1._Come down, and sit in the dust. _Isaiah now explains more fully
what he had briefly noticed concerning the counsel of God, and the
execution of it. He openly describes the destruction of Babylon;
because no hope whatever of the return of the people could be
entertained, so long as the Babylonian... [ Continue Reading ]
2._Take millstones. _The whole of this description tends to shew that
there shall be a great change among the Babylonians, so that this
city, which was formerly held in the highest honor, shall be sunk in
the lowest disgrace, and subjected to outrages of every kind, and thus
shall exhibit a striking... [ Continue Reading ]
3._Thy baseness shall be discovered. _This is the conclusion of the
former statement. So long as Babylon was in a flourishing condition,
she preserved her reputation, and was highly honored; for wealth and
power, like veils, often conceal a great number of sores, which, when
the veils have been remo... [ Continue Reading ]
4._Our Redeemer. _The Prophet shews for what purpose the Lord will
inflict punishment on the Babylonians; that is, for the salvation of
his people, as he had formerly declared. (Isaiah 45:4.) But this
statement is much more forcible, because he speaks in what may be
called an abrupt manner, and like... [ Continue Reading ]
5._Sit silent. _He continues the same subject, and shews that the end
of the Babylonian monarchy is at hand. As this appeared to be
incredible, he therefore repeats the same thing by a variety of
expressions, and repeats what might have been said in a few words; and
thus he brings forward those live... [ Continue Reading ]
6._I was angry with my people. _This is an anticipation, by which he
forewarns the Jews, as he has often done formerly, that the
distressing condition of captivity was a scourge which God had
inflicted; because, if it had proceeded from any other, there was no
remedy in the hand of God. In order, th... [ Continue Reading ]
7._And thou saidst, I shall for ever _(224) _be a mistress. _Here he
censures the haughtiness of the Babylonians, in promising to
themselves perpetual dominion, and in thinking that they could not
fall from their elevation through any adverse event. Thus the children
of this world are intoxicated by... [ Continue Reading ]
8._And now hear this, thou delicate woman. _The Prophet again
threatens the destruction of Babylon, and employs appropriate words
for strengthening the hearts of believers, that the prosperity of the
Babylonians may not stupify and lead them to despondency; and yet he
does not address Babylon in ord... [ Continue Reading ]
9._But those two things shall suddenly come to thee. _Because Babylon
supposed that she was beyond the reach of all danger, the Prophet
threatens against her very sore distress. When she said that she would
neither be “a widow” nor “childless,” he declares on the other
hand, that both calamities sha... [ Continue Reading ]
10._For thou trustedst. _He explains what he said in the preceding
verse, though it may be extended further, so as to be a censure of the
fraud and oppression and violence and unjust practices by which the
Babylonians raised themselves to so great power. Almost all large
kingdoms are, what a disting... [ Continue Reading ]
11._Therefore shall evil come upon thee. _Continuing the subject which
he had formerly introduced, he ridicules the foolish confidence of the
Babylonians, who thought that by the position of the stars they
foresaw all events. He therefore says that they shall soon be
overtaken by that which Scriptur... [ Continue Reading ]
12._Stand now amidst thy divinations. _The Prophet speaks as we are
accustomed to speak to desperate men, on whom no warnings produce any
good effect; “Do as thou art wont to do; in the end thou shalt be
instructed by the event; thou shalt know what good the augurs and
soothsayers do thee.” By the w... [ Continue Reading ]
13._Thou hast wearied thyself. _He now declares still more plainly
what he had formerly expressed in somewhat obscure language; that all
the schemes which Babylon had previously adopted would lead to her
ruin; for she nourished within herself a vain confidence arising from
a belief of her power and... [ Continue Reading ]
14._Behold, they shall be as stubble. _With still greater eagerness he
attacks those astrologers who strengthened the pride of Babylon by
their empty boasting; for impostors of this sort are wont to take away
all fear of God out of the hearts of men, by ascribing everything to
the stars, so that not... [ Continue Reading ]
15._So shal they be to thee. _After having threatened destruction to
those astronomers, he again retums to the Babylonians, and threatens
that they must not look for assistance from that quarter from which
they expected it, and that they ought not to rely on those vain
counsels, with which they had... [ Continue Reading ]