The Present Distress and the Future Glory of Jerusalem The last of the six "Woes" (see p. 206) is not addressed, like the others, to the ungodly rulers of Judah, but to some unnamed tyrant and "spoiler," by whom the land has been reduced to the utmost straits. The course of thought is as follows:... [ Continue Reading ]
The enemy is described by epithets which recur in ch. Isaiah 21:2; Isaiah 24:16. The obscurity of the reference is somewhat unlike Isaiah, who is usually perfectly explicit in his references to the Assyrian. _when thou shalt make an end_ The Heb. verb used is supposed to mean "attain"; but it occur... [ Continue Reading ]
The nation's prayer to Jehovah. The writer seems to make himself the spokesman of the community, a thing which Isaiah rarely does (see Isaiah 32:15); nowhere, as here, in a prayer. Cheyne, however, suggests that he speaks in the name of his own disciples, for whose sake he prays that the whole natio... [ Continue Reading ]
_At the noise of the tumult_ the convulsions which attend the manifestation of Jehovah. The phrase is found in 1 Kings 18:41 of a rain storm, and in Isaiah 13:4 of a multitudinous host.... [ Continue Reading ]
Assurance of Jehovah's victory, founded on the great deliverances of the past. The perfects in Isaiah 33:3 may be either those of experience, expressing a general truth often verified in history, or of prophetic assurance. Isaiah 33:4 seems to apply this truth to the present crisis.... [ Continue Reading ]
like _the gathering of the caterpillar_ i.e. "as the caterpillar gathers." The last word (meaning "devourer") is one of many names for the locust. It is sometimes taken as gen. of obj. ("as men gather locusts"), the creature being an article of diet among the poorer classes in the East; but this is... [ Continue Reading ]
_judgment and righteousness_can mean nothing else than personal and civic virtues in the inhabitants of the city. Isaiah could not have written thus of the Jerusalem he knew (cf. Isaiah 1:21); if he is the author the words must express a vivid anticipation of the great change in the national charact... [ Continue Reading ]
The writer draws encouragement from two thoughts: (1) from the nature of Israel's God; He is a spiritual Being, dwelling on high, beyond the reach of His enemies: (2) from the spiritual blessings He has conferred on His people. The connexion of these two may be gathered from ch. Isaiah 32:15; it is... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is difficult and may be construed in several ways. We might either render "and the stability of thy times shall be a store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge" (virtually as R.V. marg.); or take the words "stability of thy times" as a complete sentence (see Davidson's _Synt._§ 3, Rem. 2),... [ Continue Reading ]
_their valiant ones_ This word is hopelessly obscure. It is usually translated "God's lions," i.e. -picked warriors, each as fierce as a lion and as invincible as his God" (Cheyne: see on Isaiah 29:1, and cf. 2 Samuel 23:20; 1 Chronicles 11:22); and this is probably the sense intended by E.V. Anothe... [ Continue Reading ]
For a moment the prophet's faith seems to relax its hold on the great principles he has enunciated, as he turns to contemplate the misery and desolation of the present. But in reality this is an additional plea for the Divine intervention, to be followed by the exultant outburst of Isaiah 33:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The highways lie waste … ceaseth_ cf. Judges 5:6. _he hath broken the covenant_ See on Isaiah 33:7. _he hath despised the cities_ For _-ârîm_(cities) Duhm proposes to read _-çdîm_(witnesses), i.e. the witnesses to the broken treaty. There might no doubt be an allusion to the capture of the fenced... [ Continue Reading ]
_The earth mourneth and languisheth_ (cf. ch. Isaiah 24:4; Isaiah 24:7) in sympathy with the distress of God's people. It is the language of poetry. The "earth" is neither the whole world, nor merely the land of Palestine; its equivalent in modern parlance might be "Nature." The spots mentioned are... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah's answer to the complaint and prayer of His people.... [ Continue Reading ]
Still the words of Jehovah, addressed to the enemy. The present tense would be better than the future. For the first figure see ch. Isaiah 59:4; Job 15:35; Psalms 7:14. _your breath_ Better as R.V. YOUR BREATH (i.e. "anger") IS A FIRE THAT DEVOURS YOU.... [ Continue Reading ]
_as the burnings of lime_ i.e. "as if burned to lime." An image probably suggested by Amos 2:1. The word rendered _cut up_(R.V. CUT DOWN) only occurs again in Psalms 80:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
The signal deliverance of Jerusalem will be a great demonstration to all the world of the omnipotence of Israel's God. The verse is usually taken, and perhaps rightly, as an introduction to the second half of the poem, which deals mainly with the _consequences_of the great act of judgment.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The sinners … hypocrites_ Rather: THE SINNERS ARE AFRAID IN ZION, TREMBLING HATH SEIZED THE IMPIOUS (see on ch. Isaiah 9:17). An ungodly party still exists, in spite of the fact that Zion is filled with judgment and righteousness (Isaiah 33:5). The reason of their terror is expressed in what immedi... [ Continue Reading ]
Being thus assured of a speedy answer to his prayers, the writer proceeds, in language of great force and beauty, to describe the moral effect on the Jewish people.... [ Continue Reading ]
A triumphant answer to the fearful self-questionings of the ungodly. The passage closely resembles Psalms 15:2 ff; Psalms 24:4 f. First the character of the true citizen of God's Kingdom is expressed in general terms, and then the details are given in which the character is revealed. _that shaketh... [ Continue Reading ]
_he shall dwell on high_ (lit. "inhabit heights"), i.e. in absolute security, as is said of Jehovah Himself in Isaiah 33:5. _the munitions of rocks_ inexpugnable rock-fortresses. _bread_shall be _given_ The image of a siege is still kept up: the righteous inhabits a fortress that shall never be sta... [ Continue Reading ]
_the_(or A) _king in his beauty_ The reluctance of many expositors to interpret this phrase of the Messiah is incomprehensible. Delitzsch says that "the king of Isaiah 33:17 is no more the Messiah than the Messiah in Micah 5:1 [E.V. Isaiah 33:2] is the same person as the king who is smitten on the c... [ Continue Reading ]
The idea of the perfect security of the righteous man leads by an easy transition to more positive features of the golden age.... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall meditate terror_ Or, better, SHALL MUSE ON THE TERROR (R.V.), strive to realise its various circumstances which have so completely disappeared. _Where_is _the scribe?… receiver_ Render with R.V. WHERE IS HE THAT COUNTED, WHERE IS HE THAT WEIGHED; the officers who exacted the tribute. _that... [ Continue Reading ]
In those days it will require an effort of imagination to recall the dangers of the present, from which the nation shall have been so suddenly and so marvellously saved.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not see_ THE _fierce people_ Some render "people of barbarous speech"; cf. ch. Isaiah 28:11. _of a deeper speech, &c._ (Ezekiel 3:5), OF TOO DEEP SPEECH TO BE UNDERSTOOD. that thou canst _not understand_ Or, WITHOUT SENSE.... [ Continue Reading ]
For _solemnities_, render FESTAL ASSEMBLY. _a tabernacle_that _shall not be taken down_ Better (as R.V.), A TENT THAT SHALL NOT BE REMOVED. For the figure, cf. Jeremiah 10:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
The permanent peace and inviolability of Jerusalem, the centre of the true religion: see ch. Isaiah 32:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
Here Jerusalem is represented like the great cities of the Nile and Euphrates (cf. Nahum 3:8), as surrounded by an expanse of waters, protecting it from the approach of an enemy. The idea of course is purely poetical. _the glorious Lord_ Strictly, A GLORIOUS ONE, JEHOVAH. For _a place of_read INSTE... [ Continue Reading ]
In the New Jerusalem Jehovah is Judge, Lawgiver and King, and therefore also its Deliverer from every danger.... [ Continue Reading ]
The abrupt transition from the glorious future to the present or the past, in the first part of the verse, is somewhat surprising at this point. It is not Assyria but Zion which is compared to an unseaworthy ship, a comparison natural enough in itself, as when we speak of the "ship of state." _Thy... [ Continue Reading ]
The healing of disease and the forgiveness of sin are combined as in Psalms 103:3; Matthew 9:2 ff., &c. To the Old Testament saints sickness was the proof of God's displeasure and of sin unforgiven. Hence in the conception of the Messianic community, the abolition of sickness, the chief evil of life... [ Continue Reading ]