CHAPTER XXXVII _Hezekiah is greatly distressed, and sends to Isaiah the prophet_ _to pray for him_, 1-4. _Isaiah returns a comfortable answer, and predicts the_ _destruction of the king of Assyria and his army_, 5-7. _Sennacherib, hearing that his kingdom was invaded by the_ _Ethiopians, sends... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:6. _THUS SHALL YE SAY_] כה תאמרון _ko tomerun_, "thus shall ye (_explicitly, earnestly_, and _positively_) say." The paragogic נ _nun_ deepens and increases the sense.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:7. _I WILL SEND A BLAST _- "I will infuse a spirit into him"] "נותין בו רוח _nothen bo ruach_ never signifies any thing but putting a spirit into a person: this was πνευμα δειλιας, _the spirit of_ _deceit_." - _Secker_. "I will send a blast" - I do not think that Archbishop Secker ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:8. _RABSHAKEH RETURNED_] From Isaiah 36:2, we learn that the king of Assyria had sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem; now it is likely that Rabshakeh had besieged that place, and that the king of Assyria had taken his station before this city, and despatched Rabshakeh against Je... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:9. _HE HEARD SAY CONCERNING TIRHAKAH KING OF ETHIOPIA_] When he heard that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia had come out against him, then he sent that blasphemous _manifesto_ which is contained in Isaiah 37:10, to terrify Hezekiah into submission. How much was this like, in words and spiri... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:12. AS _GOZAN, AND HARAN_] חרן _Charan_: but הרן _Haran_ is the reading of _four_ of _Kennicott's_ MSS. and _one_ of _De_ _Rossi's_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:14. _AND READ IT_ - "And read them"] ויקראם _vayikraem_. So MS. Bodl. in this place; and so the other copy; instead of ויקראהו _vaiyikraehu_, "and read IT." _AND SPREAD IT_ - "And spread them"] ויפרשהו _vaiyiphresehu_. הו hu is upon a rasure in a MS., which probably was at first ם _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:15. _UNTO THE LORD _- "Before JEHOVAH"] That is, in the sanctuary. For אל _el_, the _Syriac, Chaldee_, and the other copy, 2 Kings 19:15, read לפני _liphney_, "before the face.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:18. _THE NATIONS_] הארצות _haratsoth_, "the lands;" instead of this word, which destroys the sense, _ten_ of _Kennicott's_ and _five_ of _De Rossi's_ MSS. (_one_ ancient) have here גוים _goyim,_ "nations;" which is undoubtedly the true reading, being preserved also in the other copy;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:20. _SAVE US_ - "Save us, we beseech thee"] The supplicating particle, נא _na_, is supplied here from _eighteen_ MSS., _three_ ancient, of Dr. _Kennicott_, and _ten_ of _De Rossi_, and from the other copy; 2 Kings 19:19. _THAT THOU_ ART _THE LORD_, EVEN _THOU ONLY_ - "That thou JEHO... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:21. _THEN ISAIAH - SENT UNTO HEZEKIAH_] The _Syriac_ and _Septuagint_ understand and render the verb passively, _was sent_. _WHEREAS THOU HAST PRAYED TO ME AGAINST SENNACHERIB_ - "Thy prayer unto me concerning Sennacherib - I have heard"] שמעתי _shamati_; this word, necessary to the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:23. _AGAINST THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL._] For אל _el, to_, the other copy has על _al, against_, rather more properly.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:24. _BY THY SERVANTS_ - "By thy messengers"] The text has עבדיך _abdeycha, thy servants_; but the true reading seems to be מלאכיך _malacheycha, thy messengers_, as in the other copy, 2 Kings 19:23; and as the _Septuagint_ and _Syriac_ found it in their copies in this place. _REPROAC... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:25. _WATER_ - "Strange waters"] The word זרים _zarim, strange_, lost out of the Hebrew text in this place, is supplied from the other copy. A MS. supplies the word רבים _rabbim, many_, instead of it. _WITH THE SOLE OF MY FEET_] With my _infantry_. _ALL THE RIVERS OF THE BESIEGED PL... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:26. _LAY WASTE DEFENDED CITIES INTO RUINOUS HEAPS_ - "Lay waste warlike nations; strong fenced cities."] גלים נצים _gallim_ _nitstsim_. It is not easy to give a satisfactory account of these two words, which have greatly embarrassed all the interpreters, ancient and modern. For גלים... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:27. _CORN BLASTED_] שדמה _shedemah, parched_: it does not appear that there is any good authority for this word. The true reading seems to be שדפה _shedephah, blasted_, as it is in six MSS. (two ancient) here, and in the other copy.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:29. _WILL I PUT MY HOOK IN THY NOSE_] Et fraenum meum: _Jonathan_ vocem מתג _metheg_, interpretatus est זמם _zemam_, i.e., annulum, sive uncum, eumque ferreum, quem infigunt naribus camelae: eoque trahitur, quoniam illa feris motibus agitur: et hoc est, quod discimus in Talmude; et... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:36. _THEN THE ANGEL_] Before "the angel," the other copy, 2 Kings 19:35, adds "it came to pass the same night, that"... The Prophet Hosea, Hosea 1:7, has given a plain prediction of the miraculous deliverance of the kingdom of Judah: - "And to the house of Judah I will be tenderly... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 37:38. _HIS SONS SMOTE HIM_] What an awful punishment of his blasphemy! Who can harden his neck against God, and be successful? God does not lightly pass by blasphemy against himself, his government, his word, his Son, or his people. Let the profligate take care!... [ Continue Reading ]