Isaiah 27:8

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, though still precarious, sense is reached by the help of a word (sa'sa'a) which the Arabs use in driving animals. The first half of the verse would thus read: By driving her forth, by sending her away, thou contendest with her (i.e. Israel). The allusion is to the Exile, and perhaps the figure may be that of a divorced wife. The last clause reads: he hath removed (her) with his rough blast in a day of east wind (nearly as R.V.).