Isaiah 18 - Introduction

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 embassy from the Ethiopian monarch, probably Taharqa (Tirhakah), whose reign is supposed to have begun about the same time as that of Sennacherib (705). The object of the embassy must have been either to form an alliance with Hezekiah against Assyria, or to encourage him in resistance by renewed assurances of support. The only period at which such an incident is historically probable is that which preceded the final rupture between Judah and Assyria (c. 702). A date much earlier is inconsistent with ch. 20, where (in 711) Isaiah predicts an Assyrian conquest of Egypt and Ethiopia. On the other hand the tone of the prophecy seems to point to an early stage of the rebellion. There is no trace of the fierce indignation with which the Egyptianalliance is denounced in ch. 28 31; the prophet does not seem as yet to have anticipated that the proposals of Tirhakah would be seriously entertained. Hence we may suppose that his reply to the envoys was intended as a guide to the policy of the king and his advisers. (See further General Introd., pp. xvi f.) In that reply Isaiah exhibits a fine combination of the character of the statesman with that of the man of faith, of the suaviter in modowith the fortiter in re. While the language breathes the courtly urbanity and respect due to distinguished strangers from a far country, we can easily read between the lines a firm rejection of their overtures. Jehovah, he says in effect, will crush the Assyrian in His own time without human help; and that signal judgment will be a demonstration to Ethiopia and all the world of His supreme Godhead.

The prophecy contains two equal strophes and an epilogue:

2 Samuel 18:1; 2 Samuel 18:1. The prophet's message to Ethiopia, prefaced by an imaginative description of the mysterious land and its inhabitants. The message itself is contained in Isaiah 18:3, and is an invitation to all nations of the earth to be spectators of Jehovah's crowning act of retribution on Assyria.

ii. Isa 18:4-6. The divine revelation on which this assurance is based. For it is as an inspired prophet that Isaiah thus ventures to guide the policy of his country at this critical juncture. The meaning of the figure is that Assyria shall be cut down, just when its gigantic plans of conquest seem to be maturing under the most favourable conditions.

iii. Isa 18:7. The epilogue, describing the effect of this display of Jehovah's power on Ethiopia. Other embassies, of a far different character, shall then come from the remote land to do homage to the name of Jehovah at Mount Zion.