Isaiah 33:17,18

Thine eyes shall see the king, &c.— By the king to be seen in his beauty, Vitringa understands God himself, the king of the Jews, shewing himself with the brightest demonstrations of his majesty, in the deliverance and salvation of his believing people; temporal, under the Maccabees; spiritual, in and by the Messiah. For the ancient prophets generally speak of these two conjointly; because the external deliverance and salvation by the Maccabees was a type of the spiritual deliverance to be procured by the Messiah. The meaning of the verse is, that the people, thus delivered, should see and acknowledge their God and king, as the great judge and avenger, the sole support and protector of their church; and should behold their land extended; that is to say, no longer shut up and confined by their enemies, but extending its limits. See chap. Isaiah 26:15. The clause should be rendered, They shall behold the land which is of a large extent. He adds in the next verse, Thine heart shall meditate terror, or, the terror; that is to say, the terrible effect of the divine power and justice in the destruction of his enemies, which no mortal could have thought of, or have collected from his own reason? Where is the scribe? that is to say, "The man of carnal and worldly wisdom?" Where is the weigher, the balancer? that is to say, "The man of exercised understanding;" who is accustomed to weigh, in the balance of his judgment, the reasons of every thing, and is held more prudent than others? Where is he that counteth the towers? that is to say, "The subtle logician, who produces various arguments for the opinion which he espouses, and by these fortifies and strengthens his reasonings?" Our prophet calls arguments of this kind, strengths, strong arguments, chap. Isaiah 41:21. This worldly wisdom, says the prophet, God hath confounded and put to shame, by saving his church, contrary to the expectation of all such men.

They thought that there was no hope of salvation left; or if there were any, that it was to be sought for from other causes, and effected by other means. But God hath confounded and put to shame the wisdom of the wise. The three benefits referred to in these verses,—seeing God in his beauty—the land and church extended—and carnal wisdom put to shame, evidently refer to the Gospel period. See Luke 1:51. 1 Corinthians 1:20 and Vitringa.