11.13, 2 3 LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON. N. J. Presented by 7 "TVieWio^ow or Gveorf^'eTlno'an , ^^ • v.ii Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://www.archive.org/details/prophetisaiah11ng COMMENTARY ON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: CRITICAL, DOCTRIML AND HOMILETICAL, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MINISTERS AND STUDENTS. JOHN PETER LANGE, D.D., IN CONNECTION WITH A NUMBER OP EMINENT EUROPEAN DIVINES. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, AND EDITED, WITH ADDITIONS, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED, PHILIP SCHAFF, D.l)., IN CONNECTION WITH AMERICAN SCHOLARS OF VARIOUS EVA2JGEUCAL DENOMINATIONS. VOL. XI. OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: CONTAINING THE PROPHET ISAIAH. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBXER'S SONS, THE PROPHET ISAIAH. THEOLOGICALLY AND HOMILETICALLY EXPOUNDED CARL WILHELM EDUARD NAGELSBACH, DOCTOR or PHILOSOPHY AND OF THEOLOGY, AND PASTOR IN BAYREUTH. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONS, Eev. SAMUEL T. LOWRIE, D.D., Philadelphla, Rev. DUNLOP MOORE, D.D., New Brighton, Penna. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by CHARLES SCRIBNEE'S SONS, In the OfiBce of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. PREFACE. Dr. Naeoelsbach's Commentary on Isaiah, the Evangelist among the Hebrew prophets, ap- peared, as "he concluding volume of Dr. Lanoe's Bibelwerk, in 1877, just twenty years after the publication of its first volume on Matthew (1857). The author says in his preface (dated July 26th, 1877) that the " nonum premalur in annum" was literally fulfilled, since he has been engaged on it nine years. The English translation was begun several years ago from advanced sheets kindly forwarded by tlie German publisher. It was undertaken by Dr. LowKlE, then Professor of Xew Testament Litera- ture and Exegesis in the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pa., and hi-* colleague and friend, tlie late Dr. Jacobus. But Dr. Jacobus only lived to make some notes on the first few chapters, which were retained unaltered (with his initials, M. W. J.) from motives of aifectionate remem- brance. After his deatli, the Rev. Dr. Moore, formerly of Vienna, now of New Brighton, Pa., was associated with the work, and assumed the translation of chaps, xxi.-xxx., and chaps. Ix.-lxvi., in- clusive. The other cliapters were prepared by Dr. LoWRlE, who for the last year and a half lias devoted all his time and strength to the laborious work. The great length of the German commentary (827 pages), and the inexpediency of dividing the Englisli edition in two volumes, made it necessary to condense and to abridge as much as was con- sistent with justice to the author and his work. For the same reason the original additions are con- fined to interpretations differing from those of Dr. Naeoelsbach, and to additions and substitutions of doctrinal and Iiomiletical matter from English sources for those of German authors and sermon- izers. The metrical arrangement of the text is based upon the well-known commentary of Bishop LowTH and the Annotated Paragraph Bible of the London Religious Tract Society. Dr. Nae- oelsbach gives a prose version jirinted in the usual style, without reference to the Hebrew parallelism. One more volume, containing Numbers and Deuteronomy, which has been unavoidably de- layed for one portion of it, remains to complete the Anglo-American reproduction of Lange, which was begun in 1864 (seven years after the German). It is doubtful whether any editor or publisher would have ventured on a commentary of twen- ty-four large and closely printed volumes, could he have forseen the difficulties and risks con- nected with it; and yet it has proved successful beyond all expectation. May Lange's Bible-work long continue to be an aid and comfort to pastors and theological students for whose special benefit it was prepared. PHILIP SCHAFF. N»w YoBK, October 31st, 1878. THE PROPHET ISAIAH. IJfTRODUCTIOJf. ? 1. COSTEMPOBART HISTORY. From the period of their establishment, all the conflicts in which the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were involved with the neighboring natimis were, so to speak, merely of a local nature. Only when thev came in contact with Assyria and Babylon did they enter into relations with the world- power ( Wehmacla). If thereby, on the one hand, the danger became infinitely greater for the theo- cratic life, the theocracy, on the other, approached so much nearer the fulfilment of its task in the world's history. The relation to Assyria was brought about by the desire of Ahaz king of Judah to obtain protection against Syria and Ephraim. Out of the dependence on Assyria in which Ahaz liecame thereby involved, his successor Hezekiah sought to free himself by the aid of the southern world-power, Egypt. This, on his part, was an untheocratic procedure. As.syria was not to be hin- cnRAT>ER, Die Keilinschriften und dax A. T., pp. 2.58, 318), Sevech (II.), in union with Hanno of Gaza, encountered Sargon at Eaphia (twenty-two milliaria south-west of Gaza) in the year 720 B. C. Sargon conquered and subdued Philistia. But the Philistine princes revolted. Therefore a ne,v ex- pedition of Sargon against Philistia, that resulted in the subjection of the insurgents in the year 711. This is the expedition conducted by Tartan (i.e., general in chief) to which Isa. xx. refers. All these conflicts had taken place without the kingdom of Judah becoming involved as a fellow-sufl^erer. The clouds big with destruction moved thrice along the north, west and south-west borders of Judah before they turned to empty themselves on Judah itself. It is related also, 2 Kings xviii. 7, that Hezekiah revolted from the king of Assyria, i. e., that he sought to relieve himself of the dependence to which Ahaz had submitted. At the same time Hezekiah— and this was the great weakness of § 2. THE PERSON AND PROPHETIC LABORS OF ISAIAH. 3 which this otherwise admirable prince was guilty— sought protection and help from Egypt against the danger impending from Assyria. On this account he is sharply reproved by Isaiah. Chapters XX., xxviii.-xxxiii. are meant to warn against this untheocratic policy. Judah must trust in the Lord who promised by His prophet not to yield it up to the Assyrian, but that he would free it by a mighty act of deliverance. Sargon was murdered in the year 705. He was succeeded by his son Sennacherib. The third expedition of this king that occurred in the year 700 B. C. passed through Phoenicia to the south of Palestine. The land of Judah was traversed and de-solated. Only the city of Jerusalem remained to Hezekiah, in which lie was shut up "like a bird in its cage." In order to save at least Jerusalem, Hezekiah paid Sennacherib to retire thirty talents of gold and three hun- dred talents of silver (2 Kings xviii. 14 sqq.). Sennacherib took the money and then still demanded the surrender of the city. In this great strait Hezekiah cried to the Lokd and received through Isaiah a comforting promise. At Eltekeh, a Levitical city in the territory of Dan (Josh. xix. 44; xxi. 23) the armies of Sennacherib and Tirhika encountered. The victory was undecided. But shortly after 185,000 men perished in the camp of the Assyrian in one night, likely of a pest. Tliis compelled Sennacherib to retreat (comp. 2 Kings xviii. and xix.; Isa. xxxvi. and xxxvii.). Thus Judah was rescued. This event forms the conclusion of the history of Isaiah as far as known to us. For not long after this miraculous deliverance Hezekiah died. It is doubtful if Isaiah still lived to see the reign of Manasseh. Isaiah i. 1 is against it. For there Hezekiah is named as the latest king under whom Isaiah lived. Isaiah knew that after that overthrow (xxxvii. 36) Assyria was done away, and was no more to be dreaded by the theocracy. His gaze, as early as the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, since that embassy related in Isaiah xxxix., had turned in another direction. He knew that the greatest danger threatened the theocracy, not from Assyria, but from Babylon. At this time, toward the end of his life, before or after the Assyrian overthrow, he must have occupied himself with the relation of his nation to Babylon. But he is not especially interested in the victory of Babylon and the capti- vity of his people there. This point he leaves to others whom the matter more nearly touched. Only the tlioughts of salvation and redemption employ him at the end of his life. In this period must have originated the great book of consolation (xl.-lxvi.), along with the smaller pieces that relate to Ba- bylon (xiii.-xiv. 23 ; xxi. 1-10; xxxiv., xxxv.). ? 2. THE PERSON AND TROPHETIC LABORS OF ISAIAJI. The name ''"'^'?r'! (abbreviated '^^i'i?', which form, however, is never used in the text of the OldTestament as the name of the Prophet) can mean salus Jovm or Jova salval (salvavit). i'C'' com- bined with IT must properly have sounded iTri?' or iT>)t|/"', abbreviated 'i'v'' (whicli actually occurs 1 Chron. ii. 31; iv. 20; v. 24). Still there prevails a certain freedom in the formation of compound proper names. On the other hand, the compounds with H', whose first part is a verb — and that Kal — are extremely numerous, so that it is natural here to take i'ly' for a verbal form. But the meaning of niiT' J'tV' would be primarily : Java salvus est. Still it happens not unfreqnently that, in compounding names, Kal is taken in the sense of Piel or Hiphil (comp. Koehler, Komm. on Zech., p. 3 sq.) ; so that here too i't?' might be taken in the sense of i^"'?''^. There remains still some irregularity, -whether we derive iTi't!'' from i'E'' or i't?'. But the sense remains the same. FuERST (in his Lexicon) takes a substantive i'l^' for the root, and translates "Jah is helper;" whereas in his Concordance he translates it "deliverance of God." In Jerome, too, the same difference is found, only that once lie renders the name aurripta Kvpiov, and again salmtor Domini. Other men of this name are mentioned 1 Chr. iii. 21 ; xxv. 3, 15 ; Ezr. viii. 7, 19 ; Neh. xi. 7. Concerning the attempt of Abaebanel to establish a connection between the names of the prophets (and thus Isaiah's also) and prophecy, see Koehler, I. c, p. 5, Anm. We know almost nothing concerning the outward relations of the Prophet. His father is called Amoz (]"inX]. "Who this was is wholly unknown. Only ignorance of the language could identify him with the prophet Amos (D'io;M ; only Rabbinical jugglery could make out of him a brother to the king Amaziah (•^^V?*?). The latter is the source of the saying that Isaiah came of a royal race. We are moreover uninformed about the time of Isaiah's birth and death. The opinion that Isaiah's prophetic labors extended through the whole, or at least the greater part of the reign of Uzziah, is INTRODUCTION TO THE PEOPHET ISAIAH. founded on the false exposition of the date given i. 1, and also of tlie position that the account of the calling of the Prophet occupies in the book (comp. on this Geseniu.s in his Cammentary, p. 5 sqq.). Tiiat the call of the Propliet is first narrated chap. vi. has quite another explanation (comp. our commentary, in loc). We can only infer from vi, 1 that Isaiah was called to the prophetic office in the year of Uzziah's death, i. c, tiierefore in the year 759 B. C. How old he was at that time, we know not. If we assume that he could hardly have been younger than Jeremiah, who calls him- self a I^^J when he was called (Jer. i. 6 sq.), and if we further assume that Jeremiah was twenty years old, then Isaiah would have lived from that time 16-|- 16+ 29, thus at least sixty-one years, and consequently must have attained an age of at lease eighty-one years. Concerning the period and manner of his death we have only rumors. Manasseh, Hezekiah's successor, is said to have caused the Prophet to be sawn asunder. The Prophet having fled to a hollow cedar from the king's wrath, and having been "enfolded" by it, tlie king let him be sawn in this tree (comp. the passages from the Talmud relating to this in Gesenius, in loc). In itself it is not at all improbable that Manasseh inflicted a martyr's death on the faithful prophet of Jehovah. As is well known, he is described to have been the wickedest and cruelest of all the kings of Judah. It is expressly said of him that he shed very much innocent blood (2 Kings xxi. 16). Josephcs (Anti)). X. 3, 1) adds to this that he did not spare the prophets. But opposed to all this is the fact that, chap. i. 1, the reign -of Manasseh is not named, wliich certainly would not have been omitted, especially if the Prophet Iiad been put to death by that king. At the spot where the three valleys, Jehoshaphat, Gihon and Tyropoeon, come together, there stands an ancient gnarled trunk (it is, however, the trunk of a mul- berry tree) that is called the tree of Isaiah (comp. Graf yon Wartexslebem, Jerusalem, Oegen- vdrtic/es unci Verganc/enes, 3, Aufl; Berlin, 1875, p. S3) [Dr. Eobixson's Besearches, etc.. Vol. I., p. 232, 336. — Tr.] At the same .spot the fountain vSiloam issues, of which the report says that God sent it to the Prophet to still his thirst when he w.a? near his death (comp. Leyrer in Herzog's JJ. Encycl. XIV. p. 375). We have no hint of Isaiah's ever having lived any where else than in Jerusalem. That he was married appears from vii. 3 (comp. x. 21 sq.), where his son is called Shear- Jashub, and from the account viii. 3 that Isaiah, at God's command, " went unto the pro- phetess," who bore him a son, whom, also by divine command, he named Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Moreover, viii. 18, Isaiah sjieaks of the children " that God had given him." From what is related in the passages just cited, we see that the family of the Prophet was quite drawn into the sphere of his prophetic activity. That Isaiah was the instructor of king Hezekiah, as Nathan had formerly been of Solomon (2 Sam. xii. 25), is mere conjecture that Paultts sets up in the clavis on Isaiah ix. 5. A double notice in Chronicles has occasioned the conjecture that Isaiah was annalist of the king- dom. Thus we read 2 Chron. xxvi. 22 that Isaiah wrote (2ri3) the 'il^ji) ^')?'\, the first and the last. And 2 Chron. xxxii. 32 it reads : " Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, be- hold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah, the Prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel" ["(which is received) into the book of the kings," etc. Dr. N.'s translation. — Tk.]. According to this, therefore, Isaiah composed historical works on the lives of the two most distinguished kings that were his contemporaries, and one of these works was incorpo- rated, though perhaps only partially, in the great annalistic historical work of the kings of Judah and Israel, from which the Chronicler drew (comp. Zoeckeer, Chronik., p. 16 sq.). When the Chronicler calls the work on Hezekiah ]Hn, it is most natural to explain this designation by saying that that historical work was regarded as a part of our prophetic book, which in fact bears the title IITi'ty' ]i;n. And this might happen for the reason that chapters xxxvi.-xxxix. contain historical sections that are common to our book of prophecy and to the canonical book of Kings, as well as to the annals of the kingdom of Judah that were the source of the latter. The book of,prophecy might easily be regarded by the Chronicler (who lived later, and could hardly have had before him the writing of Isaiah about Hezekiah) as the source of Isaiah's accounts concerning Hezekiah which he found in his annalistic historical work. But the statements of the Chronicler by no means justify the assumption that Isaiah filled the office of a "'"Sin. In the writings that we have from him the person of the Prophet is kept in the background. ' They speak of him and of what belongs to him only so far as they have to tell of his direct and personal interference in what occurred (comp. vi. 1 sqq.; vii. 1 sqq.; viii. Isqq., 16 sqq.; xx. 1 sqq.; xxii. 15 sqq.; xxviii. 9 sqq.; xxxvii.-xxxix.). The .secret found.i- tion of all his prophetic activity was the consciousness that he was an instrument of God, chosen, equipped and called to His service (comp. vi.). This consciousness generated in him the most de- Toted obedience and the most implicit trust in God. Consequently he had no fear of man and no I 2. THE PEESON AND PROPHETIC LABOES OF ISAIAH. 5 regard for merely human interests. With the greatest freedom he opposes Ahaz (vii. 1 sqq.). He does the same to the chamberlain Shebna (xxii. 1.5 Kqq.), people of rank, priests and prophets, men and women, in fact the whole people in general (ii.; iii.; v.; xxviii. 7 sqq.). Moreover he does not spare Hezekiah and his noble counsellors, nor tlie women who seem, under him also, to have attained great influence. He keenly reproves the secret ways that their policy followed in regard to Egypt (xxx.-sxxii-). When Hezekiah was sick, he says to him that he must die with the same boldness (xxxviii. 1), that he afterwards joyfully announces to the believing .suppliant his deliverance and the lengthening of his life (xxxviii. 5 sqq.). And upon Hezekiah's having in foolish vanity dis- played his treasures to the messengers from Babylon, he tells him plainly that all this shall be car- ried away in exile to Babylon (xxxix. 5 sqq.). Tl:ough, on the one hand, we see the Prophet dealing thus practically with the emergencies of the present, yet, on the other hand, there exists for him no merely contemporary interest. For him that immeasurable interval does not exist that for common men divides the remote from the imme- diate future. Both appear to him a continued whole which he commands with his gaze in all its parts. Every tiling of like sort, which in its realization in time forms indeed an organic, connected line of development, yet one that is measurelessly extended, he sees before him as one tableau, wliose figures, though really belonging to the most different stages of time, appear to him to stand along- side of one another. In one word, the limits of time do not exist for him. Periods of time vanish before his gaze. He contemplates together what is nearest and farthest when they belong together. Thus lie comes back from the remotest future into the immediate present with a sudden spring, and vice versa. Thus i. 12 he comprehends Jerusalem's wliole future of salvation in one. The great dis- course of the second introduction sets two grand images of the remotest future at its head (ii. 1-4; iv. 2-6), in order to contemplate the present in their light. Much more frequently it happens that, immediately after an event of the near future, the Prophet sees the far and farthest future. Thus in chap, xi., immediately after the deliverance out of the hand of Assyria, he sees the form of the Mes- siah and of His kingdom of peace, and the latter, in fact, unfolded to its extremest consequences in the generation of a new life of nature. In chap. xvi. 5, to Moab, in reward for its reception of the fugitives of Judah (whom, according to the whole context, he contemplates as expelled by a present threatening world-power), he promises participation in tlie blessings of the Messiah's kingdom. In chap, xix., immediately after announcing to Egypt its ruin by means of .Assyria, the then representa- tive of the world-power, he announces to it its conversion to Jehovah and its peaceful union with Assyria and Israel. Let these examples suffice. It would le.td us too far to enumerate all the cases of this kind that occur in both parts of the book. Though this m.\v not be an exclusive character- istic of Isaiah's, still one may say that it appears especially strong and frequent in liim. This agrees witli tlie elevation of the view-point that he takes. For he that stands highest sees the farthest. On this account especially he takes so high a rank among the prophets. In Jesus the son of Sirach he is called 6 TvpoipriTi/c 6 ntyag (Ecclus. xlviii. 22), who further says of him that he Trvci/iart lif:ya7.L> uSt TCI iaxara [ibid. ver. 24), and tliat he cue tov a'luvo; v~i6et^e to. ecdfieva (ibid. ver. 25). EusEBIcs calls him {dem. ev. II. 4) rbv fifyav Kttl ^avunainv TrpotpijTTjv — indeed even 7rpoiptjT>iv ftiyicTov (ibid. V. 4). Theodoret calls him 6 ■SeidraTo^ 'HtroiOf. Isidorcs Pelus: 6 dtopariKura-og (lib. I. ep. 366), and rdv Trpocb^-iJv ca(pE(7TaToc (ibid. ep. 366). Closely connected with this is the considera- tion that Isaiah foresees those facts of the fulfilment of salvation on which rests the specific teacliing of Christianity. For it is historical facts, not dogmas, that constitute the pith of Christian teaching. Of course it is not like one standing near that Isaiah sees those facts, but like one standing far ofl^, which is as it should lie. For this reason lie describes them in peculiarly strange words, that are to himself indistinct, and yet are essentially correct. Without himself having any presentiment of the meaning of his words, he must predict the birth of the Saviour from an unmarried woman (vii. 14). And then he describes this child by expressions that sound blasphemous, if he to whom they are applied is held to be a man (ix. 5). In contra.st with this, he sees the servant of God defamed so as to appear no longer human, and then again raised up to superhuman power and glory (liii.). More- over he sees an entirely new way of appropriating salvation that must indeed appear strange enough to human thoughts (Iv. ), and, what to pious persons of the Old Testament must have appeared down- right offensive, he speaks of a worship of God to which the outward temple and ceremonial service will seem an abomination (Ixvi. 1 sqq.). Such are, if I may so express myself, the formal substructures of Isaiah's prophecy that make INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHET ISAIAH. it proper to call him, as Jerome is the first to do: "non solum prophetam sed evangelistmn el aposto- lum" (Prolog, in eipos. Jes.; comp. the£pis(. ad Paulinam, where he says: " non prophciiam mihi ri- detuT texcre Esaias sed evanijdium"). With reference to this, Augustine (Z)e era. i>ei. XVIII. 29) says that Isaiah : " de Christo et ecdesia mulla plura quam caeteri prophetavit, ita ut a quibusdam eran- gelista qxmm propheta potius diceretur." Cyril of Alexandria also, in the preface to his commen- tary, remarks: " h ravTu tnri Trpoipi/vT/c: dfia Kal airda-o^oc." I never could comprehend how any one could regard it as a postulate and promotive of scienti- fic knowledge to explain the world without the personal God. Cancel Him, and then riddles and miracles fairly begin, and impossibilities are exacted of our faitli. If one would require us to be- lieve that some work of art came into being, not by an artist, but by abstract art, wisdom, power, we would declare such an one to be fit for the insane asylum. And yet men would have us believe that there is an abstract tliinking and willing ! They hold personality to be a limiting, and therefore an impersonal God to be something unlimited, therefore something higher ! But as soon as the limits of personality are broken away, one comes into the region of merely subjective representations; and the philosophers had better look to their aristocratic abstractions and see whether they possess the property of real, objective existence. If they lack this, then the philosophers have jjerhaps wrought for the study, but not for real life. It is both insanity and idolatry to wish to put abstract- ideal philosophy in the place of the concrete, vitalizing Christian religion. Moreover personality is not limitation in the negative sense. It is merely concentration, and thereby the condition of or- derly and really effective being. Personanty is, however, at the same time, the condition of an en- tire and full existence, i. e., it is not mere thinking and willing, but also sensibility. In other words : only personality can have a heart and love. To be sure, we touch here on the proper |)ith of the controversy. Not all men wish to be loved by God, still less to love Him in return. Humanity entire divides into two parts, one of which presses toward God, the other away from God. For the former, nothing is more precious than nearness to God ; the latter feel easy only at a distance from Him. And now-a-days those are esteemed as the lords of science and as benefactors to mankind who do their best to " free (us) from the Creator," as David Str.^uss says ! But here the criterion is not objective, impartial, scientific interest, but the interest of the heart self-determined in this or that way toward God. For under all circumstances our relation to God is a concern of the heart. One must either love Him or hate Him, be for Him or against Him (Luke xi. 23). Neutral no one can be. Consciously or unconsciously every man must feel himself attracted by God or repelled from Him, according as, in his secret heart, that which is kindred to God or that which is inimical to God has the upper hand. For there is no man in which both are not present. Take tlie her- meneutics that is founded on the assumption that there is no personal God, and that the world is founded on abstractions, in whose real existence one must believe, much as that contradicts all rea- son and experience ; shall such hermeneutics be more entitled to consideration than that ■which rests on the fundamental view that there is a personal God, to whom we are related, who loves us and guides our fortune with paternal wisdom? This question can never be objectively de- cided here below, because for each individual the subjective attitude of his own heart is the crite- rion. But at least let no one despise those who see in the Scriptures the revelation of a personal God. And above all things, one must not explain the writings of the prophets of the Old Testa- ment on the assumption that they did not bona fide regard themselves as organs of the living, per- sonal God that governs the world. One may say : they fancied themselves inspired. Very well — then let such point out the illusions that entangled them, and expose their enthusiasms. Or one may Bay: they were impostors. Then let such unmask them. But let no one put upon their words a Bcnse th-it they tliemselves did not intend, because they just believed in a living personal God, and were convinced that they stood under the direct influence of His Spirit. Let no one empty their words of sense — let no one deny that they meant to prophesy because one does not him.'^elf believe in any prophecy. Let no one (as e.g. Knobei, does) make out of the prophecy a marvellous masked representation of events tliat had already taken place. I willingly confess that the representatives of the divine origin of prophecy have been faulty in many respects. It has been often overlooked that not every thing can be prophesied at any time; that therefore each prophecy must have its historical reason and ground, and that the form and contents of the prophecy must be in harmony with these. It has been further overlooked that prophesying is a seeing from a distance. From a distance one may very well observe a city, mountain and the like, in general outlines. But parti- culars one does not see. For this reason genuine prophecy in general will never meddle with spe- i 3. LITERARY PERFORMANCE AND THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET. 7 ■ciai preiliction. Where, however, the latter takes place, either the special trait contemplated is no subordinate individual thing, or it justifies the suspicion tliat it is false. These and like mistakes have been committed. But this does not hinder me from maintaining the divine origin of prophecy in general, and also from claiming a scientific title for my construction of Isaiali's propliecy. ? 3. THE LITERARY PERFORMANCE AND THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET. 1. The lofty spirit resident in our Prophet has taken also a corresponding form. AVe see in him a master of the Hebrew language. He uses it with a power and ease that find their like in no other. He brought it to the summit of its development. Not only has he always the right word at command — he also never uses one word too much or one too feiv. And with admirable art, yet without affectation, he knows how to modulate the »vord aci'ording to the contents of the thought. All rhetorical forms of art are at his command, and he can employ all the riches of ihe language. Something royal has been observed in the w.ay that Isaiali uses the language. So tliat Abarbanel associates tliis character of Isaiah's language with the fancied royal descent of the Prophet, saying: "the charm of his discourse and the beauty of his eloquence is like the discourse of the kings and counsellors of the land, who had a much pleasanter and purer way of speaking than the rest of the children of men" (Comm.in prnph. post Jes. I.; see Gesenius on Jes. I. p. 36). And in another fasliion the Talmud, Tractat. Chagiga {Fol. 13 b) expresses the same thought, saying : " Ezekiel resembles the son of the village when he beholds the splendor of the king, but Isaiah resembles the son of tlie royal residence" (comp. Fuerst, D. JiTanon des A. T., pp. 17, 21). 2. As regards the book itself, it divides first into two chief parts: chaps, i.-xxxv. and xl.-lxvi. Between these two chief parts are the chapters xxxvi.-xxxix., which, Janus-like, look forwards and backwards, ina.smuch as the chapters xxxvi. and xxxvii. conclude the Assyrian period, and chap- ters xxxviii. and xxxix. prepare the way for the Babylonian period. The first part then ought properly to be reckoned from i.-xxxvii., the second from xxxviii.-lxvi. But it is traditional to reckon xxxvi.-xxxix. together, and that, too, along with the first chief part, because part first, on account of the greater variety of its contents, may easier receive those historical chapters than the second part that lias a quite uniform and exclusive character. 3. Taking part first to include i.-xxxix. we follow the traditional way of counting. But pro- perly tliis first principal part begins with chap. vii. For chapters i.-vi. contain the great threefold introduction relating to the entire book. That is to say, not only is chap. i. introductive, but chap- ters ii.-v. are the second and chap. vi. the third introduction. Through three gates we enter into the majestic structure of Isaiah's prophecy. For the proof of this see the comment in loc. Part first falls into five subdivisions. The first subdivision comprises chaps, vii.-xii. In this section the Prophet treats of the relations of Israel to Assyria, contrasting the ruinous beginning of this rela- tion with the blessed termination of it. The second subdivision contains the prophecies against foreign nations (xiii.-xxiii.) At the head of these stands a prophecy again.st Babylon. For first, this begins with a general contemplation of "the day of the Lord," so that, in a measure, it forms the introduction to all announcements of judgment that follow, and, then, the Prophet sees precisely in Babylon the chief enemy of the theocracy that is appointed to make a preliminary end to its out- ward continuance (xiii. 1 — xiv. 23). This is followed by a .short prophecy against Assyria, the enemy, of course, most to be dreaded in the Prophet's time (xiv. 24 — 27). Following this are prophecies relating to other nations threatened by Assyria : PhilLstia, Moab, Epiiraim-Syria, Ethi- opia and Egypt (xiv. 28 — xx. 6). Chapters xxi. and xxii. con.stitute a special little 130. They also contain prophecies against heathen nations, viz.: Babylon, Edom, and Arabia. But there is connected with this in an unusual way a prophecy against Jerusalem. Tiie reason is that these four prophecies bear emblematic su- perscriptions, on which account we have called them libelliis emhiemalieus. The character of the su- perscription, therefore, v.hich coincides with that of the other three superscriptions, makes the rea- son why this prophecy against Jerusalem is incorporated with the prophecies against foreign nations. A prophecy against Tyre forms the conclusion of this second subdivision: the siege of this city by Slialmaneser, wliich took place in the Prophets time, furnished the occasion for it. But the Prophet sees before him the fate of the city down to the remotest future, and in this contemplation of the fu- ture is not wanting the factor that the Clialdeans shall be the ones to make an end of the independ- ence of Tyre. Chaps, xxiv.— xxvii. form a kind of finale to the discourses against the nations. They treat of last things, of the end of the world, the world's judgment, resurrection of the dead, and INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHET ISAIAH. the fulfilment of the salvation promised to the people Israel. We have called these four chapters libellus apocalypticus. The Third Subdivision has for its subject the relation of Israel to Assyria .n the days of king Hezekiah (xxviii. — xxxiii.). It contains five discourses in six chapters. Each discourse begins with 'IH. They stand in chronological order, and are all of them total surveys, in that each, in a special manner, proceeding from the present distress, and with censure of the false means of deliverance, compresses in one the deliverance out of the distress and the salvation of the (Messianic) end-period that are determined and promised of God. The Fourth Subdivision com- prises chaps, xxxiv. and xxxv. These two chapters we designate the finale of part first. They con- tain a concluding glance at the end-period in respect to the two aspects of it, viz.: the divine judg- ments both in respect to punishment and salvation. The first is described as comprehending not only the earth, but also the constellations of heaven, in which, however, the manner of its operation on earth is exhibited by a special portrayal of the judgment against one of Israel's most bitter ene" mies, viz.: Edom. Tliat we stand here at an important boundary, viz.: at the close of part first, ap" pears from the invitation, xxiv. 16, to search the " Book of Jehovah," and thereby verify tlie fulfil- ment. This Book of Jehovah can be nothing else than just our part first, to which the Prophet here refers back as to a whole now brought to conclusion. Finally xxxv. describes the salvation which shall be imparted to the people of God by the final judgment. But the Prophet for the present makes prominent only one principal point, viz.: the return home out of the lands of exile into the Holy Land to everlasting joy. We see in this, at the same time, a transition to part second, that has for its subject the description of the period of salvation in all its aspects. The Fifth Subdivision finally comprehends chapters xxxvi. — xxxix. Their contents is histo- rical and essentially the same that we read in 2 Kings xviii. 13— xx. 19. Chapters xxxvi. and xxxvii. relate the deepest distress into which Hezekiah, confined to his capital city, was brought by the Assyrians, and also the unexpected, sudden and complete deliverance out of this distress by the plague that broke out in the camp of the Assyrians. This fact forms the conclusion of all relations of Israel to Assyria, and therefore xxxvi. and xxxvii. stand first, although the events narrated in them belong to a later period. Chapters xxxviii. and xxxix. inform us of the sickness and recovery of Hezekiah in the fourteenth year of bis reign, and of the Babylonian embassy that congratulated him on this account. Hereby was afforded occasion to the Prophet to prophesy the Babylonian ex- ile, and in so far xxxviii. and xxxix. are, so to speak, the bridge to chapters xl.— xlvi., and stand immediately before them, although the events of which they inform us precede by about fourteen years the events narrated in chaps, xxxvi. and xxxvii. 4. Surveying again the collection of prophecies in part first, we see that they are well arranged. The older commentators (even Luther) have erroneously held them to be without arrangement, and put together without plan. But the dominating principle is an arrangement according to mat- ter rather than chronological arrangement. The first introduction (chap, i.) belongs to the latest pieces. It has much in common with chapters xl.— xlvi. (see below). The second introduction (ii.— v.) is, as a whole, also the product of that period when the Prophet put his book together. Still for this introduction the Prophet made use of earlier pieces, especially of the period of Ahaz (comp- iii.comm.). And thereby, of course, he has given at the same time a picture of that period of his labors which preceded the first conflict with the world-power and the prophecies that related to it. For this reason this introduction bears more of a general ethical character. The third introduction belongs to the fact of the last year of Uzziah therein related. When it was written up is not ex- pressly said. But it is in the nature of the thing that this should happen early rather than late af- ter the event itself. Of chapters vii.— xii. the first part (vii. 1— ix. 6) belongs to the beginning of the three years which Pekah had in common with Ahaz, thus about 743 B. C. The second part, however (ix. 7— X. 4) belongs in the end of this period, thus about 740, 39 (see introd. to the text m loc). Of the second part (x. 5— xii. 6) the piece x. 5-34 belongs in the time when Hezekiah was put to the great- est distress by the summons related xxxvi. (see introduction to x. 5-19). Chap, xi., on account of its relationship with xiv. 28-32, originated in the period when Hezekiah had ascended the thione, thus about 728 B. C. The doxology, chap, xii., bears no trace of any particular time ; still, as con- clusion of this section, it must any way have originated at the time the latter was put together {ibid.) The first prophecy against Babylon (xiii. 1— xiv. 23) presupposes the period in which the Prophet recognized Assyria as a thing of the past, and saw in Babylon the world-power that was called to execute judgment on the theocracy. The prophecy, therefore, falls in the latest stadium of Isaiah's ? 3. LITERARY PERFORMANCE AND THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET. prophetic activity. The short prophecy against Assyria predicts Sennacherib's cata-stroplie as near at hand. It belongs therefore to the period shortly before the event. The short piece xiv. 2S-32 must have originated shortly after Hezekiah took the throne. The prophecy against Moab (xv. and xvi.) must, as to its older part (xv. 1-xvi. 12;, belong to the reign of Aliaz. It may liave originated after 741 B. C. and before the incursion of the Edomites into Judah mentioned in 2 Chron. xxviii. 17. The time of its publication is indeed relatively determined by the later brief prophecy xvi. 13, 14 ; but so far it has not been made out what event the Prophet means by the blow threatened against Moab xvi. 14. Any way, however, the Prophet has in mind an act of hostility on the part of Assyria against Moab. Chapters xvii. and xviii., which are equally directed against Ephraim-Syria and against Assy- ria, belong to the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, to the same period to which the propliecies vii. 1 — ix. 6 owe their origin. Chapters xix. and xx. relate to Ethiopia-Egypt. They fall in the time of Hezekiah, aud in- deed they cannot have been written earlier than 708 B. C. (see in Comm. introd. to xvii.-xx.). The brief prophecy against Babylon (xxi. 1-10), which stands here on account of its emblematical super- scription, appears to belong to the same period as xiii. 1-14. Still the character of the piece in re- spect to language and rhetoric are not quite in harmony with it. The two small prophecies against Edom (xxi. 11, 12) and Arabia (xxi. 13-17) fall in the time of Hezekiah, more exactly, in the time before the catastrophe of Sennacherib, when the Assyrians threatened the independence of all the na- tions that lay between Assyria and Egypt. To this same period also belongs chap. xxii. More ex- actly, the chapter presuppo.ses, and that in both its parts, the period when the Assyrians threatened Jerusalem directly. The prophecy against Tyre has this in common with the prophecies against the theocracy itself, that it does not designate Assyria, the immediate source of menace, but Babylon as the instrument to whom God has entrusted His judgment, and it must have originated in the time when Shalmaneser besieged Tyre, thus before 722 B.C. (see comm. in loc). It is hard to determine when the chapters xxiv.— xxvii. originated. Still the Prophet sees the theocracy in conflict with Assyria and Egypt. Babylon stands veiled in the background. This seems to point to the time of Hezekiah, and indeed to the time be/ore Sennacherib's catastrophe (see comm. in loc). Of the five discourses (xxviii.-xxxiii.) that represent the relation of Israel to Assyria in the time of Hezekiah, the first must have originated already before the beginning of the siege of Samaria, tlius about 725 B. C. (ibid.). Chap. xxix. is of much later origin, belonging to about the year 902 B. C. Chapters xxx. — xxxii., according to their contents, belong to the same period as xxix. They join directly on to this in chronological order. Chap, xxxiii. belongs to the period shortly before the summons that Rabsheka sent to Hezekiah. Chaps, xxxiv. and xxxv. originated in the latest pe- riod of the Prophet contemporaneously with the grand connected complexity of prophecy in the chaps, xl. — Ixvi. A more exact determination of the time is impossible. Chaps, xxxvi. — xxxix. very probably spring from a memorandum of Isai.ah's that had for its subject the great events of the reign of Hezekiah, and to which 2 Chron. xxxii. 26 seems to point. The insertion of these chapters at this point is so suitable — in fact so necessary — that we must even ascribe them to the Prophet himself. But a later hand has made alterations in the dates of the su- perscriptions, and also perhaps in the mention of names (xxxix. 1), which has become the occasion of great confusion. The events for instance narrated in xxxvi. and x.xxvii. took place fourteen years later than those narrated in xxxviii. and xxxix. Any way, the narratives stood in the original source in the correct chronological order, i. c, so that xxxvi. and xxxvii. followed xxxviii. and xxxi.x. The narra- tives were transposed to correspond with the aim of the book of prophecy. Now in the original source the introduction of cliap. xxxviii. must have read : "And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah." But chap, xxxvi. began with the words : " And it came to pas.s in the fourteenth year." Thereby was meant the fourteenth year after the events narrated in xxxviii. and xxxix.; therefore tlie twenty-eighth year of Hezekiah, or the 700 B. C, the year in which actually occurred Sennache- rib's catastrophe.* When then those liLstorical sections were adopted into the collection of Isaiah's prophecies, and that in a reversed order, the dates ought properly to have been altered to correspond. This, however, did not take place. Thus xxxvi. began with the words: "And it came to pass in * I rem.irlv here th.it the historical and chronolopieal objections raised by WEi-LHArsEN. v. GxTsrHsiiD, Oppert against many results of Schradep.'s investigations are well known to me. Still the few data that come here into account partly lie quite out of the sphere of those objections, partly, as appears to pae, they are quite unaffected by them. 10 IKTEODUCTION TO THE PROPHET ISAIAH. the fourteenth year," but sxxviii. with the words : "And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of Heze- kiah." To an uninformed reader this sounded strange. The fourteenth mentioned in the beginning of xxxvi. seemed as if it could be no other than the fourteenth of Hezekiah. And because xxxviii. again bore at its head the fourteenth year of this king, nothing seemed more natural tlian to let xxxvi. begin with the words : " And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah," and then join on chapters xxxviii. and xxxix. simply with the date "in those days, in that time" (see introd. to xxxvi.-xxxix. below). Whoever made these alterations doubtless lived at a period when the living tradition about tlie correct order of these events had long been obliterated. Perhaps, too, the erroneous mention of a name xxxix. 1 is the fault of the same man and of the same time. For JMerodach-Baladan does not mean " Merodach, son of Baladan," as is there intimated. Merodach- Baladan ( = Merodach gave a son) is only one name, and is the name of a man whose father was called Jakin (see comm. in loc). This erroneous meaning given to the name appears also to point to a later time in which the knowledge of the proper'relation was lost. 5. Part second consists of chapters xl. — Ixvi. These chapters forma separate and well arranged total by themselves. As in other collections of Isaiah's prophecies, so here we notice a fundamental number. For the total consists of three divisions, each containing three times three discourses. It is to be noticed, however, that in the third division only five discourses are to be distinguished, which, however, divide into nine chapters. The subject of these twenty-seven chapters is the time of salvation, and that indeed the whole period beginning with the deliverance from exile and ex- tending 10 the end of the present world, i. e., to the appearance of a new heaven and a new earth. Although, in accordance with the peculiarity of prophetic seeing, the prophet sees things of the same sort together, no matter wliat time they belong to, we still distinguish in the total period of salvation three chief stages to which the three chief subdivisions of nine chapters each correspond. In the hrstEnnead the Prophet sees chiefly and primarily the deliverance out of the Babylonian captivity, and, as the source of it, Cyrus. But this Ennead by no means has this aim merely. The Prophet knows, that along with the redemption out of exile, Israel must be raised to a higher plane of religious moral life: it must be freed from idolatry and led to the sole worship of Jehovah. The outward deliverance without the inward would be only a half work ; for it was precisely Israel's spiritual bondage to idols that had been the cause of its bodily servitude. How could the latter be removed without the former? But this redemption out of exile and the chains of a gross idolatry is only the first stage of the period of salvation. "Within this we see forming the outlines of a second and higher stage. The glorious Cyrus, who is not called servant of God, but is called n't^rD, and the suffer- ing people Israel, that is yet destined to glory, compose, so to speak, the ground forms in which a new stage of salvation is typically represented. These preparatory elements combine in their higher unity in the person of the servant of God who will be a suffering Israel and a conquering Cyrus at the same lime. But first appears the first named aspect of his existence, the suffering servant. This forms the central point of the second Ennead. By suffering the servant of God becomes the re- deemer of His people, the founder of a new way of appropriating salvation, and of a new condition of salvation that is both intensively and extensively higher. But this servant of God lifts Himself up out of His humility and becomes — this is the contents of thethird Ennead — on the one hand, Judge of the world who will destroy all the wicked, on the other, the Creator of a new creature. The fruit of His redeeming work will be a new humanity, a new name, a new worship of God in spirit and in truth, a new heaven and a new earth. Therefore the Prophet has by no means in mind merely circumstances of the exile. Of course he sees primarily the redemption out of the exile. But he sees behind this also the time in which the [lersonjil servant of God, prefigured in the first stage by Cyrus and Israel, will begin his work of salvation by suffering and dying ; and behind this second .stage he sees a third, in which the servant ofGod, raised out ofHis humble state to the dignity of a highest Prophet, Priest and King, shall re- new the creature and lead it upwards to the highest degree of life in the spirit. 6. The scheme of the book is as follows : I. THE THREEFOLD INTRODXJCTIOlir. o. The First Introduction, chap. i. 6. The Second Introduction, chaps, ii. — v. C. The Third Introduction, chap. vi. 3. LITERARY PERFORMANCE AND THE BOOK OF THE PROPHETS. II. PART FIRST, vii.— xxxix. 1. FIRST SUBDIVISION. CHAPS. VII. — XII. Israel's relation to A.ssyria, the representative of the world-power in general, described in its ruinous beginning and its blessed end. A. — The prophetic perspective of the time of Ahaz, chap. vii. 1 — ix. 6. 1. The prophecy of Immanuel the son of a Virgin, chap. vii. 1-2.5. 2. Isaiah giving the whole nation a sign by the birth of his son Maher-shalal-hash- baz, chap. viii. 1-4. 3. Additions : a. The despisers of Siloah shall be punished by the waters of Euphrates, chap. viii. 5-8. b. Threatening call to those that conspire against Judah, and to those that fear the conspirators, chap. viii. 9-1.5. c. The testament of the Prophet to his disciples, chap. viii. 16 — ix. 6. B. — Threatening of judgment to be accomplished by Assyria, directed against the Israel of the Ten Tribes, chap. ix. 7 — x. 4. C — Assyria's destruction Is.'ael's salvation, chap. x. 5 — xii. 6. 1. Woe against Assyria, chap. x. .5-19. 2. Israel's redemption from Assyria, chap. x. 20-34. 3. Israel's redemption in relation to the Messiah, chap. xi. 1 — xii. 6. 2. SECOND SUBDIVISION. CHAPS. Xm.-XXVII. The prophecies against foreign nations. A. — The discourses against individual nations, chaps, xiii. — xxiii. 1. The first prophecy against Babylon, chap. xiii. 1 — xiv. 23. 2. Prophecy against Assyria, chap. xiv. 24-27. 3. Against Philistia, chap. xiv. 28-82. 4. Against Moab, chaps, xv., xvi. 5. Against and for D.ama.scus and Ephraim, chap. xvii. 6. Ethiopia now and then again, chap, xviii. 7. Egypt now and then again, chaps, xix., xx. 8. The libellus emblematicus, containing the second prophecy against Babylon, then prophecies agamst Edom. Arabia, Jerusalem and the chamberlain Shebna, chaps, xxi., xxii. 9. Prophecy against and for Tyre, chap, xxiii. B. — The finale of tlie prophecies against the nations : the libdlus apocalypticus, chapters xxiv. — xxvii. 3. THIRD SUBDIVISION. CHAPS. XXVIII. — XXXIII. Relation of Israel to Assyria in the time of king Hezekiah. 4. FOURTH SUBDIVISION. CHAPS. XXXIV. — XXXV. The finale of part first. 5. FIFTH SUBDIVISION. CHAPS. XXXVI. — XXXIX. Historical pieces, containing the conclusion of the As,syrian and the preparation for the Babylon period. HI. PART SECOND, Chaps, xl.— Ixvi. The entire future of salvation, beginning with the redemption from the Babylonian exiJe^ concluding wilh the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. INTBODUCTION TO THE PROPHET ISAIAH. A.— Cyrus, chaps, xl. — xlviii. 1. First Discourse. The Prologue, the objective and subjective basis of redemptioij, chap. xl. 2. Second Discourse. First appearance of tlie Bedeemer from the East, and of the servant of tlie Jehovah, and also the first and second use of the prophecy re- lating 10 this in proof of the divinity of Jehovah, chap. xli. 3. Third Discourse. The third chief figure : The personal servant of Jehovah in the contrasted features of his appearance, chap. xlii. 4. Fourth Discourse. Redemption or salvation in its entire compass, chap, xliii. 1^ xliv. 5. 5. Fifth Discourse. Prophecy as a proof of divinity comes to the front and culmi- nates in the name of Cyrus, chap. xliv. 6-28. 6. Sixth Discourse. The culminating point of the proiihecy : Cyrus, and the effect of his appearance, chap- xlv. 7. Seventh Discourse. The fall of the Babylonian gods, and the gain to Israel's know- ledge of God that will be derived therefrom, cliap. xlvi. 8. Eighth Discourse. The well-deserved and inevitable overthrow of Babylon, chap, xlvii. 9. Ivinth Discourse. Recapitulation and conclusion, chap, xlviii. B. — The personal servant of Jehovah. Chaps, xlix. — Ivii. 1. First Discourse. Parallel between the servant of Jehovah and Zion. Both have a small beginning and a great end, chap. xlix. 2. Second Discourse. The connection between the guilt of Israel and the sufferings of the servant, and the liberation of the former through faith in the latter, chap. 1. 3. Third Discourse The final redemption of Israel. A dialogue between the Servant of Jehovah who enters, as if veiled, Israel, Jehovah Himself, and the Pro- phet, chap. li. 4. Fourth Discourse. The restoration of the city of Jerusalem, chap. Hi. 1-12. 5. Fifth Discourse. Golgotha and Scheblimini (sit thou on my right hand), chap. lii. 13— liii. 12. 6. Sixth Discourse. The new salvation, chap. liv. 7. Seventh Discourse. The new way of appropriating salvation, chap. Iv. 8. Eighth Discourse. The moral, social and physical fruits of the new way of salva- tion, chap. Ivi. 1-9. 9. yinth Discourse. A look at the mournful present, which will not, however, hin- der the coming of the glorious future, chap. Ivi. 10 — Ivii. 21. C. — The new creature. Chaps. Iviii. — Ixvi. 1. First Discourse. Bridge from the present to the future; from preaching repent- ance to preaching glory, chaps. Iviii., lix. 2. Second Discourse. The rising of the heavenly sun of life upon Jerusalem, and the new personal and natural life conditioned thereby, chap. Ix. 3. Third Discourse. The personal centre of the revelation of salvation, chap. Ixi. — Ixiii. 1-6. 4. Fourth Discourse. The Prophet in spirit puts himself in the place of the exiled church, and bears its cause in prayer before the Lord, chap. Ixiii. 7— Ixiv. 11. 5. Fifth Discourse. The death and life bringing end-period, chaps. Ixv., ixvi. J 4. AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE BOOK. 1. Knobel says of the Isaiah collection there is found in it more that is not genuine than in any other prophetic book (p. xxvi). The passages ii. 2-4 and xv.-xvi. 12 are not denied to be genu- ine indeed, but they are said not to be Isaiah's, he having appropriated them from older prophets. As regards ii. 2-4, this statement is of course correct. For Isaiah has in fact, and for good reason, put a saying of his contemporary and fellow prophet Micah at the head like a light, in order to con- template in its light the (relative) present of his people. But as regards the prophecy against Moab, I 4. AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE BOOK. 13 xv.-xvi. 12, the Prophet himself, it is true, designates it as a word that tlie Lord once ("*'?, i. e., before) spoke against Moab. But the words xvi. 13 by no means assert that Isaiah cites the words of another. Would he not have indicated this more plainly ? Besides the piece is in contents and form quite like Isaiah. (See Comm. in he). The following passages are said to be decidedly not genuine : xiii. 1-xiv. 23 ; xxi. 1-10 ; xxiv.-xxvii. ; xxxiv.-xxxv. ; xxxvi. 1-xxxvii. 20 ; xxxvii. 36-xxxix. 8 ; xl.-lxvi. Beside these a few other passages are assailed by individual critics. Thus chap. xii. is as.sailed by Ewald (.see on the contrary Meier, Kxobel, p. 113). Chap. xix. is partlv or entirely so by several expositors (EiCHHOKN, Kosesmueller, Koppe, De Wette, Ge- SENius, HiTZiG, on the contrary Knobel, p. 159) ; single parts of chaps, xxviii.-xxxiii. by Eich- HORN (against which see Gesenius I. 2, p. 826) ; chap, xxxiii. by Ewald (against whom see Kno- bel, p. 273). As these critical objections have been proved groundless even by such men as Gese- Nius and Knobel, we will not enter into them here. I will in the commentary itself give the reasons why I must regard chaps, xiii. 1-xiv. 23; xxi. 1-10; xxiv.-xxvii. ; and xxxiv., xx.xv., as Isaiah's genuine productions. We have already said in § 3 under 4, what is to be tho.uglit of chaps, xxxvi.-xxxix. . 2. We must give particular attention to chaps, xl.-lxvi. Since Koppe and Doedeelein (comp. Beetholdt, em. p. 1356 sqq.) the majority of commentators have lield the opinion that a much later person than Isaiah the son of .\moz wrote these prophecies. The most suppose that this later person lived in Babylon among the exiles. Only Ewald (Propheicn des A. B. II. p. 403 sqq. ; Oesch. des V. /sr. IV. p. 22 sqq.; 56 sqq., 66, 103, 138) is of the opinion that the "great unnamed," as a descendant of those Jews that with Jeremiah went into Egypt, lived in the latter place. On the other hand Seinecke {Der Eranf/elist des A- B. 1870) concludes from chap. xl. 9, that the author must have lived in Jerusalem because otherwise the summons "Jerusalem, get thee up into a high mountain," would have no sense. DtJHM (Die Theotogie der Propheten, Bonn., 1875, p. 283), infers from chap. xiii. 22 that Deutero-Isaiah at least did not live in Babylon, for it liardly went so hard with the exiles as is there described. As regards the time, although the critics in general maintain that it was written during the exile, still they differ in details very much. Bertholdt (Einl., p. 1390) distributes the chapters into four periods: Before and after the invasion, during and after the siege of Babylon. Gesenids suppo-ses (II. Th. p. 33) that the prophecies originated at the time when the advance of Cyrus against Babylon awaked in the Hebrews the assured hope of a -speedy deliverance. Still he thinks that the last chapters were written sooner than the earlier ones, in which is discoursed with so much certainty of the victories of Cyrus. HiTZie also apportions the chapters very exactly among the incidents of the Persian-Babylonian war, onh' he thinks that chajj. xlvii. does not fit into the context chronologically, and that as an independent whole it was incor- porated later. Beck [Die Cyrojesajan. Weissagungen, p. 16) tliinks that all twenty-seven chapters presuppose the permission of Cyrus to return home. The Prophet only represents what has hap- pened as revealed by Jehovah in advance, in order that "His contemporaries might regard it, not as accident, but as proceeding from the decree of God." According to Knobel " the Prophet fol- lowed attentively the great events, spoke as these and the circumstances they brought about dictated he should, and wrote up the discourses one after another" (p. 342). And so he maintains that chaps, xl.-xlviii, originated in the time of the first splendid successes of Cyrus ; chaps, xlix.-lxii., however, he puts in the time when Cyrus began to carry out his plan of subduing the western nations. Chap. Ixii. 1-6 is supposed to refer to the taking of Sardis. The prayer, chap. Ixiii. 7-lxiv. 11, and the answer to it, chapter Ixv. are supposed to fall in the period after this event. Only in regard to chapter Ixvi. Knobel is undetermined whether it is to be put before the conquest of Ba- bylon by Cyrus, or in the time after it. Seinecke takes again the view-point of Beck : only he denies that the Prophet prophesied the deliverance by Cyrus. Much rather this is evervwhere pre- supposed. What he does prophe-sy is the "new salvation," i. e., a period of great happiness, whicli of course can only be realized in the holy land. The entire prophecy is one whole made at one cast. If one point of time is fixed, then the time of the composition of the whole is clear. Now it appear.s, especially from chap. xli. 2, 3 ; xliv. 25; xlv. 4 sq. ; lii. 11 ; xlix. 22, 23, that the edict of Cyrus (Ezra i. 1 sqq.) had already appeared. After this proclamation, before the start of the first train of exiles, therefore in the year 536 was the prophecy written. Most of the critics regard our chapters as the work of a aingle author. Onlv here and there a voice contends for difTerent authors. See Aitgusti, Exeget. Handbueh, p. 24 sqq., Beetholdt, /■ c, p. 1375 ; EicHHORN, Propheten (the list at the close of Vol. III., p. 686). In regard to chap. lii. 13- 14 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHET ISAIAH. liii. 12 sq., see our comtn. and Schenkel, Slud. u. Kril., 1836, p. 996. Especially Ewald has felt that he must assume a plurality of authors. But who may have been the author or authors no one is able to say. The critics are only united in this, that it was not Isaiah, yet they confess tliat he must have been a man of great spiritual significance. Ewald has introduced the name " the great unnamed" (comp. Proph. d. A. B. II., p. 4U3; Gesch. d. V. Isr. IV., p. 56). It is even confessed that the so-called Deutero-Isaiah has a great resemblance to the genuine Isaiah. To the question : Why then have chaps, xl.-lxvi. been ascribed to Isaiah, Seinecke (p. 36) replies by saying, ''that no later Prophet has approached so near the spirit of Isaiah as the author of chap. xl. — Ixvi. ; in I one are found so reproduced his characteristic forms of expression."' 3. The reasons urged against Isaiah being the author of part second are the following : 1. Isaiah lived more than an hundred years before the exile. He has also not once prophesied it. But the author of chaps, xl.-lxvi. lived in the exile. Both the oriental relations in general at the lime of the exile (he even calls Cyrus by name), and the special relations of the exiles are so exactly known to him, that we must recognize in him an eye-witness and a sharer of those relations. 2. He dis- tinguishes himself ftom Isaiah as much by difierent religious and theocratic-political views, as by peculiar style and iisus loqmndi. 3. Those prophets that Jived after Isaiah and before the exile did not know the chaps, xl.-lxvi. 4. According to an old tradition, to which the Talmud testifies, and to which the German and French Manuscripts conform, the three great Prophets follow in the order, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah. From this is inferred that this arrangement has chronological reasons, and that Isaiah, on account of the second part having been composed at the end of the exile, was placed after Ezekiel. In Reply to the First Objection.— a). If it were proved that there is no personal God, or that this personal God, if there be one, at least never in a direct, supernatural way interfered in the course of the history of the world, then, of course, Isaiah could never be the author of chaps, xl.- lxvi. For then there would be no prophecy in a supernatural and miraculous sense. There would tlien at best be only an intensified power of presentiment or gift of combination. That is the stand- ]ioint of those who aim, more or less consciously, to be rid of God a.s much as possible, to explain the world without God, and without God to live merely under the abstract, unalterable laws of na- ture. There are, therefore, here two fundamental ways of looking at things that are opposed to each other, and that can never harmonize. All ilialectic demonstration is useless here. Of course an interference without motive and arbitrary on God's part, no one will a,dmit who holds the view-point of the moderate theism of the Bible. But according to Scripture, over the present, earthly, temporal order of nature there exists a higher and eternal order. The earthly, temporal order of nature is characterized by the disharmony of spirit and body. The higher order rests on the harmony of these. The lower stage must form the transition to the higher. This is only possible by the latter entering into the former, partly in order to prepare the judgment on the same, partly to lay in it th» new germs of life. Miracle and prophecy, as in the organism of the history of salvation thev appear authenticated, though they are not the highest, are still the first traces of that super-terrestrial spiritual power that, on the one hand subdues matter, and on the other, time and space, in order to make known the divine decree of love, and gradually to realize it. Now among all the men that divine love employs to this end in the Old Testament, Isaiah occupies the first rank. First he sees Syria and Ephraim coming against the theocracy, and recognizes at once their harmlessness. As- syria rises threatening behind thera. But soon the Prophet sees that it too will not harm the theoc- racy, but must itself come to disgrace by the theocracy. Only the third world-power, (Ephraim- Syria reckoned as the first), that emerges to the view of the Prophet, immediately behind Assyria to i. e., Babylon, he recognizes as the agent called to execute the next great judgment on the outward thco'cracy. Babylon was Nineveh's rival. They had severe conflicts until first Babylon, and then at length Nineveh fell. Now it is said that Isaiah never predicted Israel's being led into the Baby- lonian captivity. True enough, this wa.s not his commission. This part of the history of the future belonged to his successors Zephaniah and Jeremiah. Yet Babylon's destination to effect this was not unknown to him. For he expresses it ch.ip. xxxix. 6 sq., briefly indeed, but in plain words. And even if Isaiah were not the author of the original writing from which chaps, xxxvi.-xxxix. were taken, still this does not justify ns in doubting that he made the statement of which xxxix. 6 sq. informs us. Witliout mentioning Babylon, a period of exile is partly presupposed, partly directly announced to the land and nation in chap. i. 27 ; v. 5 sq. ; xiii. 26 sqq. ; vi. 11, 12 ; x. 5 sqq. ; xii. 20 sq. ; xi. 11 ; xxx. 12. And does not Micah (iv. 10), the contemporary of Isaiah, prophesy in § 4. AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE BOOK. plain words the transportation to Babylon ? No one that I know of has ever attacked the genuine- ness of those words of Micah. Coukl not Isaiah see what Micah saw ? We see therefore that the Babylonian exile was already in Isaiah's time well known to prophecy as a fact of the future. But Isaiah's chief commission was to announce the whole great -period of salvation, that begins with the deliverance out of exile and readies to the end of time. For although Isaiah is not silent in regard to the judgments that threaten either Israel or the heathen, still the proclamation of salvation is the proper contents of his discourses. lu fact the opening words of si. 1 especially characterize the second part as "a book of consolation" (Hnnj ISD see FrERST, Kan. d. A. T., p. 15). By this he honors his name (ID'^i?' salus Jovae). The Talmud expresses the difference between the three great Prophets by saying that the book of Jeremiah is Xjmin n'"70, that of Ezekiel n'i2?''"i Nnnnj n^iJIOl XJ^lin, that of Isaiah however XflOHJ H'SlJ (comp. FuERST, I. c). While the other Prophets were called more to illumine single parts of the near or remote future, of greater or less circumference, Isaiah, as the great chief Prophet, stands in the midst and lets the light of his pro- phetic word fall on the great, wide circumference of the entire future of salvation, which for hira begins with the deliverance from the exile. As the broad river to the narrower branches, as a grand edifice to the buildings that front and flank it, so is Isaiah's prophecy related to that of the other prophets. It is, therefore, incorrect to say that Isaiah only lives in the exile, and that his gaze does not extend beyond the liorizon of this period of history. Isaiah is just as conscious that he prophesies, i. e., that the exile is a tiling of the future for him also (comp. xli. 9; xlviii. 6, 16; lii. 5; Ivi. 10-lvii. 21 and the comm. in he), as he is conscious that the period of exile does not form the limit of bis prophetic gaze. In fact he distinguishes most clearly three stages of that future history that he contemplates. The servant of Jehovah suits neither the time of Cyrus, nor that of the new creature. It suits only in the time between as the mediation of both. For without the servant of .lehovah, Israel when returned could not possibly have risen to the grade of the new crea- ture. One may quite as well insist that the author of chaps, xl.-lxvi. stood under the cross of Christ, and that he read the writings of Paul, consequently that at least chaps, lii.-lv. were written in the time after Christ, as that this author lived in the exile. For he speaks of the sufTerings of the ser- vant, of the fruits of them, and of the new way of salvation thereby conditioned not less plainly than he does of the redemption of Israel out of the exile. In fact Duhm (I. c, p. 291) acknowledges that the view ot the Deutero-Isaiah approaches very near that of Paul. It is objected that the naming of Cyrus and the description of relations peculiar to the exile (comp. Ixiv. 9-11 ; Ixiii. 3 b-Ha; Ixv. 11, 12, 2-5; Ixvi. 3 6-6; Ixvi- 17) prove that we have before us specific prediction and not prophecy. As such things are impossible, only a contemporary of the exile can be the author of xl.-lxvi. This leads me to the inquiry into the ethical character of genuine prophecy, and then to the other ques- tion whether chaps, xl.-lxvi. correspond to that distinction between prophecy and prediction that I have myself asserted. b. Of course the naming of Cyrus (xliv. 28 ; xlv. 1) must surprise us in the greatest degree. But let us first notice the connection in which this naming occurs. In the first Ennead (xl.-xlviii.) the Prophet has directed his gaze to a double deliverance of his people : to the bodily one out of the captivity of the exile, and to the spiritual one from the chains of idolatry. He seeks to bring about the latter by convincing his people of the nothingness of idols and of the sole divinity of Jehovah. For this purpose he argues thus: Prophecy and fulfilment belong only to the omniscient and almighty God. It is a test of divinity that idols cannot .sustain. I announce to you long before the punishment of the exile has even begun, that Israel shall be delivered from the same by a prince that shall bear the name Cyrus. If this prophecy be not fulfilled, then may you doubt the divinity of Jehovah. But if it be fulfilled, then know that the Lord is God. Seven times the Prophet presents this syllogism with the greatest emphasis. He would evi- dently have men regard this, not as mere rhetorical ornament, but as meant in earnest, and make a practical test with it Now let one suppose the author of our chapters to have been a contemporary of Cyrus, and to have only feigned this prophecy, then it would be but a worthless comedy. This would-be prophet was then an impostor that blasphemously abused the name of God. For if Cyrus was already there, and all that Isaiah prophesies of him had already happened, or at least was at the point of taking place, then that argument wholly lacks foundation. Then Jehovah does not prophesy, but an impostor pretends to prophesy in His name things that in fact were not future but pa.st. The pretended prophecy, then, would be a product, not of the Holy Spirit, of the Spirit of truth, but of the spirit of lying. If any would assume that the pretended prophet still meant only- 16 INTRODUCTION TO THE PEOPHET ISAIAH. to attain a good object by morally objectionable means, that, therefore, his fraud was a pious fraud, then nothing is gained thereby. A truly pious Israelite could not possibly have been willing to prop his faith in Jehovah by means which Satan, Jehovah's enemy, uses to gain his ends — by lies I But a man who is capable of desecrating God's name by gross Lies cannot at the same time be inter- ested to have God's name sanctified. Such a man is an inward contradiction. One is involuntarily reminded here of the words of Christ : " If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand ?" (Matt. xii. 25 sqq.). And how does this lying procedure agree with the moral character of our prophecy in general ? Every one receives the impression, and tlie mo- dern critics themselves cannot ignore it, that there runs through the entire prophecy a spirit of ele- vated, moral earnestness. Moral efl'ect in the hearer and reader indeed is meant to be the chief aim of the prophecy. How does Christ agree with Belial? Comp. Stiee, Isaiah, nichi Pseudn-Isaiak, p. xlvi. F. A. Lowe, Weissagung u. Weltgeschichte, Zurich, 1868, p. 13. It is incomprehensible how a man like DuESTERDiECK {£>. Pro. /so., eiii Vurfi: Jahrh.f. deutsche Theol. XVIII. 3, p. 386 sqq.) can assert tliat the author of xl.-lxvi. stood in the midst of the mighty crisis brought about by Cyrus {t. c. p. 401), and yet at the same time produced the prophecy that is "not only the holiest of all of our prophetic book, but of the entire Old Testament." Can then the author of a fictitious prophecy of Cyrus, seven times repeated, be at the same time the interpreter of the holiest of all of the divine revelation ? c. But it is objected that still the name Cyrus is quite a special prediction, just as also those other traits of special exile life that confront us in the last three chapters. But the name Cyrus is not a name like any other. According to our Prophet's construction, Cyrus stands at the head of the period of salvation. He represents the great turning point in the history of Israel with which be- gins the '' return " {^^'^) of the holy nation. The name of the man that occupied this high and im- jiortant position is no subordinate, small incident that one cannot see from a distance- On the con- trary, this name stands forth so great and illustrious in history, even in profane history, that we must include it among the great outlines which, according to our statement, can alone be the subject of prophecy. But were I even mistaken in this view, still only the name Cyrus would need to be given up. Then we would need to assume that xliv. 28 another word stood in the place of 01137, and that xlv. 1 the same word was either simply interpolated (which the construction allows), or was substituted for another word. We would need then, of course, to grant also that the words "|JDN 13"ty3 (xlv. 5), which manifestly presuppose the mention of the name, were inserted by the interpolator. This would leave untouched the chief thing, the prophecy of the redeemer from the east. The reproach of lying would not then concern tl:e real author of the prophecy, but only some uninvited intruder. But although I confess that this point is the most difficult, still I do not believe that there are material reasons to compel the adoption of this construction. d. As for the traces of authorship in the exile to be found in the last three chapters, viz. : in Ixiv. 9-11 ; Ixv. 3 6-5 a; Ixv. 11, 12 ; Ixv. 25 ; Ixvi. 3 6-6 ; Ixvi. 17, they are of three sorts. I must first say in general, that the last Euuead (Iviii. — Ixvi.) does not appear to have received its finishing touches from the hand of the Prophet. Perhaps death arrested him. He seems rather to have left behind only the materials. At least it must seem strange to us that the matter is not, as in both the Enneadsthat precede, more arranged in nine distinctly marked discourses. [Comp. below the intro- duction to chaps. Iviii. — Ivi. — Te.]. This very condition of the original text invited and facilitated the work of an interpolator. Now, as I have said, I find three sorts of sarh interpolations. In re- gard to the first sort, I must primarily recall the fact that to the request of the people that the Lord would even remember that aU Israelites are His people (Ixiii. 7-lxiv. 9) the reply is made: neither all Isr.aelites shall be saved, nor .shall all be rejected (Ixv.). The Prophet intimates by this, that in the time when the redemption will begin, i. e., at the end of the exile, a division shall be effected. And this division actually took place when Cyrus gaveihe permission to return. The contrast be- tween the apostates and the faithful Israelites was distinctly marked. The original contents of the last three chapters oflered a fitting opportunity for the expression of those sentiments that the latter felt to- ward the former in consequence of that contrast. Hence we find in these chapters those passages that have so specific a coloring from the exile, which, of course, if they were genuine, must be construed as the most specific prediction. Such are Ixv. 3 6-5 a ; 11,12; Ixvi. 3 6-6; Ixvi. 17. A second sort of in- terpolation I find in the pa.ssage Ixiv. 9-11. Here the condition of the Holy Land and of the Holy City are spoken of in a way that shows that the sacred places must already have lain waste when these words were written. A third interpolation of still another sort I find in Ixv. 25. Here an earlier say- ing of the Prophet (comp. xi. 6-9) is abruptly repeated. For particulars see the comm. in loc. I 4. AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE BOOK. 17 Regarding passages of the first sort : on the one hand they contain sucli exact details relative to Babylonian idolatry, and on the other, party sentiment finds in them such intense, fresh and lively expression, that some have supposed the Prophet has wholly translated himself here into the exile life, and saw it as plainly as his own actual present time, while others, who deny the possi- bility of such translation into the future, maintain that the passages in question were composed by one living in the exile. I share neither of thtse views. It was no affair of prophecy to observe the special traits of the future; it was no affair of Isaiah's to furnish "Scenes of exile life." On the otlier hand the great mass of xl-lxvi. aie so unmistakably genuine prophecy, in fact the crown of all Old Testament prophecy, that we can ascribe them to no other than to the king among the pro- l)hets, to Isaiah. If now single passages in the last chapters bear undoubted marks of originating in the exile, then they must be later additions to the original writing of Isaiah. This applies also to passages of the second and third sort. Even Knobel and Diestel, who, for the sake of making the whole out to be not genuine, will admit no interpolations, are still inclined to explain Ixv. 25 as " a disconnected addition." And Ixvi. 3 b-G is manifestly an interpolation, interrupting the con- nection, and occasioned by a misunderstanding of what precedes. But if one interpolation occurs, may there not be several, even though the seam in every case is not equally noticeable ? I have distinctly declared Ixiv. 9-11 ; Ixv. 3 6-5 « ; 11,12; 25; Ixvi. 3 6-6; 17 to be interpolations. I confess however that I hold these to be only the ones most plainly recognizable as such. As re- marked above, the Prophet seems to me to have left the last Ennead in a form not completely wrought out. Precisely hereby some later person, was moved to put a finisliing touch to it. What is most probable is that the final editor of the work did this. Thus it may be that we possess the last chapters only in a form more or less wrought over. What is the boundary between the work of the Prophet and that of the revLser, is likely never to be made out.* * No one wili follow the .luthor in .admitting interpolations, unless first entangled by the criterion, he seta up (end of g 2) as the mark of genuine prophecy. In a distant Tiew one observes general outlines, but not details. Prophecy is viewing at a distance. Hence propl'.ecy in general wil! never meddle with special prediction. Where the latter oeeurs it is only a seeming detail, while in fact, properly understood, it belongs to the grand outline, «. 3., the naming of Cyrus— or if not, then it must be suspected as an interpolation. Such is the canon the Author adopts. Is this self-evident? It will not appear so to multitudes. Is it proved by the mere analogy of viewing a city or mountain at a distance ? One must not be betrayed by so shallow a fallacy. An exact statement of the nature of prophesying, we see, involves the question : does prophecy med lie with details? This cannot be settled by any aprioral dictum: nor by an analogy drawn from some totally different sphere. It can only be settled by observing the facts : have we or have we not examples of such prediction. If the Author has nothing but his canon to oppose to the passage in question, then we accept the passage as genuine, and must simply reverse his canon. It seems that he hiis something additional. It is this: chap. Iviii.-lxvi., depart from the fundamental number tliree, and though we have nine chapters, we have only five discourses. Nine discourses are demanded for the sake of consistency. This abnormity opens the door to many things, among others to a reasonable account of the supposed interpolations. The reflecting reader will see that by that door will come in more than the Author himself would welcome. In fact nothing remains certainly the genuine production of Isaiah. For as Dr. Nae- 0E1.SEACH says above. " It win perhaps never be wholly made out where is the boundary between the work of the Prophet and that of the reviser." In such uncertainty, each wili draw the line to suit himself. Only those will be entangled in this quandary that share the Author's fancy for an exact and lucid scheme of the entire book, or rather, who is captivated by his particular scheme. But most students will agree with Dr. J. A. AiEXASDEE (Introduction (o his Commentary, Vol. I. p. 75, Ed. 1875) who thus remarks on the arrangement of Haevebxick who follows RrcKEUT, and to which our Author's bears resemblance : " As an aid to memory, and a basis of convenient distribution, this hypothesis may be adopted without injury, but not as implying that the book consists of three independent parts, or that any one of the proposed divisions can be satisfactorily inter- preted apart from the others. The greater pains taken to demonstrate such a structure, the more forced and artificial must the exposition become : and it is best to regard this ingenious idea of Ruckert, as an aesthetic decoration rather than an exegetical expedient. After carefully comparing all the methods of division and ar- rangement which have come to my knowledge, I am clearly of the opinion that in this part of Scripture, more perhaps than in any other, the evil to be shunned is not so much defect as excess ; that the book is not onlj' a ■continued, but a desultory composition ; that although there is a sensible progression in the whole from the be- ginning to the end, it cannot be distinctly traced in every minor part, being often interrupted and obscured by retrocessions and resumptions, wtuch, though governed by a natural association in each case, are not reditcible to a system.'* To recur to the Author's analogy of a distant view of a city : the parallel between that and prophetic prospect cannot be exact. A man on the street of that distant city, must not necessarily be like a man in the imperial city the Prophet sees far off in the future. Conversation at the gate of that city far off in the vista, must not be like the discourse of men in that city the Prophet sees. In a moral and historical survey, things seemingly minute by common measures, rise into great prominence. Jenny Geddes and her stool in St. Giles Cathedral Church of Edinburg, in 1537, and the masqueraders of the Boston harbor Tea party, are such to us in the distant survey of the past. No one charges the historian with an unphilosophical attention to minute details that takes 2 18 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHET ISAIAH. Reply to the second objection, a. It is said that there exists between Isaiah and the au- thor of these chapters "a great diversity of spirit and of views." Let us contemplate these reputed diversities as they are specified in the latest edition of Knobel's Commentary as revised by Diestel. First, the author is thought to cherish the most transcendent hopes in regard to the return home : xli. 18 sq. ; xliii. 19 sq. ; xlviil. 21 ; xlix. 10 sq. These passages, promise all of them to those re- turning abundance of water, and have more or less direct relation to Exod. xvii. 6 (comp. especially xlviil. 21). No one is justified in saying that the author would have them understood literally with reference to the return-way out of the exile. But if at the same time he had in mind a second re- turn, lying still in the remote future, then we must wait for the future to show us whether the ex- pectations regarding it are superabounding. They are by no means more so than what Isaiah says of the same return xi. 15, where he speaks of the drj'ing up of the Red sea, and of the smiting the Euphrates into seven shallow brooks. To the same transcendent expectations are thought to belong, what the author says of the new heaven and new earth (li. 6 ; Ixv. 17 ; Ixvi. 22 ; Ix. 19 -sq.), of the splendor and riches of the new Jerusalem (liv. 12 ; Ix. 1 sqq. ; Ixvi. 12), of the great age of the Jews that may be looked for (Ixv. 20) and of their relation to the heathen (xlix. 22 sq. ; Ix. 9, 10, 12; Ixi. 5 sq. ; liii. 11). All this is thought to be foreign to the more natural sense of Isaiah. But do not the germs of all this lie already in the first eleven chapters of the book ? We have shown already above, that the principle of the world's renewal is expressed in passages like ii. 2 sqq. ; iv. 2 sqq., (see also commentary on the " HOS iv. 2). Can anything more glorious be said of the Zion of the future than is said ii. 3 ; xi. 9 ? Is not the great age spoken of Ixv. 20, a consequence of the same new, higher principle of life, of whose operation in the impersonal creature xi. 6 sqq., speaks? Finally, what is said about the relation of Israel to the heathen in the pa.ssages named, has after all its root in what the Prophet has already expressed ii. 2 sqq. ; ix. 2 sqq. 7 ; .-^i. 10 sqq. — Knobel urges further, that calling Judah and Jerusalem a sanctuary (xlviii. 2; Hi. 1 ; Ixiii. 18 ; Ixiv. 9 (10) attests the later period. It is true that the expression ^"^pU "*'.?', beside xlviii. 2; lii. 1, occurs only Dan. ix. 24; Neh. xi. 1, 18. Yet the expression is so natural and has so little that is specific in it, that one can only treat its unfrequent occurrence in the literature as accidental. It is strange that it occurs so seldom in general, thus the weight of the fact is lessened, when it is noticed that it ap- pears in Isaiah for the first in part second. If he did not invent the expression, still he is the first from whom we have a writing that contains the expression. As regards Ixiii. 18 ; Ixiv. 9 (10) see above rf.— It is urged that the importance attached to the observance of the Sabbath points to a later period (Ivi. 2 sqq.; Iviii. 13). If now it must be admitted that neither in the historical nor in the prophetic Jjooks of the older period, is found frequent mention of the Sabbath, still the insti- tution was known and recognized by them as ancient and holy (see Amos viii. 6 ; 2 Kings iv. 23, comp. Sciii:ltz, Ahtestl. Theol. I. p. 210). But like the most of the commandments of the law, it was badly observed by idolatrous Israel. In Ivi. and Iviii. Isaiah presents in prospect, a time in which the new way of salvation spoken of in liv. and Iv., will bring forth its glorious fruits. Shall ■we wonder then if the Prophet among these fruits makes especially prominent the sanctifying of the Sabbath, since in fact this was the most patent sign of the universal reign of the worship of Jehovah and of the overthrow of idolatry ? Representations of God, as one that troubles Himself very little about the earth, as they appear in xl. 27 ; xlvii. 10 ; xlix. II ; Ivii. 15, are said to occur only in note of such things. In his prospect they are prominences and belong to the grand outline. It is this that af- fQrds the proper analogy for prophetic surveys of the future. And this shows that the distinction made in tha Author's canon between prophecy and prediction, and grand outline and details is illusory, and results from pressing .an analogy between things unlike. We may agree that prophecy will deal only in genera! ouilme. B;it wlintcver the Prophet sees and depicts, belongs to this outline and is a prominence in his prospecr, however in- sienificant and unobservable it may be to other ways of seeing. And such are the things represented in those texts, which the Author would surrender as interpolations. This leaves prediction and prophecy absolutely synonymous in that respect wherein the Author attempts a distinction. It may be added that the Author's chief reason for admitting the notion of interpolations, may be turned against his scheme of the contents of the book of Isaiah. If the departure from the rule of throe, i. r.. from the nine discourses, be such palpable proof that chapters Iviii.-lxvi., were left incomplete by the Prophet, tins defect would have been as evident to the final editor as to modem comnient.itors, and must have appeared equally im- portant. If such an editor dared to tamper with the text at all in the way of giving it polish and eompleten,jS!i his first care would be to carry out this rule of three, and furnish the arrangement into nine discourses, accord, ing-to the Prophet's (supposed) original intent. But there is no evidence that such an arrangement was ro quired for completeness and finish, and thus the Author's reason for thinking Isaiah left his composition UD finished is imaginary. — Te,]. ? i. AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE BOOK. 19 the later books of the Old Testament. But, not to mention other passages like Ps. ix. 19 ; x. 1 ; xiii. 2, is not this representation found xxix. 15 sq., which is admitted to be Isaiah's ? What, more- over, is to be said, when Knobel explains the controverting of idols with reasons, and the apology for Jahve as the sole God (xl. 12 sqq. ; xli. 21 sqq. ; xliii. 9 sqq. ; xliv. 6 sqq. ; xlv. 11 sqq. ; xlvi. 1 sqq. ; xlviii. 3 sqq.), and the proof of Jahve's divinity from prophecy and fulfilment (xli. 21 sqq. ; xliii. 9 sqq. ; xliv. 7 sq. ; xlv. 19, 21 ; xlvi. 10 ; xlviii. 3 sqq.), the reryant of Jahve (lii. 13 sqq.), and the representation of a representative endurance of punishment (liii. 4 sqq. ; Ivii. 1) to be " favorite subjects " of the author's that do not appear in Isaiah? AVe shall show below, that the dialectics with wliich the Prophet enters the lists against idols and for Jehovah, and which are found already in the germ ii. 20 ; xxx. 22 ; xxxi. 7, by no means pertain to a mere pet theme that involuntarily comes uppermost, but that, in the passages named, it quite accords with the practical tendency to wholly deliver from the bonds of idolatry the nation that at the end of the exile would be ripe for this. The servant of Jehovah is just as little a mere pet theme. This notion in all cir- cumstances stands sui generis. If Isaiah is not the author of chapters xl.-lxvi., then the " '\2j} is peculiar to this author, for no where else does it appear. But just in the recognized genuine pas- sages of Isaiah are to be found the germs also of this conception. Such is the noS iy. 2 ; very espe- cially however the "d' i'W3 luh xi. 1, to which passage manifest reference is had liii. 2. To this may be added, that the word ;'j.J, beside xi. 1, occurs only xl. 24 and Job xiv. 8. A representa- tive endurance of punishment lies at the foundation of the entire sacrificial worship (comp. liii. 7), and that the idea was taken up into the national consciousness, and further developed is proved by expressions like that of Micah, Isaiah's contemporary, who, vi. 7, speaks of the giving of the first born son as an atoning sacrifice. Must, therefore, this idea have been foreign to Isaiah ? Must it point to the period of the exile ? And must Isaiah necessarily speak of it before he proceeded to make his prophetic sketch of the " l^i' ? Finally it is urged as a discrepancy that our author looks for a theocracy without a king, whereas Isaiah will not do without a king (ix. .5 (6) ; xi. 1 ; xxxii. 1 ; xxxiii. 17). It is true indeed that in our chaptere the promised redeemer is never called king. Manifestly the author avoids the word, but he has the substance. For royal works and royal honors are in richest measure attributed to this Redeemer. It is said of Him that He will set up justice and law on earth (xlii. 4; li. 4), and will judge the people (li. 5 ; Ixiii. 1-6). He will also be light and salvation to the heathen, (xlix. 6), all kings of the heathen will pay Him homage as the prince and commander of the nations (ly. 4 sqq. ; xlix. 7 ; Ix. 2 sq., 10 sqq. ; lii. 15 ; liii. 12. Comp. Ixi. 2-5 and the commentary). One must wonder that He, who will be over all kings, does not Himself receive the royal title. But just in this seems to lie also the solution of the riddle. The title 1 70 appeared to the Prophet too inferior, too liable to misconstruction. One might have supposed the redeemer v.-ould be only a king of the same genus as the others, only, perhaps, a higher species of this genus. But the Prophet knows that this TJJ, as he calls Him Iv. 4, will be toto ijenere difierent from all other kings. He will even be, on the one hand, as the despised servant, (seem- ingly) low beneath them, and on the other, by reason of the extent, power and glory of His king- dom, immeasurably high above them. So that one may say : the title 'yi'O appeared to the Prophet to suit neither the lowliness nor the highness of the servant. h. As regards style and the use of words, it is indeed acknowledged that otir author has in these respects great resemblance to Isaiah. Knobel says : " The author writes, indeed, like Isaiah, very enthusiastically, fervently and lively, but much more flowingly and smoothly, also more broadly and more diffuse." FrERST (Gesch. d. bibl. Lit. II. p. 643) says of the Unnamed, that He " occupies the highest position among the later prophets as a classic." Tliis saying is properly a contradiction ; for classic writing is found only in the period of the splendor of a language, not among the epir/onoi. FuERST involuntarily gives us to understand that the chapters xl. — Ixvi. belong still to the classic pro- ductions of Hebrew literature. Uitbeeit also (in Herz., M. Encijcl. VI. p. 518) says: " If the son of Amoz were really the author also of the later books, then, not only in respect to form, but also in the perfection ot the prophetic spirit ... he attained the highest pinnacle." And on the next page he calls t'ne author ot chapters xl.-lxvi. "Isaiah risen again in a new body of the spirit." Therefore we find here again the admission, that chapters xl.-lyi., in respect to the "form" or '' body," belong to the grandest productions of the Hebrew spirit. And this writing, to which men cannot refuse the reputation of a classic even as to form, must still have originated, not in the classic period, but in a period when Hebrew was just at the point of disappearing as a living tongue? The Psalms of the exile, Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, Daniel, Chronicles would be the books which, in 20 IXTEODUCTION TO THE PEOPHET ISAIAH. point of time, would stand nearest our chapters. Yet what a difference between those and these in respect to the cliaracter of tiie language in general. Contrasted with this great diflerence, the relatively few singularities that are urged in favor of the exile origin of our chapters cannot be regarded. If we consider how many-sided the spirit of Isaiah is, and how he knows how to fit the form to the contents, we cannot wonder if he uses up the entire store of words at his command, and therefore at times draws ft-om popular speech, from kindred dialects and even from foreign languages, and here and there allows himself to diverge from the normal modes of expression with a rhetorical art, whose fineness we are not always in condition to appreciate. Doubtless, too, many an expression that occurs only in later writers is to be referred to Isaiah as its source. To this is to be added that Isaiah no doubt wrote our chapters in the latest period of his life, that therefore a period of forty or more years, perhaps, separate his latest and earliest literary productions, and that the, in many respects, new contents naturally conditioned a corresponding new form. Ewald says of the genuine Isaiah : ''As the subject requires, he has easily at command every sort of speech and every change of representation, and that establishes his greatness, and also in general is one of his most prominent advantages." {Proph. d. A. B. I. p. 173, comp. Hengstenberg, Chrisiol. II. p. 213). And yet, regardless of this recognized peculiarity of Isaiah, and spite of the existing relationship in respect to form so recognized, men will deny that chapters xl.-lxvi., are Isaiah's ! I would add still further, that much that is urged as proof of difference is to be put to the account of the few in- terpolations that I think I must assume (see the commentary). Thus I might be held excused from entering upon the consideration of the several points that are urged in regard to style and language. Yet I will investigate a few of these points by way of example, in order to show how little reliable the critical results are. Thus Knobel urges that the author frequently doubles words for tlie sake of emphasis, i. e., applies the rhetorical figure of anadiplosis or epanalepsis. He quotes in proof xl. 1 ; xli. 27 ; xliii. 11, 25 ; xlviii. 11, 15 ; li. 9, 12, 17 ; lii. 1, 11 ; Ivii. 6, 14, 19 ; Ixii. 10 ; Ixv. 1. But this form of speech occurs not seldom in the passages recognized as genuine : viii. 9 ; xviii. 2, 7 ; xxi. 11 ; xxviii. 10, 13; xxix. 1. If we add to this that it appears also in the assailed passages of part first (xv. 1 ; xxi. 9 ; xxiv. 16 ; xxv. 1 ; xxvi. 3, 5, 15 ; xxvii. 5 ; xxxviii. 11, 17, 19), we can only say that it is, after all, a peculiarity of our Prophet that answers to the liveliness of his spirit. In these chapters are found ''a great many expressions that occur only in them, or at least only in the later books beside, and that for the most part need to be explained from the Aramaic," says Knobel (p. 335). As regards the many n-af ?.ty6iieva, they furnish no proof- in themselves. For even in the nnassailed passages such are found in great number. Their use is to be explained by this, that the Prophet completely commanded the entire vocabulary of his language, and hence, for the more fitting expression of some turns of thought, drew from some province of language not otherwise known to us. If many such expressions occur only once in Isaiah, and are found beside only in later writers, it ought first to be proved that the latter did not borrow from Isaiah. Kegard- ing the statement that these expressions must for the most part be explained from the Aramaic, it must be remembered that in very many instances the etymology is doubtful. Beside, it is quite possible that the root of the words in question received in the Aramaic branch of the language a stronger, in the Hebrew a weaker development. Bnt, as has been said, Isai.th used less frequent words, and forms of language and discourse, as he needed them. The commentary offers the proof of all this. The word D'JJO (xli. 25), which Kkobel says is Persian, is now most conclusively proved to be Assyrian {comp. Schrader, Die Keilinschnflen u. d. A. T. p. 254, 82 ; 270, 15 ; 279, (5). For the rest we refer to the List prepared by me with great pains, and to be found at the close of the volume. It offers a convenient survey of the vocabulary of chapters xl.-lxvi. It may be seen there what words and word forms (and to some extent, turns of expression), occur in both parts, and what in only part second, and what are absolute or relative diraf ?.ey6/icva. This collection contains all the words that occur, excepting such words as can properly mark no characteristic dif- ference. By this means I have put a considerable weight into the scale of criticism. But, on the one hand, this exacts the scientific rule of debate, which forbids arguing ex dnbiis. On the other hand this disadvantage is more than balanced by the advantage that the result, which, as it seems to me, favors the authenticity of chapters xl.-lvi., may be recognized as all the more assured. It is true that from this arrangement of the survey it also becomes plain that several of the controverted passages of part first, expressly xxxiv.-xxxv., aro very nearly related to the chapters xl.-lxvj., be- longing, as they doubtless do, to the same period of the Prophet's life. I would add that the coUec- i 4. AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGBITY OF THE BOOK. 21 tion in so far gives an unsatisfactory representation, that, though it shows where each word occurs in Isaiah, it does not show where it is to be foinid beside ; therefore, especially, it does not appear in it whether a word belongs to the older or more recent period of the language. Space did not al- low me to embrace this feature in the collection : yet the commentary makes up as much as possible what is wanting. The sura of the matter is: it will appear from the comparison that chapters sl.- Ixvi., do indeed difJer considerably in language from the passages of Isaiah that are recognized as genuine ; but that still that there is so much that is common to both, that these differences aflbrd no satisfactory reasons for denying Isaiah's authorship of the chapters in question. I may be charged with inconsistency because, in reference to the genuineness of Lamentations, I attached such considerable weight to singularities of language as proving that Lamentations had not Jeremiah for their author, whereas I do otherwise in reference to Isa. xl.-lxvi. But, apart from the fact that the ditferences in language in the case of Isa. xl. — Ixvi., seem to me less than those observed in the case of Lamentations, I am of the opinion that Isa. xl.-lvi., as a ifhole must be acknawledged to be as dtcidedly like Isaiah in character, as the Lamentations taken as a whole are unlike Jeremiah. When I make the above admission of general difference between the first and second parts of Isaiah, I must still emphasize here, that the first chapter of our book, i. e., the first introduction, forms a re- markable exception. For this chapter has plain traces of relationship to chapters xl.-lxvi. Now no one doubts the genuineness of chap. i. But if that is acknowledged, then, presupposing that re- Lationship, one must decide in favor of the genuineness of xl.-lxvi. That such a relationship act- ually exists may be seen from the following comparison, in which are enumerated those expressions that occur onli/ in chap. i. and xl.-lxvi. (or in the contemporaneoua chapters of part first, that are likewise pronounced not genuine). 1"3Ki. 24-xlix. 26; Ix. 16. 2nK i. 23-xli. 8; Ivi. 10; Ixi. 8 ; Ixvi. 10. cVx Terebinths i. 29— Ivii. 5 ; Ixi. 3. D''7''X Rams i. II — xxxiv. 6 ; Ix. 7. S^l i. 3— (xvi. 8) ; xli. 15 ; 1. 8. njia Pi. i. 12— xl. 20 ; ili. 12, 17 ; xlv. 19 ; li. 1 ; Ixv. 1. I'l'y na l. g ;— (xvi. l) ; xxxvii. 22; lii. 2; Ixii. 11. nJ3 i., xxix. 30— Ixi. 11; Ixv. 3; Ixvi. 17. DT Sing. i. 11— (xv. 9) ; ixxiv. 3, 6, 7 ; xlix. 26 ; lix. 3, 7 ; ixvi. 8. |:i2nn i. S-xiv. 16; xliii. 18; lii. 15. I^n i. 23— iliv. 11. nnn i. 13, 14— xlvii. 13 ; Ixvi. 23. NDn Kal. i. 4— xlii. 22 ; xliii. 27 ; Ixiv. 4 ; Ixv. 20. ^Sn i. 11— xxxiv. C, 7; xliii. 24; Lx. 16. 'Sn i. 5— xxxviii. 9 ; liii. 3, 4, 10. nan i. 29— xliv. 9 ; liii. 2. ysn i. 11— xiii. 17 ; xlii. 21. isn i. 29— xxiv. 23. 3*U i. 19— Ixiii. 7 ; Ixv. 14. n33 i. 31— xxxiv. 10 ; xlii. 3 ; xliii. 17 ; Ixvi. 24. 121 " "3 -3 i. 2, 20— xl. 5 ; Iviii. 14. ns^ Niph. i. 14— (xvi. 12) ; xlvii. 13. on: Niph. i. 24— Ivii. 6. r\2: Hoph. i. 5— liii. 4. inc subst. i. 22— K3D verb Ivi. 12. nin' 31^ i. 4, 28— Ixv. 11. nS';; i. U— xl. 16; xliii. 23 ; Ivi. 7 ; lii. 8. INTEODUCTION TO THE PKOPHET ISAIAH. nSi' i. 30 — xxvii. 3 ; xxxiv. 4 ; Ixiv. 5. , oh^ Hiph. i. 15— Hithp. Iviii. 7. iv;n3 Pi. i. 15— XXV. 11 ; Ixv. 2. yUS i. 2, 28;— xliii. 27; xlvi.8; xlviii. 8; liii. 12; lix. 13; Ixvi. 24. IDS i, 18— li. 8. II'X i. 25— xl. 19 ; xli. 7 ; xlvi. 6 ; xlviii. 10. nj^NT i. 26— lii. 4; Lx. 9; Ixv. 7. 31 i. 11— xxxvii. 24; xlvii. 9, 12, 13; Ivii. 10; Ixiii. 1,7. n3T Imperf. Hiph. i. 15-xl. 29 ; li. 2 ; Iv. 7 ; Ivii. 9. 3'1 i. 23— xxxiv. 8; xli. 11, 21 ; Iviii. 4. «:W i. 14— lx. 15; Ixi. 8; Ixvi. 5. I^ty i. 7— xliv. 16, 19; xlvii. 14. 0-yd i. 27— lix. 20. T\3U i. 13— Ivi. 2, 6; Iviii. 13; Ixvi. 23. j'^ty i. 18— iv. 10. J'Sin (Hi'ViP, n^Vw) i. 18— xiv. 11; xli. 14; Ixvi. 24. nnjl^m i. 13— xli. 24; xliv. 19. nbijn i. 15 — xxxvii. 4; xxxviii. 5; Ivi. 7. Of course this list offers primarily only dry words and figures. But whoever examines closely will see that very characteristic traits are represented by them. Thus it is certainly not an accident that the expressions D'''7"X and KliJ, found in the reproofs addressed to the idolatrous nation still in exile, occur again only in chap. i. The Q'^tV are mentioned i. 27 only in the same connection as in lix. 20, i. e., in connection with the idea of the restoration of law and justice. What meaning the " 2Jff has in xl.— Ixvi. will appear below. Can it be an accident that this conception occurs only i. 4, 28 and Ixv. 11? Just a.s little as the use of j^U'S noted in the foregoing list. The notion njtyXT plays a great part in these chapters. How does it happen that it is only mentioned beside in i. 26? Nothing is said in the whole book of r\TCt and d-\n except at the beginning and end, as noted above. The same is the case with 13T " '3 O, with p-i' n3, with UJ>2. NOn, 31D. HxS:, 31, 3n and all the modes of expression cited above. It is incontestible that the Prophet in chap. i. accords in many ways precisely with the sphere of thoughts in which he had moved in chaps, xl.— Ixvi. And that agrees admirably with tlie view, in which we have followed Drechsler and others, that chap. i. was exactly the last piece written. For in that case it is quite natural that in this piece numerous agreements should appear with the final parts of the work just completed. And how very exactly the words i. 7-9 correspond to the situation of the land under Hezekiah, when the king of the land was isolated and shut up in his capital " like a bird in its cage I" How admirably, too, it suits the grand, threefold entrance, that the author had before him in its chief substance the whole of his great work ! Eeply to Objection Three.— Jer. xxvi. is cited as proof that the prophets who prophesied after Isaiah and before the exile did not know the chaps, xl.— Ixvi. It is said that Jeremiah, having incurred the peril of his life by announcing the destruction of Jerusalem and of the holy places. would certainly in self-protection have appealed to these chapters had he been acquainted with them. This is a very weak objection. For, in the first place, what we read Jer. xxvi. 4-6 is only the quint- essence of what he had to announce at that time. Yet even in this quintessence it is intimated that Jeremiah appealed to existing prophecies. For it is said there : " If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in rav law, which I have set before vou, to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you,-then will I make this house like Shiloh," elc. Who can maintain that Jeremiah, if he mentioned the prophets that the Lord sent, did not cite also some expression of theirs? The summary statement Jer. xxvi. 5 certainly does not exclude this. But if he did so, w.as he obliged to quote precisely Isa. xl.— Ixvi. ? These chapters do not even discourse about the de- struction of Jerusalem and of the temple, but of their restoration. The sole passage that speaks of the destroyed sanctuaries is Ixiv. 10, 11. But precisely this passage Jeremiah could not quote, see. 4. AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGEITY OF THE BOOK. 23 ing that (according to our view) it did not at that time exist. Any way this arguing a sUentio proves too much, ajid therefore proves nothing. For .«ince there cannot be found in Jeremiah xxvi. quota- tions from any other older prophecies tliat directly predict this destruction, one must conclude with the same justice that all reputed older prophecies of the sort were not in existence in Jeremiah's time. Take e. g., Isa. v. 5 sqq. ; vi. 11 ; Hos v. 14 ; Amos ii. 4 sq. ; vi. 1 sqq.— Here criticism uses Jeremiah's silence to draw from it an argument again.st the genuineness of isa. xl. — Ixvi. In other places, where Jeremiah and his fellow-prophets after the time of Isaiah actually quote Isa. xl., Ixvi., criticism will have that it is no quotation from our chapters, but a quotation on the part of the au- thor of chapters xl. — Ixvi. of the pa-ssages in question. The passages principally concerned here are the following : — Isaiah xl. 24 " xlvii. 8 " li. 7 " li. 15 " li. 17 " li. 19 " li. 19 (lix. 7; Lx. 18) " H. 20 " lii. 1 (li. 23),7 " Ivii. 19, 21 " Ivii. 20 " • Ixi. 8 Ixv. 3 " Ixv. 6, 7 Ixv. 16 " Ixv. 17 " Ixvi. 15 " Ixvi. 16 compare with Jer. xii. 2. Zeph. ii. 15. Jer. xxxi. 33. " xxxi. 35. Ezek. xxiii. 34. Nah. iii. 7. Jer. xlviii. 3. Nah. iii. 10. " ii. 1. Jer. vi. 14 ; viii. 11. " xlix. 23. " xxxii. 40 sq. " xxxii. 29, 30. " xvl. 18 ; xxxii. « iv. 2. " iii. 16. " iv. 13. " XXV. 31, 33 This list is by no means complete. It contains only a selection. We shall mention below a much larger number of parallel passages and examine them. Comp. also Kueper, Jer. librorum ss. inlerpr. atque vindex, 1837, p. 132 sqq. But it will suffice to prove in a few passages the priority of our chapters, and to establish it generally as an existing fact. Such striking passages are found above all in Nahnm who, as to time, comes next after Isaiah. It is now definitely known from the Assyrian monuments that Asurbanapal, the son and successor of Asarhaddon, destroyed the Egyp- tian Thebes (No — Amon) in his second great military expedition (see ScHRADER.i). A'ei/inscAnJ/eii i(, d. A. T. p. 287 sqq.). Nothing is known of any other destruction of Thebes. Thebes decliued gradually after the residence of the Pharaohs had been transferred to the Delta. According to the monuments, that expedition of Asurbanapal occurred in the jieriod immediately after the death of Tirlilika (664 B. c). The destruction of Thebes, therefore, happened about the year 663- But Nahum, in whose mind this event was fresh, must have written soon after, say about the year 660 ■■(as ScHRAjJER conjectures, I. c). If this wa,s so, then it appears indubitable that chapters xl.-lxvi. liad already been written. For certainly no candid man can controvert that Nahum ii. 1, is a di- luted conglomeration from Isa. lii. 7, 1 and li. 23. Notice especially the construction ^'pv S7 TV '^3"5<'T Isa. lii. 1 compared with ^3-"i3J-''7 Tlj; f^'O'V xS in Nahum. In the latter not only is the Infin. "13i'7 the normal and easier construction compared with the harsher construction with the verb. Jin. (which is common in Isaiah; seei. 19; vi. 13; xxix. 4; xlv. 21; xlvii. 1,5; lii. 1; l.xiv. 4, but never occurs in Nahum), but tij^ is evidently borrowed from Isa. li. 23, yet is connected) ■not with \'^^', which would be most natural, but with the '^3 that is found in Isaiah. See moreover the commentary. It can be just as little controverted that Nah. iii. 7 and 10 find their pattern and source in Isa. li. 19, 20. For the proof see the commentary. Zeph. ii. 15 announces itsglf as a citation by the words l-JTI HXT. vh^ is specifically one of Isai.ih's expressions, and as for lU' 'Pp**- in no book does ODX occur so often as in Isaiah (see the comment). The words V7J inTTl DTI i'JI ^•^d rMtya nirr' Isaiah li. 15 are found in Jer. xxxi. 35 where they are quoted in proof of the un- cTiangableness of the order of nature given by God. But the words are applicable in this sense 24 INTEODUCTION TO THE PROPHET ISAIAH. only when used of the ebb and flow of tlie tide. The words, in themselves considered, only signify that God is able by His omnipotence to stir up the sea into mighty heaving waves. This happens chiefly by storms. For the regular rising of the tide is not necessarily attended with mighty heaving waves. The reference to the ebb and flow of the tide is put into the words. Thus the words Isa. li. 15 stand in their original sense, and hence manifestly in their original place (see the coram., in loc, and also on Jer. xxxi. 35). The words '7pr N7 Opi^H Isa. Ivii. 20, spoken of the stirred up sea, are applied in Jer. xlix. 23 to the population of a city set in commotion by bad news. Here, too, one may see that Jeremiah has only transferred the words, and applied them in quite a special sense that does not quite agree with their original sound. For in Isa. the wicked are compared to the never-resting sea that ceaselessly casts up foam and dirt. There the expression 73V N^ Dpi:/n is quite in place. But may one say that the populace of a city is continually in a commotion such as bad news occasions? Therefore Jeremiali characterizes a transitory condition with words that pro- perly and originally can only describe a continuing state. Let us notice also that we find in Zecha- riah (vii. 7) a very express testimony that our chapters, which he uses in many ways, were composed by one of the "old prophets" at a time "when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain." See for particulars the comment on Isa. Iviii. 6 sqq. • Reply to Objection Fourth. — It is alleged that in the Talmud Isaiah follows Ezekiel, be- cause at that time already part second, written at the close of the exile, had been bound to part first, and both parts indeed were currently received as Isaiah's ; yet an obscure hint of Isaiah not being the author was given by puttinj the book of two parts after Ezekiel (see Fuerst, D. Kanon dts A. T., p. 16). ElcHHORN was the first to use this, and since then it has been continually repeated (see Gesenius, I. 1, p. 22; Hitzis, p. 475; Knobel, edited by Diestel, p. XXVIII., «te.). Accord- ing to EiCHHORN, the book of Isaiah is an anthology of prophecies, all the authors of which are un- known, excepting only Isaiah. The book of the twelve minor prophets also he would make out to be an anthology, but of prophets all of whom are known. Kow because the latter anthology con- tained several names (Zech., Hag., Mai.) that were more recent than the most recent in the Isaiah anthology, this last named was placed before the other, between it and Ezekiel. Eichhorn says this in Part III., I 528 of his Introduction (and that even in the first edition of 1783). But in Part I., § 7 he does not seem to have known that the order "Jer., Ezek., Isa." occurs already in the Tal- mud. He ascribes it to the more recent manuscripts, by which doubtless must be meant the Ger- man and Galilean; for the Spanish MSS., like the Masorets, put Isaiah before. But if now EiCH- horn regards this placing Isaiah after as a change which the Jews made "on account of certain and unknown causes, often on account of wonderful caprice.'' may not the same be said of those old Jews that fancied the order found in the Talmud? Even Vitbinga (p. 21, ed. Basil) calls attention to the fact that, according to the Talmud, Jeremiah wrote the Books of Kings (Baba Batra, 15 a, - Fuerst, Kanon des A. T., p. 14). And, in fact, Jer. lii. is nearly identical with 2 Kings xxiv. 18 —XXV. 30. Therefore, because Jeremiah was regarded as the writer of the last book of the pro- phetae priores, his prophetical book was made the first of the propketae posleriores. Then Isaiah must be put either between Jer. and Ezek., or after Ezekiel. The latter was resolved on under the influence of the fashion of gauging the principal contents of these books then current. Re- proving was thought to be Jeremiah's characteri.stic (XJ2-nn m3. tolus in mstatione'), Ezekiel's to be half reproving, half consolatory («TOn: nSlCj 5'TRODUCTION TO THE PEpPHET ISAIAH. [John Gill, a Baptist minister in London : " An exposition of the Old and New Testament, Lon- don, 17-13-63, 9 parts Fol. ; designed for doctrinal and practical improvement, yet distinguished from other works of the class by its erudition in a single province, viz., talmudic and rabbinical literature"]. On the Lutheran side we may mention the expositions of Seb. ScHinDT, Prof., in Strassburg (Hamburg, 1702), JoH. Dav. Michaelis, " Oerman translation of the Old Testament, u-ith re- marks for the unlearned, Part VIII., Isaiah, Goettingen, 1779." Moldenhauee, pastor in Ham- burg (17S0). Hezel, Prof, in Giessen and Dorpat (Lemgo, 17S4, fifth part of Hezel's Bibel- tuerk). Hexzler, Prof, in Kiel (Hamburg, (1788). The transition to the 19th century is formed by E. F. K. Rosenmuller, Scholiain V. T., the third part of which containing Isaiah, appeared in Leipzig, 1791-93, 1810-20, 1829-34. Tlie critical tendency which began already in the 18th century with Koppe, Eichhorh {Introduction to the Old Testament, I. ed., 1783; [to be found in English], JoH. Chr. Doederlein (Esaias, etc_ Latino vertit notasque subjeeit, Altorf, 1775 and often), G. Eberh. Gottl. Paulus (Philologische Clavis ueber das A. T., 1793), G. L. Bauer {Scholia in F. T., vols. VIII. and IX., 1794, 1795), J. Chr. W. Augtjsti {Exeget. Handb. d. A. T. v. Hopfnee, 5 and 6 Stuck, 1799), &c., was continued 3n the 19th Century by Gesesius {D.Proph. Jes. nea uehersetzt, 1820. Philolog. kritischer u. hist. Comm., 1821), IIiTZio {D. Proph. Jcs. ucbcrs. u. ausg-, 1833), Maurer {Comm. gramm. crit. in V- T., Vol. I., 1835), Hendewerk {DesProph. Jes. Weiss, chronolog. geordnet, uebersetzt u. erkl., 1838 and 1S43), Ewald {die Proph. d. A. B. I. Ausg., 1840), Beck {die cyro-jesajan. Weiss, cder die Kapp. XL.-LXVL, etc., 1844), Ernst Meier {D. Proph. Jes. ekl, 1850 — contains only chapters i.-xxiii. — and Pie Proph. BB. d. A. T., uebers. u. erkl., 1863), Knobel (D. Proph. Jes. .erkl. I. Ausg., 1843; 4, herausg. von Diestel, 1872). In some respects the practical commentary of Ujibreit (I Ausg., 1841, II. Aiifl., 1846) belongs here. From the positive standpoint Isaiah has been expounded by Drechsler {D. Proph. Jes. ueber- setzt u. erkl. Kapp. i.-xii., 1845 ; II. Th. 1. Halfte Kapp. xiii.-xxvii., 1849 ; 2. Hael/te, xxviii.- xxxix., published from Dkechsler's remains by Delitzsch and Hahn, 1854; III. Theil, Kapp., xl.-lsvi., prepared by Hahn with a preface by Delitzsch), then by Delitzsch {Bibl. Kommentar ueber d. Proph. Jcs. II. ^ray., 1809) [published in English by Clark of Edinburg]. The chapters xl.-lxvi., have been expounded alone, from the positive position by Stier {Jesajas r.icht Pseudo = J'esajas, 1850), in the sense of the modern criticism by Selnecke {Der Evangelist des A. T., 1870). The Messianic prophecies have been expounded on the part of Protestants by Hengstenbeeg, in his Christology of the Old Testament (I. Ausg. 1829-35, I. Bd. 2 Haelfte ; II., Ausg., 1854-56 ; II., Bd.). [Published in English by Clark, of Edinburg]. On the part of the Roman Catholics, lay Lor. Reinke, Prof, in Munster. The same author published separate treatises on chapters lii. 13-iiii. 12, in 1836, chapter ii. 2-4 in 1838, chapters vii. 14-10 in 1848 ; but the other passages in the book " Pie messian Weiss, bci den grossen u. kleinen Prophctcn," Giessen, 1859-62, 5 vols. (vols. I. and II., contain Isaiah). Apart from the Romish lack of freedom, it is a very learned work, pre- pared with great thoroughness and care. Other commentaries by catholic theologians will be found enumerated by Reinke, I. c I. p. 39 sq., 43 sq. As recently published I will add : Rohling, D. Proph. Jcs. uebers. u. erkl., 1872 {i. Abth. I. Bd.mn "IHeheil. Schri/tendes A. T,nach Kalholischen Prinzipien uebers. u. erkl. von eincm Vercin befreundeter Fachgenossen). Iseteler, Das Buch Jesa- jas uebers. u. erkl, 1876. By the same author has appeared already in 1870 : Die Gleidemng des Buchs Jesajas als Grundlage seiner Erklaerung. [Dr. liofS^,l>ieWeiss. des Proph. Jes. Berlin, 1877]. [Works on Isaiah in English of more recent date are: The Book of Isaiah, with a ytw Translr- iion and Kotcs, by the Rev. Albert Barnes, 3 vols., 8vo, Boston, 1840, and various reprints. The Earlier Prophecies of Isaiah, by J. A. AleX-\nder, D. D., New York, 1846; Later Prophecies, ibid., 1847; both reprinted in Glasgow under the editorship of John Eadie, D. D., 1848 and 18G5; new and revised edition, Kew York, 1875. Isaiah Translated and Explained, an abridgement of the fore- going, New York, 1S51, 12mo, 2 vols. This Commentary of Dr. J. A. Alexander ranks all of English authorship to the present. The 8vo edition is valuable as a synopsis of commentators and of exposition up to 1848. Dr. Ebenezer Henderson's Translation and Commentary, London, 1840, 2nd edition, 1857. See also Dr. Noyse's New Translation of the Ilcbrnv Prophets, mth jVb/ps, Vol. I., 3d edition, Boston, 1867. Commentary on the Book of Isaiah, including a revised English Translation, by the Rev. T. R. ButKS, London, 1871.] ? 5. LITERATURE. 27 Other works that have chosen for subjects selected and smaller portions of the Prophet are : X' Empeueur D. Is. Abrabanielis et Mos, Ahchechi comm. in Esajae prophetiam tricesimam (cap. lii. 13 — liii. 12), etc.; subjuncta refutatione, etc.; Ludg. Bat., 1631. Dav. Millii : Miscellanea Sacra, containing among other things a Cmnm. philolog. crit. in Jesajoe, cap. liv., Amstelod., 1754. SPON- . SEL: Abhandlimgen ueber den Propheten Jesajus (kap. i. — xvii.), Nuremberg, 1779. I. Dan Krui- <}ER: DeverisimilUma oracuLi Jes. lii. 13 — liii. 12 iiiterpretandi ratione (Leipzig L'niv. Programme), 1809. C. Fr. LuDW. Arndt : Deloco Jes. capp. xxiv. — xxvii. I'i'nrficando et explicando, Hamburg, 1826. A. McCaul, [of Trinity College, London] ; The doctrine and Exposition of the liii. of Isaiah (German translation, Frankfurt a. M., 1854, 6th ed.). LuD. de Geer: De oraculo in Moabitas Jes. XV., xvi. (Doctor-Dissert.), Utrecht, 1855. Boehl: T'a(. Jt-s. capp. xxiv. — xxvii., Leipzig, 1861. V. F. Oehler: Der Knecht Jehovas im Deuterojesaja, 1865. S. J. Jakobsson : Immanuel, die Ersch- einnng des Messias in Knechtsgestalt, Berlin, 1868. Bernh. Stade: De Isaiae vaticiniis aethiopicis, Leipzig, 1873. On Introduction and Criticism. — Pifeb.: Integritas Jesaiae a recentiorum conatibus vindi- cata, Greifsw., 1792. Beckhaus: Ueber die Intcgretael der proph. Schriften des A.B., Halle, 1798. Moeller : De aulhentia orac. Jes. capp. xl. — Ixvi., Havniae, 1825. Kleinert : Ueber die Echtheit saemmtlicher in dem Buch Jes. enthaltenen Weissagungen, Berlin, 1829. Caspari : Beitraege zur Ein- leilung in das B. Jesaja und zur Gesch. der jesajan. Zeit, Berlin, 1848. Ibid.: Jeremia, eiii Zeuge f. d. Echth. von Jes. xxxiv., etc. (in the Zeitschr. f. luth. Theol. u. K., 1843). Of practical treatises on Isaiah I mention only such as comprehend the entire book. Veit Dietrich : Der ganze Proph. Jesaias ausgelegt, alien Christen nuetz-utid troestlich zu tesen, Nuremberg, 1548. Nik. Selneccer: Ausleg. des Proph. Jes., Leipzig, 1569. Abr. Scclteti : Chncionum in Jes. habitarum idea confecta opera Balth. Tilesii, Hanau, 1609 (the arrangement of the sermons carried even into details in the Latin). Heinr. Bcxlinoer: 190 homiliae in Esaiam, Tiguri, 1565 and 1576. RuD. Gualtherus: Archetypi homiliarum in Esaiam, Tiguri, 1590 (327 homilies). De.'i Evangelisten A. T. Jesaiae Sonn-u. Eestagsevangelien, etc., gruendlich erklart von J. B. Caepzov, Leipzig, 1719 (sermons on all Sundays and Feast-days of the Church year, having each a text from Isaiah corresponding to the Gospel text). Jno. Geo. Leigh (Pastor in Kindelbruecken) : Comment. § 290, c). But a comparison of these pas- sages shows that the expressions in question are partly proverbial, (see Drechsler in loc.) partly do not admit of the meaning "all" in any wise. In the present case both meanings are in themselves possible. If, then, the prophet would convey the meaning " whole," he must use the article. ^iPn must, any way, be regarded as de- pendent on n^n understood. But it is doubtful whether that is to be taken in the sense of " belongs, is fallen to," or as meaning "is become." The latter is the more probable, because ' 7117 TTil bears analogy to expres- sions like T137, D07 rrn. it is a strong expression, stronger than T\^r\. 'Sn is then to be taken as ab- stractum pro concreto. Apart from this concrete mean- ing of the word, we may compare the construction of n'n with S with passages like 1 Sam. iv. 9 (D'C'ix'^ ITIl) and xviii. 17 (S^n-[3S 'Vn-n). -n 33^731. ■n 3S is found also 'j'er. viii. 18, and Lam. i. 22. "H does not occur again in Isaiah. Ver. 6. The expression tyXl""l>'l '7Jl-']30 is found only here. Every where else It reads Iplp IJ'V (Deut. xxviii. 35 ; 2 Sam. xiv. 25 ; Job ii. 7). — 13 f'X- We would expect D33, as in ver. 5. But such changes in person and number occur frequently in Hebrew, comp. xvii. 13; Ps. V. 10. — DnO integrum, sanum, is found beside only Jud. xx. 48; Ps.'xxxviii.4, 8.— ;?i'3 {from yS3 fidit) is fissura, a wound that comes from tear or scratch ; found in Isaiah only here. Hl^SH (joined to J?y3, also Prov. XX. 30) is "the extravasated stripe or swelling," (see Delitzsch in loc.) ; only here in Isaiah. iT'lID 712"^ Cia from n"M3 = nSt3 recan.l fuit, found beside only in Jud. XV. 15) is the raw wound of a cut. Ill with ac- cented penult cannot be derived from Till dispe7-sit ; nor can it be the same as ^Ir in Ps. Iviil. 4. It is either an intensive form analogous to ^11/3, ^IX. 1 Sam. xiv. 29; 13b, Num. xxiv. 5; Song of S. iv. 10 ; or an archaic passive form from l^T (comp. ^'S'l, Job xxiv. 24). The latter seems to me likely forHllTn, Isa. lix. 5, "the squeezed, crushed" (egg), rTl^Tjl (the foot shall crush it. Job xxxii. 15) IV) (he squeezed out the fleece, Jud. THE PROPHET ISAIAH. Tl. 38), as well as the substantive ^110 compressio, torn- pressum^vulnus, (Jer. xxi. 13; Hos. v. 13) prove that there is a root 111 with the meaning " press together" (comp. ■^■IS), to which then our lit would serve as a passive, like its'! to D^l ; comp. Gesentos T^esnur., p. 412. ly^n in Isaiah beside this iii. 7; xxx. 26; Ixi. 1. The first two verbs are in the plural, which shows that the substantives are to be understood col- lectively: the third verb is fern, singular. No gram- matical necessity appears for this. It seems as if the prophet wanted to vary the form of expression and the fem. sing, with its quality of taking a neuter construc- tion offered the handle for it. Pual ^31 only found here ; Kal of it is found Isa. vii. 4. Ver. 7. nonty occurs in Isa. also vi. ll;'ivii. 9; Ixii. 4 ; Ixiv. 9. The expression lyX niiJIE? (Ps. Ixxi. 17) is only found here. The following 'n^DCT does not belong as a second predicate to DDHDIN, for then N'n ought not to be absent. But it is itself subject, to which nn'n must be supplied. The last, then, has the words D'SrnDSnn3 as attribute. These last-named words are explained quite variously. But as it is established that the first word is used onlv in reference to the de- struction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the meaning of it cannot be doubtful. From the original passage, Deut. xxix. 22 (23) we And the words cited in Amos iv. 11, and in I.sa. xiii. 19 and Jer. 1. 40 exactly alike. In Jer. xlix. 18 we find them as in Deut. Ver. 8. 'X"n3 mnijl. The 1 l^ere is not conversive but simple conjunctive, as the whole context proves, which is only a representation of things present- n3p from 130, " to weave together," the lair of the- lion 'as well as the foliage of the feast of tabernacles. Lev. xxiii. 34 sqq., or the booth of the watchman. Job xxvii. 18; found again Isa. iv. 6. njl^O synonynx of liSn Iceus pernoctandi, night lodging x. 29, is used xxiv. 20, for the watchman's sleeping rug, that swings to and fro, having been hung up and spread out. ntVpO, lromK\Sp foundations of thee a great nation," Gen. xii. 2 ; and, " Unto of the earth, Ps. Ixxxii. 5, may not totter. At the thy seed have I given this laiid, from the river of same time one must assent to "the remark of De- Egypt, unto the great river, the river Euphrates LlT/scH • " heaven and earth were present and Gen. xv. 18. And this promise was fulfilled. 1. The prophet first introduces Jeliovah Him- self speaking, (vers. 2, 3). He calls heaven and earth to witness in order to enhance His lament over the people Israel. For His beneficence the Lord had only a harvest of disobedience, (ver. 2). The ox and ass are attached to their lord. Is- rael is not, (ver. 3). Therefore the prophet pvo- nonnces a war against the people that had for- saken the best and the greatest Lord, the Holy One of Israel, (ver. 4). Had the Lord been want- ing in discipline? Xo. He had chastised the people so much, that for the future He hopes for nothing more from that. Israel is (inwardly, morally) incurably sick, vers. (5, 6). While out- wardly (from the'chastisement) it is reduced to a minimum, (vers. 7, 8). Thus far, (directly and indirectly) the address of Jehovah. In the last verse, (9), the prophet hini.sclf confirms the fact, that still a little remnant exists on which to build the hope of a better future. 2. Hear heaven — do not consider it, vers. 2, 3. When the Lord of the world speaks, the world must hear in silence. Comp. Deut. xxxii. 1 ; P.s. 1. 1, 4 ; Mic. i. 2 ; vi. 1, 2. But here, as elsewhere, (Deut. iv. 2G; xxx. 19; xxxi.2S; Ps. 1. 4) the world is not invoked as simply an audi- ence, but as a witness, before whom the Lord participants when Jehovah gave His people the law (comp. Deut. iv. 36, and the places cited atiove) — so then must they hear and witness what Jeho- vah, their Creator and Israel's God, has to say and complain of," [afterseven centuries.— M.W.J. ] Abraham's seed became a great and numerous people. But this people also were the recipients of high hnnnr. For it is the holy nation, Deut. vii. 6, to whom the Lord drew near and revealed Him- self in an especial manner, Deut. iv. 6 sqq. ; CHAP. I. 2-9. 35 xxxii. sq.; Ps. cxlvii. 19 sq. It is therefore the ' then the ancestors themselves would be called re- consequence L called ''high above all nations," Deut. xxvi. 19; I Fo"" '^'^'!1? i'^.l is not only a posterity from xxviii. 1 ; comp. 2 Sam. vii. 23. The time of | reprobates, but also a posterity that consists of David and Solomon, and Uzziah's and Jotham's I reprobates, as Ixv. 23, " "DOi i?TI, means, not time, the echo of the former, are to be regarded (he descendants of blessed ones, but those them- as forerunner and type ot these promises. And they have rebelled against me.— According selves blessed, and like the expressions, ^2: ^22, to well-known Hebrew usage, wliat in substance 'jU'Sa 'ja, D'X'DJn 'J3, 'xy ^12 t d stands related as opposite is designated as equiva- , —■:••' ■;=„",•'' ••■' '' ° "'' , , . „ ,,.,>-, • . J • T ■ mean the sons of fools, of worthless fellows, of lent in form. i?^3 is a current word in Isa. i. , prophets, of sheep, but sons that are them.selves 28; xliii. 27; xlvi. 8; lix. 13, dc. Expositors fools, worthless, prophets, sheep. But as the inquire whether only idolatry is meant, or also idea i'^I points to the essential identity in fruit every kind of tran.=gression But we can't see ^nd seed, and to the former being conditioned by why every thmg should not be meant that could the latter, so one mu.^t think, not of the original be called opposition to the Lord ; or rather, why , ancestors of the nation, but rather of the genera- every transgression sliou d not be regarded as ,!„„ immediately preceding, chieflv, however, idolatry. Iheii have broken atrai/ from me. — M. r^e „„ ;,Uoi ««„„„(„,„ .,«*;„„ »i, . " i i- W. J.l The ox knoweth his owner.-^;i • °/ "" "^""^^ ancestry, a notion that even underlies ; -' ,11- m , ,.", the expression >fiT7/;o7a f,t('!i'ui' "generation of ox knoweth hs owner, any ox. The words explain j vipers," Matt. iii. 7. Oy^r^ i'll f, therefore a the rebelling, ver. sets this in clearer light, rne untlunlcmg brutes j Snd of the attribute are combined. The expres- even those or lowest degree, as the ox and ass, stiU I „: :, c i : :_ oa -o- ,, ., t "^ , by a rlietorical contrast that j genitive relation, in which the ideas of causafity The unthinking brutes, 1 „„^ „f ,,,„ ,t„.;K„fo o,.. „„.„i„-.,„^ ti : know their masters that feed them, and the crib out of which they eat, and acquire a certain at- tachment for ma.-Jter and crib, so that they do not voluntarily forsake them. 3. Ah, sinful nation — besieged city. — sion is found again xiv. 20. — Finally, the Israel- ites are called D'ri'np'O D'J3, "children that are corrupters," although, according to ver. 2, they are children whom the Lord has brought tip and made high ; for, although any one may be called Vers. 4-8. Jehovah's benefactions have not suf- 1 ^'npD [3, who as a man (not as a son) is ficed to awaken in Israel the feeling of grateful' n'OE^O, all reference must not be denied to ver. attachment. On the contrary this nation /oraaXr^ o and all the places that express Israel's filial Its God rejects Him, and smksbnekmto the dark- relation to Jehovah, e. g. Deut xiv. 1. nesa ot heathendom, out of which He had rescued t ti u xi l i ;• -. j them. The three verbs in ver. 4 6 express the ,^" 'h .?, T^' ""^'."^e b^^' '^^"i^^ ="•« '^^• positive consequences of the negative "doth not ^'^■•e' ."'f'"^ ^^d tree has borne. They have know," ver. 3; and vers. 3 and 4 together contain , (".^gf ""e) .forsaken Jehovah, tl.ey have (positive) - - ° ' rejected with sco.n (v. 24; hi. 5; Ix. 14), the Holy One of Israel (an expression peculiarly Isaiah's, that occurs fourteen times in the first part, and fifteen times in the second, and in other parts of the Old Testament only six times), and they have turned themselves backwards. This turning backwards can only mean tlie turning to idols. For the Lord had turned Israel from idols to Himself, comp. Josh. xxiv. 2, 14. If the nation then turned their backs to Him, it was pre- cisely that they might return to their idols. This is confirmed by Ezek. xiv. 5, the only place be- side the present in which the expression occurs. Vers. 5 and 6 seem to respond to an objection. For after the descriptifin in vers. 3, 4, of the nation's deep depravity, the prophet proceeds to portray the impending chastisement of it, ver. 7. But before he does so, he removes an objection tliat might be raised from the stand-point of forbearing love, viz. had sufficient discipline been exercised on Israel? if not, might not the re- newed application of it ward off the judgment? The inquiry is negatived. For the useles.sness of the smiting has long been proved by the ever- repeateil backsliding of the nation. It is seen that we render the beginning of ver. 5 : " To what purpose shall one smite you still more?" For there are three exj^ositions of these words. The first is: "On what part of the body shall one still smite you?" (thus Jekomb, Saada, the more particular signification of ''rebelled against me," ver. 2. Tlius a climax occurs in vers. 2-4. The outward construction of the lan- guage also corresponds to this. Vers. 2 and 3 consist of four members, and vers. 4 of seven, of which the first begins with an impressive assu- rance. But in the first four members of ver. 4 the reason is given why Israel became untrue to its God. The reason is a subjective one. Israel itself is good for nothing — it is a bad tree with bad fruit. The meaning heathen nation need not be pressed, and so much the less, seeing the sin- gidar is often used for Israel without any second- ary idea of reproach (Exod. xix. 6; Jos. iii. 17, etc.), and also parallel with Qif. AVe have trans- lated it "Woe world" in order to re-echo the con- sonance of the original as nearly a-s possible. It has been justly remarked besides that Israel is called here NC3n 'U, "sinful nation," in contrast with C/ni^ 'U, "holy nation," which it ought to be according to Exod. xix. 6 ; Deut. vii. 6 ; xiv. 2, 21 ; and Y^ "'2.?. ^H in contrast with NtS'J DJ.^ 'U', which it is called xxxiii. 24. Israel is called moreover " a seed of evil doers," though it ought to be _" a holy seed" (vi. 13; Ezra ix. 2). Many expositors {e.g., Deechslek) scruple to render these words as in the Genitive relation, because THE PROPHET ISAIAH. GeSENIUS, KoSEXJirELLER, OrBREIT, KXOBEL and others [J. A. Alexander, Baknes]. This rests chiefly on what Ibllows, where the body is described as beaten all over. However, four things are to be objected to this view: a) it could not then read n^-Sj,', but tU' 'SH Dt 'N, or the like. For HO is purely the general, abstract "what?" never the partitive, distin- guishing one part from another : " which ?" Job xxxviii. 6 cannot be appealed to. For the meaning of that place is not : On which founda- tions do the pillars of the earth rest V But : do they rest at all on anything f b } Were the rendering: "where shall we smite?" correct, then the intermediate plirase, HID 13'pin, were out of place. For then one would right off look for the answer : " nowhere, for all is beaten to pieces." The insertion of those words in this form plainly indicate that they them-teit-es contain the an- swer to the inquiry, 'Ul n0"7i', and that what follows is only to be viewed as the nearer expla- nation of this reply. It would be very different if the words were in apposition with the subject of 13n. e) It is remarked by LtTZZATTO (see in Delitzsch) that the fact that the body was beaten all over would not hinder its being smit- ten more, d) The phrase, ver. 6 b, '"IT X7 • efi:, " they have not been closed," shows that not the being wounded itself was the matter of chief moment, but the being wounded without applica- tio-n of cm-atiies. The latter, however, as little hinders the smiting as the binding up and heal- ing would provoke it. If TT^'i)? = '■ where ?" then the whole phrase, ver. 6 b, would be sujier- fluous. — A second exposition (Delitzsch) takes n3~7>' =: TTOl, and 'SH = ye want to he smitten. Then the remote thought would be : '' That were an insane delight in self-destruction." But the "that were" must not be adopted as the under- lying thought, but: "that is indeed delight in self-destruction." For: "that were" would in- volve the thought that this delight is not pre- supposed, consequently there can be no question about a wanting to be smitten. But if we supply "that is," etc., that would impute too much to the simple Imperfect. The idea of wanting it must then be more strongly indicated, say by ysn, or the like. — According to the third ren- dering, which seems to me the correct one. 1T3-7J.' means "to what purpose?" Comp. Kura. xxii. 32; Ps. x. 13; Jer. xvi. 10. The imper- fect Passive is then simply a briefer expression for the Active: why should I, or should one smite you more? with which at least a suffix were needed. HID '3'pin need not then be taken as a dependent adverbial phrase ; as if, "in that ye add revolt," which involves a certain grammatical harshness, that might be easily avoided by a participial construction. But iT'D 'in is principal phrase and reply to the inquiry : to what purpose shall one smite you more? However, the following words give the reason for the saying. That is: Israel adds revolt to revolt, because it is thoroughly sick, and does not even use curatives for its sickness. We therefore construe the words tyxVbs to ]^t^3 not as describing a condition resulting from the previous smiting, much as this seems to answer the inquiry, U1 TTO'l}!, but as a figurativf ex- pression for the moral habit of the nation. j37-73, l!/N"l~73, especially seem to favor tliis view. This does not mean '' the whole head, the whole heart," but " every head, every heart." If it read 'Ul E'Xin"73, the meaning might easily enough be that head and heart were already so sore and sick that no spot remained for a blow. But every head, every heart only expresses that no head, no heart remained intact. Tbe context closely considered forbids our understanding by head and heart "all that exer- cise indispensable functions in spiritual and tem- poral offices" (Drechsler). For by ver. 6 it plainly appears that not only the heads, but all individuals of the nation, are described as se- riously sick. Head and heart are rather the central and dominant organs in the life of every single person, whereas ver. 6 speaks also of the structure of the outward manifestation of the life. From a comparison of '11 337 with ver. 6, it seems to me that by '/H "Ot an outward wound- ing of the head is meant, but an internal disorder (comp. 2 Kings iv. 19). — From the sole of the foot, etc. Ver. 6. As has been remarked, these words describe the moral condition as to its outward manifestation, as ver. 5 6 described its inward form. We must not press too far the figurative language of the prophet in regard to this inward and outward disorder, and especially the wounds of ver. 6 nuist not be regarded as presenting something additional. The three substantives i'V3, mi3n and '0 n3n are followed by three corresponding verbs, and one is tempted to construe them as if those occu- pying the same relative position belonged to each other. But such strict parallelism cannot be carried out. It is rather to be said that each of the three Gorts of wounds referred to requires all the three means of healing. Each wound must be pressed together, and treated with heal- ing stuffs. The former process is two-lbld ; first it is done by the hand in order to cleanse the wound from blood and matter, and then by the bandage, that prevents further bleeding and pro- motes the growing together of the several parts. Thirdly, mollifying, healing oil (see Luke x. 34; Herzog's Jt. Encyc. X., p. 548) must be super- added as org.anic means of cure. The words of ver. (j b moreover contain ano- ther proof for the assertion that from lJ'N"l-73, ''every head," on, only the moral habit of the nation is described. For is not the want of all bodily therapeutics a figure for tlie want of the spiritual; i. e. repentance ? Kot only is Israel inwardly sick, but also in its outward life it pre- sents the picture of a torn and distracted exist- ence without one trace of discipline or effort at improvement. If the chief thought of vers. 5, 6, were that Israel cannot be smitten any more be- CHAP. I. 2-9. cause it is beaten all to pieces, then, as already reraarke.!, tlie plirase 'Ul ?"IJ*S7, "not closed up," would be quite without meaning. For may a bandaged-up person be sooner smitten tlian one not bound up ? But this phrase becomes very significant if we regard the words : " every head," etc., as portraying the moral condition of things. For it is most important in regard to a man's moral state whether the proper curatives for the moral disorder are used or not. Your land, etc. The outward state of the nation answers to the moral state. The nation had already begun to reap the fruits of their revolt. The coimtry is desolate ; only the me- tropolis still remains intact, yet isolated in the midst of a land that has been made a desert. Therefore it may be said that the train of thought that began with ver. o ends with ver. 8. The Lord declares, ver. .5, that for the present He will smite Israel no more. For there is no use. Thi^ is because Israel is still sick inside and out, spite of having suffered chastisement almost to annihilation. It seems to me therefore that vers. 7 and 8 stand in contrastive relation to the two preceding, although this contrast is indicated by no particle. Israel is morally sick, the country is turned into a desert. Had things taken a normal course, then the country had been deso- lated, but Israel would have been in health. Then Israel had received instruction, Prov. vlii. 10 ; xix. 20. But now that the country is waste, and Israel still sick, one sees that whipping is of no use. Comp. Jer. ii. 30; v. 3; Isa. \k. 13; xlil. 2-5. Thus I construe vers. 7 and 8, not as a mere change from figurative language (vers. 5 and 6) to literal, because, as was shown, both ver. o b and 6 b contain thoughts that do not answer to p\irely outward circumstances. More- over, according to our explanation, it is clear that ver. 7 sqq. does not speak of future, but of pre-ioat affairs. Tliese verses do not contain threats of judgment, but a portrait of judgment already accomplished. If it were otherwise, then surely the threatenings of judgment would not stop outside of the gates of the metropolis, which yet wa-s crater and fountain of all the revolt. This is not opposed by Jer. iv. 27; v. 10, 18: "Yet will I not make a full end," which some adduce against our view. For threats of judg- ment only for the country, but that spare the capital, are not to be found in any prophet. — The words : " your land waste," etc., are quoted from Lev. xxvi. 33, where it is said : " Your lanil sliall be desolate, and your cities waste." Your ground before, ele. Here, too, impre- cations from the Law are in the mind of the prophe', and particularly Dent, xxviii. 33 ; " The fniit of thy land, and all thy labors, shall a na- tion which thou knowest not, eat up." Comp., too, ver. .51 ; Lev. xxi. 16, 32. From Dent, xxviii. 33, .51, it is seen what is meant by "^t- It is one that Israel does not know, and whose language is not understood. That the word "stranger" includes also the idea of "enemy," is manifest from the parallel passages in Lev. x.xvi. 16, 32, where for D'Tt we have D'^'X. it occurs Isa. xvii. 10; xxv. 2, 5; xxviii. 21; xxix. 5; xliii. 12 ; Ixi. 5. The participle D / ^S confirms otir view that the prophet speaks of present and still continuing circumstances. The metonymy (the enemies eat the land) is as in xxxvi. 16; Gen. iii. 17, etc.—D^liih, according to the ac- cents and the .sense, relates towhat follows. Be- fore your eyes, without your being able to hin- der them, the enemies devour your land. In our passage it is evident tlie prophet would compare the destruction of the land of which he speaks to the destruction of Sodom and Gomor- rah. He calls the Jewish country a second de- stroyed Sodom, only with the difference that that was a destruction of God, this of strangers. The question whether we have here a genitive of the subject or of the object thus settles itself. It is the genitive of the subject. For then God was the destroyer ; here it is the strangers. If D""1T, "strangers," be taken as object, it will not suit the context. For immediately before the stran- gers were named as destroyers. How shall they suddenly be named the destroyed? — From the connection it appears that the "daughter of Zion" means Jerusalem. Zion is originally the mountain, then the castle, then the quarter built about it (2 Sam. v. 6-9; 1 Kings viii. 1); then in an extended sense the city without the inha- bitants (Lam. ii. 8) or the inhabitants without the city (Mic. iv. 10), or as both together, as in our passage Jerusalem with it.s inhabitants lying isolated in the midst of a desolated country is now com- pared to: a) a booth in a vineyard; b) to a, hanging mat [hammock] in a cucumber-field, which like the booth of the vineyard-keeper, is a lonely and scanty dwelling-place for man; c) to a besieged city. But why is Jerusalem only compared to a beleagured city? After all that vers. 7, 8 say of it, is it not such itself? First of all we must investigate the meaning of rf^SJ. The verb ^i'J means primarily observare, which can be said of commandraent.s, Ps. Ixxviii. 7, and of covenants. Dent, xx.xiii. 9, as well as of the overseeing of a protector or keeper, Isa. xxvii. 3; 2 Kings xvii. 9, and of the attention of a besieger, Jer. iv. 16; comp. 2 Sam. xi. 16; Jer. V. 6. An iT^'Sp Ti' is therefore either a watched or a beleaguered city. But the first does not suit the connection. The latter is equally unsuitable if Jerusalem at the time of writing was actually besieged. But ver. 7 speaks only of the desolating of the country. That Je- rusalem itself was besieged or blockaded is not said directly. At the moment of saying this, therefore, the position of Jerusalem seems to have been that the enemy enclosed the city, not yet in its immediate neighborhood, but still so as to restrict all intercourse with it, so that it lay there isolated like a blockaded town No one ventured out or in, for the enemy was near, though his forces were not seen encamped around the walls of the city. The other renderings: " as a rescued city " (Gesenii'S, in Joe.; Malrbr, etc.), "as a deva.stated city" (Rabbins, Vulg., Luther), "as a watch-tower" (Hitzig, Ting- STAD, Gesentus in his Thesaurus, p. 908), etc., which are to be found in Rosenmueller, either 38 THE PROPHET ISAIAH. conflict witli the requirements of the language or the context. 4. Had not — we were like, ver. 9. We must regard it, not as accidental, but as an evi- dence of tlie artistic design of this address, that in vers. 2, 3, Jeliovah Himself speaks, in vers. 4-8 tile prophet in the name of Jehovah, and in ver. 9 the prophet in his own and the people's name. It is therefore a climax deseendens. The first word belongs to Jehovah the Lord. After that Jehovah's prophet speaks in His name to the people. Last of all the prophet, who is in a sen.^^ the mediator of tlie people, speaks in their name to Jehovah. In this scheme is prefigured in a certain degree the direction of all prophetic discourse. For it is either Jehovah speaking, directly or indirectly, or it is a speaking to Jehovah. But ver. 9 is joined by a double band to what precedes: by "'''"'in, "had left," and by the comparison to Sodom and Gomorrah. As to ■\lie former, it is recognized that something re- mains in Israel, ninijl, ver. 8, and that this remnant is owing to the grace of Jehovah. But so the clear consciousness is expressed, that but for the grace of God, the resemblance to Sodom and Gomorrah, which in ver. 7 was only slightly intimated, would have been a notorious one. This is, on the one hand, an humble confession, for this comparison is not honorable for Israel ; but on the other hand there is the opposite thought that underlies the hypothetic reflection : '' he has, however, left something remaining ; therefore we are still not like Sodom and Gomor- rah ;" and that forms a comforting germ of hope for the future. The expression r\lX3X niri", .Jehovah Sabaoth, is not to be found in the Pentateuch, nor in Josh., Jud., Ezek., Joel, Obad., Jonah. In Exod. xii 41 '' niNps-S3 is said of the Israelites. If one may regard the completest form as the original one, then we must designate Hosea as the origi- nator of the expression. For in Hos. xii. 6 we find 1131 nm' niN3Xn 'riSx nin-^; similarly Amos iil. 13 ; vi. 14 ; ix. 5. Here it is seen that niX3)f is still construed as appellative. They are not the " niN3S, Ex. xii. 41, but X3S-S.p D^Ot^Di Isa. xxxiv. 4, whose relation to the stars may be debated. Comp. Delitzsch, The Divine Name Jahve Zebaot, in der Zeitschrift. f. d. rjes. luth. Theologie u. Kirche 1874, Heft 2, p. 217. — But "Hosts" becomes gradually a proper name. It is so beyond doubt in God of Hosts, Ps. ]ix. 6 ; Ixxx. 5, 8, 15, 20 ; Ixxxiv. 9, and Lord of Hosts, Isa. X. 16. Probably it is to be so rendered in " Jehovah of Hosts," which is very frequent in the first and second parts of Isaiah. Also Jer , Zech., Mai., use it very often. — ^VJ^2 is not added to the verb here adverbially with the meaning "almost," but united to it sub.stantively, and as in 2 Chron. xii. 7, is object (as appo.sition with the object). In Prov. x. 20; Ps. cv. 12, it is similarly a predicate. In respect to its sense, it is a dimished 2j;p, i. e. not paulum, but quasi panlum. I do not think with Delitzsch that referring to Ps. Ixxxi. 14 sq.; Job xxxii. 22, it may be construed with what follows. For with the supposition that is expressed in the first clause of the verse, they had been, not almo.=t, but altogether a Sodom and Gomorrah. More- over, it is affecting to observe how the man pene- trates through the prophet. He began as the mouth of God, that does not distinguish himself from God ; he proceeds as servant of God, that clearly distinguishes him.self from God ; he con- cludes as citizen of Jeru.ialcm, that comprehends himself with the men against whom he directs his words of threatening. [Ver. 7. '1 nJSnOD, like the overthro-w of strangers, J. A. Alexander, "/. e. as foreign foes are wont to waste a country in wliich they have no interest, and for which they have no pity." Barnes, similarly. Ver. 9. " The idea of a desolation almost total is expressed in other words, and with an intima- tion that the narrow escape was owing to God's favor for the remnant according to the election of grace, who still existed in the Jewish Chnrch. That the verse has reference to quality, as well a.s quantity, is evident from Rom. ix. 29, where Paul makes use of it, not as an illustra- tion, but as an argument to show that mere con- nection with the Church could not save men from the wrath of Goii. The citation would have been irrelevant if this phrase denoted merely a small number of survivors, and not a minority of true believers in the midst of the prevailing unbelief." J. A. Alexander]. CHAP. I. 10-20. 3. THE MEANS FOR OBTAINING A BETTER FUTURE. Chapter I. 10-20. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom ; Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord : I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; And I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of 'he goats. 12 When ye come Ho appear before nie, Who hath "required this at your hand, "to tread my courts ? 13 Bring no more "vain oblations ; Incense is an abomination unto me ; The new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with ;'' It is ^iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth : They are a trouble unto me ; I am weary to bear them." 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide' mine eyes from j'ou : Yea, when ye ^make many prayers, I will not hear : Your hands are full of -blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean ; Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes : 17 Cease to do evil ; learn to do well ; Seek judgment, 'relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : Though your sins be as scarlet,^ they shall be as white as snow ; Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient. Ye shall eat the good of the land : 20 But if ye refuse and rebel. Ye shall be devoured with the sword : For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. ^ Heb. great ke-goats. 2 Heb. to be seen. ^ Or, grief. * Heb. multiply prayer. 5 Heb. bloods. * Or, righten. ^Requires. ^ Trample. <> Oblations^ the sacrilege — incensethatis abomination to me, ^ 1 cannot bear sacrilege and solemn, meeting. ^ 1 bear them no longer. ^ I hide. i scarlet stuffs. TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. Ter. 10. VVp 19 found in Isa. also ; iii. 6, 7 ; x.xii. 3. Ver. 12. In regard to the construction mX"l7 INSH '3. ■*J£) it is to be noticed especially that we have here an old, solemn form of expression. It is found first. Ex. xxiii.n.whereitis said : pxH 'J3~Sx ■■]10I"'73 nXT — " All thy males shall appear before the Lord ;" also Ps. Ixx.xiv. 8. This is the customjiry, and besides very frequent construction of the Niphal HN't], Gen. xii. 7 ; .X.VSV. 1 ; Ex. iii. 16, etc. But then the form ^ J3-nN HX"! J " is found in five places : Ex. xxxiv. 23 sq. ; Deut. xvi. 10; xxxi. 11; 1 S.^m. i. 22. Here the question arises, whether HN is nota accusatavi, or preposition with the meaning "cum, coram ;'^ or finally, whether the accusa- tive, as in 1*73X11 2171 : " Ye shall be devoured by the sword," ver. 20, i.s to be taken in an instrumental sense, as if it ought to be rendered : " was seen o/ God's face " (so EwALD, Gram. ? 279, c). This last rendering com- 40 THE PROPHET ISAIAH. mends itself the least. For in 1^3Xn 3"in, the 3in is conceived of as adverbial. It is as one would say in Latin; giadiatim devorabimim, " Ye shall be sword-fashion devoured." It is essential to this construction that the substantive so used be without suttix, or a genitive fol- lowing. In 'JS ni'XtS or " "J-J-nX nSIJ, however, this adverbial use is not admissible. It is to be objected against the first rendering that nx always marks dis- tinctly the definite object, and never is used after the question "where?" On the other hand it is admitted that ^ J3~nx means corayn facie, e. tj. Gen. xxvii. 30 ; pnX'. 'J3 hXa aW^ Xr. Comp. 2 Kings xvi. 14: Gen. six. 13. " The cry of them is waxen great, -jlX '' "J3 before the face of the Lord." Comp. 1 Sam. xxii. 4; Gen. xxxiii. 18. According to that we must translate the expression in question: "appear before the presence of Jehovah." It may be remarked, in passing, that Deut. xvi. 16, Dp'T " 'JS-flX HXT x"?, is to be translated ; " the face of the Jehovah is not seen empty," i. c. without the presentation of a gift : where the passive, according to well-known usus loquendi, is construed as active. This latter form of expression is, as to sense, like those found Ex. xxiii. 15; xxxiv. 20, — Lastly, in two places, viz. Ps. xlii. 3 and in our text nXIJ with " 'iS is found without jnX- In both places X13 stands before the Niphal of nXI. Here, without doubt, " '3i3 is the aeciisativiis localis. In it- self, this accusative can depend on Xl'3 as well as on the Niphal nX"1J. However, the original sense of the formula favors' decidedly the last supposition. Thus the expression, as found in our text and in xlii. 3, is to be taken as a modification of the older formula, and as having the same meaning. ^J3 therefore is here accusativus localis in the same sense as '* ^J3~nX in the places cited above. — TD B^DS. Gen. xxxi. 39; xliii. 9 ; 1 Sam. xx. 16. — fpi DDT is in restrictive appo- sition with nxi. Isaiah uses DOT pretty often: xvi. 4; xxvi. 6; xxviii. 3; xli.25; Ixiii. 3. Moreover, the sub- .'^antive 00*^0 is used by him relatively oftener : t. 5; vii. 25; X. 6; xxviii. 18. Ver. 13. It is debated whether the following rT^CSp, incense, is to be taken as stat. absoi. as distinct from nnjD, or as Stat, construct., and as designating that which the Xllt'^nnjD is to Jehovah (" it is abominable incense tome"). Grammatically both renderings .are admissible. It is not decisive for the latter rendering that the Masorets have pointed mt3p with the con- junctive Darga. It seems to me important to our in- quiry, that with the exception of Ps. Ixvi. 15 (which confessedly dates after the exile), neither burnt-ofifer- ings nor meat-offerings are ever called HIDpt although "^'tOpn is the solemn word employed for the consump- tion of both. Rather it is always said, that the sacrifice shall be n"n"3 ri'li "a sweet savor" to the Lord. I believe, therefore, that the prophet must have written n3>"in n'1 had he wished to express what the de- fenders of the second rendering take the words to mean.— The combination of W'in and HSB', beside the text, is to be found also 2 Kings iv. 23; Hos. ii. 13.— The expression XIpD X'lp is only found here. Every- where else we read: jynp XlpO, "a holy convoca- tion," Ex. xii. 16 ; Lev. xxiii. 3 sqq. ; Num. xxviii. 18 sq. ; xxix. I sqq. As regards the meaning of the phrase, it IS not indictio sancti, i. e. the publication of a feast, but coiivucatio, the assembling of the nation to the feast. For only on the principal feast-days was the nation obliged to appear in the sanctuary, (comp. the citations imme- diately above, and Oehler in Hehzog's R. Encycl. IV., p. 385). The three substantives stand before as casut absoluti, and represent a premise, to which S^IX xS 'U1 forms the conclusion: as for new moon, .Sabbath, solemn assembly, I can't bear them, etc. The word rr^y^* is found beside only in 2 Kings x. 20 and Joel i. 14. In the Pentateuch only the form n"\SJ? (stat. ab- soi. and constr.j is used: Lev. xxiii. 36; Num. xxix. 35; Deut. xvi. 8. It is absolutely parallel with N1p?D. tynp " holy convocation ;" comp. 2 Chron. vii. 5; Neb. viii. 18; Amos v. 21. The fundamental idea of IS^' is cogere, cnnciere, continere, to draw together, to keep toge- ther. The noun, therefore, denotes coactio. concio. The fundamental idea of |1X (pX, spirare) is halitus, breath. It is thus sjmonym with SjH. Ver. 14. Of the verb X2t7 only the Kal (comp. Ps.xi 5) partcps. occur in our book after this : Ix. 15 ; Ixi. 8 ; Ixvi. 5- nib, btt.rden (from n^t3. fatigari, Job xxxvii. 11) is found also Deut. i. 12. Niphal TMHii again iu Isa xvi. 12 ; xlvii. 13. The infinitive XS'J is only found in Isa. again xviii. 3; comp. beside Gen. iv. 13; Ps. Ixxxix. 10. Ver. 15. The spreading out of the hands for prayer (comp. HoELEMAKN, Bibelstudicn I., The Scriptural Form, of Worship, p. 137, ^neid. I. 93, duphces tendens ad sidera. palmas) is designated here by tS^S in the Piel, and so occurs also Jer. iv. 31 ; Lam. i. 17 ; Ps. cxliii. 6. Usu- ally Kal is used; Ex. ix. 29, 33; 1 Kings viii. 22, etc.— Only the Hithpael of dSj' occurs beside in our book, Iviii. 7.— The meaning of 'tj '3rX is " not continually hearing," in distinction from JJOC'X N7, Jer, vii. 16; xi. 14; xiv. 12.— Comp. this passage, vers. 11-15, with the similar one, .\mo5 v. 21 sqq. Ver. 16. On account of the accent, ?3Tn can only be Hithpael from n3i. not Niphal of "^yi; comp. Gesen., Thesaur., p. 413. The word is not used again by Isaiah ; and tliis Hithpael occurs nowhere else.— The expression DD'^lS^'D J?^ (which occurs first Deut. xxviii. 20, and afterward espeei.illy frequent in Jer. iv. 4; xxl.l2; xxiii. 2 ■ xxvi. 3 ; xliv. 22), calls to mind the Latin usus loquendi, that makes a conception prominent by designating it by means of the abstract idea hovering, so to speak, over the single, concrete manifestation of it: agricotai mm ilolcnt, prtttcrita verni temporis suavitate ivstatem aue- tumniimque venisse (comp. N.iEGEisF.iCH, S^Visii*, g 74). Ver. 17. 3[^ (flocks and herds). The niSi;> as the principal sacrifice is named first : (it is t^^p D'Ly^p comp. OChlek ra PIerzog's iJ. Eiicyol. X. p. 034). That only D'Vn niSj' are named, is accidental. For burnt-offerings were not pre- sented only of rams, see Lev. i. nor were offerings of rams especially holy. In all enumerations of the sacrificial beasts rams are in the second place, after bullocks. Exod. xxix. ; Lev. viii. ; Num. vii. 15 sqq. ; xxix. 2 sq., etc. In as much as, with the exception of the whole burnt-offering, only the fat and the blood were offered, [comp. (JEhler Herzog's R. Encyd. X. p. 632), Lev. iii. 16 sq. ; vii. 23 sqq. ; Ezek. xliv. Ih, it is natural that these should have especial prominence in this place. By D'i^'PP we are not to understand a particular species of beast, as many have thought. The word is only found elsewhere in 2 Sara. vi. 13 ; 1 Kings i. 9, 19, 25 ; Isa. xi. 6 ; Ezek. xxxix. 18; Amos v. 22. The meaning is not made out "with certainty. But in this place it seems to mean fed beasts in general. If the fat were all that was offered of the solid matter of the beast, then must a beast be the better suited for an of- fering according as it had more fat. Thence the teing fat is named as a desirable quality in the sacrifici.al animal, P.s. xx. ; Gen. iv. 4. A further proof that the prophet does not intend an exact •classification is .seen in the fact that he speaks only of the blood of bullocks, of sheep, (iff33 the male sheep Lev. xiv. 10) and of he-goats ("i'r'jt^ the younger, T'J'ii' the older he-goat), although neither the blood of only these bea.sts, nor vet of these beasts was only tlie blood offered. Ver. 12. When ye come to appear, ek.^ Agrade higher than the rude bloody sacrifice, this personal appearance at the place of worship stands on the platform of spiritualitv. It also is an homage that is paid to the diviiiitv. But it does not suffice. Hence it may be said of the mere bodily presence, that the Lord has not de- manded that. Who hath required.— Jehovah does not require the mere bodily presence, .so far as this is nothing but an useless wearing out of the courts by the feet of those that stand in them. The unbloody sacrifices and the .solemn assem- bles represent again a different and still higher grade of worship. No more lying meat-offerings shall they bring, (Comp. v. "l8; xxx. 28) /. c, such, in which the disposition of the one sacrific- ing does not correspond to the outward rite. I do Tiol believe that the text has to do only with the performances of the >-a6r, " laity," as Delitzsch suj)poses. For the prophet rejects the entire out- ward ceremonial service, which, in fact, the priests solemnized only in place of the nation which ideally w.ts itself a priestly nation, Exod. xix. 0. Moreover, there would be an omission in the enumeration of the parts of worship if that very important and most holy incense offer- ing were left out (Exod. xxx., especially ver. 36). The Lord says, therefore, that incense, otherwise xxix. 13, so like the fragrant blossom of the sacrificial wor- ship, was itself an abomination, when ofiered in the false way as hitherto. The new moon and Sabbath.— The observance of the holy days and seasons appointed by the Lord Himself was" an essential part of the obedience demanded from the nation, comp. Exod. xxiii. 10-17 ; Lev. xxiii. ; Num. xxviii. • xxix. ; Deut. xvi. Yet even such performance is of no account in God's sight, but, on the con- trary, offensive and vexatious when it does not proceed from that disposition He would have. The new moons, " were so to speak the first born among the days of the month," and the fixing of the other feast days that occurred in the month depended on them C' From the moon is the sign of feasts," Ecclus. xliU. 7 ; comp. Saalschuetz, Mos. R., p. 402 sqq.). Concerning their cele- brations, see Num. x. 10; xxviii. 11-16; 1 Sam. XX. 5, 18 sq. By r\Td is to be understood the weekly Sabbath, as appears from the fact that, in what follows, the feasts and therefore the feast Sabbaths are especially mentioned ; see Herzog's R. Encyd. IV. p. 385. SjIN is used here in the pregnant sen.se of " surmounting, enduring, being able to hold out," like we too could say; '' nicht vennai/ ich Frevel vnd Festversammlunr)." " I can't (stand) outrage and solemn assembly," i. e., the combination of the two, both at once surpasses my ability. In a similar sense 'y is used Hos. viii. 5; Ps. ci. 5 sq. ; xiii. 5; Prov. xxx. 21. God citnnot put up with this combination of con- centration and decentralization, of centripetal and centrifugal forces. He opposes to tiiem a nonpossumus. In the following verse the pro- phet repeats the same thought with still stronger expressions. For he names again the new moons. But what in ver. 13 he designates by the words, "Sabbath, calling assembly and solemn meet- ing," he comprehends here in the one conception D'li^lO n.l|13 " the most general word for the holy seasons that occurred by established order." CEhler in Herzog's R. Encyd. IV. p. 383, comp. Lev. xxiii. 2). What he says to them ver. 13, in one word /DIX-X'?, " I canH bear," he now ex- presses by three verbs. He explains his non possumus in that he says he hales those cere- monies, that they are a burden to him and a sub- ject of loathing. But ])rayer, too, although it is the fragrant blos- som of the soul's life (comp. Rev. v. S ; viii. 3 sq.), and therefore stands high above the previously named elements of worship in regard to imma- teriality and spirituality, is not acceptable to the Lord in the mouth of this people. For it also is only empty lip and hand service. Jehovah shuts His eyes at the caricature of prayer ; comp. 1 Sam. xii. 3 ; Prov. xxviii. 27 ; and also much praying does not help the matter, for Jehovah does not go on hearing constantly. Your hands are full of blood." — In this short phrase, wliich is added oni|iliatically without connecting particle, tlie reason is given why Je- hovah cannot endure all the ceremonial obser- vances of the nation. They are offered by haniis tained with blood. It is thus a revolting lie, CHAP. I. 10-20. 43 4. Wash ye — plead for the widow, vers. l(3_17._neari cleansing, turning away from evil, proper fruits of repentance, — .such is the divine service that the Lord requires. There are nine -demands made on the people ; four negative, ver. 16, and live positive, ver. 17. The first two^ of the four negative expressions are figurative. ]'ni is indeed often used of bodily washing (and in a medial sense as here : Ex. ii. 5 ; Lev. xiv. ■8; XV. 5 sqq. etc.). HDI ig used only of moral purity, but, according to its fundamental idea, jnustbe regarded as a figurative expression. In what follows the prophet says the same thing ■witliout figure of speech : they must let the Lord see no more wicked works, i. e., they must cease to sin. The five positive demands proceed from the general to the particular. For in advance stands the quite general '' learn to do well." Then fol- lows the exhortation to "seek judgment," (the phrase is found again only xvi. 5). The Old Test. ^\>'^'4, " righteousness," consists essentially in conformity to 133!^?, ''judgment." "Whoever, under all circumstances, does what is right, even •when he has the power to leave it undone, is a p'li", "righteous one." When the powerful, then, spite of his power, suffers the poor, the wretched, the widow and the orphan to enjoy their rights, then this justice appears subjectively as gentleness and goodness, objectively as salva- tion. Hence P'^S has so often the secondary meaning of " kindness, mercy" (comp. Ps. xxxvii. 21; Prov. xii. 10; xxi. 26) and p^V or npnv that of " salvation " (Ps. xxiv. 5; cxxxii. 9, 16 ; Lsa.xli.lO; xlv.8,ete.). The Old Test. np^lS con- trasts, therefore, on the one hand with grace, that gives more than can justly be demanded, on the other hand, with oppressive unrighteousness, (comp. '("'^i'- 'I'lOn. nS^p and others) that gives less. Comp. my comment, on Jer. vii. 5. — Who- ever exercises strict justice will quite as much re- strain the oppressor from doing injustice, as aid those seeking their rights to the enjoyment of them. The prophet expresses the former by the words ]''lOn '"ItyX, " Tighten [^marg. Enr/.vers.'\ the oppressor." 5. Come now — hath spoken it, vers. 18- 20. As in ver. 1.5 the phrase " your hands are mied with blood" is loosely strung on without connecting particle, so also the complex thought of vers. 18, 19, as to its sense, refers back to ver. 15 h. For the prophet evidently would say : your hands are indeed full of blood, but if ye truly be- come converted, all debts shall be forgiven, etc. Verse 18 therefore contains the necessary conse- quences of the premises laid down in what pre- cedes. The discourse gains in brevity and viva- city by its members being strung together witliout conjunctions. — " Come, now," etc., comp. ii. 3, 5. Tlie prophet would say : when ye shall have truly repented, then come, and then we shall easily come to an understanding. Gesenius and others would have the sense to be, not that Jehovah is represented a? forgiving, but that the taking away of the blood-red guilt consists in an extirpation of the sinner. They support this view by remind- ing that !33tyj and nx U-\23Vr^ 13T always de- signate God as the punitive Judge ; comp. Ixvi- 16 ; Joel iv. (iii.) 2 ; Jer. xxv. 31 ; Ezek. xx. 35, etc. But it is precisely for this reason that Isaiah does not employ the usual expression for " liti- gate," but a word that does not elsewliere occur, in order to indicate that he has in mind a litiga- tion altogether difierent from the usual sort. Be- sides, it contradicts not only the sense and the connection of our passage, but the spirit of the Holy Scriptures generally, for one to assume that pardon may not follow the fulfilling of the condi- tions proposed in ver. 16, or that this pardon may consist in the extirpation of the outrageous ofi'encl- ers and the " cleansing and clearing away" thus effected. No ! just those, whose hands are full of blood, may, if they cleanse themselves, be pure and white ; oomp. xliii. 24 sq. ; xliv. 22 ; Ps. xxxii. and Ii. — 'Ip and i^T,_i}T\ are one and the same color, viz., bright red, crimson. Here, evi- dently, it means the color of blood. In many places, as Exod. xxviii. 5, 6; xxxvi. 8, etc.; Jer. iv. 30, we find 'JC' n^Vin or 'Jnn ; Lev. xiv. 4, 6, 49, 51, 52; Num. xix. 6 PJlSip 'Td, Lam. iv. 5 only i' 'in- The last word means "worm," (comp. Exod. xvi. 20, and HJ^Vljl Isa. xiv. 11. Ixvi. 24; Job xxv. 6). What the 'JU/ ni'Vm Ls we are well informed. It is the female cochineal (coccus ilicis, lixxe) which lays its eggs on the twigs of the holm oak, and, exjiiring upon them, covers them with its body. The egg nests so formed were pulverized and the color prepared therefrom. It is less certain why the color is named 'JtV. Comp. Leyrer, Art. crimson in IlERZOG's'i^. Enci/cl XXL, p. 606. The plural D'yd is found only here and Prov. xxxi. 21. It seems to me in both places to mean more proba- bly "scarlet s(»_^ idtionem capere, Judg. xvi. 23 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 24 ; Jer. XV. 15; xlvi. 10, etc. Ver- 25. Whereas T TDH means either "to draw back the hand," Gen. xxxviii. 29; Josh. viii. 26; 1 Sam. xiv. 27; 1 Kings xiii. 4; Isa, xiv. 27; or "to return the hand to a place," Exod. iv. 7, or "to bring the hand repeatedly somewhere" Jer. vi. 9, '^^J* T 3'iyn in most places of its occurrence (Ezek. xxxviii. 12: Amos i. 8; Zech. xiii.7; Ps. Ixxxi. 15; comp. 2 Sam. viii. 3) = to turn one's hand in a figurative sense, i. e,, to turn in an hostile way against any one. 7''13 atannum or plumbum mgrum, only used this once in Isa. *13 = JT'^S vege- table alkali, only here in Isa., comp. Job ix. 30. Aa the alkali does not effect the smelting process, but only promotes it, 133 must not be construed as nominative, but as an accusative that supplies the preposition that is wanting after 3 (alkali fashion, comp. on 3"in vers. 20 and 12), com/)." Gesesits, g US, 3 Anvi; the plural D w''13. lead pieces, is the only form of the word, which occux-s only here; comp. Ezek. xxii. 18, 20; xxvii. 12. — Kindredpassages, whose authors may have had our text in mind, are Jer. vi. 29 .«q. ; Zech. xiii. 7 sqq. Ver. 26, The beginning with n3*t!^Xl has almost the appearance'of a rhyme in relation to the same word, ver. 25. Evidently the prophet intends to emphasize the difference of sense by the similar sound of the words. The construction is an adverbial prolepsis. For whereas otherwise, in prolepsis that, which is the effect of the transaction, is adjoined to the object in the form of ad- jective, the adjoining occurs here in adverbial form ; (comp. Jer. xxxiii. 7, 11 ; and 1 Kings xiii. G). Ver. 28. As regards the sense, it does not matter whether we take 1317 (properly/7-ac(wra xv. 5 ; xxx, 26) as predicate, as Hitzio does, or, like most others, as the object of an exclamatory phrase. As in this chapter several such nominatives occur absolutely, and repre- senting a phrase (vers. 7, 13), the latter maybe more correct. Ver. 29. The singular of D'Sx occurs only once Gen. xiv. 6 in the proper name pX3 S'N. As singular nSx (ver. 30) is always used elsewhere. The meaning "Tere- binth," which, parallel with meanings "strength." and " ram " (comp. the Latin robur), develops out of the funda- mental meaning torquere, is now admitted by all exposi- tors, whereas many of the older ones, following the LXX, 46 THE PBOPHEX ISAIAH. and Vulgate, took the word in the sense of " Idols." Isa. mentions the D'7X as objects of idolatrous worship, also Ivii, 5, whereas, Ixi. 3, he opposes to thesa idolatrous ones the pni* 'TN, trees (Terebinths) of righteousness, with plainly apregnant meaning.— The word nUJ only Isa., uses of the groves of idols, Ixv. 3; Ixvi. 17; comp. also Herzog's H. Encycl. V. p. 4:4, Art. Haine." The ab- rupt change of person in animated address cannot be thought strange. As 13n ixhv. 9;) and '^T^2 O^tvi. 3 sq. ; Jcsh. xsiv. 15, 22, etc.), are often used of religious deciding, so, still more frequently iy'l3 (xx. 5 ; Jer. ii. SO; xlviii. 13, etc.), and lijn ixxiv. 23; Mic. iii. 7, etc.), are used for the confounding results of the assurance reposed in idols. Ver. 30. tin J? may be construed as the accusative of closer definition (a terebinth falling away in regard to its leaves), because n703 as feminine connects more easily with ri/X than with the masculine ni}!- Yet to me it seems more probable that n /DJ is to be joined to Ty7p, not as adjective, however, but as substantive- For, as we see from xxviii. 1, 4 ; xxxiv. 4, the participle Kal of 733 becomes a noun both in the masculine and in the feminine. In that case it would be rendered ; a terebinth, foliage that falls, (are) its leaves. nS^f is to be taken collectively— foliage. Comp. Jer. xvii. 8; Ps. i. 3; Ezek. xlvii. 12. As the plural occurs only iu the later Hebrew, (Xeh. viii. 15), the rending rrSj^ is to be rejected Ver. 31. The word [on occurs beside here only is Amos ii. 9. According to this passage, and Ps. Ixxxix. 9 (where the form t'On occursj and according to the noun ton (xxxiii. 6; Jeremiah xx.b,etc.), whence the Xiphal pn' (xxiii. 18), the meaning can only be opu- lentus, opibiis validus. The punctuation 17^'£J does not conflict with our explanation ; see Exeg. and Crit. For, apart from the fact that it is not without analogy, the use of TOn for idols would be quite unusual, and the idea that the idolater plunges his idols in ruin would not only be strange, but also wholly without motive in. the context. The formula HDDD TXl occurs in Isa., only here ; elsewhere Amos v. 6 ; Jer. iv. 4 ; xxi. 12. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 1. The prophet first looks back into the past. What were the people /ormer/;/.? They were a people in whom faithfulness and righteonsness flourished. But then he asks : what are they noxD? A ruined nation, in which unrighteousness and violence hold the sceptre, (vers. 21-23). The Lord will subject tins people to a severe process of purifying, (vers. 2-1, lb) : whose conse- quences will be a. future, two-fold in form; a) the good elements will attain their original su- premacy, Jerusalem will again become a city of justice, and by justice become partaker of salva- tion (vers. 26, 27] ; b) but the bad elements, the apostates that have forsaken Jehovah and served idols, shall by their own works be pitiably de- stroyed (vers. 28-31). 2. HoTW is the faithful city — •wido'w come unto them. — Vers. 21-23. Delitzsch justly remarks that ver. 21 calls to mind the tone of the ™'P, the Elegy. And I have myself, in the comment on Lam. i. 1, pointed to the de- jiendence of that pas,sage on this. The tone of lament, the nj'S (occurring four times in Lam.), the archaic form 'ipN .:•? made this passage appear to the autlior of Lam. a suitable prototype and point of departure. — By reason of many expres- sions in the Pentateuch, that designate idolatry as whoredom (Exod. xxxiv. 15 sq. ; Lev. xvii. 7; x.x. 5 sqq. ; Xum. xv. 39; Deut. xxxi. IG). Isa., here calls Jerusalem njli on account of its aix)stacy from Jeliovah by grosser and more re- fined idolatry. Comp. Hos. i. 2 ; ii. 6 sqq. ; iv. 10 sqq.; Jer. ii. 23 sqq. ; iii. 1 sqq. ; Ezek. xvi. 15 sqq., etc.). It was become such, however, only in process of time. For originally, so to speak, in its paradisaical or golden age it was i^^^?*jl-. faithful. It may be asked ; does the prophet by this golden age mean the time of wandering in the wilderness, as Hos. xi. 1 ; Jer. ii. 2, or the period of David and Solomon ? But as the pro- phet speaks here of the city ('^^"'p) by which he can only mean Jerusalem, so one can only think immediafrhj of the beginning period of the king- dom. The propliet seems to have especially in. mind the early days of Solomon. For this, without doubt, was in respect to the administra- tion of justice the golden age of Israel. For in answer to Solomon's prayer for " an understand- ing heart, to judge the people and to discern be- tween good and bad," the Lord had given liim " a wise and understanding heart, so that there was none like him before him, neitlier after him should any be like him." 1 Kings iii. 9, 12. And bv the celebrated judgment Solomon ren- dered '(ibid ver. 16 sq.), the people '^ saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment (ibid. ver. 28). And, moreover, as "Solomon loved Jehovah" (ibid ver. 3), he was permitted also to build the Lord " an house," and thereby to join the Lord and the people together by an important outward tie. Hence could .Jerusalem, in reference to that time, be justly named a "fixed city" (comp. ]DX]Dipo xxii. 23, 25; 'J n"3 1 Sam. ii. 35 ; xxv.' 28), that " was full of justice," and in which righteousness had, not a transitory, but a permanent abode. It is there- fore doubtftil whether, in addition to this ele- vated point represented by Solomon, we may re- gard the reign of Jehoshaphat, with its reforma- tion of justice, 2 Chr. xix. 5 sq., that came an Inindred years later, as referred to in this place. For that effort can only be looked on as a mo- mentary check of the downward course that the nation began with Kehoboan. It may be asked with more justice ; did not I.saiah have in mind here also aii earlier age than that of Solomon ? CHAP. I. 21-31. If only the city, and not the nation, is in question here, that age could only be Melchisedec's. This occurred to Vitringa, but with a " non ausim " he left the matter in suspcnso, I believe that the reference to Melchisedec's time is not to be re- jected, and shall give the reason for this at ver. 26. The phrase n2 ]"S' plX, "righteousness lodged in it," is only another turn and at the same time the establishing of the sentiment "full of judgment." For if Jerusalem is full of the concrete manifestation of a truly right- living, then tliis comes only from the fact that tlie idea of right has, so to speak, taken up its permanent abode in Jerusalem. The words " full of judgment," tlierefore, belong to what follows, and stand absolutely, at the beginning (comp. ver. 13), the one full of riglit, — righteousness dwelt in her ; but now murderers. Tlie anti- thesis is, of course, not quite complete. Either nx 'D must be wanting or else a corresponding adversative he found. It must either say : as re- gards justice, righteousness formerly dwelt in it, but now murderers, — or; full ot justice, right- eousness dwelt in it; devoid of justice, murderers swarm in it. But the prophet, evidently influ- enced by an eflbrt at brevity, expresses in the second member of the adversative plirase only that thought that corresponds to the thouglit of the first member, and easily joins on to it. Tliat one may not translate, " it was full of justice " arises from tlie absence of the pronomen separatum. For only in cases where this may be supplied of itself may it be dispensed with- Thy silver is become. — With these words the prophet passes from the region of the inward and general to that of the concrete outward ap- pearance. The silver of Jerusalem has become dross, the noble wine mixed with water. The noble metal, the noble wine can only mean the noljle men. And it appears from ver. 23, which explains the figurative language, that the prophet has the princes of the people in mind. "Dicitur arricntimi," etc. "The silver is said to be turned into dross, and the pure wine to be mixed with water, when judges and senators turn from purity and grave manners, from integrity, sincerity and candor, and prostitute their own dignity." Vi- TRINGA. As dross is related to silver, the emblem of moral purity (comp. Leyrer in Herzog's iJ. Emyd. XV. p. Ill, 114) so the diluting with water to the strong wine. — On the matter of the ver. comp. Jer. vi. 2S; Ezek. xxii. 18 sqq. Thy princes, etc. — By these words the pro- phet himself shows, as he often does, the meaning of his figurative language. On the change of number co7np. Ps. v. 10. "It is not Dwi^, that they chase after, hut D'JD7^, not peace, but pa- cifying their greed." Delitzsch. Comp. ver. 23 6 with ver. 17 6, and the comment there. 3. Therefore— all thy tin.— Vers. 24, 25. From the contemplation of the past and present the prophet now turns to consider the future. The transition to it shall be made by a grand act of judgment and purifying. The prophet intro- duces his discourse with solemn language, espe- cially by employing in detail all the titles of the Lord. He uses the solemn DKJ, which is found in Isa. much more seldom than in Jer., and Ezek.' Also [nxn occurs in Isa. relatively, not often • comp. ver. 9, on "of hosts ;"_'t5''' T3N "the mighty one, of Israel," is found first Exod. xlix. 24, where however it reads 3pJ/'^ 'S- The latter form appears in all the rest of the places where it is used, xlix. 26; Ix. 16; Ps. cxxxii. 2, 5. — "Ah/ Ivnll ease," etc. The Lord announces His intervention in terms that make known His de- termination to obtain satisfaction. I -will turn, etc. — In the passagescited (see Text. & Gram. ) the liand of the subject is not said to have been previously on the object named, and as little is such the case here. The translation of Umbreit, therefore, "let come afresh" is not admissible. And for the same reason we must not, with Vl- TRiNG.v, who appeals to xi. 11, refer, T J'KTI tO' the saltans et benefica manus, the healing and bene- ficent hand of God. The totality of the natioa sliall be subjected to a purifying process which the prophet compares to the process by whicli silver ore is freed from the mi.xtuie of ignoble metal, and rendered .solid silver ('j'"'^ '\9.? or ppt'3 Ps. xii. 7). The separation of the lead ore is promoted by applving alkali, comp. Winer, R. ]V. B., word, 2Ielals. 4. And I -will restore — v/ith righteous- ness.— Vers. 26, 27. With these words the pro- phet indicates the positive good that shall arise from this purifying process; such judges and counsellors as shall resemble tho.se of the early age (ver. 21) and by whose agency Jerusalem- shall become a righteous and faithful city. It is seen that the prophet ascribes a decisive eflect to the influence of the chiefs of the state. He must very well have known, by what he observed in liis times, how great must have been this in- fluence for evil. This place reminds us much of Jer. xxiii. 3-6; xxxiii. 15, 16. For as Isa. in this place, so there Jer., promises the restora- tion of a good administration that shall exercise righteousness, and procure a name that shall be significant of that righteousness. Here as there, that name shall be an ideal one (not a name act- ually employed, comp. my comment on Jer. xxiii. 6). The glorious end shall correspond to the glori- ous beginning, (comp. "faithful city," "right- eousness lodged in it," ver. 21). It i.s, moreover, to me very probable that by the original and first times Isa. understands, not only Solomon's time, but also Melchizedec's. For pnX Ti' and p^i"-375 (city of righteousness and king of righteousness) comp. Heb. vii. 2, look quite too much alike. Also the name Adoni-zedec, Josh, x.; (comp. Adoni-bezek, Jud. i. 5; 1 Sam. xi. 8), proves that not only one king of Salem had a name composed of Zcdec. It can only be objected that Melchizedec does not belong to the begin- ning of the Israel .Jerusalem. Yet he does belong to the beginning of the Jerusalem of the history of grace. This city had not become the capital city of Israel, had" it not before that been the city of Melchizedec; and all the glory and signi- ficance of the Israel Jerusalem is only a transi- tional fact, that would restore that ancient glory 4' THE PROPHET ISAIAH. of Melchizedec. {comp. my Ai-t. Melchizedec in Herzog's R. Encyd. iX. p. 3UU sq.). We are so inncli the more justitied in this rtasouing as the ideal fact of the future that the prophet has in ■view 13, without doubt, ideotical witli the Mes- sianic future (comp. xi. 3-5; Ps. Ixxii. 1 sq.) ; the Messiah, however Ps. ex. 4 (comp. Heb. v. 6, lU; vi. 20; vii. 1 sqq.), is expressly de.signated as the antitype of Melchizedec. Ver. 21, is difficult. The question is; by whose righteousness is Zion redeemed? To this three answers are given. Some say by the righteous- ness of the Israelites. Thus the Rabbins espe- cially, " Because in it there shall be those who exercise justice, it is redeemed from its iniqui- ties." Raschi. But that condicts with vers. 24, 25 ; for according to these declarations the Lord Himself vindicates the cleansing and deliver- ance of Israel as His own judging and sifting operation. Others regard the judgment and righteousness in question as God's. Against this idea there is, in itself, naturally nothing to ob- ject, in as much as there are plenty of passages in which saving effect is ascribed to tlie right- eousness of God. Delitzsch, who adopts this view, cites especially iv. 4; v. 16; xxviii. 17. But then ver. 27 would, in substance, say only in other words what is already contained in vers. 24, 25. It is to be considered moreover, — and therein is seen the third answer to our inquiry — that in many passages, to which this is nearest kindred in its description of Messianic salva- tion, the righteousness of the administration of justice forms an essential element of that glori- ous time. Thus ix. 6 it is said, the Messiah shall order and support the kingdom of David with judgment and righteousness. Thus xi. 3-5 it is said of the rod out of Jesse, that he shall judge the poor with righteousness, and that righieous- ness shall be tlie girdle of his loins, and faithful- ness the girdle of his reins. And xvi. 5 we read that upon the throne and in the tabernacle of David one shall sit, "judging and seeking judg- ment, and hastening righteousness." But in Jeremiah's celebrated prophecie.«, xxiii. 5sq. and xxxiii. 15, it is emphatically said that the Lord will raise unto David a ri^hleotis Branch, and that this one shall restore judgment and righteousness in tlie land, and shall procure to him the name Jehovah our righteoustiess. And, to prevent our thinking that this righteous government is to be only the prerogative of the Me.ssiali, it is said Isa. xxxii. 1, expressly of the " princes " too, "they shall rule, in judgment." Our passage, also, which does not at all mention the person of the Messiah, speaks of judges and counsellors in the plural, which may remain undetermined whether the abstract pluralis generalis, is meant or an actual pluralis midtitudinis. In the former oa.ie the plural would include the Messiah, and this is in the end, the more probable ; in the latter case the righteous judges and counsellors would be distinguished from the Messiah, who is only presented in idea. In any case, by our construction, ver. 27 is a corollary of ver. 20. The righteous judges named in ver. 26, shall fulfil as the task set before them just that which is mentioned ver. 27 ; by righteous rule they shall procure deliverance from the evils under which Zion and the D'DiV (those return- ing, Eng. vers, "converts") had to sufier hitherto on account of the unrighteousness of their rulers. This D'JE', by reference to the y'l^p 'Dty (those turning from transgression) lis. 20 has been translated "converts;" [so Eng. ver.]. But to me it seems more likely that Isa., whose manifold use of aiiy ia a prelude to Jeremiah's use of the word, uses the word here in the double sense of the spiritual and bodily return, that it so often has in Jer. (comp. my comment on Jer. xxxi. 22). To be sure Isa., does not, in what precedes, speak expressly of the Exile. But this notion is impliedly contained in ver. 25. For, of course the exile belonged essentially to that mighty smelting and purifying process to which the people must be subjected. Let a comparison be made of the passages that give a survey of the Messianic salvation, and it will be seen that pre- cisely the return to the holy land, which of course cannot be conceived of without the spiritual re- form, forms a principal element (see my comment Jer. iii. 18). If therefore our text is' related to later passages like the germ to the developed plant, then we are right in regarding the latter as a commentary on it, and accordingly in taking the '^'32/ in the double sense of a spiritual and bodily return (Ezr. vi. 21; Keh. viii. 17). 5. And the destrnction — none shall quench them.— Vers. 28-31. The reverse side of the smelting process, the fate of the " dross" is presented to us here. It is difficult to say what difference there is between U'iJUD, (transgressors) and D'XBn (sinners). At all events the former is the more particular, (see ver. 2), the latter the more general word. Both words signify inimical conduct, the former more toward the person of Jehovah, the latter more to the idea of the good. At the same time SI3n as Piel form, contains an intensive force in comparison with XI3n ver. 4. — The " "5!^'' " they that forsake," are related to " the transgressors," as negative to positive. AVho- ever does evil conducts himself, in some fashion, aggressively against the Lord. But whoever de- serts from the Lord is an idolater. In this sense the expression '"~'"^>'f -'_i' is often used ; so %er. 4; still more plainly Ixv. 11, the sole place in Isa., beside this where the participle occurs in connection with "; comp. Hos. iv. 10; Jer. ii. 13; xvi. 11; xvii. 13 (in which place Jer., had our text before him) ; xxii. 9; 1 Kings ix. 9, etc. For ye shall be ashamed, etc- — The gen- eral declaration that "the transgressors," etc., shall bo destroyed, is more particularly estab- lished by two connected sentences, each of which beo-ins with "for," and the second is subordinated tolho first. Those that forsake the Lord would not be destroyed if they found the expected help from those to whoji they deserted. But they are destroyed because they do not find in idols this help; con.sequently are brought to shame in the hopes they entertained in this direction. I un- derstand, "therefore, "the oaks" and "gardens" to be synecdochical for the idols that were wor- shipped in them. It is past comprehension how Dreciisler can say that "nothing whatever ^n the text itself or in the context suggests the ex- CHAP. I. 21-31. planation of idolatry" He could only say so because he has utterly disregarded the specific meaning of " '^]V> "they that forsake." For ye shall be as an oak, etc. — This ex- plains how the beconiino; ashamed ver. 29 shall he realized. The "for" of ver. 30, is therefore not co-ordinate with the "for" of ver. 29, but subordinate to it. Thus the prophet retains his figure of speacli. Those that clung with their hearts to treacherous trees and gardens, and for- sook the living waters, (Jer. ii. 13; xvii. 13), shall themselves become withered trees and dried- up gardens. The Terebinth is not evergreen, as is commonly asserted (comp. Arnold in Hekzog's R. Emyd. XI. p. 2G). Therefore not the normal falling of the leaves is meant, but their abnormal leilting. And the strong shall be, etc. — Ver. 31. V>\\t the idols are not only powerless, they are positive! V ruinous. For this sin against the first commandment includes in itself all the elements of spiritual as well as bodily ruin. The prophet •n-ould say that the idolater, even if he be no poor, powerless man, resembling t!ie withered tree, or the garden devoid of water, if, on the contrarv, he is rich, and mighty, and like the tree abounding in sap, or a well watered garden, nevertheless, by the ruinous influences of idolatry he shall be destroyed. He compares such an idolater to the tow (.Jud. xvi. 91 ; his work, how- ever, i. e., the idols to a spark ("|"ii"J a--/.ey.) [Ver. 21. The faithful city ("including the ideas of a city and a state, urbs et cifitus, the body ])olitic, the church of which Jerusalem was the centre and metropolis.") "The particle at the beginning of the verse is properly interroga- tive, but like the English how is used also to ex- press surprise, ' How has she become ?' i. e., how could she possibly become? How strange that .she should become !" J. A. Alexander. Ver. 23. They judge not — doth not come unto them. — " They are not simply un- just judges, they are no judges at all, they will not act as such, except when they can profit by it." J. A. Alexander. Ver. 24. " I ■will ease me. — This refers to what is said in ver. 14, where God is represented ;is burdened with their crimes."^" It means that He had been pained and grieved by their crimes ; His patience had been put to its utmost trial ; -.mil now He would seek relief from this by in- ilicling due punishment on them. Comp. Ezek. V. 13 ; Deut. xxviii. 63," Barnes. Ver. 27. " This verse means that the very same events by which the divine justice was to mani- fest itself in the destruction of the wicked, should be the occasion and the means of deliverance to Zion, or the true people of God," J. A. Alex- ander. "With judgment.— In a righteous, just manner. That is, God shall evince His justice in doing it; His justice to a people to whom so many promises had been made, and His justice in delivering them from long and grievous op- jiression. All this would be attended with the displays of judgment, in effecting their deliver- ance." "With righteousness. — This refers to the character of tho^se who shaJl return. They would be a reformed, righteous people," B-VRNEs] . doctrinal and ethical. 1. On ver. 1. Coiicerning Judah and Ja~u- salem. — Jerome here pronounces decidedly against Chiliasm, in that he says: Scio quos- dani Judaeam, etc. " I am aware that some explain Judah and Jerusalem of celestial things, and Isaiah under the person of the Lord Jesus, that He foretells the captivity of that province in our land, and the after return and ascending the sacred mount, in the last days. Which things we nrnke no account of, holding them to be mholly contrary to the faith of Christians." Whether Jerome understands by these fidei Christianorum contraria, which the universa de- spises, Chiliasm generally, or only the giving this passage a chiliastic significance may be doubted. For, on Jer.xix. 10,hesa3-sin regard to the Jewish expectation of a restitution of Israel to the earthly Canaan ; Qme licet non seciiiamur," etc. " Which we may not follow, nor yet can we condemn it ; for many churchmen and martvrs have said that. And each is strong in his opinion and the whole may be reserved to the judgment of the Lord." We" see from this he inclined more to reject Chiliasm. 2. On ver. 1. /» the days of, etc. — Sciamus qiioque, Fzechiam, etc. We know, moreover, that Hezekiah began to reign in Jerusalem in the twelfth year of Eomulus, who erected a city of his own name in Italy, so that it is very apparent how very much more ancient our history is than that of other nations. Jerome, comp. his Epist. ad Damasnm, where it is said: Regnavit Ozias annis 52, etc. " Uzziah reigned 52 years, in the time Amulias ruled among the Latin.s, and Aga- mester 12th among the Athenians. After whose death Isaiah the prophet saw this vision, t. e., in that year that Komulus, founder of the Roman empire, was born." 3. On ver. 2. Theodoret remarks that heaven and earth were qualified witnesses to the ingrati- tude of Israel because the people "received through them the most manifold benefits. For heaven extended to them from above the food of manna. For he commanded, says Ps. Ixxviii. 23, 24, the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and rained down manna upon them to eai, and he gave them bread from heaven. But the earth brought them in the desert the needed water, and in Palestine it aflorded them a superabundance of all sorts of fruits." That heaven and earth, however, can actually bear their testimonv he proves by reference to the display at the death of the Lord ; " for when the Jews had nailed the Saviour to the cross, the earth quaked mindful of the testimony; but heaven, unable to convey this sensation owing lo its position overhead, displayed the sun in his course, robbed of his beams and brought in dark- ness as testimony against the impious deed." 4. On ver. 3. " There God tells them to go to the beasts' school and uncover their he.ads before the oxen and asses as their teachers, who though the stupidest and slowest beasts, still submit to their lords and drivers, and are therefore pre- sented to us by God that we may learn from their example, how we should have reverence before our God. Is not that the greatest shame that, ac- 50 THE PROPHET ISAIAH. cording to divine declaration, an ox and ass are, I will not say contrasted with ii^s. but preferred to us because they do their duty toward their lord ? Shall we not observe our duty toward God ? This is expressly the wisdom and piety of men, that they are more stupid than an ox and ass, although in their own eyes they fancy they are wiser than all men. For what sort of wisdom can be left when one does not know God?" Heim and Hoff- mann, " Tlie great prophets according to Luther." 5. On ver. 4. " A sinful people is one that alto- gether sticks in sin (Juo. ix. 34), that makes of sin a real trade, and its best amusement; — of the people that is loaded with iniquity, the impos- tures and trespasses are so great and so many, that they load their conscience therewith as with a burden (Ps. xxxviii. -5); the evil seed (Jno. viii. 39) has not the disposition of Abraham, but is of Cain's and the serpent's kind." St.i_eke. In peecato originali, etc. " In original sin are two evils: evil itself and punishment (Augl'STin, Deciv.Dei. xxii. 24). Parts of sin itself are im- perfection and concupiscence (AuGUSTlx), as Gerson says : " impotent toward good, potent to- ward evil." FOERSTER. 6. On vers. 5-9. " God ha.s two ways by which to bring His ill-advised and disobedient children to obedience; goodness and severity (Rom. xi. 22). — That many men become only worse and more hardened by the divine judgments comes about, not from God, but from their own guilt (Jer. ii. 30; Rom. ii. 5). The desolation of whole cities and lands is the result of sin, hence there is no better means against it than true repent- ance (Jer. ii. 19 ; xviii. 7, 8). — God is gracious even in the midst of wrath (Ps. cxxxviii. 7), and does not utterly consume (Lam. iii. 22). The true Church must not be judged by outward ap- pearance, for often things look very bad within it (1 Kings xix. 14). — God is never nearer His own than in cross and misfortune (xliii. 2 ; Ps. xci. 15)." — St.^-Rke. 7. On vers. 10-15. " We learn here plainly, that God did not command them to offer sacri- fices because of pleasure He had in such things, but because He knew their weakness. For as they had grown up in Egypt, and had learned there to offer sacrifices to idols, they wished to retain this custom. Now in order to divert them from this error, God put up with the sacrifices and musical instruments (sic!) in that He overlooked their weakness, and directed their childish disposition. But here, after a long course of yeai-s, He forbids the entire legal ob.servauce." — Theodoret. "Hoslue el," etc. " Sacrifices and the immolation of victims are not principally sought by God, but lest they may be made to idols, and that from carnal victims we may, as by type and image pass over to the spiritiial sacrifice." — Jerome. 8. On ver. 10. Jerome observes : " Alnnt ffe- brmi" etc. " The Jews say that Isaiah was slain on two accounts: because he had called them princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, and because the Lord having said to Moses, ' thou canst not see my face,' he had dared to say, ' I saw the Lord sitting' (vi. 1)." 9. Vers. 10-15. " What Isaiah says here is just as if one in Christendom were to say: What is the multitude of your assemblies to me ? I don't want your Lord's suppers. My soul loathes your feast days ; and if you a.ssemble for public prayer, I will turn my eyes from you. It one were to preach so among us, would he not be regarded aa senseless and a blasphemer because he condemned what Christ Himself in.stituted ? But the pro- phet condemns that which was the principal mat- ter of the law, and commanded by God Himself, viz., sacrifices; not as if sacrifices in themselves were evil, but because the spirit in which those people sacrificed was impious. For they cast away reliance on the divine compassion, aud be- lieved they were just by the sacrifice, by the per- formance of the bare work. But sacrifices were not instituted by God that the Jews should be- come righteous through them, but that they might be signs through which the pious testified that they believed the promises concerning Christ, and expected Christ as their Redeemer." — Heim and Hoffmann. The Great Prophets, according to Luther. 10. Vers. 16-20. "A genercdi reformatione," etc. " He begins with a general reformation, lest, having finished with one part, they might think it opposed a veil to God. And such in general must be the treatment of men alienated from God. Xot one or other of the vices of a morbid body is to be dealt with, but, if one cares to have a true and entire recovery, they are to be called to re- novation, and the contagion thoroughly purged, that they may begin to please God. who before were hateful and nauseous. And by the meta- phor of wasliing there is no doubt but that they are exhorted to cleanse away inward filth ; a little later indeed he adds the fruits of works." — CiLVIN. 11. Ver. 18. "My art is wonderful. For, whereas the dyers dye rose-red, and yellow and violet and purple, I change the red into snow white." — Theodoret. " Opera crucris," etc. " Works of blood and gore are exchanged for a garment of the Lord, which is made of the fleece of the Lamb whom they follow in the Revelatioa (iii. 5; vi. 11), who shine with the whiteness of virginity."— Jerome. 12. Vers. 21-23. " From the condition of Jeru- salem at that day, one may see how Satan oftea exercises his lordship in the Church of God, as if all bands were dissolved. For if anywhere, then the church w.-us at that time in Jerusalem. .Vnd yet Isaiah calls it a den of murderers and a cave of robbers. If Satan could so rage in it, we must not wonder if the samethinghapiiensinour day. But we must take pains that we be not se- duced by so bad an example." — Ueiji and Hoff- mann. 13. Ver. 23. " It is great consolation for pious widows and orphans that God knows when rulers and judges will pay no heed to their want (Ps. Ixviii. 6). — Starke. 14. Vers. 24. 25. " God proceeds very unwil- lingly to punishment (Gen. vi. 3). — Xot only those are the enemie-s of God that defiantly re- ject His word, but those also who hypocritically glory in it. — Although one may not carnally re- joice at the misfortune of liis enemies, yet it is allowable to praise the righteousness of God in it (Ps. Iviii. 11). — If God wishes to avenge Him- self on His enemies, every thing is ready for the exerci.se of His will (Ecclus. xxxix. osq). — It is a blessing when God by persecution purifies Hia CHAP. I. 21-31. church from dross (Matth. iii. 12).— What is tin and what silver can be easily found out by fire. So by the tire of affliction is soon made plain who has been a hypocrite and who a true Christian." — vStabke. l.j. Ver. 26. Regarding the fulfilment of this prophecy, many, e. way of inspiration from the oMer prophet. f.V- ' - ,; ,,,,,, .'^mm enarravit illis verbis^ quce tunc ex .TcJifiU r ■ )^ in- dita). That the passage is orisinal u 1 ' i ; ; i , - i har- rowed from him by Micah is mninr li::. i i.\ i umf.t, Beokhacs (Integr. d, proph. Sclir. d. Attn Buiulrs. Vm), Umbreit. Some recent expositors fKopPE, Rosev- MrELLER. HiTZio, MArsER. Ew*. f^.for 'offt certainly do not make the impression of being addi- tions. Rather the language of Isaiah, ".4nd he shall judge among the nations, and rebuke many people,'* appears as an abbreviation that reproduces only what is essential. In the second place the pass.age in Mlcsh stands in the closest connection with what precedes. For with the threatening prophecy that for the sake of CHAP. II. 2-4. 55 Jiidah's sins "Zion shall be plovred as a. field, and Jeru- salem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the h'tUs-e as the high places of the forests," Micah iii. 12, the pioriiise is connected by way of contrast, that this desolation of the divine mount shall be superseded by ii wouderful glory (comp. Caspari, Micah dcr Mo7-asthite i. -Jettitjq.)- It '■'' niost intimately connected with this that rrni, Micali iv. 1, has a motive in what goes before, whereas, Isa. ii. 2 it has no motive, and is without example in so abrupt a position (comp. De- xiTzscH). In the third place tlie passage in Isaiah aijpears, in reference to what follows, as a motto, or a iorm, prefixed theme-like, whereas in Micah it forms a well-rounded whole with two following verses. Hevgstexberg is wrong when he refers the words MIl'. iv. 4 to the Israelites. The heathen, too, according to vers. -1 and a are Israelites, and thereby partakers ot the promise civen to Israel (Lev. xxvi. 5). For (such is evidently the^meaning of ver. 5J, while Israel holds to its God./Vrece?' as the rifihtfu! one, tlie heathen shall hold to their gods, only lor a season, viz., until the re- volution announced, 'ver. 1, takes place. The im- perfect 07\ ver 5 a. is therefore not future, but sig- nifies continuanc** in the present. At present the pro- phet would say, all people walk after their gods, but they will not do this forever as Israel. For, vers. 1-3, lie had expressly announced that all heathen shall flow to the mountain of Jehovah. As, therefore, ver. 4 com- pleted the all-comprehensive portrait of peace in the old theocratic sense, according to passages like Lev. xxvi. 5; I Kings iv. '25, ver. 5 assigns the reason for the glorious premise made in vers. 1-4, Israel has already i)ow the true way, therefore it needs only to persevere on its way. But'the heathen, that are now in the false waj', will one time forsake this false way and turn to the right way. The same construction proceeds, and the vers. 1-5 appear completely as one work from one mould. In the fourth place, the characteristics of the language in several respects bear the decided impress of Micah. The expre^'^i'^n "in thf last days," occurs in Isaiah as in Micah, onlv in t!ii- -j' place. The expres- sion '^ n^^ "inisaii. vi.l.nr- Miiti.-rtionwith jT^n "^H Mie. iii. 12, a design;iti-.ii diat ^■' •■nvs only here, there- fore is peculiar to Miuah. li Llir. xxxiii. 15 ■''' 71''^ 171 occurs again for a special reason, and possibly with re- ference to our passage. '13J only here in both Isaiah and Micah: likewise Tin K'5<"13- XK'J in Micah only here : in I.^iftiah three times beside, evidently occasioned by our text in ii. 2: see vers. 12, 13. 14: beside these vi. 1; Iii. 13; Ivii. 7, 15. IHj with the meaning con/Iue/e only here in Isaiah and Mi^ah. The expression D^IJ D'^T does not occur in Isaiah except ii. 2; on the other Jiand in Micah twice; hereandiv.il, (comp. the remark on D'31 D^OJ? at ver. 3). Later prophets, following Micah's example, make use of it, especially Ezek. (iii. 6 ; xxvii. 33: xxxii. .3, 9. in. etcX mri" "»n only here in Micah ; and also in Isaiah only once beside, xxx. 20. ^P>" ^n7X in Isaiah and Micah only here. Isa. always -'^ays SxiiS'" "nSx, once ^p^'-* 'l^hp (xli. 21) ; twice 2p];^ 1^3X (xlix. 26; Ix. 16). VDiirO ^2'^V in both prophets only here (comp. Mic. iii. 11 ; Isa. xxviii. 9, 26). Likewise 'XD HdSj. The pairing of Zion and Jeru- salem occurs in Micah in iii., iv., relatively often; iii 10, 12; iv. 2, 8. But in Isaiah, too. it occurs often; iv. 3, 4; X. 12, 32; xxiv. 23; xxx. 19; xxxi. 9; xxxiii. 20 ; xxxvii. 22,32; xli.27; Hi. 1,2; Ixii. 1; Ixiv. 9. D'31 D'3>' occurs in Isaiah in only one other place, xvii. 12. whereas H occurs in Micah four times : iv. 3, 13; v. 6, 27. The use of D^3T and D''01Vi^ together does not occur again in Micah; on the other hand once in Isa. liii. 12. The singular DIV^* *U oice in Isa. li. 22. The words pini~1_J,* are wanting in Isaiali. In tact they occur only here. rir\2 in Micah again i. 7; in Isa. xxiv. 12 ; xxx. 14. Plural of 2'^T^ in Isaiah only xxi. 15. D'J^X only here aud Joel iv. 10. pi^yn nowhere in Isaiah. rtllDTO in Isaiah again xviii. 5. The other words have no specific importance. The following expressions, thereforearedecidedly peculiar to Micah: 1)'" jT3 IH; 2) D^31 DMJ; 3)D'j"1 D'3^; 4) 3p^'' 'hSn; for Isa. constantly says, SxiK?* TI^X, and Ip^*** is generally a favorite expression of Micah, which he uses eleven limes (comp. Casp. Mic. d. Mor. ss. 41--i,444j. Only once in Micah and Isaiah, aud that in our passage, do the expressions occur; D'O^H jmnx3, ju:. D'^pri m'^x "»nj, coufiuere, lO^lO 0;iV, miTlXn noSj. Atmostxtyj and the use of b''3T and Q^Oli'j^ remind us of Isaiah's style. But it is to be considered that owing to the dif- ference in the size of the books, a single occurrence in Micah has relatively much more weight in setthng the U8U8 loquendi. Ver. 2. This beginning of the discourse with HTIl is unexampled. As is well known, several books begin with 'TT'l, (Josh., Judges, 1 Sam., 2 Sam., Ezek., Jonah, Neh.). But nowhere except here does riTll stand at the beginning of a discourse without a point of support given in what precedes. We recognize in that, as snown above, a proof that Isaiah took the words, vers. 2-4. from Mic. iv. 1-i as the basis of his discourae. Un7noved, Jixed'' Such is the meaning of I'OJ, comp. ?03 XD3, [133 P'3 2 Sam. vii. 16, 26; I Kings ii. 45; Ps. xciii. 2. "IPi: is probably denom. from inj, and does not occur again in Isaiah in the sense of "flowing." For fl'^HJl Ix. 5, comes from another root, kindred to '^^2, comp. Ps. xxxiv. 6. The word occurs in Jer. xxxi. 12; li. 44, with the meaning of "flawing, streaming,^' but also only in regard to nations. Ter. 4. ^32^ with TS is found again in Isa. only v. 3. nOin is a juridical terra as well as [33U'- The funda- mental meaning is "eufluvu*,'* " make right, straight,"* and corresponds to our " richten und scUchten." Corap. xi. 3, 4. In the latter place we find the construction with 7 (direct causative Hiphil). Comp. Job ivi. 21 ; ix. 33; Gen.'xxxi. 37. Q^j^X, which, as already remarked, excepting here oc- curs only Mic. iv. 3 and Joel iv. 10. is. doubtlcs.s. radically related to JIX, D'HX, which occurs 1 Sam. xiii. 20, 21. The first the LXX translate in all cases by iporpa, the Vttl- GATE bv arutra (in Joel) or rnmeres fin Isa. and Mich.) ; the latter the LXX translates cr«ei)o9, Vulgate, tigo. It is uncertain whether the distinction between D^PX and D^■^X is only to be referred to the Masoretic pointing, or to a real etymological difference. In the latter case it is not agreed whether the roots of the words m ques- tion are n^X=D=l>% from which Dj;, sti/lc, '^engrave, draw," thence nx. filX, not. acc„ or HJX, from wlueh on the one hand, is "JX, ship=v tuv y^Cfjuv." It is therefore not = in the time following, but = in the last time. Yet it is to be remarked herewith, that, as Oehler says: "Also the nearer future is set in the light of the last de- velopment of the divine kingdom." Comp. the admirable exposition of this by Oehler, Her- zog's S. Encyd. XVII. S. 653.— In this last time now .shall the mountain of tlie house of Jehovah (comp. Mic. iii. 12) for all time stand unmoved on the top of the mountains, and be exalted above all hills. The mountains are the protuberances of the earth, in which, so to speak, is embodied its effort upwards, its longing after lieaven. Hence the mountains also appear especially adapted as places for the revelation of divinity, and as places of worship for men adoring the divinity. (What is great generally, in contrast with little human works, is conceived of as divine work, compare ''>*"'^1l' Ps. xxxvi. 7 ; Ixviii. 16, ^N-'.nX Ps. Ixxx. 11, U-r^hah nSlJ ^-y Jonah iii. 3). But there are mountains of God in a narrower sense; thus Horeb is called Mount of God, Exod. iii. 1; xviii. 5; and Siuai, Num. x. 33. But above all the mountain of the temple, to which per synec- dochen the name of Zion is given, is called the ''Mount of God," the '' holy mountain of God," Ps. ii. 6 ; iii. -5 ; xxiv. 3, etc.; Jer. xxxi. 23; Joel ii. 1 ; iii. 17, etc. But the idols compete with the Holy God for possession of the mountains. For the high places of the mountains are also conse- crated by preference to tlieir worship, so tliat Is- rael is often reproaclied with practising fornication with the idols on every high mountain, 1 Ki. xiv. 23; 2Ki. xvii. 10; I.sa. Ivii. 7 ; Ixv. 7 ; Jer. ii.20; iii. 6 ; xvii. 2 ; 1.6; Ezek. vi. 2, 3 ; Hos. iv. 13. But the Scripture recognizes still another rivalry between tlie mountains. Ps. Ixviii. 16 speaks of the basalt mountains of Bashan with their many pinnacles tliat look down superciliously upon the lowly and inconsiderable Mount Zion. " All these rivalries shall come to an end. It is debated, how does the prophet conceive of the exalting of Mount Zion over the others? Many have sup- posed he conceives of Mount Zion as piled up Qj'er the otliers, {alii? moyitibus vcliili sit.periinpo- nitiwi, ViTR. ), or thus, that " the high places run together toward it, which thus towers over them, •seem to bear it on their heads " (Hofjiann, Weisz. u. Erf. II. p. 101). But, comparing other passages, it seems to me probable tliat Lsaiah would say: tliere will be in general no mountain on earth ex- cept Mount Zion alone. All will liave become plain ; only the mount of God shall be still a mountain. One God, one mountain. If, for ex- ample, we consider the words below, vers. 12-17 the prophet says there th.at divine judgment shall go forth upon all that is high in the world, and all hum.an loftiness shall be humbled, that " the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." .Just so, too, we read xl. 4, "Every valley shall he ex- alted, and every mountain and hill .shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain." When liills and vallies di-sappear, the land becomes even. To be sure. it seems as if xl. treats only of a level road for the approaching king. But this level road is pre- pared for the Lord precisely and only thereby, that in all the land, all high places shall disap- pear upon which idols could be worshipj^ed. Zechariah expresses still more clearly the thought that the sole dominion of the Lord is conditioned on the restoration of a complete plain in the land. He says, xiv. 9, 10. " And the Lord shall be king over all the land ; in that day shall be one Lord, and His name owe. All the land shall turn to lowness from Geba io Kimmon south of Jerusalem ; But this itself shall be lifted up, and shall abide in its place," etc. It may be ob- jected to this explanation that ii. 2, the presence of mountains and hills is in fact presupposed, be- cause it says, " at the top of the mountains," and " higher than the hills." But must the prophets in the places cited above, have thouglit of the re- storation of a plain in a mathematical .sense ? Certainly not. The notion of a plain is relative. There shall, indeed, remain therefore, mountains and hills, but in comparison with the mountain of the Lord, they shall no more deserve these names ; they shall appear as plains. From this results that tffXI^ is not =:iipon the head (this must be expressed by t^N^ i'^< comp. Exod. xxxiv. 2. 1 Sam. xxvi. 13; Isa. xxx. 17) but = at the top or head (comp. Am. vi. 7 ; Deut. XX. 9; 1 Sam. ix. 22 ; 1 Kings xxi. 9, 12). This latter however, cannot mean that the moun- tain of the Lord shall have the other mountains behind it, but under ihidf. Without doubt " the mountain of the house of the Lord," and the Sx^Z" Dna iriindnOJ in of Ezekiel are identi- cal, (Ezek. xvii. 22 sq. ; xx. 40, xxxiv. 14 ; xl. 2). This high mountain shall be exactly the oppo- site of that '' tower whose top may reach unto heaven" Gen. xi. 4, which, being a self-willed structure by the hands of insolent men, separated mankind. For our divine mountain, a work of God, reunites mankind again. They all see it in its glory that is radiant over all things, and re- cognize it not only as the source of their salva- tion, but also as the centre of their unity. There- fore they flow from all sides to il. These '' Many people," i. e., cotratless nations, which are essen-| tially the .same as the "all nations" mentioned! before, shall mutually encourage one another " to go up," (the .solemn word for religious journies, comp. Caspaki, Jlicha, p. 140), for which a four- fold object is named : the mountain of Jehovah ; on the mountain the house of the God of Jacob; in the house the instruction out of the ways of God (the ways of God are conceived of as the .source of the in.struction, comp. xlvii. 13 ; Ps. xciv. 12) ; and, in consequence of this instruction, the walking in the paths of God. Only the words from "Come ye" to "his paths " contain the language of the nations. The following phrase " for out of Zion," gives the rea.«on th:it shall de- termine the nations to such discourse and con- duct, min, law, is neither Me (Sinaitic) law, for it must then read niinn, nor the law of the king ruling in Zion. For what goes for:h from Zion is just what the nations seek. They do not seek a political chief, however, but one that will teach CHAP. II. 2-4. them the truth. IT'IjI is therefore to be taken in the sense of the preceding ^i'}X' he will teach lis. It is therefore primarily doctrine, instruction in general, but which immediately is limited as " 131 word of the Jehovah. But shall the nations, turn toward Zion only because " law " goes forth from tlience ? Did not theu, even in the Pro- phet's time and before that, law go out from Zion ; and did the nations let themselves be determined bv tliat to migrate to Zion '! We shall then need to construe '• law"' and " word of the Lord " in a pregnant sense: that which deserves the name of divine doctrine in the highest and completest sense, therefore the absolute doctrine, which alone truly satisfies and therefore also irresistibly draws all men. This doctrine, i- e., the gospel of Jesus Christ is, true enough, gone forth out of Jeru- .salera, and may be called the Zionitic Tora, in contrast with the Sinaitic. (Comp. Delitzsoh ui loc-). Therefore that ''preaching repentance and remission of sins in the name of Christ to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem," Luke ssiv. 47, is the beginning of the fulfilment of our prophecy. Comp. Zecli. viii. 20 sqq. 3. And he shall judge — learn V7Slx any more. — Ver. 4. The consequences of this divine iusi ruction, sought and received by the nations, shall be, that the nations shall order their affairs and compose their judicial processes according to the mind of him that has taught them. So shall God appear as that one who judges between the nations and awards a (judicial) sentence. The Spirit of God that lives in His word -ia.a^ Spirit of love and of peace. The God of peace sancti- fies, therefore, the nations through and through (1 Thess. V. 23) so that they no more confront one another in the sense and spirit of the brute power of this world, but in the mind and .spirit of the Kingdom of God. They are altogether children of God, brothers, and are become one great family. War ceases; the implements of war become superfluous ; they shall be forged over into the instruments of peace. The exerci.ses at arms, by which men in peace prepare for war, fall of themselves away. The meaning "plow- share" evidently corresponds best to the context, in which the contrast between agriculture and war is the fundamental idea ; at the same time it may be remarked that a scythe, mattock, or hoe, tloes not need to be forged over again to serve for arms, Joel 3:10. — The n^OiO (xviii. -5) is the vine-dresser's knife. A lance head may easily be made out of it. It is remarkable, that ex- cepting this place, Isaiali, who speaks so much of war, uses, none of the words that in Hebrew mean '' spear, lance." As regards the fulfilling of our prophecy, the Prophet himself says that it shall follow in the last time. If it now began a longtime ago; if especially the appearance of the Lord in the tiesii, and the founding of His kingdom and tJie preach- ing of the gospel among all nations be an element of that fulfilment, yet it is by no means a closed up transaction. What it shall yet bring about we know not. If many, especially Jewish ex- positors hav* taken the words too coarsely, and outwardly, so, on the other hand, we must guard against a one-sided spiritualizing. Certainly the prophets do not think of heaven. Plows and pruning hooks have as little to do with heaven, as swords and spears. And what has the high place of Mount Zion to do in heaven ? Therelbre our passage speaks for the view that one time, and that, too, here on this earth, the Lord shall ap- propriate the kingdom, (Ix. 21 ; Matt, v- .5), sup- press the world kingdoms and bring about a con- dition of peace and glory. That then what is outward shall conform to what is inward, is cei-- tain, even though we must confess our ignorance in regard to the ways and means of the realiza- tion in particulars. [Regarding the question of ii. 2-4 being original to Isa. or Micah, J. A. Alexander says : '' The verbal variations may be best explained, bow- ever, by supposing that they both adopted a tra- ditional prediction current among the people in their day, or, that both received the words di- rectly from the Holy Spirit. vSo long as we liave reason to regard both places as authentic and in- spired, it matters little what is the literary his- tory of either." Baknes says: "But there is no improbability in supposing that Isa., may have availed himself of language, used by Micah in describing the same event." At ver. 2. " Instead of saying, in modem phraseology, that the cluirch, as a society, shall become conspicuous and attract all nations, he represents the mountain upon which the temple stood as being raised and fi.xed above the other mountains, so as to be visible in all directions." —J. A. A. Ver. 4. '' VoLNEY states tliat the Syrian plow is often nothing but the branch of a tree, cut below a bifurcation, and used without wheels. The plowshare' is a piece of iron, broad but not large, which tips the end of the shaft. So much does it resemble the short sword used by the ancient warriors, that it may with very little trouble, be converted into that deadly weapon ; and when the work of destruction is over, reduced again to its former shape." — Barnes.] [So we have seen it— ploughing on Mount Zion. — M. W. J.] THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 2. THE FALSE EMINENT THINGS AND THEIR ABASEMENT IN GENERAL. Chapter II. 5-11. 5 0 house of Jacob, come ye, And lot us walk in the light of the Lord. 6 Therefore thou hast "forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, Because they be replenished 'from the East, And are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they ^""please themselves in the children of strangers. 7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, Neither is there any end of their treasures ; Their land is also full of horses. Neither ii there any end of their chariots : 8 Their land also is full of idols ; They worship the work of their own hands. That which their own fingers have made ; 9 And "the mean man boweth down. And * the great man humbleth him.self : ° Therefore forgive them not. 10 Entar into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, For fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled. And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. ^ Or, moTt than the East. * repudiated. " a man is bowed down, * And thou wilt not forgive them. * Or, abound unth the children, etc, *> make c-ovenant with foreign bom. ^ everybody humbled. TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. Ver. 5. \zh and HD '31, Come, and we will walk, are taken from ver. 3, and " 11X3 not only reminds of ?;"l'l'1, ver, 3, but one is almost tempted to believe that <' -\)X2 ver. 3 is an eelio of Vn'mjS3, which, ver. 3, follows 713 '51. And if the words are compared thatin Mich, follow the borrowed verses iv. 1-3; (" For all peo- ple » ill walk every one in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever," ver. 5) it will be seen that these words, too, floated before Isaiah's mind. Grammatically there is nothing to object to the view of the comment below. For 713^73 liN3 may jMst as well mean earnus in lucem, as in luce, let us walk into the light, as in the light. And if the words of vers. 2 and 3 that sound alike are not taken in quite the same meaning, I would ask : are they then identi- cal ? And if they were identical, must then the ,13^ " r\imX3 (that must, according to ver. 3, occur in tlie Ia!?t time) be the same with " 11X3 n3S that the Pro- phet imposes as a duty on the Israel of the present? Ver. 6. jyQj stands very commonly in the sense of re- pudiate: Judg. vi. 13; 1 Sam. xii. 22; 1 Kings viii. 57; Ps. Lxvii. 9; .\civ. 14; Jer. vii. 29; Ezek. xxix. 5; xxxii. 4. But especially the notion of jyoj appears signifi- cantly as contents of the " burden of Jehovah," and pro- baV'ly with reference to our passage ; Jer. xxiii. 3.3 ; comp. xii. 7 and 2 Kings xxi. 14. In m.iny of these places Jjy st.inds parallel with tyBJ- From that, and from the impossibility of taking Di' = D^' 111, way, fa.^hion of the people, nationalify, the inaccuracy appears of the explanation given by Saadia. TAno.. ,T. D. Micha- ELis and others: "thou hast abandoned thy nation- ality." mpo 1X10. according to rhe comment below, is particularly to be main^ained as the correct reading. Thus both the conjecture of Brf.vz and Bottciier (Ereq. Krit. .'Ehrenlfse. p. 20) OPpO (comp. Ezek. xii. 24; xiii. 7), and that of Gesenttjs (hi his Themu. s. v. DID. P- 1193, though in his commentary he declares for the t«xt). DOpp (comp. Jer. xiv. 14; Ezek. xiii. 0,23) are needless. Also the signification of old transl.ations (it to dir' dp- CHAP. II. 5-11. X^s. LXX., ut uliiu, VuLG., ut antea, Peschit., sicut ab ini- tio, Targ., Jon.) is incorrect, because the insertion of liie particle of comparison and the leaving out of ac- count the 1 before D'^JJ? are arbitrary. Beechsler has justly nailed attention to the fact that X7D with |D never means the same as X /O with the accusative. For the first does not so much name the matter with ■which one is filled as the source, the fund, the provision out of which the matter is drawn. Thus e. g. Exod. xvi. 3:^, ^3!30 ■^r3_J?n X^O is not: tmple mesurani eo, but ex eo, i. e., Jill the omcr with the proper quantity taken from the whole mass. Comp. Lev. ix. 17; Jer. li. 34; Ezek. xxxii. 0; Ps. cxxvii. 6. It is different Ecel. i. 8. D'JJJ? (Lev. xix. !d6; Isa. Ivii. 3; Jer. xxvii. 9; 2 Kings xxi. 6; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6) or D'JJi?I3 (Deut. xviii. 10, 14 ; Mic. T II) according to the context of the passages cited, are places of magicians or diviners. For the word stands parallel with ^\p3 sometimes, and sometimes ■with K'nj) iis, then, in substance both are nearly re- luted. But the fundamental meaning is doubtful. Fleischeu in a note in Delitzsch in loc. controverts the lundamental meaning maintained by Fveest, "^tecta^ar- eana Jaciens,'' and also the derivation from VJ? (oculo maligno fascinans), and would derive it either from [K', cloud (weathermaker), or from the Arabic root anna ^cocrcere, stop by magic). — As regards the construction, Dbechslee has remarked that the absence of DH must ■occasion no surprise. The verb Ip'Sty in this sen- tence causes no little trouble. p3ty occurs in only ■three places in the Old Testament: Job xxvii. 23; 1 Kings XX. 10 and here. Beside that there is also the noun pp\i! (piJO) Job xx. 22; xxxvi. 18.— Job xxvii. 23 -we read the words ID'SD '^^"^.^ pbiJ''- Here evi- ■denily p3iy = pDD which often occurs for clapping tlic hands together, or for slapping on the thigh ; Num. xxiv. 10; Lam. ii. 15 ; Jer. xxxi. 19; F.zek. xxi. 17. But 1 Kings XX. 10, the king Ben-Hadad of Syria says : " The gods do so unto me and more also, if the dust of Sama- ria shall suffice (p3!£?V) for handfuls for all the people tti.it follow me." And with this agrees also the Aramaic p3D redundare, and the p'SiTl " superfiuere, satis esse" of the late Hebrew.— Also in regard to the substantive p3t7 the same division of meaning occurs For while Job XX. 2-2 the context requires the meaning " abunclan- tin" opinions vary a great deal in regard to Job xxxvi. IS, Still to me the weight of reason seems on the side of the meaning " erplosio." (disapproval, insult by hand clapping, comp. Job xxxiv. 26, 27). And the explana- tions of our passage divide into two classes, in that the one bring out the fundamental idea of striking, the olher tliat of superabundance, but each variously modi- flpd. The Hiphil occurs only here. It is to be con- strued in a direct causative sense {complosionem faccre). Ycr. 7. 7\'i\) always with ['Nl only here and Neh. ii. 10 ; iii. 3, 9. Ver. 8. D'7"7N from 7N with intentional lilve sound to 'jX, DTiSn, comp. Zech. xi. 17 ; Jer. xiv. 14 ; Isa. ii. 18, 20; X. 10 sq. ; xix. 1, 3; xxxi. 7. The singular sufRx in W and Vi"\^3XX is to be noticed in grammatical respects. Expositors correctly construe the suffixes as distributive. Comp. v. 23 concerning the ideal number. Ver. 9. At first sight tiie explanation (adopted, e. g., by Lcthee), commends itself, that takes the verbs nty' and 732'' as descriptive of the volun- tary homage that the Israelites rendered to the great thmgs depicted verse 7 sq. It appears to belong to the completeness of the mournful picture that the Prophet draws here of the condition of Israel, that also that retoguilion should be mentioned which those great things named, vers. 7, 8, received at their hands. More- over the similarity of construction seems to point to a continuation of that strain of complaint against Israel already begun. Indeed the second half of ver. 9 " and forgive them not," seems to form the fitting transition to the announcement of judgment, whereas these words, if the announcement of judpment begins with 9 a al- ready, seem to be an vcrrepov Trponpov. That nnC' and 7312' in what follows (vers. 11, 12. 17) and especially v. 15, are used for involuntary humiliation would be no objection, in as much as a contrast might be intended. Nevertheless I decide in favor of the meaning approved by all recent expositors, viz., involuntary bowing. What determines me is, first, that already ver. 8 6 speaks of the voluntary bowing to idols. Had the prophet meant to emphasize, not simply this, but also the bowing be- fore the idols of riches and power, he would surely have joined both in a ditferent fashion than happens if ver. 9 a is referred to ver. 7. And then Isaiah must have said: 'pi Sn T^BUI, ivt thou forgive them not. That the antithesis is not marked in ver. 9 b, is proof that none exists. But then in this ease ver. 9 a itself must con- tain a threatening of judgment. It is no objection to thi-' that it is expressed in narrative form with the vav. consecutivum ; comp. Deechslee in loc. Ver. 9 6 is then not antithesis but explanatory continuation. 7X must then be taken in the weaker signification of X7. Comp. 2 Kings vi. 27.— Dnj« and jy'K (comp. v. 15; xxxi. 8; Ps. xlix. 3; Prov. viii. 4) form only a rhetorical, not a logical antithesis. It is not = mean and great, but — all and every. The idea of " man " is only for the sake of parallelism expressed by two synonymous words. Comp. ver. 11. After SUTI must |i_J.' be supplied, comp. Gen. xviii. 24, 26 ; Hos. i, 6, coll. Isa. xxxiii. 24. Ver. 10. I' in3 genitive of the object, comp- 1 Sam. xi. 7; 2 Chr. xiv. 13; xvii. in and below vers. 19 and 21. tlNJ "nn only here. Ver. 11. nin^J only here and ver. 17. Oil '" I.^aiah only here and ver. 17, and x. 12. The sininilar hSlV is explained in that nin3J is the main ide.a. Comp. v. V,. hsVJ, a common word with Isaiah (vers. 9, 11, 12, 17 ; V. 15; xl. 4, etc.) is verb, not adjective, for the latter is '73U'. The same ramark obtains in reference to DHS aiuf D"U':N tliat was made ver. 9 concerning DIN -ind THE PROPHET ISAIAH. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 1. Tlie Propliet'a glance has penetrated into the farthest future. There he gazes on the glory of Jehovah and his people. In the words of his fellow propliet Micah, to whom he (hereby ex- tends the hand of recognition and joins himself, he portravs how highly exalted then the Lord and His people shall be. That is the true emi- nence to which Israel is destined, and after which it 0U!;ht to strive. But what a chasm between that which Israel shall be andwiiat it actually is! The Prophet calls on the people to set them- selves in the light of that word of promise, that promise of glory (ver. 5). WhaLa,- sad picture of the present reveals itself! The people in that glorious pict\ire of the future, so one with its Grod that it does not at all appear in an indepen- dent guise, appeal's in the present forsaken of God, for it has yielded itself entirely to the in- fluences of the world from the East and West, and all sides (ver. G). In consequence of this, mucli that is high and great has, indeed, towered up in the midst of them. But this highness con- sists only of gold and silver, wagons and horses, and dead idols made by men (vers. 7-8). For that, in the day of judgment, they shall be bowed down so much "the lower and obtain no pardon (ver. 9). For in that day they must creep into clefts inthe roclcs and lioles in the ground, before the terrible appearance of Jehovah (ver. 10), and then shall every false, earthly eminence be cast down, tliat Jehovah alone raav appear as the high one (v. 11 ). 2. O house of Jacob— light of the Lord. — Ver. .5. " House of Jacob," so the Prophet ad- dresses the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem (ver. 1), in that he connects what he says in this address, and in the second half of the verse with the prophetic address uttered in what precedes, in whicli (ver. 3) the temple was named "the house of the God of Jacob." The expression "liouse of Jacob" for Israel is besides frequent in Isa. viii. 17; x. 20; xiv. 1; xxix. 22; xlvi. o; xlviii. 1; Iviii. 1. — As tbe Prophet at once expresses what he has to say to the house of Jacob in words that are taken from the prophecy that precedes, he intimates what use he intends to make of these words. ExT)ositors understand, '' IIS partly of the favor "and grace of the Lord (for which otherwise often '' 'J3-^1S< P.s. Ixxxis. IG: iv. 7 ; xxxvi. 10), partlv of the instruction through the law of the Lord [lux Jehovx lex Dei, Vitr. ). But neither the one nor the other meaning seems to me to suit the context. For in what follows there is neithi'r a jiromise of divine grace, nor exhorta- tion t J holy walk. I am therefore of the opinion, that tlie prophet by '' light of Jehovah," under- stands that light which Jehov.ah Himself extends to the people by the prophetic word that just precedes. In the light of ihat word ought Israel to set its present history. The Prophet shows, in what follows, how infinitely distant the present Israel is from the ideal that, vers. 2-4, he has shown, and wdiich shall be the destiny of this de- generate Israel in ''the last time." Now if Israel will a])ply the measure of that future to its pre- sent, it may escape the judgment of the last time. On this account the Prophet summons liis people to set themselves in the " light of Jehovah." o. Therefore thou hast— strangers, ver. 6. The words " thou hast repelled thy people " seem to me to indicate the fundamental thought of the whole address to the end of Chap. v. From vers. 2-4, where Jehovah is named the God of Jacob, and Zion the place where God's word shines so gloriouslv that all nations assemble to this shin- ing, it is 'seen that Israel in this last time shall live in most intimate harmony with its (iod. That it is not so now he proceeds to describe. For God has repudiated His people. Jehovah, however, has not arbitrarily repudiated His peo- ple. He could do no otherwise. For the nation had forsaken Him, had abandoned itself to the spirit of the world. They accorded admittance to every influence that pressed on them from East and West. Such is the sense of the following words. " From the east," means primarily, m- deed, those parts of Arabia bordering on Pales- tine (Judg. vi. 3, 33; vii. 12; viii. lU), but here, in contrast with Philistine.?, it signifies the lands generally that lie east of Palesline._ That de- structive influences, especially of a religious kind, proceeded from these lands to Israel, appears from the instance of Baal-Peor (Num. xxv. 3; Deut. iv. 3), and of Chemosh (1 Kin.cs xi. 7 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 13) of the Moabites, and Milcom of the Ammonites (1 Kings xi. 5, 7) the altar in Damascus (2Kingsxvi.lO), and the star worship of Manas.seh (2 Kings xxi. 5; Jer. vu. 18; xhv. 17 sqq.; Ezek. viii. IG). But Drechsi.eb, i?i he, has proved that not only religious influences but also social culture of every sort penetrated Israel from the East (corap. on iii. 18 sqq.; 1 Kings v. 10- X. l-lo ; xi. 1 sq. If, then, we translate " for 'they are full from the Eivst," we would thereby indicate the Prophet's meaning to be that Israel 'has drawn from the Orient that of which it is full, in the sense of intellectual nourishment. But the West, too, exercised its destructive in- fluences. The Philistines are named as repre- sentatives of it, and especially they are indicated as Israel's examples and teachers in witchcraft. It is true that we have no express historical evi- dence that the Philistines were especially given to witchcraft. Yet 1 Sam. vi. 2 mentions their " diviners," and 2 Kings i. 2, refers to the sanctu- ary of Baalzebub at Ekron, as a celeln-ated oracle. And in the children, etc. Excepting Targ. JoSATHA-x (et in lecjibus popvloruni amlmUmt I all the ancient versions find in our passage a acciisa- tiou of sexual transgression. The LXX, Peschit, and Ar. understand the words to refer to intercourse of Jewish men or women with the heathen, and the generation of theocratic illegiti- mate posterity. Jerome, however, understands the " et pueris alienis adhctacmnt ' of 1 ederasty, as he expressly says in his commentary, ihe translation of Symmachus, too. which Jerome quotes, "et cum filiis alienis applau^enmt, is to be understood in the same sense. For Jerome re- marks expressly: "Sijmmachm qnoclam arcmta et honeKlo aermoneplaudcntium eandcmcum piieris tur- pitudinem demomlravit." Gesenius in his Com- mentary p. 18 has overlooked this. It is seeu that iXK.iTCKva no\7.a hnd^vla ryevri^v avToic),. PEsoniT. (pbirinios extcrorum filios eduearunl)y Arab, [nati sunteisjilii ccleri permulti) have found CHAP. II. 5-11. 61 tlie notion of "fulness, superiuity'' in 1p"D"C'. But Jerome and tlie Hebrew scholar.^ that after liim ti'anslate kac>7]vuii) riaiv (wedging oneself in, in an obscene sense) proceed evidently from the fun- damental meaning "striking." The later ex- positors divide into these two classes. Still the majority decide in favor of the meaning, "strik- ing into, i. e., the hand, as sign of making a cove- nant," and refer to the construction 2 iUS (G-en. xxxii. 2 ; Josh. xvi. 7 ; xvii. 10, etc.), to illustrate the construction witli 3 here. Still better is it to compare the construction with 3 of the verbs, i^l\ P57' p'?Dr!' 'D?' ■'O^. 0 'lb" are the chil- dren of strangers (Psalm xviii. 45, sq. ; Isaiah Jx. 10, etc.),' with only the difference that in ' J 'IT the idea of a profane birth is more promi- nent. The expression is to be understood as gen- erally comprehensive of the eastern and western nations named immediately before, word 17." itself, it occurs not seldom in Isa. ix. 5 ; viii. 18; xi. 7 ; xxix. 23 ; Ivil. 4, 5. 4. Their land — have made.— Vers. 7, 8. Neither the having abundance of children of strangers (Ew.), nor the contenting oneself with such (DnECHSiiEK) explains to us why the land of Jacob was full of silver and gold, of horses and wagons. But it is very easily explained if Israel had treaties and a lively commerce with foreign nations. But this was contrary to the law and the covenant of Jehovah. For according to that Israel should be a separate people from all other nations: "And ye shall be holy unto Me ; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye shoidd be Mine." Lev. XX. 26. Commerce with tlie world, of course, brought the Israelites material gain, in gold and silver, liorses and wagons, so that, in fact, there wa.s a superfluity of these in the land. Bat by this growth in riches and power the divine prohibition (Dent. xvii. 17, ) was trans- gressed. It is plain enough now how necessary this prohibition was. For with the treasures of this world the idols of this world are drawn in. This prohibition would guard against that, for the subtile idolatry of riches and power would serve as a bridge to coarser idolatry, because it turns the heart away from the true God, and thereby opens a free ingress to the false gods. Thus is Israel, in consequence of that being full, of which ver. 6 speaks, also outwardly become full of that which passes for great and glorious in the world. But, regarded in the light of Jehovah, this is a false eminence. On the subject matter comjj. Mich. V. 9 sqq. 5. Enter into— in that day.— Vers. 10 and 11. The.se words stand in an artistic double re- lation. First, they relate to what precedes (ver. 9) as specification. Second, to what follows (as far as iii. 26) as a summary of the contents. For the brief words of ver. 9 exi)ress only in quite a general way the human abasement, and indicate the sole majesty of Jehovah only by ascribing to Him the royal right of pardon. Tliese words are now in both these particulars more nearly de- j termined in vers. 10 and 11. With dramatic ' animation the prophet summons men, in view of the terror that Jehovah prepares, and before the majestic appearance of His glory, to creep into the clel'ts of the rocks, and rock chasms (comp. ver. 19 and ver. 21J, and in the depths of the dust i. e., holes or caves in the earth, (comp. ver. 19). The terror, therefore, shall be like that which spreads before an overpowering invasion of an enemy (Judg. vi. 2; 1 Sam. xiii. 6). Then shall the lofty eye be cast down and, — which is the reason for the former — all human highness shall be hu- miliated. Jehovah alone shall lie high in tliat day, just as all mountains shall have disappeared before the mountain of .Jehovah (ver. 2). It will immediately appear that the matter of both these verses shall be more exactly detailed in what follows. [Ver. 5. " From this distant prospect of the calling of the gentiles, the Prophet now reverts to his own times and countrymen, and calls upon them not to be behind the nations in the use of their distinguishing advantages. If the heathen were one day to be enlightened, surely they who were already in possession of the light ought to make use of it." "In the light of Jehovah; (in the path of truth and duty upon which the light of revelation shines). The light is mentioned as a common designation of the Scriptures and of Christ Himself." (P/ov. vi. 23; Ps. cxix. 105; Isa. li. 4 ; Acts xxvi. 23 ; 2 Cor. iv. 4). J. A. A. Ver. 6 c. And uith the children of strangers they abound. — The last verb does not mean they please themselves, but they abound. — Children of strangers. — Means strangers themselves, — foreign- ers considered as descendents of a strange stock and therefore alien from the commonwealth, of Israel." — J. A. A. [See comment on i. 4 D'fi'nu'a D'p— Tk.] Ver. 7. " The common interpretation makes this verse descriptive of domestic wealth and luxury. But these would hardly have been placed between the superstitions and the idols, with which Judah had been flooded from abroad. Besides, this interpretation fails to account for gold and silver being here combined with horses and chariots. — But on the supposition that the verse has reference to undue dependence upon foreign powers, the money and the armies of the latter would be naturally named together. — The form of expression, too, suggests the idea of a re- cent acquisition, as the strict sense of the verb is, not it is full, nor even it is Jilted, but it mis, or has heal filled-'' — J. A. A. Ver. 9. " They who bowed themselves to idols should be bowed down by the ' mighty hand of God, instead of being raised up from tiieir wilful self-abasement by the pardon of their sins._ Tfw relative futures' denote, not only succession ^ ni time, but the relation of cause and eflect."^ J. A. A. Ver. 10. And hide thee in the dust. ''May there not be reference here to the mode prevail- ing in the East of avoiding the Monsoon,, or poisonous heated wind that passes over the de- sert ? Travelers there, in order to be safe, are obliged to throw themselves down, and to place their mouths close to the earth until it has passed." — Barnes.] THE PKOPHET IJ-AIAH. a. The judgment against the things falsely eminent in the sub-human and saper< human spheres. Chapter II. 12-21. 12 'For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be Upon every one that k proud and lofty, And upon every one that is lifted up ; and he shall be brought low: 13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, And upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14 And upon all the high mountains, And upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15 And upon every high tower, And upon every fenced -wall, 16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, And upon all ""pleasant pictures. 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be made low : And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, 18 And the idols 'he shall utterly abolish. 19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks. And into the caves of 'the earth. For fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, When he arises to shake terribly the earth. 20 In that day a man shall cast *his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, '^Yhieh they made each one for himself to worship, To the moles and to the bats ; 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks. And into the "tops of the ragged rocks. For fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, "When he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 1 Heb. pictures of desire. * Heb. the idols of his silver, etc. 2 Or, shall utterly pass awat/. 6 Or, Wuch they made for him. s Heb. the dutt. * For the Lord of hosts has a day on every thing proud, etc. b spectacles of desire. ^fissures. TEXTUAL AND Ver. 12. T\m in Isaiah only here. D*^ is often found : vers. 13, 14; 'vi. 1 ; x. 33; Ivii. 15. On Nt^J comp. aboye ver. 2.— ^SiJl is to be construed as future, since DV '3 "S must be regarded as a determination of time that points to the future. Ver. 16. nvjfc* is Sir. Aey. It comes from DDty certainly, which, although unused itself, is kindred to nj?ty. to de/ioM, is only now identified in the .substantive n"3Uia. According to this etymology rTJii' must mean deafia, sAoiiJ /)iece, thus every work of art that is fitted to gratify the beholder's eye. Ver. 18. I do not deny that D'S'Sn is taken as ide.il . singular, and may accordingly be joined to the predicate GRAMMATICAL. in the singular. But then 7^73 must be taken as adverb. Yet wherever this word occurs (only this once in Isa.; comp. Lev. vi. 15 sq. ; Dent, xiii. 17; xxxiii. 10; Judg. XX. 40 ; 1 Sam. vii. 9 ; Ezek. xvi. 14. etc.) it is adjective or substantive : entire or entirety. I agree therefore with Madrer, who takes D'S'SxHI as casus absoluius put before, and S'Ss as subject : et idola {quod attinet, eorum) universitas peribit.—The fundamental meaning of tl7n seems to me to be "to change." Out of that develope the apparently opposite meanings " revirescere^^ IPs. xc. 6; Jobxiv.T; Isa.ix.9; xl.31; xli. 1) and " iransire, proe- terire, perire" (Isa. viii. 8; xxi. 1 ; Ps. cii. 27). Thela.st is proper here. Ver. 19. rr^i'D (in Isaiah again xxxii. 14) is the natu- CHAP. 11. 12-21. ral rock caves, HvnO ("t. Aey., comp. S'^n, [1771) is the cave hewn out by art. Notice the paronomasia in ]»-\xn y^}?h- Ver. 20. The Prophet might have written here and XXX. 22; xxxi.7, '1 tlpS t'7'Sx, kis idols of silver. But he has chosen the common construction, which rests on this, that nomen rectum and notnen regens are construed as one notion, and thus in some mea- sure as one word. — If 17 after ?ty^ is taken in a re- flexive sense, the enallage numeri would certainly be very strong. Therefore most expositors justlv re- gard the artificers as subject of qtyi'- Tlie words ni13 1307. as they stand, can only present an infini- tive with the prefix, and object following, for there is no noun '^3^\. But an infinitive does not suit here and besides there is no noon ni3. Therefore the ren- dering "hole of the mice," for which expositors have gone to the Arabic, is only an arbitrary one. Evidently the Masoretes, according to the analogy of nip"np3 Ixi. 1, and n^'3-n3' Jer. xlvi. 20 would separate what was to be united. We must then read nn313n'7 as one word. But how it is to be pointed is doubtful. Ac- cording to the analogy of nipTpl', niSpSpt?, niQ^OlN, nipSpSn, we might point it jinaisn^ from a singular ni3i3n. The meaning of th'is word can only be digger. But what sort of burrowing animal is meant, is doubtful. Jekome translated, it talpa, mole. Gesenius and Enobel object to that, that the mole does not live in houses : Drechsleh that the Hebr*w has an- other word for mole, i. e., iSH. But regarding the for- mer, as Delitzsch remarks, the mole does, true enough, burrow under buildings, and in regard to the latter consideration of Dbechsler, n7n also occurs onxy oiice CLev. xi. 29), and two words for one thing are not un- usual in any language. Yet tlie foundation for a positive opinion is wanting. n^D^' is the bat (Lev. xi. 19;, I Deut. xiv. IS). EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 1. With this section the Propliet begins his ex- plication and specification of wliat he has pre- viously vers. 9-11 said in general. That last time, vers. 2-4, which the Prophet described above in its glorious ai?pect for Israel, coincides with the time when the Lord shall sit in judg- ment on everytliing humanly high, that is hostile to Him. And even all impersonal things, thus creatures beneath man, on which, in proud arro- gance, men put their trust, shall the Lord make .small and reduce to nothing ; the cedars of Le- banon, the oaks of Bashan, the high mountains and hills, the towers and walls, the ships of Tarshish, and all other pomp of human desire (vers. 12-16). All this shall be abased that the Lord alone may be high (ver. 17). But the same shall happen to the beings above men, viz. ; to the adols (ver. 18). That is the idolaters shall hide themselves in terror before the manifestation of that Jehovah whom they have despised (ver. 19) ; they shall themselves cast their idols to the unclean beasts, in order, mindful only of their own preservation, to be able to creep into the hol- lows and crevices of the ror-k<. (21). 2. For the day — brought low. — Ver. 12. The Prophet had used for the first time ver. 11 the expression " in that day " that afterwards oc- curs often (comp. v. 17, 20; iii. 7, 18; iv. 1, 2; V. 30). He points thereby to the time' which he had before designated as " the last days." Of course he does not mean that this last time shall comprehend only one day in the ordinary sense 1 he day that Isa., means is a prophetic day, for w'hose duration we must find a different measure than our human one. With the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. (2Pet 111. 8; Ps. XC.4). But the chief concern is whether there is really such a day of he Lord This the Prophet asserts most "dis- tinctly, b or precisely because there is such a day {'2 for, ver. 12) Isaiah could ver. 17 refer to it. But this day is a day for Jehovah Sabaoth (comp. 1. 9), ormore correctly: Jehovah has such in preparation, so to speak, in sure keeping, so that as soon as it plea.ses Him, He can produce it for His purpose (comp. xxii. 5 ; xxxiv. 8, and espe- cially Ixiii. 4; Jer. xlvi. 10; Ezek. xxx. 3). This day is a day of judgment, as already even the older prophets portray it: Joel i. 15 ; li. 1, 2 11 ; iii. 4; iv. 14; Amos v. 18, 20. Obad. 15. Indeed the notion of judgment is so closely identified with " the d.ay of Jehovah " that Isaiah in our text construes DV o dai/ directly as a word signifying '' court of justice," for he lets S^ de- pend on it. Once more in ver. 12, the notion of liigh and proud is generally expressed before (ver. 13) it is individualized. ^3. And upon all— in that day.— Vers. 13- 17. The judgment of God must fall on all pro- ducts of nature (vers. 13, 14), and upon human art (vers. 1.5, 16) It may be asked, how then have the products of nature, the trees and moun- tains become blameworthy? Knobel, to be sure,, understands by the cedar.s houses made of cedar (comp. 2 Sam. vii. 2, 7) and by oaks of Bashan houses of oak wood (Ezek. xxvii. 6) such as Uz- ziah and Jothara constructed partly for fortifying the land, partly for pleasure, and by mountains and hills "the fastnesses that Jothara' built in the mountains of Judah (2 Chr. xxvii. 4)." But, though one might understand the cedars to mean houses of cedar, (for which, however, must not be cited ix. 9; Nah. ii. 4, but Jer. xxii. 23 comp. Isa. Ix. 13) still the mountains and hills can never mean "fortified places." 2 Pet. iii. 10, seems to me to afford the best commentary on our passage. As sure as '' '^^\'!^< angel of the Lord of the Old Testament, is identical with the ayytXn^ Kvpiov of the New Testament .so is also the '"' or, (Jay of the Lord identical with the ynepanvpiov (IJCor. i. 8 ; 1 Thess. v. 2, etc.). 'Sow of this day of the Lord it is said, in the above pa.ssage in Peter, that in it, " the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned np." If now this last f/reat day has its preliminaries, too, like, on the contrary, the revelation of glory ver. 2 sqq., has, then we are justified in regarding all ' 64 THE PKOPHET ISAIAH. degrees of God's world-judging activity as parts of '■ the day of the Lord." If tlien the prophet here names only the high mountains and the highest trees growing on them as representatives of nature, he evidently does so because it is his idea, according to the whole context, to make prominent that which is high in an earthly sense, especially what is wont to serve men as means of gratifying their lust of power and pomp. But the mountains and the trees on them could not be destroyed without the eurth itself were de- stroyed. Therefore the high mountains and trees are only named as representatives of the entire terrestrial nature, of the } '/ as it is called by Peter, as also afterwards the towers, ships of Tarsliish, etc., are only representative of the (p;o, the human works, thus the productions of art. The oaks of Bashan, beside this place, are mentioned Ezek. xxvii. 6 ; Zech. xi. 2. A parallel is drawn be- tween Lebanon and Bashan also xxxiii. 9 ; Jer. sxii. 20 ; Nah. i. 4- — High towers and strong walls were built by others as well as by Uzziah and Jotham ; comp. 2 Chr. xiv. 7 ; xxxii. 5, etc. — Tarshish is mentioned by Isaiah again : xxiii. 1, 0, 10 ; Ix. 9 ; Ixvi. 19. It is now generally acknowledged that tiie locality lay in south Spain beyond the Pillars of Hercules. It is the Tapn/atrof Tartessus of the Greeks ; not a city, likely, but the country that lay at the mouth of the B^tis (Guadalquiver) : comp. Herzog, B. Encycl. XV. p. 684. Ships of Tarshish are thus large ships fitted for distant and dangerous voyages (Jon. i. 3 ; iv. 2 ; 1 Kings x. 22 ; xxii. 49; Ps. xlviii. 8). All this must be destroyed and so must the arrogance of men be humbled, that Jehovah alone may be high in that day. So the pro- phet repeats, with some modification, the words of ver. 11, to prove that the specifications just given are only meant as the amplification of that general thought expressed in ver. 9. For these verses 12-16, refer as much back to vers. 9 as do ver. 18 sqq., (especially vers. 18, 21,) to ver. 10 a. 4. And the idols — the earth. — Vers. 17-21. The judgment against the sub-human creatures is followed by that against the superhuman, the idols. As verses 13-16 refer back to ver. 7, so ver. 18 sqq., does to ver. 8. But the judgment against the idols is most notably accomplished when the worshippers of idols, now visited by the despised, true God, in all His terrible reality, see themselves the noth- ingness of their idols and cast them away in contempt. Jehovah appears in the awful pomp of His majesty. If the gods were anything, then they would now appear and shield their fol- loweis. But just because they are D' T^N. noth- ings ; they cannot do it. We see from this that the ''enter into the rock and hide thee in the dust" ver. 10, refers especially to the bringing to shame these illusory superhuman highnesses. In Kev. vi. 12 sqq., when at ver. 1-5 our passage is alluded to, the shaking of the earth appears as the eflect of a great earthquake. Regarding the usus loquendi comp. viii. 12, 13 ; xxix. 23 ; xlvii. 12. Therefore men shall cast their idols away to the gnawing beasts of the night, in their unclean holes, not that their flight may be easier, but because the idols belong there. May there not be an allu- sion in the words to the demon origin of the idols (1 Cor. X. 20 sq.)? In the description of '' A little excursion into the Land of Moab," con- tained in the Magazine Sueddeutche Seichspost, 1872, No. 257 sqq-, we read in No. 257 tlie fol- lowing, in reference to the discovery of a large image of Astarte. " The Bedouins dig in ihp numerous artificial and natural caves for .salt- petre for making gunpowder. Ii| this way they find these objects that in their time were buried or just thrown there, which, in the judgment of those that understand such matters, belonged all of them once in some way to heathen worship, and on which the prophecy of Isa. ii. 20 has been so literally fulfilled." — Thus they cast their idols away, they entertain themselves no more with the care and worship of them, all trust in them is also gone. They only hasten to .save them- selves by flight into the caverns (i^^P^ see Exod. xxxiii. 22 from "lp3, to bore,) and crevices of the rocks (comp, Ivii. 5). AVe are, moreover, re- minded of the words in Luke xxiii. 30. '' Then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us; and to the hills, cover us." For what wish can be left to those that have fled to the rocks, when the rocks themselves begin to shake, except to be covered as soon as possible from the tumb- ling mountains. [Ver. 20. Idols of sikrr and idols of gold. "Here named as the most splendid and expensive, in order to make the act of throwing them away still more significant. "Moles and bats are put together on account of their defect of sight." — J. A. A.] CHAP. II. 22— III. lo. fi."; b. The judgment against the falsely eminent things in the human sphere. Chap. II. 22-IV. 1. a. THE JUDGMENT AGAIXST GODLESS MEN. Chap. II. 22-III. 15. 22 Cea.se ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils : For wherein is lie to be accounted of? 1 For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts. Doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah "The stay and the staff, ''The whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 The mighty man, and the man of war, The judge, and tlie prophet, and the "prudent, and the '^aneient, 3 The captain of fifty, and ''the honorable man. And the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the '■"eloquent orator. 4 And I will give children to be their princes, ^And babes shall rule over them. 5 And the people ""shall be oppressed, Every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: The child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, And the base against the honourable. 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying. Thou ha.st clothing, be thou our ruler. And let this ruin be under thy hand : 7 In that day shall he ''swear, saying, I will not be a ^healer ; For in my house is neither bread nor clothing : Make me not a ruler of the people. 8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen : Because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, To provoke the eyes of his glory. 9 The show of their countenance doth witness against them ; And they declare their sins as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe imto their soul ! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. 10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well ^vUh Jiim: For they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 Woe unto the wicked ! it shall be ill ivith him; For the reward of his hands shall be ^given him. 12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O my people, *they which lead thee cause thee to err, And 'destroy the way of thy paths. 1 n The Lord staudeth up to plead, And standeth to judge the people. 14 The Lord will enter into judgment With the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: For ye have 'eaten up the vineyard ; The spoil of the poor is in your houses. 66 THE I'KDi'ilKT iSAlAlI. 15 What mean ye that ye 'beat my people to pieces, And griud the faces of the poor I Saith the Lokd God of hosts. ' Heb. a man eminent in countenance. s Heb. lift vp the hand. ^ Heb. don£ to him. ' Heb. swallow m. ■ Supporter and supportress. " the favorite. ^ sAall use club law. •> every supporter. f expert enchanter. ' lift up (his voicej. * Or, skilful in speech. * Heb. binder up. * Or, they which call thee 8 Or, burnt. 0 diviner. sand childishly s i trample. TEXTUAL AND Ver. 22. The verb S"in occurs several times in Isa. i. 16; xxiv. 8, coll. liii. 3. The construction with the dative of the person addresser! (,Dat. ethicus) has here the meaning tliat this ceasing is in the interest of the person addressed himsell. 7in with m : Exod. xiv. 15; xxiii. 5; Job vii. 16; Prov. xxiii. 4; ISam. ix. 5; 2 Chr. XXXV. 21. Chap. III. Ver. 1. HJJt.'E'O? ]J?n?: logically consi- dered there can be no difference between these two words, which moreover occur only here. But the Pro- phet designs by the words only a rhetorical effect. With sententious brevity he sketches thus the contents ot the chapter whose first half treats of the male supports, whose second half of the female.— Examples are not few of concrete nouns which, placed along side of one another, designate the totality by the masculine and feminine endings: xi. 12; xliii. 6; Jer. xlviii. 19; Nah. ii. 13 ; Zech. ix. 17. It is doubtful about DDJI nT3ai 1 Samuel xv. 9. But abstract nouns are very few that at the siime time differentiate the idea as to gender by the gender endings. The most likely ease of comparison is ni;?3Sni D'XXXSn, the male and female branches (xxii. 24). It is doubtful about n'nj 'Hi Mich. ii. 4 (comp. CisPAni, Mi;ah, p. 117). jytJ^D found elsewhere only 2 Sam. xxii. 19 (Ps. xviii. 19).' The feminine form occurs more frequently nJi'U'D : Num. xxi. 10 ; Ps. xxiii. 4 ; Isa. xxxvi. 6, cJc. Ver. 4. D'blSjyn occurs only here and Ixvi. 4. The form is like D'JIJ^n. Q'Jljrii^. etc. The plural can signify the abstract, and this' abstract may possibly stand pro concreto; the plural may also have a simple concrete meaning. All these constructions are gram- matically possible and have found their defenders. As regards the mfaning of the word, the questions arise, whether the word contains the notion of "cAiW " (comp. SSli', S^VO) or the notion, '-inflict, bring/ upon, mis- handle," (comp. '7S;?nn, Judg. xlx. 25; 1 Sara. xxxi. 4, ete., nVb^, n-'S'^^ bS^'O, '7lSi'n,lxvi.4),orboth notions,^an(l whether it is to betaken as suhjeet or as ace. adrerbinlls to designate the manner and means. That the notion "child" lies in the word appears very conclusively from the preceding D'^i'J *"d from S'jij^D. ■I'lsi'- 12. But it is not at all necessary to exclude the notion vexatio which is decidedly demanded, Ixvi. 4. One may easily unite both by translating as Delitzscu does, " childish appetites," or " childish tricks, childish follies." But the personifying of this idea, or construing it as abstr. pro concreto (pi/erilia<= pneri, Gesenius) though gr.immatically possible, ie still hard. I agree therefore with Hirzio.who translates by "with tyranny, arbitrariness." Comp. O'lt^'D, n'lS">'l3, D'N^S. etc. GEAMMATICAL. Ver. 6. (Faustrechi.) Such is the sense of tyjj. The- word is used of the violent oppression of the Egyptian taskmakers ( Exod . iii. 7 ; v. 6 sqq.), ot the creditor (Deut. XV. 2, 3), of a superior military force of an enemy (1 Sara, xiii. 6), also of overpowering fatigue (1 Sam. xiv. 24) or of an unsparingly strict judicial process (Isa. liii. 7). In our passage the Niphal, as one may see from following IJl iy^X3 ty*X. appears intended in a reciprocal sense. Moreover Isaiah uses the word often : ver. 12 ; ix. 3 ; xiv- 2; Iviii. 3; Ix. 17. 3ni tumultuari, insolenter tractare: comp. XXX. 7 ; 11. 9. HTDJ contemtus, vilis; comp. xvi. 14; 1 Sam. xviii. 23. Ver. 6. ^3 is rendered by many expositors " when " : ViTRiNGA, HiTZirj, EwALD, Drechsler, Delitzsch. They therefore take the phrase as protasis to ver. 7. The con- sideration th.at vers. 6 and 7 evidently portray, not the reason, but rather the consequence of ver. 4, determine* me also to adopt this view. By '3, then, a possibility is signified that may often ensue. rhliiDD occurs again only in the plural, Zeph. i. 3, where it means offendieu- lum, (TKivSaXov. Besides it is synonym of 7K'3D. The present situation therefore is manifestly designated as a scandalous one, as a subject of offence. Ver. 7. ttfon part, occurs only here. Other forms of the verb occur in Isaiah in the sense of binding and healing wounds: i. B; xxx. 20; Ixi. 1. He repels the allegation that he still has clothing and bread, and de- clines therefore the honor of becoming judge of his people, pxp is principally a poetic word. It occurs only twelve times in the Old Testament ; three of these in historical books: Josh. x. 24; Judg. xi. G, 11. Isaiah uses it four times, viz., here, i. 10 ; xx. 3. Ver. 8. hV3, stumble, totter, fall, Isaiah uses often : V. 27 ; vili. 15 J xxviii. 13 ; xl. 30 ; lix. 10, 14, etc. h^m Isaiah uses only i. 16 and iii. 8, 10. Sx in an inimical sense, as ii. 4; Gen. iv. 8, etc. The 'form nnoS is syncopated from flllanS (Ewald, S 244 b). Comp. i. 12; Ps. l-xxviii. J7. hSd and Hiph. mon occur very often with "■ '3-nN:'Num. xx. 24; xxvii. 14; Dent. i. 20, 43, etc. Once the Hiph. occurs with the following 'irHT nS Ps. evi. 33, with following " IDT Ps. cv. 28 Sx 'inX Ps. cvii. 11; once with "DStSD Ezek. v. 6. And so'here, too, with following " "3J,'. In Isaiali the construction with the accusative does not again occur: n'^D alone with the meaning "rebellem, contumacem esse," occurs again i. 20; 1. 5 ; Ixiii. 10. Ver. 9. IT^Sn, which only occurs here, can, in union with □''33, have no other meaning than the adverbial CHAP. II. 22— III. 15. G7 form of speech Q-J^ T3n (Dent. i. 17; xvi. 19; Prov. xxiv. 23; xxviii. 21). wllioh means " dignoscere fades, distinguish the countenances, i. e., malce a partial dis- tinction" (comp. D'3i3 StyjV The notion of partial- ity indeed does not suit here, although not a few Jew- ish and Christian expositors understand the words in this sense. The context constrains us rather to go bai;* to the simple fundamental meaning of close ob- ser ince, particular notice, which is the preliminary of Tjartial distinction. "We are the more justified in this a? ■^■'371 elsewhere too (Ixi. 9; Ixiii. 16; Gen. xxxi. 32, etc.) is used in a sense that proceeds from this funda- ^lental meaning, 'i) j"l"Un is therefore the magiste- nal, so to speak, the juristic, exact observance and in- *-estigation of countenances. HnjJ^, which is likewise a legal term, also favors this view. For it is used as much of the judge that takes cognizance (Exod. xxiii. 2) as of the witness th.at deposes to the interrogation of the judge: Deut. xi.x. 10; 2 Sam. i. 16: "thy mouth hath testified (PJi') against thee." htil occurs in Isaiah again only Ixiii. 7. The form of sentence in ver. 10 a is owing to the welt known attraction, common also in Greek, by means of which the subject of the dependent }>hrase becomes the object of the principal verb. There is no need, therefore, of taking "^ON in the sense of prcudicare. But It is simply " say, speak out loud, be not silent, that the righteous is well off." There is, thus, no need of referring to passages as Ps. xl. 11 ; cxlv. 6, 11. That yitD may mean not only boitiis, but also bene kabcns, well off, is shown beyond .contradiction by pas- sages like Am. vi. 2; Jer. xliv. 17 ; Ps. cxii. 5. Ver. 11. According to our remarks at i. 4 concerning ^1X, it is agreeable to u&us loqiicndi to connect it with ^*u'"l 7. Besides in the best editions they are so bound (comp. Delitzsch 171 7oc.). Therefore ^1 is to be taken in the same way as 3i£3 ver. 10. To be sure, there is no passage we can cite in which j,*1 means infelix, as we can for 2ia meaning /rfte. For Ps. cvi. 3:i, and Gen. xivii. 9 ^'^ is both times not used of personal subjects. And there are no other places to cite. One must therefore say, that the prophet in respect of the meaning of V'y bas in vor. 11 a imitated the corres- ponding part of ver. 10. S?DJ is performance, product, desert. Comp. Judg. ix. 10; Prov. xii. U. The word is found in Is.aiah again xx-xv. 4; lix. 18; l.xvi. 0. What the hands of the wicked have themselves produced shall be joined to, put on them. Ver. 12. The singular ^Slj,'H has general significance and hence represents an ideal plural. Comp. |>!]^ nj?*l 'T13J^ Gen. xlvii. 3. As regards the form of the word, which occurs here only, 77lJ,'D is the root form for SSli' ( 1 S.am. XV. 3; Isa. xiii. 16, etc.) or SSlj; (Jer. vi. 11 ; ix. 20). Ver. 13. 23f J (in Isaiah only again xxi. 8) expresses the opposite of movement. 3X3 and loj; along side of each other occur 1 Sam. xix. 2U. 3'1 and |'T though not seldom interchanged (comp. i. 17), still stand here side by side. But comp. Jer. xv. 10; Heb. i. 3. The expression Di3t7D3 S13 " enter into judgment" occurs only here in Isaiah. Comp. beside Job ix. 32; xiv. 3; xxii. 4; Ps. cxliii. 2; Eocl. xi. 9; xii. 14. Ver. 14. The Piel 1^'3 occurs in this sense in Isaiah only again v. 6; comp. Exod. xxii. 4. It is depascere, grazing of cattle. Elsewhere it is used of fire (vi. 13; xl. 16 ; xliv. 15 ; 1. H). n'?U only here In Isaiah, SfJ Ixi. 8. Ver. 15. X3T to stamp, trample (xix. 10; liii. 5, 10) is intensified by IjnUH ^>* ^3. ?nD is to grind, pound fine, xlvii. 2. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 1. Chap. iii. connects quite ea-sily and simply with chap. il. so far as it continues the idea of the jiulgraent, and to this effect, tliat it is now e.x- temled to the sphere of iiuman existence. Chap, ii. 22 makes the appropriate transition. For tlierein the Prophet warns against trusting in men, who are only weak transitory creatures. Chap, iii., also, with this fundamental idea, sub- divides into two parts, of which the first (1-15) treats of the men, the second (16-iv. 1) of the womeu. And yet we at once receive the impres- sion that in chap. iii. he is treading ground do- minated by other sentiments. For while chap. ii. discourses quite evidently of the judgment that in the last time, the great day of .leiiovah, shall be passed on sub-human and superhuman creatures, chap. iii. seenn only to speak of acts of judgment that do not bring the continuation of human kind into question. Moreover, in as much as an or- dered government is essential to the very exis- tence of such continuance, the removal of those in power enumerated in vers. 2, 3 does not appear to be a punishment of these themselves for their loftiness, but of the people. Those authorities •appear asa benefit that is withdrawn from the sinful nation, and in their .stead they are aban- doned to the miseries of anarchy, or of a boy and wo.uan governmsnt. If now the removal of these pillars, the great and mighty (vers. 2, 3), is because they on their part share the blame, still that is not the principal thought. But the chief matter is that from the nation, which (ver. 8) had " provoked the eyes of the glory " of the Lord, shall be taken away the indispensable sup- port of its customary and natural rulers. In con- nection with chap. ii. one expects a specifying of the contents, that as the sub-human and su- perhuman magnates must be humbled so, too, must the human magnates be. But this thought comes up only at vers. 13-15. Hence vers. 1-21 make on me the impression of a discourse that originally did not belong in this connection, but which was inserted here because it still in some measure suits the context. It is possible that originally these words were directed against the bad government of Ahaz, who came to the throne as a young man of 20 years (2 Kings xvi. 2), al- though, taken strictly, they portray conditions that really never occurred either under Ahaz or in any other stadi\im of Jewish history. Because iii. 1., presupposes the destruction of human magnates, that were for themselves and others an object of unju.stifiable confidence (ii. 22), the discourse as regards its matter fits the context (comp. ii. 11). But it fits in also in chro- nological respects, so far as all acts of divine THE PROPHET ISAIAH. judgment constitute a unity ; consequently all visitations that precede the last judgment belong essentially to it as precursors. But that the Pro- phet notwithstanding makes a distinction appears I'roni vers. 13-1.5. The order of thought in our passage, then, is a.s follows: After the Prophet had signified by ii. 22, tliat now he wotUd proceed to the judgment against every high thing among men, he classi- fies in advance iii. 1 the contents of what he has to say, in that he announces that .Judah and Jeru- salem shall be deprived of every support, male and female.. The male supports he then enumerates vers. 2, 3. If these are removed, of course only children and women remain as supports of the commonwealth. The misery of boy rule, that graduallv degenerates into anarchy, is portrayed vers. 4-7 in vigorous lines. This misery is the svmptom of prevalent ruin in Judah and Jeru- salem, and the consequence of those crimes com- mitted against the Lord iver. 8), that are public and not at all denied. These, therefore, are the self-meriting cause of that misery (ver. 9); for as the righteous reap salvation as fruit of their works (ver. 10), .so the wicked destruction (ver. 11). Thus it comes that children and women rule over the nation and that these bad guides lead it into destruction (ver. 12). But this self- merited teiuporal misfortune is only the prelude of that .still higher judgment that Jehovah shall conduct in proper person which, according to chap, ii., shall take place at the end of days, and by which the Lord shall finally rescue the pith of the people. Iiut will drag their destroyers to a merited accountability. 2. Cease ye — accounted of? — ii. 22. As, in what precedes, the trust in things falsely emi- nent, in money, in power, in idolatry, was demon- strated as vanity, so the same occurs here in re- gard to men. " Cease from men," says the Prophet. How shall man be an object of trust, how shall lie be a support, seeing the principle of his life is the air that he breathes in and out of his nostrils, thus the fugitive quickly disappearing breath ? Thence man himself is called so often '7^ri breath; Ps. xxxix. 6, 7, 12 ; Ixii. 10, etc., eomp. Gen. iv. 2. — The expression " whose breath is in his nostrils " calls to mind Gen. ii. 7 ; vii. 22 ; Job xxvii. 3. — " For wherein is he to be accounted of?" Man as such, i. e., as bearer of the divine image in earthly form (CX) is of course of great v.alue before God. Corap. Ps. viii. 5 sqq. ; Job vii. 17. In these pa.ssages the inquiry "what is man " reminds one very much of the inquiry of our Prophet. But as "helper, saviour, defender, support, man counts for little, yea less than noth- ing, according to Ps. Ixii. 10. For as one kiiows at once from iii. 1 sqq., human props m.ay in a twinkling all of them be taken away. The pre- position 3 stands here as elsewhere (comp. vii. 2) as sign of the price that is regarded as the means for purchasing the wares or work. 3. For behold — eloquent orator. — Ch. iii. 1-3. The solemn accumulation of the names of God that occurs here, occurs in like manner i. 24 ; X. IG, 33 ; xix. 4. The subject addressed appears here also the chief city and the chief tribe of the people of Israel. But while, i. and ii., it is always said " Judah and Jerusalem," here (ver. 8) it is said "Jerusalem and .T'ldah.'' This is not without meaning, and we are perhaps justified in finding therein a support for the con- jecture expressed above, that our passage did not originate at the .same time with what precedes and what follows it, but is inserted here. The following words : " the whole stay of bread and ' the whole stay of water " appear to interrupt the connection. For when, vers. 2, 3, the diflerent categories of kinds of human callings are enum- erated, and ver. 16 sqq., the jjroud, aristocratic, decked out ladies are portrayed, is that iiot the specification of the ideas ji'iyo and HJi'il'D. stay and staff? And what have bread and water to do here, seeing everything imper.sonal has already been noticed above ii. 13-16? It is conceivable that a reader, who did not understand the rela- tion of the two words to what follows, had made a gloss of them in this sense, and that this gloss then had crept into the text. Such is the conjec- ture of HiTZiG, KxoBEL, Meier, and — though afterwards retracted — of GESESirs and Um- EREIT. The expression "stay" might call to mind the expression '' comfort your hearts with a morsel of bread" (Gen. xviii. 5; Judg. xix. 5, 8; Ps. civ. 1.5) and the expression "stafl" of bread" (Lev. xxvi. 26; Ezek. iv. 16; .5,16). That just bread and water are named as cor- responding to [i'lVO and nji'tVO might have its reason in this, that they recognized in bread the female principle .tnd in water the male. But it is always doubtful to assume an interpolation only on internal grounds. Ew.vLD and Drechsler understand the words in a figurative sense. The stay of bread and of water signify the supports that are necess.ary as bread and water. But Knobel justly remarks that this were an tm- heard of trope. May not all those be called "staffs of bread and water" that provide the state with bread and water, i. e., with all that per- tains to daily bread ? Call to mind the explana- tion of the fourth petition in Luther's catechism, wherein ''pious and faithful rulers" .and "good government" are reckoned as daily bread too. Staff of bread, etc., would be therefore, not the bread and water themselves as supports for pre- serving life (Genitive of the subject), but the supports on which bread and water, i. c, the ne- cessities and nourishment of life depend (genitive of the object). In the following enumeration, as Drechsler remarks, tlie instructors and military profession are especially represented. Even the entire ap- paratus of state machinery of that day is men- tioned. But as all that are named are designated as those that the Lord takes aw.ay, it is seen that they are all regarded as false supports. They may even be that per se in so far as they ought not to exist at all among the people of God ; as c. jr., the DDp. diviner and the i?n'? i''2J, expert en- chanter, (Deut. xviii. 10-14). t^nS is the mnr- viuratio {maf/ia munnurata Ainil.), the muttered - repetition of the mixgic formulas (xxvi- 16) ; ]133 occurs again v. 21 ; xxix. 14. Even the K'll may, according to the context and the kindred^passage ix. 14, be only prophets that prophesv falselv in the name of Jehovah. The use of 'the rest of the callings named is CHAP. II. 22— III. 15. 69 indeed legally justified, but nevertheless they are subject to abuse. One may indeed cast a doubt on the legality of the O'ZD HVOl (comp. ix. 14) tlie amicus ret/in, the preferred favorite, but not on tliat of tiie others. Especially the men of war appear to be indispensable, whence each of the verses 2 and 3 begins with the naming of such. 113J seems to mean 'the warrior proved by deeds; mnSp C'X the man of war in general ; D"DOn-Ti' th^ rank of captain ; while the tOplE; = state ofBcer and jpt^ = officer of the congrega- tion. Ahithophel and Hushai (2 Sam. xvii.) are practical illustrations of ]'il^"' counsellor. The D'D'in Dpn is the engineer, master of the pre- jiaration of warlike weapons and military ma- chines (comi5. on Jer. xxiv. 1). 4. And I wrill give — a ruler of the people. — Vers. 4-7. When a state trusts to an arm of flesh, and puts its trust solely in its princes and men of might, in its diplomats and generals, in a word, in the strength of its men, and the Lord takes away these strong ones as false sup- ports, then, of course, a condition must ensue in which weak hands manage the rudder of state. No earthly state has continuously maintained a position strong and flourishing. One need only call to mind the world-monarchies. That gradual weakening of the world-power indicated in DaniL-'l's image of the monarchies (Dan. ii.), takes place also within each individual kingdom. Call to mind the vigorous Assyrian rulers, a Tiglath Pileser, Sargon, Sennacherib, and the in- glorious end of the last of their sueces.sors, what- ever may have been his name : think of Kebu- chadnezzar, and Belshaz;ar, of Cyrus and Darius Codouiannus, of Augustus and Romulus Au- gustuhis, etc. In Judah, too, it was not difler- ent. Zodekiah was a weakling that perpetually wavered between a fear of Jehovah's prophet and of his own powerful subjects. It may, there- fore, be said tliat not some quite definite histori- cal fact is prophesied here, but a condition of IJuni^hment is threatened such as always and everywhere must ensue where the strength of a national iife is exhausted, and the end approaches (comp. Eccl. X. 16}. When weak hands hold the reins of govern- ment a condition of lawlessness ensues, and of defencelessness for the weak. The strong then do as they wish. They exercise club law. A further consequence of that anarchical condition is that tho.se of lower r.-ink no longer submit to the higher ranks, but, in wicked abuse of their physical strength, lift themselves above them. The misery of tliat anarchical condition, how- ever, stands out in strongest relief when at last no one will tolerate any government. Although tlie inhabitants would gladly make a ruler of any one tliat rises in any degree above the universal wretchedness (say any one that has still a good coat), yet every one on whom they would put this lionor will resist it with all his might. " Under thy hand," comp. Gen. xli. 3J ; 2 Kings viii. 20. AVith loiid voice will the chosjn man emphatically protest. This is indi- cated by the expression NtV" to which /ip must be supplied (xlii. 2, 11). "I will not be sur- geon," he says, by which he calls the slate life sick. [" The sick man," as modern designation for the Turkish Empire. — Tr.]. [On ver. 4. "1 wilt give children." "Some apply thi.s, in a strict sense, to the weak and wickei reign of Ahaz, others in a wider sense to the se- ries of weak kings after Isaiah. But there is no need of restricting it to kings at all. The most probable opinion is that incompetent rulers are called boys or children not in respect to age but character. — J. A. A. Similarly Barnes. On ver. 6. '' The government shall go a beg- ging. It is taken for granted that there is no way of redressing all these grievances, and bring- ing things into order again, but by good magis- trates, who sliall be invested with power by com- mon consent, and shall exert that power for the good of the community. And it is probable that this was in many places the true origin of govern- ment ; men found it necessary to unite in a sub- jection to one who was thought fit for such a trust, — being aware that they must be ruled or ruined." — M. Hexky. On ver. 7. '' The last clause does not simply mean cfo not make me, h\it you irwist not or you shall not malce me a ruler." — J. A. A. "Tlie meaning is, that the state of affiiirs was so ruinous and calamitous that he would not at- tempt to restore them — as if in the body, disease should have so far progressed tliat he would not undertake to restore the person, and have him die under his hands, so as to expose himself to the reproach of being an unsuccessful and unskil- ful physician." — Barnes. On ver. 9. '' The sense is not that their looks betray them, but that they make no eflbrt at con- cealment, as appears from the reference to So- dom. The expression of the same idea fir.st in a positive and then in a negative form is not un- common in Scripture, and is a natural if not an English idiom. Madame D. Aeijlay, in her memoirs of Dr. Bukney, speaks of Omiah, the Tahitian, brought home by Capt. Cook, as ut- tering first affirmatively, etc., then negatively all the little sentences that he attempted to utter." — J. A. A. On Ver. 10. " The righteous are encouraged by the assurance that the judgments of God shall not be indiscriminate. — The object of address seems to be not tlie prophets or mini-sters of God, but the people at large or men indefinitely." — J. A. A. " Whatever becomes of the unrighteous nation, let the riyhleoiui man know that he shall not be lost in the crowd of sinnys : the Judcje of