20. While the enemy shall be brought "low," the Jews shall cultivate
their land in undisturbed prosperity.
all waters--well-watered places
(Isa 30:25).
The Hebrew translation, "beside," ought rather to be translated,
"upon"
(Ec 11:1),
where the meaning is, "Cast thy seed upon the waters when the river
overflows its banks; the seed will sink into the mud and will spring up
when the waters subside, and you will find it after many days in a rich
harvest." Before sowing, they send oxen, &c., into the water to tread
the ground for sowing. CASTALIO thinks there is
an allusion to the Mosaic precept, not to plough with an ox and ass
together, mystically implying that the Jew was to have no intercourse
with Gentiles; the Gospel abolishes this distinction
(Col 3:11);
thus the sense here is, Blessed are ye that sow the gospel seed without
distinction of race in the teachers or the taught. But there is no need
of supposing that the ox and ass here are yoked together; they are
probably "sent forth" separately, as in
Isa 30:24.
JFB.
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