Such will be the destruction of Antichrist: but the prophet, by "one of the boldest prosopopoeias "that this mystic sovereign corresponds much better with the infidel tyrant than the Pope, the interpretation of Vitringa is nevertheless important, as it shews his decided opinion, like that of the two Lowths, to have been, that we must look beyond the literal king of Babylon for the complete fulfilment of the prediction. 66 66 "Imperii vero Babylonici, ad quod Joannes in Apocalypsi "alludit, quo modo in hac prophetia describitur, hi sunt "characteres. a. Est imperium magnum et vastum. B. Cujus metropolis est urbs magna, ampla, splendida, regnorum "decus, excellentia sua superbiens (Cap. xiii. 19.). y. Quæ captivum tenet populum Dei olim et longum tempus liberum, cumque duro premit jugo servitutis (Cap. xiv. 1, 2, 3, 4.) "d. Cui præest Rex sive Reges violenti, tyranni crudeles, ex"actores, populis violenter et inclementer imperantes. (Cap. " xiii. 11. xiv. 6, 12.) E. Tanto fastu se supra hnmana "omnia efferentes, ut se Deo æquent, et summam cum eo partiri gaudeant gloriam (Vs. 13, 14.), sedentes in templo "Dei, tanquam Deus, et quidem ad latera Aquilonis. "Turbantes totum orbem, bellorumque inter gentes jacientes "semina (Cap. xiv. 16.). 2. Qui Rex, complexè, sumptus, "vi tandem dejiciendus sit de throno imperii, et detrudendus "ad inferos (Cap. xiv. 15.). . Cum admiratione omnium populorum et gentium, quæ crediderant imperium ejus fore ææternum (Cap. xiv. 6.). .. Abolita simul omni hujus imperii successione (Vs. 21, 22.). Interitu autem suo in"volvet plenarium excidium Babelis, ita destruendæ, ut nunquam postea habitetur (Cap. xiii. 20, 21. xiv. 23.) a. "Cujus judicii administri essent maximam partem gentes "truces, crudeles, bellicosæ, Babeli septentrionales, non par 66 66 66 suræ incolis Babelis (Cap. xiii. 17.). μ. Effectus autem 66 esset "that ever was attempted in poetry," carries us yet beyond his destruction. "The regions of the dead are laid open, and Hades is represented as rousing up the shades of the departed monarchs. They rise from their thrones to meet the king of Babylon at his coming; and insult him on his "being reduced to the same low estate of impo"tence and dissolution with themselves. The image of the state of the dead, or the Infernum "poeticum of the Hebrews, is taken from their custom of burying those at least of the higher "rank, in large sepulchral vaults hewen in the "rock. Of this kind of sepulchres there are re"mains at Jerusalem now extant; and some that "are said to be the sepulchres of the kings of "Judah. You are to form to yourself the idea "of an immense subterraneous vault, a vast gloomy 66 cavern, all round the sides of which there are "esset liberatio ecclesiæ a jugo, quo hactenus pressa fuerat, ejusque jubilum cum deprædicatione divinæ justitiæ et "gratiæ (Cap. xiv. 1, 2.) Hæc nunc applica, sodes, ad Ro66 mam, persecutricem. sanctorum, et mysticos tanti imperii reges, et nullibi hærebis, exceptis iis, quorum implementum "adhuc expectamus." Comment. in Jesaiam in loc. 66 It is a remarkable circumstance, that, as the literal Babylon was destroyed by the instrumentality of nations which lay northward of it, so we have some reason to believe from prophecy that a great northern nation will be employed to punisir the Roman Babylon while Antichrist is engaged in his expedition against Palestine. This point will be discussed hereafter, when I treat of the predictions of Daniel and St. John. " cells "cells to receive the dead bodies. Here the de"ceased monarchs lie in a distinguished sort of state, suitable to their former rank, each op his own couch, with his arms beside him, his sword 66 at his head, and the bodies of his chiefs and "companions round about him. These illustrious "shades rise at once from their couches, as from "their thrones; and advance to the entrance of "the cavern to meet the king of Babylon, and to "receive him with insults on his fall. 186 "I believe it may with truth be affirmed, that "there is no poem of its kind extant in any language, in which the subject is so well laid out, and so happily conducted, with such a rich"ness of invention, with such a variety of images, persons, and distinct actions, with such rapidity "and ease of transition, in so small a compass, 66 as in this ode of Isaiah. For beauty of dispo"sition, strength of colouring, greatness of senti. ment, brevity, perspicuity, and force of expression, it stands among all the monuments of " antiquity unrivalled *." *See Bp. Lowth's elegant and classical elucidation of this ode, in the notes to his translation of Isaiah. PRO PROPHECY VI. The dispersion of the Jews-The irruption of Añ3 tichrist at the time of their restoration-The character of some maritime nation destined to restore the converted Jews-The occupation of mount Zion by Antichrist-His invasion of Egypt -The state of Egypt at this period-The religious connection of Assyria, Israel, and Egypt. Be Isaiah xvii. 1. The burden of Damascus. hold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 2. The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 3. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. 4. For in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. 5. And it shall be, as when the harvest man gathereth the corn, and his arm reapeth the ears; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. 6. Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of its fruitfulness, 9. fruitfulness, saith the Lord God of Israel. 7. At that day shall each man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. 8. And he shall not look unto the altars, the work of his hands; and what his fingers made he shall not regard, even the groves, and the images. In that day, the cities of his strength shall be as the leaving of a ploughed field and a branch, which they have left before the face of the children of Israel and there shall be desolation. 10. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and the rock of thy strength thou hast not remembered; therefore thou shalt plant desirable plants, and a twig as a stranger shalt thou sow it. 11. In/ the day thou shalt vehemently labour to make thy plant grow; even in the early morning shalt thou cause thy seed to flourish: nevertheless the heap of the harvest-man shall be in a day of grief and heavy trouble. 12. Ho! multitude of many people; as the tumultuous noise of the sea they roar tumultuously: * The leaving of a ploughed field.] I entirely agree with Mr. Farkhurst in this translation of the passage. The words contain a manifest allusion to the Mosaic laws relative to the not gleaning, of their ploughed fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, but leaving somewhat of the fruits for the poor of the land (Compare Levit. ix. 9, 10. and Deut. xxiv. 19–21. in the Hebrew). The idea here designed to be conveyed, is the same as that in Ver. 6. an idea of desolation so extreme, as to leave in the land nothing more than the bare gleanings of the people. See Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. Vox wn, VOL. I. L and |