The goodness of God in A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 3. ISAIAH. behalf of his followers. sand of the sea, yet a remnant dignation shall cease, and mine A. M. cir. 3291. of them shall return: the con- anger in their destruction. sumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. 23 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, be not afraid of the Assyrian: 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.- Or, in Chap. 9 Chap. xxxvii. 6. • Exod. 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 importance, follows them nearly in this place, nor any one of the ancient Versions, take any notice of the word shoteph, overflowing; which seems to give an idea not easily reconcilable with those with which it is here joined. I. S. Marlius (Schol. Philolog. ad Selecta 8. Cod. loca) conjectures that the two last letters of this word are by mistake transposed, and that the true reading is D shophet, judging, with strict justice. The Septuagint might think this sufficiently expressed by εν δικαιοσύνῃ, in righteousness. One MS., with St. Paul and Septuagint Alex., omits 1 bo in ver. 22; sixty-nine of Kennicott's and seventeen of De Rossi's MSS. and eight editions, omit col, all, in ver. 23; and so St. Paul, Rom. ix. 28. 26 And the LORD of hosts shall B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4. Numa Pompilii, cir. annum R. Roman, 3 stir up a scourge for him ac- 27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that 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. He is took him up three years, invested Jerusalem. The learned Dr. Bagot, dean of Christ Church, Ox-xara dov, MS. Pachom. Movopyn xara σov. MS. ford, afterwards Bishop of Bristol and Norwich, in some 1. D. II. So that 'pyt zaami, or Dym hazzaam, as one observations on this place, which he has been so kind MS. has it, seems to be the true reading. as to communicate to me, and which will appear in their Verse 26. And as his rod was upon the sea-" And proper light when he himself shall give them to the like his rod which he lifted up over the sea"] The public, renders the word pr kilayon by accomplish- Jewish interpreters suppose here an ellipsis of ke, ment, and makes it refer to the predictions of Moses; the particle of similitude, before no mattehu, to be the blessing and the curse which he laid before the supplied from the line above; so that here are two sipeople; both conditional, and depending on their future militudes, one comparing the destruction of the Assyconduct. They had by their disobedience incurred | rians to the slaughter of the Midianites at the rock of those judgments which were now to be fully executed Oreb; the other to that of the Egyptians at the Red upon them. His translation is, The accomplishment | Sea. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Sal. ben Melec. determined overflows with justice; for it is accomplished, and that which is determined 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 shall overflow with righteousness, (py tsedakah,) justification, the consequence of the Gospel of Christ being preached and believed on in the world. After the destruction of Jerusalem this word or doctrine of the Lord had free course,-did run, and was glorified. Verse 27. From off thy shoulder] Bishop Lowth His burden shall be removed from off thy shoulder; Yea, the yoke shall perish from off your shoulders." On which he gives us the following note: I follow here the Septuagint, who for ♫ mippeney shamen read mishshichmeychem, arо TWV wμwv iμwv, from Verse 24. After the manner of Egypt-"In the your shoulders, not being able to make any good sense way of Egypt."] I think there is a designed ambi-out of the present reading. I will add here the marguity in these words. Sennacherib, soon after his re- ginal conjectures of Archbishop Secker, who appears, turn from his Egyptian expedition, which, I imagine, like all others, to have been at a loss for a probable in The march of the A. M. cir. 3291. cir. annum CHAP. X. 28 He is come to Aiath, he is Olymp. XVI. 4. passed to Migron; at Michmash Numa Pompilii, he hath laid up his carriages: R. Roman., 3. 29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. b с е 30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. 31 h Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. b1 Sam. xiii. 23.- -1 Sam. xi. 4.- d Heb. cry shrill with thy voice.el Sam. xxv. 44.—f Judg. xviii. 7. Josh. xxi. 18. terpretation of the text as it now stands. "ò. leg. ƉƆ shakam ; forte legend. ¡D ♪♫♫ mibbeney shamen, vide cap. v. 1. Zech. iv. 14: Et possunt intelligi Judæi uncti Dei, Psa. cv. 15, vel Assyrii, □`ın mishmannim, hic ver. 16, ut dicat propheta depulsum iri jugum ab his impositum: sed hoc durius. Vel potest legi mippeney shami." destroying army. B. C. cir. 713. cir. annum 32 As yet shall he remain at A. M. cir. 3291. Nob that day: he shall shake Olymp. XVI. 4. his hand against the mount of Numa Pompilii, the daughter of Zion, the hill R. Roman., 3. 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 a by a mighty one. n Their lodging] The sense seems necessarily to reVerse 28. He is come to Aiath] A description of quire that we read lamo, to them, instead of h the march of Sennacherib's army approaching Jerusa-lanu, to us. These two words are in other places mislem in order to invest it, and of the terror and confu- taken one for the other. Thus chap. xliv. 7, for 1 sion spreading and increasing through the several places lamo, read 11 lanu, with the Chaldee; and in the same as he advanced; expressed with great brevity, but finely manner Psa. Ixiv. 6, with the Syriac, and Psa. lxxx. diversified. The places here mentioned are all in the 7, on the authority of the Septuagint and Syriac, beneighbourhood of Jerusalem; from Ai northward, to sides the necessity of the sense. Nob westward of it; from which last place he might Verse 30. Cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor probably have a prospect of Mount Sion. Anathoth | Anathoth—"Hearken unto her, O Laish; answer her, was within three Roman miles of Jerusalem, according O Anathoth!"] I follow in this the Syriac Version. to Eusebius, Jerome, and Josephus. Onomast. Loc. Hebr. et Antiq. Jud. x. 7, 3. Nob was probably still nearer. And it should seem from this passage of Isaiah that Sennacherib's army 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. Verse 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 The prophet plainly alludes to the name of the place, and with a peculiar propriety, if it had its name from its remarkable echo. "ny anathoth, responsiones : eadem ratio nominis, quæ in ny na 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 Onomasticon Vet. Test.-L. Anathoth-Answers, replies; for the same reason that Bethany, ♫ ♫ beith anath, had its name, the house of echo; the remains of which are still shown in the valley, i. e., among the mountains. Verse 33. Shall lop the bough with terror] ~78D purah; but D purah, wine-press, is the reading of twenty-six of Kennicott's and twenty-three of De Rossi's MSS., four ancient editions, with Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Chaldee. Verse 34. Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one] 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 be overthrown. 73 A prediction ISAIAH. of the Messiah CHAPTER XI. The Messiah represented as a slender twig shooting up from 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 Messiah's 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 whole 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. cir. 713. BC. r. 13 Olymp. XVI. 4. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 3. b 4. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. cir. annum AND there shall come forth | 4 But with righteousness shall a rod out of the stem of he judge the poor, and reprove Jesse, and a Branch shall grow with equity for the meek of the out of his roots : earth and he shall smite the 2d And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest earth with the rod of his mouth, and with upon him, the spirit of wisdom and under- the breath of his lips shall he slay the standing, the spirit of counsel and might, the wicked. spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 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 down and laid level with the ground by the axe wielded by the hand of some powerful and illustrious agent. 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 fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. Psa. lxxii. 2, 4; Rev. xix. 11. - Or, argue. Verse 5. The girdle-"The cincture"] All the ancient Versions, except that of Symmachus, have two different words for girdle in the two hemistichs. It is not probable that Isaiah would have repeated "IN azer, when a synonymous word so obvious as an cha Verse 4. With the rod of his mouth-" By the blast of his mouth"] For beshebet, by the rod, Houbigant reads n beshebeth, by the blast of his mouth, from w nashab, to blow. The conjecture is ingenious and probable; and seems to be confirmed by the Septuagint and Chaldee, who render it by the word of his mouth, which answers much better to the correction In opposition to this image he re-than to the present reading. Add to this, that the presents the great Person who makes the subject of blast of his mouth is perfectly parallel to the breath of this chapter as a slender twig shooting out from the his lips in the next line. trunk of an old tree, cut down, lopped to the very root, and decayed; which tender plant, so weak in appearanee, 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-gor occurred. The tautology seems to have arisen able instance of that method so common with the prophets, and particularly with Isaiah, of taking occasion, from the mention of some great temporal deliverance, to launch out into the display of the spiritual deliverance 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 captivity of Babylon, and is all along connected and intermixed with it. 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 wolf also shall, &c.-" 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 VIRG. Eclog. iv. 24. 7 And the cow and the shall feed; their young ones Numa Pompilii, shall lie down together and the R. Roman., 3. lion shall eat straw like the ox. 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 m They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for "the earth shall be full 1 Or, adder's. the Messiah's kingdom. of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. 10 And in that day there A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4 cir. annum Numa Pompili, R. Roman., 3. shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. 8 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall set his hand again the Job v. 23; chap. ii. 4; xxxv. 9.- Hab. P Ver. 1; Rom. xv. 12.- - Rom. xv. 10.- Heb. iv. 1, &c. ii. 14. Chap. ii. 11. Heb. glory.Chap. ii. 11. م "The serpent's brood shall die. The sacred ground foe." DRYDEN. Nec vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile, HOR. Epod. xvi. 51. "Nor evening bears the sheepfold growl around, Nor mining vipers heave the tainted ground." DRYDEN. Εσται δη τουτ' αμαρ, όπηνικα νεβρον εν ευνα Καρχαρόδων συνεσθαι ιδων λυκος ουκ εθελησει. 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 variety 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. All the serpent kind is so perfectly harmless, 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 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 lamb 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. but the exquisite imagery of Isaiah is not equalled. The application is extremely ingenious and beautiful : Verse 7. In this verse a word is omitted in the text, 17′ 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 Targum 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. A root of Jesse, which 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 himself. Seven MSS. have y omed, standing, the present participle. Radix Isæi dicitur jam stare, et aliquantum 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 11. 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 78 Adonai, thirtythree MSS. of Kennicott's, and many of De Rossi's, and two editions, read Yehovah. The salvation Christ A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4. cir. annum ISAIAH. brings to the distressed. A. M. cir. 3291. Olymp. XVI. 4. cir. annum second time to recover the rem- the Philistines toward the west; nant of his people, which shall they shall spoil them of the Numa Pompilii, be left, "from Assyria, and from east together: they shall lay R. Roman., 3. and Egypt, and from Pathros, and their hand upon Edom Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. 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 w corners of the earth. V 13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. b R. Roman., 3. C 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 And 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 14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of Egypt. u Zech. x. 10.-v John vii. 35; James i. 1.Heb. wings. * Jer. iii. 18; Ezek. xxxvii. 16, 17, 22; Hos. i. 11.—y Heb. 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”] □ny tsorerim. Postulat pars posterior versus, ut intelligantur inimicitiæ Judæ in Ephraimum et potest (tsorerim) inimicitiam notare, ut (`in nichumim) pœnitentiam, Hos. xi. 8. -SECKER. Verse 15. The Lord-shall smite it in the seven streams." Smite with a drought"] The Chaldee reads hecherib; and so perhaps the Septuagint, who have εgnuwe, the word by which they commonly render it. Vulg. desolabit; “shall desolate.” The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee read in hidrichahu, "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 circumstance of the same miracle: for "he caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all 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 Heb. the children of Ammon their obedience.- Le Chap. lx. 14. Zech. x. 11.- eRev. xvi. 12. Heb. in shoes. Chap. xix. 23. Exod. xiv. 29; chap. li. 10; lxiii. 12, 13. the same name to a narrow strip of land running into the sea: tenuem producit in æquoralinguam. Lucan. ii. 613. 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 seven mouths: but R. Kimchi understands it of the Euphrates, which is the opinion of some good judges. See the Targum. See below. 66 Herodotus, lib. i. 189, tells a story of his Cyrus, (a very different character from that of the Cyrus of the Scriptures and Xenophon,) which may somewhat illustrate this passage, in which it is said that God would inflict a kind of punishment and judgment on the Euphrates, and render it fordable by dividing it into seven streams. Cyrus, being impeded in his march to Babylon 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 easily 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 deliverance from the great Babylonish captivity, and for redemption by the Messiah, 1–6. A. M. cit. 3291. 713. 2 Behold, God is my salvation; cir. annum B. C. Cir. 13 AND in that day thou shalt away, and thou comfortedst cir, annum a Isaiah, chap. ii. 11. Numa Pompilii, This hymn seems, by its whole tenor, and by many of the Christian Church than for the Jewish, in any expressions in it, much better calculated for the use circumstances, or at any time that can be assigned. |