新妇线 · 要节

Therefore shall a man leave It is doubted whether Moses here introduces God as speaking, or continues the discourse of Adam, or, indeed, has added this, in virtue of his office as teacher, in his own person. [151] The last of these is that which I most approve. Therefore, after he has related historically what God had done, he also demonstrates the end of the divine institution. The sum of the whole is, that among the offices pertaining to human society, this is the principal, and as it were the most sacred, that a man should cleave unto his wife. And he amplifies this by a superadded comparison, that the husband ought to prefer his wife to his father. But the father is said to be left not because marriage severs sons from their fathers, or dispenses with other ties of nature, for in this way God would be acting contrary to himself. While, however, the piety of the son towards his father is to be most assiduously cultivated and ought in itself to be deemed inviolable and sacred, yet Moses so speaks of marriage as to show that it is less lawful to desert a wife than parents. Therefore, they who, for slight causes, rashly allow of divorces, violate, in one single particular, all the laws of nature, and reduce them to nothing. If we should make it a point of conscience not to separate a father from his son, it is a still greater wickedness to dissolve the bond which God has prefer

Calvin, Commentary on Genesis vol.1, tr. Rev. John King M.A., Calvin T

shall a man leave his father and his mother, I and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall be one flesh. 25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Here w e have, I. The making of the woman, to be an help meet for Adam. This was done upon the sixth day, as was also the placing of Adam in Paradise, though it is here mentioned after an account of the seventh day’s rest; but what was said in general, {ch. 1. 27.) that God made man male and female, is more dis- tinctlv related here. Obseiwe, 1. That Adam was first formed, then Eve, (1 Tim. 2. 13.) and she was made of the man, and for the man, (1 Cor. 11. 8, 9. ) all which are urged there as reasons for the humility, modesty, silence, and sub- missiveness, cf that sex in general, and particularly the subjection and reverence which wives owe to their own husbands. Yet man being made last of the creatures, as the best and most excellent of all. Eve’s being made after Adam, and out of him, puts an honour upon that sex, as the glory of the man, 1 Cor. 11.7. If man is the head, she is the crown; a crown to her husband, the crown of the visible crea- tion. The man was dust refined, but the woman was dust double-refined, one remove further from the earth. 2. That Adam slept while his wife W'as mak’ng, that no room might be left to imagine that he had directed the spirit of the Lord, orbeenhiacoun- sellor,

An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, vol.1

24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. These w^ords are considered by some as uttered proleptically or prophetically by Adam ; but they could not be spoken by him, as he was as yet ignorant of the parental character and relations ; and could have no idea of children leaving their parents. They were most probably added by the historian himself, who, writing under inspiration of God, gave them in the way of com- mentary on this Divine procedure ; and accord- ingly they are appealed to by our Lord as con- taining an authoritative declaration of the DiAune will concerning the institution of marriage (Matt, xix. 5; Mark x. 8; 1 Cor. vi. 16), as well as by the apostle, as a type of the intimate union of believers with Christ (Eph. v. 31). They are words which, if language has any meaning, give a clear and full intimation, not only of the near- The institution GENESIS II. of marr iage 25 "they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his I ^ ^ ■wife, and were not ashamed. I " ^- ness, but of the sanctity of the marriage relation — representing it as the source and foundation of all other relations — as not only superior to and closer than any other, but comprehending all the rest, uniting the parties so intimately in heart and affection, and at the same time by a bond so indissoluble, that the man and his wife become

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

We have here the laws concerning servitude, de- signed to preserve the honour of the Jewish nation as a free people, and rescued, by a divine power, out of the house of bondage, into the glorious li- berty of God’s sons, his first born. Now the law is, I. That a nati\ e Israelite should never be made a bondman for pei'petuity. If he was sold for debt, or for a crime, by the house of judgment, he was to serve but six years, and to go out tbe seventh; that was appointed, Exod. 21. 2. But if he sold him- self, through extreme poverty, having nothing at all left him to preserve his life, and if it was to one of his own nation that he sold himself, in such a case it is here provided, 1. That he should not sei-ve us a bond servant, {v. 39. ) nor be sold with the sale of a bondman i {v. 42.) that is, “It must not be look- ed upon that his master that bought him had as ab- solute a property in him as in a captive taken in war, that might be used, sold, and bequeathed, at pleasure, as much as a man’s cattle; no, he shall serve thee as a hired serx'ant, whom the master has the use of only, but not a despotic power over.’’ And the reason is, Thexj are my servants, v. 42. God does not make his servants slaves, and there- fore their brethren must not. God had redeemed them out of Egypt, and therefore they must never be exposed to sale as bondmen. The apostle ap- plies this spiritually, (1 C

An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, vol.1

Here is, I. Boaz’s good management of his common af¬ fairs; it is probable, according to the common usa^e, 1. When his servants winnowed, he was with them, and had his eye upon them, to prevent, not their stealing any of his corn, (he had no rea¬ son to fear that,) but their waste of it through care¬ lessness in the winnowing of it. Masters may sus¬ tain great losses by servants that are heedless, though they be honest, which is a reason why men should be diligent to know the state of their own flocks, and look well to them. 2. When he had more than ordinary work to be done, he treated his 219 RUTH, 111. servants with extraordinary entertainments, and, for their encouragement, did eat and drink with them. It well becomes those that are rich and great, to be generous to, and also to be familiar with, those that are under them, and employed for them. 3. When Boaz had supped with his work¬ men, and been a while pleasant with them, he went to bed in due time, so early, that by midnight he'had his first sleep, ( v . 8.) and thus he would be fit for his business betimes next morning. All that are good husbands will keep good hours, and not indulge themseb es or their families in unseasonable mirth. The Chaldee paraphrase tells us, ( v . 7.) that Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was good, (and so the Hebrew word is,) and he blessed the name of the Lord, who had heard his prayers, and

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1- 9. spread therefore thy skirt over thine hand- maid ; for thou art a near kinsman. She had already drawn part of the mantle over her; and she asked him now to do it, that the act might become his own. To spread a skirt over one is, in the East, a symbolical action denoting protection. To this day in many parts of the East to say of any one that he put his skirt over a woman is synonymous with saying that he married her ; and at all the marriages of the modern Jews and Hindoos one part of the ceremony is for the bride- groom to put a silken or cotton cloak around his bride (see Roberts's 'Oriental Customs,' on this passage, where it is shown that the same practice obtains amongst the Hindoos). 10. Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, &c. Continued widowhood was regarded by the Jews as au in- dication of more than ordinary piety. 15. Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold It [nngpp]. Eastern veils are large sheets — those of ladies being of red silk ; but the poorer or common class of women wear them of blue, or blue and white, striped linen or cotton. They are wrapped round the head, and fall down over the shoulders, enveloping the whole person (see Rogers's ' Domestic Life in Palestine,' p. 40 ; Graham's 'Jordan and Ehine,' p. 195). 17, Six measures of barley— Hebrew, six seats ; 132 a seah contained about two gallons and a half, six of which must have been r

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

This is the method of ;)rofiting by the word of (iod; He that has ears, let lim hear, let him hearken diligently; he that heark- ens, let him consider and weigh it duly; he that considers, let him incline and yield to the foice of what is laid before him. And what is it that is here required? 1. She must renounce all others; " Forget thine own fieofile and thy father^ s house, according to the law of marriage. Retain not the affection thou hast had for them, nor covet to return to them again; banish all such remembrance, not only of thv people that were dear to thee, but of thy father's house that were dearer, as may incline thee to look back, as Lot's wife to Sodom." When Abraham, in obe- dience to God's call, had quitted his native soil, he was not so much as mindful of the country whence he came out. This shows, (1.) How necessary it was for those who were converted from Judaism or Paganism to the faith of Christ, wholly to cast out the old leaven, and not to bring into their Christi m profession, either the Jewish ceremonies, or the heathei? idolatries, for these would miike such a mongrel religion in Christianity as the Samaritans had. (2.) How necessary it is for us all, when we give up our names to Jesus Christ, to hate father snd mother, and all that is dear to us in this world, in comparison, to love them less than Christ and his honour, and our interest in him, Luke x

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11. So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty : for he is thy Lord— Hebrew, '■And let the Khvj (be given, by thy devotion to Him, occasion to) desirethy beauty, for He is thy Lord' (1 Pet. iii. 5, 6). and worship thou him— (cf. 1 Sam. xxv. 41.) Abigail, M hen called to be David's wife, " bowed herself on her face to the earth " (1 Ki. i. IC, 31). 12. And the daughter of Tyre (shall be there) with a gift— as the consequence of thy entire self-surrender to the King. It is only when Israel, the literal and the spiritual, occuiiies lier true iiosition, giving herself up wholly to the Lord, that she will be entreated by the jieople of the world to receive them into her communion, "The daughter of Tyre" is Tare herself, with her people, personified (cf. 2 Ki. xix. 21). So Israel here is called "daughter" (('. 10). Instead of '■'shall he there," sup]ily the ellipsis from the latter clause: 'the daughter of Tyre, w'ith a gift (shall entreat thy favour), even the rich among the people, shall entreat thy favour. "The rich" are in apposition with " Tyre." She in particular is selected as being the 200 richest city oiihe old world, (Isa. xxiii. ; Ezek. xxvii.) The Hebrew for to " entreat thy favour" is liter- ally to make xveak, or soften the countenance [n7n D'JQ]; to entreat so beseechingly that the other cannot show himself hard. The entreaty is that the Gentile suppliant may be recei

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Let him kiss me with the kisses of liis mouth : for thy love is better than wine. 3. Because of the savour of thy good oint ments, thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. 4. Draw me, we will run after thee. The King hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee; we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. 5. I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem; as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solo- mon. 6. Look not upon me, because 1 a}n black, because the sun hath looked upon me : my mother's children were angiy with me; they made me the keeper of the vine- yards; b?tt mine own vineyard have I not kept. The spouse, in tliis dramatic poem, is liere first introduced addressing herself to the Bridegi-oom, and then to the daughters of Jcnisalem. I. To tlie Bridegroom; not giving liim any name or title, but beghniiug abniptl}-, Let him kiss 7ne; R46 SOLOMON'S SONG, I. like Mary Magdalen to the supposed Gardener, (Johnxx. 15.) If t/iou /lave borne /iii7i /iencp,mQcm- m^ Christ, but not naming liim; the heart had been bcf.ire taken up with the thoughts of him, and to this rehttive those tlioughts were the antecedent, that good matter which the lieart was cnditing, Ps. xl\ . 1. They that are full of Christ themselves are ready to think thrt others should l)e so too. Two things the spouse desires,

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1-2. Ps. SO. ]. Isa. 41. II. Mic. 5. 4. John 10.11, •27, 2^ Eev 7. 17. 3 Or, as one that is V. Ued. 2 Cor. 3. 14, 18. brought into the inmost pavilion, where Eastern kings admitted none but the most intimate friends, and did so by holding oiit the golden sceptre (Esth. iv. 11). The erection of the temple of Solomon was the first bringing of the bride into permanent, instead of migratory chambers of the King. Christ's body on earth was the next whereby Ijelievers are brought within the veil (Eph. ii. 6). Entrance into the closet for prayer is the first step. The earnest of the future bringing into heaven (John xiv. 3). His chambers are the bride's also (Isa. xxvi. 20). There are various chambers, plural (John xiv. 2). be glad aud leioice— inward and outward rejoicing, in thee— (Isa. Ixi. 10.) Not in our spiritual frames (Ps. XXX. 6, 7). remember — Hebrew, hizkir : ratlier, commemorate with praises (Isa. Ixiii. 7). The mere remembrance of spiritual joys is better than the iiresent epjoyment of carnal ones (Ps. iv. 6, 7). upright — lit., rightnesses. Manrer trans- lates, 'They rightl)/ (L e., with good reason), love thee.' Impersonally, 'Thou art rightly loved.' But the English version is better : abstract for con- crete: Rightnesses, or those of uprightness and sin- cerity answer to "the vir^ns," v. 3 (Ps. Iviii. 1). So Nathanael (John i. 47); Peter (John xxi. 17). 6. black ... a

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.1 — Cant. i. I. THINK very often of the deep earnestness and ardour with which the ancient Fathers desired the presence of Christ in the Flesh, and I am touched with a feeling of extreme grief and shame in myself, I am scarcely able even now to restrain my tears, so much am I ashamed of the coldness and insensibility of the unhappy times in which we live. Who is there among us that feels joy as great at the actual showing forth of this wonder of grace, as the desire and longing wherewith the ancient saints were fired at the promise only of so great a thing ? How many there are who will rejoice at that Festival of His Birth, which we are soon about to celebrate ! But would that their rejoicings were, not on account of vain things, but really on account of His Birth ! This verse seems, then, to me to breathe the ardent desire and pious impatience of those great men. Digitized by Google THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST 13 The little band of those who then were animated by the Holy Spirit felt in advance how great would be the grace which would be diffused upon those Divine Lips. Therefore it was that speaking in the ardour of that desire, wherewith their heart was fired, they said these words, passionately wishing not to be deprived of happi- ness so great. 2. For each of these saintly souls would, as it were, say : To what end do these wordy1

Sermons on the Song of Songs

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. THIS kiss, which the soul desires of its God, is essential union, or a real, permanent and lasting possession of its divine object. It is the spiritual marriage. That this may be understood, it is necessary to explain the difference between a union of the powers and essential union. Either of them may be transitory, and for a few moments only, or permanent and lasting. The union of the powers is that by which God unites the soul to Himself, but very superficially; it is more properly a contact than a union. It is nevertheless united to the personal Trinity according to the different effects peculiar to each member of it; but always as if to distinct persons, and by an intermediate operation. This operation serves both as a means and an end, the soul resting in the union thus experienced, without supposing that there is anything beyond. This union is accomplished in order, in all the powers of the soul, and is sometimes perceived in one or two of them according to the designs of God, and at others in all three together. This constitutes the application of the soul to the Holy Trinity as to distinct persons. When the union is in the understanding alone, it is a union of pure intellect, and is attributed to the Word as a distinct person. When the union is in the memory, which is effected by an absorption of the soul into God, and a pro

The Song of Songs, mystical exposition

Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth." 12. The " kiss " signifies peace. 13. The Canticles scandalise tepid souls. 14. They are meant for fervent souls. "let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth: for thy breasts are better than wine."^ I. I HAVE noticed especially that the soul appears by these words to be speaking with one person and asking a kiss from another. For the Bride says: " Let Htm kiss me with the kiss of His mouth," and then appears to 1 Cant. i. I : Osculeiur me ósculo oris sui : quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino, 8 113 114 MINOR WORKS OF ST. TERESA. address the person himself in the words : "for thy breasts are better than wine." I cannot understand this, and I am very glad of it. For the soul ought not so much to contemplate and honour God in those things that our grovelling intellects can master in this life, as in these problems that we cannot solve. When you read a book, or hear a sermon, or meditate on any of the mysteries of our holy faith, if you find you cannot clearly comprehend the matter, I strongly recommend you not to tire yourselves, nor to strain your minds by puzzling over it, for many of these things are not suited for women — nor men either, very often ! 2. When our Lord wishes us to comprehend these matters, He will enlighten us with no labour of our own. This applies to women, and also to men who are not bound to defend the truth by thei

Conceptions of the Love of God（论雅歌）

My beloved is mine and I am his; he feedeth among the lilies. O inconceivable happiness of a soul wholly and unreservedly devoted to her beloved, and to whom the Well-beloved is all! The Spouse is here so enamored of the goodness and caresses of the Bridegroom manifested for the purpose of obliging her to leave herself, that she thinks she has already arrived at the height of felicity and summit of perfection, and that her marriage is now to take place. She says that her Beloved is hers, to dispose of as pleases Him, and that she is His, for the whole extent of His will; that He feeds among the lilies of her purity. He feeds upon His own graces and virtues; He lives upon innocence and purity, that He may nourish us with the same. He invites us to eat with Him the meat He likes the best, as He gives us to understand by these words in another place: Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved! (Cant. v. 1.) Hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. (Isa. lv. 2.) __________________________________________________________________ 17. Until the day break and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. The soul, beginning to be conscious that she no longer perceives the Word, believes that He is only hidden for a night, or rather, that He is sleep

The Song of Songs, mystical exposition

By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth.1 — Cant. iii. I. IT is a great good to seek God. I think that, among all the blessings of the soul, there is none greater than this. It is the first of the gifts of God ; the last degree of the soul's progress. By no virtue is it preceded ; to none does it give place. To what virtue is that added which is not preceded by any ? And to which Digitized by Google 5i2 SERMONS ON THE SONG OF SONGS should that give way which is the consummation of all virtues ? For what virtue can be ascribed to him who is not seeking God, or what limit prescribed to one who is seeking Him ? Seek His Face evermore (Ps. cv. 4), says the Psalmist ; nor do I think that when a soul has found Him, it will cease from seeking. God is sought, not by the movement of the feet, but by the desires of the heart ; and when a soul has been so happy as to find Him, that sacred desire is not extinguished, but, on the contrary, is increased. Is the consumma- tion of the joy the extinction of the desire ? It is rather to it as oil poured upon a flame ; for desire is, as it were, a flame. This is, indeed, the case. The joy will be fulfilled ; but the fulfilment will not be the ending of the desire, nor therefore of the seeking. But think, if you can, of this earnest love of seeking God as being without any deprivation of Him, and of the desire for Him as without anxiet

Sermons on the Song of Songs

I sought him but I found him not. The soul, finding that the Bridegroom does not grant her a favor which she surely counted on, as he had formerly bestowed it when she did not hope for it, is astonished at his prolonged absence. She seeks Him in her interior, which is her bed, and during the night of faith, but alas! she is sadly surprised not to find Him! She had some reason to seek Him there, since it was there that He discovered Himself to her, and gave her the liveliest conception which she had yet experienced of His character. But, O Spouse! thou canst not find Him there! Knowest thou not, that He bade thee seek Him no longer in thee but in Himself? Thou wilt not now find Him anywhere out of Himself. [20] Depart from self in all haste that thou mayest be no longer but in Him, and there thou wilt find Him! O wonderful stratagem of the Bridegroom! When he is most enamored of His Well-beloved, He flies from her with the greatest cruelty; but it is cruelty full of love, and without it the soul would never depart from self, and consequently would never be lost in God. __________________________________________________________________ 2. I will rise now and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: sought him, but I found him not. Behold a miracle performed by the absence of a God! How many times had He invited His beloved to ri

The Song of Songs, mystical exposition

Observe, I. The indisposition that the spouse was mider, and the listlessness that had seized her; {v. 2.) 1 sleep, but my heart wakes.. Here is, 1.. Corrup- tion appearing in the actings of it; I sleep; the wise virgins slumbered. She was on her bed, {ch. v\. 1..) but now she sleeps. Spiritual distempers, if not striveu against at first,, are apt to grow upon us„ ami 866 SOLOMON'S SONG, V. to get ground. She slefit; pious affections cooled, she neglected her duty, and grew remiss in it, she indulged herself in her ease, was secure and off her watch. This is sometimes the bad effect of more than ordinary enlargements, a good cause. St. Paul himself was in danger of being puffed up with abun- dant revelations, and of saying, Soul, take thine ease, which made a thorn in the flesh necessary for him, to keep him from sleeping. Christ's disciples, when he was come into his garden, the garden of his agony, were heavy with sleep, and could not watch with him. True Christians are not always alike lively and vigorous in religion. 2. Grace re- maining, notwithstanding, in the habit of it; ^^My heart ivakes, my own conscience reproaches me fur it, and ceases not to rouse me out of my sluggish- ness. The sfiirit is willing, and, after the inner man, I delight in the law of God, and with my mind I serve that. I am, for the present, overpowered by j temptation, but all does not go one way in

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2. I sleep, but my heart waketh . . . (saying), Open to me. Sudden change of scene from evening to midnight, from a betrothal feast to cold repulse. He has gone from the feast alone: night is come; He knocks at the door of His espoused ; she hears, but in sloth does not shake ofiF half-conscious drowsiness: viz., the disciples' torpor (Matt. xxvi. 40-43), 'the siiirit willing, the flesh weak' (cf. Rom. vii. 15-23). Not tijtal sleep. The lamp was burning beside the slumhering wise virgiu, but wanted trimming (Matt. XXV. 5-7). It is His voice that rouses her (Jon. i. 6; Rev. iii. 20). Instead of bitter re- 556 liroaches, He addresses her by the moat endearing titles, " my sister, my love," &c. Cf. His thought of Peter after the denial (Mark xvi. 7). dew — which falls heavily in summer nights in the East (see Luke ix. 58). drops of the night— (Ps. xxii. 2; Luke xxii. 44.) His death is not expressed, as unsuitable to the allegory, a song of love and joy. V. 4 refers to the scene in the judgment hall of Caiaphas, when Jesus Christ employed the cock- crowing and look of love to awaken Peter's sleep- ing conscience, so that his "bowels were moved for" His Lord (Luke xxii. 61, 62); ri-. 5, 6, to the disciples with " myrrh," &c. (Luke xxiv. i. 5), seeking Jesus Christ in the tomb, but finding Him not, for He has "withdrawn Himself " (John vii. 34; xiii. 33); v. 7, to the trials by "watc

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. The soul that watches for its God, experiences that, although its exterior appears dead, and, as it were, stunned and benumbed, like a body in a deep sleep, still the heart constantly retains a secret and hidden vigor, which preserves it in union with God. Those souls which are far advanced, frequently experience, in addition, a very surprising thing, that often, during the night, they are but half asleep, as it were, and that God seems to operate more powerfully in them in the night and during sleep, than during the day. While thus asleep, the soul hears clearly the voice of the Well-beloved, who knocks at the door. He desires to make Himself heard; He says, Open to Me, My sister; I am come to thee, My love, whom I have chosen above all others to be My Bride; My dove in simplicity, My perfect one, My beautiful, My undefiled. Reflect that My head is fitted with what I have suffered for thee during the darkness of My mortal life, and that for thy sake I have been saturated with the drops of the night of the most cruel persecutions. I come now to thee, to make thee partaker of My reproaches, My ignominy, and My confusion. [25] Thou hast, hitherto, tasted but the bitterness of the cross, thou hast not

The Song of Songs, mystical exposition

Observe, I. The indisposition that the spouse was mider, and the listlessness that had seized her; {v. 2.) 1 sleep, but my heart wakes.. Here is, 1.. Corrup- tion appearing in the actings of it; I sleep; the wise virgins slumbered. She was on her bed, {ch. v\. 1..) but now she sleeps. Spiritual distempers, if not striveu against at first,, are apt to grow upon us„ ami 866 SOLOMON'S SONG, V. to get ground. She slefit; pious affections cooled, she neglected her duty, and grew remiss in it, she indulged herself in her ease, was secure and off her watch. This is sometimes the bad effect of more than ordinary enlargements, a good cause. St. Paul himself was in danger of being puffed up with abun- dant revelations, and of saying, Soul, take thine ease, which made a thorn in the flesh necessary for him, to keep him from sleeping. Christ's disciples, when he was come into his garden, the garden of his agony, were heavy with sleep, and could not watch with him. True Christians are not always alike lively and vigorous in religion. 2. Grace re- maining, notwithstanding, in the habit of it; ^^My heart ivakes, my own conscience reproaches me fur it, and ceases not to rouse me out of my sluggish- ness. The sfiirit is willing, and, after the inner man, I delight in the law of God, and with my mind I serve that. I am, for the present, overpowered by j temptation, but all does not go one way in

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6. withdrawn. He knocked when she was sleeping ; for to have left her then would have ended in the death sleep: He ivUMraivs now that she is roused, as she need.s correction (Jer. ii. 17, 19), and can appreciate and safely bear it now, which she could not then. 'The strong He'll strongly try' (1 Cor. x. 13). The admonition, Ps. xlv. 10, similarly hints at a disturbance of the marriage relation between Israel and her Lord, failed when he spake— rather, because of his speaking : at the remembrance of His tender words. The word is often inefficacious at the time when it is preached ; but afterwards in times of trial the Spirit of God recalls it to our memory, and we long for the visitation of the Lord in grace, which we did not value enough at the time. Let us take heed to the warnins; in Luke xvii. 22. no answer— (Lam. iii. 44.) Weak faith receives immediate comfort (Luke viii. 44) ; strong faith is tried with delay (Matt. xv. 22). 7. watchmen. Historically, the Jewish priests, &c. (see note on v. 2); spiritually, ministers (Isa. Ixii. (5; Heb. xiii. 17), faithful in 'smiting' (Ps. cxli. 5), but (as slie leaves them, v. 8) too harsh ; or per- haps, unfaithful; disliking her zeal wherewith she sought Jesus Christ, first, with spiritual prayer, ' opening ' her heart to Him, and then in charitable works "about the city;" miscalling it fanaticism (Isa. Ixvi. 5), and taking away her v

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

but he gave me no answer. This is as though the soul were to say, I have removed the barrier which hindered my total loss and the consummation of my marriage; for that can only take place after total loss. I have therefore removed this barrier by the most courageous abandonment and the purest sacrifice [33] that ever was beheld.--I have opened [34] to my Beloved, thinking that He would come in and heal the grief He had caused by His touch; but alas! the blow would be too mild if the remedy were so promptly applied! He hides, He flies, He is turned aside, and is gone; He leaves to His afflicted Spouse nothing but the wound He had inflicted, the pain of her fault, and the impurity she conceives herself to have contracted in rising. The goodness of the Bridegroom, nevertheless, is so great, that, though He hides Himself, He does not cease to bestow great favors upon His friends; and the greater, as the privations are longer and more severe. Thus did He to His Spouse, who was now in a new and most favorable state of mind, though she knew it not. Her soul melted when He spake, and by this softening she lost those hard and unyielding characteristics that prevented the consummation of the spiritual marriage, so that she is now wholly prepared to flow sweetly into her Original. [35] I sought Him, but I found Him not; I called Him, but He gave me no answer! O inconceivable affliction! _

The Song of Songs, mystical exposition

Now the tables ai'e turned, the Gentiles are betrothed to Christ, and ought to return the kindness by an equal concern for the bringing in of the Jews again, our eldest sis- ter, that once had breasts, but now has none. If we take it in this sense, the unbelieving posterity of these pious Jews contradicted this prayer of their fathers; for when the day came that the Gentiles should l)e spoken for, and courted to Christ, in- stead of considering what to do for them, they plot- ted to do all they could against them, which filled up til" measure of their iniquity, 1 Thess. ii. 16. Or, (2.) It may be applied to any other that belong to the election of grace, but are yet uncalled; they are remotely related to Christ and his church, and sisters to them both; other sheefi that are not of this fold, John X. 15. Acts xviii. 10. They have no breasts, none yet fasliioned, (Ezek. xvi. 7.) no af- fection to Christ, no principle of grace. The day will come when they shall be s/ioken for; when the chosen shall be called, shall be courted for Christ, oy the ministci's, the friends of the Bridegroom. A blessed day it will be, a day of visitation ! What shall we do, in that day, to promote the match, to conquer their coyness, and persuade them to con- sent to Christ, and present themselves chaste vir- gins to him? Note, Those that through grace are In-ought to Christ tlu-mselves, sliould contriv

同上 vol.3

VIII. lone to Christ. 10 Set ^me as a seal upon thine heart, — as a seal upon thine arm : For ''love is strong as death;— jealousy is ^ cruel as the grave : The coals thereof are coals of ^yq,— which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, — neither can the floods drown it : ' If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, It would utterly be contemned. We •'have a little sister, — and she hath no breasts: Wliat shall we do for our sister— in the day when she shall be spoken for ' If she be a wall, — we will build upon her a palace of silver; And if she be ^ a door, — we will inclose her with boards of cedar. I ' aw a wall, — and "* my breasts like towers : Then was I in his eyes as one that found * favour, Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; B. C 1014. » Ex. 2S. 9-12, 29, 30. Isti. 49. 16. Jer. 22. 24. Hag. 2. 23. 2 Tim. 2. 19. '' PhU. 3. 8. 3 hard. * Fro. 6. 35. j Ps 22.27. Eph. 2. 12. * Rev. 3. 20. ' Col 2 7. "•Eze. 16. 7. 4 ])etce. (Ezek. xvi. 3-6). In this verse her dependence, in the similar verse, eh. iii. 6, &c.. His omnipotence to support her, are brouglit out. The reference back to the first part implies her restoration to her former union with the Bridegroom, riding in His palanquin, as of old in the wilderness. 6. seal — having her name or likeness eugraveii on it. His lioly priesthood also in heaven (Heb. iv. 14); "His heart" the

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Set Me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm (Cant. viii. 6). But of this at another time. You have here (let us now consider) a sure remedy both for your heart and for your arm. You have, I say, in the Name of Jesus a means of correcting those actions in you which are bad, and of perfecting those that are defective ; of protecting your feelings and affections from being denied ; or if defiled, of restoring them to health and purity. 8. There were in Judaea certain [others] named Jesus, in whom she glories ; but these are but empty names ; they render neither light, nor nourishment, nor healing. Therefore it is that the Synagogue is even tonhis day in darkness, weak with hunger, and languishing from disease. Nor will its hunger be satisfied, nor its disease healed, till it comes to know that it is our Jesus who rules in Jacob and unto the ends of the world [until then], at evening let them return, grin [for famine] like dogs, and go about the city (Ps. lix. 14, 7), They, indeed, were sent on before, as the staff was sent before him by the Prophet to the presence of the dead child (2 Kings iv. 29-35) > nor could they read a meaning in those names of theirs, for they were void of power. The staff was laid upon the face of the child ; but there was neither voice nor hearing, because it was but a staff. He came who sent the staff ; He descended and came unto His peop

Sermons on the Song of Songs

Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as hell; the lights thereof are lights of fire and flames. The Bridegroom invites the Spouse to set Him as a seal upon her heart; for as He is the source of her life, He ought also to be its seal. It is He who hinders her from ever leaving so blessed a state; she is then the fountain sealed, which none but Himself can either open or shut. He desires also that she should set Him as a seal upon her exterior and her works, so that everything may be reserved for Him and nothing may move without His directions. She is then a garden enclosed for her Bridegroom, which He shuts and no man opens, and opens and no man shuts (Rev. iii. 7). For love, says the Bridegroom, is as strong as death, to do what he pleases in His beloved. He is strong as death, inasmuch as He causes her to die to everything that she may live to Him only. But jealousy is cruel as hell, and therefore He encloses His Spouse so carefully. So strong is His desire for her utter devotion to Himself, that if we conceive her guilty of the infidelity of withdrawing her abandonment, a supposition as melancholy as it is difficult, she would be instantaneously repulsed from Him into hell by the excess of His indignation. The lamps are lamps of fire which enlighten while they burn, and consume while giving light.--O Lamb, w

The Song of Songs, mystical exposition

The Jews were indeed by profession married to God, but few proselytes were added to them; the rising generations were unpromising, and serious godliness manifestly lost ground among them. The Gentiles had less religion among them than the Jews; their proselytes were in a dispersion; and the children of God, like the children of a broken, re¬ duced family, were scattered abroad, (John xi. 52.) did not appear, nor make any figure. II. Its recovery from this low condition by the preaching of the gospel, and the planting of the Christian church. 1. Multitudes were converted from idols to the living God; those were the church’s children, that were born again, were partakers of a new and di¬ vine nature, by the word : more were the children of the desolate than the married wife; there were more good people found in the Gentile church, (when that was set up,) that had been afar off, and without God in the world, than ever were found in tlie Jewish church. God’s sealed ones out of the tribes of Israel are numbered; (Rev. vii. 4.) and they were but a remnant compared with the thou¬ sands of Israel; but those of other nations were so many, and crowded in so thick, and lay so much scattered in all parts, that no man could number them, v. 9. Sometimes more of the power of re¬ ligion is found in those places and families that have made little show of it, and have enjoyed but little of the m

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5. For thy Maker (is) thine husband; The Lord of hosts (is) his name— (ch. Ixii. 5; Jer. iii. 14.) That God was Israel's "Maker," both as individ- uals and as the theocratic kingdom, is the pledge of assurance that He will be her Redeemer (en. xliiL 1-3). Hebrew, ' makers . . . husbands,' plural for singular to denote excellency, and thy Re- deemer the Holy One of Israel ; The God of the whole earth. Not untQ He manifests Himself as God of Israel shall He appear God of the whole earth. (Ps. cii. 13, 15, IG; Zech. xiv. 5, 9). 6. For the Lord hath called thee -i.e., recalled thee: the prophetic past for the future, as a woman forsaken— that had been forsaken, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God— or, 'when she was rejected:' (i-i thimmaees) one who had been a wife of youth (Ezek. xvi. 8, 22, 60 ; Jer. ii. 2) at the time when {thou, or) she was rejected for infidelity (Maurei-). ' A wife of youth, bat afterwards rejected ' (Loivth). 7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee— as compared witli Israel's coming long prosperity (ch. xxvi. 20 ; Ix. 10). So the spiritual Israel (Ps. xxx. 5 ; 2 Cor. iv. 17). but with great mercies will I gather thee —to myself from thy dispersions. 8. In a little 734 wrath— or, 'In the overflowing of wrath: Prov. xxvii. 4j marg., 'Anger is an overfic Shetzeph is written here for sheteph there, for the sake of the play on similar so

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Observe, 1. Who the persons are, with whom this cove¬ nant is made, with the house of Israel and Judah, with the gospel-church, the Israel of God, on which heace shall be, (Gal. vi. 16.) with the spiritual seed of believing Abraham and praying Jacob. Judah and Israel had been two separate kingdoms, but were united, after their return, in the joint favours God bestowed upon them: so Jews and Gentiles were in the gospel-church and covenant. 2. What is the nature of this covenant in general; it is a new covenant, and not according to the cove¬ nant made with them, when they came out of Egypt; not as if that made with them at mount Sinai were a covenant of nature and innocencv, such as was made with Adam in the day he was created ; no; that was, for substance, a covenant of grace, but it was a dark dispensation of that covenant, in comparison with this in gospel-times. Sinners were saved by that cove¬ nant, upon their repentance, and faith in a Messiah to come, whose blood, confirming that covenant, was typified by that of the legal sacrifices, Exod. xxiv. ", 8. Yet this may upon many accounts be called new, in comparison with that; the ordinances and pro¬ mises are more spiritual and heavenly, and the dis¬ coveries much more clear. That covenant God made with them when he took them by the hand, as if they had been blind or lame, or weak, to lead them out of the land of Egypt, whic

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32. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers— i. e., The Old Testament covenant as contrasted with our Gospel corenant (Heb. viii. 8-12; x. 16, 17, where this prophecy is quoted to prove the abrogation of the law by the Gospel), of which the distinguish- ing features are its securing, by an adequate atonement, the forf/ireness of sins (v. 34, end), and by the inworking of effectual grace insuring permanent obedience ('-. 33). An earnest of this IS given partially in the present eclectic or elect Church, gathered out of Jews and Gentiles. But the ])romise here to Israel in the last days is national and unirersal, and effected by an extraor- dinary outpouring of the Spirit {rr. :i3, 34 ; Ezek. xi. 17-20), independent of any merit on their part (Ezek. xxxvi. 25-32; xxxvii. 1-28; xxxix. 29; Joel ii. 23-28; /ecli. xii. 10; 2 Cor. iii. 16). in the day that I took them by the hand— (Deut. i. 31 ; Hos. xi. 3, "I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms"), although I was an husband I — (cf. ch. iii. 14; Hos. iL 7, 8). But LXX. [./V^e'Vi)<ru The stahUity JEREMIAH XXXI. of the Church. "Altliough I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord; 33 But "this shall be the covenant — that I will make with the house of Israel ; After those days, saith the Lord, °I will put my law in their inward parts, — and write it in their hearts; ''And will be their God, — and th

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

In these verses, we have an account of the great things which God did for the Jewish nation, in raising them up by degrees to be very considerable. 1. God saved them from the ruin they were upon the brink of in Egypt; (v. 6.) “ When I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, loathed and abandoned, and appointed to die, as sheep for the slaughter, then I suid unto thee, Live. I designed thee for life when thou wast doomed to destruction, and resolved to save thee from death.” Those shall live, to whom God commands life. God looked upon the world of mankind as thus cast off, thus cast out, thus polluted, thus weltering in blood, and his thoughts toward it were thoughts of good, designing it life, and that more abundantly. By converting grace, he says to the soul, Live. 2. He looked upon them with kindness and a tender affection, not only pitied them, but set his love upon them, which was unaccountable, for there was nothing lovely in them; but I looked upon thee and behold, thy time was the time of love, v. 8. I was the kindness and love of God our Saviour, that sent Christ to redeem us, that sends the Spirit to sanctify us, that brought us out of a state of nature into a state of grace; that was a time of love indeed, distinguishing love, 'when God manifested his love to us, and courted our love to him ; Then was I in his eyes as one that found favour, Cant. viii

同上 vol.4

Some think it may be translated, Afterward, or Nevertheless, I will allure her. It comes all to one; the design is plainly to magnify free grace to those on whom God will have mercy purely for mercy’s sake. Now that which is here promised to Israel is, I. That, though now they were disconsolate, and ready to despair, they should again be revived with comforts and hopes, v. 14, 15. This is expressed here with an allusion to God’s dealings with that people when he brought them out of Egypt, through the wilderness to Canaan; as their forlorn and de¬ plorable condition in their captivity was compand to their state in Egypt in the day that they were bom, v. 3. They shall be new-formed by such mi¬ racles of love and mercy as they were first formed by; and such a transport of joy shall they be in as they were in then. It is hard to say when this had its accomplishment in the kingdom of the ten tribes; but it principally aims, no doubt, at the bringing in both of Jews and Gentiles into the church by the gospel of Christ; and it is applicable, najr, we have reason to think it was designed that it shoujd be applied, to the conversion of particular souls to God. Now observe, 1. The gracious methods God will take with them. (1.) He will bring them into the wilderness, as he did at first when he brought them out of Egypt, where he instructed them, and took them into covenant with himself. T

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14. Therefore — rather, Nevertheless (Henderson). The English version gives a more lovely idea of God. That which would provoke all others to unappeasable wrath, Israels perversity and con- sequent punishment, is made a reason why God sliould at last have mercy on her. As the "there- fore" (v. 9) expresses Israel's punishment as the consequence of Israel's guilt; so "therefore" here, as in V. 6, expresses that when that ijunishment has effected its designed end, the hedging up her way with thorns, so that she returns to God, her first love, the consequence, in God's wondrous grace, is. He "speaks comfortably unto her" — lit., speaks to (or on — i. e., so as to make an impression on) her heart [na^ h^] (cf. Judg. xix. 3, " siieak friendly," marg., ''to her heart;' Ruth ii. l.S). behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 8o obstinate she is, that God has to "allure her" - /. e., so to temper juilgmeut with unlooked-for grace as to win her to his ways. For this imrpose it was necessary to " luring her into the wilder- ness" ((. e., into temporal want and trials) first, to make her sin hateful to her by its bitter fruits, and God's subscipient grace the more precious to her by the contrast of the "wilderness." In the Hebrew it is, '/ miiself will allure her.' Her who was allured by Satan's false enticements I will idlure, by makin

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Some think it may be translated, Afterward, or Nevertheless, I will allure her. It comes all to one; the design is plainly to magnify free grace to those on whom God will have mercy purely for mercy’s sake. Now that which is here promised to Israel is, I. That, though now they were disconsolate, and ready to despair, they should again be revived with comforts and hopes, v. 14, 15. This is expressed here with an allusion to God’s dealings with that people when he brought them out of Egypt, through the wilderness to Canaan; as their forlorn and de¬ plorable condition in their captivity was compand to their state in Egypt in the day that they were bom, v. 3. They shall be new-formed by such mi¬ racles of love and mercy as they were first formed by; and such a transport of joy shall they be in as they were in then. It is hard to say when this had its accomplishment in the kingdom of the ten tribes; but it principally aims, no doubt, at the bringing in both of Jews and Gentiles into the church by the gospel of Christ; and it is applicable, najr, we have reason to think it was designed that it shoujd be applied, to the conversion of particular souls to God. Now observe, 1. The gracious methods God will take with them. (1.) He will bring them into the wilderness, as he did at first when he brought them out of Egypt, where he instructed them, and took them into covenant with himself. T

同上 vol.4

And at midnight there was a en/ made, Behold, the bridegroom com- eth ; go ye out to meet him. 7. Tlien all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps'. 8. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of vour oil ; for our lamps Vol. v.— 2 0 are gone out. 9. But the wise answered, saying, ISot so ; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go je rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10. And while they went to "buy, the bridegroom came ; and the)' that were ready went in with him to the marriage : and the door was shut. 1 1 . Afterward came also the other virgins, saying. Lord, liOrd, open to us. 12. But he answered and said, N'erily I say unto you, 1 know you not. 13. A\ aleh therefore, lor ye know neilhcr the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Here, I. That in general which is to he illustrated, is, t/ie /.iiigdom of/trctvm, the state of things under the gospel] the external kingdom of Christ, and the ad- iuinistration and success of it. Some of Christ's parables had shewed us what it is like now in the ])resent reception of it, as c/i. 13. This tells us what it shall be like, when the mystery of (lod shall be finished, and that kingdom delivered uj) to the Father. The administration of Christ's govern- ment toward the ready and the unready, in the great day, may be illustrated by this similitiide ; or the kingtlom is i)Ut for the subjects of the k

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6. And at midnight — that is, the time when the Bridegroom will be least expected ; for "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" (1 Thes. v. 2), there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him— that is, ' Be ready to welcome Him.' 7. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps — the foolish virgins as well as the wise. How very long do both parties sesm the same — almost to the moment of decision ! Looking at the mere form of the parable, it is evident that the folly of "the foolisui" consisted not in having no oil at all ; for they must have had oil enough in their lamps to keep them burning up to this moment : their folly consisted in not maldng pl•o^^sion against its ejcnaustion, by taking with their lamp an oil-vessel wherewith to replenish their lamp from time to time, and so have it bui-n- iug until the bridegroom should come. Are we, then — with some even sui^erior expositors — to 116 Parable of MATTHEW XXV. the Ten Virgins. 11 tlie marriage: and the ^ door was shut. Afterward came also the other 12 virgins, saying, *Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, 13 Verily I say unto you, 'I know you not. Watch •'therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. A. D. S3. " Lwke 13. 25. * ch. 7. 21. < Ps. 5. 5. 3 ch. 24. 42. what aloue tliey lacked : a very little more, and they also

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him. And the five arose, and being in perplexity, said to the wise, Give us of your oil. But they consented not, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you; go to them that sell, and buy." "And while they were gone for this, the bridegroom came, and those went in; but these came afterwards, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know not the day, nor the hour." "Then He spake again another parable. A man travelling into a far country, called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods; to one five talents, to another two, to another one, to every man according to his several ability, and took his journey. Then, when the two had brought him the double, he that had been entrusted with the one talent brought it alone, and being blamed saith, I knew that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed; and I was afraid, and hid thy talent; lo! there thou hast that is thine. His Lord answered and said, Thou wicked servant, thou knewest that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not strawed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I might have received mine own with usury. Take therefore

Homilies on Matthew

29. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly —or 'with joy' [x«P? X"'.'"^'! because of the bride- groom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30. He must increase, but I must decrease: — q. d., ' I do my heaven-prescribed work, and that is enough for me. Would you have me mount into my Master's place ? Said I not unto you, I am not the Christ? The Biide is not mine, why should the people stay with me? Mine it is to jioint the burdened to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, to tell them there is balm in Gilead, and a Physician there. And shall I grudge to see them, in obedience to the call, fly- ing as a cloud, and as doves to their windoMs? Whose is the Bride but the Bridegroom's ? Enou.gh for me to be the Bridegi-oom's Friend, sent by Him to negotiate the match, privileged to bring together the Saviour and those he is come to seek and to save, and rejoicing with joy unspeakable, if I may but "stand and hear the Bridegroom's voice," wit- nessing the blessed espousals. Say ye, then, they go from me to Him? Ye bring me glad tidings of great joy. He must increase, but I must decrease ; this, my joy, therefore, is fulfilled.' 31. He that cometh from above is above all : he that is of the earth is earthly. As the words in this last clause are precisely the same, they had b

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Some think that he was a man of a very low stature, and that his voice was proportionably small; others think that he might have had some impediment in his speech, perhaps a stammering tongue. However, he was not rude in knowledge ; he was not unacquainted with the best rules of oratory and art of persuasion, much less was he ignorant of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, as had been thoroughly manifested among them. 2. His equality with the false apostles in this par ticular — the preaching the gospel unto them freely, without wages. This the apostle largely insists on, and shews that as they could not but own him to be a minister of Christ, so they ought to acknowledge he had been a good friend to them. For, (1.) He had preached the gospel to them freely, v. 7 — 10. He had proved at large, in his former epistle to them, the lawfulness of ministers receiv¬ ing maintenance from the people, and the duty of the people to give them an honourable maintenance ; and here he says he himself had taken wages of other churches, (v. 8. ) so that he had a right to have asked and received from them: yet he waived his right, and chose rather to abase himself, by working with his hands in the trade of tent-making to maintain himself, than be burthensome to them, that they might be exalted, or encouraged to receive the gos¬ pel, which they had so cheap ; yea, he chose rather to be supplie

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This is the reason either why they should bear vdth. him, or why he was assured that they would do so. That is, the connection is either with the first and principal clause of y. 1, or with the latter clause. It makes but little difference. The sense is better if the connection is with the first clause. ' Bear with my folly — for I am jealous over you.' ZrjXo) yap vjj-a^. The word ^r;Aoco may mean, I ardently love, or more specifi- cally, I am jealous. The latter, as the figure of marriage is used, is probably the sense in which the apostle uses the word. With godly jealousy ; t,rj\os ^€ov may mean a zeal of which God is the object, as in Rom. 10, 2; comp. John 2, 17. In that case Paul intends to say that the feeling which he had for the Corinthians was a pious feeling. It was no selfish or mercenary interest, but such as arose from his desire to pro- mote the honour of God. Or, the meaning is, a zeal of which God is the author ; or, a zeal which God approves ; or, the zeal which God has. As the people of God are so often rep- resented in the Bible as standing to God in a relation analo- gous to that of a wife to a husband, so God is represented as being jealous, i. e. moved to deep displeasure when they trans- fer their love to another object. Is. 54, 5. 62, 5. Ez. 16. Hos. 2. In this view, the apostle means to say, that he shares in the feeling which God is represented as ent

同系列

Here the apostle begins his exhortation to the dis¬ charge of relative duties. As a general foundation for these duties, he lays down that rule, x>. 21. There is a mutual submission that Christians owe one to another ; condescending to bear one another’s burthens : not advancing themselves above others, or domineering over one another, and giving laws to one another. St. Paul was an example of this truly Christian temper, who became all things to all men. fWe must be of a yielding and of a submissive spirit, and ready to all the duties of the respective places and stations that God has allotted to us in the world. In the fear of God, that is, so far as is consistent with the fear of God ; for his sake, and out of con¬ science toward him ; and that hereby we may give proof that we truly fear him. Where there is this mutual condescension and submission, the duties of all relations will be the better performed. From v. 22, to the end, he speaks of the duties of husbands and wives; and he speaks of these in a Christian manner, setting the church as an example of the wife’s subjection, and Christ as an example of love in husbands. 1. The duty prescribed to wives, is, submission to their husbands in the Lord ; (y. 22.) which sub¬ mission includes the honouring and the obeying them, and that from a principle of love to them : they must do this in compliance with God’s authority, who h

同上 vol.6

The apostle enjoins mutual obedience as a Christian duty, V. 21. Under this head he treats of the relative duties of husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to the duties of husbands and wives. As the conjugal relation is analogous to that which Christ sustains to the church, the one serves to illustrate the others. The apostle, therefore, combines the two sub- jects throughout the paragraph. Wives should be subject to their husbands as the church is to Christ. 1. The motive to this subject is a regard to the Lord, v. 22. 2. The ground of it is, that the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, v. 23. 3. This subjection is not confined to any one sphere, but extends to all, v. 24. Husbands should love their wives. 1. The measure of this love is Christ's love for the church for whose redemption he died, vs. 25-27. 2. The ground of love is in both cases the same — the wife is flesh of her hus- band's flesh, and bone of his bone. So the church is flesh of Christ's flesh and bone of his bone. Hus- band and wife are one flesh; so are Christ and the church. What is true of the one is true of the other, vs, 29-31. 3. The union between Christ and his church is indeed of a higher order than that between husband and wife — nevertheless the analogy between the two cases is such as to render it ob

同系列

Some think this refers to the conversion of the Jews, which they suppose will succeed the fall of Babylon ; others, to the general resurrection : the former seems more probable. Now, 1. You have here a description of the Dride, how she appeared ; not in the gay and gaudy dress of the mother of harlots, but in fine linen , clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints; in the robes of Christ’s righteousness, both imputed for justifica¬ tion, and imparted for sanctification ; the stola, the white robe of absolution, adoption, and infranchise- ment ; and the white robe of purity, and universal holiness ; she had washed her robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ; and these her nup¬ tial ornaments she did not purchase by any price of her own, but received them as the gift and grant of her blessed Lord. 2. The marriage-feast, which, though not par ticularly described, (as Matt. 22. 4.) yet is declared to be such as would make them all happy, who were called to it, so called as to accept the invitation, a feast made up of the promises of the gospel, the true 1*26 REVELATION, XIX. sayings of God, v. 9. These promises, opened, ] applied, staled, and eamested by the Spirit of God, in holy, eucharistical ordinances, are the marriage- feast ; and the whole collective body of all those who partake of this feast, is, the bride, the Lamb’s wife; they eat into one body, a

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We have here a more general account of the happiness of the church of God in the future state, by which it seems most safe to understand the hea¬ venly state. 1. A new world now opens to our view ; ( v. 1. ) / saw a new heaven and a new earth ; that is, a new universe ; for we suppose the world to be made up of heaven and earth. By the new earth we may un¬ derstand a new state for the bodies of men, as well as a heaven for their souls. This world is not now newly created, but newly opened, and filled with all those who were the heirs of it. The new hea¬ ven, and the new earth, will not then be distinct ; the very earth of the saints, their glorified bodies, will now be spiritual and heavenly, and suited to those pure and bright mansions. To make way for the commencement of this new world, the old world, with all its troubles and commotions, passed away. 2. In this new world the apostle saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, not locally, but as to its original : this new Jerusalem is the church of God in its new and perfect state, pre pared as a bride adorned for her husband, beauti fied with all perfection of wisdom and holiness, meet for the full fruition of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. 3. The blessed presence of God with his people is here proclaimed and admired; (t;. 3. ) I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the taber¬ nacle of God

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We have here a solemn ratification of the con¬ tents of this book, and particularly of this last vi¬ sion ; though some think it may not only refer to the whole book, but to the whole New Testament, yea, to the whole Bible, completing and confirming' the canon of scripture. And here, 1. This is confirmed by the name and nature of that God who gave out these discoveries ; he is the Lord God, faithful and true, and so are all his sayings. 2. By the messen¬ gers he chose to reveal these things to the world ; the holy angels shewed them to holy men of God ; and God would not employ his saints and angels in deceiving the world. 3. They will soon be con¬ firmed by their accomplishment ; they are things that must shortly be done ; Christ will make haste, he will come quickly, and put all things out of doubt; and then they will prove the wise and happv men, who have believed and kept his words. 4. By the integrity of that angel who had been the apostle’s guide and interpreter in these visions ; that integrity was such, that he not only refused to accept religious adoration from John, but once and again reproved him for it. He who was so tender of the honour of God, and so displeased with what was a wrong to God, would never come in his name to lead the peo¬ ple of God into mere dreams and delusions : and it still is a further confirmation of the sincerity of this apostle, that he confe

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