Tell ye your children of it, and [let] your children [tell] their children, and their children another generation.
Ver. 3. Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children] Heb. Cipher them up diligently, after the manner of mathameticians; reckon up the several years with the several calamities thereof to your children and nephews, that they may hear, and fear, and do no more so, Deuteronomy 19:20. Let your woes be their warnings, your sufferings their standing sermons; your corrections their instructions. See 1 Corinthians 10:5,12. Ruina maiorum sit cautela minornm (Greg. Mot.). Hast thou marked the old way (saith Eliphaz to Job, Job 22:15-16), which wicked men have trodden, which were cut down out of time; whose foundation was overflown with a flood (Heb. a flood was poured upon their foundation), which said unto God, Depart from us? &c. He speaketh of those antediluvian atheists, buried in one universal grave of waters. See Joshua 22:20 Neh 13:26 Judges 1:5,7, and learn to keep a catalogue of God's great works, whether of mercy or judgment; yea, to polish and garnish them for the use of posterity, not with vain affectation of wit, nor with pedantic pomp of words, but with sobriety and holy gravity, as here; such as may stick by our children, and leave impression.