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YALE UNIVERSITY
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ISAIAH

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED

AN AMENDED VERSION
WITH HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL INTRODUCTIONS
AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

By T. K. CHEYNE, M.A.
FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD

%m)in
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1870

[_All rights reserved]

OXFORD:
Ey T. Combe, M.A., E. B. Gardner, E. P. Hall, and H. Latham, M.A.,
PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.

Me

B70C

PREFACE.
THE present work is a fragment of a much larger one
planned by the editor several years ago. He was
induced to abridge his scheme by the urgent necessity
which appeared to exist for works of moderate size and
accurate information on the most important books of the
Old Testament. He trusts, therefore, that teachers of
theology may find this attempt a convenient substratum
for their own more extended instruction, and at the same
time ventures to hope that the independent researches,
which have accompanied the writing of every part of it,
will recommend it to the attention of professional scholars.
The object of this edition is not in the least connected
with the recent movement for a revision of the Authorized
Version : — it is simply to restore the probable meaning of
Isaiah, so far as this can be expressed in appropriate
English. The basis of the version is naturally the revised
translation of 1611, but no scruple has been felt in intro
ducing alterations, wherever the true sense of the prophe
cies appeared to require it. These might indeed have been
largely increased, but the affectionate reverence with which
the Authorized Version is so justly regarded, appeared to
demand that changes should not be made for any but
comparatively grave reasons.

vi PREFACE.
The obligations of the editor to German critical works of
all schools are too numerous to be expressed. His greatest
are those to Ewald, whose work on the Prophets is cer
tainly the most important contribution ever made to the
study of this subject. But many other writers, whose
names are unfamiliar to the English reader, have sug
gested ideas, or originated trains of thought, which could
hardly have been arrived at without their assistance. To
mention a few only would be an injustice to the rest, but
the editor would be ungrateful were he not to acknowledge
the valuable information he has frequently derived from
the notes of Delitzsch. English books on Isaiah have not
been neglected, but have scarcely influenced this com
mentary to any appreciable extent.
The references made in the following pages to the
editor's 'Notes and Criticisms on the Hebrew Text of
Isaiah' are given for the benefit of the less advanced
student. The editor conceives that much of the informa
tion in that little work is not accessible to an English
reader in any other form, and confidently believes that
the method of philological inquiry there adopted is the
only one likely to be fruitful of solid results.
Oxford, May 2, 1870.

INTRODUCTION.
Section I. The prophetic career of Isaiah.
II. The writings of Isaiah.
III. Rise of the controversy respecting authorship.
IV. Arguments in favour of the unity of authorship.
v. Arguments against the unity of authorship.
VI. How came Babylonian prophecies to be inserted in Isaiah ?
VII. Characteristics of the prophets of the exile.
VIII. The Hebrew text of Isaiah.
SECTION I.
The prophetic career of fsaiah.
LITTLE is known of the personal history of Isaiah. A Rab
binical legend identifies his father with a brother of the
Jewish king, Amaziah, and this, though probably unhistorical, im
plies a correct appreciation of his character and capacities. The
lofty bearing of the prophet in his intercourse with Ahaz and
Hezekiah, and his statesmanlike interest in the fortunes, not only
of his own, but of other countries, are a sufficient justification of
this instructive story. The scene of his ministry was never shifted
from Jerusalem, and his audience was for the most part confined
to the prosperous and educated classes^. It is true that some of
the latter appear to have derided his exhortations^, but this must
have been owing rather to the monotony of his subject, and his
continual appeals to the conscience, than to any deficiency of
oratorical power. His discourses, at any rate, in the form in
which they are now extant, presuppose in their author a high
degree of literary cultivation, received, as we may not unfairly
1 Cp. Isa. xxix. II, p. 66. ^ Cp. Isa. xxviii. lo, p. 6i.

viii INTRODUCTION.
conjecture, in the 'schools of the prophets.' In this respect we
may contrast Isaiah with his gifted predecessor, Amos, who dis
tinctly admits^ that he was no educated prophet, and no prophet's
scholar. But however acquired, there is a classical sense of pro
portion in Isaiah, which we fail to trace in the same degree in any
other prophet, and which implies a systematic training superadded
to an original genius. Of Isaiah's literary characteristics we shall
speak presently ; it will be sufficient to remark here that, like the
prophets in general, he devoted a careful study to the ideas and
even the phraseology of his predecessors, as a comparison of the
following passages, which might easily be added to, will suffici
ently prove.
Isa. i. II, 14. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacri
fices unto me ? saith Jehovah ; I am full of the burnt offerings of
rams and the fat of fed calves, and I delight not in the blood of
bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. . . . Your new moons and
your holy days my soul hateth, they are a trouble unto me, I am
weary of bearing.
Comp. Amos v. 21, 22, and Hos. vi. 6. I hate, I despise your
feast days, and will not smell a sweet savour in your solemn
assemblies. Though ye off^er me burnt offerings and your meat
off"erings, I will not accept them, neither will I regard the thank
offerings of your fat beasts.
For I delight in charity, and not in sacrifice; and in the know
ledge of God more than in burnt ofFerino-s.
Isa. iii. 9. The look of their countenance witnessed against
them, and their sin they published as Sodom without disguise ;
alas for their soul, for they have wrought for themselves evil °
Comp. Hos. v. 5. The pride of Israel doth testify to his face :
therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall for their iniquity
* Amos vii. 14.

INTRODUCTION. ix
Isa. iv. 2. In that day shall the buds of Jehovah be beautiful
and glorious, and the fruit of the land a pride and an ornament for
them that are escaped of Israel.
Comp. Joel iii. i8; Amos ix. 13 ; Hos. ii. 21, 22. In that day
the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow
with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with water, and a
fountain shall come forth of the house of Jehovah, and shall water
the valley of Shittim.
Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the ploughman shall
overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth
seed; and the mountains shall drop new wine, and all the hills
shall melt.
In that day I will answer, saith Jehovah, I will answer the
heavens, and they shall answer the earth; and the earth shall
answer the corn, and the wine, and the oil ; and they shall answer
Jezreel. Isa. X. 23 (comp. xxviii. 22). For destruction by a sure decree
will Jehovah of Hosts perform in the midst of all the earth.
Comp. Joel iii. 14. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of the
sure decree : for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of the
sure decree.
It is altogether uncertain when the prophetic career of Isaiah
began. The superscription of chap, i asserts that he ' saw visions '
as early as the reign of Uzziah, but this is probably a mere
editorial inference from the first verse of chap, vi (p. 22). We are
informed in the latter passage that Isaiah passed through a grave
moral and religious crisis, which ended in his attaining the con
viction of his Divine mission, in the year of Uzziah's death, b.c.
758, that is, shortly before that event. But there is no ground
for ascribing any of the extant prophecies to the reign of Uzziah,
nor even (with perhaps one exception, see p. 5) to that of Jotham.

X INTRODUCTION.
It was the rapid decline of the nation under the feeble sway of
Ahaz, and its imminent danger first from Syria and then from
Assyria, which aroused the slumbering energies of the impatient
prophet. The reign of Ahaz, and the former half of the reign of
Hezekiah, may to a great extent be reconstructed from the pro
phecies of Isaiah.
The latest occasions known to us, on which Isaiah exercised his
public functions, are recorded in chaps, xxxvi-xxxix^. One of the
uncontested prophecies, however, belongs in all probability to a
still more recent period. If we are not mistaken in assigning the
oracle on the fortunes of Egypt (chap, xix) to the year 700 B.C.,
he must have been then almost eighty years of age^. He had
probably long retired from active life, and occupied a part of his
leisure in developing the Messianic doctrine, i. e. the ultimate
triumph of Jehovah's sovereignty, in relation to the races excluded
from the covenant with Israel. The great thought of a personal
Messiah is now supplemented by that of the spiritual brotherhood
of all nations. Egypt and Assyria, as representatives of the Gen
tile world, are admitted to a share of the privileges hitherto re
stricted to the Israelites, a bright and cheering picture not unworthy
of the close of a prophetic ministry !
The plan of this work does not allow us to attempt a complete
sketch of Isaiah's religious position. With all his originality, our
prophet was indebted for his most essential doctrine to Joel, Amos,
and Hosea, his predecessors. The claims of Jehovah to undivided
allegiance were preached by the latter with a fervid enthusiasm, which
' See remarks on pp. 101-103.
^ It is just possible, however, that the age of Isaiah has been exaggerated.
If we accept the latest account of the Assyrian chronology, the length of his
prophetic career would be reduced by about twenty years. See ' The Annals
of Tiglath-Pileser II,' by George Smith, in Lepsius's ' Zeitschrift fiir agyptische
Sprache und Alterthumslcunde,' Jan. i86g.

INTRODUCTION. xi
even Isaiah could not surpass, though his capacity for influencing
the higher classes of society enabled him to preach the same doc
trine with more striking results. Yet these results, imperfect and
transitory as they proved to be, are not the highest honours of
which Isaiah can boast. His place in the affections of all succeed
ing generations is due to the fact that he was, perhaps, the first to
preach in distinct terms the doctrines of a personal Messiah and of
the spiritual brotherhood of all nations. He foresaw that in the
awful ' day of Jehovah,' which former prophets had announced, few
even of the chosen people should pass the ordeal, and so deep was
his conviction of this that he expressed it in the name of one of
his sons. Shear Jashub, ' a remnant shall return ^' But he was too
'bold,' as St. Paul says^, to terminate his speculations at so early a
point. By combining the doctrine of the few that should be saved
with that of the necessary triumph of Jehovah's kingdom, he was
prepared to receive a new and grand revelation. He saw, in pro
phetic vision, an exalted personage ascending the throne of David,
who should attract the whole world into voluntary submission to his
rule. Not that his intuition of this great truth was at all moments
equally clear. We shall find reason to suppose that the germ im
planted in his mind in the reign of Ahaz only attained its full pro
portions in his extreme old age^- But even from the first there are
hints, which we can understand better than Isaiah himself, of the
glorious future in which all mankind should participate. And thus
to the twofold elementary doctrine of the sole divinity of Jehovah
and the awful strictness of the impending judgment a fellow-truth
was added, viz. that of the personal Messiah, which developed
finally into the crowning doctrine of the spiritual equality of all
nations. ' Cp. note on Isa. x. 21, 22, p. 83. Rom. x. 20.
" Cp. notes on pp. 31, 87^

xii INTRODUCTION. SECTION II.
The writings of Isaiah.
A few hints may be offered as to the origin of the Book of
Isaiah in its eariiest form, i. e. in that which it presented before the
addition of chaps, xl-lxvi, and certain other chapters, which we
have reason to assign to a later age. It would be natural to a
student unfamiliar with the subject to suppose that Isaiah wrote
down his prophecies as soon as they were delivered, and thus
gradually formed the collection before us. But this is not con
firmed by a closer examination. Jeremiah informs us^ that in
the twenty-third year of his ministry he dictated the first sum
mary of his discourses, and though such direct evidence is
wanting in the case of Isaiah, there are not many pro
phecies which can be fairly regarded as representing his ori
ginal words. The attention, which he evidently bestowed on
the form of his prophecies, of itself excludes this idea in the
majority of instances, while some, such as those which relate
to foreign nations, were of course written down without ever
having been delivered at all. With this exception, however, we
may reasonably consider the extant prophecies of Isaiah to be
reproductions, in a condensed form, of the main outlines of his
public teaching. The analyses prefixed to the several groups of
prophecies in this edition will further illustrate this, and the case of
Jeremiah will prove, if proof be necessary, that the memory of a
prophet was strong enough to retain the ideas of a long series of
discourses. In fact, the Book of Isaiah, properly so called, appears to be
composed of several smaller books or prophetic collections, the
three first of which were published, as internal evidence shews, by
^ Jer. xxxvi. i, comp. xxv. 3.

INTRODUCTION. xiii
the prophet himself. The chapter which opens the book, in the
traditional arrangement, is evidently intended as a general intro
duction to a large group of prophecies. It is impossible, however,
to trace any distinct connection between that chapter and the three
following ones, which certainly constitute a single homogeneous
prophecy. Equally difiScult is it to trace a connection between
chap, i and chaps, vi-x. 4 ; the latter chapters, with the exception
of ix. 8-x. 4 (see p. 5), are as distinct and homogeneous as the
prophecy akeady mentioned. But there is a striking resemblance
between the historical circumstances impHed in chap, i and
those in the minor prophecies on foreign nations (see pp. 35-
49). All these prophecies appear to have been composed in the
beginning of the reign of Hezekiah, when the neighbouring tribes
took advantage of the accession of a new sovereign to harass the
Jewish territory, and when the shadow of the Assyrian power fell
dangerously near the south of Palestine. On the other hand, the
prophecy (x. 5 -xii. 6), which now precedes the foreign oracles,
evidently impfies a still further progress of the Assyrian aggres
sions. We are therefore compelled to admit that it interrupts
the original order of the prophecies, and to conjecture that, in
a hopeful mood supervening on the accession of Hezekiah,
Isaiah published a new and enlarged edition of his works, con
sisting of the two prophetic writings akeady in circulation
(ii-v, and vi-ix. 7), supplemented by the minor prophecies on
foreign nations. On the death or retirement of Isaiah addi
tions may have been made, and the arrangement of the pro
phecies modified, by his disciples ^ when collecting the fugitive
relics of their departed master. Thus, for instance, they seem
to have completed the scanty collection of foreign prophecies
by the insertion of others of a more recent date. Thus, too, we
' Cp. Isa. viii. 16, p. 29.

xiv INTRODUCTION.
may suppose them to have placed x. 5-xii. 6 in its present posi
tion as a parallel to the analogous prophecy of Immanuel. (On
ix. 8-x. 4, see pp. 5, 6.) The entire book was concluded by the
important group of prophecies on the Assyrian invasion (xxviii-
xxxiii), in order, perhaps, to counterbalance the stern admoni
tions of the opening chapter with the consolatory promises of
chaps, xxxii and xxxiii.
The Uterary characteristics of Isaiah cannot be better described
than in the words of Ewald. 'He is distinguished from other
prophets by the absence of any special pecuharity. His style is
not like that of Joel, Hosea, and Micah, in which some particular
aspect, the lyrical, the elegiac, or the oratorical, generally predo
minates, for he is the perfect master of every kind of style, which
the nature of his subject may demand. The habitual tone of his
discourse is a lofty and majestic tranquillity, which does not indeed
prevent him from now and then expressing a natural excitement
or indignation, but which soon reasserts its claim to paramount
dominion.' (See ii. 9-iii. i, xxviii. 11-23, xxix. 9-14^.) His
rhythm is full and vigorous, his imagery natural, his plays upon
words not merely arbitrary, but connected with a real antithesis of
ideas. Sometimes his love of pregnant conciseness leads him into
obscurity, but this is the exception and not the rule, and is prob
ably owing in part to the errors and corruptions of the received
text. Not the least of his excellences is his unenvious recognition
of the merits of eariier prophets, which induced him on at least
two occasions to insert passages from their works, and so to open
a new chapter in the history of Hebrew literature ^-
Besides being a prophet, Isaiah was a historian, possibly also
a psalmist. The compiler of the Chronicles informs us^ that
' ' Die Propheten des alten Bundes,' vol. i. p. 280.
^ See Isa. ii. 2-4, xv, xvi. 1-12. ^ 5gg j Chron. xxvi. 22, xxxii. 32.

INTRODUCTION.

XV

there existed in his time an account of 'the acts of Uzziah' by our
prophet, and a ' vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz,' which was in
corporated in 'the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.' The
signification of the latter of these tides is obscure. Was the
'vision of Isaiah' a historical monograph, or a collection of pro
phecies ? Was it composed by Isaiah, or merely a sketch of the
prophet's career by some anonymous author, in which one of
Isaiah's 'visions' may have been inserted? To neither of these
questions can we return a fully satisfactory answer. The idea that
Isaiah was a psalmist is due to Hitzig, who thinks that Ps. xlvi-
xlviii were composed by the prophet on the destruction of the
Assyrian army. A strong resemblance to Isaiah both in phrase
ology and in ideas cannot fail to strike the reader of these Psalms.
Compare the refrain, 'Jehovah is with us,' in Ps. xlvi, with the
similar use of Immanuel, 'God is with us,' in Isa. viii. 8, lo, and
several verbal parallels in Ps. xlviii, and Isa. xxxiii.
SECTION III.
Rise of the controversy respecting authorship.
The celebrated Jewish commentator Aben Ezra (twelfth century)
was the first to suggest the possibility that Isa. xl-lxvi might not
be the work of Isaiah, but of some later prophet. His expressions
indeed are obscure, but this may be accounted for by the opposi
tion which he conceived to exist between faith and critical inquiry.
An ardent lover of truth, he was at the same time sincerely attached
to the religion of his forefathers, which might, he feared, be im
perilled by undermining the received opinions as to the author
ship of the Scriptures. He allows us indeed to infer that various
passages in the Pentateuch were added subsequently to the time of
Moses, but, he takes care to -add, 'the intelligent man will be

xvi INTRODUCTION.
silent.' This may serve to illustrate his singular remarks on the
last twenty-seven chapters of the Book of Isaiah. ' There are pas
sages in this book which refer to the Babylonian exile, spoken in
memory of the fact that it was Cyrus who sent back the exiles. . . .
And know that the copyists of the Law (the Talmudists) say that
Samuel wrote the Book of Samuel, and it is true, (but only) as far
as the words. And Samuel died. And the Book of Chronicles
proves it^, for there a succession of generations is given which
preceded Zerubbabel. And this passage attests it. Kings shall
see and arise, even princes, and shall worship, though it is pos
sible to reply. As soon as they hear the name of the prophet,
even though he were dead, they shall worship. The intelligent
man will understand.' In other words, Aben Ezra entertained
doubts as to Isaiah's authorship of chaps, xl-lxvi, but, in order
to avoid offence, supplied a convenient answer to his own ob
jection. In this point, however, the critic was far in advance of
his age, and the vague allusions which he dropped as to the author
ship of these prophecies met with no 'intelligent man* to discern
their value. It was only at the end of the last century that two
German scholars, Koppe and Doderlein, revived the theory that the
Book of Isaiah was not entirely homogeneous, though the position
occupied by them has been greatly modified by later critics.
Before proceeding, however, to estimate the arguments adduced
on either side, we must remind the reader that the question at issue
is not that of the genuineness of certain prophecies, nor even of
their authenticity. None of the disputed chapters but chap, xiii
claims to be written by Isaiah, and none is deprived of its prophetic
character through being assigned to the Babylonian exile. It is
1 Aben Ezra implies that since many generations intervened between Isaiah
and Zerubbabel, passages like the following, which he interprets of the reve
rence paid to the prophetic writer, cannot have been written by Isaiah.

INTRODUCTION. xvii
obvious that the question of authorship must be argued apart from
any a priori canons of a theological or philosophical nature. By
the test of language and ideas, and not by the mere occurrence of
any single proper name, the Babylonian origin of these prophecies
must, if at all, be substantiated.
SECTION IV.
Arguments in favour of the unity of authorship.
We cannot introduce this section better than with the following
suggestive remarks of Dr. F. Delitzsch : — ' Had we received this
book of discourses to the exiles in a separate form, and without
the opportunity of comparing it with the prophecies of Isaiah, its
contents alone would never have given rise to the idea, that it had
for its author a prophet of the time of Hezekiah, or indeed of any
period previous to the exile. For there is not a single passage in
the book which betrays that the times of the exile are only ideally,
and not actually, present to the prophetic writer. The assertion of
Havernick, Keil, Welte, and others, that historical circumstances
are frequently alluded to which correspond only to the age of
Isaiah, is founded on self-delusion^.' ' And hence,' as he elsewhere
remarks, ' if, as we believe, Isaiah is the author, he has passed en
tirely out of the actual present, and leads a fife in the spirit among
the exiles^.' A hypothesis which appeals so strongly to the imagi-
' Appendix to Drechsler's Isaiah, vol. iii. p. 386, comp. Delitzsch's Isaiah,
P- 385-
^ Delitzsch's Isaiah, p. 390. We have selected Delitzsch as the representative
of his school in order not to weaken that side of the question by adducing argu
ments of a less satisfactory nature. Some of this class will be noticed in due
course in the commentary. The most ingenious (we regret not to be able to
use any other word) recent defence of the unity of authorship is ' De echtheid
van het tweede gedeelte van Jesaja,' by Dr. A. Rutgers, Leyden, 1866. The
silence, not according to us a complete one, which the author of Isa. xl-lxvi

xviii INTRODUCTION.
nation, requires surely to be supported by arguments of no ordi
nary strength. And it is only fair to add that the scholar whose
words we have cited, has, up to a certain point, maintained his
theory with a candour and ability which leave but little to be de
sired. His first argument is the correspondence of the traditional
view with his own pecuhar theory on the arrangement of Isaiah.
He points out that a series of prophetic announcements of deliver
ance from exile is interspersed at regular intervals throughout the
first portion of the book, in order to serve as a prelude to the last
twenty-seven chapters, which are all composed from the point of
view of an exile in Babylon. A brief prophecy of the Babylonian
captivity is placed in the very centre of the book as a preparation
for the violent transition from the age of Hezekiah to that of Cyrus.
But surely such an artificial arrangement is without a parallel in
the Old Testament, and presupposes a strange anticipation of
modern critical objections. The second argument adduced by
Delitzsch is the occurrence of certain favourite expressions of
Isaiah in the disputed chapters, e. g. ' the Holy One of Israel,'
(a phrase which is only found five times elsewhere,) i. 4, v. 19, 24,
&.C., comp. xii. 14, 16, 20, xliii. 3, 14, 15, &c. ; 'saith Jehovah' (in
the imperfect tense), i. 11, 18, comp. xl. i, 25, xii. 21 ; 'the Hero
of Israel,' i. 24, comp. xlix. 26, Ix. 16, ' the Hero of Jacob;' and
the use of Jacob as synonymous with Israel, xxix. 23, comp. xl. 27.
But a correspondence of isolated phrases, which is not even uni
formly exact, is of little value as an argument, and may be counter
balanced by many expressions entirely peculiar to the disputed
prophecies, e.g. 'rule' as applied to the true religion, xiii. i, 3, 4,
h. 4 ; ' righteousness' in the sense of ' grace' or ' salvation,' xii. 2, 10,
maintains in reference to the local characteristics of Babylon, is here exag
gerated into an evidence in favour of the Isaianic theory. But the writer for
gets that the burden of this prophecy is, ' Depart ye from Babylon.'

INTRODUCTION. xix
xiv. 8, li. 5, &c.; ' righteous' in that of ' truthful,' xii. 26, comp. lix. 4;
the curious word seghanim, ' governors,' xii. 25, commonly supposed
to be of Persian origin; and many other phrases. In fact, the
argument from phraseology in Hebrew is merely a subsidiary one.
The Hterature at our command is so narrow in compass, and has,
in our opinion, been so often tampered with by unscrupulous
editors, that any detailed description of the phases of the language
must be attempted with the utmost caution.
The third argument, that from the occurrence of parallel pas
sages, has been appfied with great effect to prove that the Book of
Job was written before that of Jeremiah. But though it cannot be
denied that several passages in Isa. xl-lxvi, paraUels to which exist
in other prophecies, are marked by great vigour and richness of
style, it should be remembered too that so original a genius as our
unknown prophet would naturally imitate in a very different man
ner from the feeble though not ungraceful Jeremiah. Hence the
primary character of the passages in Isa. xl-lxvi referred to is much
more difiScult to substantiate than it would be in a less elevated
composition. An unenvious recognition of the beauties of earfier
prophecies is a characteristic of the great prophet Isaiah, and why
should we be surprised at tracing the same high quahty in the work
of his noblest successor? It is undeniable that the prophet in
Babylon devoted a reverent study to the writings of Isaiah. Not
to dwell on the isolated phrases mentioned above, we may refer to
Ixv. 25, where portions of three successive verses are quoted from
Isa. xi, though not without the addition of one striking and original
expression. And if our prophet quoted from Isaiah, why should he
not also quote the other inspired prophets in the same royal and
independent manner ?
It is true that this is not the only tenable hypothesis. The pas
sages adduced by Delitzsch from the prophets before the exile may
32

XX INTRODUCTION.
have been interpolated, or, what is still more probable, may have
been composed in imitation of some older prophecy, the common
source of both the prophecies in question. Considering the large
number of prophets who flourished in the regal period, and the
probability, not to say the certainty, that Isaiah and other prophets
quoted several passages from earlier writings with but little if any
alteration, we are of opinion that the latter hypothesis has scarcely
received its full share of attention. We subjoin a list of the prin
cipal parallel passages in Isa. xl-lxvi and earlier prophecies. Some
may also be found in the other disputed chapters, but these will
naturaUy be explained on the analogy of those in the more im
portant prophecy.
Zeph. ii. 15 compared with Isa. xlvii. 8, 10.

„ iii. 10

J,

Ixvi. 20.

Jer. X. 1-16

:r

xliv. 12-15,

xh. 7, xlvi. 7.

„ xxv. 31, 33 „

Ixvi. 16.

„ xxx. 10, xlvi. 27

xh. 14, xliii.
5, xliv. 2.
„ xlviii. 18
xlvii. I.
„ 1-2
xlvi. I.
,, h 54, 56
Ixvi. 6.
Ezek. xxiii. 40, 41 „
Ivii. 9.
To the fourth argument, that from tradition, Delitzsch does not
appear to attach, or at least to expect his opponents to attach, any
great degree of importance. The most ancient testimony adduced
for the Isaianic authorship of chaps, xl-lxvi is that of the edict of
Cyrus (Ezra i. 2), ' Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, Jehovah the
God Of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth ; and
he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is
in Judah.' But the utmost which this reference to prophecy can
be admitted to prove, is a familiarity with Isa. xl-kvi on the part
of the writer of the edict, not that these chapters are by Isaiah
INTRODUCTION. xxi
Besides, the great historical work in which it occurs, and of which
the Books of Chronicles and of Nehemiah also form parts, cannot
have been compiled earlier than about 330 b.c, i. e. four centuries
later than Isaiah, an interval fraught with vicissitudes, during which
a critical estimate of the sacred literature is altogether inconceivable.
Next in order of time is the Septuagint version of Isaiah, in which
the disputed prophecies are found, and which may have been pro
duced at some unknown date between 260 and 130 B.C. This is
followed by the Greek translation of the book commonly called
Ecclesiasticus, which contains a distinct assertion"- of the unity of
authorship. The passage runs as follows ; — ' He (Esaias) saw by
an excellent spirit what should come to pass at the last, and he
comforted them that mourned in Zion ; he shewed what should come
to pass for ever, and secret things or ever they came.' But the
generally accepted date of the composition of Ecclesiasticus is not
earlier than 180 B.C., — and the Greek translation was probably
made fifty years later. The statement of these facts is the best
answer to assertions of the existence of an unbroken tradition in
the Jewish and the Christian church.
SECTION V.
Arguments against the unity of authorship.
The really decisive arguments against the unity of authorship are
derived (i) from the historical circumstances implied in the disputed
chapters, and (2) from the originality of the ideas, or of the forms
in which the ideas are expressed. The point of view occupied
throughout these chapters, especially chaps, xl-lxvi, is that of an
exile in Babylon. Jerusalem and the temple have long lain in
ruins, and the Jews are becoming dispirited at the apparent refusal
1 Ecclus. xlviii. 24, 25.

xxii INTRODUCTION.
of God to interpose in their behalf Many of them have given way
to the seductions of heathenism, and have learned to scoflf at their
believing brethren. But God has not cast off his people. Cyrus
has already begun his career of victory, and either through his in
strumentality, or by a direct miracle, the Jews shall be restored to
Palestine. Such a historical position could scarcely have been
realized by a prophet living under Hezekiah. For a moment in
deed Isaiah and other prophets are apt to forget the melancholy
present, and soar into the brighter future, but they soon return to
their proper mission of reproving or consofing their contemporaries.
But there is not a single verse in all these twenty-seven chapters,
in which a definite allusion occurs to the stirring scenes which
Isaiah must have witnessed. And the principal passage \ which
has been thought by some to imply the authorship of a resident in
Palestine, is given up by Delitzsch as incapable of defence. On
the other hand, the prophets between Isaiah and the exile, who
ought, according to the traditional theory, to have been familiar
with the strange position of affairs so fully described in Isa. xl-lxvi,
content themselves for the most part with the vaguest predictions
of the impending catastrophe. No allusion can be traced in Ha-
bakkuk, Zephaniah, or Jeremiah, to any distinctive statement of
Isa. xl-lxvi.
Still more striking is the argument from the new ideas, and
forms of representing ideas, in the disputed prophecies, as almost
every page of the notes in this volume will shew. The sarcastic
descriptions of idolatry, the appeals to the victories of Cyrus in
proof of the sole divinity of Jehovah, are unintelligible as proceed
ing from Isaiah, but are full of beauty and propriety when read in
the light of the Babylonian exile. So too these chapters contain
the germs of dogmas, which Isaiah was scarcely prepared to under-
1 Isa. l-vi. 9-lvii. II, pp. 199, 200.

INTRODUCTION. xxiii
stand, such for instance as the influence of the angeUc powers', the
resurrection of the body^, and the everlasting punishment of the
wicked'. And in chap, liii (p. 189) the idea of vicarious atonement
is expressed in such vivid language as to produce all the effect of a
new revelation. Indeed the passages which relate to the ' Servant
of Jehovah' are so unlike Isaiah that we can hardly avoid ascribing
them to some later prophet. Not that we deny the existence of a
certain amount of material common to both writers. The final
establishment of the Divine kingdom on earth is the Gospel of the
exiled prophet, as it was that of the prophets of Jerusalem, but the
organ through which this is to be effected is no longer the anointed
king, but one who bears the lowly name of ' servant.' Surely this
points to a time when the hope of elevating the nation through its
king had vanished for ever, and when the ideal of the prophets had
grown so spiritual as to find its best expression in a personification
of missionary zeal *
Perhaps the argument from the omission of any reference to the
Messianic king may be fairly regarded as absolutely decisive against
the Isaianic theory. Such an omission can be easily understood, if
the Messiah, i. e. the ' anointed ' king, be merely a transient form,
under which a befief in the ultimate fulfilment of Israel's destinies
manifested itself at a particular epoch. If it be merely a form, then
it is not surprising that when the kingdom had fallen, and the house
of David had passed into obscurity, some other organ should have
been selected for representing the same belief Then we can
account for the ascription in a secondary sense of the title of
Messiah to the Gentile king Cyrus', and for the concession of
^ Isa. xxiv. 21, p. 121. ' Isa. xxvi. 19, p. 127.
' Isa. 1. II, p. 183, Ixvi. 24, p. 232.
' For the meaning of the phrase, 'Servant of Jehovah,' see note on p. 154.
" Isa. xlv. I, p. 164.

xxiv INTRODUCTION.
Messianic functions, in the primary sense of the word, i. e. those
of realising and propagating the standard of holiness, to the re
generate people of Israel in the person of their representative. So
bold a development of the old Messianic idea cannot possibly have
proceeded from Isaiah. It presupposes a spirituafity of mind, a
sympathy with foreign nations, and an indifference to the claims of
the house of David, which can only have arisen during a prolonged
separation from the soil of Palestine.
SECTION VI.
How came Babylonian prophecies to he inserted in Isaiah ?
The question may now be fairly asked. How came the works of
five unknown prophets in Babylon to be ascribed to Isaiah, or at
any rate inserted in the Book of Isaiah ? And, in particular, how
came the four groups of Babylonian prophecies which precede Isa.
xl-lxvi to be interspersed among the prophecies of Isaiah, instead
of being appended to them? It would be in vain to attempt a
justification of all the uncritical proceedings of ancient editors.
How many of the Psalms are ascribed to David and to Asaph
simply on the ground of the celebrity of those great names ! Did
not the very next century after the Nicene Council see the deputy
of a Roman bishop produce two canons of the Synod of Sardica
as canons of the Council of Nicsa, ' either from ignorance in him
self, almost incredible, or from a bold presumption of ignorance in
others, not less inconceivable'?' And, to adduce an instance which
may be thought still more in point, was not Gregory of Tours
misled into ascribing the authority of a Nicene canon to a canon
of the Synod of Gangra merely through the cop)-ists' habit of sub
joining the decrees of Gangra to those of Nicasa^? We will venture
1 Milman's ' History of Latin Christianity,' vol. i. p. 176.
2 ' Gregorji Episcopi Turonensis Historia Francorum,' lib. ix. c. 35,

INTRODUCTION. xxv
however, to suggest the following reasons for the position accorded
to the four Babylonian prophecies in the midst of Isa. i-xxxix.
That they were connected with the Book of Isaiah at all, seems to
have been caused by a wish to preserve them from the fate of other
fugitive compositions. The particular place selected for each pro
phecy may have been determined by a consideration of its subject.
Two of them (xiii-xiv. 23, xxi. i-io), being concerned exclusively
with Babylon, were fitly arranged among the prophecies of Isaiah
on foreign nations, whilst the two remaining ones, wider and more
comprehensive in their range, were marked out as natural supple
ments to two important groups of Isaiah's discourses. Chap, xxxv
in particular may have been appended as a general conclusion, on
account of its consolatory nature, just as, according to David
Kimchi, the Book of Isaiah was sometimes placed after Jeremiah
and Ezekiel to mitigate the melancholy tone predominant in those
prophecies. The position of Isa. xl-lxvi admits of a still easier explanation.
These chapters were evidently added at a later period, and most
probably, as Eichhorn' suggested, with the object of producing a
convenientiy large volume, nearly equal in size to those of Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. In taking this course,
the editor might invoke a precedent already familiar to his contem
poraries, the Twelve Minor Prophets having been combined into a
single volume at some unknown period previous to the composition
of the Book of Ecclesiasticus^.
SECTION VII.
Characteristics of the prophets of the exile.
One of the ablest English apologists of the Isaianic authorship puts
' Eichhorn's ' Einleitung in Alte Testament,' Leipzig, 1 787, vol. iii. pp. 41, 42.
' See Ecclus. xlix. 10, and Fritzsche's note.

xxvi INTRODUCTION.
the following significant question, ' Has any writer or poet of the
first order ever been known to arise in the era of a nation's decad
ence?' He reminds us that 'the national condition of Israel at
this time was the most unfavourable that can be conceived for the
production of a writer equal to the creation of such works as these.
... It is not only improbable, but we may almost say antecedently
impossible, that it should at this time have gathered up its energies,
which were historically languid and inert, for the production of any
writer of so high a standard'.' A similar remark was long ago
made by J. D. Michaelis, who argues that ' to suppose Isaiah's pro
phecies respecting Babylon to have been composed in the first year
of Cyrus must appear just as improbable as the hypothesis of Har-
duin, that the most beautiful of the odes of Horace were the pro
duction of barbarous monks in the middle ages^.'
The surprise of these critics would have been diminished had
they considered the difference between the excitement of a revolu
tion and the languor by which such periods are succeeded. The
news of the advance of Cyrus, and the destruction of the powerful
Lydian monarchy, combined with the study of the prophetic re
cords, which limited the duration of the exile to seventy years, may
well have animated the most patriotic and religious Jews to an en
thusiasm hitherto unknown. The prophecies of Isaiah himself seem
to owe their existence to grave national vicissitudes. All, or nearly
all of them, are centred in two invasions of the Jewish kingdom,
those of the Syrians under Rezin, and the Assyrians under Senna
cherib. If the later psalmists of the exile, cheered only by their
confidence in the promises of Jehovah, enchant us by a tenderness
and spirituality which rivals that of David himself, is it unlikely that,
when the prospect of deliverance grew brighter, such minds should
1 Professor Stanley Leathes' ' Witness of the Old Testament to Christ,'
pp. 179, 180. 2 Quoted in Dr. Henderson's Isaiah, p. 1 11. '

INTRODUCTION. xxvii
have soared to a still higher flight of inspiration ? And as for the
argument from the contrast between Ezekiel and the author of Isa.
xl-lxvi, it should be remembered that the language of the former is
exceptionally impure, and is decidedly inferior to that of even the
latest portions of the Books of Kings, and that, in general, the
style of a writer is the image of his mind, and that the vigour of
the unknown prophet's language does but correspond to the fer
vour of his enthusiasm.
Certainly the five prophets of the exile, whose works have come
down to us, are not equally endowed with genius, nor equally
spiritual in tone. Their general theme indeed is the same, but the
manner in which they unfold their common message is marked by
a striking individuafity. One prophet' is almost unmanned by
affection for his adopted home, another^ longs for vengeance on
Israel's enemies; one delights^ in picturing the happy future of his
people, another'' deals taunts and reproaches to his unprepared
cotmtrymen. There is another point, however, besides this subject,
in which the five prophecies correspond, viz. their purely literary
character. They would seem not to have been delivered in public,
like the discourses of Isaiah, but passed on from hand to hand, or
from mouth to mouth, among the Jewish patriots. Any other
course of action might have drawn down upon the writers the re
sentment of the Babylonian authorities. And hence they abound
in flowing, picturesque descriptions, which are not always devoid
of hyperbole, and contrast thereby with the classical sense of pro
portion conspicuous in Isaiah. Hence, too, their strongly pro
nounced tendency to pass into lyric poetry, which confirms the
idea we ventured to propose just now of the poetic origin of this

Isa. xxi. i-io. pp., 131-134. " Isa. xiii. 2-xiv. 23, pp. 134-141.
Isa. xxxiv, xxxv, pp. 11 2-1 17. ¦* Isa. lix, pp. 208, 209.

xxviii INTRODUCTION.
prophetic revival'. Hence, too, that anonymous character, which
has appeared to some so extraordinary a phenomenon. The origin
of the earlier prophetic writings was a weU-ascertained fact, because
the functions of their authors were chiefly exercised in public. That
of the Babylonian prophecies, on the other hand, was known to
few, if indeed to any but the prophets themselves, because it was
not the custom of the Jews to inscribe the name of the author on
a mere literary production. This may be seen from the examples
of the Pentateuch, the Book of Job, and Ecclesiastes. The Psalms
and the Song of Solomon are no instances to the contrary ; the
authorship of these writings being inferred later from their contents.
The style of the greatest of the Babylonian prophets is thus cha
racterised by Ewald : — ' It is somewhat prolix in descriptions, and
often rather intricate and clumsy, though this is really occasioned
by an exuberant fulness of fresh and original thoughts. Yet in
spite of all such symptoms of a declining age, the style of our pro
phet is unusually forcible, creative, and elevating ; and in the more
exalted passages, as in chaps, xl and xiii. 1-4, it soars to so clear
and bright an elevation, and carries the reader away with so won
drous a charm, that we might easily fancy that we heard the voice
of some other prophet, were there not preponderating reasons for
believing that it is still the same prophet, only in a different mood^'
SECTION VIII.
The Hehrnv text of Isaiah.
No justification will be required by scholars of the promin
ence given to conjectural emendation in the present version of
Isaiah. The text of the Old Testament, it is well known, is far
from being as satisfactorily ascertained as that of the New. There
1 Cp. Isa. xiv. 4-23, XXV. 1-5, xxvi. 1-13, xxvii. i-(,, xlvii, Ix, Ixvi. 10, 11.
''¦ ' Die Propheten des alten Bundes,' vol. iii. p. 28.

INTRODUCTION. xxix
are but few Hebrew MSS. of so early a date as the ninth and tenth
centuries, and even these, so far as they have yet been cofiated, seem
to throw hardly any fight on the most obscure passages. Some
interesting readings have been pubhshed by Dr. Pinner' from MSS.
formerly at Odessa, and now at St. Petersburg, and by Professor
Chwolson^ and M. Neubauer' from a Firkowitz MS. in the Rus
sian Imperial Library. An useful summary of the principal various
readings known previous to the discovery of these most ancient
MSS. may be found in Dr. S. Davidson's work, entitied ' The He
brew Text of the Old Testament revised from Critical Sources,'
London, 1855.
In conjectural emendations of the text we have not been guided
solely by the hazardous desire for originality. We have borrowed
some from Ewald, and others from earlier critics, and have always
been glad to appeal to the authority, when this might be obtained,
of the ancient versions. But the versions themselves are encum
bered with countless textual errors, and until really critical editions
of the Septuagint and the Targums are produced we shall not be
able to employ them with any confidence as guides to the Hebrew
original. And at the best they give but a doubtful assistance, for,
as Professor Max Miiller has weU remarked, ' the idea of a faithful
literal translation seems altogether foreign to the Oriental mind *.'
Safer though less briUiant results may be gained from the best
Arabic-writing Jewish commentators, whose works are still for the
most part unedited.
' See ' Prospectus der der Odessaer Gesellschaft . . . gehiirenden altesten
Hebraischen und Rabbinischen Manuscripte,' Odessa, 1845.
'' See Geiger's ' Jiidische Zeitschrift,' vol. iii. p. 232.
^ See 'Journal Asiatique,' vol. v. p. 542.
* ' Chips from a German Workshop,' vol. i. p. 197.

INDEX OF CHAPTERS OF THE AUTHORIZED
VERSION.

CHAP.

PAGE

CHAP.

PAGE

CHAP.

PAGE

36

xxi. II,

12

48

xlvi.

168
ii.
6
xxi. 13-
17
49
xlvu.
170
iu.
8
xxn. I-
14
xlviii.
173
iv.
9
xxii. 15
&c.
53
xlix.
178
V.
12
xxin.
57
1.
180
vi.
22
xxiv.
120
li.
183
vn.
26
xxv.
124
Iii. I-
12
186
viii.
27
xxvi.
126
lii- 13
&c.
189
ix. 1-7
29
xxvii.
127
Uii.
189
ix. 8, &c.
14
xxviii.
61
liv.
193
X. 1-4
16
xxix.
65
Iv.
196
X. 5, &c.
82
xxx.
69
Ivi. I-
8
197
xi.
84
xxxi.
74
Ivi. 9,
&c.
199
xii.
85
xxxu. l-
-8
76
Ivu.
199
xiii.
134
xxxii. 9
&c.
78
Iviii.
206
xiv. 1-27
137
xxxiii.
98
lix.
208
xiv. 28, &c.
41
xxxiv.
"3
Ix.
211
XV.
44
xxxv.
114
Ixi.
215
xvi.
45
xxxvii. 22-35
103
Ixii.
217
xvii. I -I I
18
xl.
144
Ixiii. I
-6
219
XVU. 1 2, &C.
93
xii.
148
Ixiii. 7
, &c.
220
xviii.
94
xiii.
152
Ixiv.
223
xix.
107
xUii.
156
Ixv.
225
XX.
90
xUv.
160
Ixvi.
229
xxi. I-IO
132
xlv.
164
ORDER OF THE PROPHECIES
in this Edition.
I. Prospects in the reign of Ahaz
Appendix. Syria and Ephraim
II. Immanuel and th^ Syrian invasion. Prologue
The Prophecy .....
III. Prospects on the accession of Hezekiah. Prologue
Philistia ....
Moab ....
Dumah . . . " .
Arabia ....
IV. Warnings of invasion. The vaUey of vision
Shebna ....
V. Tyre 
VI. Growing apprehensions of invasion
The scoffers and their fate
The riddle of God's Hon (Ariel)
The Egyptian alliance
The descent of Jehovah
Hopes of the future of Hezekiah
Address to the women, &c.
VII. Confidence in the fall of Assyria
Appendix
VIII. A sign for Egypt and Ethiopia
IX. Further prophecies on the faU of Assyria
The suddenness of the judgment
The prospects of Ethiopia
X. Last words against the Assyrians
Appendix ....

^xu ORDER OF THE

PROPHECIES.

PAGE

XL Egypt 

io6

Appendix I

112
Appendix II
117
Appendix III .
131
Appendix IV .
134
Appendix V. Book I
141
Book II
176
Book III
203
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
Illustrating the first Part of this Volume.
(See ' La Chronologic Biblique fixee par les Eclipses des inscriptions cundi-
formes, par M. Jules Oppert. Extrait de la Revue Archeologique. Paris,
1868.')
B.C. 810 Accession of Uzziah.
744 Accession of Tiglath-Pileser.
742 Accession of Ahaz.
733 Assyrian expedition against Pekah.
727 Accession of Shalmaneser V and of Hezekiah. (Cp. notes
on pp. 91, 240.)
724 Commencement of siege of Samaria.
722 Death of Shalmaneser V.
721 Accession of Sargon, and capture of Samaria.
713 lUness of Hezekiah.
704 Accession of Sennacherib.
700 Assyrian expedition against Judah.
698 Accession of Manasseh.
NOTICE.
The reader is requested to bear in mind that the form Jehovah is
not adopted in this book on the supposition of its correctness, but
simply in deference to custom. The proper form is Jahveh. He is
also requested to refer to the ' Supplementary Notes ' at the end of the
volume, especially with reference to the Prophecy on Moab, and the
name of Sargon.

CORRECTIONS.
I'age 9, last line but one, for ' become a splendour and honour,' read ' be
beautiful and glorious.'
„ 82, line I, /or 'x. i,' read ' x. 5.'
, 103, line I of translation, /or 'xxxviii,' read xxxvii '
„ 107, line 7, /or ' eighty-eight,' read ' a hundred and eight.'
line 8, /or ' ten,' read ' thirty.'
, 109, last line but three. /or ' to Egypt,' read ' to Israel.'
, 116, last line but two, add 'The worship of Lilith, mixed with Persian
elements, existed among the Jews of Mesopotamia as late as the
seventh century a.d. See remarks of Professor Levy of Breslau on
some Chaldee inscriptions in " Journal of the German Oriental
Society," vol. ix. pp. 461-491.'
„ 1 25, line 4, /or ' despite,' read ' in despite of

[T/ie Book 0/ Isaiah Chronologically arrafiged.'}

THE

BOOK OF ISAIAH
CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED.

THE
BOOK OF ISAIAH
CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED.

I. PROSPECTS IN THE REIGN OF AHAZ.
(Isa. ii.-v. 25 ; ix. 8-x. 4 ; v. 26-30.)
THAT a well-merited judgment must faU on Jerusalem and
its inhabitants before it could become the centre of a world
wide spiritual empire, — such was the burden of the first group of
prophecies, which Isaiah appears to have collected. The kingdom
of Judah was then approaching the end of a long period of pros
perity. The successes of Uzziah and Jotham, especially the conquest
of Elath, had not only opened up a steady commerce, but produced
a general affectation of foreign fashions and superstitions. See
ii. 6-18 ; iii. 2, 3, 16-23 ; 2 Kings xiv. 22. Meantime the social
condition was altering greatly for the worse ; rich men increased
their estates by oppression, and obtained false verdicts through bribery,
while the new king was a mere youth of a frivolous, efferriinate
character. See iii. 14; v. 8, 23 ; iii. 12, note. To the real dangers of
the State, both without and within, all but the prophet were blind.
The northern kingdom had long become tributary to Assyria, but the
prophet was mocked and jeered at when he forewarned the Judaeans of
still worse calamities. See iii. 26 ; v. 19, 26-30. The following passages
are a summary of these warnings, and perhaps of earlier ones. Taking
B 2

4 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
for his text a popular passage out of some older prophet, Isaiah draws
a vivid contrast between the ideal future and the circumstances of the
present. The former cannot be realized till a fearful judgment has
taken place, the certainty, manner, and causes of which are unsparingly
proclaimed, till at last calm returns with a fresh picture, this time
an original one, of the Messianic future. (Part I.)
After a pause of days, weeks, or months, during which all that he
has said acquires ever greater distinctness, Isaiah takes up the old
thread, in order to develope more in detail the close connection of sin
with punishment. His text is now the parable of a vineyard. The
men of Jerusalem are called in as umpires, but in condemning the
vineyard, they condemn themselves : v. 3, comp. Luke xx. 16. Then,
as if to prevent a suspicion of unfairness, the prophet counts up one
by one the national sins — covetousness, luxury, and depravity; and
describes with Dantesque exactness the corresponding punishment.
See Part IL
Another pause, and the prophet assumes a fresh standing-point,
indicated in the Hebrew by the perfect and imperfect tenses.
Judgment, he says, has followed upon judgment, the ' whole people,'
north as well as south, have suffered the penalties of sin. A verse
of transition describes, in language probably symbolic, the destruc-
tiveness of the Divine anger. Then follow four short strophes,
each describing a special sin together with its retribution, and each
closing with the same refrain. The first three relate exclusively to
Israel, whose arrogance, impenitence, and lawlessness, are successively
chastised; the fourth chiefly, if not entirely, to Judah, the refined
tyranny of whose princes is threatened with a sudden overthrow. The
obscure admonition in the last strophe prepares the way for a distinct
concluding reference to the dreaded Assyrians.
The restoration of the striking prophecy, ix. 8-x. 4, to its proper place
is due to the sagacity of E«'ald. It removes, with a completeness to
which no other hypothesis can lay claim, the apparent want of natural
ness in several passages, as, for instance, in the mention of Syria
parallel with 'the warriors of Rezin' (vv. 10, u), in the recurrence of

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 5
the refrain, and in the otherwise uncalled-for extension (vv. 26-30) of
the elaborate section which precedes.
The date of the prophecy is settled, so far as the undisputed portion
is concerned, by the mention of the very three points which cha
racterized the reign of Ahaz— idolatry, love of foreign fashions, and the
weak character of the king : comp. 2 Kings xvi. 3, 4, 10. Neither
in age nor in character could Uzziah and Jotham fitly be termed
children ; and although worship at the high places was very general in
their time, there is no evidence that it was idolatrous; certainly the
kings themselves adhered to the religion of Jehovah. From the absence
of all reference to the Syro-Ephraimitish invasion, we should conclude
that the prophecy was written before that event, i. e. early in the reign
of Ahaz.
Let us now consider by itself the passage we have incorporated,
ix. 8-x. 4. It contains notices of five successive events: — i. Com
paratively trifling losses, described metaphorically in ver. 10 ; 2. The
hostility of the Syrians under Rezin, of the Philistines, &c., vv. 11,
12; 3. A defeat with considerable loss of life, ver. 14; 4. General
anarchy, vv. 19, 20 ; 5. Plundering raids into Judah, ver. 21. The first
of these may perhaps refer to the invasion of Pul, 2 Kings xv. 19, but
is too vaguely expressed to be of much consequence; the fourth, to
any portion of the period between the kings Zachariah and Hosea :
comp. Hosea iv. 1-5, Zech. xi. 6, with 2 Kings xv. 8-30. The second,
which is the most important notice, and prescribes the import of
the third, obviously points to a period preceding the Syro-Ephraimitish
alliance. The fifth may be illustrated by the notice in 2 Kings xv. 37 :
' In those days [apparently at the end of Jotham's reign] began Jehovah
to send against Judah Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, son of
Remaliah,' for although the incursions here mentioned are probably
not identical with those referred to by Isaiah, the temper which
produced them had doubtless occasioned others at an earlier date.
Hence, contrary to the view held by Ewald, we regard this prophecy
as older than the rest of the collection, and assign it to the period
preceding the Syrian alliance, i. e. to the reign of Jotham. And this

6 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
enables us to account for the position which "it occupies in the re
ceived arrangement. Being still remembered as an independent
prophecy, some later editor of Isaiah conceived himself at liberty to
find a new place for it, where the judgments denounced upon
Ephraim and Judah might serve to heighten, by contrast, those
denounced in x. 5-30 upon Assyria. We may add that the passages
v. 25 andv. 26-30 were, in our opinion, added by the prophet himself
on the formation of this first collection of his works, the former
verse in order to connect the new prophecy with the old, and the
latter to form a suitable close to the whole volume.
[11. 1.] The word that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning
fudah and ferusalem.
PART L
1.
'And in the days to come shaU the mountain of the house
of Jehovah be established on the top of the mountains, and exalted
above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it; and many
peoples shaU go and say. Come let us go up to the mountain of
Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us
of his ways, and we may walk in his paths : for out of Zion
shall go forth doctrine, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
He shaU judge between the nations, and give sentence to many
peoples ; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and
their spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.' 0 house
of Jacob, come let us walk in the light of Jehovah.
2.
[e.] Nay, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob,
because they were replenished from the East, and were cloud-

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 7
observers like the PhiUstines, and bargained with the children
of aliens ; so that their land was filled with silver and gold,
(there was no end of their treasures,) and their land was filled
with horses, (there was no end of their chariots,) and their
land was fiUed with vain gods, — they worshipped the work
of their hands, that which their fingers had made : therefore
was the man abased, and the lord cast down, and thou durst
not forgive them. Enter into the* rock, and hide thee in the
ground, before the terror of Jehovah, and before the splendour
of his majesty. The lofty eyes of man were cast down, and
the haughtiness of lords abased, and Jehovah alone was exalted
in that day. 3.
[12.] For a day is set by Jehovah of Hosts upon aU that is
proud and high, and upon all that is Ufted up, that it be cast
down : and upon aU cedars of Lebanon, that are high and Ufted
up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high moun
tains, and upon aU the hiUs that are Ufted up, and upon every lofty
tower, and upon every fenced waU, and upon aU ships of Tarshish,
and upon aU watch-towers of pleasure ; so that the loftiness of
man may be abased, and the haughtiness of lords cast down, and
Jehovah alone be exalted in that day.
4.
[18.] But the vain gods shall utterly vanish ; and men shaU go
into caves of rocks, and into holes of the ground, before the terror
of Jehovah, and before the splendour of his majesty, when he
ariseth to affright the earth. In that day shaU a man cast his vain
gods of silver and his vain gods of gold, which were made for
him to worship, to the moles and to the bats, that he may go into
the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks,

8 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
before the terror of Jehovah, and before the splendour of his
majesty, when he ariseth to affright the earth.
Care ye no more for man, in whose nostrils is a breath; for
of what account is he ? 6.
[ill. 1.] For behold, the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, removeth
from Jerusalem and from Judah stay and staff, [aU stay of bread
and aU stay of water,] mighty man, and man of war, judge, and
prophet, and soothsayer, elder, captain of fifty, and honourable
man, counsellor, and dexterous wizard, and skiUed enchanter, and
I wiU make boys their princes, and contumely shaU rule over
them. The people shah tyrannize, man over man, and neighbour
over neighbour; they shall be insolent, the boy towards the old
man, and the despised towards him that is honoured. When a man
shall lay hold of his brother in his father's house, 'Thou hast
a cloak, thou shalt be our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy
hand;' he shaU cry out in that day, saying, 'I wiU not be a re
pairer ; for in my house is neither bread nor cloak : ye shall not
set me to be ruler of the people.' 6.
[8.] For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah faUen : because their
tongue and their doings were against Jehovah, to provoke the
eyes of his glory ; the look of their face witnessed against them,
and their sin they published as Sodom without disguise : -alas for
their soul, for they have wrought for themselves evU. Say ye,
that with the righteous it is well, for they shaU eat the fruit of their
doings ; alas, with the wicked it is ill, for the work of his hands
shaU be given him. My people's tyrant is a chUd, and women
rule over him : O my people, thy guides lead thee astray, and the
way of thy paths have they swallowed up. Jehovah setteth him-

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 9
self to plead, and standeth to judge the peoples. Jehovah will
enter into judgment with the elders of his people, and the princes
thereof: 'And ye, ye have eaten up the vineyard, the spoU of the
suffering is in your houses. What mean ye that ye beat my
people to pieces, and grind the face of the suffering?' It is the
utterance of the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.
7.
[i6.] And Jehovah said: Because the daughters of Zion are
haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and leering eyes,
mincing as they walk, and tinkUng with their anklets ; therefore the
Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters
of Zion, and Jehovah wiU discover their secret parts. In that day
the Lord will remove the bravery of the anklets, and the little suns
and moons, the ear-drops, and the necklaces, and the fine veUs,
the coronets, and the arm-bands, and the girdles, and the perfume-
boxes, and the amulets, the signet-rings, and the nose-rings, the
festival-robes, and the tunics, and the mantles, and the pouches,
the gauzes, and the fine linen, and the tires, and the long
veils ; then, instead of sweet smell, there shall be rottenness, and
instead of a girdle a rope, and instead of weU-set hair baldness,
and instead of the breadth of a cloak girding of sackcloth, and
branding instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword,
and thy forces in war, and her gates shall lament and mourn,
and she being emptied shaU sit upon the ground. Seven women
shall take hold of one man in that day, saying. We will eat our
own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be caUed
by thy name, take away our reproach. 8.
[it. 2.J In that day shall the buds of Jehovah become a
splendour and honour, and the fruit of the land a pride and

10 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
ornament for them that are escaped of Israel. Then shall he that
is left in Zion, and remaineth in Jerusalem, be called holy, every
one that is enroUed unto life in Jerusalem, when the Lord hath
washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the
blood-shed of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by a breath of
judgment and a breath of consumption. And Jehovah shall create.
upon every place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud
by day with smoke, and the shining of a flaming fire by night,
yea, over every glory shall be a screen ; and she shall be a booth
for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and for a covert
from storm and from rain.

Par. 1. Jehovah. The reader will hardly require to be reminded that
Jehovah is an extremely incorrect form, which dates no farther- back than
the sixteenth century. The most eminent Hebraists of all schools, including
Delitzsch, who is a recent convert to this view, appear to be agreed on the
substitution of Jahveh, or, as English pronunciation obliges us to write it,
Yahveh. The philological arguments are very strong, and are confirmed
by a tradition mentioned by Theodoret and Epiphanius.
The etymology of the word is more uncertain. If it be from havab=
hdyab, 'to be,' it should signify 'tlie Creator, the Giver of being.' But
probably the name is of primitive Semitic origin, aud its ancient mean
ing irrecoverable. Its usage, however, is not doubtful ; it cannot differ
widely from the word witla which it is so often coupled, Kadosh, 'the Holy
One,' i. e. one distinct from the world and from man.
The mountain, &c. That is. Mount Zion shall one day be acknowledged
as the religious centre of the world. See especially Ezek. v. J ; and, for the
image, compare Ezek. xl. 2 ; Zech. xiv. 10.
O bouse of Jacob. These abrupt words are merely introduced to connect
the first section with the second. The main part of the first is ad
mitted to be a quotation from some older prophecy. It occurs, with
a few variations of a more original aspect, and one additional verse, in
Mic. iv. 1-4, but as the prophecy to which it is attached there was delivered
under Hezekiah (Jer. xxvi. 18), it is impossible to ascribe the authorship to
Micah. The style, as Hitzig first obsei-ved, is similar to that of Joel. Possibly
the passage may have formed part of some lost oracle by that prophet.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. ii
Par. 2. Thou hast forsaken. Throughout this section the prophet throws
himself mentally into the future, and describes the national sins and theii
punishment as if already past, so certain is he of the issue.
Replenished from the East. The Geneva Bible (1560) renders 'full of fhe
East maners.'
Horses, chariots. These are not here censured so much as signs of a military
spirit, as of luxury : comp. 2 Sam. xv. i ; 2 Kings v. 9, 15 ; Eccl. x. 7 (Hitzig).
The horse supplanted the ass first under Solomon.
Par. 3. Jehovah of Hosts, or, as expanded by later writers, ' Jehovah, the
God of Hosts.' The appellation appears to have arisen in time of war
(the early wars of David ?), and implies the meaning, ' Jehovah, who sendeth
his angels to fight for his people.' See Josh. v. 13-15, where 'the captain of
the host of Jehovah ' is seen by Joshua standing with his sword drawn, as the
champion of Israel. Others suppose the ' hosts ' to mean the stars, either as
the dwelling of God, or as subject to his dominion, as a protest against
planet-worship. Perhaps the two meanings may have existed side by side,
for the Hebrews appear to have connected the stars very closely with the
angels, and possibly regarded the latter as the inhabitants of the former.
Comp. Gen. i., where the stars are reckoned among living beings. Job xxv. 5,
xxxviii. 7.
High towers. Comp. ^ Chron. xxvii. 4 ; Hos. viii. 14.
Shifs of Tarshish. Uzziah had recovered the port of Elath on the Red Sea,
2 Kings xiv. 22.
Watch-tcfwers of pleasure. Comp. Ezek. xxvi. 12: ' They shall destroy thy
pleasure-houses.* For other renderings, see the author's ' Notes and Criticisms,'
PP- 4. 5-
Par. 4. Shall a man cast. The fugitives pause a moment to wreak their
vengeance on the 'unreal gods' ('eW) that deluded them. Comp. xxx. 22;
xxxi. 7.
Par. 5. All stay of bread, &c. Probably a gloss from the margin, suggested
by the phrase 'stay the heart,' Gen. xviii. 5, Ps. civ. 15, but against the
context. Par. 6. Is ruined. Again Isaiah surveys the disorders of the present from
a standing-point taken in the future.
Tbe look of their face, i. e. their impudent expression.
My people's tyrant is a child, literally, ' his tyrants are a child.' The construc
tion is suddenly broken, as in xlv. 8, and Job xii. 21 (Heb.). We should have
expected it to nm thus: 'My people's tyrants are a child and women,'
i. e. Ahaz in his harem.

12 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
The peoples. The prophets of this period have ceased to regard Israel as
an isolated nation. She is, however, still the central figure in the expected
judgment. The utterance, literally, ' whisper,' a vestige of the primitive, oracular stage ,
of prophecy.
Par. 8. The buds of Jehovah, literally, ' bud,' but here collectively, as in
Ixi. II. Comp. Ps. civ. i6; 'The trees of Jehovah are full of sap, even the
cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted.' The passage is designed as
a contrast to the previous description. It amounts to saying that the re
generate nation shall return to primitive simplicity, and that the divine beauties
of nature shall quite supplant the luxuries of art. Comp. Joel iii. i8; Amos ix.
13; Hos. ii. 21, 22.
PART IL
1.
[v. 1.] Come let me sing of my weU-beloved, a song of my
beloved, touching his vineyard.
My well-beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful height;
and he digged it up and stoned it, and planted it with the choicest
vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and even hewed out
a wine-vat therein, and looked that it should bring forth grapes,
but it brought forth wild grapes.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge,
I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been
done to my vineyard more than I have done therein ? Wherefore,
when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth
wild grapes ? [5.J And now, go to, I will tell you what I wiU do
to my vineyard, — I wUl take away the hedge thereof, that it
become a pasture, and break down the wall thereof, that it become
a place trodden down ; and I wiU make a fuU end of it, that it be
neither pruned nor digged, but be grown over with briars and
thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain
upon it. For the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts is the house of

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 13
Israel, and the men of Judah his cherished planting ; and he looked
for reason, but behold treason ; for right, but behold fright.
2.
[8.] Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to
field, till there is no more room, so that ye must dweU alone in
the midst of the land. In mine ears (calleth) Jehovah of Hosts,
Of a truth many houses shaU become a desolation, even great
and fair, without inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shaU yield
but a bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield but an ephah.
3.
[11.] Woe unto them that rise up at dawn to pursue strong
drink, that Unger in the twilight inflamed with wine, whUst harp and
lute, tabret and pipe, and wine, make their feast ; but they regard
not the work of Jehovah, neither consider the operation of his
hands. Therefore was my people exiled unawares, whUe his
nobUity was spent with hunger, and his riotous throng dried up
with thirst. Therefore the underworld enlarged her craving, and
opened her mouth without measure, and down went her splendour,
and her throngs, and her songs, and he that was joyous within
her. Thus was the man abased, and the lord cast down, and the
eyes of the lofty cast down ; thus was Jehovah of Hosts exalted
through judgment, and God the Holy hallowed through right
eousness; whilst lambs feed as on their pasture, and the waste
places of the fat ones kids devour. 4.
[18.] Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of naughti
ness, and sin as it were with a cart-rope ; that say. Let his work
haste, let it speed, that we may see it, and let the purpose of the
Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it !

14 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Woe unto them that caU evil good, and good evil ; that put dark
ness for light, and light for darkness ; that put bitter for sweet, and
sweet for bitter ! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes,
and in their own judgment men of understanding ! Woe unto
them that are mighty men for drinking wine, and men of strength
for mingling strong drink ; which declare righteous the wicked for
a bribe, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from
him ! Therefore as the tongue of fire devoureth stubble, and hay
which is a-flame sinketh in, so their root shall be as rottenness,
and their blossom shall go up as dust : for they have despised the
doctrine of Jehovah of Hosts, and rejected the word of the Holy
One of Israel.
Par. 1. Reason .... treason. The love of assonance being so characteristic
of the style of Isaiah, the translator has endeavoured to mark the most
striking examples of it.
Par. 2. Bath. A liquid measure, equal to seven gallons, four pints, English.
Homer. A dry measure, equal to thirty-two pecks, one pint. The tenth
part of this was an ephah.
Par. 3. 'Was exiled. The past of prophetic certainty.
Her splendour, i. e. that of Jerusalem.
PART III.
1.
[v. 25.] Therefore was the anger of Jehovah kindled againSt
his people, and he stretched forth his hand against them, and
smote them, so that the hills trembled, and their carcases were as
sweepings in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger
turned not away, but his hand was stretched out stiU.
2.
[IX. 8.] The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it lighted
down in Israel, so that the whole people fek it, Ephraim and the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 15
inhabitant of Samaria, in spite of their pride and self-conceit
in saying. Are bricks faUen down? then we will build with
hewn stones ; are sycomores cut down .? then we will put cedars
in their place. Therefore Jehovah set up the warriors of Rezin
against them, and pricked their enemies on, Aram from the
East, and the PhiUstines from the West ; and they devoured Israel
with open mouth. For all this his anger turned not away, but his
hand was stretched out stiU. 3.
[13.] But the people turned not unto him that smote them, and
to Jehovah of Hosts they had no recourse. Therefore did Jehovah
cut off from Israel head and taU, palm-branch and rush, in one
day; (the elder and the honourable, he is the head; and the
prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail;) and the guides of
this people became misleading, and they that were guided of them
were swaUowed up. For this cause had Jehovah no joy in their
young men, and over their fatherless and widows had he no yearn
ing : for every one was unholy and an evil-doer, and every mouth
speaking ungodliness. For all this his anger turned not away,
but his hand was stretched out still.
4.
[18.] For wickedness burned like fire, devouring briers and
thoms, and kindled the thickets of the forest, so that they rolled up
in towering smoke. Through the wrath of Jehovah of Hosts
was the land stifled, and the people became as fuel of fire, no
man sparing his brother; one tore on the right hand, but was
hungry, and ate on the left, but was not satisfied, every man
eating the flesh of his own arm, — Manasseh, Ephraim, and
Ephraim, Manasseh, — both at one against Judah. For all this his
anger turned not away, but his hand was stretched out still.

1 6 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
5.
[x. I.] Woe unto them that prepare unrighteous decrees, and
the writers which have so long written mischief, to thrust aside
helpless ones from judgment, and to rob of their sentence the
sufferers of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that
they may spoU the fatherless ! But what wiU ye do in the day of
visitation, and in the ruin which shaU come from far ? to whom
will ye flee for help, and whither will ye go and leave your glory ?
Except they crouch as captives, and fall under the slain ? For
aU this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched
out StiU. 6.
[v. 26.] So he hath lifted up an ensign to the distant nations,
and hissed to him (Asshur) to come from the ends of the earth ; and,
behold, he cometh with speed swiftly : there is none that is weary,
and none that stumbleth therein ; he slumbereth not and sleepeth
not, neither does the girdle of his loins loosen, nor the latchet of
his shoes tear : he, whose arrows are sharpened, and aU his bows
bent, his horses' hoofs counted like flint, and his wheels like the
whirlwind : his roar is like the lioness, he roareth like young
Uons, and murmureth and layeth hold of the prey, and carrieth
it away safe with none to deliver. And there shall be a murmuring
over it in that day Uke the murmuring of the sea, and if one look
unto the earth, behold troublous darkness, for the light is darkened
through the mists thereof
Par. 2. It lighted down. Comp. Zech. ix. i, where Damascus is called the
' resting-place ' of the word of Jehovah ; also Dan. iv. 31, ' there /e« a voice from
heaven ;' and the expression for revelation in the Koran, anzala, ' he hath sent
down.' The warriors of Rezin. Auth. Vers. ' the adversaries of Rezin,' i. e. the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. t>j
Assyrians, but an indirect allusion of this sort is contrary to Isaiah's usual
manner. The ' enemies' in the next clause are certainly the enemies of Israel,
not of Syria, and the notice oi the hostility of the Syrians immediately after
wards leads to the natural inference that Rezin is mentioned, because he
was the reigning king. The rendering ' warriors,' or more literally, ' harassing
ones,' may be supported by xi. 13, where 'sorere Yebudah is translated by
Gesenius and Ewald 'the hostile ones of Judah.' Ewald, however, in the
passage before us, adopts an easier reading found in many MSS., ' princes '
(^are for 'sdre) ; we have therefore selected a middle word, to suit either
explanation. For the mention of the Philistines, comp. i Kings xv. 2 7.
Palm-branch and rush, i. c. high and low. The words which follow are a.
gloss ; they break the symmetry of the strophe, and seem to be founded on an
unseasonable reminiscence of iii. 2.
Par. 6. Troublous darkness. Comp. the parallel passage, viii. 22.

APPENDIX.
SYRIA AND EPHRAIM.
(Isa. xvii. i-ii.)
The following fugitive passage is added, for the sake of com
parison with Part III. of the preceding prophecy. The subject may
be described as follows: — Damascus shall perish, Ephraim shall lose
its fortresses, and Syria its capital. The few survivors of the Syrian
host shall share the fate of the proud Ephraimites. This is next
described under the image of a harvest-field in the vicinity of
the capital, where but few ears would be left for a tardy gleaner.
And yet a few would certainly be left, as few as the olive-berries
forgotten at the regular gathering, and beaten down with a stick
by some casual traveller. An equally scanty remnant of the Ephraimites
shall then be convinced of the folly of their idolatry, and shall turn to
the true God. But the result of their conversion is left in obscurity.
The fortresses on which they now rely wiU then be as desolate as
c

1 8 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
those of the accursed Canaanites ; and the cause of the ruin is, that
Ephraim has forgotten her true fortress, and wasted her zeal on
the service of foreign gods.
This prophecy transports us to a time when Syria and Ephraim
were confederates. The object of this alliance at a later period is
described in ch. vii. ; it was no less than the reduction of the southern
kingdom to a state of vassalage. Since this is passed over here in
complete silence, we may venture to infer that it was not yet openly
avowed. Hence, in assigning a date to the oracle, our choice will lie
between the end of the reign of Jotham, and the beginning of that
of Ahaz. We may perhaps advance further by considering the dif
ference of tone between this prophecy and one which we have dated
somewhat earlier, ix. 8-x. 4. The latter is one long indignant threat,
the former a calm regretful warning. H^ce we must allow an interval '
for the prophet's mood to have softened, i. e. the interval between
the formation of the Syro-Ephraimitish league and the abortive
invasion of Rezin and Pekah, and ascribe the prophecy before us to
the early part of the reign of Ahaz. See, for the account of its
fulfilment, 2 Kings xvi. 9, xvii. 6. 1.
[xvii. 1.] Behold, Damascus shaU be removed from being
a castle, and be cast low in ruin ; the cities of Aroer shaU be
forsaken, they shaU be given up to flocks, which shall Ue down,
with none to make them afraid. The stronghold shaU cease from .
Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of
Aram shall be as the glory of the children of Israel: it is the
utterance of Jehovah of Hosts. 2.
[4.] Then in that day shall the glory of Jacob be impoverished,
and the fatness of his flesh wax lean. And it shall be as when one
gathereth standing corn at harvest, while his arm reapeth the ears,

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 19
and shall be as he that gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim ;
and there shaU be left thereof but a gleaning, as at the beating of
an oUve-tree, two or three berries at the uppermost point, four or
five in the branches of the fruit-tree : it is the utterance of Jehovah,
the God of Israel. 3.
[7.] In that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes
shaU have respect to the Holy One of Israel, and he shall not look
to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shaU respect that
which his fingers have made, either the Asherim or the figures
of the sun. 4.
[9.] In that day shall his fortress-cities be Uke the deserted
places in thickets and summits, which men deserted before the
children of Israel, and it shaU become a desolation. Because
thou didst forget the God of thy salvation, and wast not mindful
of thy fortress-rock, therefore didst thou plant lovely plantings,
and set them with strange slips; in the day of thy planting
thou didst hedge them in, and in the morning didst bruig thy
seed to blossom ; but the harvest is flown on a day of sickness
and desperate pain.
Par. 1. Castle . . . cast low. The assonance corresponds to that in the
original. The cities of Aroer, i. e. the East Jordanic region, through which the Assyrians
passed on their march against Israel. There were two Aroers, one on the
frontier of the Amorites, the other on that of the Ammonites.
Par. 2. Rephaim, a plain stretching south-west of Jerusalem, towards
Bethlehem. Par. 3. Asherim, i. e. the images or emblems of Asherah. The latter was
the goddess of fertility and good fortune, and was worshipped with rites
similar to those of the Babylonian Mylitta (2 Kings xxiii. 7). More precise
C 2

20 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c.
information cannot be given, owing to the danger of confounding the many
local varieties in the Semitic mythology.
The figures of the sun. Comp. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4, where these figures are
mentioned as standing upon the altars of Baal, the Sun-God of the Phoenicians.
Par. 4. The deserted places, i. e. the ruins of Canaanitish fortresses.
Lovely plantings, i. e. the sensual rites of heathenism.

II. IMMANUEL AND THE SYRIAN INVASION.
(Isa. vi-ix. 7.)
PROLOGUE. (Isa. vi.)
IF 'the year that King Uzziah died' were the date of the com
position as weU as of the event narrated, this would be decidedly
the earliest of all Isaiah's prophecies. Two objections, however, have
been urged against this opinion. One is drawn from the supernatural
circumstances of the vision, which are regarded by some critics as
mere scenic decorations, invented long after the prophet's entrance
upon his office, and analogous to the 'Vision' of Burns or the 'Dedi
cation' prefixed to Goethe's Poems. This view is thought to be con
firmed by the inaugural visions of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, to which this
of Isaiah has evidently served as a model, while to adduce the contrast
between the freshness of the original and the pale colours of the imita
tions no more proves the literal exactness of the former than it would
in the parallel case of Burns and Goethe. The objection referred to,
however, does not seem to be well-founded. It leaves out of sight
the fact that Isaiah, by the admission of all, had a strongly religious
genius, and was Uable to every experience peculiar to persons so
gifted. Now, no phenomena are so familiar in the comparative history
of religions as the claim put forward on the part of their leaders to the
enjoyment of intercourse with spiritual beings, and the equally earnest
faith of these leaders in the form which they report their intercourse
to have assumed.
A safer ground for objection is furnished by the despondency of the
latter part of the narrative. The sudden transition from the height of

)22 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
enthusiasm to the depth of despair (despair, so far as the present
,is concerned) is unnatural in the extreme. It is also entirely contrary
to analogy. Throughout the Old Testament we detect a gracious
•proportion between the revelation vouchsafed and the mental state of
the person receiving it, as, for instance, in the Messianic prophecies;
but what proportion can be observed between the fervid zeal of the
novice, breaking forth on the first word of encouragement, and the
sudden check which it receives by an untempered disclosure of coming
troubles ? It is no mere undertone of melancholy which pervades
these verses, — that would not in the least have surprised us, for even
in the preliminary part of the vision Isaiah is well aware of the
low moral condition of his age, — it is an oppressive despair, which
may not unfairly be pronounced psychoIogicaUy impossible.
Our conclusion, therefore, is that the second part of this chapter
embodies the revelation of a later period. We may suppose, either
that, in recalling the great event of his youth, Isaiah interpreted the
doubts which may even then have sobered his confidence, in the light
of his subsequent experience, or else that two revelations, that of
his prophetic mission, and that of his ill success, are brought together
for the purpose of mutual illustration. Observe that w. i-8 are quite
complete without the revelation which follows.
However this may be, the narrative is evidently intended as the
prelude to a fresh group or summary of prophecies, the contents of
which cannot be defined with certainty. Ewald's view, however, has
no small degree of probability, that the passage vii. i-ix. 7, formed
the chief portion of the summary in question. The object of that
important fragment is, in fact, the confirmation of the ideas of this
prelude, namely, the obstinacy of the present generation, and the cer
tainty of a glorious future following upon a terrific judgment of
purification. We shall shortly find reason for assigning the date to
the early part of the reign of Hezekiah. 1.
[VI. 1.] In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 23
sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filling the
palace. Seraphim stood above him; each one had six wings,
with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his
feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried to the other and
said. Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of Hosts : the whole earth is fuU
of his glory. And the foundations of the threshold shook at the
voice of him that cried, and the house became full of smoke.
Then said I, Woe is me ! for I am undone ; because I am
a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean Ups, because mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of
Hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me with a hot stone
in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar ;
and he caused it to touch my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath
touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin
forgiven. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying. Whom shall
I send, and who will go for us ? Then said I, Here am I ;
send me.

[9.] And he said. Go and say to this people. Hear on, but
understand not ; and see on, but perceive not. Make the heart of
this people fat, and their ears heavy, and besmear their eyes ; lest
they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and lest their
heart understand, and they return, and be healed. And I said,
How long. Lord ? And he said. Until the cities be waste without
inhabitant, and the houses without men, and the ground be wasted
to a desolation, and Jehovah have removed men far away, and
the deserted places be many in the midst of the land. And
though there should yet be a tenth in it, it must again be burned ;
(yet) like the terebinth and like the oak, in which at the felUng
a stock is left, (so) there shaU be an holy seed, the stock thereof

24 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Par. 1. The palace, i.e. heaven : comp. Ps. xxix. 9. Jehovah is described as
a king, seated on his throne of state, and surrounded by his counsellors. Comp.
ver. 8, ' Who will go for us ?'
Seraphim. Literally, ' serpents,' such as those which are said to have bitten
the Israelites in the desert, Num. xxi. 6. Possibly Isaiah employs the dragons
who guarded the treasures of the gods in primeval mythology, as he elsewhere
(xiv. 29) employs the fabulous flying serpents of Arabia, as mere poetical
machinery. Since, however, the Seraphim are described here as men, though
as men of a higher order, symbolized by their wings, and since the divine
guards are in Gen. iii. 24 called Cherubim (connected with ypin//, ' griffin,' as
even Keil admits), it seems better to compare the Arabic shar'if, ' noble,' and
consider Seraphim to signify the nobility of heaven, i. e. the angels. Comp.
the vision of Micaiah, i Kings xxii. 19.
Full of smoke. The smoke proceeded from the altar of incense mentioned in
ver. 6. The original image of a palace is now qualified by images drawn from
the temple.
A hot stone. The Law directed that altars should be constructed either of
earth or of unhewn stones, Exod. xx. 25.
Par. 2. Make the heart of this people fat, i. e. blimt their feelings. Note the
delicate irony which pervades this description. A stage in the prophet's career
is closed, and when he looks for results, it seems as if he had been destined
to render the coarse nature of ' this people ' coarser than it was before.
Though there should yet be a tenth. The few who may be spared by the first
judgment will be still so far from holiness, that a second will be required.
Comp. the refrain of Part III. of the preceding group, ' For all this his ange
tumed not away,' &c.

THE PROPHECY
(Isa. vii. i-ix. 7.)
The confederate kings of Damascus and Samaria are on their march
to Jerusalem, with the view of conquering the country, and imposing
a puppet of their own as king. The dismay of Ahaz is extreme.
Isaiah comes forward to reassure him, promising, on the authority
of Jehovah, that the enterprize shall fail, and guaranteeing his veracity

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 25
by the offer of a sign. The king hypocritically declines the offer.
Then the prophet, penetrating his diplomatic intentions, announces
a sign of mixed import connected with the birth and childhood of
a certain Immanuel. The result of his conduct wiU be, that though
the immediate danger shall pass away, it shall be succeeded by a far
more terrible one. Assyria and Egypt shall make Judah their battle
field, and destroy every vestige of cultivation. See Pars. 1-3.
On a subsequent occasion two fresh signs are produced; a tablet,
with an enigmatical inscription dedicating it to the expected ravager,
and the same oracular words converted into a name for the prophet's
second son. See Par. 4. The remaining discourse is apparently
esoteric. It begins by depicting the Assyrian devastations. These,
with regard to the northern branch of the nation, are the just retribu
tion of its sympathy with the profane enterprize of Pekah. The only
gleam of hope for Ephraim is the thought that, after all, Ephraim and
Judah belong by right to the same king, and wiU form, when reunited,
'thy land, O Immanuel.' At the sound of that potent name, the
prophet rises to a defiant enthusiasm, which, for the sake of his
disciples, he further justifies by a special revelation. Reverence for
Jehovah, such is its purport, is the true source of intrepidity. Then,
after describing his own calm attitude of expectation, he glances at the
dark future of the votaries of magic, who reject the true oracles which
they will one day desire in vain. He piles, as it were, obscurity on
obscurity to convey the extent of their despair, till suddenly the
Messianic hope breaks out in a climax of striking ideas and bold,
original phraseology.
The whole passage is an epitome of the discourses delivered at this
great national crisis, i. e. about B.C. 740. The epitome itself apparently
belongs to the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah, before the piety
of the king had exerted much influence on the people. This we
gather (i) from the expression ' it came to pass in the reign of Ahaz,'
which would be unnatural, if Ahaz were stiU alive, (2) from the
Messianic description, which, by its vividness, implies a reign of more
than ordinary promise.

26 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
1.
[vii. 1.] And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, son of
Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, king of Aram, with
Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up against Jerusalem
to assault it, (but he was not able to assault it). And it was told
the house of David, saying, Aram resteth on Ephraim, and his heart
trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest
tremble before the wind. Then said Jehovah unto Isaiah, Go forth
now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-Jashub thy son, at the end
of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's
field, and say unto him. Take heed, and be quiet ; fear not, neither
be faint-hearted for these two stumps of smoking fire-brands, for
the burning anger of Rezin, and Aram, and the son of Remaliah.
[5.] Becar.se Aram hath taken evil counsel against thee, with
Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying, ' Let us go up against
Judah and vex it, and burst it open for us, and set the son of Tabel
as king in the midst of it :' thus saith the Lord Jehovah, It shall
not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Aram
is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, [and within
threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken that it be not
a people,] and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of
Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye hold not fast, verily ye shall
not stand fast. 2.
[lO.J And Jehovah spake further to Ahaz, saying. Ask thee
a sign of Jehovah thy God, going deep down to the abyss, or far
up to the height. But Ahaz said, I wiU not ask, neither will I
tempt Jehovah. And he said. Hear ye now, O house of David ;
is it too Uttie for you to weary men, that ye weary my God also ?
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign ; behold, the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 27
damsel shaU conceive, and bear a son, and caU his name God-
with-us. Cream and honey shall he eat, when he shaU know to
refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy shall know
to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land, before whose two
kings thou shrinkest, shall become a desert. Jehovah shall bring
upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house,
days such as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed
from Judah, [the king of Assyria]. 3.
[18.] And in that day shall Jehovah hiss to the flies that are in
the uttermost part of the streams of Egypt, and to the bees that
are in the land of Assyria, and they shall come and rest in the
valleys of the steep hUls, and in the clefts of the rocks, and in
all the thorn-bushes, and in aU the pastures. In that day shaU the
Lord shave with the razor that is hired beyond the river, [with the
king of Assyria,] the head, and the hair of the feet, and it shaU
also consume the beard. And in that day shall a man nourish
a young cow and two sheep ; and because of the abundant yielding
of milk he shaU eat cream, for cream and honey shaU every one
eat that is left in the land. And in that day shaU every place,
where there are a thousand vines at a thousand silverUngs, it shall
even be for briars and thorns ; with arrows and with bow shaU
men come thither, for all the land shall become briars and thorns.
And as for aU the mountains that are digged with the mattock,
thou shalt not come thither for fear of briars and thorns ; but it
shaU be a place for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading
of sheep. 4.
[vm. 1.] And Jehovah said to me. Take thee a large
tablet, and write upon it with the style of the people. To

28 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
SpoU-swiftly Rob-quickly, and I wiU take to me, as faithful wit
nesses, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah. Then
I went near to the prophetess ; and she conceived, and bare a son.
And Jehovah said to me. Call his name Spoil-swiftly Rob-quicHy;
for before the boy shall have knowledge to cry. My father, and
my mother, men shall carry away the riches of Damascus and
the spoil of Samaria before the king of Assyria.

[5.] And Jehovah spake yet again unto me, saying, Forasmuch
as this people insulteth the waters of ShUoah that flow softly, and
exulteth in feUowship with Rezin and the son of Remaliah, there
fore, behold, the Lord bringeth upon them the waters of the river,
mighty and great, [the king of Assyria and all his glory;] and
it shaU come over all his channels, and go over all his banks, and
shall gUde into Judah, overflowing and passing over, and reaching
even to the neck, and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the
breadth of thy land, O God-with-us. Vex yourselves, ye peoples,
and ye shall utterly fail, and give ear, all ye of far countries ; gkd
yourselves, and ye shall utterly faU, gird yourselves, and ye shall
utterly faU ; form a purpose, and it shall come to nought ; speak
a word, and it shall not stand : for God is with us. For Jehovah
spake thus to me, when his hand was mighty, and warned me not
Io walk in the way of this people, saying, CaU ye not everything
a conspiracy, which this people caUeth a conspiracy, neither fear
ye their fear, nor count it worthy of dread. Jehovah of Hosts,
him shall ye haUow, and let him be your fear, and let him be your
dread. Then shall he be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of
stumbling and for a rock of oflfence to both the houses of Israel,
for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 29
many among them shaU stumble, and shaU faU, and be broken,
and be snared, and be taken. 6.
[16.] 'Bind up the admonition, seal the doctrine among my
disciples.' And I wait for Jehovah, though he hideth his face
from the house of Jacob, and I hope in him ; behold, I and the
children whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for
portents in Israel from Jehovah of Hosts, which dweUeth in mount
Zion. And when they say unto you, ' Consult the ghost-seers and
the wizards, that chhp and that mutter! Should not people
consult their gods, even the dead on behalf of the living?' To
the doctrine and the admonition ! They surely shall speak ac
cording to this word, for whom there is no daybreak; and they
shaU pass along, hardly bestead and hungry ; and then, when they
are htmgry, they shaU fret themselves, and curse by their king and
god, and shaU look upwards. And they shaU look unto the earth,
but behold distress and darkness, the dimness of trouble, and they
are driven into gloom. 7.
[IX. 1.] Nay, though the land was troubled, it is no longer
dark ; as the former time brought shame to the land of Zebulon
and the land of Naphtali, so the latter hath brought unto it honour,
unto the way by the sea, the other side of Jordan, the district of
the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a
great light; they that dwelt in the land of obscurity, upon them
hath the light gleamed. Thou hast multipUed the nation, even
unto them hast thou given great joy : they joy before thee accord
ing to the joy in harvest, as men exult when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod
of his tyrant, thou hast broken, as in the day of Midian; yea.

30 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
every shoe of him that tramped with clatter, and the cloak rolled
in bloodshed, was for burning, fuel of fire. For a chUd has been
born unto us, a son has been given unto us, and the government
was laid upon his shoulder; and one called his name, Wonderful-
CounseUor Mighty-God Everiasting-Father Prince-of-Peace : forthe
increase of the government and for peace without end upon the
throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and toi
support it through right and justice from henceforth even for ever.
The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts wiU perform this.
Par. 1. Resteth. Comp. ver. 19, where the swarming warriors are said,tol'
' rest ' or settle in the valleys.
Shear-Jashub, i. <=. ' a remnant shall return,' or, be converted, one of Isaiah's
principal doctrines. Comp. x. 20-22.
The highway of the fuller's field, i. c. the road to Joppa, which began outside '
the western gate. Ahaz had doubtless gone thither to prepare for a siege by
securing the reservoir of Gihon, on which the inhabitants of Jerasalem de
pended for much of their supply of water. In the neighbourhood of this
reservoir was the fuller's field.
The son of Tabel, evidently a Syrian, the meaning of the name in Chaldee ,
being ' God is good.'
Within threescore and five years. These words are inclosed as a gloss,
(i) because they interrupt the context, (2) because the effect of the passage
consists in the quick succession of short, equal clauses. If we omit them, the
connection is clear. ' Rezin is prince of Damascus, and Remaliah's son pnnce
of Samaria, both of whom are feeble mortals ; but the prince of Jerusalem is
Jehovah, who is pledged to deliver you.' Yet, with a play upon words, the
prophet concludes, ' if ye do not hold fast by him, ye shall not stand fast,
i. e. ye shall not preserve your national independence. But what was the event
referred to by the writer of the gloss ? Not the fall of Samaria, for that
took place only twenty years after the accession of Ahaz. Perhaps it was tne
colonization ascribed to Esar-haddon in Ezra iv. 2 : comp. 2 Chron. xxxni. ll, ,
an event which the writer had not improbably witnessed.
Par. 2. A sign. A sign is an omen that the announcements of a prophet
will be fulfilled. It may consist (i) in some ordinary phenomenon, as in
I Sam. X. 2-9; Isa. viii. 18, xix. 20, xxxvii. 30; (2) in some wonderful event,
entirely contrary to experience, as in Exod. vii. 3, 9.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 31
Beep down to the abyss, perhaps with an allusion to Ahaz's fondness for
necromancy. Neither will I tempt Jehovah. Probably Ahaz had already projected an
alliance with Assyria, and knew that Isaiah was disinclined to it. Hence his
pretended reluctance to ' tempt Jehovah.'
Tbe damsel, Heb. haalmah. So far as the etymology of this word is con
cerned (see 'Notes and Criticisms,' pp. 7, 8) there is nothing to prevent
'us from interpreting it of the wife of the prophet. We know that Isaiah's
sons received symbolical names, and in viii. 18 they are actually called 'signs
to the house of Israel.' Since, however, the word is limited by its usage in
the Old Testament to the unmarried woman, it is perhaps better to choose
some other explanation. The most probable seems to be that which refers
the passage to the mother of the Messiah, whose advent was placed by
Isaiah in connection with the Assyrian invasion (see ix., xi). The objection
to it is that fhe Davidic origin and royal dignity of the child are passed
over here without notice, which may be answered by recalling the circum
stance that this is the earliest prophecy of Isaiah in which, on our hypo
thesis, the Messiah is mentioned. Even in the passage ix. 6, 7, written ap
parently at a somewhat later time, there is no allusion to the descent of
the Messiah from David ; and considering the length of time required for
the evolution of the doctrine of the Messiah from the vague faith in the
establishment of God's kingdom, there is nothing to surprise us in its com
paratively slow development in the mind of Isaiah himself. The revelation
of the Davidic descent is first made in xi. 1. We may confirm the explanation
given above by Micah v. 3-5, in which the Messianic descriptions of Isa. vii.
and ix. are condensed. — Observe that the sign given to Ahaz consisted not
in the maimer of the child's birth, but in his name aud fortunes. 'Behold,'
cries the prophet, ' the damsel destined for so high an honour shall soon
bear a son, whose name she shall call, God-on-our-side. Do you ask the
reason of this strange name? It is that, between the birth of the child
and his arrival at years of discretion, Syria and Israel shall cease to be
formidable. This has, from the first, been the Divine intention. But now,
as a punishment for your want of faith, the promise is qualified. At the
•time when the child shall have reached the years of discretion, he shall
feed, not on com and vrine, but on cream and honey, for his native land
will have been desolated by an Assyrian army.' In viii. 8 we seem to be
on the verge of a still further disclosure, preparing the way for ix. 4.
Shall conceive, or, ' is with child,' thus bringing the fulfilment a little nearer
the time of the prediction.

32 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Cream and honey. This is a feature, not of fruitfulness, but of desolation, as
appears from the next paragraph (ver. 22), and from the parallel clause in the
explanation of the sign, ' Jehovah shall bring upon thee,' &c.
When he shall know to refuse, &c. A period intentionally made rather
indefinite. Comp. viii. 4, in which the prospect of fulfilment has grown more
distinct. Shall become a desert. See, for the fulfilment, 2 Kings xv. 29, xvi. 9.
The king of Assyria. These words, which are repeated in the 3rd and 5th
paragraphs, are probably a gloss. They certainly weaken the force of the
passage. Par. 3. Egypt and Assyria. These great and rival powers are to meet in
Judah, and make it their battle-field.
A thousand vines at u thousand silverUngs, i. c. each vine was worth a silver
shekel, about 2s. ^d. In modern Syria, a vine is said to be valued at a piastre,
about 3c?.
As for all the mountains. Cultivation shall be broken off on account of the
hopeless desolation. Note the tautology of the style, a mark of the de
spondency of the writer.
Par. 4. The style of the people, i. e. in large and legible characters.
Par. 5. Insidteth . . , exulteth. See ' Notes and Criticisms,' pp. 8, 9.
Shiloah = gushing ; comp, John ix. 7. This was a fountain in the south-east
of Jerusalem, and is here employed as an image of the mild 'government of the
house of David.
Thy land, 0 God-with-us. This passage supplies a point of connection be
tween vii. 14 and ix. i. Isaiah recollects the promise of the wonderful child,
and seems to feel that it is not exhausted by the overthrow of the Syrians and
Ephraimites ; he already sees dimly the triumph of the Messiah over Assyria.
This seems to be involved in the ejaculation of ver. 8, and the challenge
of w. 9, 10, both of which are founded upon the word ' God-with-us.' '
When his hand was mighty, i. e. in a moment of a specially strong prophetic
impulse. Call ye not everything a conspiracy, i. e. do not give way to panic. Con
spiracy is too serious a name for the enterprize of Rezin and Pekah, for it
implies an attainable object. Comp. vii, 4.
A stone of stumbling. Comp. note on xxviii. 16.
Par. 6. Bind up the admonition, A speech of Jehovah. The revelation con
tained in the previous paragraph is to be committed to the guardianship of
' God's disciples.' Comp. liv. 13.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 33
And I wait for Jehovah, i.e. I retain my faith in the future regeneration of
God's people.
And when they say unto you. The prophet, in his excitement, has omitted
the apodosis of this passage. It would naturally be, ' Hearken not unto them.'
Tbe ghost-seers. Well rendered by Lxx iyyaaTpitivSot, ' ventriloquists,' which
is confirmed not only by the proper meaning of 'ob, ' a hollow,' but also by
the expression, ' that chirp and that mutter,' i. c. that imitate the ' squeaking
and gibbering' of ghosts ; comp. xxix. 4. Necromancy and magic arts were
still prevalent in the period of Isaiah. Many, but not all, their varieties are
collected in Deut. xviii. 10, 11, the force of which passage will be heightened,
if we accept the late date of Deuteronomy. A vivid picture of a necromantic
consultation is given in i Sam. xxviii. l-20. See, for a discussion of the
passage before us, 'Notes and Criticisms,' pp. 9-11.
Their gods, i.e. the spirits of the departed national heroes. Comp. i Sam.
xxviii. 13, where the witch of Endor says, speaking of Samuel, ' I saw Elohimv
ascending out of the earth.'
They surely shall speak, i. c. they shall cry out for the true revelations, as
opposed to the oracles of the necromancers, when it will be too late : comp.
xxviii. 19; Amos viii. 12. ' Daybreak' = a favourable tum of events.
Par. 7. The way by the sea, i. e. the tract of land on the west of the Sea
of GaUlee. The districts here specified were the first to be depopulated by
the Assyrians, 2 Kings xv. 29.
Have seen. The events anticipated are settled in the Divine purpose, and
therefore ideally past.
Unto him. This is the marginal reading in the Hebrew, as well as in
Auth. Ver. The pronoun is placed first for emphasis, as in Ps. xvii. 14 (Heb.).
Tbe day of Midian. See Judges vii. ' Day ' stands for ' battle,' as commonly
in Arabic.Wonderful-counsellor, &c. The length of this name is to express, in Oriental
manner, the dignity of its bearer. It consists of two pairs of compound names
united, describing the character of the Messiah, first from within, and then
from without. Taking the names singly, the first (lit. ' wonder of a coun
sellor,' comp Gen. xvi. 12, Heb.) describes the king's political sagacity. The
second, ' God the Mighty' {El gibbor), is applied to Jehovah in x. 21, but also
to godlike heroes, Ezekiel xxxii. 12. A word even more expressive of divinity,
Elohim, is frequently applied in the early books to those who filled the sacred
office of judge. See, among other passages, Exod. xxi. 6 ; Judges v. 8 ; 1 Sam.
ii. 25 ; and comp. Ps. xlv. 6, where Elohim, if a vocative, is certainly ad
dressed to the theocratic king ; and Zech. xii. 8, ' the house of David shall be
D

34 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c.
as Elohim.' Similarly, the Israelitish king is said in I Chron. xxix. 23 to 'sit
upon the throne of Jehovah,' and in Ps. ex. to ' sit on the Lord's right hand.'
All these expressions denote that the oflScers in the theocracy are appointed by,
and derive their power from, Jehovah. Observe that none of them are ever styled
Jehovah ; this, to a prophet contending for monotheism, would have seemed
a blasphemy. The meaning of the third, ' everlasting Father,' depends to some
extent on the interpretation of ver. 7, ' from henceforth even for ever.' ' Father'
is applied to the king's minister or representative in xxii. 21 ; Gen. xlv. 8.
The fourth, ' Prince of Peace,' describes the Messiah in his relation to foreign
nations. Comp. Micah v. 5, and note the contrast evidently intended between
the two claimants of universal dominion, the Messiali and the king of Assyria. "
The government, i. e. that of God's kingdom.
From henceforth even for ever, i. c. either the Messiah shall be immortal,
comp. XXV. 8, a Babylonian prophecy, or, more probably, that nothing shall
interrupt the regular succession of the kings of his house, comp. 2 Sam. vii. 13.

IIL PROSPECTS ON THE ACCESSION OF
HEZEKIAH.
(Isa. i., xiv. 28-32, XV., xvi., xxi. 11-17.)
PROLOGUE. (Isa. i.)
THE general character of the contents of this prophecy mark
it out as being composed for a prologue. Its place in the
traditional arrangement is best accounted for by Ewald, who regards it
as the introduction, not only to the prophecies on foreign nations, but
also to Isaiah's two previous collections, or, in fact, as the prologue to
a new and enlarged edition of the prophet's works.
The opening of the prophecy is dramatic. Jehovah himself is intro
duced complaining pathetically of his unfilial people. Then the pro
phet, who seems to act the part of a Greek chorus, remonstrates with
his countrymen on their madness ; they do but invite a renewal of
their chastisement. Already the whole body politic is disorganized-
The land of which Jehovah is the patron is almost as completely ruined
as Sodom of old, or, to speak more plainly, bands of foreigners have
overrun the country, and penetrated to the very gates of Jerusalem.
At this point a transition is made to the rulers and the people, no
longer of Zion, but of the second Sodom. Their punctual observance
of the ceremonial law is declared by God Himself to be odiously
hypocritical. A rigorous self-reformation will be the first step to
prosperity. (See Pars, i and 2.)
Hitherto Jehovah has spoken in anger; he now changes his tone,
and offers a judicial trial, with the prospect of pardon and peace, on
condition of obedience for the future. But the prophet, struck by
D 2

36 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
the contrast of present circumstances, breaks in upon this offer with
a strain of elegy. ' Therefore,' the chance being so small that Jehovah's
conditions will be accepted, he announces that he will apply the last
remedy, and after a terrible judgment on the idolatrous and profane,
will restore Zion to its pristine state of security. (See Pars. 3-5.)
There is a wide divergence of opinion as to the date of this pro
phecy, owing to the paucity of historical references. Gesenius assigns
it to the Syro-Ephraimitish war in the reign of Ahaz. But this is
improbable, because that war was carried on rather against the Davidic
dynasty than against the people of Judah, and there is no evidence
that it involved such general devastation. Hitzig therefore refers it
to the invasion of Sennacherib, but at that great crisis, as we know
from chaps, xxxiii. and xxxvii., Isaiah's tone was sympathetic and en
couraging. We doubt whether the description in ver. 7 will answer to
a regular invasion ; it seems to point rather to a succession of plunder
ing inroads. The prophecies on the smaU neighbouring tribes which
follow may perhaps have been caused by molestations of this kind. In
fact, we know from 2 Chron. xxviii. 17, 18, that the Philistines and
Edomites harassed the south of Judah in the reign of Ahaz, and from
2 Kings xviii. 8, that the former were reduced to submission by
Hezekiah. If the prophecy has any historical foundation at all, it
should be assigned to the early years of Hezekiah's reign, not long
subsequent to Isaiah's previous collection. 1.
[I. 2.] Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth ; for Jehovah
speaketh : I have reared and brought up sons, and they have
rebelled against me ! An ox knoweth his owner, and an ass his
master's crib : Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider I
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers,
sons that act corruptly: they have forsaken Jehovah, they have,
reviled the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backward.
Why wiU ye still be smitten, revolting more and more? The

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 37
whole head is sickly, and the whole heart faint ; from the sole of
the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but
wounds, and bruises, and festering sores : they have not been
pressed, neither bound up, neither moUified with oil. Your country
is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, your land, strangers
devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by
strangers ; and the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vine
yard, as an hammock in a field of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
Except Jehovah of Hosts had left us a very small remnant, we
should have been as Sodom, and we should have been Uke unto
Gomorrah. 2.
[10.] Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom ; give ear
unto the doctrine of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what
purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me ? saith Jehovah ;
I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed calves,
and I deUght not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of
he-goats. When ye come to behold my face, who hath required
this at your hands, the trampling of my courts ? Bring no more
vain oblations ; incense is an abomination unto me ; the new
moon, and the sabbath, and the caUing of assemblies, the feast
that is kept vrith hypocrisy, I cannot endure. Your new moons
and your holy days my soul hateth, they are a trouble unto me, I
am weary of bearing. And when ye spread forth your hands,
I hide mine eyes from you ; yea, though ye pray much, I do not
hear ! your hands are fuU of blood. Wash ye, make you clean,
put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, cease to
do evil, learn to do well, seek right, reclaim the violent, judge the
fatherless, plead for the widow.

38 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
3.
[18.] Come now, and let us dispute together, saith Jehovah:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shaU be white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shaU be as wool. If ye be
wilUng and hearken, the good of the land shall ye eat ; but if ye
refuse and rebel, by the sword shaU ye be eaten : for the mouth of
Jehovah hath spoken it. 4.
[21.J How is she become an harlot, the faithful city, she that
was full of right, in whom justice was wont to lodge, but now
murderers ! Thy silver is become dross, thy wine weakened with
water : thy rulers are unruly and companions of thieves ; every one
loveth bribes, and pursueth rewards ; they judge not the fatherless,
neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
5.
[24.] Therefore this is the utterance of the Lord, Jehovah
of Hosts, the Hero of Israel : Ah, let me ease myself of mine
adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies, and let me turn
mine hand upon thee, purging as with lie thy dross, and take away
all thine aUoys, and restore thy judges as at the first, and thy
counsellors as at the beginning : afterward thou shalt be caUed,
Town of justice. Faithful city ; Zion shaU be redeemed through
right, and her converts through justice. But renegades and sinners'
shaU be ruined together, and they that forsake Jehovah shall be
consumed. For ye shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye desired,
and ye shaU blush for the gardens which ye chose ; yea, ye shall
be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no
water. And the powerful one shall become tow, and his work
a spark, and they shall both burn together with none to quench
them.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 39
Par. 1. Hear, 0 heavens. Sec. A poetic expression for the great idea of the
prophetic period, viz. that the God of Israel is also the God of the universe.
Comp. Deut. xxxii. i ; Hab. ii. 20; Zech. ii. 13.
As overthrown by strangers. As far as the eye can reach, there is nothing
but rain— a min so complete, that for tlie moment one seems to miss the
one point of light and hope. It is as if the marauding bands had effaced
every vestige of cultivation; but it is only 'as if,' the comparison is not
entirely perfect. Jerusalem is still left, though she be as forlorn as a watch
man's hammock, as solitary as if already under siege. See ' Notes and
Criticisms,' p. 2.
Booth . . . hammock. Comp. xxiv. 20 ; Job xxvii. 1 8. The ' hammock ' was
for the watchman's security from wild beasts.
As a besieged city. Lit. ' like a fortress that is watched,' either in a good
sense by the ganison, or in a bad by the besiegers. The latter sense har
monizes best with the context.
Par. 2. To what purpose, &c. Isaiah, like his fellow-prophets, Amos, Hosea,
and IVIicah, depreciates the ceremonial in comparison with the moral law.
That he did not, however, go so far as to deny all religious value to the
former is probable from the earnest reforms in the temple-service carried
out by Hezekiah, who can hardly be supposed to have acted in opposition
to the prophet.
To behold my face. Auth. Ver. ' to appear before me,' which is based on
the traditional vowel-points, but seems, on grammatical grounds, hardly de
fensible. In two passages only, where some variety of the Hebrew for this
phrase is found, is the rendering ' to appear before God' indisputable (Exod.
xxiii. 17; I Sam. i. 22), in four passages doubtful (Exod. xxxiv. 23, 24; Deut.
xvi. 16, xxxi. 11); in four others, extremely improbable, not to say impossible
(Exod. xxiii. 15, xxxiv. 20 ; Ps. xiii. 2, where the Syriac renders ' to see God,'
and the passage on which we are commenting). The scrapie which influenced
the Jewish editors to affix the vowels of another conjugation may be illus
trated by the rendering of the Lxx in Exod. xxiv. 1 1 (Auth. Ver. ' they saw
God'), ixjiBrjaav iv t$ tSttw toB ©foi), and by the controversies of the Moslem
sects as to the anthropomoi"phic expressions in the Koran. — The phrase ' to
behold the face of God' is connected with the view of the special efficacy
of prayer in the sanctuary. Jehovah was said symbolically ( i Sam. iv. 4, &c.)
to ' dwell vmder the cherabim ' of the mercy-seat, so that wherever the ark was,
there the worshipper stood 'before God,' Joshua xviii. 10, xix. 51, &c. And so
great was Jehovah's love for his earthly dwelling that, as one' of the pro
phetic historians writes, ' His eyes were open toward this house night and

40 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
day to hearken unto the prayer which his servant should make toward this
place,' : Kings viii. 29. Compare the entire prayer of Solomon — one of the
most exquisite monuments of the prophetic period.
The trampling of my courts, i. c. your devotions are as destitute of religious
value as the movements of the victims driven in to be sacrificed.
Reclaim the violent, i. e. keep him within bounds by inflicting the due punish
ment. Delitzsch remarks here on the political tone of Isaiah's admonitions,
as distinguished from the ethical tone of Micah's.
Par. 3. They shall be white as snow. The condition of this promise is con
tained in the next verse : — ' If ye be obedient for the future.'
Par. 4. Thy rulers are unruly, i. e those who should be the patterns of their
people in observing the law of God are the foremost in breaking it. This is
expressed, as usual, by a paronomasia.
Par. 5. Zion shall be redeemed through right. This must be interpreted hy
ix. 7, where 'right' and 'justice' are said to form the basis of the govemment
of the Messiah.
Renegades, from which Coverdale's word ' runagates ' is corrupted, is a
stronger word than ' sinners,' and means those who have renounced the religion
of Jehovah.
The oaks. Most modern interpreters render ' terebinths,' but the names for
this tree and for the oak are not always distinguished by the Hebrew writers.
The terebinth is not common in Palestine, and is neither shady nor ever
green, qualities which are both presupposed by the passage before us. Dense,
evergreen oaks, on the other hand, may be found in every village and on
every hill-side, and are still regarded as the abodes of Genii. See ' The Land
and the Book,' by Dr. Thomson, pp. 242-244 ; and comp Isa. Ivii. 5 ; 2 Kings
xvi. 4.
His work as a spark, i. c. his idol is the germ of his min.

I. ON PHILISTIA.
(Isa, xiv. 2S-32.)
The burden of the prophecy may be described as follows. The
revolt of the Philistines from the house of David has indeed been
crowned with success, but their exultation is premature, for the mild
yoke which they have shaken off wiU be succeeded by one of far
greater severity. The fate in store for them is nothing less than

CHRONOLOGICALLY .ARRANGED. 41
the depopulation of the whole country. Meantime the Jews, who
now appear so helpless, will enjoy their own land in peace. Rather
should Philistia lament, for already the prophet can descry on the
horizon the smoke of the advancing hosts of Assyrians. Vain will it
be to sue humbly for the alliance of Judah. ' Zion is safe under the
protection of her God,' will be the only answer vouchsafed.
The title, ' In the year that king Ahaz died was this prophecy,'
is to be rejected for two reasons : — (i) The employment of the word
massa, 'oracle' or 'prophecy,' which occurs elsewhere only in the
unauthentic titles of xiii.-xxiii., and xxx. 6 ; (2) The indignation exr
pressed at the revolt of the Philistines, which seems to imply that
it was still recent. According to 2 Chron. xxviii. 18, the Philistian
inroads began much earlier than the death of Ahaz, so that although
the prophecy may be assigned to the reign of that king, the precise
date of its composition must be uncertain. The source of the error in
the title is not difficult to find. It was most likely produced by fancy
ing an allusion in the 'basilisk' of the first verse to Hezekiah. Comp.
I Kings xviii. 8. 1.
Rejoice not so entirely, O PhOistia, that the rod which smote thee
is broken, for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basUisk,
and his fruit is a flying dragon. The firstborn of the helpless
shaU feed, and the needy shaU lie down securely, but I wUl kill
thy root with famine, and thy remnant shaU be slain.

Wail, 0 gate ; cry, O city ; faint entirely, O Philistia : for out of
the north a smoke cometh, and none walketh singly in their troops.
What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation .? That
Jehovah hath founded Zion, and the sufferers of his people seek
refuge in her.

42 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Par. 1. Basilisk. The basilisk, or vipera cerastes, is common in Egypt and
the desert. Comp. i Kings xii. ii.
A flying dragon. The only mention of a fabulous creature in the genuine
Isaiah. Herodotus (ii. 75) speaks of winged serpents in Egypt and Arabia,
but this is not confirmed by the Egyptian sculptures.
The firstborn of the helpless. Comp. Job xviii. 13,' The firstborn of death,'
i. e. a most terrible death.
Par. 2. None walketh singly, i. e. none fall behind from weariness : comp.
ver. 27.

II. ON MOAB.
(Isa. XV., xvi.)
The prophecy consists of three strophes followed by an epilogue.
The connection in the first and third of these is so simple, and in
the second so obscure, that we forbear to prefix an analysis. Coiii-''
pare throughout Jeremiah's amplification (ch. xlviii.), and contrast
the tone of Isaiah's ode on Tyre (ch. xxiii.).
The epilogue is admitted by all critics to be from the pen of
Isaiah. It contains the ratification of an earlier prophecy, ' This is the
word that Jehovah spake long since.' Now, does Isaiah mean by
this that xv.-xvi. 12 is the work of an earlier prophet, and is only
quoted by himself in order to connect it with its fulfilment, or that
it is an early production of his own ? The philological and historical
data induce us to decide for the former alternative. Not to mention
a large number of other un-Isaian expressions, the monotonous re
currence of ki, ' for,' ' yea,' ' when,' and 'al-ken, lalien, ' therefore,' is
without a parallel in the undisputed prophecies. Only in xvi. 4^, 5
can we trace a similarity to Isaiah, which may either be explained
as an interpolation due to the prophet's fondness for Hezekiah, or as
having served Isaiah as a model for imitation. If the former be
the case, we have (i) no data at all for fixing the age of the prophecy,
and (2) the words 'long since ' are deprived of their full meaning. If
the latter, then we may confidently refer the prophecy to the beginning

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 43
of the reign of Uzziah, whose good and prosperous reign stands in
sharp contrast with the troublous time of his father Amaziah, 2 Kings
xiv., XV. ; 2 Chron. xxv., xxvi. Thus the expressions of ch. xvi. 4, 5
become distinct and natural.
A slightly different hypothesis has been proposed by Ewald in the
second edition of his great work on the prophets. The peculiar
style of xvi. 4 b, 5, combined with the interruption caused by the con
textual words, have induced him to assign xvi. 1-6 to a third writer,
who lived in Judah about fifty years previously to Isaiah, and in
corporated it in the work of an old Israelitish prophet. We regret to
be unable to adopt this attractive addition to Jewish literary history.
True, that vv. 1-6 appear at first sight to interrupt the elegy. Let it
be weighed, on the other hand, (i) that the first gush of lamentation
is already brought to a natural close in xv. 9, and that its renewal in
xvi. 7 requires a fresh motive; (2) that there are three interruptions
hardly less serious in the passage xvi. 1-6 itself, since vv. 1-4 a do not
cohere with vv. 4 i, 5 (which are unintelligible as an utterance of the
Moabites), and vv. 1-5 do not cohere with ver. 6, which is unintelligible
as the answer of Zion to Moab, and is simply the prophet's own state
ment of the historical characteristics of the Moabitish nation. If
therefore we are to argue from the mere fact of an interruption to
a difference of authors, we must infer the existence not of a single
fresh hand only, but of three.
The unity of the three strophes being conceded, let us sum up
briefly their contents. The author is apparently a native of the
northern kingdom. This is rendered probable (i) by his deep and
tender interest in Moab, (2) by his minute acquaintance with Moabitish
topography. He is, however, at heart, like his countryman Hosea
(iii. 5, viii. 4), an adherent of the Davidic rights, and regards the
extorted independence of the Moabites, no less than their previous
submission to the Ten Tribes, to be among the causes of their im
pending calamities. Of these calamities, which are only past in pro
phetic imagination, he draws an ideal sketch (comp. note on x. 28-32).
He seems to see the whole territory of the Moabites devastated, and

44 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
the only remedy which he can find is the immediate renewal of their
allegiance to the Davidic sovereign. The character of the latter, and
the peace which he has restored to his realm after long and grave
disorders, will be the best guarantee of Moab's security. The prophet,
however, foresees that such advice would be offered in vain. Moab's
hereditary pride is but too likely to prevent its adoption, although this
consequence is rather implied than expressed. Pride at any rate is the
source of these calamities, and an obscure hint is even dropped by the
way of yet more severe judgments (xv. 9), which will lead to the
complete extinction of the Moabitish race.
At which of the neighbouring tribes, hostile to the Moabites, the
original prophecy was directed, it is impossible to say. Since the
fugitives proceed in a southerly direction (xv. 5-8), the foes must have
been expected from the north. Our choice will lie between the Arabs
and the Israelites on the east of the Jordan. The ' lion ' alluded to
in XV. 9 was doubtless interpreted by Isaiah of the king of Assyria, but
whether of Sargon or Sennacherib does not appear.
1.
[XV. 1.] Yea, in the night Ar-Moab was laid waste, and
brought to silence; yea, in the night Kir-Moab was laid waste,
and brought to silence. Baith and Dibon are gone up the high
places to weep : on Nebo and on Medeba Moab waileth ; on all
their heads is baldness, and every beard cut off. In their streets
they have girded themselves with sackcloth ; on the tops of their
houses, and in their broad places, the whole people waileth, run
ning down in weeping. And Heshbon crieth out, and Elealeh;
even unto Jahaz their voice is heard ; therefore the valiant ones of
Moab shriek, his soul shrinketh within him. My heart crieth out
for Moab, whose fugitives fled unto Zoar, unto the third Eglath ;
for the mounting up of Luhith they ascend with weeping ; for in
the way of Horonaim they raise up a cry of destruction. For the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 45
clear waters of Nimrim wiU be desolate: for the grass is dried
up, the young herb at an end, there is no more green. Therefore
the abundance which they have gotten, and that which they have
laid up, they carry away over the torrent of the willows ; for the
cry hath gone round the border of Moab, their wailing hath
reached unto Eglaim, and their waiUng unto Beer-Elim; for the
waters of Dimon are full of blood; yea, I will bring yet more
upon Dimon, a lion unto them that escape of Moab, and unto the
remnant of the land. 2.
[XVI. 1.] ' Send ye the lambs of the ruler of the land from
Sela toward the wUderness, unto the mount of the daughter of
Zion.' Then wUl the daughters of Moab at the fords of Arnon
become like wandering birds, like scattered nestlings. ' Bring
counsel, frame a decision, make thy shadow as the night in the
midst of the noon-day, cover the outcasts, bewray not him that
wandereth. Let the outcasts of Moab sojourn with thee,' be thou
a covert to them from the face of the spoUer.' For the oppression
hath ceased, the spoUing is at an end, they that trode down have
vanished out of the land; and through kindness hath the throne
been established; and there sitteth upon it in faithfulness ' in the
tent of David a judge that seeketh right, and is ready in justice.
3.
[6.] We have heard of the haughtiness of Moab, the very
haughty; his high mind, and his haughtiness, and his fury, the
falsehood of his babbling. Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,
altogether wail ; for the raisins of Kir-Hareseth shaU ye mourn,
sorely aflBicted. For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine
of Sibmah, whose branches overcame the lords of nations, and

46 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
reached unto Jazer, and strayed into the wilderness, whose shoots
did stretch out, and passed over the sea. Therefore I will weep
with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah : I will water
thee with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh, for upon thy fruitage
and upon thy vintage a strange cheer hath fallen ; and joy is taken-
and exultation from the plentiful field, and in the vineyards there
is no singing, neither is there shouting; the treader treadeth out
no wine in the presses ; I have made the vintage cheering to cease.
Wherefore mine affections are stirred like an harp for Moab, and
mine inward parts for Kir-Heres. Yet when Moab spendeth his
strength in vain on the high place, and cometh to his sanctuary to
pray, but prevaileth not, [then shall he turn to Jehovah].

[13.J This is the word that Jehovah spake concerning Moab
long since. But now Jehovah speaketh, saying, Within three
years, as the years of an hireling, shall the- glory of Moab be
brought to shame, with all his great multitude, and the remnant
shall be very small and feeble.

Par. 1. In the night. Two other renderings may be mentioned : — (i) That
of Ewald (2nd edition), ' In the night when Ar-Moab was stormed, it was
desolated,' which is tautological ; (2) That of Hitzig, ' In the night when
Ar-Moab was stormed and laid waste, Baith and Dibon went up,' &c., which
is too lengthy for a passage so full of excited feeling. Hence we must either
read belail, or regard lei as a collateral form, comparing sbesh and shaisb, bek
Qaik), 'ed {'aid).
Ar-Moab. The capital of Moab, situated probably at the confluence of two
arms of the Amon; comp. Josh. xiii. 9, 16.
Kir-Moab. The chief fortress of Moab, some distance to the south of the
capital, called in the third strophe Kir-Hareseth and Kir-Heres, and still called
Kerak, or ' castle.'
Baith. Probably the same as Beth-Diblathaim, Jer. xlviii. 22.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 47
The third Eglath. Eglath, or slightly different forms of that word, was
a common name in this region. See ' Notes and Criticisms,' p. 19.
Nimrim. Note the allusion to the meaning of the name, which is cognate
with the Arabic namir, ' limpid.'
Torrent of the willows. Identified by Delitzsch with the Wady Sufsaf, or
' torrent of the willows,' near the frontier of Moab and Edom.
Dimon. This is the same as Dibon, mentioned earlier in the strophe. The
name is altered in order to create an assonance to dam, ' blood,' as if it meant
' the place of blood.'
Par. 2. Send ye the lambs. One chance of escape is left for the Moabites —
the renewal of their long-suspended tribute to the house of David. (Comp.
2 Kings iii. 4.) The north end of the Dead Sea being blocked up by the
enemy, the fugitives must choose the southern route passing by Sela through
the desert.
The daughters of Moab. The inhabitants of the various districts of Moab
(comp. Ps. xlviii. 11) will collect iiiesolutely at the fords of Amon.
Bring counsel, frame a decision. That is, the speakers resign the decision of
their fate to the Jews, or rather, the prophet urges the Moabites to do so, and
confirms his advice by describing the character of the Davidic king. He
foresees, however, that the counsel would be offered in vain, which furnishes
a motive for a fresh burst of lamentation. See Introduction to the prophecy.
Par. 3. The raisins. The word occurs in four other places, and, it would
seem, always with this meaning. Auth. Ver. renders here ' foundations,' which
is defensible, but unnecessary, elsewhere (e. g. Cant. ii. 5), ' flagons,' which is
a mere guess of the Rabbis.
Overcame. Literally, ' struck down :' comp. xxviii. i. Ewald renders, 'The
lords of the nations have struck down her branches,' but less naturally.
With the weeping of Jazer. That is, ' Let me mingle my tears with those of
Jazer. A strange cheer. The word hedad is used in a double sense, of the cheer or
song of the vintage, and of the battle-cry.
But prevaileth not. All translators except Ewald render, ' He shall not
prevail,' taking the vav as a mark of the apodosis. But Ewald's rendering
developes the parallelism better, and the idea that Moab should finally turn
to Jehovah is in keeping with the rest of the prophecy, and makes a noble
conclusion. The loss of a clause, or even of a whole verse, may easily be
paralleled from other parts of the Hebrew Bible.

48 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
III. DUMAH.
(Isa. xxi. II, 12.)
The prophet upon his watch-tower hears, or seems to hear, the
unspoken question of the Edomites, then beginning to suffer from
Assyrian invasions, how long their night of trouble should continue.
But he has no tidings of good, and returns a gentle but evasive answer.
The title, ' Prophecy of Dumah,' seems at first sight a misnomer, for
though Yakut, the Arabic geographer, notices several places called
Dumah, none of them belong to the mountains of Seir. Hence Ewald
interprets the word as a witty aUusion to the vagueness of the prophetic
reply. More probably it is a transformation of the name Edom,
expressing the silence which was so soon to reign over the desolated
region. One calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what hour of the
night.? Watchman, what hour of the night? The watchman
saith. The morning came, and now also the night. If ye will
inquire, inquire ye : come again.
The morning came. 'Your time of prosperity came and passed, and has
given place to troubles, from which there is no immediate prospect of
deliverance.'
lY ARABIA.
(Isa. xxi. 13-17.)
At the time of this prophecy, the caravans of the Dedanites, a
powerful Arabian tribe, were threatened with destruction. They
were compelled to hide themselves in the low, thorny bushes of the
desert, and beg their bread of the friendly tribes of Tema (Job vi. 19).
But within a year the proud and wariike tribes of Arabia should all

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 49
share the same fate. The conquerors alluded to are evidently the
Assyrians. Both Sargon and Sennacherib have recorded the subjection
of Arabian tribes on the Assyrian monuments, and the latter is called
by Herodotus (ii. 141) 'king of the Arabians and the Assyrians.'
In the bushes must ye[_lodge at evening, O traveUing companies
of Dedanites. Bring ye water to meet the thirsty, O inhabitants
of the land of Tema, meet with his bread him that fleeth. For
they have fled before the swords, before the drawn sword, and
before the bent bow, and before the grievousness of war. For
thus said Jehovah unto me. Within a year, as the years of an
hirefing, all the glory of Kedar shall faU ; and the number of bows
that is left of the mighty sons of Kedar shall be smaU, for
Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken it.
At evening. The Authorised Version, following the vowel-points, renders
' in Arabia ;' but this is extremely unnatural, since the persons addressed were
themselves Arabs. Hence we must alter the points with the Lxx and the
Targum, and render as above. When Meier accuses this of tautology, he;
forgets Ps. xxx. 6 : Lin in Hifil is not merely ' to pass the night,' but also ' to
take a lodging.' The words ' at evening' were adopted by the editor of
Isaiah's prophecies as a title.
Kedar. A general name for the nomade tribes between Arabia Petrsa and
the plain to the east of Hauran.

IV. WARNINGS OF INVASION.
(Isa. xxii.)
I. THE VALLEY OF VISION. (Isa. xxii. 1-14.)
THE prophet assumes the attitude of a stranger, and inquires the
cause of the crowd assembled on the roofs. This is no time,
he urges, for boisterous merriment. The Jewish warriors have all
surrendered or fled, the enemy is at the gates, and nothing short of
destruction is to be anticipated. Hasty measures of defence have
indeed been taken, but not the only effectual one, a serious repentance.
In vain do the citizens try to drown care in sensual pleasure; they only
draw down upon themselves the more quickly an irrevocable doom.
The description of the siege in this prophecy is not to be inter
preted literally, as if it corresponded to events of which the writer was
an eyewitness. The only siege of Jerusalem during the period of
Isaiah is the one commemorated in the famous inscription of Sen
nacherib (see Rawlinson or Lenormant), but this does not appear ,
to have lasted long enough for such gloomy apprehensions, as those
expressed in vv. 4 and 5, to have arisen. We know, too, that Isaiah's
tone during great national crises was one of sympathy and encourage
ment, that when at a later time the danger from Assyria became
terribly urgent, the prophet was full of confidence that the capital
would be delivered, and we have in x. 28-32 a picture of an invasion
which even Delitzsch does not consider to be historical. On all these
grounds we regard this prophecy as an imaginative description of
a possible catastrophe, composed with the view of alarming the Jews

THE BOOK OF IS.\IAH, &c. 51
out of their moral and spiritual torpor, but at a period when the actual
danger from Assyria was not so great as it became afterwards.
1.
[xxii. 1.] What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up
to the house-tops, thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city,
a joyous town ? Thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor
dead in battie. All thy captains fled together from the bow, they
were bound ; aU that were found of thee were bound together ;
they fled far away. Therefore say I, Look away from me, I would
weep bitterly; press not to comfort me for the spoiling of the
daughter of my people. For a day of tumult, and of treading
down, and of perplexity is set by the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, in
the valley of vision; the waU shall be unwalled, and the crying
shall sound unto the mountains. 2.
[6.] Elam carried the quiver in troops of horsemen, and Kir
made bare the shield ; and already thy choicest vaUeys were full
of troops, and the horsemen set themselves in array towards the
gate, and he uncovered the curtain of Judah, and then didst thou
look to the armour of the forest-house, and ye saw that the
breaches of the city of David were many, and ye gathered together
the waters of the lower pool, and ye numbered the houses of
Jerusalem, and brake down the houses to fortify the wall, and ye
made a basin between the two walls for the water of the old pool,
but ye looked not unto the maker thereof, neither had respect
unto him that fashioned it long ago.
3.
[12.] In that day did the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, call to weep
ing and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sack-

52 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
cloth. But behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing
sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, eating and drinking, for
'to-morrow we shaU die.' But Jehovah of Hosts hath revealed
himself in mine ears ; surely this iniquity shall not be purged from
you till ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.
Par. 1. On the house-lops. The crowds were attracted to the roofs, not hy
curiosity, but by a morbid appetite for pleasure, produced by despair; see
ver. 13. The roof was a place of concourse on festivals (Judges xvi. 27;
Neh. viii. 6).
From the bow ; or, following the Hebrew accents, ' without the bow they
were bound.'
All that were found of thee, i. e. the rank and file of the troops, as well
as their captains.
The valley of vision, i. e. the place where the prophets received their revela
tions. The phrase is singular, for the hills in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem
do not convey the impression of great height, and the city itself is divided
between hill and dale (comp. ver. 7). Still, the sacred poets delighted to
magnify their trifling highlands, apparently with the object of symbolising
the Divine protection which Jerasalem enjoyed. Comp. Deut. xxxiii. 12; Ps.
cxxv. 2. '
The wall shall be unwalled. These words and those that follow are obscure,
but some paronomasia is evidently intended. Luzzatto, a modem Hebrew
critic of great acuteness, followed by Ewald (2nd edition), takes Kir ('wall')
and Shoa (' cry') as the names of tribes in the Assyrian army, ' Kir breaketh
down, and Shoa is at the mount (Zion).'
Par. 2. Kir. An Assyrian province or tribe, situated by the river Cyrus,
and corresponding to the modem Georgia.
Troops. Heb. rekeb, in the sense of the Arabic rakb, ' a troop of riders.'
Comp. xxi. 7, 9.
Made bare, i. e. took away the leathern coverings of the shields.
He uncovered the curtain of Judah, i. e. God permitted the enemy to see the
utter weakness of the State.
The armour of the forest-house. The armouiy built by Solomon on mount
Zion was called ' the house of the forest of Lebanon,' from its being raised on
four rows of cedar pillars (i Kings vii. 2, x. 17).
And brake down the houses. See the account of Hezekiah's preparations for
a. siege, 2 Chron. xxxii. 2, 5.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 53
IL SHEBNA.
(Isa. xxii. 15 -25.)
Shebna, the ambitious prime minister of Hezekiah, is threatened
with dismission and exile, and Eliakim, a man of purer religion and
milder character (comp. the phrases ' my servant,' ' a father ') is
nominated to succeed him. The numerous dependents of the former,
adds the prophet, shall share his fate.
The vagueness with which the Assyrians are indicated, and the easy
explanation of the position held by Shebna from the well-known
foreign sympathies of Ahaz, lead us to assign the prophecy to the early
years of Hezekiah's reign. As an invective against an individual,
it stands alone in Isaiah, and in fact reminds one rather of the poli
ticians among the prophets, Elijah and Elisha.
1.
[xxii. 15.] Thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, Go, get
thee unto this favourite, even unto Shebna, which is over the house,
(and say unto him,) What hast thou here, and whom hast thou
here, that thou hewest thee out a .sepulchre here, hewing thee out
thy sepulchre on high, graving an habitation for thyself in the rock ?
Behold, Jehovah wiU hurl thee violently, thou mighty man, and
lay a firm hold on thee ; he will roll thee tightly into a ball, (and
toss thee) into a large country ; thither shalt thou go to die, and
thither shaU go thy glorious chariots, thou shame of the house of
thy lord ! And I wUl push thee from thy station, and from thy
place shall he (God) puU thee down.

[20.] And in that day will I call my servant Eliakim, the son
of Hilkiah, and clothe him with thy robe, and bind him with thy

54 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c.
girdle, and will lay thy government in his hand, and he shall
be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of
Judah; and I wiU lay the key of the house of David upon his
shoulder, and he shall open, and none shall shut, and shut, and
none shaU open. And I will strike hini as a nail into a sure place,
and he shall be for a throne of honour to his father's house ; and
all the honour of his father's house shall be hung upon him, the
offspring and the offshoots, aU the vessels of smaU quantity, from
the vessels of bowls to aU the vessels of flagons.
3.
[25.] In that day (it is the utterance of Jehovah of Hosts) shall
the nail that is struck into a sure place give way ; it shaU be cut
down, and faU, and the burden that is upon it shall be destroyed,
for Jehovah hath spoken it.
Par. 1. Shebna. Shebna is shewn by its termination to be a Syriac name.
Thus Isaiah might fairly ask in the next verse. What hereditary right, or what
family, hast thou here ? Probably Shebna belonged to the- Egyptian party,
M'hich is so strongly denounced by the prophet in chaps, 'xxix.-xxxi.
Over the house. The office of steward of the palace was instituted by Solomon,
I Kings iv. 6. Its importance is shewn by the fact that it was once held
by a king's son, 2 Chron. xxvi. 21.
On high. That is, probably, on mount Zion, which was reserved for the
sepulchres of the kings, 1 Kings ii. 10. .
Par. 2. Eliakim. In ch, xxxvi. we find Eliakim occupying the post of
steward, and Shebna, not indeed banished, but in the lower rank of secretary.
All the honour, &c. The members of Eliakim's family shall all, in their
various degrees, derive honour from him.
Par. 3. The burden that is upon it. Not only Shebna, but his numerous
dependents (foreigners, probably, like himself) should fall.

V. TYRE.
(Isa. xxiii.)
THIS is a prophetic ode on the fall of Tyre, in three strophes,
followed by an epilogue. The first of these pictures the ruin
of Tyre's commerce ; the second, that of her aristocratic pride ; the
third, that of her foreign empire. All who are connected with Tyre —
the ships returning from Tartessus, the Tyrian islanders, the whole
Phcenician people, and the Egyptian corn-growers — are successively
invited to join the mourners. The Tyrians themselves are advised to
flee to their Spanish colony, and if a curious stranger should inquire
after the cause of these strange events, the prophet will inform him
that it is the Divine anger at human presumption. Next, Isaiah con
gratulates the colonies, which Tyre had governed so harshly, on their
emancipation, specifying Tartessus as their representative, threatens
the Tyrian fugitives in Cyprus with pursuit, and points sarcastically to
the land without a people, abandoned to wild beasts, strewn with the
fragments of ruined towers and palaces. Then, with the refrain, ' Wail,
ye ships of Tarshish,' he concludes his elegy. The epilogue continues
in another strain. Seventy years shall be spent by Tyre in complete
oblivion, each year so like the last that it might seem like the reign
of a single king. Then shaU the merchant-city resume her traffic, no
longer, indeed, for self-aggrandizement, but to supply the pressing
wants of the people of Jerusalem.
The settlement of the date has caused much perplexity to com
mentators. Many of them have failed to see that the preliminary
question is one, not of exegesis, but of criticism. The date of the ode
obviously depends on that of the siege of which it prophecies, and this
again depends primarily on the genuineness of the word ' Chaldeans ' in

56 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
ver. 13 (see note). If we admit the genuineness of this word, we m'.st
assign the ode to the years preceding the siege of Nebuchadnezzar
(shortly after 588), for though it is possible that Chaldean soldiers
were engaged in the siege of Shalmaneser, it is at least improbable that
¦ they played a conspicuous part in it, since the contemporary description
of an Assyrian army in Isa. xxii. omits all mention of them. If, on the
other hand, as the author is inclined to do, we deny the genuineness of
the word, the supporters of the later date are driven to a secondary
argument, viz. that the seventy years assigned to the Chaldean sove
reignty in the epilogue are borrowed from Jeremiah (xxix. 10, iixv. 11,
12). This argument, however, seems highly precarious; for (i) the
Isaian authorship of the epilogue is not entirely free from suspicion.
The ideas expressed in it point rather to the beginning of the Persian
dominion, when, as the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah shew, the
restored Jews were in a state of great penury, while Tyre had, pre
sumably, shewn evident traces of reviving prosperity. It may be added
that the epilogue throws the glorification of the Jewish state, i. e. the
Messianic period, into a greater distance than is usual with Isaiah.
(See note on xxxii. 9.) This, in fact, appears to the author decisive.
But (2) even if we reject this hypothesis, Jeremiah, whose proneness to
imitation is acknowledged, may quite conceivably have borrowed the
' seventy years ' from a prophecy of Isaiah. In this case, the poverty
of Jerusalem referred to in ver. 18 may be an allusion to the distresses
produced by the last great judgment, which, as Isaiah repeatedly fore
told, should precede the Messianic period: comp. iv. i.
It is remarkable that neither the siege of Shalmaneser, nor even that
of Nebuchadnezzar, fulfilled the predictions of Isaiah. The former,
says Menander, quoted by Josephus (Archa;ol. ix. 14, 2), 'lasted five
years, and still the Tyrians held out, and drank of the water fhey
had out of the wells they dug.' But, as Grote has shewn, it is in the
highest degree improbable that the siege of Nebuchadnezzar was more
successful (History of Greece, vol. iii. p. 445, note). And thus the
only permanent interests of the prophecy will be the poetical one,
based on the exquisite form in which it is clothed, and the ethical one,

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 57
based on Isaiah's subUme confidence, that selfishness and violence
prepare their own ruin.
[XXIII. 1.] 1.
Wail, ye ships of Tarshish,
For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in !
From the land of the Kittim this is revealed to them.
Be dumb, ye inhabitants of the isle.
Which the merchants of Zidon that pass over the sea re
plenished.
And whose revenue was the seed of the NUe, the harvest of
the River on the great waters,
So that she became a mart of nations.
Be thou ashamed, O Zidon, for the sea, the stronghold of the
sea, speaketh, saying,
I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither nourished
young men, nor brought up virgins.
When the report cometh to Egypt, they shaU shudder at the
report of Tyre.
[6.] 2.
Pass ye over to Tarshish ;
Wail, ye inhabitants of the isle !
Is this your joyous city, whose origin is of ancient days,
Whose feet were ever carrying her far away to sojourn .'
Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the distributer of
crowns.
Whose merchants were princes, whose traffickers were the
honourable of the earth?'
Jehovah of Hosts hath taken it.
To profane the pride of all splendour, to bring to shame all
the honourable of the earth.

58 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
[10.] 3.
Overflow thy land, as the Nile,
O daughter of Tarshish, the bridle is gone.
He stretched out his hand over the sea, he made kingdoms to
tremble ;
Jehovah of Hosts gave commandment concerning Canaan, to
destroy the strongholds thereof;.
And he said. Thou shalt no more exult, O thou subdued virgin-
daughter of Zidon;
Arise, pass over to the Kittim ; there also thou shalt have no
rest !
Behold the land of the Canaanites !
Yonder people is no more ; Asshur hath appointed it for
wUd beasts ;
They set up their towers, they raised their palaces.
He (Asshur) hath made it an heap of ruins.
Wail, ye ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold is laid waste !
4.
[15.] And in that day shall Tyre be forgotten seventy years,
as the days of one king ; at the end of seventy years Tyre shaU
fare as in the song of the harlot : —
'Take the harp, go about the city, thou forgotten harlot!
Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest
be remembered.'
For at the end of seventy years Jehovah shaU visit Tyre, and she
shall turn to her hire, and play the harlot with aU kingdoms of
the earth on the face of the ground. But her winnings and her
hire shall be consecrated to Jehovah : they shall not be treasured.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 59
nor laid up ; but her winnings shaU be for them that dwell before
Jehovah, to eat sufficiently, and for stately clothing.
Par. 1. From the land of the Kittim. The merchant-ships are supposed to
touch at Cyprus (Kittim = Citium) on their homeward voyage, and thus to
learn the news of the destruction of Tyre.
Ye inhabitants of the isle, i. e. of the insular Tyre, which was the real
emporium. The old Tyre on the mainland had submitted to Shalmaneser.
See Josephus, Archaeol. ix. 14, 2.
The merchants of Zidon, i. e. the Phoenician merchants. Comp. i Kings xvi.
31, and the use of XMvios in Homer.
Par. 2. Of ancient days. The priests of Hercules boasted to Herodotus that
their temple and city were 2300 years old (Herod, ii. 44), while Josephus
asserts that it was built 240 years before Solomon's temple (Archeeol. viii. 3, i),
Whose feet were ever carrying her. Hitzig and others render, ' Whose feet
bear them,' understanding the passage of the journey of the Tyrians to their
place of exile. But the expression answers best to spontaneous motion,
as in Prov. vii. 11, ' Her feet abide not in her house.'
To profane the pride, 8cc. The same idea is developed in ii. 12-17.
Par. 3. Thou shalt have no rest, i. e. thou shalt be pursued by the foe.
Delitzsch, however, explains the words less naturally, as it would seem, of the
unfriendly reception accorded to the fugitives by the Cyprian colonists.
Behold the land of the Canaanites. Authorised Version, following the re
ceived text, renders ' Chaldeans,' which Ewald was the first to correct into
' Canaanites.' See the author's ' Notes and Criticisms,' pp. 22-26, and the note
of Delitzsch, who allows that Ewald's conjecture is highly plausible, but
himself proposes the following impossible rendering, ' Behold the land of the
Chaldeans, this people that was not [understand, " formerly of any importance,
but which now,"] as for Assyria, hath appointed it for wild beasts.' The
corruption ' Chaldeans' is probably due to some early editor or copyist, who
thought, by creating this point of transition, to harmonize the ode with
the epilogue.
Par. 4. As the days of one king, i. e. as though they were but a single reign,
monotonous and unchanging. Comp. Gen. xxix. 20.
The song of the harlot, i, e. a well-known taunting song, a fragment of which
follows. Note that in the ode, which is certainly by Isaiah, Tyre is repre
sented not under the dubious symbol of a ' harlot,' but as the ' violated virgin.'
Them that dwell before Jehovah, i, e. the people of Jerusalem, not necessarily
the priests. See Ps. xxvii. 4.

VL GROWING APPREHENSIONS OF
INVASION.
(Isa. xxviii. -xxxiii.)
I. THE SCOFFERS AND THEIR FATE. (Isa. xxviii.)
EPHRAIM, with its gay and careless capital, is now so near
its end, that, after a few sympathetic words, the prophet passes
on to the fate of his own people. On the day of Samaria's fall will
the promise of the ideal future begin to be realized. At this point,
as on a similar previous occasion (ii. 6), the melancholy contrast of
the present forces itself on the attention. The Ephraimitish vice of
drunkenness is rife in Jerusalem itself, and is indulged in the most
sacred offices ; a profanity which is aggravated by incredulous scoffs
at the revelations of Isaiah. But retribution is at hand. God will
return scoff with scoff, till the unbelievers meet their destruction.
Those indeed who beUeve the prophet's announcement respecting
' Zion's foundation-stone ' may be undismayed, but the rest, in spite
of their vaunted skill in politics, shall suffer blow upon blow, and
find the revelation which they venture to satirize only too intelligible.
Then follows a last appeal to the common sense of the audience, more
especially of Isaiah's disciples. ' Does not the countryman obey the
rules which God has taught him, and perform his different operations
at the right moment and with discrimination ? See in this a parable
of the Divine method, which is applied alike to the pious and the
profane, in mercy to the one, in judgment to the other.'
The date of this portion of the prophecy is determined by the
threat of the fall of Samaria. Probably it was delivered in substance

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c. 6i
in the first year of the siege of that city by Shalmaneser, or, more
correctly, Sargort, i.e. B.C. 722. 1.
[xxviii. 1.] Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of
Ephraim, and the fading flower of his glorious adorning, which is
on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine.
Behold, the Lord hath a strong and powerful one, who, like a
tempest of hail, and a destroying storm, like a tempest of mighty
waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with violence. It
shaU be trodden down with the feet, the proud crown of the
drunkards of Ephraim ; and the fading flower of his glorious
adorning, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall become as
an early fig before the fruitage, which one seeth, and whUe it is
yet in his hand he swaUoweth. In that day shall Jehovah of
Hosts be for a crown of adorning and a diadem of glory unto the
remnant of his people, and for a spirit of judgment to him that
sitteth on the judgment-seat, and of might to them that drive back
war to the gate. 2.
[7.] But even yonder they reel with wine and stagger with
strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
they are swaUowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink;
they reel in vision, they totter in giving judgment. Yea, aU tables
are fuU of filthy vomiting, so that there is no place clean. ' Whom
wiU he teach knowledge ? and whom will he cause to understand
revelation? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn
from the breasts? For (he is for ever saying), 'Correct, correct,
correct, correct; direct, direct, direct, direct; a little here, and a
littie there.' Yea, with stammering speech and with another
tongue will he speak to this people ; he, who said to them. Here

62 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
is your rest, cause ye the weary to rest, and here is refreshment,
but they would not hear ; therefore the word of Jehovah shall be
unto them (indeed), ' Correct, correct, correct, correct ; direct,
direct, direct, direct ; a little here, and a little there,' in order that
they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and be snared,
and taken. 3.
[14.] Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful men,
that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said.
We have made a covenant with death, and with the underworld
are we at agreement; the overflowing scourge, when it passeth
through, shall not come unto us, for we have made a Ue our
refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves ; therefore,
thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I have founded in Zion
a stone, a tried and precious corner-stone of assured foundation ;
he that beUeveth shall not hasten away. And I wiU appoint right
for a line, and justice for a plummet, and the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of a lie, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-
place of falsehood, and your covenant with death shaU be wiped
out, and your agreement with the underworld shall not stand;
when the overflowing scourge passeth through, ye shaU be trodden
down by it ; as often as it passeth through, it shall take you :
for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by
night ; and it shall be unmingled terror to understand the revela
tion. Truly, too short is the bed to stretch oneself on it, and the
covering too narrow, when one wrappeth oneself in it. For
Jehovah shall rise up as on mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as
in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange
work, and bring to pass his act, his marveUous act. Now there
fore be ye not mockers, lest your bands become strong, for I have

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 63
heard from the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, of destruction by a sure
decree, which hangeth over all the earth.
4.
[23.] Give ye ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my
speech. Is the ploughman always ploughing that he may sow,
and opening and breaking the clods of his ground? When he
hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad diU, and
scatter cummin, and set in wheat by rows, and barley in the place
described, and spelt in the border thereof? For one instructed
him in the right way, even his God taught him. Surely dill is not
threshed with a sledge, neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon
cummin, but diU is beaten out with a staff", and cummin with
a rod. Bread-corn is threshed ; yet he is not for ever threshing
it, nor driving the wheel of his cart and of his horses ; he doth not
crush it to pieces. This also cometh from Jehovah of Hosts ; he
hath wonderful counsel, and excellent wisdom !
Par. 1. The proud crown, i. e. Samaria, which was built on a terraced hill
rising out of a deep and broad valley. It was ' a mere growth of pleasure
and convenience' (Stanley), and took the tone of its manners from the court.
For the prevalence of drunkenness, comp. Amos iv. i, vi. 6.
An early fig. The summer fig of Syria ripens in August ; an ' early fig,'
therefore, will be one that is ripe in June or July. Comp. Hosea ix. 10 ;
Micah vii. i ; Mark xi. 13.
The remnant. ' Judgment ' and ' remnant ' in Isaiah are relative terras. The
fall of Samaria was, as it were, the first act of the tragedy, which was to end
in the destruction of the ungodly inhabitants of Jerusalem. The ' remnant '
will therefore mean here the surviving Ephraimites together with the people of
the southem kingdom.
To the gate, i. e. the gate of the hostile city, as in 2 Sam. xi. 23.
Par. 2. Yonder, i. e. in Jerasalem, in the very sight of the prophet. Comp.
Micah ii. 11.
In vision, i. e. while in the act of prophesying. Comp. xxii. 5, ' The valley
of vision.'

64 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
In giving judgment. Comp. Deut. xvii. 9, ' Thou shalt come unto the priests,
.... and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment.'
Whom will he teach ? ' Isaiah is too much like a pedantic school-master,
always and everywhere finding something to carp at.' Such is the style in
which the priests and prophets mimic him over their cups.
Correct, correct, direct, direct. Heb. sav la'sav kav lakav, words evidently
chosen for the sake of their assonance, to represent the stammer of a drankard.
See ' Notes and Criticisms,' pp. 29, 30.
Yea, w'uh stammering speech. The stammer of the mockers will be met by
the stammer of the Assyrian invaders, who, within certain prescribed limits,
are God's representatives. Comp. xxix. 3, '/ will lay siege against thee.'
'Stammering' means 'barbarous, unintelligible.' The language employed by
the educated classes throughout Syria and Assyria appears to have been
Aramaic (see xxxvi. 11), and Isaiab cannot be expected to have known, what
the cuneiform decipherers have proved, that Assyrian was closely allied to his
own language.
Your rest. The State had become thoroughly disorganized owing to the
disasters of the reign of Ahaz, and needed a period of ' rest,' i. e. of unresisting
obedience to Assyria, to recover its strength.
Par. 3 . A Ue . . . falsehood, i.e. the breach of faith towards Assyria involved
in a revolt.
A stone. An allusion, probably, to the veneration of sacred stones, which
was once general among the Semitic tribes, and lingered among the Jews of
this or even of a later period (Ivii. 6). One of these stones would naturally be
the rock on which the temple was founded, and from which a Mosque near
that of Omar derives the name Es-Sachra, ' the place of the stone.' The
prophet, however, tacitly discountenances this relic of heathenism, by adopting
the foundation-stone- of the temple as a symbol of the faithfulness of its Divine
patron : comp. viii. 14, xxx. 29 (Heb.). That the reference is not to a person,
e. g. the Messiah, is shewn by the following clause, ' He that believeth,' &c.,
not ' He that believeth on him, or, on it.'
Unmingled terror. Previously the Jews had refused to be ' made to under
stand revelation' (Par. 2), but soon their terrible experience should force its
meaning upon them : comp. viii. 20. The passage which follows is a popular,
metaphorical description of a state of great distress.
Perazim . . . Gibeon. At both places the Philistines were defeated by David :
see 2 Sam. v. 20; i Chron. xiv. 16. The 'strange act' consists in the desola
tion of the Divine property by Jehovah himself.
Lest your bands become strong, i. e. lest ye exchange the mild ties of allegiance
for the hard yoke of captivity.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 65
Destruction by a sure decree. The same expression occurs in x. 23, where
see note.
Par. 4. 7s the ploughman, &c. The wise conduct of the countryman is
a reflection of the method of his Divine teacher. God, in like manner, will
dispense judgment with measure and discrimination.
By rows . . . in the place described. The obscure words of the Hebrew are
possibly cormpt.
II. THE RIDDLE OF GOD'S-LION (ARIEL).
(Isa. xxix.)
The purport of this prophecy is as follows. Within a year the
'invincible' city shall be in great peril of capture, but its prophetic
titie, ' God's-lion,' shall even then prove to be accurate. A storm sent
by Jehovah shall shatter the besiegers, so that they pass away like
a dream. At this announcement the unsusceptible audience stare in
amazement, and the discourse makes a sudden transition to invective.
The stupidity and hypocrisy of all classes, both learned and unlearned,
shall not escape punishment, though the nature of the penalty is at
present merely described as being extraordinary and stultifying. Then,
after a slight pause, the prophet denounces plainly the foolish attempt
of the politicians at secrecy, as if by any subtlety they could elude
the resentment of the all-wise Creator. Woe unto them ! for a great
crisis is at hand; the nation shall be regenerated inwardly, and aU
its corrupt members shaU be cut off. See, for the date of this, and the
succeeding prophecies, the introductory remarks to Section VI.
1.
[XXIX. 1.] Ah, God's-lion, God's-Uon, city where David
camped ! Add year to year, and let the feasts go round ; then
wiU I distress God's-Uon, and waiUng shaU arise and bewaiUng,
but then shall she be to me God's-Uon indeed. For I will camp
in a circle about thee, and lay siege against thee with a mound,
and set up engines against thee ; and thou shalt speak in abase-

66 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
ment from the ground, and thy speech shaU be low from the dust,
and thy voice shall come, as that of a ghost, from the ground, and
thy speech shall chirp from the dust. Yet the multitude of thy
foes shall become like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible
ones as vanishing chaff, and it shaU happen at an instant suddenly.
There shaU be a visitation of Jehovah of Hosts with thunder, and
with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind, and storm, and
the flame of devouring fire ; and they shall be as a dream, a vision
of the night, even the multitude of all the nations that fight against
God's-lion ; yea, all that fight against her and her munition, and
they that beleaguer her. And as when a hungry man dreameth,
and behold he eateth, but he awaketh, and his soul is empty ; and
as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he drinketh, but he
awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite : so
shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount
Zion. 2.
[9.] Linger now, but then shall ye wonder; bUnd yourselves'
now, but then shaU ye be bUnd indeed ! They are drunken, but
not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink! For
Jehovah hath poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and hath
closed your eyes [the prophets], and your heads [the seers] hath
he covered, so that everything in the prophecy is become unto
you as the words, of a book that is sealed, which men defiver
to one that is learned, saying. Read this, I pray, but he saith,
I cannot, for it is sealed ; and if one deliver the book to him that
is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray, he saith, I am not learned.
3.
[13.] And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near
with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but their

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 67
heart is far from me, so that their fear toward me is a statute
of men which they have learned : therefore, behold, I will go on
deaUng wonderfully with this people, so that the wisdom of their
wise men shaU perish, and the understanding of their sagacious
•men shaU be hid. 4.
[15.] Woe unto them that hide their counsel deeply from
Jehovah, so that their doings are in a dark place, and they say.
Who seeth us, and who knoweth us ? Out on your perverseness !
Is the potter to be esteemed as the clay, that the work should say
of him that made it. He made me not ? and the thing framed say
of him that framed it. He had no understanding ? Is it not yet
a very little while before Lebanon shaU be turned into fruitful
land, and fruitful land esteemed for a forest ? and before the deaf
hear the words of a book, and the eyes of the blind see out of
obscurity and out of darkness, and the meek have fresh joy in
Jehovah, and the poor among men exult in the Holy One of
Israel, because the terrible one is brought to nought, and the
scorner is consumed, and all that wake for iniquity are cut off,
that declare men to be sinners for a word, and lay a snare for him
that reproveth in the gate, and thrust aside the just for a thing
of nought. 5.
[22.] Therefore thus saith Jehovah of the house of Jacob,
even he who redeemed Abraham : Jacob shall not now be ashamed,
neither shall his face now wax pale ; for when his chUdren see the
work of my hands in their midst, they shaU hallow my name, and
shall hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and reverence the God of
Israel ; and they that erred in spirit shaU come to understanding,
and they that murmured shall receive instruction.
F 3

68 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Par. 1. God's-lion. A symbolical name for Jerusalem = ' the invincible.'
The rendering 'hearth of God,' adopted by Delitzsch and others, is un
necessary, and results from a. misunderstanding of Ezek. xliii. 15, 16. See
' Notes and Criticisms,' p. 31.
Add year to year, &c. ; that is, the siege of Jerusalem shall take place
as soon as the year just entered upon shall be concluded. The mention of the
feasts implies that the theocratic year is intended, which began in the passover-
month. Thy speech shall chirp. Sec. ; that is, the inhabitants shall seat themselves on
the ground, and ' chirp' or moan for despair. Comp. vii. 19, note.
As a dream; that is, as suddenly as a dream. In the next verse, however,
dreaming is used as an image of disappointment.
Par. 2. Linger now. Sec. ' Hesitate, if you will, to believe the revelation ;
when the fulfilment comes, your stupefaction shall be involuntary.'
l^The prophets'] . . . [the seers]. Erroneous glosses, contrary to the connection,
which denounces the people, not the prophets, as unsusceptible of warning.
The two similes which follow describe first the educated and then the un
educated classes. The former were the chief subjects of Isaiah's admonitions ;
they alone had the intellect necessary for understanding them even in the
letter, though the spiritual meaning was ' sealed ' even to them.
Par. 4. That hide their counsel deeply. Isaiah perceives the court-party to be
brooding in secret over some political project, which, between this and the
next chapter, is matured into negotiations with Egypt.
Is it not yet a very little while 1 The following passage describes the material
and spiritual changes consequent on the fall of the ' terrible ' Assyrians, and
the ' scomers ' or unbelievers in Israel.
For a word, i. e. for a word of reproof.
A thing of nought, i. c. a trivial pretext.
Par. 5. Jacob. A personification of the people under the name of the
patriarch. Comp. Jer. xxxi. 15, ' Rachel weeping for her children.'
When his children see. Literally, 'When he, (namely,) his children, see.'
For the apposition, comp. Job xxix. 3. The construction was probably chosen
to give transparency to the personification.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 69
IIL THE EGYPTIAN ALLIANCE.
(Isa. xxx.)
The warning of the foregoing prophecy was in vain, and the real
purpose of the politicians of the court-party was first discovered by the
prophet, when it was already in course of accomplishment. A burst of
indignation was the consequence. The prophet, with the eye of
imagination, descries the Jewish embassy appearing at the court of
Pharaoh, and its abortive results. Poets had given Egypt the surname
of 'Arrogant' (Rahab) ; Isaiah mocks it with the disgraceful augmenta
tion, ' Arrogant-and-slothful,' meaning that none of the grandiloquent
promises of the Egyptians to their Jewish suppliants would be carried
into effect. At this point Isaiah ceases ; oratory has been tried to the
uttermost ; he seems to hear a Divine whisper bidding him withdraw,
and write this contemptuous title on a public tablet. Then in seclusion
he proceeds to develope what he had intended to have added, and may
afterwards have uttered openly. ' Such wilful rejection of the pro
phetic word in favour of a crooked, worldly-minded policy is like
a rent in a high waU, which grows larger and larger, till the whole
structure falls.' But on a sudden, as we so often find, an irre
sistible longing to impart consolation constrains Isaiah to alter his
tone. So grievous is the extremity, he says, that Jehovah himself
yearns to interpose, and is only waiting for the fitting moment. Higher
and higher rises the ideal description, till the apparently casual mention
of the breach bound up, and the wound healed, gives a fresh turn to
the discourse. The power of Assyria, so the prophecy concludes, shall
certainly be broken ; the funeral pile is prepared already, and the victim
will not be long wanting. 1.
[XXX. 1.] Woe to the rebeUious sons, saith Jehovah, which seek
to form a counsel apart from me, and to weave a web without my

70 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
spirit, that they may add sin to sin ; that journey to go down into
Egypt, without having asked at my mouth, to flee unto the strong
hold of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt.
Therefore did the stronghold of Pharaoh become your shame, and
the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. When his
princes were in Zoan, and his ambassadors arrived at Hanes, they
were all ashamed of people that could not profit them, that served
not for help, nor for profit, but for shame, and also for reproach.
2.
[6.] Through a land of distress and anguish, from whence
come the lioness and the Uon, the viper and the flying dragon,
they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and
upon the bunches of camels their treasures, to people that shall
not profit them. For the help of Egypt' is idle and in vain, there
fore do I call her name ' Arrogant-and-slothful.' 3.
[8.] Now go, write it on a table before them, and note it in a
book, that it may serve to a time to come for a testimony for ever.
For they are a revolting people, lying sons, sons that wiU not hear
the doctrine of Jehovah, which say to the seers. See not, and to the
prophets. Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth
things, prophesy delusions, get you out of the way, turn aside out
of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye reject
this word, and trust in extortion and cunning, and stay thereon,
therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a rent that falleth in,
swelUng out in a lofty wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at
an instant; and one breaketh it as the breaking of a bottie,
shivering it without pity, and not a sherd is found in the shivers

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 71
thereof to take fire from the hearth, and to draw water from the
cistern. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel,
In calmness and rest shall ye be delivered, in quietness and in
confidence shall be your strength, but ye would not ; and ye said.
No, but on horses will we fly ; therefore shall ye flee : and. On the
swift wiU we ride ; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
One thousand for the rebuke of one, for the rebuke of five shaU ye
flee, tUl ye be left but as a beacon on the top of a mountain, and
as an ensign on a hiU. But therefore wiU Jehovah long to be
gracious unto you, and therefore wUl he wait in stillness to have
mercy upon you, for Jehovah is a God of justice ; happy are all
they that long for him. 4.
[19.] Yea, O thou people that dweUest in Zion, even in Jeru
salem, thou shalt weep no more : he wiU be very gracious unto
thee at the voice of thy cry; as soon as he heareth it, he hath
answered thee. And though the Lord give you bread which is
distress, and water which is affliction, yet shall not thy teachers
-withdraw any more into a corner, but thine eyes shaU continually
see thy teachers, and thine ears shaU hear words behind thee,
saying. This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right
hand, and when ye turn to the left. And thou shalt defile the cover
ing of thy graven images of silver, and the coating of thy molten
images of gold; thou shalt scatter them as a loathsome thing;
thou shalt say unto it. Get thee hence. Then shall he give rain
for thy seed, with which thou sowest the ground, and the bread of
the increase of the ground shall be fat and juicy ; thy cattle shall
feed in that day in a large pasture ; and the oxen and the young
asses that tiU the ground shaU eat savoury provender, which hath
been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. And on every

72 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
high mountain and on every lofty hUl shall be streams that run
with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
Then shall the light of the moon be as the light of the sun, and
the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days,
in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the breach of his people, and
healeth the stroke of their wound.

[27.] Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, with burn
ing anger, and thick and towering smoke ; his lips are full of
indignation, and his tongue as devouring fire ; whUe his breath is
like an overflowing torrent, which divideth even to the neck, to
swing nations in the fan of destruction ; and a bridle that leadeth
astray is upon the cheeks of the peoples. But your song shall
rise as in the night when the feast is kept, and joy of heart, as
when one walketh to the pipe to come into the mountain of
Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. And Jehovah shall cause his
glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his
arm, in the fervour of anger, and the flame of devouring fire, with
the bursting of clouds, and a storm of rain, and haU- stones. Yea,
at the voice of Jehovah shall Assyria be broken down, when he
shall smite her with the rod ; and every stroke of the staff of doom,
which Jehovah shall let down upon her from above, shall be greeted
with tabrets and with pipes, and with battles of swinging wiU he
fight against them. Yea, a Topheth is set in order already; it
also is prepared for the king, and made both deep and large ; the
pile thereof is fire and much wood : the breath of Jehovah, like a
torrent of brimstone, shall kindle it.
Pai-. 1. Zoan . , . Hanes. Tanis, on one of the aims of the Nile, and Anusis,
on an island of the Nile m Middle Egypt, were tlie two royal residences. The

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 73
dynasty at the time of the prophecy was the Tanitic, whicli preceded the
Ethiopian. Comp. note on xx. 3.
Did the stronghold become. The past tenses in this paragraph are prophetic.
In the next paragraph Isaiah returns to the present, and describes the joumey
of the ambassadors through the wilderness on the borders of Egypt.
Par. 2. Arrogant-and-slothful. Literally, ' Arrogance (Rahab), they are indo
lence,' the plural being used because Rahab refers to a nation. Rahab was the
symbolic name of Egypt in Hebrew poetry. See Isa. li. 9 ; Job xxvi. 12; Ps.
Ixxxvii. 4, Ixxxix. 10. Isaiah sarcastically modifies it.
Par. 3. Write it on a tablet, i. e. the enigmatical name just mentioned. Comp.
viii. I.
Speak unto us smooth things. The primary distinction between trae and false
prophets is that the former never announce prosperity and peace uncondi
tionally. The promise of the Messianic future is always coupled with a stern
exhortation to repentance. Comp. Jer. xxiii. 21, 22, 'I have not sent these
prophets, yet they ran ; I have not- spoken unto them, yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my
words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil
of their doings.'
Extortion, i. e. the heavy taxation necessary for warlike enterprizes, like the
revolt from Assyria.
Therefore will Jehovah long, i. e. because of the extremity of your need.
Comp. X. 23, 24, and see ' Notes and Criticisms,' p. 32. Hdkah, with the pre
position le, never has the meaning of ' tarrying ' ascribed to it by some, while
yarUm does not satisfy the parallelism. The former means here, as it does
always, 'to expect with longing,' and the latter must be corrected, with two
MSS., into yiddom, Comp. Ps. xxxvii. 7.
Par. 4. Slaughter . . . towers. The former expression refers to the destruction
of the enemies of Israel, the latter to the fall of every object of irreligious con
fidence. Comp. ii. 12.
Par. 5. The name of Jehovah, i. e. the manifestation of his righteous character.
Comp. xxvi. 8.
The fan of destruction. Comp. xxix. 5, ' The multitude of thy foes shall be as
vanishing chaff.'
As in the night when the feast is kept. The Passover had, probably, just been
celebrated. See note on the words ' Add year to year,' in Par. i of the fore
going prophecy.
The staff of doom, i. e. the punishment ordained by God's decree.
Battles of swinging, i.e. those in which the hand of Jehovah is incessantly

74 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
dealing blows to his enemies. Meantime the Jews are supposed to be looking
on, and celebrating the ruin of their foes with triumphal music.
A Topheth. For the various theories as to the meaning of this word, see
Smith's ' Dictionary of the Bible,' s. v., and comp. Jer. vii. 31, ' They have built
the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to
burn their sons and daughters in the fire.' The most probable meaning of the
obscure words of Isaiah is that proposed by Luzzatto, in his Hebrew commen
tary, who considers the point of the passage to be a witty allusion to the double
meaning of Melek, either king of Assyria or king of heaven (Moloch). A
Topheth-like altar, says the prophet, shall be erected, which, like the altars of
the valley of Hinnom, is destined ' for the king,' not, indeed, to pay honour
to Moloch, but to receive the king of Assyria as a, victim. Comp. notes on
xix. 18, xxxii. 12.
Deep and large. This implies that the carcases of the whole Assyrian army
were to be bumed with that of Sennacherib. Comp. xxxiii. 12, xxxiv. 6.

IV. THE DESCENT OF JEHOVAH.
(Isa. xxxi.)
The connection of ideas in this brief prophecy is closely similar to
that in the preceding passage. Beginning with the Egyptian aUiance,
and the disastrous end of both the parties concerned in it, it closes with
the destruction of the Assyrians. The peculiarity is in the middle
portion. The assistance of Egypt is said to be unnecessary for the
protection of Jerusalem, for Jehovah himself has promised to descend
on mount Zion, and fight like a lion against the enemy. Return ye
forthwith, cries the prophet, to your offended God, for, when these
great events take place, the folly of your idolatry will be manifest. If
the Assyrians are to be overcome, as overcome they must be, the sword
by which they shall fall is no other than that of Jehovah.
1.
[XXXI. 1.] Woe unto them that go down to Egypt for help, and
stay upon horses; and that trust in chariots because they are

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 75
many, and in horsemen because they are a great host, but that
look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah,
(though he is also wise,) therefore he wiU bring evU, and will not
caU back his words, but will arise against the house of evil-doers,
and against the help of them that work iniquity. Now the Egyp
tians are men, and not God, and their horses flesh, and not spirit ;
and when Jehovah shall stretch forth his hand, he that helpeth
shall stumble, and he that is helped shaU fall, and they all shall be
consumed together. 2.
[4.] For thus hath Jehovah said to me. Like as the Uon with
the young lion, against whom a multitude of shepherds are called,
mtirmureth over his prey, — he is not affrighted at their cry, nor
submitteth himself at the noise of them, — so shaU Jehovah of
Hosts come down to fight on mount Zion and on the hill thereof
Like fluttering birds, so shaU Jehovah of Hosts shelter Jerusalem,
sheltering and rescuing it, passing over and setting it free. Turn
ye unto him, from whom ye have so deeply revolted, O children
of Israel. 3.
[7.] For in that day shall ye all reject your idols of silver and
your idols of gold, which your hands made you for a sin; and
Asshur shaU fall by the sword, not of a mighty man, and the
sword, not of a man, shall devour him; he shaU take his flight
from the sword, and his young men shall be for task-service ; and
his rock shall vanish for terror, and his princes shaU be frighted
from the standard : it is the utterance of Jehovah, who hath a fire
in Zion, and a furnace in Jerusalem.
Par. 1. He will bring evil. The tense in the original, throughout this passage,
is the prophetic past.

76 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Par. 2. L'lke as the lion. Note the Homeric cleamess of the metaphor.
Comp. Iliad xviii. i6i, &c., xii. 299, &c. (Delitzsch.)
Passing over. An allusion to the typical redemption of the Pass.over of the
Exodus. Par. 3. His rock. This is to be taken collectively, as is shewn by the 'princes'
in the parallel clause. Comp. xix. 13, 'the comer-stone,' which is' also used
collectively of the princes. Ewald renders otherwise, ' He shall overpass his
rock, i. e. his castle, for terror ;' but the expression seems forced, and unlike
Isaiah. Fire . . .furnace. Isaiah means the light of the Divme presence, which con
sumes the enemies of Jerusalem. (Delitzsch.)

V. HOPES OF THE FUTURE OF HEZEKIAH.
(Isa. xxxii. 1-8.)
' After the destruction of the Assyrians, a new era shaU begin for
the monarchy. Both king and princes shaU realize their ideals; the
spiritual dulness of their subjects shall cease ; names shall correspond to
characters, and characters to names.' The description, eloquent as it
is, cannot be strictly called Messianic. It seems as if the pious cha
racter of Hezekiah had, for the moment, rendered the preaching of the
Messiah unnecessary. As in the times of David and Solomon, the
ideal of the theocracy appeared to the sacred poets to be sufficiently
realized, so Isaiah would seem, when he wrote this prophecy, to have
anticipated a second golden age under Hezekiah. He did not, it is true,
remain long in this conviction. See note on xi. i.
[xxxii. 1.] Behold, the king shaU reign after justice, and the
princes shaU rule after right ; and they shaU every one be like an
hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as
streams of water in a drought, as the shadow of a great rock in a
gasping land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and
the ears of them that hear shall hearken, and the heart of the head-

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 77
long shall come to understanding, and the tongue of the stammerers
be ready to speak plainly. The vile person shaU no more be called
noble, nor the malicious surnamed gentle; for the vUe person
speaketh vUlany, and his heart worketh iniquity, to work unhoU-
ness, and to utter error touching Jehovah, to make empty the soul
of the hungry, and cause the drink of the thirsty to fail ; and the
arts of the maUcious are evil, he deviseth wicked plots, to destroy
the suffering with lying words, even when the poor is telling his
right; but the noble deviseth noble things, and to noble things
shaU he stand.
After justice, i. e. after the rale or principles of justice.
Tbe princes. The preposition in lesarim seems to be a clerical error, pro
duced by the le of fhe following word. Comp. Perovme's note on Ps. Ixxiv. 14.
Tbe headlong, i. e. those whose conduct is violent and unprincipled.
The stammerers, i. e. those who utter incorrect opinions on religious or moral
matters. Comp. afterward, ' to utter error touching Jehovah.'
VI. ADDRESS TO THE WOIVIEN, &c.
(Isa. xxxii. 9-20.)
This passage forms a parallel to the address in iii. 16-24. There the
subject of rebuke was the love of dress; here it is rather the sensual
security, from which the women of Jerusalem come to receive so rude
an awakening. The address passes into a description of the coming
judgment, particularly as it should affect the capital.
The date of this and of the four preceding prophecies may be easily
ascertained. The negotiations with Egypt were obviously caused by
Hezekiah's revolt from Assyria, which took place about 715. The
synchronism is confirmed by the announcement in xxix. 1, that within a
year Jerusalem should be besieged. In fact, Sennacherib, according to
the current chronology, 'took all the fenced cities of Judah' (2 Kings
xviii. 13; Isa. xxxvi. i) in 714. The five prophecies must have occupied

78 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
several months in the course of their delivery, for in the first of
them the precise nature of the poUcy promoted by the court-party is
still a secret, whilst in the second and third the embassy has been
already despatched to Egypt. This trifling variation may be illustrated
by the slight difference in the terms fixed by the prophet in xxix. i,
xxxii. lo.
[XXXII. 9.] Rise up, and hear my voice, ye women that are at
ease ; ye careless daughters, give ear unto my speech. When the
year is older, ye shaU be troubled, ye careless ones, because the
vintage hath been consumed, and the gathering shall not come.
Tremble, ye that are at ease ; be troubled, ye careless ones : strip
you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
Men shaU smite upon their breast for the pleasant fields, for the
fruitful vine. Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns
and briars ; yea, upon all houses of delight in the joyous town.
For the palace shaU be forsaken ; the tumult of the city shaU be
come a desert; the hUl and the watchtower shall be for caves for
ever, the delight of wild asses, the pasture of flocks ; until the
spirit be poured upon us from on high, so that the wilderness shall
become a fruitful land, and the fruitful land be counted for a
forest, and right shall inhabit the wilderness, and justice dweU in
the fruitful land, and the work of justice shall be peace, and the
effect of righteousness quietness and carelessness for ever, and
my people shaU inhabit the home of peace, careless dwellings, and
easy resting-places, but it shaU hail, when the forest cometh down,
and the city shall be deeply abased. Happy are ye that shall
sow beside aU waters, that shaU let loose the feet of the ox and
the ass !
Men shall smite upon their breast. Or, preserving the paronomasia of the
Hebrew, ' Men shall smite upon their bosom for the sweet bosom of the
fields.'

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 79
The palace shall be forsaken. Sec. This passage stands alone in Isaiah. Else
where (see xxix. 5, xxx. 19, xxxi. 4) the prophet expresses his confidence that
Jerasalem shall be delivered from the Assyrians, but here he looks forward to
its being destroyed, and remaining for a long time in rains. The consequence
of this is that the Messianic era is thrown into the distant future, instead of
taking place immediately on the fall of the Assyrians.
The hill, i. e. the south-east portion of mount Zion.
Tbe watch-tower, i. e. perhaps, the ' tower of the flock,' mentioned in Mic. iv.
8, in connection with 'the hill' (Auth. Vers, wrongly, ' stronghold').
For ever, i. e. for a very long period. Comp. Deut. xv. 1 7 ; 1 Sam. i. 22, &c.
The forest, here mentioned as a symbol of all that is high and noble. Comp.
ii. 13.
Happy are ye. Sec. Isaiah congratulates those who outlive the impending
troubles, and witness the fulfilment of his promises.

VII. CONFIDENCE IN THE FALL OF ASSYRIA.
(Isa. X. 5 — xii. 6.)
THE historical circumstances connected with this prophecy are
somewhat different from those of the preceding one. The ap
prehension of a protracted siege of Jerusalem has entirely passed away,
and the excesses, to which the Assyrians have proceeded, have excited
in Isaiah the confidence that a swift and terrible Nemesis will not be
wanting. Discontented with moderate achievements, and unconscious
that he is but an instrument in the hand of Jehovah, the Assyrian king
is planning the complete extinction of all the surrounding nations. In
fact, if we may expand his meaning by the help of the deciphered
inscriptions (see note on the expression 'vain gods,' vv. lo, ii), he
regards himself as the missionary of the supreme God, and scorns to
admit that a deity like Jehovah, whose weakness is mirrored in that
of his worshippers, can prove a serious antagonist. Nay, he himself is
more like a god than a man (see note on the phrase ' a hero,' x. 13) ; he
is the dethroner of kings, and the ' bird-nester' of their treasures.
Then, with biting sarcasm, the prophet exposes the absurdity of these
wild assumptions. (See Pars, i and 2.)
The third paragraph describes the punishment of the Assyrians under
the images of consumption and fire, and the confidence with which the
purified remnant of Israel should rely on God the Mighty One,— a
remnant indeed, small and feeble, for, in the words of a recent pro
phecy, the decree of righteous vengeance is irrepealable. (Par. 3.)
Still the immediate prospect is one of consolation. (Par. 4.) The
Divine anger shall soon pass over from Israel to the Assyrians, and the
wonders of the Red Sea shall be repeated. (Observe, however, that
the description given in Pars. 5, 6, of an invasion proceeding from the

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c. 8i
north-east does not correspond to any event recorded in Jewish his
tory, and is probably an imaginative representation of the hostile pro
jects mentioned in vv. 10-12.)
After this great catastrophe, when Assyria and a great part of Israel
have been destroyed, the Messianic period shall begin. (Par. 7.) Low
as the house of David has now fallen, it shall then revive in the person
of a mighty monarch, wise, just, and God-fearing, fuU of the Spirit of
Jehovah in aU its various manifestations. The gulf between the stan
dards of king and people shall then be fiUed up. The national accept
ance of the Divine rule shall be so complete, as to convert the land of
Israel into a second Eden. And equally great will be the influence of
this transformation on the nations outside the covenant. (Par. 8.)
Jerusalem shall become the cynosure of all eyes ; Jew and Gentile, but
especially the scattered members of Israel, shall gather round the centre
of a religious unity. (Comp. ii. 2, 3.) The tribes of the north and the
south shall forget their ancient rivalry, and combine in a victorious
attack on the races which owed allegiance to David. The exiles shall
triumph over aU obstacles, and shall express their gratitude in hymns of
praise. (Par. 9.)
The date is determined by the notices in x. 9, 27, xi. 11, from a com
parison of which we infer that Samaria had already been destroyed, and
the people of the northern kingdom carried into exile, but that Judah
was still tributary to Assyria. Hence the latest possible date is 715, for
in 714 Sennacherib invaded Judah in displeasure at the rebeUion of
Hezekiah. But the vivid expressions here used of the fall of Samaria
point rather to the months immediately following that catastrophe, i. e.
722-721, when the Assyrian army might naturally have been supposed
to entertain hostile designs against Judah, such as are alluded to in x.
II, 12. This date is confirmed by the encouraging tone of the pro
phecy, which commonly in Isaiah indicates a grave national crisis, by
the coincidences of language between this prophecy and ch. xxviii.
(comp. x. 12 with xxvin. 21 ; x. 22 with xxviii. 22 ; x. 26 with xxviii. 18),
and by the absence of any mention of the negotiations with Egypt re
ferred to in xxx, xxxi. G

82 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
1.
[x. 1.] Woe unto Assyria, the rod of mine anger ; as a staff in
whose hand is mine indignation ! Against an unholy nation was I
wont to send him, and to give him a charge against the people of
my wrath, to take the spoil, and to gather the prey, and to tread it
down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so,
neither doth his heart think so ; but it is in his heart to destroy,
and cut off nations not a few. For he saith, ' Are not my princes
altogether kings ? Is not Calno as Carchemish ? or is not Hamath
as Arpad ? or is not Samaria as Damascus ? As my hand hath
reached the kingdoms of the vain gods (yet their graven images
did exceed those of Samaria and Damascus), shall I not, as I have
done to Samaria and her vain gods, so do to Jerusalem and her
images ?' 2.
[12.] But when the Lord shall finish all his work upon mount
Zion, and on Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the insolence of the
king of Assyria, and the vainglory of his haughty looks ; because
he hath said, ' By the strength of mine hand have I performed it,
and by my wisdom, for I am sagacious ; I removed the boundaries
of peoples, and robbed their treasures, and brought down like an
hero them that were enthroned ; and mine hand reached as a nest
the riches of the peoples, and as one gathereth forsaken eggs, have
I gathered all the earth, while there was none that moved the wing,
or that opened the mouth and chirped ! ' Doth the axe boast itself
against him that heweth therewith? or the saw shew insolence
towards him that swingeth it ? As if a rod should swing him that
lifteth it up ! as if a staff should lift up that which is no wood I
3.
[14.] Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, send into his

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 83
fat parts leanness ; and under his glory shall be kindled a burning,
like the burning of fire ; and the Ught of Israel shall be for a fire,
and his Holy One for a flame ; and it shall burn and devour his
thorns and his briars in one day ; and the glory of his forest and
of his fruitful land shall it consume, both soul and body ; and it shall
be like the sinking of strength in sickness ; and the rest of the trees
of his forest shall be few, that a boy may write them. In that day
shall the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house
of Jacob, no longer stay upon him that smote them, but stay
upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, with faithfulness. The
remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob to God the
Mighty One. For though thy people, O Israel, were as the sand
of the sea, but a remnant of them shah return : a destruction is
decreed, overflowing with righteousness. For destruction by a
sure decree wiU Jehovah of Hosts perform in the midst of all the
earth. 4.
[24.] Therefore thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, Fear
not, O my people that dweUest in Zion, because of Assyria;
though he smiteth thee with the rod, and lifteth up his staff against
thee after the manner of Egypt. For yet a very little while, and
the indignation shaU cease, and the task of mine anger shaU be to
waste them away. And Jehovah of Hosts shaU brandish a scourge
over him, according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of
Oreb, and shall lift up his rod over the sea after the manner of
Egypt. And in that day shall his burden depart from off thy
shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck; and the yoke shaU
burst because of fat. 5.
[28.] He hath come upon Aiath, he hath passed through
G 2

84 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Migron ; at Michmash he hath laid up his baggage ; they have
gone through the passage, they have taken up their lodging at
Geba ; Ramah hath trembled, Gibeah of Saul hath fled. Cry
aloud, O daughter of GaUim ; hearken, Laishah ; answer her,
Anathoth ! Madmenah wandereth ; the inhabitants of Gebim
gather their goods to flee. He will remain at Nob yet to-day,
swinging his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hiU
of Jerusalem. e.
[33.] Behold, the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, shall lop the boughs
with violence ; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down,
and the lofty shall be humbled; and the thickets of the forest
shall be cut down with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a Majestical
One. 7.
[xi. 1.] But there shall come forth a rod from the stock of
Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots; and the spirit
of Jehovah shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and under
standing, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of Jehovah ; and he shall smell a sweet savour in the fear
of Jehovah, and shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, nor give
sentence after the hearing of his ears, but with justice shall he
judge the helpless, and give sentence with equity to the meek of
the land, and he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips shaU he slay the wicked; and
justice shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of
his reins. Then shaU the wolf lodge with the lamb, and the
leopard lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and
the fading together, and a little child shall lead them ; and the cow
and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall Ue down together,

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 85
and the lion shall eat straw Uke the ox; and the sucking chUd
shall stroke the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shaU stretch
his hand upon the baU of the basiUsk's eye. They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the land shaU be full of
the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.
8.
[10.] Then shall the nations seek after the root of Jesse, which
shaU stand for the ensign of the peoples, and his resting-place shall
be glorious. Then shaU the Lord put out his hand yet a second
time to recover the remnant of his people from Assyria and from
Egypt, and from Pathros and from Cush, and from Elam and
from Shinar, and from Hamath and from the coasts of the sea.
And he shaU Uft up an ensign for the nations, and assemble the
outcasts of Judah, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from
the four skirts of the earth ; and the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
and the unquiet ones of Judah shaU be cut off: Ephraim shaU not
envy Judah, and Judah shaU not disquiet Ephraim. And they
shall fly upon the shoulder of the PhUistines toward the sea ; they
shaU spoil the sons of the east together ; they shall lay their hand
upon Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon shaU obey them.
And Jehovah shall curse the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and
swing his hand over the river with the violence of his blast, and
smite it into seven brooks, and make men go over dryshod ; and
so shall an highway arise for the remnant of his people out of
Assyria, Uke as there arose to Israel in the day that he came
up out of the land of Egypt. 9.
[xii. 1.] And in that day thou shalt say :

86 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Jehovah! I wiU thank thee, for thou wast angry with me;
But thy wrath turneth away, and thou comfortest me.
Behold, the God of my salvation!
I wiU trust and wiU not tremble.
For Jah Jehovah is my boast and my song;
He also became my salvation.
And ye shaU draw water with delight out of the weUs of salva
tion. And in that day ye shaU say :
Give thanks unto Jehovah, proclaim his name,
Declare his doings among the peoples.
Make mention that his name is exalted.
Chant ye unto Jehovah, for he hath done excellent things ;
This shall be known in aU the earth.
Cry aloud and shout, thou inhabitress of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
Par. 1. An unholy nation. Most commentators explain this and the phrase
in the parallel clause of the kingdom of the ten tribes, or of that kingdom and
that of Judah together. But this seems unnecessary, for each of the heathen
nations subdued by Assyria might be so designated by a prophet with equal
justice. Calno, or Calneh, is identified by tradition with Ctesiphon, on the east bank
of the Tigris.
Carchemish. This city is the same as Circesium, at the junction of the
Chaboras with the Euphrates. See 2 Chron. xxxv. 20 ; Jer. xlvi. 2.
Arpad . . . Hamath. Two Syrian cities, the latter ( = Epiphania) situated on
the Orontes.
The vain gods. We must apparently admit a certain degree of exaggeration
in this description of a heathen king's religious position. For with all the
devotion of the Assyrians to their national gods, they can hardly be sup
posed to have gone to the same length as Isaiah in denying the existence
of all gods but their own. That their military ardour, however, was in
flamed by n religious enthusiasm, is beyond all question, and the destruction
of weaker nationalities appeared to them to involve the destruction of as many

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 87
rival deities, and consequently the exaltation of their own god, Asshur. In
other words, Isaiah regarded the so-called gods of other nations as never having
had any existence at all, — Sargon considered it to be his mission to destroy the
feeble existence they had previously enjoyed.
Par. 2. His work upon mount Zion, i. e. the destruction of the ungodly part
of the inhabitants of Jerasalem. Comp. xxviii. 21, xxix. 14.
Like an hero ; perhaps, as in Ps. Ixxviii. 25, with the sense of ' a superhuman
being.' Par. 3. His thoms and his briars, i. e. the Assyrian warriors, who are as worth
less and impotent as thoms and briars.
His forest and his fruitful land, i. e. the masses of splendidly appointed troops.
Both soul and body. As if the Assyrian army were but one living being.
Like the sinking of strength in sickness. The assonance is too prominent to be
omitted. Overflowing with righteousness, i. c. righteousness under both its aspects, —
wrath for the many, mercy for the few.
In the midst of all the earth. That is, Jerasalem shall be the central pomt of
an universal judgment. Comp. xxviii. 22.
Par. 4. To waste them away, i. e. the Assyrian invaders.
The yoke shall burst. This seems, at first sight, to be opposed to Par. 6, where
the catastrophe is ascribed to Jehovah. But compare the variation m the
opening words of the prophecy, where Assyria is called, first, God's staff, and
then the wielder of the staff.
Par. 5. He hath come upon Aiath. The march of the invaders is from the
north-east. Their object is to fall upon Jerasalem within three days, and hence
the baggage is deposited at Michmash, before entering the famous pass, where
Jonathan surprised the garrison of the Philistines, i Sam. xiv. Nob is within
an hour's march northward from Jerusalem.
Answer her, Anathoth. Or, following the received vowel-points, ' Unfortunate
is Anathoth.' In either case there is a play upon words.
Par. 6. A Majestical One, i.e. Jehovah, as in xxxiii. 21.
Par. 7. There shall come forth a rod. This description is remarkable in two
respects: (l) because it is the first passage (comp. Mic. v. 2) in which the
Messiah is described as descending from David ; (2) because of the emphasis
which it lays on the moral and religious side of the Messiah's character. We
may here pause to inquire. Had Isaiah any definite person in his eye as the
Messiah? In vii. 14-16, ix. 6, 7, the vagueness of the language employed in-
~ duces us to answer confidently in the negative. But even the prophecy on
which we are commenting- scarcely warrants a very different conclusion. It

88 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
supplies, no doubt, an additional datum, of great importance, viz. that the
Messiah was to belong to the family of David. But this family was a large
one. David, according to 2 Sam. v. 14-16, had no less than eleven sons bora
in Jerusalem, and in Zech. xii. 12, a sort of secondary royal family is mentioned,
co-ordinately with ' the house of David,' viz. ' the house of Nathan.' The most
natural inference from ix. 6, 7, and xi. i, is that the Messiah should rise to his
great position suddenly out of deep obscurity. Isaiah might well be uncertain
which of the numerous princes who were descended from David was the one
chosen by God to be the national regenerator. Hezekiah is entirely out of the
question. The passages where he is obviously referred to as the inaugurator of
a new era (xxxii. i , xxxiii. 1 7) are, however grand, essentially different from the
strictly Messianic passages. Besides, Isaiah had already seen too much of the
darker side of Hezekiah's character, to apply so severe a test to the king's not
excessive humility.
He shall smell a sweet savour. Heb. hariho, an expression apparently sug
gested by the four times repeated ruah. (Hitzig.) Comp. Lev. xxvi. 31 ; Amos
v. 21.
With the breath of his lips, i. e. by his judicial sentences, which involve life and
death. Par. 8. His resting-place, i. e. where he (the Messiah) sitteth enthroned.
Comp. Ps. cxxxii. 8, 14.
Pathros, i. e. Upper Egypt, from a Coptic word meaning ' southern.'
The unquiet ones of Judah. Or, as Delitzsch, ' They that vex Judah ; ' but
this, though grammatically easier, is contradicted by the parallelism of the latter
part of the verse.
The river, i. e. the Euphrates, the symbol of the Assyrian power, as in viii. 7.
Violence. Luzzatto's reading 'osem seems a necessaiy correction. See ' Notes
and Criticisms,' p. 17.
Par. 9. My boast and my song. A reminiscence of Exod. xv. 2 (comp. Ps.
cxviii. 14), which harmonizes beautifully with the references in the preceding
paragraph to the history of the Exodus. So, immediately afterwards, the ' wells
of salvation' are an allusion to the miraculous supplies of water in the desert.
Inhabitress. Comp. the expression ' daughter of Zion.'

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 89
APPENDIX.
(Isa. xiv. 24-27.)
This short prophecy manifestly refers to the preceding one, from
which it is only separated by the non-Isaian passage, xiii. 2 — xiv. 23.
The historical circumstances are the same. The Assyrian oppression
continued, probably with additional intensity, and the prophet took
occasion to encourage his countrymen by a solemn repetition of his
former announcement. Comp. x. 12 with xiv. 25; x. 23 with xiv. 26;
and X. 27 with xiv. 25.
[xiv. 24.] Jehovah of Hosts hath sworn, saying. Surely as I
have thought, so shaU it come to pass ; and as I have purposed, so
shall it stand ; that I will break Assyria in my land, and upon my
mountains tread him under foot, so that his yoke depart from off
them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the
purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth ; and this is
the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For Jehovah
of Hosts hath purposed, and who can disannul it? and the hand
that is stretched out is his, and who can turn it back ?

VIIL A SIGN FOR EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA.
(Isa. XX.)
SARGON, king of Assyria, had sent an expedition against Ashdod, a
fortified town of Philistia. Isaiah, by a symbolic action, in
timated that the Assyrians would not only conquer Ashdod, but also
subdue Egypt and Ethiopia, upon which the Egyptian party among the
Jews should be fiUed with apprehensions for their own fate.
The position of this prophecy is determined by the aUusion in the
last verse to the existence of Egyptian sympathies at Jerusalem. The
brevity, however, with which the prophet denounces these proves that
the party which entertained them was no longer dangerous, and there
fore that the prophecy was pronounced subsequently to ch. xxx, xxxi.
The siege of Ashdod referred to is doubtless one of the two commemo
rated by Sargon among the inscriptions translated by M. Oppert.
' Ashdod had probably submitted after the battle of Raphia, and had
been allowed to retain its native prince Azuri. This prince, after a
while, revolted, withheld his tribute, and proceeded to foment rebeUion
against Assyria among the neighbouring tribes ; wherefore Sargon
deposed him, and made his brother Akhimit king in his place.' (Raw
linson, ' Five Great Monarchies,' vol. ii. p. 416.) The Ashdodites, how
ever, rejected the Assyrian nominee, and a second siege by Sargon was
the consequence, which ended in the transportation of the inhabitants
to a distant region. The easy capture of this important frontier-fortress
appears to have so terrified Shebek, the Ethopian ruler of Egypt, that he
sent an embassy to Sargon imploring peace, if at least we may trust the
interpretation of an unusuaUy difficult passage.
[XX. 1.] In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, being sent by

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c. 91
Sargon, king of Assyria (he assaulted Ashdod, and took it), at that
time spake Jehovah by Isaiah, son of Amoz, saying. Go and loose
thy sackcloth from off thy loins, and draw off thy shoe from thy
foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. Then said
Jehovah, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and bare
foot three years for a sign and a portent against Egypt and against
Ethiopia, so shaU the king of Assyria lead away the captives of
Egypt and the exUes of Ethiopia, young men and old, naked and
barefoot and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
And they shaU be afrighted and ashamed of Ethiopia their ex
pectation, and of Egypt their pride. And the inhabitant of this
coast shaU say in that day, Behold, so fareth our hope, whither
we fled for help to be deUvered from the king of Assyria ; and how
shall we escape ?
Tartan. The same name is given in 2 Kings xviii. 17, to the principal
general in the army of Sennacherib. According to M. Oppert, it is an official
designation. Sargon. This is the name given in the Assyrian inscriptions to the king who
conquered Samaria. In 2 Kings xviii. g, 10, however, the name of the king
who besieged and (as most readers will infer) conquered that city, is given as
Shalmaneser. Hence Sir Hemy Rawlinson and M. Oppert have conjectured
that Sargon reigned at Nineveh immediately after Shalmaneser and before
Sennacherib, and, as no Shalmaneser has been found on the inscriptions of this
period, they suppose further that Sargon wais a successful usurper, who de
stroyed all the records of his predecessors. Both hypotheses are, we venture to
think, highly improbable. Even granting that Sargon was an usurper, why
should he adopt this unparalleled mode of signalising his victory? But the
notion of his usurpation seems to be quite unsupported by evidence, for few
Semitic scholars will be found to admit, with M. Oppert, that the Assyrian
form of Sargon, Sar-kin, is derived from sar, ' king,' and kin, ' to establish,' and
means ' the king de facto.' The latest inquiries have elicited that Sargon is
called in some inscriptions ' Sargon the later,' to distinguish him from another
king, who reigned in Babylonia several centuries earlier. (See 'Assyrian
History,' by Mr. G. Smith, of the British Museum, in Lepsius's Zeitschrift,

92 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c.
1869.) If so, the etymology of the name will be ' Turanian," and not
Semitic. The probability is that the Shalmaneser of the Second Book of Kings is a
mistake of the annalist for Sargon. In fact, Shalmaneser was not an uncom
mon name for an Assyrian king, and was probably more familiar to Jewish
writers than Sargon. (See an able paper by Professor Riehm, of Halle, in the
Theologische Sludien und Kritiken, 1868, pp. 683-698.)
Naked, i. e. without the prophetic tunic of hair-cloth. Comp. 2 Kings i. 8 ;
Zech. xiii. 4.
Then said Jehovah. That is, at the end of the three years, during which Isaiah
appeared in public in the manner described. Whether the siege of Ashdod
lasted as long as three years, is not expressly stated.
This coast, i. e. Palestine in general, but more particularly, as the context
shews, Judah.
Ethiopia. Egypt was at this time subject to an Ethiopian dynasty, founded,
according to Manetho, by Sabako, who was succeeded by Sebichos ( = So,
2 Kings xvii. 4), and Tarakos ( = Tirhakah, 2 Kings xix. 9). Sargon, in the
inscription referred to above by Rawlinson, boasts of having defeated Shebek at
Raphia.

IX. FURTHER PROPHECIES ON THE FALL
OF ASSYRIA.
(Isa. xvii. 12 — xviii. 7.)
I. THE SUDDENNESS OF THE JUDGMENT.
(Isa. xvii. 12-14.)
THIS brief prophecy foreteUs the sudden destruction of the As
syrian army, as appears from its similarity to xxix. 5, xxxi. 8, 9,
xxxiii. I, 3, where the reference to the Assyrians is unquestionable.
Many commentators regard it as forming the introductory strophe to
the next prophecy, by which it must at any rate be illustrated ; but the
concluding words, ' This is the portion of them that spoil us,' &c. ap
pear to us to mark the completion of a distinct work.
Ha, the murmuring of many peoples, which murmur like the
murmuring of the seas, and the rushing of nations, which rush like
the rushing of mighty waters ! The nations rush Uke the rushing
of mighty waters ; but he hath rebuked him, and he hath fled afar
off, and is chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
and as whirUng dust before a storm. At evening-tide, behold
terror ! before morning, he is not ! This is the portion of them
that spoU us, and the lot of them- that rob us.
He hath rebuked him. The prophet considers the destruction of the Assyrians
(' him,' because they are directed by a single will) as certain as if it were an
event of the past.

94 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
II. THE PROSPECTS OF ETHIOPIA.
(Isa. xviii.)
The subject of this prophecy is the influence of the destruction of
the Assyrians on the fortunes of Ethiopia. The latter had already been
deeply humbled by Sargon, and now Sennacherib was preparing another
expedition to consolidate the work of his father. (Comp. Herod, u.
141.) He seems to have intended to conquer and annex Judah on his
way partly as a punishment to Hezekiah for refusing the tribute paid
by Ahaz, and partly no doubt to cover his march homeward from
Egypt. On hearing of the Assyrian preparations, the Ethiopian empire
would naturally be thrown into great agitation (' Ha, land of resound
ing wings'). Heralds would be despatched in the light papyrus-
vessels suited to the Nile (the /Sdpifj of Herod, ii. 96), to convey the
news to the distant provinces, and collect all the available troops. But
these very heralds are now commanded by the prophet to return home,
and announce the coming of that Divine judgment which so strongly
contrasts by its long-suffering calmness with the excitement of the
Ethiopians. However famous and enterprising these may be, how
feeble are they compared with Jehovah ! The crown of all their
honourable qualities (comp. Homer's 'Blameless Ethiopians') is this,
that, when the great deliverance is accomplished, they wiU offer homage
to its almighty author, the God of Jerusalem. 1.
[xvill. 1.] Ha, land of resounding wings, which art beyond
the rivers of Ethiopia, which sendest heralds by the sea, even in
vessels of paper-reed on the face of the waters I Go, ye light-
footed messengers, to the nation taU and swift, to the people
terrible from their beginning hitherto, the nation of great strength
and victories, whose land the rivers divide. ' All ye inhabitants of

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 95
the world, and dweUers on the earth, when one lifteth up an ensign
on the mountains, look ye, and when one bloweth a trumpet,
hear ye.' 2.
[4.] For thus said Jehovah unto me : I will look calmly on in
my dweUing-place, while there is the clear heat in the sunshine,
while there is the cloud of dew in the heat of the vintage. For
before the vintage, when the blossom is over, and the bud be-
cometh a ripening grape, he shall cut off the shoots with pruning-
hooks, and remove with a stroke the tendrils. They shall be left
together to the ravenous birds of the mountains, and to the beasts
of the land ; and the ravenous birds shaU summer upon them, and
every beast of the land shaU winter upon them.

[7.] At that time shaU a present be brought unto Jehovah of
Hosts from the people taU and swift, and from the people terrible
from their beginning hitherto, the nation of great strength and
victories, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of
Jehovah of Hosts, the mount Zion.
Par. 1. Land of resounding wings. The prophet compares the tumult of the
Ethiopian hosts to the buzz of swarms of insects, such, for instance, as the
formidable tsetse-fly with which the interior of Africa abounds. Comp. vii. i8,
' The flies of Egypt and the bees of Assyria.' The Lxx. and Targ., whose
versions of this chapter are full of wild guesses, render ' ships,' which Ewald
supports by two exceptionally precarious comparisons with the Arabic and
Ethiopic. See further, 'Notes and Criticisms,' p. 20, where, in line 23, read
'year' for 'day.'
Which art beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, i.e. which extendest even beyond the
rivers, an intentionally vague expression for the unknown region to the south
of Seba. Comp. Ps. bcxii. 10, comp. 8, where Seba itself is described as ' the
ends of the earth.' Seba (see Gen. x. 7) is the Meroe of the Greeks, and the

96 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c.
Sennaar of modem geographers. It embraces the whole countiy to the south
of Khartoom, bounded on the east and west by the Blue and White Nile, and
though called an island, in reality joins on to Abyssinia at the south base of
the triangle.
Victories. Tirhakah, who was the Ethiopian monarch contemporary with
Sennacherib, is represented as a great conqueror on several bas-reliefs described
by Lepsius. (Delitzsch.) Comp. Megasthenes in Strabo xv. i, 6, who men
tions Tearko in company with Sesostris and Nebuchadnezzar.
All ye inhabitants of the world. This is the message supposed to be carried
by the heralds. Comp. xiii. 2, xi. 12.
Par. 2. / will look calmly on. Jehovah will wait till the Assyrians are ripe
for vengeance, till they have well-nigh reached the climax of their oppression.
Par. 3. Shall a present be brought. Contrast the relation between Israel and
the heathen world expressed in xix. 24, 25. Here the Ethiopians are described
as occupying much the same position with reference to the Jews, as the latter
had previously occupied with reference to the Assyrians. Of admission to a
share in religious privileges, no trace appears.

X. LAST WORDS AGAINST THE ASSYRIANS.
(Isa. xxxiii.)
BY this time the dreaded invasion has actually come to pass, and
the hordes of barbarian soldiery are sweeping the land far and
wide. No refuge remains but prayer ; yet the prophet is morally con
vinced from the very first that such unprovoked aggression wiU meet
with a well-deserved retribution. A few fervent ejaculations enable
him to realize that the destruction of the Assyrians is as certain as if it
belonged to the past. Not only is Jehovah secure from human violence,
but so also, through the revival of spiritual religion within its walls, is
Jerusalem itself. (See Par. i.)
In the next paragraph Isaiah describes the scene of mourning at
Jerusalem. The baflHed ambassadors of Hezekiah have returned, and
report that, though Sennacherib has accepted their presents, he has
given no pledge that he wiU desist from hostilities. The high-roads
are blocked up with the enemy ; fortress after fortress has fallen ; and
Jerusalem itself is in danger of capture. Yet this is the very moment
for which all pious Jews have been longing — the moment when Jehovah
must and wiU manifest his righteousness, and by so manifesting it extort
the reverence of the most distant nations. (See Par. 2.)
Now, too, the long neglected admonitions of Isaiah begin to assert an
influence over the most unbelieving minds. Many an unquiet con
science dictates the question. Which of us is destined to be tormented
with the Assyrians ? But the prophet has no answer of peace to give.
The righteous, on the other hand, may rely confidently on the protec
tion of Jehovah. They shall yet behold their king, their country, and
their temple in their ancient glory, and their recent hair-breadth escape
shall become the theme of rapturous meditation. The injured vessel of
H

98 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
the state shall yet be repaired ; or, to leave the language of metaphor,
the very lame and sick shall share in the plunder of the Assyrians ; the
discouragement of a guilty conscience wUl be unknown, for the unholy,
whether Jews or Gentiles, will all have perished in the great catastrophe.
(See Pars. 3 and 4.)
The circumstances here described agree with those mentioned in
2 Kings xviii. 13-16, where the fourteenth year of Hezekiah (714 B.C.)
is specified as the date of Sennacherib's invasion. The prophecy seems
to have been composed in the autumn, when the falling leaves of Bashan
and Carmel appeared to sympathise with the declining fortunes of the
state. Compare, with caution, Rawlinson's ' Five Great Monarchies,'
voh ii. pp. 433, 434. 1.
[XXXIII. 1.] Woe unto thee that spoilest, though thyself not
spoiled, and thou that injurest, though not injured by any I When
thou shalt cease to spoU, thou shalt be spoiled ; when thou shalt
make an end of injuring, men shall injure thee. O Jehovah ! be
gracious unto us ; we have waited for thee : be thou our arm
every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. At the
noise of a thundering, the peoples have fled ; at the lifting up of
thyself are the nations scattered ; and their spoil is gathered Uke
the gathering of the caterpUlar, as the running to and fro of locusts
each one runneth upon it. Jehovah is exalted, for he dweUeth on
high ; he hath filled Zion with right and justice ; and there shaU
be stability in thy times, even a full store of salvation, of wisdom
and knowledge : the fear of Jehovah, that is their treasure.
2.
[7.] Beholds the heroes cry without, the ambassadors of peace
weep bitterly. The highways lie waste ; the wayfaring man ceaseth:
he (the enemy) hath broken covenants, he hath despised cities, he
regardeth no man. The land fadeth and faile th ; Lebanon is

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 99
ashamed and pineth away ; Sharon is like the desert ; and Bashan
and Carmel shake off their leaves. Now wiU I rise, saith Jehovah ;
now will I exalt myself; now wUl I lift up myself Ye conceive
hay, and ye shall bring forth stubble ; your own blast is the fire
that shall devour you, so that peoples are as it were burned to lime,
as thorns cut off, that are kindled with fire.
3.
[13.] Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done ; and, ye that
are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners quake in Zion ;
a shuddering surpriseth the unholy : ' Oh, who wUl abide in the
devouring fire? oh, who will abide in the perpetual burnings?'
He that in fuU measure walketh righteously and speaketh up
rightly ; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his
hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ear from hearing
of bloodshed, and closeth his eyes from looking on evil ; he shall
dweU on high, with munitions of rock for his shelter; his bread
shall be given him, his water shall be sure.
4.
[17.] Thine eyes shaU view the king in his beauty; they shall
see a land that reacheth afar off. Thine heart shall muse on the
terror : ' Where is he that rated ? where is he that weighed ? where
is he that counted the towers ?' Thou shalt no more see the
fierce people, the people of a deep speech that cannot be heard,
of a stammering tongue that one cannot understand. Thou shalt
view Zion, the city of our solemnities : thine eyes shaU see Jeru
salem an easy habitation, a tent that wandereth not, whose nails are
never drawn out, neither are any of the cords thereof rent, but
where a Majestical One, Jehovah, shall be for us, — a place of broad
rivers and streams, whereon shaU go no gaUey with oars, neither
H 2

100 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
shall stately ship pass thereby. For Jehovah is our judge,
Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jehovah is our king ; he will save us.
Thy tacklings hang loosely, they wUl not hold the socket of their
mast, they spread not out the ensign ; but then shall the spoUs be
shared abundantly, even the lame shall take a prey; and no
inhabitant shall say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein
shall be forgiven their iniquity.
Par. 1. When thou shalt make an end. For kanneloth read kekhalloth, with
Cappell, Lowth, and Ewald.
Their spoil is gathered. The oppressed nations are represented as retaliating
on the Assyrians.
The peoples have fied. The tense here employed is the prophetic past.
Thy times, i.e. thy fortunes, as in Ps. xxxi. 15, ' My times are in thy hand.'
The pronoun refers to the people of Judah.
Par. 2. The heroes. See ' Notes and Criticisms,' pp. 31, 32. Sennacherib, as
appears from 2 Kings xviii. 14, was laying siege to Lachish, 1 frontier town
of Judah. While so engaged, he received an embassy sent by Hezekiah with
tribute, but though he accepted this, he refused to desist from the siege, or to
restore the districts which he had conquered from Judah. (See the inscription
of Sennacherib quoted in Lenomiant's ' Manual of Ancient History.') Hence
the lamentation of the ambassadors, which is described as being 'without,'
in the open street, as they approach the palace of Hezekiah.
The highways lie waste. Comp. the parallel in Judges v. 6.
Sharon, i. e. the plain between Ciesarea and Joppa, which was remarkable for
its luxuriant vegetation.
Shake off their leaves, as if in sympathy with the troubles of the country. See
introductory remarks.
Yo7ir own blast. Sic. The ' ambition that o'erleaps itself is the cause of the
ruin of the Assyrians.
Par. 3. Oh, who will abide. Literally, ' who to us,' but lanu, as lakhem in
ii. 22, simply expresses intensity of feeling. But, it may be asked, why should
these Jews apprehend the same fate as the Assyrians (xxx. 33) ? They prob
ably remembered the warnings of the prophet, to the effect that the impending
judgment should extend to the unholy Israelites. Comp. xxviii. 18-21.
From holding of bribes, i. e. so as not to hold bribes. The Auth. Vers, how
ever is too rhythmical to be disturbed.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. loi
Par. 4. The king in his beauty, i. e. in his robes of state, which had been laid
aside during the siege for a dress of mourning.
Where is he that rated f The three offices referred to in this passage are:
(i) that of proportioning the amount of tribute to the population; (2) that of
weighing it when it had been paid ; (3) that of making a recognizance of the
besieged city.
A stammering tongue. See note on xxviii. 1 1 .
A place of broad rivers. That is, Jerusalem shall be like a city, such as
Nineveh or Babylon, secured against besiegers by its position on a river. Not
even a 'majestic '(it is the word applied above to Jehovah) ship of war shall
venture on those charmed waters. The particle of comparison is omitted, as in
fhe previous metaphor of the tent. Comp. Ps. xlvi. 5 (written, possibly by
Isaiah himself, after the overthrow of Sennacherib), ' The streams of a river
make glad the city of God,' that is, not the fountain of Shiloah, but the gracious
influences of the Divine presence.
No inhabitant shall say, I am sick. That is, a good conscience shall inspirit
even the lame and the sick to take part in the work of plundering the
Assyrians.

APPENDIX.
(Isa. xxxvii. 22-35.)
This prophecy is one of striking interest, and both in form and
matter is stamped with the mark of Isaiah. It describes the blas
phemous self-confidence of the king of Assyria, and the final anathema
pronounced against him by Jehovah, all expressed in a much less
elaborate form than the prophecy to which it forms an appendix. The
narrative, however, in which it lies imbedded, cannot have received its
present position in the Book of Isaiah from the prophet himself. For,
although two passages in the historical style occur in the preceding
groups of prophecies (see ch. vii. and xx.), they are both subordinate to
the prophecies which they introduce. Here, on the contrary, the pre-

102 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
liminary narrative, or, at any rate, the greater part of it, fails entirely to
serve the purpose of an introduction.
Still the question may reasonably be asked. Might not the narra
tive, even if transferred from some other work, have been composed
originally by Isaiah, especially as we know from 2 Chron. xxxii. 32
(comp. ix. 29) that the prophet wrote one, if not more than one,
historical monograph, from which this might be an extract? The
answer is that, while the bare possibility cannot be denied that the
existing narrative may be founded on a production of Isaiah's, the form
and contents of the latter have, at any rate, been profoundly modified.
This is shewn (i) by the variations with which the narrative is re
peated in 2 Kings xviii. 13-xx. 19, and which are, generaUy speaking,
very peculiar, and therefore probably more authentic. See especially
Isa. xxxviii, noticing the abbreviation of vv. 4 and 5, the addition of the
Psalm of Hezekiah, and the wrong position given to v. 21. (2) By the
circumstance that the style of Isa. xxxvi and xxxvii (2 Kings xviii. 13-
xix. 37) contains nothing to distinguish it from that of many other por
tions of the two Books of Kings, which are evidently extracted from the
royal chronicles, and that the style of Isa. xxxviii (excluding the Psalm)
and xxxix closely resembles that of the final editor of the historical
books (Genesis — 2 Kings), who is apparently also the author of the
main part of the Book of Deuteronomy. Comp. Isa. xxxviii. 3, 'a per
fect heart,' with i Kings viii. 61, xi. 4, xv. 3, 14 ; Isa. xxxviii. 3, ' I have
done that which is good in thy sight,' with 2 Kings xxi. 2, xxii. 3, xxiii.
32, &c. ; Isa. xxxix. '8 with 2 Kings xxu. 20, and the repetition in
2 Kings XX. 6 (comp. xix. 34), which is wanting in Isa. xxxvni. 6, with
I Kings viii, passim, and with the constant repetitions in the Book of
Deuteronomy. A more searching examination of the contents of the narrative con
siderably strengthens our position. _ Is it probable that Isaiah was the
writer of xxxvii. 36, which represents the destruction of the Assyrians
as the immediate consequence of his prophecy, whereas the prophecy
itself postpones complete security to the third year afterwards?
Is it probable that Isaiah wrote the notice of the murder of Senna-

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 103
cherib, which aU cuneiform scholars date about 681 B.C.? Most
readers will think it is not. Is it probable (we will not presume to say,
possible) that Isaiah announced a sign of such an extraordinary nature
as the recession of the sun's shadow, related in xxxviii. 8 ? The analogy
of the other signs in the Book of Isaiah (and one occurs in the very
prophecy before us, xxxvii. 30), compels us to answer in the negative.
Is it probable, in conclusion, that Isaiah announced so definite a pre
diction as that contained in xxxviii. 5 ? Analogy is again unfavourable
to the supposition. (See note on vii. 8, and the introduction to ch.
xxni.) However this may be, the chief interest for us belongs to the pro
phecy, the Isaian authorship of which has never been called in question.
We may infer, from its fragmentary and unartistic character, that it
was not written down by the prophet himself, but by his disciples. It
might then have been inserted in the historical passage where it now
occurs by a later editor, with the view of forming an epilogue to the
prophetic volume. The case would then be exactly similar to that of
Jer. Iii. 1.
[xxxviii. 22.] The virgin, the daughter of Zion, despiseth
thee, and laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem
shaketh her head behind thee. Whom hast thou reproached and
blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thyself, and
lifted up thine eyes on high ? Even against the Holy One of
Israel. By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast
said, ' With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the
height of the mountains, to the extremities of Lebanon ; and I
wiU cut down his tallest cedars, and his choicest cypresses ; and
I will enter into his most distant lodging-place, and his fruitful
grove. I have digged and drunk strange waters ; and will dry up
with the sole of my feet aU the streams of Egypt.' Hast thou not
heard that long ago I made it, that in ancient days I fashioned it,

104 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
and that now I have brought it to pass, laying waste defenced cities
into ruinous heaps. Wherefore their inhabitants were of small
power ; they were dismayed and ashamed ; they became as the
grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the blade of the
housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. But I
know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and
thy rage against me. Because thou ragest against me, and thy
carelessness is come up into mine ears, therefore wiU I put my
hook into thy nose, and my bridle into thy Ups, and I will turn
thee back by the way by which thou earnest.
2.
[30.] And this shall be the sign unto thee. Eat ye this year
that which hath fallen out ; and the second year that which
groweth of itself; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and
plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. Then shall the remnant
that is escaped of the house of Judah again take root downward
and bear fruit upward; for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a
remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion. The zeal of
Jehovah of Hosts shall perform this. , Therefore thus saith Je
hovah of Hosts concerning the king of Assyria, He shaU not
come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before
it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he
came, by the same shall he return, and shaU not come into this
city, saith Jehovah. And I wUl defend this city, to save it, for
mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
Par. 1. Behind thee, i. c, on thine ignominious retreat.
With the multitude of my servants. The expressions are evidently hyper
bolical, with which the employment of the prophetic past tense corresponds.
Sennacherib is, in effect, represented as saying that the natural barriers of
Palestine and Egypt shall be ineffectual to check his progress. Lie boasts

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 103
that he will find a pass over the highest peaks of Lebanon, and then, without
condescending to mention the intei-vening country of the Jews, goes on to
describe bombastically the real object of his expedition. The Egyptians have
relied too long on the arid desert and the many-branched Nile. The Assyrians
will extract water from the one, and dry up the other with their countless
multitudes. ' II n'y a pas de Pyr4n^es.'
The most distant lodging-place. This is the reading of the parallel passage in
2 Kings xix. 23, which seems choicer than that of the text of Isaiah, ' His
highest peak.' The meaning, however, is much the same, whichever reading
we adopt.
I faMoned it. The Assyrian victories had an ideal reality in the counsels of
eternity. Comp. xxii. 11.
As com blasted. Literally, ' a blasting before the stalk.' The text of Isaiah
reads ' field.'
Par. 2. The sign. The hardly-eamed existence of the Jews during the next
two years is a pledge of the brighter future in store, that is, of the Messianic
period. See the next verse, ' Then shall the remnant,' &c.
Eat ye this year, &c. Since it was already autumn, and the Assyrian depreda
tions had put a stop to agriculture, all that could be hoped for was a scanty
harvest from the grain casually dropped in the previous season. Not till the
third year would the land be quite free from the invaders, so that regular culti
vation of the soil could be resumed.

XL EGYPT.
(Isa. xix.)
THE prophecy against Egypt is composed of five strophes of nearly
equal length. The first of these describes the anarchy into
which Egypt has already fallen, or is on the point of falling, and which
will issue, as the prophet foresees, in a crushing despotism. The
second and third develope more in detail the disorganized condition
of the social system. This is manifested in the stagnation of the trades
on which the lower orders depend, and in the perplexity and indecision
of the upper. Yet the prospect exhibited in the concluding strophes
is by no means one of unmingled gloom. When the trouble of the
Egyptians is at its height, they wUl be driven by helpless terror to
adopt the religion of Israel. Thenceforward they wiU enjoy the favour
of Jehovah, and form part of a spiritual confederacy with Israel and
Assyria. The style of the prophecy is in some respects peculiar. The first
three strophes are more prolix in description than is usual with Isaiah,
but this may be easily accounted for by the advanced age of the pro
phet. The phraseology, at any rate, is not unlike that of Isaiah. In
the last two strophes the forms of expression are more peculiar, but as
the ideas are developments of those which we know to be Isaiah's, and
as the supposed references to later history (see the notes) prove to be
imaginary, there is no sufiicient ground for assigning the passage to a
different author. The date has been much disputed. We may be
certain, however, from the cursory manner in which Assyria is men
tioned, that the power of that empire had declined, and from the gloom
of the preceding description that Egypt had already faUen into a state
of hopeless confusion. Many critics have supposed the expression ' a

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c. 107
cruel lord' at the end of the first strophe to refer to Psammetichus,
and certainly there is no feature in the description which points to a
foreigner, but so far as the character of that king can be traced from
history, it does not deserve to be called harsh or cruel. It is a further
objection of some importance that, when Psammetichus became mo
narch of Egypt in 670, Isaiah (according to the current chronology)
would be at least eighty-eight years old. We therefore incline to place
the prophecy about ten years earlier, in the troublous times which pre
ceded the establishment of the Dodecarchy. (Herod, ii. 147-154.)
In fact, we have before us a republication of the weU-known doctrine
of the prophets, that a terrible judgment is in store for all heathen
nations. The instrument selected by Jehovah en former occasions had
been Assyria, but since the great humiliation of that power (see ch.
xxxvii), the description of the judgment was necessarily couched in
somewhat vaguer language. Probably Isaiah himself anticipated that
the tyrant would be a native of Egypt ; but this was a purely external
matter, which left the spiritual value of the revelation unaffected. His
warning, however, is softened by a passage on the religious future of
Egypt, which rivals, if it does not surpass, the most evangelical portions
of ' the great unknown' himself. Could there be a more fitting Sch-wan-
engesang for a dying prophet, a more generous farewell to his ancient
foes, than the concluding words of this prophecy, 'Blessed be Egypt
the people of Jehovah, and Assyria the work of his hands, and Israel
his inheritance ? ' 1.
[xix. 1.] Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall
come to Egypt ; and the idols of Egypt shall shake before him,
and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I wUl
prick on Egypt against Egypt, and they shall fight every one
against his brother and every one against his neighbour; city
against city, and kingdom against kingdom. The spirit of Egypt
shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel
thereof; and they shall consult the vain gods, and the whisperers,

io8 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
and them that have familiar spirits, and the wizards ; and the
Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a
fierce king shall rule over them : it is the utterance of the Lord,
Jehovah of Hosts. 2.
[5.] The waters have failed from the sea, and the river is
wasted and dried up ; the rivers have begun to stink, the streams
of Egypt are become shallow and dry : the reeds and flags pine
away. The meadows by the stream, by the brim of the stream,
and everything that is sown by the stream, have vanished
for dryness, and are no more. The fishers have long been
sighing, and all they that cast angle into the stream have been
lamenting, and they that spread nets on the face of the waters
have been languishing. Moreover they that prepare combed flax,
and they that weave white stuffs, are ashamed. The pUlars of the
land are broken to pieces, and all they that work for hire are sad
of soul. 3.
[ll.] Utterly fooUsh are the princes of Zoan; the wise men,
even Pharaoh's counsellors, are become brutish. How say ye unto
Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
Where are they, now, thy wise men ? Come, let them tell thee,
and let them know what Jehovah of Hosts hath purposed upon
Egypt. The princes of Zoan are befooled, the princes of Noph
are deceived, and Egypt hath been led astray by the corner-stone
of the tribes thereof Jehovah hath mingled in the midst of the
land a spirit of disturbance, so that they have led Egypt astray
in all his doings, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
Neither shall there be any deed for Egypt, which the head might
do with the tail, the branch of the palm-tree with the rush.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 109
4.
[16.] In that day shall Egypt be like unto women; it shall
tremble and shall shudder, because of the swinging of the hand
of Jehovah of Hosts, which he swingeth over it. And the land of
Judah shall become a terror unto Egypt : whensoever one shall
call it [Judah] to mind, he shaU shudder, because of the purpose
of Jehovah of Hosts, which he determineth against it [Egypt]. In
that day shall there be five cities in the land of Egypt, speaking
the language of Canaan, and swearing to Jehovah of Hosts ; one
shaU be called. The city of ruined images. In that day shall there
be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a
pUlar by the border thereof to Jehovah. And it shall be for a sign
and for a witness unto Jehovah of Hosts in the land of Egypt ;
when they shaU cry unto Jehovah because of oppressors, he shall
send them a saviour and a champion, and shall deliver them.

[21.] Thus Jehovah shall make himself known unto Egypt, and
the Egyptians shall acknowledge Jehovah in that day, and shall do
sacrifice and oblation, and they shall vow a vow unto Jehovah, and
perform it. And Jehovah shall smite Egypt, smiting and healing
it; and when they shall turn unto Jehovah, he shall suffer him
self to be intreated of them, and shall heal them. In that day
shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria; the Assyrians
shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the
Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians. In that day shall
Egypt be the third to Egypt and to Assyria, even a blessing in
the midst of the earth ; wherewith Jehovah of Hosts shall bless the
earth, saying. Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work
of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

no THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Par. 1. The whisperers, i. e. the necromancers, who imitated the voice of the
shades. See note on viii. 1 9.
Par. 2. The sea, i. e. the Nile. Comp. Job xiv. 11 ; Nahum iii. 8.
They that prepare combed flax. Linen was universally worn in Egypt for
the under-garment, and the priests were even forbidden to wear dresses of any
other material. Linen was also used for tbe cloths in which mummies were
wrapped. The term ' white stuffs ' in the parallel clause may possibly include
cotton. The pillars of the land, i. c. the upper classes. Comp. Ezek. xxx. 4 ; Ps. xi. 3 ;
Gal. ii. 9.
Par. 3. Zoan, i. c. Tanis, the capital of an Egyptian nome or canton (Herod.
ii. 166), at one time a royal residence (Isa. xxx. 4). The 'princes' spoken
of are probably the priests, who were renowned for their wisdom.
How say ye unto Pharaoh, &c. ' With what reason do you continue to boast
of your hereditary wisdom?'
The son of ancient kings. The kings of Egypt belonged, either by birth or by
adoption, to the priestly order.
Noph, generally identified with Memphis, which in the reign of Psammetichus
became the capital of the monarchy.
The corner-stone, i. e. the members of the order of priests collectively. See
note on xxxi. 9.
Neither shall there be any deed, &c. That is, the disunion of princes and
people shall prevent any national enterprises.
Par. 4. The land of Judah shall become a terror. That is, because the author
of the calamities of the Egyptians is the God of Judah.
Five cities, i.e. a veiy small number of cities (as in xxx. 17, xvii. 6) in which
Jewish colonists might be found.
Speaking the language of Canaan. Isaiah appears to have anticipated the
adoption of Hebrew as the sacred language of the Egyptian proselytes.
The city of ruined images. Heb. 'ir haheres, 'city of breaking down.' An
allusion to one of the Hebrew names of Heliopolis, 'city of the sun' {'ir
hacheres), which, by a slight modification of one of the letters {'ir haheres),
would express the zeal of its inhabitants, when converted, for the tme God.
Comp. Jer. xliii. 13, ' He shall break the statues of the house of the Sun,' refer-
ing to the same name, Heliopolis. A similar transformation of the Egyptian
equivalent. On, is made by Ezekiel (xxx. 17), 'The young men of Aven (or
' nothingness') shall fall by the sword.' This appears to be the simplest way
of explaining a very peculiar phrase and thus confiraiing the authorship of

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. in
Isaiah ; it is found as early as the Targum of Jonathan, which renders, ' One
shall be called Beth-shemesh (place of the sun) which shall be destroyed,' and
is adopted by the Jewish historian Herzfeld, the Roman Catholic professor
Reinke, and the Protestant Delitzsch (comp. his admirable note). S. D. Luzzatto
renders somewhat differently, ' Citti risorta dalle ruine ; ' but this is too far
fetched. Another well-attested reading is 'ir hacheres, 'city of the sun' (or, as
Ewald, 'fortunate city'), which was probably current in Egypt at the time of
the foundation of the temple of Leontopolis (b.c i6o) by Onias the Jewish re
fugee. The latter city was, at any rate, in the canton of Heliopolis. The
reading of the Lxx was 'ir hasedek, 'city of righteousness' (comp. i. 26I, which
looks like a retort on the Palestinian Jews for expounding the old reading in
n manner uncomplimentary to Onias, though Geiger regards it as the original
one, cheres and cherem being deliberate falsifications.
An altar. Comp. Josh. xxii. 27 ; Exod. xx. 24. Probably this is the passage
appealed to by Onias in justification of his Egyptian temple (Joseph. ArchEeol.
xiii. 3, 1-3), and Hitzig supposes that it was really interpolated with that
object. But ' an altar" is merely a symbolic expression for the religion of any
particular community.
By the border, as a memorial of the Jewish origin of the adopted reUgion of
the Egyptians.
For a sign and for a witness. For a sign that the Egyptians are worshippers
of Jehovah, and for a witness that he is pledged to save them in trouble.
Par. 5. Smiting and healing it. For the idea of the conversion of the heathen
as resulting from a terrible judgment, comp. Zeph. iii. 8, 9; Jer. xii. 15-17;
and the vaguer but unmistakeable allusions in Isa. xviii. 3, 7, and perhaps origi
nally in xvi. 12.
A blessing in the midst of the earth. The only distinction reserved for Israel is
that of being the instrament by which the Divine blessing is communicated to
others. Comp. Exod. iv. 22, 'Israel is my son, even my firstborn;' and Isa.
ii. 3, ' Out of Zion shall go forth doctrine.'
Blessed be Egypt my people. The Lxx renders characteristically, ' Blessed be
my people in Egypt, and the work of my hands among the Assyrians,' thus con
verting the passage into an eulogy of the Jews of the Dispersion, who were
much looked down upon by their kinsmen of Palestine.

n2 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
APPENDIX I.
(Isa. xxxiv, xxxv.)
The prophet foresees that a terrible retribution is in store for the
entire heathen world, especially for the malicious foes of Israel in
Edom. The latter shall be slaughtered, as it were, in one vast sacrifice
to Jehovah ; their territory shaU be desolated, and shall become the
haunt of wild beasts and evil fairies. Very different shall be the fortune
of the Jews. They shall return home from exile under the Divine
escort ; the desert shall be transformed as they pass along it ; they shall
enter Jerusalem with songs of triumph.
The resemblance of this prophecy to ch. xl-lxvi dispenses us from
the obligation of discussing the theory of the authorship of Isaiah. It
would, in fact, be difficult to extract decisive arguments either for or
against it from a work of so small an extent as this. We venture there
fore to question whether the classical essay of Dr. Caspari (see the
' Lutheran Review' for 1843) on the genuineness of Isa. xxxiv, in spite
of its conscientious thoroughness, has not been composed in vain. If
the occurrence of parallels between Jeremiah and Isa. xl-lxvi is not a
decisive argument in favour of the priority of the latter, it is not worth
while to reopen the subject on behalf of Isa. xxxiv. No doubt, if this
prophecy were an isolated one in the so-called Book of Isaiah, critics
might, with some show of reason, argue that it was written by that
prophet. But as the peculiarities of idea and of style, which are not
wanting even here, are repeated on a much enlarged scale in the last
twenty-seven chapters, the refutation of the Isaian theory in the latter
is equally valid for the former prophecy.
It would be unwise to speak too positively as to the precise date of
the composition. We may, however, be allowed to point out a few
circumstances of some importance, which incline us to consider this
the earliest of the prophecies written during the- exile. That it was
written earlier than ch. xl-lxvi seems to us to be proved by the fact

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 113
that xxxv. 10 recurs as a quotation in 11. 11. That it was written
before the hopes of the exiles had centred round any particular de
liverer, seems to follow from xxxiv. 16, and from the absence of any
definite aUusion to the fall of Babylon. That it was written compara
tively early in the exile may be argued from the bitterness of the
anathema against the Edomites, which seems to imply that the outrages
offered by them to their Jewish kinsmen were stiU fresh in remem
brance. 1.
[xxxiv. 1.] Come near, ye nations, to hear ; and hearken, ye
peoples ; let the earth hear, and all that is therein : the world, and
all things that come forth of it. For Jehovah hath indignation
against all the nations, and wrath against all their host : he hath
put a curse upon them, he hath devoted them to slaughter.
Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stink of their carcases
shaU come up, and the mountains shall melt with their blood.
And aU the host of heaven shaU rot, and the heavens shall roll
together as a scroll ; and all their host shall fade, as a leaf fadeth
away from the vine, and as that which fadeth away from the fig-
tree. For aheady my sword is drenched in heaven; behold, it
shaU come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse,
to judgment. Jehovah hath a sword that is fuU of blood, and
made juicy with fat, with the blood of lambs and he-goats, with
the fat of the kidneys of rams ; yea, Jehovah hath a sacrifice in
Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And the
buffaloes shall sink down with them, and the buUocks with the
oxen; and their land shaU be drenched with blood, and their
dust made juicy with fatness. 2.
[8.] For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, and a year of

n4 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
requital for the controversy of Zion. And the streams of Edom
shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and
the land thereof shaU become burning pitch. It shaU not be
quenched night nor day ; the smoke thereof shaU go up for ever
and ever : from generation to generation it shall lie waste ; none
shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the pelican and the
hedgehog shall take it in possession ; the bittern and the raven shall
dwell in it ; and one shall stretch out upon it the line of desola
tion, and the plummet of emptiness. As for the nobles thereof,
none shall be there to proclaim the kingdom, and aU the princes
thereof shaU come to nothing. And her palaces shall be over
grown with thorns; nettles and thistles shall be in the fortresses
thereof; and she shall become an habitation of wild dogs, and a
home for owls. Jackals and wolves shall meet there, and the
satyr shall light on his fellow; surely Lilith shall repose there,
and find for herself a place of rest. There shaU the arrowsnake
make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow ;
surely there shall the vultures assemble, every one with her mate.
Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read ; no one of these
shall fail, none shall want her mate : for my mouth it hath com
manded, and his spirit it hath assembled them. And he hath cast
the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line :
they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall
they dwell therein. 3.
[xxxv. 1.] The wilderness and the parched place shall be
glad, and the desert shaU rejoice and blossom as the rose. It
shaU blossom abundantly, and rejoice with dancing and singing;
the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of
Carmel and Sharon ; they shaU see the glory of Jehovah, and the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. ng
excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the slack hands, and con
firm the tottering knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart.
Be strong, fear not ; behold, your God will come with vengeance,
with a godUke recompence ; he wiU come himself to save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shaU be opened, and the ears of the
deaf unstopped ; then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the
tongue of the dumb shout ; for in the wilderness shaU waters break
out, and torrents in the desert. And the sandy glistening shaU
become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water ; in ¦ the
habitation of jackals, where they couched, shaU be a home for
reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and a way, and
it shall be called. The holy way ; the unclean shall not pass over
it, for he [God] himself shall be on their side : whoso walketh in the'
way, though a fool, shaU not err therein. No Uon shall be there,
nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon ; none shaU be found
there ; but the redeemed shaU walk at liberty. And the ransomed
of Jehovah shall return, and come to Zion with shouting, and with
everlasting joy upon their head : they shall obtain joy and glad
ness, and grief and sighing shaU flee away.

Par. 1. All the host of heaven. Sec. The prophets of the Babylonian exile
delight to connect the deliverance of the Jewish nation with the destruction of
the present world and the creation of ¦¦ new one. Comp. xiii. 9, xxiv. i, li. 6,
Ixv. 17.
My sword is drenched, i. e. the acts of Divine vengeance have long been
decreed and, as it were, rehearsed in heaven.
Upon Edom. The conduct of the Edomites towards their Jewish kinsmen at
the Babylonian conquest seems to have excited in the latter the bitterest feel
ings of resentment. See Obad. 11-14; Lam. iv. 21; Ezek. xxv. 12-14; Ps.
cxxxvii. Bozrah. An Idumsean city, Gen. xxxvi. 33. See Smith's ' Dictionary of the
Bible,' s. V.

ii6 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Lambs and he-goats. That is, the people of Edom, as distinguished from the
' bullocks ' in the next verse, i. e. the chiefs.
Par. 2. The land is become burning pitch. Edom is to share the fate of Sodom
and Gomorrah. Comp. Jer. xlix. i8.
But pelican and hedgehog. Sec. A favourite commonplace of the prophets in
their descriptions of ruins. See xiii. 20-22, xiv. 23, and Zeph. ii. 14, the latter
of which passages Ewald regards as the model on which the others were
framed, Delitzsch as an imitation of them.
The line of desolation. The work of destruction shall be carried out to the
smallest details.
As for ber nobles. From this passage, and from Gen. xxxvi. 31, it is inferred
that the king of the Edomites was elected from among the chiefs of the tribes.
Jackals and wolves. Heb. i-iyim . . . 'iyim. The root of both words appears to
represent the cry of the animals. See 'Notes and Criticisms,' p. 23.
The satyrs. That is, mythological beings, shaped like goats (whence their
name in Hebrew), and believed to inhabit deserts. They appear to have been
propitiated with sacrifices. Lev. xvii. 7 ; 2 Chron. xi. 15. Perhaps we may
compare the usage on the Day of Atonement of dedicating a goat ' to Azazel '
(mistranslated in Auth. Ver. ' scapegoat '), and sending it with the sins of the
people into the wilderness. Lev. xvi. 8-22. Afterwards, at any rate, when the
reverence for Azazel had been expelled by monotheism, the title ' king of the
devils' was borne by Ashmadai (the Asmodeus of Tobit), a word evidently of
Persian oiigin = Ashmadeva. (Levy's ' Chaldee Lexicon,' s. v.) The Arabs have
a similar superstition about the Ghiils, which Sprenger deduces from the exciting
air and monotonous landscape of the desert. See Sprenger's ' Leben und Lehre
des Mohammad,' vol. i. p. 220.
Lilith, i. e. ' the night-fairy,' like Strix and Lamia. Ben Sira (quoted by
Buxtorf, ' Lex. Rabbin.' s. v.) informs us that LiUth was the name of Adam's
first wife. Being quarrelsome, she pronounced the Divine name as a charm,
and flew away, and became a devil. Her passion was to murder young
children, which could only be averted by exorcism. Goethe is therefore not
quite accurate when he puts into the mouth of Mephistopheles the words
' Beware of her fair hair, for she excels
All women in the magic of her locks ;
And when she winds them round a young man's neck.
She will not ever set him free again.'
The Walpurgis-night scene in 'Faust' (Shelley's Translation).
The book of Jehovah, i. e. the present prophecy. This seems to imply that
the fulfilment was not immediately expected.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 117
Par. 3. Strengthen ye. The persons addressed are the prophets of the exile.
Comp. xl. I.
In the wilderness. Sec. Imitated by a later prophet in xliii. 19, xlviii. 21, xlix.
10. The allusion is to the events of the Exodus.
The sandy glistening, i.e. the mirage. Comp. xlix. 10.
Where they couched. There is probably some corruption in the text of this
clause. For 'home' Auth. Ver. renders 'grass,' but the parallel of xxxiv. 13
(last clause) is opposed to this. Comp. Job viii. 1 1 .
The unclean, i. e. the heathen. Comp. Joel iii. 17:' Then shall Jerasalem be
holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.'
Upon their head. An allusion to the custom of crowning the head with gar
lands. Comp. xxv. 7. This whole verse is quoted by a later prophet in li. 11.

APPENDIX IL
(Isa. xxiv-xxvii.)
A GREAT calamity, in which all classes shaU be equal sufferers, is
about to befal the entire Eastern world. But it is more than an
ordinary misfortune ; it is the penalty of the general violation of the
law of God virritten in the human heart. The capital city (apparently
Babylon) shaU be destroyed, and the population of the empire reduced
to a mere handful of mourners. The Jewish exUes, however, shaU seize
the opportunity of returning to their native land. They shaU gather by
the shores of the Mediterranean, exulting over the faU of Babylon, and
calling upon the heathen of the most distant countries to recognize the
act of Jehovah. But, after this bright anticipation, the prophet is over
come by sympathy with the suffering which, he well knows, will ensue.
The once flourishing empire wiU be a prey to anarchy, and the hopes of
the returning Jewish exiles will be doomed, at first, to bitter dis
appointment. Then, gliding suddenly into another tone, the prophet
continues : a great judgment shaU be held on aU the evil powers of
heaven and earth, and the theocracy shaU be visibly restored on the
sacred mount.

n8 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
The second part of the prophecy begins with a hymn to Jehovah, as
the destroyer of the tyrannical empire, and an anticipation of the com
prehension of all nations amongst the worshippers assembled at Jeru
salem. Suffering and death itself shaU be annihUated, and the obstinate
animosity of Moab receive its final overthrow.
The third part opens with a fresh hymn to be sung by the restored
exiles in the land of Judah. The ruined walls of Jerusalem, such is its
purport, need not be rebuilt ; for their object is more than fulfiUed by
spiritual bulwarks. Trust in God is the guarantee of peace and
security. He who has destroyed 'the lofty city' already will hence
forth grant an even course of prosperity to ' the righteous nation.' A
tender, meditative strain follows. The Divine judgments of vengeance
and mercy had indeed been long expected throughout the night of
trouble. If these impious Babylonians (thus the exiles questioned
themselves) should continue to escape the chastening of Jehovah,
what hope would there be of their ever acknowledging him as the
true God ? This is succeeded by a series of ejaculations. The point
of view in the fir.st is the situation of the Jews before the judgment ; in
the two following, that produced by its accomplishment, 'Previous
judgments have been in vain ; therefore let the tyrants suffer a more
severe one!' 'Surely thou wilt henceforth grant us lasting peace!'
' Thanks to thee alone, O Jehovah ! for deliverance from the op
pressors.' From the standing-point which he has thus succeeded in
reaching, the prophet describes the discouragements of those who
should return home from exile. He anticipates that their numbers
would be small, and incommensurate with the intensity of their pre
vious expectation, which is represented under the image of the pangs
of child-birth. But, on a sudden, the prophet's faith in God's love
triumphs over his despondency. An influence as potent as the dew
shaU draw forth the shades of the departed Israelites to fill the void in
the population. ' Be patient for a while, and the last act of the Divine
judgment shall be consummated.' The conclusion is formed by a de
scription of the restoration of the exiles, quoted apparently from some
earlier prophecy.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 119
The date and origin of this prophecy have been more disputed than
those of any other in the Book of Isaiah. That Isaiah himself, how
ever, is not the author, may be inferred from the strong peculiarity of
the style and the ideas. By style we do not so much mean phraseology,
the argument from which is two-edged and indecisive, as the construc
tion of the sentences, the exuberance of assonance and paronomasia
(which appear comparatively seldom in Isaiah), and the unusual mode
of forming a climax, by repeating and carrying on a phrase from the
foregoing clause. Among the peculiar ideas may be noticed the men
tion of guardian-angels of kingdoms (xxiv. 21), and, above all, of the
resurrection of individuals (xxvi. 19), which is wanting in the true
Isaiah, and the annihUation of death (xxv. 8), which in a passage cur
rently ascribed to that prophet (Ixv. 20), is even contradicted.
More than this negative result cannot be laid down with certainty.
The difficulty is chiefly owing to the generality of the description in
ch. xxv, and the occasional shifting of the standing-point of the writer
both in ch. xxiv and xxvi. Hence Knobel supposes the author to have
been one of the Jews left in Palestine after the capture of Jerusalem
by Nebuchadnezzar ; Hitzig, an Ephraimite, who wrote shortly before
the fall of Nineveh; Ewald, a Jew, shortly before the expedition of
Cambyses against Egypt. We have not space to discuss each of these
hypotheses in detaU. The great catastrophe described in the early
strophes can hardly, as it seems to us, be any other than the fall of
Babylon, predicted in the other non-Isaian prophecies of this book.
The past tenses which so frequently occur in ch. xxiv are most readily
explained as ideaUstic or prophetic. They shew, not that the passage
is a description of the past, as most modern commentators have ima
gined, but that the faU of Babylon was expected with eager impatience.
From the anarchy anticipated in xxiv. 17, 18, we infer that the vic
torious march of Cyrus had not begun, otherwise the firm character
of that monarch would have relieved the writer from his apprehensions.
From the expression ' this mountain,' in xxv. 6, many (e. g. Knobel)
have inferred that the author lived in or near Jerusalem. But xxvi. 9
seems to indicate that he had long shared the fate of the majority of

120 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
the exiles, i. e. that he was resident in Babylonia. If we look at xxv. 6
more closely, we shall observe that it is but loosely connected with the
foregoing passage, and probably Ewald is right in ascribing it, with
vv. 7, 8, 10-12, to an earlier prophet. Similarly the mention of As
syria and Egypt in xxvii. 13, Indicates that the passage is a quotation,
probably from Isaiah.
PART L
1.
[xxiv. I.] Behold, Jehovah maketh the earth desert and deso
late, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the in
habitants thereof And it shaU be, as with the people, so with the
priest ; as with the servant, so with his master ; as with the maid,
so with her mistress ; as with the buyer, so with the seUer ; as with
the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so
vrith the giver of usury to him. The earth shaU be utterly desert,
and clean despoUed, for Jehovah hath spoken this word.
2.
[4.] The earth faUeth and fadeth; the world fainteth and
fadeth; the haughty people of the earth do faint. For the
earth is become unholy under the inhabitants thereof, because
they transgressed the precepts, violated the law, brake the ever
lasting covenant; therefore hath a curse devoured the earth, and
they that dwell therein rue their trespass, therefore the inhabitants
of the earth are burned up, and few men left.

[7.] The new wine faUeth, the vine fainteth, aU the merry-
hearted do sigh ; the mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 121
that rejoice endeth, the mirth of the harp ceaseth. They shaU no
more drink wine with a song ; strong drink shaU be bitter to them
that drink it. It is broken down, a city of solitude ; every house
is shut up, that no man may come in. In the fields is a crying
for the wine ; aU joy has set ; the mirth of the land is banished.
Of the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten to ruins.
4.
[13.] Yea, so shall it be in the midst of the earth among the
peoples, as at the shaking of an olive-tree, and as at the gleaning
when the vintage is done. The remnant shall lift up their voice,
they shall shout; for the majesty of Jehovah they shall cry aloud
from the sea, (saying,) ' Therefore in the coasts glorify Jehovah,
even the name of Jehovah the God of Israel in the coasts of the
sea.' From the skirt of the earth we have heard songs, ' Splendid
is the lot of the righteous;' but I said. Pining is my lot, pining is
my lot, alas for me ! The injurious injure, and injuring they injure
injuriously. A fear and a fall and a fowler are upon thee, O in
habitant of the earth ; for he who fleeth from the rumour of fear
shall suffer a fall, and he that ariseth from the fall shall be taken by
the fowler, for the windows of heaven are open, and the founda
tions of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly crushed, the earth
is clean dissolved, the earth shaketh exceedingly; the earth reeleth
like a drunkard, and swayeth to and fro like a hammock ; and the
transgression thereof is heavy upon it, and when it hath fallen, it
shall not rise again. 5.
[21.] And in that day shaU Jehovah visit the host of heaven
on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they
shall be gathered together as prisoners into the pit, and shut up
in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. And the

122 THE BOOK OF TSAIAH
moon shaU blush, and the sun be ashamed, because Jehovah of
Hosts shall reign in mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his
elders shall be glory.
Par. 1. Behold, Jebovah maketh. Most interpreters regard this passage as a
description of the literal present, on the ground of the particularity of the de
tails; but see the remarks at the end of the Introduction. The analogy of
many other places where the Heb. hinneh, ' behold,' is followed by a participle
(e. g. iii. I, xvii. i, xix. i) confirms us in the view that the phrase ' Behold, he
maketh,' is equivalent to a future.
The earth. That is, the Babylonian empire, which embraced most of the
countries with which the writer was acquainted. Comp. xiii. J, xxxiv. i.
Desert and desolate. Observe the fondness of the prophet for assonances,
e. g. ' desert, desolate, despoiled,' ' faileth, fadeth, fainteth,' ' a fear, a fall, and a
fowler.' Par. 2. The everlasting covenant. That is, the primitive covenant of God with
Noah, the representative of the human race. Comp. Gen. ix. i6, ' And the bow
shall be in the cloud ; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the ever
lasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon
the earth.' The covenant being broken on the side of man, the Divine promise
not to bring a second deluge on the earth is recalled, as the prophet indicates
in ver. i8.
A curse. For the personification of the curse of Jehovah, comp. Dan. ix. 1 1 ;
Zech. V. 3; Jer. xxiii. lo.
Hath devoured. The tense here, as throughout the description, is the pro
phetic past.
Par. 3. Every house is shut up, i, e. by the accumulation of ruins.
Par. 4. As at the shaking of an olive-tree. An image of a very small remnant,
borrowed from Isaiah (xvii. 6).
The remnant shall lift up their voice. That is, the Jewish exiles restored to
Palestine shall rejoice at the fall of their oppressors, and call upon the heathen
to recognize in it the act of Jehovah. This is supposed to be answered by an
anthem from the most distant heathen countries, ' Splendid is the lot of the
righteous ! ' The prophet, however, refuses to accept these congratulations.
He foresees that the consequences of the political revolution in Babylon will
involve much suffering to all the inhabitants of the empire, not excepting his
own people.
From the sea, i. e. the Mediterranean, which is described as re-echoing with
the songs of the Jews.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 123
In the coasts, i.e. the maritime coimtries of the west. Read bd'iyyim for
baurlm (see 'Notes and Criticisms,' p. 27). For the repetition of the phrase
in an amplified form, comp. xxvi. 6, 7.
We have heard, i. e. the Jewish exiles, restored to their country, with whom
the writer, in prophetic imagination, identifies himself. Immediately after
wards, he shifts his point of view, but not to any great distance. The enthu
siasm of the exiles might soon be expected to cool on a clearer perception of
the difficulties which surrounded them. Such was, in fact, historically the case,
and hence the difference in tone between the eloquent prophet who heralded
the restoration of the Jews and the prosaic Haggai and Zechariah.
The injurious injure. The prophet appears to anticipate a time of anarchy
consequent on the fall of Babylon : an indication that he was not contemporary
with the victories of Cyras.
O inhabitant of the earth. That is, the helpless inhabitants of the countries
within the former Babylonian empire. No sooner have they escaped from one
danger than they shall faU into another.
The windows of heaven. An image borrowed from the description of the
deluge in Gen. vii. 11.
Like a hammock, i. e. like the hanging bed erected in the vintage season for
the guardian of the vineyard. Comp. i. 8 ; Job xxvii. 18. ' But the trae point
of the comparison will not appear until the crop is over, and the lodge forsaken
by the keeper. Then the poles fall down, or lean every way, and those green
boughs with which it is shaded will have been scattered by the wind, leaving
only a ragged, sprawling wreck.' Thomson, 'The Land and the Book,'
p. 362.
Par. 5. The host of heaven, i. e. the angels, who, as in Dan. x. 13, 20, 21, are
regarded as the patrons of earthly kingdoms. These are supposed to share
the fate of the kings whom they protect, just as, perhaps, in Rev. i-iii, the
' angels ' are combined with the churches they severally guard, and as in Rev.
xix. 20, ' the beast' is cast into ' the lake of fire' together with his worshippers.
As soon, however, as the Messianic kingdom has been established, the im
prisoned angels and kings are to be released. They will then become tribu
taries to Jehovah; comp. xxiii. 17, 18.
Before his elders shall be glory, i. e. the representatives of the people shall be
admitted to a sight of the Divine gloiy, as in the times of Moses (Exod.
xxiv. 9).

124 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

PART IL
1.
[xxv. 1.] O Jehovah! thou art my God; I wiU exak thee, I
will praise thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things; thy
counsels of old are fulfilled in faithfulness. For thou hast made of
a city an heap ; of a defenced town a ruin ; a palace of barbarians
to be no city, never to be buUt again. Therefore shall a fierce
people glorify thee, the town of terrible nations shaU fear thee ; for
thou hast been a stronghold to the helpless, a stronghold to the
poor in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the
heat, for the blast of the terrible ones was Uke a storm against the
wall. As the heat in a dry place, so didst thou subdue the noise
of the barbarians ; as the heat by the shadow of clouds, the song
of the terrible ones was brought low.

[e.J 'And in this mountain hath Jehovah of Hosts made unto all
peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat
things fuU of marrow, of wines on the lees weU refined. And he
hath swallowed up in this mountain the covering cast over aU
peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations; he hath
swaUowed up death for ever ; and the Lord Jehovah hath wiped
away tears from off all faces ; and the reproach of his people will
he take away from off all the earth : for Jehovah hath spoken it.'
3.
[9.] And it shaU be said in that day, Lo, there is our God, for
whom we waited that he should save us; there is Jehovah for
whom we waited ; let us exult and rejoice in his salvation. ' For on

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 125
this mountain shaU the hand of Jehovah rest, and iVloab shall be
trodden down in his place, like an heap of straw in the water of
the dunghill. And though he spread forth his hands therein, as
he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim, yet de
spite the tricks of his hands shall Jehovah bring down his pride.
And thy defenced and lofty walls (O Moab !) shaU he bring down,
lay low and bring to the ground, even to the dust.'
Par. 1. A fierce people, i. e. the conquerors of the Babylonians.
Par. 2. In this mountain, i. e. mount Zion. See remarks at conclusion of
Introduction. Hath made, i. e. shall certainly make. The prophetic past.
He haih swallowed up, i. e. hath annihilated, as in iii. 12.
A feast of fat things. All nations are to be admitted to the spiritual privileges
of Jerusalem. Comp. Matt. viii. 11 ; Luke xiv. 15.
Tbe covering. An allusion to the customary sign of mourning. David ' had
his head covered' as he quitted Jerasalem, 2 Sam. xv. 30; comp. Est. vi. 12.
He haih swallowed up death. Two meanings of this are possible. If this
passage was written by the author of xxvi. 19, it will imply that the Jews who
should be alive at the Messianic era, and those whom ' the dew of Jehovah '
should draw up from the underworld, should escape death. But if a quotation
from an er.rlier prophet (see end of Introduction), it may mean no more than
Hos, xiii. 14, which promises immortality to the regenerated people of Ephraim.
Certainly the greatest of the Babylonian prophets (the author of xl-lxvi) did
not anticipate the immortality of the individual. See Ixv. 20 ; and comp. Zech.
viii. 4.
Par. 3. For on this mountain shall the hand of Jehovah rest. Comp. Ezra viii.
22, 31.
Moab shall be trodden down. The Moabites appear, like the Edomites, to
have shown a malignant pleasure at the fall of Jerusalem. Comp. Ezek. xxv.
8-1 1.
The tricks of his hands, i. e. the artifices employed by the Moabites to escape
des traction.

126 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

PART IIL

1.
[XXVI. 1.] In that day shall this song be sung in the land of
Judah :
' We have a city of strength ; salvation doth Jehovah appoint
for walls and bulwarks ;
Open ye the gates, that a righteous nation which keep their
faith may enter in.'
By a sure purpose wilt thou fashion perfect peace, because in
thee is their trust. Trust ye in Jehovah for ever, for Jah Jehovah
is the rock of ages. For he hath brought down them that dwelt
on high ; the lofty city, he laid it low ; he laid it low, even to the
earth ; he brought it even to the dust ; the foot trode it down,
even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless. The
path for the upright is even ; thou layest evenly the path of the
righteous. 2.
[8.J Yea, for the path of thy judgments, O Jehovah, long have
we waited upon thee ; for thy name and thy memorial was the desire
of our soul. With my soul have I desired thee in the night ; yea,
with my spirit within me did I seek thee carefully : for when thy
judgments touch the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn
righteousness. Let the wicked be favoured, then wiU he not
learn righteousness ; in the land of uprightness he wUl deal per
versely, and wiU not behold the majesty of Jehovah.
3.
[ll.] O Jehovah! thy hand was Ufted up, but they saw it not.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 127
Let them see with shame thy zeal for the people; yea, let the
fire of thine enemies devour them. 0 Jehovah ! thou wUt ordain
peace for us, for thou also hast wrought for us all our work.
O Jehovah our God ! other lords than thee haye had dominion
over us, but only thee will we celebrate, even thy name. The
dead wiU not revive, the shades wiU not rise ; therefore didst thou
visit and destroy them, and make all their memory to perish.
Thou didst increase the nation, O Jehovah, thou didst increase
the nation; thou didst glorify thyself; thou didst extend aU the
borders of the land. 4.
[16.] O Jehovah ! in trouble they missed thee ; they poured
out a faint prayer, when thy chastening touched them. Like as
a woman with child, that draweth near her delivery, is in pain,
and crieth out in her pangs ; so did we shrink at thy presence, O
Jehovah. We were with child, we were in pain, we bore as it
were a wind ; we brought not the land unto full salvation, neither
were inhabitants of the world begotten. 5.
[19.] 0 might thy dead (O Jehovah !) revive ! might my dead
bodies arise ! — Awake and shout, ye dwellers in the dust, for thy
dew is a dew of light, and the earth shall beget the shades. Go,
my people, into thy chambers, and shut thy door behind thee;
hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation passeth over.
For behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place to punish the in
habitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth shall dis
close her bloodshed, and shall no more cover her slain.
e.
[xxvii. 1.] In that day Jehovah, with his sore, and great, and

128 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
strong sword, shall punish the Leviathan the fleet serpent, and the
Leviathan the coiled serpent ; and he shall slay the dragon that is
in the sea. In that day sing ye thus of the lovely vineyard :
' I Jehovah am the keeper thereof ; every moment do I
water it;
Lest harm should visit it, I keep it night and day;
I have no wrath : O might I but meet briars and thorns,
I would march through them with war, I would kindle
them altogether.
Or else let each one take hold of my defence ; let him
make peace with me.
With me let him make peace.'
Hereafter Jacob shall take root; Israel shall blossom and bud;
and they shall fill the face of the world with fruit.
7.
[7.] Hath he smitten him as he smote those that smote him?
or was he slain as his slayers were slain ? By affrighting her, by
sending her away, didst thou plead with her : he drove her away
with his rough blast in the day of the east wind. Therefore by
this is the iniquity of Jacob purged, (and this is all the fruh of
putting away his sin,) that he maketh all the aUar-stones as
chalk-stones that are beaten in sunder, so that the Asherim and
the piUars of the sun arise no more. Yea, the defenced city is
solitary, a region unpeopled, and forsaken as a wilderness; there
the calf feedeth, and there he lieth down, and consumeth the
branches thereof When the twigs thereof are dry, they are
broken off; women come and set them on fire : yea, it is a people
of no understanding ; therefore he that made them hath no mercy
on them, and he that formed them sheweth them no favour.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 129
8.
[12.] 'And in that day shall Jehovah beat out ears from the
flood of the River to the torrent of Egypt, and ye shall be
gathered one by one, ye sons of Israel. And in that day a great
trumpet shaU be blown, and they shall come which were lost in
the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and
shaU worship Jehovah in the holy mount, even in Jerusalem.'
Par. 1. For walls and bulwarks. ' Jerasalem, which is now lying in ruins,
shall be rebuilt, but without its fortifications.' Comp. be. 18 ; Zech. ii. 4.
By a sure purpose. The Geneva Bible is very nearly correct : ' By an
assured purpose wilt thou preserve perfite peace, because they trusted in thee.'
The Heb. yeser is often, but improperly, rendered ' mind,' whereas it simply
means ' a thing framed,' whether materially, as in xxix. 16, or mentally, as in
Gen. viii. 21. Hence the only other admissible rendering is, ' Him that is im
moveable in purpose, thou wilt keep in perfect peace,' taking yiier as the
accusative, placed first for the sake of emphasis, like the phrase at the begin
ning of xxii. 2. But the use of yisior as the imperfect of yasar in ch. xl-xlvi,
and the fondness of the prophet for paronomasia, induce us to prefer the above
rendering. Comp. xxv. i (end), and 12 (beg.). Ewald (second edition) ren
ders, ' Firm is the hope : peace, peace wilt thou form.'
Jah Jehovah. A combination which occurs only here and in xii. 2. Comp.
xxv. I (Heb.).
The path for the upright. ' In strong contrast to the lot of the tyrant, the
course of the righteous nation shall be prosperous.'
Par. 2. Yea, for the path. Sec. 'Indeed, how earnest was our longing, during
the night of trouble, for the judgments which should usher in the Messianic
blessedness !' For the connection of the following words, see Introduction.
Thy name and thy memorial. An allusion to Exod. iii. 15.
The land of uprightness, i. e. the land inhabited by the upright, probably
alluding to Judah.
Par. 3. The fire of thine enemies, i. e. the fire appointed for them.
Other lords than thee. Jehovah was the rightful lord of Israel. Comp.
Ixiii. 19.
Will we celebrate, i. e. with thanksgivings for our deliverance.
The dead will not revive. 'There is nothing more to be feared from the
oppressors, for they are dead.' K

130 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Therefore didst thou visit and destroy them. Not, ' because the dead revive not,
therefore didst thou destroy them,' but, ' because they saw not thy hand, be
cause other lords had dominion over us.'
Par. 4. They pound out a faint prayer. Ewald (second edition) renders : ' In
affliction " thy discipline" was whispered by them.' For the objections to this
and other intei-pretations, see 'Notes and Criticisms,' pp. 27, 28.
We bore as it were a wind. The prophet here places himself mentally in the
position of the restored exiles, and sympathizes with their disappointment at
their scanty population and precarious tenure of their country.
Par. 5. O might ihy dead (O Jehovah !) revive ! These words are spoken from
the standing-point of the previous verse. Their import is : ' O that my fellow-
exiles, who died before the fall of the oppressors, might rise from their graves,
and swell the numbers of the restored nation I ' This is the first indisputable
anticipation of the dogma of the resurrection of individuals, Hos. vi. 2 and Ezek.
xxxvii referring only to the regeneration of the people. For a long time the
dogma of the Resurrection was supposed to be borrowed from Zoroastrianism,
and in spite of the positive assertions of Dr. Pusey (' Daniel the Prophet,' pp.
512 517), this can hardly be said to have been disproved. For granting the
late origin of the Bundehesh, we may still hold that ' the author of that book
has in all essential points only handed on the ancient (Zoroastrian) doctrine,' a
view, which, so far from being only rationalistic, is distinctly maintained by
the Roman Catholic critic, Windischmann. (See his ' Zoroastrische Studien,'
pp. 231-260.) We confess, however, that the influence of Persian ideas at
so early a period appears to us improbable.. If we are not mistaken, the
prophecy before us was written prior to the time of Cyrus, but even if the true
date be later, the idea of the Resurrection, so far as it was Persian, was not
likely to be more acceptable to the prophets than that of Dualism, which one of
the greatest of them (Isa. xlv. 7) most emphatically rejected. Are not the
premonitions of the doctrine in Hosea and Ezekiel sufficient to account for its
ultimate development ?
Awake and shout. The aspiration of the previous clause has developed into a
joyful hope.
A dew of light. Literally, ' a dew of fights,' i. e. of perfect light. The dew
of Jehovah is so full of light that it draws forth the shades from the darkness
of the underworld. Light and life are correlative ideas, as in Ps. xxxvi. 9 ;
Job iii. 16, 20. Another rendering is ' a dew of herbs,' i. c. a refreshing dew,
like that which falls upon the herbs. But the connection appears to require
some more distinct ground for rejoicing, such as that presented above.
Par. 6. The Leviathan. Not only the actual enemy, Babylon, but also all

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 131
conceivable hostile 'powers shall be subdued. The dragon is the constant
symbol of Egypt; see li. 9 ; Ezek. xxix. 3, xxxii. 2. The two Leviathans are
evidently kindred or neighbouring nations, probably Assyria and Babylonia,
both mentioned in w. 12 and 13.
The lovely vineyard. For kerem chemer, ' a vineyard of fiery wine,' read kerem
chemed, ' a vineyard of desire,' with the Lxx, and most modem interpreters.
O might I but meet briars. Jehovah longs to be able to demonstrate his zeal
on behalf of his people. Comp. x. 17.
Par. 7. Therefore by this. Sec. However painful the exile might be, it was not
so severe a punishment as that suffered by Assyria. Therefore the only act
required on Israel's part to render the expiation complete, and all the needful
ratification ('fruit' = effect) of his conversion, is the destruction of the idolatrous
altars. Meantime ' the defenced city,' Babylon, is desolate and in ruins.
Par. 8. The River. That is, the Euphrates.
The torrent of Egypt, i. c. the Wady el-Arish, on the frontier of Palestine and
Egypt. Comp. 1 Kings viii. 65.
'Which were lost in the land of Assyria. The mention of Assyria and Egypt as
the seats of the Israelitish exiles points to a time previous to the Babylonian
conquest. Comp. xi. 11. The passage, as Ewald has suggested, with great
appearance of reason, may be quoted from some lost prophecy of Isaiah.

APPENDIX IIL
(Isa. xxi. I-IO.)
A RUMOUR of the expedition of Cyrus has reached the Jewish exiles
in Babylon. The prophet is instructed by a Divine revelation that
nothing less is contemplated than the complete overthrow of the em
pire. The immediate effect of this news upon his mind is at first sight
peculiar, and yet is in the highest degree natural. His sympathy with
the fortunes of his foreign home almost seems to bUnd him to the
higher interests of his own people. So much may be gathered from
the first strophe of the prophecy.
An interval then elapses, during which the prophet fixes his eye

132 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
intently on the progress of Cyrus, and the strange variety of tributaries
which compose his army. At length the advanced guard of the Per
sians appears, and a second revelation rewards the prophet for his
constancy. He announces, using the past tense of prophetic cer
tainty, that ' Babylon is faUen,' that is, shaU certainly fall within a
brief space.
For energy and pictorial effect this prophecy can hardly be paralleled.
We may imagine the deep impression it would produce, when circu
lated, like the kindred songs of Arndt in 1813-1815, from one to
another among the Jewish patriots. Nothing short of such a popularity
would have preserved so brief a composition from oblivion, and its
brevity was probably the reason of the place found for it by the later
editor among the minor prophecies of Isaiah. The title of 'the wU
derness by the sea ' attached to it in the received text is an enigmatical
reference to the desolation in store for Babylon ; compare with it the
title of Dumah, ' silence,' prefixed, apparently by the same editor, to
the prophecy against Edom, xxi. 11. The Euphrates, like the Nile
(xix. 5), is caUed 'the sea,' probably with an aUusion to its annual
inundations. 1.
[xxi. 1.] As whirlwinds in the south pass through, so it cometh
from the wilderness, from the terrible land. A grievous vision is
declared unto me : ' The robber continueth to rob, and the spoUer
to spoil. Go up, O Elam ; besiege, O Media ; all the sighing wiU
I make to cease.' Therefore are my loins fiUed with pain ; pangs
have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth;
I am so bowed down, that I cannot hear ; I am so dismayed, that
I cannot see. My heart panteth; horror hath affrighted me; the
twilight that I delight in is changed into a time for trembling.
They set the table, they spread the carpets, they eat, they drink;
(a cry is heard,) ' Stand up, ye princes, anoint the shield.'

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 133
2.
[e.] For thus the Lord said unto me : ' Go, set a watchman, let
him declare what he seeth ; and when he seeth a troop of horse
men by pairs, a troop on asses, a troop on camels, he shall hearken
dUigently with much heed.' And the watchman cried with the
voice of a lion, ' My lord, I stand continually upon the watch-
tower in the day-time, and I am set in my ward every night.' And
behold, (even as he spake,) there came a troop of horsemen by
pairs ; and he took up his speech, and said, ' Babylon is faUen, is
fallen, and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken
unto the ground.' O my people threshed and trodden ! that
which I have heard of Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, have
I declared unto you.
Par. 1. From the wilderness, i. e. Media or Elymais, a region unknown to the
prophet, and therefore styled by him ' the wilderness.'
All the sighing, i. e. the oppression of the Babylonian mle.
They spread the carpets. This rendering is due to Hitzig, and commends itself
by its consistency with the parallel member of the clause. The Vulgate, fol
lowed by Auth. Vers., has ' contemplare in specula,' deriving iafith from safah,
to view. But. sa/oi may also mean 'to cover;' comp. with Fiirst st/and sefd, ' a
mat,' in Talmudic Hebrew.
Stand up, ye princes. The banquet is in full course, when it is interrupted by
a call to arms.
Anoint the shield. The leathern covering of the shield was smeared over with
oil, to prevent it from being injured by rain, and above all to let the weapons
of the enemy glide off.
Par. 2. Set a watchman. The personality of a prophet is, as it were, divided.
Sometimes the character of the recipient of revelation predominates in him,
sometimes that of the spokesman and expositor of the word whispered (Heb.
ne'um) or the vision seen. The watchman in this passage bears the former of
these two characters. Comp. Hab. ii. i, which seems to be the source from
which the Babylonian prophet drew.
A troop on asses, a troop on camels. Some of the tribes in the Persian army
rode on asses or camels, Herod, vi. 86; comp. i. 80, where Cyrus gains the

134 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
victory over Croesus by his camels, and iv. 129, where the asses are of equal
service to Darius Hystaspis against the Scythians.
He shall hearken, i. e. for a second oracle or revelation.
With the voice of a lion, i. e. with a deep groan of impatience. Comp. v. 30.
0 my people threshed and trodden. Literally, ' O my grain, and son of my
threshing-floor.'

APPENDIX IV.
(Isa. xiii. 2-xiv. 23.)
Another account from one of the exUed prophets of the doom
impending over Babylon. The Medes are described in it as already
crossing the mountains of the frontier. Soon they will enter on their
Divinely sanctioned work of destruction, and how terribly wiU they
perform it! The vast Babylonian empire, and more especially its
guilty capital, shaU be well-nigh depopulated. The foreign merchants
shall barely escape by a precipitate flight, or, if they are taken prisoners,
shall be savagely murdered, while the ruined palaces of Babylon shaU
become so awful a desolation, that even the wandering Arab shall refuse
to lodge there. Yet this is the very moment selected by the Divine
compassion for the deliverance of Israel. They shall return home with
a train of captives and proselytes, and utter a song of triumph on their
fallen tyrant. The date of the prophecy is determined by its contents,
which relate to the march of Cyrus against Babylon. Comp. Part I
with Jer. 1, li, which seem to have been written about the same time,
and Part II with Ezek. xxxii, of which, as Ewald has observed, it is an
imitation.
PART L
1.
[XIII. 2.] Lift ye up an ensign upon a bare mountain, caU
aloud unto them, wave the hand, that they may go into the gates

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 135
of the princes. ' I have given a charge to my consecrated ones,
I have also summoned my mighty ones for mine anger, even mine
own that triumph proudly.' Hark ! a murmuring in the moun
tains, Uke as of a great people ; hark ! the rushing of the king
doms of nations gathered together : Jehovah of Hosts is mustering
the host of war. They come from a far country, from the end of
heaven, even Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation to
destroy the whole earth. WaU ye, for the day of Jehovah is at
hand; it shall come as a mighty destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore shall aU hands be slack, and every man's heart shall
melt; they shall be affrighted, while pangs and torments take
them, writhing as a woman that travaileth, staring one at another,
with faces like unto flames. 2.
[9.] Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel with fury and
burning anger, to lay the earth desolate, and to destroy the sinners
thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven, and the Orions thereof
shah not give their Ught; the sun shaU be darkened in his going
forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. Then will
I visit theu evil upon the world, and their iniquity upon the
wicked ; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and
lay low the haughtiness of the terrible ; and I will make men more
precious than fine gold, and people than the golden wedge of
Ophir. Therefore will I cause the heavens to shake, and the
earth shall move quaking from her place, at the fury of Jehovah
of Hosts, and in the day of his burning anger. Then like a roe
that is chased, and like sheep which have none to gather them,
they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one
into his own land; every one that is surprised shall be thrust
through, and everyone that is taken shaU fall by the sword; their

136 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
sucklings also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their
houses shaU be spoUed, and their wives ravished.
3.
[17.] Behold, I stir up the Medes against them, which regard
not sUver, and have no delight in gold. Their bows shaU dash
youths to pieces, and they shaU have no pity on the fruit of the
womb ; their eye shall not look kindly on children. And Babylon,
the glory of kingdonks, the ornament of the Chaldees' excel
lency, shaU be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It
shaU never be inhabited, neither shaU it be dwelt in for many
generations ; neither shall the Arabians pitch tent there, neither
shall shepherds make their fold there ; but there jackals shaU Ue
down, and owls shall fill their houses ; ostriches shall dwell there,
and satyrs shall dance there ; wolves shaU howl in the great houses
thereof, and dogs in the palaces of deUght : her time is weU-nigh
fulfilled, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Par. 1. Upon a bare mountain, i. c. that nothing may prevent the banner from
being seen at a distance.
My consecrated ones. The war, to which the Medes are summoned, is a
crusade against the enemies of Jehovah. Comp. Ps. ex. 3 ; Jer. xxii. 7 ;
Zeph. i. 7.
Mine own that triumph proudly. A phrase adopted from Zeph. iii. II.
In the mountains, i. e. the range of Zagros, on the Median frontier, from which
an invasion might naturally have been expected. According to Herod, i. 189,
Cyrus actually invaded Babylonia from the East, after crossing the Gyndes.
As a mighty destruction from the Almighty. The original is in Joel i. 15.
With faces like unto flames, i. e. changing in quick succession from red to pale.
(Delitzsch.) Par. 2. The Orions, i. e. Orion and the constellations equal to it in splendour.
Comp. Joel ii. 10.
They shall every man turn, i. e. the foreigners attracted to Babylon by its com
merce. Comp. xlvii. 15.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 137
Par. 3. The Medes. The name of ' Persians ' was not yet in general circula
tion ; we need not therefore be surprised at not finding it in our prophecy. It
occurs, indeed, in Ezek. xxvii, xxxviii, but in company with other names which
were certainly unfamiliar to the great majority oi Hebrews.
Which regard not silver, i. c. who are not to be tempted by the offer of a
ransom. // shall never be inhabited. This description has received an ideal, and not a
circumstantial fulfilment, as indeed its rhetorical tone should have led us to ex
pect. So far from being uninhabited, ' a town of considerable population
(HiUah), villages, date-groves, and gardens are found still on the very site of
ancient Babylon.' And so far from being deserted by the Arabs, the Birs
Nimroud ' is occupied by an Arab tribe, who were actually encamped on the
foot (i. e. of the Birs Nimroud) on the N.W., or HiUah side of the ruins, when
I (General Chesney) was there.' See extracts from a private communication of
General Chesney in B. W. Newton's ' Babylon, its Revival and Final Desola
tion,' pp. 38-42.
Satyrs. See note on paragraph 2 of the first of these appendices.

PART IL

[xiv. 1.] For Jehovah wiU have mercy on Jacob, and wiU yet
choose Israel, and give them rest in their own land; and the
stranger shaU join himself to them, and associate himself to the
house of Jacob ; and the peoples shall take them, and bring them
to their place, and the house of Israel shaU take them in pos
session in the land of Jehovah for servants and for handmaids :
and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were ; and
they shaU rule over their tyrants. And in the day that Jehovah
shall give thee rest from thy pain and thy disquietness, and from
the hard bondage which men laid upon thee, thou shalt take
up this taunting speech against the king of Babylon, and
say: —

138 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
[4.J 2.
How StiU hath the tyrant become ; how still his insolent
dealing !
Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre
of the rulers.
Which smote the peoples in fury with a continual stroke.
Which trode down the nations in anger with an untempe-
rate step !
The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet : they break forth
into shouting.
The cypresses also rejoice at thee, and the cedars of
Lebanon, (saying,)
' Since thou art laid down, no feUer wiU come up against
us.'
[9.] 3.
The underworld is disquieted for thee to meet thee at thy
coming :
It stirreth up the shades for thee, even all the leaders of
the earth;
It raiseth up from their thrones all the kings of the
nations.
They aU shaU answer and say unto thee,
' Thou also art become impotent as we ; thou art become
like unto us!'
Thy pride is brought down to the underworld, and the
melody of thy lutes :
Corruption is spread beneath thee, and the worms are:, thy
covering.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 139
[12.] 4.
How art thou faUen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning !
How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst con
quer the nations !
Yet thou didst say in thine heart, ' I wiU ascend into
heaven,
I win exalt my throne above the stars of God,
And I wUl sit upon the mountain of the gods, in the
utmost parts of the north;
I wiU ascend above the heights of the clouds, and make
me Uke the Most High.'
Nay ; thou art brought down to the underworld, to the
innermost parts of the pit.
[16.] 5.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and con
sider thee, (saying,)
' Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did
shake kingdoms;
That made the earth as a wilderness, and brake down
the cities thereof;
That did not send his prisoners home at liberty?'
AU the kings of the earth, even aU of them, lie with honour,
every one in his house;
But thou art cast far from thy grave, as an abhorred weed ;
Wrapped in them that are slain, that are thrust through
with the sword.
That go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcase trod
den under foot.

I40 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
[20.] 6.
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial,
Because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy
people :
No mention be made for ever of the seed of evildoers !
Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons, for the iniquity of
their fathers ;
That they do not arise, nor take the land in possession,
nor fill the face of the world with ruins !

Par. 1. Shall take them in possession. The heathen shall seek admittance
within the Jewish community, whose religion has recently received so striking
an attestation, even at the price of renouncing their personal liberty. Comp.
xlv. 14.
Par. 2. His insolent dealing. For madhebhah read marhebhah w'lth most critics
since J. D. Michaelis (about 1770).
Step. For murdafies.d mirdath with Doederlein (1789).
Par. 3. Tbe underworld, here personified, is filled with an unusual agitation.
The phantom-kings {eUaiXa koixovtoiv) have been hitherto seated on their
thrones in passive silence. The arrival of so eminent a guest breaks the calm.
Comp. 1 Sam. xxviii. 14, 15, where Samuel is said to ' come up' from the imder-
world wearing his accustomed mantle (as the kings here are still enthroned,
even among the shades), and to be 'disquieted' by being reminded of human
affairs. There is also a striking parallel in Job iii. 13-18, which may have
floated before the mind of the prophet.
Thy lutes. For the importance attached by the Babylonians to music, see
Dan. in. 5.
Par. 4. Lucifer. Literally, ' the shining one,' i. c. the morning-star.
The mountain of the gods. Literally, ' the mountain of the assembly.' An
allusion to the myth of the mountain-abode of the gods common to various
Asiatic nations (including, apparently, the Babylonians), and exemplified in
Meru, the sacred mountain of the Vedas, and the Iranian Hara Berezaiti, or
Albordj, where Mithra and Yima were believed to dwell. Possibly, too,
Ararat, where the ark of Noah rested, was originally the sacred mountain of
the Hebrews. At any rate, a peculiar sanctity is attached to the north in the
Old Testament records. Thus tlie burnt-offering was to be sacrificed on the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 141
north side of the altar (Lev. i. 11), and the four cherubim in the vision of
Ezekiel are described as coming from the north (Ezek. i. 4). The temple itself
possessed an additional distinction in the eyes of a Psalmist in virtue of its
situation 'in the utmost parts of the north' (or north-east) of the city (Ps.
xlviii. 3).
The innermost parts of the pit. A phrase con'esponding to that in verse 13,
and chosen to mark the contrast between the presumption of the tyrant and his
ruin. Par. 5. In his house, i. c. in a magnificent mausoleum.
Wrapped in them that are slain. Bunsen : 'Dein Todtenkleid (sind) Erschlagene.'
That go down to the stones of the pit. The other warriors receive the honours
of burial, but the king of Babylon is cast out for a prey to the wild beasts.
Par. 6. Thou shalt not be joined with them. Sec. A special dishonour for kings,
2 Chron. xxi. 20, xxiv. 25.
Ruins. For 'arim, cities, read 'iyyim, heaps, with Hitzig. Comp. note on
xxiv. 15.

APPENDIX V.
(Isa. xl-lxvi.)
BOOK L
Cyrus the Liberator.
Towards the end of the Babylonian exile, when the victories gained
by Cyrus over the Medes and Lydians had begun to excite the expecta
tions of the Jewish patriots, another eloquent herald of the advent of
the liberator composed and circulated a prophecy. We may perhaps
venture to fix his date approximatively B.C. 546, seven or eight years
before the edict of Cyrus. His work is not a mere collection of
fugitive pieces, a prophetic anthology, but an artistic whole, divided
into three books of equal length, two of which are terminated by the
refrain, ' There is no peace to the wicked,' and the third by a detailed
description of the judgment thus vaguely indicated. The logical divisions,
indeed, are not so clearly marked as the artistic. Often a subject is

142 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
treated cursorily and imperfectly, and then suddenly dropped, to re
ceive a more complete development on some future opportunity. But
although the progress of ideas is somewhat irregular, its reality will be
evident from the salient points of each book, viz. (i) Cyrus the libe
rator, i.e. Jehovah has decreed the redemption of his people; (2) vica-
"rious atonement, i. e. the suffering of the pious shall be rewarded by the
regeneration of their country; (3) the new Jerusalem, i. e. the religion
of Israel in the future shall consist, not in external ceremonies, but in
sanctification. For further details the reader is referred to the running
analysis prefixed to each book.
The first book is opened by a succession of heavenly voices which
address 'the goodly fellowship of the prophets' in Babylon, — 'Com
fort ye my people,' ' Prepare the way of Jehovah,' ' Cry that all flesh is
grass.' The call is obeyed, and the advent of the Divine Liberator
(not as yet of Cyrus) is proclaimed. Jehovah himself is on his way,
the valiant champion, the tender guide of his people. He is incom
parable for wisdom and irresistible in might, and therefore is far
from deserving the strange distrust with which his people regard him
(chap. i). A more definite announcement follows. The chosen agent
in Israel's redemption wiU be that wonderful Eastern king, whose
victorious career the heathen are so powerless to explain (chap. ii).
The idolaters having thus been silenced, the genius of Israel is next
apostrophised as the ideal ' servant of Jehovah,' and assured of his
high spiritual destiny (chap. iii. pars. 1-4). True, that there are
serious obstacles to the attainment of this. Israel, taken as a whole,
is unconscious of its responsibility, and this is the real source of its past
calamities, but now the crisis has arrived, and Jehovah himself will
interpose. On the one hand, he will revive the spiritual energies of his
people, and on the other, he will overthrow the tyranny of Babylon,
not for Israel's sake, but out of free grace (chap. iii. par. 5 — chap. v.
par. 3). One more complaint is uttered of the national unworthiness,
followed by a promise of complete forgiveness, and a justification of the
Divine procedure (chap. iv. par. 4), and then the first obstacle to re
demption is dismissed, and a calmer tone succeeds.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 143
The fifth chapter is in the main hortatory. It begins with a descrip
tion of the spiritual blessings reserved for the regenerate nation, the
numbers of which shall be swelled by a large accession of Gentile pro
selytes. The prophet then proceeds to justify his enthusiasm by an
appeal to the fulfilment of prophecy and the signal failure of idolatry.
He contrasts the ludicrous unreality of the heathen gods with the
moral perfections and providential activity of the God of Israel. These
are manifested in that great achievement, which in the language of
prophetic inspiration, and in the counsels of eternity, is already past.
Jehovah has removed, that is, he is about to remove, the two great
obstacles to Israel's realization of its destiny, the one, by pardoning its
long accumulation of sins, the other, by raising up Cyrus as the instru
ment of its restoration.
In the sixth chapter, Jehovah addresses Cyrus by name, gives him the
title of 'Jehovah's anointed one' (Heb. Masli'iach = 'M.essia.h} and assigns
three reasons for the success vouchsafed to him, viz. (i) that he might
acknowledge Jehovah as the true God, (2) that Israel might be
liberated, and (3) that the world might be converted from false
religions. The Messiahship thus accorded to a Gentile may seem to
many Jews humiliating or even inconceivable, but the murmurers are
admonished by the prophet not to criticise the plan of the Creator.
Not only shall Cyrus restore the Jewish exiles freely and honourably,
but three representative nations, the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, and the
Sabeans, shall be impeUed by a desire for the true religion to offer
themselves as vassals to those who possess it. And these are but the
forerunners of a much more extensive conversion. The Divine pro
mise is clear and unmistakeable, that a day is coming when all those
Gentiles, who have escaped the impending judgment, shall recognize
Jehovah as the only true God.
The tone of the seventh chapter is less enthusiastic. The prophet
first describes in highly picturesque language the ruin of the Chaldean
idolatry. He points out the superiority of the God of Israel to the
impotent and burdensome gods of Babylon. He then exhorts the
polytheistic party among the exiles, who are indifferent to the prospect

144 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
of redemption, seriously to reflect on the course of history and of
prophecy. In the eighth chapter, the progress of ideas is interrupted
by a sarcastic song on the fall of Babylon, not however from a distinc
tively religious point of view. This is composed of four strophes,
each of which taunts the captive enemy with the loss of some en
vied distinction, such as luxury, foreign empire, and skill in magic
and astrology.
In the ninth chapter the prophet returns to the unbelieving Jewish
renegades. Their 'hardness of heart' has had a peculiar effect on the
course of prophetic revelation. The ' former things,' i. e. the exile and
its duration, and even the fall of Babylon, had been revealed to much
earlier prophets, such as Jeremiah and the author of Isa. xxiv-xxvii, but
the restoration of the Jews by means of Cyrus is so extraordinary an
event, and so undeserved a mercy, that it is announced only at the
eleventh hour. The book concludes with a tender appeal to the self-
love of the readers, to the effect that the existence and prosperity of
the nation are intimately connected with their fidelity to Jehovah.
But it seems as if the prophet were afraid that his admonition was too
gently expressed. He would make one last effort to rouse his country
men from their torpor, and darts forth at a venture these sharp and
menacing words, No peace to the wicked !

CHAPTER I.
1.
[XL. 1.] Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye kindly unto Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her war
fare is accomplished, that her punishment is finished, that she hath
received of the hand of Jehovah double for all her sins. Hark,
one crieth, saying. Prepare ye in the wilderness a way for Jehovah,
lay evenly in the desert an highway for our God. Let every valley
be exalted, and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 145
steep be made even, and the rough places plain, and the glory of
Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together : for
the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. Hark, one saith. Cry.
And he said. What shall I cry? — All flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof as the flower of the field : the grass withereth,
the flower fadeth, if the breath of Jehovah but blow upon it;
surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth,
but the word of our God shaU stand for ever.
2.
[9.] Get thee up into an high mountain, O Zion, thou heraldess
of joy ; lift up thy voice with strength, O Jerusalem, thou heraldess
of joy ; Uft it up, be not afraid ; say unto the cities of Judah, Be
hold your God! Behold, the Lord Jehovah wUl come like a
valiant one, while his arm ruleth for him; behold, his reward
is with him, and his recompense before him. He shall feed his
flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and
carry them in his bosom, and shaU gently lead those that are with
young. 3.
[12.] Who measured the waters with the hoUow of his hand,
and proportioned the heavens with a span, and comprehended the
dust of the earth in a tierce, and weighed the mountains in scales,
and the hills in a balance? Who proportioned the Spirit of
Jehovah, and being a man shewed him his counsel ? With whom
took he counsel, that he might instruct him, and guide him in the
path of right, and teach him knowledge, and shew to him the way
of perfect understanding ? Behold, nations are as a drop hanging
on a bucket, and are counted as small dust on a balance ; behold,
he lifteth up the sea coasts as gossamer. Lebanon is not sufiicient

146 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for burnt offerings. All
nations are as nothing before him ; he reputeth them as things of
nought and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God ? and what
likeness wiU ye compare unto him ?
4.
[19.] As for the image, a craftsman hath cast it, and a smith
spreadeth it over with gold, and fasteneth it with silver chains!
He that is too poor for a great oblation chooseth a wood that will
not decay; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman, to set up an
image that will not shake ! WiU ye not perceive ? will ye not hear
at last? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye
not understood it since the foundations of the earth? It is he
that sitteth upon the vault of the earth, so that the inhabitants
thereof are as locusts, that stretcheth out the heavens as gauze,
and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; that bringeth
potentates to nothing, and maketh the judges of the earth as a
chaos. They are scarce planted or sown, and scarce has their
stock taken root in the earth, when he bloweth upon them, so that
they wither, and a tempest taketh them away as stubble. To
whom then wUl ye Uken me, that I may be equal to him ? saith the
Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold. Who hath
made yonder heavens ? It is he that bringeth out their host by
number, that calleth them all by names, by whose infinite might and
abundant power not one is wanting. 5.
[27.] Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My
way is hidden from Jehovah, and my right is passed over by my
God ? Hast thou not perceived ? hast thou not heard ? Jehovah is
an everiasting God, the maker of the ends of the earth ; he fainteth

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 147
not, neither is weary ; there is no searching of his understanding.
He giveth power to the faint, and unto the feeble sendeth abun
dant strength. Youths may faint and be weary, and the strongest
men may stumble ; but they that wait upon Jehovah shaU renew
their strength ; they shall Uft up their wings as eagles ; they shaU
run and not be weary ; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Par. 1. Kindly. Literally, 'to the heart.' Comp. Gen. xxxiv. 3, 1. 21.
Her warfare. The Babylonian exile is likened to the comfortless condition
of a soldier on a campaign. Comp. Job vii. i, ' Hath not man a warfare upon
earth?' Double for all her sins. The key to this passage is fumished by Jer. xvi. 14-
18, where the unparalleled grandeur of the second restoration of the Jews is
justified by the extreme severity of their previous chastisement. Comp. Isa.
Ixi. 7, ' For your shame ye shall have double.'
Hark, one crieth. A celestial voice is heard by the prophet and his com
panions, i. e. they are conscious of a Divine revelation.
In the desert. An allusion to the deliverance of the Jews from their first
captivity in Egypt, which was typical of the second.
And he said, i. e. the prophet. Observe the studious self-concealment of the
author. All flesh is grass. The prophet's first emotion on receiving fhe revelation of
the fall of Babylon is one of awe ; his second, one of gratitude. Comp. xxi.
i-io. Par. 2. O Zion. The Zion of this prophecy is an ideal personage, — the spirit
or genius of Jerusalem, which still hovered, as it were, over the ruing. Comp.
xlix. 14-19, Iii. I, 2, 7-9, Ixii. 6.
His arm, i. e. the manifestation of God's power, as in li. 9, Ixiii. 12. Similarly
the word of God is personified in Iv. 1 1 .
His reward, i. e. the fulfilment of his promise to the faithful.
Par. 3. A tierce ; probably the third part of an ephah, or a little more than a
peck. The word occurs besides only in Ps. Ixxx. 6.
His counsel, i. e. that of restoring Israel ; comp. xii. 28.
The sea coasts, i. e. the countries bordering on the Mediterranean.
Par. 4. The image, i. e. ' Will ye liken such an image as this tg me ? ' A
derisive description of this kind is natural in « prophet who had mixed much
with the heathen. Comp. Jer. x. 3, 4.
L 2

148 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
As a chaos, i. c. like the condition of the universe before the ' creation ' of
light. The word Tohu, ' chaos,' occurs in Gen. i. 2.
The vault of the earth. The heaven, according to the Hebrew cosmogony,
was a circular arch resting on the waters which surrounded the flat round sur
face of the earth. Comp. Prov. viii. 27.
The Holy One. Isaiah's phrase, ' the Holy One of Israel,' is shortened by our
prophet into a quasi-proper name.
Par. 6. My right; with an allusion to the oppression exercised by the
Babylonians.

CHAPTER II.
1.
[XLI. 1.] Keep silence towards me, O coasts of the sea, and let
the peoples renew their strength : let them draw near, then let them
speak; let us approach the judgment-seat together. Who hath
stirred up from the east the man that is accompanied by victory ?
Who giveth up nations before him, and causeth him to trample on
kings, and maketh their sword as dust, and their bow as driven
stubble ? Meantime he pursueth them, and passeth safely, by a
way that before he had not trodden. Who hath wrought and
performed this? He that caUed forth the generations from the
beginning ; even I, Jehovah, am the first, and with the last I am
the same. 2.
[5.] The sea coasts have seen it, and are afraid; the ends of
the earth tremble ; they aheady approach and come ; they help
every one his neighbour, and every one saith to his brother, Be of
good courage. The caster encourageth the goldsmith, and he
that smootheth with the hammer hun that striketh the anvil; he
saith of the sodering. It is good, so he fasteneth it with naUs, that
it may not shake.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 149
3.
[8.] But thou, Israel, my servant, and Jacob whom I have
chosen, seed of Abraham my friend ; thou, whom I have fetched
from the ends of the earth, and called from distant parts thereof,
and unto whom I said. Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee,
and not cast thee away:— fear thou not, for I am with thee; 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
shall be ashamed and confounded, and they that strive with thee
shall be as nothing, and shaU perish. Thou shalt seek them, but
shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee ; they
that warred against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of
nought. For I Jehovah am thy God, which hold thy right hand,
which say unto thee, Fear not ; I wiU help thee.

[14.] Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye few men of Israel ; I
will help thee, (the utterance is Jehovah's,) and the Holy One of
Israel is thy redeemer. Behold, I wUl make thee a threshing-
instrument, even a new and sharp one, having many teeth : thou
shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them smaU, and shalt make
the hills as chaff; thou shalt fan them, so that the wind shall carry
them away, and the tempest shaU scatter them ; but thou shalt
exult in Jehovah, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

[17.] Ah, the afiflicted and the poor, which seek water, but there
is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst ! — I Jehovah wiU
hear them, I the God of Israel wiU not forsake them. I wiU open

ISO THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
rivers on barren hills, and- fountains in the midst of the vaUeys ; I
wiU make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs
of water. I wiU plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah-tree,
and the myrtie, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the
cypress, and the plane and the larch together ; that men may see
and perceive, and consider and understand at once, that the hand
of Jehovah hath performed this, and the Holy One of Israel hath
made it. 6.
[21.] Produce your- cause, saith Jehovah ; bring forth your
strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring forth
and shew unto us what shall happen : yea, shew ye the former
things, what they be, that we may consider them, and perceive the
latter end of them : or declare us things for to come. Shew the
things that are to come hereafter, that we may perceive" that ye are
gods ; yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be amazed and see it
together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of nought :
an abomination is he that chooseth you.
7.
[25.] I stirred up one from the north, and he came ; yea, one
from the east, who shall call upon my name ; and he shaU tread
upon governors as upon mortar, and as the potter that treadeth
clay. Who shewed this from the beginning, that we might know
it, and before-time, that we might say. It is right ? Yea, there was
none that shewed ; yea, there was none that declared ; yea, there
was none that heard your words. I am the first to give unto Zion
an herald, even unto Jerusalem one that saith. Behold, behold
them. For though I look, there is none; even from these there
cometh no counsellor, that I might ask them, and they might give

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 151
an answer. Behold, they are all vanity ; their works are nothing ;
their molten images are wind and confusion.
Par. 1. The judgment-seat, i. e. the tribunal of reason.
That is accompanied by victory. Literally, ' that righteousness meeteth at his
foot.' Observe that throughout this prophecy the word ' righteousness ' is equi
valent to ' victory,' ' prosperity,' ' salvation' (see xlv. 8, li. 5, &c.), not without an
allusion, however, to tlie fact that these blessings were in some sense or other
merited by their recipients. Thus the tyranny and idolatry of the Babylonian
empire rendered the cause of Cyras a just one, and the ' righteousness ' of Je
hovah, that is, his fidelity to his revealed principles of action, was the guarantee
to the prophet of its success. So far there is nothing doctrinally peculiar in the
use of the word. The Psalmists frequently claim the protection of God as a
just recognition of their own righteousness. But the extension of the term in
this prophecy to the interposition of Jehovah in behalf of the Jewish nation,
the majority of whom are declared to be personally unworthy of it, is highly
remarkable, and marks an advanced period in the development of Jewish reli
gion. See note on par. 2 of next chapter.
Who hath wrought this ? ' Who can be most easily conceived of as the author
of the ¦ victories of Cyrus, Jehovah or the gods of the heathen ? Certainly not
the latter, for Cyrus is the bitter enemy of their worshippers.'
Par. 2. The sea coasts. Probably the subjects and allies of Crcesus.
They approach and come, i. e. they combine their forces to meet the invader.
The caster encourageth. Sec. The gods, whom the heathen expect to rescue
them, have first of all to be cast and gilded.
Par. 3. My servant. See note on the phrase ' servant of Jehovah,' in Par. 1
of next chapter.
From the ends of the earth, i. e. either from Mesopotamia or from Egypt
(comp. Hos. xi. i). If the former, we must suppose the writer to have shifted
his point of view for the moment to Palestine.
Par. 4. Ye few men. Heb. methe, an archaic word, of obscure origin, meaning
' men.' The plural is used designedly to imply the scattered and disorganised
condition of the Jewish exiles. Lxx. dMyoards 'lapa-qX.
A threshing-instrument. Imitated from Mic. iv. 13.
Par. 5. / will plant. Sec. Some have inferred from the variety of trees men
tioned that the prophecy could not have been written in Babylon. But the
acacia (' the shittah-tree ') was common in Babylonia, and the other trees might
have been found in the neighbouring mountains.
Par. 6. Produce your cause. The prophet returns to his previous subject, —

152 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
the futility of idolatry. The gods of the heathen are challenged to specify any
of their predictions, which might now be in course of fulfilment, or else, to
foretell something at once, whether good or evil, as a proof of their divinity.
Let them . . . shew unto us, i. c. unto Jehovah and his worshippers.
Par. 7. From the north . , .from the rising of the sun, i. e. from Media and
from Persia, which were united under Cyras.
Who shall call upon my name, i. e. who shall be converted to the religion of
Jehovah. For the affinities of the Persian religion to that of the Jews, consist
ing in the worship of a single supreme God, and a strong aversion to idolatry,
see Rawlinson's ' Five Great Monarchies,' vol. iv. ch. vi.
Governors. Heb. seghanim, a word probably of Persian origin, found only
in writings of the Babylonian period. Delitzsch renders well ' satraps.'
Behold, behold them, i. c. the Jews shall soon return from exile.
Counsellor; here used in the sense of prophet; comp. xliv. 26.

CHAPTER III.
1.
[XLII. 1.] Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect,
in whom my soul delighteth : I have put my spirit upon him, he
shall bring religion to the nations. He shaU not cry, nor call,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street ; a bruised reed he
shall not break, and a smoking wick he shall not quench; he
shaU bring forth religion truthfully. He shall not fail, nor be dis
couraged, tiU he have set religion in the earth, and the sea coasts
wait for his doctrine. 2.
[5.] Thus saith God, even Jehovah, that made the heavens, and
stretched them forth; 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 Jehovah called
thee in righteousness, that I might take hold of thee by the hand,
that I might form thee and appoint thee for the covenant of the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 153
people, for the light of the nations; to open the bUnd eyes, to
bring out the captives from the prison, and them that sit in dark
ness from the house of restraint. I am Jehovah; that is my
name : and my glory wUl I not give to another, neither my praise
to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass,
and new things do I declare ; before they spring forth I tell you
of them.
[10.] 3.
Sing unto Jehovah a new song, and his praise from the end
of the earth.
Ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the
sea coasts, and the inhabitants thereof
Let the wilderness and the cities thereof Uft up their voice,
the vUlages that Kedar doth inhabit;
Let the inhabitants of Sela shout; let them cry from the
top of the mountains ;
Let them give glory unto Jehovah, and shew his praise in
the sea coasts !
Jehovah shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up
his jealousy like a man of war ;
He shaU cry, yea, shout for the battle ; he shaU approve his
might against his enemies. 4.
[14.] I have long time holden my peace ; I have been stiU, and
refrained myself ; now wiU I pant Uke a travailing woman, I will
gasp and groan at once. I will make waste mountains and hUls,
and dry up their herbs ; and I will make the rivers mainlands, and
dry up the lakes. And I will bring the blind by a way that they
knew not ; I wiU lead them in paths that they have not known ; I

154 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
will make darkness light before them, and rough places plain.
These things wiU I perform, and not forsake them. But they shall
draw backward, and be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven
images, that say to molten images, Ye are our gods.
5.
[is] Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye bUnd, that ye may see!
Who is blind, but my servant ? or deaf, as my messenger that
I send? Who is blind as he that is devoted to God, and blind
as the servant of Jehovah? Thou hast seen many things, but
thou observest not ; the ears are opened, but none heareth !
Jehovah was pleased for his righteousness' sake to give them a
doctrine great and glorious. Yet they are a people robbed and
spoiled ; they are all of them snared in holes, and hid in houses of
restraint ; they are become a prey, and there is no deliverer, a
spoU, and there is none that saith. Restore. Who among you wiU
give ear to this ? who will hearken and be obedient for the time to
come ? Who gave up Jacob unto spoiling, and Israel unto rob
bers? Did not Jehovah, he against whom we sinned, in whose
ways men would not walk, and unto whose doctrine they were not
obedient ? Therefore did he pour upon them the fury of his
anger, and the fierceness of war : and it set them on fire round
about, yet they perceived not ; and it consumed them, yet they laid
it not to heart.

Par. 1. My servant. This phrase expresses, in general, an absorbing attach
ment to Jehovah, as distinguished from all false gods. So Daniel is called by
Darius ' servant of the living God' (Dan. vi. 20), and so Abdallah, ' servant of
Allah,' has become a favourite Mohammedan surname. The difficulty of ex
plaining it in ch. xl-lxvi arises from a certain degree of confusion in the various
passages in which it occurs. Sometimes the projihet surveys the people of Israel
from an ideal, sometimes from a historical point of view. Hence in several

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 155
important sections the ' Servant of Jehovah' (like the Zion of xl. 9, &c.) is a
purely poetical figure, personifying the ideal character of the pious Israelite,
and decorated by the prophet with all the noblest achievements of faith,
whether actually realized in the past, or merely hoped for from the future. In
other words, it is a glorification of the prophetic office, and an aspiration after
the time when the office of a few should become that of the entire nation, and
the words of Joel be fulfilled, ' Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.'
In this secondary sense alone can the passages xiii. i-7, xlix. 1-9, 1. 4-10,
Iii. 13-liii. 12, be termed unconscious predictions of our Lord. But there are
several other passages, in which the title ' Servant of Jehovah ' is simply collec
tive, and represents the actual contemporaries of the prophet in Babylon, who
had to a large extent forgotten their exalted ideal, and degenerated into formal
worshippers of Jehovah, or even into undisguised polytheists. (Comp. Ezek. xiv,
XX, xxxiii.) These passages are xii. 8, 9, xiii. 19, xliii. 10, xliv. i, 2, 21, xlv. 4,
xlviii. 20.
Religion. Literally, 'judgment,' i. e. the revealed religion oh its practical
side as the rale of action. Similarly the Arabic din, 'judgment,' is used by
Mohammed in the sense of ' religion.' >
His doctrine. Heb. thordtho. The word Thorah (Auth. Vers, 'law') should,
throughout the prophetical books written previously to Ezra, be rendered by
some general term, such as 'doctrine,' 'precept.' See Isa. ii. 3, viii. 16; Jer.
xviu. 18; Ezek. vii. 26; Hagg. ii. 12; Zech. vii. 12. Even in Malachi, who
wrote after the recognition of the Pentateuch as the ' Law of Moses,' there is
but one passage (iv. 4) where the reference to a written law can be established.
Par. 2. I Jehovah called thee in righteousness. Divesting this passage of its
poetical dress we may interpret it thus. The ideal standard enshrined in the
heart of the pious exiles was placed there by Jehovah himself, as an evidence
of his ' righteousness,' i. c. of his faithful adherence to his covenant with Israel.
The performance of this covenant on Jehovah's side had been interrupted by
the national defection of the Jews, and could only be resumed when the more
pious members of the nation had been awakened to a due sense of their re
sponsibilities. This had now taken place ; there was already a numerous band
of prophets and prophetically-minded persons ; and these were the mediators
between Jehovah and the great body of their spiritually-bhnd countrymen.
This is what the prophet means by saying that the ' Servant of Jehovah ' was
destined to be a 'covenant of the people' (comp. xlix. 8), and 'to open the
blind eyes, to bring out the captives from the prison.' Comp. the development
of the same ideas in Par. 5.
The former things . , . new things, i. e. the termination of the exile, which

156 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
had been foretold by Jeremiah, on the one hand, and the restoration of the
Jews by Cyras, on the other.
Par. 3. Sing unto Jehovah. Here the prophetic writer shifts his point of
view to the time immediately following the liberation of the Jews. At the
end of the song he returns to the present, unless, with Delitzsch, we regard
the battle in the last verse as a final and decisive victory over the heathen.
Kedar. See note on xxi. i6.
Par. 4. I will gasp and groan at once. The assonance is strongly emphatic.
' Jehovah has long been travailing with redemption ; he shall now by a sudden
effort be delivered of it.'
/ will make waste mountains. ' The land, where the Jews have so long lan
guished in exile, shall be laid waste.'
Par. 5. Hear, ye deaf. The menrion of the idolaters and their fate reminds
the prophet of the failings of his own countrymen. Comp. Par. 2.
He that is devoted to God. Literally, ' he that has been brought into a state of
submission.' Heb. meshullam, the passive corresponding to fhe Arabic Moslin.

CHAPTER IV.
1.
[XLIII. 1.] But now, thus saith Jehovah that made thee, 0
Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel : Fear not, for I have
redeemed thee, I have caUed thee by name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I wiU be with thee; and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou
walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be scorched, neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I, Jehovah thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour, have given Egypt for thy ran
som, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou art precious in my
sight, and honourable, and I love thee, therefore will I give men
for thee, and peoples for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee ;
I wUl bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west ;
I wUl say to the north, Give up, and to the south. Keep not back :
bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 157
earth, even every one that is called by my name, that I have made
for my glory, that I have formed, and also fully prepared.
2.
[8.] Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the
deaf that have ears. Let all the nations gather together, and let
the peoples assemble : who among them can declare such things ?
Or let them shew unto us former things ! Let them bring forth
their witnesses, that they may be justified ; and let those hear, and
say. It is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my
servant whom I have chosen, that ye may perceive and believe me,
and understand that I am he, — before me there was no God
formed, neither shaU there be after me ; I am Jehovah, and beside
me there is no saviour ; I alone shewed, and saved, and declared,
there was no strange god working among you ; ye are my wit
nesses, saith Jehovah, that I am God. Yea, from this day forth
I am he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand : I wUl
work, and who shall let it ? Thus saith Jehovah your redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, For your sake have I sent to Babylon, and
will drive them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans into the
ships of their pride; I, Jehovah, your Holy One, the Maker of
Israel, your King. 3.
[16.] Thus saith Jehovah, which maketh a way through the sea,
and a path through mighty waters, which bringeth forth the chariot
and horse, the army and the power, — they lie down together, and
shaU not rise, they are extinct, and quenched as a wick : Remem
ber ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I prepare a new thing; it springeth forth already, shall ye
not perceive it ? Yea, I wiU make a way in the wUderness, and

158 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field shall honour me, the
jackals and the ostriches : because I set waters in the wUderness,
and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
The people which I have formed for myself, they shaU shew forth
my praise. 4.
[22.] But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob ; much less
art thou weary in my service, O Israel ! Thou hast not brought
me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings, neither hast thou
honoured me with thy sacrifices ; howbeit I burdened thee not
with offerings, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought
me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou fiUed me with the
fat of thy sacrifices ; thou hast rather burdened me with thy sins,
and wearied me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am he that
blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and wiU not
remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance : let us plead to
gether : declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. Thy first
father sinned, and thine interpreters rebelled against me, therefore
did I profane consecrated princes, and gave Jacob to outiawry,
and Israel to revilings.
Par. 1. / have redeemed thee, i. e. Jehovah has decreed Israel's redemption.
I have called thee by name, i. e. chosen thee as my familiar acquaintance.
Have given Egypt for thy ransom. ' Egypt and the neighbouring states, which
escaped subjection to Babylon, shaU be granted to the Persians in compensation
for their generosity towards the Jews.' The prophecy was realized in the con
quest of Egypt by Cambyses. ' Seba' is the northern half of Ethiopia, includ
ing Meroe and its inhabitants. Comp. note on xlv. 14.
I win bring thy seed, Sec. The central body of Jewish exiles in Babylon shaU
be reinforced by those of Israel dispersed in previous ' captivities.'
That I have made. Auth. Vers. ' that I have created,' but the word ' create '
in English is associated with ideas foreign to the Old Testament. The doctrine
of creation from nothing cannot be traced before the Greek version of Aquila

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 159
(about 180 A.D.), who renders the Hebrew bdrd in Gen. i. i, by (/criaev instead
of kiroiTjaer. In fact bdrd differs from other verbs meaning ' to form, or make '
only in its exclusive application to Jehovah. In the last twenty-seven chapters
of Isaiah it is used metaphorically of the extraordinary operations of Divine
Pi-ovidence. Par. 2. Bring forth. Two parties are summoned before the tribunal of rea
son, the Israelites, who are to be cured of their spiritual blindness, on the one
hand, and the heathen, as witnesses of the false gods, on the other. The ques
tion is then put to the latter. Which of their gods is the peer of Jehovah in
prophecy ? ' Such things,' i. e. such as the restoration of Israel. ' Former
things,' i. c. prophecies which have been ratified by the event.
/ am Jehovah. The proper name Jehovah (Yahveh = the Existent, or, per
haps, the Life-giver) supplies the place of an appellative. As if the Divine
speaker would say, I am the only true God, the Giver and Preserver of
Life. Shewed and saved and declared. The second of these verbs, which harmonizes
but iU with the other two, might, by altering a single consonant (' Shin ' into
' Daleth '), be corrected into ' made known.' (Note in Bunsen's ' Bibelwerk.')
If we retain ' saved,' we must explain it as an allusion to ' saviour ' in the pre
ceding verse. ' Shewed ' = promised ; ' declared ' = prophesied.
No strange god working among you. Literally, ' no stranger (Deut. xxxii. 16)
among you,' i. c. your only protector was Jehovah.
From this day forth. The long period of Jehovah's inaction is at an
end. Have I sent. Cyrus has already received a commission to destroy Babylon.
The ships of their pride. Literally, ' the ships of their shouting,' where ' shout
ing ' is perhaps used in the double sense of triumph and despair. Comp. the
equivocal use of ' cheer ' in xvi. 9, 10.
Par. 3. Through the sea. The overthrow of Babylon is compared to that of
the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
The former things, i. c. Jehovah's former interpositions on behalf of Israel, as
in xlvi. 9.
Par. 4. Thou hast not called upon me. The service which Jehovah demanded
of his people during the exile was that of prayer and moral obedience. The
ceremonial duties of the Israelites were suspended by their forced residence in
a foreign land (comp. Ps. li. 18, 19).
Thy first father hath sinned. Either Abraham or Jacob ; probably the latter,
since Abraham was reverenced as the ideal of a religious Israelite. Comp.
James i. 23.

i6o THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Thine interpreters, i. e. the prophets, who were the recognized channels of
communication between Jehovah and his people.
Consecrated princes, i. e. the four last kings of Judah.

CHAPTER V.

[XLIV. 1.] Yet now hear, O Jacob, my servant ; and Israel,
whom I have chosen. Thus saith Jehovah that made thee, and
formed thee from the womb, which will help thee ; Fear not, my
servant Jacob; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For
I wiU pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry
ground ; I wUl pour my spirit upon thy seed, 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
Jehovah's ; and another shall proclaim the name of Jacob ; and
another shall subscribe with his hand unto Jehovah, and give
flattering tities by the name of Israel.
2.
[6.] Thus saith Jehovah, the king of Israel, and his redeemer
Jehovah of Hosts ; I am the first and I am the last ; and beside
me there is no God. And who calleth continually as I, since I
established the most ancient people ? let him declare it and lay it
before me : or let them declare things for to come, and those that
shall happen shortly. Tremble not, neither be afraid ; have not I
told thee heretofore, and have declared it ? ye are my witnesses.
Is there a God beside me ? yea, there is no God : I know not any.
They that make images are aU of them vanity, and their delectable
things shall not profit ; and their witnesses see not, neither per
ceive, to the end that they may be ashamed.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. i6i

[10.] Who hath formed a god, or molten an image that is
profitable for nothing? Behold, aU the fellows thereof shall be
ashamed; and the artificers themselves are men: let them all
gather together, let them stand up ; yet they shaU tremble and
be ashamed together. The smith sharpeneth an axe, he worketh
in a fire of coals, and formeth it with hammers ; he worketh it
with the strength of his arms ; he is also hungry, and his strength
faUeth ; he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter
stretcheth out the Une, he marketh it out with the graver; he
prepareth it with planes, and marketh it out with the compass;
and maketh it after the figure of a man, like a stately person, to
dwell in a house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the
holm-oak and the oak, and reareth for himself the best trees of
the forest ; he planteth a pine, and the rain doth nourish it. Then
it serveth for men to burn ; he taketh thereof, and warmeth him
self; yea, he kindle th it and baketh bread; yea, he worketh it into
a god, and worshippeth it : he maketh it an image, and falleth
down thereto. Half thereof he hath burned in the fire ; by the fuel
thereof he eateth flesh ; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied ; yea, he
warmeth himself, and saith. Aha, I am warm, I have felt the fire ;
and the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his image; he
falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it; he prayeth unto it, and
saith, Deliver me, for thou art my god ! They do not perceive,
nor understand ; for Jehovah hath besmeared their eyes, that they
cannot see ; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And he
layeth it not to heart, neither hath he knowledge nor understand
ing to say, I have burned half thereof in the fire ; and have also
baked bread upon the coals thereof; I roasted flesh, and ate ; and
shall I make the remnant thereof an abomination? shaU I faU
M

i62 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
down to the stock of a tree ? Whoso feedeth on ashes, a deluded
heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor
say, Is there not a lie in my right hand ?
4.
[21.] Remember these things, O Jacob; and Israel, for thou
art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant; 0
Israel, thou art not forgotten of me. I have blotted out as thick
clouds thy transgressions, and as vapours thy sins : return unto
me, for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens ; for Jehovah
hath done it; shout, ye depths of the earth: break forth, ye
mountains, into singing, O forest, and every tree therein; for
Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and glorifieth himself in Israel.
5.
[24.] Thus saith Jehovah, thy redeemer, and he that formed
thee from the womb ; I am Jehovah, that maketh aU things ; that
stretched forth the heavens alone ; that spread abroad the earth ;
who was with me? that frustrateth the tokens of the Uars, and
maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and
maketh their knowledge foolish; that confirmeth the word of his
servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers ; that saith
of Jerusalem, Let her be inhabited ; and of the cities of Judah, Let
them be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof ; that
saith to the flood, Be dry, and I will dry up thy streams ; that saith
of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform aU my pleasure ;
even saying of Jerusalem, Let her be built, and let the foundation
of the temple be laid.
Par. 1. O Jacob my servant. The title ' Servant of Jehovah' is here extended
to the pious minority of the nation, whose early hopes had been damped by the
apparent hesitation of Cyras to invade Babylonia.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 163
Jeshurun, a poetic synonym for Israel, formed on the analogy of proper
names from Yashar, righteous. It occurs elsewhere only in the song and bless
ing of Moses, Deut. xxxii. 15, xxxiii. 5, 26. Comp. also Num. xxiii. 10, where
' righteous ' is parallel and synonymous with Israel.
One shall say, &c. Gentile proselytes shall vie with one another in pro
claiming their attachment to Jehovah and his people. ' Proclaim the name of
Jacob,' i. e. with gratitude and admiration, as in xii. 4. ' Subscribe . . . unto
Jehovah,' i. e. testifying that the writer is a worshipper of Jehovah. ' Give
flattering titles,' &c. i. e. shall adopt Israel as a cognomen, er title of distinction,
for himself and his friends.
Par. 2. Calleth, or crieth, i. e. prophesieth, as in xl. i. The same word is
used by Mohammed, e. g. Koran, xcvi. i, ' Cry thou in the name of thy
Lord.' The most ancient people, i. e. the earliest families of mankind. Hitzig well
renders, ' der Urzeit Volk.' Comp. Job xxii. 15, 16 (Heb.).
To the end that they may be ashamed. The consequence of an action is fre
quently described as having formed part of the intention of the agent. Comp.
vi. 9, xxviii. 13, xxx. i.
Par. 3. Who hath formed a god? Who is so foolish or so bold as to make
an idol ?
All the fellows thereof, i. c. all the worshippers of the idol. Comp. Hos. iv.
17, ' Ephraim is in fellowship with idols,' and I Cor. x. 20 (Knobel).
The smith sharpeneth an axe. The verb is wanting in the Hebrew, but the
omission is evidently a clerical error. See ' Notes and Criticisms,' p. 38.
Reareth for himself. The word occurs in the same sense in Ps. Ixxx. 16, on
which see Hupfeld's note.
Hath besmeared their eyes, i. e. made them spiritually blind. Comp. vi. lo.
Half thereof. One half of the wood is used as fuel, i. e. for cooking food, the
other is made into an idol. ' By the fuel thereof,' lit. ' by the half thereof
Feedeth on ashes, i. e. cherisheth hopes as vain and unsubstantial as ashes.
Par. 5. The liars, i. c. the Babylonian soothsayers. Comp. xlvii. 13.
His servant . . . bis messengers, i. e. the author and his prophetic contem
poraries. This interpretation is established by the use of the word ' counsel '
in the second member of the verse, which, as in xii. 28, evidently signifies
' prediction.' The flood, i.e. the river Euphrates.
Cyrus. According to a theory of Havemick, Cyrus, ' the Sun,' was a com
mon titular name of the Persian kings, and might therefore have come to the
ears of Isaiah in a natural way, either through Persian travellers, or the Medes
M 2

i64 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
in the army of Sennacherib. Unfortunately the meaning thus ascribed to the
name of Cyras has long been disproved by Lassen, and is only worth mention
ing on account of its revival in England by Professor Plumptre ('Bibhcal
Studies,' p. 195). The analogy of Pharaoh, quoted as meaning ' the sun ' by
the latter critic is equally insecure.

CHAPTER VI.

[XLV. 1.] Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom
I hold by the right hand, that I may subdue nations before him,
and loose the loins of kings, that I may open before him the two-
leaved doors, and that the gates may not be shut : I wiU go before
thee, and make the rough places even ; I will break in pieces the
doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of uon ; and I give thee
the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that
thou mayest know that it is I, Jehovah, which call thee by thy
name, even the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and
Israel mine elect, I caUed thee hither by thy name ; I surnamed
thee, though thou didst not know me. I am Jehovah, and there is
none else ; beside me there is no God : I girded thee, though thou
didst not know me, that men might know from the rising of the
sun, and from the setting thereof, that there is none except me, —
I am Jehovah, and there is none else, that form the light and make
the darkness, that prepare peace and make evil, — I am Jehovah,
that do all these things.
Distil, ye heavens, from above,, and let the skies pour down
righteousness ;
Let the earth open that salvation may grow up, and let it
cause righteousness to spring forth together:
I, Jehovah, have made it.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 165

[9.] Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, a potsherd
among potsherds of earth! Shall the clay say to him that
formeth it. What makest thou ? or thy work. He hath no hands ?
Woe unto him that saith to his father. What begettest thou ? or to
the woman. What bringest thou forth ? Thus saith Jehovah, the
Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come ;
trust me with the care of my sons, and of the work of my hands.
I myself prepared the earth, and made the men upon it; mine
own hands stretched out the heavens, and I gave charge to all
their host : I myself have stirred him up in righteousness, and will
make all his ways even ; he shall build my city, and he shall let
go mine exUes, not for price nor reward, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
3.
[14.] Thus saith Jehovah, The wealth of Egypt, and the
gains of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come
over unto thee, and they shaU be thine ; they shall go after thee,
and pass on in chains ; they shall fall down and pray unto thee,
saying, ' Surely God is in thee ; and there is none else ; there is
no God.' Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of
Israel, the Saviour ! They are ashamed, and also confounded, all
of them ; they meet with confusion together that are makers of
idols : but Israel is saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation ;
ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
4.
[18.] For thus saith Jehovah, that made the heavens, (he is the
God,) that formed the earth and prepared it, (it was he that estab
lished it, that made it not for a chaos, but formed it to be

1 66 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
inhabited :) I am Jehovah, and there is none else. I have not
spoken in secret in some place of the land of darkness ; I said
not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain; for I am
Jehovah, that promise with righteousness, that declare with up-,
rightness. Assemble yourselves and come ; draw near together,
ye that are escaped of the nations. (They have no knowledge
that carry about the wood of their image, and pray unto a god
that cannot save.) Declare ye and bring it forth ; yea, let them
take counsel together: who hath proclaimed this from ancient
time, and declared it of old? Have not I Jehovah? and there
is no God else beside me ; a righteous God and a Saviour ;
there is none beside me.

[22.] Turn unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth ; for I am God, and there is none else. By myself I swear
it ; out of my mouth proceedeth righteousness, even a word, and
it shall not return. That unto me every knee shaU bow, every
tongue shaU swear. And one said unto me. In Jehovah only is
righteousness and strength; all they that were incensed against
him shall come unto him and be ashamed. In Jehovah shaU all
the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Par. 1. To his anointed. Cyrus is the only heathen king who receives the
title of ' The anointed of Jehovah.' But we are not to suppose that, by thus
investing him with ' Messiahship,' the prophet intended to connect him with
what we are in the habit of calling the Messianic idea. The function of Cyrus
was merely preparatory ; he was to be instramental in tlie removal of obstacles
to the realization of that idea. The actual establishment of God's kingdom on
earth, so far as it could be devolved on human agents, was reserved by the
prophet for the regenerate people of Jehovah.
Loose the loins of kings, i. e. render them incapable of resistance.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 167
The doors of brass. According to Herodotus (i. 179) Babylon had a hundred
gates of brass.
/ surnamed thee, i. c. gave thee the titles ' My shepherd,' ' My anointed."
That form the light and make the darkness. This is generally supposed to be a
waming against Dualism. The opportuneness of such a declaration is shewn
by the fact that Ahriman, the Persian name of the power of evil, survived
among the later Jews as ' the impious Armilos.' Just as Ahriman was to be
ultimately overcome by Orraazd, the supreme god, so Armilos, the Jews believed,
should be slain by his enemy the Messiah. (Levy's ' Chaldee Lexicon,' vol. i.
p. 66.)
Par. 2. Woe unto him that striveth, &c. Some of the Jews in Babylon seem
to have disbelieved in the promises of which Cyras was the centre, or to have
considered the announcement of his Messiahship as an offence against patriotism.
The prophet points out first the absurdity,-and next the want of natural piety,
involved in such murmurs.
Ask me of things to come, i. e. if you are disquieted about the future, apply to
. Jehovah through the prophet, and acquiesce in his revelations.
Par. 3. The wealth of Egypt, Sec. ' When the Jews shall have returned to
Palestine, the richest and most powerful nations shall become their voluntary
prisoners, in the hope of acquiring from them the trae religion.' Comp.
xviii. 7; Ps. Ixviii. 31. No particular stress is to be laid on the selection of
these three nations ; they are representatives of the whole world. In xliii. 3,
on the other hand, the prophetic announcement respecting them is to be under
stood literally.
A God that hidest thyself. An exclamation of surprise at the splendid and far-
reaching consequences of the Babylonian exile.
Par. 4. Thus saith Jehovah, Sec. The sense of this rather intricate passage
seems to be, that God in all His acts is guided by a definite purpose. Thus the
formation of the earth involved that of the human race, and the clear and un
ambiguous promises made known by a long succession of prophets, should
inspire all trae Israelites with a confidence in their fulfilment.
The land of darkness, i.e. the underworld (Sheol), comp. Job x. 21; Ps.
Ixxxviii. 12. The allusion is to necromancy.
Ye that are escaped, i. e. the Gentiles who may survive the great judgment to
be executed on the enemies of Jehovah. See Ixvi. 15-19.
Par. 5. And one said unto me. This refers to a mysterious heavenly voice,
similar to those mentioned at the beginning of the book. For the abrupt intro
duction of the author's personality, comp. xlviii. 16.

1 68 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

CHAPTER VII.

[XLVI. 1.] Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth ; their idols are
given to the beasts and to the cattle : your carriages are heavy
loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast. They stooped,
they bowed down together ; they could not deliver the burden,
but themselves went into captivity. 2.
[3.] Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant
of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the birth,
which are carried from the womb ; (and even to old age I am the
same, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you ; I have done it, and
I will bear, and I will carry, and will deliver you :) To whom wUl
ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may
be like ? They that lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in
the balance, hire them a goldsmith, that he may make it a god :
they faU down ; yea, they worship. They bear him upon the
shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he
standeth; from his place shall he not remove; yea, one may
cry unto him, yet will he not answer, nor save him out of his
trouble. 3.
[8.] Remember this, and shew yourselves men ; lay it to heart,
O ye renegades. Remember the former things of old, how
that I am God, and there is none else, I am God, and there is
none like me ; that declare the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done; that say. My

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 169
counsel shall stand, and I wiU do all my pleasure ; that calleth the
vulture from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a
far country : that which I have spoken, I will bring to pass ; that
which I have purposed, I will also accomplish. Hearken unto me,
O ye stubborn of heart, that are far from righteousness : I have
brought near my righteousness ; it is not far distant ; and my sal
vation shall not tarry : and I will give in Zion salvation ; to Israel
I will give my glory.
Par. 1. Bel . . . Nebo. Observe the infrequency of the prophet's references to
Babylon. He is apparently too much absorbed in the fortunes of his own country
to make more than a few passing allusions to the hated scenes of his captivity.
The few which occur are therefore specially valuable, and they imply a degree
of acquaintance with Babylon, which we cannot reasonably suppose Isaiah
to have possessed. In this passage the prophet refers to Bel-Merodach, the
Jupiter, and Nebo, the Mercury of the Babylonians. The former had a temple
at Babylon, the latter at Borsippa, each with a tower attached, in which the
ark or tabernacle of the go"d was deposited. Herodotus, in his description of
the temple of Bel, seems to have inserted some architectural details, which
apply in reaUty to the temple of Nebo. See Rawlinson's ' Herodotus,' vol. i.
pp. 321, 627-629, 637, 638.
Your carriages, i. e. the idols which were carried about in solemn religious
processions. Comp. xlv. 20 ; Jer. a. 5 ; Amos v. 26.
They bowed. Here the prophet changes his point of view. In the first verse
he represented the idols as falling before his eyes, in the second he relates their
destruction as an event of the past.
Par. 2. Which are borne. Literally, ' which are loaden.' The phrase cor
responds to that in verse i, and is chosen to mark the contrast between the
rival objects of worship.
Par. 3. Shew yourselves men, i. e. renounce your childish hankering after
idolatry. That are far from righteousness, i. c. that refuse to believe that God is so soon
about to fulfil his promises.

170 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
CHAPTER VIII.
[XLVII. 1.] 1.
Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin-daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chal
deans !
For thou shalt no more be called tender and deUcate.
Take the millstones, and grind meal :
Raise thy veil, strip off thy train.
Uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.
Let thy nakedness be uncovered, yea, let thy shame be seen:
I will take vengeance, and spare no man.
As for our redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts is his name, the
Holy One of Israel.
[5.] 2.
Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of
the Chaldeans !
For thou shalt no more be caUed, The lady of kingdoms.
I was wroth with my people, I polluted mine inheritance,
and gave them into thine hand :
Thou didst shew them no mercy;
Upon the ancient thou hast very heavily laid thy 3-oke.
And thou saidst, I shaU 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.] 3.
Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures,
that dweUest carelessly.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 171
That sayest in thine heart, I am, and there is none else;
I shaU not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss
of children :
These two things shall come to thee in a moment in one
day, the loss of children and widowhood;
They shall come upon thee in their perfection.
Notwithstanding the muUitude of thy sorceries, and the great
abundance of thine enchantments.
And because thou hast trusted in thy wickedness, and hast
said. None seeth me.
And because thy wisdom and thy knowledge perverted
thee.
So that thou saidst in thine heart, I am, and there is
none else :
Therefore shaU an evil come upon thee, which thou shalt
not have skill to charm.
And mischief shah fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be
able to appease.
And desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou
shalt not know.
[12.] 4.
Continue now in thine enchantments, and in the multitude of
thy sorceries.
Wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth ;
Haply thou mayest profit thereby, haply thou mayest queU
the trouble !
Thou art wearied with the multitude of thy counsellors;
Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, stand and save thee,
Prognosticating monthly the things that shall come upon
thee.

172 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Behold, they are as stubble ; the fire hath burned them ;
They cannot deliver their own soul from the power of the
flame:
It is not a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before !
Thus grievous is their lot, for whom thou hast laboured:
And they which have trafficked with thee from thy youth have
wandered every one straight forward ;
There is none that saveth thee!.

Par. 1. Pass through the rivers. The ' daughter ' or population of Babylon is
to wade through the rivers on her way to the scene of her captivity.
Par. 2. Get thee into darkness, i. e. hide thyself from the scornful looks of the
bystanders. / was wroth with my people. Sec. The Babylonians (like the Assyrians, x. 6, 7)
had exceeded the limits of their commission from Jehovah. Comp. the pa
thetic language of Zechariah (i. 15).
Upon the ancient. Comp. Lam. iv. 16, V. 12.
Par. 3. As a widow, i. e. deserted by the merchants, who were attracted to
Babylon by its extensive commerce.
In their perfection, i. c. in the full extent of their bittemess.
To charm . . . to appease. No magic spells will be potent enough to avert the
threatened calamity. Comp. verse 12, 'Haply thou mayest quell (literally,
' strike fear into') the trouble.'
Par. 4. The astrologers. Literally, ' the dividers of the heavens.' Most of
the astronomical tablets discovered at Babylon ' are of an astrological character,
recording the supposed influence of the heavenly bodies, singly, in conjunction,
or in opposition, upon all sublunary affairs.' Rawlinson's ' Five Great Mo
narchies,' vol. iii. p. 425.
The star-gazers. The Zodiacal system is probably in a great measure due to
the Babylonians.
They which have trafficked with thee, i. e. not the astrologers, but the foreign
merchants. Comp. xiii. 14.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 173

CHAPTER IX.

[XLVIII. 1.] Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called
by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of
Judah ; which swear by the name of Jehovah, and make mention
of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. For
they caU themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the
God of Israel, whose name is Jehovah of Hosts ! I declared the
former things of old; they went forth out of my mouth, and I
shewed them ; I performed them suddenly, and they came to
pass. Because I knew that thou wast stubborn, and thy neck
was an iron band, and thy forehead of brass, therefore I de
clared it to thee of old; before it came to pass, I shewed it
thee; lest thou shouldest say. Mine idol hath done it, and my
graven image, and my molten image, hath appointed it.
2.
[6.] Thou hast heard it ; see it fulfilled ; and yourselves, will
ye not acknowledge it ? From this time do I shew thee new
things, even hidden things, and those which thou knewest not.
Now are they made, and not of old, and before this day thou
heardest them not, lest thou shouldest say. Behold, I knew them,
Thou heardest them not, neither didst thou know them, neither
was thine ear opened of old : for I knew that thou wast very
treacherous, and wast called a renegade from the womb. For my
name's sake I defer mine anger, and for my praise I refrain
towards thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee,
but not as silver ; I have proved thee in the furnace of affliction.

174 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, wUl I do it : for how
should my name be poUuted ? and I wUl not give my glory unto
another. 3.
[12.] Hearken unto me, 0 Jacob ; and thou, Israel, my called :
I am he : I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also laid
the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the
heavens : when I caU unto them, they stand up together. AU ye,
assemble yourselves, and hear ; which among them declared these
things ? He that Jehovah loveth shall perform his pleasure on
Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. I, even I, have
spoken ; yea, I have called him ; I have brought him, and his way
shall be prosperous. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this ; (from
the first I have never spoken in secret ; from the time that the
earth was, there have I been ; and now hath the Lord Jehovah
sent me with his Spirit :) thus saith Jehovah, thy redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God, which teacheth thee
to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
O that thou didst hearken to my commandments ! then should thy
peace be as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea ;
thy seed also should be as the sand, and the offspring of thy body
as the grains thereof; thy name should not be cut off nor de
stroyed from before me. 4.
[20.] ' Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from Chaldea ; ' declare
ye this, and teU it with a merry shout ; utter it even to the end of
the earth; say ye, 'Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
And they thirsted not in the deserts through which he led them :
he caused water to flow out of the rock for them ; he clave the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 175
rock, and water gushed out.' There is no peace, saith my God,
for the wicked.

Par. 1. The waters of Judah. The founder of the nation is compared to a
fountain, as in Ps. Ixviii. 26.
I declared the former things of old. Sec. The gloom of the future had to a
certain extent been illuminated, as a restraint upon idolatry, but the restoration
of the Jews through Cyrus was so extraordinary, that it was revealed only on
the eve of its accomplishment, ' lest thou shouldest say. Behold, I knew it,'
i. e. to avoid impairing its religious effect. The writer seems to imply that an
older prophet, as for instance Isaiah, would have contravened the Divine will,
had he uttered such a prediction.
Par. 2. Behold, I have refined thee, i. e. thy troubles were not designed for
thine extinction, but for thy purification. ' Not as silver,' i. e. not literally re
fined, but metaphorically.
/ will not give my glory unto another. A continuance of the exile would have
seemed a confession of weakness on the part of Jehovah. ' Another,' i. e. the
god of the Babylonians.
Par. 3. Who among them, i. e. among the gods of the heathen. The persons
addressed are the Jews.
That the earth was. Literally, ' that it was,' referring to the events described
inverse 13. Comp. viii. 21 (Heb.).
There have I been, i. e. from the beginning of the world I have raised up a
succession of prophets, each bearing his own unambiguous message ; ' and now,'
as the prophetic writer subjoins, Jehovah has crowned his previous work with
this grandest of revelations. A similar transition from Jehovah to the pro
phetic writer occurs in xlv. 24.
With the grains thereof. Or, ' with the brood thereof.' The obscurity is pro
duced by a play upon words, which can scarcely be reproduced.
Par. 4. For the wicked, i. e. for the idolatrous party among the Jevrish exiles.
See chaps. Ixv, Ixvi.

176 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
BOOK IL
Vicarious Atonement.
The second book consists of mingled warnings and promises, all
derived from the certainty of the termination of the exUe. In the first
chapter, the general subject is stated anew. The ideal of Israel, ex
pressed in a condensed form by means of personification, can only be
fully reaUzed by a world-wide proclamation of the true religion. Israel
indeed may cherish suspicions of her Lord, but the intercourse between
God and His people is only interrupted, not destroyed. The next
chapter describes the troublous experience of the ' Servant of JehovaU.'
The latter is introduced in person, declaring his ' apostolical ' gifts, his
perfect devotedness to his mission, and the acquiescence in torture and
shame produced by an unceasing consciousness of the presence of God.
Then, turning to the Jewish exiles, the prophet encourages the faithful
to copy the sublime confidence of God's ' servant,' and threatens their
enemies with a mysterious punishment. Three times are these or
similar exhortations reiterated, and then the prophet bursts on a
sudden into a rapturous invocation, first, of the wonder-working arm
of God, and then of Zion or Jerusalem, soon to be again thickly
peopled, and in character, as weU as in name, ' the holy city,' (chap, iv.)
He seems already to descry the bounding feet of the heralds of good
tidings, and adjures the ' armour-bearers of Jehovah ' to remember the
awful sanctity of their charge.
The fifth chapter opens with a declaration on the part of Jehovah,
to the effect that the splendour of the ' servant's ' victory should bear
a marked proportion to his previous sufferings. All that the pious
Israelites had endured for the sake of their religion is attributed in the
fullest measure to their ideal representative. The sufferings of the
latter are described as being perfectly unmerited. They are imposed
by Jehovah, and cheerfully endured by the ' servant,' in expiation of the
sins of His people. A wonderful result foUows. The genius of Israel

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 177
rises from the ashes of martyrdom to an undecaying supremacy, and
the actual nation is so transformed in character as to correspond to its
Divine ideal.
The sixth chapter developes at greater length the bright prospects of
Israel. The sufferings of the exile are transitory, and, like the flood
of Noah, they shall not be repeated, for the security and prosperity of
Zion are guaranteed by the righteousness of its inhabitants. Then fol
lows a succession of warnings and complaints, mingled with encourage
ments. The highest spiritual and temporal blessings are offered freely for
acceptance, and a renewal of the promises of the covenant given long
before to David. The single condition demanded is the renunciation
of all selfish and sinful projects, founded in disbelief of the Divine
faithfulness. The wondrous character of Jehovah's promises is a suffi
cient pledge of their fulfilment, for celestial principles of action
must be widely different from those of earth (chap. vii). One duty is
¦ specially singled out as a test of obedience, — the observance of the
Sabbath. Even ' strangers and foreigners,' provided they keep holy the
day of Jehovah, wUl be gladly admitted within the house of universal
prayer (chap. viii).
The prophet then abruptly changes his tone (chap. ix). He com
plains that the guides and teachers of the nation are utterly depraved,
and so absorbed in the pursuit of luxury, that they even fail to observe
how the few righteous men left are dying out. ' May these enjoy
(so the prophet exclaims) their well-earned repose ! But as for-
you, whose apostacy from Jehovah is put to shame by their fidelity,
I bid you appear before the Divine tribunal I Your hereditary sins
shall meet with a terrible retribution, which none of the idols in
your Pantheon will be able to avert.' But now a celestial voice
is heard, announcing the liberation of the exiles, and its ultimate
source in the Divine character. Jehovah has looked down with
compassion on his erring people, and wiU now restore and console
them. But not to all the Jewish exiles is this bright prospect un
folded. The warning at the close of the first book is repeated in yet
sterner accents. There is no peace for the wicked.
N

178 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

CHAPTER I.
1.
[xlix. 1.] Listen unto me, ye sea-coasts ; and hearken, ye
peoples that are far off: Jehovah hath called me from the womb;
since my mother conceived me hath he made mention of my
name. And he made my mouth as a sharp sword, hiding me
in the shadow of his hand, and made me a polished shaft, cover
ing me in his quiver; and said unto me. Thou art my servant,
O Israel, by whom I will -glorify myself Then I said, I have
laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and in
vain; yet surely my right is with Jehovah, and my recompense
with my God. But now saith Jehovah, that formed me from the
womb to be his servant, that I might bring Jacob again to him, and
that Israel might be gathered unto him, (for I am honoured in the
eyes of Jehovah, and my God is become my strength,) It is too
light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the
tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel ; therefore I
appoint thee for a light of the nations, that my salvation may
reach unto the end of the earth. 2.
[7.] Thus saith Jehovah, the redeemer of Israel, and his Holy
One, unto him whose life is despised, that is abhorred of the
people, and a servant of tyrants, (yet kings shall see and arise,
even princes, and shall worship, because of Jehovah that is faith
ful, and of the Holy One of Israel, in that he chose thee ;) thus
saith Jehovah, In the season of acceptance have I heard thee, and
in the day of salvation have I helped thee ; and I wUl form and
appoint thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the land, to

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 179
assign the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, Go' forth,
and to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall
feed in the ways, and find their pasture on the barren hiUs ; they
shall not hunger nor thirst; the glistening of the sand shaU not
deceive them, neither shaU the sun smite them; for he that hath
mercy on them shaU lead them, and guide them unto the springs
of water. And I wiU make aU my mountains a road, and my
highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shaU come from far;
and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from
the land of the Sinim.
Shout, O heavens, and dance for joy, 0 earth, and break
forth into shouting, O mountains !
For Jehovah hath comforted his people, and hath mercy
upon his afflicted.

[14.] But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord
hath forgotten me ! Can a woman forget her sucking chUd, that
she should not yearn upon the son of her womb ? Yea, though
they should forget, yet will I not forget thee ! Behold, I have
graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are con
tinually before me. Soon shaU thy chUdren hasten hither; thy
destroyers and they that made thee waste shaU go forth of thee.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold : they aU gather them
selves together, and come to thee. As I Uve, saith Jehovah, thou
shalt surely clothe thee with them aU, as with an ornament, and
bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy wastes, and thy
desolate places, and thy land laid in ruins — yea, thou wilt then be
too strait for the inhabitants, and they that destroyed thee shall
depart far away. The children of thy bereavement shaU yet say
N 2

i8o THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
in thine ears. The place is too strait for me ; make room for me
that I may sit down. Then shalt thou say in thine heart. Who
hath begotten me these, seeing I was childless and unfruitful, an
exile and taken away ? and who hath brought up these ? Behold,
I was left alone ; these, where had they been ?
4.
[22.] Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I wiU lift up mine
hand to the nations, and set up mine ensign to the peoples, and
they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall
be carried on the shoulder. And kings shall become thy foster-
fathers, and their queens thy nursing-mothers ; they shaU bow
down unto thee with their face toward the earth, and kiss the
dust of thy feet; and then shalt thou know that I am Jehovah,
in whom they that hope are never ashamed. Can the prey be
taken from the mighty, or the captives of the violent escape?
For thus saith Jehovah, Yea, though the captives of the mighty
should be taken away, and the prey of the violent should escape,
yet with him that contendeth with thee I wUl contend, and I will
save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with
their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood,
as with sweet wine : and all flesh shaU know that I Jehovah am thy
saviour, and that thy redeemer is the hero of Israel.

.1.] Thus saith Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother's
divorcement, wherewith I put her away ? or which of my creditors
is it to whom I sold you ? Behold, for your iniquities were ye
sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
Wherefore, when I came, was there no man ? when I called, was

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. i8i
there none to answer ? Is my hand indeed too short to redeem ?
or have I no power to deliver ? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up
the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness, that their fish stinketh for
want of water, and dieth for thirst ; I clothe the heavens with
blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

Par. 1. Listen unto me. Sec. The abrupt introduction of the ' Servant of
Jehovah ' need not surprise us ; it is, as Hengstenberg remarks, ' A necessary
result of the dramatic character of prophetic speech.' (' Christology,' vol. ii.
p. 227.) In fact, without these dramatic alternations, the frequent repetitions
in this prophecy might have been intolerable. The soliloquy before us, for
instance, is, except in one point, a development of ch. xiii. verses 1-7, although
it must be admitted that this single exception (see the next note) is one of the
highest importance.
0 Israel. Observe the speaker's assumption of the name of Israel. He is
the agent in the regeneration of Israel, and yet in some sense he claims to be
Israel himself. This seems to prove conclusively that the ' Servant of Jehovah '
is neither the prophet nor the Messiah, but, primarily at least, the personified
ideal of the Israelitish nation.
Par. 2. Unto him whose life is despised, i. c. who is not considered worthy to
live. Ewald renders, ' Unto the object of deepest contempt,' comp. Ezek.
xxxvi. 5, xxv. 6, 15 ; Ps. xvii. 9.
The people ; or, more generally, ' people.' The phrase denotes primarily the
heathen, without altogether excluding the large body of unbelieving Jews.
Comp. Ps. xxii. 6.
I will form and appoint thee. Comp. the parallel passage in xiii. 6, 7.
The gUstening of the sand, i. e. the mirage. Comp. xxxv. 7.
The land of the Sinim, probably China, an outlying portion of which seems to
have been known to the Indians, and through them to the Babylonian mer
chants. We know at any rate that the west of China was under the dominion
of the Tbsin princes for several centuries before the Christian era. As early as
the eighth century B.c. they are said to have borne the title of ' heavenly kings,'
and to have occupied one of the capitals of the empire. From 249 to 206 they
were emperors of China. This view of the ' Sinim ' is now generally accepted ;
it agrees admirably with the Babylonian origin of our prophecy. See the note
of Gesenius on this passage, and Geiger's ' Ursprimg der Sprache,' p. 456.
Par. 3. But Zion said. Here the prophet shifts his point of view to the

i82 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
sorrowful times of the exile. Zion, he says, has never ceased to exist in the
mind of Jehovah, which is a pledge of her future restoration. Comp. note on
xl. g.
Yea, thou wilt then be too strait. A sudden alteration in the constraction, re
minding us of St. Paul in the Epistles.
The children of thy bereavement, i. e. as Auth. Vers, renders, ' The children which
thou shalt have after thou hast lost the other.'
Par. 4. The captives of the violent. For saddiq, ' righteous,' read arU, ' violent,'
with Lowth and Ewald, supported by the Syriac and the Vulgate.
Yea, though the captives. Sec. Faith in Jehovah, the prophet had said, shall
never be disappointed. But it would be so, if, after having been delivered for
awhile, the Jews were to be once more enslaved. Therefore, ' though even the
captives of the mighty,' &c.
The hero of Israel. Borrowed from Gen. xlix. 24; Isa. i. 24.
Par. 5. Where is the bill. Sec. Since no bill of divorce had been written, no
second husband could have any right over Jehovah's bride, and since no price
had been received by Jehovah in payment for his children (comp. Iii. 3), it de
pended only on himself to reinstate them in his family.
Wherefore, when I came, was there no man ? Why did not Israel welcome my
advances ?
CHAPTER II.

[L. 4.] The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of a dis
ciple, that I should know how to succour with the word him that
is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine
ear to hearken like a disciple. The Lord Jehovah hath opened
mine ear, and I am not rebeUious, neither have I turned back. I
have given my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that
plucked out the hair : I have not hidden my face from shame and
spitting. Yet the Lord Jehovah will help me ; therefore am I not
confounded : therefore have I set my face Uke flint, and I know
that I shaU not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me ; who
will contend with me ? let us stand together. Who is mine ad-

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 183
versary ? let him come near unto me. Behold, the Lord Jehovah
wiU help me ; who is he that shall condemn me ? lo, they aU shall
fall to pieces as a garment ; the moth shaU eat them up.
2.
[10.] Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that hearkeneth
to the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no
light ? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay upon his
God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that make your arrows to
burn; get you hence into the flame of your fire, and into the
firebrands that ye have lighted. This shall befal you from mine
own hand ; ye shaU lie down in pain.
Par. 1. T7>e tongue of a disciple, i. c. such as the disciples of Jehovah possess.
Comp. viii. 16, liv. 1 3. Similarly ' the word ' means the Divine word.
I have given my back, &c. An anticipation of ch. liii. Comp. also Ps. xxii,
which is evidently a description of an ideal personality (similar to that of the
' Servant of Jehovah ') in which all the best qualities of the Jewish exiles are
intensified. That justifieth me, i. e. that declareth my innocence.
Par. 2. Who is among you. Sec. The prophet addresses his readers, ' Who
among you understands the trae sense of these words of the servant?'
(Ewald.) That make to burn. For me'azzeri, ' girding,' read me'ire, with Hitzig.
In pain, or, in a place of pain. An anticipation of Ixvi. 24.

CHAPTER III.
1.
[LI. 1.] Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness,
ye that seek Jehovah : look unto the rock whence ye are hewn,
and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto
Abraham yotu: father, and unto Sarah that bare you : though he

1 84 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
was alone when I called him, yet I blessed him and increased him.
For Jehovah will comfort Zion, he wiU comfort all her waste
places ; and make her wilderness as Eden, and her desert as
the garden of Jehovah ; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving and the voice of melody. 2.
[4.] Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me,
O my nation : for doctrine shall proceed from me, and my religion
will I establish for a light, of the peoples. My righteousness is
near ; my salvation is gone forth ; and mine arms shaU judge the
peoples : for me the coasts shall wait, and upon mine arm shall
they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the
earth beneath ; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and
the earth shall fall to pieces as a garment, and they that dwell
therein shall die miserably : but my salvation shall be for ever,
and my righteousness shaU not be abolished.
3.
[7.] Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people
in whose heart is my doctrine ; fear ye not the reproach of men,
neither be afraid at their revUings. For the moth shaU eat them
up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool : but
my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from genera
tion to generation.
Par. 2. My righteousness, i. e. the exhibition of my righteousness in the deli
verance of Israel and the destraction of their enemies.
Miserably. Gesenius and most modern critics render 'like a gnat,' but it
seems better with Delitzsch (see his note) to take the word ken as an adverb
(' thus') qualified by the gesture of the speaker. Comp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 5 ; Num.
xiii. 33 ; Job ix. 35 ! and the ' hujus non facio ' of the Latin comic writers.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 185
CHAPTER IV.
1.
[LI. 9.]. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah ;
awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou
not it that hewed the sea-monster in pieces, that pierced the
dragon? Art thou not it that dried up the sea, the waters of
the great flood, that made the depths of the sea a way for the
ransomed to pass over ? ' And the redeemed of Jehovah shall
return, and come unto Zion with shouting, and with everlasting
joy upon their head : they shall obtain joy and gladness ; and
grief and sighing shall flee away.' 2.
[12.] I, even I, am he that comforteth you : who, then, art
thou, that thou fearest the fraU creature that shall die, and the
son of man which shall be made as grass ; and forgettest Jehovah
thy maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the founda
tions of the earth ; and tremblest all the day long for the fury of
the oppressor, because he taketh aim to destroy ? and where is the
fury of the oppressor ? He that bendeth with the yoke shall soon
be released ; he shall not perish unto the grave, neither shall his
bread fail ; for I am Jehovah thy God, which stirreth up the sea,
that its waves roar, whose name is Jehovah of Hosts. And I did
put my words in thy mouth, and covered thee in the shadow of
mine hand, that I might plant the heavens, and lay the foundations
of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
3.
[17.] Arouse thee, arouse thee, stand up, O Jerusalem, which

1 86 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
hast drunk at the hand of Jehovah the cup of his fury, which
hast drunken the chalice of the cup of reefing, and supped it out !
There was none to lead her of aU the sons whom she had born,
neither any to take her by the hand of aU the sons whom she
had brought up. Twofold is that which befell thee: who shaU
be sorry for thee ? desolation and destruction, and famine and the
sword : how shaU I comfort thee ? Thy sons lay fainting at the
corners of aU the streets, like the antelope in a net, being fuU of
the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of thy God. Therefore hear now
this, thou afilicted, and drunken, but not with wine. Thus saith
thy Lord Jehovah, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his
people. Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of reeUng ;
yea, the chaUce of the cup of my fury, thou shalt never drink it
more : and I have put it into the hand of them that plagued
thee, which said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over;
and thou didst make thy back as the ground, and as the street
for them that go over.

[lii. 1.] Arouse thee, arouse thee, put on thy strength, 0
Zion ; put on thy glorious garments, O Jerusalem, the holy
city : for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the
uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust ;
arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem : loose thyself from the bands
of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith Jehovah,
Ye were sold for nought, and ye shall not be redeemed with
money. For thus saith Jehovah, My people went down aforetime
to Egypt to sojourn there, and Assyria oppressed him without
cause. And now, what shall I do here ? saith Jehovah ; for my
people is taken away for nought ; they that rule over him howl.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 187
(this is the utterance of Jehovah,) and all the day long is my name
reviled. Therefore my people shall know my name : therefore
they shall know in that day that I am he that promised, saying,
Here am I. 5.
[7.] How graceful upon the mountains are the steps of the
herald that publisheth peace, that is an herald of good tidings,
that pubUsheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.
Hark, thy watchmen Uft up the voice ; they sing together : for
they see eye to eye the return of Jehovah to Zion. Break forth
into shouting together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for Jehovah
hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. Jehovah
hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of aU the nations ; and ail
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. ' De
part ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing ;
go ye out of the midst of her ; keep yourselves pure, ye that bear
the armour of Jehovah. For ye shall not go out in haste, nor go
by flight : for before you goeth Jehovah, and the God of Israel is
your rereward.'

Par. 1. The sea-monster, i. e. Egypt. An allusion to a mythological legend,
which represented God as having subdued a rebellious sea-monster (Rahab),
and fastened it as a constellation on the sky — an everlasting warning to man
against impiety. See Job ix. 13 (with Ewald's note), xxvi. 12, where the Lxx.
has (cijtt;, ' sea-monsters,' and compare the similar legend of ' the giant' Orion.
Isaiah (xxx. 7) employs the same word Rahab here rendered ' sea-monster,' as
a synonym for Egypt, but assigns to it the pure Hebrew meaning of ' arro
gance.' ' Dragon' is also a poetic expression for Egypt ; comp. xxvii. i.
And ihe redeemed. Sec. A quotation from xxxv. 10. Comp. Ixv. 25.
Par. 2. Who, then, art thou. Sec. That is, What right have those who are
comforted by Jehovah to give way to despondency ?
He that bendeth with the yoke. A figurative description of the sufferings of the
patriotic Jews during the exile.

1 88 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
7 did put my words in ihy mouth. The prophetic eloquence, and security under
the Divine protection, ascribed in xlix. i , 2 to the ideal ' Servant,' are here pre
dicated of the pious minority among the prophet's contemporaries. We must
admit, therefore, that the distinction between the ideal and the actual ' Servant'
is from time to time imperfectly adhered to. This was only to be expected,
considering that the effect principally aimed at by the prophet was not poetical,
but practical.
That I might plant heaven. See Ixv. 17, Ixvi. 22. 'Plant,' i.e. set up. as
a tent. Par. 3. The cup of reeling. ' Reeling,' i. c. terror, perplexity, and despair, is
the consequence of God's providential judgments. Comp. xix. 14; Jer. xxv.
15, 16. 'The chalice of the cup of reeling.' Comp. the similar expression,
' The way of thy paths,' iii. 1 2.
Par. 4. There shall no more come into thee. Sec. Comp. the parallel passage in
Joel iii. 17.
Ye were sold for nought. See analysis prefixed to this book.
To sojourn, i. c. as guests, not slaves.
Here, i. e. in Babylonia. The necessity for the intei-vention of Jehovah is
as great in Babylon as it was formerly in Egypt and Assyria. ' Howl,'
i. e. triumph.
That I am he that promised, i. e. that the prophetic promises proceeded from a
faithful and almighty God.
Par. 5. How graceful upon the mountains. The heralds of the Divine deliverer
are seen bounding, like graceful gazelles, over the mountains.
Thy God reigneth, i. e. Jehovah has resumed his functions as the trae king of
Israel. Thy watchmen. The ideal Jerusalem (see note on xl. 9) is represented as
stationing watchmen on the (ideal) walls, to announce the first tidings of the
return of the exiles.
Depart ye. A heavenly voice is heard, summoning ' the armour-bearers of
Jehovah' (so Luzzatto renders'), i.e. his faithful worshippers, to depart from
Babylon. Unlike the Exodus of old, their march is to be distinguished by
calmness and solemnity, and by a rigid abstinence from the spoils of the
idolaters.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. i8g
CHAPTER V.
1.
[lii. 13.] Behold, my servant shall be prosperous ; he shall be
exalted and extolled, and be very high. According as many were
astonished at thee, (his visage was so marred unlike to a man, and
his form unlike to the sons of men,) so shall he cause many
nations to admire ; kings shaU shut theh mouths at him ; for that
which had not been told them shaU they see, and that which they
had not heard shall they consider. 2.
[liii. 1.] Who hath beUeved our revelation ? and to whom was
the arm of Jehovah disclosed ? • He grew up before him as a
tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground ; he had no form
nor majesty, that we should regard him, and no beauty, that we
should desire him. He was despised, and forsaken of men, a man
of pains, and acquainted with sickness ; and we hid as it were our
faces from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
S.
[4.] Surely he did bear our sicknesses, and carry our pains,
whUst we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our ini
quities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and through
his stripes we are healed. AU we Uke sheep did go astray ; we
turned every one to his own way ; and Jehovah laid upon him
the iniquity of us aU. 4.
[7.] He was tormented, but he suffered freely, and opened not

ipo THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
his mouth, as the sheep that is led to the slaughter, and as the ewe
that before her shearers is dumb ; and he opened not 'his mouth.
From oppression and from punishment was he taken, — and, as for
his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land
of the living, for the transgression of my people he was stricken ?
And his grave was appointed with the wicked, and his tomb
with the oppressor, although he had done no violence, neither
was any deceit in his mouth. 5.
[lo.] Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him, and to smite him
with sickness : for if he should make his soul a trespass-offering,
he should see a seed, he should prolong his days, and the pleasure
of Jehovah should prosper in his hand ; he should see the gains
of his Boul, and should be satisfied ; by his knowledge should my
righteous servant make many righteous, and he should take up the
burden of their iniquities. Therefore wUl I divide him a portion
among many, and with a great company shaU he divide the spoil,
because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered
with the transgressors, though he had borne the sin of many, and
made intercession for the transgressors.
Par. 1. Behold, my servant. According to Ewald, this chapter (like Ivi. 9-
Ivii. 11) is a quotation from an earlier prophecy composed in the reign of
Manasseh, and referred originally to the martyrdom of an individual. He bases
this theory on the historical tone of the description, on the peculiar abraptness
of the style, and the singularity of particular words or significations. He might
have added the abrapt introduction of the idea of vicarious atonement, which
disappears again at the end of this chapter. The objections to his hypothesis
are, (i) the evident connection of some of the ideas in this chapter with those
in xiii. I, 4, 6, xlix. 6, 7, 1. 4-11, (2) the exaggerated weight it requires us to
attach to a few slight differences in shades of meaning. The pecuharity in the
style of the chapter may be sufficiently accounted for by the excitement of the

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 191
prophet, labouring after an adequate expression of new and grand ideas.- (We.
may notice, in passing, a recent misconception of Ewald's meaning in ' The
Witness of the Old Testament to Christ,' by Professor Leathes, p. 262. Ewald
merely intends to say that certain Hebrew words are used by the writer of this
chapter in a sense peculiar to himself.)
Behold, my servant shall be prosperous. A soliloquy of Jehovah, which may,
perhaps, be thus interpreted : ' The ideal, which even one of the greatest of the
prophets (hii. i) confesses himself incapable of realizing, shall one day be uni
versally recognized as the religious standard.'
His visage was so marred. The genius of Israel was ' marred ' or disfigured
in the persons of its representatives, the faithful worshippers of Jehovah among
the exiles.
Cause to admire. Literally, ' make to spring,' an expression of joy or as
tonishment The verb is found in Arabic and Assyrian. ' Shall shut their
mouths,' i. e. shall be lost in contemplation.
Par. 2. 'Who hath believed. Sec. The speaker is carried on the wings of pro
phetic imagination to the period when the foregoing oracle should be in course
of fulfilment. He represents the actual nation of Israel, who had outlived the
exile, as musing penitently on their guilt in disregarding their lofty ideal. But
does the prophet, we may be asked, include himself in the confession? Re
membering the humility of the righteous Job, when contemplating the infinite
ideal of Jehovah (xiii. 5, 6), we need not hesitate to answer in the affirmative ;
besides, the histories of Elijah and Jonah shew that even a prophet, the repre
sentative of the Divine ideal, could in moments of weakness become a backslider
from it.
A man of pains. Sec, i. e. the ideal of Israel, during the troubles of the exile,
had to wage a constant straggle for its existence.
Par. 3. He did bear our sicknesses. Sec. So far as the more pious of the exiles
represented the ideal of the ' Servant of Jehovah,' they suffered undeservedly.
To the greater part of the Jewish community they must have appeared in the
light of unpractical enthusiasts, because they refused to adopt the ways and
feelings of their heathen neighbours. To the latter, on the other hand, their
ardent religious patriotism must have seemed a treasonable exhibition of dis
affection to Babylon. Hence they were persecuted by both parties (see Ixvi. 5,
xlix. 7, 1. 5-7). But the sufferings thus endured by the faithful were not only
undeserved, but accepted by Jehovah as a vicarious atonement for the nation.
They were imperfect in themselves, it is trae, but were transfigured in the light
of the ideal which produced them. In other words, they proved that the
chosen people was still capable of regeneration, and as a reward for them the

192 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
offences of the mass of the nation were forgiven, and a glorious spiritual future
guaranteed. Strictly speaking, however, it was not the suffering of the faithful,
but the ideal which this did but imperfectly express, that formed the atonement
for the nation, or, to use a New Testament metaphor, the faithful who suffered
were mystical members of the supreme ' Servant of Jehovah.'
Par. 4. As the sheep. Comp. Jer. xi. 19, where however the sheep is an
image of Jeremiah's ignorance of the conspiracy formed against his life.
He was taken, i. e. snatched away by a violent death. Comp. lii. 5.
He was stricken. Heb. nega. lamo. The original phrase, taken singly, is
equivocal ; it may signify either ' a stroke (came) to him,' or, ' . . to them.'
There is no doubt that lamo occasionally means ' to him,' e. g. Gen. ix. 26 ; Ps.
xxviii. 8, Ixiii. 10; Isa. xliv. 15 ; but Gesenius asserts that 'it is so used only
with reference to collectives.' On this shewing the ' Servant of Jehovah' must
be a collective, and not a person, whether historical or ideal. Gesenius, how
ever, is for once inaccurate. S and Em in Phcenician are both forms of the
suffix of the third person singular, and there can be no reasonable doubt that
the latter form was adopted with much besides in the poetic usage of Hebrew.
The final m was probably a remnant of the primitive Semitic Nunnation or
Mimmation ; in other words, the pronoun of the third person singular, like the
noun, was terminated by n or m. When the Jews had forgotten the origin of
the m in lam, they added a final o, thus making the forms of the suffixes in both
singular and plural identical. See Schroder's ' Phcenician Grammar,' p. 153,
and Bickell in ' Theologisches Literaturblatt,' 1S69, P- 3^^'
And his tomb with the oppressor. Auth. Vers. ' And with the rich in his
death,' which mars the symmetry of the verse : the second member should cor
respond to the first, as the fourth does to the third. Besides, this rendering is
not literal; it should be 'in his deaths.' For though some critics have ex
plained this as a ' plural of exaggeration,' equivalent to ' in his violent death,"
analogies are altogether wanting. (Ezek. xxviii. 8 is hardly to the point, for
(i) mothe should be corrected to memoihe, see verse 10, and (2) chalal, 'the
slain,' is used generically, and answers to the plural arelim, ' the circumcised,'
in verse lO.) We must therefore have recourse to conjecture. For aiher, ' the
rich,' we read with Ewald, 'dshok, ' the oppressive.' The other word bemo'hdv,
' in his deaths,' seems to us hopelessly corrupt, and the words ' his tomb,'
given above, are only intended as a substitute for the true reading, not as a
translation. Many critics indeed are of a different opinion, and, by simply
changing a vowel-point, read bdmothdv (with three MSS.), which they ren
der either ' his tombs,' with an aUusion to the collective character ascribed
by them to the ' Servant,' or, as Ewald, ' his tomb,' omitting entirely to account

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 193
for the plural suffix. (A plural of extension, such as 'habitations' in liv. 2, is
scarcely suitable.) The word in question, however, never occurs elsewhere in
Bibhcal or Rabbinic Hebrew in that sense, though frequent enough in the sense
of ' high place ' or ' altar ; ' an objection which is scarcely answered by quoting
the imperfect analogy of a different word in Job xxi. 32.
His generation, i. e. his contemporaries, as in Jer. ii. 31.
Par. 5. If he should make, i. c. the sufferings described above were imposed
by Jehovah and endured by the ' Servant ' with a high spiritual object in view.
The received text has, ' If thou shouldest make,' but so harsh an alternation
can hardly be paralleled elsewhere.
A trespass-offering, i. e. a sacrifice by way of satisfaction, as opposed to a sin-
offering, or sacrifice by way of expiation. See Lev. v. 15-19.
He should see his seed. Sec. These expressions appear sufficient of themselves
to prove that the ' Servant of Jehovah ' is not a historical, but an ideal person.
In the course of the paragraph, however, the personification gradually fades
away into the Jevdsh church of the Messianic period. (Comp. note on li. 16.)
By his knowledge. Sec. That is, the members of the regenerate Jewish church
should stand in the twofold relation of prophets and of priests to the Gentile
world. Comp. xiii. 1 , 4, 6, &c.
Therefore will I divide. The chapter concludes, as it commenced, with a
Divine oracle. The personification is now completely dissolved, and the
spiritual recompense of God's ' Servant ' is divided among a ' great company.'
Tbe sin of many. The ' many ' and the ' transgressors ' are evidently the Jewish
exiles, on the analogy of similar expressions in an earlier paragraph.

CHAPTER VI.
1.
[LIV. 1.] Sing, 0 barren, thou that didst not bear ; break forth
into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child :
for more are the chUdren of the desolate than the children of the
married wife, saith Jehovah. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and
let them stretch forth without restraint the curtains of thine habit
ation ; lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. For thou
shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed
o

194 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
shaU inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities to be in
habited. Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be
thou confounded, for thou shalt not blush : yea, 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,
Jehovah of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer is the Holy
One of Israel, the God of the whole earth is he called. For
as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit Jehovah caUed thee,
and that a wife of youth should be refused, how can it be ? saith
thy God. For a small moment did I forsake thee, but with great
mercies will I gather thee : in my vehement indignation I hid my
face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I
have mercy upon thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.

[9.] For this is as the waters of Noah unto me : as I sware
that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so do I
swear that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For
though the mountains should move, and the hiUs should tremble,
yet not removed from thee shall be my kindness, neither tremble
shaU the covenant of my peace, saith Jehovah that hath mercy
upon thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not com
forted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy
foundations with sapphires; and I will make thy battlements of
rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of precious
stones ; and aU thy children shaU be the disciples of Jehovah, and
great shall be the bliss of thy children. Through righteousness
shalt thou be estabUshed : think not on oppression, for thou hast
nought to fear, neither on thy terror, for it shaU not come nigh
thee. If thine enemies should sth up strife, it is not of my

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 195
counsel; whosoever hath stirred up strife against thee shall fall
away unto thee. Behold, I myself made the smith, which bloweth
upon the fire of coals, and bringeth forth a weapon fitted for
the purpose thereof; I myself made the destroyer lo do mis
chief No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper ; and
every tongue that shall rise against thee in the judgment thou
shalt prove guUty. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah,
and their justification that is of me : the utterance is of Jehovah.
Par. 1. The children of tbe desolate. Sec. That is, the population of Jerasalem,
which now lies in rains, shall be more numerous than in the most flourishing
times of old. Comp. 1. i, Ixii. 4.
Thy stakes, i. e. thy tent-pins. Comp. xxxiii. 20.
The shame of thy youth . . . the reproach of thy widowhood, i. e. the Egyptian
and the Babylonian servitudes.
For Jehovah called thee. Sec. That is, ' If God freely chose Israel as his own
people in spite of its miserable condition during the forty years' wanderings,
and if an early love is ever the hardest to be destroyed, then the sufferings of
the Babylonian exile can only be a temporary chastisement' (So Ewald.) The
assonance of the original is inimitable in English. Riickert, a master in repro
ducing Oriental forms of poetry, renders, ' Denn als Weib verdrangtes und
bedrangten Geistes.'
Par. 2. With fair colours. Literally, ' with antimony.' Comp. 2 Kings ix. 30,
where Jezebel is said to have ' set her eyes in antimony,' i. e. to have painted or
coloured them with it.
Shall fall away unto thee, i. c. go over to thy side. Vulgate, ' adjungetur
tibi.' The servants of Jehovah. Henceforth we meet only with the phrase ' the
servants (not the servant) of Jehovah.' Comp. Ixiii. 17, Ixv. 8, 9, 13, 14, 15,
bcvi. 14.

O 2

196 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

CHAPTER VII.

1.

[lv. 1.] Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come,
buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore
do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your gains for
that which cannot satisfy ? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat
ye that which is good, and let your soul deUght itself in fatness.
Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and you shaU live;
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. Behold, I appointed him for a witness to the
¦peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Behold, thou
shalt call a people whom thou knowest not, and a people that
knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of Jehovah thy God,
and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. 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, and he wUl have
mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
2.
[8.] For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith Jehovah. Yea, as the heaven is higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts
than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow,
from heaven, and returneth not thither, till it hath watered the
earth, and made it bring forth and bud, and given seed to the
sower, and bread to the eater ; so shall my word be that goeth

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 197
forth out of my mouth : it shall not return unto me void, tiU it
hath accomplished that which I please, and prospered in the thing
whereto I sent it. For ye shaU go out with joy, and be led forth
with peace ; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before
you into shouting, and all the trees of the field shall clap the hand.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead of the
nettie shall come up the myrtle-tree ; and it shall be unto Jehovah
for a name, for an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off.
Par. 1. The sure mercies of David. The point of this and the next two verses
is, that the wide dominion granted by Jehovah to David, and guaranteed in
2 Sam. vii. 12-16 to David's descendants, shall be restored to the regenerate
nation of Israel. Comp. a parallel in one of the Psalms written after the return
from exile, Ixxxix. 39.
For a witness, i. e. of the true religion. Ewald and others render, ' for a law
giver,' giving the original word a sense not found elsewhere, though barely
defensible by the Hifil conjugation of its verb.
Par. 2. So shall my word be. The word or promise of God is personified as
a messenger, who returns when he has performed his commission.

CHAPTER VIII.
[lvi. 1.] Thus saith Jehovah, Keep ye justice, and do right
eousness ; for my salvation is soon to come, and my righteousness
to be revealed. Happy is the man that doeth this, and the son of
man that layeth hold on it ; that keepeth the Sabbath, that he may
not poUute it, and keepeth his hand, that he may do no evil ! And
let not the alien, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak, saying,
Assuredly wiU Jehovah separate me from his people ; neither let the
eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith Jehovah of
the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that
please me, and lay hold on my covenant : I will give unto them

198 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
in mine house and within my walls a memorial and a name better
than sons and daughters ; I will give them an everlasting name,
that shall not be cut off. And as for the aliens that join them
selves unto Jehovah, to minister unto him, and to love the name
of Jehovah, that they may be his servants, even every one that
keepeth the Sabbath, that he may not pollute it, and layeth hold
on my covenant, I wiU bring them to my holy mountain, and
make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings
and sacrifices shall be acceptable on mine altar : for mine house
shall be caUed the house of prayer for aU peoples. This is the
utterance of the Lord Jehovah, which gathereth together the out
casts of Israel, Yet wiU I gather others to them, when they are
gathered.

That keepeth the Sabbath. Note the contrast between the genuine Isaiah
and the later prophets, beginning with Jeremiah. The former, to say the
least, depreciates the observance of the Sabbath (i. 13, see note), the latter
inculcate it with extreme earnestness, as if the future of the nation de
pended upon it. See Iviii. 13, 14; Jer. xvii. 19-27; Ezek. xx. 12-21. In
fact, during the exile it was almost the only bond of religious union which
remained. The alien . , . the eunuch. The allusions in this passage are obscure. Comp..
Deut. xxiii. 2-8.
A memorial and a name, i. e. the memory of their voluntary adhesion to the
true religion.
/ will bring them, Sec. That is, the Gentile proselytes shall be allowed to
accompany the Jews on their departure from Babylon.
Yet will I gather. Sec. ' When Israel is restored, other Gentiles besides those
mentioned shall be converts to the faith.'

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 199

CHAPTER IX.
1.
[lvi. 9.] AU ye beasts in the field, yea, aU ye beasts in the
forest, come to devour ! His watchmen are bUnd ; they are aU
without power to discern; they are aU as dumb dogs, which
caimot bark, murmuring in their dreams, lying down, loving to
slumber. Yet the dogs are greedy, and can never have enough,
and those are shepherds which cannot understand ; from the first
even to the last they aU turn their own way, each one after his
gain. Come, say they, let me fetch wine, and let us fill ourselves
with strong drink, and tomorrow shall be as this day, and that
beyond measure abundant. 2.
[LVII. 1.] The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to
heart, and godly men are taken away, none considering that the
righteous is taken away from the evU which compasseth him. May
he depart in peace ; may they rest upon their beds, whosoever
walked in his own sttaight path ! But as for you, draw near
hither, children of the sorcerers, the seed of the adulterer and
the whore ! Against whom do ye sport yourselves ? against whom
make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue ? are ye not
chUdren of transgression, a seed of falsehood ; which inflame your
selves with lust hard by the oaks, even under every green tree ;
which slay the children in the beds of the torrents under the cUfts
of the rocks ? The smooth stones of the torrent-bed are thy por
tion ; they, they are thy lot ; unto them also didst thou pour out
drink-offerings, thou didst offer meat-offerings. Should I pacify
myself for these things ?

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

[7.] Upon a lofty and high mountain didst thou set thy bed :
thither also wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. Behind the door
also and the post didst thou set thy memorial ; yea, afar off from
me didst thou uncover thy bed, and go up and enlarge it; thou
didst require a covenant from them; thou didst love their bed;
thou didst view the hand. And thou didst travel to the king with
oil, and didst make thy perfumes to abound, and didst send thy
messengers afar off, and wentest even down to the underworld:
thou wast wearied with thy much journeying ; yet saidst thou not.
There is no hope ; thou didst gain fresh life in thine arm, there
fore thou wast not weakened. And of whom wast thou afraid, and
whom didst thou dread, that thou didst deal falsely, and didst not
remember me, nor lay it to thy heart ? Surely I have long time
holden my peace, therefore thou fearest me not. I make known
to thee thy justification ; but as for thy works, they shall not profit
thee. When thou criest, let the idols which thou hast heaped up
deUver thee ! but the wind shaU carry them all away ; even a
breath shaU take them : but he that trusteth in me shaU inherit the
land, and shaU possess my holy mountain. 4.
[14.] And one said. Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way,
take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people. For
thus saith the high and lofty One, that abideth the same for ever,
whose name is Holy; I abide in the high and holy place,
with him also that is of a bruised and lowly spirit, that I may
revive the spirit of the lowly, and revive the heart' of them
that are bruised. For I will not contend for ever, neither will
I be always wroth; for the spirit would faint before me, and

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 201
the souls which I have made. For his unlawful desires was I
viTOth, and smote him, I hid me, and was wroth; for he walked
frowardly in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways, and
wiU heal him ; I wUl lead him also, and wiU repay comforts to him
and his mourners. Thus saith Jehovah that maketh the fruit of
the Ups, Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is
near, and I wUl heal them. But the wicked are like the troubled
sea, for it like them cannot stay at rest, and the waters thereof
cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, for
the wicked.

Par. 1. All ye beasts of the field. Sec. This is merely a poetical way of de
scribing the dangers to which the Jews were exposed by the neglect of their
teachers. A complete moral and religious reform was the only means of pre
serving their nationality unimpaired, but the elders and the prophets were too
degenerate to pay any heed to this. Comp. Ezek. viii. i, xiii. 1-23, xiv, i, xx. i ;
Jer. xxix. 8, 9, 21-23.
According to Ewald and Bleek, this passage (lvi. 9-lvii. 11, beginning)
is a quotation from an earlier prophet, who lived probably in the reign
of Manasseh. Idolatry, as we know from this prophecy and from that of
Ezekiel, was not uncommon among the Jewish exiles, and our prophet may
have designed to add force to his denunciation by citing words which had
received the sanction of antiquity. (Comp. ii. 2, 5, xv, xvi. 1-12, xxv. 6-8, .
10-12, xxvi. 12, 13.) The principal reasons in favour of this hypothesis are,
(i) the abraptness with which the section is introduced — though we venture to
think that such abrupt transitions are quite in the manner of this prophet, and
fail to observe any indication of a change in style in Ivii. 11; (2) the descrip
tion of Jewish idolatry which follows, some of the features of which are -rather
Palestinian than Babylonian. In answer to the latter objection it may be urged
that a Semitic race, when transplanted to a distant country, preserves a lively re
collection of its earUer home. The Arabic poets in Spain delighted in allusions
to Arabian localities, and descriptions of the events of desert-life. Why should
not a. prophecy of the exile contain some such allusions to the scenery of
Palestine, and at least one such retrospect of events, some of which had hap
pened previously to the faU of Jerasalem, events, it should be remembered,
which had left a deep impression on the religious condition of the Jews in

202 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Babylon ? It will perhaps not be out of place to compare the aUusions in this
section to oaks and hills and torrent-beds, with the frequent and touching re
ferences of Ezekiel to the mountains and rivers of Israel. See Ezek. xxxiv. 13,
xxxvi. J, &c.
Par. 2. Hard by the oaks, Comp. i. 29 and note ; Ezek. vi. 1 3.
Which slay tbe children. Sacrifices of children were offered to Moloch and
to Baal, 2 Kings xxiii. 10 ; Jer. xix. 5.
The smooth stones . . . are thy portion. This was a return to the primitive
Semitic religion. Sacred stones were worshipped as symbols of the Divine
presence prior to the rise of idolatry. Comp. Herod, iii. 8, and the black
stone of the Caaba at Mecca.
Par. 3. Didst thou set thy bed. The religious defection of Israel is compared
to adultery. Comp. Ezek. xvi, xxiii.
Thy memorial, i. e. the words, ' Jehovah is our God, Jehovah is One,' which,
accordmg to Deuteronomy (vi. 9, xi. -20), were written on the posts of the
house and on the gates. The polytheists apparently placed this ' memorial' of
Jehovah 'behind the door and the post' by way of putting it out of sight.
Others understand the phrase of some obscure idolatrous emblem.
Thou didst view the hand. Probably an euphemism.
To the king, i. e. to Baal, who bears the title of ' king ' in Phcenician inscrip
tions. Baal's consort, Asherah, is called ' queen of heaven' in Jeremiah (vii. 18,
xliv. 17-19, 25).
Afar off, i. e. to renowned foreign shrines.
To the underworld, i. c. to the infernal gods. Comp. note on Ixv. 4.
Of whom wast thou afraid ? That is, as long as the Jews were under the pro
tection of Jehovah, they had no real cause for alarm. Then follows the secret
motive of the idolatry practised during the exile. Jehovah seemed to have re
nounced his relation to his people, ' to have been silent a long time ' (comp.
xiii. 14, Ixiv. II); the Jews therefore conceived themselves at liberty to change
their religion.
Thy justification, i. c. the justification of thy cause in the eyes of the world, or,
in other words, the restoration of the Jews to Palestine. 'Thy works' = ' thine
idols.' Par. 4. And one said, i. e. a heavenly voice was heard. Comp. note on xlv. 24.
A bruised spirit, i. e. one depressed by affliction. Comp. Ixi. i, Ixv. 14, Ixvi. 2.
For his unlawful desires. Literally, ' for the iniquity of his covetousness,'
which is explained afterwards as = ' walking frowardly in the way of his own
heart,' i. e. the imitation of foreign culture and religions.
And will repay comforts. Comp. note on xl. 2.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 203
That makeih the fruit of the lips, i. e. who designed the lips for offering the
sacrifice of praise. Comp. Hos. xiv. 3.
, To him that is far off and to him that is near, i. c. to the whole body of Jewish
exiles, in whatever country they might be dispersed.

BOOK IIL
The New Jerusalem.
In the second book the prophet had abstracted his view alike from
Cyrus and from Babylon, and concentrated it on Israel's glorious
horizon, and the grave question whether his countrymen were morally
prepared for the crisis. The third book is equaUy destitute of any
express reference to Cyrus or to Babylon, but it contains several pas
sages from which we may plausibly infer that the expectations at first
entertained of Cyrus had met with a temporary disappointment. If so,
we may proceed to the further conclusion that some months at least
had elapsed between the composition of the first book of the prophecy
and the third. In the period covered by the second book we may sup
pose the patriotic Jews to have been waiting for news of the advance of
Cyrus upon Babylon : in the course of the third we seem to hear the
accents of disappointment and complaint. Not that the prophet him
self shared these discontented feelings ; he even wins his way through
the apparent failure of his anticipations to a still bolder faith in the im
mediate interposition of Jehovah.
The first chapter of this book refutes the objection that Israel has a
right, based on its scrupulous observance of fast-days, to complain of
Jehovah for not interfering in its behalf. The second, in more direct
language, indicates the moral degradation of all classes among the Jews
as the cause of Jehovah's displeasure. Then follows a confession of
sin, in which the prophet, as on a similar occasion (chap, liii), includes
himself. Sin alone is the reason why the people of Jehovah have so
long languished in exile. But now, since the hopes formerly fixed on

204 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Gyrus have been disappointed, Jehovah himself will interpose for the
destruction of all the foes of the theocracy, and the spiritual regenera
tion of his own people. Here the connection of ideas is interrupted by
a digression extending over the next three chapters. And first of all
by an ode on the glory of the new Jerusalem, which divides itself into
five strophes: (i) the dawn of Zion's prosperity; (2) the restoration
and beautification of the temple ; (3) the rebuilding of Jerusalem ;
(4) the peace and splendour of the Jewish state ; (5) the inalienable
character of all these mercies. In the fourth chapter the ' Servant of
Jehovah' reappears for the last time, dwelling in glowing terms on his
pre-eminent function of consolation, and exulting in the speedy fulfil
ment of the Divine promises. In the beginning of the fifth chapter
Jehovah himself is the speaker ; he declares that he wiU not desist until
he has attained his object in the glorification of Zion. Indeed, he has
himself appointed angelic watchmen, who allow themselves no rest until
Jehovah shaU interpose for the relief of his people. Here the prophet
returns to his contemporaries in Babylon, and urges them not to linger
in the accursed city, for their redemption is won.
At this point the digression is ended, and the reader is transported
by the prophet's vivid imagination to the position occupied at the end
of the second chapter. The judgment already announced has by this
time actuaUy taken place. It is described in a dialogue between the
prophet ,and a victorious warrior on his return from the field of battie
in Edom. The latter turns out to be none less than the Divine cham
pion of the cause of Israel. He had noticed with wonder that no
human agent (an allusion to the delay of Cyrus in Asia Minor) had
offered himself for the sacred enterprise, and therefore he was con
strained to take vengeance in person on his own and Israel's enemies.
Edom indeed is among the first to feel the weight of his displeasure, yet
Edom is only the representative of the entire heathen world. (Comp.
IxiU. 6, ' I trode down ihe peoples,' and lix. 18, 'to the sea-coasts (i.e. to
his most distant enemies) he will repay recompense.') The three
chapters which succeed are evidently designed to form an artistic
conclusion to the whole prophecy. The seventh chapter is an ex-

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 205
pression of thanksgiving intermingled with penitence and supplication.
It begins with a retrospect of the early history of Israel, when Jehovah
stood in intimate relationship to his people, and constantly delivered
them. Then it passes into a tender expostulation with Him, who has
done so much, but now seems to be inaccessible to entreaty. ' O that
Jehovah would descend, as once before on Sinai ! ' Indeed, the pro
phet exclaims, if chastisement was designed to lead the IsraeUtes back
to their God, it has completely missed its aim with the great majority
of the nation. Calamity has but led to a despair of God's forgiveness,
and, as a natural consequence of this, to a general and undisguised de
pravity. The eighth chapter contains the answer of Jehovah to the
prayers offered by the prophet in the name of the church. It begins
with rebuke, but ends with gracious consolations. The DiVine speaker
points out the moral impossibility of granting any relief as long as the
majority of the exiles commit such open violations of the true reli
gion. But, he continues, although the unbelievers and the polytheists
shall soon be punished still more fearfully, the truly pious Israelites shall
be spared amidst the general destruction. He concludes with a glowing
description of the blessings reserved in Palestine for the faithful. The
ninth and last chapter contains a further answer to the church's prayer,
with special reference to the case of the unbelieving Jews, who had
treated the patriotic zeal of the prophet and his disciples with bitter
contempt. It declares that even if any insincere worshippers of the
true God should desire to co-operate in building a temple to Jehovah,
He, the friend of the poor in spirit, wiU not accept their service. Then
the prophet turns to his own disciples, and announces the terrible
destruction of their unbelieving countrymen. But here he is trans
ported to the time when the faithful few have returned to Palestine,
and Jehovah has resumed his throne on Mount Zion. Representatives
of all nations shall throng to the new Jerusalem as spectators, and even
the polytheistic exiles, who had remained in Babylon, shall at last
resolve to claim a share in the patrimony of Israel (chap. ix. par. 2).
But a sudden catastrophe shall take place ; the enemies of Jehovah shall
be consumed by fire and sword. A few only shall escape from the

2o6 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
scene of destruction, but these shaU be transformed into instruments
for the fulfilment of Jehovah's purposes respecting Israel. They shall
carry tidings of the great God of the Jews to their distant homes, and
prevail upon those GentUes, amongst whom any Jews may still be
dwelling, to conduct these swiftly and honourably to Jerusalem. Last
of all, the prophet returns to the unbelievers and their awful doom.
Even after death (if we are not mistaken in so interpreting the passage)
they shall have some consciousness of the bitter resentment of Jehovah.

CHAPTER I.

[LVIII. 1.] Cry aloud, spare not ; lift up thy voice like a
¦trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house .
of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and desire to know
my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the
precept of their God : they demand of me judgments of righteous
ness, they desire that God would approach. Wherefore do we
fast, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore do we chasten our
soul, and thou takest no knowledge ? Behold, in the day of your
fast ye go after your business, and exact all your labours. Behold,
ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wicked
ness : ye do not so fast this day, that ye make your voice to be
heard on high. Is this the fast that I have chosen, the day when
a man doth chasten his soul ? Is it to bow down his head as a
bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him ? wilt thou
caU this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah ? Is not this the
fast that I have chosen ? to loose the bands fastened by wicked
ness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, and to let the oppressed
go free, and to burst in sunder every yoke ? Is it not to deal thy

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 207
bread to the hungry, and to bring home them that wander abroad
in misery ? when thou seest the naked, to cover him, and not to
hide thyself from thine own flesh ?

[8.] Then shaU thy Ught break forth as the morning, and thine
heaUng shaU spring forth speedily ; and thy righteousness shall go
before thee : the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rereward. Then
shalt thou caU, and Jehovah shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he
shaU say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee
the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking maU-
ciously ; and if thou offer thy pleasant things to the hungry, and
satisfy the afflicted soul ; then shaU thy light rise in obscurity, and
thy darkness be as the noon-day, and Jehovah shall guide thee
contmually, and satisfy thy soul in sultry heat, and make strong
thy bones : then shalt thou be like a fresh watered garden, and
like a fountain whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of
thee shaU build the old waste places ; thou shalt raise up the
foundations of many generations, so that men shall call thee. The
repairer of the breach. The restorer of paths, that the land be
inhabited. 3.
[13.] If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, not doing
thy business on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a deUght,
and the holy of Jehovah honourable ; and if thou honour it, not
doing as thou art wont, nor going after thy business, nor speaking
vain words : then shalt thou have thy delight in Jehovah, and I
will cause thee to ride over the high places of the land, and feed
thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of
Jehovah hath spoken it.

2c8 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Par. 1. They demand of me judgments of righteousness, i. c. they claim the de
straction of their enemies, as a just recognition of their own innocence.
Wherefore do we fast. The tendency of the Jews during the exile seems to
have been to substitute fast-days for Sabbaths, the ostensible motive of the
former being the commemoration of the great national calamities. Thus there
were fasts in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months, in memory of the
capture of Jerusalem, the buming of the temple, the murder of Gedaliah, and the
beginning of the siege of Jerasalem, respectively. See Zech. vii. 3-5, viii. 19.
The only fast prescribed by the law was that of the day of atonement.
Is this . . . tbe day when a man doth chasten his soul. The word ' to fast' {iiitn)
does not occur in the Pentateuch ; its place is supplied by the phrase ' to afHict,
or chasten, one's soul,' Lev. xvi. 29, 31. The prophet's meaning therefore seems
to be. Is this a fast in the true and original sense of the word, i. e. a prolonged
act of self-denial ?
The tbongs of the yoke. For the cruelty of Jewish masters to their slaves at a
somewhat earlier period, see Jer. xxxiv. 8-22.
From thine own fiesh, i.e. thy poorer countrymen. Comp. 2 Sam. v. i.
Par. 2. Then shall thy light. Sec. That is, n thorough moral and spiritual
reformation is the condition of participation in the promised redemption. The
prophet alludes apparently to the complaints called forth (ver. 2) by the delay
of Cyius to invade Babylonia.
Thy righteousness, i. e. the prosperity granted by Jehovah in his ' righteous '
fulfilment of his covenant.
The putting forth of the finger, i.e. the gesture of contempt towards the poor
and the pious. Comp. Ixvi. 5.
Par. 3. To ride over the high places of the land, i. e. to take triumphal posses
sion of Palestine with its hills and fortresses.

CHAPTER II.
1.
[LIX. 1.] Behold, the hand of Jehovah is not too short to save,
neither his ear too heavy to hear ; but your iniquities have sepa
rated between you and your God, and your sins have concealed
his face from you, so that he heareth not. For your hands are
defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity ; your lips speak

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 209
lies, and your tongue muttereth perverseness. There is none that
preacheth in sincerity, nor any that pleadeth in faithfulness : they
trust in vanity, and speak deceitfully; they conceive misery, and
bring forth mischief They hatch basiUsks' eggs, and weave
spiders' webs ; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and, if an egg
be crushed, it breaketh out into a viper. Their webs serve not for
clothing, neither with their works can men cover themselves : their
works are works of mischief, and the act of violence is in their
hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed inno
cent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of mischief; desolation
and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they
know not, and there is no justice in their tracks ; they have made
them crooked paths ; whosoever goeth therein shall not know
peace. 2.
[9.] Therefore hath judgment been far from us, and righteous
ness doth not overtake us : we wait for Ught, but behold obscurity ;
for the perfect brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope
for the wall like the bUnd; we grope as those that have no
eyes: we stumble at noon-day as in the twUight; among the
wealthy we are as dead men. We all murmur like bears, and
moan feebly Uke doves : we wait for judgment, but there is none ;
for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are
many before thee, and our sins testify against us ; for we have the
conscience of our transgressions, and as for our iniquities, we
know them, — rebelUon and belying Jehovah, and drawing back
from following our God, speaking oppression and frowardness,
conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Jus
tice hath been driven backward, and righteousness standeth afar
off; yea, truth hath stumbled in the street, and uprightness cannot
p

210 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
enter; therefore truth faileth, and he that shunneth evU is spoiled
of strength. 3.
[15.] And Jehovah saw it, and it displeased him that there was
no judgment ; and he saw that there was no man, and was
astonished that there was no champion ; therefore his arm brought
salvation unto him, and his righteousness it sustained him. And
he put on righteousness as a coat of mail, and the helmet of
salvation upon his head ; and he put on garments of vengeance
for clothing, and clad himself with zeal as a mantle. According
to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries,
recompence to his enemies ; to the sea-coasts he wiU repay recom
pence. Then shall they fear the name of Jehovah from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun ; for it shall come Uke a
pent-up stream, which the blast of Jehovah hath driven, but as a
Redeemer shaU he come unto Zion, and unto them that are con
verted from transgression in Jacob : the utterance is of Jehovah.
4.
[21.] And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith
Jehovah, My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I
have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor
out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's
seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.

Par. 1. There is none that preacheth in sincerity. Literally, 'there is none that
crieth in righteousness.' Comp. the use of ' to cry' or ' to call ' = ' to prophesy,'
in xl. 2, 6, xhv. 7, of ' report ' = ' revelation,' in liii. i, and of ' righteous ' = ' right'
or ' veracious,' in xii. 26. The sense appears to be, that none of the popular
prophets had courage to expose the moral degradation of their hearers.
None that pleadeth iti faithfulness, i. e. none whose evidence can be trasted.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 211
If an egg be crushed. Sec. That is, if any of their plans are opposed, they
will take a cunning and malicious revenge.
Their webs serve not for clothing. A qualification of the metaphor. They are
weavers, not of any useful object, but of deeds of violence.
Par. 2. Therefore hath judgment. Sec. That is, therefore has Jehovah so long
refrained from interposing in your behalf.
We wait for light. Sec. A description of the disappointment felt by the
patriotic Jews at the apparent hesitation of Cyrus to attack the Babylonians.
Among the wealthy, i. e. among the prosperous inhabitants of Babylon. The
origin of the word rendered ' wealthy ' is doubtful ; see ' Notes and Criticisms,'
P- 39-
Is spoiled of strength. This passage has been very variously interpreted, but
the most probable sense is that deduced from Ps. Ixvi. 5, where the expression,
'the stout-hearted are spoiled,' is explained by the subsequent words (Auth.
Vers.), ' and none of the men of might have found their hands,' i. e. they have
lost the power of resistance.
Par. 3. He saw that there was no man. The hopes of the Jews, which had
centred in Cyrus and the Persians, appeared to be ending in disappointment.
See the analysis prefixed to this book.
His arm brought salvation. That is, Jehovah himself wiU interpose, and
execute vengeance on aU his enemies. This is described in the past of pro
phetic certainty.
It shall come, i. c. the name of Jehovah shall come. Comp. xxx. 27, where
there is a similar transition from ' the name of Jehovah ' to Jehovah himself.
Par. 4. My spirit that is upon thee. Sec. See notes on li. l6i Ixi. I.

CHAPTER III.
[LX. 1.] 1.
Arise, shine; for thy Ught is come.
And the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross
darkness the peoples,
But upon thee shaU Jehovah rise, and his glory shaU be
seen upon thee; p 2

212 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
And the nations shaU journey unto thy light.
And kings to the brightness of thy shining.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see : they aU gather to
gether, and come unto thee ;
Thy sons come from afar, and thy daughters are borne on
the side.
[5.] 2.
Then shalt thou see, and be lightened; and thine heart shaU
throb, and be enlarged;
Because the wealth of the sea shaU be turned unto thee, the
riches of the nations shall come unto thee.
A multitude of camels shall cover thee, the yotmg camels of
Midian and Ephah, they all shaU come from Sheba,
Bearing gold and incense, and spreading abroad the praises
of Jehovah ;
All the flocks of Kedar shaU gather together unto thee, the
rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee :
They shall come up acceptably on mine altar, and I will
glorify the house of my glory.
Who are these that fly as the clouds, and as doves to their
cotes ?
Yea, for me the sea-coasts wait, and the ships of Tarshish first,
To bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold
with them,
For the name of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of
Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
[10.] 3.
And aliens shaU build thy walls, and their kings shall minister
unto thee.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 213
For in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour wiU I
have mercy upon thee.
And thy gates shaU be open contmually, they shaU not be
shut day nor night.
That men may bring unto thee the riches of the nations,
and their kings in a train of captives ;
For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall
perish,
Yea, those nations shaU be utterly wasted.
The glory of Lebanon shaU come unto thee, the cypress and
the plane and the larch together.
That I may glorify the place of my sanctuary, and make
my footstool honourable.
And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall go crouching
imto thee, and aU they that reviled thee shaU bow
down at the soles of thy feet.
And men shall call thee. The city of Jehovah, The Zion
of the Holy One of Israel.
[15.] 4.
Whereas thou wast forsaken and hated, and no man passed
through thee,
I wiU make thee an eternal excellency, a deUght of many
generations ;
And thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and shalt suck
the breast of kings.
And thou shalt know that I Jehovah am thy saviour, and
that thy redeemer is the Hero of Israel.
For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I wiU bring silver,
and for wood brass, and for stones iron;

214 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
And I will make thine officers peace, and thy governors
righteousness.
• Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, desolation nor
destruction within thy borders,
But thou shah call thy waUs Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
[19.] 5.
The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for bright
ness shall the moon give Ught unto thee.
But Jehovah shaU be unto thee an everlasting Ught, and thy
God thy glory:
Thy sun shaU no more go down, neither shall thy moon
withdraw itself,
For Jehovah shaU be unto thee an everlasting Ught, and
the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
And thy people shaU be aU righteous, they shaU possess the
land for ever,
The plant of my garden, the work of mine hands, that I
may be glorified:
The smaUest shaU become a thousand, and the weakest a
great nation ;
I Jehovah wiU hasten it in the season thereof
Par. 1. Arise, shine. Jerasalem is personified as a woman lying prostrate on
the ground in deep melancholy. The rest of the world is metaphorically de
scribed as being shrouded in thick darkness, for the great judgment-day of
Jehovah is but just past. Suddenly a light is seen approaching the spot where
Jerusalem is lying ; it is the glory of Jehovah, who is returning with the exiles
to his sanctuary.
On the side. An aUusion to the Oriental custom of carrying children on
the hip.
Par. 2. Be lightened. Literally, ' shine for joy.' The same expression occurs
in Ps. xxxiv. 5.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 215
The young camels of Midian. The caravans of the Midianites, especially those
of Ephah (Gen. xxv. 4), appear to have gone to Sheba, i. c. to Arabia Felix, or
Yemen, for gold and spices. Kedar and Nebaioth are the names of nomad
Arabian tribes. See Gen. xxv. 1 3.
'Who are these thatfiy as the clouds ? Indistmct forms are seen in the distance ;
they are the ships which bear the returning exiles.
Par. 3. Their kings in a train of captives. See note on xlv. 13, where the cap
tivity of the heathen nations is described as being voluntary.
The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, i. e. the new Jerusalem shall excel
the fairest regions of Palestine in beauty.

CHAPTER IV.

[lxi. 1.] The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, because
Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the afflicted ; '
because he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to pro
claim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to
them that are bound ; to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah,
and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn ;
to grant unto them that mourn in Zion, yea, to give unto them a
coronal for ashes, the oU of joy for mourning, the garment of
praise for a heavy sphit, that men should call them oaks of
prosperity, the garden planted of Jehovah that he might be
glorified. 2.
[4.] Then shall they buUd the old wastes, and raise up the
former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the de
solations of many generations. And strangers shaU stand and
feed your flocks, and aliens shall be your ploughmen and your
vinedressers ; but ye shaU be named the priests of Jehovah, men

2i6 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
shall caU you the ministers of our God : ye shall eat the riches
of the nations, and shall make your boast of their glory. For
your shame ye shaU have double, and for infamy they shaU
triumph in their portion ; therefore in their land they shall
possess the double; everlasting joy shall be unto them. For
I Jehovah love justice, I hate wrongful violence; and I will
give them their reward fahhfuUy, and make with them an
everlasting covenant, so that their seed shall be renowned
among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of the
peoples : all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they
are a seed which Jehovah hath blessed.

[ic] I wiU greatly rejoice in Jehovah ; my soul shaU exult in
my God ; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he hath wrapped me in the mantle of prosperity, as a bridegroom
that putteth on a priestly coronal, and as a bride that decketh her
self with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her buds, and
as a garden causeth the things that are sown in it to bud forth, so
the Lord Jehovah wiU cause prosperity to bud forth, even renown
before aU nations.

Par. 1. The spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me. This is probably another
soliloquy of the ' Servant of Jehovah,' and not, as most modem critics suppose,
of the prophetic author. Perhaps the only objection to our view is the exclu
sive use of the expression, ' the servants of Jehovah,' from chap. liv. onwards,
which might seem to indicate a resolution of the personality of the ' Servant '
into its elements, but is not such a sudden renewal of an old subject in com
plete accordance with the characteristics of the prophecy ? At any rate, the
objection is counterbalanced by fhe absence from our prophet of anything
like self-assertion. Five times indeed we have seemed to trace allusions to
his own privileged position, but each of these is confined within a mere fi'ag-

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 217
ment of a sentence, and thus the impersonal character of the composition is on
the whole carefully maintained. The present soliloquy differs in no essential
respect from the preceding ones, the reference of which to the servant has (ex
cept in chap. 1.) never been disputed.
Hath anointed me, i. e. hath appointed me to a sacred office. So in i Kings
xix. i6, Elijah is directed to 'anoint' Elisha, and so in Isa. xiii. 3, the Medes
are called ' Jehovah's consecrated ones.'
To proclaim liberty. An allusion to the legal phrase for the privilege of the
year of jubUee, Lev. xxv. 8.
Oaks of prosperity. LiteraUy, ' oaks of righteousness.' But the context shews
that ' righteousness ' means here the external justification of a good cause,
i. e. success. See note on xU. 2, and for the rendering ' oaks,' note on i. 29.
Par. 2. Tbe priests of Jehovah, That is, the position of Israel in relation to
the Gentiles shall be analogous to the primacy of Levi among the tribes. Comp.
Exod. xix. 6, ' Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests.'
For your shame ye shall have double. An enigmatical expression, which is
explained by the following words, ' they shall possess the double.' Comp. note
on xl. 2 (p. 147), ' double for all her sins.'
Wrongful violence, i. e. the oppression exercised by the Babylonians.
Par. 3. / will greatly rejoice. The ' Servant ' places himself mentally in
the period when God's promises will have been fulfilled, and expresses his
delight. A priesdy coronal. Comp. Exod. xxix. 9 ; Song of Sol. iii. 11.

CHAPTER V.

[lxii. 1.] For Zion's sake I wUl not be silent, and for Jeru
salem's sake I wUl not rest, until the prosperity thereof go forth as
the dawn, and the salvation thereof as a buming torch. And the
nations shaU see thy prosperity, and all kings thy glory, and thou
shalt be caUed by a new name which the mouth of Jehovah shall
give thee; and thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of
Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the palm of the hand of thy God.

2i8 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
2.
[4.] Thou shalt no more be termed The forsaken, neither shall
thy land any more be termed The desolation ; but thou shalt be
called My deUght is in her, and thy land The married, forasmuch
as Jehovah deUghteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Yea, as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry
thee, and with the joy of the bridegroom over the bride shaU thy
God rejoice over thee.

[6.] I have set watchmen upon thy waUs, 0 Jerusalem; they
are never sUent by day nor by night. O ye that are Jehovah's
remembrancers, take not your rest ; and give no rest to him, untU
he establish Jerusalem, and make it a renown in the earth.
4.
[8.] Jehovah hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of
his strength. Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for
thine enemies, and the aliens shaU not drink thy wine, for the
which thou hast laboured; but they that gather it shaU eat it,
and praise Jehovah, and they that bring it into the storehouse
shall drink it in my holy courts. 5.
[10.] Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way
of the people ; cast up, cast up the highway ; gather out the
stones ; lift up an ensign for the peoples. Behold, Jehovah hath
proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of
Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with
him, and his recompence before him. And men shall caU them,

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 219
The holy people. The redeemed of Jehovah ; and thou shalt be
caUed, The sought out, A city not forsaken.
Par. 1. For Zion's sake will I not be silent . . . until. Sec. The speaker here is
Jehovah, as is shewn by par. 3, and by the parallel expression, Ixv. 6, ' I
will not be silent, until I have recompensed ; ' comp. also Ivii. 1 1 , Ixiv. 1 2 .
A new name. Comp. Jer. xxxiii. 16, 'This is the name wherewith she shall
be called, Jehovah is our righteousness' (i.e. the promise of Jehovah is the
warrant of our security).
In the hand of Jehovah. Jerasalem is compared to a crown, which Jehovah
holds forth proudly for the admiration of the world.
Par. 3. I have set watchmen upon thy walls. The key to this passage is fur
nished by lii. 8, where the ideal representative of Zion (comp. note on xl. 9)
is described as having ' watchmen ' (perhaps angelic beings, Zech. i. 12), whose
duty it is to give the first tidings of the return of Jehovah with the exiles. In
the present passage these ' watchmen ' are said to have been stationed on the
(ideal) walls by Jehovah himself Comp. the pathetic apostrophe in Lamenta
tions ii. 18,
' Cry heartily unto Jehovah, O wall of the daughter of Zion !
Let tears ran down like a river day and night !
Give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease!'
0 ye that are Jehovah's remembrancers. The prophet adjures the ' watchmen "
to continue reminding Jehovah of his promises.
Par. 4. Shall drink it in my holy courts. An aUusion to the feasts of the
tithes, which, according to Deut. xiv. 23-27, were to be eaten ' before Jehovah.'

CHAPTER VI.
[LXIII. 1.] ' Who is this that cometh from Edom, with purple
garments from Bozrah ? this that is glorious in his apparel, that
throweth back his head in the pride of his strength ? ' 'I that pro
mised in righteousness, mighty to save.' ' Wherefore is there red
in thine apparel, and thy garments like his that treadeth in the
wine-press?' 'I have trodden the wine-trough alone, and of the

220 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
peoples there was no man with me ; so I trode them in mine
anger, and trampled them in my fury, and their blood besprinkled
my garments, and I have stained aU my raiment. For a day of
vengeance was in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed had
come ; and I looked, but there was none to help, and wondered in
myself, but there was none to uphold; therefore mine own arm
brought salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me ; and I trode
the peoples in mine anger, and brake them to pieces m my fury,
and caused their blood to run down to the earth.'
Who is this that cometh from Edom f The prophet here retums to the standing-
point occupied at the end of chap. ii. Edom is the representative of the
heathen world, as in chap, xxxiv (old arrangement), the notes on which may
illustrate this chapter. For the connection of ideas, and especially for the sense
of the expression, ' there was no man with me,' see analysis prefixed to this
book. I that promised in righteousness. An allusion to the promises contained in the
preceding chapters. Comp. lii. 6.
That treadeth in the wine-press. Compare, for this metaphor, Joel iii. IJ;
Lam. i. 15 ; Rev. xix. 15.
Their blood. Literally, ' their juice.' Similarly wine is sometimes caUed ' the
blood of the grape,' Gen. xUx. 11 ; Deut. xxxii. 14.
Broke them to pieces. For 'ashakkerim, ' I made them drunk,' read 'ashabbSrim,
with the Targum, and many MSS. and critical editors.

CHAPTER VII.
1.
[LXIII. 7.] I wiU celebrate the loving-kindness of Jehovah, and
the praises of Jehovah, according to all that Jehovah hath be
stowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
which he hath bestowed on them, according to his mercies, and
according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses. He said,

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 221
Surely they are my people, chUdren that wiU not lie, and became
unto them a saviour. In aU their affliction he was afflicted, and the
angel of his presence saved them : in his love and in his pity he
redeemed them, and he took them up, and carried them aU the
days of old. But they rebeUed, and vexed his holy Spirit, so he
turned himself to be their enemy ; he himself fought against them.

[11.] Then they remembered the days of old, and the true
Moses of his people, saying. Where is he that brought them up
out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he
that placed his holy Sphit among them ? That caused his majes
tical arm to journey at the right hand of Moses, that divided the
water before them, to make himself an everlasting name ? That
made them go through the floods, as horses through the pasture-
land, without stumbling ? Like the beast that goeth down into
the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah led them : thus didst thou guide
thy people, to make thyself a name of majesty.

[15.] Look down fi-om heaven, and behold, from the habitation
of thy hoUness and thy majesty. Where are thy zeal and thy
mighty acts ? Thine inward yearnings and compassion have re
strained their issues toward me. Surely thou art our father, for
Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us;
thou, Jehovah, art our father, our redeemer was thy name from of
old. O Jehovah, why dost thou make us to err from thy ways, and
harden our heart that we should not fear thee ? Return for thy
servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. Thy holy people
possessed it but a httie whUe : our adversaries have trodden down

2 22 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
thy sanctuary. We are become like those over whom thou hast
never borne rule, who have not been called by thy name.
4.
[lxiv. 1.] Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou
wouldest come dovm, that the mountains might quake before
thee, (as when the fire kindleth the brushwood, as when the fire
causeth the water to boU,) to make thy name known to thine
adversaries, so that nations might tremble before thee, when thou
didst terrible things which we hoped not for ; oh that thou
wouldest come down, that the motmtains might quake before
thee, (for none from of old have heard it, nor perceived it by
the ear, neither hath the eye seen any God beside thee, who
would perform such things for him that waiteth for him)!
Oh that thou wouldest meet favoiu-ably him that worketh
righteousness with joy, that remembereth thee, walking in thy
ways ! Behold, thou wast wroth, therefore we sinned ; our ad
versities continued long, therefore we went astray. And we all
became as one that is unclean, and our righteous deeds as a
menstruous garment ; we aU did fade as the leaves, and our
iniquities like the wind carried us away; and there was none
that caUed upon thy name, that stirred up himself to take hold
on thee ; for thou hadst hid thy face from us, and delivered us
into the hand of our sins.

[8.J Yet now, O Jehovah, thou art our father: we are tiie
clay, and thou our potter, and we aU are the work of thy
hands ! O Jehovah, be not wroth very sore, neither remember
iniquity for ever : behold, consider, we pray thee ; we are aU thy

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 223
people ! Thy holy cities are a wUderness, Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our glorious house, where
our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire, and aU our
pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for
these things, O Jehovah? wiU thou hold thy peace, and afflict
us very sore ?

Par. 1. I will celebrate. Sec. Compare the historical retrospect which follows
with the analogous passages in Ps. bcxvii, written probably during the Baby
lonian exUe.
The angel of his presence. A combination of two phrases in the Pentateuch,
'the angel of Jehovah' (Gen. xvi. 7, &c.), and 'my presence' (Exod. xxxiii. 15).
The former phrase is frequently used as a synonym for Jehovah, the personality
of an pugel being regarded as unimportant, except so far as it was an organ of
the Divine will.
He took them tip. A favourite image with the prophets. Comp. xlvi. 3 ; Hos.
xi. 3 ; Deut. i. 31. For the meaning of ' vexed his holy Spirit,' see below.
Par. 2. The true Moses of his people, i. e. Jehovah. Compare the parallel
clause, ' Where is he that brought them up out of the sea ? ' The literal ren
dering is, ' he that draweth out, or delivereth (Heb. mosheh), his people,' where
We seem to trace an aUusion to the Hebrew etymology of Moses, Exod. ii. 10.
The passage, however, is obscure, and not improbably corrupt. Ewald renders,
' And his people remembered the ancient days of Moses,' taking the noun at the
end of the sentence as expressing the subject of the verb at the beginning, which
seems too harsh a constraction to be tolerated.
The shepherds of his flock, i. e. Moses and Aaron. Comp. Ps. Ixxvii. 20 ;
Mic. vi. 4.
'Where is he that put his holy Spirit among them ? This is a poetic personifica
tion of the religious and practical wisdom divinely vouchsafed to Moses, his
companions, and his successor. Hence the expression, ' they vexed his holy
Spirit,' which occurs above, wiU refer to the religious and political decay of
Israel in fhe period of the Judges. Comp. Num. xi. 17 ; Deut. xxxiv. 9 ; Hagg.
ii. 5 ; Neh. ix. 20.
Like the beast that goeth down into the valley, i. c. that is driven down by the
shepherd from the bare mountain-side to the green pastures of the valley.
Led them. For tenichennu, ' made them to rest,' read tanchennu with the an
cient versions. Bishop Lowth, and Ewald.

2 24 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
Par. 3. Abraham knoweth us not. ' Proud as we are of our descent from
Abraham (John viii. 33), he is unable to relieve us.'
Why dost thou make us to err from thy ways 1 The necessity of evil actions is
preached as emphatically by the prophets as the moral responsibility of the
human agent. Compare, on the one side, Isa. i. 19, 20, v. 4-7 ; Deut. xi. 26;
and, on the other, Exod. vii. 3 ; Deut. ii. 30 ; Isa. vi. 9, 10, xxix. 10. The
difficulty of reconciling these doctrines seems from our passage to have been
keenly felt.
We are become like those over whom. Sec. This expression must be explained
by the close connection which existed between the religion of the Jews and
their politics. Even in the last days of Jerusalem a large proportion of the
inhabitants imagined the city of Jehovah to be impregnable (Jer. vii. 4, xxviii.
i-ii, &c.), and Jeremiah himself, though he deprecated such exaggerations,
looked forward to a. permanent restoration of the theocratic state (xxxiii.
15-18). Par. 4. Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens. Sec. One of the most involved
periods in the Old Testament, extending properly to the words, ' walking in thy
ways.' For other instances, see in the Hebrew, Gen. i. 1-3, ii. 4-7, v. i, 2 ;
Josh. iii. 14-16 ; i Sam. iii. 2-4 ; i Kings viii. 41-43, &c. (evidently by a pro
phetic writer, and therefore an unexceptionable paraUel to our passage).
• Therefore we sinned. The calamities of the Jews had only increased their
inclination to sin ; on the ground of this the prophet supplicates for mercy.
Our adversities continued long. Literally, ' therein (i. e. in the tokens of thine
anger) a long time.' The verb seems to have fallen out, or to have intruded
into some neighbouring passage. For the use of the plural bahem, comp.
xxx. 6, xxxviii. 16, xliv. 15 ; Ezek. xxxiii. 18, quoted by Delitzsch.
Therefore we went astray. For veniwashea, ' and we shall be saved,* read
vannitha with Ewald, following the Lxx. (irKar/iSTjiiev.
And delivered us. For vattemugenu, ' and thou didst melt us,' read vattemag-
ggnenu with Ewald, following the Lxx, the Targum, and the Syriac. Comp.
Gen. xiv. 20.
Par. 5. We are the clay. Sec. As the potter never wantonly destroys his own
work, so Jehovah cannot have given his people over to irreversible rain.
The holy cities, i. e. the cities of the Holy Land.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 225

CHAPTER VIII.

[LXV. 1.] I gave access to them that asked not for me ; I was
at hand unto them that sought me not : I said. Behold me, behold
me, unto a nation that caUed not upon my name. I spread out
my hands aU the day unto a rebellious people, which walked in a
way that was not good, after their own thoughts ; a people which
provoke me continually to my face, which sacrifice in the gardens,
and burn incense upon the bricks, which sit in the graves, and
lodge in hidden places, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of
abominable things is in their vessels, which say. Stand by thyself,
come not near unto me, for I am holy. These are a smoke in my
nose, a fire that burneth perpetually. Behold, it is written before
me; I wiU not keep silence, untU I have recompensed, and recom
pensed into your bosom, your own iniquities, and the iniquities of
your fathers together, saith Jehovah, which burned incense upon
the mountains, and reviled me upon the hiUs ; yea, I will measure
their reward first into their bosom. 2.
[8.] Thus saith Jehovah, As when new wine is found in the
cluster, one saith. Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, so will I do
for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy it aU. And I wiU
bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah a possessor
of my mountains, and mine elect shaU possess it, and my servants
shaU dweU there. And Sharon shaU be a pasture of flocks, and
the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people
that have sought me. Q

2 26 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

[ll.] But as for you that forsake Jehovah, that forget my holy
mountain, that prepare a table for Fortune, and fiU up spiced wine •
for Destiny ; I have destined you for the sword, and ye shall all
bow down to the slaughter; because when I caUed, ye did not
answer ; when I spake, ye did not hear ; but did that which was
evil in mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, my servants shall
eat, but ye shall hunger ; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye
shall thirst; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shaU be
ashamed; behold, my servants shaU sing for gladness of heart,
but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation.
of spirit. And ye shaU leave your name for a curse unto my
chosen; they shaU say, 'The Lord Jehovah slay thee in like
manner;' but he shaU caU his servants by another name; so
that he who blesseth himself on earth shaU bless himself by the
God of faithfulness ; and he that sweareth on earth shaU swear
by the God of faithfulness ; because the former troubles are for
gotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.
4.
[17.] For, behold, I make new heavens and a new earth; and
the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But
rejoice ye and exult for ever in that which I make ; for, behold, I
transform Jerusalem into exultation, and her people into joy ; and
I will exult in Jerusalem, and rejoice in my people, and the voice
of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying,
There shaU no more be born of her an infant of a few days, nor
an old man that fiUeth not up his days ; for he, that dieth at a
hundred years, shall die a child, and the sinner, that dieth at a

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 227
hundred years, shall be deemed accursed. And they shall build
houses, and inhabit them ; and they shaU plant vineyards, and eat
the fruit of them : they shall not build, and another inhabit ; they
shall not plant, and another eat ; for as the days of a tree shall be
the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work
of their hands. They shaU not labour in vain, nor bring forth for
calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and
their offspring with them. Before they call, I wiU answer, and
while they are yet speaking, I wUl hear. ' The wolf and the lamb
shaU feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox,' and
the meat of the serpent shall be dust : ' they shaU not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain, saith Jehovah.'

Par. 1. I gave access to them. Sec. The faithful had complained, through the
prophet, that Jehovah had broken off his relationship to his people. Jehovah
replies, that the fault lay on their side, for he had always been ready to renew
his intercourse with them. For qord ' (where my name was not) invoked,' it is
more natural to read qdrd with Ewald,
A people which provoke me. Some of the idolatrous rites mentioned in this
passage were common in Palestine before the exile ; others first arose in Baby
lonia, as the prophet himself intimates by the distinction which he draws be
tween the sins of his hearers, and those of ' their fathers,' who lived in a land
of ' mountains and hills.' To the former class belong the sacrifices in the gar
dens (comp. i. 29), and perhaps the initiation in heathen mysteries; to the
latter, all the remainder of the description.
Upon the bricks, i. e. upon altars made of bricks, which were implicitly pro
hibited by the law (Exod. xx. 24, 25), but were of prime necessity to any
system of ritual in Babylonia. Ewald however explains the phrase of the tiling
on the roofs, and in the preceding clause alters gannoth, ' gardens,' into gag-
goth, ' roofs,' in accordance with the theory, which no one but himself has
adopted, that this prophecy was written by a Jewish refugee in Egypt. The
obvious objection is that the preposition in the former clause is not ' upon,'
but 'in.'
Which sit in the graves. In order, that is, to consult the spirits of the dead,
Q 2

2 28 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
or perhaps the infemal deities of the Babylonians, Anu and Martu. Comp. Sir
H. Rawlinson, in Rawlinson's ' Herodotus,' vol. i. p. 591.
In hidden places, i. e. in subterranean caves and passages, where the mysteries
might be celebrated.
That eat swine's flesh. Sec. That is, that partake of the ' unclean' food of
sacrificial feasts. The swine was forbidden by the law, Lev. xi. 7.
I am holy. Literally, ' I am holy to thee,' i. c. ' thou shouldest treat me as
holy.' Thus the Jewish renegades marked the completeness of their defection
from Jehovah. A good Israelite, on the other hand, regarded himself as holy,
i. c. as one devoted to Jehovah, and the heathen as unclean. Acts x. 28.
Upon the mountains. Comp. Ivii. 7 ; Hos. iv. 13.
Par. 2. Destroy it not, i. c. destroy not the whole cluster because of a few bad
grapes. My mountains. This reminds us of Ezekiel's affectionate allusions to the
jnountains and hills of Palestine, e.g. xxxviii. 21, 'I will call for a sword
against him throughout all my mountains.' The same expression occurs once
in Isaiah (xiv. 24), ' Upon my mountains will I tread him under foot.'
Sharon . . . Achor. That is, the whole of Palestine, from Carmel, where the
plain of Sharon began, to Jericho, in the neighbourhood of which the valley of
Achor (Josh. vii. 24-26) was situated. Observe the prophet's accurate ac-
qua:intance with the geography of his ancestral country, derived no doubt partly
from the traditions of the preceding generation, and partly from a deep study
of the sacred writings. Comp. note on p. 201.
Par. 3. That prepare a table. For these feasts of the gods, the Latin lecti-
stemia, see Jer. vii. 18, li. 44.
Fortune, Heb. Gad ; comp. Gen. xxx. 11. This is probably the planet Ju
piter, called by the Arabs, ' the greater fortune,' and by the Babylonians, Bel-
Merodach. In the age of Nebuchadnezzar this god ' was considered the source
of all power and blessings, and had in fact concentrated in his own person the
greater part of that homage and respect, which had been previously divided
among the various gods of the Pantheon.' (Sir H. Rawlinson, in Rawlinson's
' Herodotus,' vol. i. p. 629.) A place called Baal-gad is mentioned in Josh.
xi. 1 7, xii. 7, which doubtless derived its name from a Phoenician deity corre
sponding to Bel-Merodach.
Destiny. Heb. Mmi, from mdndh, ' to measure, or assign.' Meni, we may
venture to conjecture, is the same as Nana, or the Babylonian Venus, the slight
alteration being due to the fondness of the Jews for attaching Hebrew etymo
logies to foreign names. On the cylinder of Tiglath-Pileser, Nana is said to be
styled ' the queen of victory,' and ' the fortunate.' (Rawlinson's ' Herodotus,'

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 229
vol. i. p. 635.) The Utter title corresponds to the Arabic epithet of the planet
Venus, 'the lesser fortune.' The Elymean Venus is also called Nausea in
2 Maccab. i. 13.
Tbe Lord Jehovah slay thee, i. e. mayest thou die as fearfully as the renegades
of old The most extreme formula of imprecation.
By another name. What this name is, we are not yet told, but its significa
tion may be guessed from the fact that the name of Jehovah shall enter into
the current formula of blessing. Comp. note on lxii. 2.
Par. 4. / make new heavens and a new earth. Because the former heavens and
earth had been defiled by sin, xxiv. 5.
I transform Jerusalem into exultation, i. c. joy shall be a constant habit of
mind among the restored Israelites.
He that dieth at a hundred years. Sec. This excellent rendering is due to
Bishop Lowth. The meaning is. Death at the age of a hundred shall be
Regarded either as premature, or as an evidence of God's wrath. The same
thought is expressed by another prophet of the exile (Isa. xxv. 8) under the
slightly different form of the absolute annihilation of death.
Nor bring forth for calamity. That is, their offspring shall not be cut off by
sudden death.
The wolf and the lamb. This is a condensed quotation from xi. 6-9, with the
'addition of one original clause, ' the meat of the serpent shall be dust,' i. c. the
enmity between the serpent and other animals shall cease.

CHAPTER IX.

[LXVI. 1.] Thus sahh Jehovah, The heaven is my throne, and
the earth is my footstool ; what manner of house wUl ye buUd for
me, and what manner of place for my rest ? For all these things
did mine hand make, and thus all these things arose, saith Je
hovah : but on this man will I look favourably, even on him that
is oppressed, and is bruised in spirit, and trembleth at my word.
He that kiUeth an ox is as if he slew a man ; he that sacrificeth a
sheep, as if he brake a dog's neck ; he that offereth an oblation.

230 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
as if he offered swine's blood ; he that burneth incense, as if he
blessed an idol. According as they have chosen their own ways,
and their soul deUghteth in their abominations, even so I will
choose their contumeUes, and wiU bring their fears upon them;
because when I called, none did answer ; when I spake, they did
not hear, but did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose
that in which I delighted not. 2.
[5.] Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word;
Your brethren that hate you, that cast you out for my name's sake,
say. Let Jehovah glorify himself, that we may look on your joy;
but they themselves shall be ashamed. A crashing of thunder
from the city, a crashing from the temple ; it is the voice of
Jehovah that rendereth recompence to his enemies ! Before she
travailed, she brought forth ; before her pain came, she was de
livered of a man chUd. Who hath heard such a thing ? who hath
heard the like of these things ? Is a land brought forth in a day ?
or is a nation born at once ? for Zion hath travailed, and also
brought forth her children ! Should I bring to the birth, and not
cause to bring forth ? saith Jehovah ; or should I, which cause to
bring forth, restrain it ? saith thy God.
[10.] 3.
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and exult on her account, aU ye
that love her ;
Dance for joy with her, all ye that mourned over her;
That ye may suck, and be satisfied, from the breast of her
consolations.
That ye may draw forth with delight from the udder of
her glory.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 231
For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a
river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing torrent, so
that ye shall suck therefrom ; ye shall be borne on the side, and
be dandled upon the knees : as one whom his mother comforteth,
so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
And when ye see this, your heart shall dance for joy, and your
bones shall flourish Uke young grass, and the hand of Jehovah
shall be made known for his servants, but he shall pour out
his anger on his enemies. 4.
[15.] For, behold, Jehovah will come in fire, and with his
chariots Uke the whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and
his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will Jehovah plead,
and by his sword with all flesh, and the slain of Jehovah shaU be
many. They that consecrate themselves and purify themselves,
that they may enter the gardens, behind one in the midst, that eat
swine's flesh, and the abominations, and the mouse, shaU be con
sumed together ; the utterance is of Jehovah.
5.
[18.] But I will punish their words and their thoughts. The
time cometh when I wiU gather all nations and tongues, and they
shall come and see my glory. Then will I work a sign upon
them, and wiU send those that escape of them unto the nations,
to Tarshish, to Pul and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and
Javan, even to the sea-coasts afar off which have not heard my
fame, neither have -seen my glory, and they shaU declare my glory
among the nations. And they shaU bring aU your brethren for
an oblation unto Jehovah, out of all nations, upon horses and in
chariots and in Utters, and upon mules and upon dromedaries,

232 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
to my holy mountain, even to Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the
chUdren of Israel bring the oblation in a clean vessel to the
house of Jehovah; and some of them also will I add to the
priests and to the Levites, saith Jehovah. For like as the new
heavens and the new earth, which I will make, stand continually
before me, saith Jehovah, so shaU continue your seed and your
name. And from new moon to new moon, and from sabbath
to sabbath, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith
Jehovah. And they shaU go forth and look upon the carcases of.
the men that rebelled against me, for their worm shaU not die,
neither shall their fire be quenched ; and they shaU be an abhor
ring unto all flesh.

Par. 1. Thus saith Jehovah, Sec. The passage may be thus paraphrased: ' Even
if the Jewish polytheists, or the insincere worshippers of the spiritual God,
should desire to co-operate with the prophet in building a temple to Jehovah,
their assistance will be rej§cted. The maker of all things in heaven and earth
is not in need of any local habitation, and only condescends to accept any out
ward forms of worship, when they are the natural expression of devout humihty.'
Thus we regard the passage as describing a purely imaginary case, and not (as
Hitzig) a project at any time debated among Jevrish exiles. If the latter had
actually contemplated the erection of a Babylonian temple, similar to that
afterwards erected by the Jews in Egypt (see note on xix. l8, p. ill), the pro
phet would have given vent to his indignation in less ambiguous language.
Our view seems to be confirmed by the parallel passage in Ps. 1. 8-15, which,
though it can scarcely have been composed by the author of Isa. xl-lxvi, as
Hitzig, in his Commentary on the Psalms, conjectures, must at any rate have
been written subsequently to the reformation of Josiah.
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a m^n. That is, the ceremonial acts of
formal worshippers are an abomination to Jehovah. Comp. i Sam. xv. 23,
' For disobedience is like a sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is like the
worship of idols and teraphim.'
As if he offered swine's blood. The rigour with which devout Israelites ob
served the prohibition of swine's flesh is strikingly shevm by the narratives in
the Second Book of Maccabees. See 2 Maccab. vi, vii.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 233
I will choose their contumelies. That is, misfortune shall pursue them, as it
were, with the wanton malice of an ill-trained child. Comp. iii. 4 (p. 8), ' I
wiU make boys their ralers, and contumely shall rale over them.'
Par. 2. That cast you out, i. c. that exclude you from their society. Comp.
kv. 5.
A crashing of thunder from the city, a crashing from the temple 1 Here the pro
phet changes his point of view. Those who beheve the promises of Jehovah
embodied in fhis prophecy are represented as having returned to Palestine.
The splendour of the New Jerusalem (see chap, iii, p. 211) is so marvellous as
to attract visitors from all countries, including those Jews who had remained
behind in Babylonia (compare verses 18 and 24). But while the latter are yet
on the way, they are destroyed by a direct interposition of Jehovah. This
appears to be the most natural meaning, and is in perfect harmony with fhe
^ Babylonian origin of these chapters. Those who, like Dr. Payne Smith, regard
this passage as presupposing the existence of the temple of Solomon, have to
answer the objection that verse i presupposes that the temple needed to be
' rebuilt. Should I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth ? That is, should I,
who announced the liberation of the Jews and their retum to Palestine, fail to
carry out my promises in the most glorious manner ? Compare the different
anticipations of another Jewish prophet in Babylon, couched in very similar
metaphorical language, xxvi. 18 (p. 127).
Par. 3. All ye that love her, i. e. all who have preserved a patriotic attachment
to the land of their forefathers.
From the udder of her glory. See ' Notes and Criticisms,' pp. 40-42.
Par. 4. They that consecrate themselves, i. e. those who prepare themselves by
?lustrations to take part in idolatrous mysteries.
' Behind one in the midst. The meaning of these obscure words seems irrecover
ably lost. Some have compared the phrase ' to go after, i. e. to worship, Je
hovah,' and suppose an allusion to an image or symbolic representation of
some heathen deity, placed in the centre of the sacred grove or garden. ' One'
might be used contemptuously, or in the sense of ' unique,' as in Song of Sol.
vi. 9. Others interpret the words to mean, ' after the pattern of a hierophant
in the midst of the throng of worshippers, or, in the midst of the house, i. e. in
the court.' Others, following the Targum of Jonathan, suppose the phrase to
be elliptical, and interpret, ' one after the other.' We are not inclined to accept
any of these explanations. Possibly the passage is corrupt, or some of the
•words, necessary to complete the sense, were dropped in the typical MS. or

2 34 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
MSS. from which the received text was taken, or even intmded accidentaUy
into a neighbouring column of the same roll.
The abominations, i.e. the flesh of reptiles, such as the mouse, Lev. xi. ii, 29.
Par. 5. But I will punish their words. Sec. Lilerally, ' But I — their words and
their thoughts — it cometh to gather.' The construction is left imperfect to
indicate the speaker's indignation.
When I will gather all nations and tongues. The object of this great concourse
of visitors from all nations is stated to be ' that they may see the glory of Je
hovah,' i. e. the splendour of the revived kingdom of Israel. Instead, however,
of being admitted within the sacred borders, they are punished for their previous
hostility by a mysterious destruction. This way of describing the final judg
ment seems peculiar to our prophet. Other prophetical writers represent it as
being provoked by a combined heathen assault upon Jerasalem. See Joel iii.
11-14 ; Zech. xiv; Ezek. xxxviii, xxxix.
Then will I work a sign upon them. According to some the sign consists in
the concession of priestly functions to Gentile converts, as a reward for their
zeal in forwarding the return of the exiles. This, however, is inconsistent with
the doctrine of Israel's spiritual supremacy announced in lxi. 6. 'The sign'
must therefore be the destruction of Jehovah's enemies ; it is a vague but sug
gestive expression, and well calculated to prepare the mind of the reader for the
awful description with which the prophetic volume closes.
Those that escape of them, i.e. those who are spared in the great judgment.
Pul. Pul is a secondary form of Put, which in three other Biblical passages
(Jer. xlvi. 9; Ezek. xxvii. 10, xxx. 5) is coupled with Lud or the Ludim. For
the interchange of / and /, see Gen. xxx. 20 (Heb.). The most probable conjec
ture as to the origin of Put is that of G. Ebers, who connects the word with
Pu{n)t, the name given on the Egyptian monuments to the Arabian peninsula,
though properly belonging only to the nomad Arab tribes. The Arabs of the
north, as the inscriptions prove, were for a long time tributary to Egypt. See
' Egypt and the Books of Moses,' by Dr. G. Ebers, vol. i. pp. 63-71.
Lud. This is connected, by the writer just mentioned, with the word Rut,
which is found on the Egyptian monuments, and denotes the Egyptian citizens,
as opposed to slaves and foreigners. See ' Egypt and the Books of Moses,'
vol. i. pp. 96-98.
Tubal, i. c. the Tibareni, a branch of ' that Scythic or Turanian people, who
spread themselves in very early times over the entire region lying between the
Mediterranean and India, the Persian Gulf and the Caucasus.' Sir H. Rawlin
son, in Rawlinson's ' Herodotus,' vol. i. p. 652.
Javan, i. c. the Greeks of Ionia and the coast of the Euxine Sea. Comp. Joel

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 235
iii. 6, where the Phoenicians are denounced for having sold Jewish captives to
the sons of the Javanites,' and Obad. 20, where ' captives of Jerasalem ' are
mentioned as living ' in Sepharad,' i. e. probably either Sardis or Sparta.
¦ And they shall bring all your brethren. Sec. Comp. Ix. 9, and the parallel pas
sage in Zeph. iii. 10, ' From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia shall they bring my
.worshippers, even the company of my dispersed for mine oblation.'
As the children of Israel bring the oblation. Here, as throughout this para
graph, except verse 22, the prophet places himself mentally in the new Jeru
salem, where the temple and its ritual have been re-established. ' The oblation '
is, literally, ' the meat-offering,' which consisted of fine flour seasoned with salt,
and mixed with frankincense and oil. Lev. ii. i .
Some of them also will I add to the priests and to the Levites. That is, Jehovah
will no longer confine the sei-vice of the temple to the tribe of Levi, nor even
to the Jews from Babylonia, to whom the promise in lxi. 6 was addressed, but
will open it to some at least of the Jews of the Dispersion. Many of the latter
were dpubtless descended from families of the old northern kingdom, and, by
their admission to so sacred an office as the priesthood, the religious schism of
Jeroboam would be finally healed, and the prophecy of Hos. iii. 6 fulfiUed.
Stand continually before me, i. c. are the subject of my continual attention.
Comp. xlix. 16, ' Thy walls are continuaUy before me.'
And from new moon to new moon. Sec. Comp. the parallel passage, Zech.
xiv. 16, where a part of the heathen are, as in our prophecy, represented as being
spared by Jehovah, and converted to the true religion. ' Then shall every one
that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem go up from year to
year to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, and to keep the feast of taber
nacles.' And they shall go forth. It is instructive to compare the various prophetic
representations respecting the great final judgment, which was announced to
usher in the Messianic era. According to Joel (iii. 2, 12, written about 870 B.C.),
this was to take place in ' the valley of Jehoshaphat,' i. e. not the narrow glen so
called, through which the brook Kedron rans, but some imaginary valley of far
vaster dimensions, corresponding to those of the new Jerasalem, which receives
from the prophet the symboUc name, Jehoshaphat, or ' Jehovah judgeth.' Ac
cording to an anonymous prophet, shortly before the first siege of Jerasalem
B.C. 599 (Zech. xiv. 1 2), the army of the heathen invaders of Palestine should
'consume away while they stood upon their feet' before the walls of Jerasalem.
According to Ezekiel (xxxix. 4, 11, written about 574) Gog and his savage
hordes, representing the heathen world, should fall by pestUence and by fire from
hfeaven on ' the mountains of Israel,' and be buried in the plain on the east of

236 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, &c.
the Dead Sea. According to the anonymous author of the apocryphal Book of
Enoch (xxvi, xxvii, liv, lvi, written, according to Dillmann, about no b.c), the
final judgment was to take place by fire and sword in a valley near ' the centre
of the earth,' which, as the context shews, is synonymous with mount Zion, so
that the valley referred to call be no other than that of Hinnom, whence the
Gehenna of the New Testament.
All these various accounts agree with the prophecy before us in representing
the punishment of the heathen to result from a direct Divine interposition, and
all, except that of Ezekiel, in placing the theatre of the judgment in the neigh
bourhood of Jerasalem. All of them, too, are marked in some degree by the
infirmity of human passion, which, until the rise of Christianity, prevented the
possessors of spiritual religion from making due allowance for the unavoidable
ignorance of their opponents. Still it may be well to remind the student that
the terrible fate of the heathen, which our prophet describes so calmly, and in
such glaring colours, would be justified by him on the ground that the reli
gious state of the sufferers was one of wilful disobedience to the King of kings.
In fact, those who might attach themselves to the Jewish exiles on their return
home from Babylonia, were welcomed by the prophet (l-vi. 3-8, pp. 197, 198) in
language, which seems almost evangelical in the depth of its tenderness. But
the discrepancies of these prophetic descriptions are not less instmctive than
their points of resemblance. The anonymous prophecy in Zechariah mentions
pestilence and the sword as the agencies by which the heathen are to be con
sumed ; Ezekiel, the prophecy before us, and the Book of Enoch, speak of fire
descending from heaven. Ezekiel, too, as we stated above, differs from the rest
in the theatre which he assigns to the judgment of the heathen and their burial.
Joel, the prophecy in Zechariah, and Ezekiel, merely describe the earthly fate
of Jehovah's enemies, but the author of Isa. xl-lxvi, vaguely and mysteriously,
and the author of the Book of Enoch, in terms distinct and unmistakeable, an
nounce the prolongation of the torments of the unbelievers even after bodily
dissolution. In other words, the final triumph of the kingdom of God was held
with almost equal firmness by all the prophets, but the form which this,doctrine
assumed varied with the circumstances of the time. In particular, the repre
sentation of the punishment of the wicked as everlasting, in the Book of Enoch,
marks the reaction of spiritual religion against the alien influences of HeUenism.
For their worm shall not die. Sec. That is, the phantoms in Hades shall have
some dim consciousness of the vengeance that is being wreaked on their earthly
bodies. Comp. xiv. 20, 21 (p. 139); Job xiv. 22; Judith xvi. 17; Mark ix.
43-48-

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.

:Page 6. In the days to come. The expression thus rendered is somewhat vague
and mdefinite. It may signify either ' in the latter part of the present period,'
or 'at its conclusion.' To render with the Authorised Version 'in the last
days ' is certainly wrong, for the Messianic period, to which the description be
fore us relates, is represented by all the prophets as one of unending felicity. A
very similar phrase occurs in xxx. 8 (par. 3, p. 70), ' that it may serve to a time
to come for a testimony,' literally, ' to a day to come.'
P. 39. Note on To behold my face. The view here adopted is not the one
generally received among modern critics, Gesenius, Ewald, Hitzig, and Lfelitzsch
being all opposed to it. We are therefore glad to be able now to confirm it by
the authority of the eminent Semitic scholar. Dr. Noldeke. See ' Gottingische
.gelehrte Anzeigen,' 1869, p. 2008, and comp. Geiger's ' Urschrift,' pp. 337-339.
P. 40. Note on The oaks. The most recent authority on the trees of Scrip
ture, Mr. H. B. Tristram, states that terebinths are common in the south and
east of Palestine. (See his ' Natural History of the Bible,' Art. Terebinths.)
But the isolation in which he allows that they are found, and the fact that they
are neither shady nor evergreen, induce us to adhere to the view already ex
pressed. P. 44. (Prophecy respecting Moab.) A few words may be added on the
geographical notices in this prophecy. Most of the towns mentioned had, in
remote antiquity, passed out of the possession of the Moabites into that of the
Amorites. They were afterwards captured by the Israelites (Num. xxi. 21-32),
though the Moabites may from time to time have reasserted their territorial rights.
See Judges iii. 1 2 ; i Sam. xxii. 3. The victories of David (2 Sam. viii. 2) no doubt
; restored the land north of the Arnon to the occupancy of the Israelites, yet we
leam from this prophecy that at some later period the Moabites had once more
expeUed the Israelites from the debated region. Two additional facts may
probably be gathered from the inscription recently discovered on the site of
the ancient Dibon, viz. (l) that Omri found the Moabites again in possession
of the north side of the Arnon, from which, however, he seems to have expelled

238 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
them, and (2) that Mesha, king of Moab, recovered and fortified the towns
which Omri had destroyed. These statements may be supplemented from the
Second Book of Kings (xiv. 25), which records that Jeroboam II, king of
Israel, ' restored the coast of Israel from the region about Hamath to the sea
of the plain,' i. c. recovered, amongst other territories, those which had been
wrested from his predecessors by the Moabites.
None of these facts, however, can be used in illustration of the age of Isa.
XV, xvi, for nearly a century must have elapsed between the revolt of Mesha
and the victories of Jeroboam II. From data of a different kind supplied by
the prophecy itself we have been enabled to refer it with some confidence to the
beginning of the reign of Uzziah, who came to the throne of Judah in the
fifteenth year of Jeroboam II (2 Kings xiv. 17), i. e. in aU probability before the
re-conquest by the Israelites of the country on the east of the Jordan. (Our
reason for the latter assumption is that, considering the weakness to which the
northern kingdom had been reduced by the Syrian invasions, fifteen years are
not too much to allow for the gradual improvement in its fortunes, which cul
minated in the capture of Hamath and Damascus.)
P. 44. Baith and Dibon are gone up the high places. M. Neubauer and
M. Derenbourg propose to read, 'dld.h bith-habbdmoth vedibon, ' Beth-Bamoth,
and Dibon went up (to weep).' The name Beth-Bamoth occurs in the inscrip
tion of king Mesha.
P. 45. A lion, or, lions, i.e. probably the Assyrians, who began to influence the
fortunes of Palestine as early as the time of Ahab. See M. Oppert's ' Histoire
des Empires de Chaldee et d'Assyrie,' p. 140, whence it appears that Ahab con
tributed 10,000 men to the army of Benhadad II, which was defeated hy
Shalmaneser III in his third campaign.
P. 46. Reached unto Jazer . passed over the sea. That is, the Moabitish
vineyards extended as far norfh as Jazer, in the former territory of Gad, as far
east as the wilderness, and as far south as the Dead Sea.
Ibid. Yet when Moab spendeth his strength in vain. The tenacity with which
the Moabites adhered to the worship of their god Chemosh is illustrated by
many passages of the inscription of king Mesha. The subjection of Moab to
Israel is said to be caused by the wrath of their god, and the victories of Mesha
are connected (line 14) with an oracle given by Chemosh to the king. Go and
take Nebo from Israel.
P. 56. (Prophecy respecting Tyre.) To avoid distracting the attention of
the reader from the contents of this prophecy, we have retained the convfiR:
tional name of Shalmaneser, as that of the besieger of Tyre. For several
reasons, however (see note on ' Sargon,' p. 91), it seems necessary to suppose

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 239
that Shalmaneser is a mistake of the later Jewish historians, including Josephus,
the real name of the successor of Tiglath-Pileser II being Sargon. The pas
sage from Menander's ' Tyrian Annals,' quoted by Josephus, omits to mention
the name of the king of Assyria.
Since writing the above Introduction, Mr. A. H. Sayce, of Queen's College,
Oxford, has informed us of a passage in one of the inscriptions of Sargon (Brit.
Mus. CoU. voh i. pi. 36, line 21), where the 'partitioner of the wide-spread
bountry of Bit-Khumriya (House of Omri = Samaria)' declares that he 'has
destroyed the city of Tsurru (Tyre).' We doubt, however, whether this boast
can be considered to outweigh the opposite testimony of Menander. That
Tyre, however, lilie other Phoenician cities, became tributary to Assyria in
I'Sargon's reign is probable enough.
P. 59. Note on Thou shalt have no rest. The foe, from whose pursuit the
Tyrians should be in danger, is still of course the king of Assyria. In the in
scription quoted above, Sargon claims further to have ' laid his yoke upon the
land of the Yavnai (the Greeks).' And so in the eighth plate at the end of
M. Botta's letters : ' From the land of Yavnana, which is in the midst of the
sea, towards the setting of the sun, to the borders of Egypt and the Moschi, the
widespread land of Phoenicia, the country of the Hittites to its full extent ... I
levied tribute, and appointed my governors to have rule over them.'
P. 70. The help of Egypt is idle and in vain. Mr. G. Smith illustrates this by
an event which took place shortly after the date of the prophecy, when Yaman,
one of the rival kings of Ashdod, was betrayed into the hands of the Assyrians
by the king of Egypt and Ethiopia.
P. 86. Note on The vain gods. In illustration of the religious spirit of the
Assyrian kings, compare the following quotations from M. Oppert's translation
of the ' Annals of Sargon.' (' Les Pastes de Sargon,' Paris, 1863.) ' Les dieux
Assour, Nebo et Merodach m'ont conf^re la royaute des nations,' (p. 4.) ' J'as-
siegai et vainquis Kibaba, prefet de la ville de Kharkar . . . J'y ai institue le
culte du dieu Assour, mon maitre, (p. 6.) ' J'assi^gai, je pris Asdod . . .fenlevai
comme captifs les dieux d'Jam.an,' (p. 8.) ' J'ai . . . invoque Assour, le pfere des
dieux, le plus grand souverain des dieux,' (p. 1 1 .) '
P. 88. Note on There shall come forth a rod. That Isaiah regarded Hezekiah
as the destined Messiah is altogether improbable. But there is a curious say
ing in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 94) which may deserve mention, to the effect that
God originally designed Hezekiah to be the Messiah, as he designed Senna
cherib to be Gog Magog, but afterwards renounced the purpose. This and
similar passages seem to have originated in a misunderstanding of the hopes
once fondly cherished of a certain Hezekiah, the father of that Judah of Galilee

240 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
(Acts V. 37), who founded the order of the Zealots. This Hezekiah was,
according to Josephus (Archgeol. xiv. 9, 2), ' the captain of a troop of brigands,'
but in reality the leader in a patriotic resistance to the Roman authority. The
wide-spread veneration for his memory is attested by a saying of the great
Rabbi Hillel, to the effect that Israel had no future Messiah to expect, since it
had already enjoyed his presence in the days of Hezekiah. Similar expectations
were afterwards excited by his celebrated grandson, Menahem. See an inte
resting article in Geiger's 'Jiidische Zeitschrift,' 1870, pp. 35-43.
P. 91. Note on Sargon. An article on ' Hosea,' in Schenkel's ' Bibel-I^con,'
contains a defence of the theory distinguishing Sargon from Shalmaneser, hy
Dr. Schrader, the author of a well-timed plea for Assyriology, addressed to
Semitic scholars. The arguments which he has brought forward, however, are
by no means conclusive, as the following remarks, which Mr. A. H. Sayce has
been good enough to communicate, sufficiently shew : ' The inscription referred
to by Dr. Schrader is much too mutilated to be made the basis of any conjec
tural conclusions. All we learn from it is that some time between the first and
fifteenth years of Sargon's reign, Samaria was taken, and a large number of
its inhabitants deported, and that those who were left continued to pay tribute.
Dr. Schrader is hasty in assuming that the name of the Israelite king was not
mentioned by Sargon, because Hoshea had been carried captive by Tiglath-
Pileser before the final capture of Samaria. Hoshea's name may have been
once extant in the inscription, and even if this were not the case, it would be
nothing unusual, since the Assyrian monarchs are sometimes contented with
specifying the submission and the tribute of the tribe or town. Neither is Dr.
Schrader justified in assignmg the capture of Samaria to the first year of Sargon. ,
There are no marks of time given in the inscription, and we know that Sargon's i
first campaign was against Khumba-nigas, king of Elam, It makes little dif
ference whether or not Sargon was of royal extraction. Certainly Tiglath-
Pileser was not. And Sargon actually endeavours to trace back his descent ;
to two ancient Assyrian kings, Bilu-bani and Paldasi. Of a Shalmaneser as
predecessor of Sargon, tlie Assyrian Canon seems to be altogether silent. It is
true that in one copy of it a line is drawn across the seventeentli year of
Tiglath-Pileser, and another across his twenty-second year in a second copy.
But these probably have to do with chronological epochs ; besides, we
are in possession of the annals of the seventeenth year of Tiglath-Pileser.
The Canon never fails to give the name of the reigning monarch, vrith his
title attached.'
P. 109. Shall Egypt be the third to Israel and to Assyria. Comp. Ps. Ixxxvii.
^5.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 44 1
' I wiU declare Rahab and Babylon to be my familiars :
Behold, Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia;
This man was born there (i.e. is a citizen of Zion).'
P. 235. Note on And they shall go forth. The following are the passages of
the Book of Enoch referred to (Dillmann's translation) :
Chap, xxvii. ' Then I said, Whereunto is this blessed land, which is alto
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holy angels, who was by me, answered and said unto me. This cursed valley is
for those who are cursed for ever ; here must all those gather together, who utter
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last time shall the spectacle of a righteous judgment be given upon them before
the righteous from everlasting to everlasting . . .'
Chap. liv. • And I looked up and tumed to another region of the earth, and
saw there a deep valley with buming fire. And they brought the kings arid the
mighty ones, and laid them in the deep valley. And there mine eyes saw how
men made instruments for them, iron chains of immeasurable weight. And I
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whom are they prepared 1 And he said unto me, These are being prepared for
the bands of Azazel, that they may take them and lay them in the nethermost
hell : and with rough stones shall one cover their jaws, as the Lord of spirits
bath commanded. Michael and Gabriel, Rufael and Fanuel, shall lay hold of
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flaming fire, that the Lord of spirits may take vengeance on them for their
imrighteousness, forasmuch as they were subject unto Satan, and have seduced
them that dwell on the earth.' The ' iron chains ' mentioned in this chapter
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Theological' Works. 11
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