When the land sinneth against me— The design of this and the following verses is, to shew that when the inhabitants of a land have filled up the measure of their iniquities, and God ariseth to execute judgment upon them, the few righteous among them shall not be able to deliver the nation from the judgments determined against it. They shall deliver but their own souls, as we see in the case of Sodom, where there were none righteous except Lot and his family; those just persons were saved, but no intercession could prevail with the Almighty to spare the city. Noah, Daniel, and Job, were eminent for their piety; Noah and his family were saved from the universal deluge, and obtained a promise from the Most High, that he would never again destroy the world by water. Daniel interceded with the Almighty for the whole nation of the Jews, and obtained a promise of their restoration. See Daniel 9. And Job was appointed by God himself to make intercession for his three friends: but when the Almighty is finally determined to punish a rebellious nation, even the prayers of such favourites of heaven would be ineffectual to procure its deliverance. The prophet, in this allusion to Abraham's intercession for Sodom, declares from God, that when his judgments come up against the land of Judea, the righteous found in it should only deliver their own souls; which plainly shews a Providence extending to all, but more particularly to the truly pious. See Div. Leg. vol. 4: Lowth, and Calmet. The reader will find in Peters's Dissertation on Job, p. 146 a strong proof of the antiquity of the Book of Job, deduced from this passage. Instead of, when the land, we should read, when a land.
Daniel— He was taken captive in the third year of Jehoiakim, Daniel 1:1. After this, Jehoiakim reigned eight years, 2 Kings 23:36. And this prophesy, as appears from ch. Ezekiel 8:1 was uttered in the sixth year of Jehoiachin's captivity, who succeeded Jehoiakim, and reigned only three months. 2 Kings 6:8. Therefore at this time Daniel had been fourteen years in captivity.