Description of a ISAIAH. mighty Conqueror CHAPTER LXIII. The prophet, (or rather the Church he represents,) sees the great Deliverer, long promised 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, which 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 with this, and plainly enough refer to the very sudden and total overthrow 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, was the prototype, 1–6. At the seventh verse commences a penitential confession and supplication of the Jews, as uttered in their present dispersion, 7–19. A. Olymp. XVII. 1. 4. M. cir. 3292. WHO is this that cometh from the greatness of his strength? I cir. annum a Heb. decked. a 1 art thou red in R. Roman., 4. b Rev. 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 Macc. 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? I can only answer, that I know of no event in history to which, from its importance and circumstances, it can be applied: 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 introduced, 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. Compare chap. xxxiv.-L. The very remarkable passage with which this chapter 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 general design, and stand in its proper place in the order of prophecy. It is by many learned interpreters supposed 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 in 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? Ho overcame them in battle, and slew twenty thousand of them. And John Hyrcanus, 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 incorporated 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, threatened in the severest terms? But here is another very material circumstance to be considered, which, I presume, 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 Babylonish 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, and Vulgate confirm.-L. NOTES ON CHAP. LXIII. Verse 1. Who is this that cometh from Edom] 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. I that speak in righteousness-"I who publish righteousness"] A MS. has hammedabber, with the demonstrative article added with greater force and emphasis: The announcer of righteousness. A MS. has pry tsedakah, without be prefixed; and so the Septuagint and Vulgate. 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 rab, and mighty; which the Septuagint, Syriac, A mighty Conqueror and CHAP. LXIII. his conquests described. A. M. cir. 3292. thine apparel, and thy garments | uphold: therefore mine own farm Olymp. XVII I. like him that treadeth in the brought salvation unto me; my fury, it upheld me. B. C. cir. 712. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, winefat? c R. Roman., 4. 3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. and A. M. cir. 3292. Olymp. XVII. 1. B. C. cir. 712. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. 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 the 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. Lam. i. 15; Rev. xiv. 19, 20; xix. 15.- - Chap. xxxiv. 8; John xvi. 32.lxi. 2. -e Chap. xli. 28; lix. 16. I Verse 2. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel] Opposite, in the margin, my MS. has the common For lilebushecha, twenty-nine MSS. (nine an- reading by a later hand. cient) of Kennicott's, and thirty of De Rossi's, and one edition, have a¶¶ lilebusheycha in the plural; so the Septuagint and Syriac. And all the ancient Versions read it with mem, instead of the first lamed. But the true reading is probably malbushecha in the singular, as in ver. 3.-L. Verse 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. No created being could have any part in a sacrifice that was to be of infinite merit. And I will stain-" And I have stained"] For hi egalli, a verb of very irregular formation, compounded, as they say, of the two forms of the preterite and future, a MS. has 18 egalehu, the regular future with a pleonastic pronoun added to it, according to the Hebrew idiom: "And all my raiment, I have stained it." The necessity of the verb's being in the past tense seems to have given occasion to the alteration made in the end of the word. The conversive vau at the beginning of the sentence affects the verb, though not joined to it; of which there are many examples: anithani remim umikkarney רמים עניתני ומקרני "And thou wilt hear me (or hear thou me) from among the horns of the unicorns," Psa. xxii. 22.-L. Instead of hy al begadai, upon my garments, one of my ancient MSS. has 71 plaarets begadai, to the earth: but this word is partly effaced, and y al written in the margin by a later hand. Verse 5. And my fury-" And mine indignation"] For on vachamathi, nineteen MSS. (three ancient) of Kennicott's, nine of De Rossi's, and one of mine, and four editions, have p vetsidkathi, and my righteousness; from chap. lix. 16, which I suppose the transcriber retained in his memory. It is true that the Versions are in favour of the common reading; but that noticed above seems to stand on good authority, and is a reading both pleasing and impressive. Verse 6. And make them drunk in my fury—“ And crushed them in mine indignation"] For D vaashkerem, and I made them drunken, twenty-seven MSS., (three ancient,) twelve of De Rossi's, and the old edition of 1488, have ) vaashabberem, and I crushed them: and so the Syriac and Chaldee. The Septuagint have omitted this whole line... The re Verse 7. I will 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. maining part of this chapter, with the whole chapter following, contains a penitential confession and supplication of the Israelites in their present state of dispersion, 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 deserted and cast off by the God of their fathers, as no longer his peculiar people. They begin with acknowledging God's great mercies and favours to their nation, and the ungrateful returns made to them on their part, that by their disand had caused him to become their adversary. And obedience they had forfeited the protection of God, now the prophet represents them, induced by the memory 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 acknowledge him for then Father and Creator, they confess their wickedness and hardness of heart, they entreat his forgiveness, and deplore their present miserable 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. 10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit 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 * Judg. x. 16; Zech. ii. 8; Acts ix. 4.- Exod. xiv. 19; xxiii. 20, 21; xxxiii. 14; Mal. iii. 1; Acts xii. 11.- Deut. vii. 7, 8. a Exod. xix. 4; Deut. i. 31; xxxii. 11, 12; chap. xlvi. 3, 4. • Exod. xv. 24; Num. xiv. 11; Psa. lxxviii. 56; xcv. 9.-P Psa. Lxxviii. 40; Acts vii. 51; Eph. iv. 30. m shepherd of his flock? is he that put his holy within him? 12 That led them by the right hand of Moses," with his glorious arm, ▾ divid ing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name? 13 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 thyself a glorious name. q Exod. xxii. 21. Exod. xiv. 30; xxxii. 11, 12; Num. xiv. 13, 14, &c.; Jer. ii. 6.- Or, shepherds, as Psa. lxxvii. 20. Num. xi. 17, 25; Neh. ix. 20; Dan. iv. 8; Hag. ii. 5.—————a Exod. xv. 6. Exod. xiv. 21; Josh. iii. 16.- w Psa. cvi. 9. 12 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 first edition, with another, add the conjunction 1 vau, & vehu, and he. Verse 11. Moses and his people-" Moses his servant"] For 15y 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 172y abdo, his servant. These two words have been mistaken one for the other in other places; Psa. lxxviii. 71, and lxxx. 5, for my ammo, his people, and y ammecha, thy people, the Septuagint read 173y abdo, his servant, and y abdecha, thy servant. Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where, &c.—“ How he brought them up from the sea, with the shepherd of his flock; how," &c.] For 's aiyeh, how, interrogative, twice, the Syriac Version reads T 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 praises of the Lord-"The praise of JEHOVAH"] For M tehilloth, plural, twenty-nine MSS. (three ancient) and two editions, have n 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. 11. ην αiso Kugiou, "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 Septuagint 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 miccol, out of all, instead of bechol, in all, which makes no difference in the sense; and tsar they understand as y tsir. Και εγένετο αυτοις εις σωτηρίαν εκ πάσης θλίψεως αυTwv ou #peoẞus, oude ayyɛλos. “And he was salvation to them in all their tribulation; neither an ambassador nor an angel, but himself saved them." An angel of his presence means an angel of superior order, in immediate attendance upon God. So the angel of the Lord says to Zacharias, "I am Gabriel, The shepherd of his flock] That is, Moses. The that stand in the presence of God," Luke i. 19. The MSS. and editions vary in this word; some have it presence of JEHOVAH, Exod. xxxiii. 14, 15, and they roeh, in the singular number; so the Septuagint, angel, Exod. xxxiii. 20, 21, is JEHOVAH himself; here Syriac, and Chaldee. Others roey, plural, the an angel of his presence is opposed to JEHOVAH him- shepherds.-L. self, as an angel is in the following passages of the same book of Exodus. After their idolatrous worshipping 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. Αυτος | πрorogεvσoμaι σou, "I myself will go before thee," as the Septuagint render it. Verses 13, 14. That led them through the deep— As a beast goeth down 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. Verse 14. The Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest "The Spirit of JEHOVAH conducted them"] For The MSS. and editions are much divided between tenichennu, caused him to rest, the Septuagint the two readings of the text and margin in the com- have wonyngev aurous, conducted them; they read onɔn mon copies, lo, not, and 1 lo, to him. All the tanchem. The Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate read ancient Versions express the chetib reading, lo, not. tanchennu, conducted him. Two MSS. have And he bare them and carried them all the days of the word without the yod in the middle. a of the captive Jews B. C. cir. 712. 17 O LORD, why hast thou 4. M. cir. 3292. and hardened our heart from R. Roman., 4. where is thy zeal and thy strength, thy fear? Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. the sounding of thy bowels and of thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritmercies toward me? are they restrained? Or, y Deut. xxvi. 15; Psa. lxxx. 14.- - Psa. xxxiii. 14.-z the multitude. Jer. xxxi. 20; Hos. xi. 8.- Deut. xxxii. 6; 1 Chron. xxix. 10; chap. Ixiv. 8.- d Job xiv. 21; Eccles. ix. 5. Or, our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name. Verse 15. And thy strength-"And thy mighty power"] For Tл geburotheycha, plural, thirty-two MSS. (seven ancient) and twenty-one of De Rossi's, and seven editions, have geburathecha, singular. Are they restrained?] For ↳ elai, from (or in regard to) me, the Septuagint and Syriac read 11 eleynu, from us.— -L. ance. k 18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. 19 We are thine: thou never barest rule over them: they were not called by thy name. fPsa. cxix. 10.- - See chap. vi. 10, with John xii. 40; Rom. ix. 18.—— Num. x. 36; Psa. xc. 13. Deut. vii. 6; xxvi. 19; chap. Ixii. 12; Dan. viii. 24. Psa. lxxiv. 7. Or, thy name was not called upon them; chap. lxv. 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 while-"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 excepVerse 16. Our Redeemer; thy name is from ever- tionable which our translation has expressed; in which lasting—“O deliver us for the sake of thy name.' e."] however there seems to be a great defect; that is, the The present text reads, as our translation has render- want of what in the speaker's view must have been ed it, "Our Redeemer, thy name is from everlasting.' ." the principal part of the proposition, the object of the But instead of hyp méolam, from everlasting, an verb, the land, or it, as our translators supply it, which ancient MS. has lemaan, for the sake of, which surely ought to have been expressed, and not to have gives a much better sense. To show the impropriety been left to be supplied by the reader. In a word, I of the present reading, it is sufficient to observe, that believe there is some mistake in the text; and here the Septuagint and Syriac translators thought it ne- the Septuagint help us out; they had in their copy cessary to add 1 aleynu, upon us, to make out the har, mountain, instead of Dy am, people, sou opous rou sense; That is, "Thy name is upon us, or we are you dov, the mountain of thy Holy One. "Not only called by thy name, from of old." And the Septua- have our enemies taken possession of Mount Sion, gint have rendered goalenu, in the imperative and trodden down thy sanctuary; even far worse than mood, puras nuas, deliver us.—L. this has befallen us; thou hast long since utterly cast us off, and dost not consider us as thy peculiar peo Verse 17. Why hast thou made us to err] A mere 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. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. cir. annum B. C. cir. 712. cir. annum that thou wouldest rend 2 As when the melting fire A. M. cir. 3292. Olymp. XVII. 1. presence, a Psa. cxliv. 5.- Judg. v. 5; Mic. i. 4. Verse 1. O that thou wouldest rend the heavens This seems to allude to the wonderful manifestation of God upon Mount Sinai. Heb. the fire of meltings, Rabbi Jonah, apud Sal. ben Melec in loc. Which is approved by Schultens, Orig. Heb. p. 30. "The fire kindling the stubble does not seem like enough to the melting of the mountains to be brought What if thus ? Verse 2. As when the melting fire burneth-" As as a simile to it. the fire kindleth the dry fuel"] ' hamasim. "It means dry stubble, and the root is DD hamas," says 6 That the mountains might flow down at thy presence! The confession A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. f 3 When thou didst terrible | neither hath the Olymp. XVII. 1. things which we looked not for, God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, thou camest down, the mountains R. Roman., 4. flowed down at thy presence. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. i. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. d Exod. xxxiv. 10; Judg. v. 4, 5; Psa. lxviii. 8; Hab. iii. 3, 6. Or, seen a God besides thee, which doeth so for him, &c. Acts e Psa. xxxi. 19; 1 Cor. ii. 9. As the fire of things smelted burneth, As the fire causeth the waters to boil-' time of old they have not heard, they have not hearkened to, an eye hath not seen a God besides thee. There is no doubt of the Hebrew words of the second He shall work for that one that waiteth for him." line bearing that version."-Dr. JUBB. This I really think on the whole to be the best trans lation of the original. I submit 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 Syriac 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'On hamasim, read DD' yemasu. That the nations] For D goyim, the nations, four MSS. (one of them ancient) have on harim, the mountains.-L. The variations on this place are as follows: for shameu, they have heard, a MS. and the Septua gint read y shamanu, we have heard: for the second lo, not, sixty-nine MSS. and four editions have 1 velo, and not, and the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. And so jy veayin, and eye, Septuagint and Syriac. neth, the, (emphatic,) is added before Elohim, God, in MS. Bodleian. ɔ limechakkey, to them that wait, plural, two MSS. and all the ancient Versions.-L. Verse 5. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness—" Thou meetest with joy those who work righteousness"] The Syriac reads vv nns yno wy poga attah shesh baashi, as above. yn hy n bahem olam venivvashea. I am fully 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 In those is continuance, and we shall be saved— first epistle has made the same quotation, very nearly" Because of our deeds, for we have been rebellious"] 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 temperate criticism. One clause," neither hath it entered into the heart of man," (which, by the way, is a phrase purely Hebrew, y ny alah al leb, and should seem to belong to the prophet,) is wholly left out; and another is repeated without force or propriety; 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 better, than to offer to the reader this, perhaps disagreeable, 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 this passage was found; and the apostle is by some supposed in other places to have quoted such apocryphal writings. As the first of these conclusions will perhaps not easily be admit-hammaaleleynu, "because of our deeds; which I preted 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. I would read the whole verse thus; "Yea, from the sume was first altered to yn bemaaleleyhem, an easy and common mistake of the third person plural of the pronoun for the first, (see note on chap. xxxiii. 2,) and then with some farther alteration to |