2:16 Also the children of {z} Noph and Tahapanes have {a} broken the crown of thy head.
(z) That is, the Egyptians, for these were two great cities in Egypt.
(a) Have grievously vexed you at various times.
2:16 Noph, and c. - Two of the kings of Egypt's principal seats. Noph was sometimes called Memphis, now Cairo. Tahapanes probably took its name from Taphanes queen of Egypt, 1Kings 11:19, called also Hanes: Isa 30:4. The inhabitants of these cities are called here their children.
2:14-19 Is Israel a servant? No, they are the seed of Abraham. We may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of man a slave? No, it is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like lions, prevailed against Israel. People from Egypt destroyed their glory and strength. They brought these calamities on themselves by departing from the Lord. The use and application of this is, Repent of thy sin, that thy correction may not be thy ruin. What has a Christian to do in the ways of forbidden pleasure or vain sinful mirth, or with the pursuits of covetousness and ambition?
