A prophetic charge to the Ethiopian Ambassadors The theme of this striking prophecy is, like that of the preceding, the impending overthrow of the Assyrian power; its peculiar dramatic form is explained by the occasion which suggested it. This appears to have been the arrival in Jerusalem of an emb... [ Continue Reading ]
The word rendered _woe_is here neither a -cry of pity" nor (as usually in Isaiah) of indignation. It is simply a particle of salutation (_heus_) as in ch. Isaiah 55:1; Zechariah 2:6-7 (10, 11 Heb.). Render: HA, THE LAND, &c. _the land shadowing with wings_ a much disputed phrase. The most probable s... [ Continue Reading ]
The charge to the Ethiopian envoys, along with a poetic description of the land and people. The tendency of the ancient world to idealise the Ethiopians is familiar to students of classical literature. To the Greeks they were the "blameless Ethiopians" (Homer), "the tallest and handsomest of all men... [ Continue Reading ]
The _ambassadors_are those who have arrived in Jerusalem. They had descended the Nile (here called _the sea_, as in ch. Isaiah 19:5; Nahum 3:8) in _vessels of bulrushes_(R.V. PAPYRUS). These light skiffs, constructed for one or two passengers, and capable of being carried where the river ceased to b... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse gives the message which the ambassadors are to carry home to their countrymen, although it concerns all the world as much as the Ethiopians. Render: WHEN A SIGNAL IS LIFTED UP … WHEN A TRUMPET IS BLOWN. Cf. ch. Isaiah 13:2. Since the whole process is supernatural it is idle to enquire wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will take … consider_ Better: I WILL QUIETLY LOOK ON, the first verb being subordinate to the second. _like a clear heat upon herbs_ Translate as R.V.: LIKE CLEAR HEAT IN (or, along with) SUNSHINE. The overpowering heat of the atmosphere in the height of summer seems something superadded to the... [ Continue Reading ]
The purpose of Jehovah, as disclosed to Isaiah by special revelation. The opening words point back to a definite time when this illumination came to him, whether in a moment of ecstasy or not it is impossible to say.... [ Continue Reading ]
Assyria is here compared to a vine, ripening its grapes under the favourable influences indicated in Isaiah 18:4. The word for _harvest_does not strictly denote "vintage" (see on ch. Isaiah 16:9); either the more general term is employed for the particular, or the vine is conceived as cut down at th... [ Continue Reading ]
The figure is now abandoned; instead of the "sprigs and branches" of the vine, we have the dead bodies of the Assyrian soldiers left as carrion for unclean beasts and birds, _summer … winter_ a whole year. The idea is amplified, with somewhat gruesome details, in Ezekiel 39:11 ff.; cf. also Jeremiah... [ Continue Reading ]
Ethiopia shall then pay homage to Jehovah at Mount Zion, the earthly seat of His sovereignty. For _the present_read A PRESENT. The word is rare, occurring again only in Psalms 68:29; Psalms 76:11, in both passages coupled with the same poetic word as is here used for "brought." of _a people]_Read... [ Continue Reading ]