_A.M. 3246. B.C. 758._ In this chapter we have the prophet's fourth discourse, containing an account of a glorious vision wherewith he was favoured; the design of which was, 1st, To exhibit a figure of the kingdom of the Son of God, hereafter to be manifested in the world; and, 2d, To foretell the... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord_ “As this vision,” says Bishop Lowth, “seems to contain a solemn designation of Isaiah to the prophetical office, it is by most interpreters thought to be the first in order of his prophecies. But this perhaps may not be so: for Isaiah is said, in t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Above it_ Or, rather, _above him_, as ממעל לו might be better rendered; _stood the seraphim_ As ministers attending upon their Lord, and waiting to receive and execute his commands. The word _seraphim_, which, like _cherubim_, is plural, signifies _burning_, or _flaming ones_, from the verb שׂר Š,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And one cried unto another_ Divided into two choirs, they sung responsively one to the other; _and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts_ “God's holiness,” says Lowth, “or the superlative purity of his nature, implies in it all the rest of his attributes, especially his justice and mercy, whi... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the posts of the door moved_ Together with the door itself. Such violent motions were commonly tokens of God's anger. And here, it seems, this concussion of the temple was intended to signify God's displeasure against his people for their sins, and to be a token of its destruction, by the Babyl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said I_, &c. The second part of this vision begins here, containing the sanctification of the prophet, in order to his undertaking of a great prophetical office, and showing, 1st, his state of mind upon the sight of the preceding illustrious vision: his consternation under a sense of his great... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then flew one of the seraphim unto me_ By God's command; _having a live coal in his hand_ Both a token and an instrument of purification, as the next verse explains it; _which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar_ Of burnt-offering, which stood in the court of the priests, where the proph... [ Continue Reading ]
_Also I heard the voice of the Lord_ We have here the third part of this vision, comprehending, 1st, A trial of the disposition of the prophet, now sanctified, with his reply to the Lord, in this verse; 2d, The command delivered to him concerning the execution of the divine judgment upon the Jews, o... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he said, Go, and tell this people Not my people_, for I disown them as they have rejected me. _Hear ye indeed, but understand not_, &c. The Hebrew words are imperative; yet they are not to be taken as a command, enjoining what the people ought to do, but only as a prediction foretelling what th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said I, Lord, how long?_ An abrupt speech, arising from the prophet's great passion and astonishment: how long shall this dreadful judgment last? _Until the cities be wasted_, &c. Until this land be totally destroyed, first by the Babylonians, and afterward by the Romans. _And the Lord have re... [ Continue Reading ]
_But yet in it shall be a tenth_ A small remnant reserved, that number being put indefinitely. _And it shall return_ Out of the Babylonish captivity, into their own land. _And shall be eaten_ Or, _shall be for a prey_, as Dr. Waterland translates it: that is, that remnant shall be devoured a second... [ Continue Reading ]