Isaiah · Chapter 11

V. 1. And-And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed because of the anointing, he now explains who that anointed person was. The stem-Or, stump: for the word signifies properly a trunk cut off from the root. By which he clearly implies, that the Messiah should be born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most forlorn condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but a stump or root under ground. Of Jesse-He doth not say of David, but of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, to intimate, that at the time of Christ’s birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive obscurity.

Verse 1. And, &c. — The fifth section of the fifth discourse begins here, and concludes with the next chapter. It is two-fold: in the first part the kingdom of Christ is described; in what manner, arising from the smallest beginnings, it should go on to increase, till, at length, it attained the highest perfection, verses 1-9. In the second part are set forth some remarkable events of that kingdom, illustrating its glory, with their consequences, verse 10 to chap. 12:6: see Vitringa. There shall come forth a rod — The prophet, having despatched the Assyrian, and comforted God’s people with the promise of their deliverance from that formidable enemy, now proceeds further, and declares that God would do greater things than that for them; that he would give them their long-expected and much-desired Messiah, and by him would work wonders of mercy for them. For this is the manner of the prophets, to take occasion, from particular deliverances, to fix the people’s minds upon that great and everlasting deliverance from all their enemies by the Messiah. And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed, because of the anointing, he now more particularly explains who that anointed person was. Bishop Lowth mentions another particular, which he thinks plainly shows the connection between this and the preceding chapter. “The prophet had described the destruction of the Assyrian army under the image of a mighty forest, consisting of flourishing trees, growing thick together, and of a great height: of Lebanon itself crowned with lofty cedars, but cut down, and laid level with the ground, by the axe wielded by the hand of some powerful and illustrious agent; in opposition to this image he represents the great person, who makes the subject of this chapter, as a slender twig, shooting out from the trunk of an old tree, cut down, lopped to the very root, and decayed; which tender plant, so weak in appearance, should nevertheless become fruitful and prosper.” Out of the stem — Or, rather, stump, as the word properly signifies: by which he clearly implies that the Messiah should be born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most forlorn condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but a stump, or root under ground. Of Jesse — He doth not say of David, but of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, to intimate, that at the time of Christ’s birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive obscurity.

Verse 1. A rod out of the stem of Jesse. See the note on Isaiah 4:2. David’s house had been cut down by Jehu, and latterly by the invasion against Ahaz: chap. 7. Now a branch shall arise out of Jesse’s root, notwithstanding all the excisions of the sword, to overshadow the church. This the elder rabbins with one consent expound of the Messiah, though modern Jews apply the prophecy to Hezekiah. This is the way to destroy the credibility of divine revelation, for none of the glorious things that follow in this chapter, were fulfilled in Hezekiah’s days, nor in the days of any of his successors.

A branch shall grow out of his roots. rxn naitzer, a shoot, a cion. Branches do not grow from the root, but from the tree. The Chaldaic paraphrase adds, A king shall come forth of Jesse, and Messiah shall be anointed of his sons’ sons.

1. There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse — The “rod” is a branch, a shoot, a sucker. The “stem” is a stump, or a nucleus of rootlets, either below or above ground. A branch shall grow out of his roots — Netzer, “a branch,” is a verdant and vigorous shoot. The chosen remnant of the royal house of David, which has sunk down to the insignificance from which it sprang, is the twig, shoot, branch, or whichever of the terms here supplied be taken, and is to build up by the new growth another trunk and crown. Delitzsch and Kay think they see in the insignificant Netzer the figure for the despised Nazarene; despised now, but in the sense of the applied figure bright, verdant, growing, he is to be hereafter the universally acknowledged King of glory. Also, in the verb phara, to grow, to be fruitful, reference is supposed to be made to Ephratah, or Bethlehem, so that in this verse allusion is thought to be made by divine intent both to Nazareth, where Christ’s birth was announced, and to Bethlehem, where it occurred. Both places are humble, and, to worldly Jews, of little account. Such etymologies are of use chiefly in homiletic exegesis. There is coincidence of sound and sense in the words referred to; but beyond this there is vague uncertainty.

V. 2. Wisdom-It is not needful, exactly to distinguish these two gifts; it is sufficient that they are necessary qualifications for a governor, and a teacher, and it is evident they signify perfect knowledge of all things necessary for his own and peoples good, and a sound judgment, to distinguish between things that differ. Counsel-Of prudence, to give good counsel; and of might and courage, to execute it. Knowledge-Of the perfect knowledge of the whole will and counsel of God, as also of all secret things, yea of the hearts of men. Fear-A fear of reverence, a care to please him, and lothness to offend him.

Verse 2. And the Spirit of the Lord — The Holy Ghost, by which he was anointed, (Acts 10:38,) and by whose power his human nature was formed in the womb of the virgin, (Luke 1:35,) shall rest upon him — Shall not only come upon him at certain times, as it came upon the prophets, but shall have its constant and settled abode in him; the spirit of wisdom and understanding — It is not needful exactly to distinguish these two gifts; it is sufficient that they are necessary qualifications for a governor and a teacher, and it is evident they signify perfect knowledge of all things necessary for his own and people’s good, and a sound judgment to distinguish between things that differ; the spirit of counsel and might — Of prudence, to give good counsel; and of might and courage, to execute it; the spirit of knowledge — Of the perfect knowledge of the whole will and counsel of God, as also of all secret things, yea, of the hearts of men; fear of the Lord — A fear of reverence, a care to please him, and aversion to offend him.

Ver. 2. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. It did so at the Jordan, when the Messiah was baptized; and in the sevenfold gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear, quickness of understanding. Revelation 4:5.

2. The Spirit of the Lord — The Holy Spirit of Jehovah, who communicates the whole creative fulness of divine powers. Shall rest upon him — In dove-like descent, as at the Jordan, with fulness of miraculous powers, and upon his person as the true temple. Three pairs of virtues now follow. Wisdom and understanding — These are poetically joined, but perhaps as equivalent expressions. They relate to the intellectual life. Counsel and might — Corresponding, as in Isaiah 9:7, to “Counsellor and mighty God.” These are combined with “wisdom and understanding” in Proverbs 8:14. They pertain to the practical life. Knowledge and… fear of the Lord — These have direct relation to God. Knowledge is founded on fellowship of love, and fear of Jehovah is absorbed in holy reverence. Virtually, “the Spirit” is used seven times. Is this accidental? Theosophy says, No; and seeks its “mystical symmetries” among examples like this, of “sacred sevens,” “triple pairs,” etc. For sacred numbers see Whedon’s supplementary note to chapter vi, of Commentary on Luke. Also Delitzsch’s Biblical Psychology, Mahan’s Psalmonia, and Stuart on the Apocalypse. App. 2. vol. 2.

V. 3. In the fear-He shall not judge rashly and partially, but considerately and justly, as the fear of God obliges all judges to do. Judge-Of persons or causes. After the sight-According to outward appearance, as men do, because they cannot search mens hearts. Reprove-Condemn or pass sentence against a person. His ears-By uncertain rumours or suggestions.

Verse 3. And shall make him of quick understanding — Hebrew, wjyrhw, shall make him of quick scent, smell, or perception; or, of quick discernment, as Bishop Lowth renders it; in the fear of the Lord — In things which concern the worship and service of God, and every part of religion. Or the meaning may be, He shall not judge rashly and partially, but considerately and justly, as the fear of God obliges all judges to do. And he shall not judge — Of persons, things, or causes; after the sight of the eyes — According to outward appearance, as men do, because they cannot search men’s hearts; neither reprove — Condemn, or pass sentence against any person; after the hearing of the ears — By uncertain rumours or suggestions, but shall thoroughly examine all causes, and search out the truth of things, and the very hearts of men. It implies also, that, “in collecting the people who shall compose his kingdom, he shall principally regard in them this quality of fear, or reverence for the Lord; and with the greatest sagacity and perspicuity of judgment, shall discern and separate those subjects in whom he finds this quality; not suffering that judgment to be deluded by the external appearance of truth or honesty, but, penetrating into the interior recesses of the mind by his prophetic spirit, he shall discriminate truth from error, the good from the bad, the sincere and pious from the hypocritical and impious.” All the churches shall know, says he, that I am he who searcheth the reins and the hearts.

3. Shall make him — The Spirit of Jehovah is still the subject. Of quick understanding — This is a peculiar expression. Literally, Of quick smell, or his fragrance. The meaning seems to be, that he breathes in the fear of the Lord, as in a sweet fragrance, the element natural to him. Normally he takes delight in it. Gracious deeds are to him the greatest pleasure. Not judge after the sight of his eyes — After the external appearance. Neither reprove — Nor shall he decide or judge. After the hearing of his ears — Or, by what sounds to the ear plausible merely. If the fear of Jehovah is fragrance to him, all his faculties are quick discerners for him of what is true, right, and good.

V. 4. Judge-Defend and deliver them. Reprove-Or condemn their malicious enemies. Thy rod-With his word, which is his scepter, and the rod of his power, Psalm 110:2, which is sharper than a sword, Hebrews 4:12, by the preaching whereof he subdued the world to himself, and will destroy his enemies, 2 Thessalonians 2:8. This he adds farther, to declare the nature of Christ’s kingdom, that it is not of this world.

Verse 4. With the rod of his mouth— “By the blast of his mouth”] For cbvb beshebet, by the rod, Houbigant reads tbvb beshebeth, by the blast of his mouth, from bvn nashab, to blow. The conjecture is ingenious and probable; and seems to be confirmed by the Septuagint and Chaldee, who render it by the word of his mouth, which answers much better to the correction than to the present reading. Add to this, that the blast of his mouth is perfectly parallel to the breath of his lips in the next line.

Verse 4. With righteousness — With justice and impartiality; shall he judge the poor — Whom human judges commonly neglect and oppress, but whom he shall defend and deliver; and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth — Shall condemn their malicious enemies, and give sentence for them. He calls them meek, whom before he called poor, partly to show his justice in defending them when they are most exposed to the contempt and injuries of men; and partly to signify that his subjects should be poor in spirit, as well as poor in the world, and not poor and proud, as many worldly persons are. And he shall smite the earth — That is, the men of the earth, intending chiefly the carnal and wicked, as it is in the next branch of the verse; with the rod of his mouth — With his word, which is his sceptre, and the rod of his power, (Psalm 110:2,) which is sharper than a sword, (Hebrews 4:12,) by the preaching whereof he subdues the world to himself, and will destroy his enemies, 2 Thessalonians 2:8. This he adds farther, to declare the nature of Christ’s kingdom, that it is not of this world, and that his sceptre and arms are not carnal, but spiritual, as it is said 2 Corinthians 10:4. And with the breath of his lips — With his word, breathed out of his lips; whereby he explains what was meant by the foregoing expression, rod; shall he slay the wicked — The impenitent and unbelieving, the obstinate and irreclaimable, who will not obey the truth, but persist to obey unrighteousness. These he will slay or destroy, by the terrible judgments which he will execute upon them. This latter part of the verse will be eminently fulfilled in the destruction of antichrist, to whom St. Paul applies it 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8, (compare Revelation 19:21,) who is, by way of eminence, called the Wicked one, the man of sin, and o antikeimenov, the adversary to God’s truth and people.

4. With righteousness shall he judge the poor — Shall see that their cause is not repressed, but dealt with exactly right: “the poor” who cannot commend their case to the eye. The meek — Who use no adroit nor eloquent words to win the ear. The rod of his mouth — The words of his mouth are the rod which shatters. Psalm 2:9; Revelation 1:16. He needs no visible sceptre: his is a fearful presence to the guilty conscience.

V. 5. The girdle-It shall adorn him, and be the glory of his government, as a girdle was used for an ornament, Isaiah 3:24, and as an ensign of power, Job 12:18, and it shall constantly cleave to him in all his administrations, as a girdle cleaveth to a man’s loins.

Verse 5. The girdle— “The cincture”] All the ancient Versions, except that of Symmachus, have two different words for girdle in the two hemistichs. It is not probable that Isaiah would have repeated rwza azer, when a synonymous word so obvious as rwgj chagor occurred. The tautology seems to have arisen from the mistake of some transcriber. The meaning of this verse is, that a zeal for justice and truth shall make him active and strong in executing the great work which he shall undertake. See note on Isaiah 5:27.

Verse 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins — It shall adorn him, and be the glory of his government, as a girdle was used for an ornament, Isaiah 3:24; and as an ensign of power, Job 12:18; and it shall constantly cleave to him in all his administrations, as a girdle cleaveth to a man’s loins. And faithfulness the girdle of his reins — The same thing in other words. Here then we have the basis and foundation of this kingdom, namely, the justice and fidelity of the king. These virtues shall be conspicuous in the whole administration of his government, and, at once, be the ornament and the support of it. “The sum is, that the kingdom of Christ should be a kingdom of the highest equity, and the king of it perfect: who, though judging his true subjects by the law of grace, by faithfully performing all the promises of the gospel, and every condition of the covenant to them, will yet not omit to punish the enemies of his church according to their deserts, and thus to satisfy the law of justice: so that he shall not be less venerable and awful for his justice in judgment, than amiable and desirable for his truth, fidelity, and constancy in performing his promises; which being things naturally united, are not, by any means, to be separated.” — Dodd.

5. Righteousness… girdle of his loins — That which is spotlessly just in his dealings with men is, by figure, the cincture or band which shall engirdle him. Girdle — This essential article in the dress of the East, both among men and women — worn about the waist, or, if loose, the loins — was of leather or linen, cheap or costly, and was used to hold in place or gird up, as might be needed, the outside flowing garment which it enclosed. It was common to represent the better habits under the figure of clothing; the meaning of which was, that they adhere to character as inseparably and closely as the garment did to the body to which it was bound. Job 29:14; Psalms 109:18

Psalm 109:18; Isaiah 61:10.

Nothing is more clear than that the new succession out of Jesse is the Messiah, with features in the description here much like those belonging to the humble and holy Jesus of Nazareth. “The root of Jesse” is a figure which answers to the lowly remnant-reduction of Israel, who become, instead of a worldly Davidic house, a lowly body of true adherents to Jehovah despite of all vicissitudes and tribulations; and become, also, the genuine stock out of which the incarnate and true David is to arise. As a ruler and administrator he is, in the last five verses, set before us as making earth as peaceful a realm as is heaven, the ideal realm divinely intended for king David to build up, but in respect to which himself, but more particularly his successors on the throne, had made a shocking failure. The verses following (6-9) present in a strain of allegory the results of Messiah’s righteous and peaceful government.

V. 6. The wolf-The creatures shall be restored to that state of innocency in which they were before the fall of man. Men of fierce, and cruel dispositions, shall be so transformed by the grace of Christ, that they shall become gentle, and tractable. A child-They will submit their rebellious wills to the conduct of the meanest persons that speak to them in Christ’s name.

Verse 6. The wolf also shall, &c.— “Then shall the wolf,” &c.] The idea of the renewal of the golden age, as it is called, is much the same in the Oriental writers with that of the Greeks and Romans:—the wild beasts grow tame; serpents and poisonous herbs become harmless; all is peace and harmony, plenty and happiness:—

Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni

Occidet.

VIRG. Eclog. iv. 24.

“The serpent’s brood shall die. The sacred ground

Shall weeds and noxious plants refuse to bear.”

——— Nec magnos metuent armenta leones.

VIRG. Eclog. iv. 22.

“Nor shall the flocks fear the great lions.”

Non lupus insidias explorat ovilia circum,

Nec gregibus nocturnus obambulat: acrior illum

Cura domat: timidæ damæ cervique fugaces

Nunc interque canes, et circum tecta vagantur.

VIRG. Georg. iii. 537.

“The nightly wolf that round the enclosure prowled, To leap the fence, now plots not on the fold:

Tamed with a sharper pain, the fearful doe

And flying stag amidst the greyhounds go;

And round the dwellings roam, of man, their former foe.” DRYDEN.

Nec vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile,

Nec intumescit alta viperis humus.

HOR. Epod. xvi. 51.

“Nor evening bears the sheepfold growl around,

Nor mining vipers heave the tainted ground.”

DRYDEN.

Estai dh tout~ amar, ophnika nebron en euna

Karcarodwn dinesqai idwn lukov ouk eqelhsei.

THEOC. Idyl. xxiv. 84.

There shall be a time when the ravenous wolf shall see the kid lying at ease, and shall feel no desire to do it an injury.

I have laid before the reader these common passages from the most elegant of the ancient poets, that he may see how greatly the prophet on the same subject has the advantage upon the comparison; how much the former fall short of that beauty and elegance, and variety of imagery, with which Isaiah has set forth the very same ideas. The wolf and the leopard not only forbear to destroy the lamb and the kid, but even take their abode and lie down together with them. The calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, not only come together, but are led quietly in the same band, and that by a little child. The heifer and the she-bear not only feed together, but even lodge their young ones, for whom they used to be most jealously fearful, in the same place. All the serpent kind is so perfectly harmless, that the sucking infant and the newly weaned child puts his hand on the basilisk’s den, and plays upon the hole of the aspic. The lion not only abstains from preying on the weaker animals, but becomes tame and domestic, and feeds on straw like the ox. These are all beautiful circumstances, not one of which has been touched upon by the ancient poets. The Arabian and Persian poets elegantly apply the same ideas to show the effects of justice impartially administered, and firmly supported, by a great and good king:— “Mahmoud the powerful king, the ruler of the world, To whose tank the wolf and the lamb come, together to drink.” FERDUSI.

“Through the influence of righteousness, the hungry wolf Becomes mild, though in the presence of the white kid.” IBN ONEIN. JONES, Pœs. Asiat. Comment., p. 380.

The application is extremely ingenious and beautiful: but the exquisite imagery of Isaiah is not equalled.

Verses 6-8. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, &c. — “We have here the illustrious consequence of the economy of this divine kingdom, this kingdom of righteousness, equity, faith, and grace.” The expressions which describe it are metaphorical: they represent the subjects of it under the figure of a flock, lying down and feeding under the care of the Messiah, as the great and chief shepherd, in the utmost peace, harmony, and security. Men of fierce, cruel, and ungovernable dispositions shall be so transformed by the preaching of the gospel, and by the grace of Christ, that they shall become most humble, gentle, and tractable, and shall no more vex and persecute those meek and poor ones, mentioned verse 4; but shall become such as they. Yea, the most inveterate enemies of the kingdom of God, such as the persecuting Saul, shall be brought into its communion, having laid down their cruelty, barbarity, and ferocity, their inclination to hurt, their craft and subtlety; and not only so, but this kingdom also shall be purged from all offences, from all evils and instruments of malice. For the people, being enlightened with truth, and renewed by grace, shall put off their barbarous and depraved manners; shall willingly subject themselves to the rule of the Messiah, with meekness and humility, and shall fulfil the law of brotherly love in all the offices of good-will. This is the sum of the present passage, divested of metaphor. For, it is evident, as Michaelis has observed, that a mystical sense is not intended to be assigned to each of these images, or figurative expressions, and a particular and partial truth to be deduced therefrom; but a general doctrine is to be learned from the whole, namely, that the kingdom of the Messiah is a kingdom of peace, as well as of righteousness; of happiness, as well as of holiness; and that the natural tendency of his religion is to produce meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, and the exercise of mutual benevolence among men, as well as piety in all its branches toward God. This indeed is declared in plain words in the next verse.

Ver. 6. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. The Sibyls, the Voluspa, the Poets of Greece and Rome, and of the Eastern world, have all the same sentiments as are here, with far greater force and beauty, expressed by Isaiah. It has often been said, that the sibylline prophetesses borrowed their verses from Isaiah. Since the enlargement of human knowledge, of northern antiquities and of Indian literature, this notion can no longer be maintained.

It is granted that the sibyls, or pythonesses of the heathen temples, can have no fair claims to inspiration. On the contrary, their augurs, as stated on Isaiah 41:23, were evidently the emanations of the deliberate wisdom of the rulers of the temples; or if otherwise, they spake by a diabolical influence, as the pythoness who followed Paul and Silas at Philippi. Acts 16:16-18. Yet the Cumæan sibyl, contemporary with Abraham, and Sibylla Erythræa, as cited on Psalm 50:3, ought not to be classed with the pythonesses of the gentile temples. They knew God, and were devout worshippers of the true God, according to the covenant of Noah. Their reputation has been unspotted, their persons and memory regarded as sacred by the Greeks, the Romans, and the Christians. The names of Justin Martyr, of Clemens of Alexandria, of Constantine the emperor, of Lactantius, a father of polished literature, with many others of the ancients, must have great weight in the future ages of the church.—Yet some doubts remain whether those women were really inspired, or whether they only turned the traditions of the holy patriarchs into sacred verse? Bishop Horsley, of our own times, after stating what is known of the ancient sibyls, declines giving his own opinion on this delicate point. In either case, their verses diffused among the gentiles the promise of God made to the fathers respecting the advent of Christ, the end of the world, and the terrors of a future judgment. From these scattered rays of divine truth the Pagan Poets gained their ideas of the renewal of the golden age, and sang of happier times which were coming on the world. In comparison of the Hebrew Prophets their light was darkness; but they establish the fact, that God left not himself without witness among the nations; and are collateral evidence of the truth of Revelation, from Moses down to Jesus Christ.

Virgil, in his fourth Eclogue, has given us a selection of the old Cumæan verses concerning the expected golden age, and the advent of the Prince. But he basely spoils his verse by flattering Pollio, the consul, that this Prince should be his son.

Ille Deûm vitam accipiet, Divisque videbit

Permixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur illis:

Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.

Eclog. 4:15.

The son shall lead the life of gods, and be

By gods and heroes seen, and gods and heroes see.

The jarring nations he in peace shall bind,

And with paternal virtues rule mankind.

DRYDEN.

In the following lines, he speaks of the subduction of ferocity from the wild beasts, and of the cessation of venom in serpents.

—— Nec magnos metuent armenta leones.

Eclog. 4:22.

Nor shall the lowing herds fear the great lions.

Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni

Occidet. — Eclog. 4:24.

The serpent’s brood shall die. The sacred ground

Shall weeds and pois’nous plants refuse to bear.

DRYDEN.

The Poet closes this singular Eclogue with the following invocation: Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem:

Matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia menses.

Incipe, parve puer, cui non risere parentes,

Nec Deus hunc mensâ, Dea nec dignata cubili est.

Begin, oh lovely boy, to recognize thy mother with a smile. Ten long months did thy mother bear thee, the child on whom parents never smiled, nor god honoured with his table, nor goddess with her bed. Of the number of the sibyls, and the high estimation in which their mysterious books have been held in different ages of the world, a brief account has already been given in the second and third page of the Introduction to this section of the Commentary. And to this we may now add, that the objection that those books were forged, does not seem entitled to refutation, it being impossible to forge the traditions of the whole primitive world. But should we admit that the sibyl forged her books, which is no delicate compliment to the Roman senate, it is impossible to forge the Indian and the Scandinavian traditions, who hung their hopes on the Messiah. “The earnest expectation of the creation waited for the manifestation of the sons of God.” Romans 8:19.

6. Of commentators, most rationalists, and some who were not, have written of these texts as if they are to be taken literally. Not one particle of interest to the cause of truth seems to be served by so understanding them. The whole is so obviously a stream of metaphors, or an allegory, that the plain thing to do is to find what rich truths are taught under such a garb. The wolf… shall dwell — Or, shall sojourn; as it were, to stay for the night or longer. The wolf in Palestine, as elsewhere, is the most uneasy, untamable, and ravenous of animals. To sojourn with the lamb, instead of devouring it, is so unnatural that it is necessary to take it as an imagined possibility, not a physical one; hence it becomes a very strong figure to represent the greatest moral change in nature. And this is true of all the other cases in these verses. Wood’s Bible Animals points out that while a wolf attacks sheepfolds, a leopard can follow a kid along precipices where no wolf would venture, and the lion will carry off oxen which neither leopard nor wolf can move. This settles the appositeness and congruity of the metaphoric material of the passage. A little child — He needs not to be a grown man. Shall lead them — Relative superiority of man over the animal world is retained.

V. 7. Feed-Together, without any danger or fear. Straw-The grass of the earth, as they did at first, and shall not devour other living creatures.

Verse 7. In this verse a word is omitted in the text, wdjy yachdav, together; which ought to be repeated in the second hemistich, being quite necessary to the sense. It is accordingly twice expressed by the Septuagint and Syriac.

Verses 6-8. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, &c. — “We have here the illustrious consequence of the economy of this divine kingdom, this kingdom of righteousness, equity, faith, and grace.” The expressions which describe it are metaphorical: they represent the subjects of it under the figure of a flock, lying down and feeding under the care of the Messiah, as the great and chief shepherd, in the utmost peace, harmony, and security. Men of fierce, cruel, and ungovernable dispositions shall be so transformed by the preaching of the gospel, and by the grace of Christ, that they shall become most humble, gentle, and tractable, and shall no more vex and persecute those meek and poor ones, mentioned verse 4; but shall become such as they. Yea, the most inveterate enemies of the kingdom of God, such as the persecuting Saul, shall be brought into its communion, having laid down their cruelty, barbarity, and ferocity, their inclination to hurt, their craft and subtlety; and not only so, but this kingdom also shall be purged from all offences, from all evils and instruments of malice. For the people, being enlightened with truth, and renewed by grace, shall put off their barbarous and depraved manners; shall willingly subject themselves to the rule of the Messiah, with meekness and humility, and shall fulfil the law of brotherly love in all the offices of good-will. This is the sum of the present passage, divested of metaphor. For, it is evident, as Michaelis has observed, that a mystical sense is not intended to be assigned to each of these images, or figurative expressions, and a particular and partial truth to be deduced therefrom; but a general doctrine is to be learned from the whole, namely, that the kingdom of the Messiah is a kingdom of peace, as well as of righteousness; of happiness, as well as of holiness; and that the natural tendency of his religion is to produce meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, and the exercise of mutual benevolence among men, as well as piety in all its branches toward God. This indeed is declared in plain words in the next verse.

7. Shall feed — Or, graze. Eat straw — “No hay is made in Palestine.” — VAN LENNEP’S Bible Lands, p. 83. The fodder for cattle, horses, and camels in that country is straw broken and mashed at the threshing floors. This is fed in connexion with barley. (Van Lennep.) The doctrine allegorized here cannot safely be carried (as by Gill and others) beyond the general one of the greatest possible moral change wrought by Messiah’s reign.

Verse 8. The cockatrice’ den.] This is supposed, both by the Targum and by Kimchi, to mean the pupil of this serpent’s eye. “When,” says Kimchi, “he is in the mouth of his den, in an obscure place, then his eyes sparkle exceedingly: the child, seeing this, and supposing it to be a piece of crystal, or precious stone, puts forth his hand to take it. What would be very dangerous at another time, shall be safe in the days of the Messiah; for the serpent will not hurt the child.”

Verses 6-8. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, &c. — “We have here the illustrious consequence of the economy of this divine kingdom, this kingdom of righteousness, equity, faith, and grace.” The expressions which describe it are metaphorical: they represent the subjects of it under the figure of a flock, lying down and feeding under the care of the Messiah, as the great and chief shepherd, in the utmost peace, harmony, and security. Men of fierce, cruel, and ungovernable dispositions shall be so transformed by the preaching of the gospel, and by the grace of Christ, that they shall become most humble, gentle, and tractable, and shall no more vex and persecute those meek and poor ones, mentioned verse 4; but shall become such as they. Yea, the most inveterate enemies of the kingdom of God, such as the persecuting Saul, shall be brought into its communion, having laid down their cruelty, barbarity, and ferocity, their inclination to hurt, their craft and subtlety; and not only so, but this kingdom also shall be purged from all offences, from all evils and instruments of malice. For the people, being enlightened with truth, and renewed by grace, shall put off their barbarous and depraved manners; shall willingly subject themselves to the rule of the Messiah, with meekness and humility, and shall fulfil the law of brotherly love in all the offices of good-will. This is the sum of the present passage, divested of metaphor. For, it is evident, as Michaelis has observed, that a mystical sense is not intended to be assigned to each of these images, or figurative expressions, and a particular and partial truth to be deduced therefrom; but a general doctrine is to be learned from the whole, namely, that the kingdom of the Messiah is a kingdom of peace, as well as of righteousness; of happiness, as well as of holiness; and that the natural tendency of his religion is to produce meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, and the exercise of mutual benevolence among men, as well as piety in all its branches toward God. This indeed is declared in plain words in the next verse.

Ver. 8. Cockatrice. See on Proverbs 23:32.

8. To express the doctrine still more strongly, venomous serpents are represented as innoxious. The asp — “This is thought to be the cobra.” — TRISTRAM’S Natural History of the Bible. Precise discrimination of the serpent species is, however, of no importance to exegesis here. Cockatrice — The viper Daboia. (Tristram.) Sucking… weaned child — The point is, quite the most helpless are safe among most deadly reptiles. Stronger figures could scarcely be used, though drawn from the entire field of nature, to express the wonderful effects of the coming great moral changes under the true Davidic-Messianic rule.

V. 9. My holy mountain-In Zion, in my church. The sea-The channel of the sea.

Verse 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain — Here the prophet himself gives us a key wherewith to open his meaning in the three preceding verses. By the holy mountain he means, the Christian Church, frequently termed Zion, Jerusalem, and God’s holy mountain, in the writings of the prophets. Wherever the gospel comes and prevails; wherever the true and genuine religion of Christ takes place and is established, these effects are produced. And in due time the gospel shall prevail, and the true religion of Jesus be established everywhere. For the earth — The world, with its inhabitants, shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord — By this he intimates, that all that savageness and malignity which are in carnal and wicked men toward the people of God, and all those unholy, unkind, and unhappy dispositions which are in any of the human race, proceed from their ignorance of God, or their want of a true and saving acquaintance with him, which, wherever it takes place, produces a marvellous and thorough change in men’s hearts and lives. As the waters cover the sea — As the waters spread themselves over the bottom, and entirely fill all the channels of the sea. Although this prophecy begins to be fulfilled wherever the kingdom of grace is set up among men, and is more and more fulfilled in proportion as that kingdom is enlarged; yet the perfect accomplishment of it will not be witnessed till those latter days come, when, according to the Scriptures, the knowledge and practice of Christianity will be universally diffused, and all those divine virtues which it inculcates will be most eminently exerted and displayed.

9. The figures are changed almost to literal terms. Still the tropical peculiarity lingers. They — Indefinitely, men in general. Shall not hurt — Literally, shall do no evil; shall not deal corruptly. In all my holy mountain — The holy land of the redeemed earth. There shall be no more a rapacious world-empire (lion, bear, leopard, Daniel 7:4-7,) to annoy the Church struggling into life, and working up its energies through the infused spirit of the Messiah. Knowledge — True religion shall fill the earth. The sea — Literally, the depths of the sea; as waters fill the deep sea basins. For illustrating the effects and the prevalence of the effects of Messiah’s reign, more ample statement is not needed. The prophecy is in our day being fulfilled, though its complete fulfilment requires still most wonderful moral changes.

V. 10. A root-A branch growing upon the root. Ensign-Shall grow up into a great tree, shall become an eminent ensign. The people-Which not only the Jews, but all nations, may discern, and to which they shall resort. Rest-His resting-place, his temple or church, the place of his presence and abode. Glorious-Shall be filled with greater glory than the Jewish tabernacle and temple were; only this glory shall be spiritual, consisting in the plentiful effusions of the gifts, and graces, of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 10. A root of Jesse, which shall stand &c.— “The root of Jesse, which standeth,” &c.] St. John hath taken this expression from Isaiah, Revelation 5:5, and Revelation 22:16, where Christ hath twice applied it to himself. Seven MSS. have dmw[ omed, standing, the present participle. Radix Isaei dicitur jam stare, et aliquantum stetisse, in signum populorum.—VITRINGA. “The root of Jesse is said to stand, and for some time to have stood, for an ensign to the people.” Which rightly explains either of the two readings. The one hundred and tenth psalm is a good comment on this verse. See the notes there.

Verse 10. And in that day, &c. — We have here the latter part of this prophecy, which sets forth some more illustrious events of this kingdom, with their consequences. The events are set forth verses 10-16, and are three. 1st, The remarkable conversion of the Gentiles, verse 10. 2d, The calling of the dispersed Jews to the communion of the kingdom of Christ, verses 11-14. 3d, A diminution of the powers of the adverse empires, Egypt and Assyria, verses 15, 16. The consequence of these events is represented to be a remarkable thanksgiving of the Jewish people, converted to the Messiah for the redemption granted to them, Isaiah 12:1-6. There shall be a root of Jesse, &c. — This verse, is more literally rendered, And it shall be in that day, — Namely, in that glorious gospel day, that the Gentiles shall seek to the root of Jesse, which stands for an ensign of the people; and his rest shall be glorious. By the root of Jesse, we may either understand a branch growing from that root, and so may interpret it of Christ’s human nature, or, referring it to his divine nature, we may take it for a root properly so called, as the expression is to be understood Revelation 22:16; where Christ is represented as being as well the root, as the offspring of David. Which shall stand, or which stands, for an ensign of the people — Which shall grow up into a great and high tree, shall become a visible and eminent ensign, which not only the Jews, but all nations may discern, and to which they may and shall resort; to it shall the Gentiles seek — As the gospel shall be preached to the Gentiles, so they shall receive it, and believe in the Messiah; and his rest — That is, either, 1st, His resting-place, his temple, or church, the place of his presence and abode; shall be glorious — Filled with greater glory than the Jewish tabernacle and temple were; only this glory shall be spiritual, consisting in the plentiful effusion of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. Or, 2d, The rest enjoyed by those who are true worshippers in this temple, or true members of this church: their rest of grace, of faith, hope, and love: the rest consequent on the justification of their persons, and the renovation of their nature; the rest which they enter into by believing, (Hebrews 4:3,) which they receive in consequence of coming to Christ, weary and heavy laden, and learning of him, Matthew 11:28; their peace with God, peace of conscience, and tranquillity of mind, is glorious, for it passeth all understanding, Philippians 4:7. And it shall be much more glorious in a future world, when they enter the rest remaining for the people of God, Hebrews 4:9. Then their rest shall be not only glorious, but glory: and glory shall be their rest, as the words may be also rendered.

10. The reign of the Messiah (verses 1-5) and its peaceful effects, (6-9,) are already described. Other points now arise. The first is, the extensiveness of his reign. In that day — The future time of the establishment of his reign. A root of Jesse — Hebrew, the root-sprout of Jesse. A scion of that ancient and honourable family, still flourishing to amazing growth. An ensign — He shall serve for a standard. Of the people — That is, Gentile peoples, as the definition in the other parallel member shows. He will, in his own person and doctrine, be as it were the stationary banner on Mount Zion, waving to all nations to rally under his sway. Restrictions are removed. The proud old tree of earthly Davidic sovereignty is hewn down, and only the living root has survived, but this will increase in strength to a tree overspreading all peoples. It will be sought unto. And his rest shall be glorious — Literally, his resting place shall be glory. Like Jehovah’s “rest” in the temple, with shechinah hovering with celestial glory over the ark of the covenant. Numbers 10:33. The point settled here is the universality of the spread of the Gospel. The original restriction was but to be the means for the unlimited extension of Messiah’s blessed fulness.

V. 11. The second-The first time, to which this word second relates, seems to be the deliverance out of Babylon: and then this second deliverance must be in the days of the Messiah. To recover-From all places far and near, into which either the ten tribes or the two tribes were carried captives. Pathros was a province in Egypt.

Verse 11. And it shall come to pass in that day] This part of the chapter contains a prophecy which certainly remains yet to be accomplished. The Lord— “JEHOVAH”] For ynda Adonai, thirty-three MSS. of Kennicott’s, and many of Deuteronomy Rossi’s, and two editions, read hwhy Yehovah.

The islands of the sea.] The Roman and Turkish empires, say Kimchi.

Verses 11, 12. And it shall come to pass in that day — As this chapter contains a general prophecy of the advancement which Christ’s kingdom should make in the world, and as this advancement was to be made by different steps and degrees, so the several parts of this prophecy may be supposed to point at different ages or periods of time: see note on Isaiah 2:2. “And, I take this part of the chapter,” says Lowth, “from verse 10 onward, to foretel those glorious times of the church, which shall be ushered in by the restoration of the Jewish nation, when they shall embrace the gospel, and be restored to their own country, from the several dispersions where they are scattered. This remarkable scene of providence is plainly foretold by most of the prophets of the Old Testament, and by St. Paul in the New.” See the margin. Bishop Lowth also observes, that “this part of the chapter contains a prophecy, which certainly remains yet to be accomplished.” The Lord shall set his hand again the second time — The first time to which this word second relates, seems to be, either, 1st, The deliverance out of Egypt, and then this second must be that out of Babylon; or, rather, 2d, The deliverance out of Babylon; and then this second deliverance must be in the days of the Messiah. This latter interpretation seems more probable, 1st, Because that first deliverance, like the second, is supposed to be a deliverance of the remnant of this people from several countries into which they were dispersed: whereas that out of Egypt was a deliverance, not of a remnant, but of the whole nation, and out of Egypt only: 2d, Because this second deliverance was universal, extending to the generality of the outcasts and dispersed ones, both of Israel, or the ten tribes, and of Judah, or the two tribes, as is evident from these verses, whereas that out of Babylon reached only to the two tribes, and to some few of the ten tribes which were mixed with them: 3d, Because this second deliverance was to be given them in the days of the Messiah, and to accompany, or follow, the conversion of the Gentiles, as is evident from verses 9, 10, whereas that out of Babylon was long before the coming of the Messiah and the calling of the Gentiles. And from the islands of the sea — From all places, both far and near, into which either the ten tribes, or the two tribes, were carried captives. Pathros was a province of Egypt. The other places here named are well known, and have been spoken of before in our notes on other texts. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations — All nations, Jews and Gentiles. And shall assemble the outcasts of Israel — Those of the ten tribes that had been driven out of their own land into foreign parts; and gather together the dispersed of Judah — Here distinguished from those of Israel. The reader must observe here, that the prophet’s ideas respecting this future and spiritual deliverance of the Jews and Israelites, are wholly taken from their temporal deliverances out of Egypt and Assyria.

Ver. 11. The second time to recover the remnant of his people. It is added, from the four corners of the earth, in the next verse. The sixteenth verse compares this second gathering with that from Egypt. Though our divines with one consent understand this passage of the gathering of the Jews under the Messiah, by some Elias or great prophet, who shall persuade the Jews, as Dr. Thomas Burnet thinks, to believe in Christ. Yet I have doubts of a secular gathering to Jerusalem to any great extent,—because that city has no navigation—because the temple of Ezekiel seems too large to be built with human hands— because the last temple is to be exalted above the hills—and because the apostles, Paul and John, expound it as the temple of the christian church. Hebrews 12. Revelation 21.

11, 12. The next point is, how this shall be, with Israel scattered to the four winds before Messiah comes. Come to pass in that day — Some future time, as in last verse. Shall… again… the second time — To what does this refer? Literally, the Lord shall add his hand a second time to recover. At no time before have his people been signally recovered, or redeemed, as the verb properly means, save in their recovery from Egyptian bondage. The prophet foretells a redemption here, as a second redemption, and that, most seemingly and suitably, the counterpart of the Egyptian. As he once purchased or delivered Israel out of Egypt, so will he redeem it, recreate it, as from the seed-corn of the remnant out of all the regions here mentioned. From Assyria… Egypt — These are first named as the chief world-powers of Isaiah’s time. Appended to these are: — 1. Pathros — Commonly agreed to be Upper Egypt, as distinguished from Mizraim, or more strictly, Lower Egypt. 2. Cush — A land still south of Upper Egypt. These are attached to Egypt in general land divisions. 3. Elam — Or Persia, or lands beyond the Tigris. 4. Shinar — Lands lying around Babylon. 5. Hamath — Regions to the north of the Lebanon. 6. Islands of the sea — The lands within and coastwise of the Mediterranean. These held appendage to the northernmost great world-power. But Israel was not scattered among these when Isaiah wrote. The description is, therefore, prophetical, not historical. Israel is, indeed, yet to be scattered, and the Gentiles, ideally under the above names, are in Messiah’s time to be converted, and to be the means of Israel’s recovery and redemption. So St. Paul in Romans 9. So also our prophet in Isaiah 6:11-13. He shall set up an ensign, etc. — The Gentiles, in consequence of the marked will of God, will at their own conversion afford all means for the reception of the dispersed Israel into Messiah’s kingdom.

V. 12. Nations-All nations, Jews and Gentiles. Out-casts-That were driven out of their own land, into foreign parts. Israel-Of the ten tribes.

Verses 11, 12. And it shall come to pass in that day — As this chapter contains a general prophecy of the advancement which Christ’s kingdom should make in the world, and as this advancement was to be made by different steps and degrees, so the several parts of this prophecy may be supposed to point at different ages or periods of time: see note on Isaiah 2:2. “And, I take this part of the chapter,” says Lowth, “from verse 10 onward, to foretel those glorious times of the church, which shall be ushered in by the restoration of the Jewish nation, when they shall embrace the gospel, and be restored to their own country, from the several dispersions where they are scattered. This remarkable scene of providence is plainly foretold by most of the prophets of the Old Testament, and by St. Paul in the New.” See the margin. Bishop Lowth also observes, that “this part of the chapter contains a prophecy, which certainly remains yet to be accomplished.” The Lord shall set his hand again the second time — The first time to which this word second relates, seems to be, either, 1st, The deliverance out of Egypt, and then this second must be that out of Babylon; or, rather, 2d, The deliverance out of Babylon; and then this second deliverance must be in the days of the Messiah. This latter interpretation seems more probable, 1st, Because that first deliverance, like the second, is supposed to be a deliverance of the remnant of this people from several countries into which they were dispersed: whereas that out of Egypt was a deliverance, not of a remnant, but of the whole nation, and out of Egypt only: 2d, Because this second deliverance was universal, extending to the generality of the outcasts and dispersed ones, both of Israel, or the ten tribes, and of Judah, or the two tribes, as is evident from these verses, whereas that out of Babylon reached only to the two tribes, and to some few of the ten tribes which were mixed with them: 3d, Because this second deliverance was to be given them in the days of the Messiah, and to accompany, or follow, the conversion of the Gentiles, as is evident from verses 9, 10, whereas that out of Babylon was long before the coming of the Messiah and the calling of the Gentiles. And from the islands of the sea — From all places, both far and near, into which either the ten tribes, or the two tribes, were carried captives. Pathros was a province of Egypt. The other places here named are well known, and have been spoken of before in our notes on other texts. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations — All nations, Jews and Gentiles. And shall assemble the outcasts of Israel — Those of the ten tribes that had been driven out of their own land into foreign parts; and gather together the dispersed of Judah — Here distinguished from those of Israel. The reader must observe here, that the prophet’s ideas respecting this future and spiritual deliverance of the Jews and Israelites, are wholly taken from their temporal deliverances out of Egypt and Assyria.

11, 12. The next point is, how this shall be, with Israel scattered to the four winds before Messiah comes. Come to pass in that day — Some future time, as in last verse. Shall… again… the second time — To what does this refer? Literally, the Lord shall add his hand a second time to recover. At no time before have his people been signally recovered, or redeemed, as the verb properly means, save in their recovery from Egyptian bondage. The prophet foretells a redemption here, as a second redemption, and that, most seemingly and suitably, the counterpart of the Egyptian. As he once purchased or delivered Israel out of Egypt, so will he redeem it, recreate it, as from the seed-corn of the remnant out of all the regions here mentioned. From Assyria… Egypt — These are first named as the chief world-powers of Isaiah’s time. Appended to these are: — 1. Pathros — Commonly agreed to be Upper Egypt, as distinguished from Mizraim, or more strictly, Lower Egypt. 2. Cush — A land still south of Upper Egypt. These are attached to Egypt in general land divisions. 3. Elam — Or Persia, or lands beyond the Tigris. 4. Shinar — Lands lying around Babylon. 5. Hamath — Regions to the north of the Lebanon. 6. Islands of the sea — The lands within and coastwise of the Mediterranean. These held appendage to the northernmost great world-power. But Israel was not scattered among these when Isaiah wrote. The description is, therefore, prophetical, not historical. Israel is, indeed, yet to be scattered, and the Gentiles, ideally under the above names, are in Messiah’s time to be converted, and to be the means of Israel’s recovery and redemption. So St. Paul in Romans 9. So also our prophet in Isaiah 6:11-13. He shall set up an ensign, etc. — The Gentiles, in consequence of the marked will of God, will at their own conversion afford all means for the reception of the dispersed Israel into Messiah’s kingdom.

V. 13. Ephraim-Of the ten tribes, frequently called by the name of Ephraim. Of enemies they shall be made friends. The adversaries-Not the body of Ephraim, for they are supposed to be reconciled, and they shall not be cut off, but live in love with Judah, as we see by the next clause; but those few of them who continue in their enmity together with all the rest of their adversaries.

Verse 13. The adversaries of Judah— “And the enmity of Judah”] µyrrx tsorerim. Postulat pars posterior versus, ut intelligantur inimicitiæ Judæ in Ephraimum: et potest (µyrrx tsorerim) inimicitiam notare, ut (נחומים nichumim) pœnitentiam, Hosea 11:8.—SECKER.

Verses 13, 14. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, &c. — Ephraim here stands for the ten tribes and the prophet alludes to the great emulations and contentions which had subsisted between them and Judah: but his intention is to set forth the spiritual state of the Jews after their conversion to the faith of the gospel, which he predicts, 1st, “That all envy shall be extinguished among them, and a true brotherly love shall fill their souls; and, 2d, That, joined to the Gentiles, they shall strenuously defend the cause of Christ and his kingdom against the enemies and opposers of it.” Ephraim shall not envy Judah, &c. — Not only all outward hostilities shall cease, but also their inward animosities. But they shall fly upon the shoulders, &c. — This is a metaphor taken from birds and beasts of prey, which commonly fasten on the shoulders of cattle. They shall spoil them of the east together — They shall subdue them; which is to be understood of the spiritual victory which the Messiah should obtain by his apostles, ministers, and people, over all nations, in bringing them to the obedience of his gospel. For it is the manner of the prophets to speak of the spiritual things of the gospel under such figurative representations. Indeed, as a late writer observes, this fourteenth verse can be understood in no other than a spiritual and mystical sense, to signify that those who are called by the gospel, and converted to Christ, shall be full of zeal for his glory, and shall labour with all their might to reduce to the obedience of Christ all individuals and nations around them.

13. Envy… of Ephraim shall depart, etc. — Here the enmity once existing between the two kingdoms is selected in poetic phrase to denote all old jealousy and envy as coming to an end. All are to be united in harmonious and happy society, and to become true subjects of Messiah. This settles the third point, namely, that the continuance of the rent in Israel is to cease in the fulness of the Messiah’s time.

V. 14. Fly-It is a metaphor from birds and beasts of prey. Spoil-They shall subdue them, which is to be understood of the spiritual victory which the Messiah shall obtain by his apostles and ministers over all nations.

Verses 13, 14. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, &c. — Ephraim here stands for the ten tribes and the prophet alludes to the great emulations and contentions which had subsisted between them and Judah: but his intention is to set forth the spiritual state of the Jews after their conversion to the faith of the gospel, which he predicts, 1st, “That all envy shall be extinguished among them, and a true brotherly love shall fill their souls; and, 2d, That, joined to the Gentiles, they shall strenuously defend the cause of Christ and his kingdom against the enemies and opposers of it.” Ephraim shall not envy Judah, &c. — Not only all outward hostilities shall cease, but also their inward animosities. But they shall fly upon the shoulders, &c. — This is a metaphor taken from birds and beasts of prey, which commonly fasten on the shoulders of cattle. They shall spoil them of the east together — They shall subdue them; which is to be understood of the spiritual victory which the Messiah should obtain by his apostles, ministers, and people, over all nations, in bringing them to the obedience of his gospel. For it is the manner of the prophets to speak of the spiritual things of the gospel under such figurative representations. Indeed, as a late writer observes, this fourteenth verse can be understood in no other than a spiritual and mystical sense, to signify that those who are called by the gospel, and converted to Christ, shall be full of zeal for his glory, and shall labour with all their might to reduce to the obedience of Christ all individuals and nations around them.

14. But, fourthly, how about Israel and unbrotherly tribes and nomads around? But they — Undivided Ephraim and Judah, now one under Messiah. Shall fly — From the land of exile, or even from Central Zion, whither in spiritual union they have in figure betaken themselves. Upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west — “Shoulders” — either hills fronting the Philistine plain, or frontier regions from Zion as the starting-point for activity seaward. Spoil them of the east — Symbolical words taken from David’s conquests over Ishmaelites, Midianites, etc.; and the same symbols apply as over Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Spiritual conquests alone are intended. 2 Samuel 8:11, 19. The prophet figures here the supremacy of the future spiritually united Israel and Judah over all its old enemies. As to geographical notes, Edom lay south of Judah, between the Dead and the Red seas; Moab, east of the Dead Sea and lower Jordan; Ammon, east of Judea, between the Jabbok and the Arnon, and Philistia in the southwest, on the Mediterranean.

V. 15. Destroy-Shall not only divide it, as of old, but dry it up, that it may be an high-way. The sea-The Red Sea, which may well be called the Egyptian sea, both because it borders upon Egypt, and because the Egyptians were drowned in it, which is called a tongue in the Hebrew text, Joshua 15:2,5, as having some resemblance with a tongue: for which reason the name of tongue hath been given by geographers to promontories of land which shoot forth into the sea, as this sea did shoot out of the main ocean into the land. Rivers-Nile. Seven streams-For which it is famous in all authors.

Verse 15. The Lord-shall smite it in the seven streams— “Smite with a drought”] The Chaldee reads byrjh hecherib; and so perhaps the Septuagint, who have erhmwsei, the word by which they commonly render it. Vulg. desolabit; “shall desolate.” The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee read whkyrdh hidrichahu, “shall make it passable,” adding the pronoun, which is necessary: but this reading is not confirmed by any MS. Here is a plain allusion to the passage of the Red Sea. And the Lord’s shaking his hand over the river with his vehement wind, refers to a particular circumstance of the same miracle: for “he caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land,” Exodus 14:21. The tongue; a very apposite and descriptive expression for a bay such as that of the Red Sea. It is used in the same sense, Joshua 15:2, 5; 18:19. The Latins gave the same name to a narrow strip of land running into the sea: tenuem producit in æquora linguam. LUCAN. ii. 613. He shall smite the river to its seven streams. This has been supposed to refer to the Nile, because it falls into the Mediterranean Sea by seven mouths: but R. Kimchi understands it of the Euphrates, which is the opinion of some good judges. See the Targum. See below.

Herodotus, lib. i, 189, tells a story of his Cyrus, (a very different character from that of the Cyrus of the Scriptures and Xenophon,) which may somewhat illustrate this passage, in which it is said that God would inflict a kind of punishment and judgment on the Euphrates, and render it fordable by dividing it into seven streams. “Cyrus, being impeded in his march to Babylon by the Gyndes, a deep and rapid river which falls into the Tigris, and having lost one of his sacred white horses that attempted to pass it, was so enraged against the river that he threatened to reduce it, and make it so shallow that it should be easily fordable even by women, who should not be up to their knees in passing it. Accordingly he set his whole army to work, and cutting three hundred and sixty trenches, from both sides of the river, turned the waters into them, and drained them off.” ISAIAH

Verses 15, 16. And the Lord shall utterly destroy — Shall not only divide it, as of old, but shall quite dry it up, that it may be a highway; the tongue of the Egyptian sea — The Red sea, which may well be called the Egyptian sea, both because it borders upon Egypt, and because the Egyptians were drowned in it. It is called a tongue, both here and in the Hebrew text, (Joshua 15:2, 5,) as having some resemblance to a tongue; and for a similar reason the name of tongue has been given by geographers to promontories of land which shoot forth into the sea, as this sea shoots out of the main ocean into the land. Bishop Lowth renders the clause, Jehovah shall smite with a drought the tongue, &c., following the Chaldee, which, instead of µyrjh, he destroyed, reads byrjh, he dried up. And the next clause, which he understands, not of the river Nile, but of the Euphrates, the bishop very properly translates, “And he shall shake his hand over the river with his vehement wind; and he shall strike it into seven streams, and make them pass over it dry-shod.” Thus also Dr. Waterland, after Vitringa: “He shall shake his hand over the Euphrates, and shall smite it into seven outlets;” that is, he shall divide or separate it into seven small rivers, so as to render it easy to be passed over. What is thus expressed metaphorically in this clause, is declared in plain words in the next verse: And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, &c. — As there shall be a highway from Egypt, the Red sea being dried up, so shall there be from Assyria, the river Euphrates being rendered fordable. In other words, and without a figure, all impediments shall be removed, and a way shall be made for the return of God’s Israel from all parts of the world. He mentions Egypt and Assyria particularly, because they were then two flourishing kingdoms which bordered upon Judea, and by turns were the great oppressors of God’s people. And the ten tribes having been carried captive to Assyria, their case especially seemed desperate. But these two kingdoms stand here, in the prophetic style, for the adverse empires in general, especially those of idolatry and superstition, which shall be either destroyed or reduced to such a state of weakness as not to be able to hinder the progress of the conversion of the Jews and Gentiles. “My belief,” says Vitringa, “upon the strength of this prophecy is, that all the impediments of the great empires of the world being removed, which yet delay the perfect completion of the great and excellent promises made to the church, and hinder the calling and collection of the Jews and Gentiles, the empire of the kingdom of Christ will extend itself over the whole world, according to the remarkable prediction of Daniel, chap. 2:35, &c.”

15, 16. The wonders which Jehovah wrought for Israel in his escape from Egypt, and will yet work in his deliverances from Assyria, are to be repeated essentially, but in the spiritual sense, in behalf of the dispersed of Israel, or at least the Israel that shall return to Jehovah in those lands. The whole description is exaltedly figurative and the poetry wonderful, considering the small physical scope from within which the terms and vocables are drawn as signs of the prophet’s overflowing conceptions. And the Lord shall utterly destroy — Shall lay the ban upon the Sea of Egypt: — that which lies between Egypt and Arabia, the Gulf of Suez or the Red Sea, which the children of Israel passed. Jehovah smites it with the ban; he makes it dry again for passage to converted ones out of Egypt toward Zion. With his mighty wind — With his heated, glowing breath, and wave of hand, as employing mediate agency over the Euphrates. Observe the attention, as before, first on the two great world-kingdoms. Smite it in the seven streams — Jehovah splinters the great river into seven, or an indefinite number of shallow streams to become, through God’s heated air, dry wadys for an unobstructed highway to the saints from Assyria, as well as in old time there was to God’s typical people out of Egypt. In these terms no literal history is asserted for the future Messianic people, but merely a gradual disappearing of the whole circle of heathendom comes to pass, and tropically the Holy Land is the centre of Messiah’s kingdom.

V. 16. As it was-As there was another high-way from Egypt. All impediments shall be removed, and a way made for the return of God’s Israel from all parts of the world. He mentions Assyria, because thither the ten tribes were carried, whose case seemed to be most desperate.

Verses 15, 16. And the Lord shall utterly destroy — Shall not only divide it, as of old, but shall quite dry it up, that it may be a highway; the tongue of the Egyptian sea — The Red sea, which may well be called the Egyptian sea, both because it borders upon Egypt, and because the Egyptians were drowned in it. It is called a tongue, both here and in the Hebrew text, (Joshua 15:2, 5,) as having some resemblance to a tongue; and for a similar reason the name of tongue has been given by geographers to promontories of land which shoot forth into the sea, as this sea shoots out of the main ocean into the land. Bishop Lowth renders the clause, Jehovah shall smite with a drought the tongue, &c., following the Chaldee, which, instead of µyrjh, he destroyed, reads byrjh, he dried up. And the next clause, which he understands, not of the river Nile, but of the Euphrates, the bishop very properly translates, “And he shall shake his hand over the river with his vehement wind; and he shall strike it into seven streams, and make them pass over it dry-shod.” Thus also Dr. Waterland, after Vitringa: “He shall shake his hand over the Euphrates, and shall smite it into seven outlets;” that is, he shall divide or separate it into seven small rivers, so as to render it easy to be passed over. What is thus expressed metaphorically in this clause, is declared in plain words in the next verse: And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, &c. — As there shall be a highway from Egypt, the Red sea being dried up, so shall there be from Assyria, the river Euphrates being rendered fordable. In other words, and without a figure, all impediments shall be removed, and a way shall be made for the return of God’s Israel from all parts of the world. He mentions Egypt and Assyria particularly, because they were then two flourishing kingdoms which bordered upon Judea, and by turns were the great oppressors of God’s people. And the ten tribes having been carried captive to Assyria, their case especially seemed desperate. But these two kingdoms stand here, in the prophetic style, for the adverse empires in general, especially those of idolatry and superstition, which shall be either destroyed or reduced to such a state of weakness as not to be able to hinder the progress of the conversion of the Jews and Gentiles. “My belief,” says Vitringa, “upon the strength of this prophecy is, that all the impediments of the great empires of the world being removed, which yet delay the perfect completion of the great and excellent promises made to the church, and hinder the calling and collection of the Jews and Gentiles, the empire of the kingdom of Christ will extend itself over the whole world, according to the remarkable prediction of Daniel, chap. 2:35, &c.”

15, 16. The wonders which Jehovah wrought for Israel in his escape from Egypt, and will yet work in his deliverances from Assyria, are to be repeated essentially, but in the spiritual sense, in behalf of the dispersed of Israel, or at least the Israel that shall return to Jehovah in those lands. The whole description is exaltedly figurative and the poetry wonderful, considering the small physical scope from within which the terms and vocables are drawn as signs of the prophet’s overflowing conceptions. And the Lord shall utterly destroy — Shall lay the ban upon the Sea of Egypt: — that which lies between Egypt and Arabia, the Gulf of Suez or the Red Sea, which the children of Israel passed. Jehovah smites it with the ban; he makes it dry again for passage to converted ones out of Egypt toward Zion. With his mighty wind — With his heated, glowing breath, and wave of hand, as employing mediate agency over the Euphrates. Observe the attention, as before, first on the two great world-kingdoms. Smite it in the seven streams — Jehovah splinters the great river into seven, or an indefinite number of shallow streams to become, through God’s heated air, dry wadys for an unobstructed highway to the saints from Assyria, as well as in old time there was to God’s typical people out of Egypt. In these terms no literal history is asserted for the future Messianic people, but merely a gradual disappearing of the whole circle of heathendom comes to pass, and tropically the Holy Land is the centre of Messiah’s kingdom.