Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: Ver. 1. _Woe to the rebellious children._] _Vae filiis desertoribus, vel apostatis,_ so he boldly calleth the politicians of his time... [ Continue Reading ]
That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Ver. 2. _That walk to go down into Egypt._] This they were flatly forbidden to do. But state policy doth sometimes carry it against express Scri... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt [your] confusion. Ver. 3. _Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame._] They that consult not with God "consult shame to their own houses"; Heb 2:10 and because they despise him, they shall be li... [ Continue Reading ]
For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. Ver. 4. _For his princes were at Zoan._] Where Pharaoh kept his court, and Moses had done his miracles. _ And his ambassadors came to Hanes._] This was, saith Jerome, a famous city in the utmost part of Egypt, toward Ethiopia. Oecola... [ Continue Reading ]
They were all ashamed of a people [that] could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. Ver. 5. _They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them._] Either could not or would not, for fear of provoking the Assyrian, so potent and formidable a prince.... [ Continue Reading ]
The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence [come] the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people [that] shall not pro... [ Continue Reading ]
For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength [is] to sit still. Ver. 7. _For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose._] Heb., In vanity and inanity. Such are creature comforts if relied on, a very _magnum nihil._ Theref... [ Continue Reading ]
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: Ver. 8. _Now go, write before them in a table, and note it in a book._] He had proclaimed it before, Isa 30:7 but with ill success. Now he is commanded to commit it to writing, for... [ Continue Reading ]
That this [is] a rebellious people, lying children, children [that] will not hear the law of the LORD: Ver. 9. _That this is a rebellious people._] _Isaiae concepta verba praeit Deus; _ God dictateth to the prophet Isaiah what very words he shall set down. So he did to Moses, to Jeremiah, Jer 36:4... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:_ Ver. 10. _Which say to the seers, See not, &c._] Strange impudence! but in thus reciting their words, the prophet rather expresseth their spirit than their speec... [ Continue Reading ]
Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Ver. 11. _Get ye out of the way._] If that be the way which you so much insist upon, warp a little, remit of your rigour. _Religiosum opertet esse, sed non religentem._ Let a religious man work... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: Ver. 12. _Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel._] The prophet doth on purpose repeat this title, so much disrelished by them, to cross them. Ministers must n... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. Ver. 13. _Therefore this iniquity shall be unto you,_] _q.d., _ Your commonwealth is tumbling down apace, and ye are hastening the utter ruin of it, as if ye... [ Continue Reading ]
And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water [withal] out of the pit. Ver. 14. And he shall break it as the breaking of a potte... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. Ver. 15. _The Holy One of Israel._] A style much in the mouths of God's prophets in those times. But what great arrogance is it in t... [ Continue Reading ]
_But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift._ Ver. 16. _But ye said, No._] We will not return or rest. This is a golden rule of life, _In silentio et spe fortitudo vestra; _ but these refrac... [ Continue Reading ]
One thousand [shall flee] at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. Ver. 17. _One thousand shall flee._] See Deuteronomy 32:30, with the note. _ Until ye be left as a beacon._] Heb., A mast - _i.e... [ Continue Reading ]
And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD [is] a God of judgment: blessed [are] all they that wait for him. Ver. 18. _And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you._] This i... [ Continue Reading ]
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. Ver. 19. _For the people shall dwell in Zion, &c._] Or, For thou, the people of Zion that dwell in Jerusalem, shalt weep... [ Continue Reading ]
And [though] the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: Ver. 20. _And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity._] Though he hold you to hard meat, and give you but... [ Continue Reading ]
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Ver. 21. _And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee._] _Quum a tergo tuo dicent,_ when they shall say behind thee - viz., thy teachers: a metaphor... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. Ver. 22. _Thou shalt defile also the covering._] Thou shalt pollute the idols which thou hadst pe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures._ Ver. 23. _Then shall he give the rain of thy seed._] Or, For thy seed, or to thy seed. A... [ Continue Reading ]
The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. Ver. 24. _Shall eat clean provender._] Such plenty there shall be of corn that the cattle shall have of the best threshed out and winnowed. The Vulgate hat... [ Continue Reading ]
And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers [and] streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Ver. 25. _Rivers and streams of waters._] To moisten them and make them fertile. _ When the towers fall_] _i.e., _ Sennacherib's great prin... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. Ver. 26. _Moreover, the light of the moon, &c._] _i.e., _ Ve... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning [with] his anger, and the burden [thereof is] heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: Ver. 27. _Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far._] That is, an angel cometh from heaven to destroy the Assyrians: o... [ Continue Reading ]
And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and [there shall be] a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing [them] to err. Ver. 28. _And his breath as an overflowing stream._] God can blow men to destruction, Job 4:9... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye shall have a song, as in the night [when] a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel. Ver. 29. _He shall have a song._] As, after the passover eaten, they sang a hynm; so, after the Assyrian de... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of [his] anger, and [with] the flame of a devouring fire, [with] scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. Ver. 30. _And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice._] Hence some ga... [ Continue Reading ]
For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, [which] smote with a rod. Ver. 31. _Which smote with a rod._] Isaiah 10:5. Now he is broken in pieces with God's iron rod, Psa 2:9 _Iustissimae talionis exemplum._... [ Continue Reading ]
_And [in] every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, [it] shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it._ Ver. 32. _And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass._] _Virga fundata, seu inflxa; _ God's rod or staff,... [ Continue Reading ]
For Tophet [is] ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made [it] deep [and] large: the pile thereof [is] fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. Ver. 33. _For Tophet is ordained._] Heb., _Tophteh_ which some derive of _Pathah,_ to... [ Continue Reading ]