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The desolations

A. M. cir. 3290.
B. C. eir. 714.

cir. annum

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CHAP. XIX.

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V

2 And I will set the Egyp- and the brooks " of defence shall Olymp. XVI. 3. tians against the Egyptians and be emptied and dried up the Nama Pompilii, they shall fight every one against reeds and flags shall wither. R. Roman,, 2. his brother, and every one against 7 The his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

3 And the 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 the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

4 And the Egyptians will I give over 1into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

5 m And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. 6 And they shall turn the rivers far away;

& Heb. mingle. Judg. vii. 22; 1 Sam. xiv. 16, 20; 2 Chron. xx. 23.- Ezek. xxxix. 21. Heb. shall be emptied.- Heb. swallow up. Chap. viii. 19; xlvii. 12.- Or, shut up. 1.Chap. xx. 4; 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.

of Egypt.

A. M. cir. 3290.
Olymp. XVI. 3.

B. C. cir. 714.

cir. annum Numa Pompilii,

R. Roman., 2.

paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

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8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.

9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.

10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.

11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools,

m Jer. li. 36; Ezek. xxx. 12.- -n 2 Kings xix. 24.- Heb. and shall not be.pl Kings x. 28; Prov. vii. 16. Or, white Heb. foundations.- Heb. of living things.Num.

works.
xiii. 22.

in that place seems plainly to require. The form of the verb here is very irregular; and the rabbins and grammarians seem to give no probable account of it.

Verse 8. The fishers also-"And the fishers"] There was great plenty of fish in Egypt; see Num. xi. 5. "The Nile," says Diodorus, lib. i., “abounds with incredible numbers of all sorts of fish." And much more the lakes. So Egmont, Pococke, &c. Verse 9. They that work in fine flax] mp pishtim sericoth, heckled flax, i. e., flax dressed on the heckle, or comb used for that purpose. The Vul. gate uses the word pectentes, combing.

They that weave networks shall be confoundedAnd confounden schul ben that wrogten star, plat, tinge and wevynge sotel thingis.—Old MS. Bible. Verse 10. And they shall be broken, &c.-" Her stores"] 'n shathotheyha, añoðŋxas, granaries.— Aquila.

NOTES ON CHAP. XIX. Verse 1. The burden of Egypt.] That is, the prophet's declaration concerning Egypt. Verse 3. They shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.] And thei schul asken their spmu lacres, and their debpnouris, and their devpl clepers, and their debpl sacrifters.-Old Bible. The import of the original words has already been given where they occur in the Pentateuch. See Deut. xviii. 10, &c. Verse 4. A cruel lord-" Cruel lords"] Nebuchadnezzar in the first place, and afterwards the whole succession of Persian kings, who in general were hard All that make sluices and ponds for fish—" All that masters, and grievously oppressed the country. Note, make a gain of pools for fish."] This obscure line is that for p kasheh, lord, a MS. reads up kashim, rendered by different interpreters in very different manlords, agreeable to which is the rendering of the Sep-ners. Kimchi explains DN agmey as if it were the tuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. same with pay agemah, from Job xxx. 25, in which he is followed by some of the rabbins, and supported by the Septuagint and secher, which I translate gain, and which some take for nets or inclosures, the Septuagint render by Zubov, strong drink or beer, which it is well known was much used in Egypt; and so Verse 6. Shall turn the rivers far away" Shall likewise the Syriac, retaining the Hebrew word become putrid"]heeznichu. This sense of sekra. I submit these very different interpretations the word, which Simonis gives in his Lexicon, from to the reader's judgment. The Version of the Septuathe meaning of it in Arabic, suits the place much bet-gint is as follows: Ka avres of TOIDUVTES TOV Zubov ter than any other interpretation hitherto given; and λυπηθήσονται, και τας ψυχας πονέσουσι· “ And all they that the word in Hebrew had some such signification, that make barley wine shall mourn, and be grieved in is probable from 2 Chron. xxix. 19, where the Vul- soul." gate renders it by polluit, polluted, and the Targum, by profaned, and made abominable, which the context

Verse 5. The river shall be wasted and dried up.] The Nile shall not overflow its banks; and if no inundation, the land must become barren. For, as there is little or no rain in Egypt, its fertility depends on the overflowing of the Nile.

Verse 11. The counsel, of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish" Have counselled a

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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.
f

Chap. ix. 14. Jer. li. 30; Nah. iii. 13.-c Chap. xi.
Heb. the lip.Or, of Heres, or of

u1 Cor. i. 20. Jer. ii. 16.-Or, governors. Heb. a corners.- -y Heb. a spirit of perverseness. Kings xxii. 22; | 15.- Zeph. iii. 9.chap. xxix. 10.

brutish counsel"] The sentence as it now stands in the Hebrew, is imperfect: it wants the verb. Archbishop Secker conjectures that the words 'y yoatsey pharoh should be transposed; which would in some degree remove the difficulty. But it is to be observed, that the translator of the Vulgate seems to have found in his copy the verb y yaatsu added after ny pharoh: Sapientes consiliarii Pharaonis dederunt consilium insipiens, "The wise counsellors of Pharaoh gave unwise counsel." This is probably the true reading it is perfectly agreeable to the Hebrew idiom, makes the construction of the sentence clear, and renders the transposition of the words above mentioned unnecessary.-L..

Verse 12. "Let them come"] Here too a word seems to have been left out of the text. After Ton chachameycha, thy wise men, two MSS., one ancient, add 18 yibu, let them come; which, if we consider the form and construction of the sentence, has very much the appearance of being genuine otherwise the connective conjunction at the beginning of the next member is not only superfluous but embarrassing. See also the Version of the Septuagint, in which the same deficiency is manifest.

Let them tell thee now- "And let them declare"] For yidu, let them know, perhaps we ought to read yodiu, let them make known.-Secker. The Septuagint and Vulgate favour this reading, raroav, let them declare.

the sun.

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bam; so the Septuagint, and perhaps more correctly." -Secker. So likewise the Chaldee.

Verse 15. The head or tail, branch or rush] R. D. Kimchi says, there are some who suppose that these words mean the dragon's head and tail; and refer to all those who are conversant in astronomy, astrology, &c.

Verse 16. Shall Egypt be-"The Egyptians shall be"] 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 threatening 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 an chag, and nan chagah. Five MSS. and two editions have nan lechagah.

Verse 18. The city of destruction-"The city of the sun"] Dy ir hacheres. This passage is attended 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 authority to it when built; from the notion which he industriously propagated, that Isaiah had in this place prophesied of the building of such a temple. He pretended that the very place where it should be built was expressly named by the prophet, ny ir hacheres, the city of the sun. This possibly may have been the original reading. The present text has Stay-"Pillars"] pinnath, to be pointed as Dir haheres, the city of destruction; which plural pinnoth, without doubt. So Grotius, and so the some suppose to have been introduced into the text by Chaldee. the Jews of Palestine afterwards, to express their deVerse 14. In the midst thereof] bekir-testation of the place, being much offended with this

Verse 13. Are deceived-" They have caused," &c.] The text has w vehitha, AND they have caused to err. Fifty of Kennicott's MSS., fifty-three of De Rossi's, and one of my own, ancient, thirtytwo editions, and the Vulgate and Chaldee, omit the I vau, and.

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Promises of the conversion

A. M. cir. 3290. B. C. cir. 714.

cir. annum

CHAP. XIX.

19 In that day shall there be Olymp. XVI. 3. an altar to the LORD in the midst Numa Pompilii, of the land of Egypt, and a pillar R. Roman., 2. at the border thereof to the LORD. 20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness 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 Egyptians 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.

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22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he mine inheritance.

Gen. xxviii. 18; Exod. xxiv. 4; Josh. xxii. 10, 26, 27. - See
Josh. iv. 20; xxii. 27.

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 cónsulto scripsisse. heres, pro cheres, ut alibi scribitur beith aven probeith El: wish bosheth pro by vs ish baal, &c. Vide Lowth. in loc."-Secker. "It seems that the prophet designedly wrote □ hères, destruction, for D cheres, the sun as elsewhere ¡ ' beith aven the house of iniquity, is written for beith El, the house of God; ish bosheth for hy v ish baal," &c. But on the supposition that Dy air haheres is the true reading, others understand it differently. The word heres in Arabic signifies a lion; and Conrad Ikenius has written 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 indeed called in the letter, whether real or pretended, of Onias to Ptolemy, which Josephus has inserted in his Jewish Antiquities, lib. xiii. e.-3. And I find that several persons of great learning and judgment think that Ikenius has proved the point beyond contradiction. See Christian. Muller. Satura Observ. Philolog. Michaelis Bibliotheque Oriental, Part v., 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 purpose 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 text; for the Greek version has here been either translated from a corrupted text, or wilfully mistranslated or corrupted, to serve the same cause. The place is there called roλs Adɛdex, the city of righteousness; a name apparently contrived by Onias's party to give credit to their temple, which was to rival

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i Mal. i. 11.

Chap. xi. 16.—Psa. c. 3; chap. xxix. 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 on cheres, the city of Hacheres, or, of the sun. · So likewise Symmachus, the Vulgate, Arabic, Septuagint, and Complutensian. On the other hand, Aquila, Theodotion, and the Syriac fead 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 intimation 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 countries, 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 Septuagint Version, p. 41; and Bryant's Observations on Ancient History, p. 124.-L.

tsebaoth,

Verse 19. An altar to the Lord] "of hosts," or Yehovah tsebaoth, is added by eight MSS. of good repute, and the Syriac Version.

Verse 23. Shall there be a highway] 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 Assyrian came into Egypt 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. Blessed be 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

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ree days, may posDe at the end of the or after the

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moleychu, thy feet, is the

by na domacet`s and De Rossi's

FAX, dar cat aurons, with the Septuagint, Sy

The destruction of

CHAP. XXI.

CHAPTER XXI.

Babylon foretold.

Prediction of the taking of Babylon by the Medes and Persians at the time of a great festival, 1–9. Short application of the prophecy to the Jews, partly in the person of God, and partly in his own, 10. Obscure prophecy respecting Dumah, 11, 12. Prophecy concerning the Arabians to be fulfilled in a very short time after its delivery, 13-17.

A. M.

714.

cir. annum

B. C. Cir. 20. THE burden of the desert of
Olymp. XVI. 3. the sea. As whirlwinds in
Numa Pompilii, the south pass through; so it
R. Roman, 2. cometh from the desert, from a
terrible land.

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A. M. cir. 3290.
B. C. cir. 714.
Olymp. XVI. 3.

Cir. annum

Numa Pompilii,

R. Roman., 2.

3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down xiii. 17; Jer. xlix. 34. Chap. xv.5 ; xvi. 11.—f Cháp. xiii. 8, country like a sea.' And Abydenus, (quoting Megasthenes, apud Euseb. Præp. Evang. IX. 41,) speaking of the building of Babylon by Nebuchadonosor, 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 Euphrates was turned out of its channel by Cyrus, it was suffered still to drown the neighbouring country; and, the Persian government, which did not favour the place, taking no care to remedy this inconvenience, it became 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

2 Agrievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, a Zech. ix. 14. Heb. hard.- Chap. xxxiii. 1.- Chap. The first ten verses of this chapter contain a prediction 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 colouring 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 enters into the midst of the action; and in the person of Babylon expresses, in the strongest terms, the astonishment and horror that seizes her on the sudden surpriseing of the city by Cyrus; and such it continues to this day. 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 declared 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.

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As whirlwinds 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 whirlwind," 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. 21 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.

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 person of God, partly in that of the prophet: "O my threshing-" "O my people, whom for your punishment Iously, 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 oppression will have an end in the destruction of your oppressors."-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 confined the Euphrates within its channel by raising great dams against it; for before it overflowed the whole

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Verse 2. The treacherous dealer dealeth treacher and the spoiler spoileth-"The plunderer is plundered, and the destroyer is destroyed."] 172137 habboged boged vehashshoded shoded. The MSS. vary in expressing or omitting the 1 vau, in these four words.

1

Ten MSS. of Kennicott are without the

vau in the second word, and eight MSS. are without the 1 vau in the fourth word; which justifies Symmachus, who has rendered them passively abɛrwv αθετειται και ὁ ταλαιπωρίζων ταλαιπωρεί. He read

bagud shadud. Cocceius (Lexicon in voce) observes that the Chaldee very often renders the verb 112 bagad, by 112 bazaz, he spoiled; and in this place, and in xxxiii. 1, by the equivalent word DN anas, to press, give trouble; and in chap. xxiv. 16 both by DIN anas and 1 bazaz; and the Syriac in this place renders it by Do talam, he oppressed.

All the sighing thereof have I made to cease“ ́[ ·

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