The previous chapters, from the thirteenth to the twenty-third inclusive, have been occupied mainly in describing the destruction of nations that were hostile to the Jews, or great and distressing calamities that would come ripen them. The prophet had thus successively depicted the calamities that w... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKETH THE EARTH EMPTY - That is, will depopulate it, or take away its inhabitants, and its wealth. The word ‘earth’ here (ארץ _'ārets_) is used evidently not to denote the whole world, but the land to which the prophet particularly refers - the land of Judea. It should have been translated the lan... [ Continue Reading ]
AS WITH THE PEOPLE, SO WITH THE PRIEST - This does not mean in moral character, but in destiny. It does not mean that the character of the priest would have any influence on that of the people, or that because the one was corrupt the other would be; but it means that all would be involved in the sam... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAND - Hebrew, ‘The earth,’ as in Isaiah 24:1. It is here rendered correctly ‘the land,’ as it should have been there - meaning the land of Canaan. AND SPOILED - Its valuable possessions shall become the prey of the invading foe. This is an emphatic repetition of the declaration in Isaiah 24:1,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EARTH MOURNETH - The word ‘earth’ here, as in Isaiah 24:1, means the land of Judea, or that and so much of the adjacent countries as would be subject to the desolation described. The figure here is taken from flowers when they lose their beauty and languish; or when the plant that lacks moisture... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EARTH ALSO IS DEFILED UNDER THE INHABITANTS THEREOF - The statements in this verse are given as a reason why the curse had been pronounced against them, and why these calamities had come upon them, Isaiah 24:6. The first reason is, that the very earth become polluted by their crimes. This phrase... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE HATH THE CURSE DEVOURED - Eaten it up; a figurative expression that is common in the Scriptures, denoting that the desolation is widespread and ruinous. ARE BURNED - (חרוּ _chârû_). Instead of this reading, Lowth proposes to read: חרבוּ _châr__e__bû_ ‘Are destroyed.’ The Septuagint rea... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NEW WINE LANGUISHETH - The new wine (תירושׁ _tı̂yrôsh_), denotes properly must, or wine that was newly expressed from the grape, and that was not fermented, usually translated ‘new wine,’ or ‘sweet wine.’ The expression here is poetic. The wine languishes or mourns because there are none to dri... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MIRTH OF TABRETS - The joy and exultation which is produced by tabrets. On the words ‘tabret’ (תף _tôph_) and ‘harp’ (כנור _kinnôr_), see the notes at Isaiah 5:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
DRINK WINE WITH A SONG - That is, accompanied with a song, as the usual mode was in their feasts. STRONG DRINK - On the word שׁכר _shêkār_ see the note at Isaiah 5:11. SHALL BE BITTER ... - They shall cease to find pleasure in it in consequence of the general calamitics that have come upon the n... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CITY OF CONFUSION - That Jerusalem is here intended there can be no doubt. The name ‘city of confusion.’ is probably given to it by anticipation of what it would be; that is, as it appeared in prophetic vision to Isaiah (see the note at Isaiah 1:1). He gave to it a name that would describe its s... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS A CRYING FOR WINE IN THE STREETS - The inhabitants of the city, turned from their dwellings, would cry for wine to alleviate their distress, and to sustain them in their calamity (compare Isaiah 16:8). ALL JOY IS DARKENED - Is gone, or has departed, like the joyful light at the setting of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE GATE IS SMITTEN WITH DESTRUCTION - The word rendered ‘destruction’ may denote ‘a crash’ (Gesenius). The idea is, that the gates of the city, once so secure, are how battered down and demolished, so that the enemy ran enter freely. Thus far is a description of the calamities that would come u... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE MIDST OF THE LAND - That is, in the midst of the land of Canaan. THERE SHALL BE AS THE SHAKING OF AN OLIVE-TREE - A few shall be left, as in gathering olives a few will remain on the highest and outermost boughs (see the notes at Isaiah 17:5).... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL LIFT UP THEIR VOICE - They who are left in the land; or who are not carried away to Babylon. ‘To lift up the voice’ in the Scriptures may denote either grief or joy; compare Genesis 21:6; 1 Samuel 24:16; Judges 2:4; Ruth 1:9, ..., where to lift up the voice is conected with weeping; and E... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE GLORIFY YE THE LORD - The prophet, in this verse, calls upon the people to join in the praise of Yahweh wherever they are scattered. In the previous verse he describes the scattered few who were left in the land, or who had escaped to the adjacent islands in the sea, as celebrating the pra... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH - The word ‘earth’ here seems to be taken in its usual sense, and to denote countries without the bounds of Palestine, and the phrase is equivalent to remote regions or distant countries (see the note at Isaiah 11:12). The prophet here represents himself as heari... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR, AND THE PIT - This verse is an explanation of the cause of the wretchedness referred to in the previous verse. The same expression is found in Jeremiah 48:43, in his account of the destruction that would come upon Moab, a description which Jeremiah probably copied from Isaiah - There is also h... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THE NOISE OF THE FEAR - A cry or shout was made in hunting, designed to arouse the game, and drive it to the pitfall. The image means here that calamities would be multiplied in all the land, and that if the inhabitants endeavored to avoid one danger they would fall into another. AND HE THAT C... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EARTH IS UTTERLY BROKEN DOWN - The effect as it were of an earthquake where everything is thrown into commotion and ruin. THE EARTH IS MOVED EXCEEDINGLY - Everything in this verse is intense and emphatic. The verbs are in the strongest form of emphasis: ‘By breaking, the land is broken;’ ‘by sc... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EARTH SHALL REEL TO AND FRO LIKE A DRUNKARD - This is descriptive of the agitation that occurs in an earthquake when everything is shaken from its foundation, and when trees and towers are shaken by the mighty concussion. The same figure is used in Isaiah 29:9. See also the description of a temp... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY - In the time of the captivity at Babylon. SHALL PUNISH - Hebrew as the Margin, ‘Shall visit upon’ (see the note at Isaiah 10:12). THE HOST OF THE HIGH ONES - There have been various interpretations of this expression. Jerome understands it of the host of heaven, and thinks it refers to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SHALL BE GATHERED TOGETHER - That is, those who occupy posts of honor and influence in the ecclesiastical and civil polity of the land. “As prisoners.” Margin, as in the Hebrew, ‘With the gathering of prisoners.’ The reference is to the custom of collecting captives taken in war, and chaini... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE MOON SHALL BE CONFOUNDED - The heavenly bodies are often employed in the sacred writings to denote the princes and kings of the earth. These expressions are not to be pressed _ad unguem_ as if the sun denoted one thing and the moon another; but they are general poetic expressions designed t... [ Continue Reading ]