Thus saith the Lord of hosts
For the further confirmation and illustration of this prophecy:
in those days [it shall come to pass];
this shall be done in the times of the preaching of the Gospel by
Christ and his apostles: that ten men shall take hold out
of all languages of the nations,
even shall take bold of the skirt of him that is a
Jew:
which may be understood either of our Lord Jesus Christ; who was
a Jew by nation, the Jews were his own people, and Judea his
nation; by descent, he springing from the tribe of Judah, and the
family of David; by religion, being made under the Jewish law; by
his habit and dress, by which, as well as by his language, the
woman of Samaria knew he was a Jew, ( John 4:9 ) and very
probably he wore the fringe the Jews did on the border of his
garment, ( Matthew 9:20
) ( Mark 6:56
) and which the Jewish doctors think is here meant F20 by the
skirt; but this may intend, in a spiritual sense, the skirt being
put for the whole garment, ( Ezekiel 16:8
) , the robe of Christ's righteousness, which sensible sinners
take hold of by faith, and put it on as their justifying
righteousness: and "ten men" out of "all nations" being said to
do it, and this number signifying many, ( Leviticus
26:26 ) ( 1 Samuel 1:8
) may denote that the number of them that believe in Christ for
righteousness, and are justified by it, are many, ( Isaiah 53:11
) though they are but few when compared with others; and that as
God has chosen, Christ has redeemed, so the Spirit calls some out
of all nations; and God is the God of the Gentiles as well as of
the Jews, since the one are justified by him as well as the
other, ( Romans 3:29 Romans 3:30 ) or this
may be understood of any of the apostles of Christ, who were all
Jews; and especially the Apostle Paul, who was the apostle of the
Gentiles; who were sent into all the world to preach the Gospel
to the Gentiles, by which means they came to hear it; and many of
them out of every nation laid hold on the skirts of these men;
believed and embraced the doctrines they preached; were greatly
affected towards them; gave up themselves to them; consorted with
them; accompanied them, and cleaved unto them; did not care to
part with them, as children, that lay hold on their parents'
skirts, will not leave them, but go with them where they go, as
follows: saying, We will go with you;
either with Christ, resolving to follow him whithersoever he
goes; to hold to him the Head; to abide by his truths and
ordinances; to walk on in his ways, whatever they suffer for his
name's sake: or with his ministers and people, determining to go
along and join with them in all religious exercises; see (
Ruth 1:16 ) :
for we have heard [that] God is with you:
with Christ, as he always was; in the council and covenant of
grace before time, and at the beginning of time to his
incarnation; and during his state of humiliation, and in his
sufferings and death; and now in his state of exaltation; hence
his name "Ithiel", God with me, ( Proverbs
30:1 ) ( John 1:1 ) ( 8:29 ) ( 16:32 ) or with his
ministers and people, which he has promised to be unto the end of
the world; and this the Gentiles heard and understood, by the
power that went along with their ministry, to the conversion of
multitudes of sinners; and by the miracles which they wrought,
for the confirmation of the doctrines they delivered.