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It is no less grateful than the dew is which falls upon that great and goodly hill of
Hermon, whereby it is both refreshed and made fruitful. And as the dew which falleth
upon the mountains of Zion, i.e. either upon the several parts and ridges or tops of that mountain, whereof one was peculiarly called
Zion, and another
Moriah; or upon the mountains which are round about Jerusalem, Psa_125:2, which is oft called Zion, as Psa_132:13. And these may be opposed to Hermon, which was remote and beyond Jordan. But peradventure (which yet I propose with all submission) this dew is not to be taken literally, for the falling of the dew availed very little to the refreshment or improvement of the hills of Zion and Moriah, especially as now they were filled with buildings; but allegorically, for the favour or blessing of God, which is frequently called and compared to the dew, as Pro_19:12 Isa_18:4 Hos_14:5 Mic_5:7. And thus it may seem to be explained in the following clause; and so the sense of the place is this, It is as desirable as the natural dew which falls upon Mount Hermon, nay, which is more, as that blessed and heavenly dew of God’s ordinances and graces which he hath commanded to fall upon the mountains of Zion; i.e. either upon Mount Zion; the plural number being put for the singular, as it is Psa_132:7, and oft elsewhere, as I have observed in several places; or upon the mountains of Zion and Moriah, and others which are round about Jerusalem, as was now said. And if it seem strange that the dew should be taken literally in the first clause, and mystically in the next, we have a like instance Mat_8:22, Let the dead (spiritually) bury the dead (naturally). For: he now gives the reason either why this unity is so good a thing; or why the dew descending upon Zion, to which that is compared, is so desirable. And so upon this occasion he slides into the commendation of Zion’s felicity, as the sacred writers frequently do upon other like occasions. There; either,
1. Where brethren live in peace and unity; or rather,
2. In Zion last mentioned. Commandeth the blessing; ordained, promised, conferred, and established his blessing, to wit, all manner of blessedness for his people that sincerely worship him in that place. Life, to wit, a happy and pleasant life; for to live in misery is accounted and oft called death, both in Scripture and in other authors.