_The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel_ Or, _toward Israel;_ that is, as some interpret it, the prophecy which containeth the words of the Lord to Israel. _Saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens_ Who hath spread out the heavens to such a vast extent. _And layeth the foundation of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling_ “An inebriating and stupifying potion of the strongest liquor and drugs. Jerusalem shall strike the nations with dread and astonishment.” _When they shall be in the siege_ “A future siege, after the final restoration of the Jews.” Newcome. See on Ze... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone_ Jerusalem is here compared to a stone of great weight, which, being too heavy for those who attempted to lift it up, or remove it, falls back upon them and crushes them to pieces. St. Jerome, in a note on the place, speaks of an exercise, which, he says, wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that day_ This expression, in the prophetical writings, is of large extent, and not only signifies that particular point of time last spoken of, but some time afterward. _I will smite every horse with astonishment_ Many commentators explain this of the victories which Judas Maccabæus gained over... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that day will I make the governors of Judah like a hearth of fire_, &c. The word may be rendered, _a pot._ The Arabs, according to Harmer, (vol. 1. p. 233,) make a fire in a great stone pitcher, and when it is heated, spread paste upon it, which is baked almost in an instant. By _a hearth of fir... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord shall save the tents of Judah first_ Some MSS. and versions read כראשׁנה, _as at the first;_ “but the meaning here is, that God would save the tents of Judah first, or previously to any other; and for this the reason immediately follows, that the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerus... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem _ Not only Jerusalem itself from being taken and destroyed, but all the inhabitants of it from being in any way injured: he will not only be a wall of fire about the city to fortify it, but he will compass particular persons with his fa... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I will pour_, &c. God's signal interposition in behalf of Judah and Jerusalem, after their future restoration, having been foretold, the prophet proceeds to foretel their conversion to Christianity. But though the prophet speaks of this after he has foretold their restoration, it does not follo... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that day_ When the Jews shall mourn for their sins, and for that great sin, the crucifying the Lord of glory; _there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem_ A mourning expressed by the greatest the Jews ever experienced, the mourning for Josiah slain in Hadadrimmon, a town in the valley of _Megi... [ Continue Reading ]