John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
Isaiah 28:18
And your covenant with death shall be disannulled,.... Or, "be besmeared" x, or daubed over, as the ark was with pitch, Genesis 6:14 where the same word is used as here; so that it shall not be legible, as any writing that is blotted out by ink, or any other liquor, so that it cannot be read; in like manner this their covenant with death should be so obliterated, that the articles of it could not be made out, and so of no force; thus the Targum renders it,
"shall be made void;''
and your agreement with hell shall not stand; or "vision", or "provision" y; which they had made by compact, with the greatest care, caution, and foresight, to secure themselves from destruction, would be found insufficient. The Targum is,
"and our peace, which was with the destroyer, shall not stand;''
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through: the land of Judea and the city of Jerusalem; Isaiah 28:15:
then shall ye be trodden down by it: though they flattered themselves it should not come near them, yet it would; and they would not be able to stand before it, but would be thrown down, and trampled upon by it as the mire of the streets; see Luke 21:24.
x וכפר "Heb. oblinetur", Piscator; "quasi pica illita tabulae literaeque foederis incrustentur, inducantur ac dispereant", Gusset. Comment. Ebr. p. 397. y וחזותכם "et visio vestra", Vatablus; "cautio vestra", Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Heb. "visio", i.e. "provisio", Piscator.