And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak [as] water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.
Ver. 7. For the tidings.] Of the Chaldeans' coming. This was to the wicked as those knuckles of a man's hand were afterwards to Belshazzar, to write them their destiny; or as Daniel was to him, to read it unto them. Whenas the righteous man is no whit "afraid of evil tidings, his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord." Psa 112:7
And every heart shall melt, &c.] As wax before the fire, which, before the danger, seemed to be made all of steel or adamant. The wicked, when in adversity, are woefully despondent and crest fallen, as was the king of Sodom; Gen 14:9-11 Manasseh among the bushes; 2Ch 33:12 and others not a few, who in their prosperity seem to face the heavens and to draw the devil himself to a duel.
And all hands shall be feeble.] The spirits and blood being run to the heart, in that fright to relieve it.
And all knees shall be weak as water.] Heb., Shall go into water - that is, they shall bepiss themselves for fear, saith Jerome; they shall be all on a cold sweat, say others; or their knees shall shake, instar aquae tremulae, like trembling water, and knock together, as Belshazzar's did. Dan 5:6