unto the vine] Because the close of the precedent verse is expounded of the Messiah, some conceive these words to be Prophecie of him also; for the spirituall blessings that he brings with him are signifid by the mountaines dropping downe new wine, and the hils flowing with milke, Joel 3. 18. by which is meant the plenty of Evangelicall preaching, and of divine grace; and applying the words to him they are transformed from the literall sense into an allegoricall, thus, the Messiah shall bind with the cord of faith, and hope, and charitie, unto his vine; that is, unto his Church; his foale or asse-colt, that is, the people of the Gentiles, being as a young colt not accustomed to the yoke of the law; and the asse, that is, the people of the Jews, to the choice vine, that is, to the Messiah himselfe; and to strengthen this interpretation, they read the words thus, binding his foale to the vine, and his asse, O my sonne to the choice vine; the word bei, if Jod be an affix, sign fieth my sonne, and the word Sorec, signifieth a choice vine; but the difficultie lieth in the word beni, where Jod is sometimes paragogicall, or redundant, and so it is in the first word asri, binding, in this verse; now taking the word beni paragogically, it is not to be read O my sonne, but to be construed with the next word, and so it signifieth the sonne of his asse, that is, the foale of his asse; for the young of any creature is called in the Hebrew phrase by the name of a sonne, as a calfe is called a sonne of the herd, or beeves, Genesis 18:7. and lambes are called sonnes of the flocke, Psalms 114:4. and a young Unicorne, the sonne of the Ʋnicorne, Psalms 29:6. and reading the words thus, they may (notwithstanding the interposition in the precedent verse) be a continuation of Jacobs blessing of Judah; wherein (though we should read the words O my sonne) he might vary the person, as in the ninth verse; and taking Vines as a part of his blessing, they may import such abundance of fruitfull Vines, that the asses, accustomed to eat thistles, might mend their diet, and feed upon Vine leaves; or that the portion of the Tribe of Judah should be so well furnished with Vines, so well growne, that the asse might be tied to them as to other trees; and so stored with grapes, that he should not need to be shifted from Vine to Vine for his load, but might have it from one Vine alone, See Numbers 13:23. And though some part of Judahs portion were smitten with barrennesse by the burning of Sodome, yet the greater part remained untouched, which might by the blessing of God have a recompence of that losse; for it was the best and largest portion of the Tribes, as Adricom. describeth it, Theatr. pag. 38. and Artas Montan. in his Book called Chaleb, saith the like, expressing the situation of it, all to be in the South, which makes much for the fertilitie thereof; and he addeth also that it was very spaciou, and copious in Vineyards, and pastures, so that in the abundance of provision for meat and drinke, for food and rayment, this prophecie of Jacob was abundantly verified after the letter. blood of grapes] The juyce of the grape is called blood by a figurative speech, without any reference to a Sacramentall sense; See Deuteronomy 32:14. no marvell then if it be so called when it is used to signifie the blood of Christ; but it is strange, that they that take upon them to be great Divines, will be so grosse as to stick to the letter, and not admit of a figure, when our Saviour called the wine of the Sacrament his Blood, and the bread his Body.