The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh [is] grass, and all the goodliness thereof [is] as the flower of the field:
Ver. 6. The voice.] Or, A voice - sc., in vision.
What shall I cry? All flesh is grass.] This is taught by every philosopher, saith Sasbout: but never is it taught effectually till cried to the heart by God's Word and Spirit, for which reason also it is not uttered here without a preparative, by way of dialogue, to stir up to attention.
All flesh is grass.] Not only as grass, but is grass: we are all but dying men; death hath already taken hold of us, and doth every day feed upon us insensibly. To live is but to lie dying. The Jews at this day, when they return from burying a corpse, cast grass over their heads; either to signify that all flesh is grass, or else their hope of a resurrection.
And all the goodliness thereof.] Anything eximious or excellent in man must needs vanish, when the glory of the Lord is revealed. Isa 40:5 The sight of God makes all else little.
As the flower of the field.] Which is more apt to be blasted, cropped, or trodden down, than the flower of the garden.
“ Esse, fuisse, fore, tria florida sunt sine flore:
Nam simul omne perit, quod fuit, est, et erit. ”