Isaiah · Chapter 4

V. 1. In that day-In that calamitous time. Seven-Many. A certain number for an uncertain. One man-Because few men shall survive that dreadful stroke. Only-Own us for thy wives. Our reproach-Virginity was esteemed a reproach; children, the usual fruit of marriage, being both an honour to their parents, and a blessing of God, especially to that people, from some of whose loins the Messiah was to spring.

Verse 1. And seven women] The division of the chapters has interrupted the prophet’s discourse, and broken it off almost in the midst of the sentence. “The numbers slain in battle shall be so great, that seven women shall be left to one man.” The prophet has described the greatness of this distress by images and adjuncts the most expressive and forcible. The young women, contrary to their natural modesty, shall become suitors to the men: they will take hold of them, and use the most pressing importunity to be married. In spite of the natural suggestions of jealousy, they will be content with a share only of the rights of marriage in common with several others; and that on hard conditions, renouncing the legal demands of the wife on the husband, (see Exodus 21:10,) and begging only the name and credit of wedlock, and to be freed from the reproach of celibacy. See Isaiah 54:4, 5. Like Marcia, on a different occasion, and in other circumstances:—

Daniel tantum nomen inane

Connubii: liceat tumulo scripsisse, Catonis Marcia.

LUCAN, ii. 342.

“This happened,” says Kimchi, “in the days of Ahaz, when Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judea one hundred and twenty thousand men in one day; see 2 Chronicles 28:6. The widows which were left were so numerous that the prophet said, ‘They are multiplied beyond the sand of the sea,’” Jeremiah 15:8.

In that day] These words are omitted in the Septuagint, and MSS.

Verse 1. In that day — Of which he has hitherto been speaking, chap. 2. and 3., and still continues to speak; in that calamitous time; seven women shall take hold on one man — “The war and captivity shall make such a prodigious scarcity in the male sex, that seven women shall be glad to apply to a single man for protection, preservation, and marriage: and shall importune him, though contrary to the natural modesty of their sex, to consent to take away their reproach — For not barrenness only, but a single state also was reckoned opprobrious among the Jews.” “And in spite of the natural suggestions of jealousy, they will each be content with a share only of the rights of marriage in common with several others; and that on hard conditions, renouncing the legal demands of the wife on the husband, (see Exodus 21:10,) and begging only the name and credit of wedlock, to be freed from the reproach of celibacy.” See Vitringa and Bishop Lowth.

Verse 1. Seven women—let us be called by thy name. After a hundred and twenty thousand of Ahaz’s army had been slaughtered in one day, men were scarce. Critics generally refer this to the Babylonian captivity; but the custom is now common in India. Women of years and decency will send a present to a great man, and ask to be called by his name, and be his wives at a distance; and though they never see him, yet they are accounted as married.

1. The first verse completes the picture of domestic desolation on account of the scarcity of male inhabitants, destroyed by war or carried to Babylon as captives. In that day — That calamitous period described as yet to come to Jerusalem. Seven women — An indefinite, but a large, full number. Native modesty is laid aside; all sue to become wives to one man, on account of the great reproach of unwedded life among Jewish women. For this, they will even surrender their rights of dowry and support. The primeval institution of marriage (Genesis 2:24) permitted the union only of one man and one woman. But, long before the times of Moses, morals on this subject suffered degradation. Unlimited polygamy became, in the East, the rule, not the exception; nay, worse than this, prostitution of females and boys became a religious institution.* See Whedon’s note on Revelation 2:14, 15. The disgraceful evil of prostitution Moses required to be punished and rooted out by the severest laws. Polygamy he suffered, because compelled by social necessity; but he aimed so to regulate it that in the end it would virtually cease to exist — a fact near to realization till monarchy reopened the floodgates of the evil. Wars so diminished the number of males, and the reproach of childlessness among females was so great, that in the text above, though the situation was evil, the sentiment in the urgent request of the women was in their own estimation virtuous. “The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.”

[* See “Phoenica and Israel,” published by Phillips & Hunt: an important work in Old Testament exegesis bearing on this subject.]

V. 2. In that day-About that time: when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of Zion, by those dreadful judgments now described. The branch-The Messiah. The earth-The land which for the sins of the people was made barren, upon their return to Christ shall recover its fertility. Under this one mercy he includes all temporal blessings, together with spiritual and eternal. For them-That shall survive all the forementioned calamities.

Verse 2. The branch of the Lord— “the branch of JEHOVAH”] The Messiah of JEHOVAH, says the Chaldee. And Kimchi says, The Messiah, the Son of David. The branch is an appropriate title of the Messiah; and the fruit of the land means the great Person to spring from the house of Judah, and is only a parallel expression signifying the same; or perhaps the blessings consequent upon the redemption procured by him. Compare Isaiah 45:8, where the same great event is set forth under similar images, and see the note there.

Them that are escaped of Israel— “the escaped of the house of Israel.”] A MS. has larvy tyb beith yisrael, the house of Israel.

Verse 2. In that day — About and after that time, when the Lord shall have washed away (as this time is particularly expressed, verse 4,) the filth of Zion, by those dreadful judgments now described. The third part of this discourse, the reader will observe, begins here, in which is set forth the flourishing state of the remnant of the Jews after the times of the former calamity. Shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious — The church and people of Israel may be here intended by the branch of the Lord, being often called God’s vine, or vineyard, as we have seen before, and the branch of his planting, Isaiah 60:21. It is a metaphorical expression, taken from a tree cut down, which, notwithstanding, sprouts forth anew from the root, by young suckers, and brings forth many trees. And thus the prophet foretels, that, notwithstanding the grievous calamities and great destructions which he had predicted, and which would certainly come to pass, yet, nevertheless, the small remainder of them which should return out of captivity, with those that should be left in the land, when it was laid desolate by the Chaldeans, should increase into a great people. And to them the fruit of the earth should be excellent and comely — That is, through the abundant produce of the land they should be made rich, and should be rendered respectable to the neighbouring nations. This seems to be the primary and most obvious meaning of the passage, considered in connection with what precedes and follows. The Chaldee Paraphrast, however, says, the branch here means the Messiah of Jehovah, and of him many Jewish doctors, as well as Christian commentators, understand the expression. Certainly he is frequently signified, in Scripture, by this title, the branch: see Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5, and 33:15; Zechariah 3:1; and, in one place, namely, Zechariah 6:12, his name is expressly said to be the branch. Understood of him, the meaning of the passage must be, that after the foregoing miseries had been brought upon the Jews, and they had been restored to their own land; and after they had been chastised and purified still more, by the calamities brought upon them by Antiochus Epiphanes and other princes of the Grecian empire, and by the Romans under Pompey, the Messiah should be born; and that, after the utter destruction which should be brought upon the Jewish city, temple, and nation, by Titus, the Roman general, the kingdom of the Messiah should become beautiful and glorious, as is here expressed. According to this interpretation, the expression, in that day, in the beginning of the verse, must be considered as used with great latitude, as it often is by this prophet, signifying, as Lowth observes, “not the same time with that which was last mentioned, but an extraordinary season, remarkable for some signal events of providence, called elsewhere, by way of excellence, the day of the Lord, just as that day denotes the day of judgment in the New Testament, as being a time of all others the most remarkable; see 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Timothy 1:12, 18, and 4:8. “It is usual,” says Grotius, “for the prophets to pass from the threatenings that relate to their own times, to the promises which belong to the times of the gospel.” It may be further observed here, that the Scriptures often speak of great tribulations, as preceding, and preparing the way for, the enlargement and prosperity of Christ’s kingdom. In consistency with this application of the passage, by the fruit of the earth, here said to be excellent and comely, must be meant the spiritual blessings of the gospel, frequently described under the emblems of the fruitfulness of the earth and plenty. And by them that are escaped of Israel, we must understand those Jews who, the prophet foresaw, would be converted by the preaching of Christ and his apostles, and should thereby escape that vengeance which would involve the rest of their nation. This accords well with the following verses of the chapter.

Ver. 2. Branch. Christ is here compared to a fruitful branch, which should be as a shadow from the sun. So he is called in several other places. Isaiah 11:1. Jeremiah 23:5. Zechariah 3:8. 6:12. Cambyses, father of Cyrus, dreamed that a branch grew from the bosom of Mandana, his daughter-in-law, which overshadowed all Asia. Our antiquaries are agreed that the misletoe, a plant which grows on the oak, but mostly on the appletree, was a healing plant for all diseases. The druids cut it off at the time of sacrifice, and thus gave a symbol to the world, that the Messiah should be cut off for the healing of the nations. In the Gothic gospels our Saviour is often called Hæland, or the Healer.

2. And now the counterpart to this fearful prophecy, which was begun in chap. 2:1-5, is resumed, and brings this long discourse to an end. Isaiah, as with a single bound, retires from the dreary scene he has pictured, and is again rejoicing in engrossment with the future Messianic times. In that day — The day of Messiah, the antitype of David. Shall the branch — jmx, (tzemach,) sprout, the outgrowth from Jehovah. Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15. In these citations the word “branch” directly, and in other passages indirectly, refers evidently to the Messiah. It is that which shoots up, or sprouts, from the root of a tree. The Messiah is, in chap. 11:1, 10, (where see notes,) said to be a root of Jesse. David is ever the type of a more glorious ruler, whose sway shall be over the whole earth. Beautiful… glorious — It shall be for ornament and glory. Nouns, in the Hebrew, expressive of quality indeed, but of stronger meaning as nouns than as adjectives. Fruit… excellent and comely — Literally, for majesty and honour. The Messiah’s reign shall ennoble its subjects by the moral beauty, glory, dignity, and honour conferred on them. Them that are escaped of Israel — The remnant, the small number that escaped calamities. The emphasis is not on small number, but on the “escaped of Israel.” Figuratively this means those who continue true to Jehovah; who, against all odds, remain his firm and believing followers, of whom those who stood the test at Babylon, and were restored to Jerusalem, were types. The Messiah’s reign is to extend on to the end of the world.

V. 3. Holy-Shall be really holy. Jerusalem-Of the people living in or belonging to Jerusalem.

Verse 3. Written among the living] That is, whose name stands in the enrolment or register of the people; or every man living, who is a citizen of Jerusalem. See Ezekiel 13:9, where, “they shall not be written in the writing of the house of Israel,” is the same with what immediately goes before, “they shall not be in the assembly of my people.” Compare Psalm 69:28; 87:6; Exodus 32:32. To number and register the people was agreeable to the law of Moses, and probably was always practised; being, in sound policy, useful, and even necessary. David’s design of numbering the people was of another kind; it was to enrol them for his army. Michaelis Mosaisches Recht, Part iii., p. 227. See also his Dissert. de Censibus Hebræorum.

Verse 3. And he that is left in Zion — Those that escape the common destruction brought on their countrymen; see verse 2; shall be called holy — Shall be really such. The Jews that survived the Babylonish captivity, and returned into their own land, were greatly reformed, especially in one point, they relapsed no more into idolatry: and in other respects also a spirit of religion was revived among them. But the prophecy was much more eminently fulfilled in the first converts from Judaism to Christianity, to whose purity and holiness the apostles often bear witness, and of which they glory in their writings. Even every one that is written among the living, &c. — Whose names are recorded in the book of life, or the book of the divine knowledge and remembrance, as persons who, by repentance toward God and faith in the Messiah, expected, or already revealed, have passed from death unto life. The phrase is used in allusion to the registers which were kept of the Jewish tribes and families: see notes on Exodus 32:32; Psalm 69:28.

Ver. 3. He that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy. Such is the current language of prophecy, to comfort the people after their return from Babylon. These are the overflowing and cheering promises of God to his faithful people. He will purify them as silver, Malachi 3:2, 3: he will be round about Zion as a wall of fire. Zechariah 2:5.

3, 4. He that is left in Zion — The true descendants of the few who, amid the immoralities of Jerusalem life, and despite surrounding temptations to the contrary, preserve themselves pure and loyal to Jehovah. Shall be called holy — Shall be holy. The idiom “shall be called” means this. Written among the living — Those who are alive in Jerusalem; typically, who continue unto eternal life. Filth of the daughters of Zion — Their vain-gloriousness; their silly and demoralizing pride and defilements. The judgments upon Judah and Jerusalem are to remove — wash away — these, and the guiltiness of the people likewise. Spirit of burning — An intensified expression of the idea of the previous clause. The people, by a long but thorough process of spiritual cleansing, shall cease to love idolatry and crime, and shall learn truly to serve Jehovah.

V. 4. When-This shall be accomplished when God hath throughly cleansed the Jewish nation from their sins. The blood-The blood-guiltiness, and especially that of killing the Lord of life. Burning-This is opposed to the former legal way of purification, which was by water. The Holy Spirit of old accompanied the preaching of the gospel, and did this work in part, and will do it fully. This spirit may well be called a spirit of judgment, because it executes judgment in the church, and in the consciences of men, separating the precious from the vile, convincing men of sin, and righteousness, and judgment. And the same spirit may be fitly called the spirit of burning, because he doth burn up and consume the dross which is in the church, and in the hearts of men, and inflames the souls of believers with love to God, and zeal for his glory.

Verse 4. The spirit of burning] Means the fire of God’s wrath, by which he will prove and purify his people; gathering them into his furnace, in order to separate the dross from the silver, the bad from the good. The severity of God’s judgments, the fiery trial of his servants, Ezekiel (Ezekiel 22:18-22) has set forth at large, after his manner, with great boldness of imagery and force of expression. God threatens to gather them into the midst of Jerusalem, as into the furnace; to blow the fire upon them, and to melt them. Malachi, Malachi 3:2, 3, treats the same subject, and represents the same event, under the like images:—

“But who may abide the day of his coming?

And who shall stand when he appeareth?

For he is like the fire of the refiner,

And like the soap of the fullers.

And he shall sit refining and purifying the silver;

And he shall purify the sons of Levi;

And cleanse them like gold, and like silver;

That they may be JEHOVAH’S ministers,

Presenting unto him an offering in righteousness.”

This is an allusion to a chemist purifying metals. He first judges of the state of the ore or adulterated metal. Secondly, he kindles the proper degree of fire, and applies the requisite test; and thus separates the precious from the vile.

Verse 4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth, &c. — This shall be accomplished when God shall have thoroughly cleansed the Jewish nation from their sins; and shall have purged away the blood of Jerusalem — The sins of cruelty and oppression, (Isaiah 5:7,) or of bloodshed and murder, particularly in killing the prophets, and persecuting God’s servants. By the spirit of judgment and burning — By the effects of his justice and wrath in punishing them severely; by making them pass through the furnace of affliction, as it is expressed Isaiah 48:10: or the Holy Spirit’s influences may be chiefly intended, especially as this mode of purification is opposed to the legal way, which was by water. The Holy Spirit may well be called a spirit of judgment, because he executes judgment in the church, and in the consciences of men, convincing sinners of sin, leading them to judge and condemn themselves, and humbling them before God. And the same Spirit may be properly called a spirit of burning, because he burns up and consumes the dross which is in the church, and in the hearts of sinners, operates like refiners’ fire, purges believers as gold and silver are purged, (Malachi 3:3,) inflames their souls with love to God and zeal for his glory, and transforms them into his holy nature and image. This was effectually done with respect to those Jews that embraced the gospel in the early days of Christianity.

3, 4. He that is left in Zion — The true descendants of the few who, amid the immoralities of Jerusalem life, and despite surrounding temptations to the contrary, preserve themselves pure and loyal to Jehovah. Shall be called holy — Shall be holy. The idiom “shall be called” means this. Written among the living — Those who are alive in Jerusalem; typically, who continue unto eternal life. Filth of the daughters of Zion — Their vain-gloriousness; their silly and demoralizing pride and defilements. The judgments upon Judah and Jerusalem are to remove — wash away — these, and the guiltiness of the people likewise. Spirit of burning — An intensified expression of the idea of the previous clause. The people, by a long but thorough process of spiritual cleansing, shall cease to love idolatry and crime, and shall learn truly to serve Jehovah.

V. 5. Create-Will in a marvellous manner produce, as it were by a new creation. A cloud-A pillar of cloud and fire, like that wherewith he directed the Israelites, when they came out of Egypt: whereby he implies, that God would be their protector, and their glory. The glory-Upon all that church and people, which God will make so glorious; upon all holy assemblies of sincere Christians.

Verse 5. And the Lord will create—One MS., the Septuagint, and the Arabic, have ayby yabi, He shall bring: the cloud already exists; the Lord will bring it over. This is a blessed promise of the presence of God in all the assemblies of his people.

Every dwelling place— “the station”] The Hebrew text has, every station: but four MSS. (one ancient) omit lk col, all; very rightly, as it should seem: for the station was Mount Zion itself, and no other. See Exodus 15:17. And the Septuagint, Arabic, and MSS., add the same word lk col, before harqm mikraeha, probably right: the word has only changed its place by mistake. hyarqm mikrayeh, “the place where they were gathered together in their holy assemblies,” says Sal ben Melech. But twenty-five of Kennicott’s MSS., and twenty-two of Deuteronomy Rossi’s fifty-three editions, besides the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic, have the word in the plural number.

A cloud and smoke by day] This is a manifest allusion to the pillar of a cloud and of fire which attended the Israelites in their passage out of Egypt, and to the glory that rested on the tabernacle, Exodus 13:21; 40:38. The prophet Zechariah, Zechariah 2:5, applies the same image to the same purpose:—

“And I will be unto her a wall of fire round about;

And a glory will I be in the midst of her.”

That is, the visible presence of God shall protect her. Which explains the conclusion of this verse of Isaiah; where the makkaph between lk col, and dwbk cabod, connecting the two words in construction, which ought not to be connected, has thrown an obscurity upon the sentence, and misled most of the translators.

For upon all the glory shall be a defense.] Whatever God creates, he must uphold, or it will fail, Every degree of grace brings with it a degree of power to maintain itself in the soul.

Verse 5. And the Lord will create — Will, in a marvellous manner, produce, as it were, by a new work of creation; upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion — Upon all the private habitations of his people; and upon her assemblies — Upon the places of their public worship, and the persons assembled therein; a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining, &c. — He alludes to the pillar of a cloud and fire, which conducted and protected the Israelites in the wilderness, and afterward rested upon the tabernacle; and his words imply, that God would be the protector and glory of Zion. Such he was to Jerusalem after the return from Babylon; directing the Jews in their various difficulties, and defending them in their weak state against all the contrivances and attempts of their enemies, as we learn from the book of Nehemiah: and thus especially he was present with, and guided, protected, and preserved the first Christian Church, when he destroyed their unbelieving and disobedient countrymen. Upon all the glory shall be a defence — Upon all that church and people, which God will make glorious: upon the literal, but especially upon the mystical Jerusalem, upon all holy societies, or assemblies of sincere Christians. A learned commentator, who says the dwelling-places and assemblies of Sion “refer to the meetings of the apostles and other Christians at Jerusalem;” and that the next clause, upon all the glory, &c., means that the divine protection shall be afforded wherever God manifests himself by the extraordinary signs of his gracious presence, adds as follows: “Every symbol of the divine grace and glory, such as was the cloud, brings with it the protection and defence of that place or assembly, which is blessed with this prerogative. The event proves the truth of this interpretation. So long as God was in the temple, that place rejoiced in the benefit of the divine protection. When the voice was heard, ‘Let us depart hence,’ it was left to the desolation of its enemies.” Now the same, as he says, holds good in the Christian Church. While she cleaves to God, adheres to his truth, possesses his grace, obeys his laws, and worships him in the beauty of holiness, she has his presence with her, and is safe and happy. But, when the reverse of all this takes place, when his truth is disbelieved, his grace neglected, his laws broken, and his ordinances slighted, or attended in a mere formal way, his presence is withdrawn, and her glory and defence depart together.

Ver. 5. On every dwellingplace of mount Zion. One text best explains another. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellingplaces of Jacob. Psalm 87:2. These dwellings were the synagogues; there the Lord would meet with his people, and there his angels would assemble. In the christian sanctuary he will for ever dwell, and will overshadow his people with a cloud.

5. When such times come, the Lord will create — Renew, and make holy. Every dwelling place — Every household in mount Zion. “Zion,” the local, prefigures “Zion,” the universal — the “Zion” of all ages and places. The palmy days of specific revelations and protections in the wilderness were a type of what, in a degree indefinably more glorious, shall be wrought upon the “Zion” of the future ages.

V. 6. And there-Or, he, the Lord, shall be a tabernacle, to defend them from the heat of the sun, and other injuries of the weather.

Verse 6. A tabernacle] In countries subject to violent tempests, as well as to intolerable heat, a portable tent is a necessary part of a traveller’s baggage, for defence and shelter. And to such tents the words of the text make evident allusion. They are to be met with in every part of Arabia and Egypt, and in various other places in the East.

ISAIAH

Verse 6. And there shall be, &c. — Or, He, that is, the Lord, shall be, a tabernacle, or a tent, for a shadow from the heat, &c. — He alludes to the circumstance of tents being necessary, in those eastern countries, to defend people from the intolerable heat of the sun, and the violent tempests which frequently happen; in consequence of which a portable tent becomes an important part of a traveller’s baggage, for defence and shelter. Thus, he signifies, the Christian Church, in its early ages, exposed as it was to the heat and violent storms of repeated persecutions, stood in peculiar need of the divine protection, and was favoured therewith, and that frequently, in a very extraordinary and even miraculous way.

Ver. 6. A covert from the storm, such as shepherds have for retreats. The church has always been a sure refuge in the time of trouble, where the sinner finds righteousness, and eternal life.

6. Tabernacle — That of Moses in the wilderness prefigures God’s pavilion, which, by Messiah, he spreads everywhere over his people. As its bridegroom, Messiah overshadows his Church. He is its canopy (an idea of which the canopy at the oriental wedding is the symbol) to shield from fierce heats and violent rains; in other words, he secures perfect protection from all moral disasters. This security the renewed Jerusalem, or Zion, shall enjoy for ever — not merely in the best days of the Church on earth, but in the eternally better days of the New Jerusalem above. Revelation 21. The prophecy begun at chapter ii closes here. Its leading thought is the overthrow of the false glory of Israel, and the perfect establishment of its true glory by means of judgment and of severe discipline. Doubtless the prophecy covers the whole area of history to Judah as a nation, and an indefinite outlook thence onward into Messianic times. The themes touched upon here are often a burden with this prophet in other modes of warning, illustration, or enforcement, nearly all of which have more or less the same hopeful closing.