\ 'V^LA^^-A £LXAaXAJL_ fiv^JU! 0 GXt_ 6^ Q^_ cLiVWC*lt^iV 1A^ «\u VA OIX.lxucL^' ^uzrf; V ^ ^ ^ LIBBAET OF THE Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. Case, "BSim.£, ■:: «*«'/, 4.3..,.&3.2- Section Book, CQp\j..l No, v ?*/J V \ • THE PARALLEL HISTORIES OF J I'D AH AND ISRAEL, WITH COPIOUS EXPLANATORY NOTES. IN TWO VOLUMES. BY THE REV. MAXIMILIAN GENESTE, M.A. INCUMBENT MINISTER OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, WEST COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT. VOL. II. LONDON: SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS. MDCCCXLIII. LONDON: PRINTED BY RICHARD WATTS, CROWN COURT. TEMPLE BAR. CONTENTS OF VOL. II. BOOK II. CONTINUED. THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, AFTER THE CARRYING AWAY OF THE TEN TRIBES BY SHALMANESER KING OF ASSYRIA, TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR, AND THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY, COMPRISING A PERIOD OF 134 YEARS. PART I. CONTINUED. THE REIGN OF HEZEKIAH AFTER THE DEPORTATION OF ISRAEL. HingDom of SuDaft. rag* Sect. IV. Merodach-baladan,king of Babylon, sends to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery from sickness ; and to inquire concerning the miracle of the sun's going back 1 V. Sennacherib sends his servants with a great army from Lachish to Jerusalem. — Hezekiah prays to God. — The angel of the Lord destroys in one night the army of the Assyrians; and Sen- nacherib falls by the hand of his own sons 201 Part II. THE REIGN OF MANASSEH B.C. 698 TO 644 TWENTY-THREE YEARS. Sect. I. Isaiah's elegy on the death of Hezekiah. — He closes his prophecies, 251 II. The wickedness of Manasseh 301 III. The implantation of Heathen nations in Samaria 304 IV. The captivity, repentance, restoration, and death of Manasseh .... 307 CONTENTS OF VOL. II. Part III. FROM THE DEATH OF MANASSEH TO THE DEATH OF JOSIAH. B.C. 643 TO 610 — THIRTY-THREE YEARS. Page Sect. I. Reign of Anion 310 II. The first and second reformation of Religion in the reign of Josiah . 311 III. The repair of the Temple.— The Book of the Law is found, and read before the assembled people, who enter into a solemn covenant to serve the Lord. — The third reformation of Religion 343 IV. The celebration of Josiah's great Passover 355 Part IV. FROM THE DEATH OF JOSIAH TO THE SECOND CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH. B.C. 610 TO 599 — ELEVEN YEARS. Sect. I. Reign of Jehoahaz 379 II. The king of Egypt makes Judah tributary, and places Jehoiakim on the throne 38 1 III. Baruch writes a roll of a book from the mouth of Jeremiah, and reads it publicly in the Temple 395 IV. The first captivity of Judah. — Daniel carried captive : the com- mencement of the seventy years5 captivity 402 V. Baruch reads the roll a second time.— The king destroys the roll — Jeremiah is smitten, and put in the stocks 422 VI. Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream in the court of Babylon. Jeremiah delivers many prophecies in the kingdom of Judah. . 431 VII. God sends bands of many nations against Judah to destroy it because of its iniquity 462 VIII. The second captivity of Judah. — Jehoiachin the king, and the Prophet Ezekiel, and others, are carried captive to Babylon. . 474 Part V. THE REIGN OF ZEDEK1AH, TERMINATING IN THE UTTER DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR, AND THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. B.C. 599 to 588 — eleven years. Sect. I. The king of Babylon places Zedekiah on the throne of Judah .... 477 II. Jeremiah delivers prophecies respecting Babylon 190 III. Ezekiel begins his prophecies 504 IV. Zedekiah throws off the yoke of Babylon 542 V. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieges Jerusalem 561 CONTENTS OF VOL. II. Page Sect. VI. Nebuchadnezzar raises the siege of Jerusalem, and goes to meet the army of the Egyptians, who were coming to the succour of the Jews. — The Prophet Jeremiah is imprisoned, and treated with much severity 566 VII. Nebuchadnezzar returns, renews the siege, and takes and utterly destroys the city of Jerusalem and the Temple 579 VIII. The Prophet mourns over the desolation of the city and sanctuary, and the triumph of the enemies of God 587 IX. Nebuchadnezzar having given strict charge concerning the Prophet, Jeremiah is liberated, and goes to Mizpah, to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam 593 X. Gedaliah, who was left Governor of the land, being treacherously slain, the remnant of the Jews take Jeremiah the Prophet and flee into Egypt for fear of the Chaldseans 595 XI. Ezekiel prophesies against Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt, and foretells the restoration of Israel 601 XII. The Lamentations of Jeremiah 611 A GENERAL INDEX. I THE PARALLEL HISTORIES JUDAH AND ISRAEL. BOOK II. CONTINUED. THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, AFTER THE CARRYING AWAY OF THE TEN TRIBES BY SHALMANESER KING OF ASSYRIA, TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY, COMPRISING A PERIOD OF 134 YEARS. THE PARALLEL HISTORIES OK JUDAH AND ISRAEL. BOOK II. CONTINUED. THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, AFTER THE CARRYING AWAY OF THE TEN TRIBES BY SHALMANESER KING OF ASSYRIA, TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. PART I. CONTINUED. THE REIGN OF HEZEKIAH AFTER THE DEPORTATION OF ISRAEL. Section IV. MERODACH-BALADAN KING OF BABYLON SENDS TO CONGRATULATE HEZEKIAH ON HIS RECOVERY FROM SICKNESS, AND TO INQUIRE CONCERNING THE MIRACLE OF THE SUn's GOING BACK. Bincftom of Strtmfj. THE REIGN OF HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Merodach-baladan, sending to visit Hezekiah because of the wonder, hath notice of hi* treasures. His error in the Ambassage of Babylon. Isaiah, understanding thereof , foretelleth the Babylonian Captivity. 2 Kings xx. 12 — 19. Isaiah xxxix. 1 — 8. 12 At that time Berodach-baladan ', At that time Merodach-baladan a, 1 the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah : sent letters and a present to Hezekiah : for he had heard for he had heard marg. ' v. 12. Berodach-baladan, or Merodach-baladan. 8 Merodach-baladan — pub! "pKltt. In 2 Kings xxv. 27. Nebo was another idol of the parallel place it is written px?l "]*TK~Q, the Babylonians, Isai. xlvi. 1 ; from whence by a change of a single letter. Probably, Nabonassar, Nebuchadnezzar, and several says Preb. Lowth, the name was written other kings of Babylon, took their names, and pronounced both ways. Merodach And Daniel had the name Belteshazzar given was the name of an idol worshipped by him, according to the name of my God, says the Babylonians, and Baal or Bel was Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. iv. 8. This king is another, see Jerem. l. 2 ; and these two here called the son of Baladan, which latter idols, with the addition of Adan or Adon, Archbishop Usher supposes to be the same which signifies Lord, gave a name to this person who is called in profane authors king of Babylon. It was usual for the Ba- Balesis or Balesus, and Nabonassarus ; from bylonian kings to take their names from the whence the famous computation of time, idols they worshipped. Thus we find one called iEra Nabonassari, took its name. See of their kings was named Evil-merodach, Annales Vet. Test, ad A. M. 3257. BOOK II. PART I. VOL. II. B PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 7. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. 2 Kings xx. Isaiah xxxix. that Hezekiah had been sick. that he had been sick, and was recovered. In regard to the statement in this verse, says Barnes, no small degree of difficulty has been felt by commentators ; and it is not until quite recently that the difficulty has been removed ; and it has been done in a manner to furnish an additional and most striking demonstration of the entire and mi- nute accuracy of the second narrative. The difficulty arose from several circumstances. This king of Babylon makes no other ap- pearance in sacred history, and is nowhere else mentioned. The kingdom of Assyria was yet flourishing-, and Babylon was one of its dependencies : for, only nine years before, Salmaneser, the Assyrian monarch, is said to have transported the inhabitants of Babylon to other parts, 2 Kings xvii. 24 ; and Manasseh, not many years after, was carried captive to Babylon by the king of Assyria, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 1 1. These instances incontestably prove that at the time of Heze- kiah Babylon was dependent on the Assyrian kings. Who then, it is asked, was this Me- rodach-baladan, king of Babylon ? If he was governor of that city, how could he send an embassy of congratulation to the Jewish sovereign, then at war with his liege lord ? The Canon of Ptolemy gives us no king of this name, nor does his chronology appear reconcileable with sacred history. In this darkness and doubt, says Dr. Wiseman, we must have continued, and the apparent con- tradiction of this text to other passages would have remained inexplicable, had not the progress of modern Oriental study brought to light a document of the most venerable antiquity. This is nothing less than a Frag- ment of Berosus, preserved in the Chronicle of Eusebius. This interesting fragment in- forms us, that after Sennacherib's brother had governed IJabylon, as Assyrian viceroy, Acises unjustly possessed himself of the su- preme command. After thirty days he was murdered by Merodach-baladan, who usurped the sovereignty for six months ; when he was in turn killed, and was succeeded by Elibus. But after three years, Sennacherib collected an army, gave the usurper battle, conquered and took him prisoner. Having once more reduced Babylon to his obedience, he left his BOOK II. part I. son Assordan, the Esar-haddon of Scripture, as governor of the city. The only objection to this statement, or to the entire consistency of this fragment with the Scripture narrative, is, that Isaiah relates the murder of Senna- cherib, and the succession of Esar-haddon, before Merodach-baladan's embassy to Jeru- salem. But to this Gesenius has well re- plied, That this arrangement is followed by the prophet in order to conclude the history of the Assyrian monarch, which has no fur- ther connection with the subject, so as not to return to it again. By this order, also, the prophecy of his murder is more closely con- nected with the history of its fulfilment, Isa. xxxvii. 7. Comp. ver. 38. And this solution, which supposes some interval to have elapsed between Sennacherib's return to Nineveh and his death, is rendered probable by the words of the text itself: He went and re- turned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, &c. Isai. xxxvii. 37, 38. Thus we have it certainly explained how there was a king, or rather a usurper, in Babylon at the time when it was really a provincial city of the Assyrian empire. Nothing was more probable than that Merodach-baladan, hav- ing seized the throne, should endeavour to unite himself in league and amity with the enemies of his master, against whom he had revolted. Hezekiah, who, no less than him- self, had thrown off the Assyrian yoke, and was in powerful alliance with the king of Egypt, would be his first resource. No embassy, on the other hand, could be more welcome to the Jewish monarch, who had the common enemy in his neighbourhood, and who would be glad to see a division made in his favour by a rebellion in the very heart of that enemy's kingdom. Hence arose that excessive attention which he paid to the envoys of the usurper, and which so offended Isaiah, or rather God, who, as a consequence, threatened the Babylonian Captivity. See Dr. Wiseman's Lectures on Science and Revealed Religion, pp. 3G9-371. ed. And. 1837. According to the Canon of Ptolemy, the kings of Babylon, with whom the Hebrews now began to be connected, and with whom PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3 SutiafL sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. 2 Kings xx. Isaiah xxxix. 13 And Hezekiali hearkened unto them, And Hezekiah was glad of them8, 2 and shewed them all the house and shewed them the house of his precious things \ the silver, of his ' precious things b, the silver, marg. » v. 2. precious things, or spicery. they afterwards had much intercourse, were later times, tracts more or less extensive, on the following :— the east bank of the Tigris and the west Names. B.C. iSgn. hank °f the Euphrates, and on both sides of Nabonassar 747. . 14 the united streams of those rivers, called by Nadius 733. . 2 the ancients Pasitigris, by the moderns Shat- Chinzirus, or Porus 731. . 5 el- Arab, have been reckoned to belong4 to Juga?us 726. . 5 Babylonia, or Irak-el-Arab. The name ""m Mardoch-empadus 721. . 12 is fr°m 'Vl to confound; but some of the Arkianus 709. . 5 ancients derive it from Belus, the supposed Interregnum 704. . 2 founder : so the Etymol. Magnum. This is Belibus 702. . 3 likewise the opinion of Eichhorn, in his Pro- Apronadius 699. . 6 gram. — Rosenmiiller's Bib. Geograph. vol.11. Rigebelus 693. . 1 pp. 1, 2, 64. Messomordacus 692. . 4 a Hezekiah was glad of them. — Possibly Interregnum 68S. . 8 he regarded himself as flattered by an em- Esar-haddon, king of Assyria . . 680. . 13 bassage from so great a distance, and so ce- Sardochaeus 667. . 20 lebrated a place as Babylon. It is certain Chyniladan 647. . 22 that he erred in some way in regard to the Nabopolassar, a Chaldsean .... 625. . 20 manner in which he received them, and espe- Nabocholassar (Nebuchadnezzar) 605. . 43 cially in the ostentatious display which he Iluarodamus (Evil-merodach) . . 562. . 2 made of his treasures. It was customary, as Nirichossolassar (Neriglissor) . . 560. . 4 ^s weU" known, among the Orientals, as it is Laborasoarchad, reigned 9 months, 556 now, to send a valuable present when one Nabonned 556. . 17 prince sent an embassage for any purpose to T , _ __ , T , , another. It is stated in 2 Chron. xxxiii. 31, In the Canon of Ptolemy, Laborasoarchad that one object of their coming was to make is omitted between Neriglissor and Nabon- inquiry of the wonder that was done in tlie ned and the nine months of his reign are land; that is, of the miracle in regard to the attributed partly to his predecessor and retrocession of the shadow on the sun-dial of partly to his successor. According to Jahn, Ahaz. It is well known, that, from the ear- Prideaux and others, Mardoch-empadus is liest periods, the Babylonians and Chaldaeans the Merodach-baladan of Scripture.— J aim's were distinguished for their attention to astro- Hist. of Heb. Comra. vol. I. Bk. V. sect. 41. nomy. Indeed, as a science, astronomy was Prideaux Connect. Pt. I. Bk. I. p. 28. first cultivated on the Plain of Chaldaea, and Ancient Babylonia, the modern Baby- there the knowledge of that science was Ionian or Arabian Irak, constituting the scarcely surpassed by any of the ancient na- Pashahc of Bagdad, comprises that tract of tions. The report which they had heard of country inclosed between the Euphrates and this miracle would, therefore, be to them a ligris, which is bounded on the north by matter of deep interest, as an astronomical Mesopotamia and Assyria, and on the south fact ; and they came to make inquiry into the by the Persian Gulph. That gulph was the exact truth of the report.— Barnes. Heze- only fixed natural limit of ancient Babylonia, kiah was glad, because he knew them to be lowards the north, or Mesopotamia and enemies to Sennacherib : and the words seem Assyria ; towards the east, or Persia, that is, to import that they came about some weighty larsistan and Susiana; and towards the business, to which he consented.— Bp. Patrick, west or Arabia Petnea and Deserta, the h And shelved them the house of his precious boundaries were less clearly defined. It is things —HT)^ ITO-JIN DK"Vn. The Lxx certain, however, that, both in former and render this, the house of Nechotha, reXcoda, BOOK II. PART I. B 2 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sufcnf). HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xxxix. and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his ' armour a, and all that was found in his treasures : there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. 31 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors2 of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart. 2 Kings xx. and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour \ and all that was found in his treasures : there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. 2 Kings xx. 14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men ? and from whence came they unto thee ? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. 1 5 And he said, What have they seen in thine house ? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen : there Isaiah xxxix. Then came Isaiah the prophet i unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men ? and from whence came they unto thee ? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house ? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen11: there armour, or jewels. Heb. vessels, or instruments. ? v. 31. ambassadors. Heb. interpreters. retaining the Hebrew word. The margin renders it spicery. The Hebrew word nriDD properly means, according- to Gesenius, a contusion, a breaking to pieces ; hence aro- matic powder, spices reduced to powder ; and then any kind of aromatics. Hence the word here may mean the house of his spices, as Aquila, Symm., and the Vulgate, translate it ; or a treasury, a store-house, as the Chaldee and the Syriac have rendered it. It was undoubtedly a treasure- or store-house ; but it may have taken its name from the fact, that it was mainly employed as a place in which to keep spices, unguents, and the va- rious kinds of aromatics which were used either in public worship or for the purposes of luxury. — Barnes. The spices and pre- cious ointments, as Jarchi observes, were oil of olives, the precious balsam which grew in the plain of Jericho, and other spices which were laid up in store, for use as occasion should require. BOOK II. PART I. a All the house of his armour. — The word "TO denotes any article of furniture, utensil, or vessel ; any trapping, instrument, or tool ; and any implement of war, weapon, or arms. Probably it here refers to the latter, and de- notes shields, swords, spears, such as were used in war, and such as Hezekiah had pre- pared for defence. The phrase is equivalent to our word arsenal. Comp. 2 Chron. \\\ii. 27. Solomon had an extensive arsenal of this description, 1 Kings x. 16, 17 ; and it is probable that these were regarded as a part of the necessary defence of the kingdom. — Barnes. There were other valuable things in other parts of his realm, besides those in his own palace at Jerusalem, which he thought worth their seeing ; and therefore ordered his officers to shew them to these ambassadors. — Bishop Patrick. b All that is in mine house hare they seen. — Here was the confession of a frank, an honest, and a pious man. There was no I' VKALLfcX HISTORIES OK JUDA1I AND [SRAEL. 16 3ta*a$. HEZEKIAH_15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. 2 Kings xx. is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord : Isaiah xxxix. is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord3 of hosts concealment — no disguise. Hezekiah knew that he was dealing with a man of God, a man to whom he was under great obligations. He knew that Isaiah had come commissioned by God, and that it would be in vain to attempt to conceal any thing. Nor does he seem to have wished to conceal any thing. If he was conscious that what he had done had been improper, he was willing to confess it ; and at any rate he was willing that the exact truth should be known. Had Heze- kiah been like Ahaz, he might have spurned Isaiah from his presence, as making im- proper inquiries. But Hezekiah was accus- tomed to regard with respect the messengers of God ; and he was therefore willing to submit his whole conduct to the divine adjudication and reproof. Piety makes a man honest, and willing that all that he has done should be known. It saves him from double dealing, and subterfuges, and a dis- position to make vain excuses ; and it in- clines him to fear God, to respect his ambas- sadors, and to listen to the voice of eternal truth. — Barnes. a Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the. word of the Lord. — The ancient capital of the empire of Assyria was Nineveh. Babylon was a province of that empire; and the kings of Babylon were for a long time no more than tributary princes under the mon- archs of Assyria. Bearing this in mind, we shall the more admire the marvels of pro- phetic foresight, in Isaiah's foretelling, first, that Jerusalem should set at defiance the great king of Assyria ; foretelling this when the armies of that king were close at hand, countless in multitude, and bent upon its destruction : and next, that hereafter all Hezekiah 's treasures, and his royal offspring, should be spoiled and taken captive by a king of Babylon, a city which at the time of Isaiah's prophecy was tributary to Nineveh, and its king then engaged in friendly inter- course with the king of Judah and Jeru- salem. Thus that which with man is most improbable is foreseen and brought to pass BOOK II. PART I. by God. Thus may we escape danger the most imminent, when it is God's pleasure to give safety ; and may be overtaken by cala- mity the most unexpected, when it seems good to him that we should suffer harm. There is something both awful and instruc- tive in the occasion taken by the prophet for communicating to Hezekiah the sad tidings of his country's impending ruin. The king, on recovering from his deadly sick- ness, was congratulated by messengers from Babylon ; and was so pleased with the con- gratulations he received, and with the in- quiries made by the same messengers con- cerning the lootider that was done in the land, that his heart was lifted up, 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 31 ; and, under the influence of vanity, he displayed before these Babylonish messengers all his stores of wealth and ar- moury. Considering how lately he had been reduced to cut off the gold from the doors of the Temple of the Lord, 2 Kings xviii. 16, these stores must have consisted for the most part of the spoil of Senna- cherib's fallen host. There was therefore probably a spirit of vain triumph, as well as of vain ostentation, in this displaying of his treasures before strangers. And when we read further in the Chronicles, that on this occasion God left him, to try him, that lie might know all that ivas in his heart, 2 Chron. xxxii. 31, the result, in the case of such an one as Hezekiah, may well warn us, what frail creatures we are at the best ; how sure to fall, if God leaves us to ourselves ; how likely, if he tries what is in our hearts, to be found vain of our own wealth or strength, instead of being strong only in the Lord. It was when St. Peter had been saying, Though all men shall be offended be- cause of thee, yet will I never be offended, that Our Lord gave him this solemn warning, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice : Matt. xxvi. 33, 34. It is when we are elated by having triumphed in any measure over sin and Satan, that we are most in PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutrai). HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. 2 Kings xx. 17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon : nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. danger of a shameful fall. Let us study, therefore, to be humble in the midst of suc- cess. Not only when our worldly goods increase, but also when our souls prosper, let us watch that no vain spirit of osten- tation supplants a sense of dependency on God, and interferes with our devout purpose of ascribing unto him the praise and glory of all we have, and all we are. Nothing can more grievously mar the beauty of holi- ness, than a disposition to make a show of it for our own credit, before our admiring fellow-creatures. And, therefore, when our Lord enjoins us to make our light shine before men, he is careful to add, that he must do so with a view to this sole object, that they may glorify our Father which is in heaven : see Matt. v. 16. May God then, who makes us conquerors, ever keep us safe from vain glory ! May he enable us not only to acquiesce when he chastens us for sin, not only to give thanks when he spares us chastisement, but even also to continue sober in mind, and lowly in heart, when he has given us the crown of victory, through Christ our Lord ! — Girdlestone's Comm. Lect.1145. God appears to have revealed to Hezekiah the calamities which awaited his descendants in the Babylonish Captivity, as a punishment for his ostentatious display of his treasures, in which he seemed to confide ; and for not having rather professed his confidence in God, whose mercies he had so recently ex- perienced. These prophecies, and those in the ensuing chapters, relative to the same captivity, were literally fulfilled above a hundred years after. Vid. 2 Kings xxi. 1 2—14. xxiii. 27. compared with ch. xxiv. 13. and Dan. i. 1-6. — Gray's Key to the Old Test, p. 190. ed. 5. a All shall be carried to Babylon. — This was literally fulfilled : see 2 Chron. xxxvi. 18. it is remarkable, says Vitringa, that this is the first intimation that the Jews would be carried to Babylon — the first designation of the place where they would be so long BOOK II. PART I. Isaiah xxxix. Behold, the days come, that all 6 that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon a : nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. punished and oppressed. Micah iv. 10, a con- temporary of Isaiah, declares the same thing ; but probably that was not before the decla- ration here made by Isaiah. Moses had declared repeatedly, that if they were a re- bellious people, they should be removed from their own to a foreign land ; but he had not designated the country : Lev. xxvi. 33,34. Deut. xxviii. 64-67. xxx.3. Ahijah, in the time of Jeroboam, 1 Kings xiv. 15, had predicted that they should be carried beyond the river, i. e. the Euphrates ; and Amos, v. 27, had said that God would carry them into captivity beyond Damascus. But all these predictions were now concentrated on Babylon; and it was for the first time distinctly announced by Isaiah that that was to be the land where they were to suffer so long and so painful a captivity. — Barnes. The city and kingdom of Babylon was now small, under the power of the Assyrian, be- fore it rose to be the golden head. For observe in 2 Chron. xxxiii. 1 1, that Babylon is in the hand of the king of Assyria. The captains of the host of the king of Assyria carried Manasseh unto Babel. — Dr. Light- foot's Works, vol. II. p. 268. This prediction, says Mr. Home, was ap- parently contrary to all probability : the kings of Babylon and Judah were then allies, and united in interest. The former seemed in no respect formidable, when com- pared with the kings of Assyria, whose yoke Hezekiah had just shaken otf, and to whom he was perhaps still tributary ; and yet the prophecy is positive, and Hezekiah enter- tains no doubt of it. It was literally accom- plished ; and then the Jews hoped for their return from captivity, which Isaiah had not only foretold many times and in the most magnificent terms, but also marked out the conqueror of Babylon, and the deliverance of the Jews by name, Isa. xliv. and xlv., con- siderably more than one hundred years be- fore Cyrus became king of Persia and libe- rated the captive Jews. — Home's Crit. Intr vol. I. chap. iv. sect. iii. § 2. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3Jutrn&. HEZEKI AH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. 2 Kings xx. 18 And of thy sons3 that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away ; and they shall be eunuchs b in the palace of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lordc which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, f peace and truth be in my days2? 1!) Isaiah xxxix. And of thy sons that shall issue 7 from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away ; and they shall be eunuchs ' in the palace of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, 8 Good is the word of the Lord winch thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days. marg. ! v. 7. they shall be eunuchs &c. Fulfilled Dan. i. 2, 3, 7. 2 v. 19. if peace and truth be in my days, or Shall there not be peace and truth &c. a Thy sons. — This prophecy was delivered when Hezekiah had not yet any children. See Usher's Annals, A.M. 3291. b They shalt be eunuchs. — The word here used, D^D^ID, denotes, properly and strictly, eunuchs, or such persons as were accus- tomed to attend on the harems of Oriental monarchs : Est. ii. 3, 14, 1 5. These persons were also employed often in various offices of the court: Est. i. 10, 12, 15 ; and hence the word often means a minister of court, a court-officer, though not literally an eu- nuch: Gen. xxx vii. 36. xxxix. 1. It is not easy, however, to tell when the word is to be understood literally, and when not. The Targum understands it of those who should be nurtured, or who should become great in the kingdom of Babylon. That the Jews were advanced to some offices of trust and power in Babylon, is evident from the case of Daniel, i. 3—7. It is by no means impro- bable, also, that the king of Babylon would have a pride in having among the atten- dants at his court, or even over the harem, the descendants of the once-magnificent monarchs of the Jews. — Barnes. By the phrase They shall be eunuchs, Bishop Patrick understands, They shall wait upon the king of Babylon as his servants : see 2 Kings wiv. 15. This was partly fulfilled in Da- niel and his companions, Dan. i. c Good is the word of the Lord. — The sense of this is, says Barnes, I acquiesce ; I perceive that it is right ; I see in it evidence of benevolence and goodness. The grounds of his acquiescence seem to have been : I. The fact that he saw that it was just. He felt that he had sinned; that he had BOOK 11. PART I. been proud and ostentations; that he had made an improper display of his treasures, and that he deserved to be punished. II. He felt that the sentence was mild and merciful. It was less than he deserved ; and less than he had reason to expect. III. It was mer- ciful to him, and to his kingdom at that time. God was not coming forth to cut him off, or to involve him in any more ca- lamity. IV. His own reign and life were to be full of mercy still. He had abundant cause of gratitude, therefore, that God was dealing with him in so much kindness. It cannot be shewn that Hezekiah was regard- less of his posterity, or unconcerned at the calamity which could come upon them. All that the passage fairly implies, is, that he saw that it was right ; and that it was proof of great mercy in God that the punishment was deferred ; and was not, as in the case of David, 2 Sam. xii. 13, 14, &c, to be inflicted in his own time. The nature of the crime of Hezekiah is more fully stated in the pa- rallel passage in the Book of Chronicles, xxxii. 25, 26, 31. -For there shall be peace. — I am not threatened with war. My kingdom shall not be disturbed during my reign with a foreign invasion. And truth. — The truth of God shall be maintained ; his worship shall be kept up ; his name shall be ho- noured. In my days — During his reign. He inferred this, because Isaiah had said, Is. xxxix. 7, that his posterity would be carried away to Babylon. He was assured, there- fore, that these calamities would not come in his own time. We may learn from this, I. That we should submit to God, when he punishes us. If we have right feelings, we 8 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. sect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. The promulgation of the Gospel. The preaching of John Baptist. The preaching of the Apostles. The prophet, by the omnipotency of God, and his incomparableness, comforteth tlie people. Isaiah xl. 1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, Saith your God s. may always see that we deserve all that we are called to suffer. II. In the midst of severest judgments we may tind some evi- dence of mercy. Judgment is tempered with kindness. There are some considera- tions on which the mind may fix, that will console it with the evidence of the compas- sion of God ; and that will not only make it submissive, but fill it with gratitude. III. We should accustom ourselves to such views of the divine dealings ; and should desire to find in them the evidence of good- ness and mercy, and not the evidence of wrath and severity. It is of infinite impor- tance that we should cherish right views of God; and should believe that he is holy, good, and merciful. To do this, we should feel that we deserve all that we suffer ; we should look at what we might have endured ; we should look at the mercies spared to us, as well as at those which are taken away ; and we should hold to the belief, as an un- wavering principle from which we are never to depart, that God is good, supremely and wholly good. Then our mind will have peace. Then, with Hezekiah, we may say, Good is the word of Jehovah. Then with the suffering Redeemer of the world we may always say, Not my will, but thine be done : Luke xxii. 42. a Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. — The course of prophecies which follow from hence to the end of the Book, and which, taken together, constitute the most elegant part of the sacred writings of the Old Testament, interspersed also with many passages of the highest sublimity, was pro- bably delivered in the latter part of the reign of Hezekiah. The prophet in the foregoing chapter had delivered a very explicit declara- tion of the impending dissolution of the king- dom, and of the captivity of the royal house of David, and of the people, under the kings of Babylon. As the subject of his subse- quent prophecies was to be chiefly of the consolatory kind, he opens them with giving a promise of the restoration of the kingdom, BOOK II. PART I. and the return of the people from that cap- tivity, by the merciful interposition of God in their favour. But the views of the prophet are not confined to this event. As the restora- tion of the royal family and of the tribe of Judah, which would otherwise have soon become undistinguished, and have been irre- coverably lost, was necessary, in the design and order of Providence, for the fulfilling of God's promises, of establishing a more glo- rious and an everlasting kingdom under the Messiah to be born of the tribe of Judah and of the family of David, the prophet con- nects these two great events together, and hardly ever treats of the former without throwing in some intimations of the latter ; and sometimes is so fully possessed with the glories of the future, more remote kingdom, that he seems to leave the more immediate subject of his commission almost out of the question. Indeed this evang-elical sense of the prophecy is so apparent, and stands forth in so strong a light, that some interpreters cannot see that it has any other, and will not allow the prophecy to have any relation at all to the return from the captivity of Ba- bylon. Bishop Lowth thinks that the return of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon is the first though not the principal thing in the prophet's view ; that the redemption from Babylon is clearly foretold ; and at the same time is employed as an image to shadow out a redemption of an infinitely higher and more important nature. The learned Vitringa ex- cludes this view entirely. If the literal sense of this prophecy cannot be questioned, much less surely can the spiritual ; which is al- lowed on all hands, even by Grotius him- self. If both are to be admitted, here is a plain example of the mystical allegory or double sense, as it is commonly called, of prophecy, which the sacred writers of the New Testament clearly suppose, and accord- ing to which they frequently frame their interpretation of passages of the Old Testa- ment.— Lowth in loc. Of the foundation and properties of this sort of allegory, see PARALLEL HISTORIES Ol' JUD.V1I AM) ISRAEL. Sutiaf). bct.iv. PIEZEKIAH— 15tii yeah. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xl. 2 Speak ye 'comfortably* to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, That her warfare2 is accomplished b, ma kg. ' v. 2. comfortably. Heb. to the heart. • warfare, or appointed time. Lovvth cle S. Poe's. Hebr. Praelect. xi. Kimchi says that the whole of this prophecy belongs to the days of the Messiah. It is admitted on all hands, that the second part of Isaiah, comprising the prophecies which commence at the fortieth chapter, and which continue to the end of the Book, is to be regarded as the most sublime, and to us the most important part of the Old Testament. No writings contain passages of greater ele- gance and of higher sublimity than this por- tion of Isaiah. It is wholly occupied with a description of events which were to occur long after the time of the prophet; and which should be of interest, not only to the Jewish nation, but to the whole human family. It is a beautiful and glowing de- scription of occurrences in which men of these times, and of all subsequent times, will have as deep an interest as they who have lived at any former period. Indeed it is not improbable, that as the world advances in age, the interest in this portion of Isaiah will increase ; and that as the Gospel is car- ried around the globe, and the earth comes under its influence, the beauty and accuracy of these descriptions will be more clearly seen and more highly appreciated ; and that nations will yet derive their highest consola- tions, and see the clearest proof of the inspi- ration of the sacred volume, from the entire correspondence between this portion of Isaiah and the future events which are yet to glad- den the world. There is no portion of the Old Testament where there is so graphic and clear a description of the times of the Messiah. None of the other Prophets linger so long, and with such apparent delight, on the promised coming of the Prince of Peace ; on his character and work ; on the nature of his instructions, and the manner of his recep- tion ; on the trials of his life, and the painful circumstances of his death ; on the dignity of his nature, and on his lowly and humble manner of life ; on the prevalence of his re- ligion, and on its transforming and happy effects ; on the consolations which he would furnish ; and on the fact, that his religion would convey light and joy around the world. — Barnes. book n. PART I. a Speak ye comfortably — lW, lo the heart, as in the margin. — The heart is the seat of the affections. It is there that sorrow and joy are felt. We are oppressed there with grief ; and we speak familiarly now of being pained at the heart, and of being of a glad or merry heart, &c. To speak to the heart, is to speak in such a way as to remove the troubles of the heart — to furnish conso- lation and joy. It means, that they were not merely to urge such topics as should con- vince the understanding and satisfy, but such also as should be adapted to minister conso- lation to the heart. So the word is used in Gen. xxxiv. 3 : And his soul clave unto Dinah ; and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly, Heb. to the heart .of the damsel. Gen. l. 21 : And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them, Heb. to their hearts. See also 2 Chron. xxxii. 6. — Barnes. The first two verses contain the principal argument of the remainder of the Book ; the object of which is, to speak comfort to the Church, to the end of the world. The persons addressed are Mi- nisters of Religion in general, who are thus directed to comfort and cheer the hearts of the faithful, by setting before them the great things which God had done, and will do, for his Church. — Jenour. That her warfare is accomplished. — Lxx, humiliation. The Hebrew word J^niJ, war- fare, properly means an army or host, and is usually applied to an army going forth to war or marshalled for battle : 2 Sam. viii. 16. x. 7. It is there used to denote an ap- pointed time of service ; the discharge of a duty similar to an enlistment ; and is applied to the services of the Levites in the taber- nacle : Num. iv. 23 : All that enter in to perform the service, Heb. to war the warfare, to do the ivork in the tabernacle of the con- gregation. Comp. Num. viii. 24, 25; and see the margin. Hence it is applied to human life, contemplated as a warfare, involving hard service and calamity; an enlistment from which there is to be a discharge by death. Is there not a set- time, Heb. a- warfare, to man upon earth ? Are not his days as the days of an hire- ling? .lob vii. 1. 10 AKALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Suoafi. r. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xl. That her iniquity is pardoned: For she hath received of the Lord's hand Double for all her sinsa. But if a man die, shall he indeed live again ? All the days of my appointed time, Heb. my 'warfare, will I wait, Till my change come. Job xiv. 14. Compare Dan. x. 1. The word then means hard service, such as soldiers endure ; an appointed time which they are to serve ; an enlistment, involving hardships, toil, priva- tion, danger, calamity. And in this sense it is applied here to Jerusalem — to the trials, calamities, desolations, to which she was sub- jected for her sins, and which were to endure a definite and fixed time — like the enlistment of an army. That time was now coming to an end, and to be succeeded by a release or discharge. Vitringa, who supposes that this refers primarily and solely to the times of the Messiah, regards this as meaning that the definite time of the legal economy, a time of toil, and of vexatious and troublesome ceremonies, was about to end, by the coming of the Messiah. But the more correct inter- pretation is, probably, that which supposes that there was a primary and main reference to the long and painful captivity of the Jews in Babylon. — Barnes. a Double for all her sins — nrVio rrnKtarrVra The word rendered double is the dual form from 72D a doubling, and occurs in Job xli.13 : Who will rip up the covering of his armour? Against the doubling of his nostrils who will advance ? Good. And in xi. 6 : And that he would unfold to them the secrets of his wisdom. That they are double to that which is ; that is, there are double-folds to God's wis- dom : the wisdom of God is complicated, inexplicable. — Gesenius. The word in Job means condu plications, folds, complications, mazes, intricacies — Good. Here the word has doubtless its usual and proper meaning ; and denotes double, twice as much. And the expression may denote, that God had in- dicted on them double that which had been usually inflicted on rebellious nations, or on book n. PART I. the nation before for its sins. Or, the word may be used to denote abundance ; and the prophet may design to teach that they had been amply and abundantly punished for their crimes ; — that is, says Grotius, as much as God judged to be sufficient. Double, here, says Calvin, is to be received for large and abundant. Some have supposed — see Rosenmuller, who approves of this interpre- tation— that the word double refers to the mercies or favours which they were about to receive, or which God had purposed to confer on them. So Lowth understands it ; and renders the word TlYTpb, shall receive, in the future : That she shall receive at the hand of Jehovah Blessings, double to the punishment of all their sins. So Noyes : That she shall receive from the hand of Jehovah Double for all her punishment. But though this was true, that their favours on their return, in the hopes of the Messiah and in their renovated privileges, would be far more numerous than their sufferings had been, yet this does not so well suit the con- nection, where the prophet is giving a reason why they should be released from their bond- age, and restored to the privileges of their own land. That reason manifestly is, that they had suffered what was regarded by Je- hovah as an ample expression of his dis- pleasure for their natural offences. It does not refer, as Barnes thinks, to individual sinners, nor to the atonement made by the Messiah. But it may be remarked, by the way, that in the suffering of the Redeemer there has been ample and abun- dant satisfaction for the sins of his people. The Chaldee interpreter understands this as Rosenmuller does, that the word double re- fers to the mercies which they had received : Because she has received a cup of con- solation from the presence of the Lord, as if TOO she had been smitten twice or twofold for all her sins. Vitringa also thinks that double consolation is meant. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. I! .iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xl. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness a, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low : And the crooked shall be made straight1, And the rough places plain2: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed", And all flesh shall see it together0: For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. jiarg. ' v. 4. straight, or a straight place. 2 plain, or a plain place. rather than punishment. As if it had been written, She has now received from the hand of Jehovah a recompence double the punish- ment which had been inflicted upon her for her sins. This, says Jenour, I think the most consistent exposition of the passage. Thus St. Paul says, / reckon that the suffer- ings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory ichich shall be revealed in us : Rom. viii. 18. a The voice of him that crieth in the wil- derness— inm mip Vlp. We have the authority of John the Baptist, and of our Saviour himself, as recorded by all the Evangelists, for referring this exordium to the opening of the Gospel by the preach- ing of St. John, and to the introducing of the kingdom of Messiah, who was to etfect a much greater deliverance of the people of God, Gentiles as well as Jews, from the capti- vity of sin and the dominion of death. See Matt. iii. 3. Mark i. 3. Luke iii. 4--6. John i. 23. The idea is taken from the practice of Eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition, or took a jour- ney, especially through desert countries, sent harbingers before them to prepare all things for their passage, and pioneers, to open the passes, to level the ways, and to remove all impediments. — Lowth in loc. We are specially taught by the Evangelists, that the voice here predicted, as crying in the wilderness, was John the Baptist: and John himself bears the same testimony to his own character : Matt. iii. 1—3. Mark i. 2—4. Luke iii. 1-6. John i. 19-23. But John was assuredly the harbinger of the Messiah. BOOK II. PART I. Therefore the Messiah must be the person whose advent is announced by the voice. From these premises, then, we are brought to the impoi'tant conclusion, that the Messiah is very Jehovah : for the voice announces the speedy approach of Jehovah the God of Israel : and the Baptist, whom we are in- structed to identify with the voice, announces the speedy approach of Christ. Hence it will necessarily follow that the Messiah an- nounced by the Baptist is the same person as the Jehovah announced by the voice. Those, consequently, who admit the Baptist to be the voice, stand pledged, on their own principles, to admit Christ to be Je- hovah.— Faber's Horse Mosaicse, vol. II. § 4. chap. 2. b The glory of the Lord shall be revealed. — The glory of Jehovah was revealed at the coming of Christ, by the display which was then made of his mercy, love, and holiness : for it is in these that the glory of God con- sists— in the wonderful method he had de- vised for the redemption and salvation of man, which was now for the first time made manifest, having only been shadowed forth before in types and figures. Yet this was only a preparatory fulfilment of the predic- tion. He has declared that his glory shall one day fill the inhole earth. We must there- fore look forward to a more perfect accom- plishment of these words. — Jenour. c All flesh shall see it together, &c. — Ro- sennmller supposes that it should be thus translated : — And all flesh shall see together That the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. 12 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Shitrafj. r. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th yeah. B.C. 712. Prophets-ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xl. The voice said, Cry a. And he said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass", And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field : The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : Because the spirit of the Lord hloweth upon it c : Surely the people is grass11. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : But the word of our God shall stand for ever. jO Zion, that bringest good tidings0, get thee up into the high mountain; akg. ' v. 9. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, or O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, chap. xli. 27. and lii. 7. The voice said, Cry — Or rather, a voice, 71p. Isaiah represents himself ag-ain as hear- ing a voice. The word the, introduced in our Translation, mars the sense, inasmuch as it leads to the supposition that it was the same voice, or the voice of the same person referred to in verse 3. But, says Barnes, it is different. That was the voice of a crier or herald, proclaiming that a way was to be opened in the desert. This is introduced for a different purpose. It is to proclaim dis- tinctly, that while every thing else was fading and transitory, the promise of God was firm and secure. Isaiah, therefore, represents himself as hearing a voice requiring the Prophets — so the Chaldee — to make a procla- mation. The answer was, That all flesh was grass, &c. He had, verr. 3—5, intro- duced a herald announcing that the way was to be prepared for their return. He now intro- duces another voice, with a distinct message to the people, that God was faithful, and that his promises would not fail. A voice, a command, is heard, requiring those whose duty it was, to make proclamation. The voice of God — the inspiration — the Spirit speaking to the Prophets, commanded them to cry. And he said. — Lovvth and Noyes read this, And I said. The Lxx and the Vulgate read it also in this manner, in the first person. Two manuscripts examined by Kennicott also read it in the first person. Houbigant, Hensler, and Doerderlin, adopt this reading ; but the authority is not suffi- cient to justify a change in the Hebrew text. The Syriac and Chaldee read it, as it is in the present Hebrew text, in the third person. The sense is, that the person, or prophet, to whom the command came to make procla- BOOK II. part I. mation, made answer, What shall I pro- claim ? what shall be the nature of my proclamation? It is equivalent to saying, It was answered, or, I heard an answer : or if Isaiah is the person to whom the voice is represented as coming, it means that he an- swered; and is, therefore, equivalent to the reading in the Lxx and Vulgate, and adopted by Lowth. This is the probable supposition, that Isaiah represents himself as hearing1 the voice, and as expressing a willingness to make proclamation, but as waiting to know what he was to proclaim. b All flesh is grass, &c. — What is this, but a plain opposition of the flesh to the Spirit ; of the carnal Israel to the spiritual ; of the temporary Mosaic economy to the eternal Christian dispensation ? — Lowth in loc. See 1 Pet. i. 24, 25. The idea is, that the plans of man must be temporary ; but that Jehovah endures, and his plans reach from ag-e to ag'e, and will certainly be accomplished. — Barnes. 0 The spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. — The wind of Jehovah. A wind of Jehovah is a Hebraism, meaning no more than a strong- wind. It is well known that a hot wind in the East at once destroys every green thing. Compare Ps. ciii. 15, 16. — Lowth in loc. ll The people is as grass. — Rosenmiiller thinks that it refers to the people of Babylon, and means that that mighty people would fade away like grass. Lowth understands it as referring to the Jewish nation. So the Syriac : but the more probable interpretation is that which regards it as referring to all people, and therefore including both. 0 0 Zion, that l)r//igcst good tidings. — Get thee up upon a high mountain, O daughter that bringest glad tidings to Sion : exalt thy PARALLKL HISTORIES OF JUOAH AX'I) [SRAEL, 13 Sirtmfj. r. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xl. 0 Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings ', Lift up thy voice with strength a; 1 v. 9. O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, or Othou that tellcst good tidings to Jerusalem. voice with strength, O daughter that bringest glad tidings to Jerusalem. That the true construction of the sentence is this, which makes Sion the receiver, not the publisher, of the glad tidings — which latter has been the most prevailing interpretation — will, I think, very clearly appear, if we rightly consider the image itself, and the custom and common practice from which it is taken. I have added the word daughter, to express the feminine gender of the Hebrew participle, which I know not how to do otherwise in our lan- guage ; and this is absolutely necessary, in order to ascertain the image. For the office of announcing and celebrating such glad tidings as are here spoken of, belonging pe- culiarly to the women, on occcasion of any great public success, a signal victory, or any other joyful event, it was usual for the women to gather together, and, with music, dances, and song's, to publish and ce- lebrate the happy news. Thus, after the passage of the Red Sea, Miriam, and all the women with timbrels in their hands, formed a chorus, and joined the men in their trium- phant song, dancing and throwing in alter- nately the refrain or burden of the song: Ex. xv. 20, 21. So Jephtha's daughter col- lected a chorus of virgins, and with dances and songs came out to meet her father, and to celebrate his victory, Jud. xi. 34. After David's conquest of Goliath, All the women came out of the cities of Israel, sinjnn"' and dancing, to meet Saul, with joy and with in- struments of music ; and forming themselves into two chorusses, they sung, alternately, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands, 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7 ; and this gives us the true sense of a passage in the sixty-eighth Psalm, which has frequently been misunderstood : Jehovah gave the word ; that is, the joyful news ; The women who published the glad tidings were a great company. The kings of mighty armies did flee, And even the matrons who stayed at home shared the spoil. book n. part I. The word signifying the publishers of glad tidings is the same, and expressed in the same form, by the feminine participle, as in this place ; and the last distich is the song which they sung. So in this place ; Jehovah having given the word, by his prophet, the joyful tidings of the restoration of Sion, and of God's returning to Jerusalem — see chap, lii. 8 — the women are exhorted by the prophet to publish the joyful news with a loud voice, from eminences whence they might best be heard all over the country ; and the matter and burden of their song was to be, Behold your God ! — Lowth in loc. Barnes thinks there are objections to this interpretation : — I. If this was the sense, the word would have been in the plural number, since there is no instance in which a female is employed alone in this service ; and, II. It was not, according to this, the office of the female to announce good tidings, or to com- municate a joyful message, but to celebrate some occasion of triumph or victory. Gro- tius supposes that the word is feminine in its sound, but common in its signification ; and thus denotes any whose office it was to com- municate glad tidings. Gesenius, Comm. in loc, says, that the feminine form here is used, in a collective sense, for Dnt^nD, in the plu- ral ; and supposes that it thus refers to the prophets, or others, who were to announce the glad tidings to Zion. Vitringa coincides with our translation ; and supposes that the sense is, that Zion was to make proclamation to the other cities of Judah of the deliver- ance ; that the news was first to be commu- nicated to Jerusalem; and that Jerusalem, as a centre, was entrusted with the office of announcing this to the other cities of the land ; and that the meaning is, that the Go- spel was to be preached first at Jerusalem, and then from Jerusalem, as a centre, to the other cities of the land ; agreeably to Luke xxiv. 49. In this view, also, Hengstenberg coincides. Christol. vol. I. 424. a Lift up thy voice icith strength— As with a glad and important message, Do not deliver the message as if you were afraid I i PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutraf). sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xl. Lift it up, be not afraid ; Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God a ! 10 Behold, the Lord God will come 'with strong hand1', And his arm shall rule for him : Behold, his reward is with him, And 2his work before him0. 1 1 He shall feed his flock d like a shepherd : marg. ' v. 10. with strong hand, or against the strong. z his work before him, or recompense for his work, chap. xlix. 4. that it should be heard. The message is one of joy ; and it should be delivered in a clear, decided, animated manner, as if it were true, as if it were important that it should be heard ; With strength — Aloud ; with effort ; with power. Compare Isai. xxxv. 3, 4. Lift it up — Lift up the voice. The command is repeated, to denote emphasis. The mind is full of the subject ; and the prophet repeats the command, as a man often does when his mind is full of an idea. This command is one that is not unusual in Isaiah. It requires animation, earnestness, zeal ; that the mes- sage of God should be delivered as if it were believed to be true. This will not justify, however, boisterous preaching, or a loud and unnatural tone of voice, alike offensive to good taste, injurious to the health, and destructive of the life of the preacher. It is to be remarked, also, that this command to lift up the voice appertains to the glad tidings of the Gospel, and not to the terrors of wrath ; to the proclamation of mercy, and not to the denunciation of woe. The glad tidings of Salvation should be delivered in an animated .and ardent manner ; the future punishment of the wicked, in a tone serious, solemn, subdued, awful. — Barnes. a Behold your God ! — What can the Arian or Socinian say to this ? When were these words accomplished, but at the time when the Apostles of Jesus Christ went through the cities of Judaea, declaring that he was Lord of all, and preaching salvation in his name? Can there be any doubt whether the passage under consideration have re- ference to the Messiah ? Is it not the object of the whole prophecy to comfort the Church with the assurance that the promise made so long before, of a Saviour who should bruise the serpent's head, was about to be accom- rook n. part i. plished ? But what can express more dis- tinctly the divine nature of that Saviour than these words, Behold your God!? — Jenour. See the Note on Is. xlviii. 16. in this Volume. b With strong hand — ptT"Q : marg. against the strong. So Vitringa and others under- stand it ; and regard it as referring to the mighty enemies of the people of God, or, as Vitringa particularly supposes, to the great foe of God and his people, the Prince of darkness. Lowth also translates it against the strong one. The Lxx render it, with strength, icith majesty ; which Barnes thinks the more probable meaning, that the Lord would come with the manifestation of strength and power, able to subdue and vanquish all the enemies of his people, and to effect their complete and final salvation. 0 And his work before him. — Bishop Stock renders VDS? inVi/SI And his payment before him. Work, he says, is here under- stood for payment of work, as Lev. xix. 13 ; and remarks, the Eastern purse is carried in front, appended to the girdle. d He shall feed his flock— -7WT Trw^X^. In the preceding verse, the fact had been asserted, that God would come to establish his dominion, to subdue his foes, and reward his people. In this verse, the mild and gentle character of his rule over his people is presented. The word translated shall feed, niH\ denotes more than our word feed at present. It refers to all the care of a shep- herd over his flock ; and means, to tend, to guard, to govern, to provide pasture, to de- fend from danger, &c, as a shepherd does his flock. It is often applied, in the Scriptures, to Cod, represented as the tender Shepherd, and especially to the Redeemer: Ps. xviii. I. Ezek. xx\iv. 2:\. John x. 14. Heb. xiii. 20. ] Pet. ii. 25. v. 4. It is often applied to a PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH VXD ISRAEL. 15 Shrtrnfi. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xl. He shall gather the lambs with his arm, And carry them in his bosom, And shall gently lead those 'that are with young a. 1 2 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand b, marg. ' v. 11. that are with young, or that give suck. leader, or a ruler of a people, 2 Sam. ch. v. 2. vii. 7. Ezek. xxxiv. 23. Thus Homer often uses the phrase 'n-oi/m.tjv Aacov, shepherd of the people, to denote a ruler or monarch. Here it denotes that God would evince towards his people that same tender care, guardianship, and protection, which a shepherd shews for his flock. He would defend them from danger, guard them from enemies, lead them in the path of plenty and safety, provide for their wants, and evince a tender regard for the feeble and the delicate. — Barnes. Shaw, speaking of the exposure of the flocks in Syria, says : The greatest skill and vigilance, and even tender care, are required in the management of such immense flocks as wander on the Syrian plains. Their pro- digious numbers compel the keepers to re- move them too frequently, in search of fresh pastures ; which proves very destructive to the young, that have not strength to follow. The following extract from Anderson's Tour through Greece will also serve to illustrate this passage : — One of the great delights in travelling through a pastoral country, is to see and feel the force of the beautiful imagery in the Scriptures, borrowed from pastoral life. All day long the shepherd attends his flocks, leading them into green pastures, near fountains of water ; and chooses a con- venient place for them to rest at noon. At night he drives them near his tent ; and, if there is danger, encloses them in the fold. They know his voice ; and he carries such as are exhausted in his arms. Such a Shep- herd is the Lord Jesus. — The following quo- tation from Roberts, in regard to the custom among the Hindoos, will serve still further to illustrate this beautiful passage : — The pas- toral office in the East is far more respon- sible than in England ; and it is only by looking at it in its various relations and peculiarities, as it exists there, that we gain a correct view of many passages of Scripture. Flocks at home are generally in fine fields, surrounded by hedges or fences ; but there BOOK II. PART I. they are generally in the wilderness ; and. were it not for the shepherd, would go astray and be exposed to the wild beasts. As the sons of Jacob had to go to a great distance to feed their flocks, so still they are often absent for one or two months together, in the place where there is plenty of pasturage. In their removals, it is an interesting sight to see the shepherds car- rying the lambs in their bosoms, and also to witness how gently they lead those that are with young. a Shall gently lead those that are with young — A beautiful image, expressing, with the utmost propriety as well as ele- gance, the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock. That the greatest care in driving the cattle, in regard to the dams and their young, was necessary, appears clearly from Jacob's apology to his brother Esau, Gen. xxxiii. 13 ; which is set in a still stronger light by Sir John Chardin. Their flocks, he says, speaking of those who live in the East after the Patriarchal manner, feed down the places of their encampment so quickly, by the great numbers which they have, that they are obliged to remove them too often ; which is very destructive to their flocks, on account of the young ones, that have not strength enough to follow. — Harmer's Obs. I. p. 126. b Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, &c. — The object of this verse, and the following verses to the 26th, is evidently to shew the greatness, power, and majesty of God, by strong contrast with his creatures, and more especially with idols. Perhaps the prophet designed to meet and answer an implied objection, that the work of deliverance was so great that it could not be accomplished. At the same time that the argument here is one that is entirely conclu- sive, the passage, regarded as a description of the power and majesty of God, is one of vast sublimity and grandeur ; . nor is there any portion of the sacred volume more Hi PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xl. And meted out heaven with the span, And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure1, And weighed the mountains in scales, And the hills in a balance ? 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord3, Or being his counsellor2 hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him3, And taught him in the path of judgment, And taught him knowledge, And shewed to him the way of understanding4 ? 1 5 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, marg. ' v. 12. a measure. Heb. a tierce. 2 v. 13. his counsellor. Heb. man of Ms counsel. 3 v. 14. instructed him. Heb. made him understand. 4 understanding ? Heb. understandings ? fitted to impress the mind with a sense of the majesty and glory of Jehovah. The question, Who hath measured &c. is designed to imply, that the thing- referred to here was that which had never been done and could never be done by man, but that it had been done by God; and the argument is, that although that which the prophet predicted was a work which surpassed human power, yet it would be done by that God who had measured the waters in the hollow of his hand. — Barnes. a Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord. — This passage is quoted by St. Paul in Rom. xi. 34. and referred to in 1 Cor. ii. 16. The word rendered directed, p]~l, is the same which is used in the preceding verse, And meted out heaven. The idea is, Who has fitted or disposed the mind or Spirit of Je- hovah ? What Supreme Being has ordered, instructed, or disposed his understanding ? Who has qualified him for the exercise of his wisdom, or for the formation and execu- tion of his plans ? and the sense is, God is supreme ; he has no superior. The following is the text of the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and the New Testament : — mir rrrrriK pmtt : why* iresp crw irnw ypn TrnK tasttra man rrmVi nin lnTttVi JWHY1 murm -p-n BOOK II. PART I. Ti? k'yvco vow Kvpiov ; kou rig o~v/jLJ3ovAog avrov e^evero, og (rvfx- /3i{3a(rei avrov ; r\ Trpbg riva crvvefiovAevcraTo, nai trvvefii- flacrev avrov ; r; rig ehei't-ev avrco Kpicriv ', 7) ohbv avvecreog Tig ehei^ev avrco ; v] rig irpoeScoKev avrco ; feat avraTroSodrjtreTat avrco ; Septuagint. 7£2 fiaOog irXovrov koi crocpiag not ^'vcocrecog Qeoir cog ave^epevvrjra ra Kplfxara avrov, nai aveiftxyiatTTot at otiol avrov. rig jem or Djam. Stud means splendid or brilliant, elevated or sublime. Compare Reland's Dis- sert, de Vet. Ling. Pers. sect. 6. p. 108 of the 2d vol. of his Dissertations. From among them were chosen the heads and leaders of the nation. Subdued by Phraortes, king of the Medes, the Persians were under the Median dominion for about fifty years. But in the year B.C. 555, or 560, one of the Achaemenides, called Agradad, the son of the tributary king of Persis, Cambyses, and the Median princess Mandane, was chosen leader of the Persian tribes, and, at their head, made war against his maternal grand- father, Astyages, who, when he was an infant, had sought to cut him off. After two successful battles, in the last of which he took his grandfather prisoner, he became lord of the Median empire, and exchanged BOOK II. PART I. his original name for KhorsJiid, i. e. Splen- dour of he sun, which the Hebrews abridged to Koresh, the Greeks to Euros, and the Ro- mans to Cyrus. Under him the Persians be- came not only an independent, but a conquer- ing people; for the dethronement of king Asty- ages involved Cyrus in wars, which issued in the subjection of the Lydian and Baby- lonian empires. See the Note on Ez. xx.7, 10. — Rosenmiiller Bib. Geog. vol. I. pp. 210—212. b He gave them as the dust to his sword — "Qin 1SIO )n\ According to Bp. Stock, Rendered swift as the dust his sword. This is a just description of the rapidity of Cy- rus's conquests. God made his arms as quick in their progress as the dust or the stubble flying before the wind. He skimmed so swiftly over the road of pursuit, that it seemed as if he had not set the print of his feet upon it.— Rosenmiiller. Since, says Gill, Christ is the person speaking, and con- cerning whom the controversy is, therefore some person distinct from him must be meant ; and I am inclined to think, with Cocceius, that the Apostle Paul is intended, though this sense is rejected by Vitringa. He was a righteous man, made such by the right- eousness of Christ : he believed in it, and was a preacher of it, and lived a holy and righteous life : his weapons were not carnal, but spiritual, and mighty through God : his sword w as the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God : his bow and arrows were the Gospel ; and these being attended with the power of God, men could no more stand against them than dust and stubble before the wind. c Calling the generations from the be- ginning.— The idea here seems to be, that all the nations that dwell on the earth in every place owed their origin to God. He had founded them — he had directed them — he had ordered the circumstances of their 2(3 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. ect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xli. I the Lord, the first, And with the last ; I am he. 5 The isles saw it, and feared a; The ends of the earth were afraid, Drew near, and came. 6 They helped every one his neighbour ; And every one said to his brother, ' Be of good courage b. marg. v. 6. Be of good courage. Heb. Be strong. being. Comp. Acts xvii. 25. The word call- ing here seems to be used in the sense of commanding-, directing, or ordering them ; and the truth taught is, that all the nations were under his controul, and had been from the beginning. It was not only true of Cyrus and his armies, and of those who were subdued before him, but it was true of all the nations and generations. The object seems to be, to lift up the thoughts from the conquests of Cyrus, to God's universal do- minion over all the nations from the begin- ning of the world. J the Lord, I Jehovah ; that is, I have done this. It is by my counsel, power, and providential direction, that it has all been done. The first — Before any crea- ture was made ; existing before any other being. It implies that he had always existed. The description that God here gives of himself, as the first and the last, is one that is often applied to him in the Scrip- tures, and is one that properly expresses eternity : see Isaiah xliv. 6. xlviii. 12. It is to be remarked also that this expression, which so obviously implies proper eternity, is applied to the Lord Jesus in Rev. i. 17. and xxii. 13. And with the last — The usual form in which this is expressed, is simply t/ie last. The idea here seems to be, And tvith the last, I am the same, i.e. I am un- changing, and eternal. None will subsist after me ; since with the last of men, and all created objects, I shall be the same that I was in the beginning. Nothing would sur- vive God ; or, in other words, he would exist for ever and ever. The argument here is, that to this unchanging and eternal God, who had thus raised up and directed Cyrus, and subdued the nations before him, and who had controul over all nations, they might commit themselves with unwavering BOOK II. PART I. confidence, and be assured that he was able to protect and deliver them. — Barnes. a The isles saiv it, and feared — That is, says Gill, the progress of the Gospel, through the ministry of the Apostle Paul : the idola- trous inhabitants of the Gentile nations saw great multitudes embracing and professing the Gospel : they saw their idols neglected, and their temples abandoned : they heard what would be the consequence of all this ; and, especially, a panic seized the priests, whose livelihood depended on the continu- ance of idolatry : The ends of the earth ivere afraid, for the sound of the Gospel by him and other Apostles went into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world : Rom. x. 18. b Be of good courage. — The sense is, says Barnes, Do not be alarmed at the invasion of Cyrus. Unite to resist his arms, and seek again the favour of the gods. Make new images, set them up in the temples, shew unusual zeal in religion ; and the favour of the gods may be secured, and the dangers be averted. This is to be understood as the language of idolatrous nations, among whom Cyrus, under the direction of Jehovah, was carrying his conquests and spreading deso- lation. This is a beautiful description of the anxiety and pains and consternation of sinners, when calamity is coming upon them, and of the nature of the reliances. What could these dumb idols, these masses of brass and silver or stone, do to protect them ? And, in like manner, what can all the re- fuges of sinners do, when God comes to judge them, and when the calamities connected with death and the Judgment shall overtake them ? They are just as full of conster- nation as were the heathen who are here described ; and all their refuges will be just PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Zt r.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Profhets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith' , And he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote2 the anvil, Saying, It is ready for the sodering3: And he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. But thou, Israel, art my servant a, Jacob whom I have chosen, The seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth b, marg. ' v. 7. goldsmith, or founder. - him that smote, or the smiting. 3 Saying, It is ready for the sodering, or Saying of the soder, It is good. as little to be relied on as were the senseless images which the heathen had made for their defence. a Thou, Israel, art my servant, &c. — The expressions are very endearing-. It is ho- nourable to be God's servant ; still more so to be his chosen servant, and to be descended from one to whom he vouchsafed the title of friend, as God did to Abraham, 2 Chron. xx. 7 ; the greatest honour of which man is capable. This glorious privilege Christ was pleased to communicate to his disciples : John xv. 13. — Preb. Lowth. The prophet now proceeds, says Maccul- loch, to administer consolation to the af- flicted Church of God, by the most reviving assurances of support and relief. The appel- lations which are here given them first de- mand our attention. Israel and Jacob are the respectful designations given to the posterity of the renowned patriarch who was called by these names. They are seldom denominated by the name of Isaac ; not be- cause he was less worthy of regard than his son, but, as he was the progenitor of the Idu- maeans, as well as of the people whom God appropriated to himself, his name could not have so properly discriminated them from every other nation. In the words before us are comprised not only the descendants from Jacob according to the flesh, but likewise also his spiritual posterity. Though the Jews were primarily intended, yet this part of the discourse must be transferred and applied to the Church at large, professing faith in God and his salvation. To them, especially in circumstances of distress, the designation is peculiarly suitable ; for the patriarch himself experienced many afflictions, BOOK II. PART I. from all which he was delivered through the tender mercy and care of God. When in trouble and perplexity, when visited with trials of his faith and patience, he wrestled with God in prayer, he had power, and pre- vailed ; the Lord heard him in the day of his distress, and was with him in the way that he went. On these, and other accounts, did Israel afford an eminent type of the Church of God contending with various afflictions, who became more than conquerors through Him that loved them. Israel is here designated the servant of God. This ho- nourable character belongs to him in com- mon with the whole Church, who, having renounced the other lords who had dominion over them, yield unlimited subjection to the Lord their God, solicitous to know and obey his will. b Thou tvho?n I have taken from the ends of the earth — •pKn rn^pn -pnptnn -itz/k •pnNip rrVsNDi Whom I have led by the hand from the ends of the earth, And from the edges thereof have called thee. Bp. Stock. Extremities, Lowth and Barnes — Bounda- ries, Jenour. The word T3JX means,'properly, a side ; and when applied to the earth, means the sides, ends, or extremities of it. In Ex. xxiv. 11, it is rendered nobles, from an Ara- bic word signifying to be deep-rooted ; and hence, those who are sprung from an ancient stock. — Gesenius. The parallelism requires us to give this interpretation to the word. St. Jerome renders it, a longinquis ejus, sc. terrse. The Lxx render it, e/c tu>v aKoiriav, 28 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3tota&. .iv. HEZEKIAH-15th year. B.C.712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. And called thee from the chief men thereof, And said unto thee, Thou art my servant ; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with theea: Be not dismayed ; for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee b Shall be ashamed and confounded : They shall be as nothing ; And they that strive with thee ' shall perish. 12 Thou shalt seek them, and slialt not find them0, It) II marg. ' v. 11. they that strive with thee. Heb. the men of thy strife. from the speculations of the earth, Thomp- son— or rather, perhaps, meaning from the extremity of vision — from the countries lying1 in the distant horizon, or from the elevated places, those which offered an extensive range of vision. The Chaldee renders it, From the kingdoms I have selected thee. Symmachus renders it, cnro tcov av avrr^, from its angles, its corners. Some have supposed that this refers to the deliverance from Egypt ; but the more probable interpretation is, that which refers it to the call of Abraham from Chaldaea ; and the idea is, that as God had called him from that distant land, and had made him his friend, he would preserve and guard his posterity. Perhaps, says Barnes, it may be implied, that he would be favour- able to them in that same land from whence he had called their illustrious progenitor, and would in like manner conduct them to the Land of Promise, that is, to their own land. A Fear thou not; for Tarn with thee; &c. — These words, no doubt, were addressed pri- marily to the literal Israel, captive in Baby- lon ; and were intended to assure them of the destruction of their enemies, and of their own preservation. But may not every be- liever take the promises contained in them to himself? Who can doubt that they were intended for the strengthening and consola- tion of the Church, to the end of the world? — Jenour. b Behold, all they that were incensed against thee &c. — The following are the words of the original : BOOK II. part I. -p Dnron Vd miw po TTP QN2Jttn kVi Dtfpnn The following is Bishop Stock's translation of these two verses : Behold, they shall be ashamed and con- founded, All that shouted against thee ; They shall be as nothing, and they shall perish, Who did persecute thee. Thou shalt seek them, but shalt not find them, The men that quarrelled with thee : They shall be as nothing, and as a blank, Who made war upon thee. "p"H ""ttftK viri litis hue, Montanus; rixce tufP, Vatablus "jniiTD "'ttttN viros jurgii tui, Montanus. ~|n72nV?3 viri belli tui, Vatablus ; pugrue hue, Montanus. God's truth shall at last prevail against all opposition, and the kingdom of Christ shall subdue and break in pieces all its adversaries : see Dan. ii. 44. Compare Isa. liv. 17. lx.12.— Preb. Lowth. c Thou shall seek lliem, and shalt not find them. — The subject introduced in the pre- ceding verse, says Macculloch, is here con- PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 29 Su&nh. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets-ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. Even them that contended with thee ' : They that war against thee2 Shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, Saying unto thee, Fear not ; I wTill help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye 3men of Israel8; marg. ' v. 12. them that contended with thee. Heb. the men of thy contention. 2 They that war against thee. Heb. The men of thy war. 3 v. 14. men of Israel, or few men. tinued and amplified. The persons who were to be sought for in vain, are the furious persecutors of the servants of God, who with great rancour and rage contended with them on account of the principles and practices to which they were inviolably attached, and who were therefore consigned to destruction. Though, like a mighty river overflowing its banks, and which runs with the utmost impe- tuosity, they threatened ruin to all that lay in their way, yet, being themselves unexpec- tedly overthrown, they were to be sought for in vain. According to the prediction of the royal prophet, The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs : they shall consume ; into smoke shall they consume away: Ps. xxxvii. 20. They passed away, and, lo, they are not ; yea, I sought them, but they could not be found : Ps. xxxvii. 36. The latter part of this verse contains the same sentiment ex- pressed in the former verse; and strongly suggests this useful remark, that the mali- cious actions done by false brethren to the people of God expose the perpetrators to desolating judgments. Many instances of this sort are recorded in Scripture, of which I only mention one at present. The Edomites, for their unfriendly conduct toward the post- erity of Jacob, incurred this awful denun- ciation of divine vengeance : For thy vio- lence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever : Obadiah, ver. 10. Thus it came to pass in the times of the Maccabees, in the early ages of the Christian Church, and in subse- quent periods, as might be easily evinced, were it necessary. a Ye men of Israel — Vinty TITS. Margin, feiv men. There has been a great variety in the explanation of this phrase. Aquila BOOK II. PART I. renders it redveureg ; and Theodotian, veicpoi. The Vulgate, Qui mortui estis in Israel. Mortales Israelite, Castalio. The Lxx ren- der it, Fear not Jacob, oAvyocrTos 'IcrpaijX, O diminutive Israel ! The Chaldee, Fear not, O tribe of the house of Jacob, ye seeds of Israel, &c. Lowth renders it, Ye mortals of Israel. The Hebrew denotes properly, as in our Translation, Men of Israel ; but there is evidently included the idea of fewness, or feebleness, among the Jews. The parallelism requires us so to understand it ; and the word men, or mortal men, may be to express the idea of feebleness. We may remark, says Barnes, in view of these verses, that God's people are in themselves feeble and defenceless ; but they have nothing to fear. Their God and Redeemer is strong ; and that, in times of trial, want, and persecution, the friends of God should put their trust alone in him. When human help fails, and when they feel their utter helplessness, they should come and repose their all on God. It is often the plan of God so to afflict and hum- ble his people, and so to shew them their weakness, as to lead them to confide in him alone. — Barnes. Christ's flock is a little flock ; his Church is a bttle city ; and few men in it, in comparison with the men of the world. God calls his people, Thou worm Jacob, chiefly because of their weakness and impotence to defend themselves. It is an observation of Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, that the strength of a worm lies in its mouth, which, though tender, can strike the strongest cedar, and penetrate into it : and the last observes, that the strength of Israel lies in their prayers ; as Jacob's did, when wrestling with the angel, and making supplication, he had power with God, and prevailed. 30 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. Suba§. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. I will help thee, saith the Lord, And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument' Having teeth ' : Thou shalt thresh the mountains \ and beat them small, And shalt make the hills as chaff. 16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them : And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, And shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 When the poor and needy seek water0, and there is none, marg. ' v. 15. teeth. Heb. mouths. a / will make thee a new threshing instru- ment.— The object of the illustration, in this verse and the following', is, to shew that their enemies should be destroyed before them; that God would clothe them with power ; and that all difficulties in their way would vanish. Every thing that opposed and re- sisted their return to their own land should be removed, as if lofty mountains were le- velled, and scattered like chaff before the wind. To express this idea, the prophet uses an imag'e derived from the mode of threshing in the East ; where the heavy wain or sledge was made to pass over a large pile of sheaves, and to crush them and bruise out the grain, and separate the chaff, so that the wind would drive it away. The phrase, I will make thee, means, I will constitute or appoint thee, i.e. thou shalt be such a threshing instrument. It is not that God would make such a sledge or wain for them, but that they should be such themselves ; they should remove the obstacles in the way, as the threshing wain crushed the pile of grain. A new sharp threshing instru- ment— A threshing-wain, or a corn-drag. — Barnes. For a description of this, comp. the Note on Isa. xxviii. 27. p. 364 of the First Volume of this Work. b Thou shall thresh the mountains. — The words mountains and hills in this verse seem designed to denote the kingdoms, greater and smaller, that should be opposed to the Jews, and should become subject to them. — Rosenmliller. Grotius supposes that the prophet refers particularly to the Medes and Babylonians. But perhaps, says Barnes, the BOOK II. part i. words are used to denote, simply, difficul- ties in their way ; and the expression may mean, that they should be able to overcome all these obstacles, and to subdue all that opposed them. Mountains and hills are in the way, and oppose obstacles to the march of an army. And the prophet may mean simply that they should be able to overcome all their difficulties, and all the obstacles in their path ; as if, in a march, they should crush all the mountains, and dissipate all the hills, by an exertion of power. This prophecy, says Gill, may have a further accomplishment, in the destruction of Papal Rome, and all the antichristian States ; when the kingdom of Christ, signified by the stone cut out without hands, shall break in pieces, and consume all other kingdoms, which shall become like the chaff of summer threshing- floors, and the wind shall carry them away, and no place be found for them : see Deut. ii. 3-1, 35,44. This threshing of the nations is ascribed to the Church, though only as an instrument : the work is the Lord's, as in verse 20. See Mic. iv. 13. Habak. iii. 12. c When the poor and needy seek water, &c. — Water is often used in the Scriptures as an emblem of the provisions of divine mercy, or of the blessings of the Gospel of the Re- deemer. It is so used, because it is necessary to life ; because of its purity, and of its abundance. Bursting fountains in a desert, and flowing streams unexpectedly met with in a dry and thirsty land, are often also em- ployed to denote the comfort and refresh- ment which the Gospel furnishes to sinful and suffering man in his journey through PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 31 sect. iv. HEZEKIAH- 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. And their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, / the God of Israel will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers in high places11, And fountains in the midst of the valleys : I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water. 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah-tree ' this world. The poor and needy here doubt- less refer primarily to the afflicted and suf- fering captives in Babylon. But the ex- pression of the prophet is general, and the description is as applicable to his people at all times in similar circumstances as it was to them. The image here is derived from their anticipated return from Babylon to Judaea. The journey lay through a vast pathless desert. In that journey, when they were weary, faint, and thirsty, God would meet and refresh them ; as if he should open fountains in their way, and plant trees with far-reaching boughs and thick foliage along the road, to produce a grateful shade, and make the whole way a pleasant grove. The promise is, that God would be with them, that he would provide for them, that he would sustain and comfort them. As he had met their fathers in their journey from Egypt to the Land of Canaan, and had brought water from the flinty rock in the desert, Ex. xv. 22, seq., so, in their journey through the sands of Arabia Deserta, he would again meet them and comfort them, and provide for all their wants. — Barnes. a / mil open rivers in high places, &c. — God will change the course of nature, and work miracles, rather than his people shall want what is necessary for them : thus he opens to them his everlasting and unchange- able love, which is as a broad river which cannot be passed over. This is in high places : it flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb ; and of this river of pleasure he makes his people to drink, the streams whereof make glad the city of God : likewise he shews them the fulness of his grace in his Son. This is as rivers of water in a dry land, exceedingly abundant, and very re- freshing: he vouchsafes the grace of his Spirit in great abundance. And fountains BOOK II. part i. in the midst of valleys. — God himself is the fountain of life ; Christ himself is the foun- tain, and in him are wells of salvation : the grace of the Spirit is as a well of living water, springing up into everlasting life ; and of these the truly humble, who may be com- pared to lowly valleys, are partakers, Ps. xxxvi. 9. Cant. iv. 15. Is. xii. 3. John iv. 14. James iv. 6. This passage is applied by the Jews to the times of the Messiah. — Gill. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 14. fol. 212.3. b / will plant in the wilderness &c. — Other important benefits are here promised to the faithful servants of God, in beautiful figurative language. Seven different kinds of trees are mentioned : and as seven is a number sometimes used in Scripture to de- note perfection, some writers have supposed that it here serves to express the extensive protection, support, and consolation, which God assures his people he will confer upon them. Some of the trees specified, as the box, are useful for shelter from storms, from piercing cold, and scorching heat. Some of them are remarkable for magnificent appear- ance and excellence of timber, serving both for ornament and use, as the cedar and the fir-tree. Some of them afford the best means of obtaining light, nourishment, and the cure of various distempers, as with the oil-tree. Now, when God foretells that he will plant them together in the wilderness, the predic- tion may import, that in the course of his providence he will raise up instruments to protect, to adorn, to illuminate, to cherish, and comfort his servants. In the more figu- rative sense, it intimates that the Lord God would raise up, for the benefit of his Church, men of distinguished eminence and useful- ness, such as judges and generals, to afford them protection ; rulers and governors, who would prove both ornamental and useful to 32 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 20 21 r.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. And the myrtle, and the oil-tree a; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, And the pine b, and the box-tree e together : That they may see, and know, And consider, and understand together, That the hand of the Lord hath done tins, And the Holy One of Israel hath created it. 1 Produce your cause d saith the Lord ; marg. ' v. 21. Produce your cause. Heb. Cause to come near. them; and choice ministers of the word, from whose doctrine they were to derive de- fence from evil, spiritual nourishment, and consolation. The design of God in giving us these promises, is, that we may be thereby ex- cited to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in his fear: much more ought the actual enjoy- ment of the benefits contained in them to promote these salutary purposes. All the mercies we receive are intended to improve our spiritual state, particularly these now mentioned ; and good were it for us that we had not enjoyed them, if we are not thereby made holier, and wiser, and better. — Mac- culloch. I will plant in tfie wilderness the cedar. — The two preceding verses express God's mercy to them, in their passage through the dry deserts, in supplying them with abun- dant water when distressed with thirst, in allusion to the Exodus : this verse expresses the relief afforded to them, fainting with heat in their journey through that hot country, destitute of shelter, by causing shady trees, and those of the tallest and most beautiful kinds, to spring up in their defence. — Lowth. The shittali-tree. — This is the Hebrew name without change, HEttf. The Vulgate is, spinam. The Lxx render it irv^ov, the box. Lowth renders it, the acacia. Pro- bably the acacia, or the spina iEgyptiaca, the Egyptian thorn of the ancients, is intended by it. It is a large tree, growing abundantly in Egypt and Arabia, and is the tree from which the gum-arabic is obtained. It is covered with large black thorns ; and the wood is hard, and, when old, resembles ebony. The shittah-tree is called shittim-wood, Ex. xxv. 5.10,13. and elsewhere. a The oil-tree — Hebrew, tree of oil, i.e. BOOK II. PART I. producing oil. Doubtless the olive is in- tended, from the fruit of which oil was ob- tained in abundance. This was a common tree in Palestine, and was one of the most valued that grew. b The ])ine. — "17711"), occurs only here and in Is. lx. 13. Its meaning is very uncertain ; and the translations fluctuate between the plane, beech, pine, cypress, larch, and elm. The last has the support of Aquila, Symma- chus, and Jerome. — Pict. Bible. The Lxx render it \evicnv, the white poplar. Gesenius supposes that a species of hard oak, holm, or ilex, is intended. Bishop Stock translates it the ash, rather than the pine, on account of the elasticity of the ash ; ~l77"Tn, from "177T to bound like a deer ; the English name of which animal may be traced to this word. c Box-tree. — This word also, "nt^KD, occurs only here and in Is. lx. 13 ; and it is not very clear what tree is intended. Translations are divided between cedar, fir, poplar, box- tree, &c. The last, which is that of our Translation, is, perhaps, the best supported alternative. — Pict. Bible. Gesenius sup- poses that by this word is denoted some tall tree, a species of cedar, growing on Mount Lebanon, which was distinguished by the smallness of its cones, and the upward direc- tion of its branches. With us the word box denotes a shrub used for bordering flower- beds ; but the word here denotes a tree, such as was sufficient to constitute a shade. d Produce your cause. — The false gods are called upon to come forth and appear in person ; and to give evident demonstration of their foreknowledge and power, by fore- telling future events, and exerting their power in doing good or evil. — Lowth. This address is made to the same persons who are referred to in ver. 1, the worshippers PARALLEL HISTORIES OK JUDAII AND ISRAEL. 33 sect. v. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. Bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. 22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen : Let them shew the former things, what they be, That we may consider them ', and know the latter end of them Or declare us things for to come. 23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that ye are gods a : That we may be dismayed, and behold it together. 24 Behold, ye are of nothing2, And your work 3of nought b: mars. ' v. 22. consider them. Heb. set our heart upon them. 2 v. 24. of nothing, or, worse than nothing. 3 of nought, or, worse than of a viper. of idols ; and the prophet here returns to the subject, with reference to a further ar- gument on the comparative power of Je- hovah and idols. In the former part of the chapter, God had urged his claim to confi- dence from the fact that he had raised up Cyrus ; that the idols were weak and feeble compared with him ; and from the fact, that it was his fixed purpose to defend and preserve his people, and to meet and re- fresh them when faint and weary. In the verses which follow the 21st, he urges his claims to confidence from the fact that he only was able to predict future events, and calls on the worshippers of idols to shew their claims in the same manner. This is the cause, which is now to be tried. Bring forth your strong reasons — Adduce the arguments which you deem to be of the greatest strength and power. Comp. ver. 1. The object is, to call on them to adduce the most convincing demonstration, on which they relied, of their power and their ability to save. The argument to which God appeals, is, that he had foretold future events. He calls on them to shew that they had given, or could give, equal demonstrations of their divinity. Lowth regards this as a call on the idol-gods to come forth in person, and shew their strength. But the interpretation which supposes that it refers to their reasons or their arguments, accords better with the parallelism, and with the connection. — Barnes. a Shew the things that are to come here- after, that ice may know that ye are gods. BOOK II. PART I. — God only can certainly foreknow future events, especially such as depend upon con- tingent causes, and the determinations of men's free-will. But this does not hinder but that some of the predictions of the hea- then idols or oracles might be true, or else they would hardly have been able to have kept up their credit. But the event an- swered their predictions in such cases chiefly where prudent conjecture might go a great way. Such might be the prediction of Saul's death by the evil spirit at Endor : 1 Samuel xxviii. 19. Evil spirits being very quick and active, may likewise foretell in one place what they see in another. This account Athanasius gives of the oracle which foretold the overflowing of the Nile ; which he sup- poses the evil spirit might do, by having some time before seen the rains which fell in Ethiopia, and caused that inundation. See Athanas. Life of Anthony the Hermit, p. 456. torn. II. edit. Commel. But there is no com- parison between such predictions and the prophecies recorded in Scripture, where there is a series of remarkable events foretold, reaching from the beginning of the world to the end of it, together with a punctual pre- diction of names and other circumstances several ages before the event : see Isaiah xlvi. 10. — Preb. Lowth. b And your ivork of nought — The word used here in the Hebrew text, J/SK, oc- curs in no other place. Gesenius sup- poses that this is a corrupt reading for VBH, nothing, and so our Translators have re- garded it; and in this opinion most expo- 34 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUD/VH AND ISRAEL. Situaf). SECT.IV. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. An abomination is he that chooseth you. 25 I have raised up one from the north8, and he shall come From the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name : sitors agree. See Rosenmiiller, and Lowth in loco. The Jewish Rabbins suppose, gene- rally, that it is the same word as TO/SN, a viper, according to the reading in the mar- gin. But this interpretation Barnes thinks contrary to the connexion, as well as the ancient versions. The Vulgate and Chaldee render it, of nought. The Syriac renders it, Your works are of the sword. This is, probably, one of the few instances in which there has been a corruption of the Hebrew text. Compare Is. xl. 17. xli. 12, 19. The text in the Hebrew is as follows : Of which the following is Bishop Stock's version : Behold, ye are less than nothing, And your work less than a breath : An abomination is he that liketh you. Bishop Lowth thus renders it : But, behold, ye are less than nothing ; And your operation is less than nought : Abhorred be the man that chooseth you ! Jenour's translation is: Behold, ye are nothing, and your work less than nothing ; He that chooseth you is an abomination. The following is Barnes's new translation : Behold ye are less than nothing, And your work less than nought ; An abomination is he that chooseth you. An abomination, says Gill, is he that chooseth you as the object of his worship : he is such to God, and to all men of sense and reli- gion ; for the choice he makes of an idol to be his God, shews him to be a man void of common sense and reason, and destitute of all true religion and godliness. The Tar- gum is — An abomination is that which ye have chosen for yourselves, or in which ye delight, meaning their idols. This is the final issue of the controversy, and the judg- ment passed both upon the idols and their worshippers. a / have raised up one from the north. — HOOK II. PART I. God, by the prophet, had in the previous verses shewn that the idols had no power of predicting future events. He stakes, so to speak, the question of his divinity on that point ; and the whole controversy between him and them is to be decided by the inquiry, whether they had the power of foretelling what would come to pass. God here urges his claims to divinity ; and to the confidence of his people on this ground, that he had power to foretell future events. In illustra- tion of this, he appeals to the fact, that he had raised up, i.e. would afterwards raise up Cyrus, in accordance with his prediction, and in such a way that it would be distinctly seen that he had this power of foretelling future events. To see the force of this argument, it must be remembered that the Jews are contemplated as in Babylon, and near the close of their captivity ; that God had by the Prophets, and especially by Isaiah, distinctly foretold the fact, that he would raise up Cyrus to be their deliverer ; that these predictions were uttered at least a hundred and fifty years before the time of their fulfil- ment ; and that they would then have abun- dant evidence that they were accomplished. To these recorded predictions, and to their fulfilment, God here appeals ; and designs, that in that future time when they should be in exile, his people should have evidence that he was worthy of their entire confidence, and that even the heathen should see from these fulfilments of prophecy that Jehovah was the true God, and that the idols were no- thing. The personage referred to here is undoubtedly Cyrus : see ver. 2. Compare ch. xlv. 1 . From the north. — In ver. 2, he is said to have been raised from the east. Both were true. Cyrus was born in Persia, in the country called in the Scriptures the East ; but he early went to Media ; and came from Media under the direction of his uncle, Cy- axares, when he attacked and subdued Baby- lon. Media was situated on the north, and north-east of Babylon. From the rising of the sun — The east, the land of the birth of Cyrus. Shall he call upon my name. — This expression means, probably, that he should PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 35 Sutrafj. sect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. And he shall come upon princes as upon morter, And as the potter treadeth clay. 26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? And beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous8? Yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, Yea, there is none that heareth your words. 27 The first shall say to Zion b, Behold, behold them : And I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. 28 For I beheld, and there was no man ; Even among: them, and there was no counsellor, acknowledge Jehovah to be the true God, and recognise him as the source of all his success. This Cyrus did, in his proclamation respecting the restoration of the Jews to their own land. Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, Jehovah God of heaven hath given me all tlie kingdoms of the earth, &c. : Ezra i. 2. There is no decided evidence that Cyrus regarded himself as a worshipper of Jehovah, or that he was a pious man ; but he was brought to make a public recognition of Jehovah as the true God, and to feel that he owed the success of his arms to him. — Barnes. a He is righteous. — The words he is are not in the Hebrew. The original is simply righteous, p^lX, just, i.e. It is just and true. The prediction is fulfilled. It does not refer to the character of God, but to the certainty of the fulfilment of the prediction. b The first shall say to Zion, &c— This translation, says Barnes, is unhappy. It does not convey any clear meaning ; nor is it possible, from the translation, to conjecture what the word first refers to. The correct rendering is — I first said to Zion, Behold, behold them ! And I gave to Jerusalem the messenger of good tidings. I, Jehovah, predicted the restoration of the Jews to their own land, and the raising up of the man who should deliver them ; and I only have uttered the predictions respecting the time and circumstances in which these events would occur. The words are, can nan )vxb ywtn The Lxx render it, I will first give notice to Zion, and I will comfort Jerusalem in the BOOK II. PART I. way. The Chaldee renders it, The words of consolation which the Prophets have ut- tered respecting Zion in the beginning, lo they are about to come to pass. The sense of the passage is, that no one of the idol gods or their prophets had predicted these events. The first intimation of them had been by Jehovah ; and this had been made to Zion, and designed for its consolation. Some interpret, one that bringeth good tidings of Isaiah; others, of Cyrus ; others, of Christ ; and others, of John the Baptist. I suppose, says Gill, the singular is put for the plural ; and may be understood of Gospel teachers, whom the Lord gave to his Church and people, and by means of whom he spread his Gospel, not only in Judaea, but in the Gentile world, to the overthrow of paganism. The doctrine of the whole chapter, says Barnes, is, that confidence should be reposed in God alone : he is the friend of his people, and he is able to protect them. He will deliver them from the hand of all their enemies ; and he will be always their God, protector, and guide. The idols of the heathen are nothing. They have no power; and it is folly, as well as sin, to trust in them, or to suppose that they can aid their friends. It may be added, also, that it is equally vain to trust in any Being for salvation but God. He only is able to protect and defend us : and it is a source of unspeakable consolation now, as it was in times past, that he is the friend of his people ; that he never forgets his promises to them ; and that, in times of deepest darkness and distress, he can raise up deliverers, as he did Cyrus ; and will, in his own way and time, rescue his people from all their calamities. d 2 36 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3htiaf). sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xli. That, when I asked of them, could answer ' a word. 29 Behold, they are all vanity ; Their works are nothing : Their molten images are wind and confusion. The office of Christ, graced with meekness and constancy. God's promise unto him. An exhortation to praise God for his gospel. He reproveth the people of incredulity. Isaiah xlii. 1 Behold my servant a, whom I uphold ; Mine elect, in ivhom my soul delighteth ; marg. ' v. 28. answer. Heb. return. a Behold my servant. — In this chapter the prophet proceeds to the greater deliverance ; and at once brings forth into full view, without throwing any veil of allegory over the subject, the Messiah. Behold my servant, Messiah ! says the Chaldee. St. Matthew has applied it directly to Christ, xii. 18—21 ; nor can it with any justice or propriety be ap- plied to any other person or character what- ever.— Lowth. Christ is often called God's servant, by Isaiah : see chap. xlix. 3, 5. l. 10. lii. 13. liii. 11; as he is also by Zechariah, as being sanctified and sent into the world upon a message of the highest importance that ever any person was employed about : and this title agrees very well with those many declarations our Saviour made of his cowing into the world to do tlie will of his Father that sent him : see John iv. 34. vi. 38. xiv. 31 : and it is perhaps in this respect that St. Paul saith, Christ took upon him the form of a servant, Philip, ii. 7. God is said to uphold him here, and to hold his hand, ver. 6, because his person was under the particular care and protection of provi- dence : see John viii. 29. xvi. 32 ; and, as the evangelist observes, none of the designs of his enemies against his life could take effect, till his hour was come : John vii. 30. viii. 20. — Preb. Lowth. And he would convert them, not by violent means, but by the power of gentleness and love. His success in this marvellous undertaking is set forth. And the ground of his succeeding is declared to be no less than the appointment, the purpose, and the covenant, of the God of heaven and earth ; who resolves, and proclaims long be- fore, that the Gentiles shall not always be HOOK II. part i. in darkness, that his glory shall not be given perpetually to others, but that a new and better order of things shall be established in the world. Hereupon the most remote inhabi- tants of the earth are called on to sing unto the Lord a new song, and to declare his praise from beyond the mountains and the seas. And the benefits for which they must glorify his name are stated by God ; namely, his going forth with power to overthrow idolatry ; his abolishing that worship of rival gods which he had long put up with, see Acts xvii. 30 ; his renovating the spiritual condition of mankind ; his giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf; and his not forsaking those whom he thus enlightened and re- newed. But upon this enlightening of the Gentiles, the Jews, who had been chosen and trained and commissioned to be mes- sengers of the truth unto their brethren, would prove more blind than they. Though the Gospel would in reality greatly glorify the Lord, the Jews, out of a mistaken and perverse zeal for their own dispensation, would reject their Messiah: and in conse- quence, they would be given up by God to the various calamities here mentioned, and which, as all the world well knows, they have now for many centuries been enduring. God forbid, then, that we should ever risk the guilt of rejecting our Saviour, or cruci- fying our King ! God grant, that as we have been so far enlightened as to be ashamed of images and of false gods, we may have the grace to glorify his name, by never being ashamed of him or of his truth, never de- terred by shame from doing that which is pleasing in his sight ! — Girdlestone. There have been no less than four other PARALLEL HISTORIES OE JUDAII AND ISRAEL. 37 Sutra!). .iv. HEZEKIAH-ISth year. B.C. 712. Propuets-ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. I have put my spirit upon him : different views with regard to the personage here referred to. The Septuagint Version, Jarchi, Eckermann, Rosenmiiller, Paulus, and some others, refer it to the Jewish na- tion. A second opinion has been, that by the servant of Jehovah, Cyrus is intended. Many Jewish interpreters have adopted this view ; and not a few German critics, as Koppe, Hezel, Hensler, &c. Others suppose that the prophet refers to himself. Among the Jews, Aben Ezra, and among others Gro- tius, Dathe, and Doederlin, held this opinion. A fourth opinion has been advocated by Gesenius, that the phrase here refers to the Prophets taken collectively. The chapter is, as I apprehend, says Barnes, occupied mainly or entirely with a description of the character and work of the Messiah. The evidence of this opinion will be adduced in the Notes on the chapter itself. The design for which the Messiah is introduced, is, to convince the Jews that they would be re- stored to their own land ; that God was their protector ; and that it was his purpose that the long-promised Prince and Saviour should yet arise from their restored and re- covered nation. Of course, if this was to occur, their national existence would be preserved. There is therefore, in the chapter, a reference to their return to their own land, though the main scope relates to the Mes- siah. The chapter may be regarded as di- vided into two portions. In the first, from ver. 1. to ver. 9, the prophet describes the Messiah. Jehovah is introduced as speak- ing ; and in verr. 1 — 4, he describes his character. He is the servant of Jehovah, endowed with the fulness of the Divine Spirit : he is meek, and lowly, and gentle, and kind : he is unobtrusive, and noiseless in his movements, and yet securing the con- quest of truth. Jehovah then, verr. 5 — 7, addresses the Messiah himself directly, and states the object for which he had appointed him — to be a light to the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, and to be the pledge of the covenant between him and his people, and, in general, to accomplish the work of Redemption. In verr. 8, 9, Jehovah turns to the people for whom the prophecy was given, and awakens their attention to the subject ; BOOK II. PART I. reminds them of the predictions which had been made ; and says that the fulfilment of this prophecy, like all former predictions, would demonstrate his superiority over idols, and shew that he was the true God. The second part of the chapter, verr. 10—25, consists mainly of a call on the world, and especially on the exile Jews, to rejoice in view of the truth here announced ; and a statement of the consequences which will follow from this great and glorious event. This general call contains the following portions or parts : — I. In the exordium, verr. 10, 12, Jehovah calls on the inhabitants of all the earth to praise and glorify his name ; and makes his appeal to those who are upon the sea, the inhabitants of the isles, the wil- derness and solitary places, the villages, and the inhabitants of the rock, as all interested in it, and all having occasion to rejoice on account of this glorious event. II. In verr. 13 — 17, Jehovah speaks particularly of the deliverance of his people, and of the cer- tainty of its being accomplished. He had long restrained himself ; he had long held his peace ; he had long delayed to interpose ; but now he would come forth in his strength, and annihilate his foes, and redeem his peo- ple, and make darkness light before them ; while all the worshippers of idols should be left without defence or aid. III. The people of Israel are next addressed directly, and their character and duty set forth, verr. 18—25. They are addressed as a people blind and deaf; and are admonished to raise themselves, and to strive to attain to true knowledge. Notwithstanding all that God had done for them, and all his gracious inter- positions, they had hardened their hearts, and shut their eyes, and had steeled themselves against every good impression. For this, God had punished them. He had given them as a spoil to their enemies, and a prey to plunderers ; and had poured upon them the fury of his anger, and overwhelmed them in grievous and long-continued calamities. They were now called on to hear, and attend to his instructions and promises, and hence- forward be an obedient people. See Heng- stenberg'sChristologie, Ersten Theiles zweite Abtheilung, pp. 234—243. 38 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3httfa|). 7. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. He shall bring forth judgment11 to the Gentiles, He shall not cry, nor lift up, Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, And the smoking' flax shall he not 2 quench": He shall bring forth judgment unto truth0. He shall not fail nor be 3 discouraged d, or dimly burning. Hcb. broken. marg. ' v. 3. 3 v.4. a He shall bring forth judgment. — The word JDStfTD, judgment, like righteousness, is taken in a great latitude of signification. It means rule, form, order, model, plan ; rule of right or of religion ; an ordinance, institution, judicial process, cause, trial, sen- tence, condemnation, acquittal, deliverance, mercy, &c. It certainly means, in this place, the law to be published by Messiah; the institution of the Gospel. — Lowth. b Smoking flax shall he not quench. — This beautiful allusion is explained by the fact, that the Hebrews used tlax for the wicks to their lamps. Flax was cultivated to a con- siderable extent in Palestine. Garments made of it were worn not only by the priests and Levites, but very largely by the people. The coarser linen cloths were manufactured at home by the women, but the finer linens were imported from Egypt. — Pict. Palestine, p. ccxxxi. The word rendered smoking, nHD, means that which is weak, small, thin, feeble, than that which is just ready to go out or to be extinguished ; and the phrase refers literally to the expiring wick of a lamp when the oil is almost consumed, and when it shines with a feeble and dying" lustre. It may denote here a state of humble and feeble piety. God will supply it with grace, as with oil to cherish the dying flame. The whole passage is de- scriptive of the Redeemer, who is gentle and tender and kind, and who will not sutler true religion in the soul ever to become wholly extinct. It may be like the dying- flame which hangs on the point of the wick ; but if there be true religion, it will not be extinguished, but will be re-kindled to a pure and glowing flame, and it will yet rise high and burn brightly. — Barnes. 0 He shall bring forth judgment unto BOOK II. PART I. 2 quench. Heb. quench it. truth. — These words, DSttfD K^V rot1?, Bp. Stock translates, A rule of right to the nations shall he publish : and he says that ID2t£72 here denotes an institution or settled plan of conduct, like the law of Jesus Christ, of which this whole chapter is an evident prediction : see Matt. xii. 18. In Matt. xii. 20, it is rendered, unto victory. The mean- ing of Isaiah is, that he shall establish his religion according to truth. He shall faith- fully announce the true precepts of religion, and shall secure their ascendency among men. He shall bring it forth, or conduct it through the world, until the power of truth shall be felt and recognised everywhere. It shall overcome all falsehood and all idolatry, and shall obtain a final triumph in all na- tions. Thus explained, says Barnes, it is clear that St. Matthew has retained the ge- neral idea of the passage, though he has not quoted it literally. d He shall not fail nor be discouraged — •pT KVl 7177^ KV. He shall not slacken ; he shall not founder. — Bp. Stock. There may be an allusion in the Hebrew word TITID^ to that which is applied to the flax 71713 ; and the idea may be, that he shall not become in his purposes like the smoking, flickering, dying flame of a lamp : there shall be no indication that his purposes are about to fail, or that there is any want of deter- mination and resolution and firmness in their execution. Such also should be the fixed and determined purposes of his people. Their zeal should never lail ; their ardour should never grow languid. The word pT is ren- dered in the margin, broken. The Hebrew word may be derived from pj"l To break, To break in pieces ; or from "pi To run, To move hastily, To rush upon any one. Our Translators have adopted the former. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 39 mv. HEZEKIAII— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xlii. Till he have set judgment in the earth: And the isles shall wait for his law a. Thus saith God the LoRDb, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out ; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it ; He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, And spirit to them that walk therein : I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, And will hold thine hand, And will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people c, Gesenius also supposes that this is the true interpretation of the word, and that it means that he would not be broken, i. e. checked in his zeal, or discouraged by any opposition. The latter interpretation is preferred by Vitringa, Rosenmuller, Hengstenberg, and others. The Chaldee renders it, And shall not labour ; that is, shall not be fatigued or discouraged. The Lxx render it, He shall shine out, and not be broken. The connection, says Barnes, seems to require the sense which our Trans- lators have given it ; and according to this, the sense is, He shall persevere amidst all opposition and embarrassment, until he shall accomplish his purpose. We have a similar phraseology when we speak of a man's being broken in heart — heart-broken and discou- raged. Jesus Christ would be resolute and firm, until he would secure the universal prevalence of the truth and of pure religion. a The isles shall wait for his laiv — Distant nations. The expression is equivalent to saying, according to Barnes, that the Gentiles shall be desirous of receiving the religion of the Messiah, and shall wait for it. Shall wait — They shall expect, or desire, or wish for his law. They shall be in a position that shall demand it ; they shall be dissatisfied with their own religion, and see that their idol gods are unable to aid them ; and they shall be in a posture of waiting for some new religion that shall meet their wants, and the religion of the Messiah shall be thus adapted to their condition. It cannot mean that they shall wait for it, or expect it, in the sense of their already having a know- ledge of it, but that their sad and desolate and lost condition, their being sensible that their own religion cannot save them, may be represented as a condition of waiting for BOOK II. PART I. some better system. It has been true, as in the Sandwich Islands, and in the South-Sea Islands, that the heathen have been so dis- satisfied with their own idol worship, as to cast away the idols, and to be without any religion ; and thus to be in a waiting posture for some new and better system. And it may be true yet, that the heathen will become extensively dissatisfied with their idolatry ; that the hold of false religions shall be loosened ; that they shall be convinced that some better system is necessary ; and that they may thus be prepared to welcome the Gospel, when it shall be proposed to them. It may be that in this manner God intends to overcome and remove the now apparently insuperable obstacles to the spread of the Gospel in the heathen world. The Lxx render this, And in his name shall the Gen- tiles trust ; which form has been retained by Matthew, ch. xii. 21. His lain — His com- mands, the institutions of his religion. The word law is often used in the Scriptures to denote the whole of religion. b Thus saith God the Lord. — This verse commences a new form of discourse. It is still Jehovah who speaks ; but in the pre- vious verses he had spoken of the Messiah in the third person : here he is introduced as speaking to him directly. c A covenant of the people. — This, says Barnes, is evidently an abbreviated form of expression ; and the meaning is, I will give or appoint thee as the medium, or means, by which a covenant shall be made with this people ; or a mediator of the new covenant which God is about to establish with men. See ch. xlix. 8. The new covenant should be ratified through him. A similar expres- sion occurs in Micah v. 5 ; where it is said of 40 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3htfcai). ect.iv. HEZEKIAII— 15th year. B.C. 712, Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. For a light of the Gentiles s; 7 To open the blind eyes, To bring out the prisoners from the prison, And them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. the Messiah, And this man shall be in peace ; that is, he shall be the source of peace, or the means of procuring peace ; peace shall be established and maintained by him. So in Eph. ii. 14, it is said of him, And he is our peace. Of the people. — It has been doubted whether this means the Jewish people, or the Gentiles. Grotius, Hengstenberg, Vi- tringa, and others, understand it of the Jews ; Rosenmuller and others, of the Gentiles. It is not easy to determine which is the correct interpretation. But the meaning, as I appre- hend, is not that he should confirm the an- cient covenant with the descendants of Abra- ham, as Hengstenberg and Vitringa suppose, but that his covenant should be established with all, with both Jews and Gentiles. Ac- cording to this, it will refer to the Jews, not as the Jews, or as already interested in the covenant, but as constituting' one portion of the world ; and the whole expression will mean, that his religion will be extended to Jews and Gentiles, i.e. to the whole world. See Hengstenberg's Christ. Ersten Theiles zweite Abtheilung, pp. 253 — 256. a A light of the Gentiles — D^IJ "TIN. Isa. xlix. 6. The chief qualities of light are four, brightness, utility, pleasantness, and purity ; whence there are, with reference to this word, four sources of metaphorical application. The first respects doctrine or teaching, especially heavenly : Prov. vi. 23. Ps. cxix. 105 : com- pare 2 Pet. i. 19. And in this view the Apo- stles were called the light of the world, Matt. v. 14 : compare Luke viii. 16. Isa. v. 20. also Ps. xliii. 3 : compare John xvii. 1 7. Secondly, any benefits and blessings, Is. lviii. 8. lix. 9. Ps. xcvii. 11. Thirdly, joy and gladness, Prov. xiii. 9 ; grace and favour, Ps. iv. 7. Prov. xvi. 15. Fourthly, holiness. God is said to be light, 1 John i. 5 ; and the godly are so in their measure, Eph. v. S. From this we see how Christ is tlie light of the Gentiles by his heavenly teaching, Is. ix. 1,2. Comp. Matt. iv. 14—16; the abundance and richness of the blessings which he has pro- cured for us by his mediation in our behalf; the spiritual joy with which he fills the BOOK II. PART I. hearts of those that believe by his Holy Spi- rit ; the grace which he communicates, and the holiness which he produces. The whole work of Christ, in one word, and the fulness of his blessings, are comprised in this word. Glassii, 'ONOMATOAOriA Messiae Prophe- tica, pp. 443, 444. This verse, and two other passages in the prophecy of Isaiah, are supposed by many commentators to be alluded to in the Song of Simeon : : ma -vaA w mnV a>? e£? airoKa\v^tv eflvcov, Kai §o£av Aaov crvv 'i(rparjX. Luke ii. 32. A light for the unveiling of the Gentiles, And the glory of thy people Israel. Bishop Jebb. I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles ; To be my salvation — a-cor^piav, Sept. also Luke ii. 30 — to the end of the earth ; Saying to the bounden, Go forth ; And to those that are in darkness, Be un- veiled, avaKa\v(p6tji>at. Sept. Is. xlix. 6. 9. A third passage has been adduced by Grotius : And I will give in Sion salvation ; To Israel I will give my glory. Is. xlvi. 13. That these three passages, says Bishop Jebb, were present to the mind of Simeon while uttering his hymn, I have no hesitation in believing. Where the Virgin ends in her prophetic hymn, Zacharias begins ; and where Zacharias ends, Simeon begins. These three favoured individuals all spake as the Spirit gave them utterance : and matters have been so ordered, that each subsequent, advances upon each preceding speaker, not only in the dignity, but in the chronological order of their respective subjects. The Virgin gives vent to her immediate feelings ; and her sub- ject closes with the birth of the Messiah. Zacharias opens a prospective though limited field of vision : he begins with the gracious ARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 10 Shtfcaf). .i\. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xlii. I am the Lord": that is my name: And my glory will I not give to another, Neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, And new tilings do I declare : Before they spring forth b I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new songc, visitation of Messiah's birth, and ends with the guidance of the Jewish people into the way of peace. But Simeon altogether passes by the first gathering of Jewish converts : he commences with the removal of the veil, cnro- KaAvijfiv edvu>v. Conf. 2 Cor. iii. 18. iv. 6, from the understanding and affections of the Gentiles ; and concludes with that final mani- festation of divine glory, when all the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in, and all Israel shall be saved. — Bishop Jebb's Sacred Literature, sect. xxii. pp. 419—421. a I am the Lord, &c. — I am Jehovah. Here is also a change in the address. In the previous verses, God had addressed the Messiah. Here he turns to the people, and assures them that he is the only true God, and that he claims homage as the only true God ; and that he will not surfer the praise that is due to him to be given to any other, or to any graven image. The name Jehovah signifies Being, or essential exis- tence. It is a name which is given to none but the true God; and which is every- where in the Scriptures appropriated to him alone, and used to distinguish him from all others. That is my name — That is my ap- propriate name which I have chosen to distin- guish myself from all idols, and which I regard as appropriately expressive of my existence and perfections. Thus it is used in Ps. lxxxiii. 18. Comp. Ps. xcvi. And my (/lory — The glory, honour, or praise that is due to me — Will I not give — I will not allow to be ascribed to another. I will not allow another to assume or receive the honour which is due to me. To another — To any other, whether it be man, or whe- ther it be an idol. God claims that all appropriate honours should be rendered to him ; and that men should cherish no opi- nions, maintain no doctrines, indulge in no feelings which would be derogatory to the honour of his name. He claims that he BOOK II. PART I. should be acknowledged as the only true God, to be recognised in all his agency, and his appropriate works. This declaration is designed to counteract the propensity every- where manifest to attribute to man that which belongs to God ; or to ascribe to our own wisdom, skill, or power, that which he alone can accomplish. Neither my praise — The praise which is due to me. He would not permit graven images to receive the praise of having done that which he himself had accomplished. He had a right to the homage and adoration of all men. — Barnes. b Before they spring forth — Before they occur. But there is here, says Barnes, a beautiful image. The metaphor is taken from plants and flowers ; the word 71722 pro- perly referring to the sprouting or springing up of plants, or to their sending out shoots, buds, or flowers. The phrase literally means, Before they begin to germinate ; i. e. before there are any indications of life, or growth in the plant. And the sense is, that God predicted the future events before there were any indications that they should occur — before there was any thing by which it might be inferred that such occurrences would take place. It was not done by mere sagacity ; — as men, like Burke and Canning, may some- times predict future events with great pro- bability by marking certain indications or developments: see Burke on the French Revolution. God did this when there were no such indications, and when it must have been done by omniscience. In this respect, all God's predictions differ from the conjec- tures of man, and all the reasonings which are founded on mere sagacity. c Sing unto the Lord a new song. — The Lord God having manifested his name and his salvation to the islands that waited for his law, and having allowed the Gentiles to share in these inestimable benefits, they are invited to celebrate the praises of Jehovah, 42 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. r.iv. HEZEKIAH -15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. And his praise from the end of the earth, Ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein ' ; The isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities3 thereof lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar doth inhabit : Let the inhabitants of the rock b sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains c. marg. ' v. 10. all that is therein. Heb. the fulness thereof. who conferred upon them these precious blessings. This tribute of gratitude is to be conveyed by singing a new song — a song proper for renewed redeemed man to sing in the new creation of Jesus Christ, and suited to celebrate new mercies, prefigured by those conferred on Israel in former times. Prior to this period of the Church, besides the Book of Psalms and the Song of Songs, there were composed the Song which had been sung by the Israelites at the Red Sea, after their wonderful deliverance, Exod. xv. ; the Song of Moses, which a little before his death he gave to the congregation of Israel, Deut. xxxii. ; the Song of Deborah and Barak, Judges v. ; the Song of Hannah on the nativity of Sa- muel, 1 Sam. ii. ; the Song of Jonah on ac- count of his deliverance in ch. ii. of his Book ; the Song of David on the death of Saul and Jonathan, 2 Sam. i. ; the Song of Isaiah, re- presenting the unfruitfulness of the Church, Isa. v. ; the Song of Praise, Is. xii. ; the Song to excite confidence in God, Is. xxvi. ; the Song of Hezekiah after recovery, Is. xxxviii. None of these, it seems, were perfectly adapted to the occasion, or the structure and design of their composition did not altogether accord with present circumstances, and therefore the inhabitants of the earth are required to sing unto the Lord a new song ; or perhaps they are directed to recite with gratitude and gladness some of the hymns which bear this inscription, such as Ps. xxxiii. xl. xcvi. xcviii. After the prophecies of Isaiah were deli- vered, there are recorded in Scripture, besides the Lamentations of Jeremiah, written in the poetical and metrical form, the Song of Ha- bakkuk, wherein the power and righteousness of Jehovah is celebrated, chap. iii. ; the Song of Mary on saluting Elizabeth, Luke i. 46 ; the Song of Zacharias on recovering the use of his speech, Luke i. 68 ; the Song of BOOK II. PART I. Simeon expressive of gratitude on seeing the Messiah, Luke ii. 29 ; the Song of Moses and the Lamb, in Rev. xv. These, says Maccul- loch, are most if not all of the songs con- tained in the Bible, which I take this oppor- tunity of enumerating. a Let the ivilderness and the cities &c. — The most uncultivated countries, and the most rude and uncivilized people, shall confess and celebrate with thanksgiving the blessing of the knowledge of God graciously imparted to them. By the desert is meant Arabia Deserta ; by the rocky country, Arabia Pe- traea ; by the mountains, probably those celebrated ones, Paran, Horeb, Sinai, in the same country; to which also belonged Ke- dar, a clan of Arabians dwelling for the most part in tents: but there were others of them, who inhabited or frequented cities and vil- lages, as may be collected from this place of the prophet. — Lowth in loc. b Inhabitants of the rock — pVd. Accord- ing to Vitringa, Selah is meant, the capital city of the Nabatsean Arabs. See the Note on 2 Kings xiv. 7. on page 166 of the First Volume of this Work, for an account of this place. c Let them shout from the top of the mountains — Those who dwell, says Barnes, on the top of the mountains ; — they who had taken refuge there, or who had made their permanent abode there. Vitringa supposes that the mountains of Paran are meant, which are situated on the north of Mount Sinai. The idea in the verse is, that all the dwellers in Arabia should celebrate the goodness of God, and join in praising him for his mercy in giving a deliverer. They were yet to partake of the benefits of his coming, and to have oc- casion of joy at his advent. It is possible that Cowper may have had this passage in his mind in the following beautiful description PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 43 sect. iv. HEZEKIAH-15th yioau. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. 12 Let them give glory unto the Lord, And declare his praise in the islands a. 13 The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man", He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war : He shall cry, yea, roar ; He shall prevail against his enemies '. il 15 I have been still, and refrained myself : Now will I cry like a travailing woman ; I will destroy and devour at once2. I will make waste mountains and hills, And dry up all their herbs ; And I will make the rivers islands, And I will dry up the pools c. v. 13. prevail against his enemies, or behave himself mightily. v. 14. devour at once. Heb. swallow, or sup up. of the final and universal prevalence of the Gospel : — The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountains' tops From distant mountains catch the flying joy ; Till, nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls the rapturous hosannas round. Task. a Declare his praise in the islands. — Especially are we, who are the inhabitants of this highly-favoured island, called upon to give thanks to the Lord God for the in- estimable blessings we enjoy through the Gospel of Christ. — Macculloch. h The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, &c. — It comes all to one, whether we make these verses, as some do, the song itself which is to be sung by the Gentile world, or as a prophecy of what God will do to make way for the singing of that song. He will appear in his power and glory more than ever : so he did at the preaching of the Go- spel, and that divine power and energy which went along with it, and the wonderful suc- cess it had in pulling down the strong-holds of Satan. The going forth of the Gospel is thus represented Revelat. vi. 2 : Christ in it went forth conquering, and to conquer. The ministry of the Apostles is called their war- fare, and they were the soldiers of Christ. He shall stir up jealousy — shall appear more jealous than ever, for the glory of his own BOOK II. PART I. name, and against idolatry. He shall cry — in the preaching of his word — cry like a travail- ing woman ; for the Ministers of Christ preached as men in earnest, who travailed in birth again till they saw Christ formed in the souls of the people: Gal. iv. 19. He shall cry, yea, roar — in the Gospel woes, which are more terrible than the roaring of a lion, and which must be preached along with the Gospel blessings, to awaken a sleep- ing world. He shall conquer by the power of the Spirit. He shall prevail against his enemies — shall prevail to make them friends, Col. i. 21 ; and shall prevail against those who contradict and blaspheme the Gospel, to put them to silence and shame. He will destroy and devour at once all the opposition of the Powers of darkness. Satan shall fall as lightning from heaven ; and he that had the power of death shall be destroyed. Thus, when the Gospel is preached, it shall have a free course, and that which hinders the pro- gress of it shall be taken out of the way. — Henry. c I will dry up the pools — The pools on which they have been dependent for water for their flocks, herds, &c. The sense of the whole passage is, I will bring' to desolation those who worship idols, and the idols them- selves. I will produce an entire change among them, as great as if I were to spread desolation over their cultivated hills, and to 44 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. 1 6 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not : I will lead them in paths that they have not known : I will make darkness light" before them, And crooked things straight '. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. 17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, That trust in graven images, That say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. 13 Hear, ye deafb; v. 16. straight, Heb. into str (tightness. dry up all their streams. The reference, Barnes thinks, is, to the great changes which God would make in the heathen world. Every thing then should be changed. All that flourished on pagan ground ; all that was nurtured by idolatry ; all their temples, fanes, altars, shrines, should be overturned and demolished ; and in all these things great and permanent changes should be pro- duced. The time would have come when God could no longer bear with the growing abominations of the pagan nations, and when he would go forth as a conqueror, to subdue all to himself. a I will make darkness light &c. — Dark- ness, in the Scriptures, is the emblem of ignorance, sin, adversity, and calamity. Here it seems to be the emblem of adverse and opposing events — of calamities, persecutions, and trials. And the meaning is, that God would make those events which seemed to be adverse and calamitous the means of fur- thering his cause, and promoting the spirit of the true religion, and the happiness of his people. This has been eminently the case with the persecutions which the Church has endured ; and it has been true that the events which have been apparently most adverse and full of darkness have been ultimately overruled to the best interests of the true religion. Such was the case with the perse- cutions under the Roman Emperors ; and, in general, such has been the case in all the persecutions which the Church has been called to surfer. And crooked things straight — Things which seem to be adverse and op- posing— the persecutions and trials which the people of God would be called to endure. BOOK II. PART I. — Barnes. Those who by nature were blind, and those who, being under convic- tions of sin and wrath, are quite at a loss, and know not what to do, God will lead in a way they know not ; will shew them the way to life and happiness by Jesus Christ, who is the Way ; and will conduct and carry them on in that way to which before they were strangers. Thus St. Paul, in his con- version, was struck blind first ; and then God revealed his Son in him, and made the scales to fall from his eyes. Believers are weak in knowledge, and the truths of God at first seem unintelligible ; but God will make darkness light before them, and knowledge easy to them : they are weak in duty, and the commands of God seem impracticable ; but God will make crooked things straight. Those whom God brings into the right way he will guide in it. These are great things, and kind things — very great and very kind : but lest they should say they are too much to be expected from God by such an unde- serving people, he adds, These things will I do unto them, and I will not forsake them. He that begins to shew this great mercy will go on to do them good. b Hear, ye deaf. — In order to see the pa- rallelism in the original, it is given below : ygnv onyinn : mtnb ita^nn mum nbtM* "oata mm Chwm TIP TO :mrp "qio -nin 17312/n nVi mm rm~) :yaar n¥i d^tk rcpB PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 45 Su&aft. sect iv. HEZEKIAH-15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. And look, ye blind, that ye may see. 19 Who is blind, but my servant ? Or deaf, as my messenger that I sent ? Who is blind as he that is perfect, And blind as the Lord's servant ? 20 Seeing many tilings, but thou observest not ; Opening the ears, but he heareth not. 21 The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake1 It is observable, says Bishop Stock, that the Mohametans have always claimed this very title, DVttftD Moslem, that is, perfect or true believers. Rosenmuller justly remarks, that the same person is here spoken of, under the appellations of the perfect, the servant of Jehovah, the domestic sent on God's errands ; namely, the idolatrous Jew, going astray notwithstanding- the opportunity of better knowledge. The prophet had in the previous verses spoken of the blind- ness and stupidity of the Gentile world. He here turns to his own countrymen, and ad- dresses them as more blind and deaf and stupid. 'So deeply sunk were they, and such was their guilt, that it might be said that, comparatively, none were blind but they. Even the degradation of the heathen nations, under the circumstances of the case, could not be compared with theirs. Bishop Lowth renders the fourth line, And deaf as he to whom I have sent my messenger. The Lxx render it, And deaf but those that rule over them — by a slight change in the Hebrew text. The Vulgate reads it as Lowth has rendered it. The Chaldee : If the wicked are con- verted, shall they not be called my servants ? And the sinners to whom I sent my prophets ? But the sense seems to be this : The Jews were a people who were selected and pre- served by God for the purpose of keeping and extending the true religion. They might be spoken of as a messenger sent for this pur- pose ; or perhaps the word messenger here may denote, collectively, the Jewish leaders, teachers, and priests, who had been sent as the messengers of God to that people, and who were, with the people, sunk in deep de- basement and sin. A great variety of inter- pretations have been offered on the word oViZ/£D, arising from the difficulty of giving the appellation perfect to a people so corrupt BOOK II. PART I. as were the Jews in the time of Isaiah. Jerome renders it, Qui venundatus est, He that is sold. The Syriac, Who is blind as the prince. Symmachus, a>? o reXeioq : and Kimchi, in a similar manner, by D'TSn, per- fect. The word oVltf means, properly, to be whole, sound, safe; to be completed, finished, ended ; and then to be at peace or friendship with any one. And it may be applied to the Jews, to whom it undoubtedly here refers, in one of the following senses ; either, 1. iro- nically, as claiming to be perfect ; or, 2. as those who professed to be perfect ; or 3. as being favoured by God with institutions and ordinances that were perfect ; with rules and laws, and a civil and sacred constitution, which were complete — see Vitringa ; or, 4. as being in friendship with God, as Grotius and Gesenius suppose. It most probably, says Barnes, refers to the fact, that they were richly endowed by Jehovah with all that was necessary to make them perfect, and with such complete and happy institutions as were adapted to their entire welfare, such as, in comparison with other nations, were fitted to make them perfect. a Tlie Lord is well pleased for his righ- teousness sake, &c. — There is a great va- riety of translation and interpretation of this verse : ipnsj )rnV "psn mm ittri mm Vit Bishop Lowth renders it : Yet Jehovah was gracious unto him for his truth's sake ; He hath exalted his own praise, and made it glorious. Bishop Stock renders it : Jehovah was precious unto, him for his faithfulness sake ; He magnified his law, and made it glorious. 46 PARALL1X HISTORIES OF JUDAU AND ISRAEL. Stofcaf). sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets-ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. He will magnify the law, and make it1 honourable. 22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled ; v. 21. it, or, him. Jenour renders it : — Jehovah took pleasure in him because of his righteousness ; Because he magnified the law, and ho- noured it. And he says : It is impossible to make any clear connected sense of the Authorised Ver- sion in this place. We have only to supply "Q to him, after ySTT, and the meaning be- comes plain. The prophet now proceeds to shew why Jehovah had determined to cast off and punish the people he had once so highly favoured. He formerly took pleasure in them because of their righteousness ; that is to say, their comparative righteousness in the days of David, and in the former part of Solomon's reign, when, as a nation, they mag- nified the law of Jehovah and honoured it, paying at least an external regard to its pre- cepts and its requirements : but now, because of their sins, he had ceased to regard them with an eye of favour, and would give them up into the hands of their enemies. Noyes renders it : It pleased Jehovah for his goodness' sake To give him a law great and glorious ; And yet it is a robbed and plundered people, &c. The Lxx render it : The Lord God deter- mined that he should be justified, and mag- nify his praise. The Chaldee : Jehovah willed that Israel should be justified ; he magnified the doers of his law, and comforted them. The Syriac, The Lord willed, on account of his righteousness, to magnify his law, and to command it. Vitringa explains it : God has embraced the Jewish people in his love and favour, and regards them as acceptable to himself; not indeed on account of any merit of theirs, or on account of any external ad- vantages, but on account of his own truth, fidelity, and equity, that he might fulfil the promises which he had made to their fathers. This seems to express the sense of the pas- sage. According to this, it refers solely to the Jewish people ; and not, as often supposed, to the Messiah. The phrase Is BOOK. II. PART I. well pleased, means that Jehovah takes de- light in his people ; he looks upon them with a favourable regard, and with an eye of tenderness and affection. He finds pleasure in contemplating them as his people, and in regarding and trusting them as such. Barnes renders it : Jehovah was well pleased with him on account of his own righteousness ; He hath exalted his own law, and made it glorious ; — And says, that God was pleased, not for the righteousness of his people, but on account of his oidii righteousness ; that is, his own goodness, clemency, mercy, and forbearance. It is not because he sees in them any thing that should win his love or excite his favour ; for he says, ver. 22, that they are robbed and plundered, and hid, and bound in prison: but Jehovah had selected their fathers as his own people; He had made them precious promises ; He had designs of mercy towards them ; He had given them a holy law ; He had promised to be their protector and their God. On this account he was well pleased with them still; and it was on account of his own fidelity and plighted protection that he delighted in them as his people. The word righteousness, therefore, p*T2£, is used to denote God's purpose to do right ; that is, to adhere to his promises, and to maintain a character of fidelity and integrity. He would not fail or violate his own pledges to his people. Some, says Scott, explain it of the willing- ness which the Lord had always shewn to fulfil his covenant and promises to Israel, for the sake of shewing himself faithful and just, and thus to magnify and honour his word : — The Loud took delight in this people for his righteousness' sake : he hath given them an excellent law, and thereby made them honourable : Deut.iv.6-- 8. Their law, if they had kept close to it, would have been both their ornament and defence. — Lowth. But these interpretations seem foreign to PARALLIX HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAKT.. 47 Sutraf). .iv. HEZEKIAH-15th year, B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. They are all of them snared ' in holes a, And they are hid in prison-houses : marg. ' v. 22. They are all of them snared, or In snaring all the young men of them. the subject of the prophecy, which is allowed to relate to the Messiah, and the conduct of the Jews in rejecting him : nor does it ap- pear that the original can be made to bear this construction ; but the verse may be thus rendered : The Lord is well pleased because of his, the Messiah's, righteousness. He, the Messiah, will magnify and render honour- able the law. Christ brought in an ever- lasting righteousness ; believers are made the righteousness of God in him ; his name is, The Lord our Righteousness. Thus the holy law of God is established in honour and authority, both as to its precept and sanction. In him, the righteous Servant, the chosen of God, his soul delighteth : This is my be- loved Son, in whom I am well pleased : he always did those things which pleased the Father. This accords entirely with the New Testament, and with the scope of the pro- phecy. The Messiah is the grand subject of the chapter ; and seems here intended, though not expressly named. While the Jewish rulers and teachers blindly rejected and cru- cified him, as an opposer and violater of the divine law, God was well pleased on account of his righteousness, because he magnified the law by his infinitely valuable obedience unto death as well as by his holy doctrine ; so that, for the sake of his righteousness and atonement, salvation was freely preached to the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles. And when the Jews put it from them, God took pleasure, for his righteousness' sake, to mag- nify and honour his law, by inflicting on them deserved punishment. This connects the verse with those which follow, and shews the whole chapter to be a regular and con- nected prediction of the coming of Christ, and the events which followed, in the con- version of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, without any direct reference to other events. And make it honourable — Or make it glorious, by himself shewing a constant re- gard for it, and by so dealing with them that they should be brought to see and feel its importance. According to this interpreta- BOOK II. part i. tion, Barnes thinks that the passage has no reference particularly to the Messiah. It is true, however, that the language here used is such as would appropriately describe the work of the Redeemer ; and that a large part of what he said in his public ministry, and by his atonement, was to magnify the law and make it honourable ; to vindicate its ecmity ; to shew its binding obligation ; to sustain its claims ; to shew that it could not be violated with impunity ; to demonstrate that its penalty was just ; at the same time that he released men from its penalty, by giving himself a sacrifice in their stead. The whole effect of the Redeemer's work is to do honour to the law of God ; nor has any thing occurred in the history of our world that has done so much to maintain its authority and binding obligation as his death on the cross in the place of sinners. a They are all of them snared in holes. — ■ This passage has been very variously ren- dered. See Rosenmuller. Lowth renders it — All their chosen youth are taken in the toils : following in this the translation of Jerome, and rendering it as Le Clerc and Houbigant render it. The Lxx read it, And I saw, and the people were plundered and scattered, and the snare was in all their private cham- bers, and in their houses where they hid them- selves ; — meaning, evidently, that they had been taken by their invaders from the places where they had secreted themselves in their own city and country. The Chaldee renders it, All their youth were covered with confu- sion, and shut up in prison. The Syriac, All their youth are snared, and they have hid them bound in their houses. This variety of interpretation has arisen, in part, because the Hebrew, which is rendered, in our version, in holes, Olim, may be either the plural form of the word "lira chosen, selected — and thence youths, selected for their beauty or strength ; or it may be the plural form of the word Tin, a hole or cavern, with the preposition 1 prefixed. Our Translation prefers the latter ; and this is probably the 48 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. Su&afj. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year, B.C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlii. They are for a prey, and none delivereth ; For a spoil ', and none saith, Restore. ^.'5 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for the time to come 2 ? 2 A Who gave Jacob for a spoil a, And Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned ? For they would not walk in his ways, Neither were they obedient unto his law. •25 Therefore he hath poured upon him The fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: And it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not ; And it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. The Lord comforteth the Church with his promises. He appealeth to the people for witness of his omnipotency. He foretelleth them the destruction of Babylon, and his wonderful deliverance of his people. He reproveth the people as inexcusable. Isaiah xliii. 1 But now thus saith the LoRDb that created thee, O Jacob, marg. ' v. 22. a spoil. Heb. a treading. • v. 23. for the time to come ? Heb. for the after-time ? correct interpretation ; as the parallel expres- them and restored them to their own land, sion, they are hid in prison-houses, seems to As the Jews from age to age read this demand this. The literal interpretation of chapter, the Lord calls upon them to reflect the passage is, therefore, a snare, or the snare on their condition, and the cause and author in the caverns or holes ; that is, they were of it ; and to inquire who among them will snared, or secured, in the caverns, holes, or hearken for the time to come. Nor can they places of refuge where they sought security, assign any other reason for their long-con- They found no safety there, but were taken tinued miseries, except the hot displeasure by their foes and made captive ; or they were of Jehovah ; nor any so evident cause, as obliged to resort to caverns and places of their rejection of the promised Messiah. But obscure retreat for safety, and were there though he has thus poured upon them the confined, so that they did not dare to go out, fury of his anger, yet they know not, and lay as if a snare, net, or gin, had been thrown it not to heart : and their insensibility forms over the mouth of the cavern, to take them, as striking a demonstration of the truth of — Barnes. the Scripture as their desolate and unprece- a Who gave Jacob for a spoil, &c. — These dented situation. The present condition of verses evidently predict the very punishment the Jews is a warning to all such as oppose inflicted on the nation of Israel for all their the Gospel. Seeing he has poured out his sins, but especially for obstinate enmity to indignation on that once-favoured people for Christ and the Gospel. To avenge this crime, their sins, let us lay it to heart, and fear, lest, Jerusalem was given up to the Romans ; a promise being left us of entering into his and the Jews have been robbed and spoiled, rest, any of us should be found to come short imprisoned and enslaved for nearly eighteen of it. Heb. ii. 1 — 4. iv. 1, 2. xii. 22—25. — hundred years, without a deliverer ; whereas Scott. seventy years' captivity expiated the national b But now thus saith the Lord &c. — After guilt of their idolatry, and the Lord delivered the threatenings mentioned at the latter end BOOK II. PART I. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. 49 Shrtrafi. r.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xliii. And he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not : for I have redeemed thee a, of the foregoing chapter, God here revives his people with comfortable promises and assurances that he will never utterly forsake them ; but will do such miracles for their deliverance, in after-times, as shall obscure the memory of those which he wrought for them heretofore. Towards the conclusion, he renews his expostulations with them for their ingratitude and neglect of his service ; which will be justly punished with the de- struction of their Temple, and depriving them of the opportunities of public worship. Probably many of the promises, mentioned here and in the following chapters, relate to that general restoration of the Jews so often spoken of by the Prophets. — Preb. Lowth. This chapter, says Barnes, may be regarded as composed of a succession of arguments, or striking* considerations, all tending to shew them that God would be their protector, and that their deliverance would be certain. These arguments are not distinguished by any very clear marks of transition. But ?ioiv. — This expression, says Barnes, shews that this chapter is connected with the preceding. The sense is, Though God has punished the nation, and shewed them his displeasure, ch. xlii. 24, 25, yet now he will have mercy, and will deliver them. That created thee. — The word thee is here used evidently in a collective sense, as denoting the Jewish people, or the chosen people of God. It is used because the names Jacob and Israel, in the singular number, are ap- plied to the people. Jacob, or Israel, was chosen by God, in preference to Esau, as his friend : Mai. i. 2, 3. Rom. ix. 13 ; and the name is often applied to the Jews, as their peculiar appellation. The word created is here used to denote the idea, that, as the peculiar people of God, they owed their origin to him, as the universe owed its origin to his creative power. It does not mean that as a people they had been formed in the same mode in which the universe was created, nor that there was any creative energy em- ployed in forming them to be his people ; but it means, that, as a people, they were originated by him ; their institutions, their laws and customs, and privileges, and what- BOOK II. PART I. ever they had that was valuable, were all traced to him. The same word occurs in ver. 7, and again in ver. 15 : / am Jehovah, the Creator of Israel, your King. See also ch. xliv. 1. Comp. Ps. c. 3. And he that formed t/iee — That formed thee as a people, originating thy laws, and institutions, and constituting the nation as it is. Fear not. — This is to be understood as addressed to them when suffering the evils of the cap- tivity of Babylon. Though they were cap- tives, and had suffered long, yet they had nothing to fear in regard to their final ex- tinction as a people. They should be re- deemed from captivity, and restored again to the land of their fathers. The argument here is, that they were the chosen people of God ; that he had organised them as his people for great and important purposes ; and that those purposes must be accomplished. It would follow from that, that they must be redeemed from their captivity, and be restored again to their land. 3 i" have redeemed thee. — The word bx3 means properly to redeem, to ransom by means of a price or a valuable considera- tion, as of captives taken in war; or to redeem a farm that was sold, by paying back the price. It is sometimes used, however, to denote deliverance from danger or bondage, without specifying any price that was paid as a ransom. Thus the deliverance of the Jews from Egyptian bondage is sometimes spoken of as a redemption : Ex. vi. 6. xv. 13. Compare Isaiah xxix. 22. xliv. 23. xlviii. 20. Jer. xxxi. 11. It is not improbable, however, that whatever redemption is spoken of in the Scriptures, even in the most general manner, and as denoting deliverance from danger, oppression, or captivity, there is still retained the idea of a ransom, in some form — a price paid — a valuable consideration — or some- thing that was given in the place of that which ivas redeemed, and which answered the purpose of a price, or a valuable con- sideration, or a public reason of its deliver- ance. Thus in regard to the deliverance from Egypt. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, are mentioned as the ransom ; and so, in the deliverance from Babylon, Babylon was given VOL. II. E 50 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutiaf). r. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xliii. I have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters a, I will be with thee ; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, The Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour : I gave Egypt for thy ransom \ in the place of the ransomed captives, or was destroyed in order that they might be redeemed. God destroyed Babylon in order to vindicate or redeem them. So in all notions of redemption ; as, e. g. God destroyed the life of the great Redeemer, or caused him to be put to death, in order that his chosen people might be saved. — Barnes. a When thou passest through the waters. — This is a general promise ; and means, that whenever and wherever they should pass through water or fire, he would protect them. It had been true in their past history, as a people ; and the assurance is here given in order that they might be comforted in view of the calamities which they were then suf- fering in Babylon. Fire and water are often used in the Scriptures to denote calamity : the latter, because it overwhelms ; the former, because it consumes. Water, in particular, is often used to denote calamity. See Psalm lxix. 1, The waters are come in unto my soul. Ps. lxxiii. 10. cxxiv. 4, 5. So fire and water are united to express calamity. Ps. lxvi. 1 2, We went through fire and through water. — Barnes. Here God assures the Israelites, that having created them, formed them into a people, redeemed them from their enemies, called them by the name of Israel, a prince tvith God, to be his own inheritance, he would still shew them special favours, even as if, by his powerful presence with them, they should pass through seas and rivers, nay, through raging fires, without harm. Ac- cordingly, the nation being preserved through all the ravages of the Chakhean invasions, and through the Captivity, was again restored to prosperity. Even the desolations which at- tended and followed the destruction of Jeru- salem by the Romans did not consume it ; but the Jews have been kept distinct from other nations to this day, notwithstanding BOOK n. PART I. their dispersions, and the massacres and op- pressions to which they have been continually exposed. This is as marvellous an effect of Jehovah's power, as if they had passed through vehement flames unscorched, or dry shod through rivers and seas. This seems to be the prophetical meaning: as a promise, it ensures the preservation of true believers through all possible trials and temptations. — Scott. Jerome says, that the Jewish writers, by waters, would have the Egyptians understood ; by the rivers, the Babylonians ; by fire, the Macedonians ; and by the fiame, the Romans. b I gave Egypt for thy ransom. — This is commonly supposed to refer to the time of Sennacherib's invasion ; who, when he was just ready to fall upon Jerusalem, soon after his entering Judaea, was providentially di- verted from that design ; and turned his arms against the Egyptians, and their allies the Cushean Arabians, with their neighbours the Sabeans, probably joined with them under Tirhakah : see chap. xx. and xxxvii. 9. Or, as there are some reasonable objections to this opinion, perhaps it may mean more ge- nerally that God had often saved his people at the expense of other nations, whom he had, as it were in their stead, given up to destruction. Vitringa explains this of Shal- maneser's design upon the kingdom of Ju- daea, after he had destroyed that of Samaria ; from which he was diverted, by carrying the war against the Egyptians, Cusheans, and Sabeans ; but of this I think he has no clear proof in history. It is not to be wondered that many things of this kind should remain very obscure, for want of the light of history, which, in regard to these times, is extremely deficient. — Lowth. Did not Cyrus over- come these nations ? and might they not be given him for releasing the Jews? It seems PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 5] mv. HEZEKIAH_15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets-ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xliii. Ethiopia and Seba for thee. to have been so, from chap. xlv. 14. — Seeker. Rosenmiiller. This is a very important passage, in regard to the meaning of the word ransom, as well as in regard to the correct interpretation cynam "pan "nm . The word Tina, igave, is rendered by Gesenius, and by Noyes, in the future, I will give. Gesenius supposes that it refers to the fact, that the countries specified would be made desolate in order to effect the deliverance of the Jews, or that such should be the result of the deliverance. He observes, that although Cyrus did not conquer and desolate them, yet it was done by his successors. In particular, he re- fers to the fact, that Cambyses invaded and subdued Egypt, Herod. III. 15; and that he then entered into and subdued Ethiopia and Meroe : Strabo xvii. Joseph. Antiq. ii. 10, 2. But the word properly refers to the past time ; and the scope of the passage requires us to understand it of past events. For God is giving a reason why his people might expect protection ; and the reason here is, that he had been their protector and deli- verer, and that his purpose to protect them was so fixed and determined that he had even brought ruin on nations more mighty and numerous than themselves in order to effect their deliverance. The argument is, that if he had suffered Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, to be desolated and ruined instead of them, or in order to effect their deliverance, they had nothing to fear from Babylon, or any other hostile nation, but that he would effect their deliverance even at the expense of the overthrow of the most mighty king- doms. The word rendered ransom here is "1SD. It is derived from "133, whence the Latin cooperio, the Italian coprire, the French couvrir, the Norman coverer and converer, and the English cover, and means literally to cover ; to cover over ; to overlay with any thing, as pitch, as in Gen. vi. 14. Hence, to cover over sins ; to overlook ; to forgive ; — and hence, to make an expiation for sins, or to atone for transgression, so that it may be forgiven : Ps. lxv. 4. lxxviii. 38. Jer. xviii. 23. Dan. ix. 24. Ezek. xlv. 20. Lev. vi. 26. Ex. xxx. 15. Leviticus iv. 20. xvi. 6. Genesis xxxii. 20. Prov. xvi. 14. The noun 1SD BOOK II. PART I. means, I. A village or hamlet, as being a cover or shelter to the inhabitants, 1 Sam. vi. IS. Comp. the word 123 in Cant. vii. 12. 1 Chron. xxvii. 25. Neh. vi. 2. II. Pitch, as a material for overlaying, Gen. vi. 14. III. Tiie cypress-flower, the alhenna of the Arabs, so called because the powder of the leaves was used to cover over or besmear the nails, in order to produce the reddish colour which Oriental females regarded as an orna- ment. Simonis. Cant. i. 14. iv. 13. margin. IV. A ransom, a price of redemption ; or an expiation, so called because by it sins were covered over, concealed, or removed : Ex. xxix. 36. xxx. 10, 16. In such an expiation, that which was offered as the ransom was supposed to take the place of that for which the expiation was made ; and this idea is distinctly retained in the versions of this passage. Thus the Lxx, eiroirjcra a\\aj- (Tovrai, in ships : the Lxx. Who glory in their ships: the Syriac. The sense is pro- bably, that the captive Chaldseans, when their city was taken, would seek to take refuge in liUOK II. PART I. their ships, in which they would raise a shout. — RosenmUller. H31, says Jenour, is an equivocal word ; and may mean either the shout of war, the song of exultation and joy, or the cry of distress. It is not easy to say which of these significations ought to be assigned to it here. It denotes properly, says Barnes, a shout of rejoicing or joy : Psalm xlii. 5. 1 Kings xxii. 36 ; and then also a mournful cry, an outcry, wailing: Psalm xvii. 1. lxi. 2. Here it may mean the joyful cry of commerce, the shout of the sailor as he leaves the port, or the cry of the mariner as he returns to his home — the shout, the clamour, which is heard at the wharfs of a commercial city. The sense here is, that God had sent to bring down the ex- ulting city, and humble it, and destroy all the indications of its commercial importance and prosperity. Babylon was, says Bishop Lowth, very advantageously situated, both in respect to commerce and as a naval power. It was open to the Persian Gulph by the Euphrates, which was navigable by large vessels ; and being joined to the Tigris above Babylon by the canal called Nahermalca or the Royal River, supplied the city with the produce of the whole country to the north of it, as far as the Euxine and Caspian Seas : Herod. 1. 194. Semiramis was the foundress of this part also of the Babylonian greatness; she improved the navigation of the Eu- phrates : Herod. I. 184. Strabo, lib. xvi. ; and is said to have had a fleet of three thousand gallies : Huet. Hist, du Commerce, chap. xi. We are not to wonder that in later times we hear little of the commerce and naval power of Babylon : for after the taking of the city by Cyrus, the Euphrates was not only ren- dered less lit for navigation, by being on that occasion diverted from its course and left to spread over the whole country, but the Persian monarchs, residing in their own country, to prevent any invasion by sea on that part of their empire, purposely ob- structed the navigation of both the rivers by making cataracts in them — Strabo, ibid. ; PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 5? 3tafca&. sect, iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xliii. 1 5 I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King. 1 6 Thus saith the Lord, Which maketh a way in the sea, And a path in the mighty waters ; 1 7 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power ; They shall lie down together, they shall not rise : They are extinct, they are quenched as tow. I S Remember ye not the former things, Neither consider the things of old, 19 Behold, I will do a new thing ; Now it shall spring forth ; shall ye not know it ? I will even make a way in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field shall honour me a, The dragons and the owls ' : Because I give waters in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert, To give drink to my people, my chosen. 21 This people have I formed for myself; They shall shew forth my praise. 22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob ; But thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. ;:3 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle2 of thy burnt-offerings b ; a; a kg. ' v. 20. owls, or ostriches. Heb. daughters of the owl. 2 v. 23. small cattle. Heb. lambs, or kids. that is, by raising dams across the channel, that even the wild beasts, the serpents, the and making artificial falls in them, that no ostriches, and other animals that haunt those vessel of any size or force could possibly adust regions shall be sensible of the bless- come up. Alexander began to restore the ing, and shall break forth into thanksgiving navigation of the rivers, by demolishing the and praises to him, for the unusual refresh- cataracts upon the Tigris as far up as Se- ment which they receive from his so plenti- leucia, Arrian. lib. vii. ; but he did not fully watering the sandy wastes of Arabia live to finish his great designs : those upon Deserta, for the benefit of his people passing the Euphrates still continued. Ammianus, through them. — Lowth. xxiv. 1, mentions them as subsisting at his b Thou hast not brought me the small cat- time. The prophet, therefore, might very tie of thy burnt-offerings, &c. — The burnt- justly speak of the Chaldseans as glorying in offerings were those which were all burnt their naval power ; though afterwards they or offered upon the altar : they are called had no foundation for making any such boast. here the lambs. Our English Version reads a The beast of the field shall honour me. — it, the small cattle of thy burnt-offerings, a The image is elegant, and highly poetical, lamb being always offered for the daily burnt- God will give such an abundant miraculous offering : Exod. xxix. 38. The sacrifices, supply of water to his people traversing the properly so called, were those offerings, part dry desert, in their return to their country, of which belonged to the priest, or was eaten BOOK II. PART I. 58 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. Shorn!). skct.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets -ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xliii. Neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, Nor wearied thee with incense H. 24 Thou hast bought me no sweet caneb with money, Neither hast thou filled me ' with the fat of thy sacrifices : But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. 25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, And will not remember thy sins c. marg. ' v. 24. filled me. Heb. made me drunk, or abundantly moistened. by those that offered the sacrifice, after the fat had been offered upon the altar. See Lev. iii. 16. iv. 3. vii. 25, 33. God complains here that he had not been honoured in either of these ways ; the meaning of which com- plaint is, that although the Jews were punc- tual in offering sacrifices — for in Isa. i. 11, he speaks of the multitude of their sacrifices — yet they did not perform this service with a devout mind ; just as God says, Amos v. 25, Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offer- ings in the wilderness forty years ? that is, Did you do it out of a religious prin- ciple, or a sincere regard to my honour? No ; because, as it follows, you were fond of the idolatry which you brought with you out of Egypt. To the same sense are these words of Zechariah, vii. 5, Did ye at all fast unto me even to me ? or else the words of the text may relate to those idolatrous times, in the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh, when the Temple Service quite ceased, and the House of the Lord was shut up, see 2 Chronicles xxviii. 24 ; or else profaned, by having an idol set up in it. and idolatrous worship per- formed there : 2 Kings xxi. 7. — Preb. Lowth. a Incense. — The word nDllV, Greek \ij3a- vos, denotes properly frankincense, a sub- stance so called from its white colour, from p?, to be white. It is found in Arabia, Isai. lx. 6. Jerem. vi. 20 ; and in Palestine, Cant. iv. 6, 14 ; and was obtained by making incisions in the bark of trees which produced it. It was much used in worship among the Jews, as well as by other nations. It was burned, in order to produce an agree- able fragrance: Ex. xxx. 8. xxxvii. 29. Lev. xvi. 13. b Sweet cane. — The word here used, HDp, BOOK II. PART I. denotes properly cane, reed, calamus. Greek, Kavva, and Kavvrj. Latin, canna. It usually refers to a reed growing in wet or marshy ground. It denotes, also, sweet cane, calamus aromatieus. It is sometimes joined with the word Dtyi, aromatic, odor, fragrance, spice, as in Ex. xxx. 23. See also Jer. vi. 20. Ac- cording to Pliny, xii. 22, it grew in Arabia, Syria, and India ; according to Theophrastus, in the vales of Lebanon. Hist. Plant, ix. 7. It was used among the Hebrews in com- pounding the sacred perfumes : Ex. xxx. 23. It is a knotty root, of a reddish colour ; and contains a soft white pith, and in resemblance probably not unlike the calamus so well known in this country. Strabo and Diodorus Siculus say that it grew in Saba. Hassel- quist says that it is common in the deserts of the two Arabias. It is gathered near Jambo, a port town of Arabia Petrsea, from whence it is brought into Egypt. The Venetians purchase it, and use it in the composition of their Theriaca. It is much esteemed among the Arabs, on account of its fragrance. See Calmet, art. Cane ; and G esenius, Lex, and Comm. in loco. It was not, as Barnes thinks, used in the worship of God any where, ex- cept among the Hebrews : the heathens made use of incense, but not the calamus. c I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine awn sake, and will not remember thy sins. — The original is extreme- ly abrupt, Kin ^K "DDK, J, /, He. Is there, inquires Adam Clarke, any mystery in this form ? Does it refer to a plurality of Per- sons in the Godhead ? This gracious decla- ration of God's readiness to pardon, says Henry, comes in very strangely. The charge ran very high, Thou hast icearied me with PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 59 3hu}afj. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xliii. 2(> Put me in remembrance ; let us plead together : Declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. 27 Thy first father hath sinned3, thine inquities. Now, one would think it should follow, I, even I, am he that will de- stroy thee. No ; but I will forgive thee ; — as if the great God would teach us, that for- giving injuries is the best way to make our- selves easy under them, and to keep our- selves from being wearied with them. This comes in here to encourage them to repent, because there is forgiveness with God, and to shew the freeness of divine mercy. Where sin has been exceeding sinful, grace appears exceeding gracious. Apply this, 1. To the forgiveness of the sins of Israel as a people in their national capacity, when God stopped the course of threatening judgments, and saved them again and again from ruin. 2. To the forgiveness of the sins of every believing penitent. God will blot them out, as a cloud is blotted out by the beams of the sun, Isa. xliv. 22 ; or as a debt is blotted out, not to appear against the debtor ; or as a sentence is blotted out when it is reversed ; or as a curse is blotted out with the waters of jea- lousy, which made it of no eifect to the inno- cent, Numb. v. 28. He ivill not remember the. sin ; — which intimates, not only that he will remit the punishment of what is past, but it shall be no diminution to his love for the future. What God forgives, he forgets. And observe what is the ground and reason of the pardon. It is not for the sake of any thing in us, but for His own sake, for his mercies' sake, his promise sake, and especially for his Son's sake, and that he may himself be glorified in it. And see how God glories in it — /, even I, am he. He glories in it as his prerogative : none can forgive sins but God only, and He will do it : it is his settled purpose and resolution : he will do it will- ingly, and with delight : it is his plea- sure ; it is his honour ; so he is pleased to reckon it. a Thy Jirst fat/ier hath sinned. — This is the argument on the side of God, to shew that they were neither unjustly punished, nor with undue severity. Various interpretations have been given of this phrase, ]lt^K"\n "plK. A slight notice of these will lead to a correct BOOK II. PART I. exposition. 1. Many have supposed that Adam is here referred to. Thus Piscator, Calovius, and most of the Fathers, under- stand it ; and among the Jews, Kimchi : but Adam was not peculiarly the first ancestor of the Jews, but of the whole human race. 2. Others refer it to Abraham. This was the opinion of Jerome, and some others: but Abraham is everywhere set forth as an ex- ample of piety, and as one emimently devoted to God. 3. Others refer it to the rulers and princes of the people individually. Thus Grotius applies it to Manasseh ; Aben Ezra, to Jeroboam. 4. Others, as Vitringa, refer it to the high-priest, and peculiarly to Uriah, who lived in the time of Ahaz ; and particu- larly to the fact, that, in obedience to the command of Ahaz, he constructed an altar in Jerusalem like the one he had seen and admired at Damascus ; 2 Kings xvi. 10—16. This is Bishop Stock's opinion, and also Rosenmuller's : but this was only one in- stance, out of many, of the crimes which brought the national judgments upon them. 5. Others, as Gesenius, suppose that the word is to be taken collect'wely, not as refer- ring to any particular individual, but to the high-priests in general. It is not uncommon to give the name father thus to a principal man among a people, and especially to one eminent in religious character or authority. The word. Jirst, here, does not refer to time, but to rank ; not the ancestor of the people, but the one having appropriately the title of father, who had the priority also in rank. The Lxx render it, ol irarepes v/j-cov irpwroi. It means therefore, probably, says Barnes, that the character of even the presiding officers in religion, the priests, supreme in rank, and whose example was so important, was bad ; that there was irreligion at the very fountain of influence and authority ; and that therefore it was necessary and proper to bring these heavy judgments on the nation. No one acquainted with the history of the Jewish people at the times immediately pre- ceding the Captivity can doubt that this was the character of the high priesthood. 60 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. :2 s '•iv. HEZEKTAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xliii. And thy 'teachers8 have transgressed against me. Therefore I have profaned the princes2 of the sanctuary, And have given Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches b. God comforteth the Church with his promises. The vanity of idols, and folly of idol-makers. He exhorteth to praise God for his redemption and omnipotency. Isaiah xliv. I Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant0; And Israel, whom I have chosen : ,27. teachers. Heb. interpreters. v. 28. princes, or holy princes. a Thy teachers — yirbtt, marg. interpreters. The word here used is derived from 3SlV, which means, to stammer, to speak unintel- ligibly ; and then to speak in a foreign and barbarous language ; and then, to interpret, to act as an interpreter, from the idea of thinking in a foreign tongue. Hence it may be used in the sense of an inter nuncius or a messenger, 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. In Job xxxiii. 23, it is applied to an interceding angel, that is, interceding with God for men. It is probably used in some such sense here. That it refers to the priests, says Barnes, there can be no doubt ; and is properly applied to them, because they sustained the office of interceding with God for his people ; of in- terpreting his will to them ; and generally of acting as internuncii, or messengers be- tween God and them. The Lxx render it, your rulers, ap^ovreg. I have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches — Made them a proverb of execration and reproach to all the neigh- bouring nations. Comp. Jer. xxiv. 9. Dan. ix. 16. Zech. viii. 13. Psalm lxxix. 4. The words are addressed to the Jews as if they were already in captivity : see verse 14. — Preb. Lowth. This prophecy had its most signal fulfilment in the combination of the high-priest, chief-priests, scribes, and rulers, against Christ ; and in the rejected and dis- graced state of the nation, with its rulers and teachers, to this day. But as of mere mercy their national guilt was formerly pardoned, and they were brought back from Babylon, so the Lord, of the same abounding grace, will bring the nation to repentance and faith in Christ, and glorify himself in blotting out all their transgressions. — Scott. Thus far, says Barnes, God states the causes or reasons why he had punished the nation. It had been on account of the na- tional irreligion and sins — the sins of the rulers and the people ; and the destruction had come upon all, but pre-eminently on the priests and the rulers. Here, in the arbi- trary division which is made in the Bible into chapters, a very improper separation has been made, and here the chapter has been made to close. The sense of the whole passage is materially injured by this divi- sion, and the scope of the argument is for- gotten. The design of the whole argument is, to shew that God would not leave his peo- ple ; that though he punished them, yet he would not utterly destroy them ; and that he would appear again for their rescue, and re- store them to their own land. This argu- ment is prosecuted in the following chapter ; and in the commencement of that chapter the thought is pursued, that though God had thus punished them, yet he would appear and save them. The beginning of that chap- ter is properly the continuation and comple- tion of the argument urged here ; and this chapter should have closed what is now the fifth verse of chapter xliv. c Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant. — The commencement of this chapter, being a continuation of the argument at the close of the preceding chapter, the division should have been made at the close of the fifth verse of this chapter. According to Barnes, it may be divided into the following parts : I. An assurance, that though they had sinned, and had been punished, Is. xliii. 22 — 28, yet that God would have mercy upon them, and would deliver them, and restore them to his BOOK II. PART I. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 61 Sutraf). p. iv. HEZEKIAH-15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xliv. Thus saith the Lord that made thee, And formed thee from the womb, which will help thee ; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant ; And thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen a. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty b, And floods upon the dry ground : I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed0, favour, and to their land : 1 — 5. II. An argument to shew that Jehovah was the true God : 6 — 20. III. An assurance that Jehovah would redeem Israel, and deliver them from their calamities and oppressions : 21 — 28. When read in connection with what precedes, the opening- of the chapter intimates, that, notwithstanding they had sinned, and been justly punished, yet now they should hear the gracious promise which is made in regard of their deliverer. a Jesurun, whom I have chosen. — Jesurun means Israel. This name was given to that people by Moses : Deut. xxxii. 1 5. xxxiii. 5, 26. The most probable account of it seems to be that in which the Jewish Commentators agree; namely, that it is derived from "1ET, and signifies upright. In the same manner Israel, as a people, is called QbttTD perfect : ch. xlii. 19. They were taught of God, and abundantly furnished with the means of rectitude and perfection in his service and worship. — Lowth in loc. This word Jesurun )1"lt2T occurs but four times in the Bible, as a poetical name for the Children of Israel, apparently expressing affection and tenderness: Deut. xxxii. 15. xxxiii. 5, 26. and in this place. It is, says Gesenius, Commentar. in loc, a flattering ap- pellation, Schmeichelwort, for Israel, and is probably a diminutive form ~\W*=~W* the passive form in an intransitive verb, with an active signification. The ending ]\ he adds, is terminatio charitiva, a termination indi- cating affection or kindness. In his Lexicon, he observes, however, as translated by Robin- son, that it seems not improbable it was a diminutive form of the name birWF Israel, which was current in common life for the fuller form pVjntZT Israelun, a title of affection for Israel, but, like other com- mon words of this sort, contracted, and more freely inflected, so as at the same time to imply an allusion to the signification of BOOK II. PART I. right, or uprightness, contained in the root "112^. Jerome renders it rectissima, Most upright. The Lxx render it rwcnry/jievos 'lo-paijA, beloved Israel. The Syriac renders it Israel. See also the Chaldee. It is doubt- less, says Barnes, a title of affection, and pro- bably includes the notion of uprightness or integrity. Jesurun, says Parkhurst, means a true believer, one that has been set in the right way with respect to religion. b / will pour water upon him that is thirsty. — God's blessings, says Preb. Lowth, are often represented under the metaphor of rivers and streams, which water ground, and render it fruitful. And the latter part of the verse explains what blessings are here intended ; viz. the plentiful effusion of God's Spirit, which is mentioned by the Prophets as the peculiar character of the Gospel- times: see chap. liv. 13. Jer. xxxi. 34. Ezek. xi. 19. xxxvi. 27. Joel ii. 28. And the pouring out such abundant measures of grace and mercy, especially upon the igno- rant and unbelievers, is usually set forth under the metaphor of watering barren land : see chap. xxxv. 6, 7. xli. 18. xliii. 19. and the Notes upon Isaiah xxx. 25. p. 416, and xii. 3. pp. 482—484, of the First Vol. of this Work. c / will pour my Spirit upon thy seed. — These two verses teach us, I. That God will pour his blessings on the children of his people ; — a promise which in all ages, when parents are faithful, is abundantly fulfilled. II. That one of the richest blessings which can be imparted to a people is, that God's Spirit should descend on their children. No- thing can be better fitted to comfort them in calamity and trial. III. That the Spirit of God alone is the source of true happiness and prosperity to our children. All else — property, learning, accomplishment, beauty, vigour — will be vain. It is by his blessing only — by the influence of piety — that they will spring forth as among the grass, and like 02 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. t. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th tear. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xliv. And my blessing upon thine offspring : And they shall spring up as among the grass, As willows by the water-courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's8; And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; And another shall subscribe with his handb unto the Lord, willows by the streams of water. IV. Parents should seek this blessing as the richest inhe- ritance which they can have for their child- ren. Parents may leave the world in peace if they see the divine blessing, the Spirit of God, descend on their children, like waters on the thirsty land, and like torrents upon the dry ground. V. Parents should pray earnestly for a revival of religion. No better description can be given of a revival, than that given here, of the Spirit of God descend- ing like streams and floods on the children and the young ; and their springing forth in the graces of piety, as among the grass, and growing in love to God and love to men, like willows by the water-courses. Who would not pray for such a work of grace ? What family, what congregation, what peo- ple, can be happy or blessed without it? — Barnes. a One shall say, I am the Lord's — I be- long to Jehovah— I devote myself to him. This expresses, says Barnes, the true nature of a profession of religion — a feeling that we are not our own, but that we belong to God. It is, that we not only feel that we are bound to worship him, but that we actually belong to him; that our bodies and spirit, and all that we have and are, belong to him ; that our bodies and spirits, and all that we have and are, are his, and are to be sacredly employed in his service, and his service alone. See lCor.vi.20. 2Cor.viii.5. v. 14, 15. Nothing, in few words, can more appropri- ately describe the true nature of a profession of religion, than the expression here used MN TWrh,for Jeiio vah am I — I am wholly and entirely, and for ever, for Jehovah ; to serve him ; to obey him ; to do his will ; to suffer patiently all that he appoints ; to live where he directs ; to do what he requires ; to die when, where, and how he pleases ; to moulder in the grave according to his will ; to be raised up by his power, and to serve him for ever in a better world. BOOK II. PART I. b Another shall subscribe tvith his hand — Another shall write upon his hand, I belong to God : Lxx. Lowth thinks they under- stood it rightly as an allusion to the marks which were made by punctures, rendered in- delible by fire or by staining, upon the hand or some other part of the body, signifying the state or character of the person, and to whom he belonged : the slave was marked with the name of his master, the soldier of his commander, the idolater with the name or ensign of his god : and the Christians seem to have imitated this practice, by what Procopius says on this place of Isaiah, Be- cause many marked their wrists or their arms with the sign of the cross, or with the name of Christ. See Rev. xx. 4. Spencer, de Leg. Hebr. lib. ii. cap. 20. The Lxx render this, And another shall write with his hand xeiPl> I am °f (*°d. Bishop Lowth's idea, Barnes thinks too re- fined, and a departure from the true sense of the passage. The mark or writing, he says, was not on the hand, but with the hand, literally, And this shall write his hand to Jehovah TWth IT nrCT1 (TTl. And the figure is evidently taken from the mode of making a contract or bargain, where the name is subscribed to the instrument. It was a solemn contract or covenant, by which they enrolled themselves among the true wor- shippers of God, gave in their names to be recorded, and pledged themselves to his ser- vice. The manner of the contract among the Hebrews is described in Jer. xxxii. 10, 12,44. A public, solemn, and recorded co- venant, to which the names of princes, Le- vites, and priests were subscribed, and which was sealed, by which they bound themselves to the service of God, is mentioned in Neh. ix. 38. Here it denotes the solemn manner in which they would profess to be worship- pers of the true God ; and it is expressive of the true nature of a profession of religion. The name is given to God. It is enrolled PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. G3 6 \iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xliv. And surname himself by the name of Israel a. Thus saith the Lord b the King of Israel, And his redeemer the Lord of hosts ; I am the first, and I am the last ; And beside me there is no God. 7 And who, as I, shall call, And shall declare it, and set it in order for me, Since I appointed the ancient people ? And the things that are coming, and shall come, Let them shew unto them. 8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid0: by the voluntary desire of him who makes the profession. It is recorded among his friends. It is done after the manner of so- lemn compacts among men, in the presence of witnesses : Heb. xii. 1. Among Christians, it is sealed in a solemn manner by Baptism and the Lord's Supper : it has therefore all the binding force and obligation of a solemn compact ; and every professor of Religion should regard his compact with God, his covenant with him, as the most sacred of all compacts, and as having a more solemn obligation than any other. And yet how many professors are there, who would shrink back with horror from the idea of breaking a compact with men, but have no alarm at the idea of having proved unfaithful to their solemn pledge that they would belong wholly to God, and would live to him alone ! Let every professor of Religion remember, that his profession has all the force of a solemn compact ; that he has voluntarily subscribed his name, and enrolled himself among the friends of God ; and that there is no agree- ment of a more binding nature than that which unites him in public profession to the cause and the kingdom of God. — Barnes. And surname himself by the name of Israel — Shall call himself an Israelite; shall be united to the family and people of that name ; and shall be a worshipper of the same God. The word rendered shall surname, T^y, says Barnes, means, To address in a friendly and soothing manner, To speak kindly to any one. Gesenius renders it : And kindly, soothingly, names the name of Israel. Noyes renders it, And seek the protection of Israel. But the idea is pro- BOOK II. part i. bably that expressed in our Translation. The word is not often used. It is used sometimes to denote a giving of flattering titles to any one, either by way of dignity or of compli- ment : Isa. xxxii. 21, 22. In Isa. xlv. 4, it is rendered, 7" have surnamed thee, that is, Cy- rus, though thou hast not known me. The word does not occur elsewhere. b Thus saith the Lord &c. — The portion of the discourse on which we now enter, intended to convince the Jews of the vanity and absurdity of idolatry, and to lead them to repentance, commences by establishing the divinity of the God of Israel from the illus- trious operations of Divine Providence which he had clearly foretold, and which exactly corresponded to the predictions verr. 6—8. It then exhibits at great length, and with much energy, the folly and baseness of ido- latry, verr. 9—20 : after which the people who had been ensnared by superstition and idolatrous worship are invited to repentance, to which they are encouraged by the most gracious assurances, verr. 21—22. Toward the conclusion of the chapter, Cyrus, the anointed of Jehovah, is introduced as the deliverer of God's people, to avenge his in- jured glory, and to confound the wise men of Babylon, who set themselves in opposition to the servants of the true God. — Macculloch. 0 Fear ye not, neither be afraid. — The word here rendered be afraid occurs no where else in the Bible. There can be no doubt, however, in regard to its meaning. The Lxx render it /stj^e irXavaade, Neither be deceived. All the other ancient versions express the sense to fear, to be afraid. Gesenius, Lex. on the word m\ G4 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3fo&a&. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th yeah. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xliv. Have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it ? Ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me ? Yea, there is no 'Goda; I know not any. 9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity b ; And their delectable2 things shall not profit ; And they are their own witnesses; They see not, nor know ; That they may be ashamed. Jo Who hath formed a godc, Or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing ? 1 1 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed : And the workmen, they are of men : Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up ; Yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. 1 2 The smith 3 with the tongs d v. 8. God. Heb. rock. Deut. xxxii. 4. v. 12. with the tongs, or with an ax. 2 v. 9. delectable. Heb. desirable. a Yea, there is no God — marg. rock, "I12J. The word rock is often applied to God : see Isa. xxx. 29. Compare Deut. xxxii. 4, 30, 31. Ps.xix. 14. xxxi.2,3. xlii. 9,&c. The idea is taken from the fact, that a lofty rock or fastness was inaccessible by any enemy, was firm against attacks, and those who took refuge there were safe. b They that make a graven image, are all of tliem vanity, &c. inn cdVd bomi:^ lVw^ijDrrnnni iK^-Vn nnn urmyi t it^rr ]yrb urrtn They that form a graven image are all of them emptiness, And their favourite works shall not profit : Yea, they are their own witnesses, that they see not, Neither have knowledge; that they may be ashamed. Bp. Stock. They that form the graven image are all of them vanity ; And their most curious works shall not profit, Yea, their works themselves bear witness to them BOOK II. part i. That they see not, and that they under- stand not ; That every one may be ashamed that lie hath formed a God. Bp. Lowth. They who form a carved image are all of them vanity, And the things in which they delight shall not profit ; And as for their idols, they see not, They understand not, therefore shall they be confounded. Jenour. The word UH^IV, says Jenour, plainly an- swers to DnTlQn in the preceding line. Now as this signifies desirable things, from "TOn, this, I imagine, means pleasant things, from ]ltf, and may therefore be fitly rendered by our English word idol, which implies any thing very dear. ~p"!P, thy delightful things, occurs in Ps. xxxvi. 8. c Who hath formed a god. — From the tenth to the seventeenth verse a most beau- tiful strain of irony is carried on against ido- latry ; and we may naturally think that every idolater, who either read or heard it, must have been for ever ashamed of his own devices. — A. Clarke. d Tlu smith ivith the tongs &c. — The sa- cred writers are generally large and eloquent PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 65 Sutrafi. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xliv. Both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, And worketh it with the strength of his arms : Yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth : He drinketh no water, and is faint. 1 :i The carpenter stretcheth out his rule ; he marketh it out with a line ; He fitteth it with planes, And he marketh it out with the compass, And maketh it after the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man ; That it may remain in the house. 14 He heweth him down cedars, And taketh the cypress a and the oak, Which he strengtheneth ' for himself among the trees of the forest : He planteth an ashb, and the rain doth nourish it marg. l v. 14. strengtheneth, or taketh courage. upon the subject of idolatry: they treat it with great severity, and set forth the ab- surdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah, verr. 12 — 20, far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of ex- pression, and elegance of composition. — Lowth in loc. The force and beauty of this passage are considerably diminished by the manner in which it is translated in our Bibles. The prophet does not describe first the manu- facture of the idols of metal by the smith, and then of wood by the carpenter, as repre- sented in the Authorised Version ; but his object being to set the folly of idolatry in the most striking light, he traces the produc- tion of idols from the very first, and shews that they are from first to last entirely the work of men's hands. He begins therefore with the manufacture of the instruments with which the idol is formed, and describes the labour and exhaustion accompanying the work of the smith in hammering and shaping the axe. He then proceeds to speak of the second part of the operation which belongs to the worker in wood, as the carpenter, and gives a lively picture of his share in the for- mation of the image. Lastly, he shews how the wood itself is produced, which is destined at a future period to become a god ; and, to make the absurdity of the practice more glaring, he finely opposes the different uses for which the same tree is employed ; with BOOK II. PART I. part the deluded idolater dresses his food and warms himself; the remainder he forms into an object of divine worship. — Jenour. a Cypress. — The word TVT\T\ occurs here only : and it seems very uncertain what particular tree is intended ; but the Arabic root, as well as the purpose to which it was applied, would suggest that it furnished a strong and durable wood. Besides the cy- press, the holly, pine, thuja orientalis, and others, have been suggested as alternatives. — Pict. Bible. h Ash. — The word pX, which our Trans- lators have rendered ash, is by the Lxx translated tutu? or larch, which seems to be the tree intended. It is a fast growing tree, and its wood is scented like the cedar of our black-lead pencils. The rapidity of its growth would naturally recommend itself to one who wished to have an idol hewn out of the tree which he had himself planted ; while the freedom with which any kind of deal burns when kindled rendered it very proper for fuel. The larch, or pinus larix, has its delicate leaves in bundles, after the manner of the cedar of Lebanon ; the cones are of an elegant form ; while every feature has something light about it, though the tree attains a large size. It is a native of warm climates, and produces a kind of Venice-tur- pentine ; and the inner portion of the wood gives forth a gum, which so nearly resembles gum-arabic that the experienced can scarcely tell the difference. — lb. GG PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JTJDAH AND ISRARL. SECT.IV. HEZEKIAH-loTH YEAR. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xliv. 1 5 Then shall it be for a man to burn : For he will take thereof, and warm himself ; Yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread ; Yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it ; He maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. 1 6 He burnetii part thereof in the fire ; With part thereof he eateth flesh ; He roasteth roast, and is satisfied : Yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire : 17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image He falleth down a unto it, and worshippeth it, And prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me : for thou art my god. 1R They have not known nor understood: For he hath shut ' their eyes, that they cannot see b ; And their hearts, that they cannot understand. marg. ' v. 18. shut. Heb. daubed. a He falleth doion &c.' — There were four forms of adoration used among the Hebrews : 1. mnnifn Histachaveh, The prostration of the whole body. 2. TD Kaded, The bow- ing of the head. 3. JTO Kara, The bending of the upper part of the body down to the knees. 4. "J"H Barak, Bowing the knees, or kneeling. — A. Clarke. b He hath shut their eyes, that tliey cannot see. — The word here used 7"TtD, from mt3, denotes properly to spread over, to besmear, to plaster ; as, e.g. a wall with morter : Lev. xiv.42. lChron.xxix.4. Ezek.xiii. 10. xxii.28. Here it means, To cover over the eyes so as to prevent vision ; and hence, metaphorically, To make them stupid, ignorant, dull. It is attributed to God, in accordance with the common statement of the Scriptures, that he does what he permits to be done. See Note chap. vi. 9, 10. p. 271 of vol. I. of this Work. It does not mean that God had done it by any physical or direct agency, but that it had occurred under the admi- nistration of his providence. It is also true that the Hebrew writers sometimes employ an active verb when the signification is passive ; and when the main idea is, that any thing was in fact done. Here the main point is not the agent by which that was BOOK II. PART I. done, but the fact that their eyes were blinded ; and perhaps all the force of the verb TltO used here would be expressed if it was rendered in an impersonal or in a passive form, It is covered as to tlieir eyes, i.e. their eyes are shut, without suggesting that it was done by God. So the Lxx render it airy- jj.avpwdt](rav, they are blind, or involved in darkness. So the Chaldee, ptOTXra, also in the plural, Their eyes are obscured or blind. The main idea, says Barnes, is the fact, that it was done. It cannot be proved from this text that God is, by direct agency, the author by whom it was done. That it was not uncommon to shut up or seal up the eyes, for various purposes, in the East, is apparent from the following extract from Harmer's Observations ; and unquestionably the prophet alludes to some such custom. It is one of the solemnities at a Jewish wed- ding at Aleppo, according to Dr. Russel, who mentions it as the most remarkable thing in their ceremonies at that time. It is done by fastening the eyelids together with a gum ; and the bridegroom is the person, he says, if he remembered right, that opens the bride's eyes at the appointed time. It is also used as a punishment in those countries. So Sir Thomas Roe's chaplain, in his account of his PARALLEL IIISTORIKS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. b/ Stofcafi. si3ct.iv. HEZBKIAH— 15th tbab. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xliv. 19 And none considereth in his heart1, Neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire ; Yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof ; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it : And shall I make the residue thereof an abomination3? Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree2? 20 He feedeth on ashes b: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, That he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand ? 2 1 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel ; For thou art my servant : I have formed thee ; thou art my servant : O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. 22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, And, as a cloud, thy sins : Return unto me ; for I have redeemed thee. 23 Sing, O ye heavens ; for the Lord hath done it c : marc. ' v. 19. considereth in his heart. Heb. setteth to his heart. - the stock of a tree ? Heb. that which comes of a tree ? voyages to East India, tells us of a son of the a Shall I make the residue thereof an abo- Great Mogul, whom he had seen, and with mination ? &c. whom Sir Thomas had conversed, that had 7WV& rQPinV Tim before that time been cast into prison by his ♦ -^ —«-. *twq* yy Vllb father, where his eves were sealed up by . , * . /,-,■, T something- put before them, which might not And, the. remnaf thereof sha11 X make an be taken off for three years; after which abomination.-' „rJf„ , time the seal was taken away, that he might To thf branch °f a treue sha11 * ^U ^own' with freedom enjoy the light, though not his t0 the comrade of ashes ? Bp. Stock, liberty. — Harmer's Observ. vol. III. pp. 507, This interpretation is confirmed by the Latin 508. ed. Lond. 8vo. 1808. The old trans- Vulgate and Chaldee, npi, socius, that lation, says Preb. Lowth, expresses the sense whose other half had been consumed in the better, Their eyes are stopped ; for the verb fire. It is here the same with the words transitive is often taken in an impersonal in Prov. xiii. 20. xxviiii. 7. xxix. 3. — Rosen- sense, see Isai. xxii. 19. So Exod. vii. 13, we muller. read, He hardened Pharaoh's heart, which is b He feedeth on ashes — He feedeth on explained in the next verse, Pharaoh's heart that which affordeth no nourishment : a pro- icas hardened. Thus Isai. ix. 6, the Hebrew verbial expression for using ineffectual means, reads, He shall call his name Wonderful, and bestowing labour to no purpose. In the which our English Translation rightly ren- same sense, Hosea says, Ephraim feedeth on ders, His name shall be called Wonderful, wind: ch. xii. 1. — Lowth in loc. Again, Luke xii. 20, it is in the Greek, They c Sing, Oye heavens, for the Lord hath done require thy soul of tliee, tyjv -fyvxfiv c. xviii. p. 587. Xenophon gives the following list of the nations conquered by Cyrus : the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, both the Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, Babylonians. He more- over reigned over the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Sacae, Paphligones, and Ma- riandini. Cyrop. lib.i. p. 4. edit. Hutchinson, 4to. All these kingdoms he acknowledges, in his decree for the restoration of the Jews, BOOK II. PART I. to have been given to him by Jehovah the God of heaven : Ezra i. 2. God gives the title of Anointed to Cyrus, the same which is usually given to David and other kings of the Jews, who were God's immediate deputies, to shew that he was raised up to be an immediate instrument of Providence in restoring the Jews from their captivity. Many of the ancient Fathers un- derstand this verse, of Christ ; which opinion was partly occasioned by some of the copies of the Septuagint, which read Kvpia> for Kt'jOft), which reading is followed by Bar- nabas, in his Epistle, ch. xii. ; as also by Ter- tullian, Cyprian, and others. But that the deliverance here foretold was a figure of the Redemption to be accomplished by Christ plainly appears from several passages in this chapter, and particularly from verr. 8, 17, 20, &c. ; and, as our learned Mr. Thorndike has observed, Cyrus may as well be a type of Christ, as Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus Epi- phanes, the prince of Tyre, and other idola- trous and persecuting tyrants, are spoken of in the Prophets as types and forerunners of Antichrist. See his Book De Jure Finiend. Controvers. cap. iv. p. 58. e To open before him the two-leaved gates. — The gates of Babylon within the city, leading from the streets to the river, were providentially left open when Cyrus' forces entered the city in the night through the channel of the river, in the general disorder occasioned by the great feast which was then celebrated : otherwise, says Herodotus, 1. 191, the Persians would have been shut up in the bed of the river, and taken, as in a net, and all destroyed. And the gates of the palace were opened imprudently by the king's orders, to inquire what was the cause of the tumult without, when the two parties under PARALLEL HISTORIES OF 1UDA1I AND ISRAEL. 73 , . iv. HEZEKIAH- 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlv. And the gates shall not be shut ; I will go before thee, And make the crooked places straight3: I will break in pieces the gates of brass b, And cut in sunder the bars of iron : And I will give thee the treasures of darkness c, And hidden riches of secret places, That thou mayest know that I, the Lord, Which call thee by thy name, Am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, And Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name : I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, and there is none else, There is no God beside me : I girded thee, though thou hast not known me : That they may know from the rising of the sun, And from the westd, that there is none beside me. Gobrias and Gadates rushed in, got pos- session of the palace, and also of the king". Xenoph. Cyrop. vii. * I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight. — The divine pro- tection which attended Cyrus, and rendered his expedition against Babylon easy and prosperous, is finely expressed by God's going before him, and making the mountains level. The image is highly poetical. — Lowth. b Gates of brass. — The city had a hundred gates, twenty-five on each side, all made of solid brass. Herod, lib. I. cap. 179. p. 74. edit. Gale. See also Abydenus apud Euseb. Prsep. Evang. ix. 41. c Treasures of darkness, &c. — The riches which Cyrus obtained in his conquests amounted to a prodigious sum : see Pliny's account, lib. xxxiii. c. 15. ed. Harduin. Nor can we wonder at it, for those parts of Asia at that time abounded in wealth and luxury : Babylon had been heaping up treasures for many years ; and the riches of Croesus king of Lydia, whom Cyrus conquered and took prisoner, are in a manner become proverbial. — Bishop Newton on Proph. Diss. x. Sardes and Babylon, when taken by Cy- rus, were the wealthiest cities in the world. BOOK II. PART I. Croesus, celebrated beyond all kings of that age for his riches, gave up his treasures to Cyrus ; with an exact account in writing of the whole, containing the particulars with which each waggon was loaded, when they were carried away, and they were delivered to Cyrus at the palace of Babylon. Xenoph. Cyrop. lib. vii. pp. 503, 515, 540. The gold and silver, estimated by weight, in the account of Pliny above referred to, being converted into pounds sterling, amounted to ^126,224,000. Brerewood de Ponderibus, cap. x. Rosenmiiller's Bib. Geograph. d From the rising of the sun, and from the ivest. — Sometimes the sacred writers de- signate all the four quarters of the heavens by the two which lie opposite : thus the east and vx8t,Mai.lll. Ps.l.1. lxxv.6. cxiii.3. Matt. viii.ll. Zech. viii. 7. ; the north and south, Is.liv.3. Zech.xii.6. Ps.lxxxix.13. The east is termed the rising or place of the rising of the sun : Wa&n K2tlD, or W2lbr\ TTITD, also, what lies before the face DM3, ex.gr. "'ID'btf D'HU'O, what is before, or on the fore-ground, Dip Kedem. Thus, in Gen. xxv. 18, it is said, The Ishmaelites dwelt from Havilah unto Shur in the face of Egypt, i. e. to the east of Egypt. Compare Gen. xvi. 7. E\. xv. 22. 11 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutra!). ect. iv. HEZEKIAH -15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlv. I am the Lord, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness": 1 Sam. xv. 7. The Israelites encamped in the desert which is in the face of Moab, Numb. xxi. 11: it is added, towards the sun-rising. Mount Abarim lay in the face of Jericho, Deuter. xxxii. 49. In 1 Kings xi. 7, a hill is mentioned as being before Jerusalem, which, from Zech. xiv. 4, is found to be the Mount of Olives. The Fore Sea, Ha- Yam Ha-Kadmoni, is the Dead Sea, which lies to the east of Jerusalem : Joel ii. 20. Zech. xiv. 8. Ezek. xlvii. 8. By men of the east are to be understood the inhabi- tants of Arabia and southern Chaldsea ; Pa- lestine being the central point of view : Isa. ii. 6. Ezek. xxv. 4. 1 Kings iv. 30. Job i. 3. Matt. ii. 1. — Rosenmuller's Biblical Geogr. vol. I. pp. 5, 6. See Note on p. 53 of this Vol. The phrase, says Barnes, is evidently here used to designate the whole world. Through the conquests and the proclamation of Cyrus this great truth would be extensively known. That this was accomplished, see Ezra i. 1, &c. Cyrus made public proclamation that Jeho- vah had given him all the kingdoms of the earth, and had commanded him to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The purpose of all this was to secure the propagation and acknowledgment of the truth that Jehovah was the only true God as extensively as pos- sible. Nothing could be better adapted to this than the actual course of events. For, 1. The conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchad- nezzar was an event which would be exten- sively known throughout the pagan world. 2. Babylon was then the magnificent capital of the heathen world ; and the kingdom of which it was the centre was the most mighty kingdom of the earth. 3. The fact of the conquest of Babylon, and the manner in which it was done, would be known all over the empire, and would attract universal at- tention. Nothing had ever occurred more remarkable ; nothing more fitted to excite the wonder of mankind. The hand of Jehovah was so manifest in this, and the prophecies which had been uttered were so distinctly fulfilled, that Cyrus himself acknowledged that it was of Jehovah. The existence, the name, and the truth of Jehovah, became known as far as the name and exploits of BOOK II. part i. Cyrus ; and there was a public recognition of the true God by him who had conquered the most mighty capital of the world, and whose opinions and laws were to enter into the constitution of the Medio-Persian empire which was to succeed. a I form the light, and create darkness. — It was the great principle of the Magian religion, which prevailed in Persia in the time of Cyrus, and in which probably he was educated, that there are two supreme co- eternal and independent causes, always acting in opposition one to the other; one the author of all good, the other of all evil : the good Being they called light ; the evil Being, dark- ness. With reference to this absurd opinion, held by the person to whom this prophecy is addressed, God, by his prophet, in the most significant terms, asserts his omnipotence and absolute supremacy ; declaring, that light and darkness are no other than instruments which he employs in the government of the world, and that there is no power, either of good or evil, independent of the one supreme God, infinite in power and in goodness. — Lowth. See also Prideaux, Connect. Pt. I. Bk. IV. and Gray's Connect, vol. I. p. 57. ed. 2. There is, says Barnes, no reason to think that the words darkness and evil are to be understood here as referring to moral dark- ness or evil ; that is, sin. A strict regard should be had to the connexion in the inter- pretation of such passages ; and the con- nexion here does not demand such an inter- pretation. The main subject here is, the prosperity which should attend the arms of Cyrus, the consequent reverses and calamities of the nations ichom tie would subdue, and the proof thence furnished that Jehovah was the true God ; and the passage should be limited in the interpretation to this design. The statement then is, that all this was under his direction. It was not the work of chance or hazard. It was not accomplished or caused by idols. It was not originated by any inferior or subordinate cause. It was to be traced at once, and entirely, to God. The success of arms, and the blessings of peace, were to be traced to him ; and the reverses of arms, and the calamities of war, PARALLEL HISTORIES 01' JUDAH AM) ISRAEL. 75 Sutra f). liCT. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlv. I make peace, and create evil : I the Lord do all these things. 8 Drop down, ye heavens a, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness b: to him also ; He was to be recognised as pre- siding over, and as directing all ; and in all these events there was proof that He only was God. That is all that the connexion of the passage demands ; and this is in accord- ance with the interpretation of Kimchi, Je- rome, Rosenmuller, Gesenius, Calvin, and Grotius. The comment of Grotius is, Giving safety to the people, as the Persians ; sending calamities upon the people, as upon the Medes and Babylonians. Lowth, Jerome, Vitringa, Jahn, and some others, suppose that there is reference here to the prevalent doctrine among the Persians, and the fol- lowers of the Magian religion in general, which prevailed all over the East, and in which Cyrus was probably educated. That these opinions prevailed in very early times, and perhaps as early as Isaiah, there seems no good reason to doubt. Hyde, de Relig. Veter. Persar. cap. xxii. But there is no good evidence that Isaiah here referred to those opinions. Good and evil, prosperity and adversity, abound in the world at all times ; and all that is required, in order to a correct understanding of this passage, is the general statement, that God presides over all, and that all these things are under his providential direction ; that he is the giver of prosperity, and that he presides over and directs in times of adversity. a Drop doion, ye heavens. — These images of the dew of heaven descending from hea- ven, and making the earth fruitful, employed by the prophet, may perhaps be primarily understood as designed to set forth in a splendid manner the happy state of God's people, restored to their country, and flou- rishing in peace and plenty, in piety and virtue : but justice and salvation, mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, and glory dwelling in the land, cannot, with any sort of propriety, be interpreted as the conse- quence of that event : they must mean the blessings of the great redemption by Mes- siah.— Lowth. b Let the skies pour doitm righteousness. — The words of this verse, remarkable for BOOK II. PART I. beauty and sublimity, may be considered as expressing the sovereign command of Jeho- vah, or the earnest request of the Church. By the righteousness which the heavens are requested or commanded to pour upon the earth may be meant the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. Through the perfect obedience of the Great Messiah, who is emphatically denominated The Lord our Righteousness, salvation flows to man- kind with abundance of grace, which reigns and produces righteousness in men, and terminates in eternal life. Salvation con- sists in deliverance from the greatest evil, and restoration to the favour and image of God. And let righteousness spring up together. — Salvation and righteousness are intimately and inseparably connected. The everlasting righteousness brought in by the Messiah is necessary to salvation ; and sal- vation inevitably produces the practice of righteousness, of which it constitutes an es- sential ingredient, so that the one always springs up with the other. The fulfilment of this prophecy cannot be limited to the time of the Jews' restoration from captivity, though it was then partially verified under the government of Cyrus. Its true and full completion I imagine is to be looked for under the New Testament, after the appear- ance of the Messiah, who was sent down from heaven to bring in everlasting right- eousness; from whence the Holy Spirit is also sent to impart the principles of right- eousness, and the earnests of salvation. Pre- ludes of this more perfect manifestation of the kingdom of God have been enjoyed ; and its full accomplishment may be expected when his righteousness and salvation, accom- panied with faith and repentance, with holiness and consolation, are published to the whole world. Let us then earnestly pray for these promised effects of the incarnation of the Son of God, and the descent of his Spirit, which are set forth in the Prophecies. Let us sup- plicate from God for ourselves the gifts of righteousness and salvation, the justification 76 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 10 Sufcaf). r.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlv. Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together ; I the Lord have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker8! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou ? Or thy work, He hath no hands ? Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou"? Or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth ? Thus saith the Lord, of our persons, the renovation of our minds, the sanctification of our natures, and grace to serve him with reverence, delight, and joy. — Macculloch. a Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker ! — The prophet answers or prevents the objections and cavils of the unbelieving Jews disposed to murmur against God, and to arraign the wisdom and justice of his dispensations in regard to them, in permit- ting them to be oppressed by their enemies, and in promising them deliverance, instead of preventing their captivity. St. Paul has borrowed the image, and has applied it to the like purpose, with equal force and ele- gance, Rom. ix. 20, 21. — Lowth. The words in the original are, nam nenrrnK unn Bishop Stock renders them, Woe to him that contendeth with his Maker, The potsherd with the moulders of the clay! and observes, the nTDIK Win is a potter, as yy EHn a carpenter, Vt"Q ETin a smith, Bp. Lowth's and Jenour's translation &c. are very similar. Noyes renders the passage, Woe to him that contendeth with his Maker ! A potsherd of the potsherds of the earth ! This is also Barnes's translation ; and he remarks that the word Enn means properly a fragment of an earthen vessel : Job ii. 8. Ps. xxii. 15. It is, then, put proverbially for any thing frail, mean, and contemptible. Here it is put for man, regarded as weak in his efforts against God. Our Transla- tion would seem to denote that it was appropriate for man to contend with man, BOOK II. PART I. but not for him to contend with God ; but this sense does not well suit the con- nection. The idea in the mind of the prophet is, not that such contentions are proper among men, but it is the supreme folly and sin of contending with God. The translation proposed therefore by Jerome, Woe to him that contends with his Maker ! a potsherd among the earthern pots of the earth ! and which is found in the Syriac, and adopted by Noyes, is doubtless the true read- ing. This translation is approved by Ro- senmuller and Gesenius. According to the latter, the particle DN here means by or among ; and the idea is, that man is a pot- sherd among the potsherds of the earth, a weak, fragile creature, among others equally so, and yet presuming impiously to contend with the God that made him. The Lxx render this : Is any thing endowed with ex- cellence ? I fashioned it like the clay of the potter. Will the ploughman plough the ground all the day long? Will the clay say to the potter? &c. b Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? — The extreme folly and danger of the insolent cavils of presum- ptuous people are further represented in these words. Thus did the prophet reply to the calumnies of those who blamed the dispen- sations of Providence towards the Jewish people, who impiously found fault with their Maker because he suffered them to be led captive and oppressed by the Babylonians, after he had elevated them to a rich, power- ful, and flourishing state. And by these arguments he clearly shews that the conduct of such fretful, discontented persons is highly reprehensible and criminal. — Macculloch. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 77 sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlv. The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, And concerning the work of my hands command ye me s. 12 I have made the earth, And created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, And all their host have I commanded. 1 3 I have raised liim up in righteousness, And I will direct ' all his ways : He shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, Not for price nor reward, Saith the Lord of hosts. 1 1 Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt b, and merchandise of Etliiopia And of the Sabeans, men of stature c, Shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine : They shall come after thee ; in chains they shall come over, And they shall fall down unto thee d, they shall make supplication unto thee, marg. ' v. 13. direct, or make straight. a Concerning the work of my hands com- mand ye me. — This is read as a question by Bishop Lowth, And do ye give me directions concerning the work of my hands ? Accord- ing to this interpretation, God would reprove them for presuming to give him directions about what he should do, in accordance with the sentiment in verses 9, 10. This inter- pretation is also adopted by Vitringa, Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and some others. Grotius ren- ders it, That is, hinder, if you can, my doing, and what I can do. Rosenmuller supposes it to mean, Commit my sons, and the work of my hands, to me : suffer me to do with my own what I will. It seems to me, says Barnes, that the word command is here to be taken rather as indicating the privilege of his people to present their desires in regard to the future events which were to take place in reference to themselves, and to denote the language of fervent and respectful petition ; and that God here indicates, that he would comply with their desires ; that he would, so to speak, allow them to direct him ; that he would hear their prayers ; and that he would conform the events of his ad- ministration to their wishes and their wel- fare. This is the most obvious interpreta- BOOK II. PART I. tion. Instead of complaining and finding fault with him, and opposing his administra- tion, verr. 9, 10, it was their privilege to come before him and spread out their wants, and to give direction in regard to future events, as far as his children were concerned ; and so far as the events of his administration would bear on them, he would meet their desires. This was better than to murmur. Thus interpreted, it accords with the nume- rous passages of the Bible which command us to pray ; and with the promises of God, that he will meet our wants, and lend a listening ear to our cries. b The labour of Egypt. — This seems to relate to the future admission of the Gentiles into the Church of God ; comp. Ps. lxviii. 32. lxxii. 10. chap. lx. 6 — 9; and perhaps these particular nations may be named by a met- onymy common in all poetry for powerful and wealthy nations in general. — Lowth. . c The Sabeans, men of stature. — That the Sabeans were of a more majestic appearance than common, is particularly remarked by Agatharchides, an ancient Greek historian quoted by Bochart Phaleg. II. 26. d They shall fall down unto thee— Not to pay any sacred homage to the Church ; for 78 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutafc. shot. iv. HEZEKIAH— 12th 1-EAit. B.C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlv. Saying, Surely God is in thee ; and there is none else, There is no God. 1 5 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself a, O God of Israel, the Saviour. 1 6 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them : They shall go to confusion together That are makers of idols. 17 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. 1 8 For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens ; it is written, Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve, Matt. iv. 10 ; but to testify the humble sense they had of their own unworthiness, and the pro- found respect they felt for the servants of the true God, to whom they approached with sentiments of esteem and affection, de- sirous to be permitted to share in the pre- cious privileges belonging to his peculiar people, and to enjoy intimate communion with him in the ordinances of his appoint- ment. Surely God is in thee. — The Lord God had a fixed permanent habitation among his people of old, and therefore he was em- phatically said to dwell among them. But this was not all : according to the words be- fore us, he is also in them. Having been received into his family, and formed after his image, his word dwells in them richly, being laid up in their hearts as a costly trea- sure ; his Spirit abides in them continually, as in his Temple ; and his presence ever attends them, to strengthen, refresh, and glad- den their hearts. This divine presence is their highest glory and greatest delight. To this expression the apostle Paul seems to allude, when giving directions as to the pro- per use of spiritual gifts, that they may promote edification : he says, If all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, lie is convinced of all, he is judged of all : and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face, he tvill worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth, 1 Cor. xiv. 24,25 — that the presence of God is in the Church — that the power of God attends the ministry of the word. — Macculloch. This verse cannot be understood of the conquests of Cyrus, as Grotius and some BOOK II. PART I. others explain it; for the words thee and thine, so often repeated in this verse, are all of the feminine gender in Hebrew, and con- sequently must be understood of Jerusalem, the city mentioned verse 13. Therefore I conceive this place is principally meant of the flourishing state of the Church, often described under the figure of a city, when the Gentile world should come into it, bring- ing their riches to adorn and support it, and submitting themselves to its government, as being the only seat and temple of truth. Compare Isaiah xviii. 7. xxiii. 18. xlix. 23. lx. 9, 10,14. Psalm lxviii. 30, 31. — Preb. Lowth. a Verily thou art a God that hidest thy- self.— The people of God are here taught to trust God further than they can see him. The prophet puts this word into their mouths, and goes before them in saying it. 1. God hid himself when he brought them into trou- ble : Is. lvii. 17. Though God be his peo- ple's God and Saviour, yet sometimes, when they provoke him, he hides himself from them in displeasure, suspends his favours, and lays them under his frowns. But let them wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face, Is. viii. 17. 2. He hid himself when he was bringing them out of the trouble. When God is acting as Israel's God and Saviour, commonly his way is in the sea, Psalm lxxvii. 19. The salvation of the Church is carried on in a mysterious way by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts working on men's spirits, Zech. iv. 6, by weak and unlikely in- struments, small and accidental occurrences, and not wrought till the last extremity. But there is one comfort, though God hides him- self; we are sure he is the God of Israel the Saviour: Jobxxxv. 14. — Henry. PARALLEL HISTORIES 01 JUDVII AND ISRAEL. 79 Sutraf). HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. r12. L9 Isaiah xlv. God himself that formed the earth and made it ; he hath established it, He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited11: I am the Lord ; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret b, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain : I the Lord speak righteousness0, I declare things that are right. a He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited — By man and the various tribes of animals. He designed that it should sustain countless multitudes of animated beings. He makes it a convenient habita- tion for them ; adapts its climates, its soils, and its productions, to their nature ; and makes it yield abundantly for their support. The main idea, Barnes thinks, in the state- ment of this general truth, is, that God de- signed that the earth at large should be in- habited ; that he did not design that it should lie waste ; and that therefore he intended that Judaea — then supposed to be lying waste, while the captives were in Babylon — should be re-peopled, re-cultivated, and again be- come the happy abode of the returning exiles. He did not intend that it should be given up to desolation, but that they should return and dwell again in the land of their fathers : so Grotius interprets it. The Jews, from this passage, infer that the earth shall be inha- bited after the Resurrection ; — an idea which has every probability, since there will not be fewer reasons why the earth should be inha- bited then, than there are now ; nor can there be any reasons why the earth should then exist in vain, any more than now. The words are commonly explained thus : That if God did not create the world to be empty and uninhabited, much less will he suffer the lot of his own inheritance, Judaea, to lie desolate, but will certainly restore its captivity; — the establishing a political go- vernment being sometimes expressed by crea- tion : see Is. li. 16. But I think this verse hardly comes up to the full import of the words. Mr. Mede, p. 578 of his Works, has observed, That in the eleventh verse God condescends to declare to his servants the things that are to come : and St. Paul has ap- plied the 23d verse to the Day of Judgment, Rom. xiv. 10 — 12. So that, in that learned person's judgment, the scope of the place directs us to explain it of the new heavens BOOK II. PART I. and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, which St. Peter tells us we are to expect at the end of the world, according to God's promise, 2 Pet. iii. 13 ; which promise must relate to some of the prophecies of the Old Testament which speak of the subject. This earth, the text says, God created not in vain ; that is, not to be subject to vanity, as the earth at present is, see Rom. viii. 20 ; but to be inhabited by the Mystical Israel, who shall be saved with an everlasting salvation, v. 17. These are the same who are called the escaped of the nations, ver. 20 ; and those that are saved out of all the ends of the earth, ver. 22. What is said also in ver. 14 has some rela- tion to the latter times, as may be collected by comparing it with some of the parallel texts referred to in the notes. — Preb. Lowth. b i" have not spoken in secret — In oppo- sition to the manner in which the heathen oracles gave their answers ; which were generally delivered from some deep and obscure cavern. Such was the seat of the Cumaean Sybil, Virg. JEn. vi. 42 : such was that of the famous oracle at Delphi, of which Strabo says, lib. ix, The oracle is said to be a hollow cavern of considerable depth, with an opening not very wide. And Diodorus, giving an account of the origin of this oracle, says, That there was in that place a great chasm or cleft in the earth ; in which very place is now situated what is called the Adytum of the Temple. Hesych. — Adytum means a cavern, or the hidden part of the Temple. c I the Lord speak righteousness — I am Jehovah, who speak truth, who give direct answers. This also is said in opposition to the false and ambiguous answers given by the heathen oracles; of which there are many noted examples : none more so than that of the answer given to Croesus, when he marched against Cyrus ; which piece of history has some connection with this part of Isaiah's prophecies. See Cic. De Divinat. II. 56. 80 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3to*ra&. SEcr. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlv. 20 Assemble yourselves and come ; Draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations'1: They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, And pray unto a god that cannot save. 2 1 Tell ye, and bring them near ; Yea, let them take counsel together : Who hath declared this from ancient time ? Who hath told it from that time ? Have not I the Lord ? and there is no God else beside me ; A just God and a Saviour ; there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved1', all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself0, a Ye that are escaped of the nations. — Mead supposes these to be the same with the nations of them that are saved ; or that escape mentioned in Rev. xxi. 24 ; and thinks this interpretation is confirmed by verse 22 of this chapter, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. See likewise verse 18. — Mede's Works, p. 915. Look unto me, and be ye saved, &c. — This verse and the following contain a plain prediction of the universal spread of the knowledge of God through Christ ; and so the Targum appears to have understood it : see Romansxiv.il. Philippians ii. 10. The reading of the Targum is remarkable, "DSnX VtCFty? Look to my Word — o A070?, the Lord Jesus. The best comment that can be given upon these verses, says Jenour, is furnished by the Gospels and Apostolical Epistles: see Matt. xi. 28. John xii. 32. Rom. xv. 7 — 12. Phil. ii. 9 — 1 1. Comparing these several pas- sages of Scripture, we gather that the incar- nate Son of God is He to whom all the ends of the earth must look, that they may be saved ; and that it is the determinate purpose of the Eternal Trinity that all mankind shall acknowledge Him to be the Lord of all created things, to the glory of God the Fa- ther. And further, that the whole Church, the Spiritual Israel, shall ever acknowledge, that justification and holiness, and all the other blessings of the Gospel, are secured to them from Christ, their Covenant-Head and Redeemer. Comp. Phil. iii. 7. The expres- sion, All the ends of the earth, says Maccul- book 11. part 1. loch, accords with the Jewish notion that their land was situated in the midst of the earth, and that the countries which lay most remote from them were the ends of the earth. Hear how the God of our salvation invites us ; and note with what solemnity he de- clares, that unto Him every knee shall bow, every tongue swear. Observe the profession of a true faith to be made by the Universal Church : In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. And mark how all who are at enmity with God — and some at enmity there still will be — shall be ashamed ; whilst all the seed of Israel, all those who are his people of a truth, shall both be j ustified in the Lord, and glory in the Lord. How plainly are the chief doctrines of the Gospel here preached in prophecy ! And to Him, who hath declared this from ancient time, what heartfelt thanks are due from us, for proof so undeniable that we, in receiving those glad tidings of great joy, have not fol- lowed cunningly-devised fables ! Thanks, then, to Him, for thus shewing us his truth ! Thanks be to him for giving us this ample occasion to say, as far as we and our brother Christians are concerned, Verily thou art a God that revealest thyself, O God of Israel the Saviour ! — Girdlestone's Comm. 0 / have sworn by myself. — This is ren- dered in Rom. xiv. 11, As I live, saith the Lord ; shewing that they are equivalent ex- pressions. The declaration indicates the utmost certainty. It is an assurance con- firmed in the most solemn manner ; and the PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Hi 24 t.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712 Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlv. The word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, And shall not return3, That unto me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall swear. 'Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness2 and strength1': Even to him shall men come ; v. 24. Surely, shall one say, In the Lorv have I righteousness and strength, or Surely he shall say of me, In the Lord is all righteousness and strength, righteousness. Heb. righteousnesses. solemnity of the manner denotes the impor- tance of the truth affirmed, and the fixed and settled purpose of God to accom- plish it. a And shall not return, — That is, it shall be fully accomplished. Compare Isa. lv. 11. Here God confirms by an oath the truth of what was foretold, verse 22, that the time should certainly come when all the world should give g'lory to him, by paying him solemn worship and adoration, and by swear- ing' or professing allegiance to him : see chap. xix. 18. And this should be verified both in the Gentiles, verse 22, and in the Jews, verse 25, who, after the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, shall all be saved, as St. Paul tells us, Rom. xi. 25, 26. The same Apostle applies this text to the Day of Judg- ment, Rom. xiv. 11, when it will receive its utmost accomplishment ; not only wicked men, but even apostate spirits being sum- moned to appear before the Judgment-seat of God and Christ. Compare Phil. ii. 10. We may further observe, that what the pro- phet speaks here, in the person of God, is applied by St. Paul to Christ, that is, to the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. See like instances in Isai. vi. 1, compared with John xii. 41 ; and Isai. viii. 14, compared with Rom. ix. 33. and 1 Pet. ii. 8 ; and Ps. cii. 25, compared with Heb. i. 10. Many more such instances might be given ; and all of them are plain proofs of the Divinity of Christ, and that the Prophets of the Old Tes- tament had all along an eye to the times of the New, and spoke of the Messias as God. See more on this matter in the Notes on Isai. xlviii. 16. — Preb. Lowth. In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. — The design of the verse is, to BOOK II. PART I. set forth more fully the effect of the universal prevalence of true religion ; and the main thought is, that there shall be a universal acknowledgment that salvation and strength are in Jehovah. Idols could not save, men could not save, and salvation was to be traced to Jehovah alone. A literal transla- tion of the passage would be, Truly in Je- hovah he said to me — i. e. I heard it said — is righteousness and strength. The sense is, that they could obtain righteousness from him alone, or that by him alone they could be pardoned and justified. They could not be self pardoned, they could not work out a righteousness of their own, nor be justi- fied by any of their own works, but would be dependent on him for that righteousness by which they could be pronounced just, in his sight : and that it would be by him alone they could obtain strength or ability to smite their enemies, to overcome their sins, to discharge their duties, to encounter temptations, to bear afflictions, and to sup- port them in death. These two things, right- eousness and strength, are all that man needs. These are to be found alone in Je- hovah, manifested in Jesus Christ. And this verse, therefore, is a declaration that all which man needs shall be obtained from him ; and that the universal acknowledg- ment shall be, that they are to be found in him alone. The whole of religion con- sists essentially in the feeling that all our righteousness and strength are to be found in God our Saviour. The Lxx render it thus: Every tongue shall swear to God, saying, Righteousness and glory shall come unto him, and all those who make distinc- tions among them shall be ashamed. — Barnes. 82 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 25 Strtrafj. r. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlv. And all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed a. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, And shall glory. The idols of Babylon could not save themselves. God saveth his people to the end. Idols are not comparable to God for poicer, or present salvation. Isaiah xlvi. Bel bovveth downb, Nebo stoopeth, a All that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. — They shall be ashamed, either when they are convinced of the truth of these things now, or at least when they shall see him appear in his glory at the Last Day. Kimchi connects this verse with the pre- ceding, thus : He saith, Every tongue shall swear verily by the Lord alone, and not by any other God. And so saith God, I have righteousness and strength to give to those that serve me : and all the people who are incensed against me, and reject my service unto that day, then shall they come unto him, and confess before him, and shall be ashamed for what they have done. b Bel boweth doicn. — The scene of this prophecy is laid in Babylon, and at the time when the city was about to be taken by Cyrus, and when the Jews were about to be delivered from captivity. The idols of the Chaldaeans, unable to defend the city, are borne in haste away for safety, and Cyrus is at the gates. The design is, to give to the exiles there an assurance, that when they should see these things they should conclude that their deliverance drew nigh; and to furnish them with this ample demonstration, that Jehovah was the true God, and that he was their protector and friend. In their long and painful captivity, also, they would have these promises to comfort them ; and when they surveyed the splendour of the idol-worship in Babylon, and their hearts should be pained with the prevalent idolatry, they would also have the assurance that those idols were to be removed, and that that idolatry would come to an end. Bel, or Belus, Va, from VlQ, the same as Baal, was the chief domestic god of the Babylonians, and was worshipped in the ce- lebrated tower of Babylon. Comp. Jer. l. 2. LI. 44. It was common to compound names of the name of the divinity which was wor- shipped ; and hence we often meet with this BOOK II. part i. name, as Belshazzar, Belteshazzar, Baal-Peor, Baalzebub, Baal-Gad, Baal-Berith. The Greek and Roman writers compare Bel with Jupiter ; and the common name which they give to this idol is Jupiter Belus. Pliny, N. Hist, xxxvii. 10. Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 16. Diod.ii.8, 9. The idol Baal, or Bel, was peculiarly the God of the Phoenicians, of the Canaanites, of the Chaldaeans, of the Moab- ites, and some of the surrounding nations. The most common opinion has been, that the idol was the Sun, and that under this name that luminary received divine honours. But Gesenius supposes that by the name Jupiter Belus was not denoted Jupiter, the father of the gods, but the planet Jupiter, stella Jovis, which was regarded, together with Venus, as the principle of all good, and the giver of all good fortune ; and which formed, with Venus, the most fortunate of all constellations under which sovereigns could be born. The planet Jupiter, therefore, he sup- poses to have been worshipped under the name Bel, and the planet Venus under the name of Astarte or Astaroth. See Gesenius Coram. zu Isa. ii. 333 seq. ; and Rob. Cal. art. Baal. The temple of Belus stood in the middle of Babylon. At its foundation, it was a square, of a furlong on each side, Herod, lib. i., that is, half a mile in compass ; and consisted of eight towers, one built above the other. Strabo, who calls it a pyramid, be- cause of its decreasing at every tower, says the whole was a furlong high, on every side : Strabo, lib. xvi. According to these dimen- sions, it was one of the most wonderful works in the world, and much exceeding the greatest of the Pyramids of Egypt: for although it fell short of that pyramid at the basis — the pyramid being a square of 700 feet, and this 600 — yet it far exceeded it in height, the perpendicular measure of the pyramid being 481 feet, that of the temple 600 ; and therefore it was higher than the PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 83 3httra&. r.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlvi. Their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle pyramid by 119 feet, which is a quarter of the whole. And therefore it was not with- out reason that Bochartus asserts it to have been the very same tower which was there built at the confusion of tongues, Phaleg. Part I. lib. i. c. 9 ; for it is prodigious enough, to answer the Scripture account of it ; and it is particularly attested by several authors to have been built of bricks and bitumen, as the Scripture tells us the Tower of Babel was. Strabo, lib. xvi. Herod, lib. i. Diodor. Sic. lib. ii. Arrian de Expeditione Alexandri, lib. vii. The ascent, according to Herodotus, was by stairs on the outside. In the several stories were spacious rooms, with arched roofs : the highest story was the most sacred, when it was applied to idolatrous uses. Over the whole, on the top of the tower, was an Observatory. Diod. Sic. lib. ii. p. 98. Till the time of Nebuchadnezzar, the temple of Belus contained no more than this tower, and the rooms in it served all the occasions of that idolatrous worship : but he enlarged it by vast buildings, Berosus apud Josephum, Antiq. lib. x. c. 11, erected round it, in a square of two furlongs on every side — Herod, lib. i. — and a mile in circumference, which was 1800 feet more than the square of the Temple of Jerusalem : see Lightfoot's De- scription of the Temple of Jerusalem. And on the outside of all these buildings there was a wall enclosing the whole, which may be supposed to have been of equal extent with the square in which it stood, that is, two miles and a half in compass, in which were several gates leading to the temple, all of solid brass ; and the brazen sea, the brazen pillars, and the other brazen vessels which were carried to Babylon from the Temple of Jerusalem, seem to have been employed in making them : for it is said that Nebuchadnezzar put all the sacred ves- sels which he carried from Jerusalem into the house of his God at Babylon, that is, into the house or temple of Bel, Dan. i. 2. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 7 ; for that was the name of the great god of the Babylonians, who is supposed to have been the same with Nim- rod, and to have been called Bel from his dominion, and Nimrod from his rebellion; as these are the significations of the name, both in the Jewish and Chaldaean languages. BOOK II. PART I. This temple stood till the time of Xerxes ; but he, on his return from his Grecian ex- pedition, demolished the whole of it, and laid it all in rubbish, having first plundered it of all its immense riches — Strabo, lib. xvi. p. 738. Herod, lib. i. Arrian. de Expeditione Alexandri, lib. vii. ; among which were se- veral images of statues of massy gold ; and one of them is said by Diodorus Siculus, lib. ii., to have been forty feet high ; which might perhaps have been that which Nebu- chadnezzar set up in the Plains of Dura ; the proportions of the figure mentioned in Scrip- ture rendering it probable that there the pedestal is included in the height specified, viz. ninety feet. Diodorus informs us, lib. ii., that this image contained a thousand Baby- lonish talents of gold ; which, according to Pollux, amounted to three millions and a half of our money. See Prideaux' Connec- tions, Part I. Bk. ii. The loftiest temple ever built is nothing now but the highest heap in Babylon, bowed down, little more than the third part of its original height. The whole mound is a ruin. Rich's Memoirs, p. 37. Nebo stoopetli. — This was an idol god of the Chaldseans. In the astrological my- thology of the Babylonians, according to Gesenius, the idol was regarded as the planet Mercury, which the Chaldaeans and ancient Arabs worshipped as the celestial scribe or writer. He is regarded as the scribe of heaven, who records the succession of the celestial and terrestrial events, and is related to the Egyptian Hermes and Anubis. The extensive worship of this idol among the Chaldseans and Assyrians is evident from the many compound proper names occuring in the Scriptures, of which this word forms a part, as Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan ; and also in the classics, as Neboned, Nebo- nasser, &c. Nebo was therefore regarded as an attendant on Bel, or as his scribe. The exact form of the idol god is, however, unknown. The word stoopetli means that it had fallen down, as, when one is struck dead, he falls suddenly to the earth ; and the lan- guage denotes conquest, where even the idols so long worshipped would be thrown down and despoiled. The scene was in Babylon ; and the image in the mind of the prophet is, g2 84 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Su&aft. :.iv. HEZEKIAII— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH andMICAH. Isaiah xlvi. You carriages were heavy loaden a ; They are a burden to the weary beast. They stoop, they bow down together ; They could not deliver the burden, But themselves ' are gone into captivity. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob1', And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Which are borne by me" from the belly, Which are carried from the womb : And even to your old age I am he ; And even to hoar hairs will I carry you : I have made, and I will bear ; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. marg. i v. 2. themselves. Hcb. their soul. that the city was taken, and the idols which were worshipped thrown down by the con- queror, and carried away in triumph. The prophet sees the idols in vision, laid upon beasts of burden, and upon waggons, to be borne off to Media in triumph. It was cus- tomary for conquerors to carry away all that was splendid and valuable, to grace their triumph on their return ; and nothing would be a more certain indication of victory, or a more splendid accompaniment of a triumph, than the gods whom the vanquished nations had adored. Thus in Jer. xlviii. 7, it is said, And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together. Compare Jer. xlix. 3. marg. — Barnes. See Gesenius Comm. zu Is. ii. p. 333, seq. 8 Your carriages were heavy loaden — mDTOy tZDTlKE/i. Your chairs of state are packed up — the curule chairs in which the idols were carried in procession, raised aloft on men's shoulders. — Bishop Stock. b Hearken unto me, 0 house of Jacob ! — From this view of the captive gods, the ad- dress is now turned to the Jews. The utter vanity of the idols had been set before them, and the futility of trusting in them ; and in view of that, God now addresses his own people, and entreats them to put their trust in him. This is evidently addressed to the exiles in Babylon; and the idea is, that when they should thus see the idols borne away, they should put their trust in Jehovah, and be led more and more to rely on his protec- tion and on his arm. lie commences with BOOK II. PAUT I. words of great tenderness and endearment, designed to lead them to confide in him as their father and friend. The application of these words to the case of every individual believer, says Jenour, is obvious and encouraging-. We may consider them with humility and thankfulness, as giv- ing us an assurance that the same gracious God who first called us to a knowledge of himself will continue to strengthen us with might by his Spirit in the inner man, and enable us to persevere, even to the end. To what purpose are such promises as these re- corded, unless they may be so applied ? Would not the Christian, indeed, be of all men most miserable, if, believing with the firmest persuasion in the eternity of rewards and punishment in a future state, he were always doubtful whether he should enjoy the one, or surfer the other? Only let him re- member, that God promises to preserve him from condemnation, by saving him from its cause — that is, sin. c Which are borne by me. — The prophet very ingeniously and with great force con- trasts the power of (iod, and his tender good- ness effectually exerted towards his people, with the inability of the false gods of the heathen. He, like an indulgent father, had carried his people in his arms, as a man carrieth his son, Dent. i. 31; he had pro- tected them, and delivered them from their distresses ; whereas the idols of the heathen are forced to be carried about themselves. — Lowth in Inc. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 85 Sutraf). sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH andMICAH. Isaiah xlvi. 5 To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, And compare me, that we may be like ? 6 They lavish gold out of the bag, And weigh silver in the balance, And hire a goldsmith ; and he maketh it a god : They fall down, yea, they worship. 7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, And set him in his place, and he stand eth ; From his place shall he not remove : Yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, Nor save him out of his trouble. 8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men"; Bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old : For I am God, and there is none else; J am God, and there is none like me. 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times the things that are not yet done, Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do all my pleasure : 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the eastb, The man that executeth my counsel ' from a far country : Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass ; I have purposed it, I will also do it. 12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, That are far from righteousness : 13 I bring near my righteousness ; it shall not be far off, marg. ' v. 11. The man that executeth my counsel. Heb. The man of my counsel. b Shetv yourselves men — Act as men ; be is, says Barnes, that they should act as be- wise ; throw away the childish trifles of ido- came those who were endowed with immor- laters. The word here used, "Ittftt'Nrin, occurs tal souls, and not as the brutes. So Kimchi. nowhere else in the Bible. It is, according Bishop Stock renders it, Be ye on fire, that to Gesenius, derived from ttPX, a man, and is, with shame for your apostacy. IZ/IW*, means, To act as a man. A similar word is from WH,fire. — Rosenmiiller. used in 1 Cor. xvi. 13, avSpL&trde, from avrjp b Calling a ravenous bird from the east. — a man, and is correctly rendered there, Quit Calling from the East the eagle ; a very you like men. The word often occurs in the proper emblem for Cyrus, as in other re- Septuagint. It is used as a translation of spects, so particularly because the ensign of YT2X, in Josh. i. 6, 7, 9, 18. 1 Chron.xxviii. 20. Cyrus was a golden eagle, 'AET02 XPV~ 2 Chron. xxxii. 7 ; of Via, in Ruth i. 12; of oW?, the very word to^tf which the prophet pin, in Deut. xxxi. 6, 7, 23. Josh. x. 25. and in uses here, expressed, as near as may be, several other places. Jerome renders it, Be in Greek letters. Xenoph. Cyrop. lib. vii. confounded; the Lxx, ard'a^are, groan ; the sub init. Syriac, consider, or understand. The meaning BOOK II. PART I. 80 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. .iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Frophets-ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlvi. And my salvation shall not tarry : And I will place salvation in Zion For Israel my glory. God's judgment upon Babylon and Chaldea,for their uimtercif illness, pride, and overboldness, shall be unresistible. Isaiah xlvii. Come down, and sit in the dusta, O virgin daughter of Babylon, Sit on the ground : a Come down, and sit in the dust. — For further prophecies respecting Babylon, see Is. xxi. 1 — 10, and the Notes on that chapter, pp. 403—406 of the First Volume of this Work ; also Is. xlvi. 1--2, vol. II. pp. 82-84 ; xlviii. pp. 93 — 101 ; also Is. xiii. xiv. 1 — 23. Jer. xxv. 12 — 14. l. li. In the closing; verse of the preceding chapter, God gives his people the most positive assurance that their captivity shall cease. In this chapter, says Barnes, he describes the vengeance which he would take on Babylon; and the entire chapter is occupied in pourtraying, under various images, the prostration and humiliation of that proud and oppressive seat of magnificence and of empire. Baby- lon is described under the image of a lady carefully nourished and decorated ; proud, self-confident, and haughty ; and all the images of her destruction are drawn from those circumstances which would tend to humble and afflict a gay and proud female, who had been accustomed to luxury, and unused to scenes of humiliation, poverty, and bereavement. The scope of the chapter is, to state the crimes for which she would be humbled and punished, and the circumstances and manner in which it would be done. This chapter contains many very particular statements about the manner in which Ba- bylon was to be destroyed — statements which will be found to have been fulfilled with surprising accuracy. They are statements, moreover, which could not have been the result of conjecture, or mere political saga- city ; for political conjecture and sagacity do not descend to minute particulars and de- tails. It is to be borne in remembrance, that this prophecy was uttered a hundred and fifty years before its fulfilment ; and that there were no circumstances existing in the time of Isaiah which would have laid the foundation for conjecture in regard to the BOOK II. PART I. events predicted in this chapter, and the foregoing and succeeding chapters. The Temple was then standing ; the city of Je- rusalem was not in ruins ; the kingdom of Judah was powerful ; Babylon was just rising into magnificence, and the power which ultimately overthrew it had scarcely begun to start into being ; and none of the causes which eventually led Cyrus to attack and destroy it had as yet an existence. And if these things were so, then the conclusion is inevitable, that Isaiah was under the influence of divine inspiration. It is the particularity of the description in the Prophets, long before the events occurred, which more than any thing else distinguishes them from mere po- litical conjecture and sagacity. And if the particular descriptions, here and elsewhere recorded of the overthrow of Babylon, and of other future events, were actually made before the events occurred, which assuredly they were, then the conclusion is inevitable, that they were inspired of God. What a fearful warning is there here for such as abuse any station of authority over others, to an indulgence of an oppressive disposition in themselves ! And in the loss of children and widowhood which, as here foretold, befel Babylon most signally in one day, what a terrible instance of God's judg- ments, against pride, sensuality, self-suffi- ciency, and the substituting superstition for religion ! Far be it from us to dwell at ease in sin, and not remember the latter end of it ! Far be it from us to dwell in sin at all, least of all in such sins as these of Babylon — the love of pleasure, the neglect of God, and thinking to be independent of Him, and trusting to be unseen by him, and relying for help and safety on means which He has forbidden us to resort to, and which are alto- gether powerless to save ! Far be all such thoughts and practices from us, bound though PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 87 kct.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlvii. There is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans : For thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal " : Uncover thy locks b, make bare the leg, Uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered0, we be to live in the midst of many who hold and do them ; dwelling not far removed from that mystic Babylon, of which it is testified in the Book of Revelation, that she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her ])lagues come in one day, death, and mourn- ing, and famine ; and she shall be utterly burned with fire : for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her : Rev. xviii. 7, 8. Who that reads of those dreadful judgments, as fore- shewn in either Testament — who that hears of this awful fire, not to warm at, but to con- sume— who but must tremble to look around him, and observe the godlessness which pre- vails in nations professing faith in God through Christ ? Who but must admit, that no wickedness of idolaters in Babylon of old could possibly deserve worse at the hand of God, than the superstitions, the covetousness, the cruelty, the pride, and the sensuality, of Mammon's worshippers in Christian lands ? Girdlestone's Comm. Lect. 1158. Virgin — So called, as never before been taken by an enemy. Herodotus says ex- pressly that this was the first time that Ba- bylon was taken. Herod, lib. I. cap. 191. After it had been taken, it never recovered its ancient splendour: it sat in the dust: from an imperial it became a tributary city ; from being governed by its own kings, and governing strangers, it came itself to be governed by strangers ; and the seat of em- pire being transferred to Shushan, it decayed by degrees, till it was reduced at last to utter desolation. Berosus, in Josephus, says that when Cyrus had taken Babylon, he ordered the outer walls to be pulled down, because the city appeared to him to be very factious, and difficult to be taken: Contra Apion, lib. I. sect. 20. And Xenophon informs us that Cyrus obliged the Babylonians to deliver up all their arms upon pain of death, distributed the best houses among his officers, imposed a tribute upon them, appointed a strong garrison, and compelled the Baby- book n. PART I. lonians to defray the charge, being desirous to keep them poor, as the best means of keeping them obedient. — Bp. Newton Proph. Diss. x. a Take tlie mill-stones, and grind meal. — It was the work of slaves to grind the corn. They used hand-mills. Water-mills were not invented till a little before the time of Au- gustus : see the Greek epigram of Antipater, which seems to celebrate it as a new inven- tion: Anthol. Cephalae, 653: — wind-mills, long after. It was not only the work of slaves, but the hardest work ; and often in- flicted upon them as a severe punishment. But in the East it was the work of the female slaves : see Exod. xi. 5. xii. 29. in the version of the Lxx. Matt. xxiv. 41. Homer, Odyss. xx. 105— 108 : and it is the same to this day. Women alone are employed to grind their corn : Shaw, Algiers and Tunis, p. 297. They are the female slaves that are generally employed in the East at those hand-mills for grinding corn : it is extremely laborious, and esteemed the lowest employment in the house. Sir J. Chardin, Harmer's Observ. I. p. 153. b Uncover thy locks.— This is a still deeper degradation. The head is the seat of female modesty in the East, and no woman allows her head to be seen bare. Great as is their care to conceal their faces, it is far more im- portant in their estimation to keep the head concealed. It is of more consequence with them to hide the head than the face, and the face more than any other parts of the person. In our travelling experience, say the Editors of the Pictorial Bible, we saw the faces of very many women, but never the bare head of any, except one — a female servant, whose face we w ere in the constant habit of seeing, and whom we accidentally surprised while dressing her hair. The perfect consternation, the deep sense of humiliation, which she ex- pressed on that occasion, could not be easily forgotten, and furnished a most striking il- lustration of the text. c Thy nakedness shall be uncovered. — I am perfectly incapable of conveying an 88 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. eot. iv. HEZEKIAH -15th year. B.C. 712. Pkophets-ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlvii. Yea, thy shame shall be seen : I will take vengeance, And I will not meet thee as a mana. 4 As for our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is liis name", adequate idea, says Captain Mignan, of the dreary lonely nakedness that appeared before me : p. 116. The whole face of the country is covered with the vestiges of buildings. — ■ Rich, p. 2. a / will not meet thee as a man. — This phrase QliN PJSN N7 has been variously interpreted. Jerome renders it, And man shall not resist me. The Lxx render it, I will take that which is just of thee, and will no more deliver thee up to men. The Syriac : I will not suffer man to meet thee. Grotius : I will not suffer any man to be an intercessor. So Lowth : Neither will I suffer man to intercede with me. Noyes : I will make peace with none. So Gesenius renders it : I will take vengeance, and will not make peace with man; i.e. will make peace with none, before all are destroyed. Lex. by Ro- binson. The word here used, PJ£)K, is derived from JWS, which means To strike upon, or against ; To impinge upon any one, or any thing ; hence, To fall upon, in a ho- stile manner, 1 Sam. xxii. 17; To kill, to slay, Judg. viii. 21. xv. 12; To assail with petitions, to urge, entreat any one, Ruth i. 16. Jer. vii. 16 ; To light upon, or meet with any one ; Gen. xxviii. 1 1 ; and then, according to Gesenius, To strike a league with any one ; to make peace with him. Jarchi renders it, I will not solicit any man that he should take vengeance ; i.e. I will do it myself. Aben Ezra : I will not admit the intercession of any man. Vitringa renders it, I will take vengeance, and will not have a man to concur with me ; that is, although I should not have a man to concur with me, who should execute the vengeance which I meditate ; on which account I have raised up Cyrus from Persia, of whom no one thought. In my view, says Barnes, the most probable meaning, and the one which best accords with the usual sense of the word, is that proposed by Lowth, That no one should be allowed to interpose or intercede for them. All the interpretations concur in the same general signification, that Babylon should be totally destroyed ; that he would BOOK II. part i. take entire vengeance ; and that no means — whether, as Jerome supposes, by resistance, or, as Lowth, by intercession — should be allowed to oppose the execution of his pur- pose of vengeance. The city so proud, so haughty, and so long the oppressor of the nations, should be totally destroyed. Woe to those, says Henry, on whom God comes to take vengeance, for who knows the power of his anger ; and what a fearful thing it is to fall into his hands ? Were it a man like ourselves, who would be revenged on us, we might hope to be a match for him, either to make our escape from him, or to make our part good with him ; but He will come with the power of a God which cannot be resisted ; not with the justice of a man, which may be bribed, or biassed, or mollified by a foolish pity ; but with the justice of a God, which is strict and severe, and can never be evaded ; — as in pardoning the peni- tent, so in punishing the impenitent, he is God, and not man : Hos. xi. 9. b As for our Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts is Jus name. — This verse stands absolutely, and is not connected with the preceding or the following. It seems to be an expression of admiration, or of grateful surprise, by which the prophet saw Jehovah as the Re- deemer of his people. He saw, in vision, Babylon humbled ; her pride brought low ; her power destroyed ; and the exile people set at liberty ; and, full of the subject, he breaks out into an expression of grateful surprise and rejoicing : — O ! our Redeemer ! It is the work of our Saviour, the Holy One of Israel! How great is his power! How faithful is he ! How able to protect ! How manifestly is he revealed ! Babylon is de- stroyed. Her idols could not save her. And her destruction has been accomplished by Him who is the Redeemer of his people, and the Holy One of Israel. Lowth regards this verse as the language of a, chorus, that breaks in upon the midst of the subject, celebrating the praises of God. The subject is resumed in the next verse. — Barnes. Babylon has reason to tremble when she is told who it is PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 89 Suonh. r. IV. HEZEKIAH 15th yeak. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xlvii. The Holy One of Israel. Sit thou silent \ and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans For thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people b, I have polluted mine inheritance, And given them into thine hand : Thou didst shew them no mercv c ; that has this quarrel with her. As for our Redeemer, or Goel, who undertakes to plead our cause as the avenger of our blood, he has two names, which speak not only comfort to us, but terror to our adversaries. 1. He is the Lord of Hosts, who has all creatures at His command, and therefore has all power both in heaven and earth. Woe to those against whom the Lord fights ! for the whole creation is at war with them. 2. He is the Holy One of Israel, a God in covenant with us, who will faithfully perform all the pro- mises he has made to us. God's power and holiness are engaged against Babylon, and for Zion. This may fitly be applied to Christ our great Redeemer: he is both Lord of Hosts, and the Holy One of Israel. — Henry. a Sit thou silejit. — A silent and sublime solitude ; a silence profound as the grave. — Porter's Travels, vol. II. pp. 294, 407. Lovvth remarks, that here a chorus breaks in upon the midst of the subject, with a change of construction, as well as sentiment, from the longer to the shorter kind of verse, for one distich only : after which, the former subject and style is resumed. — Low*h in loc. h I was wroth with my people, &c. — God, in the course of his providence, makes use of great conquerors and tyrants, as his instru- ments, to execute his judgments in the earth : he employs one wicked nation to scourge another. The inflicter of the punishment may perhaps be as culpable as the sufferer ; and may add to his guilt, by indulging his cruelty in executing God's justice. When he has fulfilled the work to which the divine vengeance has ordained him, he will become himself the object of it. See chap. x. 5 — 12. God charges the Babylonians, though em- ployed by himself to chastise his people, with cruelty in regard to them. They exceeded the bounds of justice and humanity, in op- pressing and destroying them ; and though they were really executing the righteous BOOK II. part i. decree of God, yet, as far as it regarded them- selves, they were only indulging their own ambition and violence. The Prophet Zecha- riah sets this matter in the same light : — I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction : chap. i. 15. — Lowth in loc. In this verse, and the following, a reason is assigned why God would deal so severely with her. One of the reasons was, that she had dealt cruelly with the people of God ; and in executing the punishment which he had designed on the Jewish people, she had done it with pride, ambition, and severity ; so that though God intended they should be punished, yet the feelings of Babylon in doing it were such also as to deserve his decided rebuke and wrath. Instead of doing it with any view to his glory and honour, it had been done for purposes of conquest, and with the utmost cruelty and severity of feeling. God had indeed been angry with his people, and he had delivered them into the hand of the Chaldaeans ; but in executing this design of his, they had evinced such feelings as to de- serve his most decided indignation. — Barnes. c Thou didst shew them no mercy. — Though God had given up his people to be punished for their sins, yet this did not justify the spirit with which the Chaldseans had done it, or make proper the cruelty which they had evinced toward them. It was true that some of the Jewish captives, as e.g. Daniel, were honoured and favoured in Babylon. It is not improbable that the circumstances of many of them were comparatively easy while there, and they are said to have acquired possessions, and formed attachments there which made them unwilling to leave that land when Cyrus permitted them to return to their own coun- try. But it is also true, that Nebuchadnezzar shewed them no compassion when he de- stroyed the Temple and city, and spread de- solation over the land. And it is also true, that the mass of them were treated with great 90 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutra 5. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712, Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlvii. Upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. 7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever : So that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, Neither didst remember the latter end of it. 8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, That dwellest carelessly, That sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me ; I shall not sit as a widow, Neither shall I know the loss of children : 9 But these two things3 shall come to thee in a moment in one day, The loss of children, and widowhood : They shall come upon thee in their perfection, For the multitude of thy sorceries, And for the great abundance of thine enchantments. 10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness : Thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee ' ; And thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. MARG. 1 v. 1 0. perverted thee, or caused thee to turn away. indignity and cruelty in Babylon : see Psalm i. 1 5. For the same reason, God says, Hos. i. 4, cxxxvii. 1, 3, where they pathetically and that he will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon beautifully record their sufferings : — the house of Jehu, though Jehu was ex- „ , e t> v. n *v. „ m, pressly commanded to smite the house of By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat \ , J . J , J Ahab : 2 Kings ix. 7. But he exceeded his own, commission, when he slew all Ahab's qreat Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion or J For there they that carried us away cap- of Ahaziah: 2 Kings x. tive required of us a song ; 1114 p 1 T th And they that wasted us required of us X 'a ™„ J? ™m- . , J n lwo tilings &c. — Notwithstanding the _ ™?ir '„. c .x, r v- „ precautions which Cyrus took, the Baby- Sayinff, Sine: us one of the songs of Zion. f . , ... < .' , j uajiut,, 0 0 ^ lonians rebelled against Darius ; and m Thus, also, Jeremiah describes the cruelty of order to hold out to the last extremity, they their conquerors : Jer. l. 17 : Israel is a scat- took all their women, and each man choosing tered sheep — the lions have driven him away ; one of them out of those of his own family and last, this Nebuchadnezzar king of Ba- whom he liked best, they strangled the rest, bylon hath broken his bones. See also Jer. that unnecessary mouths might not consume li. 34. Lam. iv. 16. v. 11-14. 2 Kings xxv. their provisions; thus signally fulfilling, 5—7—26. — Barnes. as Dr. Prideaux remarks, this prophecy of God often punishes the persons whom he Isaiah, Connect. Pt. I. Bk. 3 ; or rather, ac- makes instruments of his vengeance upon cording to Bp. Newton, this prophecy was others for those very things which they did by then fulfilled a second time, having been his appointment, because they exceeded their fulfilled before, when the Persians slew the commission, and were more intent upon satis- king himself, and a great number of the fying their own ambition and cruelty than Babylonians. See his Diss, on the Pro- upon executing his commands. See Zech. phecies x. book 11. part 1. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 1)1 $utra&. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlvii. 1 1 Therefore shall evil come upon thee11; Thou shalt not know from whence it riseth ' : And mischief shall fall upon thee ; Thou shalt not be able to put it off2: And desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. 12 Stand now with thine enchantments, And with the multitude of thy sorceries, Wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth ; siarg. ' v. 11. from whence it riseth. Heb. the morning thereof. 2 put it off. Hob. expiate. a Therefore shall evil come upon thee — In consequence of thy pride and self-confidence ; in consequence of the prevalence of corrup- tion, licentiousness, and sin ; in consequence of the prevalence of the arts of magic and of divination, and the contempt of the God of vengeance ; and in consequence of the cruel and unfeeling oppression of the people of God ; for all these crimes ruin shall come certainly and suddenly upon thee. Thou shalt not know from whence it cometh. Marg. the morning thereof. The margin ex- presses the true sense of the phrase. The word here used, intf, means the aurora, the dawn, the morning. See Is. xiv. 12. Lowth, says Barnes, has strangely rendered it, Evil shall come upon thee, which thou shalt not know how to deprecate. But the word pro- perly means the dawning of the morning, the aurora; and the sense is, that evil should come, or calamity should befal them whose springing forth, rising, or dawning, they did not see or anticipate. It would come unex- pectedly and suddenly, like the first rays of the morning. It would spring up, as if from no antecedent cause which would seem to lead to it, as the light comes suddenly out of the darkness. The origin of it they would not see, and the destruction would sud- denly and inevitably come upon them. Bp. Lowth observes that the word mnttf, hoio to deprecate, is so rendered by the Chaldee ; which is approved by Jarchi on the place ; and Michaelis Epim. in Praelect. xix. See Psalm lxxviii. 34. Videtur, says Seeker, in fine hujus commatis, deese verbum, ut hoc membrum prioribus respondeat. In order to set in a proper light this judicious remark, it is necessary to give the reader an exact ver- bal translation of the whole verse from Lowth, after the words of the original : BOOK H. PART I. nm -pVr am mmrr unn kV n^n -pV Vsm man ^in kV unn nV And evil shall come upon thee, Thou shalt not know how to deprecate it ; And mischief shall fall upon thee, Thou shalt not be able to expiate it ; And destruction shall come suddenly upon thee, Thou shalt not know What ? how to escape, to avoid it, to be de- livered from it. Perhaps 7137273 nK2, Jer. xi. 11. I am persuaded that a phrase is here lost out of the text ; but as the ancient ver- sions retain no traces of it, and a wide field lies open to uncertain conjecture, I have not attempted to fill up the chasm ; but have in the translation, as others have done before me, palliated and disguised the defect, which I cannot with any assurance pretend to sup- ply ; namely, Of which thou shalt have no apprehension. Lowth. Bishop Stock takes the same view of the verse, and says : To the verb "133, in the fourth line, which probably signifies To hide by smearing over, and thence to expiate, two parallel verbs appear to be wanting to com- plete the sense. The first of these, ITlti', though used in a neutral sense in Job xxx.30, where only it occurs, may very well be un- derstood, also actively, to signify darken or shade, as I render it ; in like manner as in English to blacken is either neuter or active. The third synonyme has been entirely lost from our copies ; perhaps because it was <)2 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlvii. If so be thou slialt be able to profit, If so be thou mayest prevail. 1 3 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers a, the star-gazers ', The monthly prognosticators2, Stand up, and save thee From these things that shall come upon thee. 1 4 Behold, they shall be as stubble ; The fire shall burn them ; They shall not deliver themselves3 from the power of the flame ; There shall not be a coal to warm at, Nor fire to sit before it. 15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, Even thy merchants, from thy youth : They shall wander every one to his quarter ; None shall save theeb. makg. ' v. 13. astrologers, the star-gazers. Heb. viewers of the heavens. 2 The monthly prognosticators. Heb. that give knowledge concerning the months. 3 v. 14. themselves. Heb. their souls. written over the end of a long line, and so neglected by transcribers. The Bishop puts the last two lines in one ; but, he adds, it seems so necessary to fill up the parallelism, that I was almost tempted to insert after Tin a significant verb which suits the metre nmn — to overlay it, to plate it over. I forbore, however ; because the passage, as it is, carries a meaning with it. a Astrologers. — The words here rendered astrologers, tZH^l! TQH, means properly the dividers of the heavens ; those who divided or cut up the heavens for the purpose of augury, or to take a horoscope. — Gesenius. What this art was, is not certainly known. It is probable that it referred to their desig- nating certain stars or constellations, or con- junctions of the planets in certain parts of the heavens, as being fortunate and propi- tious ; and certain others, as unfortunate and unpropitious. At first, astrology was syn- onymous with Astronomy ; but in process of time, it came to denote a distinct science, that which professes to discover certain con- nexions between the position and movements of the heavenly bodies, and the event which occurs on the earth. It was supposed that the rising and setting, the conjunction, and opposition of the planets excited a powerful BOOK II. PART i. influence over the fates of men — over the health of their bodies and the character of their minds, and the vicissitudes of their lives. Some regarded, it would seem, the positions of the stars as mere sig?is of the events which were to follow ; and others, and probably by far the larger portion, sup- posed that those positions had a positive in- fluence in directing and controlling the af- fairs of this lower world. — Barnes. h None shall save thee. — So certainly will all the predictions of God be accomplished ; so vain are all the arts and devices of man — all the strength of fortifications, and all the advantages for commerce, where God pur- poses to inflict his vengeance on a guilty nation. The skill of astrology cannot save it ; the advantages of science cannot save it ; accumulated treasures cannot save it ; brazen gates and massive walls cannot save it ; and commercial advantages, and the influx of foreigners, and a fertile soil, cannot save it. All these things are in the hand of God ; and he can withdraw them when he pleases. Babylon once had advantages for commerce, and for merchandize, equal to most of the celebrated marts now of Europe and Ame- rica. So had Palmyra, and Tyre,and Baalbec, and Petra, and Alexandria, and Antioch, PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. 03 Stt&afj. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. God, to convince the people of their foreknown obstinacy, revealeth his prophecies. He saveth than for his own sake. He exhorteth them to obedience, because of his power and providence. He lamenteth their backwardness. He powerfully delivereth his people out of Babylon. Isaiah xlviii. 1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob a, Which are called by the name of Israel, Babylon was in the midst of a country as fertile by nature as most parts of the United States. She had as little prospect of losing' the commerce of the world, or of ceasing- to be a place of wealth and power, as Paris, or London, or Liverpool, or New York. Yet how easy was it for God, in the accomplish- ment of his plans, to turn away the tide of her prosperity, and level her walls, and re- duce her to ruins ! How easy, in the arrange- ment of his Providence, to spread desolation over all the once-fertile plains of Chaldaea, and to make those plains pools of water ! And so with equal ease, if he pleases, and by causes as little known as were those which destroyed Babylon, can he take away the commercial advantages of any city now on earth, and reduce it to ruins. Tyre has lost all its commercial importance ; the richly-laden caravan has ceased to pause at Petra ; Tadmor lies waste ; Baalbec is known only by the far-strewed ruins — see Lamartine's description, in his Holy Land ; and Nineveh and Babylon are stripped of all that ever made them great, and can rise no more. God has taken away the im- portance and the power of Rome — once, like Babylon, the mistress of the world — by suffer- ing the malaria to desolate all the region in her vicinity : and so, with equal truth, all that contributes to the commercial import- ance and the wealth of New York, Phil- adelphia, Boston, London, or Paris, are under the controul of God. By some secret causes he could make these cities a wide scene of ruins ; and they may be, if they are like Babylon, and Tyre, and Tadmor in their character, yet like them in their doom. They should feel that the sources of their pro- sperity and their preservation are not in themselves, but in the favour and protection of God. — Barnes. Whilst this prophecy indubitably refers to Ancient Babylon, may we not consider it as predicting the fall of Mystical Babylon under the New Testament ? Besides its literal fulfilment, it may have a BOOK II. PART I. more full accomplishment in the discrimi- nating characters and terrible overthrow of the Great City, which is figuratively so called. The learned Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, in his Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies, speaking of the Reforma- tion, observes, vol. II. p. 37 of the 4th edit. : This important work was begun and prose- cuted on the common principle, that the Bishop of Rome was Antichrist; and the great separation from the Church of Rome was everywhere justified on this idea, that Rome was the Babylon of the Revelation, and that Christians were bound, by an express command in those prophecies, to come out of her communion. Why then, says he, page 169, was such an emblem employed? The reason is obvious : it is because Baby- lon was the first of all idolatrous cities, and the fittest to be an emblem of the enormous guilt, or to set in full light the extensive influence of idolatrous Rome ; for each, in its turn, was the mother of harlots and abo- minations of the earth ; the former corrupt- ing the Heathen world, and the latter the Christian. If, then, with the celebrated Vi- tringa, we apply this prophecy to Babylon under the New Testament, we have not only a graphical description of her wickedness, but a remarkable prediction of her desolation and complete overthrow. In this prospect, whilst others bewail her ruin, let us be prepared to obey the summons given by the Apostle John in the Revelation, xviii. 20 : Rejoice over her, thou lieaven, ye celestial inhabitants, and ye holy apostles and pro- phets, ye most distinguished honourable cha- racters in the Church ; for God hath avenged you on her. And let us unite with the great voice of much people, saying, Alleluia ; Sal- vation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God : for true and right- eous are his judgments : Rev. xix. 1,2. — Macculloch. a Hear ye this, O house of Jacob ! — This chapter contains renewed assurances of the 94 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. kct.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlviii. And are come forth out of the waters of Judah a, Which swear by the name of the Lord, And make mention of the God of Israel, But not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves of the holy city, And stay themselves upon the God of Israel ; The Lord of hosts is his name. 3 I have declared the former things from the beginning ' deliverance of the exile Jews from Babylon. It is designed, says Barnes, to state the cause for which the Captivity should occur ; and to furnish the assurance also, that, notwithstand- ing- their sins, and the justice of the judg- ment that should come upon them, God would deliver them from bondage. It contains la- mentations that there was a necessity for bringing these calamities upon them ; assu- rances that God had loved them ; appeals to themselves in proof that all they had suffered had been predicted ; and a solemn command to go forth out of Babylon. It is to be regarded as addressed to the exile Jews in Babylon ; though it is not improbable that the prophet designed it to have a bearing on the Jews of his own time as given to idolatry, and that he intended that the former part of the chapter should be an indirect rebuke to them, by shewing them the consequences of their proneness to ido- latry. The chapter is exceedingly tender, and full of love ; and is an expression of the kindness which God had for his own people. God had given them a special instance of his kind providence over them, in raising up a succession of prophets among them, to give them notice of such events as none of the heathen idols could tell. Their stubbornness, the prophet tells them, was the occasion of their captivity ; and he exhorts them to be reformed by their afflictions, to fit themselves for the deliverance which God had promised them. — Preb. Lowth. a And are come forth out oftlie waters of Judah — Are sprung from Judah as a foun- tain ; or, Flow from the fountain of Judah. The metaphor is taken from a fountain which sends forth its streams of water ; and the idea is, that they owed their origin to Judah, as the streams flowed from a fountain. A BOOK II. part i. similar figure is used by Balaam, in describing the vast increase of the Jews : He shall pour the ivater out of his bzickets, and his seed shall be in many icaters : Num. xxiv. 7. So in Deut. xxxiii. 28 : The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine. So Ps. lxviii. 26 : Bless ye God in the congregations, Jehovah, ye that are of the fountain of Israel. Margin. The idea is, that Judah was the fountain or the origin of the people who were then exiled in Babylon. The Ten Tribes had revolted, and had been carried away ; and the name of Benjamin had been absorbed in that of Judah, and this had become the common name of the nation. Hence the name Jews. Perhaps Judah is here mentioned with honour as the fountain of the nation, because it was from him that the Messiah was to descend, Gen. xlix. 10 : and this mention of his name would serve to bring that promise to view, and of course would be an assurance that the nation would not be destroyed, nor the power finally depart, until the Messiah should come. — Barnes. b I have declared the former things from the beginning. — The first argument here brought forward to establish the deity of God is taken from the prophecies delivered by his servants in ancient times respecting improbable events which had actually hap- pened. This proof, adapted to the meanest ca- pacity, was with great propriety adduced for the conviction of the sceptical, hypocritical, and profane. The former things which God had revealed by his servants were fulfilled in their season. Of this sort were the deliver- ance of Israel from Egypt ; their being put into possession of the land of Canaan ; with others of more recent date. — Macculloch. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 95 sect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th yeah. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlviii. And they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them ; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate ', And thy neck is an iron sinew, And thy brow brass ; 5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee ; Before it came to pass I showed it thee : Lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, And my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. 6 Thou hast heard, see all this ; And will not ye declare it ? I have shewed thee new things from this time, Even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7 They are created now, and not from the beginning ; Even before the day when thou heardest them not ; Lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. 8 Yea, thou heardest nota; yea, thou knewest not ; Yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened : For I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, And wast called a transgressor from the womb. 9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger b, marg. ' v. 4. obstinate. Heb. hard. a Yea, thou heardest not, &c. — These four because he knew their proneness to idolatry, lines, says Jenour, must be read alternately ; and therefore would take away any pretence the first with the third, and the second with which could be made of ascribing- this fore- the fourth : knowledge unto idols. To open the ear, is a Dinn*1? D3 nimw-xb 03 Hebrew phrase, signifying To make known. ■pm nnns-KV wo m 5?ee Is-L:,\ The w0/d ™ P™PerJy s5ni- -,«,-, -,,,-, ,«««, ,-, fies a Wlfe bein8" unfaithful to her husband, imn TM njrr D see Jer. iii. 10 ; and from thence it is applied I "p mp ]t33tt 2W31 to the sin of idolatry, which is often styled Yea, thou heardest not ; yea, thou knewest spiritual whoredom See Jer. iii. 14. Isa. not . hv. 5. and Bishop Patrick s Preface to his Yea, from the first thine ear was not opened Commentary on the Canticles. to them : For mV name s safce win I defer mine For I know that thou wouldest deal most anffr-~ & isTytrue they had been very pro- falsely, vokmg, says Henry, and God had been justly And Backslider was thy name from the imSr\ with th™:_ their captivity was the womb. punishment of their iniquity ; and if, when he had them in Babylon, he had left them to Ihe second line should be translated, says pine away and perish there, and made the Prebendary Lowth, Nor was thine ear opened desolation of their country perpetual, he had of old, or from the beginning ; as the par- but dealt with them according to their sins ; tide WD is translated in this very chapter, and it was what such a sinful people might verr. 3, 5. The prophet persists in repeating expect from an angry God : but, saith God, what he had said in the foregoing verses ; J will defer mine anger, or rather, stifle and BOOK II. PART I. 96 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. Sub a J). sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlviii. And for my praise will I refrain for thee, That I cut thee not off. 10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not 'with silver": v. 10. with silver, or for silver. suppress it : I will make it appear I am slow to wrath ; and will refrain from thee, not pour upon thee what I justly might, that I should cut thee off from being a people. And why will God thus stay his hand ? For my name's sake ; because this people was called by his name, and made profession of his name : and if they were cut otf, the enemies would blaspheme his name. It is for my praise: because it will redound to the honour of his mercy, to spare and re- prieve them ; and if he continued them to be to him a people, they might be to him for a name and a praise. It is true they were very corrupt and ill-disposed ; but God would himself refine them, and make them fit for the mercy he intended for them. / have refined thee — That thou mightest be made a vessel of honour. Though he doth not find them meet for his favour, he will make them so. And this accounts for his bringing them into the trouble, and con- tinuing them in it so long as he did : it was not to cut them oil*, but to do them good : it was to refine them, but not as silver, or with silver ; not so thoroughly as men refine their silver, which they continue in the furnace till all the dross is separated from it : but if God should take that course with them, they would be always in the furnace, for they are all dross, and, as such, might justly be put away, Ps. cxix. 119, as reprobate silver, Jer. vi. 30. He therefore takes them as they are, refined in part only, and not thoroughly. / have chosen tliee in the furnace of afflic- tion; i.e. made thee a choice one, by the good which the affliction has done thee ; and then designed thee for great things. Many have been brought home to God as chosen vessels, and a great work of grace has been begun in them, in the furnace of affliction. Affliction is no bar to God's choice, but sub- servient to his purpose. It is true they could not pretend to merit at God's hand so great a favour as their deliverance out of Babylon, which would put such an honour upon them, and bring them so much joy ; therefore, book n. PART I. saith GoA,for mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it. See how the em- phasis is laid upon that! for it is a reason which cannot fail, and therefore the resolution grounded upon it cannot fall to the ground. 8 I have refined them, but not with silver — tpm KVl "pnsnSJ mn. Bishop Stock, with Bishop Lowth, reads *p2D for rpIQ ; and renders it, as silver ; that is, not with the severe purgation which it undergoes in refining. And in the next line he reads ■pn3T"Q for "pmrQ, / have tried thee, proved thee, in the furnace of affliction, but not with its utmost force. In the margin it is, for silver. Many different interpreta- tions of this have been proposed. Jerome renders it, Non quasi argentum, not as silver. The Lxx , ovk eveKev apn 'W HTTTW.— It is clear, from the 16th verse of this chapter, that he who here speaks is the Son of God : see Is. xli. 4. lxi. 1. Luke iv. 18, 21. Rev. i. 11, 17. xxii. 13; in the last of which places Jesus Christ is called o izputToq kcu o eV^aToj. Which is thus explained by Andr. Caesar and Others : -n-putTog hia ryv Oeornra, evyaTos h~ia rrjv avOpcoTTOTijTa ; or, as others understand it, The beginning and the end, The efficient and the final cause of all. He is the Eternal, and will save and defend his people for ever. Ps. xxxvii. 28. Is. ix. 6, 7. Luke i. 33. He is our Redeemer, ver. 17, and will save us with an everlasting salvation ; Is. xxxv. 10. 1 Cor. i. 30 ; our hope, which rests on him, shall never be disappointed : Ps. xxxi. 2. Rom. v. 5. He, who is the First and the Last, has the keys of death and of hell: Rev. i. 17, 18. He will not therefore leave his members under the power of death, but will raise them up to eternal life in the last day, 1 Cor. xv. 20. John v. 28, 29. Glassii 'ONOMATOAOriA Messiae Prophetica, pp. 393, 394. b The Lord hath loved him — That is, Cy- rus. He whom Jehovah hath loved, will execute, &c. So Symmachus has well ren- dered it. — Lowth. BOOK II. PART I. c From, the time that it was, there am I — "OK UW nrVPn nm The two first words in the Hebrew, says Preb. Lowth, may be translated, Before the time that this was de- clared or foretold. So the same particle sig- nifies, Is. xliii. 13, where our Translators rightly render DT72 Before the day was. So Is. xviii. 2, J*17T"|73 signifies aforetime ; or thus, Before the time that it happened, then I foretold it, or then I had a being, as the same words, "ON □!£>, may very fitly be rendered, Prov. viii. 27 ; for the scope of that place is to shew the eternity of the Divine Wisdom. And D&7D signifies, from that time, Is. lxv. 20. This interpretation will make the sense clearer to this purpose : I have not delivered my predictions in ambiguous terms ; because I am from all eternity, and, being present to all the successions of time, can clearly foresee those distant events which my providence produces. d And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me— iTnrn ^nbttrnrr rm nnin • — And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, a?id his Spirit. Tt? eanv o kv t<3 'Haaiq, Ae^cov, Kat vvv Hvpiog aireareiXe yue, kcu to Hvev/Jia avrov ; ev a>, afjL(pi/36\ov ovtos tov ptjTov, iroTepov o Tlarrjp nal to 'Ayiov Tlvev/jLa direo~Tei\ai> tov 'hjaovv, r) o YlaTt]p aireyiov Ylvevfxa ; To hevrepov e&Tiv aXrjdeq. Who is it, that saith in Isaiah, And now the Lord hath sent me, and his Spirit ? in which, as the expression is ambiguous, is it the Father and the Holy Spirit who have sent Jesus ; or the Father who hath sent both Christ and the Holy Spirit? The latter is the true interpreta- tion.— Origen cont. Cels. lib. i. I have kept, says Bishop Lowth, the order of the words in the original, on purpose that the ambi- guity which Origen remarks in the version of the Lxx, and which is the same in the He- brew, might still remain ; and the sense, which he gives to it, be offered to the reader's judgment, which is wholly excluded in our Authorised Version. The foregoing part of the verse shews that the words are spoken by God ; and since it is here affirmed that the Lord God hath sent him, we can understand the words of none other but the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity, who was sent into the world by his Father, and was anointed to his pro- phetical office by the Holy Spirit : see Is. xi. 2. xlii. 1. lxi. i. Comp. Zech. ii. 10, 1 1. Here, indeed, only the divine nature of the Son of God is directly spoken of; but it is usual in Scripture to apply that to one part of his nature which properly belongs to the other, because of the Communication of Properties, as the Schoolmen term it. Thus St. Paul saith, that the Jews tempted Christ in the Wilderness, 1 Cor. x. 9 ; meaning the Logos, who afterwards assumed human-nature, and was called the Christ. It need not seem strange that Christ is introduced speaking these words ; for we find many other texts which are spoken of God in the Old Testa- ment applied to Christ in the New, to shew us that almost all the prophecies of the Old Testament relate to the times of the Gospel, and are to receive their utmost completion then. See Isaiah viii. 14. xlv. 23. And this will appear still more probable if we con- sider that several passages in this chapter, as well as in the general strain of these pro- phecies concerning the Restoration of Israel, have a plain aspect to some further restora- tion of the Church in the latter tim;s, and its deliverance from the mystical Babylon BOOK II. PART I. described in the Revelation. See Isai. xlv. 22, 23.— Preb. Lowth. There is evidently a change in the speaker here. In the former part of the verse it is God who is the speaker, but here it is he who is sent to bear the message. Or if this should be regarded, as Lowth and many others suppose, as the Messiah who is speak- ing to the exiled Jews, then it is an asser- tion that He had been sent by the Lord God and his Spirit. There is an ambiguity in the original which is not retained in our common Translation. The Hebrew is, And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me and his Spirit : and the meaning may be, either, as in our Version, that Jehovah and his Spirit were united in sending the Persons referred to — the speaker here ; or, that J e- hovah had sent him, and at the same time had also sent his Spirit to accompany what he said. Grotius renders it : The Lord, by his Spirit, has given me these commands. Jerome understands the word Spirit as in the nominative case, and as meaning that the Spirit united with Jehovah in sending the Person referred to. Dominus Dens misit me, et Spiritus ejus. The Septuagint, like the Hebrew, is ambiguous : Nvr Kvptos Kr- pioq airecrreiXe fj.e, nal. to Tlvev/na avrov. The Syriac has the same ambiguity. The Targum of Jonathan renders it : And now Jehovah, "j God hath sent me and his Word. It is perhaps not possible to determine, where there is such ambiguity in the form of the sentence, what is the exact meaning. As it is not common, however, in the Scriptures to speak of the Spirit of God as sending or commissioning his servants ; as the work of sending messengers is rather that which is claimed as appertaining to God the Father ; and as the object of the speaker here is evi- dently to conciliate respect for his message as being inspired, it is probably to be re- garded as meaning, that he had been sent by Jehovah, and was accompanied with the influences of his Spirit. Many of the Reformers, and others since their time, have supposed that this refers to the Mes- siah, and have derived a demonstration from this verse of the doctrine of the Trinity. The argument which it has been supposed h2 100 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUD.UI AND ISRAEL. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlviii. Thy Redeemer a, the Holy One of Israel ; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, Which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments b ! that these words furnish on that subject is, that three Persons are here spoken of; the person who sends, i. e. God the Father ; the Person who is sent, i.e. the Messiah ; and the Spirit who concurs in sending him, or by whom he is endowed. — Barnes. a 77ms saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, &c. — This solemn introduction to what follows in the two subsequent verses represents the supreme excellence of the glorious Person who addresses his people, his intimate con- nection with them, and the powerful obli- gations he hath brought them under to his obedience. God conveys instruction by means of his providence, his Law, and his Gospel, by his servants and his ordinances : and through the powerful agency of his Spirit he causes to profit by the important lessons which he inculcates. He opens the understanding, to perceive the meaning and design of the salutary instructions he con- veys, and effectually disposes to hearken to his voice and to obey his precepts. He writes his Law upon the heart, he puts his Spirit into his people, and causes them to walk in his statutes and judgments, and do them : Ezek.xxxvi. 27. In this manner God teaches to profit. And what the cloud was to the Israelites in the Wilderness, what the guide is to the wandering traveller, what the leader and commander is to the army, that, and infinitely more, is God to his people. He leadeth them by the way in which they should go. This expression may allude to the practice of parents who have the care of children, and, observing their incapacity to conduct themselves, take them by the hand, and lead them in the way that they should take. Let us diligently follow our gracious Lord and Leader, studious, whether in public or private, continually to set him before us, and to comply with his directions. — Mac- culloch. b O that thou hadst hearkened to my com- mandments I &c. — God had indeed brought them into captivity ; that is, he was about to do so ; and here forewarns them of it by his prophet : but they themselves were the cause HOOK II. PAKT I. of it. He did not afflict them willingly : as when he gave them his Law, he earnestly wished that they might be obedient : O that there were such an heart in them ! Deut. v. 29. xxxii. 29. So, when he punished them for the breach of his Law, he wished they had been obedient : O that my people had hearkened unto me! see Psalm lxxxi. 13. This confirms what God hath said and sworn, that He hath no pleasure in the death of sin- ners. He assures them, that if they had been obedient, it would have not only pre- vented their captivity, but would have ad- vanced and perpetuated their prosperity. He had abundance of good things ready to be- stow upon them, if their sins had not turned them away : Isai. lix. 1, 2. They should have been carried on in an uninterrupted stream of prosperity : Thy peace should have been as a river ; — thou shouldest have enjoyed a series of mercies, one ever following another as the waters of a river, which ever last. Their virtue and honour, and the justice of their cause, should in all cases have borne down opposition by their own strength, as the waves of the sea : such should their righteousness have been, nothing should have stood before it : whereas, now they have been disobedient, the current of their pro- sperity was interrupted, and their righteous- ness overpowered. The rising generation should have been very numerous ; whereas they were now very few, as appears by the small number of returning captives, Ezra ii. 64, not so many as one tribe when they came out of Egypt. They should have been num- berless as the sand, according to the promise, Gen. xxii. 17, of which they had forfeited the benefit. The honour of Israel had still been unstained : His name should not have been cut off, as now it is, in the land of Israel, which is either desolate or inhabited by strangers, nor should it have been destroyed from before God. Now, God tells them thus what he would have done for them if they had persevered in their obedience, that they might be the more humbled for their sins, by which they had forfeited such rich PARALLEL HISTORIES OK JUDAH AND ISRAEL. lot si:ct. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlviii. Then had thy peace been as a river, And thy righteousness as the waves of the sea : 19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, And the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof3; His name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. 20 Go ye forth of Babylon b, Flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing Declare ye, tell this, Utter it even to the end of the earth ; Say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts0 : He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them : He clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. 22 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. mercies. This should engage us against sin, that it has not only marred the good things which we have, but prevented the good things God had in store for us. It will make the misery of the disobedient more intolerable, to think how happy they might have been. God tells them this also, that his mercy might appear the more illustrious in working deliverance and salvation for them, though they had forfeited it, and ren- dered themselves unworthy of it. Nothing but a prorogation of mercy would have seved them. — Henry. 8 The offspring of thy botvels like the gra- vel thereof— TD^D fira "NSUWtt As the issue of the bowels of the sea ; that is, the fishes. — Salom. ben Melee. And so likewise Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, &v. Literally it is, And the offspring of thy boicels shall be like its bowels ; i. e. like the offspring of the sea. There is no place where the word means gravel. Jerome, however, renders it, ut lapilli ejus, as its pebbles. The Lxx, wg o xovs t?j? 7>7?, as the dust of the earth. The Chaldee renders it, as the stones of the sea; and the Syriac also. The sense, says Barnes, is essentially the same, that the num- ber of the people of that nation would have been vast. 6 Go ye forth of Babylon. — The Jews had permission to do so, by the proclamation of Cyrus ; and so, says Gill, the people of God will be called to come forth out of the mystical Babylon before its destruction, to which these words are applied, Rev. xviii. 4. Perhaps this, in the figurative sense, may be a BOOK II. PART I. call to the Christians in Jerusalem, now be- come another Babylon for wickedness, to come out of it a little before its ruin ; and may be applied to the call of persons by the Gospel, from a state of confusion, sin, and darkness. Flee from the Chaldeans, ivith the voice of singing ; not by stealth, or through fear, but openly and publicly, and with all the tokens and demonstrations of joy and gladness. So the Christians separated from the unbelieving Jews, as well as the followers of the Lamb from the Antichristian States, Rev. xix. 1 ; and so all that are called by great should flee from the company of wicked men. Declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth. — This shews that something more than deliverance from the Babylonish capti- vity is here intended ; even redemption and salvation by Christ, which the Apostles and Ministers of the word are here exhorted to declare and proclaim, even to the ends of the earth. Just so Lot was commanded to depart immediately out of Sodom, and not so much as look behind him, or shew any token of affection for the place, Gen. xix. 17. This admonition is renewed Is. lii. 1 1 ; repeated by the prophet Jeremiah, l. 8. 1.1.6, 45; and ap- plied by St. John to mystical Babylon, Rev. xviii. 4. And the prophet orders this mes- sage to be published to the ends of the earth, which implies that it is a matter of general concern. — Preb. Lowth. 0 They thirsted not when he led them through the deserts. — This is a part of that for which they would be called to celebrate 102 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AN!) ISRAEL. bkct. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th yeah. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Christ, being sent to the Jews, complaineth of them. He is sent to the tie utiles, with gracious promises. God's love is perpetual to his Church. The ample restoration of the Church. The powerful deliverance out of captivity. Isaiah xlix.a 1 Listen, O isles, unto me ; his name. It was not merely that he had redeemed them, hut that he had abundantly provided for their wants in the desert, and guided them safely, through the pathless Wil- derness, to their own land. The language used here is designed to denote that God would take care of them, and provide for them in returning to their country. The figure is taken from the fact, that God smote the rock in the Wilderness, and caused the waters to gush out, so as to meet their wants when they were travelling to the Promised Land. In like manner, he would provide for them while crossing the pathless sands of Arabia, in returning from Babylon. He would provide for them, as if he should smite the rocks, or make fountains gush forth at their feet : see Isaiah xxxv. 6, 7. xli. 17, 18 : He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. The allusion here is undoubtedly to the fact, that God caused the waters to flow out of the rock that Moses smote in the Wilderness: Num. xx. 11. — Barnes. Kimchi has a surprising obser- vation upon this place. If the prophecy, says he, relates to the return from the Baby- lonish Captivity, as it seems to do, it is to be wondered how it comes to pass that in the Book of Ezra, in which he gives an ac- count of their return, no mention is made that such miracles were wrought for them ; as, for instance, that God clave the rock for them in the desert. It is really much to be wondered, says Bishop Lowth, that one of the most learned and judicious of the Jewish Expositors of the Old Testament, having ad- vanced so far in a large comment on Isaiah, should appear to be totally ignorant of the prophet's manner of writing ; of the parabolic style which prevails in the writings of all the Prophets ; and more particularly of the prophecy of Isaiah, which abounds through- out in parabolic images, from the beginning to the end: — Hear, O heavens! and give ear, O earth ! — to the ivorm, and the fire, in the last verse. All that the prophet designed in this place, and which he has executed in the most elegant manner, was an explification BOOK II. TART I. and illustration of the gracious care and protection of God vouchsafed to his people in their return from Babylon, by an illu- sion to the miraculous Exodus from Egypt. See De Sac. Poesi Hebr. Praal. ix. Thus, says Gill, the Apostles of Christ, when they travelled through the Gentile world, as through a desert, publishing re- demption and salvation by Christ, had every needful supply, both of temporal and spiri- tual things ; they lacked not any thing. In like manner, the people of God, whilst they pass through the wilderness of this world to the heavenly glory, are furnished and re- freshed with living water, out of the foun- tain and fulness of grace in Christ; of which, if a man drink, he shall thirst no more : John iv. 14. See Isai. xlix. 10. The rock in the Wilderness typified Christ, from whom the living waters of grace flow, for the support and refreshment of the saints, lCor.x.4. A Isaiah xlix. — Hitherto the subject of the prophecy has been chiefly confined to the redemption from the Captivity of Ba- bylon ; with strong intimations of a more important deliverance sometimes thrown in, to the refutation of idolatry, and the demon- stration of the infinite power, wisdom, and foreknowledge of God. The character and office of the Messiah was exhibited in general terms at the beginning of chapter xlii. ; but here he is introduced in person, declaring the full extent of his commission ; which is, not only to restore the Israelites, and re- concile them to their Lord and Father, from whom they had so often revolted, but to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, to call them to the knowledge and obedience of the true God, and to bring them to be one Church together with the Israelites, to partake with them of the same common salvation pro- cured for all by the Great Redeemer and Reconciler of man to God. — Lowth in loc. The Redeemer here is to be regarded as having already come in the flesh, and as having been rejected and despised by the Jews, see verr. 4,5; and as now turning to PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDYH AND ISRAEL. 103 Shttrafi. r.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th yeah. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlix. And hearken, ye people, from far ; The Lord hath called me from the womb ; the Gentile world, and proffering- salvation to them. The preaching- of the Gospel, and the conversion of the heathen, and the homage which kings and princes would shew him, are represented as still future. The time when this is supposed to occur, therefore, as seen by the prophet, is when the Messiah had preached in vain to his own countrymen, and had been rejected by them ; and when there was a manifest fitness and propriety in his extending the offer of salva- tion to the heathen world. — Barnes. Faber considers this prophecy to relate particularly to Europe. — Hor. Mos. vol. II. sect. 4. ch. 2. In this chapter, it has been commonly supposed that the Messiah is introduced directly and personally, and that there is a primary reference to him and his work. There has been, says Barnes, great diffe- rence of opinion on this point ; but the com- mon sentiment has been, that the chapter has a direct reference to the Messiah. Some of the opinions which have been held may be briefly referred to, as introductory to the exposition of the chapter ; since the expo- sition of the whole chapter will be affected by the view which is taken of its primary and main design. This statement is abridged from Hengstenberg, Christology, vol. I. 1. According to some, the people of Israel are here introduced as speaking. This is the opinion of Paulus, Deoderlin, and Rosen- miiller. The argument on which Rosen- m'uller relies, is, that in ver. 3 the speaker is expressly called Israel. According to this idea, the whole people are represented as a prophet, who is here introduced as speaking ; who had laboured in vain ; and who, though Israel was not to be gathered, was in future times to be the instructor of the whole world, verr. 4—6. Yet this interpretation is forced and unnatural. To say nothing of the im- propriety of representing the collected Jewish people as a prophet — an idea not to be found elsewhere — according to this interpretation the people are represented as labouring in vain, when they had made no effort for the conversion of the heathen, and when their la- bouring in vain must have been to convert themselves ; and in ver. 5, this same people, BOOK II. paht I. as a prophet, is represented as not gathered ; and then in ver. 6, turning to the Gentiles,.in order to be a light to them, and for salvation to the end of the earth. It should be added, also, that even the ancient Jewish commen- tators, who have applied Isaiah liii. to the Jewish people, have not ventured on such an interpretation here. The only argument on which Rosenmuller relies in favour of this interpretation — that drawn from the fact that the name Israel is given to the speaker — will be considered in the Notes on ver. 3. 2. According to others, the prophet here refers to himself. This opinion was held by Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Grotius; and, among recent Interpreters, by Koppe, Hens- ler, St'audlin, &c. But this interpretation has little probability. It is incredible that the prophet should speak of himself as the light of the heathen world. The speaker represents himself as not satisfied, ver. 6, that the Jewish people should be given to him, but represents himself as sent for the salva- tion of the ends of the earth. Before this same individual who thus speaks, and who is rejected and despised by the Jewish peo- ple, kings and princes are represented as prostrating themselves with the deepest re- verence, ver. 7. But it is certain that Isaiah never formed such extravagant expectations for himself. He was sent to the Jews, and not to the heathen. Besides, there is the same objection to applying the name Israel, ver. 3, to the prophet Isaiah which there is to the Messiah. 3. Gesenius supposes that this refers not to the prophet Isaiah alone, but to the col- lective body of the Prophets, as represented by him. But to this view, also, there are insuperable objections. (1) Every thing in the statement here proves that the subject is an individual, and not a mere personification. The personal pronouns are used throughout, see verr. 1, 2, 4, &c. ; and the whole aspect of the account is that of its relating to an individual. It would be as easy and as proper to regard a statement made any- where respecting an individual, as referring to some collective body, as to interpret this in this manner. (2) The Prophets, taken IG4 PARALLEL HISTORIES OK JUDAJI AND ISRAEL. i.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th ykar. B.C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlix. From the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. collectively, cannot bear the name Israel, ver. 3 ; and even Gesenius admits this ; and, in order to evade the force of it, denies the genuineness of the word Israel in the third verse. (3) The Prophets nowhere represent themselves as called to exert an influence upon the heathen world ; but their common representation is, that the heathen would be converted by the Messiah. 4. The only other opinion which has been extensively held is that which refers the chapter directly to the Messiah. This was the opinion of the Christian Fathers gene- rally, and has been the common view of Expositors in modern times. It is the opi- nion of Lowth, Vitringa, Calvin, Hengsten- berg, and of most Interpreters. The parti- cular reasons for this opinion will be more clearly seen in the Notes on the chapter itself, particularly verr. 1—9. In favour of this interpretation, it may be observed in general: (1) That if the other interpretations which have been referred to are unfounded, it follows, as a matter of course, that it must have reference to the Messiah. (2) The ac- curate agreement of the words and phrases in the prophecy with the character of the Redeemer, as developed in the New Testa- ment, proves the same thing. (3) It is re- ferred to the times of the Messiah in Acts xiii. 47. and in 2 Cor. vi. 2. The chapter may be contemplated under the following division of parts or subjects ; viz. I. According to the interpretation sug- gested above, that it refers directly and mainly to the Messiah, he is introduced as himself speaking, and stating the object of his mission, and his rejection by the Jewish nation, and the fact, that he would be for an light to the Gentiles, verr. 1—6. This por- tion consists of the following subjects : a. The exordium, in which he calls the distant nations to attend to him, and to hear his voice, ver. 1. b. His call to the office of the Messiah, and his qualifications for the work, verr. 1 --3. He was called from the womb, ver. 1 : he was eminently endowed for the work, as a sharp sword, or a polished shaft is for battle, ver. 2 : he was the selected servant of God, by whom he designed to be glorified, ver. 3. c. The want of evident and manifest suc- cess in his work, ver. 4. He had laboured in vain ; yet he would commit his cause to God, with the certainty of entire future suc- cess, and with the assurance of the divine approbation. d. His future success would be glorious, verr. 5, 6. He should yet gather in the tribes of Israel, and should be for a light to the heathen world, and for salvation to the ends of the earth. II. A direct promise from Jehovah to the Messiah of ultimate success in his work, verr. 7-12. a. Men should indeed despise him, and reject him, ver. 7. b. Yet kings and princes should yet arise and honour him, ver. 7. c. Jehovah had heard him, and would yet give him for a covenant to the world ; a mediator, to recover the earth back to him- self, ver. 8. d. He should lead forth the prisoners, and those who sat in darkness, ver. 9 : he should protect and provide for them, so that the sun should not smite them, and so that their wants should be supplied, ver. 10 : he would remove all obstructions from their path, and would level mountains and exalt valleys, ver. 1 1 : and they who should be his fol- lowers should come from far, from a distant land, ver. 12. III. A song of praise, in view of the glo- rious results of the work of the Messiah, ver. 13. The heavens and earth are called on to rejoice. IV. Zion is comforted with the assurance that God had not forgotten her, and with great and glorious promises, verr. 14—21. a. Zion had said that Jehovah had for- gotten her, and left her to suffer alone, with- out pity or compassion, ver. 14. b. God assures her that he could no more forget her than a mother could forget her child, ver. 15. c. He had engraven her name on the palms of his hands, and he could not forget her, ver. 16. d. All her enemies and destroyers should flee away, ver. 17. e. She should be yet decorated and adorned as a bride, instead of being desolate, ver. 1 8 ; and should be greatly increased and enlarged, PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH ,\\l) ISRAEL. 105 3tafca&. ect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. PitoPiiETS— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlix. 2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword B ; In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, And made me a polished shaft ; In his quiver hath he hid me ; 3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified b. by accessions from the Gentile world, so that the place where she dwelt should be too strait for her, verr. 19—21. V. God would extend salvation, with all its blessings, to the Gentiles. Kings and queens should become the patrons of the Church of God ; and all the foes of himself, and of his cause, should be destroyed. How- ever mighty they might be, they should be humbled, and all flesh should see God's power to save, verr. 22—26. a He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword. — The servant of God, who speaks in the former part of this chapter, must be the Messiah. If any part of this character can in any sense belong to the prophet, yet in some parts it must belong exclusively to Christ, and in all parts to him in a much fuller and more proper sense. Isaiah's mis- sion was to the Jews, not to the distant nations to whom the speaker in this place ad- dresses himself. He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, to reprove the wicked, and to denounce unto them punishment, says Jarchi, understanding it of Isaiah ; but how much better does it suit him who is represented as having a sharp two-edged sword going out of his mouth, Rev. i. 16, who is himself the word of God ; which word is quick, and pow- erful, and sharper than any two-edged sivord, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart : Heb. iv. 12. This mighty agent and instrument of God, long laid up in store with him, and sealed up among his treasures, is at last revealed and produced by his power, and under his protection, to execute his great and holy purposes : he is compared to a polished shaft, stored in his quiver for use in due time. The polished shaft denotes the same efficacious word which is before represented by the sharp sword. The doctrine of the Gospel pierced the hearts of its hearers, bringing into captivity every BOOK II. PART I. thought to the obedience of Christ. The metaphor of the sword and the arrow, ap- plied to powerful speech, is bold yet just. — Lowth. The words in the original are as follow : mn mm is aan ^•onn it basn Tro ynV weri {TvnDn instwa The word rendered polished, ~ll~Q, says Barnes, may mean either chosen or polished. It properly means that which is separated or severed from others ; then, select, chosen, &c. Then it may mean any thing* which is cleansed or purified ; and here may denote an arrow cleansed from rust, that is, polished or made bright. The word shaft, yn, means properly, an arrow. And the sense here is, that the Messiah was like a sharp arrow, which penetrates the heart. The word quiver, r\2WH, means the covering which was made for arrows, and which was so slung over the shoulder that the arrows could be readily reached by the hand as they should be needed. He hath hid me — before his appear- ing, says Hengstenberg, the Messiah was concealed with God like a sword kept in a sheath, or like an arrow lying in the quiver. But Barnes thinks this is, perhaps, too refined and forced. The meaning is, probably, simply that he had protected him. God by his own power, says Calvin, protected Christ and his doctrine, so that nothing could hinder its course. Yet there is undoubtedly the idea that he was adapted to produce rapid and mighty execution ; that he was fitted, like an arrow, to overcome the foes of God ; and that he was kept in the quiver for that purpose. b Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. — There has been a great variety, as was intimated in the analysis of the chapter on p. 103, in the interpretation of this verse. The question of difficulty, says Barnes, is, To whom does the word Israel 10G PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. ect.iv. HEZEK1AH-15th ykar. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlix. 4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, refer ? And if it refer to the Messiah, why is this name SeKrca, in an acceptable time. So Jerome, Gesenius, and Hegstenberg* render it, in a time of grace, or mercy. The main idea is plain, that Jehovah was pleased to hear him when he called upon him, and would answer his prayers. In a time of favour, in a time that shall be adjudged to be the best fitted to the purposes of salvation, Jehovah will be pleased to hear and to exalt the Mes- siah to glory, and to make him the means of salvation to all mankind. Have I heard thee — Have I heard thy petitions, and the desires of my heart. The giving of the HOOK II. PART I. world to the Messiah is represented as in answer to his prayer in Ps. ii. 8. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the hea- then for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Barnes. b That thou may est say to tlie prisoners, Go forth. — God's covenant people, whilst un- converted, are prisoners, under the guilt and condemnation of sin ; and by virtue of the blood of the covenant they are set free. Christ, in the Gospel, speaks to them, and proclaims to them liberty, and they are brought into the liberty of the Children of God. In a state of nature, they are in dark- ness, ignorant of themselves and their lost condition, of the sinfulness of sin, and of Christ the way of salvation. They are com- manded to shew themselves among the people of God, in the House of God ; and they shall feed in the ivays, not in the broad way of sin, but in the ways of God, in the word and ordinances; and these pastures shall be in all high places, which are often barren and un- fruitful. The Targum is, in or by rivers of water shall be the place of their habitation. —Gill. PARALLKL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAKL. Ill SEOT.IV. HEZEKIAH-15TH YEAH. B.C. PRorHETS— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah xlix. 10 They shall not hunger nor thirst3; Neither shall the heat nor sun smite them : For he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, Even by the springs of water shall he guide them 1 1 And I will make all my mountains a way, And my highways shall be exalted. 12 Behold, these shall come from far": And, lo, these from the north and from the west ; And these from the land of Sinim. 13 Sing, O heavens ; and be joyful, O earth c; 712. a They shall not hunger nor thirst. — The spiritual sense of this and the foregoing verse imports a plentiful enjoyment of God's ordinances — compare Amos viii. 11 — together with freedom from persecution. The words are applied by St. John to the heavenly state of the New Jerusalem, Rev. vii. 16, 17 ; it being usual with the Prophets to describe the flourishing times of the Church militant by such expressions as properly belong to the Church triumphant, because every ad- vancement of God's kingdom in this world is a preeludium or earnest of the kingdom of heaven. — Preb. Lowth. b Behold, these shall come from far, Sec. — This is a prophecy of the conversion of the Jews, or of the Gentiles, or of both, in the Latter Day. They shall come to Christ, and to his Churches, and join in fellowship with them. The allusion is to the return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon. Some are said to come from far ; from the East, as it is generally interpreted ; from the several Eastern nations, as Persia, &c. ; and these from the North, from Media, or rather Baby- lon ; and from the West, or from the sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the countries beyond it ; and these from the land of Sinim. — Gill. There have been many different interpreta- tions given of the phrase The land of Sinim, O^D y\R. This word, says Barnes, occurs nowhere else in the Bible, and it is of course not easy to determine what country it meant. It is evident that it is some remote country ; and it is remarkable that it is the only land here specified by name. Some, it is said, should come from far ; some from the North, and others from the West ; and another por- tion from the country here specified by name. Jerome understands it of the South in gene- BOOK II. part i. ral: Isti de terra Australi. The Chaldee also interprets it as Jerome has done of the South. With these Barnes agrees. The Lxx understand it as denoting Persia, "AXAoi he etc 7J7? Hepcrtov. The Syriac has not trans- lated it, but retained the name Sinim. The Arabic coincides with the Septuagint, and renders it, from the land of Persia. Grotius supposes that it means the region of Sinai, to the south of Palestine ; and Vitringa also coincides with this opinion. Bochart sup- poses that it means the same as Sin orSyene, i. e. Pelusium, a city of Egypt ; and that it is used to denote Egypt, as Pelusium was a principal city of Egypt. In Ezek. xxx. 1 5, Sin — or Pelusium, margin — is mentioned as the strength of Egypt. This was also the opinion of Seeker. Bp. Stock understands the Chinese, in whose country a multitude of Jews lie hid, if we may believe the cu- rious account of them published by the Je- suit Brotier, in his Supplement to Tacit. Hist. lib. v. Gesenius supposes that it refers to the same people, and that the country in- tended is Sina, or China. This very ancient and celebrated people, he says, was known to the Arabians and Syrians by the name of Sin, Tcin, Tshini ; and a Hebrew writer might well have heard of them, if sojourning in Babylon, the metropolis as it were of all Asia. This name appears to have been given to the Chinese by the other Asiatics ; for the Chinese themselves do not employ it, and seem indeed to be destitute of any ancient domestic name, either adopting the names of the reigning dynasties ; or ostentatiously assuming high-sounding titles, as people of the empire in the centre of the world. — Lex. by Robinson. c Sing, O heavens ; and be joyful, O earth ! 112 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. I I 15 uv, HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlix. And break forth into singing, O mountains : For the Lord hath comforted his people, And will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, And my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, That she should not have compassion ' on the son of her womb a ? Yea, they may forget, Yet will I not forget thee. v. 15. That she should not have compassion. Heb. From having compassion. ■ — Transported with a view of these grand events, Isaiah exults in triumphant strains, inviting the whole creation to break forth into singing, to celebrate the glories of Re- demption. The object of God's tender com- passion are, his people, his afflicted, whom he hath chosen from among the Jews and Gentiles for his peculiar treasure, who share in his Redemption, who participate in his Spirit, who are blessed with the fruits of his loving-kindness, and walk in his law. He will have mercy on the afflicted, by adapting their afflictions to their necessities, by sup- porting them under their presence, and by sending them seasonable deliverance. — Macculloeh. Can a woman forget lier sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her wo?nb ? &c. — rbiy rwx nzjtynn n:ton-p nmn rwnrjtyn hVk-dj i*]T"DWtf ab 'OQN1 A mother's love is here set before us ; and we are assured that it is but a faint and im- perfect emblem of the love of God. And he would tell us further how it is that he loveth us. Mark the rising force of the words, which is noticed by many Commentators. Can a woman forget — she who is pre-eminently en- dowed with feeling and affection — can she forget her child? The child may be un- grateful and rebellious, but will she on that account forget him, withdraw from him her love, and banish him from her heart? Never! But, admitting that she may forget her grown- BOOK II. part i. up son, and far-distant daughter, will she therefore forget her infant, her tender, help- less, sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? No ! A tiger may forget her young, but not a ten- der mother. But to suppose possible that which we acknowledge to be an impossibility — a mother may forget her little child — does it then of necessity follow that she will not have compassion on the son of her womb ? that she can, without pain, see him languish and pine away and die ? A mother's eyes, which had never wept, would surely, at such a sight, become a fountain of tears. When, therefore, the Lord inquires, Can a mother forget her sucking child — are not all who are mothers ready with the answer ? Do they not reply with one voice, No, it cannot be ? And so, saith the Lord, will I not for- get you, my beloved children. Thus he loves you with the tenderness of the most tender mother. And yet more : here is not only a mother's tenderness, but a love beyond that of a mother. For the Lord does not merely say, I will not forget thee ; but he says, Yea, they may forget, but I will not forget thee. If that which appears impossible should in- deed take place — a mother may forget her sucking child — yet will not I, the unchange- able, the Eternal God, forget thee. This is strong language. Here is opened before us the deep abyss of love which the eye of man can never penetrate : and, as we have no means to fathom it, so we can form no concep- tion of it, much less can we give any adequate expression thereof. — Geneste's Kingdom of Grace, from the German of Krummacher, pp.12— 14. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. 113 sect. iv. HEZEKIAH-15THYKAR. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlix. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands'1; Thy walls are continually before me. 1 7 Thy children shall make haste ; Thy destroyers, and they that made thee waste" shall go forth of thee. 18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold0: a Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. — This is another argu- ment to answer the complaint of Zion in ver. 14. The argument is here, that Jehovah had engraven her upon the palms of his hands, and that her walls were continually before him. There have been various inter- pretations of this passage. Grotius supposes that it refers to a custom of placing some mark or sign on the hand, or on one of the fingers, when they wished to remember any thing ; and appeals to Exod. xiii. 9. Vitringa supposes that it alludes to the custom of ar- chitects, in which they delineate the size and form and proportions of an edifice on parch- ment or any other substance, before they commence building, such as we mean by the draught or model of the building; and that the sense here is, that God in like man- ner had delineated and drawn Jerusalem on his hands long before it was founded, and had it constantly before his eyes. According to this, the idea is, that God had laid out the plan of Jerusalem; that he had conceived the design of it long before it was built ; and that it was so dear to him, that he had even engraven it on his hands. Others have sup- posed that it refers to a device on a signet or on a ring worn on the finger or the wrist, and that the plan of Jerusalem was drawn and engraven there. The essential idea is, according to Barnes, that Zion was dear to God's heart ; that it was constantly before his eyes ; and that he had delineated it as an object in which he felt a deep interest, so deep as even to mark its outlines on the palms of his hands, when it would be con- stantly before him. In this view he agrees with Bishop Lowth ; as the opinion of the Bishop is best sustained by Oriental cus- toms. The following are his words : — This is certainly an allusion to some practice, common among the Jews at that time, of making marks on their hands or arms, by punctures on the skin, with some sort of sign or representation of the city or Temple, to shew their affection and zeal for it. They BOOK II. PART I. had a method of making such punctures, in- delible by fire, or by staining. See Note on ch. xliv. 5. It is well known that the pil- grims at the Holy Sepulchre got themselves marked in this manner with what are called the ensigns of Jerusalem : Maundrell, p. 75, where he tells us how it is performed ; and this art is practised by travelling Jews, all over the world, at this day. — Lowth in loc. As an architect, who is about to build a city, first lays down the outline, and marks out the spaces required for houses, streets, squares, and palaces ; so also hath the Lord delineated his whole plan of the spiritual Zion ; and it is upon the palms of his hands that he has graven it. There, in his eternal purpose, doth it stand, finished and adorned in all its splendour ; and who can hinder him from perfecting his great and mighty design ? — Geneste's Kingdom of Grace, from the German of Krummacher, p. 14. ed. 2. b Thy destroyers, and they that made thee waste — They that destroyed thee shall soon be- come thy builders ; And they that laid thee waste shall be- come thine offspring. 1K2T *pD shall proceed, spring, issue, from thee, as thy children. The phrase is fre- quently used in this sense: see chap. xi. 1. Micah v. 2. Nahum i. 11. The accession of the Gentiles to the Church of God is consi- dered as an addition made to the number of the family and children of Sion : see verr. 21, 22 ; and chap.lx.4. — Lowth. 0 Lift up thine eyes round about, and be- hold ! &c. — Look east, west, north, and south, and behold the flocking converts from all parts ! The words are spoken to the Church, and for her comfort ; and so the Targum : Lift up thine eyes around about, O Jeru- salem, and see all the children of the people of thy captivity. All t/iese gather themselves to- gether, and come to thee. — Though of different nations, and coming from different quarters, they shall coalesce together and make one body, and join themselves with the Church, 114 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlix. All these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, And bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. 19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, Shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants a, And they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, Shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me : Give place to me that I may dwell. 21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, in which they centre. As I live, saith the Lord. — This is the form of an oath some- times used by the Lord to denote the impor- tance and certainty of a thing', and to assure his people of it. Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament. — As children's children are the crown of old men, Prov. xvii. 6, so young- converts are the or- nament and glory of the Church, even those who are beautified with the graces of the Spirit, and whose conversation becomes the Gospel of Christ. Thus, in the Latter Day, when the Jews are converted and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in, the marriage of the Lamb will be come, and the Church made ready as a bride for her husband, and be very beautiful and comely in his sight, as well as very happy and blessed in herself. This will be matter of joy to all the Saints, Rev. xix. 7. 8. The Targum is : All these shall be unto thee as a garment of glory, and their works in the midst of them as the ornament of a bride. — Gill. After the Captivity, the Jews were very much increased ; they not only filled the land of Judah, but multitudes in- habited the adjacent cities and countries; and many were proselyted to the Jewish Re- ligion, and became Zion's adopted children. Yet the context and the expressions lead us rather to interpret the prophecy of the en- largement of the Church, by the breaking down of the partition wall, and by the con- version of the Gentiles to Christ ; which has already diffused the worship of the true God far more widely than of old, and which, after the recall of the Jews into the Church, shall at length fill the whole earth with the know- BOOK II. PART I. ledge of his glory : Isaiah liv. 1--5. Jer. xxxi. 15—17. The restoration of Israel, and the re-union of Judah and Israel, may be included in these general terms, but cannot be ex- clusively predicted. — Scott. As truly as the kingdom of Solomon was upon his death divided, and thereafter removed from off the land ; and as to the main portion of it — that called the whole house of Israel — lost sight of as such by the world ; so truly shall the Son of David raise up the lost tribes of Israel, re- unite the two houses, and restore them to their lost possessions, giving them, at the same time, to possess the earth. And as truly as the Temple of Solomon was speedily desecrated, and at length given over into the hands of the enemy, so truly shall the Lord soon complete, and give to shine forth with transcendent beauty, that Temple which shall be holiness to the Lord, and against which the gates of hell shall never prevail. — Wil- son's World to Come, p. 74. a Too narrow by reason of the inhabitants. — This must be understood either of the ac- cession of the Gentiles into the Church, see verr. 22, 23, typified by Judaea re-peopled after it had lain desolate ; or else we must suppose the words point at some future re- storation of the Jewish nation. For we do not find the catalogues of those who re- turned, recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah, to answer this prophecy : nor did the Jews re- possess the whole extent of Palestine after the Captivity, or make that figure in the world which they had done in former times, and especially before the separation of the Ten Tribes.— Preb. Lowth. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL, 115 sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlix. Seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, A captive, and removing to and fro ? and who hath brought up these ? Behold, I was left alone ; these, where had they been ? 22 Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, And set up my standard to the people : And they shall bring thy sons in their arms ', And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers2, And their queens3 thy nursing mothers3: They shall bow down to theeb with their face toward the earth, And lick up the dust of thy feet ; And thou shalt know that I am the Lord : For they shall not be ashamed that wait for mec. v. 22. arms. Heb. bosom, queens. Heb. princesses. 2 v. 23. nursing fathers. Heb. nourishers. a Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers. — This pro- mise was in part fulfilled in the Jews, after their return out of captivity : many of the kings of Persia were very tender of their in- terest, and countenanced and encouraged them, as Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes. Esther the queen was a nursing mother to the Jews who remained in their captivity, putting her life in her hand to snatch the child out of the flames. The Christian Church, after a long captivity, was happy in some such kings and queens as Constantine and his mother Helena, and afterward Theodosius and others, who nursed the Church with all possible care and tenderness. Whenever the sceptre of government is put into the hands of religious princes, then this promise is ful- filled. The Church in this world is in an infant state, and it is in the power of princes and magistrates to do it a great deal of ser- vice : it is happy when they do so, when their power is a praise to them that do well. Others of them who stood out against the Church's interests will be forced to yield and repent of their opposition. They shall bow dozen to thee, and lick the dust. — The promise to the Church of Philadelphia seems to be borrowed from this, Rev. iii. 9 : I will make them of the synagogue of Satan to come and worship before thy feet. Or it may be meant of the willing subjection which BOOK II. PART I. kings and kingdoms shall pay to Christ the Church's King, as he manifests himself in the Church, Ps.lxxii. 11: All kings shall fall down before him. And by all this it shall be made to appear that God is the Lord and Sovereign of all, against whom there is no standing out or rising up ; and that those who wait for him, in a dependence on his promise, and a resignation to his will, shall not be made ashamed of their hope ; for the vision of peace is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak, and not lie. — Henry. b They shall bow doion to thee &c. — It is well known that expressions of submission, homage, and reverence, always have been and are still carried to a great degree of extravagance in the Eastern countries. These expressions therefore of the prophet are only general poetical images, taken from the man- ners of the country, to denote great respect and reverence : and such splendid poetical images, which frequently occur in the Pro- phetical Writings, were intended only as ge- neral amplifications of the subject, not as predictions to be understood and fulfilled precisely according to the letter. — Lowth. c They shall not be ashamed that wait for me. — Those who, in the exercise of faith and hope and patience, wait upon God for the interpositions of his providence and the fulfilment of his promises, shall never be i 2 110 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUD.VH AND ISRAEL. %vtoa% sect. tv. HEZEKTAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah xlix. 24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, Or 'the lawful captive delivered3? 25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives2 of the mighty shall be taken away, And the prey of the terrible shall be delivered : For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, And I will save thy children. 26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh ; And they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine3: And all flesh shall know That I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, The mighty One of Jacob. marg. ' v. 24. the lawful captive. Heb. the captivity of the just. 2 v. 25. captives. Heb. captivity. 3 v. 26. sweet wine, or new wine. confounded. Though sometimes they may be disappointed of the assistance, protection, and deliverance they looked for at the time they wished to enjoy them, yet all their ex- pectations founded on the promises of God shall ultimately be more than realized. They shall not be ashamed of their hope of the foundation whereon it rests, nor of the ob- jects on which it terminates. Jehovah will not alter the thing' that is gone out of his mouth, nor will he frustrate those longing" desires which he himself has excited. His infinite goodness, wisdom, truth, and power, give the strongest security that his promises shall not fail of their accomplishment. — Macculloch. a Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive be delivered ? &c. rnpVn -man np^n mm -ton nma rip11 -ma "acrm vhy y*iy rnpVni □nm-na TrcrnK Tfeaam nm-bD urn ■pr-twa mm *a** *3 : npx^ T1K y?JM1 This seems to be the language of Zion. It is not exactly the language of incredulity ; BOOK II. PART I. it is the language of amazement and wonder. God had made great promises. He had pro- mised a restoration of the captive Jews to their own land. He had spoken of their complete deliverance from the Chaldseans ; and he had still further provided that the blessings of the true religion should be ex- tended to the Gentiles, and that kings and queens should come and show the profoundest adoration for God and for his cause. With amazement and wonder at the greatness of these promises, with a full view of the diffi- culties to be surmounted, Zion asks here, How can they be accomplished ? It would involve the work of taking the prey from a mighty conqueror, and delivering the captive from the hand of the strong and terrible, a work which had not been usually done. Bishop Lowth reads it, Shall the prey seized by the terrible, be rescued? and he thinks, that instead of p"H2i the just, it should be Y^V the terrible. Noyes agrees with him. Jerome so reads it, and renders it, a robusto, By the strong. So the Syriac reads it. The Lxx render it, If any one is taken captive unjustly, atiiKtog, shall he be saved? But, says Barnes, there is no authority from the MSS. for changing the present reading of the Hebrew text, and it is not necessary. The word just may either refer to the fact, that the just were taken captive, and to the diffi- culty of rescuing them ; or, as Rosennriiller suggests, it may be taken in the sense of severe or rigid, or as standing opposed to PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. L7 Shtfcaf). sect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Christ sheweth that tfie dereliction of the Jews is not to be imputed to him, by his ability to save, by his obedience in that work, and by his confidence in that assistance. An exhortation to trust in God, and not in ourselves. Isaiah l." 1 Thus saith the Lord, benignity or mercy, and thus may be synony- mous with severity and harshness ; and the meaning may be, that it was difficult to rescue a captive from the hands of those who had no clemency or benignity, such as was Baby- lon. Bishop Stock translates it, completely captivated; and says that p"H2i is complete, as the Latins say Justus exercitus, justum volumen, &c. Grotius understands it of those who were taken captive in a just war, or by the rights of war. But the connection rather demands that we should interpret it of those who were indisposed to clemency, and who were severe and rigid in their treatment of their prisoners. The idea is, that it was diffi- cult, or almost impossible, to rescue captives from such hands, and that therefore it was matter of wonder and amazement that that could be accomplished which God here pro- mises. But God declares, that however difficult or impracticable this might seem to be, yet it should be done; that he would punish the nation which had inflicted these wrongs on them, and rescue his people from bondage; and all flesh should know his power. The effect of all this should be, to diffuse the true religion throughout the world. The truth taught here, is, that the Church shall be kept from utter extinction, notwithstanding the efforts of so many mighty nations to destroy it; and thus it shall be amply demonstrated that God is its pro- tector, and that this is the only true re- ligion. A very slight acquaintance with history, observes Barnes, with the repeated efforts to destroy the ancient people of God in Egypt, in the Wilderness, in Babylon, and under Antiochus Epiphanes ; with the early persecutions of the Christians in Judsea ; with the successive persecutions in the Roman empire, from the time of Nero to Diocletian ; with the persecution of the Waldenses in Switzerland, of the Hugonots in France, and of the Reformers in England, will be sufficient to convince any one that God is the protector of the Church, and that no weapons formed against her shall prosper. BOOK II. PART I. Her enemies shall be distracted in their counsels, and left to anarchy and over- thrown; and the Church shall rise re- splendent from all their persecutions, and shall always prosper ultimately, just in pro- portion to their efforts to destroy it. a Isaiah l. — This chapter properly consists of two parts. The first part comprises the first three verses, and contains a statement of the reasons why the Jews had been rejected and punished as they had been. They are to be regarded as in exile in Babylon. ^ It might be alleged by some of the unbelieving among them, that the calamities which came upon them were proof of caprice in God, or of want of faithfulness, or of want of power ; and not any proof that they were sinners, and were suffering under his righteous displea- sure. To meet these implied charges, and to shew them the true cause of their suffering, is the design of this portion of the chapter. In this, God says : 1. That their sufferings and their rejection were not the result of mere will or of ca- price on his part, as a husband often puts away his wife, without any good reason, ver. 1. It was not like an arbitrary divorce. 2. There was a reason for their rejection and punishment; and that reason, and the sole reason, was, ver. 1, they had brought all these calamities upon themselves, and had in fact sold themselves. 3. It was not for want of power on the part of God to save them. His hand was not shortened ; and he had abundantly shewn that he had power to defend his people ; verr. 2, 3. He was able to dry up the sea, and to make the rivers a desert ; and he clothed the heavens with darkness ; and he was abun- dantly able therefore to save his people. The second part of the chapter comprises the portion from ver. 4 to ver. 11. This re- lates to a different subject; and in regard to it there has been considerable variety of in- terpretation. A speaker is introduced who claims to be eminently qualified for the office to which he was called, ver. 4 ; who has been 118 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. '.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets-ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah l. Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement3, Whom I have put away ? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you ? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, And for your transgressions is your mother put away. Wherefore, when I came, was there no manb? When I called, was there none to answer ? amply endowed by God for the embassage on which he is sent, ver. 5 ; who meets with opposition, and who yet receives it all with meekness, ver. 6 ; who puts his trust in God, and confides in him alone, verr. 7—9 ; and who calls on all who fear the Lord to hear him, ver. 10 ; and who threatens to inflict punishment on all who do not listen to him, ver. 11. This portion of the chapter has been referred, by different Interpreters, to different individuals. Grotius, Rosenmuller, Dathe, Koppe, and some others, suppose that it refers either to the prophet him- self, or to some other one living in exile at the time of the Captivity. Jerome says that this also was the prevailing interpreta- tion among the Jews in his time. Paulus supposes that it is not the prophet who speaks, but the better and more pious por- tion of the Jewish people. But the more common interpretation is that which refers it to the Messiah. — Barnes. a Where is the bill of your mother's divorce- ment ? — Husbands, through moroseness and levity of temper, often sent bills of divorce- ment to their wives on slight occasions, as they were permitted to do by the Law of Moses : Deut. xxiv. 1. And fathers, being oppressed with debt, often sold their child- ren ; which they might do for a time, till the year of release : Ex. xxi. 7. That this was frequently practised, appears from many parts of Scripture ; and, that the persons and the liberty of the children were answerable for the debts of the father. The widow, 2 Kings iv. 1, complains that The creditor is come to take unto him her two sons, to be bondmen. And in the parable, Matt, xviii. 25, The lord, forasmuch as his servant had not to pay, commands him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. But this, saith God, cannot be my case ; I am not governed by BOOK II. part I. any such motives, neither am I urged by any such necessity : your captivity, therefore, and your afflictions, are to be imputed to your- selves, and to your own folly and wicked- ness.— Lowth in loc. b Wherefore, when I came, icas tliere no man ? — It is plain that it was by their own acts they were cast off; for God came and offered them his favour, offered them his helping hand, either to prevent their trouble, or to deliver them out of it ; but they slighted him and all the tenders of his grace. Do you lay it upon me, saith God? Tell me then, ivherefore, when I came, was there no man to meet me ? when I called, there was none to answer me ? God came to them by his servants the Prophets, demanding the fruits of his vineyard, Matt. xxi. 34 : he sent them his messengers, rising up betimes and sending them, Jer. xxxv. 15 ; called on them to leave their sins, and to prevent their own ruin : but there was no man, or next to none, that had any regard to the warnings which the Prophets gave them ; none that answered the calls of God, or complied with the mes- sages he sent them: and it was for this they were sold and put away: because they mocked the messengers of God, therefore God brou (jlit upon them the king of the Chaldees, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16, 17. Last of all he sent unto them his Son : he came to his own, but his own received him not : he called them to himself, but there were none that answered : he would have gathered the children of Je- rusalem together, but they would not : they knew not, because they would not know, the things that belonged to their peace, nor the day of their visitation ; and for that trans- gression it was that they were put away, and their house left desolate, Matt. xxi. 41. xxiii. 37,38. Luke xix. 41, 42. When God calls men to happiness, and they will not answer, they are justly left to be miserable. — Henry. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 1 19 r.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th tkah. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah l. Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem ? Or have I no power to deliver ? Behold, at my rehuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness : Their fish stinketh, because there is no water, And dieth for thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, And I make sackcloth their covering. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned a, That I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary : He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear To hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, And I was not rebellious, Neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters b, And my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me ; Therefore shall I not be confounded : Therefore have I set my face like a flint, ;ire a Tlie Lord God hath given me the tongue wounded conscience, and to those who of the learned. — In the preceding1 verses it weary of sin, or harassed with temptations is here supposed that Christ spake as Jeho- and afflictions : Is. lxi. 1—3. Matt. xi. 28—30. vah. Here he speaks as Mediator : for there This characterized his ministry and the Go- is not the least intimation of any change in spel dispensation : and as the Spirit of the the speaker ; and the things spoken in the Lord God was upon him, that he might following verses are inapplicable in many speak as never man spake, so the divine in- respects to Isaiah, for they refer to distant fluence wakened him morning by morning events, and evidently accord to Christ. Be- to pour out his prayers, to preach the Gospel, lieving Jesus to be God and man in one and to receive and deliver the whole will of Person, we need not be surprised to find him the Father with that exact attention which sometimes speaking or spoken of as the Lord the learner pays, or he that is learned has God, and at other times as man and the ser- paid to the voice of the Teacher. — Scott. vant of Jehovah. This is frequent in the b J gave my back to t/ie smiters, &c. — New Testament, and there are undeniable This was literally fulfilled in Christ, as is instances of it in the Old : Isaiah xl. 9— 17. expressly affirmed Matt. xxvi. 57, 67. xxvii. xlii. 1—4. Zech. ii. 6—9. The encouraging 26, 30. and elsewhere ; but we read of no nature and tendency of our Lord's ministry, such thing concerning Isaiah. And there- his condescension, and unrivalled qualifica- fore it is most safe and reasonable to under- tions as a Teacher, rendered the obstinate un- stand it of Christ, the rather because it is belief of the Jews inexcusable. He was not usual with the Prophets to commend especially qualified and commissioned by themselves so highly as the prophet here the Father to declare those truths which give commends the person of whom he is speaking, seasonable comfort to the broken heart and See Numb. xii. 14. Job xxx. 10. — Poole. BOOK II. PART I. 120 PARALLEL HISTORIES OK JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutra!). sect. iv. HEZEKI AH— 12th year. B. C. 71 2. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah l. And I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8 He is near that justifieth me"; Who will contend with me ? — let us stand together : Who is mine adversary ' ? — let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God will help me ; Who is he that shall condemn me ? Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment ; The moth shall eat them up. 10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord", That obeyeth the voice of his servant, That walketh in darkness, and hath no light ? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, And stay upon his God. marg. ' v. 8. mine adversary ? Heb. the master of my a He is near that justifieth me. — That is, God, who will vindicate my character, and who approves what I do, does not leave nor forsake me, and I can with confidence com- mit myself and my cause to him : see Note on Isai. xlix. 4. p. 107. The word justify, here, is not used in the sense in which it is often used in the Scriptures, as denoting the act by which a sinner is justified before God ; but, in the proper judicial sense, he would declare him to be righteous ; God would vin- dicate his character ; he would stand forth as his patron and judge, and would shew him to be innocent. This was done by all the testimonials of God in his favour — by the voice which spake from heaven at his baptism — by all the miracles which he wrought, shewing that he was commisioned and approved by God — by the fact, that even Pilate was constrained to declare him inno- cent— by all the wonders which attended his crucifixion, shewing that he was a righteous man, even in the view of the Roman Centu- rion, Luke xxiii. 47 — and by the fact, that he was raised from the dead, and was taken to heaven, and placed at the right hand of the Father; thus shewing that his whole work was approved by God, and thus fur- nishing the most ample vindication of his character from all the accusations of his foes. — Barnes. b Who is among you that feareth the Lori)?&c. — Bishop Lowth adduces this verse as an instance of parallelism in the five-lined BOOK IT. PART I. stanza, which consists of an alternate qua- train, with a fifth line annexed ; thus : mm K"p tm to top Vipa yaw mm caca nton*1 Who is there among you that feareth Je- hovah, Let him hearken to the voice of his servant : That walketh in darkness, and hath no light ? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah ; And rest himself on the support of his God. Bishop Lowth. The whole prophecy is concluded with an address in this verse made to the friends of God, and in the next verse to his enemies. It is the language of the Messiah, addressed to these two classes of the human family, calling on the one to put their trust in Je- hovah, and threatening the other with his displeasure and wrath. The exhortation in this verse is made in view of what is said in the previous verses. It is the entreaty of the Redeemer to all who love and fear God, and who may be placed in circumstances of trial and darkness, as he was, to imitate his example, and not to rely on their own power, but to put their trust in the arm of Jehovah. He had done this, verr. 7 — 9. He had been afflicted, persecuted, forsaken by men, ver. 6 ; PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 12 L Sufcaft. r. 1V. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah l. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire a, That compass yourselves ahout with sparks : Walk in the light of your fire, And in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand ; ye shall lie down in sorrow. and he had at that time confided in God, and committed his cause to him, and God had never left nor forsaken him. Encou- raged by his example, he exhorts all others to do the same, and to cast themselves on the care of him who would defend a right- eous cause. — Barnes. The text contains two questions, to each of which a particular answer is given in order. A man awakened under a sense of sin and misery may have a dread of Jehovah, and tremble at his word ; and what should such a person do? Why, he should hear what God's servant saith, Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. There may be a sincere penitent walking in darkness, having no light of salvation ; for this is the case of all, when they first begin to turn to God. What should such do ? They should trust, believe on the Lord Jesus, who died for them ; and lean upon his all-sufficient merits for the light of salvation which God has promised. Thus acting, they will soon have a sure trust and confidence that God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven them their sin, and thus they shall have the light of life. — Adam Clarke. a All ye that kindle a fire. — The fire of their own kindling, says Bishop Lowth, by the light of which they walk with satisfac- tion, is designed to express, in general, human devices and mere worldly policy, ex- clusive of faith and trust in God ; which, though they flatter themselves for a while with pleasing expectations and some appear- ance of success, shall, in the end, turn to the confusion of the authors. Or, more parti- cularly, as Vitringa explains it, it may mean the designs of the turbulent and factious Jews in the times succeeding those of Christ, who, in pursuit of their own desperate schemes, stirred up the war against the Romans, and kindled a fire which consumed their city and nation. This verse being the counterpart to the address to the righteous in the preceding BOOK II. part i. verse, it is given below, for comparison, in the original : mi Tnp qdVd p mpn nisn nmm rnpen qsiz/k -too taV qdV nxrnrvn *m tyasmn maunofr Behold, all ye who kindle a fire, Girding yourselves with brands, Walk in the light of your fire, and amid the brands ye have kindled. From mine hand shall this befal you, In sorrow ye shall make your bed. Bishop Stock. The figure is continued from the previous verse. The pious who are in darkness wait patiently for the light which Jehovah shall kindle for them ; but not so with the wicked. They attempt to kindle a light for themselves, and to walk in it. The phrase, that kindle a fire, refers to all the plans which men form with reference to their own salvation; all which they rely upon to guide them through the darkness of this world. The confidence of the pious is in the light of God; that of the wicked is in the light of men. There has been a considerable diversity in the interpre- tation of the word here rendered sparks, mpT. It occurs no where else in the Bible ; though the word D^pT occurs in Prov. xxvi. 18, where it is rendered in the text fire-brands, and in the margin, flames or sparks. Gese- nius supposes that these are different forms of the same word, and renders the word here burning arrows, fiery darts. The Vulgate renders it flames. The Lxx, (p\o^i, flame. In the Syriac the word has the sense of light- ning. Vitringa supposes it means faggots ; and that the sense is, that they encompass themselves with faggots, in order to make a great conflagration. The idea probably is, that all human devices for salvation bear about the same resemblance to the true plan proposed by God which a momentary spark 122 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutrat). sect. iv. HEZEKIAH-15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. An exhortation, after tlie pattern of Abraham, to trust in Christ, by reason of his comfortable promises, of his righteous salvation, and man's mortality. Christ by his sanctified arm defendeth his from the fear of man. He bewaileth the afflictions of Jerusalem, and promiseth deliverance. Isaiah li.8 1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, in the dark does to the clear shining of a bright light like that of the sun. If this is the sense, says Barnes, it is a most graphic and striking description of the nature of all schemes by which the sinner hopes to save himself. There are some, says Dr. Adam Clarke, who, without faith, repentance, or a holy life, are bold in their professed confidence in God ; presumptive in their trust in the mercy of God ; and, whilst destitute of all preparation for the kingdom of heaven, would think it criminal to doubt of their final salvation. Living in this way, what can they have at the hand of God but an endless bed of sorrow : Ye shall lie down in sorrow. But there is a genera] sense, and accordant to the design of the prophecy, in which these words may be understood and paraphrased : Behold, all ye that kindle afire — provoke war and conten- tion— compass yourselves about with sparks — stirring up sedition and rebellions. Walk in the light of your fire — Go on in your lust of power and restless ambition. Ye shall lie down in sorroiv — It will turn to your own perdition. See the Targum. This seems to refer to the restless spirit of the Jews, always stirring up sedition and strife, rebelling against the Romans, and provoking them ; till at last their city was taken, their Temple burnt to the ground, and upwards of a mil- lion of themselves destroyed, and the rest led captive. a Isaiah li. — This chapter, says Barnes, together with lii. 1 — 12, is one connected portion ; and injury has been done by sepa- rating it, and constituting two chapters. It is a portion of Isaiah of exquisite beauty; and is a most suitable introduction to the impor- tant portion which follows, ch. lii. 13 — 15. ch. liii. respecting the Messiah. This part is designed chiefly to comfort the Jews in their exile. They are regarded as in Baby- lon, near the (dose of their captivity, and as earnestly desiring to be rescued. It is some- what dramatic in its character ; and is made up of alternate addresses, of God and his BOOK ii. part i. people ; the one urging the strong language of consolation, the other fervent petitions for deliverance. The following analysis will give a correct view of the chapter. I. God addresses them in the language of consolation : and directs them to remember the founder of their nation, and assures them that he is able also to deliver them, verr. 1—3. a. He speaks of them as pious, and as seeking the Lord, ver. 1. b. They were to remember Abraham and Sarah, the quarry, so to speak, from which the nation had been hewed : they were to remember how feeble they were, and yet how God had made a great nation of them ; and to remember his promises to them, and to feel assured that God was equally able to conduct them forth, and to multiply them into a great nation, verr. 1, 2. c. A direct promise that God would com- fort Zion, and make it like Eden, ver. 3. II. God calls upon his people to hearken to him, with the assurance that he would extend the true religion even to the Gentile world, and that his salvation should be more permanent than were the heavens, verr. 4—6. a. He would make his religion a light to the Jewish people, ver. 4. Though now in darkness, yet they should be brought forth into light. b. He would extend it to the Isles — to the heathen world, ver. 5. C. It should be everlasting. The heavens should grow old and vanish, but his salvation should not be abolished, ver. 6. III. God assures them that they have no reason to despond on account of the num- ber and power of their enemies. However mighty they were, yet they should be con- sumed as the moth eats up a garment, and as the worm consumes wool, verr. 7, 8. IV. The people are introduced as calling upon God, and beseeching him to interpose, as he had done in former times, in their be- half, verr. 9, 10. In this appeal they refer to what God had done in former periods, when he cut Rahab, i. e. Egypt, in pieces ; and when PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. L23 mv, HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah li. Ye that seek the Lord a : he dried up the sea, and delivered his people : and they cry to him to interpose in like man- ner again, and to deliver them. V. To this petition Jehovah replies in verr. 11 — 16. He assures them, a. That his redeemed shall return with joy and triumph, ver. 11. b. He was their Comforter, He that had made the heavens ; and they had nothing- to fear from man, or the fury of any oppressor, verr. 12, 13. c. The captive exile was soon to be un- loosed, and they hastened that they might be restored; that is, it would soon occur, ver. 14. d. Jehovah, who had divided the sea, was their protector. He had given them a solemn promise, and he had covered his people with the shadow of his hand, and he would defend them, verr. 15, 16. VI. The chapter closes with a direct ad- dress to Jerusalem ; and with assurances that it shall be rebuilt, and that it would be no more visited with such calamities, verr. 17—23. a. The calamities of Jerusalem are enu- merated. She had drunk the cup of the fury of Jehovah, ver. 17 ; she had been forsaken of those who were qualified to guide her, ver. 18 ; desolation and destruction had there- fore come upon her, ver. 19. Her sons had fainted in the streets, and had drunk of the fury of God, ver. 20. b. God promises deliverance. She was drunken, but not with wine, ver. 21. God had taken out of her hand the cup of trem- bling, and she should no more drink again, ver. 22 : he would put that cup into the hand of those who had afflicted her, and they should drink it, ver. 23. a Hearken unto me, ye thatfolloio after righteousness, &c. — Bishop Jebb adduces the parallelism contained in the first two lines of the first, fourth, and seventh verses, as an example of Hebrew poetry illustrative of moral gradation in the respective members : ■px ^2~n ^k imty i mrr ^pnn *av "ha nnypn 4 wan •ba tokVi ■px unv ^k imttf 7 rzDVn Tmn dp BOOK II. PART I. 1 Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, Ye that seek Jehovah ! 4 Hearken unto me, my people ; And my nation, give ear unto me ! 7 Hearken unto me, ye that know right- eousness, The people in whose heart is my law ! The ascent of this threefold classification is very manifest. The faithful Jews are ad- dressed, first, as in pursuit of righteousness, as seeking Jehovah, — a clause, it may be ob- served, harmonising with St. Matthew vi. 33 : secondly, as, in consequence of that pursuit, accepted and acknowledged as God's people and nation: and lastly, as knot/ring that righteousness which before they had only pursued ; and as having so found Jehovah, that his law is tvritten in their hearts. Each distich has an ascent within itself; the se- cond line rising above the first. Each distich is also the commencement of an appropriate address : 1. To the aspirants after true re- ligion. 2. To persons admitted within its sphere : and, 3. To those who have made good proficiency in holiness. A further nicety is observable : to the first class the invitation is simply, Hearken unto me ! it is not again repeated ; probably because such repetition was needless. The people are described as seeking Jehovah ; and when Jehovah himself was pleased to invite them to hear, their earnest expectations would at the very first call secure on their part a promptness of attention : to the third class, in like manner, but one invitation is given ; for God's law is in their heart ; and the religious affection of this class would ensure attention yet more infallibly than the religious excitement of the former: but to the middle class the in- vitation is earnestly repeated, Hearken unto me ! give ear unto me ! for their very ad- vance in religion might render them, compa- ratively, inattentive : they had proceeded so far as to lose the perturbed anxiety of the first class : they had not proceeded far enough to attain the matured affection of the last ; and precisely in such a state it would be most necessary to stimulate attention, and keep it alert by a reiterated call, accompanied with a twofold memento of this relation to Him who called them: Hearken unto me! 1.24 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sufcaft. r. 1V. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah li. Look unto the rock whence ye are hewna, And to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, And unto Sarah that bare you : For I called him alone, And blessed him, and increased him". 712. Give ear unto me, my people, my nation ! — Bp. Lowth, it should be stated, reads and ren- ders the fourth verse otherwise ; following- the Bodley MS. and a few others of inferior value : Attend upon me, O ye peoples ! And give ear unto me, O ye nations ! The difference, his Lordship observes, is very considerable ; for in this case the address is made not to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, as in all reason it ought to be ; for this verse and the two following express the call of the Gentiles, the islands, or the distant lands, on the coasts of the Mediterranean and other seas. The change, however, says Bishop Jebb, though supported by the Syriac Version, seems to be at once needless and injurious ; — injurious, because it would make an ungraceful and violent transition, destruc- tive of the unity of the passage ; and need- less, because in several other instances the calling of the Gentiles is announced to the Jews as a future blessing, in which they them- selves are deeply interested ; — how deeply, we learn from St. Paul, Romans xi. 24, 26. As the received Text stands, there appears a beautiful gradation : I. Incipients in reli- gion are encouraged by the comforts of the Gospel. II. To those more advanced in reli- gion, and consequently better able to look beyond their own individual well-being, the calling of the Gentiles is foretold. III. To those who are rooted and grounded in love, the final confiict and victory of the Messiah, with the consequent happiness and glory of this Universal Church, are described in the most glowing terms. It is to be noted, that neither Dathe nor ltosenmuller has adopted Bp. Lowth's alteration of the Text. — J ebb's Sacred Lit. pp. 46-49. a Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn — To Abraham, the founder of the nation. The figure is taken from the act of quarrying stone, for the purposes of building. And the essential idea here is, that God had HOOK n. PART I. formed the nation from the beginning, as a mason constructs a building ; that he had, so to speak, taken the materials rough and unhewn from the very quarry ; that he had shaped, and fitted them, and moulded them into an edifice. The idea is not that their origin was dishonourable or obscure. The purpose of the reference here is not to hum- ble them, as if they had had an ignoble origin. It is not that Abraham was not an honoured ancestor, or that they should be ashamed of the founder of their nation. But the idea is, that God had had the entire moulding of the nation ; that he had formed it out of its primary materials ; that he had taken Abraham and Sarah from a distant land, and had formed them into a great people and nation for his own purpose. The argument is, that He who had done this was able to raise them up from captivity, and re-conduct them to their own land, and make them again a great people ; that God had been their protector from the very foundation of their nation, and that they had abundant reasons to confide in him still. Probably allusion is made to this passage by the Sa- viour in Matt, iii.9 ; where he says, For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. The hole of the pit. — The word rendered hole means perforation, or such an excavation as men make who are taking stones from a quarry. It expresses substantially the same idea as the previous number of the verse. It is a direction to look to the origin of the nation ; — to the fact, that God had formed them ; that he had increased them to a great people, and that he was still able to protect them. — Barnes. b For I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him — For I called him, a single person ; And I blessed him, and I multiplied him. Bishop Stock. PARALLEL HISTORIES OE JUDAII AND ISRAEL. Stttmh. r.iv. HEZEKIAH-15niYEAR. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah li. For the Lord shall comfort Zion": He will comfort all her waste places ; And he will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord ; Joy and gladness shall be found therein, Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Hearken unto me, my people b; And give ear unto me, O my nation : For a law shall proceed from me, And I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. That is, There was but one ; and he increased to a mighty nation. Jerome : Quia unura vocavi eum. The Lxx, "On eTpinn did-dk -pro Tinp1? run ^rran did nynp-m : Til' nrnntyV ■^Din-N1? •2:5 And as the street to passengers. The prophet speaks of Jerusalem as one lying astonished under the stroke of God's judgments, which are commonly represented under the notion of intoxicating liquors, be- cause they amaze men, and bereave them of their judgment and discretion. Drinking the dregs of this cup is the same as taking it off to the bottom, where the strongest and most nauseous part of the potion was settled ; and implies, that God did not in the least spare her. Compare Ps. lxxv. 8. Jer. xxv. 15, 16. Ezek. xxiii. 32—34. Rev. xiv. 10.— Some suppose the metaphor to be taken from that intoxicating liquor which was wont to be given to condemned persons, to stupefy them before their execution, such as was offered to Christ, Matt, xxvii. 34. — Preb. Lowth. The idea of dregs is taken from BOOK II. part i. 713 ]>1K3 TO^m the fact, that among the ancients various substances, as honey, dates, &c, were put into wine, in order to produce the intoxicating quality in the highest degree. The sedi- ment would remain at the bottom of the cask or cup when the wine was poured off. The cup of trembling. — Compare Jer. xlix. 12. li. 7. Lam. iv. 21. Hab. ii. 16. The same figure occurs often in the Arabic Poets. See Gesenius, Comm. zu Isai. The 19th verse Bishop Lowth adduces as an instance of constructive or synthetic parallelism ; that is, desolation by famine, and destruction by the sword, taking the terms alternately. See his Prelim. Dissert, on Isaiah, pp. xxx. xxxi. and other examples of the same form of construction — De S. Poesi Heb. Prael. xix. 134 PARALLEL HISTORIES 01- J III) MI AND ISRAEL. Sufcaf). skct.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and M1CAH. Isaiah li. By whom shall I comfort thee ? 20 Thy sons have fainted, They lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net : They are full of the fury of the Lord, The rebuke of thy God. 2 1 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, And drunken, but not with wine * : a Drunken, but not with wine. — The bold image of the cup of God's wrath, often employed by the sacred writers — see Note on chap. i. 22. vol. I. p. 250 of this Work — is no- where handled with greater force and subli- mity than in this passage of Isaiah, verr. 17—23. Jerusalem is represented in person as staggering under the effects of it, destitute of that assistance which she might expect from her children, not one of them being able to support or to lead her. They, abject and amazed, lie at the head of every street, overwhelmed with the greatness of their dis- tress ; like the oryx entangled in a net, in vain struggling to rend it and extricate him- self. This is poetry of the first order, sub- limity of the highest proof. — Lowth. God having awoke, says Henry, for the comfort of his people, here calls on them to awake ; and also afterwards, Isai. lii. 1. Jt is a call to awake, not so much out of the sleep of sin — though that also is necessary, in order to their being ready for deliverance — as out of the stupor of despair. When the inhabi- tants of Jerusalem were in captivity, they, as well as those who remained behind, were so overwhelmed with the sense of their trou- bles, that they had no heart or spirit to mind any thing which tended to their comfort or relief : they were as the disciples in the gar- den, sleeping for sorrow, Luke xxii. 45 ; and therefore, when the deliverance came, they are said to be like them that dream, Psalm exxvi. 1. Nay, it is a call to awake, not only from sleep, but from death, like that to the dry bones to live, Ezek. xxxvii. 9. Awake and look about thee, that thou mayest see the day of thy deliverance dawn, and mayest be ready to bid it welcome! Recover thy senses ; sink not under thy load ; but stand up, and bestir thyself for thine own help. This may be applied to the Jerusalem that was in the Apostles' time, which is said to be in bondage with her children, Gal. iv. 25 ; BOOK II. i'ART I. and to have been under the power of a spirit of slumber, Rom. xi. 8. They are called to awake and mind the things which belonged to their everlasting peace ; and then the cup of trembling should be taken out of their hands, and peace should be spoken to them ; and they should triumph over Satan, who had blinded their eyes, and lulled them asleep. It is here owned, that Jerusalem had long been in a very deplorable condition, and sunk in depths of misery. She had lain under the tokens of God's displeasure : he had put into her hand the cup of his fury, i. e. her share of his displeasure : the dispen- sations of Providence concerning her had been such, that she had reason to think he was angry with her. She had provoked him to anger most bitterly, and was made to taste the bitter fruits of it. The cup of God's fury is and will be a cup of trembling to all those who have it put into their hands. Lost sinners will find it so, to eternity. It is said, Ps. lxxv. 8, that the dregs of the cup, the loathsome sediments in the bottom of it, all the ivicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them: but here Jerusalem, having made herself as the wicked of the earth, is compelled to do so too ; for wherever there has been a cup of fornication, as there had been in Jerusalem's hand when she was idolatrous, sooner or later there will be a cup of fury. Let us therefore stand in awe of sin. Those who should have helped her in her distress, failed her ; there was none to pity her ; and those who should have been her comforters were their own tormentors ; they were quite dispirited, and driven to de- spair : but it is promised that Jerusalem's troubles shall at length come to an end, and be transferred to her persecutors. It is often the lot of God's Church to be afflicted ; and God has always something to say to her then, to which she will do well to hearken. Know, for thy comfort, that the Lord Jehovah is thy PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 135 sect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah li. 22 Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, And thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, Even the dregs of the cup of my fury ; Thou shalt no more drink it again : 23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee ; Which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go overa; And thou hast laid thy body as the ground, And as the street, to them that went over. Lord and thy God for all this. It is ex- pressed emphatically, Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God — the Lord who is able to help thee — thy Lord, that hath an incontestahle right to thee, and will not alienate it — thy God in covenant with thee, and who hath undertaken to make thee happy. Whatever the distress of God's peo- ple may be, he will not disown his relation to them, nor have they lost their interest in him and in his promise. He would have them know that he is the God who pleads the cause of his people as their patron and pro- tector, who regards what is done against them as done against himself. The cause of God's people, of that holy religion which they profess, is a righteous cause, otherwise the righteous God would not appear for it : yet it may for a time be run down, and seem as if it were lost; but God will plead it, either by convincing the consciences or con- founding the mischievous projects of those that fight against it. He will plead it, by clearing up its equity and excellency to the world, and by giving success to those who act in defence of it. It is his own cause : he has espoused it, and therefore will plead it with jealousy. God comforts his people by assuring them that they should be shortly freed from their troubles. I will take out of thy hand the cup of trembling. Throwing away the cup of trembling, will not do ; nor saying, We will not, we cannot drink it : but if we patiently submit, he who put it into our hands will himself take it out of our hands. Nay, it is pronounced, Thou slutlt no more drink of #.— God has let fall his controversy with thee, and will not remove the judgment. And lastly, he promises that their persecutors and oppressors should be made to drink of the same bitter cup. See here how insolently they had abused and BOOK II. PART I. trampled upon the people of God! They have said to thy soul — to thee — Bow down, that we may go over. Nay, they have said it to thy conscience, taking a pride and pleasure in forcing thee to worship idols. Herein, the New-Testament Babylon treads in the steps of the old oppressor, tyrannizing over men's consciences, giving law to them, and putting them upon the rack, and compelling them to sinful compliances. They who set up an infallible head, requiring an implicit faith in his dictates, and obedience to his commands, do in effect say to men's souls, Boiv doion, that we may go over ; and they say it with delight and triumph. And see how basely the people of God truckled to them, having by their sin lost much of their courage and sense of honour! Thou hast laid tiiy body as the ground. — Observe, the oppressors required the souls to be subjected to them, that every man should believe and worship just as they would have them. But all they could gain by their threats and vio- lence was, that the people laid their body on the ground. They brought them to an ex- ternal and hypocritical conformity ; but con- science cannot be forced, nor is it mentioned, to their praise, that they yielded thus far. But observe how justly God will reckon with those who have carried it so imperiously to- wards his people — The cup of trembling shall be put into their hands. Babylon's case shall be as bad as ever Jerusalem's was. Daniel's persecutors shall be thrown into Daniel's den. The Lord is known by the judgments which he executeth. a Boiv down, that ice may go over. — A very strong and most expressive description, says Bishop Lowth, of the insolent pride of Eastern conquerors; which, though it may seem greatly exaggerated, yet hardly exceeds the strict truth : see Josh. x. 24. Jud. 1. 7. The Emperor I3<; PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. sct.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Christ permadeih the Church to believe his free redemption, to receive the Ministers thereof, to joy in the power thereof, and to free themselves from bondage. Isaiah lii. 1 — 12.a 1 Awake, awake ; put on thy strength, O Zion ; Valerianus, being, through treachery, taken prisoner by Sapor king- of Persia, was treated by him as the basest and most abject slave : for the Persian monarch commanded the un- happy Roman to bow himself down, and offer him his back, on which he set his foot in order to mount his chariot or his horse, whenever he had occasion. Lactantius de Mort. Persec cap. 5. Aurel. Victor. Epitome, c.xxxii. 8 Isaiah lii. — This chapter is intimately connected with the preceding-, and with that constitutes one connected portion. See the analysis of chapter M. p. 122 of this Volume. This portion, however, extends only to ver. 13 of this chapter ; where there commences a portion of the prophecy, extending through chap, liii., relating solely to the Messiah, and constituting the most important and interest- ing part of the Old Testament. In this chapter, the object is, to console the pious portion of the Jewish community. The ge- neral topic — the promise of a rich blessing, first at the deliverance from the captivity in Babylon, and then in a more complete sense at the coming of the Messiah. The chapter comprises the following topics : — I. Jerusalem, long in bondage and in de- gradation, is called on to arise and shake herself from the dust, and to put on her beau- tiful garments, and to deliver herself from her long captivity, verr. 1,2. She is addressed, in accordance with language that is common in Isaiah and the other Prophets, as a female — a female sitting on the ground, covered with dust, and mourning over her desolations. II. Jehovah expressly promises to deli- ver Jerusalem from her captivity and bond- age, verr. 3—6. In stating this, he says, v. 3, that they had sold themselves for nothing, and they should be redeemed without money: he appeals to the fart, that he had delivered them from Egyptian oppression in former years, and that he was as able to deliver them now, ver. 4 : and he says, \en\ 5, 6, that he would have compassion on them now that they were suffering under their grievous bondage, and would certainly deliver them, and make his name known to them, and furnish them with book n. part I. the most ample demonstration that he alone w.as God. III. The prophet, in vision, sees the Mes- senger on the mountains that comes to pro- claim restoration to Zion, verr. 7, 8. He speaks of the beauty of the feet of him who bears the glad message, ver. 7 ; and he says, that when that messenger is seen bearing the glad tidings, the watchman should join in the exultation, and should sing, and should see it distinctly and clearly, when Jehovah should again restore Zion, ver. 8. IV. Jerusalem and all the waste and de- solate regions of Judaea are called on to break out in singing at the glad and glorious events which should occur when the people of God should be again restored, verr. 9, 10. Jeho- vah would have comforted his people, and even the most distant part of the earth would see his salvation. V. In view of all this, the people are called on to depart from Babylon, and to return to their own land, verr. 11, 12. They were to go out pure. They were not to contaminate themselves with the polluted objects of ido- latry. They were about to bear back again to Jerusalem the consecrated vessels of the House of Jehovah, and they should be clean and holy. They should not go out with haste, as if driven out. They should not go out in alarm, or in sudden flight, or unprotected ; but they should go defended by Jehovah, and conducted by him to their own land. VI. At ver. 13 the subject and the scene changes. The eye of the prophet becomes fixed on that greater future event to which the deliverance from Babylon was prepara- tory ; and the whole attention becomes ab- sorbed in the person, the manner of life, and the work of the Messiah. This part of the chapter, verr. 13— 15, is an essential part of the prophecy, which is continued through the 53d chapter, and should by no means have been separated from it. In this portion of the prophecy all reference to the captivity at Babylon ceases ; and the eye of the prophet is fixed, without any obscurity, and without vacillating, on the person of the Redeemer. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 137 Sufcaf). mv, ' HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lii. Put on thy beautiful garments a, O Jerusalem, the holy city : In no other portion of the Old Testament is there so clear and sublime a description of the Messiah as is furnished here ; and no other portion demands so profoundly and prayerfully the attention of those who would the Messiah's proclamation of free redemption 1 Awake ! awake ! put on thy strength, O Zion : Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city ! For no more shall enter into thee The uncircumcised and profane. 2 Shake thyself from the dust, arise, sit, O Jerusalem ! Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion ! ;} For thus saith Jehovah, For nought were ye sold, And not with money shall ye be ransomed. I For thus saith Jehovah : understand the great mystery of Redeeming Mercy and Love. — Barnes. The following is the first section which sets forth the salva- tion that is in Christ — )T2J ~jw vmb my my 1 imtfsn ma nzaV wipn -py DVtym TIT "p-K3'' SfDT K7 "D i HEIDI V-iy □Viz/m "aty nap isy^ m^nn ■> •pNias nDin innsnn t]T28-nn tow CDmDn3 D3n mrr -o* rar*o 3 nViMn "pan kVi mrr Tta -o* ro-^o 4 To Egypt did my people go down aforetime CDW naV mtwnn WTT DmtD to sojourn there, And the Assyrian latterly hath oppressed them. J IplW D2K1 TlEM And now what have I here to do, saith Jehovah, mm-D*M HS-v-TID nnyi Since my people is taken captive for nought ? CD3T1 "Ey np?-^ They that are lords over them swagger, saith Jehovah, TTfiT DSM rPrTP 17T2/D And constantly, daily, is my name blasphemed. 5 fKDtt "Otf DVn-?D l^ni Therefore shall my people know my name ; V2W "TDy IH1 p7 Therefore in that day shall they know NIHil DTn p? That I am he who said, Here am I. J "03TI "Q"TOn KliTaK"*0 Bp. Stock. At the 9th verse of the preceding chapter this request was made to the Arm of Jehovah: in the 17th verse it was addressed to the Church ; and it is here repeated to them under the designation of Zion and Jerusalem. The literal Jerusalem could not, at that time, properly be called holy on account of the sanctity of its inhabitants ; but this de- signation is bestowed upon it because God had appropriated that city to be his peculiar residence ; because he had appointed the most solemn Services of his worship to be cele- brated there ; and because it was an ancient type of the Church of God under the New Testament, which is sanctified by the will of God, and by the blood and Spirit of his Son. The Church having requested the Arm of Jehovah to put on its strength, to exert his power, that he might accomplish their deli- verance, the Lord God now invites them to put on their strength, that, in the lively exercise of unshaken dependence, they might expect the fulfilment of his promises. — Mac- BOOK II. PART i. culloch. Let them awaken from their dis- trust, look to the promises, mark the provi- dence of God which was working for them, and let them raise their expectations of great things from God. Let them prepare for joy. a Put on thy beautiful garments — No more appear in mourning weeds, and the habit of thy widowhood. Put on a smiling countenance, now that a new and pleasant scene begins to open. The beautiful gar- ments were laid aside when the harps were hung on the willows ; but now there is oc- casion for both ; let both be resumed toge- ther. Put on thy strength ; and, in order to that, put on thy beautiful garments, in token of triumph and rejoicing. The joy of the Lord will be our strength, Neh. viii. 10 ; and our beautiful garments will serve for armour of proof against the darts of temptation and trouble. And observe, Jerusalem must put on her beautiful garments when she is be- come a holy city, for the beauty of holiness is the most lovely ; and the more holy we 138 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. 3hrtra&. ect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lii. For henceforth there shall no more come into thee The uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 Shake thyself from the dust ; Arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem8: are, the more cause we have to rejoice. God here gives them an assurance that they shall be reformed by their captivity. There shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean — Their idolatrous customs shall be no more introduced, or at least not harboured ; and thus the Gospel Jerusalem is purified by the blood of Christ and the grace of God, and made a holy city. Let them prepare for liberty. Shake thyself from the dust — in which thou hast lain, and into which thy proud oppressors have trodden thee, Isaiah li. 23 ; or into which thou hast, in thy extreme sorrow, rolled thyself. Pre- pare to get clear of all the marks of servitude : be inspired with generous principles and resolutions to assert thine own liberty. The Gospel proclaims liberty to those who were bound with fears, and makes it their duty to take hold of that liberty. Let those that have been weary and heavy laden under the burden of sin, finding relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts and fears, and loose themselves from those bands ; for if the Law can make them free, they shall be free indeed. — Henry. The following quotation from Jowett's Christian Researches will explain the custom which is here alluded to, in the words, Shake thyself from the dust. It is no uncommon thing to see an individual, or group of persons, even when very well dressed, sitting, with their feet drawn under them, upon the bare earth, passing whole hours in idle conversation. Europeans would require a chair, but the natives here prefer the ground. In the heat of summer and autumn, it is pleasant for them to while away their time in this manner, under the shade of a tree. Richly-adorned females, as well as men, may be often seen thus amusing them- selves. As may naturally be expected, with whatever care they may, at first sittting down, choose their place, yet the flowing dress by degrees gathers up the dust : as this occurs, they from time to time arise, adjust themselves, shake off the dust, and then sit down again. The captive daughter of Zion, therefore, brought down to the dust BOOK II. PART i. of suffering and oppression, is commanded to arise and shake herself from that dust, and then, with grace and dignity, and com- posure and security, to sit down ; to take, as it were, again her seat and her rank, amid the company of the nations of the earth, which had before afflicted her, and trampled her to the earth. a Arise, and sit down, 0 Jerusalem! — Ascend thy lofty seat. — The literal rendering here, says Bishop Lowth, is, according to our English Translation, Arise, sit ; — on which a very learned person remarks : So the old versions. But sitting is an expression of mourning in Scripture and the Ancients, and doth not well agree with the rising just be- fore. It does not indeed agree according to our ideas ; but considered in an Oriental light, it is perfectly consistent. The common manner of sitting in the Eastern countries is upon the ground or floor, with the legs crossed. The people of better condition have the floors of their chambers or divans covered with carpets for this purpose ; and round the chamber, broad couches, raised a little above the floor, spread with mattresses handsomely covered, which are called sofas. When sit- ting is spoken of as a posture of more than ordinary state, it is quite of a different kind, and means sitting on high, on a chair of state or throne ; for which a footstool was neces- sary, both in order that the person might raise himself up to it, and for supporting the legs when he was placed in it. Chairs, says Sir John Chardin, are never used in Persia, but at the coronation of their kings. The king is seated in a chair of gold, set with jewels, three feet high. The chairs which are used by the people in the East are always so high as to make a footstool necessary. And this proves the propriety of the style of Scripture, which always joins the footstool to the throne : Isa. lxvi. 1. Ps.cx.l. — Voyages, torn. ix. p. 85. 12mo. Beside the six steps to Solomon's throne, there was a footstool of gold fastened to the seat, 2 Chron. ix. 18. which would otherwise have been too high for the king to reach, or to sit on conve- PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 139 Stataf). .iv. HEZEKIAII— 15th year. B.C. 712. PRoruETS— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lii. Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought ; And ye shall be redeemed without money \ For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there : And the Assyrian oppressed them without cause b. niently. A throne is nothing more than a handsome sort of chair with a footstool. — Athenaeus, V. 4. No event is more evidently predicted in Scripture than the future restoration of Israel, to the Church, and to their own land : and the Jews generally expect the termina- tion of their present miseries ; and they think that it will be effected by the advent of the Messiah, whom they suppose not yet to have come. This restoration is far more inti- mately connected with those things which relate to the person and work of Christ than the deliverance from Babylon was ; and it is so agreeable to the context, that I apprehend it ought not to be overlooked in explaining this passage. The New-Testament Church is here intended, and probably with especial reference to its last and purest ages ; for there are clear predictions given, that after the termination of the antichristian tyranny, the restoration of the Jews, and the bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles, the Church shall continue in permanent peace and purity till the eve of the General Judgment : then, indeed, some apostacies will take place, and the apostate nations shall make war upon the city of God ; but they shall fail of suc- cess, and perish in the attempt : Rev. xx. 1-- 10.— Scott. a Ye have sold yourselves for nought ; and ye shall be redeemed without money. — And thus our spiritual redemption is obtained without any purchase on our part, but with the precious blood of Christ, without such corruptible things as silver and gold, 1 Peter i. 18, 19. and without any price paid to those by whom we are held captive; but paid to God, against whom we have sinned, whose law we have broken, and whose justice must be satisfied ; — and the blood of Christ is a sufficient price to answer all. Hence our redemption from sin and death, though BOOK II. PART I. it cost Christ much, is entirely free to us. So will the redemption of the Church from the bondage and slavery of Antichrist be brought about by the power of God, unde- served by them ; not through their merits, and without any ransom-price paid to those who held them captives. — Gill. The words in their mystical sense, says Preb. Lowth, may fitly be applied to the miserable captivity to which sinners enslave themselves, and the freedom of that redemption which Christ has wrought for them. Compare 1 Pet. i. 18. Rom. iii. 24. b The Assyrian oppressed them without cause. — When God has sent away into cap- tivity the people of Israel by the hand of the Assyrian, his bowels yearn after them in their affliction. The Assyrian oppressed them without cause, i.e. without a just cause in the conqueror to inflict so great an evil upon them ; but not without cause from God, whom they had provoked. Now therefore, ivhat have I here, saith the Lord ? — What do I here ? I will not stay behind them. What do I longer here ? for I will redeem again those jewels the enemy hath carried away. This chapter is a prophecy of redemption : God shews himself so good to his people in their persecutions, that he gives them oc- casion to glorify him in the very fires. — Charnocke on the Attributes, Disc. xii. pp. 603, 604. A considerable variety has existed in the interpretation of this passage. The Lxx render it, And to the Assyrians they were carried by force. Some have supposed that this refers to the oppressions that they had experienced in Egypt ; and that the name Assyrian is here given to Pharaoh. So Forerius and Cajetan understand it. They suppose that the name the Assyrian became, in the apprehension of the Jews, the common name of that which was proud, 140 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF .JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutra?). ect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH ano MICAH. Isaiah lii. 5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, That my people is taken away for nought ? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord ; And my name continually every day is blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name : Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak Behold, it is I. 7 How beautiful upon the mountains a oppressive, and haughty ; and might there- fore be used to designate Pharaoh. But there are insuperable objections to this ; for the name, the Assyriaii, is not elsewhere given to Pharaoh in the Scriptures, nor can it be supposed to be given to him but with great impropriety. It is not true that Pha- raoh was an Assyrian ; nor is it true that the Israelites were oppressed by the Assyrians while they remained in Egypt. Others have supposed that this refers to Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldseans in general, and that the same name, the Assyrian, is given them in a large and general sense, as ruling over that which constituted the empire of Assyria; and that the prophet here refers to the cala- mities which they were suffering in Babylon. So Sanchius interprets it. But the objection to this is not the less decisive. It is true that Babylon was formerly a part or pro- vince of Assyria ; and true also that in the time of the Jewish Captivity it was the ca- pital of the kingdom of which the former captive of Assyria became a subject province. But the name Babylonian, in the Scriptures, is kept distinct from that of Assyrian, and they are not used interchangeably. Nor does the connection of the passage require us to understand it in this sense. The whole passage is in a high degree elliptical, and something must be supplied to make out the sense. The general design of it is, to shew that God would certainly deliver the Jews from the captivity at Babylon without money. For this purpose, the prophet ap- peals to the former instances of the interpo- sition of God, when deliverance had been effected in that way. A paraphrase of the passage, and a filling up of the parts which are omitted in the brief and abrupt manner of the prophet, will shew the sense : Ye have been sold for nought, and ye shall be ransomed without price. As a proof that HOOK II. PART I. God can do it, and will do it, remember, says he, that my people went down formerly to Egypt, and designed to sojourn there for a little time ; and that they were there re- duced to slavery, and oppressed by Pharaoh ; but that I ransomed them without money, and brought them forth by my own power. Remember, further, how often the Assy- rians have oppressed them also, without cause. Remember the history of Sennacherib, Tiglath-pileser, and Salmaneser, and how they have laid the land waste ; and remember how the Lord has delivered it from these oppressions. With the same certainty, and the same ease, he can deliver the people from the captivity at Babylon. The pro- phet, therefore, refers to different periods and events ; and the idea is, that God had deli- vered them when they had been oppressed alike by the Egyptians and by the Assyrians, and that he who had so often interposed would also interpose and rescue them from their oppression in Babylon. — Barnes. a How beautiful upon the mountains &c. — This is a poetical description of the mes- senger who first brought the good news of the decree of Cyrus for the people's return home. This text is applied by St. Paul to the first preachers of the Gospel, Rom. x. 15. Accordingly, we may observe that those Psalms in which we find the expression, The Lord reigneth, are, by the generality of inter- preters, both Jewish and Christian, expounded of the times of the Messiah. See Ps. xciii. xcvi. xcvii. — Preb. Lowth. The watchmen discover afar off on the mountains the messenger bringing the ex- pected and wished-for news of the deliver- ance from the Babylonish Captivity. They immediately spread the joyful tidings, ver. 8, and, with a loud voice, proclaim that Jeho- vah is returning to Sion, to resume his resi- dence on his holy mountain, which for some PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 14 L Sutrafj. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lii. Are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation ; That saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth ! 8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice ; With the voice together shall they sing ; For they shall see eye to eye a, When the Lord shall bring again Zion. 9 Break forth into joy, sing together, Ye waste places of Jerusalem : For the Lord hath comforted his people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm" In the eyes of all the nations ; And all the ends of the earth Shall see the salvation of our God. i 1 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence c, time he seemed to have deserted. This is the literal sense of the place. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the joyful messenger, is an expression highly poetical ; for how welcome is his arrival ! how agree- able are the tidings which he brings ! See Nahum i. 1 5. But the ideas of Isaiah are, in their full extent, evangelical ; and, accord- ingly, St. Paul has applied this passage to the preaching of the Gospel, Rom. x. 15. The joyful tidings here to be proclaimed, Thy God, 0 Sinn, reigneth, are the same that John the Baptist, the Messenger of Christ, and that Christ himself, published. The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. — Lowth in loc. The prophet, says Dr. Gray, after speaking of the recovery from the Assyrian oppression, sud- denly drops the idea of the present redemp- tion, and breaks out into a rapturous descrip- tion of the Gospel salvation which is pre- figured.—Gray's Key, p. 368. ed. 8. They shall see eye to eye. — May not this be applied to the Prophets and Apostles ; the one predicting, and the other discovering in the prediction the truth of the prophecy? The meaning of both Testaments is best un- derstood by bringing them face to face. — Dr. Adam Clarke. b The Lord hath made bare his holy arm — That is, in delivering his people from bondage. This metaphor, says Barnes, is taken from warriors, who made bare the arm BOOK II. part i. for battle ; and the sense is, that God had come to the rescue of his people as a warrior, and that his interposition would be seen and recognised and acknowledged by all the nations. The metaphor is derived from the manner in which the Orientals dressed. The following extract from Jowett's Christian Researches will explain the language : — The loose sleeves of the Arab shirt, as well as that of the outer garment, leaves the arm so completely free, that 'in an instant the left hand, passing up the right arm, makes it bare ; and this done when a person, a soldier for example, about to strike with his sword, intends to give the arm full play. The image represents Jehovah as suddenly prepared to inflict some tremendous yet righteous judg- ment, so effectual, that the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. The phrase, holy arm, seems to mean that God would be engaged in a holy and just cause. It would not be an arm of mere conquest or of oppres- sion ; but it would be made bare in a holy cause, and all its inflictions would be right- eous. c Depart ye I depart ye ! go ye out from thence. — This is a direct address to the exiles, in their captivity. The same command oc- curs in Isaiah xlviii. 20. It is repeated here for the sake of emphasis ; and the urgency of the command implies that there was some delay likely to be apprehended on the part 112 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutiah. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lii. Touch no unclean thing"; Go ye out of the midst of her ; Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord". 1 2 For ye shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight : For the Lord will go before you ; And the God of Israel will ' be your rereward c. jiARfi. ' v. 12. be your rereward. Heb. gather you up. of the exiles themselves. The fact seems to have been, that though the Captivity was at first attended with every circumstance fitted to give pain, and though they were subjected to many privations and sorrows in Babylon — see Ps. cxxxvii. — yet that many of them became strongly attached to a residence there, and strongly indisposed to return. They were there seventy years. Most of those who were made captive would have died before the close of the exile. Their children, who constituted the generation to whom the com- mand to return would be addressed, would have known the land of their fathers only by report. It was a distant land ; and was to be reached only by a long and perilous journey, across a pathless desert. They had been born in Babylon. The consequence would therefore be, that there would be strong reluctance on their part to leave the country of their exile, and to encounter the perils and trials incident on a return to their own land. It is not improbable, also, that many of them may have formed improper connexions and attachments in that distant land, and that they would be unwilling to relinquish them and return to the land of their fathers. It was necessary, therefore, that the most urgent commands should be addressed to them, and the strongest motives presented to them to induce them to return to the country of their fathers. And after all, it is evident that but, comparatively, a small poi tion of the exile Jews ever were prevailed on to leave Babylon, and to adventure upon the perilous journey of a return to Zion. a Touch no unclean thing — Separate your- selves wholly from an idolatrous nation, and preserve yourselves pure. The apostle Paul, 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18, has applied this to Chris- tians, and urges it as expressing the obliga- tion to come out from the world, and to be BOOK II. PART I. separate from all its influences. Babylon is regarded by the Apostle as not an unapt emblem of the world, and the command to come out from her as not an improper expres- sion of the obligation of the friends of the Redeemer to be separate from all that is evil. John, Rev. xviii. 4, has applied this passage also to denote the duty of true Christians to separate themselves from the mystical Baby- lon, the Papal community, and not to be partakers of her sins. The passage is applied in both these instances ; because Babylon, in Scripture language, is regarded as emble- matic of whatever is proud, arrogant, perse- cuting, impure, and abominable. b Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord — That bear again to your own land the sacred vessels of the sanctuary. It is to be remembered, that when the Jews were taken to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar carried there all the sacred utensils of the Temple, and that they were used, in their festivals, as common vessels in Babylon : 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 18. Daniel v. 2 — 5. These vessels Cyrus commanded to be again restored, when the exiles returned to their own land : Ezra i. 7 — 11. They whose office it was to carry or bear them were the priests and Levites, Numb. i. 50. iv. 15; and the command here pertains particularly to them. They were required to be holy, to feel the importance of their office, and to be separate from all that is evil. The passage has no original refe- rence to the Ministers of the Gospel ; but the principle is implied, that they who are ap- pointed to serve God as his Ministers, in any way, should be pure and holy : they should be separate from all that is impure, and should regard themselves as consecrated to the service of the Living God. — Barnes. c The Lord will (jo before you, and the God of Israel will be your rereward. — Here PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AN'O ISRAEL. 143 Shtfcnf). HEZEKIAH- Prophets- -15tii year. B.C. 712. ISAIAH and MICAH. Christ's Kingdom shall be exalted. H Isaiah lii, 13, 15. 1 3 Behold my servant shall ' deal prudently b, marg. ' v. 13. deal prudently, or prosier. closes the account of the return of the exiles from Babylon. The mind of the prophet seems here to leave the captive Jews, on their way to their own land, safe, with Jehovah going at their head, and guarding" the rear of the returning band ; and to have passed to the contemplation of Him, of whose coming all these events were preliminary and intro- ductory— the Messiah. Perhaps the rationale of this apparent transition is this. It is un- doubtedly the doctrine of the Bible, that he who is revealed as the guide of his people in ancient times, and who appeared under various names, as the Angel of Jehovah, the Angel of the Covenant, &c, was He who after- wards became incarnate — the Saviour of the World. So the prophet seems to have re- garded him ; and here, fixing his attention on the Jehovah who was thus to guide his people and be their defence, by an easy transition the mind is carried forward to the time when he would be incarnate, and when he would die for men. Leaving therefore, so to speak, the contemplation of him, as conducting his peo- ple across the barren wastes which separated Babylon from Judsea, the mind is, by no un- natural transition, carried forward to the time when he would become a man of sor- rows, and when he would come to redeem and save the world. According to this supposi- tion, it is the same glorious Being whom Isaiah sees as the protector of his people, and almost in the same instant as the man of sorrows ; and the contemplation of him as the suffering Messiah becomes so absorbing and intense, that he abruptly closes the description of him as the guide of the exiles to their own land. He sees him in his humiliation. He sees him as a sufferer. He sees the manner and the design of his death. He contemplates the certain result of that humiliation and death, in the spread of the true religion, and in the extension of his kingdom among men. Henceforward, therefore, to the end of Isaiah, we meet with no reference, if we except a very few instances, to the condition of the exiles in Babylon, or to their return to their own land. The mind of the prophet is BOOK II. PART I. absorbed in describing the glories of the Messiah, and the certain spread of his Gospel and his kingdom around the globe. — Barnes. The pillar of cloud and fire, says Henry, when they came out of Egypt, sometimes went behind them, to secure the rear, Ex. xiv. 19 ; and God's presence with them would now be that to them, of which that pillar was a visi- ble token. Those that are in the way of the duty are under God's special protection ; and he that believeth this will not make haste. b Behold my servant shall deal prudently, &c. •H3J> VoiET1 77271 } "IKE TUS) NBtfl DTP Behold my servant shall prosper ; He shall be raised, and borne up, and exalted greatly. Bishop Stock. Jehovah speaks. He speaks of his servant the Messiah ; and describes the state of his humiliation, and of his subsequent exalta- tion. These verses contain, in fact, an epitome of what is enlarged upon in the next chapter. The sum of it is, that his ser- vant should be, in the main, or on the whole, prospered and exalted, ver.13 ; yet he would be subjected to the deepest trial of humi- liation, ver.14 ; but as the result of this, he would redeem the nations of the earth, and their kings and rulers should regard him with profound reverence, ver. 15. A display of the divine perfections would accompany the work of the servant of Jehovah, such as they had never beheld ; and they would be called on to contemplate wonders of which they had not before heard. Christ is termed the servant of Jehovah, also, in Isaiah xlii.l. xliii. 10. Zech. iii. 8; in all which places the Chaldee paraphrase adds the name KTTtt/D Messiah. See Glassii 'ONOMATOAOriA Messiae Prophetica, pp. 432, 433. a Isaiah lii. 13, 15. — The most important portion of Isaiah, says Barnes, and of the Old Testament, commences here ; and here should have been the beginning of a new chapter. It is the description of the suffering Messiah, and is continued to the close of the next chapter. As the closing verses of this chapter 144 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Shrtraf). mv. HEZEKIAH— 15th yeah. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. •> Isaiah lii. He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. are connected with the following chapter, and as it is of great importance to have just views of the design of this portion of Isaiah, it is proper in this place to give an Analysis of this part of the prophecy. And as no other part of the Bible has excited so much the attention of the friends and foes of Chris- tianity— as so various and conflicting views have prevailed in regard to its meaning — and as the proper interpretation of the pas- sage must have an important bearing on the controversy with Jews and infidels, and on the practical views of Christians — I shall be justified in going into an examination of its meaning at considerably greater length than has been deemed necessary in other parts of the prophecy. It may be remarked in gene- ral, 1. That if the common interpretation of the passage, as applicable to the Messiah, and as describing a suffering Saviour, be correct, then it settles the controversy with infidels. The description is so particular and minute ; the correspondence with the life, the charac- ter, and the death of the Lord Jesus is so complete, that it could not have been the result of conjecture or accident. At the same time, it is a correspondence which could not have been brought about by an impostor who meant to avail himself of this ancient prophecy to promote his designs ; for a large portion of the circumstances are such as did not depend on himself, but grew out of the feelings and purposes of others. On the sup- position that this had been found as an an- cient prophecy, it would have been impossible for any impostor so to have shapedthe course of events as to have made his character and life appear to be a fulfilment of it. And unless the infidel could either make it out that this prophecy was not in existence, or that being in existence it was possible for a deceiver to create a coincidence between it and his life and character and death, then, in all honesty, he should admit that it was given by inspiration, and that the Bible is true. 3. A correct exposition of this will be of inestimable value, in giving to the Chris- tian just views of the Atonement, and of the whole doctrine of Redemption. Probably in no portion of the Bible of the same length, not even in the New Testament, is there to ISOOK II. PART I. be found so clear an exhibition of the pur- pose for which the Saviour died. There is the fullest evidence that the passage was ap- plied by the early Jews, both before and after the birth of Jesus, to the Messiah, until they were pressed by the application of the passage to Jesus of Nazareth, and were compelled in self-defence to adopt some other mode of inter- pretation. And ever after that, it is evident also that not a few of the better and more pious portion of the Jewish nation still continued to regard it as descriptive of the Messiah. And so obvious is the application to the Messiah, so clear and full is the description, that many of them have adopted the opinion that there would be two Messiahs ; one a suf- fering Messiah, and the other a glorious and triumphant prince and conqueror. The Old Testament plainly foretold that the Messiah would be God and man — exalted and de- based— master and servant — priest and vic- tim— prince and subject — involved in death, and yet a victor over death — rich and poor — a king, a conqueror, glorious — a man of griefs, exposed to infirmities, unknown, and in a state of abjection and humiliation. — Calmet. All these apparently contradictory qualities had their fulfilment in the person of Jesus of Nazareth ; but they were the source of endless embarrassment to the Jews, and have led to the great variety of opinions which have prevailed among them in regard to him. In the Lord Jesus they harmonize ; but when the Jews resolved to reject him, they were at once thrown into endless embar- rassment in regard to the character, coming, and work of him whom they had so long ex- pected. It is capable, however, of clear de- monstration, that the ancient Jews, before the birth of Jesus, were not thus embarrassed in the interpretation of their own Prophets. The following extracts from their own writings will shew that the opinion early prevailed that the passage before us had reference to the Messiah, and that they had, to some ex- tent, right views of him. Even by the later Jewish interpreters, who give a different ex- position of the prophecy, it is admitted that it was formerly referred to the Messiah. This is admitted by Eben Ezra, Jarchi, Abarbinel, and Moses Nachmanides. Among; the testi- PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 145 sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lii. 14 As many were astonished at thee8; monies of the ancient Jews are the following : the Chaldee Paraphrast, Jonathan, expressly refers it to the Messiah. Thus, in ver. 13 of this chapter, he renders the first member, Be- hold, my servant, the Messiah, shall prosper. Thus, in the Medrasch Tanchuma, an old Commentary on the Pentateuch, on the words, Behold, my servant shall prosper, it is re- marked : This is the King Messiah, who is high and lifted up, and very exalted, higher than Abraham, exalted above Moses, higher than the ministering angels. Similar is the language of Rabbi Moses Haddarschan on Gen.i.3: Jehovah spake: Messiah, my right- eous one, those who are concealed with thee, will be such, that their sins will bring a heavy yoke upon thee. The Messiah an- swered : Lord of the World, I cheerfully take upon myself those plagues and sorrows. Im- mediately, therefore, the Messiah took upon himself, out of love, all torments and suffer- ings, as it is written in Isa. liii. He was abused and oppressed. Many other passages may be seen collected by Hengstenberg, Christol. vol. I. 485, 486. The subject of Isaiah's prophecy, from the fortieth chapter inclusive, says Bishop Lowth, has hitherto been, in general, the deliverance of the people of God. This includes in it three distinct parts, which, however, have a close connection with each other; the deli- verance of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, the deliverance of the Gentiles from their miserable state of ignorance and idolatry, and the deliverance of mankind from the cap- tivity of sin and death. These three subjects are subordinate to one another ; and the two latter are shadowed out under the image of the former. They are covered by it as by a veil; which, however, is transparent, and suffers them to appear through it. Cyrus is expressly named as the immediate agent of God, in effecting the first deliverance. A greater Person is spoken of as the agent who is to effect the two latter deliverances ; called the Servant, the Elect of God, in whom his soul delighteth ; Israel, in whom God will be glorified. Now, these three subjects have a very near relation to one another ; for as the agent who was to effect the two latter deli- verances, that is, the Messiah, was to be born BOOK II. PART I. a Jew, with particular limitations of time, family, and other circumstances, the first deliverance was necessary in the order of Providence, and according to the determinate course of God to the accomplishment of the two latter deliverances ; and the second deli- verance was necessary to the third, or rather was involved in it, and made an essential part of it. This being the case, Isaiah has not treated the three subjects as quite distinct and separate, in a methodical and orderly manner, like a philosopher or logician, but has taken them in their connective view : he has heard them as a prophet and a poet : he has alle- gorized the former, and, under the image of it, has shadowed out the two latter : he has thrown them all together, has mixed one with another, has passed from this to that with rapid transitions, and has painted the whole with the strongest and boldest imagery. The re- storation of the Jews from captivity, the call of the Gentiles, the redemption by Messiah, have hitherto been handled interchangeably and alternately : Babylon has hitherto been kept pretty much in sight ; at the same time that strong intimations of something much greater have frequently been thrown in. But here, Babylon is at once dropped ; and I hardly think ever comes in sight again, unless, per- haps, in chap. Iv. 12, and lvii. 14. The pro- phet's views are almost wholly engrossed by the superior part of his subject. He intro- duces the Messiah as appearing at first in the lowest state of humiliation, which he had just touched upon before, chap. l. 5, 6 ; and obviates the offence which would be occa- sioned by it, by declaring the important and necessary cause of it, and foreshewing the glory which should follow it. This seems to be the nature and the true design of this part of Isaiah's prophecies ; and this view of them seems to afford the best method of re- solving difficulties in which expositors are frequently engaged, being much divided be- tween what is called the literal and the mystical sense, not very properly ; for the mystical or spiritual sense is very often the most literal sense of all. — Lowth in loc. * As many teere astonished at thee, &c. — In order to see the correspondency of the se- veral clauses in these two verses, the original L46 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3htfcat>. -.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lii. His visage was so marred more than any man, And his form more than the sons of men : So shall he sprinkle many nations ; The kings shall shut their mouths at him : For that which had not been told them shall they see ; And that which they had not heard shall they consider.* * Ch. lv.5. Rom. xv. 21. is subjoined, together with the translation of Bishop Stock : ctod i^y yaa& -whd 14 man cran nrrcra-p : mi* tan riKm Q"3i wm nr p 15 d^s nraVn rasp vVy wi an*? -isd-kV "iew "O trannn Tiraw-K1? -wni 14 Like as many were astonished at thee, (Such was the marring more than hu- man of his countenance, And of his form beyond the sons of men) 1 5 So shall he startle {sprinkle) many nations ; At the sight of him shall kings shut their mouths : For what had not been told them they shall see ;• And what they had not heard, they shall discern. The 14th verse, says Barnes, should be read with the following : they are closely con- nected together. The sense is : In like man- ner, as many were shocked at him, his form was so disfigured, and his visage so marred, so in like manner he shall sprinkle many nations : the one fact should correspond with the other. — The astonishment should be re- markable; the humiliation should be won- derful ; and so should be his success and triumph. What is here predicted has been fulfilled. The mystery of the Incarnation and Atonement, the sufferings and death of the Redeemer, his exaltation and his glory, are events which are unparalleled in the history of the world. They stand by themselves, and will stand by themselves for ever. They are fitted in their nature to excite the most profound admiration and wonder, and to induce kings and nobles to lay their hand on their mouths in token of profound veneration. In the expression, He shall sprinkle many nations, says Maccul- loch, there seems to be an obvious allusion to the typical sprinklings appointed under the Old Testament, and particularly to those performed by the High Priest, who was com- manded to sprinkle the blood of the victim offered in sacrifice, for himself and the people, seven times before the Lord, Lev. iv. 6 ; or to the purification of the leper, mentioned Lev. xiv. 7. In reference to these institu- tions, the prophet foretells that Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest of our profession, should sprinkle many nations with his doc- trine, which was to distil as the dew upon the tender herb ; that he should sprinkle them with water in the sacred ordinance of Baptism, administered by his servants in obedience to his appointment ; that he should sprinkle them with his precious blood, em- phatically denominated the blood of sprin- kling, Heb. xii. 24. which, being effectually applied by the Holy Ghost, cleanseth from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and purges the conscience from dead works, to serve the living God. The prediction imports that Jesus Christ was to communicate the inesti- mable benefits resulting from his Passion to people of all nations, and that his blood was to be effectually applied to them for the purposes for which it was shed. Let us be solicitous to share in the promised blessing ; and earnestly entreat the Lord Jesus so to sprinkle our hearts, that all the faculties of our souls may be thoroughly sanctified, that we may not only retain, but adorn our pro- fession in all things. BOOK 11. PART I. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAII AND ISRAEL. 147 Sutraft. ECT.IV. HEZEKIAH-15TH YEAR. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. The Prophet, complaining of incredulity, excuseth the scandal of the Cross, by the benefit of Christ's Passion, and the good success thereof. Isaiah Lin.a 1 Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? MAUG. ' v. 1. report, or doctrine. Heb. hearing. a Isaiah lih. — This chapter describes the circumstances of our Saviour's sufferings so exactly, that it seems rather a history of his Passion than a prophecy ; and it is so unde- niable a proof of the truth of Christianity, that the bare reading of it, and comparing it with the Gospel history, has converted some infidels. — Lowth. See John xii. 3S. Rom. x. 16. i. 16. This chapter contains a more minute ex- planation and statement of what is said in ge- neral in chap. lii. 13—15. For convenience, it may be regarded as divided, according to Barnes, into the following portions : — I. An expression of amazement and la- mentation at the fact, that so few had em- braced the annunciation respecting the Mes- siah, and been properly affected by the im- portant statements respecting his sufferings, his death, and his glorification, ver. 1. The prophet laments that so few had credited what had been spoken, and that the power of God had been revealed to so few in conse- quence of the coming of the Messiah. II. A description of his rejection, his suf- ferings, his death, verr. 2—10. Here the pro- phet describes the scene as before his eyes. He speaks as if he himself were one of the people — one of the Jewish nation — who had rejected him, and who had procured his death. He describes the misapprehensions under which it was done, and the depth of the sorrow to which the Messiah is subjected, and the design which Jehovah had in view in these sufferings. a. His appearance and rejection are de- scribed, verr. 2, 3. He is as a root or shrub that grows in a parched soil, without beauty ; he is a man of sorrows, instead of being, as they expected, a magnificent prince ; he has disappointed their expectations, and there is nothing that corresponded with their antici- pations, and nothing, therefore, which should lead them to desire him. He is, therefore, rejected and despised. BOOK II. part i. b. The design for which he endured his sorrows is stated, verr. 4—6. He was thought by the people to be justly put to death, and they judged that God had judicially smitten and afflicted him, ver. 4. But this was not the case. It was because he had borne the sorrows of the nation, and was wounded for their sins, verr. 4, 5. They had all gone astray, but Jehovah had caused to meet on him the iniquity of all. c. The manner of his sufferings is de- scribed, verr. 7, 8. He was patient as a lamb ; was taken from prison, and cut off. d. The manner of his burial is described, ver. 9. It was with the rich. The reason why he was thus buried was, that in fact he had been holy, and had done no evil. God, therefore, took care that that fact should be marked, even in his burial ; and though he died, with malefactors, yet, as the purpose of the Atonement did not require ignominy after death, he should not be buried with them. e. The design for which all this was done is stated, ver. 10. It was, that his soul might be made an offering for sin, and that it was thus well pleasing or acceptable to God that he should suffer and die. III. The result of his sufferings and hu- miliation, the reward, the glorification, is described, verr. 10—12. a. He should see a numerous spiritual posterity, and should be abundantly satisfied for all his pains and sorrows, verr. 10, 11. b. By the knowledge of him, a great number should be justified and saved, ver. 11. c. He should be greatly honoured, and should proceed to the spiritual conquest of all the world, ver. 12. The Hebrew of this beautiful and most important chapter is subjoined, together with Bishop Stock's literal translation; the lines being placed so as to shew the relative con- nection between the several members. l 2 148 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Shifcaf). ect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liii. 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, lanirowV )TONn to j nnVaa TO"bp mn^ irnn T3sV pBto Vm 1 Who hath believed our report ? And to whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed ? 2 For he groweth up like a tender shoot in his sight, And like a stem from a thirsty soil. 7T2J |>1N73 EHE/Dl He hath no form nor comeliness, that we should intt~l31 "ITI tfVl "b TRTVllh look on him ; No appearance, that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and abject above all men ; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief And like one that muffleth his face from us, He is despised, and we regard him not. 4 Surely they are our griefs which he beareth, And our sorrows that he doth carry. Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God and afflicted : t imartn njnmtVi awn* Vim nna "Vn ym nmiro epk ito72 ms -introai i inantfn kVi rrai row **m la^bn pa abiv lamKaroi mant^n lanaw t nairoi dtoVk naro maa lawsn V?nn Kim wrrmiro xmn rVp ITOlVt^ 1DTO mb-Hsra imnmi la^as lamV tzrit ■q j^sn mm : iaV:j )ix> nK r£rnn£p kVi napa Kim twa Vsv nntaV mto nnbxa mna ^asV Vrroi 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, Bruised for our iniquities ; The chastisement of our peace was upon him, And by his contusions we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray ; We have turned aside, every one to his own way ; And Jehovah hath made to light upon him The iniquity of us all. 7 It was exacted, and he was distressed ; yet he opened not his mouth : As a lamb is led away to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he opened not his mouth. 3 From durance and from judgment he is taken away, And into his manner of life who stoopeth to look ? For he is cut off from the land of the living ; For the transgression of my people he is smitten. 9 And there is made for him with the wicked his grave, And with the opulent his tomb ; Because he did no violence, Neither was deceit in his mouth. 10 But it pleased Jehovah to make his bruising grievous. If his life should be made a trespass-offering, He shall see a seed that shall prolong their days, And the will of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. 11 Of the travail of his soul he shall see, he shall be satisfied By the knowledge of him shall my servant 0,n~l'? justify many, And of their iniquities he shall bear the weight. 12 Therefore will I assign him a distinct portion among many, BQ-Q iVpVnK pb 12 And with the strong shall he share the spoil : V?tf pVm DTO13JI/-nN1 Because he poured out his soul unto death, 112/33 nTO1? mj/n lEW nnn And with transgressors he was numbered ; nana DTE/STINl He also bare the sin of many, KtZ/a D,31~|-KtDn Kim And for transgressors he did intercede. J jr»;i£p DWsVl Bishop Stock. BOOK II. part i. npV QSI2TO7D1 12J1TO Timor to nn-mi o*n "pX72 -IU3 •a : toV i/aa top iwsn rap Dwi-na ]m vnm -iwdki rwv tron-ab by i ran rrain kVi ^>nn lam ysn mm wsn Dtt*K D^rrDK . aw "pa" mi nm* t rfar ttq mm psm IttttT nKT W21 VniTO rap pna* pnar lnmn :bnD^ Kin Dnaipi LO II PARALLEL HISTORIES OE JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 149 r. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah mi. And as a root out of a dry ground a : The main design of the prophet, in this por- tion of his prophecy, says Barnes, is undoubt- edly to state the fact, that the Redeemer would be greatly exalted ; see Isa. lii. 13. liii. 12 : but, in order to furnish a full view of his ex- altation, it was necessary to exhibit the depth of his humiliation. The interrogative form is often assumed when it is designed to ex- press a truth with emphasis ; and the idea is, therefore, that the message in regard to the Messiah had been rejected and despised by the mass of the nation. How does it leave man in unbelief, when not only the truth to be believed, but also man's unwillingness to believe it, is thus clearly described in prophecy, ages before- hand ! How ought we to thank God that we can truly say of the marvels here set forth, Lord, I believe ! And when we con- sider the faintness of our faith, and how en- tirely our profiting by this great salvation depends on our believing in it heartily, how earnestly ought we to pray to God. Help thou mine unbelief! Mark ix. 24. Most gracious is the help here offered us by God, towards faith in our Crucified Redeemer. Most con- vincing is the evidence here given us, that the long-expected Conqueror of sin and death, come when He would into the world, was not to be such an One as man's judgment would suppose, but such an One as most men, in their pride of heart, would be apt to despise and to reject. He was to be that which none other ever was, except only Jesus of Naza- reth. He was to do that which only Jesus did. He was to suffer that which only Jesus suffered : and he was to be rewarded as only Jesus had been rewarded. Behold, then, what he did and suffered ! and observe how plainly and fully it is here revealed that it was for us that he thus lived and died. The scorn and contumely heaped upon his head, the blows of men, the affliction wherewith he was afflicted of God, the wounds, the bruises, the chastisements, the stripes, were all inflicted on One who had done no wrong, for the expiation of our manifold iniquities. He did no sin to expose himself to suffer. He was sinless also in his sufferings. So much the more was his painful and shameful death a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, satisfaction, and atonement, for the sins of BOOK II. part i. the whole world. So much the more was it due to One who had humbled himself even unto death, that he should be highly ex- alted, and greatly glorified, in the multitudes, whose sins he would atone for, whose souls he would save. God be praised that our lot is amongst those who honour and adore this suffering Messiah, this Christ crucified, as God manifest in the flesh! 1 Tim. iii. 16. God grant, that whilst we put our whole trust in Him as our Saviour, we may also give our whole heart to Him, and devote our whole life to Him, as our Lord! — Girdlestone's Comm. Lect. 1166. a A root out of a dry ground. — The family of David, of which the Messiah sprung, was reduced to a very low condition when he was born of it ; his supposed father being a carpenter, and his real mother a poor virgin of Nazareth, though both of the house and lineage of David. The following is Dr. Robinson's account of Nazareth, the place in which the Saviour of the world was brought up. It is now called Nasirah, and found in Scripture only in the New Testament. The place is mentioned neither in the Old Testa- ment nor in Josephus, and was apparently a small and unimportant village. Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? is a question implying any thing but respect ; and the appellation of Nazarenes was, in like manner, given to the first Christians in scorn : John i. 46. Acts xxiv. 5. Yet to the present day the name for Christians, in Arabic, continues to be en-Niisara, that is, Naza- renes. The town of Nazareth lies upon the western side of a narrow oblong basin, ex- tending about from s.s.w. to n.n.e., perhaps twenty minutes in length by eight or ten in breadth. The houses stand on the lower part of the slope of the western hill, which rises steep and high above them, and is crowned by a wely, called Neby Ismail. Shubert gives the elevation of the Valley of Nazareth at 821 Paris feet above the sea; and that of the plain at the foot of Tabor, at 439 feet. The elevation from the great plain further west, directly to Nazareth, must therefore probably be from 300 to 350 feet. He estimates the height of the hills around Nazareth — the western one is the highest — at from 1500 to 1600 feet above 150 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sfataft. . iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liii. He hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see him, There is no beauty that we should desire hima. the sea, or between 700 and 800 above Nazareth. This is far too great : the wely cannot well be more than 400 to 500 feet above the valley. See Schubert's Reise, III. p. 169. Towards the n. the hills are less high: on the e. and s. they are low. In the g. e. the basin contracts ; and a valley runs out narrow and winding-, apparently to the great plain. Various roads pass out of the basin ; in the N. to Sefurieh and 'Akka ; in the n.e. to Kefr Kenna and Tiberias; towards the e. to Mount Tabor and Tiberias ; and in the s.w. to Yafa and the Plain of Esdraelon. The houses of the town are, in general, well built, of stone. They have only flat terraced roofs, without the domes so common in Jerusalem and the south of Palestine. The population may be estimated at about three thousand souls. On arriving at the top of the hill over Nazareth, quite unexpectedly a glorious prospect opened on the view. The air was perfectly clear and serene ; and I shall never forget the impres- sion I received as the enchanting panorama burst suddenly upon me. There lay the magnificent Plain of Esdraelon, or at least all its western parts : on the left was seen the round top of Tabor over the intervening hills, with portions of the Little Hermon and Gilboa, and the opposite mountains of Sama- ria, from Jenin westward, to the lower hills extending towards Carmel. Then came the long line of Carmel itself, with the Convent of Elias on its northern end, and Haifa on the shore at its foot. In the west lay the Mediterranean, gleaming in the morning sun ; seen, first, far in the south, on the left of Carmel ; then interrupted by that moun- tain ; and again appearing on its right, so as to include the whole Bay of 'Akka, and the coast stretching far north, to a point n. 10' w. 'Akka itself was not visible, being hidden by intervening hills. Below, on the north, was spread out another of the beau- tiful plains of Northern Palestine, called El- Buttauf : it runs from e. to w. ; and its waters are drained off westward, through a narrower valley, to the Kishon, El-Mukutta', at the base of Carmel. On the southern border of this plain the eye rested on a large village near the foot of an isolated hill, with BOOK II. PART I. a ruined castle on the top : this was Sefurieh, the ancient Sepphoris or Diocaesarea. Beyond the Plain El-Buttauf, long ridges, running from e. to w., rise, one higher than another, until the mountains of Safed overtop them all ; on which that place is seen, a city set upon a hill. Further towards the right is a sea of hills and mountains, backed by the higher ones beyond the Lake of Tiberias, and in the n.e. by the majestic Hermon with its icy crown. Carmel here presented itself to great advantage, extending far out into the sea, and dipping its feet in the waters. Seating myself in the shade of the wely, I remained for some hours upon the spot, lost in the contemplation of the wide prospect, and of the events connected with the scenes around. In the village below the Saviour of the World had passed his childhood ; and although we have few particulars of his life during those early years, yet there are certain features of nature, which meet our eyes now, just as they once met his. He must often have visited the fountain near which we had pitched our tent; his feet must frequently have wandered over the adjacent hills ; and his eyes doubtless have gazed upon the splendid prospect, from this very spot. Here the Prince of Peace looked down upon the great plain where the din of battles so oft had rolled and the garments of the warrior been dyed in blood ; and he looked out, too, upon the sea, over which the swift ships were to bear the tidings of his Salvation to nations and to continents then unknown. How has the moral aspect of things been changed ! Battles and bloodshed have in- deed not ceased to desolate this unhappy country, and gross darkness now covers the people ; but from this region a light went forth, which has enlightened the world, and unveiled new climes. And now the rays of that light begin to be reflected back from distant isles and continents, to illuminate anew the darkened land, where it first sprung up. — Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. III. sect.xiv.pp. 183— 191. 8 There is no beauty that we should desire him.— He does not appear in the form which we had anticipated. He does not come with the regal pomp and splendour which it was PARALLEL HISTORIES Or JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 151 Sufcaft. ect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liii. 3 He is despised and rejected of men"; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief : And 'we hid as it were our faces from himh; marg. ' v. 3. we hid as it were our faces from him, or he hid as it were his face from us. Heb. as an hiding of faces from him, or from us. supposed he would assume. — Barnes. The meanness of his outward circumstances, espe- cially when he came to be condemned as a malefactor, made his person appear despi- cable. From this text, Justin Martyr, Cle- mens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, and others of the ancient Fathers, concluded our Saviour's person to have been deformed ; — an opinion, in my judgment, not at all probable. In the fourth and following centuries, a quite con- trary notion was advanced by St. Jerome and others ; viz. that Christ was a person of ex- traordinary comeliness ; which they chiefly grounded on Ps. xlv. 2, Thou art fairer than the children of men, &c. From these two contrary opinions we may conclude that the making or setting up of the image or the picture of the Christ, was no part of religious worship in the early ages of Christianity, or else there would have remained some more certain tradition concerning his person. — Preb. Lowth. a Rejected of meji—EDWX Vin. This phrase is full of meaning; and in three words, says Barnes, states the whole history of man, in regard to his treatment of the Redeemer. The name, the rejected of wen, or The for- saken of men, will express all the melancholy history. With respect to the exact sense of the phrase, Interpreters have varied. Jerome renders it, Novissimum virorum, The last of men. The Lxx : His appearance is disho- noured, utijj.ov, and defective, e/c.\e?7ror, more than the sons of men. According to Gese- nius, the word here means, To be left, To be destitute or forsaken. Castellio renders it, Minus quam homo, Less than a man. CPtt/^, says Martini, belongs here to both the pre- ceding words, despised and abject ; and it is used in Hebrew and Arabic as a mark of the superlative degree ; Abjectus virorum, i.e. homo abjectissimus. So in Proverbs xv. 20, OTN Vba should be rendered, The most foolish of men is he who despiseth his mother. Symmachus : eAa^tcrTo? uv^pcov, The least of men. According to Hengstenberg, it means The most abject of men ; he who ceases from HOOK II. PART I. men ; who ceases to belong to the number of men, i.e. who is the most abject of men. Der aufhorende der Menschen, der welcher aufhbrt ein Mensch zu seyn oder unter die Menschen zu gehoren = der allerunwertheste unter den Menschen. — Hengstenberg's Chris- tologie, Ersten Theiles erste Abtheilung, p. 327. b And we hid as it icere our faces from him— 13737D tJCfl "inD7331 As one that hideth his face from us. Bishop Lowth. Mourners covered the lower part of their faces and their heads, 2 Sam. xv. 30. Ezek. xxiv. 17 ; and lepers were commanded by the Law, Lev. xiii. 45, to cover their upper lip. From which circumstances it seems that the Vulgate, Aquila, Symmachus, and the Jew- ish Commentators, have taken the word J/1D3 stricken, in the next verse, as meaning strick- en with the leprosy, ev ecprj ovra, Sym. acprj- lievov, Aq. lepromin, Vulg. The margin reads it, As an hiding of faces from him or from us ; or, He hid as it were his face from us. The Hebrew, says Barnes, is lite- rally, As the hiding of faces from hi??i, or from it. And Hengstenberg explains it as meaning he was as an hiding of the face before it ; that is, as a thing or person before whom a man covers his face, because he can- not bear the disgusting sight. Er war wie Verbergung des Angesichtes vor ihm d. h. wie eine Sache order Person, vor der man das Angesicht verhiillt, weil man ihren Ab- scheu erregenden Anblick nicht ertragen kann. Jerome renders it, His face was as it were hidden and despised. The Lxx : For his countenance was turned away, a-n-earpa- ■TrTai. The Chaldee : And when he took away his countenance of majesty from us, we were despised and reputed as nothing. Others explain the meaning : As one before whom is the covering of the face ; that is, before whom a man covers his face from shame or disgrace. So Gesenius. Others : He was as one causing to conceal his face; i.e. he in- duced others to cover the face before him. 152 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutef). ECT.IV. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liii. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows3: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded ' for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities : The chastisement of our peace was upon himb; And with his stripes2 we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray0; We have turned every one to his own way ; And the Lord 3hath laid on Mm the iniquity of us alld. marg. ' v. 5. wounded, or tormented. 2 stripes. Heb. bruise. 3 v. 6. hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Heb. hath made the iniquities ofi meet on him. all to His sufferings were so terrible, as to induce them to turn away. So J. H. Michaelis. The idea, says Barnes, seems to be : He was as one from whom men hide their faces, or from whom they turn away. They were unwilling to look upon him. This might arise either from a sight of his sufferings, as being so great and so offensive that they would turn away in pain, as in the case of a leper : or it might be, that he was so much an object of suffering, so humble, and so un- like what they expected, that they would hide their faces and turn away in scorn. This latter Barnes thinks is the true meaning; and that the idea is, that he was so unlike what they expected, so much an object of humiliation, that they hid their faces in af- fected or real contempt. There was the hiding of the face from him as an object which they were unwilling to look upon. See Heng- stenberg's Christologie, Ersten Theiles erste Abtheilung, ss.326— 331. 8 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and car- ried our sorrows. — This passage, as quoted by St. Matthew, viii. 16, 17, with regard to sick- ness, must mean, according to Barnes, that he took them away by his power, and, as it were, lifted them up and removed them. St. Peter makes allusion to these words when he says, 1 Pet. ii. 24, Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. He hath borne, says Preb. Lowth, the evils and punishments which were due to our sins. The two Hebrew words KtW and b"2D pro- BOOK II. PART I. perly signify To bear the punishment due to sin. The former is taken so in that well-known expression, in which any one is said to bear his iniquity, i. e. the punishment of his iniquity. The latter signifies, properly, To have iniquity laid upon one as a burden, which is the same as undergoing the punish- ment due to it. So this word is used in Lam. v. 7 ; and again, in the same sense, at the eleventh verse of this chapter. " The chastisement of our peace was upon him — That is, the chastisement by which peace is effected or secured. He took upon himself the sufferings which would secure our peace : see Matt, xxvii. 26. This could not, says Barnes, have been conjecture. How would Isaiah, seven hundred years before it occurred, conjecture that the Messias would be scourged and bruised ? It is this particu- larity of prediction, compared with the literal fulfilment, which furnishes the fullest demon- stration that the prophet was inspired. c All we like sheep have gone astray. — This is the penitent confession of those for whom he suffered. There is here, says Cal- vin, an excellent antithesis. For in ourselves we are scattered ; in Christ we are collected together ; by nature we wander and are driven headlong towards destruction ; in Christ we find the way by which we are led to the gate of life. d T/ie Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all — The Lord hath caused to meet on him the iniquities of us all. He was the PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Shtttaft. iECT.iv. HEZEKIAH-15tu year. B.C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liii. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted3, Yet he opened not his mouth : He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth b. 8 He was taken 'from prison and from judgment : And who shall declare his generation c ? For he was cut off out of the land of the living : For the transgression of my people was he stricken2. 153 marg. ' v. 8. from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? or, he was taken away by distress and judgment : but, &c. 2 was he stricken. Heb. was the stroke upon him. subject on which all the rays, collected on the focal point, fell. These fiery rays, which would have fallen on all mankind, diverged from divine justice to the east, west, north, and south, were deflected from them, and con- verged in Him. So the Lord hath caused to meet in Him the punishment due to the ini- quities of all. — Dr. Adam Clarke. a He was oppressed, and he was afflicted. — Hengstenberg renders it, He was abased. Kimchi supposes it means, It was exacted, and that it refers to the fact that taxes were demanded of the exiles when they were in a foreign land. Bishops Lovvth and Stock both render it in the same way ; and the lat- ter remarks, that it was required of him as a debt. The intervening Kin, the nomi- native to rny], shews that 12/33 is to be under- stood impersonally. See Matt, xxvii. 12-14. Acts viii. 32, 33. b He openeth not his mouth. — He did not open his mouth, says Barnes, to complain of God on account of the great sorrows which he had appointed him, nor to God on account of being ill-treated by man. He did not use the language of reviling when he was reviled. —How literally was this fulfilled in the life of the Lord Jesus ! It would seem almost as if it had been written after he lived, and was a history rather than a prophecy. In no other instance was there ever so striking an exam- ple of perfect patience : no other person ever so entirely accorded with the description of the prophet. c Who shall declare his generation ? — I agree with Geier, that this expression cannot BOOK II. PART I. relate to the miraculous conception of Our Lord ; because TPT signifies a generation of men living together at the same period, not a physical generation. Quapropter non est, ut cum quibusdam patribus, Athanasio, Justino, et Tertulliano, accipiamus hanc vocem de generatione Christi humana ex Virgine. — Gieri Mess. Mors, Sepult. et Resurrect. At the same time, I think it much more pro- bable that in should relate to the wickedness of the generation in which Christ lived, than to the spiritual generation of his children ; because this seems to involve a sense which the word is scarcely capable of bearing. — Faber's Horae Mosaics, vol. II. sect. 4. ch. 2. The meaning of the expression has been variously understood. The chief opinions have been arranged by Hengstenberg, in his Christologie : — I. Several, as Luther, Calvin and Vitringa, translate it, Who shall declare the length of his life ? i.e. Who is able to de- termine the length of his future days ? mean- ing, that he would endure for ever. II. Others translate it, Who of his contemporaries will consider it? So Storr, Doederlin, Dathe, Rosenmidler, and Gesenius. III. Lowth and some others adopt the interpretation, His manner of life who would declare ? IV. Others render it, Who can express his posterity — the number of his descendants ? This is Hengstenberg's opinion. V. Some of the Fathers referred it to the humanity of Christ. This was the belief of St. Chrysostom. So Morerius and Cajetan understood it. See Hengstenberg's Christologie, Ersten Theiles erste Abtheilung, pp. 339—345. 154 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. $trtra&. sect. iv. HEZEK1AH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MIOAH. Isaiah LIII. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, And with the rich in his 'death3; Because lie had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth b. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise himc; He hath put him to grief: When thou shalt make his soul an offering2 for sind, He shall see his seede, he shall prolong his clays, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 1 1 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : marg. ' v. 9. death. Heb. deaths. - v. 10. When thou shalt make his soul an offering, or When his soul shall make an offering. a He made his grave with the wicked, and with (he rich in his death. — 1 Peter ii. 22. )JT the impious, plural ; rich man, singular. VmQ, his mortuary rites. This term has em- barrassed critics and commentators. They see it cannot be literally . taken for deaths, as the subject of it was already cut off out of the land of the living ; and deaths, in the plural, cannot apply to a single man. Bp. Lowth has a long note on it, and proposes to render it his tomb ; but the word, being plural, will not follow that construction. We have the same word in the same sense in reference to the Prince of Tyre, Ezek. xxviii. 1 0. See Calmet's Fragments, dlxxviii. See Matt, xxvii. Vitringa says the Jews were accustomed to bury persons crucified near the place of punishment. Thus probably the Jews purposed to cast the body of Jesus, to- gether with that of the two thieves, into a dishonourable tomb. — Jenour. b Neither was any deceit in his mouth. — However unwilling the modern Jews may be to allow the relation of this prophecy to Christ, such was the universal opinion of antiquity. See the Chaldee paraphrase on Is. lii. 13, and liii. 10. In order to elude the force of such prophecies, the Jews have in- vented the fable of a double Messiah. The first they style the son of Joseph, and be- lieve that he will appear in a distressed con- dition ; the other they style the son of David, and believe that he will appear as a trium- phant prince. Thus the Targum on Cant, iv. 5: Two are thy Redeemers, Messiah the son of David, and Messiah the son of Ephraim. — Faber's Horae Mosaicae, vol. I. sect. 4. chap. 2. c Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. — In this verse the prediction respecting the final glory and triumph of the Messiah com- mences. See Matt. xx. 28. John x. 18. xvii. 4. Acts iv. 4. Rom. hi. 25. Gal. i. 4. Coloss. i. 6, 20. Rev. i. 18. d When thou shalt make his soul an offer- ing for sin. — Jerome renders it, If he shall lay down his life for sin. Lowth, If his soul shall make a propitiatory sacrifice. Rosen- muller, If his soul, i.e. himself, shall place his soul as an expiation for sin. The idea here, says Barnes, is clearly that he would be made an offering or a sacrifice for sin, that by which guilt would be expiated, and an atonement made. In accordance with this, St. Paul says, 2 Cor. v. 21, that God made him to be sin, afxapriar, i.e. a sin-offering, for us ; and Christ is called tAatryuo?, and i\au*aft. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah mi. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ;i ; For he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, And he shall divide the spoil with the strong ; Because he hath poured out his soul unto death : And he was numbered with the transgressors : And he bare the sin of manyb, And made intercession for the transgressors. The Prophet, for the comfort of the Gentiles, prophesieth the amplitude of their Church, tlieir safety, their certain deliverance out, of affliction, their fair edification, and their sure preservation. Isaiah liv.c 1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear ; Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child : a By his knowledge shall my righteous ser- vant justify many — By such a knowledge of Christ as produceth faith and obedience : see John xvii. 3. Phil. iii. 8, 9. 2 Pet. i. 3.— Preb. Lovvth. b He bare the sin of many — tD"a~l the multitudes — the many that were made sinners by the offence of one, i.e. the whole human race ; for all have sinned, all have fallen : and for all that have sinned, and for all that have fallen, Jesus Christ died. The DO"! of the prophet answers to the ol iroWoi of the Apostle, Rom. v. 15, 19. As the oi iroWoi of the Apostle means all that have sinned, so the tZTQI of the prophet means those for whom Christ died, i. e. all that have sinned. — Dr. Adam Clarke. See Mark xv. 28. Luke xxii. 37. John xii. 31. Col. ii. 15. Compare Isai. xlix. 24. St. Paul cites this passage Heb. ix. 28 ; and applies it to Christ, when he says, Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. He uses the words of the prophet, He bare the sins of many ; «and appears to have had on his mind the Lxx Version ; as he not only employs the same words, but makes the same change in the number of KJ0T1 si?i ; — the Apostle having — ei$ to 7roAA(5i/ avevev avyve'yKe. The incidental way in which St. Paul intro- duces the words- is a striking proof, not only that he, but that the Hebrews to whom he wrote, understood the chapter as referring to the Messiah. — M'Caul's Answer to Israel BOOK II. part i Avenged, pp. 30, 31. c Isaiah liv. — This chapter, probably closely connected in sense with the preceding, and growing out of the great truths there re- vealed respecting the work of the Messiah, contains a promise of the enlargement, the moral renovation, and the future glory of the Kingdom of God, especially under the Messiah. Like the preceding and succeed- ing chapters, says Barnes, it may have been primarily designed to give consolation to the exiles in Babylon ; but it was consolation to be derived from what would occur in di- stant times under the Messiah, and in the spread of the true religion. Few and feeble as they were then, oppressed and captive, despised and apparently forsaken, they were permitted to look forward to future days, and had the assurance of a vast increase and ex- tension from the Gentile world, and of per- manent glory. The design of the whole chapter is consolatory, and is a promise of what would certainly result from the pur- pose of sending the Messiah to die for the world. The chapter may be regarded as divided into the following portions : — I. An address to the people of God, or to Jerusalem, regarded as then feeble, and pro- mising great enlargement, verr. 1 — 6. a. Promise of a great increase, under a twofold image : 1. Of a woman who had been barren, and who subsequently had many children, ver. I. 156 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sfofcaij. r. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liv. For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married wife a, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, And let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations Spare not, lengthen thy cords, And strengthen thy stakes ; 2. Of a tent , that was to be enlarged, in order to accommodate those who were to dwell in it, verr. 2, 3. b. The foundation of this promise or as- surance, that Jehovah was the husband of his people and their protector, verr. 4 — 6. II. The covenant which Jehovah had made with his people was firm and immove- able, verr. 7-- 10. a. He had indeed forsaken them for a little while, but it was only to gather them again with eternal and unchanging favour, verr. 7, 8. b. His covenant with them should be as firm and unchanging as that which he had made with Noah, and which he had so steadily observed, ver. 9. c. It should be even more firm than the hills, ver. 10. They should depart, and the mountains should be removed ; but the cove- nant with his people should be unshaken and eternal. III. A direct address to his people, as if agitated and tossed on a heaving sea, pro- mising future stability and glory, verr. 11 --14. a. They were then like a ship on the heaving ocean, and without comfort, ver. 11. b. Yet there should be a sure foundation laid. These agitations should cease, and she should have stability, ver.ll. c. The future condition of his people should be glorious. His Church would rise on the foundation — the foundation of sap- phires— like a splendid palace made of pre- cious stones, verr. 11, 12. d. All her children should be taught of Jehovah, and their peace and prosperity should be great, ver. 13. e. She should be far from oppressions and from fears, ver. 14. IV. She should be safe from all her foes, verr. 15 — 17. No weapon that should be formed against her should prosper. All they who made any attack on her were under his controul, ver. 16 ; and God would defend BOOK II. PART I. her from all their assaults, ver. 17. Ver. 1 . Sing, O barren , thou that didst not bear. —See Gal. iv. 27. The Church of God under the Old Testament, confined within the nar- row bounds of the Jewish nation, and still more so in respect of the very small number of true believers, and which sometimes seemed to be deserted of God her husband, is the barren woman that did not bear, and was desolate : she is exhorted to rejoice, and to express her joy in the strongest manner, on the reconciliation of her husband, see ver. 6, and on the accession of the Gentiles to her family. The converted Gentiles are all along considered by the prophet as a new accession of adopted children, admitted into the ori- ginal Church of God, and united with it. See chap. xlix. 20, 21.— Lowth. a More are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife. — The deso- late here refer to Jerusalem, or the Church. By the married woman, Rosenmuller supposes the prophet means other natipns which flou- rished and increased like a married woman. Grotius supposes that he means other cities which were inhabited, and that Jerusalem would surpass them all in her prosperity and in numbers. But the phrase seems to have somewhat of a proverbial cast ; and probably the particular reference of the phrase, married woman, should not be anxiously sought. The idea is, that there would be a great increase, a much greater increase than she Jiad any reason to apprehend. As if a promise was made to a barren female that she should have more children than those who were married usually had, so Jerusalem and the Church would be greatly enlarged, far beyond what usually occurred among nations. The fulfilment of this is to be looked for in the accession of the Gentiles, verse 3. — Lowth. See the same idea, presented at greater length, in chap. xlix. 20, 21, 22. — Barnes. This cannot be literally true of the Jewish nation ; and can only be imperfectly under- PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 157 3tota&. t. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Profhets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liv. For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left ■; And thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, And make the desolate cities to he inhabited. Fear not ; for thou shalt not be ashamed9: Neither be thou confounded ; for thou shalt not be put to shame : For thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, And shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband b; The Lord of hosts is his name ; And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel ; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, And a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken theec; stood of Jerusalem, as she was a type of the Christian Church, according' to St. Paul's ex- position of the text Gal. iv. 27. Expound- ing the words in this sense, they import that the Church, after her spouse Jesus Christ was taken from her by death, and she left in a disconsolate condition — see John xiv. 18 — desponding and comfortless, Luke xxiv. 21 — should, from such mean beginnings, spread over the world ; and will still receive a fur- ther enlargement, when the fulness of the Jews and Gentiles is come in. — Preb. Lowth. a Fear not ; for thou shalt not be ashamed, &c. win kV'o ""kiti-Vk t Tumrftn xV yrwaba ns-im Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed ; Neither shrink back, for thou shalt not be put to the blush : For the shame of thy youth shalt thou forget, And the reproach of thy widowhood thou shalt remember no more. Bp. Stock. This is adduced by Bishop Lowth as an instance of the synonymous parallelism in the Hebrew poetry ; in which the parallel lines sometimes consist of three or more synony- mous terms ; sometimes of two ; which is generally the case when the verb or nomina- tive case of the first sentence is to be carried on to the second, or understood there : some- BOOK II. PART I. times of one only. — Prel. Diss. pp. xvi— xviii. This verse, and verse 6, Preb. Lowth thinks may have a particular regard to God's call- ing of the Jews, and restoring them to favour, after they had been rejected a great while. b For thy Maker is thine husband "]W T^ '3- Both the words Maker and husband, in the Hebrew, are in the plural num- ber. But the form, says Barnes, is evidently the pluralis excellentiae, i.e. a form denoting majesty and honour. See Ps. exlix. 2. Hos. xii. 1. Prov. ix. 10. xxx. 3. 1 Sam. xix. 13, 16. Eccles. xii. 1. Jesus Christ, says Henry, is the Church's Maker, by whom she is formed into a people ; the Redeemer, by whom she is brought out of captivity, the bondage of sin, the worst of slavery. This is He that espoused her to himself; and he is the Lord of Hosts, who has an irresistible power, an absolute sovereignty, and an uni- versal dominion. c For a small moment have I forsaken thee. — God's anger towards his servants is short, when compared with the everlasting kindness he will shew towards them. See Ps. xxx. 5. The same rule holds true of the Church in general, whose light afflictions are but for a moment, in comparison of that eternal glory he hath promised them ; an ear- nest of which will be that Millennium of Rest, which is to usher in the heavenly state, and seems to be described in the following part of the chapter. — Preb. Lowth. 158 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. ect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liv. But with great mercies will I gather thee. 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment8; But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, Saith the Lord thy Redeemer. 9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto meb: For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth ; So have I sworn a In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, &c. ■pa rn "03 TnriDn In a moment of anger I hid my face suddenly from thee. Bishop Stock. The Syriac renders this, In great wrath : the Vulgate, In a moment of indignation. Noyes renders it, in accordance with the view of Rosenmiiller, In overflowing wrath. This variety of interpretation has arisen from the various meanings affixed to the unusual word rpSttf, which occurs nowhere else in the Bible. Gesenius supposes that it is used, for the sake of paronomasia, with rpsp wrath, in- stead of ^BEA. This word frequently occurs, and means, a gushing oitf, an overflowing, an inundation, a flood: Job xxxviii. 25. Prov. xxvii. 4. Ps. xxxii. 6. Neh. i. S. According to this, it would mean, in overflowing anger, in accordance with the expression in Prov. xxvii. 4, Anger is outrageous ; more correctly in the margin, an overflowing. The paral- lelism, however, according to Barnes, seems to demand the sense of short or momentary, as it stands opposed to everlasting ; but he does not think it possible to demonstrate that the Hebrew word has this signification. Rosen- miiller agrees in opinion with Gesenius ; and perhaps, as the parallelism of the word ever- lasting will be sufficiently secured by the phrase for a moment, the probability is in favour of this interpretation. Then it will mean, that the wrath, though it was but for a moment, was overflowing. It was like a torrent ; it was a deluge ; and all their insti- tutions, their city, their Temple, their valued possessions, were swept away. The word rpJIZ/ is rendered by Jenour, in short-lived anger. HOOK II. PART I. b For this is as the waters of Noah unto me, &c. — As it was in the time of the flood of waters, so shall it be now. I then solemnly promised that the waters should not again drown the earth, and I have kept that pro- mise. I now promise, with equal solemnity, that I will bestow perpetual favour on my true people, and will shed upon them eternal and unchanging blessings. The waters of Noah here mean, evidently, the Flood that came upon the world in his time, and from which he and his family were saved. Lowth, on the authority of one MS., and of the Vulg. Syr. Sym. and Theod., reads this, In the days of Noah. But the authority is not sufficient to change the Hebrew text, and the sense is as clear as if it were changed. As I have sworn &c. : Gen. viii. 21, 22. God appeals to this, not only because the oath and promise had been made, but because it had been kept. That I woidd not be wroth &c. — The idea seems here to be, that no calamities should spread over the whole Church and sweep it wholly away, as the waters swept over the world in the time of Noah, or as desolation long and gloomy swept over Jerusalem and the whole land of Canaan in the time of the exile at Babylon. There would be, indeed, persecutions, and there would be calamities ; but the Church would be safe amidst all these trials ; and there should be no persecution which should sweep it away from the earth. The period shoidd never arrive when God would forsake the Church, and when he would leave it to perish. One has only to recollect the history of the Church, and to see how God has guarded it, even during the most dange- rous periods, to see how remarkably this has been fulfilled. His covenant has been as sure as that which was made with Noah, and it will be as secure and firm to the end of time. — Barnes. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 159 3htoah. .Koi. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liv. That I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 10 For the mountains shall depart, And the hills be removed a; But my kindness shall not depart from thee, Neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, Saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours1', And lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates0, ! I 12 a For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, &c. — w\ty CDnnn "o nrtomn nuttJm taTOn »*V 'niVty rmm tmrr "prnn *ot For the mountains shall be removed ; And the hills shall be overthrown : But my kindness from thee shall not be removed ; And the covenant of my peace shall not be overthrown : Saith he that yearn eth for thee — Jehovah. In this example of antithetic parallel, the opposition lies between the two parts of a stanza of four lines, the latter distich being opposed to the former. — Bishop Lowth, Prel. Diss, to Isaiah, p. xxvii. Sooner shall the mountains, which are called everlasting, depart, and the hills be removed, though they are called perpetual, Hab. iii. 6, than God's covenant with his people be broken. God's kindness shall never depart from his people ; for whom he loves he loves to the end. His covenant is immoveable, because it is built, not on our merit, which is a mutable uncertain thing, but on God's mercy, which is from ever- lasting.— Henry. The sum of the cove- nant, says Macculloch, is recorded in Hebrews viii. 10 — 12. The assurance that it shall not be removed, is given also, in the most explicit terms, in Ps. lxxxix. 33, 34. The Father of lights, from whom it proceeds, hath no va- riableness. Jesus Christ, the Mediator, is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever: the redemption he hath obtained, and the BOOK II. PART I. inheritance he hath promised, are eternal ; and those who lay hold of this covenant shall find that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Having implanted in their hearts the fear of the Lord, they shall be kept from wholly deserting his service ; and in the exercise of watchfulness and prayer, and humble endeavours to please God, they shall be preserved, by His mighty power, through faith unto salvation. b I will lay thy stones with fair colours. — These seem to be general images, to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the Eastern nations ; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and par- ticularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise, moral, or spiritual mean- ing. Compare Rev. xxi. 18—21. — Lowth. c I will make thy windows of agates. — The word here rendered windows is ren- dered here, by Jerome, propugnacula, for- tresses, bulwarks, ramparts ; and by the Lxx, e-TraA^ei?, bulwarks, or rather pinnacles on the walls. The Hebrew word TWCW is evidently derived from £7212/ the sun ; either as letting in light, or as having a radiated appearance like the sun. Gesenius renders it notched battlements, the same as the sun, or rays of the sun. Barnes thinks the pro- phet probably refers to some radiated orna- ment about a building which had a resem- blance to the sun ; or that it may refer to some gilded turrets on the walls of the city. Faber supposes that the name was given to the turrets or battlements here referred to, because they had some resemblance to the rays of the sun. See Faber's Archaeol. Heb. p. 294. I GO PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B. C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah liv. And thy gates of carbuncles, And all thy borders of pleasant stones a. 13 And all thy children sliall be taught of the Lord; And great shall be the peace of thy children. 14 In righteousness shalt thou be established : Thou shalt be far from oppression — for thou shalt not fear : And from terror — for it shall not come near thee. 15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me : Whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. 16 Behold, I have created the smith That bloweth the coals in the fire, And that bringeth forth an instrument for his work ; And I have created the waster to destroy. 17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; And every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. The Prophet, wiih the promises of Christ, called to faith, and to repentance. The happy success of them that believe. Isaiah Lv.b 1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, a And all thy borders of pleasant stones. cence shall be as much greater than any — The idea is, that the whole city should be thing' which has yet occurred in the history built in the most splendid manner. Its foun- of the Church, as a city built of gems would dations, and all its stones, should be laid in be more magnificent than Jerusalem was in the most precious cement ; its turrets, towers, the proudest days of its glory. The lan- and battlements, its gates, and the circuit of guage used in the verse is in accordance its walls, should be made of the most pre- with the Oriental manner, to denote magni- cious gems. In general, there can be no licence. — Barnes. doubt that this is designed to represent the b Isaiah lv. — This chapter contains a pro- future glory and splendour of the Church phecy of the interlocutory kind. It begins under the Redeemer, and perhaps also to with an address from the Messiah, who in- furnish an emblematic representation of hea- vites all, who may be desirous of them, to ven. Comp. Rev. xxi. 2. Kimchi supposes come and receive freely the blessings of the that this may possibly be taken literally, and Gospel Covenant, verr. 1 — 3 : Jehovah next that Jerusalem may be yet such as is here speaks, and declares the offices of Messiah, described; or that it may be designed only and the conversion of the Gentiles, verr. 4,5 : to denote the future glory, wealth, and mag- the Ministers of the Gospel then take up the nificence of the people of God. Abarbinel discourse, and encourage even those who had supposes that it may refer to the time when most deeply sinned to turn to Jehovah and the Oriental world, where these gems are receive pardon, verr. 6 — 9. In the next verse, principally found, shall be converted, and Jehovah again speaks, and shews the efficacy shall come and join in rebuilding the city of his word, verr. 10, 11. The chapter con- ;md the Temple. But the whole description eludes with a figurative representation of the is one of great beauty, as applicable ft) the blessedness of those who receive the Gospel. Church of God — to its glories on earth, and — Jenour. to its glory in heaven. Its future magnifi- This chapter, says Barnes,, is closely con- BOOK II. PART I. PARAl.LKL IIISTORIKS OF JTJDAIl WD ISRAEL. 161 ■3ta&nfj. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 71! Pkophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Come ye to the waters \ nected in sense with the preceding chapters. It flows from the doctrines stated in ch. liii., and is designed to state what would follow from the coming- of the Messiah. It would result from that work, that the most free and full invitations would be extended to all men, to return to God, and to obtain his favour. There would be such a fulness and richness in his work, there would be such ample provision made for the salvation of men, that the most liberal invitations could be extended to sinners. In common, indeed, with all the previous chapters from ch. xl., we are to re- gard this as primarily addressed to the exiles in Babylon, and as designed to cheer them in their painful captivity by the prospect of what should yet occur under the Messiah who was to come. The main idea in the chapter I conceive to be, that the effect of the work of the Redeemer would be to lay the foundation for an universal invitation to men to come and be saved. An invitation of the most unlimited nature may be offered. It may be offered to all classes of men. So ample would be the merits of his death, ch. liii. ; so full and universal the design of the Atonement ; so rich the provisions of mercy, that all might be invited to come, and all might come and partake of eternal life. To state this, I suppose to be the main design of this chapter. It may be regarded as com- prising the following Parts : — I. A universal invitation to come and em- brace the provisions of mercy, verr. 1 — 3. a. All were invited to come ; even they who were the most poor and needy, who had no money, were invited to come as freely as to running waters and streams, ver. 1. b. They were now regarded as spending their money and their labour for that which produced no permanent satisfaction; — de- scriptive of the world, in its vain efforts to find enjoyment, ver. 2. c. If they would come to God, they should live — live for ever. He would make with them an eternal covenant, ver. 3. II. To encourage them to this, the assu- rance is vouchsafed that God had given the Messiah to be a Leader of the people ; and that under him distant nations should em- brace the truth and be saved ; verr. 4, 5. III. In view of the fulness of the provi- BOOK II. PART I. sions of mercy, and of the fact that a great Leader had been provided, all are encouraged to come and seek God, verr. 6 — 13. This invitation is pressed on their attention by several considerations : a. Jehovah might now be found ; his throne was accessible ; and he was ready to pardon abundantly all sinners who were dis- posed to forsake the error of their way, and to return to him, verr. 6, 7. b. God shews that his designs should not be frustrated. His plans were high above the plans of men, and his thought more ele- vated than theirs, and his counsels should stand. The rain descended on the earth and accomplished his great plans, and so it would be with his word : nothing should fail. His promises would be fulfilled, and his designs would take effect ; and there was, therefore, every encouragement to come and partake of his favour and his grace, verr. 8, 11. c. There should be rich and abundant blessings attending their return to God ; and universal rejoicing, from their embracing the religion of the Redeemer, and becoming inter- ested in his mercy and salvation, verr. 12, 13. There is not to be found in the Bible a chapter more replete with rich invitations than this ; nor, perhaps, is there anywhere to be found one of more exquisite beauty. To the end of the world it will stand as the fullest conceivable demonstration, that God intended that the offers of Salvation should be made to all men ; and that he designs that his Gospel shall be successful on the earth, and shall accomplish the great plans which he had in view when he devised the scheme of Redemption. While this precious chapter re- mains in the Book of God, no sinner need despair of salvation who is disposed to return to him ; no one can plead that he is too poor or too great a sinner to be saved ; no one can maintain successfully that the provisions of mercy are limited in their nature or their applicability to any portion of the race ; and no Minister of the Gospel need be desponding about the success of the work in which he is engaged. The Gospel shall just as certainly produce the effect which God intended, as the rain which comes down in fertilizing showers upon the dry and thirsty earth. a Ho, every one that thirsteth come ye to VOL. II. M 162 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 3ht&af). sect. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets- ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lv. And he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, and eat ; Yea, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend1 money for that which is not bread ? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me : Hear, and your soul shall live ; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, Even the sure mercies of David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people3, A leader and commander to the people. 5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, And nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee Because of the Lord thy God, And for the Holy One of Israel ; for he hath glorified thee. 6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found b, marg. ' v. 2. spend. Heb. weigh. Vie ivaters. — As we had much of Christ in wine and milk. We must come to Christ the 53d chapter, and much of the Church to have milk for babes, to nourish and cherish of Christ in the 54th chapter ; so in this those who are but lately born again : and chapter, says Henry, we have much of the with him strong men shall find that which covenant of grace made with us in Christ. will be a cordial to them ; they shall have The sure mercies of David which are pro- wine to make glad their hearts, nounced here, verse 3, are understood by the a Behold, I have given him for a icitness to Apostle as the benefits which flow to us from the people, &c. — This is evidently the lan- the resurrection of Christ, Acts xiii. 34, which guage of God respecting the Messiah. Ro- may serve as a key to this chapter : we are senmiiller, in support of that opinion, appeals all invited to come and partake of these to Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24. xxxvii. 24, 25. Jer. benefits ; Christ is enough for all, and enough xxx. 9. Hos. iii. 5. An examination of these for each. The Gospel covenant excludes passages will shew that they all refer to the none who do not exclude themselves. Christ Messiah, by the name of David. See also is the fountain opened, the rock smitten : Glassii 'ONOMATOAOriA Messise Pro- the holy ordinances are the streams which phetica, pp. 463—468, for the appellation make glad the city of God. Whosoever David being applied to the Messiah ; p. 4S8, will, let him come and take of the water for the term Witness ; and pp. 460, 461, for of life, Rev. xxii. 17. Let him come unto the term Leader. Christ and drink, John vii. 37. The world b Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. falls short of our expectations : we promise — Bishop Jebb, after Bishop Lowth, quotes ourselves at least water in it, but we this verse as a specimen of what he terms are disappointed of that, as the troops of Cognate Parallelism ; in which there is a Tema, Job vi. 15—20. But Christ exceeds our close relationship, though by no means an expectations : we come to the waters, and absolute identity in the parts. would be glad of them ; but we find there ROOK II. PART I. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. ]()3 t. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lv. Call ye upon him while he is near : Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man l his thoughts : And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon2. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, marg. ' v. 7. the unrighteous man. Heb. the man of iniquity. • he will abundantly pardon. Heb. he will multiply to pardon. uwrann mm rem ; nnp irnvQ lranp "DTI PEn 2TI» lrmrm mm-Va atzn : rrbob ranvo TptAn-Vni Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found ; Call ye upon him while he is near : Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts : And let him return unto Jehovah, for he will compassionate him ; And unto our God, for he aboundeth in forgiveness. In the first line, men are invited to seek Jehovah, not knowing where he is, and on the bare intelligence that he may he found: in the second line, having found Jehovah, they are encouraged to call upon him, by the assurance that he is near. In the third line, the wicked, the positive and presumptuous sinner is warned to forsake his way, his ha- bitual couse of iniquity : in the fourth line, the unrighteous, the negatively wicked, is called to renounce the very thought of sin- ning : while in the last line, the appropria- tive and encouraging title Our God is sub- stituted for the awful name Jehovah ; and simple compassion is heightened into over- fiowing mercy and forgiveness. This, he adds, is no idle disquisition about words : if things were not intimately concerned, it should be spared. It can, I apprehend, be satis- factorily shewn that a great object of the duality of members in Hebrew poetry, ac- companied by a distinction, and commonly either a progress or antithesis in the sense of BOOK II. part i. related terms, clauses, and periods, is to make inexhaustible provision for marking with the nicest philosophical precision the moral dif- ferences and relations of things. The Anti- thetic Parallelism serves to mark the broad distinctions between truth and falsehood, good and evil : the Cognate Parallelism dis- charges the more difficult and more critical function of discriminating between different degrees of truth and good on the one hand, of falsehood and of evil on the other. And it is probable, that full justice will not be done to the language either of the Old Tes- tament or of the New, till interpreters, qua- lified in all respects, and gifted alike with sagaciousness and sobriety of mind, shall accurately investigate these nice distinctions. This passage may advantageously be com- pared with the first verse of the First Psalm, to which it bears some resemblance, and in which the order of the climax is reversed, The way of the wicked in Isaiah is clearly equivalent to the way of sinners in the Psalm ; and the thoughts of the unrighteous are tan- tamount to the counsel of the ungodly. But why is the order inverted ? For this plain reason, that the object of Isaiah is not to illustrate conscious happiness, but to enforce moral rectitude ; a design which demands a descent in the scale of evil, in order to an ascent in the scale of good. Let the con- firmed sinner forsake his evil practices ; — but this is not enough ; let him, whose faults have been rather negative than positive, put away even his unrighteous thoughts : the very thought of wickedness is sin. — Bishop Jebb's Sacred Literature, sect. iii. pp.37 — 41 K 45, 46. M 2 164 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. sect.iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lv. And my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain coineth down, and the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither, But watereth the earth, And maketh it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater : 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth : It shall not re'turn unto me void a, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 12 For ye shall go out with joy, And be led forth with peace : The mountains and the lulls shall break forth before you into singing, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 1 3 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree : And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. The Prophet exhorteth to sanctification. He promiseth it shall be general, without respect of persons. He inveigheth against blind watchmen. Isaiah Lvi.b 1 Thus saith the Lord, It shall not return unto me void. — This is a ratification of those promises which assures us, says Henry, that the promises of relate to Gospel times. The accomplishment God shall have their full accomplishment in of the predictions relating to that great deli- due time, and not one iota or tittle of them verance would be a pledge and earnest of the shall fail, 1 Kings viii. 56. The promises of performance of the other promises. It would mercy and grace shall have as real an effect be a representation of the blessings promised, upon the souls of believers, for their sanctifi- and a type and figure of them. Gospel cation and comfort, as ever the rain had grace will set those at liberty who were in upon the earth to make it fruitful. Ac- bondage to sin and Satan. They shall go cording to the different errands on which it out, and be led forth. Christ shall make is sent, it will have its different effects : if it them free, and then they shall be free indeed, be not a savour of life unto life, it will be a It will fill them with joy. It will make a savour of death unto death. If it does not great change in their characters. And, lastly, convince the conscience and soften the heart, in all this God shall be glorified. It shall it will harden it: see Is. vi. 9, 10. Christ's be to him for a name, by which he shall be coming into the world, as the dew of heaven, made known and praised ; and by it the peo- will not be in vain : Hosea xiv. 5. For if pie of God shall be encouraged. It shall be Israel be not gathered, he will be glorious for an everlasting sign of God's favour to in the conversion of the Gentiles : to them, them, assuring them, that though it may for therefore, the tenders of grace must be made a time be clouded, it shall never be cut off. when the Jews refuse them, that the wedding The covenant of grace is an everlasting co- may be furnished with guests, and the Go- venant ; for the present blessings of it are spel not return void. signs of everlasting ones. The redemption of the Jews from Babylon b Isaiah lvi. — This chapter, to verse 9, is BOOK II. PART I. PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 165 t.iv. HEZEKIAH_15th tear. B.C. 712. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lvi. Keep ye judgment1, and do justice : For my salvation is near to come, And my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, And the son of man that layeth hold on it ; That keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, And keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, Saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people : Neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs That keep my sabbaths, And choose the things that please me, And take hold of my covenant ; v. 1 . judgment, or equity. evidently a continuation of the same general subject which is described in the previous chapters, and is closely connected with the great truths communicated in ch. Hi. 13— 15 ; and chap. Hii, respecting* the coming and work of the Messiah. The general design of the prophet seems to be, to state the happy results which would follow his coming and his work. In chap. Hv. he states that that work would render the establishment and perpetuity of the Church certain. In ch. lv., he states that the work of the Messiah would lay the foundation for the offer of the Gospel to all men ; and that it should certainly be successful on the earth, and finally triumph, and produce great and important changes. In this chapter, verr. 1-9, the same idea is presented in another form, that no one would be excluded from the offer of salvation, and that strangers and foreigners should become connected with equal privileges with the people of God. At ver. 9, a new subject is in- troduced— the invasion of the wicked and ido- latrous part of the nation. This subject is continued in the following chapter. The following analysis, says Barnes, will present a view of the design and scope of this : — I. The kingdom of God was near. The great work of man's redemption, to which the prophet referred, would not be long delayed ; and those who were expecting the coming of the Messiah should be holy, ver. 1. BOOK II. part II. The blessedness of those who should be admitted to the privileges connected with the kingdom of God, and the coming of the Messiah, verr. 2—8. A. Who they would be. 1. The man who kept the Sabbath, verr. 2-4. 2. The stranger and foreigner, verr. 3—6. 3. The euauch, verr. 3*4. None should be excluded, whatever might be their rank in life, or the estimation in which they were held among men. B. The blessedness of that state ; the pri- vileges of thus being admitted to the favour and friendship of God, verr. 7, 8. 1. They should be brought to his holy mountain. 2. They should be made joyful in the house of prayer. 3. Their offerings should be accepted. 4. These favours should be extended to all people, verr. 7, 8. III. A prophecy respecting the invasion of the land on account of the crimes of the nation. 1. The invasion is represented under the image of wild beasts coming to devour, ver. 9. 2. The cause of this, verr. 10—12. a. The indolence and unfaithfulness of the watchmen, ver. 10. b. Their selfishness, avarice, and covetous- ness, ver. 11. c. Their revelry and intemperance, ver. 12. 166 PARALLEL HISTORIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. Sutmft. ■. iv. HEZEKIAH— 15th year. B.C. Prophets— ISAIAH and MICAH. Isaiah lvi. Even unto them will I give in mine house And within my walls a place and a name" Better than of sons and of daughters : That shall not be cut off. 6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, To serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be his servants, Every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, And taketh hold of my covenant ; 7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, And make them joyful in my house of prayer : Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people b. 8 The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will I gather others to him, Beside those that are gathered unto him '. 9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour c, marg. ' v. 8. Beside those that are gathered. Heb. To his gathered. A A place a?id a name — Oti'l T. A me- morial and a name. — Bp. Stock. Heb. a hand, which came to be synonymous with Dtf a name ; because, in the East, great men endeavoured to preserve their names, or any signal action of theirs, from oblivion, by erecting a conspicuous place, a pillar sur- mounted by a hand, the emblem of authority. Examples of this practice may be found in 1 Sam. xv. 12. 2 Sam. xviii. 18. See also 2 Sam. viii. 13 ; which should be rendered, David built himself a monument or trophy, Dttf. — Park. Rosenmuller. 11 For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. o