Isaiah 30:20

the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction (cf. 1 Kings 22:27) the most meagre necessities of existence. The reference is to the period of distress (perhaps the siege) which precedesthe great deliverance.

shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner Rather: shall not thy Teacher (God) hide Himself; (nearly as R.V. marg.). The alternative rendering "teachers" is no doubt possible, but the verb is in the singular, and the conception of Jehovah as the personal teacher of His people, although surprising, gives the fullest meaning to the expressions of this verse and the next, and is not too exalted for a description of the Messianic age. If the other view be adopted, the reference must be to the prophets, who are now driven into concealment, but shall then freely appear in public. But such an anticipation has no parallel in Messianic prophecy, and certainly receives no light from the circumstances of Isaiah's time.