And the firstborn of the poor shall feed. — As the “children of the needy” in Psalms 72:4 are simply the poor as a class, so the “firstborn” are those who, as it were, inherit the double portion, not of riches, but of poverty. (Comp. “the firstborn of death” in Job 18:13.) The people spoken of are those of Judah, which in the days of Ahaz had been “brought very low” (2 Chronicles 28:19). For these the prophet foretells a time of plenty; not so for Philistia. Either through the sieges of their towns or the devastation of their fields, they would be reduced to the last extremities of famine. With them there should be no “remnant” to return.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising