Isaiah · Chapter 8

V. 1. A roll-Or, a great volume, because the prophecy to be written in it was large, and God would have it written in large and legible characters. Pen-With such a pen as writers use. Concerning-Concerning that thing which is signified by the name of the child, which is here mentioned by way of anticipation.

Verse 1. Take thee a great roll— “Take unto thee a large mirror”] The word גליונ gillayon is not regularly formed from llg galal, to roll, but from hlg galah, as פדיונ pidyon from פדה padah, כליונ killayon from hlk, calah, µwyqn nikkayon from hqn nakah, ˆwyl[ elyon from hl[ alah, &c., the y yod supplying the place of the radical h he. hlg galah signifies to show, to reveal; properly, as Schroederus says, (Deuteronomy Vestitu Mulier. Hebr. p. 294,) to render clear and bright by rubbing; to polish. גליונ gillayon, therefore, according to this derivation, is not a roll or volume: but may very well signify a polished tablet of metal, such as was anciently used for a mirror. The Chaldee paraphrast renders it by jwl luach, a tablet, and the same word, though somewhat differently pointed, the Chaldee paraphrast and the rabbins render a mirror, Isaiah 3:23. The mirrors of the Israelitish women were made of brass finely polished, Exodus 38:8, from which place it likewise appears that what they used were little hand mirrors which they carried with them even when they assembled at the door of the tabernacle. I have a metalline mirror found in Herculaneum, which is not above three inches square. The prophet is commanded to take a mirror, or brazen polished tablet, not like these little hand mirrors, but a large one; large enough for him to engrave upon it in deep and lasting characters, vwna crjb becheret enosh, with a workman’s graving tool, the prophecy which he was to deliver. crj cheret in this place certainly signifies an instrument to write or engrave with: but cyrj charit, the same word, only differing a little in the form, means something belonging to a lady’s dress, Isaiah 3:22, (where however five MSS. leave out the y yod, whereby only it differs from the word in this place,) either a crisping-pin, which might be not unlike a graving tool, as some will have it, or a purse, as others infer from 2 Kings 5:23. It may therefore be called here vwna crj cheret enosh, a workman’s instrument, to distinguish it from hva crj cheret ishshah, an instrument of the same name, used by the women. In this manner he was to record the prophecy of the destruction of Damascus and Samaria by the Assyrians; the subject and sum of which prophecy is here expressed with great brevity in four words, zb vh llv rhm maher shalal hash baz; i.e., to hasten the spoil, to take quickly the prey; which are afterwards applied as the name of the prophet’s son, who was made a sign of the speedy completion of it; Maher-shalal-hash-baz; Haste-to-the-spoil, Quick-to-the-prey. And that it might be done with the greater solemnity, and to preclude all doubt of the real delivery of the prophecy before the event, he calls witnesses to attest the recording of it.

The prophet is commanded to take a great roll, and yet four words only are to be written in it, zb vh llv rhm maher shalal hash baz, Make haste to the spoil; fall upon the prey. The great volume points out the land of Judea; and the few words the small number of inhabitants, after the ten tribes were carried into captivity.

The words were to be written with a man’s pen; i.e., though the prophecy be given in the visions of God, yet the writing must be real; the words must be transcribed on the great roll, that they may be read and publicly consulted. Or, vwna crj cherot enosh, the pen or graver of the weak miserable man, may refer to the already condemned Assyrians, who though they should be the instruments of chastening Damascus and Samaria, should themselves shortly be overthrown. The four words may be considered as the commission given to the Assyrians to destroy and spoil the cities. Make haste to the spoil; Fall upon the prey, &c.

Verse 1. Moreover, the Lord said unto me — Here begins “the second section of this discourse, which reaches to the seventh verse of the next chapter, and is nearly of the same argument with the preceding; being prophetical, and containing matter both of comfort and reproof. It may be divided into two parts. The first part, in the first four verses, contains a confirmation and sign of the prediction concerning the sudden subversion of the kingdoms of Syria and Israel. The second part more fully and distinctly explains the purpose of God with respect both to the Israelites and Jews, for the consolation of the pious, and the terror of the impious and carnal, among them.” Take thee a great roll — Or, a great volume, because the prophecy to be written in it was large: and God would have it written in very large and legible characters; and write in it with a man’s pen — With such a pen as writers use, that so all may read and understand it. Bishop Lowth, deriving the word ˆwylg, here rendered roll, from hlg, to show, to reveal, rather than from llg, to roll, translates it, a large mirror, or polished tablet of metal, like those which were anciently used for mirrors, and also for engraving on. Accordingly, he renders the word crj, which we translate a pen, a graving tool. “In this manner,” says he, “the prophet was to record the prophecy of the destruction of Damascus and Samaria by the Assyrians: the subject and sum of which prophecy are here expressed, with great brevity, in four words, maher, shalal, hash, baz; that is, to hasten the spoil, to take quickly the prey: which was afterward applied as the name of the prophet’s son, who was made a sign of the speedy completion of it; Haste-to-the-spoil, Quick-to-the-prey. And that it might be done with the greater solemnity, and to preclude all doubt of the real delivery of the prophecy before the event, he calls witnesses to attest the recording of it.” Concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz — Concerning that thing which is signified by the name of the child, which is here mentioned by way of anticipation, as not being given him till verse 3; that is, concerning that which God is making haste to do, the giving up Syria and Israel for a prey to the Assyrians.

Verse 1. Take thee a great roll. Lowth reads, a large mirror. The Chaldaic has scripturam claram, a fair writing, which might be on a polished plate; but the Versions read as the English.

1. Take thee a great roll — This was a wooden or metallic tablet, probably covered with a surface of wax for writing on with a stylus; large, so as to be easily read by the public when put up as an inscription. See note on Luke 1:63. Write… with a man’s pen — In the regular letters of a human alphabet, so as to be readily read and understood by men. See note on Revelation 13:18. Concerning — That is, it relates to, or, it is in these words. Maher-shalal-hash-baz — Which, translated, means, Hastens booty, prey hastens. The spoils of war are at hand. Capture and pillage are close upon the assailed.

Verses 2, 3. And I took me faithful witnesses — Persons of unquestionable reputation, who should bear witness that the following name and prophecy were written and published by me, according to God’s command. It is likely these witnesses signed a copy of the prophecy with their own hands, and dated it according to the time it was declared by the prophet. And I went unto the prophetess — His own wife, so called, because she was the wife of a prophet, wives being frequently denominated from their husband’s titles. Or possibly she herself might be endowed with the gift of prophecy. Some commentators suppose that Isaiah married another wife on this occasion, and that the witnesses above mentioned were called to attest the matrimonial contract, according to the custom of the Jews. But there are no indications of this, and, as it is certain from the preceding chapter that he already had a wife, the mother of Shear-jashub, it seems highly improbable that he should take another. Others again suppose, that these witnesses, who were persons of rank, “were called on to attend the circumcision of the prophet’s son, and to attest the name by which he was called, as well as the prophecy, confirmed and illustrated by that name.”

2. Uriah the priest — The same that was sent for to Damascus by Ahaz to take a complete pattern of a heathen altar which the king desired to be erected in the temple at Jerusalem. 2 Kings 16:10. He was a bad man; a willing accomplice of Ahaz to introduce a corrupt religion into Jerusalem. Who Zechariah was is not so clear; possibly he was a Levite mentioned in 2 Chronicles 29:13. Both were of the king’s party, as against the reform party of Isaiah; so that it could not be pretended that it was a prediction forged after the event.

V. 3. Prophetess-To his own wife, so called, because the wife of a prophet.

Verses 2, 3. And I took me faithful witnesses — Persons of unquestionable reputation, who should bear witness that the following name and prophecy were written and published by me, according to God’s command. It is likely these witnesses signed a copy of the prophecy with their own hands, and dated it according to the time it was declared by the prophet. And I went unto the prophetess — His own wife, so called, because she was the wife of a prophet, wives being frequently denominated from their husband’s titles. Or possibly she herself might be endowed with the gift of prophecy. Some commentators suppose that Isaiah married another wife on this occasion, and that the witnesses above mentioned were called to attest the matrimonial contract, according to the custom of the Jews. But there are no indications of this, and, as it is certain from the preceding chapter that he already had a wife, the mother of Shear-jashub, it seems highly improbable that he should take another. Others again suppose, that these witnesses, who were persons of rank, “were called on to attend the circumcision of the prophet’s son, and to attest the name by which he was called, as well as the prophecy, confirmed and illustrated by that name.”

Ver. 3. I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived and bare a son. There is much variation here among the critics. But the child’s name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, that is, to hasten to the spoil, to take quickly the prey, designates the king of Assyria. The whole is a vision, for Isaiah had no such son that we know of.

3. Then said the Lord — The prophetic inscription is fulfilled so far by the child’s birth; and Jehovah requires his symbolic name to be conferred, like a prophetic inscription, on the child.

V. 4. To cry-To speak and to know his parents; which is within the space of two years. And his agrees with the other prophecy, Isaiah 7:16. Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and chuse the good, which requires a longer time than to distinguish his parents, and suits well to Shear-Jashub, who, being born some years before, was capable of that farther degree of knowledge, as soon as this was capable of the lower degree. Before-In his presence, and by himself and his forces.

Verse 4. For before the child] For my father and my mother, one MS. and the Vulgate have his father and his mother. The prophecy was accordingly accomplished within three years; when Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, went up against Damascus and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin, and also took the Reubenites and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and carried them captive to Assyria, 2 Kings 15:29; 16:9; 1 Chronicles 5:26.

Verse 4. Before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, &c. — To speak and know his parents; which is within the space of two years. And this agrees with the other prophecy, Isaiah 7:16. For it requires a longer time for a child to know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, than to distinguish his parents from strangers; and Shear-jashub, being born some years before this child, was capable of that higher degree of knowledge as soon as this was capable of the lower degree. The riches of Damascus, &c., shall be taken away — The kingdoms of Syria and Israel, here signified by their two capital cities, shall be stripped of their wealth and power, as they were by Tiglath-pileser, within the time here limited, 2 Kings 15:29.

4. Before this it was known the inscription meant “plunder and spoils;” but which the plundered party was to be was not known. Shall have knowledge to cry — Shall know how to speak the name My father. The date of the prophecy’s fulfilment is determined by the infant’s growth, about two years from its birth. And now who the vanquished party are becomes known. The Assyrian power, hired by Ahaz, will pillage Damascus, and spoil Samaria before the boy-child shall know how to lisp “My father,” etc.

Denunciation of the foreign parties in Judah, and assertion for Jehovah and his adherents, 5-22.

The prophet denounces the despisers of Siloah, the emblem of the mild Davidic kingdom, and threatens that they shall be overwhelmed with the Euphrates, the emblem of the terrible Assyrian empire, 5-8. He bids the enemies of Jehovah defiance, 8-10; calls upon the people to reject their clamors, and to turn to the law and to the Jehovistic signs presented in himself and family, 11-18. He denounces the deserters from God’s law who resort to sorcerers for guidance.

Verse 5. The Lord spake also — “After having given the promise concerning the deliverance of the people from the fear of the two adverse kingdoms, God, by a new, or a continued revelation, (for it was not very distant in time from the former,) more distinctly unfolds his purpose concerning the fate, not only of Israel, but of Judah, and confirms what he had advised in the former prophecy concerning them. See chap. 7:17, &c. For this is of nearly the same argument, except that it is more extensive, and involves many more mysteries. The first part is entirely prophetical, from this to verse 11, and contains a declaration of the events of the subsequent period, immediately leading to the time of fulfilling the promise respecting Immanuel: of these events, the first is the subversion of Ephraim, verses 6, 7; the second, the affliction of Judah, by the Assyrians also, verse 8; the third, the destruction of the hostile counsels and attempts of future times, which seemed to threaten a total excision of the church of God, verses 9, 10.” — Vitringa and Dodd.

V. 6. This people-The people of Israel, of whom he last spake, who rejoiced not only in their own king, but also in the assistance of so powerful an ally as Rezin. Shiloah-That small brook which ran by Jerusalem. Hereby he understands the munitions and strength of the Jews, which their enemies derided.

Verse 6. Forasmuch as this people refuseth— “Because this people have rejected”] The gentle waters of Shiloah, a small fountain and brook just without Jerusalem, which supplied a pool within the city for the use of the inhabitants, is an apt emblem of the state of the kingdom and house of David, much reduced in its apparent strength, yet supported by the blessing of God; and is finely contrasted with the waters of the Euphrates, great, rapid, and impetuous; the image of the Babylonian empire, which God threatens to bring down like a mighty flood upon all these apostates of both kingdoms, as punishment for their manifold iniquities, and their contemptuous disregard of his promises. The brook and the river are put for the kingdoms to which they belong, and the different states of which respectively they most aptly represent. Juvenal, inveighing against the corruption of Rome by the importation of Asiatic manners, says, with great elegance, that “the Orontes has been long discharging itself into the Tiber:”—

Jampridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes.

And Virgil, to express the submission of some of the Eastern countries to the Roman arms, says:—

Euphrates ibat jam mollior undis.

Æn. viii. 726.

“The waters of the Euphrates now flowed more humbly and gently.” But the happy contrast between the brook and the river gives a peculiar beauty to this passage of the prophet, with which the simple figure in the Roman poets, however beautiful, yet uncontrasted, cannot contend.

Verse 6. Forasmuch as this people — The people of Israel, of whom he last spake, and who are the chief subject of this whole prophecy; and who did rejoice, not only in their own king Pekah, but also in the assistance of so powerful an ally as Rezin was; refuseth — Or, rather, despiseth, as the word sam more properly, and most frequently, signifies; the waters of Shiloah that go softly — That small and contemptible brook which ran gently (as little rivers generally do) by Jerusalem, and which is here opposed to the great rivers of Tigris and Euphrates, by which the Assyrian empire was fortified. By these waters of Shiloah, he intends the munitions and strength of the Jews, including the kingdom of David, and the divine protection and promise engaged to support it, all which their enemies despised. And, as the people of Judah, from a consideration of their own weakness, and a distrust of God’s promises, applied for assistance to the Assyrians, they also might properly be said to despise or refuse these waters of Shiloah, although they could not be said to rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son. Here, therefore, the prophet assigns the reason which moved God to punish both the Ephraimites and the Jews by the Assyrians. They disbelieved his word, distrusted his protection, and confided in an arm of flesh, and therefore the Lord chastised them.

Ver. 6. The waters of Shiloah that go softly. The Gihon at the foot of mount Zion, 1 Kings 1:33; the great spring that flowed into the lower city. This gently flowing stream, as the Chaldaic reads, designated the kingdom of the house of David. Therefore, as they set aside the Lord from being their king, he would justly expose them to the overflowing waters of the Euphrates, and suffer the Chaldeans to rule over them. Virgil, by the like figure of a gentile government, represents the Euphrates as flowing more softly, after the Roman power was established in Asia. Euphrates ibat jam mollior undis.

ÆN. 8:726.

6. Forasmuch as this people — Israel is especially meant, though Judah, in a general sense, is included. Refuseth the waters of Shiloah — The “waters of Shiloah,” or Siloah, are doubtless the same which are better known under their later name of Siloam, (see note and cut, John 9:7,) the only perennial spring in Jerusalem, supplying the pool of that name at the foot of the hill Ophel in the southeast part of the city. (See Thomson’s “Land and Book,” vol. 2.) Softly — Its waters gently flowing, typical of the true Davidic sovereignty, as the mighty Euphrates here symbolizes the distant Assyrian monarchy proudly crowning its banks. (See map.) So in the Apocalypse the Euphrates symbolizes the world-power Babylon. Revelation 9:14; 16:12.

V. 7. The river-Of Euphrates, called the river, for its eminent greatness; whereby he understands the Assyrian forces. Glory-His numerous and puissant army. He-This great river shall overflow its own proper channels. That is, this great monarch shall enlarge his dominions, and add the lands of Syria and Israel to them.

Verses 7, 8. Now, therefore — Because the Israelites and their army, combined with the Syrians, despise the weak state of the Jews, and the kingdom of David, now brought very low, and having no such defence as can be compared to a great river, but only one that resembles a small brook that glides gently along; behold, the Lord bringeth upon them the waters of the river — Of Euphrates, often called the river, for its eminent greatness; whereby he understands the Assyrian forces, as the next words explain the metaphor, which should overwhelm the whole kingdom of Israel under Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser; the king of Assyria and all his glory — His numerous and puissant army, in which he gloried, Isaiah 10:8. He shall come up over all his channels — This great river shall overflow its own proper channels: that is, this great monarch shall not keep within his own proper bounds, but invade and overrun the whole land of Syria and Israel, as an overflowing river does the neighbouring meadows. As multitudes of people are often spoken of in Scripture under the emblem of great waters, so an invading army is very fitly represented by the inundation of a rapid river, which carries all before it, and leaves the ground waste and desolate. And he shall pass through Judah — Having overrun the land of Israel he shall invade the land of Judah, as Sennacherib did a few years after the conquest of Samaria by Shalmaneser; see 2 Kings 18:9, 13. And he shall reach even to the neck — So that they shall be in great danger of being destroyed. He persists in the metaphor of a river swelling so high as to reach to a man’s neck, and be ready to overwhelm him. Such was the danger of Judah’s land when Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, (2 Kings 18:13,) and sent his army against the capital city of Jerusalem. The stretching out of his wings — Of his forces, or of the wings of his army, as they anciently were, and still are, called. Shall fill the breadth of thy land — Of the land of Judah, so called, because the Messiah, who is called Immanuel, (Isaiah 7:14,) should certainly be born, and live, and die there. And this is added emphatically for the consolation of God’s people, to assure them, that notwithstanding this dreadful scourge, yet God would make a difference between Israel and Judah; and whereas Israel should be so broken by the Assyrian, that they should not be a people, Judah should be restored, for the sake of the Messiah, to be the place of his birth and ministry, according to Genesis 49:10.

7. Therefore — As a direct consequence. The Lord bringeth up upon them — By his willing permission they come, because all else has failed to correct and reform. Waters of… river — Literally, the Euphrates; figuratively, the multitude of the invading army. Strong and many — Expressive both of power and number. The Lord is about to permit the great nation to overrun Syria and Israel, and Judah too, in good time.

V. 8. Reach-So that they shall be in great danger of being desired. He persists in the metaphor of a river swelling so high as to reach to a man’s neck, and be ready to overwhelm him. Such was the danger of Judah’s land, when Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, 2 Kings 18:13, and sent his army against Jerusalem. Wings-Of his forces, or of the wings of his army, as they still are called. My land-Of the land of Judah, so called because the Messiah, who is called Immanuel, should be born there. And this is added emphatically for the consolation of God’s people, to assure them, that notwithstanding this dreadful scourge, yet God would make a difference between Israel and Judah, and whereas Israel should not be a people, Judah should be restored, for the sake of the Messiah, to be the place of his birth and ministry.

Verse 8. He shall reach even to the neck] He compares Jerusalem, says Kimchi, to the head of the human body. As when the waters come up to a man’s neck, he is very near drowning, (for a little increase of them would go over his head,) so the king of Assyria coming up to Jerusalem was like a flood reaching to the neck—the whole country was overflowed, and the capital was in imminent danger. Accordingly the Chaldee renders reaching to the neck by reaching to Jerusalem.

Verses 7, 8. Now, therefore — Because the Israelites and their army, combined with the Syrians, despise the weak state of the Jews, and the kingdom of David, now brought very low, and having no such defence as can be compared to a great river, but only one that resembles a small brook that glides gently along; behold, the Lord bringeth upon them the waters of the river — Of Euphrates, often called the river, for its eminent greatness; whereby he understands the Assyrian forces, as the next words explain the metaphor, which should overwhelm the whole kingdom of Israel under Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser; the king of Assyria and all his glory — His numerous and puissant army, in which he gloried, Isaiah 10:8. He shall come up over all his channels — This great river shall overflow its own proper channels: that is, this great monarch shall not keep within his own proper bounds, but invade and overrun the whole land of Syria and Israel, as an overflowing river does the neighbouring meadows. As multitudes of people are often spoken of in Scripture under the emblem of great waters, so an invading army is very fitly represented by the inundation of a rapid river, which carries all before it, and leaves the ground waste and desolate. And he shall pass through Judah — Having overrun the land of Israel he shall invade the land of Judah, as Sennacherib did a few years after the conquest of Samaria by Shalmaneser; see 2 Kings 18:9, 13. And he shall reach even to the neck — So that they shall be in great danger of being destroyed. He persists in the metaphor of a river swelling so high as to reach to a man’s neck, and be ready to overwhelm him. Such was the danger of Judah’s land when Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, (2 Kings 18:13,) and sent his army against the capital city of Jerusalem. The stretching out of his wings — Of his forces, or of the wings of his army, as they anciently were, and still are, called. Shall fill the breadth of thy land — Of the land of Judah, so called, because the Messiah, who is called Immanuel, (Isaiah 7:14,) should certainly be born, and live, and die there. And this is added emphatically for the consolation of God’s people, to assure them, that notwithstanding this dreadful scourge, yet God would make a difference between Israel and Judah; and whereas Israel should be so broken by the Assyrian, that they should not be a people, Judah should be restored, for the sake of the Messiah, to be the place of his birth and ministry, according to Genesis 49:10.

8. He shall pass through Judah — This calamity shall come when the Assyrian shall be on his way to conquer Egypt. Israel and Syria fallen, Judah will secretly seek protection from Egypt. In punishment for this, on discovery or even suspicion of treachery, he shall overflow and go over. The mixed metaphor of the river (verse 7) is used, denoting Assyria’s great marching army as sweeping the hills of Judah and moving on Jerusalem. Even to the neck — Perhaps an intimation that though the Israelites would be greatly oppressed the kingdom would not at this time be wholly subverted. Stretching out of his wings — His army wings, right and left. Thy land, O Immanuel — The land of Judah, quite submerged, quite covered with soldiery, but not destroyed, because it belongs to “Immanuel.” “This passage supplies a point of connexion between Isaiah 7:14, and 9:1. Isaiah recollects the promise of the wonderful child, and seems to feel that this not exhausted by the overthrow of the Syrians and Ephraimites; he already sees dimly the triumph of the Messiah over Assyria. This seems to be involved in verse 8, and the challenge of verses 9, 10, both of which are founded upon the word, ‘God with us.’” — Cheyne.

V. 9. Ye people-Syrians and Israelites. All ye-Whosoever you be, who conspire against Immanuel’s land. Gird-Prepare yourselves for war. Broken-This is repeated for the greater assurance of the thing, and the comfort of God’s people.

Verse 9. Associate yourselves— “Know ye this”] God by his prophet plainly declares to the confederate adversaries of Judah, and bids them regard and attend to his declaration, that all their efforts shall be in vain. The present reading, רעו rou, is subject to many difficulties; I follow that of the Septuagint, דעו deu, gnwte. Archbishop Secker approves this reading. דעו deu, know ye this, is parallel and synonymous to wnyzah haazinu, give ear to it, in the next line. The Septuagint have likewise very well paraphrased the conclusion of this verse: “When ye have strengthened yourselves, ye shall be broken; and though ye again strengthen yourselves, again shall ye be broken;” taking wtj chottu as meaning the same with wrbvn, ye shall be broken.

Verses 9, 10. Associate yourselves, O ye people — O ye Syrians and Israelites; and ye shall be broken in pieces — Your attempts against the house of David, and kingdom of Judah, will be fruitless, yea, will issue in your own ruin. And give ear, all ye of far countries — Immanuel’s name inspires the prophet with new courage, and makes him send a challenge to all God’s enemies, and foretel their certain downfall. He is, indeed, wrapt, as it were, into an ecstasy, upon considering the land as belonging to Immanuel, and foreseeing the future interposition of God for its protection. Gird yourselves — With armour: prepare for war; and ye shall be broken in pieces — He repeats it again for the greater assurance of the thing, and the comfort of God’s people. Take counsel together — Against the Lord, and against his anointed, Psalm 2:2; and it shall come to naught — All your counsels shall be defeated, and your designs rendered abortive. Speak the word — Not only fix, but declare your purpose, and make your boast of it; and it shall not stand — Still you shall fail of accomplishing what you so ardently desire; for God is with us — The Almighty and only true God fighteth for us and against you. This address of the prophet, to the confederate nations, is most elegant and spirited; and the foundation of his confidence is finely expressed in this last clause, in which he himself interprets the name Immanuel before given to the Messiah.

9, 10. In full prophetic knowledge of how the results will be, the prophet, with impetuous transition, defies the foreign partisans. Associate yourselves, etc. — Rather, (Hebrews,) Rage ye. That is, do your utmost, it will end only in your tearing yourselves to pieces; all ye world-kingdoms far away, look on and see the ever-doubtful odds of contest ye undertake with Jehovah. These seem all but ironical commands, like Isaiah 6:9,

10. They imply that though those world-kingdoms may have partial and temporary successes over Judah, their utter overthrow of its holy remnant is an impossible thing. Take counsel together — Devise whatever plans ye may on this head of destroying God’s people; it shall be entirely vain. Speak the word — Give forth your order; it cannot be carried into execution, for God is with us. It is Immanuel’s land. To Isaiah’s vision the antitypical Immanuel was already born. All the banded nations of the world could not dispossess Immanuel of his own possessions. Psalm 2. In the next verse Isaiah gives the reason why.

Verses 9, 10. Associate yourselves, O ye people — O ye Syrians and Israelites; and ye shall be broken in pieces — Your attempts against the house of David, and kingdom of Judah, will be fruitless, yea, will issue in your own ruin. And give ear, all ye of far countries — Immanuel’s name inspires the prophet with new courage, and makes him send a challenge to all God’s enemies, and foretel their certain downfall. He is, indeed, wrapt, as it were, into an ecstasy, upon considering the land as belonging to Immanuel, and foreseeing the future interposition of God for its protection. Gird yourselves — With armour: prepare for war; and ye shall be broken in pieces — He repeats it again for the greater assurance of the thing, and the comfort of God’s people. Take counsel together — Against the Lord, and against his anointed, Psalm 2:2; and it shall come to naught — All your counsels shall be defeated, and your designs rendered abortive. Speak the word — Not only fix, but declare your purpose, and make your boast of it; and it shall not stand — Still you shall fail of accomplishing what you so ardently desire; for God is with us — The Almighty and only true God fighteth for us and against you. This address of the prophet, to the confederate nations, is most elegant and spirited; and the foundation of his confidence is finely expressed in this last clause, in which he himself interprets the name Immanuel before given to the Messiah.

9, 10. In full prophetic knowledge of how the results will be, the prophet, with impetuous transition, defies the foreign partisans. Associate yourselves, etc. — Rather, (Hebrews,) Rage ye. That is, do your utmost, it will end only in your tearing yourselves to pieces; all ye world-kingdoms far away, look on and see the ever-doubtful odds of contest ye undertake with Jehovah. These seem all but ironical commands, like Isaiah 6:9,

10. They imply that though those world-kingdoms may have partial and temporary successes over Judah, their utter overthrow of its holy remnant is an impossible thing. Take counsel together — Devise whatever plans ye may on this head of destroying God’s people; it shall be entirely vain. Speak the word — Give forth your order; it cannot be carried into execution, for God is with us. It is Immanuel’s land. To Isaiah’s vision the antitypical Immanuel was already born. All the banded nations of the world could not dispossess Immanuel of his own possessions. Psalm 2. In the next verse Isaiah gives the reason why.

V. 11. Spake-With a vehement and more than ordinary inspiration. In the way-Of the generality of the people of Judah; whose eminent danger and calamity he foretells.

Verse 11. With a strong hand— “As taking me by the hand”] Eleven MSS., (two ancient,) of Kennicott’s, thirty-four of Deuteronomy Rossi’s, and seven editions, read tqzjk kechezkath; and so Symmachus, the Syriac, and Vulgate. Or rather with a strong hand, that is, with a strong and powerful influence of the prophetic Spirit.

Verses 11, 12. For the Lord spake thus unto me — Here the prophet teaches the people by his own example, as one immediately taught by God, with what dispositions they should receive all the attempts of their enemies, to subvert the kingdom of God in their land, even to the time of the Messiah, of whose manifestation this instruction contains a repeated prophecy for the consolation of the pious, together with a denunciation of the most grievous judgments, spiritual and temporal, upon the impious, incredulous, and profane. See Vitringa. With a strong hand — With a vehement and more than ordinary inspiration. The Chaldee renders it, In the strength of prophecy; perhaps it refers to those ecstasies into which the prophets were frequently wrapt. That I should not walk in the way of this people — Of the generality of the people of Judah; whose imminent danger and calamity he foretold, (verse 8,) giving them, however, full assurance that God would deliver them out of it, verses 9, 10. Say ye not, A confederacy, &c. — You, my people, be not associated with them in the confederacies which they are projecting: do not join with those that, for the securing of themselves, are for making a league with the Assyrians, through unbelief, and distrust of God and their cause: do not come into any such confederacy. Neither fear ye their fear — Be not afraid of the confederacy with which they frighten themselves and one another, namely, that between Syria and Ephraim; or that thing which they fear, that, if they do not call in the Assyrian succours, they shall be destroyed by those two potent kings. Thus, when sinful confederacies are formed against God’s church and people by their enemies, they should guard against sinful fears of such confederacies.

11. The Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand — With strength of hand, that is, with mighty inspiring power. Passages in Ezekiel 1:3; 3:14, 22; 11:5; 33:32; 37:1, offer the same or similar usage of the word “hand,” — “hand of God upon,” etc., — and justify this interpretation. God imparted to Isaiah on the matters stated above, an especially strong prophetic impulse. And instructed me — Warned me against walking in the way of this people in their distrust of Jehovah, in their inclination to the court policy and to popular factions, or clamouring for foreign human aid. And for persuading this people to trust in Jehovah only, and to sever themselves from those rejecting Jehovah, a cry was probably raised against the prophet and his adherents. In this crisis, imparting a mighty influence to Isaiah, Jehovah spake thus, that is, what follows in the next verse.

V. 12. Say not-Thou Isaiah, and my children, do not consent to this confederacy with the king of Assyria. Their fear-That thing which they fear, that, if they do not call in the Assyrian succours, they shall be destroyed by those two potent kings.

Verse 12. Say ye not, A confederacy— “Say ye not, It is holy”] rvq kesher. Both the reading and the sense of this word are doubtful. The Septuagint manifestly read hvq kashah; for they render it by sklhron, hard. The Syriac and Chaldee render it adrm merda, and dwrm merod, rebellion. How they came by this sense of the word, or what they read in their copies, is not so clear. But the worst of it is, that neither of these readings or renderings gives any clear sense in this place. For why should God forbid his faithful servants to say with the unbelieving Jews, It is hard; or, There is a rebellion; or, as our translators render it, a confederacy? And how can this be called “walking in the way of this people?” Isaiah 8:11, which usually means, following their example, joining with them in religious worship. Or what confederacy do they mean? The union of the kingdoms of Syria and Israel against Judah? That was properly a league between two independent states, not an unlawful conspiracy of one part against another in the same state; this is the meaning of the word rvq kesher. For want of any satisfactory interpretation of this place that I can meet with, I adopt a conjecture of Archbishop Secker, which he proposes with great diffidence, and even seems immediately to give up, as being destitute of any authority to support it. I will give it in his own words:— “Videri potest ex cap. v. 16, et hujus cap. 13, 14, 19, legendum vrq vel vwdq kadosh, eadem sententia, qua wnyhla Eloheynu, Hosea 14:3. Sed nihil necesse est. Vide enim Jeremiah 11:9; Ezekiel 22:25. Optime tamen sic responderent huic versiculo versiculi 13, 14.” The passages of Jeremiah and Ezekiel above referred to seem to me not at all to clear up the sense of the word rvq kesher in this place. But the context greatly favours the conjecture here given, and makes it highly probable: “Walk not in the way of this people; call not their idols holy, nor fear ye the object of their fear:” (that is, the sebasmata, or gods of the idolaters; for so fear here signifies, to wit, the thing feared. So God is called “The fear of Isaac,” Genesis 31:42, 53:) “but look up to JEHOVAH as your Holy One; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread; and he shall be a holy Refuge unto you.” Here there is a harmony and consistency running through the whole sentence; and the latter part naturally arises out of the former, and answers to it. Idolatry, however, is full of fears. The superstitious fears of the Hindoos are very numerous. They fear death, bad spirits generally, and hobgoblins of all descriptions. They fear also the cries of jackalls, owls, crows, cats, asses, vultures, dogs, lizards, &c. They also dread different sights in the air, and are alarmed at various dreams. See WARD’S Customs. Observe that the difference between rvq kesher and vdq kadosh is chiefly in the transposition of the two last letters, for the letters r resh and d daleth are hardly distinguishable in some copies, printed as well as MS.; so that the mistake, in respect of the letters themselves, is a very easy and a very common one.—L.

Verses 11, 12. For the Lord spake thus unto me — Here the prophet teaches the people by his own example, as one immediately taught by God, with what dispositions they should receive all the attempts of their enemies, to subvert the kingdom of God in their land, even to the time of the Messiah, of whose manifestation this instruction contains a repeated prophecy for the consolation of the pious, together with a denunciation of the most grievous judgments, spiritual and temporal, upon the impious, incredulous, and profane. See Vitringa. With a strong hand — With a vehement and more than ordinary inspiration. The Chaldee renders it, In the strength of prophecy; perhaps it refers to those ecstasies into which the prophets were frequently wrapt. That I should not walk in the way of this people — Of the generality of the people of Judah; whose imminent danger and calamity he foretold, (verse 8,) giving them, however, full assurance that God would deliver them out of it, verses 9, 10. Say ye not, A confederacy, &c. — You, my people, be not associated with them in the confederacies which they are projecting: do not join with those that, for the securing of themselves, are for making a league with the Assyrians, through unbelief, and distrust of God and their cause: do not come into any such confederacy. Neither fear ye their fear — Be not afraid of the confederacy with which they frighten themselves and one another, namely, that between Syria and Ephraim; or that thing which they fear, that, if they do not call in the Assyrian succours, they shall be destroyed by those two potent kings. Thus, when sinful confederacies are formed against God’s church and people by their enemies, they should guard against sinful fears of such confederacies.

12. Say ye not — Rather, Ye shall not say, a prohibition. A confederacy — rvk, (kesher,) “conspiracy.” In other places, (2 Samuel 15:12; 1 Kings 16:10; 2 Kings 11:14, etc.,) this word means treason. Most commentators, since Jerome, do not apply this to the arts of Pekah and Rezin, for theirs was a real conspiracy against Judah. Jehovah could not refer to this, but to the charge of disloyalty to the king, Ahaz, upon Isaiah and his friends. This charge they were to disregard utterly, and go on in the performance of duty boldly. To all them to whom — Rather, concerning every thing of which this people shout, “Treason!” Neither fear ye their fear — Or, that which they fear. The fear that ruin will follow if Judah rejects foreign alliance and trusts in Jehovah alone.

V. 13. Sanctify-Give him the glory of his power, and goodness, and faithfulness, by trusting to his promises. Let him-Let God, and not the kings of Syria and Israel be the object of your fear.

Verses 13-15. Sanctify the Lord of hosts — Give him the glory of his power, and goodness, and faithfulness, by trusting in his promises for deliverance; and let him be your fear — Let God, and not the kings of Syria and Israel, be the chief object of your fear. And he shall be for a sanctuary — A sure refuge to all that truly fear him, and rely upon him; but for a stone of stumbling — An occasion of sin and ruin, at whom they will take offence, and stumble, so as to fall and be broken, as it is expressed verse 15; to both the houses of Israel — To the two kingdoms, that of the ten tribes, and that of the two tribes. And for a gin, &c., to the inhabitants of Jerusalem — This is distinctly mentioned as a wonderful thing, because Jerusalem was the seat of the temple, and of God’s solemn worship; where all the means of knowledge and grace were in the greatest plenty; where the thrones of civil and ecclesiastical judicature were established; where the most wise and learned doctors had their constant abode. And that such a place and people should reject Immanuel, when he should appear, was so strange an occurrence, that the prediction of it was highly necessary, lest otherwise, when it came to pass, it should shake the faith of all who did believe on him; whereas, now the accomplishment hereof was a notable confirmation of their faith. And many among them — Not all; for there shall be a remnant, as was foretold, Isaiah 4:2; 6:13; shall stumble — At that stone or rock, mentioned verse 14. The writers of the New Testament, who have so frequently quoted this passage, prove, beyond all controversy, that the subject of it is, God manifest in the flesh; the Messiah, who performed for his people all those benefits of grace which this promise implies, being a sanctuary, or place of refuge to them; and who, at the same time, became to the hypocrites and unbelievers in Judea, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to the destruction of the far greater part of that people. See the margin.

13. Sanctify, etc. — Regard Jehovah as immutably true. Let him be your fear — Literally, He is your fear and your dread; one whom alone you have true occasion to fear as your sovereign, and love as your protector.

V. 14. Sanctuary-A sure refuge to all that truly fear him, and rely upon him. A stone-An occasion of sin and ruin, at whom they will take offence and stumble, so as to fall and be broken. To both-To the two kingdoms, that of the ten tribes, and that of the two tribes. Jerusalem-Which are distinctly mentioned, as a wonderful thing, because Jerusalem was the seat of the temple, and of God’s solemn worship, where all the means of knowledge and grace were in greatest plenty, where the thrones of civil and ecclesiastical judicature were established, where the most wise and learned doctors had their constant abode. And that such a place and people should reject Immanuel when he should appear, was so strange an occurrence, that the prediction of it was highly necessary, lest otherwise, when it came to pass, it should shake the faith of all who did believe on him; whereas now the accomplishment hereof was a notable confirmation of their faith.

Verse 14. And he shall be for a sanctuary— “And he shall be unto you a sanctuary”] The word לכם lachem, unto you, absolutely necessary, as I conceive, to the sense, is lost in this place: it is preserved by the Vulgate, “et erit vobis in sanctificationem.” The Septuagint have it in the singular number: estai soi eiv agiasmon, it shall be to THEE. Or else, instead of vdqm mikdash, a sanctuary, we must read vqwm mokesh, a snare, which would then be repeated without any propriety or elegance, at the end of the verse. The Chaldee reads instead of it cpvm mishpat, judgment; for he renders it by פורענ purean, which word frequently answers to cpvm mishpat in his paraphrase. One MS. has in stead of ולאבנ vdqm mikdash uleeben, לאבנ להם lahem leeben, which clears the sense and construction. But the reading of the Vulgate is, I think, the best remedy to this difficulty; and is in some degree authorized by להם lahem, the reading of the MS. above mentioned.

Verses 13-15. Sanctify the Lord of hosts — Give him the glory of his power, and goodness, and faithfulness, by trusting in his promises for deliverance; and let him be your fear — Let God, and not the kings of Syria and Israel, be the chief object of your fear. And he shall be for a sanctuary — A sure refuge to all that truly fear him, and rely upon him; but for a stone of stumbling — An occasion of sin and ruin, at whom they will take offence, and stumble, so as to fall and be broken, as it is expressed verse 15; to both the houses of Israel — To the two kingdoms, that of the ten tribes, and that of the two tribes. And for a gin, &c., to the inhabitants of Jerusalem — This is distinctly mentioned as a wonderful thing, because Jerusalem was the seat of the temple, and of God’s solemn worship; where all the means of knowledge and grace were in the greatest plenty; where the thrones of civil and ecclesiastical judicature were established; where the most wise and learned doctors had their constant abode. And that such a place and people should reject Immanuel, when he should appear, was so strange an occurrence, that the prediction of it was highly necessary, lest otherwise, when it came to pass, it should shake the faith of all who did believe on him; whereas, now the accomplishment hereof was a notable confirmation of their faith. And many among them — Not all; for there shall be a remnant, as was foretold, Isaiah 4:2; 6:13; shall stumble — At that stone or rock, mentioned verse 14. The writers of the New Testament, who have so frequently quoted this passage, prove, beyond all controversy, that the subject of it is, God manifest in the flesh; the Messiah, who performed for his people all those benefits of grace which this promise implies, being a sanctuary, or place of refuge to them; and who, at the same time, became to the hypocrites and unbelievers in Judea, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to the destruction of the far greater part of that people. See the margin.

14, 15. He shall be for a sanctuary — The context and its scope require this word to mean here, refuge, place of safety — a figure for the MESSIAH himself. Stone of stumbling — A stone against which one dangerously strikes; over which, too, it is perilous for one to fall. Similar is the meaning of the next phrase. A gin — The figure is changed — a trap — to express another side to the peril of Israel and Judah in neglecting to make Jehovah their absolute trust. Many among them — Many, by the invasion which the Assyrian shall make. The repetition, here, of figures synonymous as to meaning is to be regarded as a strong poetic emphasis, and by such emphasis certainty of peril to unbelieving Israel and Judah is intended.

V. 15. Many-Not all; for there shall be a remnant, as was foretold, Isaiah 4:2 6:13. Stumble-At that stone or rock, mentioned, ver. 8:14. This was accomplished at the coming of the Messiah, whom the Jews rejected to their own destruction.

Verses 13-15. Sanctify the Lord of hosts — Give him the glory of his power, and goodness, and faithfulness, by trusting in his promises for deliverance; and let him be your fear — Let God, and not the kings of Syria and Israel, be the chief object of your fear. And he shall be for a sanctuary — A sure refuge to all that truly fear him, and rely upon him; but for a stone of stumbling — An occasion of sin and ruin, at whom they will take offence, and stumble, so as to fall and be broken, as it is expressed verse 15; to both the houses of Israel — To the two kingdoms, that of the ten tribes, and that of the two tribes. And for a gin, &c., to the inhabitants of Jerusalem — This is distinctly mentioned as a wonderful thing, because Jerusalem was the seat of the temple, and of God’s solemn worship; where all the means of knowledge and grace were in the greatest plenty; where the thrones of civil and ecclesiastical judicature were established; where the most wise and learned doctors had their constant abode. And that such a place and people should reject Immanuel, when he should appear, was so strange an occurrence, that the prediction of it was highly necessary, lest otherwise, when it came to pass, it should shake the faith of all who did believe on him; whereas, now the accomplishment hereof was a notable confirmation of their faith. And many among them — Not all; for there shall be a remnant, as was foretold, Isaiah 4:2; 6:13; shall stumble — At that stone or rock, mentioned verse 14. The writers of the New Testament, who have so frequently quoted this passage, prove, beyond all controversy, that the subject of it is, God manifest in the flesh; the Messiah, who performed for his people all those benefits of grace which this promise implies, being a sanctuary, or place of refuge to them; and who, at the same time, became to the hypocrites and unbelievers in Judea, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to the destruction of the far greater part of that people. See the margin.

14, 15. He shall be for a sanctuary — The context and its scope require this word to mean here, refuge, place of safety — a figure for the MESSIAH himself. Stone of stumbling — A stone against which one dangerously strikes; over which, too, it is perilous for one to fall. Similar is the meaning of the next phrase. A gin — The figure is changed — a trap — to express another side to the peril of Israel and Judah in neglecting to make Jehovah their absolute trust. Many among them — Many, by the invasion which the Assyrian shall make. The repetition, here, of figures synonymous as to meaning is to be regarded as a strong poetic emphasis, and by such emphasis certainty of peril to unbelieving Israel and Judah is intended.

V. 16. The testimony-By the testimony and the law or doctrine, he understands one and the same thing, as he doth also, ver. 20, the word of God, and especially that which is the main scope thereof, the doctrine of the Messiah, which, though now professed by all the Israelites, shall be disowned by the generality of them, when the Messiah shall come. Bind up and seal are to be understood prophetically, declare and prophesy, that it shall be bound up and sealed. Moreover, bind up and seal, design the same thing. Security and secrecy, signifying, that it should certainly be fulfilled, yet withal kept secret from the unbelieving Jews. By the disciples he means those who were taught of God.

Verse 16. Among my disciples.] ydmlb belimmudai. The Septuagint render it tou mh maqein. Bishop Chandler, Defence of Christianity, p. 308, thinks they read dmlm, that it be not understood, and approves of this reading.—Abp. Secker.

Verse 16. Bind up the testimony — There seems no doubt that the person here introduced speaking, is God the Father. By the testimony, and the law or doctrine, the prophet understands one and the same thing, as he doth also verse 20, namely, the word of God, and especially that which is the main scope thereof, the doctrine of the Messiah, which, though now professed by all the Israelites, should be disowned by the generality of them, when the Messiah should come. Bind up and seal are to be understood prophetically, that is, declare and prophesy, that it shall be bound up and sealed; as Isaiah is said to make fat, and to blind, &c., Isaiah 6:10; and Jeremiah, to root out, and pull down, &c., Jeremiah 1:10, when they foretel these events. Moreover, the expressions, bind up, and seal, design the same thing; and that is, 1st, Security, as things are bound up and sealed, that they may not be lost. So he signifies, that although this doctrine should be lost among the body of the Israelites, yet it should be preserved among his disciples; and, 2d, Secrecy, as many things are bound up, or sealed, that they may be hid from the eyes of others. And so he informs them that this doctrine now was, and should be, hid, in a great measure, from all God’s people, till the accomplishment of it; and that even when it was accomplished, it should still continue to be as a secret and mystery, known, indeed, to God’s true disciples, but hid from the body of the nation, who would not see it, and therefore should be blinded by God’s just judgment, that they should not see it, as was prophesied Isaiah 6:9, 10. By God’s disciples, Hebrew, ydml, he means those who were taught of him, as it is expressed Isaiah 54:13, where this very word is used; or, every one that hath heard and learned of the Father, and therefore cometh unto Christ, as it is explained, John 6:45.

16. Bind (thou) up — The Septuagint and the Targum, and the greater majority of commentators, regard this verse as God’s command to the prophet, and verse 17 as the prophet’s answer. The reason for the command is, that warnings to the ungodly factions and the duty of Jehovah’s adherents have been sufficiently presented; the divine voice, inwardly heard by the prophet, now urges to close this strain, and to seal up the roll containing the preceding truths — the testimony — which the mass of the people, in their blindness, do not apprehend, and, in their self-hardening, despise. See note at Isaiah 6:9, 10. It is as if God was now saying to Isaiah, “The prophecy is complete; close it up.” Seal the law — The mode of sealing rolls was, by uniting the end to the body of the roll by adhesive paste or glue, then tying the volume with a cord. Daniel 8:26; 12:4. “The law” is the inspired communication within the roll. Among my disciples — The roll thus bound was to be kept with the adherents of Jehovah and the prophet, who were composed of the few believing people, and the members of the prophetic school at Jerusalem, of which, no doubt, Isaiah was the head. These were witnesses, like those in verses 1-4.

V. 17. Yet-Yet, notwithstanding this dreadful prophecy concerning the rejection of Israel. Wait-I will cast my care upon him, and expect the accomplishment of his promise, in sending the Messiah, and in conferring upon me and all believing Israelites all his mercies and blessings. Hideth-That now withdraws his favour and blessings, from the people of Israel.

Verses 17, 18. And — Or yet, as the same particle is translated, Jeremiah 2:32, 35, and elsewhere; I will wait on the Lord — Notwithstanding this dreadful prophecy, concerning the unbelief and rejection of Israel, I will cast my care upon him, and expect the accomplishment of his promise, in sending the Messiah, and in conferring upon me, and all believing Israelites, all his mercies and blessings, to be procured for mankind by his merits; that hideth his face from the house of Jacob — That now doth, and threatens that he will hereafter, withdraw his favour and blessing from the family or people of Israel. And I will look for him — With an eye of faith and expectation, till his time come. Behold, I, &c. — These words were literally spoken by Isaiah concerning himself, but mystically concerning Christ, of whom the prophet was a type, and therefore they are fitly applied to Christ, Hebrews 2:13; and the children whom the Lord hath given me — His spiritual children, whom he had either begotten or instructed by his ministry; are for signs, &c., in Israel — Are a gazing-stock; are derided and ridiculed, for our folly in believing God’s promises, and this even among the Israelites, who have been taught and who profess better things. From the Lord of hosts — Which comes to pass by the wise counsel and providence of God; which dwelleth in Zion — Where the temple was now, and where the Messiah was to set up his kingdom.

17. And I — The person “I” is Isaiah, (not Messiah, as Henderson, Alexander, Cowles, etc.) The prophet, at least, will wait upon the Lord; that is, he who had been seized by “the strong hand,” (verse 11,) the mighty inspiring power of Jehovah, and whose will and thought are in complete union with him, “will wait upon”… and… look for him. Such a one surely is prepared to trust God absolutely, and to inspire such trust in others who are but faintly cleaving to Jehovah. That hideth his face — As God had said he should, in case of their rebelling. Deuteronomy 31:17, 18; 32:20. From the house of Jacob — From all his descendants, the houses of Judah and Israel.

V. 18. Behold-These words are literally spoken by Isaiah concerning himself, but mystically concerning Christ; and therefore they are fitly ascribed to Christ, Hebrews 2:13. The children-His spiritual children, whom he had either begotten or brought up by his ministry. Wonders-Are a gazing flock, for our folly in believing God’s promises. From the Lord-Which comes to pass by the wise providence of God. Zion-Where the temple now was, and where the Messiah was to set up his kingdom.

Verse 18. Lord of hosts] One MS. reads twabx yhla Elohey tsebaoth, God of hosts.

Verses 17, 18. And — Or yet, as the same particle is translated, Jeremiah 2:32, 35, and elsewhere; I will wait on the Lord — Notwithstanding this dreadful prophecy, concerning the unbelief and rejection of Israel, I will cast my care upon him, and expect the accomplishment of his promise, in sending the Messiah, and in conferring upon me, and all believing Israelites, all his mercies and blessings, to be procured for mankind by his merits; that hideth his face from the house of Jacob — That now doth, and threatens that he will hereafter, withdraw his favour and blessing from the family or people of Israel. And I will look for him — With an eye of faith and expectation, till his time come. Behold, I, &c. — These words were literally spoken by Isaiah concerning himself, but mystically concerning Christ, of whom the prophet was a type, and therefore they are fitly applied to Christ, Hebrews 2:13; and the children whom the Lord hath given me — His spiritual children, whom he had either begotten or instructed by his ministry; are for signs, &c., in Israel — Are a gazing-stock; are derided and ridiculed, for our folly in believing God’s promises, and this even among the Israelites, who have been taught and who profess better things. From the Lord of hosts — Which comes to pass by the wise counsel and providence of God; which dwelleth in Zion — Where the temple was now, and where the Messiah was to set up his kingdom.

Ver. 18. Behold I, [the Lord of Hosts] as one manuscript reads, and the children whom the Lord hath given me. If these words in any sense refer to Isaiah, they must regard him as a figure of Christ, to whom they are applied by St. Paul. Hebrews 2:13.

18. The prophet points to himself and family as signs of the rightfulness of relying on Jehovah rather than looking to Assyria. The import of the name Isaiah is, Salvation of the Lord; and thus in his name the prophet becomes a type of Christ, and this accounts for Hebrews 2:13, where there is a blending of type and antitype, as the abstract meaning of both is the same. Behold — A call to a momentous wonder. I and the children — As expressed in their several names, (Isaiah 7:3; 8:3, 4;) signs predicting certain deliverance, already coming, and sure to continue to the last. These facts were wonders, and challenged the gravest attention and examination of Judah. Whom the Lord hath given me — The Psalmist, the Evangelist John, and the Apostle Paul interpret this passage of the Christ and his spiritual progeny. Dwelleth in… Zion — instead of Assyria’s gods, that dwelt in Nineveh. Isaiah’s exalted virtue, profound sincerity, and remarkable genius must have commanded respect and secretly exercised great restraining power. Ewald (in History of Israel,) vol. iv, p. 174,) says, “He was an absolutely immovable refuge in the tempest.” And again, (p. 202,) “At this crisis the eternal and glorified expectation of the kingdom of God was… placed in antagonism to all heathen dominion by violence, and nothing is more marvellous than the undaunted attitude of Isaiah in encountering the fury of the dreaded king [of Assyria] with the calmness of this blessed hope.”

“No adequate explanation of this wonder,” says Kay, “can be given except that which Isaiah himself assigns. It was the result of an express communication to him of a divine word, accompanied by a divine action upon his spirit.

V. 19. And when they-The Israelites, who are fallen from God, into superstition and idolatry. You-My children, whom the prophet arms against the common temptation. Mutter-That speak with a low voice, as these two words signify, which they affected to do, speaking rather inwardly in their bellies, than audibly with their mouths. Should not-This answer the prophet puts into their mouths, doth not every nation, in cases of difficulty, seek to their gods? Much more should we do so, that have the only true God for our God. For the living-That is, for living men to enquire of the living God, is proper and reasonable; but it is highly absurd for them to forsake him, and to seek dead idols, either to the images, or to the spirits of dead men, which are supposed to speak in them.

Verse 19. Should not a people seek— “Should they seek”] After vrdy yidrosh, the Septuagint, repeating the word, read vrdyh hayidrosh: Ouk eqnov prov Qeon autou ekzhthsousi; ti ekzhthsousi peri twn zwntwn touv nekrouv; Should not a nation seek unto its God? Why should you seek unto the dead concerning the living? and this repetition of the verb seems necessary to the sense; and, as Procopius on the place observes, it strongly expresses the prophet’s indignation at their folly.

Verse 19. And when, &c. — The prophet, having foretold the coming of the Messiah, and spoken of the disciples he should have, takes this occasion of addressing the Jews, and reminding them of their duty, as he had done, Isaiah 2:6, compared with verses 1, 2. He saw the nation much inclined to foreign superstitions, particularly to the divinations, soothsayings, and astrology of the Syrians, Egyptians, &c., but not regarding the pure doctrine of God’s word as they ought: he therefore warns them against placing any dependance on such follies, and exhorts them to disregard all merely human teaching and assistance, and to apply solely to the divine law and testimony. When they — Those Israelites, to whom I and my children are for signs and wonders, and who are fallen from God into superstition and idolatry; shall say unto you — Who are the true people of God; Seek unto them that have familiar spirits — For advice and help; and unto wizards — Of whom, and of familiar spirits, see on Leviticus 19:31, and 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:11; that peep and mutter — That speak with a low voice, as the two words here used signify, which they affected to do, speaking rather inwardly in their bellies, than audibly with their mouths. Should not a people seek unto their God? — This answer the prophet puts into their mouths; doth not every nation, in cases of difficulty, seek to their gods? Much more should we do so, that have the only true God for our God. For the living to the dead — That is, for living men to inquire of the living God, is proper and reasonable; but it is highly absurd for them to forsake him, and to seek dead idols, either to the images, or to the spirits of dead men, which are supposed to speak in them.

Ver. 19. Wizards that peep and that mutter, in the dark places of the earth, as he says in Isaiah 45:19. Strabo also says, lib. 9., that the oracle in the far-famed temple of Delphos, was a hollow place, from which the voice of the pythoness was disguised. Herodotus delicately accuses those oracles of ambiguity. In opposition to these, the Lord says, “I have not spoken in secret from the beginning.” Isaiah 48:16. 45:19. See also Exodus 28:30.

19. Distrusting Jehovah, and afraid of Assyria, some of the people were resorting to sorcerers for counsel. The blended folly and impiety of this our prophet now exposes. Familiar spirits — These were necromancers, conjurers, supposed to be able to call up the dead, who could give information of the future world or future events. Obhath is the plural of a word meaning hollow, and in its secondary or concrete tropical sense it means the conjurers themselves evoking, as with ventriloquising voice, spirits from the regions of the dead. Deuteronomy 18:11; 1 Samuel 28:8, etc. Wizards — Knowing ones, or sorcerers, magicians, adduced along with obhath, and spoken of lying prophets, Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:11. That peep… mutter — In the original, chirp, whisper, tricks of ventriloquism, no doubt. Should not a people seek unto their God — This is the reply which the believers in Jehovah. who “wait upon him” and “look for him” in times of peril, are instructed to give to the half-idolatrous ones tempting them to consult necromancers and the like. The prophet says to his adherents: “When they call you off to such responses by means of their miserable tricks of spiritism, [for this is not a modern invention,] should you not seek answers from your own living, almighty Jehovah?” For the living to the dead — A continued expression of the prophet’s astonishment. “Go to the dead to inquire in behalf of the living!” The meaning turns on the preposition d[b, (bead,) instead of, or better, in behalf of. The best critics adopt the latter; so, literally, the phrase is, In behalf of the living to the dead!

V. 20. To the law-Let this dispute between you and them be determined by God’s word, which is here and in many other places called the law, to signify their obligation to believe and obey it; and the testimony, because it is a witness between God and man, of God’s will, and of man’s duty. They-Your antagonists. No light-This proceeds from the darkness of their minds, they are blind, and cannot see.

Verse 20. To the law and to the testimony— “Unto the command, and unto the testimony.”] “Is not תעודה teudah here the attested prophecy, Isaiah 8:1-4? and perhaps hrwt torah the command, Isaiah 8:11-15? for it means sometimes a particular, and even a human, command; see Proverbs 6:20, and Proverbs 7:1, 2, where it is ordered to be hid, that is, secretly kept.”—Abp. Secker. So Deschamps, in his translation, or rather paraphrase, understands it: “Tenons nous a l’instrument authentique mis en depot par ordre du Seigneur,” “Let us stick to the authentic instrument, laid up by the command of the Lord.” If this be right, the sixteenth verse must be understood in the same manner. Because there is no light in them— “In which there is no obscurity.”] rjv shachor, as an adjective, frequently signifies dark, obscure; and the noun rjv shachar signifies darkness, gloominess, Joel 2:2, if we may judge by the context:—

“A day of darkness and obscurity;

Of cloud, and of thick vapour;

As the gloom spread upon the mountains:

A people mighty and numerous.”

Where the gloom, rjv shachar, seems to be the same with the cloud and thick vapour mentioned in the line preceding. See Lamentations 4:8, and Job 30:30. See this meaning of the word rjv shachar well supported in Christ. Muller. Sat. Observat. Phil. p. 53, Lugd. Bat. 1752. The morning seems to have been an idea wholly incongruous in the passage of Joel; and in this of Isaiah the words in which there is no morning (for so it ought to be rendered if rjv shachar in this place signifies, according to its usual sense, morning) seem to give no meaning at all. “It is because there is no light in them,” says our translation. If there be any sense in these words, it is not the sense of the original; which cannot justly be so translated. Qui n’a rien d’obscur, “which has no obscurity.”— Deschamps. The reading of the Septuagint and Syriac, djv shochad, gift, affords no assistance towards the clearing up of any of this difficult place. R. D. Kimchi says this was the form of an oath: “By the law and by the testimony such and such things are so.” Now if they had sworn this falsely, it is because there is no light, no illumination, rjv shachar, no scruple of conscience, in them.

Verse 20. To the law and to the testimony — Let this dispute between you and them be determined by God’s word, which is here, and in many other places, called the law, to signify their obligation to believe and obey it; and the testimony, because it is a witness between God and man, of God’s will, and of man’s duty. If they speak not, &c. — Your antagonists, who seek to pervert you. No light — This proceeds from the darkness of their minds; they are blind, and cannot see. But these words are understood by divers learned interpreters, not as a declaration of their ignorance, but a prediction of their misery, light being most commonly used in Scripture for comfort and happiness, and darkness for sorrows and calamities. And this sense seems to be much favoured by the following passage: and then the words, rjvyl ˆya, mean, no light, or no morning, shall be to them; that is, a night of misery shall come upon them, and they shall never have a morning of deliverance from it; they shall be swallowed up in endless calamities, as is farther declared in the following verses.

20. Instead of resorting to such forbidden and abominable sources, to the law and to the testimony resort ye, continues the prophet. If they speak not according to this word — If they, if any one. This word — The law of Moses, and the testimony of Jehovah’s true prophets. Whatever lines of action deviated from these prescriptions are to be avoided as leading to ways prescribed by counsels of darkness. Because there is no light in them — Or, surely no morning dawn is in them. No dawning hope of salvation for the land against her confederate enemies can spring from sorcery. It must come from Jehovah’s law and testimony alone.

V. 21. It-Their own land. Hungry-Sorely distressed, and destitute of food, and all necessaries. Their king-Either because he doth not relieve them; or because by his foolish counsels, he brought them into these miseries. God-Their idol, to whom they trusted, and whom they now find unable to help them. Look-To heaven for help.

Verse 21. Hardly bestead— “Distressed”] Instead of hvqn niksheh, distressed, the Vulgate, Chaldee, and Symmachus manifestly read lvkn nichshal, stumbling, tottering through weakness, ready to fall; a sense which suits very well with the place.

And look upward— “And he shall cast his eyes upward.”] The learned professor Michaelis, treating of this place (Not. in de Sacr. Pœs. Hebr. Præl. ix.) refers to a passage in the Koran which is similar to it. As it is a very celebrated passage, and on many accounts remarkable, I shall give it here at large, with the same author’s farther remarks upon it in another place of his writings. It must be noted here that the learned professor renders cbn nibbat, cybh hibbit, in this and the parallel place, Isaiah 5:30, which I translate he looketh by it thundereth, from Schultens, Orig. Ling. Hebr. Lib. i. cap. 2, of the justness of which rendering I much doubt. This brings the image of Isaiah more near in one circumstance to that of Mohammed than it appears to be in my translation:—

“Labid, contemporary with Mohammed, the last of the seven Arabian poets who had the honour of having their poems, one of each, hung up in the entrance of the temple of Mecca, struck with the sublimity of a passage in the Koran, became a convert to Mohammedism; for he concluded that no man could write in such a manner unless he were Divinely inspired. “One must have a curiosity to examine a passage which had so great an effect upon Labid. It is, I must own, the finest that I know in the whole Koran: but I do not think it will have a second time the like effect, so as to tempt any one of my readers to submit to circumcision. It is in the second chapter, where he is speaking of certain apostates from the faith. ‘They are like,’ saith he, ‘to a man who kindles a light. As soon as it begins to shine, God takes from them the light, and leaves them in darkness that they see nothing. They are deaf, dumb, and blind; and return not into the right way. Or they fare as when a cloud, full of darkness, thunder, and lightning, covers the heaven. When it bursteth, they stop their ears with their fingers, with deadly fear; and God hath the unbelievers in his power. The lightning almost robbeth them of their eyes: as often as it flasheth they go on by its light; and when it vanisheth in darkness, they stand still. If God pleased, they would retain neither hearing nor sight.’ That the thought is beautiful, no one will deny; and Labid, who had probably a mind to flatter Mohammed, was lucky in finding a passage in the Koran so little abounding in poetical beauties, to which his conversion might with any propriety be ascribed. It was well that he went no farther; otherwise his taste for poetry might have made him again an infidel.” Michaelis, Erpenii Arabische Grammatik abgekurzt, Vorrede, s. 32.

ISAIAH

Verses 21, 22. And they — The idolatrous and apostate Israelites; shall pass through it — Namely, their own land, into captivity; or, as hb rb[ may be rendered, shall pass to and fro, or wander hither and thither, in it, like distracted men, not knowing whither to go, or what to do; whereas, if they had not forsaken God, they might have had a quiet and settled abode in it. Hardly bestead and hungry — Hebrew, b[rw hvqn, distressed and famished, as Bishop Lowth translates the words: they shall fret themselves, &c. — Shall be impatient under their pressures, and, in the rage of their despair, curse their king — To whose ill conduct they impute a great part of their miseries; and their God — Their idol, to whom they trusted, and whom now, too late, they find to be unable to help them; and look upward — To heaven for help, as men of all nations and religions, in great calamities, are wont to do. And they shall look unto the earth — Finding no help from heaven, they turn their eyes downward, looking hither and thither for comfort; and behold trouble and darkness, &c. — Many words, expressing the same thing, are put together, to signify the variety, and extremity, and continuance of their miseries. Bishop Lowth, who connects with this verse the last clause of the twenty-first, renders the passage thus: “He shall cast his eyes upward, and look down to the earth; and lo! distress and darkness! gloom, tribulation, and accumulated darkness!”

Ver. 21. They shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God. We read in Revelation 16:10, 21, that men blasphemed God because of their pain; and again, because of the hail. At the battle of Borodina, in the year 1814, when about seventy thousand men lay dead and dying on the field, the number of Russians and French being nearly equal, an English surgeon reports, that he found wounded officers cursing their fate, and cursing their stars. The state of man is desperate, when he must die, and is resolved not to die. They are like the desperate Midianites, who cut their way through their own ranks.

21. They shall pass through it — “They” — the king, the court, and their supporters among the people, who have gone to necromancers for light. Hardly bestead — In great straits — disappointed, oppressed with anxiety. Hungry — As the effect of calamity from not looking to God, “to the law and to the testimony.” A moral famine befalls them, more grievous than the temporary one in Ahaz’s time. Look upward — Seeing no light they look to heaven in vain. They despised the true God, and he is shut off from their view.

V. 22. Earth-Finding no help from heaven, they turn their eyes downward, looking hither and thither for comfort.

Verses 21, 22. And they — The idolatrous and apostate Israelites; shall pass through it — Namely, their own land, into captivity; or, as hb rb[ may be rendered, shall pass to and fro, or wander hither and thither, in it, like distracted men, not knowing whither to go, or what to do; whereas, if they had not forsaken God, they might have had a quiet and settled abode in it. Hardly bestead and hungry — Hebrew, b[rw hvqn, distressed and famished, as Bishop Lowth translates the words: they shall fret themselves, &c. — Shall be impatient under their pressures, and, in the rage of their despair, curse their king — To whose ill conduct they impute a great part of their miseries; and their God — Their idol, to whom they trusted, and whom now, too late, they find to be unable to help them; and look upward — To heaven for help, as men of all nations and religions, in great calamities, are wont to do. And they shall look unto the earth — Finding no help from heaven, they turn their eyes downward, looking hither and thither for comfort; and behold trouble and darkness, &c. — Many words, expressing the same thing, are put together, to signify the variety, and extremity, and continuance of their miseries. Bishop Lowth, who connects with this verse the last clause of the twenty-first, renders the passage thus: “He shall cast his eyes upward, and look down to the earth; and lo! distress and darkness! gloom, tribulation, and accumulated darkness!”

22. Then from looking upward they look to earth again; to enchantments and sorcery they look, only to feel woes more bitter, and to see forever no dawn, NO dawn. Trouble… darkness… dimness… anguish —

Accumulated images. Each one, as it rapidly flits before Isaiah, deepens the horror of gathering gloom and darkness. So fearful are God’s moral judgments on men when they to the last refuse to look to him for aid and guidance.