Yet I have left [me] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
Ver. 18. Yet I have left me seven thousand.] See on 1 Kings 19:14. By this, as by a bookcase, saith one, doth the apostle prove that God had not cast off all the Israelites in his time. Rom 11:2-4 According to the fashion of the wealthy, saith another, God pleaseth himself in hidden treasures. It is enough that his own eyes behold his riches.
Which have not bowed their knees.] There are thought to be no fewer than twenty thousand Protestants in Seville itself, a chief city of Spain. Yea, even in Italy, the nest of Antichrist, there are full four thousand professed Protestants. a
And every mouth which hath not kissed him.] With a kiss of homage, as Psalms 2:12. Cicero telleth of the image of Hercules, whose chin was much worn with the kisses of those that adored him. So are many marble pictures and crosses in Popish churches, by the devouter sex especially.
a Sandys's Relation.