The rejection of the Jews ISAIAH. for their idolatry and pride. B. C. 760. B. C. 760. A. M. 3244. beat their swords into plough-shares, || the house of Jacob, because they be re- A. M. 3244. and their spears into 2pruning-hooks: plenished from the east, and 1are nation shall not lift up sword against nation, soothsayers like the Philistines, m and they h neither shall they learn war any more. *please themselves in the children of strangers. 5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us 7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, in the light of the LORD. neither is there any end of their trea i walk 6 ¶ Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people sures; their land is also full of horses, nei 2 Or, scythes.h Psa. lxxii. 3, 7. than the east. i Eph. v. 8. -3 Or, more k Num. xxiii. 7. Deut. xviii. 14. of his implacable enemies who set themselves to oppose the propagation of his gospel. They shall beat their swords into plough-shares-This description of a well-established peace is very poetical. The Prophet Joel hath reversed it, and applied it to war prevailing over peace; beat your plough-shares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears, Joel iii. 10. And so likewise the Roman poet: "Non ullus aratro Dignus honos, squalent abductis arva colonis, "The peaceful peasant to the wars is press'd; || m Psa. cvi. 35; Jer. x. 2. n Deut. xvii. 16, 17. join with, or rather to go before them in this good work. "The prophet," says Lowth, addresses himself to those Jews of later times, that should live when the glad tidings of the gospel should be published; and exhorts them to make use of those means of grace which God would so plentifully afford them, and not continue stubborn and refractory, like their forefathers, which disobedience of theirs had provoked him to forsake them, as it follows, verse 6. And let us walk in the light of the Lord-Take heed that you do not reject that light, which will be so clear, that even the blind Gentiles will discern it." Verse 6. Therefore-For the following causes; thou hast forsaken thy people--Or, wilt certainly forsake and reject them. The house of Jacob-The body of that nation. The prophet here begins his complaint of the state of the Jewish nation, and "assigns the reason of God's withdrawing his kindness from those of the present age, (as there would be a more remarkable rejection of them under the gospel,) because of their following the corrupt manners of the idolatrous nations round about them, in seek Nation shall not lift up sword against nationPeace is frequently mentioned in Scripture as the distinguishing character of Christ's kingdom, and he himself is called the prince of peace. The design and tendency of his gospel are to produce a peacea-ing to soothsayers and wizards, which God had so ble disposition in mankind, by subduing their pride, and various passions and lusts, which are the causes of wars and contentions, and by working in them humility, meekness, self-denial, and true and fervent love to all men, from whence peace necessarily follows. And the gospel actually does produce this || effect in those that rightly receive it. It disposes them, as much as in them lieth, to live peaceably with all men. And as to that dissension and war which the preaching of the gospel has sometimes occasioned, as it was foretold it would do, Matt. x. 21, 22, it was wholly accidental, arising from men's corrupt lusts and interests, which the gospel opposes; and it was not among those who received the truth in the love of it, but between them and those who were either open enemies, or false friends to them and to the gospel. But this passage foretels that even an external and general peace will be established in the world under the reign of the Messiah, which undoubtedly, in due time, will take place, namely, when the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in, and all Israel shall be saved, and both Jews and Gentiles shall be united together in one fold, under Christ their great Shepherd. Verse 5. O house of Jacob, come ye-Since the Gentiles will be thus ready and resolved to seek and serve the Lord, and to excite one another so to do, let this oblige and provoke you, O ye Israelites, to lemnly and expressly forbidden, Deut. xviii. 14.”—– Lowth. Because they are replenished from the east—Or, as the margin reads it, more than the east, which Dr. Waterland interprets, They are fuller of sorceries than the east; and Bishop Lowth, They are filled with divination from the east. The general meaning seems to be, that their land was full of the impious, superstitious, and idolatrous manners of the eastern nations, the Syrians and Chaldeans, and perhaps also they had encouraged these heathen to settle among them, that they might learn their customs. And are soothsayers-Undertaking to discover secret things, and to foretel future, contingent events, by observing the stars, or the clouds, or the flight of birds, and in other ways of divination; like the Philistines-Who were infamous for those practices; of which see one instance, 1 Sam. vi. 2. They please themselves in the children of strangers-They delight in their company and conversation, making leagues, and friendships, and marriages with them. Dr. Waterland renders the clause, They please themselves in the conceptions, or productions, of strangers. Verse 7. Their land also is full of silver, &c.-They have heaped up riches immoderately, and still are greedily pursuing after more. Lowth thinks the prophet is especially reproving those who, in the midst of the public calamities, made no conscience of The judgments of the CHAPTER II. Lord upon the wicked. A. M. 3244. ther is there any end of their chari- || down, and the LORD alone shall be A. M. 3244. exalted 'in that day. B. C. 760. ots: B. C. 700. 8 Their land also is full of idols; they wor- 12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be ship the work of their own hands, that which || upon every one that is proud and lofty, and their own fingers have made: upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. 10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed • Jer. ii. 28.- -P Verses 19, 21; Rev. vi. 15.- - Verse 17;|| xxxix. 11, 22; Hos. ii, 16, 18, 21; Joel iii. 18; Amos ix. 11; Chap. v. 15, 16; xiii. 11. Chap. iv. 1; xi. 10, 11; xii. 1, 4; Obad. 8; Mic. iv. 6; v. 10; vii. 11, 12; Zeph. iii. 11, 16; xxiv. 21; xxv. 9; xxvi. 1; xxvii. 1, 2, 12, 13; xxviii. 5; xxix. Zech. ix. 16. Chap. xiv. 8; xxxvii. 24; Ezek. xxxi. 3; Zech. 18; xxx. 23; lii. 6; Jeremiah xxx. 7, 8; Ezek. xxxviii. 14, 19;|| xi. 1, 2.- -t Chap. xxx. 25. enriching themselves by oppression and injustice. || Their land also is full of horses-Which even their kings were forbidden to multiply, (as they were also forbidden to multiply gold and silver,) and much more the people. In the original this verse consists of a stanza of four lines, in which the construction || of the two members is alternate, the first line answering to the third, and the second to the fourth. earth, for fear of the glorious and terrible judgments The lofty looks of man shall be humbled -The eyes that looked high; the countenance, in which the pride of the heart had showed itself, shall be cast down in shame and despair. The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down-Judicially, as they prostrated themselves before their idols voluntarily, the punishment being suited to their sin. And the Verses 8, 9. Their land also is full of idols--|| Lord alone shall be exalted—The justice and power Every city had its god, (Jer. xi. 13,) and, according of Jehovah shall be magnified, and the impotence to the goodness and fertility of their lands, they and vanity of all other gods shall be detected, at the made goodly images, Hos. x. 1. They worship the same time that the self-confidence, self-sufficiency, work of their own hands--They gave that worship || and vain glory of man are abased and vilified. to their own creatures, to the images which their Verses 12-16. For the day of the Lord-The time own fancies had devised, and their own fingers had of God's taking vengeance on sinners; shall be upon made, which they denied to JEHOVAH their Creator, || every one that is proud-To mortify and bring him than which nothing could be more impious or more down to the dust; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, absurd. And the mean man boweth down, &c.- &c.--In these and the following words, to verse 17, Men of all ranks, both high and low, rich and poor, the prophet is considered, by most commentators, as learned and ignorant, fall down and worship idols. speaking metaphorically, according to the symbolThe corruption is universal, and the whole land is || ical language of the Egyptian hieroglyphics. The given to idolatry. Therefore forgive them not- cedars of Lebanon, and oaks of Bashan, are supThou wilt not forgive them, the imperative being put posed to mean princes and nobles, who carried for the future, as we have seen it frequently is in the themselves high, and behaved themselves insolently; Psalms. Vitringa, however, Dr. Waterland, and high mountains and hills, to signify states and cities; Bishop Lowth, with many others, consider this verse, high towers and fenced walls, those who excelled in not as describing their idolatry, but as a predicting ingenuity, wisdom, and strength; and the ships of the punishment which God was about to bring upon Tarshish, &c., (verse 16,) the merchants who conthem for it; and therefore translate it, in perfect con- fided in their wealth and splendour. Thus Bishop sistency with the Hebrew, in the future tense, thus: Lowth: "These verses afford us a striking example Therefore the mean man shall be bowed down, and of that peculiar way of writing, which makes a the mighty man shall be humbled; and thou wilt principal characteristic of the parabolical, or poetical not forgive them. "They bowed themselves down style of the Hebrews, and in which their prophets to their idols, therefore shall they be bowed down, deal so largely: namely, their manner of exhibiting and brought low, under the avenging hand of God." things divine, spiritual, moral, and political, by a set ---Bishop Lowth. According to this interpretation, of images taken from things natural, artificial, reli"the prophet begins here to describe the imminent gious, historical, in the way of metaphor or allegory. severe judgments of God, wherewith he would punish Thus, you will find in many other places, besides the pride of these men, and their alienation from the this before us, that cedars of Libanus and oaks of true worship of God and their disobedience to his law." Bashan are used, in the way of metaphor and alleVerses 10, 11. Enter into the rock, &c.--Such gory, for kings, princes, potentates, of the highest calamities are coming upon you, that you will be rank; high mountains and lofty hills, for kingdoms, ready to hide yourselves in rocks and caves of the republics, states, cities; towers and fortresses, for VOL. III. (5) 65 3 The vanity of ISAIAH. trusting in idols. A. M. 3244. 16 " And upon all the ships of Tar- || ty, when he ariseth to shake terribly A. M. 3244. B. C. 760. shish, and upon all 5 pleasant pictures. the earth. || B. C. 760. 20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; full of caves and dens; for fear of the Lord, and the glory of his majesty, &c.--"The meaning is, that there should be, at this time, a great and most bright display of the divine majesty and justice, which the impious and hypocritical could not bear; and that, struck with the terror of the divine judg defenders and protectors, whether by counsel or shall go into the holes of the rocks, &c.--Their usual strength, in peace or war; ships of Tarshish, and places of retreat in cases of danger; see Josh. x. works of art and invention employed in adorning|| 16; Judg. vi. 2; 1 Sam. xiii. 6. The idea is taken them, for merchants, men enriched by commerce, || from the nature of the land of Canaan; which was and abounding in all the luxuries and elegancies of life, such as those of Tyre and Sidon; for it appears || from the course of the whole passage, and from the train of ideas, that the fortresses and ships are to be taken metaphorically, as well as the high trees and || lofty mountains." Some, however, it may be observed, incline to understand this whole passagement, they should consult for their safety, with the literally, remarking, that the judgment was to be so universal and terrible, as not only to reach to men, but to things also, whether natural or artificial, in all which there would be manifest tokens of God's displeasure against the land. "Ships of Tarshish," || adds Bishop Lowth, "are in Scripture frequently used by a metonymy for ships in general, especially such as are employed in carrying on traffic between distant countries; as Tarshish was the most celebrated mart of those times, frequented of old by the Phenicians, and the principal source of wealth to Judea and the neighbouring countries. The learned seem now to be perfectly agreed that Tarshish is Tartessus, a city of Spain, (near Cadiz, now called Tariffa,) at the mouth of the river Bætis, (now named Guadalquiver, running through Andalusia,) whence the Phenicians, who first opened this trade, brought silver and gold, (Jer. x. 9; Ezek. xxvii. 12,) in which that country then abounded; and, pursuing their voyage still further to the Cassiterides, the islands of Sicily and Cornwall, they brought from thence lead and tin." utmost terror and consternation, in caves, dens, and holes of the earth." "The Prophet Hosea hath carried the same image further, and added great strength and spirit to it, chap. x. 8. They shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us ; which image, together with these of Isaiah, is adopted by the sublime author of the Revelation, || chap. vi. 15, 16." See Dodd and Bishop Lowth. Verses 17, 18. And the lofiiness of man shall be bowed down-Here the prophet expresses literally what he had delivered metaphorically in the preceding verses. The same things were asserted || verse 11, but they are here repeated, partly to assure the people of the certainty of them, and partly to fix them more deeply in their minds, because men are very backward to believe and consider things of this nature. And the idols he shall utterly abolish -He will discover the impotency of idols to succour their worshippers, and thereby destroy the worship of them in the world. Verse 19. And they-The idolatrous Israelites; Verse 20. In that day a man shall cast his idols, &c., to the moles and to the bats-Shall cast them into the meanest and darkest places, in which moles and bats have their abode; whereas before they set them up in high and honourable places, where they might be seen and worshipped. Or, as Bishop Lowth thinks the meaning may be, "They shall carry their idols with them into the dark caverns, old ruins, or desolate places, to which they shall flee for refuge; and so shall give them up, and relinquish them to the filthy animals that frequent such places, and have taken possession of them as their proper habitation." The wasting of Judah by the Syrians and Israelites in the time of Ahaz, might be here first in the prophet's view, when, besides a great multitude that were partly slain, and partly carried captive to Damascus by the Syrians, the king of Israel slew in Judah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day, and carried away captive, of men, women, and children, two hundred thousand, taking away also much spoil, 2 Chron. xxviii. 5, 6, 8. The prophecy may refer, secondly, to the invasion of the country by Sennacherib; but, undoubtedly, the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and the Babylonish captivity, are chiefly intended, for then idolatry was entirely abolished among the Jews, and never practised by them afterward. Verse 22. Cease ye from man-"The prophet the twelfth to this verse, may refer also to other here subjoins an admonitory exhortation to the men days of the divine judgment, of which there are four of his own and of all times, to dissuade them from peculiarly noted in Scripture, as referring to the placing any confidence in man, however excellent new economy. 1st, The day of the subversion of the in dignity, or great in power; as his life depends Jewish republic; 2d, The day of vengeance on the upon the air which he breathes through his nos- governors of the Roman empire, the persecutors of trils, and which, if it be stopped, he is no more; and the church, in the time of Constantine; 3d, The futherefore, if you abstract from him the providence ture day of judgment hereafter to take place upon and grace of God, and consider him as left to him- || Antichrist and his crew; of which the prophets, and self, he is worthy of very little confidence and re- St. John in the Revelation particularly, have spoken; gard: see Psa. cxlvi. 3, 4. Vitringa is of opinion, || and, 4th, The day of general judgment. It is to this that the prophet here alludes immediately to the third day that he thinks the present period more kings of Egypt: see chap. xxxi. 3. And he adds, immediately refers: see 2 Thess. ii. 2; Rev. xvi. 14." that the mystical interpretation of the period from -Dodd. CHAPTER III. Great confusion on both people and rulers for their sin, and impudence in it, 1-9. Peace to the righteous, and misery to the wicked, 10, 11. The oppression and covetousness of the rulers, 12–15. The pride of women, and their judgments, 16-26. B. C. 760. 1 B. C. 760. A. M. 3244. FOR behold, the Lord, the LORD of || 2 The mighty man, and the man A. M. 3244. hosts, a doth take away from Je- of war, the judge, and the prophet, rusalem and from Judah 'the stay and the staff, and the prudent, and the ancient, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of 3 The captain of fifty, and the honourawater, ble man, and the counsellor, and the cuna Jer. xxxvii. 21; xxxviii. 9.- b Lev. xxvi. 26. * See 2 Kings xxiv. 14.- Heb. a man eminent in countenance. NOTES ON CHAPTER III. by long experience. This likewise relates to the Verse 1. For, &c.—The prophet, having in the same times, particularly to Jehoiachin's captipreceding chapter declared, in general terms, the vity, when all the men of note were carried away terror of the day of the Lord, now descends to a captive with him, 2 Kings xxiv. 14. The captain more particular explication, and special confirmation of fifty-There shall not be a man left able to comof what he had advanced concerning it. Behold-mand fifty soldiers, much less such as could comLook upon what follows to be as certain as if it were already accomplished; the Lord doth take away, &c., the stay and the staff-All their supports, of what kind soever; all the things they trust to, || and look for help and relief from; the whole stay officer-Who could make either ornaments for times bread, and the whole stay of water-Bread is commonly called the staff of life: see Lev. xxvi. 26; Ezek. xiv. 13. But by bread and water here are meant all kinds of aliment, whereby the body is supported. This judgment seems to relate especi-n, literally, the skilful of charm, or the skilally to the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, when bread and water were both very scarce: see Jer. xiv. 1-6, and xxxvii. 21, and xxxviii. 9. Verses 2, 3. The mighty man, &c.-Strong and valiant men. The judge-The civil magistrates; and the prophet-Either strictly so called, the want of whom is matter of grief, (Psa. lxxiv. 9,) or more largely taken, so as to include all skilful and faithful teachers; and the prudent--Whose wisdom and conduct were necessary to preserve them from ruin; and the ancient-Whose wisdom was increased mand hundreds or thousands, who yet were necessary; and the honourable man--Men of high birth, place, power, and reputation; and the counsellor-Wise and learned statesmen; and the cunning arti of peace, or instruments for war, whom therefore conquerors were wont to take away from those nations whom they subdued, 1 Sam. xiii. 19, 20; 2 Kings xxiv. 14; and the eloquent orator-Hebrew, ful charmer, or enchanter; whereby he understands either, 1st, Charmers, whom he threatens God would take away, not as if such persons were blessings to a people, or the removing of them a curse, but only because they made great use of them, and trusted to them. And so he signifies that God would remove all the grounds of their confidence, both right and wrong, and make their case desperate. Thus, for the same reason, God threatens the Israelites, (Hos. iii. 4,) that they should be, as without a sacrifice, so without an image and teraphim. Or, Gracious promises ISAIAH. 4 B. C. 760. to the righteous. A. M. 3244. ning artificer, and the 2 eloquent ora- || not be a healer; for in my house A. M. 3244. is neither bread nor clothing: make 4 And I will give a children to be their princes, me not a ruler of the people. and babes shall rule over them. B. C. 760. tor. 8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is 5 And the people shall be oppressed, every fallen: because their tongue and their doings one by another, and every one by his neigh-are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of bour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand: his glory. 9 The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as f Sodom, they hide it not. Wo unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. 10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: h for they shall eat the fruit 7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will of their doings. 2 Or, skilful of speech.- d Eccles. hand, Gen. xiv. 22. x. 16.- Heb. lift up the e Mic. iii. 12. Gen. xiii. 13; xviii. 20, 21; xix. 5.— - Ec. viii. 12.- h Psa. cxxviii. 2. he may mean, 2d, Such as could persuade powerfully, his hand, which was the usual gesture in swearing; and, as it were, charm people, by their eloquence,|| I will not be a healer-A repairer of the ruins of and induce them to do those things which were ne- the state; for in my house is neither bread nor cessary for their safety; for the expression may be clothing-I have not sufficient provisions, either of taken in a good sense, as op, divination, is Prov. food or raiment, for my own family; much less, as xvi. 10. Accordingly, Bishop Lowth translates it, you falsely suppose, for the discharge of so high a the powerful in persuasion. trust. For Jerusalem is ruined-The case is desperate, and past relief: it will be to no purpose to attempt affording any; because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord-They have broken the law of God in word and deed, and that in contempt of his authority and defiance of his justice. Their tongue was against the Lord, for they contradicted his prophets, and their doings were against him, for they acted as they spoke; to provoke the eyes of his glory--Of his glorious majesty, whom they ought to reverence and adore; the all-seeing eyes of Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, unless with abhorrence. Verses 4, 5. And I will give children to be their princes-Either, 1st, Children in age, whose minority corrupt ministers of state commonly abuse, to the producing of much evil: or, 2d, In understanding and experience. When all the eminent persons, mentioned verses 2, 3, were removed, the necessary consequence must be, that persons of no qualifications for government must succeed in their places. This also was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes, from the death of Josiah to the destruction of the city and temple. And the people shall be oppressed-By the command or permission of such childish rulers. The child shall behave himself proudly, &c.--The child in understanding, or the young and inexperienced; and the base against the honourable-"The usual effects," says Lowth, "of a weak and unsettled government, where faction grows too hard for justice, and seditious men become so bold as openly to insult those that are in authority." Verse 9. The show of their countenance--Their pride, wantonness, and impiety, manifestly show themselves in their very looks and whole behaviour, and will be swift witnesses against them, both before God and men. They declare their sin as SodomThey commit it publicly, casting off all fear of God, and reverence to men; and they glory in it. They hide it not-As men do, who have any remains of Verses 6-8. A man shall take hold of his bro-modesty or ingenuity. They have rewarded evil to ther--Of his relation, friend, or neighbour. To || themselves--That is, procured a fit recompense for take hold of another implies entreating his assist ance; see chap. iv. 1; Zech. viii. 23; saying, Thou hast clothing-We are utterly undone, and have neither food nor raiment; but thou hast something left to support the dignity, which we offer to thee; be thou our ruler--And we will be subject to thee. It is taken for granted that there would be no way of redressing all these grievances, and bringing things into order again, but by good magistrates, who should be invested with power by common consent, and exert that power for the good of the community; and let this ruin be under thy hand-Namely, to heal it. In that day he shall swear-To show that he was resolved. Hebrew, he shall lift up, namely, their wickedness, even utter ruin; or, they have done evil, &c. They cannot blame God, but themselves: their destruction is wholly from themselves. The word on, rendered show, in the first clause of the verse, not occurring elsewhere in the Bible, is of rather uncertain signification. Bishop Lowth renders it, steadfastness; and Dr. Waterland, impudence. The former translates the whole verse thus: "The steadfastness of their countenance witnesseth against them: for their sin, like Sodom, they publish, they hide it not: wo to their souls! for upon themselves have they brought down evil." Verses 10, 11. Say ye to the righteous--0 ye priests and Levites, in your sermons and exhortations |