Isaiah 26:20 to Isaiah 27:13. The Conclusion of the Prophecy Isaiah 26:20 resumes the connexion of the prophetic discourse, interrupted since Isaiah 25:8; and this continues to the end, broken only by the lyrical passage, Isaiah 27:2-6. The contents, however, are of a somewhat mixed character, and... [ Continue Reading ]
The judgment on the ungodly powers of this world, is represented symbolically as the destruction of three living monsters by the sword of Jehovah. It is disputed whether the reference is to the world-power in general, or to a single Empire, or to three separate Empires. Assuming that they are distin... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse probably runs thus: IN THAT DAY " PLEASANT VINEYARD! SING YE OF IT." The introductory formula (cf. ch. Isaiah 25:9; Isaiah 26:1) is here curtailed to the bare note of time, "In that day"; the song itself begins with the words "Pleasant vineyard." This is preferable to making the last expre... [ Continue Reading ]
The song of the vineyard, the counterpart of ch. Isaiah 5:1 ff. This peculiar and perplexing passage has little relation to the context. It seems to fall into two stanzas; the first (Isaiah 27:2 a) expresses Jehovah's satisfaction in his vineyard (the Theocratic nation), the second (Isaiah 27:4; Isa... [ Continue Reading ]
_do keep it_ Better: AM ITS KEEPER. For _I will water … I will keep_, substitute I WATER … I KEEP.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fury is not in me_ Or, WRATH HAVE I NONE. These words naturally go with the first stanza, expressing, as they seem to do, Jehovah's contentment with the condition of His vineyard. _who would set … battle_ The phrase "Who will give?" is the well known Hebrew equivalent of the Latin _utinam_, "Would... [ Continue Reading ]
_Or let him take hold, &c._ ELSE MUST HE TAKE HOLD OF MY STRENGTH: lit. "my stronghold" or asylum: cf. 1 Kings 1:50; 1 Kings 2:28. The figure is relinquished; the idea expressed being that unconditional surrender to Jehovah on the part of the ungodly is the only alternative to his annihilation. The... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is attached to the song, but forms no integral part of it. It reads as in R.V.: IN DAYS TO COME SHALL JACOB TAKE ROOT, &c. By a unique ellipsis the word "days" is omitted in the original; hence the mistaken rendering of A.V., "them that come." _and fill the face of the world with fruit_ F... [ Continue Reading ]
A summons to national repentance and reformation. Has Israel suffered the extremity of Divine punishment as its oppressors have done (7)? There is a ground of hope in the moderation displayed by Jehovah in His chastisement of Israel; the prospect of ultimate reconciliation is held out; and this hope... [ Continue Reading ]
For the thought cf. Jeremiah 10:24-25. The interrogations imply, of course, a negative answer; Jehovah has _not_smitten Israel as He has those that smote it. In the second question the reading of LXX. and Peshito is to be preferred on account of the parallelism: HATH HE BEEN SLAIN ACCORDING TO THE S... [ Continue Reading ]
A very difficult verse. The first word in the Hebr. is supposed to be a contracted reduplication of _ṣěâh_(the third part of an ephah); hence "by seah and seah" = "in exact measure," "dealing out punishment in carefully adjusted quantities" (Cheyne and Kay). But this cannot be right. A better, thoug... [ Continue Reading ]
The condition of restoration and forgiveness. _Therefore_points back to the idea of Isaiah 27:7 the moderation of Israel's punishment, while _By this_, i.e. ("on this condition") points forward to the end of the verse, the removal of idolatrous emblems. _be purged_ BE EXPIATED (R.V. marg.). _and t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet the defenced city …_ Render with R.V.: FOR THE DEFENCED CITY IS SOLITARY, AN HABITATION DESERTED (lit. "expelled") AND FORSAKEN, &c. The verbs throughout are in the present tense.... [ Continue Reading ]
A picture of the desolation of Jerusalem, and the explanation of it. The commoner view is that the same hostile city as in Isaiah 25:2; Isaiah 26:5 is referred to, but the latter part of Isaiah 27:11 must refer to Israel. A partial parallel is found in ch. Isaiah 42:19 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
_women come_, and _set them on fire_ i.e. come thither to gather fuel. _a people of no understanding_ (lit. "not a people of discernment") because it does not perceive that deliverance is delayed solely by its continued impenitence (ch. Isaiah 44:18).... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Lord shall beat off … Egypt_ Rather: JEHOVAH SHALL THRESH OUT FROM THE CORN-EARS OF THE RIVER (the Euphrates) UNTO (THOSE OF) THE BROOK OF EGYPT, i.e. all that grows between those limits. The term "beat out" is applied both to the beating of olives from the tree (Deuteronomy 24:20) and to the b... [ Continue Reading ]
The return from Exile, a prophecy of the same character as ch. Isaiah 11:11-16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the_( A) _great trumpet_ Cf. ch. Isaiah 18:3; Zechariah 9:14; Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16. _they … which were ready to perish_ THE LOST ONES. _outcasts_ Cf. ch. Isaiah 11:12.... [ Continue Reading ]