CHAPTER XLVIII _The Jews reproved for their obstinate attachment to idols,_ _notwithstanding their experience of the Divine providence over_ _them; and of the Divine prescience that revealed by the_ _prophets the most remarkable events which concerned them, that_ _they should not have the least... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:6. _THOU HAST HEARD, SEE ALL THIS _- "Thou didst hear it beforehand; behold, the whole is accomplished"] For חזה _chazeh,_ _see_, a MS. has הזה _hazzeh, this_; thou hast heard the whole of _this_: the _Syriac_ has וחזית _vechazith_, "thou hast heard, _and_ _thou hast seen_, the whole... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:9. _AND FOR MY PRAISE _- "And for the sake of my praise"] I read ולמען תהלתי _ulemaan tehillathi_. The word למען _lemaan_, though not absolutely necessary here, for it may be understood as supplied from the preceding member, yet seems to have been removed from hence to Isaiah 48:11;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:10. _I HAVE CHOSEN THEE_ - "I have tried thee"] For בחרתיך _becharticha_, "I have _chosen_ thee," a MS. has בחנתיך _bechanticha_, "I have _tried_ thee." And so perhaps read the _Syriac_ and _Chaldee_ interpreters; they retain the same word בחרתך _bechartach_; but in those languages i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:11. _FOR HOW SHOULD_ MY NAME _BE POLL__uted _- "For how would my name be blasphemed"] The word שמי _shemi, my name_, is dropped out of the text; it is supplied by a MS. which has שמי _shemi_; and by the _Septuagint_, ὁτι το εμον ονομα βεβηλουται. The _Syriac_ and _Vulgate_ get over... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:12. _O JACOB_ - "O Jacob, my servant"] After יעקב _yaakob_, a MS. of _Kennicott's_, two of _De Rossi's_, and the two old editions of 1486 and 1488, add the word עבדי _abdi_, "my servant," which is lost out of the present text; and there is a rasure in its place in another ancient MS.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:14. _WHICH AMONG THEM HATH DECLARED THESE THINGS_ - "Who among you hath predicted these things"] For בהם _bahem_, "among _them_," twenty-one MSS., nine ancient, and two editions, one of them that of the year 1488, fourteen of _De Rossi's_, and one ancient of my own, have _bachem_, "a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:16. _COME YE NEAR UNTO ME_] After the word קרבו _kirbu_, "draw near," a MS. adds גוים _goyim_, "O ye nations;" which, as this and the two preceding verses are plainly addressed to the idolatrous nations, reproaching their gods as unable to predict future events, is probably genuine.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:18. _AS A RIVER _- "Like the river"] That is, the Euphrates.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:19. _LIKE THE GRAVEL THEREOF_ - "Like that of the bowels thereof"] בצאצאי מעי הים והם הדגים _betseetsaey meey haiyam vehem_ _haddagim_; "As the issue of the bowels of the sea; that is, fishes." - _Salom. ben Melec_. And so likewise _Aben Ezra, Jarchi,_ _Kimchi_, c. _HIS NAME_ - "Thy... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:20. _TELL THIS _- "Make it heard"] _Twenty-seven_ MSS. of _Kennicott's_, (_ten_ ancient,) many of _De Rossi's_, and two ancient, of my own, with the _Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee_, and _Arabic_, and one edition, prefix to the verb the conjunction ו _vau_, והשמיעו vehashmiu.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:21. _THEY THIRSTED NOT - THROUGH THE DESERTS_] _Kimchi_ has a surprising observation upon this place: "If the prophecy,' says he, "relates to the return from the Babylonish captivity, as it seems to do, it is to be wondered how it comes to pass, that in the Book of Ezra, in which he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 48:22. THERE IS _NO PEACE, SAITH THE LORD, UNTO THE WICKED._] _See below, Clarke's note on "_Isaiah 57:21_"_. As the destruction of Babylon was determined, God commands his people to hasten out of it; for, saith the Lord, _there is no peace_ (prosperity) to the wicked; ουκ εστι χαιρειν... [ Continue Reading ]