9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming: it ftirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

The scene is now changed, and a new set of perfons are introduced: the regions of the dead are laid open; and bades is reprefented as roufing the fhades of departed monarchs from their feats, to meet the king of Babylon, and to infult him, on his being reduced to the fame low estate with themselves. The Hebrew word tranflated hell, fometimes fignifies the place into which the fouls of men are conveyed, after their feparation from the bodies to which they were united before death. This refidence of departed fpirits hath been thought by many to be fituated fomewhere under the earth; and, agreeable to this idea, it is called hell beneath. As the grave is the house appointed for the bodies of men after their decease, fo the place here mentioned, is fuppofed to be the mansion wherein fpirits have their refidence after they are feparated from the bodies which they inhabited. Accordingly the royal pfalmist, perfonating the great Meffiah, and predicting his refurrection from the dead, thus speaks: My heart is glad, and my 'glory rejoiceth: my flefh alfo fhall reft in hope: for 'thou wilt not leave my foul in hell*. After death, the fouls of men are not reduced to a state of inactivity and fleep, in which they are divefted of their powers, but still poffefs the faculties of understanding and difcernment, and exercise thofe affections which are fuited to their condition. The defcription given in this verse of what paffed in hell, at the approach of the king of Babylon, seems to intimate, that, in the infernal regions, fpirits are known to one another, that they are treated according to their rank, and

Pfal. xvi. 9, 10.

that

that wicked princes there enjoy fuch precedence as is confiftent with their ftate.At the coming of the king of Babylon into the receptacles of the dead, there was to be a great commotion among those who were once the chief ones of the earth, and the kings of the nations. On that occafion, thefe formerly great perfonages are represented as rifing from their feats, which they are fuppofed to have filled, in order to congatulate that prince upon his arrival among them, and to exprefs their furprise at his being reduced to the fame low eftate of impotence, wretchednefs, and diffolution with themfelves.The farcaftical language which they were to adopt, is recorded in the following verfes.

10 All they shall speak and fay unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?

Having nothing to fear from him who had de fcended from the throne of Babylon, instead of lamenting over his miferable fate, departed fpirits fcoffingly deride and infult over him, on account of his downfal. Full of astonishment, they inquire, Art thou alfo become weak as we? Notwithstanding all thy boasted power and grandeur, art thou, who waft renowned on earth for thy invincible strength, and who acted without control among the nations, by the flroke of death, become weak and feeble as we, who are stript of those natural abilities, and that civil authority, whereof we were poffeffed on earth?

Art thou become like unto us, who are deprived of all influence and empire over the fons of men, of all the terrestrial pleasures which we once enjoyed, without the leaft hope of ever regaining any thing of that fort; and are expofed to the dreadful vengeance of the Almighty, which he inflicts upon those who were oppreffive, proud, unjust, and tyrannical.

11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

Very great must have been the pomp and magnificence of the king of Babylon, when he refided in his fumptuous palace, of which you may form fome idea from the following circumstances. The image which Nebuchadnezzar set up in the plain of Dura, is computed to have coft three millions and a half of money. The elegant entertainments, made for thousands of lords; the vast variety of fine mufical inftruments, which were used at public folemnities; the rich fur niture, fuch as veffels of gold, and beds of ivory, with which the palace-royal was decorated, with a thoufand other things, clearly fhew the fplendor of the Babylonifh monarch. All thy worldly glory, which dazzled the eyes of men; all that fweet, melodious mufic, which delighted thee, and pleased the ears of thy admiring attendants, are now gone, and perithed for ever, being as it were buried with thee.The worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. That body, which was the object of refpect, attention, and care, which was elegantly dressed in finest linen and richest filks, and highly ornamented at an immenfe expence, is now covered on all fides with worms, who feed upon it as their prey. How great, how affecting, must be the change to that spirit which once animated it!-Be not proud, my brethren; be not vain of strength, beauty, or elegance of form. Contemplating the ftructure of the human body as the workmanship of God, it is a most beautiful and noble fabric: but viewing it as polluted by fin, as fubject to disease, and liable to corruption, you may perceive ample ground of humility; and you ought to be reminded of the very abject ftate to which your bodies, like that of the king of Babylon, fhall certainly be reduced. This mortifying confideration. fhould give a check to that pride and vanity which VOL. II. deforms

H

deforms and corrupts the human mind, and preys upon it as worms do on the dead bodies which are laid in the grave.

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O lucifer, fon of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didft weaken the nations!

A new scene is here opened, in which the Jewish church addrefs the king of Babylon, as a star of the firft magnitude, fallen from the confpicuous fplendor and dignity which he held in the political hemifphere. The word lucifer, fignifies one that bringeth light; and its import is well expreffed in the very next words, fon of the morning. It is a name given to the morning-ftar, which fhines bright immediately before day-break, ushers in the chearing light of the morning, and appears with peculiar luftre among the other ftars in the firmament. By this defcription, which must be here understood in a figurative fense, the Babylonian monarch, who excelled other princes in dignity, magnificence, and brilliancy, and who fhone with a fplendor far fuperior to furrounding potentates, is certainly intended. Concerning this remarkable person, the church thus exclaims, How art thou fallen from the fummit of glory, empire, and influence, into obfcurity, contempt, and forgetfulness! The expreffion alludes to meteors, fomewhat like a ftar, which are sometimes observed to fall from heaven, and immediately to difappear. Such was the fudden fall of this mighty prince, which is here mentioned with admiration and astonishment.

How art thou cut down to the ground, which didft weaken the nations! To give new force and beauty to the description, he who, in the former expreffion, is faid to have fallen as a ftar, is now reprefented as cut down like a tree. This prince, who, by the tyrannical exercise of his power, impaired the ftrength

of

of many nations, did not gradually pine away by ficknefs or disease; he did not wither away through age; he was not broken by accident: but he was fuddenly cut down by a violent blow, and fell at once as the tree that is cut down by the feller, never more to rife again.—The Lord is known by the judgment that he executeth. What more fuitable punishment could have been inflicted upon this haughty, vain-glorious monarch than that which he received? What more juft and proper than that he, who was ambitious to be admired for power and grandeur tranfcending all other princes, fhould have fallen into obfcurity and derifion?--that he, who aimed, through pride, to stand alone in the earth, fhould have been cut down, as a tree?

13 For thou haft faid in thine heart, I will afcend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the ftars of God: I will fit alfo upon the mount of the congregation, in the fides of the north.

In these words the proud king of Babylon is infulted, on account of the extravagant boastings which he uttered, and the ambitious projects he had formed, when in his former glory.- This infolent and arrogant prince impioufly faid, I will afcend into heaven. No man, in the faber use of reafon and of his fenfes, can be fuppofed to have formed the abfurd defign of literally performing the refolution contained in the words before us. The expreffion, therefore, must be interpreted in a manner confiftent with the wicked, avowed attempt, and facrilegious purpose, of this afpiring prince, and fo as to correfpond with the words in the latter part of the verfe. The heavens then must not be literally understood, to fignify the visible, airy, or starry heavens, into which no man can ascend, whilst he continues in this world; but that which was analogous to them, in the view of the king of Babylon. As the highest heavens are, in a pecu