The oracle]

THE

CHAP. XV.

HE burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;

2 He is gone to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep; Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.

3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abund antly.

4 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him,

5 My heart shall cry out for Moab:

[concerning Moab.

his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.

6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.

7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.

8 For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beer-elim.

9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. (P)

which those of his rank usually meet with, and which shall cover his posterity with disgrace.

"To complete the whole, God is introduced, declaring the fate of Babylon, the utter extirpation of the royal family, and the total desolation of the city; the deliverance of his people, and the destruction of their enemies; confirming the irreversible decree by the awful sanction of his oath." (Lowth in loc.)

For the fulfilment of this prophecy, see Dan. v. 30.

The five last verses of this chapter contain severe threatenings against the Philislines. During the distress of Ahaz, they invaded Judea, and possessed themselves of some of its cities. On the death of Ahaz, Isaiah here threatens them with the destruction that Hezekiah his son, and the grandson of Uzziah, should bring upon them: Uzziah, therefore was the rod, and Hezekiah the serpent. (See 2 Kings xviii. 8.)

CHAP. XV.

(P) The oracle concerning Moab.-This

and the following chapter are one prophecy, probably delivered in the first, and accomplished in the fourth year of Hezekiah, (xvi. 14.) when Shalmanezer invaded the kingdom of Israel. He might perhaps march through Moab, take possession of its principal strong places, Ar and Kirares, aud occasion that general distress which the prophet paints in such strong and lively colours. The usual methods of expressing grief are here stated, and are not very different from those of the Greeks, as described by Homer:

"O'er the congenial dust enjoin'd to shear The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear."

The cries and howlings here ascribed to Moab, though to us they may appear extravagant, are perfectly in character with Eastern manners. (Comp. Jer. xlviii. 3139.) And when they made these lamentations, it appears they carried their lamentations to the altars of their gods, and wept on their high places. But, alas! their gods could neither hear nor see, much Jess relieve their troubles. (See 1 Kings xviii. 26-29.)

The oracle concerning]

SEN

CHAP. XVI.

END ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2 For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.

3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. 4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

6 We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath but his lies shall not be so.

7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the

CHAP. XVI.

[Moab continued.

lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.

9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.

10 And gladness is taken away, and joy, out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.

11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh.

12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

13 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since

that time.

14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble. (Q)

(Q) The oracle concerning Moab con

tinued. The distress of Moab, by this invasion, is still more pathetically described,

CHAP. XVI. Ver. 1. Send ye the lamb-By 2 Sam. viii. 2. we learn that David conquered the Moabites, and laid on them a tribute, which they paid in small cattle. At Solomon's death, the kings of Israel obtained this tribute till the death of Ahab, when it was refused. 2 Kings iii. 4. The prophet, therefore, here advises to restore this tribute, which he calls "the ruler's lamb," from all parts of the country. Gataker, Boothroyd. It may be proper, however, to remark, that Lowth, for Kar, a lamb, reads Bar, a son, on the authority of the Syriac, and one MS. He therefore translates, "I will send forth the son of the ruler," &c. but we think unnecessarily.

Ibid. From Sela (or Petra) to ( rather "of") the wilderness, &c.-This is thought to be a city on the confines of Moab and Edom. Gataker.

Ver. 2. For it shall be, &c.-Boothroyd," For as a wandering bird driven from the nest; so shall the daughters of Moab," &c. therefore are they, in the

next verse, exhorted to take pity on them.

Ver.3. Make thy shadow as the night — that is, effectually hide thein.

Ver. 4. The extortioner — Heb. "The wringer;" i. e. who wrings the last penny from the poor..... The oppressors-Heb. "The treaders down;" i. e. those who trample upon the distressed.

Ver. 5. And he shall sit—i, e. Messiah. Ezek. xxi. 27. Ver. 7. Moab howl for Moab-Rather, “to Moab; that is, every man to his neighbour, throughout the land.....For the foundation of Kir-hareseth-the parallel passage, Jer. xlviii. 31. reads, "for the men of Kir-hareseth." So Bp. Lowth here.....Shall ye mourn―Marg. "Mutter." Lowth, ' "Make a moan."

Ver. 9. For the shouting, &c. - Lowth corrects this verse by the parallel passage, Jer. xlvii. 32. The spoiler (or destroyer) hath fallen upon thy summer fruits, and upon thy vintage."

The oracle concerning]

THE

CHAP. XVII.

HE burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of 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.

[Damascus.

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:

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.

12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which 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

CHAP. XVII. Ver. 1. The burden. - · Heb. Mashat. See this word explained in the Note on Prov. i. 1. But in the Prophets, it usually means an Oracle (or inspired prediction) of some great calamity.

Ver. 2. The cities of Aroer are forsaken.-As it is uncertain what cities could be here meant, Lowth follows the LXX in reading, "The cities are deserted (or forsaken) for ever;" and the difference in the original is but small.

Ver. 8. The altars, the work of his handsthat is, dedicated "to his idols. Lowth.--Either the groves, &c.-" Lowth, "Nor the groves, nor the solar statues;" Marg. "Sun-images."

Ver. 9. His strong cities be as a forsaken bough, &c.-that is, as a bough stripped of leaves and fruit, and therefore totally disregarded; so shall their

cities be stripped of inhabitants and treasure. But Lowth, following the LXX, reads, "His strongly fenced cities shall become like the desertion of the Hivites and Amorites, when they deserted the land before the face of the sons (or children) of Israel; and the land shall become a desolation."

Ver. 10, Therefore Literally, "Upon now," at the time when; (as 1 Sam. ix. 13.) i. e. when thou shalt plant, &c.

Ver. 11. The harvest shall be a heap-Marg. "Shall he removed;" i. e. by the enemy. The meaning is, that after taking the greatest possible pains to cultivate their vineyards and their gardens, the enemy shall forcibly take away the produce. Ver. 13. A rolling thing-Marg." Thistle down." See Note on Psalm lxxxiii. 13.

;

CHAP. XVII.

[Egypt and Israel.

2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

3. All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a

trumpet, hear ye.

4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider

(R) The oracle concerning Damascus and Israel. This prophecy, by its title, (says Bp. Lowth) should relate only to Damascus but it full as much concerns, and more largely treats of, the kingdom of Samaria, and the Israelites, who confederated with Damascus and Syria against Judah." The first three verses describe the judgments of Damascus ; the next five those of Israel, aud the good effects of those judgments on the small remnant, or gleaning, that should escape them; the following verses represent the same judgments in other, but stronger terms, and impute them to their irreligion and neglect of God.

"This prophecy was fulfilled by Tiglathpileser's taking Damascus, and carrying

the people captives to Kir, (2 Kings xvi. 9.) and by his over-running great part of the kingdom of Israel, and carrying a great number of the Israelites also captive to Assyria. In regard to Israel, the prophecy was still more fully accomplished by the final overthrow of the kingdom, and the captivity of the people, a few years after, by Shalmanezer.

"The three last verses of the chapter are a distinct prophecy, a beautiful detached piece, worked up with the greatest elegance, sublimity, and propriety; and forming a noble description of the formidable invasion and sudden overthrow of Sennacherib, exactly agreeable to the event. (ch. xxxvii. 35-38.) Such ruin, remarks the prophet, (ver. 14.) is the portion of the enemies of God's people." Dr. J. Smith.

CHAP. XVIII. Woe, &c.-The Hebrew particle Ho, here used, is sometimes a note of exclamation, and at others, of lamentation, according to the context; and is therefore differently rendered, either "Woe ! alas!" or, " Ho! come on;" which seems to be its meaning here.-Shadowing with wings.-To shadow, is to protect, to screen; and though Egypt had originally been the chief enemy of the Jews, their kings often applied thither for protection. See 2 Kings xviii. 21; Jer. xxvi. 21. -xli. 17.xlii. 19. Ethiopia-Heb." Cush." See Note on 2 Kings xix. 9. Whether these were the Eastern branches of the Nile, toward Arabia, or the parts of the Upper Nile, towards Ethiopia, says Bp. Lowth, "it is not easy to determine." Boothroyd understands it of Nubia.

Ver. 2. Vessels of bulrushes-Lowth, “ of papyrus." It is well known that the Egyptians formerly used, and still use, on the Nile, a light sort of boats, made of these reeds. See Orient. Lit. No. 914.

Go, ye swift messengers-that is, travellers, or couriers, who, by means of the canals, could easily and speedily convey the news through Egypt. To a nation scattered and peeled-Marg. "Outspread and polished ; Lowth, “Stretched out in length, and smoothed." Egypt is 750 miles in length; but at the widest part, not more than 250 broad. By smoothed," Lowth means, levelled by the over

flowing of the Nile. Boothroyd, "To a nation extended and fierce," which he applies to the Nabians, who had, for some time, dominion over Egypt,

-Meted out, and trodden down.—This is supposed to allude to the measuring of Egypt, after the Nile had overflowed it; and to treading in the seed, by means of small cattle, particularly hogs. See Lowth.

-Whose land the rivers have spoiled-Lowth, "Nourished." But when the waters rise above a certain height, the land is "spoiled," and the barvest is destroyed. See Note ou Gen. xli. 2. See also Orient. Cust. No. 243.

Ver. 4. I will take my rest. Sennacherib invaded Egypt, and laid it nearly waste. No-ammon (or Thebes) was destroyed, Nabum iii. 10. He besieged Pelusium, but was obliged to raise the siege by Tirhakah, king of Nubia, though he afterwards overthrew the Nubians. During these events, the Lord is represented as sitting still, and protecting his own land: and mitigating the violence of their afflictions, as the dew does the heat of harvestLike a clear heat upon herbs-Marg. “After rain." So Kimchi, Lowth, &c.

"

Ver.3. Afore (or before) the harvest.-This evidently refers to the grape harvest; i. e. the gathering of the vintage.Sprigs-Lowth, "Shoots." Ver. 6. Unto the fowls-that is," the birds." Ver. 7. Scattered and peeled.-See ver.2.

An oracle]

in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.

6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the

CHAP. XVIII.

[respecting Egypt.

name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion. (S) CHAP. XIX.

THE burden of Egypt. Behold,

the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4 And the Egyptians will I give

(S) Predictions, supposed to relate to Egypt and to Israel. This prophecy is very obscure, and the history and people to which it refers, doubtful. It was probably designed to give the Jews, and perhaps the Egyptians, (supposed to be intended, ver. 1, 2.) with whom many Jews resided, an intimation of God's interposition in favour of Zion, and of his counsels in regard to the destruction of their common enemy, Sennacherib; that his vast army, just as he thought his projects ripe, and ready to be crowned with success, should become a prey to the beasts of the field, and to the fowls of heaven; aud that Egypt should be grateful to God for the deliverance vouchsafed her. (Comp. ver. 7. with 2 Chron. xxxii. 23.)

Bp. Lowth, (following Bochart) instead of the land shadowed with wings," as in our version, renders it," the land of the winged cymbal," meaning the sistrum, a tinkling instrument, somewhat like the cymbal in its sound and object; but in its form more like a battledore, having thick lateral wires, running through from side to side, with an imagined similitude to

wings. This instrument was used by the Egyptians in all their sacrifices to Isis. Their country is a long vale, extending to 750 miles; made level and smooth by the overflowing of the Nile. The prophecy is delivered to messengers that were probably sent by the Egyptians, either to bring tidings of Sennacherib, or to form an alliance with the Jews against him.

Bp. Horsley, however, is of opinion, that it refers to the Jews, at the period of their restoration, and the destruction of Antichrist. It is very true, that the Jews answer well to the character of " a nation scattered and peeled;" and that the standard upon the mountains, and the trumpet blown at the same time, well represent the promulgation of the gospel: but then "the vessels of bulrushes," the land "meted out and trodden down," will scarcely apply to any country beside that of Egypt. We must, however, conclude as we begun, with confessing our inability to give a clear elucidation of the chapter.

Bp. Lowth himself says, "This is one of the most obscure prophecies in the whole book of Isaiah."

CHAP. XIX. Ver. 1. Behold, Jehovah rideth.Compare Psalm civ. 3.

Ver. 2. I will set-Heb. " Mingle." This refers to the civil dissentions mentioned in our Exposition. Ver. 3 The spirit of Egypt shall fail, and I will destroy, &c.-Heb. "Shall be emptied out," and "I will swallow up," &c.

Ver. 4. Give over-Heb. "Shut up," alluding to the case of prisoners of war. A cruel LordHeb. "Lords;" meaning, the 12 princes of Egypt. And a fierce king-that is, according to Grotius, Psammeticus; but according to Bps. Newton and Lowth, Nebuchadnezzar.