Isaiah 18:1

Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: Isaiah announces the overthrow of Sennacherib's hosts, and desires the Ethiopian ambassadors, now in Jerusalem, to bring word of it to their own nation, and calls on the whole world to witness the event (Isaiah 18:3). As Isaiah 17:12 announced the presence of the foe, so Isaiah 17:14 and Isaiah 18:1 foretell his overthrow. The heading in the English version, 'God will destroy the Ethiopians,' is a mistake arising from the wrong rendering "Woe," whereas the Hebrew, hoi, does not express a threat, but is an appeal calling atten...

1._Woe to the land. _I cannot determine with certainty what is the nation of which Isaiah speaks, though he shews plainly that it bordered on _Ethiopia. _Some consider it to refer to the whole of Egypt; but this is a mistake, for in the next chapter he treats of Egypt separately, from which it is evident that the people here meant were distinct from the Egyptians. Some think that the Troglodytes are here meant, which does not appear to me to be probable, for they had no intercourse with other nations, because their language, as geographers tell us, was hissing and not speech; (12) but those who are mentioned evidently had intercourse and leagues with other nations. Still it is uncertain whether they leagued against the Jews or joined with the Egyptians in driving out the Assyrians. If they were avowed enemies to the Jews, Isaiah threatens punishment; but if they deceived them by false pr...

CHAPTER XVIII _This chapter contains a very obscure prophecy; possibly_ _designed to give the Jews, and perhaps the Egyptians, whose_ _country is supposed to be meant_, 1, 2, _and with whom many Jews resided, an indignation of God's_ _interposition in favour of Sion_, 3, 4; _and of his counsels in regard to the destruction of their_ _common enemy, Sennacherib, whose vast army, just as he thought_ _his projects ripe, and ready to be crowned with success_, 5, _should become a prey to the beasts of the field, and to the_ fowls of

WOE TO THE LAND - (הוי _hôy_). This word, as has been already remarked (the note at Isaiah 17:12), may be a mere interjection or salutation, and would be appropriately rendered by ‘Ho!’ Or it may be a word denouncing judgment, or wrath, as it is often used in this prophecy (the note at Isaiah 5:8). SHADOWING WITH WINGS - (כנפים צלצל _tsı̂l__e__tsal_ _k__e__nāpāı̂ym_). This is one of the most difficult expressions in the whole chapter; and one to which as yet, probably, no satisfactory meaning has been applied. The Septuagint renders it, Οὐαὶ γῆς πλοὶων

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 18:1 THE HOMAGE OF ETHIOPIA TO JEHOVAH. Amid the general excitement caused by the advance of Assyria, Ethiopia also is stirred, and stirred to its furthest limits. The king sends messengers in beats upon the canals and rivers to summon his troops to his standard (Isaiah 18:1, Isaiah 18:2). The earth stands agaze to see the result of the approaching collision (Isaiah 18:3); but God rests calmly in heaven while events are ripening ...

WOE TO THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS,.... Or, "O land", as calling to it; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi. It is very difficult to determine what land is here meant: some think the land of Assyria is here designed, as Aben Ezra and others, and so it is a continuation of the prophecy concerning the destruction of the Assyrians, in the three last verses of the preceding chapter Isaiah 17:12; the stretching out of whose wings is mentioned, Isaiah 8:8 and thought to be referred to here; others are of opinion that the land of Judea is intended, which trusted under the shadow of the wings of Egypt and Ethiopia, to whom the characters in the next verse Isaiah 18:2 are supposed to belong: but the more generally received sense is, that either Egypt

CHAPTER 18 When Israel Will be Brought Back 1. _The land beyond the rivers of Ethiopia (Isaiah 18:1)_ 2. _The ambassadors sent (Isaiah 18:2)_ 3. _The trumpet blown and Jehovah's Message (Isaiah 18:3)_ 4. _Israel restored to Mount Zion (Isaiah 18:7)_ An interesting prophecy concerning a nation of great power, which will be used in the bringing back of God's ancient people....

ISAIAH 18. ISAIAH DISCOURAGES THE SCHEMES OF ETHIOPIA. This chapter is probably connected with the policy of the Egyptian alliance so frequently denounced by Isaiah in 29- 31. Here the negotiations seem to be in the initial stage, and the courteous language of Isaiah agrees best with the view that at present he did not regard the alliance as within the range of practical politics. The land of Ethiopia is described, with special reference to the swarms of flies. Its rivers are the Blue and White Nile. Ambassadors have been sent to Jerusalem, apparently to induce the Jews to throw off the Assyrian yoke and assure them of support. They have come down the Nile, here called the sea (Isaiah 19:5 *), in light boats of papyrus (Exodus 2:3). These were very swift, and could be carried along the bank where the river was not na

WOE. Ho! The third of the seven burdens. LAND. BEYOND: i.e. land. beyond Abyssinia. SHADOWING WITH WINGS. of the rustling _zalzal_ (from _zalal,_ to tinkle, compare Deuteronomy 28:42)....

The word rendered _woe_is here neither a -cry of pity" nor (as usually in Isaiah) of indignation. It is simply a particle of salutation (_heus_) as in ch. Isaiah 55:1; Zechariah 2:6-7 (10, 11 Heb.). Render: HA, THE LAND, &c. _the land shadowing with wings_ a much disputed phrase. The most probable sense is that followed by R.V., THE LAND OF THE RUSTLING OF WINGS. The Hebr. noun for "rustling" _çělâçâl_or _çilçal_means a kind of "locust" (Deuteronomy 28:42), a "harpoon" (Job 41:7, A.V. "fish-spears"), and a very similar form means "cymbals" ...