I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.
Ver. 5. I will break also the bar of Damascus] i.e. their power and might, all strength defensive, or offensive, and so make way for the enemy into the city; give him a fair entrance without resistance. It is God that orders the battle, and renders men's attempts vain or prosperous, Isa 54:17 Jeremiah 50:9; whereever the sword comes it is "bathed in heaven," Isaiah 34:5 .
And cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven] Campus idoli, the plain or valley of idols (so Mercer rendereth it), that is, of Syria given to idolatry; or Damascus, a very Poneropolis, and therefore ripe for ruin.
And him that holdeth the sceptre] & plain periphrasis of a king (called often by Homer, σκηπρουχος, sceptre bearer), or of him that was to succeed in the kingdom. The French call him Dauphin; the Spaniards, Infant, &c. Our Henry II crowned his eldest son Henry while he was yet alive, and put the sceptre into his hand; which made his ambition quite turn off his obedience.
From the house of Eden] Or of pleasure, the king's palace, a very paradise. God denieth not great men their lawful pleasures for refreshment, amidst their weighty businesses, &c., but yet they must remember St James's charge, James 5:5, against the grandees of his time: "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter," or of good cheer. And that of Abraham to Dives, "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things," &c., Luke 16:25, which text Gregory the Great could never read but his heart ached with fear, lest it should be his own case. It is well observed that (φιληδονοι) lovers of pleasure are set as last and worst of those wicked ones, 2 Timothy 3:4. Solomon is blamed for spending thirteen years in building his house, and planting those paradises about it, Ecclesiastes 2:5 .
And the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir] A place of Media, called by other authors Cyrrha, or (as others think) Cyrene, in Egypt or Africa. This was fulfilled fifty years after by Tiglathpileser.
Saith the Lord] Who spake the word and it was done, Psalms 33:9; Psalms 148:5. And what wonder, when his fiat only made the world, and he can as easily unmake it if he please.