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Passage 1: 2 Kings 9

(2Ki 9:1) Then Elisha the Prophet called one of ye children of the Prophets, and sayde vnto him, Gird thy loynes and take this boxe of oyle in thine hand and get thee to Ramoth Gilead.

(Notes Reference) And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, (a) Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:

(a) Prepare yourself to go diligently about your business for in those countries they used long garments which they tucked up when they went about earnest business.

(2Ki 9:2) And when thou commest thither, looke where is Iehu ye sonne of Iehoshaphat, the sonne of Nimshi, and go, and make him arise vp from among his brethren, and leade him to a secret chamber.

(2Ki 9:3) Then take the boxe of oyle and powre it on his head, and say, Thus sayth the Lord, I haue anointed thee for King ouer Israel. then open the doore, and flee without any tarying.

(2Ki 9:4) So the seruat of ye Prophet gate him to Ramoth Gilead.

(2Ki 9:5) And when he came in, behold, the captaines of the armie were sitting. And he sayde, I haue a message to thee, O captaine. And Iehu sayd, Vnto which of all vs? And he answered, To thee, O captaine.

(2Ki 9:6) And he arose, and went into the house, and he powred the oyle on his head and sayde vnto him, Thus sayth the Lord God of Israel, I haue anointed thee for King ouer the people of the Lord, euen ouer Israel.

(Notes Reference) And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have (b) anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, [even] over Israel.

(b) This anointing was for kings, priests and prophets which were all figures of Messiah, in whom these three offices were accomplished.

(2Ki 9:7) And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may auenge the blood of my seruants the Prophets, and the blood of al the seruants of the Lord of the hand of Iezebel.

(2Ki 9:8) For the whole house of Ahab shalbe destroied: and I will cut off from Ahab, him that maketh water against the wall, as well him that is shut vp, as him that is left in Israel.

(2Ki 9:9) And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the sonne of Ahiiah.

(2Ki 9:10) And the dogges shall eate Iezebel in the fielde of Izreel, and there shalbe none to burie her. And he opened the doore, and fled.

(2Ki 9:11) Then Iehu came out to the seruants of his lord. And one sayd vnto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellowe to thee? And hee sayde vnto them, Ye knowe the man, and what his talke was.

(Notes Reference) Then Jehu came forth to the (c) servants of his lord: and [one] said unto him, [Is] all well? wherefore came this (d) mad [fellow] to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication.

(c) That is, the rest of the army, whom he called his brethren before, (2Ki 9:2).

(d) The world always holds the ministers of God is this estimation and has always slandered the children of God (they called the Son of God a deceiver, and said he had the devil) therefore they should not be discouraged.

(2Ki 9:12) And they sayde, It is false, tell vs it nowe. Then he sayd, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saieth the Lord, I haue anointed thee for King ouer Israel.

(2Ki 9:13) Then they made haste, and tooke euerie man his garment, and put it vnder him on the top of the staires, and blewe the trumpet, saying, Iehu is King.

(2Ki 9:14) So Iehu ye sonne of Iehoshaphat the sonne of Nimshi conspired against Ioram: (Now Ioram kept Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael King of Aram.

(2Ki 9:15) And King Ioram returned to bee healed in Izreel of the woundes, which the Aramites had giuen him, when hee fought with Hazael King of Aram) and Iehu sayde, If it be your mindes, let no man depart and escape out of the citie, to goe and tell in Izreel.

(2Ki 9:16) So Iehu gate vp into a charet, and went to Izreel: for Ioram lay there, and Ahaziah King of Iudah was come downe to see Ioram.

(Notes Reference) So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And (e) Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.

(e) God had thus ordained as in (2Ch 12:7), that this wicked and idolatrous king, who was more ready to please wicked Joram than to obey the will of God, would perish with him, by whose means he thought to have been stronger.

(2Ki 9:17) And the watchman that stoode in the towre in Izreel spyed the companie of Iehu as hee came, and sayd, I see a companie. And Iehoram said, Take a horseman and send to meete them, that hee may say, Is it peace?

(2Ki 9:18) So there went one on horseback to meete him, and sayde, Thus sayth the King, Is it peace? And Iehu sayd, What hast thou to do with peace? Turne behinde me. And the watchman tolde, saying, The messenger came to them, but he commeth not againe.

(2Ki 9:19) Then hee sent out another on horsebacke, which came to them, and sayde, Thus sayth the King, Is it peace? And Iehu answered, What hast thou to doe with peace? turne behinde me.

(2Ki 9:20) And the watchman tolde, saying, He came to them also, but commeth not againe, and the marching is like the marching of Iehu the sonne of Nimshi: for he marcheth furiously.

(Notes Reference) And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving [is] like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth (f) furiously.

(f) As one that went earnestly about his business.

(2Ki 9:21) Then Iehoram sayd, Make ready: and his charet was made ready. And Iehoram King of Israel and Ahaziah King of Iudah went out eyther of them in his charet against Iehu, and met him in the fielde of Naboth the Izreelite.

(2Ki 9:22) And when Iehoram sawe Iehu, he sayde, Is it peace, Iehu? And he answered, What peace? whiles the whoredomes of thy mother Iezebel, and her witchcraftes are yet in great nomber?

(Notes Reference) And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, [Is it] (g) peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts [are so] many?

(g) Meaning, since God is their enemy because of their sins, he will always stir up someone to avenge his cause.

(2Ki 9:23) Then Iehoram turned his hand, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, O Ahaziah, there is treason.

(2Ki 9:24) But Iehu tooke a bowe in his hande, and smote Iehoram betweene the shoulders, that the arowe went through his heart: and he fell downe in his charet.

(2Ki 9:25) Then said Iehu to Bidkar a captaine, Take, and cast him in some place of the fielde of Naboth the Izreelite: for I remember that when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord layed this burden vpon him.

(2Ki 9:26) Surely I haue seene yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sonnes, saide the Lord, and I will render it thee in this fielde, saith the Lord: nowe therefore take and cast him in the fielde, according to the word of the Lord.

(Notes Reference) Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his (h) sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take [and] cast him into the plat [of ground], according to the word of the LORD.

(h) By this it is evident that Jezebel caused both Naboth and his sons to be put to death, that Ahab might enjoy his vineyard more quietly: else his children might have claimed possession.

(2Ki 9:27) But when Ahaziah the King of Iudah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house: And Iehu pursued after him, and sayd, Smite him also in the charet: and they smote him in the going vp to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And hee fled to Megiddo, and there dyed.

(Notes Reference) But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw [this], he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. [And they did so] at the going up to Gur, which [is] by Ibleam. And he fled to (i) Megiddo, and died there.

(i) After he was wounded in Samaria, he fled to Megiddo, a city of Judah.

(2Ki 9:28) And his seruants caried him in a charet to Ierusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the citie of Dauid.

(2Ki 9:29) And in the eleuenth yere of Ioram the sonne of Ahab, began Ahaziah to reigne ouer Iudah.

(Notes Reference) And in the (k) eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

(k) That is, eleven whole years: for in (2Ki 8:25) when he said he began to reign in the twelfth year of Joram, he takes a partial year for a whole.

(2Ki 9:30) And when Iehu was come to Izreel, Iezebel heard of it, and painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a windowe.

(Notes Reference) And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard [of it]; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and (l) looked out at a window.

(l) Being of a harsh and cruel nature, she would still retain her royal state and dignity.

(2Ki 9:31) And as Iehu entred at the gate, shee sayde, Had Zimri peace, which slewe his master?

(Notes Reference) And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, [Had] (m) Zimri peace, who slew his master?

(m) As if to say, "Can a traitor or anyone who rises against his superior succeed?", see (1Ki 16:10).

(2Ki 9:32) And he lift vp his eyes to the windowe, and sayd, Who is on my side, who? Then two or three of her Eunuches looked vnto him.

(2Ki 9:33) And he sayde, Cast her downe: and they cast her downe, and hee sprinkled of her blood vpon the wall, and vpon the horses, and he trode her vnder foote.

(Notes Reference) And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: (n) and [some] of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.

(n) This he did by the moving of the Spirit of God, that her blood would be shed, who had shed the blood of innocents, to be a spectacle and example of God's judgment for all tyrants.

(2Ki 9:34) And when he was come in, he did eate and drinke, and sayde, Visite now yonder cursed woman, and burie her: for she is a Kings daughter.

(Notes Reference) And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed [woman], and bury her: for she [is] a (o) king's daughter.

(o) That is, of the king of Zidon, (1Ki 16:31).

(2Ki 9:35) And they went to burie her, but they foud no more of her, then the skull and the feete, and the palmes of her handes.

(2Ki 9:36) Wherefore they came agayne and tolde him. And he said, This is the worde of the Lord, which he spake by his seruant Eliiah the Tishbite, saying, In the fielde of Izreel shall ye dogs eate the flesh of Iezebel.

(2Ki 9:37) And the carkeis of Iezebel shalbe as doung vpon the ground in the field of Izreel, so that none shall say, This is Iezebel.

(Notes Reference) And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; [so] that they shall not say, (p) This [is] Jezebel.

(p) Thus God's judgments appear even in this world against those who suppress his word and persecute his servants.

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Passage 2: Lamentations 5

(Lam 5:1) Remember, O Lord, what is come vpon vs: consider, and behold our reproche.

(Notes Reference) Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: (a) consider, and behold our reproach.

(a) This prayer as is thought, was made when some of the people were carried away captive, others such as the poorest remained, and some went into Egypt and other places for comfort, though it seems that the prophet foreseeing their miseries to come, thus prayed.

(Lam 5:2) Our inheritance is turned to the strangers, our houses to the aliants.

(Lam 5:3) We are fatherles, euen without father, and our mothers are as widowes.

(Lam 5:4) Wee haue drunke our water for money, and our wood is solde vnto vs.

(Notes Reference) We have drank our (b) water for money; our wood is sold to us.

(b) Meaning their extreme servitude and bondage.

(Lam 5:5) Our neckes are vnder persecution: we are wearie, and haue no rest.

(Lam 5:6) We haue giuen our handes to the Egyptians, and to Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.

(Notes Reference) We have given the (c) hand [to] the Egyptians, [and to] the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.

(c) We are joined in league and amity with them, or have submitted ourselves to them.

(Lam 5:7) Our fathers haue sinned, and are not, and we haue borne their iniquities.

(Notes Reference) Our fathers have sinned, [and are] not; and we have borne (d) their iniquities.

(d) As our fathers have been punished for their sins: so we that are guilty of the same sins are punished.

(Lam 5:8) Seruants haue ruled ouer vs, none would deliuer vs out of their hands.

(Lam 5:9) Wee gate our bread with the perill of our liues, because of the sword of the wildernesse.

(Notes Reference) We procured our bread with [the peril of] our lives because of the sword (e) of the wilderness.

(e) Because of the enemy that came from the wilderness and would not suffer us to go and seek our necessary food.

(Lam 5:10) Our skinne was blacke like as an ouen because of the terrible famine.

(Lam 5:11) They defiled the women in Zion, and the maydes in the cities of Iudah.

(Lam 5:12) The princes are hanged vp by their hande: the faces of the elders were not had in honour.

(Notes Reference) Princes were hung up by (f) their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.

(f) That is, by the enemies hand.

(Lam 5:13) They tooke the yong men to grinde, and the children fell vnder the wood.

(Notes Reference) They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under (g) the wood.

(g) Their slavery was so great, that they were not able to abide it.

(Lam 5:14) The Elders haue ceased from the gate and the yong men from their songs.

(Notes Reference) The elders have ceased from the (h) gate, the young men from their music.

(h) There were no more laws nor form of commonwealth.

(Lam 5:15) The ioy of our heart is gone, our daunce is turned into mourning.

(Lam 5:16) The crowne of our head is fallen: wo nowe vnto vs, that we haue sinned.

(Lam 5:17) Therefore our heart is heauy for these things, our eyes are dimme,

(Notes Reference) For this our heart is faint; for these [things] our (i) eyes are dim.

(i) With weeping.

(Lam 5:18) Because of the mountaine of Zion which is desolate: the foxes runne vpon it.

(Lam 5:19) But thou, O Lord, remainest for euer: thy throne is from generation to generation.

(Notes Reference) Thou, O LORD, remainest for (k) ever; thy throne from generation to generation.

(k) And therefore your covenant and mercies can never fail.

(Lam 5:20) Wherefore doest thou forget vs for euer, and forsake vs so long time?

(Lam 5:21) Turne thou vs vnto thee, O Lord, and we shalbe turned: renue our dayes as of olde.

(Notes Reference) (l) Turn thou us to thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

(l) By which is declared that it is not in man's power to turn to God, but is only his work to convert us, and thus God works in us before we can turn to him, (Jer 31:18).

(Lam 5:22) But thou hast vtterly reiected vs: thou art exceedingly angry against vs.

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Passage 3: 2 Corinthians 3-4

(2Co 3:1) Doe we begin to praise our selues againe? or neede we as some other, epistles of recommendation vnto you, or letters of recommendation from you?

(2Co 3:2) Yee are our epistle, written in our hearts, which is vnderstand, and read of all men,

(2Co 3:3) In that yee are manifest, to be the Epistle of Christ, ministred by vs, and written, not with yncke, but with the Spirite of the liuing God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.

(Notes Reference) [Forasmuch as ye are] (a) manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ (b) ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the (c) living God; (1) not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

(a) The apostle says this wisely, that by little and little he may come from the commendation of the person to the matter itself.

(b) Which I took pains to write as it were.

(c) Along the way he sets the power of God against the ink with which epistles are commonly written, to show that it was accomplished by God. (1) He alludes along the way to the comparison of the outward ministry of the priesthood of Levi with the ministry of the Gospel, and the apostolical ministry, which he handles afterward more fully.

(2Co 3:4) And such trust haue we through Christ to God:

(Notes Reference) And such (d) trust have we through Christ to God-ward:

(d) This boldness we show, and thus may we boast gloriously of the worthiness and fruit of our ministry.

(2Co 3:5) Not that we are sufficient of our selues, to thinke any thing, as of our selues: but our sufficiencie is of God,

(Notes Reference) Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our (e) sufficiency [is] of God;

(e) In that we are proper and able to make other men partakers of so great a grace.

(2Co 3:6) Who also hath made vs able ministers of the Newe testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirite: for the letter killeth, but the Spirite giueth life.

(Notes Reference) (2) Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the (f) letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

(2) He amplifies his ministry and his fellows: that is to say, the ministry of the Gospel comparing it with the ministry of the Law, which he considers in the person of Moses, by whom the Law was given: against whom he sets Christ the author of the Gospel. Now this comparison is taken from the very substance of the ministry. The Law is as it were a writing in itself, dead, and without efficacy: but the Gospel, and new Covenant, as it were the very power of God itself, in renewing, justifying, and saving men. The Law offers death, accusing all men of unrighteousness: the Gospel offers and gives righteousness and life. The administration of the Law served for a time to the promise: the Gospel remains to the end of the world. Therefore what is the glory of the Law in comparison of the majesty of the Gospel?

(f) Not of the Law but of the Gospel.

(2Co 3:7) If then the ministration of death written with letters and ingrauen in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel coulde not beholde the face of Moses, for the glorie of his countenance (which glorie is done away.)

(Notes Reference) But if the ministration of death, written (g) [and] engraven in stones, was (h) glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away:

(g) Imprinted and engraved: so that by this place we may plainly perceive that the apostle speaks not of the ceremonies of the Law, but of the ten commandments.

(h) This word "glorious" indicates a brightness, and a majesty which was in Moses physically, but in Christ spiritually.

(2Co 3:8) Howe shall not the ministration of the Spirite be more glorious?

(Notes Reference) How shall not the (i) ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

(i) By which God offers, indeed, and gives the Spirit, not as a dead thing, but a living Spirit, working life.

(2Co 3:9) For if the ministerie of condemnation was glorious, much more doeth the ministration of righteousnesse exceede in glorie.

(Notes Reference) For if the ministration of condemnation [be] glory, much more doth the ministration of (k) righteousness exceed in glory.

(k) That is, of Christ. And since he is imputed to us as our own, we are not condemned, and what is more we are also crowned as righteous.

(2Co 3:10) For euen that which was glorified, was not glorified in this point, that is, as touching the exceeding glorie.

(2Co 3:11) For if that which should be abolished, was glorious, much more shall that which remaineth, be glorious.

(Notes Reference) For if that which is (l) done away [was] glorious, much more that which remaineth [is] glorious.

(l) The Law, indeed, and the ten commandments themselves, together with Moses, are all abolished, if we consider the ministry of Moses apart by itself.

(2Co 3:12) Seeing then that we haue such trust, we vse great boldnesse of speach.

(Notes Reference) (3) Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

(3) He shows what this glory of the preaching of the Gospel consists in: that is, in that it sets forth plainly and evidently that which the Law showed darkly, for it sent those that heard it to be healed by Christ, who was to come, after it had wounded them.

(2Co 3:13) And we are not as Moses, which put a vaile vpon his face, that the children of Israel should not looke vnto the ende of that which should be abolished.

(Notes Reference) (4) And not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the (m) end of that which is abolished:

(4) He expounds along the way the allegory of Moses' covering, which was a token of the darkness and weakness that is in men, who were rather dulled by the bright shining of the Law then given. And this covering was taken away by the coming of Christ, who enlightens the hearts, and turns them to the Lord, that we may be brought from the slavery of this blindness, and set in the liberty of the light by the power of Christ's Spirit.

(m) Into the very bottom of Moses' ministry.

(2Co 3:14) Therefore their mindes are hardened: for vntill this day remaineth the same couering vntaken away in the reading of the olde Testament, which vaile in Christ is put away.

(2Co 3:15) But euen vnto this day, whe Moses is read, the vaile is laid ouer their hearts.

(2Co 3:16) Neuertheles when their heart shall be turned to the Lord, the vaile shalbe taken away.

(2Co 3:17) Nowe the Lord is the Spirite, and where the Spirite of the Lord is, there is libertie.

(Notes Reference) Now the (n) Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty.

(n) Christ is that Spirit who takes away that covering, by working in our hearts, to which also the Law itself called us, though in vain, because it speaks to dead men, until the Spirit makes us alive.

(2Co 3:18) But we al behold as in a mirrour the glory of the Lord with open face, and are changed into the same image, from glorie to glorie, as by the Spirit of the Lord.

(Notes Reference) (5) But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.

(5) Continuing in the allegory of the covering, he compares the Gospel to a glass, which although it is most bright and sparkling, yet it does not dazzle their eyes who look in it, as the Law does, but instead transforms them with its beams, so that they also are partakers of the glory and shining of it, to enlighten others: as Christ said unto his own, "You are the light of the world", whereas he himself alone is the light. We are also commanded in another place to shine as candles before the world, because we are partakers of God's Spirit. But Paul speaks here properly of the ministers of the Gospel, as it appears both by that which goes before, and that which comes after, and in that he sets before them his own example and that of his fellows.

(2Co 4:1) Therefore, seeing that we haue this ministerie, as we haue receiued mercy, we faint not:

(Notes Reference) Therefore (1) seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we (a) faint not;

(1) Now he plainly witnesses that both he and his associates (through the mercy of God) do their vocation and duty uprightly and sincerely, neglecting all dangers.

(a) Though we are broken in pieces with miseries and calamities, yet we do not yield.

(2Co 4:2) But haue cast from vs ye clokes of shame, and walke not in craftines, neither handle we the worde of God deceitfully: but in declaration of the trueth we approue our selues to euery mans conscience in the sight of God.

(Notes Reference) But have renounced the (b) hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God (c) deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

(b) Subtilty and every type of deceit which men hunt after, as it were dens and lurking holes, to cover their shameless dealings with.

(c) This is that which he called in the former chapter, making merchandise of the word of God.

(2Co 4:3) If our Gospell bee then hid, it is hid to them that are lost.

(Notes Reference) (2) But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

(2) An objection: many hear the Gospel, and yet are no more enlightened by it than by the preaching of the Law. He answers, "The fault is in the men themselves, whose eyes Satan plucks out, who rules in this world." And yet nonetheless he and his associates set forth the most clear light of the Gospel to be seen and beheld, seeing that Christ only whom they preach, is he in whom God will be known, and as it were seen.

(2Co 4:4) In whom the God of this world hath blinded the mindes, that is, of the infidels, that the light of the glorious Gospell of Christ, which is the image of God, should not shine vnto them.

(Notes Reference) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the (d) light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the (e) image of God, should shine unto them.

(d) The light of plain and enlightening preaching, which shows forth the glory of Christ.

(e) In whom the Father sets himself forth to be seen and beheld.

(2Co 4:5) For we preach not our selues, but Christ Iesus the Lord, and our selues your seruaunts for Iesus sake.

(Notes Reference) (3) For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for (f) Jesus' sake.

(3) He removes according to his accustomed manner, all suspicion of ambition, affirming that he teaches faithfully, but as a servant, and witnessing that all this light which he and his associates give to others, proceeds from the Lord.

(f) To preach this self same Jesus to you.

(2Co 4:6) For God that commanded the light to shine out of darknesse, is he which hath shined in our hearts, to giue the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ.

(Notes Reference) For God, (g) who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the (h) light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

(g) Who made with his word alone.

(h) That being enlightened by God, we should in the same way give that light to others.

(2Co 4:7) But we haue this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellencie of that power might be of God, and not of vs.

(Notes Reference) (4) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, (5) that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

(4) He takes away a stumbling block, which darkened among some, the bright shining of the ministry of the Gospel, that is, because the apostles were the most miserable of all men. Paul answers that he and his associates are as it were, earthen vessels, but yet there is in them a most precious treasure. (5) He brings marvellous reasons why the Lord does so afflict his principal servants, to the end, he says, that all men may perceive that they do not stand by any man's power, but by the singular power of God, in that they die a thousand times, but never perish.

(2Co 4:8) Wee are afflicted on euery side, yet are we not in distresse: we are in doubt, but yet wee despaire not.

(2Co 4:9) We are persecuted, but not forsaken: cast downe, but we perish not.

(2Co 4:10) Euery where we beare about in our bodie the dying of the Lord Iesus, that the life of Iesus might also be made manifest in our bodies.

(Notes Reference) (6) Always bearing about in the body the (i) dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

(6) An amplification of the former sentence, in which he compares his afflictions to a daily death, and the power of the Spirit of God in Christ to life, who oppresses that death.

(i) So Paul calls that miserable estate and condition that the faithful, but especially the minsters, are in.

(2Co 4:11) For we which liue, are alwaies deliuered vnto death for Iesus sake, that the life also of Iesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

(Notes Reference) For we which (k) live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our (l) mortal flesh.

(k) Who live that life, that is, by the Spirit of Christ, among so many and so great miseries.

(l) Subject to that miserable condition.

(2Co 4:12) So then death worketh in vs, and life in you.

(Notes Reference) (7) So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

(7) A very wise conclusion: as if he would say, "Therefore, to be short, we die that you may live by our death", because they ventured into all those dangers for the building of the Church's sake, and they ceased not to strengthen and encourage all the faithful with the examples of their patience.

(2Co 4:13) And because we haue the same spirite of faith, according as it is written, I beleeued, and therefore haue I spoken, we also beleeue, and therefore speake,

(Notes Reference) (8) We having the same (m) spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;

(8) He declares the former sentence, showing that he and his associates die in a way to purchase life for others, but yet nonetheless they are partakers of the same life with them: because they themselves do first believe that which they offer to others to believe, that is, that they also will be saved together with them in Christ.

(m) The same faith, by the inspiration of the same Spirit.

(2Co 4:14) Knowing that he which hath raised vp the Lord Iesus, shall raise vs vp also by Iesus, and shall set vs with you.

(2Co 4:15) For all thinges are for your sakes, that that most plenteous grace by the thankesgiuing of many, may redound to the praise of God.

(Notes Reference) (9) For all things [are] for your sakes, (n) that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

(9) He shows how this constancy is preserved in them, that is, because they are doing it for God's glory, and the salvation of the churches committed to them.

(n) When it will please God to deliver me, and restore me to you, that exceeding benefit which will be poured upon me will in like sort result to the glory of God, by the thanksgiving of many.

(2Co 4:16) Therefore we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed daily.

(Notes Reference) For which cause we faint not; (10) but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is (o) renewed day by day.

(10) He adds as it were a triumphant song, that he is outwardly afflicted, but inwardly he profits daily: and he is not bothered by all the miseries that may be sustained in this life, in comparison of that most constant and eternal glory.

(o) Gathers new strength so that the outward man is not overcome with the miseries which come freshly one after another, being maintained and upheld with the strength of the inward man.

(2Co 4:17) For our light affliction which is but for a moment, causeth vnto vs a farre most excellent and an eternall waight of glorie:

(Notes Reference) For our (p) light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of (q) glory;

(p) Afflictions are not called light, as though they were light in themselves, but because they pass away quickly, as indeed our whole life is not of very long continuance.

(q) Which remains forever firm and stable, and can never be shaken.

(2Co 4:18) While we looke not on the thinges which are seene, but on the things which are not seene: for the things which are seene, are temporall: but the things which are not seene, are eternall.