John Trapp on Zechariah 12:1

CHAP. XII.

Verſe 1. THE burden of the word of the Lord] That is, a declaration of his mind and counſell for Iſraels comfort, and his enemies confuſion. To the Iſrael of God it is onus ſine onere, ſuch a burden as the wings are to the bird, a burdenleſſe burden. To the enemies, a burdenſome ſtone, verſe 3. heavier then the ſand of the ſea, Iob 6.3.

For Iſrael] Not, againſt Iſrael, though Calvin ſo taketh it: and by Iſrael underſtandeth the ten tribes, and thoſe other captives that, loth to leave thoſe houſes they had built, and thoſe gardens they had planted in Babylon, Ier. 29.5. neglected to return to Jeruſalem for fear of the Samaritans and other ill neighbours, whole ruine is therefore here foretold by three excellent ſimilitudes, after a ſtately preamble, drawn 1. From the power of God, whereby he ſtretcheth forth the heavens, that huge expanſe, as a curtain, or as a molten looking-glaſſe.Job 37.18 Job 26.7 2. From the wiſdome of God, in laying the foundation of the earth, and hanging it, by Geometry, as we ſay, in the midſt of heaven, like Archimedes his pigeon, equally poized with its own weight.

Terra pilae ſimilis, nullo fulcimine nixa,Ovid. Faſt. l. 5 Aere ſubjecto tam grave pendet onus.

3. From the goodneſſe of God, who formeth the ſpirit of man within him] who hath made us theſe ſouls, Eſay 57.16. which he doth daily create and infuſe into mens bodies; yea and that alone, without any help of their parents: hence hee is called the Father of ſpirits, Heb. 12.9. and the ſpirit of a dying man is ſaid to return to God that gave it, Eccleſ. 12.7. This laſt text convinced Auguſtine (who held ſometime, with Origen, that the ſoul as well as the body was begotten by the parents) farre more then the peremptory raſhneſſe of Vincentius Victor: who cenſured boldly the Fathers unreſolvedneſſe,Chemnitius.(when hee doubted concerning the originall of a rationall ſoul) and vaunted that he would prove by demonſtration, that ſouls are created de novo, by God. Ariſtotle (Natures chief Secretary) was much puzled about this point of the ſoul: which indeed cannot fully bee conceived of, nor defined by man. Onely this we can ſay, that the ſoul as it comes from God, ſo it is like him; viz. One immateriall, immortall, underſtanding Spirit: diſtinguiſht into three Powers, which all make up one Spirit.