at midnight] Chap. 11. 4. Not in an exact Mathematicall measure but about midnight When the wicked are most secure, their destruction is most neere. 1 Thess. 5. 3. first born] Not only of men, but of beasts; and among men, it is not meant only of children of both sexes, but of parents also, and those both men and women, who were born before them, and of the first born of their fathers families; and if they had children, their first born of them were slaine also, so that in one house the father of the family might be a first born, and his wife, and if he had divers wives he might have a first born by each of them, and some of them might have first borne grand children. Some would have it, that in one house there was but one who was killed, as the first born, and in many families it is like, there was no first born, and because the first born (among the people of God) were the priests of the families, if they were heads of families, and women were not priests, as the first born, for when the first born were sanctified unto God, they were of the males, not of the females, Exodus 13:12. See Annot. on Chap. 13. 5: 2. And there might be some exception from this rule, as Pharaoh, (if he were a first born) and some others, of families, whom God might reprieve for a future destruction: but his first-born was slain, as is expressed in this verse, who (it may be) was partner with his father in the government of Egypt, and the oppression of Israel. dungeon] Heb. the house of the well or pit. Because it was made round, like as wels or pits, are digged: or because such as were put there were exercised in drawing and carrying of water.