CHAPTER III _The whole of this chapter, with the first verse of the next, is_ _a prophecy of those calamities that should be occasioned by the_ _Babylonish invasion and captivity. These calamities are_ _represented as so great and so general, that even royal_ _honours, in such a state, are so f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:4. _I WILL GIVE CHILDREN TO BE THEIR PRINCES _- "I will make boys their princes"] This also was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes, from the death of Josiah to the destruction of the city and temple, and the taking of Zedekiah, the last of them, by Nebucha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:6. _OF THE HOUSE OF HIS FATHER_ - "Of his father's house"] For בית _beith, the house_, the ancient interpreters seem to have read מבית _mibbeith, from the house_; του οικειου του πατρος αυτου, _Septuagint_; _domesticum patris sui, Vulgate_; which gives no good sense. But the _Septuag... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:7. _IN THAT DAY SHALL HE SWEAR_ - "Then shall he openly declare"] The _Septuagint, Syriac_, and _Jerome_, read וישא _veyissa_, adding the conjunction, which seems necessary in this place. _I WILL NOT BE A HEALER_] _I am not a leche_. - Old MS. Bible. _Leech_ was the ancient English w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:8. _THE EYES_ - "The cloud"] This word appears to be of very doubtful form, from the printed editions, the MSS., and the ancient versions. The first yod in עיני _eyney_, which is necessary according to the common interpretation, is in many of them omitted; the two last letters are upo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:9. _THE SHOW OF THEIR COUNTENANCE_] Bishop Lowth has it _the_ _steadfastness of their countenance_-they appear to be bent on iniquity, their eyes tell the wickedness of their hearts. The _eye_ is the index of the mind. Envy, hatred, malice, malevolence, concupiscence, and murder, when... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:10. _SAY YE TO THE RIGHTEOUS_] לצדיק _letsaddik_, the ל _lamed_ is added here by one MS. and the _Chaldee_. The righteous is the person, 1. Who fears God. 2. Departs from evil. 3. Walks according to the testimony of God. 4. And expects and prepares for a glorious immortality. "Pr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:11. _WO UNTO THE WICKED_] לרשע _lerasha_, the man who is, 1. Evil in his heart. 2. Evil in his purposes. 3. Evil in his life. As he is _wicked_, he does that which is _wicked_; and is influenced by the _wicked one_, of whom he is the _servant_ and the _son_. It shall be _ill_ with... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:12. _ERR_ - "Pervert"] בלעו _billeu_, "swallow." Among many unsatisfactory methods of accounting for the unusual meaning of this word in this place, I choose Jarchi's explication, as making the best sense. "Read _billalu_, 'confound.' _Syriac_." - Dr. _Judd_. "Read _beholu_, 'disturb... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:13. _THE PEOPLE _- "His people"] עמו _ammo, Septuagint_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:14. _THE VINEYARD_. - "My vineyard"] כרמי _carmi, Septuagint,_ _Chaldee, Jerome_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:15. _AND GRIND THE FACES_] The expression and the image is strong, to denote grievous oppression but is exceeded by the prophet Micah, Micah 3:1: - "Hear, I pray you, ye chiefs of Jacob, And ye princes of the house of Israel: Is it not yours to know what is right? Ye that hate goo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:16. _AND WANTON EYES_ - "And falsely setting off their eyes with paint"] Hebrew, _falsifying_ their eyes. I take this to be the true meaning and literal rendering of the word; from שקר _shakar_. The Masoretes have pointed it, as if it were from שקר _sakar_, a different word. This aro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:17. _THE LORD WILL SMITE_ - "Will the Lord humble"] ταπεινωσει, _Septuagint_; and so _Syriac_ and _Chaldee_. For שפח _sippach_ they read שפל _shaphal_. Instead of יהוה _Yehovah_, many MSS. have אדני _Adonai_. _WILL DISCOVER THEIR SECRET PARTS_ - "Expose their nakedness"] It was the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:18. _ORNAMENTS_ ABOUT THEIR FEET - "The ornaments of the feet rings"] The late learned Dr. _Hunt_, professor of Hebrew and Arabic in the University of Oxford, has very well explained the word עכס both verb and noun, in his very ingenious Dissertation on Proverbs 7:22-20. The verb mea... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:20. _THE TABLETS_] The words בתי הנפש _bottey hannephesh_, which we translate _tablets_, and Bishop _Lowth, perfume boxes_, literally signify _houses of the soul_; and may refer to strong-scented bottles used for pleasure and against fainting; similar to bottles with _otto of roses_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:21. _NOSE-JEWELS_ - "The jewels of the nostril."] נזמי האף _nizmey haaph_. _Schroederus_ explains this, as many others do, of jewels, or strings of pearl hanging from the forehead, and reaching to the upper part of the nose; than which nothing can be more ridiculous, as such are seldo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:23. _THE GLASSES_] The conjunction ו _vau, and_ - AND _the_ _glasses_, is added here by _forty-three_ of _Kennicott's_ and _thirty-four_ of _De Rossi's_ MSS., and one of my own, ancient, as well as by many _editions_. _AND THE VEILS_. - "_The transparent garments_."] Τα διαφανη Λακω... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:24. _INSTEAD OF SWEET SMELL_ - "perfume."] A principal part of the delicacy of the Asiatic ladies consists in the use of baths, and of the richest oils and perfumes; an attention to which is in some degree necessary in those hot countries. Frequent mention is made of the rich ointment... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:25. _THY MIGHTY MEN._] For גבורתך _geburathech_ an ancient MS. has גבורך _gibborech_. The true reading, from the _Septuagint,_ _Vulgate, Syriac_, and _Chaldee_, seems to be גבוריך _gibborayich_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 3:26. _SIT UPON THE GROUND._] Sitting on the ground was a posture that denoted mourning and deep distress. The prophet Jeremiah (Lamentations 2:8) has given it the first place among many indications of sorrow, in the following elegant description of the same state of distress of his cou... [ Continue Reading ]