Isaiah 27:9-11

By this therefore, &c.— By this, &c.—And this shall be all the fruit of removing his sin, that he make all the stones of the altar as chalkstones beaten asunder, &c. Isaiah 27:10 because the defenced city [Babylon] shall be desolate; a mansion broken in pieces and left, &c. Nothing can more commodiously answer to a flourishing state of the church, than the purity of the doctrine and worship of that church; whereby, being freed from superstition, idolatry, and the ridiculous ceremonies of false religion, and utterly renouncing those vices, it serves God in spirit and truth, with pure hands and an upright heart; and this is the attribute which the prophet here claims to the delivered church; wherein he describes, first, metaphorically, or mystically, this attribute of pure doctrine and worship; Isaiah 27:9 secondly, he adds the reason and argument, drawn from the state of the defenced city, which was thought to be the chief mother of idolatry and superstition; namely, Babylon, the judgment upon whom is related properly in the 10th verse, and figuratively in the 11th. The meaning of the 9th verse is this: "Therefore, because all punishment and chastisement of the church has for its end the purification of the church, the iniquity of Jacob shall be purified by this very thing:" that is to say, Jacob shall obtain remission of sins, and the assurance of that benefit; and with remission of sins, a deliverance from the evils and calamities oppressing him: And this shall be all the fruit of his sin removed: that is to say, "This shall be an undoubted sign and argument of the total removal of his sins, namely, that he make all the stones of the altar, &c.—that he destroy all the monuments of idolatry, and hereby shew his attachment to the true God." In the next verse the reason for so doing is subjoined; because the defenced city, that Babylon which so confided in its idols, is become solitary, and utterly destroyed. It is remarkable that the Jews, after the Babylonish captivity, never fell into idolatry. The reader will easily observe, that Babylon is spoken of in the 11th verse metaphorically, under the image of a tree rooted up, withering, and fit only for the fire. Some understand by the women here, the Medes, who were an effeminate and luxurious people. This prophecy may refer not only to Babylon, but to the other famous and idolatrous cities, as Antioch and Persepolis, the latter of which particularly was set on fire by a woman. See Quint. Curt. lib. v. c. 7. and Vitringa.