Parti. METAPHORS FROM THE KrNDS or LIVINfCREATURES. 147 in<> has fame Refemblance to War, as Xenophon fays in his InftruCl:ion of Gyrus; yea it is '7. Kind of War: And on the other Hand, War is a Kind of Hunting of fervile and difobedient Men, as Ariftotle in his Ifi Book of Politics fays: Therefore when Nim– rod is faid to be a mighty Hunter, it is to be interpreted a Warnor, which appears from the Text itfelf, for it is applied in this Place to the principal Cities of that Kingdom, which may not be properly faid of a Hunter, but of a King or General of an I-Ioft.who built ftrong Cities when he fubdued the Countnes. The Chaldee plamly renders It, a ftrong Hero. .//ben Ezra takes it properly o( the Hunting of Beafts whichNimrod of– fered in Sacrifices to the Lord, from the Phrafe before the Lord. But Mercer notes, that all the Hebrews efteemed Nimrod as a Tyrant, and that Aben Ezra lhou!d be re– buked, for that he alone would juftify an impious Man. But more rightly the Phrafe before the Lord is to be underllood, to denote an Aggravanon of !liS Tyranny, be– caufe he did not aCt obfcurely or pnvatc!y, but openly and 111 the Face of the Sun, Jm– pofing his Governme~.t without RefpeCl: to ~en, or Dread of the all-feeing Divinity. See Gen. vi. I!. and XIII. q, &c. La(tly 1t IS to be obferved that I Chron. 1. 10. Ntm– rod is faid plainly to be mighty upon the Earth, which is by any Means to be underftood of his Rule over Men. ·• The Term HUN'I'ING is attributed to God, when he requites the Perfecutors of the Godly, with thofe Punifhments they defigned or inflifted upon others, Pfal. ex!. I!. '!'be Man of 'J'ongue (that is, one that curfes or blafphemes) jhall not be eftab!ifhed in the Earth, he (viz. God) jhall hunt him, io the Hebrew, to Precipices, or an Over~ throw, that is, as he hunted the Godly, Verfe 5· fo God will, as it were, with Punifh– ments hunt him, till he rulhes or falls headlong into everlafl:ing Deftruftion. See Verfe I O. and Hab. ii. '7· A SNARE, or to INSNARE," are of the fame metaphorical Signification with Hunting, and fignify to intrap or deihoy, Deut. vii. I6, 25. and xii. I3. Pfal. ix. 15, I6. cxxiv. 7· ex!. 5· xxxviii. I2. xci. 3· and cxli. 9· Eccl. ix. 12. Matth. xxii. ' 5· A Snare is put for Lofs, or DeftruCl:ion, or the Caufe or Occafion thereof, Exod. x. 7· 1 Sam. xviii. 21. Pfal. lxix. 22. and xviii. 5· Prov. xii. I:;. xiii. If. xxii. 5· and xxix. 6. Ifa. xxiv. '7· Ezek. xlvi1i. 43· Hof v. i. and ix. 8. Rom. xi. 9· I 'I'im. iii. 7• and vi. 9· 2 'J'im. ii. 26. A NE'!', fuch as Hunters ufe, is of the fame Signification, Pfal. ix. 15, I 6. xxv: If, 15. xxxv. 6, 7· lvii. 6. and cxli. Io. Prov. xxix 5· Ecc!. vii. 27. Hof v. I. and ix. 8. See Job xix. 6, Pfa!. xi. 5· Jer.l. 24. Ezek. xii. I 3· and xxxii. 3· Of Metaphors taken from the Kinds of living Creatures. THESE we !hall recite thus. . . (r .) Wild or favage Beafts, that live in Deferts or Woods. (2.) Such as fervcfor M an's Ufe or Feeding. (3.) Serpents, Worms and other Infefts. A LION, the King of Beafts, Pro·v. xxx. 30. fometimes is to be underftood in a good, lomerimes in an evil Senfe, as was mentioned Chap. vi. yet more feldom in a good, Gen. xlix. 9· Judab is called a Lion's Whelp , by which the Holy Patriarch de– notes the Strength, Power, and Eminency of that Tribe beyond the orhers, but of this we have fpoke Chap. viii. when we expounded the Text that calls Chrift a Lion. What we tranOate Altar, Ezek. xliii. 15, 1 6. in the Hebrew is, [Arie!,] that is, the Lion of God, a compounded Word, pm for the Altar whereon Sacrifices were of– fered , becaufe it always confumed the Oblations as a Lion does his Prey. The City Jerufalem is called by this Name, lfa. xxix. I. 2. Woe toAriel, to Arie!, (viz. 'The Lion of God,) upon which Mufcu!us, Jerufalem is called Arie!, becaufe !he became fi~rce and cruel againfr God and his Prophets, whom !he had barbarouOy Oain, as a Lion does a Lamb in the Defart. And fitly applies to this Senfe what we read, Jer. xii. 8. Of the People of the J ews. In that Place he fitys there is an A!lujion, as if he had laid, thou art not ~N '"lll the City of God, as thou would(! fain feem to be; but ~N '"lN the L ion of • Yid. Ztlmrrum, Centur 1. Adrrg. Sa(r. 1. t wpJ& wp• God,
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