Nahman

Chapter 1

Ver. 1. The burden of Nineveh] i.e. The burdenous prophecy, {See Trapp on "Mal 1:1"} It is a burden to wicked men to be told of their sins and foretold of their punishments, to whom we may not unfitly apply that of the civilian, Perquam durum est, sed ita lex scripta est (Ulpian). It is extremely hard, but so the law is written. If it be so tedious to hear of it, what will they do to bear it? Nineveh had fair warning before by Jonah; and for the present, the unclean spirit seemed to be cast out of her; but he returned soon after, with seven worse, as appears by this prophecy; and so their last state was worse than the former, #Mt 12:45. Their boil, half healed, breaking out again, proved to be the plague of leprosy, #Le 13:18-20, such as shut them out of heaven. God will do good to those that are good and continue so. But "as for those that turn aside unto their crooked ways" (as all apostates do), "the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity" (as cattle are led to the slaughter, or malefactors to execution): "but peace shall be upon Israel," #Ps 125:5.

The book of the vision] Or, the epistle of the vision. Hence some collect that Nahum went not to Nineveh, as Jonah had done; but sent this prophetic epistle thither, to let them know what should shortly befall them. So Jeremiah sent an epistle to Babylon, #Jer 29:1., and Elijah wrote a threatening letter to Jehoram, King of Judah, #2Ch 21:12, before his translation to heaven; and left it to be sent to him by Elisha, or the other prophets, who dared not show themselves in his presence, such was his insolent cruelty, as it is conceived.

Of Nahum the Elkoshite] Elkosh was a small town in Galilee beyond Bethabara, as say Jerome and Dorotheus. Here was our prophet born, and named Nahum, non sine numine, saith Gualther; for Nahum (as Noah) signifieth a comforter; and so he proved, by this book of his, both to the ten tribes now newly carried captive by the Assyrian monarch, and also to the other two tribes, who were shortly after besieged by the same Assyrian, in the reign of Hezekiah; under whom Nahum prophesied. {See Trapp on "Ex 3:1"}

Ver. 2. God is jealous] {See Trapp on "Zec 1:14"}

And the Lord revengeth, the Lord revengeth] As he is Pater miserationum to his people, a father of mercies, and God of consolation; so to his and their enemies he is a most sure and severe revenger: Deus ultionum, as David calleth him, #Ps 94:1. A God of recompenses, as Jeremiah, #Jer 51:56. And when he comes against a people, he usually takes them to do when they are at the strongest and most confident; as Nineveh now was, in the days of proud Sennacherib.

And is furious] Heb. And is master of hot wrath; he is all on a light fire, as it were, with fierce indignation against the enemies of his Church; yet not so, but that he is master of his anger too; and doth nothing in it but what is just and equal. Here the vials of his wrath are said to be golden vials, #Re 15:7, his anger is holy, his fire is pure, and without smoke. And this is further declared in the following words.

The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries] Such as seek to thrust him beside his throne, that oppose his worship, contemn his word, persecute his people, send proud messages after him, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us," "Bring hither those mine enemies," saith he, "and slay them before me," #Lu 19:27. As for such as sin of infirmity and return to him by repentance, they shall not find him furious, but gracious.

And he reserveth wrath for his enemies] Their preservation for a time is but a reservation to that wrath to come. As he precipitateth not his anger, but defers the execution of it, giving men space to repent, as he did Jezebel, #Re 2:20, so they shall find that his forbearance is no quittance; and that

Poena venit gravior, quo mage tarda venit

The penalty comes more heavily which comes with great slowness.

Ver. 3. The Lord is slow to anger] "Slack he is not, as some men count slackness," saith St Peter, "but longsuffering to us-ward," #2Pe 3:9. The devil stirred up the heathen poets to persuade people that God either knew not or cared not what was done here below; that he was often from home, feasting with the Ethiopians, &c. The Epicureans also taught the like doctrine; and the Sadducees among the Jews, the Manichees among the primitive Christians, the Libertines among us. But they shall one day find that God is slow, but sure; that the higher he lifteth his hand the harder he will strike; the farther he draweth his bow the deeper will be the wound.

And great in power] Heb. Great of power, able to knock down sinners in the very act of their rebellion, and to send them packing to their place in hell. So that it is not for want of power that he is so patient. "For the Lord our God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible," #De 10:17. But what need we go farther than the text, where he is called the strong God, great in power, and

that will not at all acquit the wicked] This is the last letter in his name (that nomen maiestativum, as Tertullian calleth it), #Ex 34:7, which he will in nowise forget; as neither must we. He will not take the wicked by the hand, saith Job, #Job 8:20, nor wink at the workers of iniquity, saith David, #Ps 50:21, but will render a just recompense to every transgression and disobedience, saith Paul, #Heb 2:2. "A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he," #De 32:4.

The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm] The word Suphah, here rendered whirlwind, begins with a small Samech, ad minuendum timorem piis, ne propterea terreantur, to take off the saints from their inordinate fears, and to assure the wicked, that when the Lord cometh, imminet inde Soph finis et exitium, there shall be an end of them, and an utter destruction. "As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more; but the righteous is an everlasting foundation," #Pr 10:25. Or, as some read it, The righteous is the foundation of the world, as firm as the world’s foundation, sc. the earth, which is immovable.

And the clouds are the dust of his feet] He walketh upon them as men do upon the dust of the earth; he maketh the clouds his chariot, and rideth upon the wings of the wind, #Ps 104:3: see #Isa 60:8 19:1. The wicked’s happiness shall take its end surely and swiftly, as Ezekiel tells them in his seventh chapter, "An end is come, is come, is come."

Ver. 4. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry] He had showed what wonders God can do in the air; now he telleth what he doeth in the water and in the earth. And it is well observed by an interpreter (Tarnov.), that when the prophets speak of God, they do for the most part imitate the expressions of Moses, that most severe lawgiver, and allude to his history; to show that by the law is the knowledge of sin, #Ro 3:20, without which the stony hearts of men melt not, that the promise of the gospel may relish sweetly with them, #Ps 19:10,11. The word here rendered he rebuketh, importeth that God rateth and rattleth the sea, verborum pedumque strepitu, with such a voice and other noise, as causeth fright and flight. "The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest?" #Ps 114:3,5. "The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled," #Ps 77:16: see #Ex 14:21 Ps 78:14 66:6 136:16 106:9. This is not in the power of any man to do; though Xerxes vainly attempted something, when he wasted two million men over the Hellespont, and, for battering his bridge of boats, caused it to be beaten with three hundred stripes, and cast a pair of fetters into it, to make it his prisoner. But to how small purpose all this, together with his digging through Isthmus, his drinking up rivers with his army, and the like, it well appeared, when he was forced to flee back out of Greece in a poor fisher’s boat, which being over loaded, had sunk all if the Persians, by the casting away themselves, had not saved the life of their king. The story of Canute the Dane, sometime king of England, is well known. He was told by a court parasite that all things in his dominions were at his beck and command. Canute, to confute him, caused a chair to be set on the seashore; wherein being set, he said to the sea flowing fast toward him, Thou belongest to me, and the land upon which I now sit is mine own, neither is there any whosoever that obeys me not shall escape unpunished. I command thee, therefore, thou sea, that thou come up no higher into my land; nor presumest once to wet thy master’s legs or garments. But the sea, keeping his ordinary course, without duty or reverence, washed both his legs and gown. He then leaping back said, Let all the inhabitants of the world know, that the power of kings is frivolous and vain; neither is there any mortal man worthy the name of a king, but he to whose beck heaven, earth, and sea, by his laws eternally are obedient. Neither did Canute after this time wear a crown; but set it upon the crucifix, according to the superstition of those times; thereby acknowledging it to be a royalty proper to Christ alone to rebuke the surges of the sea, and to say unto them, Peace, and be still, #Lu 8:24 Mr 4:39.

And drieth up all the rivers] As he did Jordan, #Jos 3:15-17 2Ki 2:7,8,13,14 Chereth, #1Ki 17:7; the great river Euphrates, #Re 16:12. {See Trapp on "Re 16:12"} See also Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. 2, cap. 85, 103.

Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth] All the beauty of those fertile and pleasant places fadeth. When the earth beareth fruit and flowers, she is said to yield her strength, and to bring forth her increase; as when through drought or otherwise she doth not, she is said to languish and hang the head, see #Joe 1:10,12. If the eclipse of the sun cause a drooping in the whole frame of nature, how much more the wrath and vengeance of God!

Ver. 5. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt] Though valleys and low places are also liable to earthquakes, as Antioch often, Ferrara in Italy, A.D. 1516 and 1578, yet hill countries much more, because there are more holes and caverns: see #Ps 29:6 144:4 Zec 14:4,5. In the year 1618, Aug. 25, Pleurs, a town in Rhoetia, was overwhelmed by a hill, which, with a most swift motion, buried 1500 men. So that village mentioned before, in the country of Bern, that was covered over by a hill in an earthquake, to the destruction of 50 families. All this and that which followeth is alleged here, to show how easily God can overturn the Assyrian greatness.

And the earth is burnt at his presence] Viz. by his fire from heaven, as Sodom, and by others of his land desolating judgments, such as Judea (that once fertile, now barren country), Greece, Asia (once so flourishing), Germany, Ireland, &c., do at this day groan under. God turneth "a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein," #Ps 107:34.

Yea, the world, and all that dwell therein] Quae quidem sunt mira, sed tamen vera divinae potentiae effecta (Turnov.). Wicked men, besides what they here suffer, shall one day give an account of what they have done in the body, with the world all on a light of fire about their ears: the trial of their works shall be by fire, #1Co 3:13, the tribunal of fire, #Eze 1:27, the judge a consuming fire, #Heb 12:29, his attendants seraphims, flaming creatures, #Isa 6:2 his pleading with sinners in flames of fire, #2Th 1:7, the place of punishment a lake of fire fed with tormenting temper, #Isa 30:33, Sodom’s fire and brimstone was but a toy to it. And shall the Ninevites think to mort up themselves against this formidable fire, which the most solid parts of the world cannot avoid or abide?

Ver. 6. Who can stand before his indignation?] A glass bottle may as well stand before a cannon shot. There is no standing before a lion, much less before a devouring fire, least of all before an angry God. When our Saviour did but put forth a beam of his Deity, and said, "I am he," the stout soldiers fell to the ground, #Joh 18:6, and there they had lain if he had not licensed them to rise again. Quid autem iudicaturus faciet, qui iudicandus hoc fecit? (Augustin.) The wicked shall not stand in judgment, saith David, #Ps 1:5.

Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?] Heb. in the inflammation of his nostrils, Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem. Thus the prophet describeth God’s terrible executions of justice on the Church’s enemies, pulcherrimis metaphoris, hypotyposi evidentissima, et distributionis artificio insignissimo, by most elegant metaphors, evident demonstrations, and artificial distributions (Crocius in loc.).

His fury is poured out like fire] A metaphor either from metals melted or from showers of rain, such as God poured down upon Sodom (whereunto probably the prophet here alludeth, as #Na 1:8, to Noah’s flood), flaming showers, #Jer 7:20 44:6.

And the rocks are thrown down by him] That is, by his fierce wrath, when it is at the full height; as the fire which at first burns a little within, upon a few boards and rafters, but when it prevaileth, bursteth out in a most terrible flame, as thunder; which we hear at first, a little roaring noise afar off, but stay awhile, and it is a dreadful crack, cleaving the very rocks. See #Jer 4:28,24 Mt 27:51.

Ver. 7. The Lord is good] To Israel (though terrible to the Assyrians, as hath been plainly and plentifully set forth), to the pure in heart, #Ps 73:1, and he doth good, #Ps 119:68, to those that are good, that are upright in their hearts, #Ps 125:4. These shall taste and see that the Lord is good: these shall feelingly say, "Oh, blessed is the man that trusteth in him," #Ps 34:8, "Oh, praise the Lord, for he is good," &c.

A strong hold in the day of trouble] Praesidium, aut fortalitium, A strong fort or fortification, better than a tower of brass or town of war: "the righteous run thereinto and are safe," #Pr 18:10. Hezekiah (for whose sake this is spoken) had the experience of it. He had a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: the children were come to the birth, and there was not strength to bring forth, #Isa 37:3. To God, therefore, he runs in this doleful day of his, and had present help. And what though the gods of the nations had not delivered them; yet Hezekiah’s God, in whom he trusted, did not deceive him, as Sennacherib said he would, #Na 1:10,12. He is the champion of his Church, and will be the strong hold of his people, when the heathen’s tutelar gods and the Papists’ patron saints will leave them in the lurch. England was sometime said to have a warlike George, but the Papists being offended with us (to do us, as they suppose, a mischief), have robbed us of our George, and left us God alone to be our champion: for which honour and favour all true English hearts are bound to thank them, and can merrily sing, as he did once, Contemno minutulos istos deos, mode Iovem propitium habeam, We care not for their he-saints or she-saints to shelter us, so that the great God will be good to us, a stronghold in the day of trouble.

And he knoweth them that trust in him] That hover and cover under his wings, as the chickens do under the hen’s: for that is the force of the Hebrew word here used. Such as these God knoweth for his, #2Ti 2:19; he knoweth their soul in adversity, #Ps 31:7; he knoweth how to deliver them, as he did the righteous Lot, #2Pe 2:9; then, when they know not what to do, as Jehoshaphat, #2Ch 20:12, yet if their eyes be toward him, their affiance in him, he will extricate and deliver them. So well pleased is he with those that trust in him (for that is meant here by his knowing of them, #Ps 1:6 cf. Job 9:29 1Th 5:12), he taketh such complacence and delight in them #Ps 147:11 33:18, and such continual care of them (as hath been proved by a universal experience, not one instance can be given to the contrary), that they shall be sure to have whatsoever heart can wish or need require, #2Sa 22:2,3, even miraculous lovingkindness from God in a strong city, #Ps 17:7 31:21, so great as cannot be uttered, #Ps 31:19. This is for the comfort of God’s Israel. But lest the wicked (as they are apt) should meddle with children’s meat, which was never meant for them; lest Nineveh should please herself in a fond conceit of God’s goodness to her also, and so turn it into wantonness, the prophet brings in a stinging "but" in the next words.

Ver. 8. But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof] i.e. Of Nineveh, that great but bloody city, #Na 3:1. Her state shall be utterly ruined, as the old world by the general deluge. But because the word here rendered flood is used for rivers that overflow the banks, #2Ch 32:4, and the adjunct, overrunning, also implies as much, {see #Isa 8:8 Da 11:10,40} I suppose the Holy Ghost here forethreateneth that ruin of this city by the river Tigris, which at an inundation broke out upon the wall, and threw down two and a half miles of it. This was a sad foretoken to them of their ensuing desolation by the enemy (as that rain was that fell in Egypt, where it used not to rain, a little before Cambyses with his Persians subdued it), for it occured in the time of the siege, as Diodorus testifieth, according to an oracle that the Ninevites had received by tradition from their progenitors, sc. that their city should then be taken by the enemy, when the river took part against them: and it happened accordingly.

And darkness shall pursue his enemies] i.e. Terrible and inextricable calamities shall overtake them: their ruin shall be irreparable. And indeed it may now be said of Nineveh, which once was of a great city in Strabo, Magna civitas, magna solitude Great city, great wilderness. See #Zep 2:13-15. Drusius rendereth it thus, Hostes suos persequi faciet tenebras, He shall cause darkness to pursue his enemies, or, He shall make his enemies to pursue darkness, according to that noted saying of the ancients, Deus quem destruit dementat, whom God intends to destroy him he first infatuateth. But the former sense is the better.

Ver. 9. What do ye imagine against the Lord?] Because against his people. So #Ps 62:3, "How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence." The blind and bloody Ninevites looked no farther than the Jews, whom they invaded: they considered not that God was engaged in the quarrel of his people. This made the virgin, daughter of Zion, confident of God s help, shake her head in scorn and pity at them, saying, "Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel," #Isa 37:22,23. She knew well (though her enemies knew not), that as an unskilful archer in shooting at a beast hitteth a man sometimes; so the Church’s adversaries, in troubling of her trouble Almighty God, who will not fail to be even with them: for he that toucheth God’s people toucheth the apple of his eye, #Zec 2:8. "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" #Ac 9:4. It was a simple question of Satan to our Saviour, "What have I to do with thee?" while he vexed a servant of his. Hath he his name from knowledge, and yet could he so mistake him whom he confessed to be the Son of the living God? It is an idle misprision to sever the sense of an injury done to any of the members from the head. Drusius reads the text thus, Quid cogitatis de Domino? what think ye of the Lord? what conceit or opinion have ye of him? Do ye imagine that he cannot perform what he threateneth by his prophets? or that he cannot, when he pleaseth, deliver his people out of your hand?

He will make an utter end] Not a consumption only, but a consummation. This he is ever doing, as the Hebrew hath it: he is busy about it, and will not fail to finish it; for he useth not to do his work to the halves. Surely a short work will the Lord make in your land, now that he taketh you to do, certo, cito penitus.

Affliction shall not rise up the second time] God will despatch you at one blow. See a like expression #1Sa 26:8. Nineveh had many brushes before, by Phraortes, King of Medes, and his son Cyaxares, and afterwards by the Scythians, whereof see #Jer 49:34, and by Astyages, &c. Now Nebuchadnezzar was appointed by God to make an utter end of it, &c. The wicked shall totally and finally be consumed at once. Not so the saints: these he corrects with a rod, those with a grounded staff, #Isa 30:32. These in mercy and in measure, in the bunches only, "he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind," #Isa 27:8, he stayeth such afflictions as would shake his plants too much, or quite blow them down. But to the wicked he hath no such tender respect: he smites them at the root, and, after many blows, he resolves to have them down. For instance, compare God’s different dealing with Noah and the old world, with Lot and the Sodomites, Israel and the Canaanites, Moses and Pharaoh, David and Saul, &c. "Fret not therefore thyself because of evil doers," #Ps 37:1. "When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever," #Ps 92:7. Pharaoh had fair way made for him till he came to the midst of the sea; not one wave may rise up against him to wet so much as the hoof of his horse. It was a fair sunshine day when Lot went out of Sodom; but ere night there fell out a dismal change. It was in the spring {a} that the flood came, then when everything was prime and pride: besides that, the world never more flourished in wealth, peace, arts, and all magnificence; yet sudden destruction came upon them, they were all at once buried in one universal grave of waters.

{a} The growing season in Palestine starts in mid-fall and is similar to our spring in the northern hemisphere.

Ver. 10. For while they be folden together as thorns] And so can hardly be handled without hurt, God will burn them together in the same place, #2Sa 23:7, as a man puts thorns folden, and that cannot easily be sundered, all together into the fire, where they make a sudden blaze and are extinct. So will God deal with the Ninevites, notwithstanding their carnal combinations and confederacies.

And while they are drunken as drunkards] Who are very quarrelsome, bragging and braving; but may be easily dealt with, and pushed down with one finger.

As stubble fully dry] That hath long lain a sunning, and so is very combustible. The wicked are oft compared to stubble, because good for nothing but the fire; and when fully dry, when ripe for ruin, they shall be fully devoured, as some read the words. Ecquem vero mihi dabis rhetorem, &c., as one saith of another text. But what gallant rhetoric is here! well might God say, #Ho 12:10, "I have spoken also by the prophets and used similitudes," &c. (see the note there); here we have three in a breath, and all little enough to work on the hearts of the wicked, who are loth to believe the truth and certainty of God’s threats; but rather bless themselves when God curseth, #De 29:19.

Ver. 11. There is one come out of thee that imagineth evil against the Lord] Many there are, but one among and above the rest; sc. Sennacherib, that bold Briareus, that lifteth up his hundred hands at once against heaven, and threateneth to cut off at a blow God’s people, as if they had all but one neck. See #Na 1:9. "He is come up over all his channels, and gone over all his banks," #Isa 8:7; but God shall soon put a stop to him, and with an "overrunning flood" (that he may be even with him) "make an utter end of his place," as it is here, #Na 1:8.

A wicked counsellor] Heb. a counsellor of Belial, or of the devil, who lendeth him his seven heads to plot, and his ten horns to push God’s people. What pernicious counsel he gave them, see #2Ki 18:19-35 2Ch 32:9-19 Isa 36:4-10,13-20; sc. to cast off God as not able to deliver them out of his hands; and to make an agreement with him by a present, &c. This pestilent counsel he gave them by Rabshakeh, who was, say the rabbins, a renegade Jew. Every vizier and bashaw of state among the Turks useth to keep still a Jew for his private counsel; whose malice, wit, and experience of Christendom, with their continual intelligence, is thought to advise most of that mischief which the Turk at this day puts in execution against us (saith mine author), the Jews being found the most nimble and mercurial wits in the world, but counsellors of Belial. In all the shop of hell there is no anvil so well set, whereon to forge, no engine so apt, whereby to execute any choice piece of mischief, as that man, who is ingenuose nequam et publico male faeundus (as it is said of Gaius Curio the Roman), wittily wicked and pestilently eloquent. Such were Cardinal Pole to England, Cardinal Sadoletus to Geneva, and the Jesuits generally, great politicians and factors for Rome. They say, Satan sent Luther, and God sent them to withstand him. They destroy many souls, as the dragon doth the elephant, by biting his ear and sucking his blood; because he knows that to be the only place which the elephant cannot reach with his trunk to defend. They take crafty counsel against the Church, #Ps 83:3.

Ver. 12. Thus saith the Lord] To thee, O Jerusalem, and for thy comfort. The Lord will speak peace to his people; and ministers are charged to speak to their hearts, #Isa 40:1.

Though they be quiet] Or still, well disciplined, as the Turkish army is, to the wonder of all that pass through it, Turcae perpetuum silentium tenent ut muti (Cuspin. de Caesar.) There was no falling out nor complaining in the Assyrian hosts; therefore, and by this means, did their king march on, pass through.

And likewise many] How great an army they were may be gathered from the many thousands of them that were slain by the angel, #Isa 37:36. It is all one with God whether it be done against a nation or against a man only, #Job 34:29; he stands not upon multitudes, who "taketh up the isles as a very little thing," #Isa 40:15.

Yet thus shall they be cut down] Heb. shorn; with as little ado as one would shear a sheep, mow down a meadow, or shave off hair with a sharp razor. The prophet seemeth to allude to that text in Isaiah (with whom, as his contemporary, he hath many things common), #Isa 7:20, and to threaten the Assyrian, that he shall be paid home in his own coin; and that as he had done to Israel so should it be done again to him. God loveth to retaliate.

When he shall pass through] Heb. And he passeth, or away he goeth, sc. to his own country, after the loss of his army, slain by the angel, so Jerome. Others, they shall be cut down, sc. by the hand of a mighty one, as #Isa 10:34, or of an angel, when he, that is, Sennacherib, and every one of his army hath passed through, sc. the land without restraint or control, and now maketh account that he is master of all.

Though I have afflicted thee, yet I will afflict thee no more] sc. By these Ninevites; no, nor by any other enemies, unless there be a very great need, #1Pe 1:6. The Church hath ever had her halcyons, her interchanges of prosperity and adversity. God will not always chide, #Ps 103:9, he delighteth in the prosperity of his servants, #Ps 35:27, and wisheth, O that this people were wise, &c. "O that my people had hearkened," &c., #Ps 81:13-15. There is another reading of the words, as may be seen in the margent. This is Junius. The Chaldee paraphraseth thus: Although the Ninevites enjoy great peace, and by peace are so multiplied that they are very numerous, yet shall they be shorn and cut down.

Ver. 13. For now will I break his yoke from off thee] Lest the promised deliverance should be any whit doubted, the time when and the misery whence they should be delivered is here laid open. God hath set the time of his people’s sufferings, which shall be neither so little a while as they would, nor so long as the enemy would. Hold out faith and patience; deliverance is at next door by.

And will burst thy bonds in sunder] By yoke and bonds here understand those tributes which the Assyrians, called out by Ahaz, imposed upon the kingdom of Judah, #2Ki 16:7-9. God promiseth them here their ancient liberty; which was, soon after this, recovered under Hezekiah, who, trusting in God, and reforming religion, rebelled against the King of Assyria, and served him no longer. Shortly after also the Persians destroyed Nineveh, dealt more gently with the captive Jews, and gave them good leave to return home again, as many as had a mind to it, #Ezr 1:4 2Ch 36:23.

Ver. 14. And the Lord hath given a commandment] sc. To his upper and lower forces, for he is Lord of hosts, commander-in-chief of all creatures.

Against thee] O Sennacherib, devoted to destruction for thine intolerable pride and cruelty. God resisteth the proud, #Jas 4:6, he setteth himself in battle array against him, as the word αντιτασσεται signifieth, commanding all his creatures to fall on; and no wonder. For whereas all other vices flee from God, pride alone fleeth in his face; casteth down the gauntlet of defiance, and maketh head against him. Hence his hatred of a proud person.

That no more of thy name be sown] i.e. That no more children be born to thee, so Lyra expounds it; that thy posterity perish, so Gualther. This must needs be grievous to proud and ambitious persons, who promise themselves a kind of immortality here in their posterity, and that there shall be a perpetual succession of their name in this world. "Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever; they call their lands after their own names," #Ps 49:11. But their "lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness," #Pr 20:20, there shall be— Nullus, cui lampada tradant. Others sense the text thus: Thou shalt no more be talked of; but the memory of thy name shall be utterly extinct. "The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth," #Ps 34:16. See #Isa 10:12,13 Jer 49:33. Sennacherib had done great exploits, till he lifted up his hand against heaven he had been very victorious and famous; but now lies wrapped up in the sheet of shame, and is made an instance of Divine vengeance, even among the heathen; for so Herodotus, tells us, that in Egypt there was Sennacherib’s statue erected, with this inscription: Let whosoever looketh upon me learn to fear God, ´ Εμε τις εισοριων ευσεβης εστω (Her. l. 2). He lifted up himself against his Creator and Father; he is therefore slain by his own children. He thought to overturn the true service of God; he is therefore slain at his idol worship. He went about to destroy the house of God; he is therefore destroyed in the house of his god, #Isa 37:38.

Out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image] This those superstitious heathens held a great loss, a sore affliction. It is reported of the people of the East Indies, in the isle of Ceylon, that having an ape’s tooth got from them, which was a consecrated thing by them, they offered an incredible mass of treasure to recover it. What a noise made Micah after his ephod and images! #Jud 18:24, and Laban after his teraphim! #Ge 31:19, and the men of Ophrah for their altar and grove! #Jud 6:30. And what a price set Papists on their pictures and trinkets!

I will make thy grave] sc. Of thine idol temple, polluted by thy slaughter therein, and so converted into a sepulchre for thee. There is a story (but of no great authority) that Sennacherib, after his shameful return out of Judea, demanding of some about him what might be the reason that the unresistible God of heaven so favoured the Jewish nation, as he had found by sad experience, answer was given him, that Abraham, from whom they descended, sacrificed unto him his only son, which purchased this protection to his progeny. If that will win him, saith he, I will spare him two of my sons, to procure him to be on my side: which Sharezer and Adrammelech, his sons, hearing of, prevented their own deaths by slaying him. It is more likely that they laid wicked hands upon their father either out of ambition or discontent for the loss of the army (Castal. Annot.). Howsoever, God made use of their cruelty for the just punishment of Sennacherib; and is here therefore said to have commanded it. After this cruel war arose among Sennacherib’s sons, which were the utter overthrow of that nation, and laid them open as a prey to the kings of Babylon, as Xenophon writeth.

For thou art vile] Worthless and weightless. All wicked men are so, be they never so great, #Ps 15:4 Da 11:21, "In his estate shall stand up a vile person," that is, Antiochus Epiphanes, the great King of Syria, whom the Samaritans in flattery styled, The mighty god. It is virtue only that ennobles. Them that honour God he will honour; but they that "despise him shall be lightly esteemed," #1Sa 2:30. Contempt shall be their portion, and "with ignominy reproach," #Pr 18:3. Here, then, the prophet threateneth the same that Joel had done, #Joe 2:20, "His stink shall come up, and ill savour shall, come up, because he hath done the great things," i.e. he hath attempted to do them, but was hindered from heaven. God put a hook in his nose and a bridle in his lips, and turned him back to Nineveh; where, within less than fifty days after, he was slain by his two sons, #/RApc Tob 1:21; and although his third son, Esarhaddon, reigned in his stead, yet he soon after lost both his life and his kingdom, which was devolved to the Babylonians, and all the royal race of Assyria was rooted out. Antiochus Epiphanes-Vile person

Ver. 15. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him, &c.] This "behold" is as the sound of a trumpet before some proclamation, to bespeak attention. Jerusalem is surrounded with mountains, #Ps 125:2, and on the mountains a voice may be heard afar off.

The feet of him that bringeth good tidings] Or of an evangelist ( Pedes Evangelizantis, Vulgate), that brings news of Sennacherib’s ruin; but especially of Satan subdued by Christ, which is the sum of all the good news in the world, #Lu 2:10.

That publisheth peace] Pacem omnimodam; external, internal, eternal peace of country and of conscience, by Christ, who is our peace. It is usual with the prophets to rise from earthly things to heavenly, from corporals to spirituals. See #Ro 10:15 Isa 52:7.

O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, &c.] Which hitherto, hindered by the enemy, thou hast intermitted. Perform thy vows (made in the day of thy distress), bring presents to him that ought to be feared, #Ps 76:11 2Ch 32:13.

For the wicked] Heb. Belial, that stigmatical Belialist Sennacherib, that lawless, yokeless, masterless monster, that merum scelus, sheer wickedness, that is so portentously, so peerlessly vicious.

He is utterly cut off] His army by the angel, himself by his sons, his monarchy by the Babylonians. See #Isa 27:1,2.

Chapter 2

Ver. 1. He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face] Nebuchadnessar the elder, that maul {a} of the whole earth, #Jer 50:23, that brake, and dispersed the nations, as a maul or great hammer doth the hardest stones. See how like a right Pyrgopolynices he vaunteth of his valour and victories, #Isa 10:8-12. So Demetrius was surnamed Poliorcetes, the destroyer of cities; Attilas called himself Orbis flagellum, the scourge of the world. Julius Caesar was Fulmen belli, the thunderbolt of war; he had taken in his time a thousand towns, conquered three hundred nations, took prisoner one million of men, and slain as many. These were dissipatores indeed, and dashers in pieces, rods of God’s wrath; and this they took to be a main piece of their silly glory. How much more honour was it to Augustine to be styled Haereticorum malleus, the hammer of heretics! and to Mr Hildersam, to be Schismaticorum malleus, the maul of schismatics! and lastly, to Luther, that he could thus say of himself:

“ Pestis eram virus, moriens ero mors tua papa!”

“I living, stopped Rome’s breath, and dead, will

be Rome’s death!”

Is come up before thy face] Nineveh lay high, and those that went thither were said to go up, #Ho 8:9. Nebuchadnezzar is said here to be come up, to it long before he did (which set forth God’s omniscience: "Known to him are all his works from the beginning of the world," #Ac 15:18 Ps 139:2; and present to him are all things, both past and future), and to come up before Nineveh’s face; who thought none dared have been so bold as to look her in the face. But though she had been a terror, yet now she is a scorn; as was likewise Ephraim, when he offended in Baal, #Ho 13:1. {See Trapp on "Ho 13:1"}

Keep the munition, watch the way, &c.] Ironice omma, q.d. Do all this if you think it will do any good. But it is all to no purpose; you are an undone people, your enemies are above fear and you below hope: you have hitherto delighted in war, you shall now have enough of it; you have troubled the world with your arms and armies, now you shall meet with your match, a people terrible from the beginning. Up, therefore, and do your utmost; neglect nothing that may serve for your necessary defence; but it will not be: for "except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain," #Ps 127:1.

{a} trans. and fig. after L. malleus. (Often, like hammer, scourge, applied to a person as the irresistible foe or the terrible oppressor of some person, class, or institution.) Obs. ŒD

Ver. 2. For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel] Both the ten tribes carried captive already and the other two (vexed by Sennacherib’s invasion) have taken their turns, and have had their part of bitter affliction; and shalt thou, O Nineveh, altogether escape unpunished? Never think it. Especially since thou hast exceeded thy commission, and exercised an unheard of cruelty upon God’s people; for he was but a little displeased, but ye have helped forward the affliction, #Zec 1:15. {See Trapp on "Zec 1:5"}

For the emptiers have emptied them out] The Assyrians have spoiled and pillaged till they have left neither men nor means behind them; such clean work they have made, sweeping all before them, like a sweeping rain that leaveth no food, #Pr 28:3. Omnia corradunt et converrunt.

And marred their vine branches] That is, their sons and their daughters, saith Lyra; their cities and villages, say others; like a malicious vinedresser, that not only cuts off the luxurious or barren branches, but pulls up the young sprouts by the roots, and so mars the vineyard. The Assyrians endeavoured utterly to destroy the whole seed of Abraham without any mercy or compassion; and this undid them. The jealous and just God cannot bear with such boars out of the wood, that waste his vines, #Ps 80:13.

Ver. 3. The shield of his mighty men is made red] Panoplia terrorem auget. All was red (a colour much affected by the Medes, Persians, and Chaldees), to show that they were a sanguinary nation, and not more gold thirsty {#Isa 13:17} than blood thirsty (Herodot., Dioed. Sic., Xenophon, Curtius).

The valiant men are in scarlet] A colour affected by martial men, that would seem to fear no colours. The Lacedaemonians used it much when they went to fight: that if they should be wounded their blood might not appear upon their apparel, for the discouragement of themselves and encouragement of the enemy by such a sight. The Romish cardinals are clothed in scarlet, and are created by a red hat which the Pope giveth them, in a token that they should be ready to shed their blood for the Catholic faith; which if they should do (as never any of them yet did) they would be no better than the devil’s martyrs; since it is the cause, and not the punishment, that maketh a true martyr. A Tyburn tippet (as plain Mr Latimer was wont to speak) would well become those scarlet fathers; who, like bells, will be never well tuned till well hanged; for their blood guiltlness and soul murder especially. In the kingdom of Naples there were two notable thieves (the one named Pater Noster, the other Ave Maria) who at various times had murdered one hundred and sixteen men, and were therefore deservedly put to a cruel death (Rainold. de Idol. Rom. praefat.). But nothing so cruel as the Pope and his conclave deserve, for their sending of so many souls daily to that great red dragon; red with the blood of souls which he hath swallowed, as St Peter hath it, #1Pe 5:8 Re 12:3.

The chariots shall be with flaming torches] Those currus falcati, chariots armed with scythes and hooks, with and in which they were wont to fight: these shall be with flaming torches carried along in them, either to light them fighting by night, or else to fire the enemies’ houses, and to terrify their hearts.

And the fir trees shall be terribly shaken] With the rattling of the chariots and clattering of the armour. In a bloody fight between Amurath, the third King of Turks, and Lazarus, Despot of Servia, the noise of warlike weapons, the neighing of horses, and outcries of men were so terrible and great, that the wild beasts in the woods stood astonished therewith, the trees seemed to be shaken; and the Turkish histories, to express the terror of the day, vainly say, that the angels in heaven, amazed with that hideous noise, for that time forgot the heavenly hymns, &c. The word here rendered terribly shaken is rather Chaldee than Hebrew; as spoken of the Chaldees coming against Nineveh.

Ver. 4. The chariots shall rage in the streets] Shall run so fast, as if they were mad that drove them.

They shall jostle one against another] Coxabunt, they shall smite side to side, through haste and heat of fighting.

They shall seem like torches] Heb. Their aspect is as of torches; fire sparkleth out of their eyes that are in them; they look upon the Assyrians, as if they would look through them.

They shall run like the lightnings] Heb. They shall break through as the lightnings; that is, with incredible swiftness; as lightning in an instant cometh out of the east and shineth even to the west, #Mt 24:27 Lu 10:18.

Ver. 5. He shall recount his worthies] Or gallants, magnificoes. These Esarhaddon, the King of Nineveh, seeing himself straitened, shall muster up, and mind of their duties; bidding them now or never play the men, since the empire was at stake.

They shall stumble in their walk] Through fearfulness and faint heartedness; according to that of the Psalmist, "The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep," #Ps 76:5,6. God struck a terror into the Ninevites upon the first coming of the Chaldees. See #De 11:25. Therefore there is no great credit to be given to Diodorus Siculus (cap. 7, lib. 3), who saith, that the Chaldees were thrice overcome in battle by the Assyrians, when as they came in arms to besiege Nineveh.

They shall make haste to the wall thereof] The Chaldees shall; taking advantage of the Ninevites’ fear, that cowardly passion, that disarmeth and disableth a man for his own defence: or, the Assyrians shall hasten to the wall as fast as their fainting and failing legs will carry them; to try what they can do to keep out the enemy. So the Emperor of Constantinople, certainly advertised the Turks’ purpose for the general assault shortly to be given, after that he had many times with tears requested to have borrowed money of his covetous subjects, to have been employed for defence of their city; he first commended himself and them to the Almighty by general fasting and prayer; and afterwards appointed every captain and commander to some certain place of the wall, for defence thereof, &c., but all in vain, as here at Nineveh.

And the defence shall be prepared] Heb. the covering or coverer, Testudo militaris. Some military engine or moveable defence.

Ver. 6. The gates of the rivers shall be opened] Notwithstanding all afore mentioned endeavours to save the city, the water gates of those that stood near the river Tigris flew open either, by means of that inundation above mentioned, or by the enemies’ irruption, or the treachery of some that were within.

And the palace shall be dissolved] Or melted, haply by that inundation; howsoever by hostile impression: whether we understand it to be the palace royal or the idol temple, or both (the word will bear either), for it was not unusual for princes to have their houses near to the temples, as the kings of Judah had, #Jer 22:14. The Trojans had their palladium in the tower; the Romans their temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in the capitol; Constantine the Great built the Lateran church in his Lateran palace; William Rufus, his Westminster hall near the minster.

Ver. 7. And Huzzab shall be led away captive] The queen; so called because she stood firm, and was best underlaid of any other, as was thought. Some render it, quae firma stabat, ducta est in exilium. She that was wont to stand at the king’s right hand, {as #Ps 45:9} which is a place both of dignity and of safety. As Christ is at God’s right hand, #Ps 110:1, so the Church is at his, #Ps 45:9, and he hath led captivity captive, #Eph 4:8, spoiled principalities and powers, made an open show of them, triumphing over them in himself, #Col 2:15. This is the saints’ happiness: they are out of gunshot, more than conquerors, even triumphers, #2Co 2:14.

She shall be brought up] Whither she would not, to take horse or coach to go into captivity, as Queen Zenobia was brought in triumph to Rome, in golden fetters, by Aurelianus, the emperor.

And her maids shall lead her] Her maids of honour. The gyneceum or seraglio or harem shall fall into the hands of rude soldiers, and by them be hurried away into a far country. Neither is it without desert: for omne malum fere ex Gynaeceo; Women are many times means of such mischief, and for their miscarriages men "fall by the sword, and the mighty in the war; the gates also of the city lament and mourn," #Isa 3:11,25,26, even for the ladies’ gallantry, whereof we have here an inventory. What a deal of trouble bred Jezebel in Israel, Athaliah in Judah, those two late turbulent queen mothers in Scotland and France! of which latter and her Cardinal Lorraine, one made this stinging distich,

“ Non audet Stygius Pluto tentare quod audet

Effraenis Monachus, plenaque fraudis anus.”

As with the voice of doves] Mourning secretly to themselves, and groaning inwardly ( In morem columbaram mussitantium, #Isa 38:14 59:11), as not suffered to bark at those that carry them captive (as Hecuba, Queen of Troy, did, and is therefore famed to be turned into a bitch), or to fill the air with complaints of their hard fortunes, as they call it, or to ease their grief by loud lamentations; but forced to smother it, and take it all to themselves, which is no small aggravation of it; for Expletur laehrymis egeriturque dolor (Ovid). Their tongues and their tears are women’s best weapons. Et hic fere lasciviae, luxus, et libidinis finis est, saith Gualther here. Lo such, for the most part, is the end of lasciviousness, luxury, and lust. Let women be warned.

Tabering upon their breasts] Not singing and playing on instruments, after their ladies, as once; but moaning and groaning and knocking their breasts, for the greatness of their grief and heaviness; whereof this is an excellent and eloquent description.

Ver. 8. But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water] Like a fish pool of water, and therefore happy. The word ( הכרב) here used for a pool, or pond, signifieth also a blessing. The Pope was wont to say of England, that it was puteus inexhaustus, his pit that could not be drawn dry. Such a pit or pool was Nineveh. Populous, wealthy, potent, &c., #Isa 8:7, the magazine of the whole east, a rich Cargazon, and not unlike the island Cyprus, anciently called Macaria, that is, blessed for the plenty, prosperity, and pleasure there abounding. This invited the Romans to subdue it; as the pearls usually cast out at the flood, and gathered at the ebb, drew Caesar’s affection for the conquest of Britain; and as Nineveh’s fish pool did the Chaldean fishermen. The greater wealth the greater spoil awaiteth a people or person, #Pr 1:19. As if a tree hath thick and large boughs, every man desires to be lopping at it. Nineveh’s antiquity is here also noted. Of old, or of a long time, she hath been Empress of the East; she was the seat of the first monarchy, which she also held longest of any, even over 1300 years. Howbeit this shall be now no protection to her, but an article or an argument against her, that she is an old sinner, and hath been long time heaping up and hoarding the mammon of unrighteousness.

Yet they shall flee away] As waters do when the banks of a pond are broken down; and as fish do when the water is drawn out or dried up; then they friggle any way. So shall the Ninevites flee away, when their city is once broken: pugnae obliti, pristinaeque virtutis.

Stand, stand, shall they cry] Their own commanders, desirous to rally them; or their enemies, desirous to ransack them, and make prize of them: Sed surdo fabulam.

But none shall look back] Or, cause them to turn. Nemo potest eos resupinare; their hearts are fallen into their heels, and they have much more mind to save themselves by flight than by fight.

Ver. 9. Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold] This is the voice of God to the Chaldeans; encouraging them to fall on, since they are sure of good booty, plenty of plunder, which he here freely bestoweth upon them. In like sort Mahomet, the Great Turk, the better to encourage his soldiers to storm Constantinople, caused proclamation to be made through his camp the day before, that he would freely give all the spoil of the city for three days unto them if they could win it. And for confirmation thereof, he solemnly swore the Turk’s great oath, &c. Now the love of money is Δεινος και παντολμος, saith a Father, daring and desperate.

For there is none end of the store] Fat plunder, as was at Constantinople; the wealth whereof the Turks themselves wondered at; and were therewith so enriched, that it is a proverb among them at this day, if any grow suddenly rich, to say, He hath been at the sacking of Constantinople. Neither did they more wonder at their wealth than derided their folly; for that possessing so much, they would part with so little to their emperor, for the defence of themselves and their country. And the like is reported of Heidelberg.

And glory out of all the pleasant furniture] Heb. Vessels, or utensils of desire; which are said to yield glory, because with men one hath so much glory and respect as he hath wealth and rich household stuff. See #Ge 31:1. {See Trapp on "Ge 31:1"} #1Ki 10:23 2Ch 32:27. See here also the just judgment of God upon such as set their affections upon that costly vanity, rich furniture (Hezekiah smarted for it, #Isa 39:2,6 2Ch 32:27), or rich attire, which is superbiae nidus, the nest of pride, saith one. The worst apparel is nature’s garment; the best but folly’s garnish, saith another.

Ver. 10. She is empty, and void, and waste] An elegant alliteration in the original, beyond translating, הקלבפו הקובסו הקוב. whereby the utter destruction and consternation of the city and monarchy is graphically depainted, and set forth to the life. See a like elegance #Jer 16:15. The last word, rendered waste, signifieth burnt up, or void of all verdure; a place where nothing green groweth. Such a horrible devastation followeth upon God’s word of command to the Chaldees, #Na 2:9, like as when Christ cursed the barren fig tree it withered away immediately, #Mt 21:20, though it be the most succulent of any tree, and beareth the brunt of winter blasts unwithered. God’s words, however slighted, are not wind, but fire, #Jer 5:13,14.

And the heart melteth] The heart ( in quo fortitude stabulum habet, the seat of courage) fell asunder in their bosoms like drops of water; they were cowed out. See #Jos 2:11 5:1 7:5 Isa 13:7 Eze 21:12.

And the knees smite together] Genus labant, as is usual in extreme fear; the blood retreating to the heart, to relieve it. See #Da 5:6 Job 4:4 Isa 35:3.

And much pain is in all loins] Such pain as befalleth women in travail, #Isa 21:3 13:8 Joe 2:6 Mic 4:9,10; the doubled form of the Hebrew word implieth the extremity of it. The loins are the seat of strength; whence the Latins call weak men ( Elumbes) loinless men.

And the faces of them all gather blackness] Heb. A pot, i.e. such blackness as is on the sides of a pot ( Olla, lebas, cacabus). See #Joe 2:6. Joy and sorrow will show themselves in the face as in a glass. Now if for a temporal mischief there is so great a consternation in wicked men, what shall we think there is in hell?

Ver. 11. Where is the dwelling of the lions, &c.] Where is Nineveh, once so terrible, now so despicable? Leoni mortuo vel mus insultat. A dead lion or a lively mouse! Once none dared look at it or mute against it, now each passenger can insult over it, inquire where it stood, and not be afraid to take this lion by the beard. "God poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty," #Job 12:21, when once they turn tyrants, and exercise regiment without righteousness, as #Mic 3:2,3. Such a mighty hunter, or devourer of men and nations, was Nimrod (the first founder of this Assyrian monarchy), and became a proverb against all tyrants and persecutors, #Ge 10:9. Such a lion was Nero, #2Ti 4:17. Such a tiger Tiberius, of whom one saith, that he laid hold with his teeth on all the excellent spirits of his time; Domitian, who, not content with the blood of Christians, commanded all Jews that were of the stock of David to be sought out, and put to death; Diocletian, and the rest of the primitive persecutors; as also that man of sin, the whole pack of popes, successors to Boniface VIII (who came in like a fox, reigned like a lion, died like a dog), and to Benedict XII, who, when he died, had this epitaph made of him:

“ Hic situs est Nero, laicis leo, vipera clero:

Devins a vero, turba repleta mere.”

And the feedingplace of the young lions] Where the old ones provided prey for them till they could skill to do it for themselves; that which they would soon learn and practise, when once grown up. The Assyrian young princes were accustomed to rapine and cruelty from the first; being no better than young Tiberius, whom his tutor, Theodorus Gadareus, rightly characterized when he said, he was dirt kneaded with blood (πηλος αιματι πεφυραμενος); or than Nero the lion; of whom his father, Domitius, prophesied, that of himself and his wife, Agrippa (both notoriously naughty), no good man could be born. Mali corvi, malum ovum. The wicked ravens lay bad eggs. Of an ill breed, ne catulus quidem relinquendus, to leave not even a young dog behind, said the Romans, when they slew one of their tyrants together with his young son. It was Maximinus, if I mistake not.

Where the lion, even the old lion, walked] The courageous or hearty lion (named of Leo, a heart), walked and stalked with his whelps, and none made them afraid (Labi). But now his heart melteth, his knees knock together with fear and faintness, as #Na 2:10, his city Nineveh, that was not only spoliarium latronum, but spelunca leonum (Calv.), is how nowhere; it shall live by fame only, time shall triumph over it. God will "stain the pride of all glory, and bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth," #Isa 23:9. So Ovid. (Metam. lib. 15):

“ Clara fuit Sparte, magnae viguere Mycenae,

Vile solum Sparte est, altae cecidere Mycenae.

Oedipodioniae quid sunt nisi nomina Thebae? &c.”

Ver. 12. The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps] i.e. That which might have been enough and spare, but that they were unsatiable. So covetous they were and ravenous, that their posy might have been, Totus non sufficit orbis; their desire of more was enlarged as hell; greedy lions they were, that could never have enough, #Isa 56:11. As a ship may be overladen with gold and silver, even unto sinking, and yet have compass and sides enough to hold ten times more; so the cormorants and covetous wretches of this world though they have enough to sink them, yet never have they enough to satisfy them.

And strangled for his lionesses] i.e. For his wives and concubines, by whom they were commanded, being captivarum suarum captivi, as Plutarch saith of the Persian kings; slaves to their she-slaves, whom they enriched and adorned with the spoils of the subdued nations. Cicero, in his fifth action against Verres, saith that the kings of Persia and Syria (think the same of Assyria), as they had many wives, so they would bestow upon them whole cities for their maintenance. Antiochus, King of Syria, gave two fair cities to his concubine, #/RAPC 2Ma 4:30. Antony gave all Egypt to Cleopatra. Henry II of France gave to Diana Valentina all the confiscation of goods made in the kingdom for cause of heresy, A.D. 1554, which caused the burning of many good people. Utinam hodie non essent leaenae, saith Calvin here: It were to be wished there were not today lionesses, that can of themselves strangle and devour; but we see that there are some women that exceed all men in impudence and cruelty. The queen mother, he meant, in all likelihood, as Beza did her cruel son, Charles IX, author of the massacre, in that verse of his, made upon that new star in Cassiopeia, 1572:

“ Tu vero Herodes sanguinolente time.”

“Truly you are Herod by bloody fear.”

And filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin] His palaces with treasure, his coffers with cash, raked together by evil arts and oppressive practices. What else was the whole Assyrian empire but a great thievery? Alexander the Great was told to his teeth, that he was the greatest thief in the world. And was not Julius Caesar such another? who said, that for a kingdom’s sake right might be violated? and who robbed his country of her liberty for the satisfying of his unlawful desire of ruledom? But for whom all this? surely for those that never thanked them for anything, but fought for their spoil.

Ver. 13. Behold, I am against thee] Ecce me conira te (Hoc ecce non excitat mode sed perterrefacit). Behold, I, who am of myself a whole army of men, van and rear both, #Isa 52:12. I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts ( Deus serierum) God of order, who have all creatures at command, if need were, as auxiliaries; and can arm your forces against you, sheath your own swords in your own bowels. Woe be to those that have God against them! The Tigurine rendereth it, En me tibi hostem, &c.

And I will burn her chariots in the smoke] That is, saith Danaeus, I will burn all their munition and furniture for war, with a most bitter and soft fire, that they may be the more grieved and the more tormented thereby. Others by smoke understand the suddenness of the judgment, q.d. No sooner shall my wrath begin to kindle, but I will consume them; primo impetu, on the first assult, so soon as ever the flame beginneth to break forth, or rather before. By chariots may be also meant those that were carried in them. The Hebrew gloss here is, By smoke, that is, by a fire whose smoke is seen afar off, see #Jud 20:40. Such shall be the fire of the last day, as A Lapide here noteth out of Jerome; when all the lions and lions’ whelps, that is, all tyrants and oppressors, shall be burnt, together with all their chariots, pomps, and messengers, ac imprimis eorum dux et princeps Antichristus, and especially antichrist, their captain and chieftain. He and his Jesuits shall doubtless then be cast "alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone," #Re 19:20. Let A Lapide note that.

And the sword shall devour thy young lions] Thou shalt bring forth children to the murderer, and those that have taken the sword (though never so young) shall perish by the sword, #Mt 26:52. As a nettle stings quickly, an urchin is rough while young, and a crab soon goes backward; so sanguinary dispositions will soon discover themselves.

And I will cut off thy prey from the earth] Thou shalt be no further terrible and troublesome to the nations, whom thou hast vexed and spoiled. Of Baldwin, that apostate, one saith, that when he died, desiit simul maledicere et vivere, he ceased at once to live and to rail. And of our Henry II the chronicler writeth, that in a great distemperature against his rebellious sons he departed the world, which so often himself had distempered. Nineveh, the great huntress, was now under that woe, #Isa 33:1.

And the voice of thy messengers] Thy heralds, by whom thou hast proclaimed war, or made unreasonable demands, or laid hard laws upon other nations, or exacted grievous tributes, or published thy new victories, to keep people in awe; or lastly, blasphemed my great name, as Rabshakeh, one of thy messengers, will do, #2Ki 18:19. These shall all be silenced, an end shall be put to them and thee.

Chapter 3

Ver. 1. Woe to the bloody city] Nineveh, that delighteth in war, which one well calleth the slaughter house of mankind and hell of this present world, #Isa 9:5: the Greek word πολεβμος, war, signifieth much blood (πολυ αιμα). besides that, many murders were committed in her, and connived at, if not countenanced, by a pretence of justice. Such a sanguinary city is Rome; not only drunk with the blood of saints, but also of her own children. Brazutus, set on by Hildebrand, was the death of six popes successively within the time of thirteen years. Pope John XXII (who sat A.D. 1316) flayed a bishop, who had some way offended him, and afterwards burned him. Pope Paul III poisoned two cardinals Fulgosus and Contarenus, a bishop also, and Johannes Baptists Vergerus, because he suspected them of Lutheranism. The Italians generally, as they blaspheme oftener than they swear, so they murder more than they revile or slander. Such another city of bloods is Paris, in France; witness that barbarous massacre, wherein they poisoned the Queen of Navarre, murdered the most part of the peerless nobility of France, with their wives and children, with a great sort of the common people, 100,000 in one year, in various parts of the realm, besides 6000 gentlemen, slain there in private quarrels, within the time of ten years, as it appears by the king’s pardons. Now if the blood of one Abel had so many tongues as drops {#Ge 4:10, "the voice of thy brother’s blood’s crieth unto me,"} what shall we think will be the woe of such bloody cities and states? Luther rendereth this text, Woe to the murderous state! Austin interpreteth it of all heinous offences wherewith Nineveh was polluted. But surely if other sins have a woe hanging at their heels, according to that of #Job 10:15, "If I be wicked, woe unto me," bloody men shall have a woe with a witness, as those that walk in the way of Cain, #Jude 11: see #Eze 24:6 Hab 3:12, and remember that it was the ruin of that great city Nineveh.

It is all full of lies] Ολη ψευδης, so the Seventy render it ( universa mendacium), she is wholly made up of fraud and falsehood, mendaciorum loquacissima; no truth in her private contracts, no trust in her public transactions and capitulations with other nations; be they never so strongly concluded or never so solemnly confirmed, yet had they no longer force with them than stood with their own profit. This was fides Ninevetica, as it was afterwards Punica, and is now Turcica; which will at length prove their downfal; as it befell Nineveh and Carthage.

And robbery] Or ravage ( laceratio); such as lions exercise, #Ps 7:2. Liars are commonly thieves; fraudulence is no better than robbery. If I have beguiled any man, saith Zaccheus, I restore him fourfold, #Lu 19:8, as having wronged him no less than if I had robbed him. Hence they go here coupled. Violence is seldom sundered from cunning contrivance; in those especially that hunt after monarchy, as Nimrod, Julius Caesar, Lysander (whose counsel and practice was to eke out the lion’s hide with the fox’s skin, if need were, pellem vulpinam leoninae assuere), Jeroboam, Jehu, Herod, that fox, Julian, Caesar Borgia, whom Machiavel propounds for a pattern to princes; telling them that justice itself should not be sought after, but only the appearance; because the credit is a help, the use a cumber. That great elixir, called reason of state (though falsely so called, unless it be seasoned with justice and truth), hath so transmutative a faculty as to make copper seem gold, right wrong, and wrong right; yea, when all pleas fail, it will stand for good while there are forces to support it.

The prey departeth not] They fetch in booty continually, they spoil and prey upon others without end or measure. Once they seemed to repent of their luxury and cruelty at the preaching of Jonah; but now they are as bad again, or worse than ever. They tear in pieces (our English seems to be made of the Hebrew here), and greedily feed upon those murdering morsels of sin which they must digest in hell, without better repentance than they were ever yet acquainted with.

Ver. 2. The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels] A most elegant and lively hypotyposis, or description, of the Chaldeans coming to take Nineveh; Tam pulchra, saith Jerome, et picturae similis, ut omnis meus sermo sit vilior; So gallant and picture like a representation of an advancing army, that no words of mine can come near it. Virgil is commended for his excellent expressions suitable to the matter he treateth of; as when he sets forth the cutting down of trees, by— Sonat icta securibus ilex; the ferryman’s trade, by— fremit ictibus aerea puppis; the gliding of his boat, by— Labitur uncta vadis abies, &c. But all this is but dull stuff to the divine rhetoric here to be read. Let those that refuse to hear God’s sweet words fear lest they be forced to hear the noise of the whip, the rattling of the wheels, &c., #Ps 7:12,13 Lu 19:42,44 Pr 1:24. The enemy is sent to revenge the quarrel of God’s covenant; the red horse is at the heels of the white, #Re 6:4.

Ver. 3. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword] Heb. The flame of the sword, brandished against the sun, which maketh it seem flaming. Such a sword is man’s tongue, thin, broad, long, and of a red fiery colour. See #Ps 42:10 44:3 Pr 12:18. David cries out of this murdering weapon in his bones, whereby they killed him alive, as with a tuck, or rapier, and buried him in their throats, those gaping graves, open sepulchres.

And the glittering spear] Heb. The lightning of the spear, because of its bright and swift motion. Thus the prophet, perpetuis metaphoris et periphrasibus luxuriat (as one saith of Apuleius), aboundeth with rhetorical expressions and continued metaphors. Bajazet, the Great Turk, for his valour and skill in handling his arms was surnamed Gilderum, or lightning.

And there is a multitude of slain] So that it is not fulgur ex vitro, an empty terror, a bare fright only, as a fool’s dagger, that rattleth and snappeth, but without an edge. Vide bis effectum. See here the sad effect, lo, the tragedy represented, behold a multitude of slain, and a great number of caresses. This the prophet spake, not with any delight, further than made for the glory of God and the Church’s deliverance; but that he may set forth by this example what they must look for that imitate Ninevites in their practices; for sin ever ends tragically; and God is still the same, as he is set forth #Na 1:2. I wonder, saith Cicero to Verres, that thou shunnest not their vices whose fearful ends thou art much afraid of: Miror te quorum mores imitaris eorum exitus non perhorrescere (Cic.). And St Ambrose, closing up the sad story of Ahab and Jezebel, whom God destroyed for their wickedness, Fuge ergo dives eiusmodi exitum, saith he, Tremble at such dismal ends, and be careful to avoid them. Such ends ye shall avoid if ye carefully flee from such flagitious practices.

And a great number of caresses] Heb. The heaviness of dead caresses, which lie so thick that the earth seemeth to groan under the burden of them.

There is none end of their corpses] That lie on heaps like so many mountains; as they did after the fight between Amarath, King of Turks, and Lazarus, Despot of Servia, which, while Amurath took a view of, he was suddenly stabbed to death by a half-dead soldier, starting up from among the carcases.

They stumble upon their corpses] And afterwards, perhaps, use them instead of stools and tables, as the Swissers did the Thuricenses, their adversaries, A.D. 1443, banqueting in the place where they won the victory.

Ver. 4. Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot] Specious, and therefore gracious with her paramours; of a fair countenance, but foul condition; like Aurelia Orestilla, that had beauty, but no good property, Cuius prater formam nihil unquam bonus laudavit (Sallust.). Chrysippus called beauty the flower of virtue; but that is not generally true. Diogenes saw cause to say to some fair women in his time, O quam bona domus, sed malus hospes, Here is a fair house, but an ill inhabitant. Nineveh is the well favoured harlot here spoken of; her very name signifieth a fair habitation. Jerome and others interpret it, she was indeed urbs formosa et famosa, fair and famous, but foolish and filthy. Meretrix meretricissima; she multiplied her whoredoms, both corporal and spiritual; for these are seldom sundered; as we see in that once well favoured, but now withered, whore of Rome, #Re 17:1. Roma inverted is amor ; preposterous love, unnatural filthiness, is there as commonly practised as idolatry. And as a common harlot paints and decks herseff to please her lovers, so did Nineveh, so doth Rome in her pompous and men-pleasing worships. I have read of a lady in Paris, that when she saw the bravery of a procession to a saint she cried out, Oh, how fine is our religion beyond that of the Huguenots! And Sir Walter Raleigh was wont to say, that were he to choose a religion for fleshly liberty and lasciviousness, he would choose Popery, which is indeed an alluring, tempting, bewitching religion, none like it.

The mistress of witchcrafts] Harlots are many of them enchantresses; and have their philtra, their love potions, wherewith to ensnare men, and to draw them on to lewdness, and to take away their hearts, #Ho 4:11. Athenaeus brings in Plato bewailing himself, that he was taken so much with a filthy harlot. And Aelian tells of a whore that boasted to Socrates that she could easily get followers from him, not he from her. Of Samson and Hercules (whom some think to have been the same) those two verses verified,

“ Nam potuit lenam, potuit superare leaenam:

Quem fera non potuit vincere; vicit hera.”

Think the same of idolatry also, and of those sorceries, whereby the purple whore hath deceived all nations, as St John (in allusion to this place) saith of her, #Re 18:23; for in that book of the Revelation the Holy Ghost borrows all the elegance and flowers in the story of the Old Testament, thereby to set out the story of the New in succeeding ages.

That selleth nations through her whoredoms] Maketh prize of them, as those impostors did, #2Ti 3:6, and then make sale of them as her slaves, #2Pe 2:3, or otherwise use them at her pleasure, as homely as the whore of Babylon now doth those her slaves and souls of men, #Re 18:13, whom she sits upon, even upon peoples, nations, multitudes, and tongues, #Re 17:15, tyrannizing over their consciences, and appointing them to very mean offices, as that posture of hers, in sitting upon them, seemeth to import.

Ver. 5. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord] And I need say no more, wert thou but sensible of thy misery herein. Be not thou a terror to me, O Lord, saith Jeremiah, and then let what will else befall me, I shall the better bear it. Do not you fall upon me yourselves, said Samson to his countrymen that came to bind him; and then for the Philistines I shall order them well enough, #Jud 15:12: so saith the good soul, Let not God set against me. Tyrants and oppressors shall be sure to have him their enemy; and this he tells them here again and again, to beat down their vain confidence in their greatness, whereby they think to bear down all before them.

And I will discover thy skirts upon thy face] i.e. I will turn up thy clothes about thy ears, and so show to all thine utter disgrace, a fit punishment for so filthy a harlot, #Isa 47:3 Jer 13:22 Eze 16:37.

And I will show the nations thy nakedness] Which nature teacheth to cover; therefore when a man hath committed a sin he blusheth, the blood, as it were, would cover the sin, that mother of shame: #Re 3:18, that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear. The whore of Babylon is, and more and more shall be, served on this sort, #Re 17:16. Before God ye are all bare souled, said Mr Philpot, martyr, to the Popish synod, before whom he was convented. The kings of the earth shall make Rome desolate and naked. Luther and many other Protestant writers have done it already by laying her open in her colours to the world, taking the same boldness and liberty to discover her lewdness that she did to commit it.

And the kingdoms thy shame] Who shall therehence slight thee and hate thee, together with all thy policies and superstitions, whereby thou hast enslaved them.

Ver. 6. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee] As they do chamber pots and worse upon harlots that are carted. I have read of a heathen people that put the adulterers’ and adulteresses’ heads into the paunch of a beast, where all the filth lieth, and so stifled them to death.

And make thee vile] Conspurcabo, deturpabo te, I will bespattle thee and make thee stink above ground, as loathsome carrion doth: so the word signifieth. It was long since complained of by one of her own sons, that the stench of the Church of Rome was gone up to heaven. And by another, that of gold she was become silver, of silver iron, of iron earth, superesse ut in stercus abiret, and now there remained no more, but that she should be looked upon as dung. Accordingly it followeth:

And I will set thee as a gazingstock] The Septuagint render it, for an example (εις παραδειγμα), others, a lookingglass, but Calvin (after R. Salomon and Aben Ezra), ponam te quasi stercus, I will set thee as dung, which men gladly look beside. Luther rendereth it Ponam te in terriculamentum, I will make thee a bugbear. All this was done to Nineveh, that great city, and all was done by God, not by fate or fortune, or any necessity of nature, that states and kingdoms must have their times and their turns, their rise and their ruin, as politicians dote.

Ver. 7. And it shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee] Thou shalt be a very Magormissabib, a terror to all that are round about thee, so that they shall decline thee and stand aloof off. Resilient a te, they shall leap back from thee (saith the Vulgate translation), as if they had trod upon a snake. Ubi simul hominum mores exprimit, saith Gualther. This is the manner of most people: they measure friendship by profit, and shamefully forsake those in adversity whom they were wont to follow and fawn upon in prosperity. David complains of such dealing, and Ovid, and many others, Tempora si fuerint nubila solus eris. Cum fortuna petit nullus amicus erit.

And say, Nineveh is laid waste] Which most men held impossible, and never looked to have seen such a day. So Rome was called Aurea golden and Aeterna eternal, and the Romans once thought (as it is said Dionysius did) that the monarchy of the world had been tied unto them with chains of adamant. But God confuted their golden dreams by breaking their empire, and giving up their city six different times in one hundred and thirty-nine years into the hands of the barbarians, who exercised therein all kinds of cruelty. Besides that, it is observed that Rome since it became Papal was never besieged by any enemy, but it was taken. The final ruin of it is daily expected, according to that prophecy of St John, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen," #Re 18:2, and that other of Sibylla before recited,

“ Tota eris in cineres; quasi nunquam Roma fuisses.”

Who will bemoan her?] Heb. Who will move (his lips) for her. Some perhaps will shake his head or shoot his bolt at her; but none open his mouth to bemoan her. It was the just hand of God to set off all hearts and shut up all mouths from her, that had been so unreasonably merciless and hard hearted, #La 2:13.

Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?] q.d. So odious thou art that none will do thee that good office; or if they would, so calamitous thou art that no comfort will fasten. For as to sore eyes the gentlest medicine is troublesome, so is comfort ministered to such as are in a hopeless condition. The ear that tasteth words as the mouth doth meat is at such a time embittered and out of taste.

Ver. 8. Art thou better than populous No] Heb. No Amon, a great grain country, and therefore populous; for where victual and good trading is to be had thither people will repair apace. No (that is Alexandria) was the nursing mother of Egypt (Amon, i.e. Nutritia Alma mater), and Egypt was called the world’s barn or storehouse, horreum unde hauriatur, #Ge 42:1. It is called, #Jer 46:25, Amon de No; #Eze 30:13, Hamon No; and #Eze 30:14,16, No, without any addition. This was the old name of this city before it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, to whom God had given Egypt as his pay for his pains in taking Tyre. It was rebuilt by Alexander the Great, and he called it, after his own name, Alexandria. Amon it was called for the reasons above given. Though there be those who fetch that name of it from Ham, the son of Noah, Theodoret will have it so called from Jupiter Hammon, whose son Alexander desired to be held, and from whom the Egyptian husbandmen were called Ammonii, and their arable Ammonia, as Herodotus writes. Plutarch also telleth us that the Africans worship an unknown God by the name of Amon, that is (in their language) Heus, tu quis es? This city, therefore, is called No Amon, probably to distinguish it from other cities of the same name, as Alexandria of Egypt, Caesarea of Philippi, Augusta Vindclicorum, &c. Josephus saith that it abounded in people and wealth; being little less than Jerusalem in size (Lib. 2, de Bell. Jud., cap. 16). Thinkest thou now, O Nineveh (saith God here), that thou art in a better or safer condition than this city once was? but

“ Iam magnum infelix nil nisi nomen habet.”

Let Nineveh go to Jerusalem, to Shiloh, #Jer 7:12, and do as Scipio did when, beholding the downfall of Carthage, he foresaw and bewailed the like future destiny of Rome, his own country, Succurrat illud, mutato nomine de to fabula narratur.

That was situate among the rivers] Which is held the best situation for profit, pleasure, and strength.

That had the waters round about it] The river Nile surrounded it (saith Strabo), but could not mote it up from God’s fire. See #Ps 33:17 Pr 21:30. {See Trapp on "Ps 33:17"} {See Trapp on "Pr 21:30"}

Whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?] She had the Egyptian sea on one side and the lake of Mareotis on the other, which the Hebrews called the sea.

Ver. 9. Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength] No was the metropolis of Egypt, and knew no end of her power, as bearing rule over Ethiopia the strong and Egypt the infinite, Chus valida et Egyptii infiniti (some read this text), and as having all the rest of the peoples inhabiting Africa and Libya for her confederates. See #Jer 46:9, where the prophet speaketh of such people as brought aid to Egypt against the Chaldees, but were foiled and worsted. Of the huge armies that Ethiopia was able to raise see #2Ch 14:9 16:8. Egypt for her strength was called Rahab, #Ps 87:4 89:10 that is, mighty and proud.

Put and Lubim were thy helpers] By Put Jerome understandeth Africa (which was over beside Alexandria, the sea between), a waste continent, thrice as big as Europe; and by Lubim Libya, a considerable part of that continent sometimes put for the whole. These would have been helpers to No, but could not; because overpowered by Nebuchadnezzar, sent against them by God. Leagues entered into with wicked men profit not those whom God will punish. The Grecian Churches, A.D. 1438, being afraid of the Turks, sent and subjected themselves to the Bishop of Rome, that they might have the help of the Latin Churches; but shortly after they were destroyed, and their empire subdued, and swallowed up in the Turkish greatness. It is gathered by some out of #Re 16:14-16, that the Pope and his adherents shall, towards the end of the world, for the restoring of his decayed authority, call in the help not only of Popish princes, but of foreign states, out of Asia, Africa, and America, to suppress the heretics (as they call us) and to root out religion; but with evil success, for they shall associate themselves only to be broken in pieces, #Isa 8:9; these auxiliaries, shall, speed no better than those subsidiary Syrians did, #2Sa 10:18,19; they shall receive a famous foil at Armageddon, such as Sisera did at the waters of Megiddo, #Jud 5:19, and a voice from the throne shall say, "It is done," #Na 3:16,17.

Ver. 10. Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity] Whereof though there be no other record, yet we ought not to doubt the truth, since it is here alleged by the Holy Ghost, as a thing either done before or shortly after to be done, as may be probably gathered from #Jer 46:25 Eze 30:19,21 cf. Jer 20:5 44:28. To God (by reason of the vastness of his being) all things are present. As he that stands on a high mountain, and looks down, though to the passenger that goes by some are before some behind, yet to him they are all present; so here.

Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets] A terrible spectacle to those that passed by; who were to look for little mercy, when children, in whom there is so little guile or gall, and who are usually favoured for their innocence and ignoscence, met with such hard measure. {See Trapp on "Ho 13:16"} War is an evil, #Isa 45:7, such as no words (how wide soever) can sufficiently set forth. Bellum a belluis.

And they cast lots for her honourable men] Whether so for age or authority; the dice were cast on them for slaves, as #Ob 11. A great alteration on the sudden. Tamerlane’s coach horses were conquered kings; Adonibezek’s dogs, seventy kings, gathering crumbs under his table; Sapores used the Emperor Valerian for a footstool; Croesus, carried captive by Cyrus, cries out, "O Solon, O Solon"; Gelimer: led in triumph by Belisarius, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," and calls to him for a crust to relieve him, a cittern to solace him, and sponge to dry his eyes with (Procop. lib. ii de Belle Vandal.).

“ Omnia sunt hominum tenui pendentia file:

Et subito casu, quae valuere, ruunt.”

Henry IV, Emperor of Germany, after 10 years’ reign was deposed; and by his enemies, driven to that exigent, that he desired only a clerkship in a house at Spire, of his own founding; which was barbarously, by the bishop of that place, denied him. Our Henry VI, that had been the most potent monarch for dominions that ever England had, was, when deposed, not the master of a molehill nor of his own liberty, but beaten and wounded, &c., to show that mortality is but the stage of mutability, when "they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills," #La 4:5.

Bound in chains] Not of gold, as Zenobia was; but of iron, as the word signifieth.

Ver. 11. Thou also shalt be drunken] sc. with the cup of the wine of God’s wrath; #Jer 25:27 thou shalt "drink, and be drunken, and spue and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you." This is that κοινος μεθη, dry drunkenness of them that are "drunk, but not with wine," #Isa 51:21; of them that remember their affliction and their misery, the wormwood and the gall, #La 3:19. If the saints sip sometimes of the top of God’s cap, the wicked shall drink deep of it; yea, though it be eternity to the bottom.

Thou shalt be hid] Or, thou shalt lurk, either for fear of the enemy (who wast once above fear, and thine enemies below hope), or for shame of thine undone condition. See #Re 6:16 Lu 23:30 Ho 10:8. Or, thou shalt vanish, and be brought to nothing; as if there never had been any such. Confer #Ob 16. Nineveh nothing else now, saith one who had been there, but a sepulchre of herself, a little town of small trade, where the patriarch of the Nestorians keeps his seat at the devotion of the Turk.

Thou shalt also seek strength because of the enemy] Or, from the enemy; beg help of them, to whom thou wouldest once have scorned to be beholden; or of them against whom thou hast professed and practised open hostility.

Ver. 12. All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees] i.e. Tam infirma ac si ficulnea essent. Look how the fig tree casteth her untimely (or green) figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind, #Re 6:13; yea, though it be but of a gentle wind, if the figs be ripe, as here, they fall with little ado; so shall thy munitions, wherein thou trustest.

They shall even fall into the mouth of the eater] That is, of the Chaldean, who gape for thy destruction, and desires nothing more than to revel in thy ruins. They shall take thy fortresses as easily as Timotheus did towns, which were said to come into his toils while he slept, Aemuli ipsius dormientem pinxerant, &c. (Plut. in Sulla). Or, as Charles V, who in twenty-eight battles in America, waged by his Generals Cortez and Pizarro, won twenty-eight kingdoms.

Ver. 13. Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women] i.e. Fearful and faint hearted; ‘Αχηιδες ουκετ Αχαιοι. See #Isa 3:12 Jer 51:30 48:41. And this in the midst of thee, where they should be most valiant, like cocks on their own dunghills, as they say. Lo, those that formerly faced the heavens, and, by a cyclopical kind of impiety, slighted God, and dared the devil to a duel, how crestfallen they are and courageless when the enemy is upon them; the noise of a driven leaf frightens them, #Le 26:36; a panic terror seizes upon them, as it did once upon the Syrians, #2Ki 7:15, and upon the Imperialists, in the war against the Hussites, so that they could not strike a stroke; and upon the Burgundians, who, expecting a battle, thought long thistles were lances, and turned their backs, with those Ephraimites, #Ps 78:9. It is God that puts mettle into men, that strengthens or weakens the arm of either party, #Eze 30:24. These lions, as they are called #Na 2:12, that formerly rushing out of Nineveh, their den, filled it with ravine, tearing and spoiling all they met with, are now become harts and stags; that have great horns, but do nothing with them, quia deest animus, because they lack courage; or as those Eretrians, of whom Themistocles said, that they were like the sword fish, that had a sword indeed, but not a heart to make use of it (Plutarch).

The gates of thy land shall be set wide open] Thy frontier towns and five ports, those keys of the kingdom, aperiendo aperientur, shall open to give the enemy entrance; as at the siege of Jerusalem the iron gate opened of its own accord.

The fire shall devour thy barns] Because God, who is a consuming fire, shall remove out of the enemies’ way all obstacles and impediments; so that all shall be pervious and patent to them. Fire God had threatened once before, #Na 2:13, and it may very well be that the gates were fired without a metaphor. See #Na 3:15.

Ver. 14. Draw thee waters for the siege, &c.] A most bitter and biting taunt, or mock ( sarcasmus), whereby the prophet laugheth to scorn the fortifications of the Ninevites and their diligence and providence in defending themselves, which shall nothing avail them, because God will curse their enterprises, #Ps 127:1,2: see the like sarcasm #Na 2:1. In those eastern countries there was a great scarcity of water. Draw thee good store, for the better holding out the siege; for if water fail thee thou must needs yield.

Fortify thy strong holds] But they shall soon fail thee, #Na 3:12, as the tower of Shechem did those that fled to it, and as the strong hold of Zion did the braving Jebusites, #2Sa 5:7. If God be against us no other help can relieve us. Brass and iron can fence a man against a sword, but not against fire.

Go into clay, and tread the morter] viz. To make brick of. For in maritime and moorish places, where stones are not to be had, they used to wall their cities and make their munitions with brick. This proud Nineveh is commanded here to do, by an irony, as Theophylact noteth; but she shall but labour in the very fire, take pains to no purpose; for God will destroy the works of her hands, #Ec 5:6.

Make strong the brickkiln] Or repair it, that all may be ready. And these things they did, no doubt, very diligently; neither were they for that to be blamed. But this was their fault, as it was also the fault of the Jews in like case, #Isa 22:8-11, that "they looked not to the Maker of all, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago." This, if they had done seriously, though they had made less preparation, the enemy might have been daunted and dismayed as much as that Duke of Saxony was, who, having proclaimed war against the Bishop of Magdeburg, and understanding by his intelligencers that the bishop levied no army, made no preparation, but only gave out that he would commit his cause to God, who would not fail to take up arms for him. Insaniat alius, said the duke, It were a mad prank for me to make war upon such a one that trusteth in God to right and revenge him. Let who will meddle with such a man: I will not (Bucholcer, Chronol.).

Ver. 15. There shall the fire devour thee] There, that is, in thy strongholds, where thou thinkest thyself most safe. These shall be to thee pro carcere et pistrino, for a prison, or little ease; when the fire of God’s wrath shall kindle upon thee the fire of war shall consume thee. See #Am 1:4 Joe 1:19 2:3,30 Am 7:4. {See Trapp on "Am 1:4"} {See Trapp on "Joe 1:19"} {See Trapp on "Joe 2:3"} {See Trapp on "Joe 2:30"} {See Trapp on "Am 7:4"} Evil shall hunt the violent man to destroy him, #Ps 140:11, neither must he think to be safe anywhere from Divine vengeance, #Am 9:2,3 Ps 139:7-10 Ob 4; which will not suffer them to live, as those Barbarians could tell, #Ac 28:4. The heathens called Nemesis, or Vengeance, Αδραστεια, to show that no guilty person could shun it. Shuffle he may for a season from side to side, as Balaam’s ass did, to avoid the angel’s sword, #Nu 22:27, but at length lay down under it, and so condemned her master’s madness, #2Pe 2:16. Running into God is the only best way to escape him; as to close and get in with him that would strike you doth avoid the blow.

The sword shall cut thee off] Est haec vehemens plane comminatio, saith Gualther. This is truly a very vehement threat. See how thick it falls, like hail shot upon them, that they can hardly take breath; and all too little to work upon their hard hearts, which could not repent. These uncounselable Ninevites were like the smith’s dog; whom neither the hammers above him nor the sparks of fire falling round about him can awake. Like leviathan, they esteemed iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. Darts were counted by them as stubble, they laughed at the shaking of the spear, #Job 41:27,29. It is proper to God’s people to tremble at his word, to stand in awe of his judgments, while they yet hang in the threatenings. Wicked men laugh when they should fear; and say in their hearts when God threateneth them, as Frederick II, Emperor of Germany, was wont to say openly, in the greatest threatening of his enemies, Minarum strepitus, Asinorum crepitus. The noise of theatenings, the rustlings of asses.

It shall eat thee up as the cankerworm] Which useth to make quick despatch and clean work, see #Joe 1:1-2:32, to shear all before it.

Make thyself many] Heb. weighty with multitude; so that the axletree of the earth may seem to groan under thy grandeur and massiness. Do this thou, O King of Nineveh (for the Hebrew verb here is masculine). Do the like thou, O city of Nineveh.

Make thyself many as the locusts] Which hath its name in Hebrew from multitude; because, as that legion in the Gospel, they are many: and here the Hebrew verb is feminine. Ministers must lay about them on all hands; and be ready to turn themselves, as it were, into all shapes and fashions, both of speech and spirit, to bring people to the knowledge of God and his will, of themselves and their duties.

Ver. 16. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven] And so thinkest to have a stake in store howsoever the dice chance to turn. For these merchants were very rich, and could furnish her with money, which is the sinews of war. Besides, they traded far and near; and so could give intelligence, and if need were, waylay and intercept the enemies’ contributions, that it came not to them. But would you know, saith the prophet, how these merchants will serve you at your greatest need?

The cankerworm spoileth and fleeth away] q.d. They will serve themselves upon you and then leave you in the lurch, to make as good shift as you can. They are mere cankerworms, which first eat up all, and then haste away. These false friends, well, they may be the causes, but companions they will not be, of your calamity; like crows that flock to a dead carcass, not to defend it, but to devour it; and no sooner have they bared the bones but they are gone. Such false merchants as these hath this land been much pestered with from Rome in former ages. Matthew Paris telleth us of one Florentinus, the Pope’s delegate here, in King John’s reign, Ferentinus the wiser sort called him, for bearing away so much money; and of another named Otto, one of the Pope’s merchants, or rather mice catchers ( Muscipulatores), as he calleth them, who after three years’ raking together of money, by most detestable arts, at last departing hence, to avoid a storm, he left not so much money in the whole kingdom as he either carried with him or sent to Rome before him. In the year 1235 there were spread through England certain Roman cankerworms, called Caursim (quasi capientes ursi, devouring bears, quoth Paris), who had entangled the king, nobles, and all others that had to deal with the court of Rome, in their cunning snares and usurious practices, under colour of supplying with money such as wanted present pay to the Pope. These were called the Pope’s merchants, saith Speed.

Ver. 17. Thy crowned are as the locusts] i.e. Thy barons (saith Diodati) and great lords, wearing diadems and wreaths, in token of dignity; such a Nazarite (that is the Hebrew word here) was Joseph, #Ge 49:26, because separate and exempt from other men, as a chieftain. Calvin likewise rendereth it, thy princes; the Vulgate Latin, thy keepers; some others, thy Nazarites, or thy religious persons, set apart from the common sort to pray for the city’s safety. Such were those chemarims, or chimney chaplains, among the Jews, #Ho 10:5 Zep 1:4; such are the mailers among the Turks, who call them the religious brothers of love; and the shaveling mendicants among the Papists. These locusts are, #Re 9:7, said to have on their heads as it were crowns like gold.

And thy captains as the great grasshoppers] Heb. as the grasshoppers of grasshoppers, by a Hebraism, like that King of kings, Song of songs, &c. The word rendered captains is foreign; R. David and others render it, Imperator, Dux, Princeps. It seemeth to be a name of dignity among the Assyrians, as Zaphnathpaaneah was among the Egyptians, #Ge 41:45. These are called grasshoppers and locusts, for their uselessness and fearfulness.

Which camp in the hedges] sc. Of the gardens or vineyards, and they are said to camp, in regard of their multitudes, as if they were an army of them. See Joel ii. The prophet taxeth here Nineveh’s vain confidence in her confederates and such other hangers on, as might truly say,

“ Nos numeri sumus, fruges consumere nati.,”

We are men of no great moment, such as Aristophanes in Plutarch prettily played upon, when he said, ταμιαι λαμιαι, i.e. quaestores bubones. treasurers of eagles.

But when the sun ariseth they flee away] So these trencher flies, when they have served their own turns upon thee, and now see the tempest of war growing on amain, they worship the rising sun, keep themselves on the warm side of the hedge, leave thee to shift as thou canst, and seek out for themselves a better fortune.

Ver. 18. Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria] This apostrophe to the king is emphatic. He is given to know that his nobles and officers, #Mic 5:4-6 7:14, his councillors of state, and greatest politicians, should be benighted, and not know what counsel to give or course to take. Or, they slumber, that is, they are dead, as #Ps 77:6. And this is more agreeable to that which followeth:

Thy nobles shall dwell in the dust] The Vulgate hath it sepelientur, shall be buried. Others, iacebunt, shall lie on the ground, like beasts, through fear and consternation of mind: #1Sa 28:20, "Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid."

Thy people is scattered upon the mountains] Diffused and dispersed abundantly; as sheep without a shepherd, whereof none being wiser than other, no man gathereth them into the sheep cotes of better order.

Ver. 19. There is no healing of thy bruise] Clades et strages tua irreparabilis est. Thy disease is desperate, thy condition comfortless; thou art utterly to be destroyed. When God smiteth his own people it may well be asked, as #Isa 27:7, "Hath he smitten him as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?" Surely no; there is a manifest difference. "He hath torn," saith the Church, "and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up," #Ho 6:1. Hence that distinction of punishment, or pain, in condemnantem, et corrigentem, in poenam vindictae, et poenam medelae. Afflictions and temporal evils are in the nature, to the wicked of a curse, to the godly of a cure; to the former mortal, to the latter medicinal. "When the wicked spring as grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish," it is not for any goodwill that God beareth to them; but "it is that they shall be destroyed for ever," #Ps 92:7.{see Trapp on "Na 1:9"}

Thy wound is grievous] Not only incurable, but full of anguish intolerable. Thus, "many sorrows shall be to the wicked," #Ps 32:10, and yet all that they suffer here is but as drops of wrath, forerunning the great storm in hell; or as a crack, preceding the fall of the whole house upon them: the leaves only fall on them here; there, the whole tree.

All that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands, &c.] As rejoicing at thy ruin, and subscribing to God’s just judgment upon thee; they shall take up this taunting speech against thee, and say, "How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers," &c. #Isa 14:4-7.

For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?] "Thy wickedness," that is, thy wicked counsels, edicts, enterprises, have they not extended far and near for mischief to many nations? and this not for a little while, but jugiter, continually? It hath been thy constant trade from thy youth up ( neque enim nova est aut nupera haec tua crudelitas) to waste and weary out other nations with thine inroads and hostilities. The destruction therefore is of thyself, O Nineveh; the insultations, and complosions of others at thy misery, is no more than thou hast merited. Os quod in sorte tua ceciderit, illud rodas, as the Arabian proverb hath it. Bear the reward of thy wickedness, which is now come home to thee; thy wickedness is the root of thy wretchedness: this the prophet here repeateth and inculcateth in the perclose; that he may leave it as a sting in the minds of his hearers, as Gualther well observeth.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3