_HEZEKIAH, MOURNING, SENDETH TO ISAIAH TO PRAY FOR THEM. ISAIAH COMFORTETH THEM. SENNACHERIB, GOING TO ENCOUNTER TIRHAKAH, SENDETH A BLASPHEMOUS LETTER TO HEZEKIAH. HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER. ISAIAH'S PROPHESY OF THE PRIDE AND DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB, AND THE GOOD OF ZION. AN ANGEL SLAYETH THE ASSYRIANS.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SENT—UNTO ISAIAH THE PROPHET— It appears through the whole sacred history to have been the custom to consult prophets of remarkable authority in doubtful cases. The present example is parallel to that mentioned 2 Kings 22:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE CHILDREN ARE COME TO THE BIRTH— This was a proverbial expression, used to convey ideas of the greatest calamity and almost inevitable danger. Procopius thus explains the words: "We are in pain to hear such blasphemous expressions, but are unable to punish those who have made use of them." Vi... [ Continue Reading ]
SENT TO REPROACH THE LIVING GOD, &C.— This strongly marks the distinction between the Almighty, considered as the tutelary God of his chosen people, and the tutelary deities of the Pagan nations: The latter were only lifeless idols; the former was endued with unceasing life, and the source of life t... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I WILL SEND A BLAST UPON HIM— _Behold, I will put a spirit_ [_of fear_] _into him, when he shall hear,_ &c. Vitringa. See chap. Isaiah 31:8 whence it clearly follows, that the interpretation here given is right, and that the prophet here refers to the fears of Sennacherib upon the report of... [ Continue Reading ]
FOUND THE KING OF ASSYRIA WARRING AGAINST LIBNAH— _Libah_ was not far from _Lachish,_ both being situated on the mountains of Judah. It is probable, that Sennacherib, finding himself unable to take the latter, had removed to Libnah, which he considered as a place not so well fortified; and so situat... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HEZEKIAH PRAYED— The Pagans taught the knowledge of God, and the nature of their hero gods, only in their mysteries. The Hebrews were the only people whose object in their public and national worship, was the God of the universe. Josephus tells Apion, that the high and sublime knowledge which th... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE LAID WASTE ALL THE NATIONS, &C.— This is literally in the Hebrew, _All the lands and their land;_ but our translation undoubtedly gives the proper sense. See 2 Kings 19:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE VIRGIN, THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, &C.— Well-formed cities and states, flourishing, free, and obedient to honest and legal rule, are every where in Scripture compared to _virgins._ By _the daughter of Zion,_ and of _Jerusalem,_ are meant the people, inhabitants of Zion and Jerusalem. The image is ext... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THE MULTITUDE OF MY CHARIOTS— Cities, in the prophetical writings, are metaphorically represented by woods or forests, especially those of _Lebanon_ and _Carmel;_ and the several ranks of inhabitants by the taller and lesser trees growing there. Hence we may collect the true sense of this passage... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU NOT HEARD LONG AGO— The address of God to the Assyrian is here continued from Isaiah 37:23 wherein he answers the boastings of this proud prince, and convinces him that all his counsel and power were nothing, since these events wholly depended on a superior cause; namely, his sovereign wil... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE WILL I PUT MY HOOK, &C.— The meaning of the passage is plain, that God would so dispose matters by his providence, as to compel the Assyrian to return back with his army, circumscribing and leading him like a horse, or a wild beast, wherever and as he pleased. The metaphor, in the latter p... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS SHALL BE A SIGN UNTO THEE— The discourse is here directed to Hezekiah, whose faith in the event just predicted God is pleased to confirm by an additional _sign;_ which sign, as it was not to happen till the event above predicted was fulfilled, was to be considered as a token, not only of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE REMNANT THAT IS ESCAPED— The prophet passes from fields to men, and from the cultivation of land to the nation and the church; for, having just said, that, being delivered from the Assyrians, they should cultivate their land as usual, he adds, that it should also come to pass that the nation... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD— There is a gradation in these words, as is usual with Isaiah. The _first_ declaration is, that Sennacherib, if he shall attempt to besiege the city, shall never be able to succeed: _He shall not come into this city._ The _second_ is, that he shall not bring his army so... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR MY SERVANT DAVID'S SAKE— All the promises made to David were made to him in Christ; he and his kingdom were types of the kingdom of Christ. It is to this, and not to the personal merits of David, that the sacred writer here alludes.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WENT FORTH, AND SMOTE— Sennacherib, flushed with his victories, and breathing destruction against the kingdom of Judah, which had withdrawn its allegiance from him, in his opprobrious message to Hezekiah and his subjects, not only inveighed against them, but blasphemously... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOUSE OF NISROCH HIS GOD— This was probably the tutelary deity of that country, who might originally have been their king or legislator, and might have been deified, as the custom was, to preserve the veneration of his laws, or the memory of his services to the state. The LXX has it u925?ασαραχ... [ Continue Reading ]