_Hath Israel no sons? Why then doth their king inherit Gad?_ Is there no posterity of Israel, that the king of the Ammonites hath taken possession of Gad, as if he had a right to it, and his people dwell in the cities of it? Instead of _their king_, here, Blaney reads _Milcom_, and Dr. Waterland and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore I will cause the noise of war to be heard in Rabbah,_ &c. The principal city of that country. _Her daughters shall be burned with fire_ That is, the lesser cities, which are reckoned so many daughters to the mother city. _Then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs_ Hebrew, וי... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled_ This _“Ai_ must be a different city from that taken by Joshua, chap. 8., which lay on the west side of Jordan. Grotius mentions another city, called _Gaia_ by Ptolemy; which, being near Heshbon, the destruction of it was matter of concern to the neighbouring city... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys?_ That is, in the riches of thy fat and plentiful valleys, which overflow with abundance of all things: compare Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 28:4. Though they be fruitful, yet glory not therein, for, notwithstanding their fertility, they shall be no security to thee ag... [ Continue Reading ]
_Concerning Edom_ The destruction of Edom, or Idumea, is likewise foretold by Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah: see the margin. _Is wisdom no more in Teman_ “The eastern part of the world (by which is chiefly meant Arabia and the adjacent countries) was famous for the study of wisdom, or philosophy,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep_ “When the Arabs,” says Harmer, “have drawn upon themselves such a general resentment of the more fixed inhabitants of those countries that they think themselves unable to stand against them, they withdraw into the depths of the great wilderness, where none can follow... [ Continue Reading ]
_If grape-gatherers come to thee_, &c. The vintage is not usually gathered so clean but there will be a gleaning left, Isaiah 17:6; and house-breakers, or thieves, commonly leave something behind. _But I have made Esau bare_ But the destruction coming upon thee will be so entire that scarcely a remn... [ Continue Reading ]
_Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them_, &c. The Chaldee paraphrast understands this of the Jews, to whom the following words do certainly belong, as if it contained God's promise to take care of their families, in that distressed and forlorn state to which the captivity had reduced th... [ Continue Reading ]
_They whose judgment was not to drink of the cup_ Namely, of God's wrath: see note on Jeremiah 25:15; _have assuredly drunken_ The Israelites, God's peculiar people, who, in regard to the gracious promises which he had made to them and to their fathers, the near relation in which they stood to him,... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have heard a rumour_ Hebrew, שׁמועה, a report or _message, from the Lord_, and _an ambassador is sent unto the heathen._ Obadiah begins his prophecy against Edom in similar words. The prophets, it must be observed, “often represent God as summoning armies, and setting them in array of battle agai... [ Continue Reading ]
_Edom shall be a desolation; every one shall hiss_, &c. See note on Jeremiah 18:16. _As in the overthrow of Sodom_, &c. A proverbial expression, denoting an utter destruction. _Behold, he shall come up like a lion_, &c. This is a description of Nebuchadnezzar's marching with his army against Idumea,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord_ Let them, the Edomites, hear and consider what God hath purposed against them. _Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out_ By the _least of the flock_, may be here understood the common soldiers in the Chaldean army, any one of whom, he says, shall ha... [ Continue Reading ]
_Concerning Damascus_ “Damascus was the capital of the kingdom of Syria: and had seemingly at this time swallowed up all the other petty sovereignties of that country. Isaiah had before uttered a prophecy concerning it, of a calamitous import, (chap. 17,) which had been fulfilled by Tiglath-pileser'... [ Continue Reading ]
_Damascus is waxed feeble_ That is, the inhabitants of Damascus. They have lost their ancient courage and valour; they were wont to be formidable to their enemies, but now they flee before them. _Fear_, or rather, _trembling_, or, _horror_, as רשׂשׂ, properly signifies, _hath seized on her, distress... [ Continue Reading ]
_Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor_ Kedar is well known to have been one of the sons of Ishmael, Genesis 25:13, who settled in Arabia. But of Hazor we find no satisfactory account given by commentators. There is, indeed, a city called _Hazor_, mentioned Joshua 11:10, and in other parts of S... [ Continue Reading ]
_Flee ye, get you far off_ Hebrew, נדו מאד; Vulgate, _Abite vehementer, Go away with eagerness_, or, _haste. Dwell deep_, or, “retire deep for to dwell:” see note on Jeremiah 49:8. _Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation_ The prophet here gives the Chaldeans a commission from God to undertake thi... [ Continue Reading ]
_The word that came to Jeremiah against Elam_ Elam we find to have been an independent, and even powerful kingdom, in the days of Abraham, Genesis 14:1. “But I am not of opinion with those writers,” says Blaney, “who hold that by Elam, in Scripture, Persia is always meant. There is no doubt but that... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I will break the bow of Elam_ The Elamites were famous archers, as this expression intimates, as also Isaiah's words, Isaiah 22:6; _And Elam bare the quiver._ Strabo also says, that the mountainous parts of _Elymais_ bred chiefly archers; στρατιωτας τρεφει τοξοτας τους πλειστους, lib. 16. p... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the latter days, I will bring again the captivity of Elam_ This is supposed to relate to the times of the _Lagi_ and _Seleucidæ_, when the Elamites recovered their liberty. Or, if we consider what is said in the foregoing verse to relate to Nebuchadnezzar, this may be understood of Cyrus's setti... [ Continue Reading ]