7 Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
They that dwell under his shadow - that is, the shadow of the restored Israel, who had just been described under the image of a magnificent tree uniting in itself all perfections. : "They that are under the shadow of the Church are together under the shadow of Christ the Head thereof, and also of God the Father." The Jews, of old, explained it , "they shall dwell under the shadow of their Messias." These, he says, "shall return," i. e., they shall turn to be quite other than they had been, even back to Him, to whom they belonged, whose creatures they were, God. "They shall revive as the corn." The words may be differently rendered, in the same general meaning. The simple words, "They shall revive" (literally, "give life" to, or "preserve in life,") "corn," have been filled up differently. Some of old, (from where ours has been taken) understood it, "they shall revive" themselves, and so, "shall live" , and that either "as corn," (as it is said, "shall grow as the vine"); or "by corn" which is also very natural, since "bread is the staff of life," and our spiritual Bread is the support of our spiritual life.
Or lastly, (of which the grammar is easier, yet the idiom less natural) it as been rendered "they shall give life to corn," make corn to live, by cultivating it. In all ways the sense is perfect. If we render, "shall revive" as "corn," it means, being, as it were, dead, they shall net only live again with renewed life, but shall even increase. Corn first dies in its outward form, and so is multiplied; the fruit-bearing branches of the vine are pruned and cut, and so they bear richer fruit. So through suffering, chastisement, or the heavy hand of God or man, the Church, being purified, yields more abundant fruits of grace. Or if rendered, "shall make corn to grow," since the prophet, all around, is under figures of God's workings in nature, speaking of His workings of grace, then it is the same image, as when our Lord speaks of those "who receive the seed in an honest and true heart and bring forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty" Matthew 13:23. Or if we were to render, "shall produce life through wheat," what were this, but that seed-corn, which, for us and for our salvation, was sown in the earth, and died, and "brought forth much fruit;" the Bread of life, of which our Lord says, "I am the Bread of life, whoso eateth of this bread shall live forever, and the bread which I will give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world?" John 6:48, John 6:51.
The scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon - The grapes of Lebanon have been of the size of plums; its wine has been spoken of as the best in the East or even in the world . Formerly Israel was as a luxuriant, but empty, vine, bringing forth no fruit to God Hosea 10:1. God "looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes" Isaiah 5:2. Now its glory and luxuriance should not hinder its bearing fruit, and "that," the noblest of its kind. Rich and fragrant is the odor of graces, the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and not fleeting, but abiding.
They that dwell under his shadow shall return - The Targum is curious: "They shall be gathered together from the midst of their captivity; they shall dwell under the shadow of his Christ, and the dead shall revive."
They shall revive as the corn - The justness and beauty of this metaphor is not generally perceived. After the corn has been a short time above the earth, in a single spike, the blades begin to separate, and the stalk to spring out of the center. The side leaves turn back to make way for the protruding stalk; and fall bending down to the earth, assuming a withered appearance, though still attached to the plant. To look at the corn in this state, no one, unacquainted with the circumstance, could entertain any sanguine hope of a copious harvest. In a short time other leaves spring out; the former freshen, and begin to stand erect; and the whole seems to revive from a vegetative death. This is the circumstance to which the prophet refers "they shall revive as the corn." Of this a prudent and profitable use may be made.
1. When a soul is first "drawn by the cords of love," Hosea 11:4, every thing seems to it promising, comfortable, and delightful, like the corn in its first state.
2. But when the Spirit of judgment brings to the light of conscience the hidden things of iniquity, and repentance is deepened into contrition, the broken and the contrite heart groans, and thinks that all is lost; deep distress takes place, and discouragement succeeds discouragement. This answers to the corn in its second state.
3. By and by the pardon comes, and God's love is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost; every hope is revived and realized, the full corn in the ear becomes manifest; and this answers to the corn in its third state. "They shall revive as the corn." Glory be to God for his unspeakable gift!
They that dwell under his (f) shadow shall return; they shall revive [as] the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof [shall be] as the wine of Lebanon.
(f) Whoever unites themselves to this people will be blessed.
They that dwell under his shadow shall return,.... Either under the shadow of Lebanon, as Japhet and Jarchi; the shadow of that mountain, or of the trees that grew upon it; or under the shadow of Israel, the church, to which young converts have recourse, and under which they sit with pleasure; or rather under the shadow of the Lord Israel was called to return unto, and now return, Hosea 14:1; as the Israelites will in the latter day. So the Targum,
"and they shall be gathered out of the midst of their captivity, they shall dwell under the shadow of their Messiah;''
thus truly gracious persons sit under the shadow of Christ, who come to themselves, and return unto the Lord; even under the shadow of his word and ordinances, where they desire to sit, and do sit with delight and pleasure, as well as in the greatest safety; and find it a very refreshing and comfortable shadow to them; even a shadow from the heat of avenging justice, a fiery law, the fiery darts of Satan, and the fury of the world; and, like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, exceeding pleasing and cheering to weary travellers; see Song 2:3 Isaiah 25:4;
they shall revive as the corn: which first dies, and then is quickened; or which, after a cold nipping winter, at spring revives again: thus do believers under the dews of divine grace, under the shadow of Christ, and the influences of his Spirit: or, "shall revive with corn" (e); by means of it; by which may be signified the corn of heaven, angels' food, the hidden manna, the Gospel of Christ, and Christ himself, the bread of life; by which the spirits of his people are revived, their souls upheld in life, and their graces quickened; which they find and eat, and it is the joy and rejoicing of their hearts:
and grow as the vine: which, though weak, and needs support, and its wood unprofitable; yet grows and spreads very much, and brings forth rich fruit in clusters: so the saints, though they are weak in themselves, and need divine supports, and when they have done all they can are unprofitable servants; yet through the power of divine grace, which is like the dew, they grow in every grace, and are filled with the blessings of it, and bring forth much fruit to the glory of God:
and the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon; like the wine of those vines which grow on Mount Lebanon, and judged to be the best. On Mount Lebanon, about the midway between the top and the bottom of it, there is now a convent called Canobine, situated in a very pleasant place; and Le Bruyn in his travels relates, that it is preferable to all other places on account of its wines, which are the richest and finest in the world; they are very sweet, of a red colour, and so oily that they stick to the glass. At Lebanon was a city called by the Greeks Ampeloessa, from the excellency of its wine, as Grotius from Pliny (f) observes. Gabriel Sionita (g) assures us, that even to this day the wines of Libanus are in good reputation. Kimchi relates from Asaph, a physician, that the wines of Lebanon, Hermon, and Carmel, and of the mountains of Israel and Jerusalem, and of the mountains of Samaria, and of the mountains of Caphtor Mizraim, were the best of wines, and exceeded all others for scent, taste, and medicine. Japhet interprets it, the smell of their vine afar off was as the wine of Lebanon; and so Kimchi, the smell of the wine of the vine, to which Israel is compared, is like the smell of the wine of Lebanon. This may denote the savouriness of truly converted gracious souls, of their graces, doctrines, life, and conversation. Some choose to render it, "their memory (h) shall be as the wine of Lebanon"; so the Targum interprets it of
"the memory of their goodness;''
the saints obtain a good report through faith, and have a good name, better than precious ointment; their memory is blessed; they, are had in everlasting remembrance; the memory of them is not only dear to the people of God in after ages; but the memory of their persons, and of their works, is exceeding grateful to God and Christ.
(e) , Sept. "vivent tritico", V. L. "vivificabunt frumento", Munster, Castalio; so Syr. & Ar. (f) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18. (g) Apud Calmet, Dictionary, on the word "Wine". (h) "memoria ejus", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Tarnovius, Cocceius, Castalio, Schmidt, Burkius.
They that used to dwell under Israel's shadow (but who shall have been forced to leave it), shall return, that is, be restored (Ezekiel 35:9). Others take "His shadow" to mean Jehovah's (compare Psalm 17:8; Psalm 91:1; Isaiah 4:6), which Hosea 14:1-2 ("return unto the Lord," &c.) favor. But the "his" in Hosea 14:6 refers to Israel, and therefore must refer to the same here.
revive as . . . corn--As the corn long buried in the earth springs up, with an abundant produce, so shall they revive from their calamities, with a great increase of offspring (compare John 12:24).
scent thereof--that is, Israel's fame. Compare Hosea 14:6, "His smell as Lebanon"; Song 1:3 : "Thy name is as ointment poured forth." The Septuagint favors the Margin, "memorial."
as the wine of Lebanon--which was most celebrated for its aroma, flavor, and medicinal restorative properties.
They that dwell - As many as unite to the church, shall dwell under these spreading trees. Return - Revive and recover strength. As the corn - Which dies ere it lives to bring forth fruit. As the vine - Which in winter seems dead, but yet life, sap, and a fructifying virtue is in it. The scent thereof - The savour of it to God and good men shall be pleasing as the scent of the delicious wines of Lebanon.
*More commentary available at chapter level.