thee of wine and of strong drink;
he shall even be the prophet of
this people.

of Israel. A. M. eir. 2374.

B. C. cir.

A. U. C. cir. 24,

Romuli, R. Roman..

cir. annum 24.

12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the. remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

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13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

y Or, walk with the wind, and lie falsely.- -Ezek. xiii. 3, a Chap. iv. 6, 7. Jer. xxxi. 10. Ezek. xxxvi. 37. d Hos. iii. 5. e Isa. lii. 12. Some think this is an exhortation to the godly, to leave a land that was to be destroyed so speedily.

Verse 11. If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood] The meaning is: If a man who professes to be Divinely inspired do lie, by prophesying of plenty, &c., then such a person shall be received as a true prophet by this people. It not unfrequently happens that the Christless worldling, who has got into the priest's office for a maintenance, and who leaves the people undisturbed in their unregenerate state, is better received than the faithful pastor, who proclaims the justice of the Lord, and the necessity of repentance and forsaking sin, in order to their being made partakers of that holiness without which no man shall see God.

Verse 8. My people is risen up as an enemy] Ye are not only opposed to me, but ye are enemies to each other. Ye rob and spoil each other. Ye plunder the peaceable passenger; depriving him both of his upper and under garment; ye pull off the robe from those who, far from being spoilers themselves, are averse from war. Verse 9. The women of my people] Ye are the cause of the women and their children being carried into captivity-separated from their pleasant habitations, and from my temple and ordinances and from Verse 12. I will surely assemble] This is a promise the blessings of the covenant, which it is my glory to of the restoration of Israel from captivity. He comgive, and theirs to receive. These two verses may pares them to a flock of sheep rushing together to their probably relate to the war made on Ahaz by Rezin, fold, the hoofs of which make a wonderful noise or king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel. They fell clatter. So when one hundred sheep run, eight suddenly upon the Jews; killed in one day one hun- hundred toes. or divisions of these bifid animals dred and twenty thousand, and took two hundred thou- | make a clattering noise. This appears to be the sand captive; and carried away much spoil. Thus, they rose up against them as enemies, when there was peace between the two kingdoms; spoiled them of their goods, carried away men, women, and children, till, at the remonstrances of the prophet Oded, they were released. See 2 Chron. xxviii. 6, &c. Micah lived in the days of Ahaz, and might have seen the barbarities which he here describes.

Verse 10. Arise ye, and depart] Prepare for your captivity; ye shall have no resting place here: the very land is polluted by your iniquities, and shall vomit you out, and it shall be destroyed; and the destruction of it shall be great and sore.

image.

Verse 13. The breaker is come up] He who is to give them deliverance, and lead them out on the way of their return. He who takes down the hurdles, or makes a gap in the wall or hedge, to permit them to pass through. This may apply to those human agents that shall permit and order their return. And Jehovah being at their head, may refer to their final restoration, when the Lord Jesus shall become their leader, they having returned unto him as the shepherd and bishop of their souls; and they and the Gentiles forming one fold under one shepherd, to go no more out into captivity for ever. Lord, hasten the time!

CHAPTER III.

In this chapter the prophet inveighs with great boldness and spirit against the princes and prophets of Judah ; and foretells the destruction of Jerusalem as the consequence of their iniquity, 1–12. The last verse was fulfilled to a certain extent by Nebuchadnezzar ; but most fully and literally by the Romans under Titus. See Josephus.

MICAH.

AMC cir. 3294. AND I said, Hear, I pray you, teth not into their mouths, they O heads of Jacob, and ye even prepare war against him: 6 Therefore night shall be Is it not for you to know judg-unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their m lips; " for there is no answer of God. 8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

Verse 10. They buni xg. Even with blood] They kidgeshu alaw milchaman. The might cry out loed'y azust that butchery practised thep by Pekah, king of Israel, and Pal, coadjutor of Rezin,

11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: " yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among

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Heb. bloods. Isa. i. 23; Ezek. xxii. 12; Hos. iv 18; chap. vii. 3. Jer. vi. 13.- Isa. xlviii. 2; Jer. vii. 4; Rom. ii. 17.

I do not know a text more applicable than this to slave-dealers; or to any who have made their fortunes by such wrongs as affect the life of man; especially the former, who by the gains of this diabolic traffic have built houses, &c.; for, following up the prophet's metaphor, the timbers, &c., are the bones of the hapless Africans; and the mortar, the blood of the defenceless progeny of Ham. What an account must all those. who have any hand in of profit from this detestable, degrading, and inhuman traffic, give to him who will shortly judge the quick and dead!

Verse 11. The heads thereof judge for reward] This does not apply to the regular law officers, who have their proper salaries for giving up their whole time and attention to the conscientious discharge of the duties of their office; but to those who take a reward, who take BRIBES, for the perversion of justice; who will decide in favour of those from whom they get the greatest reward.

The prophets-divine for money] These are evidently the false prophets; for none, professing to be sent by God, used any kind of divination.

Yet will they lean upon the Lord] They will prescribe fasts and public thanksgivings, while not one sin is repented of or forsaken, and not one public grievance is redressed.".

Is not the Lord among us?]. Here is his temple, here are his ordinances, and here are his people. Will he leave these? Yes, he will abandon the whole, because all are polluted.

Verse 12. Therefore shall Zion-be ploughed as a field] It shall undergo a variety of reverses and sackages, till at last there shall not be one stone left on the top of another, that shall not be pulled down;

12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake beploughed as a field;

B. C. cir. 710. A. U. C. cir. 44. Numa Pompilii. R. Roman.

cir. annum. 6.

and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Heb. saying. y Chap. iv. 2. and then a plough shall be drawn along the site of the walls, to signify an irreparable and endless destruction. Of this ancient custom Horace speaks, Odar. lib. i., Od. 16, ver. 18.

w Jer. xxvi. 18; chap. i. 6.- Psa. lxxix. 1

Altis urbibus, ultimæ
Stetere causæ cur perirent
Funditus, imprimeretque muris
Hostile aratrum exercitus insolens

"From hence proud cities date their utter falls;
When, insolent in ruin, o'er their walls
The wrathful soldier drags the hostile plough,
That haughty, mark of total overthrow."

FRANCIS.

Thus did the Romans treat Jerusalem when it was taken by Titus. Turnus Rufus, or as he is called by St. Jerome, Titus Arinius Rufus, or Terentius Rufus, according to Josephus, caused a plough to be drawn over all the courts of the temple to signify that it should never be rebuilt, and the place only serve for agricultural purposes, See the note on Matt. xxiv. 2. Thus Jerusalem became heaps, an indiscriminate mass of ruins and rubbish; and the mountain of the house, Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood, became so much neglected after the total destruction of the temple, that it soon resembled the high places of the forest. What is said here may apply also, as before hinted, to the ruin of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar in the last year of the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of the Jews.

As the Masoretes, in their division of the Bible, reckon the twelve minor prophets but as one book, they mark this verse (twelfth of chap. iii.) the MIDDLE versé of these prophets.

CHAPTER IV.

In the commencement of this chapter we have a glorious prophecy of the establishment and prosperity of the Messiah's kingdom; its peaceful character, increasing spiritual and political influence, ultimate universality, and everlasting duration, 1-4. Then breaks in a chorus of his people declaring their peculiar happiness in being members of his kingdom, 5., The prophet resumes the subject; predicts the restoration and future prosperity of Israel, 6–8; and exhorts them not to be discouraged at their approaching captivity, as they should in due time not only be delivered from it, but likewise be victorious over all their enemies, 9–13. These last verses, which evidently contain a prediction of the final triumph of Christianity over every adversary, have been applied to the conquests of the Maccabees; but the character and beneficial results of their military exploits, as far as we have any account of them, correspond but in a very faint degree to the beautiful and highly wrought terms of the prophecy. The first three verses of this chapter are very similar to the commencement of the second chapter of Isaiah; and the fourth, for beauty of imagery and elegance of expression, is not unworthy of that prophet.

The future establishment

A. M. cir. 3294.
B. C. cir. 710.

A. U. C. cir. 44.
Numa Pompilii,
R. Roman.,

cir. annum 6.

A. M. c. 3291.
A. U. C. cur. 44.
Numa Pompilii,
R. Roman.,
cir. annum. 6,

B. C. cir. 710.

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5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

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BUT ain the last days it shall make them afraid for the mouth come to pass, that the moun- of the LORD of hosts hath spotain of the house of the LORD ken it. shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into a pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

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NOTES ON CHAP. IV. Verses 1-4. But in the last days it shall come to pass] These four verses contain, says Bp. Newcome, a prophecy that was to be fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah, when the Gentiles were to be admitted into covenant with God, and the apostles were to preach the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem, Luke xxiv. 47; Acts ii. 14, &c.; when Christ was to be the spiritual Judge and King of many people, was to convince many nations of their errors and vices, and was to found a religion which had the strongest tendency to promote peace. Bp. Lowth thinks that "Micah took this passage from Isaiah;" or the Spirit may have inspired both prophets with this prediction; or both may have copied some common original, the words of a prophet well known at that time. The variations (few and of little importance) may be seen in the notes on the parallel passages, Isa. ii. 2, &c.; to which the reader is requested to refer.

Verse 4. Under his vine and under his fig tree] A proverbial expression, indicative of perfect peace, security, and rural comfort. See on Isa. ii. 1. This verse is an addition to the prophecy as it stands in Isaiah.

Verse 5. Every one in the name of his god] This shall be the state of the Gentile world; but after the captivity, the Jews walked in the name of Jehovah alone; and acknowledge no other object of religious worship to the present day.

m

6 In that day, saith the LORD, i will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; 7 And I will make her that halted 1a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. 8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

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afflicted, because they would not return unto the Lord that bought them.

Verse 7. Her that halted a remnant] I will preserve them as a distinct people after their return from captivity, for the farther purposes of my grace and mercy.

And the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion] The Chaldee is remarkable here, and positively applies the words to the Messiah: "But thou, O Messiah, of Israel, who art hidden because of the sins of the congregation of Zion, the kingdom shall come unto thee.”

Verse 8. O tower of the flock] I think the temple is meant, or Jerusalem; the place where the flock, the whole congregation of the people assembled to worship God. Newcome retains the Hebrew word y eder, a tower in or near Beth-lehem, Gen. xxxv. 21, or, as some think, a tower near the sheep-gate in Jerusalem. I believe Jerusalem, or the temple, or both, are meant ; for these were considered the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, the fortress of the Jewish people.

The

Even the first dominion] What was this? Divine theocracy under Jesus Christ; this former, this first dominion, was to be restored. Hence the angel called him Immanuel, God with us, ruling among us.

Verse 9. Is there no king in thee ?] None. And why? Because thou hast rejected Jehovah thy king. Is thy counsellor perished?] No: but thou hast rejected the words and advices of the prophets.

Pangs have taken thee] He is speaking of the desolations that should take place when the Chaldeans should come against the city; and hence he says, "Thou shalt go to Babylon;" ye shall be cast out of your own land, and sent slaves to a foreign country. He represents the people under the notion of a woman

Verse 6. Will I assemble her that halteth-driven out-afflicted] Under these epithets, the state of the Jews, who were to be gathered into the Christian Church, is pointed out. They halted between the true God and idols; they were driven out into captivity, because of this idolatry; and they were variously in travail.

CHAP. V.

CHAPTER V.

This chapter begins, according to the opinion of some commentators, with a prophecy concerning the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the great indignities which Zedekiah should suffer from the BabyloniWe have next a most famous prediction concerning the birthplace of the Messiah, "whose goings forth have been from of old, from EVERLASTING," 2. See Matt. ii. 6. The Jews obstinately persisting in their opposition to the Messiah, God will therefore give them up into the hands of their enemies till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled: and then all the posterity of Jacob, both Israel and Judah, shall be converted to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and, along with the Gentiles, be brought into the large and peaceful pastures of this Great Shepherd of the sheep, 3, 4. After this illustrious prophecy, the prophet goes on to foretell the downfall of the Assyrians, by whom are meant the enemies of the Church in general, the type being probably put for the antitype; the miraculous discomfiture of the great Assyrian army in the reign of Sennacherib strongly shadowing forth the glorious and no less miraculous triumphs of Christianity in the latter times, 5, 6. See Isa. xi. 16. Some understand this prophecy of Antiochus and the