And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel [shall possess] that of the Canaanites, [even] unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which [is] in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
Ver. 20. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel, &c.] i.e. The multitude of the Jews carried captive to Babylon, returning at length into their own country, shall possess all the places of the Canaanites, all the maritime cities, all the tract of ground as far as Sarepta, which is between Tyre and Zidon, therefore called Sarepta of Zidon, 1 Kings 17:9. Here dwelt the Canaanites, whom Asher could not expel, Judges 1:31,32. See Matthew 15:22 .
And the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad] That is, either in some city of Assyria or in the utmost bounds of the Babylonish dominion (as some interpret the word Sepharad, by taking it asunder), or as far as Apharad (so the Septuagint), that is, Euphrates. The Hebrew doctors, as by Canaanites here they understand the Dutch, and by Zarephath France, so by Sepharad they will needs have Spain to be meant, subdued, say they, by Nebuchadnezzar, after other of his great conquests, and by him planted with Jews, carried captive from Jerusalem. With such bold and frivolous fancies do these poor deluded creatures fondly feed themselves. They are generally light, aerial, and fanatical brains, saith one; apt to rework themselves into the fool's paradise of a sublime dotage. They not only expect a corporal restitution to their own country, but also a sovereignty over all other nations, and possession of their provinces, saith another; they believe that the Messiah is not yet come, because the Christian Empire is not yet destroyed; and therefore they pray daily for the overthrow of the Roman Empire (Buxtorf. Synag. c. 5). Out of the east it is that they expect their Messiah, whither the Spanish Jews fled (when they were banished), and are exceedingly multiplied; for those do they hold to be this captivity of Jerusalem here mentioned, viz. of the tribe of Judah; and the other in Germany and Italy, to be of the tribe of Benjamin; who, in honour of the more noble tribe, and to correspond with them the better, do learn the Spanish tongue; which those still retain, in hope, belike, to be one day lords of that large and rich country.
Shall possess the cities of the south] i.e. Shall return to their own southerly cities and provinces. And this prophecy of recovering the holy land is to be taken in a spiritual sense; and it importeth, that all those that are Israelites indeed, Jews inwardly, shall flee to the Church of Christ, Romans 9:24,29 .