XIII. (1) THE BURDEN OF BABYLON... — The title “burden,” which is repeated in Isaiah 15:1; Isaiah 17:1; Isaiah 19:1; Isaiah 21:1; Isaiah 22:1; Isaiah 23:1, indicates that we have in this division a collection of prophetic utterances, bearing upon the future of the surrounding nations, among which Ba... [ Continue Reading ]
LIFT YE UP A BANNER UPON THE HIGH MOUNTAIN... — Strictly speaking, _a bare mountain._ where there were no trees to hide the standard round which the forces that the prophet sees were to rally. The word and thought are the same as in Isaiah 5:26; but there the summons lies for the invaders of Israel,... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE COMMANDED MY SANCTIFIED ONES... — The word is applied even to the fierce tribes of the future destroyers, as being appointed, or _consecrated,_ by Jehovah for that special work. The thought and the words (there translated “prepare”) appear in Jeremiah 6:4; Jeremiah 22:7; Jeremiah 51:27. So in... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NOISE OF A MULTITUDE... — The prophet hears, as it were, the tramp of the armies gathering on the mountains north of Babylonia (possibly the Zagros range, or the plateau of Iran, or the mountains of Armenia; but the prophet’s geography was probably vague) before they descend to the plain, and ma... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY COME FROM A FAR COUNTRY... — The same phrase is used of Cyrus in Isaiah 46:11, and in Isaiah 39:3 of Babylon itself in relation to Jerusalem. The “end of heaven” represents the thoughts of Isaiah’s time, the earth as an extended plain, and the skies rising like a great vault above. The phrase r... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWL YE; FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD IS AT HAND. — The verse is an almost verbal reproduction of Joel 1:15. On the “day of Jehovah,” see Note on Isaiah 2:12. AS A DESTRUCTION FROM THE ALMIGHTY. — The Hebrew _shodmish-Shaddai_ comes with the emphasis of assonance, possibly coupled with that of etymology,... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL ALL HANDS BE FAINT. — Better, _be slack,_ hanging down in the helpless despondency of the terror which the next clause paints (Hebrews 12:12). (7) THEY SHALL BE IN PAIN AS A WOMAN THAT TRAVAILETH. — The image of powerless agony occurs both in earlier and later prophets (Hosea 13:3; Micah 5:9;... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CONSTELLATIONS THEREOF. — The noun in the singular (_kesîl,_ foolhardy, or impious) is translated as Orion in Job 9:9; Amos 5:8. It is significant, as pointing to some widely-diffused legend, that the Persian name for the constellation is _Nimrod_ and the Arabian _Giant._ In Greek mythology Orio... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL MAKE A MAN MORE PRECIOUS. — Both the words for man (_e_̓_nosh_ and _a̓dam_) express, as in Psalms 8:2, the frailty of man’s nature. The words may point to the utter destruction, in which but few men should be left. The “gold of Ophir” (the gold coast near the mouth of the Indus) was proverbia... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE I WILL SHAKE. — The description of the great day of the Lord meets us in like terms in Haggai 2:6; Hebrews 12:26, carried in both instances beyond the overthrow of Babylon or any particular kingdom to that of every world-power that resists the righteousness of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL BE AS THE CHASED ROE. — Better, _as with a chased roe .... as with sheep ..._ The roe and the sheep represent the “mixed multitude” (Ӕsch., _Pers._ 52) of all nations who had been carried into Babylon, and who would naturally take to flight, some, though without a leader, returning to t... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERY ONE THAT IS JOINED UNTO THEM. — Better, _every one that is caught._ The first clause of the verse refers to those that are in the city at the time of its capture, the second to those who are taken as they endeavour to escape.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR CHILDREN ALSO SHALL BE DASHED. — Better, _their sucklings._ The words of the prediction seem to have been in the minds of the exiles in Babylon when they uttered their dread beatitude on those who were to be the ministers of a righteous vengeance (Psalms 137:9). Outrages such as these were the... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I WILL STIR UP THE MEDES. — The Hebrew form _Madai_ meets us in Genesis 10:2, among the descendants of Japheth. Modern researches show them to have been a mixed people, Aryan conquerors having mingled with an earlier Turanian race, and differing in this respect from the Persians, who were pu... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR BOWS ALSO SHALL DASH THE YOUNG MEN TO PIECES. — These, as in Isaiah 22:6; Jeremiah 1:9, were the characteristic weapons of the Medo-Persian armies.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BABYLON, THE GLORY OF KINGDOMS. — The words paint the impression which the great city, even in Isaiah’s time, made upon all who saw it. So Nebuchadnezzar, though his work was mainly that of a restorer, exulted in his pride in the greatness of the city of which he claimed to be the builder (Danie... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER SHALL THE ARABIAN PITCH TENT THERE... — The word “Arabian” is used in its widest extent, as including all the nomadic tribes of the Bedouin type east and north of Palestine as far as Babylon (2 Chronicles 21:16; Strabo, xvi., p. 743). Here, again, we note a literal fulfilment. The Bedouins t... [ Continue Reading ]
WILD BEASTS OF THE DESERT... — The Hebrew term, which in Psalms 72:9, and perhaps in Isaiah 23:13, is used of men, has been rendered by “wild cats,” but is probably generic, _the ferœ naturœ_ that haunt such desolate regions. The “doleful creatures” (literally _groaners_) are probably “horned owls;”... [ Continue Reading ]
WILD BEASTS OF THE ISLANDS... — The Authorised version rests on a false etymology of the words, which strictly mean “wailers,” and in its form _ey_ probably represents the cry of a wild beast, such as the _jackal,_ with which it is commonly identified (see Isaiah 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39), or, possibly... [ Continue Reading ]