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BIBLICAL  CRITICISM 

OS 

THE    FIRST    FOURTEEN 

HISTORICAL   BOOKS 


OF 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT; 


ALSO 


ON  THE  FIRST   NINE 


PROPHETICAL  BOOKS. 


BY 

SAMUEL  HORSLEY,  L.L.D.  F.R.S.  F.A.S. 

LATE  LORD  BISHOP  OF  ST.  ASAPH. 


IN  FOUR  VOLUMES. 

VOL.  W3Z 


LONDON: 

PRINTED  FOR   LONGMAN,   HURST,  REES,  ORME,  &  BROWN, 
AND   P,  C.  ft  J.  RIVINGTON. 

1S20. 


Printed  by  C.  Stewart, 
Edinburgh. 


TABLE  OF  KENNICOTT's  MSS.  OF  THE  TENTH,  ELEVENTH,   AND 
TWELFTH  CENTURIES. 


10* 

Century. 

nth 

Century. 

12th 
1  Century; 

1  _'th 
Century 

continued  ; 

IStO 

Century 
continued. 

I 

39   : 

4 

294 

6CA5 

590 

527 

30 

326 

634 

536 

84 

356 

6S8 

154 

366 

685 

162 

416 

180 

418 

! 

185 

461 

188 

512 

i 

191 

528 

193 

530 

* 

196 

531 

201 

534 

210 

537 

216 

580 

220 

584 

224 

591 

225 

602 

226 

609 

293 

616 

2  ; 

3 

42 

The  whole  number  of  MSS.  collated  by  Dr  Ken- 
nicott  for  the  various  readings  of  the  text  of  Isaiah 
was  203;  namely,  72  throughout,  and  131  in  parti- 
cular passages. 


VOL.  IT. 


CRITICAL   NOTES 


ON 


ISAIAH. 


CHAP.  I, 

All  that  the  Prophet  says  in  this  chapter,  either  in 
his  own  person  or  Jehovah's,  hath  reference  to  a 
scene  exhibited  to  his  imagination.  The  scene 
seems  not  to  represent  the  manners  of  the  Jews  in 
any  one  of  the  four  reigns  in  which  he  prophesied. 
For  of  the  four  kings  named  in  the  title  of  the  book, 
the  first  two  and  the  last  were  godly  princes,  and  in 
their  reigns  there  was  no  heavy  complaint  against 
the  people.  But  in  the  reign  of  Ahaz,  idolatry  was 
established,  and  the  temple-service  neglected.  In 
his  reign  therefore  there  could  be  little  of  that  hy- 
pocritical  attachment  to   the   ritual   service,    with 

A  2 


4  ISAIAH. 

which  the -people  are  reproached,  verses  10 — 17; 
whereas  this  was  the  great  crime  of  the  Jewish 
people  in  our  Saviour's  days.  Vitringa  indeed  ar- 
gues with  great  ability,  that  idolatry  had  taken  root 
so  deep  among  the  Jewish  people  in  the  reign  of 
Ahaz,  that  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Hezekiah's 
reformation  was  much  more  than  a  restoration  of 
the  external  form  and  order  of  the  true  religion. 
The  majority  of  the  people  in  their  hearts  were  still 
idolaters,  and  might  justly  be  taxed  with  hypocrisy 
in  the  profession  and  exercise  of  the  religion  which 
was  countenanced  and  protected  by  their  king.  But 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  language  of  the  Prophet  de- 
scribes not  the  flattery  of  courtiers,  but  that  serious 
sort  of  hypocrisy,  which,  without  any  true  principles 
of  religion  in  the  heart,  is  much  in  earnest  in  the 
rites  which  it  performs,  and  values  itself  on  the  me- 
rit of  that  legal  righteousness. 

Verse  7.  — "  and  it  is  desolate  as  overthrown  by 
strangers \"  rather,  "  and  it  is  a  perfect  waste,  like 
a  country  ravaged  by  strangers ; "  i.  e.  by  foreign 
armies.  The  \aw  aKkorgw  of  the  LXX  is  a  good 
paraphrastic  rendering  of  O^l?,  and  is  no  indication 
of  a  various  reading.  The  layman's  conjecture,  that 
the  first  OHT  should  be  D^tf  is  plausible. 


ISAIAH. 

— "  burnt devoured" —   rather,  "  are  burning 

are  devouring."     This  is  the  language  of  a  man 

describing  a  scene  lying  before  him. 

Verse  9.  This  9th  verse  must  allude  to  some 
greater  desolation  of  the  country,  than  can  be  sup- 
posed to  have  been  effected  by  Sennacherib's  inva- 
sion. 

Verse  12.  — "  at  your  hand  to  tread  my  courts ;" 
rather,  "  at  your  hand.  Tread  my  courts  no  more." 
LXX,  and  Bishop  Lowth.  St  Jerome  divides  the 
sentence  in  the  same  manner :  but  he  understands 
the  latter  clause,  (as  indeed  the  LXX  understood 
it),  not  as  a  prohibition  to  tread  the  courts,  but  as 
a  prediction  that  the  courts  of  the  temple  at  Jerusa- 
lem should  be  no  more  trodden ;  which  he  makes 
an  argument,  that  the  prophecy  respects  the  last 
destruction  of  the  temple  by  the  Romans,  rather 
than  the  former  by  the  Babylonians.  For  after  the 
former  destruction  the  temple  was  rebuilt,  and  its 
courts  trodden  again  for  a  long  series  of  years.  The 
words  in  the  Hebrew  have  certainly  more  the  form 
of  a  prediction,  than  a  prohibition.  But  who  shall 
say,  that  the  temple  may  not  be  again  rebuilt,  and 
its  courts  again  trodden,  though  vain  oblations  shall 
no  more  be  offered  ?     The  latter  part  of  the  chapter 


o  ISAIAH. 

gives  the  Jews  a  hope  of  a  restoration  from  the  ruin 
threatened  in  this  prophecy.     Nevertheless,  I  agree 
with  St  Jerome,  that  the  ruin  threatened  is  that 
which  took  place  after  our  Lord's  ascension  and  the 
publication  of  the  gospel,  rather  than  the  prelusive 
judgments  executed  by  the  Babylonians.  The  whole 
section,  from  the  10th  to  the  15th  verse,  seems  to 
allude  to  the  abolition  of  the  Mosaic  law,  though 
the  expressions  are  too  general  to  be  understood  in 
that  sense  by  the  Jews  of  Isaiah's  time.    Indeed  the 
whole  of  the  vision,  exhibited  to  the  prophet,  seems 
to  have  been  a  general  view  of  national  guilt,  punish- 
ment,  reformation,  pardon,  and  restoration ;  and  the 
prophecy  is  a  general  prediction  of  guilt,  and  threat- 
ening of  punishment,  and,  in  some  degree,  received 
a  completion  in  every  great  judgment  that  fell  upon 
the  people.     At  the  same  time,  that  the  allusions  to 
the  particular  guilt  of  the  Jews,  in  their  treatment 
of  our  Lord,  though  oblique,  are  now  so  evident, 
and  the  description  of  their  punishment  corresponds 
so  much  more  exactly  with  their  final  dispersion, 
than  with  any  previous  calamity,  that  little  room  is 
left  to  doubt  that  these  were  the  things  principally 
in  view  of  the  inspiring  Spirit. 

Verse  17.  — "  seek  judgment."     The  Jewish  go- 


ISAIAH.  7 

vernment  never  was  more  guilty  of  a  perversion  of 
judgment  than  in  the  case  of  our  Lord. 

Verse  23.  — "  companions  of  thieves."  *— a  asso- 
ciated with  thieves*"  Judas  was  a  thief;  with  him 
the  princes  of  the  Jews  were  associated. 

Verse  24.  — "  I  will  ease  me  of  mine  adversaries;'* 
rather,  "  I  will  take  satisfaction  upon  mine  adversa- 
nes. 

Verse  25.  — "  and  purely  purge  away  thy  dross." 
For  "D5,  Archbishop  Seeker,  Dr  Durell,  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  agree  to  read  "M ;  "  in  the  crucible ;"  but 
the  alteration  is  by  no  means  necessary.  See  Park- 
hurst,  IS,  ix. 

Verse  29.  "  For  they  shall  be  ashamed  of  the 
oaks,"  &c.  This  may  allude  to  the  idolatry  of  the 
reign  of  Ahaz. 

The  whole  of  this  chapter  should  be  distributed 
into  parts,  between  Jehovah  and  the  Prophet,  in  this 
manner.  After  the  exordium,  "  Hear,  O  heavens," 
&c.  Jehovah  speaks  to  the  end  of  the  3d  verse.  In 
the  six  following  verses,  the  Prophet,  in  terms  of 
concern,  astonishment,  and  horror,  describes  the 
degeneracy  of  the  people,  and  their  rejection.  In 
the  10th  verse  he  calls  upon  them  again  to  hearken 
to  Jehovah,  who  speaks  in  his  own  person  to  the  end 


8  ISAIAH. 

of  the  20th.  In  the  21st,  the  Prophet,  still  contem- 
plating the  scene,  which  lies  before  him,  of  the 
future  degeneracy  of  his  countrymen,  renews  his 
lamentation,  which  goes  on  to  the  end  of  the  23d. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  24th,  Jehovah  is  introduced 
again,  and  speaks  in  his  own  person  to  the  end  of 
the  chapter. 

Chaf.  ii,  3.  — "  many  people" —  rather,  "  many 
peoples" — 

4  r*  And  he  shall  judge  among  the  nations, 
And  rebuke  many  people." 
Rather, 

"  And  he  shall  govern*  among  the  nations, 
And  work  conviction  in  many  peoples." 

See  Vitringa  and  Bishop  Lowth, 
— "  plough-shares" —  rather,  "  coulters." 
Verse  6.  "  Therefore  thou  hast,"  &c.     "  Surely^ 

[or  verily]  thou  hast  forsaken  thy  people !  the  house 

of  Jacob !" 

The  5th  verse  is  an  invitation,  addressed  by  the 

peoples  resorting  to  the  place  of  God's  worship,  to 

the  Jews  to  accompany  them.     To  their  amazement 


*  «*  Verbum  judicandi  Hebraeis  per  synecdochen  pro  '  guber~ 
riare,'  vel  <  regere,'  accipitur."     Calvin,  ad  locum. 


ISAIAH.  s 

they  find  the  Jews  refuse  to  join  in  this  worship, 
and  are  smarting  under  the  heavy  punishment  of 
their  apostaey,  and  in  this  first  part  of  the  6th  verse 
they  express  their  astonishment.  This  circumstance, 
the  devotion  and  acceptance  of  the  peoples  [the 
Gentiles],  and  the  apostaey  and  rejection  of  the 
chosen  people,  the  Jews,  clearly  proves  the  necessity 
of  referring  this  prophecy  to  the  times  of  Christian- 
ity, and  confutes  those  commentators,  who  think  to 
find  its  completion  in  the  restoration  of  the  temple 
after  the  Babylonish  captivity. 

Verse  6.  — "  house  of  Jacob,  because  they  be  re- 
plenished," &c.  The  sentence  ends  with  the  word 
Jacob.  Thence  the  Prophet  takes  up  the  discourse, 
assigning  the  cause  of  that  rejection,  which  struck 
the  Gentile  worshippers  with  so  much  astonishment. 
u  Yes — they  are  replenished  from  the  east."  The 
Prophet's  discourse  is  addressed  to  the  Gentiles,  be- 
ing an  answer  to  their  expressions  of  surprise,  to  the 
end  of  the  9th  verse. 

— "  replenished  from  the  east ;"  i.  e.  "  they  are 
full  of  the  eastern  manners,"  as  Queen  Elizabeth's 
translators  rendered  it ;  full  of  the  corruptions  that 
reigned  chiefly  in  the  eastern  parts.  I  see  no  abso- 
lute necessity  for  the  alterations  proposed  by  Houbi- 


10  ISAIAH. 

gant  and  Bishop  Lowth.  If  I  were  to  make  any  al- 
teration of  the  text  as  it  now  stands,  it  should  be,  in 
conformity  to  the  version  of  the  LXX,  to  omit  the 
^  prefixed  to  the  word  E^Wy,  and  to  prefix  5  to 
EDlpD.  — "  Yes  they  are  filled,  as  of  old,  with  astro- 
logers, like  the  Philistims." 

Vitringa  endeavours  to  expound  the  passage  as  it 
stands  by  a  particular  sense  which  he  invents  for  the 
word  K '0,  but  his  exposition  does  not  satisfy  me. 

Upon  repeated  consideration  of  this  passage,  I  am 
persuaded  it  requires  no  emendation,  nor  any  forced 
interpretation  of  any  of  the  words.  It  describes  a 
general  taste  among  the  Jews  for  the  abominations 
of  their  heathen  neighbours  on  all  sides,  east  and 
west,  and  represents  them  as  taking  pride  in  the 
general  prevalence  of  the  manners  of  idolaters. 
For  the  "  children  of  strangers"  are  those  who  had 
revolted  from  their  God,  and  forsaken  his  worship, 
to  worship  the  idols  of  the  heathen  with  heathen 
rites. 

"  They  are  filled  from  the  east !  they  are  even  astrologers,  like 
the  Philistim ! 
They  take  pride  and  glory  in  an  alien  brood." 

;  — "  take  pride  and  glory" —    So  I  paraphrase  the 
word  ip^Stt^.     "pttf  literally  signifies  to  *  smack  the 

3 


ISAIAH.  I] 

hands  together,'  in  an  ecstasy  of  joy  and  approba- 
tion ,  and  the  literal  rendering  of  this  line  would  be, 
"  And  at  children  of  aliens  they  clap  their  hands." 

The  Jews  were  much  addicted  to  magic  in  the  time 
of  our  Saviour. 

Verse  8.  — "  full  of  idols."  Bishop  Lowth  (with 
Yitringa)  imagines  that  "  the  idols  here  spoken  of 
must  be  such  as  were  designed  for  a  private  and  se- 
cret use."  For  as  this  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the 
first  of  Isaiah's  prophecies,  it  must  have  been  de- 
livered in  the  reign  either  of  Uzziah  or  Jotham ;  and 
in  their  time  the  public  exercise  of  idolatrous  wor- 
ship was  not  permitted.  But  the  Prophet,  in  this 
passage,  is  describing  that  general  corruption  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  which  occasioned  their  final  rejection, 
upon  the  publication  of  the  gospel.  And  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose,  that  the  particulars  of  that  de- 
scription consist  in  crimes  actually  subsisting  at  the 
time  when  the  prophecy  is  delivered.  They  might 
take  their  beginning  in  a  much  later  period,  and  yet, 
having  taken  root  among  the  people,  might  be  among 
the  causes  of  the  final  punishment  of  the  nation. 

The  description  of  the  guilt,  which  drew  down  the 
judgment,  is  made  up  chiefly  of  those  crimes  which 
directly  express  a  neglect  of  God's  commands  and 


12  ISAIAH. 

promises,  and  a  reliance  on  other  means  of  strength 
and  support  than  the  Divine  favour. 

Verse  9.  "  And  the  mean  man  boweth  down,  and 
the  great  man  humbleth  himself.' '  The  very  same 
words  occur  in  chap,  v,  15,  where  the  verbs  are  ne- 
cessarily passive.  Bishop  Lowth  takes  them  as  pas- 
sives here ;  but  I  think,  here,  they  are  active.  They 
describe  the  corruption  as  so  general,  that  men  of 
all  ranks,  high  and  low,  prostrate  and  humble  them- 
selves before  idols. 

— "  forgive  them  not."  The  LXX  render  the 
verb  in  the  first  person  :  "  I  will  not  forgive  them." 
If  this  verb  was  originally  in  the  first  person,  God  is 
the  speaker  from  the  middle  of  the  8th  verse  ["  Yes, 
they  are  replenished,"  &c]  to  this  place.  And  the 
Prophet's  admonition,  which  begins  in  the  next  verse, 
is  founded  upon  the  accusation  which  God,  in  his 
own  person,  brings  against  the  Jews  in  this  speech. 

Verses  10,  11.  See  Durell's  and  Bishop  Lowth's 
emendations. 

Verse  12.  "  For  the  day  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall 
be,"  &c.  tWVh  is  properly  the  dative  case,  and  the 
literal  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  words  is  thus : 
"  [Est]  enim  Jehovse  exercituum  dies  adversus  su- 
perbum  et  altum,"  &c.  "  For  there  is  unto  Jehovah 


ISAIAH.  13 

a  day  [*.  e.  Jehovah  has  appointed  a  day]  against  all 
pride  and  loftiness. " 

Chap,  hi,  2.  — "  and  the  prudent" —  rather  "  the 
diviner,*  Bishop  Lowth ;  "  ariolum,"  Vulgate. 

Verse  3.  — M  artificer."  This  word  is  ill  changed 
into  artist  by  Bishop  Lowth.  An  artificer  is  one  that 
is  employed  in  common  handicraft  works ;  a  carpen- 
ter, a  mason,  a  tailor,  &c.  An  artist  is  a  very  supe- 
rior workman  ;  one  that  employs  himself  in  the  fine 
arts,  painting,  music,  sculpture,  &c. 

— "  and  the  eloquent  orator  -"  rather,  "  the  skil- 
ful in  incantation."  — "  prudentem  eloquii  mystici," 
Vulgate ;  and  to  the  same  purpose  Theodotion  and 
Symmachus. 

Verse  6.  "When" — rather,  "Therefore,"  Bishop 
Lowth. 

I  think  Bishop  Lowth' s  conjecture,  that  the  word 
VWi  has  been  lost  out  of  the  text  between  the  words 
WJO  and  n*0,  is  very  probable.  But  see  Bishop 
Stock. 

After  rf^Cttf,  read,  with  Houbigant  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  TDK^     See  LXX,  and  Vulgate. 

Ct  Therefore  shall  a  man  take  his  brother,  the  head 
of  his  father's  house,  by  the  garment,  saying,  Be 
thou,"  &c. 


U  ISAIAH. 

Verse  7.  et  In  that  day  shall  he  swear,  saying,"— 
■TC>kS  Kin  wo  W\  It  should  seem,  from  St  Je- 
rome's note  upon  this  passage,  that  the  word  W 
was  not  found  in  his  copies  j  and  that  for  "totib,  they 
had  TDK*. 

— "  I  will  not  be" —  rather,  with  Queen  Eliza* 
beth's  translators,  "  I  cannot  be"— 

Verse  10.  — "  for  they  shall  eat" —  Bishop  Lowth, 
upon  the  authority  of  the  Vulgate  and  one  antient 
MS.  reads  <5W  in  the  singular,  <c  he  shall  eat ;"  i.  e. 
the  just  shall  eat.  But  there  is  no  necessity  to  reject 
the  plural  verb,  which  has  the  suffrage  of  St  Jerome 
and  the  LXX.  If  *HfiK  be  the  true  reading  at  the 
beginning  of  the  former  clause,  the  whole  verse 
should  be  rendered  thus : 

"  Say  unto  the  just  one,  it  is  well : 
For  they  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  their  deeds." 

They,  isti.  This  is  the  thing  which  the  just  one  is 
told  "  is  well,"  that  those  sinners  shall  eat  the  fruit 
of  their  evil  deeds.  For  TH¥,  one  good  MS.  of  De 
Rossi's  has  TH^.  But  upon  these  three  verses  (9, 
10, 1 1)  see  the  notes  of  the  layman :  his  emendations, 
founded  on  the  LXX,  deserve  great  attention. 

Verse  12.  <c  As  for  my  people  children  are  their 
oppressors,  and  women  rule  over  them." 


ISAIAH.  in 

Aocog  fjuov  ot  ?rga*rogg£  vficuv  xoLkapuvrM  v[/jOtg 

Kai  ot  uTatTOWTsg  xvgievovatv  v\lw.  LXX. 

aTairovureg.     Aq.  dirccirovvrag.     Theod.  daw/ora?. 

"  Populum  meum  exactores  sui  spoliaverunt, 

Et  mulieres  dominatae  sunt  eis."  St  Jerom.  ct  Vulg. 

Hence  it  should  seem  that  the  reading  of  the  LXX 
was  thus : 

tSSjjd  ■yitftt  icy 

rt  O  my  people,  thy  oppressors  are  gleaning  thee, 
And  thy  usurious  creditors  lord  it  over  thee." 

The  copies  of  St  Jerome  and  the  Vulgate  gave  the 
passage  with  less  variation  from  the  modern  Maso- 
retic  text : 

0*SSj?D  YIJMJ  ■■Op 

&c.  1 

"  My  people,  their  oppressors  glean  them, 
And  women,"  &c. 

Unless  the  use  of  the  noun  ^JJB,  for  *  a  child,'  can 
be  supported  by  examples,  the  reading  of  the  LXX 
seems  to  deserve  the  preference.  It  is  to  be  remark- 
ed,  that  the  principal  variation  of  the  reading  of  the 
LXX  from  the  modern  text  is  in  WWi,  instead  of 

*  Or,  •punaB*. 


16  ISAIAH. 

O^tiW ;  and  in  this  their  reading  has  the  concurrent 
testimony  of  Aquila  and  Theodotion. 

— "  destroy  the  way  of  their  paths."  — u  efface 
the  track  of  their  paths."  The  track  of  their  paths 
is  the  line  of  moral  conduct  prescribed  by  God's  law, 
or  of  political  conduct  advised  by  his  prophets; 
which  line  the  wicked  leaders  here  mentioned  ef- 
faced and  obliterated,  by  bad  advice  and  bad  ex- 
ample. 3^,  properly  signifies  to  swallow  up  j 
thence  to  cause  in  any  way  to  disappear ;  to  destroy, 
so  as  to  leave  no  vestige  remaining.  According  to 
the  different  things  to  which  it  is  in  this  sense  ap- 
plied, it  may  be  rendered  by  the  English  words,  to 
devour,  to  swallow  up,  to  annihilate,  to  rase,  ex- 
punge, efface,  obliterate.  In  Numb,  iv,  20,  it  is 
rendered  in  our  modern  Bible,  to  cover,  and  in 
Queen  Elizabeth's,  to  fold  up.  But  that  verse  should 
be  rendered  thus :  u  But  let  them  not  go  in  to  see, 
when  the  sanctuary  is  taken  to  pieces,  lest  they  die." 
When  the  camp  was  to  break  up,  the  tabernacle  was 
to  be  taken  down,  and  the  sacred  utensils  packed  up 
by  the  priests,  before  the  Kohathites  approached. 
The  taking  of  the  sanctuary  to  pieces,  and  the  pack- 
ing up  of  its  parts  and  furniture,  was  an  entire  abo- 
lition of  its  figure  and  form ;  a  making  of  it  to  dis- 


ISAIAH  K 

appear.  Hence  the  word  V^  signifies  to  take  such 
an  erection  to  piece ■>. 

Verse  13.  For  Q»0*,  the  LXX  and  Bishop  Lowth 
read  1DJJ. 

"  Jchovali  appears  to  plead, 

He  rises  up  to  enter  into  litigation  with  his  people." 

Verse  17.  — "  will  smite  with  a  scab;"  rather, 
"  will  humble,"  the  LXX,  and  Bishop  Lowth.  But 
there  is  no  necessity  for  altering  the  reading  of  the 
Hebrew  text.     See  Parkhurst's  Lexicon,  voce  n3w . 

Chap,  iv,  2.  — "  the  branch the  fruit  of  the 

earth."  For  a  particular  exposition  of  these  phrases, 
as  describing  Christ  by  his  divinity  and  his  incarna- 
tion, see  Vitringa. 

Verse  5.     For 

read,  with  Bishop  Lowth, 

The  reading  of  fiWVpD  for  HJOpD,  is  confirmed  by 
many  MS3.  and  editions.  And  HHTlpD  75  is  the 
reading  of  Kennicott's  MSS.  1.     See  De  Kos-i. 

This  fourth  chapter  and  the  two  preceding  clearly 
form  one  entire  discourse*     The  general  subject  is, 
-    vol.  ir.  B 


18  ISAIAH. 

the  first  establishment  of  the  Christian  church,  and 
the  rejection  of  the  Jewish  people.  The  second 
opens  with  a  view  of  the  resort  of  all  nations  to  the 
house  of  Jehovah,  and  the  rejection  of  the  house  of 
Jacob.  This  is  represented  as  the  consequence  of 
their  own  sins,  and  the  effect  of  a  scheme  of  Provi- 
dence for  the  utter  abasement  of  the  power  of  the 
irreligious  faction,  the  humiliation  of  all  spiritual 
pride  and  hypocrisy,  and  the  eradication  of  idolatry. 
For  under  the  notion  of  such  a  scheme  Christianity 
is  described,  chap,  ii,  11 — 21.  The  third  chapter, 
with  the  1st  verse  of  chapter  iv,  describes  the  judg- 
ments to  be  executed  upon  the  Jews  by  foreign  ene- 
mies, with  particular  allusion  to  the  first  in  order  of 
time,  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  captivities.  The 
last  verse  of  chapter  ii,  containing  a  general  maxim, 
which  the  Prophet  makes  the  moral,  as  it  were,  of 
his  representation  of  God's  scheme  for  the  humilia- 
tion of  his  enemies,  makes  the  transition  easy  from 
that  discourse  to  the  particular  prediction  of  these 
judgments.  The  iive  last  verses  of  chap.  iv.  describe 
the  first  plantation  of  the  Christian  churches. 

Chap,  v,  1.  — "  my  well  beloved of  my  beloved 

—my  well  beloved."     In  the  version  of  the  LXX 
the  pronoun  my  is  not  once  expressed.  If  upon  that 


ISAIAH.  19 

authority  the  pronominal  suffix  in  the  original  may 
be  thrown  away,  this  verse  might  be  thus  rendered  : 

**■  Now  will  I  sing  for  the  beloved  a  tender  song 
concerning  his  vineyard. " 

— u  sing  for  the  beloved" —  u  e.  in  the  person  of 
the  beloved. 

*iyW«  "  Jarchii  animadversio  est,  literam  '  pre- 
fixam  liic  significare  posse  substitutionem  ;  ut  *I*W 
sit  ^TH"1  nnn,  loco  dilecti  mei,  et  instar  legati  vicem 
ejus  occupantis.  Elegans  est  expositio,  quam  non 
sperno ;  imo  amplexum  quoque  earn  esse  video  Lira- 
num,  Jarchio  familiariter  usum."  Vitringa  ad  locum, 
vol.  i,  p.  112. 

— u  a  tender  sone;" —  ^"lYl  ^V  — cc  carmen  ama- 
bile,"  Castalio  ;  — "  a  song  of  loves,"  Bishop  Lowth; 
who  thinks  *HV1  an  error  of  the  transcribers  for  OIH, 
Houbigant  would  read  TH"H,  <c  amoris  ejus,"  which 
I  think  an  elegant  emendation.  — "  a  tender  song" 
conveys  the  idea. 

Verse  2.  "  My  well  beloved" —  The  LXX  again 
omit  the  pronoun.  A^Trehcuv  lyBvrj^rj  rco  ^ynTr^im* 
"  The  well  beloved  hath  a  vineyard,"  &c.  It  cer- 
tainly is  not  usual  with  the  Prophets  to  use  the 
familiar  phrase  of  my  beloved,  in  speaking  either  of 
God  the  Father,  or  of  Christ.     This  second  verse  is 

u  2 


20  ISAIAH. 

a  narration,  containing  the  general  argument  of  the 
song.     In  the  3d,  4th,  5th,  and  6th  verses,  the  song 
proceeds  in  a  mixed  strain  of  tender  complaint  and 
threatening.     In  the  7th,  the  Prophet,  resuming  the 
discourse  in  his  own  person,  explains  the  allegory ; 
and  in  the  sequel  of  the  chapter  he  specifies  the 
principal  crimes  which  drew  down  judgment  on  the 
Israelites,  by  the  denunciation  of  six  distinct  woes. 
1st,  Woe  to  the  avaritious,  in  verses  8,  9,  10. 
2d,  Woe  to  the  voluptuary;  11,  12. 
3d,  Woe  to  the  libertine,  who  makes  a  jest  of 
the  threatenings  of  future  wrath  ;  18,  19. 
4$,  Woe  to  the  philosophical  infidel,  who  pre-  - 
tending  to  reason  upon  the  nature  of  good 
and  evil,  justifies  all  manner  of  iniquity  by 
confounding  the  distinctions  of  right  and 
wrong;  20. 
5th,  Woe  to  the  deist,  who  sets  up  the  authority 

of  human  reason  against  revelation  ;  21. 
6th,  Woe  to  wicked  magistrates,  who  neglect 
their  public  duty  to  pursue  riotous  plea- 
sure, and  abuse  their  authority  for  private 
gain  j  22,  23. 
Verse  6.  — "  I  will  also  command  the  clouds,"  &c. 
St  Jerome,  with  his  usual  sagacity,  remarks,  that  this 


ISAIAH.  21 

menace  was  not  accomplished  in  the  Babylonian 
captivity;  u  inasmuch  as  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  pro- 
phesied among  their  countrymen,  after  the  city  was 
taken ;  Daniel  also,  and  the  three  children,  as  history 
relates,  either  prophesied  or  performed  wonderful 
signs  in  the  captivity.  And  afterwards,  Haggai  and 
Zachary  afforded  comfort  to  the  people  in  servitude 
by  predictions  of  future  things." 

Verse  7.  The  transition  from  the  song  to  the  Pro- 
phet's comment  is  highly  artificial  and  elegant.  It 
is  so  contrived,  that  the  conclusion  of  the  song  so 
necessarily  introduces  the  comment,  that  the  two 
seem  one  thing ;  and  the  spirit  of  the  poetry  is  not 
less  in  the  exposition  than  in  the  song  itself. 

— "  I  will  command  the  clouds  that  they  rain  no 
rain  upon  it."  Who  is  this  that  talks  of  overruling 
Nature,  and  controlling  the  Elements  ?  is  the  senti- 
ment that  this  conclusion  naturally  suggests.  Truly, 
replies  the  Prophet,  He  who  hath  all  Nature  and 
the  Elements  under  his  control.  <c  For  the  vineyard 
of  Jehovah,"  &c. 

— "  a  cry,"  — "  of  the  oppressed,"  says  Bishop 
Lowth.  But  it  may  mean  the  cry  of  the  rabble  ;  In 
which  justice  was  overborne,  and  judgment  pervert- 
ed.     So  St  Jerome  understood  it,  with  particular  al- 


22  ISAIAH. 

lusion  to  the  oppression  of  our  Lord,  and  the  cry  of 
the  rabble  against  him.  Certainly  fipy*  signifies  any 
loud  cry  or  vociferation,  not  the  cry  of  distress  only. 
Verse  8.  — «  that  lay  field  to  field."  TnW*  m» 
Wlp.  Bishop  Lowth  would  read  Wipn,  to  answer 
to  the  verb  following ;  and  he  thinks  he  has  with 
him  the  authority  of  the  Vulgate.  But  it  is  by  no 
means  certain  from  the  Latin  of  the  Vulgate,  that 
the  Hebrew  copies,  from  which  that  version  was 
made,  had  "D^rpr^  It  might  seem  a  safer  conclusion 
from  the  Greek  of  the  LXX,  that  their  copies  had 
the  participle  ^npD  to  answer  to  the  preceding 
participle  V^,  to  which,  not  to  the  following  verb, 
the  word  in  this  place  might  be  expected  to  answer. 
Ovoci  oi  6vvw7rrov7$s  oixiuv  vrgog  oi%iccv,  zai  ky^ov  vrgog  dygov 
lyyiZpvrzg.  LXX.  And  the  version  of  the  Vulgate 
might  be  formed  upon  the  same  reading.  *  Vae  qui 
conjungitis  domum  ad  domum,  et  agrum  agro  copu- 

latis."      — "  qui  conjungitis et  [qui]  copulatis." 

Here  the  participle  y*XO  is  resolved  by  the  inter- 
preter into  the  pronoun  and  verb,  *  qui  conjungitis  \* 
whence  it  might  seem  probable  that  the  verb  '  co- 
pulatis,'  with  the  pronoun  understood,  tackt  to 
the  former  verb  and  pronoun  by  the  conjunction 
copulative,  which  is  not  in  the  Hebrew,  is  a  similar 


ISAIAH. 

resolution  of  the  participle  W*pD.  In  short,  their 
version  is  just  what  it  ought  to  have  been  had  'O'npD 
been  the  reading  of  their  Hebrew  text. 

But  after  all,  there  is  no  necessity  for  any  altera- 
tion in  the  text  as  it  stands  in  our  modern  copies. 
The  form  of  the  expression  is  the  very  same  which 
occurs  again  in  verse  1 1  ; 

•b"it>  top  npDD  n?we  ?fl 

"  Woe  unto  them  that  rise  up  early  in  the  morning 

they  follow  strong  drink" —  where  the  LXX,  as 

in  the  former  woe,  render  both  the  participle  in  the 
first  clause,  and  the  verb  in  the  second,  by  a  parti- 
ciple. Ovat  ol  lyugofjumt  to  t°cui\  urn  to  vixsga,  Sicjzoktsc, 
which  entirely  destroys  the  certainty  of  the  conclu- 
sion that  their  copies,  in  the  8th  verse,  had  'O'npD, 
instead  of  "P^p?,  The  Vulgate,  in  the  11th  veise, 
render  the  verb  "©TV*,  and  the  participle  "HriNC  in 
the  next  line,  the  one  by  a  participle  in  dus,  with  a 
preposition,  the  other  by  a  gerund.  "  Vae  qui  con- 
surgitis  mane  ad  ebrietatem  sectandam,  et  potandum 
usque  ad  vesperam."  In  short,  these  two  passages, 
the  8th  and  11th  verses,  are  instances  in  which  the 
turn  of  the  expression  in  the  original  is  neglected 
both  by  the  Greek  and  the  Latin  interpreter,  and 
shew  what  caution  should  be  used  in  altering  the 

b  4? 


24  ISAIAH. 

text  upon  the  authority  of  versions,  which  may  easi- 
ly be  imagined  where  it  is  not.  The  use  of  the  se- 
cond person  in  the  Vulgate  seems  to  have  betrayed 
Bishop  Lowth  into  this  unnecessary  alteration. 

— u  that  they  may  be  placed  alone  in  the  midst 
of  the  earth."  The  LXX,  Aquila,  Symmachus,  St 
Jerome,  and  the  Vulgate,  all  take  this  clause  as  a 
question :  "  Would  you  dwell  yourselves  alone  in 
the  land,  or  in  the  earth  ?"  i.  e.  you  who  are  taking 
to  yourselves  all  the  room,  would  you  wish  to  be  the 
sole  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  or  of  the  land? 
This  whole  verse  should  be  thus  rendered, 
"  Woe  unto  them  that  join  house  to  house ; 

They  lay  field  to  field  till  no  room  is  left. 

Would  ye  dwell  yourselves  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  earth  ?'' 

Verse  13.  — "  their  honourable  men — their  multi- 
tude"—  **  their  nobles — their  plebeians" —  Bishop 
Lowth. 

Verse  14.  — "« their  glory,  and  their  multitude" — 
"  her  nobility  and  her  populace" —  Bishop  Lowth. 

— "  and  their  pomp" —  "  and  her  busy  throng," 
Bishop  Lowth  ;  "  and  her  riotous  throng." 

Verse  17.  "  Then  shall  the  lambs  feed  after  their 
manner,  and  the  waste  places  of  the  fat  "ones  shall 
strangers  [rather,  strange  ones]  eat." 


ISAIAH.  2f 

"  Mysticum  esse,  quod  liic  dicitur  omnes  fcrc  vi- 

dcrimt  intcrpretes Ilecurre  itaque  ad  })rincij)ia 

nostra?  fidei,  eventu  comprobata.  Sint  agni  in  hoc 
loco  tenclli  discipuli  Chrisli  Jesu,  Antiochia?  Chris- 
tiani  dicti,  electi  ex  Judaeis,  mansueti,  innocui,  mo- 
ribus  puri,  persecutioni  ct  oppressioni  potentium 
Judaeae  rectorum  obnoxii ;  magnam  partem,  C^y, 
pauperes  ;  non  multi  sapientes,  potentes,*  divites  se- 
cundum carnem,  qui  per  spiritum  moniti  et  erepti 
his  calamitatibus,  hoc  ipso  tempore,  quo  pingues  et 
superbi  experirentur  severitatem  judiciorum  divino- 
rum,  suos  de  more  celebrarent  caetus,  et  regnum 
Jesu  Christi  promoverent,  et  deplorarent  Judaeorum 
obstinatam  duritiem.  Illi  a  propheta  dicuntur  agni 
et  oves;  et  praecipue  a  Christo  Jesu,  certissimo  hujus 
nostri  oraculi  interprete,  in  oratione  apud  Joannem, 
cap.  x,  qua  existimem  ad  hanc  pericopam  alludi. 
Id  enim  maxime  suadet  sequens  hemistichium,  quo 
f  advenae  desolata  pinguium  comesturi "  dicuntur. 
Sunt  enim  '  advenae*  oves  advenae  sive  peregrinae. 
In  Hebraeo  est  Q'HJ  forma  participii,  D^J.  — quae 
oves  advenae  comesturae  dicuntur  main  desolata 
pinguium,  hoc  est,  ovium  pinguium.  Sensus  est 
gentes  addiicendas  et  adductas  ad  communionem 
ecclesiae  gavisurus  esse  beneflciis,  praerogativis,  bo- 


'26  ISAIAH. 

iris,  quibus  Judaii  carnales,  divites,  potentes,  quales 
homines  diserte  appellantur  '  oves  pingues,'  apud 
Ezechielem,  cap.  xxxiv,  16,  — exciderent.  Quod 
Christus  Dominus  his  expressit  verbis  apud  Joan- 
nem,  '  Habeo  et  alias  oves,  quae  non  sunt  ex  hac  caula, 
quas  me  quoque  oportet  adducere."  Sunt  illae  quod 
ad  ortum  suum  %ivqi  koci  Kagotxos,  quae  reprobatis  et 
ejectis  Judaeis  locum  illorum  occuparent  in  regno 
ccelorum."  Vitringa  ad  locum.  Every  thing  is 
exact,  yet  easy  and  natural  in  this  exposition  of  the 
text.  The  emendations  proposed  by  Bochart,  Cap- 
pellus,  and  Bishop  Lowth,  are  by  all  means  to  be 
rejected.  I  think  Houbigant's  substitution  of  JVD^j; 
for  rvoin  deserves  consideration. 

— "  after  their  manner;"  — "  after  their  own  man- 
ner." The  Christian  church  is  released  from  an  an- 
xious observance  of  the  letter  of  the  Mosaic  law, 
and  has  authority  to  prescribe  her  own  ceremonies. 

Verse  23.  — "  of  the  righteous'' —  The  LXX, 
the  Vulgate,  St  Jerome,  the  Syriac,  and  Arabic,  all 
give  the  noun  in  the  singular ;  and  a  good  MS.  of 
De  Rossi's  has  1*Wflfc  with  the  article  prefixed; 
— "  of  the  Just  One." 

Verse  24.  — "  because  they  have  cast  away  the 
law  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  despised,"  &c.  u  e. 


ISAIAH. 

says  St  Jerome,  "  they  have  cast  away  that  law 
which  the  Lord  promises  by  Jeremiah,  saying,  Be- 
hold the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  when  I  will 
strike  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  and 
the  house  of  Judah,"  &c.  And  it  is  notorious  that 
the  Jews  never  openly  renounced  the  Mosaic  law ; 
and  the  crimes  specified  in  this  chapter  as  the  cause 
of  the  threatened  judgment,  are  all  crimes  against 
the  evangelical  law  of  everlasting  righteousness,  not 
mere  infringements  or  violations  of  the  Jewish  ritual. 

Verse  25.  u  Therefore,"  &c.  rather,  "  Although 
the  anger  of  Jehovah  hath  been  kindled  against  his 
people,  and  he  hath  stretched  out  his  hand  against 
them,  and  he  smote  them  that  the  mountains  trem- 
bled, and  their  carcases  were  as  soil  in  the  street  -, 
for  all  this  his  anger  is  not  turned  away,"  &c.  After 
all  the  former  judgments  executed  upon  them  by  the 
Assyrians  and  Babylonians,  further  and  heavier  punish- 
ment was  to  be  inflicted  for  their  subsequent  rejection 
of  his  word,  preached  by  Messias  and  the  apostles. 

Verse  26.  "  And  he  will  lift  up,"  &c,  "  Si  tie 
Babyloniis  esset  sermo,"  says  St  Jerome,  "  juxttt 
consuetudinem  prophetatem  dixisset,  '  vocabo  eum 
qui  ab  Aquilone  est,'  eo  quod  juxta  Judaic  situm, 
Assyrii  atque  Chaldaci  in  septentiionali  plaga  sint ; 


28  ISAIAH. 

vel  certe  apertius  Babylonios  Assyriosque  describe- 
ret.  Nunc  vero  dicendo,  '  Levabit  signum  in  nati- 
onibus  procul  et  sibilabit  ad  eum  de  finibus  terrae* 
gentes  longe  positas  significat,  et  quae  in  terrae  fini- 
bus commorantur ;  haud  dubium  quin  Romanos,  et 
omnes  Italiae  Galliarumque  et  Plispaniae  populos, 
qui  sub  Vespasiano  et  Hadriano  Romano  imperio 
subjacebant. 

— "  to  the  nations  from  far,  and  will  hiss  unto 
therrr—  their  loins — their  shoes — whose  arrows — their 
bows — their  horses — their  wheels — their  roaring — 
against  them."  In  every  one  of  these  expressions 
the  pronoun,  in  the  original,  and  in  the  Latin  of  St 
Jerome,  and  of  the  Vulgate,  is  the  singular  mascu- 
line of  the  third  person  :  also  the  verbs  "  shall  come 
— shall  slumber — sleep — shall  roar — shall  roar  and 
lay  hold — shall  carry  away,"  are  all  singular  in  the 
original,  and  in  the  versions  of  St  Jerome  and  the 
Vulgate.  Whence  it  should  seem  that  either  the 
plural  noun  EPM  is  used  here  for  some  one  particular 
nation,  and  should  be  rendered  "  a  nation."  "  And 
he  will  set  up  a  standard  for  a  distant  nation,  and 
hiss  unto  it."  Or,  if  C3*P  has  a  plural  sense  render- 
ing many  nations,  the  singular  pronoun  respects 
some  one  person  not  named,  who  is  also  the  subject 


ISAIAH.  29 

of  the  singular  verb.  "  And  he  will  set  up  a  stand- 
ard for  distant  nations,  and  hiss  unto  him  [_i.  e.  to 
the  Roman  emperor,  the  leader  of  those  nations] 
from  the  extremity  of  the  earth.  And,  behold,  he 
shall  come,"  £  e.  the  Roman  emperor  shall  come, 
&c.  And  this,  as  I  guess  by  his  translation  and  Ills 
commentary,  was  St  Jerome's  notion  of  the  passage. 

Verse  30.  — "  they  shall  roar  against  them;"  lite- 
rally, "  he  shall  roar  over  him  ;"  i.  e.  lie,  the  person 
described  under  the  image  of  the  lion,  shall  roar 
over  him,  i.  e.  over  the  prey.  The  pronominal  suf- 
fix in  l^JJ  rehearses  5HB.  This  is  the  only  way  in 
winch  I  can  expound  the  passage. 

— "  if  one  look  unto  the  land" —  The  mention 
of  the  roaring  of  the  sea  introduces  a  new  image 
of  distress,  that  of  mariners  in  a  coasting  vessel 
(such  as  all  the  vessels  of  the  antients  were)  over- 
taken with  a  storm,  and  looking  for  the  nearest 
land,  which  the  darkness  of  the  storm  conceals,  so 
that  darkness  and  danger  alone  may  be  said  to  be 
visible.  The  darkness,  however,  is  mystical ;  a  dark- 
ness of  religious  light  and  comfort. 

— "  in  the  heavens  thereof;"  rather,  "  in  its  de- 
fluxions."  See  Parkhurst's  Lexicon,  rpy,  and  Vi- 
tringa  upon  the  place.     The  heavens  and  the  hum- 


30  ISAIAH. 

naries  are  so  totally  invisible,  that  it  seems  as  ii 
the  light  were  choaked  up  in  its  first  emanations; 
— "  and  the  light  is  confined  in  its  defluctions." 

Chap,  vi,  2.  Cf  Above  it  stood  the  seraphim." 
St  Jerome  remarks>  that  this  is  the  only  passage  in 
the  canonical  scriptures  in  which  the  word  OWE? 
occurs,  as  denoting  attendants  of  the  Divine  pre- 
sence. 

— "  the  seraphim."  Observe  that  the  original  has 
nothing  answering  to  the.  "  Above  it  seraphim  were 
standing." 

"  Above  it  (or  above  him) stood" —   The  word 

"lEp  does  not  necessarily  express  the  posture  of  stand- 
ing upright  upon  the  feet,  but  only  the  being  pre- 
sent. See  Parkhurst's  Lexicon.  From  what  is  said 
afterwards,  it  should  seem  that  the  posture  of  the 
seraphim  was  that  of  hovering,  on  the  expanded 
wings,  over  the  throne  of  God.  The  passage  might 
be  rendered,  "  Over  it  (or  him)  seraphim  were  at- 
tending." 

— "  six  wings."  The  cherubs  in  the  temple  had 
but  two  wings,  and  EzekieFs  but  four. 

Verse  9.  — "  hear  ye  indeed and  see  ye  in- 
deed"—  rather,  "  hear  a  report and  see  a  sight." 

JJW,  audiendum  quid  -7  1*H,  videndum  quid.  ■ 


ISAIAH.  31 

Verse  10.  Ci  Make  the  heart  of  this  people  fat,"  &c; 
rather,  "  The  heart  of  this  people  is  made  fat,  their 
ears  blunted,  and  their  eves  lint."  To  this  effect 
Symmachus,  the  LXX,  and  St  Mat  hew  xiii.  Nothing 
but  the  points  make  it  necessary  to  take  the  verbs 
jZW"!,  "D2n,  JHPft,  for  imperatives  m  Hipliil,  rather 
than  indicatives  in  Hophal.  But  if  the  verbs  were 
indicatives  in  Hophal,  the  two  IWI  and  jflpn  ought 
to  be  plurals,  VD2H  and  lJ7t2fi-i.  But  the  sentence  ad- 
mits another  grammatical  exposition,  which  will 
bring  it  to  the  same,  or  even  to  a  stronger  sense. 
Let  the  verbs  be  taken  as  indicatives  in  Hiphil  -y 
take  away  tlie  Makkaph  between  &  and  DJ?H  •  take 
OJJ  as  the  nominative  of  each  of  the  Hiphil  verbs, 
and  ^,  5Wa  and  ^JJ,  as  accusatives  after  them  re- 
spectively. 

"  This  people  hath  made  gross  the  heart, 

And  blunted  their  ears,  and  closed  up  their  eyes." 

The  LXX  and  St  Mathew  (Symmachus's  varieties 
I  have  not  at  present  at  hand)  take  the  first  verb 
JDU?n  in  Hophal,  and  the  t\vo  following  in  Hiphil ; 
but  there  is  no  necessity  for  this  difference.  They 
may  be  all  in  Hiphil.  So  I  find  Symmachus  tak 
them  as  he  is  quoted  by  Parkhurst. 


32  ISAIAH. 

13  "  And  yet  a  tenth  part  shall  remain  in  it, 

But  again  it  shall  be  [appointed]  for  destruction. 
Like  the  ilex  and  the  oak,  which 
At  the  casting  of  the  leaf  have  their  trunks  standing, 
A  holy  seed  shall  be  the  trunk  of  this  nation." 
Chap,  vii,  2.    — "  Syria  is  confederate  with  E- 
phraim."     Houbigant's  emendation,  «n?J  for  finJ,  is 
unnecessary-     See  Vitringa  upon  the  place. 

onsa  by  DIN  nm    «  Syria  is  confederate  with 

•t:v       *■  T-;         tt  J 

Ephraim,"  Publ  . ;  or,  "  Syria  was  supported  by 
Ephraim,"  Lowth ;  u  Syria  is  arm  in  arm  with  E- 
phraim,"  Stock.  But  the  verb  nna  is  somewhat 
difficult  of  exposition.  At  first  sight  it  appears  to 
be  the  third  person  preterite  masculine  of  the  verb 
nni  in  Kal.  But  how  to  bring  the  sense  of  "  con- 
federate with,"  or  "  supported  by,"  or  "  arm  in  arm 
with,"  out  of  the  verb  ftnJ,  or  any  sense  that  may 
suit  this  place,  it  is  not  easy  to  explain.  But  I  take 
the  word  to  be  the  feminine  singular  of  the  parti- 
ciple Benoni  in  Kal  of  the  verb  rm,  regularly  form- 
ed according  to  the  rule  of  conjugation  of  the  verbs 
Ain  \  It  is  feminine  to  agree  with  OIK,  which, 
taken  as  the  proper  name  of  a  country,  is  feminine ; 
and  the  literal  rendering  would  be,  a  Syria  is  repos- 
ing upon  Ephraim  $"  and  the  sense  is,  that  the  Sy- 


ISAIAH.  93 

rian  relied  with  confidence  on  the  support  of  Ephraim 
as  a  powerful  ally.  Lowth's  rendering,  therefore, 
"  Syria  was  supported  by  Ephraim,"  is  very  good. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  original  to  convey  the 
image  which  Bishop  Stock  introduces  of  two  persons 
walking  arm  in  arm.  And  this  image  is  at  variance 
indeed  with  the  original,  for  it  gives  an  idea  of 
strict  alliance  indeed,  but  at  the  same  time  of  entire 
equality  between  the  allies ',  whereas  the  idea  of  the 
original  is  that  of  a  weaker  relying  on  a  stronger  for 
support.  And  for  the  same  reason,  Bishop  Lowth's 
is  much  to  be  preferred  to  the  public  version. 

Verse  4.  — "  these  smoking  firebrands."  Fire- 
brands smoke  when  they  are  upon  the  point  of  going 
out.  Smoking  firebrands,  therefore,  are  an  expres- 
sive image  of  the  two  kings  of  Ephraim  and  Syria 
upon  the  verge  of  their  ruin. 

— "  with  Syria."  Read,  "  of  Resin,  and  the  son 
of  Remaliah,"  omitting  "  of  Syria,"  with  the  Syriac, 
and  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  5.  "  Because  of  Syria,  Ephraim,  and  the 
son  of  Remaliah,"  &c.  I  suspect  that  the  words 
VT>  Teh  pi  have  crept  in  from  the  preceding  verse, 
and  should  be  expunged  in  this  place  ;  and  the  rest 
of  this  verse  should  be  thus  arranged, 

vol,  ir.  c 


34  ISAIAH. 

*«  Inasmuch  as  Ephraim  and  Syria  have  devised  evil 
against  thee,  saying," — 

Verse  6.  — "  and  let  us  make  a  breach  therein  for 
us ;"  rather,  "  and  let  us  cleave  it  asunder  for  our- 
selves;" or,  "  split  it  between  us."  The  scheme 
was  to  divide  the  greater  part  of  the  dominions  of 
the  king  of  Judah  between  the  two  confederate 
kings,  and  leave  a  vassal- king  in  the  country  to  take 
care  of  their  interests. 

Verses  8,  9.  "  For  the  head  of  Syria,"  &c.  The 
text  here  hath  certainly  suffered  a  transposition. 
The  true  order  seems  to  be  this : 

8  For  Damascus  is  the  head  of  Syria, 
And  Rezin  is  the  head  of  Damascus ; 

9  And  Samaria  is  the  head  of  Ephraim, 

And  the  son  of  Remaliah  is  the  head  of  Samaria. 
And  within  sixty  and  five  years  Ephraim  shall  be  broken 
that  he  be  no  more  a  people." 

Houbigant  thinks  that  a  line  is  lost  between  the  last 
line  of  the  8th  verse  and  the  first  of  the  9th,  which 
lost  line  fixed  the  time  of  the  approaching  subversion 
of  the  kingdom  of  Syria  by  the  Assyrians. 

— "  within  sixty  and  five  years" —     This  predic- 


ISAIAH.  SB 

tion  was  delivered,  perhaps  in  the  first,  certainly  not 
later  than  in  the  second  year  of  Aliaz  ;  for  in  his 
third  year,  the  Syrians  of  Damascus  were  subdued, 
and  Rezin,  their  king,  was  slain  by  Tiglath-pilezer, 
the  Assyrian.     Salmanassar's  conquest,  therefore;  of 
the  ten  tribes  was  within  twenty,  or  at  the  utmost 
within   twenty-three,   years  of  the  delivery  of  this 
prediction.     What  then  is  this  period  of  sixty -five 
years,  which  the  prophecy  seems  to  assign  for  the 
duration  of  Ephraim  as  a  people  ?    Various  solutions 
of  this  question  have  been  attempted.  The  Hebrews, 
as  St  Jerome  relates,  counted  these  sixty-five  years, 
not  from  the  delivery  of  this  prophecy  of  Isaiah's, 
but  from  the  earlier  prediction  of  Amos,  who  first  of 
all,  as  these  expositors  conceived,  foretold  the  over- 
throw   of  the   kingdom    of   Israel ;    assigning   the 
twenty-fifth  of  Uzziah  for  the  time  of  that  prophecy 
of  Amos.  But  Amos  delivered  his  prophecies,  as  we 
learn  from  the  title  of  his  book,  at  the  time  when 
Uzziah  reigned  in  Judah  and  Jeroboam  in  Israel. 
But  Jeroboam  king  of  Israel  died  in  the  fourteenth 
or  fifteenth  of  Uzziah,  namely,  in  the  year  of  the 
Julian  period  3922.     This,  therefore,  is  the  latest 
time   that  can  be   assigned  to  Amos's  prediction  » 
and  the  interval   between  that  prophecy  and  the 

c  2 


36  ISAIAH. 

conquest  of  the  ten  tribes  by  Salmanassar  in  the 
year  of  the  Julian  period  3995,  could  not  be  less 
than  seventy-three  years.  Add  to  this,  that  the  as- 
sumption is  false,  that  Amos's  was  the  first  predic- 
tion of  the  overthrow  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  The 
thing  had  been  foretold,  as  Vitringa  well  observes, 
long  before  Amos,  by  the  prophet  Ahijah,  in  the 
reign  of  the  first  Jeroboam.  See  1  Kings  xiv,  15. 
For  these,  and  other  reasons,  this  interpretation  of 
the  Hebrews  could  not  be  admitted,  were  it  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  the  phrase  "  within  sixty-five 
years"  could  refer  to  a  period  taking  its  commence- 
ment from  a  past  time,  not  mentioned  by  the 
speaker. 

Archbishop  Usher  conceives,  that  it  was  not  by 
Salmanassar's  conquest  that  Ephraim  was  "  so  brok- 
en as  to  be  no  more  a  people."  It  appears  from 
Ezra  iv,  2,  that  the  settlements  mentioned  in  2  Kings 
xvii,  31.  were  made  by  Ezerhaddon.  Hence  Arch- 
bishop Usher  infers,  that  although  Salmanazzar  cap- 
tivated the  greater  part  of  the  Israelites,  a  few  were 
allowed  to  remain,  and  that  among  these  some  sha- 
dow of  a  polity  subsisted,  till  the  settlement  of  Ezer- 
haddon's  colonies,  when  the  deportation  of  the  old 
inhabitants  was  completed  by  that  prince.     This, 


ISAIAH.  37 

the  learned  prelate  thinks,  was  the  complete  excision 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel ;  and  supposing  that  it  took 
place  about  the  twenty-second  of  Manasseh,  the 
year  of  Manasseh's  own  captivity,  or  the  year  of  the 
Julian  period  4040,  he  conceives  this  to  be  the 
event  which  the  Prophet  refers  to  the  sixty-fifth 
year  from  the  time  of  his  prediction.  This  is  the 
best  interpretation  of  these  sixty-five  years  that  has 
yet  been  given.  It  is  not  however  without  its  diffi- 
culties, as  Houbigant  hath  shewn ;  which  however 
are  not  so  great  as  to  justify  the  liberties  which  that 
learned  critic  would  take  with  the  sacred  text. 

Vitringa's  conjecture  deserves  attention.  He  sup- 
poses the  passage  might  be  originally  written  thus, 
tW  Ctom  ">  0#  T1JW1  -  that  is,  in  words  at  length, 
tm  BDTO  ?TWP  VV  TJP\  — «  and  as  yet  sixteen 
and  five  (i.  e.  twenty-one)  years."  From  '*  CX*,  igno- 
rant and  careless  copyists  might  easily  make  Ov£'C\ 
From  the  beginning  of  Ahaz's  reign  to  Salmanazzar's 
conquest  of  the  ten  tribes  was  twenty-one  years. 
But  that  this  prophecy  was  delivered  in  the  first  of 
Ahaz  is  highly  improbable,  as  Houbigant  has  clear- 
ly shewn. 

Verse  11.  — "  ask  it  cither  in  the  depth  or  in  the 
height  above."     p:yn  and  HD^n  are  verbs ;  Hiphil 

c  3 


38  ISAIAH. 

imperative.  "  Go  deep  to  the  grave  [rather  to  Ha- 
des], or  mount  on  high."  Aquila,  Symmachus, 
Theodotion,  and  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  12.  "  But  Ahaz  said,  I  will  not  ask,"  &c. 
This  is  not  an  answer  of  pride  or  irony,  but  of  con- 
sternation ;  a  consternation,  however,  little  less  cri- 
minal than  pride,  as  bespeaking,  if  not  a  positive 
disbelief  and  contempt  of  God's  promises  made  by 
the  Prophet,  yet  the  want  of  that  reliance  and  trust 
in  them,  which  would  have  laid  the  fears  of  a  true 
believer  quite  asleep.  Accordingly  the  answer  of- 
fends, and  draws  menaces  of  God's  wrath  from  the 
Prophet. 

Verse  14.  "  Therefore  the  Lord  himself  shall  give 
you  a  sign,"  &c.  A  sign  of  what?  A  pledge  of  the  - 
truth  of  the  prediction  which  promises  the  ill-success 
of  the  confederate  kings  in  their  expedition  against 
Jerusalem  ?  No  :  of  that  favour  the  irreligious  king 
of  Judah  had  shewn  himself  unworthy.  But  God, 
wearied  out  with  the  disloyalty  of  David's  degenerate 
sons,  will  at  the  due  season  of  himself  exhibit  such 
a  sign  of  his  own  power,  his  sovereignty,  and  his 
providential  care  of  men,  as  shall  strike  idolaters 
and  unbelievers  like  thee,  O  Ahaz!  with  dismay. 
That  sign  shall  be  the  miraculous  birth  of  that  pro- 


ISAIAH. 

mised  Seed,  who,  by  the  proofs  of  his  own  deity, 
shall  overthrow  the  credit  of  these  imaginary  gods, 
in  whom  thon  hast  put  thy  trust. 

— "  a  virgin  shall  conceive" —  "  Ergo  Twhy  non 
solum  puella  vel  virgo,  sed  cum  innunn  virgo  ab- 
scondita  dicitur  et  secreta,  qua?  nunquam  viroruni 
potuerit  aspectibus,  sed  magna  parentum  diligentia 
custodita  sit.  Lingua  quoque  Punica,  quae  de  He- 
braeorum  fontibus  manare  dicitur,  virgo,  Alma  ap- 
pellator. Et  ut  risum  praebeamus  Judaeis,  nostro 
quoque  sermone,  Alma,  sancta  dicitur Et  quan- 
tum cum  mea  pugno  memoria,  nunquam  me  arbitror 
HD^y  in  muliere  nupta  legisse,  sed  in  ea  qua?  virgo 
est,  ut  non  solum  virgo  sit,  sed  virgo  junioris  aetatis, 
et  in  annis  adolescentiae.  Potest  enim  fieri  ut  virgo 
sit  vetula,  ista  autem  virgo  erat  in  annis  puellaribus: 
vel  certe  virgo  non  puellula,  et  qua?  adhuc  virum 
nosse  non  posset,  sed  adhuc  nubilis."  Hieronym. 
ad  locum. 

"  A  certain  virgin" —  "  A  certain' ■ —  this  is  the 
force  of  the  prefixed  K 

Verse  15.  "  Butter  and  honey,"  &c.  This  text 
clearly  describes  the  truth  of  the  human  nature  in 
the  child  to  be  miraculously  born.  His  infancy  shall 
be  nourished  with  the  ordinary  food  of  that  tender 

c  1 


40  ISAIAH. 

age,  and  he  shall  gradually  grow  in  stature  and  dis- 
cretion. 

Verse  16.  "  For  before  the  child  shall  know 

the  land  which  thou  abhorrest  shall  be  forsaken  of 
both  her  kings." 

"  For  before  this  child  shall  know 
To  refuse  the  evil  and  choose  the  good, 
The  land  shall  become  desolate, 

By  whose  two  kings  thou  art  distressed."  Bish.  Lowth, 
This  is  certainly  the  most  exact  translation  of  the 
passage  as  it  stands,  if  Vp  be  the  participle  passive 
of  the  verb  Vp.  But  the  land  which  Ahaz  abhorred, 
according  to  the  common  translation,  must  be  Sa- 
maria, or  Syria,  or  both.  But  these  were  two  dis- 
tinct lands,  under  two  distinct,  though  confederate, 
kings.  The  two  kings,  by  whom  Ahaz  was  dis- 
tressed, according  to  Bishop  Lowth's  translation, 
were  the  kings  of  these  two  distinct  lands.  But  the 
words  of  the  Prophet  describe  some  one  land  which 
had  two  kings. 

Father  Houbigant  removes  this  difficulty  by  chang- 
ing T\*07Q  into  OO /D.  Then  he  renders  the  passage 
thus ;  "  Sed  puer  nondum  sciet  respuere  malum  et 
eligere  bonum,  cum  terra  haec  de  qua  tu  nunc  auge- 
ris   propter   duos  reges,   libera   dimittetur."     This 


ISAIAH.  41 

sense  the  words  so  amended  will  well  bear;  and  it 
must  be  confessed  that  three  MSS.,  of  no  great  anti- 
quity, (see  De  Rossi),  and  the  version  of  the  LXX, 
favour  the  emendation. 

If  this  be  the  true  sense,  it  is  a  promise  to  the 
king  of  Judah  of  the  deliverance  of  his  own  land 
from  the  danger  which  threatened  it  from  the  kings 
of  Samaria  and  Syria,  before  a  certain  child  should 
begin  to  distinguish  between  good  and  evil.  The 
Prophet  says  "  before  this  child."  This  expression 
seems  to  refer  to  the  child  last  mentioned,  the 
Emanuel,  the  Son  of  the  Virgin.  But  a  prediction 
of  deliverance  from  a  present  danger,  before  a  child, 
not  to  be  born  for  many  centuries,  should  attain  a 
certain  age,  would  be  a  promise  affording  little  com- 
fort. It  would  rather  give  room  to  apprehend  that 
the  danger  would  continue  till  the  birth  at  least  of 
that  child ;  and  that  till  that  period,  however  distant, 
the  land  of  Judah  would  be  harassed  with  incessant 
wars  with  the  confederate  kings  of  Samaria  and  Sy- 
ria. For  the  reasonable  conclusion  from  the  terms 
of  the  promise  would  be,  that  the  danger  was  to  last 
till  the  time  set  in  the  promise  for  the  deliverance 
should  come.  According  to  the  common  translation. 


n  ISAIAH, 

or  to  Bishop  Lowth's  translation,  the  same  difficulty 
occurs  about  the  child. 

Expositors,  therefore,  have  supposed  that  the  child 
spoken  of  in  this  verse  is  a  different  child  from  that 
which  was  the  subject  of  the  last.  Some  tell  us  that 
Isaiah,  when  he  uttered  this  16th  verse,  pointed  to 
his  son  Shear) ashub  ;  assuming,  what  they  certainly 
cannot  prove,  that  Shearjashub  was  at  this  time  an 
infant  in  arms.  But  if  the  Prophet  had  pointed  to 
any  child,  he  would  have  said,  not  simply  "V^,  but 
nin  "IJJJH.  Father  Houbigant,  aware  perhaps  of  this 
objection,  makes  no  use  of  Shearjashub,  but  imagines 
that  the  child  of  this  16th  verse,  is  a  child  not  men- 
tioned before;  namely,  the  Prophet's  son,  Maher- 
shalalhashbaz,  not  yet  born,  or  begotten.  But  that 
the  phrase  "  this  child,"  introduced  just  after  the 
mention  of  a  particular  child,  should  not  rehearse 
that  child,  but  signify  another  child  not  yet  express- 
ly mentioned,  and  to  be  mentioned  hereafter  in  a 
very  distant  part  of  the  discourse,  is  a  very  unnatural 
supposition.  I  should  sooner  embrace  the  interpret- 
ation of  those  who  understand  ^V^9  not  of  any  in- 
dividual infant,  but  generally  of  the  whole  infancy 
of  Palestine  at  that  time  ;  as  if  the  Prophet  had  said, 


ISAIAH.  4S 

Before  our  infant  children  arrive  at  an  age  to  distin- 
guish between  good  and  evil,  the  land  of  Judea  shall 
be  delivered  from  its  present  dangers. 

The  learned  Vitringa,  who  gives  that  translation 
of  this  16th  verse  which  Bishop  Lowth  has  adopted, 
is  clear  in  the  opinion,  that  the  "  this  child"  of  tin's 
verse  cannot  be  expounded  of  Shearjashub,  or  of 
Mahershalalhashbaz,  or  of  any  other  child  than  the 
Emanuel  of  the  14th  verse  ;  and  yet  he  understands 
this  verse  as  a  prediction  of  the  overthrow  of  the 
kingdoms  of  Syria  and  Israel  as  a  thing  near  at 
hand.  To  draw  this  signification  of  the  proximity 
of  the  event,  from  what  should  seem  to  set  it  at  so 
great  a  distance,  the  reference  of  it  to  the  times  of 
the  Emanuel,  he  has  recourse  to  this  expedient. 
He  says,  that  to  the  imagination  of  the  Prophet,  in 
ecstasy,  the  Emanuel  was  present  as  already  born ; 
and  therefore  in  his  mouth  the  words,  "  Before  this 
child  shall  know  to  refuse  the  evil  and  choose  the 
good,"  describe  only  the  ordinary  interval  between 
the  birth  of  a  child  and  the  opening  of  its  mental 
faculties,  reckoned,  not  from  the  future  birth  of  the 
Emanuel,  but  from  the  time  when  the  prophecy  was 
uttered,  with  which  the  birth  of  the  Emanuel  to 
the  Prophet,  in  the  ecstatic  vision,  seemed  coinci* 


44,  ISAIAtf. 

dent.     — "  Id  vult  Jesaias,  non  esse  plus  lapsum  in 
temporis,  inde  a  quo  haec  locutus  est  verba,  usque 
ad  terrain,  cujus  duo  reges  Judaeos  vexabant,  spolia- 
tam  ac  desertam,  quam  elaboretur  a  tempore  conci- 
piendi  et  nascitur  Immanuelis,  usque  ad  illud  aetatis 
ejusdem  tempus,  quo  ratio  vires  suas  in  ipso  perfec- 
tius  exereret."     It  might  perhaps  be  an  objection  of 
little  force  against  this  interpretation,   to  observe, 
that  the   Hebrew  adverb   tD^DD,   like  the  English 
"  before,"  is  descriptive  simply  of  priority  or  pre- 
cedence of  event,  not  of  length  of  intervening  time. 
For  it  were  easy  to  reply,  that  the  same  force  of  ec- 
stasy which  presented  remote  futurity  as  present  to 
the  Prophet's  imagination,  would  necessarily  influ- 
ence his  language ;   insomuch  that  his  expressions 
were  to  be  interpreted,  not  by  the  common  rules  of 
grammar,  but  with  relation  to  his  particular  state  of 
mind.    But  it  should  be  recollected,  that  though  the 
Prophet  was  in  ecstasy,  those,  to  whom  the  prophecy 
was  delivered,  were  in  their  ordinary  state  of  mind. 
They  therefore  would  be  little  aware  of  the  presence 
of  the  Emanuel  as  actually  born,  or  as  just  now  to 
be  born,  to  the  entranced  imagination  of  the  Pro- 
phet ;  consequently  the  Prophet's  words  would  not 
convey  his  own  meaning  to  his  hearers.     Or  if  any 


ISAIAH. 

of  them  were  quick-sighted  enough  to  discern,  that 
the  force  of  ecstasy  rendered  the  Emanuel  present 
as  already  born  to  the  Prophet's  imagination,  by 
what  means  could  they  discern,  that  the  deliverance, 
which  he  referred  to  the  times  of  the  Emanuel's  in- 
fancy, was  not  an  event  in  reality  equally  remote, 
and  present,  or  imminent,  to  the  Prophet  only  in  the 
ecstatic  vision?  This  seems  indeed  the  just  and 
natural  view  of  the  whole  prophecy,  if  Vitringa's 
hypothesis  be  admitted,  that  the  Prophet,  in  the  ec- 
static vision,  contemplates  the  Emanuel  as  already 
born,  and  under  that  prepossession,  as  it  were,  refers 
the  events  of  his  own  time  to  the  life  of  the  Emanuel. 
And  this  proves  that  his  hypothesis  is  inadmissible, 
since  it  makes  the  amount  of  the  supposed  promise 
nothing  more  than  this,  that  before  the  end  of  the 
period  of  the  Emanuel's  infancy,  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  would  see  the  downfall  of  confederate  ene- 
mies, by  whom,  however,  it  would  be  harassed  till 
the  season  of  the  Emanuel's  birth.  And  this  would 
have  been  a  prophecy  nugatory  in  itself,  and  incon- 
sistent with  the  event. 

But  it  is  a  further  objection  to  this,  in  common 
with  every  interpretation  yet  mentioned,  that  it 
makes  this  16th  verse  a  promise  of  providential  dc- 


46  ISAIAH. 

liverance,  abruptly  introduced  in  the  midst  of  a 
comminatory  discourse.  The  prediction  of  the  birth 
of  the  Emanuel,  addressed  to  Ahaz,  an  idolatrous 
prince,  was  certainly,  with  respect  to  him,  a  threat, 
(although  it  is  not  considered  as  such  by  Vitringa). 
The  whole  discourse,  subsequent  to  the  16th  verse 
to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  is  threatening.  It  is  cer- 
tainly strange,  if  a  promise  is  introduced  among  these 
threats  without  any  thing  in  the  connexion  of  the 
sentences  to  mark  the  transition  from  threatening 
in  the  15th  verse  to  promise  in  the  16th,  or  back 
again  from  promise  to  threatening.  The  want  of 
which,  in  the  latter  instance,  was  so  strongly  felt  by 
Houbigant,  that  he  makes  a  conjectural  emendation 
of  the  text  at  the  beginning  of  the  17th  verse,  to 
produce  that  mark  of  transition,  which  he  was  aware 
was  necessary  in  the  scheme  of  interpretation  which 
he  adopted. 

It  seems  to  me  that  all  this  confusion  may  be 
avoided,  and  all  obscurity  of  the  passage  removed, 
if  the  word  V?  be  taken  for  a  noun  substantive  in 
apposition  with  the  pronoun  fintf.  For  the  passage 
may  be  thus  rendered, 

"  Surely  before  this  child  shall  know 

To  refuse  evil,  and  set  his  choice  upon  good, 


ISAIAH.  ^7 

This  land  of  which  thou  art  the  plague  *   [literally,  the 

thoni'] 
Shall  be  left  destitute  of  both  her  kings." 

— "  before  this  child" —  the  child  just  mentioned, 
the  Emanuel. 

— "  this  land,"  Palestine,  the  country  of  the 
speaker  and  of  him  to  whom  he  spake.  Of  this  land 
Ahaz  was  the  thorn,  or  plague,  by  his  wicked  in 
which  brought  that  train  of  calamities  on  the  Jewish 
nation,  which  ended  in  the  Babylonish  captivity. 
See  2  Kings  xvi,  and  2  Chron.  xXviii.  "  Before  this 
wonderful  child,  whose  birth  I  now  predict,  shall 
attain  to  an  age  to  distinguish  between  good  and 
evil,  this  land  of  which  thou  art  the  plague  and 
scourge,  shall  be  left  destitute  of  both  her  kings." 
That  is,  no  king  shall  remain  in  either  branch  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  but  the  monarchies  both  of  Israel  and 
Judah  shall  be  demolished.  Thus  this  16th  verse  is 
a  prediction,  that  both  these  monarchies  should  be 
brought  to  an  end,  before  the  Emanuel  should  have 
passed  his  infancy.  Accordingly,  the  last  of  the  two, 
at  that  time  extending  over  the  dominions  of  both, 
the  kingdom  of  Judah  was  extinguished  in  the  se- 
cond year  of  our  Lord's  age,  by  the  death  of  Herod 


Compare  Ezek.  xxviii,  24-, 


48  ISAIAH. 

the  Great.  For  although  it  was  ten  years  later  be- 
fore Judea  was  reduced  to  the  form  of  a  province, 
Archelaus,  with  the  title  of  ethnarch,  was  in  the 
meanwhile  the  mere  vassal  of  the  emperor,  who  as- 
signed him,  for  the  short  time  he  suffered  him  to 
govern,  but  the  half  of  his  father's  dominions. 

The  chief  objections  that  may  be  made  to  this  in- 
terpretation I  take  to  be  these  two.  1st,  That  the 
word  Vp,  written  defectively  without  the  %  occurs  in 
no  other  place  as  a  noun  substantive,  in  the  singular 
number ;  though  Q^Jp,  for  thorns,  is  frequent.  Idly, 
That  the  better  Hebrew  phrase  for  "  of  which  thou 
art  the  plague,"  would  be  rh  yvp  finK  n^K.  But 
these  objections  seem  less  considerable  than  the  dif- 
ficulties which  press  the  other  interpretations. 

The  learned  Dr  Sturges,  in  his  letter  to  the  Lay- 
man (printed  for  Cadell,  1791),  in  defending  Bishop 
Lowth's  translation  as  preferable  to  the  Layman's, 
says,  "  that  ^S)D  cannot  properly  be  constructed 
with  Styn,  but  may  very  properly  with  Yp."  If  this 
criticism  be  just,  it  makes  equally  against  my  trans- 
lation and  the  Layman's,  and  should  be  mentioned 
as  a  third  grammatical  objection.  The  objection, 
however,  seems  pretty  strongly  overruled  by  the  un- 
ited authorities  of  the  LXX,  Theodotion,  Symma- 


ISAIAH.  49 

chus,  and  Aquila.  Every  one  of  these  interpreters 
evidently  construes  ^S)D  with  2tyr\.  See  Bardht's 
Hexapla. 

If  it  be  said  that,  according  to  this  interpretation, 
Ahaz  receives  no  sign  of  the  truth  of  the  prediction 
contained  in  the  7th,  8th,  and  9th  verses,  the  answer 
is,  that  none  was  meant  to  be  given  him,  after  the 
offence  which  he  gave  by  declining  the  Prophet's 
offer.  The  Prophet  is  sent  to  dispel  the  king's  fears 
by  assurances  that  the  confederate  kings  of  Samaria 
and  Syria  would  be  frustrated  by  God's  special  in- 
terference, in  the  hopes  they  had  formed  of  the  con- 
quest of  Judah.  The  Prophet  executes  this  com- 
mission ;  and  then,  in  the  10th  and  11th  verses,  the 
Prophet,  in  the  name  of  God,  invites  Ahaz  to  ask 
whatever  sign  might  best  please  him  of  the  certainty 
of  the  predictions  delivered  to  him.  Ahaz,  not  re- 
lieved from  his  apprehensions  by  the  promise  of 
God's  protection,  in  terms  which  indicate  something 
of  superstitious  fear  of  the  Divine  Power,  mixed 
with  incredulity,  refuses  the  Prophet's  offer,  in  verse 
12th.  The  Prophet,  taking  fire  at  the  secret  mistrust 
of  God,  which  the  continuance  of  the  king's  fears, 
strongly  marked  in  the  language  of  his  reply,  be- 
trayed, attacks  the  miserable  idolater  in  a  strain  of 

VOL.  II.  I) 


50  ISAIAH. 

stern  rebuke  and  threatening.  Since  he  declined  to 
receive  a  sign,  a  token  of  the  certainty  of  the  de* 
liverance  promised,  God  himself,  he  tells  him,  would 
in  due  season  exhibit  such  a  sign  of  his  own  power 
and  of  his  government  of  the  world,  and  care  of 
man,  as  the  heart  of  man  never  could  have  conceiv- 
ed. That  the  downfall  of  the  Jewish  kingdom,  in 
both  its  branches,  would  be  completed  upon  the  ex- 
hibition of  that  sign.  After  the  general  prediction  of 
this  final  calamity,  he  goes  into  the  detail  of  that 
train  of  miseries  which  were  to  lead  to  it,  and  were 
now  beginning.  Thus,  it  is  true,  the  word  sign  is 
used  in  different  senses  in  the  11th  and  14th  verses: 
in  the  11th,  for  a  pledge  of  the  truth  of  a  particular 
prediction;  in  the  14th,  for  a  token  of  God's  power 
and  providence  in  the  general.  This  play,  if  it  may 
be  so  called,  between  different,  but  cognate  senses 
of  the  same  word,  is  one  of  the  proper  symptoms  of 
animated  speech,  and  never  creates  obscurity  when 
feelings  are  excited  in  the  hearer  s  or  the  reader's 
mind,  to  correspond  in  any  degree  with  those  of  the 
speaker. 

Verse  17.  — "  even  the  king  of  Assyria."  Omit 
these  words  with  Houbigant,  Archbishop  Seckei\ 
and  Bishop  Lowth. 


ISAIAH.  51 

Verse  19.  — "  bushes ;"  perhaps  u  brilliant  flowers." 
See  Parkhurst,  Su 

Chap,  viii,  1.  — "  Take  thee  a  great  roll" —  I 
cannot  find  that  the  root  n^J  signifies  *  to  polish.' 
And  I  much  doubt  the  sense  which  Bishop  Lovvth, 
from  that  supposed  meaning  of  the  root,  gives  the 
word  p^J  in  this  place,  '  a  mirror.'  It  is  true,  the 
word  Wtttan,  for  which  some  MSS.  have  BM^ 
is  rendered  *  the  glasses,'  chap,  hi,  23.  But  from 
the  other  things  with  which  it  is  there  connected,  it 
should  seem  that  it  rather  signifies  some  transparent 
garments.  So  the  LXX  understood  it;  and  this 
sense  naturally  connects  with  some  of  the  most  usual 
senses  of  the  root,  nW.  See  Mr  Parkhurst's  Lexicon. 
But  the  word  p^J  seems  rather  to  be  referred  to  the 
root  ^,  and  to  signify  *  a  roll.' 

— "  with  a  man's  pen" —  If  there  be  any  truth  in 
what  is  said  by  some  of  the  Rabbin,  (vide  Huctius 

Demonstrat.  Evan.  Prop,  iv,  cap.  xiii,  §  10),  that  the 
Jews  before  the  captivity  had  a  double  character, 
one  in  which  the  sacred  books  were  written,  another 
for  common  use,  "  to  write  with  a  man's  pen"  may 
signify  to  write  in  the  common  character,  that  the 
writing  might  be  legible  to  all. 

— Ci  concerning  Maher-shalal-hash-baz."    — u  and 

n  2 


52  ISAIAH., 

write  in  it  with  a  man's  pen,  To  a  swift  one,  the 

spoil ;  one  that  hasteneth,  the  prey." 

i 

Verse  6.  — "  this  people ;"  u  e.  the  people  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel.  "  Quia  populus  decern  tribuum 
magis  voluit  Resin  et  filio  Remalise,  i.  e.  Damasci  et 
Samariae  regibus  esse  subjectus  quam  stirpi  David, 
quag  meo  coepit  regnare  judicio,  faciam  eura  nequa- 
quam  his  regibus  quos  assumpsit,  sed  regi  servire 
Assyrio."     Hieron.  ad  locum. 

— "  the  waters  of  Shiloah  that  go  softly" —  It  is 
difficult  to  reconcile  this  "  going  softly"  of  the  wa- 
ters of  Shiloah  with  St  Jerome's  description  of  that 
stream.  He  says  that  it  is  a  periodical  spring, 
u  which  bubbles  up  at  the  foot  of  mount  Sion,  not 
perpetually,  but  at  stated  times ;  — e  non  jugibus 
aquis  sed  in  certis  horis  diebusque;'  and  runs  with 
great  noise  through  hollows  under  ground  and  the 
caverns  of  a  rock  of  extraordinary  hardness."  Per-  ' 
haps  at  its  rise  it  may  rush  through  the  orifices  of 
the  rock  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  with  considerable 
noise  and  impetuosity,  but  issuing  in  no  great  quan- 
tity ;  at  some  small  distance  from  its  source  it  may 
form  a  scanty,  gentle,  silent  stream. 

Verse  8.  — <c  he  shall  pass  through  Judah  y"  X2^ 
ther,  "  and  he  shall  run  on  into  Judea,  flooding  and 


ISAIAH. 

overflowing."  The  Assyrian  is  described  under  the 
image  of  a  flood,  first  overwhelming  the  territory  of 
the  ten  tribes,  and  thence  proceeding  in  its  irresist- 
ible course  till  it  enters  the  land  of  Jndea.  The 
progress  of  the  flood  from  one  place  to  another  is 
expressed  in  the  word  ^n ;  very  imperfectly  render- 
ed in  English  by  the  words  "  pass  through." 

— "  shall  fill  the  breadth" —  And  the  extension 
of  his  wings  (i.  e.  the  length  of  his  extended  wings) 
[shall  be]  the  full  breadth  of  thy  land,  O  Emanuel.'1 

Verse  9.  — "  O  ye  people" —  rather,  "  O  ye 
peoples."  Upon  the  mention  of  Emanuel,  greater 
scenes  open  to  the  Prophet's  view,  and  he  breaks 
out  in  strains  of  triumph,  for  the  final  victory  of  the 
Emanuel  over  the  confederated  branches  of  the 
apostate  faction,  idolaters,  atheists,  proiane  men, 
and  evil  spirits. 

Verses  10,  11.  — "  for  God  is  with  us.  For  the 
Lord  spake  thus  to  me,  with  a  strong  hand" —  I 
cannot  but  much  incline  to  the  transposition  pro- 
posed by  Houbigant, 

;T>  rvpra  Sk  uej;  "O 
*^k  mm  nDK  ro  *o 

&c. 

D 


5*  ISAIAH. 

"  For  with  us  is  God,  with  a  mighty  hand, 
For  thus  saith  Jehovah  unto  me" — 

Rather,  without  any  transposition,  render  the  11th 

verse  thus, 

"  For  thus  spake  Jehovah  unto  me, 

What  time  he  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  turned  me  aside 
From  walking  in  the  way  of  this  people,  saying"— 

Verse  12.' <c  Say  ye  not  a  confederacy,"  &c.  I  see 
no  difficulty  in  this  passage,  nor  at  all  perceive  tire 
necessity  of  the  change  proposed  by  Archbishop 
Seeker,  and  adopted  by  Bishop  Lowth,  of  *i#p  into 
U^p.  God  warns  the  Prophet,  i.  e.  he  warns  the  faith- 
ful in  the  person  of  the  Prophet,  not  to  be  a  party  in 
the  confederacies  of  the  Jewish  people,  but  to  put 
his  whole  trust  in  God,  In  this  warning,  the  more 
immediate  object  may  be  the  ruinous  alliance  which 
Ahaz  formed  with  the  Assyrian.  But,  in  a  higher 
sense,  the  caution  may  respect  the  iniquitous  con- 
federacy of  the  Jewish  priests  and  rulers  against  our 
Lord,  and  the  confederacy  of  Jews  and  heathens 
against  his  religion  upon  its  first  appearance.  If  I 
were  to  propose  any  change,  it  should  rather  be  of 
It^H^n,  in  the  beginning  of  the  next  verse,  into 
VWpn.  «  Jehovah  of  hosts  make  him  your  confe- 
derate/5 


.  ISAIAH. 

— "  neither  fear  ye  their  fear.11  The  fear  of  the 
people  of  Jiulea  at  the  time  when  this  prophecy  was 
delivered,  was  a  fear  of  the  allied  forces  of  llesin 
and  Pekaiah.  The  fear  of  the  Jews  in  the  time  of 
our  Saviour,  was  "  that  all  men  would  believe  in  him, 
and  that  the  Romans  would  come  and  take  away 
their  place  and  nation."  John  xi,  48.  And  the  fear 
of  the  heathens,  upon  the  first  promulgation  of  the 
gospel,  was  a  fear  of  the  vengeance  of  their  imagin- 
ary gods. 

Verse  13.  "  Sanctify''—  See  the  note  on  the  pre- 
ceding verse. 

Verse  14.  — "  he  shall  be  for  a  sanctuary" — 
#npD7  T\^T\\  read,  with  Vulgate  and  Bishop  Lowth, 
gnjoS  x=&  JWI%  «  And  he  shall  be  to  you  for  a 
sanctuary." 

— "  to  both  the  houses  of  Israel ;"  /*.  e.  to  both 
the  -branches  of  the  Jewish  nation. 

Verse  16.  "  Bind  up  the  testimony" —  PHiyn,  "  the 
oracular  warning."  —-among  my  disciples  ff  rather, 
"  for  my  disciples."  — "  pro  illis  qui  docentera  me 
audient."  Houbigant.  This  command  to  the  Pro- 
phet to  bind  up  this  prediction,  and  seal  the  com- 
mand, or  doctrine,  as  a  thing  to  be  laid  by,  for  fu- 
ture use,   together  with  the   Prophet's  declaration 


56  ISAIAH. 

that  immediately  follows,  that  he  will  wait  for  Jeho- 
vah, &c.  clearly  shews  that  these  oracular  warnings 
and  admonitions,  which  he  is  commanded  to  bind  up 
and  seal,  relate  to  the  events  of  distant  times. 

Verse  18.  "  Behold,  I,"  &c.  The  application  of 
this  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  to  prove 
the  truth  of  the  human  nature  in  the  Redeemer,  is 
very  extraordinary.  It  shews  that  from  the  16th 
verse  the  Prophet  personates  the  humanity  of  the 
Messiah. 

Verse  19.  — &  for  the  living  to  the  dead?"  After 
W*H\  Houbigant  would  insert  EW»  OKj  Bishop 
Lowth  JFWtfl.  The  version  of  the  LXX  in  some 
degree  justifies  the  conjecture.  The  words,  if  not 
inserted,  must  be  understood. 

Verse  20.  "  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony." 
To  the  revealed  doctrine  and  the  oracular  warning. 
See  verse  16. 

— "  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is 
because  there  is  no  light  in  them." 

tm  "D-D  HDIO  *h  CDK 

nw  h  p*  lew 

Bishop  Lowth  makes  this  the  beginning  of  a  new 
period,  connecting  it  with  what  follows. 


ISAIAH.  17 

"  If  they  will  not  speak  according  to  this  word  [the  word  of 
the  command  and  the  testimony,  a©  the  Bishop  under- 
stands it], 
In  which  there  is  no  obscurity, 
Every  one  of  them  shall  pass  through,"  &c. 

But  the  word  TiW9  though  it  denotes  a  black 
swarthy  colour,  never  signifies  the  perfect  darkness 
of  the  night,  but  the  imperfect  feeble  light  of  the 
break  of  day.  It  is  not  used,  that  I  can  find,  to  de- 
note the  last  stage  of  the  evening  twilight,  but  the 
first  of  the  dawn.  It  expresses  nascent,  not  evanes- 
cent light.  Therefore  1W  pK  is  more  properly  "  no 
light"  than  "  no  obscurity,"  and  seems  to  be  used 
here  as  a  proverbial  expression  for  writings  in  which 
the  sense  is  supposed  to  be  studiously  concealed  un- 
der harsh  metaphors  and  dark  senigmata.  The  words 
n*n  1312  may  be  understood  to  relate  to  this  pro- 
verbial expression  which  follows  them,  full  as  natur- 
ally as  to  the  word  of  God  mentioned  before  under 
the  appellations  of  the  doctrine  and  the  oracular 
warning.  *>  OK  is  a  phrase  of  asseveration  ;  '  See 
if  I  do  not,'  or,  '  See  if  they  do  not,'  according  to 
the  person  of  the  verb  :  or  of  interrogation, !  Nonne.' 
Sometimes,  but  less  frequently,  it  signifies  *  If  not* 
The  whole  verse  may  be  thus  rendered : 


5*  ISAIAH. 

"  To  the  doctrine  and  the  testimony- 
See  if  they  do  not  say,  according  to  the  proverb,  that  there 
is  not  a  ray  of  light  in  it." 

The  first  line  is  an  admonition,  in  opposition  to 
those  who  advise  a  consultation  with  wizards  and 
diviners.  "  Rather  consult  the  doctrine  and  predic- 
tions of  your  sacred  books.  But  see,"  says  God  to 
the  Prophet,  <c  when  they  are  referred  to  these,  if 
they  do  not  complain  of  their  utter  obscurity."  Or 
the  sense  of  the  passage  may  be,  what  our  public 
translation  seems  to  give :  a  If  they  [i.  e.  those 
whom  you  are  advised  to  consult}  do  not  speak  ac- 
cording to  this  word  [the  word  of  the  revealed  doc- 
trine and  the  oracular  warning],  it  is  because  there 
is  no  glimmering  of  light  in  them  [no  glimmering 
of  the  light  of  Divine  knowledge]." 

What  follows  is  very  difficult.  The  feminine  pro- 
noun r©  has  no  antecedent.  Houbigant,  for  ft?, 
reads  nWO  •  and  for  the  participle  WpJ5  he  would 
read  'tt^E,  observing  that  the  sentence  requires  a 
noun  in  this  place.  The  Vulgate,  Symmachus,  and 
the  Chaldee,  seem  to  have  had  in  their  copies  some 
word  derived  from  the  root  ^5.  Bishop  Lowth 
thinks  it  was  the  participle  SWJ.  But  I  agree  with 
Houbigant,  that  the  sentence  wants  a  noun  in  this 


ISAIAH  59 

place,  to  be  either  the  object  or  the  nominative  of 
the  verb.  I  would  (with  much  less  alteration  of  the 
text  than  Houbigant  proposes)  read 

:>j?-n  vtfV  om  -Dpi 
or  rather, 

ajm  i^p  D!-D  *OyX 

According  to  the  first  emendation,  ^p  and  2jn  are 
subjects  of  the  verb  "^JJ. 

«  And  there  shall  come  upon  them  stubbornness  and  famine." 

According  to  the  second  emendation,  which  I  great- 
ly prefer,  these  two  words  are  objects  of  the  verb 

U  I  will  bring  upon  them  stubbornnes  and  famine." 

Not  a  famine  of  meat  and  drink,  but  of  religious 
knowledge  and  comfort.  In  this  and  all  that  follows 
to  the  word  Hv  in  the  23d  verse,  according  to  the 
Hebrew,  or  the  words  c<  her  vexation"  in  the  1st 
verse  of  the  following  chapter,  according  to  the 
English  Bible,  the  prophecy  respects  the  religious 
blindness  and  obstinacy  of  the  Jews,  in  the  days  of 
our  Lord's  appearance  in  the  flesh,  and  the  judg- 
ments which  fell  upon  them.  I  render  the  whole 
thus, 

U  I  will  bring  upon  them  stubbornness  and  famine  ; 


60  ISAIAH. 

And  it  shall  be  that  he  that  is  famished  shall  fret  withm 

himself, 
And  blaspheme  against  his  king  and  his  God, 
And  shall  look  upwards." 

22  "  And  towards  the  land  he  shall  earnestly  look. 
But  behold  tribulation  and  darkness, 
Weariness,  distress,  and  a  solid  mist. 
For  weariness  [is]  not  [incident]  to  him,  who  layeth  the 
distress  upon  her." 

— u  he  that  is  famished" —  3JTV*  *0,  quisquis  pre- 
mitur  fame.  *>2  is  often  used  for  the  pronoun  "l&W. 
See  Masclef.  Gram.  Heb.  cap.  xxv,  num.  vi,  §  vii. 

— "  his  king  and  his  God,"  Jesus  Christ,  the  king 
of  the  Jews. 

— "  look  upwards,"  look  to  heaven,  for  a  sign 
from  thence,  which  the  unbelieving  Jews  demanded 
of  our  Lord. 

"  And  towards  the  land  he  shall  earnestly  look." 
With  amazement  and  dismay,  and  anxious  for  the 
event,  this  stubborn  famished  Jew  shall  look  to  the 
land,  the  land  of  Judea,  contemplate  the  state  of  his 
country. 

— "  a  solid  mist  j"  literally,  a  thrusting  mist^  a 
mist  that  strikes  against  you  $  darkness  that  might 
be  felt. 

— "  upon  her" —  upon  the  land. 


ISAIAH.  61 

From  the  beginning  of  the  19th  verse  to  this  place, 
it  seems  that  God  is  the  speaker.  What  follows,  to 
the  end  of  the  7th  verse  of  the  following  chapter, 
the  Prophet  utters  in  his  own  person.  Here  there- 
fore the  eighth  chapter  should  end. 

Chap,  ix,  1.    — "  when  at  first  he  lightly  afflicted 

and  afterwards   did  more  grievously  afflict" — 

"  Fuit  superiore  tempore  aliquod  levamentum  terrae 
Zabulon  et  terrae  Nepthalim,  sed  postremo  tempore 
omnia  gravissima  erunt  in  via  maris  secus  Jordanem 
in  Galitea  Gentium.,,  Houbigant.  The  verb  H^p, 
with  the  mention  of  some  specific  burthen,  of  ser- 
vice, affliction,  or  whatever  else  may  be  described 
under  the  image  of  a  burthen,  signifies  to  take  off 
from  that  burthen,  and  make  it  lighter.  But  no  in- 
stance can  be  found,  in  which  that  verb,  used  transi- 
tively, signifies  to  lay  on  a  light  affliction,  to  afflict 
in  a  small  degree,  or  to  lay  on  a  light  burthen  of  any 
sort.  Again,  the  verb  1^5,  with  the  mention  of  some 
specific  burthen,  may  signify  to  aggravate  its  weights 
But  the  verb  by  itself  never  signifies  to  afflict  griev- 
ously. Vitringa  wras  in  the  same  opinion  :  "  Voces 
/pn  n^DSn  in  scriptura  occurrere  pro  '  levius  et  gra- 
vius  affligere'  non  putem."  Vol.  i,  p.  233.  Father 
Houbigant  thinks  ^pn  is  used  impersonally  in  Ho- 


62  ISAIAH. 

phal,  and,  changing  the  Hiphil  TOSH  into  the  Ho- 
phal  13551,  he  says  that  verb  is  similarly  used.  The 
levamentum,  in  his  view  of  the  passage,  was  the  shel- 
ter which  the  kingdom  of  Judah  afforded  to  many 
individuals  of  the  tribes  of  Zabulon  and  Napthali  at 
the  time  of  Tiglath-pileser's  invasion  of  their  terri- 
tory: the  gravissima  omnia,  the  calamities  which 
that  country  suffered,  when  the  rest  of  the  ten  tribes 
were  finally  captivated.  But  no  other  instance  is  to  r 
be  found  in  which  the  Hophal  verbs  ^pft  and  *D5n 
are  used  impersonally,  the  one  to  express  alleviation, 
the  other  aggravation  of  a  burthen  of  misery,  with 
an  accusative  of  the  person  relieved  or  afflicted. 
These  verbs,  therefore,  unquestionably  render  the 
sense  which  Bishop  Lowth,  with  Vitringa,  affixes  to 
them,  — '  debased,'  — c  made  glorious/  And  the 
whole  passage  may  be  thus  translated : 

"  As  the  former  crisis  debased 

The  land  of  Zabulon  and  the  land  of  Napthali ; 
The  latter,  on  the  contrary,  hath  made  glorious 
The  coast  of  the  sea,  the  banks  of  Jordan,  Galilee  of  the 
Gentiles/' 
— <c  the  former  crisis,"  Tiglath-pileser's  invasion  ; 
"  the  latter,"  our  Lord's  appearance  in  the  flesh. 
Verse  3.  "  Thou  hast  multiplied  the  nation,  and 


o 


ISAIAH.  G3 

not  increased  the  joy  ;  they  joy,"  &c.  I  see  no  ne- 
cessity for  any  alteration  of  the  text.  The  Prophet's 
discourse  refers  to  a  shifting  scene  exhibited  to  his 
imagination,  of  a  country  thinly  inhabited,  unfruit- 
ful, wrapped  in  mists,  suddenly  illuminated  by  a 
bright  sun,  filled  with  new  inhabitants,  at  first  strug- 
gling with  great  difficulties,  and  shortly  attaining 
the  height  of  prosperity ;  their  enemies  vanquished 
in  battle,  and  the  accoutrements  and  weapons  of  the 
slain  burnt  in  heaps  upon  the  field.  This  shifting 
scene  is  emblematical  of  the  state  of  religious  know- 
ledge before  the  gospel,  of  the  improvements  made 
by  the  Christian  revelation,  of  the  variable  fortunes 
of  the  church  from  its  first  establishment  to  its  final 
triumph  over  all  its  enemies ;  of  the  troubles  of  its 
infancy,  and  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  its  later 
days.  The  Prophet's  discourse  is  not  a  description 
of  this  scene  composed  by  recollection  after  he  was 
recovered  from  the  trance,  but  short  remarks  upon 
the  parts  of  it  as  they  pass  before  him.  "  Propheta 
est  in  raptu  (says  the  learned  Vitringa  upon  another 
passage)  variasque  coram  oculis  pictas  habet  ima- 
gines, quarum  altera  succedit  alteri,  quasque  ipse  Ut 
vidit  in  ecstasi  nobis  pariter  contemplandas  exhibet." 
Hence  his  discourse  changes  as  the  scene  shifts; 


64  ISAIAH. 

and  when  contrary  images  succeed,  in  this  emblem- 
atical exhibition  of  futurity,  his  words,  considered  in 
themselves,  will  seem  incoherent  and  contradictory. 
First,  he  sees  a  sudden  light  burst  over  the  region 
of  Galilee,  and  dispel  the  mists  which  for  ages  had 
enveloped  it ;  figurative  of  the  light  of  the  gospel 
which  first  appeared  in  that  country,  and  shed  its 
splendour  over  the  world  walking  in  the  darkness  of 
spiritual  ignorance*  He  sees  the  nation  (of  the  true 
church)  multiplied  (by  the  influx  of  the  Gentile 
converts),  but  the  joy  (at  first)  not  increased;  the 
nation  so  multiplied  struggling  for  some  time  under 
the  greatest  difficulties.  But  in  an  instant  these 
scenes  of  sorrow  pass  away,  and  a  picture  succeeds 
of  national  prosperity  and  public  joy,  and  of  victory 
obtained,  not  by  the  prowess  of  man,  but  the  sen* 
sible  and  special  interposition  of  God,  like  Gideon's 
victory  over  the  Midianites. 

Verse  4.  — "  the  yoke  of  his  burden  j"  i.  e.  the 
yoke  with  which  he  was  burthened.  — "  jugum  quod 
ferebat."     Houbigant. 

Verse  5.  This  verse  must  remain  in  some  obscurity 
till  the  sense  of  the  word  [N3  is  more  clearly  ascer- 
tained. Bishop  Lowth's  "  caliga  caligati"  is -certain- 


ISAIAH.  m 

ly  the  best  guess  that  has  been  yet  made,  but  yet  it 
is  not  quite  satisfactory. 

If  the  word  '5  ue  taken  as  a  verb,  the  passage 
may  be  thus  rendered, 

"  For  destroyed  is  the  greave  of  the  greaved  warrior,  with  its 
rattling  noise, 
And  the  garment  rolled  in  blood : 
And  shall  be  for  burning-fuel  for  the  fire." 

— "  with  its  rattling  noise."     So  Bishop  Stock. 

Verse  6.  — "  The  mighty  God ;"  rather,  "God, 
the  mighty  Man." 

Verse  7.  "  Of  the  increase  of  his  government" — 
literally,  "  [His]  government  is  for  increase ;"  i.  e. 
it  shall  perpetually  increase.  "  Propagabit  late  im- 
perium  suum."     Houbigant. 

— c<  upon  the  throne."  I  think  Houbigant' s  con- 
jecture not  improbable.  He  would  read  ND5  7y  ly^  - 
"  He  shall  ascend  the  throne."  The  verb  p^rn,  as 
Houbigant  observes,  wants  a  preceding  verb  to  go- 
vern it. 

Chap,  ix,  8, — x,  4.  A  prophecy  against  the  ten 
tribes. 

8.  "  The  Lord  sent  a  word  into  Jacob ;"  rather, 
with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  Jehovah  hath  sent  a  word 
[i.  c.  an  oracular  word,  a  prophecy]  against  Jacob." 

VOL.  II.  E 


66  ISAIAH. 

This  oracular  word  I  take  to  be  the  denunciations 
of  judgment  upon  the  disobedience  of  the  Jewish 
race  uttered  by  Moses,  and  preserved  in  the  book  of 
Deuteronomy.  These  judgments,  at  the  time  when 
Isaiah  delivered  this  prophecy,  were  lighting  upon 
Israel;  they  were  then  about  to  take  effect  upon 
that  branch  of  the  Jewish  nation  which  consisted  of 
the  ten  tribes. 

Verse  9.     "  And  all  the  people  shall  know" — 
Houbigant   and    Bishop   Lpwth    propose   different 
emendations  of  the  verb  IJTW.     I  am  persuaded  no 
emendation  is  necessary.     The  verb  JH1  is  properly 
to  know  by  sensation,  to  feel,  perceive,  experience. 
The  final  1  in  this  place  I  take,  not  for  the  formative 
of  the  third  person  plural,  but  for  the  pronominal 
suffix  rehearsing  the  noun  ^%  (see  verse  13),  which 
noun  I  take  to  be  also  the  antecedent  of  the  suffix 
in  V?5.     And  I  would  render  the  passage  thus, 
H  And  this  people  shall  feel  it,  the  whole  of  it, 
Ephraim  and  the  inhabitant  of  Samaria, 
While  they  say,  in  pride  and  arrogance  of  heart,''  &c. 
The  words  "  Ephraim  and  the  inhabitant  of  Sama- 
ria" are  expositive  of  '*  this  people."     This  people, 
the  ten  tribes,  shall  feel  the  full  effect  and  comple- 
tion of  these  antient  denuntiations  of  wrath,  at  the 


ISAIAH.  <>: 

very  time  that  they  are  the  most  swoln  with  notions 
of  their  own  greatness  and  national  strength. 

Verse  11.  — "  set  up  the  adversaries  of  Rezin 
against  him  ;"  i.  e.  against  Rezin.  There  is  no  ne- 
cessity for  the  change  of  *W  into  "HCJ,  proposed  by 
Houbigant,  and  adopted  by  Bishop  Lowth.  The 
Prophet,  in  this  verse,  foretells  the  overthrow  of 
Rezin,  the  ally  of  the  king  of  Israel ;  and  in  the 
next,  the  calamities  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  itself 
The  mention  of  the  Syrian,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
next  verse,  among  the  devourers  of  Israel,  has  led 
expositors  to  imagine  that  it  was  against  Israel  that 
the  Wj  or  "HJtf,  of  Rezin  were  to  be  set  up ;  and, 
accordingly,  to  refer  the  pronominal  suffix  in  V>7JJ, 
not  to  fV\  which  immediately  precedes  it,  but  to 
PJTI,  in  the  8th  verse.  But  how  were  the  princes 
of  Rezin,  if  we  adopt  the  proposed  emendation, 
*HtP  for  "H^  how  were  they  set  up,  or  excited,  as 
Bishop  Lowth  has  it,  against  Israel  ?  In  this  man- 
ner, says  Mr  White :  The  Assyrian,  after  his  con- 
quest of  Rezin,  came  upon  the  Israelites  "  wTith  a 
mixed  army  of  his  own  national  troops,  and  those  of 
the  vanquished  Syrians."  But  of  these  vanquished 
Syrians,  which  Mr  White  has  enlisted  for  Tiglath- 
pileser  in  his  war  against  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  the 

e  2 


6$  ISAIAH. 

sacred  history  gives  a  different  account.  They  were 
carried  away  captives,  and  settled  in  Kir ;  2  Kings 
xvi,  9.  But  the  name  of  Aram  was  not  peculiar  to 
Syria  Damascena,  which  was  Rezin's  kingdom,  but 
common  to  that  country  with  Mesopotamia  and  As- 
syria. "The  Syrians  before"  therefore,  or,  "the 
Syrians  to  the  east,"  were  Syrians  distinct  from  Re- 
zin's subjects,  and  were  his  enemies. 

■ — <c  and  join  his  enemies  together ;"  rather,  U  and 
protect  his  enemies j"  or,  ^  and  set  on  his  enemies." 
*^JJ,  "  against  him,"  being  understood,  from  the  for- 
mer clause.  Or,  literally,  M  and  he  will  anoint  his 
enemies  f*  L  e.  anoint  them  for  the  battle,  a  figure 
taken  from  the  antient  custom  of  anointing  the 
naked  athletes. 

Verse  12.  "  The  Syrians" —  See  note  on  the  pre- 
ceding verse. 

Verse  13.  — "  neither  do  they  seek  the  Lord  of 
hosts ;"  rather,  "  and  the  Jehovah  of  hosts  they  seek 
him  not."  In  the  preceding  clause,  the  collective 
noun  Dyn  is  joined  with  the  singular  verb  %&  • 
therefore  I  take  the  verb  1EFH  in  this  clause,  which 
has  the  same  subject,  to  be  singular,  and  the  final  1 
to  be  the  pronominal  suffix  rehearsing  fiVT>  ntf.  See 
verse  9„ 


ISAIAH.  69 

Verse  17.  — "  for  every  one  is  a  hypocrite."  The 
word  tyn  seems  rather  to  render  ■  a  libertine'  than 
*  a  hypocrite.'  Pollution  is  the  radical  idea  of  the 
word. 

Verse  18.  "  For  wickedness,"  &c.  This  passage 
seems  to  resemble  some  of  Homer's  similes,  where 
the  poet's  imagination  for  a  moment  drops  the  prin- 
cipal object,  to  dwell  upon  the  particulars  of  the 
picture  which  the  image  presents.  I  render  the 
whole  veVse  thus, 

u  For  impiety  makes  consumption  like  a  fire, 
Which  devoureth  the  brier  and  the  bramble, 
When  it  is  kindled  in  the  thicket  of  the  forest, 
And  the  surges  of  smoke  lift  themselves  proudly  aloft." 

— "  makes  consumption,"  makes  a  clear  riddance. 
Such  is  the  precise  meaning  of  the  word  *V3. 

— "  lift  themselves  proudly  aloft."  tSOm\  State- 
liness  of  motion  seems  contained  in  the  idea  of  the 
word  "PK5  which  in  the  Syriac  signifies  a  cock,  from 
his  strutting  gait.  ^ 

Verse  19.  — "is  the  land  darkened j"  rather, 
"  wasted  in  smoke."  The  verb  ony  seems  to  de- 
note the  dissipation  of  a  solid  substance  in  smoke 
by  the  action  of  an  intense  fire.  See  Parkhurst's 
Lexicon,  and  Barker,     Mr  Barker  thinks  the  Greek 


70  ISAIAH. 

words  ccrpog  and  kr^co  have  been  derived  from  this 
root. 

Verse  20.  — "  the  flesh  of  his  own  arm."  For 
IJHJ,  read,  with  Chaldee,  Archbishop  Seeker,  and 
Bishop  Lowth,  IJHj  — "  the  flesh  of  his  neighbour." 
Or,  if  the  common  reading  ^"tt  be  retained,  render, 
"  the  flesh  of  his  children."  But  1JH-  connects  better 
with  what  follows.  "  For  Ephraim  and  Manasseh 
were  neighbours ;  but  neither  the  seed  or  progeny 
of  the  other,  nor  either  of  Judah,  nor  Judah  of  them," 
Chap,  x,  1. 

"  Woe  to  the  judges!  judges  of  iniquity! 

And  the  scribes  draw  up  writings  of  oppression." 

— "  draw  up  writings"-*—  So  I  would  render  *0r\5, 
for  the  Prophet  alludes  to  writings  in  judicial  pro- 
ceedings, formed  by  scribes  who  were  the  tools  of 
the  iniquity  of  the  judge,  to  forward  his  purposes. 

Verse  2.  — "  to  turn  aside  the  needy  from  judg- 
ment;" rather,  "  to  pervert  the  cause  of  the  needy." 
I  take  p*JB  for  the  accusative  after  the  verb  rfittft. 
Compare  1  Sam.  viii,  3;  and  see  the  LXX  in  this 
place. 

— "  the  right"—  WUQ.  The  word  in  this  place 
seems  to  signify  the  thing  itself  which  is  the  object 
of  a  right,  the  thing  claimed.    — u  and  to  make 


ISAIAH.  71 

plunder  of  the  right  of  the  poor  among  my  people." 

Verse  3.  — "  and  where  will  you  leave  your  glory?" 
rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  and  where  will  you 
deposit  your  wealth  ?" 

4?  *  Without  me  must  be  a  bowing  down  among  the  fettered, 
And  they  must  fall  among  the  slain." 
No  emendation  is  required. 

— "  among"—  nnn  is  not  properly  among,  but 
may  be  so  rendered  when  it  is  the  preposition  of  the 
genus  or  species  under  which  an  individual  may  fall, 
or  of  the  place  or  situation  to  which  a  thing  may 
belong. 

Verse  5.  "  O  Assyrian ! "—  Here  a  new  prophecy 
begins,  which  extends,  not  to  the  end  of  the  twelfth 
chapter,  but  to  the  end  of  this,  or  certainly  to  the 
32d  verse  inclusive.  The  immediate  subject  is  Sen- 
nacherib's invasion  of  Judea;  but  in  speaking  of  the 
miraculous  deliverance  of  the  Jews  from  that  cala- 
mity, the  Prophet's  views  are  sometimes  carried  for- 
ward to  the  greater  and  more  general  deliverance  of 
the  elect  of  God.  And  in  the  end  he  passes  from 
this  subject  of  Sennacherib  into  an  explicit  prophecy 
of  the  final  redemption,  which  is  contained  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  chapters.  The  transition  is  so 
artificial,   that  the  two  last   verses  of  this  chapter 

E  4 


12  ISAIAH, 

may  be  considered  either  as  the  conclusion  of  this 
prophecy,  or  the  beginning  of  the  next. 

The  construction  in  this  verse  is  embarrassed,  and 
the  sense  obscured  by  an  erroneous  punctuation^ 
which  should  he  thus  corrected, 

j  mjfi  ems 

"  What  ho,  Assyrian ! 
He  is  the  rod  and  staff  of  mine  anger ; 
In  their  hands  is  mine  indignation." 

u  e.  the  execution  of  mine  indignation  is  put  inter 
their  hands.  So  St  Jerome  and  the  Vulgate.  "  Virga 
furoris  mei  et  baculus  ipse  est,  in  manu  eorum  in- 
dignatio  mea."  Bishop  Lowth's  omission  of  NVT 
greatly  embarrasses  the  construction,  and  enervates 
the  sense. 

Verse  6.  WU^\  The  suffixed  1  rehearses  not  DJ? 
or  *»%  but  *WK  in  the  preceding  verse.  This  whole 
verse  should  be  thus  rendered, 

"  Against  a  polluted  nation  I  will  send  him, 

Against  a  people  [the  object]  of  my  wrath  will  I  commis- 
sion him, 
That  he  may  gather  spoil,  and  carry  off  prey ; 
And  then  to  make  him  a  trampling-under-foot  like  the  mire 
of  the  streets." 


ISAIAH.  7:3 

God  opens  his  whole  design  ;  which  was  to  make 
the  Assyrian  the  tool  of  judgment  upon  his  own 
people,  and  when  once  he  had  served  that  purpose, 
to  bring  him  to  utter  destruction  for  his  own  crimes. 
See  verse  12. 

Verse  13.  — "  and  have  robbed  their  treasures." 
Houbigant's  emendation,  *>nDtf  for  VIEW,  is  plau- 
sible.*    What  follows  I  would  read  thus, 

who  *o#v»  TOio.Tmio 
The  Vulgate  suggests  the  emendation  :  "  Et  detraxi 
quasi  potens  in  sublimi  residentes."    Compare  chap. 
xxvi,  5. 

"  I  have  removed  the  boundaries  of  peoples  ; 
And  I  have  pillaged  their  hoarded  treasures, 
And,  as  a  mighty  one,  I  have  brought  down  those  that  are 
seated  on  high." 

See,  however,  Mr  Parkhurst's  attempt  to  explain  the 
passage,  without  correction,  in  his  Lexicon,  under 
the  word  W. 


*  It  is  more  than  plausible ;  it  k  supported  by  92  of  Kennicott's 
MSS.  Of  which  number  32  have  ^rvDiw ;  1  has  ^rVDKW ;  9  have 
WDiy  ;  32  have  >nDiW;  and  18  have  ^nou/:  not  to  mention 
others  in  which  the  second  iy  is  written  in  a  rasurc.  Probably  the 
true  reading  has  been  >rvDW. 


74  ISAIAH. 

Verse  15.  See  Bishop  Lowth's  translation  of  this 
verse,  and  his  excellent  note  upon  it.  Of  the  differ- 
ent passages  which  he  quotes,  the  8th  verse  of  the 
thirty-first  chapter  of  Isaiah  particularly  justifies  his 
interpretation  *  of  this  passage. 

Verse  16.  Houbigant's  proposed  alteration  of  £W, 
at  the  end  of  this  verse,  into  Vy,  is  not  to  be  borne. 
He  imagines  that  the  pronoun  suffixed  to  the  words 
*W  and  "tW  in  the  next  verse,  must  rehearse  some 
word  rendering  a  forest.  But  were  this  criticism 
just,  TP  could  not  be  the  word,  because  VJJ  signifies 
either  a  growing  tree,  or  timber,  and  in  the  plural, 
growing  trees,  or  pieces  of  timber ;  but  it  is  never 
used,  either  in  the  singular  or  plural,  to  denote  a 
forest.  But,  in  fact,  the  criticism  is  not  just,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  18th  verse;  in  which  the  same  pro- 
noun, evidently  respecting  the  same  thing  or  person, 
is  suffixed  to  the  noun  *1JJ\  Consequently,  if  forest 
be-  the  noun  rehearsed  by  the  pronoun,  "ttjp  will  be 
the  forest' *s  forest 

Verse  18.  — «  and  of  his  fruitful  field.  "  With 
Houbigant,  I  would  remove  the  full  stop  from  the 
end  of  the  last  verse  to  the  word  ^"D  in  this. 

*  Which  is  indeed  Vitringa's, 


ISAIAH.  ra 

17  "  And  he  shall  consume  and  devour  his  bramble 

And  his  brier,  in  one  day, 

18  And  the  pride  of  his  forest  and  of  his  field. 
From  the  soul  unto  the  flesh,  shall  be  consumed." 

The  bramble  and  the  brier  are  so  much  the  same 
thing,  that  it  could  hardly  be  otherwise,  than  that 
both  should  be.  consumed  in  one  day.  But  the  Pro- 
phet threatens,  that  one  and  the  same  day  should  be 
fatal  to  the  bramble  and  brier,  and  to  the  pride  or' 
the  forest. 

— >"  and  they  shall  be  as  when  a  standard-bearer 
fainteth."  DM  DDD5  !Wl\  Which  I  render  verbatim 
thus ;  "  (rvm)  And  there  shall  be  (DDJ)  an  entire  dis- 
sipation (DDE2)  like  a  perfect  melting."  The  army 
shall  suddenly  be  gone  and  missing  like  a  solid  sub- 
stance lost  by  evaporation  in  the  melting  pot.  See 
Parkhurst,  under  the  word  M.* 

Verse  21.  "A  remnant  shall  return  !"  Here  the 
Prophet,  suddenly  enflamed,  as  it  were,  by  the  word 
remnant,  and  their  attachment  of  a  remnant  to 
Jehovah,  rushes  into  distant  times,  to  speak  of  the 

*  It  is  some  confirmation  of  this  interpretation  that,  for  DDT33, 
21  of  Kennicott's  MSS.  have  diddd  ;  and  for  DD2,  20  have  DD"\2. 
Adopting  these  readings,  the  rendering  should  be  "  and  there  shall 
be  an  entire  dissipation,  like  a  thing  perfectly  melted." 


76  ISAIAH. 

remnant  that  should  return  to  "  God,  the  mighty 
man."  See  chap,  ix,  6.  That  a  deliverance  from 
Assyrian  oppressors  cannot  be  the  object  of  this  and 
the  two  following  verses,  is  evident  from  this  con- 
sideration, that  the  kingdom  of  Judah  was  never 
captivated  by  the  Assyrians.  What  happened  in  the 
reign  of  Manasseh  was  far  short  of  a  general  cap- 
tivity, and  was  of  very  short  duration.  See  St  Je- 
rome on  this  place. 

Verse  22.  — "  the  consumption  decreed  shall  over- 
flow with  righteousness.' '  This,  with  the  following 
verse,  I  would  render  thus ; 

•«  The  accomplishment  is  decreed :  justice  *  overfioweth  J 
23  Yes :  it  is  accomplished ;  and  that  which  is  decreed 

Jehovah  Lord  of  hosts  is  doing 

In  the  midst  of  the  land." 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  23d  verse,  with  St  Paul- 
Bishop  Lowth,  and  several  MSS.,  I  omit  'X 

But  see  chap,  xxviii,  22,  where  the  same  expres- 
sion recurs;  and    '2  is  not  omitted  by  the  LXX, 

*  — «  Existimo  vocem  npnp  in  hoc  loco  omnino  notare  justi- 
tiam  Dei punientem"  Vitringa  ad  locum.  But  this  interpretation 
is  not  necessary,  if  this  passage  be  understood  of  the  gospel ;  espe- 
cially when  it  is  considered,  that  even  the  judgments  executed  up- 
on the  Jews  were  means  conducive  to  the  end  of  general  mercy. 

3 


ISAIAH.  77 

Nor  is  it  necessary  it  should  be  omitted.  Tor 
pltfl  ^5  may  signify  here,  what  it  certainly  signifies 
in  the  other  place,  and  the  LXX  understand  by  it 
here,  u  the  whole  habitable  world." 

Verse  24.  In  this  verse  the  Prophet  returns  to 
Sennacherib,  his  immediate  subject. 

25  "  For  yet  a  very  little  while  and  indignation  shall  come  to 
an  end ; 
And  my  wrath  (shall  be  turned)  against  their  wickednesses." 

That  is,  my  indignation  against  you,  my  people, 
shall  come  to  an  end,  and  my  wrath  shall  be  turned 
against  the  crimes  of  thy  heathen  oppressors.  I  take 
the  word  cancan  to  express  enormous  wickedness 
in  general ;  and  so  the  Vulgate  understood  it. 

Verse  28.  — <c  and  the  yoke  shall  be  destroyed  be- 
cause of  the  anointing."  I  have  no  clear  view  of 
the  meaning  of  this  passage.  For  ptt?  ^30,  Bishop 
Lowth  and  the  Layman,  both  read,  with  the  LXX, 

"  Yea,  the  yoke  shall  perish  from  off  your  shoulders.*' 
But  I  am  persuaded  that  the  verb  ^an  never  signi- 
fies '  to  destroy,'  or  '  to  be  destroyed/  or  ;to  perish/ 
In  this  place,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  with  Mr  Park- 
hurst,  that  it  is  a  noun,  and  it  is  to  be  taken  in  its 
primary  sense  of  f  a  cord/     ty  "?an,  f  the  cord  of  the 


7*  ISAIAH. 

yoke,'   is  the  cord  which  binds  the  yoke  to  the 
neck. 

H  And  it  shall  be  in  that  day 

His  burden  shall  be  removed  from  thy  shoulder, 

And  his  yoke  from  thy  neck, 

And  the  cord  of  the  yoke,  because  of  the  anointing." 

Verse  29.  For  uS,  read,  with  Houbigant  and 
Bishop  Lowth,  Teh. 

33  <<  J3ehold,  Jehovah  the  Lord  of  hosts 

Rendeth  the  boughs  with  a  hurricane ! 
And  the  tall  stems  shall  be  broken  of£ 
34?      And  the  lofty  shall  be  laid  low. 

And  the  thicket  of  the  forest  he  shall  clip  all  round  with 

the  iron  tool, 
And  Lebanon  shall  fall  by  a  mighty  hand." 

— "  a  hurricane."  The  noun  fi^njJD  may  signify 
any  vehement  concussion.  From  the  root  HP  cer- 
tainly comes  the  French  orage,  thence  ouragan, 
thence  hurrican. 

— "  the  tall  stems" —  literally,  "  the  high  of  up- 
right stature.'*  This  I  take  to  be  a  periphrasis  for 
the  upright  stem  of  a  tree.  The  former  verse  de- 
scribes the  havoc  of  storm  among  the  branches  of 
the  trees;  this  describes  the  falling  of  the  trees 
themselves.  The  participle  P^JTU  properly,  I  be- 
lieve, expresses  the  snapping  of  the  huge  body  of 


ISAIAH. 

the  tree  close  to  the  ground.  Though  the  Assyrian 
army  under  Sennacherib  is  the  immediate  object  of 
these  two  verses,  they  seem  to  contain  a  general 
threatening  of  God's  vengeance  on  the  potentates 
of  the  world,  who  harass  and  persecute  the  profes- 
sors of  the  true  religion  :  and  thus  they  make  a  most 
beautiful  and  artificial  connection  of  this  with  the 
following  prophecy.  While  the  proud  oaks  of  Leba- 
non are  lopped  of  their  brandies,  and  at  last  snapped 
in  sunder,  or  torn  up  by  the  roots  by  the  violence  of 
the  storm,  amidst  all  this  rage  and  devastation  of 
the  hurricane,  a  twig  shall  shoot  from  the  stool  of 
Jesse, 

Chap,  xi,  1.  "  And  there  shall  come  forth  a  rod 
from  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  branch." 

— "  a  rod;"  "Kan,  a  sprig.  — "  the  stem;"  JW,  the 
stump  of  a  tree  cut  down  close  by  the  ground.  I 
know  no  proper  word  for  this  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. The  farmers  in  Surrey  call  it  "  the  stool." 
— "  a  branch ;"  *&*,  a  plant.  This  mention  of  the 
stump  of  Jesse  shews  that  the  royal  house  of  Judah 
is  considered  as  one  of  the  trees  that  was  to  be 
thrown  down  by  the  hurricane  described  in  the  two 
last  verses  of  the  preceding  chapter,  and  this  proves 
♦he  general  extent  of  that  prophetic  commination. 


SO  ISAIAH. 

Verse  2.  — "  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord;"  i.  e.  the  gift 
of  prophecy.     See  Vitringa. 

Verse  3.  "  And  shall  make  him  of  quick  under- 
standing in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  ?*  rather,  "  And 
shall  make  him  quick-scented  in  the  fear  of  Jehovah." 
See  Vitringa.  That  is,  he  shall  be  endowed  with  a 
preternatural  insight  into  the  real  dispositions  of 
men,  and  with  singular  sagacity  of  discerning  the 
genuine  principle  of  religious  fear  of  God,  even 
when  it  lies  dormant  in  the  heart  of  the  yet  un- 
awakened  sinner. 

Verse  4.  — f*  and  reprove  with  equity  for  the  meek 
of  the  earth." 

€t  And  with  equity  shall  he  work  conviction  in  the  meek  of 
the  earth." 

Vitringa  and  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  5.  I  think,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  that  for 
•YWK,  in  the  second  line  of  this  distich,  it  is  probable 
the  original  word  was  T^n.  (But  see  Bishop  Stock's 
note.)  For  the  sense  of  this  distich,  Bishop  Lowth 
has  explained  it  better  in  three  lines,  than  Vitringa 
in  as  many  folio  pages.  — "  a  zeal  for  justice  and 
truth  shall  make  him  active  and  strong  in  executing 
the  great  work  which  he  shall  undertake." 


ISAIAH.  31 

Verse  7.  "  And  the  cow  and  the  bear  shall  feed, 
their  young  ones  shall  lie  down  together.**  Read, 
with  the  LXX,  the  Syriac,  and  Bishop  Lowth, 

jimS  van*  rxni 

and  see  Bishop  Lowth's  translation. 

Verse  9.  — "  for  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord."  For  mm  nx  njn,  Houbi- 
gant  would  read  Wl*  HNTn  njn ;  — M  of  the  know- 
ledge and  fear  of  Jehovah."  But  the  change  is  un- 
necessary. "  Hebraea  phrasis  videri  posset  insolen- 
tior  iis  qui  ignorant,  nomina  verbalia  apud  Hebraeos 
imitari  modum  constructions  verborum,  sive  casum 
verbi  sui  regere."     Vitringa  ad  locum. 

Verse  10.  — "  to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek,  and 
his  rest  shall  be  glorious." 

_«  to  it— shall  seek9'—  ltrm;  "  of  him  shall  the 
Gentiles  inquire."  The  verb  BTT1  signifies  generally 
to  seek  or  inquire ;  but  specifically,  to  inquire  in  a 
religious  sense,  to  resort  to  the  prophet,  or  to  the 
oracle,  for  advice  in  difficulties.  It  is  the  specific 
word  for  this  sort  of  consultation,  like  youcOai  in  the 
Greek  language.  It  bears  this  peculiar  sense  in  no 
less  than  43  out  of  155  passages  in  which  it  occurs 
in  the  Old  Testament,  and  this  text  makes  the  44th. 

VOL.  II.  r 


M  ISAIAH. 

This  sense  of  the  word  is  not  at  all  conveyed  in 
Bishop  Lowth's  English  word  "  repair,"  and  is  to- 
tally lost  in  the  Layman's  word  "  hope."  — "  his 
rest"  Vinto.  The  noun  rinJD  signifies  either  the 
condition,  or  the  place,  of  rest.  The  sanctuary  of 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem  is  called  the  "  house  of 
rest"  for  the  ark,  and  "  the  resting  place"  of  Jeho- 
vah. The  glorious  state  of  the  church,  which  shall 
take  place  when  the  fullness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be 
come  in,  is  described  in  this  verse,  under  the  image 
of  an  oracular  temple,  to  which  all  nations  resort, 
filled,  like  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  with  the  visible 
glory  of  the  present  Deity.     Or  perhaps  Jerusalem 

in  the  millenary  period  may  be  literally  meant. 
"  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day, 

The  shoot- from-the- root  of  Jesse,  which  standeth  for  a 

standard  to  the  peoples, 
Of  him  shall  the  nations  inquire ; 
And  his  resting  place*  [his  abode]  shall  be  glorious." 
The  English  word  '  inquire'  is  used  in  the  public 
translation  in  many  passages  of  Ezekiel  to  render 
the  verb  UH*l  in  its  specific  sense  of  oracular  inquiry. 
Verse  11.  — "  the  Lord  shall  set  his  hand  again 
the  second  time"—  W  JVW  W*  t^DV*.      The  verb 

*  Or,  "  his  residence ;"  and  this  is  Bishop  Stock's  word. 


ISAIAH.  8.0 

rpi  is  simply  to  add,  repeat,  or  do  again,  without  any 
idea  of  extending,  lifting,  or  any  other  specific  ac- 
tion as  the  thing  repeated.  Some  verb,  therefore, 
that  may  signify  to  extend,  or  to  lift  up,  is  necessary 
after  rpDV>  -y  for  to  repeat  Ids  hand,  is  no  more  He- 
brew than  it  is  English.     I  would  read  either 

vr»  rvw  *ywi  vw  t^Dv» 
or,    iv  rrw  nrtpS  *>j-ik  rpv> 

The  resemblance  of  the  omitted  word  to  *\W\  ac- 
cording to  the  first  conjecture,  or  to  nw,  according 
to  the  second,  easily  accounts  for  the  omission.  Of 
the  two  emendations  I  prefer  the  former,  because 
the  verb  $tib  is  seldom  used  to  render  the  extending 
or  lifting  of  the  hand,  to  strike  an  enemy,  or  per- 
form any  act  of  strength.  I  find  three  instances,  and 
only  three  of  this  use  of  the  verb  in  the  whole  Bible; 
namely,  2  Sam.  xviii,  28,  and  xx,  21,  and  Ps.  x,  12. 
It  is  applied  also  twice  to  the  lifting  of  a  rod  to 
strike,  Isaiah  x,  24,  and  26.  The  LXX  certainly 
had  some  verb  in  this  line  subjoined  to  r^DV>. 

Verse  11.  — "  and  from  the  islands  of  the  sea;" 
rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  and  from  the  western 
regions."  Vide  "W.  u  Ac  ne  solum  orientales  po- 
pulos  significare  videatur,"  says  St  Jerome,  "  jungit 
et  reliqua,  ■  et  ab  insulis  maris.'     Insulas  autem  ma- 

f  2 


84.  ISAIAH* 

ris  occidentalem  plagam  significat  quae  oceani  am- 
bitu  clauditur."  In  this  remark  St  Jerome  antici- 
pates the  confutation  of  Mr  White's  senseless  criti- 
cism, that  the  Prophet  mentions  no  return  of  the 
Jews,  from  England,  Holland,  and  Germany,  where 
they  are  now  dispersed. 

14,  «  But  they  shall  fly  westward  on  the  shoulders  of  the  Phi- 
listim : 
Altogether  they  shall  spoil  the  children  of  the  east : 
Edom  and  Moab  shall  be  an  extension  of  their  power, 
And  the  sons  of  Ammon  shall  obey  them." 

Verse  15.  — "  shall  utterly  destroy" —  For  OHnfi, 
read,  with  the  Chaldee,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  *?*$*;  "  shall  dry  up"— 

— "  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian  sea" —  Vitringa 
thinks  the  phrase  may  denote  the  Buborstic  branch 
of  the  Nile.  His  reasons  are  very  plausible.  See 
vol.  i,  p.  358,  c.  2. 

— "  and  shall  smite  it  in  the  seven  streams" —  ra- 
ther, with  Vitringa  and  Bishop  Lowth,  cc  and  he 
shall  strike  it  into  seven  streams." 

— "and  make  men  go  over  dryshod."  For  T*Hfi% 
read,  with  Bishop  Lowth  and  Houbigant,  upon  the 
authority  of  the  Vulgate,  the  Chaldee,  and  the  LXX, 


ISAIAH.  ss 

WflR\  "  and  make  it  passable  0^33  for  men  in 
their  shoes." 

Chap.  xii.  "  This  hymn  seems  better  calculated," 
says  Bishop  Lowth,  u  for  the  use  of  the  Christian 
church  than  of  the  Jewish,  in  any  circumstances,  or 
at  any  time,  that  can  be  assigned."  Certainly  this 
hymn  is  not  calculated  for  the  use  of  the  Jewish 
church  in  any  past  times.  But  I  agree  with  Houbi- 
gant,  that  it  is  a  hymn  of  thanksgiving  of  the  future 
Jewish  church  become  Christian,  and  flourishing  in 
Palestine.  — "  dices  in  die  ilia,  haec  Isaias  ad  gen- 
tem  suam,  quam  capiti  superiore  alloquebatur,  non 
autem  ad  omnes  populos  Christi  fidem  amplexuros." 
Houbigant  ad  locum. 

Verse  2.  For  HJfH  58  rnpjl,  read  IW  mm.  See 
the  LXX,  the  Vulgate,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop 
Lowth. 

Chap,  xiii,  2.  — "  that  they  may  go  into  the  gates 
of  the  nobles."  The  verb  nns)  signifies  to  open,  as  a 
door  or  window7,  and  thence  to  set  at  liberty  from 
any  kind  of  restraint,  or  from  subjection  and  servi- 
tude. Hence  the  participle  Paoul  of  that  verb  may 
signify  persons  emancipated  from  any  constraint  or 
dominion.  The  word  ^nnD  here,  I  take  for  the  plural 
of  that  participle  in  regimen  before  OWN.     And 

r  3 


36  ISAIAH. 

OCHJ  W>3,  the  "  emancipated  of  the  princes,"  I 
take  to  be  princes  of  Cyrus's  army,  emancipated 
from  the  sovereignty  of  the  Babylonian,  to  whom 
they  had  been  tributary.  Emancipated  not  only  by 
their  own  act,  by  throwing  off  their  allegiance  and 
rising  in  arms  against  him,  but  by  the  decrees  of 
Providence,  who  suggested  the  enterprise,  and  had 
doomed  it  to  success.  Thus,  QWl-l  *>nnS)  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  verb  WS\  and  the  antecedent  of  the  pro- 
noun DJ17. 

«  Erect  the  banner  on  a  lofty  mountain : 

Raise  the  voice  to  them,  beckon  [to  them]  with  the  hand, 

And  let  them  come,  the  emancipated  of  the  chiefs,  or  the 
princes  no  longer  vassals." 

It  is  difficult  to  render  the  idea  m  English  without 
a  periphrasis. 

Verse  3.  — c<  my  sanctified  ones."  — "  militibus 
a  me  conscriptis."  Houbigant.  — "  mine  enrolled 
warriors."  Bishop  Lowth.  See  Jer.  li,  28 ;  vi,  4  j 
xxii,  7  ;  Joel  iii,  9. 

— "  my  mighty  ones  for  mine  anger."  ^iv"?  vvOJ. 
I  take  *T04  to  be  the  Paoul  of  the  verb  1PM* 
— "  those  that  are  rendered  strong  for  mine  anger." 
The  phrase  expresses  that  the  persons  intended  by 
it  were  endued  with  strength  and  valour  by  God  for 


ISAIAH.  87 

thc  purposes  of  his  wrath.  The  following  phrase  is 
of  the  like  import :  VMU  Wnp ;  «  those  who  are 
made  to  triumph  for  my  honour."  If  we  might 
read  with  Houbigant,  'VnKsfy  the  parallelism  would 
be  more  complete.  Houbigant's  translation  comes 
nearer  to  the  full  sense  of  the  original  than  any- 
other  that  I  have  seen,  but  not  quite  up  to  it: 
"  Vocavi  fortes  irae  mece  servituros  et  pro  gloria  mea 
triumphaturos."     I  would  render  the  passage  thus, 

"  I  have  given  command  to  my  enrolled  warriors : 

I  have  also  summoned  those  who  are  strengthened  for  my 

wrath,  % 

Who  are  destined  to  triumph  for  mine  honour." 
Thus  far  Jehovah  speaks  :    in  the  next  verse,  the 
Prophet,  to  the  beginning  of  the  9th. 

Verse  4.  — "  of  the  kingdoms  of  nations" —  read, 
"  of  kingdoms,  of  nations  gathered  together."  Bishop 
Lowth.  Or  rather,  "  of  kingdoms,  of  heathen  ga- 
thered together." 

— "  of  the  battle ;"  read  HfinW*,  «  for  the  battle." 
Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  5.  — "  to  destroy  ;M  rather,  "  to  seize,  and 
to  take  possession  of." 

Verse  8.  "  And  they  shall  be  afraid :  pangs  and 
sorrows,"  &c.     The  noun  WW,  which  our  English 

f  4- 


88  ISAIAH. 

translators  render  by  pangs,  is  the  nominative  to  the 
verb  ttiftti.  The  LXX  render  it  by  *%i«%us9  but  it 
had  been  better  rendered  xqgvzeg*  for  it  denotes  the 
military  heralds,  who  bring  word  of  the  unexpected 
irruption  of  an  enemy's  army,  or  of  its  rapid  pro- 
gress, and  near  approach.  The  Prophet  poetically 
amplifies  the  alarm  of  such  an  event,  by  describing 
the  consternation  of  the  messengers  who  bring  the 
first  news. 

e<  The  heralds  are  terrified;  pangs  seize  them, 
As  a  woman  in  travail  they  are  pained  ,•* 
One  looks  in  astonishment  upon  another, 
Their  visages  have  the  livid  hue  of  flame." 

"  Even  such  a  man,  so  pale,  so  spiritless, 
So  woe-begone,  drew  Priam's  curtain  in  the  dead 
Of  night,  and  would  have  told  him  half  his  Troy 
Was  burnt." 

N.B.  For  pinN*,  read,  with  Houbigant  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  PWH>J 

Verse  9.  — "  to  lay  the  land  desolate  5"  rather, 
"  to  make  the  earth  a  desolation."  From  the  begin- 
ning of  .this  9th  verse  to  the  beginning  of  the  17th, 

*  In  Bishop  Lowth 's  translation  this  line  is  omitted,  by  mistake 
as  it  should  seem,  for  he  has  no  note  upon  it. 


ISAIAH.  89 

the  prophecy  seems  to  speak  of  the  judgments  gene- 
rally to  be  executed  in  the  latter  ag< 

Verse  10.  "  For  the  stars,"  <xc. ;  rather,  with 
Bishop  Lowth,  M  Yea,  the  stars" — 

"  Yea,  the  stars  of  the  heavens  and  their  constellationi 
Shall  not  vibrate  their  light : 
The  solar  light  shall  be  darkened*  at  its  source ; 
The  moon  shall  give  no  resplendence  to  its  light." 

Here  Jehovah  is  the  speaker  to  the  middle  of  the 
13th  verse. 

Verse  11.  — "  of  the  terrible,"  rather,  "of  tyrants." 
— "  the  prosperity  of  the  proud,  and  I  will  bring 
down  the  pride  of  tyrants." 

Verse  13.  In  this  verse  God's  speech  ends  abrupt- 
ly at  "  place,"  and  the  Prophet  goes  on. 

Verse  17.  It  seems  to  me  that,  in  this  17th  verse, 
the  prophetic  threatenings  are  again  particularly 
turned  against  the  Babylonians ;  all  that  precedes, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  9th  verse  at  least,  is  ge- 
neral. The  prophecy  opens  with  a  general  descrip- 
tion of  judgment,  under  the  image  of  Jehovah  col- 
lecting an  army  to  lead  against  his  enemies.  The 
Prophet  threatens  (verse  9)  that  "  the  earth  will  be 

*  Or,  "  restrained,  confined." 


90  ISAIAH. 

made  a  desolation,  and  sinners  destroyed  out  of  it." 
Then  Jehovah  taking  up  the  discourse,  aggravates 
the  menace  by  describing  an  entire  derangement  of 
the  universe,  insomuch  that  the  heavens  will  be  con- 
vulsed ;  and  the  earth  will  be  driven  from  its  orbit, 
and  wander  irregularly  through  the  regions  of  space 
like  a  flying  fawn,  or  a  flock  without  a  shepherd. 
After  this,  to  bring  the  prophecy  gradually  down  to 
the  more  immediate  object,  the  image  of  war,  and 
its  havoc,  is  resumed  (verses  15,  16) ;  and  in  the 
17th  verse,  God,  again  taking  up  the  discourse  in 
his  own  person,  declares  that  the  Medes  shall  be 
employed  to  overthrow  the  Babylonian  empire. 
Verse  21.  — "  satyrs  shall  dance  there/'     — "  in 

hoc  loco  alienum  esset  de  hircis  cogitare certis- 

sime  intelliguntur  satyri,    Gentilibus  sic  dicti— 

Credebant  autem  veteres,  daemones  in  nemoribus, 
sylvis,  desertisque  locis Solitos  esse,  noctu  impri- 
mis, apparere  forma  et  specie  satyrorum,  h.  e.  capite 
cornuto,  caprinis  pedibus,  et  cauda  etiam  porcina, 
quos  daemones,  lucorum  et  silvarum  praesides,  illi 
satyros,  panes,  iEgipanes,  faunos  et  sylvanos  appel- 
larunt,  eosque  de  nocte  inter  se  convenire,  choreas 
salaces  ducere,  et  sonos  edere  qualescunque,  qui  ho- 
mines terreant. Sententia  mea  est,  traditionem 


ISAIAH.  j,  I 

de  Satyris  originem  suam  traxisse,  exanimantibus 
quibusdam,  vere  animantibus  luijiis  specie!,  Afyom- 
fyzotg,  h.  e.  simiis  caprinse  speciei  et  satvrorum  qua- 
les  pinguntur  simillimis."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  i, 
p.  414. 

Chap,  xiv,  1.  "  For  the  Lord'' —  rather,  u  Sure- 
ly Jehovah" — 

— "  choose  Israel" —  rather,  "  set  his  choice  upon 
Israel."  The  expression  denotes  a  deliberate  and 
steady  predilection. 

Verse  4.  — "  the  golden  city."  — "  auri  tributum,', 
"  the  tribute  of  gold,"  Houbigant.  This  seems  the 
most  natural  sense  of  the  word  MDniD,  which  occurs 
only  in  this  place. 

— "  against  the  king  of  Babylon."  In  the  whole 
sequel  of  this  chapter,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  mys- 
tical Babylon  is  intended,  but  not  in  exclusion  of 
the  literal. 

Verse  6.  — <c  smote  the  peoples ruled  the  na- 
tions." The  peoples,  therefore,  and  the  nations, 
were  become  the  objects  of  God's  favour,  and  their 
wrongs  a  cause  of  divine  judgments  at  the  time 
when  the  faithful  utter  this  song  of  triumph; 

— "  is  persecuted,  and  none  hindereth. "  The 
participle  tpio  is  naturally  active  j  and  as  such  it  is 


92  ISAIAH. 

properly  rendered  by  the  Vulgate,  St  Jerome,  and 
Houbigant.  —  6c  persequentem  crudeliter."  Vulgate 
and  Hieronymus.  — "  qua?,  nemine  cohibente,  per- 
sequebatur."  Houbigant.  — "  which,  when  it  would 
persecute,  met  with  no  restraint.5'  Vitringa  says  of 
this  version,  — "  rect&  se  haberet  si  scriptum  esset 
5]1"1D  pro  ^H?^.-"  They  therefore  who  disregard  the 
points,  must  adopt  this  exposition,  upon  the  author- 
ity of  Vitringa.  Observe,  that  the  three  participles 
in  this  verse,  M5p,  ITH,  and  *p^E,  are  all  in  apposi- 
tion with  the  noun  WV9  in  the  last. 

Verses  7,  8.  "  They  break  forth  into  singing.  Yea, 
the  fir-trees  rejoice,"  &c.  Place  the  stop,  with  Hou- 
bigant, after  OWDf 

«  The  very  fir-trees  break  forth  in  shouts  of  joy; 
The  cedars  of  Libanus  rejoice  over  thee." 

Bishop  Newcombe,  in  his  preface  to  Ezekiel,  has 
given  a  translation  of  this  ode,  in  which  he  follows 
the  same  division  of  this  passage  7  which  Bishop 
Stock  also  follows. 

Verse  1 1 .  This  1 1  th  verse  is  categorical,  not  in- 
terrogative. It  is  rightly  rendered  in  the  public 
translation. 

Verse  12.  — <c  which  didst  weaken  the  nations?" 
C^u  ^y  U^n.  — <c  qui  vulnerabas  gentes."  Vulgate 


ISAIAH.  o  | 

and  Hieron.  6  a,roa7tKkav  ngog  KMrot.  to,  lOvtj.  — "  qui 
populos  stemebas."  Houbigant.  — "  which  diddest 
cast  lottes  upon  the  nations."  Queen  Elizabeth's 
Bible.  — "  that  didst  subdue  the  nations."  Bishop 
Lowth.  Query... May  not  the  verb  U?'H  have  some 
astrological  sense,  denoting  some  malign  stellar  in- 
fluence ? 

Verse  13,  — M  the  mount  of  the  congregation ;" 
rather,  "  the  mount  of  the  Divine  presence."  See 
Bishop  Lowth's  excellent  note,  or  Vitringa  on  the 
place. 

The  schemes  of  impious  ambition,  ascribed  in  this 
verse  to  the  Babylonian  despot,  suit  exactly  with  the 
character  of  the  Man  of  Sin  as  delineated  by  Daniel 
and  St  Paul,  and  seems  to  indicate  that  the  prophe- 
cy extends  to  much  later  times  than  those  of  the 
Babylonian  empire.  The  Babylonian  monarchs  were 
in  some  measure  types  of  Antichrist,  as  they  seem  to 
have  affected  divine  honours.  See  Judith  iii,  8.  Vi- 
tringa conceives  that  there  is  a  manifest  allusion  to 
Antichrist  in  this  passage. 

Verse  14.  — "  clouds."  The  word  in  the  original 
is  ^y  in  the  singular. 

Verse  16.  — "  consider  thee;"  rather,  "  meditate 
upon  thee."  — "  hcec  secum  reputabunt."  Houbi- 
gant. 


94  ISAIAH. 

Verse  19.  — "  and  as  the  raiment  of  those  that  are 
slain."  I  am  of  opinion,  with  Houbigant,  that  the 
word  CD*?,  whether  it  be  supposed  to  render  the 
noun  raiment,  or  the  participle  clothed^  gives  no 
sense  at  all  in  this  passage.  To  be  clothed  with  the 
slain,  is  a  strange  image  to  express  the  situation  of 
one  carcase  covered  with  others.  For  V^h9  I  would 
read  UNO4? ;  — "  to  the  stench  of  the  slain."  By  this 
alteration,  and  a  transposition,  I  would  reform  the 
whole  passage  thus : 

nyro  n^5  ropo  roSpn  nnw 

:  own  &*&  dsid  n:os 

■vo  \m  Sk  vnv>  snn  ijpbD 

&c.  inn  aS 

"  But  thou  shalt  be  cast  out  unburied,  as  an  abominable  plant ;  * 
As  a  carcase  to  be  trodden  under  foot,  to  stink  among  the 

slain.f 
Those  that  are  pierced  by  the  sword  are  deposited  in  the 

stony  sepulchre, 
But  thou  shalt  not  be  joined  with  them  in  burial, 
Because,"  &c. 

*  — «  stirps  inutilis,"  Vulgate ;  — <e  stirps  contempta,"  Houbi- 
gant :  '  an  unpromising  shoot,'  cut  off  by  the  gardener,  and  thrown 
away,  when  cut,  as  fit  for  no  use.  I  cannot  agree  with  Bishop 
Lowth,  that  the  ayna  *>*a  signifies  a  tree  on  which  a  man  had 


ISAIAH.  91 

N.B.  The  transposition  of  the  words  WW»  "USD  is 
justified  by  the  LXX. 

Verse  20.  — V  thy  land — thy  people;"  the  LXX 
have  "  my  land — my  people."  The  common  read- 
ing is  more  in  the  spirit  of  verse  6. 

— "  shall  never  be  renowned ;"  rather,  "  shall  not 
be  named  for  ever  \"  i.  e.  the  family  shall  not  be 
perpetuated.  See  Vitringa  on  the  place,  vol.  i, 
p.  439. 

Verse  21.  — "  that  they  do  not  rise — cities;"  ra- 
ther, "  that  lest  they  rise  and  possess  the  earth,  and 
disturbers  fill  the  face  of  the  habitable  globe.,,  See 
this  sense  ably  defended  by  Vitringa.  D^JJ,  gras- 
sa  tores. 

With  this  21st  verse  the  song  of  triumph  clearly 
ends.  Explicit  cantilena ;  "  Propheta  suam  subjicit 
sententiam,"  says  Vitringa. 

been  hanged.  For  it  appears  by  his  own  authorities,  that  such  a 
tree  was  always  cut  down  indeed,  but  then  it  was  buried,  to  put  it 
out  of  sight,  and  would  therefore  be  but  a  bad  image  of  an  expos- 
ed unburied  carcase.  May  not  arm  -m  be  a  periphrasis  for  a 
noisome  weed?  "  Surculus  abominabilis,  venenata?  noxiae  arboris ; 
qui  non  conditur  in  terra,  ut  crescat,  sed  projicitur  ut  exarescat." 
Cocc.  in  Lex. 

f  Literally,  «  to  the  stinking  of  the  slain.'' 


96  ISAIAH. 

Verse  23.  — "  and  I  will  sweep  it  with  the  besom 
of  destruction ;"  rather,  with  the  LXX  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  "  and  I  will  plunge  it  in  the  miry  gulph  of 
destruction." 

Verse  26.  "  This  is  the  purpose  which  is  purpos- 
ed upon  the  whole  earth,"  &c.  That  is,  this  is  a 
branch  of  that  general  scheme  of  Providence  ex- 
tending over  the  whole  earth  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  time,  disposing  the  fortunes  and  the  fates 
of  all  the  empires  and  kingdoms  of  the  world ;  and 
it  is  to  be  effected  by  that  power  which  is  exerted 
for  the  execution  of  the  whole  plan.  Perhaps  this 
passage  may  contain  an  indirect  hint  that  the  pro- 
phecy had  a  reference  to  more  general  and  more 
distant  things  than  the  end  of  the  Babylonian  em- 
pire. 

Verse  28.  "  In  the  year  that  king  Ahaz  died" — 
The  Philistim  were  reduced  and  kept  under  by  Uz- 
ziah.  He  destroyed  the  fortifications  of  their  prin- 
cipal towns,  and  raised  fortifications  of  his  own  in 
their  territory ;  2  Chron.  xxvi,  6.  In  the  two  suc- 
ceeding reigns  they  raised  their  heads  again,  and  in 
the  reign  of  Ahaz  they  got  possession  of  many  cities 
in  the  south  of  Judah;  2  Chron.  xxviii,  18.  But 
they  were  again  reduced  by  Hezekiah,  and  recovered 

3 


ISAIAH.  97 

themselves  no  more.  Upon  the  death  of  Aliaz,  the 
Prophet  denounces  their  impending  fate.  He  hids 
them  no  longer  rejoice  for  their  successes  in  the 
late  reign,  the  reverse  of  their  fortune  being  now  at 
hand. 

Verse  29.  — "  the  rod  of  him  that  smote  thee,"  of 
Uzziah. 

— "  the  serpent's  root,"  the  stock  of  Jesse. 

— "  a  cockatrice a  fiery  flying  serpent,"  Heze- 

kiah,  the  greatgrandson  of  Uzziah. 

Verse  30.  — "  the  firstborn  of  the  poor  shall  feed." 
— "  the  poor  shall  feed  on  his  first  fruits."  And  to 
the  same  effect  Bishop  Lowth.  But  Vitringa  ren- 
ders the  words  D^l  *H"M  by  ■  primogeniti  tenuium,' 
the  firstborn  of  the  poor  ;  and  he  expounds  the  phrase 
of  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  *  qui  inter  pauperes  et 
egenos  primi  censeri  poterant.'  Bishop  Lowth's 
seems  a  more  natural  interpretation.  The  construc- 
tion, however,  of  the  original  (^33  in  regimen  of 
D^l)  is  in  favour  of  Vitringa's  rendering,  with 
which  the  Vulgate  and  our  public  translation  agree. 

— "  I  will  kill— he  shall  day."  The  verbs  should 
both  be  in  the  first  person,  or  both  in  the  third.  The 
first  I  think  preferable. 

Verse  31.  — "  none  shall  be  alone  in  his  appoint- 

VOL.  71.  G 


98  ISAIAH. 

ed  times."  — "  there  shall  not  be  a  straggler  among 
his  levies,"  Bishop  Lowth.  "  Quod  additur,  c  non 
est  solivagus  in  conscriptis  vel  condictis  ejus,'  quis- 
que  videt  referendum  esse  ad  densitatem  agminum, 
celeritatem  motus  et  promptitudinem  militum  qui 
has  acies  constituerent."  Vitringa  ad  locum,  vol.  i, 
p.  457,  c.  2. 

Chap,  xv,  1 .  "  Because  in  the  night,"  &c.  "  Sure- 
ly Ar  is  destroyed  in  a  night!  Moab  is  undone. 
Surely  Kir  is  destroyed  in  a  night!  Moab  is  un- 
done." See  Queen  Elizabeth's  translators,  and 
Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  2.  — « to  Baith  and  Dibon."  Read  p»$1  fl*$ 
cl  to  Beth-Dibon,  to  the  chapels,"  &c. 

Verse  3.  — <c  on  the  tops  of  their  houses,"  &c 
Read,  according  to  Houbigant's  elegant  transposi- 
tion, 

(t  On  his  house-tops  every  one  shall  howl, 
He  shall  go  down  into  his  squares  to  weep." 

The  true  sense  of  the  passage  is  certainly  that  which 
arises  from  the  terms  thus  transposed.  Yet  the  trans- 
position may  be  unnecessary.  Bishop  Lowth  pro- 
duces this  distich  as  it  stands,  as  an  instance  of  pa- 


ISAIAH.  « 

rallelism  by  alternate  construction.  See  Prelim.  Dis- 
sert, p.  xxiv. 

Should  not  the  pronominal  suffix  to  the  nouns 
Vnu  and  VOm  be  masculine  ? 

Verse  4.  — "  therefore  the  armed  soldiers,"  &c. 
May  not  the  compound  particle  p  ty  denote  notxcith- 
standing,  or  at  the  very  time  when?  If  this  use  of  the 
phrase  could  be  proved,  the  passage  might  be  ren- 
dered thus, 

"  Although  the  warriors  of  Moab  shout, 
[Or]   At  the  very  time  that  the  warriors  of  Moab  shout, 
His  soul  is  ill-at-ease  within  him." 

I  cannot  acquiesce  either  in  Houbigant's  or  Bishop 
Lowth's  translation. 

Verse  5.  In  this  5th  verse  1  cannot  but  think 
Bishop  Lowth's  alteration,  n\  or  ^h,  for  ^,  is  for 
the  worse.  Compare  Jer.  xlviii,  26.  If  the  words 
i"PfcH£*  n^Jj;  were  transposed,  and  inserted  between 
the  words  p>*^  and  tfrWft,  the  whole,  I  think,  might 
be  thus  rendered : 

ic  My  heart  bellows  for  Moab  like  a  heifer  of  three  years  old. 
Her  nobility  *  are  as  far  as  Zoar ; 
The  steep  of  Luhith  they  ascend  weeping ; 
In  the  way  to  Horonaim  they  set  up  a  cry  of  perdition." 


*  Sec  notes  on  Hosea. 

G  2 


100  ISAIAH. 

The  Prophet  represents  the  nobles  as  flying,  and 
having  in  their  flight  reached  Zoar,  the  very  extre- 
mity of  the  country. 

Vitringa  thinks  that  it  is  a  harsh  image  for  sym- 
pathy, to  say  that  "  a  man's  heart  bellows  like  a 
heifer."  Surely  it  is  not  harsher  than  that  employed 
by  Jeremiah  xlviii,  36. 

Verse  7.  See  Houbigant ;  but  compare  Vitringa, 
vol.  i,  p.  471. 

Verse  9.  — "  for  I  will  bring  more  upon  Dimon." 
"  More  evils,"  says  Bishop  Lowth :  but  niDDU  may 
be  referred  to  the  root  fi3&,  and  signify  "  an  entire 
sweeping  away  \"  under  which  image  the  depopula- 
tion of  a  country  is  often  represented.  But  Vitringa- 
says,  "  sensus  est  quern  jam  viderat  CEcolampadius 
et  postea  Piscator,  aquas  Dimonis  auctum  iri  rivulis 
sanguinis  inter emptorum  qui  in  eas  influerent,  et  ita 
ad  eas'accessuras  esse  accessiones,  sive  additamenta." 
Vol.  i,  p.  472,  c.  1.     The  prophecy  seems  to  threat- 
en that  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  should  be  so 
swept  away,  that  the  few  who  should  be  left  should 
not  be  able  to  defend  themselves  against  the  wild 
beasts ;  unless  (which  I  rather  think)  Nebuchadnez- 
zar be  intended  by  the  lion,  whose  complete  de- 
struction of  the  country  is  here  predicted  as  a  cala- 


ISAIAH.  101 

mity  to  fall  upon  the  remnant  of  the  nation  which 
should  escape  the  sword  of  Sennacherib. 

Chap,  xvi,  1.  "  Send  ye  the  lamb,"  &c.  6t  Send 
ye  the  lamb,  O  ruler  of  the  land !  from  the  craggy 
rock  of  the  wilderness,  to  the  mount  of  the  daughter 
of  Sion."  A  manifest  allusion  to  the  yearly  tribute 
of  lambs  which  the  kings  of  Moab  had  formerly  paid 
to  the  kings  of  Israel.  See  2  Kings  iii,  4,  5.  The 
Prophet  advises  the  Moabites  to  submit  to  the  king 
of  Judah,*  and  seek  his  protection.     And  in  the  3d, 

*  u  Quaeris  jam — quo  jure  propheta  hoc  officii  a  Moabitis  exi- 
gat,  cam  ad  id  non  viderentur  esse  obligati  ?  Fuerant  enim  tribu- 
tarii  regni  Epliraimitici,  a  quo  defecerant,  quod  nihil  videtur  per- 
tinere  ad  reges  Judae. — Responsio  facilis.  Moabitae  subjecti  a 
Davide  proprie  tributarii  facti  erant  regno  Judaeorum  in  successione 
domus  Davidicae ;  atque  adeo  cum  decern  tribus  se  avellerent  a  reg- 
no Judae,  secundum  juris  et  acqui  leges,  honorarium  hoc  debebant 
regibus  Judae,  Davide  ortis,  non  vero  Ephraimitis :  quibus,  at  for- 
tioribus  visis,  cum  se  metu  aut  voluntate  sua  dediderint ;  reges 
Judae  id,  iisdem  aut  similibus  de  causis,  taciturn  praetermisisse  viden- 

tur. Sed  cum  Moabitae  postea  deficerent  ab  ipso  regno  Ephrai- 

mitico,  et  jam  a  tempore  Achabi  hoc  jugum  excussissent,  contra 
rationes  omnes  manifesti  et  clari  juris,  Propheta  illos  monet  de  of- 
ficio,   ad  quod  si  redire  hoc  tempore,  quo  accisa:  erant  res 

regni  Ephraimitici,  in  animum  inducerent,  utile  id  ipsis  esse  posse 
ait."     Vitringa  ad  locum,  vol.  i,  p.  176,  c.  1. 

G  8 


102  ISAIAH. 

4th,  and  5th  verses,  the  Jews  are  exhorted  to  give 
their  protection  to  the  Moabites,  in  the  assurance 
that  all  unjust  oppressive  power  will  sink  under  the 
superior  force  of  that  king  of  David's  line,  whose 
throne  shall  be  established  in  mercy  and  truth.  The 
Jews,  either  in  Salmanasser  s  time,  or  in  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's, were  so  little  in  a  condition  to  protect 
themselves,  much  less  their  neighbours,  against  those 
invaders,  that  the  first  five  verses  of  this  chapter 
must  certainly  refer  to  times  yet  to  come. 

Verse  2.  — "  as  a  wandering  bird,  cast  out  of  the 
nest ;"  rather,  "  as  a  wandering  bird,  as  a  brood 
cast  out."  Ph&12  |p,  literally,  "  a  nest  cast  out," 
I  take  to  be  the  young  brood,  just  fledged,  and  ex- 
pelled from  the  nest  in  which  they  were  hatched. 

Verse  3/  "  Take  counsel,  execute  judgment." 
The  Keri,  WWi  and  W$9  the  feminine  singular,  for 
IK'On  and  Wy9  the  masculine  plural,  is  confirmed  by 
many  MSS.  See  Kennicott.  Houbigant  rightly  ob- 
serves, that  the  Prophet  in  this  verse  addresses  the 
daughter  of  Sion,  which  is  strongly  marked  by  the 
feminine  superlative  singular. 

Verse  4.  "  Let  mine  outcasts  dwell  with  thee, 
Moab."  "  Let  the  outcasts  of  Moab  dwell  with 
thee." 


ISAIAH.  103 

0  "  We  have  heard  of  the  stateliness  of  Moab ;   exceeding 
proud  is 
His  pride,  his  arrogance ;  and  his  fury  exceed  all  propor- 
tion of  his  strength." 

:  1V-D  p  kS_  p  kS  non  sic  3  ut  VH  facultates  ejus. 
See  the  Vulgate  and  Houbigant.  See  also  Blaney 
on  Jer.  xlviii,  30. 

Verses  7,  8.  These  two  verses  I  would  divide  and 
punctuate  thus, 

rWflD  SSvi  pS     7 

neap  pa  SSdk 
rr*pw  i^Sn  ovu  iSjjd 

&c.  &c. 
Then,  without  any  of  the  alterations  proposed  by 
Houbigant,   or  Bishop  Lowth,  the  whole  may  be 
thus  rendered : 

7  "  Therefore  shall  Moab  howl  ■ 

For  Moab  every  one  shall  howl, 
For  the  fortifications  of  Kir-harescth. 

8  Surely  deeply-afflicted  ye  shall  moan, 
For  Heshbon  is  all-burnt-fields; 
The  vine  of  Sibmah  languisheth, 

G  4< 


104  ISAIAH. 

Whose  fruitful  shoots  overpowered  the  lords  of  the  nations  ;* 
They  reached  unto  Jazer,  they  overrun  the  wilderness, 
Her  branches  were-luxuriantly-spread- abroad,  they  extend- 
ed-across  the  sea." 

In  this  rendering,  iT>nnV?tP  is  the  subject  of  the  verbs 
1JHJ  and  ipn,  as  well  as  of  WJ  and  Vtafc 

— "  fortifications."  The  word  ^ttWK  must  be 
somewhat  a-kin  to  HWK  in  Jer.  1,  15,  on  which  see 
Blaney. 

— "  burnt  fields.5*  The  word  JW1#  seems  never 
applied  to  fields  but  as  in  a  parched  and  withered 
state,  either  from  excessive  heat,  or  from  actual  fire. 
The  idea  of  the  Prophet  seems  to  be,  that  the  once 
fertile  vale  of  Sibmah  was  become  barren  and  bare 
like  the  country  about  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  See 
Deut.  xxxii,  32. 

— u  overpowered,"  knocked  down,  with  the  in- 
toxicating juice  their  fruit  afforded.  See  Bishop 
Lowth  on  this  place. 


*  Or  thus, 

Whose  rich  wines  overpowered  the  lords  of  the  nations. 
They  reached  unto  Jazer,  they  overran  the  wilderness, 
Her  branches;  they  were- luxuriantly-spread-abroad,  they 
extended-across  the  sea." 


ISAIAH.  lo, 

u  Therefore  with  weeping  I  will  weep  for  Jazcr, 
O  vine  of  Sibmah !  I  will  water  thee  with  my  tears, 
[Tliec]  0  Heshbon,  and  Elealeh ! 

For  upon  thy  summer  fruits  and  thy  luxuriant  vines  the 
soldier  is  fallen." 

Bishop  Lowth's  emendations,  "HiPM  for  "Wl,  and 
TW5  for  TW?*  are  both  unnecessary.  See  Park- 
hurst,  nin.  For  TW\  c  the  shouter,'  is  a  natural 
expression  for  a  soldier,  like  (ootjv  dyuOog,  in  Greek ; 
and  Tf5P  signifies  (besides  other  things)  *  the  redun- 
dant branches'  of  any  kind  of  tree,  such  as  ought  to 
be  cut  short. 

Verse  13.  — "since  that  time;"  rather,  "with 
respect  to  that  time." 

Chap,  xvii,  3.  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth,  for 
"W#,  read  nNJ!?,  <  the  pride.5  But  the  change  is  un- 
necessary. The  words  should  be  rendered,  "  and 
the  remnant  of  Syria  shall  be  like  the  glory  of  the 
children  of  Israel." 

Verse  9.  Bishop  Lowth's  emendations  of  this  verse 
are  unnecessary.     Render, 

"  In  that  day  his  strong  cities  shall  be 

Like  the  leavings  of  a  stubble-field,  and  a  bough,  which 

they  leave 
For  the  children  of  Israel,  and  there  shall  be  perfect-deso- 
lation." 

See  Parkhurst,  U^n,  x. 


106  ISAIAH. 

Verse  11.     I  render  the  whole  verse  thus, 

"  In  the  day  of  thy  planting  thou  shalt  cause  it  to  flourish, 
And  in  the  morning  of  thy  grafting  thou  shalt  make  it  bud : 
The  produce  is  gone  in  the  day  of  inundation,  [nbni  OV1 

the  day  of  the  torrent], 
And  the  calamity  is  incurable." 

I  think,  with  Casaubon,  that  the  threatenings 
against  the  Jews  in  this  chapter,  though  the  captivi- 
ty of  the  ten  tribes  might  be  the  more  immediate 
object,  have  a  distant  reference,  however,  to  the 
final  dispersion  of  the  whole  nation  by  the  Romans, 
which  seems  particularly  to  be  the  subject  of  this 
11th  verse. 

After  the  mention  of  this  ruin  of  the  Jewish  na- 
tion, the  Prophet  goes  on  to  declare,  that,  notwith- 
standing this  visitation  of  God's  people,  the  schemes 
of  the  heathen,  who  thought,  in  their  destruction, 
to  triumph  over  the  true  religion,  would  be  disap- 
pointed ;  and  the  14th  verse  gives  the  Jews  hope  of 
recovery  from  the  calamities  threatened  in  the  11th. 


ISAIAH.  107 

CHAP.  XVIII. 
This  eighteenth  chapter  of  Isaiah  is  one  of  the  most 
ohscure  passages  of  the  antient  Prophets.  It  lias 
been  considered  as  such  by  the  whole  succession  of 
interpreters,  from  St  Jerome  to  Bishop  Lowth. 
"  The  object  of  it,"  says  the  Bishop,  "  the  end  and 
design  of  it,  the  people  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  the 
history  to  which  it  belongs,  the  person  who  sends 
the  messengers,  and  the  nation  to  whom  the  mes- 
sengers are  sent,  are  all  obscure  and  doubtful." 
Much  of  this  obscurity  lies  in  the  diction,  ("  propter 
inusitata  verba,"  says  Minister,  "  propter  figuratas 
sententias,")  in  the  highly  figured  cast  of  the  lan- 
guage, and  in  the  ambiguity  of  some  of  the  principal 
words,  arising  from  the  great  variety  of  senses  often 
comprehended  under  the  primary  meaning  of  a  single 
root.  Few,  I  fear,  will  have  the  patience  to  follow 
me  in  the  slow  and  laborious*  method  of  investiga- 
tion, by  which  I  endeavour  to  dispel  this  obscurity ; 
which  however  is  the  only  method,  by  which  obscur- 
ity of  this  sort  is  ever  to  be  dispelled.  Discarding 
all  previous  assumptions,  concerning  the  design  of 
the  prophecy,  the  people  to  whom  it  is  addressed, 
the  history,  or  the  times  to  which  it  belongs  >  I  enter 


108  ISAIAH. 

into  a  critical  examination  of  every  word  of  which 
the  meaning  is  at  all  doubtful :  and  I  consider  the 
meaning  of  every  word  as,  in  some  degree,  doubtful, 
which  has  been  taken  in  different  senses  by  different 
interpreters  of  note.  I  consider  the  etymology  of 
the  word ;  I  inquire  in  what  senses  it  is  actually 
used,  by  the  sacred  writers,  in  other  passages ;  and 
I  compare  with  the  original,  and  with  one  another, 
the  translations  of  interpreters,  in  different  languages, 
and  of  different  ages. 

And  here  I  must  take  occasion  to  remark,  that, 
among  the  antient  translations,  attention  is  principal- 
ly due  to  the  Syriac,  to  the  fragments  that  are  come 
down  to  us  of  Aquila,  and  to  the  Septuagint.  To 
the  Syriac ;  because  it  was  the  work  of  Christians  in 
the  very  earliest  age  of  Christianity:  it  gives  us 
therefore  the  sense,  which  wTas  received  by  the  im- 
mediate successors  of  our  Lord's  Apostles.  To  what 
remains  of  Aquila  s  version,  for  the  contrary  reason: 
it  was  the  work  of  an  enemy ;  and  gave  that  sense 
of  the  Original  (where  the  sense  was  at  all  uncertain) 
which  was  the  least  favourable  to  Christianity.  To 
the  Septuagint ;  not  only  because  it  was  a  translation 
made  before  the  Hebrew  ceased  altogether  to  be  a 
living  language  ;  but,  being  made  by  Jews  long  be^ 


ISAIAH.  109 

fore  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  authors  could  be  biassed 
by  no  prejudice  against  the  particular  claims  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  to  the  character  of  the  Messiah  of  the 
Israelites.  And  whenever  it  gives  a  sense  particular- 
ly favourable  to  his  pretensions,  and  such  a  sense  it 
gives  in  many  passages,  every  such  interpretation 
may  be  taken  as  an  admission  of  the  adversary.  It 
is  much  to  be  lamented,  that  this  translation  is  not 
come  down  to  us  in  a  more  perfect  state.  Great  in- 
deed would  its  authority  be,  had  we  reason  to  re- 
ceive it  as  the  genuine  unadulterated  work  of  Ptole- 
my's translators.  And  yet,  even  in  that  perfect  state, 
the  authority,  I  should  have  allowed  to  it,  would 
have  been  far  short,  I  confess,  of  what  some  exposi- 
tors seem  to  ascribe  to  it.  I  should  not  have  made 
it  my  text.  I  should  have  claimed  for  myself,  and 
other  men  of  learning  of  the  present  day,  a  full 
competence  to  judge  of  the  sense  of  the  original,  in 
opposition  to  the  sense  of  the  Seventy-two.  The 
fact  however  is,  that  this  translation  having  been  the 
most  used,  both  in  the  synagogue  and  in  the  church, 
in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  has  for  that  very 
reason  been  the  most  tampered  with  both  by  Jews 
and  Christians.  It  has  been  corrupted,  by  the  very 
means,  that  were  used  to  preserve  and  improve  it. 


110  ISAIAH. 

For  I  cannot  but  agree  with  St  Jerome,  though  I 
know  how  much  his  judgment  in  this  point  has  been 
decried,  that  Origen  s  additions  and  detractions, 
however  guarded  by  his  asterisks,  his  lemnisks,  and 
his  obelisks,  were,  in  the  nature  of  the  thing,  a  source 
of  inevitable  corruption  (for  I  give  the  name  of  cor- 
ruption to  any  alteration,  though  for  the  better,  of 
an  author's  own  words).  And  in  the  present  state 
of  this  Greek  version,  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish, 
with  certainty,  what  is  pure  Septuagint,  what  is 
Septuagint  corrected  by  Origen,  and  still  more  cor- 
rupted by  careless  transcribers,  or  presumptuous 
emendators,  of  Origen's  corrected  text.  Great  at- 
tention still  is  due  to  it :  but  not  more  than  is  due 
to  an  imperfect  vitiated  copy  of  a  venerable  original. 
Which  original  was  but  itself  a  shadow  of  the  He- 
brew Verity,  the  only  prototype.  It  ought  always 
to  be  consulted  in  difficulties,  and  much  light  is  oc- 
casionally to  be  derived  from  it.  But  I  say  without 
hesitation,  that,  upon  the  whole,  it  represents  the 
sense  of  the  Hebrew  text,  with  less  exactness,  than 
either  the  Vulgate  or  the  common  English  trans- 
lation. 

This  eighteenth  chapter  of  Isaiah  is  -one  instance 
among  many,  in  which  expositors  have  perplexed 


ISAIAH.  Ill 

themselves  by  gratuitous  assumptions,  concerning 
the  general  scope  of  the  prophecy,  before  they  at- 
tempt to  settle  the  signification  of  the  terms  in  which 
it  is  delivered ;  and  then  they  have  sought  for  such 
interpretations  of  the  language,  as  might  suit  the 
applications  they  had  assumed.  But  it  is  a  prepos- 
terous way  of  dealing  with  any  writer,  to  interpret 
his  words  by  his  supposed  meaning,  instead  of  de- 
ducing his  meaning  from  his  words.  It  lias  been 
assumed  by  most  interpreters,  1st,  that  the  princi- 
pal matter  of  this  prophecy  is  a  woe,  or  judgment ; 
2r//z/,  that  the  object  of  this  woe  is  the  land  of  Egypt 
itself,  or  some  of  the  contiguous  countries ;  Sdly, 
that  the  time  of  the  execution  of  the  judgment  was 
at  hand,  when  the  prophecy  was  delivered. 

I  set  out  with  considering  every  one  of  these  as- 
sumptions as  doubtful ;  and  the  conclusion,  to  which 
my  investigations  bring  me,  is,  that  every  one  of 
them  is  false.  First,  the  prophecy  indeed  predicts 
some  woeful  judgment.  But  the  principal  matter  of 
the  prophecy  is  not  judgment,  but  mercy ;  a  gracious 
promise  of  the  final  restoration  of  the  Israelites. 
Secondly,  the  prophecy  has  no  respect  to  Egypt,  or 
any  of  the  contiguous  countries.  What  has  been 
applied  to  Egypt  is  a  description  of  some  people,  or 


112  ISAIAH* 

another,  destined  to  be  principal  instruments  in  the 
hand  of  Providence,  in  the  great  work  of  the  re- 
settlement of  the  Jews  in  the  Holy  Land ;  a  descrip- 
tion of  that  people,  by  characters  by  which  they  will 
be  evidently  known,  when  the  time  arrives.  Third- 
ly, the  time  for  the  completion  of  the  prophecy  was 
very  remote,  when  it  was  delivered,  and  is  yet  fu- 
ture ;  being  indeed  the  season  of  the  Second  Advent 
of  our  Lord. 

It  may  be  said  perhaps,  that  in  stating  these  con- 
clusions here,  before  I  have  discussed  the  difficulties 
and  ambiguities  of  the  language  of  the  sacred  text, 
I  am  myself  doing  the  very  thing  I  blame  in  others ; 
that  I  assume  a  certain  general  application,  which  I 
mean  to  confirm  by  critical  reasoning  on  the  holy 
Prophet's  words  :  but  it  will  be  found,  that  my  own 
conclusions  are  not  assumed  in  any  part  of  my  in- 
quiry, any  more  than  the  assumptions  of  others, 
which  I  discard.  I  consider  the  words  in  them- 
selves; and  I  come  to,  the  conclusions  by  a  gram- 
matical examination  of  the  words,  independent  of 
all  assumed  applications.  My  only  reason  for  stat- 
ing my  conclusions  here  is,  that  I  think  the  disqui- 
sition, upon  which  I  am  entering,  will  be  more  per- 
spicuous, and  the  length  and  minuteness  of  it  less 

3 


ISAIAH.  Ill 

tedious,  if  the  general  result,  ill  which  it  is  to  ter- 
minate, be  previously  known.  Just  as,  in  any  ma- 
thematical investigation,  the  analytical  process  is 
more  luminous  and  satisfactory  in  every  step,  if  the 
theorem,  to  which  it  conducts,  is  distinctly  enounced 
in  the  beginning. 

Verse  1.    u  Woe  to  the  land"—    |W  **1 
In  the  5th  and  6th  verses  there  is  allusion  to  some 
severe  judgment ;   and  from  a  notion,  which  may 
perhaps  be  found  to  be  erroneous,  that  the  country 
addressed  in  this  verse  is  to  be  the  object  of  that 
threatened    judgment,    many    interpreters,    among 
these  the  LXX,  Vulgate,  and  Chaldee,  render  W 
by  '  Wo  to' —     But  the  particle  Ttl  is  not  necessari- 
ly comminatory.     Sometimes  it  is  an  exclamation  of 
surprize ;  and  very  often  it  is  simply  compellative  of 
persons  at  a  distance :  and  so  it  is  taken  here  by 
Calvin,  Castalio;  in  the  Great  Bible,  the  Bishop's 
Bible,  the  English  Geneva  Bible,  and  by  Vitringa. 
— "  shadowing  with  wings" —     CM  W* 
The  word  ^**¥,  which  6ur  translators,  very  judi- 
ciously in  my  opinion,  have  taken  in  the  sense  of 
'  shadowing,'  must  be  confessed  however  to  be  of 
doubtful  meaning. 

vol.  it.  u 


iU  ISAIAH. 

The  root  ^,  or  "¥,  has  two  principal  senses; 
c  to  quiver,'  like  the  lips  in  fear  (Hab.  iii,  ]  6),  and 
*  to  shade,'  or  c  shelter.'  It  is  often  applied  parti* 
cularly  to  the  ears,  and  predicates  of  the  ears,  that 
they  sing,  or  tingle.  This  particular  sense  arises 
naturally  out  of  the  general  sense  of  quivering  ;  the 
singing,  or  tingling  of  the  ear,  being  a  sound  pro- 
duced within  the  ear  itself,  when  the  nerves,  and 
other  parts  of  the  organ,  are,  by  any  external  cause, 
thrown  into  a  vehement  vibratory  motion.  Hence 
some  nouns  derived  from  this  root,  are  used  for  the 
names  of  such  musical  instruments  as  from  the  readi- 
ness with  which  their  parts  are  thrown  into  quick 
vibrations,  give  a  sound  particularly  shrill  and  sharp. 
Of  these  nouns  ^^X  is  one.  It  occurs  in  four  pass- 
ages only  besides  this;  namely,  2  Sam.  vi,  5;  Psalm 
cl,  5  ;  Job  xl,  26  ;  Deut.  xxviii,  42.  In  the  text  in 
Job,  indeed,  it  denotes  some  implement  of  a  fisher- 
man. In  Deuteronomy,  f  the  locust ;'  whether  from 
the  sound  of  its  wings,  or  from  the  other  sense  of 
the  root  ^,  is  doubtful.  But  in  both  the  other  pass- 
ages, it  is  evident  from  tjie  context,  that  it  renders 
some  musical  instrument ;  and  it  is  by  most  inter- 
preters understood  of  cymbals.  And  so  it  is  taken 
by  St  Jerome  here.     "  \sc  terree  cymbalo  alarum/' 


ISAIAH.  115 

is  his  rendering.  That  is,  "  Woe  to  the  land  the 
cymbal  of  wings."  By  the  structure  of  this  Latin 
sentence,  the  country  intended,  whatever  it  may  be, 
is  described  under  the  image,  or  emblem,  of  a 
■  cymbal  of  wings.'  For  terra1  is  a  dative  in  apposi- 
tion with  cymbalo.  But  it  is  evident  from  St  Je- 
rome's commentary,  that  he  neither  knew  what  sort 
of  a  thing  *  a  cymbal  of  wings'  might  be,  or  what 
country  was  so  described. 

Symmachus  seems  to  have  understood  the  expres- 
sion of  some  adjunct  of  the  particular  country  in- 
tended, described  under  the  image,  not  of  a  cymbal, 
or  of  any  particular  musical  instrument,  but  of 
sounding  wings.    For  his  rendering  is,  ovui  yns  6  rix°s 

St  Jerome's  notion  of  the  cymbal  has  been  caught 
up  by  three  commentators  of  consummate  taste  and 
erudition,  the  great  Bochart,  Huetius,  and  Bishop 
Lowth.  But  understanding  the  O^M  ^S>  with 
Symmachus,  as  an  adjunct  of  the  land,  not  as  an 
emblem  of  the  land  itself;  they  have  added  what 
was  wanting  of  perspicuity  to  St  Jerome's  transla- 
tion ;  or  rather  they  have  found  a  meaning  for  St 
Jerome,  which  he  could  not  find  for  himself.  Their 
rendering  is,  '  land  of  the  winged  cymbal.'     Then 

TI   2 


116  ISAIAH. 

assuming,  (for  they  cannot  prove  it,  and  Bishop 
Lowth  with  his  usual  candour  allows  that  the  thing 
is  doubtful),  but  assuming  that  Egypt  is  the  country 
intended,  they  take  c  the  winged  cymbal'  to  be  a 
poetical  periphrasis  for  the  Egyptian  sistrum;  which 
differed,  as  they  think,  from  the  common  cymbal  in 
certain  appendages  of  its  structure,  which  resembled 
*  wings ;'  or  at  least  might  be  called  CSJiJ,  accord- 
ing to  the  large  acceptation  of  that  word  in  the  He- 
brew language.  For  Huetius,  I  think,  was  the  only 
one  of  the  three,  whose  imagination  found  in  the 
figure  of  the  Egyptian  sistrum  with  its  lateral  ap- 
pendages, an  exact  resemblance  of  a  bird  with  ex- 
panded wings.  Be  that  as  it  may,  they  agreed  that 
the  6  winged  cymbal*  was  the  Egyptian  sistrum : 
and  they  considered  this  as  a  characteristic  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  taken  from  the  frequent  use  of  the 
sistrum  in  the  rites  of  her  idolatrous  worship.  This 
interpretation  nowhere  makes  a  better  figure  than  in 
the  elegant  paraphrase  of  Carpentius  : 

"  Vae  tibi  quae  reducem,  sistris  crepitantibus,  Aphn 
Concelebras,  crotalos  et  inania  tympana  pulsans, 
Amne  superba  sacra  tellus" — 

And  if  it  were  certain  that  Egypt  is  the  country 
iipon  which  the  Prophet  calls,  and  that  these  words 


ISAIAH.  117 

are  inapplicable  to  Egypt  in  any  other  sense,  which 
they  may  admit ;  then  indeed  it  would  follow,  that 
this  must  be  the  true  sense  of  them  in  this  place. 
But  so  long  as  it  is  at  least  doubtful,  whether  Egypt 
be  the  country  intended ;  and  so  long  as  it  is  certain, 
that  these  words  admit  of  other  senses,  in  which 
they  would  be  applicable  to  Egypt,  if  Egypt  were 
the  country  intended ;  it  will  be  reasonable  to  sus- 
pend our  judgment,  and  to  seek  an  exposition  of  less 
refinement. 

The  second  principal  sense  of  the  root  ^  is,  f  to 
shade/  '  to  overshade,'  *  to  shelter ;'  and  as  a  noun, 
•  shade,'  '  a  shadow,'  c  a  shelter ;'  and  this  is  the 
sense  in  which  it  is  most  frequently  used.  It  is  true, 
the  word  in  the  reduplicate  fcrm  never  occurs  in  this 
sense,  except  it  be  so  used  in  this  place.  But  in  this 
place  it  is  so  taken  by  the  Syriac  interpreter,  and  by 
Aquila.  \sll^i  \}^>  \^;\}  «o.  Syriac.  ovcci  yrtg  oxiu  ttti- 
ovyav.  Aquila.  And  this  rendering  is  followed  bv 
most  modern  interpreters ;  by  Calvin,  Diodati,  the 
Spanish,  and  our  English  translators,  Castalio,  Ju- 
nius, Ostervald,  and  the  very  learned  Vitringa ;  ex- 
cept that  instead  of  a  noun  substantive  for  the  word 
s*  -»,  which  Aquila  and  the  Syriac  use,  these  mo- 
derns put  either  a  participle,  or  something  equiva- 


118  ISAIAH. 

lent  to  a  participle.  *  Inumbrans  alis.'  Calvin.  '  Sha- 
dowing with  wings.'  Eng.  f  Alis  umbrosa  tellus.' 
Castalio.  ■  Terrae  umbrosae  oris/  Jun.  and  Trem. 
*  Pais  qui  fait  ombre  avec  de  ailes.'  Ostervald. 
'  Terra  obumbrata  alis.'   Vitringa. 

It  is  certainly  an  objection  of  no  great  weight 
against  these  renderings,  that  the  word  ^^  in  the 
reduplicate  form,  is  not  to  be  found,  in  any  other 
text  in  the  sense  of  shade,  shadowing,  or  over- 
shadowing. According  to  the  principles  of  the  He- 
brew language  the  reduplication  of  the  letters  of  a 
root  only  gives  intensity  to  the  sense,  whatever  it 
may  be :  so  that  in  whatever  sense  a  word  in  the 
simple  form  is  used,  in  the  same  it  may  be  used  in 
the  reduplicate  form,  if  the  occasion  requires  an  in- 
tension of  the  signification.  0*5)32  ^¥, — late  ob- 
umbrans  alis.  But  taking  this  as  the  literal  render- 
ing, still  the  image  is  of  doubtful  meaning. 

The  mention  of  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia,  which  im- 
mediately follows,  has  led  almost  all  expositors  to 
look  to  Egypt  as  the  country  addressed.  If  Egypt 
be  intended,  the  allusion  may  be  to  the  geographical 
features  of  that  country.  The  wings  of  Egypt  may 
be  understood,  as  Vitringa,  Grotius,  and  Junius  un- 
derstand them,  of  the  ridges  of  mountains  running 


ISAIAH.  (If 

from  south  to  north  on  cither  side  of  the  Nile ;  by 
their  divergency,  as  they  advance  northward,  some- 
what resembling  a  pair  of  pinions,  and  overshadow- 
ing the  intermediate  vale  of  Egypt.  But  it  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  Egypt  is  the  country  intended ; 
and  whether  Egypt  be  intended  or  not,  the  image 
may  allude  to  nothing  in  the  figure  of  the  country, 
but  to  something  in  the  national  character  or  habits 
of  the  people.  So  they  must  have  understood  it 
(and  among  them  are  the  LXX,  Jonathan,  and 
Coverdale),  who  take  the  wings  for  the  sails  of 
numerous  vessels  overshadowing  the  surface  of  the 
ocean.  But  the  shadow  of  wings  is  a  very  usual 
image  in  the  prophetic  language,  for  protection  af- 
forded by  the  stronger  to  the  weak.  God's  protec- 
tion of  his  servants  is  described  by  their  being  sai'c 
under  the  shadow  of  his  wings.  And,  in  this  pass- 
age the  broad  shadowing  wings  may  be  intended  to 
characterize  some  great  people  who  should  be  fam- 
ous for  the  protection  they  should  give  to  those 
whom  they  received  into  their  alliance ;  and  I  can- 
not but  think  this  the  most  simple  and  natural  ex- 
position of  the  expression. 

I  shall  therefore  dismiss  without  ceremony  those 
fanciful  expositions,  which  would  explain  these  wings 

B  * 


i*0  ISAIAH. 

of  those  of  the  swallow  over  the  statue  of  Isis,  or  of 
the  wings  of  the  idol  Kneph.  But  there  is  another 
exposition  which  demands  more  attention,  as  it  has 
dropped  from  the  pen  of  an  able  critic.*  "  Lands/' 
he  premises,  "  have  been  sometimes  geographically 
described  by  some  fancied  appearance  in  their  out- 
lines. Thus  we  read  of  the  Delta  in  Egypt,  of  the 
tongue  of  the  Egyptian  sea,  &c.  In  the  present  in- 
stance, we  have  a  description  of  a  land  appearing 
geographically  in  its  outlines  with  extended  wings; 
something  like  those  of  a  fluttering  bird.  Let  any 
one  cast  his  eyes  upon  a  globe,  or  upon  a  map  of 
the  world  (and  especially  upon  one  well  coloured), 
and  let  him  see  what  land  does  so,  and  he  will  find 
one,  and  one  only,  on  the  whole  face  of  the  whole 
earth,  that  has  that  appearance.  This  land  so  ap- 
pearing is  France,  which  has  Spain  on  one  side,  and 
Germany  on  the  other,  in  the  form  of  their  out- 
lines like  two  extended  wings/'  t 

I  confess,  I  cannot  easily  be  persuaded,  that  the 
Prophet  takes  his  images  and  allusions  from  things 
which  neither  he  nor  any  one  of  his  contemporaries. 


*  The  late  Isaac  King,  Esq. 
f  Supplement,  p.  24,  25. 


ISAIAH.  l*| 

had  ever  seen.  Had  the  critic  in  question  consider- 
ed, whether  a  globe,  or  even  a  map  of  the  world,  in 
which  the  appearance  of  the  different  countries  could 
have  any  resemblance  of  that,  which  they  exhibit 
upon  our  modern  globes  and  maps,  had  ever  met 
the  eye  of  mortal  man,  in  the  time  of  the  prophet 
Isaiah  ?  And  the  notion  of  Germany  and  Spain  as 
the  wings  of  France  could,  according  to  his  own 
principles,  occur  only  to  the  imagination  of  one, 
who  had  seen  the  outlines  of  these  countries,  as  they 
are  laid  down  in  our  globes  and  maps  according  to 
their  present  boundaries.  And  even  then  a  little 
good  colouring,  he  seems  to  think,  might  be  of  great 
use,  though  not  of  absolute  necessity  to  assist  the 
imagination.  The  invention  of  geographical  charts 
is  generally  ascribed  by  the  Greeks  to  Anaximander 
the  disciple  of  Thales,  who  was  at  least  a  century 
and  a  half  later  than  the  Prophet.  In  the  time  of 
Darius  Hystaspes,  Aristagoras  the  Milesian,  the 
countryman  of  Anaximander,  and  half  a  century  his 
junior,  when  he  went  to  Sparta  to  persuade  the 
Spartans  to  attack  the  Persian  monarch,  is  said  to 
have  carried  with  him  a  plate  of  brass,  on  which  was 
engraven  the  whole   circuit  of  the  dry  land,   the 


122  ISAIAH. 

whole  sea,  and  all  the  rivers.*  This  is  the  earliest 
mention,  which  occurs  to  my  recollection,  in  profane 
history  of  any  thing  like  a  general  map  of  the  world  j 
and  this  was  200  years  later  than  Isaiah.  Chorogra- 
phic  charts  indeed,  or  plans  of  a  small  extent  of 
country,  such  as  might  be  formed  by  the  common 
principles  of  land-surveying,  might  be  much  older. 
Certain  passages  in  the  book  of  Joshua  incline  me  to 
believe,  that  an  actual  survey  was  taken  of  the  land 
of  Canaan  in  Joshua's  time,  and  a  plan  of  it  laid 
down  for  the  purpose  of  setting  out  the  allotments 
of  the  different  tribes.  As  for  what  was  engraved 
or  written  on  the  pillars  at  JSa  by  the  Egyptians 
settled  there  by  Sesostris,  it  might  be  nothing  more, 
for  any  thing  that  appears  from  the  words  of  Apol- 
lonius  Rhodius,f  than  a  description  in  words  of  the 
tract  of  the  fleet  along  the  coasts,  and  the  march  of 
the  troops  by  land ;  the  names  of  the  places  in  order, 

*  Awixmioti  V  m  o  A£i<rrotyoi>vis,   o   M<Aijtov  tv(>xvv6s,   U  tjjv  St^t^ 
—        l%av  ftxhKiov  7rivxKXt  h  t»  y>;s   X7rxrn;  vi^oacg  hiTirpuro,  xxi  &x- 
t.ciFTx  t£  ttxs-x  xxi  TTOTxpoi  TTtfcmj.     Herodot.  Terpsich.  c.  49. 
-j*    Oi  Jjj  rot  yf>X7TTvg  Trxngwv  ihv  iigvovTxt 
Kv(&ix$,  cU  Iff  irxrxt  cdoi  xxi  irsif>XT  lx<riv 
'fypis  ts  T^xtyigfc  re  ar*g<|  i7runtrope.*6tnv. 

Apoll.  Rhod.  lib.  iv,  279* 


ISAIAH.  LtJ 

where  the  ships  came  to  anchor,  and  the  army  en- 
camped ;  something  like  the  catalogue  of  the  man- 
sions in  the  thirty-third  chapter  of  the  book  of 
Numbers;  and  I  should  not  have  taken  notice  of 
this  engraving,  or  writing,  here,  had  it  not  been 
mentioned  by  the  learned  Montucla,*  as  a  map  of 
the  entire  conquests  of  Sesostris.  But  suppose,  we 
carry  back  the  invention  of  Anaximander  to  the  age 
of  Isaiah :  suppose  that  the  Prophet  had  seen  Ari- 
stagoras's  copperplate,  or  such  another :  What  re- 
semblance to  the  accurate  picture  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face exhibited  in  our  modern  maps  and  globes, 
could  these  delineations  of  it  bear,  which  must  have 
been  made  before  the  positions  of  the  principal 
points,  that  is,  not  only  of  towns,  but  of  the  inland 
mountains,  of  promontories,  capes,  headlands,  and 
bays,  upon  the  coast,  were  accurately  fixed  by  ob- 
servations of  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  each  ? 
But  of  this  method  of  pricking  down  the  principal 
points  by  longitude  and  latitude,  and  of  what  was 
previously  necessary  before  this  method  could  be 
brought  into  practice,  the  method  of  finding  differ- 
ences of  longitude  by  eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon, 

•  Hist,  des  Math.  torn,  i,  p.  106. 


124  ISAIAH. 

Hipparchus  was  the  first  inventor.  Hipparchus  flour- 
ished not  before  the  middle  of  the  second  century 
before  our  Lord.  And  Marinus  of  Tyre,  about  the 
year  of  our  Lord  70,  seems  to  have  been  the  first 
who  applied  Hipparchus's  principle  to  the  construc- 
tion of  general  maps :  and  strange  things  the  maps 
of  Marinus  must  have  been  by  Ptolemy's  account 
of  them ;  yet  better  perhaps  than  any  Isaiah  ever 
saw.  Marinus  had  settled  the  latitudes  of  some 
places,  and  the  longitudes  of  others;  but  in  very 
few  instances  had  settled  both  longitude  and  latitude 
of  the  same  place.  Ptolemy's  own  maps  were,  I  be- 
lieve, the  first  that  gave  the  surface  of  the  habitable 
earth  in  any  thing  like  its  real  shape,  and  still  not 
without  enormous  deviations  from  the  truth  in  many 
parts.  Of  a  terrestrial  globe,  I  believe,  he  was  the 
first  constructor.  Harduin,  I  know,  in  his  notes  up- 
on Pliny,  ascribes  that  invention  to  Anaximander ; 
but  he  is  confuted  (if  so  absurd  a  notion  needed 
confutation,  that  a  globe  could  be  made  before  lati- 
tudes and  longitudes  were  determined)  by  the  very 
passage  of  Diogenes  Laertius,  which  he  cites  in  sup- 
port of  his  conjecture,  by  Pliny's  own  words,  and  by 
the  words  in  which  other  writers  mention  Anaxi- 
mander's  invention. 


ISAIAH.  12- 

Sball  we  suppose  then  that  a  terrestrial  globe,  or 
a  general  map,  in  which  the  countries  of  the  world 
were  laid  down  according  to  their  present  bound- 
aries, (this  supposition  is  necessary ;  for,  if  we  alter 
the  boundaries,  the  shape  of  the  outline  is  changed, 
and  upon  the  outline  of  the  several  countries  the  ap- 
pearance of  Spain  and  Germany  as  the  wings  of 
France    depends),    shall   we   suppose    that   such   a 
globe  or  map  was  exhibited  to  the  Prophet  in  vision  P 
that  his  mind  was  enlightened  by  the  inspiring  Spirit, 
to  know  what  it  w*as;   and  that  his  attention  was 
particularly  directed  to  France  lying  between  Spain 
and  Germany,  like  the  body  of  a  bird  between  its 
expanded  wings  ?     There  is  nothing  in  the  sacred 
text  to  warrant  such  a  supposition.     It  must  all  be 
supplied  by  the  reader's  imagination.  And  it  appears 
to  me  unwarrantable,  to  found  an  exposition  of  the 
text  of  an  inspired  writer  upon  any  such  supple- 
ment, unless  the  words  taken  by  themselves  with- 
out some  such  supplement  were  incapable  of  expo- 
sition; whereas  in  the  present  instance  the  words 
admit  a  most  easy  and  simple  interpretation,  found- 
ed on  the  usual  and  frequent  import  of  the  like 
image  in  other  passages  of  holy  writ .   I  prefer  there- 
fore taking  the  sense  which  the  words  themselves 


126  ISAIAH. 

offer,  in  preference  to  any  that  rests  upon  precarious 
assumptions,  or  as  they  seem  to  me,  more  precarious 
imaginations.  To  judge  otherwise  would  be  to  fail 
in  my  apprehension  in  the  respect  that  is  due  to  an 
inspired  Prophet. 

— f  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia.5'  BWnroS  *oy& 
This  seems  to  have  been  generally  taken  for  a 
precise  determination  of  the  geographical  site  of  the 
country,  which  for  this  description  of  its  situation 
chiefly,  has  been  supposed  to  be  Egypt.  If  Ethiopia, 
or  Cush  rather,  in  this  text,  be  the  Ethiopia  of  pro- 
fane geographers;  or  to  speak  more  accurately,  if  it 
be  that  acquired  territory  of  the  Cushites  in  Africa, 
which  stretching  all  along  the  coast  from  Ptolemais 
to  Arsinoe  (that  is,  from  Derbeta  to  the  streights  of 
Bab  al  Mandeb),  extended  inland  to  the  very  banks 
of  the  Nile,  and  was  washed  in  its  breadth  by  the 
Astaboras  and  the  Astapus,  to  which  African  terri- 
tory of  the  Cushites  the  name  of  Cush  in  scripture 
(commonly  rendered  Ethiopia  by  all  interpreters  be- 
fore Bochart)  sometimes  is  applied,  the  rivers  of 
Cush  must  be  the  Nile  in  its  various  branches,  and 
its  tributary  streams.     But  how  was  Egypt  beyond 
the  rivers  of  Cush,  so  understood,  with  respect  to 
Judea?     From   Meroe  to  the  head  of  the  Delta., 


ISAIAIL  127 

Egypt  was  not  more  beyond,  than  on  this  side  of 
the  Nile,  for  the  river  divided  the  breadth  of  the 
the  country.  From  the  head  of  the  Delta  to  the 
coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  various  branches  of 
the  river  intersected  the  whole  surface  of  the  coun- 
try. The  preposition  ^  "OJJB  is  used  with  great  lati- 
tude of  meaning,  either  for  that  side,  or  this  side  of 
a  river,  for  trans  and  ultra,  or  cis  and  citra.  And 
Vitringa  in  this  place  renders  it  by  citra.  But  for 
the  very  same  reason  that  Egypt  was  not  beyond  the 
Nile  with  respect  to  Judea ;  it  was  not  on  this  side 
of  it.  It  was  on  both  sides  from  Meroe  to  the  head 
of  the  Delta;  and  below  the  head  of  the  Delta,  the 
country  was  on  all  sides  of  the  innumerable  streams 
into  which  the  river  was  divided.  Bishop  Lowth 
therefore  rejects  the  use  both  of  trans  and  citra,  and 
conceives  that  the  Hebrew  preposition  renders 
*  bordering  on,'  without  specifying  one  side  or  the 
other :  and  this  is  a  sense  which  unquestionably  it 
sometimes  bears.  But  yet  it  is  not  usual,  I  think, 
to  say  of  a  broad  plain  intersected  by  canals,  which 
was  the  case  of  Egypt  in  the  part  most  known  to 
foreigners,  that  it  borders  on  them.  Egypt  there- 
fore is  positively  excluded  by  every  possible  inter- 
pretation of  the  preposition   s  "^yD;   and   Egypt 


128  ISAIAH. 

being  out  of  the  question,  it  is  reasonable  to  under- 
stand the  preposition  in  the  sense  of  c  beyond;'  as 
it  has  been  understood  by  all  interpreters,  except 
Vitringa,  Houbigant,  Bishop  Lowth,  Diodati,  and 
Coverdale.  Diodati  hesitates  between  the  two  senses 
of  'on  this  side'  and  S  beyond.'  Bishop  Lowth  takes 
*  bordering  on.'  The  other  three,  \  on  this  side.' 
But  '  beyond '  is  to  be  preferred.  For  the  contrary 
sense  seems  excluded  by  the  distance  of  the  country. 
The  country  is  evidently  distant,  because  the  Pro- 
phet  calls,  or  rather  hollas,  to  it.  But  a  country, 
not  Egypt,  and  yet  on  this  side  of  these  rivers  of 
Cush  with  respect  to  Judea,  must  have  lain  between 
Egypt  and  Judea ;  consequently,  at  no  such  great 
distance  from  Judea.  And  these  are  the  only  cir- 
cumstances of  its  geographical  situation  which  the 
prophecy  discovers,  that,  with  respect  to  Judea,  it 
is  far  distant,  and  *f  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush." 

"  And  so"  (the  critic  already  alluded  to  says) 
'*  the  land  of  France  actually  geographically  is." 

I  admit,  that  in  a  certain  sense  it  is ;  but  yet  I 
think,  the  Prophet,  in  the  reference  which  he  sup- 
poses to  a  globe,  or  a  general  map  of  the  world, 
could  not  have  so  described  it.  A  person,  taking 
his  notions  of  the  relative  situations  of  countries, 


ISAIAH.  129 

rom  their  appearance  on  a  map  lying  before  him, 
would  observe  that  no  straight  line  drawn  from  any 
point  in  Judea  to  any  point  in  France,  would  en> 
any  one  of  these  Cushean  streams ;   which  are  all 
lost,  the  rest  in  the  main  stream  of  the  Nile,  and  the 
Nile  itself  in  the  ocean,  before  the  line  of  direction 
of  any  one  of  them  meets  any  such  straight  line. 
No  one  therefore  contemplating  a  map  of  the  world, 
would  describe  France  as  beyond  these  streams  of 
Cush.    But  my  notion  of  the  Prophet's  geographical 
language  is,  that  it  is  the  language  of  the  Phenician 
voyagers  of  his  time.     And  in  those  times,  the  most 
distant  voyages  being  made  along  the  coasts,  the 
Phenician    mariners   would   speak   of    every    place 
which  lay  to  the  west  of  the  mouths  of  the  Nile,  as 
beyond  the  Nile ;  that  is,  in  the  poetical  language  of 
the  Prophet  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush ;    because, 
keeping  always  along  the   coast,  they  would  pass 
within  sight  of  the  mouth  of  the  Nile,  before  they 
reached  that  western  place.     According  to  this  nau- 
tical phraseology  of  the  voyagers  of  those  times,  the 
circumstance   of  being  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush 
was  applicable  indeed  to  France.     But  not  particu- 
larly to  France,  more  than  to  (Spain*  Por  ugal,  Great 
Britain,  Ireland,  Denmark,  in  short  ai  y  part  of  Eu- 

VOL.  IT. 


im  ISAIAH. 

rope  without  the  streights.  Not  more  to  any  part  of 
Europe,  than  to  any  part  of  Africa,  without  the 
streights.  Not  more  to  any  part  of  Europe,  or 
Africa,  than  to  the  whole  eastern  coast  of  North 
and  South  America.  The  particular  situation  of  the 
country  therefore  is  by  no  means  ascertained  by  this 
circumstance. 

But  in  truth  it  is  much  more  undetermined,  than 
as  yet  appears.  Since  the  country  intended  in  the 
prophecy  is  not  Egypt ;  the  Cush  of  this  text,  for 
any  thing  that  appears  to  the  contrary  from  the  text 
itself,  may  be  the  Asiatic  Cush ;  to  which  country 
the  name  is  more  frequently  applied.  Not  indeed, 
that  particular  district  of  Arabia  Deserta,  to  which, 
as  the  original  seat  of  the  sons  of  Cush,  Bochart 
would  restrict  the  name.  That  by  itself  cannot  be 
the  Cush  of  this  place ;  for  that  district  had  no 
rivers.  The  four  which  Bochart  gives  it,  he  is 
forced  to  borrow  for  it,  as  Vitringa  has  observed, 
from  other  countries ;  and  three  of  the  four  are 
mere  torrents.  But  the  name  of  Cush  (vulgarly,  as 
hath  been  observed,  rendered  Ethiopia)  is  applied 
in  holy  writ  to  a  large  tract  of  country  compre- 
hending, besides  the  proper  territory  of  the  Cushites, 
the  rest  of  Arabia  Deserta,  the  whole  peninsula  of 


ISAIAH.  131 

Arabia  Felix,  and  extending  east,  along  the  coast  of 
the  Persian  golf,  at  least  as  far  as  the  Tigris.     The 
great  Bochart  would  find  it  difficult  to  dispute  this 
with  me  upon  his  own  principles  ;  because  he   al- 
lows, that  the  Cushites  as  they  grew  more  nume- 
rous, spread  themselves  from  the  territory  he  assigns 
to  them,  as  originally  their  own,  into  other  parts  of 
Arabia,  and  eastward  even  into  Car  mania.     Be  that 
as  it  may,  we  read  in  scripture  of  a  land  of  Cush,  of 
which  the  boundary  on  one  side  was  the  river  Gihon. 
"  And  the  name  of  the  second  river  is  Gihon ;  the 
same  is  that  which  compasseth  the  whole  land  of 
Cush."     Gen.  ii,  13.     No  one,  I  suppose,  that  has 
considered  what  has  been  written  by  Calvin,  and 
after  him  by   Huetius,  Vitringa,  and  others,  upon 
the  subject  of  the  site  of  Paradise,  can  entertain  a 
doubt,  that  Gihon  was  one  of  the  two  branches,  into 
which  the  streams  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris, 
uniting  at  Apamea,  part  again  at  Asia;  and  through 
which  their  waters  were  discharged  into  the  Persian 
Gulph,    before   the   natural   course  of  those   great 
rivers,  in  this  lower  part,  was  altered  by  the  hand  of 
man.    Phison  and  Gihon,  rivers  of  Eden,  were  these 
two  diverging  streams.     Which  of  the  two  was  the 
eastern,  and  which  the  western  branch,  is  a  matter 

I  2 


\2>ti  ISAIAH. 

of  some  doubt ;  but  it  is  of  little  importance  to  the 
present  question.  They  ran  at  no  great  distance 
from  each  other :  Gihon  was  unquestionably  one  of 
them ;  and  it  was  the  boundary  of  the  Asiatic  land 
of  Cush,  These  therefore,  for  aught  that  appears 
to  the  contrary,  may  be  the  rivers  of  Cush  in  this 
passage  ;  and  the  land  beyond  these  rivers  of  Cush 
with  respect  to  Judea  will  be  some  country  on  the 
coast,  east  of  the  Tigris.  So  that,  unless  we  can 
determine,  whether  it  be  the  African  or  the  Asiatic 
land  of  Cush  of  which  the  Prophet  speaks,  we 
know  not  in  which  quarter  to  look  for  the  land  be- 
yond the  rivers  of  Cush,  whether  far  to  the  west,  or 
far  to  the  east  of  Palestine. 

But  though  the  geographical  site  of  the  country 
is  left  thus  uncertain,  for  very  uncertain  it  would 
be  even  if  we  could  tell  which  Cush  is  meant  \  yet 
the  people  of  the  country  are  marked,  as  will  ap- 
pear, by  characters,  by  which  they  will  be  distin- 
guished from  all  other  people  of  the  earth,  when  the 
time  comes. 

Verse  2.  u  That  sendeth  ambassadors  by  the  sea." 

• — "  ambassadors" —    u^Ttt.     Vitringa,  solicitous 

to  find  Egypt  in  every  characteristic  of  the  country 


ISAIAH.  133 

mentioned  by  the  Prophet,  understands  the  word 
DVTO  of  epistolary  dispatches,  or  pacquets.  He  ex- 
pounds the  passage  of  that  extraordinary  pacquet, 
which  the  Egyptians  sent  annually  to  the  Syrians 
with  the  joyful  news  that  Adonis  was  found.  The 
epistle  was  put  into  a  sort  of  flask  made  of  the  bul- 
rush, which  was  committed  to  the  waves  to  be  float- 
ed to  Byblus.  And  of  this  bulrush-flask  he  under- 
stands the  ■  vessels  of  the  bulrush/  of  which  the 
mention  follows. 

But  I  cannot  find  a  single  instance,  in  which  the 
word  CH^sr  signifies  '  parcels,  bundles,  or  pacquets,' 
however  consistent  this  sense  might  seem  with  the 
etymology  of  the  word.  Nor  is  this  sense  in  any 
degree  supported  by  the  version  of  the  LXX.  It  is 
true,  they  render  the  word  O'H'V  by  the  neuter 
Qfitpcc.  But  the  neuter  ofugftj  instead  of  the  masculine 
QfAqgoi,  is  invariably  their  word  for  c  hostages.'  The 
masculine  oily^oi  they  never  use,  and  the  neuter  opjjgci 
they  never  use  in  any  other  sense,  or  for  pledges  of 
any  other  sort,  than  persons  pledged  :  they  join  in- 
deed with  oprgu  in  this  place,  iviarokctg  (Zi&jva$9  evi- 
vidently  meaning  not  epistles  inclosed  in  a  bulrush, 
flask,  but  epistles  written  on  the  papyrus.  And  these 
words   they  give  not  as  expositive  of  the  former 


13*  ISAIAH. 

word  ofiajpu,  but  as  rendering  KW^SDi  (or  perhaps 
their  reading  might  be  KB-T^l  without  the  prefix 
2).  And  when  NDJ5  or  the  bulrush,  was  the  sub- 
stance on  which  men  usually  wrote ;  KD<r*»  /5,  ac- 
cording to  the  wide  signification  of  the  word  ^5  in 
the  Hebrew  language,  would  be  no  unnatural  phrase 
for  *  epistles/  Though  connected  as  it  is  here 
with  the  notion  of  floating  on  the  surface  of  the 
waters,  it  seems  far  more  probable  that  it  signifies 
navigable  vessels. 

EJVW  is  used  in  another  passage  of  Isaiah  (ivii,  9) 
for  confidential  messengers ;  and  the  singular  *W  is 
twice  used  for  a  person  charged  with  a  public  mes- 
sage ;  and  in  that  sense  it  is  taken  here  by  all  the 
antient  interpreters  ;  by  the  LXX,  the  Syriac,  the 
Chaldee,  the  Vulgate,  Aquila,  Symmachus,  and 
Theodotion.  f  Messengers  '  in  this  place,  in  the 
English,  might  be  better  than  ambassadors ;  for  the 
original  word  may  be  taken  for  persons  employed 
between  nation  and  nation,  for  the  purposes  either 
of  negotiation  or  commerce.  *  Messengers'  is  the 
word  in  the  Great  Bible,  and  in  the  Bishop's  Bible. 

— "  in  vessels  of  bulrushes." 

Navigable  vessels  are  certainly  meant ;  and  if  it 
could  be  proved,  that  Egypt  is  the  country  spoken 


ISAIAH.  l$| 

to,  these  vessels  of  bulrushes  might  be  understood 
literally  of  the  light  skirls,  made  of  that  material, 
and  used  by  the  Egyptians  upon  the  Nile.     But  if 
the  country  spoken  to  be  distant  from  Egypt,  ves- 
sels of  bulrush  are  only  used  as  an  apt  image,  on  ac- 
count of  their  levity  for  quick-sailing  vessels  of  any 
material.    The  country,  therefore,  to  which  the  Pro- 
phet calls,  is  characterised  as  one,    which  in  the 
days  of  the  completion  of  this  prophecy,  should  be  a 
great  maritime  and  commercial  power,  forming  re- 
mote alliances,  making  distant  voyages .  to  all  parts 
of  the  world  with  expedition  and  security,  and  in 
the  habit  of  affording  protection  to  their  friends  and 
allies.     Where  this  country  is  to  be  found  is  not 
otherwise  said,  than  that  it  will  be  remote  from  Ju- 
dea,  and  with  respect  to  that  country,  beyond  the 
Cushean  streams. 
— "  saying,  Go,  ye  swift  messengers'  * — 
The  word  c  saying'  is  not  in  the  original;  nor  in 
the  LXX,  the  Vulgate,  the  Chaldee,  or  the  Syriac, 
nor  in  the  Great  Bible,  nor  in  the  Bishop's  Bible. 
It  has  been  inserted  in  our  public  translation,  and 
many  others  of  a  late  date,  upon  a  supposition  that 
the  words  which  follow,  c  Go,  ye  swift  messengers/ 
&c.  are  a  command  given  by  the  people,  called  to 

i  4> 


136  ISAIAH. 

in  the  first  verse,  to  messengers  sent  by  diem.  But 
it  should  rather  seem,  that  the  command  to  the  swift 
messengers  is  the  Prophet's  command,  that  is  God's 
command  by  the  Prophet ;  and  that  the  swift  mes- 
sengers to  whom  the  command  is  given,  are  the 
very  people  called  upon  in  the  first  verse ;  who  by 
their  skill  in  navigation,  and  their  perpetual  voyages 
to  distant  parts  were  qualified  to  be  swift  carriers 
of  the  message.  First,  the  Prophet  calls  upon  this 
people ;  he  summons  them  to  attend  to  him ;  then 
he  declares  for  what  immediate  purpose  they  are 
summoned,  viz.  to  be  the  carriers  of  a  message. 

The  word  '  saying'  is  not  inserted  by  Yitringa, 
Houbigant,  or  Bishop  Lowth.  Houbigant  under- 
stands the  whole  chapter  of  the  Jews,  Sennacherib, 
and  Tirhaka ;  and  the  swift  messengers  he  takes  to 
be  messengers  sent  by  Tirhaka  to  the  Jews,  to  in- 
form them,  that  he  was  upon  the  march  against  their 
enemy  Sennacherib. 

Vitringa  and  Bishop  Lowth  understand  the  pro- 
phecy  of  Sennacherib.  But  the  command  given  to 
the  messengers,  they  take  to  be  the  command  of 
God  by  his  Prophet.  But  the  people,  summoned  in 
the  first  verse,  they  take  to  be  the  very  people  to 
whom    lese  swift  messengers  are  sent,  described  by 


ISAIAH.  J  .7 

other  characteristics  in  the  sequel  of  this  second 
verse;  and  the  <  swift  messengers'  they  understand 
of  no  particular  people,  nor  of  any  certain  persons, 
but  of  any  the  usual  "  conveyers  of  news  whatso- 
ever," says  Bishop  Lowth,  "  travellers,  merchants, 
and  the  like;  the  instruments  and  agents  of  common 
fame."  c*  Nuntii  hie  sunt  obvii  quique,"  says  Vi- 
tringa.  These  learned  interpreters  were  all  misled 
by  an  error  common  to  them  all,  and  to  them  with 
many  others ;  that  contiguity  to  the  rivers  of  Cush 
is  one  principal  circumstance  in  the  Prophet's  de- 
scription of  the  country,  to  the  people  of  which  he 
speaks;  and  nothing  but  the  difficulty,  in  which 
every  interpreter  will  find  himself  involved,  who 
adopts  this  erroneous  principle,  could  have  induced 
writers  of  the  piety,  judgment,  and  good  taste  of 
Bishop  Lowth  and  Vitringa,  to  take  up  the  strange 
notion,  that  God's  awful  message  is  committed  to 
any  one,  and  every  one,  who  might  chance  to  be 
passing  to  and  fro.  "  Ite  nunc  obvii  qualescunque," 
says  Vitringa,  "  quibus  decretum  hoc  curia?  ccelestis 
innotuerit,  et  denuntiate,"  &c. 

The  message  certainly  is  God's.  The  command 
to  messengers,  to  go  swiftly  upon  the  message,  is 
God's  command  issued   by  his  Prophet;    but  the 


138  ISAIAH. 

swift  messengers  charged  with  the  message,  are  not 
the  '  instruments  and  agents  of  common  fame,'  but 
the  particular  people  summoned  by  the  Prophet  in 
the  first  verse  to  attend  him,  in  order  to  be  charged 
with  the  commission  he  now  seems  about  to  give 
them, 

— "  to  a  nation  scattered  and  peeled,',  or,  "  spread 
out  and  polished"  (margin). 

vrw\  1TO  ■>«  ^.  Kennicott's  best  MSS.  have 
"ltyUDD  DniDE^;  a  more  regular  orthography  of  the 
words,  producing  no  alteration  of  the  sense.  — wge§ 
Uvog  perewgoy,  %ai  Iwov.  LXX.  — "  ad  gentem  convul- 
sam  et  dilaceratam."  Vulg.  — "  to  a  nation  that  is! 
scattered  abrode  and  robbed  of  that  they  had." 
Great  Bible,  and  Bishop's  Bible.  — "  ad  gentem 
distractam  et  expilatam."  Calvin.  — "  ad  gentem 
distractam  et  depilatam."  Jun.  et  Tremell.  — "  ad 
distractam  direptamque  gentem."  Castalio.  — "  a 
la  gente  arrastrada  y  repelada."  Span.  — "  alia  gente 
di  lunga  statura  e  dipelata."  Diodati.  — "  vers  la 
nation  de  grand  atirail  sans  poil."  Ostervald.  — "  ad 
gentem  protractam  et  depilatam."  Vitringa.  — "  ad 
gentem  quae  raptatur  et  laceratur."  Houbigant. 
— "  the  nation  drawn  out  and  made  bare."    Purver. 


ISAIAH.  13D 

— "  to  a  nation  stretched  out  in  length,  and  smooth- 
ed."   Bishop  Lowth. 

Different  as  these  translations  are,  not  one  of  them 
can  be  said  to  be  erroneous.  Since  no  one  of  them 
affixes  a  sense  to  either  of  the  two  participles,  which 
is  not  in  some  degree  justified,  either  by  the  etymo- 
logy of  the  word,  or  by  the  use  of  it  in  other  places ; 
except  indeed,  that  in  the  version  of  the  LXX,  it 
is  difficult  to  discern  any  correspondence  between 
their  word  %sw  and  the  Hebrew  B-fiD,  which  it 
should  render.  The  verb  "lttfB  signifies  \  to  draw'  in 
any  manner  \  that  is  to  say,  it  renders  the  Latin 
trailer  e,  and  every  one  of  its  compounds,  attraltere, 
contrahere,  extrahere,  protrahere,  distraliere,  vi  abrU 
pere,  to  drag  forcibly  away.  Bie  renders  f  to  pluck 
the  hair,  to  became  bald  by  the  falling  of  the  hair, 
to  make  smooth  by  rubbing,  to  furbish,  to  fret  or 
gall  the  skin.' 

Vitringa  and  Bishop  Lowth,  resolute  in  the  appli- 
cation of  the  description  to  Egypt,  and  supported  in 
this  by  the  authority  of  Bochart,  find  in  the  first 
of  these  participles  an  allusion  to  the  shape  of  that 
country;  and  in  the  second  an  allusion  either  to 
one  of  the  characteristic  customs  of  the  people,  the 
practice  of  smoothing  their  bodies  by  the  extirpation 


HO  ISAIAH. 

of  the  hair  in  all  parts,  or  else  to  the  annual  smooth- 
ing of  the  surface  of  the  land,  by  the"  overflowing 
of  the  Nile.  But  the  participle  "WCB,  in  the  sense 
of  *  dragged  away,5  may  be  applied  to  a  people  for- 
cibly torn  from  their  country,  and  carried  into  cap^ 
tivity.  And  the  participle  «TOB,  or  BTIDD,  <  pluekt,* 
may  be  applied  to  a  people  plundered  of  their  wealth, 
and  stripped  of  their  power.  Or,  as  the  word  is 
sometimes  used  for  the  plucking  of  the  hair  of  the 
beard  in  contumely,  it  may  be  applied  figuratively 
to  a  depressed  people,  treated  every  where  with  in- 
sult and  indignity.  Thus  both  these  participles  may 
be  more  naturally  applied  to  the  Jews  in  their  pre- 
sent condition,  than  to  any  other  nation  of  any  other 
time.  The  sense  is  perspicuously  expressed  in  the 
Bishop's  Bible ;  — "  scattered  abrode  and  robbed  of 
lhat  they  had."  But  the  force  of  the  original  words 
is  better  preserved  in  the  Spanish,  than  in  any  other 
translation ;  and  I  question  whether  it  can  be  ex- 
pressed, with  equal  brevity,  in  any  other  of  the  mo- 
dern languages  of  Europe ;  — "  gente  arrastrada  y 
repelada."  Arrastrar  is  *  to  drag  about  by  force."5 
Andar  un  hombre  arrastrado  is  a  proverbial  expres- 
sion in  the  Spanish  language,  applied  to  a  man  who 
roams   about  an  outcast  of  society,   every  where 


ISAIAH.  141 

seeking  relief,  which  he  no  where  finds,  from  the 
extreme  of  necessity  and  poverty.  Rcpclar  is  not 
only  to  pluck  the  hair,  but  to  tear  it  up  by  the 
roots,  pulling  it  against  the  grain  of  its  growth. 

I  must  observe,  that  the  word  tt"^,  which  occurs 
in  twelve  passages,  and  no  more  in  the  whole  Bible, 
besides  this  and  the  seventh  verse  of  this  chapter, 
is  not  used  in  any  one  of  them  in  a  moral  sense, 
answering  to  the  English  word  *  polite.'  Nor  can  I 
find,  that  it  bears  that  sense  in  any  of  the  dialects. 

— "  to  a  people  terrible  from  their  beginning 
hitherto  :"— 

rwSm  *t\  p  mi  oy  ^  _«  to  a  people  ter- 
rible," &c.  — "  to  wit,  the  Jews,"  says  the  annotator 
in  the  English  Geneva  Bible,  "  who,  because  of 
God's  plagues,  made  all  other  nations  afraid  of  the 
like;  as  God  threatened."  Deut.  xxviii,  37.  And 
the  Jews  are  certainly  the  people  meant ;  though 
interpreters  differ  much,  both  in  the  rendering  and 
h\  the  application  of  the  words.  — Xaov  xai  %aXs^roi> 
rtg  (or  r/)  avrov  brvOiH* ;  LXX.  The  text  of  the 
LXX  seems  to  be  in  some  disorder.  I  suspect  the 
true  reading  of  the  entire  passage  to  have  been 
— Tsog  ifoog  jtersotoo*  K,ai  ^evov,  xat  \olov  yjxXnrov.  rig  avrov 
Imumm ;  "  unto  a  nation  of  stately  stature  and  strange 


142  ISAIAH. 

and  a  people  hard  [to  encounter].  What  people  more 
so  than  this  *"  that  is,  what  people  more  hard  to  en- 
counter than  this  ?  — ft»s0  6v  ova  \ariv  kvrgxetvu.  Symm. 
— "  ad  populum  terribilem,  post  quern  non  est  alius." 
Vulg.  — *  ad  populum  formidabilem  ab  eo  et  dein- 
ceps."  Calv.  — ft  ad  populum  eorum  qui  sunt  ultra 
ipsum  fbrmidabilissimum.,,  Castalio.  — "  ad  popu- 
lum formidabilem  ex  eo  loco  atque  ulterius."  Jun. 
et  Tremell.  — "  to  a  fearfull  people,  and  to  a  people 
that  is  further  than  thys."  Coverdale.  — ■"  a  fear- 
full  people  from  their  begynnyng  hytherto."  Great 
Bible,  and  Bishop's  Bible.  — "  al  pueblo  lleno  de 
temores  des  de  su  principio  y  despues."  Span, 
— "  al  popolo  spaventevole,  che  e  piu  oltre  di  quel- 
la."  Diodati,  Diodati  conceives  that  the  *n\J  EDJJ, 
&c.  is  another  people ;  for  so  he  explains  himself  in 
his  notes :  — "  al  popolo  c.  a  que'  piu  salvatichi, 
c'  habitano  nell'  Etiopia  interiore,  piu  lontani  del 
mare,  piu  neri,  sparuti,  horridi,  e  barbari."  — "  vers 
le  peuple  terrible  depuis  la  ou  il  est,  et  par  dela." 
Ostervald.  — "  populum  formidabilem,  a  quo  fuit 
et  usque."  Vitringa.  — <c  ad  populum  fractum  ae- 
rumnis  et  fatiscentem."  Houbigant,  applying  this 
character  to  the  Jews  of  the  Prophet's  times.  But 
JHti  is  never  used  as  a  participle  passive,  that  is,  as 


ISAIAH.  140 

applied  to  the  person  affected  with  fear,  as  Iloubi- 
gant  understands  it  here.  — "  the  people  terrible 
not  only  where  they  are,  but  further."  Purver. 
— "  to  a  people  terrible  from  the  first  and  hitherto." 
Bishop  Lowth. 

Of  these  renderings  some  seem  to  give  hardly  any 
sense ;  some,  senses  quite  foreign  to  the  context. 
The  sense,  which  most  naturally  arises  from  the 
words,  and  best  suits  the  context,  is  that  which  is 
given  in  the  Great  Bible,  the  Bishop's  Bible,  and 
the  Spanish,  and  is  adopted  in  our  later  English 
translations,  and  followed  by  Yitrlnga  and  Bishop 
Lowth.  But  even  in  these  translations  the  word 
*HU  is  not  well  rendered  by  *  fearful,'  g  lleno  de  te- 
more,'  or  '  formidabilem,'  or  '  terrible.'  The  word, 
if  I  mistake  not,  is  applicable  to  whatever  excites 
admiration,  or  awe,  with,  or  without,  £ny  mixture  of 
terror.  There  is  no  word  in  the  English  language 
which  will  render  it  universally.  It  must  be  render- 
ed differently  in  different  places,  according  to  its 
connection.  Majestic,  sublime,  grand,  awful,  and 
sometimes  terrible.  In  this  place  I  would  render  it 
i  awfully  remarkable.'  But  with  respect  to  the 
phrase,  MK^m  NVl  JE,  I  agree  with  Vitringa,  that  it 
will  best  suit  the  context,  if  it  be  understood  not  of 

3 


14*  ISAIAH. 

place,  but  of  time.  But  understanding  the  time  de- 
scribed as  present  by  the  adverb  ilK^n  (hitherto),  of 
the  time  present  when  the  prophecy  was  uttered; 
he  applies  the  character  contained  in  these  words, 
as  rendered  by  himself  and  in  our  public  translation, 
to  the  Egyptians  ;  of  whom  he  observes  with  truth, 
that  they  had  been  formidable  from  the  earliest  times 
to  the  times  of  the  Prophet.  But  the  time  present 
in  prophetic  vision,  is  not  the  time  of  the  delivery, 
but  that  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy.  The 
people  to  whom  the  character  is  to  be  applied,  must 
exist,  and  the  character  must  notoriously  belong  to 
them  at  the  time  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  pro- 
phecy. If  therefore  the  prophecy  is  not  yet  accom- 
plished, which  will  appear  to  be  the  case,  the  appli- 
cation of  this  character  to  the  people  of  Egypt  must 
be  erroneous.*  For  that  people  is  gone,  and  has  long 
since  ceased  to  be  of  any  consideration.  But  the 
people  of  the  Jews  have  been  from  their  very  begin- 
ning, are  at  this  day,  and  will  be  to  the  end  of  time, 
a  people  venerable  in  a  religious  sense,  awfully  re- 
markable, (in  which  sense,  rather  than  in  that  of 
terrible,  as  I  have  observed,  I  would  take  *HU  here), 
on  account  of  the  special  providence  visibly  attend- 
ing them.     And,  with  this  correction  of  the  word 


ISAIAH.  I« 

c  terrible,'  I  should  not  much  object  to  Purver's 
rendering.  The  words,  I  think,  may  bear  it.  And 
the  sense  it  gives,  applies  more  aptly  to  the  Jews 
than  to  any  other  people.  They  have  been  a  people 
awfully  remarkable,  not  only  in  the  part  of  the  world 
where  they  were  settled,  but  since  their  dispersion 
particularly,  to  the  utmost  corners  of  the  earth. 

— <c  a  nation  meted  out  and  trodden  down  ;"  or, 
"  a  nation  that  meteth  out  and  treadeth  down." 
Margin.  In  these  renderings,  as  well  as  in  Vitrin- 
ga's  and  Bishop  Lowth's,  the  allusion  seems  to  be  to 
Egypt ;  but  in  the  original,  and  in  the  antient  ver- 
sions, it  is  evidently  to  the  Jews. 

HD1DC1  ^p  ip  Mi —  The  interpretations  of  the  words 
are  so  various,  and  the  manner  of  application  so  dif- 
ferent, even  among  those  who  apply  the  words  to 
the  same  people,  that  it  will  be  proper  to  state  the 
different  renderings  one  by  one ;  and  the  order,  I 
shall  observe  in  stating  them  shall  be,  to  begin  with 
those,  which  seem  to  me  the  most  extravagant. 

The  first  therefore  I  shall  mention,  is  that  of 
Ostervald ;  because  I  have  not  the  least  conception 
of  his  meaning :  — "  vers  la  nation  allant  a  la  file, 
et  fbulee."  The  next  shall  be  Diodati's :  — "  alia 
gente  sparsa  qua  e  la,  e  calpestata."  This  he  applies 

VOL,  II.  K 


146  ISAIAH, 

to  the  Nomad  tribes  of  Ethiopians  and  Moors,  not 
settled  in  walled  towns,  but  scattered  in  villages. 
But  how  sparsa  qua  e  la  is  to  be  brought  out  of  the 
Hebrew,  ip  ip,  he  has  not  informed  us.  The  third 
place  is  due  to  Junius  and  Tremellius :  — "  gentem 
omnibus  delineantem  et  conculcantem."  They  un- 
derstand  these  to  be  the  words  of  Tirhaka,  describ- 
ing the  haughty  overbearing  character  of  the  Assy- 
rian empire.  The  next  in  order  shall  be  Grotius : 
— -"  gentem  lineae  lineae  et  conculcationis."  "  Id 
est,"  he  says,  (his  rendering  wants  an  id  est  indeed), 
"  gentem  quae  paulatim  protendit  imperii  sui  termi- 
nos,  et  superbo  pede  victos  proterit,"  applying  the 
character  to  the  Assyrians.  Next  hear  Castalio : 
•. — "  gentem  alios  atque  alios  limites  habentem,  at- 
tritamque."  He  understands  the  passage  of  the 
countries  bordering  on  the  Nilej  of  which  the 
boundaries,  he  says,  were  perpetually  changed  by 
the  inundations  of  the  river.  Next  let  Vitringa 
speak :  ■ — "  ad  gentem  canonis  et  canonis  [or  prae- 
cepti  et  praecepti]  et  conculcationis."  He  applies 
the  passage  to  the  Egyptians ;  and  imagines,  that 
the  Egyptians  are  characterised  in  it  by  two  circum- 
stances ;  the  number  of  precise  rules,  to  the  observ- 
ance of  which  they  were  held  in  their  idolatrous 


ISArAH.  1*7 

rites,  and  their  practice  of  trampling  in  their  seed 
with  cattle.  Bishop  Lowth  renders  "  a  nation  met- 
ed out  by  line  and  trodden  down."  This  he  applies 
to  Egypt,  expounding  the  '  meted  out'  of  the  fre- 
quent necessity  in  that  country  of  having  recourse 
to  mensuration,  in  order  to  determine  the  bound- 
aries after  the  inundations  of  the  Nile;  and  the 
'  trodden  down,'  of  the  trampling  in  of  the  seed. 

I  proceed  now  to  those  interpretations,  which  re- 
fer the  passage  to  the  Jews ;  beginning  with  those, 
in  which  the  rendering  is  the  most  questionable, 
though  the  application  be  right.  Among  those  in- 
terpreters, who  rightly  applying  the  passage  to  the 
Jewish  people,  seem  to  mistake  the  sense  in  which 
it  is  applied  to  them,  Houbigant  must  take  the  lead: 
— "  ad  gentem  limitibus  angustis  conclusam,  et  pro- 
culcatam."  He  observes,  that  the  limits  of  the 
kingdom  of  Judea  had  been  often  shortened,  by  the 
conquests  of  the  Assyrians,  Next  in  order  comes 
the  venerable  Calvin  :  — "  gentem  undiqub  concul- 
catam."  He  supports  this  rendering  thus :  "  ^p  ip 
id  est,  Undique;  ac  si  quis  duceret  lineas,  iisque 
inter  se  conjunctis,  nullum  locum  vacuum  relinque- 
ret:  vel  sulcos  duceret  in  agro,  quibus  omnes  glebas 
subigeret."  Last  in  this  class  are  the  old  transla- 
te 2 


148  ISAIAH. 

tions  in  our  own  language :  — "  a  desperate  and 
pylled  folke."  Coverdale  ;  badly  rendering,  not  the 
Hebrew,  but  the  Greek  of  the  LXX.  — "  a  nacyon 
troden  downe  by  lytle  and  lytle."  Great  Bible,  and 
Bishop's  Bible.  — "  a  nation  by  little  and  little  even 
troden  under  foot."  English  Genevea.  Would  you 
know  by  what  process  of  criticism  ■  by  little  and 
little'  is  brought  out  of  *>p  Tp?  Hear  Vatablus: 
*c  Metaphora,  tracta  ab  architectis,  qui  ordinem 
unum  post  ordinem  alterum  collocare  solent,  i.  e.  cui 
paulatim  conculcatio  evenit." 

In  all  these  renderings  the  sense  is  far-fetched, 
drawn  by  a  torture  of  criticism  from  the  words. 

The  antient  translations  seem  far  preferable,  aris* 
ing  naturally  out  of  the  words  of  the  original,  with- 
out any  previous  assumptions,  or  any  accommodation 
to  assumptions,  by  violent  efforts  of  the  critical  art. 

— "  ad  gentem  expectantem  et  conculcatam. " 
Vulg.  — u  Ifoog  vftopzvov  nou  cv^WTturripivov"  Aquik. 
— "  Ifoog  kvikniarov  xai  zara,'7re'x'arv)[jjsw. "  LXX. 
— "  gente  harta  de  esperar  y  hollada."  Span.  All 
these  versions  are  to  the  same  effect ;  but  those  of 
the  Vulgate  and  the  Spanish  are  incomparably  the 
best. 

The  word  1p  is  unquestionably  from  the  root  ^p. 


ISAIAH.  H9 

The  verb  nip  signifies  c  to  stretch,  to  stretch  away.' 
Hence  the  noun  ip  sometimes  signifies  a  measuring 
line,  sometimes  a  strait  rule,  of  the  mason  or  car- 
penter, and  thence  figuratively  a  rule  of  conduct,  or 
a  precept.  But  the  verb  nip  signifies  also  *  to  ex- 
pect, to  look  for  with  eager  desire,'  (a-rofce^ado*^), 
from  the  natural  act  of  stretching  the  neck  to  look 
for  a  thing  coming  from  a  distance.  The  use  of  the 
verb  in  this  sense  is  far  more  frequent  than  in  the 
other ;  and  when  used  in  this  sense,  the  verb  in 
some  instances,  though  it  must  be  confessed  in  a 
few,  drops  the  final  n.  Why  therefore  may  not  ip  ip 
render  f  expecting,  expecting.'  It  is  probable  that 
the  true  reading  of  the  Vulgate  may  be  ad  gentem 
expectantem,  expectantem,  et  conculcatam  ;  for  we  find 
the  word  expectante  thus  doubled,  in  strict  con- 
formity to  the  original,  in  the  repetition  of  this  de- 
scription of  the  people  intended  in  the  7th  verse  ; 
and  Lucas  Brugensis  testifies  that  sixteen  MSS.  re- 
peat expectantem  in  this  place.  Now,  are  not  the 
Jews,  I  would  ask,  in  their  present  state,  a  nation 
"  expecting,  expecting,  and  trampled  under  foot  i" 
still  without  end  expecting  their  Messiah,  who 
came  so  many  ages  since,  and  everywhere  tram- 
pled under  foot,  held  in  subjection,   and  general - 

k  3 


150  ISAIAH. 

ly  treated  with  contempt  ?  And  is  not  this  likely  to 
be  their  character  and  condition  till  their  conversion 
shall  take  place  ?  The  faiknwrov  of  the  LXX  may 
signify  \  not  gratified  in  their  hope/ 

The  Syriac  version  appears  at  first,  sight  to  be  dif- 
ferent from  these ;  but  I  believe  upon  examination 
it  will  be  found  to  be  equivalent :  •a-jo  ;ty>?  }*3^ 
for  which  the  Latin  translation  gives  'c  populum  foe- 
dum  et  conculcatum ;"  but  in  the  Hebrew  language 
"DIP  as  a  verb,  renders  \  to  be  drunk ;'  as  a  noun, 
both  in  the  Hebrew  and  in  the  Chaldee  dialect,  f  an 
inebriating  drink ;'  and  the  same  sense  is  given  to 
the  Syriac  noun  i^»  both  by  Schindler  and  the 
younger  Buxtorf.  The  judgment  of  these  learned 
lexicographers  is  confirmed  by  the  actual  use  of  the 
word  in  the  Syriac  version  of  Isaiah  xxix,  9,  where 
it  is  put  to  render  the  Hebrew  "Dtp  in  the  sense  of 
intoxicating  drink.  Hence  it  seems  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  verb  t£±»  may  signify,  in  Syriac  as 
in  Hebrew,  '  to  be  drunk/  and  the  participle  aphel 
|TV>  ?  drunken.'  Indeed  Schindler  makes  '  fcedum 
esse*  a  secondary  sense.  I  suspect  that  he  is  right ; 
and  that  the  filthiness,  unsightliness,  or  vileness  ex- 
pressed by  the  word,  is  that  sort  of  unseemliness 
which  disgraces  the  figure  and  actions  of  a  drunken 


ISAIAH.  1*1 

man.  If  I  am  right  in  this  inference,  the  Syriac 
should  be  rendered  "  populimi  temulentum  el  concul- 
c'atum  ;"  "  a  people  drunk,  and  trodden  under  foot." 
The  drunkenness  is  that  drunkenness  of  intellect 
which  makes  them  blind  to  the  prophecies  relating 
to  the  Messiah  and  to  themselves,  and  keeps  them 
to  this  hour  in  expectation  of  another  Messiah,  than 
him  whom  they  crucified.  — u  they  are  drunken,  but 
not  with  wine;  they  stagger,  but  not  with  strong 
drink.  For  Jehovah  hath  poured  upon  them  the 
spirit  of  deep  sleep,  and  hath  closed  their  eyes ; 
their  prophets,  their  rulers,  and  their  seers,  hath  he 
covered."  Isaiah  xxix,  9,  10.  The  Syriac,  so  ren- 
dered, gives  a  sense  perfectly  equivalent  to  that  of 
the  other  antient  versions,  though  under  an  image 
borrowed,  as  it  should  seem,  from  other  parts  of  the 
prophetic  writings.  But  I  have  a  suspicion  that  this 
interpreter  somehow  or  other  connected  or  con- 
founded the  word  ip  in  this  place  with  the  root  fiNp, 
or  Kip,  *  to  vomit,'  and  so  brought  it  to  the  sense  of 
1  drunken.'     Compare  Syr.  Is.  xxviii,  10  and  13. 

— "  whose  land  the  rivers  have  spoiled ;"  or  "  de- 
spise," margin.  To  this  effect  the  passage  is  render- 
ed by  all  interpreters,  except  Coverdale,  the  learned 
Julius  Bate,  and  Bishop  Lowth,     Coverdale's  inter- 

K  4 


152  ISAIAH, 

pretation  deserves  to  be  mentioned  only  for  its  sin- 
gularity, for  it  is  impossible  to  trace  it  to  any  prin- 
ciple ;  — "  whose  londe  is  devyded  from  us  with 
ryvers  of  water."  Julius  Bate  and  Bishop  Lowth 
give  the  verb  WO,  by  all  others  rendered  «  spoiled,' 
a  sense  directly  opposite  to  that  of  spoiling.  The 
former  in  his  Critica  Hebraea,  under  the  word  KO, 
says,  "  by  the  context  [viz.  in  this  place]  it  may  be 
overflow,  or  inrich,  or  fatten,  or,"  &c. ;  and  Bishop 
Lowth  renders  it  by  the  word  *,  nourish/ 

It  is  certain  the  root  KO  occurs  nowhere  in  the 
Bible  but  in  this  one  passage  j  and  it  passed  with  all 
interpreters  before  Schultens,  Coverdale  alone  ex- 
cepted, and  some  one  perhaps,  or  more,  of  the  un- 
known interpreters  whom  Coverdale  followed,  for 
an  unusual  form  of  the  root  JO,  «  to  spoil.'  But 
Schultens  thought  the  change  of  "NO  into  WO  would 
be  an  anomaly,  to  which  nothing  similar  is  to  be 
found  in  the  whole  compass  of  the  Hebrew  language. 
He  would  refer  the  word  therefore  to  the  root  MO, 
rather  than  to  O.  HO  signifies  '  to  slight,  to  despise, 
to  insult.'  And  he  thinks  that,  to  say  of  a  river 
that  it  despises  or  insults  a  country,  is  a  noble  meta- 
phor for  overflowing  and  destroying.  And  he  at- 
tempts to  confirm  this  exposition  by  the  senses  of 


ISAIAH.  15S 

the  verb  ND  in  the  Arabic  language.  Upon  the 
whole,  therefore,  Schultens  agrees  with  others  in  the 
sense  of  the  passage ;  only  he  imagines  that  the  verb 
HE*  expresses,  by  a  metaphor,  what  all  interpreters 
before  him  thought  it  expressed  literally. 

Bishop  Lowth,  assenting  as  it  should  seem  to 
Schultens' s  objection  to  the  usual  exposition  of  this 
word,  gives  it  the  contrary  sense  of  nourishing ;  upon 
the  suggestion,  as  he  tells  us,  of  a  learned  friend, 
who  reminded  him  that  the  noun  iva  in  Syriac,  and 
Nro  in  Chaldee,  signifies  a  breast,  dug,  or  teat. 
This  sense  of  nourishing,  the  learned  Bishop  says, 
would  perfectly  well  suit  with  the  Nile ;  u  for  to  the 
inundation  of  the  Nile  Egypt  owed  every  thing; 
the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  very  soil  itself. 
Besides,  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile  came  on  by 
gentle  degrees,  covering,  not  laying  waste  the  conn- 
try."  All  this  is  most  unquestionably  true.  But 
the  mention  of  it  here  only  shews,  that  this  conjec- 
tural interpretation  of  nourishing,  an  interpretation 
not  transferred  directly  to  the  Hebrew  verb  from 
the  actual  sense  of  a  corresponding  word  in  any  of 
the  dialects,  but  derived  indirectly,  by  critical  the- 
ory, from  the  sense  of  a  noun  of  the  same  letters  in 
the  Syriac;  that  this  conjectural  interpretation  is 


134  ISAIAH. 

put  upon  the  word  upon  the  ground  of  assumptions, 
which  the  learned  prelate  himself  considered  as 
doubtful ;  Is*,  that  the  word  '  rivers*  in  this  passage 
is  to  be  understood  literally  of  some  natural  rivers ; 
2dly,  that  Egypt  is  the  country  described  in  this  se- 
cond verse.  Whence  indeed  it  would  follow  that 
the  Nile  in  its  various  branches  must  be  the  rivers, 
and  that  this  clause  must  be  so  interpreted  as  to  de- 
scribe the  effects  of  the  inundation  of  the  Nile  upon 
the  land  of  Egypt.  But  in  the  same  degree  that 
these  assumptions  are  doubtful,  the  supposed  dis- 
cordance of  the  received  interpretation,  and  the 
supposed  agreement  of  this  new  interpretation,  with 
the  subject  matter  of  the  prophecy,  will  be  likewise 
doubtful.  Deny  these  assumptions,  and  nothing  will 
be  found  in  the  context,  to  which  Julius  Bates  ap- 
peals, and  on  which  Bishop  Lowth  in  effect  relies, 
in  favour  of  this  interpretation. 

Schultens's  objection  to  the  common  rendering 
appears  to  me,  I  confess,  more  subtle  than  solid. 
When  he  says  that  ^O  for  V©  "  would  be  an  ano- 
maly of  which  the  like  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
whole  compass  of  the  Hebrew  language,"  I  conceive 
he  means  that  an  instance  is  not  to  be  found,  among 
the  verbs  that  double  the  second  radical,  of  a  change 


ISAIAH.  155 

of  the  radical  so  doubled  into  N.  At  the  same  time 
he  seems  to  admit,  in  the  very  next  sentence,  that 
among  the  verbs  which  end  in  fi,  the  change  of  the 
final  H  into  N  is  not  uncommon.  Now  we  very  often 
find  three  verbs  in  the  Hebrew  differing  in  their 
form  no  otherwise  than  thus,  that  the  one  shall  be 
a  verb  ain  \  the  second  a  verb  doubling  ain,  and 
the  third  a  verb  lamed  fi.  Three  such  verbs  have 
not  only  so  near  a  resemblance  in  the  letters,  that, 
in  the  oblique  forms,  the  reader  will  find  it  difficult 
to  distinguish  one  from  another,  otherwise  than  by 
the  differences  of  the  Masoretic  points,  which,  hold- 
ing the  points  to  be  of  no  authority,  I  consider  as 
no  distinctions ;  but  though  each  may  have  strictly 
its  proper  sense,  yet  in  many  instances,  in  the  lati- 
tude of  usage,  they  have  often  an  intercommunity 
of  signification.  When  this  happens,  it  is  because 
there  is  some  general  radical  meaning  common  td 
them  all,  comprehending  undef  it  the  several  spe- 
cific meanings  of  each,  and  producing  something  of 
an  indiscrimination  in  the  application  of  them,  even 
in  these  secondary  meanings. 

Thus  the  old  lexicographers  give  us  three  roots 
?D,  HO,  and  W^  ro,  <  to  brand  with  infamy,  to  dis- 
grace ;'  HD,  «  to  despise,  to  slight  ?  H3,  ■  to  plunder, 


156  ISAIAH. 

to  spoil/  It  is  evident  that  the  difference  in  sense 
between  Ttt  and  flD  is  not  great,  the  latter  express- 
ing  an  act  of  the  same  kind  in  a  less  degree,  or  to  a 
smaller  extent.  But  it  is  not  so  obvious,  but  it  is 
very  certain,  that  fiS  is  the  real  primary  root ;  for  its 
sense  J  to  rob,  or  plunder,'  comprehends  under  it 
the  senses  of  both  the  other.  For  *  to  disgrace  a 
man/  *  to  brand  him  with  infamy/  what  is  it  but 
to  rob  him,  to  despoil  him,  of  his  good  name  and 
reputation  ?  And  to  slight  or  contemn  a  man,  what 
is  it  but  not  to  give  him  that  respect  which  is  his 
due  ?  which  is  the  next  thing  to  robbery.  Hence  it 
is  not  to  be  wondered  if  JD  should  sometimes  give 
its  own  proper  meaning  to  its  subordinates  A3  or  HD# 
Accordingly  we  find  ftD  actually  used  in  the  sense 
of  JO  f  to  spoil/  1  Sam.  xiv,  36.  This,  I  confess, 
is  the  only  passage  in  which  the  word  occurs  in  that 
sense.  But  one  clear  unquestionable  instance  is  de- 
cisive, and  I  find  the  MSS.  all  agree  in  the  reading* 
One  indeed  of  Kennicott's  MSS,  but  only  one,  omits 
the  word  altogether ;  but  no  one  of  them  gives  it 
without  the  final  ft.  The  instance  is  one  of  the 
strongest  that  can  be.  It  occurs  in  a  simple  histori- 
cal narrative  in  prose.  The  verb  is  the  first  person 
plural  of  the  future  in  Kal,  in  which  the  final  ft  in 


ISAIAH.  157 

the  verbs  quiescent  lamed  M,  to  the  best  oi'  my  re- 
collection, never  is  omitted.  The  verb  is  transitive. 
Its  object  is  the  detached  pronoun  masculine  of  the 
third  person  plural  with  a  prefix,  so  that  the  final  fi 
can  be  nothing  but  radical. 

Hence,  I  think,  we  may  conclude  that  the  verb 
W?D  in  this  place  is  not  indeed  for  VD5  but  for  ttO 
(or  rather  W^  for  so  the  verb  HO,  according  to  the 
rule  of  conjugation  of  the  verbs  quiescent  lamed  fi, 
should  form  the  third  personal  plural  preterite  in 
Kal)  in  the  sense  of  "W3 ;  and  that  it  renders  literal- 
ly, not  by  a  metaphor,  as  Schultens  imagined,  c  have 
spoiled.1 

Perhaps  if  we  knew  the  laws  of  the  Hebrew  pro- 
sody as  accurately  as  we  know  those  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin,  we  should  see  that  the  change  of  the  * 
into  N  is  by  a  poetic  dialect  on  account  of  the  verse. 
I  must  observe  however,  that  VD  is  found  in  this 
place  in  one  of  Kennicott's  MSS.  mentioned  by 
Bishop  Lowth,  and  in  three  of  De  Rossi's.  "  Om- 
nes,"  says  De  Rossi,  speaking  of  his  three,  "  priori 
manu,  forma*  regulari."  If  this  should  be  received 
as  the  true  reading,  which  would  be  contrary  to  my 
judgment,  Schulten's  difficulty  would  disappear,  and 
any  solution  of  it  would  be  unnecessary. 


45S  ISAIAH. 

With  respect  to  this  particular  passage  I  shall 
venture  to  conclude  that  the  English  translation 
gives  the  true  rendering  of  the  original  words  j  that 
the  original  expresses  the  spoiling  of  inundation, 
not  by  a  metaphor,  but  literally;  and,  with  the 
greatest  deference  for  the  judgment  of  my  late 
friend  Bishop  Lowth,  that  there  is  no  room  in  this 
passage  for  conjectural  interpretations. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  said  that,  when  I  speak  of  the 
unanimous  consent  of  all  interpreters  before  Bates 
and  Bishop  Lowth,  in  the  sense  of  this  passage 
which  I  uphold  (I  speak  of  the  literal  meaning  of 
the  words)  I  ought  to  qualify  the  assertion  with  an 
exception  with  respect  to  the  LXX,  whose  version, 
from  the  varieties  of  the  MSS,  may  be  thought  in 
some  degree  doubtful.  But  upon  the  maturest  con- 
sideration, I  see  no  reason  to  think  that  their  ver- 
sion of  this  clause  differed  from  that  of  all  other  in- 
terpreters. Their  text,  as  it  is  given  from  the  Alex- 
andrian MS.  in  the  London  Polyglott,  is  indeed 
wholly  unintelligible.  It  is  equally  so  in  the  Roman 
edition,  from  the  Vatican  MS.  A  version  so  de- 
praved by  the  injuries  of  time,  or  other  causes,  as 
to  be  unintelligible  is  to  be  considered  as  neutral, 
or  as  conducing  nothing  to  the  choice  of  the  critic 


ISAIAH.  159 

between  two  different  meanings.  But  in  Breiten- 
ger's  edition  the  text  is  given  thus :  06  foffwftei  0/ 
KOTctpot  Tr,g  yr,g  Kavrig,  the  two  words  ov  'dir^aaav 
being  marked  indeed  as  insertions;  the  one  of  the 
editor  from  other  MSS  j  the  other,  of  the  Hexaplar 
edition,  as  cited  by  early  writers.  In  the  margin  of 
Froben's  edition  of  St  Jerome,  printed  at  Basle,  un- 
der the  patronage  of  Leo  X.  in  the  year  1516,  in  a 
note  which  I  guess  to  be  of  Erasmus,  I  find  the 
passage  given  somewhat  differently,  thus :  6  hri^rrocaoLv 
fvv  oi  KOTUfjboi  rrjg  yqg  Travrsg,  where  the  pronoun  0  re- 
hearses iQvog.  I  have  no  doubt  that  one  or  other  of 
these  is  the  true  text  of  the  LXX ;  and  in  either 
way  it  gives  the  very  same  sense,  which,  in  agree- 
ment with  almost  all  interpreters  antient  and  mo- 
dern, is  expressed  in  our  English  Bible  "  whose  land 
the  rivers  have  spoiled." 

"  Rivers,"  i.  ef  the  armies  of  conquerors,  which 
long  since  have  spoiled  the  land  of  the  Jews.  And 
so  the  passage  was  understood  by  Jonathan  j  who, 
for  the  metaphor  •  rivers,'  puts,  what  he  understood 
to  be  denoted  by  it,  4  peoples.'  The  inundation  of 
rivers  is  a  frequent  image  in  the  prophetic  style  for 
the  ravages  of  armies  of  foreign  invaders.  I  must 
observe  however,  that  the  inundation  of  rivers  sym- 


160  ISAIAH. 

bolizes  the  devastations  of  foreign  armies  only,  not 
of  intestine  commotions ;  the  outrages  of  invaders, 
not  of  intestine  commotion ;  not  the  turbulence  of 
the  rabble  of  any  nation  rising  in  rebellion  against 
their  own  government. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  description  of  the  people 
to  whom  the  swift  messengers  are  sent,  agrees  most 
accurately  in  every  particular  with  the  character 
and  condition  of  the  Jews  in  their  present  state  of 
dispersion. 

We  have  now  heard  messengers  summoned;  we 
have  heard  a  command  given  to  them  to  go  swiftly 
with  the  message;  we  have  heard  the  people  de- 
scribed to  whom  the  message  was  to  be  carried.  It 
might  be  expected  we  should  next  hear  the  message 
given  to  the  messengers  in  precise  terms.  Homer's 
Jupiter  gives  the  lying  spirit  of  the  dream,  the  mes- 
sage, to  be  delivered  to  Agamemnon,  in  precise 
terms;  in  which  terms  it  is  afterwards  delivered. 
This  we  admire  in  the  epic  poet ;  because  by  the 
apparent  sobriety  and  order  of  the  narrative,  he 
contrives  to  give  palpable  fiction  the  air  of  truth. 
Sacred  truth  is  often  delivered  by  the  holy  prophets 
in  the  loftiest  strains  of  poetry  and  in  the  boldest 
imagery,  but  without  fiction.     It  needs  therefore  no 


ISAIAH.  161 

such  artificial  colouring.  This  portion  of  Isaiah 
strikes  me  as  affording  a  remarkable  contrast  in  this 
particular  between  the  style  of  sacred  and  profane 
poetry.  In  prophecy,  the  curtain  (if  the  expression 
may  be  allowed)  is  often  suddenly  dropped  upon 
the  action  that  is  going  on  before  it  is  finished,  and 
the  subject  is  continued  in  a  shifted  scene,  as  it 
were,  of  vision.  This  I  take  to  be  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  the  manner  in  which  futurity  was  repre- 
sented in  emblematical  pictures  to  the  imagination 
of  the  prophet ;  and  the  breaks  and  transitions  are 
more  or  less  sudden  according  to  the  natural  turn  of 
the  writer's  mind.  For  prophecy  was  a  business  in 
which  the  intellect  of  the  man  under  the  control  of 
the  inspiring  spirit  had  an  active  share,  and  accord- 
ingly the  composition  owes  much  of  its  colouring 
(but  nothing  more)  to  the  natural  genius  and  taste 
of  the  writer.  And  hence  it  is  that  such  a  variety 
of  style  is  found  in  the  works  of  the  different  authors 
of  the  Old  Testament,  all  equajly  inspired.  In 
Isaiah  the  transitions  are  remarkably  sudden  and 
bold ;  and  yet  this  suddenness  and  boldness  of  trans- 
ition is  seldom,  I  think,  if  ever  in  him  a  cause  of  ob- 
scurity. In  the  present  instance,  the  scene  of  mes- 
sengers sent  upon  a  message  is  suddenly  closed  with 
vol.  ir.  L 


162  ISAIAH, 

this  second  verse,  before  the  messengers  set  out,  be^ 
fore  even  the  message  is  given  to  them.  But  the 
new  objects  which  are  immediately  brought  in  view 
evidently  represent  under  the  usual  emblems  of  sa- 
cred prophecy  other  parts  of  the  same  entire  action, 
and  declare  with  the  greatest  perspicuity  the  pur- 
port, the  season,  and  the  effect  of  the  message.  An 
ensign  or  standard  is  lifted  up  on  the  mountains  ;  a 
trumpet  is  blown  on  the  hills :  the  standard  of  the 
cross  of  Christ ;  the  trumpet  of  the  gospel.  The 
resort  to  the  standard,  the  effect  of  the  summons,  in 
the  end  will  be  universal.  A  pruning  of  the  vine 
shall  take  place  after  a  long  suspension  of  visible  in- 
terpositions of  Providence,  just  before  the  season  of 
the  gathering  of  the  fruits.  Fowls  of  prey  and  wild 
beasts  shall  take  possession  of  Jehovah's  dwelling 
place.  But  at  that  very  season,  when  the  affairs  of 
the  church  seem  ruined  and  desperate,  a  sudden 
reverse  shall  take  place.  The  people  to  whom  the 
message  is  sent,  shall  be  conducted  in  pomp,  as  a 
present  to  Jehovah,  to  the  place  of  his  name,  to 
Mount  Zion. 

Verse  3.  — "  See  ye~ hear  ye" —    These  impera- 
tives should  be  future  indicatives.     So  the  original 


ISAIAH.  163 

words  are  taken  by  the  Vulgate,  the  Syriac,  the 
Chaldee,  by  Calvin,  Junius  and  Tremellius ;  the 
English  Geneva,  and  by  Vitringa.  The  prophecy 
announces  a  display  of  God's  power  and  providence 
which  should  be  notorious  to  the  whole  world,  and 
particularly,  I  think,  alludes  to  a  renewed  preaching 
of  the  gospel  with  great  power  and  effect  in  the  lat- 
ter ages. 

Verse  4.  "  For  so  the  Lord,"  &c. 

This  verse  seems  to  describe  a  long  suspension  of 
the  visible  interpositions  of  Providence  in  the  affairs 
of  this  world  and  in  favour  of  his  people,  under  the 
image  of  that  stillness  and  stagnation  of  the  atmos- 
phere which  takes  place  in  the  extreme  heats  of  the 
latter  end  of  summer. 

— "  I  will  consider  in  my  dwelling  place;"  rather, 
with  the  margin,  "  I  will  regard  my  set  dwelling 
place;"  or,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  I  will  regard  my 
fixed  habitation."  It  is  very  extraordinary  that 
these  verbs,  '  I  will  take  my  rest, — I  will  consider,' 
are  imperatives  of  the  second  person  singular  in  the 
Syriac;  but  they  have  not  that  form  in  the  original; 
nor  so  taken  will  they  give  any  sense  consistent  with 
the  context. 

l  2 


164.  ISAIAH. 

The  sentiment  is,  that  notwithstanding  a  long 
cessation  of  extraordinary  manifestations  of  God's 
power,  his  providence  is  not  asleep ;  he  is  all  the 
while  regarding  the  conduct  and  the  fortunes  of  his 
people;  he  is  not  forgetful  of  his  promises  to  his 
chosen  people,  but,  though  often  by  a  silent  and 
secret  operation,  is  at  all  times  directing  every  thing 
to  their  ultimate  prosperity,  and  to  the  universal 
establishment  of  the  true  religion. 

— "  like  a  clear  heat  upon  herbs  f*  or,  according 
to  the  margin  and  Bishop  Lowth,  "  after  rain," 
•VlK  *hy.  But  the  word  "NK  never  signifies  rain ;  for 
the  text  cited  by  Kimchi  (Job  xxx vii,  11)  as  an  in- 
stance of  this  sense  is  not  at  all  to  the  purpose. 
The  physiology  of  the  book  of  Job  lies  much  too 
deep  for  Kimchi's  penetration.  Nor  does  the  word 
in  the  singular  number  ever  signify  '  herbs.'  The 
sort  of  heat  described  in  this  passage  never  follows 
rain,  but  frequently  precedes  it.  The  particle  TO 
denotes  only  close  proximity:  applied  therefore  to 
time,  it  may  as  well  express  the  moment  just  before 
as  the  moment  just  after.  The  word  *V^  in  Job 
xxxvii,  3,  certainly  signifies  lightning:  it  will  bear 
the  same  sense  in  the  ]  1th  verse  of  the  same  chapter. 
It  signifies  lightning  in  Hab.  iii,  4,  and  Hos.  vi,  5. 


ISAIAH.  165 

And  the  sense  of  lightning  will  very  well  apply  in 
this  place ;  for  the  heat  which  the  prophet  describes 
is  of  that  sort  which  precedes  a  thunder-storm. 

— "  a  cloud  of  dew."  This  still  heat  is  often  ac- 
companied with  a  moisture  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
always  with  a  clouded  sky. 

— "  in  the  heat  of  harvest."  For  orD,  "in  the 
heat/'  several  respectable  MSS.  of  Kennicott's  col- 
lation, and  others  of  De  Rossi's,  have  E3YO,  «  in  the 
day  of  harvest  f*  and  this  sense  is  certainly  express- 
ed in  the  versions  of  the  Syriac,  the  LXX,  and  Vul- 
gate. But  the  received  reading  gives  so  clear  and 
strong  a  sense,  that  I  prefer  it. 

Verse  5.  — "  and  take  away  and  cut  down." 
— "  cut  down,"  Wl  The  word  occurs  in  this 
place  only.  Instead  of  a  verb  in  Hiphil,  from  the 
root  l«n,  I  would  take  it  as  a  noun  substantive,  the 
name  of  some  lopping  instrument,  with  M  prefixed, 
and  the  nominative  case  of  the  verb  *PDn.  This  both 
simplifies  the  construction  and,  by  introducing  a 
noun  corresponding  with  miDJD,  produces  a  parallel- 
ism between  this  and  the  preceding  hemistich,  which 
otherwise  is  wanting.  The  word  is  so  taken  in  the 
Great  Bible :    — "  and  he  shall  cut  downe  the  in- 

L  3 


166  ISAIAH. 

creace  with  sythes,  and  the  braunches  shall  be  taken 
awaye  with  hokes." 

— "  sprigs— branches,"  O^n-J^Dtti.  These 
words  express  not  simply  sprigs  and  branches,  but 
6  useless  shoots/  *  luxuriant  branches/  which  bear 
no  fruit,  and  weaken  the  plant ;  and  properly  such 
shoots  and  branches  of  a  vine.  A  vine,  ifi  the  pro- 
phetic language,  is  an  image  of  the  church  of  God ; 
the  branches  of  the  vine  are  the  members  of  the 
church ;  and  the  useless  shoots  and  unfruitful  luxu- 
riant branches  are  the  insincere  nominal  members 
of  the  church ;  and  the  pruning  of  such  shoots  and 
branches  of  the  vine  is  the  excision  of  such  false  hy- 
pocritical professors,  at  least  the  separation  of  them 
from  the  church  by  God's  judgments.  This  verse 
therefore,  and  the  following,  clearly  predict  a  judg- 
ment to  fall  upon  the  church  for  its  purification,  and 
the  utter  destruction  of  hypocritical  professors  of 
the  truth.  It  is  remarkable,  that  the  object  of  this 
mystical  pruning  is  not  named  otherwise  than  as  the 
species  of  the  tree  is  implied  in  the  names  given  to 
the  branches.  The  reason  of  this  may  be,  that  the 
Israelites  in  particular  having  been  often  signified  in 
prophecy  under  the  image  of  the  vine,  so  long  as 
they  in  particular  formed  the  whole  of  God's  visible 


ISAIAH.  I(i7 

church  on  earth :  to  have  named  the  vine  expressly 
might  have  given  them  occasion  to  appropriate  this 
part  of  the  prophecy  to  themselves ;  whereas  it  is 
another  vine  that  will  be  the  object  of  this  pruning, 
as  is  evident  from  the  season  fixed  for  this  visitation. 
The  season  is  fixed  in  the  beginning  of  this  verse, 
"  For  afore  the  harvest,"  &c.  This  pruning  will  im- 
mediately precede  the  harvest  and  the  ingathering. 
The  season  of  the  harvest  and  of  the  gathering  of 
the  fruit  is  the  prophetic  image  of  that  period,  when 
our  Lord  will  send  forth  his  angels  to  gather  his 
elect  from  the  four  winds  of  heaven  ;  of  that  period, 
when  a  renewed  preaching  of  the  gospel  shall  take 
place  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  of  which  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Jews  will  perhaps  be  the  first  effect.  The 
purification  of  the  Christian  church  by  the  awful 
visitations  predicted  in  this  passage  seems  to  be  the 
proper  preparative  for  this  renewal  of  the  call  to 
them  that  are  near,  the  Jews  ;  and  to  them  that  are 
yet  afar  off,  the  Gentile  tribes  not  yet  converted. 

Verse  6.  "  They  shall  be  left  together,"  &c. 
That  is,  the  shoots  and  branches  cut  off  as  un- 
fruitful and  useless  shall  be  left, 

— "  summer  upon  them winter  upon  them." 

l  4 


168  ISAIAH. 

The  pronoun  of  the  third  person  in  the  original  is 
singular,  '  it ;'  and  is  very  properly  rendered  by  the 
singular  pronoun  by  the  Vulgate,  the  Syriac,  Calvin, 
Junius  and  Tremellius,  in  the  Great  Bible,  the 
Bishop's  Bible,  the  English  Geneva  Bible;  by  Vi- 
tringa,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop  Lowth.  But  the 
greater  part  of  these  interpreters  expound  this  sin- 
gular pronoun  as  if  in  sense  it  were  collective,  which 
brings  the  passage  to  the  same  meaning  as  if  it  were 
plural.  But  the  true  antecedent  of  this  singular  pro- 
noun in  the  original  is  the  word  'tfOtt,  '  my.  dwelling 
place/  in  verse  4 ;  which  dwelling  place  may  be  un- 
derstood literally  of  Mount  Sion.  It  was  a  prevail- 
ing opinion  in  the  primitive  ages  that  Antichrist's 
last  exploit  would  be,  to  fix  his  seat  of  empire  on 
that  holy  spot,  where  he  would  ultimately  perish. 
To  those  to  whom  the  prophetic  style  in  the  ori- 
ginal language  is  not  familiar,  but  to  those,  I  think, 
only,  it  will  appear  strange  that  a  pronoun  should 
refer  to  an  antecedent  at  so  great  a  distance. 

Verse  7.  "  In  that  time  shall  the  present  be 
brought,"  &c. 

"  In  that  time" —  Immediately  after  this  purga- 
tion of  the  church,  at  the  very  time  when  the  bird 


ISAIAH.  169 

of  prey,  with  all  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  Antichrist 
with  his  rebel  rout,  shall  have  fixed  his  seat  be- 
tween the  seas,  in  the  holy  mountain,  "  a  present 
shall  be  brought,"  &c.  the  nation,  described  in 
verse  2  as  those  to  whom  the  swift  messengers  are 
sent,  after  their  long  infidelity,  shall  be  brought  as  a 
present  unto  Jehovah.  (Compare  chap,  lxvi,  20.) 
They  shall  be  converted  to  the  acknowledgement  of 
the  truth,  and  they  shall  be  brought  to  the  place  of 
the  name  of  Jehovah,  to  Mount  Sion  :  they  shall  be 
settled  in  peace  and  prosperity  in  the  land  of  their 
original  inheritance. 

This  then  is  the  sum  of  this  prophecy,  and  the 
substance  of  the  message  sent  to  the  people  dragged 
about  and  pluckt.  That  in  the  latter  ages,  after  a 
long  suspension  of  the  visible  interpositions  of  Pro- 
vidence, God,  who  all  the  while  regards  that  dwell- 
ing place,  which  he  never  will  abandon,  and  is  at  all 
times  directing  the  events  of  the  world  to  the  ac- 
complishment of  his  own  purposes  of  wisdom  and 
mercy,  immediately  before  the  final  gathering  of  his 
elect  from  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  will  purify  his 
church  by  such  signal  judgments  as  shall  rouse  the 
attention  of  the  whole  world,  and  in  the  end  strike 


170  ISAIAH. 

all  nations  with  religious  awe.  At  this  period  the 
apostate  faction  will  occupy  the  Holy  Land.  This 
faction  will  certainly  be  an  instrument  of  .those 
judgments  by  which  the  church  will  be  purified. 
That  purification  therefore  is  not  at  all  inconsistent 
wTith  the  seeming  prosperity  of  the  affairs  of  the 
atheistical  confederacy ;  but  after  such  duration  as 
God  shall  see  fit  to  allow  to  the  plenitude  of  its 
power,  the  Jews  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ 
will  be  unexpectedly  restored  to  their  antient  pos- 
sessions. 

The  swift  messengers  will  certainly  have  a  con- 
siderable  share  as  instruments  in  the  hand  of  God 
in  the  restoration  of  the  chosen  people.  Otherwise, 
to  what  purpose  are  they  called  upon  (verse  l)  to 
receive  their  commission  from  the  prophet  ?  It  will 
perhaps  be  some  part  of  their  business  to  afford  the 
Jews  the  assistance  and  protection  of  their  fleets. 
This  seems  to  be  insinuated  in  the  imagery  of  the 
1st  verse.  But  the  principal  part  they  will  have  to 
act  will  be  that  of  the  carriers  of  God's  message  to 
his  people.  This  character  seems  to  describe  some 
Christian  country,  where  the  prophecies  relating  to 
the  latter  ages  will  meet  with  particular  attention ; 
where  the  literal  sense  of  those  which  promise  the 


ISAIAH.  171 

restoration  of  the  Jewish  people  will  be  strenuously 
upheld ;  and  where  these  will  be  so  successfully  ex- 
pounded as  to  be  the  principal  means,  by  God's 
blessing,  of  removing  the  veil  from  the  hearts  of  the 
Israelites. 

Those  who  shall  thus  be  the  instruments  of  this 
blessed  work,  may  well  be  described  in  the  figured 
language  of  prophecy  as  the  carriers  of  God's  mess- 
age to  his  people.  The  situation  of  the  country 
destined  to  so  high  an  office  is  not  otherwise  de- 
scribed in  the  prophecy  than  by  this  circumstance, 
that  it  is  "  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush."  That  is,  far 
to  the  west  of  Judea,  if  these  rivers  of  Cush  are  to 
be  understood,  as  they  have  been  generally  under- 
stood, of  the  Nile  and  other  Ethiopian  rivers ;  far  to 
the  east,  if  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.  The  one 
or  the  other  they  must  denote,  but  which,  is  uncer- 
tain. It  will  be  natural  to  ask,  of  what  importance 
is  this  circumstance  in  the  character  of  the  country, 
which,  if  it  be  any  thing,  is  a  geographical  charac- 
ter, and  yet  leaves  the  particular  situation  so  much 
undetermined,  that  we  know  not  in  what  quarter  of 
.the  world  to  look  for  the  country  intended,  whether 
in  the  East  Indies,  or  in  the  western  parts  of  Africa 
or  Europe,  or  in  America?     I  answer,  that  the  full 


172  ISAIAH. 

importance  of  this  circumstance  will  not  appear  till 
the  completion  of  the  prophecy  shall  discover  it. 
But  it  had,  as  I  conceive,  a  temporary  importance 
at  the  time  of  the  delivery  of  the  prophecy,  namely, 
that  it  excluded  Egypt. 

The  Jews  of  Isaiah's  time,  by  a  perverse  policy, 
were  upon  all  occasions  courting  the  alliance  of  the 
Egyptians,  in  opposition  to  God's  express  injunc- 
tions by  his  prophets  to  the  contrary.  Isaiah  there- 
fore, as  if  he  would  discourage  the  hope  of  aid  from 
Egypt  at  any  time,  tells  them  that  the  foreign  alli- 
ance which  God  prepares  for  them  in  the  latter 
times,  is  not  that  of  Egypt,  which  he  teaches  them 
at  all  times  to  renounce  and  to  despise,  but  that  of 
a  country  far  remote  \  as  every  country  must  be  that 
lies  either  west  of  the  Nile  or  east  of  the  Tigris. 

I  shall  now  sum  up  the  result  of  these  long  dis- 
quisitions in  a  translation  of  the  prophecy,  illustrat- 
ed with  short  notes. 


ISAIAH.  ITS 


1  Ho!  Land  spreading  wide  the  shadow  of  (thy) 

wings,1  which  art  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush.2 

2  Accustomed  to  send3  messengers  by  sea, 


1  That  is,  affording  aid  and  protection  to  friends  and  allies  in 
remote  countries. 

2  The  land  of  Cush  in  holy  writ  (commonly,  but  by  mistake, 
rendered  Ethiopia)  is  properly  that  district  of  Arabia  where  the 
sons  of  Cush  first  settled.  But  as  this  race  multiplied  exceeding- 
ly, and  spread,  not  only  into  other  parts  of  Arabia,  but  eastward, 
round  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulph,  to  the  confines  of  Susiana ; 
and  westward,  across  the  Arabian  Gulph,  into  the  region  since 
called  Abyssinia,  which  extended  along  the  coast  from  Ptolemais 
to  Arsinoe,  and  inland  to  the  very  sources  of  the  Nile :  the  land 
of  Cush  is  often  taken  more  largely  for  a  great  tract  of  country, 
not  only  comprehending  the  whole  of  Arabia  Felix,  but  having  for 
its  eastern  boundary  the  branch  of  the  Tigris,  below  the  town  of 
Asia,  and  for  its  western  boundary  the  Nile.  The  rivers  of  Cush, 
in  this  place,  may  be  either  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris  on  the 
east,  or  the  Nile,  the  Astaboras,  and  the  Astapus,  on  the  west. 
But  which  of  these  are  meant,  it  must  be  left  for  time  to  shew. 

3  u  Accustomed  to  send" —  The  form  of  the  expression  in  the 
original  signifies,  not  a  single  act  of  sending  once,  but  the  habit  of 
sending  perpetually. 


1*74  ISAIAH, 

Even  in  bulrush-vessels,*  upon  the  surface  of  the 

waters ! 
Go,  swift  messengers,5 
Unto  a  nation6  dragged  away  and  plucked, 
Unto  a  people  wonderful  from  their  beginning 

hitherto, 


4  Sending  by  sea,  in  bulrush-vessels,  is  a  figurative  expression, 
descriptive  of  skill  in  navigation,  and  of  the  safety  and  expedition 
with  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  called  to  are  supposed  to 
perform  distant  voyages. 

5  "  Go,  swift  messengers" —  You  who,  by  your  skill  in  naviga- 
tion and  your  extensive  commerce  and  alliances,  are  so  well  quali- 
fied to  be  carriers  of  a  message  to  people  in  the  remotest  corners, 
Go  with  God's  message. 

6  "  Unto  a  nation,"  &c.  viz.  to  the  dispersed  Jews ;  a  nation 
dragged  away  from  its  proper  seat,  and  plucked  of  its  wealth  and 
power ;  a  people  wonderful,  from  the  beginning  to  this  very  time, 
for  the  special  providence  which  ever  has  attended  them,  and  di- 
rected their  fortunes ;  a  nation  still  lingering  in  expectation  of  the 
Messiah,  who  so  long  since  came,  and  was  rejected  by  them,  and 
now  is  coming  again  in  glory ;  a  nation  universally  trampled  under 
foot ;  whose  lands,  «  rivers/  armies  of  foreign  invaders,  the  Assy- 
rians, Babylonians,  Syromacedonians,  Romans,  Saracens,  and 
Turks,  have  over-run  and  depopulated. 


ISAIAH.  lis 

A  nation  expecting,  expecting,  and  trampled  un- 
der foot, 
Whose  land  rivers  have  spoiled. 

3  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  and  dwellers  up- 

on  earth 

Shall  see  the  lifting  up,  as  it  were,  of  a  banner7 
upon  the  mountains, 

And  shall  hear  the  sounding  as  it  were  of  a  trum- 
pet.7 

4  For  thus  saith  Jehovah  unto  me  : 

I  will  sit  still8  (but  I  will  keep  my  eye  upon  my 
prepared  habitation.) 


7  ft  A  banner — a  trumpet."  The  banner  of  the  cross,  to  be 
lifted  up  more  conspicuously  than  ever  before ;  the  trumpet  of  the 
gospel,  to  be  sounded  more  loudly  than  ever  before  in  the  latter 
ages. 

8  This  4th  verse  represents  a  long  cessation  of  visible  interposi- 
tion* of  Providence,  under  the  image  of  God's  sitting  still  j  the 
stillness  of  that  awful  pause,  under  the  image  of  that  torpid  state 
of  the  atmosphere  in  hot  weather,  when  not  a  gleam  of  sunshine 
breaks  for  a  moment  through  the  sullen  gloom  ;  not  a  breath  stirs ; 
not  a  leaf  wags ;  not  a  blade  of  grass  is  shaken ;  no  ripling  wave 


176  ISAIAH. 

As  the  parching  heat  just  before  lightning, 
As  the  dewy  cloud  in  the  heat  of  harvest. 

3  For  afore  the  harvest,9  when  the  bud  is  coming 
to  perfection, 
And  the  blossom  is  become  a  juicy  berry, 


curls  upon  the  sleeping  surface  of  the  waters ;  the  black  ponderous 
cloud  covering  the  whole  sky  seems  to  hang  fixed  and  motionless 
as  an  arch  of  stone,  Nature  seems  benumbed  in  all  her  operations. 
The  vigilance  nevertheless  of  God's  silent  providence  is  represent- 
ed under  the  image  of  his  keeping  his  eye  while  he  thus  sits  still 
upon  his  prepared  habitation.  The  sudden  eruption  of  judgment 
threatened  in  the  next  verse,  after  this  total  cessation,  just  before 
the  final  call  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  answers  to  the  storms  of  thunder 
and  lightning  which,  in  the  suffocating  heats  of  the  latter  end  of 
summer,  succeed  that  perfect  stillness  and  stagnation  of  the  atmo- 
sphere. And  as  the  natural  thunder  at  such  seasons  is  the  wel- 
come harbinger  of  refreshing  and  copious  showers,  so  it  appears 
the  thunder  of  God's  judgments  will  usher  in  the  long  desired  sea- 
son of  the  consummation  of  mercy.  So  accurate  is  the  allusion  in 
all  its  parts. 

9  The  harvest  is  the  constant  image  of  that  season  when  God 
shall  gather  his  elect  from  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  reap  the  field 
of  the  world,  gather  his  wheat  into  his  barns,  and  burn  up  the 
chaff  with  unquenchable  fire.    Images,  which  relate  not  to  the 


ISAIAH.  ITT 

He  will  cut  oft*  the  useless  shoots  with  pruning 

hooks, 
And  thebill  shall  takeaway  the  luxuriant  branches.10 

6  They  shall  be  left  together  to  the  bird  of  prey  of 

the  mountains, 
And  to  the  beasts  of  the  earth. 
And  upon  it11  shall  the  bird  of  prey  summer, 
And  all  beasts  of  the  earth  upon  it  shall  winter. 

7  At  that  season  a  present  shall  be  led 
To  Jehovah  of  hosts, 

A  people  dragged  away  and  plucked  \ 


translation  of  the  just  to  heaven,  and  the  burning  of  the  wicked  in 
hell,  but  to  the  placing  of  the  faithful  in  a  state  of  peace  and  se- 
curity on  earth,  and  to  the  excision  of  the  incorrigible  of  the  irre- 
ligious faction. 

10  God  in  the  later  ages  will  purify  his  church  with  sore  but 
wholesome  judgments.     Compare  John  xv,  1,  2. 

1 1  It  was  a  prevailing  opinion  among  the  early  fathers,  that 
Antichrist  is  to  possess  himself  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  that  there 
he  is  to  perish. 

13  Compare  Isaiah  Jxvi,  20,  and  Zeph.  iii,  9,  10. 

VOL,  II.  M 


178  ISAIAH. 

Even  of  a  people  wonderful  from  their  beginning 
hitherto, 

A  nation  expecting,  expecting,  and  trampled  un- 
der foot, 

Whose  land  rivers  have  spoiled, 

Unto  the  place  of  the  name  of  Jehovah  of  hosts7 
Mount  Sion. 

1  must  yet  add  a  few  words,  to  obviate  a  difficulty 
which  may  seem  to  press  with  some  weight  upon 
the  interpretation  I  have  now  given  of  this  chapter. 
How,  it  may  be  asked,  is  this  prophecy  in  any  sense 
which  applies  it  to  the  final  restoration  of  the  Jews 
connected  with  what  precedes  and  follows  it  in  the 
context  of  the  prophet  ?  The  burthen  of  Damascus 
precedes,  the  burthen  of  Egypt  follows.  The  sub- 
version of  the  kingdom  of  the  Syrians  of  Damascus 
by  the  Assyrian ;  the  detail  of  the  judgments  which 
are  to  fall  upon  Egypt  in  various  periods  of  her 
history  from  the  time  of  the  prophet  downwards; 
With  what  coherence  is  the  final  restoration  of  the 
Jews  brought  in  between  .? 

I  answer,  this  prophecy  is  indeed  a  sort  of  epi- 
sode interrupting  the  regular  order  of  the  discourse, 
and  yet  not  unnaturally  introduced. 


ISAIAH.  179 

The  burthen  of  Damascus  opened  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  chapter,  naturally  brings  the 
prophet  to  speak  of  the  subversion  of  the  kingdom 
of  Israel,  in  those  days  in  alliance  with  the  Syrians, 
and  to  be  overthrown  by  the  same  enemy  at  the 
same  time.  The  prediction  of  the  subversion  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  leads  the  prophet  to  warn  the 
Jewish  people  in  general  of  the  judgments  that  await 
them,  with  manifest  allusion  in  the  11th  verse,  as 
Casaubon  has  observed,  to  the  final  dispersion  of  the 
nation  by  the  Romans.  And  the  allusion  to  this  final 
dispersion  leads,  as  it  almost  always  does,  to  a  pre- 
diction of  the  final  restoration.  This  is  delivered 
generally  in  the  12th,  13th,  and  14th  verses  of  chap. 
xvii.  The  prophet  by  a  sudden  exclamation  of  sur- 
prize (ill  rendered  "  Wo  to"),  gives  notice  that  a 
new  scene  suddenly  breaks  upon  him.  He  sees  the 
armies  of  Antichrist  rushing  on  in  the  full  tide  of 
conquest,  and  pouring  like  a  deluge  over  the  land 
of  God's  people  (verse  12).  He  no  sooner  sees 
them,  than  he  declares  that  "  Cod  shall  rebuke 
them,"  that  they  shall  flee  with  precipitation  and  in 
dismay,  and  "  shall  be  chased  as  the  chaff  of  the 
mountains  before  the  wind,  and  as  a  rolling  thing 
before  the  whirlwind, "  (verse  13).    Elated  with  th 

M  2 


180  ISAIAH. 

glorious  scene  of  the  total  rout  of  the  apostate  con- 
federacy, he  addresses  his  countrymen  in  words  of 
exultation  and  triumph :  "  This  is  the  portion  of 
them  that  spoil  us,  and  the  lot  of  them  that  rob  us," 
(verse  14).  Having  thus  in  general  terms  predicted 
the  final  success  and  happiness  of  his  nation,  he  pro- 
ceeds in  the  eighteenth  chapter,  to  the  description 
of  visions  more  particularly  declarative  of  the  man- 
ner and  of  the  time  of  their  deliverance,  which 
nevertheless  leave  much  unexplained.  In  what 
people  of  the  earth,  of  the  eastern  or  the  western 
world,  the  characters  of  the  messenger-people  may 
be  found,  when  the  time  shall  come  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  prophecy  is  hitherto  uncertain  in 
that  degree,  that  we  are  hardly  at  liberty  in  my 
judgment  to  conjecture.  The  messenger-people  is 
certainly  to  be  a  Christian  people ;  for  I  think,  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  the  messenger-people  and 
the  leaders  of  the  present  to  Jehovah  to  Mount  Sion 
are  the  same  people ;  and  the  act  of  leading  a  pre- 
sent to  Jehovah  to  Mount  Sion  must  be  an  act  of 
worshippers  of  Jehovah,  for  it  is  an  act  of  worship. 
They  therefore  who  lead  the  present  will  be  true 
worshippers,  performing  that  service  from  religious 
motives  5  and  as  such  they  are  most  expressly  de- 


ISAIAH.  It! 

scribed  by  the  prophet  Zcphaniah,  if  I  construe  Ml 
words  aright. 

Zeph.  iii,  10. 
I  take  *HnjJ   to  be  tlie  nominative  of  the   veil) 
transitive  |?W\  and  rO  and  V^D  to  be  accusatives 
after  it,  in  apposition.    And  I  render  the  lines  thus : 

My  worshippers,  beyond  the  rivers  oi'  dish, 
Shall  conduct,  as  an  offering  to  me,  the  daughter  of  my  dii* 
persion  [i.e.  my  dispersed  nation]. 

I  have  an  unfashionable  partiality  for  the  opinions 
of  antiquity.  I  think  there  is  ground  in  the  pro- 
phecies for  the  notion  of  the  early  fathers,  that  Pa- 
lestine  is  the  stage  on  which  Antichrist  in  the  height 
of  his  impiety  will  perish.  I  am  much  inclined  too 
to  assent  to  another  opinion  of  the  fathers,  that  a 
small  band  of  the  Jews  will  join  Antichrist,  and  be 
active  instruments  of  his  persecutions ;  and  I  admit 
that  it  is  not  unlikely  that  this  small  part  of  the 
Jews  will  be  settled  in  Jerusalem  under  the  protec- 
tion of  Antichrist.  But  it  is  not  to  the  settlement 
of  this  apostate  band  that  the  prophecy  of  this  eigh- 
teenth chapter  relates.  For  I  must  observe,  that 
when  the  present  offered  consists  of  persons,  the  of- 

M 


182  ISAIAH. 

fered,  as  well  as  the  offerers,  must  be  worshippers. 
For  to  be  offered  is  to  be  made  a  worshipper ;  or,  in 
some  instances,  to  be  devoted  to  some  particular 
service  in  which  the  general  character  of  a  worship- 
per is  previously  implied,  both  in  the  person  who 
hath  authority  so  to  devote,  and  in  the  devoted ;  as 
in  the  instances  of  Jephtha's  daughter,  and  the  child 
Samuel.  The  people  therefore  brought  as  a  present 
to  Jehovah  to  Mount  Sion  (if  Mount  Sion  is  to  be 
taken  literally,  as,  not  from  this  passage  by  itself, 
but  by  the  collation  of  this  passage  with  many 
others,  I  think  it  is)  will  be  brought  thither  in  a 
converted  state.  The  great  body  of  the  Jewish 
people  will  be  converted  previous  to  their  restor- 
ation ;  and  being  converted,  will  be  assisted  bv 
Christian  nations  of  the  uncircumcision  in  settling 
themselves  in  their  antient  seats.  I  am  of  opinion 
that  some  passages,  in  Zachariah  in  particular,  make 
strongly  for  this  notion  of  a  previous  settlement  of 
worse  than  unconverted  Jews.  But  I  am  not  with- 
out hope,  from  the  same  passages,  that  the  great 
body  of  the  converted  Jews  returning  will  find  those 
first  settlers  broken  off  from  the  Antichristian  fac- 
tion in  a  state  of  deep  contrition,  and  ready  to  re- 
ceive their  brethren  with  open  arms.     So  the  whole 


ISAIAH.  183 

race  shall  be  offered  to  Jehovah  at  Mount  Sion,  and 
not  one  of  Israel  shall  be  lost.  And  so  far,  but  no 
farther,  I  can  admit  an  inchoate  restoration  of  the 
Jews  antecedent  to  their  conversion,  and  a  settle- 
ment of  a  small  body  of  them  in  the  Holy  Land 
by  the  Antichristian  powers.  But  this,  I  repeat  it, 
is  not  the  great  subject  to  which  the  prophecy  re- 
lates, the  general  restoration  of  the  Jewish  people ; 
a  business  in  which  the  atheistical  faction  will  have 
no  share* 

CHAP.  XIX. 

Verse  3.  — a  I  will  destroy  the  counsel  thereofl" 
JPDK  "  J  will  swallow  up."  The  original  word 
seems  to  express  how  all  the  schemes  of  man  are  ab- 
sorbed, as  it  were,  and  lost  in  the  general  scheme  of 
God's  overruling  providence. 

Verse  6.  — "  and  they  shall  turn  the  rivers  far 
away."  For  VTOfcTn,  I  would  read  WWW\  trans- 
posing the  Jlj  and  I  would  punctuate  the  whole 
passage  thus, 

CWlfi  EW  >W11     5 

;inrro;Ni  Hv\  Snro  Ttfi 

Hn  rvnru    6 


184.  ISAIAH. 

5  And  the  waters  of  the  sea  shall  be  exhausted  [or  absorbed], 
And  the  river  shall  waste  and  become  dry,  and  I  will  cause  it 

to  stink. 

6  The  rivers  are  shrunk ; 

And  the  embanked  canals  shall  be  dried  up,  &c. 

Or  perhaps  the  two  first  lines  of  this  verse  might  be 

thus  rendered,  taking  WJ  literally : 

And  waters  from  the  sea  shall  be  drank, 
For  the  river,  &c. 

The  sense  will  be  that  by  the  river  being  dried  up, 
men  will  be  reduced  to  drink  sea- water  j  and  thus 
the  LXX  understood  the  passage. 

Verse  7.  "  The  paper  reeds  by  the  brooks" — 
"  The  meadow  by  the  canal,"  Bishop  Lowth.  I 
think,  with  Houbigant,  that  rVHj;  is  to  be  taken  here 
in  its  natural  sense  of  nakedness* 

6i  Nakedness  upon  the  river,  upon  the  source  of  the  river." 

Nakedness  is  a  very  expressive  image  to  describe 
the  appearance  of  a  river,  when  its  bottom  is  expos- 
ed and  bare,  and  its  banks  are  divested  of  their  ver- 
dant clothing  by  long  unseasonable  drought.  This 
interpretation  has  the  authority  of  the  Vulgate  on 
its  side  :  "  Nudabitur  alveus  rivi" — 

— "  the  source  of  the  river.5'     This  is  the  only 
passage  in  which  the  word  ^3  is  applied  to  a  river  or 


ISAIAH.  185 

stream  of  any  kind.  The  Vulgate  seems  to  have 
understood  it  as  exactly  equivalent  to  the  Latin  o$, 
which  properly  denotes  not  what  in  the  English  lan- 
guage is  meant  by  the  mouth  of  a  river,  the  place 
where  it  empties  itself  into  the  sea,  which  in  Latin 
is  properly  expressed  by  ostium,  but  the  source  from 
whence  a  river  takes  its  rise.  For  thus  the  Vulgate 
renders  the  whole  clause  ;  — "  nudabitur  alveus  rivi 
a  fonte  suo." 

— "  shall  wither,  be  driven  away,  and  be  no  more." 
The  general  sense  of  this  clause  I  take  to  be  well 
expressed  in  the  version  of  the  LXX  :  — xect  irav  ro 
GKZigofjjSvov  dicx,  rou  kotuujOv  hr^^ircLi  dv>u,o$fo%ov.  The 
idea  is,  that  all  vegetation  even  close  to  the  river's 
side  shall  be  so  perfectly  withered,  as  to  be  scatter- 
ed in  the  shape  of  powder  by  the  wind. 

Verse  (J.  "  Moreover  they  that  work  in  fine  flax," 
kc.  Interpreters  differ  greatly  in  the  sense  of  the 
words  nvp*n£*  OTC3,  and  none  have  given  a  satisfac- 
tory exposition.  The  word  FipTtf  is  rendered  by  the 
LXX  in  Gen.  xlix,  11,  as  if  it  peculiarly  signified 
the  tendrils  of  the  vine ;  and  from  its  affinity  in 
sound  to  the  words  "TO*  and  *W,  it  is  not  unreason- 
able to  suppose  that  it  may  signify  any  thing  pliant, 
and  apt  to  twist  and  twine.     Hence  it  may  signify 


186  ISAIAH, 

the  fibres  under  the  bark  of  the  plant  from  which 
flax  is  spun,  and  perhaps  the  threads  made  of  those 
fibres.  Taking  this  sense  of  the  word  nnpnt^,  for 
OWW,  I  would  read  OWiK,  and  then  the  passage 
may  be  thus  rendered  \ 

The  manufacturers  in  flax  shall  be  confounded, 
They  that  weave  the  fibres  into  meshes. 

Verse  10.  "  And  they  shall  be  broken,"  &c. 

Three  words  occur  in  this  verse  of  difficult  expo- 
sition, which  produce  a  great  obscurity  of  the  whole; 
viz.  rm\%  "DP,  and  WW.  The  last,  «»,  I  take, 
with  Kimchi,  to  be  equivalent  to  ■'OJJJ,  in  which 
sense  it  is  used  in  the  Chaldaic  and  Arabic  dialects. 
*Ottf  I  take  to  be  used  for  "OD,  and  to  signify  either 
the  dams  made  to  confine  the  water  in  artificial 
pools,  or  wicker  pottles  made  for  catching  some  par- 
ticular sorts  of  fish,  which  last  is  the  sense  that 
seems  best  connected  with  the  context.  Leaving 
then  the  word  fiWitP  as  yet  unexpounded,  the  verse 
will  run  thus  -, 

And  mnnw  shall  be  broken  to  pieces, 

All  the  makers  of  fish-pottles  shall  be  sorrowful  in  soul. 

Now  for  the  word  WW:  the  root  WP  seems  to 
contain  in  its  primary  meaning  the  two  ideas  of 
stability  and  arrangement.    It  signifies  f  to  set  firm/ 


ISAIAH.  187 

and  ■  in  order.'  Hence  the  nouns  W  and  ring,*  by 
their  etymology  may  signify  any  substantial  works 
of  the  carpenter  or  mason,  or  any  other  firm  orderly 
arrangements.  In  Psalm  xi,  3,  the  plural  HlflBtfl 
signifies  either  the  principal  stones  or  the  main  tim- 
bers of  a  building.  In  the  Chaldee  dialect,  the  noun 
NrW  signifies  a  square  oblong  beam,  plank,  or  block. 
In  Hebrew,  the  noun  >W  signifies  the  warp  of  wov- 
en cloth,  as  distinguished  from  the  woof.  In  Chal- 
dee, KrnnC'E  is  the  piece  woven.  In  Syriac,  the  verb 
Vi^K  is  *  he  wove  ->  the  noun  HVW,  the  operation  of 
weaving ;  *OY>ntyc,  the  weaver's  beam  ;  and  Nrwc»D9 
either  the  operation  of  weaving,  or  the  shuttle. 

In  the  text  under  consideration,  we  have  not  only 
to  determine  the  sense  of  the  plural  noun  E^nn^, 
but  to  expound  the  suffix  H.  Now  this  feminine 
suffix,  as  Houbigant  observes,  hath  no  antecedent. 
Some  get  over  this  difficulty  by  expounding  the  pro- 
noun of  Egypt.  But  the  last  mention  of  Egypt  is 
so  far  back  as  in  the  3d  verse,  in  a  sentence  which 
has  no  connection  with  this.  It  seems  therefore  a 
certain  conclusion,  that  this  feminine  suffix  singular, 
for  which  no  antecedent  can  be  found,  must  be  a 
corruption  ;  and  this  corruption  might  easily  take 
place  by  removing  the  final  O  in  the  masculine  sui- 


188  ISAIAH. 

fix  plural  from  the  end  of  this  word  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  next.  For  UWlB  'fivmp  therefore,  I 
would  read  WHO!  orwntP,  taking  ©**5n  as  the 
participle  Paoul  in  Kal,  or  Benoni  in  Pual.  If  this 
alteration,  which  in  part  is  Houbigant's,  be  adopted, 
the  person  rehearsed  by  the  masculine  suffix  plural 
can  be  no  other  than  %  the  manufacturers  of  flax, 
who  weave  the  fibres  into  meshes,'  mentioned  in  the 
last  verse,  and  the  noun  OWttJ?  must  denote  some- 
thing which  belongs  to  them.  Hence  we  are  led  to 
seek  the  sense  of  this  noun  among  the  materials, 
the  implements,  or  the  effects  of  the  weaver's  trade ; 
and  among  these  we  must  choose  somewhat  that 
may  be  a  fit  subject  of  the  verb  Wi.  We  must 
therefore  reject  the  materials  and  the  effect,  the 
warp  and  the  finished  web.  For  the  verbs  "P,  ("OT, 
W%  express  contusion,  not  tearing ;  and  hard  things 
only  are  the  proper  subjects  of  these  verbs  in  their 
literal  meaning.  The  implements  therefore  remain  \ 
the  shuttles,  or  the  beams  or  frames.  I  rather  think 
the  latter  are  intended  in  this  place.  Thus  the  true 
rendering  of  the  whole  verse  will  be  to  this  effect : 

And  their  frames  shall  be  broken  to  pieces ; 

All  the  makers  of  dams  (or  offish-pottles)  shall  be  dispirited. 

Vitringa  thinks  that,  under  the  image  of  fisher- 


ISAIAH.  m 

men  and  their  subordinate  artificers,  the  priests  of 
the  idolatrous  religions  of  Egypt  and  their  inferior 
ministers  are  described. 

Verse  14.  — "  and  they  have  caused  Egypt  to  err 
in  every  work  thereof." 

IHCfpQ  7M —  The  suffix  is  masculine.  But  in  the 
clause  immediately  preceding,  and  in  the  latter 
clause  of  the  preceding  verse,  Egypt  is  rehearsed  by 
the  feminine  suffix.  It  is  true,  that  in  different  parts 
of  this  chapter  Egypt  is  rehearsed  by  the  masculine 
and  feminine  suffix  indifferently.  But  it  is  hardly  to 
be  supposed  that  the  same  word  should  be  rehearsed 
by  pronouns  of  different  genders  in  the  very  same 
sentence.  [This  may  easily  be  supposed  in  the  pro- 
phetic style.]  I  am  persuaded  that  the  masculine 
pronoun  suffixed  to  TWyo  rehearses  Jehovah,  and  1 
render  the  whole  passage  thus ; 

13   

And  the  pillars  of  her  tribes  have  caused  Egypt  to  err. 
14'  Jehovah  hath  scattered  in  the  midst  of  her  a  spirit  of  giddi- 
ness ; 

And  they  have  caused  Egypt  to  err  with  respect  to  all  his 
works, 

As  a  drunkard  staggereth  in  his  vomit. 

The  rulers  of  the  Egyptians  misled  the  people  by 

5 


190  ISAIAH. 

erroneous  politics.  Ignorant  of  the  designs  of  Pro- 
vidence, they  formed  false  conjectures  of  the  effect 
of  their  alliances,  of  the  event  of  their  wars  and 
their  treaties,  and  misinterpreted  what  Providence 
brought  to  pass  at  every  step. 

Verse  15.  "  Neither  shall  there  be  any  work  for 
Egypt,"  &c. ;  literally,  "  And  the  work  which  he 
shall  do,  shall  not  be  unto  Egypt  head  or  tail,  bend- 
ing or  boss."  This  is  still  a  declaration  of  the  dull- 
ness of  the  Egyptians  to  perceive  the  hand  of  God 
in  their  affairs,  and  foresee  the  impending  judgment. 
In  things  brought  about  by  God's  providence,  they 
will  have  no  apprehension  of  any  scheme  or  design, 
no  discernment  of  the  connection  of  one  thing  with 
another,  and  of  consequence  no  forecast  of  calamity 
till  it  come  upon  them.  All  will  seem  to  them 
chance  and  confusion.  ftSD  I  take  to  be  a  well 
shaped  turn  or  joint  in  any  piece  of  elegant  work- 
manship ;  and  pDJK  a  round  knob  or  boss,  or  per- 
haps something  like  a  vase,  for  ornament  at  the  ex- 
tremity. Hence  piMM  FED  M")  #*H  are  a  prover- 
bial expression  for  the  whole  and  every  part  of  a 
thing,  (Is.  ix,  14) ;  and  to  have  neither  V$^  nor  a#, 
HD5  nor  |T»3K,  is  to  be  destitute  of  all  regularity  and 


ISAIAH.  191 

elegance  of  workmanship ;  and  applied  figuratively 
to  actions,  to  want  design  and  coherence. 

Verse  23.  — "  and  the  Egyptians  shall  serve  with 
the  Assyrians."  The  plain  sense  of  the  original, 
however  difficult  it  may  be  to  connect  it  with  the 
other  parts  of  the  prophecy,  is  this :  "  and  the 
Egyptians  shall  serve  the  Assyrian. "  W,  after  the 
verb  "Hy,  is  in  many  instances  the  sign  of  the  accu- 
sative following  the  verb  ;  but  I  cannot  find  a  single 
text  in  which  it  is  the  preposition  of  the  concomit- 
ant or  adjunct  of  the  subject  of  the  verb,  as  it  is 
supposed  to  be  here. 

Upon  second  thoughts,  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  the  force  of  HN  may  vary  according  to  its  posi- 
tion in  the  sentence.  That  when  it  follows  a  verb 
transitive  immediately,  it  is  always  the  sign  of  the 
accusative ;  but  if  another  word  intervene  between 
the  verb  transitive  and  HK,  then  the  object  of  the 
verb  transitive  may  be  understood,  and  riN  may  be 
the  preposition  of  fellowship  or  concomitance.  Thus, 
had  the  words  in  the  clause  in  question  stood  in  this 
order,  THtm  riK  VDj?  C3*ttD\  they  would  have  ren. 
dered  this  sense  only,  "  and  the  Egyptians  shall 
serve  the  Assyrian.91  But  O*HS0  being  placed  be- 
tween VDjn  and  HH,  the  words  may  bear  the  other 


192  ISAIAH. 

sense ;  "  and  the  Egyptians  shall  serve  [Jehovah] 
with  the  Assyrians." 

Verse  24.  — "  a  blessing,"  u  e.  an  object  of  be- 
nediction. 

Verse  25.  "  Whom"—  rather  «  Which"—  i.  e. 
which  triple  object  of  benediction,  God  shall  bless 
in  this  form  of  words# 

CHAP.  XXI. 

This  prophecy  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Babylonian 
empire  by  Cyrus,  contained  in  the  first  ten  verses  of 
this  chapter,  is  certainly  a  masterpiece  in  the  ecstatic 
style.  It  opens  with  a  general  declaration  in  the 
1st  verse  of  sudden  danger  from  a  distant  land.  In 
the  2d  verse,  the  prophet  signifies  that  he  is  speak- 
ing with  reference  to  a  grievous  vision  set  before 
him.  The  particulars  of  the  vision  make  the  whole 
sequel  of  the  song ;  except  that  in  the  3d  and  4th 
verses  the  detail  is  interrupted  with  expressions  of 
the  horror  and  distress  which  the  scene  creates  in 
the  prophet's  mind.  The  particulars  of  the  vision 
are  these.  1st,  The  prophet  hears  God  himself  de- 
claring the  crimes  of  Babylon,  national  perfidy  and 
violence,  and  calling  the  Medes  and  Persians  to 
execute  vengeance,  (verse  2).     Then  he  sees  the 


ISAIAH.  193 

festivity  of  the  royal  banquet  the  night  that  the  city 
was  taken :  he  sees  the  enemy  enter,  and  gives  the 
alarm  (verse  5).  Then  a  watchman  is  ordered  to 
tell  what  he  sees.  The  watchman  sees  a  man  riding 
in  a  military  car,  drawn  by  a  camel  and  an  ass  yoked 
together,  driven  by  two  postillions,  one  on  each 
beast.  (This  car  is  evidently  emblematic  of  the 
united  armies  of  the  Persians  and  Medes,  under 
their  respective  leaders;  the  man  in  the  car,  Cyrus: 
verses  6,  7).  Upon  the  watchman's  discerning  the 
near  approach  of  the  man  in  this  car,  he  proclaims 
that  Babylon  is  fallen.  In  the  10th  verse  the  pro- 
phet signifies  that  he  is  himself  the  watchman  of  the 
foregoing  verses ;  that  his  prediction  of  the  fate  of 
Babylon  came  from  God,  and  is  delivered  to  the 
Jews  for  their  comfort  and  edification. 

St  Jerome  and  Bishop  Lowth  imagine  that  the 
prophet  in  this  effusion  speaks  in  some  parts  in  his 
own  person,  and  in  others  personifies  Babylon.  But 
they  disagree  in  the  distribution  of  these  parts ;  the 
one  making  him  speak  in  his  own  person,  what  the 
other  supposes  to  be  put  into  the  mouth  of  Babylon 
personified ;  and  the  contrary.  It  seems  to  me  that 
the  whole  is  delivered  in  the  prophet's  own  person ; 
except  that  in  the  2d  verse  he  abruptly  recites  the 

VOL.  II.  N 


19*  ISAIAH. 

order  which  he  hears  given  by  the  Almighty  for  the 
immediate  execution  of  vengeance  upon  the  perfidi- 
ous tyrannical  nation,  without  any  previous  or  sub- 
sequent intimation  that  God  was  the  speaker :  and 
yet  in  this  he  can  hardly  be  said  to  speak  in  another 
person,  but  in  the  height  of  the  prophetic  ecstasy  he 
omits  a  circumstance  which  the  imagination  of  the 
hearer  or  reader  wrould  easily  supply. 

Verse  1 .  — "  whirlwinds  in  the  south" —  The  al- 
lusion is  to  the  hurricanes  in  the  sandy  deserts  of 
Africa  and  Arabia,  that  sweep  up  the  whole  surface 
of  the  plain,  and  bury  every  thing  they  overtake. 

The  weary  traveller,  with  wild  surprise 
Sees  the  dry  desert  all  around  him  rise, 
And,  buried  in  the  dusty  whirlwind,  dies. 

In  the  original,  a  comma  should  be  placed  at  3W-, 
for  the  word  *yW?,  though  it  alludes  to  the  devasta- 
tion of  these  whirlwinds,  belongs  to  the  next  clause. 

— "  the  desert,"  the  champaign  between  Babylon 
and  Persia, 

— "  terrible  land,"  Media.  The  Medes  had  long 
been  an  object  of  terror  to  the  Babylonians,  inso- 
much that  the  security  of  the  country  against  that 
powerful  enemy  had  been  the  principal  object  of 


ISAIAH.  IM 

the  great  works  of  Nitocris.  See  Herodotus,  lib.  i, 
c.  185. 

Like  hurricanes  from  the  south,  for  devastation 

It  is  coming  from  the  desert,  from  the  terrible  country. 

Verse  2.  — <c  the  treacherous  dealer spoileth." 

This  is  a  declaration  of  the  crimes  which  brought 
the  judgment  upon  Babylon. 
Or  thus,  in  a  different  sense ; 
The  treacherous  dealer  is  repaid  with  treachery,  the  spoiler  is 
spoiled. 

The  treachery  here  seems  to  denote  only  military 
stratagem,  which  was  employed  in  the  reduction  of 
Babylon,  but  no  other  fraud. 

But  perhaps  the  public  translation  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred. 

Verse  4.  — "  the  night  of  my  pleasure" —  f|^J  HN 
•>pC*n.  It  may  be  supposed  that  the  prophet  in  his 
vision  made  one  of  the  company  at  the  royal  ban- 
quet, and,  as  a  partaker  of  that  festivity,  he  calls 
that  evening  the  evening  of  his  pleasure.  But  the 
word  r|&*J,  as  a  noun,  properly  denotes  either  the 
evening  or  the  morning  breeze :  hence  the  dawn  of 
day;  bence  the  season  of  the  morning  sleep;  which, 
for  the  refreshment  it  affords,  is  a  season  desired 
and  liked  by  every  man.     Thus  the  words  may  be 

N  2 


196  ISAIAH. 

expounded  without  reference  to  Belshazzar's  feast. 
"  The  sweet  season  that  I  longed  for  of  the  morn- 
ing sleep,  he  (i.e.  God)  hath  changed  into  horror 
by  the  scene  of  misery  represented  to  my  imagina- 
tion." 

Verse  5,  "  Prepare  the  table,"  &c.  This  5th 
verse  describes  the  revelling  in  Babylon  the  night 
that  the  town  was  taken.  The  prophet  in  his  trance 
is  present  upon  the  spot;  he  has  the  whole  scene 
before  him,  the  feast,  and  the  sudden  irruption  of 
the  enemy.  The  suddenness  of  the  thing  is  wonder- 
fully expressed  by  the  sudden  turn  of  the  discourse 
from  the  description  of  the  royal  banquet,  to  an 
alarm  addressed  by  the  prophet  to  the  Babylonian 
chiefs.  The  idiom  of  the  original  may  be  imitated 
in  the  Latin  language,  but  cannot  be  preserved  in 
ours.  ■  Ornare  mensam  ;  ponere  custodias  ;  edere ; 
potare ;  surgite  principes ;  ungite  scuta/  That  these 
last  words  are  an  alarm  to  the  Babylonians,  not  a 
call  to  the  enemy,  may  be  presumed,  I  think,  from 
the  mention  of  the  shield  only,  the  defensive  wea- 
pon. 

Verse  6.  — -"  Go,  set  a  watchman" —  It  appears 
from  the  10th  verse  that  the  prophet  himself  was 
the  watchman  \  therefore  I  cannot  think  that  this 


ISAIAH.  197 

passage  is  rightly  rendered  as  a  command  to  the 
prophet  to  set  a  watchman. 

Verse  7.  — "  a  chariot  with  a  couple  of  horsemen  ;M 
literally,  as  I  think,  "  one  riding  a  pair  of  postilions." 
EftttPV  is  so  often  joined  with  chariots  in  the  Old 
Testament,  that  I  am  apt  to  think  that  the  military 
cars  of  the  east,  with  which  the  Jews  were  acquaint- 
ed, in  the  earliest  times  were  not  of  the  form  which 
was  afterwards  in  use  among  the  Greeks  and  the 
people  of  Asia  Minor,  (who  certainly  used  cars 
driven  by  a  charioteer  seated  on  a  box,  or  in  the 
car).  I  imagine  that  these  more  antient  cars  were 
driven  by  men  riding  on  the  beasts  that  drew  them  -> 
and  that  0»UH9  1EJ?  is  a  phrase  for  such  a  car.* 
The  passage  may  be  rendered  more  literally  in  Latin 
than  in  English.  %  Videt  [quendam]  vectum  binis 
equitibus  \  vectum  asino,  vectum  camelo.'  The  last 
clause  affirms  that  the  car  was  drawn  by  a  pair  of 
different  beasts.t 


*  Whether  such  cars  were  ever  actually  in  use  or  no,  which, 
upon  further  consideration,  seems  very  improbable,  such  evidently 
was  the  car  of  the  prophetic  vision. 

f  Some  commentators  have  imagined  that  the  cr^is  "my  al- 
ludes only  to  the  order   in   which   Cyrus's  cavalry  advanced   to 

v 


198  ISAIAH. 

Verse  8.  — "  a  lion."  "  Leo,  quod  brevissimas 
habet  palpebras,  unde  etiam  dor  miens  vigilare  vide- 
tur,  symbolum  est^vigilantis  excubitoris ;  soletque 
adpingi  valvis  templorum  et  palatiorum,  quasi  vigil 
et  custos  loci,"  inquit  Horus  Apollo.  Tirinus  apud 
Poole. 

A  comma  should  certainly  be  placed  after  the  first 
*WK,  which,  with  the  preceding  words  after  N^p\ 
makes  a  distinct  clause,  in  which  the  verb  substan- 
tive in  the  first  person  is  understood.  The  passage, 
I  think,  might  receive  emendation  by  a  transposi- 
tion of  two  words,  which  would  stand  better  in  the 
next  clause  than  in  this. 

The  passage  at  present  stands  thus ; 

•OMt  •una  HBSD  Sy  rma  mpn 
o»y>  T»an  nay 

tnhhft  ^  aw 

By  transposition  I  would  arrange  it  thus ; 

•»^K  tm«  iTHK  mp»1 

ow  T>»n  nDy  ris$D  Sy 

march  up  the  dry  bed  of  the  river.  See  Cyropaed.  p.  524,  Hutch- 
inson. But  the  9th  verse  evidently  describes  one  man  somehow  or 
other  drawn  by  the  pair. 


ISAIAH.  199 

Verse  9.  "  And  behold,"  &c.  In  the  preceding 
verse  the  prophet  recited  what  the  watchman  said  ; 
now  lie  proceeds  in  the  description  of  what  the 
watchman  sees.  In  the  middle  of  the  verse  "  he 
answered,"  he  recites  again  what  the  watchman 
says  in  consequence  of  what  he  had  further  seen  : 
all  along  speaking  of  the  watchman  as  a  third  per- 
son. In  the  10th  verse  he  discovers  that  he  is  him- 
self the  watchman. 

Verse  10.  "  O  my  thrashing."  O  nation  of  the 
Jews,  thou  object  (not  of  my  discipline,  for  the  pro- 
phet certainly  speaks  in  his  own  person),  but  of  my 
unremitted  pains  and  solicitude  j  the  object  upon 
which  my  labour  in  the  prophetic  ministry  is  be- 
stowed. 

The  translation  of  the  whole  is  thus  : 

THE  BURTHEN  OF  THE  MARSH. 

1  Like  the  sweeping-whirlwinds  in  the  south, 

For  devastation  from  the  desert  it  cometh,  from 
the  dreaded  land ! 

2  A  grievous  vision  is  set  before  me ! 

'  That  perfidious   dealeth  perfidiously,    and  that 
spoiler  spoileth  : 


200  ISAIAH. 

'  Come  up,  O  Elam!  lay  siege,  O  Media! 
c  I  have  put  an  end  to  all  her  vexations.' 

3  For  this  my  loins  are  filled  with  acute  pain  ; 
Pangs  seize  me,  as  the  pangs  of  a  woman  in  travail. 
I  am  convulsed  by  what  I  hear, 

I  am  astounded  by  what  I  see ! 

4  My  thoughts '  wander ! 
Fright2  distracts  me ! 

The  sweet  season  of  my  morning  sleep  he  appoint- 
ed to  me  for  horror.3 


1  Literally,  '  my  heart :'  but  the  heart,  in  the  language  of  the 
sacred  writers,  signifies  the  whole  inner  man,  the  thoughts  as  well 
as  the  passions. 

2  «  Fright" —  The  word  ntxbs  is  a  feminine  singular,  as  ap- 
pears by  the  form  of  the  verb  of  which  it  is  the  subject. 

5  The  original  seems  to  express  the  regular  return  of  some  dis- 
tracting visions  at  this  season  appointed  by  Nature  for  a  respite 
from  every  care.  In  the  following  verse  the  prophet  seems  to  fall 
into  one  of  these  dreadful  trances.  The  terror  carried  to  the  ut- 
most height  by  the  scene  of  the  capture  of  the  city,  brings  him  to 
himself;  and  he  awakes  from  the  trance  calling  to  the  Babylonian 
chiefs,  to  apprise  them  of  their  danger. 


ISAIAH.  501 

5  The  table  deckt — the  watch  set — eat,  drink* — 
Rise,  princes !  gripe  the  oiled  shield.5 

6  For  thus  hath  the  Lord  said  unto  me, 

Come,  let  him  that  standeth  on  the  watch-tower 
report  what  he  seeth. 

7  And  he  seeth  one-drawn-in-a-car  (3^)  with  a 

pair  of  riders, 
Drawn  by  an  ass,  drawn  by  a  camel. 
And  he  hearkeneth  out  with  great  diligence. 

8  And  he  crieth,  ■  My  Lord,  I  am  a  [very]  lion  -7 

1  Standing  on  the  watch  continually  all  the  day, 
c  And  fixed  upon  my  station  every  night.* 

■  ■■      ■■■'        ■  ■  '  ■  — —      ■  ■     —i         i  ■  i  ■— ^ — — — ■ — — — — «^— — 

*  I  have  endeavoured  to  imitate  -the  soranambular  phraseology 
«f  the  original. 

5  Literally,  '  anoint  the  shield.'  I  suppose  these  shields  were 
of  leather,  not  overlaid  with  metal  like  the  shields  of  Homer's 
heroes ;  and  were  oiled  to  preserve  the  toughness  of  the  leather, 
which  otherwise  growing  hard  and  brittle,  would  have  been  apt  to 
split  with  the  stroke  of  a  dart,  and  to  give  a  passage  to  the  weapon. 
Compare  2  Sam.  i,  21.  Or  they  might  be  oiled,  though  covered 
with  metal,  to  make  the  surface  slippery,  that  the  weapons  of  the 
enemy  might  slide  upon  them. 


202  ISAIAR 

9  And  behold,  hither  cometh 

The  man  drawn  in  a  car  with  a  pair  of  riders: 
And  thereupon  [the  watchman]  proclaimeth  6 
'  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen ! 
*  And  all  the  graven  images  of  her  gods  are  dashed 
in  pieces  against  the  ground/ 

10  O  my  thrashing,  and  the  corn  of  my  floor  I 
What  I  have  heard  from  Jehovah  of  hosts 
The  God  of  Israel,  I  have  reported  unto  you. 

CHAP.  XXII. 

I  agree  with  Houbigant  that  the  prophecy  con- 
tained in  the  first  fourteen  verses  of  this  chapter  re- 
lates to  the  siege  and  capture  of  Jerusalem  in  the 
reign  of  Zedekiah.  The  infidelity  and  impenitence 
of  the  Jewish  people  mentioned  in  the  11th  and 
13th  verses,  and  the  utter  ruin  threatened  in  the 
14th,  suit  not  the  times  of  Hezekiah,  nor  the  event 
of  Sennacherib's  expedition.     The  measures  of  de- 

6  Literally,  e  and  he  answereth,  and  saith.'  But  ]y»,  '  he  an- 
swereth/  often  signifies  only  that  the  speaker  speaks  in  reference 
to  a  certain  subject,  or  upon  a  certain  occasion,  expressed,  or  to 
be  collected  at  least,  from  the  preceding  discourse. 


ISAIAH. 

fence  described  in  the  lJth,  10th,  and  11th  verses, 
are  such  precautions  as  would  naturally  be  used  at 
any  time  when  a  siege  was  apprehended,  and  cannot 
be  understood  to  mark  the  times  of  Hezekiah  in 
particular,  notwithstanding  what  the  sacred  history 
records  of  his  preparations  for  a  siege. 

Verse  3.  — "  they  are  bound  by  the  archers — are 
bound."  For  TDK,  in  both  places,  read,  with  Hou- 
bigant  and  Bishop  Lowth,  lion.  — "  they  are  fled 
from  the  bow — are  fled."     Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  5.  — "  breaking  down  the  walls,  and  of  cry- 
ing to  the  mountain."  Mr  Parkhurst's  translation 
of  this  passage  deserves  attention  :  — u  of  confused 
justling,  or  hurly-burly,  and  of  shouting  on  the 
mountain."     See  his  Lexicon,  »"Hp,  i.  and  ^p^p. 

Verse  6.  — "  with  chariots  of  men  and  horsemen. v 
For  DIN,  read,  with  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth, 
CD-IK. 

And  Elam  takes  up  the  quiver ; 
On  chariots  with  riders  [comes]  the  Syrian, 
The  Cyraean  uncovers  the  shield. 
Verse  8.    "  And  he  discovered  the  covering  of 
Judah ;"  rather,  "  And  the  veil  of  Judah  shall  be 
[or  was]  taken  off."     Sec  Parklmrst,  "P. 

Verse  14.     Notwithstanding  the  difficulty  which 

■r 


204  ISAIAH. 

Bishop  Lowth  finds  in  this  passage,  it  seems  to  me 
very  similar  to  \  Sam.  ii,  27,  and  iii,  21 ;  and  I  am 
persuaded  no  emendation  is  necessary.  "  Jehovah 
is  revealed  j"  that  is,  the  purpose  of  Jehovah  is  re- 
vealed. 

Verse  16.  — "  as  he  that  heweth,  &c. a  rock." 

Literally,  "  hewings  on  high  are  his  sepulchre,  cut- 
tings in  the  rock  his  habitation."  That  is,  his  se- 
pulchre is  hewn  out  on  high,  his  habitation  is  cut 
out  in  the  rock. 

Verse  17.  — "  will  carry  thee  away  with  a  mighty 
captivity,  and  will  surely  cover  thee."  The  expres- 
sions in  the  original  are  of  very  doubtful  interpreta- 
tion. 

Verse  18.  "  He  will  surely  violently  turn  and  toss 
thee  like  a  ball."  Castalio  has  rendered  the  original 
with  more  exactness,  I  think,  than  any  other  inter- 
preter :  — "  Convolutum  tanquam  pilam  versando 
rotabit." 

17,  18.  Upon  considering  the  separate  senses  of 
the  roots  *»  or  ^,  BJJ  or  Wp,  and  *1»,  namely,  *» 
or  ^  <  to  cast  forth,  to  project  ;'  B?  or  STBJJ,  <  to 
hurry  away,  to  toss  away ;'  t\&,  c  to  cause  to  spin 
like  a  ball  in  the  air,'  I  suspect  that  the  verses 
should  be  thus  divided : 


ISAIAH. 

tw  dSd^d  i^dSdo  nw  run 

■OTS  Witt  iDtti 

;D^  nam  y"W  ^ 

17  Behold  Jehovah  is  about  to  cast  thee  forth  with  a  giant's  force, 
And  he  will  toss  thee  a  spinning  toss. 

18  He  will  send  thee  spinning  like  a  round  ball 
Into  a  wide  open  country. 

CHAP.  XXIII. 

That  the  first  capture  of  Tyre  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
is  the  particular  subject  of  this  prophecy,  is  evident 
from  the  general  tenor  of  it,  the  calamity  predicted 
being  described  as  the  first  the  Tyrian  state  had  en- 
dured, and  in  particular  from  the  12th  verse.  The 
prophet  however  confines  not  himself  to  the  fortunes 
of  the  single  town  of  Tyre,  but  he  touches  upon  the 
general  blow  given  to  commerce  by  the  destruction 
of  that  universal  mart,  and  upon  the  sufferings  of 
the  Tyrians  in  their  distant  colonies,  under  the  ir- 
resistible arms  of  the  Babylonian  conqueror. 

1  The  burthen  of  Tyre. 
Howl,  ye  ships  of  Tarshish  ! 


206  ISAIAH. 

For  the  spoiler  is  within  your  port. 

Far  as  the  land  of  Chittim  the  news  is  spread. 

2  The  inhabitants  of  the  sea-port  are  still ; 

The  merchants  of  Sidon,  who  traversed  the  sea* 
crowded  thee.1 

3  Upon  the  mighty  waters2  was  the  seed  of  the  Nile, 
The  harvest  of  the  river  was  her  revenue. 

She  was  the  factoress  of  nations. 

4  Be  thou  ashamed,  O  Sidon;    for  the  sea  hath 

spoken, 
Even  the  fortress  of  the  sea,5  saying, 

i  — «  thee,"  O  sea-port. 

2  — "  the  mighty  waters ;"  i.  e.  the  wide  ocean.  The  corn, 
the  growth  of  the  Delta,  transported  in  Tyrian  vessels  to  the  ports 
of  various  distant  countries,  was  thus  scattered  over  the  main 
ocean ;  and  the  harvest  of  the  banks  of  the  river  became  the  re- 
venue of  Tyre. 

5  Or,  "  Even  the  strength  of  the  sea" —  or,  "  The  tutelar  de- 
mon of  the  sea" —  May  not  E3TT  njm  signify  some  idol  wor- 
shipped by  merchants  as  the  power  presiding  over  the  sea,  direct- 
ing the  currents  and  the  winds,  as  their  tutelar  divinity  ?  Hercules 
was  worshipped  by  the  Gauls  under  the  title  of  Magusan. 


ISAIAH.  207 

I  have  travailed  not,  I  have  not  brought  forth, 
I  have  nourished  no  youths,  [neither]  brought  up 
virgins. 

5  When  the  tidings  shall  reach  Egypt, 

They  shall  be  sorely  grieved  at  the  tidings  of  Tyre. 

6  Pass  ye  over  to  Tarshish  :   howl,  ye  inhabitants  of 

the  sea-port! 

7  Is  this  your  city  rioting  [in  prosperity], 
Whose  antiquity  is  of  the  earliest  date  ? 
Her  own  feet  bear  her  far  away  to  sojourn. 

8  Who  hath  devised  this  against  Tyre, 

The  mistress  of  crowns,  whose  merchants  were 

princes, 
Wliose  traders  were  the  honourable  of  the  earth  ? 

9  Jehovah  [God]  of  hosts  hath  devised  it; 

To  stain  the  splendour  of  whatever  was  haughty* 
To  bring  into  contempt  all  the  honourable  of  the 
earth. 


4  To  mar  the  lustre  of  whatever  was  haughty. 


208  ISAIAH. 

10  Overflow  thy  land,  like  a  stream,  O  daughter  of 

Tarshish, 
That  hath  no  longer  an  embankment ! 

1 1  Jehovah  hath  stretched  his  hand  over  the  sea, 
He  hath  shaken  the  kingdoms, 

He  hath  issued  a  command  against  Canaan 
To  destroy  her  fortresses. 

12  And  he  hath  said,  Thou  shalt  no  more  repeat 

thy  riot, 
O  thou  deflowered  virgin,  daughter  of  Sidon. 
Arise,  pass  over  to  Chittim :  there  also  thou  shalt 

have  no  rest, 

IS  Behold  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans! 
This  people  was  not : 
The  Assyrian  founded  it, 
He  set  up  his  beacons  for  ships. 
Down  with  her  stately  palaces :  she  is  appointed 
to  destruction. 

14  Howl,  ye  ships  of  Tarshish!  for  your fortress5  is 
laid  waste ! 

5  Rather,  •  your  strength,"  or  u  your  protector." 


ISAIAH.  209 

Here  ends  the  first  part  of  this  prophecy.  In  the 
sequel  the  prophet  in  a  cooler  strain  defines  the 
duration  of  the  Tyrian  captivity,  and  foretells  the 
restoration  of  the  state,  without  extending  his  views 
to  what  was  to  take  place  in  the  distant  times  of 
Alexander  the  Great.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  the 
four  remaining  verses,  and  they  cannot  be  better 
rendered  than  in  Bishop  Lowth's  or  the  public 
translation. 

Verse  1.  — "  the  spoiler  is  within  your  port." 
WSD  n-OD  TW.  Some  of  Kennicott's  best  MSS. 
and  the  Bible  of  Soncinum  1488,  have  1W*  The 
points  favour  this  reading,  "nttf.  The  words  T"W 
ro3D  taken  by  themselves,  any  one  would  render 
'the  spoiler  is  within.'  But  within  what?  The 
sentence  has  nothing  to  answer  this  question  but 
the  word  N"QO.  This  word  is  frequently  used  as  a 
noun  substantive,  to  signify  the  entrance  into  any 
place ;  the  entrance  of  a  house,  a  town,  a  temple,  a 
country.  But  an  entrance,  with  respect  to  the  ships 
upon  the  ocean,  must  be  the  port  to  which  they  are 
bound,  where  they  wish  to  enter.  The  prophet's 
imagination  presents  to  him  fleets  of  merchantmen 
bound  to  Tyre,  (whether  ships  of  other  countries, 
or  merchantmen  of  Tyre  itself,  homeward  bound. 

VOL,  ii.  o 


210  ISAIAH. 

makes  little  difference,  though  the  former  I  take  to 
be  the  better  exposition  of  the  phrase  c  ships  of 
Tarshish  :'  it  is  Vitringa's  and  Bochart's)  :  he  warns 
them  not  to  enter,  because  they  will  find  the  enemy 
in  possession  of  their  harbour.  It  is  some  confirma- 
tion of  this  sense  that,  in  Ezekiel's  lamentation  over 
Tyre  (Ezek.  xxvii,  3),  d  HK'DE  is  clearly  the  haven 
of  Tyre,  considered  as  the  entrance  of  the  sea  from 
the  continent. 

Bishop  Lowth  renders  this  line  thus.  "  For  she  is 
utterly  destroyed  both  within  and  without."  In 
Poole's  Synopsis,  I  find  the  like  interpretation 
ascribed  to  Forerius ;  and  there  the  reader  may  see 
by  what  process  that  critic  would  deduce  this  sense 
from  the  Hebrew  words,  which  is  adopted  with 
great  commendation  by  Vitringa.  But  I  cannot 
.  find  a  single  instance  in  the  sacred  writings  in  which 
K13B,  either  by  itself,  or  contrasted  with  n^D,  or  in 
any  connection,  renders  c  without/ 

— "  Far  as  the  land  of  Chittim  the  news  is  spread." 

— "  the  land  of  Chittim.19  By  the  writer  of  the  first 
book  of  Maccabees,  Alexander  the  Great  is  called 
the  king  of  Chittim.  Ships  of  Chittim,  in  the  book 
of  Daniel,  are  Roman  ships.     Hence  it  should  seem 


ISAIAH.  21] 

that  Chittim  is  a  name  common  to  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans. OrO,  in  Arabic,  is  4  to  hide.'  CDVO  pM 
therefore  I  take  to  be  a  general  name  for  those 
parts  @f  our  western  world  which  were  the  least 
known  to  the  Jews  and  other  eastern  nations ;  the 
'  terra  incognita  occidentalis :'  although  Vitringa, 
with  Bochart,  takes  OVO  pK  to  be  the  peculiar 
name  of  Italy. 

"  Far  as  the  land  of  Chittim"— 

It  may  seem  strange  to  suppose  that  the  preposi- 
tion O  should  render  c  far  as.'  Noldius  cites  2  Sam. 
vi,  2,  as  an  instance  in  which  D  directly  renders  the 
preposition  of  the  place  whither.  But  he  mistakes 
the  true  sense  of  the  passage,  in  which  B  is  clearly 
the  preposition  of  the  place  whence.  He  cites  to  the 
same  purpose  Psalm  lxviii,  30,  where  B  has  quite 
another  meaning;  and  Cant,  iv,  1,  where  the  force 
of  D  will  depend  upon  the  sense  given  to  the  verb 
877*.  Upon  the  whole,  I  am  not  satisfied  that  the 
prefix  B  in  any  instance  directly  renders  the  prepo- 
sition of  the  place  whither.  But  in  describing  great 
distances,  the  Hebrew  and  the  European  languages 
take  contrary  ways.  The  Hebrew  language  always 
measures  backward  from  the  farthest  boundary  to 
the  place  of  the  writer  or  speaker.     The  Greek  and 

o  2 


212  ISAIAH. 

Latin  languages  for  the  most  part,  and  the  English 
language  always  (some  texts  in  the  Bible  excepted, 
in  which  the  Hebrew  idiom  is  retained),  measure 
forward  from  the  station  of  the  writer  or  speaker  to 
the  farthest  boundary.  In  either  way,  the  thing  ex- 
pressed is  the  whole  space  between  the  writer's  sta- 
tion and  the  utmost  limit  mentioned.  Hence  it 
often  happens,  that  although  the  prefixed  0  never 
directly  renders  the  preposition  of  the  place  whither, 
yet  its  effect  in  describing  distance  can  be  no  other- 
wise so  perspicuously  rendered  in  English  as  by 
as  Jar  as  to,  or  some  equivalent  phrase.  Thus,  in 
Is.  lix,  19,  anjflDD  and  &P#  miBD  in  effect  render 
*  to  the  utmost  west/  and  '  to  the  rising  of  the  sun.' 
The  thing  intended  is  the  whole  surface  of  the 
habitable  globe,  measured  first  from  the  utmost  west 
back  to  Judea,  and  again  from  the  utmost  east  back 
to  Judea.  Again,  in  Is.  xvii,  13,  pmDD  is  c  to  a 
great  distsnce ;'  *  and  in  the  text,  C3VO  fWB  de- 
scribes the  whole  space  between  the  farthest  shores 
of  Chittim  and  the  Tyrian  shore.  Inde  usque  a  ter- 
ra Chittim  fama  pervulgata  est. 

Another  difficulty  in  this  line  is  to  expound  the 
pronoun  Xh.     I  think  it  is  used  indefinitely  for  all 


*  And  see  this  chapter,  verse  7. 


ISAIAH. 

the  inhabitants  of  the  space'described,  whoever  they 
might  be,  and  in  whatever  part  of  it.  So  we  might 
say  in  English,  ■  They  have  heard  of  the  rapture 
with  Spain  ere  this  in  the  East  Indies ;'  ?'.  e.  they 
[who  live]  in  the  East  Indies  ere  this  have  heard,  kc. 

Some,  with  the  LXX,  render  the  verb  fi^  '  it  h 
carried  away  captive.'  r^rai  diyjjbccXcuTog.  Others  take 
TfrjJ  for  a  noun  rendering  ■  captivity  ;*  but  I  find  no 
authority  for  this  sense  of  the  verb  in  Niphal,  nor 
for  any  use  of  fi^-tf  as  a  noun. 

Verse  2.  — "  are  still."  The  bustle  and  noise  of 
traffic  and  business  is  heard  no  more  in  the  streets 
of  Tyre.  All  interpreters  have  taken  the  verb  101 
as  an  imperative ;  for  which  I  see  no  reason  but  the 
authority  of  the  points. 

Verse  3.  — "  the  factoress  of  nations."  See  Ile- 
rodot.  lib.  i,  1. 

Verse  6.  "  Pass  ye  over  to  Tarshish" —  The  pro- 
phet addresses  his  hearers.  He  has  described  the 
consternation  of  the  Egyptians.  "Goon  (he  says) 
to  Tartessus;  see  the  state  of  things  there.', 

Verse  10.  "  Overflow  thy  land,"  &c.  "  A  city," 
says  Bishop  Lowth,  "  taken  by  siege  and  destroyed, 
whose  walls  are  demolished,  whose  policy  is  dissolv- 
ed, whose  wealth  is  dissipated,  whose  people  is  Bcat- 

O  3 


214  ISAIAH. 

tered  over  the  wide  country,  is  compared  to  a  river 
whose  banks  are  broken  down,  and  its  waters  let 
loose  and  overflowing  all  the  neighbouring  plains, 
are  wasted  and  lost."     This  interpretation  (which  is 
indeed  Vitringa's)  is  certainly  the  most  satisfactory 
that  has  ever  been  given  of  this  obscure  verse.    But 
I  cannot  agree  with  Bishop  Lowth  (who  in  this  too 
follows  Vitringa)  that  the  daughter  of  Tarshish  sig- 
nifies Tyre.  I  believe  no  other  instance  can  be  found, 
in  which  the  parent  state  is  called  the  daughter  of 
the  colony.     The  daughter  of  Tarshish  I  take  to  be 
Tarshish  itself,  or  its  inhabitants;  as  the  daughter 
of  Sion  and  the  daughter  of  Jerusalem,  are  Sion  it- 
self and  Jerusalem  itself,  or  rather  inhabitants  de- 
scribed under  the  image  of  the  children  of  the  towns. 
Upon  occasions  of  distress  and  danger  the  address  is 
to  the  female  sex,  as  the  most  obnoxious  to  alarm 
and  injury.    The  prophet  describes  the  distant  colo- 
nies, Tartessus  in  particular,  as  suffering,  together 
with  Tyre,  by  the  arms  of  Nebuchadnezzar.     By 
the  testimony  of  Megasthenes,  it  appears  that  the 
conquests  of  that  monarch  extended  to  the  farthest 
coasts  of  Spain.     Megasthenes,  as  cited  by  Strabo, 
says,    that    "  Nebuchadnezzar,    whose    reputation 
among  the  Chaldeans  surpassed  that  of  Hercules, 


ISAIAH.  GT15 

pushed  his  conquests  as  far  as  the  Pillars."     Strabo, 
lib.  xv,  p.  687.     As  he  is  cited  by  Kusebius,  from 
Abydemus,  he  says,  that  "  Nebuchadnezzar,  more 
valiant  than  Hercules,  led  his  armies  as  far  as  Lil>\  i 
and  Iberia ;    and  having  subdued  these  countries, 
settled  a  portion  of  the  people  on  the  right  of  the 
Euxine."     Euseb.  Praep.  lib.  ix,  p.  267.    11.  Stcph. 
Sir  John  Marsham  indeed  understands  this  Iberia  to 
be  the  country  of  that  name  near  the  Caspian,  and 
the  Pillars  to  be  the  pillars  which  Alexander  the 
Great  erected  in  Sarmatia.*     But  the  Iberia  men- 
tioned in  connexion  with  Libya  could  be  no  other 
Iberia  than   Spain ;    and  the   Pillars  mentioned  in 
connection  with  Hercules  could  be  no  other  than 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules.     And  this  is  further  evident 
from  the  general  purport  of  the  passage  of  Mega- 
sthenes,  in  which  this  mention  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
conquests  occurs ;  which,  as  it  appears  from  Strabo, 
was  to  prove  that  conquest  had  been  pushed  to  a 
much  greater  extent  westward  than  towards  the  east. 
Nebuchadnezzar's  conquests  are  given  as  an  instance 
of  distant  conquests  westward;  whereas  the  conquest 
of  the  Asiatic  Iberia  by  a  Babylonian  had  been  ra- 

*  Vide  Can.  Chron.  ad  Soec.  18,  tit.  Nabo-col-assams  Rex. 

O  4 


216  ISAIAH. 

ther  an  instance  of  conquest  toward  the  north. 
I  hold  it  certain  therefore  that  Nebuchadnezzar's 
conquests,  by  the  testimony  of  Megasthenes,  extend- 
ed to  the  western  coasts  of  Spain,  and  that  his  con- 
quests there  are  alluded  to  by  the  prophet  in  this, 
and  again  in  the  12th  verse,  but  with  another  refer- 
ence there,  to  greater  things  and  more  remote. 

Bishop  Stock's  conjecture,  that  the  Tarshish  of 
this  verse  is  neither  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  nor  Tartessus 
in  Spain,  but  a  city  on  the  Persian  Gulph,  of  which, 
as  the  mother-city  of  the  Sidonians,  Tyre  might 
properly  be  called  the  daughter,  is  very  plausible. 

Verse  11.  "To  destroy  her  fortresses."  The  for- 
tresses of  Canaan ;  not  only  the  towns  within  the 
land  of  Canaan  itself,  but  the  distant  colonies  of  the 
Canaanites. 

Verse  12.  — "  there  also  thou  shalt  have  no  rest." 
— "  Texit  propheta  velo  paucorum  verborum  even- 
tus  maximorum  motuum  et  calamitatum  bellicarum, 
quas  Siculi,  Sardi,  Corcyrasi,  Carthaginienses,  et  Hi- 
spani  tandem,  inter  quos  populos  Tyrii  profugi  sedem 
figerent,  cum  tempore  experirentur.  Sicilia,  et  oc- 
ciduae  maris  Mediterranei  insulae,  quae  se  valde 
ostentarunt  sub  imperio  Persico,  varios  jam  subi- 
erant  casus,  laetos,  tristes,  quando  tandem  Carthagi- 


ISAIAH.  217 

iiienses  se  miscere  cceperunt  rebus  Sicilian  Ol.  xcn, 
an.  3°.  Inde  inter  utrumque  populum  funestissima 
bella  ;  et  Sicilian  tyrannides  ;  et  causa  Sicilian  Romani 
mixti  Carthaginiensibus,  natumque  est  primum  bel- 
lum  Punicum,  difficillimum  et  gravissimum  ;  quod 
excepit  secundum,  calamitate  translata  in  Hispani- 
am ;  et  tertio  denique  excisa  est  Carthago,  Tyrus 
altera-;  quam  oraculi  antiqui  adversus  Canaanis  pos- 
teros  per  Noachum  editi,  et  horum  vaticiniorum  Je- 
saia?  et  Ezechielis  de  Tyro  fulmina  percusserunt,  et 
tandem  everterunt,  ut  filiae  eadem  sors  esset,  qua? 
matris.  Imo  ne  nova  quidem  Carthago,  Hispanien- 
sis,  Carthaginis  Africanae  et  Tyri  soboles,  banc  cala- 
mitatem  cvasit,  a  Scipione  vi  expugnata.  Atqui  ha* 
ipsissima?  illae  regiones  sunt,  ad  quas  fugerent  Tyrii, 
de  quibus  vates,  illos  ne  ibi  quidem  quiete  acturos 
esse."     Vitringa  ad  locum,  vol.  i,  p.  703,  c.  1. 

Verse  1 3.  "  This  people  was  not ;"  i.  e.  this  people, 
the  subject  of  this  discourse ;  this  Tyrian  people. 

— u  An  Assyrian  founded  it."  That  the  Pheni- 
cians,  the  founders  of  Sidon  and  Tyre,  were  a  co- 
lony from  Idumea,  is  now  so  generally  allowed  by 
the  learned,  that  the  proof  of  it  is  unnecessary.  See 
Gesner  de  Phcenieum  extra  Columnas  Herculis  Na- 
vigationibus,  Project,  i,  §  2.     Idumea  was  one  of 


218  ISAIAH. 

the  many  regions  enumerated  by  Strabo,  as  compos- 
ing the  extent  of  that  vast  country  which  went  un- 
der the  general  name  of  Assyria.  It  is  probable 
therefore,  that  the  first  founders  of  the  Phenician 
state,  of  which  Sidon  first,  afterwards  Tyre,  was  the 
metropolis,  were  an  Assyrian  race.  It  is  remarkable, 
that  Justin,  speaking  of  the  original  of  Tyre,  says, 
"  the  Tynan  nation  was  founded  by  Phenicians, 
who,  leaving  their  own  country  on  account  of  an 
earthquake,  settled  first  upon  the  Assyrian  Lake 
(Assyrium  stagnum),  in  a  little  while  upon  the  sea- 
shore.5' Justin,  xviii,  3.  By  the  Assyrian  Lake, 
Gesner  understands  the  Lake  of  Tiberias.  But 
whence  should  this  get  the  name  of  the  Assyrian 
Lake,  unless  it  was  that  the  first  that  settled  in  the 
adjacent  country  were  Assyrians  ? 

Servius  indirectly  mentions  this  Assyrian  extrac- 
tion of  the  Tyrians.     Upon  these  words  of  Virgil, 

Series  longissima  rerum, 

Per  tot  ducta  viros  prima  aborigine  gentis,  (iEn.  i,  64«5) 
he  has  this  note :    — "  A  Belo  primo  Assyriorum 
rege — usque  ad  Belum  patrem  Didonis."     In  which 
he  evidently  refers  the  origin  of  Dido's  family  to  the 
Assyrian  Bel  us. 

Again  he  mentions  the  Assyrian  Belus  as  the  first 


ISAIAH.  811 

owner  of  the  golden  cup  in  which  Dido  makes  her 

libation : 

Hie  regina  gravem  gemmis  auroque  poposcit 
Implcvitquc  mero  patcram  ;  qunn  Belus,  ct  omnes 
A  Belo  soliti.  iEn.  i,  732. 

"  Belus  (says  Servius)  primus  Assyriorum  rex." 

— "  Down  with  her  stately  palaces. V  Compare 
Psalm  exxxvii,  7. 

— "she  is  appointed  to-  destruction  ; "  literally, 
"  [He]  hath  appointed  her  to  destruction."  That 
is,  either  Jehovah  hath  appointed  her,  or  the  Assy- 
rian hath  appointed  her.  Babylonia  was  compre- 
hended under  the  general  name  of  Assyria.  Or  per- 
haps it  is  to  be  said  that  a  verb  in  Kal  or  Hiphii  in 
the  third  person,  without  a  nominative,  is  to  be  ren- 
dered by  a  verb  passive,  with  the  object  of  the  verb 
active  for  its  nominative ;  and  that  in  the  Hebrew 
language,  the  passive  of  verbs  that  have  no  Niphai 
is  properly  expressed  by  the  active  verb  without  a 
nominative,  having  for  its  object  what  should  be  the 
subject  of  the  passive  verb. 

In  whatever  way  this  last  clause  is  expounded, 
the  whole  verse  intimates  darkly,  because  in  the 
abrupt  ecstatic  style,  that  Tyre  is  to  be  destroyed 
by  the  same  race  to  which  she  owed  her  origin. 


220  ISAIAH. 

Verse  15.  — "  for  them  that  dwell  before  the 
Lord;"  rather,  "  for  them  that  sit  before  Jehovah." 
— "  sit,"  u  e.  as  disciples.  See  Vitringa  on  the 
passage. 

CHAP.  XXIV. 

Those  expositors,  who  apply  this  whole  chapter  to 
the  Jews,  are  not  agreed  among  themselves  whether 
it  relates  to  the  times  of  Salman eser,  of  Sennacherib, 
Nebuchadnezzar,  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  or  the  Ro- 
mans. Houbigant  has  clearly  shewn  that  it  is  in- 
applicable to  any  thing  earlier  in  the  Jewish  history 
than  the  final  conquest  and  dispersion  of  the  nation 
by  Vespasian.  But  the  terms  of  the  prophecy  are 
such  as  cannot  be  naturally  expounded  of  any  thing 
less  than  the  general  tribulation  of  the  last  ages,  and 
the  succeeding  prosperity  of  the  church  in  the  end 
of  the  world. 

"  Post  special  em  singularium  gentium  correptio- 
nem  (says  St  Jerome)  Judae,  Babylonis,  Philistim, 
Moab,  Damasci,  Israel,  ^Egypti,  Deserti  Maris, 
Idumese  et  Arabia?,  vallis  visionis,  et  ad  extremum 

Tyri nunc  quid  totus  orbis  in  consummatione 

passurus  sit,  propheticus  sermo  describit,  et  nequa- 


ISAIAH.  »1 

quam  de  singulis  gentibus,  scd  de  cunctis  paritcr 
prophetatur." 

"  Solenne  est  Isaiir,  ut  quotics  in  vaticiniis  suis 
offertur  aliqua  umbra  corum  quae  in  novissimis  tem- 
poribus  accident,  statim  ad  ilia  animum  et  verba 
convertat.  Erat  Tyrus  viva  totius  orbis  effigies,  cum 
eo  omnia  regna  confluerent.  Cum  ergo  microcosmi 
hujus  interitus  esset  a  propheta  descriptus,  ad  de- 
scribendam  majoris  mundi  vastitatem  assurgit.  Sicut 
Christus  ab  eversione  Hierosolymae  ad  mundi  exci- 
dium  et  universale  judicium  sermonem  ducit. M 
Sanctius  apud  Poole* 

The  first  twelve  verses  of  this  chapter  seem  to  de- 
scribe the  extermination  of  the  Jews  by  the  Roman?. 
In  the  13th,  14th,  Uth,  and  former  part  of  the  16th 
verse,  the  prophet  describes  the  successful  preaching 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  consequent  conversion  of  the 
Gentiles,  by  the  first  Hebrew  converts  scattered  over 
the  whole  world ;  for  they  seem  to  be  meant  by  the 
after  picking  of  the  olive  tree,  and  the  gleaning 
grapes  after  the  vintage.  The  remainder  of  the 
chapter  from  the  16th  verse,  describes  the  commo- 
tions in  the  latter  ages  of  the  world,  the  judgments 
to  be  executed  upon  the  adversaries  of  the  true  reli- 
gion, and  the  final  triumph  of  the  church.     In  this 


222  ISAIAH. 

part  the  prophecy  is  very  obscure,  the  accomplish- 
ment being  yet  distant. 

Verse  1.  — "  the  earth,"  rather  "  the  land." 
Verse  4.  — "  The  earth,"  rather  "  The  land." 
— "  the  haughty  people  of  the  earth  do  languish." 
— "  excelsa  simul  et  ima  terrae  collabescunt."  Hou- 
bigant.  The  plural  verb  V?^DK  has  led  interpreters 
to  expound  the  singular  nominative  as  a  collective. 
The  Vulgate  seems  to  have  had  the  singular  verb 
77DK  j  and  with  the  singular  verb,  the  most  obvious 
interpretation  of  this  clause  would  be  this :  "  To- 
gether with  the  earth  the  heaven  is  decayed. " 
O'HD,  as  we  might  say,  c  the  upper  region,'  is  often 
used  for  the  heavens,  or  the  skv.  It  seems  to  be  so 
used  below,  verse  21. 

Verse  5.  "  The  earth,"  rather  «  The  land." 
Verse  6.  — "  the  earth,"  rather  "  the  land." 
— "  and  they  that  dwell  therein  are  desolate ;" 
rather,  *  because  the  inhabitants  thereof  are  found 
guilty."     Vitringa  and  Bishop  Lowth. 
— "  of  the  earth,"  rather  "  of  the  land." 
— "  are  burnt."     If  any  emendation  be  necessary 
here,  I  should  propose  for  Tin  to  read  VTtt.     $ee  ps# 
cii,  4.     The  formative  J  of  the  verb  might  easily  be 


ISAIAH. 

omitted,  when  the  next  preceding  word  ends  with 
the  same  letter.     But  compare  Job  xxx,  30. 

Verse  1*  "  The  new  wine  nlourneth,, —  <c  The 
new  wine  is  become  vapid" — 

Verse  8.  — "  the  noise  of  them  that  rejoice  ;"  ra- 
ther, "  the  noise  of  the  riotous." 

Verse  9.  — "  strong  drink" —  rather,  "  the  date- 
wine" — 

Verse  10.  "  The  city  of  desolation  is  broken 
down  ;"  rather,  "  The  city  is  broken  down ;  it  is  a 
ruin."     See  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  il.  — "all  joy  is  darkened."  fi^ny.  Bishop 
Lowth,  with  Archbishop  Seeker,  would  read  rrDy. 
But  I  find  that  the  verb  2Tp  in  the  Arabic  language 
renders  these  senses :  *  abfuit,  distitit,  longius  re- 
cessit;  ablegabit,  extorrem  fecit,  in  exilium  expulit, 
perigrinatus  fuit,  peregrinus  evasit,  subtraxit  se :' 
and  in  the  Samaritan,  *  expulit,  exterminabit,  exlue- 
redavit.'     See  Castell's  Lexicon. 

Verse  12.  — "  and  the  gate  is  smitten  with  de- 
struction ;M  rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  and  with 
a  great  tumult  the  gate  is  battered  down." 

Verse  13.  In  the  original,  put  a  semicolon  be- 
tween rwn  and  TTQ. 


224.  ISAIAH. 

When  thus  it  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  the  land  [that  is,  the 

land  of  Judea], 
Amongst  the  peoples  [there  shall  be]  as  the  after-picking  of 

an  olive  tree, 
As  the  gleaning-grapes  when  the  vintage  is  finished. 

Verse  14,  "  They"—  rather  "  These,"  this  small 
remnant. 

But  these  shall  lift  up  their  voice,  they  shall  sing : 
Resound,  O  ye  waters,  with  the  exaltation  of  Jehovah. 

Bishop  Lowth. 

I  am  much  in  doubt  about  the  latter  line.  — "  from 
the  sea,"  may  signify  •'  in  the  western  quarters  of 
the  globe,"  or,  generally  "  from  the  outmost  shores," 
a  cingente  omnia  oceano. 

Verse  15.  — "  in  the  fires,"  tD^KD.  This  word 
deserves  much  consideration.  Twenty-three  of  Ken- 
nicott's  MSS.  and  among  these  some  of  the  first  au- 
thority, have  O'H'iiO.  Houbigant  would  read  CDKD, 
or  CEJP.     Bishop  Lowth  and  the  Layman  read 

Verse  16.  — "glory  to  the  righteous ;"  rather, 
"  to  the  Just  One." 

— "  but  I  said,  My  leanness,  my  leanness,"  &c. 
The  prophet  hearing  songs  of  praise  to  the  Just  One, 
is  naturally  led  to  think  of  the  general  corruption  of 


ISAIAH.  224 

human  nature,  and  of  the  base  treatment  which  the 
Just  One  met  with  from  the  Jews ;  which  two  things 
he  pathetically  deplores  in  the  sequel  of  this  verse. 
By  his  leanness,  he  means  the  deficiency  of  his  own 
righteousness,  which  was  such  that  he  had  need  to 
clothe  himself  with  the  merits  of  the  Just  One.  The 
perfidious  dealers  are  the  unbelieving  Jews  of  our 
Lord's  time,  who,  by  rejecting  their  Saviour,  became 
apostates  from  their  God. 

Verse  17.  "  Fear,  and  the  pit,"  &c.  Fired  with 
indignation  at  the  scene  of  the  treatment  of  the 
Just  One,  the  prophet  threatens  the  guilty  world 
with  instant  vengeance. 

Verse  21.  — "  shall  punish  the  host  of  the  high 
ones  [that  are]  on  high ;"  literally,  "  shall  visit  up- 
on the  host  of  the  height  in  the  height,"  or,  "  of  the 

upper  region  in  the  upper  region."     — "  animadvert 

■ 
Jova,  et  in  sublimem  exercitum  in  sublimi."  Castalio. 

— "  visitabit  Dominus  super  militiam  cseli  in  excel- 
so."    Vulg.       —  iTTU^U    6    GiOg    S7TI    70V    XOGfiOV  70V  O'JOOLVOV 

7w  xuiu*  LXX.  The  antithesis  between  this  "  host 
of  the  upper  region  in  the  upper  region,  and  the 
kings  of  the  earth  upon  the  earth,"  clearly  shews 
that  heaven  is  meant  by  ovro,  *  the  height,  or  upper 
region.'  Whether  this  host  of  heaven  be  the  visible 
vol.  it.  p 


226  ISAIAH. 

host  (which  shall  be  visited  in  the  latter  days,  and 
thrown  into  much  disorder,  in  the  formation  of  the 
new  heavens  and  new  earth,  out  of  the  ruins  of  the 
present  system),  or  the  host  of  the  rulers  of  the 
darkness  of  this  world,  the  spiritual  wickedness  in 
high  places,  seems  doubtful.  St  Jerome  and  the 
LXX  certainly  understood  the  words  of  the  visible 
host.  "  In  die  ilia,  hoc  est  in  die  judicii  (says  St 
Jerome),  visitabit  Dominus  super  militiam,  sive 
super  ornatum  caeli,  in  excelsis,  ut  non  solum  terre- 
na  sed  et  excelsa  judicet.  Quis  sit  autem  ornatus 
caeli,  sive  militia,  Moyse  scribente  discamus :  cave 
ne  suspiciens  caelum,  et  videns  solem,  et  lunam,  Stel- 
las, et  omnem  ornatum  caeli,  decipiaris  et  adores  eas 
visitabit  autem  Dominus,  secundum  idioma  scriptu- 
rarum,  quasi  aegrotantem  militiam  et  exercitum  caeli 
et  ferro  et  cauteriis  indigentem."  The  kings  of  the 
earth,  in  the  next  clause,  St  Jerome  expounds  of 
evil  spirits :  — "  rectores  tenebrarum  istarum  et  spi- 
ritualia  nequitiae  in  caelestibus.  De  quibus  principi- 
bus  diversis  provinces  praesidentibus  et  in  Daniele 

scriptum  est. Hos  igitur  principes  qui  suum  non 

servaverunt  gradum,  congregabit  Dominus  in  die 
judicii  quasi  in  uno  fasce  pariter  colligatos  et  rnittet 
in  lacum  inferni."     This  seems  very  unnatural. 


ISAIAH. 

It  may  seem  difficult  to  understand  the  "  bundling 
up  of  the  host  of  heaven  together  with  the  kings  of 
the  earth  for  the  pit,"  and  their  common  imprison- 
ment, mentioned  in  the  22d  verse,  of  the  visible  host 
of  heaven,  unless  it  denote  some  restraint  laid  upon 
the  physical  powers  of  the  heavenly  bodies  previous 
to  the  catastrophe  of  the  present  system.  At  the 
same  time  that  the  governments  of  the  earth  shall 
be  broken  up,  and  her  potentates  spoiled  of  their 
power  and  authority,  the  objects  of  idolatrous  wor- 
ship shall  be  fettered  in  their  physical  energies  and 
influences,  and  the  present  economy  of  Nature  shall 
be  abolished  together  with  the  corrupt  polity  of  men. 
Wicked  princes,  the  patrons  and  perpetrators  of  vio- 
lence and  impiety,  shall  be  bundled  up  with  the 
rubbish  of  the  worn  system,  and  thrown  aside  as 
lumber,  till  the  season  shall  come  for  a  final  visita- 
tion of  both  ;  when  the  old  materials  of  the  universe 
shall  be  wrought  anew ;  and  that  which  may  seem 
good  to  Infinite  Wisdom  and  Justice  shall  be  the 
end  of  the  wicked. 

Upon  the  whole,  however,  I  think  *  the  host  of 
the  height*  in  this  place  may  best  be  expounded  of 
intelligent  beings,  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this 
world.     For  it  is  very  evident  that  the  church  is  to 

p  2 


228  ISAIAH. 

enjoy  prosperity  on  earth,  and  Jehovah  is  to  reign 
in  Mount  Zion  and  Jerusalem,  after  the  execution 
of  the  judgments  here  described.  The  physical  con- 
vulsions therefore,  mentioned  in  the  19th  and  20th 
verses,  are  not  such  as  are  literally  to  put  an  end  to 
the  present  system  of  the  world.  Perhaps  they  are 
mystical.  The  sun  and  moon  of  verse  23  are  cer- 
tainly a  mystical  sun  and  moon ;  and  the  height  or 
heaven  of  this  verse  is  a  mystical  heaven. 

Verse  22.  — <c  as  prisoners  are  gathered  in  the 
pit;"  rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  as  in  a  bundle 
for  the  pit." 

— "  shall  they  be  visited." 

"  Videtur  applaudere  amicis  meis,  qui  diabolo  et 
daemonibus  dant  pcenitentiam  (says  Jerome),  quod 
multa  post  tempora  a  Domino  visitentur.  Sed  con- 
sidered, quod  non  dixerit  aperte  scriptura  divina ; 
visitabimtur  a  Domino,  vel,  visitabuntur  ab  angelis, 
sed  absolute  visitabiintur.  Ex  qua  ambiguitate  ver- 
bi,  et  remedium  potest  intelligi  et  correptio :  quod 
postquam  justi  praemia  receperint,  illi  in  pcenis  per- 
petuis  visitentur.  Est  tamen  sciendum,  quod  judi- 
cium Dei  humana  non  possit  scire  fragilitas,  nee  de 
pcenarum  magnitudine  atque  mensura  ferre  senten- 
tiam,  quae  Domini  arbitrio  derelicta  est."    It  should 


isaiah.  m 

seem  from  this  last  sentence,  that  St  Jerome,  though 
he  scrupled  to  approve,  did  not  peremptorily  con- 
demn the  opinion  of  his  friends,  and  thought  the 
question  of  eternity  of  punishment  somewhat  doubt- 
ful. 

CHAP.  XXV. 

This  chapter  contains  the  prophet's  thanksgiving 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  apostate  faction,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  righteous  in  everlasting  peace. 

Verse  2.  — "  of  a  city" —  The  prophet  employs 
general  images  of  conquest  and  extermination,  and 
no  particular  city  seems  intended.  See  chap,  xxiv, 
10,  notes. 

— "  of  strangers" —  of  such  as  were  strangers 
from  the  commonwealth  of  God's  people. 

3  Therefore  the  fierce  people  shall  glorify  thee, 
The  city  of  the  heathen  j  tyrants  shall  fear  thee. 

Verse  5.  *  Thou  shalt  bring  down,"  &c.  As  the 
periods  are  now  divided,  the  best  translation  of  this 
verse,  upon  the  whole,  is  certainly  St  Jerome's  : 
"  Sicut  aestus  in  siti  tumultum  alienorum  humiliabis, 
et  quasi  calore  sub  nube  torrente  propaginem  for- 
tium  marcescere  facies."  He  refers  the  word  ^3 
to  the  root  H^,  and  for  nflP  he  seems  to  have  read 

p  3 


236  ISAIAH. 

fttyn.  Thuslie  certainly  brings  the  passage  to  very 
good  sense.  Nevertheless,  as  the  exposition  of  the 
word  ^*3,  and  the  emendation  T)fyn  for  flty*1  are 
both  uncertain ;  and  as  the  h  at  in  the  last  verse  was 
an  image  of  the  tyranny  of  the  wicked,  I  should  mo- 
ther propose  an  alteration  of  the  stops,  and  a  new 
division  of  the  verses ;  thus, 

4 

ts^vyf  rvn  *o 

yuan  cm  pw  5 

dj?  Sx^  mn 
:  rujp  ew-ip  -row 


For  the  spirit  *  of  tyrants 

Is  as  a  flood  [against]  the  wall,f  as  the  parching-heat  in  the 
desert. 
5  The  noisy-pride  of  strangers  thou  wilt  bring  low, 
Withered  under  the  shelter  of  the  cloud 
The  offspring  of  tyrants  shall  be  humbled. 

— <c  Withered" —    I  take  Snn  to  be  the  participle 
Paoul  agreeing  with  TET.     That  the  verb  2TI  is  ap- 

*  Or,  «  the  fury." 

t  Or,  "  as  the  winter  flood."     — "  iraber  brumalis,"  Vitringa. 
*vp  for  Tip,  Vitringa,  Capellus,  and  Bishop  Lowth. 


ISAIAH.  231 

plied  to  vegetables,  to  denote  their  dried  withered 
state  ;  see  Judges  xvi,  7,  8.  The  shoot  of  a  tree 
withering  under  the  sheltering  shade. of  the  cloud, 
which  is  naturally  friendly  to  its  growth,  is  an  apt 
image  of  the  wicked  brought  to  ruin ;  not  for  want 
of  the  natural  means  of  thrift  and  prosperity,  but  by 
the  immediate  act  of  God, 

— "  The  offspring''—  literally,  "  the  shoot."  I 
cannot  agree  with  the  learned  Mr  Parkhurst  that 
the  word  "PC?,  in  Cant,  ii,  12,  evidently  "  denotes 
the  harmonious  singing  of  birds."  Whence  he  seems 
to  conclude  that  the  word  may  signify  any  other 
harmonious  singing,  and  may  be  understood  here  of 
a  joyful  noise,  or  triumphant  singing. 

— "  shall  be  humbled."  Bishop  Lowth  observes, 
upon  another  place,  that  the  Hebrew  poets  delight 
in  the  mixture  of  the  proper  with  the  allegorical. 
The  most  moderate  degree  of  this  mixture  is  when 
that  is  predicated  of  the  figure,  which  is  incident 
only  to  the  thing  figured;  or  vice  versa:  and  thus 
far  the  mixture  of  the  proper  and  the  figurative  is 
common  in  all  languages,  and  this  line  in  the  ori- 
ginal presents  a  remarkable  instance.  The  verb  ^V, 
in  the  sense  of  humbling,  is  properly,  I  think,  ap- 
plied only  to  men,  and  the  fortunes  of  men.     Here 

r  4 


232  ISAIAH. 

its  subject  is  the  young  shoot  of  a  tree,  put  as  a 
figure  for  the  progeny  of  men.  But  a  shoot,  or  a 
branch,  shall  be  humbled,  in  our  language  would  be 
a  very  harsh  expression,  and  hardly  intelligible. 

Verse  6.  — "  unto  all  people" —  rather,  "  unto  all 
peoples" — 

— "  a  feast,"  a  spiritual  feast  of  the  blessings  of 
the  Christian  dispensation.  See  Bishop  Lowth's  ex- 
cellent note  upon  this  verse,  in  which  he  shews, 
with  the  highest  evidence,  the  necessary  reference 
of  this  prophecy  to  the  gospel. 

Verse  7.  — "  the  face  of  the  covering  cast  over 
all  people."  Transpose  'OS)  with  Houbigant  and 
Bishop  Lowth.  — a  the  covering  cast  over  the  face 
of  all  peoples."  The  *  covering*  and  the  *  veil'  are 
the  mist  of  ignorance  in  which  the  heathen  world 
was  buried,  till  the  appearance  of  our  Saviour ;  par- 
ticularly the  ignorance  of  a  future  state,  and  of  the 
means  of  obtaining  eternal  life. 

Verse  9.  — "  and  he  will  save  us  j"  rather,  M  and 
he  hath  saved  us." 

"  Absorpta  morte  in  perpetuum,  populus  Dei,  qui 
de  manu  mortis  fuerit  liberatus,  dicet  ad  Dominum, 
*  Ecce  Deus  noster  quern  increduli  hominem  tantum 
putabant.'  "     Hieron.  ad  locum. 


ISAIAH.  23S 

m  Observo verba  prophetae  sic  esse  constructa, 

ut  nos  ultra  invitent  ad  speciatim  cogitandum  de 
persona  Filii  Dei,  magni  servatoris  et  salvatoris  (est 
enim  in  hac  voce  major  emphasis)  qui  cum  olim 
populo  posterorum  Jacobi  praestitisset  salutem  tem- 
poralem,  in  fine  dierum  appareret  in  carne  ad  populo 
electo  impetrandam  salutem  spiritualem  et  aeternam." 
Vitringa  ad  locum,  vol.  ii,  p.  49,  c.  1. 

Verse  10.  — "  and  Moab  shall  be  trodden  down 
under  him,  even  as  straw  is  trodden  down  for  the 
dunghill ;"  perhaps  "  and  Moab  shall  be  trodden 
down  under  him,*  as  straw  is  trodden  in  the  waters 
of  Madmenah."  Straw  was  trodden  in  water  to  pre- 
pare it  for  the  making  of  bricks.  — "  llli  aguntur 
(says  Houbigant)  qui  mediis  in  aquis  paleas  fran- 
gunt,  ac  subigunt,  ut  conficiantur  lateres."  Perhaps 
Madmenah  might  be  famous  for  brickworks. 

If  we  follow  the  Keri,  ^£3  for  ^M  (which  is  con- 
firmed by  many  of  Kennicott's  best  Codd.),  the 
common  translation  may  stand;  — "  as  straw  is  trod- 
den down  in  the  dunghill."  "  Solet  enim  stramen 
injici  sterquilinio,  et  pedibus  calcari  ut  fimus  flat'* 

*  Or  rather,  "  in  his  own  place;"  that  is,  in  his  own  country. 
So  Vitringa. 


234  ISAIAH. 

Schindler  apud  Vitringam.  But  the  former  exposi- 
tion seems  by  far  more  elegant.  But  the  common 
word  for  straw  is  pn,  not  pro.  pro  may  be  a 
thrashing  floor,  or  the  place  where  straw  is  shatter- 
ed ;  and  so  the  LXX  understand  it  here,  for  they 
render  it  by  akavu.  fttD'TO  may  come  from  the  root 
fttn,  and  signify  a  roller  or  corn-drag.  And  thus 
the  passage  will  be  brought  to  the  sense  expressed 
by  the  LXX,  which  seems  the  best  of  all :  — "  and 
Moab  [i.  e.  the  land  of  Moab]  shall  be  trampled 
under  him,  as  the  thrashing  floor  is  trampled  by  the 
corn-drag."     See  Mr  Parkhurst's  Lexicon,  pn,  n. 

Verse  11.   e<  And  he  shall  spread  forth  his  hands* 

&c. swim/*    — "  Ita  Deus  potenter  extendet  ma- 

nus  suas,  ut  hostes  hac  iliac  percutiat,  et  tarn  facile 
illos  conficiet,  quam  natator  aquam  findit."  Quidam 
apud  Poole.  — "  Qui  natant  non  irruunt  to  to  im- 
petu,  sed  leviter  sese  expandunt,  et  brachia  placide 
deducunt,  aquas  tamen  proscindunt  et  superant.  Ita 
Deus  absque  ullo  negotio  sine  strepitu  aut  tumultu 
hostes  perdit  et  profligat."  Calvin  apud  Poole. 
Compare  Zach.  v,  3. 

— "  together  with  the  spoils  of  their  hands."  OJJ 
TTp  rvonK  — «  cum  allisione  manuum  ejus."  Vulg. 
— "  with  the  sudden  gripe  of  his  hands."     Bishop 


ISAIAH.  2S5 

Lowth.  — u  manuum  suarum  impressione."  IIou- 
bigant.  — "  and  witk  the  strength  of  his  hands 
shall  he  bring  down  their  pride."  Queen  Elizabeth's 
translators.  I  cannot  see  how  allision  or  impression 
may  connect  with  any  known  sense  of  the  word  3*W. 
In  the  Chaldee  dialect  E^-n  HWK  signifies  the 
thigh,  as  the  most  muscular  part  of  the  ^"\  or 
whole  limb  from  the  head  of  the  thigh-bone  down- 
wards. In  Arabic,  the  word  jWZTiN  bears  the  same 
signification.  Hence  some  have  conjectured  that 
O^T»  rvonN  may  denote  the  arm  above  the  elbow  as 
the  most  muscular  part  of  the  1\  or  whole  limb 
from  the  top  of  the  shoulder  to  the  ends  of  the 
fingers.  In  this  case,  the  word  HWK  must  be  refer- 
red to  the  root  fOI,  and  the  K  at  the  beginning  of 
the  word  must  be  servile.  If  OJJ  were  ever  used  as 
the  preposition  of  the  instrument,  the  prophet  might 
be  supposed  to  pursue  the  image  of  the  swimmer 
dashing  the  water  on  one  side  and  the  other  with 
his  arms ;  and  the  passage  might  be  rendered  thus : 
— "  And  with  his  brawny  arms  he  shall  bring  down 
their  pride."  But  I  find  no  unquestionable  instance 
of  this  use  of  DJJ,  though  St  Jerome,  Houbigant, 
and  Queen  Elizabeth's  translators,  must  all  have 
supposed  it  to  be  so  used  here.   The  preposition  DJJ 


236  ISAIAH. 

is  properly  the  preposition  of  the  adjunct.  HWK 
W*  therefore  must  be  either  something  which  was 
to  be  brought  down  together  with  the  pride,  or 
something  appertaining  to  Moab  at  the  time  of  the 
bringing  down :  some  adjunct,  in  short,  of  Moab, 
or  of  Moab's  pride :  and  the  1  suffixed  to  'H'1  must 
rehearse  Moab,  not  God,  or  the  swimmer.  The 
muscular  part  of  Moab's  arm  cannot  be  mentioned 
here  otherwise  than  as  a  general  image  of  strength ; 
and  in  this  sense  Castalio  understood  it.  His  trans- 
lation is  in  these  words :  — "  usque  adeo  illorum 
fastum  manusque  membrosas  deprimet."  Our  Eng- 
lish translators  seem  to  have  understood  the  word 
rYOnN  of  the  spoils,  i.  e.  the  gains  or  acquisitions  of 
fraud  and  cunning.  And  Bishop  Lowth  might  mean 
the  same  thing  by  u  the  sudden  gripe  of  his  hands," 
if  by  "  his  hands "  he  meant  Moab's  hands.  The 
gripe  of  the  hand  may  signify  the  thing  griped  in 
the  hand. 

One  MS.  of  Dr  Kennicott's,  of  considerable  anti- 
quity, for  rYO'lK,  has  AW,  This  various  reading 
deserves  great  attention ;  for  with  this  alteration  the 
passage  may  be  rendered,  — "  And  he  shall  bring 
down  their  pride  with  the  thrift  of  their  hands." 
See  the  word  TtK  in  Parkhurst's  Lexicon.     See  an- 


ISAIAH.  237 

other  explanation  of  this  text  offered  by  Mr  Park- 
hurst,  3^N,  II#  5^ 

Verse  12.  "  And  the  fortress  of  the  high  fort  of 
thy  walls  shall  he  bring  down." 

11  As  the  church  is  stiled  the  city  of  God ;  so  the 
society  of  infidels,  or  enemies  to  God's  truth,  is  re- 
presented by  the  like  similitude  of  a  city,  and  typi- 
fied under  the  figures  of  Sodom,  Babylon,  and  that 
Jerusalem  which  killed  the  prophets.  See  Rev.  xi,  8." 
Lowth  the  father  upon  Is.  xxvi,  5. 


CHAP.  XXVI. 

Verse  1.  As  the  final  overthrow  of  the  apostate 
faction  is  described  in  the  last  chapter  under  the 
image  of  the  destruction  of  their  city,  so  the  final 
peace  of  the  faithful  is  here  described  under  the 
image  of  the  strength  and  security  of  a  fortified 
town. 

Strong  is  our  city, 

Security  is  provided,  walls  and  a  bulwark. 

njW>,  « the  means  of  security*' 

— "  is  provided. "  The  verb  *W  hath  no  Niphal. 
It  is  here  used  in  Hiphil,  in  the  third  person  future 
singular,  without  a  nominative.     The  nouns  HjW\ 


238  ISAIAH. 

JTOin,  and  ^H,  are  accusatives,  after  the  Hiphil  verb. 
See  chap,  xxiii,  13,  notes. 

Verse  2.  — "  the  righteous  nation,"  or,  "  the  na- 
tion of  the  Just  One." 

Verse  3.  "  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace 
whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee."     TED  ■WP* 

The  word  *tt*  is  used  to  signify  '  a  thought,  ima- 
gination, project,  or  purpose  formed  in  the  mind ;' 
in  which  use  of  it  however,  it  is  for  the  most  part 
joined  (though  not  always)  with  3^?,  or  some  other 
word  that  necessarily  points  to  that  particular  sense. 
I  doubt  whether  it  be  ever  used  to  signify  either  the 
mind  itself,  or  the  settled  habit  or  disposition  of  the 
mind :  and  most  of  all,  I  doubt  whether  it  ever  sig- 
nify the  good  habit  or  disposition  of  the  regenerate 
mind ;  in  which  sense  they  must  understand  it  here 
who  render  the  two  words  TED  *&">,  *  whose  mind  is 
stayed  on  thee ;'  or,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  *  stayed  in 
mind/  The  word  "ft^,  applied  to  the  thoughts  or 
imaginations  of  the  human  mind,  is,  I  think,  always 
taken  in  a  bad  sense ;  for  those  bad,  or  at  the  best 
foolish  projects,  which  the  perverse  or  inconsiderate 
mind  forms  for  itself  without  regard  of  God. 

Queen  Elizabeth's  translators  understood  the  word 
"W  here  of  a  purpose  in  the  mind  of  God ;  for  thus 


ISAIAH.  230 

they  render  the  passage :  "  By  an  assured  purpose 
wilt  thou  preserve  perfect  peace" —  And  this,  I 
think,  is  the  best  sense  the  sentence  will  bear,  if*  W 
in  this  passage  signifies  any  purpose.  The  participle 
*^\  in  the  sense  of  purposing,  is  once  indeed  ap- 
plied to  God,  Jer.  xviii,  3  :  but  there  it  is  applied 
to  God  purposing  evil  against  the  Israelites,  and  de- 
notes an  incomplete  purpose  of  punishment,  it  case 
the  persons  threatened  should  rema'n  impenitent. 
But  in  Is.  xlvi,  3,  the  verb  *H**,  in  the  nioi.th  of 
God  himself,  signifies  simply  *  I  have  purposed,' 
without  implying  any  thing  of  evil  or  punishment  in 
the  purpose. 

In  this  passage  I  should  rather  return  to  the  ge- 
neral sense  of  the  word.  The  verb  *V  is  generally 
4  to  form,  or  fashion.'  The  noun  "^"1  is  any  thing 
formed  or  fashioned.  The  verb  is  particularly  ap- 
plied to  the  foiming  or  making  of  a  people,  a  polity. 
See  Parkhurst's  Lexicon.  The  faithful  are  indivi- 
dually "God's  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus 
unto  good  works."  — uvrov  ya%  iff(A&  Koirjfbcc,  xTioOivrz; 
iv  Xgiflra*  Irpov  It*  loyoig  ccyuQotg.  Ephes.  ii.  The  com- 
munity of  the  faithful,  the  righteous  nation,  or  na- 
tion of  the  Just  One,  is  a  city  u  whose  maker  and 
builder  is  God."      This  spiritual  polity,  first  made 


240  ISAIAH. 

and  fashioned  by  God,  is  continually  supported  by 
his  Providence,  till  it  will  be  brought  at  last  to  a 
state  of  perfect  peace  and  security.  This  communi- 
ty, in  respect  of  its  divine  original  and  support,  is 
here  most  emphatically  called  TBD  W  j  in  Aquila's 
translation,  fl-Xao^a  htrriyy pivov.  Thus  expounded, 
these  two  words  may  either  be  added  to  the  second 
verse  as  nominatives,  making  a  further  description 
of  the  righteous  nation,  or  nation  of  the  Just  One : 
or,  if  the  Masoretic  division  be  retained,  which 
closes  the  second  verse  with  the  word  D^cK,  they 
make  the  accusative  under  the  verb  *W|  W,  in 
either  way,  is  the  noun,  and  TED  a  participle  in  ap- 
position. The  sense  is  very  clear;  but  the  construc- 
tion of  the  original  cannot  be  preserved,  but  at  the 
expence  of  perspicuity  either  in  the  Latin  or  the 
English  languages. 

2  Open  ye  the  gates 

And  let  the  nation  of  the  Just  One  enter, 
Which  keepeth  the  truth,  [God's]  workmanship  so  constant- 
ly supported. 

3  Thou  shalt  preserve  [it]  in  perpetual  peace, 
Because  trust  hath  been  placed  in  thee. 

Or,  Because  he  (that  is,  the  Just  One)  hath  trusted  in  thee. 


ISAIAH.  241 

Or  thus,  according  to  the  Masorctic  division  ; 

2  Open  ye  the  gates 

And  let  the  nation  of  the  Just  One  enter, 
Which  kcepeth  the  truth. 

3  Formed  and  supported  [by  thee]  thou  shalt  preserve  [it] 
In  perpetual  peace;  because,  &c. 

Verses  7,  8,  punctuate  thus ; 

cs2n  p-iv  S:j?d  n^ 
;  ntn  TBBtPp  mK  qK 
&c:  Y**p  8 

7  The  path  of  the  Just  One  is  perfectly  even : 
An  even  road  thou  wilt  level  for  the  Just  One, 
Even  the  path  of  thy  laws,  O  Jehovah. 

8  We  have  expected  thee,  &c. 

Verse  11.  — "for  their  envy  at  the  people." 
— "  they  shall  see  with  confusion  thy  zeal  for  thy 
people."  Bishop  Lowth.  Is  not  OJ?  n*Up  <  the  en- 
vious among  the  people?'  — "  zelantes  populi," 
Vulgate.  If  this  is  not  the  sense  of  the  expression, 
the  true  reading  must  be,  "  see,  and  be  ashamed  of 
their  jealousy  of  people." 

Verse  13.   — "  but  by  thee  only  will   wc  make 
mention  of  thy  name."     I  think  this  might  be  ren- 
voi,. 11.  q> 


242  ISAIAH. 


dered  *  [we  are]  thine  only,  we  will  celebrate  thy 


name." 


Verse  14.  — <?  therefore,"  "  inasmuch  as." 

Verse  15.  — "  thou  hast  removed  it  far  unto  all 

the  ends  of  the  earth."     "  Thou  hast  extended  far 

all  the  borders  of  the  land."     Bishop  Lowth  after 

Vitringa. 

16  O  Jehovah,  in  tribulation  [men]  miss  thee, 

They  are  distressed  when  thy  chastisement  comes  hastily 
upon  them. 

— "  are  distressed" —  pp¥,  from  the  root  pw,  a 
word  denoting  the  heaviest  pressure  of  distress. 
Vn7,  the  infinitive  mood,  t^n  (from  the  root  UftH) 
with  the  prefix  ^ ;  "  when  thy  chastisement  hastens 
upon  them,"  u  e.  comes  hastily  upon  them. 

Verse  1 8.  — "  we  have  not  wrought  any  deliver- 
ance in  the  earth ;"  literally,  "  the  land  is  not  made 
security."  *  The  land*  seems  here  opposed  to  ?W, 
1  the  world  in  general/  It  is  therefore  the  country 
of  "  the  righteous  nation,"  that  land  whose  borders 
God  had  enlarged.  The  confession  is,  that  their 
own  efforts  have  been  ineffectual  for  their  deliver- 
ance ;  their  land  is  not  become  a  place  of  security 
from  their  enemies  j  nor  are  the  inhabitants  of  the 
wicked  world,  at  enmity  with  the  city  of  God.  sub- 


ISAIAH.  918 

dued :  but  that  salvation,  which  their  own  arm  had 
not  the  power  to  work,  God  in  the  next  verse  work< 
for  them. 

The  land  is  not  made  [a  place  of]  security, 
Nor  are  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  about  to  fall. 

Verse  19.   — "  dew  of  herbs."     — "  dew  of  the 

9 

dawn,"  Bishop  Lowth. 

This  verse  is  not  to  be  understood  as  an  explicit 
and  immediate  promise  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.  Indeed  this  whole  chapter  seems  rather  to 
relate  to  a  peaceful  state  of  the  church,  delivered 
from  all  enemies  from  without,  and  from  heresies 
within,  in  the  latter  ages  of  the  world  previous  to 
the  general  judgment.  In  this  verse,  the  change  in 
the  condition  of  the  faithful  from  persecution  to 
peace  and  security  is  described  under  the  image  of 
a  resurrection.  The  land  mentioned  in  the  latter 
part  of  it,  must  be  the  same  land  which  is  enlarged 
in  the  15th  verse,  and  opposed  to  the  world  in  the 
18th.  And  the  OWSH  of  this  verse  are  the  same 
with  the  *»n  "Otth  of  the  18th. 

Thy  dead  shall  live ;  my  dead  bodies  shall  arise  ; 
Awake  and  sing  thou  that  hast  thy  lodging  in  the  dust ; 
For  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  dawn ; 
And  the  land  shall  overthrow  the  tyrants. 

Q2 


244  ISAIAH. 

Literally,  "  make  them  fall/'  as  in  battle.  With  this 
verse  the  chapter  should  end,  and  a  new  chapter 
begin  with  "  Come,  my  people ;"  for  these  words 
introduce  a  repetition  of  the  denunciations  of  judg- 
ment upon  the  wicked. 

CHAP.  XXVII. 

Verse  1.  — "  the  piercing  serpent."  — "  the  ri- 
gid serpent,"  Bishop  Lowth ;  perhaps  "  the  long 
serpent,"  or  "  the  streight  serpent."  — "  Leviathan 
serpentis  longi  similitudo  ducitur  ex  crocodilo,  qui 
corpus  suum,  squamis  rigidum  sinuare  non  potest : 
leviathan  autem,  colubri  tortuosi,  ex  hippopotamo  \ 
utroque  adumbrante  serpentem,  cujus  fallacia  et  do* 
lis  primus  homo  lapsus  est.  Turn  enim  Deus  de  eo 
serpente  poenas  ultimas  sumet,  cum  terra  non  am- 
plius  abscondet  interfectos  suos.  Leviathan  in  libro 
Job  non  alius  est  quam  generis  humani  hostisc  et 
frustra  quidam  similitudinem  istam,  ex  aquaticis  ' 
animalibus  ductam,  accommodare  volunt  ad  aliquem 
terras  regem,  Judaicae  genti  infensum."  Houbigant 
ad  locum. 

Verse  2.  "In  that  day,  sing  ye  unto  her  a  vine- 
yard of  red  wine."  Ten,  for  len,  seems  the  better 
reading. 


ISAIAH. 

In  that  day  the  vineyard  [shall  be]  lovely  : 
Sing  ye  [thus]  unto  her. 

Ill  that  day,  when  the  judgments  shall  be  accom- 
plished, which  God  denounces  in  the  last  two  verses 
of  the  preceding  chapter,  and  the  sword  shall  be 
drawn  against  Leviathan  ;  in  that  day  the  vineyard, 
the  church  of  God,  purged  at  last  of  the  weeds  of 
sin  and  heresy,  shall  be  lovely  in  the  eyes  of  her 
Maker.  The  song  that  follows  is  wonderfully  ob- 
scure. It  is  unquestionably  responsive.  But  I  can- 
not think  that  any  part  of  it  can  contain  a  com- 
plaint against  the  vineyard,  much  less  threatening : 
for  the  song  is  most  explicitly  referred  by  the  pro- 
phet to  the  times  when  all  hypocrisy  and  irreligion 
shall  be  abolished,  and  the  church  established  in 
perpetual  peace.     I  translate  the  whole  song  thus : 

JEHOVAH. 

3  I  Jehovah  am  her  keeper  -> 
livery  moment  I  water  her , 
Lest  aught  be  wanting  in  her, 
I  keep  her  day  and  night. 

VINEYARD. 

4  I  have  no  martial  spirit. 

Who  will  make  me  brier  and  bramble  for  the  war; 


246  ISAIAH, 

JEHOVAH. 

I  will  march  forth  in  her  cause, 
I  will  set  her  in  a  perfect  flame. 

5  Where  is  he  that  would  take  hold  of  my  protec- 

tion, 
That  would  make  peace  with  me  ?  Peace  he  shall 
make  with  me. 

6  Those  that  come  Jacob  shall  cause  to  take  root, 
Israel  shall  put  forth  blossoms  and  buds, 

And  fill  the  face  of  the  world  with  fruit. 

— "  Lest  aught  be  wanting  in  her" —  To  the 
same  effect  Houbigant ;  — "  ne  quid  in  ea  desidera- 
retur ;"  though  he  mentions  the  reading  of  the  Sy- 
riac  as  deserving  attention, 

— "  in  her  cause" —    fD,  propter  earn. 

— "  I  will  set  her  in  a  perfect  flame  j"  namely, 
to  consume  her  enemies.  The  image  of  the  brier 
and  bramble  is  pursued.  The  vineyard  wishes  she 
were  brier  and  bramble  to  annoy  the  foe.  Jehovah 
says  he  will  go  out  to  the  battle  for  her,  and  make 
her  blazing  brambles  to  consume  the  enemy.  Com- 
pare Obad.  18  -,  and  Zech.  ii,  5;  xii,  6. 

— "  Where  is  he"—  For  %  I  would  read  W. 
Or,  without  altering  the  reading,  render 


ISAIAH.  M9 

Would  [any  one]  take  hold  of  my  protection? 
Would  [any  one]  make  peace  with  me? 

— "  Peace  he  shall  make  with  me."  Those  that 
submit,  and  seek  my  peace,  shall  obtain  it. 

— *  Those  that  come" —  All  such  that  come, 
Jacob  shall  receive  and  plant  them  in  the  holy  soil. 
With  this  6th  verse  the  sorlg  ends.  The  prophet 
meditating  on  the  matter  of  the  song,  particularly 
the  gracious  promise  in  which  it  ends,  reflects  on 
the  mercy  that  was  constantly  displayed  amidst  the 
severest  judgments  on  the  Jewish  people :  and  he- 
closes  the  subject,  continued  from  the  beginning  oi 
the  twenty-fourth  chapter,  with  promises  of  final 
mercy,  interspersed  with  threats  of  previous  punish- 
ment. 

Verse  7.  "  Hath  he  indeed  smitten  him,  accord- 
ing to  the  smiting  of  him  that  was  smitten  by  him?' 
f.  e.  Hath  God  smitten  Israel  according  to  the  smit. 
ing  of  him  who  was  smitten  by  Israel  ?     Or,  Hath 
he  [God]  slain  him  [Israel]  according  to  the  slaugh- 
ter of  those  who  have  been  slain  by  him  ["Israel]  ? 

The  prophet  asks,  whether  amidst  all  the  seveiitj 
of  God's  judgments  the  sufferings  of  the   Israelii 
have  ever  been  equal  to  the  atrocity  of  their  guih 
The  guilt  particularly  meant  seems  to  be  the  mm 

q  * 


e* 


24*  ISAIAH. 

ther  of  our  Lord  and  the  persecutions  of  the  first 

Christians. 

"  Locus  iste  dupliciter  intelligitur.  Aut  contra 
Hierusalem,  ut  dicat  earn  non  a  Deo  esse  percus- 
sam,  ut  ipsa  percussit  Christum  et  apostolos  ejus: 
aut  contra  gentium  multitudinem,  quod,  illis  per- 
sequentibus  et  effundentibus  sanguinem  Christianam, 
apostoli  et  apostolici  viri  nihilominus  salutis  eorum 
curam  habuerint,  et  reconciliaverint  eos  Deo."  Hie- 
ron.  in  locum.  The  first  of  these  two  is  certainly 
the  better  interpretation. 

Verse  8.   "  In  measure,"  &c. " 
Measure  for  measure,  when  she  is  cast  out,  thou  wilt  punish 

her; 
He  meditateth  in  his  spirit  a  severe  thing  [or,  severity]  in 
the  day  of  the  eastern  blast. 

— "  the  eastern  blast."  Dwelling  on  the  image 
of  the  vineyard,  the  prophet  describes  the  punish- 
ment  of  the  outcast  dispersed  Jews  under  the  image 
of  noxious  winds. 

Verse  9.  "  By  this,"  &c. 
Yet  with  all  this,  the  iniquity  of  Jacob  shall  be  expiated, 
And  this  is  the  whole  fruit,  the  removal  of  his  sin. 
When  he  maketh  all  the  stones  of  the  altar  as  fine  dust, 
The  groves  and  the  images,  being  broken  to  pieces,  shall  rise 
no  more. 


ISAIAH.  Mi 

— "  this  is  the  whole  fruit*' —  The  end  and  pur- 
pose  and  the  effect  of  all  (iod's  judgments  will  be 
the  recovery  of  his  people  from  their  sin. 

— "  When  he  maketh,"  &c.  At  the  same  time 
that  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  anil  its  altar  are  demo- 
lished, idolatry  with  that  very  event  shall  receive  its 
mortal  wound. 

Verse  10.  — "  the  branches  thereof;"  u  e.  of  the 
vine;  for  that  image  is  now  resumed. 

Verse  11.  "  When  the  boughs  thereof  are  wither- 
ed, they  shall  be  broken  ofll"  The  unbelieving 
Jews  deriving  no  spiritual  nourishment  from  the 
holy  doctrine  committed  to  them,  making  no  advan- 
tage of  the  means  of  grace,  which  for  so  many  ages 
their  nation  had  exclusively  enjoyed,  are  the  wither- 
ed branches  of  the  viue  to  be  broken  off*.  St  Paul 
describes  the  rejection  of  the  Jewish  nation  under 
the  image  of  a  breaking  off  of  branches ;  Rom.  xi, 
17,  19,  20. 

But  who  are  the  women  of  the  next  clause  ? 

Verse  12.  — "  shall  beat  off;"  — «  shall  make  a 
gathering  of  his  fruit,"  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  1:3.  — "  the  great  trumpet  shall  be  blown." 
— u  Tuba  autcm  magna  potest  intelhgi  sermo  evan- 
gelicus."     Hieron.  ad  locum, 


250  ISAIAH. 

CHAP.  XXVIII. 

1  Wo  to  the  proud  crown  of  the  drunkards  of  Ephraifn, 

And  the  flower  fading  in  the  height  of  its  beauty,* 

Which  [grows]  at  the  head  of  the  valley  of  the 
pampered  ones,t 

Stupified  with  wine. 

— "  the  proud  crown,"  Samaria.  See  Bish.  Lowth. 

— M  the  flower  fading  in  the  height  of  its  beauty," 
the  Israelitic  monarchy. 

— "  the  head  of  the  valley,"  allusion  to  the  situa- 
tion of  the  town  of  Samaria,  the  seat  of  the  Israelitic 
kings.     See  Vitringa  and  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  2.  For  Wtik,  we  have  the  authority  of 
many  of  the  best  MSS.  to  read  fiVT»  ;  and  without 
any  other  emendation,  the  verse  as  it  stands  might 
perhaps  be  rendered  thus : 


*  — — xv6o$  e*Tgc-d»  \x  rrtg  3«|jj$  uvtcv,     LXX. 
f  Or  thus, 
Wo  to  the  crown  of  pride  of  the  drunkards  of  Ephraim, 
And  to  the  fading  flower,  the  beauty  of  his  splendid  form. 
That  is,  of  Ephraim's  splendid  form.    in*»N£>n.    I  think  the  word 
mNsn   literally  expresses   the   brilliant  appearance  of  natural" 
beauty  set  off  with  the  richest  ornaments  of  dress. 


ISAIAH. 

Behold  might  and  strength  [belong]  to  Jehovah, 
Like  the  hail-storm,  the  destructive  solstitial  tempest,* 
Like  a  flood  of  rapid  waters  overflowing ; 
Heavily-he-resteth  upon  the  land  with  his  hand. 
— "  might  and   strength" —   that   is,    irresistible 
strength.    The  power  of  God  is  as  irresistible  as  the 
strongest  physical  force.     Observe  that  pin  occurs 
as  a  substantive  in  Haggai  ii,  22,  and  VQK  as  a  sub- 
stantive in  Job  xvii,  9 ;  and  in  these  texts  they  are 
substantives  denoting  the  quality,  not  the  person  so 
qualified. 

According  to  this  interpretation,  the  word  rwfi  is 
the  third  person  singular  of  the  Hiphil  preterite, 
from  the  root  na\  Its  subject  is  Win  understood,  re- 
hearsing wp. 

4  And  the  flower  fading  in  the  height  of  its  beauty,! 
Which  [is  growing]  at  the  head  of  the  valley  of 

the  pampered  ones, 

Shall  be  as  the  early  fruit,  &c. 

— "  while  it  is  yet  in  his  hand."     — <c  Solebant 

enim  alias  ficus  saepe  seponi  ut  arefierent,  et  sepositsr 

majorem  etiam  maturitatem  ac  dulciorem  acquirerent. 

— Sed  cupiditas  novi  fructus  hie  supponitur  tanta 

*  See  nt3p  in  notes  upon  Hosea. 

f  Or,  And  the  fading  flower,  the  beauty  of  his  splendid  form 

1 


2*g  ISAIAH. 

esse,  ut  ab  usu  ejus  non  temperet  ille  in  cujus  ve- 
nerit  potestatem.  Solent  ssepe  reges  et  principes 
urbes,  a  se  bello  expugnatas,  servare  ac  reliquas  fa- 
cere,  saltern  per  aliquod  tempus,  in  usum  simm.  Sed 
Assyrii  regis  Salmanassaris  in  Samariam  a  se  expug- 
nandum  is  esset  affectus,  ut  earn,  instar  fructus 
prsecocis  carptam,  simul  ac  in  potestatem  ejus  veni- 
ret,  deglutiret ;  h.  e.  everteret  et  plane  deleret,  ut 
absumpta  dispareret.  Quod  idem  latum  esset  Hie- 
rosolymae  jussu  Nebuchadnezzaris  plane  perdenda?, 
et  incendio  absumendae  cum  ipso  templo."  Vitringa 
ad  locum,  vol.  ii,  p.  105,  c.  1. 

Verse  6.  — u  that  turn  the  battle  to  the  gate  ;*• 
rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  that  repel  the  war  to 
the  gate  [of  the  enemy]."  — "  retundere,  retro- 
agere  bellum  ad  portum,  sc.  hostium  unde  facta  fue- 
rat  invasio.,,   Vitringa  from  Cocceius.     — "  Hie  re- 

spicitur  ad  Maccabaeos quorum  [Judaeorum]  vires 

tantae  fuere,  ut  post  hunc  [Antiochum  Sidetem] 
nullum  Macedonum  regem  tulerint,  domesticisque 
imperils  usi,  Syriam  magnis  bellis  infestaverint.  " 
Justin,  lib.  xxxvi,  c.  1.  I  cannot  think  however 
that  this  prophecy  has  any  reference  to  the  Macca- 
bees. The  first  four  verses  of  this  chapter  threaten 
the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  The  5th 
3 


ISAIAH. 

and  Gth  predict  God's  merciful  protection  of  the 
kingdom  of  Judali  for  some  time  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  other;  for  the  surviving  kingdom  of  Ju- 
dali I  take  to  he  the  "  residue  of  his  people,"  in  the 
5th  verse.  The  sequel  of  the  chapter  denounces  the 
subsequent  overthrow  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  it- 
self, because  they  also  have  erred  through  wine,  &c. 
verse  7. 

Verses  9,  10.   "  Whom  shall  lie  teach there  a 

little."  St  Jerome  and  Bishop  Lowth  think  that  the 
scoffers  mentioned  below,  verse  14,  are  here  intro- 
duced as  deriding  God's  manner  of  instructing 
them.  But  I  conceive  that  the  prophet  speaks  in 
his  own  person.     First,  he  asks, 

Whom  can  Ire  teach  knowledge, 

And  whom  can  he  make  to  understand  what  is  delivered? 

That  is,  who  can  be  found  among  this  thoughtless, 

intoxicated  people,  intoxicated  with  libertinism,  and 

leaning  on  their  own  understanding,   who  can  be 

found  among  them  disposed  to  profit  by  the  divine 

instruction.   The  prophet  answers  his  own  question  : 

Such  as  are  just  weaned  from  the  milk,  kept  back  from  the 

breast : 
For  precept  must  be  upon  precept. 

il  "Whosoever  will  not  receive  the  kingdom  of  God 
as  a  little  child,  he  shall  in  nowise  enter  t herein. n 


254  ISAIAH. 

1 1  Verily  by  speakers  of  a  strange  language  and 

in  a  foreign  tongue, 
He  will  speak  unto  this  people. 
— u  speakers  of  a  strange  language."     ftSttf  ^y?, 
*  ridiculous  of  lip/  seems  to  be  a  periphrasis  for 
such  as  spoke  either  a  strange  or  a  broken  language. 

12  Inasmuch  as  he  hath  said  unto  them, 

■  This  is  the  place  of  rest,  let  the  weary  enjoy  it, 
f  And  this  is  tranquillity/  but  they  would  not 
hear ; 

13  Although  the  word  of  Jehovah  was  unto  them, 
Precept  upon  precept,  precept  upon  precept, 
Line  upon  line,  line  upon  line ; 

A  little  here,  and  a  little  there, 

Therefore  they  have  repeatedly  fallen  back- 
ward, 

And  shall  be  broken,  and  snared,  and  taken. 
Thus  the  passage  may  be  rendered  as  it  stands. 
The  llth  verse,  as  it  lies  in  the  context,  seems  only 
to  signify  that  the  senseless  Jews  had  no  more  un- 
derstanding of  the  Divine  word  than  if  it  had  been 
uttered  in  a  foreign  language.  St  Paul  however 
cites  it  (1  Cor.  xiv,  21)  as  containing  at  least  a  pro- 
phetic allusion  to  the  miraculous  gift  of  tongues : 
and  upon  the  authority  of  his  quotation,  it  should 


ISAIAH. 


-o.> 


seem  that  for  'Wi  we  should  read  WW;  and  that 
the  words  JJW  IfOM  tfSl,  or  rather  jncttf  "ON  »Sif 
(for  *OK  is  the  reading  of  innumerable  MSSL),  should 
be  removed  from  the  end  of  the  12th  verse,  where 
they  now  stand,  to  the  11th,  with  the  addition  of 
W&  OKJ.     Thus, 

mnK  ptySsi  nay  «i:ySa  «o 

i  mm  okj  jnotp  *ok  kSi 

With  this  alteration,  the  whole  passage  will  run  thus ; 

1 1  Verily  by  speakers  of  si  strange  language,  and  in  a  foreign 

tongue, 
I  will  speak  unto  this  people ; 
But  they  will  not  hear,  saith  Jehovah : 

12  Although  he  said  unto  them, 

1  This  is  the  place  of  rest,  leave  the  weary  to  enjoy  it,  aiut 
here  is  tranquillity ;' 

13  Although  the  word  of  Jehovah  was  unto  them 
Precept  upon  precept,  precept  upon  precept, 
Line  upon  line,  line  upon  line, 

A  little  here  and  a  little  there:  [although  the  word  of  the 
Lord  was  thus  explicitly  delivered,  still  they  would  not 
hear]  ; 

Therefore  they  have  repeatedly,  Ac. 

— "  leave  the  weary  to  enjoy  it."     I  refer  the  im- 
perative vnjn  to  the  root  na\ 


256  ISAIAH. 

Verse  15.  — "  the  overflowing  scourge;55  literally, 
"  the  scourge  of  overflowing;"  u  e.  the  plague  of  a 
flood. 

Verse  16.  — "make  haste."  — "be  confounded." 
See  Rom.  ix,  32,  and  1  Pet.  ii,  6.  t&W ;  Arabice 
erubescere.  Vide  Pococke  apud  Vitringam  ad  hunc 
locum.  On  this  passage  see  the  Layman.  From  the 
version  of  the  LXX,  confirmed  by  the  citations  of 
St  Paul  and  St  Peter,  the  true  reading  seems  to  be 

Verse  17.  *c  Judgment  also,"  &c. 

And  I  will  appoint  judgment  for  the  rule. 

And  justice  for  the  plummet; 

And  the  hail,  &c. 
— "  and  the  hail" —  or,  "  then  shall  the  hail" — 
Verse  19.  "  From  the  time,"  &c.     Rather  thus, 

As  oft  as  it  comes  over,  it  shall  overtake  you ; 

Verily  every  morning  it  shall  come  over, 

By  day  and  by  night. 

And  so  it  will  be,  dispersion  only  will  make  what  is  delivered 
to  be  understood. 

The  prophet  describes  the  successive  calamities, 
particularly  I  think  the  repeated  incursions  of  the 
Babylonians  upon  the  surviving  monarchy  of  Judah, 
after  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes,  that  should  from 
time  to  time,  at  certain  seasons  marked  by  the  pro- 


ISAIAH.  257 

phets,  overtake  the  rebellious  Jews,  under  the  image 
of  a  flood  or  tide  returning  periodically,  and  making 
new  havoc  every  time. 

— "  dispersion" —  riyv,  «  violent  removal.'  The 
word  is  often  used  to  signify  the  dispersion  of  the 
Jewish  people.  See  Deut.  xxviii,  25 ;  2  Chron. 
xxix,  8  ;  and  Jeremiah  passim.  It  seems  indeed  the 
specific  word  for  that  judgment.  In  Deut.  xxviii, 
25,  it  is  rendered  by  the  LXX  by  the  word  foutTirotu. 

— "  what  is  delivered" —  njnctP;  literally,  "  what 
is  heard.''  This  is  a  general  word  for  the  whole 
matter  of  Divine  revelation,  consisting  of  doctrine, 
precept,  prophetic  warning,  promises,  and  threaten- 
ings.  Vide  supra,  v.  9.  The  prophet  says  that  no- 
thing short  of  their  final  dispersion  will  bring  the 
Jews  to  a  due  attention  to  the  Divine  word,  and  a 
right  understanding  of  it. 

I  have  sometimes  thought  that  the  words  pi  Wll, 
in  the  last  line  of  this  verse,  should  close  the  preced- 
ing line,  and  make  part  of  the  description  of  the 
havoc  of  the  flood.  For  if  a  comma  only  be  placed 
at  n^3,  and  a  full  stop  at  p*\  thus, 

?pn  ram  fhhs\  oro 

i  njPDtp  pan  np? 

the  whole  might  be  thus  rendered  ^ 

VOL.  II.  R 


258  ISAIAH. 

As  often  as  it  comes  over  it  shall  overtake  you ; 
Verily  every  morning  it  shall  come  over, 
By  day,  and  by  night,  and  there  shall  be  emptiness.* 
Dispersion  will  make  what  is  delivered  to  be  understood. 

Verse  20.  "  For*—  rather,  «  Truly"— 
Verse  22.   — "  be  made  strong ;M   rather,  u  be 
tightened,"  or  "  made  fast." 

25  Surely  it  ist  for  sowing  that  the  husbandman 

ploughs  every  day, 
That  he  opens  and  harrows  his  ground. 
When  he  hath  laid  smooth  its  surface, 
Scatters  he  not  the  fitches  and  casteth  abroad 

the  cummin  ? 
And  soweth  the  wheat  regularly, 
And  the  barley  and  the  rye  hath  its  appointed 

limit  ?  t 

26  For  his  God  instructeth  him  in- the -rules -of 

[his]  art, 

27  And  teacheth  him  that  the  fitches  are  not  to 

be  beaten  out  with  the  corn-drag, 
Nor  is  the  wheel  of  his  wain  to  be  turned  upon 
the  cummin. 


*  That  is,  perfect  devastation.  Every  thing  shall  be  swept  away, 
f  Or,  "  Is  it  not"—     See  Noldius,  rr,  2.  not.  1063—1066. 
f  See  Bishop  Stock. 


ISAIAH. 

But  the  fitches  are  to  be  beaten  out  with  the 

staff, 
And  the  cummin  with  the  flail :  the  bread-corn 

must  be  threshed. 
28  But  not  for  ever  must  the  threshing  instrument 

thresh  it, 
Nor  the  wheel  of  his  wain  break  it  to  pieces, 
Nor  must  his  riders  beat  it  to  powder. 

CHAP.  XXIX. 

This  chapter  is  closely  connected  with  the  last. 
The  conclusion  of  the  last  chapter  declares  general- 
ly that  the  whole  train  of  God's  dealings  with  the 
Jews  tends  to  a  certain  end,  which  must  be  brought 
about.  This  chapter  declares  what  that  catastrophe 
will  be :  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Ro- 
mans ;  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles ;  the  peace  of 
the  church ;  and  the  final  conversion  of  the  Jews. 
The  whole  chapter  has  so  little  to  do  with  Senna- 
cherib's invasion,  that  I  am  persuaded  it  is  merely 
accidental  if  any  expressions  occur  which  seem  to 
carry  an  allusion  to  that  event. 

Verse  1.  — "  where  David  dwelt."  — "  which  Da- 
vid besieged,"  LXX,  Vulgate,  Houbigant,  Bishop 
Lowth.     See  Ps.  liii,  6. 

r  2 


260  ISAIAH. 

— "  let  them  kill  sacrifices."  — "  let  the  feasts  go 
round  in  their  course,"  Bishop  Lowth  and  Houbi- 
gant. 

Verse  2.  — "  I  will  distress"—  Wp^JTi.  Read, 
with  many  MSS.  *t\ym\  •  "  I  will  distress  Ariel." 
Houbigant  thinks  that  Ariel  was  the  antient  name 
of  the  town  when  David  took  it  from  the  Jebusites. 
This  conjecture  gives  great  spirit  to  the  menace  in 
the  latter  part  of  this  verse  :  — "  it  shall  be  unto  me 
as  Ariel;"  as  a  city  of  heathens  and  aliens.  By  the 
rejection  of  our  Lord  the  Jews  became  (for  a  time) 
aliens,  and  are  treated  as  such. 

Verse  3.  "  And  I  will  camp  against  thee  round 
about"—  For  *VH5,  read,  with  the  LXX,  two  MSS, 
Bishop  Lowth,  and  Houbigant,  TH5 ;  "  I  will  en- 
camp against  thee  like  David."  This  verse  clearly 
sets  aside  the  application  of  this  prophecy  to  Senna- 
cherib, for  he  never  besieged  Jerusalem.  See  Isaiah 
xxxvii,  33. 

— "  and  will  lay  siege  against  thee  with  a  mount;" 
rather,  "  and  I  will  form  a  blockade  around  thee." 
See  Parkhurst,  2¥i ;  and  St  Luke  xxi,  20. 

Verse  5.  — "  of  thy  strangers"—  St  Jerome  un- 
derstands this  verse  of  the  besieging  army,  and  says 
that  the  small  dust  and  chaff  represent  its  numbers, 


ISAIAH.  *26l 

not  its  weakness.  But  tor  T"V,  the  LXX  read  T"i\ 
or  OH1*  'thy  proud  ones,'  or  c  the  proud.'  One 
of  Kennicott's  MSS.  gives  TH*.  And  with  this  emen- 
dation, the  text  might  be  understood  of  the  Jews, 
and  describe  their  weakness,  of  which  small  dust 
and  chaff  driven  by  the  wind  are  natural  and  script- 
ural images.  But  without  any  alteration,  the  text 
may  be  understood  of  the  Jews  considered  as  apos- 
tates and  aliens,  or  outcasts,  at  the  time  when  these 
threatenings  should  take  effect.  a  The  multitude  of 
thy  outcast  race,  O  Ariel,  shall  be  like  pounded 
dust,"  &c. 

— "  terrible  ones" —  E3W1JJ .  the  leaders  of  the 
lawless  bands  of  Sicarii  and  Zelotae  which  infested 
Judea  during  the  war  and  for  some  time  before. 

— "  it  shall  be  at  an  instant  suddenly."  — "  id 
designat  Titum,  qui,  iEgypto  veniens  cum  legioni- 
bus  duabus,  coegit  Caesareae  copias  Judaeosque  im- 
paratos  oppressit."  Houbigant.  But  I  rather  think 
these  words  should  form  the  beginning  of  the  fol- 
lowing verse,  and  that  this  should  end  with  the 
word  "  away"  in  the  English,  in  the  Hebrew  witli 

Verse  8.  "  Ha?c  similitudo  miririce  pingit  Roma- 

9 


262  ISAIAH. 

nos  pugnaciter  obsidentes  urbem,  et  pudore  acceptae 
cladis  factos  ferociores."     Houbigant. 

— "  his  soul  hath  appetite  ;"  — "  his  soul  is  all 
impatience." 

Verse  9.  "  Stay  yourselves  and  wonder,  cry  ye 
out,  and  cry." 

"  They  are  struck  with  amazement  and  stand  astonished, 
They  stare  with  a  look  of  stupid  surprise." 

Bishop  Lowth, 

— "  they  are  drunken,  but  not  with  wine,"  &c. 
— "  Tales  erant  Judaei,  qui  antequam  Titus  veniret, 
et  urbe  jam  obsessa,  sic  se  gerebant,  ut  homines 
ebrii  aut  mente  capti,  conspiratis  factionum  partibus5 
sine  certo  duce  ac  sine  consilio,  sine  sapientibus, 
sine  prophetis,  et  aliis  alios  mutua  casde  interficien- 
tibus.  Longe  dissimiles  fuerant  Judaei,  cum  Senna- 
cherib eis  minabatur."    Houbigant. 

Verse  10.  — "  and  hath  closed  your  eyes;  the 
prophets  and  your  rulers,  the  seers  hath  he  covered;" 
— "  and  hath  closed  your  eyes,  the  prophets ;  and 
your  heads,  the  seers,  hath  he  covered."  This  is 
not  applicable  to  the  times  of  Hezekiah,  when  Isaiah 
himself  prophesied,  and  was  in  high  credit  with  the 
king  and  the  people. 

Verse  13.  — "  and  their  fear  towards  me  is  taught 


ISAIAH. 

by  the  precept  of  men."     For  Vim,  Bishop  Lowth 
reads  1W>;  and  for  HlD^,  he  reads  OHD^. 
w  And  vain  is  their  fear  of  me, 
Teaching  the  commandments  of  men." 

The  emendation  is  supposed  to  have  the  authority 
of  the  LXX,  Mat.  xv,  9,  and  Mark  vii,  7.  It  is  dis- 
approved however  by  Vitringa,  who  says,  "  est  in- 
solens  et  incommoda  constructio  OHIH*  VW,  pro 
QnNT  WW  The  passage,  as  it  stands,  gives  the 
same  sense,  and  is  well  rendered  by  Castalio ;  "  est- 
que  ejus  erga  me  religio  humana?  doctrinae  disci- 
plina :"  and  by  Houbigant ;  "  timorque  eorum  meus 
hue  redit,  ut  praecepta  hominum  discant."  — "  Sed 
non  tales  fuerunt,  Ezechia  regnante  Juda?i.  Nam 
eos  pius  rex  instituerat  ad  legem  Dei  observandam, 
non  ad  praecepta  hominum  Dei  legi  antcferenda." 
Houbigant. 

14?  Therefore  behold  I  will  make  more  wonderful 
This  wonderful  people ; 
And  the  wonder  shall  be,  that  I  will  destroy  the  wisdom  ot 

its  wise  men, 
And  the  understanding  of  its  understanding  men  shall  hide 

itself. 

To  the  same  effect  Houbigant.  The  accomplishment 
of  man's  redemption  was  a  display  of  Divine  V\ [if. 

H    * 


264.  ISAIAH. 

dom,  which  put  all  human  wisdom  to  the  blush. 
But  this  prophecy  has  received  a  most  literal  accom- 
plishment in  the  extinction  of  all  learning  and  ability 
among  the  Jews  from  the  time  of  our  Saviour.  For 
though  some  few  men  of  considerable  parts  have  ap- 
peared among  them,  what  ideots  in  letters,  sacred 
and  profane,  are  the  rabbins  whom  they  chiefly 
follow ! 

Verse  16.  The  beginning  of  this  verse  is  very  ob- 
scure, and  the  first  word  probably  corrupt.  Castalio, 
whom  Bishop  Lowth  follows,  has  made  the  best  of 
it :  — "  O  vos  perversos !  scilicet  idem  de  figulo  pu- 
tetur  quod  decreta,  ut  neget  opus  se  ab  auctore  suo 
factum,  aut  figmentum  appellet  fictorem  suum  im- 
peritum." 

Upon  second  thoughts,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
there  is  no  error  in  the  first  word.  It  makes  a  sen- 
tence by  itself.  "  It  is  yours  to  invert  the  order  of 
things."      — "  Invertere  vestrum  [est].     Invertitis 

naturas  rerum. Invertitis  ipsas  rerum  essentias, 

earumque  inter  se  relationis ;  vos  Deo,  Deum  vobis 
supponentes."     See  Vitringa  on  the  passage. 

Verse  20.  — "the  terrible  one;"  "  the  persecutor." 

— "  all  that  watch  for  iniquity;"  — M  all  that  are 
active  in  iniquity,"    — "  et  excisi  sunt  omnes  rig*"- 


ISAIAH. 

lands  ad  iniquitatem."  — "  qualcs  illi  fucrunt  pii- 
marii  sacerdotes,  et  scriba?,  et  scniorcs  populi,  quo- 
rum principes  erant  Annas  et  Caiphas,  qui  simul 
consultarunt,  ut  Jesum  dolo  prchenderent,  et  intcri- 
merent ;  et  qui  dein  nocte  ipsa  et  summo  mane 
(jr^ojiag  yevope^g)  fuerunt  congregati  ad  ilium  con- 
demnandum,  et  Pilato  tradendum  ad  supplicium 
crucis  'y  idque  executi  sunt."  Vitringa  ad  locum, 
vol.  ii,  p.  155,  c.  2. 

Verse  21.  A  very  exact  description  of  the  treat- 
ment our  Lord  received ^rom  the  Jews. 

— "  and  turn  aside  the  Just  for  a  thing  of  nought;" 
— u  and  wronged  the  Just  One  by  a  groundless  lie." 
Our  Lord  was  condemned  upon  a  false  accusation, 
and  upon  false  evidence. 

23  Not  as  yet  shall  Jacob  be  ashamed, 

Nor  as  yet  shall  his  countenance  wax  pale.) 

When  in  his  sight  his  children,  the  work  of  my  hands, 

In  the  midst  of  him 

Shall  sanctify  my  Name, 

And  sanctify  the  Holy  One  of  Jacob, 

And  make  the  God  of  Israel  the  object  of  their  dread; 

24  Then  shall  they  who  erred  in  spirit  come  to  understanding, 
And  the  murmuring  race  shall  learn  the  revealed-doctrine. 

— "  his  children,  the  work  of  my  hands  j"  not  his 


266  ISAIAH. 

children  after  the  flesh,  but  the  adopted  Israel, 
God's  workmanship,  the  Gentile  converts,  created 
in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works. 

— "  in  the  midst  of  him  ;"  received  promicuously 
with  the  believers  of  the  Hebrew  nation  into  the 
body  of  the  church.  The  example  of  their  piety 
shall  at  least  touch  the  heart  of  the  Jewish  race. 
Then  shall  Jacob  take  shame  to  himself  for  his  for- 
mer folly,  and  his  countenance  shall  wax  pale  with 
horror  of  the  guilt  of  his  apostacy.  And  thus  at  last 
he  shall  be  brought  to  a  right  understanding,  and  to 
faith  in  the  gospel. 

CHAP.  XXX. 

The  preceding  chapter  contains  general  denun- 
ciations of  wrath  against  the  Jews,  with  a  particular 
respect  to  the  catastrophe  brought  about  by  the 
Roman  arms,  and  ends  with  a  prediction  of  the  call 
of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  final  conversion  of  the  Jew- 
ish nation.  In  this  chapter  the  prophet  warns  them 
of  the  guilt  they  would  incur  in  not  putting  an  im- 
plicit faith  in  God's  counsels  under  all  their  afflic- 
tion, and  in  particular  the  ruinous  consequences 
that  would  follow  from  their  alliance  with  the  Egyp- 
tians in  the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  invasion ;  and 


ISAIAH.  2C7 

it  ends  like  all  the  predictions  of  judgment  with  a 
promise  of  their  conversion  and  restoration  to  pro- 
sperity, and  with  denunciations  of  the  final  venge- 
ance to  be  executed  on  the  enemies  of  the  true  reli- 
gion. In  Hezekiah's  time  they  were  not  guilty  of 
the  crimes  with  which  this  prophecy  charges  them. 
Upon  the  alarm  of  Sennacherib's  incursion,  Heze- 
kiah's first  step  was  to  buy  him  off;  and  when  this 
failed,  his  resort  was  to  Isaiah.  It  does  not  appear 
from  the  history  that  he  sought  the  alliance  of  the 
Egyptians.  Rabshakeh,  it  is  true,  reproaches  him 
with  that  alliance ;  but  it  seems  to  be  merely  a  pre- 
tence, which  the  Assyrian  invented,  to  pick  a  quar- 
rel with  him  :  and  so  St  Jerome  thought.  — "  Con- 
si  deremus  ergo  verba  Ilabsacis ;  ac  primum  quod 
dicit,  *  confidis  super  baculum  arundinem  confrac- 
tum  istum,  super  ^Egyptum,'  falsum  est :  nulla  enim 
narrat  historia  quod  Ezechias  ad  ^Egyptios  miserit, 
et  Pharaonis  auxilium  postulant.' *  Hieron.  ad  Is. 
xxxvi,  6.  Nothing  therefore  in  this  prophecy  suits 
the  times  of  Hezekiah  and  Sennacherib,  whatever 
such  interpreters  as  Mr  White  may  imagine. 

Verse  1.  — "  that  cover  with  a  covering,  but  not 
of  my  spirit."  — "  who  ratify  covenants,  but  not  bv 
my  spirit."    Bishop  Lowth,  with  the  LXX.     The 

3 


268  ISAIAH. 

Bishop  thinks  that,  as  etfovfy  in  Greek,  so  H5DB  in 
Hebrew  may  signify  '  a  covenant.'  See  his  note. 
Nevertheless  the  public  translation  seems  to  be  right. 
It  is  a  common  image  in  all  languages  to  say  of  a 
man  that  relies  upon  particular  means  of  security, 
that  he  wraps  himself  up,  or  covers  himself;  and  the 
means  on  which  he  relies  are  called  his  covering. 
So  *  virtute  mea  me  involve*    And  2  Kings,  xvii,  9, 

xxsfth*  nw  hy  p  *h  new  bvch  Smeri  to  "warm 

<c  The  children  of  Israel  covered  themselves  with 
practices,  or  wrapt  themselves  up  in  practices  [^k»- 
<pie<roivro9  LXX]  which  were  not  right  towards  Jeho- 
vah their  God."  The  version  of  the  LXX  in  this 
place  (on  which  Bishop  Lowth  relies)  is  a  loose  pa- 
raphrase, which  exchanges  the  general  image,  for 
the  particular  instance  alleged  in  the  sequel. 

Verse  5.  For  C^*on,  read  V9ft»  without  the  Aleph. 
Eight  MSS,  Chaldee,  and  Vulgate. 

Verse  7.  — "  therefore  have  I  cried  concerning 
this,  their  strength  is  to  sit  still."  For  rDtP  on, 
read,  in  one  word,  nation.  "  Therefore  have  I  call- 
ed her  Rahab  the  Inactive."  Doederlein  and  Bishop 
Lowth. 

Verse  8.  — "  that  it  may  be  for  the  latter  day  for 
ever  and  ever ;"  rather,  "  for  a  testimony  for  ever." 


ISAIAH.  269 

Bishop  Low tli,  with  the  Syriac,  Chaldee,  Vulgate, 
and  LXX,  according  to  a  MS.  Pach,  and  an- 
other. This,  if  the  prophet  may  be  allowed  to  be 
his  own  expositor,  clearly  proves  that  this  prophecy 
had  no  relation  to  his  own  times. 

Verse  12.  — <c  and  trust  in  oppression  and  per- 
verseness."  For  pw}?3,  read,  with  Houbigant  and 
Bishop  Lowth,  BTfjJ ;  "  and  trust  in  a  perverse  and 
crooked  word," 

Verse  17.  — "  and  at  the  rebuke  of  five  shall  lie 
flee."  Between  Won  and  iwn  insert,  with  Bishop 
Lowth,  the  word  rDSI;  "  at  the  rebuke  of  five,  ten 
thousand  of  you  shall  flee." 

Verse  18.  u  For  this  reason  [on  account  of  your 
profane  neglect  of  him]  Jehovah  will  delay  to  shew 
you  favour" — 

— "  and  therefore  will  be  exalted  that  he  may 
have  mercy  upon  you."  For  DW,  read,  with  Hou- 
bigant and  Bishop  Lowth,  OT ;  "  and  for  this 
reason  he  will  be  inactive  [/.  e.  slow]  to  shew  you 
mercy." 

Verse  19.  "  For  the  people  shall  dwell" —  Bishop 
Lowth,  upon  the  authority  of  the  LXX,  reads 
C'vnp  ay.  This  makes  very  good  sense.  But  the 
passage  is  good  sense  as  it  stands,  without  any  alter- 


no  ISAIAH. 

ation.  "  Surely  notwithstanding  the  delay  of  mercy 
occasioned  by  your  sins,  the  people  shall* dwell  ia 
Sion  ;  in  Jerusalem  thou  shalt  weep  no  more." 

Verse  24.  — "  clean  provender."  — "  well  -  fer- 
mented maslin."    Bishop  Lowth.  Certainly  right. 

Verse  25.  — "  when  the  towers  fall."  — "  when 
the  mighty  fall."  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  27.  — "  and  the  burden  thereof  is  heavy ;" 
— <c  and  the  rising  flame  is  violent." 

Verse  28.  — "  to  sift  the  nations  with  the  sieve  of 
vanity ;  and  there  shall  he" —  For  ta^U  nsjrf'?,  read 
with  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth,  C3*W  *\Vn>. 

— "  to  toss  the  nations  with  the  van  of  perdition." 
Bishop  Lowth,  after  Kimchi.  But  after  all,  Park- 
hurst's  is  probably  the  true  interpretation :  — "  to 
stretch  [the  hand]  over  the  nations  with  a  stretch- 
ing of  destruction." 

Verse  29.  — "  as  when  one  goeth  with  a  pipe,"  &c. 
— "  Nimirum  traditio  est  ubi  primitise  ex  lege  solen- 
niter  deferendae  essent  Hierosolymam,  unius  tractus 
qui  erant  incolae  in  primariam  aliquam  ejus  regionis 
urbem  convenisse,  et  ne  polluerentur  plateis  per- 
noctasse  -y  primarium  vero  caetus  virum,  chori  duc- 
torem,  eos  excitando  his  fere  usum  verbis,  quae  ad 
hsec  nostra  proxime  accedunt :  '  Surgite,  ac  eamus 


ISAIAH.  271 

Tsionem,  ad  Dominum  Deum  nostrum.'  Processisse 
autem  hoc  ordine,  ut  ante  chorum  iret  taurus,  cor- 
nibus  auratis,  et  oleae  ramo  coronatus  :  turn  quoquc 
tibicen,  tibia  ludens.     Procedcntcs  autem,  et  Iliero- 
solymae   appropinquantes,    saepius   repetiis   e   verba 
poetae  sacri,  *  La?tus  eram,  cum  dicerent,  eamus  do- 
mum  Domini/     Inde  vero  a  populo  Hierosolymi 
tunc  faustis  acclamationibus,  et  a  sacerdotibus  ho- 
neste  esse  receptos,  primitiasque,  quas  in  vasis  aut 
corbibus  afferebant,  solen niter  Deo  consecrasse,  re- 
citata  confessione  secundum  formulam  a  Mose  pra?- 
scriptam."     Vitringa  ad  locum,  vol.  ii,  p.  191,  c.  1. 
Verse  31.  — "  the  Assyrian" —   The  Assyrian  be- 
ing at  this  time  the  most  powerful  foe,  and  the  ter- 
ror of  God's  people,  stands  as  the  type  of  the  head 
of  the  irreligious  faction.     Such  was  the  opinion  of 
Vitringa,  notwithstanding  that  he  conceived  that  all 
the  latter  part  of  this  chapter,  from  the  27th  verse 
to  the  end,  had  its  first  and  proximate  completion 
in  the  judgment  executed  upon  Sennacherib.   After 
a  diffuse  exposition  of  the  prophecy,  as  applied  to 
that  object,  he  proceeds  thus  :  — u  Et  ha?c  quidem 
prima  et  literalis  est  expositio  hujus  pericopae;  sed 
qua}  altiora  et  sublimiora  involvit.  Primo  enim  vatcs 
respici  hie  vult  Assyrium  ut  typum  et  figuram  om- 


272  ISAIAH. 

mum  hostium  et  persecutorum  populi  Dei,  qui,  suis 
singuli  temporibus,  per  totum  tractum  saeculorum 
mundi,  a  Deo,  qualibuscunque  suis  judiciis  prostrati, 
delerentur  atque  exscinderentur,  usque  quae  c  Omnis 
iniquitas  os  suum  clauderet.'  Deinde  Ignem  in  terris 
a  Deo  accensum  (intellige  judicia  omnia  in  quibus 
est  manifestatio  irae  Dei  ex  coelo)  vult  spectari  ut 
figuram  ignis  infernalis,  quo  aeternum  cruciandi  sunt 
impenitentis  omnes  ecclesiae  persecutores,  qui  dici- 
tur  qrotpcHrpsvog  *  paratus  (phrasi  ex  hoc  loco  sumpta) 

diabolo  et  angelis  ejus.' Quicquid  igitur  Chal- 

dasi,  Syri,  Romani,- quicquid  Tartari,  Choresmini, 

Turci,  oppugnantes  ecclesiam,  hue  usque  singulari- 
bus  Dei  judiciis  et  casibus  experti  sunt-* — quicquid 
etiam  ad  consummationem  operis  Dei  hostes  ejus  in 
poster um  experientur,  se  in  hoc  speculo  conspicien- 
dum  or^ert.,,     Vitnnga,  vol.  ii,  p.  195,  c.  2. 

CHAP.  XXXI. 

Verse  5.  tc  As  birds  flying passing  over" —  See 

Bishop  Lowth's  learned  note  upon  this  passage. 

Verse  6.  "  Turn  ye  unto  him"-^-  I  think  the 
verb  12WJ  is  an  indicative,  and  not  an  imperative. 
The  prophet  foresees  God's  miraculous  interposition 
for  the  deliverance  and  defence  of  Jerusalem,  and 


ISAIAH. 

the  conversion  of  the  natural  Israel,  as  connected 
and  contemporaneous  events.  rt  The  children  of 
Israel  have  returned  unto  him,  from  whom  they  have 
so  deeply  revolted. " 

Verse  8.  "  Then  shall  the  Assyrian  fall" —  Then, 
that  is  in  the  day  of  the  general  renunciation  of  idol- 
atry. The  Assyrian  therefore  again  stands  as  the 
representative  of  some  powerful  head  of  the  irreligi- 
ous faction  in  the  latter  ages.  Sennacherib  cannot 
be  meant  otherwise  than  allusively.  See  an  elegant, 
but  perhaps  unnecessary  emendation  of  this  verso 
proposed  by  the  Layman. 

CHAP.  XXXII. 

Lowth  the  father,  introduces  his  notes  upon  this 
chapter  with  a  general  remark,  that  whoever  attends 
to  the  9th,  10th,  and  following  verses,  u  will  find 
that  they  relate  to  the  calamities  which  the  Assyrian 
invasion  brought  upon  Judea."  On  the  contrary,  I 
think,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  that  whoever  attends  to 
the  9th  and  10th  verses  as  they  stand  connected 
with  the  sequel,  will  see  clearly  that  the  threatened 
distress  u  belongs  to  other  times  than  that  of  Senna- 
cherib's invasion. "  The  threatened  calamities  were 
to  be  of  long  duration.  The  distress  of  Sennacherib\ 

VOL.  II.  8 


27*  ISAIAH. 

invasion  was  very  soon  over.  And  the  season,  fixed 
in  the  15th  verse,  for  the  termination  of  the  long 
afflictions  with  which  the  thoughtless  daughters  of 
pleasure  are  threatened,  is  no  other  than  the  season 
of  the  general  conversion  of  the  world  to  the  true 
religion,  and  the  general  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
In  short,  this  chapter  has  no  immediate  reference  to 
Sennacherib.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  so  dull 
a  man  as  Mr  White  should  not  be  able  to  discern 
the  scenes  of  distant  futurity  exhibited  in  the  pro- 
phet's figurative  strains.  But  it  is  amazing  that  the 
mere  name  of  the  Assyrian  should  have  misled  the 
far  greater  part  of  the  ablest  commentators  from  St 
Jerome  to  the  present  day.  For  though  few  are  so 
short-sighted  as  Mr  White,  to  discover  nothing  in 
these  prophecies  beyond  the  prophet's  own  times, 
yet  by  fixing  upon  Sennacherib  as  the  immediate 
object,  and  by  looking  for  the  immediate  and  proper 
completion  in  the  detail  and  the  final  issue  of  his 
incursion,  they  make  the  whole  incoherent,  perplex- 
ed, and  obscure;  which  is  exceedingly  consistent 
and  perspicuous  in  every  part,  when  Sennacherib  is 
set  out  of  the  question. 

This  chapter  is  closely  connected  with  the  former. 
The  first  eight  verses  describe  the  happy  state  of 


ISAIAH. 

mankind  when  tho  Assyrian  shall  be  overthrown; 
}.  e.  when  irreligion,  or  false  religion,  will  lose  the 
support  which  for  some  time  it  will  receive  from  the 
powers  of  the  world.  The  seven  verses  following 
describe  a  period  of  wrath  and  tribulation,  which 
shall  precede  that  happy  state ;  and  the  last  five 
verses  of  the  chapter  repeat  the  assurance  of  the 
final  prosperity  of  the  church. 

Verse  1.  "  Behold,  a  king" —  rather,  "  Behold, 
for  righteousness  kings  shall  reign,  and  for  equity 
shall  princes  rule."  The  prophet  promises  that,  after 
the  overthrow  of  the  Assyrian,  of  wicked  arbitrary 
power,  exercised  by  men  at  enmity  with  God  and 
Truth,  the  government  of  the  world  will  be  well  ad- 
ministered under  him  to  whom  the  title  of  King 
(xur  lloyjiv)  belongs,  and  the  power  of  subordinate 
princes  will  be  exercised,  not  for  the  purposes  of 
avarice  and  ambition,  but  for  the  advantage  of  the 
subject,  and  the  general  happiness  of  mankind. 

For  OHttf^,  I  would  read,  with  Bishop  Lowth 
and  the  antient  versions,  CHEPi.  The  Layman,  by 
a  king,  in  the  singular,  understands  Christ ;  by 
princes,  in  the  plural,  the  apostles;  in  which  I  am 
much  inclined  to  agree  with  him.  See  my  notes 
upon  the  word  l^D,  in  Hosea. 


276  ISAIAH. 

Verse  2.  "  And  a  man  shall  be" —  *  A  man,'  VPK 
Unusquisque,  u  e.  regum  et  principum  unusquisque, 
"  And  every  one  of  them  shall  be" —  or  rather, 
with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  the  man,"  i,  e.  the  king  men- 
tioned before,  i.  e,  Christ. 

Verse  3.  "  And  the  eyes  of  them  that  see  shall 
not  be  dim."  There  is  no  authority  for  the  sense 
of  being  dim  here  imposed  upon  the  verb  ftjW. 
Bishop  Lowth  therefore,  for  the  negative  $fr9  would 
read  ^,  which  was  Le  Clerc's  conjecture,  conceiv- 
ing that  the  suffixed  pronoun  1  rehearses  that  parti- 
cular king  who  is  the  subject  of  the  1st  verse. 
"  And  him  the  eyes  of  those,  that  see,  shall  regard." 

Bishop  Lowth. 

But  I  believe  no  emendation  is  necessary,  and  that 
Bishop  Stock  has  hit  upon  the  true  meaning  of  the 
word  in  this  place. 

Verse  4.  "  The  heart  also  of  the  rash" —  rather, 
"  of  the  well  instructed."  The  noun  "WO  signifies 
a  person  well  instructed  in  the  subject  he  handles, 
accomplished  in  the  art  he  exercises  \  a  person  en- 
dowed with  all  necessary  knowledge  and  ability. 
See  Psalm  xlv.  And  in  the  same  sense  I  take  the 
participle  Niphal  here. 

— "  shall  be  ready" —  "Hon  _ .«  habilis  reddetur 


ISAIAH.  J77 

ad  clare  loqucndum  \n  HW  TCW,  <c  quin  loqucrentur 
nitide,  diserte,  castigate,  elegauter,  ct,  qu;r  vera  vis 
est  vocis,  splendida  uterentur  oratione."  Vitringa 
ad  locum. 

Verses  5 — 8.  The  vile  person,  the  liberal,  the 
churl,  the  bountiful,  are  mystic  characters  of  the 
patrons  of  scepticism  and  atheism  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  champions  of  the  truth  on  the  other.  The 
sceptic  and  the  atheist  teach  a  foolish,  sordid,  mean 
doctrine,  which  perplexes  the  understanding,  and, 
contracting  the  views  of  the  human  soul,  lowers 
man  in  his  own  estimation  of  his  rank  in  the  crea- 
tion, debases  his  sentiments,  and  depresses  his 
powers.  The  preachers  of  religion  on  the  contrary, 
teach  a  noble,  generous  doctrine,  which  enlightens 
the  understanding,  and  exalting  the  hopes  of  the 
soul  ennobles  its  sentiments,  and  stimulates  the  ac» 
tivity  of  its  best  faculties. 

Verse  5.  "  The  vile  person" —  rather,  "  The  fool." 
And  so  Bishop  Lowth. 

The  foolish  preacher  of  infidelity  shall  no  longer 
have  the  praise  of  greatness  of  mind ;  nor  shall  the 
atheistic  churl,  who  envies  the  believer  his  hope 
u  full  of  immortality,"  be  held  in  esteem  as  a  patriot 
struggling  for  the  freedom  of  mankind  held  in  thial- 

s  3 


<J7S  ISAIAH. 

dom  by  superstitious  fears.  They  and  their  absurd 
impious  doctrine  shall  appear  to  the  world  in  the 
proper  light,  and  they  shall  be  held  in  general  con- 
tempt and  detestation. 

Verse  6.  — "  to  practise  hypocrisy,  and  to  utter 
error  against  the  Lord  jM  rather,  "  to  practise  pro- 
fligacy, and  utter  perverse  arguments  against  Jeho- 
vah." These  wretches  indeed  keep  empty  and  un- 
satisfied the  hungry,  and  deprive  the  thirsty  of  their 
drink,  beguiling  them  of  their  immortal  hopes,  or  at 
the  best  withdrawing  from  them  the  rich,  savoury 
viands  of  God's  word,  to  feed  them  with  the  coarse, 
lean,  meagre  fare  of  the  natural  religion. 

Verse  7.  — "  he  deviseth,  &c- — right."  — "  he 
deviseth  subtleties  to  ensnare  the  meek  with  speeches 
of  deceits  but  in  the  word  of  the  poor  man  there  is 
judgment.5'  The  subtleties  (JTO?,  see  Ps.  x,  4)  and 
speeches  of  deceit,  are  those  refined  theories  and 
sophisticated  arguments  by  which  atheism  and  in- 
iidelity  is  supported  j  which  being  uttered  to  the 
world  in  an  imposing  strain,  with  high  and  confident 
pretensions  to  learning  and  philosophical  penetra- 
tion, are  too  often  so  far  successful  as  in  some  de- 
gree to  perplex  and  disquiet  the  modest  and  unas- 
suming,  who  in  diffidence  of  themselves  pay  too 


ISAIAH.  878 

much  deference  to  the  proud  claims  of  others.  The 
word  of  the  poor  man  is  that  divine  doctrine  which 
is  the  rule  of  his  faith  and  of  his  practice.  In  this 
word  there  is  judgment,  truth,  and  wisdom. 

Verse  8.  It  is  a  happy  conjecture  of  Bishop 
Lowth's,  suggested  by  an  acute  remark  of  Arch- 
bishop Seeker's,  that  for  NVTi  in  this  verse,  we  ought 
to  read  }W\ 

Verse  9.  "  Vates  compellat  urbes  et  vicos  JudffiK 
sub  nomine  mystico  mulierum  tranquillarum,  tern- 
porum  statusque  sui  securitati  fidem  tuum."  Vitrin- 
ga  ad  locum. 

Verses  11,  12.  — "  upon  your  loins.  They  shall 
)  anient  for  the  teats."     Read, 

M  Upon  your  loins,  and  upon  your  breasts."     Bishop  Lowth. 
And  in  the  beginning  of  the  12th  verse,  for  D^SD, 
read,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  the  LXX,  and  Vulgate, 
tVDL 

Verse  15.  — "  and  the  wilderness  be  a  fruitful 
rield,  and  the  fruitful  field  be  counted  for  a  forest.' ' 
I  have  not  seen  this  mashal  any  where  so  well  ex- 
plained as  in  the  marginal  notes  in  Queen  Elizabeth's 
Bible  :  — "  The  field  which  is  now  fruitful  shall  be 
but  as  a  barren  forest  in  comparison  of  that  it  shall 

s  4 


280  ISAIAH. 

be  then,  as  chap,  xxix,  17,  which  shall  be  fulfilled 
in  Christ's  time.  For  then,  they  that  were  before  as 
the  barren  wilderness,  being  regenerate,  shall  be 
fruitful ;  and  they  that  had  some  beginning  of  god- 
liness shall  bring  forth  fruits  in  such  abundance, 
that  their  former  life  shall  seem  but  as  a  wilderness 
where  no  fruits  were.3' 

Verse  18.  e>nM»  nw»m.  Is  not  the  true 
reading  CWM  onWtpMn?  "and  secure  in  their 
own  dwellings." 

Verse  20.  "  Blessed  are  ye,"  &c.  This  last  verse 
is  excellently  interpreted  by  Castalio:  — "  Felices 
qui  evangelium  toto  publicatis  orbe,  ubicunque  est 
humor ,  id  est,  ubi  spes  est  fore  ut  crescat,  et  alatur, 
tanquam  humore  stirpes,  idque  facitis  immitentes 
bovis  asinique  pedem :  id  est  nullo  Judaeorum  aut 
exterorum  discrimine.  Adludit  enim  ad  Mosis 
prasceptum,  quo  vetat  arari  bove  et  asino,  hoc  est, 
si  praecepti  vim  penitius  consideres,  vetat  Judaeis 
commercium  esse  cum  reliquis  nationibus  tanquam 
cum  dispari  genere :  quemadmodum  Paul  us  prae- 
ceptum  illud  de  non  obturando  bovis  ore  triturantis, 
refert  ad  rem  diviniorem,  videlicet  ad  eorum  alimo. 
niam,  qui  docent  evangelium.  Igitur  illud  discrimen 
evangelio  sublatum  est:   felicesque  sunt  evangelii 


ISAIAH. 

magistri,  qui  omnes,  nullo,  neque  doccntium  nequc 
docendorum,  gcntis  discriminc  docent.,> 

St  Jerome  seems  to  have  taken  the  passage  in  the 
same  sense,  but  he  lias  not  explained  it  so  clearly. 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 

The  prophet  still  dwells  upon  the  general  subject 
of  the  final  overthrow  of  the  irreligious  faction  and 
the  prosperity  of  the  church.  But  the  images  in 
which  the  prediction  is  conveyed  in  this  chapter 
have  a  more  direct  allusion  to  Sennacherib  than  any 
yet  used. 

From  the  blessing  pronounced  upon  the  preachers 
of  the  gospel  at  the  end  of  the  preceding  chapter, 
the  discourse  passes  to  threatenings  against  their  ad- 
versaries. 

Verse  1.  "  Woe  to  thee  that  spoilest,"  &c.  This 
is  applicable  to  Sennacherib ;  but  it  is  equally  the 
character  of  all  persecutors  that  their  ill-usage  of 
God's  servants  is  unprovoked. 

— "  when  thou  shalt  cease  to  spoil,"  &c.  u  When 
thou  hast  finished  thy  spoiling,  thou  shalt  thyself  be 
spoiled ;  when  thou  hast  carried  thy  treachery  to  the 
height,  treachery  shall  be  practised  against  thee." 


2*2  ISAIAH. 

The  enemies  of  God  are  threatened  with  the  plague 
of  division  and  treachery  amongst  themselves.  Or 
perhaps  the  arch-enemy  is  threatened  with  a  spoil- 
ing  of  his  power,  and  a  defection  of  those  who  had 
long  been  attached  to  him,  and,  deceived  them- 
selves, had  been  the  tools  of  his  deceit. 

Verse  2.  — "  their  arm" —  For  E3JHJ,  read,  with 
the  Syriac,  Chaldee,  Vulgate,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  UJHf,  «  our  strength." 

Verse  3.  u  At  the  noise  of  thy  tumult" —  For 
}*MDn,  the  LXX  and  Syriac,  whom  Houbigant  and 
Bishop  Lowth  follow,  read  TEN ;  "  At  thy  terrible 
voice'' —    But  the  common  reading  seems  as  good. 

— a  the  people ;"  — "  the  peoples." 

The  3d,  4th,  5th,  6th  verses,  and  all  to  the  end  of 
the  9th,  is  spoken  by  the  prophet  to  the  people. 

4»  And  your  gathering  of  the  spoil  shall  be  like  the  caterpillar's 
gathering, 
And  the  seizing  upon  it  like  the  leap  of  the  locust. 

This  is  addressed  to  the  people  of  God.  Vitringa 
confesses  that  the  Hebrew  words  are  not  incapable 
of  this  interpretation. 

Verse  6.  At  the  end  of  this  verse,  for  tWiK,  read, 
with  Symmachus,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop  Lowth, 
-HSttK. 


iSAIAli. 

And  wisdom  and  knowledge  shall  be 

The  stability  of  thy  times,  the  seeurity  of  salvation. 

The  fear  of  Jehovah  that  shall  be  thy  treasure. 

Verse  7.  — "  without" —  For  FttH,  read,  with  the 
Syriac,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop  Lowth,  Wp,  "griev- 
ously." The  alteration  is  unnecessary.  — "  with- 
out"—  The  image  is,  the  leaders  of  an  enemy  with- 
out the  walls  summoning  the  town. 

Verses  11 — 13,  addressed  by  Jehovah  to  the  ene- 
mies of  his  people,  the  besiegers. 

Verse  14.  u  The  sinners  in  Zion,"  &c.  The  sin- 
ners in  Sion  are  the  wicked,  false  professors  of  the 
true  religion.  This  verse  describes  the  consternation 
that  shall  seize  such  persons  when  they  see  the  threat- 
ening^ of  judgments  upon  the  declared  enemies  of 
the  church  begin  to  take  effect. 

— <c  hypocrites  ;"  rather,  "  the  abandoned." 

The  following  verses  to  the  19th  inclusive,  de- 
scribe the  perfect  security  of  the  true  servants  of 
God,  while  his  judgments  are  raging  dreadfully 
against  the  apostate  faction. 

Verse  17.  "  Thine  eyes,"  &c.  Thine  eyes  shall 
see  the  King  Messiah  glorified  in  the  prosperity  of 
his  church  \  they  shall  see  the  promised  land  of  im- 
mortality afar  off;  they  shall  have  a  cheering  pro- 


284,  ISAIAH. 

spect  of  that  eternal  rest,  to  which  after  a  period  of 
peace  and  happiness  on  earth  in  the  latter  ages  the 
saints  shall  be  finally  translated. 

Verse  20.  — "  a  quiet  habitation."  Could  Jerusa- 
lem in  the  time  of  Hezekiah  be  called  "  the  quiet 
habitation,  the  tabernacle  not  to  be  shaken,  whose 
stakes  should  not  be  removed  for  ever,  of  whose 
cords  not  any  should  be  broken,"  when  it  was  to 
be  destroyed  first  by  the  Babylonians,  and  a  second 
time  by  the  Romans?  To  suppose  that  these  pro- 
mises had  their  accomplishment  in  the  deliverance 
of  the  city  from  Sennacherib,  and  the  prosperity  of 
the  remainder  of  Hezekiah's  reign,  is  to  suppose 
that  the  prophets  describe  things  comparatively 
small  under  the  greatest  images.  And  this  being 
once  granted,  what  assurance  have  we  that  the  mag- 
nificent promises  to  the  faithful  will  ever  take  effect 
in  the  extent  of  the  terms  in  which  they  are  con- 
veyed. The  language  of  prophecy  is  indeed  poeti- 
cal and  figurative ;  but  the  hyperbole  is  a  figure 
which  never  can  be  admitted  in  the  Divine  pro- 
mises ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  always  to  be  presumed 
that  more  is  meant  than  the  highest  figures  can  ex- 
press adequately. 


ISAIAH. 

21  But  there  Jehovah  shall  display  his  glory  to  us. 

[There]  is  our  place   upon  flowing   rivers,    and   spaeious 

valleys.* 
Thither  shall  come  no  vessel  of  war  with  oars,  f 
Neither  shall  gallant  ship  pass  by. 

Verse  24.  — "shall  be  forgiven  their  iniquity;" 
rather,  "  have  borne  their  iniquity $"  their  sufferings 
are  come  to  an  end. 

CHAP.  XXXIV. 

"  This  and  the  following  chapter  makes,"  says 
Bishop  Lowth,  *  one  distinct  prophecy,  consisting 
of  two  parts ;  a  denunciation  of  divine  vengeance 
against  the  enemies  of  the  people  or  church  of  God, 
and  a  description  of  the  flourishing  state  of  the 
church  of  God  consequent  upon  the  execution  of 
those  judgments."  In  the  preceding  prophecies  the 
Assyrian  has  been  the  representative  of  some  power- 
ful head  of  the  irreligious  faction  in  the  latter  days. 
In  this  prophecy  Idumea  and  Bozra  seem  to  be 


•  Or  thus, 
[There  is]  our  place  upon  rivers,  [and]  streams  wide  of  channel. 

\  Ships  of  war  among  the  antients  were  of  a  long  make,  and 
moved  by  oars  ;  merchantmen  were  broader,  and  carried  sail, 


286  ISAIAH. 

images  of  a  promiscuous  mass  of  people  in  the  in- 
terests of  infidelity  and  irreligion,  which  will  remain 
to  be  extirpated  after  the  overthrow  of  that  Assy- 
rian. 

Verse  2.  — "  he  hath  utterly  destroyed  them ;" 
rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  he  hath  devoted  them." 
The  original  expresses  that  they  are  under  the  ex- 
treme malediction  of  the  O^n.  In  the  next  clause, 
for  "  he  hath  delivered,"  "  he  hath  appointed." 

Verse  5.  "  For  my  sword" —  rather,  "  my  knife," 
the  knife  of  sacrifice.  "  Deus  enim  hie  non  com- 
paret  ut  bellator,  Idumaeos  gladio  persecuturus,  sed 
ut  eos,  instar  victimarum  caedi  destinatarum,  jugula- 
furus  et  mactaturus."     Vitringa  ad  locum. 

— <c  to  judgment;"  i.e.  to  execute  judgment. 

Verse  7.  — "  shall  come  down ;"  rather,  with 
Bishop  Lowth,  "  shall  fall  down." 

Verse  11.  — "the  stones  of  emptiness ;"  rather^ 
"  the  plummet  of  emptiness." 

Verse  12.  Houbigant's  emendation  of  this  verse 
seems  preferable  to  Bishop  Lowth's. 

•unp  r&foa  o#  pm 

And  there  they  shall  no  more  mention  the  kingdom ; 
Her  nobles  and  all  her  rulers  are  no  more. 


ISAIAH.  28T 

Verse  IS.  For  Witt*  Twbft  read,  with  Bishop 
Lowth  and  the  antient  versions,  rtWttHP  V?y\ 

Verse  15.  — c<  the  great  owl ;"  — "  the  night  ra- 
ven," Bishop  Lowth:  rather,  "the  darting  serpent." 
— "  serpens  jaculus,"  Houbigant.     outtmac* 

Verse  16.  For  "Hp3,  read  i"HpE>,  to  agree  with  the 
feminine  nominative. 

Verse  17.  — "  for  my  mouth  it" —  Read,  ^  •£ 
HVl  mn\  «  For  the  mouth  of  Jehovah  itself  hath 
commanded,  and  his  Spirit  itself  hath  gathered 
them." 

CHAP.  XXXV. 

Upon  this  whole  chapter,  see  Bishop  Lowth  in  his 
notes,  and  also  his  twentieth  prelection. 

Verse  1.     For  BWV*,  read  Xflp. 

Verse  4.  — "  to  them  that  are  of  a  fearful  heart;" 
rather,  "  to  the  docile  of  heart,"  or  *  to  the  well 
instructed." 

— "  behold  your  God  will  come  with  vengeance," 
&c.  j  rather, 

Behold  your  God !     To  avenge  he  cometh  ' 
God,  who  maketh  retribution, 
He  will  come  and  save  you ! 


288  ISAIAH. 

Verse  7.  — "  in  the  habitation  of  dragons,  where 

each  lay,"  &c. 

In  the  habitation  of  dragons  [shall  be]  a  bed  of  grass 
Instead  of  reeds  and  bulrushes. 

— "  a  bed" —  V^  in  the  masculine  is  used  for  a 
place  where  cattle,  oxen,  and  sheep,  may  lie  down, 
Is.  lxv,  10  5  Jer.  1,  6. 

Verse  8.  "  And  a  highway  shall  be  there,  and  a 
way"— 

And  a  causey  and  a  way  shall  be  there, 

And  it  shall  be  called  the  way  of  the  Holy  One. 

The  unclean  shall  not  pass  over  it. 

But  he  [that  is>  the  Holy  One]  shall  be  with  them,  walking 
in  the  way, 

And  fools  shall  not  go  astray. 
These  twelve  chapters,  following  the  twenty-third., 
seem  to  form  one  entire  prophetic  discourse,  of  which 
the  general  subject  is  the  final  triumph  of  the  church 
over  the  apostate  factions,  and  the  previous  judg- 
ments with  which  the  Jews  will  be  visited. 

CHAP.  XXXVI. 

Verse  5,  For  VHttN,  read,  with  many  MSS.,  mtttf. 
See  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  16.  — "  make  an  agreement  with  me  by  a 
present ;"  rather,  "  do  homage  unto  me." 

1 


ISAIAH.  289 

CHAP.  XXXVII. 

Verse  4.  — "  the  remnant  that  is  left."  Samaria 
being  already  captivated,  he  calls  the  two  tribes  of 
the  kingdom  of  Judah  the  remnant. 

Verse  18.  For  fWVtt\  read,  witfrten  MSS.  and 
the  parallel  place,  EDVtf.     See  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  25.  — "  all  the  rivers  of  the  besieged  places;" 
rather,  M  all  the  streams  (that  descend)  from  the 
rocks."     See  Houbigant. 

Verse  26.  — "  to  lay  waste  defenced  cities  into 
ruinous  heaps  \u  rather,  u  to  lay  waste  fruitful  hil- 
locks, fenced  cities ;"  to  destroy  the  towns  and  ra- 
vage the  adjacent  cultivation.  — u  fruitful  hillocks" 
OW  O^,  "  des  collines  fleurissantes." 

CHAP.  XL. 

Verse  1.  — "  her  warfare  is  accomplished foi 

she  hath  received  of  the  Lord's  hand  double  of  all 
her  sins."  — "  Signirkantur  in  primis  hoc  loco  mi- 
litia? labores,  sive  mala  per  belium  invecta,  in  quibus 
Judaei  pcenas  duplices  Deo  dederant  pro  peccatis  suis. 
Quae  poena:  duplices,  duae  sunt  captivitates,  una  sub 
Assyriis,  altera  sub  Roman  is. — Qui  interpretes  haec 
dicta  putant  de  uno  reditu  ex  captivitate  Babvlonis. 

VOL.  ir.  r 


290  ISAIAH. 

parum  feliciter  explicant,  quomodo,  Judauis  Babylone 
reversis,  completa  esset  eorum  militia.  Quot  enim 
et  quanta  mala  postea  experti  sunt,  turn  premente 
eos  Antiocho,  turn  populo  Romano  eos  sub  jugum 
mittente  ?  Neque  etiam  dici  potest  Judaeorum,  cum 
Babylone  redierunt,  expiatam  fuisse  iniquitatem; 
siquidem  Deus  de  illis,  per  Romanos,  alteras  poenas 
erat  sumpturus."     Houbigant  ad  locum. 

Verse  2.  "  The  voice  of  him  that  crieth  in  the 
wilderness" —  "  Nimirum,  Joannes  Baptista.  Neque 
hsec  ad  Babylone  reditum  aptari  possunt.  Nam  pa- 
ratur  via  Domini,  non  Judaeorum.  Neque  etiam  Ju- 
daei  Babylone  redeuntes  per  desertum  tantum  iter 
fecere."     Houbigant  ad  locum. 

Verse  4.  — "  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight, 
and  the  rough  places  plain  ;"  rather,  I  think,  "  the 
rough  shall  become  smooth,  and  the  hard  rocks  a 
cleft ;"  u  e.  an  open  passage  shall  be  cleared  through 
the  rocks.     See  Parkhurst  in  W\. 

Verse  7.  — "  the  people ;"  rather,  tt  this  people." 
Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  10.  — "  his  work  j"  rather,  <c  the  recom- 
pense of  his  work."  Bishop  Lowth  and  Houbigant. 
Where  observe,  however,  that  by  his  reward  and  the 
recompense  of  his  work,  is  meant  the  reward  and 


ISAIAH.  9.01 

the  recompense  which  he  hath  in  readiness  to  be- 
stow upon  liis  servants.  — "  Quisque  videt  veiha  in 
hunc  esse  accipienda  sensum,  Deum  Jehovarn,  in 
mundo  constabiliturum  regnum  suum,  et  hostes  suos 
vindicaturum,  paratum  in  manibus  habere  mcrce- 
dem  et  operae  pretium  quod  repensurus  sit  ministris 
suis  omnibus,"  &c.  Vitringa  ad  locum,  vol.  ii, 
p.  366,  c.  2. 

Verse  12.  u  Who  hath  measured,"  &c.  — "  Non 
deserit  inceptam  rem  propheta ;  imo  describit,  qua- 
il's sit  ille,  qui  modo  pastor  nominatus  est,  et  de  quo 
urbibus  Judae  dicit,  'en  Dcus  vester;'  ne  Judaei 
comminiscantur  hominem  redemptorem,  sed  homi- 
nem  Deum.  Nam  idem,  qui  modo  ut  homo  descri- 
ptus  est,  nunc  ut  Deus  exhibetur."  Houbigant  ad 
locum. 

Verse  21.  "Have  ye  not  known?  have  ye  not 
heard  ?"  rather,  with  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth, 
in  the  future,  u  Will  ye  not  know?  will  ye  not 
hear?" 

21  Will  ye  not  know?  will  ye  not  hear  of? 

Hath  he  not  been  declared  unto  you  from  the  beginning  ? 
Have  ye  never  considered  the  foundations  of  the  earth  ?   p. 

e.  how  the  foundations  were  laid,  or  the  act  of  laying 

them.] 


T*     O 


292  ISAIAH. 

22  Him  that  sitteth,  &a 
Him  that  extendeth,  &c. 

23  That  bringeth,  &c. 
That  maketh,  &c. 

The  words  nilD^D,  agr^  WOft  jniil,  are  all  accusa- 
tives after  the  verbs  know,  hear  of,  considered,  &c. 
The  style  is  vehement,  which  accounts  for  the  anti- 
cipated introduction  of  the  clause  "  Hath  he  not 
been  declared,"  &c. 

Verse  26.  — "  by  the  greatness  of  his  might,  for 
that  he  is  strong  in  power,  supplying  abundantly 
their  strength,  and  confirming  their  force,  not  one 
of  them  is  missing,  or  goeth  astray."  Or  rather, 
"  by  reason  of  abundance  of  force  and  firmness  of 
strength,  not  one  of  them  is  driven  astray."  The 
prophet  speaks  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  physical 
forces  with  which  the  Creator  has  endowed  the 
great  bodies  of  the  universe,  to  prevent  all  disorder 
and  irregularity  in  its  motions.  And  so  I  find  Vi- 
tringa  understood  him.  "  Nullum  eorum  deficere 
plane  id  significat,  Stellas  in  caelorum  orbe  sive  for- 
nice  fixas,  aeque  ac  erraticas,  locum,  statumque  et 
ordinem  suum  constanter  tueri,  &c.  unde  vero  ipsis 
hie  status,  ordo,  leges  motus,  veri  vel  apparentis,  et 
prsecipue  status  stabilitas?     Ait  vates,  D^IK  Sift 


ISAIAH.  293 

n  V£X\  Vox  pN  notat  interiorcm  cujusque  rei 
vim,  naturalium  virium  essentiam  et  vkootugw,  ea- 
rumque  affluentiam  et  sufficientiam.  Vox  PEN  liic 
est  accipienda  ut  nomen  substantivum.,,  Vitringa 
in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  383,  c.  2. 

See  my  notes  on  Hosea. 

Verse  31.  — *  they  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as 
eagles  j"  — u  they  shall  tower  on  strong  pinion  like 
eagles."  "^K  seems  to  be  used  adverbially,  not  as  a 
noun  the  object  of  t?JJ\ 


CHAP.  XLI. 

In  this  chapter,  the  miraculous  propagation  of  the 
true  religion  is  alleged  as  a  proof,  in  the  prediction 
and  in  the  event,  of  the  exclusive  deity  of  the  God 
of  Israel,  in  opposition  to  the  pretensions  of  the  hea- 
then idols. 

Verse  1.  "  Keep  silence  before  me" —  For  wnnrr, 
read,  with  the  LXX,  UBWrtT,  "  Let  the  distant  na- 
tions repair  to  me  with  new  force  of  mind."  Bishop 
Lowth ;  and  see  the  Bishop's  excellent  note.  But 
when  did  the  nations  repair  to  God  with  new  force 
of  mind  ?  Never  certainly  till  the  gospel  was  preach- 
ed  to   them.     This   compellation  therefore  of  the 

T  3 


294  ISAIAH. 

Gentiles  marks  the  season  to  which  this  prophecy 
relates. 

— "  the  people."  — f  the  peoples,"  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  2.  "  Who  raised  up  the  righteous  man  from 
the  east" —  rather,  "  Who  raiseth  up,"  who  is  about 
to  do  this. 

— "  the  righteous  man."   Cyrus  was  a  just  prince; 
and  I  think  in  some  passages  of  the  prophecies,  that 
respect  the  liberation  of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylo- 
nian captivity,  we  find  allusion  to  the  uprightness  of , 
his  government.   But  I  cannot  see  how  Cyrus  merit- 
ed the  great  character  of  the  righteous  man,  which 
in  scripture  signifies  much  more  than  a  man  of  moral 
probity.     It  always  denotes  a  man  righteous  in  the 
religious  sense  of  the  word,  a  man  attached  to  the 
service  of  the  One  true  God,   and  justified  in  his 
sight.     The  character  of  Cyrus  is,  that  though  he 
was  supported,  and  raised  to  the  empire  by  the  pro- 
vidence of  God,  yet  he  knew  not  God,  Is.  xlv,  4. 
And  the  acknowledgement  that  he  makes  of  the 
God  of  heaven  and  earth,  in  his  edict  for  the  return 
of  the  captives  (Ezra  i,  3)  is  by  no  means  such  evi- 
dence of  his  faith  in  the  sole  Deity  of  Jehovah,  as 
may  invalidate  this  express  testimony  of  his  irreli- 
gion,  and  entitle  him  to  the  honourable  appellation 


ISAIAH.  295 

of  the  righteous  man.*  Abraham  was  a  righteous 
man.  But  what  can  we  find  in  the  history  of  Abra- 
ham, to  answer  to  those  exploits  of  universal  con- 
quest,  which  the  context  ascribes  to  the  righteous 
man,  who  is  the  subject  of  this  prophecy  ?  It  will 
hardly  be  said  that  the  rescue  of  Lot,  and  the  re- 
covery of  the  spoils  from  the  five  kings,  w  as  an  ac- 
tion in  any  degree  equal  to  the  magnificence  of  the 
images.  Christ  is  perpetually  described  in  the  pro- 
phecies under  the  image  of  a  conqueror,  and  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel  under  the  image  of  uni- 
versal conquest.  The  Roman  people,  in  Christ's 
time,  were  the  most  considerable  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  lords  in  a  great  measure  of  the  whole  wTorld ; 
and  Rome  was  at  that  time  the  seat  and  citadel  of 
idolatry.  With  respect  to  the  idolaters  therefore  of 
his  own  time,  Christ  was  the  righteous  man  raised 
up  from  the  east.     And  it  is  reasonable  to  under* 

*  Vitringa,  who  strenuously  contends  for  the  application  of  this 
prophecy  to  Cyrus,  confesses,  that  it  is  not  probable  that  Cyrus  in 
sucli  sort  acknowledged  the  God  of  Israel,  as  to  have  renounced 
the  worship  of  the  gods  of  his  own  country.  Vitringa  on  Isaiah, 
vol.  ii,  p.  113,  note  A.  Now,  I  contend  that  no  acknowledgement 
of  the  true  God  short  of  this,  could  entitle  him  to  the  appellation 
of"  the  righteous  man"  in  the  language  of  a  Jewish  prophet. 

X   I 


296  ISAIAH, 

stand  the  quarters  of  the  world  with  reference  to 
the  persons  spoken  to,  the  Gentiles ;  not  the  Jews, 
to  whom  this  part  of  the  prophecy  is  not  addressed. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  Christ  is  the  person  meant  un- 
der the  character  of  the  righteous  man  raised  up 
from  the  east. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  the  LXX  ren- 
dered the  noun  "p¥  by  hixamw/iv,  as  if  they  conceiv- 
ed that  righteousness,  or  the  true  religion,  was  per- 
sonified in  this  chapter ;  and  I  think  this  notion  de- 
serves great  attention.  It  is  adopted  in  the  margin 
of  our  English  Bible.  Righteousness  was  through- 
out all  the  Divine  dispensations  raised  up  from  the 
cast.  Paradise  was  planted  in  the  east  of  Eden. 
After  the  fall,  the  symbols  of  the  Divine  presence, 
the  cherubim,  were  placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden. 
Abraham  was  called  from  the  east.  The  chosen 
people  of  God  were  a  people  of  the  eastern  quarter 
of  the  globe.  Our  Lord  was  the  righteous  man  rais- 
ed up  from  the  east. 

— "  called  him — gave — made ;"  rather,  "  calleth 
him — will  give — will  make." 

— "  he  gave  them  as  the  dust,"  &c.  I  take  ^"in 
to  be  the  nominative  of  the  verb  \n\  and  that  EDHK 
understood,  rehearsing  D^^,  and  O^,  is  the  ob- 


ISAIAH.  891 

ject  of  that  verb.  In  the  next  clause,  I  take  vwp 
to  be  the  subject  of  the  same  verb  p^  understood, 
and  OHK  again  understood  to  be  the  object  of  the 
verb. 

His  sword  shall  make  them  like  dust, 

And  his  bow  like  the  driven  stubble. 

Verse  3.  "  He  pursued and  passed" —     Thcsr 

verbs  should  be  future. 

— "  pass  safely  even  by  the  way  that  lie  had  not 
gone  with  his  feet."  Of  the  true  religion  personified 
it  is  literally  true  that,  by  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel,  it  was  carried  through  roads  untrodden  by 
it  before,  into  regions  which  it  had  never  visited. 
But  if  Christ  be  the  person  intended  by  the  noun 
"P^,  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel  by  instruments 
naturally  unqualified  for  the  business  is  proverbially 
described  in  these  expressions.  The  first  preachers 
of  the  gospel,  not  bred  in  the  schools  of  human 
learning,  travelled  a  road  which  they  had  never 
trodden  before,  when  they  engaged  in  controversy 
with  the  Jewish  divines  and  the  Greek  philosophers, 
and  made  their  apologies  before  kings  and  rulers; 
and  Christ,  in  these  his  emissaries,  opened  an  un- 
beaten road,  and  passed  through  it  safely. 

Verse  4.  "  Who  hath  wrought,  and  done  it  ? " 
6 


296  ISAIAH. 

Rather, 

Who  worketh  and  bringeth  to  effect  ? 

The  question  is  generally  respecting  the  incessant 
universal  operation  of  Providence,  not  any  particu- 
lar event.  "Who  is  it  that  always  worketh,  and  al- 
ways bringeth  his  work  to  sure  effect  ? 

Verse  7.  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  this 
verse  is  misplaced,  and  should  be  annexed  to  the 
20th  verse  of  the  preceding  chapter.  See  Houbi- 
gant. 

Verse  9.  — "  from  the  chief  men  thereof ;"  rather, 
"  from  the  corners  thereof."  See  Bishop  Lowth's 
note. 

Verse  10.  — "  be  not  dismayed ;"  rather,  "  look 
not  about  thee  in  dismay."  The  word  expresses  the 
gesture  and  action  of  a  person  in  danger  looking 
anxiously  around  for  help. 

Verse  17.  — "  their  tongue  faileth  for  thirst;"  ra- 
ther, "  their  tongue  is  rigid  with  thirst." 

Verses  17 — 19.  The  images  used  in  these  verses 
are  consecrated  by  the  perpetual  usage  of  the  pro- 
phets to  denote  the  spiritual  blessings  and  graces  of 
the  gospel.  Those  who  expound  them  of  the  mira- 
culous interposition  of  Providence  in  favour  of  the 
returning  captives  on  their  march  homeward  from 


ISAIAH.  899 

Babylon,  should  justify  their  interpretation  by  some 
clear  authentic  history  of  the  fact.  But  in  that 
event  God  worked  secretly  on  the  minds  of  the  Per- 
sian monarchs,  but  performed  no  miracles  that  we 
read  of  in  any  wilderness. 

Verse  20.  "  That  they  may  see  and  know" — 
The  quick  propagation  of  the  gospel  in  countries 
long  famished  with  a  drought  of  the  water  of  Iife3 
and  the  luxuriant  growth  of  its  fruits  among  the 
idolatrous  nations,  a  soil  which  had  long  lain  uncul- 
tivated, and  in  the  stony  hearts  of  persons  sunk  in 
ignorance  and  sensuality,  and  suddenly  converted, 
was  a  proof  of  the  immediate  interposition  of  Provi- 
dence, not  less  striking  than  a  total  change  would 
be  in  the  face  of  nature ;  the  eruption  of  large 
rivers  from  the  hard  rock,  or  the  instantaneous  rise 
of  the  choicest  trees  in  the  parched  sands  of  Arabia. 

Verse  22.  "  Let  them  bring  them  forth,  and  shew 
us  what  shall  happen ;"  rather,  "  Future  contin- 
gences  let  them  bring  near,  and  declare  unto  us." 
— "  Adducunt  et  indicent  nobis  qua?  fortuito  eveni- 
unt."  Yitringa.     — "  qua?  casualiter  eventura  sunt." 

Vtrse  23.  — "  that  we  may  be  dismayed,  and  be- 
hold it  together ,"  rather,  "  then  the  moment  we 
behold  we  shall  be  dismayed." 


300  ISAIAH. 

Verse  2£.    I  would  render  this  whole  verse  thus, 
I  have  raised  up  from  an  obscure  corner,  one  who  shall  come 

from  the  east ; 
He  shall  call  upon  my  name,  and  he  shall  come  on. 
Princes  [shall  be]  as  mortar, 
And  as  a  potter  shall  he  trample  the  clay. 
26  Who  declared  it  from  the  beginning,  that  we 
might  know, 
Or  just  before  that  we  might  say,  It  is  true  ?  # 
Truly  there  was  no  one  who  declared, 
No  one  who  spread  the  report, 
No  one  [so  much  as]  heareth  [attendeth  to] 
your  words. 
Verse  27.  "  The  first  shall  say  to  Zion" — 

"  I  first  to  Sion  [give  the  word],  Behold  they  are  here ; 
And  to  Jerusalem  I  give  the  messenger  of  glad  tidings." 

Bishop  Lowth. 
"  Interpretes  passim  sententiam  in  duo  membra 
divellunt,  quando  prius  accipiunt  ut  ellipticum,  hoc 
modo  supplendum,  '  Primus  ego  Tsioni  [dico]  ecce, 
ecce  ilia/  Sed  Lud.  de  Dieu  observavit,  senten- 
tiam accipi  posse  ut  integram,  cui  nihil  desit ;  modo 
hie  admittatur  transpositio  vocum,  in  hac  lingua 
mire  elegans,  sed  aliis  linguis  inimitabilis,  in  hunc 

*  Or,  «  that  we  might  say,  The  Just  One."     See  the  Layman. 


ISAIAH.  301 

modum :  c  Primus  dabo  Zioni  ct  Hierosolymae  laete 
annunciantem  (praeconem  nuncii  boni  dicentem) 
ecce,  ecce  ilia !'  Observatio  docta  est,  et  nihil  hie 
repugno."     Vitringa  ad  locum. 

Verse  28.  — "  even  among  them" —  For  rf?ND\ 
read,  with  the  LXX  and  Bishop  Lowth,  C>rV?NDT; 
U  and  among  the  idols." 

CHAP.  XLII. 

Verse  1.  — u  mine  elect,  in  whom  my  soul  de- 
lighteth."  I  see  not  why  the  word  nnx*l  may  not 
be  taken  as  a  noun.  — <c  my  chosen  one,  the  delight 
of  my  soul." 

— "  he  shall  bring  forth  judgment ;"  rather,  "he 
shall  publish  judgment."  Bishop  Lowth.  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  that  ttDVO  here  signifies  the  institu- 
tion of  the  gospel.  See  Bishop  Lowth's  excellent 
note  on  the  various  significations  of  this  Hebrew 
word. 

— "  'jus  gentibus  proferet :*  hoc  est,  tradet  genti- 
bus  doctrinam  religionis  canonicam,  rationalem,  in 
principiis  conscientiae  fundatam ;  secundum  quam 
oinnis  doctrina  religionis  alia,  omnes  hominum  de 
religione  sensus,  omniaque  Gentium  dicta,  judicia  et 
actiones  judicanda  sunt ;  quae  est  doctrina  evangel ii 


302  ISAIAH. 

canon  judicii  Divini,  regula  et  norma  judicii  Christi, 

et  omnium  ministrorum  ejus,  qui  regnum  ejus 

inter  Gentes  f undarent."     Vitringa  ad  locum. 

Verse  2.  The  Layman's  conjecture  that,  for  p}?¥\ 
we  should  read  p£W\  '  strive,'  deserves  attention. 

Verse  3.  — "  quench :  until  he  shall  bring  forth  judg- 
ment"—  rather,  with  St  Matthew,  "  quench ;  until 
he  shall  have  published  judgment,  so  as  to  establish 
it  perfectly ,"  or  u  until  he  have  published  judgment 
firmly."  In  the  word  TON?,  the  prefix  ^  signifies 
*  until,'  and  is  to  be  understood  in  connexion  with 
the  verb.     *">£**  is  used  adverbially. 

The  bruised  reed  and  smouldering  flax  *  I  take  to 
denote  the  nation  of  the  Jews,  ripe  for  destruction ; 
on  whom  our  Lord  executed  not  his  vengeance  till 
the  gospel  had  been  preached  both  to  them  and  to 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  foundations  of  the  church 
firmly  laid. 

Verse  4.     This  whole  verse  I  render  thus : 

He  shall  not  smite,  neither  shall  he  crush, 

Until  he  have  planted  judgment  in  the  land, 

And  the  isles  place  their  confidence  in  his  doctrine. 

*  Or,  "  smoking  wick ; "  the  wick  of  the  lamp  going  out  in 
smoke. 


ISAIAH.  901 

— M  the  land/'  the  land  of  Judca. 

— "  the  isles,"  the  Gentile  world. 

This  verse  is  only  an  affirmation  of  the  3d,  in 
clearer  terms. 

Verse  6.  — "  have  called  thee  in  righteousness  jf' 
rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  <c  for  a  righteous  pur- 
pose,'' or  <c  for  the  purposes  of  righteousness." 

— "  and  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  the  people, 
for  a  light  of  the  Gentiles ;"  rather,  "  and  will  ap- 
point thee  to  be  a  purification  (or  a  purifier)  of  the 
people,  a  light  of  the  nations."  — "  the  people/* 
Israel. 

Ve?\ses  5 — 9.  In  the  5th,  Gth,  and  7th  verses,  a?: 
Vitringa  properly  observes,  God  speaks  to  the  Mes- 
siah 5  in  the  Sth  and  9th,  to  mankind. 

Verse  10.  — "  ye  that  go  down  to  the  sea,  and  all 
that  is  therein. "  Bishop  Lowth's  conjecture  is 
very  probable,  that,  for  D^n  ^TW,  we  should  read 
tam  pn\  or  «>f)  Ojn\  or  n*>n  p\  Soe  the  Bishop's 
note. 

Verse  11.  — "the  wilderness,"  Arabia  deserta. 
— <c  the  rock,"  Sela;  Petra,  the  metropolis  of  the 
Nabathean  Israelites,  in  Arabia  Petrea.  — "  the 
mountains,"  the  mountains  of  Paran,  on  the  south 
of  Sinai,  in  Arabia  Petrea.  See  Vitringa  and  Bishop 
Lowth. 


30*  ISAIAH. 

Verse  14.  "  I  have  a  long  time  holden  my  peace  5 
I  have  been  still  and  refrained  myself."  Place  a 
small  stop  at  the  first  word  W#nn  j  and  for  ctojJD, 
read,  with  the  LXX,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop  Lowth, 
O^JPH.  "  I  have  holden  my  peace.  Shall  I  for 
ever  be  silent  ?  Shall  I  contain  myself?  Like  a  wo- 
man in  travail  I  will  cry  out.  In  the  same  moment 
I  will  draw  in  and  send  forth  my  wrath."  ^tt,  ex- 
spirabo ;  ^WK,  inspirabo. 

— "  I  will  destroy  and  devour.5*  — u  exspirabo  si- 
mul  acrem  et  aspirabo."  Houbigant.  And  to  the 
same  effect  Bishop  Lowth.  And  before  either  of 
them,  Vitringa :  — "  simul  spiritum  emittam,  simul 
eundem  resorbebo:"  andin  this  interpretation  he  pro- 
fesses himself  the  follower  only  of  Avenarius,  Fore- 
rius,  and  Cocceius.  — "  CDUW  exspirabo  aerem,  ex 
DUtt,  anima,  halitus,  respiratio,  ut  apposite  deinde 
veniat  "NT*  JjtfEWi,  et  aspirabo  simul.  Nam  pingitur 
hie  Deus,  ut  acuens  iras  in  Judaeos,  et  quasi  partu 
laborans,  donee  eos  a  se  ejecerit ;  quomodo  mulier, 
quae  contendit  totis  viribus  ut  ejiciat  fcetum  suurn, 
aspirans  arte,  atque  illicp  fortiter  respirans,  enitendo, 
et  quodammodo  permiscens  simul  aspirationem  et 
respirationem."     Houbigant  ad  locum. 

Verse  15*     This  15th  verse  is  admirably  well  ex- 


ISAIAH.  Mi 

pounded  by  Vitringa :  — u  Agitur  hie  manifesto  de 
gentibus,  earumque  idololatria,  et  de  poena  a  genti- 
bus  qua  idololatris  sumenda.  Sensus  emblematis  est, 
quicquid  vigebat,  virebat,  florebat  in  religione  idolo- 
latrica  pagana  consumptum  iri ;  idoleia,  templa,  fan  a 
in  celebrioribus  regnis  et  rebus  publicis  destruenda 
comminuendaque  esse ;  et  doctrinas  atque  instituti- 
ons, quarum  symbola  sunt  aquae,  perituras  atque 
abolendas  esse ;  et  scholas  et  gymnasia,  superstitioni 
ac  idololatriae  faventia,  eandemque  promoventia, 
subversum  iri.  Oraculorum  fontes  exarituros,  ut 
regnum  Dei  ubique  per  orbem  terrarum  commode 
fundari,  et  electi  ex  gentibus  se  illi  regno  aggregare 
possent." 

Verse  16.  "I  will  bring  the  blind,"  &c.  — "  Per- 
tinent verba  ad  populum  N.  T.  a  filio  Dei,  tanquam 
heroe  sive  pastore  ei  prceeunte,  ducendum  in  deserto 
Romani  imperii,  sustentandum,  illuminandum,  us- 
que quo  occupasset  civitatem  habitationis. 

Per  viam  quam  non  noverant,  et  per  semitas  quas 
exploratas  non  habuerunt,  intellige  media  omnia, 
eaque  varii  generis,  consilio  et  providentia  divina 
ordinata  ad  ecclesiam  Christi  Jesu  in  mundo  stabili- 
endam,  destruendam  idololatriam,  et  obtinendam 
haereditatem  mundi,  a  cogitatione  et  consilio  carnal i 

vol.  ii.  .  u 


306  ISAIAH. 

valde  remota,   a  nemine  cogitata,    quae  in  nullius 

mortalis  mentem  venerant Caeci  dicuntur  non 

absolute,  sed  comparate,  quod  hactenus  non  perspi- 
cerent  rationes  divinae  providentiae,  quibus  utebatur 

in  ecclesia  sua  administranda. Consilium  Dei  et 

Christi,  in  prima  ecclesia  ducenda  et  sustinenda  in 
imperio  Romano,  fuit  mirabile ;  nee  exitus  ejus  nisi 
eventu  perfecte  intelligi  poterant."  Vitringa  ad  lo- 
cum. The  blind,  in  the  18th  verse,  are  quite  an- 
other set  of  people. 

Verse  19.  "  Who  is  blind  but  my  servant,"  &c. 
In  the  last  verse,  the  deaf  and  the  blind  are  unques- 
tionably those  who  are  deaf  to  religious  instruction, 
and  blind  to  the  evidence  of  its  truth.  But  in  this 
verse,  I  cannot  conceive  that  the  hardened  Jews 
can  be  described  under  the  appellations  of  f  God's 
servant,  his  messenger,  and  the  perfect  one.'  Im- 
penitent sinners  and  infidels  are  never  distinguished 
by  such  honourable  titles;  and  admitting  that  they 
might  in  a  certain  sense  be  bestowed  upon  the  chos- 
en race  even  in  their  apostate  state,  yet  considering 
that  the  appellation  of  c  servant  of  God'  is  used  in 
this  very  chapter  as  a  character  of  the  Messiah,  I 
cannot  easily  believe  that  it  is  here  applied  to  any 
one  else.     I  conceive  that  the  Messiah's  patient  en- 


ISAIAH.  307 

durance  of  reproach  and  injury  in  the  days  of  his 
flesh,  is  here  emphatically  described  under  the 
images  of  blindness  and  deafness,  and  total  insensi- 
bility. The  same  thing  is  described  under  similar 
images  in  Ps.  xxxviii,  13,  14.  And  this  meekness 
and  patience  of  the  Messiah  is  that  righteousness  of 
his  which  is  mentioned  in  such  high  encomium  in 
the  21st  verse. 

19  Who  is  blind,  but  my  servant, 

But  deaf  as  the  messenger  whom  I  have  sent  ? 
Who  is  blind  like  the  Perfect  One, 
And  deaf  like  the  servant  of  Jehovah  ? 

20  Thou  hast  seen  many  things,  but  takest  no  notice ; 
The  ears  open,  yet  thou  nearest  not. 

21  Jehovah  taketh  pleasure  in  his  righteousness, 

He  will  magnify  the  doctrine,  and  make  it  glorious. 

For  "ttJJ,  in  the  last  line  of  verse  19,  I  read,  with 
Symmachus,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop  Lowth,  and 
one  MS.  of  Kennicott,  CHn.  In  the  20th  verse,  for 
JJW\  I  read,  with  the  antient  versions,  many  MSS. 
and  Bishop  Lowth,  jWn. 

Vitringa  divides  this  whole  chapter  into  three 
parts.  The  first,  from  verse  1  to  verse  9,  is  para- 
cletic,  demonstrating  the  Messiah  as  the  light  of  the 

world  and  the  teacher  of  the  Gentiles.     Verse  1  de- 

u  2 


SOS  ISAIAH. 

scribes  his  attributes;  verses  2  and  3,  he  thinks, 
describe  his  method  of  teaching ;  verse  4,  its  suc- 
cess and  effect ;  verses  5 — 9  place  the  foundation  of 
that  success  and  effect  in  God's  councils.  The  se- 
cond part,  verses  10 — 17,  is  exhortatory,  addressed 
to  the  Gentiles,  exciting  them  to  praise  God  for 
the  favour  conferred  on  them.  The  third  part  is 
elenctic,  addressed  to  the  Jews,  regardless  of  the 
proffered  mercy.  The  19th,  20th,  and  21st  verses, 
he  understood  as  a  heavy  charge  of  inattention,  and 
negligence  of  the  great  salvation  offered,  against  the 
Jewish  nation.  But  for  the  reasons  I  have  given,  I 
understand  those  verses  of  the  Messiah;  the  19th 
and  20th  describe  his  behaviour  as  a  citizen  in  what 
personally  concerned  himself;  the  21st  declares 
God's  delight  in  that  * behaviour  of  the  Messiah. 
This  description  and  eulogium  of  this  part  of  Mes- 
siah's character  is  introduced  as  a  parenthesis  in  the 
elenctic  discourse,  but  not  improperly.  For  as  it 
made  a  principal  branch  of  the  merit  of  the  Mes- 
siah's conduct,  so  it  was  a  great  aggravation  of  the 
ill  conduct  of  the  Jews.  The  transition  from  the 
mention  of  the  moral  blindness  and  deafness  of  the 
Jews  to  that  of  the  patient  blindness  and  deafness  of 
the  Messiah,  though  in  any  other  kind  of  writing  it 


ISAIAH.  309 

might  seem  abrupt  and  unnatural,  is  perfectly  in 
the  ecstatic  style  of  prophecy. 

Verse  22.  The  emendation  proposed  by  Houbi- 
gant  and  Lowth  is  not  necessary,  nan  is  the  third 
person  preterite  Hophal,  from  the  verb  TVS,  It  is 
the  singular  number,  because  '2  is  its  nominative 
case. 

Verses  24,  25.  These  verses  unquestionably  regard 
the  last  destruction  of  the  Jews  by  the  Romans. 
See  Houbigant. 

CHAP.  XLIII. 

Verse  1.  Jacob  the  creation  of  God,  and  Israel 
his  formation,  is  the  spiritual  Israel,  the  children  of 
the  promise,  and  heirs  of  salvation,  "  born  not  of 
blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of 
man,  but  of  God."  To  this  Israel  all  the  promises 
of  protection  and  deliverance  in  this  chapter  are 
addressed.  So  they  were  understood  by  St  Jerome. 
And  this  sense  is  so  very  clear,  and  the  distinction 
between  this  Israel  and  Israel  after  the  flesh  is  so 
strongly  marked,  that  it  is  surprizing  that  any  other 
interpretation  should  have  been  sought  for,  or  ad- 
mitted by  Christian  expositors. 

— *  I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name."     Arch- 

u  3 


310  ISAIAH. 

bishop  Seeker  suspected  that,  for  *pt£D  Vltf^p,  we 
should  read  n:&n  ivunp ;  ?(  I  have  called  thee  by 
my  name."  But  the  common  reading  gives  very 
good  sense. 

Verse  3.  — "  I  gave  Egypt,"  &c.  These  countries 
had  been  conquered  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  made 
a  part  of  the  Babylonian  empire  at  the  time  that 
Cyrus  became  master  of  it.  God  therefore,  in  giv- 
ing him  that  empire,  gave  him  these  vast  countries, 
its  appendages.  Observe,  that  whatever  was  done 
by  God  for  the  people  of  the  JewTs,  was  ultimately 
for  the  advantage  of  the  spiritual  Israel,  and  wras 
done  for  its  sake.  This  therefore,  and  other  in- 
stances, of  the  interposition  of  Providence  in  behalf 
of  the  natural  Israel,  are  alleged  in  this  prophecy  as 
pledges  of  the  greater  deliverance  of  God's  true 
people. 

Vitringa,  with  some  probability,  conjectures  that 
this  passage  alludes  to  that  triennial  war  of  the 
Eygptians  and  Cusheans  with  the  Assyrians,  when 
Azotus  was  taken  by  Tartan,  and  captives  from 
Egypt  and  Ethiopia  carried  away  in  great  numbers 
into  Assyria,  young  and  old,  naked  and  barefoot,  &c. 
Is.  xx.  The  providence  of  God  at  that  time  divert- 
ing the  Assyrian  conqueror  from  Judea,  by  present- 


ISAIAH.  311 

ing  Egypt  and  Arabia  to  his  ambition,  made  those 
countries  the  ransom  of  his  people. 

Verse  4.  "  Since" —  rather  "  Inasmuch  as" — 

Verse  5.  — "  thy  seed."  — <c  semen  ecclesiae  hie 
est  semen  spirituale,  per  regenerationem  mysticam 

producendum. Hue  pertinet  in  emphasi  vox  N'Otf, 

■  adducam.'  Non  dicit  enim  propheta  3^N,  ¥  redu- 
cam  :'  qua  voce  frequentes  utuntur  prophetae  ubi 
loquuntur  de  reditu  ex  exilio :  sed  N"ON,  <  venire 
faciam,'  quis  in  emphasi  referendum  est  ad  gentes." 
Vitringa  ad  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  452,  1. 

— "  from  the  east from  the  west."     — "  Ex 

Asia,  quam  late  in  orientem  extenditur,  et  ex  insulis 
maris,  h,  e.  Asia  Minore,  Graecia,  Peloponneso,  Illy- 
rico,  Italia,  Hispania,  Africa,  quae  Hierosolymitani 
caali  climati  sunt  ad  occidentem."     Ibid. 

Verse  6.  — "  north south."      — "  Designatur 

conversio  Scytharum,  Celtarum,  Germanorum,  Go- 
thorum,  sub  quibus  septentrionales  gentes  complec- 
tor ;  turn  quoque  Arabum,  ^gyptiorum,  Libyum, 
^thiopum,  quae  gentes  Judece  sunt  ad  austrum." 
Ibid.  2. 

— "  from  far from  the  ends   of  the   earth." 

— "  Testes  sunt  inde  iEthiopes,  sive  Halessini ;  hinc 

u  4 


ni  ISAIAH. 

Gothi  et  Vandali.  Sed  tu  qui  sapientiam  divinam 
seduld  scrutaris,  ne  neglige  hie  sensum  mysticum. 
1  Et  in  quinquo*  et  c  ab  extremis  terrae*  in  emphasi 
dicuntur  adolui,  qui  a  communione  Dei  et  ecclesise, 
propter  vim  ignorantiae,  superstitionis,  et  idololatrise 
et  vitiorum  longissime  essent  remoti."     Ibid.  2. 

Verse  10.  "  Ye"—  u  e.  "  Ye  Israelites"— 

Verse  12,  — "  when  there  was  no  strange  god 
among  you ;"  rather,  "  and  among  you  there  is  no 
stranger."  — "  Where  there  is  neither  Greek  nor 
Jew,  circumcision  nor  uncircumcision,  barbarian, 
Scythian,  bond  or  free."     Col.  iii,  11. 

Verse  13.  — "  I  will  work,  and  who  shall  let  it?" 
rather,  "  I  work,  and  who  shall  undo  it  i "  To  the 
same  effect  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  14.  — "  I  have  sent  to  Babylon" —  The 
prophecy  respecting  times  much  later  than  the  re- 
storation of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylonian  captivity, 
that  deliverance  is  spoken  of  in  the  preterite,  and  is 
mentioned  only  as  a  pledge  of  the  greater  mercies, 
which  are  the  proper  and  immediate  subject  of  this 
discourse.  See  note  on  verse  3.  To  the  same  pur- 
pose  the  deliverance  from  the  Egyptian  bondage,  a 
thing  long  past  when  the  prophecy  was  uttered,  is 


Isaiah.  ma 

mentioned  in  the  16th  and  17th  verses.  And  this 
interpretation  is  justified  by  the  prophet  himself, 
verse  18. 

— "  the  Chaldeans,  whose  ciy  is  in  their  ships." 
— "  the  Chaldeans  exulting  in  their  ships."  Bishop 
Lowth.  See  the  Bishop's  learned  note  about  the 
naval  strength  of  the  Babylonian  empire  under  her 
antient  kings,  and  how  it  was  destroyed  by  the  Per- 
sian monarchs. 

Verse  17.  — "  the  power."  — "  robustum  quem- 
que,"  Vitringa.     — "  the  warrior,"  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  18.  "  Remember  ye  not" —  Jehovah  hav- 
ing mentioned  the  deliverance  from  Babylon,  and 
the  deliverance  from  the  Egyptian  bondage,  bids  his 
people  "  remember  not  the  former  things."  Evi- 
dently the  deliverance  from  Babylon  is  among  those 
former  things,  which  deserved  not  to  be  remember- 
ed in  comparison  with  the  greater  things  which  this 
prophecy  unfolds.  This  clearly  proves  that  the  pro- 
phecy respects  times  long  subsequent  to  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylonian  captivity. 
— c<  Igitur  hoc  pra?cipio  vobis;  ut  inter  signa  mea 
atque  miracula,  quibus  Babylon  urbs  potentissima 
diruta  est,  et  quibus,  in  mari  rubro  atque  Jordanc, 
populo  meo  aperta  est  via  y  nequaquam  memineritis 


314  ISAIAH. 

veterum,  quum  in  evangelio  multo  sum  majora  fac- 
turus,  quorum  comparatione  praeterita  sileri  debe- 
ant."  Hieronym.  ad  locum.  And  to  the  same  effect 
Vitringa :  — "  Priora  hie  loci  sunt  beneficia  gratia?, 
quae  beneficium  temporis  Messiae  ante  eesserant,  aut 
ante  cessura  essent :  ut  sunt  clades  Sennacheribi, 
destructio  imperii  Chaldaeorum,  liberatio  ex  exilio 
Babylonico,    Seleucidarum    ecclesiae   persecutorum 

interitis,  et  restitutio  reipublicse  per  Maccabaeos. 

Per  antiqua — intelliges"  hie  loci  redemptionem  po- 
puli  ex  iEgypto,  introductionem  in.  Cananaeam,  et 
liberationem  ejus  ex  varus  adversis  et  servitutibus 
per  judices."     Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  462,  2. 

Verse  19.  — "  I  will  even  make  a  way  in  the  wil- 
derness." — "  Nequaquam  enim  ultra  in  mari  ru- 
bro,  sed  in  deserto  totius  mundi  aperiam  viam.  Nee 
unus  fluvius,  sine  fons,  erumpet  de  petra,  sed  multa 
flumina,  quae  non  corpora,  ut  prius,  sed  animas  siti- 
entis  reficiant,  et  impleatur  illud  quod  supra  legi- 
mus,  c  bibetis  aquas  de  fontibus  salvatoris.'  "  Hie- 
ronym. ad  locum.  To  understand  this  of  the  safe 
conduct  of  the  returning  captives  by  the  hand  of 
Providence  through  the  Arabian  desert,  is  most  ridi- 
culous and  absurd ;  when  this  making  of  a  way  in 
the  wilderness  is  mentioned  as  a  far  greater  thing 


ISAIAH.  HI 

than  had  yet  been  done;  and  yet  the  history  records 
no  miracles  wrought  in  behalf  of  the  liberated  cap- 
tives journeying  homeward  through  the  Arabian  de- 
sert, to  be  compared  with  the  great  works  exhibited 
in  their  long  journey  through  the  wilderness  from 
Egypt.  I  deny  not,  that  in  some  prophecies,  which 
immediately  relate  to  the  restoration  of  the  Jews 
from  the  Babylonian  captivity,  God  is  poetically 
represented  as  marching  at  the  head  of  his  people 
through  a  wilderness,  as  he  did  of  old,  when  he  first 
led  them  out  of  Egypt.  But  I  believe  all  these  pro- 
phecies, narrowly  examined,  will  be  found  to  allude 
at  least  to  a  greater  deliverance,  in  which  the  imme- 
diate power  of  God  should  be  more  sensibly  dis- 
played in  the  manner  of  bringing  the  thing  to  pass. 
In  the  return  from  the  Babylonian  captivity,  the 
agreement  of  the  event  with  the  promise  was  indeed 
a  demonstration  of  the  power  of  God,  ordering  all 
the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  using  the  power  and 
the  free  agency  of  its  greatest  princes,  as  the  instru- 
ments of  his  own  purpose.  But  the  thing  was  ac- 
complished by  natural  and  ordinary  means. 

It  is  possible  that  this  passage  may  allude  to  a 
miraculous  restoration  of  the  Israelites  to  their 
former  seats  in  the  latter  ages  of  the  world,  when 


316  ISAIAH. 

the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be  come  in,  and 
Israel  after  the  flesh  shall  turn  again  to  the  Lord* 
But  if  that  was  nowhere  more  clearly  predicted  than 
in  this  chapter,  the  children  of  Israel,  in  my  judg- 
ment, would  have  little  ground  for  their  expecta- 
tion. 

— f1  1  will  even  make  a  way  in  the  wilderness, 
and  rivers  in  the  desert."  — "  Est  utique  character 
certus  et  in  dubius  temporis  gratiae sensus  sen- 
tential mysticae  est,  Deum  facturum  esse,  ut  inter 
gentes,  hue  usque  fluctuantes  inter  diversissimas  et 
falsas  de  religione  opiniones,  certus  sit  canon  fidei 
et  morum,  secundum  quem  incedentes  pervenire 
possent  ad  communionem  Dei  in  communione  ec- 
clesise,  cujus  %ura  est  Zion  et  Hierosolymaj  turn 
quoque  ad  haereditatem  mundi.  Porro  sua  curatu- 
ram  providentia,  ut  inter  gentes  doctrinae  salutaris 
indigas,  sitibundas,  verae  consolationis  et  donorum 
Spiritus  Sancti  exsortes,  copiosa  vigeret  institutio 
apta  animum  reflcere  et  consolari,  fovea,  ut  £/foraa- 
"Kiccg  dytou  wgt^aros."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  463,  2. 

Verse  20.  «  The  beast  of  the  field,"  &c.  — "  Tunc 
quod  nunquam  factum  est  fiet :  ut  omnes  bestiae  et 
dracones,  et  struthiones,  qui  in  solitudine  gentium 
morabantur,  et  idololatrias  sanguine,  morumque  feri- 

5 


ISAIAH.  517 

tate  bestiarum  similes  erant,  glorificent  me  atque 
collaudent."     Hieron.  ad  locum. 

Verses  22 — 26.  "  But  thou  hast  not  called  upon 
me,"  &c.  *  Not  by  works  of  righteousness  which 
we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved 
us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of 
the  Holy  Ghost."     Tit.  iii,  5. 

— M  thou  hast  made  me  to  serve  with  thy  sins" — 
Sin  was  the  cause  that  made  the  Son  of  God  assume 
the  form  of  a  servant. 

Verse  27.  "  Thy  first  fathers"—  Now  he  threat- 
ens the  Jewish  nation.  "  Thy  first  fathers,"  Israel 
after  the  flesh.  "  Thy  teachers,"  the  priests  of  the 
earthly  tabernacle,  the  scribes  and  pharisees,  and 
Jewish  doctors. 

CHAP.  XLIV. 

The  first  five  verses  of  this  chapter  Vitringa  joins 
to  the  preceding,  and  the  6th  he  makes  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  discourse. 

Verse  1.  "Yet  now  hear,"  &c.  The  discourse 
again  turns  to  the  spiritual  Israel,  the  children  of 
the  promise. 

Verse  4.  u  And  they  shall  spring  up  as  among  the 
grass."     Bishop  Lowth  would  read  *V*n  O^D  M£; 


318  ISAIAH. 

and  Houbigant,  Wrt  O^BM.  The  alteration  that 
would  the  least  differ  from  the  present  text,  and 
would  very  well  agree  with  the  antient  versions, 
would  be  *ran  p)W;  "  like  grass  beside  a  fountain:" 
and  this  would  make  a  gradation  of  the  imagery, 
from  grass  to  willow  trees,  and  from  a  fountain  to 
canals.  But  after  all,  no  emendation  is  necessary  j 
only  in  rendering  take  OWjD  before  *wn  pM; 
"  And  they  shall  spring  up  like  osiers  among  the 
grass  beside  canals  of  water." 

Verse  7.  — "  the  antient  people  ;M  rather,  "  the 
everlasting  people."  — "  a  quo  posui  populum  aeter- 
num ;  hoc  est,  ex  quo  vocavi  Abrahamum,  cui 
cujusque  posteris  dedi  tabulas  pacti  seterni — Aben 
Ezra,  ED^JJ  Op,  populus  primus  ;  Kimchius,  rWHDD 
O^ijJft,  a  creatione  mundi.  Sed,  etiamsi  phrasis  hanc 

significationem  facile  ferat longe  rectius  hie  quis 

cogitaret  de  Noa,  ej usque  posteris,  in  gentes  et 
familias  per  orbem  divisis,  quibus  Deus  foedere 
geterno  condixit  inhabitationem  hujus  orbis,  nullis 
deinceps  aquis  obruendi  Q^JJ  nvnvn,  hoc  est,  ad 
ffwrshttuv  tuv  alomv,  cujusmodi  promissum  non  sanx- 
erat  hominibus  primi  mundi.  Et  fateor  cogitatio- 
nem  mihi  alte  haesisse.  Sed  si  phrasin  ad  ecclesiam 
transferas,  aut  ad  semen  Abrahami  non  carnale,  sed 


ISAIAH.  319 

mysticum,  interprctatio  est  nobilior."     Yitringa  in 
Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  481,  1. 

— "  unto   them.?1      For   ^,   read,   with   Bishop 
Lowth,  W7-  M  unto  us." 

Verse  8.  — u  from  that  time."  From  what  time  ? 
From  the  time  of  the  appointment  of  the  everlasting 
people.  The  context  affords  no  other  answer  to  the 
question.  Now,  from  the  time  of  the  call  of  Abra- 
ham, his  family  were  the  depositaries  of  the  promise 
and  prediction  of  a  redeemer :  whereas  Cyrus  was 
not  heard  of  in  prophecy  before  the  age  of  Isaiah. 
Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  event  to  the  produc- 
tion, the  prediction,  and  the  first  appointment  of 
which,  God  here  appeals  as  a  proof  of  his  sole  God- 
head, is  the  general  redemption  of  mankind  by  a 
descendant  of  Abraham.  The  deliverance  of  the 
Jews  by  Cyrus  is  mentioned  afterwards  only  as  an 
earnest  of  that  greater  mercy.  Vitringa,  who  makes 
the  deliverance  by  Cyrus  the  main  subject  of  this 
prophecy,  and  the  event  particularly  alluded  to  in 
this  and  the  preceding  chapter,  expounds  "  that 
time,"  most  harshly  and  unnaturally,  of  a  time  not 
mentioned  before,  the  time  in  which  Isaiah  and  the 
succeeding  prophets  prophesied. 

Verse  9.  — "  and  they  are  their  own  witnesses, 


320  ISAIAH. 

that  they  see  not,  nor  know ;"  rather,  "  and  they 
are  witnesses  for  them  [or  against  them],  that  they 
see  not,  nor  know."  That  is,  they,  the  workmen, 
are  witnesses  against  the  idols  that  they  make,  that 
they  are  inanimate  and  senseless. 

Verse  10.  "  Who  hath  formed"—  The  word  •>», 
not  standing  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  but 
following  ,the  words  W^*  \ythy  is  not  interrogatory, 
but  renders  the  pronoun  '  quisquis/ 

Verse  11.  -—"and  the  workmen  they  are  of  men" 
— u,  and  the  workmen  themselves  shall  colour,"  i.  e. 
be  reddened  with  shame.  See  Bishop  Lowth.  But 
see  also  Blaney  on  Jer.  x,  14. 

Verse  12.  "  The  smith  with  the  tongs  both  work- 
eth  in  the  coals,"  &c.  By  comparing  this  with  the 
first  line  of  the  following  verse,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  the  two  first  words  here,  ^rQ  UHH,  are 
opposed  to  the  two  first  of  that  verse,  Otfj;  t£Hr\ 
And  as  those  two  describe  the  workman  in  wood, 
the  carpenter,  so  these  two  describe  the  workman 
in  metal,  the  smith.  That  the  "ft'JJB  here  is  opposed 
to  the  word  1p  in  the  following  verse,  and  is  the 
name  of  the  tool  with  which  the  smith  begins  his 
work,  as  ^p  is  the  name  of  the  tool  with  which  the 
carpenter  begins  his  work.     And  I  suspect  that  a 


ISAIAH.  321 

» 

verb,  answering  to  fttM  in  the  13th  verse,  is  lost  out 
of  the  text  here,  which  should  express  how  the 
smith  first  employs  that  tool.  The  tool  is  certainly 
some  cutting,  cleaving  instrument,  not  tongs. 

Verse  13.  — *  with  a  line."  TIED,  "  with  a  pen- 
cil."    See  Parkhurst's  Lexicon,  Wtf* 

Verse  14.  For  riW<  read,  with  the  LXX,  Vul- 
gate, Houbigant,  and  Bishop  Lowth,  nn^5  or  ni^\ 
or  m^. 

— u  which  he  strengtheneth  for  himself  in  the 
trees  of  the  forest  ;M  literally,  "  and  he  getteth 
strength  to  himself  in  the  trees  of  the  forest."  That 
is,  he  layeth  in  great  store  of  timber.  See  Bishop 
Lowth.    For  fBIW,  one  MS.  gives  ?D*rvn,  in  Hiphil. 

Verse  21.  — "  thou  shalt  not  be  forgotten  of  me;" 
rather,  "  forget  me  not."  So  the  LXX,  Vulgate, 
and  Houbigant. 

Verse  24.  In  the  sequel  of  the  chapter  Jehovah 
confirms  his  promises  to  the  church,  by  various  in- 
stances  of  his  omnipotence.  Among  these  the  exalt- 
ation of  Cyrus,  and  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish 
people,  of  which  he  was  the  instrument,  are  men- 
tioned as  seals  of  the  greater  deliverance.  At  the 
end  of  this  24th  verse,  for  VWD,  read  vikd. 

Verse  25.  — u  the  tokens  of  liars;"  rather,  "  the 

VOL.  II.  x 


322  ISAIAH. 

signs  of  astrologers.5'  — "  O'HS  homines  vitam  a 
gentes  solitariam,  se  commercio  publico  subducen- 

tes,  et  vacantes  contemplationi  rerum  divinarum 

p*»"D  ninitf  sunt  stellaturse,  ex  quarum  ortu,  occasu; 
conjunctione  vel  disjunetione,  auguria  rerum  futura- 
rum  captabant."     Vitringa  ad  locum. 

Verse  26.  — "  his  servant,"  Messiah.  The  first 
seven  verses  of  the  forty-fifth  chapter  should  be  join- 
ed to  this  chapter,  and  the  new  chapter  should  be- 
gin with  the  8th  verse,  "  Drop  down,"  &c. 

CHAP.  XLV. 

Verse  1.  — "  I  will  loose  the  loins,"  &c.  A  mani- 
fest allusion  to  the  circumstances  of  the  surprise  of 
Babylon  j  when  the  kings,  the  king  himself,  and  his 
captains,  were  unaccoutred,  engaged  in  revehy  and 
riot,  and  the  gates  that  opened  to  the  river  were  left 
open. 

— "  and  make  the  crooked  places  straight.''  — zui 
igi  J^aX/o;.  LXX.  — "  et  gloriosos  terrae  humiliabo." 
Vulg.  These  different  translations  indicate  very  an- 
tient  variations  in  the  MSS.  The  LXX,  for  the  noun 
OVTHffi,  in  their  copies  had  D'HVfi,  which  Bishop 
Lowth  adopts.  The  Vulgate,  for  the  verb  "lE^K,  had 
WN ;  and  this  gives  far  the  best  sense. 


ISAIAH.  323 

Verse  4.  "  For  Jacob  my  servant's  sake,  and  Israel 
mine  elect" —  See  note  on  chap,  xliii,  3,  and 
xliii,  14. 

— "  I  have  surnamed  thee" —  or,  "  I  have  esta- 
blished thee" — 

Verse  6.  — "  that  there  is  none  besides  me."  The 
Layman  renders  "  that  nothing  is  without  me." 

Verse  S.  "  Drop  down,"  &c.  Here  a  new  chapter 
should  begin ;  for  here  the  prophet  leaves  Cyrus, 
and  returns  to  his  main  subject,  the  universal  re- 
demption. The  universality  of  the  blessing  is  the 
thing  particularly  described  in  this  verse,  under  the 
images  of  the  dew  and  the  rain,  falling  indiscrimi- 
nately on  all  parts  of  the  earth,  and  the  herbage 
sprouting  spontaneously  from  its  whole  surface. 

— "  and  let  them  bring  forth  salvation."  The 
construction  is  difficult  to  be  made  out.  Our  Eng- 
lish translators  seem  to  have  thought  that  the  nouns 
OW,  CD^ntu*,  and  P**,  are  the  common  subjects  of 
the  verb  Vl9\  and  ye?1  its  object.  But  I  cannot  find 
any  other  instance  in  which  the  verb  fffl  in  Kal  is 
used  transitively.  Queen  Elizabeth's  translators  took 
yjft  and  Mpnv  for  the  common  subjects  of  that  plu- 
ral verb,  for  they  rendered  thus  :  — "  let  the  earth 
open,  and  let  salvation  and  justice  grow  forth:  let  it 

x  2 


324  ISAIAH. 

bring  them  forth  together."  And  this  I  think  better 
than  our  modern  translation,  although  in  the  He- 
brew the   pronoun  seems  wanting   after  the  verb 

And  righteousness  sprout  forth  at  once. 

— "  I  the  Lord  have  created  it."  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's Bible :  — "  I  the  Lord  have  created  him" 
And  so  the  Vulgate  :  — "  creavi  eum."  Him  must 
be  expounded  here  of  the  same  person  as  below,  in 
Verse  13. 

Verses  9 — 12.  "  Wo  unto  him,"  &c.  The  prophet 
anticipates  the  objections  which  the  prejudices  of 
the  Jews  would  raise  against  the  doctrine  of  univer- 
sal redemption,  as  an  infringement  of  the  privileges 
of  their  own  nation,  almost  in  the  very  words  in 
which  St  Paul  combated  those  objections  when  they 
were  actually  set  up. 

Verse  9.  t-"  [let]  the  potsherds  [strive]  with  the 
potsherds  of  the  earth."  Bishop  Lowth  adopts  an 
interpretation  suggested  by  Mariana ;  — "  the  pot- 
sherd with  the  moulder  of  the  clay:"  i.  e.  wo  to 
the  potsherd  that  contendeth  with  the  moulder  of 
the  clay*  Upon  which  Vitringa  has  this  remark : 
— "  Non  repugnat  analogia  vocis  ttTtn,  etsi  non 
putem  ullibi  extare  phrasin  MEHK  UHn,  <  faber  terrae,' 


ISAIAH.  325 

ut  '  faber  aeris,  argenti,  ligni  y9  et  pK  ttHH,  *  f'aber 
lapidis,'  sive  c  in  lapide.'  M  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii, 
p.  500,  1. 

— "  or  thy  work,  he  hath  no  hands."    Read,  with 
Houbigant, 

iS  caw  pa  iSj;s)Si 

Or  to  him  that  worketh  it,  thou  hast  no  hands. 

Verse  10.  — "  [his]  father — the  woman  ;"  rather, 

"  a  father a   woman."      The   Jews   considering 

themselves  exclusively  as  God's  children,  and  envi- 
ous of  the  extension  of  his  mercy  to  the  Gentiles, 
are  angry  that  God,  having  them  for  his  children, 
should  beget  any  more.  The  prophet  therefore  says, 
Wo  to  him  who  says  to  a  father,  to  one  who  is  al- 
ready a  father,  Why  goest  thou  about  to  beget 
children  ?  and  to  a  woman,  already  a  mother,  Why 
art  thou  again  bringing  forth  ? 

Vitringa,  a  Calvinist,  has  an  excellent  remark  up- 
on the  true  interpretation  of  the  doctrine  of  God's 
sovereignty,  as  stated  in  this  passage  :  — "  Nee  ta« 
men  haec  sententia,  ad  Deum  applicata,  extendi 
debet  extra  limites  suos  contra  scopum  Dei  et  pro- 
phetae ;  ac  si  potestas  Dei  in  hominem  tarn  sit  abso- 
luta  atque  infinita,  ut  nihil  plane  sit,  quod  ejus  exer- 
citium  circumscribat,  ut  cam  Twissius  et  alii  inter- 


326  ISAIAH. 

pretantur.  Sane  quidem  extra  Deum  nihil  est,  quod 
potestatem  ejus  limitet.  Sed  potestas  divina  ab  ipsa 
natura  ejus  limitatur.  Sunt  in  Deo  justitia,  sequitas, 
bonitas,  veracitas,  fides,  amor  majestatis  suae  (virtu- 
tis  ipsi  naturales)  quae  exercitium  divina?  potestatis 
moderantur ;  ut  potestas  divina  absoluta  sit  in  crea- 
turas  intelligentes,  in  populum  et  ecclesiam  suam, 
salva  extern  Dei  morali  erga  homines.  Nee  aliter 
apostolus,  ubi  hanc  sententiam  et  similitudinem  ap- 
plicat  ad  consilium  electionis  et  reprobationis,  spec- 
tari  vult."     Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  501,  1. 

Verse  11.  "  Thus  saith my  sons."     For  TSSfm 

wSkp  nwutrt,  I  would  read  •tffrKtPnn  inK  tfcfrti 

Thus  saith  Jehovah,  the  Holy  One  of  his  Israel,  arid  his  Maker, 

Will  ye  question  me  concerning  my  sons, 

And  give  me  directions  concerning  the  work  of  my  hands  ? 

Verse  13.  u  I  have  raised  him  up."  Raised  up 
whom  ?  We  shall  search  the  context  in  vain  for  an 
antecedent  which  this  pronoun  may  rehearse.  It 
can  be  expounded  therefore  of  Him  only,  who  in  the 
most  eminent  sense  was  raised  up  by  God,  and  he  is 
described  here  by  his  work  of  gratuitous  redemp- 
tion. In  whatever  sense  some  may  fancy  this  verse 
applicable  to  Cyrus,  it  is  more  clearly  and  naturally 


ISAIAH.  32? 

applicable  to  Christ.    Compare  chap,  xlviii,  14;  and 
see  the  xvth  of  Vitringa's  canons. 

Verse  14.  "  The  labour  of  Egypt,  and  merchan- 
dise of  Ethiopia,  and  of  the  Sabeans,"  &c.  I  take 
these  phrases,  *  labour  of  Egypt,  merchandise  of 
Ethiopia/  to  be  analogous  to  fiirj  'H^a^s/??,  and  to 
be  descriptive  of  persons,  by  their  qualities  or  occu- 
pations. 

The  labourer  of  Egypt,  and  the  merchant  of  Ethiopia, 

And  the  Sabeans  of  tall  stature. 
See  Blaney  on  Jer.  xx,  5 ;  and  the  Layman  on  thi* 
place. 

— "  Surely  in  thee  is  God,"  &c. 

Surely  in  thee  is  God, 

And  none  else  than  God  himself. 

Verse  15.  "  Verily,"  &c. 

Verily  thou  art  a  God  concealed  [or  concealing  thyself], 
The  God  of  Israel,  the  Saviour ! 

These  words  plainly  allude  to  the  concealment  of 
the  Divinity  under  the  human  form  in  the  person  of 
our  Lord.  They  are  not  the  prophet's ;  they  are 
part  of  the  devout  confession  of  the  labourer  of 
Egypt  and  the  merchant  of  Ethiopia,  &c.  — u  Quo- 
cunque  se  verterint,  non  valebunt  laqueos  veritatis 
cfFugere,     Fac  enim  esse  in  Cvro  Deum,  et  non  6 

x 


328  ISAIAH. 

alium  prseter  eum  qui  sit  in  Cyro  Deus,  quomodo 
Cyri  persona?  dici  conveniet,  *■  Vere  tu  es  Deus  ab- 
sconditus,  Deus  Israel,  Salvator.'  Ergo  Deus,  in 
quo  est  Deus,  Dominus  noster  Jesus  Christus  rectius 
intelligitur  et  verius,  qui  in  evangelio  loquitur, 
6  Ego  et  Pater  unum  sumus.'  Qui  Deus  appellator 
absconditus,  propter  assumpti  corporis  sacramentum, 
et  '  Deus  Israel,  Salvator,'  quod  interpretatur  Jesus." 
Hieronym.  ad  locum.  And  again,  "  Hebrsei  stulta 
contentione  nituntur  asserere,  usque  ad  eum  locum 
ubi  legitur,  '  Tantum  in  te  est  Deus,  et  non  est  abs- 
que te  Deus,'  vel  ad  Hierusalem,  vel  ad  Cyrum  dici. 
Hoc  autem  quod  sequitur,  c  Vere  tu  es  Deus  ab- 
sconditus, Deus  Israel,  Salvator,'  subito  ad  omnipo- 
tentem  Deum,  apostropham  fieri :  cum  etiam  stultis 
perspicuum  sit,  unum  contextual  esse  sermonis,  nee 
posse  sensum  dividi,  qui  in  ipso  narrationis  ordine, 
et  ratione,  conjunctus  est."     Hieronym.  ad  locum. 

Verse  16.  "  They  shall  be  ashamed,  and  also  con- 
founded all  of  them/'    After  the  verb  10*W,  Bishop 
Lowth,  upon  the  authority  of  the  LXX,  inserts  TH¥, 
which  greatly  improves  the  elegance  of  this  distich. 
They  are  ashamed,  and  even  confounded  all  his  adversaries. 

The  emendation  however  is  not  necessary  to  the 
sense. 


ISAIAH.  325* 

Verse  19.  — "  I  said  not  to  the  seed  of  Jacob, 
seek  ye  me  in  vain  :  I  the  Lord,"  &c.  This  passage 
seems  to  contain  an  oblique  hint  at  least,  of  a  future 
accomplishment  of  the  promises  to  the  seed  of  Jacob 
in  a  literal  sense.  "  Notwithstanding  the  scheme  of 
general  mercy,  and  the  temporary  rejection  of  the 
Israelites,  my  promises  to  them  shall  not  ultimately 
faiL  I  Jehovah  speak  in  righteousness,  with  vera- 
city, and  declare  upright  things.  I  speak  not  in 
terms  of  equivocation  like  the  oracles  of  the  heathen 
gods." 

Verse  21.  — "  a  just  God,  and  a  Saviour."  ^N 
JWW31  ymt  «  God,  the  Just  One  and  the  Saviour." 

Verse  23.  — "  the  word  is  gone  out  of  my  moutli 
in  righteousness,  and  shall  not  return."  — "justice 
is  gone  forth  from  my  mouth :  the  word  is  spoken, 
and  shall  not  be  revoked."  — "justice  is  gone 
forth,"  i.  e.  the  just  sentence;  or  rather,  the  merci- 
ful sentence  of  pardon.  Upon  the  forensic  sense  of 
the  word  ilfHX,  see  my  notes  upon  Hosea. 

Verse  24.  "  Surely,"  &c.  For  IB*  ^,  I  would 
read  "lEN^.  See  Bishop  Lowth.  And  without  anv 
other  emendation,  I  render  the  whole  verse  thus, 

Surely  to  Jehovah  it  belongeth  to  speak  truth,  and  Might  is 
his  gorgeous  robe. 

He  shall  come :  and  all  that  quarrel  with  him  shall  be  ashamed. 


330  ISAIAH. 

— "  He  shall  come/'  k  e.  He,  the  great  personage 
announced  in  the  8th  and  the  13th  verses  shall 
come ;  or,  he,  Jehovah,  shall  come  in  the  person  of 
the  Messiah. 

CHAP.  XLVL 

Verse  1.  The  construction  of  this  verse  is  not 
very  perspicuous.  I  divide  what  follows  the  word 
Nebo  into  three  clauses,  by  a  comma  fixed  at  !"l£rDS? 
and  another  at  HIDIDj;.  I  suppose  the  verb  W  to  be 
understood  in  each  of  the  two  last  clauses,  and  the 
preposition  3  to  be  understood  before  CEDTtfUtt, 
which  word  I  take  to  signify,  not  carriages,  but 
beasts  of  burthen.  (See  Parkhurst's  Lexicon,  KCtt,  v.) 
And  I  render  the  whole  thus : 

Bel  boweth  down !  Nebo  croucheth ! 

Their  images  are  consigned  to  the  beasts  and  the  cattle. 

They  are  become  the  lading  (mDlfttf)  of  your  beasts  of  bur* 
then, 

A  load  to  the  weary  animal.* 

*  Upon  further  consideration  of  the  passage,  I  rather  think  that 
the  prefix  b  is  not  to  be  understood  before  tD^nxu;:.  That 
eaa^riKVa  is  not  beasts  of  burthen,  but  rather  '  carriers,'  and  is 
to  be  understood  of  the  false  gods ;  who,  had  their  pretensions  to 
divinity  been  founded,  should  have  carried  their  votaries  in  the 


ISAIAH.  331 

Verse  2.  — "  they  could  not  deliver  the  burthen;" 
rather,  "  they  are  unable  to  rescue  the  burthen ;" 
2.  e.  the  idols  cannot  rescue  their  votaries.  — "  si 
attendas  ad  contextual  proxime  sequentein,  ubi 
Deus  se  populum  Judaeum  bajulasse  dicit,  eft  tulkse 
instar  oneris,  et  eripuisse ;  necessario  per  WD  hie 
intelligendus  est  populus  Babylonicus  incumbens 
idolis  suis  iisque  fidens  et  innitens,  quod  onus  tan- 
tum  abest  ut  eripere  et  salvare  potuerint  idola  Ba- 
bylonis,  ut  contra  ipsa  iverunt  in  captivitatem."  Vi- 
tringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  516,  1. 

Verse  4.  — "  I  have  made  and  I  will  bear,  even  I 
will  carry  and  will  deliver  [you]."  As  no  one  of 
the  verbs  f  made,  bear,  carry,  deliver,'  has  the  pro- 
noun suffixed  to  point  out  the  Jewish  people  as  the 
specific  object,  I  think  the  sense  is  more  general 
ihan  the  English  translation  by  introducing  the 
pronoun,  renders,  and  might  be  more  adequately 
rendered  thus:  — "[What]  I  have  made,  I  will 
carry  ;  and  [what]  I  take  upon  my  shoulders  [^3DN] 
I  will  carry  off'  safe." 

same  sense  in  which  God  *  carried'  his  people.    The  two  last  lines 

therefore  may  be  thus  rendered : 

They  who  should  have  been  your  carriers  arc  become  burthen?. 
A  load  to  the  weary  animal. 


332  ISAIAH. 

Verse  10.  — u  and  from  antient  times  the  things 
that  are  not  yet  done ;"  rather,  "  and  from  the  ear- 
liest times  what  had  not  been  done."  There  is  no- 
thing in  the  Hebrew  to  answer  to  the  c  yet*  of  our 
public  translation.     See  Houbigant,  note. 

Verse  11.  "  Calling  a  ravenous  bird,"  &c.  Ad- 
mitting that  Cyrus  is  the  ravenous  bird,*  yet  since 
the  calling  of  this  ravenous  bird  is  mentioned  among 
the  former  things  of  old,  among  the  instances  of 
predictions  accomplished,  which  the  transgressors 
are  called  upon  to  remember,  it  is  evident  that  the 
elenctic  part  of  this  discourse  concerns  times  subse- 
quent to  the  age  of  Cyrus ;  and  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  final  extirpation  of  idolatry  by  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  is  within  the  purview  of 
this  prophecy.     See  chap,  xliii,  18,  note. 

— "  En  prophetiam  luculentam  de  destructione 
idolorum  Babylonicorum,  auctoribus  Persis  et  Me- 

dis sed  ne  sic  quidem  hoc  vaticinium  perfecte 

completum  est.  Altius  eo  conditur  mysterium,  quod 
veteres  jam  viderunt:    futurum  ut  idololatria  per 

*  Hv  "hi  ctvra  crq/Aitov  altos  %£vcrov$  gTr^agatTfl;  uotK^ou  uvxriTetpivos*  xxt 
vjv  <}&  T6VT0  In  <rqpim  tu  Tii^rm  fiarthu  SiXftivzt.  Xenoph.  Cyrop 
lib.  vii,  p.  102,  edit.  Steph. 


ISAIAH.  333 

orbeni  terrarum,  cujus  typum  et  imaginem  gessit 
Babylonica,  orta  luce  liberationis  spirituals  per 
Christum  Jesum  procuranda?,  subverterctur,  destru- 
eretur."     Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  516,  1. 

Babylon  mystically  represents  the  metropolis  or 
chief  citadel  of  the  apostate  faction ;  and  for  that 
reason  the  destruction  of  the  Babylonian  idols  is  an 
apt  symbol  of  the  general  extirpation  of  idolatry. 

Verse  13.  — "  and  I  will  place  salvation  in  Zion 
for  Israel  my  glory."     Bather, 

And  I  will  give  salvation  in  Zion ; 

To  Israel,  my  glory. 
That  is,   "  to  Israel  I  will  give  my  glory."     See 
Queen  Elizabeth's  translators,  and  Bishop  Lowth. 

CHAP.  XLVII. 

Verse  1.  — "  for  thou  shalt  no  more  be  called" — 
more  exactly,  "  thou  shalt  no  more  get  men  to  call 
thee" —  — "  nee  perficias  ut  te  homines  adhuc  ap- 
pellent" —  Houbigant. 

Verse  2.  — "  uncover  thy  locks  j"  rather,  "  take 
off  thy  veil."     So  the  LXX. 

— "  make  bare  the  leg ;"  rather,  "  disattire,  [or 
perhaps,  cut  off]  thy  dangling  hair."  «tf,  "  pilus 
descendens  in  maxillas."  Castell.     This  is  the  sei^e 


334  ISAIAH, 

given  by  R.  Moses  Haccohen  and  Aben  Ezra.  Vi- 
tringa,  though  he  allows  that  this  sense  suits  well 
enough  with  the  context,  is  rather  inclined  to  un- 
derstand the  word  ^tP  here,  of  the  lower  part  of 
the  arm  from  the  elbow  to  the  wrist.  — "  strip  up 
the  arm."  — "  Solent  orientales  honestioris  conditi- 
ons, etiam  feminae,  brachium  usque  ad  juncturam 
manus  arcta  veste  interiore  tectum  habere,  quod 
secus  se  habuit  in  ancillis  et  servis  moleste  opere 
distentis,"     Vitringa  ad  locum. 

Verse  3.  — "  I  will  not  meet  [thee  as]  a  man." 
Expunge  the  words  '  thee  as/  which  are  inserted  by 
the  translators,  without  any  thing  to  answer  to  them 
in  the  original,  and  you  have  the  literal  translation 
of  the  Hebrew  words.  — "  I  will  not  meet  a  man  ;" 
i.  e.  I  will  not  give  a  man  the  meeting ;  I.  e.  I  will 
not  give  audience  to  a  man  ;  i.  e.  I  will  not  suffer 
man  to  intercede  with  me ;  which  is  Bishop  Lowth's 
rendering.  But  the  Bishop  changes  JJJSN  into  the 
Hiphil  JW3K.  Houbigant  reads  V^  in  the  third 
person,  making  C31K  the  nominative.  — "  Man  shall 
not  intercede."  Either  emendation  seems  unneces- 
sary. 

Verse  7.  — "  so  that  thou  didst  not  lay"—  kS  "V 
TOfcf,  "  usque  non  posuisti,"  — "  so  little  didst  thou 
lay"- 


ISAIAH.  3S5 

Verse  9.   — "  for  the  multitude for  the  great 

abundance" —  — "  notwithstanding  the — notwith- 
standing"—  Bishop  Lowth  and  Yitringa. 

— "  thy  wisdom  and  thy  knowledge  ;"  rather, 
"  thy  politics  and  thy  knowledge." 

Verse  11.  — "  which  thou  shalt  not  know;"  ?.  e. 
which  thou  shalt  not  foresee.  The  Babylonians  are 
upbraided  in  this  verse,  and  the  two  following,  with 
the  vanity  and  fallacy  of  their  judicial  astrology. 

Verse  13.  — "  the  astrologers."  P>P#  "fPUf  li- 
terally, "  combiners  of  the  heavens."  I  would  ren- 
der it,  "  casters  of  the  configurations  of  the  sky." 
— "  Conjunctores  cceli,  qui  nunquam  cessant  Stellas 
combinarc  ;  seu  conjungere,  ac  conjunctiones  astro- 
rum,  oppositiones  et  constellationes  observare.  " 
Forer.  apud  Poole. 

— "  the  monthly  prognosticators  stand  up,  and 
save  thee  from  these  things  that  shall  come  upon 
thee."  For  Tpffl,  read,  with  the  LXX  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  "C*K  rID.  — f*  those  who  prognosticate  each 
month  what  shall  come  upon  thee,  stand  up  and 
save  thee." 

— "  prognosticate  each  month."  CC'in^  ma) 
cither  signify  c  month  by  month,'  and  then  the  al- 


336  ISAIAH. 

lusion  is  to  almanacks  annually  published,  setting 
forth  the  events  of  the  new  year  in  the  order  of  the 
months ;  or  it  may  signify  each  of  the  *  calends/ 
and  then  the  allusion  is  to  a  custom  of  the  sooth- 
sayers of  giving  audience  to  those  who  would  con- 
sult them  on  the  calends  of  every  month.  See  2 
Kings  iv,  23.  But  observe,  the  word  V1T\  has  no 
necessary  reference  to  the  phases  of  the  moon. 

Verse  14.  "  Behold  they  shall  be  as  stubble;  the 
fire  shall  burn  them."  I  think  the  exact  rendering 
is,  <c  Behold  their  burnings  shall  be  as  a  stubble- 
fire." 

— •"  there  shall  not  be  a  coal,"  &c.  They  shall 
burn  away  rapidly  and  entirely,  like  stubble,  to  a 
mere  dead  ash,  without  cinders,  and  without  light. 

Verse  15.  — "  thy  merchants ;"  rather,  "  thy  im- 
postors. "  -  THHD.  nno,  c  prasstigiator,'  a  juggler, 
from  the  Arabic  sense  of  the  word.   See  Houbigant. 

— "  shall  wander  every  one  to  his  quarter.  " 
— "  unusquisque  dilabetur  qua  fuga  dabitur."  Hou- 
bigant. 

Every  one  is  gone  in  his  own  way : 
There  is  none  to  save  thee. 


ISAIAH. 

CHAP.  XLVIII. 

The  preceding  chapter  predicts  in  the  most  ex- 
plicit terms  the  fall  of  the  Babylonian  empire.  But 
if  we  recollect  that  the  Magian  religion  flourished 
under  the  Persian  kings,  and  that  the  skill  of  the 
Magi  in  prognostication  continued  in  high  credit 
and  esteem ;  we  must  allow  that  in  one  considerable 
part,  that  which  foretells  that  the  Magicians  and 
their  arts  should  fall  into  universal  contempt  and 
neglect,  the  prophecy  received  no  accomplishment 
in  the  fall  of  the  literal  Babvlon.  And  when  it  is 
considered  that  St  John  in  the  Apocalypse  applies 
almost  all  the  images  of  this  prophecy  to  a  mystical 
Babylon,  it  seems  reasonable  to  think,  it  is  hardly 
possible  not  to  think,  that  Babylon  is  even  in  this 
prophecy  of  Isaiah  the  symbol  of  St  John's  Babylon, 
and  that  the  judgments  which  shall  overtake  the 
latter  are  adumbrated  in  the  other's  fate.  However, 
the  fall  of  the  Babylonian  empire  was  unquestion- 
ably the  event  more  immediately  in  the  prophet's 
eye ;  and  in  that,  the  prophecy  of  the  forty-seventh 
chapter  received  its  primary  completion. 

This  forty-eighth  chapter  supposes  the  former 
prophecy  accomplished,  and  is  addressed  to  the 
vol,  it.  v 


338  ISAIAH. 

natural  Israel,  restored  from  captivity  and  quietly 
seated  in  their  native  land.  This  natural  Israel  are 
told,  that  they  have  seen  the  former  things  accom- 
plished, and  are  now  advertised  of  new  things.  The 
former  things  are  evidently  the  predictions  of  the 
Babylonian  captivity,  and  their  restoration  from  that 
servitude :  the  new  things  are  the  general  redemp- 
tion, the  judgments  in  store  for  the  unbelieving 
Jews,  and  their  final  restoration  to  God's  favour. 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  redemption,  which 
had  been  the  subject  of  all  prophecy  from  the  very 
hour  of  the  fall,  and  was  emblematically  represented 
to  the  Jews  in  all  the  furniture  and  ornament  of  the 
temple,  and  typified  in  their  rites  of  worship,  could 
with  little  propriety  be  called  a  new  thing  (as  a  sub- 
ject of  prophecy)  in  the  days  of  Isaiah.  But  the 
manner  of  the  first  promulgation  of  the  gospel,  our 
Saviour's  mode  of  teaching,  his  reception  among  the 
Jews,  his  behaviour,  the  circumstances  of  his  death, 
the  success  of  the  gospel,  and  its  effect  upon  the 
Gentile  world,  are  nowhere  so  distinctly  described 
in  detail  as  in  the  subsequent  chapters  of  Isaiah. 
And  although,  though  they  are  the  principal  subject 
of  many  of  the  preceding  chapters,  from  the  fortieth, 
yet  it  is  probable  that  till  the  liberation  from  the 


ISAIAH. 

Babylonian  captivity  had  taken  place,  the  Jews  were 
not  aware  that  these  prophecies  ol'  Isaiah  related  to 
any  thing  beyond  that  event.  Wlien  that  was  ac- 
complished, the  general  redemption  coming  in  view, 
as  the  ultimate  object  of  those  prophecies,  might 
reasonably  be  called  a  new  thing ;  and  the  prophe- 
cies might  be  considered  as  then  given,  when  the 
true  sense  of  them  became  discernible.  — "  Nova 
dicuntur,  non  sane  quod  de  his  rebus  in  superioribus 
non  vaticinatus  esset ;  quodque  pariter  Moses  et 
prophetae  de  iis  locuti  non  fuerint ;  sed  quod  ea  cla- 
ritate,  in  omni  sua  circumstantia,  hue  usque  neque  a 
Jesaia,  neque  ab  aliis  prophetis  patefacta  descripta- 
que  fuerint."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  54G.  Cleai 
indeed  as  the  predictions  in  many  of  the  preceding 
chapters  are,  to  us  at  least  who  have  seen  the  ac- 
complishment, what  follow  are  far  more  explicit, 
and  more  circumstantial. 

Verse  1.  — "  out  of  the  waters  of  Judah." 
— "  GQou,GLrix,QoTi%ov  aquas  vocans  pro  semine,  ut  ne- 
quaquam  eos  virtntum  patriarcharum  tilios  ostende- 
ret  esse  sed  carnium.  Et  recte  aquas  Juda  appella- 
vitj  quia  sola  tunc  in  terra  Juda  adliuc  tribus  per- 
manebat,  et  semen  David  iilo  tempore  servabattljr," 
Hieron.  ad  locum.     Hnubigaai  makes  a  great  diffi- 

l 


340  ISAIAH. 

cuity  about  this  expression  of  the  '  waters  of  Judah,J 
and  proposes  corrections.  But  it  is  well  observed  by 
Bishop  Lowth  that  the  figure  is  perfectly  parallel  to 
those  others  of  *pjP  pj>  and  hm&H  nvp. 

Verse  2.  *  For  they  call  themselves,"  &c.  I  would 
render  this  verse  thus  : 

That  they  take  their  name  from  the  holy  city, 
And  stay  themselves  upon  the  God  of  Israel, 
Whose  name  is  Jehovah  Sabaoth. 

I  take  this  to  be  the  matter  of  their  hypocritical 
confession. 

Verse  6.  "  Thou  hast  heard  it,  see  all  this,"  &c. 
For  nm,  I  would  read  »W*J     See  Bishop  Lowth. 

Thou  hast  heard,  see,  It  is  accomplished. 

Dost  thou  not  openly  acknowledge  it  ? 

From  this  time  I  make  thee  hear  new  things,  &c. 

Verse  7.  "  They  are  created  now,"  &c.  This 
verse  is  very  obscure,  and  the  meaning  that  it  seems 
to  convey  is  repugnant  to  the  general  language  of 
prophecy,  which  perpetually  alludes  to  a  plan  of 
Providence,  ordering  all  things  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end,  and  arranged  in  the  mind  of  God  before 
the  actual  existence  of  the  universe.  The  1  in  the 
word  K '1  may  be  an  error  of  the  scribe  repeating 
the  final  letter  of  the  preceding  word.     Omitting 


ISAIAH. 

this  \   and  removing  N7  to  the  beginning  of  the 
verse,  I  would  correct  the  whole  thus  : 

on  udSi  mo  imw  nny  nS 

They  are  not  now  created,  but  of  old  and  before  the  course 
of  time  : 

And  thou  hast  not  heard  of  them,  lest  thou  shouldst  say^  Be- 
hold, I  knew  of  them. 

This  is  certainly  very  good  sense. 

8  But  thou  hast  not  heard, 
But  thou  hast  not  known, 
But  before  thine  ear  was  not  opened,  Sec. 

Verse  9.  — "  will  I  defer ;"  rather*  "  I  am  defer- 
ring." 

— "  and  for  my  praise  I  will  refrain  for  thee ;" 
rather,  "  and  for  my  own  praise,  I  muzzle  it  for 
thee."  This  verse  is  an  awful  intimation  to  the 
Jews,  living  in  security  after  their  return  from  Ba- 
bylon, that  anger  is  only  deferred,  and  will  at  a  dis- 
tant season  be  again  let  loose. 

Verse  10,  — "  but  not  with  silver;"  rather,  "  not 
as  silver."  Bishop  Lowth.  The  sense  is,  that  not- 
withstanding the  punishment  they  had  undergone, 
their  repentance  and  conversion  was  yet  imperfect. 

— "  I  have  chosen  thee."  The  L\X  and  Vulgate 
confirm  the  present  reading. 


342  ISAIAH. 

Verse  14.  — "  the  Lord  hath  loved  him,"  &c. 
The  pronoun  him  certainly  refers  to  an  unnamed 
person  in  the  prophet's  eye,  whom  the  prophet  sees 
as  the  darling  of  Jehovah,  whose  pleasure  Jehovah 
will  execute  upon  the  Babylonians  and  Chaldeans. 
Compare  chap,  xlv,  1 3.  In  this  latter  part  of  the 
verse,  the  prophet  abruptly  and  indirectly,  and  in 
the  true  ecstatic  style,  answers  the  question, c  which 
among  them  hath  declared  these  things  ? '  None  of 
them,  says  the  prophet.  But  I  see  Him,  who  hath 
declared  them.  The  Beloved  of  Jehovah,  whose 
pleasure  Jehovah  will  execute  upon  Babylon  and 
the  Chaldeans.  I  think  no  one,  who  compares  this 
passage  wTith  Apoc.  v,  2 — 5,  will  doubt  that  this  is 
the  true  exposition.  That  this  darling  of  Jehovah  is 
the  Messiah.  And  that  Babylon  and  the  Chaldeans, 
demolished  literally  long  before  the  times  in  which 
the  prophet  is  now  engaged,  are  here,  as  in  other 
places,  types  of  another  Babylon  and  other  Chalde- 
ans, upon  whom  Jehovah,  at  the  proper  season,  will 
execute  Messiah's  pleasure. 

I  suspect  that  something  has  been  lost  out  of  the 
text  between  the  two  words  IJHfi  and  D'HtP>.  Per- 
haps the  true  reading  may  have  been  "Hp  *?W 
CH&'SS.     — "  and  will  help  his   arm   against   the 


S 


ISAIAH. 

ChtkteailS*"  The  great  similitude  of  the  word- 
"HJW1  and  "V}P  might  easily  give  occasion  to  the  omi- 
sion  of  the  latter. 

Verse  16.  u  Come  ye  near  unto  me,"  c\c.  Bore 
tlie  Messiah*  in  his  incarnate  state,  takes  up  the  dis- 
course. It  is  agreed  by  St  Jerome,  Forerius,  (Kco- 
lampadius,  Menochius,  Sanctius,  Calvin,  Junius, 
Calovius,  Piscator,  Houbigant,  Lowth  the  father, 
Bishop  Lowth,  and  I  believe  by  all  expositors  of  any 
name,  except  Grotius,  and  that  contemptible  ape  of 
Grotius,  Samuel  White,  that  Messiah  is  the  speaker 
in  the  beginning  of  the  next  chapter.  From  the  be- 
ginning of  this  chapter  to  this  verse,  God  is  the 
speaker,  except  in  that  short  sentence  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  14th  verse,  which  the  prophet  throws  in, 
in  his  own  person.  NowT  if  we  examine  the  whole 
context,  from  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  to  the 
12th  of  the  next,  we  shall  find  no  intimation  of  a 
change  of  the  person  speaking,  but  in  this  16th 
verse;  in  which  a  change  of  the  speaker  is  clear!) 
intimated.  For  he,  who  now  speaks,  declares  that 
Jehovah  hath  sent  him  and  his  Spirit ;  and  heiag 
sent  of  Jehovah,  he  is  a  different  person  from  Jeho- 
vah, who  hitherto  hath  been  the  speaker.  What 
Jehovah  speaks,  in  any  part  of  the  twelve  first  ve? 

r  1 


344  ISAIAH. 

of  the  next  chapter,  he  is  related  by  Messiah  to  have 
spoken.  Messiah  therefore  is  there  the  immediate 
speaker.  And  since,  before  or  after  this  16th  verse, 
we  find  no  intimation  of  a  change  of  the  speaker  till 
the  12th  verse  of  the  next,  where  the  discourse 
manifestly  comes  to  a  conclusion ;  since  in  this  verse 
a  new  speaker  is  evidently  introduced;  it  follows, 
that  Messiah,  who  confessedly  is  the  speaker  in  the 
first  twelve  verses  of  the  next  chapter,  begins  to 
speak  here ;  and  what  he  speaks  in  the  next  chapter 
is  the  continuation  of  the  discourse  here  begun.  I 
cannot  think  that  this  verse  is  rightly  divided,  or 
has  been  well  understood.  The  general  sentiment 
seems  to  be,  that  Messiah,  who  in  former  times  had 
revealed  himself  but  obscurely,  comes  now,  in  his 
ncarnate  state,  to  speak  familiarly,  in  plain,  clear, 
unfigured  language,  to  all  mankind.  I  would  divide 
the  verse  thus : 

•ok  op  nrwi  r\yi2  won  nnos 

&c.  nnyi 

And  thus  I  would  render  it : 

Draw  near  unto  me,  and  hear  ye  this,  not  [heard]  from  the 
beginning ; 


ISAIAH.  i, 

In  mystery  I  spake,   [although]  from*  the  season  of  exist- 
ence I  subsist ; 
But  now  the  Lord  Jehovah  hath  sent  Me  and  his  Spirit. 

— "  from  the  season  of  existence" —  z.  e.  from  the 
beginning,  or  rather,  before  the  beginning  of  things. 

In  former  times  Messiah  revealed  himself  in  mvs- 

• 

tery;  in  the  typical  rites  of  sacrifice,  in  the  shadows 
of  the  temple-service,  and  in  prophecies  conceived 
in  figure  and  allegory :  but  in  the  days  of  his  flesh 
he  opened  the  doctrine  of  redemption  in  the  plain- 
est terms.  Observe,  that  from  "lpD  comes  the  noun 
nnDD,  and  thence  the  Greek  word  pv<rrr,giov.  In  an- 
other sense,  Messiah  in  former  times  spake  ">npDT 
i.  e.  in  disguise.  He  appeared  not  publicly  in  his 
true  form  of  the  God-Man.  He  exhibited  himself 
in  that  form  only  to  particular  persons,  and  in  the 
sanctuary  [literally,  "^riDD,  in  the  secret  place  of  the 
Jewish  temple].  However,  I  think  the  allusion  is 
rather  general  to  the  types  and  figures,  and  enigma- 
tical prophecies,  of  the  Jewish  and  the  patriarchal 
religions,  than  to  the  appearance  in  the  sanctuary 
pf  the  temple. 

Notwithstanding  the  early  promises  of  a  redeemer, 
the  great  scheme  of  universal  redemption,  and  the 

*  Or,  i  before.' 


346  ISAIAH. 

calling  of  the  Gentiles  to  a  share  in  the  privileges  of 
God's  church,  are  always  spoken  of  by  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  as  a  mystery  not  disclosed 
till  our  Lord's  corning  in  the  flesh,  and  with  good 
reason.  For  among  the  Jews,  their  national  preju- 
dices made  the  majority  of  the  people  blind  to  the 
meaning  of  their  rites,  and  misled  them  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  prophecies.  Among  the  Gentiles, 
however  general  the  expectations  might  be  of  a  hero 
from  the  east,  neither  the  particular  advantage  he 
was  to  bring  to  mankind,  nor  the  means,  nor  the 
manner  of  it,  were  at  all  understood. 

It  may  seem  an  objection  to  this  interpretation, 
that  in  chap,  xlv,  19,  God  says  by  the  prophet  that 
he  had  not  spoken  in  secret,  the  very  reverse  of 
what  the  Messiah,  according  to  my  exposition  of 
the  passage,  is  supposed  to  say  here.  But  in  the 
context  of  that  former  passage,  God,  by  his  prophet, 
has  been  arguing  the  case  between  himself  and  the 
idols  of  the  heathen,  shewing  his  own  omnipotence, 
and  their  utter  inactivity ;  his  own  perfect  fore- 
knowledge, their  ignorance,  which  nothing  more 
sensibly  evinced  than  the  event  of  true  prophecy 
compared  with  the  event  of  their  oracles  :  prophecy 
foretelling  things  at  the  distance  of  many  ages,  in 


ISAIAH. 

allegories  indeed  and  figures,  which  were  found 
however  to  correspond  with  the  event  when  it  took 
place,  and  to  carry  a  definite  appropriate  meaning: 
the  oracles  not  venturing  to  speak  of  things  at  hand 
but  in  terms  of  ambiguity,  which  were  incapable  of 
a  definite  meaning,  and  might  apply  indifferently  to 
contrary  events.  In  the  former  passage,  (rod,  con- 
trasting himself  with  the  idols,  says,  with  regard  to 
his  general  promises  of  mercy  and  protection  to  the 
Israelites,  that  he  had  not  spoken  secretly;  i.  e.  he 
had  not  spoken  like  the  oracles  in  the  disguise  6i 
fraudulent  equivocation,  and  had  not  given  his  re- 
sponses out  of  holes  and  caverns,  which  might  ren- 
der even  the  sound  of  the  words  but  half  articulate. 
In  this  passage,  Messiah,  comparing  the  enigmatical 
style  and  manner,  the  studied  reserve  as  it  were  of 
the  earlier  revelations,  with  the  clear  and  open  man- 
ner of  the  gospel,  justly  says,  that  in  former  times 
he  had  spoken  in  mystery.  To  us  now  the  prophe- 
cies of  the  universal  redemption,  and  even  of  the 
manner  of  it  by  our  Lord's  humiliation  and  suffer- 
ings, seem  in  many  parts  at  least  sufficiently  per- 
spicuous and  explicit.  But  if  we  consider  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  were  delivered,  in  figurative  lan- 
guage, many  of  them  grafted  upon  other  subjects, 


348  ISAIAH. 

introduced  abruptly  in  the  midst  of  other  things, 
and  the  clearest  of  them  often  interrupted  by  sub- 
ordinate  matter   occasionally  thrown   in,   we  may 
easily  conceive   that  the  obscurity  of  them   must 
have  been  very  great,  till  they  were  expounded  by 
the  actual  accomplishment.     And  this  we  may  the 
more  easily  understand  by  the  obscurity  which  yet 
remains  upon  those  that  relate  to  things  yet  to  come. 
The  conversion  of  the  Jews,  and  the  fall  of  Anti- 
christ, which  though  very  perspicuous  as  to  the  ge- 
neral promise  of  final  peace  and  prosperity  to  the 
church,   are   obscure  enough  with   respect  to   the 
detail  of  the  events  which  they  seem  to  contain. 
Certainly  therefore  the  Messiah  may  well  be  sup- 
posed to  say,  that  before  his  coming  in  the  flesh  he 
had  spoken  in  mystery.     In  comparison  with  the 
clear  language  of  the  gospels,  the  earlier  revelations 
had  been  "  a  speaking  darkly"  in  mystery.     In  com- 
parison with  the  pretended  oracles  of  the  heathen, 
the  prophecies  were  "  a  speaking  not  darkly,"  not 
in  the  disguise  of  equivocation. 

Verse  18.  — -"  thy  peace  as  a  river thy  right- 
eousness." — "  thy  peace ;"  1B*?tP,  national  prosper- 
ity. — "  thy  righteousness ;"  inp"l¥,  prosperous  state 
of  religion  and  the  church.    As  a  river,  *l»"W;  as  the 


ISAIAH.  349 

river  Euphrates,  a  large,  broad,  swelling,  full,  per- 
petual stream. 

Verses  18,  19.     Compare  St  Mat.  xxiii,  37. 

Verse  20.  "  Go  ye  forth  of  Babylon,"  &c.  The 
injunction  that  this  order  should  be  published  to  the 
ends  of  the  world,  implies,  as  is  well  observed  by 
Lowth  the  father,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  general  con- 
cern. It  is  a  mystical  Babylon  therefore  that  is  here 
intended.     Compare  Apoc.  xviii,  4. 

Verse  21.  "  And  they  thirsted  not,"  &c.  Kimchi, 
says  Bishop  Lowth,  has  a  surprising  observation 
upon  this  passage.  "  If  the  prophecy  (says  he)  re- 
lates to  the  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  as 
it  seems  to  do,  it  is  to  be  wondered  how  it  comes  to 
pass,  that  in  the  book  of  Ezra,  in  which  he  gives  an 
account  of  their  return,  no  mention  is  made  that 
such  miracles  were  wrought  for  them ;  as,  for  in- 
stance, that  God  clave  the  rock  for  them  in  the  de- 
sert." I  must  confess,  I  should  concur  with  the 
learned  rabbi  in  this  wondernment,  unreasonable  as 
Bishop  Lowth  seems  to  think  it,  if  I  thought,  as  he 
thought,  that  this  prophecy  relates  to  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylonian  captivity. 
"  How  came  he,"  says  Bishop  Lowth,  "  to  keep  his 
wonderment  to  himself  so  long?     Why  did  not  he 


350  ISAIAH. 

expect,  that  the  historians  should  have  related  how, 
as  they  passed  through  the  desert,  cedars,  pines,  and 
olive-trees  shot  up  at  once  on  the  side  of  the  way  to 
shade  them,  and  that,  instead  of  briers  and  brambles, 
the  acacia  and  the  myrtle  sprung  up  under  their 
feet,  according  to  God's  promises,  chap,  xli,  19,  and 
Iv,  13?  These,  and  a  multitude  of  the  like  para- 
bolical or  poetical  images,  were  never  intended  to 
be  understood  literally."  Certainly  not.  But  they 
are  images  of  God's  power  displayed  miraculously, 
in  effects  out  of  the  course  of  nature,  and  out  of  the 
reach  of  human  power  and  human  policy.  They  are 
images  of  such  effects  of  God's  power,  or  they  have 
no  meaning.  And  I  cannot  but  think,  that  it  would 
be  matter  of  just  wonderment,  if  such  images  were 
applied  to  an  event  for  the  compassing  of  which  no 
miraculous  means  were  employed.  The  great  won- 
der is,  that  the  Jewish  critic,  who  could  make  this 
judicious  remark,  should  not  have  seen  the  inevit- 
able consequence  that  this  prophecy  could  have  no 
immediate  relation  to  the  restoration  of  the  Jews 
from  the  Babylonian  captivity. 

Vitringa,  who,  though  he  strenuously  contends, 
but  as  I  think  on  insufficient  grounds,  for  the  appli- 
cation of  this  prophecy  to  the  deliverance  from  Ba- 


ISAIAH.  Sftl 

bylon  as  its  first  and  more  immediate  object,  main- 
tains however  that  the  terms  of  it  involve  a  higher  and 
a  mystic  meaning,  in  which  it  is  applicable  only  to 
the  great  deliverance  wrought  for  mankind  by  Christ, 
and  he  remarks  with  great  truth,  that  in  this,  and 
in  other  passages  of  the  prophets,  the  circumstances 
of  the  two  deliverances  from  the  Egyptian  bondage 
and  the  Babylonian  captivity  seem  to  be  purposely 
blended  together  and  confounded.  In  Isaiah,  vol.  ii, 
p.  557,  2.  The  remark  is  just,  and  worthy  of  its 
author.  But  I  would  add  to  it,  that  this  confusion 
and  mixture  of  the  circumstances  of  these  two  trans- 
actions may  be  taken  as  an  evident  symptom  of  a 
mystical  meaning,  in  every  prophetic  text  in  which 
it  is  found :  for  this  reason,  that  every  such  texts 
applying  in  part  to  one  thing,  and  in  part  to  another, 
is  in  the  whole  applicable  to  neither.  Being  appli- 
cable therefore  to  no  one  thing  in  the  literal  mean- 
ing of  the  terms  in  which  it  is  conveyed,  its  true 
application  must  be  to  that  spiritual  deliverance,  of 
which  the  different  things,  to  which  its  parts  are  li- 
terally applicable  were  in  some  sort  types. 

Though  in  this  passage  I  cannot  admit  Vitringa's 
interpretation  of  the  cleaving  of  the  rock,  and  the 
supply  of  water  in  the  desert,  for  I  contend  that 


Sflt  ISAIAH. 

these  must  be  images  of  miraculous  effects  of  God's 
power;  whereas  the  events  to  which  he  applies 
them,  though  effected  unquestionably  by  God's  pro- 
vidence, were  effected  in  the  ordinary  way,  not  by 
miracle ;  yet,  upon  the  whole,  I  could  easily  adopt 
his  double  sense  of  the  prophecy,  were  it  not  that 
the  scene  is  evidently  laid  in  times  subsequent  to 
the  return  from  the  Babylonian  captivity.  The  time 
of  the  prophetic  scene  therefore  excludes  any  direct 
application  of  the  prophecy  to  that  event.  It  is  true 
it  describes  the  spiritual  deliverance,  which  is  its 
real  object,  in  allusions  to  the  deliverance  from  Ba- 
bylon. And  in  prophecy,  an  allusion  to  a  future 
event,  as  having  taken  place,  and  as  an  earnest  of 
something  beyond  it,  is  indeed  by  implication  a  per- 
emptory prediction  of  it. 

Verse  22,  an  awful  intimation  to  the  Jews,  that 
no  promises  to  a  particular  family  will  screen  the 

impenitent  from  punishment. 
i 

CHAP.  XLIX. 

Verse  3.  — "  Thou  art  my  servant,  O  Israel,  in 
whom  I  will  be  glorified;"  rather,  with  Bishop 
Lowth,  "  Thou  art  my  servant ;  Israel,  in  whom  I 
will  be  glorified."     That  is,  thou  art  my  servant; 


ISAIAH. 

thou  art  Israel  according  to  the  true  import  of  the 
name ;  thou  art  he  in  whom  I  will  be  glorified.  See 
Bishop  Lowth's  excellent  note. 

Verse  5.  — "  though  Israel  be  not  gathered" — 
The  sense  is  <rood  whether  we  read  N7  0r  V?.  If  we 
read  N^,  tlie  sense  is,  that  notwithstanding  the  in* 
credulity  of  the  Jews,  Messiah  should  be  glorified  in 
the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles.  If  we  read  1 ',  the 
sense  is,  that  Israel  shall  indeed  one  time  or  other 
be  gathered  notwithstanding  their  stubborn  incre- 
dulity in  the  days  of  our  Lord's  appearance  in  the 
flesh.  According  to  the  latter  reading,  which  of  the 
two  seems  preferable,  the  whole  5th  verse  after  the 
introductory  words  tW*  TPK  nnyi  is  a  parenthesis. 
See  Bishop  Lowth's  translation. 

Verse  6.  — "  the  tribes — the  preserved" —  excel- 
lently rendered  by  Bishop  Lowth,  "  the  cions — the 
branches." 

Verse  7.  — "  and  his  Holy  One."  For  W9tfi  read, 
according  to  Archbishop  Seeker's  conjecture,  WVfr, 
"  to  his  Holy  One." 

— "  whom  man  despiseth j"  rather,  with  Bishop 
Lowth,  "  whose  person  is  despised." 

— "  kings  shall  see,  and  arise,"  &c.  It  is  a  very 
extraordinary  remark  of  Mr  White's,  what  would  at 

VOL.  II.  Z 


35*  ISAIAH. 

least  have  been  extraordinary  had  it  dropped  from 
any  other  pen,  that  "  nothing  of  this  kind  ever  hap- 
pened to  our  Saviour;"  as  if  these  images  of  homage 
paid  to  the  Messiah  by  the  potentates  of  the  earth 
were  not  frequent  in  the  prophetic  scriptures.  And 
how  happened  any  thing  of  this  kind  to  Isaiah,  to 
whom  Mr  White  applies  these  images?  He  was 
honoured,  it  seems,  by  Eliakim,  and  other  princes  of 
Hezekiah's  court.     Admirable  critic  ! 

— u  Est  autem  illud,  '  videre,' veritatem  evan- 

gelii,  ej usque  nexum,  decentiam,  rationalitatem  ocu- 
lo  spirituali  contemplari  ac  perspicerej  earn  integra 
tide  cum  amore  admittere ;  salutem  ea  oblatam  cum 
gratiarum  actione  amplecti;  et  doctrinae  salutisque 
auctori  cum  reverentia  et  obsequio  cultum  exhibere, 
quern  doctrinae  puritas  et  praestantia  et  magnitude 

salutis  exposcunt :  qui  cultus significatur  vocibus 

'  surgendi,*  h.  e.  reverentias  causa  assurgendi,  et  '  se 
incurvandi.'  — -Hie  involvit  omnem  actum  profun- 
dae  reverentiae,  honoris,  obsequii,  fiducise  quern  ver- 
bum  evangelii  erga  Christum  Jesum,  et  in  Christo 
Jesu,  Deum  Patrem,  et  Spiritum  ejus ;  turn  quoque 
erga  veritatem  evangelicam,  religionem,  et  sacra ;  et 
erga  ecclesiam  et  doctores  ejus,  praescribit.  Quae 
reverentia  sic  dispensanda  est,  ut  cuj usque  objecti 


ISAIAH. 

ratio  postulat sic  tamen  ut  pnrcipuum  objectum 

hujus  cultus  sit,  mancatque,  Christus  Jesus  qua  doc- 
tor et  mediator."     Vrtringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  675,  2. 

Verse  8.  — Cl  for  a  covenant  of  the  people,"  &e. ; 
rather,  "  for  a  purification  [or,  a  purifier]  of  the 
people,  to  restore  the  land,  and  give  possession  of 
the  desolate  heritages."  The  mention  of  people 
here  (Dp)  in  the  singular,  clearly  proves  that  the 
land  to  be  restored  is  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and  that 
the  latter  part  of  this  and  the  whole  following  verse 
contain  a  promise  of  restoration  to  the  natural  Israel- 
ites. For  the  distinction  between  DJJ  in  the  singular 
and  na^oy  in  the  plural,  the  one  denoting  the  single 
people  of  the  Jews,  the  other  all  the  peoples  of  the 
earth  promiscuously,  is,  I  believe,  without  a  single 
exception. 

Nevertheless,  considering  that  the  style  here  is 
highly  figured  and  poetical,  and  considering  how 
immediately  this  verse  is  connected  with  the  de- 
scription of  the  Messiah  as  the  universal  redeemer 
in  the  6th  and  7th,  I  am  at  last  inclined  to  think 
that  oy  in  the  singular  in  this  place  may  denote  the 
Christian  church,  gathered  out  of  Jews  and  Gentiles 
indiscriminately,  under  the  image  of  a  new  peculiar 
people  of  God.     The  natural  Israel  was  certainly  a 


356  ISAIAH. 

type  of  the  spiritual.  The  learned  Vitringa  ex- 
pounds this  verse,  not  of  a  literal  restoration  of  the 
Jews,  but  of  the  first  plantation  of  the  Christian 
church.  His  exposition  is  perspicuous  and  satisfac- 
tory. 

— "  to  cause  to  inherit  the  desolate  heritages." 
— "  *  ad  erciscundam  [haeredibus]  haereditatem  lo- 

corum  desolatorum.*     Intellige gentes,  longum 

tempus  alienatas   a  Dei   communione,   versatas  in 

crassa  ignorantia  Dei  ac  verse  religionis quarum 

haereditaria  possessio  promissa  erat  semini  Abra- 
'  hami.  Hae  gentes,  extra  Cananaeam  omnes,  Deo  et 
Sanctis  spirituali  oculo  eas  contemplantibus,  obver- 
sabantur  tanquam  vastum  mare ;  sterile  desertum ; 
incultus  vel  vastatus  ager,  civitates  desolatae ;  con- 
fusum  quoddam  et  permistum  chaos ;  solum  infrugi- 
ferum  nullo  cultu  et  cura  subactum— — haeredia 
desolata,  quae  Messias,  tanquam  alter  Josua,  haeredi- 
bus veris,  divisit,  quippe  cura  providentiae  suae  et 
gratis  effecit,  ut  per  totum  orbem  cultarum  mundi 
regionum  extiterint  ecclesiae."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol. 
ii,  p*  577,  578. 

Verse  9.  — "  prisoners them  that  are  in  dark- 
ness."   — "  Refer  hoc  loco  *  vinctos'  ad  Judaeos 

devinctos  jugo  collis  ipsorum  per  Mosen  imposito. 


ISAIAH. 

Per  '  lios  qui  in  tenebris  sunt,'  gentes,  intdligentiil 
omni  vera,  et  solida  consolatione  destitutas."  Vi- 
tringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  578,  2. 

— "  in  the  ways in  all  high  places."    — "  Phra- 

sis  '  apud  vias  et  in  eminentibus  locis  pascere,'  valet 
pascua  habere  non  in  desertis  (quorum  proprietas 
est  non  habere  vias,  nee  frugiferos  atque  amcenos 
colles,  in  quibus  greges  pecudesque  cum  delectati- 
one  pascunt)  sed  in  cultis  habitatisque  locis,  per 
vias  publicas  distinctis ;  et  in  la?tis  gramme  collibus, 
iisque  subjectis  vallibus,  ubi  commodissima  pastio 

est. Qua?ris  sensum  spiritualem  ? Docetur  sub 

hoc  emblemate,  ecclesias,  Christo  Jesu  ut  pastori 
summo,  primo  tempore  gratiae  non  esse  colligendas 
in  locis  obscuris,  ignotis,  longissime  dissitis  a  culto 
orbe  >  verum  in  celeberrimis,  cultissimis,  atque  emi- 
nentissimis  locis    Komani   imperii,   in  quibus  usus 

liominum  et  commercia  maxime  vigerent. Anti- 

ochiae,  Alexandria?,  Tyri,  Ephesi,  Thessalonicae,  Co- 
rinthi,  Roma?,  aliisque  eminentissimis  locis  Romani 
imperii.,,     Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  579,  580. 

Verses  10,  11.     Compare  Apoc.  \  ii,  1G. 

Verse  11.  — "  and  my  highways  shall  be  exalted. ' 
— "  and  my  causeys  shall  be  raised  high." 

— "  mountains — highways."    "Mountains,"  great 

z  s 


358  ISAIAH. 

kingdoms,  such  as  those  of  Egypt,  Syria,  Cappado* 
cia,  Pontus,  Asia,  Macedonia,  Epire,  Illyricum,  the 
Spains,  the  Gauls,  and  many  others.  All  these 
mountains  were  levelled  and  reduced  to  a  plain; 
these  great  kingdoms  being  either  destroyed  by  the 
Romans,  or  in  one  way  or  another  brought  into  sub- 
jection to  them,  which  was  the  means  of  opening 
that  free  communication  between  the  principal  na- 
tions of  the  civilized  world,  which  gave  great  facili- 
ty to  the  propagation  of  the  gospel.  See  Vitringa, 
vol.  ii,  p.  583,  1. 

— "  highways."   — "  Significatur  fore,  ut  doctrina 

rldei quae  doctrina  est  via  qua  incedunt  quotquot 

se  aggregant  ecclesiae,  circa  illud  tempus  praecipue 
quod  haec  prophetia  in  emphasi  respicit  [Constantini 
MagniJ  clarius  demonstretur  ad  conscientiam,  ad- 
struatur,  vindicetur,  extollatur  et  omnium  expona- 
tur  oculis  tanquam  una,  vera,  probataque  via  salutis. 
2.  yt  eadem  via,  sive  doctrina  ecclesiae  muniatur 
protectione  ac  defensione  publica,  atque  adeo  liceat 
absque  metu  discriminis,  absque  in  cursu  ferarum, 
sub  umbra,  imperii  civilis,  eandem  profited,  plane  ut 
propheta  dixerat,  cap.  xxxv,  7,  8."     Vitringa,  ibid. 

— "  land  of  Sinim ;"  i.  e*  of  the  Egyptians,  so 
called  from  the  frontier  town  Pelusium,  the  Hebrew 


ISAIAH. 

name  of  which  was  pD.     Su    Vitringa,   vol.  ii,   p. 
584,  1. 

Verse  12.  — i(  and  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim." 
Here  I  think  the  chapter  should  have  been  divided. 
These  twelve  verses  should  have  been  joined  to  the 
last  chapter,  and  the  next  fourteen  by  themselves 
should  have  made  the  forty-ninth.  The  Messiah 
has  been  the  speaker  from  the  16th  verse  of  the  last 
chapter.  The  subject  hitherto  has  been  the  common 
salvation  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  with  intimations  of 
the  incredulity  of  the  Jews  upon  our  Lord's  appear- 
ance among  them.  In  what  follows  from  this  place 
the  Messiah  is  still  the  speaker ;  but  the  discourse 
is  immediately  addressed  to  the  primitive  apostolic 
church,  consisting  of  native  Jews;  and  when  the 
converted  Gentiles  are  mentioned,  they  are  men- 
tioned as  an  appendage  of  the  original  Jewish  church, 
as  adopted  sons  of  Israel  in  some  sort  of  subordina- 
tion to  Jerusalem,  the  mother  of  us  all. 

Verse  14.  — u  Zion  said" —  Zion,  the  holy  seed, 
the  remnant  of  the  true  Israelites,  which  lay  con- 
cealed in  the  mass  of  the  natural  Israel,  from  the 
time  of  the  restoration  from  the  Babylonian  captivi- 
ty to  the  epoch  of  our  Lord's  appearance,  and  the 
promulgation  of  the  gospel. 

/  4 


360  ISAIAH. 

Verse  17.    "  Thy  children/'  &c. ;    rather,  with 

Bishop  Lowth, 

*<  They  that  destroyed  thee  shall  soon  become  thy  builders, 

And  they  that  laid  thee  waste  shall  become  thine  offspring.5* 

Or,  which  I  should  still  prefer, 

Thy  builders  are  ready ;  thy  demolishers 
And  destroyers  shall  depart  from  thee. 

— "  demolishers  and  destroyers.'*  — "  Falsi  apo- 
stoli,  falsi  fratres  ecclesiam  primaevam  vastantes." 
Vitringa  ad  locum. 

Verse  18.  — "  Fige  scenam  in  primis  annis  Tra- 
jani — Loquitur  de  statu  atque  incremento  incredibili 
ecclesiae  sub  Nerva,  Trajano,  Hadriano,  Antoninis." 
Vitringa  ad  locum. 

— "  as  a  bride."  Read,  with  LXX  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  n^5  IWbb';  "  as  a  bride  her  jewels." 

Verse  20.  "  The  children ears  }**  rather,  with 

Bishop  Lowth, 

"  The  sons,  of  whom  thou  wast  bereaved,  shall  yet  say  in  thine 
ears" — 

— "  give  place  to  me  J,s  rather,  M  stand  close  for 
me." 

Verse  21.  — "  I  have  lost  my  children,  and  am 
desolate,  a  captive,  and  removing  to  and  fro  ? "  ra- 
ther, "  I  was  bereaved  of  my  children,  and  barren, 
an  outlaw  [or  exile],  and  an  outcast  ? " 


ISAIAH.  S61 

Does  not  this  21st  verse  allude  to  a  future  unex- 
pected restoration  of  the  ten  tribes  ? 

Verse  22.  — "  to  the  people;"  — M  peoples,"  D^Dy 
in  the  plural.  These  Gentiles  and  peoples  who  are 
to  bring  the  sons  of  Zion  in  their  bosoms,  and  carry 
her  daughters  on  their  shoulders,  are  certainly  dif- 
ferent persons  from  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Zion, 
who  are  to  be  so  borne.  And  yet  they  must  bear 
good  will  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Zion,  and 
therefore  must  be  of  the  true  religion :  which  is  stiii 
more  evident  from  this  consideration,  that  it  will  be 
in  obedience  to  the  express  command  of  God,  upon 
his  lifting  up  his  hand,  and  raising  his  signal,  that 
they  will  be  thus  zealous  for  the  service  of  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  Zion.  And  again,  these  sons  and 
daughters  of  Zion,  in  whose  behalf  God  will  thus 
interpose,  by  lifting  up  his  hand  to  the  nations,  and 
raising  his  signal  to  the  peoples,  must  also  be  of  the 
true  religion.  Hence  it  is  manifest  that  this  pro- 
phecy cannot  be  expounded  simply  of  the  calling  of 
the  Gentiles,  but  it  must  be  understood  of  the  con- 
version and  restoration  of  the  Jews,  and  of  the  good 
offices  that  the  converted  Jews  will  receive  from 
their  brethren  of  the  Gentiles. 

If  the  singular  D}7  may  denote  the  one  communi- 


362  ISAIAH. 

ty  of  the  church,  though  gathered  from  various  na- 
tions, as  typified  by  the  one  nation  of  the  natural 
Israel  (see  verse  8) ;  so  CTOJJ  in  the  plural  may  de- 
note the  various  bodies  and  sects  of  the  church's 
enemies,  of  which  the  idolatrous  nations  of  the  hea- 
then world,  as  distinguished  from  the  Jews,  wTere 
types :  the  sense  then  will  be,  that  the  providence 
of  God  will  bring  over  the  adversaries  of  the  church 
of  all  sorts  to  be  on  her  side ;  that  he  will  engage  in 
defence  of  his  church  and  of  the  true  religion  the 
learning  and  the  talents  of  philosophers  and  orators, 
the  policy  of  statesmen,  the  patronage  of  the  great, 
the  authority  of  kings.  Or,  without  refining  so 
much  upon  the  force  of  the  wordCEy,  we  may  say, 
with  Vitringa,  that  it  describes  the  Gentile  converts 
as  what  they  were  originally,  and  by  birth.  Vitrin- 
ga, who  expounds  the  text  of  the  protection  given 
to  the  church  by  government  after  the  extinction  of 
the  persecuting  princes,  Diocletian,  Maximinian, 
&c.  was  aware  of  the  objection,  that  the  peoples 
wTere  different  from  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Zion 
whom  they  carried.  "  Dices  gentes  et  populos,  qui 
gestarent  filios  et  filias  Zioneas,  utique  censeri  ab  iis 
esse  distinctos  ac  diversos?"  He  answers,  "  Re- 
spondeo  esse  omnino,   secundum  ilium  respectum 


ISAIAH.  363 

quo  hie  occurrunt.  Qua  enim  Zioneof  cives  gestant 
et  forent,  censentur  origin  it  us,  (sit  las  ita  loqui)  ad 
ecclesiam  non  pertinere,  vel  pertinuisse  quippe  ortu 
pagani."  Vol.  ii,  p.  595,  2.  To  which  we  may  add, 
that  by  virtue  of  the  edicts  of  Constant ine  and  the 
succeeding  Christian  emperors,  even  the  unconvert- 
ed subjects  of  the  empire  were  compelled  to  contri- 
bute to  the  support  of  the  church. 

— "  my  hand  to  the  Gentiles my  standard  to 

the  peoples."     — "  Peculiari  sensu  affirmo,  per  ma- 

num  Dei  et  signum  ejus esse  intelligenda  edicta 

imperatorum,  et,  post  sublatum  quoque  Licinium, 
solius  Constantini ;  per  qua?  edicta  populi  obligati 
fuerunt  ad  subveniendum  necessitatibus  ecclesiae,  et 
res  illius  promovendas."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p. 
595,  2.  Still  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  true  appli- 
cation of  the  prophecy  is  to  the  final  restoration  of 
the  Jews. 

Verses  24,  25.  "  Shall  the  prey shall  be  de- 
livered." The  words  I  think  will  bear  another 
reading : 

24  Shall  the  booty  be  taken  from  the  mighty  ? 
Or  shall  the  Just  One  set  the  captives  free  ? 

25  Verily  thus  saith  Jehovah, 

Even  the  captives  shall  seize  the  mighty, 

And  the  tyrant  [himself]  shall  relinquish  the  booty. 


36*  ISAIAH. 

CHAP.  L. 

Messiah  is  still  the  speaker.  He  declares  that  the 
judgments  which  were  to  fall  upon  the  Jews  were 
provoked  by  their  crimes,  principally  by  their  rejec- 
tion and  ill  treatment  of  the  Redeemer ;  and  with 
the  severest  rebukes  and  threatenings  intermixes 
clear  intimations  that  they  are  not  finally  cast  off. 

Verse  1.  The  Jews,  in  their  present  state  of  dis- 
persion, are  addressed.  They  are  told  that  they 
suffer  for  their  apostacy ;  but  yet  that  their  mother 
has  received  no  regular  bill  of  divorce,  nor  are  they 
made  over  to  any  creditor  to  satisfy  a  debt.  God 
therefore  still  retains  the  right  of  a  husband  over 
their  mother,  whom  he  has  turned  out  of  doors  for 
her  perverseness  ;  and  the  right  of  a  father  over  the 
children,  whom  he  has  not  sold,  though  they  have 
offended.  And  inasmuch  as  he  retains  these  rights, 
it  is  implied,  that  upon  their  submission  he  will  take 
both  the  mother  and  the  children  home  again. 

It  may  seem  an  objection  to  this  interpretation, 
that  God  says  of  the  mother,  that  although  he  had 
not  divorced  her,  yet  she  was  put  away ;  and  of  the 
children,  that  they  were  sold,  though  he  had  not 
sold  them.     Vitringa's  exposition  certainly  avoids 


ISAIAH.  365 

this  difficulty :  — "  Emblema  prophet®,  ex  meo  sen- 
su  hie  desumptum  est  a  marito,  qui  licet  ipse  para- 
tus  esset  indulgentia  uti  erga  conjugem,  officii  et 
honestatis  limites  longe  excedentem,  a  foro  judiciali 
obligatur  et  cogitur  ad  uxorem  suam  diiuitten(lam ; 
ut  adeo  non  tarn  ipse,  quam  judicium  forense,  in 
causa  esse  censeatur  dimissionis  uxoris.  Quod  ob- 
servatum,  ut  satisfacit  omni  dubio  hujus  loci,  sic 
perfecte  respondet  emblemati  sequenti,  quo  Deus 
negat,  se  eos  vendidisse  creditoribus  suis,  cum  vere 
ipsi  a  foro  judiciali,  tanquam  debitores,  propter  de- 
bita  sua  venditi  sint."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  603, 1. 
Nor  according  to  this  interpretation  is  the  case  of 
the  Jewish  nation  hopeless.  — "  Licebat  enim  viro, 
conjugem  suam,  a  se  per  libellum  dimissam,  si  hac- 
tenus  fidem  suam  alii  marito  non  obstrinxisset,  et 
resipisceret,  rapto  divortio  do  mum  reducere,  et  con- 
suetudinem  priorem  instaurare.,,  Vitringa  in  Is. 
vol.  ii,  p.  604,  1. 

— "  have  you  sold  yourselves  ;"  rather,  "  ye  are 
^old."     Bishop  Lowth. 

Verses  2,  3.     "  Idem  loquitur,  qui  mox  dicturus 

est,  6  corpus  meutn  dedi  percutientibus' ut  non 

relinquatur  dubitandi  locus,  totum  hunc  sermonem 
esse  HcnniniftlM^     Houbigant  ad  locum. 


366  ISAIAH. 


Verses  4,  5.  — "  that  I  should  know — >— opened 


mine  ear." 


The  construction  is  wonderfully  obscure  in  the 
original,  and  the  version  of  the  LXX  seems  to  indi- 
cate that  they  followed  another  reading.  Houbigant 
proposes  emendations,  which  make  an  easy  con- 
struction  and  good  sense.  But  I  think  the  easiest 
emendation  would  be  to  affix  the  pronoun  *  to  the 
word  *0!1  (which,  as  the  next  word  begins  with  \ 
may  easily  be  admitted),  and  to  alter  the  stops, 
thus : 

jniyS  njnS  onych  ptpS 
j?k  iS  t»jt>  np»  ipsa 
jm  iS  nnsj  nw  vm   5 

^M  &C. 

4  The  Lord  Jehovah  hath  given  unto  me 

A  learned  tongue,  to  know  to  be  in  season  [i.  e.  to  time  my 

instructions  well]. 
My  word  shall  enliven  the  weary : 
Each  morn  he  [/.  e.  the  weary]  shall  raise  the  ear  to  me 

[arriget  mihi  aurem], 
To  hearken,  after  the  manner  of  disciples. 

5  The  Lord  Jehovah  hath  opened  mine  own  ear, 
&c. 


ISAIAH.  367 

Verse  6.  "  I  gave  my  back,"  &c.  See  the  excel- 
lent note  of  Houbigant  upon  this  passage,  in  which 
he  exposes  the  absurdity  of  Grotius's  attempt  to  ap- 
ply these  things  to  the  prophet  Isaiah. 

Verse  9.  — "  they  all  shall  wax  old eat  them 

up."  For  D^  and  X=hw\  the  LXX  read  raS  and 
&h**\  and  for  &&  perhaps  ton.  _«  ye  all  shall 
wax  old- — —eat  you  up." 

Verse  10.  — "  that  obeyed" —  For  pDVj  Bishop 
Lowthj  with  the  LXX^  reads  yW\  which  adds  much 
to  the  spirit  and  elegance  of  the  sentence.  — "  let 
him  hearken  to  the  voice" — 

— "  that  walketh  in  darkness,  and  hath  no  light;" 
rather,  "  no  sunshine." 

— <c  Id  accipiendum  ab  una  parte  de  afflictionibus 
et  casibus  tristibus  atque  injucundis,  qui  credentibus 
in  Christum  acciderent ;  ab  altera  de  tenebris  mentis 
inde  ortis ;  //.  e.  de  anxietate,  sollicitudine,  metu, 
tristitia  quae  gaudium  illorum,  non  extinguerent  qui- 
dem  attamen  imminuerent;  et  spem  non  tollerent 
quidem    verum    labefactarent ;    et   fiduciam,    quam 

mente  conceperant  maximam  infirmarent. Vates 

noster  non  scripsit  hoc  in  loco ^  *VN  pm  verum 

V?  H4V  pK\  Innuit  se  loqui  de  subjectis,  quorum 
imminuta  fuerit  consolatio  et  attenuata  spes,   non 


368  ISAIAH. 

vere  extincta— est  enim  STM,  *  splendor,5  plus  quam 
*)&£,  c  lux/  Significatur  electos  hosce  credentes  eo 
esse  statu,  ut  non  perspiciant  clare  et  serene,  quae 
consequentia  essent,  quis  exitus  esset,  eorum  even- 
tuum  qui  ipsis  accidebant.  Ankni  illorum  erant 
psrto^iropim"  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  614,  1. 
— "  Scena.hujus  alloquii  Agenda  est  in  ipso  tempore, 
quo  Filius  Dei  in  terris  versatus  est,  proximus  exi- 
tur  ex  mundo.  Sed  extenditur  usque  ad  tempora 
Trajani  et  Hadriani."     Ibid. 

Verse  11*  — "  that  compass  yourselves  about  with 
sparks  j"  rather,  "  forming  a  ring  round  the  flames." 
Instead  of  walking  by  the  light  of  God's  holy  doc- 
trine, ye  endeavour  to  raise  a  light  of  your  own  $ 
the  light  of  false  philosophy  and  human  imagina- 
tions, 

CHAP.  LI. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  fifty-first  chapter  Messiah 
is  still  the  speaker,  and  perhaps  through  the  whole 
of  it,  but  certainly  to  the  end  of  the  16th  verse. 
Vitringa  puts  the  9th,  10th,  and  11th  verses  into 
the  mouth  of  a  chorus  of  the  saints,  praying  in  the 
two  former  for  God's  interposition  in  behalf  of  his 
church,    and  in  the  last  prophetically  promising 


ISAIAH. 

themselves  that  their  prayer  will  be  granted.  In  this 
I  believe  he  is  right.  The  five  verses  following  (viz. 
12 — 16)  he  assigns  to  God  the  Rathe*.  But  they 
seem  to  me  not  improper  in  the  month  of  the  Son. 
He  speaks  to  the  few  pious  Jews  who  received  him 
as  the  Saviour,  and  he  apprises  them  of  the  call  of 
the  Gentiles,  and  promises  the  final  deliverance  and 
prosperity  of  the  church. 

Verse  4.  — "O  my  nation;"  rather,  "  O  mv 
countrymen. "  — u  Contributes  mei."  Houbigant. 
But  Bishop  Lowth,  upon  the  authority  of  the  Syriac 
and  some  MSS,  changes  ^BJJ  and  ^^  into  P^PP  and 
ED^2N^,  that  the  address  may  be  made  not  to  the 
Jews,  but  to  the  Gentiles. 

— "  of  the  people."     — "  of  the  peoples."  CWJJ. 

Verse  6.  — u  shall  die  in  like  manner."  From 
these  words  St  Jerome  draws  an  argument,  that  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  are  not  to  be  destroyed,  but 
to  undergo  a  change  for  the  better.  But  the  true 
rendering  of  p  V22  is  not  ■  in  like  manner,'  but  '  like 
lice.'     See  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  626,  not.  a. 

Verses  12,  13.  — "  Fige  scenam  ejus  quod  hie  ex- 
hibetur,  cum  in  aliis  persecutionibus  quae  in  tentatae 
sunt  populo  Christi,  primo  illo  tempore  nascentis 

VOL.  II.  A  A 


370  ISAIAH. 

ecclesiae ;  turn  praecipue  in  Diocletianea."  Vitringa 
in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  629,  1. 

12.  — "  that  thou  shouldest  be  afraid,"  &c.  Not- 
withstanding the  examples  of  constancy  in  many 
martyrs  and  confessors,  very  great  numbers  not  only 
of  the  laity,  but  of  ecclesiastics  of  every  order, 
shrunk  from  the  terrors  of  persecution.  — "  Ad 
prima  statim  verba  minantis  inimici  maximus  fra- 
trum  numerus  fidem  suam  prodidit."  Cyprian,  de 
laps.  serm.  5. 

— "  of  a  man  that  shall  die."  — "  Nee  tamen  hie 
fantum  cogitandum  de  mortalitate  et  fragilitate 
principum  persecutorum,  verum  etiam  de  mortali- 
tate ipsius  imperii.  Roma  paganaaliquandodesineret 
esse ;  brevi  exaresceret,  et  collum  subderet  Christo, 
et  successio  horum  principum  rescinderetur."  Vi- 
tringa, ibid. 

13.  — "  and  forgettest."  — K  Oblivisci  hie  per- 
tinet  ad  idololatriam,  et  convicia  Christo  dicenda." 
Vitringa,  p.  629,  2. 

"and  where  is  the  fury  of  the  oppressor?" 

— "  Ubi  sunt  modo  magnifica  ilia,  et  clara  per  gen- 
tes,  Joviorum  et  Herculiorum  nomina,  quae  primum 
a  Dioclete  et  Maximiano  insolenter  assumpta,  ac 
postmodum  ad  successores  eorum  translata  vigue- 


ISAIAH.  371 

runt?  Nempe  delevit  ca  Dominus,  et  erasit  de  ter- 
ra."    Lactant  de  Mort.  Pers. 

— "  because  of  the  fury  of  the  oppressor,  as  if  he 
were  ready" —  For  IVtt  ptDTt,  read,  witli  the 
LXX,  Dr  Jubb,  and  Bishop  Lowth,  ntfK  -yp^DPi ; 
u  of  thine  oppressor." 

14«  The  prisoner  shall  soon  be  released;, 

And  he  shall  not  die  in  the  pit, 

And  his  bread  shall  not  be  deficient. 
— "  The  prisoner" —  The  Hebrew  word  T\yi 
seems  to  describe  a  prisoner  chained  at  full  length 
to  the  floor.  (See  Parkhurst's  Lexicon,  fip¥,  iv ;  and 
Blaney  on  Jer.  xlviii,  12).  That  a  person  in  con- 
finement is  meant  appears  from  the  context. 

Verse  16.  — "that  I  may  plant while  I  plant  f 

rather,  u  to  extend to  lay and  to  say."    In  this 

verse  the  transition  is  made  from  the  subject  of  the 
deliverance  of  the  primitive  church  from  persecu- 
tion pursued  from  verse  7  to  this  place,  to  that  ot 
the  final  conversion  and  restoration  of  the  Jews. 
For  the  Jewish  people  is  the  Zion  here  meant.  God 
tells  the  church,  rescued  from  her  enemies,  and 
protected  by  the  civil  power,  that  "  he  hath  put  his 
word  in  her  mouth  ;"  i.  e.  made  her  the  depositary 
of  the  true  religion,  and  employed  her  in  the  further 

A  A  2 


372  ISAIAH. 

propagation  of  the  faith  she  has  herself  received, 
and  "  sheltered  her  under  the  shadow  of  his  hand," 
defended  her  by  his  immediate  special  protection ; 
that  she  may  be  the  instrument  of  effecting  the 
greatest  purposes  of  his  providence ;  "  extend  the 
heavens,  and  lay  the  foundations  of  the  earth;"  espe- 
cially that  great  purpose  of  his  mercy,  of  restoring 
the  Jewish  people  to  his  favour.     The  church  will 
be  authorised  to  say  to  the  natural  Israel,  in  the 
proper  season,  Thou  art  Jehovah's  people ;  k  e.  to 
admit  them  into  her  own  society,  and  acknowledge 
them  for  a  member,  (perhaps  at  last)  a  principal  of 
the  mystical  body  of  Christ.     This  authority  is  evi- 
dently contained  in  the  power  of  the  keys,  and  of 
forgiving  and  retaining  sins,  expressly  conferred  by 
our  Lord  on  the  apostles,  and  through  them  trans- 
mitted to  their  successors,  the  rulers  of  the  church 
in  all  succeeding  ages.     "  To  stretch  out  the  hea- 
vens, and  lay  the  foundations  of  the  earth,"  may  be 
an  image  generally  signifying  the  execution  of  the 
greatest   purposes   of  providence.      Perhaps   ?  the 
heavens"  may  denote  hierarchies,  or  religious  esta- 
blishments; and  "  the  earth"  secular  governments. 
And  under  the  image  of  "extending  the  heavens, 
and  setting  the  earth  on  its  foundations,"  the  Holy 


TSAIAH. 

Spirit  may  describe  a  new  and  improved  face  both 
of  religion  and  civil  government,  as  the  ultimate  ef- 
fect of  Christianity  in  the  latter  ages.  Certainly  not 
religion  only,  but  civil  government  also,  has  alread) 
received  great  improvement  from  Christianity.  But 
the  improvement  will  at  last  be  inconceivably  great- 
er, and  universal.  And  whenever  this  phrase  of 
u  stretching  out  the  heavens  and  laying  the  found- 
ations of  the  earth"  is  applied  by  the  prophets  to 
things  clearly  future,  and  yet  clearly  previous  to  the 
general  judgment,  I  apprehend  it  denotes  those 
great  changes  for  the  better,  in  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  politics,  in  religion  and  morals,  which  are  to 
take  place  in  the  very  last  period  of  the  church  on 
earth ;  not  without  allusion  to  that  physical  im- 
provement of  the  system  of  the  material  world, 
which  seems  in  some  places  to  be  literally  predicted. 
I  cannot  believe,  with  Vitringa,  that  any  thing  that 
has  yet  taken  place  answers  to  the  full  meaning  of 
that  astonishing  image.  It  is  true,  that  the  prophets 
often  confound  the  ends  of  things  with  their  begin- 
nings. But  if  the  first  promulgation  of  the  gospel 
be  ever  described  under  the  image  of  a  new-making 
of  the  whole  external  world,  which  with  the  ln'o-licst 
reverence  for  the  authority  of  the  learned  and  judi- 

A   A 


374  ISAIAH. 

cious  Vitringa,  I  as  yet  believe  not,  it  must  be  so 
described,  not  simply  in  itself,  but  with  a  view  to  its 
ultimate  effect.  The  establishment  of  the  Christian 
religion  in  the  Roman  empire  by  Constantine,  was  a 
further  step  indeed  towards  the  ultimate  effect ;  but 
still  falls  far  short  of  the  grandeur  of  the  image. 
Which  being  indeed  of  all  images  the  greatest  that 

9 

the  human  mind  can  apprehend,  must  be  applicable 
to  that  which  it  represents,  whatever  it  may  be,  only 
in  its  highest  and  most  finished  state. 

Verse  19.  — "by  whom  shall  I  comfort  thee?" 
For  IBnJK,  read  TCW\  Bishop  Lowth.  — "  who 
shall  comfort  thee." 

Verse  17.  — "  thou  hast  drunken,"  &c.  — *  Haec 
nondum  habuere  eventum  suum.  Calix  soporis  ille 
est  quern  Judaei  nondum  exhausere,  quia  nondum 
evigilant  ex  veterno  illo,  in  quo  jacent  jam  inde,  ex 
quo  id  bibere  cceperunt,  cum  eorum  religio  et  res- 
publica  interiere.  Male  haec  a  quibusdam  de  Baby- 
lonis  captivitate  intelliguntur.  Nam  Judaei  calice, 
quern  turn  biberunt,  adeo  non  in  soporem  versi  sunt, 
ut  brevi  evigilarint,  cognoverintque  propter  quam 
ipsorum  culpam  deseruisset  eos  Deus  ipsorum,  nee 
deinde  prolapsi  sunt  ad  idololatriam.  Praeterea  fal- 
SUm   est  Judaeos,    in  Babylone  captives,    neminem 


ISAIAH. 

habuisse  ductorem,  neminem  qui  eos  consolaretui. 
Habebant  captivi  Ezechielein  prophctam,  habebanl 
Danielem.  Habuere  deinde  Esdram  et  Nchemiaiu 
qui  non  modo  eos  ex  captivitate  reducerent,  s(hI 
etiam  ipsorum  urbera  a?dificarent,  et  rempublicam 
religionemque  constituerent ;  quibus  auxiliis  Judflri 
nunc  destituuntur.  Qui  cum  redibunt,  transferet 
Deus  calicem  eum  quern  nunc  exhauriunt,  ad  eos,  a 
quibus  sunt  opprimendi.  Neque  vero  Judaei  a  Ba- 
byloniis  multum  premebantur,  cum  Babylonium  im- 
perium  fuit  a  Persis  Medisque  deletum.  Quippe 
erant  in  loco  colonorum  apud  Chaldaos,  non  autem 
servorum ;  nee  eis  dicebatur,  •  substerne  te  ut  super 
dorsum  tuum  transeam,  calcemque  te  ut  lutum  via- 
rum/  Sed  omnia  hasc  mala  impendebant  Judaeis  ab 
Antichristo  opprimendis."     Houbigant  ad  locum. 

CHAP.  LII. 

Verse  1.  — u  the  holy  city."  — "  Monet  nos  epi- 
thctum  c  sancta'  tangi  hoc  capite  Jerusalem  religio- 
ncm,  non  autem  rempublicam.  Idem  docet  id  quod 
subjicitur,  *  non  veniet  in  te  incircumcisus  aut  im- 
mundus.'  Nam  si  nihil  aliud  vaticinatur  Isaias, 
quam  urbis  Jerusalem  instaurationem  a  Nehemia  et 
ab  Esdra  taciendam,  false  pradicit  neminem  incir- 

A  A  4- 


376  ISAIAH. 

cumcisum  vel  immundum,  in  earn  intraturum.  Non 
modo  enim  patebat  Jerusalem  cunctis  populis,  per 
libera  commercia  populorum  vieinorum,  sed  etiam 

eonnubia  miscuere  Judaei  cum  populis  vicinis. 

Quod  si  dicas,  hsec  verba  "P  K3*,  idem  valere  atque, 
yfoy  *C>3  num  rex  Antiochus  non  venit  adversus 
Jerusalem.  Ergo  tangitur  ea  Jerusalem  quae  cives 
liabitura  erat  sanctos,  et  urbe  sancta  dignos."  Hou- 
bigant  ad  locum. 

Verse  4,  — "  without  cause  ;"  rather,  "  at  the  last," 
Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  5.  — "  they  that  rule  over  them,  make  them 
to  howl."  For  hfoty  iStfD,  read  "W?w  rh&D^ 
"  they  that  domineer  over  them  make  their  boast 
of  it."  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth,  with  consent 
of  120  MSS.  for  first  alteration,  and  of  5  for  the 
second. 

— "  in  that  day"-?—  The  day,  which  is  yet  to 
come,  when  Jesus  Christ  will  reveal  himself  to  the 
Jewish  nation,  in  sensible  and  notable  proofs  of  his 
presence,  his  power  and  majesty.  — "  Indurata 
enim  gentis  incredulitas,  et  praqjudiciorum  obstina- 
tio,  alio  modo  vinci  posse  non  videtur,"  says  Vitrin- 
ga  (in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  659,  2.),  who  applies  this  parti- 


ISAIAH.  Sft 

cular  prophecy  however  (very  unsuccessfully,  in  my 
judgment)  to  other  things. 

Verse  7.  — "  thy  God  reigneth."  — "  quft  monk- 
dixerit,  '  regnat  Deus  tuus,'  si  Juda?orum  IJahylone 
reditum  praenuntiabat.  Ncque  enim,  populo  Judaeo 
Babylone  reverso,  redintegrata  fuit  antiqua  Theo- 
cratia."     Houbigant  ad  locum. 

This  chapter  should  end  with  the  12th  verse,  and 
the  three  following  verses  should  make  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifty-third  chapter;  in  which  the  imme- 
diate subject  is  the  humiliation  and  sufferings  of  the 
Messiah,  his  accomplishment  of  the  general  redemp. 
tion,  and  his  progress  through  suffering  to  glory. 

Verse  14.  I  am  much  in  doubt  whether  the 
change  proposed  by  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth 
of  "Pty  into  vty  be  necessary.  In  these  three  last 
verses  of  the  fifty-second  chapter  Jehovah  is  the 
speaker.  He  speaks  to  the  Jewish  people,  to  whom 
the  suffixed  pronoun  1  may  relate.  Their  sufferings 
are  represented  in  the  prophets  by  the  expression  of 
their  being  made  "  an  astonishment  and  a  by-word;" 
and  the  sense  of  this  14th  verse,  I  think,  may  be, 
that  the  Messiah  in  the  days  of  the  ftYsh  should  be 
no  less  wonderfully  despicable  in  the  eyes  of  the  un- 
believing world,  than  the  Jewish  people  was  in  its 


B7S  ISAIAH. 

state  of  abasement  under  God's  judgments.  In  this 
sense  I  find  the  passage  was  expounded  by  Con- 
stantin  FEmpereur,  as  he  is  quoted  by  Vitringa: 
— "  Quemadmodum  de  te,  popule  Jacobidarum  stu- 
puerunt  multi,  ob  calamitates  plures  quas  variis 
temporibus  sustinuisti ;  similiter  non  possunt  non 
obstupescere,  qui  miseriam  Messiae  rite  expendunt.'* 
Vitringa,  vol.  ii,  p.  654,  2.  Vitringa  reprobates  this 
interpretation :  he  satisfies  himself  with  observing, 
that  the  changes  of  the  person  is  frequent  in  the 
prophets. 

Verse  15.  — "  sprinkle" —  About  the  sense  or 
the  emendation  of  this  difficult  word  tV\  see  the 
learned  notes  of  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth. 
Houbigant,  without  altering  the  words,  interprets  it 
according  to  the  sense  it  bears  in  the  Arabic  lan» 
guage  :  — "  he  shall  refresh,"  — "  recreaturus  est." 
Bishop  Lowth  seems  to  approve  Dr  Durell's  conjec- 
ture, that  for  W,  we  should  read  VlflT>j  and  he 
Would  render  the  passage,  "  So  many  nations  shall 
look  on  him  with  admiration."  But  there  is  no  rea- 
son to  disturb  the  common  reading,  or  to  seek  its 
sense  in  a  foreign  dialect. 

— "  Sensus  hujus  loci  est  clarus,  planus,  certus. 
Christum  Jesum  virtutem  sanguinis  a  se  fusi,  instar 


ISAIAH. 

magni  pontificis,  applicatui um  esse  ad  purificatio- 
nem  conscientiarum  Gentium  multarum  et  magna- 

rum Gcntes  autem  illas  hujus  beneficii  ngttcu* 

tum  recepturas  esse,   fidemque  suam  professuras  in 

baptismo. Vox  Ttl^  «  spargere,  aspergerc/  stylo 

sacro,  praecipue  refertur  ad  actum  pontificis,  Bangui* 
nem  victimsr  pro  se  oblata?  aspergentis  super  purifi- 
candum.  Lev.  iv,  6;  Num.  viii,  7."  Vitringa  in  Is. 
p.  655-6. 

— "  kings  shall  shut  their  mouths."     — "  Sensus 
est ;  reges,  qui  edictis  suis,  quae  sunt  os  regum,  san- 

guinariis  sa?vierint  adversus  ecclesiam postquam 

pervenerint  in  interiorem  notitiam  mysterii  evan- 
gelii,  et  gloriosa  efTecta  regni  Christi  in  mundo,  ex- 
empla  judiciorum  ejus,  virtutisque  Divinae  gratia? 
operationes  observarint ;  edicta  sua  revocaturos,  et 
compressuros  esse  -y  majestatem  Christi  regis  venera- 
bundos  adoraturos."     Vitringa,  p.  656,  1 . 


CHAR  LIII. 

The  speaker  in  this  fifty-third  chapter  personates 
the  repenting  Jews  in  the  latter  ages  of  the  world 
coming  over  to  the  faith  in  the  crucified  Redeemer. 
The  whole  is  their  penitent  confession ;  it  is  adapted 


SSO  ISAIAH. 

to  the  person  of  such  penitents,  and  not  equally  well 
adapted  to  any  other  person. 

Verse  1.  "  Who  hath  believed  our  report? " 

— "  our  report."  1JHJJW  may  render  either  what 
we  have  told,  or  what  we  have  been  told,  according 
as  the  person  who  speaks,  is  one  who  had  given  or 
received  instruction  or  information.  It  must  be  tak- 
en in  the  latter  sense  here,  if  the  speaker  personates 
the  repenting  Jews.  "  How  few  (they  say)  of  our 
nation  in  the  days  of  the  Messiah's  appearance  gave 
heed  and  credit  to  what  they  had  been  taught  by 
the  prophets  of  old,  and  how  few  were  they  who 
had  eyes  to  see  the  arm  of  Jehovah  revealed  in  the 
works  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?" 

Verse  2.  — "  he  shall  grow  up — hath — shall  see — 
is."     All  these  verbs  should  be  preterites. 

— "  he  shall  grow  up,  for  before  him" —  Bishop 
Lowth  renders,  "  he ■groweth  up  in  their  sight;"  as 
if  for  YtfsS  he  had  read  orvtiSiS.  But  in  his  notes, 
so  far  from  producing  any  authority  for  the  emend- 
ation, he  gives  not  the  least  hint  that  he  has  depart- 
ed from  the  received  reading.  If  I  were  to  propose 
any,  it  should  be  a  much  easier  alteration,  of  TOBP 
into  Wto\  with  the  suffix  of  the  first  person  plural 
instead  of  the  third  singular. 


ISAIAH.  381 

There  grew  up  in  our  sight,  as  it  were,  a  tender  sucker ; 
He  had  no  form,  &c. 

This  circumstance  might  properly  be  acknowledged 
as  an  aggravation  of  the  crime  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
that  although  the  Messiah's  birth  and  first  appear- 
ance was  conformable  to  the  predictions  of  the  an- 
tient  prophecies,  yet  that  very  generation,  who  were 
witnesses  to  that  conformity,  overlooked  the  pro- 
phecies and  rejected  him.  But  I  see  no  necessity 
for  any  alteration. 

The  pronoun  1  may  rehearse  c  Jehovah*  named  iu 
the  preceding  verse.  — "  V031?,  <  coram  ipso,'  sc. 
Deo.  Ca?teris  ignotus,  sed  notus  Deo,  qui  omnes 
circumstantias  ortus  ejus,  tanquam  persona?  quam 
sustenturus  erat  convenientissimas,  consilio  suo  cir- 
eumscripserat ;  quique  eum  per  pastores  Bethlehem- 
itis  et  Sanctis,  qui  Hierosolymis  erant  manifestum 
fecit :  etsi  cum  deinceps  Jesus  infans  translatus  sit 
in  ^Egyptum,  atque  inde  in  Galil*eam,  rumor  dc  ip- 
-o  sparsus  evanuerit."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p. 
G63,  2. 

— "  he  hath  no  form  nor  comeliness;  and  when  we 
shall  see  him,"  &c. 

He  had  no  form  nor  figure  that  ive  should  respect  him. 
Nor  a  countenance  that  we  should  admire  him, 


352  ISAIAli. 

Nearly  to  the  same  effect  Vitringa  and  Bishop 
Lowth. 

— "  figure/'  external  grace  and  dignity  of  person. 
This  I  take  to  be  the  sense  of  *Hty  which  is  here 
however  to  be  understood  mystically,  not  literally, 
— "  Utique  mihi  persuadeo  Messiae  nostro,  quod  ad 
speciem  corporis  et  compositionem  membrorum, 
famam  constitisse  honestissimam,  sed  de  ea  hie  non 
agitur."     Vitringa. 

Vitringa  with  his  usual  accuracy  expounds  the 
former  part  of  this  2d  verse  of  the  birth  and  infancy 
of  the  Messiah ;  and  this  latter  part  of  it,  of  his  first 
public  appearance,  "  postquam,  triginta  annis  major, 
se  ut  Messiam  genti  exspectatum  proposuit  gessit- 
que  inter  Judseos." 

Verse  5.  — "  wounded."  — "perfossus,"  Vitringa. 

Verse  7.  "  He  was  oppressed,  and  he  was  afflict- 
ed." 

"  It  was  exacted,  and  he  was  made  answerable" — 

Bishop  Lowth,     Optime ! 

Verse  8.  "  He  was  taken  from  prison  and  from 
judgment."  "NJJ  properly  denotes  the  constraint  of 
power,  just  or  unjust,  lawful  or  unlawful ;  and  the 
verb  Hp7  may  be  understood  either  in  an  active  or 


ISAIAH. 

vin  a  passive  sense.  This  difficult  passage  therefore 
admits  of  two  interpretations  : 

After  oppression  and  condemnation,  he  was  accepted. 

That  is,  after  the  oppressive  and  unjust  judgment  at 
Pilate's  tribunal,  he  was  accepted  of  God.     Or, 
He  hath  received  [a  share]  of  government  and  judgment. 

According  to  the  first  sense,  the  repentant  Jews  ac- 
knowledge the  iniquity  of  the  proceedings  by  which 
our  Lord  was  taken  off.  According  to  the  second, 
they  more  explicitly  confess  his  exaltation  to  the 
right  hand  of  power.  Of  these  two  interpretations, 
I  greatly  prefer  the  former. 

I  have  great  doubt  whether  the  verb  np1?  niav 
bear  the  sense  given  to  it  here  by  the  Vulgate, 
Houbigant,  and  Bishop  Lowth  ;  — "  sublatus  est," 
"  he  was  taken  off."  It  seems  to  be  used  in  this 
sense,  Jer.  xv,  15. 

— "  and  who  shall  declare  his  generation?"  The 
word  *VH  has  no  sort  of  reference  to  birth  or  extrac- 
tion. — "  notat  vel  multitudinem  hominum  eadem 
mundi  aetate  viventium,  vel  vitam  singulorum,  ut  ad 
certum  tempus  durantem."  Houbigant  ad  locum. 
It  certainly  signifies  in  this  place,  the  condition, 
tenor,  and  course  of  life,  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  ;  and  according  as  one  or  the  other  of  the  two 

6 


584  ISAIAH. 

interpretations  which  the  preceding  words  admit  be 
adopted,  this  passage  should  be  rendered,  either 
thus, 

And  who  considered  the  tenor  of  his  life  ? 

or, 

And  who  can  explain  his  condition  of  life? 

when  he  perished  by  an  unrighteous  sentence,  and 
yet,  as  was  demonstrated  by  his  resurrection,  his 
ascension,  and  the  success  of  his  doctrine,  was  ac- 
cepted of  God ;  who,  among  our  thoughtless  ances- 
tors, considered  the  innocence  and  sanctity  of  his 
life,  which,  while  he  was  condemned  by  men,  re- 
commended him  to  the  favour  of  God  ?  Or,  who 
can  explain  the  mystery,  how  a  person  so  high  in 
dignity,  so  dear  to  God,  could  be  reduced  so  low, 
and  made  subject  to  misery  and  death  ?  There  is 
yet  a  third  meaning  which  the  words  may  bear, 
which  is  adopted  by  the  Layman  :  — "  and  the  men 
of  his  generation,  who  will  be  able  to  describe  ?*' 
Mr  Parkhurst  gives  an  interpretation  nearly  to  the 
same  effect :  — "  and  who  can  [bear  to]  reflect  on 
the  men  of  his  generation  I"  See  Parkhurst,  rffltif,  n. 
I  am  after  all  inclined  to  think  that  either  this  of 
Mr  Parkhurst's,  or  the  Layman's,  is  the  true  inter- 
pretation.    According  to  either  of  these,  the  word 


ISAIAH.  385 

■m  is  taken  in  its  usual  sense.  I  doubt  whether  an 
instance  be  found  in  which  it  is  used  for  the  course, 
tenor,  or  condition  of  a  man's  life. 

— u  was  he  stricken."  For  Wf  read  TfiCP,  with 
the  LXX,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  9,  &c.  What  follows  I  would  punctuate  and 
correct  thus : 

rnrab  Ttpjj  hki 
ntry  con  kS  Sy 

j^Snn  i*on  vsn  mrro  10 
i^dj  crow  o#n  E3K 

iffon  w  nini  Y*>ro 
■mjna  pa#i  hkt  ma  Sbjns  n 

&c.  &c. 

The  only  alteration  is  of  stops.  I  render  the  whole 
thus : 

9  And  his  grave  was  appointed  with  the  wicked. 

But  with  a  rich  man  was  his  sepulchre ;  * 

Not  that  he  had  done  violence, 

Or  that  guile  was  found  in  his  mouth, 


*  See  Bishop  Lowth. 
VOL.  II.  B  B 


386  ISAIAH. 

10  But  it  was  the  pleasure  of  Jehovah:  suffering  overwhelmed 
him. 
Upon  condition  that  his  soul  make  a  trespass-offering,  f 
He  shall  see  a  seed,  which  shall  prolong  its  days ; 
And  the  pleasure  of  Jehovah  shall  prosper  in  his  hand. 
It  In  reward  of  the  toil  of  his  soul  he  shall  see  [a  seed,  which] 
shall  be  fed  to  the  full  with  the  knowledge  of  him : 
The  Just  One  shall  justify  the  slaves  of  mighty  ones,:): 
And  himself  shall  take  the  burthen  of  their  iniquities. 

Verse  12.  — <c  will  I  divide  him."  No  alteration 
of  the  text  is  necessary. 

Therefore  I  will  assign  him  a  portion  with  the  mighty  ones, 
And  with  the  great  he  shall  share  the  spoil. 

CHAP.  LIV. 

Having  described  the  repentance  and  conversion 
of  the  Jewish  nation,  the  prophet  proceeds  in  this 
chapter  to  its  final  prosperity,  which  he  predicts  in 
strains  of  the  highest  exultation.  The  converted 
race  of  Israel  is  represented  under  the  image  of  the 

f  Upon  condition  that  his  soul  make  a  trespass-offering, 
He  shall  see  a  seed,  which  shall  prolong  its  days. 
That  his  soul  should  make  the  trespass-offering,  expresses  that  it 
was  with  the  full  consent  of  his  own  mind,  that  he  made  the  pain- 
ful atonement.     See  Vitringa  upon  the  place. 

|  See  Houbigant. 


ISAIAH.  3S7 

wife,  turned  out  of  doors  for  misbehaviour,  forgiven 
and  taken  home  again.  The  conversion  of  the  Gen- 
tiles is  indeed  mentioned,  but  it  is  not  the  principal 
subject.  For  the  converted  Gentiles  are  represented 
as  a  new  progeny  of  the  long-forsaken  wife,  restored 
to  her  husband's  love.  The  restored  Hebrew  church 
is  addressed  as  the  mother-church  of  Christendom, 
and  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  is  mentioned 
only  as  a  part  of  her  felicity.  This  sense  of  the  pro- 
phecy, as  describing  the  prosperity  and  pre-eminence 
of  the  Hebrew  church,  is  so  very  manifest,  that  no 
other  exposition  would  ever  have  been  invented, 
had  not  a  just  abhorrence  of  the  doctrine  of  a  mille- 
nium,  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  taught  by  some 
of  the  antient  heretics,  made  St  Jerome  and  other 
great  men  of  antiquity  studious  to  interpret  every 
thing  in  the  manner  that  might  be  the  most  contra- 
ry to  it. 

Verse  3.  — "  thou  shalt  break  forth"—  WW, 
— "  sobolesces,"  Houbigant  j  and  this  interpretation 
is  confirmed  by  the  mention  of  seed  which  immedi- 
ately follows. 

— "  thy  seed  shall  inherit  the  Gentiles."  Here 
the  person  addressed  is  clearly  distinguished  from 

B  b  2 


S'8$  ISAIAH. 

the  Gentiles ;  which  shewed  that  the  Hebrew  church, 
not  the  church  of  the  Gentiles,  is  intended. 

Verse  4.  — "  the  shame  of  thy  youth the  re- 
proach of  thy  widowhood" —  "  The  shame,"  her 
transgressions,  described  under  the  image  of  incon- 
tinence ;  *  the  reproach,"  the  punishment.  The 
pardon  shall  be  so  complete  that  the  memory  both 
of  the  offence  and  the  punishment  shall  be  obliterat- 
ed. 

Verse  9.  "  For  this  is  as  the  waters  of  Noah  unto 
me."  For  *>&  *5,  read,  with  Houbigant,  Bishop 
Lowth,  the  Vulgate,  and  others,  W5.  *  The  same 
will  I  do  now  as  in  the  days  of  Noah." 

Verse  11.  — a  I  will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair  co- 
lours ;,f  rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  I  will  lay  thy 
stones  in  cement  of  vermilion."  — "  quippe  mihi 
plane  persuadeo,  ipsum  illud,  quod  hie  T3  dicitur,  a 
Jesaia  respici  ut  materiam,  in  qua,  loco  calcis,  cae- 
menti  aut  bituminis,  lapides  ponendi  ac  coagmen- 
tandi  erant."     Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  694,  2. 

Verse  12.  — "thy  windows  of  agates;"  rather, 
"  thy  battlements  of  rubies."  See  Vitringa  and 
Bishop  Lowth. 

— «  all  thy  borders,"  the  whole  circuit  of  thy 
wall.    See  Vitringa  and  Bishop  Lowth. 


ISAIAH. 

Under  these  images  the  prophet  describes  the 
beauty  and  glory  of  the  church  on  earth  which  will 
take  place  in  the  latter  ages,  upon  the  conversion  ol' 
the  Jews,  when  the  Hebrew  church  shall  become, 
what  it  originally  was,  the  metropolis,  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  of  all  Christendom. 

Verses  13,  14.  The  full  stop  should  be  placed  at 
die  word  Utt&fl  in  the  14th  verse,  and  the  whole 
should  be  thus  rendered : 

13  And  all  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  Jehovah, 

And  great  shall  be  the  prosperity  of  thy  children ; 
14-  In  righteousness  shalt  thou  be  established. 

Verse  15,  For  D9K,  read,  with  the  LXX  and  Hou- 

bigant,  TIN. 

15  Through  me,  strangers  shall  dwell  with  thee; 

And  whosoever  dwelleth  with  thee  shall  come  over  to  thy 
side. 

For  ^3\  read  *&&*.  See  Houbigant  and  Bishop 
Lowth. 

Verse  16.  — "for  his  work ;"  rather,  "by  his 
art,"  or  "  by  his  labour." 

CHAP.  LV. 
In  the  first  three  verses  of  this  chapter  Messiah 
seems  to  be  the  speaker ;  in  the  4th  and  5th  verses 

BBS 


390  ISAIAH. 

Jehovah  is  the  speaker ;  in  the  4th  verse  Jehovah 
speaks  of  the  Messiah,  in  the  5th  to  him ;  in  the 
sequel  the  prophet  speaks  to  the  people  in  the  name 
of  Jehovah. 

The  Messiah's  call,  in  the  first  three  verses,  is 
either  general  to  all  mankind,  or  particular  to  the 
Jewish  nation.  Water,  wine,  and  milk,  denote  the 
doctrine  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  evangelical  means 
of  salvation.  If  the  call  be  general,  the  no-bread, 
on  which  men  expend  their  silver,  and  that  which 
satisfieth  not,  on  which  they  bestow  their  labour, 
are  the  expensive  rites  of  the  idolatrous  religions, 
and  the  laborious  researches  of  human  philosophy. 
If  the  call  is  particular  to  the  Jewish  nation,  the  no- 
bread,  and  that  which  satisfieth  not,  are  the  worldly 
gains  of  merchandise  and  brokerage,  upon  which 
the  Jews  in  their  dispersion  have  been  so  remark- 
ably intent,  which  satisfy  not  the  desires  of  the  inner 
man,  and  afford  no  nourishment  for  the  spiritual  life. 
The  Jews  are  addressed  in  the  character  of  mer- 
chants intent  on  gain.  A  commodity  is  offered 
which  may  be  purchased  without  price,  and  obtain- 
ed without  labour,  the  means  of  salvation  gratuitous- 
ly dispensed.  See  Houbigant's  notes  on  the  begin- 
ning of  this  chapter.     His  exposition  must  seem  too 


ISAIAH.  39  i 

refined,  unless  the  allusion  to  the  promises  in  the 
Old  Testament  (the  mercies  of  David)  be  thought 
to  indicate  that  the  call  is  more  immediately  to  the 
Jews.  But  the  mercies  of  David,  here  intended,  be- 
ing the  perpetuity  and  universality  of  the  dominion 
of  his  descendant,  the  mention  of  them  is  not  beside 
the  purpose,  if  the  call  be  generally  understood. 
And  it  is  remarkable,  that,  immediately  after  the 
mention  of  the  stability  of  these  mercies  by  the 
Messiah,  Jehovah  taking  up  the  discourse  declares 
the  appointment  of  the  Messiah  to  be  a  witness,  a 
leader,  and  preceptor  to  the  peoples ;  as  if  this  ap- 
pointment ensured  the  completion  of  the  promises 
to  David. 

Verse  3.  — "  with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of 
David;"  rather,  "  with  you.  The  mercies  of  David- 
[i.  e.  the  mercies  in  store  for,  or  promised  to  the 
mystical  David]  are  irrevocable." 

Verse  4.  — "  a  witness" —  u  e.  a  teacher  and  as- 
sertor  of  religious  truth.  Revelation  is  called  a 
testimony,  and  its  inspired  teachers  are  called  wit- 
nesses, because  its  doctrines  were  not  delivered  in  a 
scientific  way,  and  proved  by  argument,  but  as  rules 
and  maxims  to  be  received  upon  the  authority  of 
the  teacher. 

BB4 


392  ISAIAH. 

— "  and  commander ;"  rather,  "  and  a  preceptor." 

— "  to  the  people."  — "  peoples,5'  in  the  plural 
twice. 

Verse  7.  — "  let  him  return."  Houbigant  thinks 
this  expression  shews  that  the  discourse  is  addressed 
particularly  to  the  Jews.  For  of  the  Gentiles,  who 
came  to  God  in  the  first  instance  when  they  em- 
braced Christianity,  it  could  not  so  properly  be  said 
that  they  returned  to  him.  But  yet  I  think  the  ex- 
pression applicable  even  to  the  Gentile  world,  with 
allusion  to  the  original  defection  of  mankind  to 
idolatry. 

Verses  12,  13.  — "  Haec  non  convenire  in  redi- 
tum  Babylone  Judaaorum,  videbit  quisquis  perleget 
historian!  sacram,  imo  quisquis  hunc  ipsum  locum 
attente  considerable  Nam  pollicetur  Deus,  quae 
miracula  reditum  Judaeorum  comitabuntur,  eorum 
miraculorum  vestigia  nunquam  deletum  iri;  quae 
uccomodari  non  possunt,  nisi  ad  ultimum  reditum 
Judaeorum."     Houbigant  ad  locum. 


CHAP.  LVI. 

Verse  1.  "  Keep  ye  judgment" Judgment, 

asr#D5  signifies  here,  as  in  many  other  places,  the 


ISAIAH.  894 

entire  rule  of  faith  and  practice  as  laid  down  in  the 
gospel.     See  Vitringa  on  the  place. 

Verse  2.  — "  layeth  hold  on  it  j"  rather,  with 
Bishop  Lowth,  <c  holdclh  it  fast."  u  It,"  viz.  jus- 
tice, ^p"^,  rehearsed  in  the  original  hy  the  feminine 
suffix.  — <(  holdeth  fast."     — "  Metaphora  de- 

sumpta  ah  eo  qui  medium,  sive  instrumentum  salu- 
tis,  tabulam,  aram  aut  fortiorem  aliquem  manu  va- 
lide  tenet,  aut  complectitur ;  maxime  si  quis  ilium 

a  medio  salutis  nitatur  avellere : vel  ab  eo,  qui 

rem  pretiosam  et  sibi  carissimam,  cujus,  per  vim 
alterius,   eripiendae  metus  est,   firma  manu  retinet, 

eique  tenaciter  adhaeret.      Est  itaque firmo  ac 

constanti  proposito  animi  persistere  ac  perseverare 
in  instituto  vita?,  quod  quis  sano  judicio  elegit." 
Vitringa  ad  locum. 

— "  that  keepeth  the  Sabbath."  — «  Per  Sabba- 
turn,  quod  erat  ordinatum  specialiter  Divino  cultui, 
intelligitur  omne  illud  quod  pertinet  ad  divinum 
cultum  in  nova  lege."  Liranus  apud  Vitringam  ad 
locum. 

— u  and  keepeth  his  hand  from  doing  any  evil." 
This  condition  describes  the  observance  of  the  laws 
of  the  second  table. 

Verses  3 — 7.  — "  son  of  the  stranger eunuchs." 

1 


394.  ISAIAH. 

— "  Scopus  totius  hujus  pericopas  eo  tendit  ut  Deus 
clare  doceret  omnia  privilegia  foederis  gratiae,  sub 
ceconomia  nova,  absque  ullo  discrimine,  gentis,  sta- 
tus, conditionis,  omnibus  communia  fore Quando- 

quidem  vero  disparilitatis  conditionis  in  ceconomia 
vetere  (excepta  sacerdotum  et  Levitarum  praeroga- 
tiva)  nulla  exempla  produci  possent,  praeterea  eu- 
nuchorum  et  alienigenarum,  haec  ipsa  exempla  arri- 
puit  Spiritus  Sanctus  ut  hisce  exemplis  propositum 
thema  illustraret."  Vitringa,  vol.  ii,  p.  734,  1.  See 
the  Layman's  note  upon  Ejfcfl  T>,  in  verse  5 ;  also 
his  note  upon  verse  6,  about  the  perpetual  obligation 
of  the  Sabbath. 

— "  for  all  people  "  rather,  "  for  all  the  peoples.'" 
So  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  8.  — "  yet  will  I  gather,"  &c. ;  or,  "  yet 
will  I  gather  unto  him  those  that  are  to  be  gather- 
ed." — "  aggregabo  ei  aggregandos."  For  ViDpy?, 
Houbigant  would  read  Wp*D:  but  the  change 
seems  not  absolutely  necessary.  I  believe  the  re- 
ceived reading  and  the  public  translation  are  right. 
With  this  8th  verse  the  chapter  should  end :  in  the 
9th,  the  prophet  passes  to  a  new  subject,  which  he 
pursues  in  the  following  chapter,  namely,  the  re- 
proof of  those  crimes,  which  drew  down  the  judg- 


ISAIAH.  J95 

merits  of  God  upon  the  Jewish  nation.     See  Bishop 
Lowth. 

It  is  some  objection,  however,  to  a  division  of  the 
discourse  at  this  place,  that  the  suffixed  pronoun  1 
in  the  word  W  at  the  beginning  of  the  10th  verse 
["  His  watchmen"]  has  no  antecedent  but  vlTHt^  in 
the  8th.  The  discourse  therefore  is  continued.  And 
Vitringa  makes  this  an  argument  that  the  10th,  1 1th, 
and  12th  verses  are  to  be  understood  of  a  corrupt 
hierarchy  in  the  Christian  church :  — "  observari 
velim  vitia  haec  esse  praepositorum  ac  doctorum  illius 
populi,  ad  quern  facienda  erat  aggregatio,  et  post- 
quam  facta  esset  aggregatio."  But  might  not  the 
mention  of  gathering  the  outcasts,  and  of  making 
repeated  additions  to  the  outcasts  gathered,  natural- 
ly bring  in  view  the  outcasting,  which  was  itself 
(by  the  wonderful  arrangements  of  Providence)  the 
means  of  the  first  additions  ?  And  might  not  the 
outcasting  bring  in  view  the  crimes  of  the  Jewish 
hierarchy,  which  were  the  immediate  cause  of  those 
judgments  ?  My  chief  doubt  is,  whether  the  single 
nations  of  the  Romans  can  properly  be  described 
under  the  image  of  all  beasts  of  the  field  and  forest. 

Verse  10.  — "  sleeping — lying  down."  —"dream- 
ers, sluggards."     Bishop  Lowth. 


396  ISAIAH. 

Verse  11.  — "  from  his  quarter."  — "  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,"  Jerome  and  Bishop  Lowth. 
See  nap. 


CHAP.  LVII. 

The  first  two  verses  of  this  chapter,  joined  to  the 
last  four  of  the  preceding,  should  make  a  chapter 
by  itself,  containing  a  general  accusation  of  the 
Jewish  people,  but  more  especially  of  their  priests 
and  rulers,  as  sunk  in  pleasure,  and  lost  to  all  true 
sense  of  religion,  till  at  last  they  carried  their  wic- 
kedness to  the  height  by  killing  the  Just  One,  and 
persecuting  his  saints.  In  the  3d  verse  of  this  chap- 
ter,  the  prophet  more  particularly  addresses  the 
Jews  of  his  own  times,  describing  their  crimes,  and 
threatening  the  nation  with  judgment,  but  not  with- 
out a  promise  of  final  pardon. 

Verse  2.  Two  specious  emendations  of  this  verse 
have  been  proposed ;  the  one  by  Dr  Durell,  which 
Bishop  Lowth  approves;  the  other  by  Houbigant. 
Dr  Durell  expunges  the  1  final  in  TWj  and  divides 
the  word  OJVOSttflD  into  two,  thus, 

;in:::  f?n  on 


ISAIAH.  3t7 

he  shall  rest  in  his  bed ; 

Even  the  perfect  man,  he  that  walketh  in  a  strait  path. 

iloubigant  transposes  the  words; 

He  entereth  into  peace,  walking  in  the  strait  path ; 
They  shall  rest  upon  their  beds. 

This  seems  to  me  the  more  simple  and  elegant  cor- 
rection, if  indeed  any  correction  be  requisite.  The 
pronoun  of  the  third  person  singular  understood,  re- 
hearsing profi,  is  the  subject  of  the  singular  verb 
$PQ\  The  pronoun  of  the  third  person  plural,  re- 
hearsing ion  Witt,  is  the  subject  of  the  plural  verb 
1W ;  and  the  participle  1 *H  may  be  in  apposition 
with  the  pronoun  of  the  third  person  singidar,  the 
subject,  as  has  been  said  of  the  singular  verb  WO>\ 
This  permutation  of  the  natural  order,  referring  the 
principal  words  in  the  latter  part  of  such  a  stanza, 
as  the  two  first  verses  of  this  chapter  compose,  to 
the  principal  words  in  the  former,  I  take  to  be  per- 
fectly in  the  style  of  Hebrew  poetry.  Houbigant's 
transposition  however  gives  the  exact  sense  of  the 
passage,  being  indeed  nothing  else  than  a  reduction 
of  the  words  from  the  poetical  to  the  natural  order. 
The  Layman  inserts  the  first  two  verses  and  tin 


398  ISAIAH. 

first  two  words  of  the  3d  verse  of  this  chapter  in  the 
10th  verse  of  chapter  fifty- third. 

Verse  3.  — "  sons  of  the  sorceress."  For  HJJ}^ 
Houbigant  reads,  with  one  of  his  MSS,  fiJty ;  "  sons 
of  the  voluptuous  woman." 

Verse  4.  — <c  are  ye  not  children  of  transgression, 
a  seed  of  falsehood  ? "  rather,  "  children  of  the  apos- 
tate, a  seed  of  the  liar  ? " 

Verse  6.  — "  comfort  in  these"^-  rather,  "  shall 
I  bear  these  things  with  patience?"  — "  An  ego 
haec  patienter  feram  ?"     Houbigant. 

Verse  8.  This  verse,  though  it  is  passed  by  almost 
unnoticed  by  all  expositors  as  if  it  gave  them  no 
trouble^  is  to  me  as  it  stands  inexplicable.  The 
pronouns  them  and  their  have  no  antecedents  to 
which  they  may  be  referred.  The  great  variance 
of  the  antient  versions,  and  the  little  resemblance 
which  some  of  them  bear  to  the  Hebrew  text  as  it 
now  stands,  is  an  argument  that  the  passage  has 
been  long  in  a  state  of  corruption.  St  Jerome  had 
certainly  in  his  copies  after  the  verb  **<yn  some 
word  signifying  an  adulterer,  which  word  he  under- 
stood to  be  the  object  of  that  verb.  Suppose  that 
word  were  ^*un.  This,  though  a  singular  noun,  ac- 
cording to  the  known  licence  of  the  Hebrew  syntax, 


ISAIAH.  399 

may  serve  as  an  antecedent  for  the  plural  pronouns 
which  follow.  Still  the  two  last  words  of  the  verse 
m:n  "P  are  unintelligible.  Our  English  translators 
make  the  best  of  them,  taking  T*  for  an  adverb  of 
place  indefinite ;  but  I  much  doubt  whether  that  ac- 
ceptation of  the  word  can  be  justified  by  examples 
of  a  similar  use  of  it.  What  if  we  transpose  the  two 
letters  of  this  word,  and  prefix  D,  which  might  easily 
be  omitted,  being  the  last  letter  of  the  preceding 
word :  the  whole  passage  will  then  stand  thus ; 

8 

■pX'D  romn  t\Mr\  *Sphi 

dhd  V?  mam 

:rom  v-ib  DDScto  rant* 

Verily  at-my-side  thou-hast-thrown-off-the-coverlit, 

And  hast  taken  up  the  adulterer  into  thy  spacious  bed ;  ["  into 

the  breadth  of  thy  bed;"  Vitringa.] 
And  hast  made  assignations  with  them  for  thyself: 
Thou  hast  been  fond  of  their  bed  ever  since  thou  sawest  it. 

The  Jews  are  taxed  in  this  and  the  preceding  verse 
with  the  double  crime  of  resorting  to  places  of  idol- 
atrous worship,  and  of  receiving  idols,  or  the  imple- 
ments of  idol  worship,  into  the  precincts  of  God's 
own  temple.     This  double  impiety  is  represented  .4 


400  ISAIAH. 

the  lewdness  of  an  adulterous  woman,  who,  not  con- 
tent to  run  after  her  paramours,  brings  them  home, 
and  admits  them  to  her  own  bed  at  the  very  times 
that  she  is  lying  at  her  husband's  side* 

— "  at  my  side."  Not  "  clam  me,"  as  Houbigant 
renders  it,  but  "  juxta  me;"  "whilst  thou  art  lying 
at  my  side."  So  St  Jerome:  — "juxta  me  disco 
operuisti."  And  in  his  comment :  "  Ad  quam  supra 
dixerat,  '  super  montem  excelsum,'  &c— et  quasi 

meretricem  arguerat eandem  nunc  quasi  uxorem 

adulteram  arguit,  atque  confutat,   quod,   dormiens 

cum  viro,  clam  adulterum  susceperit Hoc  autem 

dicit,  ut  ostendit  quod  non  solum  in  agris  et  domi- 
bus  idola  coluerint,  sed  in  templo  quoque  posuerint 
simulacrum  Baal,  quod  Ezechiel  quoque,  perfosso 
pariete,  vidisse  se  dicit."  See  Ezekiel,  chap.  viii. 
See  also  2  Kings  xxi,  4,  5,  7;  2  Chron.  xxxiii,  4,  5, 
7,  15,  22;  2  Kings  xxiii,  6,  11,  12, 

Verse  9.  "Thou  wentest  to  the  king  with  oil,"  &c. 

Rather, 

According  to  rule  thou  hast  prepared  thyself  with  ointment 

for  the  king, 
Thou  hast  multiplied  thy  perfumes. 

The  prophet  pursues  the  image  of  a  loose  woman, 
studiously  preparing  her  person  for  pleasure,  accord- 


ISAIAH.  401 

ing  to  the  fashions  of  the  times,  softening  the  skin 
with  ointments,  and  bedewing  herself  with  rich  per- 
fumes. 

Verse  10.  — "  in  the  greatness  of  thy  way ;"  ra- 
ther, u  in  the  variety  of  thy  ways."  iroKvobiouc.  It 
seems  to  be  a  phrase  for  the  various  dissipations  of 
riotous  pleasure. 

Verse  11.  — "  have  not  I  held  my  peace,  even  of 
old,  and  thou  fearest  me  not?"     For  O^ytn  npra, 
Houbigant  would  read  D*nj;c  tflWfltt.     — "  Nonne 
ego  idem  sum,  qui  eum  jam  olim  cohibeo  quanquam 
non  est  in  te  timor  meus?"     He  observes  in  his  note 
upon  the  place,  — "  Syria?  reges  Deus  toties  com- 
pescuerat,  quoties  fuerat  ab  Israel  invocatus,  modo 
sibi  soli  servirent."     But  Bishop  Lowth  reads  ED^B, 
upon  the  authority  of  23   MSS.   and   3   editions : 
— "  is  it  not  because  I  was  silent,  and  winked?" 
Bishop  Lowth  thinks  this  emendation  indisputable, 
and  that  the  received  reading  Q^yci  makes  no  good 
sense  or  construction.     But  perhaps  it  gives  a  better 
sense  than  the  Bishop's  emendation,  or  Houbigant's. 
"  Ironica  est  oratio,"  says  Vitringa ;   and  he  pro- 
duces this  exposition  of  the  passage  from  Lud.  de 
Die.       — "  Quum  enim  populus  videri  nollet  verum 
Deum  prorsus  abnegasse  et  rejecisse;   mentiebatur 

VOL.   II.  c  C 


402  ISAIAH. 

Deo,  tanquam  si  et  ejus  aliquam  rationem  habere 
cuperet.  Quorsum  id  facis  ?  inquit  Deus,  quern  for- 
midas,  quern  times,  quod  mentiaris  nee  aperte  lo- 
quaris  ?  Me  certe  non  times,  nam  non  es  mei  re- 
cordata ;  nee  me  in  animo  tuo  gestas,  idque  merito 
facere  videris.  Nam  ego  sileo,  idque  a  longo  tem- 
pore :  permitto  tibi  vivere  pro  arbitrio  tuo ;  idque 
diu  feci;  adeoque  me  non  times.  Quid  est  ergo 
quod  non  aperte  loquaris,  et  palam  dicas  te  me  de- 
inceps  non  morari."     Vitringa  ad  locum. 

The  only  objection  that  I  perceive  to  this  inter- 
pretation is  this,  that  the  verb  SO  rather  signifies  (as 
I  conceive)  to  assert  a  lie,  than  to  dissemble  one's 
real  sentiments.  It  rather  therefore  signifies  the 
open  profession  of  idolatry  or  atheism,  than  the  hy- 
pocritical confession  of  the  true  God.  The  follow- 
ing verse  however  seems  to  confirm  the  interpreta- 
tion ;  for  in  that  verse,  H  thy  righteousness,"  jHpV, 
is  "  thy  hypocritical  righteousness."  God  threatens 
to  expose  it  to  public  scorn  and  shame.  Bishop 
Lowth  indeed  gives  a  very  different  sense  to  this 
verse  by  changing  "WpW  into  WfH*  But  his  author- 
ity for  this  alteration  seems  insufficient. 

Verse  1 3.  — "  thy  companies."  — "  thy  paramours,'' 
those  whom  thou  hast  wooed  to  thy  love. 


ISAIAH.  403 

— "  vanity."  — "  aura  levissima,"  Vitringa  ;  — "  a 
breath,"  Bishop  Lowth. 

— "  he  that  putteth  his  trust  in  me  shall  possess," 
&c. ;  he  that  putteth  his  trust  in  me,  of  whatever 
extraction,  shall  take  the  place  of  the  apostate  Jew, 
and  succeed  to  the  spiritual  patrimony. 

Verse  14.  "  And  shall  say" —  "  Then  will  I  say"— 
Bishop  Lowth. 

— "  of  my  people,"  the  new  adopted  race  whom 
I  will  acknowledge  as  my  people. 

Verse  15.  — "  with  him  also  that  is  of  a  contrite 
and  humble  spirit" —  The  pride  of  the  Jewish 
people,  relying  on  the  merit  of  their  legal  righteous- 
ness, was  a  principal  source  of  their  incredulity 
when  our  Lord  appeared  among  them. 

Verse  16.  "  I  will  not  contend  for  ever;"  rather, 
"  Yet  not  for  ever  will  I  contend,"  &c. 

— "  for  the  spirit  should  fail  before  me ;"  rather*, 
with  Bishop  Lowth,  "  for  the  spirit  from  before  me 
would  be  overwhelmed."  — u  the  spirit  from  before 
me,  is  the  human  spirit  which  went  forth  from  me." 
The  whole  emphasis  of  the  passage  lies  in  the  words 
•OS^D  and  W£*y  OT  •  and  the  general  sense  is,  that 
the  effect  of  God's  endless  wrath  would  be  the  de- 
struction of  his  own  creation. 

c  C  2 


404  ISAIAH. 

Verse  17.  "  For  the  iniquity  of  his  covetousness" — 
For  TJW,  read,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  ptifl  See  the 
LXX.  "  Because  of  his  iniquity  for  a  moment  I 
was  angry." 

Verse  18,  — "and  will  heal  him  5"  rather,  with 
Houbigant,  Ci  but  I  will  heal  him." 

Verse  19.  Place  the  stops,  with  Houbigant,  thus, 
Ofop  OVW  919  KTO  19 

&c.  oyvrm  vr\»sn\  20 

19  Creating  the  fruit  of  the  lips,  peace ; 

Peace  to  him  that  is  far  off,  and  to  him  that  is  near,  saitji 

Jehovah.* 
Surely  I  will  heal  him ;  but  the  wicked,  &c, 

CHAP.  LVIII. 

The  former  chapter  describes  the  idolatries  of  the 
Jews  in  the  times  of  Ahaz,  Manasseh,  and  Amon. 
In  this  the  prophet  describes  the  crimes  of  later 
times ;  the  avarice,  extortion,  and  cruelty  which 
characterised  the  Jews  after  the  return  from  the 
Babylonian  captivity,  and  in  the  extreme  in  the  days 
of  our  Lord's  appearance  among  them,  covered  with 
the  mark  of  religious  zeal,  and  a  hypocritical  atten- 

*  See  my  notes  on  Hosea. 


ISAIAH.  405 

tion  to  external  rites  and  ceremonies.  This  reproof 
of  their  vices  is  closed  with  pathetic  exhortations  to 
repentance,  and  a  promise  of  pardon. 

Upon  farther  consideration  of  this  part  of  the  pro- 
phecy, since  the  sins,  with  which  the  people  of  God 
are  charged  in  this  chapter,  though  remarkably  pre- 
valent  among  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  our  Lord  and 
the  apostles,  are  such  as  are  incident  to  the  visible 
church  in  all  ages;  and  some  parts  of  the  fifty-ninth 
chapter  seem  more  particularly  applicable  to  the 
times  of  licentiousness  and  infidelity  that  have  taken 
place  in  Christendom  since  the  reformation,  than  to 
any  period  in  the  Jewish  history,  and  are  likely  to 
receive  a  further  accomplishment  in  the  enormities 
that  may  be  expected  to  arise  out  of  the  atheism 
and  democratic  spirit  of  the  present  times,  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  what  particularly  regards  the 
Jews  ends,  or  is  broken  off  at  least,  at  the  end  of 
the  preceding  chapter.  That  the  people  of  God 
whose  transgressions  the  prophet  is  ordered  to  set 
forth  in  the  1st  verse  of  this  chapter,  is  the  new 
people,  styled  the  house  of  Jacob,  because  they  suc- 
ceed spiritually  to  the  patrimony ;  and  that  the 
whole  of  this  and  the  following  chapter  is  addressed 
to  the  Christian  church  gathered  out  of  the  Gentile?. 

CCS 


106  ISAIAH. 

But  in  the  20th  verse  of  the  following  chapter  the 
natural  Israel  comes  in  sight  again,  being  the  Jacob 
whose  transgression  the  Redeemer  is  to  turn  away, 
after  the  fear  of  the  Lord  shall  have  been  establish- 
ed in  every  quarter  of  the  Gentile  world  in  the  west 
and  in  the  east. 

Verse  2,  — "  and  delight  to  know  my  ways,"  &c. 

And  desire  the  knowledge  of  my  ways : 
As  a  nation  that  doeth  righteousness, 
And  forsaketh  not  the  law  of  their  God, 
They  demand  of  me  the  rules  of  righteousness, 
They  desire  that  God  would  draw  near.    [Literally,  they  de- 
sire the  drawing  near  of  God.] 

St  Jerome  has  well  explained  the  general  sense  of 
this  verse  in  his  comment,  though  he  has  expressed 
it  but  indifferently  in  his  translation :  — "  Est  alia 
temeritas  Judaeorum,  quasi  fiducia  bonas  conscientise, 
judicium  postulant  justum,  et  imitantur  sanctorum 
verba,  dicentium ;  '  Judica  me,  Domine,  quando  ego 
in  innocentia  mea  ingressus  sum.'  "  These  hypo- 
crites affected  to  be  disgusted  with  the  wickedness 
of  the  world,  and  to  be  impatient  for  the  promised 
reformation.  The  same  sort  of  persons  are  describ- 
ed in  Malachi  as  affecting  to  be  scandalised  at  the 
impunity  of  the  wicked,  and  even  chiding  the  tardi* 


ISA  I  AM. 

ness  of  God's  judgment ;  as  complaining  that  <  every 
one  that  docth  evil  is  good  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord, 
and  he  delighteth  in  them  ;"  and  exclaiming  "  where 
is  the  God  of  judgment?"  Mai.  ii,  17.  And  the 
same  affectation  is  very  general  among  hypocrites  of 
all  ages. 

Verse  3.  — "  you  find  pleasure."  Read,  with  the 
Vulgate,  ttBWl ;  or  with  the  LXX,  Btttyfrft  — "  you 
enjoy  your  pleasure,  or  pleasures." 

— "your  labours;"  rather  "grievances."  The 
grievances  meant  are  usurious  bargains,  enforced  in 
various  ways,  by  exacting  the  payment  of  heavy  in- 
terest  in  money,  or  labour  instead  of  money.  It 
deserves  remark,  that  the  Vulgate,  with  Symmachus 
and  Theodotion,  understood  the  word  O^^y  of 
the  persons,  the  debtors :  — "  et  omnes  debitores 
vestros  repetitis."  And  it  seems  probable  that  the 
LXX  had  set  the  example  of  this  interpretation,  for 
their  version  runs  at  present  thus  ;  — xou  Taurus  rov; 
vvoyjioiovs  vpcov  vKovvGGirz.  But  vvroyjtoiov;  ma}'  be 
a  corruption  of  Cko  yotovg.  The  consent  of  these 
antient  interpreters  in  this  sense  of  the  word  carries 
with  it  much  authority.  But  the  form  of  the  word 
makes  some  objection  to  this  interpretation  of  it, 
and  the  epithet  ^5  a  much  greater.    For  this  epithet 

CC4 


408  ISAIAH. 

is  of  great  force,  applied  to  the  thing  exacted ;  of 
very  little,  applied  to  the  persons,  upon  whom  the 
exaction  was  made.  For  it  is  a  great  aggravation  of 
a  creditor's  severity,  to  say  that  what  he  exacted, 
was  the  whole,  the  very  last  penny  of  an  extravagant 
interest :  whereas  it  is  no  dispraise  of  him  at  all  to 
say,  that  his  demands  were  made  upon  all  his  debt- 
ors. Houbigant,  who  takes  the  word  E3&*JS2$  in  the 
sense  which  these  antient  versions  give  it,  seems  to 
have  felt  this  difficulty ;  and  he  gets  rid  of  it  by  ex- 
punging ?2  from  the  text,  upon  a  supposition,  which 
is  plausible,  that  it  was  introduced  by  a  corruption 
of  the  suffix  M  in  D^n  or  D5W.  For  \tt  fsn 
C»02fjj,  he  reads  D^^yi  Cftvsn.  It  is  a  great  ob- 
jection to  this  conjecture,  that  the  antient  versions 
express  both  the  suffix  CO  and  the  epithet  *% 
— "  omnes  debitores  vestros."  Vulgate ;  — Kuvrag 
rovg  vTro-fcZigiovg  vpuv,  LXX.  But  perhaps,  without 
any  alteration,  we  may  render, 

You  enjoy  your  pleasures, 
And  exact  the  whole  upon  your  debtors. 

See  Nehemiah,  chap.  v. 

Verse  4.  "  To  make  your  voice  to  be  heard  aloud." 
Vitringa's  interpretation  deserves  attention:  — "And 
to  smite  with  the  fist  of  wickedness.     Ye  fast  not  at 


ISAIAH.  409 

this  time,  so  as  to  cause  your  voice  to  be  heard  on 
high  ;M  i.  e.  in  heaven.  — "  Non  estis  enim  ita  af- 
fecti, ut  preces  vestrae  exaudiri  mereantur." 

Verse  6.  — "  the  oppressed  ;"  rather  "  the  broken." 

— "  the  broken  ;"  in  a  mercantile  sense,  the  bank- 
rupts. — "  qui  paupertate  sunt  fracti,  quos  afrlixit 
inopia,"  says  St  Jerome. 

Verse  7.  — "  the  poor  that  are  cast  out;"  rather, 
"  the  poor  that  are  reduced."  CHYID,  '  brought 
down,'  from  IT,     See  Barker  in  his  Lexicon. 

Verse  8.  — "  thine  health  j"  rather,  "  thy  pro- 
sperity," thy  thriving. 

— "  and  thy  righteousness" —  TJH1&.  — H  Per  jus- 
titiam  ecclesiae  hie  intellige  jus  ecclesiae  paratum  ex 
proctitis  conditionibus  foederis:  quod  jus,  ubi  adest, 
sternit  paratque  ecclesiaj  viam  ad  obtinenda  bona 

foederis. Absit  quicquam   hie  tribuamus  mentis 

ant  justitiac  hominis.  Universum  enim  factum  gra- 
tia? fundatum  est  in  mera  Dei  gratis  et  justitia  Mes- 

sia? sed  ex  stipulatione,  licet  in  gratia  facta,  nas- 

citur  jus;  cujus  effectum,  salva  Dei  veritate,  fallere 
nequit."     Vitringa  ad  locum. 

Verse  9.  — "  the  putting  forth  of  the  finger." 
Houbigant  conjectures  that  the  word  pJJ3  is  lost  out 
of  the  text  after  JPtf*. 


410  ISAIAH. 

If  thou  remove  from  the  midst  of  thee  the  yoke, 
Him  that  putteth  forth  the  finger  to  iniquity, 
And  speaketh  vanity. 

But,  without  any  emendation,  the  passage  is  well 
rendered  by  Bishop  Lowth : 

The  pointing  of  the  finger,  and  the  injurious  speech. 

Perhaps  it  might  be  better  thus : 

Him  that  pointeth  the  finger,  and  speaketh  injurious  speech, 

— "  protendere  digitum  c  infami  digito/  ut  Persius 
loquitur,  denotare  viros  probos,  et  eorum  simplicitati 
illudere — loqni  vanitatem  fratrem  otiosis  ac  teme- 
rariis  dictis — objicere  aliorum  odio  et  invidiam"  Vi- 
tringa  ad  locum. 

Verse  10.  "  And  if  thou  draw  out  thy  soul  -"  ra~ 
ther,  "  And  if  thou  impart  of  thine  own  subsistence, 
or  sustenance." 

Verse  11.  — "  make  fat  thy  bones."  — iC  addet- 
que  ossibus  tuis  alacritatem."  The  expression  in  the 
original  is  rather  harsh  than  obscure,  though  Arch- 
bishop Seeker  and  Bishop  Lowth  think  the  verb  re- 
quires emendation.  Perhaps  IHDXy,  which  is  found 
in  three  MSS.  (see  Bishop  Lowth),  is  to  be  preferred 
to  THESy.  With  this  alteration,  without  any  change 
of  the  verb,  the  sense  may  be  '  expediet  [tibi]  robur 
tnum  ;'  c  shall  give  thee  the  free  use  of  thy  strength.' 


ISAIAH.  411 

yfa  is  properly  to  disengage,  to  free  from  restraint 
or  incumbrance. 

12  And  of  thee  shall  be  built  the  antient  ruins, 

Thou  shalt  raise  up  foundations  for  many  generations  , 
And  thou  shalt  be  called  a  restorer  of  the  broken  wall, 
Of  settlements  of  rest. 

— "  the  antient  ruins."  — "  ^dificare  desolata 
a  longo,  stylo  mystico  nostri  prophetae,  est  populos 
et  gentes,  alienatas  a  Dei  cognitione  et  communi- 
one,  imbuere  notitia  verse  religionis ;  vel  corrupt;! 
religione  usas  ad  veram  perducere."  Vitringa  in 
Is.  vol.  ii,  775,  2.  I  am  mistaken  if  in  this  verse  it 
is  not  intimated  that  the  church  of  the  Gentiles 
perfectly  reformed  shall  be  the  instrument  of  the 
final  conversion  of  the  Jews. 

— "  of  settlements ;"  so  I  render  rvov^  from  the 
sense  of  the  verb  2ro  in  the  Chaldee  dialect,  ■  to 
dwell,  settle.' 

Verse  13.  "  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the 
Sabbath,"  &c.     See  Neh.  xiii,  15—22. 

CHAP.  LIX. 
This  fifty-ninth  chapter  is  closely  connected  with 
the  preceding.     That  was  closed  with  a  promise  of 
prosperity  to  the  church,  upon  the  condition  of  her 


412  ISAIAH. 

repentance  and  perfect  reformation.  This  leads  the 
prophet  to  vindicate  the  ways  of  God  in  suffering 
his  church  to  be  exposed  to  the  scorn  and  oppres- 
sion of  the  adversaries  of  religion  for  so  many  ages 
previous  to  the  season  of  the  promised  mercy.  This 
is  the  subject  of  the  first  eight  verses  of  this  chapter, 
in  which  the  prophet  argues  that  God's  apparent 
disregard  of  the  complaints  of  his  people,  under  the 
sufferings  they  were  to  endure,  proceeded  not  from 
any  want  of  power  in  him  to  give  them  redress,  nor 
from  any  mutability  in  his  purposes,  but  from  the 
enormity  of  their  own  corruptions.  The  seven  verses 
following  the  eighth,  contain  a  pathetic  confession 
in  the  person  of  the  repenting  rulers  of  the  church. 
This  introduces  the  promise  of  deliverance  by  the 
Messiah  in  person.  He  is  to  rescue  his  church  from 
persecution,  to  spread  the  fear  of  the  Lord  from  the 
west  to  the  east,  and  at  last  to  turn  away  transgres- 
sion from  Jacob  in  the  natural  Israel.  And  the  de- 
velopement  and  amplification  of  these  promises,  in  a 
speech  (or  rather  an  ode)  of  congratulation,  in 
which  the  prophet  salutes  Zion,  make  the  whole 
sixtieth  chapter. 

Verse  2.  — "  his  face."     For  EWs,  read  VOs,  with 

6 


ISAIAH.  413 

the   LXX   Alexandrine,    Vulgate,    Houbigant,   and 

Bishop  Lowth. 

4  No  one  calleth  for  justice, 

And  nothing  is  judged  with  truth. 

— "  they  trust and  bring  forth"—     For  rnw 

and  Wl\  Houbigant  would  read,  with  the  LXX 
and  Vulgate,  T&3  and  Wtt,  The  latter  correction 
is  certainly  necessary.  But  the  word  mDD,  I  think 
may  be  taken  as  a  substantive  ;  or  rather,  as  the  in- 
finitive of  the  verb  used  for  the  noun  substantive. 

The  genera]  confidence  is  in  vanity  and  idle  speech, 
They  have  conceived  mischief,  and  brought  forth  iniquity. 

Vanity  and  idle  speech  may  denote  the  sophisms  of 
irreligious  philosophy,  and  the  quibbles  of  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees,  and  the  later  rabbis,  in  their  exposi- 
tions of  the  Divine  Law,  or  the  worse  quibbles  of 
modern  infidels. 

Verse  5.  — "  and  that  which  is  crushed  breaketh 
out  into  a  viper;"  rather,  u  and  that  which  is  sitten 
upon  is  hatched  a  viper."  ^  is  properly  to  squeeze, 
or  confine ;  thence  applied  to  eggs  to  *  sit  upon,' 
because  eggs  are  sqeezed  and  confined  by  incuba- 
tion. Vitringa  objects  to  this  interpretation,  that 
the  viper  is  viviparous;  but  this  objection  is  of  little 
weight,  since  the  allusion  is  not  to  the  young  of  the 


414  ISAIAH. 

viper  produced  in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature* 
but  to  young  vipers  preternaturally  issuing  from 
eggs  of  another  species ;  which  eggs  have  been  pre- 
viously mentioned  as  hatched,  or  at  least  produced 
from  the  body  of  the  animal,  in  whichever  sense  the 
verb  typ^  be  taken. 

Verses  5,  6.  — M  cockatrice  eggs — spider's  webs." 
— *6  Utrumque  emblema  eodem  tendit,  et  clarissime 
ante  oculos  ponit,  profana  philosophemata,  foetus 
cogitationum  et  meditationum  animi,  subtiliter  et 
artificiose  contexta  ex  varia  cogitationum  serie,  sub- 
inde  per  modum  longioris  ratiocinationis  ex  hypo- 
thesibus  assumptis  deducta,  et  ad  form  am  demon- 
strationis  subtiliter  composita,  quae  occultant  pesti- 
lens  quid,  quod  intus  latet  et  incantos  fallit.,>  Vi- 
tringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  783,  2.  An  excellent  descrip- 
tion of  infidel  argumentation.  Read  Collins,  Boling- 
broke,  Voltaire,  Hume,  Helvetius,  Rousseau,  Gib- 
bon, Priestley,  Lindsay,  Payne,  and  many  others, 
and  you  will  find  an  accomplishment,  and  yet  per- 
haps not  the  whole  accomplishment,  of  this  text. 

Verse  8.  — "  therein."  For  TO,  read,  writh  the 
LXX,  Vulgate,  Houbigant,  and  Bishop  Lowth,  EJJO. 

Verse  9.  — "  for  brightness,  but  we  walk  in  dark- 
ness j"  rather,  "  in  the  midst  of  brightness  we  walk 


ISAIAH.  415 

in  obscurity,"  For  they  had  eyes,  and  yet  they  saw 
not;  light  came  into  the  world,  but  they  loved  dark- 
ness rather  than  light. 

— "  we  stumble,"  &c.     Is  not  t\V&  for  1)0*6  1 

Like  tlie  owl,  we  stumble  at  noon-day ; 

In  the  midst  of  rich  viands,*  we  are  like  dead  men. 

— "  like  dead  men,"  unable  to  use  and  enjoy  the 
good  things  placed  before  us. 

Verse  12.  — "and  our  sins  testify  against  lis;" 
rather,  with  Bishop  Lowtb,   "  and  our  sins  accuse 


us." 


Verse  IS.  This  verse  specifies  the  particulars  of 
the  sins  generally  acknowledged  in  the  preceding. 
Houbigant's  emendations  seem  quite  unnecessary ; 
^DJ  is  the  infinitive  of  the  verb  JW,  used  as  a  noun, 
the  inserted  1  being  the  formative  of  the  infinitive. 
JJtffi  and  CTO  are  infinitives  used  also  for  nouns, 
though  in  these  the  formative  1  is  omitted.  A  semi- 
colon or  colon  should  be  placed  at  the  word  J"HD5 
and  the  verb  TYl  tacked  to  the  following  clause. 
And  without  any  other  emendation,  than  this  trans- 
position of  a  stop,  the  whole  verse  may  be  thus  ren- 
dered ; 


*  See  Cocceius,  voce  ]nyv. 


416  ISAIAH. 

13  Apostacy  and  treachery  towards  Jehovah, 
A  turning  away  from  following  our  God, 
Deceiving  speech  and  revolt : 

Words  of  falsehood  have  been  conceived  and  studied  in  the 
heart. 

The  "  words  of  falsehood  "  I  take  to  be  the  sophisms 
of  philosophers  and  the  quibbles  of  hypocrites  on 
the  side  of  scepticism,  or  for  the  support  of  super- 
stitious ceremonies  in  prejudice  of  true  religion. 
Deceiving  speech  is  the  same  thing. 

Verse  15.  «  Yea,  truth  faileth ;"  rather,  "  And 
truth  is  weeded  out."     *Hy,  <  to  hoe." 

— "  maketh  himself  a  prey."  Here  the  verse 
should  end. 

Verse  17.  — "  for  clothing."  Expunge  W^n, 
with  Dr  Jubb.     See  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  18.     Read,  with  Bishop  Lowth, 

inn  mpty  tyn 

He  is  Lord  of  retribution ; 

The  Lord  of  retribution  will  requite 

Fury  to  his  adversaries,  &c 

— "  to  the  isles."  This  is  a  common  denunciation 
of  wrath  against  the  unbelieving  Jews  and  the  im- 
penitent idolaters. 


ISAIAH.  417 

Verses  16 — 18.  — "  he  saw — wondered — his  arm 
— his  righteousness — he  put  on — he  put  on — was 
clad — will  requite*' —  The  unnamed  subjects  of  all 
these  propositions  is  the  Messiah. 

Verse  19.  — "  when  the  enemy  shall  come,"  &c. 
This  passage  is  very  difficult.  None  of  the  antient 
Versions,  except  perhaps  Theodotion's,  render  "tt  as 
a  substantive,  the  subject  of  the  verb  N^,  but  an 
adjective  agreeing  with  VO.  Aquila,  Symmachus, 
and  the  LXX,  make  HT1  the  subject  of  the  verb  ND\ 
The  Vulgate  seems  to  predicate  the  coming  of  the 
unnamed  subject  of  the  preceding  verses.  They 
differ  greatly  in  rendering  the  words  tt  HDDJ,  or 
whatever  were  the  words  which  in  their  copies 
closed  the  verse.  The  version  of  Symmachus  and 
the  LXX  express  a  repetition  of  the  verb  KS\  We 
have  a  remaining  vestige  perhaps  of  this  repeated 
verb  in  O,  which  otherwise  is  not  at  all  expressed 
in  the  Greek  of  Symmachus  or  the  LXX.  Aquila's 
version  expresses  the  pronoun,  but  as  if  he  read  it 
with  the  prefix  '  instead  of  3  •  v?,  not  "O.  All  this 
considered,  I  am  inclined  to  correct  the  passage  thus: 

rf?  rvv:  wh  im 

101  ma  'jo 

VOL.  II.  D  D 


418  ISAIAH. 

Surely  he  shall  come  as  a  river,  straitened  in  its  course ; 
The  Spirit  of  Jehovah  setteth  up  the  standard  for  him. 
20  Assuredly  the  Redeemer  shall  come — 

— "  he  shall  come  as  a  river  straitened  in  its 
course."  The  river  straitened  in  its  course,  and  ac- 
quiring force  and  velocity  from  its  confinement,  is 
an  image  of  the  suddenness  and  irresistible  force  of 
the  Messiah's  coming  in  the  latter  ages,  when  the 
reasons  that  have  so  long  restrained  the  full  display 
of  his  might  shall  no  longer  operate. 

"  The  Spirit  of  Jehovah  set  up  the  standard  for 
him"  at  the  time  of  his  first  advent,  in  the  preach- 
ing of  John  the  Baptist,  and  in  the  miracles  which 
accompanied  the  word  after  his  ascension.  And  the 
standard  will  probably  be  set  up  again,  in  new  mi- 
racles, at  his  second  advent. 

Verse  20.  "  And  the  Redeemer  shall  come  to 
Zion,"  &c.     St  Paul  read, 

— the  Redeemer  shall  come  out  of  Zion, 

And  turn  away  apostacy  from  Jacob. 
And  it  is  particularly  to  be  remarked,  that  the  Chal- 
dee  paraphrase  is  agreeable  to  this  reading. 


K-YIAII.  4li 

CHAP.  LX. 

In  the  form  of  an  ode  of  congratulation,  addressed 
to  Sion,  the  prophet  describes  the  finished  prosperity 
of  the  church.  A  considerable  correspondence  may 
easily  be  discerned  between  some  parts  of  the  pro- 
phecy and  the  circumstances  of  the  first  promulga- 
tion of  the  gospel ;  which  was  a  light  first  rising  on 
the  Jews,  and  from  them  propagated  to  the  Gentiles. 
But  the  images  of  the  prophecy  so  far  exceed  any- 
thing that  has  yet  taken  place,  that  it  is  reasonable 
to  think  the  accomplishment  is  reserved  for  the  se- 
cond advent  of  our  Lord.  This  even  St  Jerome  is 
obliged  to  confess ;  though  from  his  great  aversion 
to  the  reveries  of  the  chiliasts  of  antiquity,  he  was 
very  unwilling  to  admit  any  other  restoration  of  the 
Jews  than  the  conversion  of  them  to  Christianity. 
And  to  leave  himself  at  liberty  to  oppose  their  hopes, 
while  he  refers  the  prophecy  to  the  times  of  the 
second  advent,  he  chooses  to  understand  it  as  an  al- 
legorical exhibition  of  the  future  state  of  the  saints 
in  heaven. 

Verse  2.  — "  come  to — kings  to" —  rather,  "  walk 
by — kings  by." 

— "  thy  rising;"  rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  "tin 

d  d  2 


420  ISAIAH. 

sun-rising."    — "  im?  nti  est  pro  "V?  mi  1»K  tttf* 
Vitringa. 

Ferse  4.  — "  shall  be  nursed  at  thy  side."  For 
fiJBNn,  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth  read,  with  the 
LXX  and  Chaldee,  PtfWDH  or  HJKBW ;  «  shall  be 
carried  in  arms."  The  reading  is  in  some  degree 
supported  by  two  or  three  MSS. ;  but  the  alteration 
of  the  text  seems  not  necessary. 

Verse  5.  — "  and  shalt  flow  together ;"  rather, 
"  and  shalt  be  overflowed;"   u  e.  overcome  with 

joy- 

— "  thine  heart  shall  fear  and  be  enlarged ;"  ra- 
ther, "  thine  heart  shall  beat  and  be  enlarged."     I 
imagine  that  "ins,  when  ^  is  its  subject,  may  de- 
note the  accelerated  beating  of  the  heart  from  the 
sudden  emotion  of  any  other  passion  as  well  as  fear. 
So  in  the   Latin   language :   pavor  and   trepidare. 
— "  exsultantiaque   haurit   corda  pavor  pulsans.  " 
Geor.  iii,  105.     And  — "  trepidantia  bello  corda." 
lb.  iv,  69 ;   and  — "  trepidae  inter  se  evenit."  73. 
— "  Arbitror  omnem  ilium  animi  tumultum  et  a> 
stum,  spe,  metu,  expectatione  laudis  studio,  pudore 
subinde  pectus  vexante,  a  poeta  per  pavorem  signi- 
ficari."     Heyne  upon  the  first  passage.     — "  trepi- 
dantia bello  corda,  alacritate  pugnandi,  non  timore.'1 
Services. 


ISAIAH.  421 

— "  the  forces ;"  rather,  with  Vitringa  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  "  the  wealth." 

Verse  7.  — "  with  acceptance.''  Is  not  P^  ty, 
1  sponte  sua,*  *  of  their  own  accord  ?'  See  Bishop 
Lowth's  note. 

Verses  6,  7.  Under  the  imagery  of  these  two 
verses,  the  prophet  describes,  1st,  the  conversion  of 
all  nations  of  the  west  and  the  east  to  the  true  reli- 
gion :  2r////,  their  attachment  to  the  interests  of  reli- 
gion, which  will  be  such  that  they  will  chearfully 
expend  their  wealth  in  its  support ;  in  the  mainten- 
ance of  its  churches,  its  schools,  and  its  ministers : 
3tio,  — *  hoc  emblemate  designari  aio  populos  hocce 

ad  ecclesiam allaturos veras  divitias,  hoc  est, 

insignia  dona  divinae  gratia? ;  fidem  puram,  instar 
auri  igne  excoctam  ;  profundam  humilitatem  animi ; 

illuminationem  mentis zelum  religionis ;  sancti- 

moniam  ;  ardens  caritatis  ac  virtutis  studium  ;  spem 
vivam  ;  fiduciale  donum  precum,  instar  suffitus  Deo 
offerendarum  ;  eamque  voluntatis  lubentiam,  ut  se 
totos,  instar  sacrificiorum  voluntariorum  Deo  ejus- 

que  gloriae  consecrare  parati  sint Cameli,  statura 

proceri,  et  magna  onera  gestare  sueti,  sustinent  em- 
blema  excellentium  qua  dignitate  qua  facilitate  ho- 
minum,  qui  donis  hisce  spiritualibus,  quae  recensui, 

D  d  3 


122  ISAIAH. 

et  patientia  laboris  tolerantia  egregie  instructi  es- 
sent,  iisque  ecclesiam  ditarent  ac  veluti  operirent, 
bonum  fragrantemque  fidei  ac  virtutum  suarum  odo- 
rem  in  earn  illaturi ;  et  fortes  ac  validi  fide,  cum 
arietibus  comparandi,  et  mansuetudine  ovili  pingues, 
verbi  gratia,  et  albi  velleris  ex  sanctimonia,  ipsi  se, 

won  expectato  sacerdote  alio, ultro  ac  lubenter 

oblaturi,  ad  decus  et  ornamentum  ecclesiae,  in  hos- 
tias  spirituales,  Deo  gratas  ac  placentes  igne  spiritus 
ejus  consumendus."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  808,  2. 

Verse  S.  — "  to  tlieir  windows  ;"  rather,  "  to  their 
holes."  The  wooden  boxes,  with  a  narrow  entrance 
to  each,  usually  fixed  against  the  sides  of  houses, 
for  doves  to  make  their  nests  in,  are  commonly  call- 
ed pigeon-holes,   and   seem   to  be  intended  here. 

— "  Quinam  illi  sunt,  &c. non  videtur  abs  re  in- 

telligi  Graecos,  marisque  accolas  Asianos,  et  quic- 
quid  ad  occiduum  clima  est  Christianas  professions 
Jiominum  sub  imperio  Othmanico  gementium."  Vi- 
tringa, vol.  ii,  p.  809,  1 . 

Verse  9.  <c  Surely  the  isles  shall  wait  for  me  $"  ra- 
ther, <c  Verily  the  isles  are  eagerly  gathering  to- 
gether unto  me."     See  Gen.  i,  9. 

— "  unto  the  name and  to  the  Holy  One  j"  ra- 


..vUAli. 

ther,  "  because  of  the  name and  because  of  the 

Holy  One" —     Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  10.  — "and  that  their  kings  may  be  brought;'' 
rather,  M  and  that  their  kings  may  come  pompously 
attended."     Yitringa  and  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  13.  "  The  glory  of  Lebanon,"  &c.  — cc  In 
yEdem  Dei  dicitur  inferri  gloria  Libani,  hoc  est  ce- 
dri,  turn  quoque  fraxinus,  buxus,  ta?da,  pinus,  et 
qua?  alia?  procerse  ac  durabiles  et  oleosa?  arbores 
sunt;  ubi  viri,  in  majoribus  regnis  aut  rebus  publicis 
mundi,  sapientia,  doctrina,  eloquio,  dotibus  aliis 
excellentes,  ex  unctione  Spiritus  Sancti  illuminati 
ac  servati  a  corruptione,  dotes  claritatem  et  eminen- 
tiam  suam  inferunt  in  domum  Dei,  hoc  est,  in  ec- 
elesiam  ;  et  quicquid  in  ipsis  est  ad  earn  ornandum 
certatim  conferunt ;  ut  extra  ecclesiam  nihil  in 
mundo  emineat,  omnis  cminentia  ei  subjiciatur." 
Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  812,  2. 

Verse  15.  — u  I  will  make  thee  an  eternal  excel- 
lency," &c.     Rather, 

I  will  appoint  thee  to  eternal  exultation, 
[To]  rejoicing  for  perpetual  generations. 

Verse  17.  — "  thine  officers  peace,  and  thine  ex- 
actors righteousness."  — u  *PC^,  exactores  tuos. 
Hoec  non  licet  interpretari  de  ecclesia*  ministris,  nisi 

D  D  4 


Mb  ISAIAH. 

vis  afferatur  vocabulo  B?*&  Itaque  non  negandum 
hie  praenuntiari  Jerusalem  res  florentes  olim  futu- 
ras."  Houbigant.  But  there  is  little  weight  in  this 
criticism.  — f*  D^CMJ  sunt  in  universum  qui,  jus 
habent  aliquid  a  populo  exigendi,  sive  ut  magistra- 
te,, sive  mandata  sibi  potestate averte  hie  rursus 

oculos  a  statu  civili,  et  reflecte  ad  ecclesiasticum ; 
et  agnosces,  sub  hisce  praefectis  et  exactoribus,  epi- 
scopos,  antistites,  presbyteros  ecclesiarum,  quibus  a 
Christo  Jesu  ej usque  spiritu  mandata  est  curatio  in- 
spiciendi  statum  ecclesiae,  et  dispensatio  officiorum3" 
&c.     Vitringa  ad  locum, 

CHAR  LXI. 

This  chapter,  with  the  first  nine  verses  of  the  fol- 
lowing, contain  another  prophetic  effusion,  relating 
still  to  the  same  subject,  universal  redemption,  the 
restoration  of  the  Jews,  and  the  full  conversion  of 
the  Gentiles;  but  quite  unconnected  with  the  pre- 
ceding chapters,  and  entire  in  itself.  In  the  first 
nine  verses  of  this  chapter  Messiah  is  the  speaker. 
In  the  two  following  the  primitive  Hebrew  church 
returns  thanks.  In  the  first  nine  verses  of  the  sixty- 
second  chapter  the  Messiah  speaks  again ;  and  with 
the  ninth  verse  this  effusion  ends. 


ISAIAH.  425 

Verse  1.  Upon  the  authority  of  our  Lord's  quota- 
tion of  this  verse,  as  it  is  related  by  St  Luke  (iv,  1 8), 
the  modern  Hebrew  text  may  be  thus  corrected : 
1.  Expunge  the  superfluous  word  tfW,  2.  For  EPtlps 
read  P*#.  3.  For  OFrplfa,  read  PHyS.  4.  For 
nip  np3,  read  in  one  word  mpnp3.  5.  At  the  end 
of  the  1st  verse  add  this  clause,  RftMl  DWT1  fifth. 
The  first  correction,  beside  the  authority  of  the 
Evangelist,  hath  that  of  the  LXX  and  of  the  Vul- 
gate ;  the  second  and  third  that  of  the  LXX ;  the 
fourth  that  of  the  LXX  and  Vulgate. 

The  Spirit  of  Jehovah  is  upon  me,  for  he  hath  anointed  me ; 

To  publish  glad  tidings  to  the  poor  he  hath  sent  me, 

To  bind  up  the  wounded  in  heart, 

To  proclaim  release  to  the  captives, 

And  perfect  opening  of  sight  to  the  blind, 

To  set  the  broken  at  liberty. 

Verse  3.  "  To  appoint  unto  them  that  mourn  in 
Sion."  Some  word  seems  to  be  wanting  after  the 
verb  Dlttf.  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth  would 
insert  pW.  I  should  prefer  PinDtf,  ■  rejoicing;'  or, 
instead  of  P^P\  to  read  TOCP.  But  perhaps  the 
word  CDVv^  niay  have  some  sense  requiring  no  ac- 
cusative after  it.  TON1?  mc^>,  "  to  make  an  ar- 
rangement for  the  mourners  in  Sion."     The  Lay* 


426  ISAIAH. 

man  prefixes  the  first  three  verses  of  this  chapter  to 
the  forty-ninth,  but  without  a  shadow  of  authority 
for  the  transposition. 

Verse  7.    This  verse  as  it  stands  has  been  thought 
very  obscure.     Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth  follow 
the  Sy riac.     Remove  the  Soph  Pasuk  from  "HOVin 
to  !"^5,  that  the  first  four  words  of  this  verse  may 
be  united  to  the  preceding,  and  render, 
And  of  their  opulence  ye  shall  make  your  boast, 
Instead  of  repeated  shame  and  disgrace. 
They  shall  rejoice  in  their  portion, 
Inasmuch  as  they  shall  inherit  a  double  portion  in  their  own 

land, 
They  shall  have  eternal  joy. 
Verse  8.  — "  I  hate  robbery  for  burnt-offering ;" 
rather,  "  the  spoil  of  iniquity." 

— "  and  I  will  direct  their  work  in  truth  ;"  rather, 
"  and  I  will  ensure  to  them  the  reward  of  their 
work."  To  the  same  effect  Vitringa  and  Bishop 
Lowth. 

yerse  9.  — "  among  the  people  j"  — "  among  the 
peoples,"  plural. 

Verse  10.  — "  as  a  bridegroom  decketh  himself!," 
&c. 

Like  a  bridegroom  who  is  beautifully  decked, 
And  like  a  bride  adorned  with  her  jewels. 


ISAIAH. 

CHAP.  LXII. 

Verse  4.  — "  tliv  land  sluill  be  married."  — u  Sig- 
niflcat  rfS  possidere  jure  qualicunque,  Bed  sape  ma- 
trimonii. Itaque  Insus  est  inverto  TpftH  hoc  versu  et 
sequenti,  quern  Latina  lingua  non  capit."  Houbi- 
gant  ad  locum.  ty^  properly  predicates  that  kind 
of  ownership  which  implies,  besides  simple  property, 
care  and  protection  on  the  part  of  the  owner. 

Verse  5.  — "  thy  sons  \n  rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth, 
a  thy  restorer." 

Verse  10.  Here  a  new  effusion  begins,  which 
takes  up  the  whole  remaining  part  of  the  book. 
The  general  subject  is  still  the  same.  The  images 
are  animated  and  sublime.  The  transitions  sudden, 
but  without  confusion  or  disorder.  The  composition 
exquisitely  artificial,  and  the  style  highly  finished, 
though  disfigured  in  many  places  by  the  errors  of 
the  transcribers. 

The  poem  opens  with  a  joyous  proclamation  of 
the  Redeemer's  approach  to  Sion,  and  an  order  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  Jews  returning  from  their 
dispersion,  a  work  in  which  the  peoples  are  sum- 
moned  to  assist.  This  proclamation  and  these  orders 
take  up  the  remainder  of  this  chapter.     The  parti- 


428  ISAIAH. 

culars  of  this  great  event  seem  studiously  suppress* 
ed ;  and  the  imagination  of  the  prophet  is  carried 
forward,  not  into  the  midst,  but  to  the  end  of  things. 
In  the  sixty-third  chapter  a  conqueror  advances, 
coming  from  the  field  of  battle  in  garments  dyed 
with  the  blood  of  his  slaughtered  enemy.  The  pro- 
phet holds  a  conversation  with  the  conqueror  upon 
the  subject  of  his  exploits,  which  takes  up  the  first 
six  verses  of  the  sixty-third  chapter.  Then  follows 
a  penitential  confession  and  prayer  in  the  person  of 
the  Jewish  people  in  dispersion,  which  takes  up  the 
remainder  of  the  sixty-third  and  the  whole  of  the 
sixty-fourth  chapter.  In  the  two  following  chapters, 
God,  answering  this  prayer,  justifies  his  dealings 
with  the  Jewish  people,  promises  their  restoration, 
the  establishment  of  the  new7  economy,  the  final 
overthrow  of  the  irreligious  faction,  in  terms  allud- 
ing to  the  future  judgment. 

CHAP.  LXIII. 

1  Who  is  this  that  approacheth  all  in  scarlet, 
With  garments  stained  from  the  vintage  ? 
This  that  is  glorious  in  his  apparel, 
Bearing  down  all  before  him  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength  ? 

— "  Bearing  down  all  before  him" —     fijft>,  '  pro- 


ISAIAH.  429 

sternens.'     See  Parkhurst's  Lexicon,  ttf^  iv. ;  and 
Blaney's  note  on  Jer.  xlviii,  12* 

No  mention  of  Edom  or  Bozrah. 

— tt  I  that  speak  in  righteousness,"  HJHlfc  131D, 
read,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  npw  WDTI.  «  I  w]io 
publish  righteousness." 

Verse  3.    — "  I  will   tread trample shall  be 

sprinkled 1  will  stain."     All  these  futures  should 

be  preterites.  See  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth. 
For  inSwK,  read,  with  Bishop  Lowth,  ViSk:k. 

Verse  6.  — "  I  will  tread — and  make — I  will  bring 
down."     These  futures  again  should  be  preterites. 

Verse  8.    "  For  he  said children  that  will  not 

lie."     — "  '  Et  dixit/  idem  hie  valet  quod  c  et  cogi- 

tavit' Cogitatio  est  hoyoc  animi ;  vide  Ps.  xcv,  10. 

Quid,  itaque  inquis  ?     Fuitne  Deus  adeo  futuri 

ignarus  ut  nesciverit  Judicos  liberatos  sibi  non  pra> 

stituros  fidem  ? Repono  absurde  dici  Deum  nesci- 

visse subest  igitur  locutioni  figura  fictionis  meta- 
phorical ab  homine  desumptse,  qua  humana?  affecti- 
ones  et  accidentia  d^uTO'7ru0ajg  de  Deo  aflirmantur. 
Deus  hie  cogitasse  dicitur  qua?  ex  natura  rei  sequi 
debebant.     Omnis  enim  cogitatio  recta  ad  naturalia 

rerum  attributa  et  sequelas  conformanda  est Ergo 

id  cogitasse  Deus  dicitur  quod  naturam  rei  conseqiu 


4S0  ISAIAH. 

debuisset — ^Ut  adeo  hie  loquendi  modus  directe 
tendat  ad  Judaeum  populum  validissime  convince!)- 
dum  summae  pravitatis  ac  plane  in  exspectatae  cor- 
ruptionis  suae."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,p.  859,  2.  860, 1. 
Verse  9.  "  In  all  their  affliction  he  was  afflicted.,, 
Our  translators  have  followed  the  Keri  ^,  instead  of 
the  Cetib  &\  Bishop  Lowth,  in  the  interpretation 
of  the  passage,  follows  the  LXX.  Houbigant,  fol- 
lowing the  Cetib  (which  I  doubt  not  is  the  true 
reading),  renders  the  beginning  of  this  verse  thus : 
—"  In  all  their  straits  he  was  not  strait  [in  good- 
ness]." i — "  In  omnibus  angustiis  ipsorum  non  fuit 
angusta  bonitate."  See  his  note  in  justification  of 
this  rendering.  This  play  upon  a  word  is  certainly 
much  in  the  prophetic  style.  I  prefer  this  interpret- 
ation of  Houbigant's  to  that  of  the  LXX  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  not  only  because  it  requires  no  alteration  of 
the  text,  but  because  I  much  doubt  whether  the 
"  angel  of  the  presence''  ever  signifies  any  other  than 
Jehovah  himself  in  the  second  Person  of  the  Trinity. 
Perhaps  however  the  words,  according  to  the  divi- 
sion of  the  LXX,  might  bear  this  rendering, 

And  he  became  their  Saviour  in  all  their  distress. 
No  delegate—but  the  Angel  of  his  Presence  saved  them. 
In  his  love  and  in  his  mercy  he  it  was  that  redeemed  them. 

1 


ISAIAH.  43) 

This  seems  the  best  rendering  of  all. 

— "  he  it  was,"  i.  c.  the  person  last  mentioned, 
the  Angei  of  the  presence. 

— u  and  he  bare  them  ;"  rather,  "  and  he  took 
them  up  upon  his  shoulders." 

Verse  10.  — "  and  lie  fought  against  them  ;"  ra- 
ther, "  he  it  was  that  fought  against  them."  — "  be 
it  was,"  i.  e.  still  the  Angel  of  the  presence. 

Verse  11.     I  would  render  this  11th  verse  thus; 

But  [or,  with  Bishop  Stock,  "  Still"]  lie  remembered  the 

days  of  old — Moses !  his  people  ! 
How  he  brought  them  up  from  the  sea. 
The  shepherd  of  his  flock ! 
How  he  put  his  Holy  Spirit  within  him. 
12  Making  his  glorious  arm,  &c. 

Verse  13.   — "the  deep;"    rather,   "the  raging 


waves." 


— "in  the  wilderness;"  rather,  "  in  the  open 
plain." 

Verse  14.  "  Spiritus  Domini,  ut  armentis,  quae  in 
vallem  descenderunt  ita  cis  fecit  quietem."  Houbi- 
gant. 

— "  so  didst  thou  lead."  — f*  so,"  in  the  manner 
described  from  the  beginning  of  the  11th  verse. 
This  is  a  general  close  of  the  recital  of  former  mer- 


432  ISAIAH. 

cies.     See  the  Layman's  note  on  this  passage  from 

Harmer. 

16  Thou,  O  Jehovah,  art  our  Father,  our  Redeemer ! 
From  everlasting  is  thy  name. 

Verse  18.  For  OJJ,  read,  with  the  LXX  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  *tf1.  "  Let  them  but  a  short  time  inherit  thy 
holy  mountain,  our  enemies  who  have  trodden  down 
thy  sanctuary." 

May  not  the  verb  1ETV»  be  used  neuterally,  that 
the  passage,  without  any  alteration,  might  be  thus 
rendered  ? 

For  a  short  time  they  held  possession,  thy  holy  people, 
Our  adversaries  have  trodden  down  thy  sanctuary. 

Thus  the  short  time  here  is  opposed  to  the  long  in 
the  following  verse.  — "  Instituta  enim  compara- 
tione  temporis*  quo  populus  Judaeus  ut  liber  populus 
totam  Cananaeam  sibi  subjectam  habuit  (quippe  ter- 
rain, duce  Josua  occupatam,  fere  usque  ad  Davidis 
tempora  variis  locis  mixtim  cum  antiquis  possessori- 
bus  coluit,  et  in  ea  a  vicinis  gentibus  saspius  oppres- 
sus  fuit,  exilio  Babylonico  ex  terra  expellendus : 
rursus  post  exilium,  dum  pars  solummodo  exulum  in 
terram  rediit,  pars  ipsius  terrae  media  a  Samaritanis 
sive  Cuthaeis,  pars  alia  ab  Idumaeis  occupata  est : 
cum  vero  Assamonaei  gentem  difficillimo  opere  tan- 


ISAIAH.  i  I 

tlem  vindicassent  in  libertatem  et  haereditariam  pos- 
sessionem patrum  ;  illis  tamen  inter  se  dissidentibus 
et  de  regno  decertantibus,  termini  possessionis  per 
Pompeium  rursus  accisi  sunt,  et  Judaei  permisceri 
cceperant  Romanis,  usque  quo  respublica  tota  rursus 
ab  iis  eversa  est)  instituta,  inquam,  hujus  temporis 
comparatione  cum  diuturno  hoc  pncsenti  exilio— 
rectc  dicunt  supplices,  se  terrain  illani,  sibi  in  haere- 
ditatem  promissam,  ad  exiguum  tantum  possedisse." 
Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  p.  873,  2. 

19  "  We  have  long  been  as  those  whom  thou  hast  not  ruled. 
Who  have  not  been  called  by  thy  name." 

Bishop  Lowtli. 

CHAP.  LXIV. 

Verse  4.  — "  seen,  O  God,  besides  thee,  what  he 
hath  prepared."  — "  Per  ea  quae  nemo  audivit,  aut 
vidit,  a  Deo  parata  expectantibus  ipsum,  intellige 
sis  magnam  salutem  sub  Messia  revelandam,  cum 
mirabili  illius  dispensatione,  et  admirandis  pha?no- 
menis,  per  saecula  regni  Messiae  decursaris,  et  his 
tantum,  qui  spiritual]  ingenio  pnediti  sunt,  vere  ef 
TrgwypaTiKcog  percipiendis.  GEconomia  nova  tota  con- 
stat paradoxis.  Quicquid  in  ea  vides,  quicquid  aiulis. 
est  mirabile,  sapiential  carnali  adversum,  ut  ver.  9, 
VOL.  IT.  E  i; 


434  ISAIAH. 

Apparitio  Filii  Dei  in  statu  humilitatis ;  administra- 
tio  evangelii  per  ipsum  facta,  ejusque  accidentia; 
vrotfypara  ejus  probrosissima,  resurrectio  et  ascensio 
in  coelos ;  forma  regni  ab  ipso  instituta,  spiritualis ; 
bona  regni,  spiritualia;  ministri  regni  promovendi, 
nulla  sapientia  mundana  instructi,  nulla  auctoritate 
eximii ;  donatio  Spiritus  Sancti ;  electio  gentium  ; 
et  rejectio  majoris  et  spectabilioris  partis  populi  Ju- 
dasi;  judicia  tremenda  in  hunc  populum,  et  Roma- 
num  imperium ;  et  universa  regni  hujus  administra- 
te, per  multa  ssecula  decursura  inter  varias  illius 
vicissitudines  status  et  afflictiones,  tandem  termi- 
nanda  in  victoria,  quam  Dominus  Jesus  de  omnibus 
hostibus  suis  reportaret,  Judaeorumque  et  Gentium 
natione  optatissima  in  fide  ejusdem  Domini  et 
Christi ;  quae  clausa  erant  arcanis  decretorum  divi- 
norum.  Hasc  primo,  oculus  carnalis  nunquam  vide- 
rat ;  auris  corporalis  nunquam  audiverat.  Nunquam 
enim  ante  hoc  tempus  extiterant.  Secundo,  nulla 
cogitatione,  nulla  ingenii  astutia,  absque  revelatione 
prascognosci  aut  percipi  poterant.  Tertio,  revelata 
etiam  a  prophetis,  nee  plane  percepta,  nee  credita 
erant.  Quarto,  etiam  postquam  manifestatio  regni 
Dei  facta  esset,  a  nemine  intelligi,  percipi,  ac  dig- 
nosci  potuerunt,  nisi  ab  hominibus  gratia  Spiritii- 


ISAIAH. 

Sancti  illuminatis.     Carnalia  quotquot  erant  ingi 
ad   banc   mirahilcni    dispensationem    divjaae    gratis 

stupuerunt.  Hie  summus  sensus  est  sentential." 
Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  878,  2. 

— "  *  prater  te  qua'  facturus  est/  pro  *  quae  fac- 
turus  es/  per  enallagen  persona?  ubique  in  hoc  libro 
obviam."     Vitringa,  vol.  ii,  S79,  1. 

Verse  5.  This  verse  some  have  thought  unintel- 
ligible as  it  stands,  and  unquestionably  corrupt,  (see 
Bishop  Lowth),  and  various  emendations  have  been 
proposed.  But  without  the  change  of  a  single  letter, 
I  would  place  the  word  "W3V0  immediately  after  tw, 
and  put  a  colon  at  p"^\  and  another  at  TTO*;  thus, 

rooRp  nnn  p 
ijNPvn  oViy  aro  Nunn 

Thou  wilt  meet  (t.  r.  tbou  wilt  be  familiar  with)  him  who  re- 

joiceth  in  thy  ways,  ' 
And  worketh  righteousness :  they  shall  remember  thee. 
Behold,  thou  hast  been  wroth, 
Because  we  tripped  in  them  of  old,  and  looked  averse. 

— "  tripped,"  the  literal  sens.1  of  the  word  N^n. 

— "  in  them,"  viz.   in  thy  paths. 

— M  and  looked  averse."     )WJ\  "  had  our  eyes 

E  E  2 


436  ISAIAH. 

turned  away,"  from  fiJW  used  neuterally,  in  HophaL 
Some  MSS.  give  JTJJW*.  I  confess  this  use  of  the 
verb  as  a  neutral  is  rare,  and  the  insertion  of  1  be- 
tween the  formative  of  the  person  and  the  first  radi- 
cal is  irregular.  The  best  account  I  can  give  of  it 
is,  that  this  verb  MjJttf  often  takes  the  form  of  JW. 

Verse  6.  "  But  we  are  alt" —  rather,  "  Therefore 
we  are  all" — 

— "  as  an  unclean  thing;"  rather,  u  as  one  un- 
clean," i.  e.  as  a  leper.   — u  Leprosi  spirituales  sunt 

excommunicati  a  Deo  et  ecclesia sentis  leprosos 

figuram  verissimam  sustinere  Judaeorum,  in  incredu- 
litate  et  errore  capitali  obstinatorum,  succumbert- 
tium  tristi  Dei  judicio,  eciqne  de  causa  exclusorum 
commercio  Dei  et  Sanctorum,  et  hanc  notam  Divini 
judicii  per  orbem  circumgerentium."  Vitringa,  voh 
ii,  882,  2. 

— "  as  filthy  rags;"  properly,  "  a  menstruous  rag," 
which  is  therefore  called  a  rag  of  testimonies,  as  at- 
testing and  notifying  the  disease.  Or  perhaps  the 
phrase  may  more  especially  denote  the  linen  cloths, 
which  after  the  wedding  night  afforded  legal  evi- 
dence of  the  bride's  virginity.  So  St  Jerome  seems 
to  have  understood  it. 


SAIAH.  L3T 

CHAP.  LXV. 

Verse  l.  "  I  am  sought  of  them  that  asked  not  foi 
me ;"  rather,  "  I  have  given  oracular  advice  to  them 
that  consulted  me  not."  The  Niphil  of  BHP1  signifies 
actively  to  give  oracular  answers,  as  the  verb  in  Kal 
signifies  to  consult  the  oracle. 

Verse  4.  — "  and  lodge  in  the  monuments  %**  ra- 
ther, "  in  the  consecrated  precincts.' '    p'HttiD,  i.  e. 

— u  in  their  vessels."  For  DH^S,  read  EtfWM, 
See  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verses  3,  4.  It  may  seem  extraordinary  that  idol- 
atrous rites  should  be  mentioned  among  the  crimes 
of  the  Jewish  nation  which  occasioned  their  rejec- 
tion, since  they  were  not  generally  addicted  to  idol- 
atry at  the  time  when  our  Lord  appeared  among 
tliem.  — M  Ilespondeo  primo  (says  Vitringa)  Jesaiam 
omnes  transgressiones  et  rebelliones  gentis  Judaeae 
complexe  sumptas  respici  velle,  ut  causam  extremi 
illius  et  gravissimi  judicii,  quod  Deus  tandem,  in  die 

salutis,  in  hunc  populum  executus  est sed  ecsta- 

ticum  et  a  spiritu  validissime  affectum,  modo  hoc, 
modo  illud  genus  peccati  ac  superstitionis,  quod  ipso 
illo  tempore  ob  oculos  ponebatur,  arripuisse,  ut  illius 

E  £  3 


438  ISAIAH. 

fceditatem  hac  occasion e  detegeret,  et  populum  de- 

fectorem  ab  eo  abduceret. Quod  autem  speciem 

illam  criminum,  quse  versabatur  circa  superstition  em 
atque  idololatriam  antiquam,  saepius  in  medium  pro- 
ferat,  ratio  est  planissima ;  quod  conciones  suas,  et 
propheticas  quoque,  quantum  pote  voluerit  accom- 
modare  ad  usum  ecclesiae  Judieas  sui,  et  sequuturi, 

temporis. Secundo, — Vates  hie  non  tantum  in- 

cedit  per  plures  peccati  species,  quse,  per  articulos 
temporum  hanc  gentem  maxime  polluerent,  et  com- 
plementum  suum  acciperent  in  delicto  omnium  gra- 
vissimo  repulsi  regni  Dei  ;  verum  ipsum  quoque  il- 
lud  turpissimum  fiagitium  circa  religionem  commis- 
sum,  in  Messia  rejecto,  contempto,  illuso,  ejusque, 
ac  ministrorum  ipsius,  sanguine  effuso,  quod  riagi- 
tium  gentem  contaminatissimam  et  fcedissimam 

reddidit  coram  Deo,  proponit  sub  figura  metaphorica 
ejusmodi  superstitionum  detestabilium,  quge  cultores 
maxime,  secundum  ritum  legalem  polluebant.,,  Vi- 
tringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  891,  2  j  892,  1. 

Verse  5.  "  Which  say — -thou."     — "  Cum hie 

ratio  detur  electarum  Gentium,  reprobata  majore 
parte  populi  Judaei  j  spiritus  postquam  recensuisset 

fcedissima  crimina et  turpem  circa  Syriaca  tem- 

pora  apostasiam  a  Deo  : mox  introducit  pessimum 


ISAIAH.  4-39 

♦•onus  hypocritarum,  qui  circa  tempus  manifestandi 
regii  Dei  prae  Be  torrent  cum  fastu  singularem  sane- 
timouiam  puritatoinquc  legalem,  co  usque  ut  alios, 
eosque  voriorcs  Dei  cultores,  a  communione  sua  sc 
pararent — et  imaginaria  justitia  operum  misci,  puri- 
tatisque  legal  i  fidentes,  regnum  Dei  repellerent." 
Vitringa,  vol.  ii,  897,  1. 

Verse  6.  Expunge  the  full  stop  at  the  end  of  this 
verse ;  and  in  the  following  verse,  for  D^rGiy  and 
02WOK,  read,  with  the  LXX,  Houbigant,  and 
Bishop  Lowth,  OPiVOiy  and  BXmM. 

I  will  even  requite,  in  their  bosom,  their  iniquities, 
And  the  iniquities  of  their  fathers  together. 

Verse  8.  — "  As  the  new  wine/'  &c. 

As  when  a  good  grape  is  found  in  the  unripened  cluster, 
It  is  said,  &c. 

See  Houbigant. 

— u  for  my  servant's  sake,  that  I  may  not  destroy 

them  all  j"  rather,  u  for  the  sake  of  my  servant  [the 

Messiah]  not  to  destroy  the  whole." 
Verse  9.  "  And" —  rather  "  But" — 
Verse  11.  — "  for  that  troop — unto  that  number;" 

rather,  "  for  Gad unto  Meni,"  proper  names  of 

heathen  deities  :    Gad,  the  Sun  j  Meni,  the  Moon  j 

according  to  Vitriuga. 

E  E  l 


HO  ISAIAH. 

Herodotus  thus  describes  the  table  of  the  Sun,  in 
Ethiopia,  south  of  Egypt :  — h  h  rgwttZp  rov  'Hhiov 
Toirifo  rig  hey&roci  shut.  Asi^m  lart  h  r&>  Trgoccffruw,  Iwi- 
irhMg  xotuv  \$Qw  nuvrM  ruv  rBrgwrohw  eg  rov  rag  \hiv 
vvarug  eirirrtfovovrag  rtfawt  ra  Kgiu.  rovg  ev  rihii  exewrovg 
lovrug  rcov  ucrcov,  rug  he  qpegotg  humvuGdoii  vrgoGiovrto  rov 
fiovXopmis'  (pawl  he  rovg  eiriyju^iovg  reevra,  rqv  yr,v  cevrqv 
umfodovoti  itcacrore.  Thalia,  18.  Vitringa  seems  to 
think  a  similar  custom  might  prevail  among  other 
nations  of  the  east. 

—"furnish  the  drink-offering;"  rather,  "  the 
mixed  drink."  — "  Est  autem  in  cunctis  urbibus, 
et  maxime  in  iEgypto  et  in  Alexandria,  idololatriae 
vetus  consuetudo,  ut  ultimo  die  anni  et  mensis  eo- 
rum  qui  extremus  est,  ponant  mensam  refertam  varii 
generis  epulis,  et  poculum  mulso  mixtum  ;  vel  prae- 
teriti  anni,  vel  futuri,  fertilitatem  auspicantes.  Hoc 
autem  faciebant  et  Israelite,  omnium  simulacrorum 
portenta  venerantes."     Hieron.  ad  locum. 

For  the  import  of  the  names  "^  and  ^D,  see  Park- 
hurst  and  Bates. 

Verses  13 — 15.  "  Nihil  tarn  obvium  est,  quam  ut 
haec  intelligantur  de  ultima  clade  Judaeorum,  cum 
undecies  centena  millia  hominum,  urbe  Jerusalem 
clausa,  fame  perierunt,  Christianis  Judaeis,  qui  Pel- 


ISAIAH.  Hi 

lam  se  receperant,  nihil  tale  patientibus.  Nam  versu 

15  notatur  tempus cum  servi  Dei  in  genere,  sive 

omnes,  alio  nomine  erunt  appellandi ;  quod  tempus 
non  aliud  esse  potest,  quam  in  quo  servi  Dei  nomi- 
nati  sunt,  non  jam  Jiukei  sed  Christiani."  Houbi- 
jrant  ad  locum- 

Verse  15.  "  And  ye  shall  leave  your  name  as  a 
curse  unto  my  chosen j"  literally,  "  And  ye  shall 
leave  alone  your  name  to  be  a  loathsome  thing  to 
my  chosen."  — "  leave  alone,"  r.  e.  lay  aside, 
drop  it.  You  yourselves  shall  become  ashamed  of 
your  national  name ;  and  the  rest  of  mankind,  the 
faithful  especially,  will  hold  it  in  abhorrence  and 
disgust.  This  has  actually  been  the  case  with  the 
Jewish  name  ever  since  their  dispersion,  though  the 
time  will  come  when  it  will  again  become  honour- 
able among  the  servants  of  God. 

Verse  16.  "  That  he,"  &c. ;  rather,  "  He,"  with- 
out That ;  for  this  is  a  sentence  by  itself. 

— "  the  God  of  truth  \9%  i.  e.  in  Jesus  Christ,  who 
is  the  God  of  AMEN:  1st,  As  he,  in  union  with 
the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  very  God,  in  op- 
position to  idols  :  2(ity,  By  the  truth  of  his  doctrine, 
which  he  witnessed  with  his  blood :  3dly,  Because 
whatever  in  the  law  was  typical,  sbadowy,  carnal, 


U2  ISAIAH. 

temporal,  in  him  and  in  his  gospel,  is  reality,  sub- 
stance, spiritual,  eternal :  4thly,  Because  in  him  and 
by  him  were  verified  all  the  promises  of  the  prophets. 
See  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  910,  2. 

— "  troubles;"  rather,  with  Houbigant  and  Bishop 
Lowth,  "  provocations."  But  I  think  a  full  stop 
should  be  placed  at  the  last  jEK,  for  there  the  threat- 
enings  end ;  and  with  this  line  a  new  subject  opens, 
the  general  mercy  under  the  Christian  dispensation. 

Verily  the  former  provocations  are  forgotten ; 
Verily  they  are  hidden  from  my  eyes. 
For  behold,  &c. 

Verse  19.  — "  Quicunque  haec,  quae  sequuntur  us- 
que ad  finem  capitis,  attente  legent,  facile  videbunt 
ultima  Christianas  religionis  tempora  notari,  quomo- 
do  antea  notata  sunt  ecclesise  nascentis  prima  in- 
cunabula. Mos  est  prophetarum  nectere  earundem 
rerum  prima  tempora  cum  temporibus  extremis." 
Houbigant  acl  locum. 

Verse  20.  — "  an  infant  of  days,"  a  short-lived 
child. 

— <c  for  the  child  shall  die,"  &c. 

"  For  he  that  dieth  at  an  hundred  years  shall  die  a  boy, 

And  the  sinner  that  dieth  at  an  hundred  years  shall  be 

deemed  accursed." 

Bishop  Lowth. 


ISAIAH. 

Veru  22.  — "  shall  enjoy;"  — "  shall  wear  out,'* 
Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  23.  — "  nor  bring  forth  for  trouble." 

"  Nor  generate  a  short- lived  race." 

Bishop  Lowth.     See  Iii.n  note 

Verse  2.5.  — "  and  dust."     — "  but  dust."     The 
curse  shall  remain  upon  the  serpent. 


CHAP.  LXVI. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  Jews  are  taxed  with 
the  idolatrous  practices  to  which  they  were  addicted 
before  the  Babylonian  captivity.  In  this  their  hypo- 
crisy in  later  times  is  the  principal  topic  of  accusa- 
tion. This  is  reproved  in  terms  which  seem  to  al- 
lude to  the  abrogation  of  the  Mosaic  ritual.  And 
the  promises  which  follow,  of  the  call  of  the  Gentiles 
and  the  final  conversion  of  the  Jews,  are  conveved 
in  terms  which  clearly  imply  an  appointment  of  a 
new  priesthood. 

Verse  1.  — "Where  is  the  house,"  &c. ;  rather, 
11  What  is  this  house  which  ye  are  building  tor  me, 
and  what  place  is  this  for  my  rest?"  Nearly  to  the 
same  effect  Yitringa  and  the  Layman. 

Verse  2,    — "  and  all  those  things   have  been." 


444  ISAIAH. 

Read,  with  the  LXX,  Houbigant,  Bishop  Lowth, 
and  the  Layman,  rh*  S  iS  IWj. 

And  all  these  things  are  mine. 

Verse  3.  — "  is  as  if" —    Expunge  these  terms  of 
comparison  in  every  part  of  this  verse,  which  are  not 
found  in  the  original,  and  marr  the  sense. 
He  that  killeth  an  ox,  murdereth  a  man,  &c. 

See  Houbigant  and  Bishop  Lowth. 

Verse  5.  — "  ye  that  tremble  at  his  word."  Those 
few  among  the  Jews  who  received  our  Lord. 

i — <c  Your  brethren"—  Your  unbelieving  country- 
men pretend  that  their  persecution  of  you  proceeds 
from  a  zeal  for  my  honour,  and  they  challenge  you 
to  obtain  a  display  of  my  powers  in  your  behalf,  if 
you  are  indeed  my  servants.  "  Let  him  deliver  him 
now  if  he  would  have  him,"  was  their  language  when 
our  Saviour  hung  upon  the  cross. 

Verse  8.  — "  Shall  the  earth  be  made  to  bring 
forth  in  one  day  ?"  rather,  with  Bishop  Lowth, 

"  Is  a  country  brought  forth  in  one  day  ? " 

9  "  Shall  I  bring  to  the  birth,  and  not  cause  to  bring  forth, 
saith  Jehovah  ? 
Shall  I,  who  beget,  restrain  the  birth,  saith  thy  God  ?  w 

Bishop  Lowth. 

And  to  the  same  effect  Vitringa, 

Verse  11.  — "  with  the  abundance  of  her  glory.55 


ISAIAH.  U5 

Bishop  Lowth  would  read,  "  with  tlie  stores  of  her 
plenty."  If  any  emendation  is  necessary,  I  should 
propose  *WDD,  which  has  some  support  from  MSS., 
and  gives  a  good  sense ;  — "  from  the  storehouses 
of  her  wealth."  But  the  text  may  be  right  as  it 
stands.  — "with  the  bustle  of  her  wealth."  See 
Parkhurst. 

Verse  16.  The  LXX  seem  to  have  had  a  different 
leading  of  this  verse,  viz. 

ntpa  75  HK  OTD1 
For  by  the  fire  of  Jehovah  the  earth  shall  suffer  her  sentence, 
And  by  his  sword  all  flesh. 

Verse  17.  — "  behind  one  tree  in  the  midst,  eat- 
ing swine's  flesh." 

"  after  the  rites  of  Achad, 

In  the  midst  of  those  who  eat  swines  flesh,"  &x. 

Bishop  Lowth. 
See  the  Bishop's  learned  note. 

— "  Hoc  versu,  Pharisacorum  et  sequacium,  vana 
justitiae  legalis  opinione  turgentium,  hypocrisis  per- 
stringitur ;  innuiturque,  eos  eodem  loco  et  pretio 
apud  Deum  esse,  quo  profani  illi  et  impuri  Israelita?, 
qui  temporibus  idololatricis,  aetate  prophetae,  sese  ad 
Fthnicorum    more5?   et   ritus  plane  conformabant.,' 


4-46 


\  ISAIAH. 


Ludovicus  Cappellus.         — "  Perite  et  Sedkoytzug ! 

Pharisaei,  summara  religionis  suse  constituentes 

in  purificationibus  et  lustration ibus  externis  ;  et  hoc 
nomine  sectam  facientes ;  intus  pleni  rapina,  intem- 
perantia,  et  omni  immunditie  ;  iidemque  repulsa  jus- 
titia  Dei  evangelio  oblata,  spem  fundantes  in  justitia 
operum,  erant  fifo\vypu  coram  Deo ;  eorumque  haec 
superstitio,  eodem  loco  apud  Deum  habebatur,  quo 
Syro-Macedonum  et  Phcenicum,  qui  lustrationibus 
et  februis  in  lucis,   Heliopolitano  aut  Antiocheno, 

vacabant. Herodiadae  et  Sadducasi luxui  va- 

cantes  ac  libidini  carnis,  et  praestantissimam  religio- 
nem,  aspectu  carnalem,  sensu  spiritualem  per  hypo- 
crisin  convertentes,  in  usus  mere  carnales ;  interim 
ipsi,  perinde  ac  Pharisagi,  disciplinam  evangelii  re- 
spuentes,  et  sanguinis  Christi  Jesu  ac  Sanctorum, 
sitientes,  aeque  polluti  censebantur  apud  Deum,  ac 
qui  porcina  carne,  reptilibus  et  muribus  vescuntur." 
Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  943,  1  &  2. 

Verse  18.     For  HKD,  read  K2. 

For  because  of  their  deeds  and  their  devices,  I  come, 
To  gather,  &c. 

But  see  Bishop  Stock. 

— "  and  see  my  glory."   — "  Gloria  Jehovae,  quid 
ex  stylo  prophetae  nostri  commodius  significet,  quam 


ISAIAH.  447 

gloriam  Jehovae  patefactam    in  glorioso  ministerio. 

foederis  novi,  declaratam  verbo  evangelii  ? Evan- 

gelium  nobis  conspiciendam  exhibet  omnem  Dei 
perfectionem  ;  virtutem,  sapientiam,  bonitatem,  gra- 
tiam,  miserationes ;  omnem  ejus  potentiam,  etjusti- 
tiam  ;  omnem  ejus  omnisufficientiam,  opes,  divitias; 
quicquid  in  ipso  amabile,  quicquid  venerandum  est; 
et  in  universum  omnem  Dei  excellentiam  et  gloriam 
il  facie  Christi  Jesu."  Vitringa  in  Is.  vol.  ii,  946,  2; 
947,  1. 

Verse  19.  "  And  I  will  set  a  sign  among  them ;" 
rather,  "  And  I  will  set  a  mark  upon  them." 

M  Hoc  dicitur  ad  exemplar  ejus  signi,  quod  posu- 
erat  Deus  super  Cain,  turn  ne  eum  homines  interfi- 
cerent,  turn  etiam  ut  ab  ejus  societate  removerentur. 
JucUei  agnoscuntur  id  quod  sunt,  ubicunque  in  orbe 
degunt,  et  gloriam  Dei,  quanquam  non  sponte  sua; 
praedicant  apud  gentes."  Houbigant  ad  locum.  But 
yet  I  think  "  the  escaped,  sent  to  the  Gentiles,"  are 
the  first  preachers  of  Christianity. 

— "  and  I  will  send;"  rather,  "  but  I  will  send/' 

Verse  20.  "  And  they"  the  Gentiles  "shall  bring 
your  brethren"  the  Jews,  not  only  into  the  church, 
but  back  to  the  Holy  Land,  which  they  shall  literal- 
ly repossess.      — "  quippe  hoc  vult  id  quod  dicitu 


4*8  ISAIAH. 

de  equis,  curribus,  lecticis  ac  mulis.  Quod  quidem 
nihil  significant,  se  nihil  aliud  praediceretur,  quam 
Judseos  in  ecclesiam  Christianam  intraturos,  cum 
introitus  talis  fit  per  fidem,  non  per  itinera,  vel  iti- 
nerum  commoditates.'*     Houbigant  ad  locum. 

— "  upon  swift  beasts  ;*'  rather,  "  in  panniers.** 
I  rather  think  that  covered  carriages,  for  women  of 
condition,  are  denoted  by  the  word  0*0¥  ;  and  pan- 
niers, thrown  across  a  camel's  back,  for  the  convey- 
ance of  women  of  the  inferior  ranks,  by  rwWb. 
The  word  CM¥  certainly  signifies  a  carriage  drawn, 
not  carried,  by  beasts ;  Num.  vii,  3.  For  the  sense 
given  to  the  other  word  fiTO*D,  see  Parkhurst,  *0. 
SD*QV  is  well  enough  rendered  by  *  litters*  in  the 
public  translation  :  •  pileatis,'  Vitringa. 


END  OF  THE  SECOND  VOLUME, 


BS1151.H818v.2 

Biblical  criticism  on  the  first  fourteen 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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