But in his estate shall he honour the god of forces,.... Or god Mahuzzim q; departed saints and their images, whom the Papists make their protectors, defenders, and guardians: the word signifies towers, strong holds, fortresses; and by these titles the martyrs, saints departed, are called by the ancient fathers, who first introduced the worship of them: So Basil r, speaking of the forty martyrs, says,
"these are they, who obtaining our country, like certain towers, afford us a refuge against the incursion of enemies:''
and a little after thus addresses them,
"O ye common keepers of mankind, the best companions of our cares, the suffragans of our prayers and wishes, "most powerful" ambassadors with God, c.:''
and elsewhere s he prays,
"that God would keep the church unmoved, and fortified with the great towers of the martyrs''
so Chrysostom t calls them patrons and protectors. Or, "with God he shall honour" u; these along with him, or besides him; these shall be the objects of religious worship and honour, as they are: and that "in his estate"; or in his room and stead, that is, of the true God, our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and man; and yet angels and departed saints are set up as mediators in his stead:
and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour; the host, the wafer, the breaden god, made a god by the words of a muttering priest; this is such a god as the apostles, and Peter particularly, from whom the popes of Rome pretend to, derive their succession, never knew, nor once dreamed of; and yet this is received as a god, bowed unto, and worshipped, and honoured:
with gold, silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things; with rich and costly ornaments, with which the pyxis or box, in which it is carried in procession, is adorned.
q ולאלהוה מעזים "deum Mahuzim", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus. r Homil. in 40. Martyr. p. 151. s Homil. de Martyr. Mamant. p. 167. t Sermo in Berenice, Homil. l. in 1 Thess. See Mede's Works, B. 3. p. 673, 674. u "Ad, [vel] juxta deum Mahuzzimos in sede ejus honorabit", Medus, p. 667, 671.