Isaiah 5:28

Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: ALL THEIR BOWS BENT - ready for battle. THEIR HORSES' HOOFS ... FLINT. The ancients did not shoe their horses; hence, the value of hard hoofs for long marches. THEIR WHEELS - the wheels of their chariots. The Assyrian army abounded in cavalry and chariots (Isaiah 22:6; )....

28._Their arrows will be sharp. _He means that they will be provided with necessary weapons. The custom alluded to is that which existed among the Assyrians and other eastern nations, who frequently made use of bows and arrows in battle, as Englishmen of the present day enter into the battlefield with a loaded quiver. (90) Under this class he includes every kind of weapons of war. But as the way was long, and the journey difficult, the Jew might think that many things would occur to interrupt the march of the enemy. He therefore says, that _the hoofs of the horses will be like flint_; by which he means that they will suffer no molestation, and will at length arrive in Judea without weariness. For a similar reason he compares _their wheels to a whirlwind_. The ancients were wont to employ chariots in going to war, and therefore he mentions not only _horses_, but _wheels_. All these circum...

24-30 Let not any expect to live easily who live wickedly. Sin weakens the strength, the root of a people; it defaces the beauty, the blossoms of a people. When God's word is despised, and his law cast away, what can men expect but that God should utterly abandon them? When God comes forth in wrath, the hills tremble, fear seizes even great men. When God designs the ruin of a provoking people, he can find instruments to be employed in it, as he sent for the Chaldeans, and afterwards the Romans, to destroy the Jews. Those who would not hear the voice of God speaking by his prophets, shall hear the voice of their enemies roaring against them. Let the distressed look which way they will, all appears dismal. If God frowns upon us, how can any creature smile? Let us diligently seek the well-grounded assurance, that when all earthly helps and comforts shall fail, God himself will be the streng...

Verse Isaiah 5:28. _THEIR HORSES' HOOFS SHALL BE COUNTED LIKE FLINT_ - "The hoofs of their horses shall be counted as adamant"] The shoeing of horses with iron plates nailed to the hoof is quite a modern practice, and was unknown to the ancients, as appears from the silence of the Greek and Roman writers, especially those that treat of horse medicine, who could not have passed over a matter so obvious and of such importance that now the whole science takes its name from it, being called by us farriery. The horseshoes of leather and iron which are mentioned; the silver and gold shoes with which Nero and Poppaea shod their mules, used occasionally to preserve the hoofs of delicate cattle, or for vanity, were of a very different kind; they enclosed the whole hoof as in a case, or as a shoe does a man's foot, and were bound or tied on. For this reason the strength, firmness and solidity of...

WHOSE ARROWS ARE SHARP - Bows and arrows were the common instruments of fighting at a distance. Arrows were, of course, made sharp, and usually pointed with iron, for the purpose of penetrating the shields or coats of mail which were used to guard against them. AND ALL THEIR BOWS BENT - All ready for battle. THEIR HORSES’ HOOFS SHALL BE COUNTED LIKE FLINT - It is supposed that the ancients did not usually shoe their horses. Hence, a hard, solid hoof would add greatly to the value of a horse. The prophet here means, that their horses would be prepared for any fatigue, or any expedition; see a full description of horses and chariots in Bochart’s “Hieroz.” P. i. lib. ii. ch. viii. ix. AND THEIR WHEELS LIKE A WHIRLWIND - That is, the wheels of their chariots shall be swift as the wind, and they shall raise a cloud of dus

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 5:1 ISRAEL REBUKED BY THE PARABLE OF A VINEYARD. This chapter stands in a certain sense alone, neither closely connected with what precedes nor with what follows, excepting that it breathes throughout a tone of denunciation. There is also a want of connection between its parts, the allegory of the first section being succeeded by a series of rebukes for sins, expressed in the plainest language, and the rebukes being followed by a threat of punishment, also expressed with plainness. The resemblance of the parable with which the chapter opens to one of those delivered by our Lord, and recorded in the three synoptic Gospels, has been frequently noticed....

WHOSE ARROWS [ARE] SHARP, AND ALL THEIR BOWS BENT,.... Ready to shoot their arrows upon any occasion; and which being sharp, penetrated deep, and were deadly. This includes all kind of warlike instruments, with which they should come furnished, and ready prepared to do execution: THEIR HORSES' HOOFS SHALL BE COUNTED LIKE FLINT; by those who rode upon them; who knowing how strong and firm they were, and that they were not worn out, nor hurt by the length of the way they came, would not spare to make haste upon them: AND THEIR WHEELS LIKE A WHIRLWIND; that is, the wheels of their chariots, they used in battle, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret it; and so the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it: this metaphor denotes both the swiftness with which they should come, and the noise and rattling they should make, and the power and force in bearing down all before them. The Targu...

CHAPTER 5 The Song of the Vineyard and the Six Woes 1. _The song of the vineyard and Jehovah's lament (Isaiah 5:1)_ 2. _The judgment upon the vineyard (Isaiah 5:5)_ 3. _The wild grapes (Isaiah 5:8)_ 4. _First woe against covetousness (Isaiah 5:8)_ 5. _Second woe against fleshly lusts (Isaiah 5:11)_ 6. _Third woe against mockers (Isaiah 5:18)_ 7. Fourth woe against moral insensibility ...

THE LAST STROKE. It is generally agreed that this belongs to Isaiah 9:8 to Isaiah 10:4, each strophe of which closes with the same refrain as Isaiah 5:25. Unhappily, except for this closing verse, the strophe of which Isaiah 5:25 is the conclusion has been lost, unless indeed Isaiah 5:25, apart from the refrain, is an addition. There is no refrain at the end of Isaiah 5:26 ff., so this will form the close of the poem. After each stroke of Yahweh's wrath a fresh judgment has been announced;

A powerful description of the advance of the invaders, who however remain unnamed....