Isaiah 2:13

And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, AND UPON ALL THE CEDARS OF LEBANON ... OAKS - image for haughty nobles and princes (; Zechariah 11:1: cf. Revelation 19:18). AND UPON ALL THE OAKS OF BASHAN - east of Jordan, north of the river Jabbok, famous for fine oaks, pasture, and cattle. Perhaps in "oaks" there is reference to their idolatry ()....

13._Upon all the cedars of Lebanon _The allegory which is here introduced, about the _trees of Lebanon _and _the lofty mountains_, instead of obscuring, sheds light on the subject; for however high may be the wishes or endeavors of a mortal man, yet he will never be able to reach the height of the _mountains _and the _lofty trees, which _it is as easy for God to throw down as for a breath of wind to scatter the fallen leaves. Accordingly, in what may be called a painting, Isaiah shows to proud men how idle and foolish they are in believing that their elevation will be their defense. There is also an implied exaggeration, which must have contributed to heighten the terror. It cannot be supposed that God is actually angry with the mountains and trees, or that, having changed his purpose, he throws down what he has built up; but in the harmless creatures Isaiah holds out to view the judgmen...

10-22 The taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans seems first meant here, when idolatry among the Jews was done away; but our thoughts are led forward to the destruction of all the enemies of Christ. It is folly for those who are pursued by the wrath of God, to think to hide or shelter themselves from it. The shaking of the earth will be terrible to those who set their affections on things of the earth. Men's haughtiness will be brought down, either by the grace of God convincing them of the evil of pride, or by the providence of God depriving them of all the things they were proud of. The day of the Lord shall be upon those things in which they put their confidence. Those who will not be reasoned out of their sins, sooner or later shall be frightened out of them. Covetous men make money their god; but the time will come when they will feel it as much their burden. This whole passage may b...

Verse Isaiah 2:13. _AND UPON ALL THE CEDARS_ - "Even against all the cedars"] Princes, potentates, rulers, captains, rich men, c. - So _Kimchi_. These verses afford us a striking example of that peculiar way of writing, which makes a principal characteristic of the parabolical or poetical style of the Hebrews, and in which the prophets deal so largely, namely, their manner of exhibiting things Divine, spiritual, moral, and political, by a set of images taken from things natural, artificial, religious, historical, in the way of metaphor or allegory. Of these nature furnishes much the largest and the most pleasing share and all poetry has chiefly recourse to natural images, as the richest and most powerful source of illustration. But it may be observed of the Hebrew poetry in particular, that in the use of such images, and in the application of them in the way of illustration and o...

AND UPON ALL THE CEDARS OF LEBANON - This is a beautiful specimen of the poetic manner of writing, so common among the Hebrews, where spiritual and moral subjects are represented by grand or beautiful imagery taken from objects of nature. Mount Lebanon bounded Palestine on the north. It was formerly much celebrated for its large and lofty cedars. These cedars were from thirty-five to forty feet in girth, and very high. They were magnificent trees, and were valuable for ceiling: statues, or roofs, that required durable, and beautiful timber. The roof of the temple of Diana of Ephesus, according to Pliny, was of cedar, and no small part of the temple of Solomon was of this wood. A few lofty trees of this description are still remaining on Mount Lebanon. ‘After three hours of laborious traveling,’ says D’Arvieux, ‘we arrived at the famous cedars about eleven o’clock. We counted twenty-three...

SECTION II. DENUNCIATION OF GOD'S JUDGMENTS UPON HIS PEOPLE (CH. 2-5.). EXPOSITION ISAIAH 2:1 TITLE OF THE CHAPTER. It is generally allowed that the heading belongs, not to this chapter only, but to a section of the work, beginning here and ending at the close, either of Isaiah 4:1. or of Isaiah 5:1. It is probable that the section was originally published separately....

AND UPON ALL THE CEDARS OF LEBANON [THAT ARE] HIGH AND LIFTED UP,.... That is, upon the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication with Babylon, and will join with the beast and false prophet in making war with the Lamb. So the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret it of the kings of the nations, mighty and strong: AND UPON ALL THE OAKS OF BASHAN; nobles, princes, governors of provinces, as the same writers explain the words, oaks being inferior to cedars: the day of the Lord will be upon these, and their destruction come on at the battle of Armageddon, Revelation 19:18....

Isaiah 2:1. _The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it._ What grand hopes are kindled in our bosoms by words like these. The church has always been as a city set on a hill that cannot be hid, but still she has not been known in all parts of the world, and she has never been known with that universal eminence which attaches to the things of this world the things of pomp and show. But the day shall come when she shall be the highest of the high. Her mountain shall be established «on the tops of the mountains,» when she shall be best known of all the known, and shall become what she was always meant to be the metropolis of the whole world, the center to wh

CHAPTER 2 Zion's Future Glory and the Day of Jehovah 1. _The glories in the latter days (Isaiah 2:1)_ 2. _Exhortation to walk in the light (Isaiah 2:5)_ 3. _The corruption of the people (Isaiah 2:6)_ 4. _The day of Jehovah (Isaiah 2:10) _ The vision of verses 1-4 is altogether future. When Israel is converted and in possession of the land, when once more a house of Jehovah will stand in Israel's land, then this great prediction will be fulfilled. Compare withMicah 4:1-5 5. The Day of the Lord (Jehovah) is the day of His visible manifestation to deal with the earth in judgment. Compare with...

THE DAY OF YAHWEH. A poem dating from Isaiah's earliest period, dealing first with the sin, then with the judgment, of Israel. The text has been badly preserved. Probably the refrain which we find in various forms in Isaiah 2:10; Isaiah 2:19; Isaiah 2:21, stood at the beginning of the poem, before Isaiah 2:6 (Isaiah 2:5 being an editorial link). Another refrain occurs in Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 2:17, and a variant o