Isaiah · Chapter 28

V. 1. Pride-That proud and insolent kingdom. Drunkards-Having many and excellent vines among them, they were much exposed to this sin. Ephraim-Of the kingdom of the ten tribes. Who are-Who have their common abode. The head-Samaria, might well be called the head, as being seated upon a mountain, and the head of the kingdom, and the head of the fat valleys, because it was encompassed with many fat and rich valleys.

Verse 1. Wo to the crown of pride] By the crown of pride, &c., Samaria is primarily understood. “Sebaste, the ancient Samaria, is situated on a long mount of an oval figure, having first a fruitful valley, and then a ring of hills running round about it;” Maundrell, p. 58. “E regione horum ruderum mons est peramœnus, planitie admodum frugifera circumseptus, super quem olim Samaria urbs condita fuit;” Fureri Itinerarium, p. 93. The city, beautifully situated on the top of a round hill, and surrounded immediately with a rich valley and a circle of other hills beyond it, suggested the idea of a chaplet or wreath of flowers worn upon their heads on occasions of festivity, expressed by the proud crown and the fading flower of the drunkards. That this custom of wearing chaplets in their banquets prevailed among the Jews, as well as among the Greeks and Romans, appears from the following passage of the book of Wisdom:—

“Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments, And let no flower of the spring pass by us:

Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds before they are withered.” Wisd. 2:7, 8.

Verse 1. Wo, &c. — The second discourse of the third book of Isaiah’s prophecies, according to Vitringa, begins here, and is continued to the end of the thirty-third chapter. He supposes that the whole of it was delivered before the expedition of Sennacherib, and on occasion of some solemn embassy sent to Egypt to implore the help of the Egyptians against the Assyrians. To the crown of pride — The proud state and kingdom of the ten tribes, commonly called Ephraim; or, as some think, Samaria, the capital city, is chiefly intended, which was situated, says Maundrell, “on a long mount of an oval figure; having first a fruitful valley, and then a ring, or crown, of hills running round about it.” Journey from Aleppo, p. 59. It is thought that the prophet alludes to the crown of flowers which used to be worn by the drunkards in their revels; “an image not unfrequently made use of by the prophets, to convey a strong idea of the universal depravity and folly of the nation.” To the drunkards of Ephraim — Having many and excellent vines among them, the Ephraimites were much exposed to this sin, and very frequently guilty of it, verse 7; Hosea 7:5; Amos 6:6. Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower — Whose glory and greatness shall suddenly wither and perish, like the garlands of flowers wherewith they crown their heads, amidst their intoxicating cups. Which are on the head of the fat valleys — Which proud and drunken Israelites have their common and chief abode in Samaria, the head of the kingdom, and seated at the head of fat and rich valleys which encompassed it.

Verse 1. The crown of pride. Sebaste, the ancient Samaria, is situated on a long mount of an oval figure, having first a fruitful valley, and then a circle of hills running round about it. Maundrell, p. 58.—The city is beautifully situated on the top of a round hill, surrounded immediately by a rich valley, and a circle of other hills beyond it, which first suggested the idea of a chaplet, or wreath of flowers, worn on their heads on occasions of festivity. This expressed “a crown of pride,” and the fading flower of the drunkards. See Wisdom 11:7, 8.

1. Woe — A calamity pronounced as impending. Crown of pride — A poetic figure describing the site of Samaria, a beautiful, oblong hill, fertile to its summit, rising from the centre of a fertile plain or valley, behind which is a circular range of mountains. The whole is verdant with grass, grain, olive groves, and vineyards. Upon this place and people serious events are about to fall, for reasons in part contained in epithets characterizing them, namely, their pride and intemperance. Drunkards of Ephraim — So the people of Israel are called from the name of its strongest tribe. On the head — On Samaria’s heights, overlooking valleys below rich and fertile, but producing chiefly that which only made the people worse. Drunkenness, however, is mentioned, not as the only prevalent vice, but as the crying one.

V. 2. A strong one-The king of Assyria. Shall cast down-The crown of pride. The hand-By the hand of God, which shall strengthen him in this work.

Verse 2. Behold the Lord hath a mighty and strong one— “Behold the mighty one, the exceedingly strong one”] yndal xma ammits ladonai, fortis Domino, i.e., fortissimmus, a Hebraism. For yndal ladonai, to the Lord, thirty-eight MSS. Of Dr. Kennicott’s and many of Deuteronomy Rossi’s, with some of my own, and two editions, read hwhyl laihovah, to JEHOVAH.

Verses 2-4. Behold, the Lord hath — Namely, at his command, prepared and ready to execute his judgments; a mighty and strong one — Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria; which, as a tempest of hail, &c., shall cast down — The crown of pride, to the earth, by his hand — By the hand of God, which shall strengthen him in this work. The crown, the drunkards, shall be trodden under feet — The expression is emphatical; the crown which was upon their own heads shall be trodden under the feet of others; and they, whose drunkenness made them stagger and fall to the ground, shall be trodden down there. The glorious beauty shall be as the hasty fruit — That is, the first ripe fruit, which, coming before the season, and before other fruits, is most acceptable. Which he that seeth it eateth up — Which, as soon as a man sees, he plucks it off and devours it as soon as he can get it into his hand. And so shall it be with Ephraim’s glory, which his enemies shall covet and spoil, and devour greedily. “The image,” says Bishop Lowth, “expresses, in the strongest manner, the great ease with which the Assyrians should take the city and the whole kingdom, and the avidity with which they should seize the rich prey without resistance.”

2. A mighty and strong one — An invading army, no doubt, is meant. Ravages which this should make on the country would surely have a fiercer description than that furnished in the picture given below. Tempest of hail — At times furious in that land, and occasionally lasting two or three days. (This remark is from personal observation of the writer at Shechem, seven miles distant from Samaria, in the month of March, 1870.) Cast… with the hand — The “hand” is the emblem of force, power, violence.

V. 3. Trodden-The expression is emphatical; the crown which was upon their own heads, shall be trodden under the feet of others; and they, whose drunkenness made them fall to the ground, shall be trodden down there.

Verse 3. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim— “The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim”] I read twrc[ ataroth, crowns, plural, to agree with the verb hnsmrt teramasnah, “shall be trodden down.”

Verses 2-4. Behold, the Lord hath — Namely, at his command, prepared and ready to execute his judgments; a mighty and strong one — Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria; which, as a tempest of hail, &c., shall cast down — The crown of pride, to the earth, by his hand — By the hand of God, which shall strengthen him in this work. The crown, the drunkards, shall be trodden under feet — The expression is emphatical; the crown which was upon their own heads shall be trodden under the feet of others; and they, whose drunkenness made them stagger and fall to the ground, shall be trodden down there. The glorious beauty shall be as the hasty fruit — That is, the first ripe fruit, which, coming before the season, and before other fruits, is most acceptable. Which he that seeth it eateth up — Which, as soon as a man sees, he plucks it off and devours it as soon as he can get it into his hand. And so shall it be with Ephraim’s glory, which his enemies shall covet and spoil, and devour greedily. “The image,” says Bishop Lowth, “expresses, in the strongest manner, the great ease with which the Assyrians should take the city and the whole kingdom, and the avidity with which they should seize the rich prey without resistance.”

3, 4. Trodden under feet — Thrust violently down so as to be trodden under the feet of the invader, (the Assyrian army under Shalmanezer in this case,) in the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah. As the hasty fruit — Denoting the early fig. The first crop of figs in Palestine comes in June, is comparatively scanty, and is used up as soon almost as it is ripe enough to eat: plucked as a dainty to be at once eaten. From August to November the later and larger fig crops come, and are stored for subsequent use.

The woe uttered will consist of the utter destruction of the city, the deportation of the people to Assyria, and the extinction thus of garlanded revels at Samaria. This actually took place, B.C. 721.

V. 4. He eateth-Which, as soon as a man sees he plucks it off, and devours it, as soon as he can get it into his hand. And so shall it be with Ephraim’s glory, which his enemies shall devour greedily.

Verse 4. The hasty fruit before the summer— “The early fruit before the summer”] “No sooner doth the boccore, (the early fig,) draw near to perfection in the middle or latter end of June, than the kermez or summer fig begins to be formed, though it rarely ripens before August; about which time the same tree frequently throws out a third crop, or the winter fig, as we may call it. This is usually of a much longer shape and darker complexion than the kermez, hanging and ripening upon the tree even after the leaves are shed; and, provided the winter proves mild and temperate, is gathered as a delicious morsel in the spring;” Shaw, Travels, p. 370, fol. The image was very obvious to the inhabitants of Judea and the neighbouring countries, and is frequently applied by the prophets to express a desirable object; by none more elegantly than by Hosea, Hosea 9:10:—

“Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel;

Like the first ripe fig in her prime, I saw your fathers.” Which when he that looketh upon it seeth— “Which whoso seeth, he plucketh it immediately”] For hary yireh, which with harh haroeh makes a miserable tautology, read, by a transposition of a letter, hray yoreh; a happy conjecture of Houbigant. The image expresses in the strongest manner the great ease with which the Assyrians shall take the city and the whole kingdom, and the avidity with which they shall seize the rich prey without resistance.

Verses 2-4. Behold, the Lord hath — Namely, at his command, prepared and ready to execute his judgments; a mighty and strong one — Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria; which, as a tempest of hail, &c., shall cast down — The crown of pride, to the earth, by his hand — By the hand of God, which shall strengthen him in this work. The crown, the drunkards, shall be trodden under feet — The expression is emphatical; the crown which was upon their own heads shall be trodden under the feet of others; and they, whose drunkenness made them stagger and fall to the ground, shall be trodden down there. The glorious beauty shall be as the hasty fruit — That is, the first ripe fruit, which, coming before the season, and before other fruits, is most acceptable. Which he that seeth it eateth up — Which, as soon as a man sees, he plucks it off and devours it as soon as he can get it into his hand. And so shall it be with Ephraim’s glory, which his enemies shall covet and spoil, and devour greedily. “The image,” says Bishop Lowth, “expresses, in the strongest manner, the great ease with which the Assyrians should take the city and the whole kingdom, and the avidity with which they should seize the rich prey without resistance.”

Ver. 4. The hasty fruit before the summer. No sooner does the boccore or early fig draw near to perfection, in the middle or latter end of June, than the kermez or summer fig begins to be formed, though it rarely ripens till August: about which time the same tree frequently throws out a third crop, or the winter fig. Shaw’s Travels, p. 370. Hosea 9:10.

3, 4. Trodden under feet — Thrust violently down so as to be trodden under the feet of the invader, (the Assyrian army under Shalmanezer in this case,) in the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah. As the hasty fruit — Denoting the early fig. The first crop of figs in Palestine comes in June, is comparatively scanty, and is used up as soon almost as it is ripe enough to eat: plucked as a dainty to be at once eaten. From August to November the later and larger fig crops come, and are stored for subsequent use.

The woe uttered will consist of the utter destruction of the city, the deportation of the people to Assyria, and the extinction thus of garlanded revels at Samaria. This actually took place, B.C. 721.

V. 5. In that day-When the kingdom of Israel shall be destroyed. A diadem-God shall give eminent glory and beauty, to the kingdom of Judah.

Verse 5. In that day] Thus far the prophecy relates to the Israelites, and manifestly denounces their approaching destruction by Shalmaneser. Here it turns to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the remnant of God’s people who were to continue a kingdom after the final captivity of the Israelites. It begins with a favourable prognostication of their affairs under Hezekiah; but soon changes to reproofs and threatenings for their intemperance, disobedience, and profaneness.

Jonathan’s Targum on this verse is worthy of notice: “In that time Messiah, the Lord of hosts twabx yyd ajyvm meshicha dayai tsebaoth, shall be a crown of joy and a diadem of praise to the residue of his people.” Kimchi says the rabbins in general are of this opinion. Here then the rabbins, and their most celebrated Targum, give the incommunicable name, twabx hwhy Yehovah tsebaoth, the Lord of hosts, to our ever blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Verses 5, 6. “Thus far,” says Bishop Lowth, “the prophecy relates to the Israelites, and manifestly denounces their approaching destruction by Shalmaneser. Here it turns to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the remnant of God’s people, who were to continue a kingdom after the final captivity of the Israelites. It begins with a favourable prognostication of their affairs under Hezekiah: but soon changes to reproofs and threatenings, for their intemperance, disobedience, and profaneness.” In that day — When the kingdom of Israel shall be utterly destroyed; the Lord of hosts shall be for a crown of glory, &c. — Shall give eminent glory and beauty unto the residue of his people — Unto the kingdom of Judah, who shall continue in their own country, when Israel is carried into captivity. And for a spirit of judgment, &c. — He explains how, or wherein, God would glorify and beautify them, even by giving wisdom to their rulers, and courage to their soldiers; which two things contribute much to the strength, safety, and glory of a nation. To them that turn the battle to the gate — Who not only drive their enemies from their land, but pursue them into their own lands, and besiege them in their own cities.

5, 6. The subject partially changes here. In that day — Referring to the time when events above predicted should occur. Crown of glory, and… diadem of beauty — The events at Samaria are to present two lessons: 1. The Lord Jehovah is himself concerned in permitting Assyria to conquer Israel. He sees it best to do so, for Israel’s and the world’s good. 2. He shows that the fear of Jehovah, not the natural loveliness of Samaria with her gross vices, is the true “crown of glory” of a nation. And the remnant left in Israel and all of Judah shall learn these lessons. He also shows that himself only can inspire truth and justice in one sitting in the magistrate’s seat, and himself only can impart true courage, and render a people when invaded or assailed able to repel attacks and drive the enemy back to his own city gates.

V. 6. To them-Who not only drive their enemies from their land, but pursue them into their own lands, and besiege them in their own cities.

Verse 6. The battle to the gate— “The war to the gate of the enemy.”] That is, who pursue the fleeing enemy even to the very gates of their own city. “But we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate,” 2 Samuel 11:23; that is, we drove the enemy back to their own gates. See also 1 Samuel 17:52. The Targum says, The Messiah shall give the victory to those who go out to battle, that he may bring them back to their own houses in peace.

Verses 5, 6. “Thus far,” says Bishop Lowth, “the prophecy relates to the Israelites, and manifestly denounces their approaching destruction by Shalmaneser. Here it turns to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the remnant of God’s people, who were to continue a kingdom after the final captivity of the Israelites. It begins with a favourable prognostication of their affairs under Hezekiah: but soon changes to reproofs and threatenings, for their intemperance, disobedience, and profaneness.” In that day — When the kingdom of Israel shall be utterly destroyed; the Lord of hosts shall be for a crown of glory, &c. — Shall give eminent glory and beauty unto the residue of his people — Unto the kingdom of Judah, who shall continue in their own country, when Israel is carried into captivity. And for a spirit of judgment, &c. — He explains how, or wherein, God would glorify and beautify them, even by giving wisdom to their rulers, and courage to their soldiers; which two things contribute much to the strength, safety, and glory of a nation. To them that turn the battle to the gate — Who not only drive their enemies from their land, but pursue them into their own lands, and besiege them in their own cities.

5, 6. The subject partially changes here. In that day — Referring to the time when events above predicted should occur. Crown of glory, and… diadem of beauty — The events at Samaria are to present two lessons: 1. The Lord Jehovah is himself concerned in permitting Assyria to conquer Israel. He sees it best to do so, for Israel’s and the world’s good. 2. He shows that the fear of Jehovah, not the natural loveliness of Samaria with her gross vices, is the true “crown of glory” of a nation. And the remnant left in Israel and all of Judah shall learn these lessons. He also shows that himself only can inspire truth and justice in one sitting in the magistrate’s seat, and himself only can impart true courage, and render a people when invaded or assailed able to repel attacks and drive the enemy back to his own city gates.

V. 7. But-Judah is guilty of the same sins with Israel, therefore they also must expect the same calamities; of which he speaks afterward. The prophet-The teachers, who should have been patterns of sobriety to the people. They err-The prophets miscarry in their sacred employment. Stumble-The priests mistake in pronouncing the sentence of the law, which was their duty.

Verse 7. But they also have erred — But, alas! Judah is guilty of the same sins with Israel, therefore they also must expect the same calamities, of which he speaks afterward. The priest — To whom strong drink was expressly forbidden in the time of their sacred ministrations; and the prophet — The teachers, who should have been patterns of sobriety to the people, and to whom sobriety was absolutely necessary for the right discharge of their office; have erred — In their conversation and in their holy administrations. They are swallowed up of wine — They are, as we say, drowned in it. They err in vision — The prophets miscarry in their sacred employment of prophesying or teaching, which is sometimes called vision. They stumble in judgment — The priests mistake in pronouncing the sentence of the law, which was their duty.

7, 8. But they also — With these words the prophet passes from Ephraim to Judah. He had just said that Judah should be spared while Ephraim should be sacked and destroyed. But even Judah is guilty of drunkenness. Those of them who are of the anti-reform party, false prophet and priest, even these err or stagger in vision, that is, while prophesying; and stumble, that is, blunder grievously, in giving judgment, or adjudicating cases, and all through strong drink. Priest and the prophet — Both these classes were to be found in the worldly, anti-spiritual party, which also absorbed the higher classes of society in Jerusalem. The true prophet was in the minority, hence unpopular and persecuted, though even a king, as did Hezekiah, might favour his cause. Tables are… vomit — The terms here are used of the extreme effects of drunkenness. Hyperbole is common among orientals, and is allowable for reaching the depths of the thought in hand, and to present a mirror before real baseness.

7, 8. But they also — With these words the prophet passes from Ephraim to Judah. He had just said that Judah should be spared while Ephraim should be sacked and destroyed. But even Judah is guilty of drunkenness. Those of them who are of the anti-reform party, false prophet and priest, even these err or stagger in vision, that is, while prophesying; and stumble, that is, blunder grievously, in giving judgment, or adjudicating cases, and all through strong drink. Priest and the prophet — Both these classes were to be found in the worldly, anti-spiritual party, which also absorbed the higher classes of society in Jerusalem. The true prophet was in the minority, hence unpopular and persecuted, though even a king, as did Hezekiah, might favour his cause. Tables are… vomit — The terms here are used of the extreme effects of drunkenness. Hyperbole is common among orientals, and is allowable for reaching the depths of the thought in hand, and to present a mirror before real baseness.

V. 9. He-God. Them-Who is there among this people that are willing to be taught the knowledge of God? A minister may as soon teach an infant as these men.

Verse 9. Whom shall he teach knowledge?— “Whom, say they, would he teach knowledge?”] The scoffers mentioned below, Isaiah 28:14, are here introduced as uttering their sententious speeches; they treat God’s method of dealing with them, and warning them by his prophets, with contempt and derision. What, say they, doth he treat us as mere infants just weaned? doth he teach us like little children, perpetually inculcating the same elementary lessons, the mere rudiments of knowledge; precept after precept, line after line, here and there, by little and little? imitating at the same time, and ridiculing, in Isaiah 28:10, the concise prophetical manner. God, by his prophet, retorts upon them with great severity their own contemptuous mockery, turning it to a sense quite different from what they intended. Yes, saith he, it shall be in fact as you say; ye shall be taught by a strange tongue and a stammering lip; in a strange country; ye shall be carried into captivity by a people whose language shall be unintelligible to you, and which ye shall be forced to learn like children. And my dealing with you shall be according to your own words: it shall be command upon command for your punishment; it shall be line upon line, stretched over you to mark your destruction, (compare 2 Kings 21:13;) it shall come upon you at different times, and by different degrees, till the judgments, with which from time to time I have threatened you, shall have their full accomplishment.

Jerome seems to have rightly understood the general design of this passage as expressing the manner in which the scoffers, by their sententious speeches, turned into ridicule the warnings of God by his prophets, though he has not so well explained the meaning of the repetition of their speech in Isaiah 28:13. His words are on Isaiah 28:9— “Solebant hoc ex persona prophetarum ludentes dicere:” and on Isaiah 28:14— “Quod supra diximus, cum irrisione solitos principes Judæorum prophetis dicere, manda, remanda, et cætera his similia, per quæ ostenditur, nequaquam eos prophetarum credidisse sermonibus, sed prophetiam habuisse despectui, præsens ostendit capitulum, per quod appellantur viri illusores.” Hieron. in loc.

And so Jarchi interprets the word משלים mishelim in the next verse: Qui dicunt verba irrisionis parabolice.” And the Chaldee paraphrases Isaiah 28:11 to the same purpose, understanding it as spoken, not of God, but of the people deriding his prophets: “Quoniam in mutatione loquelæ et in lingua subsannationis irridebant contra prophetas, qui prophetabant populo huic.”—L.

Verses 9, 10. Whom shall he — Namely, God, or his prophet, or minister; teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? — Who is there among this people, that are capable and willing to be taught the good knowledge of God? them that are wearied from the milk, &c. — A minister may as soon teach a young child as these men. For precept must be upon precept, &c. — They must be taught like little children, slowly, and with leisure, the same things being often repeated, because of their great dulness. Line upon line — One line of the book after another, as children are taught to read.

9, 10. These verses appear to imply an interruption on the part of those against whom the prophet is inveighing. They seem to reply scornfully. Whom shall he teach knowledge — “He, the intolerable moralist: does he mean us, already advanced in understanding? We need it not. We are through with our tuition in the schools. We want no more of precept upon precept… line upon line… here a little and there a little. We want no more of his elementary teachings, his petty teasings; no more of the many repetitions of his excited, high toned addresses.” Perhaps they attempted to mimic him, but were only able to speak (hic) (being then well drunken) in stammering (hic) words. Among the several explanations of these verses, this, which was first hinted by Jerome, and later accepted by Lowth, Ewald, and Delitzsch, seems the best.

V. 10. For-They must be taught like little children, because of their great dullness. Line-One line of the book after another, as children are taught to read.

Verse 10. For precept must be upon precept] The original is remarkably abrupt and sententious. The hemistichs are these:—

wxl wx wxl wx yk

latsav tsav latsav tsav ki

wql wq wql wq

lakav kav lakav kav

שם זעיר שם זעיר

sham zeeir sham zeeir

For,—

Command to command, command to command.

Line to line, line to line.

A little there, a little there.

Kimchi says wx tsav, precept, is used here for hwxm mitsvah, command, and is used in no other place for it but here. wx tsav signifies a little precept, such as is suited to the capacity of a child; see Isaiah 28:9. wq kav signifies the line that a mason stretches out to build a layer of stones by. After one layer or course is placed, he raises the line and builds another; thus the building is by degrees regularly completed. This is the method of teaching children, giving them such information as their narrow capacities can receive; and thus the prophet dealt with the Israelites. See Kimchi in loc., and see a fine parallel passage, Hebrews 5:12-14, by which this may be well illustrated.

My old MS. Bible translates oddly:—

For sende efter sende, sende efter sende:

Abide efter abiide, abiide efter abiide:

Lytyl ther, lytyl ther.

Coverdale is also singular:—

Commande that may be commanded;

Byd that maye be bydden:

Foorbyd that maye be forbydden;

Kepe backe that maye be kepte backe:

Here a litle, there a litle.

Verses 9, 10. Whom shall he — Namely, God, or his prophet, or minister; teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? — Who is there among this people, that are capable and willing to be taught the good knowledge of God? them that are wearied from the milk, &c. — A minister may as soon teach a young child as these men. For precept must be upon precept, &c. — They must be taught like little children, slowly, and with leisure, the same things being often repeated, because of their great dulness. Line upon line — One line of the book after another, as children are taught to read.

9, 10. These verses appear to imply an interruption on the part of those against whom the prophet is inveighing. They seem to reply scornfully. Whom shall he teach knowledge — “He, the intolerable moralist: does he mean us, already advanced in understanding? We need it not. We are through with our tuition in the schools. We want no more of precept upon precept… line upon line… here a little and there a little. We want no more of his elementary teachings, his petty teasings; no more of the many repetitions of his excited, high toned addresses.” Perhaps they attempted to mimic him, but were only able to speak (hic) (being then well drunken) in stammering (hic) words. Among the several explanations of these verses, this, which was first hinted by Jerome, and later accepted by Lowth, Ewald, and Delitzsch, seems the best.

V. 11. Another tongue-By people of a strange language, whom he shall bring among them, seeing they will not hear him speaking, by his prophets, in their own language.

Verses 11, 12. For — Or, rather, therefore, as the particle yk is often used. For the prophet here evidently intends to express the punishment of their dulness. With stammering lips, and another tongue — By people of a strange language, whom he will bring among them, and into whose power he will deliver them; will he speak to this people — Seeing they will not hear him speaking by his prophets and ministers, in their own language, they shall hear their enemies speaking to them in a strange language. It was a great aggravation of the misery of the Jews, during their captivity, that they did not understand the language of the Chaldeans, whose captives they were. To whom he said — To which people, the Lord, by his ministers, said, This — This doctrine, or the word of the Lord, as it follows, verse 13; is the rest — The only way, in the observance of which you will find rest. Wherewith, &c. — The word wherewith is supplied by our translators, there being nothing for it in the Hebrew, which is, cause ye the weary to rest — Namely, your weary minds and weary country. As if he had said, As rest is offered you by the prophets in God’s name, do you embrace it; which is to be done by hearkening to God’s word. So shall this people, which hath been so often, and so long, wearied and harassed by great and manifold calamities, find rest and peace. Yet they would not hear — They were wilfully ignorant, and obstinately refused the very means of instruction.

Ver. 11. Another tongue. Seeing they had mocked the prophets, the Lord would speak to them by the satraps of Chaldea, and send them into servitude.

11, 12. For — One explanation of this is, that the wicked prophets were about to continue, and got as far as “for,” when Isaiah snatched the word from them and proceeded thence himself: “Yes, for,” etc. Another translation is, “Yea, or truly,” the prophet’s own commencing words. Stammering lips — “Yes, with a stammering tongue,” that is, with another dialect, “will God speak to this people.” That dialect shall be the semi-Semitic patois of the fierce people beyond the Euphrates. It is said that the Assyrian Semitic was to Jewish ears much the same as the provincial lower Saxon (Platt-Deutsch) is to the pure high German language — said patois being mixed perhaps with Iranian, possibly with Tartar elements. See 2 Kings 18:26-28; Isaiah 36:11. It is proper to suppose, from the exigences of the text, that exile to Assyria is here threatened in consequence of such scoffing, which was alarmingly becoming the rule, not the exception, in the conduct of the Jews. To whom — The scoffing Jews. God had repeatedly said, This is the rest, namely, trusting in Jehovah of Hosts, and not in Syrian (chap. 7) nor in Egyptian (chapter 37) alliances. Yet they would not hear — God’s fruitless patience and teachings will not always be continued.

V. 12. This-This doctrine. The rest-The only way, in which you will find rest.

Verse 12. This is the rest— “This is the true rest”] The sense of this verse is: God had warned them by his prophets that their safety and security, their deliverance from their present calamities and from the apprehensions of still greater approaching, depended wholly on their trust in God, their faith and obedience; but they rejected this gracious warning with contempt and mockery.

Verses 11, 12. For — Or, rather, therefore, as the particle yk is often used. For the prophet here evidently intends to express the punishment of their dulness. With stammering lips, and another tongue — By people of a strange language, whom he will bring among them, and into whose power he will deliver them; will he speak to this people — Seeing they will not hear him speaking by his prophets and ministers, in their own language, they shall hear their enemies speaking to them in a strange language. It was a great aggravation of the misery of the Jews, during their captivity, that they did not understand the language of the Chaldeans, whose captives they were. To whom he said — To which people, the Lord, by his ministers, said, This — This doctrine, or the word of the Lord, as it follows, verse 13; is the rest — The only way, in the observance of which you will find rest. Wherewith, &c. — The word wherewith is supplied by our translators, there being nothing for it in the Hebrew, which is, cause ye the weary to rest — Namely, your weary minds and weary country. As if he had said, As rest is offered you by the prophets in God’s name, do you embrace it; which is to be done by hearkening to God’s word. So shall this people, which hath been so often, and so long, wearied and harassed by great and manifold calamities, find rest and peace. Yet they would not hear — They were wilfully ignorant, and obstinately refused the very means of instruction.

11, 12. For — One explanation of this is, that the wicked prophets were about to continue, and got as far as “for,” when Isaiah snatched the word from them and proceeded thence himself: “Yes, for,” etc. Another translation is, “Yea, or truly,” the prophet’s own commencing words. Stammering lips — “Yes, with a stammering tongue,” that is, with another dialect, “will God speak to this people.” That dialect shall be the semi-Semitic patois of the fierce people beyond the Euphrates. It is said that the Assyrian Semitic was to Jewish ears much the same as the provincial lower Saxon (Platt-Deutsch) is to the pure high German language — said patois being mixed perhaps with Iranian, possibly with Tartar elements. See 2 Kings 18:26-28; Isaiah 36:11. It is proper to suppose, from the exigences of the text, that exile to Assyria is here threatened in consequence of such scoffing, which was alarmingly becoming the rule, not the exception, in the conduct of the Jews. To whom — The scoffing Jews. God had repeatedly said, This is the rest, namely, trusting in Jehovah of Hosts, and not in Syrian (chap. 7) nor in Egyptian (chapter 37) alliances. Yet they would not hear — God’s fruitless patience and teachings will not always be continued.

V. 13. Here a little-As this method has been used and was altogether necessary for them; so it still is, and for the future shall be. As they were children in understanding, they shall still continue to be such; they shall be ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth. That-This will be the event, or consequence of their sin: they will fall backward, which is the worst, and most dangerous way of falling; and so be broken to pieces.

Verse 13. But the word of the Lord was unto them, &c. — The sense of the passage thus rendered, may be, that they spake of God’s word with scorn and contempt, repeating the prophet’s words, (which are as peculiar in sound, as they are strong and expressive in sense, wql wq, wql wq, wxl wx, wxl wx, tzav latzav, tzav latzav, kav lakav, kav lakav,) in a scoffing manner, and with a ridiculous tone of voice; as if they had said, It seems the prophet takes us to be mere children, that need to be taught the very rudiments of knowledge, and that but slowly. Precept upon precept, line upon line, &c. — That these were scornful men and mockers, is affirmed verses 14, 22; and, as scoffers frequently catch the words out of other men’s mouths, and use them in the way of derision; so it may be thought they did with the prophet’s words. But the clause may be rendered a little otherwise, as indeed it is by divers learned men, thus: And the word of the Lord shall be unto them, precept upon precept, &c.; as this method has been used, and was altogether necessary for them, so it still is, and for the future shall be. As they were children in understanding, they shall continue to be such; they shall be ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth; as they formerly would not, so now they shall not profit by the word, and their sin shall be their punishment. That they may, or might go, and fall backward — This will be the event, or consequence of their sin: they will fall backward, which is the worst and most dangerous way of falling; and so be broken to pieces.

13. Word… unto them precept — God’s method of training this people is described, namely, by the most patient, ploddingly-repeated, lessons. That — Two things are meant by this word. 1. The consequences to the people for their disloyalty to Jehovah, namely, ruin to them as a nation. 2. Intention to maintain the majesty of the divine law of righteousness. Scoffing men are long and patiently endured, to the end that, if they will not hear, their guilt shall be punished, their example shall be a warning, and the divine honour shall be maintained.

Verses 14, 15. Wherefore hear, ye scornful men — Who make a mock at sin, and at God’s word and threatenings, and who doubt not that by your crafty counsels, and human efforts, you shall escape God’s judgments; who have said — In your hearts; we have made a covenant with death, &c. — We are as safe from death and hell, or the grave, (as the word lwav here means,) as if they had entered into covenant with us, that they would not invade us. “To be in covenant with any thing, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote perfect security from evil, and mischief from it:” see Job 5:23; Hosea 2:18. When the overflowing scourge — The calamity which the prophets speak of as coming; shall pass through — Namely, the land: if it should pass through, which, however, we do not believe it will; it shall not come unto us — We shall escape. For we have made lies our refuge, &c. — These words the prophet puts into their mouths, as declarative of the real nature of their false confidence and vain hopes of safety: as if he had said, You are confident the calamity shall not come to you, because you have taken sanctuary in a refuge of lies! You depend on your vain idols, or on your riches, or strength, or crafty devices, which will all fail you. Or, you hope to secure yourselves by your arts of cunning and falsehood, but you will find yourselves disappointed.

14-16. Scornful men — The debased, drunken priests and false prophets in Jerusalem, (verses 7, 8,) scorning the message of the true prophets. (Verses 9, 10.) Because ye have said — Have said by your actions. If their actions were translated into words, their actual language would be as stated in this fifteenth verse. Covenant with death — A metaphorical representation of their having made terms with the king of terrors not to be too soon called to die. With hell — The underworld — place of departed spirits — a poetic equivalent with death. With this the same terms are supposed to have been made, not to be too soon called to the spirit world. Overflowing scourge — A mixed metaphor, probably referring to the Assyrian army invading and passing through Judea on its way to Egypt. Lies — The prophet’s definition. They acted as if a sufficient refuge was to be found in falsehood and deceit — in the false notions and doctrines on which their whole conduct was transacted.

V. 15. Said-In your hearts. We-We are as safe from death, and hell, or the grave, as if they had entered into covenant with us. The scourge-The judgment of God. Through-The land. For-We shall secure ourselves by lying and dissimulation.

Verse 15. A covenant with death] To be in covenant with, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote perfect security from evil and mischief of any sort:—

“For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.” Job 5:23.

“And I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field. And with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground.” Hosea 2:18.

That is, none of these shall hurt them. But Lucan, speaking of the Psylli, whose peculiar property it was to be unhurt by the bite of serpents, with which their country abounded, comes still nearer to the expression of Isaiah in this place:—

Gens unica terras

Incolit a sævo serpentum innoxia morsu

Marmaridæ Psylli.——

Pax illis cum morte data est.

Pharsal. ix. 891.

“Of all who scorching Afric’s sun endure,

None like the swarthy Psyllians are secure:

With healing gifts and privileges graced,

Well in the land of serpents were they placed:

Truce with the dreadful tyrant death they have,

And border safely on his realm the grave.”

ROWE.

We have made a covenant with death and with hell are we at agreement] hzj wnyc[ asinu chozeh, we have made a vision, we have had an interview, struck a bargain, and settled all preliminaries. So they had made a covenant with hell by diabolic sacrifice, tyrb wntrk carathnu berith. “We have cut the covenant sacrifice;” they divided it for the contracting parties to pass between the separated victim; for the victim was split exactly down the middle, so that even the spinal marrow was exactly divided through its whole length; and being set opposite to each other, the contracting parties entered, one at the head part, the other at the feet; and, meeting in the centre, took the covenant oath. Thus, it is intimated, these bad people made an agreement with lwav sheol, with demons, with whom they had an interview; i.e., meeting them in the covenant sacrifice! To such a pitch had the Israelitish idolatry reached at that time!

Verses 14, 15. Wherefore hear, ye scornful men — Who make a mock at sin, and at God’s word and threatenings, and who doubt not that by your crafty counsels, and human efforts, you shall escape God’s judgments; who have said — In your hearts; we have made a covenant with death, &c. — We are as safe from death and hell, or the grave, (as the word lwav here means,) as if they had entered into covenant with us, that they would not invade us. “To be in covenant with any thing, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote perfect security from evil, and mischief from it:” see Job 5:23; Hosea 2:18. When the overflowing scourge — The calamity which the prophets speak of as coming; shall pass through — Namely, the land: if it should pass through, which, however, we do not believe it will; it shall not come unto us — We shall escape. For we have made lies our refuge, &c. — These words the prophet puts into their mouths, as declarative of the real nature of their false confidence and vain hopes of safety: as if he had said, You are confident the calamity shall not come to you, because you have taken sanctuary in a refuge of lies! You depend on your vain idols, or on your riches, or strength, or crafty devices, which will all fail you. Or, you hope to secure yourselves by your arts of cunning and falsehood, but you will find yourselves disappointed.

14-16. Scornful men — The debased, drunken priests and false prophets in Jerusalem, (verses 7, 8,) scorning the message of the true prophets. (Verses 9, 10.) Because ye have said — Have said by your actions. If their actions were translated into words, their actual language would be as stated in this fifteenth verse. Covenant with death — A metaphorical representation of their having made terms with the king of terrors not to be too soon called to die. With hell — The underworld — place of departed spirits — a poetic equivalent with death. With this the same terms are supposed to have been made, not to be too soon called to the spirit world. Overflowing scourge — A mixed metaphor, probably referring to the Assyrian army invading and passing through Judea on its way to Egypt. Lies — The prophet’s definition. They acted as if a sufficient refuge was to be found in falsehood and deceit — in the false notions and doctrines on which their whole conduct was transacted.

V. 16. Therefore-Because your refuges are so vain, and deceitful; therefore I will direct you to a surer refuge, which God hath laid in Zion. But if you despise that refuge; then know, that I will lay judgment to the line, &c. I lay-I have promised it, and will, in the fulness of time, perform it. In Zion-In my church. A foundation-Upon which I will build my church. A stone-The Messiah. Tried-Which I have tried, and approved as every way sufficient. Corner-stone-Uniting the several parts of the building together. Sure-Upon whom you may securely rest. Believeth-This promise. Shall not-Hastily catch at any way of escaping danger, but shall patiently wait upon God in his way, ‘till he deliver him.

Verse 16. Behold, I lay in Zion] See the notes on the parallel places in the margin. Kimchi understands this of Hezekiah; but it most undoubtedly belongs to Jesus Christ alone; and his application of it to himself, even the Jews could not contest. See the margin as above.

Verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord — Because your refuges are vain and deceitful; therefore I will direct you to a better and surer refuge, which will never fail those that trust to it, which God hath prepared in Zion. But if you shall despise and reject that refuge, which I now offer to you all; if you will not believe, then know, that I will lay judgment to the line, &c., as it follows, verse 17. Some think that in this famous prophecy, Behold I lay in Zion, &c., the prophet only means to tell these scorners, that God would protect Jerusalem, but not them, whom he would suffer to perish; and that he “expresses the protection which God would afford it under the image of laying a foundation for new walls, with the largest and hardest stones, and those most fit for the purpose, to make it impregnable, and to stand for ages.” But to understand the prophet thus, is to make him utter a false prophecy, which was afterward contradicted by facts. For Jerusalem, whether we understand thereby the city or its inhabitants, was not protected, but given up into the hands, first of the Chaldeans, and then of the Romans, to be destroyed. Certainly, as Lowth observes, “this prophecy cannot belong to any but Christ, to whom it is often applied in the New Testament. But it may import thus much, with respect to the time wherein Isaiah lived, that those should never be disappointed who believed in God, who had made peculiar promises to his church, which should be eminently fulfilled at the coming of the Messiah, in whom all God’s promises made to his people should receive their final accomplishment.” Understood of Christ, the interpretation of every expression in the passage is natural and easy; Behold I lay — I have promised it, and in the fulness of time will perform it; in Zion — In my church; for a foundation — Upon which I will build my church, the foundation of all the confidence, hope, and comfort of my people; a stone — Not Hezekiah, as some have supposed, but the Messiah, as appears, 1st, From those passages of the Old Testament, in which he is called a stone, as Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14; Daniel 2:34-45; Zechariah 3:9. 2d, From those texts of the New Testament, in which this prophecy is directly expounded of him, as Romans 9:32, 33; 1 Peter 2:4. 3d, From the last clause, wherein faith in this stone is required, which is not to be placed in any mere man, or mere creature. A tried stone — Which I have tried and approved, as every way sufficient for a foundation to support the building. A precious corner-stone — Uniting the several parts of the building together, making Ephraim and Judah, and Jews and Gentiles, though now implacable enemies, one church, and giving not only strength, but beauty and glory to the building, as cornerstones frequently do. A sure foundation — Upon whom you may securely rest; one who will not fail nor deceive you, as your refuges of lies will. He that believeth — Namely, this promise, or places his confidence in this stone, as it is explained 1 Peter 2:6; shall not make haste — Shall not hastily catch at any way of escaping his danger, whether it be right or wrong, but shall patiently wait upon God in his way till he deliver him. The words vyjy al, here rendered, shall not make haste, are by the LXX. translated, ou mh kataiscunqh, shall in no wise be ashamed or confounded, because precipitation, or haste, commonly exposes men to shame and confusion.

Ver. 16. Shall not make haste, as is the case when a city is stormed. When the Scipios disclosed their commission to destroy Carthage, the people ran about the streets crying to their gods, yelling and tearing their hair. Not so with the believer: under all calamities, and in the prospect of death, he is calm within, being confident that God is doing his own work.

16. Therefore — To the evil ones a terrible threatening follows, to the good a glorious promise. As, on a former occasion — Ahaz refusing to ask a sign — Jehovah selected his own for him, so now Jehovah opposes to the false confidence of these evil ones, a foundation stone laid in Zion — a firm foundation which nothing can move; (1 Peter 2:6;) a king mighty and morally terrible; no doubt the Messiah. A precious corner stone — Tried and unfailing, and sustaining the whole grand spiritual edifice. Who rests on this is sure never to fail. Shall not make haste — The sacred stone played an important part in the very early Semitic religions. Its influence lingered among the Jews, and lingers still among the Mohammedans. Modern travellers, too, are struck with the eminent figure here used, by the immense stones still remaining at the foundation of ancient walls. (See, especially, ROBINSON’S Researches, vol. i, pp. 343, 351, 422.) Some New Testament quotations from the Septuagint render “shall not be ashamed,” shall not lack confidence, which comes to the same thing. Gesenius thinks both these ideas are in the Arabic cognate word, hence doubtless in the Hebrew word itself, and this accounts for the Septuagint translation.

V. 17. Plummet-I will execute just judgment, as it were by a line and plummet annexed to it; that is, with exactness and care: I will severely punish, and utterly destroy all who reject that stone. For the line and plummet, or the plumb-line, was not only used in erecting buildings, but also in pulling them down; those parts of the building being thus marked out, which were to be demolished.

Verse 17. Judgment also will I lay to the line, &c. — I will execute just judgment, as it were by a line and plummet annexed to it; that is, with exactness and care. I will severely punish and utterly destroy all who reject that stone. For the line and plummet, or the plumb-line, was not only used in erecting buildings, but also in pulling them down; those parts of the building being thus marked out which were to be demolished. And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, &c. — My judgments (which in the Scriptures are compared to a storm of hail or rain) shall discover the vanity of all your crafty and wicked devices, and shall sweep you away with the besom of destruction in spite of them.

Ver. 17. Judgment also will I lay to the line. This hebraism is best understood by correspondent texts. “The Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying, because Manasseh hath committed these abominations, I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem of its inhabitants, as one wipeth a dish.” 2 Kings 21:10-12. The prophet Jeremiah lived to see the measuring line stretched over Jerusalem, as over Samaria. Lamentations 2:8. Amos 8:7, 8.

The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies. The elevation of mount Lebanon occasioned dreadful storms of hail in the holy land, while the melting snows of that mountain made the Jordan overflow his banks at Easter, and drown out the hiding holes of the plains. Such also should be the overflowing scourge of the Chaldean invasion. Habakkuk 1:5.

17. Judgment… line… righteousness… plummet — This means that the rule of God’s dealings is one of the strictest justice. “He makes justice the rule of his proceedings, just as the builder regulates his work by line and plummet.” The figure of the builder is continued from the previous verse. Hail — A mighty destructive agent; a figure importing visitations of divine justice upon systems of falsehood built up by wicked priests and compromising prophets. See notes on verse 2.

Verse 18. Your covenant with death shall be disannulled— “Your covenant with death shall be broken”] For rpk caphar, which seems not to belong to this place, the Chaldee reads rpt taphar, which is approved by Houbigant and Secker. See Jeremiah 33:21, where the very same phrase is used. See Prelim. Dissert. p. l.

Verses 18, 19. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled — Made void, or of none effect. Ye shall be trodden down — Namely, by the overflowing scourge, which you flattered yourselves should not come unto you. From the time that it goeth forth — Namely, from me into the land, it shall assuredly, and with the first, seize upon and carry away you scoffers. Morning by morning it shall pass over, &c. — It shall not only come to you, but it shall abide upon you; and when it hath passed over you, it shall return again to you, morning after morning, and shall follow you day and night, without giving you the least respite. It shall be a vexation to understand the report — So dreadful shall the judgment be, that it shall strike you with horror when you only hear the rumour of its approach.

18. Covenant — Covenants secured by outside sorcery, black art, and oracle, shall be obliterated. So the literal word, in allusion to erasures of waxen tablets. Death and hell (original, sheol) are ghastly impersonations; very proper parties of the second part for such covenants and arguments. Scourge — See on verse 15; a mixed metaphor; — an invading army using blows heavily laid on, and trampling under feet as it advances.

V. 19. Pass over-It shall not only come to you, but it shall abide upon you; and when it hath passed over you, it shall return again to you, morning after morning; and shall follow you day and night, without giving you the least respite. The report-So dreadful shall the judgment be, that it shall strike you with horror, when you only hear the rumour of it.

Verses 18, 19. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled — Made void, or of none effect. Ye shall be trodden down — Namely, by the overflowing scourge, which you flattered yourselves should not come unto you. From the time that it goeth forth — Namely, from me into the land, it shall assuredly, and with the first, seize upon and carry away you scoffers. Morning by morning it shall pass over, &c. — It shall not only come to you, but it shall abide upon you; and when it hath passed over you, it shall return again to you, morning after morning, and shall follow you day and night, without giving you the least respite. It shall be a vexation to understand the report — So dreadful shall the judgment be, that it shall strike you with horror when you only hear the rumour of its approach.

19. From the time — Or, as often as it sweeps along, it shall bear you, false Jews, away. Morning by morning — Literally, morning, morning; a Hebraism for every morning, continually. Vexation — Alarm, consternation. Report — The thing heard or the meaning of what is said and heard. A thing of awful import. Some terrible calamity announced. The marginal note has “doctrine” — denoting some smiting truth.

V. 20. For-For those lying refuges, to which you trust, will not be able to give you that protection, which you expect from them; no more than a man can stretch himself upon a bed that is too short for him.

Verse 20. For the bed is shorter] A mashal or proverbial saying, the meaning of which is, that they will find all means of defence and protection insufficient to secure them, and cover them from the evils coming upon them. Ësm massek, Isaiah 22:8, the covering, is used for the outworks of defense, the barrier of the country; and here, in the allegorical sense, it means much the same thing. Their beds were only mattresses laid on the floor; and the coverlet a sheet, or in the winter a carpet, laid over it, in which the person wrapped himself. For snkthk kehithcannes, it ought probably to be snkthm mehithcannes. Houbigant, Secker.

Verses 20, 21. For the bed is shorter, &c. — For those lying refuges, to which you trust, will not be able to give you that protection which you expect from them, no more than a man can stretch himself upon a bed that is too short for him. For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim — Where he fought against the Philistines, 2 Samuel 5:20. He shall be wroth as in Gibeon — Where he fought against the Canaanites, (Joshua 10:10, &c.,) and afterward against the Philistines, 1 Chronicles 14:16. That he may do his strange work — For this work of bringing total destruction upon Israel was contrary to the benignity of his own nature, and to the usual way of dealing with his people. The calamities and alarms occasioned by the Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib were a partial accomplishment of this prophecy. It was still more fully accomplished in the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the Babylonish captivity: but certainly it did not receive its perfect fulfilment till the destruction of that city, and of the church and state of the Jews by the Romans, after their obstinate rejection of their Messiah, the corner-stone, here spoken of. This alone fully answers the import of these awful predictions of divine wrath and vengeance.

20. Bed is shorter — A proverb whose core of meaning is, insufficiency, no rest; hence, it implies no security in their plans of defence.

V. 21. Perazim-Where he fought against the Philistines, 2 Samuel 5:20. Gibeon-Where he fought against the Canaanites, Joshua 10:10, &c. and afterwards against the Philistines, 1 Chronicles 14:16. Strange work-For this work of bringing total destruction upon Israel, was contrary to the benignity of his own nature, and to the usual way of dealing with his people.

Verse 21. As in Mount Perazim] rhk kehar; but rhb bahar, IN the mount, is the reading of two of Kennicott’s, one of Deuteronomy Rossi’s, and one of my own MSS.

Verses 20, 21. For the bed is shorter, &c. — For those lying refuges, to which you trust, will not be able to give you that protection which you expect from them, no more than a man can stretch himself upon a bed that is too short for him. For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim — Where he fought against the Philistines, 2 Samuel 5:20. He shall be wroth as in Gibeon — Where he fought against the Canaanites, (Joshua 10:10, &c.,) and afterward against the Philistines, 1 Chronicles 14:16. That he may do his strange work — For this work of bringing total destruction upon Israel was contrary to the benignity of his own nature, and to the usual way of dealing with his people. The calamities and alarms occasioned by the Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib were a partial accomplishment of this prophecy. It was still more fully accomplished in the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the Babylonish captivity: but certainly it did not receive its perfect fulfilment till the destruction of that city, and of the church and state of the Jews by the Romans, after their obstinate rejection of their Messiah, the corner-stone, here spoken of. This alone fully answers the import of these awful predictions of divine wrath and vengeance.

21. As in Mount Perazim — See 2 Samuel 5:20, 21, where, with trust in Jehovah, David burst through and defeated the Philistines. 1 Chronicles 14:11. So shall be the rising up and bursting through of Jehovah in his wrath. No light, no fringe of promise, lines this dreaded woe. Is there not something more than Syrian invasion here? What means the strange work which God will do other than this? As he had often punished Israel’s enemies with a furious “bursting through,” so now he will in same way punish Israel itself.

V. 22. Lest-Lest thereby you make the judgments of God sure and unavoidable. For-God hath assured me, that he will utterly destroy the people of Israel.

Verse 22. The Lord God] hwhy ynda Adonai Jehovah. Adonai is omitted by four of Kennicott’s MSS., and in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic.

Verse 22. Now therefore be not mockers — For your own sakes do not make a mock of God’s word and threatenings, as you use to do. Lest your bands be made strong — Lest thereby you make the judgments of God, which are often compared to bands, more sure and unavoidable, and more severe and terrible, as bands are when they are tied faster and more strongly upon a prisoner. For I have heard from the Lord a consumption, &c. — God hath assured me that he will utterly root out the people of Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes; as indeed he did in Hezekiah’s reign, and the Jews, the kingdom of the two tribes, in the reign of Zedekiah.

22. Yet he so loves his own people, and yearns over them, that this fearful “work” may be at least partially averted. Otherwise the prophet could not remonstrate in terms as follows: Now therefore be ye not mockers — Repentance is still open. Change of base in your lives, policies, and teaching is yet possible. Pursue not your mockeries further, lest your fetters (bands) be strengthened. At present we are only tributary to Assyria. If we succeed, which we shall not, in gaining effective alliance with Egypt, a consumption, a judgment of destruction, is determined upon the whole earth. Upon the whole of the Lord’s land, as well as upon Egypt also.

Verse 23. Give ye ear, and hear my voice— “Listen ye, and hear my voice”] The foregoing discourse, consisting of severe reproofs, and threatenings of dreadful judgments impending on the Jews for their vices, and their profane contempt of God’s warnings by his messengers, the prophet concludes with an explanation and defence of God’s method of dealing with his people in an elegant parable or allegory; in which he employs a variety of images, all taken from the science of agriculture. As the husbandman uses various methods in preparing his land, and adapting it to the several kinds of seeds to be sown, with a due observation of times and seasons; and when he hath gathered in his harvest, employs methods as various in separating the corn from the straw and the chaff by different instruments, according to the nature of the different sorts of grain; so God, with unerring wisdom, and with strict justice, instructs, admonishes, and corrects his people; chastises and punishes them in various ways, as the exigence of the case requires; now more moderately, now more severely; always tempering justice with mercy; in order to reclaim the wicked, to improve the good, and, finally, to separate the one from the other.

Verses 23-25. Give ye ear — Observe what I say, and do you judge if it be not reasonable. “We have here the last member of this section, in which this severe judgment of God, denounced in the preceding verses, is defended by a parable taken from agriculture, wherein the prophet represents allegorically the intentions and methods of the divine judgments.” “As the husbandman uses various methods in preparing his land, and adapting it to the several kinds of seed to be sown, with a due observation of times and seasons; and when he hath gathered in his harvest, employs methods as various in separating the corn from the straw and the chaff by different instruments, according to the nature of the different sorts of grain; so God, with unerring wisdom and with strict justice, instructs, admonishes, and corrects his people; chastises and punishes them in various ways, as the exigence of the case requires; now more moderately, now more severely; always tempering judgment with mercy; in order to reclaim the wicked, to improve the good; and finally, to separate the one from the other.” — Bishop Lowth.

23. Give ye ear… hear my speech — It might seem, and properly, that the prophet’s address has closed, and he enters here on a new view, a relieving side to the woe. He calls attention to a parable taken from the common work of the husbandman, to illustrate that it is not always God’s way merely to punish. He does this only to the wholly incorrigible; these he destroys. Those less so, he corrects simply to benefit.

V. 24. Doth-The plowman doth not spend all his time in plowing the ground; but he has several times for several works. And so God has his times and seasons for several works, and his providence is various at several times, and towards several people. Therefore those scoffing Israelites were guilty of great folly, in flattering themselves, because of God’s long patience towards them; for God will certainly take a time to thresh, and break them with his judgments, as at present he plowed and harrowed them, and so prepared them for it by his threatenings. Open-Understand, all day. Break-Which they used to do with a kind of harrow.

Verses 23-25. Give ye ear — Observe what I say, and do you judge if it be not reasonable. “We have here the last member of this section, in which this severe judgment of God, denounced in the preceding verses, is defended by a parable taken from agriculture, wherein the prophet represents allegorically the intentions and methods of the divine judgments.” “As the husbandman uses various methods in preparing his land, and adapting it to the several kinds of seed to be sown, with a due observation of times and seasons; and when he hath gathered in his harvest, employs methods as various in separating the corn from the straw and the chaff by different instruments, according to the nature of the different sorts of grain; so God, with unerring wisdom and with strict justice, instructs, admonishes, and corrects his people; chastises and punishes them in various ways, as the exigence of the case requires; now more moderately, now more severely; always tempering judgment with mercy; in order to reclaim the wicked, to improve the good; and finally, to separate the one from the other.” — Bishop Lowth.

24-26. Doth the ploughman plough all day — That is, does he plough interminably, never cease? To sow — In order to sow, in order to make the ground ready for sowing. The parallel number is of the same meaning. Common sense deigns not an answer. Made plain — Level. The face thereof — The surface of the fields. Fitches… cummin — Garden seeds, the one Nigella sativa, used both as a condiment and as medicine, sprinkled upon loaves; the other, of warm, bitterish, aromatic flavour — a plant umbelliferous like fennel, used with salt as a sause. The Maltese are said to grow cummin and thresh it at this day in the same manner as described by Isaiah. — Bible Dictionary. Principal wheat… appointed barley — The Hebrew is obscure in meaning, and critics conjecture it has been corrupted. “Wheat” and “barley” were always, as now, prime staples. The “wheat” is supposed to have been sown in the inner parts of the field, and surrounded by spelt, or rye as a border, and the barley was sown in a field by itself, appropriate to it, or “appointed” for it. This may explain the text as to these terms. The “plough-man” is cited as acting in a sound, common sense way, as God has made him to act in these practical matters. So God acts in perfect accord with the highest wisdom and justice in his treatment of men. He saves all who will permit him to save them: he punishes forever those who hate him and will never yield to him. This is the lesson taught by the parable of the ploughman.

V. 25. Made plain-By breaking the clods. The wheat-The best which he chuses for seed. Barley-That proportion of barley which he appointed. Place-Heb. in his border; each seed in a several place.

Verses 23-25. Give ye ear — Observe what I say, and do you judge if it be not reasonable. “We have here the last member of this section, in which this severe judgment of God, denounced in the preceding verses, is defended by a parable taken from agriculture, wherein the prophet represents allegorically the intentions and methods of the divine judgments.” “As the husbandman uses various methods in preparing his land, and adapting it to the several kinds of seed to be sown, with a due observation of times and seasons; and when he hath gathered in his harvest, employs methods as various in separating the corn from the straw and the chaff by different instruments, according to the nature of the different sorts of grain; so God, with unerring wisdom and with strict justice, instructs, admonishes, and corrects his people; chastises and punishes them in various ways, as the exigence of the case requires; now more moderately, now more severely; always tempering judgment with mercy; in order to reclaim the wicked, to improve the good; and finally, to separate the one from the other.” — Bishop Lowth.

24-26. Doth the ploughman plough all day — That is, does he plough interminably, never cease? To sow — In order to sow, in order to make the ground ready for sowing. The parallel number is of the same meaning. Common sense deigns not an answer. Made plain — Level. The face thereof — The surface of the fields. Fitches… cummin — Garden seeds, the one Nigella sativa, used both as a condiment and as medicine, sprinkled upon loaves; the other, of warm, bitterish, aromatic flavour — a plant umbelliferous like fennel, used with salt as a sause. The Maltese are said to grow cummin and thresh it at this day in the same manner as described by Isaiah. — Bible Dictionary. Principal wheat… appointed barley — The Hebrew is obscure in meaning, and critics conjecture it has been corrupted. “Wheat” and “barley” were always, as now, prime staples. The “wheat” is supposed to have been sown in the inner parts of the field, and surrounded by spelt, or rye as a border, and the barley was sown in a field by itself, appropriate to it, or “appointed” for it. This may explain the text as to these terms. The “plough-man” is cited as acting in a sound, common sense way, as God has made him to act in these practical matters. So God acts in perfect accord with the highest wisdom and justice in his treatment of men. He saves all who will permit him to save them: he punishes forever those who hate him and will never yield to him. This is the lesson taught by the parable of the ploughman.

Verse 26. For his God doth instruct him] All nations have agreed in attributing agriculture, the most useful and the most necessary of all sciences, to the invention and to the suggestions of their deities. “The Most High hath ordained husbandry,” saith the son of Sirach, Ecclus. 7:15. Namque Ceres fertur fruges, Liberque liquoris Vitigeni laticem mortalibus instituisse. LUCRETIUS, v. 14.

“Ceres has taught mortals how to produce fruits; and Bacchus has taught them how to cultivate the vine.”

~O d~ hpiov anqrwpoisi

Dexia shmainei, laouv d~ epi ergon egeirei Mimnhskwn biotoio, legei d~ ote bwlov aristh Bousi te kai makelhsi, legei d~ ote dexiai wrai Kai futa gurwsai, kai spermata panta balesqai. ARATUS, Phænom. v.

“He, Jupiter, to the human race

Indulgent, prompts to necessary toil

Man provident of life; with kindly signs The seasons marks, when best to turn the glebe With spade and plough, to nurse the tender plant, And cast o’er fostering earth the seeds abroad.”

Verse 26. For his God doth instruct him — The art of husbandry is so necessary for the support of human life, that all men have ascribed its original to God as the inventor and ordainer of it. The Most High hath ordained husbandry, saith the son of Sirach, Ecclus. 7:15. In like manner, Virgil, Georg., lib. 1. line 121:

“ — — — — — — — — — Pater ipse colendi

Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusq; per artem

Movit agros — — .”

“Himself invented first the shining share,

And whetted human industry by care;

Himself did handicrafts and arts ordain;

Nor suffer’d sloth to rust his active reign.”

By other heathen, the invention of agriculture is ascribed to the goddess Ceres.

24-26. Doth the ploughman plough all day — That is, does he plough interminably, never cease? To sow — In order to sow, in order to make the ground ready for sowing. The parallel number is of the same meaning. Common sense deigns not an answer. Made plain — Level. The face thereof — The surface of the fields. Fitches… cummin — Garden seeds, the one Nigella sativa, used both as a condiment and as medicine, sprinkled upon loaves; the other, of warm, bitterish, aromatic flavour — a plant umbelliferous like fennel, used with salt as a sause. The Maltese are said to grow cummin and thresh it at this day in the same manner as described by Isaiah. — Bible Dictionary. Principal wheat… appointed barley — The Hebrew is obscure in meaning, and critics conjecture it has been corrupted. “Wheat” and “barley” were always, as now, prime staples. The “wheat” is supposed to have been sown in the inner parts of the field, and surrounded by spelt, or rye as a border, and the barley was sown in a field by itself, appropriate to it, or “appointed” for it. This may explain the text as to these terms. The “plough-man” is cited as acting in a sound, common sense way, as God has made him to act in these practical matters. So God acts in perfect accord with the highest wisdom and justice in his treatment of men. He saves all who will permit him to save them: he punishes forever those who hate him and will never yield to him. This is the lesson taught by the parable of the ploughman.

V. 27. A threshing instrument-This then was made like a sledge shod with iron, which was drawn by men or beasts, over the sheafs of corn, to bruise them, and tear the grain out of them. A wheel-A lower wheel than a cart wheel, but of the same form, upon which possibly the threshing instrument was drawn.

Verses 27. - 28. Four methods of threshing are here mentioned, by different instruments; the flail, the drag, the wain, and the treading of the cattle. The staff or flail was used for the infirmiora semina, says Jerome, the grain that was too tender to be treated in the other methods. The drag consisted of a sort of strong planks, made rough at the bottom, with hard stones or iron; it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn sheaves spread on the floor, the driver sitting upon it. Kempfer has given a print representing the manner of using this instrument, Amæn. Exot. p. 682, fig.

3. The wain was much like the former; but had wheels with iron teeth, or edges like a saw: Ferrata carpenta rotis per medium in serrarum modum se volventibus. Hieron. in loc. From this it would seem that the axle was armed with iron teeth or serrated wheels throughout. See a description and print of such a machine used at present in Egypt for the same purpose in Niebuhr’s Voyage en Arabie, Tab. xvii. p. 123; it moves upon three rollers armed with iron teeth or wheels to cut the straw. In Syria they make use of the drag, constructed in the very same manner as above described; Niebuhr, Description de l’Arabie, p. 140. This not only forced out the grain, but cut the straw in pieces for fodder for the cattle; for in the eastern countries they have no hay. See Harmer’s Observ. I. p. 425. The last method is well known from the law of Moses, which “forbids the ox to be muzzled, when he treadeth out the corn;” Deuteronomy 25:4.

Verses 27-29. “Four methods of thrashing are here mentioned, by different instruments: the flail, the drag, the wain, and the treading of cattle. The staff, or flail, was used for the grain that was too tender to be treated in the other methods. The drag consisted of a sort of frame of strong planks, made rough at the bottom, with hard stones or iron: it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn-sheaves spread on the floor, the driver sitting upon it. The wain was much like the former, but had wheels with iron teeth, or edges, like a saw. This not only forced out the grain, but cut the straw in pieces for fodder for the cattle; for in the eastern countries they have no hay. The last method is well known from the law of Moses, which forbids the ox to be muzzled when he treadeth out the corn, Deuteronomy 25:4.” — Bishop Lowth. This also cometh from the Lord of hosts, &c. — This part of the husbandman’s discretion expressed in these verses, as well as that expressed in verses 24, 25. These words contain the application of the similitude. The husbandman manages his affairs with common discretion; but God governs the world and his church with wonderful wisdom: he is great and marvellous, both in the contrivance of things, and in the execution of them.

Ver. 27. A threshing instrument. According to what has been suggested by some ancient critics and modern travellers, this instrument appears to have consisted of two wheels, joined by very many small bars, six or eight feet in length, and extending from one circumference to the other. Hence, as it rolled along the threshingfloor backwards and forwards by oxen, it would rapidly press out the corn.—The cartwheel seems to be an instrument with sharp iron bars, which at once both threshed the corn, and cut the straw for the cattle. The staff or flail, and the rod were used, according to Jerome, for infirmiora semina, the small or tender kinds of grain. Harmer.

27, 28. So in the harvest. The harvester treats the different crops raised in the same common-sense way. He carefully beats with a stick, or rod, the smaller, finer seeds; over these he does not foolishly send the threshing wain. Nor over the larger grains does he drive the cart, or the oxen, or the rolling rough thresher, interminably. He uses these till their proper work is done, and then ceases. Now, Israel is God’s field and God’s threshing floor. But all are not alike roughly threshed. God discriminates the kind of seed to be planted and harvested. He adapts his method of separation to each. So right methods are employed in the distribution of discipline and punishment. If this treatment fails of its purpose, the responsibility is placed where it belongs. He strikes some with a rod; others, who need it, he threshes roughly with the wain; but, unless deserved, he does neither interminably.

V. 28. Bruised-With a threshing instrument. Break it-Understand, forever. Horses-This was another way of threshing out the corn, by driving horses, or other cattle, over the sheaves to tread it.

Verse 28. The bread-corn] I read ולהם velahem, on the authority of the Vulgate and Symmachus; the former expresses the conjunction w vau, omitted in the text, by autem; the latter by de.

Bruise it with his horsemen— “Bruise it with the hoofs of his cattle.”] For wyvrp parashaiv, horsemen or teeth, read wysrp perasaiv, hoofs. So the Syriac, Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Vulgate. The first is read with v shin, the latter with s samech, the pronunciation is nearly the same. ISAIAH

Verses 27-29. “Four methods of thrashing are here mentioned, by different instruments: the flail, the drag, the wain, and the treading of cattle. The staff, or flail, was used for the grain that was too tender to be treated in the other methods. The drag consisted of a sort of frame of strong planks, made rough at the bottom, with hard stones or iron: it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn-sheaves spread on the floor, the driver sitting upon it. The wain was much like the former, but had wheels with iron teeth, or edges, like a saw. This not only forced out the grain, but cut the straw in pieces for fodder for the cattle; for in the eastern countries they have no hay. The last method is well known from the law of Moses, which forbids the ox to be muzzled when he treadeth out the corn, Deuteronomy 25:4.” — Bishop Lowth. This also cometh from the Lord of hosts, &c. — This part of the husbandman’s discretion expressed in these verses, as well as that expressed in verses 24, 25. These words contain the application of the similitude. The husbandman manages his affairs with common discretion; but God governs the world and his church with wonderful wisdom: he is great and marvellous, both in the contrivance of things, and in the execution of them.

27, 28. So in the harvest. The harvester treats the different crops raised in the same common-sense way. He carefully beats with a stick, or rod, the smaller, finer seeds; over these he does not foolishly send the threshing wain. Nor over the larger grains does he drive the cart, or the oxen, or the rolling rough thresher, interminably. He uses these till their proper work is done, and then ceases. Now, Israel is God’s field and God’s threshing floor. But all are not alike roughly threshed. God discriminates the kind of seed to be planted and harvested. He adapts his method of separation to each. So right methods are employed in the distribution of discipline and punishment. If this treatment fails of its purpose, the responsibility is placed where it belongs. He strikes some with a rod; others, who need it, he threshes roughly with the wain; but, unless deserved, he does neither interminably.

V. 29. This also-This part of the husbandman’s discretion. These words contain the application of the similitude. The husbandman manages his affairs with common discretion; but God governs the world, and his church, with wonderful wisdom: he is great and marvellous, both in the contrivance of things, and in the execution of them.

Verses 27-29. “Four methods of thrashing are here mentioned, by different instruments: the flail, the drag, the wain, and the treading of cattle. The staff, or flail, was used for the grain that was too tender to be treated in the other methods. The drag consisted of a sort of frame of strong planks, made rough at the bottom, with hard stones or iron: it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn-sheaves spread on the floor, the driver sitting upon it. The wain was much like the former, but had wheels with iron teeth, or edges, like a saw. This not only forced out the grain, but cut the straw in pieces for fodder for the cattle; for in the eastern countries they have no hay. The last method is well known from the law of Moses, which forbids the ox to be muzzled when he treadeth out the corn, Deuteronomy 25:4.” — Bishop Lowth. This also cometh from the Lord of hosts, &c. — This part of the husbandman’s discretion expressed in these verses, as well as that expressed in verses 24, 25. These words contain the application of the similitude. The husbandman manages his affairs with common discretion; but God governs the world and his church with wonderful wisdom: he is great and marvellous, both in the contrivance of things, and in the execution of them.