He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
Ver. 20. He removeth away the speech of the trusty] Or, of the eloquent, as Demosthenes, the most eloquent of the Greeks, being by them frequently sent as an ambassador to Philip, king of Macedonia, thrice stood speechless before him, and on thirty different occasions forgot those things which he had thought to have spoken, as Tzetzes testifieth (Chiliad 7). So Latomus, of Lovain, that apostate and persecutor of the truth, having prepared an elegant oration to make to Charles V, emperor, was so confounded, that he could hardly speak a word of sense, the grief whereof broke his heart. The counsellor and the eloquent orator, the prudent and the ancient, are reckoned up as the stay and the staff, the beauty and bulwark, of a nation, Isaiah 3:2,3. These God removes at his pleasure, and, for a general judgment, causing either them to die or their abilities to die and decay, or crossing their attempts, that they shall speak persuasively, but not persuade people, but beslighted and exploded of all. Yea, though they be truth speakers (veracium), so the Vulgate hath it, or trusty, as our translation, confiding men, as they are called, worthy to be trusted; such faithful counsellors as Polybius was to Scipio, who never miscarried in anything wherein he followed his advice, as the historian testifieth; yet God can remove or change the speech of such, by leaving them to their own unfaithfulness and inconstancy, as we have plentifully experimented in these late discriminating and shedding times.
And taketh away the understanding of the aged] Heb. And taketh the sense, or savour, or taste of the elders or senators, that they shall be no more able to discern and determine what is true or false, right or wrong, than old Barzillai could skill of the court meals and music. See this threatened Isaiah 29:14. Such old men, as either were bred scholars, or have had much experience in the management of great affairs, are presumed to be of great understanding; but God can either take such away, as he threateneth to do, Isaiah 3:3,4, or take away their wisdom, to render them useless to the public; as it is reported of Theodorus Gaza and of Albertus Magnus, those great scholars, that for certain years before they died they did so dote, and were so childish, that they could not write their own names, or read a letter on the book. Let, therefore, the eloquent and the aged take heed they abuse not their abilities, lest they forget and lose them.