Obrazy na stronie
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On ver. 1. p from N is elatum, "something borne, that which is proposed," therefore as much onus as effatum. On account of this ambiguity it is almost exclusively used of such divine utterances as impose on men the burden of judicial visitation. From Jer. xxiii. 33 sqq., we learn that the word, being abused by mockers on account of this ambiguity, was prohibited by Jehovah as designation of prophetic utterances. In

Isaiah the word occurs twelve times in the sense of "judicial sentence;" and, excepting xxxvi. 6, it so occurs only in chapters xiii.-xxiii., and here again, with the exception of xxii. 1 (for the particular reasons see the comment in loc.), solely in utterances against foreign nations. This last circumstance is easily to be ex

plained by the unfavorable meaning that underlies the

word, which was pressed by the mockers, Jer. xxiii. 33 sqq. A simply and only is never directed against the theocracy. But it cannot be inferred from the absence of this in passages that relate to the theocracy that the word is foreign to Isaiah (KNOBEL).

On ver. 2 occurs only here; comp. xli. 18; Jer. iii. 2, etc.—D) NV) is an expression peculiar to Isaiah. Comp. v. 26; xi. 12; xviii. 3.

after להם

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ip is to be referred to the nations called. ' designates the goal of the movement to which the nations are summoned. Both words belong to Isa.: iii. 26; xxxii. 5, 8.—is "the free, the noble" (comp. at xxxii. 5; and Prov. xix. 6; xxv. 7, etc.).

עליזי גאותי .3 .On ver

are "Those rejoicing at my highness" (gen. obj.). Both words are entirely characteristic of Isaiah. They is found only xxii. 2; xxiii. 7; xxiv. 8; xxxii. 13, and in the borrowed passage Zeph. iii. 11. Hence it is incomprehensible how the passage last named can be explained to be the original. Moreover Isaiah is almost the only one of the prophets that uses 181. For beside ix. 8; xiii. 11; xvi. 6; xxv. 11, and the borrowed passage Zeph. iii. 11, it occurs only Jer. xlviii. 29, where Jeremiah, for the sake of a play on words, heaps together all substantive derivatives from

Or, fall down.

4 Heb. faces of the flames.
d their Orions.
f shake.

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ocSan

occurs again only xlvi. 11; other turns of expression
viii. 9; x.3; xyii. 13; xxx. 27; xxxiii. 17.
curs again only Jer. 1. 25; on by comp. on x. 5.
comp. on x. 27; xxxii. 7; liv. 16.

On ver. 6., note the play on words; is the so

called Kaph veritatis. Isaiah often uses, xvi. 4;

xxii. 4; li. 19, etc.; he uses only this once.

the expression occurs,כל-ידים תרפינה .1 .On ver

from this place.
in Isaiah only here, and is borrowed by Ezek. vii. 17

On ver. 8. in Isaiah again only xxi. 3 in a simi-
lar connection.-D'' occurs again only xxi. 3 (bis)

in the sense of constrictiones, cruciatus, cramps.-'han

Isaiah uses (v. 18; xxxiii. 20, 23) in the sense of "cords,"

and in the kindred "cries of a woman in travail" (xxvi.
17; Ixvi. 7).— used not seldom of a travailing wo-
man, and as a figure of feeling terror; xxiii. 4, 5; xxvi.
17, 18; xlv. 10; liv. 1; lxvi. 7, 8.— stupere occurs
again only xxix. 9. Note the constructio praegnans.

T:

On ver. 9. N only here in Isaiah: it is adjective. The two substantives are, co-ordinate with, apposition with Di, doubtless because adjectives cannot be formed from these substantive notions, as can be done from . Therefore, according to frequent usage, we are to construe and as abstract nouns used in a concrete sense. y frequent in Isa. ix. 18; x. 6; xiii. 13; xiv. 6; xvi. 6. n excepting ver. 13 does not occur again in Isaiah. The expression is frequent in the Pentateuch: Exod. xxxii. 12; Num. xxv 4; xxxii. 14; Deut. xiii. 18.— -By the words 1 the Prophet designates the object of On ver. 4. IT occurs again in Isaiah only xl. 18. the day of judgment. The expression Diy It is found oftenest in Ezekiel, and in an adverbial sense as here (Ezek. xxiii. 15). Also only here in Isaiah. Perhaps it is borrowed from Joel i. 7. nowh n'n Isa. v. 9. pt alone xxiv. 12.—— the earth," see "Exeget. and Crit." on ver. 5.-TUT x. 7; xiv. 23; xxvi. 14.i. 28; xxxiii. 14.

נאה

is a word of Isaiah's. It occurs only seventeen times in the Old Testament; of these, eight times in Isaiah: v. 14; xiii. 4; xvii. 12; (bis), 13; xxiv. 8; xxv. 5; lxvi. 6. The expression no xay, beside the present, occurs only Num. xxxi. 14, and 1 Chr. vii. 4; xii. 37. There

is evidently a contrast intended between

and : the LORD of the heavenly hosts now musters His

amy hordes on earth.

On ver. 5. Shall we regard D' at the beginning of the verse as dependent on p, ver. 4, and as apposition with xy? It is against this that the

second half of ver. 5 must then be construed as a rhetorical exclamation, which in this connection and form seems strange. It is in favor of this that otherwise

means הארץ That

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T

הטאים—

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whatever hinderances there may be. The plural of
is, any way, a generalizing one, i. e., that elevates the in-
dividual to the rank of a species. Otherwise we know
of only one as a star. But as 1 Sam. xvii. 43, Go-
liath says to David: "thou comest to me with the
staves," although David had only one staff; or as Jer.
xxvii. 12, after telling of the breaking of one yoke, con-
tinues: "wooden yokes hast thou broken," therefore
here as elsewhere the plural of the individual is con-
ceived as equivalent to the genus. Compare Cicerones,
Scipiones, les Voltaire, les Mirabeau; and perhaps 13
pa Job xxxviii. 7 belongs to the same category.—
, Hiph. from, a verb that elsewhere expresses
clearness of sound, occurs only Job xxxi. 26; xli. 10,
and in both places in connection with i8.—On

other form in Isaiah, and that Kal. in just one passage,

xliii. 4).—On N and DN comp. on viii. 1.—¡
(only here in Isaiah; comp. Ps. xix. 11; xxi. 4) is puri-
fied gold; D is absconditum, jewel, ornament gener-
ally: not found again in Isaiah.--DIN D is found
again Ps. xlv. 10; Job xxviii. 16.
On ver. 13.

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על־כן

cannot be construed "for this rea

son."
For it cannot be said that the LORD will shake
heaven and earth because He punishes the earth and
makes men scarce on it. Rather the reverse of this

must be assumed: God shakes heaven and earth in or-
der to punish men. Thus - "therefore, hence,”
27). Here, too, there evidently floats before the mind
but in the sense of intention (to this end, Job xxxiv.
of the Prophet a passage from Job ix. 6, where it reads:

shall be crowded out of its place, which is peculiar to both of these passages, is something so specific, added

The thought that the earth הַמַּרְנִין אֶרֶץ מִמְקוֹמָה

there is only one נגה comp. v. 30. of חשך השמש

תבל is more expressly defined as הארץ .11 .On ver הָאָרֶץ מִפְקְמָה and הִרְגִין to which the juxtaposition of

ix. 1.

This word is very frequent in the first part of Isa. xiv.
17, 21; xviii. 3; xxiv. 4; xxvi. 9, 18; xxvii. 6; xxxiv. 1.
It never means a single land, but is always either the
oikovμévn as terra fertilis contrasted with the desert
(xiv. 17) or the oikovμérn as a whole contrasted with the
single parts. DELITZSCH well remarks that it never has
the article, and thus in a measure appears as a proper
p with by of the person and accusative
of the thing like Jer. xxiii. 2; xxv. 12; Hos. i. 4.
a frequent word in Isa. ii. 10, 19, 21; iv. 2, etc.; lx. 15,
Ezek. vii. 24 seerns to have had in mind our passage.

noun.

comp. at) נאוה only here in Isaiah, whereas זרים

ver. 3) and p¶y (xxv. 3, 4, 5; xxix. 5, 20; xlix. 25) occur
not seldom.

On ver. 12. p which makes a paronomasia with
DIN (a genuine Isaianic word) occurs only here (Kal.

is so striking, that it is impossible to regard this rela tion of the two passages as accidental. If we ask where the words are original, we must decide in favor of Job, because there the thought is founded in the context. For in ver. 5 it is said: "which removeth the mountains, and they know not; which overturneth them in his anger." On this follows naturally: "Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble."— in Isaiah again xxiv. 18; xiv. 16. Comp. moreover 2 Sam. xxii. 8 (Ps. xviii. 8); Joel iv. 16.—The is taken words ay to 15 are the Prophet's.

2

by some as determining the time (KNOBEL), by others as assigning a reason (DELITZSCH). But both may be combined: the revelation of the divine wrath coincides with the day of His anger, and so much so that Di, the day, may be taken as concrete for the abstract notion of the manifestation, coming to the light. Comp. x. 3; xvii. 6.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.

in the world that lifts itself up proudly (ver. 11), so that men shall become scarce as fine gold (ver. 12). By this manifestation of divine wrath, however, heaven and earth must be shaken (ver. 13).

2. The burden-did see.-Ver. 1. One sees a sentence of judgment when, by means of prophetic gaze, one learns to know its contents, which may be presented to the spiritual eye by visible images (comp. on i. 1). That Isaiah is named here, and by his entire name, son of Amoz, is doubtless to be explained in that this superscription, which corresponds to the prophecy xiii. 1-xiv. 23, was at the same time regarded as superscription of the entire cycle xiii. to xxiii. and that this cycle, as an independent whole, was incorporated in the entire collection.

1. The Prophet opens his prophecy against the nations with a denunciation of judgment against Babylon. This prophecy must have originated at a period when the Prophet had come to the knowledge that Babylon was the real centre of the world-power, and Assyria only a front step. But Isaiah opens his prophecy against Babylon with an introduction from which we learn that he regards the judgment against Babylon as the germ-like beginning of "the day of the LORD" in general. First, by means of a banner planted on a high mountain, visible far and wide, there goes forth a summons to order men of war to an expedition against a city (ver. 2). Then (ver. 3) the LORD says, more plainly, Himself taking up the word, that it is He that assembles the men of war and that He assembles them for a 3. Lift ye up a banner-my highness. holy war. The command gathers in vast num--Vers. 2. 3.-Verse 2 speaks in general. Withbers and Jehovah musters them (ver. 4). They out saying to whom the summons is directed or come then from the ends of the earth, as it were from whom it proceeds; there is only a summons led by Jehovah, brought together in order to ac- to raise the standard of war for the purpose of complish the work of destruction (ver. 5). Now assembling warriors. On a bare mountain, dethose threatened hear proclaimed: the day of the void of forest, shall the signal be raised, that it LORD is here (ver. 6). Thereupon all are in fear may be clearly seen on all sides. But with the and terror (vers. 7, 8). And in fact the day of voice, too, (xxxvii. 23, xl. 9, lviii. 1) and with the LORD draws near (ver. 9). The stars turn hand-beckoning (x. 32, xi. 15) shall the nations dark (ver. 10). The Lord Himself declares that be called to march forth. The gates of the the object of His coming is to lay low everything nobles can only mean the main gates of the hos

tile city, which alone (in contrast with the small | side gates, figuratively called "needle-eyes" Matt. xix. 24) serve for the entree of princes in pomp, in the present case for the victors. Still the expression occasions surprise. Ought we perhaps to read : "that they come willingly into my gates?" I do not venture to decide.

Ver. 3 makes us know who is the origin of the summons. It is the LORD who calls His warriors who are consecrated to Him and joyfully obey Him. The warriors are called consecrated, holy, because the war is a holy one. Comp. Joel iv. 9, Jer. vi. 4, xxii. 7, li. 27. Precisely for this the Prophet immediately after uses the bold expression: "I have called them for mine anger," i. e. that they may be executors of my purpose of wrath (comp. x. 5).

-the

4. The noise of a multitude. whole land.-Vers. 4, 5. Those summoned heard the call. They are heard approaching in troops. The interjection Sip [“hark" NAEGELSB.] is frequent in the second half of Isaiah: xl. 3, 6, lii. 3, lxvi. 6. Jeremiah, too, imitates the language: xlviii. 8, 1. 22, 28, li. 54. The expression 1ņip [“Hark, a tumultuous noise," NAEGELSB.] "noise of a multitude," occurs 1 Sam. iv. 14, 1 Kings xviii. 41, xx. 13, 28. In Isaiah again xxxiii. 3. Then in Ezek. xxiii. 42, Dan. x. 6. I do not believe that by "the mountains" is meant the Zagros mountains that separated Media from Babylon. [Zagrus mons, now represented by the middle and southern portion of the mountains of Kurdistan.-TR.]. For here the prophecy bears still quite a general character. Only by degrees does the special judgment upon Babylon appear out of the cloud of the universal judgment. The enemies, according to ver. 5, come from a far country, from the end of heaven." Did the Prophet mean particularly the Zagros, why did he not designate it more distinctly? The mountains are, doubtless, no certain, concrete mountains, but ideal mountains, a poetic embellishment. Added to this, it is likely Joel ii. is in the Prophet's mind. There, too, as here (vers. 6, 9) the day of the LORD is at hand. But there the grasshoppers are the enemies to be expected. These, too, come like chariots, that leap upon the mountains like the blush of dawn spread upon the mountains. Especially the order

tains like as of a great people," seems to me to

177

pressions would designate the Medes is quite improbable. As in their cities, according to 2 Kings xvii. 6, Israelite exiles dwelt at that time, how could he locate them in the uttermost borders of the earth's surface, where otherwise he locates, say, Ophir (ver. 12) or Sinim (xlix. 12)? The undefined, universal, and if I may so say, the superlative mode of expression, proves that it is to be taken in an ideal sense. The end that the of His indignation" is: to overturn the whole LORD will accomplish by means of "the weapons earth. The whole earth!" For this judgment is thus an integral part of the world's judgment. on Babylon belongs to "the day of the Lord." It Just as Isaiah, so Ezekiel uses traits of Joel's prophecy of the world's judgment in order to let the judgment that he had to announce to Egypt, appear as a part of the world's judgment (xxx. 2 sqq.). 5. Howl ye—their faces as flames.Vers. 6-8. Here it is seen plainly how the Prophet would represent the judgment on Babylon as a part of the world's judgment. For the traits that now follow are entirely taken from the descriptions of the world's judgments as we meet them already in the older Prophets, and as, on the other hand, the later New Testament descriptions of the great day of judgment connect with our present one. Especially Isaiah has Joel in his mind. ye," is taken from 17 Joel i. 5, 11, 13. Ezek. too, uses the word xxx. 2, and Matt. xxiv. 30, in words: "for the day of the LORD is at hand," the eschatological discourse of Christ. The are taken word for word from Joel i. 15. From "at hand," it is seen that the Prophet would portray here the impression that the approach of the day will make on men; for, as is known, the moments that precede any great catastrophe have terrors quite peculiarly their own. In ver. 9, he describes the judgment as taking place. When men notice that the destruction comes from God Almighty, they abandon all opposition as useless. The sign of this is that they let their hands fall limp, and that their hearts become like water (comp. Deut. xx. 8; Josh. vii. 5; Isa. xix. 1).

66 Howl

For the image of the travailing woman, and of the terror depicted in the countenances, the Prophet is indebted to Joel ii. 6. That terror and anguish not only make one pale, but also agitate the blood, and thereby produce heat and sweat is well known. Only the latter does the Prophet make prominent. He was likely moved to this because in Joel (i. 19, ii. 3, 5), which is in his thought, 66 a flame," occurs thrice.

-in the moun בְּהָרִים דְּמוּת עַם רַב of the words

,לחב upon the | the expression * עַל־הֶהָרִים עַם רַב 2 .recall Joel ii

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6. Behold the day- -light to shine.Vers. 9, 10. The day is not only near; it is here. (Comp. under Text. and Gram. above). What constellation is meant by the name not settled. The LXX., here and Job xxxviii. 31 translate ὁ Ὠρίων. Likewise the VULG. Amos v. 8 and Job ix. 9. Others (SAADIA, Antarctic Polar star in the southern steering-oar ABULWALID, etc.), take it to be Canopus, the of Argo. NIEBUHR (Beschr. v. Arabien, p. 113), following the Jews of Sana, supposes it is Sirius. But the passage in Job xxxviii. 31 ("or wilt thou loose the bands" [DILLMANN: traces] of

mountains a great people," a form of expression that in Joel, too, belongs to the poetic drapery. That Isaiah had in mind the words of Joel is the more probable, in as much as the expression Dy is used by him only here, and beside Joel ii. 2, is found only in Ezek. xvii. 9, 15, xxvi. 7. The army, then, which Jehovah musters, consists of people that have come from a far land, and from the end of heaven, i. e. from the place where the heavenly expanse is bounded by the earth. The expression "from the end of heaven" is characteristic of Deuteronomy. For, except the present passage, it occurs only Deut. iv. 32 (bis), xxx. 4 (with the borrowed expression Neh. i. 9), and Ps. xix. 7. That Isaiah by these ex-D?) corresponds very well to the representa

tion that Orion (Syr. gaboro, Arab, gebbar) is the
giant chained to the sky. Comp. HERZOG, Real-
Encycl. Art. Gestirnkunde, von LEYRER, XIX. p.
565. [According to HITZIG and KNOBEL, the
darkening of the stars is mentioned first, because
the Hebrews reckoned the day from sunset.
J. A. A.].

When the rising sun is without rays, and moon and stars lose their shining, then both day and right are robbed of their lights. The language of the Prophet seems not only to be drawn from Job, but also from Joel iii. 4, and Amos v. 8, as on the other hand Christ's discourse, Matt. xxiv. 29, borrows from our passage.

7. And I will punish his fierce anger. Vers. 11-13. The Prophet lets the LORD speak here, partly, to confirm what the Prophet had said, partly to set it forth more exactly. But unmarked, the subject of the discourse changes again (ver. 13 b) by the Prophet resuming and continuing the discourse of the LORD. What was said, ver. 9, in brief words; "and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it," is in ver. 11, more distinctly expressed by the LORD. The LORD says, then, that He will punish the whole earth for their wickedness, and the wicked (according to his righteousness) for their guilt. The means by which men incur guilt is their injustice in the sense of violent oppression, according to the view common to the Old Testament in general, and to Isaiah in particular (comp. on i. 17, 21 sqq.). Therefore the Almighty Judge announces here that a time shall come

when He will take in hand the mighty of the earth who abuse their power, and will humble them. The thought of this verse recalls ii. 10 sqq.

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In consequence of this visitation, human kind shall become rare in the earth as the noblest gold. From this passage it appears that the Prophet, though he speaks of a judgment on the whole habitable world (oikovμévn, 2), has still by no means the idea of its total destruction, say, by fire (2 Pet. iii. 7, 10). The locality of Ophir is still an open question. The other instances of its occurrence in Scripture are Gen. x. 29 (1 Chr. i. 23), 1 Kings ix. 28; x. 11; xxii. 49; 1 Chr. xxix. 4; 2 Chr. viii. 18, ix. 10; Job xxii. 24. Four places are proposed; South Arabia, East Africa, Abhira between the Indus Delta and the Gulf of Cambay, and southern lands in general, for which Ophir may be only a collective name. The best authorities, as LASSEN, RITTER (Erdkunde XIV. p. 348 sqq.), DELITZSCH, decide in favor of East India. But CRAWFORD, “hardly less learned regarding India than LASSEN," in his "Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands," asserts, on the contrary, "that there is not a shadow of possibility for locating Ophir in any part of India."

The African traveller CARL MAUCH gives considerable weight to the scale in favor of East Africa; he thinks that he has discovered the ancient Ophir in the port Sofala or Sofara on the East coast of South Africa in latitude 20° 14'. Ver. 13. See under Text. and Gram. above.

14.

b) The particular part: The prophecy against Babylon.
CHAPTER XIII. 14.-XIV. 23.

1. THE JUDGMENT ON THE CITY AND STATE OF BABYLON.
CHAPTER XIII. 14-22.

And it shall be as the chased roe,

And as a sheep that no man taketh up:

They shall every man turn to his own people,
And flee every one into his own land.

15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through;

And every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword

16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses shall be spoiled and their wives ravished.

17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,.

Which shall not regard silver;

And as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; And they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye shall not spare children,

19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,

The beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,

Shall be as 'when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

20 It shall never be inhabited,

Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation:

Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there;

Neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

21 But 'wild beasts of the desert shall lie there;

3

And their houses shall be full of 3 doleful creatures ;

And owls shall dwell there,

And satyrs shall dance there.

22 And 'the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their 'desolate houses,
And dragons in their pleasant palaces :
And her time is near to come,

And her days shall not be prolonged.

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On ver. 14. is to be construed neuter -"it shall be, it turns out, such are the circumstances." The Hoph. particip. П only here; beside this in Isaiah the Niph. and Pual participles, viii. 22; xvi. 3, 4.—' with the meaning "gazelle," occurs only here in Isaiah. It seems that the Prophet by 3 here and 123 ann ver. 19, intended a contrast. Ba bylon in the sense of decus, is at the same time by in the sense of doreas.— ' occurs again Nah. iii. 18; Jer. xlix. 5.

דקר

On ver. 15. 3D comp. xxii. 3; xxxvii. 4. only here in Isaiah. DD from DD "to snatch, seize."

On ver. 19. 3 comp. on iv. 2, where also Isaiah has

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Hiph. (liv. 11).

ענִים

though not in a genitive relation, a תפארת and גאון

ציה

On ver. 21. Dy (from unused, from which terra arida) are dwellers in the desert; whether men or beasts is undetermined. Yet analogy favors the latter; for in what follows only beasts are mentioned. The word occurs in Isaiah again xxiii. 13; xxxiv. 14; comp. Jer. 1. 39. EWALD, (Lehrb. ? 146, g. Anm.) derives D", and D with the meaning "criers, howlers," from Arabic roots, as it seems to me, without necessity.— Ver. 16. that occurs only in Piel and Pual, ämág λey. The LXX., evidently following a kinis used exclusively of dashing to pieces human bodies: dred sound, translate kai #λdnolńoovrai oikiai йxov. But Hos. x. 14; xiv. 1; Nah. iii. 10; 2 Kings viii. 12; in Isa. the parallelism demands rather some species of beast. the word occurs only here and ver. 18. Do (kindred JEROME translates dracones. AURIVILLIUS proposed first to NDữ, niv x. 13; xvii. 14; xlii. 22) only here in Isa. ulula, "owls," "horn owls." (Lev. xi. 16; Comp. Zech. xiv. 2.—Niph. hav】 (Kal. Deut. xxviii. Deut. xiv. 15) is "the ostrich." The masculine form 30; Pual Jer. iii. 2) occurs only here and Zech. xiv. found only Lam. iv. 3. According to some, the name means "the mourning daughter of the desert," is related to the Syr. jaeno, "greedy, ravenous." The (MEIER, Wurzelw. p. 49,; according to others, the word feminine designation has essentially a poetic reason, comp. Mic. iv. 14 with 712 Chr. xxv. 13. s (Ezek. xxvii. 6). The word occurs in Isaiah again xxxiv. 13; xliii. 20; comp. Jer. 1. 39; Mic. i. 8; Job xxx. 29.—□''y are hirsuti, pilosi, "goats," i. e., goat-shaped demons.-P Piel only here in Isaiah; ccmp. Job xxi. 11; Joel ii. 5; Nah. iii. 2. Ver. 22. are "jackals." The singular seems abbreviated from ' from an unused 8, ululavit. In found only here and xxxiv. 14, and Jer. 1. 39. — Arabic the jackal still is called ibn-awa. The word is

combination that occurs in no other place.
comp. on i. 7. The original passage is Deut. xxix. 22.
The substantive like infinitives has retained the verbal
force.

On ver. 20. The intransitive use of and (--a

"to be a habitation ") occurs first in Joel iv. 20. It does not occur later in Isaiah; whereas in Jeremiah it is frequent (xvii. 6, 25; xxx. 18; xlvi. 26; 1. 13, 39): in Ezek. xxix. 11 also, and in Zech. ii. 8; ix. 5. The expression 17, occurs only here in Isaiah. occurs in various connections, xxxiv. 10, 17; li. 8; lviii. 12; lx. 15; lxi. 4.—y. So still Jer. iii. 2; comp. xxv. 24, otherwise in later books 2 Chr. xxi. 16; xxii.

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1; Neh. ii. 19; iv. 1; vi. 1. Because of the following Dy, this cannot be understood to mean nomadic shepherds in general. But the word signifies the Arabian proper, because in fact " Babylon lay near enough to Arabia for Arabians proper to come thither with their flocks” (GESENIUS).—¡ for, like php Job

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only here for (perhaps with reference to their widowhood). Comp. xxiii. 13; xxv.2; xxxii. 14; xxxiv. 13.-D are also "jackals" (comp. GESEN. Thesaur. p. 39, 1457; 1511). The word in Isaiah again xxxiv. 13; xxxv. 7; xliii. 20.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL..

1. The Prophet turns from the universal judg- world-monarchy. He begins by describing the ment that comprehends all the several acts of judgment against the world-power from first to last, to portray the special judgment to be accomplished on Babylon as the climax of the worldpower in its first stage, or as the head of the first

flight out of the world's metropolis of men that had flowed thither out of all lands (ver. 14). This flight has sufficient cause-for whoever is taken perishes (ver. 15). Children are dashed in pieces, houses plundered, women ravished (ver. 16). The

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