as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.

29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.

CHAP. XXX.

[over Assyria.

30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.

31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.

32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.

33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. (F)

(F) The Jews threatened for their reliance on Egypt, and the awful destruction of Assyria again predicted. The folly of the former, in their sending ambassadors with enormous presents into Egypt, through the wilderness of wild beasts and serpents, is exposed and ridiculed. For this foolish and rebellious conduct they are severely threatened; and it is predicted that Egypt, in which they trusted, should not only afford them no protection; but, like a tottering wall, should fall suddenly on them, and overwhelm them with destruction.

Ver. 18. Consolation is, however, afforded them in promises of mercy and deliverance; which, though long delayed, shall not fail;

"Blessed are all they that wait for him." A holy people shall yet be restored to Zion, to be dispersed and weep no more. Divine instruction shall be afforded them; idolatry shall be utterly suppressed, and temporal prosperity shall be restored. That these promises have reference to the new dispensation of the Messiah there can be no doubt, for to that only can be applied the promises of increasing light and glory in ver. 26, when the day of knowledge and of grace to be increased to a sevenfold degree of splendour. The latter part of the chapter relates evidently to the terrible overthrow of Sennacherib and his army, which were to be utterly destroyed, like the sacrifices in the valley of Hinnom, here called To phet.

Ver. 27. The name of the Lord-the report of his great judgments, his mighty fame.And the burden thereof is heavy -Lowth," His wrath burneth, and the flame rageth." So Boothroyd. Compare Heb. of Judges xx. 38, 40.

Ver. 28. His breath- - Lowth, "Spirit."-The sieve of vanity.-Kimchi says, the van (or fan) with which God will winnow the nations, shall be the van of emptiness, or perdition; it will save nothing. See Matt. iii. 12.-There shall be a bridle-that is, they shall be infatuated with a sense of their own security, which shall lead them blindfold to ruin. Ver. 29. A song as in the night-that is, in the eve preceding every great festival.-The mighty oneHeb. "The rock" of Israel.

rian "as with a rod," supplying as instead of which. Compare Ps. ii. 9.

Ver. 32. And in every place, &c.-On the autho rity of two or three MSS only, Lowth reads, “the rod of correction," but we think improperly, since it was the rod of destruction, as appears by the context. We would propose to read, " And in every place where the passing staff is grounded,... it shall be, &c. We consider it an allusion to a criminal being scourged to the place of execution, and at every pause of the scourging rod, Israel shall exult in songs.And with battles of shaking, &c. Lowth, "And with fierce battles shall he tight against them."

Ver. 33. Tophet is ordained of old.-This alludes to the valley of Hinnom, where children were sacrificed to Moloch, with the sound of drums, as the name Tophet implies; so was Assyria to be consumed amid the noise of triumph. See chap. xxxii. 14. Of old-Heb. From yesterday; i, e, from former times. See 2 Kings xxiii, 10.

CHAP. XXXI.

them that down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because =they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!

2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evil doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.

3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they shall all fail together.

4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the

young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

5 As birds flying, so will the LORD

CHAP. XXXI.

of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.

6 Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.

7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.

8 Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.

9 And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. (G)

(G) The Jews are again reproved for their confidence in Egypt.-This chapter is very similar to the preceding. Their folly is strongly exhibited in a contrast between the weakness of creatures and the power of the Creator: What is flesh to spirit? what is man compared with God? Two fine comparisons are here introduced. The former, ver. 4. represents the weakness of Egypt as a protecting power, no more able to secure Israel against their offended God, than a company of unarmed shepherds to oppose the mighty lion. other, ver. 5. exhibits the divine protection of his people in allusion to the mounting

The

"As the

eagle guarding her own nest. mother-birds hovering over their young; so shall Jehovah God of hosts protect Jerusalem: protecting and delivering; leaping forward and rescuing her." Lowth. Comp. Deut. xxxii. 11.-The Jews are then exhorted to repentance, and to the rejection of their idols.

The chapter concludes like the last, with again predicting the fall of Sennacherib. It was proper to dwell much on this important event, which, in human appearance, was very unlikely, the Assyrian being at that time the greatest empire in all the world. But what is all the world before the power of Jehovah ?

(or chosen) men shall fail."

Ver. 9. He shall pass over to his strong holdLowth, "Beyond his strong hold," even to Nineveh, where he was slain. Ch. xxxviii. 37, 38. Afraid of the ensign-Lowth, "Struck with consternation at his flight."

The blessings of]

3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

are

7 The instruments also of the churl evil he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones:

CHAP. XXXII.

[Messiah's kingdom.

strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city :

14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for

ever.

18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.

20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, and send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. (H)

(H) The blessings of Messiah's kingdom, with a warning to hypocrites and unbelie

CHAP. XXXII. Ver. 2. A man- Lowth, man;” i. e. the king just named.

vers. The opening verses of this chapter have been applied to the reign of Hezekiah; but in their full aud literal sense

Ver. 3. Shall not be dim - Bp. Lowth rejects the negative he.e, with considerable reason, as an error of the transcribers, (of which there are several acknowledged instances) and is followed by Boothroyd, who reads, "The eyes of those that see shall regard him.

Ver. 4. The heart also-Lowto," Even the heart," &c.

Ver.6. The churl - Lowth, " Niggard." So in ver. 7.

Ver. 7. Even when the needy speaketh rightLowth, "And to defeat the assertions of the poor in judgment." So Boothroyd.

Ver. 12. They shall lament for the tears-that is, the milk of the kine and dock. But Low th cottnects this line with the preceding, thus: "Gird ye sackcloth upon your loins, and upon your breasts." But the Heb.ew (shadim) signifies fields, as well as breasts; we therefore decidedly prefer the version

of Mr. Parkhurst, "For the lamented fields, for the fields of desire;" i. e. these were to be the objects of their regret.

Ver. 13. Yen, upon all the houses of joy. -The eastern houses were built with fat roofs (and often gardens on them) with court yards in the centre: when these houses were deserted, grass and weeds would fill the latter, and, in many cases, cover the former.

Ver. 19. When it shall hail, &c.-Lowth, "But the hail shall fall, and the forest shall be brought down, and the city be laid level with the plain ;" Marg "And the city be utterly debased." By thas city some understand Nineveh, and others Babylon: but Jerusalem and the Jews may possibly be intended, as in ver. 13 and 14. They were to be humbled, and then restored. See Gataker.

Ver. 20. Blessed are ye, &c. — Here is an evident allusion to the manner or sowing their grain in Egypt, and treading it in by the feet of the small

cattle.

Sennacherib]

CHAP. XXXIII.

WOE to thee that spoilest, and thou

wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee; when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

2 O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running to and fro of locusts shall be run upon them.

5 The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

[again threatened

6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

7 Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.

8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

9 The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

10 Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

have their fulfilment only in His government, who is emphatically "the King of righteousness and of peace." (Heb. vi. 2.) The protection which he, and which he only can afford, is illustrated by a comparison of great beauty, in reference to the climate of the Eastern countries. He is a rock, and, as such, affords refuge from all the tempests of inan's rage and of God's wrathile the shadow which he yields, is like that of a great rock" in a weary and parched land. Thus is he at once a defence from the wintry storm and the summer heat. There was also a rock which yielded to Israel, not only shade, but water; that followed them through the wilderness, and "that rock was (typically) Christ" the King here spoken of.

Warnings are then given against oppression and hypocrisy, and to all those sinners (here spoken of as women) who were at

ease in Zion, indifferent to its interests and its prosperity. They are threatened with want, and directed to clothe themselves in mourning, and like public mourners lament the miseries of their country. The troubles of God's people, however, are not like those of the world around them. They may be severe, but they are not perpetual. We look for the fulfilment of Messiah's promises, that "the spirit shall be poured upon us from on high;" and that not once only, but again and again as our exigencies and the progress of his kingdom may require. In the mean time, let us sow the seed of his word "beside (or upon) all waters." Wherever the leadings of providence may direct, or the streams of divine influence flow-let us cast "the seed of the word," and we shall find it "after many days." (Eccles. xi. 1.)

Ver. 4. And your spoil, &c.— is also addressed to the haughty enemy of Judah, whose very name was a terror to the uations, and implies, that the spoil of his army should be gathered with the same avidity as the locust and the caterpillar plunder the fields of grain, or the trees of fruit-Shall he run upon then-Lowth, Shall they run and seize it."

Ver. 6. Strength, &c.-Rather, The strength of (hy) salvation. -Bis treasure.-Some of the au

cient versions read in the second person, (4 thy treasure," and the sense seems to require it.

Ver. 7. Their valiant ones-Heb. "Heroes," and some few copies read," their lions of God," or strong lions; a terin still in use among the Arabians. See Note on chap. xxix. J.

Ver. 11. Your breath, as fire, &c. The sense seems to be, that their schemes of ambition should be worthless as stubble, and destroyed by their own breath. See Job iv. 8, Ps. vii. 14.

Ver. 12. As the burnings of line - Lowth, “The people shall be burned, as the lime is burned."

13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burn ings?

15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; 16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?

19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of deeper speech than

CHAP. XXXIII.

[to trust in God. thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not under

stand.

20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

21 But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

the

24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. (I)

(1) Sennacherib again threatened, and the church encouraged to trust in God.-The Prophet addresses himself to Sennacherib, remonstrating against the injustice of his ambitious designs, and denouncing a just retaliation; at the same time praying for an interference on behalf of Israel.

In ver. 5. according to Bp. Lowth, "A chorus of Jews is introduced, acknowledging the mercy and power of God, who had undertaken to protect them: extolling it in direct opposition to the boasted power of

their enemies, and celebrating the wisdom and piety of their King, Hezekiah, who had placed his confidence in the favour of God." To him are addressed the following words, (ver. 6,) "Wisdom and knowledge are the stability of thy times," &c.

Verses 7, to 9, describe the distress and despair of the Jews, (as it were, the whole face of nature languishing) on Sennache rib's marching against their city, after Hezekiah, according to treaty, had actually paid him an immense sum of money. (See 2 Kings xviii. 14-26.)

Ver. 14. Devouring fire-referring, in the first instance, to the burnings just mentioned, and probably to the burnings in the valley of Tophet, chap. XXX. 33.-Everlasting burnings-Lowth and Boothroyd, "Perpetual burnings."

Ver. 15. Walketh righteously-Heb. "In righteousnesses;" so also uprightnesses, bloods," &c. all plural, for emphasis.

Ver. 17. The king in his beauty-that is, Hezekiah, in his royal robes, instead of sackcloth..... The land that is very far off-Heb. "The land of far distances;" i. e. says Dr. Boothroyd, the siege being ended, and the enemy destroyed, any part of the land may be visited at pleasure; or any foreign land."

Ver. 18. Thine heart shall meditate terror-that is, according to Lowth, "Shall reflect on the past

terror."....Where is the scribe, &c. - The scribe, who took down the names of those who were to pay tribute. The receiver - Heb. The weigher; He that i. e. of tribute, who received the money. counted the towers-he that directed the siege. See Boothroyd. These were all now done away with. Ver. 19. Of a stammering— Marg. “A ridiculous tongue;" i. e. foreigners, whose language they could

not understand.

Ver. 21. A place of broad rivers, &c. - the Lord shall protect them, like an impassable sea.

Yer. 23. Thy tacklings are loosed.-The prophet compares the enemy to a ship, worn out and laid by; for to the enemy this must be addressed. Boothroyd.

Ver. 24. I am sick-Lowth," Disabled with sickness;" i. e. pestilence as well as war are now removed, and the nation pardoned,