XXXIV. (1) COME NEAR, YE NATIONS, TO HEAR... — The two Chapter s that follow have a distinct character of their own. They form, as it were, the closing epilogue of the first great collection of Isaiah’s prophecies, the historical section that follows (Isaiah 36-39) serving as a link between them and... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE HOST OF HEAVEN SHALL BE DISSOLVED... — No prophetic picture of a “day of the Lord” was complete without this symbolism (see Isaiah 13:10), probably written about this period. Like the psalmist (Psalms 102:26), Isaiah contrasts the transitoriness of sun, moon, and stars, with the eternity... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SWORD SHALL BE BATHED IN HEAVEN... — Literally, _hath drunk to the full._ The words find an echo in Deuteronomy 32:41, and Jeremiah 46:10. There, however, the sword is soaked, or made drunk with blood. Here it is “bathed _in heaven,”_ and this seems to require a different meaning. We read in Gree... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD HATH A SACRIFICE IN BOZRAH... — Two cities of this name appear in history; one in the Haurân, more or less conspicuous in ecclesiastical history, and the other, of which Isaiah now speaks, in Edom. It was a strongly fortified city, and is named again and again. (Comp. Isaiah 63:1; Amos 1:12... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE UNICORNS SHALL COME DOWN WITH THEM... — Better, _the aurochs,_ or _wild bulls_ ... The Hebrew, _rem,_ which meets us in Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalms 22:21, has been identified with the buffalo, the antelope (_Antilope leucoryx_)_,_ and by Mr. Houghton, a naturalist as well as a scholar, on the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE YEAR OF RECOMPENCES FOR THE CONTROVERSY OF ZION... — The long-delayed day of retribution should come at last. This would be the outcome from the hand of Jehovah for the persistent hostility of the Edomites to the city which He had chosen.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE STREAMS THEREOF SHALL BE TURNED INTO PITCH... — The imagery of the punishment which is to fall on Edom is suggested partly by the scenery of the Dead Sea, partly by the volcanic character of Edom itself, with its extinct craters and streams of lava. (Comp. Jeremiah 49:18.) The prophet sees the d... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE CORMORANT AND THE BITTERN SHALL POSSESS IT... — The picture of a wild, desolate region, haunted by birds and beasts that shun the abode of men, is a favourite one with Isaiah (comp. Isaiah 13:20; Isaiah 14:23), and is reproduced by Zephaniah (Zephaniah 2:14). Naturalists agree in translating... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL CALL THE NOBLES THEREOF... — The monarchy of Edom seems to have been elective, its rulers being known, not as kings, but by the title which the English version renders by “dukes” (Genesis 36:15). It will be noticed that no chief in the list of dukes is the son of his predecessor. Isaiah f... [ Continue Reading ]
AN HABITATION OF DRAGONS, AND A COURT FOR OWLS... — The wild creatures named are identified, as elsewhere, with _“_jackals” (“wild dogs,” Delitzsch) and “ostriches.”... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WILD BEASTS OF THE DESERT... — Better, _wild cats_ or _hyenas shall meet wolves._ The nouns that follow belong, apparently, to the region of mythical zoology. The English “satyr” expresses fairly enough the idea of a “demon-brute” haunting the waste places of the palaces of Edom, while the “scre... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GREAT OWL... — Better, _the arrow snake. _... [ Continue Reading ]
SEEK YE OUT OF THE BOOK OF THE LORD... — The phrase is an exceptional one. Isaiah applies that title either to this particular section, or to the volume of his collected writings. When the time of the fulfilment comes, men are invited to compare what they shall then find with the picture which Isaia... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH CAST THE LOT FOR THEM..._ — i.e.,_ hath allotted, or assigned it as by a formal deed of transfer, _to_ the savage beasts who are to be its future possessors. The thought is the same as that of Acts 17:26. God is represented as the Supreme Ruler assigning to each nation its place in the world... [ Continue Reading ]