CHAPTER XLVI _The idols of Babylon represented as so far from being able to_ _bear the burden of their votaries, that they themselves are_ _borne by beasts of burden into captivity_, 1, 2. _This beautifully contrasted with the tender care of God, in_ _bearing his people from first to last in hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 46:2. _THEY COULD NOT DELIVER THE BURDEN_ - "They could not deliver their own charge"] That is, their worshippers, who ought to have been borne by them. See the two next verses. The _Chaldee_ and _Syriac_ Versions render it in effect to the same purpose, _those_ _that bear them_, meanin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 46:3. _WHICH ARE BORNE_ BY ME _FROM THE BELLY_ - "Ye that have been borne by me from the birth"] The prophet very ingeniously, and with great force, contrasts the power of God, and his tender goodness effectually exerted towards his people, with the inability of the false gods of the he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 46:7. _THEY BEAR HIM UPON THE SHOULDER - AND SET HIM IN HIS_ _PLACE_] This is the way in which the Hindoos carry their gods; and indeed so exact a picture is this of the _idolatrous procession_ of this people, that the prophet might almost be supposed to have been sitting among the Hind... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 46:8. _SHOW YOURSELVES MEN_] התאששו _hithoshashu_. This word is rather of doubtful derivation and signification. It occurs only in this place: and some of the ancient interpreters seem to have had something different in their copies. The _Vulgate_ read התבששו _hithbosheshu, take shame t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 46:11. _CALLING A RAVENOUS BIRD FROM THE EAST_ - "Calling from the east the eagle"] A very proper emblem for Cyrus, as in other respects, so particularly because the ensign of Cyrus was a golden eagle, ΑΕΤΟΣ χρυσους, the very word עיט _ayit_, which the prophet uses here, expressed as ne... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 46:12. _Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted _- This is an address to the Babylonians, stubbornly bent on the practice of injustice towards the Israelites.... [ Continue Reading ]