_3dly_, He did not obtain deliverance from the hand of God without _great wrestling_, chap. xxxii. 24-25. and this attended with _weeping_, as well as _making supplication_, Hos. xii. 4. and, though he prevailed, and so obtained the blessing, and therewith forgiveness of his sin; yet God so ordered it, that he should carry the mark thereof upon him, as long as he lived, by touching the hollow of his thigh, which occasioned an incurable lameness. (4.) Another enquiry is, whether the prophet Elijah did not tell a lie to the Syrian host, who were before Dothan, in quest of him, when he said, in 2 Kings vi. 19. _This is not the way, neither is this the city: Follow me, and I will bring you to the man you seek. But he led them to Samaria?_ _Answ._ If what he says to them be duly considered, it will appear not to be a lie; for he told them nothing but what proved true, according to the import of his words; for, _1st_, He does not say, I am not the man ye seek, which would have been a lie; neither does he say, the man is not here: but he tells them, _I will lead you to the place where ye shall find him_, or have him discovered and presented before you. _2dly_, When he says, _This is not the way; neither is this the city_; he does not say, this is not the way to Dothan; neither is this the city so called; for then they would have been able to have convicted him of a lie; for they knew that they were at Dothan before they were struck with blindness: But the plain meaning of his words is, that this is not your way to find him; since the men of this city will not deliver him to you; but _I will lead you to the place where you shall see him_; and _so he led them to Samaria_, upon which their eyes were opened, and they saw him: So that this was not a lie. And the reason of his management was, that the king of Israel, and the Syrian host, might be convinced, that they were poor creatures in God’s hand, and that he could easily turn their counsels into foolishness, and cause their attempts to miscarry with shame, as well as disappointment. (5.) It may be farther enquired, whether the apostle Paul was guilty of a lie; when, being charged, in Acts xxiii. 4, 5. with _reviling God’s high priest_, he says, _I wist not that he was the high priest_? How was it possible that he should entertain any doubt concerning his being the high priest; which none, who were present, could, in the least, question?