C

18 He will surely violently turn 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,

* Or, O hey 2 Sam. xviii. 18; Matt. xxvii. 60.-z Or, the LORD who covered thee with an excellent covering, and clothed thee gorgeously, shall 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.

Shebna and Eliakim.

and from thy state shall he pull 4. M. cir. 3292. thee down.

B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1.

cir. annum

R. Roman., 4.

20 And it shall come to pass Numa Pompilii, in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:

d

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 Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall e open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open.

mentioned in the preceding verse, were the`ensigns of power and authority, so likewise was the key the mark of office, either sacred or civil. The priestess of Juno is said to be the key-bearer of the goddess, douxos 'Hpas Eschyl. Suppl. 299. A female high in office under a great queen has the same title :—

Καλλιθόη κλειδουχος Ολυμπίαδος βασιλείης. "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, xarwμadiav sxe xλaida, 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

Verse 16. A sepulchre on high-in a rock] 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 families. The vanity of Shebna is set forth by his being so studious and careful to have his sepulchre on high-in a lofty vault; and that probably in a high situation, that it might be more conspicuous. Hezekiah was buried, nyph lemalah, sv avaẞaosi, 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. xxxii. 33. There are some monuments still remaining in Persia of great antiquity, called Naksi 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 relievo, being the outside of the sepulchre, Some of these sepulchres are about thirty feet in the perpendi-peia, compares it to a key. It must be owned that the 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.

passage is very obscure; but the learned Huetius hás bestowed a great deal of pains in explaining it, Animadvers. in Manilii, lib. i. 355; and I think has succeeded very well in it. Homer, Odyss. xxi. 6, describes the key of Ulysses' storehouse as sʊxaμns, of a large curvature; which Eustathius explains by saying it was dgeravosdns, 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 introduced 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. Ulysses' key was of brass, and the

ISAIAH.

23 And I will fasten him as
a nail in a sure place; and he

Numa Pompilii, shall be for a glorious throne to
R. Roman., 4. 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

Ezra ix. 8.

the son of Hilkiah.

the vessels of cups, even to all the
vessels of flagons.

A. M. cir. 3292.

B. C. eir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1.

Cir. annum

Numa Pompilii,

25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is 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.

Or, instruments of viols. 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 aequainted with the thing itself, and have no name to express it but by what conveys to us a low and con

handle of ivory: but this 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-temptible idea. "Grace hath been showed from the 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..

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."

In allusion to the image of the key as the ensign" of power, the unlimited extent of that power is expressed 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 well as to serve for convenience. Sir John Chardin's account of this matter is tris 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-irous. 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 express 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

"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

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 affairs. Koran, Sur. xxxviii. 11, and lxxxix. 9. So some understand this passage of the Koran. Mr. Sale seems to prefer another interpretation.

Taylor, in his Concordance, thinks ¬ yathed means the pillar or post that stands in the middle, and supports the tent, in which such pegs are fixed to hang their arms, &c., upon; referring to Shaw's Travels, p. 287. But nyathed 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 manner upon this pillar does not prove that yathed was the pillar 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 prosperity; 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 vessels 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. 21. "The vessels in the house of the forest of Lebanon," the armoury of Jerusalem so called, "were two hundred targets, and three hundred shields of beaten gold." Ibid. ver. 16, 17. These

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 fastened in the wall for the support of all vessels destined for common or sacred uses; that is, as the principal support of the whole civil and ecclesiastical polity. And the consequence of his continued power will be the promotion and flourishing condition of his family and dependants, from the highest to the lowest.

against Tyre.

shall arise. Hilkiah signifies The Lord my portion or lot. The key of David, shutting and opening, &c., may intend the way of salvation through Christ alone. For the hope of salvation and eternal life comes only through Eliakim, the resurrection of Jesus Christ 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, D'YNY hatstseetsaim from NY' Vessels of flagons" Meaner vessels"]' neba- yatsa, to go out, the suckers from the root; the sidelim seems to mean earthen vessels of common use, brit-shoots, the apostles and primitive ministers of his tle, and of little value, (see Lam. iv. 2; Jer. xlviii. 12,) in opposition to aganoth, goblets of gold and silver used in the sacrifices. Exod. xxiv. 6.

Verse 25. The nail that is fastened] This 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 easy 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 robe, 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. cx. 4. Eliakim signifies The resurrection of the Lord; or, My God, he

word. The issue, my hatstsephioth, probably means the issue's issue; so the Targum. 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 lowest in intellect to the most exalted, 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 destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, delivered upwards of one hundred and twenty years before its accomplishment, at a period when the Tyrians 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 which must be meant the time allotted for the duration 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.

a

B. C. cir. 715. Olymp. XVI. 2.

cir. annum

B. C. cir. 715, THE burden of Tyre. Howl, land of Chittim it is revealed A. M. cir. 3289.
Olymp. XVI. 2. ye ships of Tarshish; for it to them.
Numa Pompilii, is laid waste, so that there is no
2 Be still, ye inhabitants of
R. Roman., 1. house, no entering in: from the the isle; thou whom the mer-

cir. annum

a Jer. xxv. 22; xlvii. 4; Ezek. xxvi., xxvii., xxviii;
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII.

Verse 1. The burden of Tyre] Tyre, a city on the coast of Syria, 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

Numa Pompilii,

R. Roman., 1.

Amos i. 9; Zech. ix. 2, 4.b Ver. 12.- - Heb. silent.

sultan of Egypt; and now contains only a few huts, in which about fifty or sixty wretched 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 denounces the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. It opens with an address to the Tyrian negotiators and sailors at Tarshish, (Tartessus, in Spain,) a place which, in the course of their trade, they greatly frequented. The news of the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar is said to be brought to them from Chittim, the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean; "for the Tyrians," says Jerome on ver. 6, "when they saw they

6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye in-strength." habitants of the isle.

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, Chap. xxii. 2. - Heb. See Ezek. xxviii. 2, 12.- Heb. to pollute.— Heb.

he shook the kingdoms: the people was not, till the Assyrian LORD hath given a commandment founded it for a them that dwell against m the merchant city, to in the wilderness: they set up R. Roman., 1. destroy the strong holds thereof. the towers thereof, they raised 12 And he said, Thou shalt no more re- up the palaces thereof; and he brought it joice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of to ruin. Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

Or, concerning a merchantman.m Heb. Canaan. Or, Rev. xviii. 22. 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 country, is compared to a river whose banks 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, ofrian contemporary with Alexander, (apud. Steph. de which I can find no other interpretation that is at all satisfactory.-L.