Isaiah 18:2

That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! THAT SENDETH AMBASSADORS - messengers sent to Jerusalem at the time that negotiations passed between the Ethiopian Tirhakah and Hezekiah against the expected attack of Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:9). BY THE SEA - on the Nile (Isaiah 19:5), as what follows proves. EVEN IN VESSELS OF BULRUSHES - light canoes formed of papyrus, daubed over with pitch: so the "ark" in which Moses was exposed ...

2._Sending ambassadors by the sea. _This relates strictly to the state of those times. It would appear that this nation solicited the Egyptians or Syrians to harass the Jews, or that the Assyrians employed them for the purpose of harassing the Jews, or that they had formed an alliance with the Egyptians, in order that, by their united force, they might prevent the power of the Assyrians from increasing beyond bounds; for nothing more than conjectures can be offered, because we have no histories that give any account of it, and where historical evidence is wanting, we must resort to probable conjectures. These voyages, there is reason to believe, were not made to any place near at hand, but to a distant country. _In ships of reeds. _(13) We ought not to think it strange that he calls them _ships of reeds, _for it is evident from the ancient histories that these were commonly used by the E...

Verse Isaiah 18:2. _IN VESSELS OF BULRUSHES_ - "In vessels of papyrus"] This circumstance agrees perfectly well with Egypt. It is well known that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships, or boats, made of the reed papyrus. Ex ipso quidem papyro navigia texunt. PLINY, xlii. 11. Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro. LUCAN, iv. 136. _GO, YE SWIFT MESSENGERS_] To this nation before mentioned, who, by the Nile, and by their numerous canals, have the means of spreading the report in the most expeditious manner through the whole country: go, ye swift messengers, and carry this notice of God's designs in regard to them. By the swift messengers are meant, not any particular persons specially appointed to this office, but any of the

THAT SENDETH AMBASSADORS - That is, “accustomed” to send messengers. What was the design of their thus sending ambassadors does not appear. The prophet simply intimates the fact; a fact by which they were well known. It may have been for purposes of commerce, or to seek protection. Bochart renders the word translated ‘ambassadors’ by “images,” and supposes that it denotes an image of the god Osiris made of the papyrus; but there does not seem to be any reason for this opinion. The word ציר _tsı̂yr_ may mean an idol or image, as in Isaiah 45:16; Psalms 49:15. But it usually denotes ambassadors, or messengers Joshua 9:4;...

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 ...

THAT SENDETH AMBASSADORS BY THE SEA,.... The Red Sea, which washed the coasts of Egypt and Ethiopia, and which were united into one kingdom under Sabacus, or So the Ethiopian, called king of Egypt, 2 Kings 17:4 and this kingdom, or rather the king of it, is here described as sending ambassadors by sea to foreign courts, to make leagues and alliances, and thereby strengthen himself against attempts made on him; though some understand it of one part of Ethiopia, on one side of the Red Sea, sending to that on the other side; and some of Tirhakah the Ethiopian sending messengers to the king of Assyria to bid him defiance, and let him know he intended to fight him; and at the same time sent to the Jews, that they might depend upon his protection and help, Isaiah 37:9 some understand this of the Egyptian

THAT SENDETH AMBASSADORS The local reference is evidently to an embassy from Egypt, resulting in the alliance denounced in Isaiah 30, 31, (Jeremiah 37:7)....

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

THE SEA. the Nile. So called by the inhabitants of the Sudan to-day. BULRUSHES. reeds. Not the papyrus, but its companion reed, the _ambach,_ which reaches. height of fifteen feet and has yellow flowers. SCATTERED AND PEELED. "tall and smooth-faced". TERRIBLE. They formed the armies of "So" or Sha-baka, and are the backbone of the Anglo-Egyptian army. WHOSE LAND THE RIVERS HAVE SPOILED: i.e. the "sudd" or swamps (hence Sudan). The Dinka and Shilluk negroes live on the floating cakes of sudd....