He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others;
Ver. 26. He striketh them as wicked men, &c.] Complodit cos, saith Junius, scilicet ut inflatas vesicas in sun ipsorum sede, he striketh upon them, as blown bladders, in their own seat. This is an elegant similitude, setting forth the sudden overthrow of graceless great ones, as with a kind of noise, and not without public notice; for it followeth,
In the open sight of others] Heb. In the place of beholders, in proscenio, as upon a stage or scaffold, Discant iustitiam moniti; et non temnere numen, others may hear and fear, and do no more so. God is pleased for this purpose to bang up some notorious offenders as it were in gibbets; as Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Antiochus, Herod, Julian. See those writs of execution, 1 Corinthians 10:5,7, and be wise by others' woes; enjoy their follies, and gather, with the bee, sweet honey out of those bitter weeds, Poena ad paucos, metus ad omnes. Punishment to the poor, fear at all.