_A.M. 3290. B.C. 714._ The prophecy contained in this chapter, says Bishop Lowth, “is one of the most obscure in the whole book of Isaiah. The subject of it, the end and design of it, the people to whom it is addressed, the history to which it belongs, the person who sends the messengers, and the n... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wo to the land_ Or, rather, as Bishop Lowth renders it, and as the particle הוי, here used, undoubtedly means, Isaiah 55:1, and elsewhere, _Ho! to the land._ The words seem evidently to contain an address to the land here meant, which is supposed to be Egypt, because of the attributes under which i... [ Continue Reading ]
_That sendeth ambassadors by sea_ That is accustomed to send, or at this time is sending, ambassadors to strengthen themselves with leagues and alliances, or to encourage their confederates; _in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters_ This circumstance agrees perfectly well with Egypt; Pliny, Lucan, D... [ Continue Reading ]
_All ye inhabitants of the world, &c,, see ye_ Take notice of what I say, and what God will do: Or, _Ye shall see._ “We have here the declaration made to the other people of the world, to expect the fall of the Assyrian. God invites all the people of the earth to this sight; that, as soon as they sh... [ Continue Reading ]
_For so the Lord said unto me_ That is, revealed this thing to me from his secret purposes; _I will take my rest_ While the Assyrian is forming designs for the destruction of my people, I will seem to rest, as if I had no regard for their preservation. The reader will observe, God is said in Scriptu... [ Continue Reading ]
_For afore the harvest_ Here the Lord informs his people how he would act toward those of their adversaries, for whom he had prepared this great slaughter. He compares them to a vine, which, after it hath sent forth its _buds_, then its _flowers_, and the flowers the sour grapes, which too were begi... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that time_ After the execution of this signal judgment; _shall the present be brought unto the Lord_, &c. Here the prophet foretels that Egypt, being delivered from the oppression of the Assyrian, and avenged, by the hand of God, of the wrongs which she had suffered, should return thanks for the... [ Continue Reading ]