Judah, (1 Kings xxii. 47.) JL HERE was a man in the land of Uz, whose name teas Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.] In the time of the ancient patriarchs, before the giving of the law of Moses, there lived in Arabia a person of great eminence, whose name was Job: a man not more illustrious for his birth or place, than for the height of his virtue, which appeared in a most unblamable life, void of all hypocrisy, both in his piety towards God, and in his dealings with men, and all other ways. £ HE book of the words of Tobit J\ Bf/3Xoc rwv XJywv. A6yoQ often stands for thing; thus Sophocles, to7q Kvpioig navra \9V §*?Xovv \6yov. The Hebrew word D1, signifies promiscuously a word and a thing, and is rendered both by priixa and Xoyoc. See Exod. viii. 12. 1 Kings xiv. 19. Eccles. i. 1. Mark i. 45. Luke i. 37. ii. 15. prifxa tovto ytyovbg, i. e. this thing was done. The margin rightly renders \6yo)v here by acts. The Hebrew versions, and Sy-’ riac, and the Alexandrian MS. differ in the following genealogy; the Vulgate wholly omits it. Our translators follow the Rom. and Complut. editions. JLNthe twelfth year. 2 How is this consistent with what is mentioned ver. 13. where it is said that he marched in battle array in the seventeenth year? Vatablus and others, to avoid this difficulty, suppose the war to have begun in the twelfth year of Nabuchodonosor, and to be finished in the seventeenth. But this is more than they have authority’for; the account being rather of a particular battle, than of a continued war. Possibly this is. one of those various Tcadings which Jerome professeth to have cut off, as corruptionsof’the text; for it docs not occur in his translation. And agreeably his version placcth the expedition of Holofcrncs, that was the next ycaT after this battle of Ttagau, in the thirteenth year of Nabuchodonosor, which’Dr. Prideaux says is the’truth of the matter. (Conncx. Vol. i. p. 29.) It is remarkable that the Greek text of this book precedes the Latin one five years, as appears from the instance above, and from ver. 1. of the next chapter, where the Greek has the eighteenth year, which in Jerome’s version is only the thirteenth. Some account for the difference this way, that Nabuchodonosor, the adopted son or grandson of Asar-haddon, reigned jointly with him five years, and sole thirteen years, to the time of his army being cut off with Holofcrncs before Bcthulia, (chap, xv.) In the last year but one of his reign Nabuchodonosor overcame Arphaxad, and destroyed Ecbatane, and in his last, Holoferncs was beheaded by Judith. The Vulgate begins this book with, Itaque Arphaxad, &c. which looks as if this was a continuation of something preceding. Calmet says, " It may be joined to the history of Tobit without any great inconvenience, or much breaking in upon the regular series of events. For the building of Ecbatane, and the war between Arphaxad and Nabuchodonosor mentioned here^ follow closely enough, the taking of Nineveh by Assuerus,

Job 1:2

It came even to pass on the third day. After his coming into Ziklag. That, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head.] As the manner of deep mourners was. (See 1 Sam. iv. 4.) And Ahaziah fell down through. a lattice in his tipper chamber that was in Samaria.’] By this lattice, the Jews understand some net-work that was in the diningroom; which being decayed, and he leaning upon it, it fell down, and he together with it. And was sick.] Was bruised, and, perhaps, fell into a fever. And he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire ofBaal-zebub the god ofEkron whether I sliall recover of this disease.] Many think this god was called Baal-Semin, the Lord of heaven; whom the Jews, by way of contempt, called Baal-zebub; i. e. the lord of a fly, as a god. that was nothing worth; or rather, because his temple was full of flies: whereas the temple at Jerusalem, though so many sacrifices were offered there daily, never had a fly in it; as the Jews relate in Pirke Avoth. But it is not likely, the king of Israel would have called this god, for whom he had a great reverence, by a contemptible name; which signifies, therefore, no more than Mvtwd^g pviaypog, a7r6yvtog, among the Greeks; which were the titles of Jupiter and Hercules; because thpy were thought to free their countries from flies, with which the Ekronites were pestered, lying in a moist and hot soil, near to the ocean. Theodoret,Proeopius, and others, think they worshipped this god in the image of a fly: but the latter of them doubts whether it was the name of a demon, or of an old woman canonized for a goddess. And after all, Mr. Selden thinks the reason of this name cannot be found. But the most probable conjecture is, that he was so called from the cure of a contagious disease. For Pliny tells us, that there being a great pestilence in Africa, which was brought among them by a multitude of flics, it was extinguished by the killing of them all after they had sacrificed to the god Achore. He should have said, the god worshipped at Ekron; from whence that word Achore plainly came, (lib. x. Nat. Hist. cap. 27.) And if. this, was the original of the name, it is no wonder that Ahaziah sent to inquire of him about his sickness, since he was thought so powerful as to cure the pestilence. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.’] Whom God therefore had so wonderfully blessed, that his outward prosperity was equal to the perfections of his mind. For, first, he had given him the sweet fruits of marriage, in a numerous issue of seven sons and three daughter: Wlio in the time of Enemessar king of the Assyrians, was led captive, &c.] The first book of Chronicles v. 26. tells us, that God stirred up Pul and Tiglath-Pileser, kings of Assyria, against the impious Israelites, and that the latter carried them away from beyond Jordan, and sent them into the countries of Halah, Habor, and Hara, and to tho river Gozan. And this book adds, that the tribe of Nephthali, of which Tobit was, being carried away by Enemessar, who is the same with Shalmaneser, as tho margin has it, was placed in the province of Media, and himself at Nineveh. It is plain from hence, that there was a double invasion, and a double captivity of the Israelites. Of this second captivity we must necessarily understand this place, which was thirty years after that by Tiglath-Pileser. In the time of this last translation, Tobit was carried away captive with many others, being then, as is supposed, about forty-four years old, with his wife and young Tobias, A.M. 3283. before Christ 721 years, or thereabouts. That city which is called properly Nephthali in Galilee.’] Properly, KvSfoc. Where is there such a Greek word so used? All other translations have it as a proper name, Cydios, or some such-like. Tho Alexandrian MS. has KvSfwv, which Grabe alters for Kvpivg. Calmet thinks the reading might be KaSfoc* This is thought to be the same with that which was otherwise called Kadesh-Nephthali, and so the margin explains it. This being the principal city in the tribe of Nephthali, in the more early times, for brevity’s sake, was called Nephthali. It was not only a Levitical city, but also one of the threo cities of refuge on the west of Jordan. It is tho opinion of the learned, founded on Isa. ix. 1 — 3. compared with Matt. iv. 14. that as the land of Galilee,, or of Zebnlun and Nephthali, had the misfortune to be first in that calamity, which befel their nation by the Assyrians, so, in recompence of that misery which they suffered above tho rest of their brethren, they had the first and chiefest share of the presence and conversation of the Messiah; which the prophet Isaiah com- And built in Ecbatane walls round about of stones hewn three cubits broad and six cubits long.] Prideaux says of JDeiopes, that having repaired, beautified, andenlargcd^ the city of Ecbatana (which, according Jo Diodprus, lib. ii. had been built from the times of Semirarais, one thousand three hundred years before), he made it the royal scat of his kingdom, and reigned there with great wisdom, honour, and prosperity, fifty-three years; during which time, it growing to be a great city, he is for this reason reckoned by the Greeks to have been the founder of it: (Connex. vol. i\ p. 20.^) but as the writer of this history does not mention thp founding pf this city here, though the Vulgate, without authority, docs, but the adding new and magnificent fortifications to it, it is probably tp be understood of Phraortes In the fifth year, and in the seventh day of the month, what time as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire.’] This writer neither mentions what the month was, i. e. by.what name it was called, nor from whence ono should compute the fifth year. It seems probable, that it means the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. (See ver. 9.) But to make as it should seem the account more clear and explicit, is added, what time as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire, which is attended with two difficulties. 1. That the temple is represented hero as burnt by the Chaldeans in the fifth year of Jechonias’s captivity, which was not till the eleventh of Zedekiah; and, secondly, that after the burning of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, there remained notwithstanding there a high-priest, priests, and numbers of people with them at Jerusalem; (ver. 7.) that the altar was still standing, and sacrifices offered on it; that the solemn days continued to be kept, and particularly that Zedekiah then reigned, and had

Job 1:3

But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go tip to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a god in Israel,* that, ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god ofEkron?] There are two negatives in the Hebrew text which increase the sense, Is it not because there is no God, none in Israel? That is, Do you not plainly declare, that you think there is no God, none at all, in Israel? that he knows nothing, n,or can do any thing? Which makes you send to Ekron, as if there was a more knowing and mighty, if not the only> God there; His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.] And then enriched him abundantly with the wealth of that country; which consisted in seven thousand sheep*, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, as many sheasses; with such a very great tillage, arid so many servants, that in those eastern parts he had neither superior nor equal.’ ■ I Tobit have walked all the days of my life in the way of truth and justice, and I did many alms-deeds to my brethren, and my nation, who came with me to Nineveh, into the land of the Assyrians.] Tobit here in person relates his own history; and so the other versions, the Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and the ancient Latin, all read in the first person; the Vulgate only differs, which from hence to the end of the third chapter, runs in the third person. One may observe that Tobit’s misfortunes never induce him to leave the way of virtue; but his charity to his brethren under the same captivity, is most extraordinary and amiable. Human prudence proceeds upon maxims very different; it is natural for a captive, at a distance from his country, and reduced in his circumstances, to manage and reserve the little remainder to subsist himself and family, and to think that giving to others may be the way to bring poverty upon himself; but Tobit’s faith judged otherwise, and had a respect unto the recompence of the reward. St. Ambrose’s character of him is very just: " He bore with humble patience absence from his own country, and the loss of his goods occasioned by it, and was more sensibly affected with the afflictions of his brethren than his own; he regarded not as his private property what he had hitherto acquired, but distributed it to the necessities of his fellow-captives, esteeming only what he himself suffered as his due, and the just punishment of his sins. He was every where and in all things submissive to the will of God, without listening to the motions of self-love, or the suggestions of partial and corrupt nature." (In Tob. cap. 1. torn, i.) Vcr. 5. Now all the tribes which together revolted, and the house of my fatfier Nephthali, sacrificed unto the heifer BaalJ] For distinction’s sake, Baal had particular titles and different rites of worship; here Baal the heifer is specified, to point out to us what Baal is meant, viz, the heifer, or calf of Beth-el, or rather Dan, which was near to the tribe of Nephthali. The margin renders, to the power of Baal, as if the reading was, rijc BaoX ry dwafiei. Spencer and some other learned men contend, that the true reading here is, ry BaoX, ry Awafiu, to Baal, the strength, or the power, which is probably the sense of the other marginal reading, viz. the god Baal, and is countenanced by many copies, and may seem confirmed from Hos.x. 5. and Mark xiv. G2. where the right hand of Power means, the right hand of the Power, or of God, the all-powerful. And it is observable, that Aquila, in his version, renders Eli, Eli, which in the LXX. Isaiah 6 Qeog fiov, 6 Geo? fiov, (Psal. xxii. 1.) by \rryygi fiov, Ivyypi pov. That God is called the Strength, the Rock, &c. is indeed evident from many passages in Scripture; (see Exod. xv. 11. Deut. xxxii. 37.) but then such a title does not belong, nor was usually given, to false gods or idols, who are always styled vanities, because of their nothingness and impotence. Nor is it probable that Tobit, when he is condemning image-w T orship, should honour its object with a title of such pre-eminence and distinction. The true reading seems rather that which is followed in our version, rg BaoX rr? Sa/utXtt, L e. to the idol or image of Baal, with the form or resemblance of a heifer. And so Jer. ii. 29. Hos. xiii. I. where the LXX, render rrj BaaX, the Chaldee adds image or idol. It remains only to inquire, why Baal is here expressed in the feminine gender; besides the common one, the learned Selden assigns these two particular reasons: 1. That Baal was ap<wo0rjXt/c, male and female; like the Egyptian Isis, the Syrian Astarte, and others of those images, which antiquity worshipped, who were indifferently gods or goddesses among those nations who adopted their figures. (Plut. de Isid. Aruob. adv. Gent. lib. iii. Tertull. Apol. i. 13.) 2. The Egyptians, and other idolatrous nations that worshipped beasts, preferred, according to Herodotus,/cemwas boves, before other animals, and hence such as described their worship, styled them Safiakue, or Juvencas. (DeDiis Syris, Syntag. 1.) To these I shall subjoin a third reason, countenanced by Bochart and our Fuller, (Miscell. Sacr. lib. ii. cap. 7.) that when Josephus, or the LXX. or St. Paul, (Rom. xi. 4.) speak of Baal in the feminine gender, it is by way of ridicule and contempt. The like may be observed of the calves of Dan and Beth-el, which, by the inspired writers, (2 Kings x. 29. Hos. x. 5.) are styled al dafiaktig, not that they were always of that sex, but by way of contempt, and to expose them the more; like that of Virgil, " O vere Phrygiae, neque enim Phryges" — (JEn. ix.) Ver. G. But I alone went often to Jerusalem at the feasts, as it ivas ordained unto all the people of Israel by an everlasting decree.) As the whole body of the people complied with that idolatry which Jeroboam set up and authorized as the national religion, except a small remnant of the faithful in Israel, which bowed not their knees unto Baal; so it is greatly to the honour of Tobit, that, amidst the great number of his own tribe, which together revolted, he kept himself undefiled, and free from the general offence; especially as he -was young, and might easily have been led away by the power of example. For it is a proof of an uncommon degree of virtue to live untainted in the midst of surrounding wickedness, and to preserve the purity of innocence in the time of a general corruption. But when it is here said, that Tobit alone kept himself from idolatry, and went to the regular and appointed place of worship at Jerusalem, at the usual and stated feasts, it is not to be taken so strictly and. exclusively, as if he alone had been thus remarkably religions, or was the only happy one that had escaped the pollution; for the contrary appears from v. 13. where Ananias and Jonathas are mentioned as accompanying him to Jerusalem, and making their offerings together at the temple of the habitation of the Most High. This expression, therefore, is to be understood like that concerning Elijah, 1 Kings xix. 14. Having the first-fruits and tenths of increase, with that which was first shorn; and them gave I at the altar, to the priests, the children of Aaron. And set the toivers thereof upon the gates of it a hundred cubits high, and the breadth thereof in the foundation threescore cubits.) The walls of this city aTe much celebrated by the ancients, and minutely described by Herodotus. (Lib. i. cap. 98.) They were seven in number, all of a circular form, and gradually rising above each other by the height of the battlements of each wall. The situation of the ground, rising by an easy ascent/ was very favourable to the design of building them, and perhaps first suggested it. The royal palace and treasury were within the innermost circle of the seven. The first of these walls was equal in circumference to the city of Athens, i.e. according to Thucydides, (lib.i.) one hundred and seventy-eight furlongs, and had white battlements, the second black, the third of a purple colour, the fourth blue, and the fifth of deep orange. But the two innermost, as serving more immediately for a fence to the royal person of the king, and.within one of which was his palace, were embellished above the other; the one being covered or gilt with silver, and the other with gold. Each of them being higher than the other, and distinguished by the colour of their several pinnacles, gave unto the eye a most agreeable prospect. (Herod, ibid.) This description indeed of Herodotus savours somewhat of romance, but the uncommon height and superb magnificence of the walls are confirmed by other. good authorities. It should seem as if the walls of Ecbatane were each of them seventy cubits high, fifty cubits broad, and the towersupon the gates a hundred cubits higher; but this is to be understood only of the innermost wall. And this is the more probable, because the description in these verses is of the height and breadth, rov rd%ov^, the wall, not ivalls, as if a particular one was only meant. Tlie’Vulgate is faulty in rendering, Fecit muros ejus in latitudinem cubitoruvi septuaginta, et in altitudinem cubitorum triginta. St. Jerome’s version agrees with our translation, and understands the seventy cubits of the height, which seems the true rendering, and is confirmed by the Greek and Syriac. Baruch did read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joachim, king ofJudah, and in the ears of all the people.’] This fact is said to be false; Jechonias being in captivity, and Baruch himself not then at Babylon, but in Egypt, as appears from Jer. xliii. 6. arid chap. xliv. from which chapters it seems plain, that both Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch died among their brethren of the two tribes, who had carried them along with them into Egypt, in the twenty-third, of Nebuchadnezzar; and that neither they nor the body of the remainder of the two tribes who were then in Egypt ever returned thence, or saw Babylon, as is asserted in this passage. This, says a learned writer, is a strong objection according to the present copies of the prophecy of Jeremiah, chap, xliv. But from the authority of Josephus, (Antiq. lib. x. cap. 11.) who had ancienter and better copies, he contends, " that not only Jeremiah and Baruch might, but that the body of those Jews that were in Egypt probably did, return from thence, and were directly carried into Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar himself, according to that prophecy, as it stood in the Hebrew oopies of the first century. And to confirm Josephus’s account, he refers to 2 Esd. xv. 10. as a prophecy (probably of Jeremiah) of this very fact of the Je>vs’ return from Egypt." (Whiston’s Authent. Record. vol. i. p. 7.)

Job 1:4

And noiv therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed. Unto Mount Carmel, it is very probable: for he was presently after this sitting on the top of a hill> (ver. 9.) And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters, to eat and to drink with them.] And together with all this happiness, he had the pleasure to see his children live in love and unity. For it was the custom of his sons to meet at each other’s houses, and to makea feast every one upon his birth-day: (iii. 1.) and he whose turn it was to treat the rest, always invited their three sisters to come and be merry with them. And he made the gates thereof, even gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and the breadth of them teas forty cubits.] It is to be presumed, that this extraordinary height takes in all the embellishments over and about the doors, and not that the gates themselves ppened to such an exact height. We shall, the less wonder at the extraordinary grandeur of the towers and gates here mentioned, if we reflect upon what is jelated of Nineveh, — that it had fifteen hundred towers upon the walls of it, each of them a hundred feet high: and on what Josephus says of the gates of the temple of Jerusalem, that they were sixty cubits high and twenty broad. All them that dwelt at Babylon by the river SudJ] Adflumen Sodi, Vulgate. Babylon is mentioned here as situate on the river Sud; but one does not read of any river in Babylonia of this name- Sodi, indeed, in Hebrew, signifies pride, and so, mystically, may be expressive of the swelling of the mighty river Euphrates, whose course was impetuous and overbearing. The commentators either take no notice at all, or give no sufficient account, of this river. Bochart conjectures, that Sudi, or Sort, is a fault of the copyist, and that it should be Sori, or Suri, because there is on’the banks of the Euphrates, a city called Sura, or Sora. His words are, " Me autore legendum est Sovp, Sur.’ Nam ex Hebraeorum monumentis desumptum est, in quibus erat 7)D Sur, scd fefellit interprctem similitudo literarum 1 et 7 rcsh et daleth. Sur idem quod Sura vel Sora, urbs Babyloniae notissima, ad hunc ipsum Euphratis alvenm." Of the reality of such a city he gives ample testimony, and observes, it was called by another name, Mahasia; but that the river Euphrates was called Sur or Sor, he shews not distinctly. However, it is not improbable that it was so, and that the city either took its name from that part of the river, or the river from the city. Ptolemy mentions a branch of the river Euphrates, called Maarsares, which Bochart supposes, and not without some probability, to be a corruption from JVID Naar-Sura, Fluvius Surm. (See Bochart, Phaleg. lib. i. cap. 9.)

Job 1:5

^-Andwhen the messengers turned back unto him, he said, Why are ye now come back?. He knew by their speedy return, that they had not executed his command, and asked the reason. >… • >.* And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.] This feast was wont to last seven days; at the £nd of which their good father never failed to’ send a messenger to them> to call upon them to prepare themselves, by fasting and prayer, for the sacrifice he meant to offer for them: and when they were assembled, he rose up early in the morning (the fittest time for devotion), and prayed to God, by offering burnt-offerings for every one of them, because he wasafraid they inight have done or spoken something that was profane, and misbecoming their religion, when their minds, loosened by mirth, were less upon their guard. And thus he did constantly after every feast. In the great plain, which is the plain in the borders of Ragau.] The plains of Ragau are very probably those which lie about Rages, a town of Media, standing upon the mountains of Ecbatana, and distant about a small day’s journey from that city. Ver. G.] There is a great difference between the Greek and Latin version of this book, particularly as to the proper names. Probably both the great plain itself and the rivers had different names. What is called here and in the Greek, Hydaspes, is styled Jadason in the Latin versions. Calmcf observes, that the Syriac is most exact as to the names of places; it reads here, that Nabuchodonosor engaged with’ Arphaxad in the plains of Dura, mentioned Dan. iii. and instead of the river Jadason, it puts Ulai, which occurs likewise in Dan. viii. 21.

Job 1:6

And they said tinto him, Tliere came up a man to meet us, and said unto us, Go, tuwi back unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Is it npt because there is not a god in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone zip, but shalt surely die.] Elijah was -a man of such a venerable presence, and spake to them with such authority, in the name of the Lord, that they were overawed thereby to obey him, ratherthan the king. Now there tvas a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came aUo among them.) But this great piety was not sufficient to preserve him from false accusations. For as Job set a time for his children to examine themselves, so there are certain seasons when the angels come and stand in the Divine presence, to give an account of their ministry, and to reeeivc commands from God, the Judge and Governor of the world: and Satan, that subtle adversary of mankind, came one day, and thrust in himself among them. *:

Job 1:7

Arid he said unto them, What manner of man was he that catric to meet you, and told you these words?. He was not so angry at them for not obeying him, as desirous to know who he was that was so presumptuous as to stop their journey. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence earnest thou? Tlien Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down iii it.] And the Lord (to make him sensible he was not an absolute prince, but his subject) called to him, and demanded an account of him, where he had been, and from whence he came? To which he gave an answer, which expressed, as the great restlessness of his mind, and his unwearied diligence, so the limitation of his power, which extends only to this lower world; for he told him, he came from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. The first tenth part of all increase I gave to the sons of Aaron, who ministered at Jerusalem: another tenth part I sold away, and went, and spent it every year at Jerusalem. -Ver. 8. And the third I gave unto them to whom it was meet.] In these verses we have the regular method and order for bringing unto God, or his ministers the priests, those things which were to be offered to him, to the payment of which the Jews were Smt unto all that dwelt in Persia.] The mention of the Persians as a distinguished people at the time of this transaction has been thought inaccurate; as the namo of the Persians was hardly if at all known before Cyrus, at least they were till then an obscure people, and included under the name of Elam, orElamites. (See Boch. Geogr. lib. iv. cap. 10.) But this objection, supposing it well grounded, is not particular to this writer. Inaccuracies in geography and chronology are found in almost all ancient writers; and even the sacred text is not free from them, at least according to our version/

Job 1:8

And they anstvered him, He ivas a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, Microsoft® A COMMENTARY UPON [chap. I. It is Elijah the Tishbite. Some think ho is said to bo a hairy man, because he had long hair on his head and his beard, like the Greek philosophers: but it is more probable, it was because he was clad with a hairy garment, which the prophets were wont" to use, (Isa. xx. 2. Zech. xiii. 4. Matt. iii. 4.) And, indeed, the leathern girdle shews what kind of gannent he wore. (See Dr. Hammond, upon the place last mentioned, annot. d.j This was the simplest and most ancient garment; and therefore the old heroes are said to have been clothed in the skins of lions, or tigers, or bears, &c. And, perhaps, by this rude habit the prophets expressed their great grief for the sad condition the Israelites were in, when they came to call them to repentance. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?] Then the Lord said to him again; After all thy inquisitiveness and busy search, thou hast nothing to object against the integrity of my servant Job; a man that excels in piety and justice, and all other virtues, which he practises exactly and sincerely. Namely, silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king ofJudahhadmade.] Instead of the golden ones, which Nebuchadnezzar kingof Babylon carried away, which Solomon had put in tbc house of the Lord. These being only of silver, and not of such value as the former, possibly might fall into such hands as to be purchased again, and Digitized sent back to Jerusalem, The other, of immense worth, were kept by Nebuchadnezzar, as appears from Dan. v. 2. Grotius thinks this sentence an interpolation-. (Com. in loc.)

Job 1:9

TIten the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty: and he ivent tip unto him. Not to the place where he was, but so near that he might hear him deliver his message. (And, behold, he sat upon the top of a hill), and he spake unto him, Thou man of God; the king hath said, Comedown.’] Sent him with an order, to command him to come down to him. But the prophet thought he did but mock him, when he called him a man of God, as appears by the punishment he inflicted on him. For it is as if he had said, Thou that callest thyself a man of God, come down, or I will fetch thee.* He would not be at the pains to go to the top of the hill; but thought it sufficient to require him, in the king’s name, to’come down, and surrender himself into his hands.

Job 1:10

And Elijah answered and said unto the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.] If I be a man of God, as thou sayest, but dost not think, then I am not bound to obey the king, but God (as Abarbinel glosses upon these words), nor am I subject to his power, but unto God’s; who will make thee know that he judges in the earth.’ And immediately he and his men were consumed with lightning, according to Elijah’s word.. Who chose to destroy them by fire from heaven (as he goes on), because he had at Mount Carmel balled for fire to consume the sacrifice. Which miracle they slighting, and coming now in a proud manner to carry him by force to Samaria (where he knew Jezebel would put him to death), he called for fire to consume them. And when we were carried away captives to Nineveh, all my brethren, and those that were of my kindred, did eat of the bread of the gentiles. Until you come beyond Tanis and Memphis, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt.] The Vulgate only mentions Urram Jesse, which Calmet expounds the land of Goshen, in the lower Egypt, called the land of Gesem, I presume, inthe preceding verse. Probably by synecdoche apart was designed for the whole. It should seem from this and ver. 12. thatNabuchodonosor did command in Egypt before the conquest of Judea, which yet was a necessary passage for the invading of Egypt: what is mentioned therefore here of Egypt, has been condemned by Diodate and others, if not as false, at least as premature. But allowing this, might not such an imperious and conceited prince as Nabuchodonosor is here described, send his orders to those beyond Tanis and Memphis, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt, though he had no power or command in Egypt; to attend his summons, and to accompany him to the battle? Which indeed appears from the following verse to have been the very case. He who expected the whole earth should submit to him, might easily flatter himself that Egypt, a small part of it, would not dispute his orders. The like answer may serve for his message into Persia, ver. 7. Prepare ye manna.] noifoaTE fiawa. It is generally agreed, that this is a r corrupt reading, as the margin also intimates; it should be mincha, or a meat-offering, Grotius contends, that the true one is fxavaa, and not fiawa. Uoifi<raTB is also improperly rendered prepare, it is a sacrifical expression, and signifies to offer. In the translation of the Old Testament, which is followed by the writers of the New, ttqiuv is equivalent to ItpoTroiuv, or lepovpyelv. (See 2 Kings xxiii. 21. 1 Esd. i. 6.) And the words at the institution of the eucharist, tovto ttoiutz, would be as well rendered, Offer this in remembrance of me. It is likewise soused by the Jewish Hellenistic writers, and by the Greek ones of the church, as facere is also among the Latins. And offer upon the altar of the Lord our God.] The exiles at Babylon are here supposed to send money to the priests to buy the necessary offerings for the altar of the Lord. But how is this consistent with what is mentioned, ver. 2. that Jerusalem was taken and burnt? If the temple was indeed at this time burnt, we must either understand this that they were to bring their oblations to the place where the altar formerly stood, which,they esteemed as consecrated ground, or that an altar was actually erected on the same spot, or of a place of worship in general, or of that at Mizpch in particular; which place continued to be a proseucha, or place of worship. (See IMacc. iii. 46.) There is the like expression, and upon a parallel occasion, Jer. xli. 5, Grotius thinks this last clause to be an interpolation.

Job 1:11

Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty; and he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus Itath the king said, Come down quickly. This man was more insolent than the former, charging the prophet to obey without d^lay, and notmake him stay; or think to dally with him. And, by the following words, it appears, this was the voice of the whole company.’ But I kept myself from eating.] Many of them that were carried away by Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmaneser, and Esar-haddon, still retained the true worship of God, and observed, in a strange land, the ordinances appointed by the law, and fell not into the idolatrous usages and impieties of the heathens, among whom they were dispersed. It is certain, from the instances of Daniel and his associates, Elcazar, the Maccabees, and others, (Dan. i. 8. Judith xii. 2, 3.) that the Jews, from the time of their captivity, when they could not avoid conversing with the gentiles, were careful to abstain, not only from things really sacrificed to idols, but from most things that came out of gentile hands; because there was a presumption, that a part of most kinds, by way of first-fruits, had been offered to idols; the rc^t being by those first-fruits esteemed polluted, as dedicated likewise to the idol. It appears, therefore, that they forbore, from such an apprehension, all meats and drinks that came from the gentiles, or to cat promiscuously with them. In particular the Jews tell us, that Nehemiah, being cupbearer to the king, was dispensed with from tasting or drinking the wine of the; gentiles. The like is recorded here of Tobit, who, though by his office of purveyor he was obliged to provide corn, and all necessaries for the king’s use, yet kept clear of all defilement, as Joseph did upon a like occasion in Egypt (Gcn.xliii. 32.) f( The example of Tobit’s resolution and constancy in this particular, makes one to reflect with tears (say Messieurs of Port-Royal) upon the weakness of Adam, who, being perfectly free, and the general use of the creatures indulged him, yet could not refrain from tasting that single fruit which God had forbidden him: whilst Tobit, a captive, deprived of all his possessions, in the midst of idolaters, and even living among Jews, who scrupled not occasionally to cat things forbidden by their law, preserved his innocence by a religious abstinence." (Com. in loc.) But all the inhabitants of the land made light of the commandment of Nabuchodonosor, neither went they with him to battle, for they Were not afraid of him: yea, he was before them as one man, and they sent away his ambassadors from them without effect, and ivith disgrace.] It may seem surprising and strange, that the inhabitants of the land should dare to behave in the manner here related, except they thought that Nabuchodonosor could not stand against Arphaxad, a valiant prince, and at the head of a numerous and powerful army. The truth is, after the destruction of Sennacherib’s army by the destroying angel in And pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor.] We meet with the like, Ezra vi. 10. where Darius orders all things necessary for the sacrifices to be given to the elders of the Jews, that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savour unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. Diodorus Siculus has a passage to the same purpose/" Adductis ad eum victimis, mos erat pontificem, sacerdoti adstantem, magna voce in conferta ^Egyptiorum corona prccesenuntiare, utDiisanitatem cum caeteris bonis omnibus regi largiantur." (Lib. i.) And from Tertullian we learn, that it was a solemn part of the service of the church, in his time, to pray for the happiness and prosperity of the princes under whom they lived. (In Apolog.) When the Jews came under the government of the kings of Egypt, Eleazar, their high-priest, writes to Ptolemy thus: “We continually offer sacrifice for thee, thy children, and friends; and the people pray for the happy success in all things, and for the peaceable state of thy kingdom.” (Jos. Antiq. lib. xii.) And so they did, when they were under the Seleucida). And, lastly, when they came under the Roman government, this was their constant practice, till they began that rebellion which ruined their nation. (Jos. dc Bcllo Jud. lib. ii.) This being, says the same author, the cause of the war, that the seditious did reject the sacrifice offered for Caesar, though the priests and nobles earnestly entreated them not to desert the custom, which had always obtained among them. And that the Christians, following their example, thus prayed continually, from the beginning, for their kings, though heathens and persecutors, we learn 4T2 by Microsoft® A COMMENTARY UPON [chap. II. from the writings of Polycarp, Justin, Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, and other ancient writers. And for the life of Balthasar his son.] As the Scripture mentions Evil-Mcrodach as son of Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings xxv;27. some have thought that byBelshazzaf,Evil-Mcrodach is here to be understood, and that one and the same person is meant by both names. Others say, that Evil-Mcrodach was the eldest son of that monarch, andBelshazzar the youngest; and that the eldest being at that time in disgrace with his father, the younger was looked upon as presumptive heir of the crown, and therefore taken notice of here. Others understand by son, his grandson Belshazzar, as grandfathers are frequently called fathers in Scripture; see 2 Sani. ix. 7. 2 Kings viii. 26. compared with ver. 18. especially with respect to such as inherit after them. But Nebuchadnezzar was in truth his grandfather, though called his father, Dan. v. 2. for Belshazzar was son of Evil-Merodach, by Nitocris his queen, and therefore grandson to Nebuchadnezzar.

Job 1:12

And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.] He knew that evil was determined against him by Ahaziah, and’ therefore defended himself, in this manner, from his cruelty; that he might be afraid to meddle with him, when he saw the Divine vengeance so terrible against those that came to apprehend hiin. Because I remembered God with all my heart.] Our version manifestly refers to the foregoing verse, and assigns his great regard to God, as the reason for Tobit’s not eating forbidden meats; and indeed this sense is a very just one, as the ceremonial law was strict in this respect, and had its sanction from God, audwas the rule for every Jew’s conduct. But there is another sense of the place, supported by good authority, that because of his great piety, God gave him favour in the sight of king Shalmaneser, referring to the following verse. And thus the Vulgate understands it, quoniam mentor fuit Domini in toto corde suo, Deus dedit UK gratiam in conspectu Salmanassar regis. And Fagius’s Hebrew copy is to the same effect. The like is mentioned of Daniel, i. 9. But /xop^?), in the following verse, may signify also an engaging mien, something in his looks and gestures that gave the king a liking to him. Therefore Nabuchodonosor was very angry, and sware by his throne and kingdom.’] This was anciently esteemed a most solemn, sacred, and inviolable oath. Herodotus says, that the Scythians, whom the older Latin version mentions here instead of the Syrians, particularly used this form, when a more solemn oath than ordinary was to be taken, (lib. iv. cap. G8.) It appears from the gospel, (Matt. v. 34. xxiii. 22.) that the Jews sometimes swore by heaven, or God’s throne, which was virtually swearing by God himself, who sat upon it. And the Persians use it to this day. (See Tavern. Voyag. b. i.) And may not Nabuchodonosor, in like manner swearing by his throne and kingdom, be conceived as swearing by hirnself, as he owned no superior either in heaven or on earth? Homer introduces Achilles swearing by liis sceptre. (II. A.) And it is observed by Aristotle, that when princes swore, they usually held up their sceptre. That he would slay with the sword all the inhabitants of the land of Moab, and the children of Amnion, and all Judea…] In judging of Nabuchodonosor’s behaviour, a great difference is to be made between those who were subject to him, and those whom he intended to make so. The former, in refusing to obey his orders, and send their troops to his assistance against the Medes, were doubtless rebels to their sovereign, and deserved his sharpest resentment: but such as were free and unsubdued, were at liberty to act as they pleased; as they were under no ties of duty, policy and prudence alone were to direct them. This seems to have been the case of the Jews in particular, they were independent of him, nor had he any right over them or their country. It docs not appear that they owed him either services or tribute; or if some small acknowiedgments of this sort were due from them, they. did not imply such vassalago as to oblige them to be auxiliaries vol. iv. upon every occasion. The justice of their refusal.will, appear yet farther, if we consider that Nabuchodonosor, besides his scheme of universal doriiinion, intended likewise to oblige the several nations to, acknowledge him only to bo God, (Hi. 8. vi. 2.) which the Jews could not submit to without a renunciation of their religion. And God seems to have approved the conduct of his people by the miraculous deliverance wrought in their favour. Veri 15. Mountains ofRagau.] It is no improbable conjecture, that this city, the same with Rages, Tobit i. 14. was built by Ren the son of Pelcg. For not only the descendants of Arphaxad (of whom came Peleg, the father of Reu) settled in these and the adjacent parts, but Reu is called by the LXX. Ragau. And as to the posterity of Arphaxad settling here, it is remarkable, that in the beginning of this book mention is made of Arphaxad, who reigned over the Medes in Ecbatane. This name being probably given to the said king, in memory and honour of their forefather Arphaxad, the son of Shem, and grandson of Noah,, who, probably, upon the dispersion of mankind, settled himself in these parts of Asia, whence we find here a whole country retaining plain footsteps of his name, it being called Arrapachitis in Ptolemy, probably for Arphaxaditis. (See Well’s Geography, vol. iii. p. 196.) And we shall serve them many days.] As the Jews had the greatest reason toconsider Nebuchadnezzar and his family, and the Babylonians in general, astheir most cruel enemies, since they had overturned their state, burnt their holy city and temple, and either killed or taken prisoners their kings, nobles, priests, and the far greater part of the people, can it be consistently supposed, that they should wish or pray, as the words seem to imply, that they might serve them many days? The meaning therefore must be, that if, according to their melancholy prospect they should continue to serve them many years, they might find favour in their sight, and their servitude in the land of their captivity be easy, or at least tolerable to them.

Job 1:13

And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him. ami said unto him, O man of God, I p. ay thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.] He humbly entreated him, on his bended knees, to spare his life, and the lives of those that accompanied him, who did not come willingly, much less of their own accord: but were commanded by their lord and master to make known his pleasure to him.

Job 1:14

And, behold, tliere came fire from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious m thy sight. He was sensible of the hand of God against those that came with such a command before, and acknowledges he was at Elijah’s mercy; but hoped he would take compassion upon him, since he owned him really to be a man of God, and believed his power; as appeared by his falling down most reverently before him, and beseeching his pity, and calling those with him his servants. I went into Media, and left in trust with Gabael, the brother of Gabrias, at Rages a city of Media, ten talents of silver.] The Vulgate intimates, that Tobit lent this sum to Gabael, and took his note of hand for it; but the Greek and Hebrew versions import, that he only lodged it with him, and took a note of its. being in his possession. And indeed this seems most probable, as it is here said, that he committed such a sum tolas trust; and ix. 5. that Gabael brought out the money in bags scaled up, upon Raphael’s producing the hand-writing. It may seem strange that Tobit, knowing Gabael to be poor, should lodge such a considerable sum of money with him as ten talents; but it is probable.that he chose to deposit it at Rages in his hands, rather than have it with him at Nineveh, where it might be in some danger; or possibly he might permit him to trafiic with it upon a promissory note to return it when able; it being the noblest instance of charity thus to befriend persons reduced. Ten talents of silver.] If ono w r as sure of the original language, whether Hebrew or Chaldee, this book was wrote in, it would greatly help to solve many difficulties.- Thus, for instance, if the Hebrew word for talent ~DD was supposed to be in the original, it would not necessarily bear the sense of raXavrov in Greek, but might only signify the largest piece of silver which was in use as money in those days. And thus I would expound ep3 133 talentitjn argenti, 2 Kings v. 23. begged of Naaman by Gehazi. It might be, I think, more properly rendered massa, or fr us– turn argenti, for so ^33 signifies in its first sense, than a talent; unless it be reasonable to believe, that Gehazi would ask in his master’s name,for the entertainment of two young visitants, between three and four hundred pounds of our money, or that Naaman would load him with between seven * CHAP. I.] THE BOOK OF TOBIT. andcighthundred pounds ofsilverin.specie. But if Tobitwas wrote originally in Greek,we must then necessarily expound this place of a talent properly so called, the least of which amounted to a great sum. Bishop Cumberland computes a Hebrew talent of silver, at 353?. lis. lOjtf. of our money; consequently, ten such talents amount to 3535/. 18s. 9d. But then possibly this passage is not to be understood of the Hebrew, but only of the Greek or Attic talent," which was but half the value. And as it was nearly the same with the Babylonian talent, as the learned say, it might be nearly the same with’that in use in Assyria and Media too; and this will reduce the sum to one-half of the former, viz. to 17671. 19s. 4|rf. of our money, which was precisely the worth of one of the Attic lesser talents. For whenaiothing is added to specify talentwn, say the antiquaries, then the common or lessor Attic talent is always meant,.consisting of six thousand drachmas of silver..If this therefore be understood of the lesser Attic talent, the sum will n6t seem so improbable, especially as Tobit had been the king’s purveyor. And ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the feasts and solemn days. And ye shall say, &c.] By book we are here to understand the letter (for so any writing of considerable length is styled among the Hebrews) which Baruch wrote in the name of those that were in Babylon, to such of their brethren as still remained in Judea. It begins properly at the fifteenth verse (for the five foregoing ones are a sort of preface), and it contains that prayer or confession which the Jews used in their public worship, on solemn days, during their captivity. It may be divided into three parts; in the first, which ends at iii. S. they acknowledge their great unworthiness, and the justice of God s dealings with them; they entreat his forgiveness of their sins past, and repeat the warning and threats of the prophets, whose words and reproofs they had notwithstanding rejected. The second part, which begins at ver. 9. of the third chapter to the beginning of the fourth, recounts the great privileges and advantages which the Jews enjoyed above other nations, in that they had the knowledge of the law of the Most High, and, through the direction of the only true wisdom, were made acquainted with tho means of real happiness, life, and peace. From thence to the end of the fifth chapter, is an exhortation to a sincere repentance, and to leave their evil ways, by a speedy conversion, with a promise, on that condition, of a deliverance from the captivity under which they groaned, that the power of their enemies should be subdued, and their haughtiness turned into mourning. This pleasing prospect takes up the remainder of the letter, in which the author has many beautiful turns and lively strokes, and is transported even to a degree of rapture, and the thoughts of the agreeable change. In particular, the happy times of the gpspcl are spoken of with such assurance and clearness, as to give occasion to some to suspect interpolations in several places, which arc indeed too glaring and explicit for the darkness [of those times; especially, iii. 37. It is easy to observe, with respect to the supplicatory part of this prayer, that much of it is borrowed from that of Daniel, and that in tho description of the glorious state of the church, there is frequent allusion to many passages in Isaiah.

Job 1:15

And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, Go down ivith him; and be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with himunto the king. This is a great instance of the prophet’s faith and obedience to God; who he trusted would protect him from the wrath of the king, and the malice of Jezebel. Of whom he had great reason to be afraid, having ordered the prophets of Baal to be slain, and now sent the king an unwelcome message, and done terrible execution upon two of his captains and their companies. The first of which made him fly the country, (1 Kings xix. 3.) Jezebel threatening his destruction; and had constrained him to conceal himself for a long time, and not come to Samaria: which was the reason, as Abarbinel observes, that we hear nothing of him in the war of-Benhadad against Israel, (1 Kings xx.) nor in the war of Ahab against Ben-hadad, (chap, xxii.) But now, having a command from God for it, as he had in the case of Naboth, he boldly goes to the king, and confirms with his own mouth that ungrateful truth, which he had already told him by his messengers. Wlien Enemessar ivas dead, Sennacherib his son reigned in his stead, whose estate was troubled that I coidd not go into Media.] From the time of Pul, or Tiglath-Pileser, the Medes continued in subjection to the Assyrians, but under* Sennacherib, the Assyrian monarchy fell into decay, either by his imprudence or ill fortune, or a mixture of both. The Medes taking advantage, it is likely, of his long and distant absence, or perhaps upon the news of the sudden and general destruction of his army, revolted, and were never after reduced in like manner to the Assyrian yoke, though Esar-haddon in the course of his reign seems to have been both a valorous and fortunate prince; as well as ambitious of enlarging the empire. These are the troubles which prevented Tobit from going into Media, according to his custom, or intention. But the Greek, kol al 68ol avrov y\Kari<jTr)(Tav> will perhaps admit of another rendering; viz. And the ways or passes avrov thither were troubled, infested, or dangerous, so that there ivas no getting safely into Media. Munstcr’s Hebrew copy strongly confirms this interpretation, Et.clauderentnr propter b’ella itinera in Media, ut non potui venire in terram Medorum. The margin offers a third reading, but it carries not so determinate a meaning as cither of the former. But before he died, he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which was taken by Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus.’] Usher, in his Annals, A. M. 3378. Prideaux, Conncx. p. 47, 48. and other learned men, understand rthis of Nabopolassar, father to Nebuchadnezzar (called in the Greek Nabuchodonosor), and Cyaxarcs, king of Media, called by Daniel Ahasuerus, ix. 1» This remarkable transaction is generally placed in the twenty-ninth year of king Josiah, and the fixing it to this time, exactly agrees with the account givdn by th6 heathen historians, Herodotus, Strabo, Alexander Polyhistor, and others. Eusebius places the time of the taking of Nineveh in the twenty-second year of Cyaxarcs, and the Hebrews in the first of Nabuchodonosor, both which accounts agree; for according to Eusebius, this twenty-second year of Cyaxarcs falls in with the first of Nabuchodonosor. These two princes entering into an alliance together, by means of a marriage between Amyitis, daughter of Astyagcs, and Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopolassar, marched with their combined forces against Nineveh, and besieged Chiniladanus in it; and after the city was taken, his dominions were shared between the two conquerors; Nabopolassar became master of Nineveh and Babylon; and Cyaxarcs, of Media and the bordering provinces. Some learned men have started an inquiry, how Cyaxarcs and Assuerus can be the same person? Sir Isaac Newton gives the following solution of it, * That Assuerus is the same name with Achsucrns, Oxyares, Axares, and Cy, in the* Persian language, signifying a prince or ruler, Cyaxares means prince Axares." (ChronoL see also Drusii Quaesit. p. 17, 18.) It is uncertain who inserted the two last verses of this book; Tobias is generally supposed to have continued the history from the end of the twelfth chapter to ver. 14. of this, but he could not write the account of his own death, it was added probably by one of the family, as what relates to Moses’s death, at the end of the Pentateuch, was inserted by Joshua his successor, or some other hand. I shall only observe, that though the Syriac concludes as our version, yet Munster’s and Fagius’s Hebrew copies omit thQ mention of the death both of father and son. THE BOOK OF JUDITH.

Job 1:16

And he said unto him, Tims saith the Lord, For- * asmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baalzebub the god ofEkron, (is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?) therefore thou shall not comedown from off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die.] There was more discourse passed between them, no doubt, than this: but this was the conclusion of all, that the sentence which God had pronounced against him was irreversible; and therefore he should not think of living much longer, but make use of the time remaining to repent of his sins.. - And in the time of Enemessar.] Fagius’s Hebrew copy, the Greek; and Syriac, agree with our version, but the Vulgate and Munster both omit these words. And indeed it may seem a little preposterous, after the relation of Enemessar’s death, and Sennacherib’s succeeding, and the account of his kingdom being disturbed with civil commotions, to resume the account of Enemessar. Calmet is expressly of opinion, that what follows here of Tobit’s charity regards the times after Enemessar, who had some compassion for the, Israelites, when there were not so many public instances of distress; but Sennacherib treated them \vith the utmost cruelty and rigour, which gave Tobit many opportunities to shew his zeal, and exercise his charity towards his distressed brethren.

Job 1:17

So he died,’ according to the word of the Lord, which Elijah had spoken. It is likely he told hiin the very day when he should die. AndJehoram reigned in his, stead, in the second year of Jehoram the son.of Jehoshaphat king ofJudah; because he had no son.] Therefore this brother of his succeeded him. Who began to govern in this second year of Jehoshaphat\s son; but was king before, (iii. 1.) only very young, and, as some of the Jews think, under the care of Jehoshaphat. But Kirachi seems to have better reconciled this seeming difference, That Jehoshaphat declared his son Jehoram king while he lived, and he reigned with him seven years. The occasion of which is intimated in 2Chrou.xx. 3. " He * gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the first- CHAP, II.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. Ijom," and gave gifts to. the rest of his sons. Who being many, began to strive about the succession to the kingdom: which belonging to the first-born, Jehoshaphat, to quiet them all, declared Jehoram king together with himself, and he reigned with him seven years. When it is said therefore that Ahab’s Jehoram reigned in the second year of Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram, the meaning is, the second year that he reigned with his father Jehoshaphat who was’ then living.. 1. i-

Job 1:18

Now the rest of the acts o/Akaziah which he did, are they net written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings ofJudah?. They were but few, because he reigned a very short time; but yet, according to’custom,- they were recorded in a public register. Of which, see on 1 Kings 3d. 41. i - • • Tf the king Sennacherib had slain any when he was come and fled from Judea, for in his wrath he killed many, &c] Sennacherib, after his return to Nineveh,being inflamed with rage for his great misfortune, in having lost in one night a hundred fourscore and five thousand of his men, by the angel of the Lord smiting them, as if he would revenge himself of this accident upon his subjects, and particularly his captives, grew thenceforth very cruel and tyrannical in his government; especially towards the Jews, numbers of whom he caused everyday to be slain and cast into the streets, in defiance of all decency and the common rights of humanity.., I buried them privily…] St. Ambrose, speaking of this charitable action of Tobit’s, says, " that there is not a more excellent duty than to do good to them that cannot repay, and to rescue the partner of our nature from the violence of the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field.’/ (Lib. de Tob.) It was always held an act of justice and mercy to bury the dead; of justice, that earth may be restored to earth, the first mother; of mercy, that bodies might not be exposed to savage violence. To want the honour of burial, was among the ancients held one of the greatest punishments that could be inflicted; and with this Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, is threatened, Jer. xxii. 19. The disconsolate mother of Euryalus, in the poet, is not so much grieved for the murder of her son, as that he should be left a prey to the birds and beasts. (JEn. lib. ix.) And Mezentius, in the same writer, docs not desire yEneas to spare his life, but earnestly entreats him to give him burial. (iEn.lib. x.) Turnus earnestly entreats for the same favour froraiEneas. (/En.lib.xii.) The right of sepulture hath been by all nations reckoned so sacred, that the violation tliereof hath been counted sacrilege; and how just a thing it is to bury the dead, is intimated by the Latins, when they call the funeral duties, justa exequiarum, or justa fimbria.'

Job 1:21

And there passed not five-and-fifty days, before two of his. sons killed him. Many copies read irivr^Kovra, ox fifty “only, from Sennacherib’s return to Nineveh. Usher says, after forty-five days, ad A. M. 3294. the time in which he places this history. This latter account is confirmed also by the Vulgate. As to Sennacherib’s murder by two of his own children, the following is given by many learned men, and” occurs also in Munster’s Hebrew copy, as the reason and excuse for so wicked and barbarous a parricide; viz. that Sennacherib demanding of some about him what might be the reason that the God of heaven so favoured the Jewish nation, as he had.found by sad experience, he was informed that Abraham, from whom they descended, sacrificed unto him his only son, which made him so favourable ever after to his progeny: upon this he resolved to sacrifice to him two of his sons, to gain his favour and protection; which Sharezar and Adramelech hearing of, prevented their own death by his, and fled into Armenia, or the mountains of Ararath, and his third son reigned in his stead. Calmet says this story is fabulous, and deserves little attention. Sarchedonus his son reigned in his stead, ivho appointed over his father’s accounts, and over all his affairs, Achiacharusmy brothers son…] The margin has Esar-haddon. He is called’Aaopdav by the LXX. a name near akin to Assafadin, by which he is styled in Ptolemy’s Canon; as also Sargon, by Isaiah, xx. 1. and the same person with Asnapper, Ezra iv. 10.‘Av«/o§wv&c and Sax^pSovoe, as different copies have them, are judged by Usher to be both rais-’takes. Some copies^ instead of row irarpbc avrov, have rTjc fiarrtktfag’ avrov, which seems preferable. The meaning seems only to be/ That he was Siown^k ***■ ixXoy i<rrrjg, as fol- 4K