INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 6 This chapter contains a vision of the glory and majesty of Christ, the mission and commission of the prophet, and the destruction of the Jews. In the vision may be observed the time of it, and the object seen; who is described by the throne on which he sat, Isaiah 6:1 and b... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE YEAR THAT KING UZZIAH DIED,.... Which was the fifty second year of his reign, and in the year 3246 from the creation of the world; and, according to Jerom l, was the year in which Romulus, the founder of the Roman empire, was born: some understand this not of his proper death, but of his bein... [ Continue Reading ]
ABOVE IT STOOD THE SERAPHIMS,.... Not above the temple, nor above the throne, much less above him that sat upon it, but either "by him", on the right hand and on the left, as Aben Ezra; or "near him", as Kimchi and Ben Melech; or "before him", as the Targum; or "round about him", as the Septuagint;... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ONE CRIED UNTO ANOTHER,.... This denotes the publicness of their ministry, and their harmony and unity in it; they answered to one another, and agreed in what they said; their preaching was not yea and nay, 2 Corinthians 1:19: AND SAID, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY [IS] THE LORD OF HOSTS; this expresses th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE POSTS OF THE DOOR MOVED AT THE VOICE OF HIM THAT CRIED,.... That is, the posts of the door of the temple, as the Targum adds, where this vision was seen, as represented to the prophet. Some think this respects the earthquake in Uzziah's time, mentioned in Zechariah 14:5 and which they suppo... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID I, WOE [IS] ME,.... There's no woe to a good man, all woes are to the wicked; but a good man may think himself wretched and miserable, partly on account of his own corruptions, the body of sin and death he carries about with him; and partly on account of wicked men, among whom he dwells, R... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN FLEW ONE OF THE SERAPHIM UNTO ME,.... When the prophet had confessed his sin; for upon that follows the application of pardon; and when the seraph, or minister of the Gospel, had an order from the Lord to publish the doctrine of it: it is God's act alone to forgive sin; it is the work of his mi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE LAID [IT] UPON MY MOUTH,.... Because he had complained of the impurity of his lips, and that his mouth might take in by faith this comfortable doctrine of pardon, and it might be filled with praise and thankfulness; it denotes the ministration of the Gospel, as a means of the application of p... [ Continue Reading ]
ALSO I HEARD THE VOICE OF THE LORD,.... The Targum renders it, the voice of the Word of the Lord, as if it was the second Person, the Word, that was heard speaking; but it seems rather to be the voice of the first Person, the Father: SAYING, WHOM SHALL I SEND? to the people of Israel, to reprove th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID, GO, AND TELL THIS PEOPLE,.... What is and will be their case and condition, as follows: HEAR YE INDEED; the words of the prophets sent unto them, yea, Christ himself incarnate preaching among them; the great Prophet Moses said should be raised up unto them: BUT UNDERSTAND NOT; neither... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE FAT,.... Gross and heavy, stupid and unteachable, hard and obdurate; which is sometimes done by the preaching of the Gospel, through the wickedness of man's heart, that being the savour of death unto death to some, just as the sun hardens the clay; or declare that their... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID I, LORD, HOW LONG?.... That is, how long will this blindness, hardness, stupidity, and impenitence, remain with this people, or they be under such a sore judgment of God upon them: AND HE ANSWERED, UNTIL THE CITIES BE WASTED WITHOUT INHABITANT, AND THE HOUSES WITHOUT MAN, AND THE LAND BE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD HAVE REMOVED MEN FAR AWAY,.... Not to Babylon, but to the ends of the earth, into the most distant countries, by means of the Romans; for they were but instruments of carrying the Jews captive out of their own land, and dispersing them among the several nations of the world; it was the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT YET IN IT [SHALL BE] A TENTH,.... Which some understand of ten kings that should reign over Judah from this time, the death of Uzziah, unto the captivity, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe; and which are, as Kimchi reckons them, as follows, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz,... [ Continue Reading ]