_Hath Israel no sons? Why then doth their king inherit Gad?_ Is there
no posterity of Israel, that the king of the Ammonites hath taken
possession of Gad, as if he had a right to it, and his people dwell in
the cities of it? Instead of _their king_, here, Blaney reads
_Milcom_, and Dr. Waterland and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore I will cause the noise of war to be heard in Rabbah,_ &c.
The principal city of that country. _Her daughters shall be burned
with fire_ That is, the lesser cities, which are reckoned so many
daughters to the mother city. _Then shall Israel be heir unto them
that were his heirs_ Hebrew, וי... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled_ This _“Ai_ must be a different
city from that taken by Joshua, chap. 8., which lay on the west side
of Jordan. Grotius mentions another city, called _Gaia_ by Ptolemy;
which, being near Heshbon, the destruction of it was matter of concern
to the neighbouring city... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys?_ That is, in the riches of
thy fat and plentiful valleys, which overflow with abundance of all
things: compare Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 28:4. Though they be fruitful, yet
glory not therein, for, notwithstanding their fertility, they shall be
no security to thee ag... [ Continue Reading ]
_Concerning Edom_ The destruction of Edom, or Idumea, is likewise
foretold by Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah: see the margin. _Is
wisdom no more in Teman_ “The eastern part of the world (by which is
chiefly meant Arabia and the adjacent countries) was famous for the
study of wisdom, or philosophy,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep_ “When the Arabs,” says Harmer,
“have drawn upon themselves such a general resentment of the more
fixed inhabitants of those countries that they think themselves unable
to stand against them, they withdraw into the depths of the great
wilderness, where none can follow... [ Continue Reading ]
_If grape-gatherers come to thee_, &c. The vintage is not usually
gathered so clean but there will be a gleaning left, Isaiah 17:6; and
house-breakers, or thieves, commonly leave something behind. _But I
have made Esau bare_ But the destruction coming upon thee will be so
entire that scarcely a remn... [ Continue Reading ]
_Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them_, &c. The Chaldee
paraphrast understands this of the Jews, to whom the following words
do certainly belong, as if it contained God's promise to take care of
their families, in that distressed and forlorn state to which the
captivity had reduced th... [ Continue Reading ]
_They whose judgment was not to drink of the cup_ Namely, of God's
wrath: see note on Jeremiah 25:15; _have assuredly drunken_ The
Israelites, God's peculiar people, who, in regard to the gracious
promises which he had made to them and to their fathers, the near
relation in which they stood to him,... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have heard a rumour_ Hebrew, שׁמועה, a report or _message,
from the Lord_, and _an ambassador is sent unto the heathen._ Obadiah
begins his prophecy against Edom in similar words. The prophets, it
must be observed, “often represent God as summoning armies, and
setting them in array of battle agai... [ Continue Reading ]
_Edom shall be a desolation; every one shall hiss_, &c. See note on
Jeremiah 18:16. _As in the overthrow of Sodom_, &c. A proverbial
expression, denoting an utter destruction. _Behold, he shall come up
like a lion_, &c. This is a description of Nebuchadnezzar's marching
with his army against Idumea,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord_ Let them, the Edomites, hear
and consider what God hath purposed against them. _Surely the least of
the flock shall draw them out_ By the _least of the flock_, may be
here understood the common soldiers in the Chaldean army, any one of
whom, he says, shall ha... [ Continue Reading ]
_Concerning Damascus_ “Damascus was the capital of the kingdom of
Syria: and had seemingly at this time swallowed up all the other petty
sovereignties of that country. Isaiah had before uttered a prophecy
concerning it, of a calamitous import, (chap. 17,) which had been
fulfilled by Tiglath-pileser'... [ Continue Reading ]
_Damascus is waxed feeble_ That is, the inhabitants of Damascus. They
have lost their ancient courage and valour; they were wont to be
formidable to their enemies, but now they flee before them. _Fear_, or
rather, _trembling_, or, _horror_, as רשׂשׂ, properly signifies,
_hath seized on her, distress... [ Continue Reading ]
_Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor_ Kedar is well known to
have been one of the sons of Ishmael, Genesis 25:13, who settled in
Arabia. But of Hazor we find no satisfactory account given by
commentators. There is, indeed, a city called _Hazor_, mentioned
Joshua 11:10, and in other parts of S... [ Continue Reading ]
_Flee ye, get you far off_ Hebrew, נדו מאד; Vulgate, _Abite
vehementer, Go away with eagerness_, or, _haste. Dwell deep_, or,
“retire deep for to dwell:” see note on Jeremiah 49:8. _Arise, get
you up unto the wealthy nation_ The prophet here gives the Chaldeans a
commission from God to undertake thi... [ Continue Reading ]
_The word that came to Jeremiah against Elam_ Elam we find to have
been an independent, and even powerful kingdom, in the days of
Abraham, Genesis 14:1. “But I am not of opinion with those
writers,” says Blaney, “who hold that by Elam, in Scripture,
Persia is always meant. There is no doubt but that... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I will break the bow of Elam_ The Elamites were famous
archers, as this expression intimates, as also Isaiah's words, Isaiah
22:6; _And Elam bare the quiver._ Strabo also says, that the
mountainous parts of _Elymais_ bred chiefly archers;
στρατιωτας τρεφει τοξοτας τους
πλειστους, lib. 16. p... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the latter days, I will bring again the captivity of Elam_ This is
supposed to relate to the times of the _Lagi_ and _Seleucidæ_, when
the Elamites recovered their liberty. Or, if we consider what is said
in the foregoing verse to relate to Nebuchadnezzar, this may be
understood of Cyrus's setti... [ Continue Reading ]