Isaiah · Chapter 18

V. 1. The lord-Either Ethiopia beyond Egypt; or of Egypt. Wings-The title of wings is given, in scripture, to divers things which have some kind of resemblance to wings, as to the battlements of an house or temple, to an army, and to the sails of a ship, as this word is here commonly understood. And shadowing with wings is nothing else but overspread or filled with them. Which title may be given either to Ethiopia or Egypt, in regard of the great numbers either of their armies, or of their ships or vessels sailing upon the sea or rivers. Besides-Situated on both sides of the Nile. Rivers-Called rivers, in the plural number, either for its greatness, or for the many rivulets that run into it, or for the various streams into which it is divided.

Verse 1. Wo to the land] xra ywh hoi arets! This interjection should be translated ho! for it is properly a particle of calling: Ho, land! Attend! Give ear!

Shadowing with wings— “The winged cymbal] כנפים lxlx tsiltsal kenaphayim. I adopt this as the most probable of the many interpretations that have been given of these words. It is Bochart’s: see Phaleg, iv. 2. The Egyptian sistrum is expressed by a periphrasis; the Hebrews had no name for it in their language, not having in use the instrument itself. The cymbal they had was an instrument in its use and sound not much unlike the sistrum; and to distinguish it from the sistrum, they called it the cymbal with wings. The cymbal was a round hollow piece of metal, which, being struck against another, gave a ringing sound: the sistrum was a round instrument, consisting of a broad rim of metal, through which from side to side ran several loose laminæ or small rods of metal, which being shaken, gave a like sound. These, projecting on each side, had somewhat the appearance of wings; or might be very properly expressed by the same word which the Hebrews used for wings, or for the extremity, or a part of any thing projecting. The sistrum is given in a medal of Adrian, as the proper attribute of Egypt. See Addison on Medals, Series iii. No. 4; where the figure of it may be seen. The frame of the sistrum was in shape rather like the ancient lyre; it was not round.

If we translate shadowing with wings, it may allude to the multitude of its vessels, whose sails may be represented under the notion of wings. The second verse seems to support this interpretation. Vessels of bulrushes, amg gome, or rather the flag papyrus, so much celebrated as the substance on which people wrote in ancient times, and from which our paper is denominated. The sails might have been made of this flag: but whole canoes were constructed from it. Mat sails are used to the present day in China. The Vulgate fully understood the meaning of the word, and has accordingly translated, in vasis papyri, “in vessels of papyrus.” Reshi vesselis.—Old MS. Bib. This interpretation does not please Bp. Lowth, and for his dissent he gives the following reasons:—

In opposition to other interpretations of these words which have prevailed, it may be briefly observed that lxlx tsiltsel is never used to signify shadow, nor is ãnk canaph applied to the sails of ships. If, therefore, the words are rightly interpreted the winged cymbal, meaning the sistrum, Egypt must be the country to which the prophecy is addressed. And upon this hypothesis the version and explanation must proceed. I farther suppose, that the prophecy was delivered before Sennacherib’s return from his Egyptian expedition, which took up three years; and that it was designed to give to the Jews, and perhaps likewise to the Egyptians, an intimation of God’s counsels in regard to the destruction of their great and powerful enemy.

Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia— “Which borders on the rivers of Cush”] What are the rivers of Cush? whether the eastern branches of the lower Nile, the boundary of Egypt towards Arabia, or the parts of the upper Nile towards Ethiopia, it is not easy to determine. The word מעבר meeber signifies either on this side or on the farther side: I have made use of the same kind of ambiguous expression in the translation.

Verse 1. Wo to the land — Or, rather, as Bishop Lowth renders it, and as the particle ywh, here used, undoubtedly means, Isaiah 55:1, and elsewhere, Ho! to the land. The words seem evidently to contain an address to the land here meant, which is supposed to be Egypt, because of the attributes under which it is spoken of. 1st, It is said to be shadowing, or shadowed with wings, a description which, it is thought, agrees to Egypt, as connected with Ethiopia, because it is situated between two mountains on the eastern and western side of the Nile, which, as it were, overshadow it, especially where it is most narrow, toward Ethiopia, and which unfold themselves more and more in the manner of two wings, from the south toward the north. Thus Vitringa interprets the first member of the prophet’s description. But the Hebrew word, which our translators render shadowing, properly signifies a sort of timbrel, called in Latin sistrum, which was an instrument of music peculiar to the Egyptians in their sacrifices to Isis; and the two words here used, µypnk lxlx, tziltzal kenaphim, are interpreted by some, a winged timbrel or cymbal, which is an exact description of the Egyptian sistrum, and therefore is supposed to be made use of here as a distinguishing epithet of Egypt, termed the land of the winged timbrel, or cymbal. This interpretation is adopted by Bishop Lowth and many others. Both interpretations agree in this, that Egypt is the land intended; which is still more manifest from the second attribute mentioned as descriptive of it, that it is beyond, or rather borders upon, the rivers of Ethiopia, the word rb[m, signifying either on this side, or on the further side. The word vwk, chush, here rendered Ethiopia, sometimes signifies Arabia, and some interpreters think some rivers of a part of Arabia are meant, beyond which Egypt lay; but Vitringa, Bishop Lowth, and many others, understand the prophet as speaking of the Nile, and some great and celebrated rivers which flow into it from Ethiopia, and very much increase its waters. It is probable, that either the eastern branches of the lower Nile, the boundary of Egypt toward Arabia, are intended, or the parts of the upper Nile toward Ethiopia. It is thought the prophet the rather denominates Egypt from this epithet, because at this time it was under the power of the Ethiopians.

Verse 1. Woe to the land shadowing with wings—ranges of inaccessible mountains called the mountains of the moon, and those to the east between the Nile and the Red sea. The Nile divided amidst those mountains. Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; that is, the southern streams and branches of the Nile, which run into the centre of Cush or Ethiopia. We must confess that the language here is very obscure, and the innumerable glosses given to the figures of this verse, is full proof of that obscurity.

1. Woe — Not minatory, but salutatory: Ho! Land shadowing with wings — Or, land of the clanging sound of wings; the buzz or rustling of insect wings; or, as some interpret, referring to the rustle and clatter of marching armies; as if it means, “Ho, land that sends forth armies to the aid of invaded Egypt below.” Beyond the rivers — That is, regions lying south of Egypt around and beyond the head-waters of the Nile.

V. 2. Sendeth-That at this time are sending ambassadors, to strengthen themselves with alliances. Bulrushes-Both the Egyptians and Ethiopians, used boats of rushes or reeds, which were more convenient for them than those of wood, because they were both cheaper and swifter, and lighter for carriage from place to place. These seem to be the words of the prophet, who having pronounced a woe against the land hitherto described, here continues his speech, and gives a commission from God to these messengers, to go to this nation scattered, &c. Then he calls to all nations to be witnesses of the message sent, ver. 3, and then the message follows in the succeeding verses. Messengers-Whom I have appointed for this work, and tell them what I am about to do with them. Scattered-Not by banishment but in their habitations. Which agrees well to the Ethiopians, for the manner of their habitation, which is more scattered than that of other people. Peeled-Having their hair plucked off. This is metaphorically used in scripture, for some great calamity, whereby men are stripped of all their comforts. And this title may be given to them prophetically, to signify their approaching destruction. Terrible-Such were the Egyptians, and Ethiopians, as appears both from sacred and profane histories. Meted-Meted out as it were with lines to destruction. Trodden-By Divine sentence, and to be trodden down by their enemies. The rivers-Which may be understood of the Assyrians or Babylonians breaking in upon them like a river, and destroying their land and people.

Verse 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. Exodus 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 usual conveyers of news whatsoever, travellers, merchants, and the like, the instruments and agents of common fame. These are ordered to publish this declaration made by the prophet throughout Egypt, and to all the world; and to excite their attention to the promised visible interposition of God.

Scattered— “Stretched out in length”] Egypt, that is, the fruitful part, exclusive of the deserts on each side, is one long vale, through the middle of which runs the Nile, bounded on each side to the east and west by a chain of mountains seven hundred and fifty miles in length; in breadth from one to two or three days’ journey: even at the widest part of the Delta, from Pelusium to Alexandria, not above two hundred and fifty miles broad. Egmont and Hayman, and Pococke.

Peeled— “Smoothed”] Either relating to the practice of the Egyptian priests, who made their bodies smooth by shaving off their hair, (see Herod. ii. 37;) or rather to their country’s being made smooth, perfectly plain and level, by the overflowing of the Nile.

Meted out— “Meted out by line”] It is generally referred to the frequent necessity of having recourse to mensuration in Egypt, in order to determine the boundaries after the inundations of the Nile; to which even the origin of the science of geometry is by some ascribed. Strabo, lib. xvii. sub init. Trodden down] Supposed to allude to a peculiar method of tillage in use among the Egyptians. Both Herodotus, (lib. ii.,) and Diodorus, (lib. i.,) say that when the Nile had retired within its banks, and the ground became somewhat dry, they sowed their land, and then sent in their cattle, (their hogs, says the former,) to tread in the seed; and without any farther care expected the harvest.

The rivers have spoiled— “The rivers have nourished”] The word wazb bazeu is generally taken to be an irregular form for wzzb bazezu, “have spoiled,” as four MSS. have it in this place; and so most of the Versions, both ancient and modern, understand it. On which Schultens, Gram. Heb. p. 491, has the following remark:— “Ne minimam quidem speciem veri habet wazb bazau, Esai. xviii. 2, elatum pro wzzb bazazu, deripiunt. Haec esset anomalia, cui nihil simile in toto linguæ ambitu. In talibus nil finire, vel fateri ex mera agi conjectura, tutius justiusque. Radicem azb baza olim extare potuisse, quis neget? Si cognatum quid sectandum erat, ad hzb bazah, contemsit, potius decurrendum fuisset; ut wazb bazeu, pro wzb bazu, sit enuntiatum, vel wyzb baziv. Digna phrasis, flumina contemmunt terram, i.e., inundant.” “azb baza, Arab. extulit se superbius, item subjecit sibi: unde præt. pl. wazb bazeu, subjecerunt sibi, i.e., inundarunt.”— Simonis’ Lexic. Heb.

A learned friend has suggested to me another explanation of the word. azb baza, Syr., and azyb beiza, Chald., signifies uber, “a dug,” mamma, “a breast;” agreeably to which the verb signifies to nourish. This would perfectly well suit with the Nile: whereas nothing can be more discordant than the idea of spoiling and plundering; for to the inundation of the Nile Egypt owed every thing; the fertility of the soil, and the very soil itself. Besides, the overflowing of the Nile came on by gentle degrees, covering with out laying waste the country: “Mira æque natura fluminis, quod cum cæteri omnes abluant terras et eviscerent, Nilus tanto cæteris major adeo nihil exedit, nec abradit, ut contra adjiciat vires; minimumque in eo sit, quod solum temperet. Illato enim limo arenas saturat ac jungit; debetque illi Ægyptus non tantum fertilitatem terrarum, sed ipsas.—Seneca, Nat. Quæst., iv. 2. I take the liberty, therefore, which Schultens seems to think allowable in this place, of hazarding a conjectural interpretation. It is a fact that the Ganges changes its course, and overruns and lays barren whole districts, from which it was a few years back several miles distant. Such changes do not nourish but spoil the ground.

Verse 2. That sendeth ambassadors by sea — That is accustomed to send, or at this time is sending, ambassadors to strengthen themselves with leagues and alliances, or to encourage their confederates; in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters — This circumstance agrees perfectly well with Egypt; Pliny, Lucan, Diodorus Siculus, and Strabo, all affirming that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships, or boats, made of the reed papyrus. 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 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 usual conveyers of news whatsoever; travellers, merchants, and the like, the instruments and agents of common fame; these are ordered to publish this declaration, made by the prophet, throughout Egypt, and to excite their attention to the promised visible interposition of Providence.” Thus Bishop Lowth; who further says, “I suppose that this prophecy was delivered before Sennacherib’s return from his Egyptian expedition, which took up three years; and that it was designed to give to the Jews, and perhaps likewise to the Egyptians, an intimation of God’s counsels in regard to the destruction of their great and powerful enemy.” To a nation scattered — Or stretched out, as many translate Ëvmm. “Egypt, that is, the fruitful part of it, exclusive of the deserts on each side, is one long vale, through the middle of which runs the Nile, bounded on each side to the east and west by a chain of mountains, seven hundred and fifty miles in length, in breadth, from one to two or three days’ journey: even at the widest part of the Delta, from Pelusium to Alexandria, not above two hundred and fifty miles broad.” And peeled — Or rather smoothed, as crwmw may be rendered. This, Bishop Lowth thinks, “either relates to the practice of the Egyptian priests, who made their bodies smooth by shaving off the hair; or, rather, to the country’s being made smooth, perfectly plain and level, by the overflowing of the Nile.” Terrible from the beginning hitherto — This also well suits the Egyptians, whose kingdom was one of the most ancient, and continued long to be extremely formidable. And they were wont to boast extravagantly of the antiquity and greatness of their kingdom, asserting that gods were their first kings, and then demi-gods, and lastly men. A nation meted out and trodden down — Hebrew, hswbmw wq wq ywg, a nation of line, line, and treading down. See the margin. The prophet is here generally supposed to refer, 1st, To the necessity which the Egyptians were frequently under of having recourse to mensuration, in order to determine the boundaries of their lands, after the inundations of the Nile; which is thought by some to have given birth to the science of geometry; (Strabo, lib. 17;) and, 2d, To a peculiar method of tillage in use among them. “Both Herodotus and Diodorus say, that when the Nile had retired within its banks, and the ground became somewhat dry, they sowed their land, and then sent in their cattle to tread in the seed; and without any further care expected the harvest.” Whose land the rivers have spoiled — The word wazb, here used, may either be rendered spoiled, or despised. It seems plainly to relate to the overflowing of the Nile; which, as it were, claims Egypt to itself, while it overwhelms with its waters the whole land, except the cities and towns, secured by the banks raised about them. It is true, this overflow is rather an advantage than a disadvantage to the land, as it renders it fruitful; nevertheless it puts the inhabitants to very great inconveniences during its continuance.

Ver. 2. Vessels of bulrushes. A sort of canoes made of papyrus, and much used in navigating the Nile.

2. By the sea — The Nile. Any distinguished waters were called seas. Saying — This is useless. The word is not in the original, nor is it essential to the sense of the passage. Go, ye — This is addressed to the vessels on the Nile made of papyrus (bulrushes) bark. This plant, now seldom found, anciently abounded along the Nile and its branches, and from its inner bark the earlier writing material was obtained, as well as from its strips coverings for boat frames; thus making “ships” light for sailing on the level Nile, and portable for its cataracts. To a nation scattered and peeled — A description of the Ethiopians. Better, tall, or drawn out, and smooth. So the original. To a people of smooth skin, lithe, active, and terrible, or much to be feared, for their fierceness. From their beginning — From that time and beyond, or from long ago; referring, perhaps, to an antiquity sufficient to account for the constitutional difference in blackness, smoothness of skin, etc. A nation meted out — Still the Ethiopians. The Hebrew is, wq wq, (kav, kav,) line, line. The English translation implies a measuring line thoroughly used. (The repeated words imply this.) The measuring line was in war used upon buildings devoted to destruction. By figure it may here mean all destroyers, and hence the term is of active signification, not passive; and if this be active, so the next word. Then it is not trodden, but treading down; a people treading and crushing; an all powerful and victorious people. Spoiled — This also is an inadequate rendering, and was made on an incorrect theory of the passage. It rather means, dissects, cuts up. The branches of the Upper Nile divide the country into many sections.

V. 3. When-When God shall gather together the nations, as it were by the lifting up of an ensign, or by the sound of a trumpet, to execute his judgments upon this people.

Verse 3. When he lifteth up an ensign— “When the standard is lifted up”] I take God to be the Agent in this verse; and that by the standard and the trumpet are meant the meteors, the thunder, the lightning, the storm, earthquake, and tempest, by which Sennacherib’s army shall be destroyed, or by which at least the destruction of it shall be accompanied; as it is described in Isaiah 10:16, 17; 29:6, and Isaiah 30:30, 31. See also Psalm 76:1-12, and the title of it, according to the Septuagint, Vulgate and Æthiopic. They are called, by a bold metaphor, the standard lifted up, and the trumpet sounded. The latter is used by Homer, I think with great force, in his introduction to the battle of the gods; though I find it has disgusted some of the minor critics:—

Brace d~ eureia cqwn,

Amfi de salpigzen megav ouranov.

Il. xxi. 388.

“Heaven in loud thunders bids the trumpet sound,

And wide beneath them groans the rending ground.”

POPE.

Verse 3. All ye inhabitants of the world, &c,, see ye — Take notice of what I say, and what God will do: Or, Ye shall see. “We have here the declaration made to the other people of the world, to expect the fall of the Assyrian. God invites all the people of the earth to this sight; that, as soon as they should observe the sign appointed by God, namely, the standards lifted up by Sennacherib, on the mountains of Judea, and the sound of the trumpets of the hostile army preparing to besiege Jerusalem, they should attend to the execution of this divine judgment.” — Vitringa.

3. See ye, when, etc. — The picture takes in the prophet as saying to all the people in those far lands, “Be ready when ye shall see the signal raised on the mountains; note it, when the trumpet shall sound; listen, and be on the alert.” The prophet’s alarm is in the interest of Judah, or, which is the same thing, of Jehovah’s cause. The passage-way of the armies of the rival empires lay through Judah, now a dependent of Egypt, on account of which dependence Judah is to suffer if Assyria prevails. The implied prediction is, that God is about to deliver the world from the all-conquering might of Assyria.

V. 4. Rest-I will not bestir myself, to help this people. God is said in scripture to rest, or sit still, when he doth not work on the behalf of a person or people. Dwelling-place-In heaven, the place where God dwells. Harvest-The sense is, that God would look upon them with as uncomfortable an influence as the sun with a clear heat upon the herbs, which are scorched and killed by it; and as a cloud of the dew, which brings dew or rain, in the heat of harvest, when it is unwelcome and hurtful.

Verse 4. For so the Lord said unto me— “For thus hath JEHOVAH said unto me”] The subject of the remaining part of this chapter is, that God would comfort and support his own people, though threatened with immediate destruction by the Assyrians; that Sennacherib’s great designs and mighty efforts against them should be frustrated; and that his vast expectations should be rendered abortive, when he thought them mature, and just ready to be crowned with success; that the chief part of his army should be made a prey for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, (for this is the meaning of the allegory continued through the fifth and sixth verses;) and that Egypt, being delivered from his oppression, and avenged by the hand of God of the wrongs which she had suffered, should return thanks for the wonderful deliverance, both of herself and of the Jews, from this most powerful adversary.

Like a clear heat— “Like the clear heat”] The same images are employed by an Arabian poet:—

Solis more fervens, dum frigus; quumque ardet

Sirius, tum vero frigus ipse et umbra.

Which is illustrated in the note by a like passage from another Arabian poet:—

Calor est hyeme, refrigerium æstate.

Excerpta ex Hamasa; published by Schultens, at the end of Erpenius’s Arabic Grammar, p. 425.

Upon herbs— “After rain”] “rwa aur here signifies rain, according to what is said Job 36:11: ‘The cloud scatters his rain.’”—Kimchi. In which place of Job the Chaldee paraphrast does indeed explain wrwa auro by hyrcm matereyh; and so again Job 36:21 and Job 36:30. This meaning of the word seems to make the best sense in this place; it is to be wished that it were better supported.

In the heat of harvest— “In the day of harvest.”] For בחם bechom, in the heat, fourteen MSS., (several ancient,) the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate read ביום beyom, in the day. The mistake seems to have arisen from כחם kechom in the line above.

Verse 4. For so the Lord said unto me — That is, revealed this thing to me from his secret purposes; I will take my rest — While the Assyrian is forming designs for the destruction of my people, I will seem to rest, as if I had no regard for their preservation. The reader will observe, God is said in Scripture to rest, or sit still, when he does not work on the behalf of a person or people; as, on the contrary, he is said to bestir himself when he acts for them. And I will consider in my dwelling-place — Namely, in the heavens, what time will be most proper for the execution of my purpose upon these proud blasphemers of my name, and persecutors of my people. This is spoken after the manner of men. Like a clear heat upon herbs, &c. — The meaning of these metaphorical expressions is, that God would not so rest as to lay aside all care and regard for his people; but that he rested with the best and most benevolent purpose of comforting them after this affliction, and of giving them refreshment, like that of a serene heat after a heavy rain, or a cloud of dew in the time of harvest.

4. All being thus ready, Jehovah comes now into the scene. In his watchful providence he looks on calmly from the high heavens, and waits up to the right time. Like a clear heat upon herbs — “Clear heat” is serene, continuous heat, suited to ripen herbs, grasses, wheat. Like a cloud of dew — Moisture combining with heat to hasten the harvest. The Hebrew particle k kaph, here twice used, is a particle of comparison, not of time, and the meaning obviously is, that God not only does not hinder the operations of the enemy against Egypt and Ethiopia, but he even favours his success to a certain point, as dew and sunshine promote a ripening harvest.

V. 5. For-Before they receive the end of their hopes. When-When the bud or flower is turned into a grape, which gives hopes of good vintage. He-The Lord. The branches-Instead of gathering the grapes, shall cut down the tree, and throw it into the fire.

Verse 5. The flower— “The blossom”] Heb. her blossom; hxn nitstsah, that is, the blossom of the vine, גפנ gephen, vine, understood, which is of the common gender. See Genesis 40:10. Note, that by the defective punctuation of this word, many interpreters, and our translators among the rest, have been led into a grievous mistake, (for how can the swelling grape become a blossom?) taking the word hxn nitstsah for the predicate; whereas it is the subject of the proposition, or the nominative case to the verb.

Verse 5. For afore the harvest — Here the Lord informs his people how he would act toward those of their adversaries, for whom he had prepared this great slaughter. He compares them to a vine, which, after it hath sent forth its buds, then its flowers, and the flowers the sour grapes, which too were beginning to ripen, is suddenly stripped of its shoots and branches by the pruning-hook of the vine-dresser, who leaves them, burdened with grapes, a prey to the fowls of heaven, and the beasts of the earth. By which allegory, continued through this and the sixth verse, the prophet means, that, when every thing respecting the Assyrians was in the most promising situation, when Sennacherib’s great designs seemed almost mature, and just ready to be crowned with success, his mighty efforts should be in a moment frustrated, his vast expectations rendered abortive, and the chief part of his immense army made a prey to the beasts and birds.

5. But God does interfere at the last and right moment. For afore the harvest — In this case the grape harvest, as the defining terms following indicate. In the interval between the two harvests God has looked calmly on. The Assyrian’s answer to the figure of the “grape harvest” — the pruning and nipping off of shoots to facilitate ripening by letting in of sunheat — symbolizes God’s own forwarding of the enemy and his plans unto destruction.

V. 6. Thy-The branches being cut down and thrown upon the ground, with the unripe grapes upon them. Left-They shall lie upon the earth, so that either birds or beasts may shelter themselves with them, or feed on them, both summer and winter.

6. They… be left — The branches cut off for the fowls and beasts represent the carcasses of the enemy laid prostrate on the field, as the Assyrians were arrested in their march against Egypt. Both Judah is saved, and Egypt and Ethiopia are relieved from the dreaded foe. This is the message the Ethiopian ambassadors of verse 2 were summoned to send off to their country. The message relates to the destruction of the enemy, and said destruction was a marked wonder, worthy to be known at the farthest places of the earth. For the enemy just ready to pounce upon the Egyptians, and with them upon Judah also, was itself pounced upon by the Almighty One. This event is the ensign on the mountains, and the trumpet sound (verse 3) to which the prophet invites Ethiopia’s attention. The mustering of their hosts in self-defence is not now necessary. God has come to their defence, but chiefly in behalf of his people in Judah.

V. 7. In that time-At or after that time, when the judgment shall be compleatly executed. A people-The people of whom I am speaking shall present themselves, and their sacrifices, to the true God.

Verse 7. The present— “A gift”] The Egyptians were in alliance with the kingdom of Judah, and were fellow-sufferers with the Jews under the invasion of their common enemy Sennacherib; and so were very nearly interested in the great and miraculous deliverance of that kingdom, by the destruction of the Assyrian army. Upon which wonderful event it is said, 2 Chronicles 32:23, that “many brought gifts unto Jehovah to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah; so that he was magnified of all nations from henceforth.” It is not to be doubted, that among these the Egyptians distinguished themselves in their acknowledgments on this occasion.

Of a people— “From a people”] Instead of µ[ am, a people, the Septuagint and Vulgate read מעם meam, from a people, which is confirmed by the repetition of it in the next line. The difference is of importance; for if this be the true reading, the prediction of the admission of Egypt into the true Church of God is not so explicit as it might otherwise seem to be. However, that event is clearly foretold at the end of the next chapter.—L.

ISAIAH

Verse 7. In that time — After the execution of this signal judgment; shall the present be brought unto the Lord, &c. — Here the prophet foretels that Egypt, being delivered from the oppression of the Assyrian, and avenged, by the hand of God, of the wrongs which she had suffered, should return thanks for the wonderful deliverance, both of herself and of the Jews, from this most powerful adversary. “The Egyptians,” it must be observed, “were in alliance with the kingdom of Judah, and were fellow-sufferers with the Jews, under the invasion of the common enemy Sennacherib; and so were very nearly interested in the great and miraculous deliverance of that kingdom, by the destruction of the Assyrian army. Upon which wonderful event it is said, (2 Chronicles 32:23,) that many brought gifts unto Jehovah, to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah; so that he was magnified of all nations from thenceforth. And it is not to be doubted, that among these the Egyptians distinguished themselves in their acknowledgments on this occasion.” These offerings, then made from Egypt and other nations, were a prelude of a more perfect conversion of the Gentiles to the God of Israel; and there is nothing more certain than that God, after the remarkable overthrow of Sennacherib, was like the clear heat after rain, and like dew in the time of harvest, to the people of Israel. See Bishop Lowth and Vitringa.

7. In that time shall the present be brought — Now that Ethiopia is delivered by the fall of her enemy, the usual offerings of submission and gratitude are due from her. The proper offering is, that of herself to her deliverer, making herself over to him and to his religion as established on mount Zion. The terms characterizing Ethiopia are the same as in verse 2, where see explanations. Was this call to the Ethiopians unheeded? Did this wonder from Jehovah — the Assyrian destruction — prove a vain event in directing the world’s attention to Him as its almighty Creator and Sovereign? “This particular case has already thrown forward some foreshadowing of its future fulfilment in the scenes briefly sketched in Acts 8:26-39, when the prime minister of a celebrated queen of Ethiopia found Christ, by the aid of Philip, in reading this very book of Isaiah, and went home to his country rejoicing. Also in the further fact, that some vestiges of Christianity — traces of its early power, and perhaps prophecies of its later — have lived in that remote land unto this day. Assuredly ‘Ethiopia shall yet stretch forth her hands unto God.’” — Cowles.