And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.
Ver. 9. And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men, &c.] That is, many, as Zec 8:23 Leviticus 26:26, because ten is the utmost of single number: q.d. though a considerable company escape the enemy, yet pestilence or some other destruction shall put an end to them.
They shall die] See this fulfilled 2 Kings 17:5. In which common calamity what a happiness had they, that belonging to the election of grace, could confidently say, as Habakkuk 1:12, "Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die" (or if we do, death may kill us, but cannot hurt us, Occidere potest, non laedere). "O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction." The wicked are killed with death, Revelation 2:23, undone by it; to them it is no other but a trap door to hell, as to the saints it is as the valley of Achor, a door of hope, the very daybreak of eternal brightness, Hosea 2:15 .