John Gill Commentary Habakkuk 2

I will stand upon my watch These are the words of the prophet: so the Targum introduces them, ``the prophet said;'' and this he said in character as a watchman, as all the prophets were: as a watchman takes the proper place he watches in and looks out, especially in time of danger and distress, if he can spy anyone bringing tidings, that he may receive it, and notify it to the people that has appointed him a watchman; so the prophet retired from the world, and gave himself up to meditation and prayer, and put himself in a waiting posture; looking up to the Lord, and expecting an answer to his expostulations with him, concerning the success of the enemies of God's people, and the calamities that were like to come upon them, that he might report it to them; see (Isaiah 21:8) .

and set me upon the tower ; a place of eminence, from which he could behold an object at a distance: it signifies a strait place, in which he was as one besieged; and may be an emblem of the straits and difficulties he was in, which he wanted to be extricated out of: the thoughts of his heart troubled him; he had a great many objections that rose up in his mind against the providences that were like to attend his people; he was beset with the temptations of Satan, and surrounded with objectors to what he had delivered, concerning the Chaldeans being raised up by God to the destruction of the Jewish nation;

and, amidst these difficulties, he sets himself to reading the word of God, and meditation on it, to pray to God for instruction and information in this matter; as Asaph, in a like case, went into the sanctuary of the Lord, where he got satisfaction, (Psalms 73:2Psalms 73:3Psalms 73:16Psalms 73:17) as well as it may be expressive of the confidence he had in God, in his covenant and promises, which were as a fortress and strong tower to him; in short, he kept his place, he was found in the way of his duty, in the performance of his office, and was humbly and patiently waiting on God, to know more of his mind and will, and acquaint the people with it.

And will watch to see what he will say unto me ; or "in me" ^F14 ; that is, what the Lord would say unto him, either outwardly by an audible voice; or inwardly by impressing things upon his mind; or in a vision by the Spirit of prophecy, as Kimchi; so David, "the Spirit of the Lord spoke by me", or "in me", (2 Samuel 23:2) he was determined to wait patiently for an answer, and to continue in the present posture, and constantly attend to every motion and dictate of the Spirit of God, and take particular notice of what should be suggested to him:

and what I shall answer when I am reproved ; either by the Lord, for using so much freedom and boldness in expostulations and reasonings with him, who is under no obligation to give an account of his matters unto the children of men; or by others, how he should be able to satisfy his own mind, and remove the scruples, doubts, and objections, that arose there against the providence of God, in prospering the wicked, and afflicting the righteous, and repel the temptation he was under to quarrel with God, and arraign his proceedings; and how he should answer the objections that his people made, both against his prophecies, and the providence of God, for which they reproved him; or, however, he expected they would. The Targum is, ``and what will be returned to my request.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: (yb) "in me", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Tarnovius, Van Till, Burkius.

And the Lord answered me
As he does his ministers and people sooner or later, in one way or another, when they call upon him withhumility and reverence, with faith and fervency: and said, Write the vision ;
which the prophet now had from him, concerning the coming of the Messiah, and the destruction of the enemiesof the church and people of God: and this he has orders to "write"; not only to tell it to the people thenpresent, for their particular information and satisfaction; but to write it, that it may be read over andover, and that it may remain, and be of use in times to come.

and make [it] plain upon tables ,
engrave it in plain legible letters on tables of wood; on box tree, as the Septuagint version; on which theyused to write before paper was found out and used. Writing tables are of ancient use; they were used in andbefore the times of Homer, for he speaks ^F15 of writing very pernicious things on a two leavedtable.

wherefore Josephus must be mistaken when he suggests ^F16 that letters were not found out inthe times of Homer. These tables were made of wood, sometimes of one sort, and sometimes of another;sometimes they were made of the pine tree, as appears from Euripides ^F17 but, for the most part,of box ^F18 , according to the Greek version as above;

and consisted sometimes of two leaves, for the most part of three or five, covered with wax ^F19 , on which impressions were easily made, andcontinued long, and were very legible; and these impressions or letters were formed with an iron style orpen; see (Jeremiah 17:1) this the Greeks and Tuscans first used, but was afterwards forbidden by theRomans, who, instead of it, ordered an instrument of bone to be used ^F20:

hence these tables were wont to be called "wax", because besmeared with it; and so, in wills and testaments written on them, theheirs are said to be written either in the first wax, or in the bottom of the wax ^F21 , that is,of the will, or in the lowest part of the table, or what we should call the bottom of the leaf or page:

and it was a custom among the Romans, as Cicero ^F23 relates, that the public affairs of every yearwere committed to writing by the Pontifex Maximus, or high priest, and published on a table, and set to viewwithin doors, that the people might have an opportunity and be able to know them; yea, it was usual to hangup laws, approved and recorded, in tables of brass, in their market places, and in their temples, that^F24 they might be seen and read; the same we call annals. In like manner the Jewish prophets usedto write and expose their prophecies publicly on tables, either in their own houses, or in the temple, thateveryone that passed by might read them.

That he may run that readeth it ;
may run through the whole without any difficulty, without making any stop, being written in such largecapital letters; and those cut so well, and made so plain, that a man might run it over at once with ease, oreven read it as he was running; nor need he stop his pace, or stand to read.

The Targum is,

``write the prophecy, and explain it in the book of the law, that he may hasten to obtain wisdom, whoever he is thatreads in it.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F15: (graqav en pinaki ptuktw) Homer. Iliad. 6.
• F16: Contr. Apion, l. 1. c. 2.
• F17: In Hippolito.
• F18: "Ergo tam doctae nobis periere tabellae, Non illas fixum charas effeceret aurum, Vulgari buxo sordida cera fuit. Propertius. Buxa crepent cerata------" Prudentius.
• F19: Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 2. c. 30.
• F20: Isidor. Originum, l. 6. c. 8.
• F21: "In ima cera", Sueton. in Vit. Jul. Caesar. c. 83. "in extrema cera", Cicero in Verrem, l. 3. Vid. Alex. ab Alex. ib. l. 1. c. 1.
• F23: De Oratore, l. 2. sect. 34.
• F24: Taciti Annales, l. 11. c. 14.

For the vision [is] yet for an appointed time
Not the present vision only, but vision or prophecy in general: it was a doubt that arose in the minds of the prophet and other good men, upon the notice given that the Chaldeans would be raised up to the destruction of the Jews; that then the law of God would cease, his worship would not continue; vision and prophecy would be no more; it would be all over with the doctrine of the law and the prophets.

Now in answer to this, and to remove this doubt, they are assured that vision or prophecy should "yet", or still, continue, and even "to the appointed time"; the time fixed for the continuance of it, notwithstanding the people of the Jews should be carried captive into another land: and accordingly so it was; there were prophets, as Daniel and Ezekiel, in the time of the captivity; and, after it, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi; yea, the law and the prophets were until John; for vision and prophecy were to be sealed up by the Messiah, and not before; see (Luke 16:16) (Daniel 9:24)

it was true indeed with respect to the present vision or prophecy concerning the Messiah, that that was not to be fulfilled presently; there was some considerable time first to elapse; there was a time appointed for the accomplishment of it, and it would remain till that time, and then be most surely fulfilled; which would be before the sceptre departed from Judah, while the second temple was yet standing, and when Daniel's seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, were come; which were the limited, determined, and appointed time for the Messiah's coming, the time appointed of the Father, the fulness of time; so there was an appointed time for his coming to take vengeance on the Jewish nation, for their rejection of him, to which the apostle applies these words, (Hebrews 10:37) and also for his spiritual coming, to visit his people in a gracious way; there is a set time to favour Zion and her children; as well as there is a day fixed for his second coming, or coming to judgment.

But at the end it shall speak, and not lie ;
or rather, "he shall speak" ^F25 ; and so in the following clauses it should be rendered, not "it", but "he"; and so the apostle has taught us to interpret it of a person, and not a thing, (Hebrews 10:37) that is, "at the end" of the time appointed, or at the end of the Jewish state, both civil and ecclesiastic, the Messiah should appear, as he did, which is called the end of the world, (1 Corinthians 10:11) (Hebrews 10:26) when a new world began, the world to come, the Gospel dispensation, of which Christ is said to be the Father, in the Greek version of (Isaiah 9:6) see (Hebrews 2:5) and being come, he shall "speak"; or, as it may be rendered, "at the end thereof" shall be "the speaker", or "preacher" ^F26 ; that shall publish and proclaim the glad tidings of the Gospel; and this agrees with Christ, the Logos, or Word of God, the great Prophet that should be raised up in the church, the teacher sent of God, the Wonderful Counsellor, and faithful witness; who spoke out the whole mind and will of God; published the everlasting Gospel; delivered out the doctrines of grace and truth; and spoke such words of grace as never man did, and with such power and authority as the Scribes and Pharisees did not.

Some render the words, "and he shall break forth as the morning" ^F1 ; so the word is used in (Song of Solomon 2:17) (4:6) and so the Septuagint version, "he shall arise at the end"; like the rising sun: this agrees with Christ, the day spring from on high, and whose coming is said to be as the morning, (Luke 1:78) (2 Samuel 23:4) (Hosea 6:3) and when he should thus appear, and exercise his prophetic office, he should "not lie"; this is the character of God himself, as opposed to a mere man, who is subject to lying and deceit; and suits well with Christ, who is truly God, and not a mere man; and answers to his character in prophecy and fact, that there was no guile in his mouth and lips, (Isaiah 53:4) (1 Peter 2:22) and fitly describes him as a preacher, who is truth itself; taught the way of God in truth; spoke the word of truth, the Gospel of our salvation; and no lie is of the truth; and who is infallible in all his doctrines, and does not and cannot deceive any; all his words are to be depended upon as faithful and true.

Though it tarry, wait for it ;
or "though he tarry, wait for him"; not that he really would or did tarry; but he might seem to do so, not coming so soon as the Old Testament saints expected, and as they wished for and desired; it was a long time from the first promise of him; and sometimes the saints were ready to give it up, and their hearts to sink and faint, because it was seemingly deferred. This shows that this prophecy does not respect the Babylonish captivity; for that had no seeming delay, but, as soon as ever the seventy years were up, there was a deliverance from it; but the Messiah's coming was long expected, and seemed to be deferred, and the patience of the saints was almost wore out; but they are here encouraged, when this was the case, still to wait for him, as good old Simeon and others did, about the time of his coming; and so his spiritual and second coming should be waited patiently for, though they may seem to be delayed.

Because it will surely come, it will not tarry ;
or "for he that is to come", or "is coming, will come ^F2 , and not tarry"; beyond the appointed time. This is a periphrasis of the Messiah; for, being so often spoken of as to come, it became a description of him, "he that is to come"; see (Matthew 11:3) and as it was foretold he would come, so assuredly he would come, and not stay a moment longer than the time appointed of the Father; in which fulness of time God sent him, and he came, (Galatians 4:3Galatians 4:4) . The person here prophesied of is not Jeremiah, as Jarchi, but the Messiah; and this is acknowledged by some Jewish writers, ancient and modern; and removes the doubt and objection that might arise from the Chaldeans coming upon the Jews, and carrying them captive, as if the promise of the Messiah would fail, whereas it would not.

In the Talmud ^F3 , they say,

``God does not renew his world till after seven thousand years; another says five thousand. R. Nathan says, this Scripture penetrates and descends into the abyss; i.e. fixes no particular time; "the vision is for an appointed time"; not as our Rabbins, who inquire the meaning of a time, and times, and half a time; what then is meant, "but at the end it shall speak", and "not lie?" Let them burst that compute the times, who used to say when the time comes, and he cometh not, he will never come; but wait for him, as it is said, "if he tarry, wait for him": perhaps you will say, we wait, but he does not wait; this may be an instruction to you what he says, "therefore the Lord waiteth to be gracious"''

Maimonides says ^F4 , their twelfth fundamental article of faith is, the days of the Messiah; that is, to believe, and be firmly persuaded, that he will come, nor will he tarry; "if he tarry, wait for him": though, he observes, this Scripture does not fix the certain time; nor is it to be so expounded, so as to gather from thence the exact time of his coming. This they do not choose to own, though it does, because the time is long ago elapsed.

Abarbinel ^F5 owns that this vision is different from that in the preceding verse (Habakkuk 2:2) , which concerns the second temple, but this another redemption; and would have it that the words may be explained thus, he that shall come will come at the time appointed, which is mentioned; and, after his coming, the King Messiah shall not tarry from coming to redeem you; which, though a wrong sense, shows his conviction of the prophecy belonging to the Messiah. So Abendana ^F6 says, our Rabbins understand this, "at the end it shall speak", of the end of our redemption from this captivity in which we now are; and in this way it appears right to explain it, for the prophet was complaining of the prosperity of Nebuchadnezzar; and the Lord answers him, that he should write the vision of the destruction of Babylon, which should be at the end of seventy years; and said, do not wonder that I prolong to Babylon seventy years, for "yet the vision is for an appointed time": as if he should say, yet there is a vision for times afar off, "and at the end it shall speak": in all which there are plain traces of the sense the ancient synagogue put on this text, though now perverted, to favour their hypothesis of the Messiah being yet to come and save them.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: (xpyw) "idque ille loquetur", Castalio.
  
• F26: "Praeco erit in fine", Cocceius; "et praeco aderit in fine", Van Till.
  
• F1: (kai anatelei) , Sept.
  
• F2: (aby ab yk) "quia veniens veniet", V. L.; "veniendo veniet", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Van Till, Burkius.
  
• F3: T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 97. 2.
  
• F4: In Pocock. Porta Mosis, p. 176.
  
• F5: Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 64. 1.
  
• F6: Not. in Miclol Yophi in loc. Vid. Caphtor Uperah, fol. 6. 4. & 45. 1. 2.

Behold, his soul [which] is lifted up is not upright in him, &c.] This and the following clause describe two sorts of persons differently affected to the Messiah, and the promise of his coming. Here it points at such as were "incredulous", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; that disbelieved his coming, and mocked and scoffed at the promise of it; as well as those that did not believe in him when he came, though he had all the characteristics of the Messiah; and damnation was the certain consequence of their unbelief.

The proud and haughty Scribes and Pharisees are here plainly described, whose minds were elated with themselves; whose hearts were like bubbles, blown up, full of wind; whose souls swelled with pride and vanity, and a high conceit of themselves; of their merit and worth; of their holiness and works of righteousness; and treated those they thought below them in these things with the utmost disdain and contempt; and trusted in themselves, and to their own righteousness, to the great neglect of the true Messiah and his righteousness^F7.

The word for "lifted up" has in it the signification of a hill, mountain, fortress, or tower; see (Isaiah 32:14) (Micah 4:8) as Aben Ezra observes. So R. Moses Kimchi interprets the passage, ``he whose soul is not right in him places himself in a fortress or tower, to set himself on high there from the enemy, and does not return to God, nor seek deliverance of him; but the righteous has no need to place himself on high in a fortress, for he shall live by his faith.''

Ophel was part of the hill of Zion, on which the temple was built; and Cocceius thinks there is a reference in the words to Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood: and in this sense the words aptly agree with the pharisaical Jews, who boasted of their temple, and gloried in it, and trusted in the service and sacrifices of it; and betook themselves to the observance of rites and ceremonies, and the traditions of their elders, and to their moral works of righteousness, for their justification and salvation, as their tower of safety, and place of defence; neglecting the Messiah, the Rock of salvation, the Rock of Israel, the munition of rocks, the strong hold and tower, where only safety and salvation are.

The apostle, following the Greek version, renders the word in (Hebrews 10:38), "if any man draw back" and De Dieu^F8 observes, that the word in the Arabic language signifies to neglect or withdraw the mind from a person or thing; and may be fitly applied to the same persons who neglected Christ, and the great salvation by him; hid their faces from him; would not look at him, nor converse with him, nor attend his ministry, nor suffer others to do it; they withdrew from his apostles and ministers, and the Christian churches, and persecuted them both in Judea and in the Gentile world; and many of the Jews that did make a profession, and joined themselves to Christian churches, after a time separated from them; being sensual, and not having the Spirit, went out from among them, not being truly of them, and forsook the assembling of themselves together with them; and to these the apostle applies the words in the aforementioned place.

Now of every such person it may be said, "his soul is not upright in him"; either "in himself", as the Vulgate Latin version, and so Kimchi; he is not a just man, not truly upright and righteous, though he may think he is, and may be thought so by others; yet he is not in the sight of God; his heart is not sincere; he has not the truth of grace in him; a right spirit is not created and renewed in him; he never was convinced by the Spirit of God of sin and righteousness, or he would not be thus elated with himself: his soul is not upright towards God; he seeks himself, and his own applause, in all he does, and not the honour and glory of God, and the magnifying of his grace and goodness; he has no right notions of the righteousness of God, and of his holy law; nor of Christ, his person, and offices; nor indeed of himself. Or "his soul is not right in him"^F9; that is, in Christ, who was to come, nor when he was come; that is, he is not rightly, sincerely, and heartily affected to him; he has no true knowledge of him, real desire unto him, hearty affection for him, or faith in him, or regard unto him, his Gospel and his ordinances; all which was most clearly true of the carnal Jews, and is of all self-righteous persons. The apostle, in (Hebrews 10:38) seems to understand it of the soul of God, that that, or he, was not affected to, and pleased with, persons of such a character and complexion; see (Luke 14:11) (18:14).

But the just shall live by faith; the "just" man is the reverse of the former; he is one that believed in the coming of Christ, and believed in him when come; who has no overweening opinion of himself, and of his own righteousness; nor does he trust in it for his justification before God, and acceptance with him; but in the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, from where he is denominated a just man: and such an one "shall live", not merely a corporeal life, for righteous men die as well as others; nor an eternal life, though such shall live this life, and have it now in some sense, for this life is enjoyed not by faith, but by sight; but a spiritual life, begun in regeneration, and maintained by the Spirit and grace of God; such live a life of justification on Christ, of sanctification from him, and of communion with him; they live cheerfully, comfortably, and delightfully, a life of peace, joy, and comfort; which is greatly the sense of the word here, as in (Psalms 22:26) (Isaiah 55:2) and this is "by his faith"; his own faith, and not another's; which though for its kind is the same in all, alike precious faith, yet as to its actings is peculiar to one, and is not another's: or by the faith of God; that is, by that faith which is the gift of God, and of his operation, and has him for its object; such live by faith upon a promising God, and so live comfortably: or by the faith of Christ, promised to come in the preceding verse (Habakkuk 2:3); by that faith, of which he is the object, author, and finisher: just men live not upon their faith, but by it on Christ, as crucified for them, as the bread of life, and as the Lord their righteousness; and so have joy and peace in believing.

There is a different accentuation of this clause. Some put the stop after "just", and read the words, "the just, by his faith shall live"; that is, he who is a just man, in an evangelical sense, he shall live by his faith, in the sense before explained; not that he is a just man that lives righteously and unblamably before men; but who lives a life of faith on Christ, and whose hope of eternal life is not founded upon his holy life and conversation, but upon the righteousness of Christ, which he by faith lives upon; for neither eternal life, nor the hope of it, are to be ascribed to faith in itself, but to the object of it.

But the most correct Hebrew copies unite, by the accent "merca", the words "by his faith", to the "just man"; and so they are to be read, "the just by his faith, he shall live"; that is, the man who is just, not by the works of the law, but by faith in the righteousness of Christ, or through the righteousness of Christ received by faith; for it is not faith itself, or the act of believing, that is a man's justifying righteousness, or is imputed to him for righteousness, or denominates him righteous, but the righteousness of Christ he lays hold on by faith; and such a man shall live both spiritually and eternally. And this manner of accenting the words is approved of by Wasmuth^F11, and by Reinbeck^F12.

Burkius, a late annotator thinks, it might be safest to repeat the word that is controverted, and read it thus, "the just in" or "by his faith": "in" or "by his faith he shall live"; which takes in both senses, and either of which rightly explained may be admitted.

Junius, with whom Van Till agrees, is of opinion that respect is had to the example of Abraham, of whom we read (Genesis 15:6) and "he believed in the Lord", and "he counted it to him for righteousness"; not his faith, but the object of it, or what he believed, the promised seed. And so the ancient Jews compare this faith with Abraham's; for, mentioning the text in (Genesis 15:6), say they^F13, ``this is the faith by which the Israelites inherit, of which the Scripture says, "and the just by his faith shall live".'' And they have also a saying^F14, that the law, and all the precepts of it, delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai, are reduced by Habakkuk to one, namely this, "the just by his faith shall live"; which is true, if rightly understood; for the righteousness of Christ, the just man becomes so by, and which by faith he lives upon, is answerable to the whole law.

The apostle produces this passage three times to prove that the righteousness of Christ revealed in the Gospel is to faith; that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God; that the just man shall live, and not die; shall not draw back to perdition, but believe to the saving of the soul, (Romans 1:17) (Galatians 3:11) (Hebrews 10:38Hebrews 10:39) which shows that it belongs to Gospel times and things. The Targum of the whole is, ``behold, the wicked say all these things "shall [not] be", but the righteous shall remain in their truth.'' Kimchi interprets the former part of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar his son; and the latter part of the Israelites carried into captivity with Zedekiah; but very wrongly.

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: So Kimchi and Ben Melech observe the word has the signification of haughtiness of heart, and of pride; and Jarchi of impudence; and the Arabic word "muthaphilin", in Schindler, is rendered "despisers".
• F8: So according to Castel is "neglixit", Act. vi. 1. "substraxit se", Judg. xx. 36. and so it is used in the Alcoran, Surat. Joseph. ver. 13. and in the Arabic version of Psal. xxviii. 1. Matt. xxiii. 23. Heb. xii. 5.
• F9: (wb wvpn hrvy al) "non recta (est) anima ejus in eo", Montanus, Calvin, Drusius, Burkius.
• F11: Vindiciae Hebr. par. 2. c. p. 322.
• F12: De Accent. Hebr. p. 488, 489. So Boston. Tract. Stigmologic. p. 33, 34.
• F13: Shemot Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 107. 3.
• F14: T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 24. 1.

Yea also, because he transgresses by wine
Or rather, "how much less" or "more ^F15 , wine dealing treacherously": or "a man of wine", as Aben Ezra supplies it; that is, a winebibber, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it: and the sense in connection with the preceding verse (Habakkuk 2:4) is, if a Jew, elated with his works of righteousness, his soul is not right in him, "how much less" a drunken, treacherous, proud, and ambitious heathen? if the Scribes and Pharisees, who expected the coming of the Messiah, yet withdrew from him, and opposed themselves unto him when come, "how much more" will such persons set themselves against him and his interest, thus described? by whom are meant, not the Babylonian monarchs, Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar and the Chaldeans, as usually interpreted, though there are many things in the account applicable to them; but this is breaking the thread of the prophecy, which carries on the account of the enemies of Christ, and of his kingdom, from his first to his second coming; whereas to interpret this prophecy of the Chaldeans is to go back to times before the first coming of Christ; nor does it seem necessary to say anything more concerning them, since the people of God might be satisfied that these would be in their turn destroyed, and they delivered from them; and that they, the Jews, could not be cut off as a people, since the promise of the Messiah, as springing from them, is firmly established; and it is so strongly asserted, that he should come at the appointed time, and not tarry: after which the prophet goes on to observe two different sorts of people among the Jews; one sort proud and vain glorious, who opposed themselves to Christ when he came; the other sort true believers in him, who lived by faith upon him: so things would stand among the Jews when Christ came, and so they did; there was a separation among them on his account: next the prophet proceeds to observe another sort of enemies to Christ and his interest among the heathens, which was not to be wondered at, and therefore introduced by a comparative particle, "how much more" or "less"; and who must be removed to make way for his kingdom and glory in the latter day, manifestly pointed at in (Habakkuk 2:14Habakkuk 2:20) now who can these be but the Romans, both Pagan and Papal in succession? and with these and their rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, do the characters given as well agree as with the Babylonian monarchy, and the Chaldeans, or better and therefore, after Cocceius and Van Till I shall choose to interpret the whole of them; and it is well known that several of the Roman emperors were greatly given to luxury and intemperance, the first character they stand described by in the text.

Tiberius was greatly addicted to this vice; and, because of his greediness after wine ^F16 , used to be called Biberius Caldius Mero, instead of Tiberius Claudius Nero; his successor Caligula spent the immense riches Tiberius had gathered together in less than a year's time in luxury and intemperance; and Claudius, that succeeded him, scarce ever went out of his doors but he was drunk ^F18 ; and Nero, who came after him to the empire, was of unusual luxury and sumptuousness, as the historian says ^F19 ; he used to keep on his banquets from the middle of the day to the middle of the night ^F20 ; to say nothing of Domitian, Commodus, and other emperors that followed after them: and these men were deceitful and treacherous, both to their friends and enemies; and it is no wonder that such as these should oppose themselves to the kingdom and interest of Christ, as they did. Kimchi interprets this of Nebuchadnezzar; and Jarchi of Belshazzar; and most interpreters think it refers to his drinking in the vessels of the temple, (Daniel 5:2Daniel 5:3) :

[he is] a proud man ;
The Roman emperors were excessively proud, like the unjust judge, neither feared God, nor regarded man; nay, set up themselves for gods, and required divine worship to be given them. Caius Caligula claimed divine majesty to himself, and set himself up to be worshipped among his brother gods; he built a temple to his own deity, and appointed priests and sacrifices; and placed a golden image of himself in it, and clothed it every day with such a garment as he himself wore ^F21 ; he also set up his own image in the temple at Jerusalem. Nero suffered himself to be called lord and god by Tiridates king of the Armenians, with bended knees, and hands lift up to heaven. Domitian and Aurelianus took the same titles as Nero did; and Dioclesian would be worshipped as a god, and called himself the brother of the sun and moon; and no marvel that such men as these should be enemies to Christ, and persecutors of his people:

neither keeps at home ;
or "dwells not in the fold" ^F23 ; in the sheepfold of Christ, in his church, being none of his sheep, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel; and so it denotes a infidel, an heathen; a fit character for the Pagan emperors, who had no habitation in the house of God. Kimchi interprets it of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom not being continued; or of his being driven from his habitation, his palace, from among men, to live with beasts; but it is the character, and not the punishment, of the person that is here pointed at:

who enlarges his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be
satisfied ;
death and the grave, though such vast numbers are continually slain by the one, and laid in the other, yet are never satisfied; see (Proverbs 27:20) (Proverbs 30:15Proverbs 30:16) . This describes the insatiable thirst of the Roman emperors after honour, riches, and universal monarchy; who were never satisfied with what they obtained:

but gathers unto him all nations, and heaps unto him all
people ;
that is, subdued them, and made them provinces of the Roman empire, and tributary to it, even almost all the then known world; hence the Roman empire is called the whole world, (Luke 2:1) so Agrippa, in his orations to the Jews, mentions all nations as subject to the Romans ^F24 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F15: (yk Paw) "quanto magis", Calvin, Drusius, Tarnovius, Cocceius, Van Till, Burkius.
• F16: Suetonius in Vita Tiberii, c. 42.
• F18: Ib. Vita Claudii, c. 33.
• F19: Eutrop. Hist. Rom. l. 7.
• F20: Suetonius in Vita Neronis, c. 27.
• F21: Suetonius in Vita Caligulae, c. 22.
• F23: (hwny alw) "qui non habitat; quod de mansionibus ovium imprimius dicitur", Cocceius; "qui non inhabitat grata", Van Till.
• F24: Apud Joseph de Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 4.