Fill ye up then the measure, &c.— That is, the measure of your fathers' sin, (the measure fixed upon by God for punishment.) See John 13:27. This expression implies, that there is a certain measure fixed for every nation to which its iniquity is allowed to rise; and that before decisive punishment, amounting to excision, or to the entire overturn of their polity, is inflicted on nations, the measure of their iniquity, or of that of their rulers, must be filled up, by the succeeding generations adding to the iniquity of the preceding, till the measure is full; an idea which receives great countenance from Genesis 15:16. According to Glassius, and other critics,— και πληρωσατε, is here the imperative for the future,—you will fill up; but it may be understood as a word of permission, not of command. As if our Lord had said, "I contend with you no longer; I leave you to yourselves; you have conquered; you may now follow the devices of your own hearts."

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