If he destroy him from his place, then [it] shall deny him, [saying], I have not seen thee.
Ver. 18. If he destroy him from his place] If he stub up this green tree, no better surely than the cyparit, of which Pliny writeth that it beareth fruit to no purpose, small berries, bitter leaves, that it yields an ill smell, and no pleasant shade; or as the boxtree, green indeed all the year about, but of an offensive smell, no fruit, and such a seed as all living creatures hate. Now if he, that is, Almighty God, destroy him, that is, the hypocrite, as he will do questionless (totally and speedily swallowing him up), what then?
Then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee] Heb. It shall tell a lie of him, &c., the place, as ashamed to own him, shall feign and say, We have not seen him, we know not what is become of him. So Psalms 37:35,36. As they have denied the Lord that bought them, 2 Peter 2:1, so they shall one day be denied by the places they have bought or builded, by the people that once clawed them, and cried them up.