2. The people that walked in darkness. The inhabitants of the region of Galilee. They were represented as walking in darkness, because they were far from the capital, and from the temple; they had few religious privileges; they were intermingled with the heathen, and were comparatively rude and uncultivated in their manners and in their language. Allusion to this is several times made in the New Testament. John i. 46: " Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" vii. 52; " Search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet," Matt. xxvi. 69. Mark xiv. 70. The word "walked" here is synonymous with lived, and denotes that thick darkness brooded over the country, so that they lived, or walked amidst it. IT Have seen a great light. Light is not only an emblem of knowledge in the Scriptures, but of joy, rejoicing, and deliverance. It stands opposed to moral darkness, and to times of judgment and calamity. What is the particular reference hereg
shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
is not agreed by expositors. The immediate connexion seems to require us to understand it of deliverance from the calamities that were impending over the nation then. They would be afflicted, but they would be delivered. The tribes of Israel would be carried captive away; and Judah would also be removed. This calamity would particularly affect the ten tribes of Israel — the northern part of the land — the regions of Galilee — for those tribes would be carried away not to return. Yet this region also would be favoured with a peculiarly striking manifestation of light. 1 see no reason to doubt, that the language of the prophet here is adapted to extend into that future period when the Messiah should come *o that dark region, and become both its light and its deliverer. Isaiah may have referred to the immediate deliverance of the nation from impending calamities, but there is a fulness and richness of the language that seems to be applicable only to the Messiah. So it is evidently understood in Matt. iv. 13-16. IT They that dwell. The same people are referred to here as in the former member of the verse. IT In the land of the shadow of death. This is a most beautiful expression, and is peculiar to the Hebrew poets. The word f^,)^^^ tzdlmdveth is exceedingly poetical. The idea is that of death, as a dark substance or being, casting a long and chilly shade over the land — standing between the land and the light — and thus becoming the image of ignorance, misery, and calamity. It is often used in the Scriptures to describe those regions that were lying as it were in the penumbra of this gloomy object, and exposed to all the chills and sorrows of this melancholy darkness. Death, by the Hebrews, was especially represented as extending his long and baleful shadow ever the regions of departed spirits. Job xxxviii. 17:
3 Thou hast multip ied the nation, and not* increased the joy:
Have the gates of death been opened to thee? Hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death i
Before I go— I shall not return- To the land of darkness And of the shadow of death.
It is thus an image of chills, and gloom, and night — of any thing that resembles the still and mournful regions of the dead. The Chaldee renders these two verses thus: " In a former time Zebulun and Naphtali emigrated; and those who remained after them, a strong king shall carry into captivity, because they did not remember the power which was shown in the Red Sea, and the miracles which were done in Jordan, and the wars of the people of the cities. The people of the house of Israel who walked in Egypt as in the midst ol shades, came out that they might see a great light."
3. Thou hast multiplied the nation. Thou hast rendered the nation strong, powerful, mighty. Several interpreters, as Calvin, Vitringa, and Le Clerc, suppose that the prophet, here and in the two following verses, speaks in the first instance of the prosperity near at hand, and of the rapid increase of the Israelites after the return from the Babylonish exile, in which the inhabitants of Galilee must have participated, as may be inferred from the accounts of Josephus respecting the great population of that province in his time. See Jewish Wars,i. 20, 3. Vitringa also directs our attention to the fact, that the Jewish people, after the exile, not only filled Judea, but spread themselves into Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Greece and Italy. But there seems to be no necessity for referring it to such an increase of the inhabitants. It may refer to the great increase of the Messiah's kingdom, or of the kingdom which he would set up, and whose commencement would be in Galilee. See Hengstenberg, Christol. vol. i. p. 354. IT And not increased the joy The Masorites here read in the margin
Ihey joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For ^thou hast broken the
1'' to itf instead of S^'3 not. Eleven MSS., two of them ancient, have this reading. This reading is followed by the Ciialdee Paraphrase, the Syriac, and the Arabic. The LXX seem also to have so understood it. So also it is in the margin, and so the connexion demands; and it is unquestionably the correct reading. It would then read, " thou hast increased for it [the nation] the joy." Ilengstenberg, however, suggests that the phrase may mean, " whose joy thou didst not before enlarge," that is, upon whom thou hast before inflicted heavy sufFeiings. But this is harsh, and I see no reason to doubt that an error may have crept into the text. IT They joy before thee according to the joy of harvest. This is a beautiful figure; and is found frequently in ancient writings. The harvest was a time of exultation and joy, and was commonly gathered amid songs and rejoicings, and concluded with a festival. The phrase " before thee" refers to the fact that the first fruits of the harvest among the Hebrews were presented with thanksgiving before God in the temple. Deut. xii. 7, xiv. 22- 26. IT And as men rejoice, &,c. This is also an expression of great joy and rejoicing. Such an occasio?i, at the close of a battle, when great spoil or plunder had been taken, would be one of great rejoicing. See Judges v. 30. 1 Sam. XXX. 16. 2 Chron. xx. 25-28. 4. For thou hast broken. This verse, and the follov/ing, show the way in which the occasion of the joy had been furnished. The expression " thou hast" docs not necessarily refer to the past, but is a form of expression derived from the nature of the prophetic visions, where that is described as past which is seen to pa«s before the eyes of the prophet. See Introduction, § 7. IT The yoke. This word is often used to denote oppression or tyranny. Lev. xxvi.
yoke of his bu.-den, and the stall of his shoulder, the rod o( his oppressor, as in the dayS" of Midian.
13. Deut. xxviii. 48 — where oppression is described as " an iron yoke." Comp. 1 Kings xii. 4. Isa. xlvii. 6, Iviii. 6. T The staff of his shoulder. The word rendered staff here may mean a bough, a branch, a staff, stick or rod. Geseniufj supposes that the expression here means the rod by which punishment is inflicted, and that the phrase " rod of, or for the shoulder," denotes oppression and servitude. Rosenmiiller thinks that it refers rather to the custom among the ancients of placing a piece of wood not unlike a yoke on the necks and shoulders of slaves, as a mark of servitude. Hengstenberg understands it, " the staff which strikes the neck or back." ^ The rod of his oppressor. This doubtless refers to the chastisement which was inflicted on those in bondage, and is a phrase denoting oppression and servitude. The word " his " here refers to Israel. IT As in the day of Midian. This refers to the deliverance that was accomplished under Gideon against the Midianites. See Judges vii. viii. That deliverance was a remarkable interposition of God. It was accomplished not by human strength; but was a signal manifestation of the pov/er of God in delivering the nation from the long oppression of the Midianites. So the prophet says here that the deliverance will be as signal a proof of the presence and power of God as it was in that day. Herder (Heb. Poetry, vol. ii. 296) says, " At that period, in the north part of the country, a great deliverance was wrought. Then in the obscure forests of Naphtali and Zebulun the light of freedom went forth over all the land. So now, also, in this northern press of nations, in the way along the sea of Galilee, where noM the hostile Syrians are exercising thei; oppressions, the light of freedom it going forth, and Uiere shall be jo;
5 For ^every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; ^but
5. For every battle of the warrior. The expression used here has caused great difficulty, from the fact that it occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. The word "jIKO seon, rendered here battle, is supposed to mean raiher greaves, or the armour of the warrior which covered the feet and the '<?g3. It would be literally translated, " every greave of those armed with greaves." Gescnius. The Chaldee renders it, " for every gift of theirs is for evil." The Syriac, "for every tum.ult [of battle] is heard with terror." Hengsten[*erg renders it, " for all war-shoes put on at the noise of battle, all garments dipped in blood shall be burnt, shall be the food of fire." The idea, according to him, is, that the great future redemption will be like the deliverance under Gideon; " because, far from being accomplished by force of arms, with it all contention and war shall cease." Gesenius regards the figurative expression as a genera] designation of that peace which shall naver end. All the armour used in war shall then be burnt, as being of no further use. "iT Is with confused noise. The word used here (^^"^ ra'ash) denotes properly a shaking— as of a spear; a concussion, tumult, noise — as of a battle. Here it is supposed to refer to the noise which the armour of the soldiers made — particularly to the noise made by the greaves or war- shoes worn on the feet and leg3. Those greaves were fitted up, it ig said, by numerous large iron hooks, or clasps, and were fastened sometimes with large nails. Comp. Joseph. Jewish Wars, B. vi. ch. 1, § 8. ^ And garments. This word here refers doubtless to the soldier's cloak or blanket. IT Rolled in blood. This is a description of the usual effect of war. The image of war is that of a clangour fciade by th.e armour nf soldiers, and this shall be with burning and ®fuel of fire.
by garments that have been dipped in human blood. It is a most revolting but just image. 11 But this shall be. In regard to this threatened invasion and danger, this shall be the result. The meaning is this. The prophet sees the image of war and of threatened invasion. He hears the clangour of their greaves— the sound of their march; and he sees the usual emblem of battle — bloody garments. But ho says here that this invasion shall not be successful. There was no occasion of alarm. The very armour of the warrior should be burned up. The enemy should be defeated — and their greaves, and their bloody garments, should be consumed. IT IVith burning. For burning- that is, it shall be consumed. ^ And fuel of fre. Heb. food of fire. This is a strong, emphatic expression — " it shall be to be burned — the food of fire." It denotes the certainty that they would be vanquished; that the invading foe v/ould not be successful; and that his very armoury and garments would be stripped off and burned. To understand this, it is necessary to remark, that in ancient times it was customary to strip the dead which were slain in a vanquished army, and to collect their armour, their chariots, &.c., and consume them. The more valued spoils of battle were reserved as the prey of the victors, or to be suspended in temples consecrated to the gods. See Ps. xlvi. 9, 10:
go forth And shall set on fire and burn th9 weapons, Both the shields and the bucklers. The bows and the arrows, And the clubs and the lances.
6 For unto us a child is born, \ government ^^shall be upon liis unto *us a son is given, and the shoulder; and his name shall be
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Bhoul, O daughter of Jerusalem; Behoid thy king cometh unto thee.
And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,
And the battle bow shall be cut off, etc.
There can be no doubt, I „nink, that the prophet here has his eye on the victories of the Messiah, and that he means to say, that in those victories all armour would be for fuel of fire; that is, that they would be achieved without hostile arrtis. Applied to the Messiah, it means either that his victories would be complete, or that f/rhis victories all necessity of such armour would cease. According to this, the passage teaches that peace should be introduced by him without a conflict, and thus harmonizes with. the numerous parallel passages in which peace is represented as a characteristic mark of the times of the Messiah, when contention, war, and destruction shall cease. See ch. xi. 6, 7. 6. For. This is given as a reason of the victories that were predicted in the previous verses. That it has reference to the Messiah has been almost universally conceded; and indeed it does not seem possible to doubt it. The eye of the prophet seems to have been fixed on this great and glorious event — as attracting all his attention. The scenes of coming times, like a panorama, or picture, passed before him. Most of the picture seems to have been that of battles, conflicts, sieges, dimness, and thick darkness. But in one portion of the passing scene there was light. It was the light that he saw rising in the distant and darkened Galilee. He saw the joy of the people; the armour of war laid aside; the image of peace succeeding; the light expanding and becoming more intense as liie darkness retired, until he saw in this region the Prince of Peace — the
Sun of Righteousness itself. The eye of the prophet gazed intently on that scene, and was fixed on that portion of the picture: he sees the Messiah in his ofl[ice, and describes him as already come, and as born unto the nation. IT Unto us. For our benefit. The prophet saw in vision the darkness and gloom of the nation, and saw also the son that would be born to remove that darkness, and to enlighten the world. IT A child 0^3). ThiB word usually denotes a lad, a boy, a youth. It is commonly applied to one in early life; but no particular stress is to be laid &n the word. The vision of the prophet is, that the long expected Messiah is born, and is seen growing up amidst the surrounding darkness of the north of Palestine, ver. 1. ^ Is born. Not that he was born when the prophet spake. But in prophetic vision, as the events of the future passed before his mind, he sav/that promised Son, and the eye was fixed intently on him. See the Intro. § 7, and Note ch. i. 1. ^ A son. "S ben. This word does not diflfer materially from the word translated child. In the future scenes, as they passed before the mind of the prophet, he saw the child, the son that was to be born, and described him as he appeared to hia view — as a child. Fixing the eye on him, he proceeds at once to design.! te his character by stating the appropriate names which he would bear. ^ Is given. The Messiah is often represented as having been given, or sent; or as the rich gift of God. Note Acta iv. 12. John iii. 16. Eph. i. 22. John xvii. 4. The Messiah was pre-eminently the gift of the God of love. Man had no claim on him, and God voluntarily* gave his Son to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. V And the government shall be upon his shoulder. The sense of this passage is, that he shall rule, or that the government shall be vested in him. Various interpretations have however been given of the phraa«
•* upon his shoulder." Some have supposed that it means simply he shall sustain the government, as the shoulder is that by which we uphold any thing. Pliny and Cicero thus use the phrase. See Rosenmilllcr. Others that it means that he should wear the royal purple from a child. Grotius. Lowth supposes that it refers to the ensign of government— the sceptre, the sword, the keys, or thp like, that were borne upon the shoulder, or suspended from it. See Note on ch. xxii. 22. It is evident from this latter place, that some ensign of office was usually borne upon the shoulder. The sense is, that he should be a king, and under this character the Messiah is often predicted. IT And his name shall be called. That is, his atti.butes shall be such as to make all these applications appropriate descriptions of his power and work. To he called, and to be, in the Hebrew often mean the same thing. The word X'Hp'^T may possibly mean, Jepiovah shall call him; or it may be regarded as taken impersonally. Such a use of a verb is not uncommon in Isaiah. ' Cne calls him' is, according to the usage in Isaiah, as much as to say, he will justly bear this name, or simply, he will be. '^Wonderful, i^^.?. This word is derived from the verb K?Q paid, to separate, to distinguish, or to make great. It is applied usually to any thing that is great or wonderful — as a miracle. Ex. xv. 2. Lam. i. 9. Dan. xii. 6. It is applied here to denote the unusual and remarkable assemblage of qualities that distinguished the Messiah. Those are specified more particularly in the other part of the verse — such an assemblage of qualities as to make proper the names Mighty God, (fcc. " The proper idea of the word," says Hengstenberg, " is miraculous. It imports that the personage here referred to, in his being and in his Works, will be exalted above the ordilary course of nature, and that his whole manifestation will be a miracle." Yet it seems to me, that the proper idea of the word is not that of miracu' lous. It is rather that which is separated from the ordinary course of events, and which is fitted to excite amazement, wonder, and admiration, whether it be miraculous or not. This will be apparent if the following places are examined where the word occurs in various forms. It is rendered marvellous, Ps. cxviii. 23, cxxxix. 14, xcviii. 1, Job V. 9; wonderful, 2 Sam. i. 26, Ps. cxxxix. 14, Prov. xxx. 18, Job xlii. 3, Ps. Ixxii. 18, Ixxxvi. 10; hidden, Deut. xxx. 2; things too high, Ps. cxxxi. 1; miracles, Judges vi. 13, Ex. XV. 2, Ps. Ixxvii. 14, Ixxxviii. 10, Ixxxix. 5 (the word is translated wonders in the sense of miracles in several places); and hard, Deut. xvii. 8,.Ter. xxxii. 17. From these passages it is clear that it may denote that which is miraculous, but that this idea is not necessarily connected with it. Any thing which is fitted to excite wonder and amazement from any cause, will correspond with the sense of the Hebrew word. It is a word which expresses with surprising accuracy every thing in relation to the Redeemer. For the Messiah was wonderful in all things. It was wonderful love by which God gave him, and by which he came; the manner of his birth was wonderful; hi? humility, his self-denial, his sorrows were wonderful; his mighty works were wonderful; his dying agonies were wonderful; and his resurrection, his ascension, were all fitted to excite admiration and wonder. H Counsellor. This word has been sometimes joined with " wonderful," as if designed to qualify it thus — wonderful counsellor. But it expresses a distinct attribute or quality. The name counsellor here, I'^i'^, denotes one of honourable rank; one who is fitted to stand near princes and kings as their adviser. It is expressive of great wisdom, and of quail* fications to guide and direct the human race. The LXX translate this phrase, " The angel of the mighty counsel." The Chaldee, « The God of wonderful counsel." '^ The mighty God. Syriac, " The mighty God of ages." This is one, and but one out of many, of the instances, in which the name God is applied to the Messiah. Comp..Tohn i. 1. Rom. ix. 5. 1 John v. 20. John xx. 28. 1 Tim. iii. 16. fleb. i. 8. The name " mighty God," is unquestionably attributed to the true God in ch. x. 21. Much controversy has arisen in relation to tins expression; and attempts have been made to show that the word translated God, >5!;5, may refer to a hero, a king, a conqueror. Thus Gesenius renders it " mighty hero;" and supposes that the name ** God " is here used in accordance with the custom of the Orientals, who ascribe divine attributes to kings. In like manner PlUschke (see Hengstenberg) says, " in my opinion this name is altogether symbolical. The Messiah shall be called strength of God, or strong God, divine hero, in order by this name to remind the people of the strength of God." But after all such controversy, it still remains certain that the natural and obvious meaning of the expression is to denote a divine nature. So it was evidently understood by the ancient versions; and the fact that the name God is so often applied to Christ in the New Testament, proves that it is to be understood in its natural and obvious signification. IT The everlasting Father. The Chaldee renders this expression, " the man abiding for ever." The Vulgate, " the Father of the future age." Lowth, " the Father of the everlasting age." Literally it is the Father of eternity, '^5 ''SX. The word rendered everlasting, "I?, properly denotes eternity, and is used to express for ever. See Fs. ix. 6, 19, xix. 10. It is often used in connexion with ^'bi:f t thus, Q^iy
*^?!3 for ever and ever. Ps. x. 16, xxi. 5, xlv. 7. The Hebrews used the lerm father in a great variety of senses — afl a literal father, a grandfather, an ancestor, a ruler, an instructor. The phrase may either mean the same as the Eternal Father, and the sense will be, that the Messiah will not, as must be the case with an earthly king, however excellent, leave his people destitute after a short reign, but will rule over them and bless them for ever (Hengstenberg); or it may be used in accordance with a custom usual in Hebrew and in Arabic, where he who possesses a thing is called the father of it. Thus the father of strength means strong; the father of knowledge, intelligent; the father of glory, glorious; the father of goodness, good; the father o/ peace, peaceful. According to this, the meaning of the phrase the Father of eternity is properly eternal. The application of the word here is derived from this usage. The term Father is not applied to the Messiah here with any reference to the distinction in the divine nature; for that word is uniformly, in the Scriptures, applied to the first, not to the second person of the Trinity. But it is used in reference to duration as a Hebraism involving high, poetic beauty. He is not merely represented as everlasting, but he is introduced, by a strong figure, as even the Father of eternity, as if even everlasting duration owed itself to his paternity. There could not be a more emphatic declaration of strict and proper eternity. It may be added, that this attribute is often applied to the?^Iessiah in the New Testament. John viii. 58. Coll. i. 17. Rev. i. 11, 17, 18. Heb. i. 10, 11. John i. 1, 2. ^F The Prince of Peace. This is a Hebrew mode of expression denoting that he would be a peaceful prince. The tendency of his administration would be to restore and perpetuate peace. This expression is used to distinguish hira from the mass of kings and princes v/ho have delighted in conquest and blood. In contradistinction from all these, the Messiah would seek to promote universal concord, and the tendency of hia reign v/ould be to put an end to wars,, and to restore harmony and order to the nations. See the tendency ot hia reign still further described in ch li.
6-9, Note ch. ii. 4. See also Micah V. 4. Hos. ii. 18. It is not necessary to insist on the coincidence of this description with the uniform character and instructions of the Lord Jesus. In this respect, he disappointed all the hopes of the Jewish nation, who, in Bpite of the plain prophecies respecting his peaceful character, expected a magnificent prince, and a conqueror. The expressions used here, imply that he would be more than human. It is impossible to believe that these appellations would be given under the spirit of inspiration to a mere man. They express a higher nature; and they coincide with the account in the New Testament throughout, that he would be divine. It is true, indeed, that expressions of a pompous and high-sounding character were commonly assumed by Oriental princes. The following is a single instance of their arrogance, ostentation, and pride. " Chosroes, king of kings, lord of lords, ruler of the nations, prince of peace, saviour of men; among the gods, a man good and eternal, but among men, a god most illustrious, glorious, a conqueror rising with the sun, and giving vision at night." Theoph. Simocatta Chron. iv. 8, quoted by Gesenius. But it cannot be pretended that the spirit of inspiration would use titles in a manner 80 unmeaning and so pompous as this. Besides, it was one great object of the prophets to vindicate the name and chaiacter of lAe true God, and to show that all such appellations belonged to him alone. However such appellations mig^t be used by surrounding nations, and given to kings and princes by the heathen, yet in the Scriptures they are not given to earthly monarchs. That this passage refers to the Messiah has been generally conceded, except by the Jews, and by a few later critics. Jarchi and Kimchi maintain that it refers to Hezekiah. They have been driven to this by the use which Christians have blade of the passage against the Jews,
7 Of the increase of his gov- I no "end, upon the throncr of Daprnment and peace there shall he vid, and upon his icingdom, to
But the absurdity of this interpretation has been shown in the Notes on ch. vii. 14. The ancient Jews incontestably referred it to the Messiah. Thus the Targum of Jonathan renders it, " Hia name shall be called God of wonderful counsel, man abiding for ever, the Messiah, 5<r!"'TJJ^, whose peace shall be multiplied upon us in his days." Thus Rabbi Jose, of Galilee, says, " The name of the Messiah is tsilb;^ Shalom, as it said in Isa. ix. 6, 'Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.'" Ben Sira (fol. 40, of the Amsterdam Edition, 1679,) numbers among the eight names of the Messiah those also taken from this passage, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace. The later Jews, however, have rejected this interpretation, because the Messiah is here described as God.
7. Of the increase, &c. The v/ord rendered government here, iT^ili^, means properly his government as a prince — his principality, and is a continuation of the idea in the previous verse — " the Prince of Peace." It means that his reign as a prince of peace — in extending and promoting peace, shall be unlimited. IT And peace. This does not signify in the original, as our translation would seem to, that there should be no end to the increase of his peace, but that there should be no limit to peace, that is, that his reign should be one of unlimited peace. The whole is a description of a prosperous, wide-extended, ever growing and unlimited empire of peace. IT No end. The word here used — yp, — may refer either to space or time. The connexion however seema to confine it to time, and to mean simply that over his wide-extended and peaceful principality he should reign for ever. IT Upon the throne of David. See Note Acts ii. 30. This was in accordance with the promise made ta David, 1 Kings viii. 25. 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13. Ps. cxxxii. 11. This promise
order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. The
was understood as referring to the Messiah. The primary idea is, that he should be descended in the line of David, and accordingly the New Testament writers are often at pains to show that the Lord Jesus was of that family. Luke ii. 4. When it is said that he would sit upon the throne of David, it is not to be taken literally. The peculiarity of the reign of David was, that he reigned over the people of God. He was chosen for this purpose from humble life; was declared in his administration to be a man after God's own heart; and his long and prosperous reign was a reign over the people of God. To sit upon the throne of David, therefore, means to reign over the people of God; and in this sense the Messiah sat on his throne. There is also a similarity in the two administrations, in the fact that the Messiah was taken from humble life, and that his reign will be far-extended and prosperous. But the main idea of resemblance is, that the reign of each extended over the people of God. IT And upon his kingdom. That is, over the kingdom of the people of God. It does not mean particularly the Jews, but all those over whom the divine administration should be set up. t To order it. To raise up, or confirm it. The word also is sometimes used to denote to found a kingdom. Here it means to confirm it, to cause it to stand. IT And to establish it. To place it on a firm foundation; to make it firm. IT With judgment, &c. That is, under an administration that shall be just and right. Most kingdoms have been those of blood, and have been established by iniquity, and by the unjust overthrow of others. But the administration of the Messiah shall be established in righteousness, and shall be destined to extend and perpetuate justice and righteousness for ever, •fl From henceforth. That is, from the liine which was the period of the pro-
8 The Lord sent a word into
phet's vision — when he saw m vision the Messiah rising in the dark parts of GaUlee. Notes vs. 1, 2. IT The zeal. The word here used denotes ardour, intense desire in accomplish • ing an object; and means that the establishment of this kingdom was an object of intense and ardent desire on the part of Jehovah. It is also impli)»d that nothing else than that zeal of Jehovah could do it. We may remark here, (1.) That if Jehovah feels so intense a desire for this, then the subjects of the Messiah's reign should also feel this. (2.) If Jehovah feels this zeal, and if he will certainly accomplish this, then Christians should be encouraged in their efforts to spread the gospel. His purpose to do this is their only encouragement— and a sufficient encouragement-^to excite their zeal in this great and glorious work,
8. The Lord sent. Not JEHOvAn here, but Adonai. It is apparent, that this verse is the commencement of a new prophecy that is not connected with that which precedes it. The strain of the preceding prophecy had respect to Judah; this is confined solely to Israel, or Ephraim. Here the division of the chapter should have been made, and should not have been again interrupted till the 4th verse of ch. x., where the prophecy closes. The prophecy is divided into four parts, and each part is designed to threaten a distinct judgment on some particular, prominent vice. I. Crime. Their pride and ostentation, vs. 8, 9. Punishment. The land would be invaded by the Syrians and the Philistines, vs 11, 12. II. Crime. They had apostatized from God, and the leaders had caused them to err, vs. 13,16. Punishment. Jehovah would cut off* the chief men of the nation, vs. 14, 15, 17. III. Crime. Prevalent wickedness in the nation, ver. 18. Punishment. The anger of Jehovah, consternation, anarchy, dis« i cord, and. want, vs. 19-21. IV. Crime,
9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say
Prevalent injustice, ch. x. 1, 2. Punishment. Foreign invasion, and captivity, ch. X. vs. 3, 4. The poem is remarkably regular in its structure (Lowth), and happy in its illustrations. At what time it was composed is not certain, but it has strong internal evidence that it immediately followed the preceding respecting Judah. If A word. A message, or prediction. Note ch. ii. 1. IT Into Jacob. Jacob was the ancestor of the nation. But the name came to be appropriated to the ten tribes, as constituting the majority of the people. It was at fiist used to denote all the Jews (Num. xxiii. 7, 10, 23, xxiv. 17, 19. Deut xxxii. 9. I Chron. xvi. 13. Ps. xiv. 7, XX. 1); but it came, after the revolt of the ten tribes under Jeroboam, to be used often to denote them alone. Amos vi. 8. Micah i. 5, iii. 1, V. 8. The word or message which was sent, refers, undoubtedly to that which immediately follows. IT And it hath lighted upon. Heb. It fell. This is but a varied expression for, he sent it to Israel. IT Israel. The same as Jacob — the ten tribes — the kingdom of Ephraim. 9. And all the people shall know. Shall know the message; or shall know the judgment which God denounces against their crimes. The Chaldee renders this, * all the people have exalted themselves, Ephraim, and the inhabitants of Samaria, in their magnitude, and in the pride of their heart.* IT Ephraim. This is another name for Israel, as Ephraim was the principal tribe. Note ch. vii. 2. IT And the inhabitants of Samaria. The capital of Ephraim or Israel. Note ch. vii 9.? That say in the pride. This is a description of general and prevalent pride; and it is traced to the source of all pride, the heart. It was a desire of splendour, power, and magnificence, originating in the heart, and manifesting itself by the language of self-con-
10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut
tidence and defiance at the judgments of God. IT Stoutness. Heb. Greatness. It means a self-confident purpose; and indicates the state of feeling in a man when he trusts to his own resources, and not to God.
10. The bricks are fallen down. The language of this verse is figurative; but the sentiment is plain. It contains the confession of the inhabitants of Samaria that their aflfairs were in a ruinous and dilapidated state; but also their self-confident assurance that they would be able to repair the evils, and restore their nation to more than their former magnificence. Bricks in Oriental countries were made of clay and straw, and were rarely burned. Hence, exposed to suns and rains, they soon dissolved. Walls and houses constructed of such materials would not be very permanent, and to build with them is strongly contrasted with building in a permanent and elegant manner with hewn stone. The meaning is, that their former state was one of less splendour than they designed that their subsequent state should be. Desolation had come in upon their country, and this they could not deny. But they confidently boasted that they would more than repair the evil. IF IVe will build. Our ruined houses and walls. IT With hewn stones. At once more permanent and elegant than the f \ructures of bricks had been. IT The sycamores. These trees grew abundantly on the low lands of Judea, and were very little esteemed. 1 Kings x. 27. 2 Chron. i. 15, ix. 27. " This curioua tree seems to partake of the nature of two different species," says Calmet, " the mulberry and the fig, the formei in its leaf, and the latter in its fruit. Its Greek name TiVKOjiwpog is plainly descriptive of its character, bemg compounded of (xvKoi a fig-tree, and fiw^oi a mulberry-tree. It is thus described
11 Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin
by Nordeu: * They have in Egypt divers sorts of figs; but if there is any diflerence between them, a particular kind differs still more. I mean that which the sycamore bears, that they name in Arabic giomez. This sycamore is of the height of a beech, and bears its fruit in a manner quite different from other trees. It has them on the trunk itself, which shoots out little sprigs in form of a grape-stalk, at the end of which grows the fruit, close to one another, most like bunches of grapes. The tree is always green, and bears fruit several times in the year, without observing any certain seasons, for I have seen some sycamores which had fruit two months after others. This sort of tree is pretty common in Egypt.' " They were not highly valued, though it is probable they were often employed in building. They are contrasted with cedars here; (1.) Because the cedar was a much more rare and precious wood. (2.) Because it was a much more smooth and elegant article of building. (3) Because it was more permanent. The grain and texture of the sycamore is remarkably coarse and spongy, and could therefore stand in no competition with the cedar for beauty and ornament. IT We will change them. We will employ in their stead. IT Cedars. The c&iar was a remarkably fine, elegant, and permanent wood for building. It was principally obtained on Mount Lebanon, and was employed in temples, palaces, and in the houses of the rich. See Note ch. ii. 18. The sycamore is contrasted with the cedar in I Kings X. 27: " Cedars he made to DC as sycamore-trees." The whole passage denotes self-confidence and pride; an unv/iliingness to submit to the judgments of God and a self-assurance that they would Kiore than repair all the tviis that would be inflicted on them.
12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they
11. Therefore. This verse indicates the punishment that would come upon them for their pride. IT The Lord shall set up. Heb. shall exalt. That is, they shall overcome and subdue him. IT The adversaries of Rezin. King of Syria, ch. vii. 1. It should be observed here that twenty-one MSS. instead of adversaries, read princes of Rezin. The sense seems to require this; as in the following verse it is said that the Syrians will be excited against them. IT Against him. Against Ephraim. ^ And join his enemies together. Heb. * Mingle them together.' They shal' be excited into wild and agitated commotion, and shall pour down together on the land and devour it. In what way this would be done is specified in ver. 12.
12. The Syrians. Ch. vii. 1. The Syrians had been the allies of the Israelites. But after the death of Rezin, it is probable that they joined the Assyrians, and united with them in the invasion of Samaria. Aben Ezra, Grotius. IT Before. Heb. From the east. Syria was situated to the east of Samaria, and the meaning is here that they would pour in upon Samaria from that side. IT And the Philistines. The Philistines occupied the country southwest of Samaria, lying along on the shores of the Mediterranean. It is not particularly mentioned in the Scriptures that they invaded Samaria after this prediction of Isaiah, but such a thing is by no means improbable. They were long unsubdued; were full of hostility to the Jewish people; and were many times engaged with them in wars, and several times subdued them. Judges xiii. xiv. 2 Chron. xxviii. 18, The name Palestine is derived from Philistine, although this people occupied but a small part of the country. See Reland's Palestine, c. vii. ^ Bs" kind. That is, from the west-'-thB
shall devour Israel with *open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.
14 Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, oranch and rush, in one day.
•egion where they dwelt. The sacred vriters speak as if looking toward the.»ast, the rising sun, and they speak of \Ae west as the region behind them. See Notes on Job xxiii. 8, 9. IT And they shall devour. Heb. * They shall eat.' This figure is taken from a ravenous beast; and means that they should come up with raging desires, and fierce impetuosity, to destroy the nation. ^ With open movih. Heb. 'With the whole mouth.' The metaphor is derived from raging and furious animals. Chaldee, " In every place." IT For all this. Notwithstanding all this. IT His anger, &,c. See Note ch. V. 25.
13. For the people, &c. This is a reason why his anger would not cease, and it is at the same time the suggestion of a new crime for which the divine judgment would rest upon them. It commences the second part of the oracle. IT Turneth not. It is implied here that it was the design of the chastisement to turn them to God. In tiiis case, as in many others, such a design had not been accomplished. IT Unto him that smiteth them. To God, who had punished them. IT Neither do they seek. They do not seek his protection and favour; they do not worship and honour him. IT The Lord of hosts. Note ch. i. 9.
14. Will cut off head and tail. This is a proverbial expression, which is explained in the following verse. See also Deut. xxviii. 13, 44. The head is often used to denote those in honour \nd authorii y. The tail is an expres-
15 The ancient and honour < able, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he ii the tail.
10 For ®the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are^ led of them are ^destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men,
sion applicable to the lower ranks, and would commonly indicate more than simply the common people. It would imply contempt; a state of great abjectness and meanness. IT Branch and rush. This is also a proverbial expression, meaning the highest and lowest. See Note Isa. xix. 15. The word here translated branch means properly the bough or top of the palm-tree. The palm grew to a great height before it gave out any branches, and hence the image is a beautiful one to denote those high in office and authority. The word rush means the coarse, long-jointed reed, that grows in marshes— an apt emblem of the base and worthless classes of society.
* The man of elevated countenance.' The man of rank and office. IT The prophet that teacheth lies. The false prophet. Of those there were many; and probably at this time many in Samaria.
16. For the leaders of this people, &c. Note ch. iii. 12. Heb. *they that call this people blessed ' — referring more particularly to the false prophets. IT They that are led of them. Heb.
* they that are called blessed by them.' IT Are destroyed. Heb. * Are swallowed up.' See Note ch. iii. 12. They are ruinea; or swallowed up as in a vast whirlpool or vortex.
17. Shall have no joy. He shall not delight in them so as to preserve them.. The parallel part of the verse showi that the phrase 'B used in the scsnse o^
neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh *follv. For all this his anger is
having mercy. V In their young men. The hope and strength of the nation. Tire word here used commonly denotes those who are chosen, particularly for purposes of war. The sense is, that the hope and strength of the nation, that on which the chief reliance would be placed, would be cut off. IT Neither shall have mercy, &c. Judgment would sweep through the nation, even over those who were the usual objects of the divine protection — widows and orphans. Comp. Ps. X. 14, 18, xlviii. 5. Deut. X. 18. Jer. xlix. 11. Hos. xiv. 3. These passages show that the fatherless and the widow are the special objects of the divine favour; and when therefore it is said that the Lord would not have mercy even on these, it shows the extent and severity of the divine judgments that were coming on the nation. IT For every one is a hypocrite. A deceiver; a dissembler. The word used here, however, Pl.Sf^ hhdneph, means rather a profane or profligate man, a man who is defiled or polluted, than a dissembler. It is applied often to idolaters and licentious persons, but not to hypocrites. See Job viii. 13, xiii. 16, XV. 34, xvii. 8. Dan. xi. 32. IT Every mouth speaketh folly. The word rendered folly may denote foolishness, but it is also used to denote wickedness or crime. 1 Sam. xxv. 23. Probably this is the meaning here. That the character here given of the Ephraimites is correct, is abundantly shown also by other prophets. See particularly Hosea. IT For all this. Notwithstanding all the judgments that should come thus upon the young men, and widows, and orphans, still his anger wa not turned away. This is the close of the second strophe or part of this prophecy.
not turned away, but his hana i$ stretched out still.
18 For wickedness ^burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kin-
which continues to the end of the chapter. It is a description of prevailing impiety. The effects and prevalence of it are described by the image of a raging, burning flame, tnat spreads every where — first among the humble shrubbery — the briers and thorns; — then in the vast forests, until it spreads over the land and sends a mighty column of flame and smoke up to heaven. IT Burneth as the fire. Spreads, rages, extends as fire does in thorns and *n forests. In what respects it burns like the fire, the prophet immediately specifies. It spreads rapidly every where, and involves all in the effects. Wickedness is not unfrequently in the Scriptures compared to a fire that is shut up long, and then bursts forth v/ith raging violence. Thus Hosea vii. 6:
an oven, While they lie in wait; All the night their baker sleepeth; In the morning it burneth like a blazing star.
" As an oven conceals the lighted fire all night, while the baker takes hia rest, and in the morning vomits forth its blazing flam.e; so all manner of concupiscence is brooding mischief in their hearts, while the ruling faculties of reason and conscience are lulled asleep, and their wicked designs wait only for a fair occasion to break forth." Horsley on Hosea. See also Isa. 1. 2, Ixv. 5. IT It shall devour. Heb. * It shall eat.' The idea of devouring or eating, is one which is often given to fire in the Scriptures. IT The briers and thorns. By the briers and thorns are meant doubtless the lower part of the population; the most degraded ranks of society. The idea here seems to be, first, that of impiety spreading like fire over all classes of people; but there is also joined with it. in the mind of the prophet, the idea ot pmiishment. Wickedness would t^g(^
die in the thickets of the forest: and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened,^ and the people shall be as the 'fuel of the fire: no man shall
like spreading fire; but like fire, also, it would sweep over the nation accomplishing desolation and calamity, and consuming every thing in the fire of God's vengeance. The wicked are often compared to thorns and briers, fit objects to be burned up. Isa. xxxiii. 12:
And the people shall be as the burnings of lime; As thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
IT And shall kindle. Shall burn, or extend — as sweeping fire extends to the mighty forest, IT In the thickets of the forests. The dense, close, forest or grove. The idea is, that it extends to all classes of people — high as well as low. IT And they shall mount up. The Hebrew word here used, JiDSS^r.'' from Tj3I!$, occurs nowhere else. The image is that of a far-spreading, raging fire, sending columns of smoke to heaven. So, says the prophet, is the rolling, raging, consuming fire of the sins of the nation spreading over all classes of people in the land, and involving all in wide-spread desolation. 19. Through the wrath. By the anger, or indignation. This spreading desolation is the proof of his anger. IT Is the land darkened. The word here used — DH!? — occurs nowhere else. According to Geseriius, it is the same as Cian to be or make complete; and hence means in this place to be consumed, or laid waste. Kimchi and A-ben Ezra render it, * the land is darkened.* Sept. (rvyxcKavTai, Chald. r!5l"in — is scorched. Jerome renders it conturhata est terra — the land is disturbed. The effect is doubtless such as ascending and spreading columns of fire and smoke w^ould produce, and perhaps the general word desolate had better be used in translating the word.
20 And he shall *snalch en the right hand, and be hungry; and ^he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man tho flesh of his own arm:
IT And the people shall he as fuel of the fire. This is an image of wide-spread ruin. The idea is, that they shall destroy one another as pieces of wood, when on fire, help to consume each other. The way in which it shall be done is stated more fully in the next verse. IT No man shall spare his bro" ther. There shall be such a state of wickedness, that it shall lead to anarchy, and strife, and mutual destruction. The common ties of life shall be dissolved, and a man shall have no compassion on his own brother.
20. And he shall snatch. Heb. ' He shall cut off' Many have supposed that this refers to a state of famine; but others regard it as descriptive of a state of faction extending throughout the whole community, dissolving the most tender ties, and producing a dissolution of all the bonds of life. The context (vs. 19, 21) shows, that the latter is meant; though it is not improbable that it would be attended with famine. When it is said that he * would cut on his right hand,' it denotes a condition of internal anarchy and strife. IT And be hungry. And not be satisfied. Such would be his rage, and his desire of blood, that he would be insatiable. The murder of those on one side of him would not appease his insatiable wrath. His desire of carnage would be so great that it would be like unappeased hunger. IT And he shall eat: The idea here is that of contending factions excited by fury, rage, envy, hatred, contending in mingled strife, and spreading death v/ith insatiable desire every where around them. IT They shall eat. Not literally; but shall de« stroy. To eat the flesh of any one, denotes to seek one's life, and is de*
21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together ahall he against Judah.
Bcriptive of blood-thirsty enemies. Ps. sxvii. 2: " When the wicked, even mine enemies and foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell" Job xix. 22:
"WliT do ye persecute mn as God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Ipse suos artiis lacero divellere morgu Coepit; et infelix minuendo corpus alebat.
IT The flesh of his own arm. The Chaldee renders this, " each one shall devour the substance of his neighbour." Lowth proposes to read it, " the flesh of his neighbour," but without sufficient authority. The expression denotes a state of dreadful faction — where the ties of most intimate relationship would be disregarded, represented here by the appalling figure of a man's appetite being so rabid that he would seize upon and devour his* own flesh. So, in this state of faction and discord, the rage would be so great that men would destroy those who were, as it were, their own flesh, i. e. their nearest kindred and friends.
21. Manasseh, Ephraim. This verse is a continuation of the statement in regard to the extent and fearfulness of the faction. Those who were hitherto most tenderly and intimately allied to
For all this his anger is not turnea away, but his hand is stretched out still.
each other, would now be engaged in furious strife. Manasseh and Ephraim were the two sons of Joseph (Gen. xlvi. 20), and their names are used ag expressive of tender union and friendship. Comp. Gen. xlviii. 20. The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh were near each other, and they always were allied together. The expression here denotes that they who had hitherto been joined in tender alliance, would be rent into contending factions thirsting for each other's blood. IT And they together. They would be united in opposing Judah while they were devouring each other, as it is not an uncomrnon thing for those who are opposed to each other to unite in hostility to a common foe. Comp. Luke xxiii. 12. This is an image that heightens the description of the anarchy — introducing implacable animosity against another tribe while they were contending among themselves. That such anarchies and factions existed, is apparent from all the history of the kingdom of Israel. Comp. 2 Kings xv. 10, seq. 2 Kings XV. 30. In this last passage, the death of Pekah is described as having occurred in a conspiracy formed by Hoshea. IT For all this, &c. See ver. 12, Note v. 25. This closes the third strophe or part of the prophecy under consideration. The fourth and last strophe occurs in ch. x. 1 — 4.
Tl.is chapter i3 composed of two parts: the firat fvs. 1—4) closes the prophecy commenced in eh. ix. 8, and should have been connected with that in the division into chapters; and the second part commences an entirely nejo prophecy respecting the destruction of the Assyrians. See the Analysis prefixed to ver. 5. The first four verses of this chapter constitute the fourth strophe or part of the prophecy commenced m ch. ix. 8, and contains a specification of a crime, and its iwnishment: —r/itf crime, prevalent injustice and oppression (ch. ix. I. 2); the punishment, foreign invusion, ch. ix. 3, 4. See J\ote on ch. ix. 8.
. 1 WoS' unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and ^that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
2 To turn aside the needy fjom judgment, and to take away
1. Wo unto ihem that decree unrighteous decrees. To those who frame statutes that are oppressive and iniquitous. The prophet here refers, 'doubtlessj to the rulers and judges of the land of Judea. A similar description he had before given, ch. i. 10, 23, &c. IT And that write, &c. Heb. ♦ and to the writers who write violence.' The word translated " grievousness,"?^^, denotes properly wearisome labour, trouble, oppression, injustice. Here, it evidently refers to the judges who declared oppressive and unjust sentences, and caused them to be recorded. It does not refer to the mere scribes, or recorders of the judicial opinions, but to the judges themselves, who pronounced the sentence, and caused it to be recorded. " The manner of making Eastern decrees differs from ours: they are first written, and then the magistrate authenticates them, or annuls them. This, I remember, is the Arab manner, according to D'Arvieux. When an Arab wanted a favour of the emir, the way was to apply to the secretary, who drew up a decree according to the request of the party; if the emir granted the favour, he printed his seal upon it; if not, he returned it torn to the petitioner. Sir J. Chardin confirms this account, and applies it,: v/ith great propriety, to the illustration of a passage which I never thought of when I read over D'Arvieux. After citing Isa. x. 1, * Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write grievousness,' for so our translators have rendered the latter part of the verse in the margin, much more agreeably than in the body of the version. Sir John goes on, ' The manner of making the royal acts and ordinances hath a relation to this; they are always drawn up according to the the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be theii prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
3 And what 'will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the de.
request; the first minister, or he whood office it is, writes on the side of it, * according to the king's will,' and fiom thence it is sent to the secretary of state, who draws up the order in form." Harmer.
2. To turn aside. Their sentences have the effect, and are designed to have, to per,vert justice, and to oppress the poor, or to deprive them of their rights and just claims. Comp. ch. xxix. 21. Prov. xxvii. 5. IF The needy. t]"'?'?. Those of humble rank and circumstances; who have no powerful friends and defenders. IT From judgment. From obtainingjustice. H And to take away. To take away by violence and oppression. The word ^t5 gazdl, is commonly applied to robbery, and to oppression; to the taking away of spoils in battle, &c. IT That widows may be their prey. That they may rob widows, or obtain their property. This crime has always been one particuArly offensive in the sight of God. See Note ch. i. 23. The widow anc. the orphan are without protectors. Judges, by their office, are particularly bound to preserve their rights; and it therefore evinces peculiar iniquity when they who should be their protectors become in fact their oppressors, and do injustice to them without the possibility of redress. Yet this was the character of the Jewish judges; and for this the vengeance of heaven was about to come upon the land.
3. And what will ye do. The pro phet here proceeds to denounce the judgment ar punishment that would follow the crimes specified in the pre^ vious verses. That punishment waa the invasion of the land by a foreign force. ' What will ye do 1 To whom will yo-i fly 1 What refuge will there
Bolaticn which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
b*i V Implying that the calamity would be so great that there would be no refuge, or escape. IF In the day of visitation. The word visitation (n^j5Q) is here used in the sense of God's coniing to punish them for their sins. Comp. Job xxxi. 14, XXXV. 15. Isa. xxvi. 14. Ezek. ix. 1. The idea is probably derived from that of a master of a family who comes to take account, or to investigate the conduct of his servants, and where the visitation therefore is one of reckoning and justice. So the idea is applied to God as designing to visit the wicked; that is, to punish them for their ofTencea. Comp. Hos. ix. 7. IT And in the desolation. The destruction, or overthrowing. The word used here (fll^T^ZJ) usually denotes a storm, a tempest (Prov. i. 27); and then sudden destruction, or calamity, that sweeps along irresistibly like a tempest. Zeph. i. 15. Job xxx. 3, 14. Ps. XXXV. 8. IT Which shall come from far. That is, from Assyria, Media, Babylonia. The sense is, * a furious storm of war is about to rage. To what refuge can you then flee 1 or where can you then find safety V ^ Where will ye leave your glory 7 "Qy the word glory here, some have understood the prophet as referring to their aged men, their princes and nobles, and as asking where they would find a safe place for them. But he probably means their riches^ wealth, magnificence. Thus Pslam xlix. 17:
For when he flieth, he shall rarry nothing away; His glory shall not descend alter htm.
See also Hos. ix. 2. Isa. Ixvi. 12. The word " leave " here is used in the sense of deposit, or commit for safe keeping. Gomp. Job xxxix. 14. * In the time of the invasion that shall come up like a tempest on the land, where will you deposit your property «u that it shall be safe V
down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
4. Without me. "H^a. There hai been a great variety of interpretation affixed to this expression. The sense in which our translators understood it was, evidently, that they should be forsaken of God; and that as the effect of this they should bow down under the condition of captives or among the slain. The Vulgate and the LXX, however, and many interpreters understand the word here as a simple negative. * Where will you flee for refuge 1 Where will you deposit your wealth so as not to bow down under a chain?' Vulgate, Ne ineurvemini sub vinculo.
liXX, Lov fir] £[.nr£aeii/ eU dii aywvfiv, not tO fall into captivity. The Hebrew will bear either mode of construction. Vitringa and Lowth understand it as our translators have done, as meaning that God would forsake them, and that without him, that is, deprived of his aid, they would be destroyed. IT They shall bow down. They shall be subdued, as armies are that are taken captive. IT Under the pi-isoners. That is, under the condition of prisoners; or as prisoners. Some understand il to mean that they should bear down in the place of prisoners; that is, in prison. But it evidently means, simply, that they should be captivep. IF They shall fall under the slain. They shall be slain. Gesenius renders it among the prisoners, and among the slain. The Chaldee reads it, " You shall be cast into chains out of your own land, and beyond your own cities you shall be cast out slain." Vitringa supposes that the prophet in this verse refers to the custom among the ancients of placing prisoners in war under a yoke of wood to indicate their captivity. That such a custom obtained th(Me can be no doubt; but it is not probable rna> Isaiah refers to it here. The a'mpl? idea is, that many of them should b-s taken captive, and many of them slain
""^his prediction was fulfilled in the invasion of Tiglath-Pileser. 2 Kings XV. xvi. IT For all this. Notwithstanding these calamities. The cup of punishment is not filled by these, but the divine judgment shall still be poured out farther upon the nation.
The anger of God shall not be fully expressed by these minor inflictions of his wrath, but his hand shall continue to be stretched out until the whole nation shall be overwhelmed and rained. See Note on ver. 12.
At ver. 5th in this chapter, there is evidently the commencement of a new prophecy or vision, ai f the division into chapters should have indicated such a commencement. The prophecy is continue i to the close of the xiith chapter. Its general scope is a threatening against Assyria, and the predii • tion of ultimate safety, happiness, and triumph to the people of Judah. It has no immediate connection with the previous vision any further than the subjects are similar, and one seems to have suggested the other. In the previous vision, the prophet had described the threatened invasion of Ephra'an or Israel by the Syrians; in this, he describes the threatened invasion of Jj/da/j by the Assyrians. The result of the invasion of Ephraim would be the desolation of Samaria, and the captivity of the people; but the result of the invasion of Judah would be that God would interpose and humble the Assyrian, and bring deliverance to his people. This chapter is occupied with an account of the threatened invasion of Judea by the Assyrian, vs. 5— 7; with a statement of his confident boasting, and defiance of God (vs. 8 — 14); with encouraging the people to confide in God and not to be afraid of him; and with the assurance that he would be discomfited and overthrown, vs. 15—31. The mention of this deliverance gives occasion for the elevated and beautiful statement respecting the future deliverance of the nation by the Messiah, and the glorious triumph that would attend his reign, which occurs in chs. xi. xii.
When the prophecy was uttered, and in regard -o ivhom, has been a question. Vitringa supposes that it was uttered in immediate connection with the foregoing, and that it is in fact a part of it. But from vs. 9, 11, it is evident that at the time this prophecy was uttered Samaria was destroyed; end from ver. 20, it is clear that it was after the ten tribes had been carried into captivity, and when the Assyrian supposed that he could accomplish the same destruction and captivity in regard to Jerusalem and Judah that had taken place in regard to Samaria and Ephraim. As to the remark or Vitringa that the prophet anticipated these future events, and spoke of them as already passed, it may be observed that the structure and form of the expressions suppose that they were in fact passed at the time he wrote. See the Notes on vs. 9, 11, 20. Lightfoot (Chronica Temporum) supposesr that the prophet here refers to the threatened invasion of the land by Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, after he had destroyed Damascus, and when, being about to advance upon Jerusalem, Ahaz stripped the temple of its valuable ornaments, and sent them to him. 2 Kings xvi. 17, 18. Lowth suppose* that the threatened invasion here refers to that of Sennacherib. This is probably the correct reference. This took place in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, 725 years before the Christian era. Hezekiah, alarmed at the approach of Sennacherib, sent messengers to him to Lachish (2 Kings xviii. 14) to obtain a cessation of hostilities. Sennacherib agreed to such a peace on condition that Hezekiah Bhould pay him three hundred talents of silver, and thirty of gold. In order to meet this demand Hezekiah was obliged to advance all the silver and gold in the treasury, and even to strip the temple of its ornaments. Having done this, he hoped for safety; and on this occasion, probably, this prophecy was uttered. It was designed to show that the danger of invasion was not passed; to assure them the king of Assyria would still come against the nation (comp. 2 Kings vlii. 17, ^c); but that still God would interpose, and would deliver them. A further reference to this is made in Isa. xx. Rnd a fu.l history given in cha. xxxvii., xxxviii. See Notes on those chapters.
5. O Assyrian. The word ^'^'*^ ho is commonly used to denounce wrath, or to indicate approaching calamity; as an interjection of threatening, Isa. i. 4, " Wo sinful nation;" v. 8, 11, 18, 20, 21. Jer. xlviii. 1. Ezek. xiii. 2. The Vilgate so understands it here: " VaB Assur;" and the LXX, *Ovai 'Aaavpiots. Wo to the Assyrians. So the Chaldee, and the Syriac. It is not then a simple address to the Assyrian; but a form denouncing wrath on the invader. Yet it was not so m ich designed to in- timidate and appal the Assyrian himself, as to comfort the Jews with the assurance that calamity should overtake him. The " Assyrian " referred to here, was the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, who was leading an army ta invade the land of Judea. IT The rod of mine anger. That is, the rod or instrument by which I will inflict punishment on a guilty nation. The He« brew would bear the iuierpr^tation thai the Assyrian was an object against which God was angry; bui the formel
6 I will send?iim against an hypocritical nation, and against ihe people of my wrath will I give him a charge, «to take the
is evidently the sense of the passage, as denoting that the Assyrian was the agent by which he would express his anger against a guilty people. Wo might be denounced against him for his wicked intention, at the same time that God might design to make use of his plans to punish the sins of his own people. The word anger here refers to the indignation of God against the sins of the Jewish people. IT And the staff. The trord staff here is synonymous with rod, as an instrument of chastisement or punishment. Ch. ix. 4, comp. V. 24. Nah. i. 13. Ezek. vii. 10. TI In their hand. There has been considerable variety in the interpretation of this passage. Lowth and Noyes read it, " the staff in whose hand is the instrument of my indignation." This interpretation Lowth adopts by omitting the word &5^i«^ on the authority of the Alexandrine copy of the LXX and five MSS., two of them ancient. Jerome reads it, " wo to the Assyriaij! He is the staff and the rod of my fury, in their hand is my indignation." So /Forerius, Ludovicus de Dieu, Cocceius and others. Vitringa reads it, " and in the hands of those who are my rod is my indignation." Schmidius and RoscnmuIIer, " and the rod which is in their hands, is the rod of mine indignation." There is no necessity for any change in the text. The Hebrew, literally, is, * Wo to the Assyrian! Rod ai my anger! And he is the staff. In their hands is my indignation.' The sense is sufficiently clear, that the Assyrian was appointed to inflict punishment on t. rebellious people as the instrument of God. The Chaldee renders it, * Wo to the Assyrian! The dominion [power, ruler] of my fury, and the Angel sent from my face against them for a malediction.* LXX, •* And wrath in their hands." IT In their hand. In the hand of the Assy-
spoil, and to take the prey, and to 'tread them down 'like the mire of the streets.
7 Howbeit "he meaneth not so,
rians, where the word " Assyrian" ii taken »s referring to the kmg of Assyria as the representative of the nation.
6. / will send him. Implying that he was entirely in the hand of God and subject to his direction; and showing that God has control over kings and conquerors. Prov. xxi. 1. IT Against an hypocritical nation. Whether the prophet here refers to Ephraim, or to Judah, or to the Jewish people in general, has been an object of inquiry among interpreters. As the designs of Sennacherib were mainly against Judah, it ia probable that that part of the nation was intended. This is evidently the case, if, as has been supposed, the prophecy was uttered after the captivity of the ten tribes. See ver. 20. It need scarcely be remarked, that it wag eminently the characteristic of the nation that they were hypocritical. Comp. Isa. ix. 17. Matth. xv. 17. Mark vii. 6. IT And against the peopie of mywrath. That is, those who were the objects of my wrath; or the people on whom I anl about to pour out ray indignation. ^ To take the spoil. To plunder them. IT And to tread them down. Heb. And to make them a treading down. The expression is drawn from war, where the vanquished and the slain are trodden down by the horses of the conquering army. It means here, that the Assyrian would humble and subdue the people; that he would trample indignantly on the nation, regarding them with contempt, and no more to be esteemed than the mire of the streets.- A similar figure occurs in Zech. X. 5: " And they shall be as mighty men which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in battle."
7. Howheit he meaneth not so. It is not his purpose to be the instmraenl in the hand of God of executing his designs. He has a different plan; a plat
neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
of his own which he intends to accomplish. ^ neither doth his heart think so. He does not intend or design it. The heart here is put to express purpose, or will. ^ It is in his heart to cut off nations. Utterly to destroy, or to annihilate their political existence. ^ I^ot a few. The ambitious purpose of Sennacherib was not confined to Judea. His plan waa also to invade and to conquer Egypt; and the destruction of Judea was only a part of his scheme. Isa. xx. This is a most remarkable instance of the supremacy •which God asserts over the purposes of "wicked men. Sennacherib formed his own plan without compuleion. He devised large purposes of ambition, and intended to devastate kingdoms. And yet God says that he was under his direction, and that his plans would be overruled to further his own purposes. Thus "the wrath of man would be made to praise him." Ps. Ixxvi. 10. And from' this we may learn, (1.) That wicked men form their plans and devices with perfect freedom. They lay their schemes as if there were no Buperintending Providence; and feel — correctly — that they are not under the laws of compulsion, or of fate. (2) That God presides over their schemes, and suffers them to be formed and executed with reference to his own purposes. (3.) That the plans of wicked men often, though they do not intend it, go to execute the purposes of God. Their schemes result in just what they did not intend — the furtherance of his plans, and the promotion of his glory. (4.) That their plans are nevertheless wicked and abominable. They are to be judged according to what they are in themselves, and not according to the use which God may make of them by counteracting or overruling them. Their intention is evil; and by that they must be judged. That God brings good out of them is con- Irary to their design, and a thing for
8. For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
which thei/ deserve no credit, and should receive no reward. (5.) The wicked are in the hands of God. (6.) There is a superintending Providence; and men cannot defeat the purposes of the Almighty. This extends to princes on their thrones; to the rich, the great, and the mighty, as well as to the poor and the humble — and to the humble as well as to the rich and the great. Over all men is this superintending and con trolling Providence; and all are sub ject to the direction of God. (1.) It has often happened, in fact, that the plans of wicked men have been made to contribute to the purposes of God. Instances like those of Pharaoh, of Gyrus and of Sennacherib; of Pontius Pilaie, and of the kings and emperors who persecuted the early Christian churcli, show that they are in the hand of God, and that he can overrule their wrath and wickedness to his glory. The madness of Pharaoh was the occasion of the signal displays of the power of God in Egypt. The wickedness, and weakness, and flexibility of Pilate was the occasion of the atonement made for the sins of the world. And the church rose in its primitive brightness and splendour amid the flames which persecution kindled, and was augmented in numbers, and in moral loveliness and power, just in proportion as the wrath of monarchs raged to destroy it.
8. For he saith. This verse, and the subsequent verses to ver. 11, contain the vaunting of the king of Assyria, and the descriptions of his own confidence of success. H Are not my princes altogether kings? This is a confident boast of his own might and power. His own dominion was so great that even his princes were endowed with the ordinary power and regalia of kings. The word princes may here refer either to those of his own family and courtto the satraps and officers of power iu his army, or around bis throne; ci tnore probably it may refer to the subordinate governors whom he had set over the provinces which he had conquered. 'Are they not clothed with royal power and majesty? Are they not of eqnal splendour with the other monarchs of the earth? ' How great then must have been his oion rank and glory to be placed over such illustrious Bovereigns 1 It will be recollected that a common title which Oriental monarchs give themselves, is that of King of Kings. See Ezek. xxvi. 7. Dan. ii. 37. Ezra vii. 12. The Oriental princes are still distinguished for their sounding titles, and particularly for their claiming dominion overall other princes, and the supremacj' over all other earthly powers.
9. Is not Calno as Carchemish? The meaning of this confident boasting is, that none of the cities and nations against wnicn ne naa directed his arms had been able to resist him. All had fallen before him; and all were alike fjrostrate at his feet. Carchemish had been inable to resist him, and Calno aad shared the same fate. Arpad had %llei» vfore him, and Hamath in like manues nad been subdued. The words whicn iiv used here are the same nearly iha! Raushakeh used when he was Bent by Sennacherib to insult Hezekiah and the Jews. 'm. xxxvi. 19. 2 Kings xviii. 34. Cab;.yi was a o:ty in the land of Shinar, and was probably the city built by Nimrod, called in {yi^n x. 10, Culneh, and at one time the capital of his empire. It is mentioned by Ezekiel, xxvii. 23, According to ttie Targums, Jerome, Eusebius and others, Calno or Calneh was the same city as Ctesiphon, a large city on the bank ol the Tigris, and opposite to Seleucia. Gesenius and Calmet. IT Carchemish. This was a city on the Euphrates, belonging to Assyria. It was taken by Necho, king of Egypt, and re-taken
Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year ef Jehoiachiii, king of Judah. 2 Kings xxiii. 29. Probably it is the t%xa% city as Cercusium or Kerkisia, which is situated in the angle formed by the junction of the Cliebar and the Euphrates. Corap. Jer. xlvi. 2. 2 Chron. XXV. 20. ^ Hamath. This was a celebrated city of Syria. It is referred to in Gen. X. 18, as tbe seat of one of the tribes of Canaan. It is often mentioned as the northern limit of Canaan in its widest extent. Num. xiii. 21. Josh. xiii. 5. Judges iii. 8. The Assyrians became masters of this city about 753 years before Christ. 2 Kings xvii. 24. Burckhardt mentions this city as situated on both sides of the river Orontes. The tov/n is at present of considerable extent, and contains about 30,000 inhabitants. There are four bridges over the Orontes in the town. The trade of the town now is with the Arabs, who buy here their tent-furniture and their clothes. This city was visited by the Rev. Eli Smith in 1834. It lies, says he, on the narrow valley of the 'Asy; and is so nearly concealed by the high banks, that one sees little oi it until he actually comes up to the gates. See Robinson's Bibli. Research, vol. iii. appendix, pp. 176, 177. IT Aipad. This city was not far from Hamath, and is called by the Greeks Epiphania. 2 Kings xviii. 34. IT Samaria. The capital of Israel or Ephraim. From the mention of this place, it is evident that this prophecy was written after Samaria had been destroyed. See Notes on ch. vii. 9, xxviii. 1. 'H As Damascus. The capital of Syria. See Note ch. vii. 9, and the Analysis of ch xvii The LXX have varied in their translation here considerably from the Hebrew. They render these verses, ' and he saith, have I not taken the region beyond Babylon, and Chalane where the tower was built, and I have taken Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria.' The vunn idea, however the hoasi of the king ot Assyria, id retained.
10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Sa-
10, 11. The argument in these two verses is this: * The nations which I have subdued were professedly under the protection of idol gods. Yet those idols were not able to defend them — though stronger than the gods worshipped by Jerusalem and Samaria. And is there any probability, therefore, that the protection on which you who are Jews are leaning, will be able to deliver you V Jerusalem he regarded as an idolatrous city like others; and as all others had hitherto been unable to retard his movements, he inferred that it would be so with Jerusalem. This is, therefore, the confident boasting of a man who regarded himself as able to vanquish all the gods that the nations worshipped. The same confident boasting he uttered when he sent messengers to Hezekiah. 2 Kings xix. 12: " Have the gods of the nations deliv3red them which my father destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph; and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar 1" Isa. xxxvi. 18, 19, 20: " Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arphad ] Where are the gods of Sepharvaim 1 And have they delivered Samaria out of my hand 1" IT Hath found. That is, * I have found them unable to defend themselves by their trust in their idols, and have subdued them.' IT The kingdoms of the idols. The kingdoms that worship idols. IT And whose graven images. That is, whose idols; or whose representations of the gods. The word properly signifies that which is hewn or cut out; and then the block of wood or stone that is carved into an image of the god. Here it refers to the gods themselves, probably, as having been found to be impotent, though he supposed them to be more powerful than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall I n/)t, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
12 Wherefore it shall come ta pass, that, when the Lord hath
H Did excel. Heb. * More than Jerusalem,' where the preposition ^ metn is used to denote comparison. They were more to be dreaded; or more mighty than those of Jerusalem. IT Of Jerusalem. Jerusalem and Samaria had often been guilty of the worship of idols; and it is probable that Sennacherib regarded them as idolaters in the same sense as other nations. They had given occasion for this suspicion by their having often fallen into idolatrous habits; and the Assyrian monarch did not regard them as in any manner distinguished from surrounding nations. It is not improbable that he v/as aware that Jerusalem worshipped Jehovah (comp. Isa. xxxvi. 20); but he doubtless regarded Jehovah as a mere tutelary divinity — the peculiar god of that land, as Baal, Ashteroth, &c. were of the countries in which they were adored. For it was a common doctrine among ancient idolaters that each nation had its peculiar god; that the claims of that god were to be respected and regarded in that nation; and that thus all nations should worship their own gods undisturbed. Jehovah was thus regarded as the tutelary god of the Jewish nation. The sin of Sennacherib consisted in confounding Jehovah with false gods, and in then setting him at defiance.
11. Shall I not, &.c. * Shall I not meet with the same success at Jerusalem that I have elsewhere 1 As I have overcome all others, and as Jerusalem has no peculiar advantages; as the gods of other nations were more in number and mightier than those of Jerusalem, and yet were unable to resist me, what is there in Jerusalem that can stay my progress 1'
12. Wherefore, &c. In this verse God, by the prophet, threatens punishment to the king of Assyria for hia pride and wicked designs. IT His whoU
performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will ^punish ''the fruit of the ''stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the giory of his high *^looks.
iDork. His entire plan in regard to the punishment of the Jews. He sent the king of Assyria for a specific purpose to execute his justice on the people of Jerusalem. That plan he would execute entirely by the hand of Sennacherib, and would then inflict deserved punishment on Sennacherib himself for his wicked purposes. IT Upon JSlount Zion. Mount Zion was a part of Jerusalem (see Note ch. i. 8), but it was the residence of the court, the dwelling-place of David and his successors; and perhaps here, where it is mentioned as distinct from Jerusalem, it refers to the court, the princes, nobles, or the government. * I will execute my purposes against the government, and the people of the city.' T / will punish. Heb. * I will visit;* but here evidently used to denote punishment. Note ver. 3. IT The fruit of the stout heart. Heb. ' The fruit of the greatness of the heart.' The * greatness of the heart,' is a Hebraism for pride of heart, or great swelling designs and plans formed in the heart. Fruit is that which a tree or the earth produces; and then any thing which is produced or brought forth in any way. Here it means that which a proud heart had produced or designed, that is, plans of pride and ambition; schemes of conquest and of blood. IT The glory of his high looks. Heb. * the glory of the lifting up of his eyes' — an expression indicative of pride and haughtiness. The word * glory ' here evidently refers to the self-complacency, and the air of majesty and haughtiness, which a proud man assumes. In this verse we see, (1.) That God will accomplish all the purposes of which he designs to make wicked men the instruments. Their schemes shall be successful just so far us they may contribute to his plans, »ad no farther. (2.) When that is
13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have don« it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and
done, they are completely in his power, and under his control. He can stay their goings when he pleases, and subdue them to his will. (3.) The fact that they have been made to further the plans of God, and to execute hia designs, will not free them from deserved punishment. They meant not so; and they will be dealt with according to their intentions, and not according to God's design to overrule them. Their plans were wicked, and if God brings good out of them it is contrary to their intention, and hence they are not to be screened from punishment because he brings good out of theif plans contrary to their design. (4.) Wicked men are in fact often thua punished. Nothing is more common on earth; and all the woes of hell will be an illustration of the principle. Oat of all evil God shall educe good; and even from the punishment of the damned themselves he will take occasion to illustrate his own perfections, and in that display of his just character promote the happiness of holy beings. 13. For he saith. The king of Assyria saith. This verse and the following are designed to show the reason why the king of Assyria should be thus punished. It was on account of hia pride and vricked plans. He sought not the glory of God, but purposed to do evil. IF For I am prudent. I arn wise; attributing his success to hif own understanding rather than to God. IT / have removed the bounds of the people. That is, * I have changed the limits of kingdoms; I have taken away the old boundaries, and made new onea at my pleasure. I have divided them into kingdoms and provinces as 1 pleased.' No higher assumption >f power could have been made than tLua to have changed the ancient limits of empires, and remodelled thern at hil
have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like ®a valiant man:?* < 'i;
14 And my hand hath found, as a nest, the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs
will. It was claiming that he had so extended his own empire as to have effectually blotted out the ancient lines which had existed, so that they were now all one and under his control. So a man who buys farms and annexes them to his own, takes away the ancient limits; he runs new lines as he pleases, and unites them all into one. This was the claim which Sennacherib set up over nations. IT Have robbed their treasures. Their hoarded wealth. This was another instance of the claim which he set up of power and dominion. The treasures of kingdoms which had been hoarded for purposes of peace or v/ar he had plundered, and had appropriated to his own use. Comp. Note on ch. xlvi. 3. ^ I have put down the inhabitants. I have subdued them; have vanquished them. IT As a valiant man. T^35<15. Ma.tg. Many people. The Keri, or Hebrew marginal reading, is ^"^23 without the 5<, a mighty or strong man. The sense is not materially different- It is a claim that he had evinced might and valour in bringing down nations. Lowth renders it, " them that were strongly seated." Noyes, " them that sat upon thrones." The Chaldee renders the verse, not literally, but according to the sense, " I have made people to migrate from province to province, and have plundered the cities that were the subjects of praise, and have brought down by strength those who dwelt in fortified places." Our translation has given the sense correctly.
14. And my hand hath found, as a nest. By a beautiful and striking figure here, the Assyrian monarch is represented as describing the ease with which he had subdued kingdoms, and lified them of their treasures. No 10*
j that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth there-
resistance had been offered. He had taken them with as little opposition as a rustic takes posession of a nest with its eggs or young when the parent bird is away. H Eggs that are left. That is, eggs that are left of the parent bird; when the bird from fright, or any other cause, has gone, and when no resistance is offered. IT Have I gathered all the earth. That is, I have subdued and plundered it. This shows the height of his self-confidence and his arrogant assumptions. IT That moved the wing. Keeping up the figure of the nest. There was none that offered resistance — as an angry bird does when her nest is about to be robbed. IT. Or opened the mouth. To make a noise in alarm. The dread of him produced perfect silence and submission. H Or peeped. Or that chirped — the noise made by young birds. Note ch. viii. 19. The idea is, that such was the dread of his name and power that there was universal silence. None dared to resist the terror of his arms.
1 5. SJ^all the axe, &c. In this verse God reproves the pride and arrogance of the Assyrian monarch. He does it by reminding him that he was the mere instrument in his hand, to accomplish his purposes; and that it was just as absurd for him to boast of what he had done as it would be for the axe to boast when it had been wielded with effect. In the axe there is no wisdom, no skill, no power; and though it may lay the forest low, yet it is not by any skill or power which it possesses. So with the Assyrian monarch. Though nations had trembled at his power, yet he was in the hand of God, and had been directed by an unseen arm in accom plishing the designs of the Ruler of tha Universe. Though himself free, yet he was under the direction of God, and with? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if Hhe rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as h&d been so directed as to accomplish his designs, IF The saw magnify itself. That is, boast or exalt itself against or over him that uses it. IT That shaketh it. Or moves it backwards and forwards for the purpose of sawing. IT As if the rod. A rod is an instrument of chastisement or punishment; and such God regarded the king of Assyria. IT Should shake itself, &c. The Hebrew in this place is as in the margin: * a rod should shake them that lift it up.' But the sense is evidently retained in our translation, as this accords with all the other members of the verse, where the leading idea is, the absurdity that a mere instrument should exalt itself against him who makes use of it. In this manner the preposition?? over, or against, is evidently understood. So the Vulgate and the Syriac. IT The staff. This word here is synonymous with rod, and denotes an instrument of chastisement. IT As if it were no wood. That is, as if it were a moral agent, itself the actor or deviser of what it is made to do. It would be impossible to express more strongly the idea intended here, that the Assyrian was a mere instrument in the hand of God to accomplish his purposes, and to be employed at his will. The statement of this truth is designed to humble him: and if there be any truth that will humble sinners, it is, that they are in the hands of God; that he will accomplish his purposes by them; that when they are laying plans against him he will overrule them for his own glory; and that they will be arrested, re- ■trained, or directed, just as he pleases. —Man, in his schemes of pride and vanity, therefore, should not boast. He IS under the God of nations; and it is one part of his administration to control and govern all the intellect in the ITNJVERSE. In all these passages, howwer, there is not the slightest intima-
16 Therefore ^shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among
tion that the Assyrian was not free. There is no fate; no compulsion. Hr regarded himself as a free moral agent; he did what he pleased; he never supposed that he was urged on by any power that violated his own liberty. If he did what he pleased, he was free. And so it is with all sinners. They do as they please. They form and execute such plans as they choose; and God overrules their designs to accomplish his own purposes. The Targum of Jonathan has given the sense of this passage: " Shall the axe boast against him who uses it, saying, I have cut [wood]; or the saw boast against him who moves it, saying, I have sawed? When the rod is raised to smite, it ia not the rod that smites, but he who smites with it."
"p'lX Adon. IT The Lord of hosts. In the present Hebrew text the original word is also *'5'^^. adondi, but fifty-two MSS. and six editions read Jehovak. On the meaning of the phrase the Lord of hosts, see Note ch. i. 9. This verse contains a threatening of the punishment that would come upon the Assyrian for his insolence and pride, and the remainder of the chapter is mainly occupied with the details of that pun ishment. The punishment here threatened is, that while he appeared to be a victor, and was boasting of success and of his plunder, God would send leanness— as a body becomes wasted with disease. IT His fat ones. That is, those who had fattened on the spoils of victory; his vigorous, prosperous, and flourishing army. The prophet here evidently intends to describe hia numerous army glutted with the trophies of victory, and revelling on the spoils. IF Leanness. They shall be emaciated and reduced; their vigour and strength shall be diminished. In Ps. cvi. 15, the word leanness, 'jit'?
his fat ones''' leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a Durning like the burning of a fire.
17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire/ and his Holy
rdzon, is used to denote destruction, disease. In Micah vi. 10, it denotes diminution, scantiness — "the scant ephah." Here it denotes evidently that the army which was so large and vigorous, should waste away as with a pestilential disease. Comp. ver. 19. The fact was, that of that vast host few escaped. The angel of the Lord slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in a single night. 2 Kings xviii. 35. See Notes on ch. xxxviii. 36. IT And under his glory. That is, beneath the boasted honour, might, and magnificence of the proud monarch. IT He shall kindle. That is, God shall suddenly and entirely destroy his magnificence and pride, as when a fire is kindled beneath a magnificent temple. A similar passage occurs in Zech. xii. 6:
In that day I will make the governors of Judah
And like a torch of fire in a sheaf;
And they shall devour all the people round about.
17. And the light of Israel. That is, Jehovah. The word light here, "i"^'^, is used also to denote a fire, or that which causes light and heat. See Ezek. V. 2. Isa. xliv. 16, xlvii. 14. Here it is used in the same sense, denoting that Jehovah would be the fire ("Tlit) that would cause ihe flame (^^H) which would consume the Assyrian. Jehovah is often compared to a burning flame, or fire. Deut. iv. 24, ix. 3. Heb. xii. 29. IT Shall be for a fire. By his power and his judgment he shall destroy them. IT His Holy One. Israel's Holy One; that is, Jehovah — iften called in the Scriptures the Holy Dne of Israel. IT And it shall burn. That is, the flame that Jehovah shall undle, or his judgments that he shall ■end forth. ^ And devour his thorns
One lor i^ riauie^ aao u shall burn and devoui ins ihorns an^ his briers in one-^ da^
18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of hia fruitful field, ^ both soul and bo-
and his briers. An expression denoting the utter impotency of all the mighty armies of the Assyrian to resist Jehovah. As dry thorns and briers cannot resist the action of heat, so certainly and speedily would the armiea of Sennacherib be destroyed before Jehovah. Comp. Note ch. ix. 18. Lowth supposes that by " briers and thorns " here the common soldiers of the army are intended, and by " the glory of his forest" (ver. 18), the princes, officers, and nobles. This is doubtless the correct interpretation; and the idea is, that all would be completely consumed and destroyed. IT In one day. The army of Sennacherib was suddenly destroyed by the angel. See Notes on ch. xxxvii. 36.
18. The glory of his forest. In these expressions the army of Sennacherib is compared with a beautiful grove thick set with trees; and as all the beauty of a grove which the fire overruns ia destroyed, so, says the prophet, it will be with the army of the Assyrian under the judgments of God. If the " briers and thorns" (ver. 17) refer to the common soldiers of his army, then the glory of the forest — the tall, majestic trees, refer to the princes and nobles. But this mode of interpretation should not be pressed too far. IT And of his fruit' ful field, 1'^^*^?^. The word used here — carmel — is applied commonly to a rich mountain or promontory on the Mediterranean on the southern boundary of the tribe of Asher. The word, however, properly jjieans a fruitful field, a finely cultivated country, and waa given to Mount Carmel on this account. In this place it has no reference to that mountain, but is given to the army ot' Sennacherib to keep up the figure which the prophet commenced in ver»
19 And the rest of the trees
17. That arm J'', numerous, mighty, and well disciplined, was compared to an extensive region of hill and vale; of forests and fruitful fields; but it ehould all be destroyed as when the fire runs over fields and forests, and tonsumes all their beauty. Perhaps in all this, there may be allusion to the proud boast of Sennacherib (2 Kings xix. 23), that he would "go up the sides of Lebanon, and cut down the cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof, and enter into the forest of Carmel." In allusion, possibly, to this, the prophet says that God would cut down the tall trees and desolate the fruitful field — the ' carmel' of his army, and would lay all waste. IT Both soul and body. Heb. From the soul to the flesh; i. e. entirely. As the soul and the flesh, or body, compose the entire man, so the phrase denotes the entireness or totality of any thing. The army would be totally ruined. IT And they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth. There is here a great variety of interpretation. The LXX read it, " And he shall flee as one that flees from a burning flame." This reading Lowth has followed; but for this there is not the slightest authority in the Hebrew. The Vulgate reads it, " And he shall fly for terror," et erit terrore profugus. The Chaldee, " And he shall be broken, and shall fly." The Syriac, " And he shall be as if he had never been." Probably the correct idea is, and they shall be as when a sick man wastes away. The words which are used (Ot55 CD^S) are brought together for the sake of a paronomasia — a figure of speech common in the Hebrew. The word rendered in our version fainteth ( DO^ mesos) is probably the infinitive qonstruct of the verb GO'S mdsds, to melt, dissolve, faint. It is applied to the manna that was dissolved by the neat of the sun, Ex. xvi. 21; to wax Ujelled by the §re, Ps. Ixviii, 2; to a snail that consumes away, Ps. Iviii. 8 j or to water that evaporates, Ps, Iviii. 7. Hence it is applied to the heart, exhausted of its vigour and spirit, Job vii. 5; to things decayed that have lost their strength, 1 Sam. xv. 9; to a loan or tax laid upon a people that wastes and exhausts their wealth. It has the general notion therefore of melting, fainting, sinking away with the loss of strength. Ps. xxii. 14, cxii. 10, xcvii. 5. Isa. xix. l,xiii. 7. Josh. ii. 11, v. 1, vii. 5. The word rendered standardbearer (S'?3) is from the verb 0^3 ndsds. This word signifies sometimes to lift up, to elevate, or to erect a flag or standard to public view, to call men to arms, Isa. v. 26, xi. 10, 12, xiii. 2, xviii. 3, xlix. 22; and also to lift up, or to exhibit any thing as a judgment or public warning, and may thus be applied to divine judgments. Geseniua renders the verb, to waste away, to be sick. In Syriac it has this signification. Taylor (Heb. con.) says, that it does not appear that this word ever has the signification of a military standard under which armies fight, but refers t<\ a standard or ensign to call men together, or to indicate alarm and danger The probable signification here, is that which refers it to a man wasting away with sickness, whose strength and vigour are gone, and who becomes weak and helpless. Thus applied to the Assyrian army, it is very striking. Though mighty, confident and vigorous — like a man in full health — yet it would be like a vigorous man when disease comes upon him, and he pines away and sinks to the grave.
19. And the rest of the trees, &c. Keeping up still the imaf^e of a large and once dense forest to -vvhich he had likened the Assyrian army. ** The rest" here means that which shall be left after the threatened judgment shall come upon them. IT That a child may write them. That <i child shall be abl«
• 20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again slay upon him that smote them;^ but shall stay up-
tc number them, or write, their names; that is, they shall be very few. A child can number qr count but few; yet the number of those who would be left, would be so very small that even a child could count them with ease. It is probable that a few of the army of Sennacherib escaped (see Note ch. xxxvii. 37); and compared with the whole army, the remnant might bear a striking i-esemblance to the few decaying trees of a once magnificent forest of cedars.
20. And it shall come to pass. The prophet proceeds to state the effect on the Jews of the judgment that would overtake the army of the Assyrian. One of those effects, as stated in this verse, would be, that they would be led to see that it was in vain to look to the Assyrians any more for aid, or to form any further alliance with them, but that they should trust in the Lord alone. IT The remnant of Israel. Those that would be left after the Assyrian had invaded and desolated the land. IT Shall no more again stay. Shall no more depend on them. Alliances had been formed with the Assyrians for aid, and they had resulted as all alliances formed between the friends and the enemies of God do. They are observed as long as it is for the interest or the convenience of God's enemies to observe them; and then his professed friends are made the victims of persecution, invasion, and ruin. IT Upon him that smote them. Upon the Assyrian, who was about to desolate the land. The calamities which he would bring upon them would be the main thing which would open their eyes and lead them to forsake the alliance. One design of God's permitting the Assyri- RRS to invade the land was, to punish Ihem for this alliance, and to induce