_Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write
grievousness [which] they have prescribed;_
Ver. 1. _Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees._] Having
denounced woe to wicked of all sorts, the prophet here threateneth
wicked princes in particular, as the chief causes of God's j... [ Continue Reading ]
To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from
the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and [that] they
may rob the fatherless!
Ver. 2. _To turn away the needy from judgment._] To put them beside
their right, because indigent, and overweighed by the wealthy ones... [ Continue Reading ]
And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation
[which] shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where
will ye leave your glory?
Ver. 3. _And what will ye do in the day of visitation._] That is, of
vastation by the Assyrians.
_ To whom will ye flee for help._] Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall
fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but
his hand [is] stretched out still.
Ver. 4. _Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners,_] _i.e.,
_ Without any fault of mine. Hos 13:9 Or, as some render i... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is
mine indignation._
Ver. 5. _O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger._] Or, Woe to the Assyrian;
or, _Heu Assur,_ Alas, the Assyrian! _q.d., _ Alas, that I am forced
by this sharp and iron rod to correct my people, whom I have bred so
choi... [ Continue Reading ]
I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people
of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take
the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Ver. 6. I will send him … I will give him a charge.] _Non patefacta
quidem voluntate, sed arcana... [ Continue Reading ]
Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but [it
is] in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
Ver. 7. _Howbeit he meaneth not so._] He is otherwise minded and
affected than I am, and doeth my will merely beside and against his
own will. As in applying of leeches the... [ Continue Reading ]
For he saith, [Are] not my princes altogether kings?
Ver. 8. _For he saith._] Sennacherib saith. See Isaiah 36:9; Isaiah
36:15; Isaiah 36:18; Isaiah 36:20; Isaiah 37:10; Isaiah 37:13; Isaiah
37:24,25. A great part of this whole book of Isaiah concerneth
Sennacherib.
_ Are not my princes altogether... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaiah 10:9 [Is] not Calno as Carchemish? [is] not Hamath as Arpad?
[is] not Samaria as Damascus?
Ver. 9. _Is not Calno as Carchemish?_] Here in a vaunt he reckoneth up
six royal cities vanquished by himself and his ancestors; and boasteth
how with a wet finger, as we say, he had taken in all the c... [ Continue Reading ]
_As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven
images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;_
Ver. 10. _As my hand hath found._] _Nota fastum tyranni,_ Note the
arrogance of this tyrant, saith A. Lapide. It was his hand did all,
and not God's - like as afterwards Timotheus,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to
Jerusalem and her idols?_
Ver. 11. _Shall I not as I have done._] God is not in all this man's
thoughts; himself doeth all that is done.
_ So do to Jerusalem._] Why, no; for "their rock is not as our rock,"
might God's people have r... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore it shall come to pass, [that] when the Lord hath performed
his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the
fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his
high looks.
Ver. 12. _Wherefore._] Heb., And. A close connection: where pride is
in the saddl... [ Continue Reading ]
For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done [it], and by my
wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people,
and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants
like a valiant [man]:
Ver. 13. _For he saith, By the strength of my hand, &c._] _Viva haec... [ Continue Reading ]
And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one
gathereth eggs [that are] left, have I gathered all the earth; and
there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
Ver. 14. _And my hand had found._] See Isaiah 10:10 .
_ As a nest._] Or, As in a nest, where... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? [or]
shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the
rod should shake [itself] against them that lift it up, [or] as if the
staff should lift up [itself, as if it were] no wood.
Ver. 15. _Shall the axe boast itself._]... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones
leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the
burning of a fire.
Ver. 16. Therefore shall the Lord … send among his fat ones,] _i.e.,
_ _Pingues, torosos et validos milites,_ his lusty and mastive
soldiers, in w... [ Continue Reading ]
And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a
flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one
day;
Ver. 17. _And the light of Israel shall be for a fire._] To Israel he
shall be a comfortable light - to their enemies a consuming fire, as
Exodus 14:24. _Ecc... [ Continue Reading ]
_And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field,
both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer
fainteth._
Ver. 18. _And he shall consume the glory of his forest,_] _i.e., _ Of
his army, cutting his way through a wood of men, and felling the very
glory of his g... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child
may write them._
Ver. 19. And the rest of the trees … shall be few.] Heb., A number;
_methe mispar,_ a poor few, and inconsiderable company, that may soon
be told.
_ That a child may write them._] The Hebrews say that Sennacherib... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the remnant of Israel,
and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again
stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy
One of Israel, in truth.
Ver. 20. _And it shall come to pass in that day._] _Meras
consolatio... [ Continue Reading ]
The remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty
God.
Ver. 21. _A remnant shall return,_] _scil., _ To the Lord by true
repentance, from whom they had deeply revolted. But of these there is
but as a "remnant" - a poor few - in comparison of the whole piece of
cloth.... [ Continue Reading ]
For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a
remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow
with righteousness.
Ver. 22. _Yet a remnant of them shall return,_] _i.e., _ Shall be
saved from Sennacherib, but especially from Satan, that old man
slayer. Romans 9... [ Continue Reading ]
For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined,
in the midst of all the land.
Ver. 23. _For the Lord God of hosts shall make, &c._] Here the same
thing is repeated, by way of asseveration, because not easily believed
or digested, but would lie heavy as hard meat. "Behold the se... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest
in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a
rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of
Egypt.
Ver. 24. _O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid._] _Quam
paterne omnia._ As a... [ Continue Reading ]
_For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and
mine anger in their destruction._
Ver. 25. _For yet a very little while._] Heb., A little little, or a
little of a little. Yet a little modicum, and wrath shall be at an
end. Oecolampadius rendereth it, _Adhuc paululum, minus quam
p... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the
slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [as] his rod [was] upon
the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
Ver. 26. _And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him._] Far
worse than that rod. Isa 10:2... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be
taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and
the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Ver. 27. _And the yoke shall be destroyed, because of the anointing._]
That is, because or for the sake of Me... [ Continue Reading ]
He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid
up his carriages:
Ver. 28. _He is come to Aiath._] _Elegans hypotyposis,_ a dainty
description of Sennacherib's invasion into the land, and progress with
his army toward Jerusalem, through the tribe of Benjamin.
_ He is passed t... [ Continue Reading ]
They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at
Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
Ver. 29. _They are gone over the passages,_] _i.e., _ The straits,
between two rocks. 1Sa 13:22... [ Continue Reading ]
Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto
Laish, O poor Anathoth.
Ver. 30. _Lift up thy voice._] Heb., _Hinni, i.e., _ _claram vocem
ede, eamque lugubrem,_ make a grievous outcry, _eiula, quiritare; nam
certa tibi imminet vastitas,_ for thou art undone.
_ O poor Anathoth._... [ Continue Reading ]
Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to
flee.
Ver. 31. _Madmena is removed,_] _i.e., _ Fled for fear, as Gibeah. Isa
10:29... [ Continue Reading ]
As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand
[against] the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Ver. 32. _He shall shake his hand,_] viz., At Jerusalem, as
threatening her destruction; but she shall shake her head at him in
contempt Isa 37:21 God oft lets his ene... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror:
and the high ones of stature [shall be] hewn down, and the haughty
shall be humbled.
Ver. 33. _Behold, the Lord shall lop the bough,_] _i.e., _ Those of
greatest state and stature in the Assyrian army.
_ And the haughty shall be... [ Continue Reading ]
And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and
Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
Ver. 34. _By a mighty one._] _a_ That is, by an angel. Isa 37:36
_Psalms 78:25_ _; _ Psa 89:5-6
_ a_ _Per magnificum._... [ Continue Reading ]