_A.M. 3274. B.C. 730._ We have here, (1,) _ The immediate consequence of the fall of Babylon, and the great revolution spoken of in the preceding chapter, namely, the deliverance of Judah from captivity, Isaiah 14:1; Isaiah 14:2. The triumphant song of the Jews on that subject, Isaiah 14:3. God's... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob_ Will pity and deliver his people; and therefore will destroy Babylon. which hinders their deliverance, and will raise up and exalt Cyrus, who shall promote it; and he will not prolong the time, but do these things speedily, as the prophet had just affirmed. Fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the people shall take them_, &c. They shall provide them with all necessary accommodations for their journey: see Ezra 4:1. _And Israel shall possess them for servants_ Those of the Chaldeans who left their own country for the sake of religion, and went along with the Jews into Judea, would pro... [ Continue Reading ]
_And in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow_ From thy grief, fear, and the hard bondage of former times; _wherein thou wast made to serve_ According to the pleasure of thy cruel lords and masters; _thou shalt take up this proverb_ Into thy mouth, as it is expressed; Psalms 50:... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that ruled the nations in anger_ With rigour, and not with clemency; _is persecuted and none hindereth_ Neither the Babylonians themselves nor their confederates. _The whole earth is at rest_ The subjects of that vast empire who groaned under his cruel bondage. _Yea, the cedars of Lebanon_ Which... [ Continue Reading ]
_How art thou fallen from heaven_ From the height of thy glory; _O Lucifer_ Lucifer is properly a bright star, that ushers in the morning; but is here metaphorically taken for the mighty king of Babylon, who outshone all the kings of the earth by his great splendour. _Son of the morning_ The title o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell_ To the grave, and the state of the dead; _to the sides of the pit_ And lodged there in the lowest state of misery and degradation. _They that see thee_ In this humbled and wretched state, _shall narrowly look upon thee_ As not knowing thee at first sight, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_All the kings of the nations_ That is, other kings generally; _lie in glory_, &c. Are buried in their own sepulchres, having stately monuments erected to their memory. The persons who are represented as uttering these words are supposed to have before their eyes the carcass of the king of Babylon,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Prepare slaughter for his children_ O ye Medes and Persians, cut off all the branches of the royal family. This, it is probable, was actually done, for Belshazzar being slain, and the monarchy translated to the people last mentioned, it is not likely that any related to the family of the former mon... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord of hosts hath sworn_, &c. Here begins another prophecy against the Assyrians, which was to be fulfilled much sooner than the foregoing, even in the life-time of the prophet. But, “though of a peculiar and different, it is not of a totally foreign argument: it contains the epilogue and conc... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the year Ahaz died was this burden_ This is the second sermon of this second part of Isaiah's prophecies, (see the general argument, and the contents of chap. 13.,) in which the prophet denounces judgment against the Philistines, exulting in the prosperous state of their affairs, under the reign... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the firstborn of the poor_ Those who are most remarkably poor; _shall feed_ Shall have plenty of provisions, in spite of all thy attempts against them. The same Hezekiah, who shall be such a scourge to thee, Palestina, shall be a mild and gracious governor to his own subjects; he shall take car... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howl, O gate_ O people, who used to pass through the gates; _cry, O city_ O inhabitants of the city; or _city_ may be put collectively for all their cities. _Thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved_ Hebrew, נמוג, _art melted_, which may be understood, either of the faintness of their spirits and coura... [ Continue Reading ]
_What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation_ At the same time that “the prophet sees, as it were, a thick cloud, coming from the north, darkening the heavens, an emblem of the calamity coming from that quarter on the Philistines, he sees the messengers of that nation, as in a common dan... [ Continue Reading ]