We are astonished at the accounts which ancient historians of the best credit give of the immense extent, height, and thickness of the walls of Nineveh and Babylon; nor are we less astonished when we are assured, by the concurrent testimony of modern travellers, that no remains, not the least traces, of these prodigious works are now to be found. Scattered fragments of its tiles and bricks are yet to be found. Proud Babylon reduced now to a few brick-bats! Our wonder will, I think, be moderated in both respects, if we consider the fabric of these celebrated walls, and the nature of the materials of which they consisted. Buildings in the east have always been, and are to this
21 "^But •'wild beasts of the
oiymp. XVII. I. desert shall lie there; and their Numie Pompilii, houses shall be full of " doleful ^- '^°"'^"' ^- creatures; f and? owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
day, made of earth or clay, mixed or beat up with straw to make the parts cohere, and dried only in the sun. This is their method of making bricks; see on chap ix. 9. The walls of the city were built of the earth digged out on the spot, and dried upon the place, by which means both the ditch and the wall were at once formed, the former furnishing materials for the latter. That the walls of Babylon were of this kind is well known; and Berosus expressly says, (apud Joseph. Antiq. x. 11,) that Nebuchadnezzar added three new walls both to the old and new city, partly of brick and bitumen, and partly of brick alone. A wall of this sort must have a great thickness in proportion to Its height, otherwise it cannot stand. The thickness of the walls of Babylon is said to have been one-fourth of their height, which seems to have been no more than was absolutely necessary. Maundrell, speaking of the garden walls of Damascus, says, " They are of a very singular structure. They are built of great pieces of earth, made in the fashion of brick, and hardened in the sun. In their dunensions they are two yards long each, and somewhat more than one broad, and half a yard thick." And afterward, speaking of the waUs of the houses, he says, " From this dirty way of building they have this amongst other inconveniences, that upon any violent rain the whole city becomes, by the washing of the houses, as it were a ijuagmire;" p. 124. And see note on chap. xxx. 13. When a wall of this sort comes to be out of repair, and is neglected, it is easy to conceive the necessary consequences, namely, that in no long course of ages it must be totally destroyed by the heavy rains, and at length washed away, and reduced to its original earth. — L.
islands shall cry in their ' desolate oiymp. xvii. i houses, and dragons in their pleas- Numaj'pompilii, ant palaces: ^ and her time is near R- Roman., 4. to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
A''erse 21. Satyrs] A kind of beast like to mail, which is called tyaiaiD marmots, a monhey. — Hahhi Parchon.
Verse 22. In their pleasant palaces — " In their palaces"] VnUaSsD healmenolhaiv; a plain mistake, I presiraie, for rnjtns^ hearmenothaiv. It is so corrected in two MSS., the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.
Of which the following passage of Milton may be taken for a translation, though not so designed: —
" And in their palaces, Where luxury late reigned, sea monsters whelped, And stabled." Par. Lost, xi. 750.
This image of desolation is handled with great pro priety and force by some of the Persian poets: —
" The spider holds the veil in the palace of Csesar; The owl stands centinel on the watch-tower of Afrasiab."
On this quotation Sir W. Jones observes, oJ.>J noubet is an Arabic word, signifying a turn, a change, ' a watch; hence lu-^J i^y noubet zudun in Persian signifies to relieve the guards by the sounds of drums and trumpets. Their office is given by the poet to the otol; as that of jlii Vij^.- purdeh dar, or chamberlain, is elegantly assigned to the spider.
Deliverance of Israel from captivity, which shall folloiv the downfall of the great Babylonish empire, 1, 2. Triumphant ode or song of the children of Jacob, for the signal manifestation of Divine vengeance against their oppressors, 3-23. Prophecy against the Assyrians, 24, 25. Certainly of the prophecy, and immutability of the Divine counsels, 26, 27. Palestine severely threatened, 28-31. God shall establish Zion in these troublous times, 32.
Verse 1. And will yet choose Israel.'] That is, wiU still regard Israel as his chosen people; however he strangers shall be joined with ^ ™- ^'T- ^^92. them, and they shall cleave to Oiymp. xvii. i.
2 And the people shall take R- Roman., 4.
enemies, and scattering them among the nations. Judah is sometimes called Israel; see Ezek. xiii. 16;
*b'c ck 712'' ^^^'"' '^^"'^ '^""S tliem to their oiymp. XVII. i. place: and tlie house of Israel Numie Ponipiiii, shall possess tlieiii in the land ^- ^°"'^"' ^- of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, " whose captives they were; ^ and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
4 That thou s shalt take up this ^ proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the ' golden ^ city ceased!
5 The Lord hath broken ' tlie staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
Mai. i. 1; ii. II: but the name of Jacob and of Israel, used apparently with design in this place, each of which names includes the twelve tribes, and the other circumstances mentioned in this and the next verse, M'hich did not in any complete sense accompany the return from the captivity of Babylon, seem to intimate that this whole prophecy extends its views beyond that event.
A'erse2. For servants and handmaids] 5Fot tl)ralHjS ana ttitalle^jScjS. — Old Bible. Male and female slaves.
Verse 3. In the day — " In that day"] Ninn UV2 haijom ha.hu. The word Ninn hahu is added in two MSS. of Kennicotl's, and was in the copies from which the Septuagint and Vulgate translated: £u tt) TiiLl^a, JX5IV7), in die ilia, (-fi avwKavdli, MS. Pachom. adding (i,) in that day. This is a matter of no great consequence: however, it restores the text to the common form, almost constantly used on such occasions; and is one among many instances of a word apparently lost out of the printed copies.
Verse 4. This proverb — " This parable"] bi^D mashal. I take this to be the general name for poetic style among the Hebrews, including every sort of it, as ranging under one or other, or all of the characters, of sententious, figurative, and sublime; which are all fontained in the original notion, or in the use and application of the word mashal. Parables or proverbs, such as those of Solomon, are always expressed in short pointed sentences; frequently figurative, being formed on some comparison; generally forcible and authoritative, both in the matter and the form. And such in general is the style of the Hebrew poetry. The verb mashal signifies to ride; to exercise authority; to make equal; to compare one thing with another; to utter parables, or acute, weighty, and powerful speeches, in the form and manner of parables, though not properly such. Thus Balaam's first proohecy, (Num. xxiii. 7-10,) is called his mashal;
6 He who smote the people in -^^a ""■?.^^- wrath with " a continual stroke, Oiymp. xvii. i
he that ruled the nations in anger, Nums PompUii, is persecuted, and none hindereth. R- Roman., 4.
7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
8 ° Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
9 ° Hell P from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the i chief ' ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their tlirones all the kings of the nations.
10 All they shall speak and say unto thee. Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
though it has hardly any thing figurative in it: but it is beautifully sententious, and, from the very form and manner of it, has great spirit, force, and energy. Thus Job's last speeches, in answer to his three friends, chap, xxvii.— xxxi., are called mashals; from no one particular character, which discriminates them from the rest of the poem, but from the sublime, the figurative, the sententious manner which equally prevails through the whole poem, and makes it one of the first and most eminent examples e.xtant of the truly great and beautiful in poetic style. See the note on Prov. i. 1.
The Septuagint in this place render the word by iif/]vog, a lamentation. They plainly consider the speech here introduced as a piece of poetry, and of that species of poetr}' which we call the elegiac; either from the subject, it being a poem on the fall and death of the king of Babylon, or from the form of the composition, which is of the longer sort of Hebrew verse, in which the Lamentations of Jeremiah, called by the Septuagint ©pijvoi, are ■written.
The golden city ceased] n!;nT3 madhcbah, which is here translated golden city, is a Chaldee word. Pro bably it means that golden coin or ingot which was given to the Babylonians by way of tribute. So the word is understood by the Vulgate, where it is rendered tributum; and by Montanus. who translates it aurea pensio, the golden pension. Kimchi seems to have understood the word in the same sense. De Rossi translates it auri dives, rich in gold, or auri exactrix, the exactor of gold; the same as the exactor of tribute.
Verse 9. Hell from beneath is moiled for thee to meet thee] That is, Nebuchadnezzar. " It (hell) hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the earth; —;the ghosts {rephaim) of all the mighty ones, ot goats, ('tirij' attvdey,) of the earth — all the oppressors of mankind." A\1iat a most terrible idea is here! Tyrannical kings who have oppressed and spoiled mankind, are here represented as enthroned in hell; and
^b'^c ""cir 712^' ^ ^ '^^y pomp is brought down Oiymp. xVii. 1. to the grave, and the noise of Niuns PompiUi, thy viols: the worm is spread
12' How art thou fallen from heaven, ' 0 Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
1 3 For thou hast said in thine heart, " I will ascend into heaven, " I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, " in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; "^ I will be like the Most High.
as taking a Satanic pleasure in seeing others of the same description enter those abodes of misery!
Ver.se 11. Cover thee — -" Thy covering."] Twentyeight MSS. {ten ancient) of Kennicotfs, thirty-nine of De Rossi's, twelve editions, with the Septuagint and Vulgate, read piir^l umechassecha, in the singular number.
Verse 12. O Lucifer, son of the morning] The Versions in general agree in this translation, and render hh'n heilel as signifying Lucifer, 'twd'ipwjojr, the morning star, whether Jupiter or Venus; as these are both bringers of the morning light, or morning stars, annually in their turn. And although the context speaks explicitly concerning Nebuchadnezzar, yet this has been, I know not why, applied to the chief of the fallen angels, who is most incongruously denominated Lucifer, (the bringer of light!) an epithet as common to him as those of Satan and Devil. That the Holy Spirit by his prophets should call this arch-enemy of God and man the light-bringer, would be strange indeed. But the truth is, the text speaks nothing at all concerning Satan nor his fall, nor the occasion of that fall, which many divines have with great confidence deduced from this text. O how necessary it is to understand the literal meaning of Scripture, that preposterous comments m.ay be prevented! Besides, I doubt much whether our translation be correct. S'7"n heilel, which we translate Lucifer, comes from SV yalal, yell, howl, or shriek, and should be translated, " Howl, son of the morning;" and so the Syriac has understood it; and for tliis meaning Michaelis contends: see his reasons in Parkhurst, under '7*771 halal.
Verse 13. I will ascend into heaven'] I will get the empire of the whole world. / ivill exalt my throne above the stars of God — above the Israelites, who are here termed the stars of God. So the Targum of Jonathan, and R. D. Kimchi. This chapter speaks not of the ambition and fall of Satan, but of the pride, arrogance, and fall of Nebuchadnezzar.
The jnount of the congregation — " The mount of the Divine Presence"] It appears plainly from Exod.
16 They that see thee shall nar- ^- '^°°"'"- ^- rowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?
17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that ^ opened not the house of his prisoners.
18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a
XXV. 22, and xxix. 42, 43, where God appoints the place of meeting with Moses, and promises to meet with him before the ark to commune with him, and to speak unto him; and to meet the chddren of Israel at the door of the tabernacle; that the tabernacle, and afterwards the door of the tabernacle, and Mount Zion, (or Moriah, which is reckoned a part of Mount Zion.) whereon it stood, was called the tabernacle, and the mount of convention or of appointment; not from the people's assembling there to perform the services of their religion, (which is what our translation expresses by calling it the tabernacle of the congregation,) but because God appointed that for the place where he himself would meet with Moses, and commune with him, and would meet witji the people. Therefore fy'n "in har moed, the " mountain of the assembly," or '7ns Ij'ra ohel moed, the " tabernacle of the assembly," means the place appointed by God, where he would present himself; agreeably to which I have rendered it in this place, the mount of the Divine Presence.
Averse 19. Like an abominable branch — "Like the tree abominated"] That is, as an object of abomination and detestation; such as the tree is on which a malefactor has been hanged. " It is written," saith St. Paul, Gal. iii. 13, " Cursed is every man that hangeth on a tree," from Deut. xxi. 23. The Jews therefore held also as accursed and polluted the tree itself on which a malefactor had been executed, or on which he had been hanged after having been put to death by
stoning. " Non suspendunt super arbore, quae radicibus solo adhffireat; sed super ligno eradieato, ut ne sit excisio molesta: nam lignum, super quo fuit aliquis suspensus, cum suspendioso sepelitur; ne maneat illi malum nomen, et dicant homines, Istud est lignum, in quo suspensus est ille, 0 (Ssiva. Sic lapis, quo aliquis fuit lapidatus; et gladius, quo fuit occisus is qui est occisus; et sudarium sive mantile, quo fuit aliquis strangulatus; omnia hsec cum iis, qui perierunt, sepeliuntur." Maimonides, apud Casaub. in Baron. Exercitat. xvi. An. 34, Num. 134. "Cum itaque homo suspensus maximee esset abomination!, — Judaei quoque prae cste-
20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people: " the seed of evil-doers sliall never be renowned.
21 Prepare slaughter for his children "^ for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
22 For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon "^ the name, and "^ remnant, * and son, and nephew,
23 "^ I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the
ris aboramabantur lignum quo fuerat suspensus, ita ut illud quoque terra tegerent, tanquam rem abominabilem. llnde intcrpres Chaldasus hEEC verba transtulit Tnt3 DnO kcchat temir, sicut vir^ltum absconditura, sive sepultura." Kalinski, Vaticinia Observationibus Jllustrata,
" The Jews never hang any malefactor upon a tree that is growing in the earth, but upon a post fixed in the ground, that it might never be said, ' That is the tree on whicli such a one was hanged;' for custom required that the tree should be buried with the malefactor. In like manner the stone by which a criminal was stoned to death, or the sword by which he was beheaded, or the napkin or handkerchief by which he was strangled, should be buried with liim in tlie same grave." " For as the hanged man was considered the greatest abomination, so the very post or wood on which he was hanged was deemed a most abominable thing, and therefore buried under the earth."
Agreeably to which Theodoret, Hist. Ecclesiast. i. 17, 18, in his account of the finding of the cross by Helena, says, " That the tlvree crosses were buried in the earth near the place of our Lord's sepulchre." And this circumstance seems to confirm the relation of the discovery of the cross of Christ. The crosses were found where the custom required they should be buried.
The raiment of those that are slain — " Clothed with the slain"] Thirty-five MSS., [ten ancient,) and three editions, have the word fully written, m'zh lebush. It is not a noim, but the participle passive; thrown out among the common slain, and covered with the dead bodies. So ver. 11, the earth-worm is said to be his bed-covering. This reading is confirmed by two ancient M.SS. in my own collection.
Verae 20. Because thou hast destroyed thy land, &c. — " Because thou hast destroyed thy country; thou bast slain thy people"] Xenophon gives an instance
25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall? his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and tliis is the hand that is stretched out upon all tlie nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts hath ^ purposed, and who siiall disannrd it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn a. M. cir. 3278.
28 Li the year that ' kins Ahaz '"'i- ""","" died was this burden. E- Roman., 28.
of this king's wanton cruelty in killing the son of Gobrias, on no other provocation than that, in hunting, he struck a boar and a lion which the king had missed. Cyrop. iv. p. 309.
Verse 23. / will sweep it with the besom of destruction— " I will plunge it in the miry gulf of destruction"] I have here very nearly followed the Version of the Septuagint; the reasons for which see in the last note on De Poesi Hebr. Prielect. xxviii.
The besom of destruction, as our Version renders it. NQNQ03 bematate. This, says Kimchi, is a Chaldee word: and it is worthy of remark that the prophet, writing to the Chaldeans, uses several words peculiar to their own language to point out the nature of the Divine judgments, and the causes of them. See the note on Jer. x. 11. Sixteen of Kenuicolfs MS.S., and seventeen of De Rossi^s, and one ancient of my own, have the word 'DNDt^ bematatey, in the plural. " I will sweep her with the besoms of destruction."
Verse 35. / leill break the Assyrian — upon my mountains — " To crush the Assyri.an — on my mountains"] The Assyrians and Babylonians are the same people, Herod, i. 199, 200. Babylon is reckoned the principal city in Assyria, ibid. 178. Straho says the same thing, lib. xvi. sub init. The circumstance of this judgment being to be executed on God's mountains is of importance; it may mean the destruction of Sennacherib's army near Jerusalem, and have a still farther view: compare Ezek. xxxis. 4; and ste Lowth on this place of Isaiah.
Verse 28. In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden] Uzziah had subdued the Philistines, 2 Chron. xxvi. 6, 7; but, taking advantage of the weak reign of Ahaz, they invaded Judea, and took, and held in possession, some cities in the southern part of the kingdom. On the death of Ahaz, Isaiah delivers this prophecy, threatening them with tlie destruction that
30 And the fii-st-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie do'wn in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.
Hezekiah, his son, and gi'eat-grandson of Uzziah, should bring upon them: which lie effected; for " he.smote the PhUistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof," 2 Kings xviii. 8. Uzziah, therefore, must be meant by the rod that smote them, and by the serpent from whom shmdd spring the flying fiery serpent, ver. 29, that is, Hezelciali, a much more terrible enemy than even Uzziah had been.
The Targmn renders the twenty-ninth verse in a singular way. " For, from the sons of Jesse shall come forth the Messiah; and his works among you shall be as the flying serpent."
Averse 30. And the Jirst-born of the poor, &c.] The Targum goes on applying aU to the Messiah. " And the poor of the people shall he feed, and the humble shall dwell securely in his days: and he shaU kUl thy children with famine, and the remnant of thy people shall he slay."
/ will kill — " He will slay"] The Septuagint reads iron hemith, in the tiiird person, ovsXsi; and so the Chaldee. The Vulgate remedies the confusion of persons in the present text, by reading both the verbs in the first person.
Verse 3 1. There shall come from the north a smoke — " From the north cometh a smoke"] That is, a cloud of dust raised by the march of Hezekiah's army dissolved: lor there shall come RomuU, from the north a smoke, and «■ K°man., 28. ° none shall he alone in his ° appointed times.
32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? that p the Lord hath founded Zion, and <i the poor of his people shall 'trust in it.
against Philistia; which lay to the south-west from Jerusalem. A great dust raised has, at a distance, the appearance of srnoke: Fwnantes pulvere campi; " The fields smoking with dust." — Vibg. JEn. xi. 908.
Verse 32. The messengers of the natimi — "The ambassadors of the nations"] The Septuagint read D'U goyim, sflvuv, plural; and so the Chaldee, and one MS. The ambassadors of the neighbouring nations, that send to congratulate Hezekiah on his success; which in his answer he will ascribe to the protection of God. See 2 Chron. xxxii. 23. Or, if "U goi singular, the reading of the text, be preferred,.he ambassadors sent by the Philistines to dejtiand peace. — L.
The Lord hath founded Zion] Kimchi refers this to the state of Zion under Heze'iiah, when the rest of the cities of Judea had been taken, and this only was left for a liope to the poor of God"s people: and God so defended it that Rabshakeh could not prevail against it.
The true Church of God is a place of safety; for as all its members are devoted to God, and walk in his testimonies, so they are continually defended and supported by him. In the congregations of his people, God dispenses his light and salvation; hence his poor or humble ones expect in his ordinances the blessings they need.
This and the following chapter, taken together, make one entire prophecy, very improperly divided into two parts. The time of its delivery, and consequentlj" of its accomplishment, which was to be in three years from that time, is uncertain; the former not being marked in the prophecy itself, nor the latter recorded in history. But the most probable account is, that it was delivered soon after the foregoing, in the firsi year of Hezekiah; and that it was accom-
2 "^ He is gone to Bajith, and Romuii, to Dibon, the high places, to ^- ""'"""•' ^-
plished in his fourth year, when Shalmaneser invaded the kingdom of Israel. He might probably march through Moab; and to secure every thing behind him, possess himself of the whole country, by taking their principal strong places, Ar and Kirhares. — L. The
authorized Version, which we have followed in the margin, places the prophecy in this chapter fourteen years earlier than that contained in the two preceding. Jeremiah has happily introduced much of this pro-
Oiymp. XIII. 3. Ncbo, and over Medeba: ■= on '^Romu'li, all their heads shall be baldness,
3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: '' on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, e weeping abundantly.
4 And Heshbon.shall cry, ^ and Elealeh: their voice shall be heaid even unto Jahaz:
phecy of Isaiah into his own larger prophecy against the same people in his forty-eighth chapter, denouncing God's judgment on Moab, subsequent to the calamity here foretold, and to be executed by Nebuchadnezzar; by which means several mistakes of transcribers in the present text of both prophets may be rectified.
Verse 1. Because in the night] VS3 beleil. That both these cities should be taken in the night is a circumstance somewhat unusual; but not so material as to deserve to be so strongly insisted upon. Vitringa, by his remark on this word, shows that he was dissatisfied with it in its plain and obvious meaning, and is forced to have recourse to a very hard metaphorical interpretation of it. Noctu vel nocturno impetu; vel metaphorice, repente, subito, inexpectata destructione: placet posterius. Calmet conjectures, and I think it probable, that the true reading is S^Sj keleil, as the night. There are many mistakes in the Hebrew text arising from the very great similitude of the letters 3 beth, and D caph, which in many MSS., and some printed editions, are hardly distinguishable. Admitting this reading, the translation will be, —
" Because At is utterly destroyed, Moab is undone! Because Kir is utterly destroyed, Moab is undone '."'
Verse 2. He is gone to Bajith, and to IHhon] i^'Dn nS;' alah hahhayith, should be rendered, he is gone to the house, i. e., to their chief temple, where they practised idolatry. Dibon was the name of a tower where also was an idolatrous temple; thither they went to weep and pray before their idols, that they might interpose and save them from their calamities. So Jt. D. Kimchi. He is gone to Bajith and to Dihon: but Bishop Lowth reads Beth Dibon; this is the name of mie place; and the two words are to be joined together, without the 1 vau intervening. So the Chaldee and Syriac. This reading is not supported by any MS. or Version: but some MSS., instead of ■>>' ar, have I'l* ir, a city, others have If ad, unto, and some editions have Si' al, upon. But all these help little, though they show that the place puzzled both the scribes and the editors.
On all their heads shall be baldness, &c. — " On every head there is baldness," &c.] Herodotus, ii. 36, speaks of it as a general practice among ail men,
5 ' My heart shall cry out for Moab; '' his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, a ' heifer of three years old: for "" by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Iloronaim they shall raise up a cry of ° destruction.
except the Egyptians, to cut off their hair as a token of mourning. " Cut off thy hair, and cast it away," says Jeremiah, vii. 29, "and take up a lamentation."
" The rites of wo,
Are all, alas! the living can bestow; O'er the congenial dust enjoined to shear The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear." Pope.
On every head. — For VtySI roshaiv, read lysi rosh. So the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 37, and so three MSS., one ancient. An ancient MS. reads t^NT hj hi' al col rosh. Five read iyxi SdD bechol rosh, on every head, with the Septiiagint and Arabic. And every head. The 1 vau, and, is found in thirty MSS., in t/tree editions, and in the Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee.
Cut off — " Shorn."] The printed editions, as well as the MSS., are divided on the reading of this word. Some have nj'llJl geduah, shorn, others Hi'TJ geruah, diminished. The similitude of the letters l daleth and T resh has likewise occasioned many mistakes. In the present case, the sense is pretty much the same with either reading. The text of Jer. xlviii. 37 has the latter, diminished. The former reading is found in twelve of Dr. Kennicott's MSS., forty of De Rossi's, and tivo of my own. A great number of editions have the same reading.
Verse 3. With sackcloth] pW sak. The word is in the plural D'pty sakkim, sacks, in one of De Rossi's MSS.
Averse 4. The armed soldiers — " The very loins"] So the Septiiagint, tj oa'(pus, and the Syriac. They cry out violently, with their utmost force.
Verse 5. Mi/ heart shall cry out for Monb — "The heart of Moab crieth within her"] For '^S libbi, my heart, the Septuagint reads 13S libbo, his heart, or 2"^ leb; the Chaldee, Is"? libbo. For n'n'12 bericheyha. the Syriac reads nnn3 berocheh; and so likewise the Septuagint, rendering it Ev avrrt. Edit. Vat: or iv sauTT], Edit. Alex, and MSS. i. D. 11.
.4 heifer of three years old — " A young heifer."] Hebrew, a heifer three years old, in full strength; as Horace uses equa trima, for a young mare just coming to her prime. Bochart observes, from Aristotle, Hist.
7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the i brook of the willows.
8 For the cry is gone round about the bor-
Animal, hb. iv., that in this kind of animals alone the voice of the female is deeper than that of the male; therefore the lowing of the heifer, rather than of the bullock, is chosen by the prophet, as the more proper image to express the mourning of Moab. But I must add that the expression here is very short and obscure; and the opinions of interpreters are various in regard to the meaning. Compare Jer. xlviii. 34.
Shall they go it up — " They shall ascend"] For rhy yaaleh, the Septuagmt and a MS. read in the plural, -hT yaalu. And from this passage the parallel place m Jer. xlviii. 5 must be corrected; where, for '03 Thy^ yaaleh bechi, which gives no good sense, read 13 vhp^ yaaleh bo.
Verse 7. " Shall perish"] M2K abadu, or TM2» abadeh. This word seems to have been lost out of the text: it is supplied by the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 36. The Syriac expresses it by -|3;' aber, prmteriit, " he hath passed;" and the Chaldee by pitun' yithbazezun, diripientur.
To the brook of the willows — " To the valley of willows."] That is, to Babylon. Hieron.s.nA.Jarchiinloc.; both referring to Psa. cxxivii. 2. So likewdse Prideaux, Le Clerc, &c.
Verse 9. The waters of Ditnon] Some have DiSon, others have Ribon and Rimon. St. Jerome observes
9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring ' more upon Dimon, ' lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.
that the same towTi was called both Dibon and Dimon. The reading is therefore indifferent.
Upon him that escapeth of Moab, <^c. — " Upon the escaped of IMoab, and Ariel, and the remnant of Ad-
mah."] The Septuagint for rriN aryeh read Sn'IX ariel. Ax Moab was called also ^\jiel or Aieopolis. Hieron. and Theodoret. See Cellarius. They make noiN Admah also a proper name. Michaelis thinks that the Moabites might be called the remnant of Admah, as sprung from Lot and his daughters, escaped from the destruction of that and the other cities; or, metaphorically, as the Jews are called princes of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah, chap. i. 10. Bibliotheque Orient. Part v., p. 195. The reading of this verse is very doubtful; and the sense, in every way in which it can be read, very obscure. — L. Calmet thinks there
may be a reference to 1 Chron. xi. 22, where it is said, " Benaiah slew two lion-like men of Moab," or the tioo Ariels of Moab, and would therefore tran.slate, " I wUl bring down the remnant of Moab like ^Iriel, (which Benaiah smote,) and them that are escaped Uke Adamah." They shall be exterminated, as were the inhabitants of those two cities. Ariel was a double city — the river Arnon dividing it in two. This is the two Ariels of Moab — not two lion-like men, much less two lions. See Calmet on this place.
The distress of Moab pathetically described by the son of the prince, or ruler of the land, being forcea to fee for his life through the desert, that he may escape to Judea; and the young ^vomen, like young birds scared frmn their nest, loade helpless through the fords of Arnon, the boundary of their country, to seek protection in some foreign land, 1, 2. The prophet addresses Sion, exhorting her to show mercy to her enemies in their distress, that her throne may be established in righteousness, 3-5. Exceeding great pride of Moab, 6. The terrible calamities about to fall upon Moab farther described by the languishing o/ the vine, the ceasing of the vintage, the sound of the prophet's bowels quivering like a harp, (^c, 7-13. Awful nearness of the full accomplishment of the prophecy, 14.
gEND ''ye the Iamb to the ruler of the land ''from " Sela'' to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVI. Verse 1. Send ye the lamb, dj-c. — " I will send forth the son, &c."] Both the reading and meaning of this ver.se are still more doubtful than those of the preceding. The Septuagint and Syriac read nhwa eshlach, wandermg bird « cast out of the Olymp. xnr. 3. nest, so the daughters of Moab "L^u^
/ will send, in the first person singular, future tense: the Vulgate and Talmud Babylon., read nVi' shelack, send, singular imperative: some read inSiy shilchu, send ye forth, or shalechu, they send forth. The Syriac, for "13 car, a lamb, reads n3 bar, a son, which is con- oiymp. XIII. 3. ment; make thy shadow as the Romuii, night in tlie midst of the noon- R. Roman., 28. ^^^. j^jjg ^^le oiitcasts; bewiay not him that wandereth.
4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the ^ extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, ' the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
firmed by five MSS. oi'Kennicott and De Rossi. The two first verses describe the distress of Moab on the Assyrian invasion; in which even the son of the prince of the country is represented as forced to flee for his life through the desert, that he may escape to Judea; and the young women are driven forth like young birds cast out of the nest, and endeavouring to wade through the fords of the river Arnon. Perhaps there is not so much difficulty in this verse as appears at first view. •' Send the Iamb to the ruler of the land," may receive light from 2 Kings iii. 4, 5: " And Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheepraaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs with their wool, and one hundred thousand rams: but when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against Israel." Now the prophet exliorts them to begin paying the tribute as formerly, that their punislunent might be averted or mitigated.
Verse 3. Take comisel — " Impart counsel"] The Vulgate renders the verbs in the beginning of this verse in the singular number. So the Keri; and so likewise sixty-one MSS. of Kennicott''s and De Rossi's have it, and nineteen editions, and the Si/riac. The verbs throughout the verse are also in the feminine gender; agreeing with Zion, which I suppose to be understood.
Verse 4. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab — "Let the outcasts of Moab sojourn with thee, O Zion"] Setting the points aside, this is by much the most obvious construction of the Hebrew, as well as most agreeable to the context, and the design of the prophet. And it is confirmed by the Septuagint 01 ifoyaStg Mua/3, and Syriac.
The oppressors — " The oppressor"] Perhaps the Israelites, who in the time of Ahaz invaded Judah, defeated his anny, slaying one hundred and twenty thousand men, and brought the kingdom to the brink of destruction. Judah, being now in a more prosperous condition, is represented as able to receive and to protect the fugitive Moabites. And with those former times of distress the security and flourishing state of the kingdom under the government of Hezekiah is contrasted.
Verse 5. In mercy shall the throne he established] May not this refer to the throne of Hezekiah 1 Here we have the character of such a king as cannot fail to be a blessing to the people. 1. "He sitteth on Ihe throne in trulli" — He does not merely profess to shall sit upon it in truth in the ta- Romuii, bemacle of David, "> judging, and «• R""^" ■ 28. seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
6 We have hccird of the " pride of Moab; he is very proud; even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath; " but his lies shall not be so.
7 Therefore shall Moab phowl for Moab,
be the father and protector of his people: but he is j actually such. 2. He is judging. He is not a man j of war or blood, who wastes his subjects' lives and I treasures in contentions with neighbouring nations, in order to satisfy his ambition by the extension of his I territory. On the contrary, his whole life is occu-, pied in the distribution of justice. 3. He seehethjudgj ment. He seeks out the poor distressed ones who cannot make their way to him, and avenges them on their oppressors. 4. He hastens righteousness. He does not suffer any of the courts of justice to delay the determination of the causes brought before them: he so orders that the point in litigation be fairly, fully, and speedily heard; and then judgment pronounced. Delays in the execution of justice answer little end but the enriching of unprincipled lawyers. Verse 6. We have heard of the pride of Moab — " We have heard the pride of Moab"] For SJ ge, read nsj geah; two MSS., one ancient, and Jer. xlviii. 29. Zephaniah, chap. ii. 8-10, in liis prophecy against Moab, the subject of which is the same with that of Jeremiah in his forty-eighth chapter, (see the note on chap. XV. 1,) enlarges much on the pride of Moab, and their insolent behaviour towards the Jews:— " I have heard the reproach of Moab; And the revilings of the sons of Ammon." Who have reproached my people; And have magnified themselves against their borders. Therefore, as I live, saith Jehovah God of hosts, the
God of Israel: Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, And the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah: A possession of nettles, and pits of salt. And a desolation for ever. The residue of my people shall spoil them. And the remnant of my nation shall dispossess them; This shall they have for their pride; Because they have raised a reproach, and have magnified themselves Against the people of Jehovah God of hosts." Verse 7. For the foundations of Kir-hareseth — " For the men of Kirhares."] A palpable mistake in this place is happily corrected by the parallel text of Jer. xlviii. 3 1, where, instead of 'lyB'X ashisheij, foundations or flagons, we read 'ISjH anshey, men. In the same place of Jeremiah, and in ver. 3fi, and here in ver. 11, the name of the city is Kirhares, not Kirhareseth.
8 For ^ the fields of Heshbon languish, and ' the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer; they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are " stretched out, they are gone over the sea.
9 Therefore '^ I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, '^ 0 Heshbon, and Elealeh:
Verse 8. Languish — " Are put to shame"] Here the text of Jeremiah leaves us much at a loss, in a place that seems to be greatly corrupted. The Septuaginl join the two last words of this verse with the beginning of the following. Their rendering is: xai oux svTpavr]grj to, ii(hm EtTs/Suv. For "[!< ach they must have read Ss al; otherwise, how came they by the negative, which seems not to belong to this place 1 Neither is it easy to make sense of the rest without a small alteration, by reading, instead of ivT^avrigji ra, ivToairriiSTai. In a word, the Arabic version, taken from the Septuagint, plainly authorizes this reading of the Septuagint, and without the negative; and it is fully confirmed by MSS. Pachom. and i. D. ii., which have both of them sm^a.rfi]gSTai tts&ia. Etfs/Suv, without the negative; which makes an excellent sense, and, I think, gives us the true reading of the Hebrew text;;i2iTI nmty Yh'M IX ah nichlemu shadmoth cheshhon. They frequently render the verb dSzJJ nichlam by 6vTpS'7ro(i,«i. And ID^DJ nichlemu answers perfectly well to S^nS umlal, the parallel word in the next line. The MSS. vary in expressing the word D'NDJ nechaim, which gives no tolerable sense in this place; one reads D'XJIJ nochaim; two others D'S33 bechaim; in another the 3 caph is upon a rasvure of two letters; and the Vulgate instead of it reads DHIDD mecotham, plagas suas. — L.
Fm- the men of Kirhares ye shall make a moan. For the fields of Heshbon are put to shame. This is Bp. Lowth's sense of the passage.
Her branches are stretched out — " Her branches extended themselves."] For lEfiOJ nitteshu, a MS. has ItyjJ niggeshu; which may perhaps be right. Compare Jer, xlviii. 32, which has in this part of the sentence the synonymous word l^MJ nagau.
The meaning of this verse is, that the wines of Sib mah and Heshbon were greatly celebrated, and in high repute with all the great men and princes of that and the neighbouring countries; who indulged themselves even to intemperance in the use of them. So that their vines were so much in request as not only to be propagated aU over the country of Moab to the sea of Sodom, but to have scions of them sent even beyond the sea into foreign countries.
10 And y gladness is taken RomuU, away, and joy out of the plentiful R- Romim., 28 field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their -presses; I have made their vintage-shouimg to cease.
1 1 Wherefore ^ my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh.
1 2 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on '^ the high place, that
overpowered, intoxicated. The drunkards of Ephraim are called by the prophet, chap, xxviii. 1, p' "OlSn halumey yayin, drinkers of wine. See Schultens on Prov xxiii. 25. Gratius, speaking of the Mareotic wine, says of it,
Verse 9. With the loeeping — " As with the weeping"] For ODD bibechi, a MS. reads 'DD bechi. In Jer. xlviii. 32, it is ODO mibhechi. The Septuagint read 03:3 kibeki, as with weeping, which I follow.
For thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen — " And upon thy vintage the destroyer hath fallen."] hm 1~\'7\ "P'^P ^i*^ ''^"^ ketsirech heidad naphnl. In these few words there are two great mistakes, which the text of Jer. xviii. 32 rectifies. For "IT'Sp ketsirech, it has "]TX3 betsirech; and for HTTI heidad, Tlty shaded; both which corrections the Chaldee in this place con firms. As to the first,
The flowery dale of Sibmah, clad with vines," were never celebrated for their harvests; it was the vintage that suffered by the irruption of the enemy; and so read the Septuagint and Syriac. 1TT\ heidad is the noisy acclamation of the treaders of the grapes. And see what sense this makes in the literal rendering of the Vulgate: super messera tuam vox calcanlium irruit, " upon thy harvest the voice of the treaders rushes." The reading in Jer. xlviii. 32 is certainly right, hm ^^ty shaded naphal, " the destroyer hath fallen." The shout of the treaders does not come in till the next verse; in which the text of Isaiah in its turn mends that of Jeremiah, xlviii. 33, where instead of the first ITH heidad, " the shout," we ought undoubtedly to read, as here, pin haddorech, " the treader."
Verse 10. Neither shall there be shouting — " An end is put to the shouting"] The Septuagint read i^3B'n hlMeth, passive, and in the third person; rightly, fur God is not the speaker in this place. The renderinsr of the Septuagint is •jrSTauTai yap xsXjutffia, " the ci w ceaseth;" which last word, necessary to the rendering of the Hebrew and to the sense, is supplied by MSS. Pachrnn. and i. D. 11., having been lost out of the other copies.
Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the Lord hatli spoken, saying,
Moab shall see," &c.] For nsiJ nirah, a MS. reads nxi raah, and so the Si/riac and Chaldee. " Perhaps nsn: '3 ki nirah is only a various reading of HnSj 'J hi nilah." Secker. A very probable conjecture.
Verse 14. Within three i/ears]w'l^:ibeshalisli. tyStyj leshalish, accnrding, or in or about three years, is the reading of nine of KennicotCs and De EossVs MSS., and two ancient editions.
But the present reading may well stand: " Now, the Lord hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a hireling." It seems as if this prophecy had been delivered before, without any time specified for its fulfilment; but now the time is determined— " in tliree years, as the years of a hireling" — for, as a hireling counts even to a single day, and will not abide with his employer an hour beyond the
of Moab shall be contemned, RomuU, with all that great multitude; R- R"-"""- 28- and the remnant shall be very small and " feeble.
time agreed on; so, in three years, even to a day, from the delivery of this prophecy, shall destruction come upon Moab. This is the import of the present text; but if we take JihwJ keshalisli, as in three years, or in about three years'' time, the prophecy is not so definite.
These three years, says Calmet, are mentioned from the death of Ahaz, see chap. xiv. 28, and end the third year of Hezekiah, three years before the taking of Samaria by Shalmaneser. This conquerer did not ruin Moab so completely as not to leave a man in the land; the linal desolation of Moab was reserved for Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the taking of Jeru. salem.
juagments of God upon Damascus, 1-3; and upon Israel, 4-6. Good effects of these judgments on the small remnant or gleaning that should escape them, 7, 8. The same judgments represented in other but stronger terms, and imputed to irreligion and neglect of God, 9-11. The remaining verses are a distinct prophecy, a beautiful detached piece, worked up with the greatest elegance, sublimity, and propriety; and forming a noble description of the formidable invasion and sudden overthrow of Sennacherib, exactly suitable to the event, 12-14.
T^HE " burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it R. Roman., 13. ^^^^l be a ruinous heap.
This prophecy by its title should relate only to Damascus; but it full as much concerns, and more largely treats of, the kingdom of Samaria and the Israelites, confederated with Damascus and the Syrians against the kingdom of Judah. It was delivered probably soon after the prophecies of the seventh and eighth chapters, in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz; and was fulfilled by Tiglath-pileser's taking Damascus, and carrying tlie people captives to Kir, (2 Kings xvi. 9,) and overrunning great part of the kingdom of Israel, and carrying a great number of the Israelites also captives to Assyria; and still more fully in regard to Israel, by the conquest of the kingdom, and the captivity of the people, effected a few years after by Shalmaneser. — L.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVll. Verse 1. The burden of Damascus.] Which is, according to the common version, The cities of Aroer are forsaken. It has already been observed by the learned
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken:
prelate, that the prophecy, as it relates to Damascus, was executed in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, probably about the third year. If we credit Midrash, the Damascenes were the most extensive and flagrant of all idolaters. " There were in Damascus three hundred and sixty-five streets, in each of these was an idol, and each idol had his peculiar day of worship; so that the whole were worshipped in the course of the year." This, or any thing like this, was a sufficient reason for this city's destruction.
Verse 2. The cities of Aroer a.re forsaken — "The cities are deserted for ever "] \Miat has Aroer on the river Arnon to do with Damascus 1 and if there be another Aroer on the northern border of the tribe of Gad, as Reland seems to think there might be, this is not much more to the purpose. Besides, the cities of
%\ I'i. 74L- 3 « The fortress also shall cease Oiymp. IX. 4. from Ephraiiii, and the kinsdom
Romuii, irom Damascus, and the remnant "• '^°'"^°- '^- of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and '' the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
5 ^ And it shall be as when the harvestman gatherelh the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
6 '^Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three benies in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel.
Aroer, if Aroer itself is a city, makes no good sense. The Sepiuagini, for ^;?^V aroer, read ly ^•\^ adey ad. Elf Tov aiuva, for ever, or for a long duration. The Chaldee takes the word for a verb fi-om mj' arah, translating it mn cherehu, devastabuntur, " they shall be wasted." The Syriac read Tj,'nj; adoeir. So that the reading is veiy doubtful. I follow the Septuagint as making the plainest sense.
Verse 3. The remnant of Syria — " The pride of Syria."] For "iNty shear, " remnant," Houbigant reads DNi? seelh, " pride," answering, as the sentence seems evidentlyto require, to 113D cabod, "the glory of Israel." The conjecture is so very probable that I venture to foUow it.
As the glory] 10Z13 lichhod, " in the glory," is the reading of eight MSS., and ten editions.
Verse 4. In that day] That is, says Kimchi, the time when the ten tribes of Israel, which were the glory of Jacob, should be carried into captivity.
Verse 5. As when the harvestman gathereth — "As when one gathereth"] That is, the king of Assyria shall sweep away the whole body of the people, as the reaper strippeth off the whole crop of corn; and the remnant shall be no more in proportion than the scattered ears left to the gleaner. The valley of Rephaim near Jerusalem was celebrated for its plentiful harvest; it is here used poetically for any fruitftd country. One MS., and one ancient edition, has =1DN3 beesoph, "in gathering," instead of ^DXD keesoph, " as the gathering."
Verse 8. The altars, the work of his hands — " The altars dedicated to the work of his hands "] The construction of the words, and the meaning of the sentence, in this place, are not obvious; aU the ancient Versions, and most of the modern, have mistaken it. The word HB'i'^ maaseh, "the work," stands in regimine with nin3T0 mizbechoth, " altars," not in opposition to it; it means the altars of the work of their hand; that ie of the idols, which are the work of their hands.
8 And he shall not look to the «■ R"-"™., 1.3. altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the ^ images.
9 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.
10 Because thou hast forgotten 'the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shall thou plant pleasant plants, and shah set it with strange slips:
11 In the day shall thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shall thou make thy seed to flourish: hut the harvest shall be
Verse 9. As a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch — " the Hivites and the Amorites "] tyinn Tasni hachoresh vehaamtr. No one has ever yet been able to make any tolerable sense of these words. The translation of the Septuagint has happily preserved what seems to be the true reading of the text, as it stood in the copies of their time; though the words are now transposed, either in the text or in their Version: 01 AfAoPpaioi xai oi Euaioi, " the Amorites and the Hivites." It is remarkable that many commentators, who never thought of admitting the reading of the Septuagint, understand the passage as referring to that very event which their Version expresses; so that it is plain that nothing can be more suitable to the context. " My father," says Bishop Lovrth, " saw the necessity of admitting this variation at a time when it was not usual to make so free with the Hebrew text." Mr. Parkhurst is not satisfied with the prelate's adoption of the reading of the Septuagint, " the Hivites and the Amorites." He thinks the difBcult words should be thus rendered; he takes the whole verse: " And his fortified cities shall be like the leaving, or what is left n31t;>J caazubath, of or in a ploughed field, lyinn hachoresh, or on a branch which they leave coram, before, the children of Israel." WTiich he considers a plain reference to the Mosaic laws relative to the not gleaning of their ploughed fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, but leaving 211' ozeh, somewhat of the fruits, for the poor of the land; Lev. ix. 9, 10; Deut. xxiv. 19-21, in the Hebrew. I fear that the text is taken by storm on both interpretations. One MS. has "ty Sd col arcy, " aU the cities;" and instead of \ihr\r\ hachalash, " of the branch," six MSS. have iynnn hachodesh, " of the month." But this is probably a mistake.
The Divine judgments ISAIAH.
Verse 10. Strange slips — "Shoots from a foreign soil."] The pleasant plants, and shoots from a foreign
many people, which make a noise ™like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of " mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall ° rebuke them,
I the day of inheritance, and there shall be deadly ■ow. "Or, noise. »Jer. vi. 23.
soil, are allegorical expressions for strange and idolatrous worship; vicious and abominable practices connected with it; reliance on human aid, and on alliances entered into with the neighbouring nations, especially Egypt; to all which the Israelites were greatly addicted, and in their expectations from which they should be grievously disappointed.
Verse 1-2. Wo to the multitude] The three last verses of this chapter seem to have no relation to the foregoing prophecy, to which they are joined. It is a beautiful piece, standing singly and by itself; for neither has it any connexion with what follows: whether it stands in its right place, or not, I cannot say. It is a noble description of the formidable invasion and the sudden overthrow of Sennacherib; which is intimated in the strongest terms and the most expressive images, exactly suitable to the event.
Like the rushing of mighty xcaters.'] Five words, th/ee at the end of the twelfth verse, and two at the beginning of the thirteenth, are omitted in eight MS.S., with the Syriac; that is, in effect, the repetition contained in the first line of ver. 13 in this translation, is not made. After having observed that it is equally easy to account for the omission of these words by a transcriber if they are genuine, or their insertion if thej' are not genuine, occasioned by his carrying his eye backwards to the word D'Osb leammim, or for- Bjards to psa?' yeshaon, I shall leave it to the reader's
and they shall flee far off, and p shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like "i a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening-tide trouble; and, before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
judgment to determine whether they are genuine or not. Instead of ninnii cahamoth, " as the roaring," five MSS. and the Vulgate have \'\r:i7\J kehamon, " as the multitude."
Verse 1 4. He is not — " He is no more."] For UJ'S eincnnu ten MSS. of Dr. KennicotCs, (three ancient,) ten of De Rossi's, and two editions, and the Sepluagint, Syriac, Chaldee, Vulgate, and Arabic, have Ijysi veeinenno. This particle, authenticated by so many good vouchers, restores the sentence to its true poetical form, implying a repetition of some part of the parallel line preceding, thus: —
" At the season of evening, behold terror! Before the morning, and [behold] he is no more!"
That spoil us] For IJ'DW shoscynu, them that spoil us, fifteen MSS., one edition, and the Syriac have IJDIJJ? shosenu, him that spoUeth us. And for lyio'? lehozezerjnii, them that rob us, six MSS. and the Syriac have UtiuS lelozzeno, him that robbeth us: and these readings make the place answer better to Sennacherib, according to Lowth's conjecture. Though God may permit the wicked to prevail for a time against his people, yet in the end those shall be overthrown, and the glory of the Lord shall shine brightly on them that fear him; for the earth shall be subdued, and the universe filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen!
This chapter contains a very obscure prophecy; possibly designed to give the Jews, and perhaps the Egyptians, lohose country is supposed to he meant, I, 2, and with ivhom many Jeics resided, an intimation of God's interposition in favour of Sion, 3, 4; and of his counsels in regard to the destruction of their common enemy, Sennacherib, whose vast army, just as he thought his projects ripe, and ready to be crowned with success, 5, should become a prey to the leasts of the field, and to the fowls of heaven, 6; and that Egypt shcndd be grateful to God for the deliverance vouchsafed her, 7.
"WTO » to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 2 That sendeth ambassadors by
This is one of the most obscure prophecies in the whole Book of Isaiah. The subject of it, the end and design of it, the people to whom it is addressed, the
the sea, even m vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying
history to which it belongs, the person who sends the messengers, and the nation to whom the messengers are sent, are all obscure and doubtful. — L.
^ Or, a nation that meleth out^ and treadeth doiim. — tion of line, and treading under foot.
Verse 1. Wo to the land] 'j'n.X 'in hoi arets! This interjection should be translated ho '. for it is properly a particle of calling: Ho, land! Attend! Give ear!
Shadoioing with wings — " The winged cymbal"] D'3J3 7X;X tsiltsal kenaphayim. I adopt this as the most probable of the many interpretations that have been givfen of these words. It is Bochart's: see Phaleg, iv. 2. The Egj'ptian sistrum is expressed by a periphrasis; the Hebrews had no name for it in their language, not having in use the instrument itself. The cymbal they had was an instrument in its use and sound not much unlike the sistrum; and to distinguish it from the sistrum, they caUed it the cymbal with wings. The cymbal was a round hollow piece of metal, which, being struck against another, gave a ringing sound; the sistrum was a round instrument, consisting of a broad rim of metal, through which from side to side ran several loose lamins or small rods of metal, which being shaken, gave a like sound. These, projecting on each side, had somewhat the appearance of wings; or might be very properly expressed by the same word which the Hebrews used for wings, or for the extremity, or a part of any tiling projecting. The sistrum is given in a medal of Adrian, as the proper attribute of Egypt. See Addison on Medals, Series iii. No. 4; where the figure of it may be seen. The frame of the sistrum was in shape rather like the ancient lyre; it was not round.
If we translate shadowing with wings, it may allude to the midtitude of its vessels, whose sails may be represented imder the notion of toings. The second verse seems to support this interpretation. Vessels of bulrushes, NOJ gome, or rather the flag papyrus, so much celebrated as the substance on which people wrote in ancient times, and from which our paper is denominated. The sails might have been made of this flag: but whole canoes were constructed from it. Mat sails are used to the present day in China. The Vulgate fully understood the meaning of the word, and has accordingly translated, in vasis papyri, " in vessels ofpapjTus." acp'lji hCjSjScIi.sf.— Old MS. Bib. This interpretation does not please Bp. Lowth, and for his dissent he gives the following reasons: —
In opposition to other interpretations of these words which have prevailed, it may be briefly observed that 7i7S tsiltsel is never used to signify shadow, nor is =]J3 canaph applied to the saUs of ships. If, therefore, the words are rightly interpreted the winged cymbal, meaning the sistrum, Egypt must be the country to which the prophecy is addressed. And upon this hypothesis the version and explanation must proceed. I farther suppose, that the prophecy was delivered before Sennacherib's return from his Egyptian expedition, which took up tliree years; and that it was designed to give to the Jews, and perhaps likewise to the Egyp- 1
3 All ye s inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, '"when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and
tians, an intimation of God's counsels in regard to the destruction of their great and powerful enemy.
Which is heyond the rivers of Ethiopia — " Which borders on the rivers of Cush"] What are the rivers of Cush ] whether the eastern branches of the lower NUe, the boundary of Egypt towards Arabia, or the parts of the upper Nile towards Ethiopia, it is not easy to determine. The word l3yD mecber signifies either on this side or on the farther side: I have made use of the same kind of ambiguous expression in the translation.
Verse 2. In vessels of bulrushes — " In vessels of papyrus"] This circumstance agrees perfectly well with Egypt. It is well known that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships, or boats, made of the reed papyrus. Ex ipso quidem papyro navigia texunt. Pliny, xiii. 11.
Go, ye swift messengers'] To this nation before mentioned, who, by the NUe, and by their numerous canals, have the means of spreading the report in the most expeditious manner through the whole country: go, ye swift messengers, and carry this notice of God's designs in regard to them. By the swift messengers are meant, not any particular persons specially appointed to this office, but any of the usual convej'ers of news whatsoever, h-aveUers, merchants, and the like, the instruments and agents of common fame. These are ordered to publish this declaration made by the prophet throughout Egypt, and to all the world; and to excite their attention to the promised visible interposition of God.
Scattered — " Stretched out in length"] Egypt, that is, the fruitful part, exclusive of the deserts on each side, is one long vale, through the middle of which runs the Nile, bounded on each side to the east and west by a chain of mountains seven hundred and fifty miles in length; in breadth from one to two or three days' journey: even at the widest part of the Delta, from Pelusium to Alexandria, not above two hundred and fift)' mUes broad. Egmont and Hayman, and Pococke.
Peeled—''^ Smoothed"] Either relating to the practice of the Egyptian priests, who made theu- bodies smooth by shaving ofl' their hair, (see Herod, ii. 37;) or rather to their country's being made smooth, perfectly plain and level, Ijy the overflowing of the Nile.
Meted out — " Meted out by line"] It is generally referred to the frequent necessity of having recourse to mensuration in Egypt, in order to determine the boundaries after the inundations of the Nile; to which even the origin of the science of geometry is by some ascribed. Strabo, lib. xvii. sub init.
method of tillage in use among the Egyptians. Both Herodotus, (lib. ii.,) and Diodorus, (lib. i.,) say that when the Nile had retired witliin its banks, and the ground became somewhat dry, they sowed their land, and then sent in their cattle, (their hogs, says the former,) to tread in the seed; and without any farther care expected the harvest.
The rivers hare spoiled — " The rivers have nourished"] The word isn iazeu is generally taken to be an irregidar form for ITTD hazezu, " have spoiled," as four IMSS. have it in this place; and so most of the Versions, both ancient and modern, understand it. On which Schultens, Gram. Heb. p. 491, has the following remark: — " Ne minimam quidem speciem veri habet 1X13 bazau, Esai. xviii. 2, elatum pro UT3 lazazu, deripiunt. Hfec esset anomalia, cui nihil simile in toto linguse ambitu. In talibus nil finire, vel fateri ex mera agi conjectura, tutius justiusque. Radicem NT3 haza dim extare potuisse, quis neget! Si cognatum quid sectandum erat, ad 7113 bazah, contemsit, potius decurrendum fuisset; ut IS 13 Iazeu, pro 1!3 hazu, sit enuntiatum, vel ITS baziv. Digna phrasis, flumina contemnunt terram, i. e., inundant." " Nt3 baza, Arab, extulit se superbius, item subjecit sibi: unde prat. pi. lNi3 bazeu, subjecerunt sibi, i. e., inundarunt." — S/- momV Lexic. Heb.
A learned friend has suggested to me another explanation of the word. SI3 baza, Syr., and NI''3 beiza, Chald., signifies uber, " a dug," mamma, " a breast;" agreeably to which the verb signifies to nourish. This would perfectly well suit with the Nile: whereas nothing can be more discordant than the idea of spoUing and plundering; for to the inundation of the Nile Egypt owed every thing; the fertility of the soil, and the very soU itself. Besides, the overflowing of the Nile came on by gentle degrees, covering \vithout laying waste the country: " Mira asque natura fluminis, quod cum caeteri onmes abluant terras et eviscerent, Nilus tanto cseteris major adeo nihU exedit, nee abradit, ut contra adjieiat vires; minimurnque in eo sit, quod solum temperet. lUato enim limo arenas saturat ac jungit; debetque illi jEgj'ptus non tantum fertilitatem terrarum, sed ipsas. — Seneca, Nat. Quaest., iv. 2. I take the liberty, therefore, which Schultens seems to think allowable in this place, of hazarding a conjectural interpretation. It is a fact that the Ganges changes its course, and overruns and lays barren whole districts, from which it was a few years back several mUes distant. Such changes do not nourish but spoil the ground.
Verse 3. When he lifteth up an ensign — "When the standard is lifted up"] I take God to be the Agent in this verse; and that by the standard and the trumpet are meant the meteors, the thunder, the lightning, the storm, earthquake, and tempest, by which Sennacherib's army shall be destroyed, or by which at least the destruction of it shall be accompanied; as it is described in chap. x. 16, 17, xxix. 6, and xxx. 30, 31. See also Psa. Ixxvi., and the title of it, according to the Septuagint, Vulgate, and JEthiopic. They are called, by a bold metaphor, the standard lifted up, and the trumpet sounded. The latter is used by Homer, I think with great force, in his introduction to the battle of the gods; though I find it has disgusted some of the minor critics: —
n. xxi. 388. " Heaven in loud thunders bids the trumpet sound, And wide beneath them groans the rending ground."
Verse 4. For so the Lord said unto me — " For thus hath Jehovah said unto me "] The subject of the remaining part of this chapter is, that God would comfort and support his own people, though threatened with immediate destruction by the Assyrians; that Sennacherib's great designs and mighty efforts against them should be frustrated; and that his vast expectations should be rendered abortive, when he thought them mature, and just ready to be crowned with success; that the chief part of his army should be made a prey for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, (for this is the meaning of the allegory continued tlirough thejifth and sixth verses;) and that Egypt, being delivered from his oppression, and avenged by the hand of God of the wTongs which she had suffered, should return thanks for the wonderful deliverance,, both of herself and of the Jews, from this most powerful adversary.
Like a clear heat — " Like the clear heat "] The same images are employed by an Arabian poet: —
Sirius, tum vero frigus ipse et umbra. Which is illustrated in the note by a like passage from another Arabian poet: —
Excerpta ex Hamasa; published by Schultens, at the end of Erpenius's Arabic Granuiiar, p. 425.
Upo7i herbs — " After rain "] " 11X aur here signifies rain, according to what is said Job.\.xxvi. 11;' The cloud scatters his rain.'" — Kimchi. In which place of Job the Chaldce paraphrast does indeed explain niX auro by H'^DT malereyh; and so again ver. 2 1 and chap, xxxvi. 30. This meaning of the word seems to make the best sense in this place; it is to be wished that it were better supported.
In the heat of harvest — " In the day of harvest."] For Dn3 bechom, in the heat, fourteen MSS., (several ancient,) the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate read □r3 hei/om, in the day. The mistake seems to have arisen from Dn3 kechom in the line above.
5 For afore the harvest, when oiymp. XVI. 3. the bud is perfect, and the sour
with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down tlie branches.
6 Tliey shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them.
Verse 5. Thefloiver — " The blossom "] Heb. Aer blossom; nVJ nitstsah, that is, the blossom of the vine, JSJ gephen, vine, understood, which is of the common gender. See Gen. xl. 10. Note, that by the defective punctuation of tliis word, many interpreters, and our translators among the rest, have been led into a grievous mistake, (for how can the swelling grape become a blossom?) taking the word Di" nitstsah for the predicate; whereas it is the subject of the proposition, or the nominative case to the verb.
Verse 7. T/ie/^reiSH;— " A gift"] The Egyptians were in alliance with the kingdom of Judah, and were fellow-sufferers with the Jews under the invasion of their common enemy Sennacherib; and so were very nearly interested in the great and miraculous deliverance of that kingdom, by the destruction of the Assy-
7 in that time ' shall the present Nums Pompiiii, be brought unto the Lord of hosts R- Roman., 2. of a people ™ scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion.
rian army. Upon which wonderful event it is said, 2 Chron. xxxii. 23, that "many brought gifts unto Jehovah to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah; so that he was magnified of aU nations from henceforth." It is not to be doubted, that among these the Egyptians distinguished themselves in their acknowledgments on this occasion.
Of a people — " From a people "] Instead of DJ' am, a people, the Septuagint and Vulgate read D^D meam, from a people, which is confirmed by the repetition of it in the next line. The difference is of importance; for if this be the true reading, the prediction of the admission of Egypt into the true Church of God is not so explicit as it might otherwise seem to be. However, that event is clearly foretold at the end of the next chapter. — L.
Prophecy concerning Egypt, in which her lamentable condition under the Babylonians, Persians, <^c., is forcibly pointed out, 1—17. The true religion shall be propagated in Egypt; referring primarily to the great spread of Judaism in that country in the reign of the Ptole?nies, and ultimately to its reception of the Gospel in the latter days, 18—22. Profound peace between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, and their blessed condition under the Gospel, 23—25.
nPHE '^ burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord ^rideth upon come