Thy crowned [are] as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, [but] when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they [are].
Ver. 17. Thy crowned are as the locusts] i.e. Thy barons (saith Diodati) and great lords, wearing diadems and wreaths, in token of dignity; such a Nazarite (that is the Hebrew word here) was Joseph, Genesis 49:26, because separate and exempt from other men, as a chieftain. Calvin likewise rendereth it, thy princes; the Vulgate Latin, thy keepers; some others, thy Nazarites, or thy religious persons, set apart from the common sort to pray for the city's safety. Such were those chemarims, or chimney chaplains, among the Jews, Hos 10:5 Zephaniah 1:4; such are the mailers among the Turks, who call them the religious brothers of love; and the shaveling mendicants among the Papists. These locusts are, Revelation 9:7, said to have on their heads as it were crowns like gold.
And thy captains as the great grasshoppers] Heb. as the grasshoppers of grasshoppers, by a Hebraism, like that King of kings, Song of songs, &c. The word rendered captains is foreign; R. David and others render it, Imperator, Dux, Princeps. It seemeth to be a name of dignity among the Assyrians, as Zaphnathpaaneah was among the Egyptians, Genesis 41:45. These are called grasshoppers and locusts, for their uselessness and fearfulness.
Which camp in the hedges] sc. Of the gardens or vineyards, and they are said to camp, in regard of their multitudes, as if they were an army of them. See Joel ii. The prophet taxeth here Nineveh's vain confidence in her confederates and such other hangers on, as might truly say,
“ Nos numeri sumus, fruges consumere nati., ”
We are men of no great moment, such as Aristophanes in Plutarch prettily played upon, when he said, ταμιαι λαμιαι, i.e. quaestores bubones. treasurers of eagles.
But when the sun ariseth they flee away] So these trencher flies, when they have served their own turns upon thee, and now see the tempest of war growing on amain, they worship the rising sun, keep themselves on the warm side of the hedge, leave thee to shift as thou canst, and seek out for themselves a better fortune.