And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said to me: Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from thence the girdle, which I commanded thee to hide there.

“Here he shows the dignity of the people from their adherence to God. And it is divided into two parts. In the first he sets down a likeness; in the second, the application of the likeness, where it says, "And the word of the Lord came to me." Concerning the first, three things. First is signified the taking up of the people into divine familiarity, where the Lord's command is set down: "Go" — literally, to the place where such things are sold — because God himself came first to the people. 1 John 4: not as though we had loved God, but because he first loved us. "Possess," from me, namely that you may possess it by your own right, as a lord an inheritance. Isaiah 19: but my inheritance is Israel. "For you," for your use, just as the people are for the glory of God. Isaiah 43: this people have I formed for myself, it shall declare my praise. "The waistcloth," which clings to the loins, in which is the desire of love: thus is the people taken up into divine love. Hosea 11: I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love. "Linen," which is taken raw from the earth, but is adorned by human cultivation: thus that people by divine cultivation. Ezekiel 16: and passing by you, I saw you trodden down in your blood, etc. "And into the water you shall not bring it." Job 38: gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and answer me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? etc. And because divine things are mystically expressed not only through words but also through the deeds of the prophets — hence it is said in Hosea 12: I have been likened in the hands of the prophets — the fulfillment of the precept is also set down, "I possessed," in which the obedience of the prophet is noted. Genesis 6: Noah was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God, etc. Second is signified the rejection of the people: "and the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying." "Take," from yourself; thus I will cast the people away from me: "go to the Euphrates," by which is signified the power of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, by whom the people was taken captive. Isaiah 8: the Lord will bring upon them the strong and many waters of the river, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory. And it will rise above all its channels, and flow over all its banks, and will go through Judah, overflowing, and passing through will come even to the neck. "Hide it": thus the people, as though hidden by the waters, will be swallowed up: below, 51: he has swallowed me up, like a dragon he has filled his belly with my tender flesh, and cast me out, "in the hole," lest it flow away with the water; in which is signified that there would be remnants of the people in time to come, and that not all would perish. Above, 4: but I will not make a full end. Third is signified the restoration of the people, where first the restoration itself is signified: "and it came to pass after many days," to signify that they would be many years in captivity. Below, 29: when the seventy years shall begin to be fulfilled in Babylon, I will visit you, and will raise up over you my good word, that I may bring you back to this place. "Take it from there": thus I will bring back the people. Ezekiel 36: for I will take you from among the nations, and will gather you out of all the lands, and will bring you into your own land. Second is signified the condition of the people: "and behold, it had rotted": thus the power and beauty of the people had been consumed. Ezekiel 15: will it be useful for any work? Even when it was whole it was not fit for work; how much more when fire has devoured it and burned it, nothing at all will be made of it for work?”

“And it came to pass after many days,.... When the girdle had lain long in the hole, by the side of Euphrates; this denotes the length of the Babylonish captivity, which was seventy years: that the Lord said unto me, arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there; which may denote the return of these people from captivity, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah; see Jer 25:11, though this seems to be visionally done, in order to express the wretched state and condition these people were in; either before the captivity, which was the cause of it; or at their return from it, when they were no better for it.”