Commentary upon the Prophecy of Isaiah

The expositors soar aloft here,¹ and in the mean while c••e nothing near the matter. The Jews forge three captivities here. The Christians differ from them, in supposing that it is spoken here of the third captivity under Antichrist, from which Christ shall deliver them. But in my judgement the Prophet hath a far other meaning, for he argues from the less to the greater, and allegeth the captivity under Pharaoh, from which the people in old time were delivered by the wonderful power of the Lord. His argument stands thus then: If the Lord punished the Egyptians because they dealt so barbarously with his people, much more will he be revenged on the Chaldeans, who no less cruelly tyrannized over them. For Pharaoh had much more show of reason to domineer over the Jews then the Chaldeans had. For Jacob going down into Egypt with his family, subjected himself thereby under Pharaohs power, who in thankfulness for the good service which Joseph had done him and the kingdom, assigned out to his father and brethren a very large country, fit to nourish their cattle in for their abode. The successors of Pharaoh proving unthankful, and forgetting the benefits received by Josephs means, they afflicted all Jacobs posterity divers ways. Neither was the Lord behind hand with them in recompensing this unkindness and ingratitude with a swift and severe vengeance. But the wickedness of the Chaldeans was far worse, and more insupportable, in that they cast the Jews out of their country, unto which they had a just title, to lead them away captive. If the Lord then could not endure the ingratitude, nor the unjust taxes which the Egyptians laid upon the Israelites, though they might claim a just possession, how much less would he suffer this violence and cruelty of the Chaldeans, who had no right at all to retain his people,