Isaiah 17:1-11. The approaching overthrow of Damascus and North Israel This oracle, the Isaianic authorship of which is beyond question, should be read _after_ch. Isaiah 9:8 to Isaiah 10:4 and _before_ch. 7. It deals mainly with the fate of the Northern Kingdom; but the combination of Syria and Eph... [ Continue Reading ]
_The burden of Damascus_ See on ch. Isaiah 13:1. The title explains why the prophecy was included amongst those against foreign nations, but is not quite accurate as a description of its contents. The overthrow of Damascus, although mentioned first, is but an incident of the humiliation of its ally... [ Continue Reading ]
The fate of Damascus.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The cities of Aroer_ Hardly, "the (two) cities Aroer" (gen. of appos.), as a name for the trans-Jordanic territory. If Aroer be really a proper name, the phrase must be explained by the analogy of Joshua 13:17 "the daughter cities of A." But where was Aroer? The best-known town of the name, that on... [ Continue Reading ]
_The fortress also … Ephraim_ Perhaps: AND THE BULWARK SHALL BE REMOVED FROM EPHRAIM, meaning the kingdom of Damascus, which had been like a breakwater, sheltering Israel from the Assyrian onslaught. It is, however, equally possible to understand the "fortress" of Samaria, or collectively of the for... [ Continue Reading ]
_in that day_ simultaneously with the judgment on Syria. _the glory of Jacob_ i.e. his might, his population, his prosperity, &c. (cf. Isaiah 17:3). _made thin_ better, ENFEEBLED. _fatness … lean_ cf. ch. Isaiah 10:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
The fate of Ephraim, in three figures: wasting disease; the reaping of corn; the gathering of olives.... [ Continue Reading ]
The succeeding pictures are exceedingly graphic, an evidence of Isaiah's intense interest in rural life. The reaper gathers the stalks of wheat with one hand and with the other cuts off the ears close to the head. _and it shall be … Rephaim_ Render as R.V. AND IT SHALL BE AS WHEN ONE GLEANETH EARS,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet gleaning grapes … olive tree_ Render (cf. R.V.) AND GLEANINGS SHALL BE LEFT IN IT AS AT THE BEATING OF AN OLIVE TREE. The olives were struck down from the higher branches with a stick (ch. Isaiah 24:13; Deuteronomy 24:20); the few that were overlooked were left for the poor. _the uppermost bou... [ Continue Reading ]
These verses do not necessarily point to a conversion of the few surviving Ephraimites. They rather describe the impression produced by the vindication of Jehovah's righteousness on mankind at large. Both in thought and structure, they interrupt the continuity of the oracle, and may have been insert... [ Continue Reading ]
_look to his Maker_ cf. Isaiah 22:11. "Look to," i.e. regard with trust and veneration.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the work of his hands_… that _which his fingers have made_ phrases used of idols in ch. Isaiah 2:8; Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 31:7. _the altars … either the groves or the images_ These words overburden the rhythm of the verse and are probably explanatory glosses. An allusion to the brazen-altar of Ahaz... [ Continue Reading ]
_his strong cities_ cf. Isaiah 17:10, the "Rock of thy strength." _as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch_ Rather, if the text must be kept: "as the deserted places of the forest and the height" (so R.V.). For "forest" cf. 1 Samuel 23:15; 1 Samuel 23:19; 2 Chronicles 27:4; Ezekiel 31:3 ("shrou... [ Continue Reading ]
Continued from Isaiah 17:6. The rejection of Jehovah leads to failure and disappointment.... [ Continue Reading ]
_God of thy salvation_ The only occasion on which this important term (Heb. _yesha-_) is used by Isaiah, although it forms an element of his own name. _rock of thy strength_ A very frequent name of God, cf. ch. Isaiah 30:29; Isaiah 44:8 (R.V.); Deuteronomy 32. (passim); Psalms 19:14; Psalms 27:5; P... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse reads: IN THE DAY WHEN THOU PLANTEST THOU MAKEST IT TO GROW, AND IN THE MORNING WHEN THOU SOWEST THOU MAKEST IT TO BLOSSOM, (BUT) THE HARVEST DISAPPEARS IN A DAY OF SICKNESS AND INCURABLE SORROW. "However successful your enterprise may seem in its early stages, it is doomed to failure." Fo... [ Continue Reading ]
-Isaiah on his "watch-tower" hears, and we seem to hear with him, the ocean-like roar of the advancing Assyrian hosts" (Cheyne). Whether the invaders are already in the land, or are present only to the imagination of the prophet, it is impossible to determine. The first half of the verse should be r... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaiah 17:12-14. The sudden annihilation of the Assyrians These verses are regarded by some critics as the continuation of ch. Isaiah 17:1-11, by others as the introduction to ch. 18. Since the reference here is undoubtedly to the Assyrians, the first view has nothing to commend it, the transition... [ Continue Reading ]
The Assyrians shall perish at the rebuke of jehovah. The first clause of the verse is almost identical with the last words of Isaiah 17:12, and is wanting in the Peshito and a few Hebr. MSS. It may have arisen through dittography, although some think the repetition is rhetorically effective, contras... [ Continue Reading ]
The destruction of the Assyrian shall be accomplished between evening and daybreak. The expression denotes a very short space of time, as in Psalms 30:5; Job 27:19; but the destruction of Sennacherib's army took place literally in the night (ch. Isaiah 37:36). _And behold … he_is _not_ Render: AT E... [ Continue Reading ]