Your treading; their oppression was more than ordinarily proud and tyrannous, expressed here by treading. It was very heavy on the poor, an effect of fraud, and executed with tyrannical insolence, as the word and its paraphrase imports. Is upon the poor, who have not power to withstand your violence, nor money to buy your friendship. Ye take from him, receive when offered, and ye force them to offer, you extort from the poor, burdens of wheat; great quantities of best wheat, on which the poor should live, either making bread of it to feed them, or else making money of it to serve other occasions. It is not said what burden, but probably as much as the poor man was able to carry. Ye have built houses; perhaps these corrupt judges had built for their children; so one greedy and ravenous judge might build as many houses as he had sons, or these judges being many, had built many houses. Of hewn stone; intimating the greatness, beauty, and strength of them, and they flatter themselves that they and their posterity shall long dwell at ease and multiply in these goodly houses. But ye shall not dwell in them; you by oppression build, but God will by his just hand, and by the Assyrians violence, turn you out of those houses, and make you captives in a land where your enemies please to carry you, you shall find that, Deuteronomy 28:30, fulfilled on you. Pleasant vineyards; most desirable for situation, for fruitfulness, for sweetness and goodness of the grape; every way delightful. But ye shall not drink wine of them; either they shall not bear, or the enemy shall devour, or you shall be carried away into captivity. The threat, Deuteronomy 28:39, shall be executed.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising