Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
Ver. 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid] Or scare him, not only out of his comforts, but out of his wits and senses too, as it did Charles the Great, Cardinal of Lorrain (Meutis inops moritur). See Deuteronomy 28:34. Tullus Hostilius, the third king of Romans, deriding the religion of his predecessor Numa, as that which did emasculate men's minds, was afterwards so terrified, that he set up and worshipped two new gods, viz. Pavorem et Pallorem, trouble and anguish, which he had perpetually present with him, as Lactantius reporteth. What a pitiful agony Vitellius the emperor was in when Vespasian's army marched toward Rome, is notably set forth by Dio in his Life (Eμπλεκτως ανω και κατω εφερετο ωσπερ εν κλυδωνι). Not long after that, at the sack of Jerusalem, some Jews killed themselves, lest they should fall into the hands of Vespasian's soldiers.
Hic rogo; non furor est, ne moriare, mori?
They shall prevail against him] Or, begirt him, as a king is surrounded, in peace by his guard, in war by his army. Or, they shall destroy him, as a king ready to the battle doth his enemies' forces, which he routeth and ruineth. Fear hath a deadly force upon feeble spirits; neither is it any wonder that they ring their bells backward when things begin once to be on fire.