CHAPTER XXXIV _The prophet earnestly exhorts all nations to attend to the_ _communication which he has received from Jehovah, as the matter_ _is of the highest importance, and of universal concern_, 1. _The wrath of God is denounced against all the nations that had_ _provoked to anger the Defen... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:4. _AND ALL THE HOST OF HEAVEN_] Isaiah 24:21, and _De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum_, Prael. ix.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:5. _FOR MY SWORD SHALL BE BATHED IN HEAVEN_ - "For my sword is made bare in the heavens"] There seems to be some impropriety in this, according to the present reading: "My sword is made drunken, or is bathed in the heavens;" which forestalls, and expresses not in its proper place, w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:6. _THE LORD HATH A SACRIFICE_ - "For JEHOVAH celebrateth a sacrifice"] Ezekiel, Ezekiel 39:16, has manifestly imitated this place of Isaiah. He hath set forth the great leaders and princes of the adverse powers under the same emblems of goats, bulls, rams, fatlings, c., and has adde... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:7. _THE UNICORNS SHALL COME DOWN_] ראמים _reemim_, translated _wild goats_ by Bishop _Lowth_. The ראם _reem Bochart_ thinks to be a species of wild goat in the deserts of Arabia. It seems generally to mean the rhinoceros. _WITH BLOOD _- "With their blood"] מדמם _middamam_; so two an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:8. _THE YEAR OF RECOMPENSES FOR THE CONTROVERSY OF_ _ZION__ _- "The year of recompense to the defender of the cause of Zion"] As from דון _dun_, דין din, a judge; so from רוב _rub_, ריב rib, an advocate, or _defender; Judici_ Sionis: _Syriac_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:11. _THE CORMORANT_] קאת _kaath, the pelican_, from the root קיא _ki, to vomit_, because it is said she swallows shell-fish, and when the heat of her stomach has killed the fish, she vomits the shells, takes out the dead fish, and eats them. _THE BITTERN_] קפד _kippod_, the _hedge-h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:13. _AND THORNS SHALL COME UP IN HER PALACES_] ועלו בארמנותיה _vealu bearmenotheyha_; so read all the ancient versions. _A COURT FOR OWLS._] יענה _yaanah_, the _ostrich_, from ענה _anah_, to _cry_, because of the noise it makes. "They _roar_," says Dr. _Shaw_, "sometimes like a _lio... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:14. _THE WILD BEASTS OF THE DESERT_] ציים _tsiyim_, the _mountain cats_. - Bochart. _WILD BEASTS OF THE ISLAND_] איים _aiyim_, the _jackals_. _THE SATYR_] שעיר _seir_, the _hairy one_, probably the _he-goat._ _THE SCREECH OWL_] לילית _lilith_, the _night-bird_, the _night-raven, n... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:15. _THE GREAT OWL_] קפוז _kippoz_, the ακοντιας, or _darter_, a serpent so called because of its suddenly leaping up or _darting_ on its prey. Probably the _mongoz_ or _ichneumon_ may be intended. _THE VULTURES_] דיות _daiyoth_, the _black vultures_. My old MS. Bible renders these... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 34:16. _MY MOUTH_ - "For the mouth of JEHOVAH"] For הוא _hu_, five MSS., (three ancient,) read יהוה _Jehovah_, and another is so corrected; so likewise the _Septuagint_. Two editions have צום _tsivam_; and so the _Septuagint, Vulgate_, and _Arabic_, with the edition of 1486, and a MS. h... [ Continue Reading ]