4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of A.C.742. Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel.

7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the * images.

9¶ In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

* Or, sun ima

ges.

11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish but the harvest shall be † a heap in the day of grief and of desperate +

sorrow.

Or, removed

in the day of inheritance, and there shall

12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which be make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of § mighty

waters!

13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

SECTION IV.

Devastation of Judah by Pekah.

2 CHRONICLES XXVIII. VER. 4-20.

4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried

deadly sor

or, noise.

Or, many,

|| Or, thistle. down.

741.

* Heb. Darmesek.

to

A.C. 741. away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. 6 ¶ For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all + Heb. sons of + valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.

valour.

7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Heb. the se- Elkanah that was next to the king.

cond to the

king.

3.

8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

9 But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven.

10 And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bond women unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God?

11 Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

12 Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war,

13 And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.

14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.

15 And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them Deut.xxxiv. to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

r

16 At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him,

17 For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, A. C. 741. and carried away *captives.

*Heb. a cap

18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low tivity. country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.

19 For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

OBADIAH 29.

1 The destruction of Edom, 3 for their pride, 10 and for their wrong unto Jacob. 17 The salvation and victory of Jacob.

S

740.

1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, & Jer. xlix. 14, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen : thou art greatly despised.

3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

&c.

4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and thought Jer. xlix. 16. thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

"The time when Obadiah flourished is quite uncertain. Lightfoot makes him contemporary with Hosea, and imagines that as the prophecy is solely written against Edom, that the Edomites united with Shishak king of Egypt against Jerusalem (1 Kings xiv. 25.), or with the Philistines and Arabians (2 Chron. xxi. 16, 17.), or with Joash king of Israel (2 Chron. xxv. 21.): but in all these expeditions, we have no account whatever that the Edomites took any part. Archbishop Newcome supposes that he prophesied before the taking of Jerusalem and the destruction of Idumea by Nebuchadnezzar; and this opinion is generally adopted. I have, however, ventured to place the book of Obadiah in this place, from comparing the tenor of the prophecy contained in it with 2 Chron. xxviii. 17. where we expressly read, " for again the Edomites had come, and smitten Judah, and carried away captives." In this passage there is an account of injuries certainly inflicted at a time when Judah was in the greatest distress, and brought very low. It certainly alludes to some predatory incursion of the Edomites alone: apparently unconnected with the invasion of the Philistines mentioned in the following verse. And from the expres

sion "again the Edomites had come," may be inferred, that they had often, before this attack, taken advantage of the calamities and distresses of the land of Judah. Dupin confirms this arrangement of Obadiah's prophecy.

A.C. 740.

u Jer. xlix. 9..

* Or, gleanings.

+ Heb. the

men of thy peace.

Heb. the

men of thy
bread.
Or, of it.

x Is xxix. 14.

Jer. xlix. 7.

y Gen. xxvii. 11. Ezek.

XXXV. 5.

Amos i, 11.

5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave * some grapes?

6 How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!

7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: + the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.

8 * Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

у

10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in Or, carried the day that the strangers || carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.

away his substance.

*Or, do not behold, &c.

12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have + Heb. mag. + spoken proudly in the day of distress.

nified thy mouth.

+ Or, forces.

13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;

14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou Or, shut up. have § delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: z Ezek. xxxv. as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

15.

16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and Or, sup up. they shall || swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.

* Or, they that escape.

17

But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and Or, it shall there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall pos

be holy.

sess their possessions.

18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house A. C. 740. of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.

19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Se-Or, shall pharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.

ISAIAH I. VER. 2, TO THE END 30.

possess that which is in Seraphad.

1.

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the a Deut. xxxii. LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

3 b The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's b Jer. viii. 7.

* At this period of the history of Judah, the land was suffering under an idolatrous king, successfully invading armies, captivity, and ruin. In 2 Chron. · xxviii. 6, 8, 9, we read that Pekah had slain in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, that the children of Israel had carried away captive two hundred thousand of their women, sons, and daughters, because the Lord God was wroth with Judah; that the Philistines and Edomites had alike ravaged the country, and taken many of their towns, (ver. 17, 18.) The expressions, therefore," your country is desolate,” “ your cities burnt with fire," describe most forcibly the ruinous condition to which Judah was now reduced; and, in all probability, the prophet took advantage of the desolation that surrounded him to exhort the people to repentance. This chapter is an animated appeal to the Jews, both by promises and threatenings; and is well calculated to arrest their attention. It is probable, on this account, that Ezra, when he reformed the canon of Scripture, placed this chapter first in Isaiah, considering it a good introduction to the whole book. Bishop Lowth supposes that it may have been delivered towards the end of the reign of Jotham; but there is no historical proof of the correctness of his supposition. He mentions the general opinion that the chapter describes the distress in the reign of Ahaz, and its unsuitableness to the reigns either of Uzziah, or Jotham, who were both powerful princes. And on the strength of those arguments the chapter is inserted here, as being more descriptive of the state of Judah at this time, than at any other period of the prophet's mission.