Isaiah · Chapter 34

Verse 1. Hearken— “Attend unto me”] A MS. adds in this line the word yla ali, unto me, after לאמים leummim; which seems to be genuine.

Verse 1. Come, &c. — Here begins the third discourse of the third part of Isaiah’s prophecies, and is continued to the end of the next chapter. It is connected with the preceding, and, Vitringa thinks, was delivered at the same time. It is divided into two sections: the first, contained in this chapter, exhibits judgments upon the adversaries of the church, and particularly upon Edom; the latter, in chap. 35., the jubilee of the church, and its happy, flourishing state. The events foretold are represented as being of the highest importance, and of universal concern, and all nations are called upon to attend to the declaration of them. Thus the prophet: Come near, ye nations, and hear; hearken, ye people — As if he had said, Let the people of all nations take notice of what I am about to say, as that wherein they are generally concerned, and by the consideration whereof they may be instructed and reformed, and so delivered from the calamity here denounced.

Verse 1, 2. Come near ye nations to hear—for the indignation of the Lord is upon all the kingdoms of western Asia. Those nations are named in Jeremiah 25. They comprise Jerusalem, Egypt, Tyre, Edom, Moab, Philistia, Arabia, Elam, and Media. Five years after the fall of Jerusalem, and while the siege of Tyre was conducting, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Edom in his bloody career. At the fall of Jerusalem, Edom had not concealed her wanton joy. She had joined the Chaldeans in cruel wars against the Jews, and cried against Jerusalem, down with it, down with it, even to the ground. Psalm 137:7. Ezekiel 35:15. But her joys were short. She had before been scourged with war, now she must drink “the cup of red wine” from the hand of an angry God.

1-3. Come near, ye nations — All mankind is summoned, including all creation in the high poetic ideal, to witness the final fate of all Jehovah’s foes. The deliverance is apocalyptic, and the usual imagery in such compositions (see Ezekiel 39:11) is employed. God’s foes are doomed to an utter curse, their corpses are cast out unburied, and are washed away (melted) as with a descending torrent.

V. 2. All nations-Not only upon the Assyrians, but on all enemies of my people.

Verses 2, 3. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations — Not only upon the Assyrians, and those nations which are confederate with them in their expedition against Judea, but upon all other enemies of my people. He hath utterly destroyed them — He will infallibly destroy all of them. Their slain also shall be cast out — Into the fields, where they shall lie unburied, and be left a prey to ravenous beasts and birds. In which words he implies, either that such vast numbers would be slain, that the survivers would not be able to find time or place to bury them, or that they should be held in such contempt and abhorrence that none would be inclined to do them that office: and the mountains — About Jerusalem, where they are supposed to be gathered to fight against her, like the Assyrians; shall be melted with their blood — Shall be covered with their blood, which shall flow down abundantly from them with great force, and dissolve, and carry down with it a part of the soil of the mountains, as great showers of rain frequently do. This sentence upon the nations, which thus exhibits a kind of general judgment, to be executed upon the enemies of God and his people, by the sword of God, is sufficient to strike terror into every hearer.

Verse 1, 2. Come near ye nations to hear—for the indignation of the Lord is upon all the kingdoms of western Asia. Those nations are named in Jeremiah 25. They comprise Jerusalem, Egypt, Tyre, Edom, Moab, Philistia, Arabia, Elam, and Media. Five years after the fall of Jerusalem, and while the siege of Tyre was conducting, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Edom in his bloody career. At the fall of Jerusalem, Edom had not concealed her wanton joy. She had joined the Chaldeans in cruel wars against the Jews, and cried against Jerusalem, down with it, down with it, even to the ground. Psalm 137:7. Ezekiel 35:15. But her joys were short. She had before been scourged with war, now she must drink “the cup of red wine” from the hand of an angry God.

1-3. Come near, ye nations — All mankind is summoned, including all creation in the high poetic ideal, to witness the final fate of all Jehovah’s foes. The deliverance is apocalyptic, and the usual imagery in such compositions (see Ezekiel 39:11) is employed. God’s foes are doomed to an utter curse, their corpses are cast out unburied, and are washed away (melted) as with a descending torrent.

V. 3. Cast out-Into the fields.

Verses 2, 3. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations — Not only upon the Assyrians, and those nations which are confederate with them in their expedition against Judea, but upon all other enemies of my people. He hath utterly destroyed them — He will infallibly destroy all of them. Their slain also shall be cast out — Into the fields, where they shall lie unburied, and be left a prey to ravenous beasts and birds. In which words he implies, either that such vast numbers would be slain, that the survivers would not be able to find time or place to bury them, or that they should be held in such contempt and abhorrence that none would be inclined to do them that office: and the mountains — About Jerusalem, where they are supposed to be gathered to fight against her, like the Assyrians; shall be melted with their blood — Shall be covered with their blood, which shall flow down abundantly from them with great force, and dissolve, and carry down with it a part of the soil of the mountains, as great showers of rain frequently do. This sentence upon the nations, which thus exhibits a kind of general judgment, to be executed upon the enemies of God and his people, by the sword of God, is sufficient to strike terror into every hearer.

Ver. 3. The mountains shall melt with their blood, which congeals with the cold of night on the hills, and melts in the day with the warmer sun. The Edomites acting on the defensive, would occupy positions on their chain of mountains, which runs through their country.

1-3. Come near, ye nations — All mankind is summoned, including all creation in the high poetic ideal, to witness the final fate of all Jehovah’s foes. The deliverance is apocalyptic, and the usual imagery in such compositions (see Ezekiel 39:11) is employed. God’s foes are doomed to an utter curse, their corpses are cast out unburied, and are washed away (melted) as with a descending torrent.

V. 4. Dissolved-The sun, moon, and stars. So great shall be the confusion and consternation of mankind, as if all the frame of the creation were broken into pieces. It is usual for prophetic writers, both in the Old and New Testament, to represent great and general calamities, in such words and phrases, as properly agree to the day of judgment; as on the contrary, the glorious deliverances of God’s people, in such expressions, as properly agree to the resurrection from the dead.

Verse 4. And all the host of heaven] See Clarke’s note on “Isaiah 24:21”, and Deuteronomy Sacra Pœsi Hebræorum, Præl. ix.

Verse 4. And all the host of heaven — The sun, moon, and stars; shall be dissolved — We have frequently had occasion to observe, that, in the prophetic language, the heavenly luminaries represent kings, empires, and states: see note on Isaiah 13:10. The prophet here foretels the overthrow and dissolution of such states and kingdoms as were hostile to his church, whether under the Jewish or Christian dispensation. Or, alluding to a horrid tempest raging furiously, during which the heavens grow black, the sun disappears, and the stars seem to fall to the earth, and it appears as if the whole body of the heavens were about to be utterly dissolved, he intends to signify, that, during these destructive judgments, of which he speaks, the confusion and consternation of mankind would be as great as if all the frame of the creation were broken into pieces. Some, indeed, understand the words as intended of the day of general and final judgment, but the context preceding and following will not agree with such an interpretation. And it is very usual for the prophetic writers, both of the Old and New Testaments, to represent great and general changes and calamities in such words and phrases as properly agree to the day of judgment, and the dissolution of all things: as, on the contrary, they often set forth the glorious deliverances of God’s people by such expressions as properly and literally belong to the resurrection from the dead.

Ver. 4. The heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll of parchment, which, when opened from the staff to read, on letting it slip from the fingers, it rolls spontaneously to a scroll. So the political heavens, as a dense cloud, should lour on all the nations abovenamed.

Sir Isaac Newton, on the figurative style of the prophets, remarks, that it is taken from the analogy which subsists between the natural and the political world. The heavens and their orbs designate thrones and dignities, and the earth the mass of its inhabitants. Great earthquakes, and the shaking of heaven and earth, are equivalent to the overthrow of states and nations. The creation of new heavens, and a new earth, indicate a brighter order of affairs, and stability of government. The obscuration of the sun, the bloody aspects of the full-orbed moon when seen through dense vapours, and the falling of the stars, are figurative of the utter destruction of an empire.

4. The language here relates to the last things in the wicked human world. It is not symbolic, for symbol relates to an idea; it is not typical, for type relates to an antitype in persons or things; it is simply poetical, intended to indicate terrific revolution; sudden, total, appalling change. In the same way is the reference 2 Peter 3:10-12, to be understood. Also, Revelation 6:14. The dissolving of the stars of heaven may come from the idea of their burning out like a lamp wick, and all becoming suddenly dark. The rolling up of the expanse of the heavens is easily conceived from the scroll, or ancient book, (like our map,) being rolled up and removed out of sight.

V. 5. Bathed-In the blood of these people. Heaven-Where God dwells; in which this is said to be done, because it was there decreed and appointed. Idumea-Upon the Edomites, who, tho’ they were nearly related to the Israelites, yet were their implacable enemies. But these are named for all the enemies of God’s church, of whom they were an eminent type. The people-Whom I have cursed, and devoted to utter destruction, as the word properly signifies.

Verse 5. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven— “For my sword is made bare in the heavens”] There seems to be some impropriety in this, according to the present reading: “My sword is made drunken, or is bathed in the heavens;” which forestalls, and expresses not in its proper place, what belongs to the next verse: for the sword of JEHOVAH was not to be bathed or glutted with blood in the heavens, but in Botsra and the land of Edom. In the heavens it was only prepared for slaughter. To remedy this, Archbishop Secker proposes to read, for בשמים bashshamayim, בדמם bedamim; referring to Jeremiah 46:10. But even this is premature, and not in its proper place. The Chaldee, for htwr rivvethah, has ylgtt tithgalli, shall be revealed or disclosed: perhaps he read hart teraeh or htarn nirathah. Whatever reading, different I presume from the present, he might find in his copy, I follow the sense which he has given of it.

Verses 5, 6. For my sword shall be bathed — In the blood of these people; in heaven — Where God dwells; in which this is said to be done, because it was there decreed and appointed. Or, it shall, as it were, be sharpened and made ready in heaven, to bathe itself on earth. It shall come down upon Idumea — Upon the Edomites, who, though they were nearly related to the Israelites, yet were their implacable enemies. But these are named for all the enemies of God’s church, of whom they were an eminent type. The people of my curse — Whom I have devoted to utter destruction, as the word properly signifies. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood — Shall drink its fill of blood. The metaphor is taken from a great glutton, who is almost insatiable, With the blood of lambs, &c. — By lambs, and goats, and rams, he means people of all ranks and conditions, high and low, rich and poor. Dr. Waterland renders the verse, “When my sword in heaven is bathed, behold it shall sink deep into Idumea, into the people whom I have devoted to judgment.” For the Lord hath a sacrifice — So the prophet terms this bloody work, because it was done by God’s command, and for the honour of his justice and righteous government, and therefore was a service acceptable to him; in Bozrah — A chief city of Edom, (Isaiah 63:1,) and a type of those cities which should be most hostile to God’s people.

5-7. For my sword — Poetical instrument of vengeance, and its use an ethical necessity against conscious wrong doers. Be bathed — Or, made drunk, (Septuagint and Vulgate;) a figure from Deuteronomy 32:42, and kept up in Revelation, from wine of the wrath of God. In heaven — The seat of the divine plans upon Idumaea, or Edom, representatively, used for all peoples and nations warring against Jehovah’s cause. Nothing can expiate their crimes of incorrigible rebellion but their sacrifice. As all sin requires this, through use of the blood and fat of victims, so Edom, in one of its chief localities, Bozrah, for example, situated in its eastern hills, (not the “Bozrah” of the north, in the Hauran,) shall witness a great sacrificial slaughter, thorough, final, making clean sweep of men and animals, even wild, fierce, strong, young and old animals, all representing every class of men ranked among God’s potent and malignant foes. Unicorns — Is of doubtful meaning. Delitzsch and Gesenius translate it buffalo; Bochart, gazelle. Neither is satisfactory. The original word, R’em, means a roaring, untamed animal of great strength and fierceness, and answers as much to wild bull (possibly buffalo bull) as to any thing else which present knowledge of the ancient natural history in of Palestine can supply. The rhinoceros may have rarely touched that territory in the warm jungles of the Ghor near the Dead Sea, but of this there is no other knowledge than what is possibly implied in the word itself. All these go down together, and in this way does Jehovah avenge Edom, a people figuratively comprehending all his enemies.

V. 6. The sword-The metaphor is taken from a great glutton, who is almost insatiable. Rams-By lambs, and goats, and rams, he means people of all ranks and conditions, high and low, rich and poor. Bozrah-A chief city of Edom, and a type of those cities which should be most opposite to God’s people.

Verse 6. The Lord hath a sacrifice— “For JEHOVAH celebrateth a sacrifice”] Ezekiel, Ezekiel 39:16, 17, has manifestly imitated this place of Isaiah. He hath set forth the great leaders and princes of the adverse powers under the same emblems of goats, bulls, rams, fatlings, &c., and has added to the boldness of the imagery, by introducing God as summoning all the fowls of the air, and all the beasts of the field, and bidding them to the feast which he has prepared for them by the slaughter of the enemies of his people:—

“And thou, son of man,

Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH,

Say to the bird of every wing,

And to every beast of the field:

Assemble yourselves, and come;

Gather together from every side,

To the sacrifice which I make for you,

A great slaughter on the mountains of Israel.

And ye shall eat flesh and drink blood:

The flesh of the mighty shall ye eat,

And the blood of the lofty of the earth shall ye drink; Of rams, of lambs, and of goats,

Of bullocks, all of them the fat ones of Bashan;

And ye shall eat fat, till ye are cloyed,

And drink blood, till ye are drunken;

Of my slaughter, which I have slain for you.”

The sublime author of the Revelation, Revelation 19:17, 18, has taken this image from Ezekiel, rather than from Isaiah.

Verses 5, 6. For my sword shall be bathed — In the blood of these people; in heaven — Where God dwells; in which this is said to be done, because it was there decreed and appointed. Or, it shall, as it were, be sharpened and made ready in heaven, to bathe itself on earth. It shall come down upon Idumea — Upon the Edomites, who, though they were nearly related to the Israelites, yet were their implacable enemies. But these are named for all the enemies of God’s church, of whom they were an eminent type. The people of my curse — Whom I have devoted to utter destruction, as the word properly signifies. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood — Shall drink its fill of blood. The metaphor is taken from a great glutton, who is almost insatiable, With the blood of lambs, &c. — By lambs, and goats, and rams, he means people of all ranks and conditions, high and low, rich and poor. Dr. Waterland renders the verse, “When my sword in heaven is bathed, behold it shall sink deep into Idumea, into the people whom I have devoted to judgment.” For the Lord hath a sacrifice — So the prophet terms this bloody work, because it was done by God’s command, and for the honour of his justice and righteous government, and therefore was a service acceptable to him; in Bozrah — A chief city of Edom, (Isaiah 63:1,) and a type of those cities which should be most hostile to God’s people.

5-7. For my sword — Poetical instrument of vengeance, and its use an ethical necessity against conscious wrong doers. Be bathed — Or, made drunk, (Septuagint and Vulgate;) a figure from Deuteronomy 32:42, and kept up in Revelation, from wine of the wrath of God. In heaven — The seat of the divine plans upon Idumaea, or Edom, representatively, used for all peoples and nations warring against Jehovah’s cause. Nothing can expiate their crimes of incorrigible rebellion but their sacrifice. As all sin requires this, through use of the blood and fat of victims, so Edom, in one of its chief localities, Bozrah, for example, situated in its eastern hills, (not the “Bozrah” of the north, in the Hauran,) shall witness a great sacrificial slaughter, thorough, final, making clean sweep of men and animals, even wild, fierce, strong, young and old animals, all representing every class of men ranked among God’s potent and malignant foes. Unicorns — Is of doubtful meaning. Delitzsch and Gesenius translate it buffalo; Bochart, gazelle. Neither is satisfactory. The original word, R’em, means a roaring, untamed animal of great strength and fierceness, and answers as much to wild bull (possibly buffalo bull) as to any thing else which present knowledge of the ancient natural history in of Palestine can supply. The rhinoceros may have rarely touched that territory in the warm jungles of the Ghor near the Dead Sea, but of this there is no other knowledge than what is possibly implied in the word itself. All these go down together, and in this way does Jehovah avenge Edom, a people figuratively comprehending all his enemies.

V. 7. The unicorns-It is confessed, this was a beast of great strength and fierceness; and it is used in this place to signify their princes and potentates, who shall be humbled and cast down. Them-With the lambs, and goats, and rams. Fatness-With the fat of the slain sacrifices, mingled with it.

Verse 7. The unicorns shall come down] ראמים reemim, translated wild goats by Bishop Lowth. The ראם reem Bochart thinks to be a species of wild goat in the deserts of Arabia. It seems generally to mean the rhinoceros.

With blood— “With their blood”] מדמם middamam; so two ancient MSS. of Kennicott’s the Syriac, and Chaldee.

Verses 7, 8. And the unicorns shall come down — The word µymar, reemim, here rendered unicorns, is the same with that used Numbers 23:22, where see the note. Bishop Lowth renders it here, wild goats; and Dr. Waterland, stags. But many learned men prefer the marginal reading, rhinoceros. It is impossible to determine precisely what sort of a creature is meant, but it is allowed by all that it was a beast of great strength and fierceness, and that it is here used metaphorically, together with the bullocks and bulls, for princes and potentates, which should be brought down and humbled, or should fall down, as Bishop Lowth reads it, according to the LXX. and Syriac, namely, as beasts do when they have received a deadly blow; that is, they shall be sacrificed, with the lambs, goats, and rams, the inferior people, mentioned verse 6. And their land shall be soaked with blood — Hebrew, htwr, watered, as with rain coming oft upon it, and in abundance; and their dust — Their dry and barren land; made fat with fatness — With the fat of the sacrifices, namely, of the slain men, mingled with it. For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance — This is the time which God hath long since appointed and fixed to vindicate the cause of his oppressed and persecuted people against all their enemies; for the controversy of Zion — Dr. Waterland reads, for the avenging of Zion. Upon the whole, “the meaning of this period,” from verse 5, “is, that on a certain day of judgment, which is elsewhere called the great day of the Lord’s vengeance, a mighty slaughter should be made of the hardened enemies of the church, (which had been a long time oppressed and afflicted by them,) with the effusion of much blood, and the destruction of many great, noble, and powerful men. The figure is taken from the master of a family, who, preparing a great feast, and a sacrifice, finds it necessary to slay many lambs, rams, and fatted animals, so that his knife may be said to be inebriated with the blood and fat of the slain.” As to the application of this prophecy, in which the Edomites are particularly mentioned, it may be observed that they, together with the rest of the neighbouring nations, were ravaged and laid waste by Nebuchadnezzar, and the general devastation spread through all these countries by him may be the event which the prophet had first in view in this chapter: but, as Bishop Lowth observes, “this event, as far as we have any account of it in history, seems by no means to come up to the terms of the prophecy, or to justify so highly wrought and so terrible a description. And it is not easy to discover what connection the extremely flourishing state of the church or people of God, described in the next chapter, could have with those events, or how it could be the consequence of them, as it is there represented to be. By a figure, very common in the prophetical writings, any city or people, remarkably distinguished as enemies of the people and kingdom of God, is put for those enemies in general. This seems here to be the case with Edom and Bozra. It seems, therefore, reasonable to suppose, with many learned expositors, that this prophecy has a further view to events still future; to some great revolutions to be effected in later times, antecedent to that more perfect state of the kingdom of God upon earth, and serving to introduce it, which the Scriptures warrant us to expect.” Vitringa is of opinion, that Papal, as well as heathen Rome, red or drunken with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, is here meant. And he observes, that “Rome, which, in the Hebrew, signifies fortification, well answers to Bozra, which signifies a fortified city.” Is not the destruction of the anti-christian powers foretold in the xviith, xviiith, and xixth chapters of the Revelation by St. John, here intended by Isaiah? and especially the destruction in Armageddon, termed the great day of God Almighty, Revelation 16:14, and that described Isaiah 19:17-19? Certainly these terrible destructions are to prepare the way for that millennial reign of Christ, described Revelation 20., and which seems to be intended in the next chapter of this prophecy.

Ver. 7. The unicorns shall come down with them. See on Numbers 23:22. It appears from the Chaldaic, that the worthies of David’s army, and afterwards other heroic men, were surnamed lions. Some of the Chaldean chiefs might therefore, on account of their strength, like Memnon, be called unicorns. But others turn this to the wild goats, some species of which have, like the unicorn, but one horn. The unicorn, as found in the interior of Africa, is very destructive to husbandry.

5-7. For my sword — Poetical instrument of vengeance, and its use an ethical necessity against conscious wrong doers. Be bathed — Or, made drunk, (Septuagint and Vulgate;) a figure from Deuteronomy 32:42, and kept up in Revelation, from wine of the wrath of God. In heaven — The seat of the divine plans upon Idumaea, or Edom, representatively, used for all peoples and nations warring against Jehovah’s cause. Nothing can expiate their crimes of incorrigible rebellion but their sacrifice. As all sin requires this, through use of the blood and fat of victims, so Edom, in one of its chief localities, Bozrah, for example, situated in its eastern hills, (not the “Bozrah” of the north, in the Hauran,) shall witness a great sacrificial slaughter, thorough, final, making clean sweep of men and animals, even wild, fierce, strong, young and old animals, all representing every class of men ranked among God’s potent and malignant foes. Unicorns — Is of doubtful meaning. Delitzsch and Gesenius translate it buffalo; Bochart, gazelle. Neither is satisfactory. The original word, R’em, means a roaring, untamed animal of great strength and fierceness, and answers as much to wild bull (possibly buffalo bull) as to any thing else which present knowledge of the ancient natural history in of Palestine can supply. The rhinoceros may have rarely touched that territory in the warm jungles of the Ghor near the Dead Sea, but of this there is no other knowledge than what is possibly implied in the word itself. All these go down together, and in this way does Jehovah avenge Edom, a people figuratively comprehending all his enemies.

V. 8. For-This is the time which God hath fixed, to avenge the cause of his persecuted people.

Verse 8. The year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion— “The year of recompense to the defender of the cause of Zion”] As from דונ dun, דינ din, a judge; so from bwr rub, byr rib, an advocate, or defender; Judici Sionis: Syriac.

Verses 7, 8. And the unicorns shall come down — The word µymar, reemim, here rendered unicorns, is the same with that used Numbers 23:22, where see the note. Bishop Lowth renders it here, wild goats; and Dr. Waterland, stags. But many learned men prefer the marginal reading, rhinoceros. It is impossible to determine precisely what sort of a creature is meant, but it is allowed by all that it was a beast of great strength and fierceness, and that it is here used metaphorically, together with the bullocks and bulls, for princes and potentates, which should be brought down and humbled, or should fall down, as Bishop Lowth reads it, according to the LXX. and Syriac, namely, as beasts do when they have received a deadly blow; that is, they shall be sacrificed, with the lambs, goats, and rams, the inferior people, mentioned verse 6. And their land shall be soaked with blood — Hebrew, htwr, watered, as with rain coming oft upon it, and in abundance; and their dust — Their dry and barren land; made fat with fatness — With the fat of the sacrifices, namely, of the slain men, mingled with it. For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance — This is the time which God hath long since appointed and fixed to vindicate the cause of his oppressed and persecuted people against all their enemies; for the controversy of Zion — Dr. Waterland reads, for the avenging of Zion. Upon the whole, “the meaning of this period,” from verse 5, “is, that on a certain day of judgment, which is elsewhere called the great day of the Lord’s vengeance, a mighty slaughter should be made of the hardened enemies of the church, (which had been a long time oppressed and afflicted by them,) with the effusion of much blood, and the destruction of many great, noble, and powerful men. The figure is taken from the master of a family, who, preparing a great feast, and a sacrifice, finds it necessary to slay many lambs, rams, and fatted animals, so that his knife may be said to be inebriated with the blood and fat of the slain.” As to the application of this prophecy, in which the Edomites are particularly mentioned, it may be observed that they, together with the rest of the neighbouring nations, were ravaged and laid waste by Nebuchadnezzar, and the general devastation spread through all these countries by him may be the event which the prophet had first in view in this chapter: but, as Bishop Lowth observes, “this event, as far as we have any account of it in history, seems by no means to come up to the terms of the prophecy, or to justify so highly wrought and so terrible a description. And it is not easy to discover what connection the extremely flourishing state of the church or people of God, described in the next chapter, could have with those events, or how it could be the consequence of them, as it is there represented to be. By a figure, very common in the prophetical writings, any city or people, remarkably distinguished as enemies of the people and kingdom of God, is put for those enemies in general. This seems here to be the case with Edom and Bozra. It seems, therefore, reasonable to suppose, with many learned expositors, that this prophecy has a further view to events still future; to some great revolutions to be effected in later times, antecedent to that more perfect state of the kingdom of God upon earth, and serving to introduce it, which the Scriptures warrant us to expect.” Vitringa is of opinion, that Papal, as well as heathen Rome, red or drunken with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, is here meant. And he observes, that “Rome, which, in the Hebrew, signifies fortification, well answers to Bozra, which signifies a fortified city.” Is not the destruction of the anti-christian powers foretold in the xviith, xviiith, and xixth chapters of the Revelation by St. John, here intended by Isaiah? and especially the destruction in Armageddon, termed the great day of God Almighty, Revelation 16:14, and that described Isaiah 19:17-19? Certainly these terrible destructions are to prepare the way for that millennial reign of Christ, described Revelation 20., and which seems to be intended in the next chapter of this prophecy.

Ver. 8. It is the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. The heaviest curse therefore shall rest on Edom for the innocent blood she has shed, for she knew the moral wrong she was doing better than the Chaldean. Pitch, sulphur, dust or sand, shall oppose fertility; yea, travellers in future years, shall have difficulty in finding the ruins of her once flourishing cities. Wild beasts shall invade her hills, and birds of less gracious note shall build in her ruins.

8-10. Day of the Lord’s vengeance — Sure as the pillars of God’s throne stand, divine judgment must overtake wrong and wrongdoers, and Zion, or the Church of God, must be vindicated and defended. The ideal of most terrific punishment is found in the terms brimstone and burning pitch; in the unquenchable fire; in the smoke forever ascending, and in the desert gloom and the impassable waste, that befall the land thus visited. These terms, used as mere figures here, are expanded into symbols in the Book of Revelation; symbols answering to the real idea of awful retributions which will fall upon sin, sinners, and all sinful agencies in the world’s last days. Emblematically the land of Edom becomes a wilderness, and, as an antagonistic kingdom, is destroyed forever.

V. 9. The land-Idumea shall be dealt with, as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

Verses 9-15. And the streams thereof — The rivers, which seem most secure from the judgment here threatened; shall be turned into pitch, &c. — The country shall be dealt with as Sodom and Gomorrah were, even utterly destroyed, as it were, by fire, or burning pitch and brimstone, thrown down upon it from heaven. From generation to generation it shall lie waste — It shall be irrecoverably ruined, and shall remain a spectacle of God’s vengeance to all succeeding ages. The cormorant, &c., shall possess it — The inhabitants shall be wholly cut off, and it shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places: see Isaiah 13:21, 22; and 14:23. He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, &c. — He shall use the line, and the stone, or plummet, joined to it, not to build it up, but to mark it out for destruction and desolation. Thus the prophet goes on to “paint, in the most chosen figures, an image of the land and city desolated by war, wasted by fire, and devoted to eternal desolation, by the divine judgment; which should not only be deprived of its inhabitants, and left to impure beasts and birds, but also, by the desolations brought upon it, should be rendered uninhabitable, and present the appearance of the infernal flames, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, sending forth continually black smoke and horrid smells. The desolation of Babylon is set forth in similar terms, Isaiah 13:19, &c. Though Rome pagan and the Roman powers have already suffered great desolation from the Goths and others, yet Vitringa is of opinion that this prophecy has not yet had its full completion, but will hereafter have it in the destruction of Papal Rome. The state of Italy, and the sulphurous soil in the vicinity of Rome, render the probability of this devastation greater.” — Dodd.

8-10. Day of the Lord’s vengeance — Sure as the pillars of God’s throne stand, divine judgment must overtake wrong and wrongdoers, and Zion, or the Church of God, must be vindicated and defended. The ideal of most terrific punishment is found in the terms brimstone and burning pitch; in the unquenchable fire; in the smoke forever ascending, and in the desert gloom and the impassable waste, that befall the land thus visited. These terms, used as mere figures here, are expanded into symbols in the Book of Revelation; symbols answering to the real idea of awful retributions which will fall upon sin, sinners, and all sinful agencies in the world’s last days. Emblematically the land of Edom becomes a wilderness, and, as an antagonistic kingdom, is destroyed forever.

V. 10. For ever-It shall remain as a spectacle of God’s vengeance to all succeeding ages.

Verses 9-15. And the streams thereof — The rivers, which seem most secure from the judgment here threatened; shall be turned into pitch, &c. — The country shall be dealt with as Sodom and Gomorrah were, even utterly destroyed, as it were, by fire, or burning pitch and brimstone, thrown down upon it from heaven. From generation to generation it shall lie waste — It shall be irrecoverably ruined, and shall remain a spectacle of God’s vengeance to all succeeding ages. The cormorant, &c., shall possess it — The inhabitants shall be wholly cut off, and it shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places: see Isaiah 13:21, 22; and 14:23. He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, &c. — He shall use the line, and the stone, or plummet, joined to it, not to build it up, but to mark it out for destruction and desolation. Thus the prophet goes on to “paint, in the most chosen figures, an image of the land and city desolated by war, wasted by fire, and devoted to eternal desolation, by the divine judgment; which should not only be deprived of its inhabitants, and left to impure beasts and birds, but also, by the desolations brought upon it, should be rendered uninhabitable, and present the appearance of the infernal flames, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, sending forth continually black smoke and horrid smells. The desolation of Babylon is set forth in similar terms, Isaiah 13:19, &c. Though Rome pagan and the Roman powers have already suffered great desolation from the Goths and others, yet Vitringa is of opinion that this prophecy has not yet had its full completion, but will hereafter have it in the destruction of Papal Rome. The state of Italy, and the sulphurous soil in the vicinity of Rome, render the probability of this devastation greater.” — Dodd.

8-10. Day of the Lord’s vengeance — Sure as the pillars of God’s throne stand, divine judgment must overtake wrong and wrongdoers, and Zion, or the Church of God, must be vindicated and defended. The ideal of most terrific punishment is found in the terms brimstone and burning pitch; in the unquenchable fire; in the smoke forever ascending, and in the desert gloom and the impassable waste, that befall the land thus visited. These terms, used as mere figures here, are expanded into symbols in the Book of Revelation; symbols answering to the real idea of awful retributions which will fall upon sin, sinners, and all sinful agencies in the world’s last days. Emblematically the land of Edom becomes a wilderness, and, as an antagonistic kingdom, is destroyed forever.

V. 11. Dwell-It shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places. Stretch-He shall use the line, or the stone or plummet joined to it, not to build them, but to mark them out to destruction, as workmen commonly use them to mark what they are to pull down.

Verse 11. The cormorant] taq kaath, the pelican, from the root ayq ki, to vomit, because it is said she swallows shell-fish, and when the heat of her stomach has killed the fish, she vomits the shells, takes out the dead fish, and eats them.

The bittern] dpq kippod, the hedge-hog, or porcupine.

The owl] ãwvny yanshoph, the bittern, from ãvn nashaph, to blow, because of the blowing noise it makes, almost like the lowing of an ox. My old MS. Bible renders the words thus:—The foule in face like an asse, and the yrchoun, and the snyte (snipe.)

The line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness— “The plummet of emptiness over her scorched plains.”] The word hyrj choreyha, joined to the 12th verse, embarrasses it, and makes it inexplicable. At least I do not know that any one has yet made out the construction, or given any tolerable explication of it. I join it to the 11th verse, and supply a letter or two, which seem to have been lost. Fifteen MSS. five ancient, and two editions, read hyrwj choreyha; the first printed edition of 1486, I think nearer to the truth, hyrj rwj chor choreyha. I read hyrrjb becharereyha, or hyrrj l[ al chorereyha; see Jeremiah 17:6. A MS. has hydj chodiah, and the Syriac reads hwdj chaduah, gaudium, joining it to the two preceding words; which he likewise reads differently, but without improving the sense. However, his authority is clear for dividing the verses as they are here divided. I read שם shem, as a noun. They shall boast, warqy yikreu; see Proverbs 20:6.

Verses 9-15. And the streams thereof — The rivers, which seem most secure from the judgment here threatened; shall be turned into pitch, &c. — The country shall be dealt with as Sodom and Gomorrah were, even utterly destroyed, as it were, by fire, or burning pitch and brimstone, thrown down upon it from heaven. From generation to generation it shall lie waste — It shall be irrecoverably ruined, and shall remain a spectacle of God’s vengeance to all succeeding ages. The cormorant, &c., shall possess it — The inhabitants shall be wholly cut off, and it shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places: see Isaiah 13:21, 22; and 14:23. He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, &c. — He shall use the line, and the stone, or plummet, joined to it, not to build it up, but to mark it out for destruction and desolation. Thus the prophet goes on to “paint, in the most chosen figures, an image of the land and city desolated by war, wasted by fire, and devoted to eternal desolation, by the divine judgment; which should not only be deprived of its inhabitants, and left to impure beasts and birds, but also, by the desolations brought upon it, should be rendered uninhabitable, and present the appearance of the infernal flames, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, sending forth continually black smoke and horrid smells. The desolation of Babylon is set forth in similar terms, Isaiah 13:19, &c. Though Rome pagan and the Roman powers have already suffered great desolation from the Goths and others, yet Vitringa is of opinion that this prophecy has not yet had its full completion, but will hereafter have it in the destruction of Papal Rome. The state of Italy, and the sulphurous soil in the vicinity of Rome, render the probability of this devastation greater.” — Dodd.

11, 12. The picture of a solitary, foul, and marshy land, and of disgusting animals and birds, taking complete possession thereof, is a favourite one with Isaiah, (see Isaiah 13:20-22; 14:23,) and others copy him. See Zephaniah 2:14. The cormorant is possibly the pelican, though it be a sea fowl; the bittern is, in the opinion of most, the crane, or heron, though some read hedgehog. And this is the condition of the punished Edom. The line of confusion — And he, or one, stretches a line upon it — an architectural idea denoting exact measurement of justice upon Edom. Stones of emptiness, may mean waste stones, desert stones, stones of dark flint, with which the whole desert land there is strewed. These were picked up and used as, or for, a plummet, with the measuring line. So desolate is every thing there that one visiting the region, either in mockery or in mournful seeming, calls out, Where are the once great nobles, or dukes, (Genesis 36:40,) that ruled here? But no answer. Only the same sad question is mockingly echoed back.

V. 12. None-They shall not find any willing to undertake the government. Nothing-Shall have no courage or strength left in them.

Verses 9-15. And the streams thereof — The rivers, which seem most secure from the judgment here threatened; shall be turned into pitch, &c. — The country shall be dealt with as Sodom and Gomorrah were, even utterly destroyed, as it were, by fire, or burning pitch and brimstone, thrown down upon it from heaven. From generation to generation it shall lie waste — It shall be irrecoverably ruined, and shall remain a spectacle of God’s vengeance to all succeeding ages. The cormorant, &c., shall possess it — The inhabitants shall be wholly cut off, and it shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places: see Isaiah 13:21, 22; and 14:23. He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, &c. — He shall use the line, and the stone, or plummet, joined to it, not to build it up, but to mark it out for destruction and desolation. Thus the prophet goes on to “paint, in the most chosen figures, an image of the land and city desolated by war, wasted by fire, and devoted to eternal desolation, by the divine judgment; which should not only be deprived of its inhabitants, and left to impure beasts and birds, but also, by the desolations brought upon it, should be rendered uninhabitable, and present the appearance of the infernal flames, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, sending forth continually black smoke and horrid smells. The desolation of Babylon is set forth in similar terms, Isaiah 13:19, &c. Though Rome pagan and the Roman powers have already suffered great desolation from the Goths and others, yet Vitringa is of opinion that this prophecy has not yet had its full completion, but will hereafter have it in the destruction of Papal Rome. The state of Italy, and the sulphurous soil in the vicinity of Rome, render the probability of this devastation greater.” — Dodd.

11, 12. The picture of a solitary, foul, and marshy land, and of disgusting animals and birds, taking complete possession thereof, is a favourite one with Isaiah, (see Isaiah 13:20-22; 14:23,) and others copy him. See Zephaniah 2:14. The cormorant is possibly the pelican, though it be a sea fowl; the bittern is, in the opinion of most, the crane, or heron, though some read hedgehog. And this is the condition of the punished Edom. The line of confusion — And he, or one, stretches a line upon it — an architectural idea denoting exact measurement of justice upon Edom. Stones of emptiness, may mean waste stones, desert stones, stones of dark flint, with which the whole desert land there is strewed. These were picked up and used as, or for, a plummet, with the measuring line. So desolate is every thing there that one visiting the region, either in mockery or in mournful seeming, calls out, Where are the once great nobles, or dukes, (Genesis 36:40,) that ruled here? But no answer. Only the same sad question is mockingly echoed back.

Verse 13. And thorns shall come up in her palaces] hytwnmrab ועלו vealu bearmenotheyha; so read all the ancient versions. A court for owls.] יענה yaanah, the ostrich, from hn[ anah, to cry, because of the noise it makes. “They roar,” says Dr. Shaw, “sometimes like a lion-sometimes like a bull. I have often heard them groan as if in the utmost distress.”

Verses 9-15. And the streams thereof — The rivers, which seem most secure from the judgment here threatened; shall be turned into pitch, &c. — The country shall be dealt with as Sodom and Gomorrah were, even utterly destroyed, as it were, by fire, or burning pitch and brimstone, thrown down upon it from heaven. From generation to generation it shall lie waste — It shall be irrecoverably ruined, and shall remain a spectacle of God’s vengeance to all succeeding ages. The cormorant, &c., shall possess it — The inhabitants shall be wholly cut off, and it shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places: see Isaiah 13:21, 22; and 14:23. He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, &c. — He shall use the line, and the stone, or plummet, joined to it, not to build it up, but to mark it out for destruction and desolation. Thus the prophet goes on to “paint, in the most chosen figures, an image of the land and city desolated by war, wasted by fire, and devoted to eternal desolation, by the divine judgment; which should not only be deprived of its inhabitants, and left to impure beasts and birds, but also, by the desolations brought upon it, should be rendered uninhabitable, and present the appearance of the infernal flames, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, sending forth continually black smoke and horrid smells. The desolation of Babylon is set forth in similar terms, Isaiah 13:19, &c. Though Rome pagan and the Roman powers have already suffered great desolation from the Goths and others, yet Vitringa is of opinion that this prophecy has not yet had its full completion, but will hereafter have it in the destruction of Papal Rome. The state of Italy, and the sulphurous soil in the vicinity of Rome, render the probability of this devastation greater.” — Dodd.

13. The natural consequence of Edom’s depopulation follows. In her palaces, and over all her ruined walls of fortresses, there grow up thorns, nettles, and brambles. Thither also the wild beasts of the desert congregate. Wolves, or wild dogs, (not dragons,) have their homes there, and the court, or grassy plots among the ruins, are resorted to by ostriches, (not owls.)

Verse 14. The wild beasts of the desert] µyyx tsiyim, the mountain cats.—Bochart.

Wild beasts of the island] איים aiyim, the jackals. The satyr] ry[c seir, the hairy one, probably the he-goat. The screech owl] tylyl lilith, the night-bird, the night-raven, nyctycorax, from lyl layil, or hlyl lailah, the night.

Verses 9-15. And the streams thereof — The rivers, which seem most secure from the judgment here threatened; shall be turned into pitch, &c. — The country shall be dealt with as Sodom and Gomorrah were, even utterly destroyed, as it were, by fire, or burning pitch and brimstone, thrown down upon it from heaven. From generation to generation it shall lie waste — It shall be irrecoverably ruined, and shall remain a spectacle of God’s vengeance to all succeeding ages. The cormorant, &c., shall possess it — The inhabitants shall be wholly cut off, and it shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places: see Isaiah 13:21, 22; and 14:23. He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, &c. — He shall use the line, and the stone, or plummet, joined to it, not to build it up, but to mark it out for destruction and desolation. Thus the prophet goes on to “paint, in the most chosen figures, an image of the land and city desolated by war, wasted by fire, and devoted to eternal desolation, by the divine judgment; which should not only be deprived of its inhabitants, and left to impure beasts and birds, but also, by the desolations brought upon it, should be rendered uninhabitable, and present the appearance of the infernal flames, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, sending forth continually black smoke and horrid smells. The desolation of Babylon is set forth in similar terms, Isaiah 13:19, &c. Though Rome pagan and the Roman powers have already suffered great desolation from the Goths and others, yet Vitringa is of opinion that this prophecy has not yet had its full completion, but will hereafter have it in the destruction of Papal Rome. The state of Italy, and the sulphurous soil in the vicinity of Rome, render the probability of this devastation greater.” — Dodd.

14. The desert animals, (ziim,) hyenas, for example, (TRISTRAM’S Natural History,) there come in contact with the howlers, (ijim,) jackals, called an island creature from its dwelling near the coast, and all inhabited, fertile spots. The satyr — Shaggy, fabulous animals, supposed to inhabit desert thickets, and hence called wood devils — objected to by Alexander only because fabulous, but without reason here, for Isaiah employs the term poetically, basing his use of it upon Leviticus 17:7, “And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils,” as the Hebrews had been accustomed to while resident in Egypt. It is the same word in the original, µyry[c, (s’irim,) rendered here “satyr,” and, in Leviticus 17:7, “devils.” The word means the hairy ones, shaggy animals. The goat was an object of worship in Egypt, according to Herodotus (ii, 46,) and from the shaggy, rough he-goat, sprang those ideal beings supposed to bear a resemblance to the goat, such as figured in the mythology of Greece at an early period, (when the Egyptian and Grecian religions began to mix,) under the names Pan, Satyr, Selene, etc. Real they doubtless were to the ignorant Israelites when in bondage, but ideal, hateful, and forbidding, both to Moses and Isaiah. No doubt Isaiah gave not the least countenance to them as facts in nature, but poetically used the word to express what was ideally horrible to every mind he addressed. The same is to be said of the screech owl, or some nightly sounding creature, though many expositors, and Delitzsch among them, favour the meaning of nocturnal spectres. The superstitions brought from Egypt lingered with the people of Israel till Monotheism in a large measure expelled them from the popular mind. Nevertheless, later in Jewish history, a crop of legends sprung out of them, and were easily moulded into those of Persian origin; and to this day, with the Arabs, the idea is persistent of still existing devils or ghuls and spectres in the desert. The mirages, the exciting air, and the monotony of desert landscapes generally, are very favourable to the persistence of such superstitions. See SPRINGER’S Leben und Lehre des Mohammed.

Verse 15. The great owl] zwpq kippoz, the akontiav, or darter, a serpent so called because of its suddenly leaping up or darting on its prey. Probably the mongoz or ichneumon may be intended.

The vultures] twyd daiyoth, the black vultures. My old MS. Bible renders these names curiously: And ageyn cumen schul devylis: the beste, party of an asse, and party of a mam: and the wodwose, the tother schal crien to the tother. There schal byn lamya, that is, thrisse, or a beste, havynge the body liic a woman, and hors feet. Ther hadde dichis, the yrchoun, and nurshide out littil chittis. There ben gadred kiitis, the top to the top. What language!

Every one with her mate.] A MS. adds la el after hva ishshah, which seems necessary to the construction; and so the Syriac and Vulgate. Another MS. adds in the same place ta eth, which is equivalent.

Verses 9-15. And the streams thereof — The rivers, which seem most secure from the judgment here threatened; shall be turned into pitch, &c. — The country shall be dealt with as Sodom and Gomorrah were, even utterly destroyed, as it were, by fire, or burning pitch and brimstone, thrown down upon it from heaven. From generation to generation it shall lie waste — It shall be irrecoverably ruined, and shall remain a spectacle of God’s vengeance to all succeeding ages. The cormorant, &c., shall possess it — The inhabitants shall be wholly cut off, and it shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places: see Isaiah 13:21, 22; and 14:23. He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, &c. — He shall use the line, and the stone, or plummet, joined to it, not to build it up, but to mark it out for destruction and desolation. Thus the prophet goes on to “paint, in the most chosen figures, an image of the land and city desolated by war, wasted by fire, and devoted to eternal desolation, by the divine judgment; which should not only be deprived of its inhabitants, and left to impure beasts and birds, but also, by the desolations brought upon it, should be rendered uninhabitable, and present the appearance of the infernal flames, like another Sodom and Gomorrah, sending forth continually black smoke and horrid smells. The desolation of Babylon is set forth in similar terms, Isaiah 13:19, &c. Though Rome pagan and the Roman powers have already suffered great desolation from the Goths and others, yet Vitringa is of opinion that this prophecy has not yet had its full completion, but will hereafter have it in the destruction of Papal Rome. The state of Italy, and the sulphurous soil in the vicinity of Rome, render the probability of this devastation greater.” — Dodd.

15. There shall the great owl make her nest — Bochart regards the rendering here “great owl” as entirely wrong. It is from a word which means to dart, to spring, and most interpreters at present join with him in calling the animal an arrow snake, which springs like the rattlesnake. Lay… hatch… shadow — This reptile shall make its nest in the ground, or among the ruins, lay eggs, hatch them, and cover its young by its own shadow, or, rather, by its own coiled body. The desert of Sinai, and as far north as Hebron, is full of reptile holes in the ground. Vultures — Tristram thinks these not to be what we call vultures, but generally a smaller bird of prey like the kite, possibly also including the buzzard. The desolate ruins of Edom shall make a secure and undisturbed retreat for these doleful and dreaded creatures; a sad picture of the consequences — not in Edom only, except as a figure, but in all the world — of fighting against God.

V. 16. Seek-When this judgment is executed, if you pursue this prophecy, you will find, that all things exactly come to pass, as I have told you. His-My spirit, (such sudden changes of persons being frequent here) hath brought all these creatures together, as he formerly brought the creatures to Adam, and to Noah, by an instinct which he put into them.

Verse 16. My mouth— “For the mouth of JEHOVAH”] For awh hu, five MSS., (three ancient,) read hwhy Jehovah, and another is so corrected; so likewise the Septuagint. Two editions have µwx tsivam; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Arabic, with the edition of 1486, and a MS. has µxbq kebatsam, with the masculine pronoun instead of the feminine: and so in the next verses it is להם lahem, instead of להנ lahen, in fourteen MSS., six of them ancient.—L. To see the importance of these various readings, the Hebrew Bible must be consulted.

ISAIAH

Verses 16, 17. Seek ye out of the book of the Lord — Here the prophet confirms the preceding prediction; and, “to convict hypocrites, and confirm the pious, assures them of the certain completion of his prophecy.” He terms it, and his other prophecies, The book of the Lord. as being a part of divine revelation; and he supposes they would be extant at the time of the completion of their contents, and therefore invites all men to seek into and consider them in all their parts, in order that, comparing the events with the predictions, they might be fully satisfied of the truth of them, and thereby might find their faith in them, and all the other parts of God’s book, confirmed. Not one of these shall fail — No, not so much as the minutest circumstance, even respecting the impure beasts now mentioned. None shall want her mate — As I have said that the vultures should all have their mates, so it shall be: for my mouth — The mouth of the Lord; it hath commanded — The direful muster of the beasts and fowls; these marks and evidences of desolation; and his Spirit — That is, his power; it hath gathered — Shall gather all his creatures together, as he formerly brought the creatures to Adam and to Noah, by an instinct which he put into them. And he hath cast the lot for them, &c. — He hath divided the land to them, as it were, by lot and line, as Canaan was divided among the Israelites.

Ver. 16. Seek ye out of the book of the Lord— no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate. In the first creation of living beings, God made them male and female; and when he destroyed the world by water, he brought them in pairs to Noah. His gracious care and tender mercies are over all his works.

16, 17. Seek ye out of the book — From the recorded prophecies delivered by Isaiah from Jehovah many a time heretofore, declaring judgments the like unto this one, and read, ponder. Not one of the creatures here alluded to shall fail; not one shall “want,” nor be without, its mate; not one shall miss the other: for, commanded by Jehovah, the prophet assuredly believed what he had declared. He also is to write it down, for other prophets after him to attest its truth by observing its fulfilment in the due time. The creatures named shall surely be gathered by the breath or command, the providence, of Jehovah, into that doomed land, and the “satyr” and the “screech owl,” names used by the prophet for poetic, spectral expression of effect, but which he endorsed not as fact, they too shall be there, fit place for the gathering of devils — as the popular belief would have it — and as a seclusion truly most appropriate for them in point of fact. He hath cast the lot — Such an allotment Jehovah has accurately, as by a measuring line, laid out for them. It is their legitimate home for ever.

The desolateness of this so graphically described region is also emblematic of the spiritual desolations that shall yet sweep over all nations, and peoples, and individuals who, like ancient Edom, join themselves in hostilities to the overthrow of the truth and kingdom of God. All these shall fall, never to rise again. But the next chapter — the contrast to this — and the closing part of the prophecy commencing with this, presents an opposite destiny for all who are the friends of God. They pass, as through a dark and sad desert of tribulations, to an entirely new change of scene, when Messiah is fully come, and God’s foes are overthrown.

V. 17. Divided-He hath divided the land to them, as it were by lot and line, as Canaan was divided among the Israelites.

Verses 16, 17. Seek ye out of the book of the Lord — Here the prophet confirms the preceding prediction; and, “to convict hypocrites, and confirm the pious, assures them of the certain completion of his prophecy.” He terms it, and his other prophecies, The book of the Lord. as being a part of divine revelation; and he supposes they would be extant at the time of the completion of their contents, and therefore invites all men to seek into and consider them in all their parts, in order that, comparing the events with the predictions, they might be fully satisfied of the truth of them, and thereby might find their faith in them, and all the other parts of God’s book, confirmed. Not one of these shall fail — No, not so much as the minutest circumstance, even respecting the impure beasts now mentioned. None shall want her mate — As I have said that the vultures should all have their mates, so it shall be: for my mouth — The mouth of the Lord; it hath commanded — The direful muster of the beasts and fowls; these marks and evidences of desolation; and his Spirit — That is, his power; it hath gathered — Shall gather all his creatures together, as he formerly brought the creatures to Adam and to Noah, by an instinct which he put into them. And he hath cast the lot for them, &c. — He hath divided the land to them, as it were, by lot and line, as Canaan was divided among the Israelites.

16, 17. Seek ye out of the book — From the recorded prophecies delivered by Isaiah from Jehovah many a time heretofore, declaring judgments the like unto this one, and read, ponder. Not one of the creatures here alluded to shall fail; not one shall “want,” nor be without, its mate; not one shall miss the other: for, commanded by Jehovah, the prophet assuredly believed what he had declared. He also is to write it down, for other prophets after him to attest its truth by observing its fulfilment in the due time. The creatures named shall surely be gathered by the breath or command, the providence, of Jehovah, into that doomed land, and the “satyr” and the “screech owl,” names used by the prophet for poetic, spectral expression of effect, but which he endorsed not as fact, they too shall be there, fit place for the gathering of devils — as the popular belief would have it — and as a seclusion truly most appropriate for them in point of fact. He hath cast the lot — Such an allotment Jehovah has accurately, as by a measuring line, laid out for them. It is their legitimate home for ever.

The desolateness of this so graphically described region is also emblematic of the spiritual desolations that shall yet sweep over all nations, and peoples, and individuals who, like ancient Edom, join themselves in hostilities to the overthrow of the truth and kingdom of God. All these shall fall, never to rise again. But the next chapter — the contrast to this — and the closing part of the prophecy commencing with this, presents an opposite destiny for all who are the friends of God. They pass, as through a dark and sad desert of tribulations, to an entirely new change of scene, when Messiah is fully come, and God’s foes are overthrown.