For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. Ver. 1. _For the Lord will have mercy upon Jacob._] And therefore destroy Babylon. _as _ Isa 13:1-22 Such is h... [ Continue Reading ]
And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. Ver. 2. _For servants and for handmai... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, Ver. 3. _That the Lord shall give thee rest, &c._] The Church hath her halcyons here; neither is she "smitten as those are that smot... [ Continue Reading ]
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! Ver. 4. _That thou shalt take up this proverb._] Or, Taunting speech; _a_ this exultatory and insultatory song, which upon the fall of Babylon shall be in every man's mo... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, [and] the sceptre of the rulers. Ver. 5. _The Lord hath broken the staff._] Wherewith these exactors cudgelled men, as so many beasts, into subjection and obedience. _ And the sceptre._] Or Rod of the rulers who ruled with rigour.... [ Continue Reading ]
He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, [and] none hindereth. Ver. 6. _He that smote the people in wrath, &c._] This is the tyrant's epitaph; there is at their death a general joy, as was the time when the world was well rid of Ti... [ Continue Reading ]
The whole earth is at rest, [and] is quiet: they break forth into singing. Ver. 7. _The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet._] _Quievit, conticuit._ _a_ All is hushed that was used to be set in an uproar by these restless ambitionists. _ They break forth into singing._] By a wide opening of the l... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, [and] the cedars of Lebanon, [saying], Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us._ Ver. 8. _Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee._] A notable metaphor, whereby sense and speech is attributed to senseless creatures; the trees once afraid to be felle... [ Continue Reading ]
Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet [thee] at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, [even] all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. Ver. 9. _Hell from beneath is moved for thee._] _Infernus ab inferendo; shaal,_ from its uns... [ Continue Reading ]
All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Ver. 10. _Art thou also become weak as we?_] _Interrogatio sarcastica et insultabunda._ Hast thou also a _Hic situs est,_ here he lies, or _Mortuus est,_ here he died, set upon thy tombstone? This... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. Ver. 11. _Thy pomp is brought down to the grave._] _Ipsaque iusta sepulta iacent,_ funeral rites, those dues of the dead, are wanting to thee. This was fulfilled in Belshazz... [ Continue Reading ]
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Ver. 12. _How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer!_] That is, not O Belzeebub, as some ancients, but, O Belshazzar rather, called Lucifer here, or the morning st... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 13. _For thou hast said in thine heart._] The natural heart is a palace of satanical pride; it is like unt... [ Continue Reading ]
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Ver. 14. _I will ascend above the height of the clouds._] _Ut verbo dicam, ero summa et sacra maiestas._ “ _Attingit solium Iovis, et coelestia tentat._ ” - _Hor., _ lib. i. Ode 3.... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Ver. 15. _Yet thou shalt be brought down be hell._] To the counterpoint of thy haughtiest conceits, _ad infimam erebi sedem._ So a merry fellow said that Xerxes, that great warrior who took upon him to control the sea, was now mending... [ Continue Reading ]
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; Ver. 16. _They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee._] Shall look wishingly upon thee, as scarce believing their own eyes, for the strange... [ Continue Reading ]
__ Isaiah 14:17 _[That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; [that] opened not the house of his prisoners?_ Ver. 17. _That made the world as a wilderness._] Nero the tyrant came into the world an Agrippa, or born with his feet forward, and turned the world upside down... [ Continue Reading ]
All the kings of the nations, [even] all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. Ver. 18. _All the kings of the nations,_] _i.e., _ Very many of them have their stately pyramids, tombs, mausolean monuments erected, as among us at Westminster Henry VII's chapel is a curious and costly pie... [ Continue Reading ]
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 sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Ver. 19. _But thou art cast out of thy grave,_] _i.e., _ Cast out and kept from thy grave.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, [and] slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Ver. 20. _Thou shalt not be joined to them in burial,_] _i.e., _ To your equals, your fellow kings, in funeral state and pomp. Christians have a... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 21. _Prepare another slaughter for his children._] For Belshazzar's posterity. This is God's charge to the Medes and Persians. See on I... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 22. _For I will rise up against him._] And therefore it is to no purpose for them to rise up to possess the land, and to fill the face of the world wit... [ Continue Reading ]
I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts. Ver. 23. _I will also make it a possession for the bittern._] Which is a kind of water fowl that maketh a hideous noise. _ And I will sweep it with the... [ Continue Reading ]
_The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, [so] shall it stand:_ Ver. 24. _The Lord of hosts hath sworn._] If he had but said it only it had been sure enough, for he cannot lie, he cannot deny himself; but when he sweareth anyt... [ Continue Reading ]
That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. Ver. 25. _That I will break the Assyrian in my Land._] Or, As in breaking the Assyrian in my land; for here, saith Junius,... [ Continue Reading ]
This [is] the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this [is] the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. Ver. 26. _This is the purpose that is purposed._] Heb., The council that is consulted. Now there are many devices in the heart of man, but, when all is done, the counsel o... [ Continue Reading ]
For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul [it]? and his hand [is] stretched out, and who shall turn it back? Ver. 27. _For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?_] _Emphasin habet interrogatio._ An excellent and unanswerable way of arguing from the irresistibl... [ Continue Reading ]
In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. Ver. 28. _In the year that King Ahaz died._] A very good world's riddance. When Tiberius the tyrant died, some of the people offered sacrifice for joy; others in detestation of him cried out, _Tiberium in Tiberim,_ Let Tiberius be thrown into Tiber.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit [shall be] a fiery flying serpent. Ver. 29. _Rejoice not thou, whole Palestine._] That is, the Philistines, _quos Iudaei animis armisque si... [ Continue Reading ]
And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. Ver. 30. _And the firstborn of the poor shall feed,_] _i.e., _ God's poor people shall; who though never so poor - as they were at a very low ebb un... [ Continue Reading ]
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, [art] dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none [shall be] alone in his appointed times. Ver. 31. _Howl, O gate._] Philistines are elsewhere taxed for flashy and foolish mirth Jdg 16:23-30 2Sa 1:20-21 Here they are told they h... [ Continue Reading ]
What shall [one] then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it. Ver. 32. _That the Lord hath founded Zion._] Not Hezekiah, but Jehovah hath done it.... [ Continue Reading ]