Isaiah 8:9

Associate yourselves, O ye people,.... Both of Syria and Israel, whose two kings were confederate against Judah:

and ye shall be broken in pieces; as the kingdom of Syria was by Tilgathpilneser quickly after this, 2 Kings 16:9 and the kingdom of Ephraim or Israel by Shalmaneser, 2 Kings 17:6:

and give ear, all ye of far countries; the Assyrians, and the nations that belonged to them, who were more remote from Judea:

gird yourselves; for a long and tedious march, and for war; it may signify the putting on of their whole armour; for, as Pausanius s says, the ancients used to call putting on of armour, girding:

and ye shall be broken in pieces: as the Assyrian army was, which came up against Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time, 2 Kings 19:35:

gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; this is repeated for confirmation sake, to denote the certainty of it.

s Boeotica sive, l. 9. p. 567.