Ezra

Chapter 1

Ver. 1. Now] Heb. And; for the former history, recorded in the Chronicles, is continued by Ezra, that ready scribe, and perfect in the law, #Ezr 7:6. Yet not so prompt or perfect can I deem him, as that he should, by memory, restore the Bible that was burnt, together with the temple, by the Babylonians. And yet that was the opinion of many ancients, grounded upon some passages in that Apocryphal Esdras (Irenae., Tertull., Clem. Alex., Jerome, Aug., Euseb.). We read also of one Johannes Gatius Ciphaleditanus, who, out of the vain confidence of his learning and memory, was wont to give out, that if the Holy Scripture should be lost out of the world, he would not doubt, by God’s grace, to restore it whole again. Of Cranmer indeed (a far better man, and a profounder divine) it is storied, that he had memorised most of the New Testament by heart. And of Beza, that, being more than eighty years of age, he could say perfectly, without the book, any Greek chapter in St Paul’s Epistles (Mr Leigh, Annot. on #Joh 5:39).

In the first year] Heb. In the one year. The Hebrews oft use one for first. So do also the apostles in Greek, #Mt 28:1 Joh 20:1,19 1Co 16:2 Re 6:1; one being the first number; neither was it without a mystery that Pythagoras bade his scholars ever to have respect, εις μοναδα; as Moses also his, saying, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord," #De 6:4.

Of Cyrus] Heb. Coresh, so named by God more than a hundred years before he was born, #Isa 40:28, and so honoured by the Persians (as the founder of their monarchy) that they liked the better of all that were hawk-nosed, like unto him. See the like of Josiah, #1Ki 13:2. The Persian word signifieth a lord, or great prince, as Hen. Stephanus noteth; and thence the Greeks have their κυρος, authority, κυριος, lord; and we our word sir, as some will have it. Plutarch, in Artaxerxes, saith that the Persians call the sun Cyrus. And it may very well be so, for the Hebrews also call the sun סרה Cheres, from its glistering brightness.

King of Persia] So he had been more than twenty years before this, and done many great exploits; but this was the first year of his empire, of his cosmocraty {Ruler of the world}, of the monarchy translated from the Babylonians to the Persians. The greatest kingdoms have their times and their turns, their rise and their ruin, when they shall live by fame only. Persia, having oft changed her masters since Cyrus, remaineth a flourishing kingdom to this day; but wholly Mahometan. Which abominable superstition the Turks received from them when, in the year 1030, they won that country under their Sultan Tangrolipix. Where it is hard to say, saith mine author, whether nation lost more, the Persians, by the loss of so great a kingdom, or the Turks, by embracing so great a vanity. To this day they acknowledge the Persians better Mahometans than themselves, which maketh the Turks far better soldiers upon the Christian than upon the Persian.

That the word of the Lord] For it was he that spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, #Lu 1:70, and his word cannot be broken, #Joh 10:35, for he is the God of Amen, as the prophet David calleth him, #Ps 31:5; and all his promises are the issue of a most faithful and right will, void of all insincerity and falsehood, #Pr 8:8.

By the mouth of Jeremiah] That admirable preacher (as Keckerman calleth him), that most eminent prophet (as another), with whose writings, about this very restoration, Daniel consulted, and therehence collected, that the time was come, #Da 9:2, which put him upon that heavenly prayer; for he knew that God’s promises must be put in suit; and it was to him that the angel afterwards said, I came for thy word, #Da 10:14. God will come, according to his promise, but he will have his people’s prayers lead him. This liberty here granted to the Jews, after so long captivity, was the fruit of many prayers, founded upon the promise, #Jer 25:12 29:10.

Might be fulfilled] As indeed it was exactly by the death of Belshazzar, slain by Cyrus, who succeeded him: #Da 5:30, "In that night was Belshazzar slain," because then exactly the seventy years were ended. So, for the same reason it is noted, #Ex 12:40,41, that at midnight the firstborn of Egypt were slain, because just then the four hundred or four hundred and thirty years foretold were expired. So punctual is God in keeping his word. It is not here, as with men, A day breaketh no square, &c., for he never faileth at his time.

The Lord stirred up the spirit] It was the mighty and immediate work of God (in whose hand are the hearts of all, both kings and captives, lords and lowlies) to bring this wise and great prince, in the very first entrance into his monarchy, before things were fully settled, to dismiss so great and so united a people, in respect of their custom and religion, and so given to insurrection (as was generally held) into their own country, with such a fair and full patent. This was the Lord’s own work, and it was justly marvellous in the eyes of his people; who could hardly believe their own eyes, but were for a while like those who dream. Then was their mouth filled with laughter, and their tongue with singing, &c., #Ps 126:1,2. Then was the great power and goodness of God, in stirring up Cyrus to do this, acknowledged. Then also was the king’s clemency and courtesy no less cried up and magnified than was that of Flaminius, the Roman general, at Athens, where, for delivering them from servitude, he was little less than deified; or that of our Queen Elizabeth, who, for her merciful returning home certain Italians that were taken prisoners in the eighty-eight invasion, was termed St. Elizabeth by some at Venice; whereof one told the Lord Carleton (afterwards Viscount Dorchester), being there ambassador, that although he was a Papist, yet he would never pray to any other saint but that St. Elizabeth.

That he made proclamation] Heb. He caused a voice to pass, sc. by his messengers and ministers. The posts went out, being hastened by the king’s commandment, #Es 3:15, even those Angarii. The Lord Christ also proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, #Isa 61:1, causeth his word to run and to be glorified, to spread like a sunbeam, as Eusebius saith the gospel did at first; to be carried as on eagles’ wings, or on angels’ wings, as it was through all Christendom, when Luther first sent forth his book, De Captivitate Babylonica, of the Babylonish Captivity.

And put it also in writing] That it might be posted up, and everywhere published. Vox audita perit: littera scripta manet. Christ hath written for us also the great things of his law; and should they, then, be counted a strange thing? #Ho 8:12. {See Trapp on "Ho 8:12"} His Gospel likewise he hath written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, #1Jo 5:13, and ponder his passion especially, which is, therefore, so particularly set down by four faithful witnesses, that men may get it written, not on the nails of their hands (as one once did), but upon the tables of their hearts, there to abide as a perpetual picture; Non scripta solum, sedet sculpta, as he said; that we therein beholding, as in a glass, the love of our Lord, might be changed into the same image, till our hearts became a very lump of love to him who "loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and his Father," #Re 1:5,6.

Ver. 2. The Lord God of heaven hath given me] This good language Cyrus might well learn of Daniel, who flourished under his reign, #Da 5:28, and probably acquainted him with the prophecies that went before of him, #Isa 44:28 45:1. Jaddeus, the high priest, did the like, many years after, to Alexander the Great; who not only thereupon spared the Jews, but highly honoured them, as Josephus relateth. Here, then, we see this potentate of the earth giveth unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, #Ps 29:1,2, acknowledging him the blessed and only potentate, #1Ti 6:16. One that both is in the heavens, and also doeth whatsoever he pleaseth, both in heaven and in earth, #Ps 115:3 135:6. The God of heaven, saith he, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth. This was far better than that of Alexander the Great, whom, when Lysippus had pictured looking up to heaven with this posy, Iupiter asserui terrain mihi, tu assere ccelum, &c., Alexander was so delighted with it, that he proclaimed that none should take his picture but Lysippus (Plin. lib. 6, cap. 16).

All the kingdoms of the earth] i.e. Many of them, so that he was Αυτοκρατωρ, a mighty monarch, an absolute emperor. But to be κοσμοκρατωρ, sole lord of the whole world, was never yet granted to any; though the great Cham of Cataia is reported to cause his trumpets to be sounded every day as soon as he hath dined, in token that he giveth leave to other princes of the earth (whom he supposeth to be his vassals) to go to dinner. And the proud Spaniard, who affecteth to be catholic monarch, was well laughed at by Sir Francis Drake and his company, for his device of a Pegasus, flying out of a globe of the earth set up in the Indies with this motto— totus non sufficit orbis. But he affecteth a universal monarchy; and so perhaps did Cyrus, which maketh him here speak so largely

And he hath charged me] Et ipse commisit mihi, so Junius rendereth it. The word signifieth to visit one, either for the better or the worse. But according to the Chaldee and Syriac use, it signifieth to charge or command, as it is here, and #2Ch 36:22, fitly rendered. But how knew Cyrus this charge of Almighty God, otherwise than by books? Like as Daniel (who probably showed him those prophecies of Isaiah concerning him) understood by #Jer 25:12 29:10, that the seventy years’ captivity were accomplished; and by #Eze 31:1-3, &c. (which he had read, likely, and revolved) he was the better able to give a right interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, #Da 4:19-27.

To build him an house at Jerusalem] i.e. To rebuild that which had been once built by Solomon (whence Hegesippus, not having the Hebrew tongue, will have Jerusalem so named; quasi ιερος Σολομωντος, Solomon’s temple), a stately house indeed, and one of the seven wonders of the world. For albeit it was but one hundred and twenty feet long, and forty feet broad, whereas the temple at Ephesus was two hundred forty and five feet long, and two hundred and twenty feet broad; yet for costly and choice materials, for intricate and exact workmanship, for spiritual employment, and for mystical signification, never was there the like edifice in the world. And happy had it been for Cyrus, it, laying aside all his warlike expeditions and achievements, he had wholly applied himself to the building of his holy house, and to the study of those things that there he might have learned for his soul’s health.

Jerusalem, which is in Judah] Jerusalem was part of it in Judah, and part in the tribe of Benjamin. The house here mentioned, viz. the temple, stood in Benjamin, as was foretold it should by Moses, four hundred and forty years before it was first built by Solomon, #De 33:12, "And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord," that is, Benjamin, his darling, "shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders," that is, betwixt those two mountains, Moriah and Sion, wherein the temple was built. Now because Benjamin was the least of all the tribes of Israel, and because so much of it as lay within Judah {#Jos 19:1,9} was comprised under Judah, {#1Ki 11:13} therefore is the temple here said to be in "Jerusalem, which is in Judah." Hereby also this Jerusalem in Judah is distinguished from any other Jerusalem, if there were any place in the world so called besides. We read of Pope Sylvester II. (who sold his soul to the devil for the popedom), that, saying mass in a certain church in Rome, called Jerusalem, he fell suddenly into a fever, whereof he died, the devil claiming his own; for the bargain between them was, that he should continue pope till he sang mass in Jerusalem: and now intellexit se a Diabolo amphibolia vocis circumventum: little dreamed the pope of any other Jerusalem but this in Judah, and this cost him his life, A.D. 1003. Eusebius telleth us (Lib. 5, cap. 17) that Montanus, the haeresiarch, called his Pepuza and Tymium (two pelting parishes in Phrygia) Jerusalem; as if they had been the only churches in the world. Hofman, the Anabaptist, had the like conceit of Strasburg, in Germany, and Becold, of Munster; both which places they called the new Jerusalem.

Ver. 3. Who is there among you of all his people?] Many there were among them that affirmed deeply of being the people of God, who yet ( tanquam monstra marina) passed by this proclamation with a deaf ear; and preferring haram domesticam arae dominicae, a swine sty before a sanctuary, chose rather to abide in Babylon, and there to dwell amongst plants and hedges, #1Ch 4:23, making pots for the king’s garden, than to go up to Jerusalem. So that, besides this O yes, by the king, God was fain to cry, "Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north." "Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon," #Zec 2:6,7. "Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction," #Mic 2:10. Look how the eagle hath much ado to get her young ones out of the nest, pricking and beating them with her wings and talons; so was it here: and neither so could the Lord prevail with the most of them, being as loth to depart as Lot was out of Sodom, vel canis ab uncto corio, or a dog from a fat morsel.

His God be with him] And then he needs no better company, no greater happiness; for he is sure of a confluence of all comforts, of all that heart can wish or need require. Tua praesentia, Domine, Laurentio ipsam craticulam fecit dulcem, saith an ancient, Thy presence sweeteneth all our occurrences (Aug.). This was, therefore, a good wish of King Cyrus; neither did he therein any disservice to himself; for God hath promised to bless those that bless any of his, #Ge 12:3, and not to let a good wish to such go unrewarded, #2Co 13:9.

Let him go up and build, &c.] As God had charged him, #Ezr 1:2, so doth he them. And it is as if he should have said with that father (Bernard), Unless I stir up your hearts, as the Lord hath done mine, unless I lay God’s charge upon you to set strenuously upon this service of his, Vobis erit damnosum, mihi periculosum. Timeo itaque damnum vestrum, timeo damnationem meam, si tacuero. If now you go not up upon so great encouragement, God will surely meet with you.

He is the God] The only true God, #Joh 17:3, none like him, #Mic 7:18. "The Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible," #De 10:17. Is it not fit, therefore, that he have a temple, a place of Divine worship, which the heathens deny not to their dunghill deities?

Which is in Jerusalem] The city of the great King, where he kept his court, and afforded his special presence, not of grace only in his ordinances, but of glory also sometimes in his holy temple, #2Ch 5:14, as in another heaven.

Ver. 4. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth] Heb. Gershom. A name that Moses gave his eldest son born in his banishment; for he said, "I have been a stranger in a strange land," #Ex 2:22. These poor captives had been longer so than Moses in Midian, and met with more hard measure, #Ps 137:1,8. But as those who are born in hell know no other heaven (as the proverb is), so fared it not with a few of these; loth to be at the pains and run the hazard of a voyage to the Holy Land. A little with ease is held best. Let us, who are strangers here, haste homeward, heavenward. Some of these poor Jews had a mind to return, but wanted means. For these necessitous people the king takes care and course here, that they be supplied and set forward on their journey, after a godly sort, or worthy of God, as St John phraseth it, #3Jo 1:6, who else will require it.

Let the men of his place] Whether Jews or proselytes, brethren by race, grace, or place only.

Help him with silver] Heb. Give him a lift out of the dust, as Job’s friends did him off the dunghill; as Joseph did his brethren when he filled their bags, and returned them their moneys; and as all Christians are bound and bid to support or shore up their weaker brethren, #1Th 5:14 (Αντεχεσθε των ασθενων).

With silver, and with gold] These are notable good levers at a dead lift in this present world where money bears the mastery, and answereth all things, #Ec 10:14, a satisfactory answer it giveth to whatsoever is desired or demanded. He that helpeth a man, therefore, in his necessity with silver and gold is a friend indeed. Let a man make God his friend, and then (saith Eliphaz) the Almighty shall be his gold, and he shall have plenty of silver, #Job 22:25; Jacob shall be sure of so much as shall bring him to his journey’s end, a sufficiency, if not a superfluity, of all things needful to life and godliness.

And with goods] Heb. Recush (whence haply our English words riches and cash), chattels, movables, gathered substance, as the word signifieth, which whosoever he was that first called substance was utterly mistaken; sith wisdom only (that is, godliness) is durable substance, #Pr 8:21. Wealth is but a semblance, #Pr 23:5 1Co 7:31 And he that first called riches goods was a better husband than divine. But it may be thought the most are such husbands; since the common cry is, Who will show us any good? a good booty, a good bargain, a good beast? &c., #Ps 4:6. That one thing necessary, that is both Bonum hominis, the good of man, #Mic 6:8, and Totum hominis, the whole of man, #Ec 12:13, lieth wholly neglected by the most.

And with beasts] Those most serviceable creatures, both ad esum and ad usum, for food and other uses, as sheep, horses, camels, dromedaries, swift, patient, painful.

Besides the freewill offering] Which the king presumeth all God’s free-hearted people (volunteers, every soul of them, #Ps 110:3) will be most forward unto in so good a work, so acceptable a service. See #Le 5:6,12 14:10,21,30. God straineth upon no man, #Ex 25:2 35:5. Lex quaerit voluntarios, The law calleth for volunteers, saith Ambrose, see #Isa 56:6 2Co 8:12 9:7, and learn to come off roundly and readily in works of piety and charity; for else all is lost; since Virtus nolentium nulla est, unwilling service is nothing set by.

That is in Jerusalem] This city he so often nameth, that he may seem delighted with the very mention of it; and to be of the same mind with those pious captives that vowed to prefer Jerusalem (that joy of the whole earth) before their chief joy, to make it ascend above the head of their joy, as the Hebrew hath it, #Ps 137:6. How then should it cheer up our hearts to think of heaven, and that we are written among the living in Jerusalem, #Isa 4:3; fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of heaven, #Eph 2:19.

Ver. 5. Then rose up the chief of the fathers] Those, who are therefore crowned and chronicled in the next chapter. Those magnates magnites, that drew on others by their example. Those Viri gregis, he-goats before the flocks, men of public places and authority, active for reformation, who hearkened to that divine call, #Jer 50:8, "Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks." These nobles arose, being roused and raised by that noble spirit of God, #Ps 51:12, that kingly spirit, the Chaldee rendereth it; such as was found in Araunah, that famous Jebusite, #2Sa 24:23 Zec 9:7; and is a quickening spirit in every good soul, causing them to make riddance, as Baruch did, #Ne 3:20, and to take long strides toward heaven, as Jacob did toward Padanaram, #Ge 28:5 for, Nescit tarda molimina spiritus sancti gratia, The spirit of grace knoweth no slow paces, but is quick of despatch (Ambrose). Up get these chieftains when once they hear, Surge, age, Summe Pater, as one said once to the bishop of Rome, exciting him to make war upon the Turk.

And the priests, and the Levites] Fit it was that these should be of the first and most forward at temple work; whose proper employment it was to teach Jacob God’s judgments, and to put incense before him continually, #De 33:10, to wait at the altar, and to be partakers with the altar, #1Co 9:13.

With all them whose spirit God had raised up] Not of Judah and Benjamin only (those best of the tribes, and truest to their princes and principles), but also of Ephraim and Manasseh, #1Ch 9:3, with #Eze 37:16,17,21,22, even as many of the Israelites as were acted by God’s spirit of judgment and of burning, #Isa 4:4, firing them up to a holy contention in so noble and necessary a business, and leading them into the land of uprightness, #Ps 143:10. The fruit of this good spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, #Eph 5:9; the work of it upon the sons of God who are led by it, #Ro 8:14, is not only an external invitation by the word and sacraments, or a mere moral persuasion (Cyrus’s proclamation here would have availed but little with this people, if God had not moved their hearts), but an effectual drawing of the heart, whereby operating irresistibly, the sinner is converted; and whereby co-operating infallibly, he persevereth in grace unto the very end, #Joh 6:44. This conduct of the Holy Spirit we must both earnestly beg with David, #Ps 143:10, and as carefully observe and obey his motions as ever David did the out goings of God in the tops of the mulberry trees, #1Ch 14:15, for these are the sound of his goings, and the footsteps of his anointed, #Ps 89:51.

To build the house of the Lord] This was what they aimed at, rather than their own liberty. Choice and excellent spirits can easily drown all self respects in the glory of God. It was the care of those good people in Joel’s days, that there might be a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord their God, whatever became of their own carcases, #Joe 2:14. And when the daily sacrifice ceased by the tyranny of Antiochus, they looked upon it as an abomination of desolation, #Da 9:27. The Jews at this day are very earnest to be rebuilding the destroyed temple at Jerusalem, out of their blind zeal; but they have neither any Cyrus to encourage them (Julian the apostate once did, in spite to the Christians, but it came to nothing) nor the Spirit of God to excite them to such an unwarrantable work.

Ver. 6. And all they that were about them] Both their countrymen the Jews (that thought not good to themselves or not yet, till they should see further: there is none so wise as the sluggard, #Pr 26:16), and others of the neighbourhood: for the Egyptians may lend jewels to the Israelites, dogs may lick Lazarus’s ulcers, and the earth may help the woman, by opening her mouth, and swallowing up the flood cast out after her by the dragon to drown her, #Re 12:16.

Strengthened their hands] Which else, for want of such support, would have hung down, and their feeble knees buckled under them, ere they had come to their own country; neither could they without such supplies have so comfortably carried on the work they went about. For, if wisdom be a defence, or a shadow, to those that have seen the sun (as in the former verse) and are scorched with the heat of it, so is money too, saith Solomon, #Ec 7:12; and though wisdom without wealth is good, yet it is better with inheritance, #Ezr 1:11, which is not only an ornament, but an instrument of virtue. When men go on Virtute dace, comite fortuna, then it is well with them as it was with good Josiah, #Jer 22:15,16. But Agur would not be poor, lest he should be put upon ill courses, #Pr 30:9, put to his shifts. Poor Hagar, when the water was spent in the bottle, cast the child under the shrubs, #Ge 21:15.

With vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts] See the note on #Ezr 1:4. These are things that men do not usually so easily part with to others till they needs must. Euclio in the comedian sits abrood upon his heaps and hoards, and will not be drawn off. Shall Nabal take his bread and his flesh, and give it to those he knows not? #1Sa 25:23-31 Misers will as soon part with their blood as their gold; whence the Chaldees call their money dam, that is, blood. Many a man shows himself like the Cornish crow, which will steal a piece of money, and hiding it in some hole, will never help herself or any other with it afterwards. Hermocrates, being loth that any man should enjoy his goods after him, made himself, by his will, heir of his own goods. Athenaeus telleth of one, that at his death devoured many pieces of gold, and sewed the rest in his coat, commanding that they should be all buried with him. But these in the text seem to have been of the race of those Persians spoken of, #Isa 13:17, which regarded not silver, and as for gold, they cared not much for it. Or if they were proselytes to the Church, then they had learned (with Tyrus, now also converted) to give over heaping and hoarding of wealth, and therewith to feed and clothe God’s poor saints; and so to furnish them for their journey to their Father’s house, that they may eat sufficiently, and have durable clothing, #Isa 23:18. This was God’s work upon their hearts; and Quando Christus magister, quam cito discitur quod decatur? (Augustin.) Whereunto may be added, that Cyrus, who set forth this edict, as he was an absolute sovereign (and so his word went for a law), so he was a gracious and courteous prince, ita ut Patris nomen meruerit, so that he merited the name and title of Father of his Country, and might command anything of them.

And with precious things] Even the very best of the best they had. The word signifieth praestantissimum et pretiosissimum in quocunque genere fructuum, metallorum, gemmarum, vestium, the choicest and chiefest of all kind of commodities. Such as Eliezer gave to Rebekah and her brother, #Ge 24:53, and as Jehoshaphat gave his younger son, #2Ch 21:3. For the purchase of the pearl of price, the wise merchant makes a thorough sale of all. Barnabas parteth with his lands, Zaccheus with his goods, Matthew with his meat, the centurion with his money, to build those synagogues that wicked Antiochus had thrown down; and these in the text, with their most precious things, to refurnish that temple that Nebuchadnezzar had burnt.

Beside all that was willingly offered] A freewill offering then there was {#Ezr 1:4} brought in by God’s willing people, #Ps 110:3, that wait for God’s law, as #Isa 42:8,9, and hold with that ancient, that it is nimis augusta innocentia ad legem bonum esse, to do no more service to God than needs must, to get so much grace only as will keep life and soul together (that is, soul and hell asunder), this they judge to be a low and unworthy strain of some good people. David voweth freewill offerings often, and could beteem God a great deal more love and service than he is able to perform to him, #Ps 5:6 1Ch 29:8,9. Those good souls, #Zec 8:21, call upon themselves and one another to be continually going before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I (saith each for himself) will go also. Hannah went up with her husband every year to the feast, #1Sa 1:4,21; so did the Virgin Mary to the passover with her son Jesus, #Lu 2:41,42; yet none were expressly commanded so to do but males, and those also nothing under twenty years of age, as fit to be numbered, #Ex 30:14. So those among us that hear weekday sermons, as Mary did, #Lu 10:42, and many other good people in our Saviour’s days, #Lu 19:47,48 21:37,38. Hereby we shall show our love, and do a service highly accepted in heaven.

Ver. 7. Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels] For example to others, et iussit, et gessit, he did himself what he commanded to be done, and so became a living law, a walking statute. So Justinian would not put the vessels of the Temple (taken by Titus, and recovered from Gensericus) into the public treasury, but restored them.

Which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth] With profane and sacrilegious hands some of these sacred vessels and utensils of the Temple he had cut in pieces, #2Ki 24:13, and others he carried away, #2Ch 36:7, whole and entire. This he did out of covetousness (that auri sacra fames) and in scorn of all religion (rather than hatred of the Jewish superstition, or to avenge the quarrel of God’s covenant), like as for the same reason his successor Cambyses destroyed the Egyptian idols, #Isa 10:26.

And had put them] There was a sweet providence in that; to the end that being there reserved, they might in due time be restored (as here they are) to the house of God at Jerusalem. And although that was a most unfit place to keep them in (for "what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" #2Co 6:16), and Belshazzar most profanely abused them, #Da 5:2, in that drunken feast of his (hence he is called the festival king, #Eze 21:5,6), yet being sanctified again, and dedicated to the true and first owner, the God of Israel, they might lawfully be made use of. Not only things indifferent abused may yet be used in the service of God (as those six waterpots were by our Saviour #Joh 2:6,7, though they had been superstitiously abused for private purification), but also idolatrous things and places. As Gideon took the bullock appointed for Baal and the grove, and offered the bullock with that wood in sacrifice to the Lord, #Jud 6:26. The like the Bethshemites did by the Philistines’ cart and kine. The Mount of Olives was shamefully abused to idolatry by Solomon and others, so that it was called the mount of corruption, #2Ki 23:13, and yet was it our Saviour’s usual oratory or place of prayer.

In the house of his gods] Bel and Nebo, #Isa 46:1. These were Babylon’s chief gods. The original of Bel is said to be this: Ninus having made an image of his father Belus, all that came to see it were pardoned for all their offences; whence in time that image came to be worshipped, and then afterwards a multitude more; insomuch as that in Hesiod’s time the number of heathenish gods was grown to thirty thousand, πρις γαρ μυριοι εισιν. And in China at this day some tell us that there are no fewer than a hundred thousand idols.

“ O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane!”

Gods these idols are called here, not because they were so (for there is one God only, said Pythagoras, and other heathens, Εις μονος εστι θεος, &c.), but because Nebuchadnezzar falsely held them so. Like as elsewhere the gods of Damascus are said to have smitten Ahaz, who therefore sacrificed to them, #2Ch 28:23, not as if those idols were anything in the world, or could do anything at all to him, #Jer 10:5 1Co 8:4; but only that he conceited so, and that the devil (who is ειδωλοχαρης, as Synesius truly saith) abused his credulity.

Ver. 8. Even those did Cyrus king of Persia] So styled, because, though he was monarch of many countries, yet Persia was his hereditary kingdom, and Persepolis the place of his residence; which great city was afterwards burnt by Alexander the Great, at the motion and by the request of a base harlot.

By the hand of Mithredath the treasurer] Heb. Gizhar; Inde Gasper, saith one. Mithridates, king of Pontus, was famous in later ages, or, rather infamous, for his craft in saving himself, and his cruelty to the Roman merchants, trading through his territories, killing eighty thousand of them with one letter (Val. Max.).

And numbered them unto Sheshbazzar] Joy in tribulation, this is the signification of the word; a fit name for a prince, who should be Deliciae orbis, as Titus the emperor, of whom it is said, that he never sent away any suitor sad or discontented, Neminem a se dimisit tristem (Sueton.); and remembering on a day that he had not done any poor man good, he cried out to his friends, Hodie non regnavimus: Amici, diem perdidi, accounting that day lost wherein he had not showed some man courtesy. Such a gracious prince was Job, #Job 29:12, "I delivered the poor that cried," saith he, "and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him." The Great Turk styleth himself, The world’s refuge; professing that all that lament unto him shall have redress and help. James V of Scotland was called "The poor man’s king," for his readiness to right and relieve the afflicted. Zerubbabel, however he came by this name Sheshbazzar for that he was the man I take for granted, #Ezr 5:16 3:8 Zec 4:9, though Junius thinks otherwise), he deserved it doubtless; and of him it might well be said, as the historian Vopiscus doth of Probus the emperor, Si probi nomen non haberet, habere cognomen posset, pity he had been called anything but Probus, so honest a prince he was: think the like here. The parliament here held A.D. 1376 was called The Good Parliament; and another not long after Parlamentum benedictum, The Blessed Parliament. God grant us such a one next (this was written, May 18, 1653); for at present we are without any, but not without cause to cry out, as those in #Jer 8:20,22, The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not helped. "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!" #Jer 8:15

Ver. 9. And this is the number of them] Had they not been things of great price and use, they would not have been numbered: #So 6:8, the queens and concubines are numbered how many; but not the virgins, that bring not forth fruit to God. Men use not to count how many pebbles they have in their yard, or piles of grass in their field, as they do how many pence in their purse, or sheep in their fold. When the Great God shall count his people’s flittings, bottle up their tears (as sweet water), book up their sighs (as memorable matters), #Ps 56:8, shall we not say of them as the Jews did of Lazarus, when Jesus wept, Behold, how he loves them? When the very hairs of their head are all numbered, #Mt 10:30, so that not one of them falleth to the ground without their heavenly Father’s knowledge, what store, think we, setteth he by their persons, by their performances? I know thy work, and thy labour, #Re 2:19. I pity this people, they have been with me now three days, and fasting they are, and far from home, and faint they may, if sent away empty, #Mt 15:32. Lo, is not this a wonderful condescension, that Christ should consider tantos tantillos et tales, and reckon every circumstance of their service so particularly and punctually, that he might give to every man according to his works? Oh, his jewels, his book of remembrance, &c., #Mal 3:16,17; {See Trapp on "Mal 3:16"} {See Trapp on "Mal 3:17"}

Thirty chargers] Serving to hold such parts of the sacrifices as were to be eaten by the priests and others.

Nine and twenty knives] Sacrificing knives, richly hafted.

Ver. 10. Thirty basons of gold] These were to hold the sprinkling water, or blood.

And other vessels] Of sundry sorts, whereof see #1Ki 7:50.

Ver. 11. All the vessels of gold and of silver] Those best of metals, and therefore fittest for his use and service who is good, #Ps 106:1, better, #Ps 108:9, best, #Php 1:23, goodness itself, #Mt 19:17. Whose great purse is the earth, with all that is either on it or in it, #Ps 24:1; whose great storehouse are the stars and planets, the sun especially making these metals, and causing plenty, #De 28:12. Let us lavish out of the bag, and when we have honoured the Lord with the best of our best, cry out with David, Of thine own, Lord, have we given thee, #1Ch 29:16; and with Justinian, dedicating a very rich communion table, τα σα εκ των σων σοι προσφερομεν οι δαυλοι σου, & c.

Chapter 2

Ver. 1. Now these are the children of the province] That is, of Judaea, now a province, though formerly a princess; now solitary and tributary that was once populous and great among the nations, #La 1:1. Medinah, the word here rendered province, sometimes signifieth Metropolis, aliis ius dicens, a place that giveth laws to other places, and so Judaea in her flourish had been. See #Ezr 4:20. But now it was otherwise, and so it is at this day, not only with Judaea, but with other renowned empires and kingdoms not a few, all which (together with most of those Churches and places so much mentioned in Scripture) are swallowed up in, the greatness of Turkish Empire. That Medina, a city in Arabia (where Mahomet lieth buried, and where his sepulchre is no less visited than is Christ’s sepulchre at Jerusalem), holdeth this Medina in hard subjection; making her children pay for the very heads they wear; and so grievously afflicting them, that they have cause enough to take up anew Jeremiah’s elegy over their doleful captivity.

That went up out of the captivity] That lifted themselves in Babylon, to go up. Which if any failed to do (as by comparing #Ezr 2:5 of this chapter with #Ne 7:10, it appeareth some did), it was because either they changed their minds or their lives before they came there. When that noble Marquis Galeacius Caracciolus set forward for Geneva, some of his most familiar friends promised and vowed to accompany him there (His Life by Crashaw); but various of them, when they came to the borders of Italy, turned back again, &c.; and so might many of these engagers, magis amantes mundi delicias, quam Christi divitias, et graviorem ducentes iacturam regionis, quam religionis.

Which had been carried away] But had God’s promise that they should return, be built up, planted, and not rooted out, #Jer 24:6, and his command to marry and beget children, #Jer 29:6, which should inherit the promises: for they are good surehold.

Whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon] That Metus Orbis, et Flagellum Dei, as Attilas, king of Huns, proudly styled himself, that is, the terror of the world, and scourge in God’s hand. See #Isa 10:5. That Ira Dei et Orbis Vastitas as Tamerlane loved to be called: The wrath of God and ruin of the world (Bucholc.).

Had carried away unto Babylon] As to his lions’ den, #Na 2:11, but God sent from heaven and saved them with such a mighty salvation, as eclipsed that deliverance out of Egypt, #Jer 23:7,8.

Every one unto his city] Appointed him by the present governors. For during their abode in Babylon Judaea lay utterly waste and uninhabited. The land kept her sabbaths, resting from tillage, and God, by a wonderful providence, kept the room empty till the return of the natives.

Ver 2. That came with Zerubbabel] That famous prince of Judah, #Ezr 1:8, governor of Judah, #Hag 1:1, who was born in Babylon, and accordingly had a Babylonian name. His hands laid the foundation of the second temple, his hands also finished, #Zec 4:9, whence some conclude that the Lord gave him a life much longer than ordinary. His children shall not to bed till their work be done.

Jeshua] This was that Jehoshuah the high priest, the great assistant of Zerubbabel in building the Temple, #Ezr 5:2 Hag 1:14. These were those faithful witnesses of God in their generation, as before them had been Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, and as after them Paul and Barnabas, Luther and Melancthon, Oecolampadius and Zwinglius, &c. Christ sent out his disciples by two and two: for two is better than one; and why? see #Ec 4:9-12.

Nehemiah, Saraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai] Not that famous Nehemiah nor that renowned Mordecai so much spoken of in the Book of Esther but others of the same name. Reasons see in Mr Pemble’s Period of the Persian Monarchy, pp. 30, 31.

Bilshan, Mizpar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah] These were all of them guides and governors to the rest, eminent and eximious. To whom in Nehemiah is added a twelfth man, Nahumani by name, who better bethought himself belike; and having answered with that young man in the Gospel, and said, I will not, yet afterwards repented and went. Nunquam sere, si serio. This was better than those many that answered and said, We go, sir, and yet went not, #Mt 21:29,30.

The number of the men of the people of Israel] The former were names, men of renown in the congregation. {confer #Ac 1:15 Re 3:3} The rest that follow are but numbers, Nos numeri sumus, &c., men of common condition, the many, οι πολλοι, who are set down in the sequel of the chapter.

Ver. 3. The children of Parosh] Question is here made by some, whether this and other like chapters, that are nothing but names and numbers, should be read in course, since they may seem to be of no great use to us? To this Chrysostom answereth, In sacris libris nihil contemnatur aut obiter praetereatur, etiamsi nomina recenseantur, that is, let no part of the Holy Scripture be slighted or skipped over, no, though we meet with nothing but names only. But forasmuch as there is never a leaf, nay, line, nay, letter in God’s book, that is not pure, precious, and profitable, #Pr 30:5 Ps 12:6 2Ti 3:16 (the Rabbins have a saying that there is a mountain of sense hanging upon every apex or tittle of the word of God); therefore must we read all, in obedience to him, who hath written for us these excellent things in counsel and knowledge, #Pr 22:20, and if anything be yet hid, God shall reveal even this unto us, #Php 3:15. Joseph understood not his own dreams at first, till he saw his brethren prostrate before him; then Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed of them, #Ge 42:9. The disciples conceived not, believed not, many things done by and to their Master, till he was glorified, and they further enlightened, #Joh 2:22 12:6. Surely if Hippocrates could say of medicine, that there was nothing to be accounted little in it, nothing contemptible (ουδεν μικρον, ουδεν καταφρονητεον); how much more may we say the same of divinity and of the Scriptures!

Ver. 43. The Nethinims] i.e. Deodati, men given to God, devoted to the service of his house. These were those Gibeonites that, having saved their lives by a lie, were made drawers of water to the temple for a punishment. God made this cross a mercy: for the nearer they were to the Church the nearer to God. Their employment was to minister to the Levites, as the Levites did to the priests, #Jos 9:21; and this gave them occasion to partake of the things of God, and to behold his face in righteousness.

Ver. 55. The children of Solomon’s servants] These also were strangers, that had been employed by Solomon, and becoming proselytes, were incorporated into the commonwealth of Israel. God is no respecter of persons, #Ac 10:34. He takes where he likes; strangers shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when the children of the kingdom shall be cast out, #Mt 8:11,12; Solomon’s servants may have a name and a nail in God’s house, when his sons may be excluded; Jether, an Ishmaelite, #1Ch 7:38, may become an Israelite, #2Sa 17:25, and Araunah the Jebusite an exemplary prosalyte, #Zec 9:7.

Ver. 59. And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, &c.] Places in Chaldaea where these Jews were scattered; as at this day their posterity are up and down in Turkey, and some parts of Christendom, a dejected and despised people.

Ver. 61. And was called after their name] After the name of his wife’s father, that noble Gileadite; as holding it a greater honour to be allied to Barzillai than to be looked upon as a priest. It was therefore just upon such proud and insolent people, that as they had once scorned the priesthood, so the priesthood should now scorn them.

Ver. 62. But they were not found] They could not prove themselves to be of the seed of Aaron; and were therefore worthily turned off. So shall all be at the last day that are not written among the living in Jerusalem, that are not registered in the Lamb’s book of life, that have been ashamed of Christ and of his words, #Mr 8:38.

Ver. 63. And the Tirshatha said unto them] i.e. Zerubbabel, the chief magistrate, a man of great power and no less courage, who would not be guilty of passive injustice.

That they should not eat of the most holy things] Make a gain of the priesthood, which they had slighted when nothing was to be obtained by it. Now they should neither do the work nor have the means. Caietan commenting upon Matthew, then when the French soldiers brake into Rome, and made a scorn and prey of the Popish clergy, acknowledged that it was a just hand of God upon them, because they were grown unsavoury salt, good for little else but to look after the rights and revenues of the Church.

Till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim] That is, never, or not in haste. Some faint hopes the governor might have that such an ephod with Urim and Thummim, as was now burnt or otherwise lost, might be had again, but it seemed not very likely. The great High Priest was now at hand, and the ceremonials to cease shortly.

Ver. 64. Forty and two thousand] Ten or twelve thousand whereof seem to be of the ten tribes that were first carried captive, and, together with Judah and Benjamin, made up that Δωδεκαφυλον St Paul speaketh of, #Ac 26:7.

Ver. 65. Beside their servants, &c.] Their masters’ necessary instruments, και ολως εκεινων, saith Aristotle, and wholly at their command. See #Pr 12:9.

Two hundred singing men and singing women.] That sang at feasts and funerals. See #Ec 2:8. These perhaps might have been as well spared. Nam ad quod prosunt eiusmodi artes (saith one), et quis eiusmodi hominum eas profitentium usus, nisi ut aliis sint oneri, et cibum potumque egenorum, sicut locustae, praerodant atque consumaut? (Funccius).

Ver. 68. And some of the chief] And but some. All were not alike enlarged or enabled.

Ver. 69. They gave after their ability] Men must take heed they stretch not beyond the staple, and so mar all. But few are herein faulty; few Macedonians, that, to their power and beyond, are willing of themselves, &c., #2Co 8:8. Rari quippe boni.

Threescore and one thousand drams of gold] That is, nineteen thousand sixty-two pounds ten shillings.

And five thousand pound of silver] i.e. Fifteen thousand pounds sterling. These sums of money, together with the costly priests’ garments, though they fall far short of what was provided and given in David’s days, #1Ch 22 1Ch 29, towards the building of the first temple; yet, considering the mind of this poor people, and their small ability, this gift was as great in God’s account. See #Lu 21:1,2. The widow’s mite was beyond the rich man’s magnificence, because it came out of a richer mind.

Ver. 70. And some of the people] For not half of them, as may be probably thought, returned; but condemned the rest of rashness and weakness, to their no small prejudice.

Chapter 3

Ver. 1. And when the seventh month was come] Heb. And the seventh month approached; a month of many festivities, #Le 23:24,27,34 1Ki 8:2, and so, to the good, a foretaste of eternal life, where it shall be holiday every day, where they have no rest, #Re 4:8 (and yet no unrest), praising the God of heaven, for heaven’s happiness, #Ps 136:1-3,26 (the same that these good souls sang together, #Ezr 3:11 of this chapter). God is praised five and twenty times for his mercies; but the conclusion is, "O give thanks unto the God of heaven," &c. Christ hath cast up such a causeway to it, that we may well travel thither from all coasts, as these Jews did to Jerusalem from all their cities.

As one man to Jerusalem] There to serve the Lord with one shoulder, #Zep 3:9. Neither counted they it any trouble to travel thither, though they were scarce yet warm in their nests, as we say.

Ver. 2. Then stood up Jeshua] Ministers, of all others, should be most forward and forth putting, ready prest and prepared to every good work, as patterns to the people, who are led more by their eyes than by their ears, &c.

And Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel] These two ever went hand in hand; and hence the work so prospered in their hand. It must needs be so (said Queen Elizabeth once to the Suffolk gentlemen who came to meet her with their ministers by their sides) where the word and the sword go together.

And builded the altar of the God of Israel] Which therefore, in their father Jacob’s sense, #Ge 33:20, they might safely have called El, Elohe-Israel, that is, God, the God of Israel, putting the sign for the thing signified. Thus also the ark is called God’s face, #Ps 105:4; yea, even God himself, #Ps 132:5.

As it is written in the law of Moses] This was the rule they wrought by. God requireth to have a reasonable service, #Ro 12:1, such as whereof we can render a reason out of his word; he hateth a Samaritan service, #Joh 4:22, and will not endure Popish will-worship. Who requireth these things at their hands, their altars, crucifixes, penances, pilgrimages, &c.? The whole number of the beast is but the number of a man, #Re 13:18. Men will have it so, and this is the sum of all Popish religion. All their superstructions are human inventions.

Moses, the man of God] The prophet, the lawgiver, a man of much communion with God above any other, #Nu 12:8. One calleth him heaven’s chancellor.

Ver. 3. And they set the altar upon his bases] Upon the old foundation in the priests’ court, being glad of any place where to worship God jointly and publicly; for temple, as yet, there was none. Our worship-scorners are rightly styled by one, The last brood of Beelzebub.

For fear was upon them] Though that was a lewd speech of the poet Statius, Primus in orbe Deos fecit Timor, It was timorousness that first made men religious; yet there’s no question but fear of danger driveth men to God, as it did these here. Their malignant neighbours, bandying and bending their forces against them, make them hasten up an altar, that they might get God on their side, and run to him reconciled, whatever evil should befall them. Be not thou a terror to me, Lord, saith holy Jeremiah, #Jer 17:17, and then I fear no creature. Let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm (said Luther once in a great strait), and then let the devil do his worst. "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee," #Ps 56:3. Some read the text thus, Though fear was upon them, yet that hindered not their setting up God’s altar; but they brake through all discouragements, and did their duty. It is well observed that the very light of nature taught heathens, that the services they performed to their gods with peril and hazard to themselves were best accepted. Caius Fabius ventured through the enemies’ camp to offer a solemn anniversary sacrifice, and returned in safety satis sperans (saith the historian) propitios fore Deos, quorum culture ne mortis quidem metu prohibitus intermisis set, trusting that in such a case his gods would secure him. When Numa, the second king of the Romans, heard, as he was sacrificing, that the enemies were coming, he made this answer, At ego rem divinam facio, Εγω δε θυω (Plut.); "if God be for us, who shall be against us?"

And they offered burnt offerings thereon] That their sins might be expiated, and their persons protected. The ceremonial law was Christ in figure, it was their gospel.

Ver. 4. They kept also the feast of tabernacles] Or booths, built of boughs or branches of thick trees, #Ne 8:15, in a grateful memorial of God’s gracious preservation of them in the wilderness, where they dwelt in tents or tabernacles. It signified also (the prophet Zechariah being interpreter, #Zec 14:16-19) that the remembrance of our redemption by Christ should be perpetuated with all spiritual gladness.

by number, according to the custom] There is an elegance in the original. The book of God hath many such, as I have elsewhere noted.

As the duty of every day required] Heb. The matter of the day in his day. Here we are all travellers, having no certain habitation, #Heb 11:1 3, αστατουμεν, #1Co 4:11. Let us account duty a debt, and be daily doing at it. Let us keep holy day, keep the feast, εορταζωμεν, #1Co 5:8. Let us be "in the fear of the Lord all the day long." #Pr 23:17

Ver. 5. And afterward offered] Finding a float of holy affections in their hearts, they passed from one good exercise to another, and were indefatigable in the Lord’s work. David, finding such a heat and height in his people, prays God to "keep it ever in the imagination of the thoughts of their hearts," which he knew well to be fickle and false, #1Ch 29:18.

Both of the new moons] Kept in thankfulness to God for their time renewed upon them, from month to month, and his mercies every morning and moment.

And of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated] By a holy resting, both from corporal labour and from spiritual idleness.

A freewill offering] {See Trapp on "Ezr 1:4"}

Ver. 6. From the first day of the seventh month] Which was the feast of blowing of trumpets, signifying the just man’s joyfulness, and serving to put life and spirit into them.

Began they to offer] And so held on: for this month had as many feasts in it as were celebrated in all the year besides: so, as the Sabbath was the queen of days ( Regina dierum), so was this of months. {See Trapp on "Ezr 3:1"}

But the foundation of the temple] Heb. of the kingly palace, aula basilica, used here and elsewhere for the place where God’s honour dwelleth. God is a great King, #Mal 1:14, and requires to be served like himself.

Was not yet laid] Heb. Was not yet founded. Nevertheless they would be worshipping God as they could at an altar till they had a temple. All the power of Persia could not keep God and Daniel asunder, #Da 6:10; the trade of godliness never standeth still. Demosthenes (Contra Arist.) could say that a heart beautified with piety, justice, and modesty is the best temple, and to God most acceptable.

Ver. 7. They gave money also unto the masons and carpenters] Who usually get it and eat it, laying up little; their life is called the life of their hands, because maintained by the labour of their hands, #Isa 57:10,14; day wages they must have, or they cannot subsist; and these good Jews spared for no cost, but gave money out of the bag freely to these workmen. Idolaters care not what cost they cast away upon their dumb idols: Drum alienum dotant, so some read that text, #Ps 16:4. The Turkish stately mosques, and Popish Basilicae, stuffed with vowed presents and memories, as they call them, are things known to all. When the famous artificer Phidias advised the Athenians to make the statue of Minerva rather of marble than of ivory, 1. Because more durable, this passed with allowance; 2. Because less chargeable, this they abhorred, and bade him say no more of such a matter.

And meat, and drink, and oil] More prized by the Tyrians and Sidonians than money, because their country was nourished by this country, #Ac 12:20, as being barren, and not bringing forth provision enough for themselves. Diogenes deeply taxed the folly of his Athenians, that prized money so much and bread grain so little; when as the life of man could be without that, but not without the other.

To bring cedar trees] Smooth and durable, and every way fit for fair buildings; and, therefore, made choice of by God himself, #2Sa 7:7, by Solomon for the first temple, #1Ki 5:6, and by these Jews for the second. The temple of Diana at Ephesus was likewise built of cedar; as the devil affecteth to be God’s ape.

To the sea of Joppa] This was a harbour, #Jos 19:46 Ac 9:43 Jon 1:3, and hath its name, a pulchritudine et elegantia, from its beauty and bravery, such as draweth love and liking. It might have been called The Fair Havens, as well as that place nigh unto the city of Lasea, #Ac 27:8, which retaineth the same name unto this day.

According to the grant] Or licence, which they took in the largest extent, as we also ought to do God’s gracious promises. Promissa sunt amplianda; and we must labour to see our own names written in them.

Ver. 8. To set forward the work] To urge the continuance of it to the end, as the word siguifieth; to encourage and call upon the workmen to hasten and go through; to be as so many Εργοδιωκται, that the business might go on end, and come to a good upshot.

Ver. 9. Then stood Jeshua] Not the high priest, but another, a Levite.

The sons of Henadad, with their sons] A generation of godly and active men in the things of God, see #Ne 3:18,24 10:9. Grace is not hereditary, the white halcyons hatch black young ones, Heroum filii noxae. Nevertheless, nurture helpeth nature; and good men strive to mend that by education which they have marred by propagation. They cocker not, but correct their children; they pray for them, and drop good principles into them; they smooth them as arrows, #Ps 128:3,4, getting off the knottiness of their nature; and leave not till they see them the work of God’s hands, so as to sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and to fear the God of Israel, #Isa 29:23. These sons of Henadad, as they attended upon the temple work, so themselves were as the polished corners of the temple, #Ps 144:12.

Ver. 10. With trumpets] These were used on all occasions of rejoicing.

With cymbals] Instruments of a shrill sound used also by the heathens at offering of their sacrifices (Aelian.). So, in imitation of the Urim and Thummim, #Ex 28:30, the Egyptian high priest wore about his neck a sapphire stone which was called Αληθεια. Satan Dei Mimus ut et Momus. See before, #Ezr 3:7.

After the ordinance of David] He very much added to the Church music. He likewise anticipated the age of the priests, entering into their service five years earlier than the Mosaical appointment.

Ver. 11. And they sang together by course] Amant alterna Camaenae. Antiphonies are of ancient use.

In praising and giving thanks] Men praise God for his excellencies, thank him for his benefits.

Because he is good] So they sang David’s Psalms, a good warrant for us so to do. Heretofore happy were they held that could sound out aliquid Davidicum :now some have found out new inventions.

Ver. 12. Who were ancient men] From seventy years of age and upwards; for it was but seventy years before this that the temple was burnt.

Wept with a loud voice] Considering the disproportion. Let us do the like when we compare our state of creation with our state of corruption.

Ver. 13. The noise of the shout of joy from the noise, &c.] Nam partim iubilabant, partim eiulabant. Our joys, while we are here, will be mixed joys. Let those that would have joys unspeakable stir up sighs unutterable.

Chapter 4

Ver. 1. Now when the adversaries of Judah] Aroused by those loud acclamations and outcries, #Ezr 3:12,13. These adversaries were those Samaritans, #Ezr 4:3, the kind of mongrels who wore religion as a cloak, which they either put on or threw off at pleasure, and as occasion required. Satan, saith one, doth not always appear in one and the same fashion; but hath as many several shapes as Proteus among the poets. Here he pretends devotion to his mischievous designs, but was frustrated.

That the children of the captivity] Istos deportatos, by way of contempt, as Junius rendereth it; as if the Jews were, therefore, hated of God because they had been transported, captivated. Cicero passeth the same censure of them in his oration, pro L. Flacco: Ista gens quam chara diis immortalibus esset docuit, quod est victa, quod elocata, quod servata. It appears how dear to God they be by their frequent captivities.

Ver. 2. Let us build with you] Craftily and treacherously do they offer their cost and pains, ut illis intermixti personas committerent, atque ita opus interverterent, saith one well; that, mingling with them, they might set them together by the ears, and so put a stop to the work. Thus Julian, to spite the Christians, first set the Jews to work to rebuild their temple; and when that would not be, he called home the Arian bishops out of banishment, to breed new broils in the Church. The Jesuits have a practice at this day of running over to the Lutheran Church, pretending to be converts, and to build with them; but it is only to keep up that bitter contention that is between the Calvinists and the Lutherans. And what ill offices they do among us at this day to heighten our divisions, and hinder the Reformation (by their wiles, much ensnared and hindered), good men are very sensible of. The Lord detect and defeat them.

For we seek your God, as ye do] Nay, not as ye do. See #2Ki 17:32-34, they feared the Lord, not filially, but for his lions; as the old Romans worshipped their Veiones, lest they should hurt them; and as the Caffrani (a people in India) worship devils in most terrible figure, that they may not punish them.

Since the days of Esarhaddon] Son and successor to Sennacherib, #2Ki 19:37, grandson to Salmaneser; after whom, it seems, he brought a new colony into the land of Samaria, who proved deadly enemies to God’s people.

Ver. 3. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua] Jeshua would be one to keep them out, though they slighted him in their application to Zerubbabel and the chief of the fathers, #Ezr 4:2.

Ye have nothing to do with us] You shall neither conquer us nor compound with us. This was right Roman resolution. They were wont to say of cowards in Rome, that there was nothing Roman in them. I can never sufficiently admire, saith one, the speech of blessed Luther, who, though he was very earnest to have the communion administered in both kinds, contrary to the doctrine and custom of Rome, yet he professes, if the pope, as pope, commanded him to receive in both kinds, he would receive but in one kind, lest he should seem to receive the mark of the beast. As for these reconcilers and moderators, saith another learned man, were they the wisest under heaven, and should live to the world’s end, they would be brought to their wit’s end before they could accomplish this work’s end, to make a reconciliation between Rome and us. They have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God. From such stand off, saith the apostle, #1Ti 6:5. Say to them, when they offer their cost and service, as here, Pura Deus mens est: procul, o procul este profani. This was one of those ancient laws of the twelve tables among the Romans, Impius ne audeto placare donis iram deorum, Let no profane person presume to think to pacify the gods with their pains or presents.

But we ourselves together will build, &c.] This the adversaries call combination, conspiracy, faction, sedition, &c., see #Ezr 4:13. But what saith Tertullian? Cum boni, cum probi coeunt non est factio dicenda, sed curia. Et e contra, illis nomen factionis accommodandum est, qui in odium piorum et proborum conspirant (Apol. advers, gent. num. 520). When good men get together, and hold together, it is not to be called a faction, but a court. As on the other side, they are to be counted factious, who conspire against the godly, as these malignants in the text did.

As king Cyrus, &c.] They had good authority for what they did, and they hold them to it.

Ver. 4. Then the people of the land] Who the nearer they came unto a conjunction with the Jews in matters of religion the deeper hatred they bare them. Thus at this day, a Jew hates a Christian worse than he doth a Pagan; so doth a Turk hate a Persian worse than he doth a Christian; a Papist, a Protestant worse than he doth a Turk; a formalist, a Puritan worse than he doth a Papist, Odia Theologica sunt acerbissima. Religious hatred is most shep.

Weakened the hands of the people of Judah] Discouraged them all they could, endeavouring to transfuse, as it were, a dead palsy into their fingers, that they might surcease, or, at least, slack their pains. Well might Solomon say, Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous: but who can stand before envy? surely the venom of all vices is found in this sharp fanged malignity.

And troubled them in building] Heb. Kept ado about them, and terrified them. This was to do the work of their father, the devil, that troubler of God’s Israel ( ad iniuriam inferendam totus comparatus, ο πονηρος), set upon it to vex such as begin but to build the tower of godliness, and to hinder them to the utmost.

Ver. 5. And hired counsellors against them] But good counsellors would not have been hired, either to bolster out a bad cause, or to outface a good; to justify the wicked for a reward, or to take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. There is a notable instance of this in Papinian, a Pagan counsellor. Thou mayest (said he to Antoninus, the fratricide) command my neck to the block, but not my tongue to the bar. I prize not my life to the pleading of an ill cause. These sordida poscinummia in the text were none such. Some think they were courtiers and counsellors to the king; such as by whom the king was even bought and sold, as Aurelian, the good emperor was, who might know nothing but as his counsellors informed him. This made Alphonsus, king of Aragon, say, that kings were herein most miserable, that whereas they abounded with all things else, the truth of matters they could seldom come by.

All the days of Cyrus king of Persia] Who, warring abroad, committed the government of his kingdom to his son Cambyses, a light and lewd lowly, easily prevailed with to hinder so good a work.

Even until the reign of Darius] i.e. Of Darius Nothus, say some, the son of Artaxerxes Longimanus, {named #Ezr 4:7} the father of Artaxerxes Mnemon. But they do better, in my opinion, that understand the text of Darius Hystaspis, who succeeded Cambyses, and married his sister; seeking to ingratiate with the people by ratifying whatsoever Cyrus had decreed, and this of the temple among the rest, see #Ezr 6:1.

Ver. 6. And in the reign of Ahasuerus] That is, of Cambyses, who is also called Artaxerxes in the next verse; for these two names were given to many kings of Persia; like as Pharaoh was to the kings of Egypt, as a title of honour. Ahasuerus signifieth a hereditary prince. Daniel calleth him the prince of the kingdom of Persia, #Da 10:13, because he was viceroy in his father’s absence. Infamous he is for many lewd pranks (as that he killed his brother, and then his own sister, after he had first married her, and made a law that any man might do the like), yet was he not so ungracious a son to Cyrus as our Henry II’s eldest son was; whom he not only crowned king during his own life, but also, to do him honour at his coronation, renounced the name of a king for that day, and, as sewer, served at the table. For which he was thus requited, My father, said he, is not dishonoured by attending on me; for I am both a king’s and a queen’s son, and so is not he.

In the beginning of his reign] As loth to lose time (Esau began in the very womb to persecute Jacob), and as taking their fittest season for granting of suits.

Wrote they an accusation] Heb. a Satanical suggestion, a diabolical accusation, hatched in hell, and dictated by the devil. He it is that acteth and agitateth the saints’ adversaries and accusers; sitting upon their tongues and pens, and setting an edge on them.

Ver. 7. And in the days of Artaxerxes] This seems to be Cambyses’ Persian name, as Ahasuerus was his Chaldee name. It is as much as Bellator egregius, an excellent warrior. So Scipio was called Fulmen belli, the lightening bolt of war; Bajazet, the Great Turk, Gilderun, or lightning; Albert, Marquis of Brandenburg, was called Achilles Teutonicus (Bucholc.). Our Black Prince was so named, not of his colour, but of his courage, and of his dreaded acts in battle; for he assailed no nation which he overcame not, he besieged no city which he took not (Speed). Cambyses had great success in his wars, and added Egypt, and other countries, to the Persian monarchy.

Wrote Bishlam, Mithredath] These were the king of Persia’s toparchs or deputies, beyond the river Euphrates.

Written in the Syrian tongue] Called also the Chaldee, Babylonish, and Assyrian; commonly spoken by the Jews, who, in the seventy years’ captivity, lost the purity of their own language; like as the Latins also did, when the Goths, Vandals, and other barbarous nations overran them, and mingled with them.

And interpreted in the Syrian tongue] i.e. With Syrian characters, Et Scriptura et lingua erat Syriaca, ut sine interprete in aula regis intelligeretur, saith Shindler. It was so written that it might be understood at court without an interpreter.

Ver. 8. Rehum the chancellor] Or, president of the council. It is of the Chaldee termination; the whole history also following to #Ezr 6:19, is Chaldee, transcribed, as some think, out of the rolls and registers of the Chaldees, and here inserted.

Ver. 9. The Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites] This was not unity, but conspiracy, of a rabble of rebels against God and his people. So #Ps 83:5,6, &c., "They have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: the tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes," &c. A whole legion of devils could agree to enter into one poor man, to vex him; and to act as one in that possession.

Ver. 10. The great and noble Asnapper] Some great commander under the Assyrian monarch. There is, they say, a greatness belluine, and a greatness genuine. Asnapper, notwithstanding his big-swollen titles, might be rather great than good; and more notable than noble, Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus (Juvenal).

On this side the river] That ancient river, the river Euphrates, which the more I see the more I admire, saith one.

Ver. 11. Thy servants] Not thy subjects only, but thine officers.

Ver. 12. The rebellious and the bad city] After so many years doth Jerusalem rue one perfidious act of Zedekiah; and, having once been treacherous, it still hears, "The rebellious and bad city," as if it had been a very πονηροπολις, a professed sanctuary of roguery (as the Jesuits say of Geneva), and as Florus saith of the temple at Jerusalem, that it was impiae gentis arcanum.

And have set up the walls thereof] This was no less false than scandalous. But malice careth not how true the accusation is, but how mischievous.

And joined the foundations] Chald. sewed together. Or, rather these false informers had sewed a lie together with great art, that it might seem a truth, #Ps 119:69. The proud have forged a lie against me, assuunt mendacium mendacio, they have taught their tongues to speak lies, #Jer 9:5, and are artists at it.

Ver. 13. Be it known now unto the king] q.d. This is no light business, but of greatest importance; and, therefore, fit to be noted and noticed.

Then will they not pay toll, tribute, &c.] This is an old device of the devil and his imps, to represent God’s people to the world as anti-magistratical, and disturbers of the public peace. Thus they dealt by the primitive Christians, who were the emperors’ best subjects, and yielded them greatest respect and profit. Thus Francis, king of France, pretended and professed to the princes of Germany, whose friendship he desired, that he pursued the Lutherans with fire and sword, for no other cause but for that they were levellers, and enemies to civil government. This drew from Calvin, who was then but twenty-five years of age, that golden book of his, Institutions of Christian Religion, to free the Reformed Churches of that slur and slander. The like was suggested by the Arminians in the Low Countries, and by the Episcopal party here. It was in Tacitus’s time, unum crimen eorum qui crimine vacabant, the only fault of such as were indeed without fault.

And so thou shalt endamage the revenue] Diminish the annual revenues of the crown, which are well called the king’s strength here, because if these fail little good can be done, either at home or abroad, Henry, king of Navarre (afterwards king of France), was wont to say, that he was a husband without a wife, a soldier without money, and a king without a kingdom. What would the king of Spain’s greatness soon come to were it not for his yearly incomes, his mines of America?

Ver. 14. Now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace] Chaldee, are salted with the salt of the palace, Salarium de regis palatio pereipimus, have our salary from the court, as Junius rendereth it. The great use of salt makes it here put for all kind of commodity; like as bread is called pants, as if it were το παν, the all and whole of our sustenance, #De 8:3.

And it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour] Chaldee, nakedness, privities, which uncovered, cause contempt, as it befell Noah in his drunkenness; and the king of Spain, when by Queen Elizabeth proclaimed bankrupt.

Therefore have we sent and certified the king] As knowing that Beneficium postulat officium, Bounty commands duty. Ingratitude is a monster in nature, a solecism in good manners, &c. Lycurgus would make no law against it, because he held that none could be so unreasonable as to be guilty of it. Yet Alphonsus complained of his ungrateful courtiers; and so did Frederick III, emperor of Germany. Queen Elizabeth also said, that in trust she had oft found treason. That traitor Parry had vowed her death, although he had been condemned for burglary, and saved by her pardon (Speed).

Ver. 15. In the book of the records] Chaldee, of the remembrances, that is, the chronicles usual in all kingdoms.

And know that this city is a rebellious city] {See Trapp on "Ezr 4:1"} {See Trapp on "Ezr 4:2"} Learn, that fidelity to governors is ever both safe and honourable. Zedekiah’s falsifying his oath to the king of Babylon, was the overthrow of that commonwealth. See what God himself saith, not without great indignation, #Eze 17:18, "Seeing he" (Zedekiah) "despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape."

Ver. 16. We certify the king] They doubt not of audience, while they sang a song of Utile, which therefore they thus set on with more confidence than charity.

Ver. 17. Peace, and at such a time] As the Latins saluting say, Ave, or Salve, the Greeks χαιρε, so the Hebrews and Syrians say, Shalom lach, that is, Peace be to thee (Hieron.). The Turks’ salutation at this day also is, Salaam aleek, the reply, Aleek Salaum, peace is a complexive blessing (Blount).

Ver. 18. Hath been plainly read before us] This in the general was commendable; but he should have reserved (as Alexander used to do) ους αδιαβλητον, one ear free, and have heard both parties.

Ver. 19. Hath made insurrection against kings] Chaldee, lift up itself against kings. Pride is painted with a triple crown on her head; upon the first whereof is written Transcendo; , I ascend; upon the second, Non obedio; , I disobey; upon the third, Perturbo. , I throw into confusion; Wat Tyler the rebel dared to say, that all the laws of England should come out of his mouth.

Ver. 20. Beyond the river] Euphrates, the boundary of Solomon’s empire, #1Ki 4:21,24, as it was also promised, #Ge 15:18 Ex 23:31 De 11:24 Jos 1:4.

Ver. 21. Give you now commandment] Chaldee, Make a decree; which yet did but carry on God’s decree; for while persecutors sit backward to his command, they row forwards to his decree.

Ver. 22. Take heed now that ye fail not] This was to spur a free horse; like as letters were sent from King Philip and Queen Mary to Bishop Bonner, complaining that heretics were not so reformed as they should be, and exhorting him to more diligence.

Why should damage grow] Take heed of that howsoever. Multi reges graviorem ducunt iacturam regionis, quam religionis, &c. (Bucholcer). Many kings consider it more serious to about to be thrown out of their kingdom than of their religion.

Ver. 23. They went up in haste] Perurgente diabolo, the devil driving them, and their own malicious dispositions egging them thereunto (Bern.). So, when Queen Mary lay a dying, Harpsfeild, arch-deacon of Canterbury, being at London, made all post-haste home to dispatch those martyrs whom he had then in his cruel custody (Acts and Mon. 1562). So ambitious are wicked men of hell, they take long strides, and mend their pace, as if they feared lest it should be taken up before they come thither.

Ver. 24. Then ceased the work of the house of God] And now the adversaries have got the ball on the foot, thinking to carry the game before them; but "the triumphing of the wicked is short," #Job 20:5, and that they prosper at all in their designs it is non ad exitium, sed ad exercitium Sanctorum, not for the ruin of the Church, but for the exercise of the faith and patience of God’s people.

Chapter 5

Ver. 1. Then the prophets] He that is now called a prophet was previously called a seer, #1Sa 9:9, because his eyes were enlightened, #Nu 24:3, and he saw visions of God, #Eze 1:1 Da 1:17, prophets they were afterwards called, that is, interpreters of God’s will by his command: #Ex 7:1, "Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet," that is, thine interpreter. By the mouth of these holy prophets God spake to his people in all ages, #Lu 1:70. Yet not without some intermissions of prophecy, as the Church complaineth, #Ps 74:9, till that Cathimath Chazon (as the Jews call it), the sealing up of prophecy, which they place between the prophet Malachi and John Baptist, who was more than a prophet. The original word, Nabi, signifieth one that, from the inward counsel of God, uttereth oracles.

Haggai the prophet] Who was not an angel incarnate, as Origen and Jerome held; but a young saint (as Epiphanius describeth him), and might therefore well be an old angel, if he lived to be old: Iuvenis admodum ex Babylone profectus est Hierosolymam, &c. An exceedingly young man left from Babylon for Jerusalem. (Epiph. lib. de Proph. Vit.). See more of him, #Hag 1:1. {See Trapp on "Hag 1:1"}

And Zechariah the son of Iddo] That is, of "Berechiah the son of Iddo," #Zec 1:1, {See Trapp on "Zec 1:1"} These two God sent within two months of each other, in the eighteenth year of the people’s return out of Babylon; which happened to be in the second year of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, in 520 BC. according to Ussher’s Chronology. Christ usually sent his prophets and apostles by couples, for mutual comfort, and greater confirmation.

Prophesied unto the Jews] Who had brought a judgment of sore famine upon themselves by their slackness and backwardness to rebuild the house of God, #Hag 1:4,6; {See Trapp on "Hag 1:4"} {See Trapp on "Hag 1:6"} and learn, of the heathen historian, to prefer God’s interest before thine own, or else to look for his curse, τα του Θεου πρεσβυτερα η τα των ανθρωπων (Herodot.). For he is a great King, and stands upon his seniority, #Mal 1:14; he will have us first to seek his kingdom, #Mt 6:33, and to give unto God the things that are God’s, or we shall hear of him, to our small comfort, #Mt 22:21.

In the name of the God of Israel] Who both authorized and enabled them. God sendeth none whom he gifteth not. The apostles also were ambassadors in the same name, #2Co 5:20, and so colleagues to the prophets, #Lu 10:16, see #1Pe 1:12; angels admiring the matter of their embassy, and their happy harmony.

Even unto them] Who yet were very little amended by their seventy years’ captivity. Afflictions (God’s hammers) had but beaten upon cold iron (as it were), as appears by this history, and by the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah; whom, for his labour and love to their souls, they afterwards slew between the temple and the altar, #Mt 23:35, serving him as Hercules did his tutor Linus, whom, for a few sharp words given him, he knocked on the head, Hoc ictu ceu didactro accepto Linus mortuus est (Buchol.). Or, as their ancestors did the prophet Isaiah, whom they sawed asunder (saith Jerome out of the Rabbis), because he had called them princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, #Isa 1:10. This is the world’s wages to faithful ministers.

Ver. 2. Then rose up Zerubbabel] Called before Sheshbazzar, the Tirshata. Philo calleth him Barachias. Men in those days had sundry names; which must be noted, or else confusion will not be avoided; according to the notation of Zerubbabel’s name, Alienus a confusione, ut quidam perhibent. It is said of him, that he brought back some of the people in the seventeenth year of his age; that he continued governor fifty-eight years (some say many more), and that he began to make use of the ministry of these prophets in the thirty-fourth year of his life. His rising up here implieth his forwardness, speed, and diligence in the work.

And Jeshua the son of Jozadak] Colleague to Zerubbabel and συμπαραστατης, as Aaron was to Moses. This Johoshua or Jeshua began his office of high priest in 536 BC, and held it thirty-six years, eight whereof were spent in an embassage to Darius, king of Persia, say historians.

And began to build the house of God] i. e. They went on with the building begun before, #Ezr 3:10, and not forbidden by the king of Persia to be finished; only he commanded them to desist from building the city, #Ezr 4:12,21. It was therefore the people’s sloth and self-seeking that kept back the work. See the notes on #Hag 1:2,4. {See Trapp on "Hag 1:2"} {See Trapp on "Hag 1:4"}

And with them were the prophets of God helping them] Verbo et opere, saith Junius; both by word and deed. "The words of the wise are as goads," #Ec 12:11, pricking men forward to duty; and especially when themselves set sides and shoulders to the work, as haply these prophets did, for the people’s greater encouragement, Exemplis sciola hac aetate magis aedificant ministri, quam concionibus.

Ver. 3. At the same time] So soon as ever they began but to build God’s house they meet with opposition; which is still Evangelii Genius, guardian spirit of the truth, saith Calvin, the bad angel that haunts the cause of God, and dogs it at the heels. Satan, out of his inveterate envy and enmity, can in no wise brook the propagation of the truth and dilatation of Christ’s curtains. No sooner is Israel out of Egypt, but Pharaoh pursueth them. No sooner had Hezekiah kept that solemn passover, but Sennacherib comes up against him. Esau began to jostle Jacob in the womb, that no time might be lost; and when he set his face homewards, Laban follows him with one troop, Esau meets him with another; both with hostile intentions. Dream not of a delicacy in God’s ways, but suffer hardship, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

And their companions] Cum collegio suo (Junius), a company of captives combined to do mischief. See #Ezr 4:9. {See Trapp on "Ezr 4:9"}

Who hath commanded you to build this house?] Their own houses they built, and were never once questioned. All the while our Saviour lay in his father’s shop, and meddled only with carpenter’s chips, the devil and his imps never troubled him; but when he was entering upon his ministry he is sharply assaulted in the wilderness. And when he took upon him to purge the temple, and better inform the people, presently the leaders came upon him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?" #Mt 21:23. Like unto these were the questions put by the Papists to those noble reformers, Luther, Zuinglius, &c. Farellus was at his first coming to Geneva more harshly handled, and by the bishop and his clerks thus accosted: Quid tu, diabole nequissime, ad hanc civitatem perturbandam accessisti? What a devil makest thou here to make this disturbance &c., and so was driven out of the city, where afterwards he wrought a glorious reformation (Scultet. Annal.).

Ver. 4. Then said we unto them] We (Tatnai, Shetherboznai, and their companions) thus said, and thus inquired; see #Ezr 5:16, and be sensible how wicked men conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, "and their belly prepareth deceit," #Job 15:35. Not their heads only are hammering it, but their bellies are hatching it; they take a kind of contemplative kind of pleasure in their wily projects, as the epicure doth in his dainties; he delights to be acting them over beforehand.

What are the names of the men] They that are minded to do mischief unto others will do what they can to know their names. I have heard of one (saith Master Fox) who being sent to the Christian congregation in Queen Mary’s days in London to take their names, and to espy their doings, yet in being among them was converted, and cried them all mercy (Acts and Mon. fol. 1881). Tremellius readeth this text otherwise. Then answered we them thus, and told them what were the names of the men who built this building. He means, as I conceive, We were not ashamed or afraid to make them around and ready answer; and to give them the names of our chieftains, Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai, Zechariah, &c. This was better than that of those cold friends to religion, #1Ki 18:11, who (when the prophet had said, If the Lord be God, follow him) held their peace, and thought it good policy to reserve themselves. Better also than that of the bondslaves of Antichrist, who receive his mark in their hand, the which they may, as occasion serveth, cover or discover, #Re 13:16. The servants of the God of heaven and earth (such as were these in this chapter, #Ezr 5:11) receive his mark in their foreheads, where it may be seen and read of all, #Re 7:3. The primitive Christians were called in derision Confitentes; and Chrysostom saith of them, that they would not be kept from visiting the martyrs in prison, tametsi multis terroribus, &c., though they were much threatened, and punished for so doing (Hom. de 2 Martyr.).

Ver. 5. But the eye of their God was upon the elders] Not the eye of his general providence only (which like unto a well drawn picture vieweth every one that cometh into a room), but the eye of his special grace and favour, #Ps 34:15. He looked upon them; as afterwards the Son of man stood and looked upon St Stephen combating with his cruel persecutors, and clapt him on the shoulders, as it were, saying, Cheer up, Vincenti dabo, &c., #Ac 7:56. They also looked up to him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed, #Ps 34:5. Yea, they were steeled, as it were, and made more mettleful; like as Moses and Micaiah, when they had once seen God in his favour, they cared not for the menaces of angry monarchs.

That they could not cause them to cease] Saints dare undertake and undergo anything for the glory of their God. The heavens shall sooner fall than I will go against my conscience, said that martyr. In nothing be terrified by your adversaries, #Php 1:28.

Till the matter came to Darius] Nor then neither; for he encouraged and furthered them, #Ezr 6:1-15

And then they returned answer] Or, Then answer was returned from the court, and the Jews had a sufficient authority for what they did.

Ver. 6. The Apharsachites] That is, Persians, sent as deputies by the king of Persia, to see the peace kept, and good orders observed.

Ver. 7. All peace] {See Trapp on "Ezr 4:17"} Peace is a complexive mercy— Pacem te poscimus omnes. It is well with bees when they make a noise in their hive; but with men when they are at quiet in their hearts, in their houses, and in the public.

Ver. 8. To the house of the great God] So they style him, because the Pews called and counted him so. The Lord your God, saith Moses, is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, &c., #De 10:17. He is Fortissimus Maximus, Most strong and most great. as Tremelius there renders it: yea, he is a degree above the superlative. Not only is God great, as here; greater, #Job 33:12; greatest, #Ps 95:3; but greatness itself, #Ps 145:3, and to him all other gods (whether deputed or reputed) are but deastri, deunculi, dii minorum gentium, petty deities, poor businesses.

Ver. 9. Who commanded you?] Chaldee, Who hath made you a decree? {See Trapp on "Ezr 5:3"}

Ver. 10. We asked their names also] See #Ezr 5:4.

That were the chief of them] For the rude multitude follow as they are led. And as in a beast, the whole body goeth after the head, so do most people after their rulers and ringleaders; hence that severity of God, #Nu 25:4, "Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun."

Ver. 11. We are the servants of the God of heaven] And in that respect, higher than all the kings on the earth, #Ps 89:27 (for all his servants are sons, heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ, #Ro 8:17), who have held it no small honour to be called his vassals. See how bold these brave men bear themselves upon this relation to the God of heaven and earth, and how courageously they stand to their work, and stout it out with their adversaries. {See Trapp on "Pr 28:1"}

These many years ago] Five hundred at least.

Ver. 12. But after that our fathers had provoked] Sin is the breeder of dissention that sets heaven and earth at odds, and hurleth confusion over the whole creation, #Isa 59:2 Nu 11:31. There were more remarkable expressions of God’s anger upon man’s sin in the dead body of a man than of a beast: one made unclean but till the evening; the other, for seven days.

He gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar] This is still the property of sin unpardoned, to raise the Posse comitatus, all the armies of God against the sinner.

Ver. 13. But in the first year of Cyrus] {See Trapp on "Ezr 1:1"}

Ver. 14. The temple of Babylon] For there also was a temple built for Bel. Faciunt et vespae favos: simiae imitantur homines. The devil will needs be God’s ape, and affects to be semblably worshipped.

Ver. 15. Take these vessels, go, carry them] Go thyself in person, and see that all things be well carried there. This pleased Zerubbabel well; it confined him to live in that element where he would live; as if one should be confined to paradise.

Ver. 16. Then came the same Sheshbazzar] All this is truly and fairly related (as was likewise that of Doeg to Saul, against Ahimelech), but with no good intent. Now to speak the truth not for any love to the truth, nor for respect to justice, nor for the bettering of the hearer or of the offender, but only to incense the one and prejudice the other, this is plain slandering.

And yet it is not finished] And all by reason of such ill conditioned persons as yourselves, who retarded it.

Ver. 17. Now, therefore, if it seem good] Verba byssina. Flaxen words.

Whether it be so] They supposed it was nothing so, and hoped that these Jews would he found falsaries, but it fell out far otherwise; like as St Paul’s persecutions at Rome fell out "rather unto the furtherance of the gospel" than else, #Php 1:12.

Chapter 6

Ver. 1. Then Darius the king] DARIUS HYSTASPES, who succeeded Cambyses, being chosen by the princes of the Persians, as saith Herodotus. Plato commendeth him for a restorer of the Persian monarchy, much defaced under Cambyses. Howbeit he discommends him for this, that he bred not his son Xerxes so well as he might have done, and further testifieth, that to him it might be said: O Darius, how little care hast thou taken to shun Cyrus’s slackness! for thou hast bred Xerxes every whit as ill as he did Cambyses, Ω Δαρειε ως του Κυρου κακον ουκ εμα- Θες..

In the house of the rolls] So called, because rolled up together, volumes rolled up, like the web upon the pin.

Ver. 2. And there was found at Achmetha] Or Ecbatana. This was occasioned by the malice of the Jews’ adversaries, and proved a great furtherance to the finishing of the temple. Sic canes lingunt ulcera Lazari. So dogs licked the sores of Lazarus. All things work together for good to them that love God, #Ro 8:28. Venenum aliquando pro remedio fuit, At length a poison will be for a medicine. saith Seneca.

Ver. 3. The height thereof threescore cubits] Yet was it less than Solomon’s temple, #Hag 2:3 Ezr 3:12. Solomon’s cubits therefore were longer (likely) than these here mentioned.

Ver. 4. Out of the king’s house] i.e. Out of the royal revenue in those parts, #Ezr 7:20. Herodotus testifieth that Cyrus and Darius (who married his daughter Atossa, and made him his pattern for imitation) were highly honoured among the Persians for their kingly munificence; God hath threatened that the nation and kingdom that will not serve the Church shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted, #Isa 60:12 Ezr 6:12.

Ver. 5. And also let the golden and silver vessels] This was decreed, and this was done accordingly, #Ezr 1:7,8. Let good resolutions be put in execution; purpose without performance is like a cloud without rain; and not unlike Hercules’s club in the tragedy, of a great bulk, but stuffed with moss and rubbish.

Ver. 6. Be ye far from thence] i.e. Come not at them, to hinder them at all. Thus, though the Church’s enemies bandy together and bend all their forces against her; yet are they bounded by Almighty God (who saith unto them, Be ye far from thence), as is the raging sea, #Jer 5:22. Surely, saith the psalmist, the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain, Heb. gird, that is, keep it within compass, as with a girdle. The Septuagint render it thus, The remnant of wrath shall keep holy day to thee, that is, it shall rest from working, or acting, how restless soever it be within.

Ver. 7. Let the work of this house of God alone] Meddle not, make no disturbance; this was doubtless a hard task to them, for their spirits were irked, as Moab, #Nu 22:3, and their fingers even itched at these builders. They sleep not, except they may do mischief, #Pr 4:16.

Ver. 8. Moreover I make a decree] So did some of the heathen emperors for the persecuted Christians, Charles V for the Lutherans (at the motion of Albertus, archbishop of Mentz, and Ludovicus, palatine of Rhine), and Henry III of France for the Protestants; which yet was but sorrily observed though sworn to. It is written by an Italian (no stranger to the court of Rome) that their proverb is, Mercatorum est, non regum stare iuramentis, that it is for merchants, and not for kings, to keep to their oaths.

Ver. 9. Of the God of heaven] Heathens have this notion by nature, that God is the God of heaven, and that there he is, as in his place; howbeit we must not conceive that God is commensurable by any place, since he filleth all places, and is everywhere all-present, totally present wheresoever present; but in heaven is his glory most manifested, and on earth is he alone to be worshipped.

Ver. 10. That they may pray for the life of the king] For God, at his pleasure, cutteth off the spirits of princes, #Ps 76:12, he crops them off with ease, as one would do a flower; slips them off, as one would do a bunch of grapes; as he dealt by Alexander the Great, Attila, that terror of the world, and King Henry II of France, who upon the marriage of his sister to the king of Spain, was so puffed up, that he called himself by a new title, Tres-heureuse Roy, the thrice happy king. But, to confute him, in solemnizing that marriage, he was slain at tilt, by the captain of his guard (though against his will, but not without God’s determinate counsel), in the very beginning of his supposed happiness. Death is the only king against whom there is no rising up. The mortal scythe is master of the royal sceptre, saith one, and it moweth down the lilies of the crown as well as the grass of the field; pray, therefore, for the life of the king, saith this king here; let the priests shout and say, Let the king live for ever, #Ne 2:3.

And of his sons] Some of whom had soon died, say some: he therefore calleth for prayers for the preservation of the rest.

Ver. 11. Let timber be pulled down from his house] 1. Let his house be pulled down for a penalty. The Popish Council of Toulouse called together against the Albigenses (those ancient Protestants) made this cruel constitution, We decree that that house, wherein is found a heretic, be pulled down to the ground. 2. Let that timber be set up for a gibbet, and let him be hanged thereon Chaldee, destroyed. Compare that of the apostle, #1Co 3:17, If any man destroy the temple of God (which temple ye are), him shall God destroy; and let those look to it who turn it into a den of thieves, into a brothel house, slaughter house, pest house of noisome lusts, qui podicem ex ore faciunt, by their unsavoury speeches, and spoil themselves worse than by tumbling in an out house.

Ver. 12. And the God that hath caused his name] i. e. His word and true worship, #Ac 9:15 Ps 138:2 Mic 4:5 1Ki 5:3,5.

Destroy all kings and people] A dreadful curse, and such as God saith Amen to. Let all persecutors and church robbers look to themselves. God’s hand hath ever been very heavy upon such and their posterity. See #Pr 20:25, with the note.

Let it be done with speed] It hath been too much retarded and delayed already; let it now be expedited. David made haste, and delayed not to keep God’s commandments, #Ps 119:60. And Austin crieth out, Nimis sere te amavi, Domine. Too late I loved you, God. It was a great burden to his good soul that he began no sooner to love God. He resolveth therefore to redeem time, and to redouble his diligence; not leaving till his soul was turned into a lump of love. Morus novissime omnium germinat; et tamen parit inter primas; the mulberry tree buds last, but fruits with the first.

Ver. 13. So they did speedily] This they did, because they durst do no otherwise; their obedience was wrung out of them, as sour juice is out of a crab, or as distilled water is forced out by the heat of the fire. Thus some perform duties, aud yet hate them; part with sins, and yet love them. Show the malefactor the rack, and he will say or do anything. This is to fear God for his lions, as those mongrels did, #2Ki 17:33,34, timore servili, non amicali, fearing slavery not God, which yet may addere alas, add to their strength, lest they fall under the lash, the correction of the law, for refusing the direction thereof (Beda).

Ver. 14. And Artaxerxes] This is Xerxes (called also Ahasuerus, husband of Esther), or, as some think, Artaxerxes Longimanus, the son of Xerxes by Esther; by whom the temple, finished before, might be much beautified, and, haply, enlarged also.

Ver. 15. And this house was finished] About fifteen years after that the foundation had been laid, or twenty at most. The Jews therefore either were out in their account, #Joh 2:20, Forty and six years was this temple in building; or else they meant it of Herod’s temple, which was long in building and beautifying, whereby he sought to ingratiate with the Jews, which yet he could never do.

Ver. 16. Kept the dedication…with joy] So they did at the dedication of the first temple, #2Ch 7:10. God had required all his worships to be celebrated with joy, #De 12:7, and made it a condition of an acceptable service, #De 26:14. Sacrifices offered with mourning were abomination, #Ho 9:4, yea, accursed by God, #De 28:47. What a general joy was there at Samaria when Christ first was preached and believed on among them, #Ac 8:8, when they first became God’s building, #1Co 3:9, a temple for God to dwell in and walk in, #2Co 6:16! The like was at Bern, at Geneva, at Zurich, when the reformed religion was first received among them. They caused (for joy thereof) the day and year to be engraven in a pillar in letters of gold, for a perpetual memory to all posterity. Like as at Heidelberg, A.D. 1617, on the first of November, they kept, for three days time, an evangelical Jubilee, for joy of the Reformation begun by Luther, a hundred years before (Vita Parei, operib, praefix.).

Ver. 17. An hundred bullocks, &c.] This little (in comparison of what was done at Solomon’s dedication, #1Ki 8:63) was highly accepted in heaven: as was likewise Noah’s sacrifice, which yet could not be great: because that after a great trial of affliction, "the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality," #2Co 8:2; which, saith Aristotle, is not to be measured by the worth of the gift, but by the will of the giver, Ου τω πληθει των διδομενων, αλλα τη του διδοντος εξει (Arist. Ethic. lib. 4). {See Trapp on "Ezr 2:6"}

Twelve he-goats] A fit creature for a sin offering, because nasty, unruly, &c.

According to the number of the tribes of Israel] All whom (wheresoever dispersed) they remember in their prayers; as we should likewise do all the Israel of God, in all places.

Ver. 18. For the service of God] According to that, #Ex 12:25, Ye shall keep this service, where the same word (Gnabhodah) is used that elsewhere serveth to set forth their servile service, their bondage in Egypt. God lets them know that they must serve still, though another master, and after another manner. So Christ calleth upon his, to take his yoke upon them: free though they be, yet they must not look to be yokeless, lawless, aweless, but to serve God with reverence and godly fear, #Heb 12:28.

As it is written in the book of Moses] Moses then was the penman of the Pentateuch, and not Ezra, as some have said; grounding upon that Apocryphal Esdras.

Ver. 19. And the children of the captivity] So the returned captives are called, first, to keep still afoot the remembrance of their late misery, lest they should despise the chastening of the Lord, #Heb 12:5. Secondly, to remind them of that signal mercy of their return to their own country. Hence doth the evangelist Matthew so oft mention their transportation to Babylon, and rings it in the ears of his ungrateful countrymen, #Mt 1:11,12,17.

Kept the passover] In remembrance, that the punishing angel passed over their ancestors in Egypt, #Ex 12:12-14, and for confirmation of their faith in Christ, the true paschal Lamb. Hast thou escaped a danger? offer a passover. Hath Christ delivered thee from the wrath to come? keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth #1Co 5:8.

Upon the fourteenth day of the first month] See #Ex 12:2, with the note.

Ver. 20. Were purified together] Misery had framed them to unanimity. See #2Ch 29:34.

All of them were pure] Ritually at least, if not really.

And killed the passover] i.e. The paschal lamb, whereof see #Ex 12 with the notes.

For all the children] {See Trapp on "Ezr 6:1"}

And for themselves] For they also were sinners, and needed a Saviour, #Heb 7:27. That Popish expositor was utterly out when, from #Ex 30:31,32, he will needs infer that priests, when once anointed with the holy oil, were thenceforth angels, spirits, not having human flesh, or infirmities.

Ver. 21. And the children of Israel] The whole community, of what tribe soever.

And all such as had separated themselves] Who were the better to like, because not prosperity proselytes, such as came in (not a few) in Solomon’s time; but the Jews were very careful how they received them, as Josephus relateth.

From the filthiness of the heathen] Who had filled the land from one end to the other with their uncleannesses, #Ezr 9:11. Great sins do greatly pollute.

To seek the Lord God of Israel] To seek not his omnipresence (for that none need to do, since he is not far from any one of us, #Ac 17:27), but his gracious presence. And such a seeker is every good soul: #Ps 24:6, This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, that is, Jacob.

Did eat] Edebant, id est, credebant, They were eating, it is, they were believing, for even Christ their passover was sacrificed for them, #1Co 5:7.

Ver. 22. And kept the feast of unleavened bread] See #1Co 7:8 Ex 12:35, with the notes.

Seven days] This began on the fifteenth day, and lasted till the one and twentieth day, #Nu 28:16,17 Ex 34:25.

With joy] {See Trapp on "Ezr 6:16"}

For the Lord had made them joyful] Given them cause of joy, and a heart enlarged accordingly, a mind right set for the purpose. St James’s word, ευθυμειν, #Jas 5:13, shows that all true mirth is from the rectitude of a man’s mind, which God only giveth.

And turned the heart of the king] It is he alone that gives favour, that frameth men’s opinions and affections, that maketh a good man’s enemies to be at peace with him.

To strengthen their hands] As #Ezr 6:8. And this did more ennoble him than all his warlike achievements.

Chapter 7

Ver. 1. Now after these things] After that Zerubbabel had done his part in building the altar and temple, Ezra (according to the notation of his name) began his, and became a singular helper of the afflicted Church of God, as appeareth in this chapter, and those that follow.

In the reign of Arlaxerxes] sc. Longimanus, Esther’s son, and the same that thirteen years after sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem, #Ne 2:1,11, while Ezra was yet alive, #Ne 8:1.

Ezra the son of Seraiah] That is, the grandson: for Seraiah was slain when Jerusalem was last taken, #2Ki 25:18,21.

Ver. 2. The son of Shallum] See #1Ch 6:7-10. Of those two Books of Chronicles this same Ezra is held to be the penman: and it is not improbable.

Ver. 3. The son of Meraioth] Here is a great leap: six of Ezra’s ancestors (likely for brevity sake) being overskipped.

Ver. 4. The son of Zerahiah, &c.] These might be (as one saith of Jesse the father of David) Viri boni et honesti, minus tamen clari, good men, but obscure.

Ver. 5. The son of Aaron the chief priest] Ezra then was ex genere pontificio (as those, #Ac 4:5) non tamen pontifex. The title of chief priest is never given unto him.

Ver. 6. This Ezra went up from Babylon] Together with many others, who were moved thereunto by his example and authority. He was (as one saith of Tiberius) imperio magnus, exemplo maior. Great men are looking glasses, according to which most men dress themselves; let them look to it, therefore, and shine as lamps.

And he was a ready scribe] Or a nimble textman: his office was to write out copies of the law, and to interpret it. He wrote (say some) the Hebrew Bible out in Chaldee letters (the same that we now call Hebrew, the ancient Hebrew characters remained with the Samaritans) for the use of his countrymen returned out of Chaldea. He first ordained (say others) the vowels, accents, and Masoreth. A great scholar he was, and excellently well seen in the learning of Scripture: to which all other skill is but straminea candela, a rush candle, a small light, that serveth but to light men into utter darkness. Be wise be learned, saith the Psalmist; but in addition serve the Lord with fear, kiss the Son, &c., #Ps 2:12 otherwise ye may be as learned as Varro, that general scholar; as Albertus Magnus, quem nihil penitus fugit, omnia perfecte novit, who knew whatsoever was knowable, as one saith of him or as Tostatus (otherwise called Abulensis), qui omnium scientiarum doctrinarumque arca fuit et emporium, saith Bonosius, that writes his life who was a living library; and yet ye may perish everlastingly. The Jews called their learned men Scribes, as the Persians did theirs Magi the French, Druids; the Indians, Brahmans &c. But he that is not a scribe instructed, and instructing others, to the kingdom of heaven #Mt 13:52, shall hear, "Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?" #1Co 1:20, Sapientes sapienter in infernum descendent The wise, wisely descend into hell. (Aug.).

Which the Lord God of Israel had given] The moral law, with his own immediate mouth (so that he might say with Joseph, #Ge 45:12, "Behold, your eyes see, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you"), the other laws he ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator, i.e. of Moses, #Ga 3:19. Hence Josephus calleth the Jewish polity a theocracy; and Prosper thinketh that they were called Judaei, because they received ius Dei, the Law from God. But we can give a better derivation from the Hebrew, viz. Jews, i.e. confessors, such as were those above, #Ezr 5:11.

And the king granted him all his request] Giving him more and greater things than he dared desire. So great facility and flexibleness found he in this king, that he needed only to ask, and give thanks; as it is said of Tiberius, that he never denied his favourite Sejanus anything; but often prevented his request, and avowed that be deserved much more.

According to the hand of the Lord his God upon him] i.e. His sweet and singular providence, ever watching over, and working for those that are good, #2Ch 19:11. Such may well sit and sing as one did once,

Una est in trepida mihi re medicina, Iehovae

Cor patrium, Os verax, omnipotensque Manus.

Ver. 7. And there went up some of the children of Israel] And but some; for many chose rather to continue in the land of their captivity, though God by his prophets, and the king by his proclamation, had cried out, "Ho, ho, come forth," &c. "Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon," #Zec 2:6,7; {See Trapp on "Zec 2:6"}{see Trapp on "Zec 2:7"}

And the Nethininms] {See Trapp on "Ezr 2:43"}

Ver. 8. And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month] So that they were four months in coming; and that which upheld them was, that they should shortly see the face of God in Zion, #Ps 84:7. Popish pilgrims, though they have many a weary step, and meet with much hardship, besides loss of their estates, yet satisfy themselves in this, We have what we came for, viz. the sight of some dumb idol. What then should not we do or suffer to see God in his ordinances, in holy assemblies!

Ver. 9. According to the good hand of his God upon him] {See Trapp on "Ezr 7:6"} In all thy ways acknowledge God, and he shall direct thy paths, #Pr 3:6. Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also upon him, and he shall bring it to pass, #Ps 37:5. Holy Ezra had experimented all this (as also had Eliezer, #Ge 24:56), and therefore ascribeth his good success to God’s good providence.

Ver. 10. For Ezra had prepared his heart] Which, without due preparation, would not have been drawn to any good. See #1Sa 7:3 Job 11:13 Am 4:12. An instrument must be tuned ere it can be played upon; sour wines need good sweetening.

To seek the law of the Lord] To dive into the very bosom and bottom of it. Qui nucleum vult, nucem frangat. The Rabbis have a saying, that there is a mountain of sense hanging upon every tittle of God’s law.

And to do it] His knowledge and practice ran parallel, and mutually transfused warmth into one another. He was not of those orators blamed by Diogenes, for that they studied bene dicere, non bene facere, to speak commendably, but not to live accordingly. He knew well that his forefathers (the high priests) had pomegranates for savour as well as bells for sound.

And to teach in Israel] He knew the truth of that Hebrew proverb, Lilmod Lelammed, Men must therefore learn, that they may teach others, and not bury their talents, lest the canker of their great skill prove a swift witness one day against them.

Ver. 11. Even a scribe of the words of the commandments] This showeth Ezra was not an ordinary scribe (called a scribe of the people), nor a public notary, or king’s secretary, such as were called for, #Es 3:13, but Scriba sacer, legis peritus, et interpres, a teacher of the words of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes to Israel. This is a high and honourable employment.

Ver. 12. Artaxerxes, king of kings] This is a very high style for any mortal wight; yet ambitiously assumed by monarchs and emperors. It is indeed the proper title of Jesus Christ, who hath upon his vesture and upon his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords; kings and captives, lords and lowlies, are all his underlings and vassals, as those good emperors, Constantine, Theodosius, and Valentinian usually called themselves (Socrates). This name of the Lord Christ is said to be written, 1. On his vesture, that all may see it and submit to it. 2. On his thigh, where hangs his sword, to show his absolute and unlimited empire, got out of the hands of his enemies with his sword and with his bow, #Ps 45:5. "By me king’s reign," saith he, #Pr 8:15. And Nebuchadnezzar is made to know as much, #Da 4:35, who once vain gloriously vaunted that his princes were altogether kings, #Isa 10:8. Maximilian, emperor of Germany, also said of himself, that he was a king of kings, but in another sense; for every one of my subjects (quoth he) will be a king; and say I what I can, they will do what they wish (Johan. Manl. loc. com. p. 586).

Of the God of heaven {See Trapp on "Ezr 5:11"}

Ver. 13. And of his priests] sc. The God of heaven’s priests, #Ezr 7:12, and therefore honoured and respected by this great monarch; so was Samuel by Saul, Jaddus by Alexander the Great; the Bards (anciently) here in Albion by the greatest commanders.

Which are minded of their own freewill] He would compel none; neither doth Almighty God. His people are all volunteers, #Ps 110:3 Isa 56:6; he finds them not so, but makes them so; and accounts that Virtus nolentium nulla est. Lex voluntaries quaerit The courage of the unwilling is nothing. The law seeks volunteers. (Ambrose in #Ps 1). God accepts a freewill offering, and commands us to come off roundly and readily in his service.

Ver. 14. And of his seven counsellors] Without whom the king did nothing of moment. This king was better affected to his council than his father Xerxes had been, of whom it is storied, that in his expedition against Greece he called his princes together, as if he would have been advised by them, but spoke to them to this purpose: Lest, saith he, I should seem to follow mine own counsel, I have assembled you. And now do you remember, that it becomes you rather to obey than advise. {Valerius Maximus, l. 9. c. 5. ext. 2. 2:339}

To inquire concerniny Judah] So St Paul sent to inquire what was yet lacking in the faith of the Churches.

According to the law of thy God] Which is not only recta, but regula, the rule and rudder. Those that walked by this rule Ezra was to cherish, and to punish such as did otherwise, being custos utriusque tabulae

Which is in thine hand] Which thou art singularly skilled in, and much exercised about it; that thou mayest both observe it thyself, and also preserve it from other men’s violations.

Ver. 15. Which the king and his counsellors have freely offered] This king, as he had been well bred by his mother, Queen Esther, so he had likely been well instructed by Ezra in the knowledge of the God of heaven (as he calleth him), whose service he thus promoteth. So Origen wrought much upon Alexander Severus the emperor, by his sound doctrine and holy conversation; but especially upon his mother, Mammaea, who became a great friend to the persecuted Christians.

Ver. 16. And all the silver and gold that thou canst find] And gold thirsty Babylon was not without great store of both, could the owners but find in their hearts to part with it to so pious a use: some did, and the rather because the king and his council began to them.

With the freewill offering of the people] God’s select people, of whom Moses singeth, "Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people!" #De 33:29.

Ver. 17. That thou mayest buy speedily] Illico. immediately, God is himself a pure act, and hateth dulness in duty. What thou doest, do quickly, said Christ, even to the very traitor that did seek and suck his blood.

Ver. 18. And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, &c.] The king knew them to be faithful and wise stewards (such as Hanani was, #Ne 7:2), and, therefore, leaveth much of the money to be bestowed as they pleased.

Ver. 19. The vessels also, &c.] How naturally seemeth this king to care for the service of God! and what pity is it that he should so oft call him your God, and thy God, and not own him for his! So hard a thing it is to relinquish that vain conversation that people have received by tradition from their fathers. I will never forsake the religion that I have received from my forefathers, said Cicero. And the monarch of Morocco told the English ambassador that he had lately read St Paul’s Epistles, and liked them so well, that were he now to choose his religion, he would, before any other, embrace Christianity. But every one ought, said he, to die in his own religion; and the leaving of the faith wherein he was born was the only thing that he disliked in that apostle.

Ver. 20. And whatsoever more, &c.] What could this king say more to seal up his good affection to the work in hand? Shall not this liberal heathen rise up in judgment and condemn such hold fasts among us, such miserly money hoarders, as have no quick silver, no current money for God or any good uses; but are, the richer the harder, as Dives?

Ver. 21. Let it be done speedily] Without shucking and bucking, without delays and consults: I, even I will have it so, saith the great king; dispute not, therefore, but despatch: Quod ego volo, pro canone sit, because I wish, let him be for the writing, as Constantius the emperor said to Paulinus, Lucifer, and other dissenting bishops.

Ver. 22. Unto an hundred talents of silver] This was no small sum. How chargeable was the service of God heretofore to what it is now! and yet how heavily do men come off when to expend though but a very small sum that way! Ad quid perditio haec? To what end is this waste? is the common cry in this case. Surely Pagans and Papagans who lavish money out of the bag without measure, dotantque Deos alienos (as some read that text, #Ps 16:3), shall have an easier judgment than such pinch penny professors.

Ver. 23. For why should there be wrath] Heb. Boiling or foaming anger, great indignation, as it is rendered, and made the utmost degree of the Divine displeasure, #De 29:28. Of all things God cannot endure to be slighted, and to have his service neglected; this blind nature saw, and was, therefore, sedulous herein to prevent wrath. Aristotle hath this divine precept, Πρωτα περι θειων επιμελει, Make religion thy first and chief care, that thou mayest prosper, &c. (Arist. Polit. l. 7. c. 8). Let our worship scorners look to it: Do they provoke the Lord to wrath? Are they stronger than he? Will they bring God’s vengeance upon us all?

Against the realm of the king and his sons] For God is higher than the highest, and will rain down indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doth evil, or that neglecteth to do good, #Ro 2:8,9; for not serving of God, not sacrificing, is a sin, #Mal 3:18 Ec 9:2. And sin doth as naturally draw and suck judgments to it, both personal and public, as the lodestone doth iron, or turpentine fire.

Ver. 24. And also we certify you, that touching any of the priests] These he taketh special order for, that they be freed from public payments; and the like care was taken by our ancestors for the ministers of the Church of England, as appeareth by Magna Charta, chpat. 14. Their maintenance is of the law of nature, #Ge 47:22. Jezebel provided for her priests; idolatrous Micah for his Levite; the Papists for their shavelings, granting them many and great immunities, and being so free to them, that there was need of a statute of Mortmain providing that men should give no more to the Church. But tempera mutantur, & c. Seasons be changed.

Ver. 25. And thou, Ezra] Qui monet ut facias, who warned you to do this, &c.

After the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand] That is, in thine heart and life, Sapientia est vel codicibus vel cordibus. Wisdom is either from the books or the heart. Ezra had both these, being a thorough wise man.

All such as know the laws of thy God] Else how shall they see them duly executed? How shall they be as so many living laws, walking statuted? How shall they teach in the cities of Judah, as Jehoshaphat’s judges did, #2Ch 17:7,9, and as it followeth here, "And teach ye them that know them not"; how can the people perform their duty, which they are ignorant of?

Ver. 26. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God] In the first place, and then the king’s law, as it is subordinate and subservient to God’s. Obediemus Atridis honesta mandantibus, non aliter, saith he in Euripides (in Iphigenia), If the king command honest things, we will obey him; otherwise not.

Let judgment be executed speedily upon him] Let this be noted against those that hold that magistrates have nothing to do with men in matters of religion. Artaxerxes here interposed, and Ezra blesseth God for it. See #Da 3:29 De 13:6 Ro 13:4 1Pe 2:13,14.

Ver. 27. Blessed be the Lord God] Deo gratias to the God of graces, is ever in a good man’s mouth. The Jews at this day are bound to say a hundred benedictions every day; and more as occasion requires (Leo Modena).

Ver. 28. And hath extended mercy unto me] sc. By making use of my service for the promoting of his. Any employment about God is a high preferment, and so to be esteemed; yea, it is a mercy, and sealeth up further mercy.

Chapter 8

Ver. 1. These are now the chief of their fathers] The chieftains of those that went up with Ezra, beside those that went up at first with Zerubbabel.

Ver. 2. Of the sons of Phinehas] The son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, that renowned zealot, with whom, and his seed after him, God gave a covenant of peace, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, #Nu 25:12,13.

Daniel] Not the prophet Daniel, God’s darling, #Da 9:23, but another of the same name, which might be some help to him.

Of the sons of David] sc. Of David the king. See #1Ch 3:22.

Ver. 3. Of the males an hundred and fifty] Great account was made of males under the law, more than of the females; and so there is to this day among the Jews, who hold women to be of a lower creation, made only for the propagation and pleasure of man, &c. (Blount’s Voyage). This their conceit is their folly, yet their posterity approve their sayings. He did better who styled woman the second edition of the epitome of the whole world. Sure it is, that souls have no sexes; and in Christ there is no respect had more to the male than female, #Ga 3:28.

Ver. 4. Of the sons of Pahathmoab] Haply so called, because some of his progenitors had dwelt in Moab. He was a covenanter, #Ne 10:14.

Ver. 5. The son of Jahaziel] The father is named, but not the son: but why, who can tell? Et patet et lucet pagina sacra. He is both well know and conspicuous by the sacred page.

Ver. 6. Of the sons also of Adin] A covenanter too, #Ne 10:6.

Ver. 7. Jeshaiah] Of the same name, but not the same man that is mentioned, #Ezr 8:19.

Ver. 8. The son of Michael] A name afterwards given to Jesus Christ, #Da 10:13 Re 12:7, signifying, Who is as God. Hence some conceive that it is not so fit to call a child Michael, Emmanuel, &c.

Ver. 9. Obadiah the son of Jehiel] This Obadiah (as also Zechariah, #Ezr 8:11, and Azgad, #Ezr 8:12) sealed the covenant, #Ne 10:1,5, not without oath and execration. It is both lawful, and in some cases needful, for good people solemnly to bind themselves to bounden duties. Hereby, saith a grave divine, as true intention, earnest desire, prudent jealousy, and holy zeal are manifested, so is a dull spirit much quickened, and the weak, wayward, revolting flesh bridled and curbed; yea, and bound to her good behaviour.

Ver. 10. The son of Josiphiah] See #Ezr 8:5.

Ver. 11. Zechariah the son of Bebai] See #Ezr 8:9.

Ver. 12. And the sons of Azgad] See #Ezr 8:9.

Ver. 13. And of the sons of Adonikam] Some of his sons went up before with Zerubbabel, #Ezr 2:13. These not till now, together with Ezra. They might want either age or hearts to go at first with their brethren, E posteris posterioribus (Tremell.). Second thoughts are best many times; and Nunquam sero, si serio. Never sorry if cultivated. That son, in the Gospel, who, being bidden go work to-day in the vineyard, answered and said, I will not, but afterwards repented and went, wanted not his commendation, #Mt 21:29. A learned man notes thus upon this text: The lot of Adonikam was below his brethren, because he was the last that set foot forward toward their return.

Ver. 14. And with them seventy males] The whole company consisted of one thousand four hundred ninety and six males: a good addition to those that went up before with Zerubbabel; yet nothing so many as might have been, but that they wanted hearts.

Rari quippe boni, numero vix sunt totidem, quot

Thebarum portae, vel divitis ostia Nili (Juvenal, Sat. 13).

Ver. 15. And I gathered them together to the river] There was their first rendezvous, at the meeting of two rivers; whereof that country was full, #Ps 137:1, and therefore fertile as the garden of the Lord, whereof it was a part, as most geographers are of opinion.

And there abode we in tents] Glad we had our faces set toward Zion (going weeping, &c., #Jer 50:4,5), and our backs upon Babylon; of which we might well say, as the philosopher afterwards did of Athens, that it was a pleasant place to travel through, but not safe to dwell in.

And found there none of the sons of Levi] None but what he afterwards sent for, no volunteers; this was lamentable, that Levites should be so backward to so good a business. Here was nomen inane, crimen immane. missing name, enormous crime.

Ver. 16. Men of understanding] Of special note for their wisdom and eloquence; such as could present to the people good matter well habited, and could well express their expositions of the law, being themselves wise, and willing to wise others, as the Hebrew word signifieth, #Da 12:3. Men of understanding, and ready to instruct many, #Da 11:33. Such a man as this is worth his weight in gold,

Ver. 17. At the place Casiphia] Where it may seem that there was a college of Levites, and Iddo was their president.

And to his brethren the Nethinims] Who were now become men of mark, brethren to Iddo, and much sought for by Ezra, #Ezr 2:43, for the service they did about God’s house.

Ver. 18. And by the good hand of God upon us] God was in all this good man’s thoughts: he set upon every passage, as the ancients upon every special piece of work they did, Θεος, Θεος (Pausanias). This was the only way to make his journey comfortable, thus to converse with God all along, et Paradisum mente deambulare, and let your mind walk in paradise, as Jerome counselled the young hermit, assuring him that so long as he had paradise in his mind, and God in his apprehensions, tamdiu in eremo non esset, so long he should not be in a desert.

They brought us a man of understanding] The Hebrew word Shacal signifieth three things: 1. To understand. 2. To instruct. 3. To prosper. Those that understand themselves, and teach others, shall do much good to themselves and others; see the note on #Ezr 8:16. This egregie cordatus homo exceptional sweet hearted man, was Sherebiah, as it followeth here, and Sherebiah, or, even Sherebiah; confer #Ne 8:7 9:4,5.

Ver. 19. And Hashabiah] A man ready to every good work, #Ne 3:17 10:11; and that is no small commendation.

Ver. 20. Whom David and the princes had appointed] i.e. Continued, confirmed, and ordered them; for they were first appointed and designed to that service by Joshua; and thence called Nethinims.

All of them were expressed by name] Verbis non solum disertis, sed et exsertis. Words not only skilfully expressed, but even uncovered.

Ver. 21. Then I proclaimed a fast there] A day of restraint from food, fine clothes, and other delights of life. There is a threefold fast, saith one, from meat, from mirth, and from sin; this last crowns all. Unless God sees turning, he sees no work in a fast, saith another, explaining that text, #Jon 3:10, "God saw their works, that they turned." Of a fast, See Trapp on "Joe 2:12".

That we might afflict ourselves before our God] Not outwardly only (that is but the shell, #Isa 58:3), but inwardly also, for that is the kernel of this exercise, #Jer 16:19, which else is but bodily, and profiteth little; something it may, as it did Ahab; but if rightly performed, though it weakeneth the body, yet it strengtheneth the spirit, making it vigorous and victorious.

To seek of him a right way for us] To edge our prayers and give wings to them; for fasting inflameth prayer, and prayer sanctifieth fasting; hence they go coupled for the most part, #Lu 2:37 Mt 17:21 1Co 7:5. And surely, if with fasting and prayer we can seek of God direction and protection, as here, we shall speed of both.

And for our little ones] These should be a main part of our care, to lay up prayers for them, to commend them to God’s safe keeping, forasmuch as puerilitas est periculorum pelagus, Little ones are liable to a thousand deaths and dangers.

And for all our substance] Our stock and our store, all the goods that we have got and gathered together. Our English word Riches answereth to the Hebrew Recush.

Ver. 22. For I was ashamed] Heb. I blushed and was abashed, I knew not how to put on the face to do it, neither could I bring my mind to crave a convoy, though it might have been of great use to us; lest the name of God should thereby be dishonoured, and his excellencies questioned. It is the ingenuity of saints to study God’s ends more than their own, and to be far more troubled when anything crosseth him than when themselves are crossed or disappointed. Propter te, Domine, propter te, Because of you, God, becuase of you, is the good man’s motto. Choice and excellent spirits are all for God, whatever becometh of themselves.

Because we had spoken unto the king, saying] They had spoken good of God’s name, and amply set forth his power, providence, goodness, and other attributes, being no whit ashamed so to do before kings, as #Ps 119:46: so did Chrysostom, Basil, Latimer, Lambert, John Colet, Dean of Paul’s, and founder of the free school there. He, for the bold and faithful discharge of his duty, in a sermon before Henry VIII, at the siege of Tournay, was called to his trial by the king’s counsellors; but the issue proved happy; for he gave so great content to the king, that he, taking a cup of wine, said, Dean, I drink to you; let every one take whom he will for his confessor, you shall be my doctor (Mr Clark in his Life). Holy Ezra found no less favour with this mighty monarch, whom he had well informed in the manifold excellencies of God, as appeareth by this and sundry other preceding passages.

The hand of our God is upon all them, &c.] To hide them in the hollow of it till the indignation be overpast; to hold them by their right hand, and so to guide them by his counsel, that he may afterwards take them to his glory, #Ps 73:23,24.

But his power and his wrath] Id est, His powerful wrath, his anger armed with power, for vanae sine viribus irae; but who knoweth the power of thine anger, saith Moses? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath, #Ps 90:11. Let him fear thee never so much, he is sure to feel thee more, if once he fall into thy fingers, into that mighty hand of thine (as St James styleth it, #Jas 4:10), before which ten thousand kings cannot stand. Let God forsakers therefore do as those elders of Israel did, #2Ki 10:3-5.

Is against all them that forsake him] Such are all they, 1. That forsake not their sins, #Job 20:17 Isa 55:7. 2. That know not God, #Isa 1:3,4 Eph 4:18. 3. That trust to idols, or creature comforts, arm of flesh, #1Ki 9:9 Jos 24:20 Jer 2:13. 4. Church-forsakers, and apostates, #Heb 10:25,38. God is against all these, and will consume them, after that he hath done them good, #Jos 24:20 Ps 73:27 1Ch 28:9 Jon 2:8 Jer 17:13 De 31:16 2Ch 12:5 15:2 24:20.

Ver. 23. So we fasted] They put their holy resolution into execution: purpose without practice is like Rachel, beautiful, but barren.

And besought our God for this] And they had it, #Ezr 8:31. For fasting and prayer are like Jonathan’s bow and Saul’s sword, that never turned back or returned empty, #2Sa 1:22. God is a liberal rewarder of all such as in this sort diligently seek him, #Heb 11:6 2Ch 15:2. he will turn their fasting into feasting, their prayers into praises, #Eze 36:37 Zec 8:19. They shall have out their prayers either in money or money’s worth; either in the very thing they desired, or at least strength to stay themselves upon God, with good assurance that his grace shall be sufficient for them, and that he will be their shield, and their exceeding great reward.

Ver. 24. Then I separated twelve] I singled them and set them apart for this great trust, vide cui fidas. See the faith of these.

Sherebiah, Hashabiah] Heb. With Sherebiah, Hashabiah (men of known integrity, #Ezr 8:18,19),

and ten of their brethren with them] twenty-four in all, a complete company of faithful trustees.

Ver. 25. And weighed unto them] Heb. I scaled it out unto them; Cyrus counted it out to Zerubbabel, #Ezr 1:1,9, &c.

And his lords] Called mighty princes, #Ezr 7:28; see #Isa 10:8.

And all Israel there present] Heb. There found at that time, or that had found in their purses, found in their hearts.

Ver. 26. Six hundred and fifty talents of silver] That is, 243,750 pounds sterling.

An hundred talents] That is, 37,500 pounds sterling.

Ver. 27. Of a thousand drachms] 312 pounds 10 shillings. The Hebrew (or rather Chaldee) word here rendered a drachm seems to be taken from the Greek word Δραχμη.

And two vessels of fine copper] Ex orichalco praestante, Of some choice mixed metal, Auro contra non caro. Overlaid with gold without no dross.

Ver. 28. We are holy unto the Lord] Heb. Ye are holiness unto the Lord; and must sanctify the holy God in righteousness, #Isa 5:16.

The vessels are holy also] Id est, That is, Set apart to sacred uses, and therefore to be kept carefully, used respectfully. The Turks spare and keep better than ordinary those very asses of theirs that have been used for carriage to Mecca, where their Mahomet lieth buried; neither will they put paper to any base use, because that both the name of God and the Mahometan law are written upon the like.

Ver. 29. Watch ye] With utmost care and solicitude, as the word signifieth. How much more should we watch and treble watch, {as #Lu 12:37,38,43} to keep our vessels (bodies) in sanctification and honour, not in the lust of concupiscence, &c.! especially since Adversus maiora vigilantibus quaedam incautis minutiora surrepant, and Satan worketh strongest on the fancy when the soul is sleepy, or a little drowsy (Aug.). Watch ye therefore and keep. This lesson had need to be often rung in our ears.

Ver. 30. So took the priests and the Levites] The great charge committed to them, and laid upon them, did not weaken, but waken, their heroic spirits.

Tu ne crede malis, sed contra audentior ito.

Ver. 31. And of such as lay in wait by the way] Enemies they had not a few, (when was it otherwise?) but some that purposely waylaid them; but were defeated by a gracious providence. So were the Manichees, who lay in wait for Austin; and those that pursued Jewel, about the beginning of Queen Mary’s reign, as he was going from Oxford to London. Both these had been caught, and made a prey to their enemies, but that they lost their way. What saith the prophet? As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem (like as when the young are in danger of the kite, the bird flies to save them); defending also, he will deliver it, and passing over, he will preserve it.

Ver. 32. And abode there three days] For necessary refreshment, after so long a journey. The body is the soul’s servant, and must therefore be kindly and fairly dealt with, ut sit par negotio, that it may be neither above nor below its business; but even with it, meet for it, Corpus sive corpor, quasi cordis por, id est, puer, sive famulus.

Ver. 33. Now on the fourth day] viz. Of their fifth month. After a short repose, they set close to work. To recreations God allows men to stoop for their bodies’ sake, as the eagle to the prey; or as Gideon’s soldiers to sup their handful, not to swill their belly full.

Ver. 34. By number and by weight, &c.] In reference to this text, let thy confession be full, saith a reverend man; bring out thy sins as those in Ezra did the vessels of the temple, by number and by weight. 1. By number, #Le 16:21. Aaron was to confess over the scape-goat all the iniquities of the children of Israel 2. By weight he was to confess all their transgressions in all their sins; that is, laying open how many transgressions were wrapped up in their various sins and their circumstances.

Ver. 35. Also the children of those that had been] In token of presenting their bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God their deliverer, #Ro 12:1. Let us that are freed from sin’s slavery become the servants of righteousness, #Ro 6:18; and being delivered from the hands of our enemies, serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives, #Lu 1:74,75.

Ver. 36. And they furthered the people] Heb. They gave them a lift, lent them a helping hand; not out of love to the work, but for fear of the king, and in pursuance of his commands and commissions. Thus the devil and his imps sometimes do God’s will, though with an ill will, #Ps 109:31. They continue this day according to thine ordinances; for all are thy servants. How much better were it to work from a right principle, not by constraint, but willingly; not for fear of wrath, but of a ready mind, #1Pe 5:2; to love to be God’s servants, taking hold of his covenant, #Isa 56:6, and saying to him, as the people did to Joshua, #Jos 1:16, or as the rulers and elders to Jehu, #2Ki 10:5, "We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us."

Chapter 9

Ver. 1. Now when these things were done] Here are post maxima gaudia luctus, Heaven’s joys are without measure or mixture; but this present life is overspread with sins and miseries, as with a filthy morphew. Of good Ezra, we may say as Pliny doth of Metellus, Metellus infelix dici non debet, felix non potest, Unhappy we may not call him, happy we cannot; witness the doleful discourse of this chapter.

The princes came to me] The better sort of them, that were sensible of the abuses, crept in, and desired a reformation. For some of the princes also and rulers had their hands elbow deep in the wickedness complained of, #Ezr 9:2.

The people of Israel] The many, the common sort, that shallow-brained but many headed beast, that loves to follow the herd and do as the most do, though thereby they be utterly undone for ever.

And the priests, and the Levites] This was much; for these knew the law, and made their boast of it, #Ro 2:18,23. They could not be ignorant of the unlawfulness of this mixing themselves in marriage with heathens not proselyted. Now sins against knowledge and conscience are of a double dye, of a crimson colour; and make a great breach, a deep gash in a man’s spirit, #Isa 59:11,12. What was it that brought such roarings and troubles on them, and that when salvation was looked for? Our iniquities testify to our faces, and we know them.

Have not separated themselves] The separation of the saints from the wicked is a wonderful separation, #Ex 33:16, such as was that of light from darkness in the creation. God hath brought them out of darkness into his marvellous light, #1Pe 2:9. Why then should they be unequally yoked together with unbelievers? what communion hath light with darkness? &c., #2Co 6:14.

Doing according to their abominations] How should they choose but do so when so matched and married? What is the reason the pope will not dispense in Spain or Italy, if a Papist marry a Protestant? yet here they will, but in hope thereby to draw more to them. The brown bread in the oven will be sure to fleece from the white; not that from it. So in married couples: seldom is the worse bettered by the good, but the contrary. See #Ne 13:26.

Ver. 2. For they have taken of their daughters] Taken them for wives: which was flatly forbidden, #De 7:3, and a reason given, #Ezr 9:4, from the evil effect of such unblest marriages. This abuse Malachi complaineth of, #Mal 2:11,13, whom some make to be the same man with Ezra.

For themselves, and for their sons] Whom they herein helped to a cold armful (as Lycephron calleth a bad wife, ψυχρον παραγκαλισμα), or rather to an unnatural heat, worse than that of a quartan ague, as said Simonides; as bad as that of an evil spirit, said another heathen.

So that the holy seed] i.e. The children of Israel, who were all federally holy at least, #De 7:6, as are also all the children of Christian parents, #1Co 7:14.

Hath been chief in this trespass] Which they think audaciously to bear out with their big looks, to obtrude and justify to the world this most malapert misdemeanour, because it is facinus maioris abollae, the fact of a great one (Juvenal).

Ver. 3. I rent my garment and my mantle] In token of his deep and downright humiliation, indignation, detestation of their dealing therein.

And plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard] To show how passionately grieved and offended he was. The raging Turk did the like at the last assault of Scodra; being extremely vexed at the dishonour and loss he had received there. But what followed? In his choler and frantic rage he most horribly blasphemed God; whereas holy Ezra, though he sat astonied till the evening sacrifice, yet then he poureth forth his soul in a heavenly prayer, #Ezr 9:5,6.

And sat down astonied] As one that hath neither life nor soul (as we say), that can neither say nor do for himself, being wonderfully amazed, astonished, or desolate, as David had been, #Ps 143:4. The true zealot, as his love is fervent, his desires eager, his delights ravishing, his hopes longing; so his hatred is deadly, his anger fierce, his grief deep, his fear terrible, &c. Zeal is an extreme heat of all the affections, #Ro 12:11, boiling hot, hissing hot, as the Greek importeth (ζεοντες).

Ver. 4. Then were assembled unto me] It was soon noised and noticed among the godly party how exceedingly Ezra was troubled; they therefore trouble themselves, as our Saviour is said to have done, #Joh 11:33, and as Paul felt twinges when others were hurt. "Who is offended," saith he, "and I burn not?" #2Co 11:29. Sheep, when frighted, will get together; swine, when lugged, will grunt together. What should saints do (in case of national sins or judgments) but assemble and tremble together, as here; but vow and perform reformation to the Lord their God, as in the next chapter.

Every one that trembled at the words] At the judgments of God whilst they yet hang in the threatenings. To such looketh the Lord with special intimations of his love, #Isa 66:2. When as those that tremble not in hearing shall be crushed to pieces in feeling, said Mr Bradford the martyr.

That had been carried away] But had not learned by the things that they had suffered, were as bad as before, if not worse, having lost the fruit of their afflictions, παθηματα μαθηματα. This is fearful; a bad sign of an incorrigible castaway, #Jer 6:30.

Until the evening sacrifice] This time of the day good people usually took to pray at; that, together with the sacrifice, their prayers might come up for a memorial before God in those pillars of smoke, #So 3:6 Ac 10:4. See #Lu 1:10 Ac 3:11.

Ver. 5. I arose up from my heaviness] In affliction, sc. of spirit, wherewith his heart was leavened and soured, as David’s was, #Ps 73:21; embittered, as Peter’s, #Mt 26:75; poured out upon him, as Job’s, #Job 30:16. He did really afflict himself with voluntary sorrows for the transgressions of his people.

And having rent, &c.] See #Ezr 9:3.

I fell upon my knees] This gesture did both evidence and increase the ardency of his affection.

And spread out my hands] With the palms open toward heaven, in a having, craving way, as beggars. This was the Jewish manner of praying, and it was very becoming.

Ver. 6. And said, O my God] This was a prayer of faith, and founded upon the covenant, that beehive of heavenly honey, as one well calleth it.

I am ashamed and blush] Sin is a blushful thing, and hales shame at the heels of it, #Re 3:17. Therefore when a man hath committed a sin, he blusheth; the blood, as it were, would cover the sin. But he is past grace that is past shame, and can blush no more than a sackbut, Illum ego periisse dico cui periit pudor (Sallust).

For our iniquities] He maketh himself a party, because he was one of the same community with them that had done that evil. He also knew himself to have a hand, if not upon the great cart ropes, set upon the lesser cords that might draw down divine vengeance upon the land. Hence he includeth himself after the example of Daniel, #Da 9:5.

Are increased over our head] As an overwhelming flood, #Ps 38:4. That threateneth to go over our souls too, #Ps 124:4, and to sink them in the bottomless lake, that lower most part of hell imported by that ה locale (as Hebricians note), #Ps 9:17. {Hebrew Text Note}

And our trespass is grown up unto the heavens] So great is our guilt, that it is gotten as high as heaven, that is, as high as may be. For beyond the moveable heavens, Aristotle (nature’s best secretary) saith there is neither body, nor time, nor place, nor vacuum. See #Re 18:5. {See Trapp on "Re 18:5"} Man’s sin defileth even the very visible heavens; which must therefore be purged with the fire of the last day. Yea, it pierceth into the heaven of heavens, and maketh a loud outcry in God’s ears for vengeance, #Ge 4:10 18:20.

Ver. 7. Since the days of our fathers] Confession with aggravation is that happy spunge that wipeth out all the blots and blurs of our lives; for, if we confess our sins, and therein lay load enough upon ourselves, as Ezra here, and Daniel doth, #Da 9:5 (mark how full in the mouth these good men are, out of the abundant hatred of sin in their hearts), "God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins," &c., #1Jo 1:9. But in confession we must not extenuate or excuse; every sin must swell as a toad in our eyes, and we must spit it out of our mouths with utmost indignation; showing the Lord the iniquity of our sin, the filthiness of our lewdness, the abomination of our provocations, #Ro 7:13. Thus if we weigh our sins in a true balance, and put in so many weights as to bring to a just humiliation, to a godly sorrow; then it will prove a right apology, the same that the apostle maketh a fruit and sign of sound repentance, #2Co 7:11, quae magis deprecatione constat, quam depulsione criminum, such an apology as consisteth rather in deprecating than defending (Chemnit. Exam.).

Have we been in a great trespass unto this day] And so there hath been a concatenation, a continued series of our sins from one generation to another. We are a race of rebels, a seed of serpents, &c.

And for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests] Our national sins have produced national plagues; which yet we have not improved to a public or personal reformation. Many hands have drawn the cable with greatest violence; the leprosy hath overrun the whole body; there is (as physicians say of some diseases) corruptio totius substantiae, a general defection, a conjuncture of all persons, in all sins and miseries, which, like clouds, cluster together, and no clearing up by repentance.

And to confusion of face] So that we are a scorn to our enemies and a terror to ourselves; in a low and lamentable condition.

Ver. 8. And now for a little space] Heb. point, or moment of time. God let loose his hand for a while, and gave them some little liberty, to make them instances of his mercy who had been objects of his wrath; but nothing would mend them and make them better.

And to give us a nail] That is, some settlement, some subject of hope, and support of faith. He seemeth to allude to such nails as wherewith they fastened their tents to the ground (Jael drove one of those tent nails through Sisera’s temples, and laid him safe enough), or else to those nails that, driven into pales, do fasten them to their rails.

That our God may lighten our eyes] i.e. cheer up our hearts, and so clear up our eyesight; which, when the spirit is dejected, grows dim, for want of spirits. Profecto oculis animus inhabitat, saith Pliny (lib. ii. cap. 32); truly so it is, that the heart dwelleth in the eye; there it sitteth and showeth itself pleased or displeased with whatsoever occurrences. And as a looking-glass is the eye of art; so is the eye the looking-glass of nature.

And give us a little reviving in our bondage] Not light only, but heat also, by the beams of his pleased countenance, which is better than life. The life of some kind of creatures is merely in the sun; in winter they lie for dead; in summer they revive. So it is with the saints; all their comfort consists in God’s grace and favour. They look unto him and are lightened, #Ps 34:5; he hideth his face, and they are troubled; their breath is taken away, they die and return to their dust, #Ps 104:29. These captives in Babylon lay for that time as dead and buried, #Isa 26:19. God opened their graves, and caused them to come up out of their graves, and brought them to the land of Israel, #Eze 37:13. For his favour is no empty favour; it is not like the winter sun, that casts a goodly countenance when it shineth, but gives little comfort and heat. He is the Father of lights, and the God of all grace and consolation, &c., he gives all things needful to life and godliness, so that to have sinned against so good a God, to kick against such tender bowels, was a further aggravation of their sin; and so it is here used and urged.

Ver. 9. For we were bondmen] Heb. servants; and so wholly and only at the pleasure of another; for a servant is not αυτοματος, saith Aristotle, one that moveth absolutely of himself; but he is the master’s underling and instrument, και ολως εκεινου, wholly at his disposal. The saints may say all as much, We were bondmen, slaves to sin, drudges to the devil, driven about by him at his pleasure, having as many lords as lusts, #Tit 3:3, and thereby exposed to a thousand mischiefs and miseries; the heathens’ Pistrinum, the Turk’s galleys, Bajazet’s iron cage, the Indian mines, are nothing to it. This we should frequently recognize; and remembering that our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but brought us from darkness to light, "and from the power of Satan unto God, that we might receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified," #Ac 26:18; we should blush and bleed in the sense of our unthankfulness, saying, as #Ezr 9:14, Should we again break thy commandments, &c.

Yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage] As he may seem to do his prisoners of hope, when he leaves them in the enemy’s hand, or under some pressing affliction, and seems to forget them, that they may the better remember themselves. But God had remembered these returned captives "in their low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever." And had "redeemed them from their enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever," #Ps 136:23,24. Their sin therefore was the greater, since against so much mercy; and God might justly have said unto them, as #Eze 22:20, "I will gather you in my anger and in my fury, and will leave you there." A grievous judgment indeed! for woe be unto you when I forsake you, #Ho 9:12. Lord, leave us not, #Jer 17:17. Forsake us not utterly, #Ps 119:8.

To give us a reviving] See #Ezr 9:8.

To set up the house of our God, and to repair, &c.] He reciteth and celebrateth God’s favours to that people, not in the lump only and by wholesale, as we say; but entereth into particulars, and reckoneth them up one by one. So doth Moses, #Ex 18:8. So doth David, #Ps 136 So must we, that we may shame and shent ourselves, as here, for our unthankfulness: and be inrited and incited thereby to better obedience. God, for this cause, crumbleth his mercies unto us (saith one): we have his blessings by retail, that we may make our utmost of them.

And to give us a wall] Protection and safeguard, as the walls of Sparta was their militia, and the walls of England is our navy. They had the fence of the king of Persia’s favour. They had also God’s providence, as a hedge or wall of fire round about them, #Zec 2:5. {See Trapp on "Zec 2:5"}

Ver. 10. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this?] q.d. We have nothing to say for ourselves, wherever thou shouldst not presently pronounce against us, and execute upon us the sentence of utter rejection. We are even speechless, excuseless, and must needs conclude, It is the Lord’s mercy that we are not consumed, that we are at all on this side of hell it is because his compassions fail not, #La 3:32.

For we have forsaken thy commandments] Better than this Ezra could not have said for himself and his people, whilst he thus confesseth sin, and putteth himself into the hands of justice, in hope of mercy. In the courts of men it is safest to say, Non feci, I did it not (saith Quintilian). But in our addresses unto God it is best to say, Ego feci, miserere, I did it, Oh be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. Per miserere mei, tollitur ira Dei.

Ver. 11. Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets] Whose office it was to expound the law to us, and to apply it to our consciences. This, although they have done daily and duly, yet we have not been kept within the bounds of obedience, but have flown against the lights (as bats use to do), and sinned presumptuously. Thus he aggravateth their sin by every circumstance. And this is right confession, such as the schoolmen have set forth in this tetrastic.

Sit simplex, humilis confessio, pura, fidelis,

Atque frequens, nuda et discreta, lubens, verecunda,

Integra, cordata, et lachrymabilis, accelerata,

Fortis et accusans, et se punire parata.

Is an unclean land] Because inhabited by an unclean people, who are acted and agitated by an unclean spirit, and do miserably moil themselves in the filthiness of lewdness, which defileth a man worse than any leprosy, than any out-house, #Mr 7:23. Mr Aseham (schoolmaster to Queen Elizabeth) did thank God that he was but nine days in Italy, wherein he saw, in that one city of Venice, more uncleanness and licentiousness than in London he ever heard of in nine years.

With the filthiness of the people of the lands] Those Canaanites were very Borborites, shameless sinners before the Lord; who therefore rooted them out, and caused their land, when it could bear them no longer, to spue them out. Sin is filthiness (ρυπαρια) in the abstract. St James calleth it the stinking filth of a pestilent ulcer, and the superfluity or garbage of naughtiness, #Jas 1:21. It is no better than the devil’s excrement; it sets his limbs in us, and draws his picture upon us; for malice is the devil’s eye, oppression is his hand, hypocrisy is his cloven foot, &c. Great sins do greatly pollute.

Which have filled it from one end to another] Hath overspread it as a deluge, overrun it, as the Jerusalem artichoke doth the ground wherein it is planted; turned it into the same nature with itself, as copperas, which will turn milk into ink; or leaven, which turneth a very passover into pollution. See #Mic 1:5, {See Trapp on "Mic 1:5"}

Ver. 12. Now therefore give not your daughters] Unless ye have a mind to pitch them into the mouth of hell. See #Ezr 9:2. {See Trapp on "Ezr 9:2"}

Nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever] For they were devoted by God to utter destruction; and therefore Israel might have no intercourse with them. The Jews at this day count and call us Canaanites, Edomites, &c., and hold it an almsdeed to knock us on the head. The best among the Gentiles, say they, is worthy cui caput conteratur tanquam serpenti, to be killed up as a serpent. Tacitus long since observed of them, that as they were very kind to their own, so to all others they bare a deadly hatred. Thrice a day in their prayers they curse us Christians, and in Polony (where they have a toleration) they print base and blasphemous things against Christ and religion (Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. cap. 5).

That ye may be strong] viz. By my presence amongst you and providence over you; for cui adhaereo, praeest, as Queen Elizabeth could write; how much more may God Almighty, he whom I favour is sure to prevail.

And eat the good of the land] The best of the best, the finest wheat, the choicest fruit, and those a pledge and foretaste of the happiness of heaven, where there is nec fames, nec fastidium (as one saith), neither lack nor loathing, neither measure nor mixture, but sweetest varieties, felicities, eternities.

And leave it for an inheritance] Personal goodness is profitable to posterity: the righteous shall leave inheritance to his children’s children, #Pr 13:22. God never casteth out his good tenants, nor leaveth his servants unprovided for. See #Ps 103:17 112:1,2.

Ver. 13. And after all that is come upon us] Affliction, like foul weather, cometh before it is sent for; yet not but of God’s sending; and then it is ever either probational, as Job’s; or cautional, as Paul’s prick in the flesh; or penal, for chastisement of some way of wickedness, as here.

For our evil deeds] These he thanketh (as well be might) for all their sufferings: sin is the mother of misery, and hales hell at the heels of it.

Seeing that thou our God] Our God still, and this is the sixth time that he hath so styled him in this holy prayer, besides three times My God. These are speeches of faith, and refer to the covenant, that pabulum fidei, food of faith. When ye stand and pray, believe; when ye humble and tremble before God, keep up your faith still. Nihil retinet qui fidem amisit, lose that and lose all (Seneca). Take away the iniquity of thy servants, saith David, #2Sa 24:10. It is as if he should say, I am thy servant, Lord, still, though an unworthy one. And to prove himself so, he addeth, for I have done very foolishly. I confess it, Lord, that thou mayest cover it. Homo agnoscit, Deus ignoscit. This he believes, and speeds: when Judas confessing (but in addition despairing) misses of mercy.

Hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve] Heb. Hast withheld beneath our iniquities. The just hire of the least sin is death in the largest sense, #Ro 6:23. What then might God do to us for our many and mighty sins, or rather, what might he not do, and that most justly! How great is his mercy which maketh him say, Jerusalem hath received at God’s hand double for all her sins, #Isa 40:1,2. Too much, saith God there; too little, saith Ezra here; and yet how sweetly and beautifully doth this kind of contradiction become both!

And hast given us such deliverance as this] A fruit of free mercy, and calls hard for duty. God’s blessings are binders; and every new deliverance calls for new obedience, Servati sumus ut serviamus. We have been served so that we may serve.

Ver. 14. Should we again break thy commandments] There is so much unthankfulness and disingenuity in such an entertainment of mercy, that holy Ezra here thinks that heaven and earth would be ashamed of it.

And join in affinity with the people of these abominations?] Especially when we may hear God himself screeching out as it were those words of his, Oh, do not this abominable thing! Save yourselves from this untoward generation, &c.

Wouldest thou not be angry with us?] i.e. Chide us, smite us, and so set it on, as no creature should be able to take it off? Sin may move God, when we ask bread and fish to feed us, to answer us with a stone to bruise us or a serpent to bite us. Shun it therefore as a serpent in your way, or as poison in your meats. "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way," #Ps 2:12.

So that there should be no remnant] So that our late preservation should prove but a reservation to further mischief; as was Sodom’s, Sennacberib’s, Pharaoh’s.

Ver. 15. O Lord God of Israel] So called, because he is their portion, they his, #De 32:9. He had avouched them for his; and they him interchangeably, #De 26:17,18. Seneca could say that the basest people (meaning the Jews) gave laws unto all the world; that is, had the true God, creator of all, for their God.

Thou art righteous] In all thy judgments inflicted upon us; or, thou art faithful and true in thy promises: but we have forfeited thy favour, and deserved destruction.

Behold, we are before thee in our trespasses] Or guiltiness, which is that iniquity of sin (as David calleth it, #Ps 32:5) whereby the sinner is bound over to condign punishment.

For we cannot stand before thee] But must needs causa cadere, drop our case, being self-condemned; and such as must needs subscribe to thy perfect justice in our own utter destruction.

Chapter 10

Ver. 1. Now when Ezra had prayed] Had presented himself as a suppliant (Hithpallel), and opened his cause to God the Judge, appealing to him, that he might determine.

And when he had confessed] And begged pardon; deprecating the Divine displeasure, as the word signifieth.

Weeping] Of this we read not in the former chapter, but of other effects of his passion, as rending his garments, tearing off the hair of his head and beard, &c. His sorrow at first might be above tears, which afterwards came gushing out amain, as the blood doth out of a wound, but not till it hath first run back to the heart, to bear the news to it, as I may so say. It is said of Athanasius, that, by his tears, as by the bleeding of a chaste vine, he cured the leprosy of that tainted age. May we not say the same of this good man?

And casting himself down before the house of God] Where all might see him, that their eyes might affect their hearts, and contribute some tears of compunction and compassion towards the filling of God’s bottle, as they had done sins toward the filling of his bag.

Of men, women, and children] Anashim, Venashim, &c. A woman is a man, cut short by the head, #1Co 11:3. Here was a general meeting of all sexes and sizes joined together, to cut sin’s cart ropes.

For the people wept very sore] They could not wash their hands in innocency, they, therefore, washed them in tears; they knew that as the sins of the old world, so of this little world, needeth a deluge. Their sins, therefore, are as so many Hazaels to them; their hearts as so many Hadadrimmons, the place they made to become a very Bochim; they wept with a great weeping, and so vented their sins at their eyes, as sick people do their ill-humours at the pores of their bodies.

Ver. 2. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel] Egregie cordatus homo A prudent and a pious man, one that had feeding lips, and a healing tongue, one that knew how to time a word, and to set it upon the wheels, #Isa 50:4 Pr 25:11.

Answered and said unto Ezra] Such words as were uttered more from the bowels than the brain, and thereby proved so effectual.

We have trespassed against our God] His father Jehiel had taken a strange wife, #Ezr 10:18,26, so perhaps had he himself; or if not, yet he might fear wrath, because of the same body politic with those sinners against their own souls. God, he knew, might well draw blood of the arm for the cure of the head; as Theodoret saith he did when he slew Pharaoh’s first-born.

Yet now there is hope in Israel, &c.] Hope that the people will repent, and hope that God will have mercy, upon their repentance. Superest sperare salutem, He survives to hope for health. If it were not for hope the heart would break. God, having opened a door of hope, let us go boldly to the throne of grace; what should hinder?

“ Qui nil sperare potest, desperet nihil.”

Who is able to hope for nothing, gives up hope for nothing. Cast not away your confidence, which hath so great recompence of reward; but cast anchor within the veil, and wait for day, as Paul did in the shipwreck. See #Isa 50:10.

Ver. 3. Now therefore let us make a covenant] And so tie ourselves thereby to the better abearance; that we slip not collar, that we detract not the yoke of God’s obedience, #De 10:20. Cleaving to God with full purpose of heart will require swearing. Broken bones must have strong bands to close them. Tottering houses must be cramped with iron bars, or they will soon fall down. If the vows of God be upon us, if we are covenanters, it will help against the fickleness of our false hearts; which cannot but know that if God shall be all-sufficient to us, we must be altogether his, #So 2:16. His is a covenant of mercy, even the sure mercies of David; ours is a covenant of obedience to him, in every part and point of duty.

To put away all the wives] This Jews might do in this, and some other cases. So did Romans also with this only bill of divorce, Res tuas tibi habeto, Take what is thine own, and be packing. But Christians may not do thus because of difference in religion, #1Co 7:12, whatever some late upstarts have printed and practised to the contrary.

And such as are born of them] The children of those strange wives, persisting in their Paganism. These children, though disinherited, yet were not to be altogether deserted; but nourished and nurtured also in the fear and admonition of the Lord, #Eph 6:4. Proving if, peradventure, God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, &c., #2Ti 2:25.

According to the counsel of my lord] Terms full of hearty respect and humble submission. He calls Ezra My lord, as Hannah did Eli, with an eye to his dignity, and authority, both as a priest and as a commissioner from the king of Persia. At Venice every ordinary mechanic is called Magnifico. At Vicenza, in Italy, the common title to a common gentleman is Signor Conte, as much as my lord earl. But Ezra was every way honourable and deserving; titles of honour were not worthy of him.

And of those that tremble at the commandment of our God] A periphrasis of a truly pious person, sc. such a one as feareth God and keepeth his commandments. And this is the man alone that is fit to judge the cases of conscience, and to comfort the feeble-minded. Now, although the comfort given by God’s ministers, such as Ezra was, be ordinarily most effectual (as is the blessing of parents, who are in God’s room), yet others also, that are conscientious and experienced persons, that tremble at the commandment of God, as here, may give excellent counsel and comfort in such a case. But how like the motion of a puppet, the language of a parrot, is the best discourse, in this subject of conscience, of the uninterested man.

And let it be done accordiny to the law] Which, though it take no direct and express order in this case, yet by due deduction and just inference it was determined both here and in #Ne 9:2, that those strange wives should be put away.

Ver. 4. Arise] Surge, age, Summe Pater, Arise, act, most high father, said Mantuan to the pope, exciting him to take arms against the Turk: to the same sense Shechaniah here to Ezra; or rather as Jehovah to Joshua, #Jos 7:10, Get thee up: why liest thou here on thy face?

For this matter belongeth unto thee] Who hast both a heart to do it, as appears by thine humiliation, and also power in thine hand, as witnesseth thy commission.

We also will be with thee] Every man must show himself forward to further the work of reformation, moving regularly within his own sphere, and trading every talent for that end and purpose.

Be of good courage, and do it] These were verba non inflantia, sed inflammantia. Not words, spoken but inflammed. And thus may one, by his hearty good counsel, become an angel, nay, a god, to another. Senarclaeus, in an epistle to Bucer, telling how John Diazius, the martyr, discoursed unto him the night before he was butchered by the appointment of his own brother Alphonsus, hath this notable expression, Ego vero illius oratione sic incendebar, &c., I was so inflamed with his words, as if I had heard the Holy Ghost himself speaking unto me.

Ver. 5. Then arose Ezra] According to the counsel of Shechaniah, #Ezr 10:4. "How forcible are right words!" #Job 6:25. One seasonable speech, falling upon a prepared heart, hath oft a strong and sweet operation; as that similitude used by Peter Martyr, reading upon the First to the Corinthians, had upon Galeacius Caracciolus, that noble Italian convert; and as some speeches of Staupicius had upon Luther, who was likewise much confirmed and cheered up by conference with an old priest at Erfurt, who largely discoursed about justification by faith, and explained the articles of the Creed to him (Life of Luther, by Mr Clark).

And made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel] Ορκος, ερκος. An oath is a fence; and, added to a vow or covenant, it doth notably conduce (as a holy exorcism) to conjure down our rebellious wills, and, as cords or chains, to hamper our treacherous hearts, that they backslide not, like backsliding heifers. Moist bodies, as water, must be put into close vessels; so must man’s heart be bound together by strongest helps and resolutions. Neither cast we any new snare hereby upon ourselves, #1Co 7:35, but rather a new provocation to the payment of an old debt we owe to God. Such was that of Jacob, #Ge 28:20 31:13; of David #Ps 119:106; of the Nazarites, #Nu 6:2,3 Rechabites, #Jer 35:6. This shows a very earnest desire to obey; it sharpeneth also our prayers, and disheartens the devil; who, seeing us thus peremptory and resolute, will despair, and depart.

Ver. 6. Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God] Where God had promised to hear prayers for Christ’s sake, whereof that house was a type. See #Ezr 10:1.

And went into the chamber of Johanan] As a fit meeting place, where they might consider, consult, and give counsel. Over the council chamber at Venice is written, Let nothing be done here against the public welfare. A professor of the Turks’ law proclaimeth before they advise or attempt aught, That nothing be done against religion. Over the townhall in Zant are set these two verses in letters of gold:

“ Hic locus odit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat,

Nequitiam, pacem, crimina, iura, bonos.”

Think the same we must needs of this holy conclave or council chamber, where the Sanhedrim was present, and Ezra president.

He did eat no bread, nor drink water] Though fasting and faint with much mourning, yet no food would down with him till he had gone thorough stitch with the work. It was his food and drink to do the will of his heavenly Father. So it was good Job’s, #Job 23:12, and our Saviour’s, #Mt 21:17,23. It was then, when disappointed of a breakfast at the barren fig tree, and coming hungry into the city, he went not into an eating house nor into a friend’s house to refresh himself; but into God’s house, where he continued teaching the people all that day.

For he mourned because of the transgression] It was not then a natural abstinence, arising from sickness, nor a civil, for health’s sake, or for some other worldly respect; but a religious fast, which is usually to be held out a whole day, usque dum stellae in caelo appareant (as an old canon hath it), till the stars appear in the sky; yet so as that nature be chastised, not disabled for duty.

Ver. 7. And they made proclamation] Heb. They caused a voice to pass, viz. by a herald or crier.

That they should gather themselves together] And so the guilty might be brought to their answer, in that general assembly.

Ver. 8. And that whosoever would not come, &c.] Laws, if they be not penal and compulsory, will soon be slighted by lawless, aweless persons. Howbeit, flies must not be killed upon men’s brows with beetles; peccadillos must not be punished as heinous crimes. Draco made it a capital offence to be idle, to steal pot herbs, &c. Of his laws Aristotle saith that they were not worthy of remembrance, but only for their too great severity; Ezra’s laws were more mild.

All his substance shall be forfeited] This, to men of their metal, was a forcible motive. When some have a loss in their riches, it is, as it were, raked out of their bellies; a piece of their very heart goes with it, #Job 20:15, and they are filled with unmedicinable sorrows, #Ec 5:12.

And himself separated from the congregation] Banished the land, or at least cast out of the Church. Woe be to those that separate themselves, #Jude 19, Cainites you may call them, #Ge 4:16; our church forsakers, worship scorners, that last brood of Beelzebub.

Ver. 9. Within three days] They durst not outstand their time, because their estates were at stake. Why is there not the like care taken and speed used to make peace with God, since for aught we know it is now or never, today or not at all? Is it nothing to lose an immortal soul? why, then, cry we, Cras, Domine? Tomorrow, Lord? why stand we trifling and baffling from day to day, till it be all too late? Remember the foolish virgins, and be wiser.

It was the ninth month] Which was the month of May, saith Diodati; counting September for the first, after the manner of the Persians, #Es 2:16; and this great rain, being out of the accustomed season, was somewhat prodigious, and seemed to portend God’s wrath, as #1Sa 12:17. Others make it to be in December, the deep of winter; which, though it be an ordinary time of rain (whence in Greek also it hath its name χειμα, and in Latin hyems), yet these showers were extraordinary, more like spouts than showers; and thence the people’s fear much increased by their guilt; for as no body is without its shadow, so is no sin without its fear, quia nec sine conscientia sui, because it cannot shake off conscience (Tertul.).

Ver. 10. We have transgressed] We have disloyally, or rather sacrilegiously, trespassed, by transgressing the covenant. Other men’s sins are rebellious against God, but the saints’ sins are treacheries. Let the Philistines bind Samson, it wilt be nothing so grievous to him as that his brethren should do it. Men’s offences are much increased by their obligations.

To increase the trespass of Israel] To add to the heap which thereby is grown as high as heaven, #Ezr 9:6, and calls hard for fire from thence, #Ps 11:6, to revenge the quarrel of the covenant. Draw water, therefore, before the Lord, as those did, #1Sa 7:6. Yea, pour out your hearts before him. God is a refuge for us, #Ps 62:7.

Ver. 11. Now therefore make confession] This is the soul’s vomit, Vomitus sordium animae (Naz.) which is the hardest kind of medicine, but most healthy. This the devil knows, viz. that there is no way to purge the sick soul but upwards, by casting out the vicious humour wherewith it is clogged; and, therefore, he holds the lips close, that the heart may not disburden itself by so wholesome evacuation. Confession must follow upon conviction, as here; and be followed by reformation.

And do his pleasure: and separate, &c.] For they that confess and forsake not their sins are only dog sick. When they have disgorged their stomachs, and got a little ease, they will be as bad as before. Wicked people make account of confession as drunkards do of vomiting; that they may add drunkenness to thirst. But the man that shall have mercy must both confess and forsake, #Pr 28:13. Open a vein, and let out his bad blood.

Ver. 12. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice] But not with a true heart, #Heb 10:22. For within a few years they returned to their vomit again.

As thou hast said, so must we do] These were good words, and not unlike those of Laelius, in Lucan, spoken to Caesar:

Iussa sequi tam velle mihi, quam posse, necesse est.

But many of these fair promisers turned back, and dealt unfaithfully, like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow, #Ps 78:57. Look how a rotten bow, though otherwise fair, when an arrow is drawn to the head, and both eye and arrow is levelled to the mark, yet it miscarrieth; so do the desires, purposes, and promises that unsound hearts conceive in their afflictions, and under just convictions.

Ver. 13. Neither is this work of one day or two] No more is repentance, that first and continual work of every Christian. This made Tertullian say, that he was born for nothing else but for repentance, Nulli rei natus nisi poenitentiae. Surely, as in a ship there is continual pumping; and as in a beggar’s coat continual piecing; so in the best soul there wants not matter of daily repenting: this house must be every day swept; this candlestick every day scoured. Besides, some sins are past in time that are not past in deed, if we dwell not in the undoing and reversing of them. The best of these hereafter mentioned were to begin anew their repentance, because they had not considered their marrying strange wives.

For we are many that have transgressed] Heb. We have multiplied to transgress. The comfort is, that God will in like sort multiply to pardon, if we return unto him; that is the expression, #Isa 55:7.

Ver. 14. Let now our rulers of all the congregation] Our sanhedrim or seventy seniors, see #De 17:9. Let there be a matrimonial consistory erected, and matters in question orderly heard and determined.

Until the fierce wrath of God] We must not think that he will cease pursuing us till the traitor’s head be thrown over the wall, till there be a thorough reformation. One Abimelech, left alive, may be the death of Gideon’s 70 sons; so may one sin favoured be thine utter undoing.

Ver. 15. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah] These two priests only, of all the company, had kept themselves unspotted, and so were fit to be employed in the work in hand. Diaconos paucitas honorabiles fecit, saith Jerome, of his times. The paucity of good deacons hath rendered them honourable. And I do not think, saith Chrysostom, that among the clergy there are many that shall be saved. Clerus Britannicus stupor mahdi (Dr Hall); and yet there never wanted among us those dehonestamenta Cleri, that might give some occasion to black-mouthed Campian to tell the world, Ministris eorum nihil vilius, Many of their ministers are most base.

Ver. 16. And the children of the captivity did so] Appointed such a course should be taken. And so it was a plain Plebiscitum, resolution of the people, and accordingly executed.

Ver. 17. By the first day of the first month] So that it was not the work of one day or two, as #Ezr 10:13, but of full three months; and yet they were not slothful in that business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. In the work of repentance take time enough, dig deep enough by thorough humiliation; lest the fall of the house be great. The English are not sick soon enough, saith one, and they are well too soon; this is true of their minds, as well as of their bodies.

Ver. 18. And among the sons of the priests, &c.] What a shame was this, and a stain to their cloth! These men’s white ephods covered foul sins; whereas they should have been careful to have kept all clean; as that Eleazar was of whom it is told, that he would not do anything that might seem to be sinful, because he would not spot his white head.

Of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak] This good high priest had sons none of the best. White halcyons hatch black young ones. Caligula fuit optimi viri Germanici filius. Caligula will be the son of the best man, Germanicus. Eli’s sons were sons of Belial. Samuel’s were little better; and yet it is not likely that he was faulty in that indulgence for which his own mouth had denounced God’s judgments against Eli. When Caesar Borgia, duke of Valence, invited his nobility to a feast, and after dinner cut off their heads, Pope Alexander (who was his father) hearing of it, smiled and said, his son had served them a Spanish trick. When Petro Alingi Farnesis had committed an unspeakable violence on the person of Cosmus Cherius, bishop of Fanum, and then poisoned him, he received no other chastisement of his father, Pope Paul III, than Haec vitia me non commonstratore didicit, he never learned these faults of his father. Good Jeshua had better bred his children than thus to break out into an open violation of that law, which they could not but know, and should have observed. But God will show, that grace is by gift, not inheritance; and men will show that though nurture may somewhat amend nature, yet it is grace alone that can keep us within the bounds of obedience.

Ver. 19. And they gave their hands] i.e. They plighted their troth, and assured the assent of their hearts, #2Ki 10:15.

That they would put away their wives] Though as dear to them, haply, as was George Carpenter’s (martyr), burnt at Munchen, in Bavaria; My wife and children, said he, are so dear unto me, that they cannot be bought from me for all the riches and possessions of the duke of Bavaria: but for the love of my Lord God I will willingly forsake them. Let us do so by our dilecta delicta, our dearest and most delicious sins.

They offered a ram of the flock] This shows that they sinned against knowledge; for a sin of ignorance the oblation was not a ram, but a goat.

Ver. 44. And some of them had wives by whom they had children] Who yet for all that were put away together with their children, #Ezr 10:3. The Hebrew hath it thus, and there were of them women, and they had put forth sons, or exposed their sons to do as they might, or to be disposed of by the judges; as that good woman who told Bonner, that if he burnt her, she hoped he would keep Faith, Hope, and Charity (those were the names of her three daughters). No, by my truth will not I, quoth the bishop; I will meddle with none of them (Acts and Mon.).

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10