John Trapp on Ezra 2:1

CHAP. II. Verſe 1. Now theſe are the children of the province]

THat is, of Judaea now a Province, though formerly a Princeſſe; now ſolitary and tributary that was once populous and great among the Nations, Lam. 1.1. Medinah: the word here rendered Province, ſometimes ſignifieth Metropolis, aliis jus dicens, a place that giveth Lawes to other places, and ſo Judaea in her flouriſh had beene. See chap. 4.20. But now it was otherwiſe, and ſo it is at this day, not onely with Judaea, but with other renowned Empires and Kingdomes not a few, all which (together with moſt of thoſe Churches and places ſo much mentioned in Scripture) are ſwallowed up in the greatneſſe of the Turkiſh Empire.Shi[illegible: 1 letter]dler. That Medina a City in Arabia (where Mahomet lieth buried, & where his Sepulchre is no leſſe viſited then is Chriſts Sepulchre at Jeruſalem) holdeth this Medina in hard ſubjection; making her children pay for the very heads they weare; and ſo grievouſly afflicting them, that they have cauſe enough to take up a new Jeremies Elegie over their doleful captivity.

That went up out of the captivity] That liſted themſelves in Babylon, to go up. Which if any failed to do, (as by comparing verſe 5. of this chapter, with Nehem. 7.10. it appeareth ſome did) it was becauſe either they changed their minds, or their lives,His life by Craſhaw. before they came there. When that Noble Marqueſſe Galeacius Caracciolus ſet forward for Geneva, ſome of his moſt familiar friends promiſed and vowed to accompany him thither; But divers of them, when they came to the borders of Italy, turned back again, &c. and ſo might many of theſe ingagers, magis amantes mundi delicias, quàm Chriſti divitias, & graviorem ducentes jacturam regionis, quàm religionis.

Which had beene carried away] But had Gods promiſe, that they ſhould returne, be built up, planted, and not rooted out, Jer. 24.6. and his command to marry and beget children, Jer. 29.6. which ſhould inherit the promiſes; for they are good ſurehold.

Whom Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon] That Metus Orbis, & flagellum Dei, as Attilas King of Hunnes proudly ſtiled himſelf, that is, The Terrour of the world,Gualth. in Hab. 2. Eucholc. and ſcourge in Gods hand. See Eſay. 10.5. That, Ira Dei & Orbis Vaſtitas, as Tamerlan loved to be called, The wrath of God, and ruine of the world.

Had carried away to Babylon] As to his Lions-den, Nah. 2.10. but God ſent from heaven and ſaved them with ſuch a mighty ſalvation, as eclipſed that deliverance out of Egypt, Jer. 23.7, 8.

Every one unto his City] Appointed him by the preſent Governours. For during their abode in Babylon Judaea lay utterly waſte and uninhabited. The Land kept her Sabbaths, reſting from tillage, and God by a wonderful providence, kept the roome empty till the returne of the Natives.