^yMt ;«':;-i-i^. i--!^. mm- m A\ . :M Te-"'*' THB HOLY BIBLE. CONTAINING THE ' A' , . • . • OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS THE TEXT r '""■ CAREFULLY PRINTED FROM THE MOST CORRECT COPIES OF THE PRES: AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION, INCLUDING THE MARGINAL READINGS AND PARALiLEL TEXTS; WITH A COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL NOTES; DESIGNED AS A HELP TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SACRED WRITINGS : \ BY ADAM CLARKE, LL.D., F.S.A., &c. A NEW EDITION, WITH THE AUTHOR'S FINAL CORRECTIONS. rOR WHATSOEVER THINGS WERE WRITTEN AFORETIME WERE WRITTEN FOR OUR LEARNING i TiaT ,WE, THROUGH PATIENCE AND COMFORT OF THE SCRIPTURES, SHGHT HAVE HOPE.— Rom. xv.1. • --,■, ■ A w THE OLD TESTAMENT. i :-,. 6: H VOLUME IV. ISAIAH TO MALACHI. "''^'^ ''^ NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY G. LANE & P P. SANDFORD, FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. AT THE CONFERENCE OFFICE, 200 MULBERRY-STREET JAMES COLLORD, PRINTER. 1843. J INTRODUCTION BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAEffl. (~\N the term prophet, and on the nature and several kinds of propliccy, I have akeady discoursed in different parts of this work. See the notes on Gen. xv. 1, xx. 7, and the preface to the four Gospels, and Acts of the Apostles. A few things only require to be recapitulated. n3J rtaba signifies not only to foretell future events, but also to pray and supplicate ; and k'3: nahi, the prophet, was by office not only a declarer of events still future, but the general preacher of the day ; and as he frequently foresaw the approach of disastrous times, such was the wickedness of the people, he employed his time in counselling sinners to turn from the error of their ways, and in making strong prayer and supplication to God to avert the threatened judgments : for such predictions, however apparently positive in their terms, were generally conditional ; strange as this may appear to some who, through their general ignorance of every thing but the peculiarities of their own creed, suppose that every occurrence is impelled by an irresistible necessity. To his own conduct, in reference to such matters, God has been pleased to give us a key (see Jer. xviii.) which opens all difficulties, and furnishes us with a general comment on his own providence. God is absolute master of his own ways ; and as he has made man & free agent, whatever concerns him in reference to futurity, on which God is pleased to express his mind in the way of prophecy, there is a condition generally implied or expressed. As this is but seldom attended to by partial interpreters, who wish by their doctrine of fatalism to bind even God himself, many contradictory sentiments are put in the mouths of his prophets. In ancient times those who were afterwards called prophets were termed seers ; 1 Sam. ix. 9. riNin haroeh, the seeing person ; he who perceives mentally what the design of God is. Sometimes called also nin chozeh, the man who has visions, or supernatural revelations ; 1 Kings xxii. 17 ; 2 Kings xvii. 13. Both these terms are translated seer in our common Version. They were sometimes also called fnen of God, and messengers or angels of God. In their case it was ever understood that all God's prophets had an extraordinary commission, and had their message given them by immediate inspiration. In this the heathen copied after the people of God. They also had their prophets and seers ; and hence their augurs and auguries, their haruspices, priests, and priestesses, and their oracles ; all pretending to be divinely inspired, and to declare nothing but the truth ; for what was truth and fact among the former, was affected and pretended among the latter. Many prophets and seers are mentioned in the sacred A\T-itings; hut, fragments and insulated prophecies excepted, we have the works of only sixteen ; four of whom are termed the former or larger prophets, and twelve, the latter or minor prophets. They have these epithets, not from priority of time, or from minor importance, but merely from the places they occupy in the present arrangement of the books in the Bible, and from the relative size of their productions. The Jews reckon forty-eight prophets, and seven prophetesses ; and Epiphanius, in a fragment preserved by Cotelerius, reckons not fewer than seventy-three prophets, and ten prophetesses ; but in both collections there are many which have no Scriptural pretensions to s'lch a distinguished rank. 3 INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. The succession of prophets in the Jewish Church is well worthy of note, because it not only rnanifests:<|i'e Vii^J;i£Lii-i"S^rds:'of KJ'cJdJ tOJvards that people, but also the uninterrupted succession of l]ie' p7-bph&ti(f iliWience, ^ leaSt fiom Moses to Malachi, if not before ; for this gift was not withhaM ^wicisr; the "f3 And as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. ) Isa. Ixi. 10. " Attention to this peculiarity in sacred poetry will frequently lead to the meaning of many passages in the poetical parts of Scripttire, in which it perpetually occurs, as the one line of a couplet, or member of a sentence, is generally a commentary on the other. Thus : — The Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrab, ) And a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. J Isa. xxxiv. 6. " Here the metaphor in the first line is expressed in plain terms in the next : the sacrifice in Bozrah means the great slaughter in Idumea, of which Bozrali was the capital. " It must be observed that the parallelism is frequently more extended. Thus : — For I will pour out waters on the thirsty, And flowing streams upon the dry ground ; I will pour out my Spirit on thy seed, And my blessing on thine offspring. ^ Isa. xliv. 3. « Here the two last lines explain the metaphor in the two preceding." As the gift of prophecy was the greatest which God gave to men upon earth, so the prophet, as being the immediate instrument of revealing the will of God to the people, was the greatest, the most important, the most august, venerable, and useful person in the land of Israel. Ipsi eis exeant, says St. Augustine, philosophi ipsi sapientes, ipsi theologi, ipsi prophets, ipsi doctores probitatis ac pietatis ; " They were to the people the philosophers, the wise men, the divines, the prophets, and the teachers of truth and godliness." By their intercourse with God, they were his mediators with the people ; and their persons, as well as their office, were considered as peculiarly sacred. They did not mix with the people, and only appeared in public when they came to annotuice the will of God. They were also a kind of typical persons — whatever occurred to them was instructive, so that they were for signs, metaphors, and portents. Most of the ancient prophets were extraordinary messengers. They were not bred up to the prophetic function; as the office was immediately from God, as well as tlie message they were to deliver to the people, so they had no previous education, in reference lo sv.rh 14 INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. an office, for no man knew whora the God of Israel might please to call to announce his righteousness to the people. Several of them were taken out of the walks of common life. Jonah appears to have been a private person at Gath-heper, in Galilee, before God called hiin to prophesy against Nineveh. Elisha was a ploughman at Abel-meholah (1 Kings xix 16) when called to the prophetic function. Zechariah appears to have been a husbandman, and a keeper of cattle, Zech. xiii. 5. Amos was a herdsman of Tekoa, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit; (Amos i. 1, vii. 14, 15 ;) and no doubt several others of the ancient prophets had an equally mean origin ; but the office and the calling dignified the man. We know that our blessed Lord called not his disciples from the higher walks or offices of life ; but out of fishermen, tax-gatherers, and tent-makers, he formed evangelists and apostles. The prophets appear to have gone in mean clothing ; either sack-cloth, hair-cloth, or coats of skin appear to have been their ordinary clothing. They spoke against tlie pride and vain-glory of man ; and their very garb and manner gave additional weight to the solemn words they delivered. They lived in a retired manner ; and, when not sent on special errands, they employed their vacant time in the instruction of youth ; as this is probably what we are to understand by the schools of the prophets, such as those over which Elijah, Elisha, and Samuel presided ; though no doubt there were some of their disciples that were made partakers of the prophetic gift. The prophets do not appear to have been called to a life of celibacy. Isaiah was a married man, chap. viii. 3 ; and so was Hosea, chap. i. 2 ; unless we are to understand the latter case enigmatically. And that the sons of the prophets had wives, we learn from 2 Kings iv. 1 , &c. ; and from this, as well as from the case of the apostles, we learn that the matrimonial state was never considered, either by Moses or the prophets, Christ or his apostles, as disquahfying men from officiating in the most holy offices ; as we find Moses, Aaron, Isaiah, Zechariah, and Peter, all married men, and yet the most eminent of their order. Of Isaiah, the writer of this book, very little is known. He is supposed to have been of the tribe of Jndah, and of the I'oyal family of David. Himself says tliat he was son of Amoz ; and others tell us that this Amoz was the son of Joash, and brother of Amaziah, king of Judah. " Of his family and tribe we know nothing," says R. D. Kimchi, " only our rabbins, of blessed memory, have received the tradition that Amoz and Amaziah were brothers ;" and it is on this groimd that he has been called the royal pi-ophet. It has been also said that Isaiah gave his daughter in marriage to Manasseh, son of Hezckiah, king of Judah ; and that himself was put to death by Manasseh, being sawn asunder with a wooden saw. But all these traditions stand on very slender authority, and are worthy of very little regard. Several commentators have thought that his prophecies afford presumptive evidence of his high descent and elegant education : 1 . Because his style is more correct and majestic than any of the other prophets. 2. That his frequent use of images taken from royalty is a proof that this state was familiar to him, being much at court, as he must have been, had he been the brother of the king. These things are spoken by many with much confidence ; for my own part, I had rather look to his inspiration for the correctness of his language and the dignity of his sentiments, than to those very inferior helps. On the other hypothesis nothing s left to the Divine Spirit, except the mere matter of his prophecies. Suppositions of this ■cmd are not creditable to Divine revelation. Isaiah appears to have had two sons, who were t)'pical in their names ; one, Shear-jashub, " a remnant shall return," chap. vii. 3 ; and the other Maher-shalal-hash-baz, " haste to the spoil; quick to the prey;" chap. viii. 3 ; and it is remarkable, that his wife is called d^ prophetess. Other matters relative to his character will appear in the notes on his prophecies. In the notes on this book 1 have consulted throughout the commentary of Rabbi David Kimchi, and have made much use of Bishop Lowth, as the reader will perceive. His various readings I have re-collated with Dr. Kennicott, and B. De Rossi ; in consequence of which f have been enabled in many cases to add double weight to the authorities by which the 15 INTRODUCTION 10 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. learned bishop was supported in the readings tfhich he has either mentioned, or received into the text. Bishop Loivth could avail himself only of the collections of Dr. Kennicott — . the sheets of Isaiah in the doctor's edition of the Hebrew Bible, as they passed through the press, were sent by him to the Bishop ; but the Collections of De Rossi, more numerous and more accurate than those of Dr. Kennicott, were not published till six years after the doctor had published his Bible, and about one year before this most learned and pious prelate went to his reward. I have also consulted some excellent Hebrew MSS. in my own library, from six to eight hundred years old, which have afforded me additional help in estimating the worth and importance of the various readings in the .above Collections of Kennicott and De Rossi, as far as they are employed in the illustration of this prophet. From the ancient English MS. Version of this prophet I have extracted several curious translations of select parts, which I have no doubt will meet vnth every reader's approbation. Though I have followed Bishop Lowth chiefly, yet I have consulted the best commentators within my reach, in order to remove doubts and clear up difiicult passages, but have studied to be as brief as possible, that the sacred text might not be encumbered either with the multitude or length of the notes, nor the reader's time occupied with any thing not essentially necessary ; besides, I wish to bring my work to as speedy a close as possible. This book, according to Vitringa, is twofold in its matter : 1 . Prophetical ; 2. Historical. 1. The prophetical is divided into five parts : Part I. From chap. i. to chap xiii. is directed to the Jews and Ephraimites, and contains _/ive prophetic discoiurses. Part H. From chap. xiii. to chap. xxiv. declares the fate of the Babylonians, Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Egyptians, Tyrians, and others ; and contains eight prophetic discourses. Part HI. From chap. xxiv. to chap. x.xxvi. denounces judgments on the disobedient Jews, and consoles the true followers of God. This contains three discourses. Part IV. From chap. xl. to chap. xlix. refers to the Messiah and the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonians ; and conteiins four discourses. Part V. From chap. xlix. to the end, points out the passion, crucifixion, and glory of the Messiah, and contains jTye discourses. 2. The historical part begins with chap, xxxvi., and ends with chap, xxxix., and relates some of the transactions of the prophet's own times. On this analysis Vitringa explains the whole prophecy. For my own part I have little or no confidence in such technical arrangements. Cabnet takes a diflferent view of it. He divides it into eight parts, viz. : Part I. he supposes to relate to Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah : this is included in the first six chapters. The prophet inveighs against the crimes of the Jews ; declares the judgments of God against them ; predicts a more auspicious time, which took place under Hezekiah, who was a type of Clurist. Part II. concerns the reign of Ahaz, and comprehends the six following chapters, in which he speaks of the siege of Jerusalem by Pekah and Rezin ; of the birth of Immanuel, as a proof of the approaching deliverance of Judah ; predicts the calamities that were to fall on the kingdoms of Syria and Israel, &c. Part III. contains many prophecies against Babylon, the Pliilistines, Moabites, &c. Part IV. contains prophecies against Egypt, Babylon, Kedar, Arabia, &c. Part V. concerns the reign of Hezekiah, and especially the war of Sennacherib against the Jews, &c. The four historical chapters inserted here contain the account of the fulfilment of the preceding prophecy. Part VI., included in chap. xl. to xlv. inclusive, contains the prophet's discourses on the existence of God, the truth and perfection of the Jewish religion, the vanity of idolatry, the return of the people from captivity, and the coming of Chi-ist. Part VII. fi-om chap. xlix. to chap, hi., the prophet, personifj'ing the Messiah, speaks of his sufferings, death, and burial ; predicts the return from the Babylonish captivity, and the glory of the latter days. Part VIII. speaks of the coming of the Messiah, and the vocation of the Gentiles ; the disgrace and confusion of all false prophets and teachers ; and the estabhshment of a pure and holy Church, &c. 16 INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. I might give other analyses of this book, Blit it is needless ; from what is before the reader he will at once see how vain all attempts of this kind arc, and how foolish to make divisions and subdivisions, partitions and classifications, where the Spirit of God has given no intima- tions of the kind, and where even the most learned men differ in their arrangement. " God never left his work for man to mend." The prophecies were given as they were necessary, and no classification was ever intended. We should take them up as we find them ; and humbly endeavour to find out their objects and meaning, and how far ourselves are interested in these denunciations of Divine wrath ; and in those glorious promises of mercy and salvation through Him who was onca the hope of Israel, and now is salvation to the ends of the earth. Bishop Lowlh's translation is by far the best that has ever been made of this sublime prophet : as he thoroughly understood his language, so he entered deeply into his spirit. Were it allowable, I should be glad to supersede what is called the authorized version, and put that of the learned bishop, with a few genuine alterations, in its place, as being abun- dantly more correct and nervous, rendering the sacred text more clearly, and consequently more intelligibly, so that the common reader can understand this text belter without a comment, than he can the authorized version even with one. His notes, which are a treasure of learn- ing and sound criticism, I have almost universally preserved, intermingling them with my own ; but large quotations from his notes I have distinguished by the letter L. ; and I have often adopted his text, as being vastly superior to that in common use ; the catch words from which follow those from the authorized version. Should a neiv translation of the Bible be ever published by authority, I have no doubt but, with a few alterations, that of Bishop Lowtb would be adopted as the standard. A. G Millbrook, Sept. 24, 1823. Vol. IV. ( 2 ) 17 THE BOOK !'ii P R O P H E T is AT AH. --■>/ Chronological Notes relative to the commence7nent of IsaiaKs prophecy. Year from the Creation of the World, according to the computation of Archbishop Usher, 3244. — Year from the Deluge, according to the generally received Hebrew te.xt, 1588. — Year from the vocation of Abram, 1161. — Year from the foundation of Solomon's Temple, 251. — First year of the fifth Olympiad. — Y'ear before the building of Rome, according to the Varronian computation, 7. — Fifteenth year of the reign of Thurimas, king of Macedon. — Eleventh year of the reign of Theopompus, king of Lacedaemon. — Second year of the reign of Alyattes, king of Lydia. — Eighteenth year of ..Eschylus, perpetual archon of the Athe- nians.— Second year of the reign of Pekahiah, king of Israel. Fifty-first year of the reign of Azariah, or Uziiali, king of Judah. — Epoch of the establishment of the Ephori at Lacedeeraon by Theopompus CHAPTER I. The prophet, with a boldness and majesty becoming the herald of the Most High, begins tvith calling on the whole creation to attend ivhile Jehovah speaks, 2. A charge of gross insensibility and ingratitude is then brought against the Jews, by contrasting their conduct with that of the ox and ass, the most stupid of animals, 3. This leads to an amplification of their guilt, 4 ; highly aggravated by their slighting the chastisements and judgments of God, though repeated till they had been left almost like Sodom and Gomor- rah, 5-9. The incidental mention of those places leads to an address to the rulers and people of the Jews, under the character of princes of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah, ivhich is no less spirited and severe than elegant and unexpected, 10. The vanity of trusting to the performance of the outward rites and cere- monies of religion is then exposed, 11-15 ; and the necessity of repentance and rej'ormalion is strongly enjoined, 16, 17, and urged by the most encouraging promises as well as by the most awful threatenings, 18—20. But neither of these producing the proper effect 07i that people ivho were the prophet's charge, he bitterly laments their degeneracy, 21-23 ; and concludes icith introducing God, declaring his purpose of inflicting such heavy judgments as tcould entirely cut off the uncked, and excite in the righteous, who should also pass through the furnace, an everlasting shame and abhorrence of every thing connected with idolatry, the source of their misery, 24-31. 'T^HE " vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, whicli he saw con- A. M. cir. 32M. B. C. cir. 760, Anno Olymp. Ante Urbern ccrning Judah and Jerusalem in Conditam 7. » Numbers, Isaiah exercised the prophetical office during a long period of time, if he lived to the reign of Manatsseh ; for the lowest computation, beginning from the year in which Uzziah died, when some suppose him to have received his first appointment to that office, brings it to sixty-one years. But the tradition of the Jews, that he was put to death by Manasseh, is very uncertain ; and one of their principal rabbins, Aben Ezra, Com. in Isa. i. 1, seems rather to think that he died before Hezekiah, which is indeed more probable. It is how- ever certain that he lived at least to the fifteenth or sixteenth year of Hezekiah ; this makes the least pos- sible term of the duration of his prophetical office about forty-eight years. The time of the delivery of some the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quints 1. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. chap. xii. 6. of his prophecies is either expressly marked, or suffi- ciently clear from the history to which they relate ; that of a few others may with some probability be de- duced from internal marks ; from expressions, descrip- tions, and circumstances interwoven. It ma}' there- fore be of some use in this respect, and for the better understanding of his prophecies in general, to give here a summary view of the history of his time. The kingdom of Judah seems to have been in a more flourishing condition during the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, than at any other time after the revolt of the ten tribes. The former recovered the port of Elath on the Red Sea, which the Edomites had taken in the reign of Joram. He was successful in his wars with 19 The prophet calls. 'mKrA.u. for attention k ^ 'ii'r.^760 2 '' J^^M.P •Mkn'^i ap^'feive Anno Olymp. Quintae I. Ante Urbem i , , . - . ,. , ^* * f/ >-! C t 1 r < I ,' t f ( .''',' ,^ •■Deut. xxxii. 1 ; 'Jer. u'.'\i','\i. l^',',xiiii. i^i fiieW. xj'icyi,''4|, ymp. ear, 0-ea;;t)i ;. YqV ,', the '-Lord rbem hath spoUek.': .'f'.I'.'ljave.' nourish- the Philistines, and took from them several cities, Gath, Jabneh, Ashdod ; as likewise against some people of Arabia Deserta, and against the Ammonites, whom he compelled to pay him tribute. He repaired and im- proved the fortifications of Jerusalem ; and had a great army, well appointed and disciplined. He was no less attentive to the arts of peace ; and very much encour- aged agriculture, and the breeding of cattle. Jotham maintained the establishments and improvements made by his father ; added to vi-hat Uzziah had done in strengthening the frontier places ; conquered the Am- monites, who had revolted ; and exacted from them a more stated and probably a larger tribute. However, at the latter end of his time, the league between Pe- kah, king of Israel, and Retsin, king of Syria, was formed against Judah ; and they began to carry their designs into execution. But in the reign of Ahaz his son not only all these advantages were lost, but the kingdom of Judah was brought to the brink of destruction. Pekah king of Israel overthrew the army of Ahaz, who lost in battle one hundred and hvenli/ thousand men ; and the Is- raelites carried away captives lioo hundred thousand women and children, who however were released and sent home again upon the remonstrance of the prophet Oded. After this, as it should seem, (see Vitringa on chap. vii. 2,) the two kings of Israel and Syria, join- ing their forces, laid siege to Jerusalem ; but in this attempt they failed of success. In this distress Ahaz called in the assistance of Tiglath-pileser, king of As- syria, who invaded the kingdoms of Israel and Syria, and slew Rezin ; but he was more in danger than ever from his too powerful ally ; to purchase whose forbear- ance, as he had before bought his assistance, he was forced to strip himself and his people of all the wealth he could possiljly raise from his own treasury, from the temple, and from the country. About the time of the siege of Jerusalem the Syrians took Elath, which was never after recovered. The Edomites likewise, taking advantage of the distress of Ahaz, ravaged Judea, and carried away many captives. The Philistines reco- vered what they had before lost ; and took many places in Judea, and maintained themselves there. Idolatry was established by the command of the king in Jeru- salem, and throughout Judea ; and the service of the temple was either intermitted, or converted into an idol- atrous worship. Hezekiah, his son, on his accession to the throne, immediately set about the restoration of the legal wor- ship of God, both in Jerusalem and through Judea. He cleansed and repaired the temple, and held a solemn passover. He improved the city, repaired the fortifi- cation, erected magazines of all sorts, and built a new aqueduct. In the fourtli year of his reign Shalmane- ser, king of Assyria, invaded the kingdom of Israel, took Samaria, and carried away the Israelites into cap- tivity, and replaced them by different people sent from 20 and they have rebelled against ^ ^- ^F- ^^^ me. Alino Olymp. 3 ^ The ox knoweth his owner, Ante Urbe'm and the ass his master's crib : '^""'"'^ ''■ ilivz. i. 2 ; vi. 1, 2. ' Chap. v. 1, 2. ^ Jer. viii. 7. his own country ; and this was the final destruction of that kingdom, in the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah. Hezekiah was not deterred by this alarming example from refusing to pay the tribute to the king of Assyria, which had been imposed on Ahaz : this brought on the invasion of Sennacherib in the fourteenth year of his reign, an account of which is inserted among the pro- phecies of Isaiah. After a great and miraculous de- liverance from so powerful an enemy, Hezekiah con- tinued his reign in peace. He prospered in all his works, and left his kingdom in a flourishing state to his son Manasseh — a son in every respect unworthy of such a father. See Lowth. NOTES ON CHAP. I. Verse 1. The vision of Isaiah] It seems doubtful whether this title belongs to the whole book, or only to the prophecy contained in this chapter. The former part of the title seems properly to belong to this par- ticular prophecy ; the latter part, which enumerates the kings of Judah under whom Isaiah exercised his pro- phetical office, seems to extend it to the whole collec- tion of prophecies delivered in the course of his min- istry. Vitringa — to whom the world is greatly in- debted for his learned labours on this prophet, and to whom we should have owed much more if he had not so totally devoted himself to Masoretic authority — has, I think, very judiciously resolved this doubt. He supposes that the former part of the title was originally prefixed to this single prophecy ; and that, when the collection of all Isaiah's prophecies was made, the enu- meration of the kings of Judah was added, to make it at the same time a proper title to the whole book. As such it is plainly taken in 2 Chron. xxxii. 32, where the book of Isaiah is cited by this title ; " The vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz." The prophecy contained in this first chapter stands single and unconnected, making an entire piece of itself. It contains a severe remonstrance against the corrup- tions prevailing among the Jews of that time, powerful exhortations to repentance, grievous threatenings to the impenitent, and gracious promises of better times, when the nation shall have been reformed by the just judg- ments of God. The expression, upon the whole, is clear ; the connection of the several parts easy ; and in regard to the images, sentiments, and style, it gives a beautiful example of the prophet's elegant manner of writing ; though perhaps it may not be equal in these respects to many of the following prophecies. Verse 2. Hear, O heavens — " Hear, O ye heavens"] God is introduced as entering into a public action, or pleading, before the whole world, against his disobe- dient people. The prophet, as herald or oflicer to pro- claim the summons to the court, calls upon all created beings, celestial and terrestrial, to attend and bear wit- ness to the truth of his plea and the justice of his cause. The same scene is more fully displayed in the Tlie stupidity and CKAP. I. iiigratilude of Israel A. M. cir. 3244. (,y^ Israel " doth not know, my B. C. cir. i60. •' Anno oiymp. people ^ clolli not consider. 4 All sinful nation, a people QuintiB I. Ante Urbcm Conditam 7. « laden with iniquity, *■ a seed of e Jer. ix. 3, C- ' Chap. V. 12. noble exordium of Psa. 1., where God summons all mankind, from east to west, to be present to hear his appeal ; and the solemnity is held on Sion, where he is attended with the same terrible pomp that accompa- nied him on Mount Sinai : — "A consuming fire goes before him. And round liim rages a violent tempest : He calleth the heavens from above, And the earth, that he may contend in judgment with his people." Psa. 1. 3, 4. By the same bold figure, Micah calls upon the moun- tains, that is, the whole country of Judea, to attend to him, chap. vi. 1, 2 : — "Arise, plead thou before the mountains, And let the hills hear thy voice. Hear, O ye mountains, the controversy of Jehovah ; And ye, O ye strong foundations of the earth : For Jehov.\h hath a controversy with his people. And he will plead his cause against Israel." With the like invocation, Moses introduces his sublime song, the design of which was the same as that of this prophecy, " to testify as a witness, against the Israel- ites," for their disobedience, Deut. xxxi. 21 : — "Give ear, O ye heavens, and 1 will speak ; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth." Deut. xxxii. 1. This, in the simple yet strong oratorical style of Moses, is, " I call heaven and earth to witness against thee this day ; life and death have I set before thee ; the blessing and the curse : choose now life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed." Deut. x.xx. 19. The poetical style, by an apostrophe, sets the personification in a much stronger light. Halli spoken — " That speaketh"] I render it in the present time, pointing it "131 dober. There seeins to be an impropriety in demanding attention to a speech already delivered. But the present reading may stand, as the prophet may be here understood to declare to the people what the Lord had first spoken to him. I have nourished] The Septuagint have cyevvriaa, "I have begotten." Instead of 'n'7T: giddalti, they read 'mS" yaladti ; the w'ord little differing from the other, and perhaps more proper; which the Chaldee likewise seems to favour ; " vocavi eos filios." See Exod. iv. 22 ; Jer. xxxi. 9. Averse 3. The ox knoweth] An amplification of the gross insensibility of the disobedient Jews, by compar- ing them with the most heavy and stupid of all animals, yet not so insensible as they. Bochart has well illus- trated the comparison, and shown the peculiar force of it. " He sets them lower than the beasts, and even than the most stupid of all beasts, for there is scarcely any more so than the ox and the ass. Yet these ac- knowledge their master ; they know the manger of their lord ; by whom they are fed, not for their own, but for evi: doers; ehildrs!}' th?t a.-e cor- *n *c "'■ tco*' ruplerd'! They liavo forsaken AnnoOlymp. the .Ijoee," they .have provoked Ante Urbcm the Hoiv Oae of Israel'.ujjtd '^°"'''"^'" '^- ' f Hcb. ofh-a-^ii'ts-. ^ Chup. Ivii. 3, 4 ; Matt. iii. 7. his good ; neither are they looked upon as children, but as beasts of burden ; neither are they advanced to honours, but oppressed with great and daily labours. While the Israelites, chosen by the mere favour of God, adopted as sons, promoted to the highest dignity, yet acknowledged not their Lord and their God ; bul despised his commandments, though in the highest de- gree equitable and just." Hieroz. i., col. 409. Jeremiah's comparison to the same purpose is equally elegant, but has not so much spirit and severity as this of Isaiah. "Even the stork in the heavens knoweth her season ; And the turtle, and the swallow, and the crane, ob- serve the time of their coming : But my people doth not know the judgment of Jehovah." Jer. viii. 7. Hosea has given a very elegant turn to the samo image, in the way of metaphor or allegor}' : — " I drew them with human cords, with the bands of love : And I was to them as he that lifteth up the yoke upon their cheek ; And I laid down their fodder before them." Hos. xi. 4 Salomo ben Melech thus explains the middle part of the verse, which is somewhat obscure : " I was to them at their desire as they that have compassion on a heifer, lest she be overworked in ploughing ; and that lift up the yoke from off her neck, and rest it upon her cheek that she may not still draw, but rest from her labour an hour or two in the day." But Israel] The Septuagint, Sijriac, Ar/uila, Theo- dotion, and Vulgate, read '7X")!J'''l vcyisrael, but Israel, adding the conjunction, which being rendered as an adversative, sets the opposition in a stronger light. Doth not know] The same ancient versions agree in adding ME, which very properly answers, and in- deed is almost necessarily required to answer, the words possessor and lord preceding. \apaT]X de MF ovK e^'vu ; Sept. " Israel autem me non cognovit ;'' Vulg. \rjpa>iX Heb. alienated^ or separated ; Psa. lyiii. 3. "^Chap. ix. 13 ; Jer. ii. 30 ; v. 3. israel othi lo yada. The word TUN othi has been lost out of the text. The very same phrase is used by Jeremiah, chap. iv. 22, i;?T vh T\1X ^ny ammi othi lo yadaii. And the order of the words must have been as above represented ; for they have joined '7N^l!'' y Is- rael, with 'mx othi, as in regimine ; they could not have taken it in this sense, Israel meus non cognovit, had either this phrase or the order of the words been different. I have endeavoured to set this matter in a clear light, as it is the first example of a whole word lost out of the text, of which the reader will find many other plain examples in the course of these notes. But RosenmiiUer contends that this is unnecessary, as the passage may be translated, " Israel knows nothing : my people have no understanding." The Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read 'ai'l veammi, " and my people ;" and so likewise sixteen MSS. of Kennicott, and fourteen of De Rossi. Verse 4. Ah sinful nation — " Degenerate"] Five MSS., one of them ancient, read U^r\r\'S!)Z moschathim, without the first ' yod, in hophal corrupted, not cor- rupters. See the same word in the same form, and in the same sense, Prov. xxv. 26. Are corrupters — " Are estranged"] Thirty-two MSS., five ancient, and two editions, read \T\'ll nazoru; which reading determines the word to be from the root "IM ziir, to alienate, not from "Mi nazar, to separate ; so Kimchi understands it. See also Annotat. in Nol- dium, G8. They are gone away backward — " They have turn- ed their backs upon him."] So Kimchi explains it : " they have turned unto him the back, and not the face." See Jer. ii. 27 ; vii. 24. I have been forced to render this line paraphrastically ; as the verbal translation, " they are estranged backward," would have been unintelligible. Verse 5. Why should ye he stricken any more — " On what part," &c. 1] The Vulgate renders HD Sj,' al meh, super quo, (see Job xxxviii. 6 ; 3 Chron. xxxii. 10,) upon what part. And so Abendana on Sal. ben Melech: " There are some who explain it thus : Upon what limb shall you be smitten, if you add defection 1 for already for your sins have you been smitten upon all of them ; so that there is not to be found in you a whole limb on which you can be smitten." Which agrees with what follows : " From the sole of the foot even unto the liead, there is no soundness in it :" and the sentiment and image is exactly the same with that of Ovid, Pont. ii. 7, 42 : — Vix liabet in nobis jam nova plaga locum. There is no place on you fur a new stripe. Or that still more expressive line of Euripides ; the great force and effect of which Longinus ascribes to 6 From the sole of the foot ^ *J,- "='■"■ ^,^ B. C. cir. 760. even unto the head there is no Anno oiymp. , . . , ^ Quintse 1. soundness in it ; but wounds, Ante Urbem and bruises, and putrefying sores ; "^ ''^™ ;7;they have not been closed, neither bound up, 'neither mollified with ° ointment. ' Hebrew, increase revolt.- Jeremiah viii. 22. "Or, oii. its close and compressed structure, analogous to the sense which it expresses : — Tepu KaKuv dri' k' ovk£t' eaff Imrj riBr/. I am full of miseries : there's no room for more. Here. Fur. 1245, Long. see. 40. " On what part will ye strike again 7 will ye add correction V This is addressed to the instruments of God's vengeance ; those that inflicted the punishment, who or whatsoever they were. Ad verbum certae persona? intelligendae sunt, quibus ista actio quae per verbum exprimitur competit ; " The words are ad- dressed to the persons who were the agents employed in the work expressed by the original word," as Glas- sius says in a similar case, Phil. Sacr. i. 3, 22. See chap. viii. 4. As from J'T yada, n>'l deah, knowledge ; from y|" yaats, nSJ? etsah, counsel ; from [ty yashan, nJt? she- nah, sleep, &c. ; so from "ID^ yasar is regularly de- rived niD sarah, correction. Averse 5. The whole head is sic?:] The king and the priests are equally gone away from truth and righteous- ness. Or, The state is oppressed by its enemies, and the Church corrupted in its rulers and in its members. Averse 6. They have not been closed, dfc. — " It hath not been pressed," &c.] The pharmaceutical art in the East consists chiefly in external applications : accord- ingly the prophet's images in this place are all taken from surgery. Sir John Chardin, in his note on Prov. iii. 8, " It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones," observes that " the comparison is taken from the plasters, ointments, oils, and frictions, which are made use of in the East upon the belly and stomach in most maladies. Being ignorant in the villages of the art of making decoctions and potions, and of the proper doses of such things, they generally make use of external medicines." — Harmer^s Observations on Scripture, vol. ii. p. 488. And in surgery their ma- teria medica is extremely simple, oil making the prin- cipal part of it. " In India," says Tavernier, " they have a certain preparation of oil and melted grease, which they commonly use for the healing of wounds." Voyage Ind. So the good Samaritan poured oil and wine on the wounds of the distressed Jew : wine, cleansing and somewhat astringent, proper for a fresh wound ; oil, mollifying and healing, Luke x. 34. Kimchi has a judicious remark here : " When various medicines are applied, and no healing takes place, that disorder is considered as coming immediately from God." Of the three verbs in this sentence, one is in the singular number in the text ; another is singular in two MSS., (one of them ancient,) ni^^n chubbeshah ; and the Syriac and Vulgate render all of them in the sin- gular number. The wretchedness and CHAP. I. desolatton of Zion A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olyrap. Quintna 1. Anlc Urbem Conditam 7. 7 "Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire : your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, p as overthrown by strangers. *> Deut. xxviii. 51, 52. p Heb. as the overthrow of strangers. Verses 7—9. Your country is desolate] The de- scription of the ruined and desolate state of the coun- try in these verses does not suit with any part of the prosperous limes of Uzziah and Jotham. It very well agrees with the time of Ahaz, when Judea was ravaged by the joint invasion of the Israelites and Syrians, and by the incursions of the Philistines and Edomitcs. The date of this prophecy is therefore generally fixed to the time of .\liaz. But on the other hand it may be considered whether those instances of idolatry which are urged in ver. 29 — the worshipping in groves and gardens — having been at all times too commonly prac- tised, can be supposed to be the only ones which the prophet would insist upon in the time of Ahaz ; who spread the grossest idolatry through the whole country, and introduced it even into the temple ; and, to com- plete his abominations, made his son pass through the fire to Molech. It is said, '2 Kings xv. 37, that in Jotham's time " the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin — and Pekah." If we may suppose any inva- sion from that quarter to have been actually made at the latter end of Jotham's reign, I should choose to refer this prophecy to that time. And your cities are burned. — Nineteen of Dr. Ken- nicolCs MSS. and twenty -two of De Rossi's, some of my own, with the Syriac and Arabic, add the conjunc- tion, which makes the hemistich more complete. Verse 7. D"1i zarim at the end of the verse. This reading, though confirmed by all the ancient versions, gives us no good sense ; for " your land is devoured by strangers ; and is desolate, as if overthrown by strangers,'' is a mere tautology, or, what is as bad, an identical comparison. Aben Ezra thought that the word in its present form might be taken for the same with Di; zercm, an inundation : Schultens is of the same opinion ; (see Taylor's Concord. ;) and Schindler in his Lexicon explains it in the same manner : and so, says Kimchi, some e.xplain it. Abendana endea- vours to reconcile it to grammatical analogy in the following manner : " D'l! zarim is the same with Dit zerem ; that is, as overthrown by an inundation of waters : and these two words have the same analogy as mp kedem and D'Tp kadim. Or it may be a con- crete of the same form with I'DiV shechir ; and the meaning will be ; as overthrown by rain pouring down violently, and causing a flood." On Sal. ben Mclcch, in loc. But I rather suppose the true reading to be Dli zerem, and have translated it accordingly : the word D''^I zerim, in the line above, seems to have caught the transcriber's eye, and to have led him into this mistake. But this conjecture of the learned prelate is not con- firmed by any MS. yet discovered. Verse 8. As a cottage in a vineyard — " As a shed in a vineyard"] A little temporary hut covered with boughs, straw, turf, or the like materials, for a shelter 8 And the daughter of Zion is left "i as a cotlaM in a vine- yard, as a lodge i of cucumbers, ■■ as city. a garden besieged A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintal I. Ante Urbera Conditain 7. 1 Job xxvii. 18 ; Lam. il. 0.- >■ Jcr. 17. from the heat by day, and the cold and dews by night, for the watchman that kept the garden or vine- yard during the short season the fruit was ripening, (see Job xxvii. 18,) and presently removed when it had served that purpose. See Hamier's Observ. i. 454. They were probably obliged to have such a constant watch to defend the fruit from the jackals. " The jackal," {chical of the Turks,) says Hassclquist, (Tra- vels, p. 227,) " is a species of mustela which is very common in Palestine, especially during the vintage ; and often destroys whole vineyards, and gardens of cucumbers." " There is also plenty of the canis vul- pcs, the fox, near the convent of St. John in the desert, about vintage time ; for they destroy all the vines un- less they are strictly watched." Ibid. p. 184. See Cant. ii. 15. Fruits of the gourd kind, melons, water-melons, cucumbers, &c., are much used and in great request in the Levant, on account of their cooling quality. The Israelites in the wilderness regretted the loss of the cucumbers and melons among the other good things of Egypt, Num. xi. 5. In Egypt the season of ivater-melons, which are most in request, and which the common people then chiefly live upon, lasts but three weeks. See Hassclquist, p. 25G. Tavernier makes it of longer continuance : L'on y void de grands carreaux de melons et de concombrcs, mais beaucoup plus de derniers, dont les Levantins font leur delices. Le plus souvent ils les mangent sans les peler, apr^s quoi ils vont boire une verre d'eau. Dans toute I'Asie c'est la nourriture ordinaire du petit peuple pendant trois ou quatre mois ; toute la famille en vit ; et quand uii enfant demand a manger, au lieu qu'en France ou aillieurs nous luy donnerions du pain, dans le Levant on hiy presente un concombre, qu'il mange cru comme on le vient de cueillir. Les concombres dans le Le- vant ont une bont6 particuliere ; et quoiqu' on les mange crus, ils ne font jamais de mal ; " There are to be seen great beds of melons and cucumbers, but a greater number of the latter, of which the Levantines are particularly fond. In general they eat them with- out taking off the rind, after which they drink a glass of water. In every part of Asia this is the aliment of the common people for three or four months ; the whole family live on them ; and when a child asks something to eat, instead of giving it a piece of bread, as is done in France and other countries, they present it with a cucumber, which it eats raw, as gathered. Cucumbers in the Levant are peculiarly excellent ; and although eaten raw, they are seldom injurious." Ta- vernier, Relat. du Serrail, cap. xix. As a lodge, ^-c] That is, after the fruit was ga- thered ; the lodge being then permitted to fall into decay. Such was the desolate, ruined state of the city. 33 The vanity and ISAIAH. hypocrisy of Israel. A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintae I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. 9 Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been Sodom, and we should have as been like unto Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers •■ of Sodom ; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 1 1 To what purpose is the multitude of your " sacrifices unto me 1 saith the Lord : I 'Lam. iii.22; Rom. ix.29. tQen. xix.24. " Deut. xxxii. 32 ; Ezek. xvi. 46. " 1 Sam. xv. 22 ; Psa. 1. 8, 9 ; li. 16 ; Prov. XV. 8 ; xxi. 27 i chap. Ixvi. 3 ; Jer. vi. 20 ; vii. 21 ; Amos v. 21, A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintae 1. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of bul- locks, or of lambs, or of" he-goats. 1 2 When ye come ^ to ^ appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts ? 13 Bring no more ^ vain oblations ; incense is an abomination unto me ; the new moons and Sabbaths, " the calling of assemblies, I 22 ; Mic. vi. 7. " Heb. great he-goats. « Heb. to be seen. .'Exod. xxiii. 17; xxxiv. 23. ^Matt. xv. 9. 'Joel i. 14; ii. 15. As a besieged city — " A city taken by siege"] So the (if TToXt( T7o?iiopKov/iev7i ; Septuagint : see also the Vulgate. Verse 9. The Lord of hosts — " Jehovah God of hosts"] As this title of God, niN3X niD' Yehovah tsebaoth, " Jehovah of hosts," occurs here for the first time, I think it proper to note, that I translate it al- ways, as in this place, " Jehovah God of hosts ;" tak- ing it as an elliptical expression for niNOX 'n'7N niiT' Yehovah Eloheij tsebaoth. This title imports that Je- hovah is the God or Lord of hosts or armies ; as he is the Creator and Supreme Governor of all beings in heaven and earth, and disposeth and ruleth them all in their several orders and stations ; the almighty, uni- versal Lord. We should have been as Sodom] As completely and finally ruined as that and the cities of the plain were, no vestige of which remains at this day. Verse 10. Ye rulers of Sodom — "Ye princes of Sodom"] The incidental mention of Sodom and Go- morrah in the preceding verse suggested to the pro- phet this spirited address to the rulers and inhabitants of Jerusalem, under the character of princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah. Two examples of a sort of elegant turn of the like kind may be observed in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, chap. xv. 4, 5, 12, 13. See Locke on the place ; and see ver. 29, 30, of this chapter, which gives another example of tlie same. And — lilte unto Gomorrah. — The 1 vau is added by thirty-one of KennicotCs MS.S., twenty -nine of De Rossi's and one, very ancient, of my own. See on ver. G. Verse 1 1 . To ivhat purpose, <^c. — " What have I to do."] The prophet Amos has expressed the same sentiments with great elegance : — - "I hate, I despise your feasts; And I will not delight in the odour of your so- lemnities : Though ye offer unto me burnt-offerings And your meat-offerings, I will not accept : Neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fallings. Take away from me the noise of your songs ; And the melody of your viols I will not hear. But let judgment roll down like waters ; And righteousness like a mighty stream." Amos v. 21-24. S4 So has Persius ; see Sat. ii. v. 71-75 : — " Quin damus id Superis, de magna quod dare lana;," &c. The two or three last pages of Plato's Euthyphro contain the same idea. Sacrifices and prayers are not profitable to the offerer, nor acceptable to the gods, unless accompanied with an upright life. Verse 11. The fat of fed beasts, <5fc.] The fat and the blood are particularly mentioned, because these were in all sacrifices set apart to God. The fat was always burnt upon the altar, and the blood was partly sprinkled, difierently on different occasions, and partly poured out at the bottom of the altar. See Lev. iv. Verse 12. When ye come to appear] Instead of niNlS leraoth, to appear, one MS. has niNlS liroth, to see. See De Rossi. The appearing before God here refers chiefly to the three solemn annual festivals. See Exod. xxiii. 14. Tread my courts (no more)] So the Septuagint divide the sentence, joining the end of this verse to the beginning of the next : "Rarciv ttjv avlriv fiov, ov izpoa- Brincade ; " To tread my court ye shall not add — ye shall not be again accepted in worship." Verse 13. The new moons and Sabbaths — " The fast and the day of restraint"] mXJ'l [IN ave vaatsarah. These words are rendered in many different manners by different interpreters, to a good and probable sense bv all ; but I think by none in such a sense as can arise from the phrase itself, agreeably to the idiom of the Hebrew language. Instead of pX aven, the Sep- tuagint manifest'y read DIV tsom, vritrrciav, " the fast." This Houbigant has adopted. The prophet could not well have omitted the fast in the enumeration of their solemnities, nor the abuse of it among the instances of their hypocrisy, which he has treated at large with such force and elegance in his ffty-eighth chapter. Observe, also, that the prophet Joel, (chap. i. 14, and ii. 15,) twice joins together the fast and the day of restraint : — msi' iNip Dii" itynp atsarah kiru tsom haddeshu " Sanctify a fast ; proclaim a day of restraint :" which shows how properly they are here joined to- gether, rrrsy atsarah, " the restraint," is rendered, both here and in other places of our English trans- lation, "the solemn assembly." Certain holy days ordained by the law were distinguished by a particular Exhortations and CHAP. I. threatenings. A. M. cir. 32-14. caniiot awav with ; it is •> iniqui- B. C. cir. 760. •' . ' Anno oiymp. ty, cven the solemn meeting. Ante'urt)om 14 YouT " now moons and your Conditam 7. d appointed feasts my soul ha- teth : they are a trouble xmto mc ; " i am weary to bear tJiem. 15 And ' when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you : « yea, when ye '' make many prayers, I will not hear : your iiands are full of ' blood.'' 16 ' Wash you, make you clean ; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; " cease to do evil ; 17 Learn to do well ; " seek judgment, ° re- lieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. >> Or, grief.— ' Num.xxviii. 11. "i Lev. xxiii.2, &c. ; Lam. li. G. " Cliap. xliii. 24. ' Job xxvii. 29 ; Psalm cxxxiv. 2 ; Prov. i. 28 ; chap. lix. 2 ; Jcr. xiv. 12 ; Mic. iii. 4. c Psa. Ixvi. 18 ; 1 Tim. ii. 8. ''Heb. multiply prayer. 'Chap. lix. 3. k Heb. bloods. ■ Jer. iv. 14. charge that " no servile work should be done therein ;" Lev. xxviii. 36 ; Num. xxix. 35 ; Deut. xvi. 8. This circumstance clearly explains the reason of the name, the rcstrainl, or the day of restraint, given to those days. If I could approve of any translation of these two words which I have met with, it should be that of the Spanish version of the Old Testament, made for the use of the Spanish Jews : Tortura y delenimento, " it is a pain and a constraint unto me." But I still think that the reading of the Septuagint is more probably the truth. Verse 15. When ye spread] The Si/riac, Septua- gint, and a MS., read DDtyia^ heparshecem, without the conjunction 1 vau. Your hands — " For your hands"] At yap x^^PH — Sept. Mamis enim vestrce — Vulg. They seem to have read DJ'T' ^2 h yedeychem. Verse 16. Wash yoiC\ Referring to the preceding verse, "your hands are full of blood;" and alluding to the legal washings commanded on several occasions. See Lev. xiv. 8, 9, 47. Verse 17. Relieve the oppressed — "Amend that which is corrupted"] yion nt^N asheru chamois. In rendering this obscure phrase I follow Bochart, (Hieroz. Part i., lib. ii., cap. 7.,) though I am not perfectly sa- tisfied with this explication of it. Verse 18. Though your sins be as scarlet] 'JB' shani, " scarlet or crimson," dibaphum. ttcice dipped, or double dyed ; from nJC shanah, itcrare, to double, or to do a thing twice. This derivation seems much more probable than that which Salmasius prefers, from pi? shanan, acuere, to whet, from the sharpness and strength of the colour, ofu^oa-iicov ; };'-i7\ tela, the same ; properly the worm, vermiculus, (from whence vermeil,) for this colour was produced from a worm or insect which grew in a coccus or excrescence of a shrub of the ilex kind, (see Plin. Nat. Hist. xvi. 8,) like the cochineal worm in the opuntia of America. See Ul- 18 Come now, and " let us tea- ^b'c. e^r ^■tw.' son together, saith the Lord : Anno oiymp. , ° ' . , , , Quinta. I. though your sins be as scarlet, Ante Urbem 1 they shall be as white as snow ; ^°'"'"^'" ''■ though tlicy be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be wiUing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land : 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword : ' for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 2 1 ' How is the faithful city become a harlot! it was full of judgment ; righteousness lodged in it ; but now murderers. 22 ' Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water : ■n Psa. xxxiv. 14 ; xxxvii. 27 ; Amos v. 15 ; Rom. xii. 9 ; 1 Pet. iii. 11. ojer xxii. 3, 16; Mic. vi. 8; Zech. vii. 9; viii. 16. " Or, righten. PChap. xliii. 26; Mic. vi. 2. 1 Psalm li. 7; Rev. vii. 14. 'Num. xxiii. 19; Tit. i. 2. -Jer. 11.20, 21. ' Jer. vi. 28, 30 ; Ezek. xxii. 18, 19. loa's Voyage, book v., chap, ii., note to page 342. There is a shrub of this kind that grows in Provence and Languedoc, and produces the like insect, called the kermes oak, (see Miller, Diet. Quercus,) from ker- mez, the Arabic word for this colour, whence our word crimson is derived. " Neque amissos colores Lana refert medicata fuco," says the poet, applying the same image to a different purpose. To discharge these strong colours is impos- sible to human art or power ; but to the grace and power of God all things, even much more difficult, are possible and easy. Some copies have Q'iWD keshanim, " like crimson garments." Though they be red, 4'c] B"' Ae conjunction 1 vau is added by twenty-one of KennicotCs, and by forty-two of De Rossi's MSS., by some early editions, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic. It makes a fuller and more emphatic sense. " And though they be red as crimson,^'' &c. Verse 19. Ye shall eat the good of the land] Refer- ring to ver. 7 : it shall not be " devoured by strangers." Verse 20. Ye shall be devoured ivith the sword — " Ye shall be food for the sword"] The Septuagint and Vulgate read DoS^NH tochalchem, " the sword shall devour you ;" which is of much more easy construction than the present reading of the text. The Chaldee seems to read iSjNH 2'IN 3in3 bechereb oyeb teachelu, " ye shall be consumed by the sword of the enemy.''' The Syriac also reads 3in3 bechereb, and renders the verb passively. And the rhythmus seems to require this addition. — Dr. Jubb. Verse 2 1 . Become a harlot] See before, the Dis- course on the Prophetic Style ; and see Lowth's Com- ment on the place, and De Sacr. Poes. Hebr. Prasl. xxxi. Verse 22. Wine mixed with water] An image used for the adulteration of wines, with more propriety than may at first appear, if what Thevenot says of the pe». 25 The degeneracy ISAIAH. of the people. AgM. cir 3244, 23 " Thy princes are rebellious, Anno Olymp. and ' Companions of thieves : QuintEG I. , 1 • r 1 r 1 Ante Urbem ^ every One loveth guts, and lol- ^"■"^'^^ ^- loweth after rewards: they " Hos. ix. 15. ^ Prov. xxix. 24. ^ Jer. xxii. 17; Ezek. xxii. pie of the Levant of late times were true of them for- merly. He says, " They never mingle water with their wine to drink ; but drink by itself what water they think proper for abating the strength of the wine." " Lorsque les Persans boivent du vin, ils le prennent tout pur, k la facon des Levantins, qui ne le mfelent jamais avec de I'eua ; mais en beuvant du vin, de temps en temps ils prennent un pot d'eau, et en boivent de grand traits." Voyage, part ii., liv. ii., chap. 10. " lis (les Turcs) n'y meslent jamais d'eau, et se moquent des Chretiens, qui en mettent, ce qui leur semble tout a fait ridicule." Ibid, part i., chap. 24. " The Turks never mingle water with their wine, and laugh at the Chris- tians for doing it, which they consider altogether ridi- culous." It is remarkable that whereas the Greeks and Latins by mixed wine always understood wine diluted and lowered with water, the Hebrews on the contrary gene- rally mean by it wine made stronger and more ine- briating by the addition of higher and more powerful ingredients, such as honey, spices, defrutum, (or wine inspissated by boiling it down to two-thirds or one-half of the quantity,) myrrh, mandragora, opiates, and other strong drugs. Such were the exhilarating, or rather stupifying, ingredients which Helen mixed in the bowl together with the wine for her guests oppressed with grief to raise their spirits, the composition of which she had learned in Egypt : — Kvtlk' ap' c(f oivov fiaTie (pap/iaKOV, evdev enn'oVf N;;7r£t'0ff r* axoT^ov rf, kukuv eTztXTjdov uTzavTuv. Homer. Odyss. lib. iv., ver. 220. " Meanwhile, with genial joy (o warm the soul. Bright Helen mix'd a mirth-inspiring bowl ; Temper'd with drugs of sovereign use, to assuage The boiling bosom of tumultuous rage : Charm'd with that virtuous draught, the exalted mind All sense of wo delivers to the wind." Pope. Such was the " spiced wine and the juice of pome- granates," mentioned Cant. viii. 2. And how much the Eastern people to this day deal in artificial liquors of prodigious strength, the use of wine being forbidden, may be seen in a curious chapter of Kempfer upon that subject. Amoen. Exot. Fasc. iii., Obs. 15. Tlius the drunkard is properly described, Prov. xxiii. 30, as one " that seeketh mixed wine," and " is mighty to mingle strong drink," Isa. v. 22. And hence the poet took that liighly poetical and sublime image of the cup of God's wrath, called by Isaiah Ii. 17, the "cup of trembling," causing intoxication and stupefaction, (see Chappelow's note on Hariri, p. 33,) containing, as St. John expresses in Greek the Hebrew idea with the utmost precision, though with a seeming contradiction in terms, KeKepaoficvov anparov, merum mixtion, pure wine made yet stronger by a mixture of powerful in- gredients; Rev. xiv. 10. " In the hand of Jehovah," saitli the psalmist, Psa. Ixxv. 8, " there is a cup, and the 26 judge not the fatherless, neither ^^j^ "^^^ f^- doth the cause of the widow come Anno oiymp. , Quintas I. unto them. Ante Urbem 24 Therefore saith the Lord, ^°°'"'"'" ^- 12 ; Hos. iv. 18 ; Mic. iii. 11 ; vii. 3. « Jer. v. 28 ; Zech. vii. 10 wine is turbid : it is full of a mixed liquor, and he poureth out of it ;" or rather, " he poureth it out of one vessel into another," to mix it perfectly, according to the read- ing expressed by the ancient versions, ni '7S niO IJM vaiyagger mizzeh al zeh, and he pours it from this to that, " verily the dregs thereof," the thickest sediment of the strong ingredients mingled with it, " all the un- godly of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them." Ii. D. Kimchi says, " The current coin was adulter- ated with brass, tin, and other metals, and yet was cir- culated as good money. The wine also was adulterated with water in the taverns, and sold notwithstanding for pure wine." Verse 23. Companions of thieves — "Associates"] The Septuagint, Vulgate, and four MSS., read ^^^^2\^ chabrey, without the conjunction 1 van. Verse 24. Ah, I will ease me — "Aha! I will be eased"] Anger, arising from a sense of injury and affront, especially from those who, from every con- sideration of duty and gratitude, ought to have behaved far otherwise, is an uneasy and painful sensation : and revenge, executed to the full on the offenders, removes that uneasiness, and consequently is pleasing and quiet- ing, at least for the present. Ezekiel, chap. v. 13, in- troduces God expressing himself in the same manner : — " And mine anger shall be fully accomplished ; And I will make my fury rest upon them ; And I will give myself ease." This is a strong instance of the metaphor called an- thropopathia, by which, throughout the Scriptures, as well the historical as the poetical parts, the sentiments, sensations, and affections, the bodily faculties, qualities, and members, of men, and even of brute animals, are attributed to God, and that with the utmost liberty and latitude of application. The foundation of this is ob- vious ; it arises from necessity ; we have no idea of the natural attributes of God, of his pure essence, of his manner of existence, of his manner of acting ; when therefore we would treat on these subjects, we find our- selves forced to express tliem by sensible images. But necessity leads to beauty ; this is true of metaphor in general, and in particular of this kind of metaphor, which is used with great elegance and sublimity in the sacred poetry ; and what is very remarkable, in the grossest instances of the application of it, it is generally the most striking and the most sublime. The reason seems to be this : when the images are taken from the superior faculties of the human nature, from the purer and more generous affections, and applied to God, we are apt to acquiesce in the notion ; we overlook the metaphor, and take it as a proper attribute ; but w-hen the idea is gross and oflensive, as in this passage of Isaiah, where the impatience of anger and the pleasure of revenge is attributed to God, we are immediately shocked at the application ; the impropriety strikes us at once ; and the rnind, casting about for something in Promises of CHAP. 1. ristoralion. ^n'^'"'^- 2?"- the T.oRD of hosts, the mightv B. C. cir. 1 60. T 1 Anno oiymp. one 01 Isracl, Ah, ^ I will ease Quintal 1. f. . , . . Ante Urbcm mc 01 mine adversanes, and Conditam 7. avenge mc of mine enemies : 25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and ' purely ° purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin : 26 And I will restore thy judges '' as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning : afterward " thou shall be called. The city y Dcut. xxviii. 63 ; Ezek. v. 13. ' Hcb. according topureness, « Jer. vi. 29 ; ix. 7 ; Mai. iii. 3. •> Jer. xxxiii. 7. ' Zech. viii. 3. the Divine nature analogous to the image, lays hold on some great, obscure, vague idea, which she endeavours to comprehend, and is lost in immensity and astonish- ment. See De Sacr. Poesi. Hebr. Prael. xvi. sub. Jin., where this matter is treated and illustrated by examples. Verse 25. / will turn my hand upon thee] So the common version ; and this seems to be a metaphor taken from the custom of those who, when the metal is melted, strike off the scoria; with their hand pre- viously to its being poured out into the mould. I have seen this done with the naked hand, and no injury whatever sustained. Purge away thy dross — " In the furnace"] The text has 133 cabbor, which some render " as with soap ;" as if it were the same with n'133 keborith ; so Kimchi; but soap can have nothing to do with the purifying of metals. Others, " according to purity," or " purely," as our version. Le Clerc conjectured that the true reading is 1133 kechur, " as in the furnace ;" see Ezek. xxii. 18, 20. Dr. Durell proposes only a transposi- tion of letters 133 to the same sense ; and so likewise Archbishop Seeker. That this is the true reading is highly probable. Verse 2G. I ivtll restore] "This," says Kimchi, " shall be in the days of the Messiah, in which all the wicked shall cease, and the remnant of Israel shall neither do iniquity, nor speak lies." What a change must this be among Jeus ! Afterward — " Ami after this"] The Sepluaginl, Synac, Chaldee, and eighteen MSS., and one of my own, very ancient, add the conjunction 1 vau, and. Verse 27. With judgment — " In judgment"] By the exercise of God's strict justice in destroying the obdurate, (see ver. 28,) and delivering the penitent in righteousness ; by the truth and faithfulness of God in performing his promises." Verse 29. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks — " For ye shall be ashamed of the ilexes"] Sacred groves were a very ancient and favourite appendage of idolatry. They were furnished with the temple of the god to whom they were dedicated, with altars, images, and every thing necessary for performing the various rites of worship offered there ; and were the scenes of many impure ceremonies, and of much abomi- nable superstition. They made a principal part of the religion of the oid inhabitants of Canaan ; and the Is- raelites were commanded to destroy their groves, among other monuments of their false worship. The Israel- 1 of righteousness, the faithful ■*• "; <='.'"• 32«. ° B. C. cir. 760. City. Anno Oljrmp. 27 Zion shall be redeemed Ant'e"u?bJni with judgments, and '^her con- ^°"''"°'" ''■ verts with righteousness. 28 And the ° destruction ^ of the transgress ors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be con- sumed. 29 For they shall be ashamed of « the oaks ■i Or, they that return of tier. « Job xxxi. 3 ; Psa. i. 6 ; v. 6. Ix-iiii. 27; xcii. 9; cir. 35. ' Heb. breaking. f Chap. Ivii. 5. ites themselves became afterwards very much addicted to this species of idolatry. "When I had brought them into the land. Which I swore that 1 would give unto them ; Then they saw every high hill and every thick tree ; And tliere they slew their victims ; And there they presented the provocation of their offerings ; And there they placed their sweet savour ; And there they poured out their libations." Ezek. XX. 28. " On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice ; And on the hills they burn incense ; Under the oak and the poplar ; And the ilex, because her shade is pleasant." Hos. iv. 13. Of what particular kinds the trees here mentioned are, cannot be determined with certainty. In regard to Tnii ellah, in this place of Isaiah, as well as in Hosea, Celsius (Hierobot.) understands it of the tere- binth, because the most ancient interpreters render it so ; in the first place the Septuagint. He quotes eight places ; but in three of these eight places the copies vary, some having iSpuf, the oak, instead of Tepei3tv8o{, the terebinth or turpentine tree. And he should have told us, that these same seventy render it in sixteen other places by 6pvc, the oak ; so that their authority is really against him ; and the Septuagint, " slant pro quercu," contrary to what he says at first setting out. Add to this that Symmachus, Theodotion, and Aquila, generally render it by cSpi'r, the oak; the latter only once rendering it by repejiivdo;, the terebinth. His other arguments seem to me not very conclusive ; he says, that all the qualities of nSx ellah agree to the terebinth, that it grows in mountainous countries, that it is a strong tree, long-lived, large and high, and de- ciduous. All these qualities agree just as well to the oak, against which he contends ; and he actually attri- butes them to the oak in the very next section. But I think neither the oak nor the terebinth will do in this place of Isaiah, from the last circumstance which he mentions, their being deciduous, where the prophet's design seems to me to require an evergreen, otherwise the casting of its leaves would be nothing out of the common established course of nature, and no proper image of extreme distress and total desolation, parallel to that of a garden without water, that is, wholly burnt 27 Threatemngs denounced ISAIAH. against the impenitent which ye have desired, '^ and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. SOForyeshallbeasanoakwhose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. 'Chap. Ixr. 3 ; Ixvi. 17. ' Ezek. xxxii. 21. A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintas I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. up and destroyed. An ancient, who was an inhabitant and a native of this country, understands it in like man- ner of a tree blasted with uncommon and immoderate heat ; velut arhores, cum frondes etstu tonrente decus- serunt. Ephrem Syr. in \oc.,eiit. Assema.m. Com- pare Psa. i. 4 ; Jer. xvii. 8. Upon the whole I have chosen to make it the ilex, which word Vossius, Ety- molog., derives from the Hebrew n'7N ellah, that whether the word itself be rightly rendered or not, I might at least preserve the propriety of the poetic image. — L. By the ilex the learned prelate means the holly, which, though it generally appears as a sort of shrub, grows, in a good soil, where it is unmolested, to a con- siderable height. I have one in my own garden, rising three stems from the root, and between ticenty and thirty feet in height. It is an evergreen. Verse 29. For they shall be ashamed — " For ye shall be ashamed"] IB'IDn teboshu, in the second person, Vulgate, Chaldee, three MSS., one of my own, ancient, and one edition ; and in agreement with the rest of the sentence. Verse 30. Whose leaf — " Whose leaves"] Twenty- six of Komicott^s, twenly-four of De Rossi's, one an- cient, of my own, and seven editions, read D^'?;? aleyha, in its full and regular form. This is worth remarking, as it accounts for a great number of anomalies of the like kind, which want only the same authority to rec- tify them. As a garden that hath no ivatei — "A garden wherein is no water."] In the hotter parts of the Eastern coun- tries, a constant supply of water is so absolutely ne- ces.sary for the cultivation and even for the preserva- tion and existence of a garden, that should it want water but for a few days, every thing in it would be burnt up with the heat, and totally destroyed. There is therefore no garden whatever in those countries but what has such a certain supply, either from some neigh- bouring river, or from a reservoir of water collected from springs, or filled with rain water in the proper season, in sufficient quantity to afford ample provision for the rest of the year. Moses, having described the habitation of man newly created as a garden planted with every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, adds, as a circumstance necessary to complete the idea of a garden, that it was well supplied with water, "And a riverwent out of Eden to water the garden ;" Gen. ii. 10 : see also xiii. 10. That the reader may have a clear notion of this matter, it will be necessary to give some account of the management of their gardens in this respect. " Damascus," says Maundrell, p. 122, " is encom- passed with gardens, extending no less, according to common estimation, than thirty miles round ; which makes it look like a city in a vast wood. The gardens are thick set with fruit trees of all kinds, kept fresh 28 3 1 ' And the strong shall be ^ as tow, ^ and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them. A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintae 1. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. ^ Chap, xliii. 17. ^ Or, and his work. and verdant by the waters of the Barrady, (the Chry- sorrhoas of the ancients,) which supply both the gar- dens and city in great abundance. This river, as soon as it issues out from between the cleft of the mountain before mentioned into the plain, is immediately divided into three streams ; of which the middlemost and big- gest runs directly to Damascus, and is distributed to all the cisterns and fountains of the city. The other two (which I take to be the work of art) are drawn round, one to the right hand, and the other to the left, on the borders of the gardens, into which they are let as they pass, by little currents, and so dispersed all over the vast wood, insomuch that there is not a garden but has a fine quick stream running tlirough it. The Barrady is almost wholly drunk up by the city and gardens. What small part of it escapes is united, as I was in- formed, in one channel again on the southeast side of the city ; and, after about three or four hours' course, finally loses itself in a bog there, without ever arriving at the sea." This was likewise the case in former times, as Straho, lib. xvi., Pliny, lib. v. 18, testify; who say, " that this river was expended in canals, and drunk up by watering the place." " The best sight," says the same Maundrell, p. 39, " that the palace of the emir of Beroot, anciently Be- rytus, affords, and the worthiest to be remembered, is the orange garden. It contains a large quadrangular plat of ground, divided into sixteen lesser squares, four in a row, with walks between them. The walks are shaded with orange trees of a large spreading size. Every one of these sixteen lesser squares in the gar- den was bordered with stone ; and in the stone work were troughs, very artificially contrived, for conveying the water all over the garden ; there being little outlets cut at every tree for the stream as it passed by to flow out and water it." The royal gardens at Ispahan are watered just in the same manner, according to Kemp- fer's description, Amcen. Exot., p. 193. This gives us a clear idea of the D''"D 'jSa palgey mayim, mentioned in the first Psalm, and other places of Scripture, " the divisions of waters," the waters distributed in artificial canals ; for so the phrase pro- perly signifies. The prophet Jeremiah, chap. xvii. 8, has imitated, and elegantly amplified, the passage of the psalmist above referred to : — " He shall be like a tree planted by the water side. And which sendeth forth her roots to the aqueduct. She shall not fear, when the heat cometh ; But her leaf shall be green ; And in the year of drought she shall not be anxious. Neither shall she cease from bearing fruit." From this image the son of Sirach, Ecclus. xxiv. 30, 31, has most beautifully illustrated the influence and the increase of religious wisdom in a well prepared heart. A ptophect/ of the CHAP. II. " I also come forth as a canal from a river, And as a conduit flowing into a paradise. I said, I will water my garden, And I will abundantly moisten my border : And, lo ! my canal became a river, And my river became a sea." This gives us the true meaning of the following ele- gant proverb, Prov. xxi. 1 : — " The heart of the king is like the canals of waters in the hand of Jehovah ; Whithersoever it pleaseth him, he inclineth it." The direction of it is in the hand of Jehov.ih, as the distribution of the water of the reservoir through the garden by diflcrent canals is at the w ill of the gardener. "Et, cum exustus ager morientibus sestuat herbis, Ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam Elicit : ilia cadens raucum per levia murmur Saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva." Virg., Georg. i. 107. "Then, when the fiery suns too fiercely play, And shrivelled herbs on withering stems decay. The wary ploughman on the mountain's brow Undams his watery stores ; huge torrents flow ; And, rattling down the rocks, large moisture yield. Tempering the thirsty fever of the field." Dbvden. Solomon, Eccles. ii. 5, 6, mentions his own works of this kind : — "I made me gardens, and paradises ; And I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made me pools of water, To water with them the grove flourishing with trees." Maundrell, p. 88, has given a description of the re- mains, as they are said to be, of these very pools made by Solomon, for the reception and preservation of the waters of a spring, rising at a little distance from them ; which will give us a perfect notion of the contrivance and design of such reservoirs. " As for the pools, they are three in number, lying in a row above each other ; MesstalCs kingdom. being so disposed that the waters of the uppermost may descend into the second, and those of the second into the third. Their figure is quadrangular, the breadth is the same in all, amounting to about ninety paces. In their length there is some difference between them ; the first being about one hundred and sixty paces long, the second, two hundred, and the third, tiuo hundred and ticenly. They are all lined with wall EUid plas- tered ; and contain a great depth of water." The immense works which were made by the an- cient kings of Egypt for recovering the waters of the Nile, when it overflowed, for such uses, are well known. But there never was a more stupendous work of this kind than the reservoir of Saba, or Merab, in Arabia Felix. According to the tradition of the country, it was the work of Balkis, that queen of Sheba who visited Solomon. It was a vast lake formed by the col- lection of the waters of a torrent in a valley, where, at a narrow pass between two mountains, a very high mole or dam was built. The water of the lake so formed had near twenty fathoms depth ; and there were three sluices at different heights, by which, at whatever height the lake stood, the plain below might be watered. By conduits and canals from these sluices the water was constantly distributed in due proportion to the seve- ral lands ; so that the whole country for many miles became a perfect paradise. The city of Saba, or Me- rab, was situated immediately below the great dam ; a great flood came, and raised the lake above its usual height ; the dam gave way in the middle of the night ; the waters burst forth at once, and overwhelmed the whole city, with the neighbouring towns and people. The remains of eight tribes were forced to abandon their dwellings, and the beautiful valley became a mo- rass and a desert. This fatal catastrophe happened long before the time of Mohammed, who mentions it in the Koran, chap, xxxiv. ver. 15. See also Sale, Prelim, s. i. p. 10, and Mwhaelis,Q,\iBsi. aux Voyag. Dan. No. 94. Niebuhr, Descrip. de I'Arabie. p. 240. — L. CHAPTER I]. Prophecy concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, and the conversion of the Gentile world, 1-5. Great wickedness and idolatry of the unbelieving Jews, 6-9. Terrible consternation that will seize the wicked, who shall in vain seek for rocks and mountains to hide them from the face of God in the day of his judg- ments, 10—17. Total destruction of idolatry in consequence of the establishment of Messiah's kingdom, 18—21. An exhortation to put no confidence in man, 22. A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. QuintjE I. Ajile IJrbem Conditam 7. T^HE word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And " it shall come to pass »Mic. iv. 1, &c.- ' Gen. xlix. 1 ; Jer. zxiii. 30. The prophecy contained in the second, third, and fourth chapters, makes one continued discourse. The first five verses of chap. ii. foretell the kingdom of Messiah, the conversion of the Gentiles, and their ad- mission into it. From the sixth verse to the end of the second chapter is foretold the punishment of the A. M. cir. 3211. B. C. cir. 760. Anno 01}'mp. QuinljE I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. '' in the last days ■= that the moun- tain of the Lord's house shall '' be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted * Psa. Ixviii. 15, 16. ^ Or, prepared. unbelieving Jews for their idolatrous practices, their confidence in their own strength, and distrust of God's protection ; and moreover the destruction of idolatry, in consequence of the establishment of Messiah's kingdom. The whole of the third chapter, with the first verse of the fourth, is a prophecy of the calami- 3» A. prophecy oj the ISAIAH. Messiah's kingdom I. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintse I. Ante Urbera Conditam 7. above the hills ; " and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go and say, ' Come ye and let us go e Psa. Ixxii. 8; chap, xxvii. 13. ties of the Babylonian invasion and captivity ; with a particular amplification of the distress of the proud and luxurious daughters of Sion ; chap. iv. 2-6 pro- mises to the remnant, which shall have escaped this severe purgation, a future restoration to the favour and protection of God. This prophecy was probably delivered in the time of Jotham, or perhaps in that of Uzziah, as Isaiah is said to have prophesied in his reign ; to which time not any of his prophecies is so applicable as that of these chapters. The seventh verse of the second, and the latter part of the third chapter, plainly point out times in which riches abounded, and luxury and delicacy prevailed. Plenty of silver and gold could anly arise from their commerce ; particularly from that part of it which was carried on by the Red Sea. This circumstance seems to confine the prophecy within the limits above mentioned, while the port of Elath was in their hands : it was lost under Ahaz, and never recovered. NOTES ON CHAP. II. Verse 2. In the last days — " In the latter days"] " Wherever the latter times are mentioned in Scrip- ture, the days of the Messiah are always meant," says Kimchi on this place : and, in regard to this place, nothing can be more clear and certain. And the mountain of the Lord^s house, says the same author, is Mount Moriah, on which the temple was built. The prophet Micah, chap. iv. 1—4, has repeated this prophecy of the establishment of the kingdom of Christ, and of its progress to universality and perfection, in the same words, with little and hardly any material variation : for as he did not begin to prophesy till Jo- tham's time, and this seems to be one of the first of Isaiah's prophecies, I suppose Micah to have taken it from hence. The variations, as I said, are of no great importance. Ver. 2. Nin hu, after Niv:! venissa, a word of some emphasis, may be supplied from Mi- cah, if dropped in Isaiah. An ancient MS. has it here in the margin. It has in like manner been lost in chap. liii. 4, (see note on the place,) and in Psa. xxii. 29, where it is supplied by the S>/i-iac and Sep- tuagint. Instead of D'Un hj col haggoi/im, all the nations, Micah has only D'O;? ammim, peoples ; where the Syriac has D''Di' 73 col ammim, all peoples, as probably it ought to be. Ver. 3. For the second '?« el, read '7N1 veel, seventeen MSS., one of my own, ancient, two editions, the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, Chaldee, and so Micah iv. 2. Ver. 4. Micah adds pm ^J? ad rachok, afar off, which the Syriac also reads in this parallel place of Isaiah. It is also to be observed that Micah has improved the passage by adding a verse, or sentence, for imagery and expres- sion worthy even of the elegance of Isaiah : — "And they shall sit every man under his vine, And under his fig tree, and none shall affright them : 30 up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintje I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. ' Jer. xxxi. 6 ; 1. 5 ; Zech. . 21, 23. For the mouth of Jehovah, God of hosts, hath spoken it." The description of well established peace, by the image of " beating their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks," is very poetical. The Roman poets have employed the same image, Martial, xiv. 34. "Falx ex ense." " Pax me certa duels placidos curvavit in usus : Agricolae nunc sum ; militis ante fui. " " Sweet peace has transformed me. I was once the property of the soldier, and am now the property of the husbandman." The prophet Joel, chap. iii. 10, hath reversed it, and applied it to war prevailing over peace : — " Beat your ploughshares into swords. And your pruning-hooks into spears " And so likewise the Roman poets : — Non ullus aratro Dignus honos : squalent abductis arva colonis, Et curva; rigidum falces conflantur in ensem. Virg., Georg. i. 506. " Agriculture has now no honour : the husbandmen being taken away to the wars, the fields are overgrown with weeds, and the crooked sickles are straightened into swords." Bella diu tenuere viros : erat aptior ensis Vomere : cedebat taurus arator equo. Sarcula cessabant ; versique in pila ligones ; Factaque de rastri pondere cassis erat. Ovid, Fast. i. 697. " War has lasted long, and the sword is preferred to the plough. The bull has given place to the war- horse ; the weeding-hooks to pikes ; and the harrow- pins have been manufactured into helmets." The prophet Ezekiel, chap. xvii. 22-24, has pre- signified the same great event with equal clearness, though in a more abstruse form, in an allegory ; from an image, suggested by the former part of the pro- phecy, happily introduced, and well pursued : — " Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : I myself will take from the shoot of the lofty cedar, Even a tender scion from the top of his scions will I pluck off: And I myself will plant it on a mountain high and eminent. On the lofty mountain of Israel will I plant it ; And it shall exalt its branch, and bring forth fruit ; And it shall become a majestic cedar : And under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing ; In the shadow of its branches shall they dwell : And all the trees of the field shall know, That I Jehovah have brought low the high tree • Have exalted the low tree ; The peace and prosperity CHAP. II. A M. cir. 324-1. g fg^. Q^f of Zioii shall SO fortli B. C. cir. 760. i r i Anno oiymp. the l.iw, and the word of the Quinta* I. T /• T 1 Ante Urbcm LiORD Irom Jerusalem. ^"'"''"^ ''■ 4 And he shall judge among tlic nations, and shall rebuke many people : and '' they shall beat their swords into plough- shares, and their spears into ' pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, '' neither shall they learn war any more. sLuke icxiv. 47. '' Psa. xlvi. 9 ; Hos. ii. 18; Zech. ix. 10. 'Or, scythes. ^ Psa. l.tii. 3, 7. ' Kph. v. 8. "Or, more than the east. Have dried up the green tree ; And have made the dry tree to flourish : I Jehovah have spoken it, and will do it." The word ^'^\^i^ venalhatti, in this passage, ver. 22, as the sentence now stands, appears incapable of being reduced to any proper construction or sense. None of the ancient versions aclcnowledge it, except Thco- dotion, and the Vulgate ; and all but the latter vary very much from the present reading of this cl.insR. HouhiganCs correction of the passage, by reading in- stead of Tinjl venathalti, npJVl veyoneketh, and a ten- der scion — which is not very unlike it, perhaps better pjri veyonek, with which the adjective "jl rack will agree without alteration — is ingenious and probable ; and I have adopted it in the above translation. — L. Verse 3. To the house'] The conjunction 1 van is added by nineteen of KennicotCs, thirteen of De Rossi's MSS., one of my own, and two editions, the Septuagint, Si/riac, Vulgate, Arabic, and some copies of the Targum ; and to the house. It makes the sentence more emphatic. He loill teach us of his ivays] Unless God grant a revelation of his will, what can we know ] We loill icall: in his paths] Unless we purpose to walk in the light, of what use can that light be to us ! For out of Zion shall go forth the laic] In the house of God, and in his ordinances only, can we ex- pect to hear the pure doctrines of revelation preached. 1. God alone can give a revelation of his own will. 2. We must use the proper means in order to know this will. 3. We should know it in order to do it. 4. We should do it in order to profit by it. 5. He ivho will not walk in the light when God vouchsafes it, shall be shut up in everlasting darkness. 6. Every man should help his neighbour to attain that light, life, and felicity : " Come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord." Verse 4. Neither shall they learn war any more.] If wars are necessary, how deep must tha.t fall be that renders them so ! But what a reproach to humanity is the trade of war ! Men are regularly instructed in it, as in any of the necessary arts. " How to dislodge most souls from their frail shrines By bomb, sword, ball, and bayonet, is the art Which some call great and glorious !" And is this a necessary part of a finished education in civilized society ! 0 Earth ! Earth ! Earth ! Verse 6. They be replenished — " And they multi- of the kingdom of Christ. 5 O house of Jacob, come ye, ^ *'■ <='.'• ^z+i- ' .' ' B. C cir. 760. and let us ' walk in the light of Anno Oiymp. , T Quints I. the LiORD. Ante Urbem 6 Therefore thou hast forsaken ^°°'''^'"° ^- thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished "^ from " the east, and ° are sooth- sayers like the Philistines, ^ and they i please themselves in the children of strangers. 7 ^ Their land also is full of silver and gold, " Num. xxiii. 7. " Deut, xviii. 14. PPsa. cvi. 35; Jer. X. 2. "1 Or, abound with the children, &c. ' Deut. xvii. 16, 17. ply"] Seven MSS. and one edition, for 1p'3C' yas- piku, read in'SD'' yaspichu, " and have jomed them- selves to the children of strangers ;" that is, in mar- riage or worship. — Dr. Jubb. So Vulg., adhmserunt. Compare chap. xiv. 1. But the very learned profes- sor Chevalier Michaelis has explained the word inaD' yesupachu. Job xxx. 7, (German translation, note on the place,) in another manner ; which perfectly well agrees with that place, and perhaps will be found to give as good a sense here. n"3D saphiach, the noun, means corn springing up, not from the seed regularly sown on cultivated land, but in the untilled field, from the scattered grains of the former harvest. This, by an easy metaphor, is applied to a spurious brood of children irregularly and casually begotten. The Sep- tuagint seem to have understood the verb here in this sense, reading it as the Vulgate seems to have done. This justifies their version, which it is hard to account for in any other manner : Kat rsKva noXka a7i'ko<^v\a eytvriSi} avToic. Compare Hos. v. 7, and the Septua- gint there. But instead of nS'^l uheyaldey, " and in the children," two of KennicotC s and eight of De Ros- sis M.S.S. have 'iS":)! uchcyaldey, " and as the chil- dren." And they sin impudently as the children of strangers. See De Rossi. And are soothsayers — " They are filled with di- viners"] Ileb. " They are filled from the east ;" or " more than the east." The sentence is manifestly imperfect. The Septuagint, Vulgate, 3.nA Chaldee, seem to have read mpDD kemikkedem ; and the latter, with another word before it, signifying idols ; " they are filled with idols as from of old." Houhigant, for Dlpa mikkedem, reads □Dp'3 mikkesem, as Brentius had pro- posed long ago. I rather think that both words toge- ther give us the true reading : Dlp^ mikkedem, D^prj mikkesem, " with divination from the east ;" and that the first word has been by mistake omitted, from its similitude to the second. Verse 7. Their land is also full of horses — " And his land is filled with horses"] This was in direct contradiction to God's command in the law : " But he (the king) shall not multiply horses to himself; nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses ; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold," Deut. xvii. 16, 17. Uzziah seems to have followed the example of Solo- mon, see 1 Kings x. 26-29, who first transgressed in these particulars ; he recovered the port of Elath on the Red .Sea, and with it that commerce which in 31 The juogments of the ISATAH. Lord upon the wicked. A. M. cir. 3244. neither is there any end of their B. C. cir. 760. ^ ^ Anno oiymp. treasures ; their land is also fuU Ante Urbern of horses, neither is there any *^°"'^''^°'^- end of their chariots : 8 " Their land also is full of idols ; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made : 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself : therefore for- give them not. 10 'Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. 1 1 The " lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed • Jer. ii. 28. ' Ver.l9, 21 ; Rev.yi. 15. » Ver. 17 ; chap. V. 15, 16; xiii. 11. 'Chap. iv. 1; xi. 10, 11; xii. 1, 4; xxiv. 21 ; XXV. 9 ; xxvi. 1 ; xxvii. 1, 2, 12, 13 ; xxviii. 5 ; xxix. 18 ; xxx. 23; lii. 6; Jer. xxx. 7, 8; Ezek. xxxviii.l4, 19; xxxix. 11, 22; Solomon's days had " made silver and gold as plenteous at Jerusalem as stones," 2 Chron. i. 15. He had an army of 307,500 men, in which, as we may infer from the testimony of Isaiah, the chariots and horse made a considerable part. " The law above mentioned was to be a standing trial of prince and people, whether they had trust and confidence in God their deliverer." See Bp. Sherlock^s Discourses on Prophecy, Dissert. iv., where he has excellently explained the reason and effect of the law, and the influence which the observ- ance or neglect of it had on the affairs of the Israelites. Verse 8. Their land also is full of idols — " And his land is filled with idols"] Uzziah and Jotham are both said, 2 Kings xv. 3, 4, 34, 35, " to have done that which was right in the sight of the Lord ;" that is, to have adhered to and maintained the legal wor- ship of God, in opposition to idolatry and all irregular worship ; for to this sense the meaning of that phrase is commonly to be restrained ; " save that the high places were not removed where the people still sacri- ficed and burned incense." There was hardly any time when they were quite free from this irregular and •unlawful practice, which they seem to have looked upon as very consistent with the true worship of God ; and which seems in some measure to have been tole- rated, while the tabernacle was removed from place to place, and before the temple was built. Even after the conversion of Manasseh, when he had removed the strange gods, and commanded Judah to serve Je- hovah the God of Israel, it is added, " Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still on the high places, yet unto Jehovah their God only," 2 Chron. xxxiii. 17. The worshipping on the high places therefore does not necessarily imply idolatry ; and from what is said of these two kings, Uzziah and Jotham, we may presume that the public exercise of idolatrous worship was not permitted in their time. The idols therefore here spoken of must have been such as were designed for a private and secret use. Such probably were the teraphim so often mentioned in Scripture ; a kind of household gods, of human form, as it should seem, (see 32 down, and the Lord alone shall ^i^i,""-^^- D. Ky. Cir. 760. be exalted " in that day. Anno oiymp. 12 For the day of the Lord Ante Urbem of hosts shall be upon every one Conditam 7. that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up ; and he shall be brought low. 1 3 And upon all " the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14 And ^ upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, 1 6 J' And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all ^ pleasant pictures. Hns ii. 16,18,21 ; Joel iii. 18 ; Amos ix. 1 1 ; Obad 8 ; Mic. iv 6; V. 10;vii. 11, 12 ; Zeph. Ul. 11 16; Zech. ix. 16.- " Chap xiv.8 ; xxxvii. 24 Ezek xxx. 1 3; Zech. XI. 1 2. ' Chap, xxx 25.— — y 1 Kings X. 22.- — ^Heb pictures of desire. 1 Sam. xix. 13, and compare Gen. xxxi. 34,) of differ- ent magnitude, used for idolatrous and superstitious purposes, particularly for divination, and as oracles, which they consulted for direction in their affairs. Verse 9. Boweth dovjn — " Shall he bowed down"] This has reference to the preceding verse. They bowed themselves down to their idols, therefore shall they be bowed down and brought low under the aveng- ing hand of God. Therefore forgive them, not.'] " And thou wilt not forgive them." — L. Verse 10. "When he ariseth to strike the earth with terror."] On the authority of the Septuagint, confirmed by the Arabic and an ancient MS., 1 have added here to the text a line, which in the 19th and 21st verses is repeated together with the preceding line, and has, I think, evidently been omitted by mis- take in this place. The MS. here varies only in one letter from the reading of the other two verses ; it has yiND haarets, instead of yixn haarets. None of De Rossi's MSS. confirm this addition. The line added is, When he ariseth to strike the earth loith terror. Verse 1 1 . i?c humbled] " ntyi hs'iil shaphel veshach, read nty \b3W shaphelu shach." — Dr. Diirell. Which rectifies the grammatical construction. No MS. or version confirms this reading. Verses 13—16. And upon all the cedars — "Even against all the cedars"] Princes, potentates, rulers, captains, rich men, &c. — So Kimchi. These verses afford us a striking example of that peculiar way of writing, which makes a principal characteristic of the parabolical or poetical style of the Hebrews, and in which the prophets deal so largely, namely, their man- ner of exhibiting things Divine, spiritual, moral, and political, by a set of images taken from things natural, artificial, religious, historical, in the way of metaphor or allegory. Of these nature furnishes much the largest and the most pleasing share ; and all poetry has chiefly recourse to natural images, as the richest and most powerful source of illustration. But it may be observed of the Hebrew poetry in particular, that The vanity of CHAP. II. trusting m idols A. M. cir. 3241. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olynip. Quinta; I. Ante Urbem Condilam 7 17 ° And ilie loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low : and the Lord alone shall be exalted ^ in that day. 18 And ''■ the idols he shall utterly abolish. 1 9 And they shall go into the ■' holes of the rocks, and into the caves of * the earth, ' for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his ma- jesty, when he ariseth "^ to shake terribly the earth. » Vcr. 11. ^ V'cr. 11. 'Or, Ihr idols shall utterly pass avay. <> Ver. 10 ; Hos. x. 8 ; Luk xxiii. 30 ; Rev. vi. 16 ; ix. 6. « Heb. Ihe dust. ' 2 Tlicss. i. ». 5 Chap. xxx. 32 ; Hag. ii. 6, 21 ; in the use of such images, and in the application of them ill the way of illuslration and ornament, it is more regular and constant than any other poetry what- ever ; that it has for the most part a set of images appropriated in a manner to the explication of certain subjects. Thus you will find, in many other places besides this before us, that cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan, are used in the way of metaphor and alle- gory for kings, princes, potentates of the highest rank ; high mounlains and lofttj hills, for kingdoms, repub- lics, states, cities ; towers and fortresses, for defend- ers and protectors, whether by counsel or strength, in peace or war ; ships of Tarshish and works of art, and invention employed in adorning them, for mer- chants, men enriched by commerce, and abounding in all the luxuries and elegances of life, such as those of Tyre and Sidon ; for it appears from the course of the whole passage, and from the train of ideas, that the fortresses and the ships are to be taken metaphorically, as well as the high trees and the lofty mountains. Ships of Tarshish] Are in Scripture frequently used by a metonymy for ships in general, especially such as are employed in carrying on traffic between distant countries, as Tarshish was the most celebrated mart of those limes, frequented of old by the Phcpnicians, and the principal source of wealth to Judea and the neighbouring countries. The learned seem now to be perfectly well agreed that Tarshish is Tartessus, a city of Spain, at the mouth of the river Ba-tis, whence the Phoenicians, who first opened this trade, brought silver and gold, (Jer. x. 9 ; Ezek. xxvii. 12,) in which that country then abounded ; and, pursuing their voyage still farther to the Cassiterides, {Bocharl, Canaan, i. c. 39 ; Heut. Hist, de Commerce, p. 194,) the islands of Scilly and Cornwall, they brought from thence lead and tin. Tarshish is celebrated in Scripture. 2 Chron, viii. 17, 18, ix. 91, for the trade which Solomon carried on thither, in conjunction with the Tyrians. Jchosha- phat, 1 Kings xxii. 48, 2 Chron. xx. 36, attempted afterwards to renew their trade. And from the ac- count given of his attempt it appears that his fleet was to sail to Ezion-geber on the Red Sea; they must therefore have designed to sail round Africa, as Solo- mon's fleet had done before, (see Huet, Histoire de Commerce, p. 32,) for it was a three years' voyage. Vol. IV. f 3 1 A. M. cii. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintoi I. Ante l-^rbem Conditam 7. 20 '' In tiiat day a man shall cast ' his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, '' which ihey made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats ; 21 " To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, "' for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 22 " Cease ye from man, whose ° breath is in his nostrils : for wherein is he to be accounted of? Hcb. xii. 26. '' Chap. xxx. 22 ; xxxi. 27. ' Heb. the idols of kis silver^ &c. ■* Or, which they made for him. ' Ver. 19 ■n Ver. 10, 19. » Psa. cxlvi. 3 ; Jer. ivii. 5. ° Job xxvii. 3 (2 Chron. ix. 21,) and they brought gold from Ophir, probably on the coast of Arabia ; silver from Tartes- sus ; and ivory, apes, and peacocks, from Africa. " ■'liJlN .4/W, Africa, the Roman termination, Africa terra, tyiyin Tarshish, some city or country in Africa. So the Chaldce on I Kings xxii. 49, where it renders Vl"iS'yV> Tarshish by np'fiJN Aphricah ; and compare 2 Chron. xx. 36, from whence it appears, to go to Ophir and to Tarshish is one and the same thing." — Dr. Ju6b. It is certain that under Pharaoh Necho, about two hundred years afterwards, this voyage was made by the Egyptians ; Herodot. iv. 42. They sailed from the Red Sea, and returned by the Medi- terranean, and they performed it in three years, just the same time that the voyage under Solomon had taken up. It appears likewise from Pliny, Nat. Hist., ii. 67, that the passage round the Cape of Good Hope was kno\vii and frequently practised before his time, by Hanno the Carthaginian, when Carthage was in its glory ; by one Eudcius, in the time of Ptolemy La- thyrus, king of Egypt ; and Ccelus Antipater, a histo- rian of good credit, somewhat earlier than Pliny, tes- tifies that he had seen a merchant who had made the voyage from Gades to Ethiopia. The Portuguese under Vasco de Gama, near three hundred years ago, recovered this navigation, after it had been intermitted and lost for many centuries. — L. Verse 18. Shall utterly abolish — " Shall disappear"] The ancient versions and an ancient MS. read 127n' yachulpu, plural. One of mv MSS. reads "^iSri' yacha- loph, probably a mistake for 13'7n" yachalpu. Verses 19-21. Into the holes of the rocks — " Into caverns of rocks"] The country of Judea being moun- tainous and rocky, is full of caverns, as appears from the history of David's persecution under Saul. At En- gedi, in particular, there was a cave so large that Da- vid with six hundred men hid themselves in the sides of it ; and Saul entered the mouth of the cave without perceiving that any one was there, 1 Sam. xxiv. Jo- sephus, Antiq., lib. xiv., c. 15, and Bell. Jud., lib. 1, c. 16, tells us of a numerous gang of banditti, who, having infested the country, and being pursued by He rod with his army, retired into certain caverns almost inaccessible, near Arbela in Galilee, where they were with great difficulty subdued. Some of these were natural, others artificial. " Beyond Damascus," says 33 The Babylonish ISAIAH. capUutty foretold. Straho, lib. xvi., " are two mountains called Trachones ; from which the country has the name of Trachonitis; and from hence towards Arabia and Iturea, are certain rugged mountains, in which there are deep caverns, one of which will hold faur thousand men." Taver- nier. Voyage de Perse, part ii., chap. 4, speaks of a grot, between Aleppo and Bir, that would hold near three thousand horse. " Three hours distant from Sidon, about a mile from the sea, there runs along a high rocky mountain, in the sides of which are hewn a multitude of grots, all very little differing from each other. They have entrances about two feet square : on the inside you find in most or all of them a room of about four yards square. There are of these sub- terraneous caverns two hundred in number. It may, with probability at least, be concluded that these places were contrived for the use of the living, and not of the dead. Strabo describes the habitations of the Troglo- dytae to have been somewhat of this kind." — Maun- drell, p. 118. The Horites, who dwelt in Mount Seir, were Troglodytee, as their name, D'ln horim, imports. But those mentioned by Strabo were on each side of the Arabian gulf. Mohammed (Koran, chap. XV. xxvi.) speaks of a tribe of Arabians, the tribe of Thamud, " who hewed houses out of the mountains, to secure themselves." Thus, " because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves and strong holds," Judg. vi. 2. To these they betook themselves for refuge in times of distress and hostile invasion : " When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, for the people were distressed, then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits," 1 Sam. siii. 6, and see Jer. xli. 9. Therefore " to enter into the rock, to go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth," was to them a very proper and familiar image to express terror and consternation. The prophet Hosea, chap. x. 8, hath carried the same image farther, and added great strength and spirit to it : " They shall say to the mountains, Cover us ; And to the hills, Fall on us ;" which image, together with these of Isaiah, is adopt- ed by the sublime author of the Revelation, chap. vl. 15, 16, who frequently borrows his imagery from our prophet. — L. Verse 20. Which they made each one for himself to worship — " Which they have made to worship"] The word 'h lo,for himself, is omitted by two ancient MSS., and is unnecessary. It does not appear that any copy of the Sepluagint has it, except MS. Pachom, and MS. i. D. ii., and they have iavroif, DTh lahem, to themselves. To the moles] They shall carry their idols with them into the dark caverns, old ruins, or desolate places, to which they shall flee for refuge ; and so shall give them np, and relinquish them to the filthy animals that frequent such places, and have taken pos- session of them as their proper habitation. Bellonius, Greaves, P. Lucas, and many other travellers, speak of bats of an enormous size, as inhabiting the Great Pyramid. See Harmer, Obs., vol. ii., 455. Three MSS. express nnaisn chapharperoth, the moles, as one word. Verse 22. Cease ye from man] Trust neither in him, nor in the gods that he has invented. Neither he, nor they, can either save or destroy. CHAPTER III. The whole of this chapter, with the first verse of the next, is a prophecy of those calamities that should be occasioned by the Babylonish invasion and captivity. These calamities are represented as so great and so general, that even royal honours, in such a state, are so far from being desirable, that hardly any can he got to accept the/n, 1—7. This visitation is declared to be the consequence of their profanity and guilt ; fen- which the prophet farther reproves and threatens them, 8-15. Particular amplification of the distress of the delicate and luxurious daughters of Zion ; whose deplorable situation is finely contrasted with their former prosperity and ease, 16-26. 4.. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Qaintas I. Ante Urbeni Conditam 7. jpOU,behold,the Lord, the Lord of hosts, => doth lake away from Jerusalem and from Judah '' the stay and the staff, the whole * Jer. xxxvii. 21 ; xxxviii. 0. ^^Lev. xxvi. 26. NOTES ON CHAP. III. Verse 1. The stay and the staff — " Every stay and support"] Hebrew, " the support masculine, and the support feminine :" that is, every kind of support, whether great or small, strong or weak. " Al kanitz, wal-kanitzah ; the wild beasts, male and female. Pro- verbially applied both to fishing and hunting : i. e., I siezed the prey, great or little, good or bad. From hence, as Schultens observes, is explained Isa. iii. 1, literally, the male and female stay : i. e., the strong 34 stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 " The miglity man, and the man of war, the judge, and the A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir 760. Anno Olymp. QuintEe I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. ' See 2 Kings xxiv. 14 ; Psa. xxiv. 8 ; xxix. 1. and weak, the great and small." — Chappelou-, note on Hariri, Assembly I. Compare Eccles. ii. 8. The Hebrew words nViVOl [J'jyrD mashen timashe nah come from the same root y^'li/ shaan, to lean against, to mcline, to support ; and here, being masculine and feminine, they may signify all things necessary for the support both of man and woman. My old MS. under- stands the staff and stay as meaning particular persons, and translates the verse thus : — 5a.o forsoti), tljc Jlotliscjfj) aor'D of J^oostis scljal ton atotn fro ( 3* ) The Babylonish CHAP. III. captivity Joretold. *B "^c 'c' 760*" P'^'^P''^^' ^"^ ^^^ prudent, and the Anno Olymp. ancicnt. Ante'" *rbem 3 The Captain of fifty, and the ConduamT. j lionourable man, and the coun- sellor, and the cunning artificer, and the ' elo- quent orator. 4 And I will give ' children to he their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neigh- bour : the child shall behave himself proudly *" Heb. a man nninent in countenance. " Or, shlful of speech. ' Eccles. X. 16. JecusaUm anD tea JuDa tje staltojirt!) anti tje atlonaf. The two following verses, 2, 3, are very clearly ex- plained by the sacred historian's account of the event, the captivity of Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon : " And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths ; none remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land," 2 Kings xxiv. 14. Which is supplied by our version. A'erse 4, / u'ill give children to be their princes — " I will make boys their princes"] This also was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes, from the death of Josiah to the destruction of the city and temple, and the taking of Zedekiah, the last of them, by Nebuchadnezzar. Babes shall rule over them.] Enmcnniiscje men B:tml loiUsrlJi'pcn to jjcin — Old MS. Bible. Verse 6. Of the house of his father — " Of his fa- ther's house"] For n^2 beith, the house, the ancient interpreters seem to have read n'3'3 mibbcith, from the house ; rov oiKtiov tov Tzarpo; avTov, Septuagint ; do- mesticum patris sui, Vulgalc ; which gives no good sense. But the Septuagint MS. i. D. ii. for oikciov has oiKov. And, his brother, of his father's house, is little better than a tautolog)-. The case seems to re- quire that the man should apply to a person of some sort of rank and eminence ; one that was the head of nis father's house, (see Josh. .xii. 14,) whether of the house of him who applies to him, or of any other ; V;K ri'3 iSXl rosh beith abaw, the chief, or head of his father's house. I cannot help suspecting, there- fore, that the word C^NI rosh, head, chief, has been lost out of the text. Saying] Before rhrya simlah. garment, two MSS., one ancient, and the Babylonish Talmud have the word 1-:X^ lemor, saying ; and so the Septuagint, Vul- gate, Si/riac, and Chaldee. I place it with Houhigant, after 7\'l~}!3 simlah. Thou hast clothing — " Take by the garment"] That is, shall entreat him in an humble and supplicating man- ner. " Ten men shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying. Let us go with you ; for we have heard that God is with you," Zech. viii. 23. And so in Isa. iv. 1, the same gesture is used to ex- press earnest and humble entreaty. The behaviour of Saul towards Samuel was of the same kind, when he laid hold on the skirt of his raiment, 1 Sam. xv. 27. against the ancient, and the base 4' ^.' "''■ ^i?" o ' B. C. cir. 760. against the lionourable. Anno Olymp. 6 When a man shall take hold Ante Urbe'm of his brotiier of the house of his ^°"'''""" ''■ father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand : 7 In that day shall he ^ swear, saying, I will not be a *■ healer ; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing : make me not a ruler of the people. S For Jerusalem ■ is ruined, and Judah is s Heb. lift up the hand ; Gen. xiv. 22. !■ Heb. binder up. iMic. iii. 12. The preceding and following verses show, that his whole deportment, in regard to the prophet, was full of submission and humility. And let this ruin be under thy hand — " And let thy hand support"] Before "]T nnn tachath yadecha, a MS. adds n'nn tihijeh, " let it be ;" another MS. adds in the same place, "jT^ npn takach beyadecha, which latter seems to be a various reading of the two pre- ceding words, making a very good sense ; " Take into thy hand our ruinous state." Twenty-one MSS. of Kennicotl's, thirteen of De Rossi's, one of my own, ancient, and three editions of the Babylonish Talmud have "I'T yadeycha, plural, "thy hands." '\'erse 7. In that day shall he swear — " Then shall he openly declare"] The Septuagint, Syriac, and Je- rome, read NB/'I veyissa, adding the conjunction, which seems necessary in this place. I will not be'a healer] t ant not a tcctc. — Old MS. Bible. Leech was the ancient English word for a physician. For in my house is neither bread nor clothing — " For in my house is neither bread nor raiment"] " It is customary through all the East," says Sir J. Chardin, " to gather together an immense quantity of furniture and clothes ; for their fashions never alter." Princes and great men are obliged to have a great stock of such things in readiness for presents upon all occasions. •' The kings of Persia," says the same author, " have great wardrobes, where there are always many hun- dreds of habits ready, designed for presents, and sort- ed," Harmer, Observ., II. 11 and 88. A great quan- tity of provision for the table was equally necessary. The daily provision for Solomon's household, whose attendants were exceedingly numerous, was proportion- ably great, 1 Kings iv. 22, 23. Even Nehemiah, in his strait circumstances, had a large supply daily for his table ; at which he received a hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came from among the neighbouring heathen, Neh. v. 17, 18. This explains the meaning of the excuse made by him that is desired to undertake the government. He alleges that he has not wherewithal to support the dig- nity of the station, by such acts of liberality and hos- pitality as the law of custom required of persons of supe- rior rank. See Harmer s Observations, I. 340, II. 88, Verse 8. The eyes — " The cloud"] This word ap- pears to be of very doubtful form, from the printed editions, the MSS., and the ancient versions. The 35 The desolate and ruined ISAIAH. state of the Jews ^4, *J; "^"^ S^i* fallen : because their tongue and B. C. cir. /60. " Anno oiymp. their doings are against the Ante Urbem LoRD, to provoke the eyes of his Conditam 7. g||^^y_ 9 The show of their countenance doth wit- ness against them ; and they declare their sin as '' Sodom, they hide it not. Wo unto their soul ! for they have rewarded evil unto them- selves. 10 Say ye to the righteous, Hhat it shall be well with him : " for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 1 1 Wo unto the wicked ! " it shall be ill ^Gen. xiii. 13; xviii. 20, 21; xii. 5. ' Eccles. viii. 12. •nPsa. cxxviii. 2. "^ Psa. xi. 6; Eccles. viii. 13. — —'^llcb. done to him. P Ver. 4. first yod in 'J'J? eyney, which is necessary according to the common interpretation, is in many of them omit- ted ; the two last letters are upon a rasure in two MSS. I think it should be ]:;? anan, " a cloud," as the Sy- riac reads ; and the allusion is to the cloud in which the glory of the Lord appeared above the tabernacle ; see Exod. xvi. 9, 10 ; xl. 34-38 ; Num. xvi. 41, 43. Either of the readings gives a very good sense. The allusion may be to the cloud of the Divine pre- sence in the wilderness : or the eyes of the Lord may be meant, as they are in every place beholding the evil and the good. And he cannot look upon iniquity but with abhorrence ; therefore, the eyes of his glory might be well provoked by their crimes. Verse "J. The shoiv of their countenance] Bishop Lowth has it the steadfastness of their countenance — they appear to be bent on iniquity, their eyes tell the wickedness of their hearts. Tlie eye is the index of the mind. Envy, hatred, malice, malevolence, con- cupiscence, and murder, when in the heart, look most intelligently out at the eye. They tell the innocent to be on their guard ; and serve the same purpose as the sonorous rings in the tail of the ralllesnake — they announce the presence of the destroyer. They declare their sin as Sodorn] Impure propen- sities are particularly legible in the eyes : whoever has beheld the face of a debauchee or a prostitute knows this ; of these it may be said, they wish to appear what they really are. They glory in their iniquity. This is the highest pitch of ungodliness. They have rewarded evil unto themselves.'] Every man's sin is against his own soul. Evil awaiteth sin- ners— and he that offends his God injures himself. Verse 10. Say ye to the righteous] p'T)sb letsaddih ; the h lamed is added here by one M.S. and the Chal- dee. The righteous is the person, 1. Who fears God. 2. Departs from evil. 3. Walks according to the tes- timony of God. 4. And e.^pects and prepares for a glorious immortality. " Pronounce ye." — The reading of this verse is very dubious. The Sepluagint for nsN imru read IDN: neasor, or both, IDN: nON imru neasor, and 13/ 31tD K7 O ki lo tab lanu. Atiacjfiev rov SiKatov, on ivaxpvaroi v/iiv ean. Perhaps, for nON imru, the 30 with him : for the reward of his *; ^- "^^ ^^^* D. C or. 7dU. hands shall be ° given him. Aimo Oiymp. . /- 1 1 •! 1 Quintte I. 1 2 As jor my people, " children Ante Urbem are their oppressors, and women °" ""'" ' rule over them. 0 my people, i they ■■ which lead thee cause thee to err, and ^ destroy the way of thy paths. 13 The Lord standeth up Ho plead, and standeth to judge the people. 14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes tliereof : for ye have " eaten ' up the vineyard ; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 1 Chap. ix. 16. *■ Or, they which call thee blessed. ' Heb. suallow lip. ■ Mic. vi. 2. " Or, burnt. ' Chap. v. 7 ; Matt. xxi. 33. true reading may be ntfX ashsheru, "bless you ;" or "ItffN 1T3N imru ashrey, " say ye, blessed is." The Vulgate and an ancient MS. read in the singular num- ber, '73s' yochel, comcdat, " he shall eat." " It shall be well with him ; — 3l!3 '3 ki tob, " that good." Say nothing to such but good. He is a good man, he does nothing but good, and has a good God to deal with, from whom he expects nothing but good- ness. It shall be well with such in all circumstances of life. 1. In prosperity. 2. In adversity. 3. In sickness. 4. In health. 5. In death. 6. In judg- ment. And, 7. Through eternity. In every case, occurrence, and circumstance, he shall eat the fruit of his doings — he shall derive benefit from being a righteous man, and walking in a righteous way. Verse 11. Wo unto the wicked] yu-h lerasha, the man who is, 1. Evil in his heart. 2. Evil in his pur- poses. 3. Evil in his life. As he is wicked, he does that which is ivicked ; and is influenced by the icicked one, of whom he is the servant and the son. It shall be ill with him, y-y ra ; in a single word say to him — evil ! Of him you ean speak no good ; and to him you can speak no good — all is evil, in him — before him — after him — round about him — above him — below him. Evil in time — ^evil through eternity ! The reward of his hands.] What he has deserved he shall get. He shall be paid that for which he has laboured, and his reward shall be in proportion to his work. O, what a lot is that of the wicked ! Cursed in time, and accursed through eternity ! Verse 12. Err — "Pervert"] U'''^ billeu, "swal- low." Among many unsatisfactory methods of ac- counting for the unusual meaning of this word in this place, I choose Jarchi's explication, as making the best sense. "Read lS'73 billahi, 'confound.' Sy- riac." — Dr. Judd. " Read iSna hcholu, ' disturb or trouble.' " — Seeker. So Srptuagint. This verse might be read, " The collectors of grapes shall be their oppressors ; and usurers [noshim, instead of nashim, women) shall rule over them." Verse 13. The people — " His people"] W]} ammo Sepluagint. Verse 14. The vineyard. — " My vineyard"] ''013 carmi, Sepluagint, Chaldee, Jerome. The pride of the CHAP. HI. A M. cir. 3244. ] 5 What mcaii ve that ye B. C. cir. 760. .' -' Anno oiymp. " bcal my peoplc to pieces, and Ante I'rbem giiiid the faces of the poor ? saith ^°"^"^ ^- the Lord God of hosts. Jewish women 16 Moreover the Lord saith, Because the " Chap. Iviii. 4 ; Mic. iii. 2, 3. Verse 15. And grind the faces] The expression and the image is slronff, to denote grievous oppression ; but is exceeded by the prophet Micah, chap. iii. 1-3 : — " Hear, I pray you, ye chiefs of Jacob, And ye princes of the house of Israel : Is it not yours to know wliat is right ) Ye that hate good and love evil : Who tear their skins from off them, And their flesh from off their bones ; Who devour the flesh of my people ; And flay from oil" them their skin ; And their bones they dash in pieces ; And chop them asunder, as morsels for the pot : And as flesh thrown into the midst of the caldron." In the last line but one, for TJ'N:3 keasher, read, by the transposition of a letter, 1N'"ky3 kisher, with the Septuagint and Chaldce. Verse 16. And icanlon eyes — " And falsely setting off their eyes with paint"] Hebrew, falsifying their eyes. I take this to be the true meaning and literal rendering of the word ; from "ipZ" shakar. The I\Iaso- retes have pointed it, as if it were from "ipiy sakar, a different word. This arose, as I imagine, from their supposing that the word was the same with IpD sakar, Chaldee, " intueri, innuere oculis ;"' or that it had an affinity with the noun Nip"D sikra, which the Chal- deans, or the rabbins at least, use for stibiinn, the mine- ral which was commonly used in colouring the eyes. See Jarchi's comment on the place. Though the colouring of the eyes with stibium be not particularly here expressed, yet I suppose it to be implied ; and so the Chaldee paraphrase explains it ; stibio linitis oculis, " with eyes dressed with stibium."' This fashion seems to have prevailed very generally among the Eastern people in ancient times ; and they retain the very same to this day. Pietro della Valle, giving a description of his wife, an Assyrian lady born in Mesopotamia, and educated at Bagdad, whom he married in that country, {Viaggi, Tom. I., Lettera 17,) says, "Her eyelashes, which are long, and, according to the custom of the East, dressed with stibium, (as we often read in the Holy Scriptures of the Hebrew women of old, Jer. iv. 30 ; Ezek. xxiii. 40 ; and in Xenophon, of Astyages the grandfather of Cyrus, and of the Medes of that time, Cyropccd. lib. i.,) give a dark, and at the same time a majestic, shade to the eyes." " Great eyes," says Sanrfyi, Travels, p. 67, speaking of the Turkish women, "they have in principal repute ; and of those the blacker they be the more amiable ; insomuch that they put between the eyelids and the eye a certain black pow- der, with a fine long pencil, made of a mineral, brought from the kingdom of Fez, and called Alcohole ; which by the not disagreeable staining of the lids doth better set forth the whiteness of the eye ; and though it be daughters of Zion are haughty, ^- M; <='.'• ^^■ and walk with stretched forth Anno oiymp necks and " wanton eyes, walk- Ante Urijem ing and ^ mincing as they go, Conditam 7. and making a tinkling with their feet : * Heb. dtceiving with their eyes. 7 Or, tripping nicely. troublesome for a time, yet it comforteth the sight, and repelleth ill humours." Vis ejus (stibii) astringe ac refrigerare, principalis autem circa oculos ; namque ideo etiam plerique Platyophthaimon id appellavere, quoniam in calliblepharis mulierum dilatat oculos ; et fluxioncs inliibet oculorura exulcerationesque. " It is astringent in its virtue, and refrigerant, and to be chiefly employed about the eyes, and it is called Pla- tyophthaimon, for being put into those ointments with which women beautify their eyes, it dilates them, re- moves defluxions, and heals any ulcerations that ma/ be about the eyelids." — Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxxiii. 6. lUe supercilium madida fuligine tactum Obliqua producit acu, pingitque trementes AttoUens oculos. Juv. Sat. ii. 93. One his eyebrows, tinged with black soot. Lengthens with an oblique bodkin, and paints. Lifting up his winking eyes. " But none of those [IMoorish] ladies," says Dr. Shaw, Travels, p. 294, fol., "take themselves to be completely dressed, till they have tinged the hair and edges of their eyelids with alkahol, the powder of lead ore. This operation is performed by dipping first into the powder a small wooden bodkin of the thickness of a quill ; and then drawing it afterwards through the eye- lids, over the ball of the eye." Ezekiel, chap. x.xiii. 40, uses the same word in the form of a verb, yi]! nSriD cachalt cynayih, " thou didst dress thine eyes with alca- hol ;" which the Septuagint render curtjSi^ov rovf, oji- 6a^.fiovc: aov, "thou didst dress thine eyes with stibium ;" just as they do when the word '\\2 phuch is employed : compare 2 Kings ix. 30 ; Jer. iv. 30. They sup- posed, therefore, that "jli! phuch and briD cachal, or in the Arabic form, alcahol, meant the same thing ; and probably the mineral used of old for this purpose was the same that is used now ; which Dr. Shaw {ibid. note) says is " a rich lead ore, pounded into an im palpable powder." Alcoholados ; the word nnptya meshalikcroth in this place is thus rendered in an old Spanish translation. — Sanctius. See also RusselVs Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, p. 102. The following inventory, as one may call it, of the wardrobe of a Hebrew lady, must, from its antiquity, and the nature of the subject, have been very obscure even to the most ancient interpreters which we have of it ; and from its obscurity must have been also pecu- liarly liable to the mistakes of transcribers. However it is rather matter of curiosity than of importance ; and is indeed, upon the whole, more intelligible and less corrupted than one might have reasonably expected. Clemens Aleiandrinus, Pa?dag. lib. ii., c. 12, and Ju- lius Pollux, lib. vii., c. 22, have each of them preserved from a comedy of Aristophanes, now lost, a similar catalogue of the several parts of the dress and orna- ments of a Grecian lady ; which, though much more 37 The punishment of ISAIAH. the Jewish ivomen. A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olyrap. Quintse I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. 17 Therefore the Lord will smite with '^ a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will ^ dis- cover ^ their secret parts. ' Deut. xxviii. 24. " Heb. make naked, ^ Chap, xlvii. 2, 3 ; capable of illustration from other writers, though of later date, and quoted and transmitted down to us by two different authors, yet seems to be much less intel- ligible, and considerably more corrupted, than this passage of Isaiah. Salmasitis has endeavoured, by comparing the two quotations, and by much critical conjecture and learned disquisition, to restore the true reading, and to explain the particulars ; with what suc- cess, 1 leave to the determination of the learned reader, whose curiosity shall lead him to compare the passage of the comedian with this of tlie prophet, and to ex- amine the critic's learned labours upon it. Exercit. Plinian, p. 1148 ; or see Clem. Alex, as cited above, edit. Potter, where the passage, as corrected by Sal- masius, is given. Nich. Guel. Schroederus, professor of oriental lan- guages in the University of Marpurg, has published a very learned and judicious treatise upon this passage of Isaiah. The title of it is, " Commentarius Philolo- gieo-Criticus de Vestitu Mulierum Hebreearum ad lesai iii. ver. 16-24. Lugd. Bat. 1745." 4to. As I think no one has handled this subject with so much judgment and ability as this author, I have for the most part fol- lowed him, in giving the explanation of the several terms denoting the different parts of dress, of which this passage consists ; signifying the reasons of my dis- sent, where he does not give me full satisfaction. Bishop Lowth's translation of these verses is the following : — In that day will the Lord take from them the ornaments. Of the feet-rings, and the net-works, and the crescents ; The pendants, and the bracelets, and the veils ; The tires, and the fetters, and the zones. And the perfume-boxes, and the amulets , The rings, and the jewels of the nostrils ; The embroidered robes, and the tunics, And the cloaks, and the little purses. The transparent garments, and the fine linen vests. And the turbans, and the mantles. And there shall be instead of perfume, a pntrid ulcer ; And instead of well-girt raiment, rags ; And instead of high-dressed hair, baldness ; And instead of a zone, a girdle of sackcloth ; And sun-burnt skin, instead of beauty. The daughters of Zion — walk] What is meant by these several kinds of action and articles of dress can- not be well conjectured. How our ancestors understood them will appear from the following, which is the trans- lation of these verses in my old MS. Bible : — 16. ffijE DouQltctis of Sjjon tocnten tDitlj strffljt out necfts, anil fn betftcB (winking) of tefleit, gcetien anti 38 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 34. A. M. cir. 3244 B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp Quintae I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7 18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their ■= cauls, and their '' round tires like the moon, Jer, xiii. 22 ; Nah. ii. 5. ^ Or, Tiet-works. ^ Judges viii. 21. fliippclicn toitl) Jonliis tor fonc, anl) jjcrtpn; anti tottji tljtfrc feet fn cuvBOUs QonfnB BecTiEn ;— 17. tfje Jlort sclinll fuUn inafie bnllfD tlic top of tijc 5ouQf)trfs of Swon : anti tjc 2.orti tije tcv of ficm .scfjal nalsen. ^nH for oiirncmcnte srtal be scijcnstliip. 18. I-n tfiat Ian, t1)c 3lorti .scfial Son atocn tIjc our= ncment ot Scijoon an'D tioosis ; 19. anti iiceflfs, anli iroctfs, an'D annecrcUs, anTi mntrfs ; 20. antj coomhfs, anti ri)banD3 ant) rcbcrsis at tijc Ijemmjs, an'D onnmrnt bovis ant) ccerfnats ; 21. anti timflfs an'D [cmmBS fn tlic frount jjonflnnae ; 22. an'D cIjaunQinac cIoHjfs, ant) litil 4)allfs, an'D scjectfs, anti ;)rnni)S ; 23. anS .«ct)ctocrfs, an'D nrcive fecrcljeuns, ant) fnlctis, ant) vobrtfs ; 24. anH tficr scjal be for stoot smel, stimke, an'D for fljr'Dtl, a litil coorti ; ati'D for crisp jjer, ballfDnesse ; ant) for brest boonti an bcnr. Some of these things are hard to be understood, though I think this version as good as that of the very learned bishop : but there is little doubt that articles of clothing and dress bore these names in the fourteenth century. Verse 17. The Lord will smite — "Will the Lord humble"] Ta-xtivuati., Septuagint ; and so Syriac and Chaldee. For T\2V! sippach they read SiJB' shaphal. Instead of T\'\T\'Yehovah,m^uy MSS. have "JIN Adonai. Will discover their secret parts — " E.vpose their nakedness"] It was the barbarous custom of the con- querors of those times to strip their captives naked, and to make them travel in that condition, exposed to the inclemency of the weather ; and, the worst of all, to the intolerable heat of the sun. But this to the women was the height of cruelty and indignity ; and especially to such as those here described, who had indulged them- selves in all manner of delicacies of living, and all the superfluities of ornamental dress; and even whose faces had hardly ever been exposed to the sight of man. This is always mentioned as the hardest part of the lot of captives. Nahum, chap. iii. 5, 6, denouncing the fate of Nineveh, paints it in very strong colours : — " Behold, 1 am against thee, saith Jehovah, God of hosts : And I will discover thy skirts upon thy face ; And I will expose thy nakedness to the nations ; And to the kingdoms thy shame. And I will throw ordures upon thee ; And I will make thee vile, and set thee as a gazing- stock." ■V^erse 18. Ornaments about their feet — "The or- naments of the feet rings"] The late learned Dr. Hunt, professor of Hebrew and Arabic in the University of Oxford, has very well explained the word DD;.' both verb and noun, in his very ingenious Dissertation on Prov. vii. 22, 23. The verb means to skip, to bound, to dance along ; and the noun, those ornaments of the feet which the Eastern ladies wore ; chains or rings The dress and ornaments CHAP. III. of the Jewish women. A. M. cir. 3244 B. C. rir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintal 1. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. 1 9 The ' chains, and the brace- lets, and the '' mufflers, 20 The bonnets, and the orna- ments of the legs, and the head- bands, and the « tablets, and the ear-rings. * Or, sweet balU. ' Or, spangled ornaments. which made a tinkling sound as they moved nimbly in walking. Eugene Roger, Description de la Terre Sainte, Liv. ii. oh. 2, speaking of the Arabian women, of the first rank in Palestine, says, — "An lieu dc brasselels elles ont de menottes d'argent, qu'elles por- tent aux poignets et aux pieds ; oil sont attachez quan- tity de petits annelets d'argent, qui font un cliquetis comme d'une cymbale, lorsqu'elles cheniinent ou se mouvent quelque peu." See Dr. HunCs Dissertation ; where he produces other testimonies to the same pur- pose from authors of travels. Hindoo women of ill fame wear loose ornaments one above another on their ankles, which at every motion make a tinkling noise. See \V.\nD. And their cauls — " the net-works"'] I am obliged to differ from the learned Schroedcrus almost at first setting out. He renders the word D"D"3'iy shebisim by soliculi, little ornaments, bulla?, or studs, in shape representing the sun, and so answering to the following word □"JirrJ saharnnim, lunulee, crescents. He sup- poses the word to be the same with CD'Vi'J shemishtm, the ' yod in the second syllable making the word diminutive, and the letter "D mem being changed for D beth, a letter of the same organ. How just and well founded his authorities for the transmutation of these letters in the Arabic language are, I cannot pretend to judge ; but as I know of no such instance in Hebrew, it seems to me a very forced etymology. Being dis- satisfied with this account of the matter, I applied to my good friend above mentioned, the late Dr. Hutil, who very kindly returned the following answer to my inquiries : — " I have consulted the Arabic Lexicons, as well MS. as printed, but cannot find D'O'^tV shebisim in any of them, nor anv thing belonging to it ; so that no help is to be had from that language towards clearing up the meaning of this difficult word. But what the Arabic denies, the Syriac perhaps may afford ; in which I find the verb W2W shabas, to entangle or interweave, an etymology which is equally favourable to our marginal translation, net-works, with y2^ shabals, to make che- quer u-ork, or embroider, (the word by which Kimchi and others have explained D'^iV shabis ;) and has more- over this advantage over it, that the letters W sin and D samech are very frequently put for each other, but S tsaddi and 0 samech scarcely ever. Aben Ezra joins D'0'3© shebisim and a"D3j' achasim, which immediately precedes it, together ; and says that O'SB' shabis was the ornament of the legs, as D0>' eches was of the feet. His words are, Sw 03>' nD D'plt? Sbt a'^^n O'M' D-Sjt— L." ' Verse -20. The tablets] The words •a3:T\^r\l bottei/ hannephesh, which we translate tablets, and Bishop Lowth, perfume boxes, literally signify houses of the soul ; and may refer to strong-scented bottles used for pleasure and against fainting ; similar to bottles with 21 The rings, and nose- jewels, 22 The changeable suits of apparel, ^ and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins, A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quinte I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. s Heb. houses of the sou2.- ' Dan. iii. 21, in the margin. otto of roses, worn by the ladies of the East to the pre- sent time. Vere 2 1 . Nose-jewels — " The jewels of the nostril."] "^Sn "3T3 nizmey haaph. Schroederus explains this, as many others do, of jewels, or strings of pearl hanging from the forehead, and reaching to the upper part of the nose ; than which nothing can be more ridiculous, as such are seldom seen on an Asiatic face. But it appears from many passages of Holy Scripture that the phrase is to be literally and properly understood of nose-jewels, rings set with jewels hanging from the nostrils, as ear-rings from the ears, by holes bored to receive them. Ezekiel, enumerating the common ornaments of women of the first rank, has not omitted this particular, and is to be understood in the same manner, chap. xvi. 11, 12. See also Gen. xxiv. 47 ; — "And I decked thee with ornaments ; And I put bracelets upon thine hands. And a chain on thy neck ; And I put a jewel on thy nose, And ear-rings on thine ears, And a splendid crown upon thine head.' And in an elegant proverb of Solomon, Prov. xi. 22, there is a manifest allusion to this kind of ornament, which shows it to have been used in his time : — "As a jewel of gold in the snout of a swine ; So is a woman beautiful, but wanting discretion." This fashion, however strange it may appear to us, was formerly and is still common in many parts of the East, among women of all ranks. Paul Lucas, speak- ing of a village or clan of wandering people, a little on this side of the Euphrates, says, (2d Voyage du Levant, torn, i., art. 24,) " The women, almost all of them, travel on foot ; I saw none handsome among them. They have almost all of them the nose bored ; and wear in it a great ring, which makes them still more deformed." But in regard to this custom, better authority cannot be produced than that of Pietro delta Valle, in the account which he gives of the lady before mentioned, Signora Maani Gioerida, his own wife. The description of her dress, as to the ornamental parts of it, with which he introduces the mention of this par- ticular, will give us some notion of the taste of the Eastern ladies for finery. " The ornaments of gold and of jewels for the head, for the neck, for the arms, for the legs, and for the feet (for they wear rings even on their toes) are indeed, unlike those of the Turks, carried to great excess, but not of great value : for in Bagdad jewels of high price are either not to be had, or are not used ; and they wear such only as are of little value, as turquoises, small rubies, emeralds, car- buncles, garnets, pearls, and the like. My spouse dresses herself with all of them according to their fashion ; with exception, however, of certain ugly rings 39 The punishment of the ISAIAH. pride of the Jewish women A. M. cir. 3244 B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintse I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. 23 The glasses, ' and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils. 24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink : and instead of a girdle a rent ; and in- stead of well-set hair '' baldness ; and instead iGen. xli. 42.- ;Ch ap. xxii. 12 ; might. Mic. ). 16.- iHeb. of very large size, set with jewels, which, in truth, very absurdly, it is the custom to wear fastened to one of their nostrils, like buffaloes : an ancient custom, how- ever, in the East, which, as we find in the Holy Scrip- tures, prevailed among the Hebrew ladies even in the time of Solomon, Prov. xi. 22. These nose-rings, in complaisance to me, she has left off; but I have not yet been able to prevail with her cousin and her sisters to do the same ; so fond are they of an old custom, be it ever so absurd, who have been long habituated to it." Viaggi, Tom. i., Let. 17. It is the left nostril that is bored and ornamented with rings and jewels. More than one hundred draw- ings from life of Eastern ladies lie now before me, and scarcely one is without the nose-jewel ; both tlie arms and wrists are covered with bracelets, arm-circles, &c., as also their legs and feet ; the soles of their feet and palms of their hands coloured beautifully red with hen- na, and their hair plaited and ornamented superbly. These beautiful drawings are a fine comment on this ctapter. Verse 23. The glasses] The conjunction 1 vau, and — AND the glasses, is added here by forty-three of Kenmcott's and thirly-four o( De Rossi's MSS., and one of my own, ancient, as well as by many editions. Verse 23. And the veils. — "The transparent gar- ments."] Ta SiaipavTi AaauviKa, Sept. A kind of silken dress, transparent, like gauze ; worn only by the most elegant women, and such as dressed themselves elegantius quam necesse esset probis, " more elegantly than modest women should." Such garments are worn to the present day ; garments that not only show the shape of every part of the body, but the very colour of the skin. This is evidently the case in some scores of drawings of Asiatic females now before me. This sort of garments was afterwards in use among the Greeks. Prodicus, in his celebrated fable (Xenoph. Memorab. Socr. lib. ii.) exhibits the personage of Sloth in this dress : EaS^/ra (5f, ff ;}f av fiaXiara upa 6ia- ^afiKoi : — " Her robe betray'd Through the clear texture every tender limb, Height'ning the charms it only seem'd to shade ; And as it flow'd adown so loose and thin. Her stature show'd more tall, more snowy white her skin." They were called multitia and coa {sal. vestimenla) by the Romans, from their being invented, or rather intro- duced into Greece, by one Pamphila of the island of Cos. This, like other Grecian fashions, was received at Rome, when luxury began to prevail under the em- perors. It was sometimes worn even by the men, but 40 A. U. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintae I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. of a stomacher a girding of sack- cloth ; and burning instead of beauty. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy 'mighty in the war. 26 "" And hergates shall lament and mourn; and shebeing "desolate " shall p sit upon the gi-ound. "Jer. xiv. 2 ; Lam. i. 4. "Or, emptied. "Heb. cleansed. PLam. ii. 10. looked upon as a mark of extreme effeminacy. See Juvenal, Sat. ii., 65, &c. Publius Syrus, who lived when the fashion was first introduced, has given a hu- morous satirical description of it in two lines, which by chance have been preserved : — " ^Equum est, induere nuptam ventuni textilem 1 Palam prostare nudam in nebula linea !" Verse 24. Instead of sweet smell — "perfume."] A principal part of the delicacy of the Asiatic ladies con sists in the use of baths, and of the richest oils and perfumes ; an attention to which is in some degree ne- cessary in those hot countries. Frequent mention is made of the rich ointments of the spouse in the Son^ of Solomon, Cant. iv. 10, 11 ; — " How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse ! How much more excellent than wine ; And the odour of thine ointments than all perfumes ! Thy lips drop as the honey-comb, my spouse ! Honey and milk are under thy tongue : And the odour of thy garments is as the odour of Lebanon." The preparation for Esther's being introduced to King Ahasuerus was a course of bathing and perfuming for a whole year ; " six months with oil of m)-rrh, and six months with sweet odours ;" Esth. ii. 12. See the notes on this place. A diseased and loathsome habit of body, instead of a beautiful skin, softened and made agreeable with all that art could devise, and all that nature, so prodigal in those countries of the richest perfumes, could supply, must have been a punishment the most severe and the most mortifying to the delicacy of these haughty daughters of Sion. Burning instead of beauty — "A sunburnt skin."] Gaspar Sanclius thinks the words nnn '3 fit thothalk an interpolation, because the Vulgate has omitted them. The clause '£i^ jinn O ki thachath yophi seems to me rather to be imperfect at the end. Not to mention that 'J ki, taken as a noun for adustio, burning, is without example, and very improbable. The passage ends abruptly, and seems to want a fuller conclusion. In agreement with which opinion, of the defect of the Hebrew text in this place, the Scptuagint, accord- ing to MSS. Pachom. and 1 D. ii., and Marchal., which are of the best authority, express it with the same evi- dent marks of imperfection at the end of the sentence ; thus : TavTa aoi av-i Ka7.Xuruafiov — The two latter add &0V. This chasm in the te.vt, from the loss pro- bably of three or four words, seems therefore to be of long standing. Taking 'J ki in its usual sense, as a particle, and supplying "jS lech from the aoi of the Septuaginl, it might possibly have been originally somewhat in this form : Desolate state of CHAP. IV. the land of Judea. nKi3 r\y'\ ^S n'nn 'S' nnn "3 marah raath lech ihihyeh yophi Ihachath ki " Yea, instead of beauty thou shall have an ill-fa- voured countenance." "3" nnn '3 ki thachalh yophi, (q. nn' yachath,) " for beauty shall be deslroyed." Syr. nnn chalhath or nnJ nachath. — Dr. Dlrell. " May it not be TID cohey, ' wrinkles instead of beauty V as from 712'' yaphah is formed '3" ycphi, yophi ; from niT) marah, "13 meri, &c. ; so from nriD cahah, to be wrinkled, "HD cohey." — Dr. Jubb. The '3 ^i is wanting in one MS., and has been omitted by several of the ancients. Verse 35. Thy mighty men.] For f^miDJ gebura- thech an ancient MS. has 1"\13J gibborech. The true reading, from the Scptuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Chaldec, seems to be "jlOJ gibborayich. Verse 26. Sit upon the ground.} Sitting on the ground was a posture that denoted mourning and deep distress. The prophet Jeremiah (Lam. ii. 8) has given it the first place among many indications of sorrow, in the following elegant description of the same state of distress of his country : — " The elders of the daughter of Sion sit on the ground, they are sUent : They have cast up dust on their heads ; they have girded themselves with sackcloth ; The virgins of Jerusalem have bowed down their heads to the ground." " We find Judea," says Mr. Addison, (on Medals, Dial, ii,) " on several coins of Vespasian and Titus, in a posture that denotes sorrow and captivity. I need not mention her sitting on the ground, because we have already spoken of the aptness of such a posture to represent an extreme aflSiction. I fancy the Ro- mans might have an eye on the customs of the Jewish nation, as well as those of their country, in the several marks of sorrow they have set on this figure. The psalmist describes the Jews lamenting their captivity in the same pensive posture : ' By the waters ot Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Zion.' But what is more remarkable, we find Judea represented as a woman in sorrow sitting on the ground, in a passage of the prophet, that fore tells the very captivity recorded on this medal." Mi Addison, I presume, refers to this place of Isaiah ; and therefore must have understood it as foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation by the Romans : whereas it seems plainly to relate, in its first and more immediate view at least, to the destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, and the dissolution of the Jewish state under the captivity at Babylon. — L. Several of the coins mentioned here by Mr. Addison are in my own collection : and to such I have already referred in this work. I shall describe one here. On the obverse a fine head of the emperor Vespasian with this legend, Imperator Julius Cttsar Vespasianus Au- gustus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunitia Potcstate Patet Patria, Consul VIII. On the reverse a tall palm tree, emblem of the land of Palestine, the emperor standing on the left, close to the tree, with a trophy behind him ; on the right, Judea under the figure of a female captive sitting on the ground, with her head resting on her hand, the elbow on her knee, weeping. Around is this legend, Judea Capta. Senatus Consullo. However this pre- diction mav refer proximately to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, I am fully of opinion that it ultimately refers to the final ruin of the Jewish state by the Romans. And so it has been understood by the general run of the best and most learned inter- preters and critics. CHAPTER IV. The havoc occasioned by war, and those other calamities which the prophet had been describing in the preced- ing chapter, are represented as so terribly great that seven women should be left to one man, 1 . Grea. blessedness of the remnant that shall be accounted icorthy to escape these judgments, 2—4. The privilege of the Gospel set forth by allusions to the glory and pomp of the Mosaic dispensation, 5, 6. A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintse I. Ante L'rbem Conditam 7. A ND ^ in that day seven women shall lake hold of one man, only "^ let us be called by thy name, '' to take away " our re- saying, We will •'eat our ownlproach bread, and wear our own apparel : 'Chap. ii. II, 17.- -'>2 Thess. iii. 12.- be called upon its. -= Heb. let thy name 2 In that day shall ' the branch A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintse I. Ante ITrbem Conditam 7. ^ Or, take tkou away. * Luke i. 25.— iii. 8 ; vi. 12. -' Jer. zziii. 5 ; Zech. NOTES ON CHAP. IV. Verse 1. And seven loomen] The division of the chapters has interrupted the prophet's discourse, and oroken it off almost in the midst of the sentence. " The numbers slain in battle shall be so great, that seven women shall be left to one man." The prophet has described the greatness of this distress by images and adjuncts the most expressive and forcible. The young women, contrary to their natural modesty, shall become suitors to the men : they will take hold of them, and use the most pressing importunity to be married. In spite of the natural suggestions of jea- lousy, they will be content with a share only of the rights of marriage in common with several others ; and that on hard conditions, renouncing the legal de- mands of the wife on the husband, (see Exod. xxi. 10,) and begging only the name and credit of wedlock, and 10 be freed from the reproach of celibacy. See chap 41 The presence of God in ^^""■^li*- of the Lord be ? beautiful and B. C. cir, 760. Anno oiymp. glorious, and the fruit of the earth Ant'e"u*bem shall be excellent and comely ''for Conditam 7. ^^^^ jj^^^j ^^^ cscaped of Israel, 3 And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, ' shall be called holy, even every one that is '' written ' among the living in Jerusalem. 4 When "> the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the s Heb. beauty and glory. ^ Heb. /or the escapmg of Israel. iChap. Ix. 21. iiPhil. iv. 3; Rev. iii. 5. ' Or, to life. ISAIAH. the assemblies of his people. midst thereof by the spirit of ^^q%^^^- judgment, and bv the spirit of AnnoOiymp. .•'='. ^ *^ Quintajl. burnuig. Ante Urbem 5 And the Lord will create upon ^°°'^"^"' ''■ every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, " a cloud and smoke by day, and " the shining of a flaming fire by night • for P upon all the glory shall be '* a. defence. 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a sha- dow in the day-time from the heat, and ' for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. liv. 4, 5. Like Marcia, on a different occasion, and in other circumstances : — Da tantum nomen inane Connubii : liceat tumulo scripsisse, Catonis Marcia. Lucan, ii. 342. " This happened," says Kimchi, " in the days of Ahaz, when Peliah the son of Remaliah slew in Judea one hundred and twenty thousand men in one day; see 2 Chron. xviii. 6. The widows which were left were so numerous that the prophet said, 'They are multi- plied beyond the sand of the sea,' " Jer. xv. 8. In that day'] These words are omitted in the Sep- tuagint, and MSS. Verse 2. The branch of the Lord — " the branch of Jehovah"] The Messiah of Jehovah, says the Chal- dee. And Kimchi says, The Messiah, the Son of David. The branch is an appropriate title of the Messiah ; and the fruit of the land means the great Person to spring from the house of Judah, and is only a parallel expression signifying the same ; or perhaps the blessings consequent upon the redemption pro- cured by him. Compare chap. xlv. 8, where the same great event is set forth under similar images, and see the note there. Them that are escaped of Israel — " the escaped of the house of Israel."] A MS. has Ssitf' n''3 beith yisrael, the house of Israel. Verse 3. Written among the living] That is, whose name stands in the enrolment or register of the people ; or every man living, who is a citizen of Jeru- salem. See Ezek. xiii. 9, where, •' they shall not be written in the writing of the house of Israel," is the same with what immediately goes before, " they shall not be in the assembly of my people." Compare Psa. Ixix. 28 ; Ixxxvii. 6 ; Exod. xxxii. 32. To number and register the people was agreeable to the law of Moses, and probably was always practised ; being, in sound policy, useful, and even necessary. David's design of numbering the people was of another kind ; it was to enrol them for his army. Michaelis Mo- saisches Recht, Part, iii., p. 227. See also his Dis- sert, de Censibus Hebrceorum. Verse 4. The spirit of burning^ Means tbe fire of God's wrath, by which he will prove and purify his people ; gathering them into his furnace, in order to 40 ■" Mai. iii. 2, 3. ° Exort. xiii. 21. ° Zech. ii. 5. P Or above. iHeb. a covering j chap. viii. 14. ' Chap. xxv. 4. separate the dross from the silver, the bad from the good. The severity of God's judgments, the fiery trial of his servants, Ezekiel (chap. xxii. 18-22) has set forth at large, after his manner, with great boldness of imagery and force of expression. God threatens to gather them into the midst of Jerusalem, as into the furnace ; to blow the fire upon them, and to melt them. Malachi, chap. iii. 2, 3, treats the same subject, and represents the same event, under the like images : — " But who may abide the day of his coming % And who shall stand when he appeareth ^ For he is like the fire of the refiner, And like the soap of the fullers. And he shall sit refining and purifying the silver ; And he shall purify the sons of Levi ; And cleanse them like gold, and like silver ; That they may be Jehovah's ministers. Presenting unto him an offering in righteousness." This is an allusion to a chemist purifying metals. He first judges of the state of the ore or adulterated metal. Secondly, he kindles the proper degree of fire, and applies the requisite test ; and thus separates the precious from the vile. Verse 5. And the Lord will create — One MS., the Septuagint, and the Arabic, have N'D' yabi. He shall bring : the cloud already exists ; the Lord will bring it over. This is a blessed promise of the presence of God in all the assemblies of his people. Every dwelling place—" the station"! The He- brew text has, every station: but four MSS. (one an- cient) omit 7D col, all ; very rightly, as it should seem : for the station was Mount Zion itself, and no other. See Exod. xv. 17. And the Septuagint, Arabic, and MSS., add the same word ^3 col, before nN"'prD mik- raeha, probably right : the word has only changed its place by mistake. D'Siprj mikrayeh, " the place where they were gathered together in their holy as- semblies," says Sal ben Melech. But twenty-five of KennicotCs MSS., and twenty-two of De RossVs, fifty-three editions, besides the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic, have the word in the plural number. A cloud and smoke hy day] This is a manifest allusion to the pillar of a cloud and of fire, which at- tended the Israeliffis in their passage out of Egypt, and to the glory that rested on the tabernacle, Exod. The parable oj CHAP. V. the vineyard. xiii. 21, xl. 38. The prophet Zechariah, chap ii. 5, applies the same image to the same purpose : — " And I will be unto her a wall of fire round about; And a glory will I be in the midst of hei." That is, the visible presence of God shall protect her. Which explains the conclusion of this verse of Isaiah ; where the makkaph between 7D col, and 1133 cabod, connecting the two words in construction, which ought not to be connected, has thrown an obscurity upon the sentence, and misled most of the translators. For upon all the glory shall be a defence.] What- ever God creates, he must uphold, or it will fail. Every degree of grace brings with it a degree of power to maintain itself in the soul. Vere 6. A tabernacle] In countries subject to vio- lent tempests, as well as to intolerable heat, a portable tent is a necessary part of a traveller's baggage, for defence and shelter. And to such tents the words of the text make evident allusion. They are to be met with in every part of Arabia and Egypt, and in various other places in the East. CHAPTER V. This chapter begins with representing, in a beautiful parable, the tender care of God for his people, and their unworthy returns for his goodness, 1—7. The parable or allegory is then dropped ; and the prophet, in plain terms, reproves and threatens them for their icickcdness ; particularly for their covetousness, 8—10 ; intemperance, 11 ; and inaltenlion to the warnings of Providence, 12. Then follows an enumeration of judgments as the necessary consequence. Captivity and famine appear with all their horrors, 13. Hades, or the grave, like a ravenous monster, opens wide its jaws, and swallows doion its myriads, 14. Distress lays hold on all ranks, 15 ; and God is glorified in the execution of his judgments, 16 ; till the ivhole place is left desolate, a place for the flocks to range in, 17. The prophet then pauses ; and again resumes his subject, reproving them for several other sins, and threatening them with woes and vengeance, 1 8—24 ; after which he sums up the whole of his awful denunciation in a very lofty and spirited epiphonema or conclu- sion. The God of armies, having hitherto corrected to no purpose, is represented with inimitable majesty, as only giving a hist, and a swarm of nations hasten to his standard, 25-27. Upon a guilty race, unpilied by heaven or by earth, they execute their commission ; and leave the land desolate and dark, without one ray of comfort to cheer the horrid gloom, 28—30. *. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. .\nno Olymp. Quintx I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. MOW will I sing to my well- beloved a song of my beloved touching ° his vineyard. My well- beloved hath a vine3-ard in '' a very fruitful hill. • P3a. \kxx. 8 ; Cant. viii. 12 ; chap, xxvii. 2 ; Jer. ii. 21 ; Matt. luti. 33; Mark xii. 1 ; Luke xx. 9. This chapter likewise stands single and alone, un- connected with the preceding or following. The sub- ject of it is nearly the same with that of the first chapter. It is a general reproof of the Jews for their wickedness ; but it e.tceeds that chapter in force, in severity, in variety, and elegance ; and it adds a more express declaration of vengeance by the Babylonian invasion. NOTES ON CHAP. V. Verse 1. Xow will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved — " Let me sing now a song," &c.] A MS., respectable for its antiquity, adds the word Ta' shir, a song, after N3 na ; which gives so elegant a turn to the sentence by the repetition of it in the next member, and by distinguishing the members so exactly in the style and manner in the Hebrew poetical com- position, that I am much inclined to think it genuine. .4 song of my beloved — " A song of loves"] "in dodey, for D'tn dodim ; status constructus pro abso- luto, as the grammarians say, as Mic. vi. 16 ; Lam. iii. 14,66; so Archbishop SecAcr. Or rather, in all these and the like cases, a mistake of the transcribers, by not observing a small stroke, which in many MSS., is made to supply the D mem, of the plural, thus, /nn 2 And he " fenced it, and gath- ered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also "^ made a wine press therein : A. M. cir. 3244. B C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintae I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. and *• Heb. tke horn of the son of oil. * Or, made a wall aboiU it. «^Heb. hewed. * Deul. zxxii. 6 ; chap. i. 2, 3. dodi. Dnn rn'iy shirath dodim is the same with m'T "Via shir yedidoth, Psa. xlv. 1. In this way of understanding it we avoid the great impropriety of making tlie author of the song, and the person to whom it is addressed, to be the same. In a very fruitful hill — " On a high and fruitful hill."] Heb. |:3iy [3 pp3 bekeren ben shamen, " on a horn the son of oil." The expression is highly de- scriptive and poetical. " He calls the land of Israel a horn, because it is higher than all lands ; as the horn is higher than the whole body ; and the son of oil, because it is said to be a land flowing with milk and honey." — Kimchi on the place. The parts of ani- mals are, by an easy metaphor, applied to parts of the earth, both in common and poetical language. A pro- montory is called a cape or head ; the Turks call it a nose. " Dorsum immane mari summo ;" Virgil, a back, or ridge of rocks : — " Hanc latus angustura jam se cogentis in arctum HesperiaB tenuem producit in aequora linguam, Adriacas flesis claudit quas comibus undas." Lucan, ii. 612, of Brundusium, i. e.. Bpevreaiov, which, in the ancient language of that country, signifies stag's head, says Strabo. A horn is a proper and ob- 43 The parable of ISAIAH. A.U. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintae I. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of ^ Romans, vious image for a mountain or mountainous country. Solinus, cap. viii., says, " Italiam, ubi longius proces- serit, in cornua duo scindi ;" that is, the high ridge of the Alps, which runs through the whole length of it, divides at last into two ridges, one going through Ca- labria, the other through the country of the Brutii. " Cornwall is called by the inhabitants in the British tongue Kernaw, as lessening by degrees like a horn, running out into promontories like so many horns. For the Britons call a horn corn, in the plural kern." — Camden. "And Sammes is of opinion, that the coun- try had this name originally from the Phoenicians, who traded hither for tin ; hertn, in their language, being a horn.^' — Gibson. Here the precise idea seems to be that of a high mountain standing by itself; "vertex mentis, aut pars mentis ab aliis divisa ;" which signification, says /. H. Michaelis, Bibl. Hallens., Not. in loc, the word has in Arabic. Judea was in general a mountainous country, whence Moses sometimes calls it The Mountain, " Thou shalt plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance ;" Exod. XV. 17. "I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land beyond Jordan ; that goodly mountain, and Lebanon ;" Deut. iii. 25. And in a political and religious view it was detached and separated from all the nations round it. Whoever has considered the de- scriptions given of Mount Tabor, (see Reland, Palajs- tin. ; Eugene Roger, Terre Sainte, p. 64,) and the views of it which are to be seen in books of travels, (Maundrell, p. 114; Egmonl and Heyman, vol. ii. p. 25; Thevenot, vol. i., p. 429,) its regular conic form rising singly in a plain to a great height, from a base small in proportion, and its beauty and fertility to the very lop, will have a good idea of " a horn the son of oil ;" and will perhaps be induced to think that the prophet took his image from that mountain. Verse 3. And gathered out the stones — " And he cleared it from the stones"] This was agreeable to the husbandry : " Saxa, summa parte terrae, et viles et arbores la^dunt ; ima parte refrigerant ;" Columell. de arb. iii. " Saxosum facile est expedire lectione lapi- dum ;" Id. ii. 2. " Lapides, qui supersunt, [al. insuper sunt,] hieme rigent, eestate fervescunt ; idcirco satis, arbustis, et vitibus nocent ;" Pallad. i. 6. A piece of ground thus cleared of the stones Persius, in his hard way of metaphor, calls " exossatus ager," an unboned field; Sat. vi. 52. The choicest vine — " Sorek"] Many of the ancient interpreters, the Septuagint, Aguila, and Theod., have retained this word as a proper name ; I think very rightly. Sorek was a valley lying between Ascalon and Gaza, and running far up eastward in the tribe of Judah. Both Ascalon and Gaza were anciently fa- mous for wine ; the former is mentioned as such by Alexayider Trallianus ; the latter by several authors, quoted by Reland, Falsest., p. 589 and 986. And it 44 the vineyard. A. M. cir. 3244 B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. Quintae 1. Ante Urbem Conditam 7. Jerusalem, and men of Judah, •^ judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done chap. iii. 4. seems that the upper part of the valley of Sorek, and that of Eshcol, where the spies gathered the single cluster of gi-apes, which they were obliged to bear be- tween two upon a staff, being both near to Hebron were in the same neighbourhood, and that all this part of the country abounded with rich vineyards. Compare Num. xiii. 22, 23 ; Judg. xvi. 3, 4. P. Nau supposes Eschol and Sorek to be only difl'erent names for the same valley. Voyage Noveau de la Terre Sainte, lib. iv., chap. 18. See likewise De LisWs posthumous map of the Holy Land. Paris, 1763. See Bochart, Hieroz. ii., col. 725. Thevenot, i. p. iOG. Michaelis (note on Judg. xvi. 4, German translation) thinks it probable, from some circumstances of the history there given, that Sorek was in the tribe of Judah, not in the country of the Philistines. The vine of Sorek was known to the Israelites, being mentioned by Moses, Gen. xlix. 11, before their coming out of Egypt. Egypt was not a wine coun- try. " Throughout this country there are no wines ;" Sandi/s, p. 101. At least in very ancient times they had none. Herodotus, ii. 77, says it had no vines, and therefore used an artificial wine made of barley. That is not strictly true, for the vines of Egypt are spoken of in Scripture, Psa. Ixxviii. 47 ; cv. 33 ; and see Gen. xl. 11, by which it should seem that they drank only the fiesh juice pressed from the grape, which was called oivof aii-:T€9uvoc ; Herodot., ii. 37. But they had no large vineyards, nor was the country proper for them, being little more than one large plain, annually overflowed by the Nile. The Mareotic in later times is, I think, the only celebrated Egyptiaa wine which we meet with in history. The vine was formerly, as Hasselquist tells us it is now, " cultivated in Egypt for the sake of eating the grapes, not for wine, which is brought from Candia," &c. " They were supplied with wine from Greece, and likewise from Phoenicia," Herodot. iii. 6. The vine and the wine of Sorek therefore, which lay near at hand for importation into Egypt, must in all probability have been well known to the Israelites, when they sojourned there. There is something remarkable in the manner in which Moses, Gen. xlix. 11, makes mention of it, which, for want of considering this matter, has not been attended to ; it is in Jacob's prophecy of the future prosperity of the tribe of Judah : — " Binding his foal to the vine. And his ass's colt to his own sorek ; He washeth his raiment in wine. And his cloak in the blood of grapes." I take the liberty of rendering nplty sorefiah, for llpl? soreJio, his sorek, as the Masoretes do by point- ing riTJ' iroh, for 11'!' iro, his foal. Ti' ir, miglrt na- turally enough appear in the feminine form ; but it is not at all probable that n'W sorek ever should. By naming particularly the vine of Sorek. and as the vine 'Die parable of CHAP. V. the vineyard. A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olynip. Quinlae I. Ante I'rbem Conditam 7. grapes more to my «; vineyard, that I have not done in it ? vvliercfore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild f Luke xiii. G, 7, 8, 9, 10. belonging to Judah, the prophecy intimates the very part of the country which was to fall to the lot of that tribe. .Sir John Chanlm says, " that at Cas- bin, a city of Persia, they turn their cattle into the vineyards after the vintage, to browse on the vines." He speaks also of vines in that country so large that lie could hardly compass the trunks of them with his arms. Voyages, tom. iii., p. 12, ICrao. This shows that the ass might be securely hound to the vine, and without danger of damaging the tree by browsing on it. And buill a tower in the midst of it] Our Saviour, w ho lias taken the general idea of one of his parables, Matt. xxi. 33, Mark xii. 1, from this of Isaiah, has likewise inserted this circumstance of building a tower ; which is generally explained by commentators as de- signed for the keeper of the vineyard to watch and defend the fruits. But for this purpose it was usual to make a little temporary hut, (Isa. i. 8,) which might serve for the short season while the fruit was ripening, and which was removed afterwards. The tower there- fore should rather mean a building of a more perma- nent nature and use ; the farm, as wc may call it, of the vineyard, containing all the offices and implements, and the whole apparatus necessary for the culture of the vineyard, and the making of the wine. To which image in the allegory, the situation, the manner of building, the use, and the whole service of the temple, exactly answered. And so the Chaldcc paraphrast very rightly expounds it : Et statui cos (Israelitas) ut plantam vineae selectee et aedificavi Sanctuarium meum in medio illoium. "And I have appointed the Israel- ites as a plant of a chosen vino, and I have built my sanctuary in the midst of them."' So also Hieron. in loc. -Edifioavit quoquc turrim in medio ejus ; tem- plum videlicet in media civitate. "He built also a tower in the midst of it, viz., his own temple in the midst of the city." That they have still such towers or buildings for use or pleasure, in their gardens in the East, see Harmer's Observations, ii. p. 241. And also made a wine-press therein. — "And hewed out a lake therein."] This image also our Saviour has preserved in his parable. 2p" yekeb ; the Septua- ginl render it here ■::po7.iiviov, and in four other places vTxo^tiviov, Isa. xvi. 10; Joel iii. 13; Hag. ii. 17; Zech. xiv. 10, I think more properly; and this latter word St. Mark uses. It means not the wine-press itself, or calcatorium, which is called nj gath, or mi3 purah ; but what the Romans called lacus, the lake ; the large open place or vessel, which by a conduit or spout received the tnust from the wine-press. In very hot countries it was perhaps necessary, or at least very convenient, to have the lake under ground, or in a cave hewed out of the side of the rock, for cool- ness, that the heat might not cause too great a fer- mentation, and sour the must. Vini confectio instituitur 5 And now go to ; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard : '' I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall . bo eaten up ; and break down A . M. cir. 3244 n. C. cir. 700. Anno Olymp. Qiiinlee I. Ante L'rbem Condit.im 7. ' the wall ■i Psa. Uxx. 12.- -' Lam. ii. 8. in cella, vel intimfe domus camera quadam a ventonim ingrcssu remota. Kempfcr, of Shiras wine. Amccn. Exot. p. 37C. For the wind, to which that country is subject, would injure the wine. " The wine-presses in Persia," says Sir John Chardin, " arc formed by making hollow places in the ground, lined with ma- sons'work." /farmer's Observations, i., p. 392. See a print of one in Kempfer, p. 377. Nonnus describes at large Bacchus hollowing the inside of a rock, and hewing out a place for the wine-press, or rather the lake ; — Kai o/coTfP.ovf tXax^lvv iredoaKaijiioc mine ears, said the ^ '^ "'■ ^*- Lord of hosts, ■■ Of a truth many Anno Olymj) houses shall be desolate, even Ante Urbem great and fair, without inhabi- °" ""° ^" tant. From some such sorts of poisonous fruits of the grape kind Moses has taken these strong and highly poetical images, with which he has set forth the future corruption and extreme degeneracy of the Israelites, in an allegory which has a near relation, both in its subject and imagery, to this of Isaiah : Deut. xxxii. 32, 33. "Their vine is from the vine of Sodom, And from the fields of Gomorrah ; Their grapes are grapes of gall ; Their clusters are bitter : Their wine is the poison of dragons. And the cruel venom of aspics." " I am inclined to believe," says Hasselquist, " that the prophet here, Isa. v. 2-4, means the hoary night- shade, solanum incanum ; because it is common in Egypt, Palestine, and the East ; and the Arabian name agrees well with it. The Arabs call it anab cl dib, 1. e., wolf grapes. The □"t'ltNl beushim, says Rab. Chai., is a well known species of the vine, and the worst of all sorts. The prophet could not have found a plant more opposite to the vine than this ; for it grows much in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to them ; wherefore they root it out ; it likewise resembles a vine by its shrubby stalk ;" Travels, p. 289. See also ilfi- chaelis. Questions au.x Voyageurs Danois, No. 64. Verse 3. Inhabitants] ^JW yoshebey, in the plural number ; three MSS., (two ancient,) and so likewise the Septuagmt and Vulgate. Verse C. There shall come up briers and thorns — " The thorn shall spring up in it"] One MS. has Toty:i beshamir. The true reading seems to be "y^^lil 13 bo shamir, which is confirmed by the Septuagmt, Syriac, and Vulgate. Verse 7. And he looked for judgment] The paro- nomasia, or play on the words, in this place, is very remarkable ; mishpat, mishpach, tsedakah, tseakah. There are many examples of it in the other prophets, but Isaiah seems peculiarly fond of it. See chap. 46 10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one * bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah. 1 1 ' Wo unto them that rise up early in the moriiing, that they may follow strong drink ; that continue until night, till wine " inflame them ! 1 2 And ' the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts : but " they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. ■•Heb. If not, &c. 'See Ezek. xlv. II. ' Prov. ixiii. 29, 30 ; Eccles. x. 16 ; ver. 22. " Or, pursue them. " Amos vi. 5, 6. "" Job xxsiv. 27 ; Psa. xxviii. 5. xiii. 6, xxiv. 17, xxxii. 7, xxviii. 1, Ivii. 6, Ixi. 3, Ixv. 11, 12. Rabbi David Kimchi has noticed the paro- nomasia here ; he expected OStyo mishpat, judgment, but behold n3">I'0 mishpach, oppression ; he expected npIS tsedakah, righteousness, but behold npi'V tseakah, a cry. The rabbins esteem it a great beauty ; their term for it is ntlh'n mnV tsachoth hallashon, elegance of language. Oppression — "tyranny."] niJiVO mishpach, from n2ty shaphach, servum fecit, Arab. Houbigant : nnSB' shiphchah is serva, a handmaid, or female slave. n3DD mispach, eighteen MSS. Verse 8. Wo unto them that — lay field to field — " You who lay field unto field"] Read U'lpn takribu, in the second person ; to answer to the verb following. So Vulgate. Verse 9. In mine ears. — " To mine ear"] The sentence in the Hebrew text seems to be imperfect in this place, as likewise in chap. xxii. 14, where the very same sense seems to be required as here. See the note there ; and compare 1 Sam. ix. 15. In this place the Septuagijit supply the word TiKovadii, and the Syriac ^'OnUN eshtama, auditus est Jehovah in auribus meis, i. e., n^JJ niglah, as in chap. xxii. 14. Many houses] This has reference to what was said in the preceding verse : " In vain are ye so intent upon joining house to house, and field to field ; your houses shall be left uninhabited, and your fields shall become desolate and barren ; so that a vineyard of ten acres shall produce but one bath (not eight gallons) of wine, and the husbandman shall reap but a tenth part of the seed which he has sown." Kimchi says this means such an extent of vineyard as would require ten yoke of oxen to plough in one day. Averse 1 1 . Wo unto them that rise up early] There is a likeness between this and the following passage of the prophet Amos, chap. vi. 3-6, who probably wrote before Isaiah. If the latter be the copier, he seems hardly to have equalled the elegance of the original : — The desolations CHAP. V. of Judah. W c,> 760^' ^^ "Therefore my people are Anno oiynip. Eone into caplivitv, >' because Quintic 1. ?, , 111 1 Ante Urbem they have no knowledge : and ^""■^'"^ '■ Mlieir honourable men are fa- mished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. 1 4 Therefore hell iiath enlarged herself, and opened iicr mouth witiiout measure : and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoicelh, shall descend into it. 1 5 And " the mean man sliall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled. * Hos. iv. 6. * Chap. i. 3 ; Luke xix. 44.- glory are men of famine. -« Heb. their " Ye that put far away the evil day, And affect the seat of violence ; Who lie upon beds of ivory, And stretch yourselves upon your couches ; And eat the lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the stall ; Who chant to the sound of the viol, And like David invent for yourselves instruments of music ; Who quatr wine in large bowls. And are anointed with the choicest ointments : But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." Kimchi says, " they consider not the heavens nor their hosts : they pray not the morning nor the evening prayer unto the Lord."' Follow strong drink] Theodorel and Chri/sostom on this place, both Syrians, and unexceptionable wit- nesses in what belongs to their own country, inform us that IDl!' shechar (aiKrpa in the Greek of both Testa- ments, rendered by us by the general term strong drin/i) meant properly palm u-inc, or date wine, which was and is still much in use in the Eastern countries. Ju- dea was famous for the abundance and excellence of its palm trees ; and consequently had plenty of this wine. " Fiunt (vina) et e pomis ; primumque e pal- mis, quo Parthi et Indi utuntur, et oriens totus : matu- rarum modio in aquae congiis tribus macerato exprcs- soque." Plin. lib. xiv. 19. "Ab his cariotiB [pahna?] maxime celebrantur ; et cibo quidem, sed et succo, uberrima;. Ex quibus praecipua vina orienti ; iniqua capili, unde pomo nomen." Id. .xiii. 9. Kapof sig- nifies stupefaction : and in Hebrew likewise the wine has its name from its remarkably inebriating quality. Verse 13. And their honourable men — "And the nobles"] Tl,ese verses have likewise a reference to the two preceding. They that indulged in feasting and drinking shall perish with hunger and thirst ; and Hades shall indulge his appetite as much as they had done, and devour them all. The image is strong and expressive in the highest degree. Habakkuk, chap, ii. 5, uses the same image with great force : — the am- bitious and avaricious conqueror " Enlargeth his appetite like Hades ; And he is like Death, and will never be satisfied." and the eyes of the lofty shall ^J'^a""- ^^* J J B. C. cir. 760. be humbled : Anno Olymp 1 ^ r> 1 T r 1 Qtiintaj I. lb but the IjOKU OI hosts Ante t'rbcit shall be exalted in judgment, ^°"''"'"""- and '' God " that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. 17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and tlie waste places of '' the fat ones shall strangers eat. 18 Wo unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart- rope : •Chap, ii.9, 11,17 '^ Or, the hoty God. <• Heb. the God the holy. "l Chap. x. 16. But, in Isaiah, Hades is introduced to much greater advantage, in person ; and placed before our eyes in the form of a ravenous monster, opening wide his immeasurable jaws, and swallowing them all together : "Therefore Sheol hath dilated her soul, she hath opened her mouth beyond limit." Destruction expects more than a common meal, when God visits Jerusalem for her iniquities. This seems to refer to the ruin brought on the Jews by the Romans. Our blessed Lord re- peats this parable, and applies it to this very transac- tion, Matt. xxi. 33. Verse 17. The lambs — "And the kids"] Onj ^e- rim, " strangers." The Scptuagini read, more agree- ably to the design of the prophet, CD^ID carim, apver, " the lambs." CD'nj gcdayim, " the kids," Dr. Durell ; nearer to the present reading : and so Archbishop Seeker. The meaning is, their luxurious habitations shall be so entirely destroyed as to become a pastt:« for flocks. After their manner — " Without restraint"] C3"l3n3 kedobram, secundum ductum eorum ; i. e., suo ipsorum ductu ; as their own will shall lead them. Verse 18. With a cart-rope — "As a long cable"] The Septuaginl, Aquila, Sym., and Theod., for "'73113 bechablci/,re3.(l 'IDPD kechablei/, tj^ cxoiviu, or axoivioic; and the Septuagint, instead of N'a? shav, read some other word signifying long ; uc axoipiu /tanpu; and so likewise the S>/riac, N3'"'N arecha. Houbigant con- jectures that the word which the Septuagint had in their copies was yMZ' sarua, which is used Lev. xxi. 18, xxii. 23, for something in an animal body super- fluous, lengthened beyond its natural measure. And he explains it of sin added to sin, and one sin drawing on another, till the whole comes to an enormous length and magnitude ; compared to the work of a rope-maker i still increasing and lengthening his rope, with the con- j tinued addition of new materials. " Eos propheta similes facit homini restiario, qui funem torquet, can- nabe addita et contorta, eadem iterans, donee funem in I longum duxcrit, neque eum liceat prolrahi longius.'' "An evil inclination," says Kimchi on this place, from the ancient rabbins, " is at the beginning like a fine haLr-slring, but at the finishing like a thick cart-rope." By a long progression in iniquit)-, and a continued ac- cumulation of sin, men arrive at length to the highest degree of wickedness ; bidding open defiance to God, 47 The crimes of ISAIAH. Judah enumerated A. M. cir. 3244. B. C. cir. 760. 1 9 ' That say, Let liim make AJmo Olymp. speed, and hasten his work, that Ante Urbem we may See it : and let the ^°"'''""" '■ counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it ! 20 Wo unto them ^ that call evil good, and good evil ; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness ; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter ! 2 1 Wo unto them that are s wise in their own eyes, and prudent '' in their own sight ! 22 ■ Wo unto the?n that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink : 23 Which ^ justify the wicked for reward, = Chap. 1 xvi. 5 : Jer xvii. 15 ; Amos v. 18 ; 2 Pet. iii. 3 > 4- 'Heh. that say concerning evil. It is good, &c. — — e Prov. iii 7; Rom. .22 xu. 16. — -■■Heb before their face. > Verse 11. ' Prov xv'ii. 15 ; XKIV. 24. and scoffing at his threatened judgments, as it is finely expressed in the ne.xt verse. The Chaldee paraphrast explains it in the same manner, of wickedness increas- ing from small beginnings, till it arrives to a great mag- citude.- — L. I believe neither the rabbins nor Bishop Lowlh have hit on the true meaning of this place ; the prophet seems to refer to idol sacrifices. The victims they offered were splendidly decked out for the sacrifice. Their horns and hoofs were often gilded, and their heads dressed out with fillets and garlands. The cords of vanity may refer to the silken strings by which they were led to the altar, some of which were unusually thick. The offering for iniquity was adorned with fil- lets and garlands ; the sin-offering with silken cords, like unto cart-ropes. Pride, in their acts of humilia- tion, had the upper hand. Verse 19. Let the counsel of the Holy One^ Try- phiodorus has an expression something like this : — eiret Ato^ ijXvde 3ov2.tj. Tryph. n Excid. 239. Because the counsel of Jupiter was come. "This expression, ijlvBc fiovXri, is, I believe, something uncommon ; but it is exactly paralleled and explained by a passage in Isaiah, chap. v. 19. The Septuagint has expressed it in the very same words with Tryphi- odorus : Kat e?.0ot y (iovl 17 tov aytov \aparil, Ira yvufisi'." — MerricFs note, ad loc. Verse 22. Mighty to drink wine'] " They show not," says Kimchi, " their strength in combating their ene- mies, but in drunkenness and debauchery." Verse 23. The righteous] p'lV tsaddik, singular, Sept., Vidg., and two editions. Verse 24. The flame — "The tongue of fire"] "The flame, because it is in the shape of a tongue ; and so it is called metaphorically." Sal. hen Melee. The metaphor is so exceedingly obvious, as well as beauti- ful, that one may wonder that it has not been more 48 and take away the righteousness * ^- '"'■• ^^**- of the righteous from him ! B. C. cir. 760. Anno Olymp. rT^,^ r 1 \ r QuintEB I. 24 1 hereiore ' as "" the lire Ante Urbem devoureth the stubble, and the '^°'"^""°^- flame consumeth the chaflf, so " their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust : because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 " Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them : and p the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were "i torn in the midst of the streets. ' For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 1 Exod. XV 7. "» Heb the tongue of fire. — -"Job xviii. 16; Hos. ix. 16; Amos ii 9.— -° 2 King s xxii. 13, 17.— -P Jer IV. 24 'Or, as dung. ' Lev. xxvi. 14, &c. chap. ix. 12, n. 21 ; X.4. frequently used. Virgil very elegantly intimates, rather than expresses, the image : — Ecce levis summo de yertice visus liili Fundere lumen apex ; tactuque innoxia moUi Lambere flamma comas, et circum tempora pasci. Mn. ii. 682. " Strange to relate ! from young lulus' head A lambent flame arose, which gently spread Around his brows, and on his temples fed." And more boldly of .(Etna darting out flames from its top : — Interdumque atram prorumpit ad eethera nubem, Turbine fumantem piceo, et candente favilla : AttoUitque globes flammarum, et sidera lambit. Mn. iii. 574. " By turns a pitchy cloud she rolls on high, By turns hot embers from her entrails fly, And flakes of mountain flames, that lick the sky." The disparted tongues, as it were of fire. Acts ii. 3, which appeared at the descent of the Holy Spirit, on the apostles, give the same idea ; that is, of flames shooting diversely into pyramidal forms, or points, like tongues. It may be farther observed that the prophet in this place has given the metaphor its full force, in applying it to the action of fire in eating up and de- vouring whatever comes in its way, like a ravenous animal whose tongue is principally employed in taking in his food or prey ; which image Moses has strongly exhibited in an expressive comparison : " And Moab said to the elders of Midian, Now shall this collection of people lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field," Num. xxii. 4. See also 1 Kings xviii. 38. Their root shall be as rottenness] p'30 cammak, like mak ; whence probably our word muck, dung, was derived. Verse 25. The hills did tremble — " And the moun- tains trembled"] Probably referring to the great earth- The judgments of the CHAP. V. Lord against Judah AM cir. 3244. £6 ' And he will lift up an B. C. cir. 760. re Anno oiymp. ensign to the nations ironi lar, Ante'"i^rbcm and will ' hiss unto them from behold, '' they shall come with speed swiftly : 27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them ; none shall slumber nor sleep ; neither ™ shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken : 28 " Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted • Chap. xi. 12. ' Chap. vii. 18.— Uiii. 8;Mal. i. 11. "Joel ii. 7.- T. 16. -» Deut.xxriii. 49 ; Psa. — * Dan. v. 6. • Jer. quakes in the days of Uzziah king of Jiidali, in or not long before the time of the prophet himself, recorded as a remarkable era in the title of the prophecies of Amos, chap. i. 1, and by Zechariah, chap. xiv. 5. Verse 26. He will — hiss — " He will hist"] " The metaphor is taken from the practice of those that keep bees, who draw them out of their hives into the fields, and lead them back again, mpia/iaai, by a hiss or a whistle." — Cynl, on this place ; and to the same pur- pose Theodoret, ib. In chap. vii. 18, the metaphor is more apparent, by being carried farther, where the hos- tile armies are expressed by the fly and the bee : — " Jehovah shall hist the fly That is in the utmost parts of Egypt ; And the bee, that is in the land of Assyria." On which place see Deut. i. 44 ; Psa. cxviii. 12 ; and God calls the locusts his great army, Joel ii. 35 ; Exod. xxiii. 28. See Huet, Quest. Alnet. ii. 12. plW sharah or shrak, he shall whistle for them, call loud and shrill ; he shall shriek, and they (their enemies) shall come at his call. With speed] This refers to the nineteenth verse. As the scoffers had challenged God to make speed, and to hasten his work of vengeance, so now God assures them that with speed and swiftly it shall come. Averse 27. jS'one — among them] Kitnchi has well illustrated this continued exaggeration or hyperbole, as he rightly calls it, to the following effect : " Through the greatness of their courage, they shall not be fa- tigued with their march ; nor shall they stumble though they march with the utmost speed : they shall not slumber by day, nor sleep by night ; neither shall they ungird their armour, or put ofl" their sandals to take their rest. Their arms shall be always in readiness, their arrows sharpened, and their bows bent. The hoofs of their horses are hard as a rock. They shall not fail, or need to be shod with iron ; the wheels of their carriages shall move as rapidly as a whirlwind." Neither shall the girdle] The Eastern people, wear- ing long and loose garments, were unfit for action or business of any kind, without girding their clothes about them. When their business was finished they took off their girdles. A girdle therefore denotes strength and activity ; and to unloose the girdle is to deprive of strength, to render unfit for action. God Vol. IV. ( 4 ) like flint, and their wheels like ^^ "^ =jr f^ a whirlwind : Anno Olymp. 29 Their roaring shall he like Ante Urkcm a lion, they shall roar like young o" ' ■"» lions : yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver (7. 30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea : and if one y look unto the land, behold darkness and '• sorrow, " and tlie '' light is darkened in the heavens thereof. y Chap. viii. 22 ; Jer. iv. 23 ; Lam. iii. 2 ; Ezck. xixii. 7, 8. * Or, distress. » Or, tvhm it is light it shall be dark in the de- structions thereof. <> Ezek. .xxxii. 8, in the margin. promises to unloose the loins of kings before Cyrus, chap. xlv. 1. The girdle is so essential a part of a soldier's accoutrement, being the last that he puts on to make himself ready for action, that lo be girded, fuv- vvaOai, with the Greeks means to be completely armed and ready for battle : — ArpeidTic 6' tjioriaev, iSe ^uvvvadai avuyev Kpyeiovt;. Iliad, xi. 15. To 6e cvSvvai ra in-P.a CKaXovv ol na?.aioi ^uvvvaBat. Pausan. Boeot. It is used in the same manner by the Hebrews : " Let not him that girdeth himself boast as he that unlooseth his girdle," 1 Kings xx. 1 1 ; that is, triumph not before the war is finished. Verse 28. Their horses'' hoofs shall be counted like flint — " The hoofs of their horses shall be counted as adamant"] The shoeing of horses with iron plates nail- ed to the hoof is quite a modern practice, and was un- known to the ancients, as appears from the silence of the Greek and Roman writers, especially those that treat of horse medicine, who could not have passed over a matter so obvious and of such importance that now the whole science takes its name from it, being called by us farrierj'. The horse-shoes of leather and iron which are mentioned ; the silver and gold shoes with which Nero and Poppa;a shod their mules, used occasionally to preserve the hoofs of delicate cat- tle, or for vanity, were of a very different kind ; they enclosed the whole hoof as in a case, or as a shoe does a man's foot, and were bound or tied on. For this reason the strength, firmness and solidity of a horse's hoof was of much greater importance with them than with us, and was esteemed one of the first praises of a fine horse. Xenophon says that a good horse's hoof is hard, hollow, and sounds upon the ground like a cymbal. Hence the ;(;a/.Koiro(!ff JTn-oi, of Homer, and Virgil's solido graviter sonat ungula cornu. And Xenophon gives directions for hardening the horses' hoofs by making the pavement on which he stands in the stable with round-headed stones. For want of ihia artificial defence to the foot which our horses have, Amos, chap. vi. 12, speaks of it as a thing as much impracticable to make horses run upon a hard rock as to plough up the same rock svith oxen : — " Shall horses run upon a rock \ Shall one plough it up with oxen V 49 The vision ISAIAH. of Isaiah. These circumstances muit be taken into considera- tion in order to give us a full notion of the propriety and force of the image by which the prophet sets forth the strength and excellence of the Babylonish cavalry, which made a great part of the strength of the Assy- rian army. Xenop. Cyrop. lib. ii. Like a whirlwind] nSlDJ cassuphak, like the stormy blast. Here sense and sound are well connected. Verse 30. If one look unto the land, 1 Kings xxii. 19 ; John xii. 41 ; As this vision seems to contain a solemn designa- tion of Isaiah to the prophetic office, it is by most interpreters thought to be the first in order of his prophecies. But this perhaps may not be so ; for Isaiah is said, in the general title of his prophecies, to have prophesied in the time of Uzziah, whose acts, first and last, he wrote, 2 Chron. xxvi. 22 ; which is usually done by a contemporary prophet ; and the phrase, in the year that Uzziah died, probably means after the death of Uzziah ; as the same phrase (chap, xiv. 28) means after the death of Ahaz. Not that Isaiah's prophecies are placed in exact order of time. Chapters ii., iii., iv., v., seem by internal marks to be antecedent to chap. i. ; they suit the time of Uzziah, or the former part of Jotham's reign ; whereas chap. i. can hardly be earlier than the last years of Jotham. See note on chap. i. 7, and ii. 1. This might be a new designation, to introduce more solemnly a general dedication of the whole course of God's dispensations 50 2 Above it stood the seraphims : each one had six wings ; with twain he covered his face, and "^ with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. Rev, iv. 2. = Or, Ihe skirts thereof. ■> Ezek. i. 11. A. M. 3245. B. C. 759. Anno Olymp. QuintBB 2. Ante Urbem Conditam 6. in regard to his people and the fates of the nation ; which are even now still depending, and will not be fully accomplished till the final restoration of Israel. In this vision the ideas are taken in general from royal majesty, as displayed by the monarchs of the East ; for the prophet could not represent the ineffable presence of God by any other than sensible and earthly images. The particular scenery of it is taken from the temple. God is represented as seated on his throne above the ark, in the most holy place, where the glory appeared above the cherubim, surrounded by his attendant ministers. This is called by God him- self " the place of his throne, and the place of the soles of his feet," Ezek. xliii. 7. " A glorious throne exalted of old, is the place of our sanctuary," saith the prophet Jeremiah, chap. xvii. 12. The very posture of sitting is a mark of state and solemnity : Sed et ipsum verbum sedere regni significat potestatem, saith Jerome, Comment, in Eph. i. 20. See note on chap. The vision CHAP. vr. of Isaiah. Anno biynip. other, and said, ' Holy, holy, Ame"urbem holy, IS the LoRD of llOStS : '^°"'^''^' ^- «the '•whole earth is full of his glory. ■ Heb. this cried to this. ' Rev. iv. 8. K Heb. his glory is the fulness of the whole earth. ** Psa. Ixxii. 19. 4 And the posts of the 'door b'IJ'^o moved at the voice of him that Anno blymp. cried, and "^ the house was filled Ante Urbem with smoke. ^°"'"""" ^- iii. 2. St. John, who has taken many sublime images from the propliels of the Old Testament, and in par- ticular from Isaiah, hath exhibited the same scenery, drawn out into a greater number of particulars ; Rev. iv. The veil, separating the most holy place from the holy or outermost part of the temple, is here sup- posed to be taken away ; for the prophet, to whom the whole is exhibited, is manifestly placed by the altar of burnt-offering, at the entrance of the temple, (compare Ezek. xliii. 5, 6,) which was filled with the train of the robe, the spreading and overflow ing of the Divine glory. The hord upon the throne, according to St. John, (chap. xii. 41,) was Christ ; and the vision related to his future kingdom, when the veil of separa- tion was to be removed, and the whole earth was to be filled with the glory of God, revealed to all man- kind : which is likewise implied in the hymn of the seraphim, the design of which is, saith Jerome on the place, Ut mysterium Trinitatis in una Divinitate demon- strent ; et nequaquara templum Judaicum, sicut prius, sed omnem terrain illius gloria plenam esse testentur ; " That they may point out the mystery of the Trinity in one Godhead ; and that the Jewish temple alone should not be, as formerly, the place of the Divine glory, for the whole earth should be filled with it." It relates, indeed, primarily to the prophet's own time, and the obduration of the Jews of that age, and their punishment by the Babylonish captivity ; but extends in its full latitude to the age of Messiah, and the blind- ness of the Jews to the Gospel, (see Matt. xiii. 14 ; John xii. 40 ; Acts xxviii. 26 ; Rom. xi. 8,) the deso- lation of their country by the Romans, and their being rejected by God. That nevertheless a holy seed — a remnant, should be preserved ; and that the nation should spread out and flourish again from the old stock. — L. NOTES ON CHAP. VI. Verse 1. The Lord] Fifty-one USS. of Kennicotfs, and fifty-four of De Rossi's, and one edition ; in the 8th \erse, forty-four MSS. of KetmicotCs, :ind forty- six of De Rossi's, and one edition ; and in the 11th verse, thirty-three MS.S. of Kennicott's, and many of De Rossi's, and one edition, for "n.S Adonai, " the Lord," read nin' " Jehovah," which is probably the true reading ; (compare ver. 6 ;) as in many other places, in which the superstition of the Jews has sub- stituted "nx Adonai for nin' Yehovah. One of my own MSS., a very ancient and large folio, to which the points and the masora have been added by a later hand, has niH' Yehovah in the 1st and 8th verses, in the teeth of the masora, which orders it in both places to be read ■:iN Adonai. Verse 2. Above it stood the seraphim] W3'\;i/ sera- phim, from t^lB? seraph, to bum. He saw, says Kim- 5 ' Then said I, Wo is me ! for I am ' Heb. thresholds. ^ Exod. xl. 34 .• 1 Kings viii. 10. > Exod. iv. 10 ; vi. 30; Judg. vi. 22 ; xiii. 22 ; Jer. i. 0. chi, the angels as flames of fire, that the depravity of that generation might be exhibited, which was worthy of being totally burnt up. He covered his feet — " He covereth his feet"] By the feet the Hebrews mean all the lower parts of the body. But the people of the East generally wearing long robes, reaching to the ground, and covering the lower parts of the body down to the feet, it may hence have been thought want of respect and decency to ap- pear in public and on solemn occasions with even the feet themselves uncovered. Kempfer, speaking of the king of Persia giving audience, says. Rex in medio supremi atrii cruribus more patrio inflexis sedebat : corpus tunica investiebat flava, ad suras cum staret protensa ; discumbentis vero pedes discalceatos pro nrbanitate patria operiens. — Amcen. Exot. p. 227. " The kmg sat on the floor cross-legged, as is the custom of the country. He was covered with a yel- low garment, which reached down to the feet when standing, but covered the feet for decency when sitting with his slippers off." Sir John Chardin's MS. note on this place of Isaiah is as follows : Grande marque de respect en orient de se cacher les pieds, quand on est assis, et de baisser le visage. Quand le souvrain se monstre en Chine et k Japon, chacun se jette le visage centre terre, et il n'est pas permis de regarder le roi ; " It is a great mark of respect in the East to cover the feet, and to bow down the head in the pre- sence of the king." Verse 3. Koly, holy, holy] This hymn, performed by the seraphim, divided into two choirs, the one singing responsively to the other, which Gregory Na- zian., Carm. 18, very elegantly calls Iv/jiiuvov, avTt- (puvov, a-)}€?.uv araaiv, is formed upon the practice of alternate singing, which prevailed in the Jewish Church from the time of Moses, whose ode at the Red Sea was thus performed, (see Exod. xv. 20, 21,) to that of Ezra, under whom the priests and Levites sung alternately, " O praise Jehovah, for he is gracious ; For his mercy endureth for ever ;" Ezra iii. 11. See De Sac. Poes. Hebr. Pra»l. xix., at the beginning. Verse 5. Wo is me I for I am undone] "n'aiJ nidmeythi, I am become dumb. There is something exceedingly affecting in this complaint. I am a man of unclean lips ; I cannot say. Holy, holy, holy ! which the seraphs exclaim. They are holy ; I am not so : they see God, and live ; I have seen him, and must die, because I am unholy. Only the pure in heart shall see God ; and they only can live in his presence for ever. Reader, lay this to heart ; and instead of boasting of thy excellence, and trusting in thy might, or comforting thyself in thy comparative innocence, thou vrilt also be dumb before him, because thou Iiast 51 The vision ISAIAH. of Isaiah. B ^' ^-59' " undone ; because I am a Anno oiymp. man of unclean lips, and I dwell Ante Urbem in the midst of a people of un- Conditam 6. ^t^^^^ jjpg . £qj. j^^jj^g gygg ^^^.v^ seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, " having a live coal in his hand, lohich he had taken with the tongs from off ° the altar : 7 And he p laid "^ it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips ; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, say- ing. Whom shall I send, and who will go for m HRh . cut off. — — ° Heb. and in his hand a live coal- 0 Rev. VIII 3.- — P Heb. caused it to touch. — — 1 See Jev. i. 9 Dan. X. 16- r Gen. i. 26 ; iii.22; xi. 7. Heb, Behold me 'Ch. xlii .8; Matt. xiii. 14 ; Mark iv. 12 ; Luke viii. 10 ; John xii. been a man of unclean lips, and because thou hast still an unclean heart. / am undone — " I am struck dumb"] 'H'T^IJ nid- meylhi, twenty-eight MSS. (Jive ancient) and three editions. 1 understand it as from an dutn or DOT damam, silere, " to be silent ;" and so it is rendered by the Syriac, Vidgate, Symmachus, and by some of the Jewish interpreters, apud Sal. b. Melee. The rendering of the Syriac is 'JS Tin tavir ant, stupens, attonitus sum, " I am amazed." He immediately gives the reason why he was struck dumb : because he was a man of polluted lips, and dwelt among a people of polluted lips ; and was unworthy, either to join the seraphim in singing praises to God, or to be the messenger of God to his people. Compare Exod. iv. 10; vi. 12 ; Jer. i. 6. Verse 6. A lice coal] The word of prophecy, which was put into the mouth of the prophet. From off the altar] That is, from the altar of burnt- offerings, before the door of the temple, on which the fire that came down at first from heaven (Lev. ix. 24 ; 2 Chron. vii. 1) was perpetually burning. It was never to be extinguished, Lev vi. 12, 13. Verse 9. And he said] "h li, to me, two MSS. and the Syriac. Thirteen M.S.S. have HNI raah, in the regular form. Verse 10. Make the heart of this people fat — " Gross"] The prophet speaks of the event, the fact as it would actually happen, not of God's purpose and act by his ministry. The prophets are in other places said to perform the thing which they only foretell : — " Lo ! I have given thee a charge this day Over the nations, and over the kingdoms ; To pluck up, and to pull down ; To destroy, and to demolish ; To build, and to plant." Jer. i. 10. And Ezekiel says, " When I came to destroy the city ;" that is, as it is rendered in the margin of our version, " when I came to prophesy that the city should be destroyed ;" chap, xliii. 3. To hear, and not understand ; to see, and not perceive ; is a com- 52 ' us ? Then said I, ^ Here am 1 ; A. M. 3245. send me. Anno Olymp. 9 And he said, Go, and tell Ante Urbem this people, ' Hear ye " indeed, Conditam 6. ' but understand not ; and see ye ■" indeed, but perceive not. 1 0 Make ^ the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes : y lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 1 1 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, ' Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be ^ utterly desolate, 40; Acts xxviii. 26 ; Rom. xi 8 "Or , without ceasing. &c. 'Heb hear ye in hearing, &c. — -^ Heb. in seeing •Psalm CXIX. 70; chap. Ixiii. 17. -y Jer. V. 21 z Mic. ni 12. >Heb desolate wi th desolation. mon saying in many languages. Demosthenes uses it, and expressly calls it a proverb : uare to tijc napoi- fita^ opuvrag fZTj bpav, Kac aKovovra^ fir) aKovttv ; Contra Aristogit. I., sub. Jin. The prophet, by the bold figure in the sentiment above mentioned, and the elegant form and construction of the sentence, has raised it from a common proverb into a beautiful mashal, and given it the sublime air of poetry. Or the words may be understood thus, according to the Hebrew idiom : " Ye certainly hear, but do not un- derstand ; ye certainly see, but do not acknowledge." Seeing this is the case, make the heart of this people fat — declare it to be stupid and senseless ; and remove from them the means of salvation, which they have so long abused. There is a saying precisely like this in JEschylws : — fiXeTToVTe^ efSX^TTov fiarriv, K?i.vovT£c ovK TjKovov. ^scH. Prom. Vinct. 456. " Seeing, they saw in vain ; and hearing, they did not understand." And shut — " Close up"] >'tyn hasha. This word Sal. ben Melee explains to this sense, in which it is hardly used elsewhere, on the authority of Onkelos. He says it means closing up the eyes, so that one can- not see ; that the root is J,'liy shava, by which word the Targum has rendered the word TV2 tach, Lev. xiv. 42,n'3 nx nm vetach eth beith, " and shall plaster the house." And the word n£3 tach is used in the same sense, Isa. xliv. 18. So that it signifies to close up the eyes by some matter spread upon the lids. Mr. Harmer very ingeniously applies to this passage a prac- tice of sealing up the eyes as a ceremony, or as a kind of punishment used in the East, from which the image may possibly be taken. Observ. ii. 278. With their heart — "With their hearts"] U^Sai ubilebabo, fifteen MSS. of KennicotC s ^nA fourteen of De Rossi's, and two editions, with the Septuagint, Sy- riac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. And be healed — " And I should heal"] NillNI veer- pa, Septuagint, Vulgate. So likewise Matt. xiii. 14; John xii. 40 ; Acts xxviii. 27. Confederacy 12 ''And the Lord have re- moved men far away, and there he a great forsaking in the midst of the land. 13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, " and it CHAP. Vll. against Judah. A. M. 3245. B. C. 759. Anno Olymp. Quinta! 2. Ante Urbcm Conditam G. I>2 Kings XXV. 21.- -c Or, when it is returntd, and hath been broused. Verse II. Be utterly desolate — " Be left"] For nstyn tishaeh, the Septuagint and Vulgate read INETl tishshacr. Verse 13. A tenth] This passage, though somewhat ibscure, and variously explained by various interpret- ers, has, I think, been made so clear by the accom- plishment of the prophecy, that there remains little room to doubt of the sense of it. When Nebuchad- nezzar had carried away the greater and better part of the people into captivity, there was yet a tenth re- maining in the land, the poorer sort left to be vine- dressers and husbandmen, under Gedaliah, 2 Kings xjiv. 12, 22, and the dispersed Jews gathered them- selves together, and returned to him, Jer. xl. 12 ; yet even these, fleeing into Egypt after the death of Ge- daliah, contrary to the warning of God given by the prophet Jeremiah, miserably perished there. Again, in the subsequent and more remarkable completion of the prophecy in the destruction of Jerusalem and the dissolution of the commonwealth by the Romans, when the Jews, after the loss of above a million of men, had increased from the scanty residue that was left of them. shall return, and shall be eaten : as a toil tree, and as an oak, whose '' substance is in them, when they cast their leaves : so " the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. A. M. 3245. B. C. 759. Anno Olymp, Quintae 2. Ante Urbem Conditam 6. ^ Or, stock or stem.- -' Ezra ix. 2 ; xi. 5. Mai. ii. 13 ; Romans and had become very numerous again in their country ; Hadrian, provoked by their rebellious behaviour, slew above half a million more of them, and a second time almost extirpated the nation. Yet after these signal and almost universal destructions of that nation, and after so many other repeated exterminations and mas- sacres of them in different times and on various occa- sions since, we yet see, with astonishment, that the stock still remains, from which God, according to his promise frequently given by his prophets, will cause his people to shoot forth again, and to flourish. — L. A tenth, ri'Ttyj? asiriyah. The meaning, says Kim- chi, of this word is, there shall yet be in the land ten /iiiigs from the time of declaring this prophecy. The names of the ten kings are Jotham, Aha:, Hezckiah, Manasseh, Anion, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, Je- hoiakim, and Zedchiah; then there shall be a general consumption, the people shall be carried into captivity, and Jerusalem shall be destroyed. For Oa l)am, in them, above seventy MSS., eleven of Kennicott's, and thirty-four of De Rossi's, read n3 I lah, in it ; and so the Septuagint. CHAPTER VH. The king of Judah and the royal family being in the utmost consternation on receiving accounts of the tnva sion of the kings of Syria and Israel, the prophet is sent to assure them that God would make good his promises to David and his house ; so that, although they might be corrected, they could not be destroyed, while these prophecies remained to be accomplished, 1—9. The Lord gives Ahaz a sign that the confede- racy against Judah shall be broken, which sign strikingly points out the miraculous conception of the Mes- siah, who was to spring from the tribe of Judah, 10-16. Prediction of very heavy calamities which the Assyrians would inflict upon the land of Judea, 17—25. A. M. cir. 32C2. B. C. cir. 742. Anno Olymp. Nona; 3. Ante TJrbem Condilam 12. A ND it came to pass in the days of " Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of » 2 Kings xvi. 5 ; 2 Chron xxiii. 5, 6. The confederacy of Rezin, king of Syria, and Pe- kah, king of Israel, against the kingdom of Judah, was formed in the time of Jotham ; and perhaps the effects of it were felt in the latter part of his reign ; see 2 Kings XV. 37, and note on chap. i. 7-9. However, in the very beginning of the reign of Ahaz, they jointly invaded Judah with a powerful army, and threatened to destroy or to dethrone the house of David. The king and royal family being in the utmost consternation on receiving advices of their designs, Isaiah is sent to them to support and comfort them in their present dis- tress, by assuring them that God would make good his promises to David and his house. This makes the A. M. cir. 3262. B. C. cir. 742. Anno Olymp. Nonee 3. Ante Urbem Conditam 12. Syria, and '' Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. >■ 2 Kings XT. 25, 30, 37. subject of this, and the following, and the beginning of the ninth chapters, in which there are many and great difficulties. Chap. vii. begins with an historical account of the occasion of this prophecy ; and then follows, ver. 4—16, a prediction of the ill success of the designs of the Is- raelites and Syrians against Judah ; and from thence to the end of the chapter, a denunciation of the cala- mities to be brought upon the king and people of Ju- dah by the AssjTians, whom they had now hired to assist them. Chap. viii. has a pretty close connection with the foregoing ; it contains a confirmation of the prophecy before given of the approaching destruction 53 Confederacy ISAIAH. against Juddh. A. M. cir. 3263. B. C. cir. 742. Anno Olymp. NonsE 3. Ante Urbem Conditam 12. 2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria " is con- federate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. 3 Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, ''■ and " Shearja.shub thy son, at the end of the ' conduit of the upper pool in the ^ highway of the fuller's field ; 4 And say unto him. Take heed and be quiet ; fear not, ^ neither be faint-hearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of = Heb. resteth on Ephraim. ^ Chap. X. 21. ' That is, The remant shall return ; seech, vi. 13; x.21. '2 Kings xviii. 17 ; chap, xxxvi. 2. ? Or, causeway. •'Heb. let not thy heart be of the kingdoms of Israel and Syria by the Assyrians, of the denunciation of the invasion of Judah by the same Assyrians. Verses 9, 10, give a repeated gene- ral assurance, that all the designs of the enemies of God's people shall be in the end disappointed, and brought to naught; ver. 11, &c., admonitions and threatenings, (I do not attempt a more particular ex- planation of this very difficult part,) concluding with an illustrious prophecy, chap. ix. 1-6, of the manifes- tation of Messiah, the transcendent dignity of his cha- racter, and the universality and eternal duration of his kingdom. NOTES ON CHAP. VII. Verse 3. Nov)] N3 na, is omitted by hoo MSS., the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate. Verse 4. The Syriac omits D"iNl vearain, " and Sy- ria;" the Vulgate reads □IX "pD melech aratn, "king of Syria :" one or the other seems to be the true read- ing. 1 prefer the former : or, instead of pi □ISI vearam uben, read p np31 vepeliach hen, and pekah son, MS. Verse 5. Because — Remaliah] All these words are omitted by one MS. and the Syriac ; a part of them also by the Septuagint. Verses 8, 9. For the head of Syria, cjc] " Though the head of Syria be Damascus, And the head of Damascus Retsin ; Yet within threescore and Jive years Ephraim shall be broken, that he be no more a people : And the head of Ephraim be Samaria ; And the head of Samaria Remaliah's son. " Here are six lines, or three distichs, the order of which seems to have been disturbed by a transposition, occasioned by three of the lines beginning with the same word ti'NIl verosh, " and the head," which three lines ought not to have been separated by any other line intervening ; but a copyist, having written the first 54 A. M. cir. 3262. B. C. cir. 742. Anno Olymp. Nonae 3. Ante Urbem Conditam 12, Remaliah, have taken evil coun- sel against thee, saying, 6 Let us go up against Judah, and ' vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal ; 7 Thus saith the Lord God, " It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. 8 ' For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin : and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, ™ that it be not a people. 9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. " If °ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. tender. ' Or, u-ahfm. *' Prov. .xxi. 30 ; chapter viii. 10. ' 2 Sam. riii.6. "■ Heb. from a people. n See2Chron. xx. 20 ° Or, Do ye not believe ? it is because ye are not stable. of them, and casting his eye on the third, might easily proceed to write after the Jirst line beginning with tysil verosh, that which ought to have followed the third line beginning with Wai) verosh. Then finding his mistake, to preserve the beauty of his copy, added at the end the distich which should have been in the middle ; making that the second distich, which ought to have been the third. For the order as it now stands is preposterous : the destruction of Ephraim is de- nounced, and then their grandeur is set forth ; whereas naturally the representation of the grandeur of Ephraim should precede that of their destruction. And the de struction of Ephraim has no coherence with the gran- deur of Syria, simply as such, which it now follows ; but it naturally and properly follows the grandeur of Ephraim, joined to that of Syria their ally. " The arrangement then of the whole sentence seems originally to have been thus : — Though the head of Syria be Damascus ; And the head of Damascus Retsin ; And the head of Ephraim be Samaria , And the head of .Samaria Remaliah's son • Yet within threescore and Jive years Ephraim shall be broken that he be no more a people." Dr. Jubb. Threescore and Jive years] It was sixty-Jive years from the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, when this prophecy was delivered, to the total depopulation of the kingdom of Israel by Esarhaddon, who carried away the remains of the ten tribes which had been left by Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, and who planted the country with new inhabitants. That the country was not wholly stripped of its inhabitants by Shalmaneser appears from many passages of the history of Josiah, where Israelites are mentioned as still remaining there, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 6, 7, 33; xxxv. 18; 2 Kings xxiii. 19, 20. This seems to be the best explanation of the chronological difficulty in this place, which has much embarrassed the commentators : see Usserit Annal. Promise of CHAP. VII. the Messiah. ^ M- <='.'■ 3262. 10 !> Moreover the Lord spake Anno oiymp. again unlo Ahaz, saying, Ani""urbcm 1 1 "^ Ask tlice a sign of the Condiiam 12. ^.o^D tliy God ; ' ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, 0 house of David, Is it a small thing for you to weary PHeb. And the LORD added to speak. 1 ludg. vi. 36, &c. ; Matt. xii. 33. 'Or, make lity petition deep. 'Matt. l. 23 ; Luke i. 31,34. V. T. ad an. 3327, and Sir /. Neivton, Chronol. p. 283. " That the last deportation of Israel by Esarhaddon was in the sixty-fiflh year after the second of Ahaz, is probable for the following reasons : The Jews, in Se- der Olam Rabba, and the Talmudisls, in D. Kimchi on Ezek. iv., say, that Manasseh king of Judah was car- ried to Babylon by the king of Assyria's captains, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, in the twenty-second year of his reign ; that is, before Christ 676, according to Dr. Blair^s tables. And they are probably right in this. It could not be much earlier ; as the king of Assyria was not king of Babylon till 680, ibid. As Esarhad- don was then in the neighbourhood of Samaria, it is highly probable that he did then carry away the last remains of Israel, and brought those strangers thither who mention him as their founder, Ezra iv. 2. But this year is just the sixty-fifth from the second of Ahaz, which was 740 before Christ. Now the carrying away the remains of Israel, who, till then, though their king- dom was destroyed ybWy-^fe years before, and though small in number, might yet keep up some form of be- ing a people, by living according to their own laws, entirely put an end to the people of Israel, as a people separate from all others : for from this time they never returned to their own country in a body, but were con- founded with the people of Judah in the captivity ; and the whole people, the ten tribes included, were called Jews." — Dr. Jubb. Ttco MSS. have twenty-five in- stead of sixty five ; and two others omit the word five, reading only sixty. If ye unll not believe — " If ye believe not"] " This clause is very much illustrated by considering the cap- tivity of Manasseh as happening at the same time with this predicted final ruin of Ephraim as a people. The near connection of the two facts makes the prediction of the one naturally to cohere with the prediction of the other. And the words are well suited to this event in the history of the people of Judah : ' If ye believe not, ye shall not be established ;' that is, unless ye be- lieve this prophecy of the destruction of Israel, ye Jews also, as well as the people of Israel, shall not remain established as a kingdom and people ; ye also shall be visited with punishment at the same time : as our Sa- viour told the Jews in his time, ' Unless ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish ;' intimating their destruction by the Romans ; to which also, as well as to the cap- tivity of Manasseh, and to the Babylonish captivity, tlie views of the prophet might here extend. The men, but will ye weary my God *g*^ =jf^ 3^'^^- also ? Anno Olymp. 14 Therefore the Lord himself Ame"'^Jrb'em shall give you a sign ; ' Behold, a ^°"''"'"" '^- virgin shall conceive, and bear ' a son, and " shall call his name " Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the ffood. ' Chap. ix. G. " Or, thou, O virgin, shalt call ; see Genesis iv. 1,25; xvi. 11 ; xxix. 32 ; xix. 6,8; 1 Sam. iv. 21. " Ch. viii. 8. close connection of this threat to the Jews with the prophecy of the destruction of Israel, is another strong proof that the order of the preceding lines above pro- posed is right." — Dr. Jubb. " If ye believe not in me." — The exhortation of Je- hoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 20, to his people, when God had promised to them, by the prophet Jahaziel, victory over the Moabites and Ammonites, is very like this both in sense and expression, and seems to be delivered in verse : " Hear me, O Judah ; and ye inhabitants of Jeru- salem ; Believe in Jehovah your God, and ye shall be established : Believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper." Where both the sense and construction render very probable a conjecture of Archbishop Seder on this place ; that instead of O ii, we should read '3 bi. " If ye will not believe in me, ye shall not be established."' So likewise Dr. Durell. The Chaldee has, " If ye will not believe in the words of the prophet ;" which seems to be a paraphrase of the reading here proposed. In favour of which it may be farther observed, that in one MS. "2 ki is upon a rasure ; and another for the last k'? lo reads nSi vclo, which would properly follow ■•2 bi, but could not follow 'D ki. Some translate thus, and paraphrase thus : If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. Or, If ye do not give credit, it is because ye are unfaith- ful. Ye have not been faithful to the grace already given : therefore ye are now incapable of crediting my promises. Verse 11. In the depth — " Go deep to the grave"] So Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Vulgate Verse 14. The Lord — Jehovah"] For ^itn Adonai, twenty-five of KennicotCs MSS., nine ancient, and fourteen of De Rossi's, read niiT' Yehovah. And so ver. 20, eighteen MSS. Immanuel.] For 'tXIJOJ? Immanuel, many MSS. and editions have '7X UOi' immanu El, God with us. Verse 15. That he may know — "When he shall know"] " Though so much has been written on this important passage, there is an obscurity and inconse- quence which still attends it, in the general run of all the interpretations given to it by the most learned. And this obscure incoherence is given to It by the false rendering of a Hebrew particle, viz., h le, in inj^i'' ledato. This has been generally rendered, either ' th 55 Promise of ISAIAH. the Messiah. 16 " For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and A. M. cir. 3262 B. C. cir. 742. Ajino Olymp. Ante Urbem choose the good, the land that Conditam 12. ^j^^^^ abhorrest shall be forsaken of ^ both her kings. ™ See chap. viii. 4. ^2 Kings xv. 30 ; xvi. 9. he may know,' or ' till he know.' It is capable of either version, without doubt ; but either of these ver- sions makes ver. 15 incoherent and inconsistent with ver. 16. For ver. 16 plainly means to give a reason for the assertion in ver. 15, because it is subjoined to it by the particle O ki, for. But it is no reason why a child should eat butter and honey till he was at an age to distinguish, that before that time the land of his nativity should be free from its enemies. This latter supposition indeed implies what is inconsistent with the preceding assertion. For it implies, that in part of that time of the infancy spoken of the land should not be free from enemies, and consequently these species of delicate food could not be attainable, as they are in times of peace. The other version, ' that he may know,' has no meaning at all ; for what sense is there in asserting, that a child shall eat butter and honey that he may knovF to refuse evil and choose good ! Is there any such effect in this food 1 Surely not. Besides, the child is thus represented to eat those things, which only a state of peace produces, during its whole in- fancy, inconsistently with ver. 10, which promises a relief from enemies only before the end of this infan- cy ; implying plainly, that part of it would be passed in distressful times of war and siege, which was the state of things when the prophecy was delivered. " But all these objections are cut off, and a clear, coherent sense is given to this passage, by giving an- other sense to the particle h le, which never occurred to me till I saw it in Harmer^s Observat., vol. i., p. 299. See how coherent the words of the prophet run, ■with how natural a connection one clause follows an- other, by properly rendering this one particle : ' Behold this Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel ; butter and honey shall he eat, when he shall know to refuse evil, and choose good. For before this child shall know to refuse evil and choose good, the land shall be desolate, by whose two kings thou art distressed.' Thus ver. 16 subjoins a plain reason why the child should eat butter and honey, the food of plentiful times, when he came to a distinguishing age ; viz., because before that time the country of the two kings, who now distressed Judea, should be desolated ; and so Judea should recover that plenty which attends peace. That this rendering, which gives perspicuity and rational connection to the passage, is according to the use of the Hebrew particle, is cer- tain. Thus 1p3 niJ37 liphnoth baker, ' at the appear- ing of morning, or when morning appeared,' Esod. xiv. 27 ; 7^Nn nj''? leeth haochcl, ' at meal-time, or when it was time to eat,' Ruth ii. 14. In the same manner, inj?T7 ledato, ' at his knowing, that is,tvhe7i he knows.' " Hanner (ibid.) has clearly shown that these arti- cles of food are delicacies in the East, and, as such, denote a state of plenty. See also Josh. v. 6. They therefore naturally express the plenty of the country, 56 17 ^The Lord shall bring a. M. cir. 3262. ° D. \.j. Cir. 74^. upon thee, and upon thy peo- Anno oiymp. r , , i^ 1 5 1 Nona; 3. pie, and upon thy lather s house. Ante Urbem days that have not come from Conditam 12. the day that ^ Ephraim departed from r 2 Chron. xxviii. 19. ^ i Kings lii. 16. as a mark of peace restored to it. Indeed, in ver. 23 it expresses a plenty arising from the thinness of the people ; but that it signifies, ver. 15, a plenty arising from deliverance from war then present, is evident ; because otherwise there is no expression of this deli- verance. And that a deliverance was intended to be here expressed is plain, from calling the child which should be born Immanuel, God with us. It is plain, also, because it is before given to the prophet in charge to make a declaration of the deliverance, ver. 3-7 ; and it is there made ; and this prophecy must undoubtedly be conformable to that in this matter." — Dr. Jubb. The circumstance of the child's eating butter and honey is explained by Jarchi, as denoting a state of plenty : " Butter and honey shall this child eat, be- cause our land shall be full of all good." Comment in locum. The infant Jupiter, says Callnnachus, was tenderly nursed with goat's milk and honey. Hymn. in Jov. 48. Homer, of the orphan daughters of Pan- dareus : — Ko/iiaae ie 6i' AippoSiri) Tvpu, Kai iizKiTi yXvicTpu, Kat 7j6ei oivu. Odyss. XX., 68 " Venus in tender delicacy rears With honey, milk, and wine, theii- infant j'ears." Pope. TptJ0);f eartv cv6eiit( ; " This is a description of delicate food," says Eustathius on the place. Agreeably to the observations communicated by the learned person above mentioned, which perfectly well explain the historical sense of this much disputed passage, not excluding a higher secondary sense, the obvious and literal meaning of the prophecy is this : " that within the time that a young woman, now a virgin, should conceive and bring forth a child, and that child should arrive at such an age as to distinguish between good and evil, that is, within a iew years, (compare chap. viii. 4,) the enemies of Judah should be destroyed." But the prophecy is introduced in so solemn a manner ; the sign is so marked, as a sign se- lected and given by God himself, after Ahaz had re- jected the offer of any sign of his own choosing out of the whole compass of nature ; the terms of the pro- phecy are so peculiar, and the name of the child so expressive, containing in them much more than the circumstances of the birth of a common child required, or even admitted ; that we may easily strppose that,in minds prepared by the general expectation of a great Deliverer to spring from the house of David, they raised hopes far beyond what the present occasion sug- gested ; especially when it was found, that in the sub- sequent prophecy, delivered immediately afterward, this child, called Immanuel, is treated as the Lord and Prince of the land of Judah. Who could this be. Desolation of the CHAP. VII. Jews predicted. K^^""-'^?' Judah ; even the kin? of As- B. C. cir 742. ' = Anno Olymp. Syria. Anie"uriicm 18 And it shall come to pass ^°"'""'"' ''■ in that day, that the Lord » shall » Is.aiah, Other than the heir of the throne of David ; under which character a great and even a Divine person had been promised ? No one of that age answered to this character except Hezekiah ; but he was certainly born nine or ten years before the delivery of this prophecy. That this was so understood at that time is collected, I think, with great probability, from a passage of Mi- cah, a prophet contemporary with Isaiah, but who began to prophesy after him ; and who, as 1 have already observed, imitated him, and sometimes used his ex- pressions. Micah, having delivered that remarkable prophecy which determines the place of the birth of Messiah, "the Ruler of God's people, whose guings forth have been of old, from everlasting ;" that it should be Bethlehem Ephratah ; adds immediately, that nc- Yertheless, in the mean time, God would deliver his people into the hands of their enemies : " He will give them up, till she, who is to bear a child, shall bring forth," Mic. v. 3. This obviously and plainly refers to some known prophecy concerning a woman to bring forth a child ; and seems much more properly applica- ble to this passage of Isaiah than to any others of the same prophet, to which some interpreters have applied it. St. Matthew, therefore, in applying this prophecy to the birth of Christ, does it, not merely in the way of accommodating the words of the prophet to a suitable case not in the prophet's view, but takes it in its strict- est, clearest, and most important sense ; and applies it according to the original design and principal intention of the prophet. — L. After all this learned criticism, I think something is still wanting to diffuse the proper light over this impor- tant prophecy. On Matt. i. 23 I have given what I judge to be the true meaning and right application of the whole passage, as there quoted by the evangelist, the substance of which it will be necessary to repeat here : — At the time referred to, the kingdom of Judah, under the government of Ahaz, was reduced very low. Pekah, king of Israel, had slain in Judea one hundred and tieenty thousand persons in one day ; and carried away captives two hundred thousand, including women and children, together with much spoil. To add to their distress, Rezin, king of Syria, being confederate with Pekah, had taken Elath, a fortified city of Judah, and carried the inhabitants away captive to Damascus. In this critical conjuncture, need we wonder that Ahaz was afraid that the enemies who were now united against him must prevail, destroy Jerusalem, end the kingdom of Judah, and annihilate the family of David ? To meet and remove this fear, apparently well ground- ed, Isaiah is sent from the Lord to Ahaz, swallowed up now both by sorrow^ and by unbelief, in order to assure him that the counsels of his enemies should not stand ; and that they should be utterly discomfited. To en- courage Ahaz, he commands him to ask a sign or mira- cle, which should be a pledge in hand, that God should, Ante Urbem Conditam 12. hiss for the fly that is in the \^a "■'■ ??3 ■^ B. C. cir. 742. Uttermost part of the rivers of Anno oiymp. Egj'pt, and for the bee that is in tlie land of Assyria. chajj. V. 26. in due time, fulfil the predictions of his servant, as re- lated in the context. On Ahaz humbly refusing to ask any sign, it is immediately added, " Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign ; Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son ; and shall call his name Iramanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat," &c. Both the Divine and human nature of our Lord, as well as the miraculous conception, appear to be pointed out in the prophecy quoted here by the evangelist : He shall be called bx'lJ'Di' Imm.inu-el ; literally. The strong God with f s : similar to those words in the New Testament : The word wliich was God — was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; Jnhn i. I, 11. And God vias manifested in the flesh, 1 Tim. iii. 16. So that we are to understand God UHlh us to imply, God incarnated — God in human na- ture. This seems farther evident from the words of the prophet, ver. 15 : Butter and honey shall he eat — he shall be truly man — grow up and be nourished in a human natural way ; which refers to his being with us, i. e., incarnated. To which the prophet adds. That he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good ; or rather. According to his knowledge, in^nS ledato, reprobating the evil, and choosing the good ; this refers to him as God, and is the same idea given by this prophet, chap. liii. \l : By (or in) his know- ledge, in;>TD bcdato, (the knowledge of Christ cruci- fied,) shall my righteous servant justify many ; for he shall bear their offences. Now this union of the Di- vine and human nature is termed a sign or miracle, niK oth, i. e., something which exceeds the power of na- ture to produce. And this miraculous union was to be brought about in a miraculous leay : Behold, a virgin shall conceive : the word is very emphatic, rTDSjTl ha- almah, the virgin ; the only one that ever was, or ever shall be, a mother in this way. But the Jetos, and some called Christians, who have espoused their des- perate cause, assert that " the word HdV almah does not signify a virgin only ; for it is applied Prov. xxx. 19 to signify a young married woman." I answer, that this latter text is no proof of the contrary doctrine : the words HdV^ "i3J "yn derech geber bealmah, the way of a man with a maid, cannot be proved to mean that for which it is produced. Besides, one of De Rossi's MSS. reads vrh-J^ bealmaiv, the way of a strong or stout man (13J geber) in his youth ; and in this reading the Syriac, Septuagint, Vulgate, and Arabic agree; which are followed hy ihe first version in the English language, as it stands in a MS. in my own possession : ttc tocfc of a man fn t)[s tDapiiiu iioutj) : so that this place, the only one that can with any probability of success be produced, were the inter- pretation contended for correct, which I am by no means disposed to admit, proves nothing. Besides, the consent of so many versions in the opposite mean- ing deprives it of much of its influence in this question. The word nihy almah, comes from oSy alam, to lu 67 Desolation of the ISAIAH. A. M. cir. 3262. B. C. cir. 742. Anno Olymp. NonK3. Ante Urbem Conditam 12. 19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in '' the holes of the rocks, and upon *> Chap. ii. 19 ; Jev. xvi. 16.- - Or, commendable trees. upon all thorns, and " bushes. 20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a ^ razor that is Jews predicted all A. M. cir. 3262. B. C. cir. 742 Anno Olymp Nonae 3. Ante Urbem Conditam 12. ■i 2 Kings xvi. 7, 8 ; 2 Chron. xxviii. 20, 21 ; see Ezek. v. 1. hid, be concealed : and we are told, that " virgins were so called, because they were concealed or closely kept up in their fathers' houses till the time of their mar- riage." This is not correct : see the case of Rebecca, Gen. xxiv. 43, and my note there ; that of Rachel, Gen. xxix. 6, 9, and the note there also;' and see the case of Miriam, the sister of Moses, Exod. ii. 8, and also the Chaldee paraphrase on Lam. i. 4, where the virgins are represented as going out in the dance. And see also the whole history of Ruth. This being con- cealed or kept at home, on which so much stress is laid, is purely fanciful ; for we find that young unmar- ried women drew water, kept sheep, gleaned publicly in the fields, &c., &c., and the same works they per- form among the Turcomans to the present day. This reason, therefore, does not account for the radical meaning of the word ; and we must seek it elsewhere. Another well-known and often-used root in the Hebrew tongue will cast light on this subject. This is nSj galah, which signifies to reveal, make manifest, or un- cover ; and is often applied to matrimonial connections in different parts of the Mosaic law : vhy alam, there- fore, may be considered as implying the concealment of the virgin, as such, till lawful marriage had taken place. A virgin was not called naSy almah, because she was concealed by being kept at home in her father's house, which is not true ; but, literally and physically, because as a ivoman she had not been uncovered — she had not known man. This fully applies to the blessed virgin, see Luke i. 34. " How can this be, seeing / knoio no man .?" And this text throws much light on the subject before us. This also is in perfect agree- ment with the ancient prophecy, " The seed of the wo- man shall bruise the head of the serpent," Gen. iii. 15; for the person who was to destroy the work of the devil was to be the progeny of the looman, without any concurrence of the man. And hence the text in Gene- sis speaks as fully of the virgin state of the person from whom Christ, according to the flesh, should come, as that in the prophet, or this in the evangelist. Accord- ing to the original promise there was to be a seed, a human being, who should destroy sin ; but this seed or human being, must come from the looman alone ; and no woman alone could produce such a human being without being a virgin. Hence, A virgin shall bear a son, is the very spirit and meaning of the original text, independently of the illustration given by the prophet ; and the fact recorded by the evangelist is the proof of the whole. But how could that be a sign to Ahaz, which was to take place so many hundreds of years after 1 I answer, the meaning of the prophet is plain : not only Rezin and Pekah should be unsuccessful against Jerusalem at that time, which was the fact ; but Jerusalem, Judea, and the house of David should be both preserved, notwithstanding their depressed slate, and the multitude of their adversaries, till the time should come when a virgin should bear a son. 58 This is a most remarkable circumstance — the house of David could never fail, till a virgin should conceive and bear a son — nor did it : but when that incredible and miraculous fact did take place, the kingdom and house of David became extinct ! This is an irrefraga- ble confutation of every argument a Jew can offer in vindication of his opposition to the Gospel of Christ. Either the prophecy in Isaiah has been fulfilled, or the kingdom and house of David are yet standing. But the kingdom of David, we know, is destroyed : and where is the man, Jew or Gentile, that can show us a single descendant of David on the face of the earth 1 The prophecy could not fail : the kingdom and house of David have failed ; the virgin, therefore, must have brought forth her son, and this son is Jesus, the Christ. Thus Moses, Isaiah, and Matthew concur ; and facts the most unequivocal have confirmed the whole ! Be- hold the wisdom and providence of God ! Notwithstanding what has been said above, it may be asked, In what sense could this name, Immanuel, be applied to Jesus Christ, if he be not truly and pro- perly GOD 1 Could the Spirit of truth ever design that Christians should receive him as an angel or a mere man ; and yet, in the very beginning of the Gos- pel liistory, apply a character to him which belongs only to the most high God 1 Surely no. In what sense, then, is Christ God with us 1 Jesus is called Immanuel, or God with us, in his incarnation ; God united to our nature ; God with man, God in man ; God loith us, by his continual protection ; Gud with us, by the influences of his Holy Spirit, in the holy sacrament, in the preaching of his word, in private prayer. And God ivith us, through every action of our life, that we begin, continue, and end in his name. He is God with us, to comfort, enlighten, protect, and defend us, in every time of temptation and trial, in the hour of death, in the day o{ judgment ; and God with us and in us, and we tvith and in him, to all eternity. Verse 17. The Lord shall bring — " But Jehovah will bring"] Houbigant reads N'^'l vaiyabi, from the Septuagint, aUa e-aa^ei, 6 Qeoc, to mark the transition to a new subject. Even the king of Assyria.] Houbigant supposes these words to have been a marginal gloss, brought into the text by mistake ; and so likewise Archbishop Seeker. Besides their having no force or effect here, they do not join well in construction with the words preceding, as may be seen by the strange manner in which the ancient interpreters have taken them ; and they very inelegantly forestall the mention of the king of Assyria, which comes in with great propriety in the 30th verse. I have therefore taken the liberty of omitting them in the translation. Verse 18. Hiss for the fly — " Hist the fly"] See note on chap. v. 26. Egypt, and — Assyria.] Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Desolation of the CHAP. VII. Jews predicted. B Ic "clr ^42 ^'''^'^' no^ely, by them beyond Anno Oiymp. the river, by the king of Assyria, Ante I'rbcm the head, and the hair of the ^'"''■"^ '^- feet: and it shall also con- s\ime the beard. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep : 22 And it shall come to pass, for the abun- dance of milk that they shall give that he shall eat • butter : for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left ' in the land. 23 And it shall come to pass in that day, • Deul. xxxii. 14.- ' Hcb. in the midst of the land. Pharao-neclio, and Nebuchadnezzar, who one after an- other desolated Judea. A'erse 19. Holes of the rods — "Caverns"] So the Septuaginl, Syriac, and Vulgale, whence Honbigant supposes the true reading to be □"SSnjn hannachalo- lim. One of my oldest MSS. reads D'^lSnjn ha?ina- chaloUm. Verse 20. The river] That is, the Euphrates : in:n hanahar. So read the Septuaginl and two MSS. Shall the Lord shave wilh a razor thai is hired — " Jehovah shall shave by the hired razor"] To shave with the hired razor the head, the feet, and the beard, is an expression highly parabolical, to denote the utter devastation of the country from one end to the other ; and the plundering of the people, from the highest to the lowest, by the Assyrians, whom God employed as his instrument to punish the Jews. Ahaz himself, in the first place, hired the king of Assyria to come to help him against the Syrians, by a present made to him of all the treasures of the temple, as well as his own. And God himself considered the great nations, whom he thus employed as his mercenaries ; and paid them their wages. Thus he paid Nebuchadnez- zar for his services against Tyre, by the conquest of Egypt, Ezek. xxi.v. 18-20. The hairs of the head are those of the highest order in the state ; those of the feet, or the lower parts, are the common people ; the beard is the king, the high priest, the very su- preme in dignity and majesty. The Eastern people have always held the beard in the highest veneration, and have been extremely jealous of its honour. To pluck a man's beard is an instance of the greatest in- dignity that can be offered. See Isa. 1. 6. The king of the Ammonites, to show the utmost contempt of David, " cut off half the beards of his servants, and the men were greatly ashamed ; and David bade them tarry at Jericho till their beards were grown," 2 Sam. X. 4, 5. Niebuhr, Arabic, p. 275, gives a modern instance of the very same kind of insult. " The Turks," says Thevtnol, " greatly esteem a man who has a fine beard ; it is a very great affront to take a man by his beard, unless it be to kiss it ; they swear by the beard." Voyages, i., p. 57. DMrrict/x gives a remarkable instance of an Arab, who, having receiv- ed a wound in his jaw, chose to hazard his life, rather that every place shall be, where *• *?■ '^'.'■- ^^82- there were a thousana vmes An:io Oiymp. , 1 ., 1 ■ ■ Non:i? 3. at a thousand silverhngs, « it Ante trUem shall even be for briers and ^°"''""" ^"^^ thorns. 24 With *■ arrows and with bows shall men come thither ; because all the land shall be- come briers and thorns. 25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns : but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle. 8 Chap. V. 6. "> Jer. 1. 14. than suffer his surgeon to take off his beard. Memoires, torn, iii., p. 214. See also Niebuhr, Arable, p. 61. The remaining verses of this chapter, 21-25, con- tain an elegant and very expressive description of a country depopulated, and left to run wild, from its ad- juncts and circumstances : the vineyards and cornfields, before well cultivated, now overrun with briers and thorns ; much grass, so that the few cattle that are left, a young cow and two sheep, have their full range, and abundant pasture, so as to yield milk in plenty to the scanty family of the owner ; the thinly scattered people living, not on corn, wine, and oil, the produce of cultivation ; but on milk and honey, the gifts of na- ture ; and the whole land given up to the wild beasts, so that the miserable inhabitants are forced to go out armed wilh bows and arrows, either to defend them- selves against the wild beasts, or to supply themselves with necessary food by hunting. A VEBV judicious friend has sent me the following observations on the preceding prophecy, which I think worthy of being laid before the reader ; though they are in some respects different from my own view of the subject. " To establish the primary and literal meaning of a passage of Scripture is evidently laying the true founda- tion for any subsequent views or improvements from it. " The kingdom of Judah, under the government of Ahaz, was reduced very low. Pekah, king of Israel, had slain in Judea one hundred and twenty thousand in one day ; and carried away captive two hundred thousand, including women and children, with much spoil. To add to this distress, Rezin, king of Syria, being confederate with Pekah, had taken Elath, a for- tified city of Judah, and carried the inhabitants to Da- mascus. I think it may also be gathered from the sijclh verse of chap, viii., that the kings of Svria and Israel had a considerable party in the land of Judea, who, regardless of the Divine appointment and pro- mises, were disposed to favour the elevation of Tabeal, a stranger, to the throne of David. " In this critical conjuncture of affairs, Isaiah was sent with a message of mercy, and a promise of de- liverance, to Ahaz. He was commanded to take with him Shearjashub, his son, whose name contained a pro- 69 Observations on the ISAIAH. preceding chapter. mise respecting the captives lately made by Pekah, whose return from Samaria, effected by the expostula- tion of the prophet Oded and the concurrence of the princes of Ephraim, was now promised as a pledge of the Divine interposition offered to Ahaz in favour of the house of David. And as a farther token of this pre- servation, notwithstanding the incredulity of Ahaz, Isaiah was directed to predict the birth of another son which should be born to him within the space of a year, and to be named Immanuel, signifying thereby the pro- tection of God to the land of Judah and family of Da- vid at this present conjuncture, with reference to the promise of the Messiah who was to spring from that family, and be born in that land. Compare chap. viii. 8. Hence Isaiah testifies, chap. viii. 18 : ' Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for types in Israel.' Compare Zech. iii. 8 : ' Thy companions are men of sign and type :' see Dr. Lowth on this verse. The message of Divine displea- sure against Israel is in like manner expressed by the names the prophet Hosea was directed to give his children ; see Hos. i. and ii. " Concerning this child, who was to be named Im- manuel, the prophet was commissioned to declare, that notwithstanding the present scarcity prevaihng in the land from its being harassed by war, yet within the space of time wherein this child should be of age to discern good and evil, both these hostile kings, viz., of Israel and Syria, should be cut off ; and the coun- try enjoy such plenty, that butter and honey, food ac- counted of peculiar delicacy, should be a common re- past. See Harmer^s Observations, vol. p. 299. " To this it may be objected that Isaiah's son was not named Immanuel, but Maher-shalal-hash-baz ; the signification of which bore a threatening aspect, instead of a consolatory one. To this I think a satisfactory answer may be given. Ahaz, by his unbelief and dis- regard of the message of mercy sent to him from God, (for instead of depending upon it he sent and made a treaty with the king of Assyria,) drew upon himself the Divine displeasure, which was expressed by the change of the child's name, and the declaration that though Damascus and Samaria should, according to the former prediction, fall before the king of Assyria, yet that this very power, i. e., Assyria, in whom Ahaz trusted for deliverance, (see 2 Kings xvi. 7, &c.,) should afterwards come against Judah, and ' fill the breadth of the land,' which was accomplished in the following reign, when Jerusalem was so endangered as to be delivered only by miracle. The sixth and seventh verses of chap. viii. indicate, I think, as I before ob- served, that the kings of Syria and Israel had many adherents in Judah, who are said to refuse the peace- ful waters of Shiloh or Siloam, kim that is to be sent, who ought to have been their confidence, typified by the fountain at the foot of Mount Zion, whose stream watered the city of Jerusalem ; and therefore, since the splendour of victory, rather than the blessings of peace, was the object of their admiration, compared to a swelling river which overflowed its banks, God threatens to chastise them by the victorious armies of Ashur. The prophet at the same time addresses words of consolation to such of the people who yet feared and trusted in Jehovah, whom he instructs and 60 comforts with the assurance (ver. 10) that they shall prove the fulfilment of the promise contained in the name Immanuel. " But it may still be objected, that according to this interpretation of the fourteenth verse of chap. vii. no- thing miraculous occurs, which is readily admitted ; but the objection rests upon the supposition that something miraculous was intended ; whereas the word niX oth, ' sign,' does by no means generally imply a miracle, but most commonly an emblematic representation, (see Ezek. iv. 3-12 ; xi ; xx. 20 ; Zech. vi. 14,) either by actions or names, of some future event either promised or threatened. Exod. iii. 12 ; 1 Sam. ii. 34 ; 2 Kings xix. 29 ; Jer. xliv. 29, 30, are all examples of 2, future event given as a sign or token of something else which is also future. The birth of Isaiah's son was indeed typical of him whose name he was, at first, appointed to bear, viz., Immanuel, even as Oshea the son of Nun had his name changed to Jehoshua, the same with Je- sus, of whom he was an eminent type. Hence the prophet, in the ninth chapter, breaks forth into a strain of exultation : ' To us a child is born ;' after which fol- low denunciations against Rezin and the kingdom of Israel, which are succeeded by declarations, that when Assyria had completed the appointed chastisement upon Judah and Jerusalem, that empire should be destroyed. The whole of the tenth chapter is a very remarkable prophecy, and was probably delivered about the time of Sennacherib's invasion. " But still it will be urged, that St. Matthew, when relating the miraculous conception of our Lord, says, ' Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,' &c. To this it may readily be answered, that what was spoken by the prophet was indeed now fulfilled in a higher, more important, and also in a more literal sense, than the primary fulfilment could aftbrd, which derived all its value from its connection with this event, to which it ultimately referred. " In like manner the prophecy of Isaiah, contained in the second chapter, received a complete fulfilment in our Saviour's honouring Capernaum with his resi- dence, and preaching throughout Galilee ; though there appears reason to interpret the passage as having a pri- mary respect to the reformation wrought by Hezekiah, and which, at the eve of the dissolution of the king- dom of Israel by the captivity of the ten tribes, ex- tended to the tribes of Asher and Zebulun, and many of the inhabitants of Ephraim and Manasseh, who were hereby stirred up to destroy idolatry in their country. See 2 Chron. xxxi. 1. And without doubt the great deliverance wrought afterwards for Judah by the mi- raculous destruction of Sennacherib's army, and the recovery of Hezekiah in so critical a conjuncture from a sickness which had been declared to be unto death, contributed not a little to revive the fear of God in that part of Israel which, through their defection from the house of David, had grievously departed from the tem- ple and worship of the true God ; and as Galilee lay contiguous to countries inhabited by Gentiles, they had probably sunk deeper into idolatry than the southern part of Israel. " In several passages of St. Matthew's Gospel, our translation conveys the idea of things being done in Isaiah prophesies CHAP. VIII. against Israel. order to fulfil certain prophecies ; but I apprehend that if the words Iva xai i-rru^ were rendered as simply de- noting the event, so that and thus was fulfilled, the sense would be much clearer. For it is obvious that our Lord did not speak in parables or ride into Jerusa- lem previously to his last passover, simply for the pur- pose of fulfilling the predictions recorded, but also from other motives ; and in chap. ii. the evangelist only remarks that the circumstance of our Lord's return from Egypt corresponded with the prophet Hosea's relation of that part of the history of the Israelites. So in the twentij-lhird verse Joseph dwelt at Nazareth because he was directed so to do by God himself; and the sacred historian, having respect to the effect after- wards produced, (see John vii. 41, 42, 52,) remarks that this abode in Nazareth was a means of fulfilling those predictions of the prophets which indicate the contempt and neglect with which by many the Messiah should be treated. Galilee was considered by the in- habitants of Judea as a degraded place, chiefly from its vicinity to the Gentiles ; and Nazareth seems to have been proverbially contemptible ; and from the account given of the spirit and conduct of the in- habitants by the evangelists, not without reason." — E. M. B. To my correspondent, as well as to many learned men, there appears some difficulty in the text ; but I really think this is quite done away by that mode of interpretation whicli I have already adopted ; and as far as the miraculous conception is concerned, the whole is set in the clearest and strongest light, and the objec- tions and cavils of the Jews entirely destroyed. CHAPTER VIII, Prediction respecting the conquest of Syria and Israel by the Assyrians, 1—4. Israel, for rejecting the gentle stream of Shiloah, near Jerusalem, is threatened to be overflowed by the great river of Assyria, manifestly alluding by this strong figure to the conquests of Tiglath-pilescr and Shalmaneser over thai kingdom, 5-7. The invasion of the kingdom of Judah by the Assyrians under Sennacherib foretold, 8. The prophet assures the Israelites and Syrians that their hostile attempts against Judah shall be frustrated, 9, 10. Exhortation not to be afraid of the wrath of man, but to fear the displeasure of God, 1 1-13. Judgments which shall overtake those who put no confidence in Jehovah, 14, 15. The prophet proceeds to warn his countrymen against idolatry, divination, and the like sinful practices, exhorting them to seek direction from the word of God, professing in a beautiful apostrophe that this was his own pious resolution. And to enforce this counsel, and strengthen their faith, he points to his children, whose symbolic names were signs or pledges of the Divine promises. 16-20. Judgments of God against the finally impenitent, 21, 22. B. c.dr,?4?' ]\/IOREOVER the Lord said Anno oiymr. unto me, Take thee a great roll, and ^ write in it with a man's Nonre 3. A. V. C. 12. » Chap. ix%. 8 ; Hab. ii. 2. 'Heb. m maJring speed The prophecy of the foregoing chapter relates di- rectly to the kingdom of Judah only ; the first part of it promises them deliverance from the united invasion of the Israelites and Syrians ; the latter part, from ver. 17, denounces the desolation to be brought upon the kingdom of Judah by the Assyrians. The sixth, se- venth, and eighth verses of this chapter seem to take in both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. '■ This people that rcfuseth the waters of Shiloah," may be meant of both : the Israelites despised the kingdom of Judah, which they had deserted, and now attempted to destroy ; the people of Judah, from a consideration of their own weakness, and a distrust of God's promises, being reduced to despair, applied to the .\ssyrians for assistance against the two confederate kings. But how could It be said of Judah, that they rejoiced in Rezin, and the son of Remaliah, the enemies confederated against them ? If some of the people were inclined to revolt to the enemy, (which however does not clearly appear from any part of the history or the prophecy.) yet there was nothing like a tendency to a general defec- tion. This, therefore, must be understood of Israel. The prophet denounces the Assyrian invasion, which should overwhelm the whole kingdom of Israel under Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser ; and the subsequent pen concerning *> Maher-shalal- ^ ^ ^'j|^- ^^^^■ Anno Olymp. Nonse 3. A. U. C. 12. hash-baz. 2 And I took unto me faithful to the spoil he hasteneth the prey, or make speed, &c. invasion of Judah by the same power under Sennache- rib, which would bring them into the most imminent danger, like a flood reaching to the neck, in which a man can but just keep his head above water. The two next verses, 9 and 10, are addressed by the prophet, as a subject of the kingdom of Judah, to the Israelites and Syrians, and perhaps to all the enemies of God's people ; assuring them that their attempts against that kingdom shall be fruitless ; for that the promised Im- manuel, to whom he alludes by using his name to ex- press the signification of it, for God is with us, shall be the defence of the house of David, and deliver the kingdom of Judah out of their hands. He then pro- ceeds to warn the people of Judah against idolatry, divination, and the like forbidden practices ; to which they were much inclined, and which would soon bring down God's judgments upon Israel. The prophecy concludes at the sixth verse of chap. ix. with promises of blessings in future times by the coming of the great deliverer already pointed out by the name of Immanuel, whose person and character is set forth in terms the most ample and magnificent. And here it may be observed that it is almost the constant practice of the prophet to connect in like man- ner deliverances temporal with spiritual. Thus the 61 Conquest of the Assyrians A. M cir. 3262. witnesses to record, "■- Uriah the B. C. cir. 742. Anno oiymp. priest, and Zechariah the son of Nonae 3. -, i i ■ i Ante Urbem Jeberechiah. ^"°'^"^'" '^- 3 And I 'J went unto the pro- phetess ; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4 * For before the child shall have know- ledge to cry, My father and my mother, ^ the ^ riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. * 2 Kings xvi. 10. ^ Heb. approached unto. " See ch. vii. 16. f Or, he that is before the king of Assyria shall take away the eleventh chapter, setting forth the kingdom of Messiah, is closely connected with the tenth, which foretells the destruction of Sennacherib. So likewise the destruc- tion of nations, enemies to God, in the thirty-fourth chapter, introduces the flourishing state of the kingdom of Christ in the thirty-fifth. And thus the chapters from xl. to xlix. inclusive, plainly relating to the de- liverance from the captivity of Babylon, do in some parts plainly relate to the greater deliverance by Christ. NOTES ON CHAP. VIII. Verse 1. Take thee a great roll — "Take unto thee a large mirror"] The word ]V7J gillayon is not regu- larly formed from '7*7^ galal, to roll, but from nbi galah, as tins pidyon from ms padah, "iViD killayon from nb3 calah, p'pJ nihkayon from npJ nakah, \vh^ elyon from rhy alah, &c., the ' yod supplying the place of the radical n he. n'7J galah signifies to show, to reveal ; properly, as Schroederus says, (De Vestitu Mulier. Hebr. p. 294,) to render clear and bright hy rubbing; to polish, 'ivhi gillayon, therefore, according to this derivation, is not a roll or volume : but may very well signify a polished tablet of metal, such as was anciently used for a mirror. The Chaldee paraphrast renders it by ni7 luach, a tablet, and the same word, though somewhat differently pointed, the Chaldee paraphrast and the rabbins render a mirror, chap. iii. 23. The mirrors of the Israelitish women were made of brass finely polished, Exod. x.Kxviii. 8, from which place it likewise appears that what they used were little hand mirrors which they carried with them even when they assembled at the door of the tabernacle. I have a metalline mirror found in Herculaneum, which is not above three inches square. The prophet is commanded to take a mirror, or brazen polished tablet, not like these little hand mirrors, but a large one ; large enough for him to engrave upon it in deep and lasting characters, HIJX t3"\n3 becherct enosh, with a workman's graving tool, the prophecy which he was to deliver. Din chc- rel in this place certainly signifies an instrument to write or engrave with : but Q'ln charit, the same word, only differing a little in the form, means something belong- ing to a lady's dress, chap. iii. 22, (where however five MSS. leave out the ' yod, whereby only it differs from the word in this place,) either a crisping-pin, which might be not unlike a graving tool, as some will nave it, or a purse, as others infer from 2 Kings v. 23. 69 ISAIAH. over Israel predicted. 5 The Lord spake also unto ^i.^r^""^^^}- r B. C. cir. 741. me again, saying, oiymp. ix. 4. ^ J^ , , . , cir. annum 6 l-orasmch as this people Romuii, Regis refuseth the waters of " Shiloah ^""""^ ' "' that go softly, and rejoice ' in Rezin and Re- maliah's son ; 7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even ^ the king of Assyria, and all his glory : and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks : riches, &c. E 2 Kings iv. 29 ; xvi. 9 ; chap. xvii. 3. b Neh. iii. 15 ; John ix. 7. i Chap. vii. 1, 2, 6. 1' Chap. x. 12. It may therefore be called here ETUX Din cheret enosh, a tvorkman's instrument, to distinguish it from Din riB'N cheret ishshah, an instrument of the same name, used by the ivomen. In this manner he was to record the prophecy of the destruction of Damascus and Sa- maria by the Assyrians ; the subject and sum of which prophecy is here expressed with great brevity in four words, 13 tyn 'jSty ina maher shalal hash baz ; i. e., to hasten the spoil, to take quickly the prey ; which are afterwards applied as the name of the prophet's son, who was made a sign of the speedy completion of it ; Maher-shalal-hash-baz ; Haste-to-the-spoil, Quick-to- the-prey. And that it might be done with the greater solemnity, and to preclude all doubt of the real delivery of the prophecy before the event, he calls witnesses to attest the recording of it. The prophet is commanded to take a great roll, and yet four words only are to be written in it. T3 tSTl SW ina maher shalal hash baz, Make haste to the spoil ; fall upon the prey. The great volume points out the land of Judea ; and the few words the small number of inhabitants, after the ten tribes were carried into captivity. The words were to be written with a man's pen ; i. e., though the prophecy be given in the visions of God, yet the writing must be real ; the words must be transcribed on the great roU, that they may be read and publicly consulted. Or, B'UX D^n cherot enosh, the pen or graver of the weak miserable man, may refer to the already condemned Assyrians, who though they should be the instruments of chastening Damas- cus and Samaria, should themselves shortly be over- thrown. The four words may be considered as the commission given to the Assyrians to destroy and spoil the cities. Make haste to the spoil ; Fall upon the prey, &c. Verse 4 . For before the child} For my father and my mother, one MS. and the Vulgate have his father and his mother. The prophecy was accordingly ac- complished within three years ; when Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, went up against Damascus and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin, and also took the Reubenites and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and carried them cap- tive to Assyria, 2 Kings xv. 29 ; xvi. 9 ; 1 Chron. v. 26. Verse 6. Forasmuch as this people refuseth — " Be- cause this people have rejected"] The gentle waters Exhortation to CHAP. VIII. trust in Goa. A. M cir. 3263. Q And he shall pass ihrouah B. C. cir. 741. ^ ° Oiymp. IX. 4. Judali ; he shall overflow and go R^lnuU^n'o'^is over, ' he shall reach even to the OglS Roman., 13. neck ; and "' the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O " Immanuel. 9 " Associate yourselves, 0 yc people, " and ye shall be broken in pieces ; and give ear, all ye of far countries : gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces ; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 1 Chap. XXX. 28. " Heb. the fulness of the breadth of thy land shall be the stretchings out of his wings. » Chapter vii. 14. »Joel iii. 9, 11. rOr,yet. of Shiloah, a small fountain and brook just without Je- rusalem, which supplied a pool within the city for the use of the inhabitants, is an apt emblem of the state of the kingdom and house of David, much reduced in its apparent strength, yet supported by the blessing of God ; and is finely contrasted with the waters of the Euphrates, great, rapid, and impetuous ; the image of the Babylonian empire, which God threatens to bring down like a mighty flood upon all these apostates of both kingdoms, as a punishment for their manifold ini- quities, and their contemptuous disregard of his pro- mises. The brook and the river are put for the king- doms to which they belong, and the different states of which respectively they most aptly represent. Juve- nal, inveighing against the corruption of Rome by the importation of Asiatic manners, says, with great ele- gance, that " the Orontes has been long discharging itself into the Tiber :" — Jampridem .Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes. And Virgil, to express the submission of some of the Eastern countries to the Roman arms, says : — Euphrates ibat jam moUior undis. JEn. viii. 726. " The waters of the Euphrates now flowed more humbly and gentl}'." But the happy contrast between the brook and the river gives a peculiar beauty to this passage of the pro- phet, with which the simple figure in the Roman poets, however beautiful, yet uncontrasted, cannot contend. Verse 8. He shall reach even to the neci] He compares Jerusalem, says Kimchi, to the head of the human body. As when the waters come up to a man's neck, he is very near drowning, (for a little increase of them would go over his head,) so the king of As- sjrria coming up to Jerusalem was like a flood reach- ing to the neck — the whole country was overflowed, and the capital was in imminent danger. Accordingly the Chaldfe renders reaching to the neck by reaching to Jerusalem. Verse 9. Associate yourselves — " Know ye this"] God by his prophet plainly declares to the confederate adversaries of Judah, and bids them regard and attend to his declaration, that all their efforts shall be in vain. The present reading, l^'T rou, is subject to many difli- culties ; I follow that of the Septuagint, Ijn deu, -jvuTe. 1 0 -i Take counsel together, ^^ **• =!'•• ^^63 and it shall come to naught ; oiymp. IX. 4. , , , 1 . 1 11 (^ir. annum speak the word, ^ and it shall Romuii, Regis not stand: 'for God is with '^°"'""- "■ us. 1 1 For the Lord spake thus to me ' with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, 12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom " this people shall say, A confedera- cy ; ' neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 1 Job V. 12. ' Chap. vii. 7. ' Chap. vii. 14 ; Acts v. 38, 39; Rom. viii. 13. 'Heb. in strength of hand. "Ch.vii. 2. » 1 Pet. iii. 14, 15. Archbishop Seeker approves this reading. l^'T deu, know yc this, is parallel and synonymous to iriKH haazimi, give ear to it, in the next line. The Septua- gint have likewise very well paraphrased the conclu sion of this verse : " When ye have strengthened yourselves, ye shall be broken ; and though yc again strengthen yourselves, again shall ye be broken ;" tak- ing inn chottu as meaning the same with natyj, ye shall be broken. Verse 11. With a strong hand — " As taking me by the hand"] Eleven MSS. , {two zncienl,) o( Keyinicott's, thirty-fouroi De Rossi's, 3l'[\A seven editions, read npinO kechezkath ; and so Symmachus, the Syrtac, and Vul gate. Or rather with a strong hand, that is, with a strong and powerful influence of the prophetic Spirit. A'erse 12. Say ye not, A confederacy — " Say ye not. It is holy"] Ityp kesher. Both the reading and the sense of this word are doubtful. The Septuagint ma- nifestly read niyp kashah ; for they render it by aO.ri- poi>, hard. The Syriac and Chaldee render it XTID merda, and T1T3 merod, rebellion. How they came by this sense of the word, or what they read in their copies, is not so clear. But the worst of it is, that neither of these readings or renderings gives any clear sense in this place. For why should God forbid his faithful servants to say with the unbelieving Jews, It is hard ; or. There is a rebellion ; or, as our transla- tors render it, a confederacy ? And how can this be called " walking in the way of this people !" ver. 1 1, which usually means, following their example, joining with them in religious worship. Or what confederacy do they mean ! The union of the kingdoms of .Syria and Israel against Judah ? That was properly a league between two independent states, not an unlawful con- spiracy of one part against another in the same slate ; this is the meaning of the word "VOp kesher. For want of any satisfactory interpretation of this place that I can meet with, I adopt a conjecture of Arch- bishop Seeker, which he proposes with great diflidence, and even seems immediately to give up, as being des- titute of any authority to support it. I will give it in his own words : — " Videri potest ex cap. v. 16, et hu- jus cap. 13, 11, 19, legendum lyip vel tynp kadosh, eadem sententia, qua IJ'nS.X Eloheynu, Hos. xiv. 3. Sed nihil necesse est. Vide enim Jer. xi. 9 ; Ezek. xxii. 25. Optime tamen sic responderent huic versi- culo versiculi 13, 14." The passages of Jeremiah 63 Exhortation to ISAIAH. trust in God. A-M;'=i>^-3263. 13 ^v ganctify the Lord of B. C. cir. 741. J Oiymp. IX. 4. hosts himself ; and ' let him be cir. annum ^ 771-7 Romuii, Regis your tear, and let him be your ^°"'""' "• dread. 14 And yhe shall be for a sanctuary; but for ^ a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall " stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait upon the Lord, that " Num. .vs. 12.— X Psa. lixvi. 7 ; Luke xii. R.- — r Ezek. xi. 16. z Chap, xxviii. 16 ; Luke ii 34 Rom IX. 3.3; 1 Pet II. 8. »Matt. X.X1. 44 ; Luke xx. 18 Rom. IX 33 ; XI. R5 '' Chap. liv. 8. and Ezekiel above referred to seem to me not at all to clear up the sense of the word "WT) kesher in this place. But the context greatly favours the conjecture here given, and makes it highly probable : " Walk not in the way of this people ; call not their idols holy, nor fear ye the object of their fear :" (that is, the as- Baafiara, or gods of the idolaters ; for so fear here signifies, to wit, the thing feared. So God is called " The fear of Isaac," Gen. xxxi. 42, 53 :) " but look up to Jehovah as your Holy One ; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread ; and he shall be a holy Refuge unto you." Here there is a harmony and con- sistency running through the whole sentence ; and the latter part naturally arises out of the former, and an- swers to it. Idolatry, however, is full of fears. The superstitious fears of the Hindoos are very numerous. They fear death, bad spirits generally, and hobgoblins of all descriptions. They fear also the cries oi jackalls, owls, crows, cats, asses, vultures, dogs, lizards, &c. They also dread different sights in the air, and are alarmed at various dreams. See Ward's Customs. Observe that the difference between ym kesher and jyip kadosh is chiefly in the transposition of the two last letters, for the letters T resh and T dalelh are hardly distinguishable in some copies, printed as well as MS. ; so that the mistake, in respect of the letters themselves, is a very easy and a very common one. — L. Verse 14. And he shall be for a sanctuary — "And he shall be unto you a sanctuary"] The word Dd'? lachem, unto you, absolutely necessary, as I conceive, to the sense, is lost in this place : it is preserved by the Vulgate, " et erit vobis in sanctificationem." The Septuagint have it in the singular number : earai col eic ayiaafiov, it shall be to thee. Or else, instead of tyip:3 mikdash, a sanctuary, we must read jypTO mokesh, a snare, which would then be repeated without any propriety or elegance, at the end of the verse. The Chaldee reads instead of it USa/"^ mishpat, judgment ; for he renders it by ]J?TI3 purean, which word frequently answers to DBCD mishpat in his paraphrase. One MS. has instead of J3nSi tyipo mikdash uleeben, px'? □n'? lahem leeben, which clears the sense and construction. 61 '' hideth his face from the house of ^^ M- "'"■ 3263. Jacob, and I "= will look for him. oiymp. ix. i. 18 '^ Behold, I and the children Romuh, R^is whomtheLoRD hath given me =are R°man., la. for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion. 19 And when they shall say unto you, ^ Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards ^ that peep, and that mutter should not a people seek unto their God ? for the living '^ to the dead ? 20 ' To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not according to this word, it is because '' thet-e is ' no light in them. <■ Hab. ii. 3 ; Luke ii. 25, 38. ^ Heb. ii. 13. « Psa. Ixxi. 7 ; Zech. iii. 8. f 1 Sam. xxvUi. 8 ; chap. xix. 3. s Chap. xxix. 4. i^Psa. cvi. 28. -Luke xvi. 29. 1' Mic. iii. 6. ' Heb. no morning. But the reading of the Vulgate is, I think, the best remedy to this difficulty ; and is in some degree au- thorized by DdS lahem, the reading of the MS. above mentioned. Verse 16. Among my disciples.] ''1012 belimmudai. The Septuagint render it tov jiri p-aBeiv. Bishop Chan- dler, Defence of Christianity, p. 308, thinks they read loSo, that it be not understood, and approves of this reading. — Abp. Seeker. Verse 18. Lord of hosts.] One MS. reads nisas "hSr Elohey tsebaoth, God of hosts. Verse 19. Should not a people seek — " Should they seek"] After tyiT yidrosh, the Septuagint, repeating the word, read tyiTn hayidrosh : Ova edvoc -n-pof Qcov avTov SK^TjTiiaovai ; ti EK^r/Triaovai ^epi tuv Cuvtov Tovg vtKpovc ; Should not a nation seek unto its God ? Why should you seek unto the dead concerning the living 1 and this repetition of the verb seems necessary to the sense ; and, as Procopius on the place observes, it strongly expresses the prophet's indignation at their folly. Verse 20. To the laiv and to the testimony — " Unto the command, and unto the testimony."] " Is not nilj^n teudah here the attested prophecy, ver. 1—4 ■? and perhaps miH torah the command, ver. 11-15 1 for it means sometimes a particular, and even a human, command ; see Prov. vi. 20, and vii. 1, 2, where it is ordered to be hid, that is, secretly kept." — Abp. Seeker. So Deschamps, in his translation, or rather paraphrase, understands it : " Tenons nous k I'instrument authen- tique mis en depOt par ordre du Seigneur," " Let us stick to the authentic instrument, laid up by the com- mand of the Lord." If this be right, the sixteenth verse must be understood in the same manner. Because there is no light in them — " In which there is no obscurity."] "WW shachor, as an adjective, fre- quently signifies dark, obscure ; and the noun iniS' sha- char signifies darkness, gloominess, Joel ii. 2, if we may judge by the context : — "A day of darkness and obscurity ; Of cloud, and of thick vapour ; Exhortation to CHAP. IX. trust in God. 2 1 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry : and it siiall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and "" curse their king A. M. cir 3263. B. C. cir. 741. Olymp. IX. 4. cir. annum Romuh, Regis Roman., 13. " Rev. Jtvi. 11. As the gloom spread upon the mountains : A people mighty and numerous." Where the gloom, IDE' shachar, seems to be the same with the cloud and thick vapour mentioned in the line preceding. See Lam. iv. 8, and Job xxx. 30. See this meaning of the word inB? shachar well supported in Chnst. Muller. Sat. Observat. Phil. p. 53, Lugd. Bat. 1752. The Hiorni/ij' seems to have been an idea wholly incongruous in the passage of Joel ; and in this of Isaiah the words in which there is no morning (for so it ought to be rendered if trw shac/iar in this place signifies, according to its usual sense, morning) seem to give no meaning at all. " It is because there is no light in them," says our translation. If there be any sense in these words, it is not the sense of the original ; which cannot justly be so translated. Qui n'a rien eCobscur, " which has no obscurity." — Deschamps. The reading of the Septuagint and Syriac, "inty shochad, gift, affords no assistance towards the clearing up of any of this difficult place. R. D. Kimchi says this was the form of an oath ; " By the law and by the testimony such and such things are so." Now if they had sworn this falsely, it is because there is no light, no illumination, "inty shachar, no scruple of conscience, in them. Verse 2 1 . Hardly bestead — " Distressed"] Instead of TVapi niksheh, distressed, the Vulgate, Chaldee, and Symmachus manifestly read h\02i nichshal, stumbling, tottering through weakness, ready to fall; a sense which suits very well with the place. And look upward — " And he shall cast his eyes up- ward."] The learned professor Michaclis, treating of this place (Not. in de Sacr. Poes. Hebr. Pra;l. ix.) refers to a passage in the Koran which is similar to it. As it is a very celebrated passage, and on many accounts remarkable, I shall give it here at large, with the same author's farther remarks upon it in another place of his writings. It must be noted here that the learned pro- fessor renders D3J nibbat, D'3n hibbit, in this and the parallel place, chap. v. 30, which I translate he look- and their God, and look upward. *; ^- •=''■ ^?- ' ^ B. C. cir. 741. 22 And "they the earth; and shall look unto Olymp. IX. 4. 11,1 11 cir. annum behold trouble RomuU, Regii and darkness, » dimness of an- "^°"°''^- guish; and they shall be driven to darkness. "Chap. V. 30. »Chap. ix. 1. eth, by it thundereth, from Schultens, Orig. Ling. Hebr. Lib. i. cap. 2, of the justness of which render- ing I much doubt. This brings the image of Isaiah more near in one circumstance to that of Mohammed than it appears to be in my translation : — '■'■ Labid, contemporary with Mohammed,ihe last of the seven Arabian poets who had the honour of having their poems, one of each, hung up in the entrance of the temple of Mecca, struck with the sublimity of a passage in the Koran, became a convert to Mohammedism ; for he concluded that no man could write in such a man- ner unless he were Divinely inspired. " One must have a curiosity to examine a passage which had so great an effect upon Labid. It is, I must own, the finest that I know in the whole Koran : but I do not think it will have a second time the like effect, so as to tempt any one of my readers to submit to cir- cumcision. It is in the second chapter, where he \a speaking of certain apostates from the faith. ' They are Uke,' saith he, ' to a man who kindles a light. As soon as it begins to shine, God takes from them the light, and leaves them in darkness that they see nothing. They are deaf, dumb, and blind ; and return not into the right way. Or they fare as when a cloud, full of darkness, thunder, and lightning, covers the heaven. When it bursteth, they stop their ears with their fingers, with deadly fear ; and God hath the unbelievers in his power. The lightning almost robbeth them of their eyes : as often as it flasheth they go on by its light ; and when it vanisheth in darkness, they stand still. If God pleased, they would retain neither hearing nor sight.' That the thought is beautiful, no one will deny ; and Labid, who had probably a mind to flatter Moham- med, was lucky in finding a passage in the Koran so little abounding in poetical beauties, to which his con- version might with any propriety be ascribed. It was well that he went no farther ; otherwise his taste for poetry might have made him again an infidel." Mi- chaelis, Erpenii Arabische Grammatik abgekurzt, Vor- rede, s. 33. CHAPTER IX. Thit chapter contains an illustrious prophecy of the Messiah. He is represented under the glorious figure of the sun, or light, rising on a benighted world, and diffusing joy and gladness wherever he sheds his beams, 1-3. His conquests are astonishing and miraculous, as in the day of Midian ; and the peace which they procure is to be permanent, as denoted by the burning of all the implements of war, 4, 5. The person and character of this great Deliverer are then set forth in the most magnificent terms which the language of mankind could furnish, 6. The extent of his kingdom is declared to be universal, and the duration of it eternal, 7. The prophet foretells most awful calamities which were ready to fall upon the Israelites on account of their manifold impieties, 8-21. Vol. TV. ( 6 ) 65 A prediction of ISAIAH. the coming of Christ A. M. cir. 3264. B. C. cir. 740. Olymp. X. 1. cir. annum Romuli, Regis Roman., 14. ^NEVERTHELESS nhe dim- ness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the '' first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naplitali, and ° afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee ^ of the nations. 2 ' The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light : they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. = Chap. viii. 22. b 2 Kings xv. 29 ; 2 Chron. xvi. 4. ■: Lev. xxTi. 24; 2 Kings xvii. 5, 6; 1 Chron. v. 26. J Or, popu- lous. = Matt. iv. 16 ; Eph. v. 8, 14. f Or, to him. g Judg. V. 30. NOTES ON CHAP. IX. Verse 1 . Dimness — " Accumulated darkness"] Either nmJD menuddechah, fern, to agree with n*?!!}* aphelah ; or mJDn '7i)X aphel hammenuddach, allud- ing perhaps to the palpable Egyptian darkness, Exod. X. 21. The land of Zebulun] Zebulun, Naphtali, Manas- seh, that is, the country of Galilee all round the sea of 'rennesareth, were the parts that principally suffered m the first Assyrian invasion under Tiglath-pileser ; see 2 Kings XV. 29 ; 1 Chron. v. 26. And they were the first that enjoyed the blessings of Christ's preach- ing the Gospel, and exlxibiting his miraculous works among them. See Mede's Works, p. 101, and 457. This, which makes the twenty-third verse of chap. viii. in the Hebrew, is the first verse in chap. ix. in our authorized version. Bishop Lowth follows the division in the Hebrew. Verse 3. And not increased the joy — "Thou hast increased their joy"] Eleven MSS. of KennicotCs and six of De Rossi's, two ancient, read lb lo, it, according to the Masoretical correction, instead of vh lo, not. To the same purpose the Targiim and Syriac. The joy in harvest] 1'i'p3 nnotfa kesimchath bak- katsir. For TXp3 bakkatsir one MS. of Kennicott's and one of De Rossi's have Tip katsir, and another TXpn hakkatsir, " the harvest ;" one of which seems to be the true reading, as the noun preceding is in regimine. Verse 5. Every battle of the ivarrior — " The greaves of the armed warrior"] |ND |1ND seon soen. This word, occurring only in this place, is of very doubtful signification. Schindler fairly tells us that we may guess at it by the context. The Jews have explained it, by guess I believe, as signifying battle, conflict : the Vulgate renders it violenta prccdatio. But it seems as if something was rather meant which was capable of becoming fuel for the fire, together with the gar- ments mentioned in the same sentence. In Syriac the word, as a noun, signifies a shoe, or a sandal, as a learned friend suggested to me some years ago. See Luke XV. 22 ; Acts xii. 8. I take it, therefore, to mean that part of the armour which covered the legs and feet ; and I would render the two words in Latin by ealiga caligati. The burning of heaps of armour, gathered from the field of battle, as an offering made 66 3 Thou hast multiplied the *b *^- ^^^, ^^^*- nation, and 'not increased the Olymp. x. i , . , « , , cir. annum joy : they joy beiore thee accord- Romuli, Regis ing to the joy in harvest, and as ^°'°™' ^^- men rejoice ^ when they divide the spoil. 4 ^ For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the ' staff' of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of ^ Midian. 5 ' For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood ; "" but " this shall be with burning and " fuel of fire. b Or, When thou brakest.— — < Chap. x. 5 ; xiv. 5. ' Judg. vii. 22 ; Psa. Ixxxiii. 9 ; chap. x. 26. • Or, When the whole battle of the warrior was, &c. ™ Chap. Ixvi. 15, 16. " Or, and it was, &c. o Heb. Tneat. to the god supposed to be the giver of victory, was a custom that prevailed among some heathen nations ; and the Romans used it as an emblem of peace, which perfectly well suits with the design of the prophet in this place. A medal struck by Vespasian on finishing his wars both at home and abroad represents the god- dess Peace holding an olive branch in one hand, and, with a lighted torch in the other, setting fire to a heap of armour. Virgil mentions the custom : — " — Cum primam aciem Prajneste sub ipsa Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos." jEn. lib. viii., ver. 561. " Would heaven, (said he,) my strength and youth recall. Such as I was beneath Praeneste's wall — Then when I made the foremost foes retire. And set whole heaps of conquered shields on fire." Dryden. See Addison on Medals, Series ii. 18. And there are notices of some such practice among the Israelites, and other nations of the most early times. God promises to Joshua victory over the kings of Canaan. " To- morrow I wiU deliver them up all slain before Israel : thou shalt hough their horses, and bum their chariots with fire," Josh. xi. 6. See also Nahum ii. 13. And the psalmist employs this image to express complete victory, and the perfect establishment of peace : — " He maketh wars to cease, even to the end of the land : He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder ; And bumeth the chariots in the fire." — Psa. xivi. 9. niSjy agaloth, properly plaustra, impedimenta, the bag- gage-wagons: which however the Sep?uoo-m< and Vul- gate render scuta, " shields ;" and the Chaldee, " round shields," to show the propriety of that sense of the word from the etymology ; which, if admitted, makes the image the same with that used by the Romans. Ezekiel, chap, xxxix. 8—10, in his bold manner, has carried this image to a degree of amplification which I think hardly any other of the Hebrew poets would have attempted. He describes the burning of the arms of the enemy, in consequence of the complete victory to be obtained bv the Israelites over Gog and Magog : — ( 5« ) Christ's nativity, nature, 6 ' For unto us a child is born, unto us a "• son is given : and ' the government shall be upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called ' Wonderful, Counsellor, ' The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The "Prince of Peace. A. M. cir. 3264. B. C cir. 740. Olymp X. 1. cir. annum Rnmuli, Regis Roman., 14. CHAP. IX. kingdom, and government 7 Of the increase of his govem- pChap. vii. 14; Luke ii. 11. q John iii. 16. 'Matt, xxviii. 18; I Cor. XV. 25. »Judg. xiii. 18. " Behold, it is come to pass, and it is done, Saith the Lord Jehovah. This is the day of which I spoke : And the inhabitants of the cities of Israel shall go forth. And shall set on fire the armour, and the shield, And the buckler, and the bow, and the arrows. And the clubs, and the lances ; And they shall set them on fire for seven years. And they shall not bear wood from the field ; Neither shall they hew from the forest : For of the armour shall they make their fires ; And they shall spoil their spoilers. And they shall plunder their plunderers." R. D. Kimchi, on this verse, says this refers simply to the destruction of the Assyrians. Other battles are fought man against man, and spear against spear ; and the garments are rolled in blood through the wounds given and received : but this was with burning, for the angel of the Lord smote them by night, and there was neither sword nor violent commotion, nor blood ; they were food for the fire, for the angel of the Lord con- sumed them. Verse 6 . The government shall be upon his shoulder] That is, the ensign of government ; the sceptre, the sword, the key, or the like, which was borne upon or hung from the shoulder. See note on chap. xxii. 22. And his name shall be called] 'Ml 'li< El gibbor, the prevailing or conquering God. The everlasting Father — " The Father of the ever- lasting age"] Or nj' '3N Abi ad, the Father of eternity. The Septiiagint have (jiEyaXrjj /3ouXt)j AyylXog, " the Messenger of the Great Counsel." But instead of V "3X Abi ad, a MS. of De Rossi has lij'JN Abezer, the helping Father; evidently the corruption of some Jew, who did not like such an evidence in favour of the Christian Messiah. Prince of Peace] 01*717 "W sar shalom, the Prince of prosperity, the Giver of all blessings. A MS. of the thirteenth century in Kenmcott^s col- lection has a remarkable addition here. " He shall be a stumblmg-bloc/c, n'7a'D3n ; the government is on his shoulder." This reading is nowhere else acknow- ledged, as far as I know. Verse 7. 0/ the increase] In the common Hebrew Bibles, and in many MSS., this word is -nTitten with the close or final a n^-ioS. But in twelve of Kenni- cotfs MSS., and twelve of De Rossi's, it is written with the open D mem ; but here it is supposed to contain mysteries, viz., that Jerusalem shall be shut up, closed, and confined, till the days of the Messiah. This is an illustrious prophecy of the incarnation of A. M. cir. 3264 B. C. cir. 740. ment and peace ' there shall be no Oiymp. x. i. end, upon the throne of David, and Romuii, Regis upon his kingdom, to order it, ^'°^" ' "* and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The " zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. 'Tit. ii. 13.- -" Eph. ii. 14. V Oan. ii. 44; Luke i. 32, 33. '2 Kings xix. 31 ; chap, xxxvii. 32. Christ, with an enumeration of those characters in which he stands most nearly related to mankind as their Saviour ; and of others by which his infinite ma- jesty and Godhead are shown. He shall appear as a child, born of a woman, born as a Jew, under the law, but not in the way of ordinary generation. He is a Son given — the human nature, in which the fulness of the Godhead was to dwell, being produced by the creative energy of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the A'irgin. See Matt. i. 20, 21, 23, 25, and Luke i. 35, and Isa. vii. It, and the notes on those passages. As being God manifested in the flesh, he was ivonderful in his conception, birth, preaching, miracles, sulTerings, death, resurrection, and ascension ; wonderful in his person, and ivonderful in his working. He is the Counsellor that expounds the law ; shows its origin, nature, and claims ; instructs, pleads for the guilty ; and ever appears in the presence of God for men. He is the mighty God ; God essentially and efficiently pre- vailing against his enemies, and destroying ours. He is the Father of eternity ; the Origin of all being, and the Cause of the existence, and particularly the Fa- ther, of the spirits of all flesh. The Prince of peace — not only the Author of peace, and the Dispenser of peace, but also he that rules by peace, whose rule tends always to perfection, and produces prosperity. Of the increase of his government — this Prince has a. govern- ment, for he has all power both in heaven and in earth ; and his government increases, and is daily more and more extended, and will continue till all things are put under his feet. His kingdom is ordered — every act of government regulated according to wisdom and good- ness ; is established so securely as not to be over- thrown; and administered in judgment and justice, so as to manifest his wisdom, righteousness, goodness, and truth. Reader, such is that Jesus who came into the world to save sinners ! Trust in Him ! Chap. ix. 8— chap. x. 4. This whole passage re- duced to its proper and entire form, and healed of the dislocation which it suffers by the absurd division of the chapters, makes a distinct prophecy, and a just poem, remarkable for the regularity of its disposition and the elegance of its plan. It has no relation to the preceding or following prophecy ; though the parts, violently torn asunder, have been, on the one side and the other, patched on to them. Those relate princi- pally to the kingdom of Judah ; this is addressed ex- clusively to the kingdom of Israel. The subject of it is a denunciation of vengeance awaiting their crimes. It is divided into /our parts, each threatening the par- ticular punishment of some grievous offence — of their pride, of their perseverance in their vices, of their im- 67 Threatemngs against ISAIAH. the disobedient. Ai *?,• "'f • llf- 8 The Lord sent a word into 15. L(. cir. Too. Oiymp. X. 3. Jacob, and it hath hghted upon cir. annum y , Romuii, Regis Israel. ^°'°"^- '"■ 9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, 10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones : the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. 11 Therefore the Lord shall set up the » Heb. mingle. y Heb. with whole mouth. piety, and of their injustice. To which is added a general denunciation of a farther reserve of Divine wrath, contained in a distich, before used by the pro- phet on a like occasion, chap. v. 25, and here repeated after each part. This makes the intercalary verse of the poem ; or, as we call it, the burden of the song. " Post hoc comma (cap. ix. 4) interponitur spatium unius lineae, in Cod. 2 et 3 : idemque observatur ui 245, in quo nullum est spatium ad finera capitis ix." Kennicott, Var. Lect. " After this clause (chap. ix. 4) is interposed the space of one line in Cod. 2 and 3. The same is likewise observed in Cod. 245, in which no space ex- ists at the end of chap, ix." Verse 8. Lord—" Jehovah"] For 'jnx Adonai, thirty IMSS. of Kennicotfs, and many of De Rossi''s, and three editions, read run"' Yehovak. Averse 9. Pride and stoutness of heart — " Carry themselves haughtily"] 1J>T1 veyadeu, " and they shall know ;■' so ours and the Versions in general. But what is it that they shall know ? The verb stands destitute of its object ; and the sense is imperfect. The Chaldee is the only one, as far as I can find, that expresses it otherwise. He renders the verb in this place by Ut^ljIXI veithrabrahu, " they exalt them- selves, or carry themselves haughtily ; the same word by which he renders in3J gabehu, chap. iii. 16. He seems, therefore, in this place to liave read inan vai- yigbehu, which agrees perfectly well with what fol- lows, and clears up the difficulty. Archbishop Seeker conjectured n3T1 vayedabbent, referring it to ■ton'? lemor, in the next verse, which shows that he was not satisfied with the present reading. Houbigant reads ipTI vaiyereu, et pravi facti sunl, they are become wicked, which is found in a MS. ; but I prefer the reading of the Chaldee, which suits much better with the context. Houbigant approves of this reading ; but it is utterly unsupported by any evidence from antiquity : it is a mere mistake of 1 resh for ^^ daleth ; and I am sur- prised that it should be favoured by Houbigant. Verse 10. The bricks'] "The eastern bricks," says Sir John Chardin, (see Harmer^s Observ. I., p. 176,) " are only clay well moistened with water, and mixed with straw, and dried in the sun." So that their waUs are commonly no better than oui mud walls ; see Maundrell, p. 124. That straw was a necessary part in the composition of this sort of bricks, to make the 68 adversaries of Rezin against him, ^ ^ "■?■• ^^^ and ^join his enemies together; oiymp. x. 3. 1 2 The Syrians before and the Romuii, Regis Philistines behind ; and they shall "°"'°°' '^- devour Israel ^ with open mouth. ^ For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 1 3 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 I Chap. v. 25 ; X. 4 ; Jer. iv. 8. » Jer. v. 3 ; Hos. vii. 10. parts of the clay adhere together, appears from Exod. T. These bricks are properly opposed to hewn stone, so greatly superior in beauty and durableness. The sycamores, which, as Jerome on the place says, are timber of little worth, with equal propriety are opposed to the cedars. " As the grain and texture of the sycamore is remarkably coarse and spongy, it could therefore stand in no competition at all (as it is ob- served, Isa. ix. 10) with the cedar, for beauty and ornament." — Shaw, Supplement to Travels, p. 96. We meet with the same opposition of cedars to syca- mores, 1 Kings X. 27, where Solomon is said to have made silver as the stones, and cedars as the sycamores in the vale for abundance. By this tnashal, or figura- tive and sententious speech, they boast that they shall easily be able to repair their present losses, suffered perhaps by the first Assyrian invasion under Tiglath pileser ; and to bring their affairs to a more flourishing condition than ever. Some of the bricks mentioned above lie before me. They were brought from the site of ancient Babylon. The straio is visible, kneaded xvith the clay ; they are very hard, and evidently were dried in the sun ; for they are very easily dissolved in water. Verse 1 1 . The adversaries of Rezin against him — " The princes of Retsin against him"] For 'IV tsarey, enemies, Houbigant, by conjecture, reads "^ly sarey, princes ; which is confirraed by thirty of Kennicotfs and De Rossi^s MSS., (two ancient,) one of my own, ancient ; and nine more have S tsaddi, upon a rasure, and therefore had probably at first 'liy sarey. The princes of Retsin, the late ally of Israel, that is, the Syrians, expressly named in the next verse, shall now be excited against Israel. The Septuagint in this place give us another varia- tion ; for pXf Retsin, they read \Vi in har tsiyon, o^off Diuv, Mount Sion, of which this may be the sense ; but Jehovah shall set up the adversaries of Mount Sion against him, (i. e., against Israel,) and will strengthen his enemies together ; the S}T:ians, the Philistines, who are caUed the adversaries of Mount Sion. See Simonis Lex. in voce "jDO sachach. Verse 12. With open mouth — " On every side."] no S33 bechol peh, in every corner, in every part of their country, pursuing them to the remotest extremi- ties, and the most retired parts. So the Chaldee T\ii Sd3 bechol athar, in every place. Verse 14. In one day.] Thirteen MSS. of A'enni- The desolation and CHAP. X. rum of the wicked. A. M. cir. 3266. Israel head and tail, branch and B. C cir. *38. oiymp. X. 3. rush, ^ 111 ORC day. Romufi?"Rrgis 15 The ancient and honoura- ^°""" • '^ ble, he is the head ; and the pro- phet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 1 6 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, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widovs^s : ''for every one is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaketh ' folly. '' For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. IS For wickedness ' burneth as the fire: it i>Chap. I. 17; Rev. jtviii. 8. cChap. iii. 12. J Or, they that colt them blessed. « Or, they that are called blessed of them. ''Heb. swallowed up. 6 Psa. cxlvii. 10, 11. bMic. vii. 2. • Or, villany. colt and De Rossi read Dra heyom, in a day ; and another has a rasure in the place of the letter 3 beth. Verse 17. The Lard — "Jehovah"] For 'JIN Ado- nai, a great number of MSS. read miT' Yehovah. Verse 18. For wickedness'] Wickedness rageth like a fire, destroying and laying waste the nation : but it shall be its own destruction, by bringing down the fire of God's wTath, which shall burn up the briers and the thorns ; that is, the wicked themselves. Briers and thorns are an image frequently applied in Scripture, when set on fire, to the rage of the wicked ; violent, yet impotent, and of no long continuance. " They are extinct as the fire of thorns," Psa. cxviii. 12. To the wicked themselves, as useless and unprofitable, proper objects of God's wrath, to be burned up, or driven away by the wind. " As thorns cut up they shall be consumed in the fire," Isa. xxxiii. 12. Both these ideas seem to be joined in Psa. Iviii. 9 : — " Before your pots shall feel the thorn. As well the green as the dry, the tempest shall bear them away." The green and the dry is a proverbial expression, meaning all sorts of them, good and bad, great and small, «fec. So Ezekiel : " Behold, I will kindle a fire, and it shall devour every green tree, and every dry tree," chap. xx. 47. D'Herbeht quotes a Persian poet describing a pestilence under the image of a con- flagration : " This was a lightning that, falling upon a shall devour the briers and thorns, ^- '*■ «!'• ^}!^- ' B. C. cir. 738. and shall kindle in the thickets of Oiymp. X. 3. the forest, and they shall mount up Romuii, Regis 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 spare his brother. 20 And he shall p snatch on the right hand, and be hungry ; and he shall eat on the left hand, i and they shall not be satisfied : ' they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm : 21 Manasseh, Ephraim ; and Epluraim, Ma- nasseh : and they together shall be against Judah. ^ For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. k Ver. 12, 21 ; ch.-ip. v. 25 ; x. 4. ' Chap. x. 17 ; Mai. iv. 1. "Chap, viii 22. " Heb. meat. » M ic. vu. 2, 6. p Heb. cut. 3 peri by 'i^iy obadey, works ; which seems to be the true sense ; and I have followed it. — L. Verse 13. Like a valiant man — " Strongly seated." Threatenings against CHAP. X. the wicked m general. ■fiCc'r ^n' ^ '"" pru• n'? lo ets, " the no- wood ;" that which is not wood like itself, but of a quite different and superior nature. The Hebrews have a peculiar way of joining the negative particle nS lo to a noun, to signify in a strong manner a total negation of the thing expressed by the noun. " How hast thou given help (nD vHl lelo ckoach) to the no-strength ? And saved the arm (tj,' vh lo oz) of the no-power ? How hast, thou given counsel (rr^Dn tH"! lelo choch- mah) to the no-wisdom !" Job xxvi. 2, 3. That is, to the man totally deprived of strength, power, and wisdom. "Ye that rejoice (•\y^ vHl lelo dabar) in no-thing." Amos vi. 13. That is, in your fancied strength, which is none at all, a mere nonentity. " For I am God, (Bf'x xbl veto ish,) and no-man ; The Holy One in the midst of thee, yet do not fre- quent cities." Hos. xi. 9. " And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword (B^'S x"? lo ish) of no-man ; And a sword of (ons kS lo adam) no-mortal, shall devour him." Isa. xxxi. 8. " Wherefore do ye weigh out your silver (Dnb Nl'73 helo lechem) for the no-bread." Isa. Iv. 2. 17 And the light of Israel *;"• "'■ 329i- ° B. C. cir. 713. shall be for a fire, and his Holy oiymp. xvi. 4. One for a flame : '' and it shall Num^'pom^ui, bum and devour his thorns and R Roman., 3. his briers in one day ; 1 8 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of 'his fruitful field, ''both soul and body; and they shall be as when a standard bearer fainteth. 19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be « few, that a child may write them. 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 stay upon him that smote them ; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 2 1 ' The remnant shall return, even the rem- nant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. 22 ''For though thy people Israel be as the ^2 Kings xix. 23. ^ Heh. from the soul, and even to thejiesh. gHel). number. 'See 2 Kings xvi. 7 ; 2 Chron. xxviii. 20. I Chap. vii. 3.- — -' Rom. ii. 27. So here XJ' nS lo ets means him who is far from being an inert piece of wood, but is an animated and active being ; not an instrument, but an agent. Verse 16. The Lord — "Jehovah."] FoT':il(Ado- nai, fifty-two MSS., eleven editions, and two of my own, ancient, read niri' Yehovah, as in other cases. And under his glory] That is, all that he could boast of as great and strong in his army, {Sal. ben Melee in loc.,) expressed afterwards, ver. 18, by the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field. Verse 17. And it shall bum and devour his thorns — " And he shall burn and consume his thorn."] The briers and thorns are the common people ; the glory of his forest are the nobles and those of highest rank and importance. See note on chap. ix. 17, and com- pare Ezek. XX. 47. The fire of God's wrath shall destroy them, both great and small ; it shall consume them from the soul to the flesh ; a proverbial expres- sion ; soul and body, as we say : it shall consume them entirely and altogether ; and the few that escape shall be looked upon as having escaped from the most immi- nent danger ; " as a firebrand plucked out of the fire," Amos iv. 11 ; uj &\a. wupoj, so as by fire, 1 Cor. iii. 15; as a man when a house is burning is forced to make his escape by running tlirough the midst of the fire. I follow here the reading of the Septuagint, B'X'DJ DOJ kemash noses, iig o (psuywj airo ipXoyoj xaiojASvrjf, as he who flees from the burning flame. Symmachus also renders the latter word by (fiivywj, flying. Verse 21. The remnant shall return — unto the mighty God.] 113J Sx El gibbor, the mighty or conquer- ing God; the Messiah, the same person mentioned in ver. 6 of the preceding chapter. Verse 22. For though thy people Israel] I have endeavoured to keep to the letter of the text as nearly 71 ITie goodness of God in ISAIAH. hefmtf 0/ his followers A. M. cir. 3291. g^nd of the sea, ' yet a remnant B. C. cir. 713. •' Oiymp. XVI. 4. "> of them shall return : " the con- Numae Pompilii, sumptlon decreed shall overflow R. Roman., 3. o ^]^\^ righteousness. 23 P For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land. 24 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, i be not afraid of the Assjrrian : he shall smite thee with a rod, "^and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of = Egypt. 25 ' For yet a very little while, " and the in- 'Chap, vi 13. ■"■Heb in or amen f.— — "Chap, xxviii .22. «0r, in. p Chap. xxvi; . 22; Uan IX 27; Rom. ix. 28. qChap. xxxvii. 6. — -rOr, but he shall hft itp his staff for thee. sExod. xiv. as I can in this obscure passage ; but it is remarkable that neither the Septuagint, nor St. Paul, Rom. ix. 28, who, except in a few words of no great import- ance, follows them nearly in this place, nor any one of the ancient Versions, take any notice of the word lOty shoteph, overflowing ; which seems to give an idea not easily reconcilable with those with which it is here joined. /. S. Mcerlius (Schol. Philolog. ad Selecta S. Cod. loca) conjectures that the two last letters of this word are by mistake transposed, and that the true reading is 03Ji> shophet, judging, with strict justice. The Septuagint might think this sufficiently expressed by 5v Sixaiotfuv)), in righteousness. One MS., with St. Paid and Septuagint Alex., omits 13 bo in ver. 22 ; sixty-nine of KennicotCs and seventeen of De Rossi's MSS. and eight editions, omit So col, all, in ver. 23 ; and so St. Paul, Rom. ix. 28. The learned Dr. Bagot, dean of Christ Church, Ox- ford, afterwards Bishop of Bristol and Norwich, in some observations on this place, which he has been so kind as to communicate to me, and which ^vill appear in their proper light when he himself shall giv^ them to the public, renders the word \'\'h'J kilayon by accomplish- ment, and makes it refer to the predictions of Moses ; the blessing and the curse which he laid before the .people ; both c(}Tiditional, and depending on their future (londuct. -T'ney had by their disobedience incurred those judgments which were now to be fully executed upon them. His translation is, The accomplishment determined overfloics with justice ; for it is accomplish- ed, and that which is detei-mined the Lord God of hosts doeth in the midst of the land, — L. Some think that the words might be paraphrased thus : The determined destruction of the Jews shaU overflow with righteous- ness, (nplX tsedakah,) justification, the consequence of the Gospel of Christ being preached and believed on in the vv-orld. After the destruction of Jerusalem this word or doctrine of the Lord had free course, — did run, and was glorified. Verse 24. After the manner of Egypt — " In the way of Egypt."] I think there is a designed ambi- guity in these words. Sennaxiherib, soon after his re- turn from his Egyptian expedition, which, I imagine, rs dignation shall cease, and mine ^^^ ^'.f^- ?23i- anger in their destniction. Oiymp. xvi. 4. 26 And the Lord of hosts shall Nums Pompilii, sth up ^ a scourge for him ac- R- R°man., 3. cording to the slaughter of "^ Midian at the rock of Oreb : and ^ as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the man ner of Egypt. 27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that y his burden ^ shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed be cause of * the anointing. iCh.liv. 7.- -"Dan xi. 36.- ^^ 2 Kings xix. 35. -» Judg. vii. 25 chap IX 4. -xExod XIV 26 27.— — y Chap xiv. 25. ^Heb. shall remwe. — -aPsa. cv. 15; Dan. ix. 24; 1 John ii. 20. took him up three years, invested Jerusalem. He is represented by the prophet as lifting up his rod in his march from Egypt, and threatening the people of God, as Pharaoh and the Egyptians had done when they pursued them to the Red Sea. But God in his turn wUl lift up liis rod over the sea, as he did at that time, in the way, or after the manner, of Egypt ; and as Sennacherib has imitated the Egyptians in his threats, and came fuU of rage against them from the same quar- ter ; so God win act over again the same part that he had taken formerly in Egypt, and overthrow their ene- mies in as signal a manner. It was all to be, both the attack and the deliverance, 1"n3 hederech, or "["nO ke- derech, as a MS. has it in each place, in the icay, or after the manner, of Egypt. Verse 25. The indignation — "Mine indignation."] Indigtiatio mea, Vulg. r\ opyrj, Sept. Mou ?j opy/i ^ xctTOL tfou, MS. Pachom. Mou tj opyrj xara tfou. MS. I. D. II. So that ■'n;'! zaami, or DJ'in hazzaam, as one MS. has it, seems to be the true reading. Verse 26. And as his rod was upon the sea — " And like his rod which he lifted up over the sea"] The Jewish interpreters suppose here an ellipsis of Z ke, the particle of similitude, before IHDO mattehi, to be supplied from the line above ; so that here are two si- militudes, one comparing the destruction of the Assy- rians to the slaughter of the Midianites at the rock of Oreb ; the other to that of the Egjrptians at the Red Sea. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Sal. ben Melee. Verse 27. From off thy shoulder'] Bishop Lowth translates the whole verse thus : — " And it shall come to pass in that day, His burden shall be removed from off thy shoulder ; And his yoke off thy neck : Yea, the yoke shall perish from off your shoulders." On which he gives us the following note : I follow here the Septuagint, who for '(OW 'JiJD mippeney shamen read DD'aJtyD mishshichmeychem, airo tuv Ufiuv {i\).uit, from your shoidders, not being able to make any good sense out of the present reading. I will add here the mar- ginal conjectures of Archbishop Seeker, who appears, like all others, to have been at a loss for a probable in The march of the CHAP. X. (testroytng army. 28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron ; at Michmash A. M. cir. 3291 B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4 cir. aiuiuin , i .i i • i i_- Numa) Pompiiii, hc hath laid up his carriages : R. Roman.. 3. gQ They are gone over the * passage : they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; " Gibeah of Saul is fled. 30 '' Lift up thy voice, O daughter " of Gal- lim : cause it to be heard unto ^ Laish, « 0 poor Anathoth. 31*' Madnnenah is removed ; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. >> 1 Sam. liii. 23. <^1 Sam. thy voice. « 1 Sam. xxv. 44.- xxi. 18. 4. ^ Heb. cry shritt with — f Judg. xviii. 7. eJosh. ferpretation of the text as it now stands. " 6. leg. DDiy shakam ; /or/e legend, ply 'i^O mibbeney shamen, vide cap. v. 1. Zech. iv. 14 : £c possunt intelligi Judcei uncti Dei, Psa. cv. 15, vel Assyrii, WiOVO mish- mannim, hie ver. 16, ut dicat propheta depulsum iri jugum ab his impositum : sed hoc durius. Vel potest legi '"31!' 'JSO mippeney shami." Verse 28. He is come to Aiath'\ A description of the march of Sennacherib's army approaching Jerusa- lem in order to invest it, and of the terror and confu- sion spreading and increasing through the several places as he advanced ; expressed with great brevity, but finely diversified. The places here mentioned are all in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem ; from Ai northward, to Nob westward of it ; from which last place he might probably have a prospect of Mount Sion. Anathoth was w'ithin three Roman miles of Jerusalem, according to Eusebius, Jerome, and Josephus. Onomast. Loc. Hebr. et Antiq. Jud. x. 7, 3. Nob was probably stiU nearer. And it should seem from this passage of Isaiah that Sennacherib's array was destroyed near the latter of these places. In coming out of Egypt he might perhaps join the rest of his army at Ashdod, after the taking of that place, which happened about that time, (see chap. xx. ;) and march from thence near the coast by Lachish and Libnah, which lay in his way from south to north, and both which he invested till he came to the north-west of Jerusalem, crossing over to the north of it, perhaps by Joppa and Lydda ; or still more north through the plain of Esdraelon. Averse 29. They are gone over the passage — " They have passed the strait"] The strait here mentioned is that of Michmas, a very narrow passage between two sharp hills or rocks, (see 1 Sam. xiv. 4, 5,) where a great army might have been opposed with advantage by a very inferior force. The author of the Book of Judith might perhaps mean this pass, at least among others : " Charging them to keep the passages of the hill country, for by them there was an entrance into 32 As yet shall he remain *at ^e'c'^cir n"' Nob that day : he shall '' shake oiymp. xvi. i. his hand against the mount of NumKPompiUi, 1 the daughter of Zion, the hill "' ^°"'""- ^ of Jerusalem. 33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror : and "■ the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. 34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall " by a mighty one. 'Josh. XV. 31.- k Chap. xiii. 2.— "Or, mightily. -i 1 Sam. xxi. 1 ; xxii. 19 ; Neh. xi. 32. 'Chap, xxxvii. 22. " See Amos ii. 9. Judea ; and it was easy to stop them that would come up, because the passage was strait for two men at the most," Judith iv. 7. The enemies having passed the strait without opposition, shows that all thoughts of making a stand in the open country were given up, and that their only resource was in the strength of the city. Their lodging] The sense seems necessarily to re- quire that we read n^ lamo, to them, instead of )ib lanu, to us. These two words are in other places mis- taken one for the other. Thus chap. xliv. 7, for t'oh lamo, read IjS lanu, with the Chaldee ; and in the same manner Psa. Ixiv. 6, with the Syriac, and Psa. Ixxx 7, on the authority of the Septuagint and Syriac, be- sides the necessity of the sense. Verse 30. Cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth — •' Hearken unto her, O Laish ; answer her, 0 Anathoth !"] I follow in this the Syriac Version. The prophet plainly alludes to the name of the place, and with a peculiar propriety, if it had its name from its remarkable echo. " ninJV anathoth, responsiones : eadem ratio nominis, qua in HJl' n'3 beith anath, locus echus ; nam hodienum ejus rudera ostenduntur in valle, scil. in medio montium, ut referunt Robertus in Itiner. p. 70, et Monconnysius, p. 301." Simonis Oncmias- ticon Vet. Test. — L. Anathoth — Answers, replies ; for the same reason that Bethany, njj' r\'3 beith anath, had its name, the house nf echo ; the remains of which are still showTi in the valley, i. e., among the mountains. A''erse 33. Shall lop the bough ivith terror] mtO purah ; but mi3 purah, tcine-press, is the reading of twenty-six of Kennicott's and twenty-three of De Ros- si's MSS., four ancient editions, with Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Chaldee. Verse 34. Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one] T1N2 beaddir, the angel of the Lord, who smote them. Kimchi. And so Vitringa understands it. Others translate, " The high cedars of Lebanon shall fall :" but the king of Assyria is the person who shall l)e overthrown. 73 A prediction ISAIAH. of the Messiah CHAPTER XL The Messiah represented as a slender twig shooting upfront the root of an old withered stem, which tender plant, so extremely weak in its first appearance, should nevertheless become fruitful and mighty, 1—4. Great equity of the MessiaWs government, 5. Beautiful assemblages of images by which the great peace and happiness of his kingdom are set forth, 6—8. The extent of his dominion shall be ultimately that of the lohole habitable globe, 9. The prophet, borrowing his imagery from the exodus from Egypt, predicts, with great majesty of language, the future restoration of the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah, {viz., the whole of the twelve tribes of Israel^ from their several dispersions, and also that blessed period when both Jews and Gentiles shall assemble under the banner of Jesus, and zealously unite in extending the limits of his kingdom, 10-16. A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4. Numse Pompiiii, *" Jesse, and •= a Branch shall grow ^- '^°""'"' ^- out of his roots : A ND " there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of 2 '' And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and under- standing, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; 3 And shall make him of quick ' under- standing in the fear of the Lord : and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears ; » Chap. liii. 2 ; Zech. vi. 12 ; Rev. v. 5. ^ Acts xiii. 23; ver. 10. c Chap. iv. 2 ; Jcr. xxiii. 5. ^ Chap. Ixi. 1; Matt. iii. 16 ; John i. 32, 33 ; iii. 34. ' Heb. scent or smell. NOTES ON CHAP. XI. The prophet had described the destruction of the Assyrian army under the image of a mighty forest, consisting of flourishing trees growing thick together, and of a great height ; of Lebanon itself crowned with lofty cedars, but cut do\vn and laid level with the ground by the axe wielded by the hand of some powerful and illustrious agent. In opposition to this image he re- presents the great Person who makes the subject of this chapter as a slender twig shooting out from the trunk of an old tree, cut down, lopped to the very root, and decayed ; which tender plant, so weak in appear- ance, should nevertheless become fruitful and prosper. This contrast shows plainly the connexion between this and the preceding chapter, which is moreover expressed by the connecting particle ; and we have here a remark- able instance of that method so common with the pro- phets, and particularly with Isaiah, of taking occasion, from the mention of some great temporal deliverance, to launch out into the display of the spiritual deliver- ance of God's people by the Messiah ; for that this prophecy relates to the Messiah we have the express authority of St. Paul, Rom. xv. 12. " He joins this paragraph, with respect to the days of the Messiah, with the fidelity that was in the days of Hezekiah." — Kimchi, in ver. 1. Thus in the latter part of Isaiah's prophecies the subject of the great redemption, and of the glories of the Messiah's kingdom, arises out of the restoration of Judah by the deliverance from the cap- tivity of Babylon, and is all along connected and inter- mixed with it, 7i 4 But f with righteousness shall -^ ^ "^y- ^^ss'- he judge the poor, and ? reprove oiymp. xvi. 4. . , . r 1 1 r ^ *^^''- annum With equity lor the meek oi the Numse Pompiiii, earth: and he shall ^ smite the "■ ^°°""- ^- earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And ' righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins 6 '' The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the young lion and the fathng together ; and a little child shall lead them. rPsa. U di. 2, 4; R ev. xix. 11. — —5 Or argue. — — t Job iv. 9 ; Mai IV 6 2 Thess. i. e ; Rev. i 16; ii 16; xix 15. See Psa xl 9; li. 14 ; !xv 5 ; Ixxii. 19 Eph. vi. 14. — -k Chap. Ixv 25; Ezek. xxxiv. 25 ; Hos. ii. 18. Verse 4. With the rod of his mouth — " By the blast of his mouth "] For aT^H'Z beshebet, by the rod, Houhi- gant reads n3ty3 beshebeth, by the blast of his mouth, from asCJ nashab, to bloio. The conjecture is ingenious and probable ; and seems to be confirmed by the Sep- tuagint and Chaldee, who render it by the word of his mouth, which answers much better to the correction than to the present reading. Add to this, that the blast of his mouth is perfectly parallel to the breath of his lips in the next line. Verse 5. The girdle — "The cincture"] All the ancient Versions, except that of Symmachus, have two difl[erent words for girdle in the two hemistichs. It is not probable that Isaiah would have repeated ">UX azer, when a synonymous word so obvious as lun cha- gor occurred. The tautology seems to have arisen from the mistake of some transcriber. The meaning of this verse is, that a zeal for justice and truth shall make him active and strong in executing the great work which he shall undertake. See note on chap, v. 27. Verse 6. The %volf also shall, Sfc. — " Then shall the wolf," &c.] The idea of the renewal of the golden age, as it is called, is much the same in the Oriental writers with that of the Greeks and Romans : — the wild beasts grow tame ; serpents and poisonous herbs become harmless ; all is peace and harmony, plenty and happiness : — Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni Occidet. ViRG. Eclog. iv. 24. The peace and glory of CHAP. XL the Messiah's kingdom. A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Olymp XVI. 1. cir. annum Nuniae Pompilii, R. Roman., 3. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together : and the lion shall eat straw like the o.\. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the ' cockatrice' den. 9 "" They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain : for ° the earth shall be full I Or, adder*s.- 1 Job T. 23 ; chap, ii. 14. oChap. XXXV. 9." • Hab. " The serpent's brood shall die. The sacred ground Shall weeds and noxious plants refuse to bear." Nee magnoB metuent armcnta leones. ViBG. Eclog. iv. 22. " Nor shall the flocks fear the great lions." Non lupus insidias explorat ovilia circum, Nee gregibus nocturnus obambulat : acrior ilium Cura domat : timidoe damae cervique fugaces Nunc interque canes, et circum tecta vagantur. ViRG. Gcorg. iii. 537. " The nightly wolf that round the enclosure prowled. To leap the fence, now plots not on the fold : Tamed with a sharper pain, the fearful doe And flying stag amidst the greyhounds go ; And round the dwellings roam, of man, their former foe." Dryden. Nee vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile, Nee intumescit alta viperis humus. HoR. Epod. xvi. 51. " Nor evening bears the sheepfold growl around, Noi cining vipers heave the tainted ground." Drvden. EtfTai 67) to'jt' ajiop, o*r)vixa v£/3pov £v Suva Kapj^afoJuv iiveiiai tSuv Xuxoj oux s^sXrjtfEi. Theoc. Idyl. xxiv. 84. There shall be a time when the ravenous wolf shall see the kid lying at ease, and shall feel no desire to do it an injury. I have laid before the reader these common passages from the most elegant of the ancient poets, that he may see how greatly the prophet on the same subject has the advantage upon the comparison ; how much the former fall short of that beauty and elegance, and va- riety of imagery, with which Isaiah has set forth the very same ideas. The wolf and the leopard not only forbear to destroy the lamb and the kid, but even take their abode and lie down together with them. The calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, not only come together, but are led quietly in the same band, and that by a little child. The heifer and the she-bear not only feed together, but even lodge their young ones, for whom they used to be most jealously fearful, in the same place. .Vll the serpent kind is so perfectly harm- less, that the sucking infant and the newly weaned child puts his hand on the basilisk's den, and plays upon the hole of the aspic. The lion not only abstains from preying on the weaker animals, but becomes tame and domestic, and feeds on straw like the ox. These are A. M. cir. 329' Ii. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4 cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 3. of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. 10° And in that day p there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the i Gentiles seek : and ' his rest shall be ' glorious. 1 1 And it shall come to pass ' in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the pVer. 1: Rom. XV. 12. 1 Rom. xv. 10.- fl Heb. glory. 1 Chap. ii. ^Heb. iv. 1, &c. all beautiful circumstances, not one of which has been touched upon by the ancient poets. The Arabian and Persian poets elegantly apply the same ideas to show the effects of justice impartially administered, and firmly supported, by a great and good king : — " Mahmoud the powerful king, the ruler of the world. To whose tank the wolf and the Iamb come together to drink." Ferdusi. " Through the influence of righteousness, the hungry wolf Becomes mild, though in the presence of the white kid." Ibn Onein. Jones, Poes. Asiat. Comment., p. 380. The application is extremely ingenious and beautiful : but the exquisite imagery of Isaiah is not equalled. Verse 7. In this verse a word is omitted in the text, y^XV yachdav, together ; which ought to be repeated in the second hemistich, being quite necessary to the sense. It is accordingly twice expressed by the Septuagint and Syriac. Verse 8. The cockatrice'' den.] This is supposed, both by the Targnm and by Kimchi, to mean the pupil of this serpent's eye. "When," says Kimchi, " he is in the mouth of his den, in an obscure place, then his eyes sparkle exceedingly : the child, seeing this, and supposing it to be a piece of crystal, or precious stone, puts forth his hand to take it. What would be very dangerous at another time, shall be safe in the days of the Messiah ; for the serpent will not hurt the child." Verse 10. ^ root nf Jesse, v:hich shall stand, &c. — " The root of Jesse, which standeth," &c.] St. John hath taken this expression from Isaiah, Rev. v. 5, and xxii. 16, where Christ hath twice applied it to him- self. Seven MSS. have T3U' omed, standing, the pre- sent participle. Radix Isaei dicitur jam stare, et aliqtan- tum stetisse, in signum populorum. — Vitringa. " The root of Jesse is said to stand, and for some time to have stood, for an ensign to the people." Which rightly explains either of the two readings. The one hundred and tenth psalm is a good comment on this verse. See the notes there. Verse II. And it shall come to pass in that day] This part of the chapter contains a prophecy which certainly remains yet to be accomplished. The Lord — " Jehovah"] For •'JIS Adonai, thirty- three MSS. of Kennicott's, and many of De Rossi's, and two editions, read nin' Yehovah. The islands of the sea.] The Roman and Turkish empires, savs Kimchi. 75 T%e salvation Christ ISAIAH. brings to the distressed. A- M; cir- 32|i. gecond time to recover the rem- Oiymp. XVI. 4. nant of his people, which shall Num'spTm^iii, be left, ^from Assyria, and from R. Roman., 3. Egypt, and from Palhros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together ' the dispersed of Judah from the four ■" corners of the earth. 13" The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut oflf : Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of " Zech. X. 10. 'John vii. 35 ; James i. 1. ^Heb. wings. »Jcr. iii. 18; Ezek. xxxvii. 16, 17, 22; Hos. i. 11. rHeb. the children of the east. » Dan. xi. 41. " Heb. Edom and Moab shall be the laying on of their hand. Verse 13. The adversaries of Judah — "And the enmity of Judah"] D"!"!!? tsorerim. Postulat pars pos- terior versus, ut intelligantur inimiciticB Juds in Ephraimum : et potest (□""IIX tsorerim) inimicitiam notare, ut (D'OTTIJ nichumim) poenitentiam, Hos. xi. 8. — Seckeb. Verse 15. The Lord — shall smite it in the seven streams. — " Smite with a drought"] Tlie Chaldee reads 3 'inn hecherib ; and so perhaps the Septuagint, who have igrijxuSsi, the word by which they commonly render it. Vulg. desolahit ; " shall desolate." The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee read in^^lin hidri- chahu, " shall make it passable," adding the pronoun, which is necessary : but this reading is not confirmed by any MS. Here is a plain allusion to the passage of the Red Sea. And the Lord's shaking his hand over the river with his vehement wind, refers to a particular circum- stance of the same miracle : for " he caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind aU that night, and made the sea dry land," Exod. xiv. 21. The tongue ; a very apposite and descriptive expression for a bay such as that of the Red Sea. It is used in the same sense. Josh. xv. 2, 5 ; xviii. 19. The Latins gave the Philistines toward the west; W""".- ^^^i- ts. C cir. 71J. they shall spoil '' them of the Olymp. xvi. 4. , , 1 11 1 cir. annum east together: ^they "snail lay Numae Pompiiii, their hand upon Edom and ^- ^°'°^- ^- Moab ; '' and the children of Ammon " shall obey them. 15 And the Lord * shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea ; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, ^ and make men go over *^dry shod. 16 sAnd there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria ; '' like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. b Heb the children of Ammon their obedience. -c Chap. ix. 14.- — d Zech. X 11 . = Rev. XVI 12 f Heb. in shoes. -sChap. xix. 23. tExod. XIV. 29; chap li. 10; Ixiii ■ 12, 13. the same name to a narrow strip of land running into the sea: tenuemprodvcitincequoralinguam. LucAN.ii. 6) 3. He shall smite the river in its seven streams. This has been supposed to refer to the Nile, because it falls into the Mediterranean Sea by^eren mouths: but R. Kimchi understands it of the Euphrates, wliich is the opinion of some good judges. See the Targum. See below. Herodotus, lib. i. 189, tells a story of his Cyrus, (a very different character from that of the C)rrus of the Scriptures and Xenophon,) which may somewhat illus- trate this passage, in which it is said that God would inflict a kind of punishment and judgment on the Eu- phrates, and render it fordable by dividing it into seven streams. " Cyrus, being impeded in his march to Ba- bylon by the Gyndes, a deep and rapid river which falls into the Tigris, and having lost one of his sacred white horses that attempted to pass it, was so enraged against the river that he threatened to reduce it, and make it so shallow that it should be easUy fordable even by women, who should not be up to their knees in passing it. Accordingly he set his whole army to work, and cutting three hundred and sixty trenches, from both sides of the river, turned the waters into them, and drained them off." CHAPTER XII. Prophetic hymn of praise for the great mercies vouchsafed to the children of Israel in their deliveranct from the great Babylonish captivity, and for redemption by the Messiah, 1-6. A. M. cii. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4. cir. annum Numae Pompiiii, R. Roman., 3. A ND »in that day thou shall say, O Lord, I will praise thee : though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned a Isaiah, This hymn seems, by its whole tenor, and by many expressions in it, much better calculated for the use 76 away, and thou comfortedst me. 2 Behold, God is my salvation ; I will trust, and not be afraid : for chap. ii. 11. of the Christian Church than for the Jewish, in any circumstances, or at any time that can be assigned. A. M. cir. 3291. B. C.ch. 713. Olj-mp. XVI. 4. cir. annum Numaa Pompiiii, R. Roman., 3. Prophetic hymn of CHAP. xin. praise for God's mercies. ^„^^"'l'^V- the Lord i- JEHOVAH is my B. C. cir. 1 13. -' Olymp. XVI. 4. « strength and my song ; he also cir. annum . , t *■ Num8B Pomp.Ui, IS Decome my salvation. "• '^°""'" • ^- 3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw ^ water out of the wells of salva- tion. 4 And in that day shall ye say, 'Praise the Lord, ' call upon his name, « declare his 'Psa. Ixxxiii. 18. ^Exod. xv. 2. J John vr. 10, 14; vii. 37, 38. '1 Chror. xvi. 8; Psa. cv. 1. fOr. proclaim hit name. % Psalm cxlv. 4, 5, 6. <' Psalm xxxiv. 3. The Jews themselves seem to have applied it to the times of Messiah. On the last day of the feast of ta- bernacles they fetched water in a golden pitcher from the fountain of Shiloah, springing at the foot of Mount Sion without the city : they brought it through the water- gate into the temple, and poured it, mixed with wine, on the sacrifice as it lay upon the altar, with great re- joicing. They seem to have taken up this custom, for it is not ordained in the law of Moses, as an emblem of future blessings, in allusion to this passage of Isaiah, " Ye shall draw waters with joy from the fountains of salvation," expressions that can hardly be understood of any benefits afforded by the Mosaic dispensation. Our Saviour applied the ceremony, and the intention of it, to himself, and the effusion of the Holy Spirit, promised, and to be given, by him. The sense of the Jews in this matter is plainly shown by the following passage of the Jerusalem Talmud : " \Miy is it called the place or house of drawing !" (for that was the term for this ceremony, or for the place where the water was taken up) " Because from thence they draw the Holy Spirit ; as it is written. And ye shall draw water with joy from the fountains of salvation." See Wolf. Curas Philol. in N. T. on John vii. 37, 39.— L. The water is Divine knowledge, says Kimchi, and the wells the teachers of righteousness. The Targum renders this in a very remarkable manner : " Ye shall receive with joy (mn jablX ulephan chadath) anew doctrine from the chosen among the righteous." Does not this mean the Gospel, the new covenant ? And did not the Tar- gumist speak as a prophet ? NOTES ON CHAP. XH. Verse 1. Though thou wast angry — "For though thou hast been angry"] The Hebrew phrase, to which the Septuagint and Vulgate have too closely adhered, is exactly the same with that of St. Paul, Rom. vi. 17 : "But thanks be to God, that ye were the slaves of sin ; but have obeyed from the heart ;" that is, " that where- as, or though, ye were the slaves of sin, yet ye have doings among the people, made *„ "^ ""f- 3291. mention that his ""name is exalted, oiymp. xvi. 4. 5 ' Sing unto the Lord ; for he Nums "pomp.iii, hath done excellent things : this ^ ^°°'"'' ^ is known in all the earth. 6 '' Cry out and shout, thou ' inhabitant of Zion : for great is "■ the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. 'Exod. XV. 1,21 ; Psa. Ixviii. 32; xcviii. 1. kChap. liv. 1; Zeph. iii. 14. ' Heb. inhaiitress. "Psa. Ixxi. 22; Ixxxix. 18 ; chap. ili. 14, 16. now obeyed from the heart the doctrine on the model of which ye were formed." Verse 2. The Lord JEHOVAH] The word TrraA read here is probably a mistake ; and arose originally from the custom of the Jewish scribes, who, when they found a line too short for the word, wrote as many let- ters as filled it, and then began the next line with the whole word. In WTiting the word niri' Yehovah, the line might terminate with TV Yah, the two first letters ; and then at the beginning of the next line the whole word mn" Yehovah would be wTitten. This might give rise to niiT' n' Yah Yehovah. The Yah is wanting here in twoof Dr. Kennicott's MSS., in one ancient MS. of my owTi, and in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic. See Houbigant and De Rossi. My song] The pronoun is here necessary ; and it is added by the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac, who read "niOI zimrathi, as it is in a MS. Two MSS. omit rr Yah, see Houbigant, not. in loc. Another MS. has it in one word, rYr\-\'Zt zimrathyah. Seven others omit nirr' Yehovah. See Exod. xv. 2, with Var. Lect. Kennicott. Averse 4. Call upon his iiame] int73 IXnp kiru bish- mo, invoke his name. Make him your Mediator, or call the people in his name. Preach him who is the Root of Jesse, and who stands as an ensign for the na- tions. Call on the people to believe in him ; as in him alone salvation is to be found. Verse 6. Thou inhabitant of Zion] Not only the Jewish people, to whom his word of salvation was to be sent first ; but also all members of the Church of Christ : as in them, and in his Church, the Holy One of Israel dwells. St. Paul, speaking of the mystery which had been proclaimed among the Gentiles, sums it up in these words : " which is Christ in vou, the hope of glory ; whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we mav pre- sent everyman perfect in Christ Jesus ;" Col. i. 27, 28. Well, therefore, may the inhabitant of Zion cry out and shout, and proclaim the greatness of her Redeemer. CHAPTER XHL Ood mustercth the armies of his wrath against the inhabitants of Babylon, 1-6. The dreadful consequences of this visitation, and the terror and dismay of those who are the objects of it, 7-16. The horrid cruelties that shall be inflicted upon the Babylonians by the Medes, 17, 18. Total and irrecoverable deso- lation of Babylon, 19-22. 77 The prophecy ISAIAH. against Babylon. A. M. cii. 3292 B. C. cir. 712. Olynip. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numae Porapilii, R. Roman., 4. T^HE "burden of Babylon, which I the high mountain, exalt the voice ^ '^. Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. 2 '' Lift ye up a banner " upon a Chap. xxi. 1 ; xlvii. I ; Jerl., li. This and the following chapter, — striking off the five last verses of the latter, which belong to a quite different subject, — contain one entire prophecy, fore- telling the destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians ; delivered probably in the reign of Ahaz, (see Vitringa, i. 380,) about tivo hundred years before its accomplishment. The captivity itself of the Jews at Babylon, which the prophet does not expressly fore- tell, but supposes, in the spirit of prophecy, as what was actually to be effected, did not fully take place till about one hundred and thirty years after the delivery of this prophecy : and the Medes, who are expressly mentioned chap. xiii. 17, as the principal agents in the overthrow of the Babylonian monarchy, by which the Jews were released from that captivity, were at this time an inconsiderable people ; having been in a state of anarchy ever since the fall of the great Assyrian em- pire, of which they had made a part, under Sardanapalus ; and did not become a kingdom under Deioces till about the seventeenth of Hezekiah. The former part of this prophecy is one of the most beautiful examples that can be given of elegance of composition, variety of imagery, and sublimity of sen- timent and diction, in the prophetic style ; and the lat- ter part consists of an ode of supreme and singular excellence. The prophecy opens with the command of God to gather together the forces which he had destined to this service, ver. 2, 3. Upon which the prophet im- mediately hears the tumultuous noise of the different nations crowding together to his standard ; he sees them advancing, prepared to execute the Divine wrath, ver. 4, 5. He proceeds to describe the dreadful con- sequences of this visitation, the consternation which will seize those who are the objects of it ; and, trans- ferring unawares the speech from himself to God, ver. 11, sets forth, under a variety of the most striking images, the dreadful destruction of the inhabitants of Babylon which will follow, ver. 11-16, and the ever- lasting desolation to which that great city is doomed, ver. 17-22. The deliverance of Judah from captivity, the imme- diate consequence of this great revolution, is then set forth, without being much enlarged upon, or greatly amplified, chap. xiv. 1, 2. This introduces, with the greatest ease and the utmost propriety, the triumphant song on that subject, ver. 4-28. The beauties of which, the various images, scenes, persons introduced, and the elegant transitions from one to another, I shall here endeavour to point out in their order, leaving a few remarks upon particular passages of these two chapters to be given after these general observations on the whole. A chorus of Jews is introduced, expressing their surprise and astonishment at the sudden dov^mfall of Babylon ; and the great reverse of fortune that had befallen the tyrant, who, like his predecessors, had 78 M. cir. 3292 cir. 712. unto them, ^ shake the hand, that Oiymp. xvii. i. , . . f. cir. annum they may go into the gates oi Nums PompiUi, the nobles. R. Roman., 4. b Chap. V. 26 ; xviii. 3 ; Jer. 1. 2. ' Jer. li. 25. > Zeph. i. 7 ; Rev. vi. l/.- 'Or, fall down. ' Psa. ilviii, vender. ',, 5, 6. e Heb. Ihe likmets ' Job xxii. 23 ; Joel i. 15. 6 ; chap. ui. 3. " Heb. are introduced who light upon the corpse of the king of Babylon, cast out and lying naked on the bare ground, among the common slain, just after the taking of the city ; covered with wounds, and so disfigured, that it is some time before they know him. They ac- cost him with the severest taunts ; and bitterly reproach him with his destructive ambition, and his cruel usage of the conquered ; which have deservedly brought him this ignominious treatment, so different from that which those of his rank usually meet with, and which shall co- ver his posterity with disgrace. To complete the whole, God is introduced, declaring the fate of Babylon, the utter extirpation of the royal family, and the total desolation of the city ; the deliver- ance of his people, and the destruction of their enemies ; confirming the irreversible decree by the awful sanction of his oath. I believe it may with truth be affirmed, that there is no poem of its kind extant in any language, in which the subject is so well laid out, and so happily conducted, with such a richness of invention, with such variety of images, persons, and distinct actions, with such rapidity and ease of transition, in so small a compass, as in this ode of Isaiah. For beauty of disposition, strength of colouring, greatness of sen- timent, brevity, perspicuity, and force of expression, it stands, among all the monuments of antiquity, unri- valled.— L. NOTES ON CHAP. XIII. Verse 1. The burden of Babylon] The prophecy that foretells its destruction by the Medes and Per- sians ; see the preceding observations. Verse 2. Exalt the voice] The word DhS lahem, " to them," which is of no use, and rather weakens the sentence, is omitted by an ancient MS., and the Vulgate. Verse 3. / have commanded my sanctified ones] 'Ja'\p'^mehiddashai, the persons consecrated to this very purpose. Nothing can be plainer than that the verb o Heb. every Tttan at kit neighbour. *» Heh. faces of the Jiamet. pMal. iv. 1. nPsa. civ. 35; Prov. ii. 22. 'Chap. xxiv. 21, 23 ; Ezek. xitxii. 7 ; Joel ii. 31 ; iii. 15; Malt. xxiv. 29; Mark xiii. 24 ; Luke xxi. 25. Bnp kadash, " to make holy," signifies also to conse- crate or appoint to a particular purpose. Bishop Lowth translates, " my enrolled warriors." This is the sense. Verse 4. Of the battle — " For the battle."] The Bodleian MS. has non'^DS lemilchamah. Cjtus's army was made up of many different nations. Jeremiah calls it an " assembly of great nations from the north coun- try," chap. 1. 9. And afterwards mentions the king- doms of " Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz, (i. e. Arme- nia, Corduene, Pontus or Phrygia, Vitring.,) wit'n the kings of the Medes," chap. Ii. 27, 28. See Xenophon. Cyrop. Verse 5. They come from a far country] The word ]'1X0 mcerets is wanting in one MS. and in the Syriac : " They come from afar." From the end of heaven] Kimchi says. Media, " the end of heaven," in Scripture phrase, means, the east. Verse 8. And they shall be afraid — " And they shall be terrified"] I join this verb, l^n321 ventbhalu, to the preceding verse, with the Syriac and Vulgate. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold nf them — "Pangs shall seize them"] The Septuagint, Syriac, and Chal- dee read □unx" yochezum, instead of [i;nx' yochezun, which does not express the pronoun them, necessary to the sense. Verse 10. For the stars of heaven — " Yea, the stars of heaven"] The Hebrew poets, to express happiness, prosperity, the instauration and advancement of states, kingdoms, and potentates, make use of images taken from the most striking parts of nature, from the hea- venly bodies, from the sun, moon, and stars : which they describe as shining with increased splendour, and never setting. The moon becomes like the meridian sun, and the sun's light is augmented sevenfold ; (see Isa. XXX. 96 ;) new heavens and a new eartli are created, and a brighter age commences. On the con- trar\', the overflow and destruction of kingdoms is re- presented bv opposite images. The stars are obscured, the moon withdraws her light, and the sun shines no more ! The earth quakes, and the heavens tremble ; 79 The desolation ISAIAH. of Babylon. •^.i "^^ ""■ ??S^- 1 1 And I will punish the world B. C. cir. 712. l: • 1 1 r Olyrap. XVII. 1. for their evil, and the wicked for cir. annum , . . . .^ ^ . _ .,, NumsE Pompiiii, their iniquity ; = and i will cause R. Roman., 4. jj^g arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold ; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 1 3 ' Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in " the day of his fierce anger. 14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as •Chap. ii. 17.- iHag. ii. 6. "P.sa. ex. 5; Lam. i. 12. >Jer. 1. 16; Ii. 9. and all things seem tending to their original chaos. See Joel ii. 10, iii. 15, 16 ; Amos viii. 9 ; Matt. xxiv. 29 ; and De S. Poes. Herb. Prael. VI. et IX. And the mooii shall not cause her light to shine] This in its farther reference may belong to the Jewish polity, both in Church and state, which should be to- tally eclipsed, and perhaps shine no more in its distinct state for ever. Verse 11. / will punish the world — " I will visit the world"] That is, the Babylonish empire ; as »i oixoufAEvv], for the Roman empire, or for Judea, Luke ii. 1 ; Acts xi. 28. So \he iiniversus orbis Romanus, for the Roman empire ; Salvian. lib. v. Minos calls Crete his world : " Cretan, quas meus est orbis ;" Ovid. Metamorph. viii. 9. Verse 12. / will make a man more precious than fine gold — wedge of Opkir.] The Medes and Persians will not be satisfied with the spoils of the Babylonians. They seek either to destroy or enslave them ; and they will accept no ransom for any man — either for tyiJK enosh, the poor man, or for D^N adam, the more honourable person. All must fall by the sword, or go into captivity together ; for the Medes, (ver. 17,) re- gard not silver, and delight not in gold. Verse 14. "And the remnant"] Here is plainly a defect in this sentence, as it stands in the Hebrew text ; the subject of the proposition is lost. What is it that shall be like a roe chased ] The Septuagint happily supply it, oi xaraXEXEijAfXEvoi, nxtV shear, the remnant. A MS. here supplies the word 3ty\' yosheb, the inhabitant ; which makes a tolerably good sense ; but I much prefer the reading of the Septuagiiit. They shall — turn — " They shall look"] That is, the forces of the king of Babylon, destitute of their leader, and all his auxiliaries, collected from Asia Mi- nor, and other distant countries, shall disperse and flee to their respective homes. Verse 15. Every one that is found — " Every one that is overtaken"] That is, none shall escape from the slaughter ; neither they who flee singly, dispersed and in confusion ; nor they who endeavour to make their retreat in a more regular manner, by forming compact bodies : they shall all be equally cut off by the 80 a sheep that no man taketh up : *g **; =^^- ^292. " they shall every man turn to his oiymp. xVii. i. 1 J ^ cir. annum own people, and nee every one NumffiPompim, into his own land. R. Roman., 4. 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through ; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. 16 Their children also shall be "dashed to pieces before their eyes ; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. 17 ^Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver ; and as for gold, they shall not dehght in it. " Psa. cjLxxvii. 9 ; Nah. iii. 10 ; Zech. xiv. 2. » Chap. xxi. 2 ; Jer. U. 11,28; Dan. v. 28, 31. sword of the enemy. The Septuagint have understood it in this sense, which they have well expressed ; — "Of yag av aXu »)Tr»i^iiO'£"rai, Kai oinvES tfuviiyjAEvoi Siii fettovwai (/.aj^ai^a. " Whosoever is caught shall be overthrown, And all that are collected together shall fall by the sword." Where, for rjTTri6y)(Ssrai, MS. Pachom has exxBvSritfsrai, et oi r Cod. Marchal. in margine, et MS. i. D. ii. ExxEvTi)^ri(fETai, which seems to be right, being proper- ly expressive of the Hebrew. Verse 17. Which shall not regard silver — "Who shall hold silver of no account"] That is, who shall not be induced, by large offers of gold and sUver for ransom, to spare the lives of those whom they have subdued in battle ; their rage and cruelty wUl get the better of aU such motives. We have many examples in the Iliad and in the jEneid of addresses of the van- quished to the pity and avarice of the vanquishers, to induce them to spare their lives. Est domus alta : jacent penitus defossa talenta Caelati argenti : sunt auri pondera facti Infectique mihi ; non hie victoria Teucrum Vertitur ; aut anima una dabit discrimina tanta. Dixerat : .(Eneas contra cui talia reddit : Argenti atque auri memoras quae multa talenta Gnatis parce tuis. .^n. x. 526. " High in my dome are silver talents rolled. With piles of laboured and unlaboured gold. These, to procure my ransom, I resign ; The war depends not on a life like mine : One, one poor life can no such diflerence yield. Nor turn the mighty balance of the field. Thy talents, (cried the prince,) thy treasured store Keep for thy sons." Pitt. It is remarkable that Xenophon makes Cyrus open a speech to his army, and in particular to the Medes, who made the principal part of it, with praising them for their disregard of riches. A\iSpes MriSoi, xai *av- Tss 01 ira^ovrsg, syu ufAas oiSa daipu;, on oute xflf*"- ruv SsojXSMoi tfuv Sjxoi sgriX^ETS- " Ye Medes, and others who now hear me, I well know that you have not ac- Die desolation 18 Tlieir bows also shall dash the young men to pieces ; and A, M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. "la. Oljmp. XVII. 1 NunislpoinpUu, they shall have no pity on the R. Roman., 4. ^^jj ^f j|jg ^Qjub . ihgjj gyg ghall not spare children. 1 9 >■ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall r Chap. xiv. 4, 22. « Hcb. as the mtrthrowing. » Gen. lut. 24,26; Deut. xxix. 23 ; Jer. jdix. 18; 1.40. CHAP. XIII. be ' as when God of Babylon. companied me in this expedition with a view of acquir- ing wealth." — Cyrop. lib. v. Verse 18. Their boics also shall dash — "Their bows shall dash"] Both Herodotus, i. 61, and Xeno- phon, Anab. iii., mention, that the Persians used large bows To^a (AsyaXa : and the latter says particularly that their bows were t/inc cubits long, Anab. iv. They were celebrated for their archers, see chap. x.Kii. 6 ; Jer. xlix. 35. Probably their neighbours and allies, the Jledes, dealt much in the same sort of arms. In Psa. x\'iii. 34, and Job xx. 24, mention is made of a bow of steel ; if the Persian bows were of metal, we may easily conceive that with a metalline bow of three cubits' length, and proportionably strong, the soldiers might dash and slay the young men, the weaker and unresisting of the inhabitants (for they are joined with the fruit of the womb and the children) in the general carnage on taking the city, rijtymn terattashnah, shall be broken or shivered to pieces. This seems to refer, not to Q't].'i ncarim. young men, but to nwa'p keshatholh, their bows. The bows of the young men shall be broken to pieces. On the fruit, &c. — " And on the fruit," &c.] A -MS. of Dr. Kennicoll's, reads "liJ Sj'l veal peri, and on the fruit. And nine MSS. {three ancient) and two editions, with the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac, add likewise the conjunction 1 vau, and, to Si' al, upon, afterwards. Verse 19. And Babylon] The great city of Baby- lon was at this time rising to its height of glorj', while the Prophet Isaiah was repeatedly denouncing its utter destruction. From the first of Hezekiah to the first of Nebuchadnezzar, under whom it was brought to the highest degree of strength and splendour, are about one hundred and twenty years. I will here very briefly mention some particiJars of the greatness of the place, and note the several steps by which this re- markable prophecy was at length accomplished in the total ruin of it. It was, according to the lowest account given of it by ancient historians, a regular square, forty-fire miles in compass, inclosed by a wall two hundred feet high and fifty broad ; in which there were a hundred gates of brass. Its principal ornaments were the temple of Belus, in the middle of which was a tower of eight stories of building, upon a base of a quarter of a mile square, a most magnificent palace, and the famous hanging gardens, which were an artificial mountain, raised upon arches, and planted with trees of the largest as well as the most beautiful sorts. Cvrus took the city by diverting the waters of the Euphrates which ran throueh the midst of it, and Vot. IV. ( 6 ) overthrew *a'^ ".'■ 2?22- B. C. cir. 712. " Sodom and Gomorrah. oiyijip. xvii. i «vT 111 1 -ii' 1 '^U'. annum 20 "It shall never be inhabited, NumiE PompiUi, neither shall it be dwelt in from ^ '^°'"^''- •*' generation to generation : neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. b Jer. 1. 3, 39 ; li. 29, 62. entering the place at night by the dry channel. The river being never restored afterward to its proper course, overflowed the whole country, and made it little better than a great morass ; this and the great slaughter of the inhabitants, with other bad conse- quences of the taking of tlie city, was the first step to the ruin of the place. The Persian monarchs ever regarded it with a jealous eye ; they kept it under, and took care to prevent its recovering its former greatness. Darius Hystaspes not long afterward most severely punished it for a revolt, greatly depopulated the place, lowered the walls, and demolished the gates. Xerxes destroyed the temples, and with the rest the great temple of Belus, Herod, iii. 159, Arrian. Exp. Alexandri, lib. vii. The building of Selcucia on the Tigris exhausted Babylon by its neighbourhood, as well as by the immediate loss of inhabitants taken away by Seleucus to people his new city, Strabo, lib. xvi. A king of the Parthians soon after carried away into slavery a great number of the inhabitants, and burned and destroyed the most beautiful parts of the city, Valesii Excerpt. Diodori, p. 377. Strabo (ibid.) says that in his time great part of it was a mere de- sert ; that the Persians had partly destroyed it ; and that time and the neglect of the Macedonians, while they were masters of it, had nearly completed its de- struction. Jerome (in loc.) says that in his time it was quite in ruins, and that the walls served only for the inclosure for a park or forest for the king's hunt- ing. Modern travellers, who have endeavoured to find the remains of it, have given but a very unsatis- factory account of their success. What Benjamin of Tudela and Pietro della Valle supposed to have been some of its ruins, Tavernier thinks are the remains of some late Arabian building. Upon the whole, Baby- lon is so utterly annihilated, that even the place where this wonder of the world stood cannot now be deter- mined with any certainty ! See also note on chap, xliii. 14. We are astonished at the accounts which ancient historians of the best credit give of the immense ex- tent, height, and thickness of the walls of Nineveh and Babylon ; nor are we less astonished when we are as- sured, by the concurrent testimony of modern travel- lers, that no remains, not the least traces, of these prodigious works are now to be found. Scattered fragments of its tiles and bricks are yet to be found. Proud Babylon reduced now to a few brick-bats ! Our wonder will, I think, be moderated in both respects, if we consider the fabric of these celebrated walls, and the nature of the materials of which they consisted. Buildings in the east have always been, and are to this 81 The deliverance of Israel ISAIAH. from captivity predicted \^A"'-l^l^- 21 -^But *wild beasts of the B. C. cir. 712. oi>-mp. XVII. 1. desert shall lie there ; and their Numse Pompiiii, houses shall be full of ^ doleful R. Roman.. 4. creatures; f and s owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. <:Chap. xxxiv. 11-15; Rev. xviii. 2. ^iHeb. Ziim. 'Heb. Ochim. l"Or, ostriches. day, made of earth or clay, mixed or beat up with straw to make the parts cohere, and dried only in the sun. This is their method of making bricks ; see on chap ix. 9. The walls of the city were buUt of the earth digged out on the spot, and dried upon the place, by which means both the ditch and the wall were at once formed, the former furnishing materials for the latter. That the walls of Babylon were of this kind is well known ; and Berosus expressly says, (apud Jo- seph. Antiq. X. II,) that Nebuchadnezzar added three new walls both to the old and new city, partly of brick and bitumen, and partly of brick alone. A wall of this sort must have a great thickness in proportion to its height, otherwise it cannot stand. The thickness of the walls of Babylon is said to have been one-fourth of their height, which seems to have been no more than was absolutely necessary. Maundrell, speaking of the garden walls of Damascus, says, " They are of a very singular structure. They are built of great pieces of earth, made in the fashion of brick, and har- dened in the sun. In their dimensions they are two yards long each, and somewhat more than one broad, and half a yard thick." And afterward, speaking of the walls of the houses, he says, " From this dirty way of building they have this amongst other inconveni- ences, that upon any Violent rain the whole city be- comes, by the washing of the houses, as it were a quagmire ;" p. 124. And see note on chap. xxx. 13. When a wall of this sort comes to be out of repair, and is neglected, it is easy to conceive the necessary consequences, namely, that in no long course of ages it must be totally destroyed by the heavy rains, and at length washed away, and reduced to its original earth. — L. 22 And ^the wild beasts of the *■ »i; cir. 3293. B. C. cir. 712. islands shall cry in their ' desolate Oiymp. xvii. 1 , , -, . - . , cir. annum houses, and dragons m weir pleas- Numae Pompiiii, ant palaces: '' and her time w near Roman., 4. to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. sHeb. davghters of the awl. l»Heb. k Jer. li. 33. lim.- ■" Or, palace* Verse 31. Satyrs] A kind of beast like to man, which is called B't^lO^D marmots, a monhey. — 'Rahhi Parchon. Verse 23. In their pleasant palaces — " In their pa- laces"] ITlUnSsa healmenothaiv ; a plain mistake, I presume, for mjrDIXD learmenothaiv . It is so cor- rected in ?«)oMSS.,the Syriac, Chaldee,ani Vulgate. XlovkvKoSsg 5' sv EjAoi SaXofias cpuxai rs fi-eXaivai HoM. Hymn, in Apol. 77. Of which the following passage of Milton may be ta- ken for a translation, though not so designed : — " And in their palaces, AVhere luxury late reigned, sea monsters whelped. And stabled." Par. Lost, xi. 750. This image of desolation is handled with great pro- priety and force by some of the Persian poets : — L-jU-st^l S^ j> t>jfs^ «-:^y LS^ " The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar ; The owl stands centinel on the watch-tower of Af- rasiab." On this quotation Sir W. Jones observes, c>o>i noubet is an Arabic word, signifying a turn, a change, a watch ; hence iaid the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. 9 " Hell p from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming : it stirretii up the dead for thee, even all the 1 chief ' ones of the earth ; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we ? art thou become like unto us ? k Rev. xviii. 16. 1 Psa. cxxv. 3. "Heb. a stroke without removing. "Chap.lv. 12; Ezek. xxxi. 16. "Ezek. xxxii. 21. POr, The grave. qHeb. leaders. 'Ol, great goats. though it has hardly any thing figurative in it : but it is beautifully sententious, and, from the very form and manner of it, has great spirit, force, and energy. Thus Job's last speeches, in answer to his three friends, chap, xxvii.— xxxi., are called tnashals ; from no one particular character, which discriminates them from the rest of the poem, but from the sublime, the figura- tive, the sententious manner which equally prevails through the whole poem, and makes it one of the first and most eminent examples extant of the truly great and beautiful in poetic style. See the note on Prov. i. 1. The Septuagint in this place render the word by ≺vo?, a lamentation. They plainly consider the speech here introduced as a piece of poetry, and of that species of poetry which we call the elesiac ; either from the subject, it being a poem on the fall and death of the king of Babylon, or from the form of the com- position, which is of the longer sort of Hebrew verse, in which the Lamentations of Jeremiah, called by the Sepluagint ©prjvoi, are \mtten. The golden city cea.ted] n;m:3 madhehah, which is here translated golden city, is a Chaldee word. Pra bably it means that golden coin or ingot which was given to the Babylonians by way of tribute. So the word is understood by the Vulgate, where it is rendered tributum ; and by Montanus, who translates it aiirea pensio, the golden pension. Kimchi seems to have un- derstood the word in the same sense. De Rossi trans- lates it auri dives, rich in gold, or auri exactrix, the exactor of gold ; the same as the exactor of tribute. Verse 9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee] That is, Nebuchadnezzar. " Jt (hell) hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the earth ; — the ghosts (rephaim) of all the mighty ones, or goats, ("lini" altudey.) of the earth — all the oppressors of mankind." What a most terrible idea is here ! Ty- rannical kings who have oppressed and spoiled man- kind, are here represented as enthroned tn hell; and 83 The fall of ISAIAH. Nebuchadnezzar A-M;cir. 3292. jj Thy pomp is brought down oi3^p. xVii. i. to the grave, and the noise of cir. annum i . i ^i • j Numa; PompHii, thy viols : the worm IS spread R. Roman., 4. y^fjgf ^QQ, and the worms cover thee. 12 'HoviT art thou fallen from heaven, 'O Lucifer, son of the mornmg ! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations ! 1 3 For thou hast said in thine heart, " I will ascend into heaven, ' I will exalt my throne above the stars of God : I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, ^ in the sides of the north : 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; ^ I will be like the Most High. • Chap, xxxiv. 4.- — ■ Or, O day star. " Matt. xi. 23. » Dan. viii, 10. wpsa, xlviii. 2. as taking a Satanic pleasure in seeing others of the same description enter those abodes of misery ! Verse 11. Cover thee — " Thy covering."] Twenty- eight MSS. (len ancient) of KennicotCs, thirty -nine of De Rossi's, twelve editions, with the Septuagint and Vulgate, read "jDrDl umechassccha, in the singular number. Verse 12. O Lucifer, son of the morning] The Versions in general agree in this translation, and ren- der h'l^n heilel as signifying Lucifer, '^u(f(pu^cig, the morning star, whether Jupiter or Venus ; as these are both bringers of the morning light, or morning stars, annually in their turn. And although the context speaks explicitly concerning Nebuchadnezzar, yet this has been, I know not why, applied to the chief of the fallen angels, who is most incongruously denominated Luci- fer, (the bringer of light !) an epithet as common to him as those of Satan and Devil. That the Holy Spirit by his prophets should call this arch-enemy of God and man the light-bringer, would be strange in- deed. But the truth is, the text speaks nothing at all concerning Satan nor his fall, nor the occasion of that fall, which many divines have with great confidence deduced from this text. O how necessary it is to un- derstand the literal meaning of Scripture, that prepos- terous comments may be prevented ! Besides, I doubt much whether our translation be correct. 77'n heilel, which we translate Lucifer, comes from SV yalal, yell, howl, or shriek, and should be translated, " Howl, son of the morning ;" and so the Syriac has understood it ; and for this meaning Michaelis contends : see his rea- sons in Parkhurst, under H~IT[ halal. . Verse 13. / will ascend into heaven] 1 will get the empire of the whole world. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God — above the Israelites, who are here termed the stars of God. So the Targum of Jonathan, and R. D. Kimchi. This chapter speaks not of the ambition and fall of Satan, but of the pride, arrogance, and fall of Nebuchadnezzar. The mount of the congregation — " The mount of the Divine Presence"] It appears plainly from Exod. 84 15 Yet thou y shalt be brought *• M; cir. 3292. o B. C. cir. /12. down to hell, to the sides of oiymp. xvii. 1. cir. annum Num^ Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. the pit. 16 They that see thee shall nar- rowly look upon thee, ayid consider thee, say- ing, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms ? 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that ^ opened not the house of his prisoners. 18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a »Chap. ilvii. 8; 2Thess. ii. 4. yMatt. xi. 23.- not let his prisoners loose iiomeward. 'Or, did XXV. 22, and xxix. 42, 43, where God appoints the place of meeting with Moses, and promises to meet with him before the ark to commune with him, and to speak unto him ; and to meet the children of Israel at the door of the tabernacle ; that the tabernacle, and after- wards the door of the tabernacle, and Mount Zion, (or Moriah, which is reckoned a part of Mount Zion,) whereon it stood, was called the tabernacle, and the mount of convention or of appointment ; not from the people's assembling there to perform the services of their religion, (which is what our translation expresses by calling it the tabernacle of the congregation,) but because God appointed that for the place where he him- self would meet with Moses, and commune with him, and would meet witji the people. Therefore nj>in in har moed, the " mountain of the assembly," or SnX 1J'13 ohel moed, the " tabernacle of the assembly," means the place appointed by God, where he would present himself; agreeably to which I have rendered it in this place, the mount of the Divine Presence. Verse 19. Like an abominable branch — ''Like the tree abominated"] That is, as an object of abomina- tion and detestation ; such as the tree is on which a malefactor has been hanged. " It is written," saith St. Paul, Gal. iii. 13, " Cursed is every man that hang- eth on a tree," from Deut. xxi. 23. The Jews there- fore held also as accursed and polluted the tree itself on which a malefactor had been executed, or on which he had been hanged after having been put to death by stoning. " Non suspendunt super arbore, qua; radici- bus solo adhaereat ; sed super ligno eradicate, ut ne sit excisio raolesta : nam lignum, super quo fuit aliquis sus- pensus, cum suspendioso sepelitur ; ne maneat iUi ma- lum nomen, et dicant homines, Istud est lignum, in quo suspensus est ille, o isivo. Sic lapis, quo aliquis fuit lapidatus ; et gladius, quo fuit occisus is qui est occi- sus ; et sudarium sive mantile, quo fuit aliquis strangu- latus ; omnia hsec cum iis, qui perierunt, sepeliuntur." Maimontdes, apiid Casaub. in Baron. Exercitat. xvi. An. 34, Num. 134. "Cum itaque homo suspensus maximae esset abominationi, — Judasi quoque prae cajte- Tliefall of CHAP. XIV. the Assyrians. A. M. cir. 32D2. gword, that ffo down to the stones B. C. cir. 712. - ' . ° , , oiymp. XVII. 1. of the pit ; as a carcass trodden cir. annum . r . Numre Ponipilii, Under lect. R. Roman., 4. gQ Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed tliy land and slain thy people : ° the seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned. 2 1 Prepare slaughter for his children '' for the iniquity of their fathers ; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. 22 For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon ' the name, and ■* remnant, ' and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. 23 "^I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water : and I will sweep it will] the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts. •Job xviii. 19; Psa. xxi. 10; xixvii. 28 ; cix. 13. b Eiod. XI. 5; Matt.xxiii. 35. ^Prov. x. 7; Jer. li. 62. il 1 Kings xiv. 10. 'Job xviii. 19. fChap. xxxiv. U ; Zeph. ii. 14. lis abominabantur lignum quo fuerat suspensus, ita ut illud quoque terra fegerent, tanquam rem abominabilem. Unde interpres Chaldasus hsec verba transttdit TDD 0T\2 kechat temir, sicut virgidtum absconditum, sive sepul- tum." Kalinski, Valicinia Observationibus Uluslrata, f . 342. " The Jews never hang any malefactor upon a tree that is groiving in the earth, but upon a post fixed in the ground, that it might never be said, ' That is the tree on which such a one was hanged ;' for custom re- quired that the tree should be buried with the malefac- tor. In like manner the stnne by which a criminal was stoned to death, or the sword by which he was be- headed, or the napkin or handkerchief by which he was strangled, should be buried with liim in the same grave." " For as the hanged man was considered the greatest abomination, so the very post or wood on wliich he was hanged was deemed a most abominable thing, and there- fore buried under the earth." Agreeably to which Theodoret, Hist. Ecclesiast. i. 17, 18, in his account of the finding of the cross by Helena, says, " That the three crosses were buried in the earth near the place of our Lord's sepulchre." And this circumstance seems to confirm the relation of the discovery of the cross of Christ. The crosses were found where the custom required they should be buried. The raiment of those that are slain — " Clothed with the slain"] Thirtxj-five MSS., {ten ancient,) and three editions, have the word fully wTitten, B'13'7 lebush. It is not a noun, but the participle passive ; thrown out among the common slain, and covered with the dead bodies. So ver. 11, the earth-worm is said to be his bed-covering. This reading is confirmed by two an- cient MSS. in my own collection. '\'erse 20. Because thou hast destroyed thy land, &c. — " Because thou hast destroyed thy country ; thou hast slain thy people"] Xenophon gives an instance 24 The Lord of hosts hath *■ ^- <='."• 3292. B. C. cir. 712. sworn, saying. Surely as I have oiymp. xvii. i. thought, so shall it come to pass ; Numm PompiUi, and as I have purposed, so shall « R"-"" • *■ it stand : 25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot : then shall k his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth : and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27 For the Lord of hosts hath '' purposed, and who shall disannul it ? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn a. m. cir. 3278. •, , 1 , B. C. cir. 726. It "ack / oiymp. Xlll. 3. 28 In the year that ' king Ahaz "ro^"'" died was this burden. R. Roman.' 28. gChap. X. 27. i'2Chron. xx. 6j Job ii. 12; xxiii. 13; Psa. xxxiii. 11 ; Prov. xix. 21 ; xxi. 30; chap, xliii. 13; Dan. iv. 31, 35. '2 Kings xvi. 20. of this king's wanton cruelty in killing the son of Go- brias, on no other provocation than that, in hunting, he struck a boar and a lion which the king had missed. Cyrop. iv. p. 309. Verse 23. / loill sweep it with the besom of de- struction— " I will plunge it in the miry gulf of de- struction"] I have here very nearly followed the Ver- sion of the Septuagint ; the reasons for which see in the last note on De Poesi Hebr. Praelect. xxviii. The besom of destruction, as our Version renders it. NDSDOD bematate. This, says Kimchi, is a Chaldee word : and it is worthy of remark that the prophet, \vriting to the Chaldeans, uses several words peculiar to their own language to point out the nature of the Divine judgments, and the causes of them. See the note on Jer. x. 11. Sixteen of Kenn^cotfs M.SS., and seventeen of De Rossi's, and one ancient of my own, have the word 'aNa"33 bematatey, in the plural. " I will sweep her with the besoms of destruction." Verse 25. / tcill break the Assyrian — upon my mountains — " To crush the Assyrian — on my moun- tains"] The Assyrians and Babylonians are the same people, Herod, i. 199, 200. Babylon is reckoned the principal city in Assyria, ibid. 178. Strabo sa)'s the same thing, lib. xvi. sub init. The circumstance of this judgment being to be executed on God's moun- tains is of importance; it may mean the destruction of Sennacherib's army near Jerusalem, and have a still farther view : compare Ezek. xxxix. 4 ; and see Lowth on this place of Isaiah. Verse 28. In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden] Uzziah had subdued the Philistines, 2 Chron. xxvi. 6, 7 ; but, taking advantage of the weak reign of Ahaz, they invaded Judea, and took, and held in possession, some cities in the southern part of the kingdom. On the death of Ahaz, Isaiah delivers this prophecv. threatening them with the destruction that 85 Calamities to fall ISAIAH. on the Moahiles. ^ M eir. 3278. gQ Rejoice iiot thou, whole Pa- B. C. cir. (26. J ' Olymp. XIII. 3. lestina, '' because the rod of him cir. annum , i ■ i i r Romuii, that smote thee is broken : tor R. Roman., 28. ^^^ ^f jj^g serpent's root shall come forth a ' cockatrice, "" and his fruit shall he a fiery flying serpent. 30 And the first-bom of the poor shall feed, and tlie needy shall lie down in safety : and I will kiU thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. ' 2 Chton. xrvi. 6. ' Or, adder. » 2 Kings xviii. 8. » Or, he shall not be alone. Hezekiah, his son, and great-grandson of Uzziah, should bring upon them : which he effected ; for " he smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof," 2 Kings xviii. 8. Uzziah, therefore, must be meant by the rod that smote them, and by the ser- pent from whom shoidd spring the flying fiery serpent, ver. 29, that is, Hezekiah, a much more terrible enemy than even Uzziah had been. The Targum renders the twenty-ninth verse in a singular way. " For, from the sons of Jesse shall come forth the Messiah ; and his works among you shall be as the flying serpent." Verse 30. And the first-bom of the poor, Si.c.'] The Tarffum goes on applying all to the Messiah. " And the poor of the people shall he feed, and the humble shall dwell securely in his days : and he shall kill thy children with famine, and the remnant of thy people shall he slay." I IV ill kill — " He will slay"] The Septuagint reads jTan hemith, in the third person, avgXsi ; and so the Chaldee. The Vulgate remedies the confusion of per- sons in the present text, by reading both the verbs in the first person. Verse 31. There shall come from the north a smoke — " From the north cometh a smoke"] That is, a cloud of dust raised by the march of Hezekiah's army 31 Howl, O gate; cry, O W%,^^^1 city ; thou, whole Palestina, art Olymp. xiii. 3. dissolved : for there shall come Romuh, from the north a smoke, and R- R°"'^"- ^e. " none shall be alone in his ° appointed times. 32 What shall one then answer the messen- gers of the nation ? that p the Lord hath founded Zion, and i the poor of his people shall ' trust in it. o Or, assemblies. P Psa. Ixxxvii. 1, 5 ; cii. 16. fl Zeph. iii. 12 ; Zech. xi. 11. ^Or, betake themselves unto it. against Philistia ; which lay to the south-west from Jerusalem. A great dust raised has, at a distance, the appearance of smoke : Fumantes pulvere campi ; " The fields smoking with dust." — Virg. ^n. xi. 908. Verse 32. The messengers of the nation — " The ambassadors of the nations"] The Septuagint read D'U goyim, s6\iu\i, plural ; and so the Chaldee, and one MS. The ambassadors of the neighbouring nations, that send to congratulate Hezekiah on his success ; which in his answer he will ascribe to the protection of God. See 2 Chron. xxxii. 23. Or, if 'U goi sin- gular, the reading of the text, be preferred, the ambas- sadors sent by the Philistines to demand peace. — L. The Lord hath founded Zion] Kimchi refers this to the state of Zion under Hezekiah, when the rest of the cities of Judea had been taken, and this only was left for a hope to the poor of God's people : and God so defended it that Rabshakeh could not prevail against it. The true Church of God is a place of safety; for as all its members are devoted to God, and walk in his testimonies, so they are continually defended and sup- ported by him. In the congregations of his people, God dispenses his light and salvation ; hence his poor or himable ones expect in his ordinances the blessings they need. CHAPTER XV. Prediction of very heavy calamities about to fall upon the Moabites, 1—9. ^HE ° burden of Moab. Be- A. M. cir. 3278. rp B. C. cir. 726. J_ Olymp. XIII. 3. cause in the night '' Ar of Romuii, Moab is laid waste a7id "^ brought R. Roman., 28. ^^ silence ; because in the night a Jer. xlviii. 1, &c. : Ezek. xxv. 8-il ; Amos ii. 1. This and the following chapter, taken together, make one entire prophecy, very improperly divided into two parts. The tune of its delivery, and conse- quently of its accomplishment, which was to be in three years from that time, is uncertain ; the former not being marked in the prophecy itself, nor the latter recorded in history. But the most probable account is, that it was delivered soon after the foregoing, in the first year of Hezekiah ; and that it was accom- 86 Kir of Moab is laid waste, and \,^l;, '"''■• 5?I®- ' B. C. cir. 726. brought to silence : oiymp. xiii. 3. 2 ^ He is gone to Bajith, and Romuii, to Dibon, the high places, to R- Ro-n^n., 28. <> Num. xxi. 28. 1: Or, cut off. ;• ar, have TJ* ir, a city, others have i;' ad, unto, and some editions have Si' al, upon. But all these help little, though they show that the place puz- zled both the scribes and the editors. On all their heads shall be baldness. Sic. — " On every head there is baldness," &c.] Herodotus, ii. 36, speaks of it as a general practice among all men. therefore the armed soldiers *• M. cir. 3278. B. C. cir. 720. of Moab shall cry out ; his Olymp. xiu. 3. ^I■ 1. 11 u . cir. annum hfe shall be gnevous imto Romuii, Ujjj. R. Roman., 28. 5 ' My heart shall cry out for Moab ; '' his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, a ' heifer of three years old : for " by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up ; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of ° destruction. tChap. xvi. 9. i Chap. xvi. 11 ; Jer. xlviii. 31. 1 Or. to the borders thereof, even as a heifer. ' Chap. xvi. 14 ; Jei. xlviii. 34. "Jer. xlviii. 5. "Heb. breaking. except the Egyptians, to cut off their hair as a token of mourning. " Cut off thy hair, and cast it away," says Jeremiah, vii. S9, " and take up a lamentation." TouTo vu xai yEfas oiov oi^upoitfi /SpoToitfi Kei^aiSai re xo(ai]v, (BaKseiv r' wiro 5axpu -rrageiuv. HoM. Odyss. iv. 197. " The rites of wo Are all, alas ! the living can bestow ; O'er the congenial dust enjoined to shear The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear." Pope. On every head. — For I'tyNI roshaiv, read tyST rash. So the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 37, and so three MSS., one ancient. An ancient MS. reads tyNT 'l3 Sy al col rosh. Five read B'NI 733 bechol rosh, on every head, with the Septuagint and Arabic. And every head. The 1 vau, and, is foimd in thirty MSS., in three editions, and in the Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee. Cut off — " Shorn."] The printed editions, as well as the MSS., are divided on the reading of this word. Some have Hi'llJ geduah, shorn, others n>'1J geruah, diminished. The similitude of the letters T daleth and T resh has likewise occasioned many mistakes. In the present case, the sense is pretty much the same with either reading. The text of Jer. xlviii. 37 has the latter, diminished. The former reading is found in twelve of Dr. KennicotCs MSS., forty of De Rossi's, and two of my own. A great numberof erf(/jOH.s have the same reading. Verse 3. With sackcloth] Tm sah. The word is in the plural D'pt? sakkim, sacks, in one of De Rossi^s MSS. Verse 4. The armed soldiers — " The very loins"] So the Septuagint, vj oiipvs, and the Syriac. They cry out violently, with their utmost force. Verse 5. My heart shall cry out for Moab — " The heart of Moab crieth within her"] For '•3'7 libbi, my heart, the Septuagint reads nS libbo, his heart, or 37 leb ; the Chaldee, 13S libbo. For n'n'13 bericheyha, the Syriac reads nnn3 berocheh ; and so likewise the Septuagint, rendering it 6v auT»), Edit. Vat: or £v laurrj, Edit. Alex, and MSS. i. D. 11. A heifer of three years old — " A young heifer."] Hebreiv, a heifer three years old, in full strength ; as Horace uses equa trima, for a young mare just coming to her prime. Bor/ior/ observes, from Aristotle, Hist. 87 The distress of ISAIAH. Moab described. A M. cir. 3278. g For the watcrs " of Nirarim B. C. cir. i26. oiymp. xm. 3. shall be " desolate : for the hay cir. annum . .., , .■, ^ ., Romuli, IS Withered away, the grass lail- R. Roman., 28. gjj^^ jj^gj.g jg j^^ gj.ggjj thing. 7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, £ind that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the i brook of the willows. 8 For the cry is gone round about the bor- » Num. xxzii. 36.- ' Heb. desolations, q Or, valley of Animal, lib. iv., that in this kind of animals alone the voice of the female is deeper than that of the male ; therefore the lowing of the heifer, rather than of the bul- lock, is chosen by the prophet, as the more proper image to express the mourning of Moab. But I must add that the expression here is very short and obscure ; and the opinions of interpreters are various in regard to the meaning. Compare Jer. xlviii. 34. Shall they go it up — "They shall ascend"] For rh]!'' yaaleh, the Septuagint and a MS. read in the plu- ral, 17V yaahi. And from this passage the parallel place in Jer. xlviii. 5 must be corrected ; vfhere, for 03 Th)!^ yaaleh bechi, which gives no good sense, read 13 Thv^ yaaleh bo. Verse 7. " Shall perish"] nas abadu, or max dba- deh. This word seems to have been lost out of the text : it is supplied by the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 36. The Syriac expresses it by 1Dj» aber, prteteriit, " he hath passed ;" and the Chaldee by |lTI3n'' yithbazezun, diripientur. To the brook of the ivillows — " To the vaUey of wil- lows."] That is, to Babylon. Hieron. and Jarchi in loc. ; both refemng to Psa. cxxxn'ii. 2 . So likewise Prideaux, Le Clerc, &c. Verse 9. The loaters of Dimon] Some have Dibon, others have Ribon and Rimon. St. Jerome observes ders of Moab ; the howling A. M. cir. 3275. . B. C. cir. 726. thereof unto Eglaim, and the Oiymp. xm. 3. howling thereof unto Beer- RomuU, g1' R. Roman., 28. 9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood : for I will bring ' more upon Dimon, ^ hons upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. the Arabians.- ^Heb. additions.- s2 Kings xvii. 25. that the same town was called both Dibon and Dimon. The reading is therefore indifferent. Upon him that escapeth of Moab, t^'C- — " Upon the escaped of Moab, and Ariel, and the remnant of Ad- mah."] The Septuagint for ri'lN aryeh read SN''^N ariel. Ax Moab was called also Ariel or Areopolis. Hieron. and Theodoret. See Cellarius. They make nD^X Admah also a proper name. Michaelis thinks that the Moabites might be called the remnant of Ad- mah, as sprung from Lot and his daughters, escaped from the destruction of that and the other cities ; or, meta- phorically, as the Jews are called princes of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah, chap. i. 10. Bibliotheque Orient. Part v., p. 195. The reading of this verse is very doubtful ; and the sense, in every way in which it can be read, very obscure. — L. Calmet thinks there may be a reference to 1 Chron. xi. 22, where it is said, " Benaiah slew two lion-like men of Moab," or the two Ariels of Moab, and would therefore translate, " I will bring down the remnant of Moab like Ariel, (which Benaiah smote,) and them that are escaped like Ada- mah." They shall be exterminated, as were the in- habitants of those two cities. Ariel was a double city — the river Arnon dividing it in two. This is the two Ariels of Moab — not two lion-like men, much less two lions. See Calmet on this place. CHAPTER XVI. The distress of Moab pathetically described by the son of the prince, or ruler of the land, being forced to flee for his life through the desert, that he may escape to Judea ; and the young loomen, Hie young birds scared from their nest, icade helpless through the fords of Arnon, the boundary of their country, to seek protection in some foreign land, 1,2. The prophet addresses Sion, exhorting her to sho^v mercy to her enemies in their distress, that her throne may be established in righteousness, 3-5. Exceeding great pride of Moab, 6. The terrible calamities about to fall upon Moab farther described hy the languishing of the vine, the ceasing of the vintage, the sound of the prophet's bowels quivering like a harp, <^c., 7-13. Awful nearness of the fill accomplishment of the prophecy, 14. A. M. cir. 3278. B. C. cir. 726. Oiymp. XIII. 3. cir. annum Romuli, R. Roman., 28. CEND "ye the lamb to the ruler of the land ''from ° Sela'' to the wilderness, xmto the mount of the daughter of Zion. •2 Kings iii. 4. ''2 Kings xiv. 7.- ■: Or, Pctra. NOTES ON CH.W. XVI. Verse 1. Send ye the lamb, cj-c. — " I will send forth the son, &c."] Both the reading and meaning of this verse are stiU more doubtful than those of the prece- ding. The Septuagint and Syriac read p'tB'S eshlach, 88 2 For it shall be, that, as a ^^U""- ^'^''^■ , . , . , ' , EC. cir. 726. wandering bird " cast out of the oiymp. xm. 3. nest, 50 the daughters of Moab '^Romuli',™ shall be at the fords of ' Arnon. R- Roman.', as. d Heb. a rock. e Or, a nest forsaken. - fNum. x-ti. 13. I will send, in the first person singular, fiiture tense : the Vulgate and Talmud Babylon., read vh'l' shelach, send, singular imperative : some read inSt!' shilchu, sendye forth, OT shalechu, they send forth. The Syriac, for 13 car, a lamb, reads T3 bar, a son, which is con- The desolations of CHAP. XVI. Moab described. A, M cir. 3278. 3 g fake counscl, execute judff- U. C. cir. 7i6. ,111 1 Oiymp. xiit. 3. ment ; make thy sliadow as the '^lio'mul?,'" niglit in the midst of tlie noon- R. Roman.. 28. ^^^ . j^j^jg fjjg Qutcasts ; bewTay not him that wandereth. 4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab ; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler : for the •" extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, ' the oppressors are consumed out of the land. eHcb. Bnng. >'Heb. wringer. i Hcb. the trtadert down. k Dan. vii. 14, 27 ; Mic. iv. 7 ; Luke i. 33. ' Or, prepared. firmed by five MSS. of Kennicott and De Rossi. The two first verses describe the distress of Moab on the Assyrian invasion ; in w hich even the son of the prince of the country is represented as forced to flee for his life through the desert, that he may escape to Judea ; and the young women are driven forth like young birds cast out of the nest, and endeavouring to wade tlrrough the fords of the river Arnon. Perhaps there is not so much difficulty in this verse as appears at first view. " Send the lamb to the ruler of the land," may receive light from 2 Kings iii. 4, 5 : " And Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheepmastcr, and rendered unto the king of Israel one hundred thousand Iambs with their ■wool, and one hundred thousand rams : but when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against Israel." IS'ow the prophet exhorts them to begin paying the tribute as formerly, that their punishment might be averted or mitigated. Verse 3. Take counsel — " Impart counsel"] The Vulgate renders the verbs in the beginning of this verse in the singular number. So the Keri ; and so likewise sixty-one &ISS. of KennicotCs and De Ros- si's have it, and nineteen editions, and the Si/riac. The verbs throughout the verse are also in the feminine gender ; agreeing with Zion, which I suppose to be understood. A'erse 4. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab — " Let the outcasts of Moab sojourn with thee, O Zion"] Setting the points aside, this is by much the most ob- vious construction of the Hebrew, as well as most agree- able to the context, and the design of the prophet. And it is confirmed by the Septuagint ol cpuyaSeg Mua/3, and Si/riac. The oppressors — " The oppressor"] Perhaps the Israelites, who in the time of Ahaz invaded Judah, defeated his anny, slaying one hundred and twenty thousand men, and brought the kingdom to the brink of destruction. Judah, being now in a more prosperous condition, is represented as able to receive and to pro- tect the fugitive Moabites. And witli those former times of distress the security and flourishing state of the kingdom under the government of Hezekiah is contrasted. Verse 5. In mercy shall the throne be established] May not this refer to the throne of Hezekiah ? Here we have the character of such a king as cannot fad to be a blessing to the people. 1 . "He sitteth on the throne in truth" — He does not merely profess to 5 And in mercy ^ shall the \*^^ =j^- ^^■ throne be ' established ; and he Oiymp. xill. 3. , ,, . . . t ■ 1 ^^^- "n''»n» shall sit upon it in truth in tlic ta- Romuii, bernacle of David, » judging, and "' """"'"■ ^^- seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness. 6 We have heard of the " pride of Moab ; he is very proud ; even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath ; " hvt his lies shall not be so. 7 Therefore shall Moab Phowl for Moab, n> Psa. Ixxii. 2 ; xcvi. 13 ; xcviii. 9. » Jer. xlviii. 29 ; Zeph. ii. 10. "Chap. Mviii. 15. p Jer. xlviii. 20. be the father and protector of his people : but he is actually such. 2. He is judging. He is not a man of war or blood, who wastes his subjects' lives and treasures in contentions with neighbouring nations, in order to satisfy his ambition by the extension of his territory. On the contrary, his whole life is occu- pied in the distribution of justice. 3. He seeketh judg- ment. He seeks out the poor distressed ones who cannot make their way to him, and avenges them on their oppressors. 4. He hastens righteousness. He does not suffer any of the courts of justice to delay the detennination of the causes brought before them : he so orders that the point in litigation be fairly, fully, and speedily heard ; and then judgment pronounced. Delays in the execution of justice an- swer little end but the enriching of unprincipled lawyers. Verse 6. We have heard of the pride of Moab — '■ " We have heard the pride of Moab"] For XJ ge, read nxj geah ; two MSS., one ancient, and Jer. xlviii. 29. Zephaniah, chap. ii. 8-10, in his prophecy against Moab, tlie subject of which is the same with that of Jere- miah in hisforty-eighth chapter, (see the note on chap. XV. 1,) enlarges much on the pride of Moab, and their insolent behaviour towards tlie Jews : — " I have heard the reproach of Moab ; And the revilings of the sons of Amnion . Who have reproached my people ; And have magnified themselves against their borders. Therefore, as I live, saith Jehovah (iod of hosts, the God of Israel : Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, And the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah : A possession of nettles, and pits of salt, And a desolation for ever. The residue of my people shall spoil them, And tlie remnant of my nation shall dispossess them : This shall they have for their pride ; Because they have raised a reproach, and have mag- nified themselves Against the people of Jehovah God of hosts." Verse 7. For the foundations of Kir-hareseth — " For the men of Kirhares."] A palpable mistake in this place is happily corrected by the parallel text of Jer. xlviii. 3 1 , where, instead of "ly'iyN ashishey, founda- tions or flagons, we read 'i!i:H anshey, men. In the same place of Jeremiah, and in ver. 36, and here in ver. 11, the name of the city is Kirhares, not Kir- hareseth. 89 The desolations oj ISAIAH. Moab described ^^ '^ '^'!'' 2^P' every one shall howl : for the B. C. cir. 726. -^ oiymp. XIII. 3. foundations i of Kir-hareseth cir. annum in, i ji. Romuii, shall ye ''mourn ; surely they are R. Roman., S3, gtricken. 8 For ^ the fields of Heshbon languish, and ' the vine of Sibmah : the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, ihey are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness : her branches are " stretched out, they are gone over the sea. 9 Therefore ^' I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah : I will water thee with my tears, "' 0 Heshbon, and Elealeh : i(j'j) TO. ttshici. Etfs/Suv. For "]« ach they must have read "^N al ; otherwise, how came they by the negative, which seems not to belong to this place ? Neither is it easy to make sense of the rest without a small alteration, by reading, instead of evT^avridr} Ta, svTfiai:'t]'fsTa.i. In a word, the Arabic version, taken from the SeptitaginI, plainly authorizes this reading of the Sepluagint, and without the negative ; and it is fully confirmed by MSS. Pachotn. and i. D. ii., which have both of them SvT^a.'Zr)((STai ifsSia Eo's/iJuv, without the negative ; which makes an excellent sense, and, I think, gives us the true reading of the Hebrew text ; p^KTI nmiy laSjJ ■]« ah nichlemu shadmoth cheshbon. They frequently render the verb □'7DJ 7iich- lam by SvrpsirofAai. And I'o'jJJ nichlemu answers per- fectly well to S'?ON umlal, the parallel word in the next line. The MSS. vary in expressing the word D'isOJ luchaim, which gives no tolerable sense in this place ; one reads D'N^U nochaim ; two others D'SD3 bechaim ; in another the J caph is upon a rasure of two letters ; and the VuJgute instead of it reads Dnir>"D mecolham-, plagas suas. — L. For the men of Kirhares ye shall make a moan. For the fields of Heshbon are put to shame. This is Bp. Lowlh^s sense of the passage. Her branches are stretched out — " Her branches ex- tended themselves."] For 'wa^nittcshu, a MS. has ie;JJ niggeshu ; which may perhaps be right. Compare Jer. xlviii. 32, which has in this part of the sentence the synonymous word IJ'JJ nagaii. The meaning of this verse is, that the wines of Sib- mah and Heshbon were greatly celebrated, and in high repute with all the great men and princes of that and the neighbouring countries ; who indulged themselves even to intemperance in the use of them. So that their vines were so much in request as not only to be propa- gated all over the country of Moab to the sea of Sodom, but to have scions of them sent even beyond the sea into foreign countries. lO^n halemu, hnocheil down, demolished ; that is 90 for " the shouting for thy summer *■ '^ '^'!'- ^^78. c> J B. C. cir. 726. fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. Olymp. XIII. 3. 10 And 3" gladness is taken Rom"uii^ away, and joy out of the plentiful R- Roman., 2B field ; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting : the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses ; I have made their wzwto^e-shouting to cease. 1 1 Wherefore ^ my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh. 1 3 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on ^ the high place, that X Or, the alarm is/alien upon, &c. r Chap. xxiv. 8 ; Jer. xlviii. 33. « Chap. XV. 5 ; Lxiii. 15 ; Jer. xlviii. 36. — —" Chap. xv. 2 overpowered, intoxicated. The drunkards of Ephraim are called by the prophet, chap, xxviii. 1, j" "r^l'^n ha- lumey yayin, drinkers of wine. See Schultens on Prov xxiii. 25. Gratius, speaking of the Mareotic winej says of it, Pharios quse fregit noxia reges. Cyneg. 312. Verse 9. With the weeping — " As with the weep- ing"] For ODD bibechi, a MS. reads 03 bechi. In Jer. xlviii. 32, it is '.D^n mibbechi. The Septuagiiit read ''J33 kibeki, as toilh u-eeping, which I follow. For thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen — " And upon thy vintage the destroyer hath fallen."] '7ilJ ITH "|TSp h)l^ veal kelsirech heidad naphal. In these few words there are two great mistakes, which the text of Jer. xviii. 32 rectifies. For ^TSp ketsirech, it has "jTSD betsirech ; and for HTTI heidad, nity shaded; both which corrections the Chaldee in this place oon firms. As to the first, " Hesebon and Eleale, and The flowery dale of Sibmah, clad with vines," were never celebrated for their harvests ; it was the vintage that suffered by the irruption of the enemy ; and so read the Septuagint and Syriac. TTH heidad is the noisy acclamation of the treaders of the grapes. And see what sense this makes in the literal rendering of the Vulgate : super messem tuam vox calcantium irruit, " upon thy harvest the voice of the treaders rushes." The reading in Jer. xlviii. 32 is certainly right, Ssj nniy shaded naphal, " the destroyer hath fallen." The shout of the treaders does not come in till the next verse ; in which the text of Isaiah in its turn mends that of Jeremiah, xlviii. 33, where instead of the first HTH heidad, "the shout," we ought undoubtedly to read, as here, ^Y^^^T^ haddorech, " the treader." Verse 10. Neither shall there be shouting — " An end is put to the shouting"] The Septuagint read natJTI hishbelh, passive, and in the third person ; rightly, for God is not the speaker in this place. The rendering of the Septuagint is irStravrai yap XcXsurffia, "the civ ceaseth ;" which last word, necessary to the rendering of the Hebrew and to the sense, is supplied by MSS. Pa- chom. and I. D. n.,havingbeen lost out of the other copies. Verse 12. When it is seen that Moab, i|-c. — " When Divine judgments CHAP. XVII. against Damascus A. M. cir. 3278. B. C. cir. 726. Olyinp. Xlll. 3. cir. annum Roniuli, R. Roman., 28. lie shall come to his sanctuary to pray ; but he shall not prevail. 13 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now tlie Lord hath spoken, saying, t>Chap. xxi. 16. Moab shall see," &c.l For nxij nirah, a MS. reads nxi raa!i, and so the Si/riar aiul C/ialdee. " Perhaps nsiJ '3 ki nirah is only a various reading of TM^'li O ki nilah." .Secker. A very probable conjecture. Verse 14. Within three y ears] v'lV^bcs/ialish. B'Sb'3 keshalish, according, or in or about three years, is the reading of nine of KennicotCs and De Rossi's MSS., and two ancient editions. But tlie present reading may well stand : " Now, the Lord hatli spoken, saying, Witliin three years, as the years of a hireling." It seems as if this prophe- cy had been delivered before, without any time spe- cified for its fulfilment ; but now the time is deter- mined— " in three years, as the years of a hireling" — for, as a hireling counts even to a single day, and will not abide with his employer an hour beyond the A. M. cir. 3278. B. U. cir. 726. 3. Within three years, '' as the years of a hireling, and the glory Oiymp. xiil of Moab shall be contemned, RomuU, with all that great multitude; ^- '^°""'"- ^^- and the remnant shall be very small and " feeble. cOr, not many. time agreed on ; so, in three years, even to a da)', from the delivery of this prophecy, shall destruction come upon Moab. This is the import of the present text ; but if we take Jihw^ hcshalish, as in three years, or in about three years'' time, the prophecy is not so definite. These three years, says Calinet, are mentioned from the death of .\haz, see chap. xiv. 28, and end the third year of Hezekiah, three years before the taking of .Samaria by Shalmaneser. This conquerer did not ruin Moab so completely as not to leave a man in the land ; the final desolation of Moab was reserved for Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the taking of Jeru- salem. Feeble — " And without strength."] An ancient MS., with the Septuagint, reads N n velo, " and not." CHAPTER XVII. juagments of God upon Damascus, 1—3 ; and upon Israel, 4-6. Good effects of these judgments on the small remnant or gleaning that should escape them, 7, 8. The same judgments represented in other but stronger terms, and imputed to irreligion and neglect of God, 9-11. The remaining verses are a distinct prophecy, a beautiful detached piece, worked up xeith the greatest elegance, sublimity, and propriety ; and forming a noble description of the formidable invasion and sudden overthrow of Sennacherib, exactly suit- able to the event, 12-14. A. M. cir. 3263. B. C. cir. 741. Olymp. IX. 4. cir. annum Romuli, R. Roman., 13. npHE " burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from bei7ig a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. « Jer. xlix. 23 ; Amos i. 3 ; Zech. ix. 1 ; 2 Kings ivi. 9. This prophecy by its title should relate only to Da- mascus ; but it full as much concerns, and more largely treats of, the kingdom of Samaria and the Israelites, confederated with Damascus and the Syrians against the kingdom of Judah. It was delivered probably soon after the prophecies of the seventh and eighth chapters, in the beginning of the reign of .Vhaz ; and was ful- filled by Tiglath-pileser's taking Damascus, and carry- ing the people captives to Kir, (2 Kings xvi. 9,) and overruntiing great part of the kingdom of Israel, and carrying a great number of the Israelites also captives to Assyria ; and still more fully in regard to Israel, by the conquest of the kingdom, and the captivity of the people, effected a few years after by Shalmaneser. — L. NOTES ON CHAP. XVTl. Verse 1. The burden of Damascus.] Which is, ac- cording to the common version, The cities of Aroer are forsaken. It has already been observed bv the learned 2 The cities of Aroer are for- A. M. cir. 3263. B. C. cir. 741. saken : they shall be for flocks, oiymp. ix. 4 which shall lie down, and •= none Romuii, shall make them afraid. ^ ^°°"'"- '^ tJer. vii. 33. prelate, that the prophecy, as it relates to Damascus, was executed in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, probably about the third year. If we credit Midrash, the Damascenes were the most extensive and flagrant of all idolaters. " There were in Damascus three hun- dred and sixty-five streets, in each of these was an idol, and each idol had his peculiar day of worship ; so that the whole were worshipped in the course of the year." This, or any thing like this, was a sufficient reason for this city's destruction. A ruinous heap] For "iVD mei, " a ruinous heap," the Septuagint reads yh lei, " for a ruin," the Vulgate ">'J kei, " as a ruin." 1 follow the former. A'erse 2. The cities of Aroer are forsaken — " The cities are deserted for ever"] ^^"hat has Aroer on the river Arnon to do with Damascus ! and if there be another Aroer on the northern border of the tribe of Gad, as Reland seems to think there might be, this is not much more to the purpose. Besides, the cities of 91 The Divine judgments ISAIAH. and their good effects. A. i\i. oil-. 3263. 3 c 'pijg fortress also shall cease B. C. cir. 741. Oiymp. IX. 4. from Epliraim, and the kingdom cir. annum c t-i i i Rorauii, from Damascus, and the remnant R. Roman., 13. ^f ^^-^^ . j]^gy gj,all be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and ^ the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. 5 ' And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm ; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. 6 '^ Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three benies in the top of the uppermost bough, fom- or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel. 7 At that day shall a man e look to his c Chap.vii. 10 ; viii. 4.- JChap. z. 16. «Jer. Ii.33.- -fCh. Aroer, if Aroer itself is a city, makes no good sense. The Septuagint, for ^y^V aroer, read "Ij; 'i;' adey ad, sts To» ciwva, for ever, or for a long duration. The Chaldee takes the word for a verb from mj? arah, trans- lating it IDin cherebu, devastabuntur, " they shall be wasted." The Syriac read I'yn;? adoeir. So that the reading is very doubtful. I follow the Septuagint as making the plainest sense. A''erse 3. The remnant of Syria — " The pride of Syria."] For iXiy shear, " remnant," Houbigant reads ns^B' seeth, " pride," answering, as the sentence seems evideutlyto require, to Tia3caAo(/, "the glory of Israel." The conjecture is so very probable that I venture to follow it. As the glory] "IUZ)3 btchbod, " IN the glory," is the reading of eight MSS., and ten editions. Verse 4. In that day] That is, says Kimchi, the time when the ten tribes of Israel, which were the glory of Jacob, should be carried into captivity. Verse 5. As lohen the harvestman gathereth — "As when one gathereth"] That is, the king of Assyria shall sweep away tlie whole body of the people, as the reaper strippeth off the whole crop of corn ; and the remnant shall be no more in proportion than the scat- tered ears left to the gleaner. The valley of Rephaim near Jerusalem was celebrated for its plentiful harvest ; it is here used poetically for any fruitful country. One MS., and one ancient edition, has ^3X3 beesoph, "in gathering," instead of ^iiOkeesoph, " as the gathering." Verse 8. The altars, the work of his hands — " The altars dedicated to the work of his hands"] The con- struction of the words, and the meaning of the sen- tence, in this place, are not obvious ; all the ancient Versions, and most of the modern, have mistaken it. Tlie word nu^i'" maaseh, "the work," stands in regimine with jiin^I'O mizbechoth, "altars," not in opposition to it : it means the altars of the work of their hand ; that is of the idols, which are the work of their hands. Olymp. IX. 4. cir. annum Romuli, R. Roman., 13. Maker, and his eyes shall have *■ M. cir. 3263. TT 1 /-\ ^ B. C. cir. 741. respect to the Holy One of Israel. 8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the ^ images. 9 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel : and there shall be desolation. 10 Because thou hast forgotten 'the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips : 11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish : but the harvest shall be V. 13.- 5Mic.vii.7.- h Or, sun iTnages. ■ Psa. Ixviii. 19. Thus Kimchi has explained it, and Le Clerc has fol- lowed him. Verse 9. As a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch — "the Hivites and the Amorites"] tSinn "rnxni hachoresh vehaamir. No one has ever yet been able to make any tolerable sense of these words. The translation of the Septuagint has happily preserved what seems to be the true reading of the text, as it stood in the copies of their time ; though the words are now transposed, either in the text or in their Version ; 01 Afjio^paioi xai oi Euaioi, " the Amorites and the Hi- vites." It is remarkable that many commentators, who never thought of admitting the reading of the Septua- gint, understand the passage as referring to that very event which their Version expresses ; so that it is plain that nothing can be more suitable to the context. " My father," says Bishop Lowth, " saw the necessity of ad- mitting this variation at a time when it was not usual to make so free with the Hebrew text." Mr. Park- hurst is not satisfied with the prelate's adoption of the reading of the Septuagint, " the Hivites and the Amo- rites." He thinks the difficult words should be thus rendered ; he takes the whole verse : " And his forti- fied cities shall be like the leaving, or what is left nDUJO caazubath, of or in a ploughed field, tyinn ha- choresh, or on a branch which they leave coram, before, the children of Israel." Which he considers a plain reference to the Mosaic laws relative to the not glean- ing of their ploughed fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, but leaving 31}' ozeb, somewhat of the fruits, for the poor of the land; Lev. ix. 9, 10 ; Deut. xxiv. 19-21, in the Hebrew. I fear that the text is taken by storm on both interpretations. One MS. has 'ij' Sd col arey, " all the cities ;" and instead of iy'7nn hachalash, " of the branch," six MSS. have tyinn hachodesh, " of the month." But this is probably a mistake. Ver.se 10. Strange slips — "Shoots from a foreign soU."] The pleasant plants, and shoots from a foreign 93 The land sfiadowing CHAP. XVIII. with wings threalenea A- M^ <=!'■ 3263. k a heap ;„ the day of grief and oiymp. IX. 4. of dcsperatc sorrow. 12 Wo to the 'multitude of cir. annum Romuli, F. Roman., 13 many people, which make a noise "■ like the noise of the seas ; and to the rush- ing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of " mighty waters ! 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters : but God shall ° rebuke them, ^ Or, removed in the day of inheritance^ and there shall be deadly sorrow. 'Or, ywise. "'Jer. vi, 23. soil, are allegorical expressions for strange and idol- atrous worship ; vicious and abominable practices con- nected with it ; reliance on Ininian aid, and on alliances entered into with the neighbouring nations, especially Egypt ; to all wliich the Israelites were greatly ad- dicted, and in their expectations from which they should be grievously disappointed. Verse 1'3. Wo to the mullitudc] The three last verses of this chapter seem to have no relation to the foregoing prophecy, to which they are joined. It is a beautiful piece, standing singly and by itself; for neither has it any CDiinexion with what follows : whether it stands in its right place, or not, I cannot say. It is a noble description of the formidable invasion and the sudden overthrow of .Sennacherib ; which is intimated in the strongest terms and the most expressive images, exactly suitable to the event. Like the rushing of mighty waters .'] Five words, three at the end of the twelfth verse, and two at the beginning of the thirteenth, are omitted in eight MSS., with the Syriac ; that is, in effect, the repetition con- tained in the first line of ver. 13 in this translation, is not made. After having observed that it is equally easy to account for the omission of these words by a transcriber if they are genuine, or their insertion if they are not genuine, occasioned by his carrying his eye backwards to the word D'OsS leammim, or for- wards to [INiff" yeshaon, I shall leave it to the reader's and they shall flee far off, and ^^^ ^i'^- ^263. p shall be chased as the chaff of oiymp, ix. ■». , . , ^ , . , cir. annum tiie mountams beiore the wind, RomuU, and like "a rolling thing before '^- "°""^"- '^- the whirlwind. 14 And behold at evening-tide trouble ; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us. nQr, many.- -« Psa. ix. 5. P Psa. Ixxxiii. 13 ; Hos. xiii. 3. n Or, thistle down. judgment to determine whether they are genuine or not. Instead of mon3 cahamoth, " as the roaring," five MSS. and the Vulgate have ;nn3 kehamon, " as the multitude." Averse 14. He is not — " He is no more."] For UJ'S einetmu ten MSS. of Dr. KennicotVs, (three ancient,) ten of De Rossi's, and two editions, and the Septua- gint, Syriac, Chaldec, Vulgate, and Arabic, have Ijyxi reeinenno. This particle, authenticated by so many good vouchers, restores the sentence to its true poeti- cal form, implying a repetition of some part of the parallel line preceding, thus :^ " At the season of evening, behold terror ! Before the morning, and [behold] he is no more !" That spoil lis] For U'DIB' shoseynu, them that spoil us, fifteen MSS., one edition, and the Syriac have UDlty shosenu, him that spoileth us. And for iritaS lehozezeynu, them that rob us, six MSS. and the Syriac have Utiles tebozzeno, him that robbeth us : and these readings make the place answer better to Sennacherib, according to Lowth's conjecture. Though God may permit the wicked to prevail for a time against his peo- ple, yet in the end those shaU be overthrown, and the glory of the Lord shall shine brightly on them that fear him ; for the earth shall be subdued, and the imiverse filled with his glorj'. Amen, and Amen ! CHAPTER XVIII. Thit chapter contains a very obscure prophecy ; possibly designed to give the Jews, and perhaps the Egyp- tians, whose country is supposed to be meant, 1, 2, and W'ith whom many Jews resided, an intimation of God's interposition in favour of Sion, 3, 4; and of his counsels in regard to the destruction of their com- mon enemy, Sennacherib, whose vast army, just as he thought his projects ripe, and ready to be crowned with success, 5, should become a prey to the beasts of the field, and to the fowls of heaven, 6; and that Egypt should be grateful to God for the deliverance vouchsafed her, 7. A. M. cir. 320O. B. C. cir. 714. Oiymp. XVI. 3. cir. annum Numse Pompilii, R. Roman., 2. TU'O " to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia : 2 That sendeth ambassadors by •Chap. XX. 4, 5; Ezek. xxx. 4, 5, 9 ; Zeph. ii. 12 ; iii. 10. This is one of the most obscure prophecies in the whole Book of Isaiah. The subject of it, the end and design of it, the people to whom it is addressed, the A. M. cir. 3290. B. C. cir. 714. Oiymp. XVI. 3. cir. .Tnnum Nnmas Pompilii, R. Roman., 2. the sea, even m vessels of bul- rushes upon the waters, saying. Go, ye swift messengers, to *> a nation " scattered and peeled, to t" Ver. 7. ^ Or, outspread and polished. history to which it belongs, the person who sends the messengers, and the nation to whom the messengers are sent, are all obscure and doubtful. — L. 93 Men should take warning ISAIAH. hy GocTs judgments. '^b'c cir 714° ^ people terrible from their begin- oiymp. XVI. 3. niiiff hitherto ; * a '^ nation meted cir. aimum '^ . , , , NutnsB Pompiiii, oiit and trodden down, 'whose ^ ^°'"''"' ^- land the rivers have spoiled ! d Or, a nation that meteth out^ and treadeth doum. — tion of line, and treading underfoot. s Heb. a na- NOTES ON CHAP. XA^II. Verse 1 . Wo to the land] pX MH hoi arets '. This interjection should be translated ho ! for it is properly a particle of calling : Ho, land ! Attend ! Give ear ! Shadowing with loings — " The winged cymbal"] CiJJD Ti7S tsiltsal kenaphayim. I adopt this as the most probable of the many interpretations that have been given of these word.s. It is BocharCs : see Pha- leg, iv. 2. The Egyptian sistrum is expressed by a periphrasis ; the Hebrews had no name for it in their language, not having in use the instrument itself. The cymbal they had was an instrument in its use and sound not much unlike the sistrum ; and to distinguish it from the sistrum, they called it the cymbal with wings. The cymbal was a round hollow piece of me- tal, which, being struck against another, gave a ring- ing sound : the sistrum was a round instrument, con- sisting of a broad rim of metal, through which from side to side ran several loose lamins or small rods of metal, which being shaken, gave a like sound. These, projecting on each side, had somewhat the appearance of wings ; or might be very properly expressed by the same word which the Hebrews used for wings, or for the extremity, or a part of any thing projecting. The sistrum is given in a medal of Adrian, as the proper attribute of Egypt. See Addison on Medals, Series iii. No. 4 ; where the figure of it may be seen. The frame of the sistrum was in shape rather like the an- cient lyre ; it was not round. If we translate shadowing with wings, it may allude to the multitude of its vessels, whose sails may be represented under the notion of icings. The second verse seems to support this interpretation. Vessels of bulrushes, STJ gome, or rather the flag papyrus, so much celebrated as the substance on which people wrote in ancient times, and from which our paper is denominated. The sails might have been made of this flag : but whole canoes were constructed from it. Mat sails are used to the present day in China. The Vulgate fully understood the meaning of the word, and has accordingly translated, in vasis papyri, " in vessels of papyrus." Uc;S!)i be.sjSellS Old MS. Bib. This interpretation does not please Bp. Lowth, and for his dissent he gives the following reasons : — In opposition to other interpretations of these words which have prevailed, it may be briefly observed that 7jf7y tsiltsel is never used to signify shadoio, nor is ^J3 canaph applied to the sails of ships. If, therefore, the words are rightly interpreted the u-inged cymbal, meaning the sistrum, Egypt must be the country to which the prophecy is addressed. And upon this hy- pothesis the version and explanation must proceed. I farther suppose, that the prophecy was delivered before Sennacherib's return from his Egyptian expedition, which took up three years ; and that it was designed to give to the Jews, and perhaps likewise to the Egyp- 94 3 All ye « inhabitants of the W^^-^^f^' world, and dwellers on the earth, Oiymp. xvi. 3. see ye, ''when he hfteth up an Nu^ma;Pom"iiii, ensign on the mountains ; and R- Roman., 2. f Or, v>hose land the rivers despise. g Jer. i. 14 ; x. 18 ; xlvii. 2 • Hos. iv. 1 ; Joel ii. 1 ; Zech. xi. 6. 1" Chap. v. 26. tians, an intimation of God's counsels in regard to the destruction of their great and powerful enemy. Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia — " Which borders on the rivers of Cush"] What are the rivers of Cush ^ whether the eastern branches of the lower Nile, the boimdary of Egypt towards Arabia, or the parts of the upper Nile towards Ethiopia, it is not easy to determine. The word "\3i'0 meeber signifies either on this side or on the farther side : I have made use of the same kind of ambiguous expression in the translation. Verse 2. In vessels of bulrushes — " In vessels of papyrus"] This circumstance agrees perfectly well with Egypt. It is well known that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships, or boats, made of the reed papyrus. Ex ipso quidem pa- pyro navigia texunt. Pliny, xiii. 11. Conseritur bibula Memphitis cj-mba papyro. LucAN, iv. 136. Go, ye swift 7nessengers] To this nation before mentioned, who, by the Nile, and by their numerous canals, have the means of spreading the report in the most expeditious manner through the whole country : go, ye swift messengers, and carry this notice of God's designs in regard to them. By the swift messengers are meant, not any particular persons specially ap- pointed to this office, but any of the usual conveyers of news whatsoever, travellers, merchants, and the like, the instruments and agents of common fame. These are ordered to publish this declaration made by the prophet tliroughout Egypt, and to all the world ; and to excite their attention to the promised visible inter- position of God. Scattered — " Stretched out in length"] Egypt, that is, the fruitful part, exclusive of the deserts on each side, is one long vale, through the middle of which runs the Nile, bounded on each side to the east and west by a chain of mountains seven hundred and fifty miles in length ; in breadth from one to two or three days' journey : even at the widest part of the Delta, from Pelusium to Alexandria, not above two hundred and fifty miles broad. Egmont and Hayman, and Pococke. Peeled — " Smoothed"] Either relating to the prac- tice of the Egyptian priests, who made their bodies smooth by shaving off their hair, (see Herod, ii. 37 ;) or rather to their country's being made smooth, per- fectly plain and level, by the overflowing of the NUe. Meted out — " Meted out by line"] It is generally referred to the frequent necessity of having recourse to mensuration in Egypt, in order to determine the boun- daries after the inundations of the Nile ; to which even the origin of the science of geometry is by some ascribed. Strabo, lib. xvii. suh init. Trodden down'] Supposed to allude to a peculiar God's interposition in CHAP. XVIII. favour of his peopie. A. M. cir. 3290. •^ylicti hc bloweth a tniiiipet, B. C. cir. 711. ' oij-mp. XVI. 3. liear ye. N«ma."i";;;;;"i,i. 4 For so the lord said unto R. Kuman.. 2. ^^^ j ^^.jjl jj^J^g ^^y j-gst, and I i Or, regard my stl dwelling. method of tillage in use among the Egyptians. Both Herodotus, (lib. ii.,) and Diodorus, (lib. i.,) say that when the Nile had retired within its banks, and the ground became somewhat dry, they sowed their land, and then sent in their cattle, (their hogs, says the for- mer,) to tread in the seed ; and without any farther care expected the harvest. The rwers have spoiled — "The rivers have nou- rished"] The word lNt3 bazeu is generally taken to be an irregular form for ltI3 bazezii, " have spoiled," as four MSS. have it in this place ; and so must of the Versions, boih ancient and modern, understand it. On which .Sc-hultens, Gram. Ileb. p. 491, h.is the follow- ing remark : — " Ne minimam quidem speciem veri ha- bet ISta bazau, Esai. xviii. 2, datum pro 1I»3 hazazii, deripiunl. Ha;c esset anomalia, cui nihil simile in toto lingua; ambitu. In talibus nil finire, vel fateri ex mera agi conjectura, tutius justiusque. Radicem Nr3 baza olim extarc potuisse, quis neget ! Si eognatum quid sectandum erat, ad r\'2 bazah, contemsit, potius decurrendum fuisset ; ut ixa bazeii, pro 112 bazu, sit enuntiatum, vel V?3 baziv. Digna phrasis, flumina contemnunt terrara, i. e., inundant." " NI3 baza, Arab, extulit se superbius, ttem subjecit sibi : wide prat. pi. 1X13 bazeu, subjecerunt sibi, i. e., inundarunt." — Si- monis' Lexic. Heb. A learned friend has suggested to me another expla- nation of the word. Ni3 baza, St/r., and S!'3 beiza, Chald., signifies uber, " a dug," mamma, " a breast ;" agreeablj' to which the verb signifies to nourish. This would perfectly well suit with the Nile : whereas no- thing can be more discordant than the idea of spoiling and plundering ; for to the inundation of the Nile Egypt owed every thing ; the fertility of the soil, and the very soil itself. Besides, the overflowing of the Nile came on by gentle degrees, covering without laying waste the country : " Mira «que natura fluminis, quod ciun cffiteri omnes abluant terras et eviscerent, Nilus tanto ceeteris major adeo nihil exedit, nee abradit, ut contra adjiciat vires ; minimumque in eo sit, quod so- lum temperet. Ulato enim limo arenas saturat ac jungit ; debetque illi yEgjTitus non tantura fertilitatem terrarum, sed ipsas. — Seneea, Nat. Qusest., iv. 2. I take the liberty, therefore, which Schultens seems to think allowable in this place, of hazarding a conjec- tural interpretation. It is a fact that the Ganges changes its course, and overruns and lays barren whole districts, from which it w as a few years back several miles distant. Such changes do not nourish but spoil the ground. Verse 3. When he lifteth up an ensign — " ^^^len the standard is lifted up"] I take God to be the Agent in this verse : and that by the standard and the trumpet are meant the meteors, the thunder, the lightning, the storm, earthquake, and tempest, by which Sennache- rib's army shall be destroyed, or by which at least the destruction of it shall be accompanied ; as it is described will 'consider in my dwelling ^(j'^c''c5r tu"" place bke a clear heat '' upon oiymp. xvi. 3. herbs, and like a cloud of dew NumH! Pompiiii, in the heat of har\-est. "' ^""'" ' ^ •i Or, after rain. in chap. x. 16, 17, xxix. 6, and xxx. 30, 31. See also Psa. l.xxvi., and the title of it, according to the Sepluagint, Vulgate, and AZthiopic. They are called, by a bold metaphor, the standard lifted up, and the trimi- pet sounded. The latter is used by Homer, I think with great force, in his introduction to the battle of the gods ; though I find it has disgusted some of the minor critics : — II. xxi. 388. " Heaven in loud thunders bids the trumpet sound. And wide beneath them groans the rending ground." Pope. "S'erse 4. For so the Lord said unto 7ne — " For thus hath Jehovah said unto me"] The subject of the re- maining part of this chapter is, that God would com- fort and support his own people, though threatened with immediate destruction by the Assyrians ; that Senna- cherib's great designs and mighty efforts against them should be frustrated ; and that his vast expectations should be rendered abortive, when hc thought them ma- ture, and just ready to be crowned with success ; that the chief part of his army should be made a prey for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, (for this is the meaning of the allegory continued through the fflh and sijrth verses ;) and that Eg>-pt, being de- livered from his oppression, and avenged by the hand of God of the wTongs which she had suffered, .should return thanks for the wonderful deliverance, both of herself and of the Jews, from this most powerful ad- versary. Like a clear heat — "Like the clear heat"] The same images are employed by an Arabian poet : — Solis more fer\-ens, dum frigus ; quumque ardet Sirius, turn vero frigus ipse et umbra. Which is illustrated in the note by a like passage from another Arabian poet ; — Calor est hyeme, reftigerium aestate. Excerpta ex Hamasa ; published by Schultens, at the end of Erpenius's Arabic Grammar, p. 425. Upon herbs — " After rain "] " lis aur here signifies rain, according to what is said Job xxxvi. 11:' The cloud scatters his rain.' " — Kimchi. In which place of Job the Chaldee paraphrast does indeed explain niS auro by n">D"D matereyh ; and so again ver. 2 1 and chap, xxxvi. 30. This meaning of the word seems to make the best sense in this place ; it is to be wished that it were better supported. In the heat of harvest — "In the day of harvest."] For Dn3 bechom, in the heat, fourteen M.SS., (several ancient,) the Septuagint, Stjriac, Arabic, and Vulgate read UV2 bei/nm, in the day. The mistake .seems to have arisen from Dn3 kechom in the line above. 95 The prophecy ISAIAH. concerning Egypt. A^^J;"''- ^T?"- 5 For afore the harvest, when B. C. cir. 714. ' oiymp. XVI. 3. the bud is perfect, and the sour cir. annum . . . • .t ^ Numse Pompiiii, grapc IS ripening m the tlower, R. Roman., 2. j^g gj^^^Q j^^j]^ ^^^ ^g- ^j^g gp^jgg with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. 6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth : and the fowls shall summer upon them. ' See Psa. Ixviii. 31 ; Ixxii. 10 ; chap. xvi. 1 ; Zeph. iii. 10 ; V^erse 5. The floxoer — " The blossom "] Heb. Aer blossom ; nVJ nitslsah, that is, the blossom of the vine, [•3J gephen, vine, understood, which is of the common gender. See Gen. xl. 10. Note, that by the defective punctuation of this word, many interpreters, and our translators among the rest, have been led into a grievous mistake, (for how can the swelling grape become a blossom ]) taking the word nVJ nitstsah for the predi- cate ; whereas it is the subject of the proposition, or the nominative case to the verb. Verse 7. The present — "A gift"] The Egyptians were in alliance with the kingdom of Judah, and were fellow-sufferers with the Jews under the invasion of their common enemy Sennacherib ; and so were very nearly interested in the great and miraculous deliver- ance of that kingdom, by the destruction of the Assy- and all the beasts of the shall winter upon them. earth ^i.^A""- ^^oo- B. C. eir. 714. Olymp. XVI. 3. -, T 1 • 1 1 11 ,1 , cir. annum 7 In that time ' shall the present Numis PompiUi, be brought mito the Lord of hosts R- Roman., 2. of a people "^ scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto ; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion. Mai. i. 11. ™ Or, outspread and polished; see ver. 2. rian army. Upon which wonderful event it is said, 2 Chron. xxxii. 23, that " many brought gifts unto Je- hovah to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah ; so that he was magniiied of all nations from henceforth." It is not to be doubted, that among these the Egyptians distinguished themselves in their ac- knowledgments on this occasion. Of a people — " From a people "] Instead of Di' am, a people, the Sepluagint and Vnlgate read cyo meant, from a people, which is confirmed by the repetition of it in the next line. The difference is of importance ; for if this be the true reading, the prediction of the admission of Egypt into the true Church of God is not so explicit as it might otherwise seem to be. How- ever, that event is clearly foretold at the end of the next chapter. — L. CHAPTER XIX. Prophecy concerning Egypt, in which her lamentable condition under the Babylonians, Persians, <^c., is forcibly pointed out, 1-17. The true religion shall be propagated in Egypt; referring primarily to the great spread of Judaism in. that country in the reign of the Ptolemies, and ultimately to its reception of the Gospel in the latter days, 18-22. Profound peace between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, and their blessed condition under the Gospel, 23—25. of Effypt shall be moved at A„'^ '='''• ^f^"- ^•J t' B. C. cir. /14. ''u^r. ""■ ???"■ THE » burden of Egypt. Be- B. C. cir. 714. J^ _ OJ r Olymp. XVI. 3. cir. annum Nuraae Ponipilii, K. Roman., 2. hold, the Lord ''rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt : and "^ the idols 3 Jer. xlvi. 13; Ezek. xxix., xxx. Not many years after the destruction of Sennache- rib's army before Jerusalem, by which the Egyptians were freed from the yoke with which they were threat- ened by so powerful an enemy, who had carried on a successful war of three years' continuance against them ; the affairs of Egypt were again thrown into confusion by intestine broils among themselves, which ended in a perfect anarchy, that lasted some few years. This was followed by an aristocracy, or rather tyranny, of twelve princes, who divided the country between them, and at last by the sole dominion of Psammitichus, which he held for fifty-four years. Not long after that followed the invasion and conquest of Egypt by Ne- buchadnezzar, and then by the Persians under Cam- byses, the son of Cyrus. The yoke of the Persians was so grievous, that the conquest of the Persians by 96 his and the heart Olymp. xvi. 3. cir. annum presence of Egypt shall melt in the midst NumffiPompiUi, r -^ R. Roman., 2. b Psa. xviii. 10 ; civ. 3.- : Exod. xii. 12 ; Jer. xliii. 12. Alexander may well be considered as a deliverance to Egypt ; especially as he and his successors greatly fa- voured the people and improved the country. To all these events the prophet seems to have had a view in this chapter; and in particular, from ver. 18, the pro- phecy of the propagation of the true religion in Egypt seems to point to the flourishing state of Judaism in that country, in consequence of the great favour shown to the Jews by the Ptolemies. Alexander himself set- tled a great many Jews in his new city Alexandria, granting them privileges equal to those of the Mace- donians. The first Ptolemy, called Soter, carried great numbers of them thither, and gave them such encour- agement that still more of them were collected there from different parts ; so that PhUo reckons that in his time there were a million of Jews in that country. The desolations CHAP. XIX. of Egypt. A. M. cir. 3290. 2 And I will •> set • the Eg^-p- B. C. cir. 714. , T-, 1 Olymp. XVI. 3. tians against the Jbgyplians : and NiSJ.'ai PompUii, ' they shall fight every one against R. Roman., 2. j,jg brother, and every one against liis neighbour ; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3 And tlic spirit of Egypt » shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will '' destroy the counsel thereof : and they shall ' seek to the idols, and to tlic charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4 And the EgjT)tians will I ^ give over ' into the hand of a cruel lord ; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. 5 "" Ajid the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river sliall be wasted and dried up. 6 -Ajid they sliall tium the rivers far away ; »iie\i. mineU. 'Judg. vii.22; 1 Sam.iiv. 16,20; 2Chron. xx. 23. fEzck. xxxi.x. 21.— ^Heb. shall be emptied. I'Heb. swallow up. iChap. viii. 19; xlvii. 12. k Or, shut up. ' Chap. XX. •» ; Jer. xlvi. 26 ; Ezek. xxix. 19. These worshipped the God of their fathers ; and their example and influence must have had a great effect in spreading the knowledge and worship of the true God through the whole country. See Bp. Newton on the Prophecies, Dissert, xii. NOTES ON CHAP. XIX. Verse 1. The burden of Egypt.] That is, the pro- phet's declaration concerning Egypt. Verse 3. Thei/ shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the icizards.] Unb tljci 0t\)ttl ajSftcn tljeit jeipmur latrc^i, anb tlicir bcbirini vehithu, and they have caused to err. Fifty of Kennicotfs MSS., fifty-three of De Rossi''s, and one of my own, ancient, thirty- tioo editions, and the Vulgate and Chaldee, omit the 1 van, and. Stay — " Pillars"] nj3 pinnath, to be pointed as plural pinnoth, without doubt. So Grotius, and so the Chaldee. Verse 14. In the midst thereof] " a3"ip3 bekir- 08 cir. 3290. . _, , B. C. cir. 714. work for Egypt, which " the head oiymp. xvi. 3. .-11 , 1 1 cir. annum or tail, branch or rush, may do. Numa Pompiiii, 16 In that day shall Egypt ^- ^°°"'"' ^- '' be like unto women : and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, "^ which he shaketh over it. 17 And the land of Judah shall be a ten'or unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it. 18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt ^ speak ' the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts ; one shall be called. The city ^ of destruction. a Chap. ix. 14.- 15. d Zeph. iii the sun. — bjer. li. 30; Nab. iii. 13. cChap. xi. 9. = Heb. the lip. fOr, of ffcres, or of bam ; so the Septuagint, and perhaps more correctly." — Seeker. So likewise the Chaldee. Verse 15. The head or tail, branch or rusK\ R. D. Kimchi says, there are some who suppose that these words mean the dragon's head and tail ; and re- fer to all those who are conversant in astronomy, as- trology, &c. Verse 16. Shall Egypt be — "The Egyptians shall be"] ViT yihyu, they shall be, plural, MS. Bodl. Septuagint, and Chaldee. This is not proposed as an emendation, for either form is proper. Verse 17. And the land of Judah] The threaten- ing hand of God will be held out and shaken over Egypt, from the side of Judea ; through which the Assyrians will march to invade it. It signifies that kind of terror that drives one to his wit's end, that causes him to reel like a drunken man, to be giddy through astonishment. Such is the import of jn chag, and run chagah. Five MSS. and lioo editions have njnS lechagah. Verse 18. The city of destruction — "The city of the sun"] Dinn TJ' ir hacheres. This passage is at- tended with much difficulty and obscurity. First, in regard to the true reading. It is well known that Onias applied it to his own views, either to procure from the king of Egypt permission to build his temple in the Hieropolitan Nome, or to gain credit and au- thority to it when built ; from the notion which he in- dustriously propagated, that Isaiah had in this place prophesied of the building of such a temple. He pre- tended that the very place where it should be built was expressly named by the prophet, Oinn TJ7 ir ha- cheres, the city of the sun. This possibly may have been the original reading. The present text has Dinn Ti' ir haheres, the city of destruction ; which some suppose to have been introduced into the text by the Jews of Palestine afterwards, to express their de- testation of the place, being much offended with this ( 7» ) Promises of the conversion CHAP. XIX. and happmess of Egypt. A. M. c.r. 3290. jg [„ ^jjat dav « shall there be B. C. cir. il4. ■' . Olymp. XVI. 3. an altar to the Lord in the midst Numse Pom^ii. °^ ^''^ land of Egypt, and a pillar R. Roman.. 2. ^^ j|,g border thereof to the Lord. 20 And *" it shall be for a sign and for a wit- ness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt : for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21 And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyjjtians shall know the Lord in that day, and ' shall do sacrifice and oblation ; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. 22 And the Lord shall smite Egypt : he «Gen. xxviii. 18; Eioii. xxiv. 4; Josh. xxii. 10,26,27.- Josh. iv. 20 ; xxii. 27. -'See schismatical temple in Egypt. Some think the latter to have been the true reading; and that the prophet himself gave this turn to the name out of contempt, and to intimate the demolition of this Hieropolitan temple ; which in effect was destroyed by Vespasian's orders, after that of Jerusalem, " Videtur propheta consulto scripsisse Din heres, pro Din cheres, ut alibi scribitur |1S n'3 beilh aven pro Sx n'3 beith El : l^'N niyi ish hosheth pro '7J'3 K^'N ish had, &c. Vide Loioth in loc." — Seeker. " It seems that the prophet de- signedly wrote Din heres, destruction, for Din cheres, the sun : as elsewhere jlS n"3 beith aven the house of iniquity, is written for ;N n"3 beith El, the house of God ; i\ia2 tyS tsh bosheth for hy2 liTH ish baal," &c. But on the supposition that Dinn I'J? air haheres is the true reading, others understand it differently. The word Din heres in Arabic signifies a Hun ; and Con- tad Ikenius has wTitten a dissertation (Dissert. Philol. Theol. XVI.) to prove that the place here mentioned is not Heliopolis, as it is commonly supposed to be, but Leontopolis in the Heliopolitan Nome, as it is in- deed called in the letter, whether real or pretended, of Onias to Ptolemy, which Josephus has inserted in his Jewish Antiquities, lib. xiii. c. 3. And I find that several persons of great learning and judgment think that Ikenius has proved the point beyond contradic- tion. See Christian. Muller. Satura Observ. Philolog. Mtchaelis Bibliotheque Oriental, Party., p. 171. But, after all, I believe that neither Onias, Heliopolis, nor Leontopolis has any thing to do with this subject. The application of this place of Isaiah to Onias's pur- pose seems to have been a mere invention, and in consequence of it there may perhaps have been some unfair management to accommodate the text to that purpose ; which has been carried even farther than the Hebrew te.xt ; for the Greek version has here been either translated from a corrupted text, or wilfully mis- translated or corrupted, to serve the same cause. The place is there caUed croXij Atsibix, the city of right- eousness ; a name apparently contrived by Onias's par- ty to give credit to their temple, which was to rival shall smite and heal it : and they *■ "■ <='.■■■ 329p- •^ B. C. cir. 714. shall return even to the Lord, oiymp. xvi. 3. and he shall be intreated of Numae PompiUi, them, and shall heal them. ^ "°'"''" ' ^- 23 In that day ^ shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Ass)rria, even a blessing in the midst of the land : 25 Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt ray people, and Assyria ' the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. 'Mai. i. 11. kChap.xi. 16. iPsa. c. 3 ; chap. xjdx. 23; Hos. ii. 23 ; Eph. ii. 10. that of Jerusalem. Upon the whole, the true reading of the Hebrew text in this place is very uncertain ; fifteen MSS. and seven editions have Din cheres, the city of Hacheres, or, of the sun. So likewise Sym- machus, the Vulgate, Arabic, Septuagint, and Complu- tensian. On the other hand, Aqmla, Theodotion, and the Syriac read Din heres, destruction ; the Chaldee paraphrase takes in both readings. The reading of the text being so uncertain, no one can pretend to determine what the city was that is here mentioned by name ; much less to determine what the four other cities were which the prophet does not name. I take the whole passage from the 18th verse to the end of the chapter, to contain a general intima- tion of the future propagation of the knowledge of the true God in Egypt and Syria, under the successors of Alexander ; and, in consequence of this propagation, of the early reception of the Gospel in the same coun- tries, when it should be published to the world. See more on this subject in Prideaux's Connect. An. 145 ; Dr. Owen''s Inquiry into the present state of the Sep- tuagint Version, p. 4 1 ; and Bryonies Observations on Ancient History, p. 124. — L. Verse 19. An altar to the Lord] niX3"i tsebaoth, " of hosts," or Yehovah tsebaoth, is added by etght MSS. of good repute, and the Syriac Version. Verse 23. Shall there be a highioay] Under the latter kings of Persia, and under Alexander, Egypt, Judea, and Assyria lived peaceably under the same government, and were on such friendly terms that there was a regular, uninterrupted intercourse between them, so that the AssjTian came into Egj'pt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and Israel became the third, i. e., was in strict union with the other two; and was a blessing to both, as affording them some knowledge of the true God, ver. 24. Verse 25. Blessedhe Egypt — Assyria — and Israel] All these countries shall be converted to the Lord. Concerning Egypt, it was said, chap, xviii. 7, that it should bring gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem. Here it is predicted, ver. 19, that there shall be an altar to 99 The Assyrians ISAIAH. shall oppress Egypt. the Lord in Egypt itself; and that they, with the Assyrians, shall become the people of God with the Israelites. This remains partly to be fulfilled. These countries shall be all, and perhaps at no very distant time from this, converted to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. CHAPTER XX. The Prophet Isaiah a sign to Egypt and Cush or Ethiopia, that the captives and exiles of these countries shall be indignantly treated by the king of Assyria, 1—6. A. M. cir. 3290. TN the year that ^ Tartan came B. C. cir. 714. 1 » , 1 J , 1 cj Oiymp. XVI. 3. unto Ashdod, (when bargon Numae Pom^iii, the king of Assyria sent him,) and R. Roman., 2. fg^ght against Ashdod, and took it ; 2 At the same time spake the Lord ''by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying. Go and loose the " sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, ^ walking naked and barefoot. 3 And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years ''for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia ; «2 Kings xviii. 17. *> Heb. by the hand of Isaiah. — xiii. 4. ^ 1 Sam. xii. 24; Mic. i. 8, 11. — — eChap. f Heb. the captivity of Egypt. -c Zech. viii. 18. NOTES ON CHAP. XX. Tartan besieged Ashdod or Azotus, which probably belonged at this time to Hezekiah's dominions ; see 2 Kings xviii. 8. The people expected to be relieved by the Cushites of Arabia and by the Egyptians. Isaiah was ordered to go uncovered, that is, without his upper garment, the rough mantle conmionly worn by the prophets, (see Zech. xLii. 4,) probably three days, to show that within three years the town should be taken, after the defeat of the Cushites and Egyp- tians by the king of Assyria, which event should make their case desperate, and induce them to surrender. Azotus was a strong place ; it afterwards held out twenty-nine years against Psammitichus, king of Egypt, Herod, ii. 157. Tartan was one of Sennacherib's generals, 2 Kings xviii. 17, and Tirhakah, king of the Cushites, was in alliance with the king of Egypt against Sennacherib. These circumstances make it probable that by Sargon is meant Sennacherib. It might be one of the seven names by which Jerome, on this place, says he was called. He is called Sacher- donus and Sacherdan in the book of Tobit. The taking of Azotus must have happened before Sennacherib's attempt on Jerusalem ; when he boasted of his late conquests, chap, xxxvii. 25. And the warning of the prophet had a principal respect to the Jews also, who were too much inclined to depend upon the assistance of Egypt. As to the rest history and chronology af- fording us no light, it may be impossible to clear either this or any other hypothesis, which takes Sargon to be Shalmaneser or Asarhaddon, &c., from all difficulties. — L. Kimchi says, this happened in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah. Verse 2. Walking naked and barefoot.] It is not 100 4 So shall the king of Assyria '^b.'c'. ck. Tif lead away ' the Egyptians prison- Oiymp. xvi. 3. , % ^ .^■' . '■ . cir. annum ers, and the Lthiopians captives, Nums Pompiiii, young and old, naked and bare- "^'""^"' ^- foot, ^ even with their buttocks uncovered, to the ^ shame of Egypt. 5 ' And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt theii: glory. 6 And the inhabitant of this '' isle shall saj in that day. Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria : and how shall we escape ' i2Sam. X. 4; chap. iii. 17; Jer. xiii. 22, 26; Mic. i. 11. iiHeb. nakedness. > 2 Kings xviii. 21; chap. xxx. 3, 5, 7; xxxvi. 6. k Or, country ; Jer. xlvii. 4. probable that the prophet walked uncovered and bare- foot for three years ; his appearing in that manner was a sign that within three years the Egyptians and Cushites should be in the same condition, being con- quered and made captives by the king of Assyria. The time was denoted as well as the event ; but his appear- ing in that maimer for three whole years could give no premonition of the time at aU. It is probable, therefore, that the prophet was ordered to walk so for three days to denote the accomplishment of the event in three years ; a day for a year, according to the prophetical rule. Num. xiv. 34; Ezek. iv. 6. The words n^'D' tySiy shalosh yamim, three days, may pos- sibly have been lost out of the text, at the end of the second verse, after ^n'' yacheph, barefoot ; or after the same word in the third verse, where, in the Alexan- drine and Vatican copies of the Sepiuagint, and in MSS. Pachom. and i. D. ii. the words Tpia srrj, three years, are twice expressed. Perhaps, instead of w'lt!) □'D' shalosh yamim, three days, the Greek translator might read O'JtJ' tS'Sa' shalosh shanim, three years, by his own mistake, or by that of liis copy, after "^V yacheph in the third verse, for which stands the first T^ia STfj, three years, in the Alexandrine and Vatican Septuagint, and in the two M.SS. above mentioned. It is most likely that Isaiah's walking naked and barefoot was done in a vision ; as was probably that of the Prophet Hosea taking a wfe of whoredoms. None of these things can well be taken literally. From thy foot] jSjl ragleycha, thy feet, is the reading of thirty-four of KennicotCs and De RossVs MSS., four ancient editions, with the Septuagint, Sy- riac, Vulgate, and Arabic. The destruction of CHAP. XXI. Babylon foretold CHAPTER XXI. Prediction of the tahng of Babylon by the Medes and Persians at the time of a great festival, 1—9. Short applica- tion of the prophecy to the Jews, partly in the person of God, and partly in his own, 10. Obscure prophecy respect- ing Dumah, 11,12. Prophecy concerning the Arabians to be fulfilled in a very short time after its delivery, 13-17. 'PHE burden of the desert of the sea. As * wliirlwinds in the south pass through ; so it Cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. 2 A '' gi-ievous vision is declared unto me ; "the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, A. M. cir. 3290. B. C. cir. 714. Olymp. XVI. 3. cir. aiinum NumffiPompilii, R, Roman., 2. • Zech. ix. 14.- i-Heb. Aard.- «Chap. xxxiii. 1. ''Chap. The first ten verses of this chapter contain a pre- diction of the taking of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. It is a passage singular in its kind for its brevity and force, for the variety and rapidity of the movements, and for the strength and energy of co- louring with which the action and event are painted. It opens with the prophet's seeing at a distance the dreadful storm that is gathering and ready to burst upon Babylon. The event is intimated in general terms, and God's orders are issued to the Persians and Medes to set forth upon the expedition which he has given them in charge. Upon this the prophet en- ters into the midst of the action ; and in the person of Babylon expresses, in the strongest terms, the astonish- ment and horror that seizes her on the sudden surprise of the city at the very season dedicated to pleasure and festivity, ver. 3, 4. Then, in his own person, describes the situation of things there, the security of the Babylonians, and in the midst of their feasting the sudden alarm of war, ver. 5. The event is then de- clared in a very singular manner. God orders the prophet to set a watchman to look out, and to report what he sees ; he sees two companies marching on- ward, representing by their appearance the two nations that were to execute God's orders, who declare that Babylon is fallen, ver. 6-9. But what is this to the prophet, and to the Jews, the object of his ministry ? The application, the end, and design of the prophecy are admirably given in a short, expressive address to the Jews, partly in the per- son of God, partly in that of the prophet : " O my thresh- ing— " " O my people, whom for your punishment I shall make subject to the Babylonians, to try and to prove you, and to separate the chaff from the corn, the bad from the good, among you ; hear this for your consolation : your punishment, your slavery, and op- pression will have an end in the destruction of your op- pressors."— L. NOTES ON CHAP. XXI. Verse 1. The desert of the sea] This plainly means Babylon, which is the subject of the prophecy. The country about Babylon, and especially below it to- wards the sea, was a great flat morass, overflowed by the Euphrates and Tigris. It became habitable by being drained by the many canals that were made in it. Herodotus, lib. i. 184, says that " Semiramis con- fined the Euphrates within its channel by raising great dams against it ; for before il overflowed the whole and the spoiler spoilelh. ^ Go *b "^C "dr 714'' up, 0 Elam : besiege, 0 Media ; oi)-mp. xvi. 3. all the sighing thereof have I Numae PompTiii, made to cease. "■ R"'""'.^- 3 Therefore are " my loins filled with pain : f pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travailcth : I was bowed down xiii.17: Jer. xlix. 34.- ' Chap. XV. 5; xvi. 11. fChap.xiii.8. country like a sea." And Abydenus, (quoting Megas- thenes, apud Euseb. Prsep. Evang. IX. 41,) speaking of the building of Babylon by Ncbuchadonosor, says, " it is reported that all this part was covered with water, and was called the sea ; and that Belus drew off the waters, conveying them into proper receptacles, and surrounded Babylon with a wall." When the Euphra- tes was turned out of its channel by Cyrus, it was suf- fered still to drown the neighbouring country ; and, the Persian government, which did not favour the place, taking no care to remedy this inconvenience, it be- came in time a great barren morassy desert, which event the title of the prophecy may perhaps intimate. Such it was originally ; such it became after the tak- ing of the city by Cyrus ; and such it continues to this day. As loliirlwinds in the south — " Like the southern tempests"] The most vehement storms to which Judea was subject came from the desert country to the south of it. " Out of the south cometh the wliirlwind," Job xxxvii. 9. " And there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house," Job i. 19. For the situation of Idumea, the country (as I suppose) of Job, see Lam. iv. 81 compared with Job i. 1, was the same in this respect with that of Judea : — " And Jehovah shall appear over them. And his arrow shall go forth as the lightning , And the Lord Jehovah shall sound the trumpet ; And shall march in the whirlwinds of the south." Zech. ix. 14. Verse 2. The treacherous dealer dealeth treacher- ously, and the spoiler spoileth — " The plunderer is plundered, and the destroyer is destroyed."] 1 JU 1J13n •niB' nnityni habboged boged vehashshoded shaded. The MSS. vary in expressing or omitting the 1 vau, in these four words. Ten M.SS. of Kennicott are without the 1 vau in the second word, and eight MSS. are without the 1 vau in the fourth word ; which justifies Symma- chus, who has rendered them passively : 6 a^STUv o^ETEiTKi xai 0 TttXaiirupi^uv ToXaiirupEi. He read "WTJJ ^1J3 bagud shadud. Cocceius (Lexicon in voce) observes that the Chaldee very often renders the verb TJ3 bagad, by Tt2 bazaz, he spoiled ; and in this place, and in xxxiii. 1, by the equivalent word 03N anas, to press, give trouble ; and in chap. xxiv. 1 6 both by DjX anas and i;3 bazaz; and the Syriac in this place ren- ders it by D^O talam, he oppressed. All the sighing thereof have I made to cease — " i 101 The destruction of ISAIAH. Babylon foretold. \ *c "cir 714*'' ^^ ^^ hearing of it ; I was dis- Oiymp. XVI. 3. maved at the seeing of it. Cir. annum . -n*- i t r r ^ Numa! Pompiiii, 4 « My heart panted, leartul- ^- ^°°'^"' ^- ness affrighted me : >> the night of my pleasure hath he ' turned into fear unto me. 5 '' Prepare the table, watch in the watch- tower, eat, drink : arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. 6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. 7 ' And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels ; and he hearkened diligently with much heed : g Or, my mind tvandered.- k Dan. V. 5. ' Ver. 9. — X3C. 24 : ver. 5 ; Hab. ii. 1 — — hDeut. xxviii. 67.- ->n Or, cried as a lion.- — o Or, every night. ' Heb. put. J> 2 Chron. have put an end to all her vexations"] Heb. " Her sighing ; that is, the sighing caused by her." So Jiim- chi on the place : " It means those who groaned through fear of him : for the suffixes of the nouns refer both to the agent and the patient. All those who groan- ed before the face of the king of Babylon he caused to rest;" Chald. And so likewise J^/^Arem Syr. in loc, edit. Assemani : " His groans, viz., the grief and tears which the Chaldeans occasioned through the rest of the nations." Verse 5. Prepare the table — " The table is prepar- ed"] In Hebrew the verbs are in the infinitive mood absolute, as in Ezek. i. 14 : " And the animals ran and returned, ^li^l KIVT ratso veshob, like the appearance of the lightning ;" just as the Latins say, currere et re- verti, for currebant et revertebantur. See chap, xxxii. 11, and the note there. Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.] Kimchi observes that several of the rabbins understood this of Belshazzar's impious feast and death. The king of a people is termed the shield, because he is their defence. The command, Anoint the shield, is the same with Anoint a new king. Belshazzar being now suddenly slain, while they were all eating and drinking, he advises the princes, whose business it was, to make speed and anoint another in his stead. Verse 7. And he saw a chariot, Sfc. — " And he saw a chariot with two riders ; a rider on an ass, a rider on a camel"] This passage is extremely obscure from the ambiguity of the term 331 recheb, which is used three times, and which signifies a chariot, or any other vehicle, or the rider in it ; or a rider on a horse, or any other animal ; or a company of chariots, or riders. The prophet may possibly mean a cavalry in two parts, with two sorts of riders ; riders on asses or mules, and riders on camels ; or led on by two riders, one on an ass, and one on a camel. However, so far it is pretty clear, that Darius and Cyrus, the Medes and the Persians, are intended to be distinguished by the two riders on the two sorts of cattle. It appears from Herodotus, i. 80, that the baggage of Cyrus' army was carried on camels. In his engagement with Croesus, he took off the bag- 102 8 And ■" he cried, A lion : My *• M- "'• ^mo- -' B. C. cir. 714. lord, I stand continually upon the oiymp. xvi. 3. " watchtower in the day-time, and Nums PompiUi, I am set in my ward "whole nights: R- Roman., 2. 9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, p Babylon is fallen, is fallen ; and 1 all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. 10 "■ 0 my threshing, and the = scorn of my floor : that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. 1 1 ' The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night ? Watchman, what of the night ? P Jer. li. 8 ; Rev. xiv. 8 ; xviii. 2. 1 Chap. xlvi. 1 ; Jer. I. 2 ; Ii. 44. rjer. li. 33. sHeb. son. 1 1 Chron. i. 30; Jer. xlix. 7, 8; Ezek. xxxv. 2; Obad. 1. gage from the camels, and mounted his horsemen upon them ; the enemy's horses, offended with the smell of the camels, turned back and fled. — L. Verse 8. And he cried, A lion — " He that looked out on the watch"] The present reading, ri'lN aryeh, a lion, is so unintelligible, and the mistake so obvious, that I make no doubt that the true reading is riNlH haroeh, the seer; as the SyWac translator manifestly found it in his copy, who renders it by Npn duka, a watchman Verse 9. Here cometh a chariot of men, (^c. — "A man, one of the two riders"] So the Syriac under- stands it, and Ephrem Syr. Verse 10. O my threshing] "0 thou, the object upon which I shaU exercise the severity of my disci- pline ; that shall lie under my afflicting hand, like corn spread upon the floor to be threshed out and winnowed, to separate the chaff from the wheat !" The image of threshing is frequently used by the Hebrew poets, with great elegance and force, to express the punishment of the wicked and the trial of the good, or the utter dispersion and destruction of God's enemies. Of the different ways of threshing in use among the Hebrews, and the manner of performing them, see the note on chap, xxviii. 27. Our translators have taken the liberty of using the word threshing in a passive sense, to express the ob- ject or matter that is threshed ; in which I have fol- lowed them, not being able to express it more properly, without departing too much from the form and letter of the original. " Son of my floor," Heb. It is an idiom of the Hebrew language to call the effect, the object, the adjunct, any thing that belongs in ahnost any way to another, the son of it. " O my threshing." The prophet abruptly breaks off the speech of God ; and instead of continuing it in the form in which he had begun, and in the person of God, " This I declare unto you by my prophet," he changes the form of ad- dress, and adds, in his own person, " This I declare unto you from God." ^'erse 1 1 . The burden of Dumah — " The oracle concerning Dumah."] Pro nan Dumah, Codex R. Meiri habet ons Edom; and so the Septuagint. Vid ITie prophecy CHAP. XXI. concerning Arabia. A.M.cir. 3290. 12 The Watchman said, The B. C. cir. 714. J , , oiyinp. XVI. 3. moming Cometh, and also the cir. annum UIl. UllllUUI . I - c .11 .... Numffi PompiUi, night : if yc will inquire, mqmre R. Roman., 2. yg . j-gium, come. 13" The burden upon Arabia. In the forest "Jer. xlix. -'1 Chron. i. 9, 32. Kimchi ad h. 1. Biblia Michaelis, Halte, 1720, not. ad 1. See also De Rossi. Bishop Lowth translates the prophecy thus : — 11. The oracle concerning Ditmah. A voice crieth to me from Seir : Watchman, wliat from the night % Watchman, what from the night % 12. The watclmian replieth : — The morning cometh, and also the night. If ye will inquire, inquire ye : come again. This differs very little from our common Version. One of Kennicott's MSS., and one of my own, omit the repetition, " Watchman, wliat from the night 1" This prophecy, from the uncertainty of the occasion on which it was uttered, and from the brevity of the expression, is extremely obscure. The Edomites as well as the Jews were subdued by the Babylonians. They inquire of the prophet how long their subjec- tion is to last : he intimates that the Jews should be delivered from their captivity ; not so the Edom- ites. Thus far the interpretation seems to carry with it some degree of probability. A\Tiat the meaning of the last line may be, I cannot pretend to divine. In this difficulty the Hebrew MSS. give no assistance. The MSS. of the Septuagint, and the fragments of the other Greek Versions, give some variations, but no light. This being the case, I thought it best to give an exact literal translation of the whole two verses, which may serve to enable the English reader to judge in some measure of the foundation of the various in- terpretations that have been given of them. The burden of Dtimah. — R. D. Kimchi says, " His father understood this of the destruction of Dumah (one of the cities of the Ishmaelites) by the inhabit- ants of Seir ; and that they inquired of the prophet to know the particular time in which God had given them a commission against it. The prophet answered : The morning — the time of success to you, cometh, is just at hand ; and the nighl — the time of ulter destruction to the inhabitants of Dumah, is also ready." I have heard the words applied in the way of gene- ral exhortation. 1. Every minister of God is a icatch- man. He is continually watching for the safety and interests of his people, and looking for the counsel of God that he may be properly qualified to warn and to comfort. 2. Such are often called to denounce heavy judgments ; they have the burden of the word of the Lord to denounce against the impenitent, the back- slider, the lukewarm, and the careless. 3. WTien the watchman threatens judgments, some are aivakened, and some mock : Watchman, what of the night ? " What are the judgments thou threatenest, and when are they to take place '" 4. To this question, whether seriously or tauntingly proposed, the watchman answers : 1. The moming cometh — there is a time of repentance (rranted ; a morning of God's long-suffering kindness in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye ^^^ "^^ ^• traveUing companies ' of De- oiymp. xvi, 3. J cir. annum danim. Numas PompiUi, 14 The inhabitants of the land ^- '^'°'^"- ^- of Tema ^ brought water to him that was * Or, bring ye. now appears : and also the night — the time in which God will no longer wait to be gracious, but will cut you off as cumbercrs of the ground. 2. But if you will inquire seriously how you are to escape God's judgments, inquire ye. 3. There is stUl a door of hope; continue to pray for mercy. 4. Return from your iniquities. 5. Come to God, through Christ, that ye may obtain salvation. Verse 13. The burden upon Arabia — "The ora- cle concerning Arabia"] This title is of doubtful authority. In the first place, because it is not in many of the MSS. of the Septuagint ; it is in MSS. Pachom. and i. D. n. only, as far as I can find with certainty. Secondly, from the singularity of the phraseology ; for xra massa is generally prefixed to its object without a preposition, as "733 XB'O massa babel ; and never but in this place with the preposition 3 beth. Besides, as the word 31i'3 baarab occurs at the very beginning of the prophecy itself, the first word but one, it is much to be suspected that some one, taking it for a proper name and the object of the prophecy, might note it as such by the words 31J'3 Xiya massa baarab written in the margin, which he might easily transfer to the text. The Septuagint did not take it for a proper name, but render it sv tu 5|u(i6J kitifspa.;, " in the forest, in the evening," and so the Chaldee, which I follow ; for otherwise, the forest in Arabia is so indeterminate and vague a description, that in effect it means nothing at all. This observa- tion might have been of good use in clearing up the foregoing very obscure prophecy, if any light had arisen from joining the two together by removing the separating title ; but I see no connexion between them. The Arabic Version has, " The prophecy concerning the Arabians, and the children of Chedar." This prophecy was to have been fulfilled within a year of the time of its delivery, see ver. 16 ; and it was probably delivered about the same time with the rest in this part of the book, that is, soon before or after the 14th of Hezekiah, the year of Sennacherib's invasion. In his first march into Judea, or in his return from the Egyptian expedition, he might perhaps ovemin these several clans of Arabians ; their distress on some such occasion is the subject of this prophecy. — L. A'erse 14. The land of Tema — "The southern country"] 0ai(/.av, Sept. ; Austri, Vulg. They read p'n teiman, which seems to be right ; for probably the inhabitants of Tema might be involved in the same calamity with their brethren and neighbours of Kedar, and not in a condition to give them assistance, and to relieve them, in their flight before the enemy, with bread and water. To bring forth bread and water is an instance of common humanity in such cases of distress ; especially in those desert countries in which the common necessaries of life, more par- ticularly water, are not easily to be met with or pro- 103 The prophecy ISAIAH. against Jerusalem. % 'c' ch^ m*' '■'lirsty, they prevented with their Oiymp. XVI. 3. bread him that fled. Numffi Pompilii, 15 For they fled ^ from J' the R. Roman.. 2. g.jvoids, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievous- ness of war. 16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, t Or, /or /ear. --y Heb. /rom the face. zChap. xvi. 14. cured. Moses forbids the Ammonite and Moabite to be admitted into the congregation of the Lord to the tenth generation. One reason which he gives for this reprobation is their omission of the common offices of humanity towards the Israelites ; " because they met them not with bread and water in the way, when they came forth out of Egypt," Deut. xxiii. 4. Verse 17. The archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar — " The mighty bowmen of the sons of Kedar"] Sagitlariorum fortium, Vulg. ; trans- posing the two words, and reading nsyp "lUJ gibborey kesheth ; which seems to be right. The strong men of the bow, the most excellent archers. Within a year, ^ according to the ^^ ^ «i^^- f^°- years of a hirehng, and all the oiymp. xvi. 3. glory of ^ Kedar shall fail : Nu°m■ Chap. xv. 1. or heard in tlie streets, any public spectacle, any alarm of a public nature, every one immediately goes up to the house-top to satisfy his curiosity. In the same manner, when any one has occasion to make any thing public, the readiest and most effectual way of doing it is to proclaim it from the house-tops to the people in the streets. " What ye hear in the ear, that publish ye on the house-top," saith our Saviour, Matt. x. 27. The people running all to the tops of their houses gives a lively image of a sudden general alarm. Sir John Chardin's MS. note on this place is as follows : " Dans les festes pour voir passer quelque chose, et dans les maladies pour les annoncer aux voisins en allumant des luraieres, le peuple monte sur les terrasses." " In fes- tivals, in order to see what is going forward, and in times of sickness, in order to indicate them to neigh- bours by lighting of candles, the people go up to the house-tops." Verse 3. All thy rulers — are bound by the archers — "All thy leaders — are fled from the bow"] There seems to be somewhat of an inconsistency in the sense according to the present reading. If the leaders were bound, nON usseru, how could they flee away \ for their being bound, according to the obvious construc- tion and course of the sentence, is a circumstance prior to their flight. I therefore follow Houbigant, who reads non huscnt, rcmoti sunt, " they are gone ofl^." I'^J falu, transmigraverunt, Chaldee ; which seems to con- firm this emendation. Verse 6. Chariots of men — "The Syrian"] It is not easy to say what CDlK 331 recheh adarr., a chariot of men, can mean. It seems by the form of the sen- tence, which consists of three members, the first and the third mentioning a particular people, that the second should do so likewise. Thus Otyisi cj-ix 3313 be- rechch aram uparashim, " with chariots the Syrian, and with horsemen :" the similitude of the letters ~\ daleth and 1 resh is so great, and the mistakes arising from it are so frequent, that I readily adopt the correction of Houbigant, QIS aram. Syria, instead of Qnx adam. 7 And it sliall come to pass, that ^^ «; "^^^ f^- ''thy choicest valleys shall be full oiymp.xvii. i. f. , . , , , cir. annum of chEiriots, and the horsemen Numa Pompiiii, shall set themselves in array 'at _on>an2^ the gate. 8 And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to tlie armoiu ■" of the house of the forest. 9 "Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many ; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool. 10 And ye have numbered the houses of Je- rusalem, and the houses have ye broken down, to fortify the wall. 11 ° Ye made also a ditch between the two ' Heb. made naked. k Hcb. (Ac choice of thy valleys. ' Ol, toward. " 1 Kings vii. 2 ; x. 17. " 2 Kings xx. 20 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 4, 5, 30. oNeh. iii. 16. man; which seems to me extremely probable. The conjunction 1 vau, and, prefixed to O'lyiiJ parashim, horsemen, seems necessary in whatever way the sen- tence may be taken ; and it is confirmed hy five MSS., (one ancient,) /our of De Rossi's, and two ancient of my own ; one by correction of Dr. KennicotCs, and three editions. Kir was a city belonging to the Medes. The Medes were subject to the Assyrians in Hezekiah's time, (see 3 Kings xvi. 9, and xvii. 6 ;) and so perhaps might Elam (the Persians) likewise be, or auxiliaries to them. Verse 8. The armour — " The arsenal "] Budt by Solomon within the city, and called the house of the forest of Lebanon ; probably from the great quantity of cedar from Lebanon which was employed in the building. See 1 Kings vii. 2, 3. Verse 9. Ye gathered together the waters — " And ye shall collect the waters"] There were two pools in or near Jerusalem, supplied by springs : the upper pool, or the old pool, supplied by the spring called Gihon, 2 Cliron. .xxxii. 30, towards the higher part of the city, near Sion, or the city of David, and the lower pool, probably supplied by Siloam, towards the lower part. When Hezekiah was threatened with a siege by Sen- nacherib, he stopped up all the waters of the fountains without the city ; and brought them into the city by a conduit, or subterranean passage cut through the rock ; those of the old pool, to the place where he had a dou- ble wall, so that the pool was between the two walls. This he did in order to distress the enemy, and to sup- ply the city during the siege. This was so great a work that not only the historians have made particular mention of it, 2 Kings xx. 20 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 2, 3, 5, 30 ; but the son of Sirach also has celebrated it in his encomium on Hezekiah. " Hezekiah fortified his city, and brought in water into the midst thereof; he digged the hard rock with iron, and made wells for water," Ecclus. xlviii. Verse 11. TJnto the maker thereof — "To him that hath disposed this"] That is, to God the Author and 105 The prophecy ISAIAH. against Jerusalem. A. M. cix. 3292. ^^lls for the water of the old B. C. cir. 712. , , , ,11 pool : but ye liave not looked p the maker thereof, nei- Olymp. XVII. 1 cir. annum Numx Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. unto ther had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago. 12 And in that day did the Lord God of hosts 1 call to weeping, and to mourning, and •' to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth : 13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and pSee chap, xxxvii. 26. qjoel i. 13. 'See Ezra ix. 3; chap. XV. 2; Mic. i. 16. sChap. Ivi. 12; Wisd. ii. 6; 1 Cor. Disposer of this visitation, the invasion with which he now threatens you. The very same expressions are applied to God, and upon the same occasion, chap. xxxvii. 26 : — " Hast thou not heard of old, that I have disposed it ; And of ancient times, that 1 have formed it V Verse 13. Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.] This has been the language of all those who have sought their portion in this life, since the foundation of the world. So the poet : — Heu, heu nos miseri ! quam totus homuncio nil est ! Sic erimus cuncti, postquam nos auferet orcus. Ergo vivamus, dum licet esse, bene. Alas, alas ! what miserable creatures are we, only the semblances of men ! And so shall we be aU when we come to die. Therefore let us live joyfully while we may. Domitian had an image of death hung up in his di- ning-room, to show his guests that as life was uncer- tain, they should make the best of it by indulging them- selves. On this Martial, to flatter the emperor, whom he styles god, wrote the following epigram : — Frange thoros, pete vina, tingere nardo. Ipse jubet mortis te meminisse Deus. Sit down to table — drink heartily — anoint thyself with spikenard ; for God himself commands thee to re- member death. So the adage : — Ede, bibe, lude : post mortem nulla voluptas. « Eat, drink, and play, while here ye may : No revelry after your dying day." St. Paul quotes the same heathen sentiment, 1 Cor. XV. 32 : " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." Anacreon is full in point, and from him nothing bet- ter can be expected : — 'ns ouv ST eu5i' ErfTiv, Kai irivs xai ot/Ssus Kan ffirev^E tcj Auaiu- M»l VOUffOJ, 1]V Tiff eXSj), As/T), Cs (A»] bit *ivEiv. Anac. Od. XV., 1. 11. " While no tempest blots your sky, Drink, and throw the sportful dye : But to Barrhus drench the ground, 106 shall Olymp. XVII.l cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. druiking wine; 'let us eat and ■3'^^^^ m^' drink, for to-morrow we die. 14 ' And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts. Surely this iniquity " shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts. 1 5 Thus saith the Lord God of hosts. Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto " Shebna, " which is over the house, and say. XT. 32. ■ Chap. T. 9. " 1 Sam. iii. 14 ; Ezek. xxiv. 13. '2 Kings xviii. 37 ; chap, xxxvi. 3. " 1 Kings iv. 6. Ere you push the goblet round ; Lest some fatal illness cry, ' Drink no more the cup of joy.' " Addison. Verse 14. It was revealed in mine ears — "The voice of Jehovah "] The Vulgate has vox Domini ; as if in his copy he had read niD'' Sip iol Yehovah ; and in truth, without the word Sip iol, voice, it is not easy to make out the sense of the passage ; as appears from the strange versions which the rest of the ancients, (except the Chaldee,) and many of the modems, have given of it ; as if the matter were revealed in or to the ears of Jehovah : sv toij utfi Kujiou, in the ears of the Lord, Septuagint. Vitringa translates it, Re- velatus est in auribus meis Jehovah, " Jehovah hath revealed it in mine ears ;" and refers to 1 Sam. ii. 27 ; iii. 21 : but the construction in those places is different, and there is no speech of God added ; which here seems to want something more than the verb nSjJ nigleh to introduce it. Compjire chap. v. 9, where the text is still more imperfect. The Lord God of hosts] niN3X nTI" 'J^N Adonai Yehovah tsebaoth. But "JHN Adonai, Lord, is omitted by ttco of Kennicott's and De Rossfs MSS., and by two of my own ; by three editions, and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic. Verse 15. Go — unto Shebna] The following pro- phecy concerning Shebna seems to have very little re- lation to the foregoing, except that it might have been delivered about the same time ; and Shebna might be a principal person among those whose luxury and pro- faneness is severely reprehended by the prophet in tho conclusion of that prophecy, ver. 11—14. Shebna the scribe, mentioned in the history of He- zekiah, chap, xxxvi., seems to have been a different person from this Shebna, the treasurer or steward of the household, to whom this prophecy relates. The Eliakim here mentioned was probably the person who, at the time of Sennacherib's invasion, was actually treasurer, the son of Hilkiah. If so, this prophecy was delivered, as the preceding, (which makes the for- mer part of the chapter,) plainly was, some time be- fore the invasion of Sennacherib. As to the rest, history affords us no information. " And say unto him"] Here are two words lost out of the text, which are supplied by two of Dr. Ken- nicotCs MSS., one ancient, which read vSn maN1 veamarta elaiv, and thou shalt say tinto him ; by the Septuagint, xai Ewov auTU, and in the same maimer by all the ancient versions. It is to be observed thai Prophecy concerntng CHAP. XXII. Shebna and Eliakim. A.M. cir. 3292. jg What hast thou here? and Oiymp. xvi'i."!. whom hast thou here, that thou Nu™a=~,Ui, hast hewed thee out a sepulchre R. Roman., 4. jjgj.g^ x g^ j^g y ihat heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth a habitation for himself in a rock ? 17 Behold, nhe Lord will carry thee away with °a miglily captivity, ''and will surely cover thee. 18 He will surely violently ttun and toss thee like a ball into a = large country : there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house. 19 And I will drive thee from thy station, »0r, OAr. J 2 Sam. xviii. 18; Matt, xxvii. 60. «0r, iht LORD who covered thee wUh an cxceltent covering, and clothed thee gorgeously, shxdl surely, &c. ; ver. 18. this passage is merely historical, and does not admit of that sort of ellipsis by which in the poetical parts a person is frequently introduced speaking, without the usual notice, that what follows was delivered by him. Verse 16. .4 sepulchre on high — in a rod] It has been observed before, on chap, xiv., that persons of high rank in Judea, and in most parts of the east, were generally buried in large sepulchral vaults, hewn out in the rock for the use of themselves and their fa- milies. The vanity of Shebna is set forth by his being so studious and careful to have his sepvilchre on high — in a lofty vault ; and that probably in a high situation, that it might be more conspicuous. Heze- kiah was buried, nS;"^'? lemalah, sv avafSadsi, Sept. : in the chiefest, says our translation ; rather, in the highest part of the sepulchres of the sons of David, to do him the more honour, 2 Chron. sxxii. 33. There are some monuments still remaining in Persia of great antiquity, called Nalssi Rustam, which give one a clear idea of Shebna's pompous design for his sepulchre. They consist of several sepulchres, each of them hewn in a high rock near the top ; the front of the rock to the valley below is adorned with carved work in re- lievo, being the outside of the sepulchre. Some of these sepulchres are about thirty feet in the perpendi- cular from the valley ; which is itself perhaps raised above half as much by the accumulation of the earth since they were made. See the description of them in Chardin, Pietro della Valle, Thevenot, and Kempfer. Diodorus Siculus, lib. xvii., mentions these ancient monuments, and calls them the sepulchres of the kings of Persia. — L. Verse 17. Cover thee] That is, thy face. This was the condition of mourners in general, and particularly of condemned persons. See Esther vi. 12; vii. 8. Verse 19. I u-ill drive thee] IDIDX ehersecha, in the first person, St/r. Vulg. Verse 21. To the inhabitants] 'aa'vS leyoshehey, in the plural number, four of Dr. KennicotCs MSS., (two ancient,) and two of De Rossi's, with the Septua- gint, Syriac, and Vulgate. Verse 22. And the key of the house of David will I lav upon his shoulder] As the robe and the baldric, and from thy state shall he pull ^^ «. cir. ^. thee down. oiymp. xvii. i. , . , ,, "^ir- annum 20 And it shall come to pass Numa; Pompiiii, in that day, that I will call my ^ "°"'^" ' *■ servant '^ Eliakim the son of Hilkiah : 21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand : and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Je- rusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And tlie key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder ; so he shall " open, and none shall shut : and he shall shut, and none shall open. • Heb. the captivity of a man. 1> Esth. vii. 8. =Hcb large of spaces. ''2 Kings iviii. 18. «Job xii. 14; Rev iii. 7. mentioned in the preceding verse, were the ensigns of power and authorit)', so likewise was the key the mark of oflSce, either sacred or civil. The priestess of Juno is said to be the key-bearer of the goddess, xXeiOoup^og "Hpaf .Eschyl. Suppl. 299. A female high in office under a great queen has the same title : — KaXXi^oj] liKitSovj^og OXuftiriaiof jSaiiksirig. " Callithoe was the key-bearer of the Olympian queen." Auctor Phoronidis ap. Clem. Alex. p. 418, edit. Potter. This mark of office was likewise among the Greeks, as here in Isaiah, borne on the shoulder ; the priestess of Ceres, xaTW(iai5iav £;;(: xKaiSa, had the key on her shoulder. Callim. Ceres, ver. 45. To comprehend how the key could be borne on the shoulder, it will be necessary to say something of the form of it : but without entering into a long disquisition, and a great deal of obscure learning, concerning the locks and keys of the ancients, it will be sufficient to observe, that one sort of keys, and that probably the most ancient, was of considerable magnitude, and as to the shape, very much bent and crooked. Aratus, to give his reader an idea of the form of the constellation Cassio- peia, compares it to a key. It must be owned that the passage is very obscure; but the learned Huetius has bestowed a great deal of pains in explaining it, Ani- madvers. in Manilii, lib. i. 355 ; and I think has suc- ceeded very well in it. Homer, Odyss. xxi. 6, de- scribes the key of Ulysses' storehouse as suxa(A'n->)s, of a large curvature ; which Eustathius explains by say- ing it was i^S'^ta.vociSr,;, in shape like a reaphook. Huetius says the constellation Cassiopeia answers to this description ; the stars to the north making the curve part, that is, the principal part of the key ; the southern stars, the handle. The curve part was intro- duced into the key-hole ; and, being properly directed by the handle, took hold of the bolts within, and moved them from their places. We may easily collect from this account, that such a key would lie very well upon the shoulder; that it must be of some considerable size and weight, and could hardly be commodiously carried otherwise. Ulvsses' kev was of brass, and the 107 Prophecy concerning Eliakim, A. M. cir. 3292, B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1, cir. annum Numte Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. 23 And I will fasten him as ^ a nail in a sure place ; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. 24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from ISAIAH. the son of Hilkiah the vessels of cups, even to all the *• M- cii. 3292. ^ ' B. C. cir. 712. 5 vessels of flagons. Olymp. xvii. i. 25 In that day, saith the Lord NumaB Pompilii, of hosts, shall the '^ nail that is fEzra ix. 8. handle of ivory : but tliis was a royal key. The more common ones were probably of wood. In Egypt they have no other than wooden locks and keys to this day ; even the gates of Cairo have no better. Baumgarten, Peregr. i. 18. Thevenot, part ii., chap. 10. But was it not the representation of a key, either cut out in cloth and sewed on the shoulder of the garment, or em- broidered on that part of the garment itself? The idea of a huge key of a gate, in any kind of metal, laid across the shoulder, is to me very ridiculous. In allusion to the image of the key as the ensign of power, the unlimited extent of that power is ex- pressed with great clearness as well as force by the sole and exclusive authority to open and shut. Our Saviour, therefore, has upon a similar occasion made use of a like manner of expression. Matt. xvi. 19 ; and in Rev. iii. 7 has applied to himself the very words of the prophet. Verse 23. A nail] In ancient times, and in the eastern countries, as the way of life, so the houses, were much more simple than ours at present. They had not that quantity and variety of furniture, nor those accommodations of all sorts, with which we abound. It was convenient and even necessary for them, and it made an essential part in the building of a house, to furnish the inside of the several apartments with sets of spikes, nails, or large pegs, upon which to dispose of and hang up the several movables and utensils in common use, and proper to the apartment. These spikes they worked into the walls at the first erection of them, the walls being of such materials that they could not bear their being driven in afterwards ; and they were contrived so as to strengthen the walls by binding the parts together, as weU as to serve for convenience. Sir John Chardin's account of this mat- ter is this : — " They do not drive with a hammer the nails that are put into the eastern walls. The walls are too hard, being of brick ; or, if they are of clay, too mouldering : but they fix them in the brick-work as they are building. They are large nails, with square heads like dice, well made, the ends being bent so as to make them cramp-irons. They commonly place them at the windows and doors, in order to hang upon them, when they like, veils and curtains." Harmer''s Observ. i., p. 191. And we may add, that they were put in other places too, in order to hang up other things of various kinds ; as appears from this place of Isaiah, and from Ezek. xv. 3, who speaks of a pin or nail, " to hang any vessel thereon." The word used here for a nail of this sort is the same by which they ex- press that instrument, the stake, or large pin of iron, with which they fastened down to the ground the cords of their tents. We see, therefore, that these nails 108 R. Roman., 4. fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall ; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it. eOr, uistruments of viols. 1 Ver. 23. were of necessary and common use, and of no small importance in all their apartments ; conspicuous, and much exposed to observation ; and if they seem to us mean and insignificant, it is because we are not ac- quainted with the thing itself, and have no name to express it but by what conveys to us a low and con- temptible idea. " Grace hath been showed from the Lord our God," saith Ezra, chap. ix. 8, " to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place :" that is, as the margin of our Bible explains it, " a constant and sure abode." " He that doth lodge near her (Wisdom's) house. Shall also fasten a pin in her walls." Ecclus. xiv. 24. The dignity and propriety of the metaphor appears from the Prophet Zechariah's use of it : — " From him shall be the corner-stone, from him the nail, From him the battle-bow. From him every rulei together." Zech. x. 4. And Mohammed, using the same word, calls Pharaoh the lord or master of the nails, that is, well attended by nobles and officers capable of administering his afl^airs. Koran, Sur. xxxviii. 11, and Ixxxix. 9. So some un- derstand this passage of the Koran. Mr. Sale seem? to prefer another interpretation. Taylor, in his Concordance, thinks 1T\' yathed means the pillar or post that stands in the middle, and sup- ports the tent, in which such pegs are fixed to hang their arms, &c., upon ; referring to Shawns Travels, p. 287. But nri" yathed is never used, as far as appears to me, in that sense. It was indeed necessary that the pillar of the tent should have such pegs on it for that purpose ; but the hanging of such things in this man- ner upon this pillar does not prove that niT yathed was the piUar itself. A glorious throne — " A glorious seat"] That is, his father's house and all his own family shall be gloriously seated, shall flourish in honour and pros- perity ; and shall depend upon him, and be supported by him. Verse 24. All the glory] One considerable part of the magnificence of the eastern princes consisted in the great quantity of gold and silver vessels which they had for various uses. " Solomon's drinking ves- sels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold ; none were of silver ; it was nothing accounted of in Solomon's days ;" 1 Kings x. 2 1 . " The vessels in the house of the forest of Lebanon," the armoury of Jerusalem so called, " were two hundred targets, and three hun- dred shields of beaten gold." Ibid. ver. 16,17. These The prophecy CHAP. XXIII. against Tyre. were ranged in order upon the walls of the armoury, (see Cant. iv. 4,) upon pins worked into the walls on purpose, as above mentioned. Eliakim is considered as a principal stake of this sort, immovably listened in the wall for the support of all vessels destined for common or sacred uses ; that is, as the principal sup- port of the whole civil and ecclesiastical polity. And the consequence of his continued power will be the promotion and flourishing condition of his fiimily and dependants, from the highest to the lowest. Vessels of flagons — " Meaner vessels"] D'Saj neha- lim soems to mean earthen vessels of common use, brit- tle, and of little value, (see Lam. iv. 2; Jer. xlviii. 12,) in opposition to niJJN aganoth, goblets of gold and sil- ■■er used in the sacrifices. Exod. xxiv. 6. Verse 25. The nail that is fastened] Tliis must be understood of Shebna, as a repetition and confirmation of the sentence above denounced against him. What is said of Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, ver. 20—24, is very remarkable ; and the literal meaning is not ea.sy to be understood. From chap. ix. 6, and from Rev. iii. 7, it seems to belong to our Lord alone. The removal of Shebna from being over the treasure of the Lord's house, ver. 19, and the investiture of Eliakim with his rohe, girdle, office, and government, ver. 20, &c., probably point out the change of the Jewish priesthood, and the proclaiming of the unchangeable priesthood of Christ. See Psa. ex. 4. Eliakim sig- nifies The resurrection of the Lord ; or, My God, he shall arise. Hilkiah signifies The Lord my portion or lot. The key of David, shutting and ojiening, &c., may intend the way of salvation tlirough Christ alone. For the hope of salvation and eternal life conios oidy through Eliakim, the resurrection of Jesus Clurist from the dead. It is said, ver. 24, " They shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house" — for, in Jesus Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; and the offspring and the issue, □"NXNyn hatslsectsaim from NX' yatsa, to go out, — the suckers from the root ; the side- shoots, the apostles and primitive ministers of liis word. The issue, ri'\V^2'iT\hatstsephioth, probably means iheissue^s issue; sotheTargum. The grandchildren, all those who believe on the Lord Jesus through their word. " The nail that is fastened in the sure place shall be removed," ver. 25, Kimchi refers not to Eliakim, but to Shebna, ver. 17—19. By, " They shall hang upon him all vessels of small quantity and large quantity," has been understood the dependence of all souls, of all capacities, from the loivest in intellect to the most exalt- ed, on the Lord Jesus, as the only Saviour of all lost human spirits. As the literal interpretation of this prophecy has not been found out, we are justified from parallel texts to consider the whole as referring to Jesus Christ, and the government of the Church, and the redemption of the world by him. Nor are there many prophecies which relate to him more clearly than this, taken in the above sense. CHAPTER XXIII. Prophecy denouncing the aestruction oj Tyre hy Nebuchadnezzar, delivered upwards of one hundred and twenty years before its accomplishment, at a period when the Tynans were in great prosperity, and the Babylonians in abject subjection to the Assyrian empire ; and, consequently, when an event of so great magnitude was improbable in the highest degree, 1-14. Tyre shall recover its splendour at the termination of seventy years, the days of one king, or kingdom, by ivhich must be meant the time allotted for the du- ration of the Babylonish empire, as otherwise the prophecy cannot be accommodated to the event, 15-17. Supposed reference to the early conversion of Tyre to Christianity, 18. A. M. cir. 3289. B. C. cir. 715. Olymp. XVI. 2. cir. annum Nuniffi Pompilii, R. Roman., 1. 'pHE » burden of T3Te. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish ; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in : ""from the •Jer. XXV. 22 ; xlvii. 4 ; Ezek. xivi., xxvii., xxviii ; NOTES ON CHAP. XXIIL Verse 1. The burden of Tyre] Tyre, a city on the coast of SjTia, about lat. 32° N. was built two thousand seven hundred and sixty years before Christ. There were two cities of this name ; one on the continent, and the other on an island, about half a mile from the shore ; the city on the island was about four miles in circumference. Old Tyre resisted Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years ; then the inhabitants carried, so to speak, the city to the forementioned island, ver. 4. This new city held out against Alexander the Great for seven months ; who, in order to take it, was obliged to fill up the channel which separated it from the main land. In A. D. 1289 it was totally destroyed by the land of Chittim to them. it is revealed A- M. dr. 3289. B. C. cir. 715. Olymp. XVI. 2 2 Be <^ Still, ye inhabitants of NumffipljmJIiiii, the isle; thou whom the mer- ^- ^°'"''"-' '■ Amos i. 9 ; Zech. ix. 2, 4. 1) Ver. 12.- 'Heb. silent. sultan of Egypt; and now contains only a few huts, in which about fifty or sixty wTCtched families exist. This desolation was foretold by this prophet and by Ezekiel, one thousand nine hundred years before it took place ! Howl, ye ships of Tarshish] This prophecy de- nounces the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. It opens with an address to the TjTian negotiators and sailors at Tarshish, (Tartessus, in Spain,) a place which, in the course of their trade, they greatly fre- quented. The news of the destruction of Tyre by Nebu- chadnezzar is said to be brought to them from Chittim, the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean ; " for the Tyrians," savs Jerome on ver. 6, " when thev saw they 109 TTie prophecy ISAIAH. against Tyre A. M. cir. 3289. B C. cir. 715. Olymp. XVI. 2, cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 1. cliants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. 3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue ; and * she is a mart of nations. 4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon : for the sea hath spoken, eve?i the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. 5 "As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. 6 Pass ye over to Tarshish ; howl, ye in- habitants of the isle. d Ezelt. xxvii. 3.- -e Chap. xix. 16. from afar off. f Chap. xxii. 2. s Heb. had no other means of escaping, fled in their ships, and took refuge in Carthage and in the islands of the Ionian and .iEgean sea." From whence the news would spread and reach Tarshish ; so also Jarchi on the same place. This seems to be the most probable interpre- tation of this verse. Verse 2. Be still — " Be silent"] Silence is a mark of grief and consternation. See chap, xlvii. 5. Jere- miah has finely expressed this image : — " The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, they are silent : They have cast up dust on their heads, they have girded themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground." Lam. ii. 10. Verse 3. The seed of Sihor — " The seed of the Nile"] The NUe is called here Shichor, as it is Jer. ii. 18, and 1 Chron. xiii. 5. It had this name from the blackness of its waters, charged with the mud which it brings down from Ethiopia when it over- flows, Et viridem JEgyptum nigra fecundal arena ; as it was called by the Greeks Melas, and by the Latins Melo, for the same reason. See Servius on the above line of Virgil, Georg. iv. 291. It was called Siris by the Ethiopians, by some supposed to be the same with Shichor. Egypt, by its extraordinary fertility, caused by the overflowing of the Nile, supplied the neighbouring nations with corn, by which branch of trade the Tyrians gained great wealth. Verse 4. Be thou ashamed, O Zidon] Tyre is called, ver. 12, the daughter of Sidon. "The Sidonians," says Justin, xviii. 3, " when their city was taken by the king of Ascalon, betook themselves to their ships, and landed, and built T3rre." Sidon, as the mother city, is supposed to be deeply affected with the calamity of her daughter. Nor bring up virgins — " Nor educated virgins."] 'JT^OV^l veromamti ; so an ancient MS. of Dr. Kenni- cott's, prefixing the 1 vau, which refers to the negative preceding, and is equivalent to N7I velo. See Deut. xxiii. 6 ; Prov. xxx. 3. Two of my own MSS. have 1 vau in the margin. 110 7 Is whose days ? A.M. cir. 3289 B. C. cir. 715. Olymp. XVI. 2 cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 1. this your ^joyous city, antiquity is of ancient her own feet shall carry her ^ afar off to sojourn. 8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, ^ the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth ? 9 The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, ' to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. 10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish : there is no more ^ strength. 11 He stretched out his hand over the sea. ^ See Ezek. xxviii. 2, 12. ^Heb. girdle. pollute.- -k Heb. Verse 7. Whose antiquity is of ancient days — - " Whose antiquity is of the earliest date"] Justin, in the passage above quoted, had dated the building of Tyre at a certain number of years before the taking of Troy ; but the number is lost in the present copies. Tyre, though not so old as Sidon, was yet of very high anti- quity : it was a strong city even in the time of Joshua. It is called "\X li'^a Ty ir mibtsar tsor, " the city of the fortress of Sor," Josh. xix. 29. Interpreters raise difficulties in regard to this passage, and will not allow it to have been so ancient ; with what good reason I do not see, for it is called by the same name, " the fortress of Sor," in the history of David, 2 Sam. xxiv. 7, and the circumstances of the history determine the place to be the very same. See on ver. 1. Whose antiquity is of ancient days, may refer to Palstyrus, or Old Tyre. Her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.'] This may belong to the new or insular Tyre ; her own feet, that is, her own inhabitants, shall carry hei — shall transport the city, from the continent to the island. " But the text says, it shall be carried far off; and the new city was founded oidy half a mile distant from the other." I answer, pimo merachok does not always signify a great distance, but distance or interval in general ; for in Josh. iii. 4 pim rachok is used to express the space between the camp and the ark, which we know to have been only two thousand cubits. Some refer the sojourning afar off to the ex- tent of the commercial voyages undertaken by the Tyrians and their foreign connexions. Verse 10 O daughter of Tarshish] Tyre is caUed the daughter of Tarshish ; perhaps because, Tyre be- ing ruined, Tarshish was become the superior city, and might be considered as the metropolis of the Tyrian people ; or rather because of the close connexion and perpetual intercourse between them, according to that latitude of signification in which the Hebrews use the words son and daughter to express any sort of conjunc- tion and dependence whatever. niO mezach, a girdle, which collects, binds, and keeps together the loose raiment, when applied to a river, may mean a mound, mole, or artificial dam, which contains the waters, and The desolation CHAP. XXIII. of Tyre. A M. cir. 3289. jjg sliook the kingdoms : the B. C. cir. 715. .... ° , oiytnp. XVI. 2. LoRD hatli given a cominandnient cir annum , • . ,., .i \ , i . Num!« Pompiiii, 'against ""the merchant city, to R. Roman., 1. dgstroy the " strong holds thereof. 1 2 And lie said, ° Tlioii shall no more re- joice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon : arise, f pass over to Chittim ; there also shah thou have no rest. 1 3 Behold the land of the Chaldeans ; this ' Or, concerning a merchantman, ™ Heb. Canaan. » Or, strengths. prevents them from spreading abroad. A city taken by siege and destroyed, whose walls are demolished, whose policy is dissolved, whose wealth is dissipated, whose people is scattered over the wide countrj', is compared to a river whose batiks are broken down, and whose waters, let loose and overflowing all the neighbouring plains, are wasted and lost. This may possibly be the meaning of this very obscure verse, of which I can find no other interpretation that is at all satisfactorj'. — L. Verse 13. Behold the land of llie Chaldeans] Tliis verse is extremely obscure ; the obscurity arises from the ambiguity of tlie agents, which belong to the verbs, and of the objects expressed by the pronouns ; from the change of number of the verbs, and of gender in the pronouns. The MS.S. give us no assistance, and the ancient Versions very little. The Chaldee and Vulgate read nnty samoah, in the plural number. I have followed the interpretation which, among many different ones, seemed to be most probable, that of Perizonius and Vitringa. The Chaldeans, Chasdim, are supposed to have had their origin, and to have taken their name, from Chesed, the son of Nachor, the brother of Abraham. They were known by that name in the time of Moses, who calls Ur in Mesopotamia, from whence Abraham came, to distinguish it from other places of the same name, Ur of the Chaldeans. And Jeremiah calls them an ancient nation. This is not inconsistent with what Isaiah here says of them : " This people was not," that is, they were of no account, (see Deut. xxxii. 21 ;) they were not reckoned among the great and potent nations of the world till of later times ; they were a rude, uncivilized, barbarous people, without laws, with- out settled habitations ; wandering in a wide desert country (□"X tsiyim) and addicted to rapine like the wild Arabians. Such they are represented to have been in the time of Job, chap. i. 17, and such they con- tinued to be till Assur, some powerful king of AssjTia, gathered them together, and settled them in Babylon in the neighbouring country. This probably was Ni- nus, whom I suppose to have lived in the time of the Judges. In this, with many eminent chronologers, I follow the authority of Herodotus, who says that the Assyrian monarchy lasted but^re hundred and tu-enty years. Ninus got possession of Babylon from the Cuthean Arabians ; the successors of Nimrod in that empire collected the Chaldeans, and settled a colony of them there to secure the possession of the city, which he and his successors greatly enlarged and ornament- people was not, till the Assyrian *■ "* '='.'■• ^^89. founded it for i them that dwell oiymp. xvi. 2. , ., , , cir. annum m tlie Wilderness : tliey set up Numoe Pompiiii, the towers thereof, they raised R- R°'"''°- '■ up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. 14 ' Howl, ye ships of Tarshish : for youi strength is laid waste. 15 And it shall come to pass in that day, Ver. 1; oRev. xriii. 22. pVer. 1. q Psa. l«ii. 9.- Ezek. jtxvii. 25, 30. ed. They had perhaps been useful to him in his wars, and might be likely to be farther useful in keeping un- der the old inhabitants of that city, and of the country belonging to it ; according to the policy of the Assy- rian kings, who generally brought new people into the conquered countries ; see Isa. xxxvi. 17 ; 2 Kings xvii. 6, 24. The testimony of Dicffarchus, a Greek histo- rian contemporary with Alexander, {apud. Steph. de Urbibus, in voc. XaXcJaios,) in regard to the fact is re- markable, though he is mistaken in the name of the king he speaks of He says that " a certain king of Assvria, ihe fourteenth in succession from Ninus, (as he might be, if Ninus is placed, as in the common chronology, eight hundred years higher than we have above set him,) named, as it is said, Chaldecus, having gathered together and united all the people called Chal- deans, built the famous city, Babylon, upon the Eu- phrates."— L. A''erse 14. Howl, ye ships] The Prophet Ezekiel hath enlarged upon this part of the same subject with great force and elegance : — " Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Tyre : — At the sound of thy fall, at the cry of the wounded. At the great slaughter in the midst of thee, shall not the islands tremble t And shall not all the princes of the sea descend from their thrones. And lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroid- ered garments ^ They shall clothe themselves with trembling, they shall sit on the ground ; They shall tremble every moment, they shall be as- tonished at thee. And they shall utter a lamentation over thee, and shall say unto thee : How art thou lost, thou that wast inhabited from the seas ! The renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants ! That struck with terror all her neighbours ! Now shall the coasts tremble in the day of thy fall. And the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure." Ezek. x.Kvi. 15-18. Verse 15. According to the days of one king] That is, of one kingdom ; see Dan. vii. 17, viii. 20. Nebu- chadnezzar began his conquests in the first year of his reign ; from thence to the taking of Babylon by Cyrus are seventy years, at which time the nations subdued by Nebuchadnezzar were to be restored to liberty. Ill A prediction of ISAIAH. general judgments. A. M. cir. 3289. B. C. cir. 715. Olymp. XVI. 2. nir. annum Nunia3 Pompilii, R. Roman., 1. that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king : after the end of seventy years ^ shall Tyre sing as a harlot. 16 Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten ; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. 17 And it shall come to pass after the end s Heb. it shall be unto Tyre as the song of a harlot. These seventy years limit the duration of the Baby- lonish monarchy. Tyre was taken by him towards the middle of that period ; so did not serve the king of Babylon during the whole period, but only for the re- maining part of it. This seems to be the meaning of Isaiah ; the days allotted to the one king or kingdom, are seventy years ; Tyre, with the rest of the conquer- ed nations, shall continue in a state of subjection and desolation to the end of that period. Not from the be- ginning and through the whole of the period ; for, by being one of the latest conquests, the duration of that state of subjection in regard to her, was not much more than half of it. " All these nations," saith Jeremiah, XXV. II, "shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." Some of them were conquered sooner, some later ; but the end of this period was the common term for the deliverance of them all. There is another way of computing the seventy years, from the year in which Tyre was actually taken to the nineteenth of Darius Hystaspis ; whom the Phoenicians, or Tyrians, assisted against the lonians, and probably on that account might then be restored to their former liberties and privileges. But I think the former the more probable interpretation. — L. Sing as a harlot'] Fidicinam esse meretricum est, says Donatus in Terent. Eunuch, iii. 2, 4. Nee meretrix tibicina, cujus Ad strepitum salias. Hor. I. Epist. xiv. 85. of seventy years, that the Lord ^■'^^ '^'.f- 3289. wiU visit Tyre, and she shall turn Olymp. xvi. 2 to her hire, and 'shall commit Numis Pompilii fornication with all the king- R- «°'""'- 1- doms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18 And her merchandise and her hire "shall be holiness to the Lord : it shall not be trea- sured nor laid up ; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat suiSciently, and for '' durable clothing. I Rev. xvii. 2. " Zech. xiv. 20, 21.- 'Heb. oM. " Nor harlot minstrel sings, when the rude sound Tempts you with heavy heels to thump the ground." Francis. Sir John Chardin, in his MS. note on this place, says : — C'est que les vielles prostitutes, — ne font que chanter quand les jeunes dancent, et les animer par I'instrument et par la voix. " The old prostitutes do nothing but sing, while the young ones dance ; and animate them both by vocal and instrumental music." Verse 17. After the end of seventy years] Tyre, after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, recovered, as it is here foretold, its ancient trade, wealth, and grandeur ; as it did likewise after a second destruction by Alexander. It became Christian early with the rest of the neighbouring countries. St. Paul himself found many Christians there. Acts xxi. 4. It suffered much in the Diocletian persecution. It was an archbishopric under the patriarchate of Jerusalem, with fourteen bish- oprics under its jurisdiction. It continued Christian tUl it was taken by the Saracens in 639 ; was reco- vered by the Christians in 1124; but in 1280 was conquered by the Mamelukes, and afterwards taken from them by the Turks in 1517. Since that time it has sunk into utter decay ; is now a mere ruin, a bare rock, " a place to spread nets upon," as the Prophet Ezekiel foretold it should be, chap. xxvi. 14. See Sandy^s Travels ; Vitringa on the place ; Bp. Newton on the Prophecies, Dissert, xi. CHAPTER XXIV. Dreadful judgments impending over the people of God, 1—4. Particular enumeration of the horrid impieties which provoked the Divine vengeance, 5, 6. Great political wretchedness of the transgressors, 7-12. The calamities shall he so great that only a small remnant shall be left in the land, as it loere the gleanings of the vintage, 13. The rest, scattered over the different countries, spread there the knowledge of God, 14-16. Strong figures hy which the great distress and long captivity of the transgressors are set forth, 17-22. Gracious promise of a redemption from captivity ; and of an extension of the kingdom of God in the latter days, attended tvith such gloriovs circumstances as totally to eclipse the light and splendour of the previous dispensation, 9 3 . A.. M. cir 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum NumK Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. "QEHOLD, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and mak- eth it waste, and " turneth it upside down, and scatter- a Heb. perverleth the face thereof. From the thirteenth chapter to the twenty-third in- clusive, the fate of several cities and nations is de- 112 eth abroad thereof. the inhabitants a. M; cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. 2 And it shall be, as with the Num»p'ompiUi, people, so with the ^ priest ; <= as R- Roman., 4. ^ Or, prince.- ' Hos. iv. 9. nounced : of Babylon, of the Philistines, Moab, Da- mascus, Egypt, Tyre. After having foretold the de- Predictions against CHAP. XXIV. the Jews and others. A. M. cir. 3292. ^yj^jj jjje servant, so with his mas- B. C. nr. .12. . , , • i • i oiymp. XVII. !. tcr ; as With the maid, so with Num:i- Pompilii, hcr iiii-slress ; '' as with the buyer, R. Kuman., 4. g^ ^^j^j^ j],g gclicr ; as witli llic lender, so with the borrower ; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. 3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled : for the Lord hath spoken this word. 4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, tlic world languisheth and fadeth away, ° the iiaughty people of the earth do languish. 5 ' The earth also is defiled \mder the in- habitants thereof; because they have trans- gressed the laws, changed tlie ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore hath » the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell tiierein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. 7 "^ The new wine mourneth, the vine lan- guisheth, all the men-y-hearted do sigh. Chap. xiii. 10; Ix. 19; Ezek. xxxii. 7; Joel ii. 31 ; iii. 15. = Rev. xix. 4,6. ^Heb. xii. 22. « Or, there shall be glory before his ancients. cordingly the whole world natural, consisting of heaven and earth, signifies the whole world politic, consisting of thrones and people ; or so much of it as is consi- dered in prophecy : and the things in that world sig- nify the analogous things in this. For the heavens and the things therein signifj' thrones and dignities, and those who enjoy them ; and the earth with the things thereon, the inferior people ; and the lowest parts of the earth, called hades or hell, the lowest or most mi- serable part of them. Great earthquakes, and the shaking of heaven and earth, are put for the shaking of kiyigdoms, so as to distract and overthroiv them ; the creating a neiv heaven and earth, and the passing away of an old one, or the beginning and end of a world, for the rise and ruin of a body politic signified there- b)'. The sun, for the whole species and race of kings, in the kingdoms of the world politic ; the moon, for the body of the common people, considered as the king's wife ; the stars, for subordinate princes and great men ; or for bishops and rulers of the people of God, when the sun is Christ : setting of the sun, moon, and stars, darkening the sun, turning the moon into blood, and falling of the stars, for the ceasing of a kingdom." Sir /. Newton'^s Observations on the Prophecies, Part I., chap. 2. These observations are of great consequence and use, in explaining the phraseology of the pro- phets. CHAPTER XXV. TTie short glance which the prophet gave at the promised restoration of the people of God and the Messiah's kingdom, in the close of the preceding chapter, makes him break out into a rapturous song of praise in this, where, although he alludes to temporal mercies, such as the destruction of the cities which had been at war with Zion, the ruin of Moab, and other signal interpositions of Divine Providence in behalf of the Jews ; yet he is evidently impressed with a more lively sense of future and much higher blessings under the Gospel dispensation, in the plenitude of its revelation, of tchich the temporal deliverances vouchsafed at various times to the primitive kingdoms of Israel and Judah tcere the prototypes, 1-5. These biasings are de- scribed under the figure of a feast made for all nations, 6 ; the removing of a veil from their faces, 7 ; the total extinction of the empire of death by the resurrection from the dead, the exclusion of all sorrow, and the final overthrow of all the enemies of the people of God, 8-12. 116 Thanksgiving for ISAIAH. approaching deliverance A M. cir. 3292. (-\ Lorj,, thou aH mv God ; »I B. C. cir. 712. V^ .„ , , T 11 oij-mp. XVII. 1. will exalt thee, I will praise Numa pSS^iii, thy name ; ^ for thou hast done R. Roman,, 4. Tj^oi^derful things ; " thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. 2 For thou hast made * of a city a heap ; of a defenced city a ruin : a palace of strangers to be no city ; it shall never be built. 3 Therefore shall the strong people ° glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. 4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, ' a re- • Exod. XV. 2 ; Psa. cxviii. 28. ^ Psa. xcviii. 1. xxiii. 19. -J Chap. xxi. 9 ; xsiii. 13 ; Jer. li. 37. ;Num. It does not appear to me that this chapter has any close and particular connexion with the chapter imme- diately preceding, taken separately, and by itself. The subject of that was the desolation of the land of Israel and Judah, by the just judgment of God, for the wick- edness and disobedience of the people : which, taken by itself, seems not with any propriety to introduce a h\nnn of thanksgiving to God for his mercies to his people in delivering them from their enemies. But taking the whole course of prophecies, from the thir- teenth to the twenty-fourth chapter inclusive, in which the prophet foretells the destruction of several cities and nations, enemies to the Jews, and of the land of Judah itself, yet with intimations of a remnant to be saved, and a restoration to be at length effected by a glorious establishment of the kingdom of God : with a view to this extensive scene of God's providence in all its parts, and in all its consequences, the prophet may well be supposed to break out into this song of praise ; in which his mind seems to be more possessed with the prospect of future mercies than with the re- collection of the past. — L. NOTES ON CHAP. XXV. A''erse 1 . Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.'] That is, All thy past declarations by the pro- phets shall be fulfilled in their proper time. Verse 2. A city — -" The city"] Nineveh, Babylon, Ar, Moab, or any other strong fortress possessed by the enemies of the people of God. For the first I'i'O meir, of a city, the Syriac and Vulgate read Tj,'n hair, the city ; the Septuagint and Chaldee read D'lJ' arim, cities, in the plural, transposing the letters. After the second "i"i':D meir, a MS. adds SjS lagol, for a heap. A palace of strangers — " The palace of the proud ones"] For D'li zari/n, strangers, MS. Bodl. and another read D'lt zedim, the proud: so likewise the Septuagint ; for they render it a Prov. ix. 2; Matt. xxii. 4. 'Dan. vii. 14 ; Matt. viii. 11. 14, in the Septuagint ; and Psa. liv. 5, where the Chal- dee reads □'!! zedim, compared with Psa. Ixxxvi. 16. Verse 4. As a storm against the wall — " Like a winter-storm."] For lip Arr, read lip /cor: or, as TJ' ir from IIJ' arar, so Tp iir from lip karar. — Capellus. Verse 5. Of strangers — " Of the proud"] The same mistake here as in ver. 2 : see the note there. Here D'll zedim the proud, is parallel to D'S'IJ' aritsim, the formidable : as in Psa. liv. 5, and Ixxxvi. 14. The heat with the shadow of a cloud — " As the heat by a thick cloud"] For Din choreh, the Syriac, Chaldee, Vulgate, and two MSS. read Din3 kechoreb; which is a repetition of the beginning of the foregoing parallel line ; and the verse taken out of the parallel form, and more fully expressed, would run thus : " As a thick cloud interposing tempers the heat of the sun on the burnt soil ; so shalt thou, by the interposition of thy power, bring low and abate the tumult of the proud, and the triumph of the formidable." Verse 6. In this mountaiii] Zion, at Jerusalem. In his Church. Shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feasi\ .Salvation by Jesus Christ. A feast is a proper and usual expression of joy in consequence of victory, or any other great success. The feast here spoken of is to be celebrated on Mount Sion ; and all people, with- out distinction, are to be invited to it. This can be no other than the celebration of the establishment of Christ's kingdom, which is frequently represented in the Gospel under the image of a feast ; " where many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the king- dom of heaven ;" Matt. viii. 11. See also Luke xiv. 16; x.xiv. 29, 30. This sense is fully confirmed by the concomitants of this feast expressed in the next verse ; the removing of the veil from the face of the nations, and the abolition of death : the first of which is obviously and clearly explained of the preaching of the Gospel ; and the second must mean the blessing of immortality procured for us b)' Christ, " who hath abolished death, and through death hath destroyed him that had the power of death." Of wines on the lees — " Of old wines"] Heb. lees; that is, of wines kept long on the lees. The word used to express the lees in the original signifies the A glorious promise Olymp. XVII. i. mountain tlie face of the covering NumffiPom^iiii, ' cast ovcr all people, and " the R. Roman., 4. ^.gjj jj^^j jg gprcad over all nations. 8 He will ° swallow up deatli in victor}' ; and the Lord God will ° wipe away tears from off CHAP. XXV. of Gospel times all faces ; and the rebuke of his Aj, "; <='.'• 2?^^ ' B. C. cir. 712. people shall he take away from oiymp. xvu. i. off all the earth : for the Lord Numse Pompiir hath spoken it. k Heb. swallow up. ' Heb. covered,- Eph. iv. 18. °2 Cor. iii. 15; preservers ; because they preserve the strength and flavour of the wine. " All recent wines, after the ter- mentation has ceased, ought to be kept on their lees for a certain time, which greatly contributes to increase their strength and flavour. Whenever this first fer- mentation has been deficient, they will retain a more rich and sweet taste than is natural to them in a re- cent true vinous state ; and unless farther fermentation is promoted by their lying longer on their own lees, they will never attain their genuine strength and fla- vour, but run into repeated and ineflfectual fermenta- tions, and soon degenerate into a liquor of an acetous kind. — All wines of a light and austere kind, by a fer- mentation too great, or too long continued, certainly degenerate into a weak sort of vinegar ; while the stronger not only require, but will safely bear a stronger and often-repeated fermentation ; and are more apt to degenerate from a defect than excess of fermentation into a vapid, ropy, and at length into a putrescent state." Six Edward Barry,, Observations on the Wines of the Ancients, p. 9, 10. Thevenot observes particularly of the Shiras wine, that, after it is refined from the lees, it is apt to grow bour. " II a beaucoup de lie ; c'est pourquoi il donne puissemment dans la teste ; et pour le rendre plus traitable on le passe par un chausse d'hypocras ; apres quoi il est fort clair, et moins fumeux. lis mettent ce vin dans des grandes jarres de terres qui tiennent dix ou douze jusqu'Jl quatorze carabas : mais quand Ton a entam6 une jarre, il faut la vuider au plutost, et met- tre le vin qu'on en tire dans des bouteilles ou carabas : car si Ton y manque en le laissant quelque tems apres que la jarre est entam^e il se gate et s'aigrit." Voy- ages, Tom. ii. p. 245. — "It has much sediment, and therefore is intoxicating. In order to make it more meUow, they strain it through a hypocrates' sleeve, after which it is verj' clear and less heady. They lay up this wine in great earthen jars, which hold from ten to fourteen carabas : but when a jar is un- stopped, it is necessary to empty it immediate!)', and put the wine into bottles, or carabas ; for if it be left thns in the jar, it will spoil and become acid." The caraba, or girba, is a goat's skin drawn off from the animal, having no apertures but those occasioned by the tail, the feet, and the neci. One opening is left, to pour in and draw off the liquor. This skin goes through a sort of tanning process, and is often beautifully ornamented, as is the case with one of these girbas now lying before me. This clearly explains the very elegant comparison, or rather allegory, of Jeremiah, chap, xlviii. 1 1 ; where the reader will find a remarkable example of the mix- ture of the proper with the allegorical, not uncommon ^th the Hebrew poets : — R. Roman., 4. 9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; p we have waited for him, » Hos. xiii. 14 ; 1 Cor. xv. M ; Rev. x%. 14 ; xxi. 4. » Rev. vii. 17 ; xxi. 4. P Gen. xlix. 18 ; Tit. ii. 13. " Moab hath been at ease from his youth, And he hath settled upon his lees ; Nor hath he been drawn off from vessel to vessel, Neither hath he gone into captivity : WTierefore his taste rcmaineth in him, And his flavour is not changed." Sir John ChardirCs MS. note on this place of Jere miah is as follows : " On change ainsi le vin de coupe en coupe en Orient ; et quand on en entame une, il faut la vuider en petites coupes ou bouteilles, sans quoy il s'aigrit. " They change the wine from vessel to vessel in the east ; and when they unstop a large one, it is necessary to empty it into small vessels, as otherwise it will grow sour." A''erse 7. The face of the covering cast over all people — " The covering that covered the face of all the peoples"] MS. Bodl. reads h'2 'JiJ S;' al peney choJ. The word 'J3 peney, face, has been removed from its right place into the line above, where it makes no sense ; as Houbigant conjectured. " The face of the covering,"' &c. He \vill unveil all the Mosaic ritual, and show by his apostles that it referred to, and was accomplished in, the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ. Verse 8. He will swallow up death] He, by the grace of God, will taste death for every man. Heb. ii. 9. Probably, su-allow up death, and taste death, in both these verses, refer to the same thing : Jesus dying instead of a gnilty world. These forms of speech may refer to the punishment of certain crimi- nals ; they were obliged to drink a cup of poison. That cup which every criminal in the world must have drunk, Jesus Christ drank for them ; and thus he sirat- lowed up death : but as he rose again from the dead, complete victory was gained. From these three verses we learn ; — I. That the Gospel is a plenteous provision : " I will make a feast for all people."' II. That it is a source of light and salvation : " 1 will destroy the veil. I will abolish death, and bring life and immortality to light." III. That it is a source of comfort and happi- ness : " I will wipe away all tears from off all faces." As in the Arabic countries a covering was put over the face of him who was condemned to suffer death, it is probable that the words in ver. 7 may refer to this. The whole world was condemned to death, and about to be led out to execution, when the gracious Lord interposed, and, by a glorious sacrifice, procured a general pardon. A''erse 9. It shall be said — " Shall they say"] So the Septuasint and Vulgate, in the plural number. 117 Glorious effects of ISAIAH. the Gospel of Christ. A HT cir. 3292. ^,r^^ }^q ^h gave US : this is the B. C. cir. (12. Oiymp. XVII. 1. Lord ; we have waited for him, cir. annum „ .,, , , i , . . . Numae PompiUi, ' we Will DC glad and rejoice in ^■^°'°""'^- his salvation : 10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be 'trodden down under him, even as straw is ' trodden down for the dunghill. 11 And he shall spread forth his hands in *] Psa. XX. 5.- ^Or, threshed. They read n;3Xl veameru, the Syriac reads jrrasi ve- amarta, thou shall say. They shall say, i. e., the Jews and the Gentiles — Lo, this [Jesus Christ] is our God : we have waited for him, according to the pre- dictions of the prophets. We have expected him, and we have not been disappointed; therefore will we be glad, and rejoice in his salvation. . Verse 10. Shall the hand of the Lord rest — " The hand of Jehovah shall give rest"] Heb. nun tenu- ach, quiescet. Annon n'jn taniach, quietem dabit, shall rest ; shall give rest, ut Greeci, moLtavgn 5uifii, et Copt, f — Mr. Woide. That is, " shall give peace and quiet to Sion, by destroying the enemy ;" as it follows. As straw is trodden down — " As the straw is threshed"] Hoc juxta ritum loquitur Pala3stinae et multarum Orientis provinciarum, quae ob pratorum et fceni penuriam paleas preparant esui animantium. Sunt autem carpenta ferrata rotis per medium in serrarum modum se volventibus, quse stipulam conterunt ; et comminuunt in paleas. Quomodo igitur plaustris fer- ratis paleee conteruntur, sic conteretur Moab sub eo ; sive sub Dei potentia, sive in semetipso, ut niliil in eo integri remaneat. " This is spoken in reference to the mode of threshing in Palestine, and various other Asiatic provinces. Because of the scarcity of meadow land and hay, they make chopped straw for the cattle They have large wheels studded over with iron teeth or nails, by which, on the out-of-door thresliing-floors, they pound and reduce the straw into chaff. As, therefore, the straw is reduced to chaff by bringing the iron-shod wheel over it ; so shall Moab be bruised by the midst of that swimmeth his hands to shall bring them, as he A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. spreadeth forth oiymp.xvii. i. , , cir. annum swim : and he Numae PompiUi, down their pride "' "°"""' ' *■ together with the spoils of their hands. 12 And the 'fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the groiuid, even to the dust. 8 Or, threshed in Madmenah. ^ Chap. xxvi. 5. the power of God, that nothing whole shall remain."— Hieron. in loc. See the note on chap, xxviii. 27. For the dunghill — " Under the wheels of the car."] For nJJDlD madmenah, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read riDOi:: mercabah, which I have follow- ed. See Joshua xv. 31, compared with xix. 5, where there is a mistake very nearly the same. The keri, 'D3 hemi, is confirmed by twenty-eight JISS., seven ancient, and three editions. Verse 11. As he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim — " As he that sinketh stretcheth out his hands to swim"] There is great obscurity in this place : some understand God as the agent; others, Rloab. 1 have chosen the latter sense, as 1 cannot conceive that the stretching out of the hands of a swimmer in swimming can be any illustration of the action of God stretching out his hands over Moab to destroy it. I take nnBTI hashshocheh, altering the point on the sy sin, on the authority of the Septuagint, to be the participle of TtTK) shachah, the same with nity shuach, and ViXVS shachach, to low dozen, to be de- pressed ; and that the prophet designed a paronomasia here, a figure which he frequently uses between the similar words nniy shachah, and nintS' shechoth. As vnnn tachlaiv, in his place, or on the spot, as we say in the preceding verse, gives us an idea of the sudden and complete destruction of Moab ; so 13"ip3 bekirbo, in the midst of him, means that this destruction shall be open, and exposed to the view of all : the neigh- bouring nations shall plainly see him struggling against it, as a man in the midst of the deep waters exerts all his efforts by swimming, to save himself from drowning — L CHAPTER XXVI. This chapter, like the foregoing, is a song of praise, in which thanksgivings for temporal and spiritual mercies are beautifully mingled, though the latter still predominate. Even the sublime and evangelical doctrine of the resurrection seems here to he hinted at, and made to typify the deliverance of the people of God from a state of the lowest misery ; the captivity, the general dispersion, or both. This hymn too, like the pre- ceding, is beautifully diversified by the frequent change of speakers. It opens with a chorus of the Church celebrating the protection vouchsafed by God to his people ; and the happiness of the righteous, whom he guards, contrasted with the misery of the tvicked, ivhom he punishes, 1-7. To this succeeds their oicn pious resolution of obeying, trusting, and delighting in God, 8. Here the prophet breaks in, in his own person, eagerly catching the last words of the chorus, tvhich ivere perfectly in unison with the feelings of his mm soul, and ivhich he beautifully repeats, as one musical instrument reverberates the sound of another on the same key with it. He makes likewise a suitable response to what had been said on the judgments of God, and observes their different effects on the good and the bad ; improving the one, and hardening the other, 9-11. After this, a chorus of Jews express their gratitude to God for past deliverances, make confession 118 " Thanksgivings for the CHAP. XXVI. mercies of God. of their sins, and supplicate his power, which they had been long expecting, 12-18. To this God makes a gracious reply, promising deliverance that should be as life from the dead, 19. And the prophet, (appa- rently alluding to the command of Moses to the Israelites, when the destroying angel was to go through the land of Egypt,) concludes with exhorting his people to patience and resignation, till God sends the de- liverance he has promised, 80, 21. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numae Ponipilii, R. Roman., 4. TN ' that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah ; We have a strong city ; '' salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. 2 ' Open ye tlie gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the * truth may enter in. 3 Thou wilt keep him ' in perfect peace, tvhose ' mind is stayed on thee ; because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in tlie Lord for ever : ^ for in the Lord JEHOVAH is •'everlasting strenglli. 5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high ; ' the lofty city, he layeth it low ; he layelh it low, even to the ground ; lie bringeth it even to the dust. 6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy. 7 The way of the just is uprightness : '' tliou most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. 8 Yea, ' in the way of thy judgments, O •Chap. li. 11. !>Chap. Ix. J8. c Psa. cxviii. 19, 20- ^Heb. truths. ' Heh. peace, peace; chap. Ivii. 19. fOr, thought, or imagination. gChap. xlv. 17. "^ Heb. the rock of ages ; Dcut. ixxii. 4. i Chap. xxv. 12 ; xxxii. 19. k Psa. xxxvii. 23. NOTES ON CHAP. XXVI. Verse 1. We have a strong city] In opposition to the city of the enemy, which God hath destroyed, chap. XXV. 2. .See the note there. Salvation — for walls and bulwarks] Sni i1!3in cho- moth vachel, walls and redoubts, or the walls and the ditch. Sn chel properly signifies the ditch or trench without (he wall ; see Kimchi. The same rabbin says, This song refers to the time of salvation, i. c., the days of the Messiah. A'erse 2. The righteous nation] The converted Gentiles shall have the gates opened — a full entrance into all the glories and privileges of the Gospel ; being fellow heirs with the converted Jews. The Jewish peculiarity is destroyed, for the middle wall of parti- tion is broken down. The truth] The Gospel itself— as the fulfilment of all the ancient types, shadows, and ceremonies ; and therefore termed the truth, in opposition to all those shadowy rites and ceremonies. " The law was given by Moses ; but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ;" John i. 17, and see the note there. A'erse 3. In perfect peace] DiSiy DlSt? shalom, sha- lom, "peace, peace," i. e., peace upon peace — all kinds of prosperity — happiness in this world and in the world to come. Because he trusteth in thee — " Because they have trusted in thee."] .''o the Chaldee, in02 betachn. The A. M. cir. 3292. B.C. cir 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. Lord, liave we waited for thee ; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. 9 "" With my soul have I desired thee in the night ; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early : for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 10 ° Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness : in ° the land of upriglitncss will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. 1 1 Lord, ivhen thy hand is lifted up, p they will not see : hut they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy "i at the people ; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them. 12 Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us : for thou also liast w'rought all our works "■ in us. 13 O Lord our God, ^ other lords beside thee have had dominion over us : hut by thee IChap. xiv. 5. — — " Psa. ixiii. e ; Cant. iii.l. "E ccles.viii. 12; Rom il. 4. — -0 Psa. cxliii. 10. pjob xxxiv 27; Psa xxviii. 5; chap. V. 12. 1 Or, toward thj people. r Or, for us « 2 Chron xii. 8. Syriac and Vulgate read unU3 batachnu, " we have trusted." Schroeder, Gram. Heb. p. 360, explains the present reading niDD batuach, impersonally, confi- sum est. A'erse 4. In the Lord JEHOVAH — " In Jehovah"] In Jah Jehovah, Heb. ; but see Houbigant, and the note on chap. xii. 2. Everlasting strength] D'^dSij' lli" tsur olamim, " the rock of ages ;" or, according to Rab. Maimon, — the eternal Fountain, Source, or Spring. Does not this refer to the Listing streams from the rock in the desert ? And that rock was Christ, gc l>in hopcb in tijc llorft fro tlje cbEtUi^ttngc lijorlbi.S. — Old MS. Bible. Verse 8. Have we tvaited for thee — " We have placed our confidence in thy name"] The Septuaginl, Syriac, and Chaldee read U"lp kavinu, without the pronoun annexed. A'erse 9. Have I desired thee] Forty-one M.SS. of Dr. Kennicotl's and many of Z)e Rossi's, (nine ancient,) and^fc editions read yn'lX ivvithicha. It is proper to note this ; because the second ' yod being omitted in the texl, the Vulgate and many others have render- ed it in the third person. When thy judgments, &c.] It would be better to read, Wlien thy judgments were in the earth, the in- habitants of the world have learned (IT3S lamedu) righteousness. Men seldom seek God in prosperity ; thev are apt to rest in an earthlv portion ; but God in 119 Thanksgivings for the ISAIAH. mercies of God. B 'c' cTr ^7^1?' "'^^y ^'^^ ^® make mention of oiymp. XVII. 1. thy name. Nuniie PompiUi, 14 They are dead, they shall R. Roman., 4. ^^^ j-^g . ^j^^y ^^^ deceased, they shall not rise : therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all thehr memory to perish. J\ 5 Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation : thou art glorified : thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. 1 6 Lord, ' in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a "prayer xuhen thy chastening loas upon them. 17 Like as a ^ woman vsrith child, that draw- >Hos. V. 15. "Heb. secret speech. 'Chap xiii. 8; John XTl. 21. mercy embitters this by adversity ; then there is a general cry after himself as our chief, solid, and only permanent gdbi. Verse 16. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee — " O Jehovah, in affliction we have sought thee"] So the Septuagint and two MSS. have "^Unpil peliadnucha, in the first person plural. And so perhaps it should be IJpX tsaknu, in the first person ; but how the Sep- tuagint read this word is not clear ; and this last mem- ber of the verse is extremely obscure. For IdS lamo, " on them," the Septuagint read uS lanii, " on us," in the first person likewise ; a frequent mistake ; see note on chap. x. 29. Verse 18. We have — brought forth wind] The learned Professor Michaelis explains this image in the following manner : " Rariorem morbum describi, em- pneumatosin, aut ventosam molam, dictum ; quo qu£e laborant diu et sibi et peritis medicis gravidas videntur, tandemque post omnes verae graviditatis molestias et labores ventum ex utero emittunt : quem morbum pas- sim describunt medici." Syntagma Comment., vol. ii., p. 165. "The empneurnatosis, or windy inflation of the womb, is a disorder to which females are liable. Some have had this in such wise, for a long time to- gether, that they have appeared to themselves, and even to very skilful medical men, to be pregnant; and after having endured much pain, and even the throes of apparent childbearing, they have been eased and re- stored to health by the emission of a great quantity of wind from the uterus. This disorder is well known to medical men." The Si/riac translator seems to have understood it in this manner : Enixi sumus, ut illae quae ventos pariunt. " We have brought forth as they who bring forth wind." In the earth — " In the land"] pX3 bearets ; so a MS., the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. Verse 19. My dead body — "My deceased"] All the ancient Versions render it in the plural ; they read 'nn^J niblothai, my dead bodies. The Syriac and Chaldee read Dn'ni'?:]: niblotheyhem, their dead bodies. No MS. yet found confirms this reading. The deiv of herbs — " The dew of the dawn"] Lv- 120 eth near the time of her delivery, ^ ^: '='.'^- 3293 . . . 7 • , •'' B. C. cir. 712. IS in pain, and cneth out m her oiymp. xvii. i 1 1-1 cir. annum pangs ; so have we been in thy Numae PompUii, sight, O Lord. ^ ^°°'^"' *■ 1 8 We have been vpith child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind ; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth ; neither have "■" the inhabitants of the world fallen. 19 "Thy dead meti shall live, together ivith my dead body shall they arise. ^ Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust : for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 20 Come, my people, ^ enter thou into thy •Psa. xvii. 14.- t Ezek. xxxvii. 1, &c.- » Exod. xii. 22, 23. —y Dan. xii. 2 CIS, according to the Vulgate ; so also the Syriac and Chaldee. The deliverance of the people of God from a state of the lowest depression is explained by images plainly taken from the resurrection of the dead. In the same manner the Prophet Ezekiel represents the restoration of the Jewish nation from a state of utter dissolution by the restoring of the dry bones to life, exhibited to him in a vision, chap, xxxvii., which is directly thus applied and explained, ver. 11-13. And this deliverance is expressed with a manifest opposition to what is here said above, ver. 14, of the great lords and tyrants, under whom they had groaned : — " They are dead, they shall not live ; They are deceased tyrants, they shall not rise :" that they should be destroyed utterly, and should never be restored to their former power and glory. It ap- pears from hence, that the doctrine of the resun-ection of the dead was at that time a popular and common doctrine ; for an image which is assumed in order to express or represent any thing in the way of allegory or metaphor, whether poetical or prophetical, must be an image commordy known and understood ; otherwise it will not answer the purpose for wliich it is as- sumed.— L. Kiinchi refers these words to the days of tlie Mes- siah, and says, " Then many of the saints shall rise from the dead." And quotes Dan. xii. 2. Do not these words speak of the resurrection of our blessed Lord ; and of that resurrection of the bodies of men, which shall be the consequence of his body being raised from the dead ? Thy dead men shall live, — with my dead body shall they arise.'] This seems very express. Verse 20. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers] An exhortation to patience and resignation under oppression, with a confident e.'cpectation of de- liverance by the power of God manifestly to be exert- ed in the destruction of the oppressor. It seems to be an allusion to the command of Moses to the Israel- ites, when the destroying angel was to go through the Destruction of the CHAP. XXVII. enemies of the CInircn. chambers, and shut thy doors about thee : hide thyself as it were » for a httle moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21 For, behold, the Lord * cometh out of » Ps.i. XXX. 5 ; chap. liv. 7, 8 ; 2 Cor. iv. 17. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVll. 1. cir. annum Numa) Pompilii, R. Roman,, 4. land of Egrypt, " not to go out at the door of their houses until the morning ;" E.xod. xii. 22. And be- fore the passage of the Red Sea : " Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah. .Teho- VAH shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace," Exod. xiv. 13, 14. Verse 21. The earth also shall disclose her blood] his place to punish the inhabit- '^;'*I;'^'^ ^^l"' ants of the earth for their iniquity : oiymp. xvii. i. , , , 1111-1 1 ^ii*- annum the earth also siiall disclose her Numaj Pompilii, ' blood, and shall no more cover "• "°""'"' ^- her slain. iiMic. i. 3; Jude 14.- -^ Heb. bloods. Crimes of cruelty and oppression, whicli have passed away from the eyes of men, God will bring into judg- ment, and exact punishment for them. O what a reckoning will the kingdoms of the earth have with God, for the torrents of blood which they have shed for the gratification of the lust of power and ambition ! Who shall live when he doeth this ? CHAPTER XXVn. Destruction of the enemies of the Church, 1. God's care of his vineyard, 2-11. Prosperity oj the de- scendants of Abraham in the latter days, 13, 13. A„^<='.f- 2292. T]\f that day the Lord with his B. C.cir. 712. X , Olymp. XVII. 1. sore and great and strong Numffi Pompilii, sword shall punish leviathan the R. Roman., 4. „ piercing scrpent, ^ even leviathan ■ Or, crossing like a bar. ^ Psa. Ixxiv. 13, 14. c Chap. li. 9 ; Ezek. xxix. 3 ; xxxii. 2. The subject of this chapter seems to be the nature, the measure, and the design of God's dealings with his people. 1. His judgments inflicted on their great and powerful enemies, ver. 1. 2. His constant care and protection of his favourite vineyard, in the form of a dialogue, ver. 2. 3. The moderation and lenity with which the severity of his judgments have been tempered, ver. 7. 4. The end and design of them, to recover them from idolatry, ver. 9. And, 5. The re- calling of them, on their repentance, from their several dispersions, ver. 12. The first verse seems connected with the two last verses of the preceding chapter. — L. NOTES ON CHAP. XXVH. Verse 1. Leviathan] The animals here mentioned seem to be the crocodile, rigid by the stifl^ness of the backbone, so that he cannot readily turn himself when he pursues his prey ; hence the easiest w-ay of escap- ing from him is by making frequent and short turn- ings ; the serpent or dragon, flexible and winding, which coils himself up in a circular form : and the sea-monster, or whale. These are used allegorically, without doubt for great potentates, enemies and per- secutors of the people of God : but to specify the par- ticular persons or states designed by the prophet un- der these images, is a matter of great difficulty, and comes not necessarily within the design of these notes. R. D. Kimchi says, leviathan is a parable concerning the kings of the Gentiles : it is the largest fish in the sea, called also ;'jn tannin, the dragon, or rather the whale. By these names the Grecian, Turkish, and Roman empires are intended. The dragon of the sea seems to mean some nation having a strong naval force and extensive commerce. See Kimchi on the place. that crooked serpent ; and he shall ^j "^ <^'.'- ^^92. slav "^ the dragon that is in the sea. oiymp. xVii i. „" T .1 * 1 ,1 ■ .1 '^''■- annum 2 111 that day "^ sing ye unto her, N„mw Pompilii. " A vineyard of red wine. R. Roman., 4. J Chapter v. 1.- -e Psalm lx.xx. 8 ; ii. 21. Jeremiah Verse 3. Sing ye unto her] Tn 1JX anu lah. Bishop Lorcth translates this. Sing ye a responsive song ; and says that nv anah, to answer, signifies occasionally to sing responsively ; and that this mode of singing w'as frequently practised among the ancient Hebrews. See De Pb'es. Sac. Heb. Pra;l. xix., at the beginning. This, indeed, was the ancient method of singing in various nations. The song was divided into distinct portions, and the singers sang alternately. There is a fine specimen of this in the song of Deborah and Barak : and also in the Idyls of Theocritus, and the Eclogues of Virgil. This kind of singing was properly a dialogue in verse, sung to a particular tune, or in the mode which is now termed recitativo. I have seen it often prac- tised on funeral occasions among the descendants of the aboriginal Irish. The poems of Ossian are of this kind. The learned Bishop distinguishes the parts of this dialogue thus : — 3. Jehovah. It is T, Jehovah, that preserve her ; I will water her every moment ; I will take care of her by night ; And by day I will keep guard over her. 4. Vineyard. I have no wall for my defence: 0 that I had a fence of the thorn and brier 1 Jehovah. Against them should I march in bat- tle, 1 should burn them up together. 6. Ah ! let her rather take hold of mv protection. 121 God's care of ISAIAH. Oiymp. XVII. 1. will water it every moment : lest NumffiPompiUi, anij hurt it, I will keep it night his vineyard. R. Roman., 4. nd day. 4 Fury is not in me : who would set « the briers and thorns against me in battle ? I would ^ go through them, I would burn them together. 5 Or let him take hold ' of my strength, that he may '' make peace with me ; and he shall make peace with me. fPsa. cxxi. 4, 5. s2 Sam. xxiii. 6; chap. ix. 18. "lOr, march against. 'Chap, xxv, 4. kjob xxii. 21. 'Chap. xxxvii. 31 ; Hos. xiv. 5, 6. n>Heb. according to the strohe of those. Vineyard. Let him make peace with me ! Peace let him make with me ! 6. Jehovah. They that come from the root of Ja- cob shall flourish, Israel shall bud forth ; And they shall fill the face of the world with fruit. A vineyard of red xcine] The redder the wine, the more it was valued, says Kimchi. Bishop Loicth translates, To the beloved vineyard. For Iran chemer, red, a multitude of BI.SS. and editions have Ton chemed, desirable. This is supported by the Septuagint and Chaldee. Verse 3. Lest any hurt it, I ivill keep it night and day — " I will take care of her by night ; and by day I will keep guard over her"'] For ^pll' JS pen yiphkod, lest any visit it, the Syriac read Tp3Sl veephkod, and. I will visit it. Twenty MSS. of A'c/in/coM's, fourteen of De Rossi's, and two of my own, and six editions read ^^3X ephkod, I will visit, in the first person. Verse 4. Fury is not in me — " I have no wall"] For rron chemah, anger, the Septuagint and Syriac read noin chomah, wall. An ancient MS. has rTDTl cheimah. For n3 bah, in her, two MSS. read DD bam, in them, plural. Tlie vineyard wishes for a wall and a fence of thorns — human strength and protection, (as the Jews were too apt to apply to their powerful neigh- bours for assistance, and to trust to the shadow of Egypt :) Jehovah replies, that this would not avail her, nor defend her against his wrath. He counsels her, therefore, to betake herself to his protection. On which she entreats him to make peace with her. From the above note it appears that the bishop reads rT3in chomah, xvall, for non chemah, anger or fury, in accordance with the Syriac and Septuagint. The letter l vau makes the only difference, which let- ter is frequently absent from many words where its place is supplied by the point . cholein : it might have been so here formerly; and in process of time both vau and cholem might have been lost. The Syriac supports the learned bishop's criticism, as the word 1;qo shora is there used ; which word in the plural is founJ, Heb. xi. 30 : " By faith the walls of Jeri- cho." The bisliop thinks the Septuagint is on his side : to me, it seems neither for nor against the criticism. The words in the Vatican copy are eyu woXicr oyupa, I am a fortified city ; which the .Arabic follows : but I ^9 6 He shall cause them that come *■ M,- "'■ f^^- B. C. cir. 712. of Jacob ' to take root : Israel oiymp. xvii. i. shall blossom and bud, and fill NumajPompiui the face of the world with fruit. ^■^°°"^"-^- 7 Hath he smitten him, " as he smote those that smote him ? oi' is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him ? 8 "In measure, ° when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it : p he i stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind. 9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of n Job xxiii. 6 ; Psa. vi. 1 ; Jer. x. 24 ; xxx. 1 1 ; xlvi. 28 ; 1 Cor. X. 13. o Or, when thou sendest it forth. P Or, when he removeth it. qPsa. Ixxviii. 38. instead of op^upa, the Codex Alexandrinus has itfj^upa, / am a strong city. The word noin chomah, wall, is not found in any MS. in the collections of Kennicott and De Rossi, nor in any of my own MSS. However, one of Dr. Kennicotfs MSS. has nOTI cheimah ; but probably that which now appears to be a ' yod was formerly a l vau, and now partially obli- terated. This song receives much light from being collated with that in chap. v. ; and perhaps the bishop's criti- cism will find its best support from such a collation. In ver. 5 of that chapter, God threatens to take away the wall of his vineyard : this ivas done ; and here the vineyard complains, / have no wall, and wishes for any kind of defence rather than be thus naked. This is the only natural support of the above criticism. " About Tripoli there are abundance of vineyards and gardens, inclosed, for the most part, with hedges, which chiefly consist of the rhamnus, paliurus, oxy- acantha," &c. Rawolf, p. 21, 22. A fence of thorns is esteemed equal to a wall for strength, being com- monly represented as impenetrable. See Mic. vii. 4 ; Hos. ii. 6. Who would set the briers and thorns against me — " O that I had a fence of the thorn and brier"] Se- ven MSS., {ttoo ancient,) and one edition, with the Syriac, Vulgate, and Aquila, read P'\S^ veshayith, with the conjunction 1 vau prefixed : Who would set the briers and thorns, n'ii' fTi'iS 'JJiT "D 7ni yitteneni sha- mir shayith. Who shall give me the brier and thorn, i. e., for a defence : but hear Kimchi : " Who (the vineyard) hath given me (Jehovah) the brier and the thorn in- stead of good grapes." A^'erse 5. Or — " Ah"] For IN o I read "IX oi, as it was at first in a MS. The ' yod was easily lost, being followed by aijotner ' yod. A'erse 6. To take root — " From the root"] For tyity' yashresh, I read, with the Syriac, !i'^!i•r3 mish- shoresh. And for mill I'"!;" yatsils uparach, ms li"i" yalsitsu parach, joining the l vau to the first word, and taking that into construction with the first part of the sentence, Israel shall bud forth. I suppose the dialogue to be continued in this verse, which pursues the same image of the allegory, but in the way of metaphor. Averse 9. The groves — " And if the groves"] s'?! velo. Four MSS., two ancient, of Kennicotfs. and one Promises oj Javour CHAP, xxviir. and restoratton. *B ^c "% t'p'^ Jacob be purged ; and lliis is all Oljmp.xvii. 1. the fruit to take away his sin; NnmirPoinpiiii, wlicu lic inakctli all the stones "• '^'""'"'- *■ of the altar as chalk-stones that arc beaten in sunder, the groves and 'images shall not stand up. 10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness : ' there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches tliereof. 1 1 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire : for ' it is a people of no r Or, ran imagts. * Sec chap. xvii. 2 ; xxxii. 14. *Deut. xxxii. 28 ; chap. i. 3; Jer. viii. 7. ancient of my own, with the Septuagint ; this makes a fuller sense. "\'erse 10. There shall the calf feed] That is, the king of Egypt, says Kimchi. A'erse 1 1 . The boughs thereof — " Her boughs"] TTTi'p kctsireyha, MS. and Yulg. ; that is, the boughs of the vineyard, referring still to the subject of the dialogue above. The scarcity of fuel, especially wood, in most parts of the cast is so great, that they supply it with every thing cap.able of burning ; cow-dung dried, roots, par- ings of fruit, withered stalks of herbs and flowers ; see Matt. vi. 21-30 Vine-twigs are particularly men- tioned as used lor fuel in dressing their food, by D"Ar- vieux ; La Roque, Palestine, p. 198. Ezekiel says, in his parable of the vine, used figuratively for the people of God, as the vineyard is here : " Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work 1 or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel theieon ] Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel;" chap. xv. 3, 4. "If a man abide not in me," saith our Lord, " he is east forth as a branch of the vine and is withered ; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned ;" John xv. 6. They employed women and children to gather these things, and they laid them up in store for use. The dressing and pruning their vines afforded a good supply of the last sort of fuel ; but the understanding : therefore he that \; ",• '''"■ *5?,-' ° H. O. dr. 712. made them will not have mercy oijmp. xvii. i. on tiiem, and " he that lormed Numa; Pompiiii, them will show tliem no favour. "■ "°"""- "• 1 2 And it shall come to pass in that day, tha* the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. 13" And it shall come to pass in that day, " that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and siiall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. "Deut. xxxii. 18; chap, xliii. 1, 7; xliv. 2,21,24. 'Chap. ii. 11. "Matt. xxiv. 31 ; Rev. xi. 15. prophet says that the vines themselves of the beloved vineyard shall be blasted, withered, and broken, and the women shall come and gather them up, and carry away the whole of them to make their fires for domestic uses. See Hanner^s Observations, vol. i., p. 254, &c. Verse 12. The channel of the river'] The river Sa4- bation, beyond which the Israelites were carried cap- tive.— Kimchi. Verse 13. The great trumpet shall be Uov-n] Does not this refer to the time spoken of by our Lord, Matt. xxiv. Z\ : He shall send forth his angels — the preach- ers of his Gospel, with a great sound of a trumpet — the earnest invitation to be saved by Jesus Christ ; and shall gather his elect — the Jews, his ancient chosen people, /rom the four winds — from all parts of the ha- bitable globe in which they have been dispersed. In this prophet there are several predictions relative to the conversion of Egypt to the true faith, wliich have not vet been fidfiUed, and which tnust be fulfilled, for the truth of God cannot fail. Should Egypt ever succeed in casting off the Ottoman yoke, and fully establish its independence, it is most likely that the Gospel of Christ would have a speedy entrance into it ; and, according to these prophecies, a wide and perma- nent diffusion. At present the Mohammedan power is a genuine antichrist. This also the Lord will re- move in due time. CHAPTER XXVin. This chapter begins with a denunciation of the approaching ruin of th" Israelites by Slialmanescr, whose power ij compared to a tempest or food, and his keenness to the avidity with which one plucks and swal- lows the grape that is soonest ripe, 1-4. // then turns tu the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were to continue a kingdom after the final captivity of their brethren ; and gives first a favourable prognosti- cation of their affairs under Hezekiah, 5, 6 ; but soon changes to reproofs and threatenings for their intan- perancc and their profaneness, 7, 8. They are introduced as not only scornfully rejecting, but also mocking and ridiculing, the instructions of the prophet, 9, 10. To this God immediately retorts in terms alluding to their own mocking, but differently applied, 11-13. The prophet then addresses these scoffers, 14 ; who considered themselves as perfectly secure from even/ evil, 15 ; and assures them that there was no method under heaven but one, by icliich they could be saved, 16 ; that every other vain resource should fail in the day of visitation. 17, 18. He then farther adds, that the judements of God were particularly 123" Woes denounced ISAIAH. against Epliraim. levelled against them ; and that all the means to which they trusted for warding them off should be to no purpose, 19, 20 ; as the Almighty, who, on account of his patience and long-suffering, is amiably de- scribed as unacquainted with punishing, had nevertheless determined to punish them, 21, 22. The pro- phet then concludes with a beautiful parable in explanation and defence of God's dealing with his people, 83-29. A. II. cir. 32,9. ^TfO to "the crown of pride, to B. C. cir. 725. VV , , I 1 r -o 1 • oiymp. xin. 4. the drunkards oi Lpliraim, "^Romu™ whose ''glorious beauty is a fad- R. Roman., 29. j^g flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are " overcome with wine ! 2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, "^ which as a tempest of hail and a de- stroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. i Chap. XXX. 30 ; »Ver. 3.- -b Ver. 4. c Heb. broken.- Ezek. xiii 1 1. NOTES ON CHAP. XXV'III. Verse 1. Wo to the crown of pride] By the crown of pride, &c., Samaria is primarily understood. " Se- baste, the ancient Samaria, is situated on a long mount of an oval figure, having first a fruitful valley, and then a ring of hills running round about it ;" Maun- drell, p. 58. " E regione horum ruderum mons est peramosnus, planitie admodum frugifera circumseptus, super quem olim Samaria urbs condita fuit ;" Fureri Itinerarium, p. 93. The city, beautifully situated on the top of a round hill, and surrounded immediately with a rich valley and a circle of other hills beyond it, suggested the idea of a chaplet or wTcath of flowers worn upon their heads on occasions of festivity, ex- pressed by the proud crown and the fading flower of the drunkards. That this custom of wearing chaplets in their banquets prevailed among the Jews, as well as among the Greeks and Romans, appears from the following passage of the book of Wisdom : — " Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and oint- ments. And let no flower of the spring pass by us : Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds before they are withered." Wisd. ii. 7, 8. Verse 2. Behold the Lord hath a mighty and strong one — " Behold the mighty one, the exceedingly strong one"] 'JlSs > VON ammits ladonai, fortis Domino, i. e., fortissimus, a Hebraism. For 'Jix'? ladonai, to the Lord, thirty-eight MSS of Dr. KennicotTs and many of De Rossi's, with some of my outi, and two editions, read niD S laihovah, to Jehovah. Averse 3. The crown of pride, the drunhards of Ephraim — " The proud crowns of the drunkards of Ephraim"] I read miDj' ataroth, croicns, plural, to agree with the verb njDOin teramasnah, " shall be trodden down." Verse 4. The hasty fruit before the summer — " The early fruit before the summer"] " No sooner doth the boccore, (the early fig,) draw near to perfection in the middle or latter end of .Tune, than the kermez or sum- mer fig begins to be loimed, though it rarely ripens before August ; about which time the same tree fre- 194 3 " The crown of pride, the ^J^a""- ?.^1^- r ' B. C. cir. (25. drunkards of Epliraim, shall be oiymp. xill. 4. , , r , r cir. annum trodden ' under leet : Romuii, 4 And nhe glorious beauty, «• R"'"-"- 29- which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer ; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he ''eatethitup. 5 In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, «Ver. 1.- -fHeb. witfi feet. 1 loweth. Ver. 1.- 1 Heb. swat- quently throws out a thu'd crop, or the winter fig, as we may call it. This is usually of a much longer shape and darker complexion than the kermez, hanging and ripening upon the tree even after the leaves are shed ; and, provided the winter proves mild and tem- perate, is gathered as a delicious morsel in the spring ;" Shaw, Travels, p. 370, fol. The image was very ob- vious to the inhabitants of Judea and the neighbouring countries, and is frequently applied by the prophets to express a desirable object ; by none more elegantly than by Hosea, chap. ix. 10 : — " Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel ; Like the first ripe fig in her prime, I saw your fathers." Which when he that looketh upon it seeth — " Which whoso seeth, he plucketh it immediately"] For DNT yireh, which with riNin haroeh makes a miserable tautology, read, by a transposition of a letter, DIN' yo- reh ; a happy conjecture of Houbigant. The image expresses in the strongest manner the great ease with which the Assyrians shall take the city and the whole kingdom, and the avidity with wliich they shall seize the rich prey without resistance. Averse 5. In that day'\ Thus far the prophecy re- lates to the Israelites, and manifestly denounces their approaching destruction by Shalmaneser. Here it turns to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the remnant of God's people who were to continue a king- dom after the final captivity of the Israelites. It be- gins with a favourable prognostication of their affairs under Hezekiah ; but soon changes to reproofs and threatenings for their intemperance, disobedience, and profaneness. Jonathan's Targum on this verse is worthy of no- tice : " In that time Messiah, the Lord of hosts, mx^S "T Nrriyo meshicha dayai tsebaolh, shall be a crown of joy and a diadem of praise to the residue of his people." Kimchi says the rabbins in general are of this opinion. Here then the rabbins, and their most celebrated Targum, give the incommunicable name, mxDV nirr Yehovah tsebaoth, the Lord of hosts, to our ever blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ. The abominable CHAP. XXVIII. slate of the people. A. M. cir. 3279. g ^,jj f^^ ^ spirit of judfiment B. C. cir. 725. ■, . . , Oiymp. XIII. 4. to him that sittelli in judgment, "^RomiulT and for strength to them that R. Roman., 29. ^^^^ ^J^^ fjj^jjjg f^ j|,g g^^^ 7 But tliey also ' have erred through wine, and tlu'ough strong drink are out of the way ; I" the priest and tiie prophet liave erred tlirough strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink ; ihey err in vision, tliey stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthi- • Prov. , Hos. iv. U. k Chap.lvi. 10, 12. ' Jer. vi. 10. •D Heb. the hearing. Verse 6. TAe battle to the gate — " The war to the gate of the enemi/.''''] That is, who pursue the fleeing enemy oven to the very gates of their own city. " But we were upon them even unto the entering of" the gate," 2 Sam. xi. 'J3 ; that is, we drove the enemy hack to their own gates. See also 1 Sam. xvii. 52. The Targum says, The Messiah shall give the victory to those who go out to battle, that he may bring them back to their own houses in peace. Verse 9. Whom shall he teach knowledge ? — " Whom, say they, would he teach knowledge V] The scoffers mentioned below, ver. 14, are here introduced as ut- tering their sententious speeches ; they treat God's method of dealing with them, and warning them by his prophets, with contempt and derision. What, say they, doth he treat us as mere infants just weaned ] doth he teach us like little children, perpetually incul- cating the same elementaiy lessons, the mere rudi- ments of knowledge ; piecept after precept, line after line, here and there, by little and little ! imitating at the same time, and ridiculing, in ver. 10, the concise prophetical manner. God, by his prophet, retorts upon them with great severity their own contemptuous mockery, turning it to a sense quite dilTerent from what they intended. Yes, saith he, it shall be in fact as you say ; ye shall be taught by a strange tongue and a stammering lip ; in a strange country ; ye shall be carried into captivity by a people whose language shall be unintelligible to you, and which ye shall be forced to learn like children. And my dealing with you shall be accordinsr to your own words : it shall be command upon command for your punishment ; it shall be line upon line, stretched over you to mark your destruction, (compare 2 Kings .vxi. 13 ;) it shall come upon you at different times, and by different degrees, till the judgments, with which from time to time I have threatened you, shall have their full accomplishment. Jerome seems to have rightly understood the gene- ral design of this passage as expressing the manner in which the scoffers, by their sententious speeches, turned into ridicule the warnings of God by his pro- phets, though he has not so well explained the mean- ing of the repetition of their speech in ver. 13. His words are on ver. 9 — " Solebant hoc ex persona pro- phetarum ludentcs dicere :" and on ver. 14 — "Quod supra diximus, cum irrisione solitos principes Judseo- rum prophetis dicere, manda, remanda, et csetera his ness, so that there is no place A; ^' "■'• ?2,?' ' * B. C cir. 725. clean. Olymp. XIII. 4 9 ' Wliom shall lie teach know- Romuii, ledge ? and wliom shall he make «■ R""-"" • 29- to understand ■" doctrine ? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept '^must be upon precept, pre- cept upon precept ; line upon line, line upon line ; here a little, atid there a little : 11 For with "stammering ^lips and anotlier tongue •! will he speak to this people. "Or, hath been. - 1 Heb. stammrrings of lips. • 1 0r, lie hath spoken. -Pi Cor. :tiv.21. similia, per quse ostenditur, nequaquam eos prophetarum credidisse sermonibus, scd prophetiam habuisse des- pectui, prsesens ostendit capituluni, per quod appellan- tur viri illusores." Hicron. in loc. And so Jarchi interprets the word wbwi mishclim in the next verse : " Qui dicunt verba irrisionis para- bolice." And the Chaldee paraphrases ver. 1 1 to the same purpose, understanding it as spoken, not of God, but of the people deriding his prophets : " Quoniam in mutatione loquelse et in lingua subsannationis irri- debant contra prophetas, qui prophetabant populo huic." — L. Verse 10. For precept must be upon precept} The original is remarkably abrupt and sententious. The hemistichs are these : — latsav tsav lalsav tsav ki ip^ ip IpS lakav kav lakav kav D\it TJ'' OW IT' sham zeeir sham zeeir For, — Command to command, command to com- mand. Line to line, line to line. A little there, a little there. Kimchi says lir tsav, precept, is used here for niXD mitsvah, command, and is used in no other place for it but here. Vi tsav signifies a little precept, such as is suited to the capacity of a child ; see ver. 9. Ip kav signifies the line that a mason stretches out to build a laj'er of stones by. After one layer or course is placed, he raises the line and builds another ; thus the build- ing is by degrees regularly completed. This is the method of teaching children, giving them such infor- mation as their narrow capacities can receive ; and thus the prophet dealt with the Israelites. See Kimchi in loc, and see a fine parallel passage. Heb. v. 12—14, by which this may be well illustrated. My old MS. Bible translates oddly : — fat iScnbe cftet g'eitbc. ^fentic cftcr senile ; 2tblit)£ cftct abribc, abiibc cftet abnbe : Hitpl tljer, Intin tl)tt. Coverdale is also singular : — Commande that may be commanded ; Byd that mave be bvdden : i25 A. M. cir. 3279. B. C. cir. 725. Olymp. XIII. 4. cir. annum Ronitili, R. Romnn., 29. A gracious promise ISAIAH. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest ; and this is the refreshing : yet they would not hear. 1 3 But the word of the Lord was unto them, precept upon precept, precept upon precept ; line upon line, line upon line ; here a little, and there a little ; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. 14 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule tliis people which is in Jerusalem. 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us : ■■ for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves : 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, of the Messiah. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foun- *b'^'=^[^ ^279 dation ^ a stone, a tried stone, a Olymp. xiii 4r , cir. annum precious corner stone, a sure RomuU, R. Roman., 29. believeth r Amos ii. 4. ^ Gen. xlix. 42 ; Psa. cxviii. 22 ; Matt. xxi. 42 ; Acts iv. 11 ;Rom. ix.33; x. U ; Efih. ii. 20; 1 Pet. ii. 6,7,8. Forbyd that maye be forbydden ; Kepe backe that maye be kepte backe : Here a litle, there a litle. Verse 12. This is the rest — " This is the true rest"] The sense of this verse is : God had warned them by his prophets that their safety and security, their deli- verance from their present calamities and from the ap- prehensions of still greater approaching, depended wholly on their trust in God, their faith and obedience ; but they rejected this gracious warning with contempt and mockery. Terse 15. A covenant with death] To be in covenant with, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote per- fect security from evil and mischief of any sort : — " For thou shall be in league with the stones of the field ; And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee." Job v. 23. " And I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field. And with the fowls of heaven, and with the creep- ing things of the ground." Hos. ii. 18. That is, none of these shall hurt them. But Lucan, speaking of the PsyUi, whose peculiar property it was to be unhurt by the bite of serpents, with which their country abounded, comes still nearer to the expression of Isaiah in this place : — Gens unica terras Incolit a saevo serpentum innoxia morsu Marmarida; Psylli. Pax illis cum morte data est. Pharsal. ix. 891. " Of all who scorching Afrie's sun endure. None like the swarthy Psyllians are secure : ' 12fi foundation : he that shall not make haste. 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet : and the hail shall sweep away ' the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be " trodden down by it. 1 9 From the time tliat it goeth forth it shall take you : for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night : and it shall be a vexation only ^ to understand the report. 20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it : and the covering *Ver. 15. "Heb. a treading down to it. ^Or, when he shall matce you to understand doctrine. With healing gifts and privileges graced. Well in the land of serpents were they placed : Truce \vith the dreadful tyrant death they have. And border safely on his realm the grave." ROWE. We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement'] niH IJ'Syi' asinu chozeh, we have made a vision, we have had an interview, struck a bar- gain, and settled all preliminaries. So they had made a covenant with hell by diabolic sacrifice, n""l2 IJjTlJ carathnu berith, " AVe have cut the covenant sacrifice ;" they divided it for the contracting parties to pass be- tween the separated victim ; for the victim was split ex- actly down the middle, so that even the njiinal marrow was exactly divided through its whole length ; and be- ing set opposite to each other, the contracting parties entered, one at the head part, the other at the feet ; and, meeting in the centre, took the covenant oath. Thus, it is intimated, these bad people made an acTce- ment with Sixty sheol, with demons, with whom they had an interview ; i. e., meeting them in the covenant sacrifice ! To such a pitch had the Israelitish idolatry reached at that time ! Verse 16. Behold, I lay in Zion] See the notes on the parallel places in the margin. Kimchi understands this of Hezekiah ; but it most undoubtedly belongs to Jesus Christ alone ; and his application of it to himself even the Jews could not contest. See the margin as above. Averse 18. Your covenant with death shall be dis- annulled— "Your covenant with death shall be broken"] For "liJD caphar, which seems not to belong to this place, the Chaldee reads lan taphar, which is approved by Honbigant and Seeker. See Jer. xxxiii. 21, where the very same phrase is used. See Prelim. Dissert, p. 1. Averse 90. For the bed is shorter] A mashal or The husbandman CHAP. XXVIII. instructed by the Lord. A. M. cir. 3279. n-irrower than that he can wrap B. C. cir. 725. * Olymp. XIK. 1. hiiiisclf in it. cir. annunx « , t-i it i n • Roi.uiU, 21 ror llie Lord sliall rise up ^ "°"""'- ^°- as in Mount " Perazim, he sliall be wroth as in the valley of ^ Gibeon, that he may do his work, ^ his strange work ; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. 22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong : for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts '^ a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. 23 Give ye ear, and licar my voice ; hearken, and hear my speech. 24 Doth tiie ploughman plough all day to sow ? doth he open and l)rcak the clods of his grouinl ? 25 When he hath made plain the face there- of, doth lie not cast abroad the filches, and "2Sam. V.20; 1 Chron. xiv. 11. « Josh. x. 10, 12; 2 Sam. v. 25 ; 1 Chron. xiv. 16. y Lam. iii. 33. » Chap. x. 22, 23 ; Dan. ix. 27. "Or, the wheat in the principal place, and barley proverbial saying, the meaning of which is, that they will find all means of defence and protection insuffi- cient to secure them, and cover them from the evils coming upon them. 1D"3 massc/c, chap. xxii. 8, the co- vering, is used for the outworks of defence, the barrier of the country ; and here, in the allegorical sense, it means much the same thing. Their beds were only mattresses laid on the floor ; and the coverlet a sheet, or in the winter a carpet, laid over it, in which the person wrapped himself. For DJ^riH^J hchilhcannes, it ought probably to be DJUnno mehithcannes. Houbi- gant, Sedicr. Verse 31. As in Moii/it Pcra^ini] IDD kehar ; but in3 bahar, i.N the mount, is the reading of two of Ken- nicotCs, one of De Ros.ii\s, and one of my own M.SS. Verse •22. The Lord God] nin" "jnx Adonai Yeho- vah. Adonai is omitted by four of KennicolCs MSS., and in the ScptuaginI, Si/riac, and Arabic. Verse 23. Gire ye car, and hear my voice — " Listen ye, and hear my voice"] The foregoing discourse, consisting of severe reproofs, and threatenings of dread- ful judgments impending on the Jews for their vices, and their profane contempt of God's warnings by his messengers, the prophet concludes with an explanation and defence of God's method of dealing with his people in an elegant parable or allegory ; in which he em- ploys a variety of images, all taken from the science of agriculture. As the husbandman usesvarious methods in preparing his land, and adapting it to the several kinds of seeds to be sown, with a due observation of times and seasons ; and when he hath gathered in his hani-est, employs methods as various in separating the corn from the straw and the chatf by different instru- ments, according to the nature of the different sorts of grain ; so God, with unerring wisdom, and with strict justice, instructs, admonishes, and corrects his people ; chastises and punishes them in various ways, as the exi- gence of the case requires ; now more moderately, now scatter the cummin, and cast in *■ '^' "'■ ^^• ' B. C. cir. 725. " the principal wheat and the ap- oiymp. xiil. 4. , , , 111 cir. annum pointed barley and the '' rye in Romuii, their " place ? "• ""'"''"- ^°' 26 '^ For " his God dotli instruct hLm to dis- cretion, and doth teach him. 27 For tiie fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon tlic cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. 28 Bread co7-n is bruised ; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it ivith the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horse- men. 29 This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, ^ lohich is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. in the appointed place. ''Or, spelt. cJJeb. border? ^Or, And hebindeth it in such sort as his God doth teach him. c Ecclus. vii. 15. fPsa. xcii. 5: Jer. xxxii. 19. more severely ; always tempering justice with mercy ; in order to reclaim the wicked, to improve the good, and, finally, to separate the one from the other. Verse 26. For his God doth instruct him] All na- tions have agreed in attributing agriculture, the most useful and the most necessary of all sciences, to the invention and to the suggestions of their deities. " The Most High hath ordained husbandry," saith the son of Sirach, Ecclus. vii. 15. Namque Ceres fertur fruges, Liberque liquoris Vitigeni laticem mortalibus instituisse. Ll'cketil's, v. 14. " Ceres has taught mortals how to produce fruits ; and Bacchus has taught them how to cultivate the vine." 'O 5' ii*iof av^jwH-oitfi As^ioi. drijxanei, Xaouff 5' S's'i Epyov eySifSi Mi(xvr](j'!<£jv ,SioToio' XsyS) 6' otI (SuXog afiS-r] BouO'i re xai fxaxeXjiiir XsjSi 5' o-rs i5;Jiai clipoi Kai (DVTu yvfuttai, xai ffirjf/xara cavra l3a.Xeif6ui. Aratl's, Phienom. v. " He, Jupiter, to the human race Indulgent, prompts to necessary toil Man provident of life ; with kindly signs The seasons marks, when best to turn the glebe With spade and plough, to nurse the tender plant. And cast o'er fostering earth the seeds abroad."' A'erses 27, 28. Four methods of threshing are here mentioned, by different instruments : \\\ejlnil, the drag, the loain, and the treading of the cattle. The staff or JIail was used for the infirmiora semtna, says Jerome, the grain that was too tender to be treated in the other methods. The drag consisted of a sort of strong planks, made rough at the bottom, with hard stones or iron ; it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn sheaves spread on the floor, the driver sitting upon it. Kemp- 127 Dreadful aUile of Jerusalem, ISAIAH. fer has given a print representing the manner of using this instrument, Amcen. Exot. p. 682. fig. 3. The wain was much like the former ; but had ivheels with iron teelh, or edges like a saw : Ferrata carpenta rotis per medium in serrarum modum se volventibus. Hie- ron. in loc. From tliis it would seem that the axle was armed with u-on teeth or serrated wheels through- out. See a description and print of such a machine used at present in Egypt for the same purpose in Nie- buhr's Voyage en Arable, Tab. xvii. p. 123 ; it moves upon three rollers armed ^vith iron teeth or wheels to cut the straw. In Syria they make use of the drag, constructed in the very same manner as above describ- ed ; Nicbuhr, Description de I'Arabie, p. 140. This not only forced out the grain, but cut the straw in pieces and destruction of her enemies. for fodder for the cattle ; for in the eastern countries they have no hay. See Harmer's Observ. I. p. 425. The last method is well known from the law of Moses, which " forbids the ox to be muzzled, when he tread- eth out the corn ;" Deut. xxv. 4. Verse 28. The bread-corn] I read DnSl velahem, on the authority of the Vulgate and Symmachus ; the for- mer expresses the conjunction 1 vau, omitted in the text, by autem ; the latter by 6s. Bruise it with his horsemen — " Bruise it with the hoofs of his cattle."] For rty^^ parashaiv, horsemen or teeth, read VD13 perasaiv, hoofs. So the Syriac, Sym- machus, Theodotion, and the Vulgate. The first is read with \a shin, the latter with 0 samech, the pronunciation is nearly the same. CHAPTER XXIX. Distress oj Artel, or Jerusalem, on Sennacherib's invasion, with manifest allusion, however, to the stilt greatei distress xohich it suffered from the Romans, 1-4. Disappointment and fall of Sennacherib described in terms, like the event, the most awful and terrible, 5-8. Stupidity and hypocrisy of the Jews, 9-16. Rejection of the Jews, and calling of the Gentiles, 17. The chapter concludes by a recurrence to the fa- vourite topics of the prophet, viz., the great extension of the Messiah's kingdom in the latter days, and the future restoration of Israel, 18-34. 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sor- A. M. cir. 3292, B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1, cir. ;innum NuniEE Pompilii. R. Roman., 4. TyO ^ to '' Ariel, to Ariel, " the city "^ ivhere David dwelt ! add ye year to year ; let them " kill sacrifices. a Or, O Ariel, that is, the lion of God. i>Ezek. xliii. 15, 16. The subject of this and the four following chapters is the invasion of Sennacherib ; the great distress of the Jews while it continued ; tlieir sudden and unexpected deliverance by God's immediate interposition in their favour ; the subsequent prosperous state of the kingdom under Hezekiah ; interspersed with severe reproofs, and threats of punishment, for their hypocrisy, stupidity, infidelity, their want of trust in God, and their vain reliance on the assistance of Egj'pt ; and with promises of better times, both immediately to succeed, and to be expected in the future age. The whole making, not one continued discourse, but rather a collection of dif- ferent discourses upon the same subject ; which is treat- ed with great elegance and variety. Though the matter is various, and the transitions sudden, yet the prophet seldom goes far from his subject. It is properly enough divided by the chapters in the common trans- lation.— L. NOTES ON CHAP. XXIX. Verse 1. ArieT\ That Jerusalem is here called by this name is very certain : but the reason of this name, and the meaning of it as applied to Jerusalem, is very obscure and doubtful. Some, with the Chaldee, sup- pose it to be taken from the hearth of the great altar of burnt-offerings, which Ezekiel plainly calls by the same name ; and that Jerusalem is here considered as the seat of the fire of God, Sx "IIX ur el which should issue from thence to consume his enemies : compare chap. xxxi. 9. Some, according to the common de- rivation of the word, bx "IX an el, the lion of God, or 198 row : and it shall be unto me as Ariel. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numte Pompilii, R. Roman., -1. c Or, of the city.- ^ 2 Sam. V. 9. e Heb. cut off the heads. the strong lion, suppose it to signify the strength of the place, by which it was enabled to resist and overcome all its enemies. T1VE5 6s (patfi tiiv ■iroXiv outus st^ris&an- (irsi, &ia ©sou, Xsov-toj iixrjv stf'Ka^a'TTS )v aga- (pEiav Trig (p-Mris rov that they may add sin to sin : 2 ' That wralk to go down into Egypt, and •1 have not asked at my mouth ; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt ! 3 " Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. 4 For his princes were at ^ Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. 5 e They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. 6 '^ The burden of the beasts of the south : into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence co?ne the young and old lion, ' the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses. ISAIAH. and the their reliance on Egypt. the » Chap. xxix. 15. -b Deut. xxix. 19.— Chap. xxxi 1. dNum. xxvii. 21 , Josh. ix. 14; 1 Kings xxn. 7 Jpr. xxi .2; xl;i. 2, 20. Chap XX. 5 Jer. xxxvii. 5 , '■"" -fChap. XIX. 11. Ejer.ii.36 h Ch. l™. 9 ; Hos . viii. 9; xii. 1 —■Deut Vlll 15. NOTES ON CHAP. XXX. Verse 1. And that cover with a covering — "Wlio ratify covenants"] Heb. " ^VTlO pour out a libation." Sacrifice and libation were ceremonies constantly used, in ancient times by most nations in the ratifying of covenants : a libation therefore is used for a covenant, as in Greek the word (f'jrovSri, for the same reason, stands for both. This seems to be the most easy ex- plication of the Hebrew phrase, and it has the authority of the Scptiiagint, itmfi'ia.Ti (Sxiv^tixag. Verse 4. Hanes] Six MSS. of Kennicott's, and perhaps six others, with four of De Rossi's, read DJn chinnam, in vain, for Djn Hanes ; and so also the Sep- tuagint, who read likewise yyy yageu, laboured, for Ijr'j' yaggiu, arrived at. VerseS. Were — ashamed] EightMSS. (oneancient) of Kennicott''s, and ten of De Rossi's, read !2?'3n hohish, without N aleph. So the Chaldee and Vulgate. But a shame — " But proved even a shame"] Four MSS. (three ancient) after '2 ki, add DX im,unless,whic\i seems wanted to complete the phrase in its usual form. Verse 6. The burden] awo massa seems here to be taken in its proper sense ; the load, not the oracle. The same subject is continued ; and there seems to be no place here for a new title to a distinct prophecy. Does not burden of the beasts of the South in this place relate to the presents sent by Hoshea king of Israel to the South — to Egjrpt, which lay south of Ju- dea, to engage the Egyptians to succour him against the king of Assyria ? Into the land of trouble and anguish — " Through a 139 ir treasures upon tiie ^g'^'^J.';. 713'' bunches of camels, to a people oiymp. xvi. 4. /- j7 '^'f- annum that shall not profit them. Numfe PompUii, 7 "For the Egyptians shall R- R"'"^"-. 3- help in vain, and to no purpose : therefore have I cried ' concerning this, ™ Their strength is to sit still. 8 Now go, " write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for "the time to come for ever and ever : 9 That Pthis is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord : 10 1 Which say to the seers. See not ; and to the prophets. Prophesy not unto us right things, ■■ speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits • 11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. 12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in ^ oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon : tjer. xxxvii. 7. lOr, (o her. "Ver. 15; chap. vii. 4. ■>Hab. ii. 2. "Heb. the latter day. p Deut. xxxii. 20 ; chap. i. 4; ver. 1. TJer. xi. 21; Amos ii. 12; vii. 13; Mic. ii. 6. •" 1 Kings xxii. 13; Mic. ii. 11. ^Or, fra^id. land of distress and difficulty"] The same deserts are here spoken of which the Israelites passed through when they came out of Egypt, which Moses describee, Deut. viii. 15, as "that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought ; where there was no water." And which was designed to be a kind of barrier between them and Egypt, of which the Lord had said, " Ye shall henceforth return no more that way," Deut. xvii. 16. Shall not profit them] A MS. adds in the margin the word \~h lamo, them, which seems to have been lost out of the text : it is authorized by the Septuagint and Vulgate. Verse 7. Their strength is to sit still — " Rahab the Inactive."] The two last words, n^ty DD hem shabeth, joined into one, make the participle pihel n^ty^n ham- meshabheth. I find the learned Professor Doederlein, in his version of Isaiah, and note on this place, has given the same conjecture ; which he speaks of as having been formerly published by him. A concur rence of different persons in the same conjecture adds to it a greater degree of probability. Verse 8 . For ever and ever — " For a testimony for ever"] ij'S leed. So the Syriac, Chaldee, Vulgate., and Septuagint, in MSS. Pachom. and i. D. 11. sis fxaf- rupiov, which two words have been lost out of the other copies of the Septuagint. Verse 12. In oppression — "In obliquity"] typj'^ beakesh, transposing the two last letters of psyjU be- oshek, in oppression, which seems not to belong to this place : a very probable conjecture of Houbigant. Promises of restoration CHAP. XXX. and favour A. M. cir. 3291. j 3 Therefore this iniquity shall B. C. cir. 713. T -' Olymp. XVI. 3. be to you ' as a breach ready to Nu^ma^TpompiUi, fall, swelling out in a high wall, R. Roman., 3. yyjjQge breaking "cometh sud- denly at an instant. 14 And ' he shall break it as the breaking of ''the potters' vessel that is broken in pie- ces ; he shall not spare : so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a shred to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit. 15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel ; " In returning and rest siiall ye be saved ; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; ^and ye would not. 16 But ye said. No; for we will flee upon horses ; therefore shall ye flee : and, We will ride upon the swift ; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. 17 ^One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one ; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee : >Psa. Ltii. 3. "Chap. X3dx. 5. » Psa. ii. 9 ; Jer. xi.T. 11. "Heb. Ihr bottle of potters. » Ver. 7; chap. vii. 4. y Matt. xxiii. 37. *Rev. xxvi. 8; Deut. xxviii. 25; xxxii. 30; Josh. zxiii. 10. Verse 13. Swelling out in a high wall — " A swelling in a high wall "] It lias been observed before, that the buildings of Asia generally consist of little better than what we call mud walls. " All the houses at Ispahan," says Thevenot, Vol. II., p. 159, "are built of bricks made of clay and straw, and dried in the sun ; and covered with a plaster made of a fine white stone. In other place; in Persia the houses are built with nothing else but such bricks, made with tempered clay and chopped straw, well mingled together, and dried in the sun, and then used : but the least rain dissolves them." Sir John Chardin's MS. remark on this place of Isaiah is very apposite : Murs en Asie etant fails de terre se fendent ainsi par milieu et de haut en bas. " The walls in Asia being made of earth often cleave from top to bottom." This shows clearly how obvious and expressive the image is. The psalmist has in the same manner made use of it, to express sudden and utter destruction : — " Ye shall be slain all of you ; Ye shall be like an inclining wall, like a shattered fence." Psa. Ixii. 4. Verse 14. He shall not spare — "And spareth it not"] Five MSS. add the conjunction 1 vau to the negative ; nSi veto. A''erse 17. At the rebuke of five shall ye flee — "At the rebuke of five, ten thousand of you shall flee"] In the second line of this verse a word is manifestly omitted, which should answer to one thousand in the first : the Septuagint supply iroXXoi, c:}-! rahbim. But the true word is n321 rebabah, as I am persuaded any one will be convinced, who will compare the following passages with this place ; — ' a beacon upon \, **• cir. 3291. i^ B. C. cir. 713. cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman,, 3. till ye be left as the top of a mountain, and as an oTymp. xvi. 4. ensign on a hill. 18 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you : for the Lord is a God of judgment : '' blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For the people "^ shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem : thou shalt weep no more : he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry ; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. 20 And though the Lord give you '' the bread of adversity, and the water of " aflliiction, yet shall not thy 'teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers : 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying. This is the way, walk ye in it. a Or, a tree bereft of branches or boughs ; or, a mast. ^^ Psa. ii. 12; xxxiv. 8; Prov. xvi. 20; Jer. xvii. 7. cChap. Ixv. 9. dl Kings xxii. 27; Psa. cxxvii. 2. eOr, oppression. fPsa Ixxiv. 9 ; Amos viii. 11. " How should one chase a thousand ; And two put ten thousand (n32l) to flight 1" Deut. xxxii. 30. " And five of you shall chase a hundred ; And a hundred of you shall chase (71331) ten thousand." Lev. xxvi. 8. Verse 18. And therefore will he be exalted — " Even for this shall he expect in silence "] For DIT yarum, he shall be exalted, which belongs not to this place, Houbigant reads DIT yadum, he shall he silent : and so it seems to be in a MS. Another MS. instead of it reads 31B'" yashub, he shall return. The mistakes oc- casioned by the similitude of the letters T dalelh and 1 resh are very frequent, as the reader may have al- ready observed. Verse 19. For the people shall dwell in Zion — "Allien a holy people shall dwell in Sion"] Aaoj a.yi%, Septuagint ; tS'np DJ" am kadosh. The word \!rnn kadosh, last out of the text, but happily supplied by the Septuagint, clears up the sense, otherwise extremely obscure. When the rest of the cities of the land were taken by the king of Assyria, Zion was preserved, and all that were in it. Thou shalt weep no more — "Thou shalt implore him with weeping"] The negative particle nS lo is not ac- knowledged by the Septuagint. It may perhaps have been wTitten by mistake for iS lo, to him, of which there are many examples. Verse 20. Though the Lord — "Though Jehovah"] For "Jnx Adonai, sixteen MSS. and three editions have nin'' Yehovah ; many of De Rossi's have the same reading ; all my own have mri' yehovah. Verse 21. When ye turn to the right hand, and 133 Promises of restoration ISAIAH. and favour A. M. cir. 3291. -when ye « turn to the right hand, Oiymp. XVI. 4. and when ye turn to the left. Nu^a'pomjiilii, 22 ^ Ye shall defile also the R. Roman., 3. covering of 'thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold : thou shalt '' cast them away as a menstruous cloth; 'thou shalt say unto it. Get thee hence. 23 " Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal ; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous : in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. 24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat " clean ° provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and witli the fan. 25 And there sliall be p upon every high mountain, and upon every "^ high liill, rivers gjosh. i. 7. ^2 Chron. xxxi. 1; chap. ii. 20; xs.\i. 7. >Heb. the graven images of thy silver. k Heb. scatter. 'Hos. xiv. 8. "Matt. vi. 33; 1 Tim. iv. 8. "Or, savoury. o Heb. leavened. when ye turn to the left — "Turn not aside, to the right or to the left."] The Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate, translate as if, instead of '31 — ''3 ki — vechi, they read kSi — s'? lo — velo. Verse 22. Ye shall defile — " Ye shall treat as de- filed"] The very prohibition of Moses, Deut. vii. 25, only thrown out of the prose into the poetical form : " The graven images of their gods ye shall burn with fire : thou shalt not desire the silver or the gold that is on them ; nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to Jehov.\h thy God." Verse 25. When the towers fall — " WTien the mighty fall."] D'^IJO migdalim, (XSyaXou?, Sym. ; fisyaXuvofAEuoD?, Aquila ; I'Jl^l rahrebin, Chald. ; all signifying mighty ones. Verse 26. Shall be sevenfold] The text adds IlivO D'D'n nj'3ty keor shibath haiyamayun, " as the light of seven days," a manifest gloss, taken in from the margin ; it is not in most of the copies of the Septua- gint. It interrupts the rhythmical construction, and obscures the sense by a false, or at least an unneces- sary, interpretation. By moon, sun, light, are to be understood the abun- dance of spiritual and temporal felicity, with which God should bless them in the days of the Messiah, which should be sevenfold, i. e., vastly exceed all that they had ever before possessed. Verse 27. And the burden thereof is heavy — " And the flame raged violently"] DNty^ massaah ; this word seems to be rightly rendered in our translation, the flame, Judg. xx. 38, 40, &c.; a sign oi fire. Jar. vi. 1 ; called properly nSiCD masseeth, an elevation, from its tending upwards. Verse 28. To sift the nations with a sieve of vanity — " To toss the nations with the van of perdition"] The word nBJDl lahanaphah is in its form very irregu- 134 and streams of waters in the ■^i'^'^'r- J??' D. \j. cir. 71J. day of the great slaughter, when oiymp. xvt. 4. , c „ ^^'^- annum the towers lall. Numse Pompilii, 26 Moreover ' the light of the ^ ^°°"'°' ^- moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healelh the stroke of their wound. 27 Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, ' and the burden thereof is ' heavy : his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire : 28 And " his breath, as an overflowing stream, " shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity : and there shall 6e "' a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. I pChap. ii. 14, 15; xliv .3. qHeb. lifted up. ' Chap. Ix. 19, 20. — -iOr, and the grievousness of fiatne . 'Heb. heavi- ness. Chap XI. 4; 2 Thess. ii. 8.— —'Chap. viii. a ''Chap, xxxvii. >9. lar. Kimchi says it is for 'j'^n'? lehaniph. Houbi- gant supposes it to be a mistake, and shows the cause of it ; the joining it to the n he, which should begin the following word. The true reading is D^UD t^'jnS lehaniph haggoyim, " to sift the nations." The Vulgate seems to be the only one of the ancient interpreters who has explained rightly the sense ; but he has dropped the image : ad perdendas gentes in nihilum, " to reduce the nations to nothing." KimchVs explanation is to the following effect : " n3J naphah is a van with which they winnow corn ; and its use is to cleanse the corn from the chaff and straw : but the van with which God will winnow the nations will be the van of emptiness or perdition ; for nothing useful shall remain behind, but all shall come to nothing, and perish. In like manner, a bridle is designed to guide the horse in the right way ; but the bridle which God will put in the jaws of the people shall not direct them aright, but shall make them err, and lead them into destruction." This latter image the prophet has ap- plied to the same subject afterwards, ch. xxxvii. 29 : — " I will put my bridle in thy jaws, And turn thee back by the way in which thou camest." And as for the former it is to be observed, that the van of the ancients was a large instrument, somewhat like a shovel, with a long handle, with which they tossed the corn mixed with the chaff and chopped straw into the air, that the wind might separate them. See Ham- mond on Matt. iii. 12. There shall be a bridle in the jaivs^ A metaphor taken from a headstrong, unruly horse : the bridle checks, restrains, and directs him. What the true God does in restraining sinners, has been also attributed to the false gods of the heathen. Thus JEschylus, Prom. Vinct. 691 : — Destruction of the CHAP. XXXI. Assj/rians foretold. A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Oljrmp. XVI. 4. cir. annum NumsB Pompilii, R. Roman., 3. 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night ' when a iioly solem- nity is kept ; and gladness of heart, as when one goeih with a pipe to come into the ^ mountain of the Lord, to the ^ mighty One of Israel. 30 ' And the Lord shall cause •> his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and ivith the flame of a devoiuring fire, with scattering, and tempest, " and hailstones. 31 For '' through the voice of the Lord shall « Psa. xlii. 4. J Chap. ii. 3. « Heb. Rock ; Deut. xjnii. 4. • Chap. xxix. 6. *>Hcb. the ^lory of his voice. ^ (Jhap. xxviii. 2 ; xxxii. 19. ■> Chap, xxxvii. 36. ' Chap. x. 5, 24. aXX' eiCrivayxa^s nv .iioff j^aXjvos *pof pmv irpao'o'siv raSe. "But the bridle of Jupiter violently constrained him to do these things." Verse 30. The Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard] Kitnchi understands this of the great de- struction of the Assyrian host by the angel of the Lord. Instead of VX '\'C'i2 bezaaph ats, " with swift anger," five of Dr. JCennicott's MSS. and one of my own, read ?S< Di'i3 bezaam aph, " with detestation indignant." or yx als, " swift," which is the common reading, fort)'-two of Keimicotl's, forty-three of De Rossi's, and two of my own, have t]N ap/i, "HTath or fury." The former reading, y>S ats, is not found in any Bible pre- viously to that of Van der Hooght, in 1705 ; and there it seems to be a t^-pographical mistake. Verse 3 1 . Which smote with a rod — " He that was ready to smite with his staft""] " Post lltyN ashskur, forte excidit irx asher.'" — Secker. After TIB'S ashshur, probably IK'X ashcr, " which," has been omitted. Verse 32. The grounded staff — " The rod of his correction"] For mD13 musadah, the grounded staff, of which no one yet has been able to make any tolera- ble sense, Le Clerc conjectured ni013 musarah, of correction; (see Prov. xxii. 15 ;) and so it is in two MSS., (one of them ancient,) and seems to be so in the Bodleian MS. The Syriac has mai'ltyi deshue- the Assyrian be beaten down, *g*[; ^'J 7^3'' " which smote with a rod. oiymp. xvi. 4. . , , . , I cir. annum 32 And 'Ml every place wiiere Numas Pompilii, the grounded staff shall pass, ^- '^°"'" ' ^- which the Lord shall ^ lay upon him, it shall be with tabreis and harps : and in battles of '' shaking will he fight ' with it. 33 ^ For Tophet is ordained ' of old ; yea, for ihc king it is prepared ; he hath made it deep and large ; the pile thereof is fire and much wood : the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. ("Heb. every passing of the rod founded. gHeb. cause to reft upon him. — ^— liChap. xi. 15; xix. 16. 'Or, against them. ^Jer. vii. 31 ; xix. 6, &.c. ^Heh. from yesterday. bedah, virgo domans, vel subjectionis, — " the taming rod, or rod of subjection." With tahrets and harps] With every demonstration of joy and thanksgiving for the destruction of the ene- my in so wonderful a manner : with hymns of praise, accompanied with musical instruments. See ver. 29. With it — " Against them."] For n3 bah, against her, tift)'-two MSS. and five editions read D3 bam, against them. Verse 33. For Tophet is ordained] Tophet is a valley very near to Jerusalem, to the south-east, called also the valley of Hinnom or Gehenna ; where the Canaanites, and afterwards the Israelites, sacrificed their children, by making them pass through the fire, that is, by burning them in the fire, to Molech, as some suppose. It is therefore used for a place of punish- ment b)' fire ; and by our blessed Saviour in the Gos- pel for hell-fire, as the Jews themselves had applied it. See Chald. on Isa. xxxiii. 14, where obv npia mohedey olam is rendered " the Gehenna of everlasting fire." Here the place where the Assyrian army was destroyed is called Tophet by a metonymy ; for the Assyrian army was destroyed probably at a greater distance from Jerusalem, and quite on the opposite side of it : for Nob is mentioned as the last station, from which the king of Assyria should threaten Jerusalem, chap. X. 32, w here the prophet seems to have given a very exact chorographical description of his march in order to attack the city ; which however he never reached. — L. CHAPTER XXXI. nth their neglect of the power and notwithstanding, promised, expressed by two The Jews again reproved for their confidence in Egypt, finely contrasted protection of God, 1-3. Deliverance and protection are similes; the first remarkably lofty and poetical, the latter singularly beautiful and tender, 4, 5. Exhort- ation to repentance, joined with the prediction of a more reformed period, 6, 7. This chapter concludes, like the preceding, with a prophecy of the fall of Sennacherib, 8, 9. 135 The Israelites reproved Oiymp. XVI. 4. Egypt for help ; and '' stay cir. annum , i . . ■ i • ^ Numffi Pompiiii, on horses, and trust m chariots, R. Roman., 3. bgcause they are many ; and in horsemen, because they are very strong ; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, ' neither seek the Lord ! 2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and "^ will not " call back his words : but will arise against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. 3 Now the Egyptians are ^ men, and not God ; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand. ISAIAH. for trusting in Egypt. both he that helpeth shall fall, \^^ <^ 3291. and he that is holpen shall fall Oiymp. xvi. 4. down, and they all shall fail NumJe Pompiiii, together. R.Roman., 3. a Chap. XXX. 2; xxxvi. 6; Ezek. xvii. 15. bPsa. xx. 7; chap, xxxvi. 9. c Dan. ix. 13 ; Hos. vii. 7. <* Num. xxiii. 19. • Heb. remove. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXI. Verse 1. Wo to them that go down lo Egypt^ This is a reproof to the Israelites for forming an alliance with the Egyptians, and not trusting in the Lord. And stay on horses — " WTio trust in horses"] For Sv veal, and upon, first twenty MSS. of KennicotVs thirty of De Rossi's, one of my own, and the Septua- gint, Arabic, and Vulgate, read ^y al, upon, without the conjunction, which disturbs the sense. Verse 2. His words — " His word"] n3T debaro, singular, without " yod, two MSS. of Dr. KennicotVs, the Septuagint, and Targ. Hieros. rjll derachaiv, his ivays, is found in one MS. Verse 3. He that helpeth (the Egyptians) shall fall, and he that is holpen (the Israelites) shall fall down — together. Verse 4. Li/te as the lion] This comparison is ex- actly in the spirit and manner, and very nearly ap- proaching to the expression, of Homer. B»l p' i/xsv, iiiTS Xsuv o^sgirpospog, otfr' S'Xi6lvrts Atljov £ij xpSiuv, xsXsrat 55 s ^u(aoj ayrjvup, M))Xuv ireipritfovTa, xai i; ■jruxivov 5o,aov s\6eiv Eiirsp ya^ x' fiJ^?!"'' *cip' huto^i (Suropas a.\iSpag 2uv xurfi xai dovftaii (puXaaiavTas *Sfi (jiriXa, Ou pa t' airjijijTog fjiSfiovs rfTa^fj-oio oisa6ai. AXX' 0J-' a^ rj 7]^ira|6 (j.STaXjj.£vof, rjE xat auTOff E/SXjjr" £V *fwroio'i &oi)j airo X^'I^S kxovt;. Hiad xii. 299. As the bold lion, mountain-bred, now long Famished, with courage and with hunger stung. Attempts the thronged fold : him nought appals, Though dogs and armed shepherds stand in guard Collected ; he nathless undaunted springs O'er the high fence, and rends the trembling prey ; Or, rushing onward, in his breast receives The well-aimed spear. Of metaphors, allegories, and comparisons of the Hebrew poets, in which the Divine nature and attri- butes are represented under images taken from brutes and other low objects ; of their effect, their sublimity, and the causes of it ; see De Sac. Po'is. Heb., Praelect. svi. sub. fin. 136 4 For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, s Like as the lion, and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the '■ noise of them : ' so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. 5 '' As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem ; defending ' also he -mW fPsa. cxlvi. 3,5. sHos. xi. 10; Amos iii. 8. 'Or, multitude. J Chap. xlii. 13. kDeut. xxxii. 11 ; Psa. xci. 4. 1 Psa. xxxvii. 40. Verse 5. Passing over — " Leaping forward"] The generality of interpreters observe in this place an allu- sion to the deliverance which God vouchsafed to his people when he destroyed the first-born of the Egyp- tians, and exempted those of the Israelites sojourning among them by a peculiar interposition. The same word is made use of here which is used upon that occasion, and which gave the name to the feast which was instituted in commemoration of that deliverance, nD3 pesach. But the difficulty is to reconcile the com- monly received meaning of that word with the circum- stances of the similitude here used to illustrate the deliverance represented as parallel to the deliverance in Egypt. "As the mother birds hovering over their young, So shall Jehovah God of hosts protect Jerusalem ; Protecting and delivering, passing over, and rescu- ing her." This difficulty is, I think, well solved by Vitringa, whose remark is the more worthy of observation, as it leads to the true meaning of an important word, which hitherto seems greatly to have been misunderstood , though Vitringa himself, as it appears to me, has not exactly enough defined the precise meaning of it. He says, " riDD pasach signifies to cover, to protect by covering ; ffxsrradt^ iJfJ""?? Septuagint. Jehovah ob- teget ostium ; ' The Lord will cover or protect the door :' " whereas it means that particular action or motion by which God at that time placed himself in such a situation as to protect the house of the Israel- ite against the destroying angel ; to spring forward, to throw one's self in the way, in order to cover and pro- tect. Cocceius comes nearer to the true meaning than Vitringa, by rendering it gradum facere, to march, to step forward ; Lexicon in voc. The common mean- ing of the word HOD pasach upon other occasions is to halt, to be lame, to leap, as in a rude manner of danc- ing, (as the prophets of Baal did, 1 Kings xviii. 26,) all which agrees very well together ; for the motion of a lame person is a perpetual springing forward, by throwing himself from the weaker upon the stronger leg. The common notion of God's passage over the The Lord will CHAP. XXXII. protect Zion. ^ r' "■'' 7^' •^^1'^^'' '' ' ^^'^ passing over he | Oi3rnip. XVI. 4. will preserve it. cir. annum ^ m » i ■ r NumifPompiUi, 6 Tum ye unto ht7n from' R. Roman., 3. yf]^Q^ t),e children of Israel have " deeply revolted. 7 For in that day every man shall " cast away his idols of silver, and " his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for Pa sin. 8 Then shall the Assyrian "» fall with the » Hos. ix. 9. » Chap. ii. 20 : xxx. 22. » Heb. the idols of hU gold. p 1 Kings xii. 30. 1 See 2 Kings xix. 35, 36 ; chap. xxxrii. 36. f Or, for fear of the gioord. houses of the Israelites is, that in going through the land of Egj-pt to smite the first-born, seeing the blood on the door of the houses of the Israelites, he passed over, or skipped, those houses, and forbore to smite them. But that this is not the true notion of the thing, will be plain from considering the words of the sacred historian, where he describes very explicitly the action ; " For J ehotah will pass tlirough to smite the Egyptians ; and when he seeth the blood on the lintels and on the two side posts, Jehovah will spring forward over (or before) the door, nnsn %' Din' nD31 upasach Yehovah al happethach, and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you,^^ Exod. xii. 23. Here arc manifestly two distinct agents, with which the notion of passing over is not consist- ent, for that supposes but one agent. The two agents are the destroying angel passing through to smite every house, and Jehovah the Protector keeping pace with him ; and who, seeing the door of the Israelite marked with the blood, the token prescribed, leaps for- ward, throws himself tcilh a sudden motion in the way, opposes the destroying angel, and covers and protects that house against the destroying angel, nor suffers him to smite it. In tliis way of considering the action, the beautiful similitude of the bird protecting her young answers exactly to the application by the allu- sion to the deliverance in Egypt. As the mother bird spreads her wings to cover her young, throws herself before them, and opposes the rapacious bird that as- saults them, so shall Jehovah protect, as with a shield, Jerusalem from the enemy, protecting and delivering, springing forward and rescuing her ; iJTSp/Saivwv, as the three other Greek interpreters, Aquila, Si/mma- chus, and Theodotion, render it. The Septuagint, irspiironirfSTai- instead of which MS. Pachom. has iti- lij^nttercu, circumeundo proteget, " in going about he shall protect," which I think is the true reading. — Homer, II. viii. 329, expresses the very same image by this word : — sword, not of a mighty man; A;'^';'''r- 2??'' ' ° •' ' B. C. cir. 713. and the sword, not of a mean Oiymp. xvi. 4. man, shall devour him: but he NumsB PompUii, shall flee ' from the sword, and ^ ^°'°"'- ^- his young men shall be ' discomfited.' 9 And " he '^ shall pass over to " his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. • Or, tributary. » Heb._/br melting or tribute. " Chap, xxxvii. 37 ; Deut. xxii. 25, in the margin. *Heb. Aw rock shall pats away for fear. wQr, his strength. Aiaj i5' oux aji.e\r,(fs xaiJiyvri;(xa, said to be from Aquila's Version, which I have followed. The learned Professor Schroe- der, Institut. Ling. Heb. p. 298, makes it to be in regimine with DD''T yedeychem, as an epithet, your sinfd hands. The Septuagint render the pronoun in the third person, ai J(Jip£s o.mtuv, their hands ; and an ancient MS. has, agreeable to that rendering, DhS lahem, to them, for DjS lachem, to you ; which word they have likewise omitted, as not necessary to com- plete the sense. Verse 8. Then shall the Assyrian fall, (5fc.'\ Because he was to be discomfited by the angel of the Lord, destroying in his camp, in one night, upwards of one hundred and eighty thousand men ; and Sennacherib ' himself fell by the hands of the princes, his own sons. , Not mighty men, for they were not soldiers; not mean I men, for they were princes. CHAPTER XXXII. Prophecy of great prosperity under Hezeltiah; but, in its highest sense, applicable to Christ, 1-8. Descrip- tion of impending calamities, 9-14. Rejection of the Jews, and calling of the Gentiles, 15. The future prosperity of the Church. 16-20 137 The righteous king ISAIAH. and his prosperous retgn. *b'c cir 713^' JgEHOLD, a "king shall reign oiymp. XVI. 4. in righteousness, and princes cir. annum in i ■ • i Numae Pompiiii, shall nilc ui judgment. R. Roman., 3. ^ j^^^^ ^ ^^^ gj^j^JJ ^^ gg ^ hiding-place from the wind, and * a covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a " great rock in a weary land. 3 And ^ the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. 4 The heart also of the ° rash shall under- stand knowledge, and the tongue of the stam- merers shall be ready to speak ^ plainly. •Psa. xlv. 1, &c. ; Jer. xxiii. 5 ; Hos. iii. 5 ; Zech. ix. 9. 1" Chap. iv. 6; XXV. 4. cHeb. heavy. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXII. Verse 1. Behold, a king shall reign in righteous- ness] If King Hezekiah were a type of Christ, then this prophecy may refer to his time ; but otherwise it seems to have Hezekiah primarily in view. It is evident, however, that in the fullest sense these words cannot be applied to any man ; God alone can do all that is promised here. And princes] D'liyi ve-sarim, without 7 lamed, to ; so the ancient Versions. An ancient MS. has V\m vesaraiv, and his princes. Verse 2. As the shadow of a great rock] The shadow of a great projecting rock is the most refresh- ing that is possible in a hot country, not only as most perfectly excluding the rays of the sun, but also as having in itself a natural coolness, which it reflects and communicates to every thing about it. Speluncaeque tegant, et saxea procubet umbra. YiRG. Georg. iii. 145. " Let the cool cave and shady rock protect them." EoTEi x£^aXi]v xai yomara. Sfipioj a^£i, Auakeog Ss tS j^ptJS airo xaujjiaToj" aXXa tot' r,Sri Ell] irjTpan] T£ gxi-q, xai Bi^Xivos oivoj. Hesiod. ii. 206. "When Sirius rages, and thine aching head. Parched skin, and feeble knees refreshment need ; Then to the rock's projected shade retire. With Biblin wine recruit thy wasted powers.'' Verse 3. And the eyes of them that see shall not he dim — " And him the eyes of those that see shall re- gard"] For n'?! velo, and not, Le Clerc reads ibl velo, and to him, of which mistake the Masoretes ac- knowledge there sxe fifteen instances; and many more are reckoned by others. The removal of the negative restores to the verb its true and usual sense. Verse 5. The vile person shall no more be called liberal] The different epithets here employed require minute explanation. The vile person — h^i nabal, the pampered, fattened, brainless fellow, who eats to live, and lives to eat ; who will scarcely part with any thing, and that which he does give he gives with an evil eye and a grudging heart. 138 5 The vile person shall be no ^g^'^^r- 3291- more called liberal, nor the churl oiymp. xvi. 4. . , , - .p , cir. amium said to be bountiiul. NumiE Pompiiu, 6 For the vile person will ^"^°'""'^- speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 7 The instruments also of the churl are evil : he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even e when the needy speaketh right. dChap. xxix. 18; xxxv. 5, 6. <^Heb. hasty. rOr, elegantly. gOr, when he speaketh against thepoor in judgmejit. Liberal — 3'nJ nadib ; the generous, open-hearted, princely man, who wTites on all his possessions. Fen- myself and mankind, and lives only to get and to do good. The churl — "S'3 kUai, the avaricious man ; he who starves himself amidst his plenty, and will not take the necessaries of life for fear of lessening his stock. Thus he differs from '7:1^ nabal, who feeds himself to the fuU, and regards no one else ; like the rich man in the Gospel. The avaricious man is called 'So kitai, from O ki,for, and ■''? li, myself; or contracted from Sd col, all, and ■''7 li, to myself: all is mine ; all I have is my own ; and all I can get is for myself: and yet this man enjoys nothing ; he withholds From back and belly too their proper fare : — O cursed lust of gold, when for thy sake The wretch throws up his interest in both worlds. First starved in this, then damned in that to come ! Bountiful — I'W shoa, he who is abundantly rich ; who rejoices in his plenty, and deals out to the dis- tressed with a liberal hand. Verse C. The vile person tcill speak villany — " The fool will stUl utter folly"] A sort of proverbial saying, which Euripides (Bacchee, 369) has e.xpressed in the very same manner and words : Mupa yctf jj-upo; Xe- ysr " The fool speaks folly." Of this kind of sim- ple and unadorned proverb or parable, see De S. Poes Hebr. Prselect. xxiv. Against the Lord — " Against Jehovah"] For Sn El, two MSS. read S>' al, more properly ; but both are of nearly the same meaning. Verse 7. The instruments also of the churl are evil — " As for the niggard, his instruments are evil"] His machinations, his designs. The paronomasia, which the prophet frequently deals in, suggested this expression v'lD 'Sdi vechelai kelaiv. The first word is expressed with some variety in the MSS. Seven MSS. read 'Vdi vekili, one '7DI vechol, another 'bljl vecoli. To destroy the poor with lying words — " To defeat the assertions of the poor in judgment"] A word seems to have been lost here, and two others to have suffered a small alteration, which has made the sen- tence very obscure. The Septuagint have happily Prosperity of the Church CHAP. XXXII. in the latter days. A. M. cir. 3291. B.C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 1. cir. annum Nutnae Pompilii. R. Roman., 3. 8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things ; and by liberal things shall he "^ stand. 9 Rise up, ye women ' that ; hear my voice, ye careless give ear unto my speech. shall ye be are at ease daughters 10 ^ Many days and years troubled, ye careless women : for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come. 1 1 Tremble, ye women that are at ease ; be troubled, ye careless ones ; strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. 1 2 They shall lament for the teats, for ' the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. 13 ""Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers ; " yea, upon all the houses of joy in ° the joyous city : k Or, be tslablUhed. i Amos vi. 1 . k Heb. Days abme a year. 1 Heb. the fields of desire. "Chap. x.x.xiv. 13; Hos. II. 6. retained the rendering of the lost word, and restored the senlence in all its parts : Kai SiaixiSaiai Xoyov; TiXTEivuv tv xpiisr 03W02 p'ax "\21 liJnSl ulehapher dibrey ebyon bemishpat, " And disperse the words of the poor in judgment." They frequently render the verb TSn hapharhy Siaifxs2^'7l uledabber, which gives authority for the preposition 7 lamed., to, necessary to the sense ; and the Scptua- gint, Syriac, and Chaldee read t33B''33 bemishpat, IN judgment. Verse 8. Liberal things — " Generous purposes"] " Of the four sorts of persons mentioned ver. 5, three are described, ver. 6, 7, and 8, but not the fourth." — Secker. Perhaps for Nim vehu, and he, we ought to read i'Wl veshoa, the bountiful. A'erse 9. Rise up, ye women — " ye provinces." Ye careless daughters — "ye cities." — Targum. From this verse to the end of the fourteenth, the desolation of Judea by the Chaldeans appears to be foretold. Verse 11. Gird sackcloth] piJ sak, sackcloth, a word necessary to the sense, is here lost, but pre- served by the Sepluagint, MSS. Alex, and Pachom., and I. D. n., and edit. Aid. and Comp., and the Arabic and Syriac. Tremble — be troubled — strip you] T\02I3 peshotah, n;ji rcgazah, &c. These are infinitives, with a paragogic n Ac, according to Schultens, Institut. Ling. Hebr. p. 453, and are to be taken in an imperative «ense. Verse 12. They shall lament — for the pleasant fields — " Mourn ye for the pleasant field"] The Sepluagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read nSD siphdu, mourn ye, imperative ; twelve MSS., (five ancient,) two editions, the Sepluagint, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, Syriac, and Vulgate, all read ma; sadeh, a field; not ■^B' shedey, breasts. Verse 13. Shall come up thorns and briers — " The 14 p Because the palaces shall '^j ""l- "='■■• ^^■ r B. C. cir. 713. be forsaken; the multitude of the oiymp. xvi. 4. city shall be left ; the i forts and Numm "pom^iiii, towers shall be for dens for ever, "■ "°""" ■ ^- a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks ; 15 Until 'the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and ' the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. 16 Then judgment sliall dwell in the wilder- ness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. 17 ' Ajid the work of righteousness shall be peace ; and the effect of righteousness quiet- ness and assurance for ever. 18 And my people shall dwell in a peace- able habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places ; Or, burning upon, &.C. ° Chap. xxii. 22. p Chap, xxvii. 10. ■ ' " 30; Joel ii "~ *lOr, clifts and watch-lowers. ""Psa. civ. » Chap. xxix. 17; xxxv. 2. 1 James iii. 18. 28 thorn and the brier shall come up"] AH the ancient Aversions read -\"3'il7\ veshamir, with the conjunction. And an ancient MS. has ID T\1];r\ taaleh bo, " shall come up in it," which seems to be right ; or rather n3 bah : and there is a rasure in the place of 13 bo in another ancient M.S. Yea, upon all the houses of joy] For O ki, the an- cient Versions, e.vcept the Vulgate, seem to have read 1 ve. '0 ki may perhaps be a mistake for 13 bo, or n3 bah, in it, above mentioned. It is not necessary in this place. The description of impending distress which begins at ver. 13 belongs to other times than that of Senna- cherib's inva-sion, from which they were so soon de- livered. It must at least e.vtend to the ruin of the country and city by the Chaldeans. .\nd the promise of blessings which follows was not fulfilled under the Mosaic dispensation ; they belong to the ki.ngdom of Messiah. Compare ver. 15 with chap. xxix. 17, and see the note there. Verse 14. The palaces shall be forsaken] The house of the sanctuary (the temple) shall be de- stroyed. — Targum . The forts — " Ophel"] It was a part of Mount Zion, rising higher than the rest, at the eastern ex- tremity, near to the temple, a little to the south of it; called by Micah, chap. iv. 8, " Ophel of the daughter of Zion." It was naturally strong by its situation ; and had a ii'all of its own, by which it was separated from the rest of Zion. Verse 15. And the fruitful field] S"D"\3ni lehaccar- mel. So fifteen MS.S., si.T ancient, and two editions; which seems to make the noun an appellative. Verse 17. The icork of righteousness] Righteous- ness works and produces peace. The effect of rightcousnci.^] r\T3>' abodath, the cul- ture. Righteousness, cultivated by peace, produces tranquillity of mind and permanent security. Reader, 139 Prophecy concerning ISAIAH. Sennacherib. A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4. cir. annum NumiE Pompilii, R. Roman., 3. 1 9 " When it shall hail, ing down "^ on the forest ; the city shall be low low place. com- "and 1 Chap. XXX. 30. ' Zech. xi. 2. hast thou the principle ? If so, dost thou cultivate it ? If thou dost, thou hast peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, and a sure and certain hope of everlasting life. Verse 19. The city shall be low in a low place. — " The city shall be laid level with the plain."] For nSiltyDl ubashephelah, the Syriac reads n'^iJK'OI iike- shephelah. The city — probably Nineveh or Babylon: but this verse is very obscure. Saltus ; Assyrio- rum regnum : civitas ; magniiica Assyriorum castra. Ephrem Syr. in loc. For •^^\^2^ ubarad, a MS. has Tl'1 vaiyered ; and so conjectured Abp. Seder, refer- ring to Zech. xi. 2. Verse 20. That sow beside all waters — "Who sow your seed in every well-watered place"] Sir John Chardin's note on this place is : — " This exactly an- swers the manner of planting rice ; for they sow it upon the water, and before sowing, while the earth is covered v^ith water, they cause the ground to be trod- den by oxen, horses, and asses, who go mid-leg deep ; and this is the way of preparing the ground for sowing. As they sow the rice on the water, they transplant it in the water." Harmer's Observ. vol. i. p. 280. 20 Blessed are ye that sow be- ■*; ^- cir. 3291. rj B. C. cir. 713. side all waters, that send forth Olymp. xvi. 4. thither the feet of ^ the ox and Numae Pompilii, the ass. R.^m^.,z. f Or, and the city shall be utterly abased. x Chap. xxx. 24. " Rice is the food of two-thirds of mankind." Dr. Ar- buthnot. " It is cvdtivated in most of the eastern countries." Miller. " It is good for all, and at all times." Sir /. Chardin, ib. " Le ris, qui est leur principal aliment et leur froment (i. e., des Siamois,) n'est jamais assez arrose ; il croit au milieu de I'eau, et les carapagnes ou on le cultive ressemblent plutot a de marets que non pas a des terres qu'on labours avec la charue. Le ris a bien cette force, que quoy qu'il y ait six ou sept pieds d'eau sur lui, il pousse toujours sa tige au dessus ; et le tuyau qui le porte s'eleve et croit k proportion de la hauteur de I'eau qui noye son champ. Voyage de I'Eveque de Beryte, p. 144. Paris, 1666. — L. " iJice, which is the principal grain and aliment of the Siamese, can never be too much watered. It grows in the water, and the fields where it is sown resemble marshes rather than fields cultivated by ploughing. Rice has that property that although it be covered with water six or seven feet deep, yet it raises its stalk above it ; and this grows long in proportion to the depth of the water by which the field is inundated." CHAPTER XXXm. This chapter contains the sequel of the prophecy respecting Sennacherib. The prophet addresses himself to the Assyrian monarch, 1—4. The mercy and power of God acknoicledged by the Jews, 5, 6. Distress and despair of the Jews at the approach of Sennacherib, 7—9. Gracious promise of deliverance, 10—13. Dreadful apprehensions of the wicked, and security of the righteous, 14-17. The security of the Jews under the reign of Hexekiah, and the wretched condition of Sennacherib and his army, 18-24. A. M. cir. 3291 B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4 cir. annum T^TO to thee ^that .spoilest, and , ''when thou shalt cease to spoil, ■^-'^ '^"- ^^^'■ thou xvast not spoiled ; and i thou shalt be spoiled ; shalt make an treacherously, they and Olymp. XVI. 4. Numae Pompilii, dealest treacherously, and they j when thou shalt make an end Numae Pompilii, ?:Z!^!!!i!l dealt not treacherously with thee ! i to deal tT-Appl,prn„sKr thmr R- Roman., 3. "Chap. xxi. 2; Hab. ii. 8. i' Rev. xiii. 10. The plan of the prophecy continued in this chapter, invaded countries, yet he should fall, and become an and which is manifestly distinct from the foregoing, is easy prey to those whom he had intended to subdue, peculiarly elegant. To set it in a proper light, it will j In verses 5 and 6, a chorus of Jews is introduced, be necessary to mark the transitions from one part of ! acknowledging the mercy and power of God, who it to another. i had undertaken to protect them ; extolling it with di- In ver. 1, the prophet addresses himself to Senna- rect opposition to the boasted power of their enemies, cherib, briefly, but strongly and elegantly, expressing and celebrating the wisdom and piety of their king the injustice of his ambitious designs, and the sudden Hezekiah, who had placed his confidence in the favour disappointments of them. of God. In ver. 2, the Jews are introduced offering up their j Then foDows, in verses 7, 8, and 9, a description earnest supplications to God in their present distress- j of the distress and despair of the Jews, upon the king ful condition ; with expressions of their trust and con- of Assyria's marching against Jerusalem, and sending fidence in his protection. , his summons to them to surrender, after the treaty he In verses 3 and 4 the prophet in the name of God, had made with Hezekiah on the conditions of his or rather God himself, is introduced addressing him- paying, as he actually did pay to him, three hundred self to Sennacherib, and threatening him that, notwith- talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 2 Kings standing the terror which he had occasioned in the \ xviii. 14-16. 140 77ie Lord will be exalted CHAP. XXXIII. against his enemies. A.M^ cir. 3291. gjjgH ^Qg\ treacherouslv witli B. C. cir. 713. ■' Oiymp. XVI. 4. thee. cir. annum ^ r\ t l » Num» PompiUi, 2 O Lord, be gracious unto us ; R. Roman., 3. c ^yg ],ave Waited for thee : be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. 3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled ; at the lifting up of thyself the nations wrere scattered. 4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillcu: : as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon lliem. 5 ^ The Lord is exalted ; for he dwclleth on •Chap. XXT. 9. iiPsa. xcvii. 9. eHeb. salvations. fOr, messengers. In ver. 10, God himself is again introduced, de- claring that he will interpose in this critical situation of affairs, and disappoint the vain designs of the ene- mies of his people, by discomfiting and utterly con- suming them. Then follows, ver. 1 1-S2, still in the person of God, which however falls at last into that of the pro- phet, a description of the dreadful apprehensions of the wicked in those times of distress and imminent danger ; finely contrasted with the confidence and se- curity of the righteous, and their trust in the promises of God that he will be their never-fading strength and protector. The whole concludes, in the person of the prophet, with a description of the security of the Jews under the protection of God, and of the wretched state of Sennacherib and his army, wholly discomfited, and exposed to be plundered even by the weakest of the enemy. Much of the beauty of this passage depends on the explanation above given of ver. 3 and 4, as addressed by the prophet, or by God himself, to Sennacherib ; not as it is usually taken, as addressed by the Jews to God, ver. 3, and then ver. 4, as addressed to the Assyrians. To set this in a clear light, it may be of use to compare it with a passage of the Prophet Joel ; where, speaking of the destruction caused by the lo- custs, he sets in the same strong light of opposition as Isaiah does here, the power of the enemy, and the power of Jehovah, who would destroy that enemy. Thus Isaiah tr Sennacherib : — " ^^ hen thou didst raise thyself up, the nations were dispersed" — Ver. 3. " But now will I arise, saith Jehovah ; Now will I be exalted." Ver. 10. And thus Joel, chap. ii. 20, 21 : — " His stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall ascend ; Though he hath done great things. Fear not, 0 land ; be glad and rejoice ; For Jehovah will do great things." — L. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIH. Verse 1. And dealest treacherously — "Thou plun- derer"] See note on chap. xxi. 2. high: he hath filled Zion with *^ ";"='!■• 2??^- . , , ■ 1 V.C. cir. 713. judgment and righteousness. oiymp. xvi. 4, 6 And wisdom and knowledge Numas Pompiiii, shall be the stability of thy times, ^ "°""^"- ^- and strength of « salvation : the fear of the Lord is his treasure. 7 Behold, their '^ valiant ones shall cry with- out : « the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly. 8 '' The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth : ' he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. e2 Kings xriii. 18, 37.- i" Judg. V. 6." 16, 17. J2 Kings xviii. 14, 15, When thou shall make an end to deal treacherously — " ^^'hen thou art weary of plundering"] " inSjD cannelothecha, alibi non extat in s. s. nisi f. Job xv. 29 — simplicius est legere "^nSoj kechallothecha. Vid. Capell.; nee repugnat Vitringa. Vid. Dan. ix. 24. nSj calah Q'nn hatim." — Seeker. Verse 2. Be thou their arm every morning — " Be thou our strength every morning"] For ajnt zeroam, their arm, the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate read ijjni zeroemi, our arm, in the first person of the pronoun, not the third : the edition of Felix Pratensis has lJT\;?nt zeroothcynu in the margin. The prophet is here praying against the enemies of God's people ; and yet this part of the prayer seems to be in their behalf: but from the above authorities it appears that our arm is the true reading, though I do not find it confirmed by any of KennicotCs, De Rossi's, or my own MSS. My old MS. Bible has, — l&e tljou ourc arm in crln. Verse 3. At the noise of the tumult — " From thy terrible voice."] For |lDn hamon, " multitude," the Septuagint and Syriac read TaN arnica, " terrible," whom I follow. Verse 6. His treasure — " Thy treasure."] 'O Sij- rfaupos gov, Sym. He had in his copy I^XN otsarcha, " thy treasure," not nVX otsaro, " his treasure." Verse 7. Their valiant ones shall cri/ without — " The mighty men raise a grievous cry"] Three MS.S. read 0''7'<"l>< erelirn, that is, lions of God, or strong lions. So they called valiant men heroes ; which ap- pellation the Arabians and Persians still use. See Bochart. Hieroz. Part I. lib. iii. cap. 1. "Mahomet, ayant reconnu Hamzeh son oncle pour homme de courage et de valeur, lui donne le litre ou sumom d'Assad Allah, qui signifie le lion de Dieu." D'Her- helot, p. 427. And for nvn chatsah, the Syriac and Chaldee read niyp kashah, whom I follow. The Chaldee, Syriac, Aqnila, Symmachus, and Theodotion read tZ3nS ^X^X ereh lahem, or DNT yireh, with what meaning is not clear. The word dS.'^iN crellam, which we translate valiant ones, is very difficult ; no man knows what it means. Kimchi supposes that it is the name of the angel that smote the AssjTian camp ! The Vulgate, and my Old MS., translate it seers; and most of the Versions un- 141 Promise of deliverance ISAIAH. from the Assyrian army. A. M. cir. 3291. 9 k -phe earth mourneth and B. C. cir. 713. oiymp. XVI. 4. laiiguisheth : Lebanon is ashamed NumffiPompiiii, and 'he\vftdown: Sharon is like R. Roman., 3. ^ wilderness ; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits. 10 " Now will I rise, saith the Lord ; now will I be exalted ; now will I lift up myself. 11 "Ye shall conceive chaif, ye shall bring forth stubble : your breath, as fire, shall de- vour you. 12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime : ° as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. 13 Hear, p ye that are far off, what I have done ; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearful- ness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire ? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings ? 15 He that '^ walketh ''righteously, and speak- eth ' uprightly ; he that despiseth the gain of ' oppressions, that shaketh his hands from It Chap. xxiv. 4. 'Or, viithered away. ™ Psa. xii. 5. ■Psa. vii. 14; chap. lix. 4. oQhap. ix. 18. p Chap. xlix. 1. qPsa. XV, 2; xxiv. 4. ""Heb. in righteousnesses, » Heb. uprightnesses. ^ Or, deceits. — — " Heb. bloods. ^ Psa. cxix. 37. derstand it in this way. None of the MSS. give us any help, but as we see above in Loivth. Verse 9. Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits — " Bashan and Carmel are stripped of their beauty."] ^oLtB^ci sirai, tnade manifest. Sept. They read mi'31 veneerah. Verse 1 1 . Yoiir breath — " And my spirit"] " For DZinn rvchechem, your spirit, read 1^:3 Tin ruchi ke- mo." Seeker. 'VNTiich reading is confirmed by the Chaldee, where ■'lO'O meymri, " my word," answers to Tin ruchi, "my spirit." Verse 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid] Zion has been generally considered as a type of the Church of God. Now all the members of God's Church should be holy, and given to good works ; sinners in Zion, therefore, are portentous beings ! but, alas ! where are they not 1 The Targum on this verse is worthy of notice : " The sinners in Zion are broken Aovm ; fear hath seized the ungodly, who are suffering for their ways. They say. Who among us shall dwell in Zion, where the splendour of the Divine Majesty is like a consuming fire ? Who of us shall dwell in Jerusalem, where the ungodly are judged and delivered into hell for an eternal burning?" ilEbcrbutpngC btennimgiiS. Old MS. Bible. Verse 15. That stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood — " \\'lio stoppeth his ears to the proposal of blood- shed"] A MS. reads D'm3 bedamim, "in blood." Verse 18. Where is the scribe 1] The person ap- 143 holding of bribes, that stoppeth ^g^. cm 3291. his ears from hearing of "blood, oiymp. xvi. 4. cir. annum and ^ shutteth his eyes irom seeing Numae Pompilii, evil ; K.Uom^T..,3. 1 6 He shall dwell on ■" high : his place of defence shall he the munitions of rocks : bread shall be given him ; his waters shall he sure. 17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty ; they shall behold "^ the land that is very far off. 18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. y Where is the scribe ? where is the ^ receiver ? where is he that counted the towers ? 19 "Thou shalt not see a fierce people, ''a people of deeper speech than thou canst per- ceive ; of a <= stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand. 20 '^ Look upon Zion, the city of our solem- nities : thine eyes .shall see " Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down ; ^ not one of ^ the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. "" Heb. heights or high places. x Heb. the tand of far distances. y 1 Cor. i. 20. ^Heb, weigher. «2 Kings xix. 32. 1> Deut. xxviii. 49, 50 ; Jer. v. 15. c Or, ridiculous. d Psa. xlviii. 12. e Psa. xlvi. 5 ; cxxv. 1, 2. f Chap, xxxvii. 33. eChap. liv. 2. pointed by the king of Assyria to estimate their num- ber and property in reference to their being heavily taxed. Where is the receiver ?] Or he who was to have collected this tribute. Where is he that counted the towers ?] That is, the commander of the enemy's forces, who surveyed the fortifications of the city, and took an account of the height, strength, and situation of the walls and towers, that he might know where to make the assault with the greatest advantage ; as Capaneus before Thebes is re- presented in a passage of the Phoenissa; of Euripides, which Grotius has applied as an illustration of this place : — Exsivos lifra itfodjSagsig o' • B. C. cir. 713. fatness. Olymp. XVI. 4. 8 For it is the day of the Lord's Nuidk PompTiii, » vengeance, and the year of re- ^ R<"°a°- ■>■ compenses for the controversy of Zion. 9 PAnd the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and tlic land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; 1 the smoke tJiereof shall go up for ever: 'from generation to generation it shall lie waste ; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 1 1 ' But the • cormorant and the bittern shall possess it ; the owl also and tlie raven sliail dwell in it : and " he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. ■" Or, rhinoceros. " Or, drunken. o Chap. Ixiii. 4. P See Deut. xxix. 23. 1 Rev. xiv. 1 1 ; xviii. 18 ; xix. 3. ' Mai. i. 4. sChap. xiv. 23; Zeph. ii. 14; Rev. xviii. 2. tOr, pelican. "2 Kings xxi. 13; Lam. ii. 8. A great slaughter on the mountains of Israel. And ye shall eat flesh and drink blood : The flesh of the mighty shall ye eat, And the blood of the lofty of the earth shall ye drink ; Of rams, of lambs, and of goats. Of bullocks, all of them the fat ones of Bashan ; And ye shall eat fat, till ye are cloyed, And drink blood, till ye are drunken ; Of my slaughter, which I have slain for you." The sublime author of the Revelation, chap. xix. 17, 18, has taken this image from Ezekiel, rather than from Isaiah. Verse 7. The unicorn.': shall come doicn'] D't^NT recmim, translated teild goats by Bishop Loicth. The DN1 reem Bochart thinks to be a species of wild goat in the deserts of Arabia. It seems generally to mean the rhinoceros. With blood — " With their blood"] DmD middamam ; so two ancient MSS. of Kennicotl's. the Syriae, and Chaldre. Verse 8. The year of recompenses for the contro- versy of Zion — " The year of recompense to the de- fender of the cause of Zion"] As from jn dun, \"\ din, a judge ; so from 31"i rub, 3"i rib, an advocate, or defender ; Judici Sionis ; Syriac. ^'erse 1 1 . The cormorant] riNp knath, the pelican, from the root N"p hi, to vomit, because it is said she swallows shell-fish, and when the heat of her stomach has killed the fish, she vomits the shells, takes out the dead fish, and eats them. The httem] n-3p kippod, the hedge-hog, or porcupine. The otel] nVi?:" yanshoph, the bittern, from fits': na- shaph, to blow, because of the blowing noise it makes, almost like the lowing of an o.r. My old MS. Bible renders the words thus : — ^iK fault in fate like an ajtjBfe. attb the wttljoiin, onb the ^nwte (snipe.) 145 Terrible desolations ISAIAH. and judgments foretold. ^^^'-'y-l^V- 12 They shall call the nobles B. C. cir. 713. J Oiymp. XVI. 4. thereof to the kingdom, but none Numa; Pompiiii, shall be there, and all her princes R. Roman., 3. ^^^^i be nothing. 13 And "' thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof : and "it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for ^ owls. ^ 14 '^ The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with " the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow ; the *> screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 'Chap, jccxii. 13; Hos. ix. 6. "Chap. xiii. 21, &c. «Or, ostriches. The line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness — " The plummet of emptiness over her scorched plains."] The word ri'in choreyha, joined to the 12th verse, embarrasses it, and makes it inexplicable. At least I do not know that any one has yet made out the construction, or given any tolerable explication of it. I join it to the 11th verse, and supply a letter or two, which seem to have been lost. Fifteen MSS., five ancient, and two editions, read n'lin choreyha ; the first printed edition of 1486, I think nearer to the truth, ri'in nin char choreyha. I read n'lin^ becharereyha, or rt'lin h]! al chorereyha ; see Jer. xvii. 6. A MS. has mn chodiah, and the Syriac reads nnn chadiiah, gaudium, joining it to the two preceding words ; which he likewise reads differently, but without improving the sense. However, his authority is clear for divid- ing the verses as they are here divided. I read □ty shem, as a noun. They shall boast, INIp' yikreu ; see Prov. xx. 6. Verse 13. And thorns shall come up in her palaces] riTlliOIX^ l'7jn vealu bearmenolheyha ; so read all the ancient versions. A court for owls.] nij'' yaanah, the ostrich, from T[yp anah, to cry, because of the noise it makes. " They roar," says Dr. Shaw, " sometimes like a lion — some- times like a bull. I have often heard them groan as if in the utmost distress." Verse 14. The wild beasts of the desert] a"S tsi- yim, the mountain cats. — Bochart. Wild beasts of the island] Q"N aiyim, the jackals. The satyr] yy\l> seir, the hairy one, probably the he-ffoat. 15 There shall the great owl ^^^''^^; ^^^j^g^- make her nest, and lay, and hatch, oiymp. xvi. 4. , , , , 1 , cir. annum and gather under her shadow : NumEePompUii, there shall the vultures also be "' ^°"'^°- ^- gathered, every one with her mate. 16 Seek ye out of " the book of the Lord and read ; no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate, for my mouth it hath com- manded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by hne : they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein. yHeb. daughters of the owl. ^Heh. Ziim. aHeb. Jjim. ^ Or, night monster. c Mai. iii. 16. The screech oiol] JTT'? lilith, the night-bird, the night-raven, nyctycorax, from S^'? layil, or nV? lailah, the night. Verse 15. The great oivl] \\-iT> kippoz,ihe OLy-ovnag, or darter, a serpent so called because of its suddenly leaping up or darting on its prey. Probably the mon- goz or ichneumon may be intended. The vultures] j"in daiyoth, the black vultures. My old MS. Bible renders these names curiously : Hint) agcpn cumcn «icl)ul t)ebuli;S: the be^ste. p.irtji of an a^^t, and pattn of a man: nnt> t\)t Inoblno^Sc, tljc totljct iScljal tricn to tijc totljer. cs.\)txt ;Scljal bpn lamwa. tijat ijS, tljri.S^c, or a be;Stc Ijabimgc the bob? liic a luoman, anb Ijot^S feet, ^Eljet liabbe Siclji^, tlje ptcl)oun, ant) nutiSljibc out litiit fljitti;S. ^Ijcte ben gabrcb fti:ti«(, the top to tlje top. What language ! Every one ivith her mate.] A MS. adds bs el after HE'S ishshah, which seems necessary to the con- struction ; and so the Syriac and Vulgate. An- other MS. adds in the same place HK eth, which is equivalent. Verse 16. My mouth — "For the mouth of Jeho- vah"] For Nin hu, five MSS., (three ancient,) read nin' Yehovah, and another is so corrected ; so likewise the Septuagint. Two editions have Oli" tsivam ; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Arabic, with the edition of 1486, and a MS. has C^V^p kebatsam, with the masculine pronoun instead of the feminine : and so in the next verses it is anS lahem, instead of ]Th lahen, in fourteen MSS., six of them ancient. — L. To see the importance of these various readings, the Hebrew Bible must be consulted. CHAPTER XXXV. Flourishing state of the Church of God consequent to the awful judgments predicted in the preceding chapter. The images employed in the description are so very consolatory and sublime as to oblige us to extend their fulfilment to that period of the Gospel dispensation when Messiah shall take unto himself his great power and reign. The fifth and sixth verses were literally accomplished by our Saviour and his apostles ; but that the miracles lorought in the first century were not the only import of the language used by the pro- phet, is sufficiently plain from the context. They, therefore, have a farther application ; and are contem- porary with, or rather a consequence of, the judgments of God upon the enemies of the Church in the latter days ; and so relate to the greater influence and extension of the Christian faith, the conversion of the 146 ( 10* ) i Prophetic view of tha CHAP. XXXV. Gospel dispensation Jews, their restoration to their own land, and the second advent of Christ. Much of the imagery of this chapter seems to have been borrowed from the exodus from Egypt: hit it is greatly enlivened by the life, sentiments, and passions ascribed to inanimate objects; all nature being represented as rejoicing with the people of God in consequence of their deliverance ; and administering in such an unusual manner to their relief and comfort, as to induce some commentators to extend the meaning of the prophecy to the blessedness of the saints in heaven, 1-10. A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. TI3. Olymp XVI. 4. cir. annvim NumBB Ponipilii, R. Roman., 3. T^HE " wilderness and the so- litary place shall be glad for them ; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2 '' It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing : the glory of Le- banon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. 3 " Strengthen yc the weak hands, and con- firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to them that are of a "^ fearful heart. •Chap. Iv. 12. ^Chap. xxxii. 15. '^Job iv. 3, 4; Heb. xii. 12. iiHeb. hasty. 'Chap. xxii. 18; xxxii. 3, 4; ilii. 7 ; Malt. ix. 27, &c ; xi. 5 ; xii. 22 ; xx. 30, &c ; xxi. 14 ; John ix. 6, 7. The various miracles our Lord ^\TOught are the best comment on this chapter, whicli predicts those won- drous works and the glorious state of the Christian Church. See the parallel te.\ts in the margin. On this chapter Bishop Lowth has offered some im- portant emendations. I shall introduce his translation, as the best yet given of this singular prophecy : — 1. The desert and the waste shall be glad ; And the wilderness shall rejoice, and flourish : 2 Like the rose shall it beautifully flourish ; And the well-watered plain of Jordan shall also rejoice : The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, The beauty of Carmel and of Sharon ; These shall behold the glorj' of Jehovah, The majesty of our God. 3. Strengthen ye the feeble hands, And confirm ye the tottering knees. 4. Say ye to the faint-hearted. Be ye strong ; Fear ye not ; behold your God ! Vengeance will come ; the retribution of God : He himself will come, and will deliver you. 5. Then shall be unclosed the eyes of the blind ; And the ears of the deaf shall be opened : 6. Then shall the lame bound like the hart, And the tongue of the dumb shall sing : For in the wilderness shall burst forth waters. And torrents in the desert : 7. And the glowing sand shall become a pool, .Vnd the thirsty soil bubbling springs : And in the haunt of dragons shall spring forth The grass with the reed and the bulrush. 8. And a highway shall be there ; And it shall be called The way of holiness : No imclean person shall pass through it : But he himself shall be with them, walking in the way, And the foolish shall not err therein : A. M. cir. 3291 B. C. cir. 713. Olvmp. XVI. 4. cir. annum Num8e Pompilii, R. Roman., 3. Be Strong, fear not : behold, your God will come with ven- geance, even God with a re- compense ; he will come and save you. 5 Then the " eyes of the blind shall be opened, and ' the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then sliall the « lame man leap as a hart, and the '' tongue of the dumb sing : for in the wilderness shall ' waters break out, and streams in the desert. 7 And the parched ground shall become a 'Mat .xi. 5; Mark vii. .32, &c s Matt. xi. 5; XV. 30; xxi. 14 John V 8,9; Acts iii. 2, &c ; viii. 7; xiv 8, &c. iChap. xxxii. 4 M,-itt. IX 32, 33; Xll. 22; XV 30.— -i Chap. xli. 18 ; xlill. 19 John vu. 38, 39. 9. No lion shall be there ; Nor shall the tyrant of the beasts come up thither : Neither shall he be found there ; But the redeemed shall walk in it. 10. Yea, the ransomed of Jehov.^h shall return ; They sliall come to Sion with triumph ; And perpetual gladness shall crown their heads. Joy and gladness shall they obtain ; And sorrow and sighing shall flee away. NOTES ON CPLiP. XXXV. Verse 1 . Shall be glad} QlB'ty yesusum ; in one MS. the a mem seems to have been added ; and aity sum is upon a rasure in another. None of the ancient versions acknowledge it ; it seems to have been a mistake, arising from the next word beginning with the same letter. Seventeen MSS. have CDlB^ity' yesu- sum, both vaus e.xpressed ; and five MSS. QtJ't!''' ye- susum, without the vaus. Probably the true reading is, " The wilderness and the dry place shall be glad." Not /or them. Verse 2. Rejoice even ivith joy and singing — " The well-watered plain of Jordan shall also rejoice"] For pi1 verancn, the Septuagint read pT yarden, ra spYifia. Tou lopOavou, " the deserts of Jordan." Four MSS. read nbj gulath ; see Josh. xv. 19 : " Irrigua Jordani ;" Houbigant. r\TJ gidoth, Ripae Jordani, " the banks of Jordan ;" Kennicott. See De S. Poesi Hebr. Praelect. x.\. note. Unto it] For nS lah, to it, nine MSS. of Kennicott's and four of De Rossi's read -(l lecha. to thee. See ibid. Verse 7. The parched ground — " The glowing sand "] 3Tvy sharab ; this word is Arabic, hjX'"' as well as Hebrew, expressing in both languages the same thing, the glowing sandy plain, which in the hot countries at a distance has the appearance of water. It occurs in the Koran, chap. xxiv. : " But as to the unbelievers, their works are like a vapour in a plain, which the thirstv traveller thinketh to be water, until, 147 Prophetic view of the ISAIAH, B c' cir' 713^' P°°^' ^^^ ^^® thirsty land Oiymp. XVI. 4. springs of water : in ■= the liabi- cir. annum . ^ , , ,1 Numa: Pompiiii, tation 01 dragons, where each lay, R. Roman., 3. ^j^^^ ^g 1 gpass with reeds and rushes. 8 And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The way of holiness ; " the unclean shall not pass over it ; " but it shall be for those : the way-faring men, though fools, shall not err therein. Gospel dispensation l^Chap. xxxiv. 13. 'Or, a court for reeds, &c. » Chap. Ui. 1; Joel iii. 17; Rev. xxi. 27. '^ Or, for he shall be with when he cometh thereto, he findeth it to be nothing." Mr. Sale's note on this place is, " The Arabic word se7-ab signiHes that false appearance which in the east- em countries is often seen on sandy plains about noon, resembling a large lake of water in motion, and is oc- casioned by the reverberation of the sun beams : ' by the quivering undulating motion of that quick succes- sion of vapours and exhalations which are extracted by the powerful influence of the sun.' — Shaw, Trav. p. 378. It sometimes tempts thirsty travellers out of their way ; but deceives them when they come near, either going forward, (for it always appears at the same distance,) or quite vanishing." Q. Curtius has mentioned it : " Arenas vapor sstivi soils accendit ; camporumque non alia, quam vasti et profundi aequoris species est." — Lib. vii., c. 5. Dr. Hyde gives us the precise meaning and derivation of the word. " Dic- tum nomen Barca npIDH hahberahah, splendorem, seu splendentem regionem notat ; cum ea regie radiis so- laribus tam copiose coUustretur, ut reflexum ab arenis lumen adeo intense fulgens, a longinquo spectantibus, ad instar corporis Solaris, aquarum speciem referat ; et hinc arenarum splendor et radiatio, (et lingua Persica petito nomine,) dicitur '-yU-*' serab, i. e., aquae su- perficies seu superficialis aquarum species." Annot. in Peritsol., cap. ii. " Shall spring forth"] The n he in ni'3T rebitseh seems to have been at first □ mejn in MS. Bodl., whence Dr. Kennicott concludes it should be □''i'31 rebitsim. But instead of this word the Syriac, Vul- gate, and Chaldee read some word signifying to grow, spring up, or abound. Perhaps nXlD paretsah, or 1i'"13 paretsu, or TVnn I'li) parats hachatsir, as Hou- bigant reads. — L. Verse 8. And a highway] The word '\T[^ vederech. is by mistake added to the first member of the sen- tence from the beginning of the following member. Sixteen MSS. of Dr. KennicotCs, seven ancient, and two of De Rossi's, have it but once ; so likewise the Syriac, Septuagint, and Arabic. Err therein.] A MS. of Dr. Kennicott''s adds 13 bo, in it, which seems necessary to the sense ; and so the Vulgate, per earn, " by it." One of De Rossi's has Oa' sham, there. But it shall be for those — " But he himself shall be with them, walking in the way."] That is, God ; see ver. 4. " Who shall dwell among them, and set them an example that they should follow his steps." Our old English Aversion translated the place to this pur- 148 9 "No lion shall be there, nor \^a •='''• ?,^" ' B. C. cir. 713. any ravenous beast shall go up oiymp. xvi. 4. thereon, it shall not be found Numaj Pompiiii, there; but the redeemed shall ^ ^°'°""- ^- walk thei-e : 10 And the p ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and ever- lasting joy upon their heads : they shall ob- tain joy and gladness, and 1 sorrow and sighing shall flee away. them. oLev. xxvi. 6; chap. xi. 9; Ezek. xxxiv. 25. PChap. li. 11. qChap. .x.xv. 8; Ixv. 19; Rev. vii. 17; xxi. 4. pose ; our last translators were misled by the authority of the Jews, who have absurdly made a division of the verses in the midst of the sentence, thereby destroying the construction and the sense. Verse 9. It shall not be found there — "Neither shall he be found there"] Three MSS. read xSl veto, adding the conjunction ; and so likewise the Septua- gint and Vulgate. \ni four MSS., one ancient, read NSD' yimmatsa, the verb, as it certainly ought to be, in the masculine form. T7ie redeemed shall wallc there] D'SlXJ geulim. Those whose forfeited inheritances are brought back by the kinsman, SsU goel, the nearest of kin to the family. This has been considered by all orthodox di- vines as referring to the incarnation of our Lord, and his sacrificial oflering. After D'blNJ geulim, one of De Rossi's MSS. adds d'7U' IJ' ad olam, for ever. " The redeemed shall walk there for ever." Verse 10. The ransomed] ""lli! peduyey, from mil padah, " to redeem by paying a price." Those for whom a price was paid down to redeem them from bondage and death. Sighing shall flee away.] nriJS anachah. Never was a sorrowful accent better expressed than in this strong guttural word, an-ach-ah ; nearly the same with the Irish in their funeral wailings, och-och-on. The whole nation express all their mournful accents by these three monosyllables. This chapter contains the following parts : — 1. We have here blessed promises of the latter-day glory. 2. The prophet may be considered as addressing the teachers of the Gospel, to show them that it was their business to encourage and direct the people in their expectation of redemption. 3. A promise of the manifestation of God among men is given. 4. The miracles which Clirist should work are ex- plicitly mentioned. 5. The privileges of Christianity are specified ; there shall be, 1. Thorough teaching; 3. Holy walking. 6. Perfect safety. 7. Complete happiness. And — 8. Final glory. The chapter shows also that no impurity should be tolerated in the Church of God ; for as that is the mystical body of Christ, it should be like himself, with- out spot or ^Tinkle, or any such thing. Sennacherib invades Judea, CHAP. XXXVI. and besieges Jerusalem CHAPTER XXXVI. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, comes against Judah, and takes all the fenced cities, 1. He afterwards sends a great host against Jerusalem ; and his general Rabshakeh delivers an insulting and blasphemous mes- sage to Hezekiah, 2-20. Hezekiak and his people are greatly afflicted at the words of Rabshakeh, 21, 22. A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Olynip. XVI. 4. cir. annum NuinffiPompilii, R. Roman. t 3. A. M. cir. 32S4 B. C. cir. 710. Oljmp. XVII. 3 cir. annum Numse Pompilii R. Roman., C. "IVrOW " it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king He- zekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2 And llie king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jeru- salem unto king Hezekiah with a great annj'. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. 3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hil- kiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the '• scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. 4 <= And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest ? 5 I say, sayest thou, (but they are but '' vain words) ° / have counsel and strength for war : now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me ? •2 Kings xviii. 13, 17; 2 Clu-on. ixxii. 1. i>Or, secretary. c2 Kings xviii. 19, &c. d Heb. a word of lips. The history of the invasion of Sennacherib, and of the miraculous destruction of his army, which makes the subject of so many of Isaiah's prophecies, is very properly inserted here as affording the best light to many parts of those prophecies, and as almost neces- sary to introduce the prophecy in the thirty-seventh chapter, being the answer of God to Hezekiah's praver, which could not be properly understood without it. We find the same narrative in the Second Book of Kings, chaps, xviii., xix., xx. ; and these chapters of Isaiah, xxxvi., xxxvii., xxxviii., xxxix., for much the greater part, (the account of the sickness of Hezekiah oiUy excepted.) are but a different copy of that narra- tion. The difference of the two copies is little more than what has manifestly arisen from the mistakes of transcribers ; they mutually correct each other, and most of the mistakes may be perfectly rectified by a collation of the two copies with the assistance of the ancient versions. Some few sentences, or members of sentences, are omitted in this copy of Isaiah, which are found in the other copy in the Book of Kings. MTiether these omissions were made by design or mis- take may be doubted. — L. 6 Lo, thou trustest in the 'staff *b'^'=]-, f^Q- of this broken reed, on Egypt ; Oiymp. xvii. 3. . .p , .... cir. annum whereon 11 a man lean, it will go Num^ Pompilii, into his hand, and pierce it : so is ^ Rom"" ■ 6- Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 7 But if thou say to me. We trust in the Lord our God : is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, \c shall worship before this altar ? 8 Now therefore give ^pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Asspia, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9 How then wilt thou tmrn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's ser- vants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ? 10 And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it ? the Lord said unto me. Go up against this land, and destroy it. 1 1 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah NOTES ON CHAP XXXVI. Verse 3. Then came forth unto him] Before eOr, but counsel and strength are for the war. ^Ezek. xiii. 6, 7. s Or, hostages. these words the other copy, 2 Kings xviii. 18, adds, ■jSon Sx IX'ip'l vaiyikreu el hammelech, " And they demanded audience of the king." Verse 5. I say — "Thou hast said"] Fourteen MSS. {three ancient) of Kennicott''s and De Rossi's have it in the second person, ni'DN amarta ; and so the other copy, 2 Kings xviii. 20. But they are but rain icords] O'nSSt 13T debar se- phathayim, a word of the lips. Thou dost talk about counsels, but thou hast none ; about strength, but there is none mth thee. Verse 6. The staff of this broken reed] A weak- ened, faithless ally. On Egypt] The Bodl. MS. adds iSt melech, the king of Egypt ; and so perhaps the Chaldee might read. It will go into his hand, and pierce it] Will take subsidy after subsidy, and do nothing for it. Verse 7. But if thou say — " But if ye say"] Tuo ancient MSS. have n"3Nn tomeru in the plural number ; so likewise the Septuagint, Chaldee, and the other copy, 2 Kings xviii. 22. Ye shall icorship before this altar — " To worship only before this altar"] See 2 Chron. xxxii. 12. A'^erse 10. Am I now come up without the Lord] Probably some apostate Israelitish priest might have encouraged the king of Assyria by telling him that 149' The blasphemous message ISAIAH. of Rabshakeh "b c' dr vfo*' ""'° Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray oiymp. XVII. 3. thee, unto thy servants in the cir. annum t-< • i r j NumfflPorapiUi, Syrian language; tor we under- R. Roman., 6. ^^^^^ ^^ . ^^^ gpeak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 12 But Rabshakeh said. Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words ? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and di-ink tlielr own piss with you ? 13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said. Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you : for he shall not be able to de- liver you. 15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely de- liver us : this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus sailh the king of Assyria, '' Make ' an agreement with me hy a present, and come out to me : ■^ and eat ye every one of his vine, and every ^ Or, Seek my favour bi/ a present. Jehovah had given him a commission against Je- rusalem. Verse 12. That they may eat their oion dung — '■ Destined to eat their ovm dung"] Sjx'? leechol, that they may eat, as our translation Uterally renders it. But the Syriac reads Sdn"D meechol, that they may not eat, perhaps rightly, and afterward jlinB?"! mnishshethoth, or nwiyi ushethoth, to the same purpose. Seventeen of Dr. Kennicott's MSS., ten o( De Rossi's, and tioo of my own, read ':3"D meymey, the water; mine have On'JB' 'n'D meymey sheneyhem, and write in the mar- gin Dn'7J1 'a"D meymey regaleyhem, the water of their feet, a modest way of expressing urine. Verse 15. This city shall not be delivered] nVi ve-ln, And this city. Ten of KennicotCs MS.S., and nine of De Rossi^s, with one (ancient) of my own, add the conjunction. Verse 16. Make an agreement] njl3 berachah, make a blessing loith me; i. e.. Give me a ransom for the city, and I will not destroy it ; give me the yearly tribute thou hast promised. one of his fig-tree ; and drink ^.^\ «j_: ^^m. ye every one the waters of his oiymp. xvii. 3. . cir. annum own cistern ; Numae Pompilii, Until I come and take -^.' ^- ^°""'"- *^- 17 Until 1 come ana take you away to a land like your own land, a land of com and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, say- ing, The Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad ? where are the gods of Sepharvaim ? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand ? 20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Je rusalem out of my hand ? 2 1 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word : for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. 22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the re- corder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh. ' Heb. Maliewiih me a blessing.- kZech. iii. 10. Verse 17. And vineyards] The other copy, 2 Kings xviii. 32, adds here : " A land of oil-olive, and of honey ; that ye may live, and not die : and hearken not unto Hezekiah when he seduceth you." Verse 19. Where are the gods] Many MSS. add the conjunction here also : And, or But, where are the gods, &c. For other matters relative to this chapter, see the notes on 2 Kings xviii. 13, &c. Of Sepharvaim] The other copy, 2 Kings xviii. 34, adds, of " Henah and Ivah." Have they delivered] Oi vechi. The copulative is not expressed here by the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and three MSS. ; nor is it in any other copy. lb. Hou- bigant reads on hachi, with the interrogative particle ; a probable conjecture, which the ancient Versions above quoted seem to favour. Verse 21. But they held their peace — "But the people held their peace"] The word D)7n haam, the people, is supplied from the other copy, and is authorized by a MS. which inserts it after inK otho. CHAPTER XXXVH. Hezekiah is greatly distressed, and sends to Isaiah the prophet to pray for him, 1-4. Isaiah returns a com- fortable answer, and predicts the destruction of the king of Assyria and his army, 5-7. Sennacherib, hearing that his kingdom was invaded by the Ethiopians, sends a terrible letter to Hezekiah, to induce him 150 Isaiah's comfortable answer CHAP. XXXVII. to King Hezekiah. to surrender, 9-13. Hezekiah goes to the temple, spreads the letter be/ore the Lord, and makes a most affecting prayer, 14-20. Isaiah is sent to him to assure him that his prayer is heard; that Jerusalem shall be delivered; and that the Assyrians shall be destroyed, 21-35. That very night a messenger of God slays one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians, 36. Sennacherib returns to Nineveh, and is slain by his own sons, 37, 38. A. M. cir. 3294. B. C. cir. 710. Olymp.XVIl.3. cir. annum Numie Pompilii, R. Roman., 6. A ND * it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered liimself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Heze- kiai), This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of '' blasphemj^ : for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the •iving God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard : wherefore lift \\p thy prayer for the remnant that is <^ left. 5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Re not afraid of the words that thou hast •2 Kings xix. I, &c. b Or, provocation. NOTES ON C1L\P. XXXVII. Verse 6. Thus shall ye say] :n"3Xn DJ ko lomerun, " thus shall ye {explicitly, earnestly, and positively) Bzy." The paragogic [ nun deepens and increases the sense. Verse 7. / will send a Host — " I will infuse a spirit into him"'] " nn U jnu nothen bo ruach never signifies any thing but putting a spirit into a person : this was irvsujia Ssikiac, the spirit of deceit.^'' — Seeker. " I will send a blast"— J do not think that Archbishop Seeker has hit the true meaning of these words. I believe ni"* ruach means here a pestilential icind, such as the Arabs call simoom, that instantly suffocates both man and beast ; and is what is termed " the angel of the Lord," God's messenger of death to the Assyrians, ver. 36. Verse 8. Rabshakeh returned] From chap, xxxvi. 2, we learn that the king of Assyria had sent Rab- shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem ; now it is likely that Rabshakeh had besieged that place, and that the king of .\ssyria had taken his station before this city, and despatched Rabshakeh against Jerusalem. But, as in the verse above it is said, " he had departed from Lachish," probably he had been obliged to raise the siege, and sat down before Libnah, which promised an easier conquest. A. M. cir. 3294 B. C. cir. 710. Olymp. XVII. 3. cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 6. heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blas- phemed me. 7 Behold, I will ^ send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land ; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. 8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah : for he had heard that he was departed from La- chish. 9 And he heard say conceming Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying. Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 1 1 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroy- ing them utterly ; and shalt thou be deliv- ered ? 12 Have the gods of the nations dehvered c Heb. found. <* Or, put a spirit into him. Verse 9. He heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia] When he heard that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia had come out against him, then he sent that blasphemous manifesto which is contained in ver. 10—13, to terrify Hezeldah into submission. How much was this like, in words and spirit, to the mani- festo sent to the Parisians by the late Duke of Brunswick, from the plains of Champaigne, in 1792, which was the forerunner of the mighty torrents of human blood which was shed in the French revolu- tion ! And what a blast of God fell upon him and his army — nearly like that which fell on tlie array of Sen- nacherib ! He sent messengers—" He sent messengers again"] The word i'"Diy'l vaiyishma, " and he heard," which occurs the second time in this verse, is repeated by mistake from the beginning of the verse. It is omit- ted in an ancient MS. It is a mere tautology, and embarrasses the sense. The true reading instead of it is, 3B'') veyeshcb, " and he returned," which the Sep- tuagint read in this place, a*5a'T^54/f, and which is pre- served in the other copy, 2 Kings x\x. 9 : "He return- ed and sent," that is, according to the Hebrew idiom, " he sent again." Verse 12. As Gozan, and Haran] pn Charan : but 151 Hezekiah's affecting ISAIAH. prayer to the Lord. -*,i^ •• r^l them which my fathers have B. C. cir. 710. 1 r>. i tt Oiymp.xvil. 3. destroyed, as (jrozan, and Haran, NumtB Pompiiii, and Rezeph, and the children of R. Roman., 6. ji^g,^ ^^^^^i were in Telassar ? 13 Where is the king of " Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah ? 14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it : and Hezekiah went up mito the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, 16 0 Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, eve?i thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth : thou hast made heaven and earth. 1 7 ' Incline thine ear, 0 Lord, and • hear : open thine eyes, O Lord, and see : and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. 18 Of a truth. Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the ^ nations, and their countries. « Jer. xlix. 23.- ^Dan. ix. 18.- sHeb. lands. pn Haran is the reading of four of Kennicott's MSS. and one of De RossPs. Verse 14. And read it — -" And read them"] asip"! vayikraem. So MS. Bodl. in this place ; and so the oth- er copy ; instead of inxip'1 vaiyikraehu, " and read it." A)id spread it — " And spread them"] intJ'13'l vai- yiphresehu. ID hu is upon a rasure in a MS., which probably was at first □ mem. The same mistake as in the foregoing note. Verse 15. Unto the Lord — " Before Jehovah"] That is, in the sanctuary. For ^N el, the Syriac, Chal- dee, and the other copy, S Kings xi.^;. 15, read ■ja'? liphney, " before the face." Verse 18. The nations] TVi'^V.Ti haratsoth, " \ht"in hithasscku, equivalent to ID'T yaribu, at the beeinniug of the verse. 156 things A. M. cir. 3291 B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4. cir. annum NumEB Pompiiii, R. Roman., 3. great bitter- 16 0 Lord, by these men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit ; so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. 17 Behold "for peace I had ness : but i thou hast in love to my soul deli- vered it from the pit of corruption : for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. 18 For 'the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee : they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. 19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day : ' the father to the children shall make known thy truth. 1 Heb. thou hast loved my soul from the pit. r Psa. vi. 5 ; xxx 9 ; btxxviii. 11 ; cxv. 17 ; Eccles. ix. 10. » Deut. iv. 9 ; vi. 7 , Psa. Ixxviii. 3, 4. Verse 15. I shall go softly all my years tn the bit- terness of my soul — " Through the rest of my years will 1 reflect on this bitterness of my soul"] rms eddaddeh ; recogitabo, Vulg., reputabo, Hieron. in loc. Verse 16. By these things men live — "For this cause shall it be declared"] IlEpi auTr)j yap avriyysXj) tfoi, xai sgiysijaj (aou ti]v ■j'vorjv, Sept. They read in their copies 'nn "nni l'? nn' n''7i' not very different from the present text, from which all the ancient Ver- sions vary. They entirely omit two words, [713 So'?! idecol bahen ; as to which there is some variation in the MSS. One MS. has S:!:!l ubechol, and in all; two others So! vechol, and all, and ten MSS. have DHD bahem, in them, in the masculine gender. Taking this as in the common Version, we may ob- serve, it is not an unfrequent case, that afflictions, and especially such as tend to a speedy death, become the means, not only of saving the soul, but also of length- ening the life. Make me to lire — " Hast prolonged my life."] A MSS. and the Babylonish Talmud read 'JTini vela- chai/eni, and so the ancient Versions. It must neces- sarily be in the second person. Verse 17. For peace I had great bitterness — " My anguish is changed into ease"] T3 '7 ID mar li mar, " mutata mihi est amaritudo." Paronomasia ; a figure which the prophet frequently admits. I do not always note it, because it cannot ever be preserved in the translation, and the sense seldom depends upon it. But here it perfectly clears up the great obscurity of tbo- passage. See Lowth on the place. Thou hast rescued] DDBTl chashachta, with 3 caph, instead of p koph ; so the Septuagint and Vulgate ; Houbigant. See Chappeloiv on Job xxxiii. 18. From perdition] '12 pniyo mishshachath belt, ha. [).r\ acroXijrai, Sept. tit fion periret, " that it may not perish." Vidg. Perhaps inverting the order of the words. See Houbigant. Thou hast in lore to my soul] nptSTI chashakta, " thou hast lovingly embraced" or kissed " my soul out of the pit of corruption." I Verse 19. Thy truth] ^rON Sn el amittecha. A Merodach-bala Jan's CHAP. XXXIX. message to Hezekiah. 20 Tlie Lord was ready lo A M cir. 3291 B. C. cir. 713. Oiymp, XVI. i. save me : therefore we will sing Num» PompiUi, my soiigs to the stiinged instrii- R. Roman., 3. ^g^jg ^\\ {[ig Jays of our lifc in the house of the Lord. 21 For 'Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a *; **; "'.'■■ ^?^'- plaster upon the boil, and he Oiymp. xvi. 4. , ,, cir. annum shall recover. NumK Pompiiii, 22 "Hezekiah also had said, "■ ^""'"- ^- What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord? •2 Kings XX. 7. MS. omits Ss el; and instead of '7K el, an ancient MS. and one edition read riN eth. The same mistake as in Psa. ii. 7. Verse 21. Let them take a lump of figs, 6fC.] God, in effecting this miraculous cure, was pleased to order the use of means not improper for that end. " Folia, et, quee non maturuere, fici, strumis illinuntur omni- busqae quae emoUienda sunt discutiendave." — Plin. Nat. Hist, -vxiii. 7. " Ad discutienda ea, qua; in cor- poris parte aliqua coierunt, maxime possunt — ficus "2 Kings XX. 8. arida," &c. — Celsvs, v. 11. See the note on 2 Kings 3lX. 7. Philemon Holland translates the passage as a medical man : — " The milke or white juice that the figpe tree yieldcth is of the same nature that vinegre : and therefore it will cruddlc milke as well as rennet, or rendles. The right season of gathering this mUkie substance is before that the figs be ripe upon the tree ; and then it must be dried in the shadow : thus pre- pared, it is good to break imposttimes, and keeps ulcer open." CHAPTER XXXIX. The Babylonish monarch sends letters of congratulation and a present to Hezekiah, on account of his recovery from his late dangerous illness, 1. The king of Judah shows the messengers of Merodach-baladan all the treasures of his house and kingdom, 2. The prophet takes occasion from this ostentatious display of the king to predict the captivity of the royal family, and of the people, by the Babylonians, 3-8. *b'c'c'i> 7P^' A"^ "^^^^ ^''"^ Merodach-bala- Oiymp. XVII. 1. dan, the son of Baladan, king cir. annum r -n i i i i NumsE Pompiiii, 01 Babylon, sent letters and a R. Roman-. 4. pj-gsent'to Hezekiah : for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. 2 * And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his '^ precious things, the silver, and tlie gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his '' annoiu, ° and all that was found in his treasures : there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. 3 Then came Isaiah tiie prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him. What said these men 1 and from whence came they unto thee ? •2 Kings XX. 12, &c. ''2 Chron. ixxii.31.- = Or, spicery. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIX. Hitherto the copy of this history in the second book of Kings has been much the most correct ; in this chapter that in Isaiah has the advantage. In the two first verses two mistakes in the other copy are to be corrected from this : for in'ptn hizkiyahu, read pin'l vayechezek, and teas recovered; and for j'Otyi vaiyish- ma, he heard, read TTJiyi vaiyismach, he rejoiced. Verse 1. At that time Merodach-baladan] This name is variously wTitten in the MSS. Berodach, Medorach, Medarech, and Medurach. " And ambassadors '"1 The Sepluagint add here xcu And Hezekiah said, They are ^- *l; '^": '^^^■ come from a far country unto me, Oiymp. xvii. i. r -r» 1 1 cir. annum even troin Babylon. Nums Pompiiii, 4 Then said' he. What have ^ """"'"■ ^- they seen in thine house ? And Hezekiah answered. All that is in mine house have they seen : there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them. 5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts : 6 Behold, the days come, ' that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this dav, sliall be carried to Babylon : nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. 7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, d Or, jewels. « Heb. vessels or instruments. rjer. xx. 5. irf Stf/^Eic ; thatis, D'Dn'7'DI nmalachim, and ambassadors ; which word seems to be necessary to the sense, though omitted in the Hebrew text both here and in the other copy, 2 Kings xx. 12. For the subsequent narration refers to them all along, " these men, whence came they 1" &c. ; plainly supposing them to have been per- sonally mentioned before. See Hmilngant. Verse 6. To Babylon] nSa3 An^'f/a/i, so two MSS., (one ancient ;) rightly, without doubt, as the other copy (2 Kings XX. 17) has it. This prediction was fulfilled about one hundred and fifty years after it was spoken : see Dan. i. 9, 3-7. ^^^lat a proof of Divine omniscience ! 157 Promises of restoration ISAIAH. and comfort to Israel. which thou shall beget, shall A. M. cir. 3292. B. C.cir. 712. oiymp. XVII. 1. they take away ; and s they shall Numi Pompiiii, be eunuchs in the palace of the ^- ^°"'""- *■ king of Babylon. 8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, ^ Good gFulfiUed, Dan. i. 2, 3, 7. Verse 8. Theti said Hezekiah] The nature of He- zekiah's crime, and his humiliation on the message of God to him by the prophet, is more expressly declared by the author of the book of the Chronicles : " But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him ; for his lieart was lifted up ; therefore there was -wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jeru- salem. Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the is the word of the which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days. Lord ^^U''"?,^^ B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum NumcB Pompiiii, R. Roman., 4. kl Sam.iii. 18. land, God left him, to try him, that he might know alJ that was in his heart." 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 26, 30, 31. There shall be peace and tnilh in my days.] I rather think these words should be understood as an humble inquiry of the king, addressed to the prophet. " Shall there be prosperity, DlSiy shalom, and truth in .MY days 1 — Shall / escape the evil which thou pre- dictest V Understood otherwise, they manifest a piti- ful unconcern both for his own family and for the na- tion. " So / be well, I care not how it may go with others." This is the view I have taken of the passage in 2 Kings xxi. 19. Let the reader judge whether this, or t\ie former, should be preferred. See the con- cluding notes on 2 Kings xx. CHAPTER XL. In this chapter the prophet opens the subject respecting the restoration of the Church with great force and elegance ; declaring God's command to his messengers the prophets to comfort his people in their captivity, and to impart to them the glad tidings that the time of favour and deliverance was at hand, 1, 2. Imme- diately a harbinger is introduced giving orders, as usual in the ?narch of eastern monarchs, to remove every obstacle, and to prepare the way for their return to their own land, 3-5. The same words, however, the New Testament Scriptures authorize us to refer to the opening of the Gospel dispensation. Accordingly, this subject, coming once in view, is principally attended to in the sequel. Of this the prophet gives us suf- ficient notice by introducing a voice commanding another proclamation, which calls off our attention from all temporary, fading things to the spiritual and eternal things of the Gospel, 6—11. And to remove every obstacle in the way of the prophecy in either sense, or perhaps to give a farther display of the character of the Redeemer, he enlarges on the power and wisdom of God, as the Creator and Disposer of all things. It is impossible to read this description of God, the most sublime that ever was penned, without being struck with ineipressible reverence and self-abasement. The contrast between the great Jehovah and every thing reputed great in this world, how admirably imagined, how exquisitely finished ! What atoms and inanities are they all before Hi.M who silteth on the circle of the immense heavens, and views the potentates of the earth in the light of grasshoppers, — those poor insects that wander over the barren heath for sustenance, spend the day in continual chirpings, and take up their humble lodging at night on a blade of grass t 12—26. The prophet concludes ivith a most comfortable application of the ivhole, by showing that all this infinite power and unsearchable wisdom is unweariedly and everlastingly engaged in strengthening, com- forting, and saving his people, 27—31. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numie Pompiiii, R. Roman., 4. P OMFORT ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2 Speak ye " comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that f> Heh. to the heart. ^ Or, appointed time. The course of prophecies which follow, from hence to the end of the book, and which taken together con- stitute the most elegant part of the sacred writings of the Old Testament, interspersed also with many pas- sages of the highest sublimity, was probably delivered in the latter part of the reign of Hezekiah. The pro- phet in the foregoing chapter had delivered a very ex- plicit declaration of the impending dissolution of the kingdom, and of the captivity of the roval house of 158 her '' warfare is accomplished, that ^^ ^^ '^'f- ??,?,^- ' ' B. C. cir. 712. her iniquity is pardoned : ■= for Olymp. xvii. i. , , , ■ 1 r 1 T 1 *^ir. annum she hath received oi the Lords Numse Pompiiii, hand double for all her sins. ^ ^°""'"- *■ " See Job xlii. 10; chap. Ixi. 7. David, and of the people, under the Icings of Babylon. As the subject of his subsequent prophecies was to be chiefly of the consolatory kind, he opens them with giving a promise of the restoration of the kingdom, and the return of the people from that captivity, by the merciful interposition of God in their favour. But the views of the prophet are not confined to this event. As the restoration of the royal family, and of the tribe of Judah, which would other\vise have soon become A prophecy of CHAP. XL. A. M. cir. 3292. 3 d The voicc of him that crieth B.C. rir. 712. . , ., , „ Oiymp. XVII. 1. in the wilderness, " rrepare ye Numm"i"™S«Ui, tlie way of the Lord, ' make R. Roman., 4. glTaiglit in the desert a highway for our God. i' arama : Hebrew, TT31J' aramah, tumulus, acervus. Thus the parallelism would be more perfect : " the hilly country shall be made level, and the preci- pices a smooth plain." Verse 5. " The salvation of our God."] These words are added here by the Septuagint : to (furrj^iov fou ©Sou, lynSs ni'lE^' r\N ah yesuath Eloheymi, as it is in the parallel place, chap. Hi. 10. The sentence is abrupt without it, the verb wanting its object ; and I think it is genuine. Our English translation has supplied the word it, which is equivalent to this addi- tion, from the Septuagint. This omission in the Hebrew text is ancient, being prior to the Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate Versions : but the words stand in all the copies of the Septua- gint, and they are acknowledged by Luke, chap. iii. 6. The whole of this verse is wanting in one of my .. ■\roo 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : but the " word of our God sliall stand for Numio PompiUi, ever. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. R. Roman., 4. » John xii. 34 ; 1 Pet. i. 25. oldest MSS. Vol. IV ( H i Verse 6. The voice said. Cry — " A voice saith, Proclaim"] To understand rightly this passage is a matter of importance ; for it seems designed to give us the true key to the remaining part of Isaiah's pro- phecies, the general subject of which is the restoration of the people and Church of God. The prophet opens the subject with great clearness and elegance : he de- clares at once God's command to his messengers, (his prophets, as the Chaldee rightly explains it,) to com- fort his people in captivity, to impart to them the joy- ful tidings, that their punishment has now satisfied the Divine justice, and the time of reconciliation and fa- vour is at hand. He then introduces a harbinger giv- ing orders to prepare the way for God, leading his people from Babylon, as he did formerly from Egypt, through the wilderness ; to remove all obstacles, and to clear the way for their passage. Thus far nothing more appears to be intended than a return from the Babylonish captivity ; but the next words seem to in- timate something much greater : — " And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed ; And all flesh shall see together the salvation of our God." He then introduces a voice commanding him to make a solemn proclamation. And what is the import of it \ that the people — the flesh, is of a vain temporary na- ture ; that all its glory fadeth, and is soon gone ; but that the word of God endureth for ever. What is this, but a plain opposition of the flesh to the spirit ; of the carnal Israel to the spiritual ; of the temporary Mosaic economy to the eternal Christian dispensation? You may be ready to conclude, (the prophet may be disposed to say,) by this introduction to my discourse, that my commission is only to comfort you with a pro- mise of the restoration of 3-our religion and polity, of Jerusalem, of the temple, and its services and worship in all its ancient .splendour. These are earthly, tem- porary, shadowy, fading things, which shall soon pass away, and be destroyed for ever ; these are not worthy to engage your attention in comparison of the greater blessings, the spiritual redemption, the eternal inherit- ance, covered under the veil of the former, which 1 have it in charge to unfold unto you. The law has only a shadow of good things ; the substance is the Gospel. I promise you a restoration of the former, which, however, is only for a time, and shall be done away, according to God's original appointment : but under that image I give you a view of the latter, which shall never be done away, but shall endure for ever. This I take to be agreeable to St. Peter's interpreta- tion of this passage of the prophet, quoted by him, 1 Pet. i. 24, 25 : " K\\ flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass wither- eth, and the flower thereof falleth away ; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." This is 161 God's care of and 9 ° 0 Zion, that bringest good A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir.712. . , , . , Oiymp. XVII. 1. tidings, get thee up into the high Numie Pompiiii, mountain ; p O Jerusalem, that R. Roman.. 4. bj-ingest good tidings, Hft up thy voice with strength ; hft it up, be not afraid ; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God ! 10 Behold, the Lord God will come ■! with strong hand, and ^ his arm shall rule for him : behold, ' his reward is with him, and ' his work before him. o Or, 0 thou that lellestgood tidings to Zion ; chap. xli. 27 ; lii. 7. P Or, O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem. q Or, against the strong. 'Chap. lix. 16. ^Chap. Ixii. 11; Rev. xxii. 12. ISAIAH. affection for his peopU. 1 1 He shall ° feed his flock like *■ «• c.r. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. a shepherd : he shall gather the Oiymp. xvii. 1. , . . , , . , cir. annum lambs with his arm, and carry Numte PompiUi, them in his bosom, and shall ^- ^°"'^"- *■' gently lead those '' that are with young. 12" Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in '^ a measure, and weighed the moimtains in scales, and the hills in a balance ? > Or, recompense for his work ; chap. xlix. 4. " Chap. xlix. 10 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 23 ; xxxvii. 24 ; John x. 11 ; Heb. xiii. 20 ; 1 Pet. ii. 25; v. 4; Rev. vii. 17. ^Or, that give suck. ^Prov. XXX. 4. ^ Heb. o tierce. the same word of the Lord of which Isaiah speaks, which hath now been preached unto you by the Gospel. The law and the Gospel are frequently opposed to one another by St. Paul, under the images of flesh and spirit : " Having begun in the spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh T' Gal. iii. 3. — L. All the goodliness thereof — " AH its glory"] For non chasdo read nn chadu ; the Septuagint and Vxil- gate, and 1 Pet. i. 24. Verse 7. The grass ivithereth] The whole of this verse is wanting in three of Kennicott's and five of De RossVs MSS., and in a very correct and ancient MS. of my own, and also in the Septuagint and Arabic. Surely the people — " VerUy this people"] So the Syriac, who perhaps read ntn DiTI haam hazzeh. Because the spirit of the Lord — " When the wind of Jehovah"] rWTT nil ruach Yehovah, a wind of Je- hovah, is a Hebraism, meaning no more than a strong wind. It is well known that a hot wind in the east destroys every green thing. Compare Psa. ciii. 10. Two MSS. omit the word rWTY Yehovah, Jehovah. Verse 9. O Zion, that bringest good tidings — " O daughter, that bringest glad tidings to Zion"] That the true construction of the sentence is this, which makes Zion the receiver, not the publisher, of the glad tidings, which latter has been the most prevailing in- terpretation, will, I think, very clearly appear, if we rightly consider the image itself, and the custom and common practice from which it is taken. 1 have add- ed the word daughter to express the feminine gender of the Hebrew participle, which I know not how to do otherwise in our language ; and this is absolutely necessary in order to ascertain the image. For the office of announcing and celebrating such glad tidings as are here spoken of, belong peculiarly to the women. On occasion of any great public success, a signal vic- tory, or any other joyful event, it was usual for the women to gather together, and with music, dances, and songs, to publish and celebrate the happy news. Thus after the passage of the Red Sea, Miriam, and all the women, with timbrels in their hands, formed a chorus, and joined the men in their triumphant song, dancing, and throwing in alternately the refrain or bur- den of the song : — " Sing ye to Jehovah, for he is greatly exalted ; The horse -jnd his rider hath he cast into the sea." Exod. XV. 20, 21. 162 So Jephthah's daughter collected a chorus of virgins, and with dances and songs came out to meet her fa- ther, and to celebrate his victory, Judg. xi. 34. After David's conquest of Goliath, " all the women came out of the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music ;" and, forming themselves into two choruses, they sang alternately : — " Saul has slain his thousands : And David his ten thousands." 1 Sam. xviii. 6,7. And this gives us the true sense of a passage in the sixty-eighth Psalm, which has frequently been mis- understood : — " Jehovah gave the word, (that is, the joyful news,) The women, who published the glad tidings, were a great company ; The kings of mighty armies did flee, did flee : And even the matron, who stayed at home, shared the spoil." The word signifying the publishers of glad tidings is the same, and expressed in the same form by the fe- minine participle, as in this place, and the last distich is the song which they sang. So in this place, Jeho- vah having given the word by his prophet, the joyful tidings of the restoration of Zion, and of God's return- 1 ing to Jerusalem, (see chap. lii. 8,) the women are I exhorted by the prophet to publish the joyful news with a loud voice from eminences, wlience they might best be heard all over the country ; and the matter and burden of their song was to be, " Behold your God !" See on Psalm l.xviii. 1 1 . Verse 10. His reward is ivith him, and his work be- fore him. — " His reward is with him, and the recom- pense of his work before him."] That is, the reward and the recompense which he bestows, and which he will pay to his faithful servants ; this he has ready at hand with him, and holds it out before him, to encou- rage those who trust in him and wait for him. Verse 11. Shall gently lead those that are with young — " The nursing ewes shall he gently lead."] A beautiftil image, expressing, with the utmost pro- priety as well as elegance, the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock. That the greatest care in driv- ing the cattle in regard to the dams and their young was necessary, appears clearly from Jacob's apology i to his brother Esau, Gen. xxxiii. 13 : " The flocks ( 11* ) Tlie gross folly and CHAP. XL. vanity of idolatry. A^M^cir. 3292. 13 y Who hath directed the B. C. cir. 712. Oiymp xvii. 1. Spirit of the Lord, or being NuiniB Potnpilii, 'his Counsellor hatii taught him. R. Roman., 4. j^ -^yjjj^ vihom took he Coun- sel, and who " instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him tlie way of ^ understanding ? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and arc counted as the small dust of the balance : behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little tiling. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. 17 All nations before him are as " nothing; and '' they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. yJob xxi. 22; ijcxvi. 22, 23; Wisd. ii. 13; Rom. ju. 34; 1 Cor. ii. 16. « Heb. man of his counsel. ■•' Heb. vuide him vnd^stand. ^Heb. understandings ? •= Dan. iv. 34. dpsa. Ixji. 9. and the herds giving suck to their young are with me ; and if they should be overdriven, all the flock will die." Which is set in a still stronger light by the fol- lowing remark of Sir John Chardin : " Their flocks," says he, speaking of those who now live in the east after the patriarchal manner, " feed down the places of their encampments so quick, by the great numbers that they have, that they are obliged to remove them too often, which is very destructive to their flocks, on ac- count of the young ones, who have not strength enough to follow." Hamier's Observ. i., p. 1-26. Verse 16. And Lehanon is not sufficient] The image is beautiful and uncommon. It has been imitated by an apocryphal writer, who however comes far short of the original : — " For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour unto thee : And all the fat is not sufEcient for thy burnt- offering." Judith xvi. 16. Does not the prophet mean here that all the burnt- offerings and sacrifices that could be offered were in- sufficient to atone for sin ? That the nations were as nothing before him, not merely because of his immen- sity, but because of their insuflSciency to make any atonement by their oblations for the iniquities which they had committed ] Therefore the Redeemer was to come to Zion, &c. Verse 19. And casteth silver chains — " And forgeth for it chains of silver."] For 5]-(li' tsoreph, the parti- ciple, twenty-seven MSS., five ancient, and three edi- tions, read t]Ti Isaraph, pret. third person. Verse 20. Chooseth a tree that will not rot] For what ? To make a god out of it ! The rich we find made theirs of gold and silver ; the poor man was obliged to put up with a icooden god! From the words " he that hath no oblation chooseth a tree," we may learn that the gold and silver necessary to make the graven image was first dedicated, and then fomved 18 To whom llicn will ve ^;'^';'■'^■ ^'^■ •' B. C. cir. 712. "liken Godf or what likeness oiymp. xvii. i. ni . 0 cif. annum ye compare unto him f Numai PompilU, 19 'The workman meltcth a «■ Ro-""" ■ *■ graven image, and the goldsmith spreadelh i , over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that ^ is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot , he seekclh mito him a cunning w'orkman '' to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. 2 1 ' Have ye not known ? have ye not heard ? hath it not been told you from the beginning ? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth ? 22 ^ It is he tliat silteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as 'Ver. 25; chap. xlvi. 5; Acts xvii. 29. fChap. xli. 6, 7; xliv. 12, &c. ; Jer. x. 3, &c. «Heb. is poor of oblation. I' Chap. xli. 7; Jer. x. 4. ^ Psa. xix. 1 ; Acts xiv. 17; Romj i. 19, 20. k Or, Him that sitlelh, &c. 1 into a god ! How stupid is idolatry ! Strange that these people did not perceive that there could he no help in these molten and wooden idols ! Verse 21. Have ye not kiiownl] On this verse Kimchi has a very interesting comment, an extract of which I subjoin. " The whole world may be consi- dered as a house built up ; heaven its roof ; the stars its lamps ; and the fruits of the earth its table spread. The Master of the house is God, blessed for ever ; and man is the steward into whose hand all the busi- ness of the house is given. If he always consider in his heart that the Master of the house is continually over him, and that he keeps his eye upon his work , and if in consequence he acts wisely, he shall find fa- vour in the eyes of the Master of the house. But if he find wickedness in the house, then will he remove him im'p3 p min pckiJuthOy ' from his stewardship.' The foolish steward does not think of this ; for as his eyes do not see the Master of the house, he saith in his heart, ' I will eat and drink what I find in this house, and will take my pleasure in it ; nor shall I be careful whether there be a master over this house or not.' ^^^len the Lord of the house marks this, he comes and expels him from the house speedily, and with great anger; therefore it is said, ver. 23, He bringeth the princes to nothing." It seems that this parable had been long in use among the Jews, as our blessed Lord alludes to it in his parable of the unjust steward. Or did the rabbin, finding it to his purpose, steal the parable from the Gospel 1 In both places it has great and peculiar beauties. Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth — " Have ye not understood it from the founda- tions of the earth ?"] The true reading seems to be nnoiOO mimmosedoth, to answer to t^XlD merosh ia the foregoing line. It follows a word ending with D mem, and out of three mems concurring, it was an easy mistake to drop the middle one. Averse 22. As a curtain — " As a thin veil"] " It 13 163 The infinite sufficiency ISAIAH. of the Lord. ^ Id' cir 7^2^' grasshoppers ; that * stretcheth Oiymp. xv'll. 1. out the hcaveiis as a curtain, and cir. anmun , , , Numffi Pompiiii, spreadeth them out as a tent to ^- ^°°'^°- ^- dwell in : 23 That bringeth the "» princes to nothing ; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted : yea, they shall not be sown : yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth : and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. 25 " To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal ? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number : ° he calleth them all/ by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power ; not one faileth. '/ob ix. 8 ; Psa. civ. 2 ; chap. xlii. 5 ; xliv. 24 ; li. 13 ; Jer. x. 12. ^ Job xii. 21 ; Psa. cvii. 40. usual in the summer season, and upon all occasions when a large company is to be received, to have the court sheltered from heat or inclemency of the wea- ther by a velum, umbrella, or veU, as I shall call it ; which being expanded on ropes from one side of the parapet wall to the other, may be folded or unfolded at pleasure. The psalmist seems to allude to some covering of this kind in that beautiful expression of spreading out the heavens like a curtain." — Shaio^s Travels, p. 274. Verse 24. And he shall also blow ■upon them — " And if he but blow upon them"] The Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and MS. Bodl., with another, have aj gam, only, without the conjunction 1 vau, and. Verse 26. Lift up your eyes on high'] The rabbins say. He who is capable of meditating on the revolu- tions of the heavenly bodies, and does not meditate on them, is not worthy to have his name mentioned among men. Verse 28. There is no searching of his understand- ing— " And that his understanding is unsearchable."] Twenty-four M.SS., two editions, the Septuagint and Vulgate, read J'Nl veein, with the conjunction l vau. Verse 31. They shall mount up zpith wings as eagles ■ — " They shall put forth fresh feathers like the moult- ing eagle"] It has been a common and popular opinion that the eagle lives and retains his vigour to a great age ; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old age, and renews his feathers, and with them his youth. " Thou shalt renew thy youth like the eagle," says the psalmist, ciii. 5 ; on which 27 Why sayest thou, 0 Jacob, ^^ ". en-. 3292. and speakest, O Israel, My way oiymp. xvii. i 1 . 1 /. .IT 1 cir. annum IS hid trom the Lord, and my Numae Pompim, judgment is passed over from ^- Roman., 4. my God? 28 Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? p there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint ; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall ; 31 But they that wait upon the Lord '5 shall ^ renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weaiy ; and they shall walk, and not faint. nVer. 18; Deut. iv. 15, &c. oPsa. cxlvii. 4. P Psa. cxlvii, 5 ; Rom. xi. 33. q Psa. ciii. 5. ■" Heb. change. place St. Ambrose notes, Aquila longam aetatem ducit, dum, vetustis plumis fatiscentibus, nova pennarum suc- cessione juvenescit : — " The eagle lives to a very advanced age ; and in moulting his youth is renewed with his new feathers." Phile, De Animalibus, treating of the eagle, and addressing himself to the emperor Michael Palseologus junior, raises his compliment upon the same notion : — TouTO'j tfu, /SatfiXsu, rov •roXuv ^uois /Siov, Asi vsoupy£.;v, xai xpamvwv ti)v (pviiv. " Long may'st thou live, O king ; still like the eagle Renew thy youth, and still retain thy vigour." To this many fabulous and absurd circumstances are added by several ancient writers and commentators on Scripture; see Bochart, Hieroz. ii. ii. 1. Rabbi Saadias says. Every tenth year the eagle flies near the sun ; and when not able any longer to bear the burn- ing heat, she falls down into the sea, and soon loses her feathers, and thus renews her vigour. This she does every tenth year till the hundredth, when, after she has ascended near the sun, and fallen into the sea, she rises no more. How much proof do such stories require ! Whether the notion of the eagle's renewing his youth is in any degree weU founded or not, I need not inquire ; it is enough for a poet, whether profane or sacred, to have the authority of popular opinion to support an image introduced for illustration or orna- ment.— L. CHAPTER XLL IR< prophet, having intimated the deliverance from Babylon, and the still greater redemption couched under it, resumes the subject. He begins tvith the Divine vocation of Abraham, the root of the Israelitish fa- mily, and his successful exploits against the idolaters, 1—7. He then recurs to the Babylonish captivity, 164 Gracious pui-poses CHAP. XLI. of redemption and encourages the seed of Abraham, the friend of God, not to fear, as all their enemies would be ulti- mately subdued under them, 8-16 ; and every thing furnished necessary to refresh and comfort them m their passage homewards through the desert, 17-20. The prophet then takes occasion to celebrate the pre' science of God, from his knowledge of events so very distant, as instanced in the prediction concerning the messengei of glad tidings which should be given to Jerusalem to deliver her from all her enemies; and challenges the idols of the heathen to produce the tike proof of their pretended divinity, 2 1-27. But they are all vanity, and accursed are they that choose them, 28, 29. \,^^"' ^7?^ T^EEP « silence before me, O B. C. cir. /12. _[\_ ' Olymp. XVII. 1. islands ; and let the people NumiB Pompiiii, Tcncw their strength: let them R. Roman., 4. ^^^^ ^^^^ . ^^^^^ |gj j|^gj^ speak : let us come near together to judgment. 2 Who raised up '' the righteous rnati <= from the east, called him to his foot, ^ gave the na- tions before him, and made hi/n rule over and as driven stubble to his ^ ^'; <='!■• ^^■ B. C. cir. 712. bow. Olymp. XVII. 1 3 He pursued them, and passed Numa PompUii, = safely ; even by the way that R- Roman.. ♦. he had not gone with his feet. 4 ' Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning ? I the Lord, the « first, and with the last ; I kings ? he gave them as the dust to his sword, am he. ■ Zech. ii. 13. i»Heb. righteousness. c Cliap. xlvi. 11. ^ See Gen. xiv. 11, &c. ; ver. 25 ; chap. xlv. 1. NOTES ON CHAP. XLI. Verse 1. Keep silence before me, O islands — " Let the distant nations repair to me witli new force of mind"] Eyxaivi^saSi, Septuagint. For W^^^ hacharishu, be silent, they certainly read in their copy liynnn hacha- dishu, be renewed; which is paraUel and synonymous with nj laSn' yechalephu coach, " recover their strength ;" that is, their strength of mind, their powers of reason ; that they may overcome those prejudices by wliich they have been so long held enslaved to idolatry. A MS. has ^^ har, upon a rasure. The same mistake seems to have been made in this word, Zeph. iii. 17. For in3nX3 tyirr yacharisk beahaiatho, silebit in di- lectione sua, as the Vulgate renders it ; which seems not consistent with what immediately follows, exultahit super te in laude ; the Septuagint and Syriac read in3nN3 Bf'nn' yachadish beahabatho, " he shall be re- newed in his love." "Sx elai, to me, is wanting in one of De Rossi's MSS. and in the Syriac. Verse 2. The righteous man] The Chaldee and Vulgate seem to liave read p"lV Isaddik. But Jerome, though his translation has justum, appears to have read DTi" tscdek ; for in his comment he expresses it hyjustum, sive justitiam. However, I think all inter- preters understand it of a person. So the Septuagint in MS. Pachom. exakeiiv auTov, " he hath called him;" but the other copies have aurr;i/. her. They are di- vided in ascertaining this person ; some explain it of Abraham, others of Cyrus. I rather think that the for- mer is meant ; because the character of the righteous man, or righteousness, agrees better with Abraham than with CjTus. Besides, immediately after the description of the success given by God to Abraham and his poster- ity, (who, I presume, are to be taken into the account,) the idolaters are introduced as greatly alarmed at this event. Abraham was called out of the east ; and his posterity were introduced into the land of Canaan, in order to destroy the idolaters of that country, and they were established there on purpose to stand as a barrier against the idolatry then prevailing, and tlireatening to overrun the whole face of the earth. Cjtus, though not properly an idolater or worshipper of images, yet ; 'Heb. in peace. fVer. 26; chap. xliv. 7; xlvi. 10. eChap. xUii. 10; xUv. 6; xlviii. 12; Rev. i. 17; xxii. 13. had nothing in his character to cause such an alarm among the idolaters, ver. 5—7. Farther, after having just touched upon that circumstance, the prophet with great ease returns to his former subject, and resumes Abraham and the Israelites ; and assures them that as God had called them, and chosen them for this purpose, he would uphold and support them to the utmost, and at length give them victory over all the heathen nations, their enemies ; ver. 8-16. iTimcA/ is of the same mind, and gives the same reasons. He gave them as the dust to his sword — " Hath made them like the dust before his sword"] The image is strong and beautiful ; it is often made use of by the sacred poets; see Psa. i. 4; x.xxv. 5; Job xxi. 18, and by Isaiah himself in other places, chap. xvii. 13 ; xxix. 5. But there is great difficulty in making out the construction. The Septuagint read D3in DjiK'p kashtam, charbam, their sword, their bow, understanding it of the sword and bow of the conquered kings : but this is not so agreeable to the analogy of the image, as employed in other places. The Chaldee paraphrast and Kimchi solve the difficulty by supposing an ellip- sis of "jaS liphney before those words. It must be owned that the ellipsis is hard and unusual : but I choose rather to submit to this, than, by adhering with Vit- ringa to the more obvious construction, to destroy en- tirely both the image and the sense. But the Vulgate by gladio ejus, to his sword, and arcui ejus, to his bow, seems to express IDinS lecharbo, to his sword, and ir\!ffpS lekashto, to his bow, the admission of which reading may perhaps be thought preferable to KimcMs ellipsis. Verse 3. And passrd safely — " Hepasseth in safety"] The preposition seems to have been omitted in the text by mistake ; the Septuagint and Vulgate seem to have had it in their copies ; sv si^vjvj), in pace, DlSiy^ besha- lom, " prosperously." It is so in one of De Rossi^s MSS. Verse 4. Who hath wrought and done it — " Who hath performed and made these things"] A word is here lost out of the text. It is supplied by an ancient MS., nh» elleh, " these things ;" and by the Septuagint, 166 God^s merciful purpose ISAIAH. to defend his followers. A. M. cir. 3292. 5 The isles saw it, and feared ; B. C. cir. 712. r ■ J Oiymp. XVII. 1. the ends of the earth were afraid, cir. annum , i Numa; Porapiiii, drew near, and came. R. Roman., 4. g h -phey helped every one his neighbour ; and every one said to his brother, ' Be of good courage. 7 '' So the carpenter encouraged the ' gold- smith, and he that smootheth luith the hammer "him that smote the anvil, " saying. It is ready for the soddering: and he fastened it with nails, " that it should not be moved. 8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have ^ chosen, the seed of Abraham my 1 friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my ser- vant ; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. 10 'Fear thou not ; ^ for I am with thee : be not dismayed ; for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 1 1 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ' ashamed and confounded : they shall be as nothing ; and " they that strive with thee shall perish. 1 2 Thou slialt seek them, and shalt not find them, even " them that contended with thee : k Chap. xl. 19 ; xliv. 12. i Heb. Be strong. ' Chap. xl. 19. I Or, founder. "• Or, the smiling. ■" Or, saying of the sodder. It is good. 0 Chap. xl. 20. p Deul. vii. 6 ; "x. 15'; xiv. 2 ; Psa. cxxxv. 4 ; chap, xliii. 1 ; xliv. 1. Matt. iii. 17; xvii. 5; Eph. i. 6. ^Chap. xi. 2; John iii. 34. d Or, dimly burning. says the Chaldee. St. Matthew has applied it directly to Christ ; nor can it with any justice or propriety he applied to any other person or character what- ever.— L. NOTES ON CHAP. XLIL Verse 1. Behold my servant, whom I uphold] 13 "Jons ethmach bo, on whom I lean. Alludmg to the custom of kings leaning on the arm of their most be- loved and faithful servant. All, both Jews and Chris- tians, agree, that the seven first verses of this chapter belong to Christ. Now, as they are evidently a con- tinuation of the prophecy in the preceding chapter, that prophecy cannot belong to Cyrus, but to Christ. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles — '' He Blessings of the CHAP. XLII. A^M.cir. 3292, e quench : he shall bring forth B. C. cir. 1 12. T ° Olymp XVII. 1 judgment unto truth. NumffiPompUii, 4 He shall not fail nor be R. Roman., 1. f discouraged, till he have set judgment in the eartli : « and the isles shall wait for his law. 5 Thus saitli God the Lord, ''he that created the heavens, and stretched them out ; ' lie that spread forth the earth, and that which comelh out of it ; '' he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk tiierein : 6 ' I the Lord have called thee in righteous- ness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, ■" and give thee for a covenant of the people, for " a light of the Gentiles ; 7 " To open the blind eyes, to p bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that Messiah's kingdom. sit in 1 darkness out of the *a "i- "'• ^■ B. C. cir. 712. prison house. oiynip. xvii. i 8 I am the Lord : thai is my Numic PompiUi, name : and my ' glory will I not '^ "°'"'^-'' give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare : before they spring forth I tell you of them. 10 'Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ' ye that go down to the sea, and " all that is therein ; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. 11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up thei)- voice, the villages that Kedcur doth inhabit : let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. ' Heb. yurac A ir 'Heb. broken. gGcn. xlix. 10. iiChap. <> Chap, jcxxv. 5. pChap.lxi.l; Luke iv. 18; 2 Tira. ii.26; xliv.24; Zech. xii. 1. 'Psa. cxx.tvi. 6. ii .\cts xvii. 25. Heb. ii. 14, 15. iChap. ix. 2. 'Chap, xlviii. 11. » Psa. •Chap. xUii. 1. "Chap. xlix. 8. "Chap. xlix. 6; Luke ii. xxxiii. 3; xl. 3 ; xcviii. 1. 1 Psa. cvii. 23. "Heb. theful- 32 ; Acts liii. 47. ness thereof. shall publish juiiginent to the nations'"] Four MSS. two ancient, add the conjunction aaiy"!! veinishpat. See Matt. xii. 18. The word OSiyo mishpat, judgment, like npnX tse- dakah, righteousness, is taken in a great latitude of signification. It means rule, form, order, model, plan ; rule of right, or of religion ; an ordinance, institution ; judicial process, cause, trial, sentence, condemnation, acquittal, deliverance, mercy, &c. It certainly means in this place the law to be published by Messiah, the institution of the Gospel. Verse 4. He shall not fail nor be discouraged — " His force shall not be abated nor broken"] Rabbi Meir ita citat locum istum, ut post yn' yaruts, addat ini3 cocho, robur ejus, quod hodie non eomparet in te.xtu Hebr«o, sed addendum videtur, ut sensus fiat plaiiior. " Rabbi Meir cites lliis passage so as to add after yn" yaruts ino cocho, his J'orce, which word is not found in the present Hebrew text, but seems ne- cessary to be added to make the sense more distinct." Capell. Crit. Sac. p. 382. For which reason 1 had added it in the translation, before 1 observed this re- mark of Capellus. — L. Verse 6. A covenant of the people — " A covenant to the people"] For aj- am, two MSS. of Dr. Kcn- nicotCs, and of my own, read aSli' olam, the cove- nant of the age to come, or the everlasting covenant ; which seems to give a clearer and better sense. But I think the word r\"\3 berith, here, should not be trans- lated covenant, but covenant sacrifice, which meaning it often has ; and undoubtedly in this place. This gives a still stronger and clearer sense. Verse 7. To open the blind eye.i] In this verse the prophet seems to set forth the spiritual redemption, under images borrowed from the temporal deliverance. Out of the prison house — " And from the dungeon."] The Septuagifit, Syriac, and four MSS.. one ancient, add the conjunction 1 vau, n'3Dl umibbeilh, and from the house. Verse 8. I am the Lord] n'iT 'JX ani Yehovah. This is the famous tetragrammaton, or name of four letters, which we write Jehovah, Yehovah, Yehveh, Yeveh, Jhuh, Javah, -ist. 5. A perspective rock, from which true believers could dis- cover their heavenly inheritance : " When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I," &c. Now all this is true in itself; but false in respect to the words on which it was professedly built, for they have no such meaning. Verse 14. / have been still — " Shall 1 keep silence for ever"] After qSi>'0 meolam, in the copy which the Sepluagint had before them, followed the word O^'i'Sn haleolam, ES'iwffjja'a air' aiuvos' Mi) xai an 170 15 1 will make waste mountains ^ ™f- ■=>?■■ 3^3 11 1 ■ 1 B. C. cir. 712. and hills, and dry up all their herbs ; oiymp. xvii. i and I will make the rivers islands, Numaj Pompiiu and I will dry up the pools. ^- «°"^" *• 1 6 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not ; I will lead them in paths that they have not known : I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things ^ straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. 1 7 They shall be ^ turned back, they shall iHeb. into straightness. ^iPsa. xcvii. 7 ; chap. i. 29 ; xliv. H ; xlv. 16. J diuvriiiojxar according to MSS. Pachom. and i. D. ii. ■ and Edit. Complut.; which word, □Sl^'Sn haleolam, has been omitted in the text by an easy mistake of a transcriber, because of the similitude of the word preceding. Shall I alivays keep silence ? like that of Juvenal : Semper ego auditor tantum 1 Shall I always be a hearer only 1 Verse 15. 7 will make the rivers islands — "1 will make the rivers dry deserts"] Instead of □■"« iyim, islands, read □■"]( tsiim ; a very probable conjecture of Houbigant. J Verse 16. In paths] The Septuagint, Syriac, Vxd- \ gate, and nine MSS., (two ancient,) read ni3'n331 ubenotiboth. Will I do unto them] DH'tyi' asitem. This word, so written as it is in the te.vt, means " thou wilt do," in the second person. The Masoretes have indeed pointed it for the first person ; but the '' yod in the last syllable is absolutely necessary to distinguish the first person ; and so it is written in forty MSS., QTI'tS'i' asithim. Jarchi, Kimchi, Sal. ben Melee, &c., agree that the past time is here put for the future, ^r\'^V asitht for ntyj'N; and indeed the context necessarily requires that interpretation. Farther it is to be observed that D'OVi' asithim is put for DnS Tl'iyj' asithi lahem, " I have done them," for " 1 have done for them ;" as ^iPi't^]} asitheni is for 'S 'n'tyj' asili Ii, " 1 have made myself," for " I have made for myself," Ezek. xxix. 2 ; and in the celebrated passage of Jephthah's vow. Judges xi. 31, n'7li' ID'n'Vni veheelitihu olah for 71*71;' l'' 'jT^n heehthi lo olah, " I will offer him a burnt-ofl'ering," for " I will offer unto him (that is, unto Jehovah) a burnt-offering ;" by an ellipsis of the preposition of which Buxtorf gives many other exam- ples, Thes. Grammat. lib. ii. 17. See also note on chap. Ixv. 5. A late happy application of this gram- matical remark to that much disputed passage has perfectly cleared up a difficulty which for two thousand years had puzzled all the translators and expositors, had given occasion to dissertations without number, and caused endless disputes among the learned on the question, whether Jephthah sacrificed his daughter or not ; in which both parties have been equally ignorant of the meaning of the place, of the state of the fact, and of the very terms of the vow ; which now at last has been cleared up beyond all doubt by my learned Transgression the cause CHAP. XLII. A. M. cir. 3292. ^g grcatlv ashamed, that trust in B. C. cir. 712. e / ' Olymp. XVII. 1. graven images, that say to the cir. annum i. ■ ir i NumiE Pompiiii, moltcii miagcs, Ye are our gods. ^ "°°""'- *■ 18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye bhnd, that ye may see. 19 "Who is bhnd, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent ? who is bhnd as he that is perfect, and bhnd as the Lord's servant ? 20 Seeing many things, ''but thou observest not ; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 2 1 The Lord is well pleased for his right- eousness' sake ; he will magnify the law, and make "= it honourable. 22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled ; ^ theij are all of them snared in holes, and they • Chap, xliii. 8 ; Ezek. xii. 2 ; see John ix. 39, 41 . 1> Rom. ii. 21 . e Or, hira. <^ Or, in snaring all the young rneti of them. friend Dr. Randolph, Margaret Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford, in his Sermon on Jeph- thah's Vow, Oxford, 1766. — L. Verse 19. As my messenger that / sent — "As he to whom I have sent my messengers"] rhi^H OnSoO kemalachey eshlach, ut ad quern nuncios meos misi. The Vulgale and Chaldee are ahnost the only inter- preters who render it rightly, in consistence with the rest of the sentence, and in perfect agreement with the Hebrew idiom ; according to which the ellipsis is to be thus supplied : nSi'N 'Jh'T2 '\'a.

Ver. 7. 1> Ver. 21 ; chap. xliv. 2, 21 , 24. ' Chap. xliv. 6. i Chap. xlii. 6 ; sly. 4. ' Psa. Ixvi. 12 ; xci. 3, &c. I'Deut. xxxi. 6, 8. 6 I will say to the north, Give up ; and to the south. Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; 7 Eve7i every one that is ' called by my eDan. iii. 25, 27. tprov. xi. kChap. .xli. 10, 14; xliv. 2; Jer iChap. Ixiii. 19; James ii. 7. 8; xxi. 18. 'Or, person. XXX. 10, 11 ; xM. 27, 28. NOTES ON CHAP. XLIII. Verse 1. / have called thee by thy 7iame] " TINIp IDtI'D karathi beshimcha. So all the Versions. But it seems from the seventh verse, and from the thing itself, that we should read 'Oty^ yn^ilp karathicha bishmi, ' I have called thee by my name ;' for this form of speech often occurs — the other never. For chap. xlv. 24, concerning Cyrus, is another matter; but when God calls Jacob Israel, he calls him by the name of God. See Exod. xxxi. 2." — Seeker. Verse 3. / gave Egypt for thy ransom'] This is commonly supposed to refer to the time of Sennache- j king of Ethiopia, had come out to war against the rib's invasion ; who, when he was just ready to fall j king of Assyria, who was thereupon obliged to raise upon Jerusalem, soon after his entering Judea, was the siege of Jerusalem. Thus the Ethiopians, Egyp- providentially diverted from that design, and turned tians, and Sabeans were delivered into the hands of his arms against the Egj'ptians, and their allies the \ the Assyrians as a ransom for Israel. — Kimchi. I can- which he was diverted by carrying the war against the Egyptians, Cusheans, and Sabeans; but of this I think he has no clear proof in history. It is not to be won- dered at that many things of this kind should remain very obscure for the want of the light of history, which in regard to these times is extremely deficient. " Did not Cyrus overcome these nations ] and might they not be given for releasing the Jews I It seems to have been so from chap. xlv. 14." — Seeker. Kimchi refers aU this to the deliverance of Jerusa- lem from the invasion of .Sennacherib. Tirhakah, Cushean Arabians, with their neighbours the Sabeans, probably joined with them under Tirhakah. See chap. XX. and chap, xxxvii. 9. Or as there are some rea- sonable objections to this opinion, perhaps it may mean more generally that God has often saved his people at the expense of other nations, whom he had, as it were in their stead, given up to destruction. Vitringa ex- not help thinking this to be a very rational solution of the text. Verse 7. Every one that is called by my name] All who worship the true God, and are obedient to his laws. / have created hin{\ rnNin beralhiv. I have pro- duced him out of nothing. For my glory] Ten MSS., three ancient, and the plains this of Shalmaneser's designs upon the kingdom ; Syriac and Vulgate, read HUdS licabodi, without the if Judea after he had destroyed that of Samaria, from conjunction 1 van, and. 172 The great power and CHAP. XLIII. goodness of God. A. M. cir. 3292. name : for ■" I have created liiin B. C. cir. 712. , 1 r J Olymp.xvii. 1. for my glory, "I have iormed Num» Pomlniii, him ; yea, I have made him. R. Roman., 4. g o gj-jng fojth thc Wind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled : '' who among them can declare this, and show us former things ? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified : or let them hear, and say. It is truth. 10 *• Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, ' and my servant whom I have chosen : that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he : "before me there was 'no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11 L even I, "am the Loud; ^^^^."'"-^ f^' and beside me there is no Sa- Oiymp. xvii. i. cir. annum VlOUr. Num.T Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. "Psa.c 3; chap, xx'ix cr. 1. . 23 ; John iii. 3,5; 2 Cor. V. 17 Eph. ii. 10. -■■\ ' Chap. vi. 9; xlu. 19; Kzek. xii. 2. pChap. xli 21 22, 26. -iChap. xliv. 8 'Chap. xlii. 1 , lv.4. • Chap, xli . 4 xliv. 6. I have formed him] Vj'y'MS' yctsartiv. I have given him tliat particular form and shape which are best suited to his station in hfe. / have made him.] rn'tyj' asilhic. I have adapted him to the accomplishment of my counsels and designs. Averse 8. Bring forth the hlind people that have eyes — " Bring forth the people, blind, although they have eyes"] I understand this of the Gentiles, as the verse following, not of the Jews. Their natural faculties, if they had made a proper use of them, must have led them to the knowledge of the being and attributes of the one true God ; " for his eternal power and God- head," if well attended to, are clearly seen in his works, (Rom. i. 20,) and would have preserved them from run- ning into the tolly and absurdity of worshipping idols. They are here challenged to produce the evidence of the power and foreknowledge of their idol gods ; and the Jews are just afterwards, ver. 10, appealed to as witnesses for God in this cause, therctbre these latter cannot here be meant by the people blind with eyes and deaf with ears. Verse 9. Who among them] Seven MSS., three ancient, and the first edition, 1486, with the Syriac and Vulgate, read CJ22 hcchem, who among you ; the present reading is preferable. Verse 10. Ye (the Israelites) are my witnesses — and my servant (the prophet) whom I have chosen, that whatever has been said before concerning .Sennacherib has been literally fulfilled. The prophet had predicted it ; the Israelites saw it accomplished. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.] This is a most difl^cult place. Was there a time when God was not 1 No ! Yet he says, before me. Will there be a time in which God wUl not exist ? No ! Yet he says, after me. Are not all these words to be referred to his creation 1 Be- fore me. no god created any thing, nor was there any thing pre-existent but myself And after me, i. e'., after my creation, such as now exists, there shall be no other class of beings formed. This mode of inter- 12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when the7-e was no ' strange god among you : " therefore ye are my witnesses, saiiii the Lord, that 1 am God. 13 ' Yea, before the day was I ain he ; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand : I will work, and who shall '' let ' it ? 14 Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel ; for your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their " nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. t Or, nothing formed of God. ^ Chap, xlv 21: Hos. xiii. 4. vDcut. xxxn. 16; Psa. Ixxxi. 9.- " Chap xliv ■ H; ver. 10. » Psa. xc. 2 ; John via. 58. -y Heh. turn it back ? 'Job IX. 12 ; chap. xiv. 27. » Heb. bars. _ pretation frees the passage from all embarrassment, and the context perfectly agrees with it. The words my servant, in this verse, the Targum understands of the Messiah. Verse 12. / have declared, and have saved] My prophets have always predicted your deliverances be- fore they took place ; and I have fulfilled their words to the uttermost. Verse 14. The Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships — " The Chaldeans exulting in their ships."] Babylon was very advantageously situated both in respect to commerce, and as a naval power. It was open to the Persian Gulf by the Euphrates, which was navigable by large vessels ; and being joined to the Tigris above Babylon by the canal called Naharmaica or the Royal River, supplied the city w-ith the produce of the whole country to the north of it, as far as the Euxine and Caspian seas, Herod, i. 194. Semiramis was the foundress of this part also of the Babylonian greatness. .She improved the navigation of the Euphrates, Herod. i. 184; Sirabo, lib. xvi. ; and is said to have had a fleet of three thousand galle)'S, Huet, Hist, du Com- merce, chap. xi. We are not to wonder that in later times we hear little of the commerce and naval power of Babylon ; for, after the taking of the city by C}TUs, the Euphrates was not only rendered less fit for navi- gation by being on that occasion diverted from its course and left to spread over the whole country ; but tlie Per- sian monarchs, residing in their own country, to prevent any invasion by sea on that part of their empire, pur- posely obstructed the navigation of both the rivers by making cataracts in them, Strabo, ib., that is, by rais- ing dams across the channel, and making artificial falls in them, that no vessel of any size or force could pos- sibly come up. Alexander began to restore the navi- gation of the rivers by demolishing the cataracts upon the Tigris as far up as Seleucia, Arrian. lib. vii., but he did not live to finish his great designs : those upon the Euphrates stdl continued. Ammianus, .xxiv. 1, mentions them as subsisting in his time. 173 The abundant ISAIAH. mercy of God ^B%% 712"' 15 I «»« the Lord, your Holy Oiymp. XVII. i. One, the Creator of Israel, your cir. annum -^ . Numas Pompilii, i^ing. ^- ^°°°''"' ^- 16 Thus saith the Lord, which •> maketh a way in the sea, and " a path in the mighty waters ; 1 7 Which * bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power ; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise : they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. 18 * Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a 'new thing; now it shall spring forth ; shall ye not know it ? ^ I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the ^^ owls ' : because •' I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. i>Exod. xiv. 16, 22; Psa. Ixxvii. 19 ; chap. li. 10. sJosh. iii. 13, 16. dExod. xiv. 4-9, 25. — — =Jer. xvi. 14; xxiii. 7. '2 Cor. V. 17; Rev. xxi. 5. eExod. xvii. 6; Num. XX. 11 ; Deut. viii. 15 ; Psa. Ixxviii. 16 ; chap. xxxv. 6 ; xli. 18. Ij Or, ostriches. i Heb. daughters of the owl. ^ Chap, xlviii. 21 . The prophet therefore might yery justly speak of the Chaldeans as glorying in their naval power in his time ; though afterwards they had no foundation for making any such boast. Averse 15. The Creator] For N1U bore, " Creator," six MSS. (two ancient) have TiSn Elohey, "God." Verse 19. Behold, I will do a new thing] At ver. 16, the prophet had referred to the deliverance from Egypt and the passage through the Red Sea ; here he promises that the same power shall be employed in their redemption and return from the Babylonish eaptivitj'. This was to be a neiv prodigy. Verse 20. The beast of the field shall honour me — "The wild beast of the field shall glorify me"] The image is elegant and highly poetical. God will give such an abundant miraculous supply of water to his people traversing the di^ desert in their return to their country, that even the wild beasts, the serpents, the ostriches, and other animals that haunt those arid re- gions, shall be sensible of the blessing, and shall break forth into thanksgiving and praises to him for the un- usual refreshment which they receive from his so plen- tifully watering the sandy wastes of Arabia Deserta, for the benefit of his people passing tlirough them. Verse 23. But thou hast not called upon me] The connexion is : But thou, Israel, whom I have chosen, whom I have formed for myself to be my witness against the false gods of the nations ; even thou hast revolted from me, hast neglected my worship, and hast been perpetually running after strange gods. The em- phasis of this and the following parts of the sentence, on which the sense depends, is laid on the words me, on MY ACCOUNT, &c. The Jews were diligent in per- forming the external services of religion ; in offering 174 2 1 ' This people have I formed A. M. cir. 3292. r r B. C. cir. 712. for myself; they shall show forth Oiymp. xvii. i, cir. annum my praise. Numa; PompiUi, 22 But thou hast not called ^- '^°"'™' *■ upon me, 0 Jacob ; but thou " hast been weary of me, 0 Israel. 23 " Thou hast not brought me the ° small cattle of thy burnt-offerings ; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. 24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou ^ filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices : but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast i wearied me with thine iniquities. 25 I, even I, am he that ■■ blotteth out thy transgressions ^ for mine own sake, ' and will not remember thy sins. 26 Put me in remembrance : let us plead iPsa. cii. 18; ver. 1,7; Luke i. 74,75; Eph. i. 5,6. "Mai. i. 13. n Amos V. 25. oHeb. lambs or kids. — —pHeb. made me drunk, or abundantly moistened. -nChap. i. 14 ; Mai. ii. 17. rChap. xliv. 22; xlviu. 9 ; Jer. 1. 20; Acts iii. 19. »Ezek. xxxvi. 22, &c. ■ Chap. i. 18 ; Jer. xixi. 34. prayers, incense, sacrifices, oblations ; but their prayers were not offered with faith ; and their oblations were made more frequently to their idols than to the God of their fathers. The Hebrew idiom excludes with a general negative, in a comparative sense, one of two objects opposed to one another : thus, " I wUl have mercy, and not sacrifice," Hos. vi. 6. " For I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices ; but this thing I commanded them, saying. Obey my voice," Jer. vii. 22, 23. And the meaning of this place of Isaiah seems to be much the same with that of Amos ; who however has ex- plained at large both parts of the comparison, and spe- cified the false service opposed to the true : — " Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings. In the wUderness forty years, O house of Israel ^ Nay, but you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch, And Chiun, your images ; The star of your god, which you made to yourselves." Amos V. 25, 26. But thou hast been loeary of me, O Israel — " Neither on my account hast thou laboured, O Israel."] For nj.'r '3 ii yagata, the Septuagint and Vulgate read nyj'l veyagata. — Houbigant. The negative is repeated or referred to by the conjunction 1 vau ; as in many other places. See note on chap, xxiii. 4. Verse 25. /, even /, am he] The original is ex- tremely abrupt : Nin '3JX "3JX anochi anochi hu, " I, I, He." Is there any mystery in this form ? Does it refer to a plurality of persons in the Godhead ? For mine own sake] In the pardon of sin God can draw no reason but from his own infinite goodness. An abundant effusion CHAP. XLIV. of the Spirit promised. AgM- ^^if_.- 3292. together : declare thou, tliat thou OlympXVii. i. mayest be justified. Num» p'ompilii, 27 Thy first father haili sinned, R. Roman , 4. ^^^ ^^^^ u (eachers have trans- gressed against me. " Heb. inlerprelers ; Mai. ii. 7, 8. • Chap, xlrii. 6 ; Lam. ii. 2, 6, 7. Verse 27. Tlit/ first father hath sinned] On this Kimchi speaks well : " How can ye say that ye have not sinned, seeing your first father, Adam, sinned ; and man hath sin impressed on him through natural generation V Verse 28. / have profaned the princes of the sanc- tuary— " Thy princes have profaned my sanctuary "] Instead of "T.:' S^nNl vaachallel sarey, read yiiy l'7Sn"1 vayechalelu sareycha. So the Syriac and Septuagint, xai E(Aiavov oi afyovrlg to. ayia (aou, " the rulers have defiled my holy things."' 'Wlp kodshi, HoMgant. Oi afyovTSg tfou, " thy rulers," MSS. Pachom. and I. D. II and Marchal. 28 Therefore ^ I have pro- \, "• "'■ ^ ^ B. C. cir. 712. faned the '^ princes of the Oiymp. xvii. i. , , , T '"■ annum sanctuary, 'and have given J a- NumKPompiiii, cob to the curse, and Israel to ^ ^°'"^"- •*■ reproaches. "Or, holy princes.' ' Psa. ixxix. 4 ; Jer. xxir. 9 ; Dan. ix. II Zech. viii. 13. To reproaches — "To reproach"] nijnjS ligedu- I phah, in the singular number ; so an ancient MS. and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. And, alas ! wliat a curse do they still bear, and what reproach do they still suffer ! No national crimes have ever equalled those of the Jewish nation, for no nation ever had such privileges to neglect, despise, sin against. When shall this severity of God towards this people have an end ? Ansio. Whenever, with one heart, they turn to him, and receive the doctrine of the Lord Jesus ; and not j till then. CHAPTER XLIV. This chapter, besides promises of redemption, of the effusion of the Spirit, and success of the Gospel, 1-5, sets forth, in a very sublime manner, the supreme power and foreknowledge, and absolute eternity, of the one true God ; and exposes the folly and absurdity of idolatry loith admirable force and elegance, 6-20. And to show that the knowledge of future events belongs only to Jehovah, lohom all creation is again called to adore for the deliverance and reconciliation granted to his people, 21-23, the prophet concludes loith setting in a very strong point of view the absolute impotence of every thing considered great and insur- mountable in the sight of men, ichen standing in the way of the Divine counsel ; and mentions the future deliverer of the Jewish nation expressly by name, nearly two hundred years before his birth, 24—28. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. TTET now hear, * 0 Jacob my servant ; and Israel, whom I have chosen. 2 Thus saith the Lord that made thee, '' and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee ; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant ; and thou, '^ Jesurun, whom I have chosen. •Ver. 21; chap. xli. 8; xliii. 1 ; Jer. xxx. 10; xlvi. 27, 28. bChap. xUii. 1,7. NOTES ON CHAP. XU\. Verse 2. Jesurun] Jeshurun means Israel. This name was given to that people by ]\Ioses, Deut. xxxii. 15; xxxiii. 5, 26. The most probable account of it seems to be that in which the Jewish commentators agree ; namely, that it is derived from IB?' yashar, and signifies upright. In the same manner, Israel, as a people, is called chwi meshiillam, perfect, chap. xlii. 19. They were taught of God, and abundantly fur- nished with the means of rectitude and perfection in his service and worship. Grotiiis thinks that ;n*iy yeshurun is a diminutive of Skibc yishrael, Israel; expressing peculiar fondness and affection ; IfTfariXioiov, O little Israel. Verse 4. They shall spring up as among the grass — " They shall spring up as the grass among the waters"] Tyn "33 bebeyn chatsir. " They shall spring up in pour water '^ *^- ^'T- ??j|2. tliirsty, and Olymp. xVii. i. ground : cir. annum NumEe Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. 3 For I will upon him that is floods upon the dry I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine oflf- spring : 4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. cDeut. ixxii. 15.- J Chap. XXXV. 7 ; Joel ii. 28 ; John vii. 38 i Acts ii. 13. the midst of, or rather, in among, the grass." This cannot be right : eleven MSS., and thirteen editions, have |"33 kebeyn, or p3 keben. Twenty-four MSS. read it without the " yod, |33 bcben, in the son of the grass ; and so reads the Chaldee ; ,33 beben, in the son of the grass. Twenty-four MSS. of Dr. Kenni- cott's, thirty-three of De Rossi's, and one of my own, with six editions, have this reading. The Syriac, ['33 mibbeyn. The true reading is in all probability "33 kebeyn ; and the word □"n mayim, which should have followed it, is lost out of the text : but it is happily supplied by the Septuagint ; ij ava (jistfov l&arti;, as among the water. " In every place where there is water, there is always grass ; for water makes every thing grow in the east." Sir John Chardin's note on 1 Kings xvii. 5. Harmer's ObservationB, i. 54. ITS The vanity and folly of idols ISAIAH. and their worship. ^. ^ "'■ If^- 5 One shall say, I am the B. C. cir. 712. -' oiyrap. XVII. 1. Lord's ; and another shall call Num-E Pompiiii, himself by the name of Jacob; R. Roman., 4. ^^^ another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. 6 Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, ' and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts ; ' I am the first, and I am the last : and beside me there is no God. 7 And E who, as I, shall call, and shall de- clare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people ? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them. « Ver. 24 ; chap, xliii. 1, 14. rChap. xli. 4 ; xlviii. 12 ; Rev. i. 8, 17 ; xxii. 13. s Chap. xli. 4, 22 ; xlv. 21 . h Chap. xli. 22. ' Chap. xUii. 10, 12. >^ Deut. iv. 35, 39 ; xxxii. 39 ; 1 Sam. ii. 2. Verse 5. Shall call himself— " Shall be called"] Passive, Nip' yikJcare ; xXri^rirfsTai, Symmaclms. Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord — " This shall inscribe his hand to Jehov-4H "] Kai Its^oj £-2Thess. ii. 11. Verse 12. The smtlh ivilh the longs, d^c. — "The smith cutteth off a portion of iron"] Ty;':3 meatslsed, Participium Pihel of TXi' alsad, to cut ; still used in that sense in tlie Arabic. See Simonis Lex. Heb. The Septuagint and Syriac take the word in this form : but they render it sharpeneth the iron. See Castell. Lex. in voce. The sacred ^Titers are generally lai-ge and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry ; they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Tsaiah, ver. 12--20, far exceeds any thing lliat ever was WTitten upon the sub- ject, in force of arginiicnt, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocry- phal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success; Wisd. xiii. 11-19; xv. 7, &c. ; Baruch vi., especially the latter, who, injudi- ciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received : — Olim tnmcus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum, Cum faber ijicertus, scamnum faceretne Priapum, Maluit esse Deum. Deus inde ego. HoRAT. Satyr., lib. 1. sat. viii. Vol. IV. ( 12 ) w Heb. davbed. x Heb. setteth to hit heart. y Chap. xlvi. 8. s Heb. that which comes of a tree ? a Hos. iv. 11 ; Rom. i. 21 ; 2Thess. ii. 11. "Ver. 1,2. " Formerly I was the stump of a fig tree, a useless log ; when the carpenter, after hesitating whether to make me a god or a stool, at last determined to make me a god. Thus I became a god !" From the tenth to the seventeenth verse, a most beautiful strain of irony is carried on against idolatry. And we may naturally think that every idolater, who either read or heard it, must have been for ever ashamed of his own devices. — L. Verse 14. He hewelh hhn down — "He heweth down'"] For ro^'l lichroth, the Septuagint and Vulgate read mj carath or iy\y yichroth. Averse 16. With part — " And with part"] Tieenty- three MSS., the Septuagint, and Vulgate add the con- junction 1 vau, and, Syi veal. Verse 17. He faileth down unto it'\ There were four forms of adoration used among the Hebrews : 1. ninnKVI HisiiT.icHAVAH, The prostration of the whole body. 2. inp Kad.vd, The bowing of the head. 3. i'"'^ Cara, The bending of the upper part of the body down to the knees. 4. I"):: Babach, Bowing the knee, or kneeling. See on chap. xlix. 23. Verse 18. He hath shut their eyes — "Their eyes are closed up"] The Septuagint, Chaldce, and Vulgate, for nta tach, read inD tachu. See note on chap. vi. 10. Verse 20. He feedeth on ashes] He feedeth on that which affordetji no nourishment ; a proverbial expres- 177 Expressions of the ISAIAH. ■^ M. cir. 3292. ^jjee ; thou art mv servant : O B. C. cir. (12. 1 r oiymp. XVII. 1. Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten cir. annum r Numae Pompilii, Ot nie. ^- ^°"'^"- •*■ 22 <= I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins : return unto me ; for '^ I have re- deemed thee. 23 " Sing, O ye heavens ; for the Lord hath done it : shout, ye lower parts of the earth : break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein ; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. 24 Thus saith the Lord, ^ thy Redeemer, and f he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things ; ^ that stretcheth forth the heavens alone ; that c Chap, xliii. 25. |^'>](piff(/.a Tov TOTE TV] ■ffoXsi irBpiffravTa xnSv- vov irapeXisiv svair, have holden " to R. Roman., 4. sujjj„g nations before him ; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates ; and the gates shall not be shut ; •Chap.xli. 13. ''Or, strengthened. tChap.xli.2; Dan. v.30. NOTES ON CHAP. XLV. Verse 1. Loose the loins of kings — " Ungird the loins of kings"] See the note on chap. v. 27. Xeno- phon gives the following list of the nations conquered by Cyrus : the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappa- docians, both the Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Phoe- nicians, Babylonians. He moreover reigned over the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Saca;, Paphlagones, and Mariandyni. — Cyrop., lib. i. p. 4, Edit. Hutchin- son, Quarto. All these kingdoms he acknowledges, in his decree for the restoration of the Jews, to have been given to him by .lEiiiiv.\it, the God of heaven. Ezra i. 2. To open before him the two leaved gates, t^c- — " That I may open before him the valves : and the gates shall not be shut"] The gates of Babylon within the city leading from the streets to the river, were providentially left open, when Cyrus's forces entered the city in the night through the channel of the river, in the general disorder occasioned by the great feast which was then celebrated ; otherwise, says Herodotus, i. 191, the Persians would have been shut up in the bed of the river, and taken as in a net, and all destroy- ed. And the gates of the palace were opened impru- dently by the king's orders, to inquire what was the cause of the tumult without ; when the two parties imder Gobrias and Gadatas rushed in, got possession of the palace, and slew the king. — Xenoph., Cyrop. vii., p. 528. 2 I will go before thee, ''and ^g'^'^i^ ^\f make the crooked places Olymp. xvil. 1. . , y .,, , , . . cir. annum Straight : " 1 will break m pieces Numaj Pompiiii, the gates of brass, and cut in ^- ^"■"''"■' ^ sunder the bars of iron : 3 And I will give thee the treasures of dark- ness, and hidden riches of secret places, 'that •iChap. xl. i ePsa. cvii. 16.- ^Chap. xli. 23. Verse 2. The crooked places — "The mountains"] For □"\nn hadurim, crooked places, a word not easily accounted for in this place, the Sepluagint read Q"\in hararim, t« opt), the mountains. Two MSS. have □"nn hadari/n, without the 1 vau, which is hardly distinguishable from the reading of the Scptuagint. The Divine protection that attended Cyrus, and ren- dered his expedition again.st Babylon easy and pros- perous, is finely expressed by God's going before him, and making the mountains level. The image is highly poetical; — At vos, qua veniet, tumidi subsidite monies, Et faciles curvis vallibus este via-. Ovid, Amor. ii. 16. " Let the lofty mountains fall down, and make level paths in the crooked valleys." The gates of brass — " The valves of brass"] Aby- denus, apud, Euseb. Prsep. Evang. ix. 41, says, that the wall of Babylon had brazen gates. And Herodo- tus, i, 179, more particularly : " In the wall all round there are a hundred gates, all of brass ; and so in like manner are the sides and the lintels." The gates likewise viithin the city, opening to the river from the several streets, were of brass ; as were those also of the temple of Belus. — Herod, i., 180, 181. Verse 3. T will give thee the treasures of darkness] Sardes and Bal)ylon, when taken by Cyrus, were the wealthiest cities in the world. Croesus, celebrated 179 Cyrus and his ISAIAH. victories Joretold ^J'h"''f?n- thou mayest know that I, the i?. C. cir. 712. •' ' oiymp.xvii. 1. Lord, which ^call thee by thy cir. annum Nums Pompiiii, name, am the God of Israel. R. Roman., 4. ^ For '^ Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name : I have surnamed thee, though thou hast ' not known me. b l^am the Lord, and ' there is none else, there is no God beside me : " I girded thee. g Exod. xxxiii. 12, 17 ; chap, xliii. 1 ; xUx. 1. -'■ Chap. xliv. 1. '1 Thess. iv. 5. ^ Deut. iv. 35, 39 ; xxxii. 39 ; chap xliv. 8 ; beyond all the kings of that age for his riches, gave up his treasures to Cyrus, with an exact account in writing of the whole, containing the particulars with which each wagon was loaded when they were carried away ; and they were delivered to Cyrus at the palace of Babylon. — Xenoph. Cyrop. lib.vii. p. 503,515,540. Pliny gives the following account of the wealth taken by Cyrus in Asia. Jam Cyrus, devicta Asia, pondo xxxiv. iniUia auri invenerat ; praster vasa au- rea, aurumque factum, et in eo folia, ac platanum, vitemque. Qua victoria argenti quingenta mUlia ta- lentorum reportavit ; et craterem Semiramidis, cujus pondus quindecim talents coUigebat. Talentum autem .iEgyptium pondo Ixxx. patere 1. capere ^''arro tradit. — Nat. Hist, xxxiii. 15. " When Cjtus conquered Asia, he found thirty-four thousand pounds weight of gold, besides golden vessels and articles in gold ; and leaves, {folia, perhaps solia, batliing vessels, Hoi.,) a plane, and vine tree, (of gold.) By which victory he carried away Jifty thousand talents of sdver ; and the cup of Semiramis, the weight of which was fifteen talents. The Egyptian talent, according to Varro, w-as eighty pounds." This cup was the crater, or large vessel, out of which they fiUed the drinking cups at great en- tertainments. Evidently it could not be a drinking vessel, which, according to what Varro and Pliny say, must have weighed 1,200 pounds ! The gold and silver estimated by weight in this ac- count, being converted into pounds sterlmg, amount to one hundred and twenty-six millions two hundred and twenty-four thousand pounds. — Brerewood, De Pon- deribus, cap. x. Treasures of darkness may refer to the custom of burying their jewels and money under the ground in their house floors, fearing robbers. Verse 7. I form the light, and create darkness] It was the gi-eat principle of the Magian religion, which prevailed in Persia in the time of C5TUS, and in which probably he was educated, that there are two supreme, co-eternal, and independent causes always acting in opposition one to the other ; one the author of all good, the other of all evil. The good being they called LIGHT ; the evil being, d.irkness. That when light had the ascendant, then good and happiness prevailed among men ; when darkness had the superiority, then evil and misery abounded. An opinion that contra- dicts the clearest evidence of our reason, which plainly leads us to the acknowledgment of one only Supreme Being, infinitely good as well as powerful. With re- ference to this absurd opinion, held by the person to 190 though thou hast not known A;^ "'■ ^^^ '-' B. C. cir. 712. me : Oiymp. xvii. i. 6 » That they may know from Numa; Po"m"iiii, the rising of the sun, and from R- Roman., 4 the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness : I make peace, and ° create evil : I the Lord do all these things. J xlvi. 9. IVer. 14, 18, 21, 22. "Psa. xviii. 32, 39. "Psa. cii. 15; chap, xxxvii. 20; Mai. i. 11. oAtnos iii. 6. whom this prophecy is addressed, God, by his prophet, in the most significant terms, asserts his omnipotence and absolute supremacy : — " I am Jehovah, and none else ; Forming light, and creating darkness ; Making peace, and creating evil : I Jehovah am the author of all these things." Declaring that those powers whom the Persians held to j be the original authors of good and evil to mankind, representing them by light and darkness, as their proper emblems, are no other than creatures of God, the instru- ments which he employs in his government of the world, ordained or permitted by him in order to execute his wise and just decrees ; and that there is no power, either of good or evil, independent of the one supreme God, infinite in power and in goodness. There were, however, some among the Persians whose sentiments were more moderate as to this mat- ter ; who held the evil principle to be in some measure subordinate to the good ; and that the former would at length be wholly subdued by the latter. See Hyde, De Relig. Vet. Pers. cap. xxii. That this opinion prevailed among the Persians as early as the time of Cyrus we may, I think, infer not only from tliis passage of Isaiah, which has a manifest reference to it, but likewise from a passage in Xeno- phon's C\Topaedia, where the same doctrine is applied to the human mind. Araspes, a noble young Persian, had fallen in love with the fair captive Panthea, com- mitted to his charge by Cyrus. After all liis boasting that he was superior to the assaults of that passion, he yielded so fax to it as even to threaten violence if she would not comply with his desires. Awed by the re- proof of Cyrus, fearing his displeasure, and having by cool reflection recovered his reason ; in his discourse with him on this subject he says : " O Cyrus, I have certainly two souls ; and this piece of philosophy I have learned from that wicked sophist. Love. For if I had but one soul, it would not be at tlie same time good and evil ; it would not at the same time approve of honourable and base actions ; and at once desii-e to do, and refuse to do, the very same things. But it is plain that I am animated by two souls ; and when the good soul prevails, I do what is vu-tuous ; and when the evil one prevaUs, I attempt what is vicious. But now the good soul prevails, having gotten you for her assist- ant, and has clearly gained the superiority." Lib. vi. p. 424. I make peace, and create evil\ Evil is here evidently God IS the universal Ruler, A.nrcir. 3292. g p Drop down, ye heavens, B. C. cir, 1 12. ^ ' ■' ' Olyiup XVII. 1. from above, and let the skies cir. annum , . , 1 . .1 Numffl Poinpiiii, poiir down rigliteousness : let the R. Roman., 4. g^j.^^ ^^^^^ g„j jgj ^]jg^ ljj.j,^g forlh salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. 9 Wo unto him that striveth with i his Maker ! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. ' Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou ? or thy work, He hath no hands ? 10 Wo unto him that saith unto his father. CHAP. XLV. and upholds all things. What beeettest thou? or to the * ■ " • "='''■2??^ ,,., , , , , B. C. cir. 712. woman, \^ hat hast thou brought Oiymp. xvii.i /■ ^1 0 cir. annum lOrtn ! Numte Pompilu 11 Thus saith the Lord, the "■ '^°""'"- *■ Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning • my sons, and concerning ' the work of my hands command ye me. 1 2 "' I have made the earth, and ' created man upon it : I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and ™ all their host have I com- manded. P Psa. Iixii. 3 ; XXXV. 11. 3 nSi velo phaalta veeyn yadim lecha, " neither hast thou made me ; and thou hast no hands." But the fault seems to be in the transposition of the two pronouns ; for "^^J'Sl uphoolcha, read iSj'iJl uphoolo : and for 1*7 lo, read "^S lecha. So Houbigant corrects it ; reading also lSj'£)1 uphoolo ; which last correction seems not altogether necessary. The Septuagint, in MSS. Pachom. and I. D. II. have it thus, xai Psa. Ixviii. 31 ; Ixxii. 10, 11 ; chap. xlix. 23; Ix. 9, 10, 14, 16 ; Zech. viii. 22, 23. c Psa. cxlix. 8. Do ye question me concerning my children ? And do ye give me directions concerning the work of my hands V Verse 13. I have raised him up] This evidently refers to Cyrus, and to what he did for the Jews ; and informs us by ivhom he was excited to do it. Verse 14. The labour of Egypt — "The wealth of Egypt."] This seems to relate to the future admission of the Gentiles into the Church of God. Compare Psa. Ixviii. 33; Ixxii. 10; chap. Ix. 6-9. And perhaps these particular nations may be named, by a metonymy common in aU poetry, for powerful and wealthy nations in general. See note on chap. Is. 1. The Sabeans, men of stature — " The Sabeans, tall of statm-e"'] That the Sabeans were of a more majes- tic appearance than common, is particularly remarked by Agatharchides, an ancient Greek historian quoted by Bochart, Phaleg, ii. 26, ra dufuira sSti tuv xaroixouv- ■ruv agioXoywTSpa. So also the Septuagint understand it, rendering it m&^sg ti-\,-r,Xr,i, "tall men." And the same phrase, niO '^'JN anshirj middah, is used for per- sons of extraordinary stature, Num. xiii. 32, and 1 Chron. xx. 6. They shall make supplication unto thee — "The-.- shall in suppliant guise address thee"] The conjunction 1 vau is supplied by the ancient Aversions, and confirm- ed by fifteen MSS. of Kennicotl's, (seven ancient,) thirteen of De Rossi's, and si.T editions, "|'Sxi i-cclai/ich. Three MSS. (two ancient) omit the 1 vau before yhn elayich at the beginning of the line. Verse 15. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself] At present, from the nations of the world. O God of Israel, the Saviour] WTiile thou revealest thyself to the Israelites and savest them. Verse 16. They shall be ashamed — "They are ashamed"] The reader cannot but observe the sudden transition from tlie solemn adoration of the secret and mysterious nature of God's counsels in regard to his 182 16 They sliall be ashamed, and a^m ".'•■ ?292. •' ' B. C. cir. /12. also confounded, all of them : they oiymp. xvn. i shall go to confusion together Numa; Pompiiii, that are s makers of idols. R. Roman., 4. 17 ^But Israel shall be saved in tlie Lord with an everlasting salvation : ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. 18 For thus saith the Lord ' that created the heavens ; God himself that formed the earth and made it ; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited : '' I «?« the Lord ; and there is none else. 19 1 have not spoken in ^ secret, in a dark place of the eartli : I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain : " I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. ■il Cor. xiv. 25. sVer. 5.- — rPsa. xliv. 24; chap. viii. 17; 1 vn. 17. ■i Chap. xliv. 11.- k Chap. xxvi. 4 ; ver. 25; Rom XI 2B -' Chap. xlii. 5. — -kVer. 5.- iDeut XXX 11; Chap xl vni 16 i"Psa. xix. 8 cxix. 137, 138. people, to the spirited denunciation of the confusion of idolaters, and the final destruction of idolatry ; con- trasted with the salvation of Israel, not from temporal captivity, but the eternal salvation by the Messiah, strongly marked by the repetition and augmentation of the phrase, to the ages of eternity. But there is not only a sudden change in the sentiment, the change is equ;illy observable in the construction of the sentences ; which, from the usual short measure, runs out at once into two distichs of tlie longer sort of verse. See Prelim. Dissert, p. 66, &c. There is another instance of the same kind, and very like to this, of a sudden transition in regard both to the sentiment and construc- tion in chap. xlii. 17. " His adversaries"] This line, to the great diminution of the beauty of the distich, is imperfect in the present text : the subject of the proposition is not particularly expressed, as it is in the line following. The version of the Septuagint happily supplies the word that is lost : 01 avrtxaifievoi auTU, " his adversaries," the original word was VtS tsaraiv. — L. A''erse 18. He formed it to be inhabited — "For he formed it to be inhabited"] An ancient MS. has "D h before n^li'S lashebeth ; and so the ancient Versions. Verse 19. I have not spoien in secret, in a dark place of the earth] In opposition to the manner in which the heathen oracles gave their answers, which were generally delivered from some deep and obscure cavern. Such was the seat of the Cumean Sybil : — Excisiun Euboicfe latus ingens rupis in antrum. ViRG. Mn. vi. 42. " A cave cut in the side of a huge rock." Such was that of the famous oracle at Delphi ; of which, says Strabo, lib. ix., cpao'i 6' snai to (xavreiov avrpov xoiXov ixsra ^aSouf , ou iJ.aXa EuputfTOfiov. " The oracle is said to be a hollow cavern of considerable depth, with an opening not very wide." And Diodorus giving an account of the origin of this oracle, say? Unto the Lord CHAP. XLV. belongeth salvation A M. cir. 3292. 20 Assemble yourselves and B. C. cir. 712. •' oiymp. xvii.i. come; draw near together, ye cir. annum _.? . i r .1 NumiE Pompiiii, that are escaped ol the nations ; R. Roman., ■!■ n (hey liave no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 2 1 Tell yc, and bring them near ; yea, let them take counsel together : ° who hath de- clared this from ancient time ? ruJio liath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? Pand there is no God else beside me ; a just God and a Savioiu: : there is none beside me. 22 1 Look unto me, and be ye saved, ' all "Chap. xliv. 17, 18, 19; xlvi. 7 ; xlviii. 7; Rom. i. 22, 23. •Chap. xli. 22; x\ui. 9; xliv. 7; xlvi. 10; xlviii. 14. pVer. 5,14,18; chap. xliv. 8; xlvi. 9; xlviii. 3, &c. 1 Psa. xxii. 27; liv. 5. 'Psa. !xv. 3; xcviii. .•» — "Gen. xxii. 16; Jer. xUx. 13; li. 14; Amosvi. 8; Heb i. 13. " that there was in that placs; a great chasm or cleft in the earth ; in which very place is now situated what is called the Adytum of the temple." ASurov tfirriXaiov, rj TO a.moxpMcp'jv (x£pos Tou Ispou. Hesych. " Adytum means a cavern, or the hidden part of the temple." / the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right — " I am Jehov.\h, who speak truth, who give direct answers."] This also is said in opposition to the false and ambiguous answers given by the hea- then oracles, of wliich there are many noted examples ; none more so than that of the answer given to Croesus when he marched against Cyrus, which piece of his- tory has some conne.'cion with this part of Isaiah's pro- phecies. Let us hear Cicero's account of the Delphic answers in general, and of this in particular : Sed jam ad te venio, O sancte Apollo, qui umbilicum certum terraxum obsides, Unde superstitiosa primum ssva evasit vox fera. Tuis enim oraculis Chrysippus totum volumen imple- vit. partim falsis, ut ego opinor : partim casu veris, ut fit in omni oratione saipissime ; partim flexiloquis et obscuris, ut interpres egeat interprete, et sors ipsa ad sortes referenda sit ; partim ambiguis, et quae ad dialect- icum deferenda sint. Nam cum sors ilia edita est opu- lentissimo regi Asias, Crcesus Halym penetrans magnam pervertet opura vim : hostium van sese pcrversurum putavit ; pervertit autem suam. lltrum igitur eorum accidisset, verum oracu- lumfuisset. De DivinatAi. 56. Mountainous countries, and those which abounded in chasms, cives, and grot- tos, were the places in which oracles were most fre- quent. The horror and gloom inspired by such places were useful to the lying priests in their system of de- ception. The terms in which those oracles were con- ceived, (they were always ambiguous, or equivocal, or false, or illusory,) sometimes the turn of a phrase, or a peculiarity in idiom or construction which might be turned pro or con. contained the essence of the oracu- lar declaration. Sometimes, in the multitude of guesses, one ttirned out to be true ; at other tunes, so equivocal .»ras the or.icle, that, liowever the thing fell out, the de- claration could be interpreted in that way ; as in the the ends of the earth : for I am \, M- ^t- 3292 . B. C. cir. 712. God, and there is none else. oiymp. xvii. i _„ . T 1 1 ir ""■ annum 23 ■ 1 have sworn by myself, Num® Pompiiii, the word is gone out of my mouth R- Roman., 4. in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every ' knee shall bow, " every tongue shall swear. 24 " Surely, shall one say. In the Lord have I ■" righteousness " and strength : even to him shall jnen come ; and >■ all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25 ^ In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and " shall glory. 'Rom. xiv. 11; Phil. ii. 10. "Gen. xixi. 53; Deut. vi. 13 ; Psa. Ixiii. 1 1 ; chap. Ixv. 16. ^ Or, Surely he shall saij of mf. In the LORD is all righteousness and strength. * Jer. xxiii. 5 ; 1 Cor. i. 30. x Heb. righteousnesses. y Chap. xli. 11. ' Ver. 17. » I Cor. i. 31. above to Crcesus, from the oracle at Delphi, which was : If Crcesus march against Cyrus, he shall overlhroio a great empire : he, supposing that tliis promised him success, fought, and lost his o«ti, while he expected to destroy that of his enemy. Here the quack demon took refuge in his designed ambiguity. He predicted the destruction of a great empire, but did not say \\hich it was ; and therefore he was safe, howsoever the case fell out. Not one of the predictions of God's prophets is conceived in this way. Verse 21. Bring them 7iear ; yea, let them take counsel together] For IVi'V yoatsu or yivvaatsu, let them consult, the Septuagint read Ij'T' yedau, let them know : but an ancient MS. has n;'!' yoedu, let them come together by appointment ; which may probably be the true reading. Verse 22. Look unto me, and be ye saved, tj-c] This verse and the following contain a plain prediction of the universal spread of the knowledge of God through Christ ; and so the Targum appears to have under- stood it; see Rom. xiv. 11 ; Phil. ii. 10. The read- ing of the Targum is remarkable, viz., "iO'dS IjSJIX ithpcno lemeymri, look to my Word, o Aoyog, the Lord Jesus. Verse 23. / have sworn by myself] '10"03 be- meymri, by my Word : and the word — DJniJ pithgam, or saying, to distinguish it from the personal substan- tial Word meymra, mentioned before. See the Targum. The V!ord is gone out of my mouth — " Truth is gone forth from my mouth ; the word"] So the Septuagint distinguish the members of the sentence, preserving the elegance of the construction and the clearness of the sense. Verse 24. Surely, shall one say, hi the Lord have I righteousness and strength — " Saying, Only to Je- hovah belontjeth salvation and power"] A MS. omits 'h li, unto me ; and instead of i:3N "'? Ii amar, he said or shall say unto me, the Septuagint read, in the copy which they used, TDs'7 lemor, saying. For N3' yabo, HE shall come, in the singular, twelve MSS. (three an- cient) read 1XD" yabeu, plural ; and a letter is erased at the end of the word in two others : and so the .A.lex- 183 The vanity of idols ISAIAH. and idolaters andrine copy of the Septuagint. Si/riac, and Vulgate read it. For nipnX tsedakoth, plural, two MSS. read rpTS tsidkath, singular ; and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee. Probably these are the words of Cyrus, who ac- knowledged that aU his success came from Jehovah. And this sentiment is in effect contained in his decree or proclamation, Ezra i. 2 : " Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth," &c. CHAPTER XLVI. The idols of Babylon represented as so far from being able to bear the burden of their votaries, that they themselves are borne by beasts of burden into captivity, 1, 2, This beautifully contrasted with the tender care of God, in bearing his people from first to last in his arms, and delivering them from their distress, 3, 4. The prophet then, with his usual force and elegance, goes on to show the folly of idolatry, and the utter inability of idols, 5—7. From which he passes with great ease to the contemplation of the attributes and perfections of the true God, 8—10. Particularly that prescience which foretold the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, with all its leading circumstances ; and also that very remote event of which it is the type in the days of the Messiah, 11—13. "DEL ^ bowetli down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp.XVII. 1. NuiTiii Pompiiii, upon the beasts, and upon the R. Roman., 4. (,j,_{jg . yp^j. carriages were heavy leaden ; •■ they are a burden to the weary heast. 2 They stoop, they bow down together ; they could not deliver the burden, <^ but ^ them- selves are gone into captivity. 3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, " which are borne hy me from the belly, which are carried from the womb : 4 And even to your old age ^ I am he ; and even to hoar hairs s will I carry you : I have aChap.xxi. 9; Jer. 1. 2; li. 44. t-Jer. x. 5. '^Jer. xlviii. 7. dHeb. their soul e Exod. xix. 4; Deut. i. 31 ; xxxii. 11 ; Psa. Ixxi. 6; chap. Ixiii. 9. NOTES ON CHAP. XLVI. Verse 1. Their carriages were heavy loaden — " Their burdens are heavy"] For □3TIXB'J nesuothey- chem, your burdens, the Septuagint had in their copy DTTilXli'J ncsuotheyhem, their burdens. A'erse 2. They could not deliver the burden — " They could not deliver their own charge"] That is, their worshippers, who ought to have been borne by them. See the two next verses. The Chaldee and Syriac Versions render it in effect to the same purpose, those that bear them, meaning their worshippers ; but how they can render Nii'O massa in an active sense, I do not understand. For xb lo, not, N7l velo, and they could not, is the reading of twenty-four of Kennicott^s, sixteen of De Rossi's, and two of my own MS.S. The added 1 vau gives more elegance to the passage. But themselves — " Even they themselves"] For Dtya:! venaphsham, an ancient MS. has DtyiJJ '3 M naphsham, with more force. Verse 3. Which are borne by me_/rom the belly — ' Ye that have been borne by me from the birth"] The prophet very ingeniously, and with great force, contrasts the power of God, and his tender goodness effectually exerted towards his people, with the inabi- 184 made, and I will bear; even I ^^^"11; f^f will carry, and will deliver you. oiymp.xvii. i. 5 *■ To whom will ye liken me, Nums Pompiiii, and make me equal, and compare ^' ^°'°^°' ^- me, that we may be like? 6 ' They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a gold- smith ; and he maketh it a god : they fall down, yea, they worship. 7 ''They bear him upon the shottlder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth ; from his place shall he not remove ; yea, ' 07ie shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. fPsa. cii. 27; Mai. iii. 6. gPsa. xlviii. 14; Ixxi. 18. t Chap. xl. 18, 25. iChap. xl. 19; xli. 6 ; xliv. 12, 19; Jer. X. 3. kjer. X. 5. 'Chap. xlv. 20. lity of the false gods of the heathen. He like an in- dulgent father had carried his people in his arms, " as a man carrieth his son," Deut. i. 31. He had pro- tected them, and delivered them from their distresses : whereas the idols of the heathen are forced to be car- ried about themselves, and removed from place to place, with great labour and fatigue, by their worship- pers ; nor can they answer, or deliver their votaries, wlien they cry unto them. Moses, expostulating with God on the weight of the charge laid upon him as leader of his people, expresses that charge under the same image of a parent's carry- ing his children, in very strong terms : " Have I con- ceived all this people ? have I begotten them ! that thou shouldest say unto me, Carrj' them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers ;" Num. xi. 12. A'^erse 7. They bear him upon the shoulder — and set him in his place.] This is the way in which the Hin- doos carry their gods ; and indeed so exact a picture is this of the idolatrous procession of this people, that the prophet might almost be supposed to have been sitting among the Hindoos when he delivered this pro phecv. — AA^ard's Customs The attnbutes and CHAP. XLVII. perfections oj God. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annvim Nunue Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. 8 Remember this, and show yourselves men: "^ bring it again to mind, 0 ye transgressors. _____^__ 9 " Remember the former things of old : for I am God, and » there is none else; lam God, and thei-e is none like me, 10 •* Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not t/et done, saying, i My coimsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasiure : 1 1 Calling a ravenous bird ■■ from the east, " Chap. xliv. 19 ; xlvii. 7. » Dcut. uiii. 7. o Chap. xlv. 5,21. pChap. xlv. 21. ^Psa. xxxiii. 11; Prov. xix. 21 ; xxi. 30; Acts v. 39; Heb. vi. 17. 'Chap. xli. 2, 25. Pindar has treated wnth a just and very elegant ridicule the work of the statuary even in comparison with his own poetry, from this circumstance of its being fi.\ed to a certain station. " The friends of Py- theas," says the Scholiast, " came to the poet, desiring him to write an ode on his victory. Pindar demanded three draclims, (mhtit, I suppose it should be,) for the ode. No, say they, we can have a brazen statue for that money, which will be better than a poem. How- ever, changing their minds afterwards, they came and offered him what he had demanded." This gave him the hint of the foUovring ingenious exordium of his ode : — Oux aMSfMVToitoiog siji' 'fWT' iXimffiioMTU (a' tfya^s- rft'ai ayaXfj-aT' sir' auraj /3aA(Xi5oj 'Erfraor'. AXX' s«i ifada; 'OXxaiJoj £v t' axarifi yXvxeC aoiSa 2r£ij(' a*' Aiyivaj (JiayysX- Xoiff' oTi AafAfuvos uiof IIu^Eas EupuiT^SvlS Nix/iNSfiSioisffayxpaTiou tfTEipavov. Nem. v. Thus elegantly translated by Mr. Francis in a note to Hot. Carm. iv. 2. 19. " It is not mine with forming hand To bid a lifeless image stand For ever on its base : But fly, my verses, and proclaim To distant realms, with deathless fame. That Pj-theas conquered in the rapid race." Jeremiah, chap. x. 3-5, seems to be indebted to Isaiah for most of the following passage : — " The practices of the people are altogether vanity : For they cut down a tree from the forest ; Mhe man 'that execuleth mv ^:,^U"'- ^^■ •' U. C. cir. 712. comisel firom a far country : yea, oiymp. xvii. i. .. T 1 1 1 T 11 1 "'■ annum "1 have spoken tt, 1 will also Nnma; Pompilii, bring It to pass; I have pur- ^'- """"'"■■ *■ posed it, I will also do it. 12 Hearken unto me, ye "stout-hearted, " that arc far from righteousness : 13 "^ I bring near my righteousness ; it siiall not be far off, and my salvation >■ shall not tarry : and I will place ' salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. 9 Heb. the man of my counsel. iChap. xliv. 28 ; xlv. 13. " Num. xxiii. 19. >' Psa. Ixxvi. 5. »' Rom. x. 3. « Chap. li. 5; Rom. i. 17; iii. 21. >■ Hab. ii. 3.— » Chap. Ixii. 11. The work of the artificer's hand with the axe ; With silver and with gold it is adorned ; With nails and with hammers it is fastened, that it may not totter. Like the palm-tree they stand stiff, and cannot speak ; They are carried about, for they cannot go : Fear them not, for they cannot do harm ; Neither is it in them to do good."' Verse 8. Show yourselves ?»c?i] IC'B'Xnn hiihosha- shu. This word is rather of doubtful derivation and signification. It occurs only in this place : and some of the ancient interpieters seem to have had something different in their copies. The Vulgate read VH'iO^Vn hithlws/ieshii, taJie shame to yourselves ; the Syriac IjJl^nn hi/hboncmi, consider tvith yourselves ; the Sep- tuaginl ifTcva^STl- perhaps l73Nr\n hilhabbehi, groan or mourn, within yourselves. .Several MSS. read ItyWlNnn hithosheshu, but without any help to the sense. ^'erse II. Calling a ravenous bird from the east — " Calling from the east the eagle"] A very proper em- blem for Cyrus, as in other respects, so particularly because the ensign of Cyrus was a golden eagle, AET02 ^putfouj, the very word O'" aytl, which the prophet uses here, expressed as near as may be in Greek letters. Xenopii. Cyrop. lib. vii. sub. init. Kimchi says his father understood this, not of Cyrus, but of the Messiah. From a far country — " From a land far distant"] Two MSS. add the conjunction 1 !•<•/!(, V"iN01 zimeerets ; and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgale. A'erse 12. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted — This is an address to the Babylonians, stubbornly bent on the practice of injustice towards the Israelites. CHAPTER XLVn. The destruction of Babylon is denounced by a beautiful selection of circumstances, in which her prosperous is contrasted with her adverse condition. She is represented as a tender and delicate female reduced to the work and abject condition of a slave, and bereaved of every consolation, 1-4. And that on account of her cruelly, particularly to God's people, her pride, voluptuousness, sorceries, and incantations, 5-11. The folly of these last practices elegantly exposed by the prophet, 12-15. // is worthy of observation that almost all the imagery of this chapter is applied in the book of the Revelation, (in nearly the same words.) to the antitype of the illtistriotis capital of the Chaldean empire, viz. Babylon the Gbk.^t. Ifl5 Prophecy concerning the ISAIAH. destruction oj Babylon. A M.cir. 3292. p QME " dowii, and '■sit in the B. C. cir. 712. \J ... Oiymp. XVII. 1. dust, 0 virgin daughter of Numa; Pompilii, Babylon ; sit on the ground : there R. Roman., 4. ^^ j^^ throne, 0 daughter of the Chaldeans : for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. 2 " Take the millstones, and grind meal : uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3 '^ Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen : " I will take ven- geance, and I will not meet thee as a man. 4 As for *^ our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. 5 Sit thou ^ silent, and get thee into dark- ness, 0 daughter of the Chaldeans : ''for thou Bjer. xlviii. 18. t>Chap. iii. 26. c Exod. xi. 5; Judg. xvi. 21 ; Matt. xxiv. 41. ^ Chap. iii. 17; xx. 4; Jer. xiii. 22, 26; Nah. iii. 5. 'Rom. xii. 19. TChap. xliii. 3, 14; Jer. 1. 34. % 1 Sam. ii. 9. 1 Ver. 7 ; chap. xiii. 19 ; Dan. ii. 37. NOTES ON CHAP. XLVII. V erse 1 . Come down, and sit in the dust — " Descend, and sit on the dust"J See note on chap. iii. 26, and on chap. hi. 2. Verse 2. Take the mill-stones, and grind meal — " Take the mill, and grind corn"] It was the work of slaves to grind tlie corn. They used hand-mills : wa- ter-mills were not invented tiU a little before the time of Augustus, (see the Greek epigram of Antipater, which seems to celebrate it as a new invention, Anthol. Cephala, 653 ;) wind-mills, not until long after. It was not only the work of slaves, but the hardest work ; and often inflicted upon them as a severe pu- nishment : — Molendum in pistrino ; vapulandum ; habendse com- pedes. Terent. Phorm. ii. 1.19. Hominem pistrino dignum. Id. Heaul. ui. 2. 19. To grind in the mill, to be scourged, to tie put in the slocks, were punishments for slaves. Hence a delinquent was said to be a man worthy of the mill. The tread-milt, now in use in England, is a revival of this ancient usage. But in the east grinding was the work of the female slaves. See Exod. xi. 5 ; xii. 29, (in the version of the Septuagint ;) Matt. xxiv. 41 ; Homer, Odyss. xx. 105-108. And it is the same to this day. " Women alone are employed to grind their corn ;" Shawns Algiers and Tunis, p. 287. " They are the female slaves, that are generally employed in the east at those hand-mills for grinding corn ; it is ex- tremely laborious, and esteemed the lowest employment in the house ;" Sir J. Chardin, Harmcr^s Observ. i., p. 153. The words denote that state of captivity to which the Babylonians should be reduced. Make bare the leg. uncover the thigh'] This is re- peatedly seen in Bengal, where there are k\v bridges, and both sexes, having neither shoes nor stockings, truss up their loose garments, and walk across, where the waters are not deep. In the deeper water they 186 shalt no more be called, The lady *■ ^U ".'■ 3292. •' B. C. cir. 712. of kingdoms. Oiymp. xvii. i. _ : T , ■ , cir. annum 6 ' I was wroth with my peo- Numa; Pompilii, pie, ^ I have polluted mine inher- R- Roman., 4. itance, and given them into thine hand : thou didst show them no mercy ; ' upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. 7 And thou saidst, I sliall be ™ a lady for ever : so that thou didst not " lay these things to thy heart, ° neither didst remember the lat- ter end of it. 8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, ■= I am, and none else beside me ; i I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children : iSee 2 Sam. xxiv. 14 2 Chron. xxviii. 9 ; Zech. i. 15. k Chap, xlili. 28. iDeut xxviu.50. niVer.5; Rev.xviii.7. » Chap. xlvi. 8. » Deut. xxxu. 29. p Ver. 10; Zeph. ii. 15. "5 Rev. xviii. 7. are obliged to truss very high, to which there seems a reference in the third verse : Thy nakedness shall be uncovered. Verse 3. / ivill not meet thee as a man — " Neither will I suffer man to intercede with me."] The verb should be pointed, or written, jr'JilS aphgia, in Hiphil. Verse 4. Our Redeemer — " Our Avenger"] Here a chorus breaks in upon the midst of the subject, with a change of construction, as well as sentiment, from the longer to the shorter kind of verse, for one distich only ; after which the former subject and style are resumed. See note on chap. xlv. 16. Verse 6. / loas wroth with my people] God, in the course of his providence, makes use of great conquer- ors and tyrants as his instruments to execute his judg- ments in the earth ; he employs one wicked nation to scourge another. The inflicter of the punishment may perhaps be as culpable as the sufferer ; and may add to his guilt by indulging his cruelty in executing God's justice. When he has fulfilled the work to which the Divine vengeance has ordained him, he will become himself the object of it ; see chap. x. 5-12. God charges the Babylonians, though employed by himself to chastise his people, with cruelty in regard to them. They exceeded the bounds of justice and humanity in oppressing and destroying them ; and though they were really executing the righteous decree of God, yet, as far as it regarded themselves, they were only indulg- ing their own ambition and violence. The Prophet Zechariah sets this matter in the same light : " I was but a little angry, and they helped forward the afflic- tion;" chap. i. 15. — L. Verse 7. So that thou didst not — " Because thou didst not"] For "i;' ad, read Si' al ; so two MSS., and one edition. And for ^^\'^^N acharithah, " the latter end ofU," read in'iriN acharitliecha. " thy latter end ;" so thirteen MSS., and two editions, and the Vulgate. Both the si,Tth and seventh verses are wanting in one of mv oldest MSS. The pride and folly A; 1^ "'• ^,?J-- 9 But ' these two things shall B. C. cir. 712. *-" Oiymp. XVII. 1. come to thee 'in a moment in Numa; i'ompilii, One day, the loss of children and R. Roman., 4. -widowiiood : they shall come upon thee in their pefection • for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. 1 0 For thou " hast trusted in thy wicked- ness : '■ thou hast said, None seelh me. Tiiy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath "perverted thee; "and thou liast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. 1 1 Therefore shall evil come upon thee ; thou shalt not know ^ from whence it riseth : and mischief shall fall upon thee ; thou shall not be able to ''put it off: and "desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. 12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and rChap. li. 19. ' 1 Thess. v. .S. 'Nah. iii. 4. " Psa. lii. 7. ^Chap. xxi.v. 15; Ezek. viii. 12; ix. 9. ^ Or, caused thee. to turn away. « Ver. 8. y Heb. the morning thereof. z Heb. txpiate. ■■>1 Ttiess. v. 3. Verse 9. These two things s/iall come to thee in a moment\ That is. suddenly. Belshazzar was slain ; thus the city became metaphorically a ividow, the hus- baml — the governor of it, being slain. In the time in which the king was slain, the Medes and Persians took the city, and slew many of its inhabitants, see Dan. V. 30, 31. When Darins took the city, he is said to have crucified three thousand of its principal inhabitants. In their perfection — " On a sudden"'] Instead of D^n3 bethummam, " in their perfection," as our trans- lation renders it, the SepluaginI and Si/riac read, in the copies from wliich they translated, DNHiJ pithom, suddenly ; parallel to J'JI rega, in a moment, in the preceding alternate member of the sentence. The con- ciuTCnt testimony of the Septuagint and Syriac, fa- voured by the context, may be safely opposed to the authority of the present text. For the multitude — " Notwithstanding the multi- tude"] 313 berob. For this sense of the particle 3 beth, see Num. siv. 1 1 . Verse 1 1 . Thou shall not know from lohence it riseth — "Thou shalt not know how to deprecate"] rvnu' shttchrah ; so the Chaldee renders it, which is approved by Jarchi on the place ; and Michaelis Epim. in Prtelect. xix. ; see Psa. Ixxviii. 34. Videtur in fine hujus commatis deese verbum, ut hoc membrum prioribus respondeat. " A word appears to be wanting at the end of this clause to connect it pro- perly with the two preceding." — Seokkr. CHAP. XLVII. of the Chaldeans. with the mul itude of thy sor- ■*;". cir. 3292. , . , , ,•', ». C. cir. 712. ccnes, wherein thou hast labour- oiymp. xvii.i. ed from thy youth : if so be thou NumiBPompTui, shalt be able to profit, if so be ^ "°""'" • "• thou mayest prevail. 13 ''Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now " the '^ astrologers, the stargazers, * the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. 14 Behold, they shall be ''as stubble; the fire shall burn them ; they shall not deliver f themselves from the power of the flame : there shall not he a coal to warm at, ?ior fire to sit before it. 15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even ''thy merchants, from thy youth : they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee. bChap. hii. 10. ^Chap. xliv. 25; Dan. ii. 2. J Heb. vieu^ers o/the heavens. e Heb. that give knotcledge concerning the months. — — f Nah. i. 10; Mai. iv. 1. 3 Heb. l/ieir souls. iiRev. xviii. 11. In order to set in a proper light this judicious re- mark, it is necessary to give the reader an exact verbal translation of the whole verse : — " And evil shall come upon thee, thou shalt not know how to deprecate it ; And mischief shall fall upon thee, thou shalt not be able to expiate it ; And destruction shall come suddenly upon thee, thou shalt not know" What 1 how to escape, to avoid it, to be delivered from it ? perhaps nJD2 nNX tseth mimmennah, " they could not go out from it," Jer. xi. 1 1. I am persuaded that a phrase is here lost out of the text. But as the an- cient versions retain no traces of it, and a wide field lies open to uncertain conjecture, I have not attempted to fill up the chasm, Imt have in the translation, as others have done before me, palliated and disguised the defect, which I cannot with any assurance pretend to supply. — L. Verse 13. From these things — "What are the events"] For It^ND measher, read liyx no mah asher, so the Sepluagint, " what is to happen to thee." Averse 15. To his quartet — " To his own business"] 113>'S leebro. Expositors give no very good account of this word in this place. In a MS. it was at first n3V 7 leahdo, to his servant or icork, which is probably the true reading. The sense however is pretty much the same with the common interpretation. " Every one shall turn aside to his own business ; none shall deliver thee." 187 Tlie obstinacy of ISAIAH. the Jeivs reproved CHAPTER XLVIII. The Jews reproved for their obstinate attachment to idol.i, notwithstanding their experience of the Divine providence over them ; and of the Divine prescience that revealed by the prophets the most remarkable events which concerned them, that they should not have the least pretext for ascribing any portion of their success to their idols, 1-8. The Almighty, after bringing them to the furnace for their perverseness, asserts his glorious sovereignty, and repeats his gracious promises of deliverance and consolation, 9—11. Prophecy concerning that individual {Cyrus) who shall be an instrument in the hand of God of executing his will on Babylon, and his power on the Chaldeans ; and the idols of the people are again challenged to give a lihe proof of their foreknowledge, 12—16. Tender and passionate exclamation of Jehovah respect- ing the hardened condition of the Jewish nation, to which the very pathetic exclamation of the Divine Saviour when he wept over Jerusalem may be considered a striking parallel, 17—19. Notwithstanding the repeated provocations of the house of Israel, Jehovah will again be merciful to them. They are com- manded to escape from Babylon; and God's gracious favour towards them is beautifully represented by images borrowed from the exodus from Egypt, 30, 21. Certain perdition of the finally impenitetit, 23. It will be proper here to remark that many passages ill this chapter, and indeed the general strain of these prophecies, have a plain aspect to a restoration of the Church in the latter days upon a scale much greater than the world has yet witnessed, when the very violent fall of Babylon the Great, mentioned in the Reve- lation, of which the Chaldean capital was an expressive type, shall introduce by a most tremendous political convidsion, (Rt ,'. xvi. 17—21,) that glorious epoch of the Gospel, which forms so conspicuous a part of the prophecies of the Old Testament, and has been a subject of the prayers of all saints in all ages. Oiymp. xvii. 1. Jacob, which are called by cir. annum . r t i i Num.-E Pompiiii, the name oi Israel, and ''are come ^ ^°"""' *■ forth out of the waters of Judah, ^ which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, " but not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves ^ of the holy city, and '^ stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name. 3 f I have declared the former things from the beginning ; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them ; I did them sud- denly, e and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew tliat thou art >' obstinate, and ' thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass ; 5 '' I have even from the beginning declared it to thee ; before it came to pass I showed it «Psa. Ixvjii. 26. b Deut. vi. 13 ; chap. Ixv. 16; Zeph. i. 5. c Jer. iv. 2; v, 2. 'iChap. lii. 1. eMic. iii, 11 ; Rom. ii. 17. f Chap, xli. 22 ; xlii. 9 ; xliii. 9 ; xliv. 7, 8 ; xIt. 21 ; xlvi. 9, 10. s Josh. xxi. 45. 1" Heb. tiard. NOTES ON CHAP. XLVIII. Verse J. Are come forth out of the waters of Judah — "Ye that flow from the fountain of Juihih"] •'OD mimmey, " from the waters.^' Perhaps ';':3a mimnieey, " from the bowels," so many others have conjectured, or miH' 'Jr: meni yehvdah, or mirro meyhudah, " from Judah." — Seeker. But see Michaelis in Prelect, not. 22. And we have ;pi" ;■;• eyn yaakob, " the fountain of Jacob," Deut. xxxhi. 28, and '7K^a" llporD mimmekor yishrael, " from the fountain of Israel," Psa. Ixviii. 27. Twenty-seven MSS. of Kennicolfs, six of De Rossi's and two of my o^to, witli sL\ editions, have '^-^ meymey, " from the days ;" which makes no good sense. 188 thee : lest thou shouldest „o,r A. M. cir. 3292. ^'^y' B. C. cir. 712. Mine idol hath done them ; and oiymp. XVii. i. , T cir. annum my graven image, and my molten Numse Pompiiii, image, hath commanded them. R- Roman., 4. 6 Thou hast heard, see all this ; and will not ye declare it ? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7 They are created now, and not from the beginning ; even before the day when thou heardest them not ; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. 8 Yea, thou heardest not ; yea, thou knew- est not : yea, firom that time that thine ear was not opened : for I knew that thou would- est ^ deal very treacherously, and wast called "" a transgressor from the womb. 9 " For my name's sake ° will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain > Exod. Hi. 9 ; Deut. xxxi. 27. k Ver. 3. 1 Chap, xxxiii. 1 ; Jer. iii. 20 ; v. 11 ; Hos. r. 7 ; vi. 7 ; Mai. ii. 10, 14, 15, 16. tn Psa. Iviii. 3. " Psa. ixxix. 9 ; cvi. 8 ; chap, xliii. 25 ; ver. 1 ; Ezek. XX. 9, 14, 22, 44. " Psa. Ixxviii. 38. Verse 6. Thou hast heard, see all this — " Thou didst hear it heforehand ; behold, the whole is accom- plished"] For nin chazeh, see, a MS. has ntn hazzeh, this; thou hast heard the whole of this: the Syriac has n'tm vechazilh, '■ thou hast heard, and thou hast seen, the whole." Perhaps it should be njn hinneh, behold. In order to express the full sense, I have ren- dered it somewhat paraphrasticaUy. Verse 9. And for my praise— " And for the sake of my praise"] lTea.d'r\hrM\\i,'-:h}ulemaan tehillathi. The word |1'"D7 lemaan, though not absolutely necessary here, for it may be understood as supplied from the preceding member, yet seems to have been removed God^s mercy to the Jews CHAP. XLVIII. Ill tlitir kijjIh ily. \, ^n '"■ -'^- for thee, B. C. cir. "12. Oljinp. XVII. 1. not off. Numa! p'lm'piUi, 10 Beliold, ^I havc refined thee, R. Roman., 4. jj^,j ,^qj q ^yjj]j gjj^.gj. . J j^^yg chosen thee "■ in the furnace of affliction. 1 1 ' For mine own sake, even for mine owti sake, will I do it : for iiow ' should mi/ name be polluted : and " I will not give my glory unto another. 12 Hearken unto me, 0 Jacob and Israel, my called ; '^ I am he ; I am the " first, I also ajTi the last. 13 'Mine hand also hath laid the foundation that I cut thee ' of the earth, and y my right hand *n "^c "dr T^f^' hath spanned the heavens : when Oiymp. xvii. i. T 1, < , 1 ctr. annum ^ I call unto them, they stand up Num Dcut. x.xxii. 39. »Chap. xli. 4; xliv. 6; Rev. i. 17 ; xxii. 13. from hence to ver. 1 1 ; where it is redundant, and where it is not repeated in the Scpliiagint, Si/riac, and a MS. 1 have therefore omitted it in the latter place, and added it here. Verse 10. / have chosen thee — " I have tried thee"] For 1"mn3 becharticha, " I have chosen thee," a MS. has I'rijni hechanlicha, " I have tried thee." And so perhaps read the Si/riac and Chaldec interpreters ; they retain the same word "jmn^ bechartach ; but in those languages it signifies, I have tried thee. si33J kechc- seph, quasi argentuin, " as silver." Vulgate. 1 cannot think '^2'2 becheseph, with silver, is the true reading. f|DOO kechescph, like silver, as the Vul gate evidently read it, 1 suppose to have been the ori- ginal reading, though no MS. yet found supports this word ; the similarity of the two letters, 3 belli and 3 caph, might have easily led to the mistake in the first instance ; and it has been but too faithfully copied ever since. lO cur, which we translate furnace, should be rendered crucible, the vessel in which the silver is melted. The meaning of the verse seems to be this ; 1 have purified you, but not as silver is purified ; for when it is purified, no dross of any kind is left behind. Had I done this with you, I should have consumed you altogether ; but I have put you in the crucible of afflic- tion, in captivity, that you may acknowledge your sins, and turn unto me. A'erse II. For how should my name be polluted — " For how would my name be blasphemed "] The word "ya shcmi, my name, is dropped out of the text ; it is supplied by a MS. which has ■■lya shemi ; and by the Septuagint, Iti to sjjiov ovofia fSe'SrjXooTai. The Syriac and Vulgate get over the difficulty, by making the verb in the first person ; that / may not be blas- phemed. A'erse 12. O Jacob — " O Jacob, my servant"] After 3p;" yaakob, a MS. of Kennicott's, two of De Rossi's, and the two old editions of 1486 and 1488, add the word "n^i" abdi, " my servant," which is lost out of the present text ; and there is a rasure in its place in another ancient MS. The Jerusalem Talmud has the same word. / also am the last — " I am the last"] For "Js ns « Psa. cii. 25. y Or, the palm of my right hand hath itpread out. • Chap. xl. 26. » Chap. xh. 22 ; xliv. 7 ; xlv. 20, 21. b Chap xlv. 1. eChap. xUv. 28. J Chap. xlv. 1, 2, &c. 'Chap. xlv. 19. aph ani, " even I," two ancient MSS. and the ancient A'ersions, read "Nl veani, " and I ;" more properly. Verse 14. Which among them hath declared these things — "Who among you hath predicted these tilings"] For oriD bahcm, " among them,'' twenty-one MSS., nine ancient, and two editions, one of them that of the }-ear 1488, fourteen of Dc Rossi's, and one ancient of my own, have D33 bachem, " among you ;" and so the Syriac. The Lord hath loved him : he will do his pleasure on Babylon — " He, whom Jehovah hath loved, will ex- ecute his will on Babj-lon"] That is, Cjtus; so Sym- machus has well rendered it : "Ov o Kupios riya'xriiSi vciiriiJn TO &sXr)(ji,a auTou, " He whom the Lord hath loved will perform his tvill." On the Chaldeans.] The preposition is lost ; it is supplied in the edition of 1486, which has D'ia'32 be- chasdtm, and so the Chaldce and Vulgate. A'erse 16. Come ye near unto me] After the word nip kirbu, " draw near," a MS. adds D'U goyim, " O ye nations ;" which, as this and the two preceding verses are plainly addressed to the idolatrous nations, reproach- ing their gods as unable to predict future events, is probably genuine. Hear ye this — "And hear ye this"] A MS. adds the conjunction, li'^'-1 vashimu ; and so the Seplua- gint, Syriac, and Vulgate. I have not spoken in secret] The .iVlexandrine copy of the Septuagint adds here, ou8s ev toitu yris tfxorfi^u, " nor in a dark place of the earth," as in chap. .\lv. 19. That it stands rightly, or at least stood very early, in this place of the Aversion of the Septuagint, is biirlily probable, because it is acknowledged by the Arabic Version, and by the Coptic M.S. St. Germain de Pre:, Paris, translated likewise from the Septua- gint. But whether it should be inserted, as of right belonging to the Hebrew text, may be doubted ; for a transcriber of the Qreck Version might easily add it by memory' from the parallel place ; and it is not ne- cessary to the sense. From the time that it teas — " Before the time when it began to exist"] An ancient MS. has cjirn heyo- thorn, " they began to exist ;" and so another had i*- ' 199 at God the only A M. cir. 3292. ]^ayg jjot spoken in secret from B. C. cir. (12. '^ . oiymp. XVII. 1. the beginning; from the tune cir. annum ,i , ■ ^i t i Nums! Pompiiii, that It was, there am 1: and now ^- ^°"""- *■ fthe Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 17 Thus saith s; the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel ; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which '' leadelh thee by the way that thou should- est go. 18 ' 0 that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments ! '' then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea : 19 'Thy seed also had been as the sand, fChap. Ixi. 1 ; Zcch. ii. 8, 9, 11. sChap. xliii. 14; xliv. 6, 24 ; ver. 20. ^ Psa. xxxii.8. iDeut. xxxii. 29 ; Psa. Ixxxi. 13. kPsa. cxix. 163. 1 Gen. xxii. 17 ; Hos. i. 10. ™ Chap.lii. 11 ; ISAIAH. infallible Teacher. and the offspring of thy bowels '^3*^"^'^ ^^f like the gravel thereof; his name oiymp. xvii. 1. should not have been cut off nor Numa; PompiUi, destroyed from before me. ^- ^°'"^°' *• first. From the time that the expedition of C3rrus was planned, there was God managing the whole by the economy of his providence. Verse 16. There am / — "I had decreed it"] I take DW sham for a verb, not an adverb. And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me — " And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit"] T15 stfTiv 0 £v TU HdaM Xeyun, Kai vuv Ku^ioj avcSTSiXs jAt xai to IIvEU(/,a clvtov ; e\i w, ajxipi/SoXou ovToj Tou fir)TO'j, crorepov 0 Tiwrrip xai to 'Ayiov HvEupia aiTSiTeikav tou Ivjiroiiv, 1] 6 XlaTrj^ a«s Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: JChap. li. 16. 'Psa. xlv. 5. ^Chap. xlii. 1 ; Zech. iii. 8. eChap.xliv.23; Johnxiii.31; xv. 8; Eph. i.6. iiEzek. iii. 19. and intents of the heart ;" Heb. iv. 12. This mighty Agent and Instrument of God, " long laid up in store with him, and sealed up among his treasures," is at last revealed and produced by his power, and under his pro- tection, to execute his great and holy purposes. He is compared to a polished shaft stored in his quiver for use in his due time. The polished shaft denotes the same efficacious word which is before represented by the sharp sword. The doctrine of the Gospel pierced the hearts of its hearers, " bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." The metaphor of the sword and the arrow, applied to powerful speech, is bold, yet just. It has been employed by the most ingenious heathen \\Titers, if with equal elegance, not with equal force. It is said of Pericles by Aris- tophanes, (see Cicero, Epist. ad Atticum, xii. 6 :) — OuTojs ExrjXsi, xai (iovos Tuv ^jjToJtJv To XivTjov syxarsXei-rE roij axpocj/xsvoif. Apud. Diod. lib. xii. His powerful speech Pierced the hearer's soul, and left behind Deep in his bosom its keen point infixed. Pindar is particularly fond of this metaphor, and fre- quently applies it to his own poetry : — Ecrsj^s vuv (fx^TCJ toJov, Ays, &D;xt. TnoL l3aXKoiJ.iv Ex fjtaX^axas auTS (ppe- voff SuxXsaf oidTovg 'lEvTSff — ; Olymp. ii. 160. " Come on ! thy brightest shafts prepare, And bend, 0 Muse, thy sounding bow ; Sav, through what paths of liquid air Our arrows shall we throw V West. See also ver. 149 of the same ode, and Olymp. ix. 17, on the foniier of which places the Scholiast says, Tpo- Tixof 0 Xoyoj' /SeX)] Ss touj Xoyouff Sip>!X£, oia to o|u xai xaipiov tuv Eyxufiiwv. " He calls his verses shafts, 191 Gracious promises oj A. M. cir. 3292. ygf surely my judgment is with Oiymp. XVII. 1. the Lord, and ' my work with cir. annum ^, - Numse Pompilii, my I-tOCI. ^- R°"""' '■ 5 And now, saith the Lord '' that formed me from the womb to he his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, ' Thougli Israel ™ be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. 6 And he said, "It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the " preserved of Israel : I will also give thee for a p light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 7 Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, "i to "■ him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation ab- hon-elh, to a servant of rulers, '^ kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, be- cause of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. ISAIAH. redemption to Israel 8 Thus saith the Lord, ' In an acceptable time have I i Or, viy Tcimrd ; chap. xl. 10; Ixii. IJ. >* Ver. 1. 'Or, Th{tt Israel may be gathered to him, and I may, &c. "" Matt. xxiii. 37. 1 Or, Art thou lis^htrr than that (hou shouldest, &c. o Or, desolations. p Chap. xjii. 6 ; Ix. 3 ; Luke ii. 32 ; Acts xiii. 47 ; xxvi. 18. ■ See chap. xl. 27. e See Psa. ciii. 13 ; Mai. iii. 17 ; Matt. vii. 1 1 . f neb. from having compassion. of his Spicilegium Geographiae Hebrteorum Exterae. See BMwlh. Oriental. Part xi. p. 176. I'D stn signifies a hush, and D'J'D siniin, hushes, woods, &c. Probably this means that the land where several of the lost Jews dwell is a woodland. The ten tribes are gone, no one knows whitl er. On the slave coast in Africa, some Jewish rites appear among the people, and all the males are circumcised. The whole of lliis land, as it appears from the coast, may be emphatically called WTO yiN crels sinim, the land of bushes, as it is all covered with icoods as far as the eye can reach. Many of the Indians in North Ame- rica, which is also a woodland, have a great profusion of rites, apparently in their basis Jewish. Is it not possible that the descendants of the ten lost tribes are among those in America, or among those in Africa, whom European nations think they have a right to enslave ? It is of those lost tribes that the twenty-first verse speaks : " And these, where had they been V' Verse 13. Brea/i forth into singing, O mountains — " Ye mountains, burst forth into song"] Three ancient M.SS. are without the ' yod or the conjunction 1 rau before the verb : and so the Septuagint, Synac, and Vulgate. A'erse 14. The Lord (niiT Yehovah) hath forsaken me, and my Lord ("jnx Adonai) halh forgotten me.'\ But a multitude of MS.S. and several ancient editions read mri' Yehovah in both places. Verse 16. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands — " Behold, on the palms of my hands have I delineated thee"] This is certainly an allusion to some practice, common among the Jews at that time, of making marks on their hands or arms bj' punctures on the skin, with some sort of sign or repre- sentation of the city or temple, to show their affection •ind zeal for it. They had a method of making such punctures indelible by fire, or by staining. See note on chap. xliv. 5. It is well known, that the pilgrims at the holy sepulchre get themselves marked in this manner with what are called the ensigns of Jerusalem. See Maundrell, p. 75, where he tells us how it is performed : and this art is practised by travelling Jews all over the world at this day. A'erse 17. Thy children shall make haste — "They that destroyed thee shall soon become thy builders"] Auctor Vulgatae pro y:3 banayich, videtur legisse Vol. IV. ( 13 ) Olymp. XVII. I. 17 Thy children shall make Numai Pompiiii, haste ; ' thy destroyers and " ^°""'" ■ *■ they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. 18 ''Lift up thine eyes round about, and be- hold : all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shall surely clothe thee with them all, ' as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. eRom. jci. 29. 1 19. k Chap. be. 4.- See Exod. xiii. 9 ; Cant. viii. 6.- ' Prov. xvii. 6. iVer. ■]'J13 honayich, unde vertit, structores tui ; cui et Sep- tuaginta fere consentiunt, qui verterunt wxo5o(AV)^r)f, adificata es, prout in Plantiniana editione habetur ; in Vaticana sive Romana legitur, oixo^ojAJi^/itfir), cedifica- bcris. Hisce etiam Targum Jonathanis aliquatenus consentit, ubi, et adificahnnt. Confer infra Esai. liv 13, ad quem locum rabbini quoque notarunt ex tractatu Talmudico Berachot, c. ix., quod non legendura sit ■]"J3 banayich, id est, filii tui; sed yj^ bonayich, a:di- ficatores tui. Confer not. ad libruni Prec. Jud. part ii., p. 226, ut et D. Wagenseil Sot. p. 253, n. 9. " The author of the Vulgate appears to have read yjU bona- yich for yj3 banayich, as he translates it by structores tui, 'thy builders.' The Septuagint is almost the same with the Vulgate, having CLixo5o(AviS>if, art built, as in the Planlin edition : but the Vatican or Roman copy reads oixo5o(i.r)^r](j'r), thou shall be built. To these readings the Targum of Jonathan has some sort of correspondence, translating et tedificabunt, ' and they shall build.' See chap. liv. 13 ; on which place the rabbins also remark, in the Talmudic tract Berachoth, c. 9, that we should not read yji banayich, thy sons, but yja bonayich, thy builders. See the note in Prec. Jud. part ii., p. 226, and also D. Wagenseil Sot. p. 253, n. 9." See also Brcilhaupt. not. ad Jarchi in loc. ; and the note on this place in De Sac. Poes. Hebr. Pra?lect. xxxi. Instead of 1'J13 or yjD bonayich, thy builders, several M.S.S. read 1"33 baneycha, thy sons. So also the Si/riac ; see the above note. Shall go forth of thee — " Shall become thine off spring."] IXi"" ']'^'3 mimmech yelseu, shall proceed, spring, issue, from thee, as thy children. The plirase is frequently used in this sense : see chap. xi. 1 ; Mic. V. 2 ; Nah. i. 11. The accession of the Gentiles to the Church of God is considered as an addition made to the number of the family and children of Sion : see ver. 21, 22, and chap. Ix. 4. The common rendering, " shall go forth of thee, or depart from thee," is very flat, after their zeal had been expressed by " shall be- come thy builders :" and as the opposition is kept up in one part of the sentence, one has reason to expect it in the other, which should be parallel to it. Verse 18. Bind them on thee, as a bride doeth — " Bind them about thee, as a bride her jewels."] The end of the sentence is manifestly imperfect. Does a bride bind her children, or her new subjects, about her ? 193 The calling of the ISAIAH. A. M. cir. 3292. ] 9 For thy waste and thy deso- B. C. cir. 712. ■' 1 /• 1 Oiymp. XVII. 1. late places, and the land of thy Nurnas Pompiiii, destruction, "shall even now be R. Roman., 4. ^^^ narrow by reason of the in- Gentiles foretold. habitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 20 " The children which thou shall have, " after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me : give place to me that I may dwell. 2 1 Then shall thou say in thine heart. Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and re- moving to and fro ? and who halh brought up these ? Behold, I was left alone ; these, where had they been ? 22 p Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people : and they shall bring thy sons in their 1 arms, and tliy daugh- ters shall be carried upon their shoulders. >n See chap. liv. 1, 2 ; Zech. ii. 4 ; x. 10. — -» Chap. Ix. 4. oMatt. iii. 9; Rom. xi. 11, 12, &c. p Chap. Ix. 4 ; Ixvi. 20. qHeb. 6o5om. rPsa. Ixxii. 11 ; ver. 7 ; chap. Iii. 15 ; Ix. 16. * Heb. nourishers. ^ Heb. princesses. " Psa l.xxii. 9 ; Mic. Sion clothes herself with her children, as a bride clothes herself, — with what 1 some other thing cer- tainly. The Septuagint help us out in this difficulty, and supply the lost word : wj MtS{i,m m\i,(ft]- as a bride her ornaments. hSd n'S.33 hichleyha callah. or nSjJ n'''73 kecallah keleyha. The great similitude of the two words has occasioned the omission of one of them. See chap. Ixi. 10. Verse 2 1 . These, ichere had they been — " These then, where were they ?"] The conjunction is added before nSx elleh, that is, nSxi reelleh, in thirty-two MSS. (nine ancient) of Kennicolt's, and fifty-four of De Rossi's ; and so the Septuagint, Chaldee, and Vul- gate. See on yer. 12. Verse 22. Thus saith the Lord God — niH' 'JnN Adonai Yehnvah. Adonai is wanting in one MS., in the Alexandrme copy of the Septuagint, and in the Arabic. Verse 2 3 . With their face toward the earth — " With their faces to the earth"] It is well known that ex- pressions of submission, homage, and reverence always have been and are still carried to a great degree of extravagance in the eastern countries. When Joseph's brethren were introduced to him, " they bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth," Gen. xlii. 6. The kings of Persia never admitted any one to their presence without exacting this act of adoration ; for that was the proper term for it. Ne- cesse est, says the Persian courtier to Conon, si in con- spectum veneris, venerari te regem ; quod *potfxuv£iv illi vocant. " It is necessary, if thou shouldest come in sight, to venerate thee as king ; which they call worshipping." — Nepos in Conone. Alexander, intoxi- cated with success, affected this piece of oriental pride : Itaque more Persarura Macedonas venerabundos ipsum 194 23 --And kings shall be thy ^^ ^^ "'"■• ?.2?,2- ° ./ B. C. cir. /12. their Oiymp. xvii. i cir. annum fathers, and ' nursing ' queens thy nursing mothers : Numae Pompilii, they shall bow down to thee with «■ R"""^"- J- ' their face toward the earth, and " lick up the dust of thy feet ; and thou shall know that I am the Lord : for '' they shall not be ashamed thai wait for me. 24 "^ Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or ^ the lawful captive delivered ? 25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the y cap- tives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered : for I will contend witli him that contendelh with thee, and 1 will save thy children. 26 And I will ^ feed them thai oppress thee with their own flesh ; and they shall be drunken with their own " blood, as with *> sweet wine : and all flesh ■= shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. vii. 17. 'Psa. xxxiv.22 ; Rom. v. 5 ; ix. 33; x. U. "Matt. xii. 29; Luke xi. 21, 22. "Heb. the captivity of the just >'Heb. captivity. ^ Chap. ix. 20. a Rev. xiv. 20; xv\. d bOr, new wine. "^Psa. ix. 16; chap. Ix. 16. salutare, prosternentes humi corpora. " The Macedo- nians, after the manner of the Persians, saluted their monarch with the ceremony of prostration." — Curtius, lib. viii. The insolence of eastern monarchs to con- quered princes, and the submission of the latter, is astonishing. Mr. Harmer, Observ. ii. 43, gives the following instance of it from D'Herbelot : " This prince threw himself one day on the ground, and kissed the prints that his victorious enemy's horse had made there ; reciting some verses in Persian, which he had com- posed, to this effect : — " ' The mark that the foot of your horse has left upon the dust, serves me now for a crown. '• ' The ring which I wear as the badge of my slavery, is become my richest ornament. " ' Wliile I shall have the happiness to kiss the dust of your feet, I shall think that fortune favours me with its tenderest caresses, and its sweetest kisses.'" These expressions therefore of the prophet are only general poetical images, taken from the manners of the country, to denote great respect and reverence : and such splendid poetical images, which frequently occur in the prophetical vTitings, were intended only as general amplifications of the subject, not as predictions to be understood and fulfilled precisely according to the letter. For the different kinds of adoration in the east, see the note on chap. xliv. 17. Verse 24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty — " Shall the prey seized by the terrible be rescued"] For p'Ti" tsaddik, read v"i;r arils. A palpable mis- take, like that in chap. xlij. 19. The correction is self-evident from the very terms of the sentence ; from the necessity of the strict correspondence in the e.x- pressions between the question and the answer made ( 13* ) God will ever save CHAP. L. those who hmst in him. to it ; — and it is apparent to the blindest and most prejudiced eye. However, if authority is also neces- sary, there is that of the Si/riac and Vulgate for it ; who plainly read ]"'^J• ants, in ver. 24 as well as in ver. 25, rendering it in the former place by the same word as in the latter. — L. These two last verses contain a glorious promise of deliverance to the persecuted Church of Christ from the terrible one — Satan, and all his representatives and vicegerents, persecuting antichristian rulers. They shall at last cease from destroying the Church of God, and destroy one another. CHAPTER L. in this chapter God vindicates his dealings with his people, whose alienation is owing to themselves, 1. Andt by allusion to the temporal deliverances connected with the drying up of the Red Sea and the Euphrates, asserts his power to save, 2, 3 ; namely, by the obedience and sufferings of the Messiah, 4-6 ; who was at length to prove victorious over all his enemies, 7—9. The two last verses exhort to faith and trust in God in the most disconsolate circumstances ; with a denunciation of vengeance on those who should trust to their men devices, 10, 11. 'pHUS saith the Lord, "WTiere is " the bill of j'our mother's A. M cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olyinp. XVII. 1. cir. annum , . i t i NumsE Pompiiii, divorcement, whom 1 have put R. Roman., 4. ^^.j^y ? q^ which of my *• creditors is it to whom I have sold you ? Behold, for your iniquities " have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. 2 Wherefore, when I came, ivas there no man ? ^ when I called, tuas there none to an- swer ? "Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem ? or have I no power to de- liver ? behold, ^at my rebuke I e dry up the sea, I make the '' rivers a wilderness : ' their • Deut. xxiv. 1 ; Jer. iii. 8 ; Hos. ii. 2. '■Sec 2 Kings iv. 1 ; Matt. xTiii. 25. <^ Chap. Iii. 3. ^ Prov. i. 24 ; chap. Ixv. 12 ; btvi. 4; Jer. vii. 13 ; jtxxv. 15. e\um. .xi. 23; chap. lix. 1. 'Psa. cvi. 9; Nah. i. 4. sExcd. xiv. 21. i-Josh. iii. 16. NOTES ON CHAP. L. Verse 1. Thus saith the Lord] This chapter has been understood of the prophet himself; but it certainly speaks more clearly about Jesus of Nazareth than of Tsaiah, the son of Amos. Where is the bill — " \Miere is this bill"] Husbands, through moroseness or levity of temper, often sent bills of divorcement to their wives on slight occasions, as they were permitted to do by the law of Moses, Deut. xxiv. 1. And fathers, being oppressed with debt, often sold their children, which they might do for a time, till the year of release, Exod. xxi. 7. That this was frequently practised, appears from many passages of Scripture, and that the persons and the liberty of the children were answerable for the debts of the father. The widow, 2 Kings iv. 1 , complains " that the cre- ditor is come to take unto him her two sons to be bondmen." And in the parable. Matt .wiii. 25 : "The lord, forasmuch as his servant had not to pay, com- mands him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made." Sir John Chardin's MS. note on this place of Isaiah is as fol- lows : En Orient on paye ses dettes avec ses esclaves. fish stinketh, because there is no ^ ■^^/"■. ^??H' ' B. C. cir. 712. water, and dieth for thirst. Olymp.XVII. 1. cir. annum Numae Pompiiii, R. Roman., 4. 3 '' I clothe the heavens with blackness, ' and I make sackcloth their covering. 4 ™ The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should luiow how to speak a word in season to hitn that is "weary : he wakeneth morning by morning, he waken- eth mine ear to hear as the learned. 5 The Lord God ° hath opened mine ear, and I was not ^ rebellious, neither turned away back. 6 "< I gave my back to the smiters, and ' my 'ExoA. vii. 18, 21. kExod. X. 21. iRcv. vi. 12 "Exod. iv. 11. ' Matt. xi. 28. " Psa. xl. 6, 7. 8. P Matt. xxvi. 39 ; John xiv 31 ; Phil. ii. 8 ; Heb. x. 5, &c. 1 Matt. xxvi. 67 i rxvii. 26 John xviii. 22. rLam. iii. 30. car ils sont des principaux meubles ; et en plusieurs lieux on les paye aussi de ses enfans. "In the east the}- pay their debts by giving up their slaves, for these are their chief property of a disposable kind ; and in nianj' places they give their children to their creditors." But this, saith God, cannot be my case ; I am not governed by any such motives, neither am I urged by any such necessit}-. Your captivity there- fore and your afflictions are to be imputed to yourselves, and to your own folly and wickedness. Averse 2. Their fish stinketh — "Their fish is dried up"] For [yN^n tibaosh, stinketh, read \02'n tibash, it dried up ; so it stands in the Bodl. MS., and it is confirmed by the Septuagint, |r;pav^7ja'ov?-ai, they shall be dried up. A'erse 5. Neither turned away bad — " Neither did I withdraw myself backw'ard"] Eleven MSS. and the oldest edition prefix the conjunction 1 rau; and so aiao the Septuagint and Syriac. A'erse G. And my cheeis to them that plucied off the hair] The greatest indignity that could possibly be offered. See the note on chap. vii. 20. / hid not my face from shame and spitting.] An- 195 God will defend ISAIAH. his followers. A. M. cir. 3292. cheeks to them that plucked off B. C. cir. 712. , , . T . • 1 r r oiymp. XVII. 1. the hair : I hid not my lace irom cir. annum , i .... Numa Pompiiii, shame and spitting. R. Roman., 4. y Yox the Lord God will help me ; therefore shall I not be confounded : therefore have = I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8 ' He is near that justifieth me ; who will contend with me ? let us stand together : who is "mine advesai-y? let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God will help me ; who is he that shall condemn me ? '' lo, they all -I Rom. viii. 32, 33, 34. " Heb. the master of -" Job xiii. 28 ; Psa. cii. 26 ; chap. li. 6. •Ezek.iii. 8,9.- my cause.- other instance of the utmost contempt and detestation. It was ordered by the law of Moses as a severe punish- ment, carrying with it a lasting disgrace ; Deut. xxv. 9. Among the Medes it was highly offensive to spit in any one's presence, Herod, i. 99 ; and so likewise among the Persians, Xenophon, Cyrop. Lib. i., p. 18. " They abhor me ; they flee far from me ; They forbear not to spit in my face." Job xxx. 10. " And Jehovah said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days!" Num. xxii. 14. On which place Sir John Chardin remarks, that " spitting befoie any one, or spitting upon the ground in speaking of any one's ac- tions, is through the east an expression of extreme de- testation."— Harmer's Observ. ii. 509. See also, of the same notions of the Arabs in this respect, Niebuhr, Description de I'Arabie, p. 26. It so evidently ap- pears that in those countries spitting has ever been an expression of the utmost detestation, that the learn- ed doubt whether in the passages of .Scripture above quoted any thing more is meant than spitting, — not in the face, which perhaps the words do not necessarily imply, — but only in the presence of the person affront- ed. But in this place it certainly means spitting in the face ; so it is understood in St. Luke, where our Lord plainly refers to this prophecy : " All things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished ; for he shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked and spitefully entreat- ed, and spitted on, Sfji^TTjo'^TjO'ETai," xviii. 31, 32, which was in fact fulfilled ; \a\ rj^Socvro rivsj EfjiifTUSiv auTU, " and some begun to spit on him," Mark xiv. 65, xv. 19. If spitting in a person's presence was such an indignity, how much more spitting in his face % Verse 7. Therefo-re have I set my face like a flint] The Prophet Ezekiel, chap. iii. 8, 9, has expressed this with great force in his bold and vehement manner : " Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces. And thy forehead strong against their foreheads ; As an adamant, harder than a rock, have I made thy forehead ; Fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks. Though they be a rebellious house." Verse 8. Who loill contend with me] The Bodleian 196 shall wax old as a garment ; ^ ^- "'_^ ^292. " the moth shall eat them up. Oiymp. xvii. i. , „ ,,^, , J. cir. annum 10 Who IS among you that tear- Numaj Pompiiii, eth the Lord, that obeyeth the ^ ^■°^°' *■ voice of his servant, that ^walketh in dark- ness, and hath no light ? ^ let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. 1 1 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that com- pass yourselves about with sparks : walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. ^ This shall ye have of mine hand ; ye shall lie down ^ in sorrow. w Chap. li. 8. ' Psa. xxiii. 4. ^y 2 Chron. xx. 20 ; Psa. xx. 7. z John ix. 19. a Psa. xvi. 4. MS. and another add the word Nin hu ; Ty Nin '13 mi hu yarib, as in the like phrase in the next verse ; and in the very same phrase Job xiii. 19, and so like- wise in many other places, Job xvii. 3, xli. 1. Some- times on the like occasions it is ni 'D mi zeh, and ni Nin 'D mi hu zeh, " \Vho is this one V The word has probably been lost out of the present text ; and the read- ing of the MSS. above mentioned seems to be genuine. Verse 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord] I believe this passage has been generally, if not dan- gerously, misunderstood. It has been quoted, and preached upon, to prove that " a man might conscien- tiously fear God, and be obedient to the words of the law and the prophets ; obey the voice of his servant — of Jesus Christ himself, that is, be sincerely and regu- larly obedient to the moral law and the commands of our blessed Lord, and yet walk in darkness and have no light, no sense of God's approbation, and no evi- dence of the safety of his state." This is utterly im- possible ; for Jesus hath said, " He that foUoweth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." If there be some religious persons who, under the influence of morbid melancholy, are continually wTiting bitter things against themselves, the word of God should not be bent down to their state. There are other modes of spiritual and Scriptural comfort. But does not the text speak of such a case ? And are not the words precise in reference to it ! I think not : and Bishop Lowth's translation has set the whole in the clearest light, though he does not appear to have been apprehensive that the bad use I mention had been made of the text as it stands in our common Aversion. The text contains two questions, to each of which a particular answer is given : — Q. 1 . " WTio is there among you that feareth Jehovah ? Ans. Let him hearken unto the voice of his servant. Q. 2. Who that walketh in darkness and hath no light ! Ans. Let him trust in the name of Jehovah ; And lean himself (prop himself) upon his God." Now, a man awakened to a sense of his sin and misery, may have a dread of Jehovah, and tremble at his word ; and what should such a person do ? AVhy he should hear what God's servant saith : " Come unto me, all ye who labour and are heavy laden ; and F will Israel eyicouraged CHAP. LI. to trust in God. give you rest." There may be a sincere penitent, walking in darkness, having no light of salvation ; for this is tlie case of all wlien they first begin to turn to God. WTiat should such do ? They should trust, be- lieve on, the Lord Jesus, who died for them, and lean upon his all-sufficient merits for the light of salvation which God has promised. Thus acting, they will soon have a sure trust and confidence that God for Christ's sake has forgiven them their sin, and thus they shall have the light of life. Verse 10. That obeyeth the voice of his servant — " Let Ivim hearken unto the voice of his servant"] For J'OC shomea, pointed as the jiarticiple, the Septua- gmt and Syriac read i'31S''' yishma, future or impera- tive. Tliis gives a much more elegant turn and dis- tribution to the sentence. Verse H . Ye that kindle a fire} The fire of their own kindling, by the light of which they walk with security and satisfaction, is an image designed to ex- press, in general, human devices and mere worldly policy, exclusive of faith, and trust in God ; which, though they flatter themselves for a while with plea- sing expectations and some appearance of success, shall in the end turn to the confusion of the authors. Or more particularly, as Vitringa explains it, it may mean the designs of the turbulent and factious Jews in the times succeeding those of Christ, who, in pur- suit of their own desperate schemes, stirred up the war against the Romans, and kindled a fire which consumed their city and nation. That compass yourselves about with sparks — " Who heap the fuel round about"] " 'SlU3 megozeley, accetu- dcntes, Syr. ; forte legerunt pro '1TX0 meazzercy "TSa meirey ; nam scquilur "WA ur." — Seeker. Lud. Ca- peUus, in his criticism on this place, tlxinks it should be "niXD meazzerey, from the Septuagint, xoiTigyuovres. There arc others who are widely diiferent from those already described. Without faith, repentance, or a holy life, they are bold in their iirofessed confi- dence in God — presumptuous in their trust in the mercy of God ; and, while destitute of all preparation for and right to the kingdom of heaven, would tliink it criminal to doubt tboir final salvation '. Living in this way, what can they have at the hand of God but an endless bed of sorrow ! Ye shall lie down in sorrow. But there is a general sense, and accordant to the design of the prophecy, in which these words may be understood and parajilu-ased : Behold, all ye that kindle a fire — rprovoke war and contention ; compass your- selves about with sparks — stirring up seditions and re- bellions: walk in the light of your fire — goon in your lust of power and restless ambition. Ye shall lie down in sorrow — it will turn to your own perdition. .See the Targum. This seems to refer to the restless spirit of the Jews, always stirring up confusion and strife ; rebelling against and provoking the Romans, till at last their city was taken, their temple burnt to the ground, and upwards of a million of themselves destroyed, and the rest led into captivity ! CHAPTER LI. The prophet exhorts the children of Abraham to trust in the Lord ; and briefly, but beautifully, describes the great blessedness which should be the consequence, 1-3. Then, turning to the Gentiles, encourages them to look for a portion in the same salvation, 4, 5 ; the everlasting duration of which is majestically de- scribed, 6. And as it is everlasting, so is it sure to the righteous, notwithstanding all the machinations of their enemies, 7, 8. The faithful, then, with exultation and joy, lift their voices, reminding God of his wondrous works of old, which encourage them to look note for the like glorious accomplishment of these promises, 9—11. In answer to this the Divinity is introduced comforting them under their trials, and telling them that the deliverer teas already on his ivay to save and to establish them, 12-16. On this the prophet turns to Jerusalem to comfort and congratulate her on so joyful a prospect. She is represented, by a bold image, as a person lying in the streets, under the intoxicating effects of the cup of the Divine wrath, without a single person from among her own people appointed to give her consolation, and trodden under the feet of her enemies ; but, in the time allotted by the Divine providence, the cup of trembling shall be taken out of her hand, and put into that of her oppressors ; and she shall drink it no more again for ever, 17-22. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum NumiE Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. JJEARKEN Mo me, ''ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord : look unto the rock rvhence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. •Ver. 7.- »Rom. ix. 30, 31, 32. tRom. iv. 1, 16; Heb. xi. U, 12. dGen. xii. 1,2. NOTES ON CHAP. LL Verse 1 . Ye that follow after righteousness] The people who, feeling the want of salvation, seek the Lord in order to be justified. 2 "= Look unto Abraham your ^^ ^^^ ^'T- ^^■ father, and unto Sarah that bare oiymp. xvii. i. you : '1 for I called him alone, Numa; PompiUi, and « blessed him, and increas- ^- ^'"""- *■ ed him. 3 For the Lord ^ shall comfort Zion : he eGen. xxiv. 1, 35. fPsa. cii. 13; chap. xl. 1; lii. 9; Ixi. 2; Ixvi. 13; Zech. i. 17; ver. 12. The rock] Abraham. The hole of the pit] Sarah ; as explained in ver. 2. Verse 2. / called him alone] As I have made out of one a great nation ; so, although ye are brought low 197 'Die great happiness ISAIAH. of the godly ^i^ ''•'^' 2??^' will comfort all her waste places : B. C. cir. 712. r ' Oiymp. XVII. 1. and he wiU make her wilderness Numa: Porapiiii, like Eden, and her desert s like R. Roman., 4. the garden of the Lord : joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. 4 Hearken unto me, my people ; and give ear unto me, O my nation : '^ for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judg- ment to rest ' for a light of the people. 5 ^ My righteousness is near ; my salvation is gone forth, ^ and mine arms shall judge the people : ™ the isles shall wait upon me, and " on mine arm shall they trust. 6 ° Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath : for p the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, i and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner : but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteous- ness shall not be abolished. 7 "■ Hearken unto me, ye that know right- eousness, the people '^ in whose heart is my law ; ' fear ye not the reproach of men, nei- ther be ye afraid of theu revilings. e Gen. xiii. 10 ; Joel ii. 3. 1 Chap. ii. 3 ; xlii. 4. ' Chap. xlii. 6. kChap. xlvi. 13; Ivi. 1 ; Rom. i. 16, 17. iPsa.lxvii. 4 ; xcviii. 9. " Chap. Ix. 9. " Rom. i. 1 6. => Chap. xl. 26. P Psa. cii. 26 ; Matt. xxiv. 35 ; 2 Pet. iii. 10, 12. n Chap. 1. 9. 'Ver. 1.— — ^Psa. xxxvii. 31. iMatt. x. 28; Acts v. 41. "Chap. 1. 9. vpsa. xliv. 23; chap. Iii. 1. and minished, yet I can restore you to happiness, and greatly multiply your number. Verse 4. My people — O my nation — " O ye peoples — O ye nations"] For "nj' ammi, my people, the Bod- leian MS. and another read □'O" ammim, ye peoples ; and for ''31X7 leumi, my nation, the Bodleian MS. and eight others, {two of them ancient,) and four of De Rossi^s, read CDTDN 7 leummim, ye nations ; and so the Syriac in both words. The difference is very material ; for in this case the address is made, not to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, as in all reason it ought to be ; for this and the two following verses express the call of the Gentiles, the islands, or the distant lands on the coasts of the Mediterranean and other seas. It is also to be observed that God in no other place calls his people 'nxS leummi, my nation. It has been before remark- ed that transcribers frequently omitted the final tlD mem of nouns plural, and supplied it, for brevity's sake, and sometimes for want of room at the end of a line, by a small stroke thus ''n;r ; which mark, being effaced or overlooked, has been the occasion of many mistakes of this kind. A law shall proceed from me] The new law, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. Kimchi says, " After the war with Gog and Magog the King Messiah will teach the people to walk in the ways of the Lord." Verse 5. My righteousness is near^ The word TSVi 198 ' 8 For " the moth shall eat them a. m^ c!r. 329^. B. C. cir. / 12. up like a garment, and the worm oiymp. xvii. 1. shall eat them like wool : but my Numa Pompiiii righteousness shall be for ever, R- Roman., 4. and my salvation from generation to generation 9 '' Awake, awake, "* put on strength, O arm of the Lord ; awake, '^ as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. ^ Art thou not it that hath cut "^ Raliab, and wounded the " dragon ? 10 Art thou not it which hath ''dried the sea, the waters of the great deep ; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over ? 1 1 Therefore ■= the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion ; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head : they shall obtain gladness and joy ; and sor- row and mourning shall flee away. 12 1, even I, am he '' that comforteth you : who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid ' of a man that shall die, and of the son of man ivhich shall be made ^as grass ; 1 3 And forgettest the Lord thy Maker, ^ that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the "Psa. xciii. 1 ; Rev. xi. 17. -^ Psa. xliv. 1. y Job xxvi. 12. z Psa. Ixxxvii. 4;lxxxix. 10. aPsa. ixxiv. 13, 14 ; chap. xxvii. 1 ; Ezek. xxix. 3. tiExod. xiv. 21 ; chap, xliii. 16. cChap. XXXV. 10. dVer. 3; 2 Cor. i. 3. « Psa. cxviii. 6. f Chap. xl. 6 ; 1 Pet. i. 24. s Job ix. 8 ; Psa. civ. 2 ; chap. xl. 22 ; xlii. 5 ; xliv. 24. tsedek, righteousness, is used in such a great latitude of signification, for justice, truth, faithfulness, goodness, mercy, deliverance, salvation, &c., that it is not easy sometimes to give the precise meaning of it without much circumlocution ; it means here the faithful com- pletion of God's promises to deliver his people. ^^erse 6. My salvation shall be for ei-er] Aben Ezra says. From this verse divines have learnt the immortal- ity of the soul. Men shall perish as the earth does, Ijecause they are formed from it ; but they who are fdled with the salvation of God shall remain for ever. See Kimchi. Verse 11. They shall obtain gladness and joy ; and sorroiD and mourning shall flee aumy.'] Nineteen MSS. and the tuw oldest editions have UW yasigu ; and forty- six MSS. of KennicotVs and ten of De RossVs, and the same two editions, and agreeably to them the Chal- dee and Syriac, have lOJI venasu ; and so both words are expressed, chap. xxxv. 10, of which place this is a repetition. And from comparing both together it appears that the 1 vau in this place is become by mis- take in the present text final j nun of the preceding word. Verse 13. Of the oppressor, as if he, ^c-] "The J caph in "ijyND keasher seems clearly to have changed its situation from the end of the preceding word to the beginning of this ; or rather, to have been omitted lerusalem encouraged CHAP. LI. to trust m God. A. M. cir. 3292. foundations of the earth ; and hast B. C. cir. (12. oiympxvii. 1. feared continually every day be- NumiB Poinpiiii, cause ol the iiiry ot tlie oppressor, R. Roman., 4. ^g jj- j^^ 1, .^ygJ.(^ j-gady lo dcstroy ? ' and where is the fury of tiie oppressor ? 14 Tlie captive exile hasteiicth tliat he may | be loosed, ^ and that lie sliould not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. 15 But I am the Lord thy God, that 'di- vided the sea, wliose waves roared : Tlie Lord of hosts is his name. 1 6 And "■ I have put my words in thy nioulli, and " I have covered thee in the sliadow of mine liand, ° that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. 17 P Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which "i hast chunk at the hand of the Lord I" Or, moifc himself ready.- — —"Job xx. 7. kZech. ix. 11. iPsa. Iixiv. 13 ; Jobxxvi. 12; Jer. xxxi. 35. " Deut. xviii. 18 ; chap. lix.21 ; Johniii. 34. »Chap. xlix. 2. "Chap. Ixv. 17; Ixvi. 22. pChap. lii. 1. qJobxxi. 20; Jer. xxi. 15, 16. I by mistake there, because it was here. That it was there the Septuagint sliow by rendering Ip'V^n ham- metsikech iXifSaiiTog dl, of him that oppressed thee. And so they render this word in both its places in tliis verse. The Vulgate also has the pronoun in the first ' instance ; furoris ejus qui te tribulabat." Dr. Jubb. The correction seems well founded ; I have not con- formed the translation to it, because it makes little dif- ference in the sense. I Verse 14. T/ie captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed — " He marcheth on with speed, who cometh to set free the captive"] Cyrus, if understood of the | temporal redemption from the captivity of Babylon ; in the spiritual sense, the Messiah, who comes to open the prison to them that are bound. Verse 1 6. That I maij plant the heavens — " To stretch out the heavens"] In the present text it is ytZ^ lintoa, " to plant the heavens :" the phrase is cer- tainly very obscure, and in all probability is a mistake for ma:'? Unloth. This latter is the word used in ver. 1 3 just before, in the very same sentence ; and this phrase occurs very frequently in Isaiah, chap. xl. 22, xlii. 5, xliv. 24, xlv. 12 ; the former in no other place. It is also very remarkable, that in the Sama- ritan text, Num. xxiv. 6, these two words are twice changed by mistake, one for the other, in the same verse. Averse 17. The cup nf trembling] nSi'-\nn DO co.s haltarelah, " the cup of mortal poison," veneni morti- feri. — MoNTAN. This may also aUude to the ancient custom of taking off criminals by a cup of poison. Socrates is well known to have been sentenced by the Areopagus to drink a cup of the juice of hemlock, which occasioned his death. See the note on Heb. ii. 9, and see also Bishop Lowth's note on ver. 21. Verse 19. These two things — desolation, and de- struction, and the famine, and the sword] That is. the cup of his fiu-y ; ' thou hast *b ''c cir' 712^' drunken the dregs of the cup of Olymp. xvii. i. , ,. , , cir. annum trembling, and wrung them out. Numa^ Pomi.iiii, 18 There is none to guide her "■ '^°"""'- '■ among all the sons whom she hath brought forth ; neither is there any that taketh her by the liand of all the sons that she hath brought up. 19 '^ These two things 'are come unto thee, who shall be sorry for thee ? desolation, and " destruction, and the famine, and the sword : ' by whom shall I comfort thee ? 20 '" Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net : tliey are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God. 21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, '^ but not with wine. 'See Deut. xxviii.28,34; Psa. ix. 3 ; ixxv. 8; Ezek. xxiii.32, 33, 34; Zech. xii. 2; Kcv. xiv. 10. 'Chap.xlvii. 9. iHeb. /tappeited. " Heb. breaking. v Amos vii. 2. w Lam. ii. U, lo r ^aa rrar IT. 1 .1 rv. ii', ^ ^, 12 -1 See ver. 17; Lara. iii. 15. desolation by famine, and destruction by the sword, taking the terms alternately : of which form of con- struction see other examples. De S. Poesi, Heb. Pro?l. xix., and Prelim. Dissert, p. xxx. The Chaldee paraphrast, not rightly understanding this, has had re- course to the following expedient : " Two afflictions are come upon thee, and when four .shall come upon thee, depredation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword — " Five MSS. have 3>'in haraab, without the conjunction 1 vau; and so the Sepluagint and Si/riac. By u-hom shall I comfort thee — " Who shall comfort thee"] A MS., the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate have it in the third person, y^W ycnachamech, which is evidently right. Verse 20. As a wild bull in a net : they are full, JfC. — "Like the ory.K taken in the toils; drenched to the full"] " Perhaps ilZl'N'^O m"3D0 michmerah me- leim." Secker. The demonstrative n he, prefixed to □'n'7'3 meleim, full, seems improper in this place. Verse 21. Drunken, but not with i»ine] JEschylus has the same expression : — Aoivoij S/Afxavsij 3u(/.w(Aa!fr Eumen. 863. Intoxicated with passion, not with wine. Schultens thinks that this circiindocution, as lie calls it, gradum adfert incomparabiliter majorem ; and that it means, not simply u'ithout wine, but much more than leith wine. Gram. Heb. p. 182. See his note on Job xxx. 38. The bold image of the cup of God's wrath, often employed by the sacred writers, (see note on chap. i. 22.) is nowhere handled with greater force and sub- limity than in this passage of Isaiah, ver. 17-23. Je- rusalem is represented in person as staggering under the effects of it, destitute of that assi.=;tance which she might expect from her children ; not one of them being IMS God will confoimd all ISAIAH. the enemies of his Church fi c' tr ?!?• 22 Thus saith thy Lord the Oiymp. xVii, i. Lord, and thy God >" that pleadeth Numje Pompiiii, the causo of his people, Behold I ^- ^°""'"- *■ have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, eve7i the dregs of the cup of my fury ; thou shalt no more drink it again : y Jer. 1. 34. ^Jer. xxv. 17, 26, 28; Zech. xii. 2. able to support or to lead her. They, abject and amazed, lie at the head of every street, overwhelmed with the greatness of their distress ; like the oryx entangled in a net, in vain struggling to rend it, and extricate him- self. This is poetry of the first order, sublimity of the highest character. Plato had an idea something like this : " Suppose," says he, " God had given to men a medicating potion inducing fear, so that the more any one should drink of it, so much the more miserable he should find him- self at every draught, and become fearful of every thing both present and future ; and at last, though the most courageous of men, should be totally possessed by fear : and afterwards, having slept off the effects of it, should become himself again." De Leg. i., near the end. He pursues at large this hypothesis, applying it to his own purpose, which has no relation to the present subject. Homer places two vessels at the disposal of Jupiter, one of good, the other of evil. He gives to some a potion mixed of both ; to others from the evil vessel only : these are completely miserable. Iliad xxiv. 527-533. Aoioi ya^ ri iriSoi xaTaxiiarai £v ziios ovSsi Aupuv, oia Siiuit, xaxuv, lT£po£ oi sauv. 'CI fXEv xa(X(jii|aj forj Zeuj rs^tixe^oLuvog, AXX0T6 (A6V TE xaxifj ovs X'jpSTai, aXXors S' stf/jXu- 'n i5s xs Tuv Xuyjuv oijr), Xw,Sj)tov sSjjxs. Kai § xoi.xr\ /Sou/SpuffTij s-rti X&ova Siav ekauver ctoiTa 6' OUTS SeokTi rsTijXsvas, outi /Sjotoio'iv. " Tivo urns by Jove's high throne have ever stood. The source of evil one, and one of good ; From thence the cup of mortal man he fills, 23 But ^ I will put it into the *■ M- cir. 3202. ^ B. C. cir. (12. hand of them that afflict thee; oiymp. xvii. i. , . , , . , , , cir. annum which have ''said to thy soul, Numse Pompiiii Bow down, that we may go over : R- Roman., 4. and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. aPsa. ixvi. 11, 12. Blessings to these, to those distributes ills ; To most he mingles both : the WTetch decreed To taste the had unmixed, is cursed indeed : Pursued by wrongs, by meagre famine driven, He wanders outcast both of earth and heaven." Pope. Verse 23. Them that afflict thee — '• Them who op- press thee"] " The Septuagint, Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate appear to have read yjio monayich, as in chap, xl. 26." — Secker. Which have said to thy soul, Bow down — " Who say to thee, Bow down thy body"] A very strong and most expressive description of the insolent pride of eastern conquerors ; which, though it may seem greatly exaggerated, yet hardly exceeds the strict truth. An example has already been given of it in the note to chap. xlix. 23. I wiU here add one or two more. " Joshua called for all the men of Israel ; and said unto the captains of the men of war that went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings," Josh. x. 24. " Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table : As I have done, so hath God requited me," Judg. i. 7. The Emperor A''a- lerianus, being through treachery taken prisoner by Sapor king of Persia, was treated by him as the basest and most abject slave : for the Persian monarch commanded the unhappy Roman to bow himself down, and offer him his back, on which lie set his foot, in order to mount his chariot or horse, whenever he had occasion. — LiCTANTius, De Mart. Persec. cap. v. Aurel. Vic- tor. Epitome, cap. xxxii. — L. CHAPTER LII. Jerusalem, in manifest allusion to the strong figure employed in the close of the preceding chapter, is repre- sented as fallen asleep in the dust, and in that helpless state bound by her enemies. The prophet, with all the ardour natural to one who had such joyful news to communicate, bids her awalce, arise, put on her best attire, {holiness to the Lord,) and ascend her lofty seat ; and then he delivers the message he had in charge, a very consolatory part of which was, that " no more should enter into her the uncircumcised and the pol- luted," 1—6. Awaking from her stupefaction, Jerusalem sees the messenger of such joyful tidings on the eminence from which he spied the coming deliverance. She expresses, in beautiful terms, her joy at the netvs, repeating loith peculiar elegance the tvords of the crier, 7. The rapturous intelligence, that Jehovah was returning to resume his residence on his holy mountain, immediately spreads to others on the icatch, who all join in the glad acclamation, 8 ; and, in the ardour of their joy, they call to the very ruins of Jeru- salem to sing along loith them, because Jehovah maheth bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth are about to see the salvation of IsraeVs God, 9, 10. To complete the deli- verance, they are commanded to march in triumph out of Babylon, earnestly exhorted to have nothing to do with any of her abominations, and assured that Jehovah will guide them in all their way, 11, 12. The prophet then passes to the procuring cause of this great blessedness to the house of Israel in particular, and to the ivorld in general, viz., the humiliation, sufferings, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ ; a very celebrated and clear prophecy, ivhich takes up the remainder of this and the whole of the following chapter. 200 Zion is encouraf^ed CHAP. LII. to trust in the Lord. Ai *!;"'■■ 2:^ ■ A WAKE, » awake; put on thy B C. c.r. .12. J\_ \ n n- i oiymp. XVII. 1. slrength, O Zion; put on thy NumsB Pompilii, beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, R. Roman., 4. b ji,(, l^^Jly city : for " henccfortli there shall no more come into thee llic uu- circumcised "^ and the unclean. 2 " Shake thyself from the dust ; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem : Hoose thyself from the bands of thy neck, 0 captive daughter of Zion. 3 For thus sailh the Lord, b Ye have sold yourselves for nought ; and ye shall be re- deemed without money. » Chap. Ii. 9, 17. •> Neh. xi. 1 ; cliap. xlviii. 2 ; Matt. iv. 5 ; Rev. xxi. 2. 1- Chap. XXXV. 8 ; Ix. 21 ; Nah. i. 15. "iRev. xxi. 27. «See chap, iii. 26 ; li. 23. NOTES ON CHAP. LII. Verse 1. There shall no more come into thee — For W yabo, " shall come," Nl'? lebo, " to come," is the reading oi five of KennicotCs and two of De Rossi's MSS. This is the better reading, s^S 'yov x'7 "3 ki to yosiph lebo, " There shall not add to come." The uncircumciscd and the unclean.] Christians nave turned many passages of the prophets against the Jews ; and it is not to be wondered at, that in support of their obstinate and hopeless cause, they should press a prophecy into their service, and make it spealc against the Christians. This Ktmchi does in this place ; for he says, by the uncircuracised, the Christians are meant ; and by the unclean, the Turks. The Chris- tians are uncircumciscd ; and the Turks, though cir- cumcised, and using many ablutions, are unclean in their works. Verse 2. Sit down, O Jerusalem — " Ascend thy lofty seat, O Jerusalem"] The literal rendering here is, according to our English translation, " arise, sit ;" on which a very learned person remarks : " So the old versions. But sitting is an e.vpression of mourning in Scripture and the ancients ; and doth not well agree with the rising just before." It does not indeed agree, according to our ideas ; but, considered in an oriental light, it is perfectly consistent. The common manner of sitting in the eastern countries is upon the ground or the floor with the legs crossed. The people of bet- ter condition have the floors of their chambers or divans covered with carpets for this purpose ; and round the chamber broad couches, raised a little above the floor, spread with mattresses handsomely covered, which are called sofas. AMien sitting is spoken of as a posture of more than ordinary state, it is quite of a different kind ; and means sitting on high, on a chair of state or throne called the musnud ; for which a footstool was necessary, both in order that the person might raise him- self up to it, and for supporting the legs when he was placed in it. " Chairs," says Sir John Chardin, " are never used in Persia, but at the coronation of their kings. The king is seated in a chair of gold set with jewels, three feet high. The chairs which are used by the people in the east are always so high as to make a footstool necessary. And this proves the propriety of the style of Scripture, which always joins the footstool to the throne." (Isa. Ixvi. 1 ; Psa. ex. 1.) Voyages, 4 For thus saith the Lord God, Ag"; «j;.^ 3^ My people went down aforetime oiymp.xvu into ''Egypt to sojourn there; cir. annum Numse Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. and the AssjTiaii oppressed them without cause. 5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, liiat my people is taken away for nouglit'' they that rule over them make them to howl, sailh the Lord ; and my name continually every day is ' blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name . therefore they shall knotv in that day that I f Zech. ii. 7. s Psa. xliv. 12 ; chap. xlv. 13 ; Jer. xv. 13. liGen. xlvi. 6; Acts vii. 14. 'Ezek. xx. 27; Rom. li. 24. torn. ix. p. 85, I2mo. Besides the six steps to Solo- mon's throne, there was a footstool of gold fastened to the seat, 2 Chron. ix. 18, which would otherwise have been too high for the king to reach, or to sit on con- veniently. When Thetis comes to wait on Vulcan to request armour for her son, she is received with great respect, and seated on a silver-studded throne, a chair of cere- mony, with a footstool : — T»)V (xSv stfsira xaSsidlv Siri S^ovou apyujo7]Xou, KaXou, i5aii5aX:OU' ^to 5e Sprjvuj ^otfiv rjev. Iliad xviii. 389. " High on a throne, with stars of silver graced, And various artifice, the queen she placed ; A footstool at her feet." Pope. 'O yoL^ S^ovos oojTog jxovov sXsu^sfioff sin xaisSga See Eiod. lii. 33, 39. I liii. 10; Jer. xxiii. 5. rasure in a third ; and left unpointed at first, as sus- pected, in a fourth. It was an easy mistake, by the transcriber casting his eye on tlie line above : and the propriety of the correction, bolli in regard to sense and elegance, is evident. Verse 11. Depart yc, depart ye, go ye out from thence^ The Prophet Jeremiali seems to have liad liis eye on this passage of Isaiali, and to liave applied it to a subject directly opposite. It is here addressed by the prophet in a way of encouragement and exhortation to the Jews coming out of Babylon. Jeremiah has given it a different turn, and has thrown it out, as a reproach of the heathen upon the Jews when they were driven from Jerusalem into captivity : — " Depart ; ye are polluted, depart ; depart ye, for- bear to touch. Yea, they are fled, they are removed : they shall dwell here no more." Lam. iv. 15. Of the metrical distribution of these lines, see the Prelim. Dissert., p. Iviii. note. Verse 13. My servant shall deal prudently] h'DU'' yaskil, shall prosper, or act prosperously . The sub- ject of Isaiah's prophecy, from the fortieth chapter in- clusive, has hitherto been, in general, the deliverance •f the people of God. This includes in it three dis- tinct parts ; which, however, have a close connexion with one another ; that is, 1 . The deliverance of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon ; 2. The deliver- ance of the Gentiles from their miserable state of ig- norance and idolatry ; and, 3. The deliverance of man- kind from the captivity of sin and death. These three subjects are subordinate to one another ; and the two latter are shadowed out under the image of ibo former. They are covered by it as by a veil ; which howevpr is transparent, and suffers them to appear through it. Cyrus is expressly named as the immediate agent of God in effecting the first deliverance. A greater per- son is spoken of as the Agent who is to effect the two latter deliverances, called the servant, the e/crl, of God, in whom his soul delighteth ; Israel, in whom God will be glorified. Now these three subjects have a very near relation to one another : for as the Agent who was to effect the tioo latter deliverances, — that is, the Messiah, — was to be born a Jew, with particular limitations of time, family, and other circumstances ; the first deliverance was necessary in the order of pro- vidence, and according to the determinate counsel of God, to the accomplishment of the tico latter deliver- ances ; and the second deliverance was necessary to the third, or rather was involved in it, and made an essential part of it. This being the case, Isaiah has not treated the three subjects as quite distinct and se- parate in a methodical and orderly manner, like a phi- losopher or a logician, but has taken them in their connective view. He has handled them as a prophet and a poet ; he has allegorized the former, and under the image of it has shadowed out the two latter ; he has thrown them all together, has mixed one with ano- ther, has passed from this to that with rapid transi tions, and has painted the whole with the strongest and boldest imagery. The restoration of the Jews from captivity, the call of the Gentiles, the redemption by Messiah, have hitherto been handled interchangeably and alternately. Babylon has hitherto been kept pretty much in sight ; at the same time, that strong intima- tions of something much greater have frequently been thrown in. But here Babylon is at once dropped, and I think hardly ever comes in sight again ; unless per- haps in chap. Iv. 12, and Ivii. 14. The prophet's views are almost wholly engrossed by the superior part of his subject. He introduces the Messiah as appearing at first in the loivest state of humiliation, which he had just touched upon before, (chap. 1. 5, 6,) and obviates the offence which would be occasioned by it, by declaring the important and necessary cause of it, and foreshowing the glory which should follow it. This seems to me to be the nature and the true de- sign of this part of Isaiah's prophecies ; and this view of them seems to afford the best method of resolving difficulties, in which expositors are frequently engaged, being much divided between what is called the literal and the mystical sense, not very properly ; for the mys- tical or spiritual sense is very often the most literal sen.se of all. Abarbanel seems to have had an idea of this kind, as he is quoted by Vitringa on chap. xlix. 1, who thus I represents his sentiments : Censet Abarbanel prophetam hie Iransitum faeere a liheratione ex exilio Babylonico I ad liberationem ex exilio Romano ; et, quod hie animad- versu dignum est, observat liberationem ex exilio Baby- I lonico esse n'Xil niN oth veraayah, signum et argumen- tum liberationis futurae ; atque adeo orationem prophette de duabus hisce liberationibus in superioribus concion- ibus sa;pe inter se permisceri. Verba ejus : " Et prop- terea verba, sive res, in prophetia superiore inter se permixtas occurrunt ; modo de liberatione Babylonica, modo de liberatione eitrema accipiendffi, ut orationis necessitas exigit." Nullum hie vitium, nisi quod re- demptionem veram et spiritualem a Messia vero Jesu adductam, non agnoscat. " Abarbanel supposes thai the prophet here makes a transition from the deliver 203 Predictions of the ^^^a"'"- 2??^- dentlv, yhe shall be exalted and B. C. cir. 712. ■'' extolled, and be very high. 14 As many were astonished at thee ; his ^ visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more tlian the sons of men. Olymp.XVII. 1. cir. annum Numas Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. ISAIAH. sufferings of Messiah. 15 »So shall he sprinkle many •*b*J;'=J[; ^f,^^ nations; ""the kings shall shut Oiymp. xvii."!. their mouths at him: for that Numi Pompilii, ■= which had not been told them «• R"-"^"- ^- shall they see ; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. yPhil. ii. 9. ^Psa. xxii. 6,7; chap. liii. 2, 3.- xxxvi. 25 ; Acts ii. 33 ; Heb. ix. 13, 14. lEzek. ance from the Babylonish captivity to the deliverance from the Roman captivity ; and (which is wortliy of particular note) he observes that the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity is a sign and pledge of the future redemption ; and that on this account it is we find in the preceding prophecies the circumstances of the two captivities intimately blended together. His words are the following : ' And, therefore, the words or subjects in the foregoing prophecy are very much intermixed ; in one passage the redemption from the Babylonish captivity being treated of, in another the redemption from the general dispersion, as may be col- lected from the obvious import of the words.' No fault can be found with the above remark, except that the true and spiritual redemption procured by Jesus the Messiah is not acknowledged." — L. Verse 14. As many were astonished at thee — "As many were astonished at him "] For y^y aleicha read l'bj> alaiv. So the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate in a MS. ; and so likewise two ancient MSS. His visage was so marred more than any man^ Most interpreters understand this of the indignities offered to our blessed Lord : but Kimchi gives it another turn, and says, " It means the Jewish people, who are con- sidered by most nations as having an appearance dif- ferent from all the people of the earth." Poor Jews ! they have m general a very disagreeable look, partly affected, and partly through neglect of neatness and cleanliness. Most Christians think they carry the im- press of their reprobation on every feature of their face. However this may be, it should never be for- gotten that the greatest men that ever flourished as kings, judges, magistrates, lawgivers, heroes, and poets, were of Jewish extraction. Isaiah was a Jew ; so was Paul ; and so was Jesus of Nazareth. Verse 15. So shall he sprinkle many nations'] I re- tain the common rendering, though 1 am by no means satisfied with it. " Hi' yazzeh, frequent in the law, means only to sprinkle : but the water sprinkled is the accusative case ; the thing on which has h'i' al or Sx el. Qavjxaiovrai, o, makes the best apodosis. iW yenahag would do. '\'\7\T yinharu is used chap. ii. 2, Jer. xxxi. 12, chap. Ii. 14, but is unlike. ' Kings shall shut,' &c., is good, but seems to want a first part." — Seckeb. Munster translates \U faciei lo(jui, (de se ;) and in his note thus e.\plains it : D" yazzeh proprie signijicat spargere et stillas disseminare ; hie vero ca- ■pitur pro loqui, et verhum disseminare. " TW yazzeh properly signifies to sprinkle, and to scatter about drops ; but it here means to speak, and to disseminate the wcrrd." This is pretty much as the Rabbins Kimchi and Sal. ben Melee explain it, referring to the expres- 204 iChap. xlix. 7,23.- = Chap. Iv. 5 ; Rom. xv. 21 ; xvi. 25, 26 ; Eph. iii. 5, 9. sion of " dropping the word." But the same objection lies to this as to the common rendering ; it ought to be D"U S>' (131) nr yazzeh (debar) al goyim. Bishop Chandler, Defence, p. 148, says, "that to sprinkle is used for to surprise and astonish, as people are that have much water thrown upon them. And this sense is followed by the Septuagint." This is ingenious, but rather too refined. Dr. Durell conjectures that the true reading may be lin' yechezu, they shall regard, which comes near to the SaufX.aiJ'ovTai of the Septua- gint, who seem to give the best sense of any to this place. " I find in my papers the same conjecture which Dr. Durell made from ^aufiarfovrai in the Septuagint. And it may be added that ntn chazah is used to express ' looking on any thing with admiration,' Psa. xi. 7 ; xvii. 15 ; xxvii. 4 ; Ixiii. 2 ; Cant. vi. 13. It is par- ticularly applied to 'looking on God,' Exod. xxiv. 11, and Job xix. 26. Gisbert Cuper, in Observ. lib. ii. 1, though treating on another subject, has some observa- tions which show how nearly ojau and Saufia^u are allied, which, with the peculiar sense of the verb nin chazah above noted, add to the probability of ^aufia- tfovTtti being the version of lin" yechezu in the text: 01 5e m Xaoi TIavT£f sj auTov opuo'i. Hesiod., id est, cum veneratione quadam admirantur. Hinc opau et &au(Aa^6j junxit Thcmisiius Or. i. EiTa ifavdotrai oi av^^cjiroi •ifpos rfs (jlovov opuvrs?, xai tfs (xovov ^auf^a^ov- TEff. Theophrastus in Charact. c. 3. Ev^ujjiv] uj airo- /SXs'jrouo'iv Jis gs 01 av^pu*oi. Hence the rendering of this verse seems to be — " So many nations shall look on him with admiration ; Kings shall stop their mouths — " Db. Jubb. Does not sprinkling the nations refer to the conversion and baptism of the Gentiles 1 Many nations shall be- come proselytes to his religion. Kings shall shut their mouths at him] His Gospel shall so prevail that all opposition shall be finally over- come ; and kings and potentates shall be overwhelmed with confusion, and become speechless before the doc- trines of his truth. When they hear these declared they shall attentively consider them, and their convic- tion of their truth shall be the consequence. For that which had not been told them] The mys ■ tery of the Gospel so long concealed. See Rom. xv. 21 ; xvi. 25. Shall they see] With the eyes of their faith ; God enlightening both organ and object. And that lohich they had not heard] The redemp- tion of the world by Jesus Christ ; the conversion of the Gentiles, and making them one flock with the eon- verted Jews. — Tkapp. The humiliation and CHAP. LIII. sufferings of the Messiah CHAPTER LHI. This chapter foretells the sufferings of the Messiah, the end for which he was to die, and the advantages resulting to mankind from that illustrious event. It begins with a complaint of the infidelity of the Jews, 1 ; the offence they took at his mean and humble appearance, 2 ; and the contempt loith which they treated him, 3. The prophet then shows that the Messiali was to suffer for sins not his own; but that our iniqui- ties were laid on him, and the punishment of them exacted of him, which is the meritorious cause of our obtaining pardon and salvation, 4—6. He shows the meekness and placid submission with which he suffered a violent and unjust death, with the circumstances of his dying with the ivicked, and being buried with the great, 7-9 ; and that, in consequence of his atonement, death, resurrection, and intercession, he should procure pardon and salvation to the multitudes, insure increasing prosperity to his Church, and ultimately triumph over all his foes, 10, 11. This chapter contains a beautiful summary of the most peculiar and distinguishing doctrines of Christianity. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olynip. XVH. 1. cir. annum Numffi Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. TXTHO " hath beheved our "^ re- dry ground : ^ he hath no form porl?'= and to whom is ■' the nor comehness; and when we arm of the Lord revealed ? ] shall see him, there is no beauty 2 For "he shall grow up before that wc should desire him. him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a 3 ^ He is despised and rejected of men ; a A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII.l. cir. armum Numai Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. ■ Johnxii. 38 ; Rom. x. 16. ^ Or, doctrine. <= tleh. hearing. d Chap. li. 9 ; Rom. i. 16; I Cor. i. 18. NOTES ON CHAP. LIII. That this chapter speaks of none but Jesus must be evident to every unprejudiced reader who has ever heard the history of his sufferings and death. The Jews have endeavoured to apply it to their sufferings in captivity ; but, alas for their cause ! they can make nothing out in this way. Allowing that it belongs to our blessed Lord, (and the best men and the best scholars agree in this,) then who can read verses 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, without being convinced that his death was a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of mankind ? On the first and second verses of this chapter 1 have received the following remarks from an unknown hand. "Verse 1. Who hath believed our report?] The report of the prophets, of John the Baptist, and Christ's oion report of himself. The Jews did not receive the report, and for this reason he was not manifested to them as the promised Messiah. ' He came unto his own, but his own received liim not.' Before the F.\- TRER he grew up as a tender plant : but to the Jews he was as a root out of a dry ground. ' He hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.' " A'erse 2. For he shall grow up] Supposes some- thing to have preceded ; as it might be asked, what or who shall ' grow up before him,' &c. As the transla- tion now stands, no correct answer can be given to this question. The translation then is wrong, the connexion broken, and the sense obscured. J'ni zeroa, translated the arm, from the root zara. I. To sow, or plant; also seed, &c. 2. The limb which reaches from the shoulder to the hand, called the arm ; or more properly beginning at the shoulder and ending at the elbow. The translator has given the wrong sense of the word. It would be very improper to say, the arm of the Lord should grow up before him ; but by taking the word in its former sense, the connexion and metaphor would be restored, and the true sense given to the text, j'l; zero signifies, not only the seed of herbs, but children, offspring, or posterity. The same word we find Gen. •Chap. xi. 1. rChap. lii. 14; Mark ix. 12. ePsa. xxil.6; chap. xlix. 7. iii. 15, where Christ is the Seed promised. See also Gen. xxii. 17, 18; xxvi. 4; xxviii. 14. Hence the Seed of the ivoman, the Seed promised to the patri- archs is, according to Isaiah, the Seed of the Lord, the Child born, and the Son given ; and according to St. John, ' the Son of God, the onl3'-begotten of the Fe^ ther, full of grace and truth.' j'lT then, in this place, should be understood to mean Jesus Christ, and him alone. To speak here of the manifestation of the arm or power of God would be iiTCgular ; but to suppose the text to speak of the manifestation of Jesus Christ would be very proper, as the whole of the chapter is written concerning him ; particularly his humiliation and sufferings, and the reception he should meet with from the Jewish nation. " The first verse of this chapter is quoted John xii. 38, and the former part of the same verse Rom. .\. 16. But no objection of importance can be brought forward from either of these quotations against the above ex- planation, as they are quoted to show the unbelief of the Jews in not receiving Christ as the promised Messiah." ' He hath no form nor comeliness — " He hath no form nor any be.iuty"] Oux siSog auToi, ovSs C(|iw(j,«, Iva fiiJwfxev auTov ovi5=" ^swpia, iva S'Ti^uficjfiEv au-Tov. " He hath no fomi, nor any beauty, that we should re- gard him ; nor is his countenance such that we should desire him." Symmachus ; the only one of the an- cients that has translated it rightly. Verse 3. Acquainted with grief] For J,')T1 vidua, familiar with grief, eight MSS. and one edition have J'Tl leyada, and knowing grief; the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read it jnn veyodea. Wc hid as it were our faces from him — " As one that hideth his face from us"] For "\nD031 uchemas- tcr, four M.SS. (two ancient) have TjiDDDl uchemastir, one MS. 1'nD"1 iimaslir. For C3':3 panim, two MSS. have v:3 panaiv ; so likewise the Septuagint and Vid- gale. Mourners covered up the lower part of their faces, and their heads, 2 Sam. xv. 30 ; Ezek. xxiv 305 The sufferings of the Messiah, ISAIAH. A. M. cir. 3292. j^^^^ ^f sorrows, and ^ acquainted B. C. cir, (12, ' ... Oiymp. xvii. 1. with grief : and ' we '' hid as it cir. annum ^ /- i . .. Numse Pompiiii, Were 0U7- laccs irom him ; he R. Roman., 4. ^gg dcspiscd, and ^ we esteemed him not. 4 Surely " he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows : yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was "wounded °for our transgi-es- sions, he zvas bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him ; and with his f stripes i we are healed. liHeb. iv. 15. 'Or, he hid as it were his face frtym us. kHeb. as a hiding of faces from, him, or from us. 1 John i. 10, 11. n Matt. viii. 17 ; Heb. ix. 28 ; 1 Pet. ii. 24. " Or, tor- merUed. » Rom iv. 25 ; 1 Cor. xv. 3 i 1 Pet. iii. 18. p 1 Pet. ii. 24. 1 7 ; and lepers were commanded by the law. Lev. xii. 45, to cover their upper lip. From which cir- cumstance it seems that the Vulgate, Aquila, Symma- chus, and the Jewish commentators have taken the word i'Mi nagua, slricken, in the next verse, as mean- ing stricken with the leprosy : £v a(pyj ovra, Sym. ; a(prifi.£vov, .4y.,- leprosum, Vulg. So my old MS. Bible. I will insert the whole passage as curious : — (Cljere i;S not siclj.ip to bint, nc faitne^f^e, ant) toe ^itztn Ijim, ant> Ije toa«( not of jSigtc, anti toe be^Sitiben Ijim lii;6ipi?iti ; anb tlje la^ait of men : 4®an of ;Souari;S anb toiting inflrmitie; 3tnb aiS Ijib Iji^S cljeet anb be;Spij3ib; i©lierfor nc toe ^ettiben bi Ijim: =©etili out g'eeftne^^ie he tofte anb out ^ott\oifi Ije bait, 9Jnb toe Ijclben Ijim a^ leprau;S anb jSmpten of ob, anb mcekib ; ^t for;Soth toounbeb i^ for out toitftebne^Sjete, ©efoulib \^ fot out Ijibon;* gilti;S. Cljc bip'ciplinc of out pejie upon Ijim, lllnb toiti) Iji.si toanne toouub toe ben Ijelib. Verse 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs — " Surely our infirmities he hath borne"] Seven MSS. (two an- cient) and three editions have IJ" i7i cholayeynu in the plural number. And carried our sorrows — " And our sorrows, he hath carried them"] Seventeen MSS. {two ancient) of Dr. Kennicott's, two of De Rossi's, and two editions have the word Nin hu, he, before □73D sebalam, ' carrieth them," in the text ; four other MSS. have It in the margin. This adds force to the sense, and elegance to the construction. Verse 5. The chastisement of our peace — " The chastisement by which our peace is effected"] Twen- ty one MSS. and .six editions have the word fully and rc^darly expressed, iJ'aSty shelomeynu ; pacificatio- num nostrarum, " our pacification ;" that by which we are brought into a state of peace and favour with God. Ar. Monlan. Verse 6. The iniquity of us all.] For p;? avon, " iniquity," the ancient interpreters read nuu' avonoth, " iniquities," plural ; and so the Vulgate in MS. Blan- chini. And the Lord hath n j;'':3n hiphgia bo, caused 206 and his unjust condemnation. 6 'All we like sheep have gone '^'^ ^'[^- ^^^^• astray ; we have turned every one oiymp. xvii. i. , . 1 1 T 11 '^i'"- annum to his own way ; and the Lord ' hath Numa PompiUi, laid on him the iniquity of us all. "■ "°°'"'- *■ 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet ' he opened not his mouth: "he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 '' He was taken from prison and from judg- ment : and who shall declare his generation ? for '" he was cut off out of the land of the iHob. bruise. rPsa. cxix. 176; 1 Pet. ii. 25. 'Heh.halh made the iniqxtities of us all to meet on him. 1 Matt. xxvi. 63 ; xxvii. 12, 14 ; Mark xiv. 61 ; xv. 5 ; 1 Pet. ii. 23. " Acts viii. 32. ^ Or, He was taken away by distress and judgTnent ; but, &c. "Dan. ix. 26. to meet in him the iniquities of us all. He was the subject on which all the rays collected on the focal point fell. These fiery rays, which should have fallen on all mankind, diverged from Divine justice to the east, vi'est, north, and south, were deflected from them, and converged in him. So the Lord hath caused to meet in him the punishment due to the iniquities of all. Verse 8. And who shall declare his generation — "And his manner of life who would declare"] A learned friend has communicated to me the following passages from the Mishna, and the Gemara of Babylon, as lead- ing to a satisfactory explication of this difficult place. It is said in the former, that before any one was pun- ished for a capital crime, proclamation was made be- fore the prisoner by the public crier, in these words : y'ty loS'l SO' niOI lb i'nvty 'rs hj col mi shioda lo zachoth yabo vayilmad alaiv, " Whosoever knows any thing of this man's innocence, let him come and de- clare it." Tract. Sanhedrim. Surenhus. Part iv. p. 233. On which passage the Gemara of Babylon adds, that " before the death of Jesus this proclamation was made for forty days ; but no defence could be fovmd." On which words Lardner observes : " It is truly sur- prising to see such falsities, contrary to well-known facts." Testimonies, Vol. I. p. 198. The report is certainly false ; but this false report is founded on the supposition that there was such a custom, and so far confirms the account given from the Mishna. The Mishna was composed in the middle of the second century according to Prideaux ; Lardner ascribes it to the year of Christ 180. Casaubon has a quotation from Maimonides which farther confirms this account ; — Exercitat. in Baronii Annales, Art. Ixxi'i. Ann. 34. Num. 119. Auctor est Maimonides in Perek xiii. ejus libri ex opere Jad, so- litum fieri, ut cum reus, sententiam mortis passus, a loco judicii exibat ducendus ad supplicium, pr^cederet ipsum inun xrjpu^, prseco ; et haec verba diceret : Ille exit occidendus morte ilia, quia transgressus est trans- gressione ilia, in loco illo, tempore illo, et sunt ejus rei testes ille et ille. Qui noverit aliquid ad ejus in- nocentiam probandam, veniat, et loquatur pro eo. " It was customary when sentence of death was passed upon a criminal, and he was led out from the seat of Circumstances of the CHAP. LIII. Messiah's death and burial. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numar Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. living : for the transgression of my people ' was he stricken. 9 5' And he made his grave « Heb. was the stroke upon him. f Matt, xxvii. 57, 58, 60. judgment to the place of puiiislmient, a crier went lefore, and spoke as follows : — ' This man is going out to suffer death by because he has transgressed by such a transgression, in such a place, in such a time ; and the witnesses against liim are . He who may know any thing relative to his innocence, let him come and speak in his behalf.' " Now it is plain from the liistory of the four Evan- gelists, that in the trial and condenmation of Jesus no such rule wa-s observed ; though, according to the ac- count of tlie Mishna, it must have been in practice at that time, no proclamation was inade for any person to bear witness to the innocence ai.d character of Jesus; nor did any one voluntarily step forth to give his attestation to it. And our Saviour seems to refer to such a custom, and to claim the benefit of it, by his answer to the high priest, when he asked him of his disciples and of his doctrine : " I spoke openly to the world ; I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort ; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me 1 ask them who heard me, what I have said unto them : behold, they know what I said ;" John .Kviii. 20^ 21. This, there- fore, was one remarkable instance of hardship and in- justice, among others predicted by the prophet, which our .Saviour underwent in his trial and sufferings. St. Paul likewise, in similar circumstances, standing before the judgment seat of Festiis, seems to complain of the same unjust treatment ; that no one was called, or would appear, to vindicate his character. " My manner of life (Trjv /SiwCiv fiou, "in dori, ' my genera- tion') from my youth, which was at the first among my own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews, who knew me from the beginning, if they would leslifij ; that after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee ;" Acts xxvi. 1, 5. ^^ dor signifies age, duration, the time which one man or many together pass in this world, in this place ; the course, tenor, or manner of life. The verb in dor signifies, according to Castell, ordinatara vitam sive eetatem egit, ordinavit, ordine con.stituit. " He passed a certain course of life, he ordained," &c. In Arabic, ciiravit, adminislravit, " he took care of, ad- ministered to." Was he stricken — " He was smitten to death"] The Stptuagmt read nnS lernaveth, sij Sotvarov, " to death. ' And so the Coptic and Saidic 'N'crsions, f'rom the Septuagint ; MSS. .St. Germain de Prez. " Origen," \Contra Celsum, lib. i. p. 370, edit. 1733.) after having quoted at large this prophecy con- cerning the Messiah, " tells us, that having once made use of this passage in a dispute against some that were accounted wise among the Jews, one of them replied, that the words did not mean one man, but one people, the Jews, who were smitten of God and dispersed Mtiong the Gentiles for their conversion : that he then urged many parts of this prophecy to show the absur- with the wicked, and with the '^^'^J; "'■ 2r^ ' D. C. cir. 712. rich in his ^ death ; because he oiymp. xvii. i. , , , . , . 1 cir. annum iiad done no violence, neither was Numa; Pompiiii, any "deceit in his moutli. "' "°°'°" ' "• >Heb. dealht- >1 Pet. ii. 22; I John iii. S. dity of this interpretation, and that he seemed to press them the hardest by this sentence, aim ruv avojAi!.™ ^■ou Xaou (xou ilX^I SIS SavaTtiv, ' for the iniquity of my people was ho smitten to death.' " Now as Origen, the author of the Hexapla, must have understood He- brew, we cannot suppose that he would have urged this last quotation as so decisive if the Greek Version had not agreed here with the Hebrew text ; nor that these wise Jews would have been at all distressed by this quotation, uiJcss their Hebrew text had read agreeably to sis Savarov, " to death," on which the argument principally depended ; for, by quoting it im- mediately, they would have triumphed over him, and reprobated his Greek version. This, whenever they could do it, was their constant practice in their dis- putes with the Christians. Jerome, in his Preface to the Psalms, says, Nuper cuni Hebrao disputans, quae- dara pro Domino Salvatore de Psalrais testimonia pro- tulisti : volensque iUe te illudere, per sermones fere singulos asserebat, non ita haberi in Hebrceo, ut tu de LXX. opponebas. " Lately disputing with a Hebrew, — thou advancedst certain passages out of the Psalms which bear testimony to the Lord the Saviour; but he, to elude thy reasoning, asserted that almost all thy quotations have an import in the Hebrew text different from what they have in the Greek." And Origen himself, who laboriously compared the Hebrew te.xt with the Septuagint, has recorded the necessity of ar- guing with the Jews from such passages only as were in the Septuagint agreeable to the Hebrew : iva *pos loxiSaioi; SiaXsyoixBMOi ixr] irpo^spufiEv auroi ra (irj xsifj,£va sv Toiff avTi^'pa^jois hutwv, xai Iva (tuy^^ngujXEia roiff (pfJofiSvoij irap' Exjivois. See Epist. ad African, p. 15, 17. WTierefore as Origen had carefully compared the Greek version of the Septuagint with the Hebrew text, and speaks of the contempt with which the .Tews treated all appeals to the Greek version v>herc it dif- fered from their Hebrew text ; and as he puzzled and confounded the learned Jews by urging upon them the reading ei; Savo-rov, " unto death," in this place ; it seems almost impossible not to conclude, both from Origen's argument and the silence of his Jewish ad- versaries, that the Hebrew text at that riine actually had nioS lemarcth, " to death," agreeably to the ver sion of the Septuagint. — Dr. Kennicott. Verse 9. With the rich in his death — " AA'ith tlie rich man was his tomb"J It may be necessary to in- troduce Bishop Lowth's translation of this verse before we come to his very satisfactory criticisms : — And his grave was appointed with the wicked ; But with the rich man was his tomb : .\llhough he had done no wrong, I Neither was there any guile in his mouth. Among the various opinions which have been given on this passage, I have no doubt in giving my assent to ; that which makes the 2 l/elh in Tri02 bemolhaiv radi- 207 The atonement, and its ISAIAH. glorious consequences. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put him to grief : ^ when thou shall make his soul ■= an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, * he shall pro- 4' ^' ""■ W^' ' ^ B. C. cir. 712. long his days, and ' the pleasure oiymp. xvii. i. of the Lord shall prosper in his Numae Pompilii, hand. R. Roman., 4. ■» Or, when kis soul shall make an offering. c 2 Cor. v. 21 ; cal, and renders it excelsa sua. This is mentioned by Aben Ezra as received by some in his time ; and has been long since approved by Schindler, Drusius, and many other learned Christian interpreters. The most simple tombs or monuments of old con- sisted of hiUocks of earth heaped up over the grave ; of which we have numerous examples in our own country, generally allowed to be of very high antiquity. The Romans called a monument of this sort very pro- perly tumulus ; and the Hebrews as properly nir3D hamoth, " high place," for that is the form of the noun in the singular number ; and sixteen MSS. and the two oldest editions express the word fully in this place, VniDD bamothaiv. Tumulus et collem et sepulchrum fuisse significat. Potest enim tumulus sine sepulchre interpretatione coUis interdum accipi. Nam et terrs congestio super ossa tumulus dicitur. " Tumulus sig- nifies a sepulchre with a hillock of earth raised over it. The word is sometimes restrained to the bank of earth ; for the heaping up of the earth over the bones is named the tumulus." — Servius, ^n. iii. 23. And to make the tumulus still more elevated and conspi- cuous, a pUlar or some other ornament was often erected upon it : — Tu(ji/3ov j^Euavrsj, xai s«i (frvjXrjv s^tfavTej, n»]ga(Asv ax^oTttTu tii(ji/3u surj^Sj e^etjjiov. Odi/ss. xii. 14. " A rising tomb, the silent dead to grace, Fast by the roarings of the main we place ; The rising tomb a lofty column bore. And high above it rose the tapering oar."— Pope. The tomb therefore might with great propriety be called the high -place. The Hebrews might also call such a tomb nin3 hamoth, from the situation, for they gene- rally chose to erect them on eminences. The sepul- chre of Joseph of Arimathea, in which the body of Christ was laid, was upon a hill, Mount Calvary. See chap. xxii. 16, and the note there. " It should be observed that the word rni03 bamo- thaiv is not formed from niD3 bamolh, the plural of no:j bamah, the feminine noun, but from □'01133 ba- mothim, the plural of a masculine noun, niDD bamolh. This is noted because these two nouns have been ne- gligently confounded with one another, and absurdly reduced to one by very learned men. So Buxtorf, Lex. in voc. n33 bamah, represents \"\n3 bamotey, though plainly without any pronoun suffixed, as it go- verns the word yix arets following it, as only another form of ni03 bamolh; whereas the truth is, that niDl bamolh and a'r\l03 bamothim. are different words, and have through the whole Bible very different significa- tions ; nf33 bamah, whether occurring in the singular or plural number, always signifying a place or places of worship ; and QTIlOl bamothim always signifying heights. Thus in Deut. xxxii. 13; Isa. Iviii. 14; .\mos iv. 13 ; and Micah i. 3, — IX 'moa hamothey 208 1 Pet. ii. 24. i Rom. vi. 9. « Eph. i. 5, 9 ; 2 Thess. i. 11. arets signifies 'the heights of the earth;' Isa. xiv. 14, 3;? Tlin^ bamolhey ab, ' the heights of the clouds ;' and in Job ix. 8, □' TlID^ bamolhey yam, ' the heights of the sea,' i. e., the high waves of the sea, as Virgil calls a wave prceruptus aqucB mons, ' a broken mountain of water.' These being all the places where this word occurs without a suffix, the sense of it seems nearly determined by them. It occurs in other instances with a pronoun suffixed, which confirm this significa- tion. Unluckily, our English Bible has not distin- guished the feminine noun nfD3 bamah from the mas ] culine singular noun nia3 bamolh ; and has conse- quently always given the signification of the latter to the former, always rendering it a high place ; whereas the true sense of the word appears plainly to be, in the very numerous passages in which it occurs, ' a place of worship,' or ' a sacred court,' or ' a sacred inclo- sure ;' whether appropriated to the worship of idols or to that of the true God, for it is used of both, passim. Now as the Jewish graves are shown, from 2 Chron. xxxii. 33, and Isa. xxii. 16, to have been in high situ- ations, to which may be added the custom of another eastern nation from Osbeck''s Travels, who says, vol. i. p. 339, 'the Chinese graves are made on the side of hills ;' ' his heights' becomes a very easy metaphor to express ' his sepulchi-e.' " — Jubb. The exact completion of this prophecy will be fully shown by adding here the several circumstances of the burial of Jesus, collected from the accounts of the evangelists : — " There was a rich man of Arimathea, named Jo- seph, a member of the sanhedrin, and of a respectable character, who had not consented to their counsel and act ; he went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus ; and he laid it in his own new tomb, which had been hewn out of the rock, near to the place where Jesus was crucified ; having first wound it in fine linen with spices, as the manner of the Jews was to bury the rich and great." It has been supposed that n3p kibro, his grave, and rnri3 bemolhaiv, in his death, may have been trans- posed, as also the prefix 2 be originally placed before □'i'B'l reshaim, the wicked. Thus : — rna nx a-i'iyia \r\-\ mothaiv elh bireshayim vaiyitten nap Ttyy n^51 kibro ashir veeth Yea, his death was appointed among the wicked ; And with a rich man, his tomb. By these alterations it is supposed the text would be freed from all embarrassment. But see the pre- ceding notes of Bishop Lowth, and the various read- ings of De Rossi, in loc. Verse 10. To grief—" With affliction"] For 'hr\r\ hecheli, the verb, the construction of which seems to wiacious promises CHAP. LIV. of restoration A. M. cir. 3232. j j Jig ghall sec of the travail B. C. cir. J 12. Oiymp. XVII. 1. of his soul, aiicl shall be sat- cir. annum • /• i *■ i i - i i i Nnma. Pomp.iii, isficd : ' by his knowledge R. Roman.. 4. gj^^n g j^y j-jghteous '' Servant ' justify many ; '' for he shall bear their iniquities. 1 2 ' Therefore will 1 divide him a portion 'Johnxvii.3;2Pet. i.S.- iRora.v.lS, 19. —el Johnii. 1.- ^Ver.4,5. iiChap. xlii. l;xlut.3. Psa.ii.8;Phil. ii.9. be hard and inelegant in this place, the Vulgate reads 'SriD bocholi, in infirmitate, " with infirmity." When thou shalt make his sotd — " If his soul shall make"] For □"•iVri tasim, a MS. has aun tasem, which may be taken passively, " If his soul shall be made — " agreeably to some copies of the Septuagint, which have Surai. See likewise the Syriac. When thou shalt make his soul an offering] The word V3i nephesh, soul, is frequently used in Hebrew to signify life. Throughout the New Testament the salvation of men is uniformly attributed to the death of Christ. He shall see his seed] True converts, genuine Christians. He shall prolong his dat/s] Or this spiritual progeny shall prolong their days, i. e., Christianity shall endure to the end of time. And the pleasure of the Lord] To have all men saved and brought to the knowledge of the truth. Shall prosper in his hand.] Shall go on in a state of progressive prosperity ; and so completely has this been thus far accomplished, that every succeeding cen- ttiry has witnessed more Christianity in the world than the preceding, or any former one. Verse 1 1 . Shall be sati.ified — " And be satisfied "] The Septuagint, Vulgate, Si/riac, and a MS. add the conjunction to the verb, J'lJty'l vaii/isba. Shall my righteous serranl ju.ttify — " Shall my ser- vant justify"] Three MSS., (two of them ancient,) omit the word p'li" tsaddik ; it seems to be only an imperfect repetition, by mistake, of the preceding word. with the great, " and he shall *• "• cir. 32M. divide the spoil with the strong ; oiymp. xvii. i. because he hath poured out his Numi PompiUi, soul unto death: and he was ^ k°-"»"-.4.' " numbered with the transgressors ; and he bare tlic sin of many, and ° made intercession for the transgressors. "Col. ii. 15. "Mark XV. 28; Luke xxii. 37. oLukexxiii. 34 ; Rom. viii. 31 ; Heb. vii. 25 ; ix. 24 ; 1 John ii. 1. It makes a solecism in this place ; for according to the constant usage of the Hebrew language, the adjec- tive, in a phrase of this kind, ought to follow the sub- stantive ; and HDV p■^X tsaddik abdi, in Hebrew, would be as absurd as " shall my servant righteous justify," in English. Add to this, that it makes the hemistich too long. Verse 12. He bare the sin of many] 0"D1 rabbim, the multitudes, the many that were made sinners by the offences of one ; i. e., the whole human race; for all have sinned — all have fallen ; and for all that have sinned, and for all that have fallen, Jesus Christ died. The 0'3i rabbim of the prophet answers to the ol ffoXXoi, of the apo.stle, Rom. v. 15, 19. As the coXXoi of the apostle means all that have sinned ; so the □"31 rabbim of the prophet means those for whom Christ died ; i. e., all that have sinned. And made intercession for the transgressors.] For l'"J3" yaphgia, in the future, a MS. has i"J3n hiphgia, preterite, rather better, as agreeable with the other verbs immediately preceding in the sentence. He made intercession for the transgressors. — This was literally fulfilled at his death, " Father, forgive them ; they know not what they do !" Luke xxiii. 34. And to make intercession for transgressors is one part of his mediatorial office. Heb. vii. 25, and is. 24. In this chapter the incarnation, preaching, humilia- tion, rejection, sufferings, death, atonement, resurrec- tion, and mediation of Jesus Christ are all predicted, together with the prevalence of his CJospel, and the extension of his kingdom through all ages CHAPTER LIV. Some suppose this chapter to have been addressed to the Gentiles ; some, to the Jewish Church ; and some, to the Christian, in its first stage. On comparing the different parts of it, particularly the seventh and eighth verses, icith the remainder, the >nost obvious import of the prophecy will be that which refers it to the future conversion of the Jews, and to the increase and prosperity of that nation, ivhen reconciled to God after their long rejection, when their glory and security will far surpass what they tc ere formerly in their most favoured state, 1-17. Oiymp. XVH. 1. didst not bear; break forth cir. annum ... , , , Numae Pompiiii, mto Singing, and cry aloud, thou ^ ''°°'-"'" • •*■ that didst not travail with child : •Zeph. iii. 14; Gal. iv. 27. NOTES ON CH.A.P. LIV. Verse 1 . Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear — " Shout for jov. O thou barren, that didst not bear"] Vol. rV. ■ ( 14 ) for ''more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Oiymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Nnnia; Pompiiii, R. Roman., 4 b 1 Sam. ii. 5. The Church of God under the Old Testament, confined within the narrow bounds of the Jewish nation, and still more so in respect of the very small number of 309 Gracious promises of ^b'c lir fxi" ^ ° Enlarge the place of thy tent, Olymp. xVii.i. and let them stretch forth the cir. annum . ^ , . i i.-^ ^* Numse Pompiiii, curtains 01 thine nabitations ; R. Roman., 4. ^^^^^ ^^^^ lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes ; 3 For thou shall break forth on the right hand and on the left : ^ and thy seed shall in- herit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4 Fear not ; for thou shalt not be ashamed : neither be thou confounded ; for thou shalt not be put to shame : for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 5 " For thy Maker is thine Husband ; the ' Lord of hosts is his name ; and thy Re- deemer the Holy One of Israel ; ^ The God of the whole earth shall he be called. 6 For the Lord ''hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 7 ' For a small moment have I forsaken thee ; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee ISAIAH. support and comfort for a moment; ''but with ever- -^A^^r- ^^az. lasting kindness will I have mercy oiymp. xVii. i on thee, saith the Lord thy Re- NumaspSnpiiii, deemer. R. Roman., 4. 9 For this is as the waters of ' Noah unto me : for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth ; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 1 0 For " the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed: "but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee, 11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with ° fair colours, and lay thy founda- tions with sapphires. 1 2 And I will make tliy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy bor- ders of pleasant stones. 13 And all thy children shall be p taught of the Lord ; and i great shall be the peace of thy children. 14 In righteousness shalt thou be estabhshed: cChap. xlix. 19,20. Chap. Ixii. 4. 'Psa. XXX. 5; chap. xxvi.20 ; !x. 10; 2 Cor. iv. 17. -ii Chap. Iv. 3 ; Jer. xxxi. 3. 1 Gen. viii. 21 ; ix. 11 ; chap. Iv. 11 ; see Jer. true believers, and which sometimes seemed to be de- serted of God her husband, is the barren u'oman, thai did not bear, and was desolate. She is exhorted to re- joice, and to express her joy in the strongest manner, on the reconciliation of her husband, (see ver. 6,) and on the accession of the Gentiles to her family. The converted Gentiles are all along considered by the pro- phet as a new accession of adopted children, admitted into the original Church of God, and united with it. See chap. xlix. 20, 21. Verse 4. For thou shall forget the shame of thy youth'] That is, " The bondage of Egypt : widow- hood, the captivity of Babylon." — Seeker. Verse 7. For a small moment — " In a little anger"] So the Chaldee and Syriac, either reading ijl regaz, for j,'J"l rega ; or understanding the latter word as mean- ing the same with the former, which they both make use of. See Psa. xxx. 5, xxxv. 20, in the Seplva- gint, where they render J'JI rega, by opyij, anger. Verse 8. I hid my face from thee for a moment'] The word ]!y\ rega is omitted by the Sepluagint, Sy- riac, and two MSS. of KennicotCs, and two of De RossVs. It seems to embarrass rather than to help the sentence. Forte reponi debet pro f^ijy shelseph, quod potest a f]Vp ketseph errore scribae oviginem dux- isse. " Perhaps it ought to be substituted for '^'i'a shel- seph, an error probably made by some scribe from its Bimilarity to t^Vp ketseph.'" — Seeker. Th>/ Redeemer — I^NJ goalech: but for this word 910 xxxi. 35,36.- m Psa. xlvi.2 chap li.6 Matt, v 18.- n Psa. Ixxxix. 33, 34.- — =1 Chron. xxix. 2 ; Rev. XXI. 18, fi.r.. pChap. xi. 9 Jer XXXI 54 ; John vi 45; 1 Cor. ii 10 1 Thess. iv. 9 ; 1 John ii. 20. -q Psa. cxix. 165. three of De Rossfs MSS. have l^nTD merachameck, thy commiserator. A''erse 9. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me — " The same will I do now, as in the days of Noah"] •"3^3 kimey, in one word, in a MS., and some editions ; and so the Syriac, Chaldee, 'Vulgate, Sym- machus, Theodotion, Abarbanel, Sal. ben Melee, and Kimchi acknowledge that their copies vary in this place. It is certain that these two words 'D "J hi mey, were written formerly as one. Taken as two '^ '2 ki mey, they signify _/br as the waters — -when as one, "DO ki- mey, they signify as the days. This latter reading is found in about four of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. In one of my own it appears to have been in- tended as one word: but he who added the points, which are by a much later hand than the MS. itself, has pointed the letters so as to make the two icords which are commonly found in the text. For the loa- ters, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic have days. The former seems to make the best sense ; and the ancient Versions, except the Sep- luagint, support it. Verse 11. Behold, I will lay thy stones — " Behold, I lay thy stones"] These seem to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations ; and to have never been intended to be strictly scru- tinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if ( 14* ) ■ Those who thirst Jar CHAP. LV. salvation are invited. A. M. cir. 3292. ^\^Q^ ghgit be far from oppression : B. C. cir. 712. r J r Oiymp. XVII. 1. for thou shall not fear : and troni cir. annum , r -^ i_ n * Numae Pompiiii, terror ; for it shall not come near R. Roman., 4. tliee 1 5 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me : whosoever shall gather to- gether against thee shall fall for thy sake. 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bring- ' Chap. xlv. 24, 25 ; Psa. iv. 1 ; xxxv. 28 ; they had each of them some precise, moral, or spiritual meaning. Tobit, in his prophecy of the final restora- tion of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same oriental manner : '• For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones ; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with be- eth forth an instrument for his ^^^^a'"- ■^^^ work; and I have created the oiymp. xvii. i. 1 ^ cir. annum waster to destroy. Numae PompUii, 17 No weapon that is formed ^ ""'"''"• •*■ against thee shall prosper ; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, ' and their righteous- ness is of me, saith the Lord. li. 14; Ixix. 27; Ixxxix. 16; cxxxii. 9. ryl, and carbuncle, and stones of ophir." Tob. xiii. 16, 17. Compare also Rev. xxi. 18-21. Verse 15. Shall fall for thy sake — "Shall come over to thy side."] For Sli)' yippol, twenty-eight MSS. (eight ancient) have bi!" yipal, in its more common form. For the meaning of the word in this place, see Jer. xxxvii. 13. CHAPTER LV. This chapter first displays the fulness, freeness, excellence, and everlasting nature of the blessings of the Gospel, and foretells again the enlargement of Messiah''s kingdom, 1-5. This view leads the prophet to exhort all to seize the precious opportunity nf sharing in such blessings, which were not, however, to be expected xoithout repentance and reformation, 6, 7. And as the things now and formerly predicted loere so great as to appear incredible, the prophet points to the omnipotence of God, tcho leould infallibly accom- plish his word, and bring about those glorious deliverances which he had promised ; the happy effects of which are again set forth by images beautiful and poetical in the highest degree, 8-13. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Oiymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numee Pompiiii, R. Roman., 4. TTO, " every one that thirstelli, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; '' come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and with- out price. 2 Wherefore do ye " spend money for that which is not bread ? and your labour for "John iv. 14 ; vii. 37 ; Rev. xxi. 6 ; xxii. 17. <> Ecclus. li. 25; Matt. xiii. 44, 46; Rev. iii. 18. <^Heb. weigh. Chap. xlvi. 13 ; Malt. iii. 2 ; iv. 17 ; Rom. xiii. II, 12. 1 Chap. Iviii. 13. J See Deut. xxiii. 1, 2, 3 ; Acts viii. 27; X. 1, 2, 34; xvii.4; xviii. 7; 1 Pet. i, 1. '1 Tim. iii. 15. rjohn i. 12; 1 John iii. 1. sChap. ii. 2: 1 Pet. i. 1, 2. NOTES OX CHAP. LVI. Verse 2. That keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it] Kimchi has an excellent note here. " The .Sabbath is sanctified when it is distinguished in dignity ; and separated from other days. 1. As to the body, in meat, drink, and clean clothing. 2. As to the soul, that it be empty of worldly occupations, and be busily em- ployed in the words of the law and wisdom, and in meditation on the works of the Lord." The rabbins say, " Jerusalem had never been destroyed, had not the Sabbaths been profaned in it." \ erse 5. I icill gice them an everlasting name] For n lo, him, in the singular, it is evident that we ought to read n^ lamo, them, in the plural : so read the Sep- tuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. A'erse 6. The sons of the stranger] The Gentiles. That join themselves to the Lord] Who shall enter into the Christian covenant by baptism and faith in Christ, as the Jews and proselytes did by circumcision. To serve him] To live according to the Gospel, and ever do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. To love the name of the Lord] The name of Jesus. the Christ, the Saviour of simiers, the Anointed of God, and the Giver of the Holy Spirit to his followers. will give them an everlasting ■*; "l "J- ^^^■ o o B. C. cir. 712. name, that shall not be cut off. Oiymp. xvii. i. ^ . , , f. . cir. annum 6 Also the sons oi the stranger, Numae Pompilii, that join themselves to the Lord, R- Koman., 4. to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keep- eth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant ; 7 Even them will I s bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer : '' their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar ; for ' mine house shall be called a house of prayer '' for all people. 8 The Lord God ' which gathereth the out casts of Israel saith, ""Yet will I gather oi/iers to him, ° beside those that are gathered unto him. 9 " All ye beasts of the field, come to devoiu-, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. tRom. xii. I ; Heb. xiii. 15; 1 Pet. ii. 5. • Matt. xxi. 13 Mark xi. 17 ; Luke xix. 46. k Mai. i. 11. 1 Psa. cxlvii. 2 chap. xi. 12. " John x. 16; Eph. i. 10; ii. 14,15,16. "Heb to his gathered. o Jer. xii. 9. To be his set^ants] To worship no other God but Jerovau, and to trust in none for salvation but his Christ. That keepeth the Sabbath] That observes it as a type of the rest that remains for the people of God. And taketh hold of my covenant] \"\''"(33 biberilhi, " of my covenant sacrifice ;" as without this he can do nothing good ; and without it nothing can be accepta ble to the iniinite majesty of the Most High. Verse 7. .Shall be accepted] A word is here lost out of the text : it is supplied from the Septuagint, vn' yihyu, Etfovrai, " they shall be." — Houbigant. Verse 9. All ye beasts of the field] Here manifestly begins a new section. The prophet in the foregoing chapters, having comforted the faithful Jews with many great promises of God's favour lo be extended to them, in the restoration of their ruined state, and in the enlargement of his Church by the admission of the Gentiles ; here on a sudden makes a transition to the more disagreeable part of the prospect, and to a sharp reproof of the wicked and unbelievers ; and es pecially of the negligent and faithless governors and teachers, of the idolaters and hypocrites, who would still draw down his judgments upon the nation. Pro- 213 Reproof of careless ISAIAH, 10 His watchmen are p blind: and worldly ministers A. M. cir. 3292, B. C. cir.712. Oiymp. XVII. 1. they are all ignorant, i they are Num^ae p^m"ilii, all dumb dogs, they cannot bark ; R. Roman. 4. r sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 1 1 Yea, they are ' greedy ' dogs which " can " never have enough, and they are shepherds pMatt. XV. 14; xxiii. 17; Luke vi. 39; xxiii. 16. ne- olam. which makes no good sense or construction in this place, ^iren^y-MrceMSS. (seven ancient) and three editions have CdV;'?, (to be thus pointed CdSj'T malim ;) riapopu, Septuagint ; quasi non videns, " as if not seeing," Vulgate. See Psa. x. I . The truth of this reading, so confirmed, admits of no doubt. In one his trust in me shall possess the ^^ ^- ^'T- 3^3. land, and shall inherit my holy oiymp. xvii.i. cir. annum mountani ; tiumx PompiUi, 14 And shall say, )- Cast ye ^ ^°"""'' "■ up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. 15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, '• whose name is Holy ; •■' I dwell in the high and holy place, ^ with him also that is of a contrite and hum- ble spirit, ' to revive the spirit of the hum- ble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 16 ''For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth : for the spirit should Zech. ii. 13. 1> Psa. xxjtiv. 18 ; li. 17; cxxxviii.6; nhap.Ixvi.2. « Psa. cxlvii. 3 ; ch. Ixi. 1. ^ Psa. Ixxxv. 5 ; ciii. 9 ; Mic. vii. 18. of my own MSS. the l vau has been written, but afterwards struck out. Is it not because I vas silent, and winked ? A'erse 12. Thy righteousness — " My righteousness"] For "^ilpTi" tsidkathech, thv righteousness, the Syriac, Septuagint, MSS. Alex, and Pachom., and i. D. H., and Marchal. and oi F, and the Arabic, read 'plX tsidki, MV righteousness. Verse 13. Let thy companies deliver thee — "Let thine associates deliver thee"] Thirty-nine MSS. {ten ancient) of Dr. Kennicott's, and two of my own, and the two oldest editions have l"l'7'i'"' yalstsiluchv, plural. Verse 14. And shall say — " Then will I say"] ^3X1 raorner, to be pointed as the first person future. They are the words of God, as it is plain from the conclu- sion of the verse ; ?ny people, 'OJ' ammi. Verse 15. For thus saith the high and lofty One — " For thus saith Jehovah, the high and the lofty"] A MS. adds niri' Yehovah, after n;< amar, and edition Prag. 1518. .So the Septuagint Alex, and Arabic. An ancient MS. adds H' Yah. With him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit] Twelve MSS. have ns eth, without the conjunction 1 vau. Pro jINl veeth, forte legendum nx'^XI veerah : confer Psa. cxiii. 5, et cxxxviii. 6. — Sf.cker. '• We should perhaps read nx^NI veerah, instead of r\xi veeth See Psa. cxiii. 5, and cxxxviii. 6." Ver.se 16. For I will not contend fur ever] The learned have taken a great deal of pains to little pur- pose on the latter part of this verse, which they sup- pose to be very obscure. After all their labours upon it, I think the best and easiest explication of it is given in the two following elegant passages of the Psalms, which I presume are exactly parallel to it, and very clearly express the same sentiment. " But he in his tender mercy will forgive their sin, And will not destroy them ; Yea, oftentimes will he turn away his WTath, And will not rouse up his indignation : For he remembereth that they are but flesh, A breath that passeth, and retumetli not." Psa. Ixxviii. 38, 39. 217 Tfie troubled and unhappy A^M. cir. 3292, f^ji before me, and the souls B. C. cir. 1 12. Oiymp. XVII. 1. e lajiich I have made. Numip'c^m^iiii, 17 For the iniquity of ^his R. Roman., 4. covetousncss was I wi'oth, and smote him : ^ I liid me, and was wroth, '' and he went on ' frowardly in the way of his heart. 18 1 have seen his ways, and '' will heal him : I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to ' his mourners. ISAIAH. stale of the wicked 1 9 I create "" the fruit of the lips ; ^^ ^'^^ "^[^ 3292. Peace, peace ° to him that is far oiymp. xvii i off, and to him that is near, saith Numse PompiUi the Lord ; and I will heal him. ^- '^°'°^' *■ 20 ° But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21 p Tliere is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. eNum. xvi. 22; Job xxxiv. 13. s Chap. viii. 17 ; xlv. 15.- ing away. 14; Heb. xii. 9.- — t Chap. ix. 13. — — *'Jer. vi. j Heb. turn- " He will not always contend, Neither will lie for ever hold his wTath : As a father yearneth towards his children, So is Jehovah tenderly compassionate towards them that fear hira : For he knoweth our frame ; He remembere5,h that we are but dust." ^/- Psa. ciii. 9, 13, 14. In the former of these two passages the second line seems to be defective both in measure and sense. I suppose the word DniN otham, them, is lost at the end ; which seems to be acknowledged by the Chaldee and Vulgate, who render as if they had read n'nty' n'?! DniS< velo yaschith otham. — L. For the spirit] ni"l ruach, the animal life. And the souls] niDiyj neshamoth, the immortal spirits. The Targum understands this of the resur- rection. / unll restore the souls of the dead, i. e., to their bodies. Verse 17. For the iniquity of his covetousness ivas I wroth — " Because of his iniquity for a short time was I wroth"] For 1>'S3 bitso, I read ysa bctsa, a little while, from J'X3 batsa, he cut off ; as the Septua- gint read and render it, /3pa^u ti, " a certain short space." Propter iniquitatem avaritis ejus, " because of the iniquity of his avarice," the rendering of the Vulgate, which our translators and I believe all others follow, is surely quite beside the purpose. Verse 18. / have seen his loays] Probably these tjer. iii. 22. ii. 39 ; Eph. ii. 17.- xlviii. 22. ■Chap. Ixi. 2. "Heb. xiii. 15. "Acta — » Job XV. 20, &c. ; Prov. iv. 16. p Chap A verses refer to the restoration of the Jews from cap- tivity. Verse 19. I create the fruit of the lips] " The sa- crifice of praise," saith St. Paul, Heb. xiii. 15, "is the fruit of the lips." God creates this fruit of the lips, by giving new subject and cause of thanksgiving by his mercies conferred on those among his people, who acknowledge and bewail their transgressions, and return to him. The great subject of thanksgiving is peace — reconciliation and pardon, offered to them that are nigh, and to them that are afar off; not only to the Jew, but also to the Gentile, as St. Paul more than once applies those terms, Eph. ii. 13, 17. See also Acts ii. 39. Peace to him that is far off — " That is, to the peni- tent; and to him that is near, i. e., the righteous." — Kimchi. Averse 2 1 . There is no peace, saith my God] For TiSn Elohai, twenty-two MSS. {five ancient) of Kenni- cott's, thirty of De Rossi's, and one ancient of my own, read nin' Yehovah ; the Vulgate, Septuagtnt Alex., and Arabic, and three MSS. have both. This verse has reference to the nineteenth. The perseveringly wicked and impenitent are excluded from all share in that peace above mentioned, that reconcilement and pardon which is promised to the penitent only. The forty-eighth chapter ends with the same declaration, to express the exclusion of the unbelievers and impeni- tent from the benefit of the foregoing promises. — L. CHAPTER LVIII. This elegant chapter contains a severe reproof of the Jews on account of their vices, particularly their hypo crisy in practising and relying on outward ceremonies, such as fasting and bodily humiliation, xcithout true repentance, 1-5. It then lays doum a clear and comprehensive summary of the duties they owed to their fellow creatures, 6, 7. Large promises of happiness and prosperity are liheivise annexed to the perform- ance of these duties in a variety of the most beautiful and striking images, 8—12. Great temporal and spiritual blessedness of those who keep holy the Salbath day, 13, 14. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cii. annum Numae PompiUi, R. Roman., 4. r^RY "aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show mv people their transgres- = Heb. wilti NOTES ON CHAP. LVIII. Verse 1 . Cry aloud, spare not] Never was a louder cry against the hypocrisy, nor a more cutting reproof 218 sion, and the house of Jacob ^i'^'^'r- l^i^- B. C. cir. 712. their sins. Oiymp. xvii. 1. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and Nums PompiUi, R. Roman., 4. the tttroat. of the wickedness, of a people professing a national established religion, having all the forms of godliness without a particle of its power. This chapter has been Cutting reproofs to hypocritical CHAP. LVIII. A.Af.cir. 3292. delight to know my ways, as a B. C. cir. 712. ° J ■> ' oiymp. XVII. 1. nation tliat did righteousness, and Numa.- "poiiipiiii, forsook not the ordinance of their R. Roman., 4. Q^^ . ,]jgy ^gj. ^f ,j^g ,Jjg g^Jj. nances of justice ; they take delight in ap- proacliing to God. 3 '" Wiierefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not ? wherefore have we " afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge ? Be- liold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your '' labours ". 4 'Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness : 'ye. shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is it "^ such a fast that I have chosen ? ' a '' day for a man to afflict his soul ? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and ' to spread sackcloth and ashes under him ? wilt kMal. lii. 14. 'Lev. xvi. 29, 31 ; xxiii. 27. J Or, things uherrwilh ye grieve others. 'Heb. griefs. fl Kings xxi. 9, 12, 13. e Or, ye fast not as this day. << Zech. vii. 5. ' Lev. ivi. 29. 1 Or, to afflict his soul for a day. 1 Esth. iv. 3 ; Job ii. 8 ; Dan. ix. 3 ; Jonah iii. 6. often appointed to be read on political fast days for the success of wars carried on for — God knows what pur- poses, and originating in — God knows what motives. Politically speaking, was ever any thing more inju- dicious ? Verse 3. Have we afflicted our soul — " Have we afflicted our souls"] Twenty-seven MSS. {six ancient) of Dr. Kennicott's, thirty-six of De RossVs, and two of my own, and the old edition of 1488 have the noun in the plural number, IJ'tySJ naphsheynu, oi,r souls ; and so the Sepluagint, Chaldee, and Vulgate. This reading is undoubtedly genuine. In the day of your fast ye find pleasure] Fast days are generally called holidays, and holidays are days of idleness and pleasure. In numberless cases the fast is turned into a. feast. And exact all yvur labours.] Some disregard the most sacred fast, and will oblige their servant to work all day long ; others use fast days for the purpose of settling their accounts, posting up their books, and draw- ing out their bills to be ready to collect their debts. These are sneaking hypocrites ; the others are daringly irreligious. Verse 4. Ye fast for strife and debate] How often is this the case ! A whole nation are called to fast to implore God's blessing on wars carried on for the pur- poses of wrath and ambition. To smile with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day — " To smite with the fist the poor. Wherefore fast ye unto me in this manner"] I follow the version of the Septuagint, which gives a much better sense than the present reading of the He- brew. Instead of nS yj-\ re.tha lo, they seem to have read in their copy •'7 no S;' ty-i rash al mah tli. The four first letters are the same, but otherwise divided in xxix. 14 ; E.TOd. xiv. 19; chap, lii. 12. observers of Jasts thou call this a fast, and an ac- \- ^J- ""■ ^^■ ' B. C. rir. 712. ceptable day to the Lord ? oiymp. xvii. i. ^ r 1 • 1 i" IT *^'^- annum 6 Is not this the last that 1 Num* Pompiiii, have chosen? to loose the bands '^- "°""'"- ^- of wickedness, '" lo undo " the heavy biudens, and " to let the p oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ? 7 Is it not 1 to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are ' cast out to thy house ? ' when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ; and that thou hide not thyself from ' thine own flesh ? 8 "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily : and thy righteousness shall go be- fore thee ; ' the glory of the Lord '' shall be thy rereward. 9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer ; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, "Neh. V. 10, 11, 12. "Heb. the bundles of the yoke. ojer. xxxiv. 9. pHeb. broken. 1 Ezek. xviii. 7, 16; Matt, xxv 35. 'Or, afflicted. sjob xxxi. 19. "Gen Neh. V. 5. "Job xi. 17. w Heb. shall gather thee up. regard to the words ; the four last are lost, and N aleph added in their place, in order to make some sort of sense with '7 J?l?l. The version of the Septuagint is, xai TVjrTlre iruyjjiaif ravlnov Iva ti (J,oi vrigrsMSrS as above. Verse 6 . Let the oppressed go free] How can any nation pretend to fast or worship God at all, or dare to profess that they believe in the existence of such a Being, while they carry on the slave trade, and traffic in the souls, blood, and bodies, of men I O ye most flagitious of knaves, and worst of hypocrites, cast off at once the mask of religion ; and deepen not your endless perdition by professing the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, while ye continue in this traffic ! Verse 7. Deal thy bread lo the hungry] But this thou canst not do, if thou cat it thyself When a man fasts, suppose ho do it through a religious motive, he should give the food of that day, from which he ab- stains, to the poor and hungry', who, in the course of providence, are called to sustain many involuntary fasts, besides suffering general privations. Wo to him who saves a day's victuals by his religious fast ! He should either give them or their value in money to the poor. See ver. 6. That thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house — " To bring the wandering poor into thy house"] ir-Toj^ouj airsynv;, Septuagi7it ; cgenos vagosque, Vul- gate ; and J'^uSa-D metallclin, Chaldee. They read, instead of D"T1T3 merudim, D""iun hanudim. "V^mer is upon a rasure in the Bodleian MS. The same MS. reads nn"; baycthah, in domum, " into the house. "^L. Verse 8. And thine health shall spring forth .speedily — "And thy wounds shall speedily be healed over"] Et cicatri.x vulneris tui cito obducetur ; " And the scar of thv wounds shall be speedily removed." Aquila's 219 Promises to those who ISAIAH. keep holy the Sabbath. "b c' cfr ?if ■ ■^^''^ ^ ""'• ^^ ^^°^ ^^^^ ^'^^y oiymp. XVII. i. from the midst of thee the yoke, NumjeplTmpiiji, tlie putting forth of the finger, R. Roman, 4. ^^^^ ,, speaking vanity ; 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul ; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy dark- ness be as the noon day : 1 1 And the Lord shall guide thee continu- ally, and satisfy thy soul in >' drought, and make fat thy bones : and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters ^ fail not. 12 And thei/ that shall be of thee ' shall build the old waste places : thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations ; and X Psa. xii. 2. y Heb. droughts. * Heb. lie or deceive. ' Chap. Isi. 4. 1> Chap. Ivi. 2. Version, as reported by Jerome, with which agrees that of the Chaldee. The glory — " And the glory "] Sixteen MSS. (five ancient) of Dr. Kennicott''s, and the Sepluagint, Sy- riac, and Vulgate add the conjunction 1 rau, '\'\2J'\ ve- chabod. Verse 10. And if Ihou draw nvt thy soul to the hungry — " If thou bring forth thy bread to the hun- gry"] " To draw out thy soul to the hungry," as our translators rightly enough express the present Hebrew text, is an obscure phrase, and without example in any other place. But instead of "ICSJ naphshecha, thy soul, eight MSS. (three ancient) of Kennicott's and three of De Rossi's read ■]":n'7 lachmecha, thy bread ; and so the Syriac renders it. The Septuagint express both words, tou apTov £x rr;j -^/M-^ris em, " thy bread from thy soul." I cannot help thinking, however, that this reading is a gloss, and should not be adopted. To draw out the soul in relieving the poor, is to do it, not of constraint or necessity, but cheerfully, and is both nervous and elegant. His soul pities and his hand gives. Verse 11. And make fat thy bones — "And he shall renew thy strength"] Chaldseus forte legit "jn^VJ' T^n' yachaliph otsmathccha; confer cap. xl. 29, 31, et xli. 1 . — Secker. " The Chaldee perhaps read "]nT3Vl' '\''~>vy yavAaliph otsmathccha." The Chaldee has "n' ']3U1 K3'7> "n3 veguphach yechaiyey bechaiyey alma, " and he will vivify thy body in life eternal." The rest of the ancients seem not to know what to make of y'7n' yachalits ; and the rendering of the Vulgate, which seems to be the only proper one, ossa tua liberabit, " he will deliver thy bones," makes no sense. I fol- low this excellent emendation ; to favour which it is still farther to be observed that three MSS., instead of ynoVi' atsmotheycha, have "]n:3i'> otsmathccha, singu- lar.— L. Verse 12. The restorer of paths to dwell in — " The restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants."] To this purpose it is rendered by the Syriac, Symmachus, and Theodotion. "90 thou shalt be called. The re- A^^^j, ^i^- 3292 pairer of the breach. The Oiymp. xvii. i. restorer of paths to dwell NumsPoill^Uii, • R. Roman., 4. 1 3 If '' thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, /roffi doing thy pleasure on my holy day ; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable ; and shalt honotir him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thi?ie own words ; 14 ■= Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to '' ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : " for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. cjobxxii. 26.- ' Deut. xxxii. 13 ; xxxiii. 29. ' Chap. i. 20 ; xl. 5 : Mic. iv. 4. Verse IS. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sab- bath] The meaning of this seems to be, that they should be careful not to take their pleasure on the Sab- bath day, by paying visits, and taking country jaunts ; not going, as Kimchi interprets it, more than a Sab- bath day's journey, which was only tico thousand cu- bits beyond the city's suburbs. How vilely is this rule transgressed by the inhabitants of this land.! They seem to think that the Sabbath was made only for their recreation ! From doing thy pleasure] The Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee, for niB'^ asoth, manifestly express niCi'D measoth. So likewise a MS. has it, but with the omis- sion of the words "jSjl HUB' shabbath raglccha. — L. The holy of the Lord — " And the holy feast of Je- hov.ih"] Twenty-eight MSS. (seven ancient) add the conjunction 1 van, tynpSl velikcdosh ; and so the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. One of my own has the same reading. Nor speaking thine own words — " From speaking vain words."] It is necessary to add some epithet to make out the sense ; the Septuagint say, angry words ; the Chaldee, words of violence. If any such epithet is lost here, the safest way is to supply it by the pro- phet's own expression, ver. 9, jiN 1211 vedabar aven, i^ain words ; that is, profane, impious, injurious, &c. " The additional epithet seems unnecessary ; the Vulgate and Syriac have it not ; and the sense is good without it ; two ways, first by taking ^^2^^^ vedabar for a noun, and 13T dabur for the participle pahul, and ren- dering,— ' From pursuing thy pleasure, and the thing re- solved on.' Or, secondly, by supposing the force of the preposition n mem to have been continued from the verb Nli'OD mim- nietso to the verb ^^y^^ vedabber immediately following ; and rendering, — ' From executing thy pleasure, and from speaking words concerning it.' But the first seems the easier rendering." — Dr. Jubb. Tlte wickedness of Verse 14. Then shall thou delight thyself] If all fasts and religious observances be carried on in the spirit and manner recommended above, God's blessing will attend every ordinance. But in public fasts, prescribed not in the Book of God, but by the rulers of nations in general (very uniit persons) care should be taken that the cause is good, CHAP. LIX. the Jews reprovea that God's blessing may be safely implored and in it. France has lately fasted and prayed that they might be able to subjugate Spain, restore and establish the horrible inquisition, and utterly destroy all the liberties of the people ! Is this such a fast as God hath chosen?— A. D. 1823. CHAPTER LIX. This chapter contains a more general reproof of the wickedness of the Jews, 1-8. After this they are repre- sented confessing their sins, and deploring the unhappy consequences of then:, 9-15. On this act of humiliation God, ever ready to pardon the penitent, promises thai he loill have mercy on them ; that the Redeemer icill come, mighty to save ; and that he will deliver his people, subdue his enemies, and establish a new and everlasting covenant, 16-21. A^Ji cir. x'x. "DEHOLD, the Lord's hand is B. C. cir. /I'J. I 1 ' Olymp. XVII. 1. nol " shortened, that it cannot NumiE Pompiiii, savc ; neitlier his ear hcavy, that ^ ""■"""• •*■ it cannot liear : 2 But your iniquities liave separated between you and your God, and your sins '' have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For '■ yom- liands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity ; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered per- verseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth : they trust in vanity, and speak lies ; ''theyconceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, struction are in their paths. 5 They hatch ' cockatrice' eggs, ^j "J,- ^jj- ^^■ and weave the spider's web : he Olymp. xvii, i. that eateth of their eggs dieth, and Numa; Pompilii, f that which is crushed breaketh «• «°"'»"- *■ out into a viper. 6 s Their webs shall not become gar- ments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works : their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7 '' Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood : their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity ; wasting and ' de »Num, c Cliap xi. 23 i. 15. ciiap. 1. 2.- Uob XV. 35 : *> Or, have made llim hide. Psa. vii. M. , 1 1 ■ cir- annum away from our (jrOd, speaking Numa: Pompiiii, oppression and revolt, conceiving R- Roman., 4. and uttering p from the heart words of false- hood. 14 And judgment is tm-ned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. 1 5 Yea, truth faileth ; and he that departeth from evil i maketh himself a prey : and the Lord saw it, and ''it displeased him that there ivas no judgment. 16 ^ And he saw that there was no man, and ' wondered that there was no intercessor : " therefore his arm brought salvation unto him ; and his righteousness, it sustained him. 17 ' For he put on righteousness as a breast- plate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head ; and he put on the garments of ven- I ' Heb. it was evil in his eyes. — "Psa. xcviii. 1 ; chap, ixiii. 5.- 17; 1 Thess. v. 8. 8 Ezek. xxii. 30. 1 Mark vi. 6. -V Wisd. v. 18, 19 ; Eph. vi. 14, ceive my idea of the matter if 1 endeavour to supply the supposed defect. I imagine it might have stood originally in this manner : — th in'i nin" ni'i lo veyachar Yehovah vaiyar mishpat ein ki beeyinaiv veyera " And Jehovah saw it, and he was wroth ; And it displeased him, that there was no judgment." We have had already many examples of mistakes of omission ; this, if it be such, is very ancient, being prior to all the versions. — L. Verse 16. And icondered that there was no inter- cessor] This and the following verses some of the most eminent rabbins understand as spoken of the Messiah. Kimchi says that Rabbi Joshua ben Levi proposes this objection ; " It is vratten, ' Behold, he will come in the clouds of heaven as the son of man,' Dan. vii. 13 ; and elsewhere it is written, ' He cometh lowly, and riding upon an ass,' Zech. Lx. 9. How can these texts be reconciled ? Thus ; If the Jews have merit, he will come unto them in the clouds of hea- ven ; but if they be destitute of merit, he will come unto them riding upon an ass." Now out of their own mouth they may be condemned. They were truly des- titute of all merit when Jesus Christ came into Jeru- salem riding upon an ass, according to the letter of the above prophecy ; and they neither acknowledged nor received him. And that they were destitute of merit their destruction by the Romans, which shortly fol- lowed their rejection of him, sufficiently proves. Verse 17. For clothing — " For his clothing"] nM*?]! tilbosheth. " I cannot but think that tliis word, riiyaSn tilbosheth, is an interpolation. 1. It is in no Blessings promised CHAP. LIX. A. M. cir. 3292. geance/o?" clothing, and was clad oiymp. XVII. i. with zeal as a cloak. Nums Pm"i'niii, 1 8 " According to their » deeds, R. Roman.. 4. accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies ; to the islands he will repay recompense. 19 5" So shall they fear the name of the "Chap. bull. 6; Psa. xxviii. 4; Jer. 1. 29 ; Matt. xvi. 27; Rev. XX. 12; xxii. 12. »Heb. recompenses. one ancient version. 2. It is redundant in the sense, as it is before expressed in ''njD higdey. 3. It makes the hemistich just so much longer tlian it ought to be, if it is compared with the others adjoining. 4. It makes a form of construction in this clause less elegant than that in the others. 5. It might probably be in some margin a vaiious reading for "TJ^ btgdcy, and thence taken into the text. This is more probable, as its form is such as it would be if it were in rcgimine, as it must be before CDpj nakamy — Dr. Jibb. Two sorts of armour are mentioned : a breast-plate and a helmet, to bring righteousness and salvation to those who fear him ; and the garments of vengeance and the cloak of zeal for the destruction of all those who finally oppose him, and reject his Gospel. Verse 18. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay — " He is mighty to recompense ; he that is mighty to recompense will requite"] The former part of this verse, as it stands at present in the He- brew text, seems to me to be very imperfect, and abso- lutely unintelligible. The learned Vitringa has taken a great deal of pains upon it after Cocceius, who he says is the only one of all the interpreters, ancient or modern, who has at all understood it, and has opened the way for him. He thinks that both of them toge- ther have clearly made out the sense ; I do not expect that any third person will ever be of that opinion. He says, Videtur sentenlia ad verbum sonare : quasi propter facta [advcrsariorum] quasi propter rependet ; excandescentiam, &c., et sic reddidit Pagnmus. " Ac- cording to the height of their demerits, he will repay them to the height : fury to his adversaries, recom- pense to liis enemies,'' &c. — Walcrland. This he converts, by a process which will not much edify my reader, into Secundum summe merita, secundum summe (merita) rependet ; which is his translation. They that hold the present Hebrew text to be abso- lutely infallible must make their way through it as thev can ; but they ought surely to give us somewhat that has at least the appearance of sense. However, I hope the case here is not quite desperate ; the Chal- dee leads us very fairly to the correction of the text, which is both corrupted and defective. The para- phrase runs thus : qSk'' n'7:3J NIH N''70J "IO marcy gundaiya hu gimla yeshallem, " The Lord of retribu- tion, he will render recompense." He manifestly read Sya baal instead of Sl'O keal. }<"S-3J "TD marey gum- laiya is ni7tJ 7i'2 baal gemuloth ; as Nr\iT"VD "I'D marey merirutha is =^N S;'2 baal aph. Prov. xxii. 24. And so in the Chaldee paraphrase on Isa. xsxv. 4 : '7JJT Xirt " N'SoJ "TJ marey ganJaiya yeya hu yith- geley, " The Lord of retribution, Jehovah himself, shall be revealed ;" words very osar to those of the through the Mesituh Lord from the west, and his glory \,^^''": ^^ , ° J B.C. cir. 7i2 from the rising of the sun. When oiymp.xvii. i. . 1 ,1 ■ , T, cir annum the enemy shall come in ^ like NumK Pomp^iii, a flood, the Spirit of the Lord ^ ^°"'""' "■ shall " lift up a standard against him. 20 And •> the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from trans- ■ Or, put him to jPsa. cxiii. 3; Mai. i. II. « Rev. xii. 15.- flight, 1> Rom. xi. 26. prophet in this place. The second h^'D keal, which the Chaldee has omitted, must be read hv^ baal like- wise. With this only addition to the Chaldee, which the Hebrew text justifies, we are supplied with the fol- lowing clear reading of the passage : — Kin hiSdj Si'a hu gemuloth baal ohm' niSoj %'2 yeshallem gemuloth baal The Lord of retributions, he The Lord of retributions, shall repay. The J caph in S;'D keal twice seems to have been at first 3 beth, in MS. This verse in the Septuagint very imperfect. In the first part of it they give us no assistance : the latter part is wholly omitted in the printed copies ; but it is thus supplied by MSS. Pa- chom. and i. D. ii : Toij i;«vav-7ioif auTou" ajAvvav toij syP^iii auTou' caig vrjifois acoi5o(ji.a ai-ontfci. — L. \'erse 19. When the enemy shall come in like a flood] This all the rabbins refer to the coming of the Messiah. If ye see a generation which endures much tribulation, then (say they) expect him, according to what is ■nTitten : " When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." Kimchi says, he that was the standard-bearer al- ways began the battle by first smiting at the enemy. Here then the Spirit of the Lord is the standard- bearer, and strikes the first blow. They who go against sin and .Satan with the Holy -Spirit at their head, are sure to win the day. The Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him — " \Miich a strong wind driveth along."] Quam spiritus Domini cogit, " Which the Spirit of the Lord drives on." — Vulg. riDDlJ nosesah, pihel a DIJ nus fugit. Kimchi says his father thus explained this word : riDDlJ nosesah interpretatur in significatione fugae, et ait, spiritus Domini fugabit hostem ; — nani secundum eum riDDU nosesah est ex conjugations quadrata, ejusque radix est DU nus : " nosesah he in- teriireted in the signification of flight, — The Spirit of the Lord shall put the enemy to flight ; for according to him the root of the word is DU nus, he put to flight." The object of this action I explain other- wise. The conjunction 1 vau, prefixed to nn ruach, seems necessary to the sense ; it is added by the cor- rector in one of the Koningsberg MSS., collated by Lilienthal. It is added also in one of my own. '\'erse 20. Unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob — "And shall turn away iniquity from Jacob"] So the Septuagint and St. Paul, Rom. xi. 86, reading 223 The Gentiles exhorted A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. in Jacob, saith gression Lord. 2 1 ■= As for me, this is my cove- nant with them, saith the Lord ; My Spirit that is upon tliee, and my vv'ords which c Heb. viii. 10 ; instead of ^^Wl leshabey and ^pi'^J leyaacoh, 3'tyni veheshib and 3pi'"0 meyaacob. The Syriac likewise reads TWTn veheshib ; and the Chaldee, to the same sense, ywrh\ ulehashib. Our translators have ex- pressed the sense of the present reading of the Hebrew text : " And unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob." Verse 21. This is my covenant ivilh them — " This is the covenant which I make with them"] For QmN otham, them, twenty-four MSS., (four ancient,) and nine editions have ajIN ittam, with them. My Spirit that is upon Mee] This seems to be an address to the Messiah ; Kimchi says it is to the pro- ISAIAH the to receive the Gospel. I have put in thy mouth, shall not ^-^i..""-. ¥,^- r J ' B. C. cir. 712. depart out of thy mouth, nor out of Oiymp. xvii. i , 1 r 1 1 r cii^- annum the mouth oi thy seed, nor out ot Nums PompiUj, the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith ^- ^°°"'"- * the Lord, from henceforth and for ever. X. 16. phet, informing him that the spirit of prophecy should be given to all Israelites in the days of the Messiah, as it was then given to him, i. e., to the prophet. And my words which I have put in thy mouth] Whatsoever Jesus spoke was the word and mind of God himself; and must, as such, be implicitly received. Nor out of the mouth of thy seed] The same doc- trines which Jesus preached, all his faithful ministers preach ; and his seed — genuine Christians, who are all born of God, believe ; and they shall continue, and the doctrines remain in the seed^s seed through all gene- rations— for ever and ever. This is God's covenant. ordered in all things and sure. CHAPTER LX. The glorious jirospect displayed in this chapter seems to have elevated the prophet even above hts usual ma- jesty. The subject is the very Jlourishing condition of the Church of Jesus Christ at that period of the Gospel dispensation ivhen both Jews and Gentiles shall become one fold under one Shepherd. The imagery employed is of the most consolatory and magnificent description. This blessed state of the world shall follow a time of gross darkness, 1, 2. The universal diffusion of vital godliness beautifully set forth by a great variety of images, 3—14. The everlasting duration and spotless purity of this hingdom of Christ, 15—21. -4 time appointed in the counsels of Jehovah for the conmiencement of this happy period ; and luhen this time arrives, the particulars of the prophecy shall have a speedy accomplishment, 22. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVlI.l. cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. A RISE, "» shine ; ^ for thy light is come, and '' the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness a Eph. V. 14. 1* Or, be enlightened ; for thy light cometh. The subject of this chapter is the great increase and flourishing state of the Church of God by the con- version and accession of the heathen nations to it, which is set forth in such ample and exalted terms, as plainly show that the full completion of this prophecv is reserved for future times. This subject is displayed in the most splendid colours under a great variety of images highly poetical, designed to give a general idea of the glories of that perfect state of the Church of God which we are taught to expect in the latter times ; when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and the Jews shall be converted and gathered from their ilispersions, and the kingdoms of this world shall be- come the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Of the use in prophecy of general or common poeti- cal images, in setting forth the greatness and impor- tance of a future event universally, without descending to particulars, or too minutely explaining circumstances, I have already pretty largely treated in the twentieth prelection on the Hebrew poetry ; and have more than once observed in these notes that such images are not always to be applied particularly to persons and things, 994 A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. ^ , ,, . , , cir. annum Lord shall arise upon thee, and Numre Pompilii, his glory shall be seen upon thee. ^ "°""^°- *■ shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people : but the tMal. iv. 2. and were never intended to be minutely explained. I shall add here the opinion of a very learned and judi- cious person upon this subject : " It is, I think, a mark of right understanding in the language of prophecy, and in the design of prophecy too, to keep to what appears the design and meaning of the prophecy in general, and what the whole of it laid together points out to us ; and not to suffer a warm imagination to mislead us from the real intention of the spirit of pro- phecy, by following uncertain applications of the parts of it." Lowman on the Revelation, note on chap. xix. 21. — L. To this testimony I must add my own. This is one of the most glorious chapters in the whole of the Old Testament. The splendour, glory, and ex- cellence of the Church of Christ are here pointed out in language which the Spirit of God alone is capable of using. But when shall this state of blessedness take place \ Lord, thou only knowest. NOTES ON CHAP. LX. Verse 1. Arise] Call upon God through Christ, for his salvation ; and, The glorious itigatheririg CHAP. LX. uj the Gentiles to Christ A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numre Pompiliii R. Roman., 4. 3 And the '' Gentiles shall come to thy liglit, and kings to the brightness of tliy rising. 4 " Lift up tliine eyes round about, and see : all tliey gatlier themselves together, ' they come to thee : thy sons sliall come from far, and thy daughters shall be niu-sed at thy side. 5 Then thou slialt see, and flow together, and tliine heart shall fear, and be enlarg- ed ; because ^ the '' abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the ' forces a/ catheph, on the shoulder, as the Septuagint likewise Vol. IV. ( 16 ) A. M. cir. 320B B. C. cir. 712 Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numa! Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. of the Gentiles shall come unto tliee. 6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Mi- dian and ^ Ephah ; all they from ' Sheba shall come : tliey shall bring "'gold and incense ; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. 7 All the flocks of " Kedar shall be gathered togctlier unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee : they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and ° I will glorify the house of my glory. i Or, wealth ; ver. 1 1 bcxii. 10. '"Chap. o Hag. ii. 7, 9. chap. Ixi. 6; Ixi. 6. kGen. Matt. ii. 11. — XXV. 4.- -«Gen. iPsa. XXV. 13. do : but upon the whole I think that rUNK'jn nv Sy al tsad tinitasenah is the true reading, which the Chtd- dee favours ; and I have accordingly followed it. See chap. l.\vi. 12. — L. This mode of carrying children is as conunon in India as carrying them in the arms is in Europe. Verse 5. Then thou shall see — " Then shalt thou fear"] For '8<^n tirai, thou shalt see, as ours and much the greater number of the translators, ancient and modern, render it, forty M.SS. (ten ancient) of Kennicotfs, and twenty-eight of De Rossi's, with one ancient of my own, and the old edition of 1488, have 'XTn tirai, thou shalt fear: the true reading, con- firmed by the perfect parallelism of the sentences ; the heart ruffled and dilated in the second line answering to the fear and joy expressed in the first. The Pro- phet Jeremiah, chap, x.xxiii. 9, has the same natural and elegant sentiment : — " And this city shall become to me a name of joy ; A praise and an honour for all the nations of the earth ; WTiich shall hear all the good that I do unto them : And they shall fear, and they shall tremble, at all the goodness And at all the prosperity that I procure unto ner." And David : — " I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psa. cxxxix. 14. His tibi me rebus quaedam divina voluptas Percipit atque horror. Luceet. iii. 28. Recenti mens trepidat metu, Plenoque Bacchi pectore turbidum Leetatur. HoR. Carm. ii. 19. 1. 5. — L. A''erse 6. The praises of the Lord — " And the praiso of Jehovah."] Thirty-three MSS. and three editions have rhr\7\'i uthehillath, in the singular number ; and so read the ancient versions, and one of my own MSS. Verse 7. The rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee] Vitringa on the place understands their minis- tering, and ascending or going up on the altar, as offering themselves voluntarily : ipsi se, non expectato sacerdote alio, glorise et sanctificationi divini nominis ultro ae libenter oblaturi. " They, waiting for no priest, go and freely offer themselves to the glory and 336 The restoration of the Jews, and ISAIAH. their glorious state in consequence. Ai '^ "''• Ifc?- 8 Who are these that fly as a B. C. cir. 712. .' . Oiymp. xvii. 1. cloud, and as the doves to their cir. annum . -, .} Numae Pompilii, WllldoWS .' R. Roman., 4. g p gy^ely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, i to bring thy sons from far, ■■ their silver and their gold with them, "^ unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, ' be- cause he hath glorified thee. 1 0 And " the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, ' and their kings shall minister unto thee : for "" in my vwath I smote thee, ' but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. 11 Therefore thy gates ^ shall be open con- tinually ; they shall not be shut day nor nigjit ; that men may bring unto thee the ^ forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may he brought. 12 "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish ; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. 13 ^ The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanc- tuary; and I will make " the place of my feet glorious. 14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee ; and all they p Psa. lixii. 10 ; chap. xlii. 4 ; li. 5. n Gal. iv. 26. ' Psa. btviii. 30; Zech. xiv. 14. »Jer. iii. 17. 'Chap. Iv. 5. " Zech. vi. 15. ' Chap. xlix. 23 ; Rev. xxi. 24. »' Chap. Ivii. 17. »Chap. liv. 7, 8. jRev. xxi. 25. »0r, wealth; ver. 5. "Zech. xiv. 17, 19; Matt. xxi. 44. sanctification of the sacred name." This gives a very elegant and poetical turn to the image. It was a general notion that prevailed with sacrificers among the heathen, that the victim's being brought without reluctance to the altar was a good omen; and the contrary a bad one. Sabinos petit aliquanto tristior; quod sacrificanti hostia aufugerat. Sueton. Titus, cap. X. Accessit dirum omen, profugus altaribus taurus. " It was an omen of dreadful portent when the victim fled away from the altar." Tacit. Hist, iii. 56. — L. Verse 8. And as the doves to their u'indows — " And like doves upon the wingV] Instead of Sx el, to, forty-two MSS. of Kennicott^s, and one of mine, have 7^ al, upon. For QD'HIIN aruhboteyhem, their win- doios, read Orrm^X ehrotheyhem, their wings, trans- posing a letter. — Houbigant. The Septuagint render it tfuv vsofftfoif, " with their young ;" they read Qn'mSN ephrocheyhem, nearer to the latter than to the present reading. — L. Verse 9. The ships of Tarshish first — "The ships of Tarshish among the first"] For DjB'.SI^ barishonah twenty-five M.SS. and the Syriac read n:"iJ'N13:J keba- rishonah, " as at the first." The ships of Tarshish .\s 226 that despised thee shall -ibow %^c''^';^1f- themselves down at the soles of oiymp. xVii. i. thy feet ; and they shall call thee, Numae Pompiiu, The city of the Lord, " the Zion ^- ^°'°^' •*■ of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, 1 will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, ^ and shalt suck the breast of kings ■ and thou shalt know that ^ I the Lord a7?i thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron : I will also make thy ofl&cers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy bor ders ; but thou shalt call ""thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19 The ' sun shall be no more thy light by day ; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and '' thy God thy glory. 20 ' Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither bChap. XXXV. 2; xli. 19. = See 1 Chron. xxviii, 2; Psa cxxxii. 7. Psa. xXv. ' Chap. xlii. 7 ; see Jer. NOTES ON CHAP. LXI. Verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me — " The Spirit of Jehovah is upon me"] The Septua- gint, Vulgate, and St. Luke, (chap. iv. 18,) and a MS., and two old editions omit the word "jnx Adonai, the Lord ; which was probably added to the text through the superstition of the Jews, to prevent the oronunciation of the word niH' Yehovah following. See Kennicott on the state of the printed Hebrew text, Tol. i., p. 510. In most of Isaiah's prophecies there is a primary and secondary sense, or a remote subject illustrated by one that is near. The deliverance of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon is constantly used to shadow- forth the salvation of men by Jesus Christ. Even the prophet himself is a typical person, and is sometimes intended to represent the great Saviour. It is evident from Luke iv. 18 tliat thi.s is a prophecy of our blessed Loi\l and his preaching ; and yet it is as evident that •See Lev. xxv. 9. rChap. xxxiv. 8; Ixiii. 4; Iivi. 14; Mai. iv. ], 3; 2 Thess. i. 7, 8, 9. eChap. Ivii. 18; Matt. v. 4. it primarily refers to Isaiah preaching the glad tidings of deliverance to the Jews. The opening of the prison — " Perfect liberty"] nip np3 pekach koach. Ten MSS. of Kennicott's, several of De Rossi's, and one of my own, with the Complutensian, have nmu^s pekachkoach in one word ; and so the Septuagint and Vulgate appear to have taken it : not merely opening of prisons, but every kind of liberty — complete redemption. The proclaiming of perfect liberty to the bound, and the year of acceptance with Jehovah, is a manifest allusion to the proclaiming of the year of jubilee by sound of trumpet. See Lev. xxv. 9, &c. This was a year of general release of debts and obliga- tions, of bondmen and bondwomen, of lands and possessions which had been sold from the families and tribes to which they belonged. Our Saviour, by applying this text to himself, (Luke iv. 18, 19,) a text so manifestly relating to the institution above 227 Gracious promises ISAIAH. made to Israel. A^M.cir. 3m 3 To appoint unto them that oiymp.xvii. i. mourn in Zion, ''to give unto NumiE Pompilii, them beauty for ashes, the oil R. Roman., 4. of-joy for mouming, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ; that they might be called trees of righteousness, ' the planting of the Lord, ^ that he might be glorified. 4 And they shall 'build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. l Psa. XXX. 11. ' Chap. Ix. 21. k John xv. 8. ' Chap. xlix. 8; Iviii. 12; Ezek. xxxvi. 33, 36. " Eph. ii. 12. mentioned, plainly declares the typical design of that institution. Verse 3. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion — " To impart gladness to the mourners of Zion"] A word necessary to the sense is certainly lost in this place, of which the ancient Versions have preserved no traces. Houbigant, by conjecture, inserts the word \WZt sason, gladness, taken from the line next but one below, where it stands opposed to '7DX ehel, sorroto or mouming, as the word lost here was to '''73N aheley, mourners : I follow him. — L. Beauty for ashes — " A beautiful crovra instead of ashes"] In times of mourning the Jews put on sack- cloth, or coarse and sordid raiment, and spread dust and ashes on their heads ; on the contrary, splendid clothing and ointment poured on the head were the signs of joy. " Feign thyself to be a mourner," says Joab to the woman of Tekoah, " and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil," 2 Sam. xiv. 8. These customs are at large expressed in the Book of Judith : " She pulled off the sack- cloth which she had on, and put off the garments of her widowhood, and washed her body all over with water and anointed herself with precious ointment, and braided the hair of her head, and put on a tire [mitre, marg.] upon it ; and put on her garments of gladness ;" chap. x. 3. — L. laX nnn IND peer tachath ephar, glory for ashes ; a paronomasia which the prophet often uses : a chaplet, crown, or other ornament of the head (for so the Vul- gate renders the word here and in the 10th verse; in which last place the Septuagint agree in the same rendering,) instead of dust and ashes, which before covered it ; and the costly ointments used on occa- sions of festivity, instead of the ensigns of sorrow.- — L. Trees of righteousness — " Trees approved"] Heb. oaks of righteousness or truth ; that is, such as by their flourishing condition should show that they were indeeed " the scion of God's planting, and the work of his hands ;" under which images, in the preceding chapter, ver. 21, the true servants of God, in a highly improved state of the Church, were represented ; that is, says Vitringa on that place, " coimnendable for the strength of their faith, their durability, and firmness." Verse 4. "And they that spring from thee"] A word is lost here likewise. After 1J21 ubanu, " they 22 S 5 And " strangers shall stand ^- M- cir. 3292. ° B. C. cir. 712. and feed your flocks, and the oiymp. xvii. i. CI ,. 7 77 7 cir- annum sons ot the alien shaU be your Numa; PompUii, ploughmen and your vinedressers. Rom'"'-. *■ 6 ° But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God : ° ye shall eat the riches of the Gen- tiles, and in their glory shall ye boast your- selves. 7 P For your shame ye shall have double ; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion : therefore in their land they shall i " Exod. xix. 6 ; chap. Ix. 17 ; ixvi. 21 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9 ; Rev. i. 6 ; v. 10. o Chap. Ix. 5, 11, 16. P Chap. xl. 2 ; Zech. ix. 12. shall build," add "jOD m/mmecAa, they that spring from thee. Four MSS. have it so, (two of them ancient,) and one of mine has it in the margin, and it is con firmed by chap. Iviii. 12, where the sentence is the very same, this word being here added. Kimchi makes the same remark : " the word "]on mimmecha is omit- ted here ; but is found in chap. Iviii. 12." The desolations of many generations'] It seems that these words cannot refer to the Jews in the Babylonish captivity, for they were not there many generations ; but it may refer to their dispersions and state of ruin since the advent of our Lord; and conse- quently this may be a promise of the restoration of the Jewish people. Verse 5. Strangers shall — feed your flocks] Gen- tiles shall first preach to you the salvation of Christ, and feed with Divine knowledge the Jewish congre- gations. Verse 7. For your shame — " Instead of your shame"] The translation of this verse, which is very confused, and probably corrupted in the Hebrew, is taken from the Syriac Version ; except that the latter has not expressed the word nJCO mishneh, double, in the first place. Five MSS. add the conjunction 1 vau to nnsty simchath. The Syriac reads IJin taronnu, and VkyiTl tirashu, in the second person, " ye shall re- joice, ye shall inherit." And for UT\h lahem, to them, two MSS., (one of them ancient,) three of De Rossi's, and the Syriac, read ddS lachem, to you, in the second person likewise. The Version of the Septuagint is imperfect in this place ; the first half of the verse is entirely omitted in all the printed copies. It is supplied by MSS. Pa- chom. and i. D. ii. in the foDowing manner : — Avri ir»ij mdyyvri:; ij(j[,£»jv Tr\g Si'^'ki);, Kai avTi TYis 6vrpoT,>j? ayaXXiaffsrai rj /j-Epij aUTCJV Ala ToUTo rriM y*]V auruv sx &svrspo\j — " Instead of your shame ye shall have double. And instead of youi confusion their portion shall rejoice ; Therefore, they shall possess their land a second time." In which the two MSS. agree, except thai i. D. n. has by mistake iifj-s^af, day, for i) (A6f if, the part. And Cod. Gracious promises CHAP. LXll. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numa: Ponipllii, R. Roman., 4. possess the double : everlasting joy shall be unto them. 8 For "I I the Lord love judg- ment, ' I hale robbery for burnt- offering ; and I will direct their work in truth, ' and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people : all that see them shall acknowledge them, ' that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. 10 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my made to Israel. 3292. •iPsa. _.. .. xli. 7; xiii. 15; chap. Uy. 23. — 'Chap. i. 11, 13. 'Chap. Iv. 3. iGen. XV. 18 ; xvii. 8 ; xxiv. 7 ; xxvi. 3 ; xxtuI. 4, 13 ; Marchal., in the margin, has pretty nearly the same supplement as from Thcodotion. — L. Verse 8. / hate robbery, for burnt-offering — " Who hate rapine and iniquity"] The S'/riac, and Chaldee prefix the conjunction 1 raw, instead of the preposition 3 beth, to nbll' olah, which the)' render iniquity or oppression ; and so the Sepluagint, aSixia;. The dif- ference lies in the punctuation ; n7li'3 beolah, in a burnt-offering, nSl>'3 beavelah, in iniquity. The let- ters are the same in both words. Five of De Rossi's MSS. confirm this reading. Verse 9. Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles] Both Jews and Gentiles are to make but onefold under one shepherd, Christ Jesus. But still, notwithstanding this, they may retain their peculiarity and national distinction ; so that though they are known to be Christians, yet they shall appear to be converted Jews. After their conversion to Christianity this will necessarily be the case for a long time. Strange nations are not so speedily amalgamated, as to lose their peculiar cast of features, and other national distinctions. Verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord] These may be the words of the Jews now converted, and soul shall be joyful in my God; ^^';<=''- ■„„ ■' ■' •^ B. C. cir. 712. for ^lie hath clothed me with the oiymp.xvii. i. garments oi salvation, he natli Numx PompiUi, covered me with the robe of ^- '""'"""' ■* righteousness, " as a bridegroom ^ decketh hi?/iself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 1 1 For as the earth bringclh forth her bud, and as the garden canseth the things that are sown in it to spring forth ; so the Lord God will cause >' righteousness and ^ praise to spring forth before all the nations. " Hab. iii. 18. • Psa. cxxxii. 9, 16. " Chap. xlix. 18 ; Rev. xxi. 2. » Heb. decketh as priest. y Psa. Ixxii. 3 ; Ixxxv. 11. « Chap. Ix. 18 ; Ixii. 7. brought into the Church of Christ, and with the Gentiles made fellow heirs of the blessings of the new covenant. As a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments — " As the bridegroom decketh himself with a priestly crowTi"] An allusion to the magnificent dress of the high priest, when performing his functions ; and par- ticularly to the mitre, and crown or plate of gold on the front of it, Exod. xxix. 6. The bonnet or mitre of the priests also was made, as Moses expresses it, " for glory and for beauty," Exod. xxviii. 40. It is difficult to give its full force to the prophet's meta- phor in another language. The version of Aquila and Sijmmachus comes nearest to it : us vu(A(pi(iv iepaTSuo- (aSvov (TTS^avij- " as a bridegroom decked with a priestly crown." — L. Verse 1 1 . The Lord God — " The Lord Jehovah"] " "JIX Adonai, the Lord, makes the line longer than the preceding and following ; and the Septuagint, Alexan- drian, (and MS.S. Pachom. and i. D. n.,) and Arabic, do not so render it. Hence it seems to be interpolated." — Dr. Jl'bb. Three MSS. have it not. See on ver. 1 of this chapter. Both words niD' '31X Adonai Ye- Aoia/i, are wanting in one of my MSS. ; but are supplied in the margin by a later hand CHAPTER LXIL The prophet opens this chapter with ardent prayers that the happy period of reconciliation just noiD pro- mised, and here again foretold, may be hastened, 1-5. He then calls upon the faithful, particularly the priests and Levites, to join him, urging the promises, and even the oath, of Jehovah, as the foundation of their request, 6-9. And, relying on this oath, he goes on to speak of the general restoration promised, as already performing ; and calls to the people to march forth, and to the various nations among whom they are dispersed to prepare the way for them, as God had caused the order for their return to be universally proclaimed, 10-12. A.M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum NumEB Pompilii, R. RomaD., 4. pOR Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusa- lem's sake ^I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth ■Ver. 7. NOTES ON CHAP. LXII. A'erse 1 . For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace] These are the words of Jehotab declaring his pur- as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. 2 ""And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numae Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. b Chap. Ix. 3. pose relative to the events predicted in the preceding chapter. Thou shah be called by a new name] Viz., Chris S99 Jews and Gentiles shall be united ISAIAH. to God, and made one people. Olymp. XVII. 1. called by a new name, which Numse Pompiiii, the mouth of the Lord shall R. Roman., 4. „„„.« 3 Thou shall also be "* a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. 4 ' Thou shalt no more be termed ^ Forsaken ; neither shall thy land any more be termed s Desolate : but thou shalt be called ■■ Hephzi- bah, and thy land ' Beulah : for the Lord de- lighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. <^ See ver. 4, 12 ; chap. Ixv. 1 5. J Zech. ix. 16. ' Hos. i. 10 ; 1 Pet. ii. 10. rChap. xlix. 14; liv. 6,7. gChap. liv. 1. t That is, My delight is in her. ' That is, Married. TiAN — or, as in the fourth verse, T^2 'S2n chephtsi bah, " my dehght is in her" — because she has now received that command, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear him." Verse 4. Thy land Beulah] nSiyi beulah, married. In the prophets, a desolate land is represented under the notion of a widow ; an inhabited land, under that of a married woman, who has both a husband and children. Verse 5. For s.s a young man — so] The particles of comparison are not at present in the Hebrew Text : but the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee seem to have read in their copies 2 caph prefixed to the verb, iyy2 O ki Jceyibal, which seems to have been omit- ted by mistake of a transcriber, occasioned by the repetition of the same two letters. And before the verb in the second line a MS. adds \3 hen, so ; which the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee seem also to have had in their copies. In the third line of this verse the same MS. has in like manner ^\i/^a02'\ vechim- sos, and two MSS. and the Babylonish Talmud Cltyi^D hmsos, adding the 2 caph ; and in the fourth line, the Babylonish Talmud likewise adds p hen, so, before the verb. Sir John Chardin, in his note on this place, tells us, ■* that it is the custom in the east for youths, that were never married, always to marry virgins ; and widowers, however young, to marry widows." — Harmer, Observ. ii p. 482. So shall thy sons marry thee.] For yn banayich, thy sons, Bishop Lowth reads, restorer or builder, as he does not consider the word as the plural of p ben, a son, but the participle benoni of the verb nJ3 lanah, lie built. I do not see that we gain much by this trans- lation. Thy sons shall dwell in thee, Vulgate; and so the Septuagint and Chaldee. Verse 6. Ye that mahe mention of the Lord, heep not silence] The faithful, and in particular the priests and Levites, are exhorted by the prophet to beseech God with unremitted importunity (compare Luke xviii. 1, &c.) to hasten the redemption of Sion. The image in this place is taken from the temple service ; in which there was appointed a constant watch, day and night, by the Levites : and among them this seems to have belonged particularly to the singers, see 1 Chron. ix. 930 5 For as a young man marrieth ^i,^- '^'.'■- ^^■ JO B. C. cir. 712. a virgin, so shall thy sons marry Oiymp xvii. i. , , , 11-1 *^ir. annum thee : and " as the bridegroom re- Numa: Pompiiii, joiceth over the bride, so i shall "' ^°'°^°- *■ thy God rejoice over thee. 6 " I have set watchmen upon thy walls, 0 Jerusalem, lohich shall never hold their peace day nor night : " ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, 7 And give him no " rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem p a praise in the earth. k Heb.UfiM the joy oftkebrid^groom. ^Chap. ixv. 19. m Ezelt. iii. 17; xxxiii. 7. "Or, ye that are the LORD' S remembrancers. "Heb. silence. p Chap. Ixi. 11 ; Zeph. iii. 20. 33. Now the watches in the east, even to this day, are performed by a loud cry from time to time of the watch- men, to mark the time, and that very frequently, and in order to show that they themselves are constantly attentive to their duty. Hence the watchmen are said by the prophet, chap. Iii. 8, to lift up their voice ; and here they are commanded, not to keep silence ; and the greatest reproach to them is, that they are dumb dogs ; they cannot hark ; dreamers ; sluggards, loving to slum- ber, chap. Ivi. 10. "The watchmen in the camp of the caravans go their rounds crying one after another, ' God is one, he is merciful :' and often add, ' Take heed to yourselves.' " Tavernier, Voyage de Perse, Liv. i. chap. x. The hundred and thirty-fourth Psalm gives us an example of the temple watch. The whole Psalm is nothing more than the alternate crj' of two different divisions of the watch. The first watch ad- dresses the second, reminding them of their duty ; the second answers by a solemn blessing. The address and the answer seem both to be a set form, which each division proclaimed, or sung aloud, at stated intervals, to notify the time of the night : — First Chorus. " Come on now, bless ye Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah ; Ye that stand in the house of Jehovah in the nights; Lift up your hands towards the sanctuary. And bless ye Jehovah." Seco.n'd Chorus. "Jehovah bless thee out of Sion; He that made heaven and earth." "Ye who stand in the place of the watch, in the house of the sanctuary of the Lord ; and ye praise through the nights ;" — says the Chaldee paraphrase on the second line. And this explains what is here particu- larly meant by proclaiming, or making remembrance of, the name of Jehovah : the form, which the watch made use of on these occasions, was always a short sentence, expressing some pious sentiment, of \\hich Jehovah was the subject ; and it is remarkable, that the custom in the ^^ast in this respect also still conti- nues the very same ; as appears by the example above given from Tavernier. The future restm-ation CHAP. LXII. of the Jews. \, *i- ""■ !-5- 8 The Lord hath sworn by liis B. C. cir. 712. •' Oiymp. XVII. 1. riglit hand, and by the arm of his <.ir. nnnuin , r^ i t -n NunL-uPompiiii, Strength, iSiirclyl will no more R. Roman., ■>. r gjyg ^]jy ^0171 to be meat for thine enemies ; and tlie sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured : 9 But they that have gatiiered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord ; and they that have brought it together shall drink it 'in the courts of my holiness. 10 Go through, go tlirough the gates; 'pre- iHeb. If I give, tie. 'Deut. xxix. 31, &c. ; Jer. v. 17. •See Deut. xii. 12; xiv. 23,26; xvi. 11, 14. iChap. xl. 3; Ivii. 14. And this observation leads to the explanation of an obscure passage in the Prophet Malaclii, chap. ii. 12. " Jehovah will cut off the man that doeth this ; The watchman and the answerer, from the taberna- cles of Jacob ; And him that presenteth an offering to Jehovah God of hosts." ruyi "ly er veoneh, the master and the scholar, says our translation, after the Vulgate : the son and the grand- son, says the Syriac and Chaldee, as little to the pur- pose : Arias Montanus has given it vigilantem et re- spondentem, " the watchman and the answerer ;" that is, the Levite and " him that presenteth an offering to Jehovah," that is, the priest. — L. Ye that make men- tion of the Lord, keep not silence. Is not this clause an address to the ministers of Christ, to continue in supplication for the conversion of the Jewish people ? Kimchi seems to think that the watchmen are the inter- ceding angels ! Verse 9. But Iheij that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord\ This and the following line have reference to the law of Moses : " Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil ; but thou must eat them before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose," Deut. xii. 17, 18. "And when ye shall come into the land, and shaU have planted aU manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised : three years it shall be as uncir- cumcised unto you ; it shall not be eaten of. But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the Lord withal. And in the fifth year ye shall eat the fruit thereof," Lev. xix. 23-25. This clearly explains the force of the expressions, " shall praise Jehovah," and " shall drink it in my sacred courts." Five MSS., one ancient, have ini'^JX' yocheluhu, they shall eat it, fully expressed : and so lilcewise imntS''' yishtuhu, they shall drink it, is found in nine- teen MSS., three of them ancient. — L. pare ye the way of the people ; *• ^J; <=''• ^2M. cast up, cast up the highway; oiymp. xvii. i. gather out the stones ; " lift up a Num^'pomlliiu, standard for the people. ^- '^'""''" ' "■ 1 1 Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, ''Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, lliy salvation comelh; behold, his ™ reward is with him, and his ^ work be fore him. 1 2 And they shall call them, The holy peo pie. The redeemed of the Lord : and thou shall be called, Sought out, A city ^ not forsaken. "Chap. xi. 12. "Zech. ix. 9; Matt. xxi. 5; John xii. 15. "Chap. xl. 10; Rev. xxii. 12. ^ Or, recompenae. y Ver. 4. Verse 10. Of the people — " For the people"] Be- fore the word Di'n haam, the people, two MSS. insert TWTV Yehovah; one MS. adds the same word after; and eight M.S.S., three ancient, instead of Di'n haam, have DliT Yehovah, and so likewise one edition. But though it makes a good sense either way, I believe it to be an interpolation, as the ancient Versions do not fa- vour it. The Septuagint indeed read 'D;? ammi, my people. — L. Verse 11. Unto the end of the world — '('-(Nn nvp bn el kelsch haarets — Instead of Sx el, to, -\y ad, unto, is the reading of two of KennicotCs MSS. ; and one of mine has n'i'p:^ mikketseh, "from the end of the earth." Behold, thy salvation cometh — " Lo, thy Saviour Cometh"] So all the ancient Versions render the word 1>'iy yishech. Behold, his reioard] See note on chap. xl. 10, 11. This reward he carries as it were in his hand. His work is before him — he perfectly knows what is to be done ; and is perfectly able to do it. He will do what God should do, and what man cannot do ; and men should be workers with him. Let no man fear that the promise shall not Ije fulfilled on account of its dif- ficulty, its greatness, the hinderances in the way, or the unworthiness of the person to whom it is made. It ia God's work ; he is able to do it, and as willing as he is able. Verse 12. They shall call them — These character- istics seem to be put in their inverted order. — 1. God will nol forsake them. 2. They shall be sought out. 3. They shall be redeemed. And, 4. Be in conse- quence a holy people. 1. When God calls, it is a proof that he has not forsaken. 2. When he seeks, it is a proof he is waiting to be gracious. 3. ^\^len the atonement is exhibited, all things are then ready. 4. And when that is received, holiness of heart and life is then to be kept continually in view, as this is the genu- ine work of God's Spirit ; and without holiness none shall see the Lord. 831 description of a ISAIAH. mighty Conqueror CHAPTER LXIII. The prophet, {or rather the Church he represents,) sees the great Deliverer, long promtsed and expected, making his appearance, after having crushed his enemies, like grapes in the wine-vat. The comparison suggests a lively idea of the wrath of Omnipotence, lohich its unhappy objects can no more resist than the grapes can resist the treader. Indeed, there is so much pathos, energy, and sublimity in this remarkable passage, as hardly any thing can be conceived to exceed. The period to which it refers must be the same with that predicted in the nineteenth chapter of the Revelation, some parts of which are expressed in the same terms ivith this, and plainly enough refer to the very sudden and total overthroiv of Antichrist, and of all his adherents and auxiliaries, of which the destruction of Babylon, the capital of Chaldea, and of Bozra, the chief city of the Edomites, tvas the prototype, 1-6. At the seventh verse commences a peni- tential confession and supplication of the Jeivs, as uttered in their present dispersion, 7-19. A. M . cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum NumEe Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. T^T^HO is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? this that is =' glo- rious in his apparel, travelling in »Heb. decked. The very remarkable passage with which this chap- ter begins seems to me to be, in a manner, detached from the rest, and to stand singly by itself; having no immediate connexion with what goes before, or with what follows, otherwise than as it may pursue the ge- neral design, and stand in its proper place in the order of prophecy. It is by many learned interpreters sup- posed that Judas Maccabeus and his victories make the subject of it. What claim Judas can have to so great an honour will, I think, be very difficult to make out ; or how the attributes of the great person introduced can possibly suit him. Could Judas call himself the announcer of righteousness, mighty to save ? Could he talk of the day of vengeance being iti his heart, and the year of his redeemed being come ? or that his own arm wrought salvation for him? Besides, what were the great exploits of Judas in regard to the Idumeans "! He overcame them in battle, and slew twent)' thousand of them. And John H3rrcanus, his brother Simon's son and successor, who is called in to help out the accomplishment of the prophecy, gave them another defeat some time afterward, and compelled them by force to become proselytes to the Jewish religion, and to submit to circumcision : after which they were in- corporated with the Jews, and became one people with them. Are these events adequate to the prophet's lofty prediction \ Was it so great an action to win a battle with considerable slaughter of the enemy, or to force a whole nation by dint of the sword into Judaism ? or was the conversion of the Idumeans, however effected, and their admission into the Church of God, equivalent to a most grievous judgment and destruction, threaten- ed in the severest terms ? But here is another very material circumstance to be considered, which, I pre- sume, entirely excludes Judas Maccabeus, and even the Idumeans, properly so called. For the Idumea of the prophet's time was quite a different country from that which Judas conquered. For during the Babylon- ish captivity the Nabatheans had driven the Edomites out of their country ; who upon that took possession of the southern parts of Judea, and settled themselves there ; that is, in the country of the whole tribe of Simeon, and in half of that of Judah. See Prideaux, 233 the greatness of his strength ? I ^ 'l^- '=^^ ^^^j^^. that speak in righteousness, Oiymp. xvii.i. . , cir. annum mighty to save. Numa PompiUi b,„.f *7.^,, ^^^ i« R. Roman., 4. 2 Wherefore ^art thou red in bRev. xix. 13. ad. an. 740 and 165. And the metropolis of the Edomites, and of the country thence called Idumea, which Judas took, was Hebron, 1 Mace. v. 65, not Bozrah. I conclude, therefore, that this prophecy has not the least relation to Judas Maccabeus. It may be asked, to whom, and to what event does it relate 1 I can only answer, that I know of no event in history to which, from its importance and circumstances, it can be ap- ' plied : unless, perhaps, to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity ; which in the Gospel is called the coming of Christ and the days of vengeance. Matt, xvi. 28 ; Luke xxi. 22. But though this prophecy : must have its accomplishment, there is no necessity for supposing that it has been already accomplished. There are prophecies, which intimate a great slaughter of the enemies of God and his people, which remain to be fulfilled ; these in Ezekiel, chap, xxxviii., and in the Revelation of St. John, chap, xx., are called Gog and Magog. This prophecy of Isaiah may possibly refer to the same or the like event. We need not be at a loss to determine the person who is here intro- duced, as stained with treading the wine-press, if we consider how St. John in the Revelation has applied this image of the prophet, Rev. xix. 13, 15, 16. Com- pare chap, xxxiv. — L. NOTES ON CHAP. LXIII. Verse 1. Who is this that cometh from Edom] i Probably both Edom and Bozrah are only figurative expressions, to point out the place in which God should discomfit his enemies. Edom signifies red, and Bozrah, a vintage. Kimchi interprets the whole of the destruction of Rome. / that speak in righteousness — " I who publish righteousness"] A MS. has innn hammedabber, with the demonstrative article added with greater force and emphasis : The announcer of righteousness. A MS. has nplV tsedakah, without 3 be prefixed ; and so the Septuagint and Vidgate. And thirty-eight MSS. (seven ancient) of Dr. Kennicott^s, and many of De Rossi's, and one of my own, add the conjunction 1 vau to 31 rab, and mighty ; which the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vidgate confirm.- — L. A mighty Conqueror and A. M. cir. 3292. ji^j^g apparel, and thy earments B. C. cir. 712. , . , 1 , • 1 Olymp. XVII. 1. like lum that treadetli in the cir. annum . r . -j Numaj Pompilii, Wine tat ! R. Romim.. 4. 3 j j,^yg <= trodden the wine- press alone ; and of the people there was none with me : for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample ihcm in my fury ; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. 4 For the '' day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. 5 "And I looked, and ' there was none to help ; and I wondered that there was none to cLam. i. 15; Rev. xiv. 19, 20; xix. 15. \2hh lilehusheeha, twenly-nine MSS. {nine an- cient) oi KenmcotCs, and Ihirti/ o( De RossCs, and one edition, have ytyuSS Itlehusheycha in the plural ; so the Septuagint and Sijriac. And all the ancient Ver- sions read it with O mem, instead of the first h lamed. But the true reading is probably ■]B'u'7"D malbushecha in the singular, as in ver. 3. — L. A'erse 3. And of the people there was none with me] I was wholly abandoned by them : but a good meaning is. No man has had any part in making the atonement ; it is entirely the work of the Messiah alone. IS'o cre- ated being could have any part in a sacrifice that was to be of infinite merit. And I will stain — " And I have stained"] For ■i"l'7!' al hegadai, upon my garments, one of my ancient MSS. has nj3 "pxS laarels begadni, to the earth : but this word is partly effaced, and h},' al wTitten in the margin by a later hand. Verse 5. And my fury — " And mine indignation"] For ■n"3ni vachamalhi, nineteen MSS. (three ancient) of Kenmcott's, nine of De Rossi's, and one of mine, and four editions, have -nnnsi retsidkalhi, and my righteousness ; from chap. lix. 16, which I suppose the transcriber retained in his memory. It is true tliat the Versions are in favour of the common reading ; but that noticed above seems to stand on good autho- rity, and is a reading both pleasing and impiessive. uphold : therefore mine own e arm *g *^- ^'.'■- ^^• brought salvation unto me; and Oiymp. xvii. i. P . 111 cir. annum my fury, it upheld me. Numaj Pompilii, 6 And I will tread down the "■ ^°""'"- *■ people in mine anger, and '' make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to tiie earth. 7 I will mention the ' loving-kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses. fJohn xvi. 32.- -rgPsa. xcviii. 1 ; chap. lix. 16.- ' Psa. XXV. 6 ; ixxxix. 49. ^ Rev. xvi. 6. Opposite, in the margin, my MS. has the conunon reading by a later hand. Verse 6. And make them drunk in my fury — " And I crushed them in mine indignation"] For DIDB^J^I vaashkerem, and I made them drunken, twenty-seven MSS., (three ancient,) tivelve of De Rossi's, and the old edition of 1488, have D13tyNl vaashabherem, and I crushed them : and so the Syriac and Chaldee. The Septuagint have omitted this whole line. Verse 7. I loill mention the loving-kindnesses of the Lord] The prophet connects the preceding mercies of God to the Jews with the present prospect he has of their redemption by the Messiah ; thus making a circle in which eternal goodness revolves. The re- maining part of this chapter, with the whole chapter following, contains a penitential confession and suppli- cation of the Israelites in their present state of disper- sion, in which they have so long marvellously subsisted, and still continue to subsist, as a people ; cast out of their country ; without any proper form of civil polity or religious worship ; their temple destroyed, their city desolated and lost to them, and their whole nation scattered over the face of the earth, apparently desert- ed and cast off by the God of their fathers, as no longer liis peculiar people. They begin with acknowledging God's great mer- cies and favours to their nation, and the ungrateful returns made to them on their part, that by their dis- obedience they had forfeited the protection of God, and had caused him to become their adversary. And now the prophet represents them, induced by the me- mory of the great things that God had done for them, as addressing their humble supplication for the renewal of his mercies. They beseech him to regard them in consideration of his former loving kindness, they ac- knowledge him for then Father and Creator, they confess their wickedness and hardness of heart, they entreat his forgiveness, and deplore their present mise- rable condition under which they have so long suffered. It seems designed as a formulary of humiliation for the Israelites, in order to their conversion. The whole passage is in the elegiac form, pathetic and elegant ; but it has suffered much in our present copy by the mistakes of transcribers. 833 Go(Vs great mercies 'B^c'^cir 7if' ® For he said, Surely they are Oiymp. XVII. 1. my people, children that will not cir. annum ,. , ,i • ci • Numaj Pompiiii, lie : SO he was their bavionr. ^ ^°""'"- *■ 9 k In all their affliction he was afflicted, ^ and the angel of his presence saved them : " in his love and in his pity he redeem- ed them ; and ° he bare them, and carried them all the days .of old. 10 But they "rebelled, and p vexed his holy Spirit : i therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that ''brought them up out of the sea with the kjudg. X. 16; Zech.ii.8; Acts Ik. 4. ' Exod. xiv. 19 ; xxiii. 20, 21 ; xxxiii. 14; Mai. iii. 1 ; Acts xii. 11. mDeut.vii. 7, 8. "Exod. xix. 4; Deut. j. 31; xxxii. 11, 12; chap. xlvi. 3, 4. o Exod. XV. 24 ; Num. xiv. 1 1 ; Psa. Ixxviii. 56 ; xcv. 9. P Psa. Ixxviii. 40 ; Acts vii. 51 ; Eph. iv. 30. The praises of the Lord — " The praise of Jeho- vah"] For rilSnn tehil/olh, plural, twenty-nine MSS. (three ancient) and two editions, have n7nn tehillath, in the singular number ; and so the Vulgate renders it ; and one of the Greek versions, in the margin of Cod. Marchal. and in the text of MSS. Pachom and i. D. II. Tr)v oivstfiv Ku|iou, " the praise of the Lord." — L. Verses 8, 9. So he was their Saviour. In all their affliction — " And he became their Saviour in all their distress"] I have followed the translation of the Sep- tuagint in the latter part of the eighth, and the former part of the ninth verse ; which agrees with the present text, a little differently divided as to the members of the sentence. They read Sut) miecol, out of all, in- stead of '7D3 bechol, in all, which makes no difference in the sense ; and IV tsar they understand as I'S tsir. Kai lysttTO auToij eij tTwrripiav sx iratfris &X|^]^£WJ au- T6JV ou iffsajBvg, ou5s ayysKos- " And he was salva- tion to them in aU their tribulation ; neither an am- bassador nor an angel, but himself saved them." An angel of liis presence means an angel of superior order, in inmiediate attendance upon God. So the angel of the Lord says to Zacharias, " I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God," Luke i. 19. The presence of Jehovah, Exod. xxxiii. 14, 15, and the angel, Exod. xxxiii. 20, 21, is Jehovah himself; here an angel of his presence is opposed to Jehovah him- self, as an angel is in the following passages of the same book of Exodus. After their idolatrous wor- shipping of the golden calf, " when God had said to Moses, I will send an angel before thee — I will not go up in the midst of thee — the people mourned," Exod. xxxiii. 2—4. God afterwards comforts Moses, by saying, " My presence (that is, I myself in person, and not by an angel) will go with thee," ver. 14. Auroj TpO'i'o^suff'ofAai tfou, " I myself will go before thee," as the Septuagint render it. The MSS. and editions are much divided between the two readings of the text and margin in the com- mon copies, sS lo, not, and \h lo, to him. All the ancient Versions express the chetib reading, nS lo, not. And he bare them and carried them all tlie days of 234 ISAIAH. to Israel his people. ^ shepherd of his flock ? ' where ^ M. cir. 3292. '^ B. C. cir. 712. is he that put his holy Spirit oiymp. xvii. 1. ... , . « cir. annum Within him f Numa: PompiUi, 12 That led them by the right ^- "°'"^''- *■ hand of Moses, " with his g\orious arm, '' divid ing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name ? IS'" That led them through the deep as a horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble ? 14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest : so didst thou lead thy people, ^ to make thy- self a glorious name. lExod. xxiii. 21. >■ Exod. xiv. 30; xxxii. 11, 12 ; Num. xiv. 13, 14, &c. ; Jer. ii. 6. sQr, shepherds, as Psa. Ixxvii. 20. iNum. xL 17, 25 ; Neli. ix. 20 ; Dan. iv. 8 ; Hag. ii. 5. " Exod. XV. 6. ^Exod. xiv. 21; Josh. iii. 16. "Psa. cvi. 9. J 2 Sam vii. 23. old — " And he took them up, and he bore them, all the days of old."] See the note on chap. xlvi. 3. — L. Verse 10. And he fought against them] Twenty-six MSS. {ten ancient) and the frst edition, wiiti another, add the conjunction 1 z'aw, Nini I'ehu, and he. Verse 1 1 . Moses and his people — " Moses his ser- vant"] For my ammo, his people, two MSS. (one of them ancient) and one of my own, (ancient,) and one of De Rossi^s, and the old edition of 1488, and the Syriac, read naj' abdo, his servant. These two words have been mistaken one for the other in other places ; Psa. Ixxviii. 71, and Lxxx. 5, for IDJ^ ammo, his peo- ple, and ■]DJ' ammecha, thy people, the Septuagint read n31' abdo, his servant, and "|T3J? abdecha, thy servant. Where is he that brought them up out of the sea ivith the shepherd of his flock ? ivhere, (^c. — " How he brought them up from the sea, with the shepherd of his flock ; how," &c.] For rT'N aiyeh, how, interro- gative, twice, the Syriac Version reads ys eich, how, without interrogation, as that particle is used in the Syriac language, and sometimes in the Hebrew. See Ruth iii. 18 ; Eccles. ii. 16. The shepherd of his flock] That is, Moses. The MSS. and editions vary in this word; some have it nj'T roeh, in the singular number ; so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee. Others "yi roey, plural, the shepherds. — L. Verses 13, 14. That led them through the deep — As a beast goeth doum into the valley] In both these verses there is an allusion to the Israelites going through the Red Sea, in the bottom of which they found no more inconvenience than a horse would in running in the desert, where there was neither stone nor mud ; nor a beast in the valley, where all was plain and smooth. Averse 14. The Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest — " The Spirit of Jehovah conducted them"] For Un'ji^ tenichcnnii, caused him lo rest, the Septuagint have £l)6>)y' Jer. xxxi. 20 ; Hos. xi. 8. <= Deut. xxxLi. 6 ; 1 Chron. xxix. 10 ; chap. liiv. 8. ^ Job xiv. 21 ; Eccles. ix. 5. • Or, our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name. A'erse 15. And thy strength — "And thy mighty power"] For yniUJ geburotheycha, plural, thirty-two MSS. {seveti ancient) and twenty-one of De Rossi's, and seven editions, have ■]mi2J geburathecha, singular. Are they restrained .'] For "Sx elai, from (or in re- gard to) me, the Septuaginl and Syriac read lyiS eleynu, from us. — L. Verse 16. Our Redeemer ; thy name is from ever- t'asting — " O deliver us for the sake of thy name."] The present text reads, as our translation has render- ed it, " Our Redeemer, thy name is from everlasting." But instead of d'?!"^ meolam, from everlasting, an ancient MS. has \y"yi lemaan, for the sake of, which gives a much better sense. To show the impropriety of the present reading, it is sufficient to observe, that the Septuagint and Syriac translators thought it ne- cessary to add 1J"'7>' aleynu, upon tis, to make out the sense ; That is, " Thy name is upon us, or we are called by thy name, from of old." And the Septua- gint have rendered uSxj goalenu, in the imperative mood, fjuffai »)fji.a«:, deliver us. — L. Verse 17. Why hast thou made us to err] A mere Hebraiim, for why hast thou permitted us to err. So, CHAP. LXIV. of the captive Jews 17 O Lord, why hast thou ^^l^'"'^,^ ' made us to err from thy ways, Oiymp. xvii. i and 8 hardened our heart from Numae Pompim thy fear? » Return, for thy "' "°°"'" ■ *■ servants' sake, the tribes of thine inherit- ance. 18 'The people of thy holiness have pos- sessed it but a little while : '' our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. 1 9 We are thine : thou never barest rule over them : ' they were not called by thy name. cPsa. cxix. 10. g See chap. vi. 10, with John xii. 40 ; Rom. ix. 18. !> Num. X. 36 ; Psa. xc. 13. ' Deut. vii. 6 ; xivi. 19 ; chap. Ixii. 12 ; Dan. viii. 24. ^ Psa. Ixxiv. 7. ' Or, thy name was not called upon them ; chap. Ixv. 1. Lead us not into temptation ; do not suffer us to fall into that to which we are tempted. Verse 18. The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little ivhile — "It is little that they have taken possession of thy holy mountain"] The difficulty of the construction in this place is acknowledged on all hands. Vitringa prefers that sense as the least excep- tionable wliich our translation has expressed ; in which however there seems to be a great defect ; that is, the want of what in the speaker's view must have been the principal part of the proposition, the object of the verb, the land, or it, as our translators supply it, which surely ought to have been expressed, and not to have been left to be supplied by the reader. In a word, I believe there is some mistake in the test ; and here the Septuagint help us out ; they had in their copy in har, mountain, instead of Di' am, people, tou opoui; roa otjiou tfou, the mountain of thy Holy One. " Not only have our enemies taken possession of Mount Sion, and trodden down thy sanctuary ; even far worse than this has befallen us ; thou hast long since utterly cast us off, and dost not consider us as thv peculiar peo pie."— L. CHAPTER LXIV. The whole of this chapter, which is very pathetic and tender, may be considered as a formulary of prayer and humiliation intended for the Jews in order to their conversion, 1-12. ^E.G'.'^ir^?' O '^^^ ^''°" woiildest ^Tend 2 As ivhen Mhe melting fire ^^ '^c ""cir 7^?" Olymp. xvii.i. the heavens, that thou would- ' burneth, the fire canseth the oiymp. xvii. i. cir. annum , i , v. i -i i i cir- annum NumsB Pompiiii, est come down, that the "moun- 1 waters to boil, to make thy name Numa; Pompilii, R^Roman.. 4. ^^^j^g j^gj^^ ^^^ j^^^ ^^ ^j^^ I j-no^-n to thine adversaries, that «■ «°°"°- ■*■ presence. ■Psa. cxUv. 5. b Juag. >. 5 ; Mic. i. 4. I the nations may tremble at thy presence ! I ^ Heb. the fire of meltings. AVhich is NOTES ON CHAP. LXIV. Rabbi Jonah, apud Sal. ben Melee in loc. Verse 1. O that thou wouldest rend the heavens — approved by Schultens, Orig. Heb. p. 30. This seems to allude to the wonderful manifestation " The fire kindling the stubble does not seem like of God upon Mount .Sinai. enough to the melting of the mountains to be brought Verse 2. .is when the melting fire burneth — " As ^ ^ simile to it. What if thus ? — the fire kindleth the dry fuel"] D'^on hamasim. " It ! ' That the mountains might flow down at thy pr means dry stubble, and the root \a 33n hamas," says sence ! 836 The confession ISAIAH. of the Jews. *i *J; "'■ 2?^^- 3 When ■> thou didst terrible B. C. cir. 712. , , 1 c Oiymp. XVII. 1. things which we looked not lor, cir. annum , ^ t ^. ^ ■ Numse Pompiiii, thou camest down, the mountains R. Roman., 4. flo^rgd down at thy presence. 4 For since the beginning of the world " ?wen have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, ^Exod. xxxiv. 10; Judg. v. 4, 5 ; Psa. Ixviii. 8; Hab. iii. 3, 6. « Psa. jutxi. 19 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9. As the fire of things smelted buineth, As the fire eauseth the waters to boil — ' There is no doubt of the Hebrew words of the second line bearing that version." — Dr. Jubb. I subniit these different interpretations to the reader's Judgment. For my own part I am inclined to think that the text is much corrupted in this place. The ancient Versions have not the least traces of either of the above interpretations. The Septuagint and Sy- riac agree exactly together in rendering this line by, " As the wax melteth before the fire," which can by no means be reconciled with the present text. The Vulgate, for D'Dnn hamasim, read IDS" yemasu. That the nations] For D'U goyim, the nations, four MSS. (one of them ancient) have W\T\ harim, the mountains. — L. Verse 4. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard — " For never have men heard"] St. Paul is generally supposed to have quoted this passage of Isaiah, 1 Cor. ii. 9 ; and Clemens Romanus in his first epistle has made the same quotation, very nearly in the same words with the apostle. But the citation is so very different both from the Hebrew text and the version of the Septuagint, that it seems very difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile them by any literal emendation, without going beyond the bounds of tem- perate criticism. One clause, " neither hath it enter- ed into the heart of man," (which, by the way, is a phrase purely Hebrew, iS Sv nSi' alah al leb, and should seem to belong to the prophet,) is wholly left out ; and another is repeated without force or pro- priety ; viz., " nor perceived by the ear," after, " never have heard :" and the sense and expression of the apostle is far preferable to that of the Hebrew text. Under these difficulties I am at a loss what to do bet- ter, than to offer to the reader this, perhaps disagree- able, alternative : either to consider the Hebrew text and Septuagint in this place as wilfully disguised and corrupted by the Jews ; of which practice in regard to other quotations in the New Testament from the Old, they lie under strong suspicions, (see Dr. Owen on the version of the Septuagint, sect, vi.— ix. ;) or to look upon St. Paul's quotation as not made from Isaiah, but from one or other of the two apocryphal books, entitled. The Ascension of Esaiah, and the Apocalypse of Elias, in both of which tliis passage was found ; and the apostle is by some supposed in other places to have quoted such apocryphal wTitings. As the first of these conclusions will perhaps not easily be admit- ted by many, so I must fairly warn my readers that the second is treated by Jerome as little better than heresy. See his comment on this place of Isaiah. — L. f would read the whole verse thus ; " Yea, from the 836 neither hath the eye 'seen, O *; M- <="•• 3292. .' ' B. C. cir. 713. God, beside thee, what he hath Oiymp. xvii. i. let' 1 • 1 r ^^- annum prepared tor him that waiteth lor Numae Pompim him. ^ ^°°"'°- "■ 5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth s and worketh righteousness, ^ those that remember f Or, seen a God besides thee^ which doeth so for him, &c. s Acts X. 35. ^' Chap. xxvi. 8. time of old they have not heard, they have not hear- kened to, an eye hath not seen a God besides thee. He shall work for that one that waiteth for him." This I really think on the whole to be the best trans lation of the original. The variations on this place are as follows : for H'Oiy shameu, they have heard, a MS. and the Septua- gint read IJi'Oty shamanu, we have heard : for the second xS lo, not, sixty-nine MSS. and four editions have N71 velo, and not, and the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. And so pj'l veayin, and eye, Septuagint and Syriac. JIN eth, the, (emphatic,) is added before D'n'7X Elohim, God, in MS. Bodleian. Ono'? Umechakkey, to them that wait, plural, two MSS. and all the an- cient Versions. — L. Verse 5. Thou meetest hiyn that rejoiceth and work eth righteousness — " Thou meetest with joy those who work righteousness"] The Syriac reads [ffty nriN J'Jlj) '£^^3 poga attah shesh baashi, as above. In those is continuance, and we shall be saved — " Because of our deeds, for we have been rebellious"] I'tClJl dSiJ' Dn3 bahem olam venivvashea. I am fully persuaded that these words as they stand in the pre- sent Hebrew text are utterly unintelligible ; there is no doubt of tlie meaning of each word separately ; but put together they make no sense at all. I conclude, therefore, that the copy has suffered by mistakes of transcribers in this place. The corruption is of long standing ; for the ancient interpreters were as much at a loss for the meaning as the moderns, and give nothing satisfactory. The Septuagint render these words by 5ia touto SifXavjj^iifjiEv, therefore we have erred : they seem to have read j'tyiJJ DH'Si' aleyhem niphsha, without helping the sense. In this difficulty what remains but to have recourse to conjecture ? Archbishop SecJter was dissatisfied with the present reading : he proposed i'iyui U"'?],' t33n hebet aleynu venivvashea ; " look upon us, and we shall, or that we may, be saved :" which gives a very good sense, but seems to have no sufficient foundation. Besides, the word ViJUl venivvashea, which is attended with great difficulties, seems to be corrupted as well as the two preceding ; and the true reading of it is, I think, given by the Septuagint, yty-JJl veniphsha, s*Xavri&»]|u,sv, we have erred, (so they render the verb j'tys pasha, chap. xlvi. 8, and Ezek. xxiii. 12,) parallel to NOn^l vannecheta, i;(AapTO(jitv, we have sinned. For D7IJ' DDD bahem olam, which means nothing, I would propose U'SSj'on hammaaleleynu, " because of our deeds ; which I pre- sume was first altered to □n'S'7J"33 bemaaleleyhem, an easy and common mistake of the third person plu- ral of the pronoun for the first, (see note on chap, xxxiii. 2,) and then with some farther alteration to The confession CHAP. LXIV. of the Jews. ^B^^c^cir Tp'^' *^®® '" ^^y ways: behold, thou oiymp. XVII. i, art wroth; for we have sinned : cir. annum ; ■ ,i • ^- j Numie Pompiiii, in those IS continuance, and Ave ^- '^°""'" ■ *■ shall be saved. 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all '' our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; and we all do ' fade as a leaf : and our iuiqui- ties, like the wind, have taken us away. 7 And '" there is none that callcth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee : for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast "consumed us, "because of our iniquities. 8 'But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, "i and thou our potter ; and we all are ' the work of thy A, "; '"■ 3292. •' B. C. cir. 712. hand. oiymp. xvii. i. „ 15 , , .1 /-. tir. annum 9 Be not ' wToth very sore, O Numte PompiUi, Lord, neither remember iniquity R- Roman., 4. for ever : behold, see, we beseech thee, * we are all thy people. 10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, " Jerusalem a desolation. 11 " Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fiie and all ■" our pleasant things are laid waste. 12 ''Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord ? '' wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore ? ■ Mai. iii. 6. k Phil. iii. 9. ' Psa. xc. 5, C. " Hos. vii. 7. o Heb. melted. » Heb. by the hnrid, as Job ix. 4. P Chap. Ixiii. 16. a Chap. xxix. 16; xlv. 9 ; Jer. xviii. 6; Rom. ix. 20. 21. ffiph. ii. 10. oSli' cna behem olam. The On'^i' aleyhem, which the Septuagint probably found in their copy, seems to be a remnant of □rr'?'?;'^^ bemaalelcyhem. This, it may be said, is imposing your sense upon the prophet. It may be so ; for perhaps these may not be the very words of the prophet : but however it is better than to impose upon him what makes no sense at all ; as they generally do, who pretend to render such corrupted passages. For instance, our own trans- lators : " in those is continuance, and we shall be saved ;'' in those — in whom, or what ! There is no antecedent to the relative. " In the ways of God," say some : " with our fathers," says Vitringa, joining it in construction with the verb, nSSp katsaphta, " thou hast been angry with them, our fathers ;" and putting NOrijl vannecheta, " for we have sinned," in a paren- thesis. But there has not been any mention of our fathers : and the whole sentence, thus disposed, is utterly discordant from the Hebrew idiom and con- struction. In those is continuance ; chyj! olam means a destined but hidden and uninoton portion of time ; but cannot mean continuation of time, or continuance, as it is here rendered. Such forced interpretations are equally conjectural with the boldest critical emen- dation ; and generally have this farther disadvantage, that they are altogether im worthy of the sacred wTiters. — L. Covcrdale renders the passage thus : — 23ut Io> tl)OU arc ansiie, fot Use offenbc. anb Ijabe been ctacr tn 3'iiitne ; anb tijcte ijS not one Inliole. This is, I am afraid, making a sense. .\fter all that this very learned prelate has done to reduce these words to sense and meaning, I am afraid ■we are still far from the prophet's mind. Probably Dn3 bahem, in them, refers to yjIT deracheijcha, thy ways, above. C371J' olam may be rendered of old, or during the whole of the Jewish economy ; and J'iyi:! veniwashea, " and sh.all we be saved V Thus : — Thou art wroth, for we have sinned in them (thy ways) of old : and can we be saved % For we are all as an im- clean thing, &c. Verse 6. .U filthy rags] Q"\y iddim. Rab. Mosheh " Psa. Ixxiv 1,2 Ixxii 8. "Psa .Ixxix 13.— 0 Psa. Ixxix. 1; chap. iii. 8 2 Chron. x ; Jer vj. r ; IX U. 2 Kines xiv 9 Psa. 1 \XIT. 7; XXVI. 12. — — w Ezek. xxiv. 21, 25.— —I Chap xUi. 24 y Psa. buxiii.l. ben Maimon interpretatur D'tJ? iddim, vestes quibus mulier se abstergit post congressum cum marito suo. Alii pannus menstruatus. Alii panni mulieris parien- tis. — anb toe ben mabe a^ unclenc alle toe : anb ai* the tlotlj of the tooman tootcn blobe (lotoirtg, alt nuc rigttoijin£^pe;S, — Old MS. Bible. If preachers knew properly the meaning of this word, \^■ould they make such a liberal use of it in their public ministry ? And why should any use a word, the meaning of which he does not understand ? How many in the congre- gation blush for the incautious man and his " filthy rags !" Verse 7. There is none] Twelve MSS. have j'N ein, without the conjunction \ vau prefixed ; and so read the Chaldee and Vnlgatc. And hast consumed us because of our iniquities — " .\nd hast delivered us up into the hands of our ini- quities."] For IJJloni vattemugenu, " hast dissolved us," the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee had in their copies IJJJOn temaggenenu, " hast delivered us up." Houbigant. Seeker. Verse 8. But, now, O Lord, thou art our Father — "But thou, O Jehov.\h, thou art our Father""] For nnj'l veattah, and now, five MS.S., one of them ancient, and the two oldest editions, 1486 and 1488, have nnxi veattah, and thou ; and so the Chaldee seems to have read. The repetition has great force. The other word may be well spared. " But now, O Lord, thou art our Father."' How ver}' affectionate is the complaint in this and the following verses ! But how does the dis- tress increase, when they recollect the desolations of the temple, and ruin of public worship, ver. II:" Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt up with fire," &c. We all are the work of thy hand] Tliree M.SS. (two of them ancient) and the Septuagint read nB'i'T maa- seh, the work, without the conjunction 1 vau prefixed. And for ^T yadecha, thy hand, the Bodleian, and two other MSS., the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vul- gate read yT yadeycha, thy hands, in the plural number. — L. Verse 9. Neither remember iniquity] For ^Dt^ tJ'S 337 The cotwersion of ISAIAH. load tizcor, one of my MSS. has ^SDH 1;?S load tik- tsoph, " be not angiy," as in the preceding clause. This has been pajtially obliterated, and 13 tn tizcor, the Gentiles foretold. written in the margin by a later hand : but this MS. abounds with words of this kind, all altered by later hands. CHAPTER LXV. We have here a vindication of God's dealings with the Jews, 1,2. To this end the prophet points out their great hypocrisy, and gives a particular enumeration of their dreadful abominations, many of which were committed under the specious guise of sanctity, 3-5. For their horrid impieties, (recorded in writing before Jehovah,) the wrath of God shall certainly come upon them to the uttermost ; a prediction which was exactly fulfilled in the first and second centuries in the reigns of the Roman emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Hadrian, lohen the whole Jeicish polity was dissolved, and the people dispersed all over the world, 6, 7. Though God had rejected the Jews, and called the Gentiles, tvho sought him not, (Rom. ix. 24-26,) yet a remnant from among the former shall be preserved, to lohom he will in due time make good all his pro- mises, 8—10. Denunciation of Divine vengeance against those idolaters who set in order a table for Gad, and fill out a libation to Meni, ancient idolatries, which, from the context, and from the chronological order of the events predicted, have a plain reference to the idolatries practised by Antichrist under the guise of Christianity, 11, 12. Dreadful fate which awaits these gross idolaters beautifully contrasted with the great blessedness reserved for the righteous, 13—16. Future restoration of the posterity of Jacob, and the happy state of the world in general from that most glorious epoch, represented by the strong figure of the creation of new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, and into which no distress shall be permitted to enter, 17—19. In this new state of things the term of human life shall be greatly pro- tracted, and shall possess none of that uncertainty ivhich attaches to it in " the heavens and the earth which are now." This is elegantly illustrated by the longevity of a tree ; manifestly alluding to the oak or cedar of Lebanon, some individuals of ivhich are known to have lived from seven to ten centuries, 20—23. Beautiful figures shadowing forth the profound peace and harmony of the Church of Jesus Christ, lohich shall immediately follow the total overthrow of Antichrist ; ivith a most gracious jn-omise that the great chain of Omnipotence shall be put upon every adversary, so that none will be able any longer to hurt and destroy in all God's holy mountain, 24, 25. T " AM sought of them that asked not for me ; I am found A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII.]. NumaiPompim, of them that sought me not: I R. Roman . 4. _;^ ggij^jj ^g_ \i&\o\^ me, '' was not called by my said, unto a nation that •Rom. ix. 24, 25, 26, 30; x. 20; Eph. ii. 12, 13. This chapter contains a defence of God's proceed- ings in regard to the Jews, with reference to their com- plaint in the chapter preceding. God is introduced declaring that he had called the GentUes, though they had not sought him ; and had rejected hi.s own people for their refusal to attend to his repeated call ; for their obstinate disobedience, their idolatrous practices, and detestable hypocrisy. That nevertheless he would not destroy them all ; but would preserve a remnant, to whom he would make good his .ancient promises. Se- vere punishments are threatened to the apostates ; and great rewards are promised to the obedient in a future flourishing state of the Church. — L. NOTES ON CHAP. LXV. Verse 1. I am sought of them that ashed not for me — " I am made known to those that asked not for me"] "jTkJ^nj nidrashti, siJ.(paMr,g Sysvofjiriv, the Sep- tuagint, Alexandrian, and St. Paul, Rom. x. 20 ; who has however inverted the order of the phrases, £(A(pa- vrjs Eyevo(Ariv, " I was made manifest," and sups5jiv, " I was found," from that which thev have in the Septita- 238 2 "1 have spread out my hands *g ^ "J'- 2??^' all the day unto a rebellious peo- Olymp. xvii. i. pie, which walketh in a way that Numa; Pompiiii, was not good, after their own R- Roman., 4. thoughts ; 3 A people ^ that provoketh me to angei bChap. Ixiii. 19. cRom. x. 21. ^ Deut. rxxii. 21. gint. 'iMirm nidrashti means, " I am sought so as to be found." Vitringa. If this be the true meaning of the word, then iSxiy shaalu, " that asked," which fol- lows, should seem defective, tlie verb wanting its ob ject : but two MSS., one of them ancient, have "JlSxB' shealuni, " asked me ;" and another MS. '^7 iSxsy shealu li, " asked for me ;" one or other of which seems to be right. But Cocceius in Lex., and Vitringa in his trans- lation, render 'Ptynj nidrashti, by " I have answered ;" and so the verb is rendered by all the ancient Versions in Ezek. xx. 3, 31. If this be right, the translation wiU be, "I have answered those that asked not." I leave this to the reader's judgment ; but have followed in my translation the Septuagint and St. Paul, and the MSS. above mentioned. ^y^p2 bikeshuni is WTitten regularly and fully in above a hundred MSS. and in the oldest edition, 'Jl!J'p3 bikeshuni. — L. Verse 3. That sacrificeth in gardens, and bumeth incense upon altars of brick — " Sacrificing in the gar- dens, and burning incense on the tiles"] These are instances of heathenish superstition, and idolatrous prac- tices, to which the Jews were immoderately addicted The former idolatries A. M. cir. 3292. continually to my face; " tliat B. C. cir. 712. J _ f ' oiymp. XVII. 1. sacrinceth m gaidens, and bum- Num» Pompliu, cth iucense ' upon altars of brick ; R. Roman.. 4. 4 8 Wliicli remain among the «Chap. i. 29; Ixvi. 17; see Lev. xvii. 5. '"Heb. upon brickt. CHAP. LXV. of the Jews graves, and lodge in the monu- '^j; '*'■ "^'!'- ^^ ments ; •■ which eat swine's flesh, Oiymp. xi'll. i. and ' broth of abominable things Nuidk Pompiiii, is in their vessels ; R. Roman., 4. cDeut. xTiii. 11.' 1 Chap. Ixvi. 17 ; see Lev. xi. 7. ' Or pitctg. oefore the Babylonish captivity. The heathen wor- shipped their idols in groves ; whereas God, in opposi- tion to this species of idolatry, commanded his people, when they should come into the promised land, to de- stroy all the places wherein the Canaanites had served their gods, and in particular to burn their groves with fire, Deut. xii. 2, 3. These apostate Jews sacrificed upon altars built of bricks ; in opposition to the com- mand of God in regard to his altar, which was to be of unhewn stone, Exod. xx. 25. Et pro uno altari, quod impolitis lapidibus Dei erat lege constructum, coc- tos lateres ct agrorum cespites hostiarum sanguine cru- entabant. " And instead of one altar which, according to the law of God, was to be constructed of unhewn stones, they stained the bricks and turfs of the fields with the blood of their victims." Hieron. in loc. Or it means, perhaps, that they sacrificed upon the roofs of their houses, which were always flat, and paved with brick, or tile, or plaster of terrace. An instance of this idolatrous practice we find in 2 Kings xxiii. 12, where it is said that Josiah " beat down the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, wliicl* the kings of Judah had made." See also Zeph. i. 5. Sir John ChardMs MS. note on this place of Isaiah is as follows : " -Vinsi font tous les Gentiles, sur les lieux elevds, et sur les terrasses, appellez lateres, par- ceque sont faits de briq." " \ATio dwell in the sepul- chres, and lodge in the caverns," for the purposes of necromancy and divination ; to obtain dreams and re- velations. Another instance of heathenish supersti- tion : so Virgil : — Hue dona sacerdos Cum tulit, et casarum ovium sub nocte silenti Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit : Multa modis sinmlacra videt volitantia miris, ■Et varias audit voces, fruiturque deorum Colloquio, atque imis Acheronta aflatur Avernis. ,Cn. vii. 86. — L "Here in distress the Italian nations come, Anxious, to clear their doubts, and learn their doom. First, on the fleeces of the slaughtered sheep, By night the sacred priest dissolves in sleep : When in a train, before his slumbering eye. Thin airy forms and wondrous visions fly. He calls the powers who guard the infernal floods. And talks inspired, familiar with the gods." Pitt. There was a practice exactly like this which pre- ailed among the Highlanders of Scotland ; an authen- .'c account of this is given by Sir Walter Scott, in a note on his poem called The Lady of the Lake. It is as follows : — " The Highlanders, like all rude people, had various superstitious modes of inquiring into futurity. One of the most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in the text. A person was wrapped up in the skin of a new- ly-slain bullock, and deposited beside a waterfall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or in some other strange, wild, and unusual situation, where the scenery around him suggested nothing but objects of horror. In thia situation he revolved in his mind the question proposed ; and whatever was impressed upon him by his exalted imagination pa.ssed for the inspiration of the disembo- died spirits who haunt those desolate recesses. In some of the Hebrides, they attributed the same oracu- lar power to a large black stone by the sea-shore, which they approached with certain solemnities ; and consi- dered the first fancy which came into their own minds after they did so, to be the undoubted dictate of the tutelar deity of the stone ; and as such to be, if pos- sible, punctually complied with. Martin has recorded the following curious modes of Highland augury, in which the Taghairm, and its effects upon the person who was subjected to it, may serve to illustrate the text. " It was an ordinary thing among the over-curious to consult an invisible oracle concerning the fate of families and battles, &c. This was performed three different ways ; the first was by a company of men, one of whom, being detached by lot, was afterwards carried to a river, which was the boundary between two villages. Four of the company laid hold on him ; and, having shut his eyes, they took him by the legs and arms, and then, tossing him to and again, struck his hips with force against the bank. One of them cried out, ^^'hat is it you have got here 1 Another answers, A log of birch-wood. The other cries again, Let his invisible friends appear from all quarters, and let thera relieve him by giving an answer to our present de- mands ; and in a few minutes after, a number of little creatures came from the sea, who answered the ques- tion, and disappeared suddenly. The man was then set at liberty ; and they all returned home, to take their measures according to the prediction of their false pro- phets ; but the poor deluded fools were abused ; for the answer was still ambiguous. This was always prac- tised in the night, and may literally be called the works of darkness. " I had an account from the most intelligent and ju- dicious men in the Isle of Skie, that, about sixty-two years ago, the oracle was thus consulted only once, and that was in the parish of Kilmartin, on the east side, by a wicked and mischievous race of people, who are now extinguished, both root and branch. " The second way of consulting the oracle was by a party of men, who first retired to solitary places, re- mote from any house ; and ilicre they singled out one of their number, and wTapt him in a big cow's hide, which they folded about him. His whole body was covered with it, except his head, and so left in this pos- ture all night, until his invisible friends relieved him, bv givins a proper answer to the question in hand ; 239 God^s gracious promise % "c c'r 7^f ■ ^ ^ "V^^iich say, Stand by thy- Oiymp. XVII. 1. self, come not near to me ; for I Numffl Pompiiii, am holier than thou. These are ^- "°°""- ^- a smoke in my ' nose, a fire that burneth all the day. 6 Behold, ™ it is written before me : " I will not keep silence, " but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, 7 Your iniquities, and p the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, i which ISAIAH. of restoration. have burned incense upon the A;'^ ™- 3292. 1 i_i 1 , B. C. cir. 712. mountams, ' and blasphemed Olymp. xvii. i. me upon the hills : therefore NumsE p'ompllii, will I measure their former work R- Roman., i into their bosom. 8 Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine isl found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not ; for ^ a blessing is in it : so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all. k See Matt. ix. 11 ; Luke v. 30 ; xviii. 1 1 ; Jude 19. 1 Or, anger. ■n Deut. xx.'tii. 34 ; Mai. iii. 16. " Psa. I. 3. which he received, as he fancied, from several persons that he found about him all that time. His consorts returned to him at the break of day, and then he com- municated his news to them ; which often proved fatal to those concerned in such unwarrantable inquiries. " There was a third way of consulting, which was a confirmation of the second above mentioned. The same company who put the man into the hide took a live cat, and put him on a spit. One of the number was employed to turn the spit ; and one of his consorts inquired of him, What are you doing ! He answered, I roast this cat until his friends answer the question ; which must be the same that was proposed by the man shut up in the hide. And afterwards, a very big cat (in allusion to the story of ' the King of the Cats,' in Lord Lyttleton's Letters, and well known in the High- lands as a nursery tale) comes, attended by a number of lesser cats, desiring to relieve the cat turned upon the spit, and then answers the question. If this an- swer proved the same that was given to the man in the hide, then it was taken as a confirmation of the other, which, in this case, was believed infallible. " Mr. Alexander Cooper, present minister of North- Vist, told me that one John Eraeh, in the Isle of Lewis, assured him it was his fate to have been led by his cu- riosity with some who consulted this oracle, and that he was a night within the hide, as above-mentioned ; during which time he felt aud heard such terrible things, that he could not express them. The impression it made on him was such as could never go off; and he said for a thousand worlds he woidd never again be con- cerned in the like peiformance, for this had disordered him to a high degree. He confessed it ingenuously, and with an air of great remorse ; and seemed to be very penitent under a just sense of so great a crime. He declared this about five years since, and is still living in the Lewis for any thing I know." — Descrip- tion of the Western Isles, p. 110. See also Pennant's Scollish Tour, vol. ii. p. 361. A'erse 4. Which remain among the graves] " For the purpose of evoking the dead. They lodged in desert places that demons might appear to them ; for demons do appear in such places, to those who do be- lieve in them." — Kimchi. In the monuments — "In the caverns"] D"11XJ3 bannetsurim, a word of doubtful signification. An an- cient MS. has □''lii'3 bafstsurim, another D"li"3 bats- tsurim, " in the rocks " and Le Clerc thinks the Sep- 240 "Psa. bcxix. 12; Jer. rri. 18; Ezek. xi. 21.- q Ezek. xviii. 6. ' Ezek. xx. 27, 28. — — p Exod. XX. 5- 3 Joel ii. 14. tuagint had it so in their copy. They render it by ev Toig (firriXaioij, " in the caves." Which eat swine^s flesh] This was expressly for- bidden by the law, Lev. xi. 7, but among the heathen was in principal request in their sacrifices and feasts. Antiochus Epiphanes compelled the Jews to eat swine's flesh, as a fuU proof of their renouncing their religion, 2 Mac. vi. 18 and vii. 1. "And the broth of abom- inable meats," for lustrations, magical arts, and other superstitious and abominable practices. In their vessels'] For DH'So keleyhem, a MS. had at first Dit'^DJ bichleyhem. So the Vulgate and Chaldee, (and the preposition seems necessary to the sense,) " in Josh. vii. 24,26; Hos. ii. 15. "Chap. Ivi. 7 ; Ivii. 13 ; vcr. 25. For my sen'anls' sakes — " For the sake of my ser- vant"] It is to be observed that one of the Konings- burg JLSS. collated by Lilicnthal points the word 'l^i' abdi, singular ; that is, "my servant," meaning the Mes- siah; and so read the Sepltiagiiit, which gives a very good sense. In two of my old MSS. it is pointed "131' abadai, and 'T3i' ahdi, " my servant," this confirms the above reading. Verse 9. An inheritor of my mounlains — " An in- heritor of my mountain"] "in hari, in the singular number ; so the Septuagint and Syriac ; that is, of Mount Sion. See ver. 1 1 and chap. Ivi. 7, to which Sion, the pronoun feminine singular, added to the verb in the next line, refers ; nia'T' yereshuah, " shall inherit her." — L. Terse 10. Sharon — and the valley of Achor] Two of the most fertile parts of Judea ; famous for their rich pastures ; the former to the west, not far from Joppa ; the latter north of Jericho, near Gilgal. Verse 1 1 . That prepare a table for that troop — " \Vho set in order a table for Gad"] The disquisitions and conjectures of the learned concerning Gad and Meni are infinite and uncertain : perhaps the most pro- bable may be, that Gad means good fortune, and Meni the moon. "But why should we be solicitous about it t" says Sehmidius. " It appears sufficiently, from the circumstances, that they were false gods ; either stars, or some natural objects ; or a mere fiction. The Holy Scriptures did not deign to explain more clearly what these objects of idolatrous worship were ; but chose rather, that the memory of the knowledge of them should be utterly abolished. .\nd God be praised, that they are so totally abolished, that we are now quite at a loss to know what and what sort of things they were." Sehmidius on the place, and on Jud. ii. 13, Bibl. Hallensia. Jerome, on the place, gives an account of this idola- trous practice of the apostate Jews, of making a feast, or a lectisternium, as the Romans called it, for these pretended deities. Est in cunctis urbibus, et maxiine in ^Eg)-pto,et in Alexandria, idololatriae vetus consuetu- do, ut ultimo die anni, et mensis ejus qui extremus est, ponant mensam refertam varii generis epulis, et poeu- lum mulso mixtuni ; vel praeteriti anni vel futuri fer- tUitatem auspieantes. Hoc autem faciebant et Israelita?, omnium simulachrorum portenta venerantes ; et nequa- quam altari victimas, sed hujusmodi mensse liba funde- VoL. rV. ( 16 ) ' a table for that ^ troop, and that \, "• «'.'■ 329a r • 1 1 1 ■ 1 rr • '*■ ^- '^"- "'2- furnish the drink-ofiering luito oiymp. xvii. i. ,1 , ., 1 fir annum that 'number. Numse Pompiiii. 12 Therefore will I number ^ '^"""'"' "* you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter : " because when I called, ye did not answer ; when I spake, ye did not hear ; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose thai wherein I delighted not. 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Be hold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be » Ezek. xxiii. 41 ; 1 Cor. x. 21. y Or, Gad. "Or, Mmi. »2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16; Prov. i.24, &c. ; chap. Ixvi. 4 ; Jer. vii. 13 ; Zcch. vii. 7; Matt. xxi. 34-13. bant. " In all cities, and especially in Egjpt and Alex- andria, it was an ancient idolatrous custom on the last day of the year, to spread a table covered with various kinds of viands, and a goblet mixed with new wine, re ferring to the fertility either of the past or coming year. The Israelites did the same, worshipping all kinds of images, and pouring out libations on such tables," &c. See also Le Clerc on the place ; and on Ixvi. 17, and Dav. INIilUi Dissert, v. The allusion to Meni, which signifies number, is ob- vious. If there had been the like allusion to Gad, which might have been expected, it might perhaps have helped to let us into the meaning of that word. It appears from Jerome's version of this place, that the words tu 5ai(j.civiu, to a demon, (or (5ai(jiov(, as some copies have it,) and t?) Tayji, to fortune, stood in his time in the Greek version in an inverted order from that which they have in the present copies ; the latter then answering to TJ gad, the former to ^j~> meni : by which some dif- ficulty would be avoided ; for it is commonly supposed that Tj gad signifies ny^ri, fortune. See Gen. xxx. 11, apud Sept. This matter is so far well cleared up by MSS. Pachom. and 1. 1). ii., which agree in placing these two words in that order, which Jerome's version sup- poses.— L. My Old MS. Bil)le translates : ilEljat putten tl)e liorbe of fortune ; aitb ofTtcScu litout^S upon it ; and so the Vulgate. rji Tv-^-fi x;pagfj.a. " Preparing a table for the demon, and filling up, or pouring out, a libation to fortune." — Septuagint. Ye have set up an aulter unto fortune And geven rich drink ofieringes unto treasure. CoVERDALE. Verse 12. Therefore wilt I number you] Referring to Meni, which signifies number. "Rabbi Eliezar said to his disciples, Turn to God one day before you die. His disciples said. How can a man know the day of his death ! He answered. Therefore it is necessary that you should turn to God to-day, for possibly ye may die to-morrow." Verse 13. My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry] Rabbi Joachan ben Zachai said in a parable : There was a king who invited his servants, but set them no time to come to the feast The prudent and 041 A gracious promise ISAIAH. of restoration *R*r ''■''7?2^' ^^°ST- behold, my servants shall Oiymp. XVII. i. drink, but ye shall be thirsty: Numi Pompiiii, behold, my sen-ants shall rejoice, R. Roman., 4. ^jyn yg gh^u be ashamed : 14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall crj' for sorrow of heart, and '' shall howl for "^ vexation of spirit. 15 And ye shall leave yom: name '^ for a ciirse unto " my chosen : for tlie Lord God shall slay thee, and ^ call his servants by an- other name : 16 s That he who blesseth himself in the eartli shall bless himself in the God of txuth ; and '^ he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth ; because the fonner troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. 17 For, behold, I create ' new heavens and a new earth : and the fonner shall not be re- b Matt. viii. 12 ; Luke xiii. 23. >: Heb. breakhig. <1 See Jer. xxis. 22 ; Zeoh. viii. 13. ' Ver. 9, 22. f Chaj). Ixii. 2 ; Acts xi. 26. 1 Psa. Ix-ui. 17 ; Jer. iv. 2. 'Deut. vi. 13 ; Psa. Ixiii. 11 ; chap. xix. 18 ; xlv. 23 ; Zeph. i. 5. wary who were among them adorned themselves ; and, standing at the gate of the king's house, said, Is there any thing lacking in the king's house 1 i. e., Is there any work to be done in it ! But the foolish which were among them went, and mocking said, When shall the feast be, in which there is no labour ! Suddenly, the king sought out liis servants : they who were adorned entered in, and they who were still polluted entered in also. The king was glad when he met the prudent ; but he was angry when he met i\ie foolish. Therefore he said, Let those sit down, and let them eat ; but let these stand and look on. This parable is very like that of the mse and fool- ish virgins, jMatt. xxr., and that of the marriage of the king's son, INIatt. xxii. Verse 15. Shall slay thee — " Shall slay you"] For ■jiTOni vehemiihecha, shall slay thee, the Sepluagint and Chaldee read □DiToni vehemithechem, shall slay you, plural. Verse 17. / create new heavens and a new earth'\ This has been variously understood. Some Jews and some Christians understand it literally. God shall change the state of the atmosphere, and render the earth more fruitful. Some refer it to what they call the MiUeimium ; others, to a glorious state of religion ; oth- ers, to the re-creation of the earth after it shall have been destroyed by fiie. I think it refers to the full conversion of the Jews ultimately ; and primarily to the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity. A'erse 18. Rejoice for ever in that which I create — " Exult in the age to come which I create"] So in chap. ix. 5, li" '3S ahiad, irar-/)^ tou fisXXovroj aiuvog, " the father of the age to come," Sept. See Bishop Chandler, Defence of Christianity, p. 136. Verse 19. The voice of weeping, &c.] "Because of untimely deaths, shall no more be heard in thee ; for | 243 membered, nor * come into ^ "SI- <^?- 3292. ' B. C. cir. 712. mind. Olymp. XVII. 1. 18 But be ye glad and rejoice Nu^se ¥"01^1111, for ever in that which I create : R- Ro-aan., 4. for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 1 9 And ^ I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and jov in my people ; and the "" voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days : for the child shall die a hundred years old ; " but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. 2 1 And ° they shall build houses, and in- habit them ; and thej' shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22 They shall not build, and another in- iChap. li. 16; Ixvi. 22; 2 Pet. iii. 13; Rev. xxi. 1. k Heb. come upon the tieart. 1 Cbap. Ixii. 5. ™ Chap. xxxv. 10 ; li. 11: Rev. vii. 17; xxi. 4. » Eccles. viii. 12. "See Lev. xxn. 16 ; Deut. xxviii. 30 ; chap. Ixii. 8 ; Amos ix. 14. natural death shall not happen till men be full of days ; as it is vpritten, ver. 20 : There shall be no more thence an infant of days, i. e., the people shall live to three OT five hundred j'ears of age, as in the days of the patri- archs ; and if one die at one hundred years, it is because of his sin ; and even at that age he shall be reputed an infant ; and they shall say of him, An infant is dead. These things shall happen to Israel in the days of the Messiah." — Kimchi. Averse 20. Thence — "There"] 'FoxXIDVl'^mishsham, thence, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read lD'iH sham, there. Verse 22. They shall not build, and another inhabit] The reverse of the curse denounced on the disobe- dient, Deut. xxviii. 30 : " Thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dweU therein ; thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof." For as the days of a tree] It is commonh' sup posed that the oak, one of the most long-lived of the trees, lasts about a thousand years : being five hundred years growing to full perfection, and as many decaying : which seems to be a moderate and probable computa- tion. See Evelyn, Sylva, B. in. chap. iii. The pre- sent emperor of China, in his ver}- ingenious and sensi- ble poem entitled Eloge de Mou/iden, a translation of which in French was published at Paris, 1770, speaks of a tree in his country which lives more than a hin- dred ages ; and another, which after fourscore ages is only in its prime, pp. 37, 38. But his imperial majes- ty's commentators, in their note on the place, carry the matter much farther; and quote authority, which affirms, that the tree last mentioned by the emperor, the im- mortal tree, after having lived ten thousand years, is still oidy in its prime. I suspect that the Chinese enlarge somewhat in their national chronology, as well as in that of their trees. See Chou Kins, Preface, bv Mons. de { 16' ") The great glory of CHAP. LXVI. the Messiah's kingdom. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Niuna! Ponijiilii, l^ Roman., 4. habit ; they shall not plant, and another eat : for •" as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and 1 mine elect ' shall long en- joy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labour in vain, 'nor bring forth for trouble ; for ' they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. i>Psa. icii. 12.- — q Ver. 9, 15. ^Heb. shall make them con- tmue ton^f or shali wear out. Guignes. The prophet's idea seems to be, that they shall live to the age of the antediluvians ; which seems to be very justly expressed by the days of a tree, ac- cording to our notions. The rabbins have said that this refers to the tree of life, which endures five hun- dred years. — L. Verse 23. They shall not labour in vain — "My chosen shall not labour in vain"] I remove "Tns bechirai, my elect, from the end of the twenty-second to the beginning of the twenty-third verse, on the au- thority of the Sepluagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, and a MS. ; contran,- to the division in the Masoretic text. — L. The Sepluagint is beautiful : My chosen shall not labour in vain, neither shall they beget children for the curse ; for the seed is blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with them." Nor bring forth for trouble — " Neither shall they generate a short-lived race"] n'^n::'? labbe/ialah, in festinationem, " what shall soon hasten away." Eij xarapav, for a curse, Sept. They seem to liave read hSnS lealah. — Grotius. But Psa. Ixxviii. 33 both justi- fies and explains the word here : — 24 And it shall come to pass, ^^"^ "^r^ ^■ that "before they call, I will Olymp. xvii.i , , ., , cir. annum answer ; and while they are yet Numa; Pompiiii. speaking, I will hear. " "°"""' ' •* 25 Tiie ^ wolf and the lamb shall feed to- gether, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock : " and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. • Deut.xxviii. 41 ; Hos. ix. 12. 'Chap. lii. 9. "Psa. ixxii. 5 ; Dan. Lx. 21 . ' Chap. xi. 6, 7, 9. " Gen. iii. 14. yemeyhem bahebel vayechal nSn33 □ni:B'i babbehalah ushenotham " And he consumed their days in vanity , And their years in haste." (isra ivmSr^s, say the Sepluagint. Jerome on this place of Isaiah explains it to the same purpose : " Eig avii*ap|i- av, hoc est, ut esse desistant." Verse 24. Before they call I will ans%eer] I will give them all they crave for, and more than they can desire. Verse 25. Tlie uwlf and the lamb, ^c] The glo- rious salvation which Jesus Christ procures is for men, and for men only : fallen spirits must still abide under the curse : " He took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham." Shall feed together] For ITMiD heechad, as one, an ancient IMS. has nrT' yachdav, together; the usual word, to the same sense, but very different in the letters. The Sepluagint, Syriac, and Vulgate seem to agree with the MSS.— L. CHAPTER LXVK This chapter treats of the same subject with the foregoing. God, by his prophet, tells the Jews, who valuea themselves much on their temple and pompous worship, that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; and that no outicard riles of worship, while the worshippers are idolatrous and impure, can please him tvho looketh at the heart, 1—3. This leads to a threatening of vengeance for their guilt, allud- ing to their making void the law of God by their abominable traditions, their rejection of Christ, perse- cution of his followers, and consequent destruction by the Romans. But as the Jewish ritual and people shadow forth the system of Christianity and its professors ; so, in the prophetical writings, the idolatries of the Jews are frequently put for the idolatries afterwards practised by those bearing the Christian name. Consequently, if we tcould have the plenitude of meaning in this section of prophecy, which the very context requires, we must look through the type into the antitype, viz., the very gross idolatries practised by the members of Antichrist, the pompous heap of human inventions and traditions with which they have encum- bered the Christian system, their most dreadful persecution of Christ's spiritual and true worshippers, and the awful judgments which shall overtake them in the great and terrible day of ihc Lord, 4-6. The mighty and sudden increase of the Church of Jesus Christ at the period of Antichrist's fall represented by the very strong figure of Sion being delivered of a man-child before the time of her travail, the meaning of which symbol the prophet immediately subjoins in a series of interrogations for the sake of greater force and emphasis, 7-9. Wonderful prosperity and unspeakable blessedness of the world when the posterity of Jacob, icith the fulness of Ihc Gentiles, shall be assembled to Messiah's standard, 10-14. All the wicked of the earth shall be gathered together to the bailie of that great day of God Almighty, and the slain of Jehovah shall be many, 15-18. Manner of the future restoration of the Israelites from their several dis- persions throughout the habitable globe, 19-21. Perpetuity of this neio economy of grace to the house of Israel, 2^. Righteousness shall be universally diffused in the earth ; and the memory of those who have transgressed against the Lord shall be hod in continual abhorrence, 23, 24. Thus this great prophet, after 243 The wicKedness and ISAIAH. hypocrisy of the Jews. tracing the principal events o/time, seems at length to have terminated his views m eternity, where all revo- lutions cease, lohere the blessedness of the rightemis shall be unchangeable as the new heavens, and the misery of the wicked as the fire that shall not be quenched. A M^cir. 3292. rpHUS saith the Lord, ^ The B. C. cir. 712. J_ . ' Oiymp. XVII. 1. heaven is my throne, and the cir. annum , . ^ i i Numa; Pompiiii, earth IS iny lootstool : where is R. Roman., 4. jj^g Yious& that ye build unto me ? and where is the place of my rest ? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord : ''but to this man will I look, "^ even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and ■^ trembleth at my word. 3 " He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man ; he that sacrificeth a ^ lamb, as if he » 1 Kings viii. 27 ; 2 Chron. vi. 18 ; Matt. v. 34, 35 ; Acts vii. 48, 49; xvii. 24. b Chap. Ivii. 15; Ixi. 1. c Psa. xxxiv. 18; li. 17. -"^ Ezra ix. 4 ; x. 3 ; Prov. xxviii. 14 ; ver. 5. NOTES ON CHAP. LXVI. This chapter is a continuation of the subject of the foregoing. The Jews valued themselves much upon their temple, and the pompous system of services per- formed in it, which they supposed were to be of perpetual duration ; and they assumed great confidence and merit to themselves for their strict observance of all the ex- ternals of their religion. And at the very time when the judgments denounced in verses 6 and 12 of the pre- ceding chapter were hanging over their heads, they were rebuilding, by Herod's munificence, the temple in a most magnificent manner. God admonishes them, that " the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands ;" and that a mere external worship, how diligently soever attended, when accompanied with wicked and idolatrous practices in the worshippers, would never be accepted by him. This their hypoc- risy is set forth in strong colours, which brings the prophet again to the subject of the former chapter ; and he pursues it in a different manner, with more express declaration of the new economy, and of the flourishing state of the Church under it. The increase of the Church is to be sudden and astonishing. They that escape of the Jews, that is, that become converts to the Christian faith, are to be employed in the Divine mission to the Gentiles, and are to act as priests in presenting the Gentiles as an offering to God ; see Rom. XV. 16. And both, now collected into one body, shall be witnesses of the final perdition of the obstinate and irreclaimable. These two chapters manifestly relate to the calling of the Gentiles, the establishment of the Christian dis- pensation, and the reprobation of the apostate Jews, and their destruction executed by the Romans. — L. Verse 2. And all those things have been — " And all these things are mine"] A word absolutely necessary to the sense is here lost out of the text : "'? /;', miite. It is preserved by the Septuagint and Syriac. Verse 3. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man — " He that slayeth an ox killeth a man"] The.^e are instances of wickedness joined with hypocrisy ; of the most flagitious crimes conunitted by those who at the 244 « cut off a doe's neck ; he that ^„ ^'^ "=!■■• ^.m °. .1 B. C. cir. 712. ofiereth an oblation, as if he offer- Olymp. xvii. i. ed swine's blood ; he that '^ burneth Numaj PompiUi, incense, as if he blessed an idol. R- Roman., 4. Yea, thev have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. 4 I also will choose their ' delusions, and will bring their fears upon them ; ^ because when I called, none did answer ; when I spake, they did not hear : but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which T delighted not. ( ' Chap. i. 11. f Or, hid.- a memorial of, Lev. ii. 2. — IxT. 12; Jer. vii. 13. — g Deut. xxiii. 18. ^ Heb. rnaketh -J Or, devices. ^ Prov. i. 24 ; chap. same time affected great strictness in the performance of all the external services of religion. God, by the Prophet E^:ekiel, upbraids the Jews with the same prac- tices ; " When they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it," chap, xxiii. 39. Of the same kind was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in our Saviour's time : " who devoured widows' houses, and for a pretence made long prayers," Matt, xxiii. 14. The generality of interpreters, by departing from the literal rendering of the text, have totally lost the true sense of it, and have substituted in its place what makes no good sense at all ; for it is not easy to show how, in any circumstances, sacrifice and murder, the presenting of legal offerings and idolatrous worship, can possibly be of the same account in the sight of God. He that offereth an oblation, as if he offered sim'ne''s blood — " That maketh an oblation offereth swine's blood"] A word here likewise, necessary to complete the sense, is perhaps irrecoverably lost out of the text. The Vulgate and Chaldee add the word offereth, to make out the sense ; not, as I imagine, from any differ- ent reading, (for the word wanted seems to iiave been lost before the time of the oldest of them, as the Sep- tuagint had it not in their copy,) but from mere ne- cessity. Le Clerc thinks that nSj'ID maaleh is to be repeated from the beginning of this member ; but that is not the case in the parallel members, which have another and a different verb in the second place. " iiDT dam, sic A''ersiones ; putarem tamen legendum participium aliquod, et quidem n3i zabach, cum sequatur n cheth, nisi jam praecesserat." — Secker. Hotibigant supplies 7DN' achat, eatelh. After all, I think the most probable word is that which the Chaldee and Vulgate seem to have designed to represent ; that is, 3'ip3 makrib, offereth. In their abominations.'] CDTTSlpty^l ubeshikkutsey- hem, " and in their abominations ;" two copies of the Machator,andoneo{ Kennicott'sMSS.ha.ye □n''7l7J31 uiegilliileyhem, "and in their idols." So the Vulgate and Syriac. Glorious ingathering CHAP. LXVI. of the Gentiles. ^B*c1ir fn' ^ ^^^^ ^'^^ "^^^^ °^ ^^^ Loud, oiymp. xviiri. ' ye that tremble at his word ; or. aimum NumiE Pompiiii, Your brctlircii that hated you, R. Romnn., 4. jjj^j ^.^gf y^y q^ fp^ j^jy name's sake, said, ■" Let the Lord be glorified : but " he sliall appear to yom- joy, and ihey shall be aslianied. 6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies. 7 Before she travailed, she brought forth ; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. 8 \\'ho hath heard such a thing ? who hath seen such things ? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day : or shall a nation be born at once ? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not ° cause to bring forth ? saith the Lord : shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb ? saith thy God. iVer. t. "Chap. V. 19. "2 Thess. i. 10; Tit ii. 13. o Or, beget. p Or, brightness. Verse 5. Your brethren that hated you — said — " Say ye to your brethren that hate you"] The Syriac reads DD'nx^ l"i"DN imru laacheychem ; and so the Septua- gint, Edit. Comp. ei-^rars o.SiK(prji; ijxuv and MS. Mar- chat, has adsXtpois' and so Cyril and Procopius read and explain it. It is not easy to make sense of the reading of the Septuagint in the other editions ; swars a5s>4ioi rjfjLuv Toif (iKfoutfiv ifxaj- but for Vifiuu, our, MS. I. D. II. also has iifi.'j\i, your. ^ erse 6. A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord] It is very remark- able that similar words were spoken by Jesus, son of Ananias, previously to the destruction of Jerusalem. See his very affecting history related by Josephus, War, B. vi., chap. v. A'erse 8. Who hath seen — " And who hath seen"] Twenty MSS., (four ancient,) of Kennicott's, and twenty-nine of De Rossi's, and two ancient of my own, and the two oldest editions, with two others, have "01 umi, adding the conjunction 1 van ; and so read all the ancient versions. And tvho hath seen > Verse 9. Shall I bring to the birth] TJjys 'jxn haani ashbir, nam ego matricem frangam ; Mostanvs. The word means that which immediately precedes the ap- pearance of the fetus — the breaking forth of the liquor amnii. This also is an expression that should be stu- diously avoided in prayers and sermons. Verse 1 1. tVi//( the abundance of her glory — " From her abundant stores."] For vn mizziz, from the splendour, two MSS. and the old edition of 1488, have rtO mizziv ; and the latter I zain is upon a rasure in three other MSS. It is remarkable that Kimchi and Sal. bin Melee, not being able to make any thing of the word as it stands in the text, say it means the 10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, ^a**;"'- ^• ■> J ' B. C. cir. 712. and be glad with her, all ye that oij-mp. xvii. i , , . . ^ . . , , cir. annum love her : rejoice lor joy with her, Numa; Pompiiu, all ye that mourn for her : "• "°'"''"' •*■ 1 1 That ye may suck, and be satisfied wtL the breasts of her consolations ; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the " abundance of her glory. 12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, 1 1 will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream ; then shall ye ' suck, ye shall be = borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you ; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and ' your bones shall flourish like an herb : and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indigna- tion toward his enemies. qChap. xlviii. 18; \\. 5. 'Chap. Ix. 16. 'Chap. xlix. 22; Ix. 4. 'See EzeK. xxxvii. 1, &c. same with VID mizziv ; that is, in effect, they admit of a various reading, or an error in the text. But as Vitringa observes, what sense is there in sucking nou- rishment from tlie splendour of her glory ? He there- fore endeavours to deduce another sense of the word V\ ziz ; but, as far as it appears to me, without any authority. I am more inclined to accede to the opi- nion of those learned rabbins, and to think that there is some mistake in the word ; for tliat in truth is tlieir opinion, tliough they disguise it by saying that the cor- rupted word means the verj' same with that which they believe to be genuine. So in chap. xli. 21 they say that J'SN apha, a viper, means the same with DSN ephes, nothing ; instead of acknowledging that one is written by mistake instead of the other. I would propose to read in this place j"iD mizzin or [I'D mizzen, which is the reading of one of De Rossi's MS., (instead of t"3 meziz,) from the stores, from pt zun, to nourish, to feed; see Gen. xlv. 23 ; 2 Chron. xi. 23 ; Psa. cxliv. 13. And this perhaps may be meant by Aquila, who renders the word by airo «a\iToSar(iois- with which that of the Vulgate, ab omnimoda gloria, and of Symm-i- chus and Theodotion, nearly agree. The Chaldee fol- lows a different reading, without improving the sense ; |"0 meyin, from the wine. — L. A' erse 12. Like a river, and — like a flowing stream — " Like the great river, and like the overflowing stream"] That is, the Euphrates, (it ought to have been pointed in:3 cannahar, ut fluvius ille, as the river.) and the Nile. Then shall ye suck — " And ye shall suck at the breast"] These two words nv:' Si' al shad, at the breast, seem to have been omitted in the present text, from their likeness to the two words following ; nX ^i' al 245 Glorious ingathering ISAIAH. of the Gentiles AMcir.3292. ^g u Fqj., beliold, the Lord B. C. cir. 712. . 1 1 ■ Olymp. xvu. 1. will come With fire, and with his Numi Pompiiii, chariots like a whirlwind, to R. Roman., 4. jgnder his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 1 6 For by fire and by " his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh : and the slain of the Lord shall be many. 17 "They that sanctify themselves, and pu- rify themselves in the gardens ^ behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the " Chap. ix. 5 ; 2 Thess. i. 8. ' Chap, xxvii. 1. tsad, at the side. A very probable conjecture of Hou- higant. The Chaldee and Vulgate have omitted the two latter words instead of the two former. See note on chap. Ix. 4. Verse 15. The Lord will come with fire — " Jehovah shall come as a fire"] For K'^?3 haesh, in fire, the Sep- tuagint had in their copy tyxp kaesh, as a fire ; To render his anger icith fury — " To breathe forth his anger in a burning heat"] Instead of 2\i'r\h leha- shib, as pointed by the Masoretes, to render, I under- stand it as ZWT\h lehashshib,to breathe, from ^tyj nashab. Verse 17. Behind one tree — "After the rites of Achad"] The Syrians worshipped a god called Adad. Plin. Nat. Hist. x.\xvii. 11; Macrob. Sat. i. 23. They held him to be the highest and greatest of the gods, and to be the same with Jupiter and the sun ; and the name Adad, says Macrobius, signifies one ; as like- wise does the word Achad in Isaiah. Many learned men therefore have supposed, and with some proba- bility, that the prophet means the same pretended deity, nnx achad, in the Si/rian and Chaldean dialects, is in chad ; and perhaps by reduplication of the last letter to express perfect unity, it may have become nn chadad, not improperly expressed by Macrobius Adad, without the aspirate. It was also pronounced by the Syrians themselves, with a weaker aspirate, nn hadad ; as in Benhadad, Hadadezer, names of their kings, which were certainly taken from their chief object of worship. This seems to me to be a probable account of this name. But the Masoretes correct the text in this place. Their marginal reading is nns achalh, which is the same word, only in the feminine form ; and so read thirty MSS. (six ancient) and the two oldest editions. This Le Clerc approves, and supposes it to mean Hecate, or the moon ; and he supports his hypothesis by arguments not at all improbable. See his note on the place. Whatever the particular mode of idolatry which the prophet refers to might be, the general sense of the place is perfectly clear. But the Chaldee and Syriac, and after them Symmachus and Theodotion, cut off at once all these difficulties, by taking the word nns achad in its common meaning, not as a proper name ; the two latter rendering the sentence thus : Owiaa aX^.rj\uv ev fisau tadiovruv to Kpcac to xoipciov ; " One after another, in the midst of those that eat swine's 246 abomination, and the mouse, shall A^'^'^T- 2??^ be consumed together, saith the oiymp. xvii. i. ^ cir. annum JjOKD. Numas Pompiiii 18 For I know their works and ^- ^°°"^"- ^- their thoughts ; it shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues ; and they shall come, and see my glory. 1 9 y And I will set a sign among them , and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar ^ Chap. Ixv. 3, 4. ^ Or, one after another. 7 Luke ii. 34. flesh." I suppose they all read in their copies IXMt nns achad achad, one by one, or perhaps ITMi inx ^^X achad achar achad, one after another. See a large dissertation on this subject in Davidis Millii Disserta- tiones Selectae, Dissert, vi. — L. I know not what to make of this place ; it is cer- tain that our translation makes no sense, and that of the learned prelate seems to me too refined. Kimchi interprets this of the Turks, who are remarkable for ablutions. " Behind one in the midst" he understands of a large fish-pond placed in tlie middle of their gar- dens. Others make Tnx achad a deity, as above ; and a deity of various names it is supposed to be, for it is Achad, and Chad, and Hadad, and Achath, and Hecat, an Assyrian idol. 33cI)nu'iJ tijr fjrst tvcc ov t1)C Bate tofttfnc fortlj.— Old MS. Bible. Averse 18. For I luiow their works^ A word is here lost out of the present text, leaving the text quite im- perfect. The word is ^nv yodea, knowing, supplied from the Syriac. The Chaldee had the same word in the copy before him, which he paraphrases by t'7J 'mp hedemi gelon, their deeds are manifest before me ; and the Aldine and Complutensian editions of the Sep- tuagini acknowledge the same word eirioTafiai, which is verified by MS. Pachom. and the Arabic version. I think there can be little doubt of its being genuine. The concluding verses of this chapter refer to the complete restoration of the Jews, and to the destruc- tion of all the enemies of the Gospel of Christ, so that the earth shall be fiUed with the knowledge and glory of the Lord. Talia saecla currite ! Lord, hasten the time ! It shall come — " And I come"] For nN3 baah, which will not accord with any thing in the sentence, I read N3 ba, with a MS. ; the participle answering to jnr yodea, with which agree the Seplaagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. Perhaps it ought to be N31 veba, when I shall come, Syr. ; and so the Septuagint, according to Edit. Aid. and Complut., and Cod. Marchal. A'erse 19. That draio the boiv] I much suspect that the words ntyp 'Jl^D moshechey kesheth, icho draw the bow, are a corruption of the word ■]B'"D meshei, Moschi, the name of a nation situated between the Euxine and Caspian seas ; and properly joined with '72n tubal, the Tibareni. See Bochart, Phaleg. iii. 12. The Septuagint have fionox, without any thing of the drawers of the bow : the word being once taken for a participle, the boio was added to make sense of it The future restoration CHAP. LXVI. of the Israelites. A- M. cir 3292. qQ^ ^\^^i ji^yg ,^oj heard my fame, oiymp. xvii. i. neither have seen my glory ; ^ and cir. anliaai , i 11 i i 1 .Nmiikb I'ompilii, they shall declare my glory among K.Roman., 4. ^J,g GcntileS. •ZO And they shall bring all yoiir brethren "■for ail offering luito the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in '' litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 2 1 And I will also take of them for ■= priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. «Mal. i. 11. •Rom. XV. 16. >> Or, cauches. c Ejod. xix. G; chap. Ixi. 6; 1 Pet. li. 9 ; Rev. i. C. il Chap. l.w. 17. 2 Pet. iii. 13 ; Rev. x,ti. 1. ' Zech. xiv. 16. rwp kesheth, the bow, is omitted in a MS. and by the Sepluagint. That have not heard my fame — " Wlw never heard my name"] For 'irDB^ shimi, my fame, I read, with the Sepluagint and Syriac, 'Oty shemi, my name. Averse 20. And in chariots — " And in counes "] There is a sort of vehit'le much used in the east, con- sisting of a pair of hampers or cradles, thrown across a camel's back, one on each side ; in each of which a person is carried. They have a covering to defend them from the rain and the sun. Thcvcnol calls them counes, i. p. 356. Mai/let describes them as covered cages hanging on both sides of a camel. " At Alep- po," says Dr. Russell, " women of inferior condition in longer journeys are commonly stowed, one on each side of a mule, in a sort of covered cradles." Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, p. 89. These seem to be what the prophet means by the word 0"3V tsabbim. Harmer's Observations, i. p. 445. Verse 2 1 . And for Levites] For O'lSS laleviyim, fifty-nine IMS.S., (eight ancient,) have O'lSbl velale- riyim, adding the conjunction 1 rau, which the sense seems necessarily to require : and so read all the an- cient versions. See Josh. iii. 3, and the various read- ings on that place in KennicolCs Bible. Verse 24. For their worm shall not die] These words of the prophet are applied by our blessed Sa- viour, Mark ix. 44, to express the everlasting punish- ment of the wicked in Gehenna, or in hell. Gehenna, or the valley of Hinnom, was very near to Jerusalem to the south-east : it was the place where the idola- trous Jews celebrated that horrible rite of making their children pass tlirough the fire, that is, of burning them in sacrifice to Moloch. To put a stop to this abomi- nable practice, Josiah defded, or desecrated, the place, by filling it with human bones, 2 Kings xxiii. 10, 14 ; and probably it was the custom afterwards to throw out tlie carcasses of animals there, when it also became the common burying place for the poorer people of Jeru- salem. Our Saviour expressed the state of the blessed by sensible images ; such as paradise, Abraham's bo- som, or, which is the same thing, a place to recline next tn .Abraham at tilile in the kingdom of heaven. 22 For as *■ the new heavens ^^ ^: <='.f- 3292. ,1 , , • , T .,, "• C- cir. 712. and the new earth, which I will Oiymp. xvii. i. 1 I 11 • 1 r cir. annum make, shall remain bctorc me, Numae PompiUi, saith the Lord, so shall your seed «■ Konian . *■ and your name remain. 23 And " it shall come to pass that ' from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, « shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. 24 And they shall go forth, and look upon '' the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me : for their ' worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. f Heb. from neiv moon to ttis new moon, and from sabbath to his sab' bath. ePsa. hv. 2 ; chap. xlix. 26. i>Ver. 16. iJIark i.\. 44, 46, 48. See Matt. viii. 11. Ccenabat Nerva cum paucis. A'eiento proximtts, atque etiam in sinu recumbebat. " The Emperor Nerva supped with few. Veicnto was the first in his estimation, and even reclined in liis bo- som." Plin. Epist. iv. 22. Compare John xiii. 23 ; for we could not possibly have any conception of it, but by analogv' from worldly objects. In like manner he expressed the place of torment under the image of Gehenna ; and the punishment of the wicked by the worm which there preyed on the carcasses, and the fire that consumed the wretched victims. Marking how- ever, in the strongest manner, the diflference between Gehenna and the invisible place of torment ; namely, that in the former the suffering is transient : — the worm itself which preys upon the body, dies; and the fire wliich totally consumes it, is soon extinguished : — whereas in the figurative Gehenna the instruments of punishment shall be everlasting, and the suffering with- out end ; " for there the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." These emblematical images, expressing heaven and hell, were in use among the Jews before our Saviour's time ; and in using them he complied with their no- tions. " Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the king- dom of God," says the Jew to our Saviour, Luke xiv. 15. And in regard to Gehenna, the Chaldee para- phrast, as I observed before on chap. x,xx. 33, renders everlasting or continual burnings by " the Gehenna of everlasting fire." .\nd before his time the son of Si- rach, chap. vii. 17, had said, "The vengeance of the ungodly is fire and worms." So likewise the author of the book of Judith, chap. xvi. 17 : " Wo to the na- tions rising up against my kindred : the Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day of judgment, in putting fire and worms in their flesh ;" manifestly referring to the same emblem. — L. Kimchi's conclusion of his notes on this book is remarkable : — " Blessed be God who hath created the mountains and the hills, And hath endued me with strength to finish the book of salvation : He shall rejoice us with good tidings and reports. ?17 ( loncluding observations ISAIAH. on this prophet. He shall show us a token for good ; — And the end of his miracles he shall cause to ap- proach us." Several of the Versions have a peculiarity in their terminations : — And they shall be to a satiety of sight to all flesh. Vulgate. mit tljci lEfcljul ben into fpUpng of iSigt to all (Tc^slje. Old MS. Bible. And they shall be as a vision to all flesh. Septuagint. And the wicked shall be punished in hell till the righteous shall say, — It is enough. Chaldee. They shall be an astonishment to all flesh ; So that they shall be a spectacle to all beings. Syriac. The end of the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet. Praise to God who is truly praiseworthy. Arabic. One of my old Hebrew MSS. after the twenty-first verse repeats the twenty-tliird : " And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shaU aU flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." Masoretic Notes. Number of verses in this book, 1395. Middle verse, — -Chap, xxxiii. 21. Masoretic sections, 26. pin chazak, Be strong. In the course of these notes the reader will have often observed two MSS. of the Septuagint referred to by Bp. Lowth, and marked i. B. ii., i. D. ii. They are both in the British Museum. The former contains the prophets, and was wTitteu about tlie tenth or ele- venth century ; and because it once belonged to Pacho- mius, patriarch of Constantinople, in the beginning of the si.Kteenth century, the bishop often quotes it by the title MS. Pachom. The other contains many of the historical books, beginning with Ruth, and ending with Ezra ; and has also the Prophet Isaiah. This MS. consists of two parts, — one apparently written in the eleventh or twelfth century ; the other, in the be- ginning of the fourteenth. Dr. Grahe and Dr. Woide, as well as Bp. Lowth, considered these MSS. of great value and authority. It may be necessary to say something of the He- brew MSS. ^^■hich I have also frequently quoted. The collations of Kennicott and De Rossi have been long before the public ; and to describe them would be useless. The collections of the latter Bp. Lowth had never seen, else he could have strengthened his autho- rities : these, for the first time, I have in the preced- ing notes incorporated with Bishop Lowth's references, and thus added double strength to the learned prelate's authorities. But of my own I should say something, as they form no part of the above collections ; and yet are among the oldest MSS. known to exist. Inde- pendently of rolls, which contain only the MegUlah, Esther, and the Pentateuch, they are ten in number, and formerly belonged to the Rev. Cornelius Schulting, a Protestant minister of Amsterdam. After his death S48 in 1726, tney were sold by public auction, and came into the possession of the Rev. John A^an der Hagen, a reformed minister of the same place. In 1733, Jo. Christ. Wolf described these MSS. in the fourth volume of liis Bibliotheca Hebraea, p. 79 A few years ago I had the smgular good fortune to purchase the whole of these at Utrecht ; a collection of MSS., which Dr. Kennicott complains that he could not by any entreaties obtain the privilege of collating. These are his own words, — " Wolfius, (Bib. Heb. iv. 79-82,) memorat codices ) 0. oltm penes Schultin- gium ; quorum plurimi postea erant penes Rev. Joh. Van der Hagen. Usmn Codd. Hagenianorum obti- nere nulla potuit a me precatio." Dissert. Gener. p. 78. sub Cod. 84. Dr. Kennicott supposed that three of those MSS. had been collated for him : but in this I believe he was mistaken ; as he was also in suppos- ing that only the greater part of the ten MSS. of Schulting had fallen into the hands of Mr. Van der Hagen ; for the fact is, the whole ten were purchased, by Van der Hagen, and the same ten are now in my library, being precisely those described by Wolfius, as above. I have collated the Prophet Isaiah throughout, -in two of the most ancient of these MSS. ; and have added their testimony in many places to the various readings collected by Kennicott and De Rossi. The very bad state of my health, and particularly of my eyes, prevented a more extensive collation of these very ancient and invaluable MSS. Some of the oldest are without any date. They are marked with the ten first letters of the alphabet. Cod. C. was written A. D. 1076, — D. in 1286,— G. in 1215,— H. in 1309, — I. in 1136. In most of these there is an ample harvest of important various readings. Bishop Lowth, in giving an account of his labours on this prophet, takes a general view of the difiiculties and helps he met with in his work. This being of considerable importance, I shall lay an abstract of it before the reader, as a proper supplement to the pre- ceding sheets. He observes : — " The Masoretic punctuation, — by which the pronun- ciation of the language is given, and the forms of the several parts of speech, the construction of the words, the distribution and limits of the sentences, and the connexion of tlie several members, are fixed, — is in ef- fect an interpretation of the Hebrew text made by the Jews of late ages, probably not earlier than the eighth century ; and ma)' be considered as their translation of the Old Testament. Where the words unpointed are capable of various meanings, according as they may be variously pronounced and constructed, the Jews by their pointing have determined them to one meaning and con- struction ; and the sense which they thus give is their sense of the passage, just as the rendering of a trans- lator into another language is his sense. The pomts have been considered as part of the Hebrew text, and as giving the meaning of it on no less than Divine au- thority. Accordingly our public translations in the modern tongues, for the use of the Church among Pro- testants, and so likewise the modern Latin translations, are for the most part close copies of the Hebrew pointed text, and are in reality oidy versions at second hand, translations of the Jews' interpretation of the Old Tes- tament. Concluding observations CHAP. LXVl. on I his projihe'. " To what a length an opinion lightly taken up, and embraced with a full assent without due examination, may be carried, we may see in another example of much tlie same kind. The learned of the Church of Rome, who have taken the liberty of giving transla- lions of Scripture in the modern languages, have for the most part sul)jecled and devoted themselves to a prejudice equally groundless and absurd. The Council of Trent declared the Latin translation of the Scrip- tures, called the Vulgate, w hich had been for many ages in use in their Cliurob, to be authentic ; a very am- biguous term, which ought to have been more precisely defined than the fatliers of this council chose to de- fine it. Upon this ground many contended that the Vulgate Aversion was dictated l)y the Holy Spirit ; at least was providentially guarded against all error ; was consequently of Divine authority, and more to be re- garded than even the original Hebrew and Greek texts. •' But a very fruitful source of error proceeded from the Jewish copyists consulting more the fair appearance of their copy tlian the correctness of it, by wilfully leaving mistakes uncorrected, lest by erasing they should diminish the beauty and the; value of the transcript, (for instance, when they had uiitten a word or part of a word wrong, and immediately saw their mistake, they left the mistake uncorrected, and wrote the word anew after it ;) their scrupulous regard to the evenness and fulness of their lines, which induced them to cut off from the ends of lines a letter or letters for which there was not suflScient room, (for they never divided a word, so that the parts of it should belong to two lines,) and to add to the ends of lines letters wholly insignificant, by way of expletives to fill up a vacant space : their custom of writing part of a word at the end of a line, where there was not room for the whole, and then giv- ing the whole word at the beginning of the next line. " These circumstances considered, it would be the most astonishing of all miracles, if the Hebrew «Titings of the Old Testament had come down to us through 'heir hands absolutely pure, and free from all mistakes whatsoever. " The ancient Versions, as the principal sources of emendation, and higldy useful in rectifymg as well as in explaining the Hebrew text, are contained in the London Polyglot. " The Greek Version, commonly called the Septua- gint, or of the seventy interpreters, probably made by different hands, (the number of them uncertain,) and at different times, as the exigence of the Jewish Church at Alexandria and in other parts of Egypt required, is of the first authority, and of the greatest use in cor- recting the Hebrew text, as being the most ancient of all ; and as the copy from wluch it was translated ap- pears to have been free from many errors which after- wards by degrees got into the text. But the Greek Version of Isaiah is not so old as that of the Penta- teuch by a hundred years and more, having been made in all probability after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, when the reading of the prophets in the Jewish s\-na- gognes began to be practised ; and even after the build- ing of Onias' temple, to favour which there seems to have been some artifice employed in a certain passage of Isaiali (chap. xix. 18) in this Version. And it un- fortunately happens that Isaiah has had the hard fate to meet with a Greek translator ver>- unworthy of him, there being hardly any book of tlu^ Old Testament so ill rendered in that Version as this of Isaiali. "The Arabic A'ersion is sometimes referred to as verifying the reading of the Septuagint, being, for the most part at least, taken from that Version. " The Chaldce paraphrase of Jonathan ben Uzziel, made about or before the time of our Saviour, though it often wanders from the te.xt in a wordy allegorical explanation, yet very frequently adheres to it closely, and gives a verbal rendering of it ; and accordingly is sometimes of great use in ascertaining the true read- ing of the Hebrew text. " The Syriac Version stands next in order of time but is superior to the Chaldee in usefulness and authoi ity, as well in ascertaining as in explaining the Hebrew text. It is a close translation of the Hebrew language into one of near affinity to it. It is supposed to have been made as early as the first century. " The fragments of the three Greek Versions ol Aquila, Sijmmuclms, and Theodntion, all made in the second century, which are collected in the Ile.xapla of Montfau^on, are of considerable use for the same purpose. " The Vulgate, being for the most part the transla- tion of Jerome, made in the fourth century, is of ser vice in the same way, in proportion to its antiquity. " In referring to Dr. Kennicott's Collections, I have given the whole number of manuscripts or editions which concur in any particular reading ; what propor- tion that number bears to the whole number of collated copies which contain the Book of Isaiah, may be seen bv comparing it with the catalogue of copies collated, which is given at the end of that book in the doctor's edition of the Hebrew Bible. " Among the manuscripts which have been collated, I consider those of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries as ancient, comparatively and in respect of the rest. Therefore in quoting a number of manu- scripts, where the variation is of some importance, I have added, that so many of that number are ancient, that is, are of the centuries above mentioned. " The design of the notes is to give the reasons and authorities on which the translation is fotinded ; to rec- tify or to explain the words of the text ; to illu.-?trate the ideas, the images, and the allusions of the prophet, by referring to objects, notions, and customs which pe- culiarly belong to his age and his countrj' ; and to point out the beauties of particular passages. If the reader would go deeper into the mystical sense, into theologi- cal, historical, and chronological disquisitions, there are many learned expositors to whom he may have recourse, who have written full commentaries on this prophet, to which title the present work has no pretensions. The sublime and spiritual uses to be made of this peculiarly evangelical prophet, must be all founded on a faithful representation of the Iheral sense which his words con- tain. This is what 1 have endeavoured closely and exactly to express." In conclusion, it may be necessar)' to give some ac- count of what I have ventured to superadd to the la- bours of this ven,' learned prelate. .Vftcr consulting the various commentators, who have spent much time 249 Concluding observations ISAIAH. on this prophet. and labour in their endeavours to illustrate this prophet, I found their interpretations of many of the most im- portant prophecies strangely diiferent, and often at va- riance. Former commentators have taken especial care to bring forth in the most prominent point of view all those passages which have been generally under- stood to refer to our blessed Lord, and the Christian dispensation. Later critics, especially those on the continent, have adopted the Jewish plan of interpreta- tion, referring the parts belonging to the Messiah in his sufferings, &c., to the prophet himself, or to the chil- dren of the captivity in their state of suffering ; and those passages which speak of the redemption nf the world, and the glorious state of the Christian Church, they apply to the deliverance of the Israelites from the Babylonish captioity. It is really painful to see what labour and learning these critics spend to rob the pro- phet of his title of evangelical ; and to show that even the sacred vsriters of the New Testament, in their ap- plication of select passages to our Lord, only followed the popular custom of accommodating passages of the Sacred Writings to occurrences and events, to which their leading circumstances bore some kind of resem- blance, the application being only intended to convey the idea of similitude, and not of identity. 250 While I have cautiously handled those passages, the application of which was dubious, I have taken care to give my opinion with firmness on those which seem to have no other meaning than what they derive from their application to the great work of redemption by Jesus Christ, and the glory that should follow the outpouring of his Spirit. Many readers will no doubt suppose that I should have dwelt more on the spiritual parts of this inimitable book ; but to this there would be scarcely any end. ^V}lo could exhaust the stores of this pro- phet ! and if any thing were left unsaid, some would stUI be unsatisfied, to say nothing of the volume being thereby swollen beyond all reasonable bounds. I have marked enough for the reader's meditation ; and have thrown out a sufficient number of hints to be improved by ministers of the word of God. To another class it may appear too critical ; but this chiefly applies to the learned bishop, whose plan, as by far the best in my judgment, I have followed ; and whose collection of various readings I felt it my duty to complete, a thing that none of his editors have attempted before. I have therefore added the various readings collected by De Rossi to those of Dr. Kennicott, which the bishop had cited as authorities, on which he built his alterations and critical conjectures. INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK PROPHET JEREMIAH. 'PHE Prophet Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, was of the sacerdotal race, and a native of Anathoth, a village in the tribe of Benjamin, within a few miles of Jerusalem, which iiad been appointed for the use of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, Josh. x\i. 18. He was called to the prophetic office when very young ; probably when he was fourteen years of age, and in the thirteenth of the reign of Josiah, A. M. 3375, B. C. C29. He continued to prophesy till after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, which took place A. M. 3416 ; and it is supposed that about two years after he died in Egypt. Thus it appears that he discharged the arduous duties of the prophetic office for upwards of forty years. Being very young when called to the prophetic office, he endeavoured to excuse himself on account of his youth and incapacity for the work ; but, being overruled by the Divine authority, he undertook the task, and performed it with matchless zeal and fidelity in the midst of a most crooked and perverse people, by whom he was continually persecuted, and whom he boldly reproved, often at the hazard of his life. His attachment to his country was strong and fervent ; he foresaw by the liglit of prophecy the ruin that was coming upon it. He might have made terms with the enemy, and not only saved his life, but have gained ease and plenty ; but he chose rather to continue with his people, and take his part in all the disasters that befell them. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar having made Gedaliah governor of Judea, the fractious Jews rose up against him, and put him to death ; they then escaped to Tahpanhes in Egypt, carrying Jeremiah with tliem ; who, continuing to testify against their wickedness and idolatry, at length fell a victim to hi.s faithfulness : they filled up the measure of their iniquity, as tradition reports, by stoning the prophet to death. God marked this murderous outrage by his peculiar displeasure ; for in a few years after they were almost all miserably destroyed by the Chaldean armies whicii had invaded Egj'pt ; and even this destruction had been foretold by the prophet himself, chap, xliv : " They were consumed by the sword and by the famine imtil there was an end of them, a small remnant only escaping," ver. 14, 27, 28. The pitch of desperate wickedness to which the Jews had arrived previously to their captivity was truly astonishing. They had exhausted all the means that infinite mercy, associated with mf-imle justice, could employ for the salvation of sinners; and they became in consequence desperately wicked ; no wonder, therefore, that wrath fell upon them to the uttermost. It seems that their hardness and darkness had proceeded to such lengths that they abandoned themselves to all the abominations of idolatn,' to avenge themselves on God, because he would not bear with their continual profligacy. Were ever people more highly favoiued, more desperately ungrateful, or more signally punished ! What a lesson is their histor\' to the nations of the earth, and especially to those who have been favoured with the light of revelation ! I should have entered into a particular discussion relative to the history of those times mentioned by this propiiet, had they not passed already in review in the Books of Kings and Chronicles ; in which much of the historical parts of this propiiet has been anticipated ; 351 INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. and to which, in order to avoid repetition, I must refer my readers. What is farther neces sary to be added will be found in the following notes. As a writer, the character of Jeremiah has been well drawn by Bishop Loivth. On com- paring him with Isaiah, tlie learned prelate says : " Jeremiah is by no means wanting either in elegance or .sublimity ; although, generally speaking, inferior to Isaiah in both. St. Jerome has objected to him a certain rushcity in his diction ; of which, I must confess, I do not discover the smallest trace. His thoughts, indeed, are somewhat less elevated, and he is commonly more large and diffuse in his sentences ; but the reason of this may be, that he is mostly taken up with the gentler passions of grief and pity, for the expressing of which he has a peculiar talent. This is most evident in the Lainentations, where those passions alto- gether predominate ; but it is often visible also in his Prophecies ; in the former part of the book more especially, which is principally poetical. The middle parts are for the most part historical ; but the last part, consisting of six chapters, is entirely poetical ; and contains several oracles distinctly marked, in which this prophet falls very little short of the loftiest style of Isaiah." It has often been remarked, that although several of the prophecies in this book have their dates distinctly noted, and most of the rest may be ascertained from collateral evidence ; yet there is a strange disorder in the arrangemejit. " There is," says Dr. Blayney, " a prepos- terous jumbling together of the prophecies of the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah in the seventeen chapters which follow the twentieth, according to the Hebrew copies ; so that, without any apparent reason, many of the latter reigns precede those of the former ; and in the same reign, the last delivered are put first, and xhe first, last." In order to prevent the confusion arising from this, Dr. Blayney has transposed the chapters where he thought it needful, without altering the numerals as they stand in our common Bibles. This defect has been noticed, and attempts made to remedy it, by others. Dr. John George Balder, Professor of Theology in the Protestant seminary of Strasburg, has just now published the fi7-st volume of a work, enthled, Jeremie, traduit siir le Texte original, accompagni de Notes Explicatives, Historiques, et Critiques, Qvo., (antedated) Strasbourg, 1824. After a preface, and very judicious historical introduction, consisting, the first of twenty-two, tlie second of thirty-six pages, the text and notes follow. The poetical parts of the text are translated in the hemistich manner, as the original appears in the best copies ; and tlie whole is divided into sections ; each of which is introduced with judicious observa- tions relative to time, place, circumstances, and the matter contained in that section. The discourses or prophecies delivered under a particular reign, are all produced under that reign in their chronological order. A table of this arrangement I shall here introduce, and refer to the use of it afterwards : — I TABLE I. Prophecies under Josiah. Chap. xiv. l.-xv. 21. xvi. l.-xvii. 18 Chap. i. 1-19. xviii. 1-23. iv. v.-vi. 30. xix. l.-xx. 13. ii. l.-iii. 5. XX. 14-18. iii. G.-iv. 4. xxiii. 9-40. xvii. 19-27. XXXV. 1-19. xlvii. 1-7. XXV. 1-38. xxxvi. 1-32. xlv. 1-5. Umler Jelioiaktm. xii. 14-17. X. 17-25. vii. l.-ix. 25. xxvi. 1-24. Under Jeconiah. xlvi. a-12. X. 1-lG. xiii 1-27. Under ZedehaH. Chap, xxiii. l.-xxii. 8. xi. 1-17. xi. 18.-xii. 13. xxiv. 1-10. xxix. 1-32. xxvii. 1. -XXV iii. 17 xlix. 34-39. li. 59-64. xxi. 1-14. xxxiv. 1-7. xxxvii. 1-10. xxxiv. 8-22. .xxxvii. 11-21. xxxviii. 1-28. J53 INTRODUCTION To THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. Chap, xxxix. 15-18. xxxii. 1-44. xxxiii. 1-26. xxxix. 1-10. kfler the destruction of Jerusalem. xxxix. 11—14. xl. l.-xli. 18. xlii. l.-xliii. 7. Chap. XXX. l.-xxxi. 40. Prophecies delivered in Egypt. xliii. 8-13. xliv. 1-30. xlvi. 13-28. Prophecies relative to strange nations, xlvi. 1, and xlix. 1-6. Chap, xlviii. 1-47. xlix. 7-22. xlix. 23-27. xlix. 28-33. 1. l.-li. 58-64. Historical Appendix. lii. 1-34. The kings under whom Jeremiah prophesied succeeded each other in the following order . 1. Josiah; 2. Jehoahaz; 3. Jehoiachin, or Jeconiali ; 4. Jehoiakinm ; 5. Zedekiah. To render the transpositions evident whicii have taken place in these prophetical discourses we have only to look at those which bear the date of their delivery. TABLE II. Chap. 1 1 iii. 0 xxi. xxiv. XXV. xxvi. xxviii. xxix. TTfxii. xixiv. Delivered the thirteenth year of Josiah. Under Josiah. Under Zedekiah. After the carrying away of Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakini. The fourth year of Jehoiakim. The beginning of the reign of Jehoia- kim. The beginning of the reign of Zedekiah. After the carrying away of Jeconiah. The tenth year of Zedekiah. (Under Zedekiah) during the siege of Jerusalem. (Under Zedekiah) when he had obliged Chap. x.\xv . 1 XXXV i . 1 xxxvii 1 xxxvii. 11. xxxviii 1. xxxLx. 15. xlv 1. xlvi. 2. xlLx. 34. li. 59. his subjects to give liberty to the Israel- ites whom they had reduced to slavery. Under Jehoiakim. Under Jehciiakim. Under Zedekiah during the siege of Je- rusalem. Under Zedekiah. Under Zedekiah. Under Zedekiah whde Jeremiah was in prison. The fourth year of Jehoiakim. The fourth year of Jehoiakim. In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah The fourth year of Zedekiah. Taking into consideration the order of the reigns, a child may perceive that the above prophecies are not in the order of the times of their delivery ; and that the sheets or skins on which the text of that MS. was wTitten, from which the present copies have derived their origin, have been pitifully interchanged, huddled and tacked together, without connexion or arrangement. To remedy this defect. Dr. Blayaey has arranged the chapters in the following order, which he terms a new arrangement of the chapters in Jeremiah, from chap. xx. to chap, xlvi., inclusive : xx., xxii., xxiii., xxv., xxvi., xxxv., xxxvi., xlv., xxiv., xxix., xxx., xxxi., xxvii., xxviii., xxi., xxxiv., xxxvii., xxxii., xxxiii., xxxviii., xxxix. 15—18, xxxix. 1—14, xl., xli., xlii., xliii., xliv., xlvi., &c. The preceding and subsequent chapters Dr. Blayneij thought sufficiently correct for all the general purposes of chronology ; and it is according to this order that he prints the text in his edition and translation of this prophet. Dr. Dahler, as we have seen, is more circumstantial. Where he has dates, as are shown in the preceding table, he produces the text in that order; where there are not positive dates, he ascertains several by circumstantial intimations, which bear great evidence of accuracy ; but there is a numerous class of discoiu-ses which he is obliged to insert in this work by critical conjecture. In such a case as this, when the arrangement of the common text is so evidently defective, and in many respects absurd, this procedure is quite allowable ; for although the present text as to its arrangement has the sanction of antiquity, yet when a remedy is found, it would be absiud, if not sinful, to follow an order which we may rest satisfied never did proceed from the inspired writer. I hope none will suppose that these observations detract any thing from the Divine inspi- ration of the book. The prophet delivered his discourses at particidar times in select portions, 353 INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. during forty or forty-three years ; these were afterwards gathered together and stitched up without any attention to chronologica'. arrangement. Though the Spirit of the Lord directed the prophet, yet it would be absurd to suppose that it guided tlie hand of every collector or scrihe into whose custody these several parcels might come. Suppose a man buy a copy of the Bible in sheets, and not knowing how to collate them, stitches the whole confusedly together, so that in many places the sense cannot be made out from a preceding to a following sheet, would it not be singularly foolish for any person to sa.y, " As God is the Fountain of wisdom and Author of reason, such incongruities cannot proceed from him, therefore this book was not given by Divine revelation." A child in a printer's oiEce might reply, " Cut the stitching asunder, that is man's work ; collate the sheets and put them in their proper order, and you will soon see that every paragraph is in harmony with the rest, and contains the words of Divine wisdom." Many an ancient MS., which appeared mutilated and imperfect, I have restored to order and perfection by catting the binding asunder, and restoring the sheets and leaves to those places from which the ignorance and unskilfulness of the binder had detached them. May we not be allowed to treat the dislocations in the writings of a j^rophet in the same way, when it is evident that in the lapse of time his work has suffered by the hand of the careless and ignorant. But it may be asked, " After all the evidence I have, and the concessions I have made, why I have not transposed those disjointed chapters, and produced them in the order in which I think they should be read ?" I answer. Were I to give a new translation with notes of this prophet separately, as Drs. Blayne.y and Dahler have done, I should feel it my duty to do what the objection states ; but as my province as a general commentator requires me to take up all the books of the sacred volume in the order in which I find them in the present authorized version, though convinced that this arrangement is neither correct nor convenient ; so I take up the parts of each, however transposed, in the same manner, directing the reader by tables and notes to regulate his use of the work so as to produce general edification with as little embarrassment as possible. For general pm-poses, Dr. Blayney''s chronological arrangement may be sufficient ; but for greater accuracy Table I. may be preferred. These may at least be considered in the light of helps to a better understanding of these several prophecies ; but no man is bound to follow either, farther than he is convinced that it follows what is specifically set down by the prophet himself, or fairly deducible from strong circumstantial evidence. In my notes on this prophet I have availed myself, as far as my plan would permit, of the best helps vv'ithin my reach. The various readings of Kennicott and De Rossi I have carefully consulted, and occasionally strengthened the evidence in behalf of those readings, more particularly recommended by collations from my own MSS. I regret that I have not been able, for the reasons mentioned at the conclusion of the notes on Isaiah, to produce all the various readings of importance found in these ancient MSS., and especially in the Book of Lamentations, which is contained in Jive of them ; but like the woman in the Gospels, / have done what I could, and must leave the rest to those who, with better abilities, may possess the gi-eater advantages of youth and strength, with unimpaired sight. Reader ! God designs thee a blessing by every portion of his word : in thy reading seek for this ; and if these notes be helpful to thee, give Him the glory. A. C. Eastcott, Nov. I, 1824. 254 THE BOOK PEOPHET JEREMIAH. Chronological notes relative to the commence?nent of Jeremiah's prophesying. Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3375. — Year from the Deluge, according to the generally received Hebrew text, conferred with Acts vii. 4, 1719. — Fourth year of the thirty -seventh Olympiad. — Year from the building of Rome according to the Varronian account, 1125. — Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 629. — Twelfth year of Ancus Marlins, the fourth king of the Romans : this was the one hundred and twenlielh year before the expulsion of the Tarqiiins. — Nineteenth year of Phraortes, the second king of Media. — Twenty-third year of Archidamus, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Proclida;. — Sixteenth year of Eurycrates II., king of Laccd8emon, of the family of the Euryslhenidse. — Third year of Sadyattes, king of Lydia, which was the eighty-second year before the conquest of this kingdom by Cyrus. — Twelfth year of Philip, the sixth king of Macedon, or the two hundred and ninety- third before the commencement of the reign of Alexander the Great. — Thirteenth year of Josiah, king of ludah. — Epoch of the building of Cyrene by Battus, according to some chronologers. CHAPTER I. General title to the whole Book, 1—3. Jeremiah receives a commission to prophesy cmiceming nations and kingdoms, a work to which in the Divine purpose he had been appointed before his birth, 4—10. The vision of the rod of an almond tree and of the seething pot, with their signification, 1 1—16. Promises of Divine protection to Jeremiah in the discharge of the arduous duties of his prophetical office, 17—19. *g^. p75. rpHE words of Jeremiah the 01. xxxvir. 4. son of Hilkiah, of the priests Anci Martii, , . * i i • i R. Roman., tliat tt'ere '^ in Anatnoth in the '"• land of Benjamin : 2 To whom tlie word of the Lord came in the days of Josiali the son of Amon king of Judah, '' in tlie thirteenth year of his reign. ^' ^^olifi^^*' ^ ^^ came also in the days of B C. cir. 610. Jelioiakim the son of Josiah king of Jiidah, '- nnto the end of tlie eleventh year of Zedekiah the — 5S8. 01. XLII. 3. — XLVIII. 1. •Josh. xii. 18-, 1 Chron. vi. 60, chap, xxxii. 7, 8, 9. i>Ch. irr. 3. cChap. ixxix. 2. JChap. lii. 12, 15. «2 Kings NOTES ON CHAP. I. A'erse 1-3. The words of Jeremiah] These three verses are the title of the Book ; and were probably added by Ezra when he collected and arranged the sa- cred books, and put them in that order in which they are found in Hebrew Bibles in general. For particu- lars relative to this prophet, the times of his prophesy- ing, and the arrangement of his discourses, see the in- troduction. Eleventh year of Zedekiah] That is, the last year of his reign ; for he was made prisoner by the Chal- deans in the foimh month of that year, and the carry- king of Judah, of Je- captive " in the fiftli son of Josiah * unto the rnsalem month. 4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 5 Before I "^ formed tliee in the belly ° I knew thee ; and before thou earnest forth out of the womb I '^ sancti- tied tliee, and I ' ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. A. M. cir. 33D4. —3416. B. C. rir. 610. —588. 01. XLII. 3. —XLVIII. 1. A. M. 3375. B. C. 0^9. Ol. XXXVII. 4. Anci Martii, R. Roman., 12. XXV. 8.- 12, 17.^ ^Isa. xlix. 1, 5; Ecclus. ilix. kLukei. 15,41 ; Gal. i. 15, 16.- — eExod. xxxiii. ' Heb. gave. ing away of the inhabitants of Jerusalem was in the fifth month of the same year. ^'erse 4. The ivord of the Lord came unto me] Then I first felt the inspiring influence of the Divine Spirit, not only revealing to me the subjects which he would have me to declare to the people, but also the words which I should use in these declarations. Verse 5. Before I formed thee] I had destined thee to the prophetic office before thou wert born : I had formed my plan, and appointed thee to be my envoy to this peo- ple. St. Paul speaks of his own call to preach the Gos- pel to the Gentiles in similar terms, Gal. i. 15, Id. 255 The proplieCa vistons of the JEREMIAH. almond tree and seething pet 01. xxxvii. 4. behold, I cannot speak : for I am Anci Martii, , ., , R. Koraan., a Child. '^' 7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child ; for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and ' whatsoever I com- mand thee thou shalt speak. 8 " Be not afraid of their faces ; for » I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. 9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and ° touched my mouth. And the Lord said imto me. Behold, I have " put my words in thy mouth. 10 1 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to ' root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to kExod. iv. 10; vi. 12,30; Isa. vi. 5. 1 Num. xxii. 20, 38 ; Matt. x.tviii. 20. '■■ Ezek. ii. 6 ; iii. 9 ; ver. 17. " Exod. iii. 12 ; Deut. xxxi. 6, 8; Josh. i. 5 ; chap. xv. 20 ; Acts xxvi. 17; Heb. xui. 6. Verse 6. / cannot speak] Being very young, and wholly inexperienced, I am utterly incapable of con- ceiving aright, or of clothing these Divine subjects in suitable language. Those who are really called of God to the sacred ministry are such as have been brought to a deep acquaintance with themselves, fee! their own ignorance, and know their own weakness. They know also the awful responsibility that attaches to the work ; and nothing but the authority of God can induce such to undertake it. They whom God never called run, because of worldly honour and emolument : the others hear the call with fear and trembling, and can go only in the strength of Jehovah. " How ready is the man to go, Whom God hath never sent ! How timorous, diffident, and slow, God's chosen instrument !" Verse 7. Whatsoever I command thee] It is my words and message, not thine own, that thou shalt de- liver. 1 shall teach thee ; therefore thy youth and in- experience can be no hinderance. Verse 8. Se not afraid of their faces] That is, the Jews, whom he knew would persecute him because of the message which he brought. To be /oce- warned is to be half armed. He knew what he was to expect from the disobedient and the rebellious, and must now be prepared to meet it. Verse 10. I have — se/ thee over the tialions] God represents his messengers the prophets as doing what he commanded them to declare should be done. In this sense they rooted up, pulled down, and destroyed — declared God's judgments ; they builded up and planted — declared the promises of his mercy. Thus God says to Isaiah, chap. vi. 10 : " Make the heart of this peo- ple fat — and shut their eyes." Show them that they are sfttpid and blind ; and that, because they have shut their eyes and hardened their hearts, God will in his judgments leave them to their hardness and darkness. Verse 11. A rod of an almond tree.] tps> sha/ced, 956 throw down, to build, and to plant. A. M. 3375. B. C. 629. 01. XXXVII. 4. _ ., T,, , 1 /* 1 Anci Martii, 1 1 Moreover the word oi the r. Roman., Lord came unto me, saying, Jere- miah, what seest thou ? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. 1 2 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen : for I will hasten my word to per- form it. 13 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou ? And I said, I see ^ a seething pot ; and the face thereof is ' toward the north. 14 Then the Lord said unto me. Out of the " north an evil '' shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. o Isa. vi. 7. Pisa. li. 16 ; chap, v. 14. 1 1 Kings xix. 17. 'Chap, xviii. 7, 8, 9, 10; 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. sEzek. xi. 3, 7; xxiv. 3. tHeb. from the face of the north. "Chap. iv. 6; vi. 1. ^Heb. shall be opened. from "[pW shakad, " to be ready," " to hasten," " to ivatch for an opportunity to do a thing," to awake ; be- cause the almond tree is the first to flower and bring forth fruit. Pliny says, Floret prima omnium amyg- dala mense Januario ; Martio vero pomum maturat. It blossoms in January, when other trees are locked up in their winter's repose ; and it bears fruit in March, just at the commencement of spring, when other trees only begin to bud. It was here the symbol of that promptitude with which God was about to fulfil his promises and threatenings. As a rod, says Dahler, is an instrument of punishment, the rod of the almond may be intended here as the symbol of that punishment which the prophet was about to announce. Verse 12. / will hasten my word] Here is a paro- nomasia. What dost thou see ? I see Ipiy shaked, " an almond," the hastening tree : that which first awakes. Thou hast icell seen, for (ipK' shoked) I will hasten my u-ord. I will awake, or watch over my word for the first opportunity to inflict the judgments which I threaten. The judgment shall come speedily ; it shaU soon flourish, and come to maturity. Verse 13. A seething pot — toward the north.] We find, from Ezekiel xxiv. 3, &c., that a boiling pot was an emblem of ivar, and the desolations it produces. Some have thought that by the seething pot Jiidea is intended, agitated by the invasion of the Chaldeans, whose land lay north of Judea. But Dr. Blayney con- tends that njlSi' "3D^ mippeney tsaphonah should be translated, From the face of the north, as it is in the margin ; for, from the next verse, it appears that the evil was to come from the north ; and therefore the steam, which was designed as an emblem of that evil, must have arisen from that quarter also. The pot de- notes the empire of the Babylonians and Chaldeans lying to the north of Judea, and pouring forth its mul- titudes like a thick vapour, to overspread the land. Either of these interpretations will suit the text. Verse 1 4. ShaU break forth] nniDn tippathach, shall Divine protection CHAP. II. promised to Jeremiah. *o ^- ?Jn* 1 5 For, lo, I will ^ call all the 01. xxxvu. 4. families of llie kingdoms of the R, Roman.,' north, sailli the Lord ; and they '^' shall come, and they shall * set every one his tlirone at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, ^ who have forsaken mc, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. 17 Thou therefore '■ gird up thy loins, and "Chap. T. IS; vi. 22; x. 22 ; xxv. 9. « Chap, xxxix. 3; xliii. 10. rDeut. xiviii. 20; cliap. xvii. 13. '1 Kings xviii. 4G ; 2 Kings iv. 29 ; ix. 1 ; Job xxxviii. 3 ; Luke xii. 35 ; V opened. The door shall be thrown abroatl, that these calamities may pass out freely. Verse 15. Shall set every one his throne at the en- tering of the gales] As the gates of the cities were the ordinary places where justice was administered, so the enemies of Jerusalem are here represented as conquering the whole land, assuming the reins of go- vernment, and laying the whole country under their omi laws ; so that the Jews should no longer possess any political poicer : they should be wholly subjugated by their enemies. Verse 16. / ivitl utter my judgments] God de- nounced his judgments : the conquest of their cities, and the destruction of the realm, were the facts to which these judgments referred ; and these facts prove that the threatening was fulfilled. Worshipped the icoris of their oicn hands.] Idola- try was the source of all theii wickedness, and was the cause of their desolations. For 'iS'i'o'? lemaascy, the works, more than a hundred MSS. of KennicotCs and De Rossi's, with many editions, have niy> 0^ le- maaseh, the work. Idolatry was their one great work, the business of their life, their trade. Verse 17. Gird up thy loins] Take courage and be ready, lest I confound thee ; take courage and be resolute, ja pen, lest by their opposition thou be terri- fied and confounded. God is often represented as doing or causing to be done, what he only permits or suffers to be done. Or, do not fear them, I will not arise, and speak unto them all *g*^ ^'■ that I command thee : ° be not 01. xxxvii. 4. dismayed at their faces, lest I r. Roman.,' 12. '' confound thee before tiiem. 18 For, behold, I have made thee this day ■= a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes tiiereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. 19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee ; "■ for I 07/1 with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee. 1 Pet. i. 18.— breafi to pieces.- ' Exod. iii. 12 ; ver. 8 ; Ezek. ii. -«Isa. 1. 7; chap. vi. 27 j xv. 20.— bOr, iVer. 8. suffer thee to be confounded. So Dahler, Ne crains pas que je te confonde a leurs yeux, " Do not fear that I shall confound thee before them." It is well known that the phrase, gird tip thy reins, is a meta- phor taken from the long robes of the Asiatics ; which, on going a journey, or performing their ordinary work, they were obliged to truss up under their girdles, that the motions of the body might not be impeded. Verse 18. / have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls] Though thou shalt be exposed to persecutions and various in- dignities, they shall not prevail against thee. To their attacks thou shalt be as an impregnable city ; as j/;t- shaken as an iron pillar ; and as imperishable as a wall of brass. None, therefore, can have less cause to apprehend danger than thou hast. The issue proved the truth of this promise : he outlived all their insults ; and saw Jerusalem destroyed, and his enemies, and the enemies of his Lord, carried into captivity. In- stead of nion chomoth, lealls, many JISS. and editions read iion chomath, a wall, which corresponds with the singular nouns preceding. Verse 19. They shall not prevail against thee] Because I am determined to defend and support thee against all thy enemies. One of the ancients has said, ©Eou ^sXovcos, xai sti picroj crXj,?) 2u^;<]' Thestius, apud Theophil. ad Autolyc. lib. ii. " God protecting thee, though thou wert at sea upon a twig, thou shouldst be safe." CHAPTER II. Ood expresses his corUmued regard for hts people, long since chosen, 1-3. He then expostulates with them on their ungrateful and worse than heathen return to his regard, 4-11 ; at which even the inanimate creation must be astonished, 12, 13. After this their guilt is declared to be the sole cause of the calami- ties which their enemies had power to inflict on them, 14-17. They are upbraided for their alliances with idolatrous countries, 18, 19 ; and for their strong propensity to idolatry, iwlwithstanding all the care and tender mercy of God, 20-'29. Even the chaslenings of the Almighty have produced in this people no repentance, 30. The chapter concludes with compassionately remonstrating against their folly and ingra- titude in revolting so deeply from God, and with warning them of the fearful consequences, 31-37. Vol. IV. ( 17 ) " 857 The Lord's controversy JEREMIAH. with his people. ly/rOREOVER the word of the Lord came to me, saying, A. M. 3375. B. C. 629. 01. XXXVII. 4. Aiici Martii, .^ /-. i • i r R. Roman., 2 (jo and Cry m the ears oi *^' Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord ; I remember ^ thee, the kindness of thy ^ youtli, the love of thine espousals, '^ when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that luas not sown. 3 "^ Israel was hohness unto the Lord, and ' the first-fruits of his increase : ^ all that de- vour him shall offend ; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. 4 Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel : 5 Thus saith the Lord, eWhat iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, ^ and have walked after vanity, and are become vain ? 6 Neither said they. Where is the Lord •Or, for thy sake. 1- Ezek xvi. 8, 22, 60; xxiii. 3,8, 19; Hos. ii. 15. cDeut. ii. 7. ^ Exod. xix. 5, 6. e James i. 18; Rev. xiv. 4. ("Chap. xii. 14; see chap. 1. 7. sisa. V. 4; Mic. vi. 3. ''2 Kings xvii. 15; JonaJi ii. 8. — -» Isa. Ixiii. 9, 11, 13; Hos. xiii. 4. ^ X)eut. viii. 15 ; xxxii. 10. 1 Or, the land of Cartnel. NOTES ON CHAP. II. Verse 2. / remember thee\ The youth here refers to their infant political state when they came out of Egypt ; they just then began to be a people. Their espousals refer to their receiving the law at Mount Sinai, which they solemnly accepted, Exod. xxiv. 6-8, and which acceptance was compared to a betrothing or espousal. Previously to this they were no people, for they had no constitution nor form of government. When they received the law, and an establishment in the Promised Land, then they became a people and a nation. Wentest after me] Receivedst my law, and wert obedient to it ; confiding thyself wholly to my guid- ance, and being conscientiously attached to my wor- ship. The kindness was that which God showed them by taking them to be his people, not their kind- ness to him. "Verse 3. Israel was holiness unto the Lord] Fully consecrated to his service. The first fruits of his increase] They were as wholly the Lord's, as the first fruits were the property of the priests according to the law, Nuin. x\-iii. 13. These the priests alone had a right to devote to their own use. All that devour him shall offend] As they were be- trothed to the Lord, they were considered his especial property ; they therefore who injured them were con- sidered as laying violent hands on the property of God. They who persecute God's children have a grievous burden to bear, an awful account to give. Verse 5. What iniquity have your fathers found in me] Have they ever discovered any thing cruel, un- 258 that ' brought us up out of the ^^^ ^|'^5- land of Egypt, that led us tlurough 01. xxxvii. 4. the ^ wilderness, through a land r. Roman.,' of deserts and of pits, tlirough a ' land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt ? 7 And I brought you into ' a " plentifril coun- try, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye. entered, ye "defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. 8 The priests said not, "VMiere is the Lord ? and they that handle the ° law knew me not : the pastors also transgressed against me, p and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that 1 do not profit. 9 Wherefore ""I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and ' with your children's children will I plead. 10 For pass ' over the isles of Chittim, and n> Num. xiii. 27 ; xiv. 7, 8 ; Deut. viii. 7, 8, 9. » L,ev. xviii. 25, 27, 28; Num. xxxv. 33, 34; Psa. lx.xviii. 58, 59; cvi. 38; chap. iii. 1; .\vi. 18. ° Mai. ii. 6, 7 ; Rom. ii. 20. pChap. xxiii. 13. iVer. 11; Hab. ii. 18. ' Ezek. xx. 35, 36 ; Mic. vi. 2. » Exod. xx. 5 ; Lev. xx. 5. • Or, over to. just, oppressive in my laws ? Any thing unkind or tyrannical in my government ? \Vhy then have they become idolaters ? Verse 6. Through the wilderness] Egypt was the house of their bondage : the desert through which they passed after they came out of Egypt, was a place where the m.eans of life were not to be found ; where no one family could subsist, much less a company of 600,000 men. God mentions these things to show that it was by the bounty of an especial providence that they were fed and preserved alive. Previously to this, it was a land through which no man passed, and in ivhich no man dwelt. And why ! because it did not produce the means of life ; it was the shadow of death in its appearance, and the grave to those who committed themselves to it. Verse 7. And I brought you into a plentiful coun- try] The land of Canaan. My latid] The particular property of God, which he gave to them as an inheritance, they being his pe culiar people. Verse 8. They that handle the law] 'tysni vethophe- shey, they that draw out the law ; they whose ofliee it is to explain it, draw out its spiritual meanings, and show to what its testimonies refer. The pastors also] Kings, political and civU rulers. Prophesied by Baal] Became his prophets, and were inspired with the words of lying spirits. Verse 9. / will yet plead with you] 3'1X arib, I will maintain my process, vindicate my own conduct, and prove the wickedness of yours. Verse 10. The isles of Chittim] This is the island of Cyprus, according to Josephus. In 1 Maccabees, ( 17* ) The Lord's controversy CHAP. II. with his people. *B "c 6^0^ ^'^^ ' ^"^ ^^^^ ""'° Kedar, and 01. xxxvii. 4. consider diligently, and see if Anci .Martii, . , i' i ■ R. Roman., tlierc he siicli a llnng : '^- ] 1 " Hath a nation changed their gods, which are ^ yet no gods ? "^ but my people have changed their glory for ^ that which doth not profit. 12 >" Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be iioiTibly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith tlie Lord. 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the ^ Fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. 1 4 /s Israel " a servant ? is he a home-born slave ? why is he ' spoiled ? 15 ' The young lions roared upon him, and ^ yelled, and they made his land waste : his cities are burned without inhabitant. "Mic. iv. 5.— — ^' Psa. cxv. 4; Isa. xxxvii. 19; chap. xvi. 20; " Psa. cvi. 20 ; Rom. i. 23. • Vcr. 8. > Isa. i. 2 ; chap. vi. 19. *Psa. xxxvi. 9; chap. xvii. 13 ; xviii. 14 ; John iv. 14. * Sec Exod. iv. 22. b Heb. become a spoil ? c Isa. i. 7 ; chap. iv. 7. chap. viii. 5, it is taken for Macedonia. Besides this, how they (the Romans) had discomfiled in battle Philip and Perseus, iing of the Chitlims. Chittim was tlie grandson of Japhet ; and Bochart has made it appear that the countries inhabited by the Chittim were Italy and the adjacent provinces of Europe, lying along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea ; and probably this is the prophet's meaning. Send unto Kedar] The name of an Arabian tribe. See if nations either near or remote, cultivated or stupid, have acted with such fickleness and ingratitude as you have done ! They have retained their gods to whom they had no obligation ; ye have abandoned your God, to whom ye owe your life, breath, and all things ! Verse 12. Be astonished, O ye heavens] Or, the heavens are astonished. The original will admit either sense. The conduct of this people was so altogether bad, that among all the iniquities of mankind, neither heaven nor earth had witnessed any thing so exces- sively sinful and profligate. Verse 13. Two evils] Fir.tt, ihey forsook God, the Fountain of life, light, prosperity, and happiness. Secondly, they hewed out broken cisterns ; they join- ed themselves to idols, from whom tliey could receive neither temporal nor spiritual good ! Their conduct was the excess of folly and blindness. What we call here broken cisterns, means more properly such ves- sels as were HI made, not staunch, ill put together, so that the water leaked through them. A'erse 14. Is Israel a servant 1] Is he a slave pur- chased with money, or a servant born in the famili/ ? He is a son himself If so, then, it-Ay is he spoiled ? Not because God has not shown him love and kind- ness ; but because he forsook God, turned to and is joined with idols. 16 Also the children of Noph ^^'J;-^^'^^- and •= Tahapanes, Hiave broken Oi.xxxvii. 4 ,, r I 1 J Anci Martii, the crown ol thy head. r. Roman., 17^ Hast thou not procured this '^' unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, when '' he led thee by the way ? 18 And now what hast thou to do ' in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of ''Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria to drink the waters of the river ? 19 Thine own ' wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee : know therefore and sec that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. 20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands ; and "■ thou saidst, I will 7, 8, 9. fOr, ;Chap. iv. J Heb. gave out their voice. c Chap, xliii. feed on thy crown ; Deut. xxxiii. 20 ; Isa. viii 18. 1' Deut. xxxii. 10.— 'Isa. xxx. 1, 2. v Josh. xiii. 3. I Isa. iii. 9 ; Hos. v. 5. "Exod. xix. 8; Josh. xxiv. 18; Judg X. 16 ; 1 Sam. xii. 10. Verse 15. The young lions roared upon him] The Assyrians, who have sacked and destroyed the king- dom of Israel, with a fierceness like that of pouncing upon their prey. Verse 16. The children of Noph and Tahapanes] Noph and Tahapanes were two cities of Egypt, other- wise called Memphis and Daphni. It is well known that the good king was defeated by the Egyptians, and slain in battle. Thus was the crown of Judah's head broken. Verse 18. What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt] Why dost thou make alliances with Egypt 1 To drink the waters of Sihor ?] This means the Nile. See on Isa. x.\iii. 3. The icay of Assyria] Why make alliances with the Assyrians ^ All such connexions will only expedite thy ruin. To drink the waters of the river .'] The Euphrates, as inJ nahar or '\r\j'r\ hannahar always means Eu- phrates, the country between the Tigris and Euphrates, is termed to this day Mahcr alnahar, " the country beyond the river," i. e., Mesopotamia. Instead of cleaving to the Lord, they joined affinity and made alliances with those two nations, who were ever jealous of them, and sought their ruin. Egypt was to thein a broken reed instead of a staff ; Assy- ria was a leaky cistern, from which they could derive no help. Verse 20. Of old time I have broken thy yoke] It is thought by able critics that the verbs should be read in the second person singular, thou hast broken thy yoke, THOU hast burst thy bonds ; and thus the Sep- tuagint, tfuvsT^ivJ/ttj rou ^uyov gov, " thou hast broken thy yoke." And the Vulgate, Confregisti jugum meum, rupisti vincula mea ; " Thou hast broken my yoke , thou hast burst my bonds ;" and so the Arabic. But 359 God^s mercy to Israel, JEREMIAH. and their ingratitude ^ "c' 629^' "°'' " transgress ; when " upon 01. XXXVII. 4. every high hill and under every 'a'^Roman!! green tree thou wanderest, ^^- p playing the harlot. 2 1 Yet I had i planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed : how then art thou turned into ^ the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me 1 22 For though thou ' wash thee with nitre, and take tliee much soap, yet ' thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God. 23 " How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim ? see thy way " in the valley, know what thou hast done : ^ thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways ; "Or, serve. °Deut. xii. 2; Isa. Ivii. 5, 7; chap. iii. 6. p Exod. xxxiv. 15, 16. n Exod. xv. 17 ; Psa. xliv. 2 ; Ixxx. 8 ; Isa. V. 1, &c. ; Ix. 21 ; Malt .^xi. 33 ; Mark xii. 1 ; L-jke xx. 9. 'Deut. xxxii. 32; Isa. i. 21; v. 4. 8 Job ix. 30.- — 'Deut. xxxii. 34 ; Job xiv. 17 ; Hos. xiii. 12. the Chaldee gives it a meaning which removes the difficulty : " I liave broken the yoke of the people from thy neck ; I have cut your bonds asunder." And when this was done, they did promise fair ; for " thou saidst, I will not transgress ;" but still they played the harlot — committed idolatrous acts in the high places, where the heathen had built their altars, pretending that elevation of this kind assisted their devotion. Verse 21. / had planted thee a noble vine"\ I gave thee the fullest instruction, the purest ordinances, the highest privileges ; and reason would that I should expect thee to live suitably to such advantages ; but instead of this thou art become degenerate ; the tree is deteriorated, and the fruit is bad. Instead of be- ing true worshippers, and of a holy life and conversa- tion, ye are become idolaters of the most corrupt and profligate kind. See Isa. v. 1, &c., where the same image is used. Verse 23. For though thou wash thee uith nitre^ It should be rendered natar or natron, a substance to- tally different from our nitre. It comes from the root inJ nathar, to dissolve, loosen, because a solution of it in water is abstersive, taking out spots, &c., from clothes. It is stUl used in the cast for the purpose of washing. If vinegar be poured on it, Dr. Shaw says, a strong effervescence is the immediate consequence, which illustrates Prov. xxv. 20 : " The singing of songs to a heavy heart is like vinegar upon natron ;" that is, there is no affinity between them ; opposition and strife are occasioned by any attempt to unite them. Thine iniquity is marked before me] No washing will take out thy spots ; the tnarks of thy idolatry and corruption are too deeply rooted to be extracted by any human means. Verse 23. See thy way in the valley] The valley of Hinnom, where they offered their own children to Moloch, an idol of the Ammonites. .4 swift dromedary traversing her ways] Dr. Blay- 260 24 "^ A y wild ass ^ used to the ^j^^ ^sw. wilderness, that snuffeth up the 01. xxxvii. 4. . , , , . , Anci Martii, Wind at ^ her pleasure ; m her r, Roman., occasion who can '' turn her ' away ? all they that seek her will not weary themselves ; in her month they .shall find her. 25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst : but ■= thou saidst, ^ There is no hope ; no ; for I have loved " strangers, and after them will I go. 26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed ; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, "Prov. XXX. 12. "Chap. vii. 31. "Or, O swift dromeda- ry. ^ Job xxxix. 5, &c. ; chap. xiv. 6. v Or, O wild ass, &c. t-Heh. taught. aHeb. the desire of tier tieart. ^ Ox, reverse it. c Chap, xviii. 12. d Or, is the case desperate ? — —^ Deut. xxxii. J6 ; chap. iii. 13. ney translates, " A fleet dromedary that hath taken to company with her." Dr. Dahler rather paraphrases, thus :- Semblable a une dromedaire en chaleur. Qui court d'une cote a I'autre. " Like to a droinedary in her desire for the male, Which runs hither and thither." This is an energetic comparison ; and shows the unbridled attachment of those bad people to idolatry, and the abominable practices by which it was usually accompanied. Verse 24. A wild ass used to the wilderness] An- other comparison to express the same thing. Snuffeth up the wind] In a high fever from the in- ward heat felt at such times, these animals open their mouths and nostrils as wide as possible, to take in large draughts of fresh air, in order to cool them. In her month they shall find her.] The meaning is, that although such animals are exceedingly fierce and dangerous when they are in this state ; yet, as soon as they have found the male, the desire is satisfied, and they become quiet and governable as before. But it was not so with this idolatrous people : their desires were ever fierce and furious ; they were never satiated, one indulgence always leading to another. The brute beasts had only a short season in which this appetite prevailed ; but they acted without restraint or limit. A''erse 25. Withhold thy foot from being unshod^ When it was said to them, " Cease from discovering thy feet ; prostitute thyself no more to thy idols." And thy throat from thirst] Drink no more of their libations, nor use those potions which tend only to increase thy appetite for pollution. Thou didst say. There is no hope : it is useless to advise me thus; I am determined ; I have loved these strange gods, and to them will I cleave. Verse 26. jIs the thief is ashamed] As the pilferer is confounded when he is caught in the fact ; so shall thou, thy kings, princes, priests, and prophets, be con- The gross absurdity CHAP. II. of their idolatry. Anci Mnrtii, R. RtHnjin., 12. B "c' ^"' ^^ Saying to a stock, Thou art 01. XXXVII. 4. my father ; and to a stone, Tliou liast ^ brought me forth : for they liavc turned K Chap. xi. 13. oVer. 23,35. olsa. i. 5; ix. 13; chap. v. 3. p2 Chron. xxxvi. 16 ; Neh. ix. 26 ; Matt, xxiii. 29, «Scc; Acts vii. 52; 1 Thess. ii. 15. nVcr. 5. founded, when God shall arrest thee in thy idolatries, and deliver thee into the hands of thine enemies. Verse 27. Thou art mi/ father] By thee we have been produced, and hy thee we are sustained. This was the property of the true God ; for he is the Author and Supporter of being. How deeply fallen and bru- tishly ignorant must they be when they could attribute this to the stock of a tree ! Verse 28. According lo the number of thy cities are thy gods] Among lieathen nations every city had its tutelary deity. Judah, far sunk in idolatrj', had adopted this custom. The Church of Rome has re- fined it a little : every city has its tutelary sai»/, and this saint has a procession and worship peculiar to himself. So here : not much of the old idolatry is lost. Verse 31. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel?] Have I ever withheld from you any of the blessings necessary for your support ? A land of darliness] Have you, since you passed through the wilderness, and came out of the darkness of Egypt, ever been brought into similar circum- stances 1 You have had food and all the necessaries of life for your bodies ; and my ordinances and word to enlighten and cheer your souls. I have neither been a wilderness nor a land of darkness lo you. We are lords] We wish to be our outi masters ; we will neither brook religious nor civil restraint ; we will regard no laws, human or Divine. It was this disposition that caused them to faU in so tully with the whole system of idolatry. Verse 32. Can a maid forget her ornaments] This people has not so much attachment to me as young 32 Can a maid forget her orna- ments, o)- a bride her attire ? yet A. M. 3375. B. C. 629. 01. xxxvn.4. my people " have forgotten me r. Roman.,' days without number. '^' 33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. 34 Also in thy skirls is found " the blood of tlie souls of the poor innocents : I have not found it by ■" secret search, but upon all these. 35 "Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, >■ I will plead with thee, ^ because thou sayest, I have not sinned. 36 =" Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way ? '' thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, " as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. 37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and '' thine hands upon thine head : for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou siialt not prosper in them. •"Heb. W^e have dominion, 3 Psa. xii. 4. 'Deut. xxxii. 15. "Psa. cvi. 21; cliap. xiii. 25 ; Hos. viii. 14. 'Psa. cvi. 38 ; chap. xix. 4. "Heb. digging, ' Ver. 23,29. J-Ver. 9. ^Prov. xxviii. 13; 1 John i. 8, 10. "Ver. 18; chap, xxxi 22; Hos. v. 13 ; xii. 1. ^Issl, xxx. 3 ; chap, xxxvii. 7. '2 Chron. xxviii. 16, 20, 21. J 2 Sam. xiii. 19. females have to their dLress and ornaments. They never forget them ; and even when arrived at old age, look with pleasure on the dress and ornaments which they have worn in their youth. Dai/s ivithout number.] That is, for many years ; during the whole reign of Manasses, which was fifty- five years, the land was deluged with idolatry, from which the reform by good King Josiah his grandsoa had not yet purified it. Verse 33. Why trimmest thou thy uay] Ye have used a multitude of artifices to gain alliances with tha neighbouring idolatrous nations. Hast thou also taught the wicked ones (hy ways.'] Ye have made even these idolaters worse than they were before. Dr. Blayney translates, " Therefore have I taught calamity thy ways." A prosopopoeia : " I have instructed calamity where to find thee." Thou shalt not escape punishment. Verse 34. The blood of the souls of the poor inno- cents] We find from the sacred history that Manasseh had filled Jerusalem whh innocent blood ; see 2 Kings xxi. 16, and Ezek. xxxiv. 10. / have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.] .Such deeds of darkness and profligacy are found only in Israel. Dr. Blaynei/ translates, "I have not found it in a digged hole, but upon every oak." Others cover the blood that it may not appear ; but ye have shed it openly, and sprinkled it upon your consecrated oaks, and gloried in it. Verse 35. Because I am innoceiit] They continued to assert their innocence, and therefore expected that God's judgments woidd be speedily removed ! 361 trocPs great readiness JEREMIAH. to receive Israel agam I will plead with thee] I will maintain my process, follow it up to conviction, and inflict the deserved punishment. Verse 36. Why gaddest thou about] When they had departed from the Lord, they sought foreign alli- ances for support. 1. The Assyrians, 2 Chron. xxviii. 13-21 ; but they injured instead of helping them. 2. The Egyptians : but in this they were utterly dis- appointed, and were ashamed of their confidence. See chap, xxxvii. 7, 8, for the fulfilment of this pre- diction. Verse 37. Thmi shalt go forth from him. and thine hands upon thine head] Thou shalt find all thy con- fidence in vain,^ — thy hope disappointed, — and thy state reduced to desperation. The hand being placed on the head was the evidence of deep soitow, occa- sioned by utter desolation. See the case of Tamar, when ruined and abandoned by her brother Amnon, 2 Sam. xiii. 19. Thou shall not prosper in them.] They shall all turn to thy disadvantage ; and this, as we shall see in the history of this people, was literally fulfilled. O what a grievous and bitter thing it is to sin against the Lord, and have him for an enemy ! CHAPTER HI. The first five verses of this chapter allude to the subject of the last ; and contain earnest exhortations to repentance, tvith gracious promises of pardon, notivith.itanding every aggravation of guilt, 1—5. At the sixth verse a new section of prophecy commences, opening loith a complaint against Judah for having ex- ceeded in guilt her sister Israel, already cast off for her idolatry, 6-11. She is cast off, but not for ever ; for to this same Israel, ivhose place of captivity {Assyria) lay to the north of Judea, pardon is promised on her repentance, together with a restoration to the Church of God, along tvith her sister Judah, in the latter days, 12—20. The prophet foretells the sorrow and repentance of the children of Israel under the Gospel dispensation, 21. God renews his gracious promises, 22 ; and they again confess their sins. In this confession their not deigning to name the idol Baal, the source of their calamities, hit calling him in the abstract shame, or a thing of shame, is a nice touch of the pencil, extremely beautiful and natural, 22-25. 01. XXXVII. 4. away his wife, and she go Anci Martii, ^ . . , , , R. Roman., irom him, and become another '^' man's, "^ shall he return imto her again ? shall not that *= land be greatly pol- luted ? but thou hast '^ played the harlot with many lovers ; " yet return again to me, saith the Lord. 2 Lift up thine eyes unto ' the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. aHeb. saying. t>Deut. xxiv. 4. cChap. ii. 7. dChap. ii. 20 ; Ezek, xri. 26, 28, 29. ' Chap. iv. 1 ; Zech. i. 3. fSee Deut. xii. 2; chap. ii. 20. sGen. xxxviii. 14; Prov. NOTES ON CHAP IIL Verse 1. If a man put away his wife] It was ever understood, by the law and practice of the country, that if a woman were divorced by her husband, and became the wife of another man, the first husband could never take her again. Now Israel had been married unto the Lord ; joined in solemn covenant to him to worship and ser\'e him only. Israel turned from following him, and became idolatrous. On this ground, considering idolatry as a spiritual whoredom, and the precept and practice of the law to illustrate this case, Israel could never more be restored to the Divine favour : but God, this first husband, in the plenitude of his mercy, is willing to receive this adul- terous spouse, if she will abandon her idolatries and return unto him. And this and the following chapters are spent in affectionate remonstrances and loving ex- hortations addressed to these sinful people, to make _ 262 s In the ways hast thou sat for ^ ^- ^|75. them, as the Arabian in the wilder- oi. xxxvij, 4. ness ; ^ and thou hast polluted r. Roman.,' the land with thy whoredoms and ^'^' with thy wickedness. 3 Therefore the ' showers have been with- hoklcn, and there hath been no latter rain ; and thou hadst a ^ whore's forehead, thou re- fusedst to be ashamed. 4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, xxiii. 28; Ezek. xvi. 24,25. h Chap. ii. 7; ver. 9. 'Lev. xxvi. 19; Deut. xxvUi. 23, 24 ; chap. ix. 12; xiv. 4. k Chap. V. 3 ; vi. 15 ; viii. 12 ; Ezek. iii. 7 ; Zeph. iii. 5. them sensible of their own sin, and God's tender mercy in oflfering to receive them again into favour. Verse 2. As the Arabian in the wilderness] They were as fully intent on the practice of their idolatry, as the Arab in the desert is in lying in wait to plunder the caravans. Where tliey have not cover to lie in ambush, they scatter themselves about, and run hither and thither, raising themselves up on their saddles to see if they can discover, by smo/ie, dust, or other tohen, the approach of any travellers. Verse 3. Thei-e hath been no latter 7-ain] The former rain, which prepared the earth for tillage, fell in the beginning of November, or a little sooner; and the latter rain fell in the middle of April, after which there was scarcely any rain during the summer. Verse 4. Wilt thou not — cry unto me, My father] Wilt thou not allow me to be thy Creator and Pre- Gracious promises B 'c ^G^' ^y father, thou art ^ the guide of 01, isxxvTi! 4. "> my youth ? K. Roman., 5 " « ill hc rcservc his anger '"• for ever? will he keep it to the end ? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldcst. ■*o ^V ""■ ^Z'- 6 The Lord said also unto me B. C. cir. 612. 01. cir. XLii. 1. in the days of Josiah the king, TarouiniiPrisci, ,t i .i . i • 1 R. Roman., Hast tliou Seen that which "="■ '"'""'" ^ "backsliding Israel hath done? she is P gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. 7 1 And I said, after she had done all these things. Turn thou unto nie. But she returned not. And her treacherous 'sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw, when ' for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adul- tery I had • put her away, and given her a bill of divorce ; " yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9 And it came to pass through the ^ lightness of her whoredom, that she ■" defiled the land. 'Ptot. ii. 17. "Chap. ii. 2; Hos. ii. 15. " Psa. Ixxvii 7, &c ; ciii. 9 ; Isa. Ivii. 16 ; ver. 12. o Ver. 11, 14 ; chap. vii. 24. I'Chap. ii. 23. 'i2 Kings jvii. 13. 'Ezek. xvi. 46 ; xiiii. 2, 4. ' Ezcls. xxiii. 9. ' 2 Kings xvii. 6, 18. " Ezek. xxiii. 11, &c. ' Or, /amf. "Chap" ii. 7; ver. 2. «Ch. ii. 27. server, and cease thus to acknowledge idols ? See on chap. ii. 27. Verses. Will he reserve his an^er for ever ^ WTiy should not wTath be continued a^rainst thee, as thou continuest transgression against the Lord ! Verse 6. The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king] This is a new discourse, and is supposed to have been delivered after tlie eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. Here the prophet shows the people of Judali the transgressions, idolatry, obsti- nacy, and punishment of their brethren, the ten tril)es, whom hc calls to return to the Lord, with, the most gracious promises of restoration to their own country, their reunion with their bretliren of Judah, and ever)' degree of prosperity in consequence. He takes occa- sion also to show the Jews how much more culpable they were than the Israelites, because they practised the same iniquities while they had the punislunent and ruin of the others before their eyes. He therefore exhorts them to return to God with all their hearts, that they might not fall into the same condemnation. See the following verses. Averse 7. And I said] By the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Amos, &c. ; for all these prophesied to that rebellious people, and exhorted them to return to the Lord. Verse 8. / had put her away\ Given them up into the hands of the Assyrians. Verse 9. The lightness of her tohoredom] The CHAP. III. to the penitent and committed adultery with \, ^}- "'■ ^^^f*- •' li. C. cir. 612. == stones and with stocks. oi. cir. XLii. i. 10 And yet for all this her R?"Roma"',"' treacherous sister Judah hath not "'■ ''""^"" ^- turned unto nic >' with her whole heart, but ' fcignedly, sailli the Lord. 1 1 And the Lord said tmto me, " The back- sliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. 1 2 Go and proclaim these words toward ^ the north, and sa}'. Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord ; atid I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you : for 1 am " merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. 13 '•Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast " scattered thy ways to the ^ strangers ^ under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. 14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord ; '' for I am married unto you : and I will take you ' one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion : y2Chron. xxxiv. 33; Hos. vii. 14. * Heb. in falsehood. "Ezek. xvi. 51 ; xxiii. li. ^2 Kings xvii. 6. c Psa. Ixxxvi. 15 ; ciii. 8, 9 ; ver. 5. J Lev. xxvi. 40, &c ; Deut. xxx. 1, 2, &c; Prov. x.tviii. 13. ^Ver. 2; Ezek. xvi. 15, 24, 25. fChap. ii. 25. e Deut. xii. 2. tch.ip. xxxi. 38; Hos. ii. 19,20. iRoni. xi. 5. grossness of her idolatrj' : worshipping objects the most degrading, with rites the most impure. Averse 1 1 . Backsliding Israel hath justified herself more] She was less offensive in my eyes, and more excusable, than treacherous Judah. So it is said, Luke xviii. 14, the humbled publican went down to his house justified rather than the boasting Pharisee. The one was more to be pitied than the other, and more likely to receive the mercy of God. Averse 12. Proclaim these ivords toward the north] The countries where the ten tribes were then in cap- tivity, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Media, &c., see 2 Kings xvii. 6 ; these lay north of Judea. How tender and compassion.ate are the exhortations in this and the following verses ! Could these people believe that God had sent the prophet and yet prefer the land of their bondage to the blessings of freedom in their own country, and the approbation of their God ? Verse 14. / tvill take you one of a city, and two of a family] If there should be but one of a city left, or one willing to return, and two only of a ti'hole tribe, yet will I receive these, and bring them back from captivity into their own land. I have heard these words most sinfully applied to show the nature of a fancied eternal decree of election, that has appointed in several cases one oidy out of a whole city, and two out of a whole family, to be eternally saved, leaving the rest, according to the decree of reprobation, to perish everlastinglv ! And yet these persons, who 363 Gracious promises JEREMIAH. to the penitent •*A'i"''- ???^- 15 And I will give you ''pas- B. C. cir. 612. ° -f ^ 01. cir. XLii. 1. tors according to miiie heart, TarquiniiPrisci, , . , i ii 1 r j •.!_ R. Roman., whicli shall ' teed yon with _ cir. annum 5. knowledge and understanding. 1 6 And it shall come to pass, when ye be mul- tiplied and increased in the land, in those days, Baith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord : ™ neither shall it " come to mind : neither shall they remember it ; neither shall they visit it ; neitlier shall ° that be done any more. 17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord ; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, ^ to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem : neither shall they i walk any more after the ' imagination of their evil heai-t. 18 In tliose days ^ the house of Judah shall walk ' with the house of Israel, and they shall k Chap. x.xiii. 4 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 23 ; Eph. iv. 11. 'Actsxx. 28. '" Isa. IxT. 17. — ' — " Heb. come upon the heart. o Or, it be TTUtgnifu'd. Pisa. Ix. 9. iChap. xi. 8. rOr, stiihbom- ness. — ^ See Isa. xi. 13; Ezek. xxxvii. 16-22; Hos. i. 11. 'Or, to. " Ver. 12; chap. xxxi. 8. ^Amos ix. 15. spoke thus of the Fountain of eternal goodness and mercy, professed to believe in Him who by the grace of God tasted death for every man. Verse 15. / toill give ijou pastors according to mine heart] The pastor means either the king or the pro- phet; and the pastors here promised may be either kings or prophets, or both. These shall be according to God's own heart ; they shall be of his own choosing and shall be qualified by himself: and in consequence they shall feed the people with knowledge, Di'T deah, that Divine truth concerning the true God and the best interests of man, which was essentially necessary to their salvation ; and understanding — botyn haskeil, the full interpretation of every point, that in receiving the truth they might become wise, holy, and happy. A'^erse 16. The ark of the covenant of the Lord] This symbol of the Divine presence, given to the Jews as a token and pledge of God's dwelling among them, shall be no longer necessary, and shall no longer exist ; for in the days of the Messiah, to which this promise seems to relate, God's worship shall not be confined either to one place or to one people. The temple of God shall be among men, and every where God be adored through Christ Jesus. Neither shall that be done anij more.] The ark shall be no more established, nor carried from place to place ; nor shall men go to visit it. AU its ceremo- nies and importance shall cease ; and, if lost, .shall never be rebuilt. Verse 17. They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord] The new Jerusalem, the universal Church of Clirist, shall be God's throne : and wherever he is acknowledged as the Lamb of God who takes away the stn of the world, there God sits on his throne, and holds his court. S64 come together out of the land of 4- ^; '^"■- 3392. , ,11, ., B. C. cir. 612. " the north to '^ the land that I oi. cir. xLii. i , _ ■ r • I, -. TarquiniiPrisci, have ^ given tor an inheritance r, Roman., unto your fathers. "'•■'^""'^^- 19 But I said. How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee ^ a >■ pleasant land, ^ a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations ? and I said. Thou shall call me, '^ My father ; and shalt not turn away '' from me. 20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her •■ husband, so ^ have ye dealt treach- erously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. 21 A voice was heard upon " the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel : for they have perverted their way, and tiiey have forgotten the Lord their God. 22 ' Return, ye backsliding children, and s I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we ^^Or, caused your fathers to po.'isess. ' Psa. cvi. 24; Ezek. XX. 6 ; Dan. Vlli. 9 ; xi. 16, 41, 45.' J" Heb. land of desire. r-Ueh. a heritage of glory or beauty. ^Isa. Ixiii. 16. bJJeb. from after me. 1" Heb. friend. d Isa. xlviii. 8; chap. v. 11. elsa. XV. 2. -1" Ver. 14; Hos. xiv. 1. g Hos. vi. 1; xiv. 4. Verse 18. The house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel That is, in those days in which the Jews shall be brought in with the fulness of the Gentiles. Out of the land of the north] From Chaldea. This prophecy has two aspects : one refers to the return from the Babylonish captivity ; the other, to the glo- rious days of Christianity. But the words may refer to that gathering together of the Jews, not only from Chaldea, but from the countries of their dispersion over the face of the whole earth, and uniting them in the Christian Church. Verse 19. How shall I put thee among the children'] As if he had .said. How can ye be accounted a holy seed, who are polluted ? How can ye be united to the people of God, who walk in the path of sinners ? How can ye be taken to heaven, who are unholy within, and unrighteous without ! And I said, Thou shall call me, My father] This is the answer to the above question. They could not be put among the children unless they became legal mem- bers of the heavenly family : and they could not be- come members of this family unless they abandoned idolatry, and took the Lord for their portion. Nor could they be continued in the privileges of the heavenly family, unless they no more turned away from their hea- venly Father. A'erse 21. A voice was heard upon the high places'] Here the Israelites are represented as assembled to- gether to bewail their idolatry and to implore mercy. While thus engaged, they hear the gracious call of Jehovah — A'erse 22. Return, ye backsliding children] This they gladly receive, and with one voice make their confession to him : " Behold, we come unto thee, for Gracious promises CHAP. IV. to the pemteyit. A. M. cir. 3392. come unto thee ; for thou art the B. C. cir. C12. ^ , oi.cir. -XLiii. Lord oiir Crod. "'"RumanT'' 23 '' Tiuly ill vaii) is salvation c.r. annum 5. j^^^^j^ J^^ ^^^^ ^1,^ l^jUg^ q„(£ frovi the muhitucie of mountains : ' Imly in tlic Lord oiur God is tlic sah alien of Israel. 24 '' For shame hath devo\ired tlie labour of our fathers from oiu: youth ; their flocks and tPsa. cxxi. 1, 2. 'Psa. iii. 8. k Chap. xi. 13; Hos. ix. 10. thou art Jehovah our God ;" and thence to the end of the chapter, show the reasons why they return unto God. 1. Because he is the true God. 2. Because the idols did not profit tliem : they could give no help in time of trouble. 3. Because it is the prerogative of God alnne to give salvation. 4. Because they had no kind of prosperity since they had abandoned the worship of their Maker. And this was not oidy their case, but it was the case of their /o?v;/«//(c;-.i, who all suffered in consequence of their idolatry and disobe- dience. 5. These reasons are concluded with a hearty confession of sin, at the thought of which lliey are confounded ; for the remembrance of their sin was A. M. cir. 3392. B. C. cir. 612. Ol. cir. XLII. 1. TarqiiiniiPrisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 5. their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: ' for we have sinned against the Loud our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and ™ have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. ' Ezra a. 7.- ■ Chap. xxii. 21. grievous to them, and the burden was intolerable. This confession ended, God appears in the ne.\t chapter with gracious promises, and proper directions how they are to return, and how to conduct themselves in future. A'erse 21. For shame hath devoured] The word shame, here and in chap. xi. 13 ; Hos. ix. 10, is sup- po.sed to signify Baal, the idol which they worshipped. That thing or shame which has brought you into con- tempt, confusion, and ruin. Sooner or later every sinner must be ashamed of his conduct ; next, confounded ; and, lastly, ruined by it, unless by true faith and hearty repentance he returns to the Lord. CHAPTER IV. Sequel of the exhortations and promises addressed to Israel in the preceding chapter, I, 2. The prophet then addresses the people of Judah and Jerusalem, exhorting to repentance and reformation, that the dread- ful visitation toith which they were threatened might be averted, 3, 4. He then souiids the alarm of war, 6, 6. Nebuchadnezzar, Hie a fierce lion, is, from the certainty of the prophecy, represented to be on his march; and the disastrous event to have been already declared, 7—9. And as the lying prophets had flat- tered the people ivith the hopes of peace and safety, they are now introduced, (when their predictions are falsified by the event.) e.iciising themselves ; and, with matchless effrontery, laying the blame of the decep- tion upon God, (" And they said," c^c, so the text is corrected by Kennicott,) 10. The prophet immediately resumes his subject ; and, in the person of God, denounces again those judgments ivhich were shortly to be inflicted by Nebuchadnezzar, 11—18. The approaching desolation of Jerusalem lamented in language amazingly energetic and exquisitely tender, 19—21. The incorrigible ivickedness of the people the sole cause of these calamities, 22. In the remaining verses the prophet describes the sad catastrophe of Jeru- salem by such a beautiful assemblage of the most striking and afflictive circumstances as form a picture of a land " swept with the besom of destruction." The earth seems ready to return to its original chaos ; every ray of light is extinguished, and succeeded by a frightful gloom ; the mountains trcmhle, and the hills shake, under the dreadful apprehension of the wrath of Jehovah ; all is one awful solitude, where not a vestige of the human race is to be seen. Even the fowls of heaven, finding no longer whereon to subsist, are compelled to migrate ; the most fruitful places are become a dark and dreary desert, and every city is a ruinous heap. To complete the whole, the dolorous shrieks of Jerusalem, as of a ivoman in peculiar "gony, break through the frightful gloom ; and the appalled prophet pauses, leaving the reader to reflect on the dreadful effects of apostasy and idolatry, 23-31. A. M. cir. 3392. B. C. cir. 612. 01. cir. XLII. 1. Tnrquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 5. TF thou wilt return, 0 Israel, saith the Lord, "return unto me : and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my •Chap. iii. 1,22; Joelii. 12. bDeut. X. 20; Isa. xlv. 23 ; NOTES ON CHAP. TV. Verse 1 . Shalt thou not remove.] This was spoken before the Babylonish captivity ; and here is a promise that if they will return from their idolatry, they shall not be led into captivity. So, even that positivelv A. M. cir. 3392. B. C. cir. 612. 01. cir. XLII. I. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir, annum 5. sight, then shall tiiou not re- move. 2 ''And thou shall swear, The Lord liveth, ■= in truth, in judg- liv. 16; see chap. v. 2; Zech. viii. 8. ^Lsa. xlviii. 1. threatened judgment would have been averted had they returned to the Lord. ■S'erse 2. Thou shall swear. The Lord liveth] Thou shalt not bind thyself by any false god ; thou shalt acknowledge me as the Supreme. Bind thvself by me, 265 The prophet reasons A.M.cir. 3392. ment, and in righteousness ; ''and oi.'cir. XLii. 1. the nations shall bless themselves ''S:'"Rama"f ' in him, and in him shall they cir. annum 5. e o-JgrV 3 For thus sailh the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, '' Break up your fallow ground, and « sow not among thorns. 4 ^ Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem : lest my fury come forth like fire, and bum that none can quencli it, because of the evil of your doings. 5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jeru- salem ; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land : cry, gather together, and say, ' Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. 6 Set up the standard toward Zion : ^ retire, stay not : for I will bring evil from the ' north, and a great ™ destruction. 7 " The lion is come up from his thicket, and " the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his JEREMIAH. with his countrymen. way; he is gone forth from his ^^- "="'•^^92. dGen. xxii. 18; Psa. Ixxii. 17; Gal. iii. 8. ^Isa. xlv. 25 ; 1 Cor. i. 31. fHos. x. 12. sMatt. xiii. 7, 22. — ■ -t Deut. X. 16; XXX. 6; chap. ix. 26; Col. ii. 11; Rom. ii. 28, 29. iChap. viii. M. 'Or, strengthen. 'Chap. i. 13, 14, 15; vi. 1, 22. "Heb. breaking. and TO me ; and do this in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness. The nations shall bless themselves in Ajm] They shall be so fully convinced of the power and good- ness of Jehovah in seeing the change wrought on lliee, and the mercies heaped upon thee, that their usual mode of benediction shaU be. May the God of Israel hless thee ! Verse 3. Break up your fallow ground] Falloiv ground is either that which, having been once tilled, has lain long uncultivated ; or, ground slightly plovgh- ed, in order to be ploughed again previously to its being sown. Ye have been long uncultivated in righteous- ness ; let true repentance break up your fruitless and hardened hearts ; and when the seed of the ivoi-d of life is sown in them, take heed that worldly cares and concerns do not arise, and, like thorns, choke the good seed. Verse 4. Circumcise yourselves] Put away ever}' thing that has a tendencj' to grieve tlie Spirit of God, or to render your present holy resolutions unfruitful. Verse 5. Blow ye the trumpet] Give full informa- tion to all parts of the land, that the people may as- semble together and defend themselves against their invaders. Verse 6. / ivill bring evil from the north] From the land of Chaldea. Verse 7. The lion is come up] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baoylon. " The king (Nebuchadnezzar) is come up from his tower." — Targtim. The destroyer of the Gentiles] Of the nations : of 2e6 place p to make thy land deso- oi. cir. XLii. i. 7 , , . . 1 11 1 1 ■ 1 Tarquinii Prisci, late ; and thy cities shall be laid r. Roman., waste, without an inhabitant. cir. annum 5. 8 For this 1 gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl : for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. 9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes ; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. 1 0 Then said I, Ah, Lord God ! ' surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, ^ saying, Ye shall have peace ; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. 1 1 At that time shall it be said to this peo- ple and to Jerusalem, ^ A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan nor to cleanse, 1 2 Even "^ a full wind from those places shall come unto me : now also '^ will I ■" give sentence against them. '• 2 Kings xxiv. 1 ; chap. v. 6 ; Dan. vii. 4. » Chap. xxv. 9. p Isa. i. 7 ; chap. ii. 15. 1 1sa. xxii. 12 ; chap. vi. 26. r Ezek. xiv. 9; 2 Thess. ii. 11. 'Chap. v. 12; xiv. 13. 'Chap. Ii. 1 ; lOzek. x^'ii. 10 ; Hos. xiii. 15. " Or, a fuller wind than those. ^ Chap. i. 16. ^Heb. utter judgments. all the people who resisted liis authority. He de- stroyed them all. Verse 8. Lament and howl] iS'TH heililu. The aboriginal Irish had a funeral song called the Caoinian, still continued among their descendants, one part of which is termed the ulaloo : this is sung responsively or al- ternately, and is accompanied with a full chorus of sighs and groans. It has been thought that Ireland was originally peopled by the Phoenicians : if so, this wiU account for the similarity of many words and customs among both these people. Verse 9. The heart of the king shall perish] Shall lose all courage. A'erse 10. Ah, Lord God ! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people] The Targum paraphrases this verse thus : " And I said, Receive my supplication, O Lord God ; for, behold, the false prophets deceive this people and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying. Ye shall have peace." The prophet could not reconcile this devastation of the country with the promises al- ready made ; and he appears to ask the question, Hast thou not then deceived this people in saying there shall be peace, i. e., prosperity 1 Whereas the su-ord reacheth unto the soul.] That is, the life ; the people being generally destroyed. Verses 11—13. A dry ivind — a full wind — as clouds —as a whirhvind] All these expressions appear to refer to the pestilential loinds, suffocating vapours, and clouds and pillars of sand collected by ivhirlwinds, which are so common and destructive in the east, (see on Isa. x.\i. 1 ;) and these images are employed liera 7 "Ac desolations CHAP. IV. coming upon Jerusalem. A. M. cir. 3392. H. C. cir. 612. OI. cir. XLII. 1. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 5. 13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and ' his chariots shall be as a wiiirhvind : ^ his horses are swifter than eagles. Wo unto us ! for we are spoiled. 1 4 O Jerusalem, '■ wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? 15 For a voice dcclaretii "from Dan, and pubiishelh affliction from Mount Ephraini. 16 Make ye mention to the nations ; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come '' from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. 17 "^ As keepers of a field, are they against her round about ; because she hath been re- bellious against me, saith the Lord. 18 "^ Tliy way and thy doings have procured these things tmto thee ; this is thy wicked- ness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth mito thine heart. 19 M)^ "bowels, my bowels ! I am pained at ^ my very heart ; my heart maketh a noise in me ; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, 0 my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. » Isa. V. 28. ) Deut. rxviii. 49; Lam. iv. 19; Hos. viii. 1 ; Hab. i. 8. «Isa. i. 16; James iv. 8. aChap. viii. 16. '■Chap. V. 15. <:2Kingssxv. 1.4. "'Psa. cvii. 17; Isa. 1. 1 ; chap. ii. 17, 19. ^Isa. xv. 5; xvi. 11 ; xxi. 3; xxii. 4; to show the overw helming effect of the invasion of the land by the Chaldeans. A'erse 13. Wo unto us .'] The people, deeply affect- ed with these threatened judgments, interrupt the pro- phet with the lamentation — Wo unto us, for we are spoiled ! The prophet then resumes : — Verse 14. O Jerusalem, icash thine fiea'-t] Why do ye not put away i/otir wickedness, thai ye may be saved from these tremendous judgments ? Ho}f long shall thy vain thoughts of safety and prosperity lodge within thee ? Whilst thou continuest a rebel against God, and provokest liim daily by thy abominations ! Verse 15. For a voice declarelh from Dan] Dan was a city in the tribe of Dan, north of Jerusalem ; the first city in Palestine, which occurs in the way from Babylon to Jerusalem. Affliction from Mount Ephraim.] Between Dan and Jerusalem are the mountains of Ephraim. These would be the first places attacked by the Chaldeans ; and the rumour from thence would show that the land was invaded. Verse 10. Watchers come from a far country} Per- sons to besiege fortified places. Verse 17. As keepers of a field] In the eastern coun- tries grain is often sown in the open country; and, when nearly ripe, guards are placed at different distances round about it to preserve it from being plundered. Jerusalem was watched, like one of these fields, by 20 « Destruction upon destruc- *i '^'- "''■ ^?^- , , , B. C. cir. 612. lion is cried ; for the whole land oi. cir. XLii.i. ^ Tarquinii Prisci, ^^^^ R. Roman., cir. annum 5. is spoiled : suddenly are " my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. 21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet ? 22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me : they are sottish children, and they have none understanding ; ' they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 23 ''I beheld the earth, and, lo, it loas 'with- out form and void ; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24 ■" I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and "all the birds of the heavens were fled. 26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. 27 For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate ; " yet will I not make a full end. chap. ix. 1, 10; see Luke xix. 42. fHeb. the wallsofmy heart. ePsa. xlii. 7; Kzek. vii. 26. iiChap. x. 20. 'Rom. xvi. 19. 1- Isa. x.\iv. 19. iGen. i. 2. '"Isa. v. 25; Ezek. xxxviii.2a.- — " Zcph. i.3. "Chap, v. 10, 18; xxx. U ; xlvi.28. guards all round about it ; so that none could enter to give assistance, and none who wished to escape were permitted to go out. Verse 19. M)/ boirels] From this to the twenty ninth verse the prophet describes the ruin of Jerusalem and the desolation of Judea by the Chaldeans in lan- guage and imagery scarcely paralleled in the whole Bible. At the sight of misery the bowels are first affect- ed ; pain is next felt by a sort of stricture in the peri- cardium ; and then, the heart becoming strongly affected by irregular palpitations, a gush of tears, accompanied with wailings, is the issue. — " My bowels, my bowels ! I am pained at my very heart, (the walls of my heart ;) my heart maketh a noise in me ; 1 cannot hold my peace." Here is nature, and fact also. Verse 20. Destruction upon destruction] Cities burnt, and their inhabitants destroyed. My tents spoiled] Even the solitary dwellings in the fields and open country do not escape. Verse 23. / beheld the earth, (the land,) and lo, it was without form and void] in^l iriiT /■'/((/ vabohu ; the very words used in Genesis to denote the formless state of the chaotic mass before God had brought it into order. Verse 24. The mountains — hills] Princes, rulers. &c., were astonished and fled. Verse 25. The birds of the heavens were fled.] The land was so desolated that even the fowls of heaven 267 The corrupted state JEREMIAH. of the people. A. M. cir. 3392. B. C. cir. 612. 01. cir.XLIl. 1. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 5. 28 For this p shall the earth mourn, and i the heavens above be black . because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and ■■ will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. 29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen ; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks : every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. 30 And whe?i thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do ? Though thou clothest thyself with pHos. iv. 3. nisa. v. 30; 1. 3. 'Num. xxiii. 19; TO. 16. >2 Kings ix. 30 ; Ezek. xxiii. 40. chap. could not find meat, and therefore fled away to an- other region. How powerfully energetic is this de- scription ! See Zeph. i. 3. Verse 30. Though thou rentest thy face with paint- ing] This probably refers to the custom of introducing stibium, a preparation of antimony, between the eye and the lids, in order to produce a fine lustre, which occasions a distension of the eye-lid in the time of the operation. In order to heighten the eifect from this, some may have introduced a more than ordinary quan- tity, so as nearly to rend the eye-lid itself. Though crimson, though thou deckest •*; ^ <='.■■■ 3392- ' ° B. C. cir. 612. thee with ornaments of gold, oi. cir. XLii. i. ^ though thou rentest thy « face ^''^Rom^!,"'' with painting, in vain shalt thou ™- "'"""' ^- make thyself fair ; " thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. 3 1 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that " spreadeth her hands, saying, Wo is me now ! for my soul is wearied because of murderers. *Heb. eyes.- -"Chap. xxii.20, 22; Lam. i.2, 19. 'Isa.i. 15; Lam. i. 17. thou make use of every means of address, of cunning, and of solicitation, to get assistance from the neighbour- ing states, it will be aU in vain. Reference is here particularly made to the practice of Aar/o/i to allure men. Averse 31. Bringeth forth her first child} In such a case the fear, danger, and pain were naturally the greatest. Spreadeth her hands] The gesture indicated by na- ture to signify distress, and implore help. We have met with this figure in other parts, and among the classic writers it is frequent. CHAPTER V. The prophet, having described the judgments impending over his countrymen, enlarges on the Corruptions which prevailed among them. Their profession of religion was all false and hypocritical, 1, 2. Though corrected, they were not amended, but persisted in their guilt, 3. This ivas not the case with the low and ignorant only, 4 ; but more egregiously so with those of the higher order, from ivhose hnowledge and oppor- tunities better things might have been expected, 5. God therefore threatens them with the most cruel enemies, 6 ; and appeals to themselves if they should be permitted to practise such sins unpunished, 7—9. He then commands their enemies to raze the walls of Jerusalem, 10; that devoted city, ivhose inhabitants added to all their other sins the highest contempt of God's ivord and prophets, 11—13. Wherefore his word, in the mouth of his prophet, shall be as fire to consume them, 14 ; the Chaldean forces shall cruelly afflict them, 15-17 ; and farther judgments aivait them as the consequence of their apostasy and idolatry, 18, 19. The chapter closes with a most melancholy picture of the moral condition of the Jewish people at that period which immediately preceded the Babylonish captivity, 20-31. A. M. cir. 3392. B. C. cir. 612. 01. cir. XLII. 1. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 5. through "PUN ye to and fro the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, "^ if ye can find a man, •■ if there be any that execut- 0 Ezek. xxii. 30. b Gen. xviii. 23, &c. ; Psa. xii. 1. NOTES ON CHAP. V. Verse 1. Broad places] Market-places, and those where there was most public resort. If ye can find a 7nan] A certain philosopher went through the streets of Athens with a lighted lamp in his hand ; and being asked what he sought, answered, " I am seeking to find a 5iaji." So in Jerusalem none was found, on the most diligent search, who acted worthy the character of a rational being. 368 A. M. cir. 3392. B. C. cir. 612. Ol. cir. XLII. 1. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 5. eth judgment, that seekelh the truth ; '^ and I will pardon it. 2 And •* though they say, " The Lord liveth ; surely they ' swear falsely. t Gen. xviii. 26. 'i Tit. i. 16. ' Chap. iv. 2. rChap. vii. 9. / will pardon it.] I will spare the cit)' for the sake of one righteous person. So at the intercession of Abraham, God would have spared Sodom if there had been ten righteous persons found in it ; Gen. xviii. 26. Averse 2. The Lord liveth] Though they profess to bind themselves by Jehovah, as if they acknowledged hira their God and only Lord, yet they swore falsely ; for not believing in him, they took a false oath ; one by which they did not believe themselves bound. All conditions of the people CHAP. V. A^'^ •=!■■• ^?"^ 3 0 Lord, are not « thine eyes B. C. cir. 612. ,1^1 , 01. cir. XLii. 1. upon the truth ! thou hast R!'"Roman.r'' *" Stricken tlicm, but they have cir. annum i. j^^j grieved ; thou hast consumed them, but ' they have refused to receive cor- rection : they have made their faces harder than a rock ; tliey have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, Surely these arc poor; they are foohsh : for '' they know not the way of tlie Lord, nor tiie judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them ; for ' they have known the »vay of the Lord, and the judgment of their God : but these have altogether "" broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. 6 Wherefore " a lion out of the forest shall slay them, " and a wolf of the f evenings shall spoil them, i a leopard shall watch over their cities : every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces : because their transgres- sions are many, and their backslidings ' are increased. 7 How shall I pardon thee for this ? thy e2 Chron. xTi.9. iilsa. i. 5; ix. 13 ; chap. ii. 30. 'Chap. Tii. 28 ; Zeph. lii. 2. 1 Chap. vii. 8. 'Mic. iii. 1. " Psa. ii. 3. "Chap. iv. 7. »Psa. civ. 20; Hab. i.8; Zeph. iii. 3. P Or, deserts. a Hos. xiii. 7. f Heb. are strong. s Josh. xxiii. 7 ; Zeph. i. 5. not acknowledging him as their Lord. See on chap, iv. 2. Verse 4. These zrc poor] They are ignorant ; they have no education ; they know no better. Verse 5. I will get me unto the great men] Those whose circumstances and rank in life gave them oppor- tunities of information which the others could not have, for the reasons already given. These have altogether broken the yoke] These have cast aside all restraint, have acted above law, and have trampled all moral obligations under their feet ; and into their vortex the lower classes of the people have been swept away. Solon said, " The laws are like cobwebs; they entangle the small fry, but the great ones go through them, and carry all away with them." Verse 6. Wherefore a lion] Nebuchadnezzar, ac- cording to the general opinion ; who is called here a lion for his courage and violence, a hear for his rapa- ciousness, and a leopard for his activity. Dahler sup- poses the Scythians to be intended, both here and in chap. iv. 7. Verse 7. In the harlots' houses.] In places conse- ;rated to idolatry. In the language of the prophets, adultery generally signifies idolatry. This we have often seen. Verse 8. After his neighbour's icife.] This may have been literally true, as the abominations of idolatry, in which they were so deeply practised, would necessarily produce such a state of things as that here mentioned. had corrupted themselves. children have forsaken me, and ^- ^- «'r- '?.??• ' B. C. cir. 612. ' sworn by them ' that are no gods : oi. cir. XLll. I. " when I had fed them to the r. Roman., ' full, they then committed adul- "''■ """""^ °- tcry, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. 8 " They were as fed horses in the morning . every one ™ neighed after his neighbour's wife. 9 '^ Shall I not visit for these things ? saiih the Lord : >'and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? 10 ^ Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy ; * but make not a full end : take away her bat- tlements ; for they are not the IjORd's. 1 1 For '■ the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against mc, saith the Lord. 12"^ They have belied the Lord, and said, ^ It is not he ; neither shall evil come upon us ; " neither shall we see sword nor famine : 13 And the prophets .shall become wind, and the word is not in them : thus shall it be done unto them. 14 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of ' Deut. xxxii. 21 ; Gal. iv. 8. " Deut. xxxii. 15. ' Ezek. xxii. 1 1 . " Chap. xiii. 27. « Ver. 29 ; chap. ix. 9. y Chap. xliv. 22. 'Chap. xx.xix. 8. >Chap. iv. 27; ver. 18. i>Chap. iii. 20. cJChron. xxxvi. 16; chap. iv. 10. J Isa. xxviii. 15. eChap. xiv. 13. Verse 10. Go ye up upon her walls] This is the permission and authority given to the Chaldeans to pillage Jerusalem. Talce away her battlements] Some translate niC'"DJ netishoih, branches ; others, vines. Destroy the branches, cut down the stem ; but do not damage the root. Leave so many of the people that the state may be regenerated. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic read, " Leave her foundations, for they are the Lord's ;" and this agrees with " Destroy, but make not a full end." Verse 12. They have belied the Lord] '\Vir\2 kicha- shu. They have denied or disavowed the Lord. It is not he] Nin N1"? lo hu, he is not ; there is no such being ; therefore this evil shall not come upon us. On their premises, this conclusion was just. There is no judge ; therefore there shall be no judgment. Thus they denied the Lord. They were atheists at heart. Verse 13. And the prophets shall become ivind] WTiat are the prophets ? Empty persons. Their words are wind ; we hear the sound of their threatenings, but of the matter of the threatenings we shall hear no more. And the word is not in them] There is no inspirer , but may their own predictions fall on their own heads ! This seems the natural sense of this passage. Verse 14. Because ye speak this word] Because ve thus treat nw message, " I will make my words in 869 . The projligacy of JEREMIAH. the people described. % c ™ 612^ hosts, Because ye speak this 01. cir. XLii. 1. word, f beliold, I will make my TarquiniiPrisci, , . , i r i i • R. Roman., words HI thy mouth nre, and this "'•■ ^""""^ ^- people wood, and it shall de- vour them. 15 Lo, I will bring a s nation upon you ^ from far, O liouse of Israel, saith the Lord : it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. 16 Their quiver is as an open sepulclire, they are all mighty men. 17 And they shall eat up thine 'harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat : they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds : they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees : they shall impoverish tliy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. 18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I '' will not make a full end with you. 19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, ^ Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us ? then shall thou answer them, Like as ye have " forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so " shall ye 'Chap. i. 9. 5Deut. xxviii. 49; Isa. v. 26; chap. i. 15; vi.22. ''Isa. xxxix. 3; chap. iv. Ifi. 'Lev. xxvi. 16; Deut. xxviii. 31, 33. 1 Chap. iv. 27. 1 Deut. xxix. 21, &c. ; 1 Kings ix. 8, 9 ; chap. xiii. 22 ; xvi. 10. "> Chap. ii. 13. " Deut. xxviii. 48. olsa. vi.9; Ezek.xii.2; Matt. xiii. 14 ; John xii. 40 ; Acts xxviii. thy mouth fire." They have said they are hut air; but 1 will make them j?re, and a. fire too that shall de- vour them. And how this was to be done, and by whom, is mentioned in the next verse. Verse 15. I ivlll bring a nation] The Scythians, says Dahler ; the Balnjlonians, whose antiquity was great, that empire being founded by Nimrod. Whose language thou hnowest not] The Chaldee, which, though a dialect of the Hebrew, is so very dif- ferent in its words and construction, that in hearing it spoken they could not possibly collect the meaning of what was said. Verse 16. Their quirer is an open sepulchre] They are such exact archers as never to miss their mark ; every arrow is sure to sla)' one man. Verse 18. I tcill not make a full end] There are more evils in store for you. You shall not only be spoiled, and all your property destioyed, but ye shall be carried into captivity ; and ye shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours, ver. 19. Verse 22. Which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea] What can I not do, who confine the sea, that enormous mass of waters, and prevent it from overflowing the earth ; not by immense mountains and rocks, but by the sand, no particle of which is in cohe- sion with another ? The most tremendous waves can- not displace nor pass over this simple barrier. 270 serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, A. M. cir. 3392. B. 0. cir. 612. 01. cir. XLII. 1 TarquiniiPrisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 5. 2 1 Hear now this, O ° foolish people, and without P understanding ; which have eyes, and see not ; which have ears, and hear not : 22 1 Fear ye not me ? saith the Lord : will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the ' bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it : and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail ; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it ? 23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart ; they are revolted and gone. 24 Neither say they in their heait. Let us now fear the Lord our God, ^ that giveth rain, both the ' former and the latter, in his season : "^ he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins iiave withholden good things from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked 26; Rom. xi. 8. P Heb. heart; Hos. vii. 11. 1 Rev. xv 4. rJob xxvi. 10; xxxviii. 10, 11; Psa. civ. 9; Prov. viii. 29. sPsa. cxlvii. 8; chap. xiv. 22; Matt. v. 45; Acts xiv. 17. >Deut. xi. 14; Joel ii. 23. "Gen. viii. 22. ^' Chap. iii. 3. Verse 23. They are revolted and gone.] They have abandoned me, and are gone farther and farther into transgression. They are gone entirely away from truth and righteousness. Verse 24. Giveth rain, both the former and the lat- ter] See the note on chap. iii. 3. The appointed iceeks of the harvest.] As the early rains fell in the northern parts of Judea about the ent. of September, in the civil year of the Hebrews, so the latter rains fell before harvest, in the months of March and April. The appointed weeks of the harvest were those which fell between the passover and pentecost. In the southern parts the harvest was earlier than in the northern. Dr. iJ/ayney translates, "A sufficiency of the appointed things of harvest he secureth to us." If the word nj'^iy, iveeks, be read with a jy sin in- stead of a ty shin, it will signify fulness or sufficiency ; and thus the Septuagint and Vidgate have read it. I think the present reading is much to be preferred God appoints a harvest trine, and in his good provi dence he generally gives harvest weather. Verse 25. Your iniquities have turned away these things] ^Vhen these appointed weeks of harvest do not come, should we not examine and see whether this be not in CJod's judgments ^ Have not our iniquities turned away these good things from us ? Verse 26. They lay xcait, as he that seiteth snares] The wickedness of the CHAP. VI. prophets, priests, and people men : they ' lay wait, as lie that trap, A. M. cir. 3392. B C. cir. 61-2. 01. cir. XLil. 1. setteth snares ; they set a Tarquinii Prisci, , . , K. Koman., they catch men. '•"■ """""' ^- 27 As a y cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit : therefore they are become great, and waxen rich : 28 They are waxen '^ fat, they shine : yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked : they judge not * the cause, the cause of the father- less, '' yet they prosper ; and the right of the needy do they not judge. ^ OT,thfy pry as fowlers lie inwait. x Prov. i. 11, 17, 18 ; Hab. i. 15. >'Ur, coop. »Deut. xxxii. 15. "Isa. i. 23 ; Zech. vii. 10. L» Job xii. 6; Psa. Ixxiii. 12 ; chap. xii. 1. A nietaplior taken from fowlers, who, having fixed their nets, he ilown and keep out of sight, that when birds come, tliey may be ready to draw and entangle them. Verse 27. ,4* a cage is full of birds] There is no doubt that the reference here is to a decoy or Irap- cage, as Dr. Blayney has rendered it ; in these the fowlers put several tame birds, which when the wild ones see, they come and light on the cage, and fall into the snare. A'erse -28. They judge not the cause, yet they pros- per] Perhaps we might be justified in translating, " And shall they prosper ?" Averse 30. A wonderful and horrible thing is com- mitted in the land] Dahler translates : " Strange crimes and horrible trespasses have been committed in the land." These have been already detailed ; but this may refer to what follows. Verse 3 1 . The prophets prophesy falsely] The false prophets predict favourable things, that they may please both the princes and the people. The priests bear rule by their means] The false A.M. cir. 3392 B. C. cir. 612. Ol. cir. XLII. 1. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Ruinan., cir. annum 5. 29 " Shall 1 not visit for these things ? saith the Lord : shall not my soul be aveng- ed on such a nation as this ? 30 '' A wonderful and " horrible thing is com niitted in the land ; 31 The prophets prophesy ' falsely, and the priests « bear rule by their means ; and my people '■ love to have it so : and what will ye do in the end thereof? cVer. 9; Mai. iii. 5. ^Ot, Astonis/iment and JiUhiness. = Chap. xxiii. 14; Hos. vi. 10. fChap. xiv. 14; xxiii. 25, 26; Ezek. xiii. 6. g Or, take into their hands. '' Mic. ii. 11. prophets affording them all that their influence and power can procure, to en;ible them to keep their places, and feed on the riches of the Lord's house. And my people lore to have it so] Are perfectly satisfied with this state of things, because they are per- mitted to continue in their sins without reproof or re- straint. The prophets and the priests united to deceive and ruin the people. The prophets gave out false predictions ; by their means tlie priests got the govern- ment of the people into their own hands ; and so infa- tuated were the people that they willingly abandoned themselves to those blind guides, and would not hear- ken to the voice of any reformer. In my Old Bible the words stand thus : — ,§«tonpng Ants mcrbaili.S bei; m.ibc in tljc crtlje, vroplict.si propljccicbcn Icjsing; anb pre;6'ti.S (Tappibcrt luitl) jonc iuitlj tljer UonbCiEf, an6 mp ))CplC loblb pltlK tl)ingi3'. False prophets and worldly priests have been in all ages the bane of religion, and the ruin of many souls. When profligate people stand up on behalf of profligate priests, corruption must then be at its height. CHAPTER VI. Jeremiah, in the spirit of prophecy, seeing the Chaldeans on their march, bids his people set vp the usual signals of distress, and spread the general alarm to betake themselves to fight, 1. Then, by a beautiful allusion to the custom of shepherds moving their flocks to the richest pastures, Jerusalem is singled out as a place devoted to be eaten up or trodden down by the armies of the Chaldeans, ivho are called up against her, and whose ardour and impatience are so great that the soldiers, when they arrive in the evening, regret they have no more day, and desire to begin the attack without wailing for the light of the morning, 2—5. God is then represented as animating and directing the besiegers against this guilty city, which sinned as incessantly as a fountain flows, 0, 7, although warned of the fatal consequence, 8. He intimates also, by the gleaning of the grapes, that one invasion should carry away the remains of another, till their disobe- dience, hypocrisy, and other sins should end in their total overthrow, 9—15. And to show thai God is cleat when he judgelh, he mentions his having in rain admonished and warned them, and calls upon the whole world to witness the equity of his proceedings, 10—18, in punishing this perverse aiid hypocritical people 19, 20, by the ministry of the cruel Chaldeans, 21— 23. Upon this a chorus of Jews is introduced express, ing their fears and alarm, 24, 25 ; to which the prophet echoes a response full of sympathy and tenderness, 26. The concluding verses, by metaphors taken from the process of refining gold and silver, represent all the methods hitherto used to amend them as ivholly ineffectual, 27-30. 371 Jerusalem is exhorted JEREMIAH. to prepare for war. ^i,^A "'■ IT- n YE children of Benjamin, B. C. etr. 612. \J ■' 01. cir. XLii. 1. gather yourselves to flee out Tarquinii Prisci, ^ , ■ i . c t i j r; Roman., 01 the miQst 01 Jerusalem, and cir. annum 5. ^^^^ jj^g trumpet in TekoE, and set up a sign of fire in " Beth-haccerem : '' for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction. 2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a ■^ comely and delicate ivoman. 3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her ; '' they shall pitch their tents against her round about ; they shall feed every one in his place. 4 * Prepare ye war against her ; arise, and let us go up ^ at noon. Wo unto us ! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the even- ing are stretched out. 5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces. 6 For thus hath the Lord of hosts said. Hew ye down trees, and ? cast a mount against Jerusalem : this is the city to be visited ; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. 7 ''As a fountain castelh out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness : ' violence and aNeh.iii. 14. i^Chap. i. 14 ; iv. 6. c Or, dicci^in^ at home. ■i 1 Kings XXV. I, 4 ; chap. iv. 17. eChap. li. 27; Joel iii. 9 ("Chap. XV. 8. &0x, pour out the engine of shot iPsa.lv. 9, 10, 11; chap. xx. ° " '""' '" "■ ' . 8 ; Ezek. vii. Isa. Ivii. 20. 11, 23. kEzek. NOTES ON CHAP. VI. Verse 1. O ye children of Benjamin, gather your- selves to Jtee] As the "invading armies are fast ap- proaching, the prophet calls on the inhabitants of Jeru- salem to sound an alarm, and collect all the people to arm themselves and go against the invaders. They are called the children of Benjamin, because Jerusalem was in the tribe of Benjamin. Tekoa] Was a city about liveh-e miles to the south of Jerusalem. Beth-haccerem] Was the name of a small village situated on an eminence between Jerusalem and Tekoa. On this they were ordered to set up a beacon, or kindle a large fire, which might be seen at a distance, and give the people to understand that an enemy was en- tering the land. Out of the north] From Babylon. The Scythians. — Dahler. Verse 3. The shepherds icith their flocks] The chiefs and their battalions. The invading army is about to spoil and waste all the fertile fields round about the city, while engaged in the siege. Verse 4. Prepare ye tear against her] The words of the invaders exciting each other to the assault, and impatient lest any time should be lost ; lest the be- sieged should have time to strengthen themselves, or get in supplies. Verse 5. Arise, and let us go by tiight] Since we have lost the day, let us not lose the night ; but, taking 272 spoil IS heard in her ; before me ^^ "^V^- ^392 continually is gnei and wounds, oi. cir. XLii. i 8 Be thou instructed, 0 Jerusa- • r. Roman.7'' lem, lest ''ray soul 'depart from ""•• '""'™ ^- thee ; lest I make thee desolate, " a land not inhabited. 9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine : turn back thine hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets. 10 To whom shall I speak, and give warn- ing, that they may hear ? behold, their " ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken : behold, ° the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach ; they have no delight in it. 1 1 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord ; p I am weary with holding in : I will poiu- it out 'i upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together : for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 1 2 And ■■ their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together : for I will stretch out my hand upon the inha- bitants of the land, saith the Lord. xxiii. 18 ; Hos. ix. 12. 1 Heb. be loosed or disjointed. m Lev. xvi. 22 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 6, in the margin. " Chap. vii. 26 ; Acts vii. 61 ; see Exod. vi. 12. <> Chap. xx. 8. P Chap. xx. 9. QChap. ix. 21. f Deut. xxviii. 30; chap. viii. 10. advantage of the darkness, let us make a powerful assault while they are under the impression of terror. Verse 6. Hew ye doxvn trees] To form machines. And cast a mount] That may overlook the city, on which to place our engines. This is the city to he visited] We are sure of suc- cess, for their God will deliver it into our hands ; for it is fuU of oppression, and he has consigned it to destruction. Verse 7. As a fountain casteth out her waters] The inhabitants are incessant in their acts of iniquity ; they do nothing but sin. Verse 8. Be thou instructed] Still there is respite : if they would even now return unto the Lord with all their heart, the advancing Chaldeans would be arrest- ed on their march and turned back. ^'erse 9. They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine : turn back thine hand] The Chal- deans are here exhorted to turn back and glean up the renmant of the inhabitants that were left after the capture of Jerusalem ; for even that remnant did not profit by the Divine judgments that fell on the inha- bitants at large. Verse 10. The word of the Lord is unto them a reproach] It is an object of derision ; they despise it. Verse 11. I am full of the fury of the Lord] God has ^iven me a dreadful revelation of the judgments he intends to inflict : my soul is burdened with this prophecy. I have endeavoured to suppress it ; but I Tlie people are warned Aa*' <=!'™-- 13 For from the least of them B. C. cir. C12. Oi.cir. XLii. 1. even unto tlie greatest oi tliem Tarnuinii Prisci, ^ „ R. Roman., cvcry ono IS given to ' covetous- cir. annum 5. ^ggg . ^^^ icovci the prophet cven unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 14 They have 'healed also the " hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, ^ saying, Peace, peace ; when there is no peace. 1 5 Were they " ashamed when they had com- mitted abomination ? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush : there- fore they shall fall among them that fall : at the time that I visit them they shall be cast downi, sailh the Lord. 16 Tiuis saith the Lokd, Stand ye in the ways, and sec, and ask for the ^ old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find >' rest for your souls. But they said. We will not ^valk therein. 17 Also I set ^watclunen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. IS Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congi-egation, what is among them. 19 "Hear, O earth : behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even ^ the fruit of their •Isa. Ivi. 11 ; chap, viii, 10; jciv. 18 ; xjiii. 11 ; Mic. iii. 5, 11. • Chap. viii. 11 ; Ezek. xiii. 10. "Heb. bruise, or breach. TChap. iv. 10; xiv. 13 ; xxiii. 17. " Chap. iii. 3; viii. 12. « Isa. viii. 20 ; chap. i\'iii. 15 ; Mai. iv. 4 ; Luke xvi. 29. vMatt. xi. 29. must pour it forth upon the children, on the young people, on husbands and wives, on the old and the su- perannuated. All must partake in these judgments. Verse 14. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly] Of the daughter is not in the te.xt, and is here improperly added : it is, however, in some MSS. Peace, peace] Ye shall have prosperity — when there was none ; and when God had determined that there should be none. Here the prophets prophesied falsely ; and the people continued in sin, being de- ceived by the priests and the prophets. Verse 16. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye tn the ways, and see] Let us observe the metaphor. A traveller is going to a particular city ; he comes to a place where the road divides into several paths, he is afraid of going astray ; he stops short, — endeavours to find out the right path : he cannot fix his choice. At last he sees another traveller ; he inquires of hiin, gets proper directions — proceeds on his journey — ar- rives at the desired place — and reposes after his fatigue. There is an excellent sermon on these words in the works of our first poet, Geoffry Chaucer ; it is among the Canterbur)' Tales, and is called Chaucer^s Tale. The text, I find, was read by him as it appears in my old MS. Bible : — .^tonbitlj upon toeic^ anb ^eetl), anb a$^tt\) of tlje olbe patbe^ ; l@ljat ijBt tlje Vol. IV. ( 18 ) CHAP. VI. oj approaching calamity. thoughts, because they have not ^^^^ c'ir'6?2'' hearkened unto my words, nor to oi. cir xLii. i. , , . "^ , . Tarquinii Prisci, my law, but rejected it. r. Roman., 20 ■= To what purpose comelh "" """"" ^- there to me incense '' from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country ? ' your burnt- offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet imto me. 21 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them ; the neighbour and his friends shall perish. 22 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people comelh from the ' north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. 23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear ; they are cruel, and have no mercy ; their voice ? roareth like the sea ; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion. 24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble : *" anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail. 25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by «Isa. xxi. 11 ; iviii. 1 ; chap. x.xv. 4; Ezek. iii. 17; Hab. ii. 1. alsa. i. 2. bProv. i. 31. ^Psa. xl. 6 ; I. 7, 8, 9 ; Isa. i. II; Ivi. 3; Amos V. 21 ; Mic. vi. 6, &c. """'" i- the Lord. 12 But go ye now unto ^ my place wliich loas in Shiloh, " where I set my name at the first, and see ' what I did to it for the wicked- ness of my people Israel. 13 And now, because yc have done all these work's, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, " rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I " called you, but ye answered not; 14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to ^' Shiloh. 1 5 And I will cast you out of my sight, ' as I have cast out all your brethren, ^ even the whole seed of Epliraim. 16 Therefore ^ pray not thou for this peo- ple, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me : '' for I will not hear thee. 17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ' 1 Matt xxi. 13 ; Mark xi. 17 ; Luke xix. 46. ' Josh, xviii. 1 ; Judg. xviii. 31. sDeut. xii. 11. U Sam. iv. 10, 11; Psa. Ixxviii. 60 ; chap. xxvi. 6. " 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15 ; ver. 25 ; chap. xi. 7. — -V Prov. i. 24 ; Isa. Ixv. 12 ; Ixvi. 4. * 1 Sam. iv. 10,11; Psa. Ixxviii. 60; chap. xxvi. 6. » 2 Kings xvii. 23. y Psa. Ixxviii. 67, 69. ^ Exod. xxxii. 10 ; chap. xi. 14 ; xiv. 11. « Chap. XV. 1. Semblances of piety cannot deceive him; he will not accept partial reformation ; there must be a thorough amendment. Verse 9. Will ye steal, murder] Will you continue to commit such abominations, and pretend to worsliip me; and thus defile the place that is called by my name ; and so make my house a den of robbers ? I have seen this, — and can you expect to escape condign punish- ment ? Ye shall not escape. Verse 12. But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh] See what I did to my tabernacle and ark formerly : after a long residence at Shiloh, for the iniquity of the priests and the people, I suffered it to fall into the hands of the Philistines, and to be car- ried captive into their land, and to be set up in the house of their idols. And because of your iniquities, I will deal with you and this temple in the same way ; for as I spared not Shiloh, though my ark was there, but made it a victim of my wTath, so will I do to Je- rusalem and her temple. Verse 15. The whole seed of Ephraim.] Taken here for all the ten tribes, that of Ephraim being the prhicipal. Verse 16. Therefore pray not thou for this people^ They have filled up the measure of their iniquity, and 275 An enumeration of the JEREMIAH. sins of Jerusalem. A- M; <=if- 3394. jQ " The children gather wood, B. C. cir. 610. D ' 01. cir. XLii. 3. and the fathers kindle the fire, Taxquinu Prisci, , , , i ^7 ■ R. Roman., and the women knead their cir. annum 7. ^j^^^gj^^ ^^ j^^j^g ^^t^^^ ^^ ^j^g ° queen of heaven, and to * pour out drink- offerings unto other gods, that they may pro- voke me to anger. 19 " Do they provoke me to anger ? saith the Lord : do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces ? 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord Gonf Be- hold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the gromid ; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. 21 Thus saith the Lord of jiosts, the God of Israel ; ' Put yoiur burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. 22 ? For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, '' concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices. 23 But this thing commanded I them, say- ing, ' Obey my voice, and ^ I will be your God, and ye shall be my people : and walk b Chap. xliv. 17, 19. ^ Ox, frame, or workmanship of heaven. <*Chap, xix. 13. ^ Deut. xxxii. 16,21. fisa. i. 11; chap. vi. 20 ; Amos v. 21 ; see Hos. viii. 13. g 1 Sam. xv. 22 ; Psa. li. 16, 17; Hos. vi. 6. I^Heb. concerni-ng the. matter of. 'Exod. XV. 26; Deut. vi. 3 ; chap. xi. 4, 7. 1' Exod. xL\. 5; Lev. xxvi. 12. ' Psa. Ixxxi. 11 ; chap. xi. 8. 1" Deut. xxix. 19 : Psa. Ixxxi. 12. they must become examples of my justice. How ter- rible must the state of that place be, where God re- fuses to pour out the spirit of supplication on his ministers and people in its behalf! Verse 18. The children gather loood] Here is a description of a ichole family gathered together, and acting unitedly in idolatrous worship. 1. The chil- dren go and collect wood, and bring it to the place of sacrifice. 2. The fathers lay it in order, and kin- dle a fire. 3. The mother and her maids knead dough, make their batch, and out of it form cakes, and ba,ke them for the honour of the queen of heaven ; most probably the moon, though perhaps not exclusive of the sun and planets, generally called the host of hea- ven. Family worship is a most amiable and becom- ing thing when performed according to truth. What a pity that so few families show such zeal for the worship of God as those apostate Israelites did for that of their idols ! Verse 21. Put your burnt-offerings unto your sa- crifices, and eat fesh.] I will receive neither sacrifice nor oblation from you ; therefore you may take the beasts intended for sacrifice, and slay and eat them for your common nourishment. See on ver. 29. Verse 23. This thing commanded I them — Obey 276 ye in all the ways that I have ■*. M. cir. 3394 ■^ ■^ _ B. C. cir. 610. commanded you, that it may be oi. cir. XLii.3. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Koman., well unto you. cir. annum 7. 24 ' But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but " walked in the counsels and in the " imagination of their evil heart, and " went p backward, and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even i sent unto you all my servants the pro- phets; "■ daily rising up early and sending them: 26 ''Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but ' hardened their neck • " they did worse than their fathers. 27 Therefore " thou shall speak all these words unto them ; but they will not hearken to thee : thou shalt also call unto them ; but they will not answer thee. 28 But thou shalt say unto them. This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, ■" nor receiveth ^ correction : y truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. 29 ^ Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places ; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. n Or, stubbornness. o Heb. were. P Chap. ii. 27 ; xxxii. 33 ; Hos. iv. 16. 12 Chron. xxxvi. 15; chap. xxv. 4; xxix. 19. fVer. 13. 8 Ver. 24; chap. xi. 8; xvii. 23; xxv. 3, 4. 1 Neh. ix. 17, 29 ; chap. xix. 15. " Chap. xvi. 12. v Ezek. ii. 7. w Chap. V. 3 ; xxxii. 33. — —x Or, instriiction. J' Chap. ix. 3. 2 Job i. 20; Isa. xv. 2; chap. xvi. 6; xlviii. 37; Mic. i. 16. my I'Oi'ce.] It was not sacrifices and oblations which 1 required of your fathers in the wilderness, but obe- dience ; it was to walk in that iray of righteousness which I have commanded ; then I should have acknow- ledged them for my people, and I should have been their God ; and then it would have been well with them. But to my commands, 1. They hearkened not — paid no regard to my word. 2. They inclined not the ear — showed no disposition to attend to my counsels. 3. They u-alked in the imaginations of their evil heart — followed its irregular and impure motions, rather than the holy dictates of my Spirit. 4. They toent back- ward and not forward. Instead of becoming more wise, obedient, and holy, they grew more corrupt ; so that they became more profligate than their fathers. Verse 28. Nor receiveth correction] They have profited neither by mercies nor hy judgments : blessings and corrections have been equally lost upon them. Verse 29. Cut off thine hair] ']-\'j 'IJ gozzi niz- rech, shear thy nazarite. The Nazarite was one wh( took upon him a particular vow, and separated himself from all worldly connexions for a certain time, that he might devote himself without interruption to the ser vice of God ; and during all this time no razor was to pass on his head, for none of his hair was to be taken The people obeyed noi God, CHAP. VIII. ^i.^r^"" ??^^- 30 For tlie children of Judah B. C.cir. 610. Ol. cir. XLii. 3. have done evil in my sight, saith R'^'RomiST'' the Lord : " they have set their cir. annum 7. abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. 3 1 And they have built the high *• places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to " burn their sons and their daugh- ters in the fire ; ^ which I commanded them not, neither " came it into my heart. 32 Therefore, behold, ^the days come, sailli the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, • 2 Kings xxi. 4,7; 2Chron. xxxiii. 4, 5, 7 ; chap, xxiii. 11 ; XXXIl 34; Kzek vii. 20 viii. 5,6, &c. Dan. ia .27 1.2 Kings XXIU. 10; chap. xix. 5 xxxn. 35. -tPsa. CVl. 38.— -dSee Deul XVI . 3. — -eHob. came it upon my heart. ^Chap. xix. 6. off. After the vow was over, he shaved his head and beard, and returned to society. See Num. vi. 2, &c., and the notes there. Jerusalem is here considered un- der the notion of a Nazarile, by profession devoted to the service of God : but that profession was empty ; it was not accompanied witli any suitable practice. God tells them here to cut off their hair ; to make no vain pretensions to holiness or religion ; to throw off the mask, and attempt no longer to impose upon them- selves and others by their h}'pocritical pretensions. On the same ground he orders them, ver. 21, to devote to common use the animals destined for sacrifice ; and to make no more vain shows of religion wliile their hearts were not riglit with him. Dr. Blayney thinks the ad- dress is to the prophet, who was a Nazarite by virtue of his office, and who was called to cut off his hair as a token of mourning for the desolations which were coming upon his people. That cutting off the hair was a sign of distress and mourning may be seen, Ezra ix. 3 ; Isa. y*'. 2 ; Jer. xli. 5, &c. But I think the other the more natural construction. Tarquinii Pnsci, R. Roman., cir. annum 7. nor received his correction. but the valley of slaughter : b for *^^ "ij-^ mm. they shall bury in Tophet, till oi! cir.xLii. 3 there be no place. 33 And the ''carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the hea- ven, and for the beasts of the earth ; and none shall fray the?n away. 34 Then will I cause to ' cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jeru- salem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride : for '' the land shall be desolate. g 2 Kings xxiii. 10 ; chap. xix. 1 1 ; Ezek. vi. 5. ^ Deut. xxviii. 26 ; Psa. Ixxix. 2 ; chap. xii. 9 ; xvi. 4 ; xxxiv. 20. ' Isa. xxiv. 7, 8 ; chap. xvi. 9 ; xxv. 10 ; xxxv. 11 ; Ezek. xxvi. 13 ; Hos. ii. 1 1 ; Rev. xviii. 23. k Lev. xxvi. 33 ; Isa. i. 7 ; iii. 26. On high places] That the lamentation may be heard to the greater distance. The generation of his wrath.] Persons exposed to punishment : used here as children nf wrath, Eph. ii. 3. Verse 31. Tophet — in the valley of the son of Hin- nom] Tophet was the place in that valley where the continual fires were kept up, in and through which they consecrated their children to Molocli. Verse 32. The valley of slaughter] The place where the slaughtered thousands of this rebellious peo- ple shall be cast, in order to their being burnt, or be- coming food for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, ver. 33. These words are repeated, and their meaning more particularly explained, chap. xix. 6—15. A'^erse 34. Then will I cause to cease — the voice of mirth] There shall no longer be in Jerusalem any cause of joy ; they shall neither marry nor be given in mar- riage, for the land shall be totally desolated. Such horrible sins required such a horrible punishment. And they must be horrible, when they move God to destroy the work of his own hands. CHAPTER VIII. The judgments threatened in the last chapter are here declared to extend to the very dead, whose tombs should be opened, and the carcasses treated with every mark of indignity, 1-3. From this the prophet returns to reprove them for their perseverance in transgression, 4—6 ; and for their thoughtless stupidity, which even the instinct of the brute creation, by a beautiful contrast, is made to upbraid, 7-9. This leads to farther threatenings, expressed in a variety of striking terms, 10-13. Upon which a chorus of Jews is introduced, expressing their terror on the news of the invasion, 14, 15 ; which is greatly heightened in the next verse by the prophet's hearing the snorting of Nebuchadnezzar's horses even from Dan, and then seeing the devastation made by his army, 16, whose cruelties God himself declares no entreaties will soften, 17. On this declaration the prophet laments most bitterly the fate of the daughter of his people, changing the scene unawares to the place of her captivity, where she is introduced answering in mournful responses to the prophet's dirge, 18-22. The variety of images and figures used to diversify the same subject is equally pleasing and astonishing. The dress is generally new, always elegant. Even the dead JEREMIAH. shall be disturbed. A T that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones A. M. cir. 3394. B. C. cir. 610. Ol. cir. XLH. 3. Tarquinii Prisci, ^ , , . r t j i j ^i R? Roman., 01 the kings 01 Judah, and the cir. annum 7. ^^^^^ ^f J^jg prinCCS, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the pro- phets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Je- rusalem, out of their graves : 2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and "whom they have worshipped : they shall not be gathered, '' nor be buried ; they shall be for ■= dung upon the face of the earth. 3 And ^ death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whi- ther I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts. ^2 Kings x.\iii. 5; Ezek. iii. 16. ^J Chap. xxii. J9. c2 Kings ix. 36; Psa. Ixxxiii. 10; chap. ix. 22; xvi. 4. a Job iii. 21, 22; vii. 15, 16; Rev. ix. 6. NOTES ON CHAP. VIII. Verse 1. They shall bring out the bones] This and the two following verses are a continuation of the pre- ceding prophecy, and should not have heen separated from the foregoing chapter. In order to pour the utmost contempt upon the land, the victorious enemies dragged out of their graves, caves, and sepulchres, the bones of kings, princes, pro- phets, priests, and the principal inhabitants, and exposed them in the open air ; so that they became, in the order of God's judgments, a reproach to them in the vain confidence they had in the sun, moon, and the host of heaven — all the planets and stars, whose worship they had set up in opposition to that of Jehovah. This cus- tom of raising the bodies of the dead, and scattering their bones about, seems to have been general. It was the highest expression of hatred and contempt. Horace refers to it : — Barbarus, heu, cineres insistet victor, et urbem Eques sonante verberabit ungula : Quaeque carent ventis et solibus ossa Quirini (Nefas videre) dissipabit insolens. Epod. xvi. 11. " Barbarians fell shall wanton with success, Scatter the city's flaming ruins wide ; Or through her streets in vengeful triuinph ride, And her great founder's hallowed ashes spurn, That slept unmjured in the sacred urn." Fb.^ncis. See this judgment referred to, Baruch ii. 24, 25. Verse 4. Moreover thou shalt say] Dr. Blayney very properly observes, " In that part of the prophecy which follows next, the difference of speakers requires to be attended to ; the transition being quick and sud- den, but full of life and energy. The prophet at first, in the name of God, reproves the people's incorrigi- bility ; he charges their wise ones with foUv. and threat- 878 4 Moreover thou shalt say ^i'^"!'- ^394 .^ B. C. cir. 610. unto them, Thus saith the oi. cir. XLii. 3 Lord ; Shall they fall, and not R^^^lnwT^ arise? shall he turn away, and "'•■ '^""'^ ''■ not return ? 5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem ° shdden back by a perpetual backsliding ? '' they hold fast deceit, « they refuse to return. 6 *" I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright : no man repented him of his wickedness, saying. What have I done 1 every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. 7 Yea, ' the stork in the heaven knowelh her appointed times ; and ^ the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming ; but ' my people know not the judgment of the Lord. 8 How do ye say, We are wise, " and the f Chap. vii. 24. fChap. ix. 6. — iii. 9. ilsa. i. 3. tCant. ii. " Rom. ii. 17. -sChap. V. 3. '■2 Pel. 12. 'Chap. V. 4, 5. ens them with grievous calamities, ver. 4-13. In the three next verses he seems to apostrophize his country- men in his own person, and as one of the people that dwelt in the open towns, advising those that were in the like situation to retire with him into some of the fortified cities, and there wait the event with patience, since there was nothing but terror abroad, and the noise of the enemy, who had already begun to ravage the country, ver. 14—16. God speaks, ver. 17, and threa- tens to bring foes against them that should be irresisti- ble. The prophet appears again in his own person, commiserating the daughter of his people, who is heard bewailing her forlorn case in a distant land ; whde the voice of God, like that of conscience, breaks in upon her complaints, and shows her that all this ruin is brought upon her by her own infidelities, ver. 18-20. The prophet once more resumes his discourse ; he re- grets that no remedy can be found to close up the wounds of his country, and pathetically weeps over the number of her slain, ver. 21, chap. ix. 1." Shall they fall, and not arise t shall he turn away, and not return ?] That is. It is as possible for sinners to return from their sin to God, for his grace is ever at hand to assist, as it is for God, who is pouring out his judgments, to return to them on their return to him. But these held fast deceit, and refused to return ; they would not be undeceived. Averse 6. As the horse rusheth into the battle.] This strongly marks the unthinking, careless desperation of their conduct. Verse 7. The stork in the heaven] The birds of passage know the times of their going and return, and punctually observe them ; they obey the dictates of nature, but my people do not obey my law. Averse 8. The pen of the scribes is in vain.] The deceitful pen of the scribes. They have written falseh', though they had the truth before them. It is too bold Judgments threatened CHAP. VIII. upon the people. ''i,^U ""■ ^^^' law of the Lord is with us ? Lo, B. C. cir. 610. . ' Oi. cir. xi.ii. 3 certainly "in vain made he it; Tarquinii Prisci, , r i -i • ■ r! Roman., the pen 01 the scribes is in cir. annum 7. yain 9 ° Tlie P wise 7nen are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken : lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord ; and i wliat wisdom is in them ? 10 Therefore 'will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall in- herit them : for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to ^ covetousness, from the prophet even uiilo the priest every one dealeth falsely. 1 1 For they liavc ' healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, "Peace, peace ; when there is no peace. 1 2 Were they " ashamed when they had com- mitted abomination ; nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush : therefore shall they fall among them that fall : in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. 13 "I will surely consume them, saith the Lord : there shall he no grapes ^ on the vine, nor figs on the >' fig tree, and the leaf shall fade ; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. 14 Why do we sit still? ^assemble your- selves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there : for the Lord our n Or, the false pen of the scribes workelh for falsehood ; Isa. x. 1 . ®Chap. vi. 15. pOr, Have they been ashamed^ &c. ' Matt. xxi. 19; Luke xiii. 6. 6cc. *Chap. iv. 5. an assertion to say that " the Jews have never falsified the sacred oracles ;" they have done it again and again. They have wTitten falsities when they kne\\' they were such. Verse 10. Therefore icill I give their wives] From this to the end of ver. 15 is repeated from chap. vi. 13-15. A'erse 1 6. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan] Dan lay in the way from Babylon to Jerusa- lem ; and it was by this city, after the battle of Car- chemish, that Nebuchadnezzar, in pursuing the Egyp- tians, entered Palestine. The u-hole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones] Of his war horses. This is a fine image ; so terrible was the united neighing of the cavalry of the Babylonians that the reverberation of the air caused the ground to tremble. This is better, and more majestic, than the celebrated line of VireHl .• Quadrupe-dante pu-trem soni-tu quatit ungula campum. God hath put us to silence, and \";<='' ^^**- ^ 11 1 . B. C. cir. 610. given us ' water of '' gall to drink, oi. cir. xm. 3. ? 1 • 1 ■ ., Tarquinii Prisci, because we have sinned against r. Roman., the Lord. "'■ '^"""'" ''■ 1 5 We "^ looked for peace, but no good came ; and for a time of health, and behold trouble ! 16 The snorting of his horses was heard from •^ Dan : the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his " strong ones ; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and f all that is in it ; the city, and those that dwell therein. 17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cock- atrices, among you, which will not he ^ charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord. 18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint '^ in me. 1 9 Behold the voice of the cry of the daugh- ter of my people ' because of them that dwell in '' a far country : Is not the Lord in Zion ? is not her king in her ? Why have they ' pro- voked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities ? 20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. 21 ■" For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt ; I am " black ; astonishment hath taken hold on me. 22 Is there no " balm in Gilead ; is there no physician there ? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people p recovered ? a Chap. ix. 15; xxiii. 15. ''Or, poison. ^Chap. xiv. 19. dChap. iv. 15. eJudg. v. 22; chap, xlvii. 3. fHeb. the ful- ness thereof. sPsa. Ivlii. 4,5; Eccles. x. 11. i^Heb. upon. ' Heb. because of the country of them that are far off. ^ Isa. xxxix. 3. 'Dcut. xxxii. 21 ; Isa. i.4. -"Chap. iv. 19 ; ix. 1 ; xiv. 17. "Joel ii. 6; Nah. ii. 10. ^Gen. xxxvii. 25; xUii. li ; chap. xlvi. 11 ; li. 8. pHeb. gone up. It would be much easier to shake the ground with the prancings of many horses, than to cause an earthquake by the sound of the neighing of the troops of cavalry. Verse 17. I will send serpents] These were sym- bols of the enemies that were coming against them ; a foe that would rather slay them and destroy the land than get booty and ransom. Verse 20. The harvest is past] The siege of Jeru- salem lasted two years ; for Nebuchadnezzar came against it in the ninth year of Zedekiah, and the city was taken in the eleventh ; see 2 Kings xxv. 1—3. This seems to have been a proverb : " We expected deliverance the first year — none came. We hoped for it the second year — we are disappointed ; we are not saved — no deliverance is come." A'erse 22. Is there no balm in Gilead?] Yes, the most excellent in the world. " Is there no physician there V Yes, persons well skilled to apply it. " Why then is not the health of the daughter of mv peopW 379 The prophet's lamentation JEREMIAH. for the sins of the people. recovered V Because ye have not applied to the phy- sician, nor used the bahn. Ye die because ye will not use the remedy. But to apply this metaphor ; — The Israelites are represented as a man dying through dis- ease ; and a disease for the cure of which the halm tf Gilead was well known to be a specific, when ju- diciously applied by a physician. But though there be balm and a physician, the people are not cured ; neither their spiritual nor political evils are removed. But what may all this spiritually mean ? The people are morally diseased ; they have sinned against God, and provoked him to destroy them. They are warned by the prophet to repent and turn to God : they refuse, and sin on. Destruction is come upon them. Might they not have avoided it ? Yes. Was it the fault of God ] No. Did he not send his prophets with the richest offers of mercy ? Did he not give them time, the best instructions, and the most effectual means of returning to him 1 Has not mercy, the heavenly halm, been ever at hand ? And has not God, the great Phy- sician, been ever ready to apply it ? Yes. Why then are they not converted and healed ! Because they would not apply to the Divine Physician, nor receive the only remedy by which they could be spiritually healed. They, then, that sin against the only remedy must perish, because they might have had it, but would not. It is not because there is a deficiency of grace, nor of the means of grace, that men are not saved ; but because they either make no use, or a bad use, of them. Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, has tasted death for every man ; but few are saved, because they WILL NOT ccmie unto him that they may have life. Tn my old MS. Bible the text is rendered thus : — USljethct gumm ijS not in nBalaab '. <&t a ledje i^ not there i IDtjp tijan tlje ijib liiounlic of the baugljtet of mp pejJie i;S not alle Ijcliti i How shall they escape who neglect so great a sal- vation ? Reader, lay this to heart ; and, while there is time, apply heartily to the great Physician for thy cure. CHAPTER IX. The prophet bitterly laments the terrible judgments about to he inflicted upon his countrymen, and points out some of the evils which have provoked the Divine Majesty, 1—9. Judea shall be utterly desolated, and the inhabitants transplanted into heathen countries, 10—17. In allusion to an ancient custom, a band of mourn- ing ivomen is called to lament over the ruins of lerusalem, 17, 18 ; and even the funeral dirge is given in terms full of beauty, elegance, and pathos, 19-22. God is the fountain of all good ; man, merely an instrument by which a portion of this good is distributed in the earth; therefore none should glory in his wisdtrm, might, or riches, 23, 24. The judgments of God shall fall, not upon the land of Judea only, but also upon many heathen nations, 25, 26. A. M. cir. 3394. B. C. cir. 610. Ol. cir. XLII. 3. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. aimum 7. o that ' head were my waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people ! 2 0 that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of way-faring men ; that I might leave Heb. Who will give my head, &c. ^iga. xxii. 4 ; ohap. iv. 19; xiii. 17 ; xiv. 17 ; Lam. ii. 11 ; iii. 49. NOTES ON CHAP IX. Verse 1 . O that my head icere waters] D'^ 'li'NI jH" '3 mi yitten roshi mayim, " who will give to my head waters'!" My mourning for the sins and desolations of my people has already exhausted the source of tears : I wish to have a fountain opened there, that I may weep day and night for the slain of my people. This has been the sorrowful language of many a pastor who has preached long to a hardened, rebellious people, to little or no effect. This verse belongs to the preceding chapter. Verse 2. O that I had in the wilderness] In the eastern countries there are no such inns or houses of entertainment as those in Europe. There are in dif- ferent places public buildings called caravanserais, where travellers may lodge : but they are without /[(r- mture of any kind, and without food. Indeed they are 280 my people, and go from them ! ^^^- "^^^ ^394. for "^ they be all adulterers, an oi. cir. XLii. 3. t , r 1 Tarquinii Prisci, assembly oi treacherous men. r. Roman., 3 And '' they bend their tongues <="■■ """"'" ^ like their bow for lies : but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth ; for they proceed from evil to evil, and c Chapter v. 7, 8.- -^ Psalm bdv. 3 ; Isaiah lii. 4, 13, 15. often without a roof, being mere walls for a protection against the wild beasts of the desert. I wish to hide . myself any where, in the most uncomfortable circum- stances, that I may not be obliged any longer to witness the abominations of this people who are shortly to be visited with the most grievous punishments. Several interpreters suppose this to be the speech of God. I cannot receive this. I believe this verse to be spoken by the prophet, and that God proceeds with the next verse, and so on to the ninth inclusive. Verse 3. They bend their tongues like their bow for lies] And their lies are such that they as fully take away life as the keenest arrow shot from the best strung bow. The false prophets told the people that there was no desolation at hand : the people believed them ; made no preparation for their defence ; did not return to the Lord : and the sword came and destroyed them. GocCs judgments CHAP. IX. against Jerusalem. A. M. cir. 339-1. jhev " know not me, saith the B. C. cir. filO. ." 01. cir.XLii.3. Lord. R^ RomanT'' 4 ' Take ye heed every one of cir. annum 7. j^jg g neighbour, and trust ye not in any brollier : for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will '' walk with slanders. 5 And they will ' deceive every one his neigiibour, and will not speak the truth : they have taught their tongues to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. 6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit ; through deceit tiiey refuse to know me, saith the Lord. 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, '' I will melt them, and try them ; ' for how shall I do for the daughter of my people ? 8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out ; it spcaketh "" deceit : one speaketh " peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but ° in heart he layetli p his wait. 9 1 Shall I not visit them for these things 1 saith the Lord : shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? 10 For the mountains will I take up a weep- ing and wailing, and "■ for the •* habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are ' burned up, so that none can pass through « 1 Sam. ii. 12 ; Hos. e Or, friend. — . — '•Chap. Mai. iii. 3. ' Hos. x » Psa. xxviii. 3 ; Iv. 21.- waitfor him. 1 Chap, i . 3. •* Or, paslures.- even to, &c. "Chap. iv. 25. IV. 1. fChap. xii. 6; Mic. vii. 5, 6. 'i. 28. ' Or, mock. k Isa. i. 25 ; . 8. 1" Psa. xii. 2; cxx. 3 ; ver. 3. — ° Heb. in the midst of him. P Or, 9, 29. < Chap. xii. 4; xxiii. 10 ; Hos. -I Or, desolate. " Hcb. from the fowl They are not valiant for the truth] They are l)old in sin, and courageous to support their lies ; but tho truth they neither patronize nor support. Verse 5. XnA icearij themselves to commit iniquity.] 0, what a drudgery is sin ! and how much labour must a man take in order to get to hell ! The tenth part of it, in working together with God, would bring hira to the gate of glory. Verse 7. Behold, I toill melt them] I will put them in the furnace of affliction, and see if this will be a means of purging away their dross. See on chap. vi. 27. Verse 10. Both the fowl of the heavens and the l/cast are fed] The land shall be so utterly devastated, that neither beast nor bird shall be able to hve in it. Verse 11. A den of dragons] a-:n tannim is sup- posed to mean here jackals ; the cliakal is a beast fre- quent in the east, an attendant on the lion, the refuse of whose prey he devours. It is an animal that seems to have been bred originally between the wolf and the dog. The original is sometimes interpreted, dragons, whales, &c. them ; neither can men hear the ^u^a ''"• ^?^- D. U. rir. 610. voice of the cattle ; " both ' the oi. cir. xlh. 3. fowl of the heavens and the beast '^"Roman!',"' are fled ; they are gone. "'■ """""' ''■ 1 1 And I will make Jerusalem ^'' heaps, and " a den of dragons ; and I will make the cities of Judah y desolate, without an inhabitant. 12 '• M'ho is the wise man that may under- stand this ? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land pcrisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth tlirough ? 13 And the Lord saith. Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein ; 14 But have "walked after the ''imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, "^ which thek fathers taught them : 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will ''feed them, even this people, " with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 1 6 I will ^ scatter them also among the hea- then, whom neither they nor their fathers have known : ^ and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. 17 Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Consider ye, and call for '^ the mourning women, that **'Isa. XXV. 2. xlsa. xiii. 22; xxxiv. 13; chap. x. 22. y Heb. desolation. — — » Psa. cvii. 43 ; Hos. xiv. 9. a Chap. iii. 17 ; vii. 43. ^ Or, .stubbornness. •^ Gal. i. 14. ^ Psa. Ixxx. 5. <• Ch-ip. viii. 14; xxiii. 15; Lam. iii. 15, 19. fLev. xxvi. 33; Deut. xxviii. 64. gLev. xxvi. 33; chap. xliv. 27 ; Ezek. v. 2, 12. ''2 Chron. xxxv. 25 ; Job iii. 8 ; Eccles. xii. 5 ; Amos v. 16 ; Matt. ix. 23. V^erse 12. Who is the wise man] To whom has God revealed these things ? He is the truly wise man. But it is to his prophet alone that God has revealed these things, and the speedy fulfilment of the pre- dictions will show that the prophet has not spoken of himself. Verse 15. I ivill feed their. — with wormwood] They shall have the deepest sorrow and heaviest affliction. They shall have poison instead of meat and drink. Verse 17. Call for the mourning women] Those whose office it was to make lamentations at funerals, and to bewail the dead, for which they received pay. This custom continues to the present in Asiatic coun- tries. In Ireland this custom also prevails, which no doubt their ancestors brought from the east. I have often witnessed it, and have given a specimen of this elsewhere. See the note on Matt. ix. 23. The first lamentations for the dead consisted only in the sudden bursts of inexpressible grief, like that of D.avid over his son Absalom, 2 Sam. xix. 4. But as men grew- refined, it was not deemed sufficient for the surviving relatives to vent their sorrows in these natural, artless expressions 2S1 Judgments against the JEREMIAH. uncircumcised nations. A.M. cir. 3394. t}jey mav comc ; and send for B. C. cir. 610. J J ' oi. cir. XLii. 3. cunning women, that they may Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., COme : cir. annum 7. jg ^^j ]gj ^Yiem make haste, and take up a waiHng for us, that ' our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. 19 For a voice of waihng is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled ! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because ^ our dwellings have cast us out. 20 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. 2 1 For death is come up into our windows. • Chap. xiv. 17.- -k Lev. xviii. 23 ; xx. 22. — — 1 Chap, vi. 11. of wo, but they endeavoured to join others as partners in their sorrows. This gave rise to the custom of hiring persons to weep at funerals, which the Phrygians and Greeks borrowed from the Hebrews. Women were generally employed on these occasions, because the ten- der passions being predominant in this sex, they suc- ceeded better in their parts ; and there were never wanting persons who would let out their services to hire on such occasions. Their lamentations were sung to the pipe as we learn from Matt. ix. 23. See the fune- ral ceremonies practised at the burial of Hector, as de- scribed by Homer : — Oj 5' sirit SKfa.yayov xKura, Sujuara, rov fiSv sirsira T^)]roij sv 'ks'XiSdiSi 6s more brtitigh than to know. '' Prov. xxx. 2. Usa. xlii. 17; xliv. 11; xlv. 16. k Hah. ii. IH. 1 Ver. 11. CHAP. X. of idolatry. 15 They are vanity, and the \^^:.''^^ ^''■ work of errors: in the time of 6i.XLiii.2. ..... , , I II -I Tariiuinii Prisci, their visitation ' they shall perisli. r. Roman., 16 -The Portion of Jacob is "''■ """""' '° not like them : for he is the former of all things ; and " Israel is the rod of his inherit- ance : ° The Lord of hosts is his name. 17 P Gather up thy wares out '\j'^c.1mTOo' of the land, O ■> inhabitant of the oi. dr. x'l.v. i. . Tarquinii Prisci, lOrtreSS. R. Roman., 18 For thus saith the Loud, "'■ """""' "" Behold, I will ■■ sling out the inhabitants of "" Psa. xvi. 5; Ixxiii. 26; cxix. 57; chap. li. 19; Lam. iii. 24. " Deut. xxxii. 9; Psa. Ixxiv. 2. «Isa. x!vii. 4; li. 15; liv. 5. chap. xxxi. 35 ; xxxii. 18 ; 1. 34. P See chap. vi. 1 ; Ezck. xii. 3, &c. ^Heb. inhabitress. 'I Sam. xxv. 29; chap. xvi. 18. religion, or importuned to join the idolatrous worship of the Chaldeans. Dahler has left it entirely out of the te.\.t, and in- troduces it in a note thus : — " Afler ver. 10 the He- brew text is interrupted by a verse wTitten in the Chaldean or Babylonish tongue. It is thus expressed : — Ye shall say unto them, Let the gods perish ! Who have not made the heavens and the earth. Let them be banished from above the earth, and from under the heavens. This verse can be considered only as a foreign inser- tion, not only on account of the difference of the lan- guage, but also because it interrupts the natural course of the ideas, and of the connexion of the tenth and twelfth verses." As a curiosity 1 shall insert it in Hebrew, which the reader may compare with the Chaldee text, which I also subjoin. y^xni nn'Diyn ityj'sb it^x QTiSsn t^n^ nr:Nr\ nsto nSx □'•;cn nnn pi yixn p nas' cazoih tomem la/iem; haelohtm asher to a.'nt liashshamayiin veliaarets, yobedu min haarets, umin tachalh hashshamayim clleh. : nS.X N':3ty mnn pi XJ'IX-D n^N' lidna lemenm le- hon ; elahaiya di shemaiya vearka la abadu, yebadu meara umin techoth .ihemaiya elleh. The Hebrew is the translation of Leusden ; the Clxaldee is that of the common text. Had not all the ancient Versions acknowledged it, 1 also, principally on account of the strangeness of the language, as being neither Chaldcc nor Syriac, should have doubted its authenticity. Verse 13. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters} This is a plain allusion to a storm of thunder and lightning, and the abundance of rain which is the consequence. Water is comjjosed of two gases, hydrogen and oxygen : the electric or galvanic spark decomposes them, and they become air; when recomposed, they form water. The lightning acts upon the hydrogen and oxygen, which are found in the atmospheric air : they are decomposed, and water or rain is the consequence ; which, being heavier than the air falls down in the form of rain. This verse and the three following are the same in substance, and nearly in words, as chap. li. 16, and following. Verse 14. Every man is brutish] 1}'3J mbar, is a boor, acts as a brute, who may suppose that a stock of a tree, formed like a man, may be an intellectual being ; and therefore shun.s the form as though it had life. See Isa. xliv. 10, 11. Of which verses, by the way, Dr. Blayney gives the following version to correct that of Bishop Lou'th : — Verse 10. WTio hath formed a god 1 Or set up a graven image that profiteth not? 11. Behold, all that are connected with it shall be ashamed. And the artificers, they above all men ! They shall assemble aU of them ; they shall stand forth ; They shall fear ; they shall be ashamed at the same time. " That is, while they stand before the image they have set up, and worship it with a religious dread, the glaring absurdity of their conduct shall lead to their shame and disgrace.^' With due deference to this learned man, I think this interpretation too refined. Verse 16. The Portion of Jacob is not tike them] Kvery nation had its tutelary god ; this Avas its por- tion; in reference to this God says Deut. iv. 19: " He has divided the sun, moon, and stars, to all the nations under the heaven." And the Lord had taken the Israelites to be his portion ; for " the Lord's por- tion is his people," Deut. xxxii. 9, and David says, " The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance," Psa. xvi. 5 ; cxix. 57. And hence Isaiah terms the .tmuoth stones of the brook, to which Divine honours were paid, the portion of those idolaters, chap. Ivii. 6. But in the text he says, " The Portion, i. e, the God of Ja- cob is not like them ; for he is the former of all things," and they are formed by their foolish worshippers. Verse 17. Gather tip thy ware.i] Pack up your goods, or what necessaries of life your enemies will permit you to carry away ; for. Verse 18. / icilt sling out the inhabitants of the land] I will project you with violence from your 285 Prayerless families JEREMIAH. shall he punished Ai 'J.- ''''■■ rnS*- the land at this once, and will B. C. cir. 600. ' 01. cir. XLV. 1. distress them, ' that they may Tarquinii Prisci, ^ , . R. Roman., nnd it SO. cir. annum 17. ^q ,y^^ jg ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ my wound is grievous : but I said, " Truly this is a grief, and " I must bear it. 20 " My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken : my children are gone forth of me, and tliey are not : there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. 21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord : therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. »Ezek. vi. 10. tChap. iv. 19; viii. 21; ix. 1. "Psa. Ixxvii. 10. 'Mic. vii. 9. "Chap. iv. 20. "Chap. i. 15; iv. 6 ; V. 15 ; -vi. 22. y Chap. ix. 11. « Prov. xvi. 1 ; xx. 24. country. I will send you all into captivity. This dis- course, from ver. 17, is supposed to have been de- livered in the eleventh year of Jehoiakim. Verse 19. This is a grief, and I must bear ;V.] Op- pressive as it is, I have deserved it, and worse ; but even in this judgment God remembers mercy. Verse 20. My tabernacle is spoiled] The city is taken, and all our villages ruined and desolated. Verse 2 1 . The pastors are become brutish] The king and his counsellors, who, by refusing to pay the promised tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, had kindled a new war. Verse 22. The noise of the bruit is come] How this sUly French word bruit, which signifies noise, got in here, I cannot imagine. The simple translation is this : " The voice of the report ! behold, it is come ; yea, great commotion from the land of the north ; (Chaldea ;) to make the cities of Judea a desolation, a habitation of wild beasts." That is, the report we had heard of the projected invasion of Judea by Nebu- chadnezzar is confirmed. He has entered the land ; the Chaldeans are at the doors, and the total desola- tion of Judea is their sole object. Verse 23. O Lord, I know that the tcay of man is not in himself] I will not pretend to dispute with thee ; thou dost every thing wisely and justly ; we have sinned, and thou hast a right to punish ; and to choose that sort of punishment thou thinkest will best answer the ends of justice. We cannot choose ; thou hast appointed us to captivity ; we must not re- pine ; yet. 22 Behold, the noise of the bruit ■*; M- "'"■ l^^- ' B. C. cir. 600. is come, and a great commotion oi. cir. XLV. i. P 1 , Tarquinii Prisci, out 01 the ^ north country, to r. Roman., make the cities of Judah deso- "■^- ^""' i^- late, and a y den of dragons. 23 0 Lord, I know that the == way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walk- eth to direct his steps. 24 0 Lord, ^ correct me, but with judgment ; not in thine anger, lest thou "^ bring me to nothing. 25 " Pour out thy fury upon the heathen ^ that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name : for they have eaten up Jacob, and " devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate. aPsa. vi. 1; xxxviii. 1; chap. xxx. 11. b Heb. diminish me. t Psa. Lxxix. 6. ■! Job xviii. 21 ; 1 Thess. iv. 5 ; 2 Thess. i. 8. e Chap. viii. 16. Verse 24. Correct me, but with judgment] Let not the punishment be to the uttermost of the demerit of the offence ; else tee shall be brought to nothing — to- tally and irrecoverably ruined. Verse 25. Pour out thy fury upon the heathen'] Even those who are now the executors of thy justice upon us will, in their turn, feel its scourge ; for if judgment begins at us, who have been called thy house and thy people, shall they who have not achioicledged thee escape 1 It is impossible. The families and tribes which invoke thee not shall have thy fury poured out upon them, and especially they who " have eaten up Jacob and consumed him, and have made his habi- tation desolate." This was fulfilled in the Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar was punished with madness, his son was slain in his revels, and the city was taken and sacked by Cyrus ; and the Babylonish empire was finally destroyed ! This verse has been often quoted against those ungodly families who set not up the worship of God in their houses. These are spiritual Chaldeans , worse indeed than the Chaldeans ever were : they ac- knowledge God and his Christ ; and yet neither wor- ship nor serve him. How can that family expect the blessing of God, where the worship of God is not daily performed ? No wonder their servants are wicked, their children profligate, and their goods cursed ! What an awful reckoning shall such heads of families have with the Judge in the great day, who have refused to petition for that mercy which they might have had for the asking. CHAPTER XL The prophet proclaims the tenor of Gods covenant with the Jews of old, 1—5 ; and then reproves them for their hereditary disobedience, 6-19. In consequence of this the Almighty is introduced, declaring he will shmo them no pity, 11—13 ; forbidding Jeremiah to intercede, 14 ; rejecting their sacrifices, 15 ; and in a word, condemning this fair but tinfniitful tree to the fire, 16, 17. In what remains of the chapter the prophet predicts evil to his neighbours of Anathoth, who had corupired against him, 18-23. " Let us," said they, " destroy this tree, with the fruit therea''," cj-r ., alluding to what Jeremiah had said zn the six- teenth verse. 286 The obedient are blessed, CHAP. XI. and the dtsobedient cursed *u '^r. ""■ ?;w° T'HE word tliat came to Jere- Oi.cir. XLV.3. miali from tlie Lord, saying, Tarquinii Prisci, ^ tt i i r i ■ R. Roman., 2 Hear ye the words ol this cir. annum 19. covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jeru- salem ; 3 And say thou imto them. Thus saith tlic Lord God of Israel ; ° Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of tliis covenant, 4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them fortli out of tlie land of Egypt, '' from the iron furnace, saying, ' Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you : so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God : 5 That I may perform the '' oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, " So be it, 0 Lord. 6 Then the Lord said unto me. Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying. Hear ye the words of this covenant, ^ and do them. 7 For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, s rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice. 8 '"Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but ' walked every one in the '' imagina- « Deut. xxvii. 26 ; Gal. iii. 10. 1> Deut. iv. 20 ; 1 Kings viii. 51. 'Lev. xni. 3, 12; chap. vii. 23. •> Deut. vii. 12, 13 ; Psa. cv. 9, 10. 'Heb. Amm; Deut. nvii. 15-26. fRom. :i. 13; James i. 22. eChap. vii. 13, 25; xxxy. 15. hChap. vii. 26. 'Chap. iii. 17; vii. 24; ix. U. k Or, shihbom- NOTE.S ON CHAP. XI. Verse 1 . T/ie ivord that came to Jeremiah] This discourse is supposed to have been delivered in the first year of the reicrn of Zedekiah. See Dahlei: Verse 2. Hear i/e the words of this coi^enant] It is possible that the prophet caused the words of the covenant made with their fathers in the desert (Exod. x.viv. 4-8) to be read to them on this occasion; or, at least, the blessings and the cursings which Moses caused to be pronounced to the people as soon as they had set foot in Canaan, Deut. xxvii., xxviii. Verse 3. Cursed be the man that obeyeth noC] After the reading, the prophet appears to sum up t!ie things contained in what was read to them ; as if he had said, " Ve hear what the Lord saith unto yon : remember, the sum of it is this : The man is cursed who obeyeth not : and he is blessed who obeys. From these de- clarations God \v\W not depart." Verse 5. So ie it, O Lord] Let thy promises be fulfilled ; and let the incorrigible beware of thy threat- enings ! tion of their evil heart : therefore *• *' '=''■■ *•**?• B. C. cir. 598. I will bring upon them all the oi.cir. XLV.3. J r .1 • ^ 1 • i_ T Tarquinii Priaci, words 01 this covenant, which 1 r. Roman., commanded he men of Anathoth, ■ that seek thy life, saying, '' Prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that thou die not by our hand : 22 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will ' punish them : the young men shall die by the sword ; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine : 23 And there shall be no remnant of them : for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even ™ the year of their visitation. i"Psa. Ixxxiii. 4. sPsa. xxvii. 13; cxvi, 9 ; cxlii. 5. ^i Sara. xvi. 7 ; 1 Chron. xxviii. 9 ; Psa. vii. 9 ; chap. xvii. 10 ; XX. 12; Rev. ii.23. ' Chap. xii. 5, 6. k Isa. xxx. 10 ; Amos ii. 12; vii. 13, 16; Mic. ii. 6. 'Heb. visit u-pon. ™ Chap. xxiii. 12 ; xlvi. 21 ; xlviii. 44 ; 1. 27 ; Luke xix. 44. given him a secret warning, that he might be on his guard. Verse 19. / was like a lamb or an ox\ Dahler translates, " I was like a fattened lamb that is led to the slaughter." Blayney, " 1 was like a tame lamb that is led to slaughter." The word ^iSs alluph, which we translate ox, is taken by both as an adjective, quaJi- fymg the noun W22 kebes, a lamb. It may probably signify a lamb brought up in the house — fed at home, ('^iSs alluph,) instructed or nourished at home ; per- fectly innocent and unsuspecting, while leading to the slaughter. This meaning the word will bear in Arabic, for <_jal| alaf signifies accustomed, familiar, (to or with any person or thing ;) a companion, a comrade, an in- timate friend. 1 therefore think that ^iSx iy3D3 ke- chebes alluph signifies, like the familiar lamb — the lamb bred up in the house, in a state of friendship with the family. The people of Anathoth were Jeremiah's townsmen ; he was born and bred among them ; they were his familiar friends ; and now they lay wait for his life ! All the Versions understood '\}hii alluph as an epithet of \1>2D kebes, a chosen, simple, innocent lamb. Let us destroy the tree with the fruit] Let us slay the prophet, and his prophecies will come to an end. The Targum has, Let us put mortal poison in his food; and all the Versions understand it something in the same way. Verse 20. Let me see thy vengeance on theni] Rather, I shall see (nN")N ereh) thy punishment inflicted on them. Verse 22. Behold, I will punish them] And the punishment is, Their young men shall die by the sword The prophet reasons with CHAP XII. God concerning his state. of the Chaldeans ; and their sotis and daughters shall | Verse 23. The year of their visitation.] This pun- die by the famine that shall come on the land tlirough ishment shall come in that yeai in which I shall visit ti>e desolations occasioned by the Chaldean army. ] their iniquities upon them. CHAPTER Xn. This chapter is connected with the foregoing. The prophet expostulates with God concerning the ways oj Providence in permitting the wiched to prosper, 1—4. // is intimated to him that he must endure still greater trials, 5, from his false and deceitful brethren, 6 ; but that still heavier judgments awaited the nation for Uieir crimes, 7—13. That God, however, would at length have compassion on them; restore them to their land; and turn his judgments against those that oppressed them, if not prevented by their be- coming converts to the true religion, 14-17. A. M. cir. 340G. B. C. cir. 598. 01. eij. XLV. 3. Taniuinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 19. J^IGHTEOUS ''art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee : yet "' let me talk with thee of thy judgments : ■= Wherefore dotli the way of the wicked prosper ? where- fore are all they happy that deal very treach- erously ? 2 Tliou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root : ^ they grow, yea, they bring forth j fruit : ' thou ait near in their mouth, and far ' from tlieir reins. 3 But thou, O Lord, '' knowest me : thou hast seen me, and ^ tried mine heart '' toward thee : pull them out like sheep for the slaugh- ter, and prepare them for • the day of slaughter. * Psa. li. 4. '' Or, let mc reason the case with thee. c Job xii. 6 ; xxi. 7 ; Psa. jxxrii. 1, 35 ; Ixxiii. 3, &c. ; chap. v. 28 ; Hab. i. 4 ; Mai. iii. 15. ■) Heb. they go on. ' Isa. ixix. 13 ; Matt, j XV. 8 ; Mark vii. 6. fPsa.xvii.3; cxxxix.l. eChap.xi.20. NOTES ON CHAP. XII. j Verse 1. Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee] The prophet was grieved at the prosperity of the wicked ; and he wonders how, consistently with God's righteousness, vice should often be in affluence, and piety in suffering and poverty. He knows that God is righteous, that every thing is done well ; but he wishes to inquire how these apparently unequal and un- deserved lots take place. On tliis subject he wishes to reason with God, that he may receive instruction. Verse 2. Thou art near in their mouth] They have no sincerity : they have something of the fnrtn of re- ligion, but nothing of its power. Verse 3. But thou, O Lord, Icnowest me] I know that the very secrets of my heart are kno\\Ti to thee ; and I am glad of it, for thou knowest thai my heart is towards thee — is upright and sincere. Verso 4. How long shall the land mourn] These | hypocrites and open sinners are a curse to the coun- tr)' ; pull them out. Lord, that the land may be deli- vered of that which is the cause of its desolation. Verse 5. If thou hast run with the footmen] If the smallest evils to which thou art exposed cause thee to make so many bitter complaints, how wilt thou feel when, in the course of thy prophetic ministry, thou shall be exposed to much greater, from enemies much Vol. IV. ( 19 ) 4 How long shall ^ the land Ag «■ ""^l^ 3406. mourn, and the herbs of every 01. cir. XLV. 3. ^ , , . . , ^ , .11 Tarquinii Prisci, field Wither, ' lor the wicked- r. Roman., ness of them that dwell therein ? ""■ ^""""^ ">■ "" the beasts are consumed, and the birds ; be- cause they said. He sliall not see our last end. 5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses ? and if in the land of peace, tcherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in " the swelling of Jordan ? 6 For even ° thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacher- ously with thee ; yea, p they have called a I" Heb. with thee. ' James v. 5. ^ Chap, xxiii. 10 ; Hos. iv. 3. 'Psa. cvii. 34. ">Chap. iv. 25; vii. 20; ix. 10; Hos. iv. 3. "Josh. iii. 15; 1 Chron. xii. 15; chap. xlix. 19; 1. 44. "Chap. ix. 4 ; xi. 19, 21. P Or, they cried after thee fully. more powerful ? Footmen may here be the sjTnbol of common evil events ; horsemen, of evils much more ter- rible. If thou have sunk under small difficulties, what wilt thou do when great ones come ] And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst] I believe the meaning is this, " If in a country now enjoying peace thou scarcely thinkest thyself in safety, what wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan ? in the time when the enemy, like an overflowing torrent, shall deluge every part of the land V' The overflowing of Jordan, which generally hap- pened in harvest, drove the lions and other beasts of prey from their coverts among the bushes that lined its banks ; who, spreading themselves through the countr)-, made terrible havoc, slaying men, and carrying off the cattle. Perhaps by footmen may be meant the Philistines, Edomites, &c., whose armies were composed princi- pally of infantry ; and by the horses, the Chaldeans, who had abundance of cavalry and chariots in their army. But still the words are proverbial, and the above is their meaning. Verse 6. For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father] Thou hast none to depend on but God : even thy brethren will betray thee when they have it in their nower. The wickedness of the JEREMIAH. priests and false prophets. A. M. cir. 3406. multitude after thee • i believe B. C. cir. 598. oi. cir. XLV, 3. them not, though they speak Tarquinii Prisci, ^ . . ^ i R. Roman., "■ lau worQS imto thee. cir. annum 19. 7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage ; I have given ^ the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. 8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest ; it ' crieth '' out against me : therefore have I hated it. 9 Mine heritage is unto me as a. '' speckled bird, the birds round about are against her ; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, ■" come ^ to devour. 10 Many >' pastors have destroyed ^ my vineyard, they have ^ trodden my portion under foot, they have made my ''pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 1 1 They have made it desolate, and being desolate " it moumeth unto me ; the whole iProv. xxvi. 25. 'Heb. good thing!. »Heb. the love. » Or, yelleth. " Heb. giveth oxtt his voice. ^" Or, having talons. w Or, cause thern to come. x Isa. Ivi. 9 ; chap. vii. 33.— — y Chap. vi. 3. *Isa. V. 1, 5. Believe them not] Do not trust to them ; do not commit thyself to them ; they are in heart thy enemies, and will betray thee. Verse 7. I have forsaken mine house] I have aban- doned my temple. I have given the dearly beloved of my souT] The people once in covenant with me, and inexpressibly dear to me while faithful. Into the hand of her enemies.] This was a condi- tion in the covenant I made with them ; if they forsook me, they were to be abandoned to their enemies, and cast out of the good land I gave to their fathers. Verse 8. Mine heritage is unto me as a lion] The people are enraged against me ; they roar lihe a fw- rious lion against their God. They have proceeded to the most open acts of the most flagrant iniquity. Verse 9. Is unto me as a speckled bird] A bird of divers colours. This is a people who have corrupted the worship of the true God with heathenish rites and ceremonies ; therefore, the different nations, (see ver. 10,) whose gods and forms of worship they have adopt- ed, shall come and spoil them. As far as you have followed the surrounding nations in their worship, so far shall they prevail over your state. Every one shall take that which is his own ; and wherever he finds his own gods, he will consider the land consecrated to them, and take it as his property, because those very gods are the objects of his worship. The fable of the daw and borrowed plumes is no mean illustration of this passage. Dahler translates the whole verse thus : — Birds of prey ! inundate ivith blood my heritage. Birds of prey ! come against her from all sides. Run together in crowds, ye savage beasts ! Come to the carnage ! 290 land is made desolate, because ^ ^ "=•?■ ^*°®- ' K I. r\r ^no man layeth it to heart. B. C. cir. 598. 01. cir. XLV. 3. „, ., Tarquinii Prisci, 12 1 he spoilers are come upon r. Roman., all high places through the wilder- "'• '"""^ ^^• ness : for the sword of the Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land : no flesh shall have peace. 13 ■= They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns : they have put themselves to pain, biit shall not profit : and ' they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord. 14 Thus saith the Lord against ^^ '*^- "'^^ ^401. all mine evil neighbours, that 01. XLIV. 2. , , ... 1 • 1 T Tarquinii Prisci, ? touch the inheritance which 1 R.Roman., have caused my people Israel to "'■ ^""^ '*• inherit ; Behold, I will '^ pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15 ' And it shall come to pass, after that I a Isa, Ixiii. 13. ^ Heb. portion of desire. c Ver. 4. ^ Isa. xlii. 25. eLev. xxvi. 16; Deut. xxviii. 38; Mic. vi. 15; Hag. i. 6. f Or, ye.~ — ^ Zech. ii. 8. ^ Deut. xxx. 3 ; chap, xxxii. 37. ' Ezek. xxviii. 25. Verse 10. Many pastors have destroyed my vine- yard] My people have had many kinds of enemies which have fed upon their richest pastures ; the Phi- listines, the Moabites, Ammonites, Assyi-ians, Egyp- tians, and now the Chaldeans. Verse 11. No man layeth it to heart.] Notwith- standing all these desolations, from which the land every where mourns, and which are so plainly the con- sequences of the people's crimes, no man layeth it to heart, or considereth that these are God's judgments ; and that the only way to have them removed is to re- pent of their sins, and turn to God with all their hearts. Verse 12. The sword of the Lord shall devour] It is the sword of the Lord that has devoured, and will devour : this is what no man layeth to heart. They think these things come in the course of events. Verse 13. They have sown uheat, but shall reap thorns] All their projects shall fail : none of their enterprises shall succeed. They are enemies to God, and therefore cannot have his blessing. A''erse 14. Against all mine evil neighbours] All the neighbouring nations who have united in desolating Judea shall be desolated in their turn ; they also are uncked, and they shall be punished. If I make them executors of my justice, it is to them no proof of my approbation. God often uses one wicked nation to scourge another ; and afterwards scourges the scourger by some other scourge. In some places a felon who was condemned to be hanged is made the common hangman for the county ; he himself being still under the sentence of death, — Till soon some trusty brother of the trade Shall do for him what he has done for others. Verse 15. I will return, and have compassion on ( 19* ) The propheCs vision CHAP. XIII. A. M. cir. 3401 B. C. cir. 603. 01. XLIV. 2. Tarquinii Prisci R. Roman., cir. annum 14. have plucked them out I will re- turn, and have compassion on them, '' and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, ' to ' Amos ix. 14.- > Chap. It. 2. them\ This is a promise of restoration from the cap- tivity, and an intimation also that some of their ene- mies would turn to the true God with them ; learn the ways of his people ; that is, would abjure idols, and take Jehovah for their God ; and be built in the midst of his people, that is, Jew and Gentile forming one Church of the Most High. Verse 17. I will — destroy that tuition] Several of of the linen girdle. The Lord swear by my name livelh ; (as they taught my people to swear by Baal ;) then shall they be ■" built in the midst of my people. 17 But if they will not "obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord. A. M. cir. 3401. B. C. cir. 603. Ol. XLIV. 2. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Romnn., cir. annum 14. ' Eph. ii. 20, 21 J 1 Pet. ii. 5.- ' Isa. Ix. 12. them did not obey, and are destroyed. Of the Moab- ites, Ammonites, and Chaldeans, not one vestige re- mains. The sixteenth verse is supposed to be a pro- mise of the conversion of the Gentiles. See Eph. ii. 13-22. From the thirteenth verse to the end is a different discourse, and Dahler supposes it to have been delivered in the seventh or eighth year of the reign of Jehoiakim. CHAPTER XIII. This chapter contains an entire prophecy. The symbol of the linen girdle, left to rot Jor a considerable time, was a type of the manner tn which the glory of the Jeics should he marred during the course of their long captivity, 1-11. The scene of hiding the girdle being laid near the Euphrates, intimated that the scene of the nation's distress should be Chaldea, which that river loaters. The next three verses, by another emblem frequently used to represent the judgments of God, are designed to shoiv that the calamities threat- ened should be extended to every rani and denomination, 12—14. This leads the prophet to a most affec- tionate exhortation to repentance, 15—17. But God, knoiving that this happy consequence would not ensue, sends him with an awful jncssage to the royal family particularly, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in general, declaring the approaching judgments in plain terms, 18—27. The ardent desire for the reforma- tion of Jerusalem, with which the chapter concludes, beautifully displays the compassion and tender mercy of God. A. M. cir. 3405 B. C. cir. 599. Ol. cir. XLV.2 Tarquinii Prisci R. Roman., cir. annum 13. T^HUS saith the Lord unto mc. Go and get thee ° a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. 2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my "^ loins. 3 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second lime, saying, • Lev. vi. 10. NOTES ON CHAP. XHI. Verse 1. Thus saith the Lord unto >ne] This dis- course is supposed to have been delivered under the reign of Jeeoniah, the son and successor of Jehoiakim, who came to the throne in the eighteenth year of his age ; when the Chaldean generals had encamped near to Jerusalem, but did not besiege it in form till Nebu- chadnezzar came up with the great body of the army. In these circumstances the prophet predicts the capti- ' vity ; and, by a symbolical representation of a rotten ' girdle, shows the people their totally corrupt state ; \ and by another of bottles filled with wine, shows the destruction and madness of their counsels, and the con- fusion that must ensue. Go and get thee a linen girdle] This was either ; A. M. cir. 3405. B. C. cir 599. 01. cir. XLV. 2. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 18. 4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Enplu-ates, and hide it there in a hole of tiie rock. 5 So I went and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me. Arise, go to Euphrates, >>Isa. xi. 5. a vision, or God simply describes the thing in order that the prophet might use it in the way of illustra- tion. Put it not in water.] After having worn it, let it not be washed, that it may more properly represent the uncleanness of the Israelites ; for they were repre- sented by the girdle ; for " as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah." And as a girdle is as well for ornament as use ; God took them for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, ver. 1 1 . Verse 4. Go to Euphrates, and hide it there] In- tending to point out, by this distant place, the country into which they were to be carried away captive. 291 Ajfectionate exhortation JEREMUH. to repentance. 'B^c'^cir^sM' ^"'^ ^^^® ^'^'^ gixdle from thence, 01. cir. XLV. 2. wluch I commanded thee to hide j be filled with wine ? TarquiniiPxisci, , R. Roman., there. cir. anmunlS. ^ -pj^g^^ j ^^^^^ ^^ EupllTatCS, I tainly know that every bottle shall ^ M- '-^'[_: ^^■ 01. cir. XLV. 2. TarquiniiPrisci, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it ; and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. 8 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 Thus saith the Lord, After this maimer " will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which "^ walk in the " imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. 1 1 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saitli tlie Lord ; that ^ they might be unto me for a people, and s for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory : but they would not hear. 12 Therefore thou shall speak unto them this word ; Thus saith the Lord God of Is- rael, Every bottle shall be filled with wine : and they shall say unto thee. Do we not cer- « Lev. xxvi. 19. ^ Chap. ix. 14 ; xi. 8 ; xvi. 12. ' Or, stub- bornness. fExod. xix. 5. sChap. xxxiii. 9. i"Isa. li. 17, 21 ; Ixviii. 6 : chap. xxv. 27 ; li. 7. i Psa. ii. 9. k Heb. a jnan agaiiist kis brother. Verse 7. And, behold, the girdle was marred ; it was profitaile for nothing.'] This symbolically represented the state of the Jews : they were corrupt and abomi- nable ; and God, by sending them into captivity, " mar- red the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jeru- salem," ver. 9. Verse 13. Every bottle shall be filled with wine?] The bottles were made for the purpose of being filled with wine ; and it is Ukely, from the promising appear- ance of the season and the grapes, that there was a great likelihood of a copious vintage ; and this made them say, " Do we not certainly know that every bot- tle shall be filled with wine ? Have we not every prospect that it will be so ^ Do we need a revelation to inform us of this V Verse 13. Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land — loith drunienness.] You pretend to take this literally, but it is a symbol. Yora, and your kings, and priests, and prophets, are represented by these bot- tles. The wine is God's xorath against you, which shall first be shown by confounding your deliberations, fill- ing you with foolish plans of defence, causing you from your divided counsels to fall out among your- selves, so that like so many drunken men you shall 292 13 Then shall thou say unto r. Roman., '' jj| tliem. Thus saith the Lord, Be- '"■ """""^ ^^- hold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the in- habitants of Jerusalem, '' with drunkenness. 14 And 'I will dash them ''one against an- other, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord : I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, ' but destroy them. 1 5 Hear ye, and give ear ; be not proud : for the Lord hath spoken. 16 ■" Give glory to the Lord yom: God, be- fore he cause "darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye " look for light, he turn it into p the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. 17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride ; and 1 mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock is carried away captive. 18 Say unto ^the king and to the queen. Humble yourselves, sit down : for your ' prin- cipalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory. ' Heb. from destroying them. " Josh. vii. 19. " Isa. v. 30 ; viii. 22 ; Amos viii. 9. « Isa. lix. 9. P Psa. xliv. 19. q Chap. ix. 1 ; xiv. 17; Lam. i. 2, 16; ii. 18. ' See 2 Kings xxiv. 12 ; chap. xxii. 26. sOr, head-tires. reel about and jostle each other ; defend yourselves without plan, and fight without order, till ye all fall an easy prey into the hands of your enemies. The an- cient adage is here fulfilled : — Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat. " Those whom God determines to destroy, he first renders foolish." Verse 16. Give glory to — God] Confess your sins and turn to him, that these sore evils may be averted. While ye look for light] ^^'^uIe ye expect pros- perity, he turned it into the shadow of death — sent you adversity of the most distressing and ruinous kind. Stumble upon the dark mountains] Before you meet with those great obstacles, which, having no light — no proper understanding in the matter, ye shall be utterly unable to surmount. Verse 17. My sou! shall weep in secret places] If you win not hearken to the Lord, there is no remedy : destruction must come ; and there is nothing left for me, but to go in secret, and mourn and bewail your wretched lot. Verse 18. Say unto the king and to the queen] Pro- bably Jeconiah and his mother, under whose tutelage, The prophet's distress on CHAP. XIII. account oj the people. A; M- <=''■ 3«5. 1 9 The cities of the south shall B. C. cir. 599. Ol. cir. XLV. 2. be shut up, and none shall open "r'"!?™!^"^'' them ; Judah shall be carried "'•■'^"""■'^- away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive. 20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them ' that come from the north : where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock ? 21 What wilt thou say when he shall "punish thee ? for thou hast taught them to be cap- tains, and as chief over thee : shall not " sor- rows take thee, as a woman in travail ? 22 And if thou say in thine heart, '"Where- fore come these things upon me ? For the greatness of thine iniquity are ^ thy skirts discovered, and thy heels ^ made bare. 23 Can the Etliiopian change his skin, or the leopard liis spots ? then may *; ^^ <='.■•• 'Chap. vi. 22. "Heb. visit upon. >'Chap. vi. 24. "Chap. V. 19; xvi. 10. ' Isa. iii. 17; xlvii. 2, 3; ver. 26; Ezek. xvi. 37, 38, 39 ; Xah. iii. 5. > Or, shallbe violently taken atcay. »Heb. taught. "Psa. i. 4 ; Hos. xiii. 3. being young when he began to reign, he was left, as is very likely. Sit down] Show that ye have humbled yourselves ; for your state will be destroyed, and your glorious crown taken from your heads. Verse 19. The cities of the south shall be shut up] Not only the cities of the north, the quarter at which the Chaldeans entered, but the cities of the south also ; for he shall proceed from one extt entity of the land to the other, spreading devastation every where, and carrying otf the inhabitants. Verse 20. Where is the flock — thy beautiful flock 1] Jerusalem is addressed. Where are the prosperous multitudes of men, women, and children ? Alas ! are they not driven before the Babylonians, who have taken them captive 1 Verse 21. Thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee] This is said of their enemies, whe- ther Assyrians or Chaldeans ; for ever since Ahaz submitted himself to the king of Assyria, the kings of Judah never regained their independence. Their ene- mies were thus taught to be their lords and masters. Verse 22. Are thy skirls discovered] Th)- defence- less state is every where known ; thou art not only weak, but ignominiously so. It is thy scandal to be in so depressed a condition ; thou art lower than the basest of thy adversaries, and thou art so because of thy sin. Verse 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin] Can a black, at his own pleasure, change the colour of his skin J Can the leopard at will change the variety of his spots ? These things are natural to them, and they cannot be altered ; so sin, and especially your attach- ment to idolatry, is become a second nature ; and we 3405. ye also do good, that are ^ accus- oT. cir. xLv. 2. . 1,1 1 TarquiniiPrisci, tomed to do evil. R?Koman., 24 Therefore Willi scatter them "'"■ ''"°"'° '^- ' as the stubble that passeth away by tlie wind of the wilderness. 25 ''This is thy lot, the portion of thy measiures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast " forgotten me, and trusted in ^ false- hood. 26 Therefore ' will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear. 27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy '^neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations ^ on the hills in the fields. Wo unto thee, O Jerusalem ! wilt thou not be made clean ? ^ when shall it once be ? '■Jobx.1t. 29; Psa. xi. 6. tPsa. 1. 22; Isa. Ixv. 11; chap. xxiii. 27. iChap. x. 14. "Ver. 22 ; Lam. i. 8; Ezek. xvi. 37 ; xxiii. 29 ; Hos. ii. 10. fChap. v. 8. s Isa. Ixv. 7 ; chap. ii. 20 ; iii. 2, 6 ; Ezek. vi. 13. ' Heb. after when yet ? may as well expect the Ethiopian to change his skin, and the leopard his spots, as you to do good, who have been accustomed to do evil. It is a matter of the ut- most difficulty to get a sinner, deeply rooted in vicious habits, brought to the knowledge of himself and God. But the expression does not imply that the thing is as impossible in a moral as it is in a natural sense : it only shows that it is extremely difficult, and not to be often expected ; and a thousand matters of fact prove the truth of this. But still, what is impossible to man is possible to God. See on ver. 27. Verse 24. The wind of the wilderness.] Some strong tempestuous wind, proverbially severe, coming from the desert to the south of Judea. Verse 25. Trusted in falsehood.] In idols, and in lying prophets. Verse 26. Therefore will I discover thy skirls upon thy face] It was the custoin to punish lewd women by stripping them naked, and exposing them to public view ; or by throwing their clothes over their heads, as here intimated. Was this the way to correct the evil ] Verse 27. / have seen thine adulteries] Thy idola- tries of different kinds, practised in various ways ; no doubt often accompanied with gross debauchery. Wo unto thee, O Jerusalem ! will thou not be made clean 7] We see from this, that though the thing was difficult, yet it was not impossible, for these Ethio- pians to change their skin, for these leopards to change their spots. It was only their obstinate refusal of the grace of God that rendered it impossible. Man can- not change himself; but he may pray to God to do if, and come to him through Christ, that he may do it. To enable him to pray and believe, the power is stiU at hand. If he will not use it, he must perish, 293 A grievous drought JEREMIAH. and famine foretold CHAPTER XIV. This chapter begins with foretelling a drought that should greatly distress the land of Judea, the effects of which are described in a most pathetic manner, 1-6. The prophet then, in the peopWs name, makes a confession of sins, and supplication for pardon, 7-9. But God declares his purpose to punish, forbidding Jeremiah to pray for the people, 10-12. False prophets are then complained of and threatened with de- struction, as are also those who attend to them, 13-16. The prophet, therefore, bewails their misery, 17, 18 ; and though he had just now been forbidden to intercede for them, yet, like a lender pastor, who could not cease to be concerned for their welfare, he falls on the happy expedient of introducing themselves as supplicating in their own name that mercy which he ivas not allowed to ask in his, 19-22. A^ M. cir. 3399. rpHE word of the Lord that B. C. cir. 605. JL . , 01. XLiii. 4. came to Jeremiali concerning TarquiniiPrisci, „ ,i i .i ^ R Roman., " the dearth. cir. annum 12. g Judah moumeth, and ''the gates thereof languish ; they are " black unto the ground ; and "^ the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. 3 And their nobles have sent tiieir little ones to the waters : they came to the pits, a7id, found no water ; they returned vvith their vessels empty ; they were " ashamed and con- founded, ^ and covered their heads. 4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the ploughmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. *Heb. the words of the dearths, or Testraints. l>Isa. iii. 26. ■: Chap. viii. 21. " Heb. My name is called upon its; Dan. ix. 18, 19. n See chap. ii. 23, 24, 25. " Hos. viii. 13 ; ix. 9. P Exod. xxxii. 10; chap. vii. 16; xi. 14. iProv. i. 28; Isa. i. 15; Iviii. 3; chap. xi. 11 ; Ezeic. viii. 18; Mic. iii. 4 ; Zech. vii. 13. CHAP. XIV. desolations of the land them not, neither have I com- ^. M. cir. 3m manded them, neither spake unto 61. XLiii. 4. .1.1 1 . Tarquinii Prisci, them : they prophesy unto you a r. Roman., false vision and divination, and a """- """"*" '^- thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart 1 5 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning llie prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, ' yet they say. Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword ; '' and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters : for I will pour their wickedness upon them. 17 Therefore thou shall say this word unto them ; ^ Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease : " for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. 18 If I go forth into •> the field, then behold the slain with the sword ! and if I enter into ' Ch^p. vi. 20 ; vii. 21, 22. s Chap. ix. 16. Ezek. vii. 15. transient visit to thy land. O come once more, and dwell among us. Verse 9. Yet thou, O Lord, art in the tnidst of us] Thy ark, temple, and sacred rites, are all here ; and thou thyself, who art every where present, art here also : but alas ! thou dost not reveal thyself as the Fa- ther of mercies, who forgivest iniquity, transgression, and sin. We are called by thy r.ame ; leave us not.] Let us call thee our Father, and say thou to us, " Ye are my sons and daughters !"' O leave us not ! Verse 10. Thus have thry loved to wander] And the measure of your iniquity being now full, ye must be punished. Verse 1 1 . Pray not for this people] They are ripe for destruction, intercede not for them. O, how dreadful is the state of that people in reference to whom the Lord says to bis ministers, Pray not for them ; or, what amounts nearly to a prohibition, with- holds from his ministers the spirit of prayer and inter- cession in behalf of the people ! Verse 13. Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them] True, Lord, they are exceedingly wicked ; but the false prophets have deceived them ; this is some mitigation of their offence. This plea God does not admit ; and why 1 the people believed them, with- out havmg any proof of their Divine mission. Verse 14. The prophets projthesy lies] They say they have visions, but they have them by divination, and thev are false. The people should know their character, and avoid them ; but they love to have it so, and will not be undeceived. Verse 1 5 . By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.] Jeremiah had told Jehoiakim that, if he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, he should be over- thrown, and the land wasted by sword and famine : the false prophets said there shall be neither sword nor famine, but peace and prosperity. The king believed them, and withheld the tribute. Nebuchadnezzar, be- ing incensed, invaded and destroyed the land ; and the false prophets fell in these calamities. See 2 Kings XXV. 3; Lam. ii. 11-19. Verse 16. And the people — shall be cast out] They shall be destroyed, because they preferred their lying words to my truth, proclaimed by thee. Verse 17. For the virgin daughter of my people is broken] First, the land was sadly distressed by Pha- raoh-necho, king of Egypt. Secondly, it was laid un- der a heavy tribute by Nebuchadnezzar. And, thirdly, it was nearly desolated by a famine afterwards. In a few years all these calamities fell upon them ; these might be well called a great breach, a very grievous blow. Verse 18. If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain ivith the sword] Every place presents frightful spectacles; the wounded, the dying, the starving, and the slain ; none to burj' the dead, none to commiserate the dying, none to bring either relief or consolation. Even the prophets and the priests are obliged to leave the cities, and wander about in unfrequented and un- known places, seeking for the necessaries of life 295 No intercession shall be accepted JEREMIAH. in behalf of this people. A. M. cir. 3399. B. C. cir. 605. 01. XLm.4. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 12. the city, then behold them that are sick with famine ! yea, both the prophet and the priest " go about into a land that they know not. 19 '^ Hast thou utterly rejected Judah ? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and " there is no healing for us ? ' we looked for peace, and there is no good ; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble ! 20 We acknowledge, 0 Lord, our wicked- c Or, make merchandise against a land, and men acknowledge it not; chap. v. 13. <> Lam. v. 22. e Chap. xv. 18. fOhap. viii. 15. s Psa. cvi. 6 ; Pan. ix. 8. Dr. Blayney thinks that the going about of the pro- phets and priests of the land, is to be understood thus : — "They went trafficking about with their false doctrines and lying predictions, as pedlars do with their wares, seeking their own gain." I think the other sense pre- ferable. Verse 19. We looked for peace] We expected pros- perity when Josiah purged the land of idolatry. And there is no good] For we have relapsed into our former ways. Verse 20. We acJcnowledge, OLord, our ivickedness] This the prophet did in behalf of the people ; but, alas ! they did not join him. Verse 2 1 . Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory] The temple. Let not this sacred place be profaned by impious and sacrilegious hands. A. M. cir. 3399. B. C. cir. 605. 01. XLIII. 4. Tarquinii Prisci.. R. Roman., cir. annum 12. ness, and the iniquity of our fa- thers : for s we have sinned against thee. 21 Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the tlurone of thy glo- ry : ''remember, break not thy covenant with us 22 " Are there any among the '' vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain ? or can the heavens give showers ? ' art not thou he, O Lord our God ? therefore we will wait upon thee : for thou hast made all these thins^s. tPsa. Ixxiv. 2, 20; cvi. 45. iZech. x. 1, 2. tDeut, xxxii. 21. iPsa cxxxv. 7 ; cxlvii. 8; Isa. xxx. 23; chap. v. 24; X. 13. Break not thy covenant] See Esod. xxiv. 7, 8 ; xix. 5. They had already broken the covenant, and they ivish God to fuim his part. They ceased to be his people, for they abandoned themselves to idolatry ; and yet they wished Jehovah to be their Lord ; to de- fend, support, and fill them with all good things ! But when the conditions of a covenant are broken by one of the contracting parties, the other party is not bound ; and the covenant is necessarily annulled. Verse 22. Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles] Probably the dearth was now coming, asthere had been a long want of rain. It was the prerogative of the true God to give rain and send showers at the prayers of his people. Therefore we will wait upon thee] If thou do not undertake for us, we must be utterly ruined CHAPTER XV. God declares to Jeremiah that not even Moses and Samuel, whose prayers had been so prevalent, could divert him from his purpose of punishing so icicked a people, 1. Accordingly their captivity is again announced in a variety of images so full of terror, 2-9, that the prophet complains of his own hard fate in being obliged to deliver such unwelcome messages, 10; for which too he is reprot>ed, 11—14. Immediately he appeals to God for his sincerity, and supplicates pardon, 15—18 ; and God tempers his repi-oof icith promis- ing again to protect him in the faithful discharge of his duly, 19—21. A. M. cir. 3399. B. C. cir. 605. Ol. XLIII. 4. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 12. T^HEN said the Lord unto me, =" Though ^ Moses and ■= Sa- muel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this °Ezek. xiv. 14, &c. NOTES ON CHAP. XV. Verse 1. Though Moses and Samuel] Moses had often supplicated for the people ; and in consequence they were spared. See Exod. xxxii. 1 1 and following verses, Num. xiv. 13. Samuel also had prayed for the people, and God heard him, 1 Sam. vii. 9 ; but if these or the most holy men were now to supplicate for this people, he would not spare them. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.] Do not bring them into my presence by your prayers ; let them go forth into captivity. 296 people : cast the?n out of my sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee. Whither shall liExod. xxxii. 11, 12; Psa. xcix. 6. =1 Sam. vii. 9. A. M. cir. 3399. B. C. cir. 605. 01. XLIII. 4. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman, cir. annum 12. Verse 2. Whither shall we go forth ? — Such as are for death, to death] Some shall be destroyed by the pestilence, here termed death. See chap. XTiii. 21. Others shall be slain by the sword in battle, and in the sackage of cities. Others shall perish by famine, shall be starved to death through the mere want of the ne- cessaries of life ; and the rest shall go into captivity. There shall be different sorts of punishments inflicted on them according to the nature of their transgressions. Some shaU be punished in one way, and some in another. The prophet complains CHAP. XV. *,;*I; '^"If^- wc go forth ? then thou shall tell B. C. cir. 005. ° 1 01. XLiii. 1. them, Thus saith the Lord; K!'"Ro'man!'°'' *" Siicli as uie for death, to death ; cir. annum 12. ^^^ snc\\ as are for tlic sword, to the sword ; and such as are for the famine, to the famine ; and such as are for the cap- tivity, to llie captivity. 3 And I will " appoint over them four '^ kinds, saith the Lord : the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and k the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. 4 And '' I will cause them to be ' removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of ■* Manasscli the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 5 For ' who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem ? or who shall bemoan thee ? or who shall go aside ■" to ask how thou doest ? 6 " Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art ° gone backward : therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee ; p I am weary with repenting. 7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land ; I will bereave them of of his hard lot. liChsp. xliii. 11; Ezek. v. 2, 12; Zeoh. xi. 9. eLev. xxvi. 16, &c. 'Heb. families. eChap. vii. 33; Deut. xxviii. 26. " Heb. Izvill ^ve them for a ranm'ing. ' Deur. xxviii. 25 ; chap. xxiv. 9; Ezek. xxiii. 46. ^2 Kinfis xxi. 11, &c. ; xxiii. 26; xxiv. 3, 4. ' Isa. li. 19. "' Heb. to ask of thy peace. "Chap. ii. 13. oChap. vii. 24. A'erse 3. I will appoint over them four Icijids] There shall appear four instrumonts of ray justice. 1. The sword to slaj'. 2. The dogs to tear what is slain. 3. The fowls of the heaven to feed on the dead carcasses. And, 4. The wild beasts to destroy all that the fowls have left. A'erse -1. / tcill cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth] This seems to have respect to the succeeding state of the Jews in their different generations ; and never was there a prophecy more literally fidfilled ; and it is still a standing monument of Divine truth. Let infdeltli/ cast its eyes on the sc:Utered Jews whom it may meet with in every civili- ind nation of the world ; and then let it deny the truth of this prophecy, if it can. The Jews are scattered through every nation, and yet arc not a nation ; nor do they form even a colony on any part of the face of the earth. Behold the truth and the justice of God ! Verse 5. Who shall go aside to ask how thou doest ?] Perhaps there is not a more despised nor a more de- graded people under the sun. .Scarcely any one thinks himself called upon to do a kind office for a Jew. Their character is bad in society, and they are not at all so- licitous to redeem it. Verse 6. 7am weari/ ivith repenting.] M'ith repeat- edly changing my purpose. I have often, after purposing to punish, showed them mercy. I will do it no longer ; it "• children, I will destroy my pco- ^^ M. cir. 3399. pie, since 'they return not from 61. xliii. 4. , . TarquiniiPrisci, their ways. R. Roman.. 8 Theirwidows are increased to ^L^I^^H^f-L mc above the sand of the seas : I have brought upon them ' against the mother of the young men, a spoiler at noonday : I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city. 9 ' She that hath borne seven languishelh : she hath given up the ghost ; " her sun is gone down while it was yet day : she hath been ashamed and confounded : and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before then: enemies, saith the Lord. 10 "Wo is mc, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of con- tention to the whole earth ! I have neither lent on usurj', nor men have lent to me on usury ; yet every one of them doth curse me. 11 The Lord said. Verily it shall be weU with thy remnant, verily '■'' I will cause " the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. 1 2 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel ? p Hos. xiii. 14. ^lOr, whatsoever is dear. rjsa. ix. 13; chap. v. 3 ; Amos iv. 10, 11. ^Or, against the mother city a young man spoiling, &c., or against the mother and the young men. 1 1 Sam. ii. 5. ^" Amos viii. 9. >' Job. iii. 1, &c.; chap. xx. 14. " Or, / will entreat the enemy for thee. « Chap, xxxix. ll,12;]d. 3, 4, 5. is useless. I took them often at their promise, and in every instance they have failed. A'erse 7. I will fan them tvilh a fan] There is no pure grain ; all is chalT. In the gates of the land] The places of public justice : and there it shall be seen that the judgments that have fallen upon them have been highly merited. And from these places of fanning they shall go out into their captivity. Verse 8. The mother of the young tnen] The me- tropolis or mother city, Jerusalem. Verse 9. She that hath borne seven] She that hath had a numerous offspring ; Jerusalem, the parent of so many cities, villages, and families in the land. Seven signifies a complete or full number. Verse 10. -4 man of contention to the ichole earth !] To the whole land, to all his countrymen ; though he had done nothing to merit their displeasure. Verse 11. 7 will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil] This was literally fulfilled ; see chap, xxxix. 11, &c. Nebuchadnezzar had given strict charge to Nebuzar-adan, commander in chief, to look well to Jeremiah, to do him no harm, and to grant him all the privileges ho was pleased to ask. V^erse 12. Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?] Shall our weak forces be able to oppose and overcome the powers of the Ch;ildeans ] riBTlJ necho 297 'ITie prophet is encouraged JEREMIAH. hy promises of protection. *-M;"!"- 3399. 13 Thy substance and thy B. C. cir. 605. ■' ■' 01. XLI1I.4. treasures will I give to the ^ spoil r"! RomanT'' without price, and that for all thy cir. an-um 12. g-^^g^ g^g^ -^ ^n j|^y bordcrS. 14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies ^ into a land which thou knowest not: for a ^ fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you. 15 O Lord, '' thou knowest : remember me, and visit me, and " revenge me of my perse- cutors ; take me not away in thy long-suffering : know that "^ for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. 1 6 Thy words were found, and I did " eat them ; and ' thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart : for ^ I am called by thy name, 0 Lord God of hosts. 17 "^ I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced ; I sat alone because of thy hand : for thou hast filled me with indignation. jPsa. xliv. 12; chap. xvii. 3. ^Chap. xvi. 13; xvii. 4. aDeut. xxxii. 22. tchap. xii. 3. c Chap. xi. 20 ; xx. 12. i Psa. Ixix. 7. e Ezek. iii. 1,3; Rev. x. 9, 10. f Job xxiii. 12; Psa. cxix. 72, HI. sheth, which we here translate steel, properly signifies brass or copper united with tin, which gives it much hardness, and enables it to bear a good edge. Verse 13. Thy substance — will I give to the spoil ivilhout price] Invaluable property shall be given up to thy adversaries. Or, without price — thou shalt have nothing for it in return. Verse 15. O Lord — remember me, and visit me] Let me not be carried away into captivity ; and it does not appear that he had ever been taken to Baby- lon. After the capture of the city he went into Egypt ; and either died there, or was put to death by his coun- trymen. Averse 16. Thy word loas — the joy and rejoicing of mine heart] When I did receive the prophetic message, I did rejoice in the honour thou hadst done me ; and I faithfully testified thy will to them. They have become mine enemies ; not because there was any evil in me, but because I was faithful to thee. Verse 18. Wilt thou be altogether unto ?ne as — ica- lers that/af7.'] Meaning either springs, which in the height of summer grow dry ; or, like that phenomenon in the sandy desert, where, by a peculiar action of the air on the rising vapours, the resemblance of water is pro- duced, so that the traveller, deceived, rejoices that he is come, in the sandy desert, to the verge of a beautiful lake ; but the farther he travels, it is still at the same distance, and at last vanishes ; and he finds the whole *as an Ulusion, for the waters hsiye failed. Nothing can exceed the disappointment of the farmer whose subaist- 298 18 Why is my * pain per- W%f^^- petual, and my wound incura- 61. XLin.4. ble, which refuseth to be heal- r." Roman.. ' ed? wilt thou be altogether "'^- """-^ I'z- unto me '' as a liar, arid ' as waters that »■ fail ? 1 9 Therefore thus saith the Lord, " If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt ° stand before me : and if thou p take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth : let them return unto thee ; but return not thou unto them. 20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen 1 wall : and they shall fight against thee, ' but they shall not prevail against thee : for I am with thee to save thee and to dehver thee, saith the Lord. 21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible. gHeb. thy name is called upon me. 1" Psa. i. 1 ; xxvi. 4, 5. •Chap. XXX. 15. k See chap. i. 18, 19. IJob vi. 15, &c mHeb. be not sure. "^ Zech. iii. 7. o Ver. 1. p Ezek. xxii 26; xliv. 23. li Chap. i. 18; vi. 27. r Chap. x.x. 11, 12. ence absolutely depends on the periodical rains, when \hesefail, or fall short of their usual quantity. Some- times the rice is sown and springs up in the most promis- ing manner ; but the latter rains fail, and whole fields of young rice wither and perish. Verse 19. If thou return] By repentance unto me, — Then will I bring thee again] Restore thee to thy own country. But some think the words are spoken to the prophet in reference to his ministry. He had greatly repined because of the persecutions which he endured. The Lord reprehends him, and is about to take from him the prophetic gift ; but exhorts him first to take the precious from the vile — not to attend to the deceitful words of the people, but boldly declare the message he had given him ; not to return unto the people, but let the people return unto him. And then he should be as God's mouth — -his words should ap- pear to be what they were, the genuine words of God ; and the people should be obliged to acknowledge them as such. Verse 20. / will rnahe thee — a fenced brazen wait] While thou art faithful to me, none of them shall be able to prevad against thee. Verse 31. I unll deliver thee out of the hand of the xcicked] From the power of this evil people. And I will redeem thee out of the hand of the temhle.] Out of the power of the Chaldean armies. Every thing took place as God had promised, for no word of his can ever fall to the ground. Th^ hordes directions CHAP. XVI. to the prophet. CHAPTER XVI. On account of (he evils which threatened his country, the prophet is forbidden to encumher himself with a wife and family, or to bear any share in the tittle joys and sorrmvs of his neighbours, which were to be forgotten and absorbed in those public calamities, 1-9, which their sins should draw on them, 10—13. A future restoration however is intimated, 14, 15, after those calamities should be endured, 16-18 ; and the conversion of the Gentiles is foretold, 19-21. \, "^ "'■ 1}.T THE word of the Lord caiiio B. C. cir. 601. J_ 01. XLiv. 1. also unto me, saying, R. Roman., 2 1 hou shalt "not lake thee a cir. annum 13. .^^,jfg^ neither shalt tliou have sons or daughters in tliis place. 3 For thus sailh the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mo- thers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat tiiem in tiiis land ; 4 They shall die of '' grievous deaths ; they shall not be " lamented ; neither shall they be bmued ; but the}' shall be '^ as dung upon the face of the earth : and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine ; and their " cai-- casses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 5 For thus saith the Lord, ^ Enter not into the house of ? mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them : for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even loving-kindness and mercies. 6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land : they shall not be buried, '^ neither shall 7nen lament for them, nor ' cut them- ■ 1 Cor. vii. 26. >• Chap. xv. 2. ^ Chap. xxii. 18, 19 ; XXV. 33. J P.sa. Ixxxiii. 10 ; chap. viii. 2 ; ix. 22. ' Psa. Ixxix. 2; chap. vii. 33; xxxiv. 20. fEzek. xxiv. 17,22,23. e Or, mourning feasi. 1" Chap. xxii. 18. i Lev. xix. 28 ; Deut. xiv. 1 ; chap. xli. 5 ; ilvii. 5. k Isa. xxii. 1 2 ; chap. vii. 29. NOTES ON CHAP. XVI. Verse 1 . The word of the Lord came also unto me] This discourse Dahlcr supposes to have been delivered some lime in the reign of Jehoiakim. Verse 2. Thou shalt not take thee a wife] As it would be very inconvenient to have a family when the threatened desolations should come on the place. The reason is given in the following verses. Verse 4. They shall die of grievous deaths] All ^prematurely ; see chap. xiv. 16. As dung upon the face of the earth] .See chap, viii. 2. Be meat for the fowls] See chap. vii. 33. Verse 5. Enter not into the house of tnou7-ning] The public calamities are too great to permit individual losses to come into consideration. Verse 6. Nor cut themselves] A custom of the heathen forbidden to the Jews, Lev. xix. 28, Deut. xiv. 1. and which apnears now to have prevailed among A. M. cir. 3400. B. C. cir. 004. 01. XLIV. 1. Tanjuinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 13. selves, nor '' make themselves bald for them : 7 Neither shall tnen ' tear thcni- selves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead ; neither shall inert give them the cup of consolation to ■" drink for their father or for their mother. 8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink. 9 For thus .saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Lsrael ; Behold, " I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. 10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt show this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, ° Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us ? or what is our iniquity ? or what is our sin that we have committed against tlic Lord our God ? 1 1 Then shalt thou say unto them, •• Be- cause your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and ' Or, break bread for tfiem, as Ezek. xxiv. 17 ; Hos. ix. 4 ; see Deut. xxvi. 14: Job xhi. 11. "^Prov. xxxi. 6, 7. "Isa. xxiv. 7, 8; chap. vii. .')4 ; xxv. 10; Ezek. xxvi. 13; Hos. ii. 11 ; Rev. xviii. 23. " Deut. xxix. 24 ; chap. v. 19 ; xiii. 22; xxii. 8. P Deut. xxix. 25 ; chap. xxii. 9. them ; because, having become idolaters, they conformed to all the customs of the heathen. They tore their hair, rent their garments, cut their hands, arms, and faces. These were not only signs of sorrow, but were even supposed to give ease to the dead, and appease the angry deities. The Hindoos, on the death of a relation, express their grief by loud lamentations, and not unfrequently bruise themselves in an agony of grief with whatever they can lay hold on. Verse 8. Thou shall not also go into the house of feasting] Funeral banquets were made to commemo- rate the dead, and comfort the surviving relatives ; and the cup of consolation, strong mingled wine, was given to those who were deepest in distress, to divert their minds and to soothe their sorrows. These kinds of ceremonies were common among almost all the nations of the world on funeral occasions. The Canaanites, the Jews, the Persians, Arabians, New Zealanders I Huns, &c., &c. 299 The conversion of JERBMIAH. the Gentiles foretola. A. M. cir. 3400. j^^yg served them, and have B. C. cir. 604. oi. XLiv. 1. worshipped them, and liave for- Tarnuinii Prisci, , i , ^ \ ^ R. Roman., saken me, and nave not kept "••■ ^"""'" '^- my law ; 12 And ye have done i worse than your fathers ; for, behold, ■■ ye walk every one after the " imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me : 1 '.i ' Therefore will I cast you out of this land " into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor yom- fathers ; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night ; where I will not show you favom'. 14 Therefore, behold, the ''days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said. The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; 15 But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them : and " I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. 1 6 Behold, I will send for many ^ fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them ; q Chap. vii 26. — -■■Chap xiii. 10. ■ Or, stuhboTnness. ' Deut. iv. 26, 27, 28; XXVIU. 36, 63 ft4, 65.- " Chap. XV 14. » Isa. xUii. 18 chap. xxiii. 7, 8. -"Chap. xxiv. 6 ; XXX 3; xxxii. 37. -X Amos iv. 2; Hab. . 15.— -yJob xxxiv. 21; Prov. V. 2 ; XV. 3 ; chap. x.xxii. 19. Verse 12. And t/e have done worse than your fathers] The sins of the fathers would not have been visited on the children, had they not followed their example, and become even worse than they. Verse 13. Will I cast you, out of this land] See chap. vii. 15, and ix. 15. A''erse 14. The Lord liveth, lliat brought up] See Isa. xliii. 18. Verse 15. The land of the norM] Chaldea : and their deliverance thence will be as remarkable as the deliverance of their fathers from the land of Egypt. Verse 16. I will send for many fishers — for many hunters] I shall raise up enemies against them some of whom shall destroy them by wiles, and others shall ruin them by violence. This seems to be the meaning of these symbolical ^5Ae;'i and hunters. Verse 18. Tlie carcasses of their detestable — things.] Either meaning the idols themselves, which were only carcasses without life ; or the sacrifices which were made to them. and after will I send for many *• ^- '='.^- ^joo. •^ D. C Cir. 604. hunters, and they shall hunt them oi. XLiv. i. (. . , f. Tarquinii Prisci, irom every mountam, and irom r. Roman., every hill, and out of the holes "^- """"■""■ of the rocks. 1 7 For mine y eyes are upon all their ways : they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. 1 8 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin ^ double ; because "■ they have de- filed my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abo- minable things. 19 O Lord, ^my strength, and my fortress,! and '^ my refuge in the day of aflfliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee irom the ends of the earth, and shall say. Surely our fathers have inherited Hes, vanity, and things ^ wherein there is no profit. 20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and " they are no gods ? 21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might ; and they shall know that ' my name is « The Lord. ^Isa. xl. 2; chap . xvii. 18.- «Ezek. xliii. 7, 9 bPsa. xviii. 2. -'Chap. xvu 17. — -disa. xliv 10; chap. ii. 11 ; X. ,■>.— — elsa. xxxvn. 19; chap. ii. 11 ; Gal IV. fc . f Kxod. XV. 3; chap. XXXI 11. o . Amos V. 8. €Or, JEHOVAH; Psa Ixxxii . 18. Verse 19. The Gentiles shall come] Even the days shall come when the Gentiles themselves, ashamed of their confidence, shaU renounce their idols, and acknow- ledge that their fathers had believed lies, and worship- ped vanities. This may be a prediction of the calling of the Gentiles by the Gospel of Christ ; if so, it is a light amidst much darkness. In such dismal accounts there is need of some gracious promise relative to an amended state of the world. Verse 20. Shall a man make gods unto himself?] Can any be so silly, and so preposterously absurd % Yes, fallen man is capable of any thing that is base, mean, vile, and wicked, till influenced and converted by the grace of Christ. Verse 21. Therefore, behold, I tvill this once] I will not now change my purpose. They shall be visited and carried into captivity ; nothing shall prevent this : and they shall know that my name is JEHOVAH. Since they would not receive the abundance of my mercies, they shall know what the true God can do in the way of judgment. CHAPTER XVII. This chapter begins with setting forth the very strong bias which the people of Judah had to idolatry, with the fatal consequences, 1—4. The happiness of the man that trusteth in Jehovah is then beautifully con- trasted with the opposite character, 5-8. God alone knows the deceitfulness and wretchedness of the heart 300 He is cursed wlio CHAP. XVII. ti-usts in man. of man, 9, 10. The comparison of a bird's hatching the eggs of another of a different species, which wiU soon forsake her, is highly expressive of the vanity of ill-acquired riches, which often disappoint the owner, 11. The prophet continues the same subject in his own person, appeals to God for his sincerity, and prays that the evil intended him by his enemies may revert on their own heads, 12-18. The remaining part nf the chapter is a distinct prophecy relating to the due observance of the Sabbath, enforced both by promises and ihrcatenings, 19-27. A; "^ "'■ ?,'.*!*'• THE sin of Judah is wriUen B. C. cir. 604. JL . , . . , oi. XLlv.i. Willi a "pen ot iron, and l^^Roinan^r' with the '' point of a diamond : cir. annum 13. y^ ^^ c graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars ; 2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their '' groves by the green trees upon the high hills. 3 O my mountain in the field, " I will give ihy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, througiiout all thy borders. 4 And thou, even ' thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee ; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in ?the land which thou knowest not : for ^ ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, tchich shall burn for ever. •Job xix. 24. b Heb. nail. 1 Prov iii. 3 ; 2 Cor iii. 3. ijudg. tii. 7 ; 2 Chron. .xxi\ .18; xxxiii. 3, 19; Isa. i. 29; xvii. 8 ; chap, ii 20. p Chap. XV 13.- fHeb. in thyse If. . ! Chap. XTi. 13. ., ■Chap. XV. 14.- ' Isa. XXX. 1 , 2; XXXI. 1. NOTES ON CHAP. XVII. Verse 1. The sin nf Judah] Idolatry. Is written with a pen of iron] It is deeply and in delibly wTitlen in their heart, and shall be as indelibly written in their punishment. Writing with the point of a diamond mu-st refer to glass, or some vitrified sub- stance, as it is distinguished here from engraving with a steel burine, or graver. Their altars show what the deities are which they worship. There may be refer- ence here to the different methods of recording events in those days : — 1. A pen or stile of iron, for engrav- ing on lead or wood. 2. A point of a diamond, for writing on vitreous substances. 3. Writing on tables of brass or copper. I. Writing on the horns of the altars the names of the deities worshipped there. Tliis is probable. ] In several parts of India, and all through Ceylon, an iron or steel pen is used universally ; with these the natives form the letters by incisions on the outer rind of the palm leaf. Books written in this way are very durable. This pen is broad at the top, has a very fine , sharp point, and is .iharp at one side as a knife, to shave ' and prepare the palm leaf. A pen of this description I now lies before me. ! Verse 2. Whilst their children remember] Even the | rising generation have their imagination stocked with idol images, and their memories with the frantic rites and ceremonies which they saw their parents observe in this abominable worship. Verse 3. O my mountain in the field] The prophet here addresses the land of Judea, which was a moun- 5 Thus saith the Lord ; ' Curs- ^^U "'■ 3;|oo- ' B. C. cir. 604. ed be the man that trustcth in 01. XLIV, i. , , 11/, II- Tarquinii Prisci, man, and maketh " nesh his arm, r. Roman., and whose heart deparlcth from <="•■ '^"""'" '3- the Lord. 6 For he shall be ' like the heath in the desert, and ™ shall not see when good cometh ; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, " in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 ° Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be f as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadcth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green ; and sh.all not be care- ful in the year of i drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, k See Isa. xxxi. 3. 1 Chap, xlviii. 6. ■" Job xx. 17. " Deut. xxix. 23. » Psa. ii. 12 ; xxxiv. 8 ; cxxv. 1 ; cxlvi. 5 ; Prov. xvi. 20; Isa. xxx. 18. P Job viii. 16; Psa. i. 3. lOr, restraint. tainous country, Deut. iii. 25 ; but Jerusalem itself may be meant, which is partly built upon hills which, like itself, are elevated above the rest of the country. Verse 5. Cursed be the man that trusteth in tnan] This reprehends their vain confidence in trusting in Egypt, which was too feeble itself to help, and, had it been otherwise, too ill disposed towards them to help them heartily. An arm of fiesh is put here for a weak and ineffectual support. And he who, in reference to the salvation of his soul, trusts in an arm of flesh — in himself or others, or in any thing he has done or suf- fered, will inherit a curse instead of a blessing. Verse 6. He shall be like the heath in the desert] "Ij'iiO kearar ; or, like a blasted tree, without moisture, parched and withered. Shall not see when good cometh] Shall not be sen- sible of it : the previous drought having rendered it incapable of absorbing any more vegetable juices. A salt land] Barren ; and therefore unfit to be in- habited. Verse 8. As a tree planted by the waters] Which is sufficiently supplied with moisture, though the heat be intense, and there be no rain ; for the roots being spread out by the river, they absorb from it all the moisture requisite for the flourishing vegetation of the tree. Shall not see when heat cometh] Shall not feel any damage by drought, for the reason already assigned. It shall be strong and vigorous, its leaf always green ; and shall produce plenty of fruit in its season. Verse 9. The heart is deceitful] ^bn 3pi' akoi 301 The prophet prays to God, JEREMIAH. A. M. cir. 3400. j^jjj desperately wicked : who B. C. cir. 604. ^ ■' 01. XLiv. 1. can know it ? R^TomanT'' 1 0 I the LoRD ' search the cir. aimum 13. j^g^^j.^^ J jj-y jj^g j.gj„g^ s gygn tO give every man according to his ways, and according to tlie fruit of his doings. 1 1 ^s the partridge ' sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not ; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, "^ shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be " a fool. 12 A glorious high throne from the begin- ning is the place of our sanctuary. 13 0 LoRU, "^ the hope of Israel, '^ all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that ' 1 Sam. xvi. 7 ; 1 Chron. xxviii. 9 ; Psa. vii. 9 ; cxxxix. 23, 24 ; Prov. xvii. 3 ; chap. xi. 20 ; xx. 12 ; Rom. viii. 27 ; Rev. ii. 23. »Psa. Ixii. 12;chai).xxxii. 19; Rom. ii.6. 1 Or, gatherelh young which she hath not brought forth. " Psa. Iv. 23. >' Luke xii. 20. and complains of his enemies halleb, "the heart is supplanting — tortuous — full of windings — insidious ;" lying ever at the catch ; striving to avail itself of every favourable circumstance to gratify its propensities to pride, ambition, evil desire, and corruption of all kinds. And desperately wicked'] Nin tyJNI veanush hu, and is wretched, or feeble ; distressed beyond all things, in consequence of the wickedness that is in it. 1 am quite of Mr. ParkhnrsCs opinion, that this word is here badly translated, as ty:x anash is never used in Scrip- ture to denote wickedness of any kind. My old MS. Bible translates thus : — .^CljrctoitJ i^ tl)i IjCttC Of rt man ; anb iin;Brctcluiblc : toljo 3c!)nl linoVuen it i Who can know it ?] It even hides itself from itself; so that its owner does not know it. A corrupt heart is the worst enemy the fallen creature can have ; it is full of evil devices, — of deceit, of folly, and abomina- tion ; and its owner knows not what is in him till it boils over, and is often past remedy before the evil is perceived. Therefore, trust not in man, whose pur- poses are continually changing, and who is actuated only by motives of self-interest. Verse 10. I the Lord search the heart] The Lord is called by his apostles. Acts i. 24, Iva^^ioyvwrfTris, the Knower of the heart. To him alone can this epi- thet be applied ; and it is from him alone that we can derive that instruction by which we can in any measure know ourselves. Verse 1 1. As the partridge] Nnp kore. It is very likely that this was a bird different from our partridge. The text Dr. Blayney translates thus : — (As) the kor^ that hatcheth what it doth not lay, (So is) he who getteth riches, and not according to right. " The covetous man," says Dahler, " who heaps up riches by unjust ways, is compared to a bird which hatches the eggs of other fowls. And as the young, when hatched, and able at all to shift for themselves, abandon her who is not their mother, and leave her no- thing to compensate her trouble, so the covetous man loses those unjustly-gotten treasures, and the fruit of his labour." 303 depart from me shall be y written -^j^; '^"•- l^ ^ B. C. cir. 604. in the earth, because they have oi. XLiv.i. forsaken the Lord, the ^ Fountain e. Roman., of living waters. "■•■ ='"""'" "■ 14 Heal me, 0 Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved : for " thou art my praise. 15 Behold, they say unto me, '' Where is the word of the Lord ? let it come now. 16 As for me, ■= I have not hastened from being a pastor ^ to follow thee : neither have I desired the wofiil day ; thou knowest : that which came out of my lips was righthe^iore. thee. 17 Be not a terror unto me: « thou art "Chap. xiv. 8. 'Psa. Ixxiii. 27; Isa. i. 21. rSee Luke X. 20. 1 Chap. ii. 13. » Deut. x. 28 ; Psa. rix. 1 ; cxlviii. 14. i> Isa. V. 19 ; Ezek. xii. 22 ; Amos v. 18 ; 2 Pet. iii. 4. 1 Chap. i. 4, &e. "iHeb. after thee. e Chap. xvi. 19. And at his end shall be a fool.] Shall be reputed as such. He was a fool all the way through ; he lost his ■ soul to get wealth, and this wealth he never enjoyed. 1 To him also are applicable those strong words of the poet : — " O cursed lust of gold ! when for thy sake The wretch throws up his interest in both worlds : First starved in this, then damned in that to come." Blair. Verse 19.-4 glorious high throne] As he is cursed who trusts in man, so he is blessed who trusts in God. He is here represented as on a throne in his temple ; to him in the means of grace all should resort. He is the support, and a glorious support, of all them that trust in him. Verse 13. Written in the earth] They shall never come to true honour. Their names shall be \vTitten in the dust ; and the first wind that blows over it shall mar every letter, and render it illegible. Verse 14. Heal me — and I shall be healed] That is, 1 shall be thoroughly healed, and effectually saved, if thou undertake for me. Thou art mi/ praise.] The whole glory of the work of salvation belongs to thee alone. Verse 15. Where is the word of the Lord ?] Where is the accomplishment of his threatenings ? Thou hast said that the city and the temple should both be de- stroyed. No such events have yet taken place. But they did take place, and every tittle of the menace was strictly fulfilled. Verse 16. I have not hastened from being a pastor] Dr. Blayney translates thus : " But 1 have not been in haste to outrun thy guidance." 1 was obliged to utter thy prediction ; but 1 have not hastened the evil day. For the credit of my prophecy 1 have not desired the calamity to come speedily ; 1 have rather pleaded for respite. I have followed thy steps, and proclaimed thy truth. I did not desire to be a prophet ; but thou hast commanded, and 1 obeyed. Verse 17. Be not a terror unto me] Do not com- mand me to predict miseries, and abandon me to them and to mv enemies. The due observance of CHAP. XVIII. the Sabbath enfaixed. 01. XLi'v. i' evil. 'R!"RoTOn.T' 18 'Let them be confounded cir. annum 13. jjj^j persecute me, but K let not me be confounded : let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed : bring upon them the day of evil, and ''destroy' them with double destj-uction. *o '^n "''■ r??^- 19 Thus saith the Lord unto B. C. cir. Gil. 01. cir. XLii. 2. me ; Go and stand in the gate of R. Roman., ' the children of the people, where- "^^ '"""*" ^- by the kings of Judah come in, und by the which ihey go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem ; 20 And say unto them, '' Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, lliat enter in by these gates : 21 Thus saith the Lord ; ' Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem ; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I ■" commanded your fathers. 23 " But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they rPsa. XXXV. 4; x\. 14; \xx. 2.— — sPsa. xxv. 2. 'Heb. break them with a double breach. ' Chap. xi. 20. k Chap. xix. 3 ; ixii. 2. ' Num. xv. 32, &c. ; Neh. xiii. 19. » Exod. xx. 8; riiii. 12; xxxi. 13 ; Ezek. xx. 12. might nor instruction. hear, nor receive Verse 18. Let them be confounded] They shall be confounded. These words are to be understood as simple predictions, rather than pra'-iers. Verse 19. The gate of the children of the people] I suppose the most public gate is meant ; that through which there was the greatest thoroughfare. Averse 20. Ye kings of Judah, and all Judah] This last clause is wanting in eight of KennicotCs and De Rossi's MSS., in the Arabic, and some copies of the Septuagint. Averse 21. Take heed to yourselves and bear no burden] From this and the following verses we find the ruin of the Jews attributed to the breach of the Sabbath ; as this led to a neglect of sacrifice, the or- A. M. cir. 3393. B. C. cir. 611. Ol. cir. XLII. 2. ,.,.,,, ., Tarquinii Prisci, 24 And It shall come to pass, if r. Roman., ye diligently hearken unto me, "'"■ '"""" °- saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gales of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein ; 25 " Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes silting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and o^ horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem : and this city shall remain for ever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from •" the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from i the plain, and from the mountains, and from ■■ the south, bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and incense, and bringing * sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord. 27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jeru- salem on the sabbath day ; then ' will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, " and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. " Chap. vii. 24, 26 ; xi. 10. <> Chap. xxii. 4. P Chap, xxxii. 44; xxxiii. 13. ■! Zech. vii. 7. rZech. vii.7. »P.sa. cvii. 22 ; cxvi. 17. "Chap. xxi. 14 ; xlii. 27 ; Lam. iv. 11 ; Amos i. 4, 7, 10, 12 ; ii. 2, 5. "2 Kings xxv. 9 ; chap. lii. 13. dinances of religion, and all public worship, so it ne- cessarily brought with it all immorality. This breach of the Sabbath was that which let in upon them all the waters of God's tcrath. Verse 24. If ye diligently hearken unto me] So we find that though their destruction was positively threat- ened, yet still there was an unexpressed proviso that, if they did return to the Lord, the calamities should be averted, and a succession of princes would have been continued on the throne of David, ver. 25, 26. A'erse 27. But if ye will not hearken] Then their sin lay at their own door. How fully were they warned ; and how basely did they reject the counsel of God against themselves ! CHAPTER XVHL The type of the potter's vessel, and its signification, 1-10. The inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem ex- horted to repentance, 11; but on their refusal, {which is represented to be as unnatural as if a man should prefer the snowy Lebanon or barren rock to a fruitful plain, or other waters to the cool stream of the foun- tain,) their destruction is predicted, 12-17. In consequence of these plain reproofs and warnings of Jere- miah, a conspiracy is formed against him, 18. This leads him to appeal to God for his integrity, 19, 20 ; who puts a most dreadful curse in the mouth of his prophet, strongly indicative of the terrible fate of his enemies, 21-23. 303 Parable uj the marred JEREMIAH. vessel of the potter. A M. cir. 339C. rpjjE vvord which came to B. C. cir. 608. J_ 01. XLiii. 1. Jeremiah from the Lord, Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., saymg, "■•■ """""^ ^- 2 Ai-ise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Tlien I went down to the potter's hoiise, and, behold, he wrought a work on the " wheels. 4 And the vessel ^ that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter : so he " made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. a Or, frames or seats. b Or, that he made was marredj as clay in the hatid of the potter. •= Heb. returned and made. NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII. Verse 1. The loord which came to Jeremiah} This discourse is supposed to have been delivered some time in the reign of Jehoiakim, probably within the first three years. Verse 2. Go dotcn to the potter^s Itotise] By this similitude God shoM s the absolute state of dependence on liimself in which he has placed mankind. They are as clay in the hands of the potter ; and in reference to every thing here beloto, he can shape their destinies as he pleases. Again ; though while under the pro- vidential care of God they may go morally astray, and pervert themselves, yet they can be reclaimed by the almighty and all-wise Operator, and become such ves- sels as secmeth good for him to make. In considering this parable we must take heed that in running paral- lels we do not destroy the free agency of man, nor dis- grace the goodness and supremacy of God. Verse 3. He lorought a ivorh on the wheels.'] bj? D'JDNn at haabnayim, vpon the stones, the potter's wheel being usually made of such ; the spindle of the moving stone being placed on a stone below, on which it turned, and supported the stone above, on which the vessel was manufactured, and which alone had a rota- tory motion. The potter's wheel in the present day seems to differ very little from that which was in use between two and three thousand years ago. Verse 4. The vessel — teas marred in the hands of the potter] It did not stand in the working ; it got out of shape ; or some gravel or small stone having been incorporated with the mass of clay, made a breach in that part where it was found, so that the potter was obhged to knead up the clay afresh, place it on the wheel, and form it anew ; and then it was such a ves- sel as seemed good to the potter to make it. Averse 6. Cannot I do with you as this potter?] Have I not a right to do with a people whom I have created as reason and justice may require 1 If they do not answer my intentions, may I not reject and destroy them ; and act as this potter, make a new vessel out of that which at first did not succeed in his hands 1 It is generally supposed that St. Paid has made a very different use of this similitude from that mentioned above. See Rom. ix. 20, &c. His words are, " Hath 304 5 Then the word of the Lord a. M; cir. 3396 B. C. cir. 608. came to me, saying, oi. XLiii. i. 6 O house of Israel, ■* cannot I r. Roman., do with you as this potter ? saith ""•■ '^"°"'° ^- the Lord. Behold, " as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7 At lohat instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to '' pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it ; 8 s If that nation, against whom I have pro- nounced, turn from their evil, '' I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. ilsa. xlv. 9; Wisd. icv. 7; Rom. ix. 20, 21. elsa. bti. 8. rChap. i. 10. « Ezek. xviii. 21 ; x.ixiii. 11. 1" Chap. xxvi. 3 ; Jonah ill. 10. not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dis- honour V To this every sensible and pious man will answer. Undoubtedly he has. But would any potter make an exceedingly fair and good vessel on purpose to dash it to pieces when he had done 1 Surely no ! And would, or coidd, the God of infinite perfection and love make mdlions of immortal souls on purpose for eternal perdition, as the horrible decree of reprobation states ? No ! This is a lie against all the attributes of God. But does not the text state that he can, out of the same lump, the same mas.s of human nature, make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour 1 Yes. But the text does not say, what the horrible decree says, that he makes one part, and indeed the greater, for eternal perdition. But what then is the meaning of the text 1 Why evidently this : As out of the same mass of clay a potter may make a. flagon for the table and a certain utensil for the chamber, the one for a more honourable, the other for a less honour- able use, though both equally necessary to the owner ; so God, out of the same flesh and blood, may make the tiller of the field and the prophet of the Most High ; the one in a more honourable, the other in a less honourable employ ; yet both equally necessary in the world, and equally capable of bringing glory to God in their respective places. But if the vessel be marred in his hand, under his providential and gracious deal- ings, he may reject it as he did the Jews, and make another vessel, such as he is pleased with, of the Gen- tiles ; yet even these marred vessels, the reprobate Jeios, are not finally rejected ; for all Israel shall be saved in (through) the Lord, i. e., Jesus Christ. And should the Gentiles act as the Jews have done, then they also shall be cut off, and God will call his Church by another name. See on Rom. ix. 22, and below. Verses 7-10. At what instant I shall speak con- cerning a nation, &c. — If that nation, against whom, &c. — And at what instant, &c. — If it do evil, &c.] These verses contain what may be called God's decree by which the whole of his conduct towards man is regulated. If he purpose destruction against an offend- ing person, if that person repent and turn to God, he shall live and not die. Plots are laid for CHAP. XVIII. the life of Jeremiah. ^■r,^^ "'"■ lnt°- 9 And at what instant I shall B. C. cir. 608. 01. XLlii. 1. speak concerning a nation, and Tarquiiiii Prisci, i • ' i . i -i i R Roman., conccming a knigdom, to build "'■ """"■" "■ and to plant it ; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. 1 1 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to (he inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying. Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you : ' return ye now, every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. 12 And they said, •'There is no hope : but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. 1 3 Therefore thus saith the Lord ; ' Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things : the virgin of Israel hath done "" a very horrible thing. 1 4 Will a man leave ° the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field ? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken ? 15 Because my people hath forgotten "me, they have burned incense to p vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the i ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up ; 16 To make their land 'desolate, and a per- petual 'hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. *2 Kin^s xxvii. 13 ; chap, vii, 3 ; xxv. 5 ; xxvi. 13 ; xx.xv. 15. kChap. ii. 25. 1 Chap. ii. 10; 1 Cor. v. 1. n>Chap. v. 30. " Or, my fields for a Tock, or for the snow of Lebanon ? shall the run- ning waters be forsaken for the strange cold waters ? <> Chap. ii. 13, 32 ; iii. 21 ; xiii. 25 ; xvii. 13. p Chap. x. 15 ; xvi. 19. nChap. vi. 16. 'Chap. xix. 8; xlix. 13 ; 1. 13. If he purpose peace and salvation to him that waUf- etli uprightly, if he turn from God to the world and sin, he shall rfie and not live. Verse 12. There is no hope] See chap. ii. 25. Verse 13. The virgin of Israel] Instead of ^Slty" Yisrael, three of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., with the Alexandrian copy of the Septuaginl, have oSiJ'n' Yerushalcm, Jerusalem. Verse It. Will a man leave the snotv of Lebanon] Lebanon was the highest mountain in Judea. Would any man in his senses abandon a farm that was al- ways watered by the melted snows of Lebanon, and take a barren rock in its place ? How stupid therefore and absurd are my people, who abandon the everlast- ing God for the worship of idols ! A'erse 16. A perpetual hissing] nip"">a' shertkoth, a shrieking, hiis^g ; an expression of contempt. A'^OL. IV. ( 20 ) 1 7 ' I will scatter them " as with *■ " ='.'• ^^ B. C. cir. 608. an east wind before the enemy; 01. XLiii. i. T -ii 1 1 111 1 Tarquinii Prisci, ■"■ 1 Will show tliem tlie back, and r. Roman., not the face, in the day of their "'''"""•"^ calamity. 1 8 Then said they, "' Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah ; ^ for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from tiic prophet. Come, and let us smite him ^ with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. 19 Give heed to me, O Lord, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. 20 ^ Shall evil be recompensed for good ? for " they have digged a pit for my soul. Re- member that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore ''deliver up their children to the famine, and ' pour out their blood by the force of the sword ; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows ; and let their men be put to death ; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou slialt bring a troop suddenly upon them : for *• they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for mv feet. 2.3 Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their coun sel against me * to slay 7tie : ^ forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee < deal thus with them in the time of thine anger "1 Kings ix. 8; Lam. ii. 15; Mic. vi, 16. »Chap. xiii. 24. "Psa. xlviii.7. 'Scechap. ii.27. "Chap.xi. 19. 'Lev X. 11; Mai. ii. 7; John vii. 48, 49. yOr, for the tongue. * Psa. cix. 4, 5. 'T Psa. xxxv. 7 ; Ivii. 6 ; ver. 22.- '» Psa. rix. 9, 10. c Hcb. pour them mil. J Ver. 20. ' Heb. for death. fPsa. xxxv. 4: cix. 14; chap. xi. 20; xv. 15. Verse 17. 7 roill scatter them as with an east wind] It is the property of this wind, almost every where, to parch up, blast, and destroy grain and trees, and even cattle and men suffer from it. Hence the old metrical proverb : — " When the wind blows from the east, 'Tis good for neither man nor beast." Verse 18. Came, and let h,s devise devices] Let us form a conspiracy against him, accuse him of being a false prophet, and a contradicter of the words of God, for God has promised us protection, and he says we ' shall be destroyed, and that God will forsake his people. ; Let us smile him with the tongue] On the tongue; so it should be rendered. Lying and false testimony are punished in the eastern countries, to the present day, by smiting the person on the mouth with a strong piece of leather like the sole of a shoe. Sometimes 305 Parable of the JEREMIAH. earthen vessel. a bodkiii is run through the tongue. Blasphemy, calumny, and cursing of parents, are usually punished in that way among the Chinese. Verse 20. TheT/ have digged a pit formy sou!.] For my life ; this they wish to take away. Stood before thee to speak good for them] I was their continual intercessor. Verse 2 1 . Therefore deliver up their children] The execrations in these verses should be considered as sim- ply prophetic declarations of the judgments which God was about to pour out on them. If we consider them in their grammatical meaning, then they are not directions to us, to whom our Law- giver has said, " Love your enemies," CHAPTER XIX. £y the significant type of breaking a potter^s vessel, Jeremiah is directed to predict the utter desolation of Judah and Jerusalem, 1-15. The prophets taught frequently by symbolic actions as well as by words. A. M. cir. 3397. B. C. cir. 607. Ol. XLIII. 2. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 10. 'T^HUS saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests ; 2 And go forth unto ^ the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of '' the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, 3 "= And say. Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jeru- salem ; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall '' tingle. 4 Because they ' have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with ^ the blood of innocents ; 5 ? They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt- oiferings unto Baal, ''which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind : a Josh. XV. 8 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 10 ; chap. vii. 31. b Heb. the sun gate. c Chap. xvii.2Q. dl gam. iii. 11; 2 Kings x.xi. 12. eDeut. xxviii. 20; Isa. Ixv. 11 ; chap. ii. 13, 17, 19; xv. 6; xvii. 13. f2 Kings xxi. 16; chap. ii. 34. sCliap. vii. 31, 32 ; xxxli. 35. NOTES ON CHAP. XIX. Verse 1 . Go and get a potter's earthen bottle] This discourse was also delivered some time in the reign of Jehoiakim. Under the type of breaking a potter's earthen bottle or jug, Jeremiah shows his enemies that the word of the Lord should stand, that Jerusalem should be taken and sacked, and they all carried into captivity. Ancients of the priests] The chiefs of the twenty- four classes which David had established. See 1 Chron. xxiv. 4. Verse 4. Estranged this place] Ye have devoted 306 6 Therefore, behold, the days A. M. cir. 3397 B. C. cir. 607. come, saith the Lord, that this oi. XLiii. 2. , , ,, , ,, , Tarquinii Prisci, place shall no more be called r. Roman., The valley of "''■ '^""""' '"■ shall no more be Tophet, nor ' The valley the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. 7 And I will make void the counsel of Ju- dah and Jerusalem in this place ; ^ and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives : and their ' carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city ■" desolate, and a hissing : every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. 9 And I will cause them to eat the " flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them. 10 "Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee. hLev. xviii. 21. » Josh. xv. 8. 1^ Lev. xxvi. 17; Deut. xxviii. 25. ' Psa. Ixxix. 2 ; chap. vii. 33 ; xvi. 4 ; xxxiv. 20. "Chap, xviii. 16; xU.\. 13; 1. 13. "Lev. xxvi. 29; Deut. xxviii. 53 ; Isa. ix. 20 ; Lara. iv. 10. o So chap. Ii. 63, 64. my temple to a widely different purpose from that for which it was erected. Verse 5. Offerings unto Baal] A general name for all the popular idols ; Baal, Moloch, Ashta- roth, &c. Verse 7. / jci// make void the counsel of Judah] Probably this refers to some determination made to proclaim themselves independent, and pay no more tribute to the Chaldeans. To be meat for the foicls] See on chap. vii. 33. Verse 9. I tvill cause them to eat the flesh of ther sons] This was literally fulfilled when Jerusalem was ( 20« ) Pashur, the governor, CHAP. XX. smites the prophet A. M. cir. 3397. ] ^ ^^J gJ^gJl g^y ^^itO them, B. C. cir. 60 J. -^ oi. XLiii. 2. Thus sailh the Lord of hosts ; Tarquinii Prisci, „ ^^ ii t u i .1 ■ H. Roman., ^ Eveii SO Will 1 break tins peo- cir. annum 10. p]g gjjj jjjjg j.jjy.^ gg p„g brcakelh a potter's vessel, tiiat cannot i be made whole again : and they shall ' bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. 12 Thus will I do unto this place, .saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet : 13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled ' as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose ' roofs they have burned PPsa. ii. 9; Isa. xxx. 14; Lam. iv. 2. nHeb. be healtd. 'Chap. vii. 32. > 2 Kings xxiii. 10. besieged by the Romans. This also the prophet might have had in view. Verse 1 1 . Even so will I break this people and this city] The breaking of the bottle was the symbolical re- presentation of the destruction of the city and of the state. That cannot be made whole again] This seems to refer rather to the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, than to what was done by the Chaldeans. Jerusalem was Aea/erf after 70 years: but nearly 1800 years have elapsed since Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by the Romans ; and it was then so broken, that it could not be made xchole again. incense unto all the host ^i,**; "'■•^?27- D. C Cir. 607. of heaven, and " have poured oi. XLiii. 2. ,.,,„. , ., TaniuiniiPrieci, out dnnk-ollenngs unto other r. Roman., gods. cir. annum 10. 14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whi- ther the Lord had sent him to prophesy ; and he stood in " the court of the Lord's house, and said to all the people, 15 Thus sailh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because " they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words. >2 Kings xxiii. 12; chap, xxxii. 29 ; Zeph. i. 5. — 'See 2 Chron. ix. 5. "Chap. vii. 26 — "Chap.vii. 18. xvii. 23. Verse 12. And even maie this city as Tophet] A place of slaughter and destruction. Verse 1 1 . Then came Jeremiah from Tophet] He had probably gone to the valley of Hinnom, and there repeated the discourse which he had a little before de- livered to the chief priests and elders. Verse 15. Because they have hardened their necks] A metaphor taken from unruly and unbroken oxen, who resist the yoke, break and run away with their gears. So this people had broken and destroyed the yoke of the law. CHAPTER XX. Jeremiah, on account of his prophesying evil concerning Judah and Jerusalem, is beaten and imprisoned by Pashur, chief governor of the temple, 1, 2. On the following day the prophet is released, who denounces the awful judgments of God which should fall upon the governor and all his house, as well as upon the whole land of Judah, in the approaching Babylonish captivity, 3-6. Jeremiah then bitterly complains of the reproaches continually heaped upon him by his enemies ; and, in his haste, resolves to speak no more in the name of Jehovah ; but the word of the Lord is in his heart as a burning flame, so that he is not able to forbear, 7-10. The prophet professes his trust in God, whom he praises for his late deliverance, 11-13. The remaining verses, which appear to be out of their place, contain Jeremiah's regret that he was ever born to a life of so much sorrow and trouble, 11—18. This complaint resembles that of Job ; only it is milder, and more dolorous. This excites our pity, that our horror. Both are highly poetical, and embellished with every circumstance that can heighten the colouring. But such circumstances are not always to be too literally understood or explained. We must often make allowances for the strong figures of eastern poetry. A. M. cir. 3397. B. C. cir. 607. OI. .XLIII. 2, Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 10. MOW Pashur the son of » Im- mur the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. 2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet. *> 1 Chronicles, NOTES ON CH-iUP. XX. Verse 1. Pashur — chief goverrwr] Pashur was probably one of the chief priests of the twenty-four classes. and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benja- min, which was by the house of the Lord. 3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the A. M. cir. 3397. B. C. cir. 607. OI. XLIII. 2. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 10. chap. xxiv. 14. Verse 2. Put him in the stocks] Probably such a place near the gate as we term the lock-up, the coal- hole; or it may mean a sort o( dungeon. Verse 3. The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur] 307 Jeremiah foretells the JEREMIAH. Babylonish captivity Then said Jeremiah ^^^r "'Inf- Stocks, B. C. cir. 607. ^, ., , , oi. XLiii. 2. unto him, The Lord hath not '^T^ZtT called thy name Pashur, but cii-. annum 10. i Masor-missabib. 4 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a ten-or to thyself, and to all thy friends : and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them cap- tive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. 5 Moreover I " will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. 6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house, shall go into captivity : and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast "^ prophesied lies. 7 O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was " deceived : *' thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed : ^ I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. b That is, /for rowui almt ; Psa. x.txi. 13; ver. 10; chap. vi. 25; xlvi. 5; xlLx. 29. c 2 Kings xx. 17 ; xxiv. 12-16; xxv. 13, &c. ; chap. iil. 24. i Chap. xiv. 13, 14 l xxviii. 15; xxix. 21. e Or, enticed. f Chap. i. 6, 7. s Lafc. iii. 14. *' Ch. vi. 7. 'Job xxxii. 18, 19 ; Psa. xxxix. 3. — Security on all sides. This name thou hast had, but not by Divine appointment. But Magor-missabib — Fear on every side. This name hath God given thee ; because, in the course of his providence, thou shalt be placed in the circum- stances signified by it ; thou shalt be a terror to thyself. Verse 6. And thoti, Pashur — shall go into captivity] Thou shalt suffer for the false prophecies which thou hast delivered, and for thy insults to my prophet. Verse 7. O Lord, thou hast deceived me] Thou hast promised me protection ; and, lo ! 1 am now delivered into the hands of my enemies. These words were pro- bably spoken when Pashur smote him, and put him in prison. I think our translation of this passage is very ex- ceptionable. My old Bible reads, ilEljOU labbiiBft ine OjSiiJe llotb ; anJ) f toajS lab a?ibc. The original word is 'jn'riS pittilhani, thou hast persuaded me, i. e., to go and prophesy to this people. I went, faithfully declared thy message, and now I am likely to perish by their cruelty. As the root nr\3 palhah signifies to persuade and allure, as well as to deceive, the above must be its meaning in this place. Taken as in our Version, it is highly irreverent. It is used in the same 308 8 For since I spake, I cried \^^ =|'J- ^^ out, '' I cried violence and spoil ; oi. XLiii. 2. , , 1 r 1 T Tarquinii Prisci, because the word oi the Lord r. Roman., was made a reproach unto me, "''' '^°""°' ^°' and a derision, daily. 9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his iom~d was in mine heart as a ' burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and '' I could not stay. 1 0 1 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. " All ° my familiars watch- ed for my halting, saying, Peradventiu-e he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. 1 1 But " the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one : therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not p prevail : they shall be greatly ashamed ; for they shall not prosper : their i everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. 1 2 But, 0 Lord of hosts, that ■■ triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, " let me see thy vengeance on them : for unto thee have I opened my cause. 1 3 Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord : k Job xxxii. 18; Acts xviii. 5. iPsa. xxxi. 13. "Heb. every man of my -peace. n Job xix. 19; Psa. xli. 9 ; Iv. 13, 14 ; Luke xi. 53, 54. oChap. i. 8, 19. pChap. xv.20; xvii. 18. Psa. xjtxv. 9, 10; cix. 30, 31. "Job iii. 3; chap. xv. 10. V Gen. zix. 25. in the strong God, delivered from all his fears, and enabled to go on comfortably with his work. Verse 13. Sing unto the Lord] lie was so com- pletely delivered from all fear, that although he remained in the same circumstances, yet he e.vults in the Divine protection, and docs not fear the face of any adversary. Verse 14. Cursed be the day ichcrcin I icas born] If we take these words literally, and suppose them to be in their proper place, they are utterly inconsistent with that state of confidence in which he exulted a few minutes before. If they are the language of Jeremiah, they must have been spoken on a prior occasion, when probably he had given way to a passionate hastiness. They might well comport with the state he was in ver. 9. I really believe these verses have got out of their proper place, which I conjecture to be between the eighth and ninth verses. There they will come in very properly ; and might have been a part of his complaint in those moments when he had purposed to flee from fiod as did Jonah, and prophesy no more in his name. the Lord ' overtlirew, and repent- ■*^'^'; '='.^- ^^■ ' ' B. C. cir. 606 ed not: and let him "hear the oi.XLiii. 3. I J , Tar 2 Kings xiv. 18 ; chap. xxix. 25 ; xxxvii. 3. chiah, and '' Zephaniah the son of Maaseiali the priest, saying, 2 *■ Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us ; (for Nebuchad- c Chap, xxxvii. 3, 7. A. M. cir. 3415. B. C. cir. 589. 01. XLVII. 4. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 28. NOTES ON CHAP. XXI. Verse 1. The word which came unto Jeremiah] The chapters in the remaining parts of this prophecy seem strangely interchanged. This subject has been j der: — ch. xxi., xxxiv., xxxvii., xx.xii., xxxiii., X-\.xviii., mentioned in the introduction, and some tables "iven ; xxxix. of Zedekiah, and the breaking out of the war there- upon ; and which are continued on to the taking of Jerusalem, related in chap, x.xix., in the following or- and to these the critical reader is requested to refer. The discourse here was delivered about the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah. This chapter, obsers-es Dr. Blayncy, contains the first of those prophecies which were delivered by Jeremiah, subsequent to the revolt Pashur the son of Melchiah] There can be little doubt that this Pashur was a diflerent person from him who was called the son of Immur in the preceding chapter. Verse 2. Inquire, I pray thee] See whether God 309 Prophecy against the JEREMIAH. A. M. cir. 3415. j-ezzar king of Babylon maketh B. C. cir. 589. o .' Ol. XLVii. 4. war against us ; if so be that the TarquiniiPrisci, t -n i i -.i t R Roman., LoRD Will deal With US according cir. annum 28. ^^ ^jj j^jg ^vo^drOUS WOrks, that he may go up from us. 3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah : 4 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel ; Be- hold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chal- deans, which besiege you without the walls, and ^ I will assemble them into the midst of this city. 5 And I myself will fight against you with an ° outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. 6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast : they shall die of a great pestilence. 7 And afterward, saith the Lord, "^I will de- liver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchad- rezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life : and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword ; f he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. d Isa. xiii. 4. ^ Exod. vi. 6. ("Chap, xxxvii. 17 ; xxxix. 5; lii. 9. gDeut. xxiii. 50; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17. *> Deut. XXX. 19. 'Chap, xxxviii. 2, 17, 18, k Chap, xxxix. 18; xlv. 5. ILev. xvii. 10; chap. xliv. 11; Amos ix. 4. ™ Chap. xxxviii. 3. intends to deliver us into or out of the hand of the Chaldeans. Verse 4. / loill turn hack the weapons] Every attempt you make to repel the Chaldeans shall be unsuccessful. I will assemble them into the midst of this c//y.] I will deliver the city into their hands. Verse 6. They shall die of a great pestilence.'] The sword may appear to be that of man, though I have given the Chaldeans their commission ; but the pestilence shall appear to be the immediate act of God. Verse 7. Nebuchadrezzar] This name is spelt as above in t!oen 1 1 1 1, T 1 r 1 TarquiniiPrisci, Behold, "1 set before you the r. Roman., way of life, and the way of death. "''■ ""°"'" -^- 9 He that ' abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence : but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and '' his life shall be unto him for a prey. 10 For I have 'set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord : ■" it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall ° burn it with fire 11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the Lord ; 12 0 house of David, thus saith the Lord; "Execute p judgment 1 in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 13 Behold, 'I am against thee, O in- habitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord ; which say, ' Who shall come down against us ? or who shall enter into our habitations ? 14 But I will " punish you according to the ^ fruit of your doings, saith the Lord : and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and ■" it shall devour all things round about it. -Chap, xxxiv. 2, 22; xxxvii. 10; xxxviii. 18, 23; hi. 13. "Chap. xxii. 3; Zech. vii. 9. pHeb. Judge. " 2 Chron. xxxvi. 19; chap. lii. 13. in the present instance. This is explained in the next verse. Verse 10. He shall burn it loithfire.] What a heavy message to all ; and especially to them who had any fear of God, or reverence for the temple and its sacred services ! Verse 1 2 . Execute judgment in the morning] Pro- bably the time for dispensing judgment was the morn- ing, when the people were going to their work ; but the words may mean, Do justice promptly, do not delay. Let justice be administered as soon as required. Verse 13. O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain] Dr. Blayney translates : " O thou inhabitant of the levelled hollow of a rock." With all his explana- tion 1 cannot see the good sense of this translation. Je- rusalem itself, though partly on two hills, was also ex- tended in the valley ; and Zion, the city of David, was properly a rock, strongly fortified both by nature and art; and by its ancient possessors, the Jebusites, was deemed impregnable. Who shall come down against us ?] Probably the The prophet's message CHAP. XXII. words of those courtiers who had persuaded Zedek'tah to rebel against the king of Babylon. Verse 14. / will kindle afire in the forest thereof} \ will send destruction into its centre, that shall spread to the king oj Judah. to every part of the circumference, and so consume the whole. The beginning of the thirth-fourth chapter should follow here. See the arrangement on ver. 1 CHAPTER XXII. This section of prophecy, extending to the end of the eighth verse of the next chapter, is addressed to the king of Judah and his people. It enjoins on them the practice of justice and equity, as they would hope to prosper, 1-4 ; but threatens them, in case of disobedience, with utter destruction, 5-9. The captivity of Shallum, the son of Josiah, is declared to be irreversible, 10-12 ; and the miserable and unlamented end of Jeconiah, contemptuously called Coniah, is foretold, 13-19. His family is threatened with the like capti- vity, and his seed declared to be for ever excluded from the throne, 20-30. For thus saith the Lord unto A. M. cir. 3406. B. C. cir. 598. Ol. cir. XLV.3. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman.. oir. annum 19. 'PHUS saith the Lord; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, 2 And say, ° Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judali, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates : 3 Thus saith the Lord ; '' Execute ye judg- ment and righteousness, and deUver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor : and " do no WTong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed inno- cent blood in this place. 4 For if ye do this thing indeed, "^ then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting « upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5 But if ye will not hear these words, ^ I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desoktion. • Chap, ri'ii. 20. <> Chap. xxi. 12. c See ver. 17. ^ Ch. xvii. 25. « Heb. for David upon his throne. *" Heb. vi. 13, 17. elsa. xxxvii. 24. NOTES ON CHAP. XXII. Verse 1 . Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word] This is supposed by Dah- ler to have been published in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah. Verse 2. O king of Judah — thou, and thy servants] His ministers are here addressed, as chiefly governing the nation ; and who had counselled Zedekiah to rebel. Verse 6. Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon} Perhaps in allusion, says Dahler, to the oaks of Gilead, and the cedars of Mount Lebanon, of which the palace was constructed. Lebanon was the highest mountain in Israel, and Gilead the richest and most fertile part of the country ; and were, therefore, proper emblems of the te'ignxng family. Though thou art the richest and most powerful, I, who raised thee up, can bring thee down and make thee a wilderness. A. M. cir. 3406. B. C. cir. 598. the king's house of Judah ; Thou 01. cir. XLV. 3. ^., , J , Tarquinii Pnsci, art Gilead imto me, and the r. Roman., head of Lebanon : yet surely I ""■ ^""""^ '^- will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. 7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons : and they shall cut down s thy choice cedars, ^ and cast them into the fire. 8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neigh- bour, ' Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city 1 9 Then they shall answer, '' Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. 10 Weep ye not for 'the dead, neither be- moan him : hut weep sore for him "that goeth away : for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. I' Chap. xxi. 14. i Deut. xxix. 24, 25 ; 1 Kings \x. 9, 9. '2 Kings xxii. 17; 2 Chron. x-txiv. 25. '2 Kings xxii. 20. ■»Ver. 11. Verse 7. They shall cut down thy choice cedars'] The destruction of the country is expressed under the symbol of the destruction of a. fine forest ; a multitude of fellers come against it, each with his axe ; and, there being no resistance, every tree is soon felled to the earth. " These destroyers," God says, " I have pre- pared, "iTkyip kiddashti, I have sanctified — consecrated, to this work. They have their commission from me." Verse 8. Many nations shall pass] These words seem borrowed from Deut. xxix. 92, &c. Verse 10. Weep ye not for the dead] Josiah, dead in consequence of the wound he had received at Me- giddo, in a battle with Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt ; but he died in peace with God. But weep sore for him that goeth aivay] Namely, Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, called below Shallum, whom Pharaoh-necho had carried captive into Egypt, 311 Tlie miserable end JEREMIAH. of Jeconiah. R ^n ""■ l^^- 1 1 For thus sailh the Lord B. C. cir. 598. 01. cir. XLv. 3. touching " ShaHum the son of TarquiniiPrisci, ^-ii- rxii i-i R. Roman., Josiah luiig 01 Judah, which m. annum 19. reigned instead of Josiah his fa- ther, ° which went forth out of this place ; He shall not return thither any more : 1 2 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. 13 f Wo unto liim that buildeth his liouse by unrighteousness, and his chambers by ■wrong ; i that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; 14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and "'large chambers, and cutteth him out ^ windows ; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. "See 1 Chron. iii. 15, with 2 Kings xxiii. 30. — —"2 Kings xxiii. 34. p2 Kings xxiii. 35; ver. 18. ^iLev. xix. 13; Deut. xjdv. 14, 15 ; Mic. iii. 10 ; Hab. ii. 9 ; James t. 4. from which it was prophesied he should never return, 2 Kings xxiii. 30-34. He was called Shallum before he ascended the throne, and Jehoahaz afterwards ; so his brother Eliakim changed his name to Jehoiakim, and Mattaniah to Zcdekiah. Verse 13. Wo tinto him that bitildeth his house] These evils, charged against Jehoiakim, are nowhere else circumstantially related. We learn from 3 Kings xxiii. 35—37, that he taxed his subjects heavily, to give to Pharaoh-necho, king of Egj'pt : " He exacted the silver and gold of the people of the land, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." The mode of taxation is here intimated ; he took the ivages of the hirelings, and caused the people to work without wages in his ou-n buildings, &c. Verse 15. ShaJt thou reign, cj-c] Dost thou think thou art a great king, because thou dwellest in a splen- did palace ? Verse 18. Thei/ shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother .'] These words were no doubt the bur- den of some funeral dirge. Alas ! a brother, who was our lord or governor, is gone. Alas, our sister ! his (JUEEN, who has lost her glory in losing her husband, mn hodah is feminine, and must refer to the glory of the queen. The mournings in the east, and lamentations for the dead, are loud, vehement, and distressing. For a child or a parent grief is expressed in a variety of impas- sioned sentences, each ending with a burden like that in the text, " Ah my child !" " Ah my mother !" as the prophet in tliis place : TIX ''in hoi achi, " Ah my brother !" ninN 'in hoi achoth, " Ah sister !" jnx 'in hoi adon, " Ah lord !" mn 'in hoi hodah, " Ah the glory." Mr. Ward, in his Manners and Customs of the Hin- doos, gives two examples of lamentation ; one of a mother for the death of her son, one of a daughter for 31? .15 Shalt thou reign, because ^^M. cir. 3406. ~ D. C Cir. 598. thou closest thyself in cedar ? 01. cir. XLV. 3. ' did not thy father eat and driitk, r. j^man^r"' and do judgment and justice, and "'■ '^"'° ^^- then ^ it was well with him ? 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy ; then it was well with him : was not this to know me ? saith the Lord. 17 ' But thine eyes and thine heart are not m but for thy covetousness, and for to shed ^ innocent blood, and for oppression, and for ^ violence, to do it. 18 Therefore thus saith the Lord concern- ing Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; ^ They shall not lament for him, saying, ^ Ab my brother ! or, Ah sister ! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord ! or, Ah his J glory ! \ 'Heb. thorcrugk-aired. b Or, my windows. 12 Kings xxiii. 25. " Psa. cxxviii. 2 ; Isa. iii. 10. v Ezek. xix. 6. "Or, Chap. xvi. 4, 6. .v See 1 Kings xiii. 30. incurston.- her departed mother. " When a woman," says he, " is overwhelmed with grief for the death of her child, she utters her grief in some such language as the follow- ing: — Ah, my Hureedas, where is he gone ? — ' Ah my child, my child !' My golden image, Hureedas, who has taken ? — ' Ah my child, my chUd !' I nourished and reared him, where is he gone 1 — ' Ah my child, my child !' Take me with thee. — ' Ah my child, my child !' He played round me, like a golden top. — ' Ah my chUd, my child !' Like his face I never saw one. — ' Ah my chUd, my child!' The infant continually cried. Ma, Ma ! — ' Ah my chUd, my chUd !' Ah my chUd, crying, Ma ! come into my lap. — ' Ah my child, my ohUd 1' Who shaU now drink milk ? — ' Ah my child, my chUd!' Who shall now stay in my lap 1 — ' Ah my chUd, my child !' Our support is gone !— ' Ah my chUd, my chUd !' " The lamentations for a mother are in some such strains as these : — Mother ! where is she gone 1 — ' Ah my mother, my mother !' You are gone, but what have you left for me ? — ' Ah my mother, my mother !' Whom shall 1 now caU mother, mother ? — ' Ah my mother, my mother !' Wiere shall 1 find such a mother ? — ' Ah my mother, my mother !' " From the above we may conclude that the funeral lamentations, to which the prophet refers, generally The miserable end CHAP. XXII. of Jeconiah. A M. cir. MM. 19 «He shall be buried wiUi B. C. cir. .198. , , . , . , , 01. cir. XLv. 3. tlie burial of an ass, drawn and "sL^Romim.?'' cast forth beyond the gates of cir. annum 19 Jerusalem. 20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry ; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the pas- sages : for all thy lovers are destroyed. 21 I spake unto thee in thy ° prosperity ; but thou saidst, I will not hear. ''Tiiis hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeycdst not my voice. 22 The wind shall eat up all "^ thy pastors, and ^ thy lovers shall go into captivity : svu-ely then shall thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. 23 O " inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, 'the pain as of a woman in travail ! 24 As I live, saith the Lord, ? though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah ^ were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence ; A. M. cir. 3406 B. C. cir, 598. Ol. cir. XLV. 3. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 19. king 25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face tiiou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chal- deans. 26 ■ And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born ; and there shall ye die. 27 But to the land whereunto they '' desire to return, thither shall they not return. 28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol ? is he ' a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not ? 29 •" O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. 30 Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man " childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days : for no man of his seed shall prosper, ° sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. «2 Chron. xxxvi. 6; chap, xxxvi. 30. "Heb. prosperities. '2 Kings xxiv. 15; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. ^Heb. lift tip their bChap. iii. 25; vii. 23, &c. <^Chap. xxiii. 1. dVer. 20. mind ; chap. xUv. 14. 'Psa. xxxi. 12 ; chap, xlviii. 38 ; Hos. •Heb. inhabilress. fChap. vi. 24. sSeo2 Kings xxiv. 6, 8; viii.8. " Deut. xxxii. 1 ; Isa. i. 2; xxxiv. 1 ; Mic.i.2. "See 1 Chron. iii. 16 ; chap, xxxvii. i. k Cant. viii. 6. 1 Chron. iii. 16, 17 ; Matt. i. 12. ' Chap, xxxvi. 30. ended in this way, in each of the verses or interroga- tories. There is another intimation of this ancient and uni- versal custom in 1 Kiiigs xiii. 30, where tlie old pro- phet, who had deceived the man nf God, and who was afterwards slain by a lion, is represented as mourning 1 over liim, and saying, 'PIN 'in hoi achi, " Alas, my brother !" this being the burden of the lamentation which he had used on this occasion. Similar instances may be seen in other places, Jer. xxx. 7 ; Ezek. vi. 1 1 ; Joel i. 15 ; and particularly Amos v. 16, 17, and Rev. x^iii. 10-19. Verse 19. With the burial of an ass] Cast out, and left unburied, or buried without any funeral solemnities, and without such lamentations as the above. Verse 20. Go tip to Lebanon] Probably Anti-Liba- nus, which, together with Bashan and Aharim, which we here translate passages, were on the way bv which the captives should be led out of their own countrj-. A erse 21.7 spake unto thee in thy prosperity] In all states and circumstances I warned thee by my pro- phets ; and thou wilt only be ashamed of thy conduct when thou shalt be stripped of all thy excellencies, and reduced to poverty and disgrace, ver. 22. Verse 22. The ivind shall eat up all thy pastors] A blast from God's mouth shall carry off thy kings, princes, prophets, and priests. Verse 23. Hotv gracious shalt thou be] A strong irony. Verse 24. Though Coniah] Called Jeconiah, pro- bably on ascending the throne. See on ver. 10. The signet upon my right hand] The most precious seal, ring, or armlet. Though dearer to me than the most splendid gem to its possessor. Verse 26. I will cast thee out, and thy mother] See all this fulfilled, 2 Kings xxiv. 12, 13. All were car- ried by Nebuchadnezzar into captivity together. Verse 28. Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol 'I] These are probably the exclamations of the people, when they heard those solemn denunciations against their king and their country. Verse 29. O earth] These are the words of the prophet in reply : O land ! unhappy land ! desolated land ! Hear the judgment of the Lord ! A'erse 30. Write ye this man childless] Though he had seven sons, 1 Chron. iii. 17, yet, having no suc- cessor, he is to be entered on the genealogical tables aa one loilhout children, for none of his posterity ever sat on the tlirone of David. 313 GocCs judgments against JEREMIAH. wicked pastors. CHAPTER XXni. Sequel of the discourse which commenced in the preceding chapter. The prophet denounces vengeance against the pastors of Israel tvho have scattered and destroyed the flock of the Lord, 1, 2. He concludes with gracious promises of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, and of better times under the Messiah, when the converts to Christianity, who are the true Israel of God, shadowed forth by the old dispensation, shall be delivered, by the glorious light of the Gospel, from worse than Chaldean bondage, from the capti- vity of sin and death. But this prophecy will not have its fullest accomplishment till that period arrives which is fixed in the Divine counsel for the restoration of Israel and Judah from their various dispersions, of which their deliverance from the Chaldean, domination ivas a type ; lohen Jesus the Christ, the righteous Branch, the Root and Offspring of David, and the only legitimate Heir to the throne, shall take unto him- self his great power, and reign gloriously over the whole house of Jacob, 3—8. At the ninth verse a new discourse commences. Jeremiah expresses his horror at the great ivickedness of the priests and prophets of Judah, and declares that the Divine vengeance is hanging over them. He exhorts the people not to listen to their false promises, 9-22 ; and predicts the utter ruin that shall fall upon all pretenders to inspiration, 23—32, as well as upon all scoffers at true prophecy, 33-40. I A. M. cir. 3406. B. C. cir. 598. 01. cir. XLV.3, Tajquinii Prisci; R. Roman., cir. annum 19. T\rO => be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture ! saith the Lord. 2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people ; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them : '' behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. 3 And ■= I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven « Chap. X. 21 ; xxii. 22 ; Ezek. tlxkiv. 2. 1> Exod. xxxii. 34. f Chap, xxxii. 37 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 13, &c. d Chap. iii. 15 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 23, &c. NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII. Verse 1. Wo be unto the pastors] There shall a curse fall on the kings, princes, priests, and prophets ; who, by their vicious conduct and example, liave brought desolation upon the people. A'erse 2. Ye have scattered my fock] The bad government both in Church and State was a principal cause of the people's profligacy. Verse 5. / will raise unto David a righteous Branch] As there has been no age, from the Babylonish cap- tivity to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, in which such a state of prosperity existed, and no king or governor who could answer at all to the character here given, the passage has been understood to refer to our blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, who was a branch out of the stc7n of Jesse ; a righteous king ; by the power of his Spirit and influence of his religion reign- ing, prospering, and executing judgment and justice in the earth. Verse 6. In his days Judah shall be saved] The real Jew is not one who has his circumcision in the flesh, but in the spirit. The real Israel are true be- lievers in Christ Jesus ; and the genuine Jerusalem is the Church of the first-born, and made free, with all her children, from the bondage of sin, Satan, death, and hell. All these exist only in the days of the Mes- siah. All that went before were the ti/pes or signifi- cators of these glorious Go.spel excellencies. 314 them, and will bring them again ^g '^ •'^'[^ ^*o^- to their folds ; and they shall be 01. cir. XLV. 3. r .^r 1 J ■ Tarquinii Prisci, iruitiul and increase. r Roman., 4 And I will set up ^ shepherds c.r. annum 19. over them which shall feed them : and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. 5 Behold, " the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, ^and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 ? In his days Judah shall be saved, and elsa. iv. 2; xi. 1 ; xl. 10, 11 ; chap, xxxiii. 14, 15, 16; Dan. ix. 24 ; Zech. iii. 8 ; vi. 12 ; John i. 45. f Psa. Ixxii. 2 ; Isa. xxxii. 1 , 18 ; ix. 7. s Deut. xxxiii. 28 ; Zech. xiv. 1 1 . And this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.] I shaU give the Hebrew text of this important passage : nil IJplS nilT Wp' liyN n'lil vezeh shemo asher yikreo \ ehovah tsidkenu, which the Septuagint translate as follows, Kai TouTO to ovoft.a avTou o xoCkiSn auTov Ku- pio?, \ugeSsy., " And this is his name which the Lord shall call him, Josedek." Dahler translates the text thus : — Et voici le nom dont on I'appellera i L'Eternel, Auleur de notre felicit^. " And this is the name by which he shall be called ; The Lord, the Author of our happiness." Dr. Blayney seems to follow the Septuagint ; he translates thus, " And this is the name by which Jeho- vah shall call him. Our Righteousness." In my old MS. Bible, the first English translation ever made, it is thus : — anti tl)i^ i^ tlje name that the: iScljul tlcpcn Ijim : ourc rigttoi3'e Uotb, CoverdaWs, the first complete English translation of the .Scriptures ever ;>ri«;erf,( 1535,) has given it thus: — anb tljisf i^ t\)t name tlj.u tljep iSliall c.UI Ijim: cbeit tlje Hotbc Diire tigl)tuou;S jEaftct. Matthews (1549) and Becke (1549) follow Cover- dale literally ; but our present translation of the clause is borrowed from Cardmarden, (Rouen, 1566,) " Even the Lord our righteousness " The crimes which cause CHAP. XXIII. the land to mourn A.M.cir. M06. jgrael '"shall dwell safely: and B. C. cir. 598. •' oi. cir. XLV. 3. ■ this IS his name whereby he ''r^Rol.raL'!"' shall be called, " THE LORD "'•• ^""""' '"■ OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, behold, ' the days come, saith (he Lord, that they shall no more say, The Loud livcth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; 8 But, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, ™ and from all coun- tries whither I have driven them ; and they shall dwell in their own land. *D^o '"■ l^- 9 Mine heart within me is B. C. cir. 605. 01. XLiii. 4. broken because of the prophets ; Tarquinu Pnsci, ,, , , , i ii R. Roman., all my bones sliake ; 1 am like "'' "*"'"" '-■ a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness. •■Chap, xixii. 37. 'Chap, xxxiii. 16; 1 Cor. i, 30. tHeb. Jehovah-tsidkenu. ' Chap. xvi. 14, 15. "" Isa. xliii. 5, 6 ; ver. 3. ° See Hab. iii. 16. •> Chap. v. 7, 8 ; a. 2. P Hos. iv. 2, 3. 'I Or, cuTsing. tChap. ix. 10; xii. 4. 'Or, vio- lence. Dr. Blayney thus accounts for his translation : — " Literally, according to the Hebrew idiom, — ' And this is his name by which Jehovah shall call, Our Righte- ousness ;' a phrase exactly the same as, ' And Jehovah shall call him so ;' which implies that God would make him such as he called him, that is, our Righteousness, or the author and means of our salvation and accept- ance. So that by the same metonymy Christ is said to ' have been made of God unto us wisdom, and righte- ousness, and sanctification, and redemption,' 1 Cor. i. 30. " I doubt not that some persons will be offended with me tor depriving them, by this translation, of a favourite argument for proving the Divinity of our .Saviour from the Old Testament. But I cannot help it ; I have done it with no ill design, but purely because I think, and am morally sure, that the text, as it stands, will not properly admit of any other construction. The Scp- tuagint have so translated before me, in an age when there could not possibly be any bias or prejudice either for or against the fore-mentioned doctrine, a doctrine wliich draws its decisive proofs from the New Testa- ment only." Dahler paraphrases, — "This Prince shall be sur- named by his people, 'The Lord, the author of our happiness.' The people shall feel themselves happy under him ; and shall express their gratitude to him." I am satisfied that both the translation from Card- marden downwards, and the meaning put on those words, are incorrect. I prefer the translation of Blay- ney to all others ; and that it speaks any thing about the imputed righteousness of Christ, cannot possibly be proved by any man who understands the original text. As to those who put the sense of their creed upon the words, they must be content to stand out of the list of Hebrew critics. I believe Jesus to be Je- 10 For "the land is full of ''^\<'';^ ^399. adulterers; for ^ because of di. XLiii.4. .111 .1 Tarquinii Prisci, ■' swearing tlie land mournetii ; r. Roman., ' the pleasant places of the wil- "■■■ '^"°''"' '2- derness are dried up, and their " course is evil, and their force is not right. 1 1 For • both prophet and priest are profane ; yea, " in my house have I found their wicked- ness, sailh the Lord. 12 ' Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness : they shall be driven on, and fall therein : for I " will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. 13 And I have seen 'folly ^ m the prophets of Samaria ; ^ they prophesied in Baal, and " caused my people Israel to err. 14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem '' a hoiTible thing : ■= they commit ■ Chap. vi. 13; viii. 10 ; Zcph. iii. 4. " Chap. vii. 30 ; xi. 15, xxxii. 34 ; Ezek. viii. 1 1 ; xxiii. 39. ^ Psa. xxxv. 6 ; Prov. iv. 19; chap. xiii. 16. "Chap. xi. 23. «0r, an absurd thing. >'Heb. unsavoury. «Chap. ii. 8. »Isa. ix. 16. ^Or^Jil- thiness. c Chap. xxix. 23. hovah ; but 1 doubt much whether this text calls him so. No doctrine so vitally important should be rested on an interpretation so dubious and unsupported by the te.xt. That all our righteousness, holiness, and good- ness, as well as the whole of our salvation, come by am, from him, and through Hisr, is fully evident from the Scriptures ; but this is not one of the passages that support this most important truth. See on chap, xxxiii. Verse 7. The Lord lirelh ii-hich brought up] See on chap. xvi. 14, 15. Verse 9. Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets] The first word of this clause is □"N337 lanncbiim, which we incorporate with the whole clause, and translate, " Because of the prophets." But as a new prophecy begins here, it is evident that the word is the title to this prophecy ; and is thus distinguished both by Blayney and Dahler, Concerning the Pro- phets. This discourse was delivered probably in the reign of Jchoiakim. All my bones shake] He was terrified even by his own message, and shocked at the profanity of the false prophets. Averse 10. The land is full of adulterers] Of idol- aters. Of persons who break their faith to me, as an impure trifc does to her husband. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up\ He speaks here, most probably, in reference to dearth. Profane oaths, false swearing, evil courses, violence, (tc, had provoked God to send this among other judg- ments ; see ver. I'J. Verse 11. In my hov.'se] They had even introduced idolatry into the Temple of God ! Verse 13. 7 have seen folly in the prophets of Sa- maria] This was not to be wondered at, for their re- ligion was a system of corruption. A'erse 14.7 hat-e seen also in the prophets of Jeru- 315 Jvdgments upon JEREMIAH. the false prophets. 'b c' "dr 6(» ■ adultery, and ■• walk in lies : they 01. XLiii. 4. « strengthen also the hands of Tarquinii Prisci, ., , . ^ 1,1. R. Roman., evil doers, that none doth return cir. annum 12. f^.^^ j^-g wickedness : they are all of them unto me as ' Sodom, and the in- habitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets ; Behold, I will feed them with ^ wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall : for from the prophets of Jerusalem is '^ profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that pro- phesy unto you : they make you vain : ' they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. 1 7 They say still unto them that despise me. The Lord hath said, '' Ye shall have peace ; and they say unto every one that walketh after the ' imagination of his own heart, " No evil shall com.e upon you. 1 8 For " who hath stood in the " counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word ? who hath marked his word, and heard it ? 19 Behold, a ''whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind : eos"' ^^^T ^^"^ ^° his neighbour, == as 01. XLlii.4. their fathers have forgotten my Tarquinii Prisci, ^ „ , R. Roman., name tor IJaal. cir. annum 18. 38 The prophet ^ that hath a dream, let him lell a dream; and lie that hath jny word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. 29 Is not my word like as a fire ? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces ? 30 Therefore, behold, ^ I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. 3 1 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, " that use their tongues, and say, He saith. «Judg. iii. 7; viii. 33, 34. yHeb. with whom is.- jiviii. 20; chap. liv. 14, 15. -» Deut. Verse 28. What is the chaff to the wheat ? saith the Lord.'\ Do not mingle these equivocal matters with positive revelations. Do not consider a dream, even from a prophet, as that positive inspiration which my prophets receive when their reason, judg- ment, and spiritual feelings are all in full and in regu- lar exercise. Mix none of your own devices with my doctrines. Verse 29. Is not my word like as afire .'] It en- lightens, warms, and penetrates every part. When it is communicated to the true prophet, it is like afire shut up in his bones ; he cannot retain it, he must publish it ; and when published, it is like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces ; it is ever accompanied by a Divine poioer, that causes both sinner and saint to feel its weight and importance. In the original words there is something singular : B'NJ "f21 T\3 NlSn halo coh dchari kaesh, " Is not thus my word hke fire ?"' I suspect, with Dr. Blaijneij, that no coh, thus, was formerly wTitten nj coach, strength or power ; and so it was understood by the Targumist : " Are not all my words strong, like fire ?" and probably the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews read it thus, and had it in view when he wrote : " For the word of God is eiuick and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword," Heb. iv. 12. This admitted, the te.xt would read, " Is not my word powerful, like fire ?" or, " Is not the power of my word like fire !" But how- ever we understand the words, let us take heed lest we think, as some have thought and affirmed, that the sacred wTitings are quite sufficient of themselves to en- lighten, convince, and convert the soul, and that there is no need of the Holy Spirit. Fire itself must be applied by an agent in order to produce its effects ; and surely the hammer cannot break the rock in pieces, un- less wielded by an able workman. ,\nd it is God's Spirit alone that can thus appli/ it ; for we find it fre- quently read and frequently spoken, without producing any salutary eflfects. AnA by this very thing the true preachers of the word of God may be distinguished of the word of God. 32 Behold, I am against them •*; '^J; <='■■■ ^ms that prophesy false dreams, saith 01. XLiii. 4. .IT ' 1 1 . 11 .1 1 Tarc)umii Prisci, the Lord, and do tell them, and r. Roman., cause my people to err by their <='■•■ »"""■" '2- lies, and by '' their lightness ; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord. 33 And when this people, or the prophet, oi a priest, shall ask thee, saying. What is ' the burden of the Lord? thou shall then say unto them. What burden ? '' I will even forsake you, saith the Lord. 34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall saj'. The burden of the Lord, I will even ° punish that man and his house. "Or, that smooth their tongues. b Zeph. iii. 4. « Mai. i. 1. If Ver. 39. ' Heb. visit upon. from the false, non-commissioned ones ; those who run, though they are not sent, ver. 2 1 . The word of him who has his commission from heaven shall be as a fire and as a hammer ; sinners shall be convinced and converted to God by it. But the others, though they steal the word from their neighbour — borrow or pilfer a good sermon, yet they do not profit the people at all, because God did not send them, ver. 32 ; for the poiver of God does not in their ministry accompany the word. There may be an allusion to the practice in some mining countries, of roasting stones containing ore, before they are subjected to the hammer, in order to pulverize them. In Cornwall I have seen them roast the tin stones in the fire, before they placed them under the action of the hammers in the stamp mill. The fire separated the arsenic from the ore, and then they were easily reduced to powder by the hammers of the mill ; afterwards, ivashing the mass with water, the grains of tin sank to the bottom, while the lighter parts went oflf with the water, and thus the metal was pro- cured clean and pure. If this be the allusion, it is very appropriate. Verse 30. I am against the prophets^ Three cases are mentioned here which excited God's disapproba- tion : 1 . The prophets who stole the word from their neighbour ; who associated with the true prophets, got some intelligence from llicm, and then went and pub- lished it as a revelation which themselves had receiv- ed, ver. 30. 2. The prophets who used their tongues ; QJItyS D"np'7n hallohechim leshonam, who lick or smooth loith their tongues — gave their own counsels as Divine revelations, flattering them in their sins, and promising peace, when God had not .spoken ; and prefaced them, " Thus .saith the Lord," ver. 31. 3 The prophets who made up false stories, which they termed prophecies, re- vealed to them in dreams ; and thus caused the people to err, ver. 32. Verse 33. What is the burden of the Lord ?] The word NiVO massa, here used, signifies burden, oracle, pro- phetic discourse ; and is used bv almost every prophet. 317 The vision of the JEREMIAH, good and had figs. Ag c' c^r «»■ 35 Thus shall ye say every 01. XLiii. 4. one to his neighbour, and every Tarquinii Prisci, , . , , _,,, , , R. Roman., One to his brother, What hath "''•''""'"" ''^^ the Lord answered? and, What hath the Lord spoken ? 36 And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more : for every man's woxA. shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God. 37 Thus shah thou say to the prophet, What hath the Lord answered thee ? and. What hath the Lord spoken? 38 But since ye say. The burden of the fHos. iv. 6.- sVer. 33. But the persons in the text appear to have been mockers. " Where is this burden of the Lord V — " What is the burden now V To this insolent question the prophet answers in the following verses. / ipill even forsake you] I will punish the prophet, the priest, and the people, that speak thus, ver. 34. Here are burdens. Verse 36. Every Tumi's word shall be his burderi] Ye say that all God's messages are burdens, and to you they shall be such : whereas, had you used them as you ought, they would have been blessings to you. For ye have perverted the words of the living God^^ Ajid thus have sinned against your ovm souls. A. M. cix. 3399. B. C. cir. 605. 01. XLUI. 4. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 12. Lord; therefore thus saith the Lord; Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, say- ing, Ye shall not say, The burden of the Lord; 39 Therefore, behold, \, even I, ' will utterly forget you, and « I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence : 40 And I will bring '' an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten. 'Chap. IX. 11. Verse 39. I ivill utterly forget you, and I will for- sake you and the city] Dr. Blayney translates : — / will both take you up altogether, and ivill cast you off together with the city. Ye are a burden to me ; but I will take you up, and then cast you off. I wiD do with you as a man weary with his burden will do ; cjist it off his shoulders, and bear it no more. Verse 40. I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you] And this reproach of having rebelled against so good a God, and rejected so powerful a Saviour, follows them to this day through all their dispersions, in every part of the habitable earth. The word of the Lord cannot fail. CHAPTER XXIV. Under the emblem of the good and bad figs is represented the fate of the Jews already gone into capttmty with Jeconiah, and of those that remained still in their own country with Zedekiah. It is likewise inti- mated that God would deal kindly with the former, but that his wrath would still pursue the latter, 1—10 T^HE " Lord showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs A. M. 3406 B. C. 598. 01. XLV. 3. Tarquinii Prisd, loere set before the temple of the ^ ^°'"""' '"■ Lord, after that Nebuchadrezzar •"king of Babylon had carried away captive ■"• Jeconiah tlie son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, " Amos vii. 1, 4 ; viii. 1. b2 Kings xxiv. 12, &c ; NOTES ON CHAP. XXIV. Verse 1 . The Lord showed me, and, behold, two bas- kets of figs] Besides the transposition oi whole chapters in this book, there is not unfrequently a transposition of verses, and parts of verses. Of this we have an instance in the .erse before us ; the first clause of which should be the last. Thus : — " After that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with the caj-penters and smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs loere set be- fore the temple of the Lord." Verse 3. " One basket had very good figs, even like 318 and the princes of Judah, with *■ ^- ?*^- the carpenters and smiths fi-om 01. XLV. 3. Jerusalem, and had brought them Tarquinii Prisci, to Babylon. R.Roman., 19.' 2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe ; and the other basket 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10.- ' See chap. xxii. 24, &c. ; xxix. 2. the figs that are first ripe ; and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad." This arrangement restores these verses to a better sense, by restoring the natural connexion. This prophecy was undoubtedly delivered in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah. Under the type oi good and bad figs, God represents the state of the persons who had already been carried captives into Babylon, vWth their king Jeconiah, com- pared with the state of those who should be carried away with Zedekiah. Those already carried away, being the choice of the people, are represented by the good figs: those now remaining, and soon to be carried into captiv Prediction concerning CHAP. XXV. the king of Judah % Ic 59^ ^'"^ ^^^ naughty figs, which 01. xLv. 3. could not be eaten, ^ they were Anno , , Tarquinii Prisci, SO oacl. R. feoman., 19. g r^^^^^ g^^jj jj^g L^j^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ What seest thou, Jeremiah ? And I said. Figs ; the good figs, very good ; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 4 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 5 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel ; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge " them that are canned away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and ' I will bring them again to this land : and » I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. iHeb./or badness. < H »b. the captivity -"■Chap, xii 15; xxix. 10. «Chap XXXtl 41 ; xxxiii. 7 ; Xlll 10 1 Deut. XXX. 6; chap. ■nxxix. 39; Ezek. XI 19; xxxvi 26, 27 iChap. XXX. 22 ; xtsi 33 XXXll. 38. — _k Chap. XXIX 13. ity, are represented by the bad figs, that were good for nothing. The state also of the former in their captivity was vastly preferable to the state of those who were now about to be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. The latter would be treated as double rebels ; the former, being the most respectable of the inhabitants, were treated well ; and even in captivity, a marked distinction would be made between them, God ordering it so. But the prophet sufficiently explains his own meaning. Set before the temple] — As an oftering of the first- fruits of that kind. Verse 2. Very good figs] Or, figs of the cor/y ,so)7. The fig-trees in Palestine, says Dr. Shaic, produce fruit thrice each year. The first sort, called boceore, those here mentioned, come to perfection about the middle or end of June. The second sort, called kermez, or summer fig, is seldom ripe before .\ugust. And the third, which is called the winter fig, which is larger, and of a darker complexion than the preceding, hangs all the winter on the tree, ripening even when the leaves are shed, and is fit for gathering in the beginning of .^^jn'nn-. Could not be eaten] The leinter fig, — then in its crude or unripe state ; the spring not being yet come. 7 And I will give them >> a heart *: ^ ^406 to know me, that I am the Lord : oi. XLV. a and they shall he ' my people, TarnuiniiPrisci, and I wUl be their God : for they "' ^°'"'^" ■ ^°- shall return unto me '' with their whole heart. 8 And as the evil ' figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil ; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, thai remain in this land, and ""them that dwell in the land of Egj'pt : 9 And I will deliver them "to "be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, ^ to be a. reproach and a proverb, a taunt 1 and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. 'Chap. xxix. 17. ni See chap, xliii., xliv. ^Heb. /orrc- moving, or vexation. o Deut. xxviii. 25, 37 ; 1 Kings ix. 7 ; 2 Chron. vii. 20 ; chap. xv. 4; xxix. 18;xxxiv. 17. pPsa. xliv. 13, 14. 'I Chap. xxix. 18,22. Verse 5. Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge] Those already carried away into captivity, I esteem as far more excellent than those who still remain in the land. They have not sinned so deeply, and they are now penitent ; and, therefore, / loill set mine ei/es upon them for good, ver. 6. I will watch over them by an especial providence, and they shall be restored to their own land. Verse 7. They shall be my people] I wiW renew my covenant with them, for they will return to me with their whole heart. Verse 8. So will I give Zedekiah] I will treat these as they deserve. They shall be carried into captivity, and scattered through all nations. Multitudes of those never returned to Judea ; the others returned at the end of seventy years. Verse 10. / will send the swnrd] Many of them fell by sword and famine in the war with the Chaldeans, and many more by such means afterwards. The first re- ceived their captivity as a correction, and turned to God ; the latter still hardened their hearts more and more, and probably very many of them never returned : per- I haps they are now amalgamated with heathen nations. Lord, how long ? CHAPTER XXV. This chapter contains a summary of the judgments denounced by Jeremiah against Judah, Babylon, and many other nations. It begins with reproving the Jews for disobeying the calls of God to repentance, 1-7 ; on which account their captivity, with that of other neighbouring nations, during seventy years, is foretold. 8-11. At the expiration of thai period, (computing from the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, to the famous edict of the firist year of Cyrus,) an end ivas to be put to the Babylonian empire, 12-14. All this is again declared by the emblem of that cup of wrath which the prophet, as it 319 An exhortation JEREMIAH. to repentance shozdd seem in a vision, tendered to all the nations which he enumerates, 15-29. And for farther con- firmation, it is a third time repeated in a very beautiful and elevated strain of poetry, 30-38. The talent of diversifying the ideas, images, and language, even when the subject is the same, or nearly so, appears no where in such perfection as among the sacred poets. A. M. 3397. B. C. 607. 01. XLIII. 2. Anno TarquiniiPrisci. R. Roman., 10. 'pHE word that came to Jere- miah concerning all the peo- ple of Judali '^ in the fourtli year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Ne- buchadrezzar king of Babylon 2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 3 '' From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken ruito you, rising early and speak- ing ; ■= but ye have not hearkened. 4 And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, ^ rising early and send- ing them; but ye have not hearkened, nor in- clined your ear to hear. 5 They said, " Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever : 6 And go not after other gods to serve them, a Chap, xxxvi. 1. 'Chap. i. 2. = Chap. vii. 13; xi. 7, 8, 10; xiii. 10, 11 ; xvi. 12; rvii. 23; xviii. 12 ; xix. 15; xxii. 21. Chap, xlvii. 1, 5, 7.— tSee Isa. xx. 1. dChap. xlix. 7, &c. 'Chap. xlviii. 1. fChap. xlix. 1. e Chap, xlvii. 4. 1 Or, region by the sea side. ' Chap. xlix. 23. 1 Chap. xlix. 8. ' Heb. cut off into comers, or having the comers of the hair polled ; chap. Lx. 26; xlix. 32. n)2Chron. ix. 14. "See ver. 20; chap. xlix. 31 ; 1. 3 ; Ezek. xxx. 5. took the cup ;" I declared publicly the tribulation tha.. God was about to bring on Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, and all the nations. Verse 19. Pharaoh king of Egypt] This was PAa- raoh-necho, who was the principal cause of instigating the neighbouring nations to form a league against the Chaldeans. Verse 20. All the mingled people] The strangers and foreigners ; Abyssinians and others who had set- tled in Egvpt. Land of Uz] A part of Arabia near to Idumea. See on Job i. 1. Verse 22. Tynis and — Zidon] The most ancient of all the cities of the Phoenicians. Kings of the isles ivhich are beyond the sea.] As the Mediterranean Sea is most probably meant, and the Phoenicians had numerous colonies on its coasts, I prefer the marginal reading, the kings of the region by the sea side. Verse 23. Dedan] Was son of Abraham, by Ke- turah. Gen. xxv. 3. Tema] Was one of the sons of Ishmael, in the north of Arabia, Gen. xxxri. 15. Buz] Brother of Uz, descendants of Xahor, brother of Abraham, settled in Arabia Deserta, Gen. xxii. 21. Averse 24. The mingled people] Probably the Sce- nile Arabians. 321 Judgments oti wicked JEREMIAH. kings and magistrates OLXLllI.'s. and all the kings of ° Elam, and TarqurnhPrisci, all the kings of the Medes, R. Roman., 10. 36 p And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth : i and the kmg of She- shach shall drinlc after them. 27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; ' Drink ye, and ^ be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. 29 For, lo, ' I begin to bring evil on the city " which '' is called by my name, and should ye be utterly luipunished ? Ye shall not be unpunished : for ^ I ■will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. 30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall ' roar from on high, and utter his voice from y his holy habitation ; he shall mightily roar upon ^ his habitation ; he shall give " a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 A noise shall come even to the ends of oChap. ulix. 34. pChap. 1. 9. -