YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation with Yale University Library, 2008. You may not reproduce this digitized copy ofthe book for any purpose other than for scholarship, research, educational, or, in limited quantity, personal use. You may not distribute or provide access to this digitized copy (or modified or partial versions of it) for commercial purposes. This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation with Yale University Library, 2008. You may not reproduce this digitized copy ofthe book for any purpose other than for scholarship, research, educational, or, in limited quantity, personal use. You may not distribute or provide access to this digitized copy (or modified or partial versions of it) for commercial purposes. Zs ISAIAH A STUDY OF CHAPTERS I.-XII. BY H. G. MITCHELL PROFESSOR IN BOSTON UNIVERSITY o»io NEW YORK: 46 East 14TH Street THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY BOSTON: 100 Purchase Street Copyright, 1897, By H. G. MITCHELL $3 1 Hn, WortoooB $nss J. S. Cashing & Co. - Berwick & Smith Norwood Mass. U.S.A. Co JWg Mtfe IN RECOGNITION OF HER SYMPATHY AND ASSISTANCE IN ALL MY UNDERTAKINGS PREFACE. The favor with which my little book on Amos1 was received has emboldened me to undertake a more diffi cult task; viz. the interpretation of parts of the book of Isaiah. This work, like the preceding, has grown out of lectures delivered to my classes in the School of Theol ogy. I have simply expanded them, and arranged their contents in a way to make them useful, not only to can didates for the ministry, but to other even less advanced students of the Bible. The plan, too, of this book is essentially the same as that of its predecessor. This one has none of the sup plementary studies found in the other. There is, how ever, a good reason for their absence. They could not well be written until I had finished my studies in the prophecies. They will appear in a second volume on chapters xiii.-xxxix., if I am spared to complete it. In one respect I think that I have improved upon my original plan. I have come to the conclusion that the style of most commentaries not only confuses the 1 Amos: an Essay in Exegesis. Boston, 1893. 5 6 PREFACE. reader, but sometimes actually distorts the meaning of the sacred writers. I have, therefore, in this book, more completely than in the other, abandoned it, and undertaken to present my interpretation of the words of Isaiah, or his editor, in the form of a continuous discus sion, which, I trust, will be found more nearly correct as well as more readable. In the preparation of the book I have consulted all the leading "authorities" on my subject, and many of less reputation; but, since the object of references is not to display the breadth of an author's reading, but to help his readers to a more exact knowledge and less partial conclusions, I have made them only when I thought that they would be of value. My method has been, as a rule, to name the authors of the more im portant critical suggestions mentioned, but not to quote an authority for an interpretation for which a given passage, its context, or any other source of information bearing upon it, seemed to me to furnish sufficient evi dence that the average student would understand and appreciate. On the other hand, I have felt it my duty to give the name, either of the originator, or a worthy representative, of any theory or interpretation men tioned only to be rejected, that such as cared so to do might give it further examination. I need not apologize for not pointing the Hebrew words in the notes unless they were liable to be mis understood by one somewhat familiar with the language PREFACE. 7 of the Old Testament ; nor for following the growing fashion of citing books by the initials of the principal words in their titles. I have not, however, as some late authors seem to me to have done, carried the practice of abbreviating in citations so far as to disfigure the printed page and hinder any but the expert reader in getting a knowledge of its contents. I should dislike to have my book mistaken for a collection of conundrums. The number of books used in the preparation of this volume should not be taken as an indication of the size of the outfit required for the study of Isaiah. The average student really needs but few of them. If he reads the original, he will of course have a good gram mar and lexicon. In addition he should have a Bible dictionary, and one or two independent works on ancient history and the geography of Palestine. He should also provide himself with Driver's Introduction to the Old Testament and Cheyne's Introduction to the Book of Isaiah. The most useful commentaries accessible in English are those of Skinner, Orelli, and Delitzsch, and, if one wishes to go into a comparative study of opinion, that of Alexander. One who is familiar with German should have the critiques of Giesebrecht and Hackmann, and the commentaries of Duhm and Dill- mann, especially the former. H. G. M. Boston University, June, 1897. CONTENTS. PAGE Preface ..... 5 Books and Authors cited 9 Introductory Studies .15 Isaiah the Prophet 15 The Times of Isaiah . . . . . . -31 The Prophecies of Isaiah 48 Translation and Comments 60 Translation 60 Comments 81 Indexes 257 8 BOOKS AND AUTHORS CITED.* TRANSLATIONS AND COMMENTARIES* Aben Ezra; 1155; Eng., The Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah, Fried- lander, London, 1873. Alexander, J. A., Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, 3 vols. 8vo, Edinburgh, 1865. Barnes, Albert, The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, 3 vols. 8vo, New York, 1840. Barth, J., Beitrage zur Erklarung des fesaia, Karlsruhe, 1885. Bredenkamp, C. J., Der Prophet Jesaia, Erlangen, 1887. Brenz, Johann, Esaias Commentariis explicatus, Frankfurt, 1550. Buhl, Frants, Jesaja, Copenhagen, 1894. Calvin, John, Commentarii in Isaiam Prophetam, Geneva, 155 1; Eng., Pringle, Edinburgh, 1850. Cheyne, T. K. The Prophecies of Isaiah? New York, 1884. Delitzsch, Franz, Commentar iiber das Buch fesaia? Leipzig, 1889; Eng., The Prophecies of Isaiah, Edinburgh, 1890. de Dieu, Louis, Animadversiones in Veteris Testamenti Libros omnes, Leyden, 1648. Dillmann, August, Der Prophet fesaia,6 Leipzig, 1890. Doderlein, J. C, Esaias,3 Altorf, 1789. Duhm, Bernh., Das Buch fesaia, Gottingen, 1892. Eichhorn, J. G., Die Hebraischen Propheten? Gottingen, 1816-19. Ewald, Heinrich, Die Propheten des Alten Bundes? Gottingen, 1867. Gesenius, Wilh., Commentar iiber den fesaia, Leipzig, 1821. Henderson, E., The Book ofthe Prophet Isaiah, London, 1840. Henry, Matthew, An Exposition ofthe Old and New Testaments, London, 1710; New York, 1876. * The great versions are not included in the list. t These are always cited by the name of the author. 10 BOOKS AND AUTHORS CITED. Hitzig, Ferdinand, Der Prophet fesaia, Heidelberg, 1833. Jerome, Commentarii in Esaiam Prophetam, 410; Opera, IV. ed. Vallar- sius, Verona, 1734 ff. Kautsch, E., Die Heilige Schrift des A/ten Testaments, Freiburg i/B, 1892-94. Kay, W., The Bible Commentary, V. Isaiah, London and New York, 1871-81. Kimchi, David (d. 1235); Lat., Commentarius in fesajam, Malanimeo, Florence, 1774. Knobel, August, Der Prophet fesaia? Leipzig, 1861. Koppe, J. B., Lowth's fesaias, Leipzig, 1779-81. Lowth, Robert, Isaiah, London, 1778; Boston,10 1 834. Luzzatto, S. D., II Profeta Isaia, Padua, 1855. Michaelis, J. D., Uebersetzung des Alten Testaments, VI., Gottingen, 1777-86. Nagelsbach, C. W. E., Lange's Bibelwerk, Der Prophet fesaia, Bielefeld, 1877; Eng., Lowrie & Moore, New York, 1884. von Orelli, C, Kurzgefasster Kommentar, IV., Der Prophet fesaia, Nord- lingen, 1887; Eng., The Prophecies of Isaiah, Banks, Edinburgh, 1889. Reuss, Eduard, Das Alte Testament, II., Braunschweig, 1892-94. Rosenmiiller, E. F. C, Scholia in Vetus Testamentum? III. I, Leipzig, 1829. Saadia, Gaon (d. 942); R. Saadiae Versio fesaiae Arabics, Paulus, Jena, 1790. Skinner, J., The Cambridge Bible, Isaiah, Cambridge, 1 896. Smith, G. A., The Expositors Bible, The Book of Isaiah, London and New York, 1890. Umbreit, F. W. C, Praktischer Commentar iiber den fesaia? Hamburg, 1846. Vitringa, Campegius, Commentarius in Librum Prophetiarum fesajae, Leeuwarden, 1714-20. Zwingli, Ulrich, Contemplationes Isaiae Prophetae, Zurich, 1529. BOOKS AND AUTHORS CITED. 11 OTHER WORKS.* Bathgen, Friedrich, Beilrage zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte, Berlin, 1888. Baudissin, W. W., Studien zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte, Leipzig, 1876 and 1878. Beecher, W. 1., fournal of Biblical Literature, 1 892. Bickell, Gustav, Carmina Veteris Testamenti, Innsbruck, 1882. Bottcher, Friedrich, Ausfiihrliches Lehrbuch der Hebraischcn Sprache, Leipzig, 1866 and 1868. Neue Aehrenlese zum Alten Testament, Leipzig, 1863, Brown, Francis, fournal of Biblical Literature, 1890. Budde, Karl, Zeitschrift fur Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 1891. Cheyne, T. K., Introduction to the Book of Isaiah, London, 1895. Cobb, W. YI., fournal of Biblical Literature, 1891. Conder, C. R., Tent Work in Palestine, London and New York, 1878. Cornill, C. H., Einleitung in das Alte Testament, Freiburg i/B, 1891. Der Israelilische Prophetismus, Strassburg, 1894; Eng., The Proph ets of Israel, Chicago, 1895. Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 1 884. Davidson, A. B., Hebrew Syntax, Edinburgh, 1894. Davidson, Samuel, Introduction to the Old Testament, London, 1862. Delitzsch, Friedrich, Wo lag das Parodies ? Leipzig, 1 88 1. Driver, S. R., Introduction to the Literature ofthe Old Testamenti' London and New York, 1894. Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel, Oxford, 1890. Use of the Tenses in Hebrew,3 Oxford, 1 892. Duncker, Max, Geschichte des Alterthums? Leipzig, 1878-79; Eng., His tory of Antiquity, Abbott, London, 1877-82. Durell, David (d. 1775), Manuscript on the prophets, quoted by Lowth. Ewald, Heinrich, Ausfiihrliches Lehrbuch der Hebraischen Sprache des Alten Testaments? Gottingen, 1870. Frere, J. H., Works, New York, 1874. Fiirst, Julius, Librorum Sacrorum Veteris Testamenti Concordantiae, Leipzig, 1840. Der Kanon des Alten Testaments, Leipzig, 1868. * The grammars are cited by the abbreviated names of their authors, the rest by the names of their authors, usually with the initial letters of the principal words in their titles. 12 BOOKS AND AUTHORS CITED. Geikie, Cunningham, The Holy Land and the Bible, London, 1887; New York, 1888. Gesenius, Wilhelm, Hebraische Grammatik, ed. Kautsch,25 Leipzig, 1889; Eng., E. C. Mitchell, Boston, 1894. Hebraisches und Aramaisches Handworterbuch iiber das Alte Tes tament, ed. Miihlau-Volck, Leipzig, 1886. Novus Thesaurus Linguae Hebraeiae et Chaldaeae Veteris Testa menti? Leipzig, 1829-58. Giesebrecht, Friedrich, Beitrage zur fesaiakritik, Gottingen, 1890. Guthe, Hermann, Zeitschrift des Deulschen Paliistina- Vereins, 1882. Das Zukunftsbild des fesaia, Leipzig, 1885. Hackmann, H., Die Zukunftserwartung des fesaia, Gottingen, 1893. Hengstenberg, E. W., Christologie des Alten Testaments? Berlin, 1854-57; Eng., Christology of the Old Testament, Edinburgh, 1854-59. Herodotus (d. 408 ±), History, Rawlinson, London, 1858. Houbigant, C. F., Biblia Hebraica, Paris, 1753. Jastrow, Morris, Jr., Zeitschrift fiir Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 1 896. Josephus, Flavius (d. 103 ±), Opera, ed. Bekker, Leipzig, 1855; Eng., ed. Whiston-Shilleto, London, 1890. fournal of Biblical Literature, Boston. Kamphausen, Adolf, Die Chronologie der Hebraischen Konige, Bonn, 1883. Kellner, M. L., The Prophecies of Isaiah, Cambridge (Mass.), 1895. Kittel, R., Geschichte der Hebraer, Gotha, 1888 and 1892; Eng., A History of the Hebrews, Taylor, Hogg, and Speirs, London, 1895-96. Klostermann, August, Kurzgefasster Kommeniar, III., Die Biicher Sam- uelis u. der Konige, Nordlingen, 1887. Kocher, D., Vindiciae Textus Hebraei Essaiae, Bern, 1786. Konig, F. E., Historisch-Kritisches Lehrgebaude der Hebraischen Sprache, Leipzig, 1881 and 95. Krochmal, Abraham, Haksaw Wehamiktow, oder Schrift und Umschrift, Lemberg, 1875. de Lagarde, Paul, Academy, 1870. Semitica, Gottingen, 1878. Layard, A. H., Inscriptions in the Cuneiform Character, London, 1851. McCurdy, J. F., History, Prophecy, and the Monuments, London and New York, 1896. Meyer, Eduard, Geschichte des Alterthums, Stuttgart, 1884 and 1893. Mitchell, H. G., Amos, Boston, 1893. Andover Review, 1 89 1. BOOKS AND AUTHORS CITED. 13 Muller, August, Hebraische Schulgrammalik, Halle a/S, 1878; Eng., Outlines of Hebrew Syntax, Robertson, Glasgow, 1887. Olshausen, Justus, Lehrbuch der Hebraischen Sprache, Braunschweig, 1861. Peters, J. F '., fournal of Biblical Literature, 1885. Piepenbring, Ch., Theologie de I'Ancien Testament, Paris, 1886; Eng., Theology ofthe Old Testament, H. G. Mitchell, Boston, 1 893. Porter, F. C, fournal of Biblical Literature, 1895. Ragozin, Z. A., The Story of Assyria, New York, 1893. Rawlinson, George, The Story of Ancient Egypt, New York, 1894. The Story of Phoenicia, New York, 1893. Riehm, E. C. A., Handworterbuch des Biblischen Altertums, Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1884. Robinson, Edward, Biblical Researches in Palestine? Boston, i860. Roorda, T., Orientalia, Amsterdam,, 1840. Scheid, E., Specimina Philologico-critica, Harderwijk, 1779-80. Schrader, E., Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament, Giessen, 1883; Eng., The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, White- house, London, 1885 and 1888. Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, Berlin, 1889-96. Keilinschriften und Geschichtsforschung, Giessen, 1878. Schroder, N. W., Commentarius de Veslilu Mulierum Hebraearum, Leyden, 1745. Seeker, Thomas (d. 1768), Manuscript notes, quoted by Lowth. Siegfried and Stade, Hebraisches Worterbuch zum Alten Testament, Leip zig, 1892-93. Smith, George, The Chaldean Account of Genesis, ed. Sayce, New York, 1880. Smith, G. A., The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, London and New York, 1894. Smith, William, Dictionary of the Bible, ed. Hackett, Boston, 1881. Smith, W. R., fournal of Philology, 1884. The Prophets of Israel, Edinburgh and New York, 1882. Stade, Bernhard, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, Berlin, 1887-88. Studer, G. L., fahrbiicher fiir Prolestantische Theologie, 1877-81. Thenius, Otto, Theologische Studien und Kritiken, 1846. Thomson, W. M., The Land and the Book, New York, 1886. Tiele, C. P., Babylonisch-Assyrische Geschichte, Gotha, 1886-88. Toy, C. H., Quotations in the New Testament, Boston, 1884. Tristram, H. B., The Natural History of the Bible? London, 1873. 14 BOOKS AND AUTHORS CITED. Usher, James, Annates Veteris et Novi Testamenti, London, 1650-54. Valentiner, Fr., Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschafl, 1858. Van Lennep, H. J., Bible Lands, New York, 1875. van de Velde, C. W. M., Syria and Palestine, Edinburgh and London, 1854. Weir, D. H. (d. 1876), Manuscript notes, quoted by Cheyne. Wellhausen, Julius, Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, V., Berlin, 1892. Wickes, William, Hebrew Prose Accents, Oxford, 1887. Wilson, Warren, etc., The Recovery of ferusalem, London, 1871. Winckler, Hugo, Altorientalische Forschungen, Leipzig, 1893. Alttestamentliche Untersuchungen, Leipzig,- 1892. Untersuchungen zur Altorientalischen Geschichte, Leipzig, 1 889. Zeitschrift fiir die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschafl. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palastina- Vereins. INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. oXKo ISAIAH THE PROPHET. The earlier Hebrew prophets were born and bred in comparative seclusion. Samuel was a native of Ramah in Benjamin. Elijah came from an obscure place in Gilead ; Elisha, from one equally obscure in the valley of the Jordan. The home of Jonah was at Gath-hepher in Zebulon ; that of Amos, at Tekoa, on the edge of the desert of Judah. Moses, if, as is fitting, he be reckoned the first and greatest of them all, was really no excep tion ; for, although he was reared at the court of Pha raoh, he went to his great task of delivering the Hebrews from bondage only after forty years in the solitudes of the Sinaitic peninsula. The last-mentioned fact suggests that the early experience of Moses' successors also was divinely directed. At least, one can see how their seclu sion would prepare them for the work to which they were destined. It would naturally prevent them from becoming involved in the sinful ideas and practices in which their people were prone to offend. It would also afford them leisure and opportunity to become ac quainted, by such means as were provided, with the will and ways of Jehovah. In view of all this, — the history 16 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. of the previous prophets and its apparent adaptation to the accomplishment of the divine purpose, — it seems strange to find that, so far as is known, Isaiah had no such experience. He was probably born, as well as reared, at Jerusalem. At any rate, when he entered upon his mission, he was living in the city (vii. 3), and from that time, so long as one can trace his activity, he remained among its inhabitants (xx. 2f., xxxvii. 2, etc.). This prophet is further distinguished from his prede cessors by his standing in the society of the day. Tra dition says that he was "of the house and lineage of David," being a cousin of Uzziah ; and that his daughter became the wife of Uzziah's great-grandson, Manasseh, These statements are probably products of the rabbinical imagination, but there are indications that he was well connected. One proof of it is the fact that he was evidently, for the times in which he lived, carefully edu cated. He was acquainted with the literature of his people, especially the works of Amos and Hosea, on which, at the outset of his career, he had formed a style at once vigorous and attractive.* A second fact points in the same direction ; viz. that, from the first, he seems to have been treated with peculiar consideration by all classes of his people. He approached Ahaz unhindered in the eyes of the whole city ; and, although the king declined to take his advice, he accepted the rebuke that followed in silence, and let the prophet go unpunished (vii. 13 ff.). Perhaps it was fear of his personal disap probation that led those in charge of affairs, on this and other occasions, to conceal from him the policy that they were pursuing (xxx. 1 ff., xxxix. 1 ff.); but it is more * On the relation of Isaiah to Amos see the author's Amos, 203 f. ISAIAH THE PROPHET. 17 probable that he early acquired such influence at Jerusa lem, that, in court circles, he was not unjustly regarded as the leader of a party which might prove powerful (viii. 1 6 ff . ). The mention of the so-called prophetical party sug gests another peculiarity in the relation of Isaiah to his times. The work of most of the prophets who had gone before him had been more or less spasmodic. When there was a crisis in affairs one of them had suddenly appeared, taken a hand in the settlement of it, and then as suddenly retired to his previous pursuits. Isaiah, on the other hand, from the date of his call to the prophetic office until the end of his life, a period of at least thirty-five, and perhaps fifty, years, was con stantly in the public eye. He himself recognized this as his divinely appointed position ; for he said (viii. 18) that not only he, but each of the children whom Jehovah had given him, was intended to be a sign and a token in Israel. Sometimes he went further than simply to stand for an idea, or declare the word of Jehovah as he had opportunity, and resorted to more sensational methods ; as, e.g., when he went naked and barefoot in illustration of the fate awaiting Egypt and Ethiopia (xx. 2), thus, doubtless, while he impressed some, exposing himself to the ridicule of the majority of his fellow-citizens. Isaiah himself explains why he was so long and so continuously active. In the wonderful chapter (vi.) in which he describes his call, he represents himself as appalled by the result that he was instructed to expect from his mission, and as exclaiming in his despondency, " O Lord, how long ? " The answer was, that he was to prosecute his calling until the country had been 18 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. reduced almost to an uninhabited desert, in preparation for the new nation into which the remnant preserved would finally develop (i i ff.). Here, as the prophet, if not at once, very soon, realized, was a task to be accomplished, not by a single effort, however enthusias tic, but only by years of ceaseless devotion. He was not deceived; for, although he labored in season and out of season to fulfil his mission, his life was nearing its close, when, at length, he saw his prayers answered, and his aspirations for his people to some extent realized. There is a tradition that he long outlived the vindica tion of his claim to inspiration, — to see Hezekiah suc ceeded by Manasseh, and the fear of Jehovah almost smothered by authorized idolatry. The latter king, indeed, is said to have sawn him asunder because he opposed the reaction (Asc. Of Isaiah i-v.). Heb. xi. 37 has been supposed to refer to this bloody deed ; and the people of Silwan to-day profess to know the very spot, at an old mulberry tree on the opposite side of the Kidron, just below the Pool of Siloam, where it was perpetrated. Still, it is doubtful if there is any founda tion for the story ; for, if any such fate had befallen the prophet, the author of the books of Kings, who surely cannot be accused of sparing Manasseh, would have mentioned it in his indictment (2 Kgs. xxi. 1 ff. ; 2 Chr. xxxiii. 1 ff.), and there would be something from that period in the collected works of Isaiah. It is more reasonable, as well as more agreeable, to believe, that God took him while he was enjoying the too brief recognition by which his services in the Assyrian crisis were rewarded. ISAIAH THE PROPHET. 19 It is no easy task to analyze such a character as that of Isaiah. One is awed by its grandeur, and baffled by its symmetry. Still, the question will arise, whether he had not peculiar qualities which made his magnificent career possible. The task must, therefore, be attempted. It is impossible to read the story of Isaiah's life with out being impressed with his remarkable equanimity, — that balance of mind which prevents or minimizes the effect of sudden changes of fortune, and thus preserves to one the use of all one's faculties, when a perfect command of them is most important. There are several striking instances of the display of this quality re corded of Isaiah. If the record were complete, there would doubtless be many more. One of these was in connection with the attack upon Judah by the allied kings of Syria and Israel. These two monarchs, it is related, for some reason resolved to remove Ahaz, and put a creature of their own upon the throne of David. In fact they prepared an expedition for this purpose, and made some progress toward its fulfilment. The Jews, including their young king, were thrown into such consternation that they imagined the enemy already approaching, and at once began to pre pare for the expected assault upon their capital. At this crisis Isaiah appears on the scene (vii. 3 ff.). Ahaz is outside the city, making provision against a disturb ance of the water supply. The prophet approaches. He seems in no haste ; but comes, leisurely leading a tottering child, his first-born, Shear-yashub. His first words are in harmony with his bearing. He rebukes the bustling monarch for his excitement, and entreats him to be quiet. One can imagine Ahaz, in reply, 20 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. describing the danger and insisting upon the necessity of the utmost despatch, lest he should be surprised and overpowered by the hostile kings. " These two smok ing stumps of firebrands ! " says Isaiah, in derision ; and proceeds to assure the king that his fears are groundless. There is more of the story, but the rest only confirms the impression made by the beginning, that, in the Syrian crisis, the prophet was the coolest, if not the only imperturbed, person in Jerusalem. At this time Isaiah was a young man. Many years later his equanimity was even more severely tested. It was when the great king Sennacherib had overrun Judah and pushed his conquests to the very gates of Jerusalem (2 Kgs. xviii. 13 ff. ; Isa. xxxvi. 1 ff.). Hezekiah, who had now succeeded Ahaz, was naturally greatly fright ened. Not so Isaiah; as the story makes abundantly evi dent. His perfect composure is implied in the fact, that he did not take any notice of the threats of Sennacherib until Hezekiah had called his attention to them. Then, however, not content with soothing the fears of the lat ter, he treated the threats of the former with scorn and derision. Could there be a more perfect picture of self- possession than this old Jew, sitting quietly in his house and defying the greatest earthly monarch in existence ? It may be objected that the conduct of Isaiah under the circumstances described can be explained as an effect of inspiration, without supposing him peculiarly endowed by nature; but the point is not well taken: for, if it were, the prophets would all have shown them selves equally self-possessed under such circumstances ; which, as every one who has carefully read their writ ings knows, is contradicted by their own utterances. ISAIAH THE PROPHET. 21 A second characteristic of Isaiah is sagacity. A little reflection will convince one that he was highly endowed in this respect. The office of the prophet was to stand between Jeho vah and his people, and interpret the will of the one to the other. It might, therefore, be either positive or negative ; but most of the prophets a record of whose words is preserved, seem to have emphasized the latter, rather than the former, part of their duty. Nathan will serve as an example among the earlier ones. There are three great occasions on which he appears in bibli cal history : when David proposed to build a temple to Jehovah (2 Sam. vii. 4 ff.) ; when he appropriated Uriah's wife (2 Sam. xii. 1 ff.); and finally, when Adonijah proclaimed himself his successor (1 Kgs. i. 11 ff.); — and every time with a veto. In other words, he is represented simply as a censor in morals as well as in politics. The prophets generally confined them selves to this role ; usually appearing when things were going wrong, to denounce the sins and blunders of the people or their rulers, and then retiring until another protest was necessary. Thus, the appearance of a prophet early began to be regarded as an evil omen. Did not the elders of Bethlehem tremble when Samuel visited their little city (1 Sam. xvi. 4)? It was doubt less sometimes charged, ,that they delighted in finding fault and foretelling misfortune. The author of the book of Jonah seems to have intended to represent that prophet as harboring some such disposition (iv.). Ahab went farther, and accused Micaiah of wresting the word of Jehovah to his disadvantage (1 Kgs. xxii. 8, 18). In his earlier prophecies, Isaiah, following the exam- 22 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. pie of his predecessors, especially Amos, attacked the evils of his time, seemingly without giving much thought to practical suggestions for the benefit of his people. It was not long, however, before his individuality, stimu lated by the divine Spirit, asserted itself, and he began to supplement his denunciations with positive and con structive efforts. When he began his ministry the most urgent need of the nation was protection against its hostile neighbors. He counselled a defensive neutrality (vii. 4 ; xxx. 1 5) ; and, when one considers the position of Judah, just off the highway between Egypt and Assyria, one cannot but feel, that, had his advice been followed, the subjugation of his people would have been postponed, if not entirely prevented. He also labored to remove the internal evils which he condemned, and he seems to have succeeded in some measure ; for there is little doubt that he was the means of Shebna's down fall (xxii. 15 ff.), and that the reforms in religion under Hezekiah (2 Kgs. xviii. 4ff.) were due to his influence (Cornill, PI, 6yi.). Finally, as has already been inti mated, he made provision for the future of the ideas that he taught by planting them in the hearts of a chosen company of disciples. To their faithfulness the nation owed its deliverance from Sennacherib and its more thorough reformation under Josiah. In fact, it is claimed, and with reason, that, in this little band of believers, the Church of God, as a distinct institution, had its origin (WRSmith, PI, 274 f.). These considera tions seem to warrant the assertion that Isaiah was en dowed above most, if not all, of the other prophets, with the practical ability " to guard against the designs of others, and to turn everything to the best possible ISAIAH THE PROPHET. 23 advantage," or, in other words, to make everything further the cause of God in Israel. The most prominent trait of Isaiah's character re mains to be noticed. It is his hopefulness. By this is meant more than the Jews intended when they said that his book, and every part of it, was full of hope and com fort (Ftirst, KAT, 25 f.). It means, not only that his message to his people was in the main hopeful, but that he was by nature fitted to be the bearer of such a mes sage. This is apparent from his treatment of it. In the first place, there is a significant touch in the account of his call. When Jehovah asked, "Whom shall I send ? " he replied without hesitation, " Here am I, send me ; " but when he learned what the nature of his message was to be, he exclaimed, " O Lord, how long?" as if, although he dared not refuse to deliver it, he shrank from acting the part of a prophet of evil (vi. 8ff.). There is a second indication pointing in the same direction. It is found in the name given to his (pre sumably) eldest son. This boy must have been born not far from the time of his father's call. Whether his birth occurred before or after that event, it is impossible to determine. In either case the name given him is significant; especially so if, as is the more probable opinion, it was bestowed after the prophet had received his commission. Recall the situation. He had been charged with a message whose effect, he was assured, would be to confirm his people in their sins and expose them to the consuming fury of their God. It is doubtful if there was anything in his original instructions which gave him reason to expect that any of them would be 24 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. spared. He would not, however, abandon hope; but sought, and finally found, ground for believing that mercy would in the end triumph over justice, and pub lished his faith to the world in the name that he gave to his first-born, Shear-yashub, — A-remnant-shall-return. Years passed, and, although there were times when the fate of Israel seemed sealed, the prophet never doubted the outcome. In fact, his faith appears to have fed upon the difficulties which it encountered; and when he was vouchsafed a glimpse of God's gra cious purpose, he portrayed it in such glorious colors that the world has not yet ceased to wonder. These inspiring pictures of the future, in which Israel, re stored, is to be governed by a second and diviner David, and Paradise is to be regained, also betray a nat ure in which hopefulness is the dominant characteristic. Such was the man Isaiah. If, however, these were his characteristics, it is easy to see why he should have been chosen the ambassador of Jehovah to his genera tion ; — easy, too, to understand how he became the tower of strength that he was to his own, and that he has since been to each succeeding generation, in its distresses. Such are the personal ; what are the literary charac teristics of the prophet ? Here, again, at first sight, there seems room for little but admiration. Most writers who have referred to the style of Isaiah, therefore, have been content with pronouncing him the greatest master of the Hebrew tongue.* This is true; still, it can hardly be said of * For an example of the way in which the subject has generally been treated see Ewald, PAB, I. 278 ff. ISAIAH THE PROPHET. 25 his works, that, from every standpoint from which such productions can be viewed, they are unsurpassed ; for there certainly are others in the Old Testament, which, at least in respect to form, come nearer to the ideal ; so that it would be more nearly correct to say of him, that in the essentials of literary excellence he has no peer among Hebrew writers. Moreover, this can be true without implying that, in all these essentials, his excel lence is equally conspicuous. It is, therefore, after all, not presumptuous to inquire, if his style has prominent peculiarities, and, if so, which are the most prominent. One who reads the undoubtedly genuine prophecies of Isaiah with an eye to their literary character, is first, perhaps, struck with their conciseness. He will notice, that they are not a single homogeneous production, but a series of addresses on various occasions, complete in themselves, the longest of which could be delivered in less than ten minutes. He will next observe the com pleteness, in spite of the limits imposed, with which the themes discussed are treated. The first chapter, e.g., is a marvel of condensation. It is a complete manual of religion ; setting forth the relation of God to his people, the duties growing out of that relation, the errors to be avoided, and the results of obedience and disobedience to the divine will ; — and this, not in the dry, abstract terms of a theological system, but in concrete pictures which the simplest soul can understand and appreciate. It is easy to see why Isaiah should have adopted this style, at least for his written utterances. The history of Palestine during his life was a series of crises. He therefore had little leisure, when moved to speak or write, to prepare formal discourses ; and the people, less 26 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. inclination to heed such productions. A short, pithy speech, or a tract of similar character, spoken or posted in the gate or at the sanctuary, was much more attrac tive and efficacious. He adapted himself to the times. A little study discloses also how he contrived to say so much in so few words. In the first place, his writ ings abound in epigrammatic sentences. There are scores of them. In fact, there is no other Hebrew author who furnishes the reader with so many quotable sayings. Good specimens are found in i. 13, iii. 12, v. 22, and viii. 19. Things of this sort are remembered, and passed from mouth to mouth. One can imagine the people of Jerusalem stopping one another on the street, to tell and hear the latest from the prophet. This, of course, was precisely what he desired and intended. He therefore often put these sayings into the forms most agreeable to those whom he wished to reach. The oriental delights in paronomasia. Isaiah now and then played upon words ; with what success a few examples, the force of which is lost in the English ver sion, will illustrate. To Ahaz, when the king was losing his faith in Jehovah, he said what might be rendered, " Confide not, abide not " (vii. 9), and furnished his dis ciples with a watchword. Of the rulers he said, " He looked for redress, and lo distress ; for restraint, and lo complaint " (v. 7) : and probably the persons at whom the shaft was aimed never forgave him. A still more interesting class of passages are such as i. 31, v. 18, and xxviii. 20. They owe their attractive ness to the metaphors which they contain. There are many such passages. Indeed, any one who will take the trouble to make the comparison will find that, ISAIAH THE PROPHET. 27 although he uses both, Isaiah prefers the metaphor to the simile. But, if this is the case, there can be no doubt that he cultivated conciseness. The style of Isaiah is remarkable also for its vivid ness, i.e. the distinctness, in spite of the conciseness, with which the ideas to be conveyed are expressed. This effect is produced partly by the use of certain rhetorical figures. Among them is interrogation. In some -eases, e.g., v. 4, x. 8 f., and xxviii. 9, the answer is so evident that the reader is left to supply it. In others the question is simply an introduction to the declara tion which the prophet wishes to make. So, e.g., x. 3, xiv. 32, and xxiii. 7 ff. In his account of his call he introduces the dialogue (vi. 8 ff.). It is clear that this figure is calculated to stimulate attention, and, if not too often employed, to emphasize the thought ex pressed. Isaiah uses it freely, but not, like Jeremiah, so frequently as to weaken its effect upon his style. The same effect is produced by antithesis. This is a characteristic feature of Isaiah's writings. Examples occur on every page. A good one is found in i. 18 ff., where sin and purity, with their causes and conse quences, are contrasted. See also iii. 24 and viii. 6 f . ; in the latter of which, two fine metaphors are con trasted. These are but specimens : there are many others equally striking. Moreover, the tendency to heighten the effect of an idea by contrasting it with its opposite, appears, not only in individual statements, but in larger sections of the prophet's works. The vividness of i. 10-17 and xxii. 16-19, e.g., is largely due to the skilful application by their author of the principle of contrast. 28 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. Conciseness and vividness are virtues in any writer, but they are doubly commendable when they are com bined with richness of diction. This last, also, is one of Isaiah's characteristics. He surpasses all other Hebrew authors in the variety and abundance of the literary material at his command. The first item to be mentioned in an inventory of his resources is his vocabulary. One gets an impres sion that it must be large and varied from the number of words used by him but once, and never by any other writer. The proportion of such words in his writings is larger than in any other parts of the Old Testament, except the short books Habakkuk and Canticles. This impression is confirmed by further investigation ; for it will be found, that, in the passages whose genuinenessj is generally admitted, he uses about fifty-five per cent more words than are found, e.g., in the same number: of verses in the latter part of the book called by his name.* Finally, it should be observed that he does not affect archaic words or forms, but evidently puts his crowding thoughts into the language of the life about him. The richness of Isaiah's style appears also in the number, variety, and elegance of the literary ornaments ; that he employs. In fact, there is hardly a rhetorical figure that is not illustrated in his writings, and of some there are scores of examples. The use that he makes of paronomasia and interrogation has already been noticed. Related to the former is alliteration. It occurs with some frequency, but there is never any * The above calculation is based on the analysis of Duhm, according to whom the number of genuine verses is 293. ISAIAH THE PROPHET. 29 apparent effort to produce such combinations. For good examples see xvii. io and 12, xxi. 16, and xxii. 5. In the fourth of these passages, perhaps, a climax is intended. This is certainly the case in ii. 7 f., which is also one of several places where Isaiah indulges in hyperbole. These are the most important figures of speech, so called, used by the prophet. Of the figures of thought, the metaphor has already been mentioned as a favorite with him. He does not, however, neglect the fuller simile. In fact, there is no other Hebrew writer who uses it more frequently or effectively. Moreover, in his use of it, he displays a remarkable breadth of knowledge and experience. Of course, being a native of Jerusalem, he shows perfect familiarity with urban life in his figures; e.g., in v. 25 and xxx. 13 and 29; but, like other healthy and vigorous thinkers, he seems to have found his best illustrations in nature and the life of the country. Hence his prophecies abound in glimpses of natural phenomena, like those in vii. 2, ix. 17/18, and xxviii. 2 ; or of the simple pursuits and interests of his rural countrymen, like those in i. 30, xvii. 5 f., and xxxi. 4. Add to these the similes drawn from history, such as are found in i. 9 and xvii. 9, and the result is a collection of examples, which, for number and excellence, it would be difficult to match in any literature. The remaining figures of thought are al most all used with more or less frequency by Isaiah ; but none of them deserves especial mention except the parable, of which there are two examples, — one in v. 1 ff., and the other in xxviii. 23 ff. The former is interesting, not only for its beauty and fitness, but also 30 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. because there are several imitations of it in the Old Testament, and two in the New (xxvii. 2 ff. ; Jer. xii. io f. ; Ps. lxxx. 9 ff. ; Matt. xx. i ff. ; xxi. 33 ff.). The richness of Isaiah's style makes his prophecies a constant source of literary as well as religious enjoy ment. To be sure, there are places where one must confess to finding an excess of it; e.g., in the mixed metaphors of xiv. 29 and xxviii. 15, the confused similes of v. 24 and xvii. 13, and the perplexing combination of metaphors and similes in xxx. 27 f. : but, as the prophet never dwells on these figures, he so soon recovers him self that the usual clearness of his language is only slightly disturbed. It is clear, that Isaiah lived in an ideal world and spoke the language of the imagination ; in other words, that he was a poet. But he was an oriental poet ; and oriental poets allow themselves greater liberty than is permitted occidental singers. Their poems, therefore, like the products of the looms of the East, are apt to be characterized by a freedom of design and execution that furnishes an almost endless succession of delight ful surprises. So it is with Isaiah's poetry. He seems not to have permitted himself to be trammelled by met rical considerations, but freely to have lengthened and shortened his lines and strophes to suit the flow of his thought.* The result, as in the case of the illustra tion, after one has recovered from the strangeness of this oriental freedom, is a continually recurring pleasure in the unexpected forms in which he clothes his ideas. * Thus, in the song at the beginning of the fifth chapter, there are twenty lines: two with three words each; six with four; four with five; six with six; and two with seven. Compare FBrown, JBL, 1890, I. 92 f. THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. 31 The importance of Isaiah's position and character as elements of power has already been noticed. It re mains to call attention to the additional advantage which his literary outfit gave him. This surely must have been very great. The sinners whom he rebuked cannot have received his denunciations as calmly as they would have listened to less masterful descriptions of their corruption and its consequences. One can even imagine the enemies and oppressors of his coun trymen wishing that Jehovah had a less eloquent rep resentative. On the other hand, what a cordial to his friends and disciples, when they were ready to faint under the stress of misfortune or persecution, it must have been to hear him tell the things that were in store for the remnant of the chosen people ! Do not men still delight to clothe their hopes for the kingdom of God in his language ? Such was Isaiah, — a great man and a great poet ; and, as such, one of the noblest instruments ever chosen of God to declare his will, and advance his kingdom, among men. II. THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. The title of the book called by the name of Isaiah says that he lived and prophesied in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. The contents of the book show that this statement, whoever may y 32 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. have been its author, is correct. Thus, e.g., there can be little doubt that ii. 6 ff. reflects the state of things under Uzziah and Jotham, and less, that vii. belongs to the reign of Ahaz, and xx. to that of Hezekiah. If, however, one would thoroughly understand these re markable prophecies, the date of the prophet must be more exactly determined, and the circumstances under which he wrote considered. It is now generally admitted that the reign of Uzziah began, and ended, considerably later than was formerly believed. Usher made him succeed his father Amasiah in 810, and give place to his son Jotham in 758 B.C. This, however, cannot be correct, if, as is asserted (2 Kgs. xv. 1 7), he was a contemporary of Menahem of Israel ; since the latter, according to both Hebrew (2 Kgs. xv. 19)* and Assyrian (Schrader, KA T, 223 f.)f testimony, paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser III., who did not come to the throne- until 745. Moreover, the same Assyrian king seems to have received tribute from Uzziah himself some time after this date. % Most modern authorities, therefore, * Here, as Schrader was the first to discover (KGF, 422 ff.), Pul is evi dently but another name for Tiglath-pileser III. See Schrader, KAT, 227 ff.; Ragozin, SA, 207 f. t The annals of Tiglath-pileser III., for the eighth year of his reign, read, "The tribute of Kustaspi of Commagene, Resin of Damascus, Mena hem of Samaria, Hiram of Tyre," etc. See Schrader. KAT, 223 f.; KB, II. 30 f. | This statement is based on two fragmentary inscriptions, in one of which tribute is said to have been taken from a king of Ia-u-di and the la-u-da-ai, the end of whose name is ia-a-u; and in the other, from one the beginning of whose name is Az-ri-a. In the latter the name Az-ri-ia- a-u occurs, also, as that of one to whom a part of Hamath had revolted (Schrader, KB, II. 24ff). Schrader {KAT, 217 ff.) identifies the Aza- riah of both fragments with Uzziah, who is so called in 2 Kgs. xv. I ; and THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. 33 put the end of Uzziah's reign as late as 740 (Driver, Duncker, Delitzsch, etc.), and some four or five years later (Kamphausen, Meyer, Buhl, etc.); and, if he reigned fifty-two years, his last cannot have been much, if any, earlier than 735. The most serious objection to this date is, that, since Ahaz is known to have been on the throne in 734, there is very little room left for Jotham ; who, according to 2 Kgs. xv. 33, ruled sixteen, or, according to 2 Kgs. xv. 30, twenty years. But this objection is met by supposing, as there is good reason for doing, that this king, during almost the entire period of his alleged reign, was regent for his unfortu nate father ; or, as 2 Kgs. xv. 5 expresses it, " over the household, judging the people of the land." Ahaz is said, to have come to the throne at twenty and to have reigned sixteen years (2 Kgs. xvi. 1). If, therefore, the date of his accession is, at the latest, 740 B.C., he cannot have been succeeded by Hezekiah before 725. Here are new difficulties. In the first place, the first of Hezekiah would thus be, not the third (2 Kgs. xviii. 1), but the sixth, of Hoshea of Israel; and Samaria must have fallen in the third, and not in the sixth (2 Kgs. xviii. 10), year of the Judean king. Secondly, this result is contradicted by 2 Kgs. xviii. 13, where the date of Sennacherib's invasion of Judah, supposes the operations therein described to belong to a date between 742 and 740 B.C. Winckler (AF, I. 1 ff.) has undertaken to show that the words la-u-di and la-u-da-ai of the first fragment, which have been supposed to mean Judah and the Judean, are really designations for a region in northern Syria — the '"IK1 of inscriptions recently found at Sin- jirli — and its ruler; but such a coincidence in the case of two countries and their rulers is hardly possible. See McCurdy, HPM, I. 413ft; comp. Cheyne, IBI, 4; Kittel, HH, II. 335 f.). 34 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. which took place in 701, is said to have been the four teenth of Hezekiah; i.e., if his first was 725, 712, seven years before the Assyrian monarch came to the throne. The first of these discrepancies cannot be remedied; the second can, by lengthening the reign of Ahaz from sixteen to twenty-one years. His last would thus be 714, and the fourteenth of Hezekiah would synchronize with the invasion in question. There is another reason for preferring the later to the earlier dates for the kings mentioned. In the sixth chapter Isaiah says that he saw the vision in which he was called to the prophetic office in the year of Uzziah's death. At that time, if one may judge from his lan guage, he must have been at least twenty-five years old. He would thus, according to Usher, have been at least eighty -three when Sennacherib attacked his country; and more than ninety-eight when, according to tradition, he was put to death by Manasseh. Now, while it is not impossible that he lived to so great an age, there is, as has been shown, no reliable evidence to that effect; and his latest prophecies seem too virile to be the utter ances of a man much above sixty. When Isaiah began his career, Judah was entering upon the stormiest period of its existence. For half a century, under the prudent and vigorous administration of Uzziah and his son Jotham, it had prospered, and at last, the work of Jeroboam II. being largely undone by internal strife, outstripped all its neighbors. The industrial and commercial activity of its people had been rewarded by abundant wealth ; and the military enterprises of its rulers, by increased political impor tance (ii. 7 ; 2 Chr. xxvi. f.). The death of Uzziah, THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. 35 although for years he had not governed his kingdom directly, seems to have demoralized the Jews and robbed them of their prestige in western Asia. At any rate, about this time they found themselves assailed from various quarters, but most seriously threatened by the renewed hostility of Syria and Israel (2 Kgs. xv. 37). The biblical historian represents this state of things as a direct infliction by Jehovah, but the student of the events of the period will easily find secondary causes for it. Tiglath-pileser, upon his accession, gave his first attention to the recovery of Babylonia and the restoration of Assyrian authority among the tribes to the east and north of him. This done, in 742 he began operations in the West. He spent five years in north ern Syria, three in subduing Arpad, and two more in reconquering parts of Hamath that had revolted. His success so impressed the neighboring peoples that their rulers hastened to make submission ; Resin of Damascus and Menahem of Samaria, according to the record already quoted, among them. This was in 738 B.C. Menahem, who needed the support of the great king (2 Kgs. xv. 19), seems to have remained loyal to Assyria. So, also, Pekahiah his son. The latter, however, had reigned but two years, when Pekah, son of Remaliah, overthrew and succeeded him (2 Kgs. xv. 25). The followers of Pekah are described as Gileadites. They were doubtless representatives of a patriotic party, whose object was the liberation of their country from Assyrian domination. Pekah at once proceeded to carry out their programme. He refused to pay the tribute imposed upon his predecessors, and entered into an alliance with Resin, who by this time 36 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. had repented of his submission, to maintain their' inde pendence. Moab, Ammon, Edom, Philistia, and Phoe nicia appear to have been drawn into the agreement. Judah, for some reason, was not; and this fact suffi ciently explains the hostility toward it shown by the Syrians and the Israelites, and finally, according to the Chronicler (2 Chr. xxviii. 17 f.),* by the Edomites and the Philistines. The Chronicler represents the Jews as suffering very severely in this war, especially after the accession of Ahaz. The parallel passages in the books of Kings and Isaiah (2 Kgs. xvi. 5 ; Isa. vii. 1) tell a somewhat differ ent story ; but they agree in testifying that Ahaz was so thoroughly frightened that, in spite of a protest by Isaiah, he appealed to Tiglath-pileser for protection. The Assyrian king did not need the costly present that accompanied this appeal, to induce him to heed it. Having, doubtless, already planned such a campaign, he at once set an army in motion, and, by the end of 734, had seriously crippled Pekah and forced Hanno of Gaza to take refuge in Egypt, f At the end of three * According to Klostermann, 2 Kgs. xvi. 6 should read, " At the same time the king of Edom restored Elath to Edom," etc. t The precise date of Pekah's overthrow it is difficult to determine. In 2 Kgs. xv. the invasion of Tiglath-pileser and the conspiracy of Hoshea are related in successive verses (29 f.). The annals of the Assyrian king also describe the devastation of northern Israel and the change in its rulers in the same connection. In the latter case, however, these two events are separated by the humiliation of Hanno. Of his operations against Israel the Assyrian king says: "The city Ga-al . . . [A]-bi-il . . . above the land Beth-omri . . . the wide, in its entire extent to the territory of Assyria I added. I placed my officers as governors over it." In the second paragraph he says : " The land Beth-omri . . . with their goods to Assyria I transported. Pekah, their king, I slew, and Hoshea I placed as THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. 37 years he had conquered Syria (2 Kgs. xvi. 9)* and compelled the remaining members of the coalition in one way or another to acknowledge his sovereignty.! The death of Tiglath-pileser, which occurred in 727 B.C., was followed by another uprising in the west of the empire, in which Israel was prominent ; but when Shal- maneser IV., the successor of Tiglath-pileser, appeared on the scene, he speedily frightened Hoshea into submis sion (2 Kgs. xvii. 3). This, however, was not the end of the matter. The next year Hoshea, relying on the help of Shabaka, who had recently (728) made himself master of Egypt, $ again rebelled. Shalmaneser promptly king over them. Ten talents of gold, a thousand talents of silver ( ?) : ... I received, and to Assyria I transported them.'' See Schrader, KAT, .255ff.; KB, II. 30ft In another fragment (Lay. 66) he says: "On my former expedition I subdued all the cities, Samaria excepted." This state ment shows that Israel was twice invaded, and makes it probable that Pekah was not displaced by Hoshea much, if any, before 732, when the war with Syria had been brought to a successful termination. See McCurdy, HPM, I. 372ft; Tiele, BAG, 233ft Comp. Winckler, AU, 126 ft, who holds that the expedition against Hanno was entirely uncon nected with the Syrian war, which did not open until 733 B.C. * The Assyrian annals contained a detailed account of the conquest of Syria ; but the remains of it are so fragmentary that it is possible to gather therefrom only that the country was thoroughly devastated. See Schrader, KAT, 260ft t Ahaz, according to 2 Kgs. xvi. 10, went to Damascus to meet Tiglath- pileser, and thither, doubtless, the other princes mentioned by the Assyr ian king as submitting brought their tribute. See Schrader, KAT, 257 f. ; KB, II. 20 f. Ahaz appears in this list as " la-u-ha-zi," i.e., Jehoahaz, "of Judah." | According to 2 Kgs. xvii. 4 the king of Egypt at that time was So. This name is probably, as Schrader (KA T, 269 f. ) suggests, to be pro nounced Sewe (K.1P), and the person who bore it identified with the Sibu (Schrader, Shab'i) of the Assyrian inscriptions. Sibu, however, is called by Sargon the tartan, i.e., viceroy, of Egypt (Schrader, KA T, 396 f.; KB, 38 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. reappeared, and, before the Ethiopian could interfere, defeated and captured Hoshea (2 Kgs. xvii. 4), and invested Samaria. He died before the city was taken; but it finally, in 722, surrendered to Sargon II., who undertook to prevent any further trouble from it by deporting many of the inhabitants and supplying their places by importations from Babylon.* His policy was not altogether successful, for again in 720, as he him self relates, Samaria joined a league headed by Iaubidi of Hamath, of which Damascus also was a member. At the same time Hanno, king of Gaza, who had mean while regained his throne, supported by a strong body of Egyptians, took the field against the Assyrians. The Hamathite was first overthrown and his allies scattered. Then Sargon advanced to meet the combined Egyptians and Philistines. The battle took place at Raphia, on' II. 54 f.) ; and expressly distinguished from Pharaoh, king of the country. It is probable, therefore, that So and Shabaka are not the same person, but that the former is one of the princes of lower Egypt through whom the negotiations with Hoshea were conducted. See McCurdy, HPM, I. 422 f.; Winckler, UAG, 92 f.; comp. Schrader, KAT, zbqi.; Ragozin, SA, 243. * The following is Sargon's own account of the matter : " Samaria I besieged, I captured. 27,290 of its inhabitants I carried off. Fifty char iots from their midst I appropriated. The rest I allowed to retain their goods (?). My governor over them I placed, and the tribute of the former king I imposed upon them." See Schrader, KAT, 272 f.; KB, IL, 54f. On the date see Beecher, fBL, 1892, II. 21 1 ff. Tyre also seems to have been concerned in this uprising. At any rate, Sargon claims to have "pacified" it (Schrader, KB, II. 42 f.). It is probable, however, that the story of Shalmaneser's operations against it, which Josephus (Af, ix. 14, 2) claims to have copied from Menander, is really an account of Sennacherib's later attempt to subdue it. See McCurdy, HPM, II. 282; Meyer, GA, I. 433 ft, 466 f.; comp. Rawlinson, SP, 136ft; Tiele, BAG, 237 f. THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. 39 the southern border of Philistia, and resulted in the defeat of the allies, the capture of Hanno, and the sub mission of the surrounding peoples.* The king of Egypt renewed his submission in 715, also the Arabs, some of whom Sargon at that time added to his previous importations into Samaria. 7 There is no evidence that Judah was concerned in any of the uprisings thus far described.:}: Indeed, so long as Ahaz lived, although its people must, at times, have been strongly tempted to make common cause with their neighbors, they seem to have remained loyal -to Assyria. Hezekiah, however, when, in 714, he came to the throne, appears to have yielded to the influence of an Egyptian party and adopted a different policy. An opportunity to test its wisdom soon occurred. Azuri, king of Ashdod, meditated rebellion, and called upon the surrounding rulers to help him. He was deposed ; but, in 711, his people, instigated thereto by roving Hit- tites, and relying on the assistance of the Egyptians, dethroned his brother and successor, and asserted their independence (xx. 1). The Philistines generally did the * Sargon describes the battle and its results as follows : " Hanno, king of Gaza, with Sibu (Sewe) , tartan of Egypt, advanced to offer me battle and contest at Raphia. Their overthrow I accomplished. Sibu, fearing the din of my arms, fled, and his retreat was not to be found. Hanno, king of Gaza, I captured. Tribute from Pharaoh, king of Egypt, Samsi, queen of Arabia, and Itamara, the Sabean, — gold, products of the moun tains, horses, and camels, — I received." See Schrader, KA T, 396 f. ; KB, II. 54 f. t See Schrader, KA T, 277 f. ; KB, II. 36. % There is a passage in one of Sargon's inscriptions (Schrader, KB, II. 36 f.) in which he calls himself "the subduer of la-u-du"; but, if the country in question is Judah, probably all that is meant is, that, about this time, Ahaz renewed the oath of allegiance which he had taken when he appealed to Tiglath-pileser. 40 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. same ; Judah also, and Edom, and Moab. The outcome was a total failure. Sargon easily took Ashdod, which he repeopled and transformed into an Assyrian prov ince. Shabataka, the then king of Egypt, not only did not come to its relief, but surrendered Iamani, the fugi tive leader of the rebellion, to the Assyrian conqueror.* Some of the allies of the Ashdodites were punished. The Jews do not appear to have suffered ; at any rate, there is no record to that effect, t Perhaps they re pented in time to escape the fate of their neighbors. The failure of Hezekiah's first attempt to throw off the Assyrian yoke naturally prevented him from mak ing another under similar circumstances; but, when, in 705, Sargon was succeeded by Sennacherib, the pros pect of success in such an undertaking became brighter. In the first place, Judah had then regained much of the strength which it lost upon the death of Uzziah (2 Kgs. xviii. 7 a). On the other hand, Assyria was weakened by the internal disturbances that culminated in the assassination of Sargon ; and, when he was gone, it temporarily lost nearly all of its foreign possessions. Finally, in Egypt there had arisen a vigorous ruler, Tirhaka,$ who was eager to extend his influence in * In the inscription in which Sargon recalls the result of this campaign (Schrader, KAT, 398ft ; KB, II. 64ft) the king who surrenders Iamani is called king of Milucha ; but Milucha, it is almost universally admitted, is only another name for Ethiopia, to which Egypt was at the time subject. See Schrader, KA T, 205 ; McCurdy, HPM, II. 245 f. ; Delitzsch, WP, 56 f. ; Meyer, GA, I. 45 7 f. ; comp. Tiele, BA G, 269 ft; Winckler, AU, 27. t The inscription in which Sargon claims to have subdued Judah, if Judah is meant, antedates this campaign. t Comp. Winckler, A U, 28 f., who claims that Tirhaka did not get pos session of Egypt until 691 B.C. THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. 41 Syria. It is not surprising, in view of this state of things, that Hezekiah thought it safe, not only to en tertain an embassy from Merodach-baladan, who had again seized the throne of Babylonia (2 Kgs. xx. 12 ff.),* but to imprison Padi, who had been driven from that of Ekron. At first it seemed as if he had really secured his independence ; but Sennacherib soon began to show that, with the sceptre, he had inherited the ability to wield it. In a year he had firmly established himself on the throne of his father. It took him only two more to unseat the Babylonian usurper, bring the peoples to the north and east, that had rovolted, into subjection, and push his conquests in the latter direction beyond those of his predecessors. Then, in 701, he turned his attention westward. He first invaded Phoenicia and reduced its cities, one after another, in rapid succession. Thereupon most of the kings of the neighboring nations returned to their allegiance ; among them Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Ashdod. Three, at least, failed to send tokens of submission, and Sennacherib proceeded to reconquer them. Zidka, a usurper, who seems to have been re sponsible for the revolt of Ashkelon, was dethroned, and the crown restored to its rightful wearer. The Ekron- ites were next attacked. Their subjugation was delayed by the appearance of a large force of Egyptians, who had come to their support. The respite, however, was but a brief one. In the battle at Eltekeh, which followed, the Assyrians were victorious. Tirhaka re treated, and Sennacherib, having captured Ekron, killed * The story of the embassy follows the account of Sennacherib's invasion, but the order of the events was the reverse. Comp. Ragozin, SA, 269 ff. ; Tiele, BAG, 289. 42 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. or deported the better part of its inhabitants. Judah was now completely at the mercy of the invader, but Hezekiah made no sign of submission. Sennacherib, therefore, sent a part of his army to ravage Judah and threaten Jerusalem, while he, with the main body, pro ceeded southward and invested Lakish. When Heze kiah saw the Assyrians, laden with the spoil of his lesser cities, at the very gates of his capital, repenting the unwisdom of defying the great king, he made haste to release Padi, empty his treasury, strip the temple of its ornamentation, and even sacrifice some of his daughters, to appease the conqueror. The general in command of the Assyrians, who perhaps had neither troops enough nor the engines necessary for a successful siege, then retired and rejoined his master at Lakish. Not long afterward, as Sennacherib was moving on Egypt, his army was overtaken by an unknown disaster, in conse quence of which he suddenly changed his plans and returned to Syria.* * The above sketch is condensed from the three sources of information on the subject. Sennacherib's own account of the campaign is preserved in the celebrated Taylor Cylinder (Schrader, KA T, 288 ff. ; KB, II. 90 ff). It is so interesting and important that it must be given in full. It runs as follows : " In my third expedition I went to the land of Heth. Luli, king of Sidon, overpowered by fear of the splendor of my royalty, fled far into the midst of the sea; and I took his land. Sidon the great, Sidon the less, Beth-zitti, Sarepta, Maehallib, Usha, Akzib, Akko, — his strong towns,— the fortresses where there was water and pasture, and shelter for his troops, the might of the arms of Asshur, my lord, overwhelmed, and they pros trated themselves at my feet. Tubalu on the royal throne over them I seated, and a payment of tribute to my royalty, yearly without ceasing, I laid upon him. Menahem of Samsimuruna, Tubalu of Sidon, Abdiliti of Arwad, Urumilki of Gebal, Mitinti of Ashdod, Buduilu of Beth-ammon, Kemosh-nadab of Moab, Malkiram of Edom, — all the kings of the West, — brought rich gifts, their costly present, with goods (?), to me, and THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. 43 One would naturally infer from 2 Kgs. xix. 35 ff., that Sennacherib's army was almost completely anni- kissed my feet. But Zidka, king of Ashkelon, who did not submit to my yoke, — the gods of his family, himself, his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers, the offspring of his family, I removed and deported to Assyria. Sharruludari, son of Rukibti, their former king, over the people of Ashke lon I placed ; the giving of tribute of submission to my royalty I imposed upon him, and he rendered obedience. "In the progress of my expedition, Beth-dagon, Joppa, Bene-barak, Hazor, — cities of Zidka that had not at once prostrated themselves at my feet, — I besieged, captured, and plundered. The nobles and officers of Ekron, who had cast Padi, their king according to sworn agreement with Assyria, into iron fetters ; and hostilely delivered him to Hezekiah of Judah, who confined him in prison, — their hearts feared. The kings of Egypt summoned the archers and chariots and horses of the king of Ethi opia, a numberless force, and came to their assistance. Before Eltekeh the army was arrayed against me ; they uplifted their weapons. Relying on Asshur, my lord, I fought with them and wrought their overthrow. The captain of the chariots, and the sons of a king of Egypt, with the captain of the chariots of the king of Ethiopia, alive in the midst of battle, my hand seized. Eltekeh and Timnath I besieged, captured, and plundered. Against Ekron I advanced. The nobles and officers who had caused re volt I slew, and their corpses on stakes I hanged about the city. The people of the city who had done wrong and injury I reckoned as prisoners. To the rest, who had hot wrought revolt or wickedness, who had not com mitted their crime, I proclaimed amnesty. Padi, their former king, from Jerusalem I brought forth, set him upon the royal throne over them, and laid the tribute to my royalty upon him. " Hezekiah of Judah, also, who did not submit to my yoke, — forty-six of his strong cities, and the fortresses and small places in their vicinity without number, with trampling of a-ram-mi, attack of iu-pi-i, battle, zu- uk of feet, pil-H nik-si u kal-ban-na-ti, I besieged and captured. Twenty thousand one hundred and fifty people, small and great, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep without number, I brought forth and reckoned as booty. Him, like a bird in a. cage, in Jerusalem, his royal city, I enclosed. Bulwarks against him I reared, and he who came forth from the gate of the city I turned back. The cities that I had plundered from his land I severed ; and I gave them to Mitinti, king of Ashdod, Padi, king of Ekron, and Silbil, king of Gaza ; and I diminished 44 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. hilated by the angel of Jehovah, and that he himself escaped only to be assassinated by two of his sons soon after his return to Nineveh. This, however, was not the case. In the first place, although, as one can read between the lines of his own statements, he was obliged to abandon his plan for the conquest of Egypt, his expedition was so far successful that he retained his hold on the region actually overrun, and prevented Tirhaka from getting possession of it. Secondly, he lived after his return no fewer than twenty years, and his land. To the former tribute, their annual gift, a present of submission to my royalty I added, and I imposed it upon them. Hezekiah himself fear of the splendor of my royalty prostrated ; the Urbi, also, and his brave troops, whom, to strengthen Jerusalem, his royal city, he had brought in and granted wages(?). With thirty talents of gold and eight hundred talents of silver, I caused precious stones, sparkling gu-uh-li, great ukni, ivory couches, lofty thrones of ivory, elephant skins, ivory, usu wood, ukarinnu wood, every thing, — great treasure, — also his daughters, women of the palace, and male and female attendants, to be brought to Nineveh, my royal abode, after me. To pay tribute, also, and render submission, he sent his messenger." Lakish is not mentioned in this inscription, but there exists a picture from one of the halls of Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh, in which he is represented as receiving the spoils of the captured city. See Ragozin, SA, 306. The biblical account of Sennacherib's invasion (xviii. 13-xix. 37) be gins with a brief statement (xviii. 13-16) in perfect harmony, so far as it goes, with the Assyrian record. This, however, is followed by a de tailed narrative to the effect that Sennacherib, as it would seem after having received the fine imposed, made two attempts to get possession of Jerusalem : first sending his lieutenant with a strong force from Lakish to overpower it (2 Kgs. xviii. 17); and afterward, on hearing that Tirhaka was advancing, despatching a letter warning Hezekiah that resistance would be useless (2 Kgs. xix. 9) : but that Jehoveh interposed and smote 185,000 of the Assyrians, whereupon Sennacherib returned to his own country (2 Kgs. xix. 35 ft). If Sennacherib, after making terms with Hezekiah, really made any further attempt, or attempts, to get possession THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. 45 conducted several successful campaigns, one of which was directed against Edom and the Arabs on its border.* Finally, in 68 1 B.C., he was succeeded by his son Esar- haddon ; but before that date (686) Hezekiah had been succeeded by Manasseh, and Isaiah, also, had probably finished his labors. The dates of the persons and events mentioned in the preceding discussion have been given, each in the proper connection, but they can be put into a form more con venient for review or reference. The following table is intended to serve such purposes. of Jerusalem, the fact may be explained in one of two ways. It may be, as the Hebrew historian seems to have intended to make it appear, that, in so doing, he simply broke faith with his vassal. On the other hand, although the biblical narrative contains no hint that such was the case, it may be that Hezekiah, by continuing his intrigues with Tirhaka, gave the Assyrian king reason for insisting upon the surrender of the city. All this, on the supposition that any such attempt was made, which, however, is far from certain. The biblical narrative is probably a compilation from three different sources. In the first place, it is plain, that xviii. 14- 16, which does not appear in Isa. xxxvi., is foreign to its present con nection ; and secondly, when xviii. 1 7-xix. 8 and xix. 9-34 are compared, the remarkable similarity between them makes it equally clear that they are different versions of the same story. See Stade, GVI, I. 617 f. But, if these three passages are really parallel, and not continuous, the demand for the surrender of the city may be inserted before the payment of the fine imposed, and the Hebrew thus brought into as nearly perfect harmony with the Assyrian record as could be expected. Of course Sennacherib would not report the disaster in which the Hebrews saw the hand of Jehovah. There is an Egyptian tradition with reference to this disaster, preserved by Herodotus (II. 141), to the effect that it occurred near Pelusium ; where an army of mice, by divine command, destroyed the weapons of the Assyrians and thus made them an easy prey to the Egyptians. See Mc Curdy, HPM, II. 298 f. ?See Schrader, KB, II. 130 f.; Meyer, GA, I. 47 1; comp. McCurdy, HPM, II. 301. 46 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. S OJ a. ¦ .a w ° t-. IH .g o ^j N ^a "H J3 < THE TIMES OF ISAIAH. 47 ¦a o •a W> 7355 except 4b (editorial); 5-15, 701; except 10-12 (editorial); 16-27, editorial; 28-32,711; 33 f., editorial. xi. 1-9, 730±; 10-16, post-Exilic. xii. post-Exilic. xiii. Exilic. xiv. 1-23, Exilic; 24-27,701; 28-32,705. xv. 775 ±. xvi. 1-12, 775±; I3f., 711. xvii. I-II, 735; 12-14, 701- xviii. 1-6, 701; 7, post-Exilic. xix. 1-15, 665 ±; 16-25, post-Exilic. xx. 711. xxi. 1-10, Exilic; 11— 15, 775± ; i6f., 711. xxii. 1-14,701; 15-23,702; 24 f., editorial. xxiii. 1-14, 702; 15-18, post-Exilic. xxiv. post-Exilic. xxv. post-Exilic. xxvi. post-Exilic. xxvii. post-Exilic. xxviii. 1-4,734; 5 f., editorial; 7-29,704. xxix. 1-15,702; except 5 and 8 (editorial) ; 16-24, post-Exilic. xxx. 1-17, 702; 18-26, post-Exilic; 27-33, 701. xxxi. 702; except 6f. (editorial). xxxii. 1-8, Exilic; 9-14,702; 15-20, post-Exilic. xxxiii. post-Exilic. xxxiv. post-Exilic; xxxv. post-Exilic. xxxvi. 600. xxxvii. 600. xxxviii. 1-8, 600; 9-20, post-Exilic; 21 f., 600. xxxix. 600. In the second table an attempt is made to show the connection of thought which the editor of the collection may be supposed to have seen between the prophecies and fragments of prophecies united in the first twelve chapters to be interpreted. It will also serve as an outline for the proposed comments. 58 INTRODUCTORY STUDIES. A. An introductory summary, i. 2-31. 1. The perversity of God's chosen, vv. 2-9. a. The baseness of it, vv. 2-4. b. The folly of it, vv. 5-9. 2. The requirements of Jehovah, vv. I0-2O. a. The forms of religion, vv. 10-15 a- b. The substance of piety, vv. i5b-20. (1) The outward manifestation, vv. 15 b— 17. (2) The inward disposition, vv. 18-20. 3. The faithful town, vv. 21-31. u. Its degeneracy, vv. 21—23. b. Its regeneration, vv. 24-31. B. The future of God's people, ii.-xii. I. The disloyal mass, ii. 2-vi. 13. a. The ideal and its realization, ii. 2-iv. 6. (1) A universal shrine, ii. 2-4. (2) A separation of the unworthy, ii. 5-iv. I. (3) A general visitation, ii. 5-21. 1*. The curse of prosperity, vv. 5— 11. /3. A general overthrow, vv. 12-17. 7. The useless idols, vv. 18-21. {f) The portion of Judah, ii. 22-iv. 1. a. The pillars of society, ii. 22— iii. 7. /3. The defiant rebels, iii. 8-15. 7. The wanton women, iii. 16-iv. 1. (3) The rescued remnant, iv. 2-6. i. The unprofitable vineyard, v. (1) The parable, vv. 1-7. (2) The development, vv. 8-30. (a) The sinners after their kinds, w. 8-24. a. The avaricious, vv. 8-10. /3. The dissolute, vv. 11-17. 7. The presumptuous, vv. i8f. 8. The perverse, v. 20. e. The conceited, v. 21. f. The corrupt, vv. 22-24. {b) The avenger of Jehovah, vv. 25-30. c The vision of Isaiah, vi. (1) The Holy One of Israel, w. 1-7. (2) The prophet's commission, vv. 8-13. THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. 59 2. The loyal remnant, vii-xii. u. Faith and its rewards, vii. 1-ix. 6/7. (i) Faith in man, vii. 1-viii. 8. (a) The child Immanu-el, vii. a. Ahaz' dilemma, vv. 1-9. /3. A sign and its import, vv. 10-17, 7. The devastation of Judah, vv. 18-25. (b) The boy Maher-shalal-hash-baz, viii. 1-8. a. The overthrow of the allies, vv. 1-4. p. The inundation of Judah, vv. 5-8. (2) Faith in God, viii. 9-ix. 6/7. (a) The only danger, viii. 9-15. (fi) The coming darkness, viii. 16-23 (ix. ')¦ (c) A great light, ix. 1/2-6/7. b. The work of Jehovah, ix. 7/8-xii. 6. (1) A succession of chastisements, ix. 7/8-x. 4. (a) Foreign foes, ix. 7/8-11/12. (b) Merciless pestilence, ix. 12/13-16/17. (c) Internal strife, ix. 17/18-20/21. (d) Death or captivity, a. 1-4. (2) The rod of God's anger, x. 5-34. (a) The boast of the Assyrian, vv. 5-11. (b) The overthrow of the boaster, vv. 12-19. (c) The liberation of the remnant, vv. 20-27. (d) The decisive hour, vv. 28-34. (3) A new order, xi-xii. (a) An ideal kingdom, xi. 1-10. o. The inspired king, vv. 1-5. /3. The reign of peace, vv. 6-10. (b) The restoration ofthe outcast, xi. 11-16. (c) Songs of salvation, xii. a. A song of faith, vv. 1-3. j3. A song of praise, vv. 4-6.* * Comp. Kellner (PI) , whose outline of the collection is based upon an arrangement of the genuine prophecies in chronological order. TRANSLATION AND COMMENTS. oXXo I. REVELATIONS TO ISAIAH,* son of Amos, which he beheld concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. A. l. a. 2 Hear, O heaven ! and give ear, O earth ! for Jehovah hath spoken : Children have I reared, brought f up ; and they — have revolted from me. 3An ox know eth its owner, and an ass its master's crib : Israel have not understood, my people have not considered. 4Ah, erring nation ! people laden with iniquity ! seed of evil doers ! wayward children ! They have forsaken Jeho vah, they have rejected the Holy One of Israel, — become apostate. b. 6 Why should ye increase your stripes by continued apostasy ? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart * In this translation, the parts believed to be genuine are printed in common type; the rest in Italics. Words or clauses restored are indicated by brackets, while glosses upon non-Isaianic passages are enclosed between marks of parenthesis. t Text : and brought. 60 I. 5-17] TRANSLATION. 61 diseased. 6 From the sole of the foot to the very head there is no soundness ; but wounds, and wales, and fresh sores ; which have neither been purged, nor bound up, nor mollified with oil. 7Your land is a desert; your cities are burned with fire; as for your soil, strangers devour it before your eyes ; and it is a desert as when Sodom * was * overthrown. 8 Yea, Zion the fair is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a field of cucumbers, like a city besieged. 9 Had not Jehovah of Hosts left us a remnant, we should soon have been as Sodom, we should have become like Gomorrah. 2. a. 10 Hear the message of Jehovah, O rulers of Sodom ! Give ear to the teaching of our God, O people of Gomorrah ! u What profit have I in the multitude of your sacrifices ? saith Jehovah : I am sated with offer ings of rams and the fat of fatlings ; and in the blood of bulls, and lambs, and he-goats I take no delight. 12 When ye come to seef my face, who hath required of you this — trampling of my courts ? 13 Bring no more a worthless vegetable offering ; its fume is detestable unto me. New-moon and sabbath, proclamation of holiday, — I cannot away with falsehood and — festivity. u Your new-moons and your feasts my soul hateth : they are a burden to me, that I am weary of bearing. 1S Yea, when ye spread forth your palms, I hide my eyes from you ; and although ye multiply prayers, I do not listen. b. (i) Your hands are full of blood ; 16 wash, cleanse, yourselves. Away with your evil deeds from before my eyes. Cease to do evil; 17 learn to do well. Seek jus tice ; correct the oppressor ; judge the orphan ; defend the widow. * Text : strangers are. f Text : appear. 62 ISAIAH. [I. 18-29 (2) 18Come now, let us come to an understanding, saith Jehovah : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall become white as snow; though they be red as vermilion, they shall become like wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the best of the land ; 20 but if ye be wilful and rebellious, ye shall taste * — the sword ; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken. 3. a. 21 How hath the faithful town become a harlot ! the once full of justice, where righteousness dwelt, but now — murderers ! w Thy silver hath become dross ; thy drink is diluted with water. 23 Thy princes are unprin cipled, partners of thieves. They all love a bribe, and chase after fees. The orphan they judge not ; and as for the cause of the widow, it doth not reach them. b. M Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, the Champion of Israel: Ha! I will have satisfaction of my adversaries ; and I will take vengeance upon my ene mies. 25 Yea, I will turn my hand against thee, smelt ing out in the furnace f thy dross, and removing all thy lead. 26Then will I restore thee judges as at first, and counsellors as in the beginning. Thereafter shalt thou be called the righteous city, a faithful town. 27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and they that dwell % therein through righteousness; 28but a common destruction shall overtake revolters and sinners ; yea, they that for sake Jehovah shall perish. 29 For ye § shall be ashamed of the oaks in which ye have delighted, and confounded by the gardens in which ye have found pleasure ; m for ye shall be like a terebinth with withered foliage, or a * Text : be devoured by. f Text : thoroughly, or as with a flux. % Text : return. § Text : they. I. 29-II. 8] TRANSLATION. 63 garden that hath no water. 31 Yea, the strong shall be tow, and his work a spark ; and they shall both burn together, with none to quench them. B. a-1The things that Isaiah, son of Amos, beheld concern ing Judah and Jerusalem. 1. a. (1) 2And it shall come to pass finally, that the mountain * of Jehovah shall be established at the head of the mountains, and the * house * \of our God~\ shall uplift itself above the hills. Then shall all the nations stream to it; syea, many peoples shall go and say : Come and 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 that we may walk in his patlis : for from Zion goeth forth instruction, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. i Then shall he jttdge between the nations, and decide for many peoples ; and they shall beat their swords into mat tocks, and their spears into pruning-knives : one nation shall not take the sword against another, nor shall they learn war any more. (2) (a) a. 6 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah ! 6 But thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob ; because they were full of diviners f and augurers like the Philistines; and with children of strangers they abounded. 7 Their land, also, is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures ; their land is full of horses, also, and there is no end to their chariots ; 8 nay, their land is full of idols ; the work of their hands, that which their own fingers * Text ; mountain of the house. f Text : the East. 64 ISAIAH. [II. 8-III. 2 have made, they worship. 9 Therefore shall man be humbled, and mankind abased; nor show them favor! 10 Go into the rock, and hide thyself in the ground, from the dreadful presence of Jehovah, and from the splendor of his majesty. n The lofty eyes of man shall be abased, and the haughtiness of men humbled; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. /3. 12For Jehovah of Hosts hath a day for every thing that is high and lofty, and every thing that tow ers ; when it shall be abased : 13 even for all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and towering, and all the oaks of Bashan ; 14 and for all the lofty mountains, and all the towering hills ; 15 and for every high tower, and every strong wall ; 16 and for all the ships of Tarshish, and all the delightful figures. 17 Yea, the loftiness of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men abased; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. 7. 18 The idols, also, shall all fail ; 19 and men shall go into caves in the rocks, and into holes in the ground, from the dreadful presence of Jehovah, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he ariseth to terrify the earth ; w in that day shall a man cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which he hath made for himself to worship, to the moles and the bats ; 21 to go into the rents of the rocks, and into the clefts of the cliffs, from the dreadful presence of Jehovah, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he ariseth to terrify the earth. (b) a. 22 Trust no longer in man that breatheth, for what is he to be accounted? m- 1 For lo, the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, will remove from Jerusalem, and from Judah, every staff : the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water ; 2hero and soldier; judge, and prophet, III. 2-15] TRANSLATION. 65 and diviner, and elder ; 3 captain, and favorite, and coun sellor, and magician, and conjurer. 4And I will give them boys for princes, and they shall be the sport of their rulers. 5 And the people shall be harassed, one by another, yea, each by his neighbor : they shall assail, the boy the elder, and the base the honorable. 6 When one layeth hold of another, in the house of his father, [saying] : Thou hast a mantle ; be a ruler for us ! and let this ruin be under thy control ! 7 in that day shall he cry, saying: I will not be a surgeon; for in my house is neither bread nor mantle. Ye shall not make me a ruler of the people. /3. 8 For Jerusalem shall totter, and Judah fall ; be cause with their tongues and their deeds they are against Jehovah, rebelling to his glorious face. 9The look on their faces testifieth against them; and their sin, like the Sodomites, they publish, they hide it not. Alas for themselves ! for they shall do themselves injury. 10Blessed* is the righteous ! for it shall be well with him ; for the fruit of his deeds shall he eat. n Woe to the god less ! it shall be ill with him : for what his hands have wrought shall be repaid him. 12 As for my people, their masters are children ; yea, women rule over them. O my people ! your leaders are seducers, and the way in which ye should walk they efface. 13 Jehovah is arisen to defend, and standeth to avenge, his f people, f 14 Je hovah will enter into a contest with the elders of his people and their princes : And ye have cropped the vineyard; the spoil of the afflicted is in your houses. 15 Wherefore crush ye my people, and bruise the faces of the afflicted ? saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts. * Text : Say. f Text : peoples. 66 ISAIAH. [III. 16-IV. 5 7. I6 And Jehovah said : Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and go with stretched necks and blink ing eyes, go trippingly and jingle with their feet : 17 there fore will the Lord bring baldness upon the crowns of the daughters of Zion ; yea, Jehovah will lay their temples bare. 18 In that day will the Lord remove the beautiful anklets, and sunlets, and moonlets ; 19 ear-drops, and brace lets, and veils ; 20 head-dresses, and step-chains, and sashes, and smelling-bottles , and amulets ; 21 finger-rings and nose rings ; w gala-robes, and stoles, and shawls, and purses ; 23 'mirrors, and shirts, and turbans, and mantles. M And it shall come to pass, that instead of perfume there shall be putridity ; and instead of a girdle, a rope ; and instead of hair-work, baldness ; and instead of a mantle, a strip of hair-cloth ; a brand in the place of beauty. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword ; even thy mighty in war. a And her doors shall sigh and mourn ; yea, she shall sit on the ground despoiled. iv- * And seven women shall lay hold of one man in that day, saying : We will eat our own bread, and wear our own raiment ; only let us be called by thy name ! take away our reproach ! (3) 2In that day shall the growth of Jehovah be goodly and famous, and the fruit of the land glorious and beautiful, to the survivors in Israel. 3For it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, even he that is spared in Jerusalem, shall be called holy : every one that is enrolled to live in Jerusalem; 4when Jehovah hath cleansed away the filth of Zion * the * fair,* and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, with a blast of judgment, even a blast of destruction. 5 Then will Jehovah create over the whole site of Mount Zion, * Text : the daughters of Zion. IV. 5-V. io] TRANSLATION. 67 and over her festivals, a cloud of smoke by day, and the glow of flaming fire by night ; yea, over the whole shall there be a glorious canopy 6 and pavilion, a shelter (by day) from the heat, and a refuge and covert from the storm and the rain. b. ( i ) vl Let me sing of my friend, — a song of my friend concerning his vineyard. A vineyard had my friend on a fertile hill. 2This he digged and cleared of stones ; then he planted it with choice vines, and built a tower in the midst of it ; a wine-press, also, he hewed out therein. Then he expected it to yield grapes ; but it yielded wild ones. 3 Now, therefore, O dwellers in Jerusalem, and men of Judah ! judge, I pray you, be tween me and my vineyard. i What was there yet to be done to my vineyard that I did not therein ? Why, then, when I expected it to yield grapes, did it yield wild ones ? 6 But now let me tell you what I shall do to my vineyard : take away its hedge, that it may be cropped ; tear down its wall, that it may be trampled. 6 Yea, I will put an end to it : it shall neither be pruned nor tilled ; but thorns and briers shall grow therein ; I will also charge the clouds that they rain not upon it. 7 But the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his delightful plantation ; and when he expected redress, lo — distress ! and when restraint, lo — complaint ! (2) (a) a. 8 Woe to you that join house to house, and add field to field, until there is no more room, and ye are left to dwell alone in the midst of the land ! 9 In my ears [hath] Jehovah of Hosts [revealed himself], saying : Surely many houses shall be empty, great ones and goodly without a tenant. 10 For ten yokes of vine- 68 ISAIAH. [V. 10-23 ,yard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed pro duce but an ephah. /3. u Woe to them that rise early in the morning, to pursue — drink ; and tarry in the evening until wine in flame them : 12 that have the lute, and the psaltery, and the tabret, and the flute, with wine, in their feasts ; but regard not the work of Jehovah, nor perceive what his hands are doing. 13 Therefore shall my people go into captivity unawares : yea, their rich shall be pinched with hunger, even their wealthy parched * with * thirst. 14 Therefore shall Sheol distend her maw, and open her mouth without limit ; and down shall go the showy and wealthy and noisy revellers among them. 15 Then shall man be humbled, and mankind abased; yea, tlte eyes of the haughty shall be abased; 16 but Jehovah of Hosts shall be exalted injustice, and the holy God sanctified by righteousness. 17 Then shall lambs graze as in their past ure, and on deserted lands shall \ fatlings,f lambs, \ feed. 7. 18Woe to them that drag guilt [upon them] with cords of folly, and punishment as with a cart-rope! 19 who say : Let come quickly, speedily, what he would do, that we may see it ; and let what the Holy One pur- poseth draw nigh and happen, that we may know it ! S. w Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil ! — that put darkness for light, and light for darkness ! that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter ! e. 21 Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, and in their own sight prudent ! f. m Woe to them that are heroes — in drinking wine, and men of prowess — in mixing drink ! 23 that acquit the guilty for a bribe, while the innocent they rob of his * Text : men of. f Text : of fallings shall sojourners. V. 23-VI. 3] TRANSLA TION. 69 innocence ! M Therefore as the fire's tongue lappeth stubble, and hay sinketh in the flame, so shall their root become rotten, and their blossom rise like dust : because they have rejected the teaching of Jehovah, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. {If) 25 Therefore was the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and his hand outstretched against them ; and he smote them, that the mountains trembled, and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger turned not, but his hand was outstretched still. w But he will hoist a signal to a * nation * from afar, and shrill to one from the end of the earth ; and lo, they come quickly, swiftly ! 27 there is none that f ainteth or f alleth among them ; they neither slumber nor sleep; the girdles of their loins are not loosed, nor are the strings of their shoes broken ; w their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows bent ; the hoofs of their horses are counted as flint, and their wheels as the whirlwind; 29they have a roar like the lion's, they roar like young lions ; and when they growl and lay hold of prey, they carry it off, and there is none to deliver. 30 And they shall growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea ; and, if one look toward the land there shall be darkness (of distress), yea, the light shall be obscured by its clouds. c. (1) vilInthe year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on a throne lofty and exalted, while his train filled the temple. 2 Seraphs hovered about him, each with six wings : with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is * Text : the nations. ¦70 ISAIAH. [VI. 3-VII. i Jehovah of Hosts ! the whole earth is full of his glory ! 4 Then the foundations of the threshold quaked at the sound, as each cried, while the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said, Woe is me ! for I am undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts. 6 But there flew to me one of the seraphs, bearing a live coal, that he had taken with the tongs off the altar ; 7 and he touched my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; so shall thy guilt depart and thy punishment be cancelled. (2) 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send ? and who will go for us ? and I said, Here am I ; send me. 9 Then said he : Go, and say to this people, Hear on, but do not understand ; and see on, but do not perceive. 10 Make the hearts of this people gross, and their ears dull, and seal their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their hearts understand, and they be healed again. 11 But I said, How long, O Lord ? and he said, Until the cities, ruined, are without inhabitant, and the houses without a man, and the soil is left* a desert. 12Yea, Jehovah will remove man far away, and great shall be the desertion in the midst of the land. 13And if there be in it yet a tithe, it also, in its turn, shall be consumed ; like the terebinth and the oak, of which, when they are felled, there is a stump. A holy seed is its stump. 2. a. (1) (a) a. viilAnd it came to pass, in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Resin, king of Syria, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war — * Text : wasted. VII. 1-15] TRANSLATION. 71 but did not prevail in their attack — against it. 2And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria hath set tled upon Ephraim ; and their hearts, and the hearts of their people, quaked, as the trees of the wood shake in the wind. 3Then said Jehovah to Isaiah, Go forth to meet Ahaz, thou and Shear-yashub, thy son, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, in the path to the Fuller's Field ; 4 and say to him, Take heed to be calm ; fear not, neither let thy heart be timid, on account of these two smoking stumps of firebrands, — at' the glow ing anger of Resin and Syria, and of the son of Rema- liah. 5 Because Syria hath planned evil against thee, Ephraim [also], and the son of Remaliah, saying, 6Let us go up against Judah, and terrify it, and overpower it, and enthrone as king in its midst the son of Tabeel; 7 thus saith the Lord, Jehovah : It shall not take place nor come to pass; 8for the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Resin ; and within sixty and five years shattered Ephraim shall cease to be a people ; 9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Sa maria, the son of Remaliah. If ye do not confide, verily, ye shall not abide. /3. 10 Then spake Jehovah further unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign from Jehovah, thy God ; going deep as Sheol, or into the heights above. 12 But Ahaz said : I will not ask one ; nor will I prove Jehovah. 13 Then said he, Hear, O house of David ! Is it too little for you to weary men, that ye must also weary my God ? 14 Therefore will the Lord himself give you a sign : Lo, the young woman that shall conceive, and bear a son, and call his name Immanu-el, — 15 curds and honey shall he eat when he hath learned to reject the bad and 72 ISAIAH. [VII. 15-VIII. 2 prefer the good; 16for, before the lad hath learned to reject the bad and prefer the good, the soil whose two kings thou dreadest shall be forsaken ; 17 [but] Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days such as have not come since Ephraim separated from Judah, the kitzg of Assyria. 7. 18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jeho vah will shrill to the fly that is at the end of the rivers of Egypt, and the bee that is in the land of Assyria ; 19 and they shall come and settle, all of them, in the yawning water-courses, and in the clefts of the cliffs, and in all the thorn-trees, and in all the pastures. 20 In that day will the Lord shave, with the razor hired be yond the River, with the king of Assyria, the hair from both head and trunk; yea, even the beard shall it re move. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that, if a man keep a heifer and two sheep, 22from the abun dance of the milk produced he shall eat curds; for curds and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. 23And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place, where there are a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of silver, shall be left to thorns and briers. M With the bow and arrows shall one go thither ; for the whole land shall become thorns and briers : 25all the hills, also, that are digged with the mattock, whither the fear of thorns and briers cometh not ; and they shall be a range for oxen, and a place for sheep to trample. (b) a. yil1- 1 Then said Jehovah to me, Take thee a large tablet, and write thereon in plain script, To Swift booty, speedy prey; 2and summon* me trusty witnesses, — Uriah the priest, and Zechariah, son of Jeberekiah. * Text : / will summon. VIII. 3-15] TRANSLATION. 73 3 And I drew near to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. And Jehovah said to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz ; * 4 for, before the lad hath learned to cry, Father, and Mother, the wealth of Da mascus and the booty of Samaria shall be borne off before the king of Assyria. /3. 5Then spake Jehovah to me further, saying, 6 Be cause this people despise the water of Shilloah, that floweth softly, and despair on account of Resin and the son of Remaliah ; 7 therefore, lo, the Lord will bring up against them the water of the River, mighty and abundant, the king of Assyria, and all his glory ; and it shall wholly outgrow its channels, and overflow all its banks ; 8 it shall also invade Judah, flood and overwhelm it, until it reacheth to the neck; yea, the stretch of its flanks shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanu-el ! (2) (a) 9Attend,f O peoples! but to be confounded; and give ear, O all the ends of the earth ! Gird your selves, but to be confounded ! gird yourselves, but to be confounded! 10 Plan a scheme, that it may be shattered ! speak a thing, that it may not take place! for God is with us. u For thus spake Jehovah to me with mighty power, to warn me not to go in the way of this people, saying, B Say ye not, A plot ! whenever this people say, A plot ! and fear not what they fear, neither be terrified. 13 Of % Jehovah of Hosts shall ye beware ; % and he shall be the object of your fear and your terror; 14but he shall be a sanctuary, and a stone to trip on, and a rock to stumble over, for both houses of Israel ; a snare and a springe for the dweller in Jerusalem : 15 so that many * Swift-booty-speedy-prey. f Text : Rage. J Text : sanctify. 74 ISAIAH. [VIII. 15-IX. 3 shall thereby stumble; yea, they shall fall and be broken, and be snared and taken. (b) 16 1 will roll up the testimony, seal the teaching, among my disciples ; 17 and I will wait for Jehovah, who hideth his face from the house of Jacob ; yea, I will look for him. 18 Lo, I and the children that Jehovah hath given me are signs and tokens in Israel from Jehovah of Hosts, who dwelleth in Mount Zion. 19 When, there fore, they say to you, Inquire of the necromancers and the soothsayers, that chirp and mutter: should not a people inquire of their God? for the living [should one inquire] of the dead ? 20 To the teaching and the testi mony ! surely they tell of the like of this state, to which there is no dawn. 21And they shall pass through it downcast and hungry ; and it shall come to pass, that when they are hungry, they shall become enraged and curse their king and their God ; and whether they turn upward ^or look earthward, lo, trouble and darkness, the darkness of oppression, *23yea, a gloom without \ brightness.! For is not the land darkened that is op pressed? The first time he dealt gently in the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali ; but the last, he dealt severely in the region of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, the District of the nations. (c) ta- 1 The people that walk in darkness shall see a great light; on them that dwell in a gloomy land a brightness shall burst. 2 Thou wilt cause J abundant | exultation ; J thou wilt create exceeding joy : men shall rejoice before thee as they rejoice in harvest, as they exult when they divide booty. 3 For the yoke that * ix. I in the English version. f Text : dispersed. % Text : make great the nation ; io it. IX. 3-15] TRANSLATION. 75 burdeneth them, and the staff on their shoulders, the rod of their taskmaster, thou wilt break, as in the day of Midian. 4 Yea, every boot tramping noisily, and the cloak dragged in blood, shall be burned, be fuel for the fire. 5 For a child shall be born to us, a son shall be given to us ; and the sovereignty shall be on his shoulder; and they shall call his name Wondrous-coun sellor, Mighty-lord, Booty-taker, Prince-of -peace ; 6 for the enlargement of the sovereignty and for endless peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, establishing and strengthening it by justice and righteous ness henceforth forever. The jealousy of Jehovah of Hosts will perform this. b. (i) (a) 7 A decree sendeth the Lord among Jacob, and it shall fall among Israel ; 8 and the people, all of them, shall take knowledge, Ephraim and the dweller in Samaria ; [who spake] in pride and arrogance, saying, 9 Bricks are fallen, but we will rebuild with hewn stone ; sycamores are hewn in pieces, but we will replace them with cedars. 10 Therefore Jehovah upheld their* adver saries * against them, and their enemies he aroused ; 11 Syria from the east, and the Philistines from the west; and they devoured Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger turned not, but his hand was outstretched still. (b) 12 Yet the people returned not to him that smote them, and Jehovah of Hosts they sought not; 13and Jehovah cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-tip and rush, in a day. 14 The elder and the favorite are the head, and the prophet that teacheth falsehood is the tail. 15 The guides, also, of this people became seducers, and * Text : the adversaries of Resin. 76 ISAIAH. [IX. 15-X. 6 their followers were destroyed. 16 Therefore the Lord spared not their youths, neither had he pity on their orphans and widows; for they were all faithless and wicked, and every mouth spake folly. For all this his anger turned not, but his hand was outstretched still. (c) 17 For godlessness burned like a fire, devouring thorns and briers, and kindling the thickets of the for est ; so that they went up in a column of smoke. 18 In the fury of Jehovah of Hosts the land was consumed, and the people became, as it were, fuel for the fire. No one spared his brother ; 19 and they cut to the right and remained hungry, and ate to the left without being sat isfied ; they ate, every one the flesh of his fellow : * 20 Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; to gether they were against Judah. For all this his anger turned not, but his hand was outstretched still. (d) ^Woe to them that record iniquitous decrees, and the writers that engross trouble ; 2 turning the lowly from judgment, and robbing the afflicted among my people of justice; so that widows are their prey, and orphans their plunder! 3What, then, will ye do against the day of retribution, and of destruction that cometh from afar ? To whom will ye flee for help ? and where will ye bestow yourselves ? 4 Whoso sinketh not under prisoners shall fall beneath the slain. For all this his anger turned not, but his hand was outstretched still. (2) (a) 5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, and a staff in the f day f of f my vengeance. 6 Against a faith less nation I sent him, and against the people of my fury I commissioned him ; to take booty, and to get plunder, and to trample them like the mire of the streets. * Text : arm. f Text : their hand. X. 7-17] TRANSLATION. 77 7 But he himself was not so minded, nor did his heart so purpose ; nay, rather, it was in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. 8For he said, Are not my princes all kings? 9Is not Kalno as Karkemish? is not Hamath as Arpad ? and is not Samaria as Damascus ? 10 As my hands have seized these kingdoms, whiclt had statues above those of Jerusalem and Samaria, — u as I have done to Samaria and its idols, shall I not do to Jerit- salem and its images ? (b) 12 But it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have finished his whole work in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, that he * will punish the vaunt of the arro gance of the king of Assyria, and the display of his haughtiness; 13 because he Iiath said, With the strength of my own hand have I wrought, and in my own wisdom, for I am prudent ; and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and their treasures I have plundered. I also have brought down [to the earth cities and] de stroyed f their \ inhabitants \ ; 14 yea, my hand hath reached, like a nest, the wealth of the peoples ; and as one gathereth deserted eggs, have I gathered the whole earth ; nor was there one that fluttered a wing, or opened his mouth and peeped. 15Doth the axe vaunt itself over him that heweth therewith ? or the saw mag nify itself above him that wieldeth it ? — a rod, as it were, brandishing him that uplifteth it ! or a staff up lifting that which is not wood ! 16 Therefore will the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, send into his fat a consump tion; also tinder his glory shall be kindled a burning like the biuming of fire : r' yea, the Light of Israel will be a fire, and their Holy One aflame ; and it shall burn ahd * Text : /. t Text : as a bull the enthroned. 78 ISAIAH. [X. 17-30 devour his thorns and his briers in a day ; 18 also the glory of his forest and orchard. Soul and body shall it destroy, and it shall be as when a sick man wasteth. 19 And the remaining trees of his forest shall be so few that a boy can write them. (c) 20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that escape of the house of Jacob, shall no longer lean upon their smiter, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, faithfully. 21 A remnant shall return, — a remnant of Jacob, — to Mighty-lord. w Surely, if thy people, O Israel, are to be as the sand of the Sea, a remnant thereof shall return. Destruction is decreed, onrushing is righteousness ; wfor destruction, already ordained, will the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, work in the midst of the whole earth. M There fore, thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, Fear not, 0 my people, that dwell in Zion ! Assyria ; though with the rod he smite you, and his staff he uplift after the manner of Egypt ; ^for in yet a brief moment my ven geance shall be completed, and my anger shall* accom plish * his * ruin. 26 And Jehovah of Hosts will brandish over him a scourge, as when Midian were smitten at the rock Oreb ; and his staff over the sea will he uplift after the manner of Egypt. 27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be removed from your shoulders, and his yoke be broken off your necks. (d) He f hath | come f up f into f Benjamin f ; w he hath reached Ayyath ; he hath passed Migron ; at Mik- mash he depositeth his baggage ; 29 they have made the passage. " Geba shall be our bivouac." Ramah trem- bleth ; Gibea of Saul fleeth. *> Cry aloud, O daughter * Text : upon their. f Text : yoke on account of fat. X. 30-XI. g] TRANSLATION. 79 of Gallim ! listen, Laish ! Anathoth fainteth * ; 31 Mad- menah wandereth ; the dwellers in Gebim hurry away their cattle ; 32 this very day he will halt at Nob ; he will shake his hand against the mount of Zion the fair, the hill of Jerusalem. ^ Lo, the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, will lop the foliage with a crash; and, the lofty in stature shall be felled, and the exalted shall come down : uyea, the thickets of the forest shall be cut down with the axe ; and Lebanon shall fall by a glorious One. (3) (a) a. *'¦ 1 Then shall there come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a sprout from his roots shall bear fruit ; 2 for there shall rest on him the spirit of Jehovah, — the spirit of wisdom and insight, the spirit of prudence and might, the spirit of the knowledge and the fear of Jehovah : 3 his delight, also, shall be in the fear of Jehovah ; and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor decide from the hearing of his ears ; 4 but in righteousness shall he judge the lowly, and with equity decide for the humble of the land ; and he shall smite the violent f with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the godless. 5 Yea, righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith fulness the cincture of his reins. /3. 6 Then shall the wolf rest with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion shall % fatten $ together, with a little boy to lead them. 7The cow, too, and the bear shall com pany, § together shall their young lie down, and the lion shall eat straw like oxen. 8 Yea, the babe shall delight in the eye of the asp, and toward the viper's pupil shall * Text : afflicted. t Text : land. JText: and failing. §Text: feed. 80 ISAIAH. [XI. g-XII. 2 the child stretch its hand. 9 They shall not hurt nor de stroy in all my holy highlands ; for the land shall be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the Sea. 10And it shall come to pass in that day, that to the root of Jesse, that standeth as a signal to the peoples, the nations shall come, and his abode shall be glorious. (b) nAnd it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will a second time put forth his hand to redeem the remnant of his people, that are left from Assyria, and from Egypt, (and from Pathros, and from Kush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the countries on the Sea). 12 And he will uplift a signal to the nations, and gather the outcast of Israel, and collect the scattered of Judah, from the four quarters of the earth. 13 Then shall the envy of Ephraim depart, and the vexers of Judah be destroyed: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, nor shall Judah vex Ephraim ; u but they shall pounce upon the shoulders of the Philistines west ward, together shall they plunder the sons of the East; on Edom and on Moab shall they lay hands, and the sons of Ammon shall obey them. 16 Jehovah will also dry * up * the tongue of the Egyptian Sea, and wave his hand over the River, with his mighty wind, and smite it into seven streams, that one can cross it in sandals. 16Yea, there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people that are left from Assyria, as there was for Israel in the day when they came up from Egypt. (c) a. *"• J And thou shalt say in that day, I will praise thee, O Jehovah ! for, though thou wast angry with me, now that thy anger is turned, thou comfortest me. 2Lo, the God of my deliverance ! I will trust and not trem- * Text : lay under ban. XII. 2-6, I. i] COMMENTS. 81 ble; for my strength and my song was Jah (Jehovah), and he hath become my deliverance. 3 So shall ye with gladness draw water from wells of deliverance. ft. 4 And thou shalt say in that day, Praise Jehovah, call upon his name : make known among the peoples his deeds, (proclaim that his name is exalted). 5 Extol Jeho vah, for he hath wrought gloriously ; let it be known in the whole earth. 6 Shout and sing, O dwellers in Zion ! for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. COMMENTS. The Title (i. i). The first verse of the book of Isaiah introduces the reader to a collection of Revelations. Such revelations were sometimes received by the prophets in inspired dreams (i Chr. xvii. 15), but in the best period of He brew prophecy they were the object of conscious in sight (Hab. ii. 2).* Those in question are called the revelations of Isaiah, — whose name, in Hebrew Ye- shayahu, means Jehovah helped or saved (comp. Miihlau & Volck) — son of Amos, or, more exactly, Amos.f Comp. EV, Amoz. On the family of Isaiah see Intr. * The Hebrew original, being a singular noun, is usually rendered, vis ion ; but it is used in a collective sense, as well as of a single revelation. So Hos. xii. 11/10, where the English version has the plural. There is therefore no reason why it should not stand in the title to a longer book than Obadiah, or even Nahum, and that, too, if it contained revelations of different dates. That it is here so used is plain from the terms by which it is modified. t p8S; compare DlfiU, the name of the shepherd of Tekoa. 82 ISAIAH. [I. i Stud. I. The subject of these revelations is Judah and Jerusalem ; i.e., Judah, and especially its capital. At first sight this seems hardly large enough to serve as a subject for more than the first chapter; but the analogy of "Israel" in the title to the book of Amos, and the fact that the same words are evidently not to be taken strictly where they recur in ii. i, makes it possible, if necessary, to interpret them as the subject of all the prophecies of Isaiah. The prophet, himself, however, probably did not prefix them to his works. He would have said Jerusalem and Judah. See iii. i, 8 ; v. 3 ; xxii. 21. Next follows a temporal clause, by which the application of the preceding words is more clearly de fined. The revelations of Isaiah began in the days of Uzziah, or Azariah (2 Kgs. xv. 1), in whose last year he received his call (vi. 1). For his date, as well as for those of the other kings mentioned, see Intr. Stud. II. Uzziah was followed by Jotham, not mentioned else where in this book ; Ahaz, mentioned also vii. 1 ff. ; xiv. 28, and xxxviii. 8, — whom his Assyrian master calls Iauhazi, i.e., Jehoahaz (Schrader, KAT, 257 f.); and finally by Hezekiah, whose name does not occur else where except in the appendix, xxxvi.-xxxix. The form of his name here used, by the way, is a later one than that found in the chapters taken from the books of Kings.* It, therefore, like the phrase Judah and Jeru salem, shows that the title is the work of an editor; * It has four forms in the Old Testament : liTpin, the usual one in the books of Kings, and the parallel chapters of Isaiah ; !Tp?n, found only 2 Kgs. xviii. I, 10, 14, 15, 16, 37 ; Prv. xxv. I ; lrPpBT, the almost inva riable form in the books of Chronicles, but used only three times (here ; 2 Kgs. xx. 10 ; Jer. xv. 4) outside of them ; and iTpItT, which occurs only in the titles to the books of Hosea and Micah. I. i, 2] COMMENTS. 83 while the relative clause, as a whole, makes it necessary to suppose that the author of it intended it to include at least the genuine portions of chapters i.-xxxix. Per haps it originally belonged to them, and was retained, in spite of its increased inexactness, when the collection was enlarged to its present dimensions.* At the beginning of the collection stands the prophecy called by Ewald " the great arraignment," which, in view of its character and office, may be entitled A. AN INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY (i. 2-31). It deals with three general topics, the first of which is 1. The Perversity of God's People (vv. 2-9). This is looked at from two different standpoints. In the first place, u.. THE BASENESS OF IT (vv. 2-4) is set forth in the strongest terms. 2. The prophet invokes heaven . . . and earth, all creation. It is no ordinary occasion. He is to speak, but the words that he utters are not to be his. He speaks because Jehovah himself hath spoken. Comp. Deut. xxxii. 1 ; Mic. vi. 1 f. ; Ps. 1. 4. In fact he repre sents Jehovah as entering a complaint against his Chil dren. The word is emphatic by position. The force of it, therefore, is, that the offence to be described might have been excused if he had treated the offenders as * The theory that the title, in a shorter form, originally belonged to the first chapter (Vitringa) has less to recommend it. 84 ISAIAH. [I. 2, 3 servants or aliens; — but children! He tells what he has done for them : reared them, and brought them up * (not exalted. See xxiii. 4 ; Ezek. xxxi. 4 ; comp. Cheyne) ; fulfilled the tender office of a father toward them, they, however, on their part, and in contrast with him, have revolted ; voluntarily and ruthlessly sundered the tie that bound them to him. 3. This is unnatural, worse than brutish ; for, An ox knoweth its owner ; f manifests a certain attachment in return for its owner's care ; so, also, even an ass (Hos. xi. 4 ; Jer. viii. 7) ; — but these children ! And now he abandons the figure hitherto employed, and says dis tinctly that it is Israel who have been guilty of the con duct described. Israel must here mean the Hebrews, as a people, including both kingdoms. When, there fore, Jehovah says that he has reared them, he must refer to their providentially nourished growth from a single family into the great and honored nation over which David and Solomon ruled (Gen. xii. 1 f . ; 1 Kgs. iv. 21); and when he adds, that they have not under stood, leaving the object to be supplied, it must be their wonderful history of which he is thinking (Hos. xi. 3)4 No ; although he has taken them into so close relations with himself, that he could say of them, as of no other people under the sun, my people, he has to lament that they have not considered the goodness thus manifested toward them. This is the negative side of Jehovah's complaint ; there is a positive. * For Tiaam read TIBI3"I. See Dri. § 132. t On Vbm, see Ges. § 124, 1, c. % Compare the Vulgate, which supplies me ; and the Septuagint; which has the pronoun both in this clause and the one following. I. 4] COMMENTS. 85 4. The presentation of this side begins with an Ah ! here, as in v. 24, an expression, not of sympathy, but of serious displeasure.* Then follows a description of Israel in their estrangement from their God. He calls them an erring nation, a nation devoted to evil, in the practice of which they have become laden f with iniq uity, an accumulation of sinful acts (Ps. xxxviii. 4/3). They are seed of evil-doers. This is usually understood in the sense of brood of evil-doers ; — see "generation of vipers," Matt. iii. 7; — but it is more natural, in view of what precedes and follows, to take seed as meaning the generation addressed, and evil-doers as an epithet for their wicked fathers (Henry). This and the following phrase, therefore, taken together, might be rendered evil sons of evil sires. Comp. Orelli. At any rate, they are no longer the children of Jehovah ; for they have not only recklessly forsaken, they have wilfully rejected, the Holy One of Israel. This name for God first ap pears in the prophecies of Isaiah, and it is seldom — only five times — found except in the book called by his name. Its precise significance is disputed, but . the fol lowing seems to be the correct interpretation. Jehovah is called the Holy One on account of his absolute tran scendence above everything finite ; by virtue of which, he is an appropriate object of reverence and adoration (vi. 3 ; xvii. 7 f.). He is called the Holy One of Israel on account of the especial manifestations of his holiness, in the sense explained, in the history of the Hebrews ; * The first three clauses of the verse are as many examples of parono masia, the effect of which cannot be reproduced in English without taking too much liberty with the text. t On "D3, see Ges. § 93, 2, R. 2. 86 ISAIAH. [1. 4, 5 by virtue of which he justly claims from them peculiar gratitude and confidence (P's. lxxviii. 41 f. ; Isa. xii. 14). See WRSmith, PI, 224 f.; Baudissin, SSR, II. 115 ff. When, therefore, the prophet says that his people have rejected the Holy One of Israel, he means what he said in other words in v. 2, that they have denied the One to whom they owe their existence as a nation.* There can be no doubt of the baseness of such con duct. *. THE FOLLY OF IT (vv. 5-9) is made equally apparent. 5. The paragraph opens with a protest ; Why ? not, where ? (Vulgate) ; for the form of the following verb (plural) indicates that the representation of Israel as a single sufferer begins only with the next sentence. \ Why, he says, should ye increase your stripes (lit. be smitten still %)} implying that they have already suf fered. The rest of the sentence, by continued apostasy (lit. [ Why] should ye add apostasy), explains their past and present suffering. They have been, and are, af flicted because they have been disloyal to their God. Now follows a description of their condition. They are a bruised and mangled body : the whole head . . . and heart, the vital parts, and that in their entirety, * The last clause, become apostate, adds nothing to the meaning of the verse; and, as its omission from the Septuagint, as well as the disturb ance in the rhythm which it produces, indicates, is doubtless an interpo lation. Cheyne (IBI) and others pronounce the whole paragraph of doubtful genuineness, but this opinion seems based on a mistaken exe gesis. The interpretation above given necessitates no such conclusion. t On the use of HB bv, see Num. xxii. 32, etc. X On the accentuation of TIB, see Wickes, HP A, 134. I. 5, 6] COMMENTS. 87 are seriously affected.* This is a figurative way of saying, not that the Hebrews were thoroughly cor rupted by sin (Cheyne), although that was doubtless the case, but that they were completely demoralized by the blows with which they had been smitten. f And no wonder, to judge from the severity of these blows. 6. From the sole ... to the very head one looks in vain for an uninjured spot (comp. 2 Sam. xiv. 25) ; i.e., the whole country and people have felt the heavy hand of an angry Deity (ix. 13/14). He has punished them in all sorts of ways. There are (figurative) wounds, and wales, and fresh sores ; % the country is " bleeding at every pore"; and not the least relief has been, or is likely to be, experienced. It is not necessary to trace the exact application of the medical terms that follow, but it will be worth while to dwell on them long enough to understand their literal meaning. Wounds, it seems, were first purged (lit. pressed out), if they needed it, until the blood or pus had all been discharged ; § then they were bound up ; finally they were moistened with oil or wine, the former of which was highly esteemed * The word b5, without an article following, is usually rendered every ; but since there are exceptions (e.g., ix. 11/ 12), and the strict rendering would require one to give to the word head, in this verse a literal, and in the next a figurative, interpretation, it seems best to translate it all. Comp. Delitzsch. t If the sentence will not bear this interpretation, it is probably not genuine. It might, in fact, be omitted without disturbing the context. X These nouns are all singular in the original. § The form 111 is sometimes derived from ml (Siegfried & Stade), and sometimes from lit (Bredenkamp) ; but it is rather to be regarded as an example of the (rare) passive of the first stem of TIT. See Ols. § 245, 1; comp. Ges. § 67, R. 1. 88 ISAIAH. [I. 6, 7 among the Hebrews for its soothing and healing prop erties (Luk. x. 34; Josephus, AJ, xvii. 6, 5).* 7. The prophet now deserts the figure thus far em ployed, and describes to his people in plain term's the results of their apostasy. Your land, including town and country, he says, is a desert ; and then proceeds to explain what he means by this statement. It is a land whose cities are burned, and whose soil, or the produce of it, strangers devour in the very eyes of its starving cultivators. There follows a comparison which occurs several times elsewhere in the Old Testament (Am. iv. 11 ; Isa. xiii. 19; Deu. xxix. 22/23; Jer- xhx- 18; 1. 40). In this case it is probably a gloss, since it represents the devastation as like that when Sodom f was over thrown ; i.e., complete (Gen. xix. 24 f.), whereas the next verse makes an important exception. * The feminine form H33"1, been softened, may have been chosen to denote that its subject is either of the preceding nouns, two of which are feminine (Dillmann) ; but it may also be explained as impersonal, and thus properly rendered by the plural. t The text has BHT, strangers, which has been variously rendered : as the subject of the preceding verbal noun, thus : like an overthrow by strangers (Dillmann) ; as the direct object, thus : like an overthrow of strangers (Delitzsch) ; or, finally, as the indirect object, thus : as if turned over to strangers (Buhl). The second is the only one of these renderings that really deserves notice; and its only claim to consideration lies in the fact that it can be interpreted as an allusion to the destruction of Sodom, with reference to which rDBiTS, overthrow, is always elsewhere used. If, however, that event is here meant, it is most reasonable to suppose that the author ofthe gloss, adopting the current formula, wrote DHD, Sodom; and that fflT, which precedes it by only a few words, was carelessly sub stituted by a copyist; and this supposition is strengthened by the fact that the whole clause is of doubtful genuineness. Of course, the objection to 0,"IT holds against D^T., in the sense of inundation, an emendation sug gested by Lowth. I. 8, 9] COMMENTS. 89 8. That exception is Zion the fair (lit. daughter Zion),* Jerusalem, under the figure of a young and beautiful female. See xxxvii. 22; comp. xlvii. 1; Jer. xlvi. 11; etc. She is left, but like a booth in a vineyard. It has always been necessary to guard the vineyards while the grapes were "ripening in Palestine. The watchman builds a booth of green boughs, in which he finds shelter and lies in wait for marauders. It is a booth of this kind, deserted, and harried by the winds of a Judean winter, to which the prophet compares his native city. See Thomson, LB, II. 424. A similar structure pro tected the guardian of a field of cucumbers. The cucum ber, in two varieties, is still cultivated extensively in Egypt (Num. xi. 5) and Palestine, and freely eaten, raw or cooked, by the inhabitants. See Tristram, NHB, 441 f. The idea of isolation is further emphasized by a third comparison. Zion, although not actually invested, is like a city besieged, one about which the country has been ravaged by the enemy. \ 9. Her survival is a miracle. Jehovah of Hosts, — as he is most frequently called in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Malachi, while Amos and Hosea use "Jehovah, the God of Hosts," % — when they * On the construction, see Ges. § 130, 5. t The verb "OH, like nBI$, usually means watch in a friendly sense ; but Jer. iv. 16 f. is proof that both may be used of hostile observation. It is therefore unnecessary to resort to any of the forced interpretations which have been suggested by commentators; e.g., a rescued city (JDMichaelis) ; a garden tower (Scheid); or u fortified outpost (Hitzig); or the equally unsatisfactory emendations; e.g., 'B, booth, for TB, city (Scheid); or, for mw, miSJ from TiSt (Dillmann), or rniXB (Weir). It would be better, with Studer, to omit the clause altogether. X On the construction, see Ges. § 125, 2, R. 2; comp. Henderson, i.l. 90 ISAIAH. [I. 9 were seemingly on the verge of destruction, left them — Isaiah says us, identifying himself with his people in the recognition of the divine hand in their deliverance — a remnant (lit. a survivor) ; i.e., Zion. If he had not thus intervened, they would soon * have been as Sodom ; i.e., utterly destroyed. Comp. v. 7. The prophet, in these last three verses, is evidently describing an existing situation. If this situation can be correctly identified, the date of the prophecy will have been determined. There is wide difference of opinion with reference to it. It has been identified with that which resulted from the invasion of Judah by Pekah of Israel and Resin of Syria in the reign of Jotham, mentioned 2 Kgs. xv. 37 (Driver); or in the reign of Ahaz, as reported 2 Kgs. xvi. 5, and more fully 2 Chr. xxviii. 5 ff. (Orelli). In favor of both of these views, is the evidence that Judah, supposing it to be the country here meant, actually suffered from these invasions ; also the position of this chapter at the begin ning of the prophecies of Isaiah; but it is hardly safe to judge of the date of a prophecy by its position in the collection ; or of the actual course of events, from the narrative of the Chronicler, — especially in view of the estimate of the danger from the allied kings that Isaiah gave Ahaz. If they had done, or were likely to do, much damage, he would not have called them " smok ing stumps of firebrands " (vii. 4). Comp. Hackmann, ZJ, 1 1 5 ff . A safer view is that which sees in these * The transfer of tOBBS, soon, from the first to the second half of the verse, in disregard of the accents as fixed by Jewish authorities (Wickes, HPA, 134), is required by the rhythm and authorized by such passages as Ps. Ixxxi. 15/14. Comp. Orelli. I. 9] COMMENTS. 91 verses a picture of Judah and Jerusalem during the invasion of Sennacherib in 701 (Cheyne, IBI); but to it, also, there are serious objections. In the first place, it ignores the connection. It is clear from the context, that, at the time of the devastation described, the wor ship at Jerusalem, with its numerous sacrifices, pro ceeded as usual; which cannot have been the case while Sennacherib occupied the country, or for some time after his withdrawal. Secondly, it ignores the difference in tone — note especially the absence of any resentment against the authors of the devastation — between this whole chapter and the prophecies that unmistakably belong to the date suggested. The two views, therefore, one or the other of which is accepted by most interpreters, are alike unsatisfactory; and it is necessary to look for a better than either. One gets some light on the subject by noticing to whom the prophecy is addressed. In the third verse the subject is Israel in the larger sense, the Hebrew people. They are the sinful nation of the fourth ; and since, as most will concede, the discourse is continuous, it must be they, or as many of them as survive, whose land is a desert, etc. The land, therefore, must be Palestine. This has not, however, been entirely devastated. Zion has been spared (v. 8). But Zion here means Jerusa lem, and Jerusalem, to Isaiah, sometimes at least means Judah. See the phrase Jerusalem and Judah. If, now, Zion here be taken in the larger sense, and the com parison to a city, as well as the context, seems to require such an interpretation, one is almost driven to the con clusion that the situation is that which existed in 720, when Sargon had completely subjugated Samaria and 92 ISAIAH. [I. 9, io pushed his conquests to the border of Egypt. This date satisfies all reasonable requirements. It explains the devastation of the country and the isolation of Zion. It accounts, also, for the attitude of Isaiah toward the invaders, and his expectation of future trouble for his people. Moreover, by referring this chapter to the first of Sargon's reign, one fills a gap in the prophecies of Isaiah for which there is no other explanation.* Is it possible that these severe misfortunes are unde served ? that the people have, after all, been loyal to Jehovah their God ? As if in answer to some such suggestion the prophet now presents 2. The Requirements of Jehovah (vv. 10-20) ; first negatively, as to a. THE FORMS OF RELIGION (vv. 10-150). 10. He does not retract anything : in fact, he resumes his discourse with increased severity, addressing his people as rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah; which means that, although they have escaped the fate of the cities of the Plain, it is not because they deserved less severe treatment. He arraigns them again in the name. of Jehovah; for, the law to which he bids them give ear, is not a written code, but the inspired discourse that he is about to utter. See viii. 6. Then he pro ceeds to enumerate the numerous observances by which they thought that they were pleasing God; and pro- " For an account of Sargon's operations in Palestine in J22 and 720 B.C., see Intr. Stud. II. I. 10-12] COMMENTS. 93 nounces them one after another, not only worthless, but offensive to him. n. He represents Jehovah as contemptuously reject ing their sacrifices: bloody offerings, including, first, burnt offerings ; i.e., such as were wholly consumed before Jehovah in the manner described Lev. i. io ff. There was another kind, peace offerings, of which the fat was burned (Lev. iii.), while the remainder was divided between the priest and the worshipper (Lev. vii. 28 ff. ; comp. Deu. xviii. 3). the blood of the various sacrifices was variously treated ; but it was always sacred to Jehovah (Lev. i. 5 ; iv. 6 f., 25). Here he refuses to accept it. 12. He rebukes their zeal for feasts. When ye come, he says, as every male was required to do three times a year (Ex. xxiii. 15 ; Deu. xvi. 16), to see my face ; * to present themselves at the place where God was accus tomed to manifest himself. It was possible, on such an occasion, to draw very near to the Deity, to see his power and his glory (Ps. lxiii. 3/2) ; but this experience could only come to the upright (Ps. xi. 8/7). Those addressed were not of this class. Their worship, there fore, could only be a hollow form, of which Jehovah * This is the only natural rendering for niK"D, whether followed, as in this case, by '3B, face of, or, as in Ex. xxxiv. 24 and Deu. xxxi. 11, by ¦OB flX; although, of course, 'JS flK sometimes means before (Gen. xix. 13). In all these cases the punctuation has been changed from mS"!7, to see, to mS"17, to appear, in harmony with the notion that the original was for bidden by such passages as Ex. xxxiii. 20. A corresponding change has been made in Ex. xxiii. 15, xxxiv. 20, and Ps. xiii. 3, with ^B, and in Ex. xxiii. 17 (where 'OB bX is a scribal error for "OB UN), xxxiv. 23, and I Sam. i. 22, with 'JB SIX. The explanation of 'JB as an accusative denot ing the limit of motion (Nagelsbach), or depending as an object upon the verb (Orelli), is forced and unsatisfactory. 94 ISAIAH. [I. 12, 13 might justly say, who hath required of you this — trampling, like so many brute beasts, of my courts ? * i.e., the courts of the temple at Jerusalem, where this discourse may have been delivered. 13. In this verse Jehovah goes farther than in either of the two preceding, and forbids the presentation of the vegetable offering. It was generally brought with an animal to be sacrificed ; but, in certain cases, it con stituted the entire oblation (Lev. ii. ; v. 1 1 ff.). It is here described as worthless, because, in the case in hand, it was not the expression of a proper attitude toward God. For this reason, also, the smoke that arose when parts of it were burned, instead of being a "sweet savor" (Lev. ii. 2, etc.), was detestable to him | (Prv. xxi. 27). Equally abominable is the New moon, a festival observed among the Hebrews, as among the ancients generally, from the earliest times (1 Sam. xx. 5 ; 2 Kgs. iv. 23), but not made so promi nent in the law as might have been expected. It is not mentioned among the sacred seasons in Lev. xxiii., but the offerings required for its observance are de tailed in Num. xxviii. 1 1 ff . The proclamation of holiday refers to those days of the annual feasts when ho ser vile work was permitted (Lev. xxiii.). % All these sacred * The Septuagint connects this last clause with the first of the following verse. So, also, Duhm, for one reason because the connection of H2TB, from your hand, with DB"1, trample, seems to him ridiculous. See, how ever, the precisely similar phrase D13? DT, lit. hands to flee, Jos. viii. 20. t This is the rendering required by the accentuation. See Wickes, HPA, 134; comp. the Septuagint, etc. X The word K"1pB is generally rendered assembly or convocation ; but such a translation does not suit the context, nor is it any more satisfactory in the other connections in which the word is evidently used in the same I. I3-I5a] COMMENTS. 95 seasons cease to be sacred, and become profane, and to Jehovah unendurable, when his people unite false hood, disloyalty to him and his word (Hos. xi. 12), with festivity (lit. festival).* 14. In the phrases Your new moons and your feasts, therefore, the emphasis should be on your. Of these Jehovah says, that his soul hateth them. This is the human way of expressing the inevitable moral repulsion induced in the divine nature by the approach of un worthy worshippers. The harshness of the expression is somewhat relieved by the following sentence ; for the word weary implies patience, a struggle between mercy and repugnance.j 15a. But the time for patience is past. Already, says Jehovah, when ye spread out \ your hands, as the Hebrews were accustomed to do in prayer (Ex. ix. 29 ; 1 Kgs. viii. 22), I hide my eyes from you. In the Hebrew religion prayer was an important element of worship, since it revealed the worshipper's purpose in signification as in this passage. Its real meaning may be gathered from the chapter above referred to (Lev. xxiii.), where it occurs, always with !#"!p, holiness, no fewer than ten times. The fourth verse, literally trans lated, reads : " These are the seasons of Jehovah, the holy D'XIpB, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons." Here B'SlpB, whatever it may mean, is an appositive of the word translated seasons, and therefore refers to the days to be designated, and not to any ceremony performed on those days. In like manner, in v. 3, XIpB is an appositive of sabbath, and therefore must mean a day fixed by authority; with the addition of KHp, a day pro claimed holy, a holiday. The omission here of ttHp is easily explained. * In Am. v. 21 rnSBJ corresponds to 3PI, feast ; in Lev. xxiii. 36 it is a synonym of ttHp SIpB, holiday. t The form V!tn, for TWXS, bear, is very rare, occurring elsewhere only xviii. 3 and Gen. iv. 13. See Ges. § 76, 2, a; comp. the Septuagint. X On DSBHB, see Ges. § 61, 1, R. 2. 96 ISAIAH. [I. 15a, 15B approaching Jehovah (Gen. xii. 8; 1 Sam. i. 11). When, therefore, Jehovah says that he ignores the prayers of his unworthy suppliants, it is the same as saying, that their worship is not only offensive to him, but useless to themselves. Nor will he be entreated, although they multiply prayers ; i.e., however earnestly they may en treat him.* These verses are very significant. In the first place, they were evidently suggested by Am. v. 21 ff., a fact which, alone, ought to prevent one from referring them, whatever might be thought of the rest of the chapter, to so late a date as that of Sennacherib's invasion. See ii. 6 ff., ix. 7/8 ff. They also reveal the existence, in Isaiah's time, of a complete cultus at Jerusalem, which must have employed many priests and other attendants, and undoubtedly was conducted more or less in accord ance' with written regulations. On the other hand, it is clear, from the attitude of Isaiah toward the forms of religion, that they had not yet acquired the sanctity which such regulations would have given them, if already recognized as the law of Jehovah. This sweeping condemnation of the hypocritical zeal of the day has prepared the way for a positive declara tion by Jehovah as to b. THE SUBSTANCE OF PIETY (vv. 15^-20). It has two sides, the first of which is (l) The Outward Manifestation (vv. \^b—\"j). — 15& Now appears, more clearly than heretofore, the reason for the * The last clause of this verse belongs to the next paragraph. I. 15&-166] COMMENTS. 97 strong language of the preceding section. Your hands, the very hands uplifted to him in supplication, says Jehovah, are full of blood. It is hardly to be supposed that all those to whom these words were addressed were, strictly speaking, guilty of murder ; the meaning must rather be, that, as a class, they were given to violence, which might, and sometimes, actually did, issue in the death of their less powerful fellows. See v. 21 ; comp. Duhm. (16a) From this stain they are to wash, cleanse* themselves ; not by any ceremonial observance (Gen. xxxv. 2 ; Lev. xiv. 8), nor, so far as yet appears, by any supernatural process : it is a matter of life and conduct. Their sinful habits and practices have made them offensive to Jehovah ; they cannot hope for his favor except they remove these evil deeds from his sight ; i.e., renounce them, and come into his presence without them. Comp. Jer. xviii. 8.t 160. It is not enough, however, that one should change one's course ; one must continue in the better way. Jehovah, therefore, requires that those who would please him Cease to do evil. Nor is this all : (17) they must learn to do well; exchange the old habit of doing evil for the customary practice of good. This thought is further developed. They have delighted in injustice ; they must with equal eagerness Seek justice. This is a general requirement, under which the rest are specifications. The first special duty is to correct the oppressor. Those were lawless times, when such as had power were constantly tempted to use it to the disad vantage of the weak. These oppressors are to be * On •OH, see Ges. § 54, 2, b, R. t The last clause of this verse, also, belongs to the verse following. 98 ISAIAH. [I. 166-18 taught to respect the rights of their fellows (Ex. xxiii. 2). As in the Law (Ex. xxii. 22; Deu. xxiv. 17), two classes are here especially commended to the care of those who seek Jehovah's favor. They are to judge the orphan ; i.e., as rulers ; for it is evident from the term used, that here, as in the most of Isaiah's proph ecies, the governing classes are addressed. They are to see that the cause of the fatherless is brought to a just and a speedy termination (Deu. xxv. 1). They are also to defend the widow ; take her part against her adversaries. This is a very brief list of virtues, and they are all of the same order. The explanation of these facts is not far to seek. The times were such that it was a fair test of one's relation to Jehovah to inquire whether one possessed these civic virtues. Moreover, this enumera tion is followed by a declaration concerning (2) The Inward Disposition (vv. 18— 20), — -from which alone such manifestations could be expected. 18. Come now does not introduce an appeal, but, as the context would lead one to expect, a proposition ; viz. let us come to an understanding (lit. judge one another) ; settle the terms on which the present antagonism shall cease. These terms Jehovah himself submits to his rebellious children for their acceptance. In the first place he makes a concession. They have sinned against him and richly deserved, not only the misfortunes that they have already suffered, but much severer penalties. These he proposes to remit : though your sins be as scarlet, — and some of them, in their glaringness, might well be compared to stuff of the most brilliant of col- I. 18, 19] COMMENTS. 99 r,r '. P1 ' ors,* — he says, they shall become white as snow: the- y stain which they have made shall be entirely removed (Ps. li. 9/7) ; of course, on the condition already stated (v. 16), and to be repeated in another form, that the sin ners themselves renounce their evil deeds. In other words, Jehovah proclaims a general amnesty as the first article of the new covenant, t The repetition of this announcement in slightly different language % gives one time to realize the greatness of the grace that dictated it. 19. The second article states what is expected by Jehovah of the other parties to the covenant. The sig nificant word in it is willing. By willingness is meant the voluntary subordination of the human to the divine will by which the ancient worthies were characterized (Ps. xxv. 4f.), and of which Jesus, in his life and death, was the perfect example (Mat. xxvi. 36 ff.). To willing is added obedient ; i.e., giving expression to the dispo sition required. The result is the only sort of works acceptable to Jehovah (1 Sam. xv. 22). With such, however, he is well pleased. He therefore promises these recreant Jews that, if they will pursue the path of obedience, instead of seeing their country despoiled * The color named was produced from the coccus ilicis, an insect of the size of a small pea, found on a species of oak in the countries about the Mediterranean. The Arabic name of the insect is kermes, whence the English crimson. t Other interpretations have been suggested. The most important are : that of Duhm, who renders the apodosis as an ironical demand; and that of JDMichaelis, who translates it as a question. Neither of them seems to justify his view from the context. See also Gesenius, i.l. X The same color is meant in both cases. In the second the Hebrew name is BOTl, worm, which, like vermilion, denotes the source from which the color is obtained, and is sometimes found either before or after W. Comp. Ex. xxv. 4 and Lev. xiv. 4. 100 ISAIAH. [I. 19, 20 they shall eat the best of the land ; enjoy the utmost prosperity (Am. ix. 1 1 ff.). 20. This is the portion of those who accept the terms proposed. What if they are wilful, careless of the will of their God, and rebellious, resisting his claims upon them ? The answer is forthcoming : they are to taste the sword ; * die by the sword, as so many of their people have lately done. The declaration, the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, is by the prophet in his own per son; perhaps, however, it might be regarded as a solemn acknowledgment of the foregoing, the signature, as it were, of Jehovah. In the preceding paragraph the way was opened for the return of the unhappy remnant of Israel to right eousness and prosperity. The prophet seems to have known that the overtures of Jehovah would be useless. At any rate, he proceeds with his discourse as if they had already been rejected, bringing new accusations against his countrymen, and warning them of the chas tisements by which the nation, or Jerusalem as repre senting it, is to be purified. This closing division of the chapter may be entitled 3. The Faithful Town (vv. 21-31). The first verses are devoted to a description of * The text reads, l?3Sn 51PT, which is rendered, either, ye shall be devoured by the sword (Delitzsch, who quotes Ps. xvii. 13), or, ye shall be made to devour the sword (Hitzig,who cites Jer. ix. 14); but the former of these disturbs the parallelism, and the latter seems far-fetched; hence it is better to give the verb the form l?3^n and the translation above adopted. Comp. further Ges. § 121, 3; Miil, § 419, R. a. I. 21, 22] COMMENTS. 101 a. ITS DEGENERACY (vv. 21-23). 21. Its condition fills him with surprise and sorrow. How, he exclaims ; i.e., Alas ! can it be ? how hath the faithful town become a harlot ! Then he explains what he means by a faithful town : one whose inhabitants love and practise righteousness.* He also explains the term harlot. The relation between Jehovah and his people was early and often compared to the nuptial tie, and unfaithfulness on the part of the latter represented as adultery. The figure is a favorite one with Hosea, who, in his first three chapters, has wellnigh exhausted it. See also Eze. xvi. The sin most frequently denounced under this name is idolatry (Ex. xxxiv. 1 5 f .), which is charged in v. 29 ; but here it evidently includes only the offences against justice enumerated in v. 234 22. There follow two metaphors. The city is ad dressed. Thy silver, pure metal, says the prophet, has become dross ; i.e., to bring it into harmony with the other figure, and with the development of this one in v. 25, has been debased by dross, as in counterfeit coins (Eze. xxii. 18). % He adds : thy drink, genuine, unadul terated wine, such as one would buy of an honest dealer, is diluted (lit. circumcised), robbed of its strength, and flavor, and value. § One has no right to conclude * On TlSbB, full, see Ges. § 90, 3, a. The Septuagint supplies as its subject Zion. t Duhm is probably right in pronouncing the last words of this verse, but now murderers, a gloss suggested by v. 15. They certainly disturb the rhythm and produce an anticlimax. See also Cheyne, IBI. X This figure is finely elaborated by Aristophanes, in The Frogs. See especially the translation of JHFrere, Works, III. 278 f. § Compare the Latin caslrare vinum, and the German Wein taufen. 102 ISAIAH. [I. 22-24 from this passage that the Hebrews drank their wine clear, but only that they wanted it unmixed when they bought it. 23. The figures used are now applied ; and it appears that, as usual, the prophet has in mind the upper classes. It is they who have been debased and weakened. Comp. Skinner. This he charges in so many words, introducing his indictment by a paronomasia borrowed from Hosea (ix. 15), which may be rendered: Thy princes, those whose duty it was to administer justice, are un principled (lit. rebels) ; viz. against the Judge of all the earth. They are partners of thieves, whom they acquit for a share in their plunder. They love a bribe, a bid for their judicial honor; and chase after fees; eagerly abuse their offices for money. On the other hand, they neglect those who cannot reward them. Thus the orphan appeals to them in vain for justice ; and, how ever just or urgent may be the widow's case, it doth not reach them ; never so much as secures a hearing. This is a sad condition of things. It cannot but arouse the wrath of Jehovah. What will be the result ? Will he destroy the last remnant of his people ? Isaiah hopes not ; indeed, although he sees how degenerate Jerusalem has become, he predicts b. ITS REGENERATION (mi. 24-31). 24. First, however, it must be purged from its impuri ties. The description of the process by which this is to be accomplished is introduced by the Therefore that regularly connects an indictment with the sentence in which it issues. The accumulation of divine names is I. 24, 25] COMMENTS. 103 intended to add solemnity to the declaration that follows. the Lord, through the mistaken conservatism of trans lators and revisers, is a very frequent appellation for God in the English version. The only word properly so rendered is comparatively rare in the original.* the Champion (lit. the Strong One) of Israel, elsewhere always Jacob, in this connection can only mean the defender of Israel against themselves. See Gen. xlix. 24. This great and terrible Being cries Ha ! like a warrior going to battle. He is indeed about to punish his adversaries, who, this time, are neither the Egyptians nor the Ca naanites, nor the Syrians, nor any other foreign people, but his own apostate children. \ 23. This becomes clear when he says, I will turn my hand against thee ; i.e., Jerusalem, whose silver has become debased, etc. It also now becomes apparent that his fury, like the fire by which the silver ore is smelted in the furnace, % and the lead, which is frequently * The noun JlIK, without suffixes, occurs with the article five times (i. 24 ; iii. 1 ; x. 1 6, 33 ; xix. 4) in Isaiah, always with ITIN3X nilf1, fehovah of Hosts ; elsewhere only three times; twice (Ex. xxxiii. 17, xxxiv. 23) with nTT, and once (Mai. iii. 1) without any further designation. It is used only seven times without the article : once (Ps. cxiv. 7) alone, and six times (Jos. iii. 11, 13; Mic. iv. 13; Zee. iv. 14; vi. 5; Ps. xcvii. 5) fol lowed by JHKH 73, all the earth. The form ^~IX, in the sense of the Lord (third person), is more common; but, according to Fiirst, it is found only sixty-nine times in the entire Old Testament. Duhm pro nounces rf)R33t fTl!T in this case a gloss; but since, as above shown, it always elsewhere accompanies JHKH, and 7K"W T3K, champion of Israel, like 3pB'' "P5K, champion offacob, would naturally be applied to God as the defender of his people, it is better, if the line is to be shortened, to drop this third, rather than the second, title. So Budde, ZA W, 1891, 246. t On nBp3, see Ges. § 51, R. 4. I The text has "123, either, as in the great versions, thoroughly, or, as with a flux (Ges. § 118, 6, d) ; but both expressions are rather awkward; 104 ISAIAH. [I. 25-27 found therein in large quantities, separated, will cleanse her from her impurities. See Eze. xxii. I7ff. ; Mai. iii. 2f. 26. Then, he says, abandoning the figure, will I restore thee judges (lit. restore thy judges), not, however, the pres ent unfaithful ones brought back to integrity, but new ones taken from the number of those found worthy to be spared when the rest of the nation are destroyed ; as at first, in the good old times, when, under David and Solomon, righteousness dwelt in the city (2 Sam. iv. 5 ff. ; 1 Kgs. iii. 16 ff.). Comp. ix. 5/6 f. and xi. 1 ff., where the king takes the place of these judges. There after, when the new order of things shall have been established, he adds, thou shalt be called, because she is, the above all others righteous city. The prophecy might have ended with a faithful town,* and it would, perhaps, have so ended had Isaiah's object been to com fort the righteous. Since, however, he evidently had the opposite class in mind, it is natural that he should have supplemented the statement just made by a last warning. 27. He commences by repeating the promise of the last verse, Zion shall be redeemed. By what means ? The answer is, justice. But this is ambiguous. Does and to the latter there is the added objection that it is doubtful if "13, which is sometimes so rendered in Job ix. 30, is an equivalent of ITH3, alkali. It is therefore probable that the reading proposed by Durell, and adopted by Lowth, 133, for 1133, is the correct one. Duhm's conjecture, "|B12£K 13, / will purge thee with alkali, is less natural, and, therefore, less satisfactory. * Duhm insists that it did; so also Cheyne (IBI) ; but, if this had been the case, would the editor have added the following verses? See Hack- mann, Zf, H4f. I. 27, 28] COMMENTS. IOS he mean the divine justice as displayed in the destruc tion of the wicked, or the human justice which is to characterize the judges of the Jerusalem of the future ? In favor of the former view are such passages as iv. 4, v. 16, and xxviii. 17 (Delitzsch). It must also be ad mitted, that in v. 25 Isaiah represents a display of the divine justice as necessary to the purification, and thus indirectly to the preservation, of the city. The second interpretation is supported by the following considera tions : the act of deliverance is one implying in the agent an emotion for which a reason in the character of the person or persons delivered is naturally sought (comp. v. 25) : in v. 26 righteousness is the chief charac teristic of the Zion of the future : finally, this verse was evidently intended to be taken as in antithesis with v. 28 ; but the figure requires that it shall be the right eous who are delivered, as it is the wicked who are destroyed. On the whole, then, it seems best to inter pret the justice in question as the justice of Zion, par ticularly of her rulers, and the righteousness as the righteousness of them that dwell therein,* the inhabit ants in general. Comp. Delitzsch. 28. In the strongest contrast with the deliverance of the righteous is the common destruction of the revolters, the ungrateful children of v. 2, and the sinners, the * rrSttf (Doderlein). The text has !T32>; which, if it be retained, may be taken either figuratively or literally. In the former case it would mean her penitents, the converts of the English version. See lix. 20. Taken in the latter sense, it would not necessarily mean those released from captivity in a foreign country, but might denote such as had been temporarily driven from their homes by the convulsions in which the wicked were destroyed. The Septuagint read !T3t£\ her captivity ; see also the Peshita and Luther; comp. the Vulgate. 106 ISAIAH. [I. 28, 2g erring nation of v. 4. In the latter verse occurs the original of they that forsake Jehovah.* 29. For, continues the prophet ; and one inquires what he can mean by saying that the apostates shall perish because they shall be ashamed, f The difficulty disap pears when one remembers how Isaiah elsewhere em ploys his references to idolatry : for there can be no doubt that the oaks here mentioned stand for trees of the larger sort, which are still reverenced in Palestine (Thomson, LB, II. 222), and which, like the gardens (Ixv. 3 ; lxvi. 1 7), in ancient times furnished desirable places for the practice of idolatry (Jer. ii. 20 ; Eze. vi. 13). | The passages that bear on this point are ii. 18 ff. and xvii. 7 f . In both of them Isaiah represents idols as the supposed protectors of their owners. In the former the futility of confidence in them is vividly por trayed. The unfortunate objects of Jehovah's indigna tion, finding their costliest images only a burden, hurl them "to the moles and the bats." The situation is the same in the present instance. In the preceding verse those who have been disloyal to Jehovah are threatened with destruction ; and now, lest they should delude them selves with the idea that, in their extremity, they can take refuge with the false divinities which they have * Cheyne (IBI) pronounces vv. 27 f. ungenuine; but, if the above interpretation is correct, their genuineness seems established. t The text has tOS1, they shall be ashamed, changing the person in the next verb. This would sound strange in English. It is best, therefore, either, with the Septuagint, to carry the third person through this and the following verses, or, with the Targum, to use the second from the beginning. See Ges. § 144, 4, b, R. 3. X For an exhaustive discussion of the subject of sacred trees among the Hebrews, see Baudissin, SSR, II. 223 ff. I. 29-31] COMMENTS. 107 associated with the true God, he tells them that they will be confounded, disappointed. 30. He insists, therefore, on his direful forecast. The second for brings him back to it ; but, instead of repeat ing it in the form in which it was originally presented, he clothes it in figures suggested by his reference to the sacred trees and gardens to which his countrymen were devoted. He tells them that, as a result of the coming catastrophe, they will be like one of these trees, e.g., a terebinth, the pistacia terebinthus or turpentine tree.* It grows to a large size, like the oak, which, at a dis tance, it much resembles. It is now comparatively rare west of the Jordan, but in the country once occupied by the Moabites and the Ammonites fine specimens are still abundant. See Tristram, NHB, 400 f. It is such a tree, with withered foliage, when its leaves are dry and ready to fall, e.g., at the end of the year, or better, as the effect of drought or decay, which they are to re semble ; or a garden that hath no water. No rain falls in Palestine from May until October. Irrigation is therefore a necessity. If for any reason it is neglected, everything withers. It was so in Isaiah's time. His readers had seen their own crops, and even the sacred plantations, ruined by drought, and they appreciated this figure. See xvii. 10. 31. A tree with sapless leaves readily takes fire. So, says Isaiah, the strong one, who oak-like (Am. ii. 9) over tops his fellows, but has separated himself from the only source of life and blessing (Ps. i. 3). He shall be tow, tinder, and his work, not his idol (Orelli), but the * On the meaning of nbx and the related words, see Baudissin, SSR, II. 185, n. 108 ISAIAH. [I. 31-H. 1 violence that he has wrought,* a spark, the means of his destruction. It is the old, familiar truth, abundantly illustrated in human experience, that sin is suicidal (Prv. viii. 36). And there is none to quench them, because they have forsaken the only one who could help them. This was about 720 b.c It was twenty years, more or less, before the threatened chastisement was inflicted ; but, when it came, it was thorough enough to satisfy even Isaiah's sense of justice. The first chapter is followed by a series of eleven, which there are good reasons for grouping together. Thus, as has already (Intr. Stud. III.) been noticed, the first is introduced by a title, and the last furnishes a fitting conclusion. A second reason is that, although the prophecies of this series are of various dates, they are mostly the earlier utterances of Isaiah, and there are few of the same period found elsewhere in the col lection. Finally, these chapters are connected by a thought which seems to pervade them as it does not the remaining prophecies of Isaiah, or his editor. It is not fully expressed in The Title (ii. 1). This, like i. 1, leads one to expect things revealed to Isaiah, — when, the reader is not informed, — concern ing Judah and Jerusalem only ; whereas the book con- * The Masoretes mistook pDPfl, the strong, for an epithet of idols, and therefore probably intended that 'DUB should be taken as a participle, its maker. Comp. Ew. § 60, b. Lagarde, going farther in the same direction, substitutes |Bm, the sun-pillar, for pDlfl, and 17B3, his baal, for "DBS- II. i, 2] COMMENTS. 109 tains much of importance bearing on the destiny of the kingdom of Israel. The discrepancy can be explained in this, as in the preceding instance, by supposing the phraseology chosen to be meant to indicate merely the most prominent topic treated.* The book as a whole may be said to have for its general subject A. THE FUTURE OF GOD'S PEOPLE (ii. 2-xii. 6). The phrase God's people is capable of two inter pretations. It may mean, either the people graciously selected to receive peculiar manifestations of the divine favor, or that part of this people that realizes the divine purpose in making such manifestations. The subject is treated in both of these aspects. The first chapters are chiefly devoted to l. The Disloyal Mass (ii. 2-vi. 13): the sins by which it is defiled, and the judgments by which it is to be purified. This topic is presented three times in three different ways. In the first place, there are three chapters which may be grouped under the heading, a. THE IDEAL AND ITS REALIZATION (ii. 2-iv. 6). The first paragraph introduces this ideal, viz. (l) A Universal Shrine (ii. 2-4). — 2. It begins with a very familiar idiom, And it shall come to pass, which * It is probable that the title belonged to the original collection, or some part of it, but, in view of the order of the words fudah and ferusalem, not probable that it originated with Isaiah. Comp. Hitzig. 110 ISAIAH. [II. 2 would naturally connect what follows with something preceding. It always elsewhere answers this purpose. See vii. 2 1 ff . In the present instance the title with which the chapter begins makes such a use of it im possible. It is therefore evident that the passage which it here introduces must originally have stood in some other connection. This is generally conceded; but there is wide difference of opinion on the question whence it was taken. There are those who think that it has simply been removed from its proper place in the writings of Isaiah (Duhm). Others, recalling the fact that the passage occurs almost literatim in Mic. iv. 1-3, assert that Isaiah here quotes Micah (Delitzsch).* To the latter view it is objected: (1) that, although the form in which the passage appears in the book of Micah is the more original, Jer. xxvi. 18 seems to teach that Mic. iii. 12, and therefore iv. iff., belongs t,o the\ reign of Hezekiah, whereas Isa. ii. must be considerably ) * The following are the variations between the two versions : Isa. ii. 2. .TIT 113) Mic. iv. 1. p3j . . . nvr KIWI 2. sin kiwi ' ibx tho tran bi OTiO 3- D'BB im DU 13TP1 4- nun 3- SCSI O'BB Ml wish pirn IB D'BStB D*U^> nnmn Drrnmn Drrmnnm an,nn,,jni xw "\xvr nabi ina"?'1 II. 2] COMMENTS. Ill earlier ; (2) that the relation of Mic. iv. 1 ff. to the con text is not much closer than that of this passage to its present setting ; and (3) that — and this last objection militates against both of the views stated, and also against a third according to which both prophets bor rowed from an earlier author, — although there are in this prophecy words and expressions that remind one of both Isaiah and Micah, the leading thought, the sub mission of the surrounding nations to Jehovah, is not only foreign to both, but much later than either of them. It is therefore suggested that the passage is a post- Exilic addition to the text of Micah, whence it was finally borrowed for the purpose that it now serves, — to relieve the severity of the denunciations immediately following.* Who was the original author, it seems im possible to determine, f Whoever he was, he had faith in the future of the Hebrew religion; and, although when he wrote, it was doubtless in eclipse, he looked for its triumph, finally (lit. at the end of days), i.e., not at the end of time (A V), or of the Jewish dispensation (Henderson), but at the end of the current period (Hos. iii. 4f.). In that happier hereafter the mountain of Jehovah, % the height on which the ten^ple at Jerusalem o * Lagarde's suggestion, that it once closed the first chapter, is unlikely, since v. 5 was evidently intended to connect it with what follows. t Hitzig attributed it to Joel ; and one may still do so without incon sistency, if, unlike Hitzig, but like many modern critics, one place Joel among the latest of the prophets. See Cheyne, IB I, 12. t The text has the mountain of the house of fehovah, the Septuagint the mountain ofthe Lord (Jehovah), and the house of God. Duhm adopts the latter reading, only adding an our before God. It is very doubtful, how ever, if he has gone far enough, although he seems to have taken the right direction ; for he is obliged to reckon the first clause of the verse as the 112 ISAIAH. [II. 2, 3 stood, is to be established ; firmly placed, so that it can not be robbed of its prominence, at the head, — not on the top (Vitringa) — of the mountains, overtopping all the rest. The phrase has been taken literally, as if the author expected that one day Zion would really become the highest of mountains, and Eze. xl. 2 and Zee. xiv. io have been quoted in favor of such an interpretation; but Ps. xl. 3/2 and lxviii. 16/15 f. show that, to the Hebrew, the physical elevation of the site of the temple was not necessary to its preeminence as a sanctuary. It is better, therefore, to interpret the passage figuratively, supposing it to contain an allusion to the practice among the heathen of locating the homes of their gods on moun tains (xiv. 1 3). Thus the meaning would be that, in the days to come, the fame of Jehovah will become so great as to eclipse that of all other divinities, and attract uni versal attention. Then shall all the nations — Micah, simply peoples — stream like a river, constantly and in great numbers, to it. The first sentence of v. 3 com pletes the parallelism. 3. The peoples are stimulated by one another to this pilgrimage to the house of the God of Jacob, hitherto the national God of Israel ; and they declare their purpose in making it. They go up to Jerusalem, not, primarily at least, to sacrifice or to perform any other religious rite, but that he may teach them, through his servants, of his ways ; a share of that which is to be learned there first line of a tetrastich, whereas the principle of parallelism and the analogy of xii. I, indicate that it should be regarded simply as an introduction to the poem proper. It is better to transpose the phrase and the house of our God with the one following, thus producing a perfectly symmetrical distich with a prose introduction. See the translation. II. 3, 4] COMMENTS. 113 concerning the ways in which he requires his worshippers to go, and in which they find security and happiness. Their purpose is a practical one : that they may walk in his paths, for introduces a reason given, not by the prophet (Delitzsch), in whose mouth such a statement would be comparatively tame, but by the pilgrims. See xiv. 14 f. The reason given is, that from Zion, as from no other shrine, goeth forth, like a stream from its source, instruction ; the direction for which one looks to the Deity, and which one finds in the word of Jehovah alone. Comp. Henry. This is a state of things that Isaiah cannot have foretold. He hoped for the salva tion of the Hebrews and the restoration of the glory of the best period (i. 26 ; ix. 6/7 ; xi. 9), but not for the universal prevalence of the Hebrew religion. That idea was a later development. See xiii. 6 ; lvi, 1 ff . ; xix, 18 ff.; etc. 4. When men become thus eager to know God's will' he will reveal it to them. He will judge between the nations ; through his inspired servants act as arbiter- among them, and thus prevent them from resorting to violence and bloodshed. Then, having no further use for arms, they will beat their swords into mattocks,* the implements with which the vineyards especially were cultivated ; and their spears, strictly, of course, spear heads, into pruning knives. In a word, the instruments * This is the meaning given to DTlX by the Jewish, and some Christian, authorities. Others, following the versions, render it ploughshares (Nagels- bach); and still others coulters (Henderson). The former of these ren derings seems forbidden by 1 Sam. xiii. 20 f.; to the latter there is the objection that the Hebrews do not seem to have used coulters. On the Syrian plough, see Van Lennep, BL, 75 f.; but especially ZDPV, IX. 24ft. 114 ISAIAH. [II. 4, 5 of war are to be transformed into the implements of peace : and that, not for a brief period, but once for all ; for men are not to learn war any more. Comp. Joel iv. io. In Mic. iv. I ff. the picture is more complete, for there the reader is informed that " they shall sit every one under his vine and under his fig-tree, and there shall be none to terrify." There, also, the prophecy has a formal conclusion in the words " for the mouth of Jeho vah hath spoken." This is the way in which the one by whom the para graph was inserted, sought to prepare the Jews of his time for the words of Isaiah, preserved in this and the two following chapters, concerning the Israel of the eighth century B.C. The words themselves he repro duced because he felt that they contained a message to his own generation also, that (2) A Separation of the Unworthy (ii. 5~iv. i) — must still precede the realization of the hopes that he cher ished for his people and their religion. They therefore have a twofold meaning. One must recognize both, always remembering, however, that the genuine words of Isaiah can have but one complete application, and that this can only be discovered by a study of the cir cumstances under which they were first uttered. Turning now to the words themselves, one finds, to start with, a description of (a) A General Visitation (ii. 5-21), — involving terrible consequences to entire Palestine ; and, as the first topic under this general head, a. THE curse of prosperity (ii. 5-11). — 5. The first II. 5, 6] COMMENTS. 115 verse is evidently an editorial addition. It was suggested" by Mic. iv. 5, and intended to connect the prophecy pre ceding with the one that follows. Comp. Orelli. It is an exhortation addressed to the house of Jacob. This name, like Israel, is sometimes applied to Judah (Mic. iii. 13 f.) ; but since in vv. 3 and 6 it is probably to be regarded as equivalent to Israel in the broader sense, it is safest to give it the same interpretation in this connec tion. See viii. 17; x. 20; xiv. 1. They are exhorted to walk in the light of Jehovah. In Mic. iv. 5 it is the name of Jehovah in which they are to walk. The thought, however, is one. They are to recognize Jeho vah as their God and accept his will, the instruction by which v. 3 represents their neighbors as being desirous of profiting, as the law of their conduct (Prv. vi. 23). Comp. Nagelsbach. The same figure is elsewhere used of the helpful interposition of Jehovah (ix. 1/2; x. 17). 6. The prophet begins abruptly. One would expect, after But (lit. for), something like, ye have deserted Jeho vah, making a perfect antithesis with v. 5. That which actually follows is, thou hast cast off thy people, and then the reasons for their rejection. The strangeness of the order of thought has given rise to various conjectures involving a change in the text or its interpretation, none of which is satisfactory.* The difficulty yields in part if the preceding verses are for the time being ignored, and * Some, following Saadia, retain the present text, but interpret thou as addressed to the people, and thy people as meaning thy national character (Luzzatto). Others, with the Septuagint, change the text to IBB tt>tS3, he hath cast off his people; Duhm with the addition of HliT, fehovah. Finally, Lagarde suggests the substitution of rOtt>!M, hath cast thee off, for nnitfBJ, thou hast cast off. 116 ISAIAH. [II. 6, 7 it is removed entirely by supposing that they were sub stituted for the original beginning of the prophecy, be cause, the prophet continues, they were full of diviners.* The term is used in the Old Testament to include all who, by other means than the genuine prophetic gift, seek a knowledge of the future (Deu. xviii. io; Mic. iii. 7) ; but in a narrower sense it designates those who, like the famous witch of Endor (i Sam. xxviii. 8 ff.), have to do with spirits (viii. 19). The augurers (lit. beclouders), i.e., originally, rain-makers, were a species of diviners who professed to find hidden meanings in natural phe nomena (Deu. xviii. 10, 14; 2 Kgs. xxi. 6). They also, in spite of the protests of the prophets, had multiplied to such an extent that the Hebrews were overrun with them, like the Philistines, who had no genuine prophets (1 Sam. vi. 2).f The remainder of the verse is difficult, but it ought to, and probably does, mean, and with sons of strangers, foreigners, including the diviners just men tioned, they abounded ; doubtless as a result of the inti mate relations that existed between the Hebrews and the neighboring peoples. 7. Another result of increased intercourse with the outside world was a great increase in the wealth of the * The text has Q1pli,from the East, and this reading has the support of the versions ; but there are so many and serious objections to it that it is undoubtedly mistaken. The following are among the emendations that have been suggested: DD|3B, of divination (Brenz), DDpB, divination (Bottcher); D^pB DDpB, divination from the East (Lowth); DDp BnpB, divination from the East (Delitzsch) ; and tnpB 'BBp, diviners from the East (Duhm) ; but none of these is so satisfactory as D^BDp, diviners (Krochmal), with CUV, augurers, in the same construction, as rhythmical and grammatical considerations alike would lead one to expect. t On divination among the Hebrews, see Smith, DB, art. divination; Riehm, HBA, art. Wahrsager. II. 7, 8] COMMENTS. 117 country. It flowed into Judah from the East by way of Elath (2 Kgs. xvi. 6 ; 2 Chr. xxvi. 2). There is nothing to indicate the precise source of the prosperity of the Northern Kingdom, but the amount of the price paid by Menahem for the support of his Assyrian ally, a thousand talents of silver (2 Kgs. xv. 19), shows that his land also was full of silver and gold.* The further statement, that there was no end to their (lit. his f) treas ures, is of course a harmless hyperbole. The abun dance of horses and chariots also harmonizes with what is known from the scanty records of the period. They were necessary to the military operations in which the rulers of both kingdoms were more or less constantly engaged (2 Kgs. xv. 37; 2 Chr. xxvii. 5 ff.). The prophet, true to the traditions of his people (Deu. xvii. 16; Mic. v. 9/10), condemned them. They were a sign of lack of faith in Jehovah (Deu. xx. 1). 8. There were less mistakable indications of disloy alty. The land was full of idols (lit. nothings %), the lifeless, helpless, worthless gods of their neighbors. These false divinities always had a strange fascination for the Hebrews, and the tendency to stray after them was doubtless favored by the high-places, which even the good kings Uzziah and Jotham did not abolish (2 Kgs. xv. 3f., 34 f.). According to the prophet the fact that these idols were the work of their hands made the worship of them ridiculous. * On the tense of the verb, see Ges. § m, 4 (2) a. t On the use of the singular for the plural in suffixes, see Ges. § 145, 5. R X In the original there is a play upon the word ?K, God, which cannot well be reproduced in English. 118 ISAIAH. [II. 9, io 9. What, now, is to be expected as the result of this vast accumulation of wealth, and this ceaseless multi plication of idols ? It was doubtless the general opinion among. those to whom the prophecy was addressed that the future was to be like the present, only much more abundant. The prophet sees otherwise. Therefore,* he concludes, shall man,f the creature, be humbled ; % pros trated before his offended God. Comp. Henry. Indeed, he is so thoroughly convinced, not only of the certainty of their humiliation, but of the justice of it, that his prediction becomes a prayer : nor show them favor ! make their overthrow complete (xxii. 14). § 10. Finally, as if addressing each of them individually, he cries : Go into the rock, i.e., the clefts in it, || and hide thyself in the ground, i.e., the cisterns and other open ings in the earth. Palestine abounds in such hiding- places. They have always been the refuge of its people when defeated or oppressed (Jud. vi. 2 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 6). Comp. Kay. That from which they are to hide them selves is the dreadful presence (lit. the face of terror) of Jehovah, when he comes to execute judgment upon his apostate people. The last words of the verse recur in vv. 19 and 21 with the addition of, when he ariseth to * On this use of the waw consecutive, see Ges. § III, 3, b; Dri. § 82. t In Ps. xlix. 3/2 D1K and WK are contrasted in the meanings low and high ; but here, as appears from the repetition of the thought in ¦¦, more expanded form in v. 11, the words are synonymous, denoting man as con trasted with' his Maker. Comp. Delitzsch. X On TW\ see Ges. § 67, R. 3. § See Ges. § 109, 1, b, R. 2 ; Dri. § 57. The Septuagint seems to have read XWX DK1, and I will not show favor. Comp. Duhm. || Winckler, AU, 176, derives 112£3 from 1X3, be hidden, and renders it hiding-place. See Jer. xxxiii. 3. n. 10-12] COMMENTS. 119 terrify the earth. This verse doubtless originally ended in the same way. Perhaps the missing words were dropped, when the parts of which the prophecy in its present form is composed were united, to prevent two refrains from coming together.* At any rate, the pres ent text requires that the strophe should end with the next verse. n. This refrain, which recurs in a slightly different form in v. 17, f first repeats the thought of v. 9, and then places over against it the prediction, that Jehovah alone shall be exalted, recognized as transcending everything human, in that day, the day of Jehovah, the day of retribution. This closing phrase is a favorite one with Isaiah and the author of Zee. xii.-xiv. The refrain just quoted threatens the haughty sinners in Israel with humiliation. The strophe which follows is a description of the catastrophe. They are to be involved in ft. A GENERAL OVERTHROW (yV. \2-\f). 12. The prophet announces that Jehovah hath a day, a fixed term beyond which what he purposes will not be post poned, for everything that is high and lofty, including not only the persons who have offended him by their haughtiness, but even the inanimate objects by which they might be symbolized. Thus only can he adequately * The most satisfactory analysis of this chapter is that of Duhm, who has shown that it consists of four fragments : 1-5, 6-10, 1 1-17, and 18-21, and that the second and fourth of these fragments belong to the same prophecy. Comp. FBrown, fBL, 1890, I. 86 f. t The form here found looks like the work of a careless copyist with v. 15 in mind. On the difficulties of the text, see Ges. §§146, 1; 112, 3 ; Dri. § 132 ; comp. Duhm. 120 ISAIAH. [II. 12-15 rebuke human presumption and manifest his own maj esty. Comp. Barnes. Everything of the kind shall be abased. There follows a catalogue of objects that attract attention or admiration by their height. 13. The first to be mentioned are the cedars of Leb anon, the largest trees with which the Hebrews were acquainted (1 Kgs. iv. 33 ; Ps. xcii. 12). They were once abundant in the mountains of Lebanon, where Solomon had them cut for the wood-work of the temple at Jerusalem (1 Kgs. v. 6). Remnants of this ancient forest exist in various places. The best-known grove is the one near Bsherreh, northeast of Beirut. It consists of about three hundred and fifty trees, some of which are seventy-five or eighty feet in height, and from thirty to thirty-five feet in circumference. See Thomson, LB, III. 261 ff. With the cedars are associated the oaks of Bashan, noted for their strength as well as their height (Am. ii. 9). Tristram (NHB, 369) describes one growing at Libbeiyah, near Mt. Hermon, as thirty-seven feet in circumference, with foliage having a circumference of ninety-one yards. Trees of this sort abound throughout the region east of the Jordan. These giants are to be laid low, when the fury of Jehovah, like a tempest, sweeps over the land (Ps. xxix. 5). 14. Even the mountains and the hills will tremble and dissolve before him (Jud. v. 5 ; Mic. i. 3 f. ; Nah. i. 5). 15. But if these his own greatest works cannot endure his presence, how much less the strongest structures reared by man ! every high tower, such as Uzziah and Jotham built to protect their kingdom (2 Chr. xxvi. 9 f. ; xxvii. 4), must fall in ruins ; also every strong wall (2 Chr. xxvii. 3). II. i6, 17] COMMENTS. 121 16. ships of Tarshish were large ships, built for long voyages, so called from Tarshish, or Tartessus, a large town or district in Spain outside the strait of Gibraltar, one of the remote places visited by Phoenician traders. Such ships were despatched from Elath, on the Red Sea, in the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham (2 Kgs. xiv. 22). Isaiah pictures them overtaken by the same tempest by which the land is to be devastated, and dismantled, if not entirely destroyed (Jon. i. 3 f.). With these ancient East-Indiamen are associated sources of delight whose identity it is difficult to discover. They are probably not the pennons (Gesenius) or other decorations (Vit- ringa) of the ships just mentioned ; the palaces of the rich (Targum); or commanding look-outs (Ewald); or precious objects in general (Knobel); but delightful figures, objects of art, including the statues of false deities, with which the rich adorned their houses and gardens.* The eighth verse says that the land was full of such objects. 17. All this, however, is merely incidental to the real object of Jehovah; viz. that the loftiness of man, human pride in human power and possessions, shall be humbled, and he himself exalted. See v. w. The prophecy might have ended here, and perhaps this third fragment was originally the conclusion of a discourse; but it seemed best to the editor to whom it owes its preservation, that, as in the previous chapter, * This interpretation is based on the supposition that nTW, which does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament, is either a synonym for nV3I£>B, which, in Num. xxxiii. 52, means sculptured stones, — the singular occurs in the same sense in Lev. xxvi. I, — or, perhaps better, a scribal error for the longer form. 122 ISAIAH. [II. 18-20 the worthlessness of the gods of the nations as refuges from the wrath of Jehovah should be exhibited. He therefore pieced together the remaining bits of the prophecy from which he took vv. 6-10, and thus pro duced a final strophe on 7. the useless idols (vv. 18-21). — 18. It begins with a half-verse in which assonance is employed to assist the reader's imagination in realizing the disap pearance of the false gods. Says the prophet : The idols, also, shall all fail ; pass away. 19. Then follows the refrain, in a slightly changed form, of v. 10: men (lit. they), stripped of their last hope, shall go into caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, to hide themselves from Jehovah. These words once marked the end of a strophe, but they can hardly be intended so to do in this connection ; for v. 20 con tinues the subject of the idols as if nothing had inter vened. 20. Isaiah, or better, perhaps, the editor, now ex plains what is to become of the idols. A man will cast his idols of silver and ... of gold ; those which, on ac count of their intrinsic value, he will cling to as long as possible; and which he hath made for himself,* — see v. 8, — to the moles f and the bats, to which the abodes of men will be left by their terrified tenants. Comp. Delitzsch. * Hitzig explains 1OT as a plural, indicating that the production of an idol requires a number of workmen (xii. 7). Lagarde reads it 1t£>B. The form found in the text, like YirUIKP, v. 8, however, seems sufficiently ex plained by the freedom of Hebrew writers in their treatment of collectives. See Ges. § 145, 5, R. t The two forms flHB Ifirf? are to be read as one word, rillBIBrn, from IBn, dig. H. 21, 22] COMMENTS. 123 21. The idols are left behind, that their owners may the more quickly go into the rents of the rocks and . . . the clefts of the cliffs, says Isaiah, again resorting to assonance to produce a third form of the now famil iar refrain, with which the strophe and the prophecy close. In the second of the group of the prophecies now under examination the prophet sets forth in greater detail (b) The Portion of Judah (ii. 22-iv. i) — in the retribution which he sees approaching. He gives his first attention to a. THE PILLARS of society (ii. 22— iii. 7). — : 22. The section opens with a warning, which, as the text is now arranged, closes the second chapter, but which, if it is to be retained,* should begin the third. Trust no longer, it says, in man that breatheth (lit. man in whose nose is breath). The last phrase is usually interpreted as a reason why man is not to be relied upon (Hitzig); but this interpretation is surely mistaken. The breath, ac cording to the Hebrews, was the equivalent of life : when Jehovah breathed into the first man's nostrils the result was a living being (Gen. ii. 7). Accordingly, in such passages as Deu. xx. 16, "every breath" is every living thing, and in Gen. vii. 22, the phrase, "all in whose nostrils is the breath of the spirit of life," has the same meaning. In whose nose is breath, therefore, must mean, as it is rendered above, that breatheth, i.e., * The reasons for suspecting its genuineness are: (1) that it has no connection with what precedes, and little with what follows ; and (2) that it does not appear in the Septuagint. Comp. Dillmann. 124 ISAIAH. [II. 22-111. 2 lives; and the sentence should be understood as a warning against putting one's confidence in any human being. The reason follows. It is not that he breathes, but that, although he breathes, he is powerless against Him, the breath of whose nostrils lays bare the founda tions of the world (Ps. xviii. 16/15). This is the force of the question, what is he to be accounted? Comp. Skinner. iii. 1. Such a warning clearly has nothing to do with the subject of idols ; nor can it be said to be a suitable introduction to the prediction that follows, since this latter implies a very different attitude toward human supports. The author warns the Jews, not that they are not to lean on anything human, but that they are to be deprived of every staff * of this sort on which they have hitherto naturally leaned. It is evident, therefore, that although, as above suggested, one of the passages was intended to introduce the other, the second only can be attributed to Isaiah. The remainder of this verse, also, must be pronounced ungenuine, because it disturbs the evident thought of the prophet with its • staff of bread and staff of water, material instead of personal supports. It is without doubt a mistaken comment on the text suggested by some such passage as Lev. xxvi. 26. Comp. Kay. 2. The pillars of Jewish society are now enumerated. By the hero and soldier are meant the champion or leader in war (1 Sam. xvii. 21 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 8 ff.) and his less renowned follower (Eze. xxxix. 20). To them, together with the captain (lit. of fifty), or simple officer (2 Kgs. i. 9 ff.), of the next verse, was confided the de- * On the construction see Ges. § 122, 4, c, R. III. 2, 3] COMMENTS. 125 fence of the country against its enemies. On the judge and the elder rested the duty of protecting the people against one another. The prophet and the diviner are coupled together, not because in Isaiah's eyes they were alike worthy or unworthy of confidence, but because they were actually depended upon to supply a recog nized need in his time. Comp. Mic. iii. 6 f.* 3. The favorite on whose hand the king leaned (2 Kgs. v. 1, 18), and the counsellor, on whose advice he depended (i. 26 ; 2 Sam. xv. 23), of course, could not be omitted ; nor, in view of their recognized impor tance in the community, the magician (lit. wise in arts) \ and the conjurer (lit. skilled in whispering). To them the people resorted for spells, pojions, amulets, and countless other inventions of ancient ^superstition (v. 20). How these various classes of society are to be removed, Isaiah does not here intimate. If he included in the term prophet genuine messengers of Jehovah, he proba bly expected that they would cease to be sent (Am. viii. 1 1 f.). The rest would be killed or carried into captiv ity by enemies to be commissioned against them. In cases of deportation it was always the upper classes that suffered (2 Kgs. xxiv. 14 ff.). * It is useless, with Rosenmiiller, to try to fasten upon DDp any other meaning than that of diviner ; nor, although the omission of the priest is surprising, is there really any good ground for supposing, with Breden- kamp, that this word is a scribal error for Ji13. t These words have often been interpreted as meaning the artisan, and this interpretation has the support ofthe ancient versions; but (i) the appli cation of the Syriac word corresponding to D^IH to magic, (2) the appear ance of the conjurer in the next phrase, and (3) the omission of any fur ther reference to the trades practised at the time, make it more probable that the arts here meant are the arts of the magician. Comp. Delitzsch. 126 ISAIAH. [III. 4-6 4. The removal of those who have knowledge of affairs civil and military will leave the country at the mercy of boys, if not in years, at least in experience and disposition. Having no character, they will use their power or authority for the execution of their ca prices. Thus the people will become the sport of their rulers.* This is not, as has been supposed (Delitzsch), a picture of the reign of Ahaz. That ruler was, indeed, a comparatively young man when he came to the throne (2 Kgs. xvi. 2), and he may, like Rehoboam (1 Kgs. xii. 8), have chosen young men for his advisers; but it is certain that he did not commence his reign under any such circumstances as are here described, and the completion of the picture will only make this fact more apparent. Yet the date of the prophecy is probably not later than the accession of this king. 5. The prophet proceeds with his disheartening de scription. The example of the princes will be followed by the people. They will be harassed, one by another, might having become the only standard of justice. The natural claims of age and merit will no longer be re spected: they will assail, the boy the elder, and the base the honorable. To such lengths will the lower classes go, when the restraints of government are re moved, and their baser natures allowed to assert them selves. 6. When matters have come to this pass there will surely be an effort to mend them. Anarchy finally * Duhm translates this sentence : abuses shall rule over them ; and Orelli : childish pranks shall rule over them. The rendering above adopted is not so exact, but it will probably be found exact enough, and much more intelligible than those cited. III. 6, 7] COMMENTS. 127 becomes intolerable even to anarchists. This longing for order will manifest itself when one layeth hold of another, with eager, desperate violence, in the house" of his father, the ancestral dwelling in which he has taken refuge. It is probably the intention of the prophet to represent the person sought as a survivor of the better class of citizens. Therefore his visitor is made to say : Thou hast a mantle, the outer garment which, under ordinary circumstances every one was supposed to possess (Ex. xxii. 26), thereby implying that, at this time, the possession of one constitutes a distinction qualifying its owner to be a ruler over his fellows ; let this ruin, this lawless condition of things, be under thy control. 7. The appeal will be in vain. The unfortunate patrician will cry (lit. lift up), protest, I will not be a surgeon, to bind up the wounds of the State. The figure is changed, but the change is not so surprising as it would have been had this second one not already (i. 6) been used by Isaiah. Comp. Reuss. Then he will give the reason for his refusal : in my house is neither bread nor mantle ; I am as poor as the poorest of you. The force of the reason given becomes appar ent, when one remembers that the ruler of Isaiah's day was expected, not only to perform his duties for noth ing, but to be generous toward those over whom he exercised authority. This confession of poverty is therefore naturally followed by a repetition of the re fusal to be a ruler of the people. The place offered is not that of king (Duhm), for the throne is not vacant (v. 4), but of one of the local magnates to whom the preservation of order was committed. 128 ISAIAH. [III. 8, 9 A penalty so severe as that just described requires justification. The prophet, therefore, in the next fol lowing verses, portrays ft. the defiant rebels (vv. 8-i 5) — whose offences have made such severity necessary. 8. He resumes the figure used in v. 6. He declares that his city and coun try, like a breached wall, shall totter and . . . fall (Am. v. 2) ; because the inhabitants, especially the rul ing classes, with their tongues, in such speeches as those quoted v. 19 and xxviii. 9 f. and 15, and their deeds, soon to be more fully described (vv. 13 f.), are against* Jehovah, rebelling f to his glorious face (lit. eyes%); i.e., persisting in sin even while he is manifest ing himself in their personal or national history, as their fathers did before them (Ex. xxxii. 1 ff.). 9. They make no secret of their opposition to their God. The look on their faces, § the involuntary expres sion of their countenances, testifieth against them ; betrays the attitude of their hearts. One has not, however, to depend upon such evidence ; their sin, like the Sodomites, whose attack upon Lot and his guests was a popular demonstration (Gen. xix. 4 ff . ), they pub lish ; practise unblushingly in the eyes of God and * For bX read bv. t niiab for nilBnb. On the form, see Ges. § 53, 3, R. 7; on the con struction, § 1 14, 2, R. 4. X For niV read ^V, with many manuscripts and editions. Comp. the Septuagint. § This is the rendering that best suits the connection. The examina tion of their faces (Nagelsbach) is less natural ; and their partiality (Tar- gum), although the idiom D'JB TOn seems to favor it, is awkward and irrelevant. The only other interpretation that deserves notice is that according to which rl13n is a derivative, not of 133, but of 13.1, and means, as Job xix. 3 would indicate, impudence (Vitringa). III. 9-12] COMMENTS. 129 man. In all this they think that they are furthering their own interests, but they are mistaken ; they shall do themselves injury. io. The words just quoted present one side of the doctrine of retribution. This doctrine is now more fully stated : Blessed * is the righteous ! it declares, for the fruit of his righteous deeds he shall eat. ii. Of the godless, on the other hand, it asserts just as positively, that what his hands have wrought shall be repaid him. There does not seem to be any material divergence between this general, and the previous (v. 9) particular, statement, yet it is not probable that Isaiah is the • author of both of them. It is not his habit to check the torrent of his discourse to introduce unneces sary reflections, f 12. From the future of the rulers Isaiah returns to the present of the people ; my people he calls them, giving a touch of tenderness to this otherwise severe discourse- To their rulers he gives the title masters, thus recalling the bitterest period of their history as a people (Ex. iii. 7). These masters are children. % In v. 4 the con trol of the Jews and their affairs by boys is yet future ; here it is represented as already in the hands of such * "nm. for 11S«, say. \ The style of vv. 10 f., too, unless the text is corrupt, betrays the hand of an editor. A '3, for, should be supplied before Bl, ;'//, and a "b, to him, after both it and 31H, well. X The Hebrew word is singular. Some have therefore concluded that V1MJ is a pluralis majestatis and rendered it his governor, i.e., his king, (Cheyne). The context, remote (v. 4) as well as immediate, requires that the latter word should be regarded as referring to a class, and that the former should be explained, either as a collective (Bottcher), a distributive (Delitzsch), or a mistake for the plural, perhaps D^IB. Comp. the Septuagint. 130 ISAIAH. [III. 12-14 persons. There is some reason, therefore, for interpret ing this passage as referring to the reign of Ahaz ; and this interpretation seems favored by the mention of women as influential in affairs. When, however, one remembers that, for the state of things here described, the elders and princes are to be called to account (v. 14), this fact appears to indicate that Isaiah is now speak ing figuratively, meaning that his people were already governed with as much caprice and wantonness as if their rulers were actually boys or women. The prophet proceeds, addressing himself to the people, and charg ing, that their leaders, those by whom they would natu rally expect, when wrong, to be set right (i. 17), are seducers, and that, when they do not actually tempt others from the right way, they efface it ; make it impos sible to find or to follow (v. 20). Comp. Nagelsbach. In other words, he tells them that their rulers have demoralized them. 13. This condition of things is intolerable. Isaiah so confidently expects Jehovah to intervene that, to him, he already is arisen to defend the afflicted, and standeth ready to avenge his people * of their oppressors. 14. Jehovah himself will enter into a contest with the elders and princes, and this will be his charge against them : And ye, whom I have set over it, to guard and cultivate it (Ps. ii. 6), have cropped the vineyard ; \ ravaged the people as goats do a vineyard, when it is * The text has D'BB, peoples ; but the plural is unintelligible in the con nection. The original reading must have been IBB, his people, which is required by vv. 12 and 15, and supported by the Septuagint and the Peshita. Comp. Alexander. On the meaning of J'l, see Gen. xxx. 6; Ps. liv. 3/1; etc. t The Septuagint has my vineyard. III. 14-16] COMMENTS. 131 exposed to them (v. 5). Lest the figure should be mis understood, he adds, the spoil of the afflicted is in your houses (Am. iii. 10). 15. The indignation of Jehovah grows as he proceeds. Wherefore (lit. What to you )*, he demands, crush ye my people ? Here, again, the people of Jehovah, as appears from the next clause, are the lowly. The rulers, by their conduct, have forfeited their claim to be reckoned among his chosen. The intensity of their cruelty is expressed by the statement that they bruise (lit. grind) the faces of the afflicted ; by their cruelty produce the keenest grief in the hearts, and thus the utmost distor tion in the faces, of their victims. Comp. Am. ii. 7. The verse — and the paragraph — closes without any indication of the way in which these heartless offenders are to be punished ; but the solemn formula, saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, leads one to expect the worst. One striking parallel to the prophecies of Amos has already been discovered (i. 10 ff.). The attack of Isaiah upon 7. the wanton women (iii. 16-iv. i) — of Jerusalem furnishes a second equally unmistakable. See Am. iv. 1 ff. 16. It begins with And Jehovah said, a form of expression which indicates that the words following are a separate discourse, rather than a part of the one to which the rest of the chapter belongs. The changed tone at once discernible points in the same direction. Yet it is probable that both prophecies belong to the same period, and that the earliest ; since the luxury here described tallies best with the prosperity of Judah under * On the form DS^B, see Ges. § 20, 2, a, R. 1 ; § 37, 1, R. 132 ISAIAH. [III. 1 6, 17 Uzziah and Jotham. the daughters of Zion are literal, and not figurative, women ; and it seems strange that any modern exegete should have held the contrary opin ion (Eichhorn), or tried to unite the two (Kay). They are haughty, and therefore hateful to Jehovah (ii. 12 ff.); and go with stretched * necks, or high heads, and blink ing | eyes, casting coquettish or immodest glances right and left ; a practice utterly at variance with the oriental custom, which required, and still requires, ladies to con ceal their faces in public. See Gen. xxiv. 65 ; Van Lennep, BL, 537 f. They go trippingly,:): taking dainty steps, and jingle § with their feet, || or rather with the ornaments that they wear on their ankles. See vv. 18 and 20. 17. But the Lord will punish their wantonness, bring baldness 1" upon their crowns ; give them occasion to shave their heads in sign of mourning ; and lay their temples ** bare of the hair in which they delight as one of their dearest ornaments (v. 24). There follows a long catalogue of the things of which the women of Zion are to be deprived, when the day of * On nilBJ, see Ges. §§ 75, R. 5; 128, 3. t A few codices have miptt>B, deceiving. See Lowth. X On the construction, see Ges. § 113, 3, R. 2. § On Pl3D3Bn, see Ges. § 52, 2, R. 2. II On D.T^JI, see Ges. § 135, 5, R. 1. If For nBC the Septuagint and the Peshita seem to have read ?Btt>, humble. ** The text has pflB, generally rendered shame ; but, since a parallel for the crowns of the preceding sentence seems needed, and the word 1KB, side, temple, furnishes such a parallel, the form found in the text should probably be pointed JinB, and explained as a contraction for |nnSB or an error for JflSB. See Stade, ZA W, 1886,336; also the versions, especially the Vulgate. On the form of the suffix, see Ges. § 91, 1, R. 2. III. 17-21] COMMENTS. 133 the Lord's vengeance shall have come. This catalogue, vv. 18-23, although it is introduced by an expression suggested by v. 1, is not the work of Isaiah; for it diverges from the plan of vv. ly and 24, and detains one with details such as this prophet habitually omitted. It is only interesting from the archseological standpoint* 18. The anklets were metal bands, such as are still worn in Palestine, corresponding to the bracelets for the arms. To them were attached the chains of v. 20. The sunlets (Delitzsch, frontlets) were bright balls, and the moonlets little crescents, hung about the neck. The latter were among the spoils taken from the Midianites by Gideon (Jud. viii. 21, 26). 19. ear-drops, also, were among the ornaments of the Midianites (Jud. viii. 26). The bracelets were in the form of chains. The veils were light and gauzy, not the ordinary covering for the head. 20. The ornaments called head-dresses are elsewhere represented as worn by men (Ex. xxxix. 28 ; Isa. Ixi. 3). The step-chains attached the feet one to the other and necessitated a mincing gait such as is described in v. 16. sashes, according to Jer. ii. 32, were a part of the outfit of a bride. See also Isa. xlix. 18. The smelling-bottles were doubtless attached to the girdle, as among the Arabs. The amulets were ornaments, usually with a magical inscription, which were supposed at the same time to protect the wearers against various sorts of evil influences. See Smith, DB, art. Amulets. 21. finger-rings were worn by the Hebrews, as by * The most complete treatment of this passage is found'in Schroder's Commentarius de vestitu mulierum Hebrcearum, Leyden, 1745- The arrangement of it is discussed at length by Peters, fBL, 1885, 88 f. 134 ISAIAH. [III. 21-24 other orientals, of both sexes (Ex. xxxv. 22). The custom still prevails in Palestine ; so, also, that of wear ing nose-rings (Gen. xxiv. 47). These latter, however, are worn only by women. Sometimes studs are substi tuted for rings, probably because they are more con venient. See Van Lennep, BL, 531. 22. The gala-robes of this passage are the rich attire, or better, holiday garments, of Zee. iii. 4 ; the stoles, the long garments, reaching from the neck tc the feet, worn over the tunic by both sexes. It was one of the shawls here mentioned in which Ruth received the present of grain given her by Boaz (Ru. iii. 15); and it took two purses such as these women carried to hold the money out of which Gehazi swindled Naaman (2 Kgs. v. 23). 23. The mirrors (Lowth : transparent robes) of the time, like the writing-tablets (viii. 1), were plates of metal. The former, however, of course, were brightly polished. They were worn at the girdle. The garments called shirts were worn next to the skin by men as well as women. They are the linen garments of Jud. xiv. 12 f. turbans, also, were worn by both sexes and all classes (Job xxix. 14). Finally, the mantles were ample wraps similar to those with which the women of Pal estine still entirely envelop themselves, when they go abroad. It was doubtless a garment of this kind, although it is called by another name, with which Rebecca covered herself when she was presented to her future husband (Gen. xxiv. 65 ; see also xxix. 25). 24. Isaiah, again permitted to speak, at once reveals his identity by plunging into a series of antitheses : perfume, spices and their odors, and putridity, disease and its stenches ; girdle, a work of the embroiderer's III. 24-26] COMMENTS. 13S art (Prv. xxxi. 24), and rope, any bit long enough to hold together the rags with which they are clothed ; hair-work,* heads of elaborately dressed hair, and bald ness, as a sign of mourning (Mic. i. 16); mantle, a fine, full garment, and strip of hair-cloth, also a sign of mourning (Am. viii. 10); finally, in the inverse order, brand, the mark burned into the flesh of slaves and captives, and their lost beauty, f 25. The flow of the prophet's thought is again inter rupted ; this time by an explanation in which the daughter, and not the daughters, of Zion, is the object of the author's attention. At first she is directly addressed : Thy men, the adult males, as is at once explained, even thy mighty, the heroes of v. 1, shall fall ... in war. The definiteness of this statement is noticeable. 26. The announcement that follows is equally unam biguous, her doors shall sigh and mourn, for those who no longer go in and out of them ; yea, she shall sit on the ground, like a queen degraded from her throne (xlvii. 1), despoiled. It means nothing less than the destruction of Jerusalem. But Isaiah, whatever he may have thought, has thus far stopped short of such a prediction. Moreover, the form of expression used reminds one of the second, rather than the first, Isaiah. See xlvii. 1 ; Hi. 2. These two considerations confirm the suspicion excited by the change of subject, that both verses are additions to the genuine text. They * On the construction, see Ges. § 131, 2, a. f This clause, besides inverting the order of the others, adds an odd line to the verse. These, perhaps, are the reasons — he states none — why Duhm rejects it. Comp. FBrown,/5Z, 1890, I. 90. 136 ISAIAH. [III. 26-IV. 1 were probably intended by their author, who looked back upon the fall of Jerusalem, to bring out more clearly what, in the light of that event, was supposed to be the real meaning of the earlier prophet. iv. 1. The natural, and, therefore, doubtless the origi nal, continuation of v. 24, is found in the statement that the time is to come when there will be seven, or as a modern would say, a dozen (comp. Zee. viii. 23), women to one man ; so many of the males of Judah will have been cut off : and the former will lay hold of the latter, forgetting the proprieties in such matters in their eager ness for husbands. The custom which required, and still requires, the husband to purchase his wife (Ex. xxii. 16; 1 Sam. xviii. 22 ff . ; Deu. xxii. 28 f . ; Van Lennep, BL, 539 ff.), is also to be reversed, women agreeing even to provide their own bread and . . . raiment. The reason for their eagerness appears in the entreaty, take away our reproach ! the reproach, keenly felt among the Hebrews of all periods, of being single, and there fore childless. For pathetic illustrations of this senti ment, see Gen. xxxviii. 14 and Jud. xi. 37 f. : comp. Duhm. The case even of Judah seems hopeless. Those who are not themselves corrupt and violent are in the hands of those who are, and there is apparently no salvation for the nation. Still, it can hardly be that Isaiah in tended to leave the impression that it was to be utterly destroyed. The tenderness for the lowly and the afflicted, which has several times shown itself (iii. 12, 14), warrants one in believing that he must have had hopes for them. However that may be, it is certain that the editor of his IV. 2] COMMENTS. 137 prophecies, when he lived and labored, believed that the case of Judah was not so desperate as one would gather from the alternate threats and invectives of the preceding chapter; but that, as Isaiah himself doubtless taught, the nation was to survive the destruction of its wicked rulers. Hence he has placed at the end of this division of the book a prophecy concerning (3) The Rescued Remnant (iv. 2-6). — 2. It begins with the familiar phrase, In that day, which has been reck oned among the indications that the whole passage is editorial (Duhm). This, however, is an unsafe criterion; for such passages as Am. ii. 16, Hos. i. 5, and Mic. ii. 4, show that it was a familiar formula in Isaiah's time, and ii. 11 and 17, that he himself was not averse to using it. On the other hand, see iii. 1 8, etc. The words rendered the growth of Jehovah have been very variously inter preted. The favorite interpretation has been that which makes them a title of the Messiah. At first sight, it seems to be supported by Jer. xxiii. 5 and xxxiii. 1 5, "and Zee. iii. 8 and vi. 12, where "Growth," or, as it is ren dered in the English version, " Branch," is undoubtedly so to be understood. The usage in these passages, however, must not be regarded as decisive for this case, if it can be shown that the interpretation in question does not harmonize with the context : a task of no great difficulty. The verse is a couplet, constructed on the principle that dominates Hebrew poetry, parallelism. Further, it is a case of what is called synonymous paral lelism ; for, since the double predicates in the two mem bers, goodly and famous in the first, and glorious and beautiful in the second, correspond, the subjects are to 138 ISAIAH. [IV. 2 be considered equivalents. But the fruit of the land can mean neither more nor less than the agricultural prod uce of Palestine ; hence the growth of Jehovah must signify that which Jehovah shall cause to spring from the sacred soil of that country. This interpretation is confirmed by two further considerations : In the first place, the word here used is apparently a reminiscence of the passage in the second account of creation, in which Jehovah is described as causing to grow from the ground the trees that adorned the garden in Eden (Gen. ii. 9); and, secondly, some reference to the material blessings to be enjoyed by the survivors is perfectly in place in a picture of the new era. See i. 19; Hos. iii. 5 ; etc. On the other hand, the use of the term growth as a name for the Messiah by Jeremiah and Zechariah can easily be explained, if, with most who contend for the same interpretation here, one take for granted that this verse, as well as xi. 1, is Isaianic. Both passages deal with the ideal future. In the latter the ideal king is actually called a shoot and a sprout. It is not strange, therefore, that Jeremiah, and after him Zechariah, having the three words in mind, should have chosen the first used by Isaiah, regardless of the fact that he did not mean by it precisely what he meant by the others. There are further illustrations in plenty of such freedom in the Hebrew Scriptures.* The blessing that Jehovah * It is seldom worth while to recall discarded theories ; but, in the present case, the false interpretations have been so many and various, that the mention of the most important seems warranted as illustrating the pos sibilities of error in exegesis. The growth of Jehovah has been supposed to mean the remnant, and the fruit of the land either their descendants (Eichhorn), or the actual produce of the soil (Gesenius). The latter is Jerome's interpretation, except that he sees in the remnant the followers IV. 2, 3] COMMENTS. 139 promises to bestow is described in the most glowing language. It is to be goodly and famous (lit. for grace and honor), decking the country, and thus bringing it honor; glorious and beautiful (lit. for pride and orna ment), engendering a patriotic pride by its beauty : and all this to the survivors in Israel ; not restored exiles, but, if the phrase is genuine, those who have escaped death or deportation during the period of chastisement.* 3. This is more clearly expressed in the threefold description, left in Zion . . . spared in Jerusalem . . . enrolled to live, i.e., ordained, destined, to survive in Jerusalem. The last of these expressions is an allusion to the book of life, in which, according to the Hebrew method of representation, the names of those whose lives were to be prolonged, were inscribed (Ex. xxxii. 32 f. ; Dan. xii. 1 ; comp. 1 Sam. xxv. 29). When the doctrine of the future life became established, the con ception of the book of life was correspondingly enlarged and spiritualized (Rev. xx. 12; etc.); but there is no of Christ. To a different category belongs the view that the terms em ployed denote the Davidic family and the common people respectively (Roorda). Then there are the various ways in which the belief in the Messianic character of the passage has expressed itself. The simplest is the opinion that each of these terms is a designation for the Messiah (Delitzsch). Some have gone so far as to assert, that, in the first, the doctrine of the divinity, and in the second, that of the humanity, of Jesus is revealed (Hengstenberg). A less consistent interpretation is that according to which the growth of Jehovah is the Messiah, but the fruit of the land the Church, Jewish (Targum) or Christian (Zwingli). Finally, mention should be made of a type of exegesis which makes both terms include all the blessings of the Messianic future (Orelli), or the former the spiritual, and the latter the temporal, bestowments in store for the faithful (Nagelsbach). * Reuss declares this last clause a gloss ; and in fact it does mar the rhythm, without adding to the meaning, of the verse. 140 ISAIAH. [IV. 3, 4 reference to the future life in this passage. Comp. Nagelsbach. The Hebrews represented Jehovah as determining beforehand the fate of individuals, but not without regard to their character. In Ps. lxix. 29/28, to be enrolled in the book of life is to be enrolled among the righteous. So here, they that are enrolled to live are the holy, those who are devoted to their God and obedient to his requirements. See Rev. xxi. 27.* 4. The movement of thought is still retrograde. The blessing of v. 2 was explained by the holiness of v. 3 ; and now the holiness of the inhabitants of Zion the fair \ is explained by the cleansing process to which the city is to be subjected. Her filth, vile deeds, with their vile doers, and her blood, cruel deeds, and their cruel perpe trators (i. 15), are to be removed by a blast of judgment, the divine energy operating punitively, as in ii. 12 ff., and a blast of destruction, the same blast viewed in its effect (Ps. xviii. 16/15 ; Job iv. 9). Thus, in giving ex pression to his faith in the ultimate rescue of a remnant, Isaiah, if, as seems the case, these are his words, takes care fo warn the mass of his people that there is no hope for them. % * In the original this verse is connected with the preceding by the waw consecutive, which would naturally, and, in one view, properly, be ren dered and, since the calling holy might well be regarded as subsequent to the blessing of v. 2 ; but since it is really the being holy of which the prophet is thinking, and this must, be regarded as antecedent to the bless ing, yor is better than and as a connective. t The text has ni33, daughters ; but, as the use of Jerusalem in the sec ond half of the verse clearly shows, the original reading must have been n3, daughter, which was intentionally or unintentionally changed to the plural so as to connect this with the preceding prophecy. See iii. 1 7. The Septuagint remedies the mistake by associating the sons with the daughters of Zion. X Most of the later critics deny the genuineness of any part of this IV. 5] COMMENTS. 141 5. Thus far Isaiah. The picture was completed by another hand.* The added touches are such as would appeal to later Jews. Jehovah is to create, f in harmony with the new order of things, over the whole site of Mount Zion, the abode of Jehovah and the scene of the festivals in his honor, — which Isaiah counted of little importance, — a cloud of smoke by day, % like that which rested on the tabernacle and guided the hosts of Israel during the Exodus (Num. ix. 15 ff.), becoming the glow of flaming fire, a luminous cloud, by night (Ex. xl. 38 ; paragraph. See especially Hackmann, Zf, 19 f.; but Stade (ZA W, 1884, 149 ff.) insists that vv. 2-4 are Isaianic, and there are good grounds for this opinion. The ideas therein presented are the same, although they appear in an inverse order, as those of the first chapter, and decidedly different from those, e.g., in such passages as iii. 23 f. ; where Jerusalem is represented, not as cleansed, but as overthrown. Nor, especially if the last two (Hebrew) words of v. 2 be omitted as a gloss, is there anything in the language justly to excite suspicion. All this is virtually admitted by the adverse critics, in that, as will appear upon an examination of their arguments, they base their objection to the whole paragraph on the lan guage and ideas of vv. 5 f. See also Cheyne, IB I, 20 ff. If they would examine each of the two halves of the prophecy separately, as Stade does, they would naturally come to his conclusion; not, however, in all its de tails; for Stade supposes that the order in vv. 2-4 has been reversed, a hypothesis which the interpretation given above renders unnecessary. * The proof of this is in (1) the use of the word S13, create, which is very rare except in later Hebrew, especially Isa. xl.-lxvi.; (2) the al lusion to the Priestly rather than the Jehovistic account of the Exodus, the latter of which always represents the cloud and the fire as in the form of a pillar — comp. Ex. xiii. 21 f. with xl. 36 ff.; and (3) the evident inter est of the writer in the temple and its worship; comp. i. 10 ff. t Duhm and others, following the Septuagint, but neglecting the re quirements of the context, read K31, and come. X This is more euphonious than a literal rendering, a cloud by day, and smoke, of the text. Some interpreters, neglecting the punctuation, con nect JOT1, and smoke, with what follows (Cheyne) ; but this destroys the balance of the line, as does, also, the omission of the word (Kautsch). 142 ISAIAH. [IV. 5, 6 Num. ix. 1 6). In other words, the presence of Jehovah will be seen and felt as it was in the most memorable period of Hebrew history. The rest of the verse is difficult, but the most satisfactory rendering seems to be that in which these words are united with the first of the next verse, as follows : yea, over the whole shall there be a glorious canopy and pavilion ; the cloud just described, as a symbol of the divine presence.* 6. This cloud is not to be a mere phantasm, but a shel ter from the heat, \ and a refuge . . . from the storm and the rain. The words are not entirely figurative. The heat is sometimes very oppressive in Palestine (2 Kgs. iv. 19), while the storms, especially in winter, are often exceedingly violent and destructive (1 Kgs. xviii. 44 f . ; Thomson, LB, II. 86 f., 632). The author cannot have thought of Jehovah as powerless to protect his people against injury from such causes. It is possible, how- * The words might be rendered literally : for over all glory there is a canopy (Dillmann) ; but this is too tame. Moreover, it gives to the term glory an unnatural application. The latter objection holds against the ren dering: for over all glory there shall be a canopy (Delitzsch), and all others in which the glory is that of Zion rather than that of Jehovah. On the other hand, the translation, for above all glory shall be this canopy (Kocher) smacks of Jewish subtlety. See the Targum. The best inter pretation is one in which the glory in question is identified with that of Jehovah revealed in the cloud overhanging Zion (Zee. ii. 9/5). This be ing admitted, there is not much choice between the rendering above sug gested and Yea, over all shall the glory be a canopy. And a tabernacle it shall be, etc. (Lowth), or : for over all \liethO\ glory. Covering and shelter shall be, etc. (Bredenkamp) ; but the first is most rhythmical. On the construction of 1133 for 1133, see Ges. § 128, 2, R. 2; and for that of 13, Gen. xvi. 12. t The text adds, by day, but since the phrase has no significance in this connection, and the Septuagint have nothing to correspond to it, one may conclude that DaT1 is here a reminiscence of v. 5. IV. 6-V. i] COMMENTS. 143 ever, that he had in mind chiefly the dangers and mis fortunes to which he and his people were exposed from the violence of wicked men, and for which the natural phenomena cited are appropriate figures. See xxv. 4. The chapter which follows is independent of those both before and after it. It is not all of a piece, but the two parts of which it is composed are both early, and of such a character that they can be grouped under a single title, b. THE UNPROFITABLE VINEYARD (v.). The first part, (1) The Parable (yv. 1-7), — is the finest of Isaiah's prophecies, and one of the most admirable literary pro ductions in the Old Testament. 1. The prophet proposes to sing a song. One can imagine the interest that such a proposition would excite, and the eagerness with which people would gather about him as he ran his fingers over the instrument on which he was going to accompany himself. He throws very little light on the subject of his song when he describes it as of my friend, i.e., about him ; since there is as yet no indication who his friend is : but he adds, by way of explanation, a song of my friend, i.e., of his composition, and then, further, concerning his vineyard. The subject, therefore, is the vineyard of his friend, and the song one that his friend has taught him. Yet he proceeds with the song in the third person : A vineyard had my friend, not, a vineyard had I, as his friend would have said, on a fertile hill (lit. a horn, a son of oil), where, for the sake of a better exposure, vineyards were, and are, usually located (Am. ix. 13). 144 ISAIAH. [V. 2 2. The next three lines review the activities of vine dressers in general, and the experience of Isaiah's friend in particular. He first digged his ground over with the mattock (vii. 25). This was the most thorough method of tillage known to the Hebrews. In the vineyards, after they were planted, no other was possible. He next cleared it of stones : no slight task, for the land in some parts of Palestine is very stony ; but he thus ob tained material for the wall mentioned in v. 5. This being done, he planted it with cuttings, first soaked for some days in water, from choice vines, vines that bore a bright red grape, and gave its name to the valley of Sorek, the home of Delilah. When he had started his vineyard, he built a tower in the midst of it, in anticipa tion of the time when he should have a vintage to pro tect. Such a tower was built of stones, and contained a room on the ground, with a winding stair leading to the flat roof in which the structure terminated. The room furnished a shelter for the owner or his servants, and the roof a look-out from which the keeper could watch for marauders (Ps. lxxx. 14/13; Can. ii. 15). His last preparatory act was to provide it with a wine-press. This he hewed out. The rock underlying the soil of southern Palestine is a soft limestone. There is, there fore, not much labor involved in hewing out of it two basins, one for the grapes, and a second smaller but deeper, connected with the first by a hole through the thin partition between the two, for the juice when it is expressed. See Van Lennep, BL, noff. ; Thomson, LB, I. 277. Having spent so much care and labor upon his vineyard, the owner expected it to yield grapes of the best sort in abundance. He was disappointed; it V. 2-6] COMMENTS. 145 yielded only wild ones, no better fruit than would have grown among the weeds by the wayside. 3. Now therefore, says the prophet, adopting a more earnest tone, and passing from the third to the first per son, to make his appeal more effective, judge . . . between me and my vineyard. 4. He puts the case in two questions, to each of which there can be but one answer. The owner is blameless ; the vines are at fault. 5. Jesus, in his adaptation of this parable, introduced a similar appeal (Mat. xxi. 40), and succeeded in making his hearers condemn themse'lves ; Isaiah cannot wait for his answers, but, taking them for granted, and still per sonating his unknown friend, he cries in his impatience, let me tell you what I shall do to my vineyard ; and then, with almost the abruptness of a command, take away* its hedge, the hedge of thorns by which, per haps, the field had originally been enclosed; that it may be cropped by sheep and goats, whose destructive- ness to vineyards was alluded to in iii. 14. He will tear down its wall, too, the wall built from the stones with which it was once covered ; that it may be trampled by the flocks and herds (vii. 25). 6. This is not all. I will put an end to it, as a vine yard, he says, and explains how his purpose is to be fulfilled, it shall neither be pruned, as every vineyard had to be once a year, nor tilled between the rows with the mattock; thorns and briers, which need no attention, shall grow therein. Thus far there has been nothing to * 13,1, like piB, is an infinitive absolute, a form of the verb particu larly adapted to express the impatience that the situation warrants. See Ges. §113, 4, b, d. 146 ISAIAH. [V. 6, 7 indicate that Isaiah is not describing the experience of the owner of a literal vineyard. From his next words, I will also charge the clouds, it appears who his friend really is ; for none but Jehovah is able to close the win dows of heaven and prevent the descent of the rain upon the earth (Am. iii. 6). 7. The prophet now has no time to lose. Having thrown off his mask, he must make his point before his hearers disperse, disgusted with themselves for having taken any interest in his story. He is equal to the emergency. He concludes with a single couplet that goes straight to its mark. But,* he cries, the vineyard of Jehovah, the object of his care and protection, is the house of Israel, the Northern Kingdom ; and the men of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, his delightful plantation ; not plant, as if there were any difference in the relation of the two nations to their common God. The parable applies to the two kingdoms as a whole, and to each of them independently. Both alike could boast that Jeho vah had chosen them from among the peoples of the earth (Am. iii. 1 f.) for a great destiny ; and no less, that he had surrounded them with conditions calculated to assist them in fulfilling his purpose. Yet, in both cases, when, as he had a right to do, he expected redress (lit. judgment) by the strong of the wrongs of the weak (i. 17), lo — distress (lit. baldness) \ of the lowly, the * For another good example of this use of '3 (lit. for), see Am. iii. 7. t The exact meaning of the original is doubtful. The signification murder (Dillmann) is based on the supposition that the root of HB'tyB is hBD, pour (Job xxx. 7), from the Arabic form of which a word for mur derer is derived. Delitzsch prefers to refer it to HBD, add, and render it accumulation, i.e., robbery. It seems better still to connect it with the nsr of iii. 17, and give it, as above, the signification baldness, as a sign of V. 7] COMMENTS. 147 result of the violence of the upper classes (Am. ii. 7). The prophet here again employs paronomasia for the purpose of fixing his thought in the minds of his hearers. With the same object in view he repeats both the thought and the figure, only varying the corresponding words. In this final clause, for judgment he has right eousness, or, freely rendered, restraint, and for mourn ing, a cry, or complaint.* The meaning of the parable, then, is simply, that Jehovah has done what he could to make his people bring forth the fruits of righteousness, but they have disappointed him. Many have sought to apply it more in detail, but in so doing they have only weakened the effect of the one thought which the prophet wished to enforce. For a later application of the figure of the vineyard see Ps. lxxx. 9/8 ff. The parable of the vineyard ends with v. 7. It needs no further application. It is natural, however, to look for (2) The Development (vv. 8-30) — of the subject SO vividly presented in some detailed utterance. The re mainder of the chapter answers this expectation. In its present form it is divisible into two sections. The first deals with mourning, thus obtaining as close a parallel for npB5£, cry, as tOBlPB, judg ment, has in 1p12£, righteousness. Comp. Luzzatto. * The following are among the best renderings for these two pairs of words by German interpreters : Gesenius : Gutthat — Blutthat ; Begliickung — Bedriickung. Hitzig: RechtesHort — blutiger Mord; richtige Waage — immerKlage. Orelli: Rechtsspruch — Rechtsbruch; Gerechtigkeit — Niedertrachtig- keit. 148 ISAIAH. [V. 8-10 (a) The Sinners after their Kinds (vv. 8-24). — One after another Isaiah arraigns the various classes of offenders and pronounces sentence upon them : first of all, a. the avaricious (vv. 8-10). — 8. They are those that join house to house, and add field to field; not every one who, having one house, buys another; but those who are not content until, having dispossessed the small owners that once shared it with them, they are left to dwell alone in . . . the land. Isaiah con demns the unlimited accumulation of real property, doubtless, in the first place, because it was in direct violation of the traditional sentiment (i Kgs. xxi.) which expressed itself in the law to prevent the alienation of such property (Lev. xxv. 8 ff.); but his indignation was probably partly due to the fact, which Micah asserts (ii. _ 2), that the rich often obtained possession of the houses ahd lands of their poorer neighbors by fraud or violence. 9. He claims the authority of Jehovah for the sentence that he pronounces : In my ears, the inner, and not the outer ears, [hath] Jehovah . . . [revealed himself]. The verb has fallen out of the text, but it is readily supplied from xxii. 14, which has the same form of expression.* This is the substance of the revelation : many houses, the numerous houses of the rich, shall be empty, deserted ; and, great . . . and goodly though they be, they shall be without a tenant. 10. The reason follows. There is to be such a dearth that it will be impossible to live from the proceeds of the largest estates ; ten yokes of vineyard, the prophet * The Septuagint mistook ''itX, my ears, for 'OIS, ears of; so also Luther. V. io, ii] COMMENTS. 149 says, shall yield but one bath. Now, a yoke was as much land as a team of cattle could plough in a day. The term was not originally applicable to vineyards, since they were not ploughed ; but, like the English word acre, it came to denote a certain area without reference to the use to which the land was put. A vineyard of ten yokes would be a large one ; yet the owner is to get from it but a bath, according to Thenius (Riehm, HBA, art. Maase ; Smith, DB, art. Weights and Measures), 21.26 quarts, of wine. This, of course, is a pitifully, ruinously small yield. That of the fields, however, will be even smaller ; for, when the crop has been harvested, the owner will find that he has only an ephah — a dry measure of the same size as the bath — of grain as the return from a homer, ten times the amount, of seed. It is plain that, at this rate, the richest must soon starve in the midst of their ill-gotten acres. ft. the dissolute (vv. 11-17) — next receive atten tion. 11. They rise early in the morning, to pursue, not the proper objects of interest or devotion, but drink, intoxicating liquor of any kind, especially that prepared from grain, honey, dates, and other fruits. The He brews, although wine was one of the staples of their country (vv. 1, 10), and they used it as commonly as they now use coffee (1 Sam. xvi. 20), even overlooking occasional excess in the use of it (Gen. xliii. 34), always condemned the drunkard (Prv. xxiii. 29 ff.); and such they regarded any one who indulged in stimulants early in the day (Ecc. x. 16 f.). Isaiah represents the drunk ards of his time as so eager for liquor that they not only spend the entire day in its pursuit, perhaps going 150 ISAIAH. [V. 11-13 from one convivial gathering to another, but tarry in the evening until wine inflame them ; * excite them beyond the limits of self-control, making madmen of them. See xxviii. 7 f. 12. Follow them to one of their assemblies. There are all sorts of musical instruments : the one that David played ( 1 Sam. xvi. 18), a stringed instrument with a sounding-board, like the lute ; another with strings, but without the sounding-board, the psaltery ; the tabret, or drum ; and the flute, or pipe, in one of its many forms. See Riehm, HBA, art. Musik. These and wine, sensual delights, constitute their feasts, and so engross them that they regard not the work of Jehovah ; take no note of the preparations which, as the prophet clearly per ceives, he is making to destroy them. 13. Therefore, because they are thus blind to what they might see, he continues, shall my people, not all of them, as he will presently explain, go into captivity unawares, without having realized that there was any danger (comp. Delitzsch); their rich (lit. wealth), who now live in luxury, shall be pinched f with hunger, reduced to starvation ; even their wealthy (Hi. abun dance), who now spend their days and nights in drink ing, parched with thirst, denied even water. % * The Hebrew word pll means chase as well as burn (Gen. xxxi. 36), a fact of which the prophet must have taken account when he chose it for this connection. t For 'ilB read 'IB, as in Deu. xxxii. 24. The versions read ''flB, dead. X The word 1133, which often means honor, in this connection is taken by interpreters generally as a collective, in the sense of the nobility, and the correlative of pBI, which is therefore rendered by some such term as populace. The expression my people, in v. 13, seems to favor such "an interpretation; but it cannot be the correct one; for the final words ofthe V. 14] COMMENTS. 151 14. But captivity, with hunger and thirst, and the other unnamed horrors which it implies, is only one of the evils which the offenders are to suffer. On account of their sins shall Sheol, the under-world, in which the shades of the dead are confined (xiv. 9 ff.),* here pict ured as a huge dragon, or other monster, distend her maw ; enlarge her capacity ; and open her mouth f with out limit, to receive the multitudes destined for her. They are of the same class as those who are doomed to captivity ; the showy, in dress or appearance (Ps. ex. 3), and wealthy and noisy revellers among them,J i.e., paragraph (v. 17) clearly show, that Isaiah had only one class, and that the upper class, in mind. It is therefore necessary to give to each of these words a sense that is applicable to this class. Nobles and revellers, i.e., noble revellers (Ewald), or nobles and wealthy (de Dieu) have been sug gested; but, since in *. 3, a part of this prophecy, 1133 evidently means wealth, one seems warranted in giving it a similar interpretation in the present instance, and thus obtaining a still closer parallelism. For pan see Ix. 5. * On the Babylonian idea of the under-world see GSmith, CA G, 2 239 ff. f For .TB .11BB1 read ,11BB ,TB1, and for 111 read 11?1 ; comp. Dri. §132- X In the preceding verse the suffix 1 (lit. his) undoubtedly refers to 'BB, my people, and is therefore properly translated its or their. It is not so clear to what the suffix .1 in the latter half of this verse refers. It is hardly possible that its antecedent throughout is 'plKltf, Sheol; and if it were, 13 could not well mean over her (Alexander). It is more natural to take this word in the sense of in her, referring to the place where the revellers now are, and the suffixes of the preceding words as denoting that the persons in question belong to the same place. To the question, What place is meant? two answers have been given. The majority of the com mentators say, Jerusalem (Delitzsch) ; but, if this verse is really a continua tion of v. 13, — which Duhm denies, — the change in the gender of the suffix can best be explained by supposing that Isaiah, as he proceeded, unconsciously substituted pK. land, i.e., Judah, for BB, people. The rendering their may therefore be carried through both verses, as it is in the English version. 152 ISAIAH. [V. 14-17 among the people. It is not necessary to suppose that the prophet here had in mind an earthquake (Duhm). The destruction of multitudes by war, or any other summary means, could be described under the same figure. See Hab. ii. 5. 15. The woe upon the dissolute might have ended with their disappearance in Sheol; but it does not. There follow yet three verses, the first two of which sound familiar. They are really a variation upon ii. 9 and 1 1 . This fact in itself would not warrant very serious doubt as to their genuineness ; but, when one notes that it is now, not the drunken, but the haughty, who are threatened with destruction, one is obliged to confess, at least that they do not belong to this con nection.* 16. The verses were inserted because this seemed a good place to recall the main thought of chapter ii. It is interesting to observe that to be exalted, when the expression is applied to Jehovah, is the same thing as to be sanctified, by righteousness, i.e., by the punish ment of the wicked. 17. There is a final word by Isaiah concerning the drunkards. When the wrath of Jehovah shall have done its terrible work, and they shall have been re moved, where they once dwelt shall lambs graze as in their pasture, and there, on deserted lands, with their rich verdure, shall fatlings feed.t See vii. 23 ff. Comp. Henry. * The change from the Perfect to the Imperfect with waw consecutive also shows that these verses are not in their original setting. t The last words are difficult. Parallelism requires that, in the second half of the verse, there should be a word to correspond to D'BDS, lambs. V. 18, 19] COMMENTS. 153 7. the presumptuous (vv. 1 8 f.) — are next ar raigned. 18. They are those that drag guilt, not, as a load, after them (Orelli), but, as a crushing weight, to, or upon, them (Am. vi. 3) with cords of folly, sin, as coolly as one would pull a fish out of the water (Job xl. 25; Eng. xii. 1); and punishment (Zee. xiv. 19), calamity, as with a cart-rope, with all their might.* 19. They are hastening their own destruction ; yet they are so blind to the indications of its approach that, when they are warned, they recklessly retort : Let come . . . speedily . . . what he would do ; t the threatened evil. They go so far as to mimic Isaiah, and introduce into their challenge that awe-inspiring name, the Holy One of Israel. See xxviii. 15 ; comp. Am. v. 18. What their fate is to be he does not stop to make known. % Such a word is D'nB, which, according to Ps. lxvi. 15, means animals of some sort. If, however, it denotes fatlings, — comp. &OB in Eze. xxxix. 18, — it must be the subject of the sentence in which it stands, rather than a genitive dependent upon the preceding noun. Thus the sentence is pro vided with both a subject and an object, and D'U, if it is retained, must be construed as a modifier of B'nB (Hitzig). But, although there is sense in describing the wolf as dwelling with the lamb (xi. 6), it seems unnecessary to call attention to the fact that these fatlings tarry where they feed. In short, D'U is superfluous, and the only way to account for it is to suppose that it is a mistake for some other word originally intended to explain D'nB. The later critics incline to think, with Durell, that the original was CM, for C"\\ kids (Buhl) ; but the Septuagint have the plural of ap-vot; which they never use for 'li, while they do use it to render 13, lamb, in Jer. li. 40. The original gloss was therefore probably Q'lS, lambs. * One is tempted to favor the ingenious emendation suggested by Ivnobel, 111B1 I113B3, with a rope of wickedness, if for no other reason, because it seems difficult to make it understood that there can be more than one use for a cart-rope. t On nBTTT, see Ges. § 48, 3, R. X According to Duhm the conclusion has been lost; so, also, in the case of the remaining woes. 154 ISAIAH. [V. 20-22 S. the perverse (v. 20) — are simply described. They call evil good, and good evil. Not that they do not know the difference. They ignore this distinction, recognizing no law but their own inclination. As if, adds the prophet, they should put darkness for light, and light for darkness, or reverse the verdict of either of their other senses. The punishment due such per versity is left to the imagination. e. the self-confident (v. 21), — also, receive only passing attention. They are wise in their own eyes, above taking advice, even of Jehovah. Such can never prosper. See Prv. iii. 5 ff. £ THE CORRUPT (vV. 22-24) are tne last to be called to account. At first sight the prophet seems, in this paragraph, to have two distinct classes of persons in mind. This, however, is not the case. The key to the connection is found in Am. ii. 8. There the older prophet describes the sinners at Bethel as drinking "the wine of such as have been fined" at their feasts; in other words, he accuses them of making their judicial offices pay the expenses of their carousals. So here Isaiah arraigns the corrupt, as well as dissolute, judges of his time and country. Comp. Orelli. 22. Men in such a position as theirs ought to be men of distinction. In a sense they meet this expectation : they are heroes, but not of the sort that win battles ; their might is in drinking wine. They are men of prowess, but only in mixing drink ; not with water (Delitzsch), but with spices, by which it was made stronger as well as more palatable (Ps. Ixxv. 9/8 ; Can. viii. 2). V. 23, 24] COMMENTS. 155 23. When, however, they are called upon to perform their functions as magistrates, their courage disappears. They acquit the guilty, because they cannot resist a bribe, and the innocent * they rob of his innocence : con demn in spite of his innocence; also, of course, for a consideration. 24. This time the prophet's indignation demands fuller expression. Such outrages will surely be pun ished. Jehovah will see to it, that, as the fire's tongue lappeth (lit. eatetli) stubble, when it sweeps over a field, or hay, dried grass, used as fuel (Mat. vi. 30), sinketh in the flame f of the oven, they are utterly destroyed. The figure that follows has the same force. The doomed persons are compared to a plant with a root below, and a blossom above, the surface of the ground. The root becomes rotten and mingles with the soil, while the blossom, becoming dry, rises, and is carried away by the wind, like dust. So shall these judges be annihilated (Am. ii. 9; Job xviii. 16), because they have been guilty of the sins charged, and, in general, — and the same would apply to all the classes of sinners arraigned, — because they have rejected the teaching of Jehovah ; re fused to obey his spirit speaking to them directly in their own souls, or indirectly through the prophets ; and de spised the word of the Holy One of Israel, the God to whose wonderful guidance and protection the Hebrews as a people owe their existence. The first seven verses of the chapter illustrated the general condition of Israel. The second division has * For a'plit read p1!f, in harmony with 13BB (singular) and the versions. f Cn the accentuation, see Wickes, HP A, 134. 156 ISAIAH. [V. 25-30 furnished the specifications, with threats of punishment interspersed among the offences enumerated. It, also, is complete in itself ; yet, like the first, it leaves some thing to be desired. The sinners arraigned are to be punished; but how? Isaiah, when he wrote this prophecy, left the question unanswered. The collector, feeling the omission, supplied it by inserting a fragment on (b) The Avenger of Jehovah (vv. 25-30), — which once formed the conclusion of chapter ix.* This was really to misapply the passage ; for, while the preceding woes were probably directed against Judah, ix. 7/8 ff. clearly has chiefly to do with the fate of Israel. The matter, however, is not of so great consequence as it * There are various reasons for this statement: (l) The preceding prophecy, having, in v. 24, a fitting conclusion, needs no further addition; (2) the added conclusion does not fit its present position : e.g., while in v. 24 the evil described is to come, in v. 25 it is past; note also, J3 IB instead of |3t>, for therefore; (3) ix. 7/8-20/21 now has no conclusion. The fitness of these last verses of chapter v. to serve as a conclusion to chapter ix. is as apparent as their unfitness for their present connection : note, e.g., that ix. 7/8 ff. uses the past tense and [3 bV, but especially that it is divided into stanzas each of which closes with the refrain at the end of v. 25. Giesebrecht, to whom is due the credit of having discovered the original position of vv. 26 ff. (Bf, 4 ff.), regards v. 25 as an editorial device to connect these verses with the prophecy to which they are now attached. See also Cheyne, IBI, 24 ff. This theory, however, is untenable. No one would have composed v. 25 to connect vv. 24 and 26 : for, in the first place, a connecting verse was not necessary; and, secondly, this verrse, as the linguistic peculiarities noticed go to show, was composed with ix. 7/8 ff., and not v. 8 ff., in mind. The latter consideration makes it probable that, as Duhm insists, v. 25 is the end of the next to the last stanza ofthe prophecy of which ix. 7/8 ff. is the beginning and v. 26 ff. the conclusion. It follows, also, that vv. 25 ff. must already have been sepa rated from their original setting when the present collection was made. Comp. GASmith. V V. 25, 26] COMMENTS. 157 would be if Isaiah had riot actually predicted the inva sion of Judah, as well as Israel, by the Assyrians (viii. 7f.;x. 28 ff.). 25. Therefore, says the prophet, not on account of the sins above enumerated, but for reasons given in the lost verses, was the anger of Jehovah kindled ; at some time in the past ; for Isaiah here, like Amos (in iv. 6 ff.), is recalling the chastisements by which Jehovah had sought to turn Israel from their rebellious course; and his hand outstretched, his power exerted, against them. See xxxi. 3. The result in this case was, that the moun tains trembled, with an earthquake (Am. iv. 11), and their corpses, the bodies of those killed by falling walls, were as refuse in the midst of the streets ; into which, in an oriental city, everything is thrown. For all this, al though he had so severely punished them, his anger turned not from them (Gen. xxvii. 45), but his hand was outstretched still, threatening further and severer pen alties. The same refrain occurs ix. 11, 16, 20, and x. 4. Compare that of Am. iv. 6 ff. 26. The calamity described in the preceding verse was the last of a series. They had had no effect. Now, therefore, Jehovah prepares to deliver them into the hands of the most terrible of enemies, he will hoist a signal ; summon, by means as effectual as the flags raised on hills and mountains, by which men summon one another in times of danger (xiii. 2), a nation from afar,* a remote nation ; and shrill, as one did to attract * The text has piniB DU , nations from afar ; but the use ofthe sin gular 11, to it, after the next verb, indicates that the original expression was the one found in Jer. xv. 5 : pniSB 13, and that, after the latter of these two words had lost its first B to the former, the second G was mis- 158 ISAIAH. [V. 26-28 bees from their hives, to one,* the same one, from the end of the earth. No name is given to this nation, but there can be no doubt that it is the one whose appear ance Amos (vi. 14) foretold in very similar language, the Assyrians. The description that follows makes this increasingly clear as it proceeds. They come as an army, quickly, swiftly, starting promptly and marching rapidly. 27. there is none that fainteth or falleth,t so hardened are they to fatigue and exposure. % Their outfit, too, is perfect ; the girdles of their loins, by which their armor is held in place and to which their weapons are attached (1 Sam. xvii. 38 f.), are not loosed; do not give way; nor are the strings of their shoes, the high-laced boots worn by soldiers (1 Kgs. ii. 5 ; Ragozin, SA, 372), broken. 28. They are ready for action : their arrows, with heads of bronze or iron, are sharpened, ready for use ; and all their bows bent,§ as they advance to the attack. taken for the preposition of that form, and a 1 inserted to make the rest intelligible. See also x. 3 and xvii. 13; comp. Delitzsch. * The text reads to it; but to one better expresses the prophet's mean ing, since it is not Jehovah, but the nation summoned that is at the end of the earth. f The last clause of v. 26 and the first of v. 27 form a couplet. They should therefore both be in the same verse, but it does not matter with which they are connected. X The next line, they neither slumber nor sleep, is an odd one, in the metrical sense, and too extravagant for the connection; hence it is proba bly, as Duhm contends, an interpolation. § Lit. trodden, because the Hebrews sometimes used a bow so long that the archer could rest it on the ground, and so stiff that he had to set his foot upon it to bend it. The Assyrians always bent their bows, whether long or short, with their arms. See Riehm, HBA, art. Bogen; Smith, DB, art. Arms. V. 28-30] COMMENTS. 159 Some of them ride in chariots, the hoofs of their horses, as of all good horses before it was the custom to shoe them, are counted as flint, and their speed such that the oncoming of their wheels is like a whirlwind. Comp. Nah. ii. 5/4. 29. The prophet likens this mass of men and animals advancing upon Israel to the beast in hunting which the Assyrians especially delighted, the lion, they have a roar like the lion's, ominous, terrible ; and when they growl and lay hold of prey, i.e., growling seize their vic tim, they carry it off, and there is none to deliver. Comp. xxxi. 4. 30. This is a fine passage. It is not improved by the addition of the verse with which the chapter now closes. Indeed, these last words are almost unintelligible. It is most natural to take they shall growl over it as a further application of the figure of the lion, and interpret it as meaning that the Assyrians, having carried off the cap tives taken in the impending war, will vent their rage upon them, as the lion growls over the victim that it has carried to its lair (Am. iii. 4). if one look toward the land will then mean, if one of the captives turn his eyes toward his country ; and the rest, that he will see darkness, desolation and suffering, and the light, the happiness of the remaining inhabitants, obscured by its, the land's, clouds, misfortunes. Whatever may be the correct interpretation, the style is so clearly not that of Isaiah that one may safely pronounce the verse an addition to the preceding genuine fragment, made by some one, probably the editor of the collec tion, for the purpose of making more evident than it seemed, what was supposed to be the original, or 160 ISAIAH. [V. 30-VI. at least an allowable, application of Isaiah's words ; viz. to the overthrow of the Jewish monarchy by the Babylonians.* c. THE CALL OF ISAIAH (vi.). This chapter has sometimes been regarded as an intro duction to the group of prophecies following (Duhm). To this view there is the serious objection, that it is not suited to its supposed purpose. It is more nearly related to the chapters that precede ; to which, therefore, it may be considered an appendix intended to justify the prophet's hitherto almost unbroken severity. Perhaps, however, it did not always occupy its present position with reference to them, but originally served as an intro duction to chapters ii.-iv. or ii.-v., and was displaced by chapter i., when this lesser book was incorporated into a larger collection. In discussing its date, one should distinguish between the narrative and the event nar rated. The prophet's call naturally antedates all his prophecies, but the description of it may be consider ably later. That the record actually is later than the * The subject of DrD', roar, must be either Assyria or Jehovah; but the supposition that it is the latter requires such violence to the text that even Duhm shrinks from adopting it. In the interpretation of f"\xb one should not give too much weight to viii. 21 f.; where pN bX is preceded by 11BB7, upward, or to the Greek codices, e.g., the Compluterisian, that have been influenced by that passage. Toward the land is precisely the direction in which the eyes of the exiled Jews were always turned (xlix. I4ff.; Ixiv. ioffi). It is more probable that IS, distress, is a gloss sug gested by viii. 22, than that anything common to the two passages has been lost from this one. If, however, the word is retained, it should be connected, not, in accordance with the accentuation, with the one follow ing (Delitzsch), but, as both the sense and the rhythm require, with the one preceding. VI. i] COMMENTS. 161 event recorded, is indicated by the phraseology of the first verse ; for the words, " in the year that Uzziah died," would hardly have been used, if, at the time of writing, the king's death had been a comparatively recent occur rence. On the other hand, it is not necessary to suppose that the desolation predicted in this, and described in the first chapter, had at that time actually been wrought. A date about 730 B.C. would seem to be most satisfactory ; but it may be from one to five years later. The chapter contains two scenes, the first of which is a description of (l) The Holy One of Israel (vv. l—f) — in his majesty. 1. It was In the year that King Uzziah died ; as shown in Intr. Stud. II. , about 735 b.c, and before the death of the king. In that year he saw the Lord.* It is not to be supposed that there was an external appearance cor responding to the description that follows ; for no one will claim that God really sits on a visible throne ; wears a robe with a train, etc. ; or that there was any reason or necessity, e.g., in the presence of persons less spiritual than the prophet, for seeming so to do (comp. Acts ix. 1 ff.). Nor is there ground for believing that the phe nomena described were due to the action of the divine spirit upon Isaiah's inner eye and ear ; in other words, that the vision was real but symbolic. On the other hand, it would hardly be doing justice to this narrative to say, that, on the occasion in question, the prophet ex perienced only a series of convictions which he afterward clothed in the form of a vision. A safer explanation would be, that, being in an ecstasy, he then and there * Many manuscripts and editions have (TfP, fehovah. 162 ISAIAH. [VI. i, 2 involuntarily clothed the convictions experienced in the form in which they have been preserved. Comp. Jno. xii. 41. It was natural and customary to represent Jehovah as a king (Ps. xlvii.). Here, as in Jer. xvii. 12 he sat on a throne lofty and exalted, while his train, the skirts of his robe, filled, covered the entire pavement of, the temple. It is not the heavenly palace of Jehovah that is meant (Orelli) : for, although it is taught in places in the Old Testament, that his throne is in heaven (lxvi. 1 ; Ps. ii. 4), the earlier idea seems to have been that it was between the cherubim (1 Sam. iv. 4 ; Isa. xxxvii. 16), in the temple at Jerusalem (Jer. iii. 17; xiv. 21; Ps. xlvii. 9/8) ; and the fact that the word temple here, and the word altar in the sixth verse, are unmodified except by the article, shows that Isaiah meant to be understood as referring to the temple and the altar with which his readers were familiar. He seems to have imagined him self at the door outside the structure. 2. Jehovah was attended by Seraphs : not angels (Alexander), for angels have no wings in the Old Testa ment ; nor cherubs (Henderson), for the office of cherubs was to support, rather than to surround, the throne ; but composite forms which seem originally to have repre sented the lightning, or the thunder cloud, but which the prophet here introduces as guardians of the sanctuary and messengers of the Almighty. See Ps. civ. 4 ; comp. the " living creatures " of Rev. iv. 6 ff. The seraphs have faces, and hands, and feet ; but whether these were the faces, etc., of the human, or of some lower form, is uncertain; also the number of them.* They hovered * The word PptP (lit. burning) is also applied to the serpent that plagued the Hebrews in the desert (Num. xxi. 6), and the image that VI. 2, 3] COMMENTS. 163 about him (lit. stood' above him), sustaining themselves above the pavement and the outspread train, but not above the occupier of the throne, each with six wings, three pairs : with two he covered his face, in awe of Jehovah ; with two . . . his feet, the lower part of his body, being otherwise naked; with two he flew, sus tained himself in the position in which the prophet saw him. 3. H overing thus about the throne, one cried to another, responsively, Holy ! holy ! holy ! For the meaning of the term holy see the comment on i. 4. The repetition of it is not a mere substitute for the superlative ; it sug gests a degree of the quality denoted that challenges adoration but defies expression (Jer. xxii. 29 ; Rev. iv. 8). How deep was the impression made thereby upon the prophet, appears in the name " Holy One of Israel," of which Isaiah was probably the originator. See i. 4, etc. The second line repeats the first, but with certain modi fications. The effect of the preceding repetition is secured by a different means, the whole earth is full, so abundant is his glory, the revealed expression of his holiness, or, as Paul expresses it, " his everlasting power and divinity " (Rom. i. 20). Here, however, it is not merely the glory seen "in the things that are made," that is meant, but, also and especially, that which ap pears in his dealings with his people (Num. xiv. 21 f. ; Isa. v. 16). Moses then made for their protection. Hence it has been supposed that the seraphs were winged dragons, and that their employment in the vision was suggested by this image, which, according to 2 Kgs. xviii. 14, was not destroyed until the reign of Hezekiah (Delitzsch); but it is doubtful if the description given by Isaiah will warrant such a theory. See Baudissin, SSR, I, 285. 164 ISAIAH. [VI. 4, 5 4. Then the foundations of the threshold, the structure in which the scene was enacted, to its very foundations,* quaked at the sound, as each seraph, or chorus of ser aphs, cried, as if shaken by a succession of earthquakes. At the same time the house, the interior, was filled with smoke. This smoke is explained as a manifestation of Jehovah's glory (Cheyne : see Rev. xv. 8), or anger (Nagelsbach : see Ps. xviii. 9/8 f.); but, since it is the seraphs' hymn that shakes the house, it would seem more probable that the smoke was produced by them ; not, however, from their mouths (Duhm), but with in cense burned as they sang. Nor was the smoke thus produced merely a symbol for praise (Delitzsch). It was the veil which they, like the high priest, when he entered the sanctuary (Lev. xvi. 13), placed between them and the glory that they were celebrating. Comp. also GASmith.f 5. The prophet is duly impressed by the scene. The first effect is to enlarge his conception of Jehovah ; but no sooner does he begin to appreciate the divine per- * Other interpretations of D'BD.I niBX are : supports of the lintel (De- litzsch), frame of the door (Hitzig), hinges of the door-posts (Buhl); all of which fall short of Isaiah's meaning. Here, as in Am. ix. I, the writer wishes to describe an effect which he must have thought of as con vulsing the entire structure. This is best expressed by a reference to the foundations. The word P]D may, and regularly does, mean sill. It seems, therefore, safe to conclude, that this is its meaning in the present instance; and that IBS, whose derivation is doubtful, denotes something connected with sills, probably something underlying them. t Buhl treats these words as a circumstantial clause to be connected with the following verse, rendering it: While the house was filled with smoke, I said, etc.; but it is better to explain the arrangement as a device for contrasting ITU, the interior, with D'BDI, the threshold, representing the exterior of the structure. See Gen. xiii. 12; Ges. § 142, a. VI. 5, 6] COMMENTS. 165 fections than he realizes his own imperfections. The sense of his unworthiness finally reaches such intensity that he exclaims, I am undone ! my fate is sealed ! The rest of the verse gives his reasons for his fears. The first is that he is a man of unclean lips. These words can have no reference to the future calling of Isaiah (Duhm): for (i) there is nothing to show that he had yet received any intimation of his call ; (2) the realiza tion of his unfitness for the prophetic office would not have given him cause to apprehend personal danger; and (3) he uses the same expression with reference to his people that he applies to himself. The key to this confession is probably to be found in the hypothesis, already suggested, that the prophet was worshipping in the temple when the vision was vouchsafed him. Being thus engaged, he would naturally put the thought of his unworthiness into the form of a confession, that he was unfit to take the name of his God upon his lips ; and the fact of his unfitness would, under the circum stances, fill him with terror. Comp. Delitzsch. Nor does he fear for himself alone. His people are a people of unclean lips, unworthy of the God whom they profess to worship, and therefore exposed to his consuming wrath. He himself is in immediate danger, because, although sinful, his eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts ; whom none but those that walk with him can see, and live (xxxiii. 14 ff.). 6. The confession is hardly ended before one of the seraphs comes flying to the penitent, bearing* a live * The word bearing is substituted for the literal reading, and in his hand, or in whose hand, lest it should seem that the coal, although taken from the altar with the tongs, was carried to Isaiah in the seraph's naked hand. 166 ISAIAH. [VI. 6-8 coal * . . . taken, and borne, with the tongs, the use of which is not so strange as it would otherwise be, if the scene be supposed to be laid in the temple at Jerusa lem, off the altar, the golden altar of incense in front of the curtain that usually separated the outer from the inner sanctuary (Ex. xxx. 6 ; I Kgs. vii. 48). 7. The coal is a symbol of the power by which the sins of the prophet are to be removed (Num. xxxi. 23 ; Mai. iii. 2 ff.). With it the seraph touches the prophet's mouth, saying, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, whose uncleanness was lamented ; so shall thy guilt, the only cause for fear, depart, and thy punishment, the penalty attached (v. 1 8), be cancelled. Still there is no mention of the office for which Isaiah was destined. The ceremony just described was not one of conse cration to the prophetic, or any other, office ; but that which it symbolized constituted a preparation for any office or duty to which the man on whom it was per formed might be called. The call was not long de layed. The remaining verses of the chapter unfold (2) The Mission of the Prophet (vv. 8- 1 3). — 8. The Lord,f who has thus far sat in silent majesty on his throne receiving the adoration of his attendants, now speaks. His first words are, Whom shall I send ? in which there is neither any hint of the object of the mis sion, nor any indication who would be an acceptable messenger. The question is repeated ; but this time, as in Gen. i. 26, Jehovah associates with himself his * Thus, the Septuagint, the Peshita, and other ancient authorities; others, a hot stone, such as was used in baking (1 Kgs. xix. 6). t For "'T\X, Lord, many manuscripts and editions have HliT, fehovah. VI. 8-10] COMMENTS. 167 attendants, saying, who will go for us ? Comp. 2 Kgs. xxii. 19 ff. To this question Isaiah, without asking what is to be the nature of his mission, eagerly re sponds, Here am I ; send me. 9. His offer is accepted, and he at once commis sioned. Go, says Jehovah, to this people : a form of expression, which, in contrast with my people, implies contempt, but does not indicate precisely who are meant; whether the entire Hebrew stock or only one of the two kingdoms into which it was divided. Comp. viii. 6 with 11. Perhaps it will appear as the narrative proceeds. Hear on, but do not understand ; see on, but do not perceive.* This, of course, does not mean that Jehovah does not wish those to whom he is sent to pay any heed to the new messenger, or to take to heart the new experiences which he has in store for them. The words are ironical. What he really means is, that he intends to continue to speak to them through his prophet and his providence, although he knows that they will heed neither the one nor the other ; and that he intends to hold them accountable for the result fore seen, because it is determined, not by his foresight, but by their unhindered choice. See Calvin, f 10. He continues in the same strain, commanding Isaiah, Make the hearts of this people gross. The heart is here, as often in the Old Testament, the organ of thought and intelligence. See Piepenbring, TOT, 166 f. A gross, or, literally, fatty heart, is a mind in some way rendered insensible to appeals addressed to it. Isaiah * On the construction, see Ges. § 113, 3, b. t The freedom of those addressed is implied in the negative employed, the deprecatory bX, and not the prohibitory Xb. 168 ISAIAH. [VI. 10-12 is instructed to persevere in his mission, although the repetition of his message lessen, rather than increase, the probability that it will be heeded. Nay, more, he is to make their ears dull, and seal their eyes ; continue his work until he is not only disregarded, but utterly ignored, and it thus becomes impossible for them to see . . . and hear what the prophet has to show and tell them ; understand, take heed ; and, in consequence, be healed * again, f relieved from the calamities by which they are afflicted, and restored to prosperity. Here, of course, as in the preceding verse, although Jehovah seems to take the responsibility, when the people have reached the condition described, there will be no one but themselves to blame for it ; since the means to be employed are calculated, with their cooperation, to pro duce a result of exactly the opposite character. See Mat. xiii. 14 f . ; Jno. xii. 39 f . ; Acts xxviii. 26 f. n. The prophet, perceiving that contempt for Jeho vah's will means serious suffering, and shuddering at the possibilities which present themselves to his imagina tion, anxiously inquires, How long, 0 Lord ? i.e., how long will they persist in their course in spite of thy chastisements ? Jehovah replies, Until the cities, ruined by ruthless enemies, are without inhabitant, and unin habitable, and the soil is left % a desert. 12. No hint has thus far been given of the means by which the country is to be depopulated. Now it appears that some, at least, of its inhabitants will be * On KB1, see Ges. § 144, 3, a. t For 3tt>1 read 3tt1. See Ges. § 120, 2, a. X The text has IS'iffn, be wasted, but the Septuagint have the equivalent of IKlPfl, and this is doubtless the correct reading. VI. 12, 13] COMMENTS. 169 deported. Jehovah, not /, as one would have expected, will remove man far away. The rest of the verse adds nothing ; yet note the peculiar word desertion, which recurs in xvii. 9, where the destruction of the Northern Kingdom is threatened.* 13. Lest the guilty people should flatter themselves with hopes of escape from the anger of Jehovah, he finally warns them that, if there be in it, their land, yet a tithe left after it would seem to have suffered suffi ciently, it also, in its turn, shall be consumed. See Am. vi. 9 ff. There follows a comparison : like the terebinth and the oak, of which, when they are felled, there is a stump ; i.e., the remnant above mentioned will be destroyed as ruthlessly, and as completely, as are the stumps of oaks and terebinths when the trees have been felled. This is an allusion to the practice, still common, of using the roots of trees for fuel.f The gist, then, of the instructions given to the prophet is, that the people whom they concern are to be entirely destroyed. It may be taken for granted that he obeyed them. If he did, it ought to be possible to discover from his prophecies what he meant by this people. Turning to them, one finds that, whatever may have been his later teaching, in his earlier utterances, although he betrays more or less hope for Judah, he constantly insists that * For a fuller discussion of the relation of this chapter to ix. 7/8 ff. and xvii. see Hackmann, Zf, 75. t The text adds, A holy seed is its stump, thus giving an entirely different meaning to the comparison. There are, however, good reasons for believing the words ungenuine. The most weighty are : (1) that they give an unnatural turn to the thought of the chapter; (2) that the phrase holy seed bears the stamp of a later date; and (3) that the entire clause is wanting in the Septuagint. 170 ISAIAH. [VI. 13 the Northern Kingdom is to be destroyed. On the fate of Israel see v. 29 and xvii. 3, 9 ; on that of Judah, i. 26 and iv. 2 ff. It is instructive to note also, that, when Isaiah went to his famous interview with Ahaz, at which he predicted the destruction of Israel (vii. 16), he took with him Shear-yashub as a pledge of a better fate for Judah (vii. 3); and that, even when he saw that the king's wilfulness would be disastrous to the country, he could not believe that the Jews would suffer as severely as their neighbors (viii. 5 ff.). In view of all this it seems clear, that Israel, and not Judah (Cheyne), or Judah and Israel (Dillmann), are the people to whom Isaiah was sent with his first message. It follows that the fulfilment of the predictions contained in this mes sage, as of those of Amos, must be sought in the Assyr ian invasions which began soon after the date of the vision and resulted in the destruction of the kingdom of Israel.* The preceding chapters have dealt almost entirely with the sins of Israel and Judah, and the present or future consequences of their transgressions. Two or three times there were glimpses of a better future ; but they were mere glimpses, lasting but a moment and serving only to make the present less endurable. The remaining chapters are not without gloomy passages ; but the tone, from the first, is hopeful, and at last it be comes exultant. This change of tone is due to the fact, that, in these chapters, it is not the disloyal mass, but * This statement ignores the last three (Hebrew) words of the chapter. They were added by some one who either thought the doomed people Judah or wished to apply the prophecy to their case, and who, by adding them, made any other interpretation impossible. VII. i] COMMENTS. 171 2. The Loyal Remnant (vii.-xii.), to which attention is chiefly directed. Taking this as the general subject, one may divide the text as trans mitted into two parts and give to the first the heading a. FAITH AND ITS REWARDS (vii. i-ix. 6/7). In it two sorts of faith are contrasted. The outcome of (l) Faith in Man (vii. i-viii. 8) — is vividly portrayed in a double prophecy, the occasion of which was the Syrian crisis. In the first half of the prophecy appears (a) The Child Immanu-el (vii.); — the introductory paragraph describing a. ahaz' dilemma (vv. 1-9), — when Isaiah forced him to choose between Jehovah and Tiglath-pileser. 1. It was early in the days of Ahaz, in fact, in the first year of his reign (734), when Resin (Ass. Rasunnu), who had been king of Syria since, at the latest, 738 B.C. (Schrader, KA T, 253 f.), and Pekah, who had meanwhile succeeded Menahem as king of Israel, went up to Jeru salem to war . . . against it. In 2 Kgs. xvi. 5 they are said to have besieged Ahaz, and in 2 Chr. xxviii. 5 f. to have defeated him, and killed or captured hundreds of thousands of his subjects ; but in neither place is the capture of Jerusalem admitted. Indeed, in Kings as well as here, it is distinctly asserted that they did not prevail * in their attack. * For be read T?C, as in 2 Kgs. xvi. 5. Compare Klostermann, who, in his note on the latter passage, contends that the subject is Ahaz; and that, therefore, the verb should be singular in both, while .T1?!?, against it, should be changed to QTTbV, against them. The whole clause, being aside from the narrative, should be treated as a parenthesis. See the translation prefixed to the comments. 172 ISAIAH. [VII. 2, 3 2. The preceding is a general statement with refer ence to the war and its results. It is merely introduc tory to the account of the interview between Ahaz and Isaiah that follows. This account explains only less directly than 2 Kgs. xvi. 9, why the attempt of Resin and Pekah upon Jerusalem failed; viz. because the king of Assyria came to Ahaz' assistance. The hostile kings had not yet appeared before the city, when it was told the house of David, Ahaz and his court, Syria hath settled, like a swarm of insects,* upon Ephraim, having advanced thus far in the march upon the Jewish capital. The figure used implies that the Syrians were very numerous. It is therefore not strange that, when Ahaz and his people heard this report, and began to calculate the strength of the combined armies of Syria and Israel, their hearts . . . quaked with fear, as the trees of the wood shake in the wind : a beautiful simile. 3. The first thought of Ahaz was to put the city into a state of defence ; the next, to appeal to the king of Assyria. While he was engaged in carrying out the first of these ideas, and probably before the second had revealed itself in action, Isaiah heard the voice of Jeho vah saying to him, Go forth, from the city, to meet Ahaz. He was to take with him Shear-yashub, his son. The boy had doubtless been named "A-remnant-shall-return" in obedience to a divine command to that effect. One would infer as much from the part he here plays. The analogy of Immanu-el (v. 14) and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (viii. 3), and the express declaration of the prophet, that * The aptness of the figure testifies to the genuineness of the reading, and against the emendation suggested by Lagarde, DB TTfXi, hath frater nized with, and adopted by Buhl and Bredenkamp. Comp. Henderson. VII. 3] COMMENTS. 173 he and his sons were signs and tokens for his people (viii. 1 8), confirm this inference. This, however, means that, some time before the present date, probably about the time when he was instructed to announce the de struction of Israel (vi. 13), he was authorized to declare, in the face of the dangers then threatening, that Judah, or a part thereof, would return to Jehovah and prosper ity. He is now commanded to take the boy with him, in order that the king may be the more deeply impressed by the spoken message. The place where they were to find Ahaz was the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool. It is further described as the path to the Fuller's Field. The locality is the same where, some years later, Sen nacherib's lieutenant took his position, when he demanded the submission of Hezekiah (2 Kgs. xviii. 17). It was probably on the northern side of the city, since that is the side from which it would naturally be approached, and tradition says that the Assyrian camp was located in that direction. (See Josephus, JW, v. 7, 3.) Josephus also says that, in his time, there was a Fuller's Monument on that side of the city (v. 4, 2). If, now, the aqueduct was to the north of the city, the pool can hardly have been what is now called the Pool of Mamilla, to the west of the city, as Robinson (BRP, I. 326 f.) and many others have claimed. See Delitzsch. Nor is it probable that it was a pool outside the walls northward ; for the outside end of the aqueduct of such a pool, if there was one, would be the pool itself. On the other hand, there has been discovered inside the walls, a little distance northwest of the temple area, a double pool ; and, near the Damascus gate, remains of an aqueduct by which it was once supplied with water (WilsonXand Warren, RJ, 174 ISAIAH. [VII. 3-6 198 ff.). This is probably the aqueduct at the outer end of which Isaiah was to find Ahaz. The king had doubt less gone there for the purpose of concealing the source of the water supplied by the aqueduct, so that it would not be disturbed by his enemies. See 2 Chr. xxxii. 3 f.* 4. Isaiah's message was one of encouragement : Take heed to be calm ; see to it that thou art not disturbed. Comp. Calvin. He saw no reason for great alarm. To him the two kings whose on-coming Ahaz dreaded were but two smoking \ stumps of firebrands. The smoking bits of wood about a dying fire are not very dangerous ; neither, the prophet would say, these waning powers already doomed to destruction. His contempt for Pekah is such that, instead of calling him by name, he refers to him as the son of Remaliah, thus recalling the fact that he was a usurper. See 1 Sam. xx. 27 ; xxii. 12. 5. The invasion was prompted by the anger of the kings of Syria and Israel at Ahaz, and its object was his overthrow. The occasion of their anger, as has already been suggested (Intr. Stud. II.), is supposed to have been his refusal to join them in a revolt against Assyria. 6. Their plan, in its details, was to go up against Judah; by their numbers terrify it,i" — not Jerusalem * Stade (GVI, I, 591 f.) identifies the pool with one near the present Pool of Siloam, which Guthe unearthed in 1881 (ZDPV, 1882, 52 ff.); and the aqueduct with one by which water was carried thence into the Kidron valley, where he supposes the Fuller's Field to have been. The name borne by the well in the valley of the Kidron south of Jerusalem, might be cited in support of this theory; but it is difficult to understand what Ahaz could have been doing at the (lower) end of a conduit running in that direction. f On the construction of D'Jli'B, see Ges. § 132, I. X The verb is not elsewhere used in the causative stem. Hence it has VII. 6-8] COMMENTS. 175 (Delitzsch), but Judah; taking advantage of the conster nation produced, overpower it (lit. break it open) ; and, finally, seat upon its throne the son of Tabeal. The person so called is not otherwise known. The omission of his name indicates that, in the eyes of the prophet, he was of no great importance. He was probably a Syrian, the name Tabeal being Aramaic, and either a relative or a dependent of Resin.* 7. The plan to overthrow the Davidic dynasty Jeho vah regards as a conspiracy against himself. He there fore announces his determination to frustrate it : It shall not . . . come to pass. 8. Lest Ahaz should hesitate to trust himself in the hands of his God, Isaiah is instructed to show him how weak his enemies really are. the head of Syria, its cap ital, and the chief source of its strength, is Damascus, the same that was subdued by David and forced to receive a Hebrew garrison (2 Sam. viii. 6); and the head of Damascus, its king and its champion, Resin, a mere man, who has not yet shown himself invincible. Here follows in the text a sentence that is clearly an inter- been suggested that njJPpJ is a scribal error for Hip'SS, distress, an emen dation favored by xxix. 2 (Gesenius, Thes.), or njjjrii, destroy (Lagarde). See also the versions. The use of pp in v. 16, where the actual effect of the invasion is described, however, seems to prove the correctness of the reading found in the text. * The text has 1K3D, which is usually explained as a pausal form of "?X3a (Ezra iv. 7), the Aramaic for bX2K>, good (is) God (Muhlau & Volck) ; but a better is that of Luzzatto; viz. that the original reading was 1K3U, and that the last vowel was changed to make the word mean Good-for- nothing and express the contempt of the Masoretes for the would-be king. The Septuagint have Tabeel. Comp. Winckler, A U, 73 ff., according to whom 1K3S3, Aramaic for the BT1K ( God knows) of 1 Kgs. xi. 23, is here the name of the father and predecessor of Resin. 176 ISAIAH. [VII. 8, 9 polation. In the first place, it disturbs the connection. This objection might be met by removing the words in question to the next verse ; but there are two others that cannot so easily be disposed of. These are : (i) that it is not in the manner of Isaiah ; and (2) that it contra dicts v. 16 and viii. 4, where a much speedier overthrow of Ephraim is announced. The gloss was probably added because the destruction of Israel by Sargon was not so complete as the genuine predictions of Isaiah were supposed to require, or as it actually became in consequence of the changes in the population effected by Esarhaddon (681-668 B.C.) and Asshurbanipal (668- 626 b.c). See Ezr. iv. 2, 10 ; Schrader, KA T, 373 ff. sixty and five years from the date of Isaiah's interview with Ahaz would be about 669 B.C.* 9. As in the case of Syria, so in that of Israel, there is nothing to fear unless its strength is overestimated. It has, to be sure, its son of Remaliah ; but who is he compared with Jehovah, the Champion of Jerusalem and Judah ? f Ahaz, therefore, to be safe, has only to trust in Jehovah. If, however, he will not do this, Isaiah is to withdraw the assurance of divine help and say to him, ye shall not abide (lit. be established).% The above is, in form, an account of the instructions given to Isaiah before his interview with Ahaz ; but it * The order of the numerals used is an indication of lateness of date. See Ges. §97, 3; Kon. II. 1, 215 ff. t A comparison between the sources of the strength of the allies and Jehovah is so clearly intended that Ewald supplies the corresponding state ment. See also Cheyne (IB I, 395). X The rendering adopted is that suggested by the translators of Kittel's History ofthe Hebrews, II. 344. The original has the same word in different forms to denote the exercise of confidence and the experience of security. VII. 9-11] COMMENTS. 177 is probably, in reality, a record of the message as it was delivered on the occasion of that interview. The mes sage evidently did not produce the desired effect. Therefore the prophet received a second concerning ft. A SIGN AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE (w. 10-17). 10. The time and place, when and where this message was received or delivered, are not given ; but the con nection with the first one is so close, that one seems justified in inferring, that the king, when exhorted to trust in Jehovah, manifested a contrary disposition, whereupon the prophet was at once moved to propose a sign as an earnest of the divine favor. Hence Jeho vah is represented as speaking further to Ahaz. Isaiah having, so to speak, brought the two together, regards himself simply as a mouth-piece. Comp. Nagelsbach.* 11. Ahaz is directed to Ask ... a sign that the words of the prophet are fhe words of God. See 2 Kgs. xx. 9 ff. The title given to the Deity, Jehovah, thy God, is en couraging. Comp. v. 13. The king is given the largest liberty in the choice of this token. He may go as deep* as Sheol, f the extreme to which the imagination has pene trated downward ; or into the heights, as far as possible in the opposite direction ; require, e.g., an earthquake or the obscuration of one of the heavenly bodies, if such a phenomenon will help him to trust in Jehovah for deliverance. | * Duhm omits the subject, and, for Spil, reads SplKl; but, if the text is to be changed, it is better, in harmony with v. 3, either simply to drop TnT,fehovah, or to replace it by WOtP', Isaiah. t The text has Tlbx® p8B,1, ask deep, but rbvilb, above, requires T\bXfO, in the direction of Sheol. Comp. Henderson. } The question has been raised, whether Isaiah really believed that any sign which Ahaz might designate would be granted (Lagarde), but it is 178 ISAIAH. [VII. 12-14 12. Ahaz replies, I will not ask one, and adds, as an explanation of his refusal, nor will I prove Jehovah. To prove a person is to subject him to a test for the pur pose of determining whether he is reliable. It always implies doubt, and thus becomes a reflection upon the character of the given person. The words of Ahaz were probably intended to convey the impression, that he declined the offer made him through fear of offend ing Jehovah as did his forefathers at Massah (Ex. xvii. 2, 7) ; but the real reason undoubtedly was, that, to ask for a sign would be equivalent to pledging himself to abandon a policy of his own for the one outlined by Isaiah. 13. The prophet, indignant at the king's hypocrisy, now changes his tone. Hear, 0 house of David, he says,* for Ahaz was probably accompanied by other members of the royal family, Is it too little for you to weary men, the wiser men of the time, who, presumably, like Isaiah, had done what they could to prevent the king from throwing himself into the arms of Tiglath-pileser ; the patriotic party (viii. 16) ; that ye must also weary my God ? by persistently rejecting his overtures. Compare the tone and phraseology of v. 11. 14. The evident indignation of Isaiah must be taken into account in the interpretation of what follows. He proceeds: Therefore, because thou hast refused to be unworthy of consideration; for, to suppose that his offer was not a genuine one, is to accuse him of a shortsightedness or duplicity of which he was utterly incapable. * Here, although the subject is not expressed, there is no doubt that the speaker is Isaiah. If, therefore, it was Jehovah in v. io, this is another instance of inconsistency like that in vi. 12. Duhm prefers to read 1BK1, and I said. VII. 14] COMMENTS. 179 convinced, and thus virtually rejected the policy pro posed, will the Lord himself give you a sign. If this sign is to be given on account of Ahaz' refusal to ask for one, its intent cannot be the same as that of the one offered but declined. It will be dictated by the feeling which expressed itself in the phrase my God, rather than by that which manifested itself in the thy God oiv. 11; and be calculated to confound, rather than to comfort, the king. This being the case, the words that imme diately follow cannot be taken as completely describing this sign, since in themselves they imply the favor of Jehovah ; but the rest of this verse must be connected with the next one, where the real attitude of the prophet and his God toward Ahaz becomes apparent : in other words, the sign is twofold. The first part of it relates to the birth of Immanu-el. The boy's mother is called the young woman.* The mistaken notion that her identity is of consequence has given rise to a great variety of conjectures. The early Christians, as is well known, saw in her none other than the Virgin Mary, and their view is still current (Kay); | although it would seem self-evident that the birth of a child more than * The rendering virgin, although endorsed by the versions, is incorrect. The word 1IB7B denotes a marriageable female, without especial reference to her character or condition. See Gen. xxiv. 43; Prv. xxx. 19. If Isaiah had intended to describe the person in question as a virgin, in the strict sense of the term, he would have used 111713. See Gen. xxiv. 16; comp. Alexander. t A warrant for this view is sought in Mat. i. 22 f. ; but an examination of the quotations from the Old Testament in this gospel will show, that the author did not pretend to use the passages quoted in their original sense, and that, therefore, the fact of his saying that the words of Isaiah were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, proves nothing whatever with reference to their original meaning. 180 ISAIAH. [VII. 14 seven centuries after Ahaz' death could hardly be called a sign to the king and his contemporaries.* The Jews, on the other hand, have identified this young woman with the wife, either of Ahaz (Kimchi) or Isaiah (Aben Ezra), and some Christian scholars have adopted the latter opinion (Knobel). Unfortunately for both of these theories, the only women who are known to have borne the relation of wife to the men named, had, at the date of this prophecy, according to the chronology of the kings of Judah, ceased to be young women in the sense here intended (2 Kgs. xviii. 2 ; Isa. vii. 3) ; and there is nothing in the passage to require the creation of a rival for either of them. There is equally little evidence that the young woman is merely a personification for Zion (Orelli). There remains the interpretation according to which the young woman was one, in herself of no par ticular importance, either actually present when the prophet spoke (Umbreit), or merely present to his im agination (Duhm). In the latter case she might not only be any one of her class, but first one and then another ; in other words, the prophecy concerning her might meet with more than one fulfilment, so that one might say either the, or a, young woman, or even young women.\ At first sight it does not seem of much con sequence which form of this fourth interpretation be adopted. On closer examination, however, the first will be found untenable: for, (1) it gives to the sign too * The difficulty is only shifted by the (wholly unwarranted) supposition that the prophets saw things without perspective (Delitzsch). t The Hebrew, like the English, article, is used to designate particular persons or things; but it is also employed when an individual chosen at will is to receive attention. See 2 Sam. xvii. 17; Ges. § 126, 4; Dav. §21, c. VII. 14] COMMENTS. 181 much of the character of a mere wonder ;* (2) leaves room for doubt as to its reality ; and (3) robs it of much of its value as a proof of divine interference. On the other hand, as will appear, the second, according to which the young woman was an indefinite person, gives to the sign a breadth of application that makes it at once unmistakable and irresistible. Of this young woman Isaiah says that she shall now conceive, become pregnant, f and, in due time, bear a son, and call % his name Immanu-el. A literal translation of this name would be With-us-God, a phrase, which, taken by itself, might be regarded as a description of the character of the child who was to bear it. It has, in fact, been so regarded. In other words, it is held to be an explicit statement of the divinity of Jesus. But, in the first place, With-us-God is not a correct rendering of Im manu-el. The name is formed after the analogy of Hephzi-bah, which means, not My-delight-in-her, but My- delight-(is\in-her. That the copula is to be supplied in the rendering of Immanu-el is clear from viii. 10, where the two words of which it is compounded, unmistakably used in allusion to this passage, cannot be put into Eng lish without is. The name should therefore be translated God-is-with-us. But God is with us describes a state of * See Nagelsbach's ingenious, but repulsive, variation upon it. f The rendering hath conceived, is pregnant, though grammatical, is hardly allowable, since such a translation would furnish no clue to the date of the child's birth. X The word JISIp is pointed as an irregular form of the 3d fem. sing. of the perfect of Sip. See Ges. §74, 3, R. 1. The Septuagint took it for the 2d mas. sing., and it is so pointed in a few codices. Neither is the true reading; which is plainly the participle, ilSIp (Toy). See TTpf; Ges. § 74, 3, R. 3; comp. Dillmann. 182 ISAIAH. [VII. 14, 15 things, not the nature of a person. Like Ben-oni (Gen. xxxv. 18), therefore, and I-kabod (1 Sam. iv. 21), it is to be interpreted as reflecting the conditions under which the child is to be born. In other words, Isaiah says, that, by the time a child, conceived at the date of his prophecy, is born, the condition of Judah will be so much improved that the mother of the child will be prompted to give him such a name as Immanu-el. Such a name, be it observed ; for Isaiah, when he uttered the prophecy, probably did not mean to predict that any child would actually bear this exact name, but that cir cumstances would be such as to suggest one of this sort. If, therefore, any young mother, in her gratitude for the deliverance of her country from the danger that had threatened it, called her first-born (say) Joshua (Jehovah is help), the prophecy was fulfilled. Indeed, one may go even farther and say, that, if such a deliver ance was wrought, whether the gratitude of the people expressed itself in this or some other way, the prophet was vindicated.* 15. Within a few months, says Isaiah, Jehovah will seem to have come to the rescue of Judah. This, how ever, as has already been suggested, is, and can be, only a part of the sign with which he met the king's unbelief. There must be another side to it. This ex pectation is realized in the words that follow. They constitute a statement like the one already made ; but, since an antithesis was clearly intended, it is proper to * To any one who should insist upon a stricter application of the words of the prophet, it would, perhaps, not be unfair to cite the fact, that Matthew does not hesitate to say, that the name Jesus (Joshua) was given to the son of Mary in fulfilment of them (Mat. i. 22). VII. 15] COMMENTS. 183 connect the two in such a way as to make this fact apparent. One may therefore, instead of Lo, the young woman shall conceive, etc., say, Lo, the young woman that shall conceive, etc., or even, Though a young woman conceive, and bear a son, and call his name Immanu-el, curds and honey shall he eat. The mention of these two articles of food was once supposed to indicate that the youth of the child was to be spent in the midst of plenty (Vitringa) ; but it is now generally admitted that they are here, neither, as in Ex. iii. 8, symbols of fer tility, nor the customary food of infants (Kay), but that they imply the devastation of the country, and the re duction of its inhabitants to the necessity of subsisting on the most primitive fare. By curds are meant the curdled milk with which Abraham refreshed his visitors (Gen. xviii. 8), and of which, under the name leben, the Arabs of the present day consume large quantities (Van Lennep, BL, 403 f.); and by honey, the wild honey, still abundant in Palestine (Tristram, NHB, 322 ff.), on which John the Baptist largely subsisted while in the desert (Mat. iii. 4). These are to be Immanu-el's meat ; not at first, for the state of things existing at his birth is to be of some duration ; but when, or by the time that,* he hath learned to reject the bad \ and prefer the good. There can be little doubt, that the knowledge to reject the bad and prefer the good is equivalent to the * Several of the versions, and some modern scholars (Bredenkamp), take b in the final sense of that ; but such a rendering, if it were intel ligible, would be forbidden by the entire context. The child has no sig nificance in himself. His birth, according to v. 14, merely marks a date; and so, here, must his arrival at the first stage in his development. The translation until (Reuss) is equally objectionable. See x. 3; Gen. vii. 4. t On the construction of B13 D1NB, see Ges. § 113, I, c and e. 184 ISAIAH. [VII. 15, 16 knowledge of good and evil, in one or the other of the two senses in which this expression is used in the Old Testament ; but it is difficult to decide whether Isaiah here means the ability to make moral distinctions (Gen. iii.), or simply the capacity for choosing one's own food (Deu. i. 39). The former view is the more common (Delitzsch), but the latter seems the more de fensible. (1) It has in its favor the description of the child's diet; (2) it brings v. 16 into harmony with viii. 4; and (3) it does justice to the general impression of both chapters, to the effect that the chastisement of Judah is to follow comparatively closely upon the de struction of their enemies. On the whole, then, it is safest to suppose that the prophet had in mind the earlier of the two ages mentioned. At this tender age, upon being weaned, he who seemed born to enjoy pros perity and abundance will become acquainted with poverty and privation, living on curds and honey like other survivors of a devastating war.* 16. for introduces the interpretation of the sign prom ised, or rather threatened. See v. 7. There follows an undisguised statement : before the arrival of the boy whose birth is predicted in v. 14 at the age indicated in v. 15, in other words, within three or four years (2 Mac. vii. 27), the soil, or country, whose two kings, Resin and Pekah, thou dreadest, shall be forsaken. At first sight, there seems to be a discrepancy between this statement and the more figurative representation of v. 14, but the difficulty is not serious. It disappears on * It has already been shown that the sign would not be complete with out this fifteenth verse. This being granted, there is no difficulty in seeing Isaiah's hand in it. Comp. Cheyne (IBI). VII. 15, 17] COMMENTS. 185 noticing that, in v. 14, it is the immediate effect upon Judah, while here it is the ultimate consequences to the allies, of the interference of Assyria, that Isaiah is de scribing. There would naturally be an interval between them. The prophet says, that, at the longest, it will be one of two or three years.* 17. He next proceeds to explain the other side of the sign. Jehovah, whose counsel has been rejected, will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, because they are like-minded, and upon thy father's house, the Davidic dynasty, days such as have not come upon them, since, in the reign of Rehoboam (1 Kgs. xii. 1 ff.), Ephraim, and all the rest of the tribes, except Benjamin, separated from Judah, and organized the kingdom of Israel. That was a sad day for the house of David and the Hebrew people; but not more calamitous than the one that is coming. No date is given, but, from a comparison of vv. 15 and 17, it would appear that the prophet expected the calamity predicted to follow close upon the over throw of the allied kingdoms.! This, then, is the twofold sign given to Ahaz : that, when a child, conceived soon after the interview, was born, the country would have been relieved from its present danger; but that, within two or three more years, a greater would have overtaken it. It is some times objected, that, on such an interpretation, the so- * Buhl omits the relative clause, whose two kings thou dreadest, and interprets the remainder as a prediction of the abandonment of Judah. The objection to so doing is, that Isaiah does not seem to have expected his own country to be so thoroughly devastated. t This verse, also, is rejected by some of the later critics; but, if v. 13 is genuine, this one must be retained, except the phrase, the king of Assyria, which is a wholly superfluous gloss. 186 ISAIAH. [VII. 17 called sign was, after all, in no proper sense a sign to Ahaz. The objector, however, overlooks two things. The first is the change of treatment required by the king after his refusal of a sign calculated to strengthen his faith in Jehovah. He would not be convinced. A sign such as, according to 2 Kgs. xx. 11, was afterward granted to Hezekiah, therefore, would have been wasted upon him. It should also, in the second place, be re membered, that, in the Old Testament, a sign is not always a pledge, but is sometimes a proof. There are several examples of this latter usage, but the one most to the point is in Ex. iii. 12, where Jehovah says to Moses, " I will surely be with thee ; and this shall be to thee a sign that I myself sent thee : when thou bringest the people forth from Egypt, ye shall serve God in this mountain." In this case the sign is the worship of Jehovah at Sinai. The event is foretold, that, when it occurs, it may convince Moses, that he who sent him on his mission to Egypt was none other than the God of his fathers. See also 2 Kgs. xix. 29. The sign actually given to Ahaz was of this sort. As soon as relief from the fear of the allies came, he would be reminded of his interview with Isaiah ; and when the second part of the prophecy was fulfilled, he would be convinced that the prophet actually spoke for God. Then and thereafter, any child born during the respite, whose name reflected the circumstances of his birth, would recall Isaiah's divinely inspired foresight and his own short-sighted obstinacy.* Comp. GASmith. * For a more complete discussion of this prophecy, see an article en titled "Immanu-el; Prophecy and Fulfillment," in the Andover Review for April, 1891. See also Porter, /BL, 1895, x9ff- VII. 17, 18] COMMENTS. 187 There is abundant evidence that the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled; for the Hebrew historians state, that, at this juncture, Tiglath-pileser attacked, first Israel (2 Kgs. xv. 29), and then Syria (2 Kgs. xvi. 1), and carried many of both peoples into captivity ; while the Assyrian king testifies, that all this happened within three years of the date at which the words must have been spoken. For details see Intr. Stud. II. The chastisement of Judah did not follow as soon as was expected ; but it came at last, and, when it came, the Assyrians, as the prophet had predicted, were the in struments of its infliction. The remainder of the chapter describes more in detail H, also, is a parti ciple used adjectively. f The text has nTBXl, and I (Jehovah) will summon. The Vulgate reads and I (Isaiah) summoned, i.e., ilTBKl, and some modern interpreters (Bredenkamp) have adopted this reading. Better than either is ITBIl, the one here followed, which also has the support of the Septuagint and the Peshita. Comp. Orelli. J This is the natural interpretation of the waw consecutive with which the verse begins, and it is supported by the context. Comp. Duhm. 192 ISAIAH. [VIII. 3, 4 the gift of prophecy (Nagelsbach), but because she was the wife of the prophet, conceived ; and that, in due time, she bore a son. Jehovah then commanded, that, while others were giving to their children such names as Immanu-el, this boy should be named Maher-shalal-hash- baz, Swift-booty-speedy-prey, and thus made a fourth witness to the prediction on whose fulfilment his father had staked his reputation as a prophet. 4. The prediction was, at the same time, made reason ably clear and definite. Its final form was, before the lad hath learned to cry Father, and Mother, begun to talk, the wealth of Damascus and . . . Samaria shall be borne off, both cities will have been captured, by the king of Assyria. If, now, as above suggested, this child, like Immanu-el, was born about nine months after the interview with Ahaz, Isaiah would seem, meanwhile, not only to have persisted in expecting the overthrow of the allies, but to have seen reason for expecting it sooner than he originally (vii. 15) predicted. The reason is not far to seek. Before the birth of either of the children Tiglath-pileser had made his expedition of 734 b.c, seriously crippling Israel, and withdrawing only to make preparations for a more vigorous and effective prose cution of the war. It is not strange, therefore, that, when the prophet was called upon to name his child, he not only gave him the name suggested to him, but, becoming " very bold," declared that the event signified would occur within a year. The war actually lasted longer than he anticipated, the Assyrian king, as already stated, making two campaigns in Syria ; but the dis crepancy is not important. For Tiglath-pileser's own account of his operations, see Intr. Stud. II. VIII. 5, 6] COMMENTS. 193 In chapter vii. Isaiah warned Ahaz that the conquest of Syria and Israel would but prepare the way for the subjugation of Judah by the Assyrians. On this point, also, he remains as severe as in his original utterances, for his second prediction concerning the fate of the allies is followed by a description of ft. THE INUNDATION OF JUDAH (vv. 5~8). 5. When Isaiah had fulfilled the instructions given him with refer ence to the tablet, Jehovah spake to him further, pre sumably on the same occasion. See vii. 10. 6. The message begins with an accusation against this people. The meaning of this phrase in the present connection is disputed. Some assert that it denotes Israel in the narrower sense (Nagelsbach); others that it includes Israel and Syria (Henderson), or Israel and Judah (Delitzsch); but the majority of modern exegetes consider it a designation for Judah. This last is, with out doubt, the correct interpretation; for, since it is the Jews who are to be punished, it must be they who have offended. There are apparently two counts. In the first place, they despise the water of Shilloah, i.e., the water by which the Pool of Shilloah (Neh. iii. 15 : Shelah), at or near the mouth of the Tyropcean valley, was fed. The pool was probably near the present Pool of Siloam, just below the end of the tunnel by which the water of the Virgin's Fountain' (Gih on) is conveyed from the Kidron, into the Tyropcean valley; and the water that floweth softly, the small, hidden, and noiseless stream that still flows through the tunnel.* This stream, * The present Pool of Siloam is fifty-three feet long, eighteen wide, and nineteen deep. The tunnel, which is cut through the solid limestone of the hill Ophel, is about one thousand seven hundred and fifty feet long, and 194 ISAIAH. [VIII. 6 so modest, yet in times of danger so precious to the in habitants of Jerusalem, is here a symbol for the unseen and mysterious, but real and efficient, Presence (Ps. xlvi. 5/4) whom the prophet is seeking to persuade his people to trust, but whom, in spite of his efforts, they ignore. There follows what, at first sight, seems a separate charge, that they despair * on account of Resin and the son of Remaliah. f It is really a more specific statement two wide. Its height varies from less than three to about eighteen feet, and it is very crooked. See Robinson, BRP, I. 337 ff.; Wilson and Warren, Rf, 239 ff. In 1880, there was found, near the lower end of the tunnel, an inscription, since destroyed, of which the following is a transla tion: . . . the piercing. Now this was the manner of the piercing. While yet . . . the pick one toward another; and while there were yet three cubits to . . . the voice of one call ing to another. For there was ZDH in the rock on the right . . . And on the day of the piercing the excavators smote one over against another, pick over against pick. Then flowed the water from the spring to the pool, a thousand two hundred cubits; and a hun dred cubits was the height of the rock over the heads of the excavators. For the original see Driver, NBS, xv. f. The work is generally attributed to Hezekiah, and 2 Chr. xxxii. 30 seems to favor such an opinion; but the parallel passage in 2 Kgs. (xx. 20) probably refers to the reservoir now called the Pool of Mamilla, on the west of the city, and the aqueduct by which the water is conveyed from it to the so-called Pool of Hezekiah in the city. See Stade, G VI, I. 593 f. * The words despise and despair reproduce a paronomasia in the original. t The text has tolfttl, which can only be rendered rejoice (Orelli). Thus rendered, however, it does not harmonize with the context. Hence it has been suggested that ttWB is but another form of the infinitive construct of ODD (x. 18), dissolve, despond (Hitzig). The suggestion is a valuable one, but it does not entirely meet the difficulties in the case. The fact is that the construction DiDfil . . . CXD "O ]V is objectionable. It VIII. 6-8] COMMENTS. 195 of the one already made. In other words, Isaiah ac cuses his people of despising Jehovah, and showing it, first by being terrified at the approach of Resin and Pekah (vii. 2), and finally by turning to Tiglath-pileser instead of him for assistance. 7. The appeal to the Assyrian king explains the pun ishment threatened. Because they have put their trust in him and his armies, the din of whose movements is "like the noise of mighty waters" (xvii. 12), therefore will Jehovah bring up against them, from Assyria, this noisy, turbulent River, this human Euphrates.* Like the real Euphrates, when the snow on the mountains among which it rises melts in the summer, at his command this power shall wholly outgrow its channels, become too great to be confined within its present limits ; and over flow all its banks, undertake unprecedented conquests. 8. It will not stop with the overflow of Syria and Israel; it shall also invade Judah, whose people now think themselves safe from its ravages, and overwhelm it, t devastating it from end to end, to the neck, until it is probable that the original text was DiD&l . . . DXQ |B*; or OXQ ]V 1DDH1 . . . (Eze. xxv. 6) ; or, since an infinitive of the latter form is rare (Bot. § 1 155, 6), and a succession of infinitives after JB1 equally infre quent, while an infinitive followed by a finite verb is a common construc tion, 1DDB1 . . . DSI2 jB\ For the mode, see xxxvii. 29; for the tense, Am. v. II; and for the number, Eze. xxv. 12. See also Ges. § 112, 3, 5. The retention of T)X after 1DD& seems justified by Job xxxi. 34, but ^68 would be the usual construction. Comp. Dillmann. * The figure is explained as meaning, the king of Assyria, and all his glory ; but the explanation, like others of the same kind already noticed, is superfluous, and therefore doubtless a gloss from the hand of an anxious reader or copyist. f The omission of the connective before FptP, flood, is best explained by supposing the verb a gloss. Comp. Dri. §§ 147, 132. 196 ISAIAH. [VIII. 8 is all but destroyed, yea, says the prophet, and the irony of the passage culminates in these final words, the stretch of its flanks, the extent of the advancing flood, shall fill the breadth, from border to border, of thy land, 0 Immanu-el, the land of whose temporary deliverance Immanu-el was the sign. Immanu-el, then, is here a representative of the generation, born just as Judah emerged from the Syrian crisis, the omens at whose birth are to be reversed before they have finished the first stage of their existence.* The faith of Ahaz, and most of his people, was a faith in man and his ability. The prophet has shown what * The interpretation given to these last words is required by vii. 14 f. It also harmonizes with the context. Those who adopt a different idea of Immanu-el have difficulty in explaining why he should appear in this prophecy. The difficulty thus experienced has given rise to attempts to avoid it. The latest suggestion is, that IS 13BB, Immanu-el, be dropped as a gloss (Duhm), or attached to the following verse (Cheyne); but neither of these ways of disposing of the word is satisfactory, for the follow ing reasons: Verses 9 and 10 are a fragment, foreign to their present context. This is generally admitted. Such being the case, they must have been removed from some other place to the one that they now occupy. Moreover, there must have been some reason why they were placed where they are, and not in some other connection. If, now, the present text be left undisturbed, one can see a reason for attaching these verses to w. 5-8 that ought to have weight, especially with those who demand a change : viz. that both passages end with bX 13fiB, furnishing a striking example of the application of the principle of catchwords, which Cornill (ZA W, 1884, 83 ff.) claims to have traced through the entire Isaianic collection. See Cheyne, IBI, xxv. On the other hand, if the bX 13BB of v. 8 be omitted, or, as well as that of v. 10, attached to the inserted passage, there remains no apparent reason for its insertion. These considerations, added to the fact that neither of the proposed changes would improve the sense of either passage, make it seem best to retain the present text in its present arrange ment. VIII. g, io] COMMENTS. 197 comes of it ; that at first it seems well-founded, but that in the end it proves a delusion. The rest of this chap ter and a part of the next deal with a faith of another kind, (2) Faith in God (viii. 9-ix. 6/7). — The transition is made by the introduction of a brief challenge (vv. 9 f.), which, as has already been explained, originally be longed in a different connection, but which has enough in common with the verses that immediately follow to warrant one in including it under the same heading, (a) The Only Danger (viii. 9-15). — 9. It begins with a solemn summons, Attend,* 0 peoples ! The peoples addressed are also called the ends of the earth. They cannot, therefore, well be the forces of Resin and Pekah, but, as the tone and the phraseology indicate, must be the same that are described in xvii. 12, the nations represented in the Assyrian army. Isaiah, with the recklessness that characterized his attitude toward Sen nacherib (xxxvii. 22 ff.), defies him and his host. Gird yourselves ! he cries ; gird yourselves, for war, but to be confounded by a startling and terrible reverse. 10. Their armies will be useless. Their scheme, there fore, the scheme to destroy the last remnant of the chosen people (xxxvi. 16 f.), and thus defeat the purpose of Jehovah in their creation, will be planned only to be shattered ; because, says the prophet, God is with us. These are the same words in which the end of the * The text has 1B1, rage; but the Septuagint have the equivalent of 1B1, know, and this, or IBtitf, hear, is the reading required by the parallel line, give ear, etc.; which, moreover, should be brought into immediate con nection with this one by the omission of the intervening phrase, but to he confounded. See i. 2, 10; xxviii. 23. 198 ISAIAH. [VIII. 10-13 Syrian crisis was celebrated, but they are not used here in the same sense as in vii. 14. There they were a mere outburst of popular enthusiasm over the temporary suc cess of a short-sighted and cowardly policy ; here they are the confession, in the midst of a greater crisis, of the sublimest confidence in God, and in the ultimate deliverance of those who wait for him. There they were the idle boast of the doomed masses ; here they are the inspiring watchword of the Israel of the future.* 11. The remaining verses of the paragraph have a similar tone, but they are much earlier, belonging to the date of the Syrian, rather than the Assyrian, inva sion. In the midst of the commotion caused by the attempt of Resin and Pekah upon Jerusalem, Isaiah received another revelation. This came to him with mighty power, an overwhelming influence of the Spirit (Eze. i. 3 ; iii. 14; etc.), to warn f him and his followers not to go in the way of his erring countrymen : this people, he calls them, as Jehovah did in v. 5. 12. The people were saying, with bated breath, of the design of Resin and Pekah, A plot ! meaning thereby an irresistible combination against Judah. His instruc tions were, fear not what they fear, men and their in trigues, however cunning and powerful (vii. 4ff.); 13. they can be resisted ; but Of Jehovah of Hosts, — the name has a peculiar fitness in this connection, — shall ye beware, % because he is irresistible, and opposi- * Comp. Porter, fBL, 1895, 36, who refers vv. g{. to the post-Exilic period. t The form 'OID'' is an imperfect of the first (Kal) stem. See Hos. x. 10. On the construction, see Ges. § 107, 4, a (3). X The text has llg'lpfl, shall ye sanctify; but this reading is so tame and unnatural that it will have to be abandoned. The substitution of BHp, VIII. 13-15] COMMENTS. 199 tion to him can only result in the destruction of his adversary ; he, and he alone, shall be the object of your fear. 14. The command to fear Jehovah alone is equivalent to an exhortation to trust him, and implies a promise that he will protect those who take this attitude toward him. Isaiah leaves all this to be supplied, and proceeds with a statement of the result of ignoring him.* To those who do this he will be a stone to trip on, a cause of disaster, for both houses of Israel, because both alike ignore him : the one by attempting to overthrow the Davidic kingdom, and the other by seeking foreign as sistance in maintaining it. The warning, however, is intended especially for Judah ; hence separate mention is made of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. f 15. The double figure of the stone and the snare denotes the various means by which Jehovah will inter vene, to their disadvantage, in the affairs of his people. holy, for 11Pp, plot, in the preceding verse (Bredenkamp) does not help matters. The ~HDp of v. 12 must be retained, and HfHpn changed to lTlPpn, shall ye make a conspirator, i.e., treat as such ; in other words, as above, beware of (Duhm). True, the causative stem of ~Wp is not else where found; but this, in view of the originality of Isaiah, is not a serious objection. The error which produced the present text is explained by the strangeness of the original word, and its likeness to the familiar one sub stituted for it. * In the text the implied antithesis is made explicit by the insertion of Enpfib, a sanctuary. It is better, therefore, to regard this addition to the text as editorial, rather than to explain it (Duhm) as a copyist's error occasioned by the tffplfi1?, a springe, toward the end of the verse. On the accentuation of the verse, see Wickes, HPA, 134. t This interpretation is based on the supposition that the text is correct. Perhaps, however, the phrase for both houses of Israel should be omitted. The verse would then consist of two lines of nearly equal length, both referring to Judah, as v. 13 would lead one to expect. 200 ISAIAH. [VIII. 15, 16 The result will be, that many shall thereby, by these means,* stumble, meet misfortune, or, in the language of the conjoined figures, fall, over the stone, and be broken, and be snared, like a bird, and taken. Comp. xxviii. 16 ; Rom. ix. 33 ; 1 Pet. ii. 8. Isaiah believed that Jehovah would finally reveal him self as the deliverer of those who feared him. This is clear from the care he takes, in speaking of the future of his people, not to predict their utter destruction. In v. 8 the flood to which the Assyrian invasion is likened reaches only to the neck ; and in v. 15 many, but not all, are to stumble and perish. But the prophet saw, that even those who were finally delivered Would have to endure great suffering, before the divine purpose could be fulfilled. The next paragraph is intended to prepare his followers for (b) The Coming Darkness (viii. 16-23). — l6- He pro poses to commit to them his testimony concerning the things that are to come. It is in the form of a roll, which he will sealf against the time to which it refers. How much the roll contained, there seems to be no means of learning ; but one may assume, that the proph ecies in which Immanu-el and Maher-shalal-hash-baz figure were among its contents. Those to whom it is committed he calls his disciples, such as had been * This is the natural interpretation. It does not require the change of D3 to 12 (Cheyne). The rendering among them, i.e., Israel, or Judah (Delitzsch), though possible, is less satisfactory. If such had been the prophet's meaning, he would naturally have said S3 D'21. t For Dinn, the imperative, read Dlrtl, the infinitive absolute. For the form 113E see Ges. § 67, R. 2 ; on the construction, v. 5 ; I Kgs. xxii. 30; Ges. §113, i,,b, S; Dav. §88, b. VIII. 16-19] COMMENTS. 201 taught by him respecting the purpose of Jehovah, and led to acquiesce in it. Comp. Orelli. 17. This done, he will wait for Jehovah, first to vindi cate him and them, and then to deliver the remnant of his people ; * although, for the present, he hideth his face, withdraws his favor, from the house of Jacob, the Hebrew people. 18. He intends to remain silent, but he does not expect to be without influence, since he and his children are all signs and tokens of great significance in Israel. Maher-shalal-hash-baz threatened destruction to those who rejected Jehovah ; while Shear-yashub promised deliverance to such as made him their refuge ; and the name of Isaiah himself (Jehovah helped) furnished an inspiring watchword for the" loyal remnant. Comp. Bredenkamp; see also Heb. ii. 13. These witnesses are from Jehovah of Hosts, the mighty, who dwelleth in Mount Zion (Am. i. 2) ; within easy reach of those who desire his protection. 19. The prophet now explains the use to be made of the roll that has been, or is to be, prepared. It is to serve as a source of guidance in the approaching crisis. Something of the kind will be needed. People will be running hither and thither trying to learn the meaning of their misfortunes. The multitude will betake them selves to false prophets. Isaiah warns his disciples not to follow them to the necromancers, those who, like the witch of Endor (1 Sam. xxviii. 7ff.), professed to have power over the spirits of the dead, to make them reveal things beyond the knowledge of the living; and the * That the subject is the same in this as in the preceding verse appears from the fact that the pronoun T:X, /, is not expressed. 202 ISAIAH. [VIII. 19, 20 soothsayers, those who, like the maid mentioned in Acts xvi. 16, were supposed to be possessed of a divining spirit (Riehm, HBA, art. Wahrsager); that chirp and mutter, make the piping, or the hollow tones attributed to ghosts and employed by ventriloquists. Two reasons are given. It is disloyal to Jehovah : should not a people inquire of their God ? Moreover, it is ridiculous. How can the living, still permitted the untrammelled use of their faculties, expect to learn anything that they do not know from the dead, confined, as these are, in the gloomy caverns of Sheol? See Job xiv. 21. 20. Those who really desire the truth will turn To the teaching, the inspired utterances of the prophet, in the written testimony deposited with his disciples. On so doing they will find that the teaching and the testimony tell of, describe, the like of this state, a situation corre sponding to the one then existing ; one to which there is no dawn, in which those who have deserted Jehovah find no comfort or encouragement. The effect of this dis covery on those who make it will be to give them in creased faith in their master, and help them to wait for the better things that Jehovah has commissioned him to promise them.* * The passage has been given a great variety of renderings. The most interesting are the following : If they speak not according to this word, there shall be no dawn to them (Henderson). Surely they will so say, to whom there is no dawn (Dillmann). Or will they not so speak who are without dawn (Delitzsch) ? Will they not yet so speak ? Because no morning dawns for him, one goeth, etc. (Bredenkamp). They are all unsatisfactory. The fundamental error in them is, that in every case the subject of HOST, say, tell of, is supposed to be those from whom Jehovah has withdrawn his favor. Such an interpretation is for- VIII. 21, 22] COMMENTS. 203 21. The prophet now proceeds to describe the effect on those who have no faith in Jehovah of the state of things to which he has referred, they shall pass through the land, seeking relief (Am. viii. 1 1 f .), but finding none, and therefore downcast, discouraged, as well as hungry ; and when they realize their condition, instead of being subdued by their sufferings, they will become enraged, and curse their king and their God ; abandon everything like reverence (i Kgs. xxi. io). Comp. Delitzsch.* There will be no help for them ; for, whether they turn upward, with the inconsistency of desperation hoping against hope for divine aid, 22. or look earth ward, for human assistance, — whichever way they turn, they will find trouble and darkness, yea, a gloom with out brightness, utter distress. See Am. v. 20. \ bidden by the entire context. In the first place, it detaches the preceding exhortation from that of v. 19, thus destroying a. perfect antithesis and weakening the force of the passage; and, secondly, it attaches to the sub ject as a modifier a relative clause, HIP 11 fK "i'SX, to which there is no dawn, which was evidently not intended to serve any such purpose. Vio lence of this sort is avoided by making the subject the teaching and the testimony. The exhortation to consult them then remains in the mouth of Isaiah, where it belongs, and the relative clause becomes a (needed) description of the character of their contents. On Xb OX, in the sense of surely, see v. 9; Ges. § 149, R. c. * The last two (Hebrew) words of this verse belong to the next. f The text reads, literally, and lo, trouble and darkness, the darkness of distress, and gloom dispersed. This makes too long a line. The attempt has been made to get rid of the excess by rendering the last two (He brew) words, but the darkness shall be dispersed (Dillmann), and con necting them with what follows; but, unfortunately, there is as little room for them in the next line as in this one. A better remedy is to omit IplX S]1B», originally probably ipiS *]B1», the darkness of oppression, as a gloss explanatory of the preceding word, darkness. This done, the verse will be of the proper length; but, if no further change be made, the last two words will still prove troublesome. The favorite rendering for them 204 ISAIAH. [VIII. 23 23 (ix. 1). It is more than probable that this prophecy closed with v. 22, and that the remaining verse is a con siderably later addition.* It consists of two parts. The first is plainly an explanation of the gloss, the darkness of oppression, by the same hand, in the preceding verse. For, it says, — is not the land (lit. she) darkened that is oppressed? f The rest of the verse describes how the foregoing prophecy was fulfilled. No one could doubt that it had reference to the invasion of Palestine by the Assyrians. It was believed to have been fulfilled in the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel. That result, how ever, was not effected at once or by a single expedition. Indeed, it was twelve years after the date of Tiglath- pileser's brilliant raid, when the country was finally conquered ; and then it yielded only after a long contest. The editor, believing that Isaiah foresaw what actually is driven into gloom, or its equivalent, which Jer. xxiii. 12 is thought to favor; but the unnaturalness, to say the least, of the expression makes more probable that m3Q is a copyist's error, the result of confusing this passage with the one in Jeremiah. Taking this for granted, one will have little difficulty in restoring the text. The rendering of the Septuagint, so as not to see, suggests the construction used, while Am. v. 20 supplies the word that must have been employed. Combining the two, one arrives at the conclusion that the original of PI13& was i133H, and that the whole phrase read, as above, yea, gloom without brightness. See Mic. iii. 6; Job xxi. 9; Ges. § 119, 3, d, I. * In the English, as in the other versions, this verse is the first of the ninth chapter; but, in the original, — and this fact should be taken into account in its interpretation, — it is the last of the eighth. t So Duhm; similarly Luzzatto. On the omission of the interrogative particle, see 2 Kgs. v. 26; Ges. § 150, 1. The traditional interpretation, which makes the words a promise that the land now oppressed shall not always be in darkness (Alexander), is violent and arbitrary. That of Barth, Weariness is unknown io the (enemy) that is arrayed against it, is far-fetched and unnatural, VIII. 23] COMMENTS. 205 occurred, with perfect frankness adds this note : The first time, in 734 b.c, he, Jehovah, through Tiglath- pileser, dealt gently, wrought but slight damage, — in the land * of Zebulon, a small district lying north of the plain of Esdraelon, near the southeastern corner of which Nazareth is situated, and the land of Naphtali, a strip of country, widest at the northern end, extending along the Jordan, and the lakes through which it flows, from Dan to Mt. Tabor. See 2 Kgs. xv. 29; Intr. Stud. II. t The note continues: but the last time, finally, in 724-722 b.c, through Shalmaneser and Sar gon, he dealt severely, % wrought serious havoc, in the region (lit. way) o>i the Sea. This phrase, taken by itself, might mean the country along the Mediterranean, or that on either side of the Sea of Galilee. It is fol lowed by another, beyond Jordan, which, at first sight, is very puzzling ; for, whether it is taken by itself, as is oftenest done (Skinner), or, as usage requires (Deu. iv. * On the construction of 13£1K, see Ges. §§ 90, 2, b; 118, 2, b. t The Gilead of 2 Kgs. xv. 29 is not the region of that name east of the Jordan. This is clear enough from the fact that all the places men tioned are finally comprehended in the general description, all the land of Naphtali; it is rendered certain by the additional fact that, in the Assyrian inscription in which Tiglath-pileser recounts his expedition, the fragment of the name that has been preserved is preceded by the determi native for a city. X The rendering, he hath made, in the sense of he will make, it glorious, in which the majority of commentators concur, is indefensible. In the first place, it is inconsistent. The verb TOSH is in the same tense as Ipl, lit. made light, and there is absolutely no ground for supposing, that, if, as all agree, the latter describes a past act, the former describes one yet future. Secondly, the causative stem of 133, be heavy, does not mean honor, but make heavy, or something akin to this signification. In this passage, therefore, as in I Kgs. xii. 10, the two verbs must be understood as denoting different degrees of maltreatment. 206 ISAIAH. [VIII. 23 49 ; Jos. xiii. 27), attached to the phrase preceding, a part, at least, of the territory described is apparently located on the east of the Jordan, while the structure of the passage leads one to expect to find the country severely punished where that lightly chastened was situated. The difficulty disappears when one remem bers, that, as has already been urged on other grounds, these words are not the words of Isaiah, but of an editor ; and that, as one also has good reason for holding, this editor, like the one whose hand appears in 2 Kgs. v. 4 (iv. 24), did his work in Babylonia. From that standpoint, the former territory of Zebulon and Naph tali would naturally be described as in the region of the Mediterranean Sea, beyond the Jordan.* Moreover, on the supposition that there has, as yet, been no reference to the country east of the Jordan, the final phrase becomes intelligible, the District of the nations, Galilee, so called because it never became so thoroughly Hebrew as the rest of the country, is simply another name for the region in question, northern Palestine.! There are * It is possible that DM "]11 ought to be translated literally, in the direction of the sea, i.e., westward, like D' ^11 in I Kgs. xviii. 43. The whole expression would then become equivalent to ntt' |11M 13B3, beyond the fordan, westward. See Jos. v. I ; GASmith, HGHL, 428 n. This change, however, would not affect the interpretation above adopted. f The name 1v3, Galil, the original of Galilee, occurs five times in the Old Testament outside of the present connection. In three cases (Jos. xx. 7, xxi. 32; I Chr. vi. 61/76) it designates the undefined region in which Kedesh was located. In a fourth (2 Kgs. xv. 29) it seems to be applied to a part only of Naphtali; but, since, in this passage, Kedesh appears without any indication of its identity, and in all other cases but one (Jos. xii. 22) in which it occurs, its location is described, there can be little doubt that here, also, the original text read, not Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, but Kedesh in Galilee, and Hazor, and Gilead. The remain- VIII. 23-IX. 1/2] COMMENTS. 207 no means of learning how severely this region suffered during the siege of Samaria (2 Kgs. xviii. 9 ff. ; Intr. Stud. II.), but one can imagine what must have been its condition after the Assyrian armies had passed back and forth over it for three years. The picture of the immediate future of Israel that Isaiah drew for his disciples, is a dark one, but it con tains hints of something brighter. The statement, e.g., that he and his sons are signs and tokens to his people, reminds one that his oldest son bore the name Shear- yashub ; and his declaration that he will wait for Jehovah suggests that he must have had reason for his confi dence. Did he share his expectations with his disciples ? They must, at times, even before Judah was attacked by the Assyrians, have sorely needed such encourage ment. It is inconceivable that he should not, either before or during the darkness that he had predicted, have given them some idea what was in store for them, and, if he did, the following prophecy concerning (c) A Great Light (ix. 1/2-6/7) may well be one of those to which he then gave utterance. At any rate, nothing could have been better calculated to cheer the hearts of the faithful during that trying period. ix. 1/2. It begins with an allusion to the situation de scribed in the preceding paragraph. The people that walk in darkness are the house of Jacob, from whom, in viii. 17, the prophet pictures Jehovah as hiding his ing passage (iKgs. ix. 11) does not define the limits of this region, but indicates that it must have been of considerable extent, since the twenty cities that Solomon gave to Hiram were only a part of it. In New Testa ment times it included the territory, not only of Zebulon and Naphtali, but of Asher and Issachar. See Josephus, f W, iii. 3, 1. 208 ISAIAH. [IX. 1/2, 2/3 face; not, however, the entire people, but the puri fied remnant destined to be the nation of the future. They shall see a great light, a glorious period of favor with Jehovah and consequent prosperity.* on them that dwell f in a hitherto gloomy land (viii. 22) it shall burst, as the sun bursts upon the earth in the morning. 2/3. In thus restoring his people to favor Jehovah will cause abundant exultation, % produce a state of things in which there will be great exultation. The prophet resorts to comparison to show how great the joy and exultation are to be. men shall rejoice continually, as they rejoice in harvest, when, with feasting and dancing, they celebrate the ingathering of the produce of their toil (Ex. xxiii. 16; Jud. ix. 27; xxi. 21). The phrase before thee, with which the prophet modifies his state ment, means that, in the good time coming, men will recognize in Jehovah the source of the blessings in which they rejoice. § A second simile is added. The * The original has the perfect, have seen ; and this, as being more vivid, would be the preferable rendering, if it were not ambiguous. Since, how ever, the use of the perfect in English is liable to be understood as refer ring to a past event, and it is clear from internal evidence (v. 4), but especially from xi. I f., that the whole passage has to do with things to come, it seems best to employ throughout the future tense. f On the construction of "3W, see Ges. § 130, I. X The text has Xb 111 IY31H, thou wilt make great the nation, not. For the last word the Masoretes read 11, to it. The change, although it improves the sense, introduces a superfluous element into the construction. It is better, with Krochmal, for Xb '13,1, to read H^"31, rejoicing, exulta tion, and thus produce a perfect correspondence between the two halves of the verse. § The word "pB1 might mean, at the sanctuary; but, if it be so inter preted in this passage, it must either be treated as a gloss (Duhm), or transposed with the word following. IX. 2/3-5/6] COMMENTS. 209 joy will be like that when men divide booty, are victori ous in war (i Sam. xviii. 6f. ; xxx. 16). 3/4. There are two intermediate causes by which this happy condition of things is to be produced. First, the yoke that burdeneth them, the domination of Assyria, with its galling tribute, and the staff on their shoulders, the suffering inflicted upon them by the conqueror, will be broken, brought to an end. Some idea of the weight of the Assyrian yoke may be gathered from the fact, that Menahem had to pay Tiglath-pileser a thousand talents of silver, or about a million eight hundred thou sand dollars, besides an annual tribute (2 Kgs. xv. 19), for the privilege of governing Israel ; and Ahaz was obliged to purchase the right to call himself the servant of the same monarch with the entire contents of the public coffers (2 Kgs. xvi. 8). Moreover, the Assyrian kings, according to their own testimony, were as cruel as they were avaricious.* Such is the taskmaster, to. whom God's people have been consigned for chastise ment. But they are to be delivered, as suddenly and gloriously delivered, as in the day when Gideon routed and destroyed the numberless host of Midian (Jud. vii. 19 ff.). 4/5. Yea, every boot tramping noisily, the heavy, noisy footwear of the soldier (comp. Delitzsch) and the cloak dragged in blood, the military cloak stained with the blood of battle, — every relic of the armies that have so long trampled Palestine under foot and drenched its soil with blood, shall be burned, utterly destroyed. 5/6. Thus far there has been no indication by what * The Assyrian inscriptions abound in proofs of this assertion. See Schrader, KB, II. 4f., 56 f., 70 f., 108 ff., etc. 210 ISAIAH. [IX. 5/6 means the Assyrians are to be overthrown and driven from the country. The instrument chosen for this pur pose, and also for the purpose of giving to the delivered people lasting prosperity and happiness, is now intro duced. The prophet, with an exultation like that which he has just described, exclaims, a child shall be born to us. There are two things with reference to this state ment that deserve notice. One is that the phrase to us is not emphatic, as the English version, by placing it at the beginning of the sentence, makes it. The other is, that, as xi. I conclusively proves, the birth of the child is yet, i.e., at some time after the beginning of the period of darkness (ix. 1/2), something to be ex pected. This being the case, the child here announced cannot, as is widely maintained (Orelli), be Immanu-el ; for his birth was to be coincident with the appearance of the Assyrians in Palestine. In fact, this child, so far from being one with Immanu-el, is contrasted with him. It is as if Isaiah had said: The king and his counsellors have attempted the part of Providence and failed : their Immanu-el will have to eat curds and honey with the rest of us. We trust in Jehovah : by him a son shall be given to us, who shall be, not the sport of circumstances, but a power for the restoration of the nation.* The prophet proceeds to describe the child. the sovereignty, he says, shall be on his shoulder; he shall be a king, with all the dignity and authority of a sovereign. The titles by which he is to be known are * The identification of these two children with each other seems to have begun before the close of the canon. See Mic. v. 3, the author of which, by making this mistake, betrays that he is not Micah, the contemporary of Isaiah. IX. 5/6] COMMENTS. 211 given. They are not mere designations, without interest except as they reflect the conditions under which he is to be born. They are, so to speak, the decorations be stowed by a grateful people in recognition of his ex alted character and services. These titles are four in number : * they shall call him, first, Wondrous-counsellor. The woman of Tekoa who came to David to plead for the restoration of Absalom, when she was taxed with being an emissary of Joab, said to the king, " My lord is as wise as the angel of God, knowing all that is in the earth " (2 Sam. xiv. 20). Extraordinary wisdom was recognized as one of the necessary qualifications of a successful ruler. Hence Solomon, when given permis sion to ask of Jehovah what he would, besought that, above all, he might have a heart to "discern between good and evil" (1 Kgs. iii. 5 ff.). The coming king will be so richly endowed in this respect that he will fully meet all demands upon him, and justly be hailed a wonder of wisdom. The source of this wisdom is not indicated, but xi. 2 refers it to the spirit of Jehovah. Some, struck with another side of this extraordinary character, will call him Mighty-lord. It devolves upon the ruler, not merely to decide contests between his sub- * The text, as punctuated, would read, and the Wonder, the Counsellor, the Mighty God, shall call his name Father-of-booty, Prince-of-peace ; but this interpretation, like that of Luzzatto, according to which the child's name is the sentence, Decreeth-wonders-the-mighty-God-the-alway-Father- the-Lord-of-peace, was evidently dictated by a desire to avoid applying the term mighty God to any one but the Deity. See also the Septuagint. It is also a mistake to regard the entire group of words as a single name (Cheyne). One cannot conceive of such a name as having a popular origin. On the other hand, if either of the four pairs of words be separated as in the English and German versions, the resulting names lack the like ness in form and tone that one would expect in such a series. 212 ISAIAH. [IX. 5/6 jects, but also, if necessary, to enforce his decisions. Moreover, he it is to whom his people, as a whole, have a right to look for protection from external enemies. He is therefore, with more or less propriety, called a lord. The fitness of the title in any particular case de pends upon the actual power of the given ruler, or, from the Hebrew standpoint, upon the degree in which he approaches the power of the Supreme Lord. Ahaz was as weak as he was unwise. The future ruler, like David (2 Sam. xvii. 10), is to be mighty. How great is to be his power, the prophet does not here attempt to de scribe ; but, by combining with this passage xi. 2, prop erly interpreted in Mic. v. 4, one learns that he is to be so abundantly endowed with the spirit of Jehovah, that, in his sphere, he will be practically omnipotent.* The * The original pf this title, 1133 bX, has been rendered in various other ways, but the only one that deserves special consideration is Mighty- God. The second of these words is not an exact equivalent of bX. The English word denotes an object, proper or improper, of worship; and is not cor rectly used in any other sense. The Hebrew word has a different, and u more extensive signification. It is applied, not only to the true God (xii. 2) and the heathen divinities recognized in the Old Testament (Deu. xxxii. 12), but, without a figure, to men of rank, such as kings (Eze. xxxi. II, xxxii. 21) and princes (Ex. xv. 15; Job xii. 17/25). In other words, it is an appellative denoting a person in a position of power over others, like the English word lord. On the variation in its orthography (bX and b*X), a Masoretic device to distinguish the " sacred " from the "profane" use of it, see Bathgen, BSR, 274. On the further question, concerning the precise meaning of the entire name, x. 21 has been supposed to have an important bearing (Delitzsch) ; but this is a mistake, since it is by no means certain to whom the title is there applied. The most plausible interpretation is, that, in both cases, it refers to the child to be born as a great king; for, in Eze. xxxii. 21, the plural of an equivalent, or, if, as seems probable, the original text had Ohx instead of *?X, of the same title, is applied to the kings of a number of great nations; and, in all the passages in which the words 1133 bX are clearly used of Jehovah (Deu. x. IX. 5/6, 6/7] COMMENTS. 213 power attributed to the coming king is such as fits him for success in war. He will display it against the op pressors of his country. So successful will he be in his contest with them, that men will give him the third title, Booty-taker (lit. Father-of-booty), conqueror (2 Sam. xii. 30).* Finally, he will be called Prince-of-peace, be cause, like David (2 Sam. vii. 1), by his success in war, he has secured to his people the blessings of peace (Mic. v. 4). 6/7. The results of the reign of this ideal king will be as beneficial as his character is remarkable. He comes for the enlargement f of the sovereignty, to extend the dominion and the authority of the house of David (Am. ix. 12); and for endless peace, to establish a lasting condition of peace ; on the throne of David, ruling as the lineal descendant and rightful successor of the founder of the dynasty, over his kingdom. He will devote him self to establishing % and strengthening it, insuring it, as far as possible, against disaster, by justice and right- 17; Jer. xxxii. 18; Neh. ix. 32), he is thus distinguished from all the other gods as the one who is supremely mighty. * The rendering adopted seems required by the context and justified by the use of IB in the sense of booty in xxxiii. 23 ; also in Gen. xlix. 27 and Zep. iii. 8. The majority of exegetes prefer Father-of-continuance, which is explained as meaning, either that the person in question will live forever (Guthe, Zf, 8, 41), or that he will always be a father to his people (Orelli). This rendering, also, is grammatically defensible (lvii. 15), and it has the support of Mic. v. 2 (comp. Wellhausen, SV, V, 142); but it does not harmonize so well as the one above preferred with the tone of the entire passage, or furnish so good a connection between the preceding and the following title. On the construction, see Ew. § 273, b; Ols. § 277, e; Kon, § 122, 5, c, n. t For ,131 Xb read 131a1?. X On the construction of p311, see Ges. § 1 14, 2, R. 4. 214 ISAIAH. [IX. 6/7 eousness, without which no government can long remain prosperous; to the end that, although he may give place to a successor, it may endure forever, to the end of time. See 2 Sam. vii. 16. This is a glorious pros pect. It must have been difficult for some of the prophet's disciples to believe that so great things were in store for the nation. He has no misgivings. The ground of his confidence, as he explains, is in The jeal ousy of Jehovah of Hosts, the indignation that must finally be aroused in him at the excesses by which the Assyrians presume to interfere with his purposes con cerning his chosen (Eze. xxxvi. 5 f.). The meaning, then, of Isaiah's great announcement, is, that there is soon to be born a prince of the house of David, who will develop into so perfect a king, that he will be able, not only to deliver his people from their Assyrian oppressors, but to establish them in an exalted and enduring position among the nations of the earth. It is hardly necessary to ask the question whether the prophecy was fulfilled. There never arose a king to rule over Judah who bore any such character, or achieved so great and lasting results. What then ? Was Isaiah not a prophet ? One might say, in reply, that he deserves the title "prophet" for discerning what was needed to restore the Hebrews to their former position in the world ; and add, that the prophecy was fulfilled, in a degree, by more than one of the subse quent rulers of Judah. This view of the question, how ever, is incomplete, because it forbids the connection with Jesus on which Christians in all ages have insisted. To find the complete answer, one must go deeper. It runs something like this : The Hebrews believed in IX. 6/7] COMMENTS. 215 God : they believed also in man ; and that the former could manifest himself through the latter. This divinely inspired conviction furnished them, under ordinary cir cumstances, with an explanation for excellence of every sort (Jud. xiii. 25 ; Ex. xxxi. 3 ; Gen. xii. 38 ; Num. xxiv. 2) ; and, in any emergency, with a remedy for the situation. The redemptive idea took different forms in different periods of Hebrew history (xi. 1 ff. ; xiii. 1 ff.). Toward the end of the monarchy, as in the passage under consideration, it assumed that of the expectation of an ideal king. This expectation, as has already been asserted, was not fulfilled by any king who ever sat on the throne of David ; for the reason that none of them was sufficiently in harmony with Jehovah to be a per fect instrument in his hands. In the literal sense, it was not fulfilled by Jesus ; but for exactly the contrary reason. He was so completely one with the Father, that, refusing to be called merely the Son of David, he could claim to be at once the Son of Man and the Son of God (Mat. xvi. 13 ff.). In other words, he fulfilled, not this, or any other, definite prediction ; but the grand prophetic thought that underlay them all, and that had found more or less inspired and inspiring expression also among the Gentiles ; and, as the supreme manifes tation of the divine in the human (1 Tim. iii. 16), he became the perfect Saviour of universal humanity (1 Pet. i. 20 f.). As for Isaiah, he must still be counted a prophet ; because his teaching, though imperfect, was in line with what now appears to have been the divine purpose, and therefore calculated to prepare his people for all the blessings of the old covenant, and finally for the advent of the incarnate Redeemer. 216 ISAIAH. [IX. 7/8, 8/g The rest of this book consists of a group of prophe cies, of various dates, the general subject of which may be stated as b. THE WORK OF JEHOVAH (ix. 7/8-xii. 6). In the first place, there is a composite piece, describing (l) A Succession of Chastisements (ix. 7/S-x. 4); — the greater part of which (ix. 7/8-20/21) is evidently an imitation of Am. ii. 9 ff., and, therefore, probably one of Isaiah's earliest utterances. The rest of it (x. 1-4), as will appear, belongs to another connection. The whole forms four strophes, the first of which tells how Israel, in the narrower sense, has been plagued with (a) Foreign Foes (ix. 7/8-1 1/12). — 7/8. It opens with the declaration, that A decree * is about to be sent by the Lord. \ This decree can hardly be the following prophecy as a whole (Orelli), which is largely a review of the chastisements that Jehovah has already decreed ; but it must be sought elsewhere, viz. in v. 26-30, where the people are threatened with an invasion of the Assy rians. It is to be sent among Jacob ; i.e., as is explained in the next verse, the inhabitants of the Northern King dom; and it, or, strictly, the calamity decreed (lv. 11), shall fall,J take effect, among Israel. 8/9. When this happens, the people will at last, but too late, take knowledge; realize that it is God with whom they have had to do (Hos. ix. 7). This they * For 131, word, the Septuagint read 131, plague. t Instead of '318, Lord, many codices have PtUT, fehovah. X On the construction of ?B31, see Ges. § 1 12, 3, c, 8; comp. Dri. § 133. IX. 8/a-ii/ 12] COMMENTS. 217 have not heretofore realized (i. 3); as, e.g., when they [spake] * in pride and arrogance, instead of humility and submission, after some of their towns had been laid waste. Bricks, often undried, from time immemo rial the material used for ordinary houses in Palestine (Thomson, LB, I. 163 ff.), are fallen, the houses made of them have been destroyed ; but we will rebuild with hewn stone, finer and more substantial houses. See Am. v. 11. The sentiment is repeated: sycamores, a kind of trees once very common in the country, and, on account of their durability, much used in building (1 Kgs. x. 27), are hewn in pieces, not cut down (Jer. 1. 23 ; comp. Hitzig), by the enemy ; but we will replace them, in new houses, with cedars, viz. of Lebanon, throughout the East highly prized for building purposes (2 Sam. v. 1 1 ; 1 Kgs. vi. 9 ff.). 10/ 1 1. The injury thus done the country must have been done before Isaiah began his ministry ; for, it was because the people were not humbled by it, that Jehovah upheld their adversaries f against them ; and these ad versaries, as appears from the next verse, were the Syrians, whom Tiglath-pileser overthrew in 732 b.c n/12. While the Syrians, the hereditary enemies of * A verb, perhaps the form D'lSlfol (lit. those speaking), seems to have fallen out of the text. t The text has piJI 11i£, the adversaries of Resin, but this reading is impossible. Several forms of emendation have been suggested. Thus, Lagarde would omit 11iC (adversaries of), and Houbigant, with a number of codices, change it to 11tf, princes ; while JDMichaelis, following the Septuagint, turns p3£1, Resin, into Jl'JC, Zion, or \fi 1.1, Mount Zion. But neither of these suggestions is so satisfactory as that of Bredenkamp, who omits ^2, and changes p2£1 to VIS, his, i.e., their, adversaries, the read ing above adopted. 218. ISAIAH. [IX. 11/12-14/15 Israel (1 Kgs. xv. 20, etc.), attacked them from the east, or, rather, the northeast, the Philistines invaded their country from the west, or, more exactly, the southwest. There is no record of the particular invasion here men tioned, but there is no doubt that the Philistines were always on the lookout for opportunities to prey upon the Northern, as well as the Southern, Kingdom. See 2 Chr. xxviii. 18. The damage done was great, for these swarming foes devoured . . . with open mouth, greedily. Still Jehovah did not relent; his hand was outstretched still. See v. 25. The next means by which Jehovah is represented as punishing his people seems to have been (b) Merciless Pestilence (vv. 12/13-16/17). — 12/13. The reason for this additional infliction is, that the people returned not to him that smote them,* Jehovah. Comp. x. 20. 13/14. Therefore he cut off from Israel head and tail, all classes, without discrimination. The same idea is repeated under the figure of the palm-tip and rush, the lordliest and the humblest form of vegetation. All this took place in a day, a startlingly brief space of time. 14/15. There follows a different interpretation, ac cording to which The elder, the corrupt ruler in the community, and the favorite at court, are the head, one * The form 1H3B1, lit. the one smiting him, with both the article and a suffix, which is sometimes characterized as an anomaly (Ges. § 116, 3, «. 2), is no stranger than 13 1T33.1, the one oppressing him, in v. 3. The only difference is, that, in this case, the participle takes the accusative after it, and not, as in the other, the genitive with 3. See Gen. xiii. 29. La- garde proposes to read UB = ''IB, for IB. IX. 14/15-16/17] COMMENTS. 219 class destined for destruction ; and the prophet that teacheth falsehood, and thus misleads the people, the tail, another, and less reputable, class. This interpreta tion is so inconsistent with the evident meaning of the preceding verse that it cannot be by Isaiah. Its severity upon the false prophets indicates that it must be as late as, if not later than, Jeremiah. See Jer. xiv. 14; Eze. xiii. 9 ; comp. Delitzsch. 15/16. The prophet now returns to the subject of v. 12/13, the cause of Jehovah's severity, declaring, that the guides, leaders, of Israel had become seducers ; and that, through them, their followers, those who depended upon them for guidance, were destroyed.* 16/17. The entire people had to suffer for the sins of the leaders. Jehovah spared f not even their youths, to whom, on account of their youth and comparative irresponsibility, he might have been expected to show some clemency (Am. viii. 13). neither had he pity on their orphans and widows, elsewhere represented as the objects of his peculiar care (i. 7). for, says the next line, they were all, not all the orphans and widows, although that is the natural meaning as the text is now * This verse, also, is regarded by Duhm as an editorial addition. Cheyne rescues it by omitting both 13/14 and 14/15. There certainly is something the matter with the text at this point, for it is clear that the second couplet of v. 16/17 was never intended for its present position. The connection would be greatly improved if v. 14/15 were omitted, and vv. 13/14 and l6/i7«/3 changed places. This, however, would not meet all the difficulties : the strophe would still be a couplet shorter than the other two. It is, therefore, probable that at least one couplet has been lost, and that v. 14/15 was inserted to fill the vacant space. If two have thus been replaced, the second is doubtless v. 15/16, whose likeness to iii. 12 gives some grounds for suspecting its genuineness. f rBD11 (xxxi. 5), with Lagarde, for hfilS1, rejoiced. 220 ISAIAH. [IX. 16/17-18/ig arranged, but all the people, faithless and wicked. On the other hand, For all this, etc., must be connected, not with this charge, but with the description of Jehovah's severity toward the orphans and widows, or, by a re arrangement of the text, with the similar description in v. 13/14.* The date of the infliction here described cannot be determined. See Am. iv. 10. The third strophe describes how Israel was weakened and wellnigh destroyed by (c) Internal Strife (vv. 17/18-20/21). — 17/18. This condition of things is viewed, first, as a reign of godless- ness, and compared to a fire, set among thorns and briers, which finally attacks the thickets, thick-set trees, of the forest. See Thomson, LB, II. 293. The mean ing of the figure is evident ; viz. that the first effects of the wickedness of the people were comparatively slight, but that it finally brought upon them wide-spread de struction. It was like the disappearance of a forest in a column of smoke. Comp. Delitzsch. ' 18/19. From another standpoint it was the fury of Jehovah by which the land was consumed, f It was by his decree that the people, on account of their persist- * The strophe, so far as it has been preserved, if rearranged in ac cordance with the above suggestions, would read as follows : 12 Yet the people returned not to him that smote them, and Jehovah of Hosts they sought not; 16"P for they were all faithless and wicked and every mouth spake folly. . . . 16<"» Therefore the Lord spared not their youths, neither had he pity on their orphans and widows; 18and Jehovah cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-tip and rush, in one day. m For all this his anger turned not, but his hand was outstretched still. t For DrlB3 read, with Krochmal, 11130. IX. 18/19-20/21] COMMENTS. 221 ence in wickedness, became as it were fuel for the fire.* The rest of the verse is misplaced. 19/20. The figure is now changed. The people are represented as greedy guests at a revolting feast, they cut to the right . . . and ate to the left, everything within their reach, without being satisfied. The char acter of the feast is brought out in the last line of v. 18/19, No one spared his brother, which belongs here, and the rest of this one, they ate, every one the flesh of his fellow ; f devoured one another in civil war. 20/21. Finally, in their savage fury, Manasseh and Ephraim, the most nearly related of all the tribes of Israel, representing the factions from whose struggles that kingdom had but lately suffered (2 Kgs. xv. 25), combined against Judah. They forgot their disputes, and even their inherited antipathy to Syria, when an opportunity offered to do their southern kinsmen harm. This seems to be the state of things described in 2 Kgs. xv. 37; in other words, this strophe probably brings the prophet's review of Israel's unfortunate history nearly down to the date of the prophecy. Yet this is not the end. The hand of Jehovah was outstretched still against them. The refrain requires at least one more strophe ; but, if the one just concluded dealt with recent events, there * Duhm has an interesting conjecture on this phrase. For WX n?3Xtt3 he would read WK "h^X 1M, like eaters of men, cannibals, and thus pre pare the reader for v. 19/20. The objection to it is, that, since the fury of Jehovah is naturally represented as fire (Eze. xxi. 36/31), and HfTO either means burn, or has taken the place of a word of that import, some reference to fire in this line is to be expected. It would be better to drop the couplet altogether as a gloss to v. 17/18. t 1B1, with Seeker, for 1B1I, his arm, as in Jer. xix. 9. 222 ISAIAH. [X. i, 2 cannot well be more than one or two additional; and it, or they, should contain a prediction of the destruc tion of Israel. The next four verses, in which the alter native, (d) Death or Captivity (x. 1-4), — is presented, at first sight seems to meet this requirement. Such, however, is not the case. The refrain at the end of v. 4 makes it impossible to regard the strophe, in its present form, as the conclusion of this, or any other prophecy. Nor does the removal of the refrain mend matters ; for, it is clear from the familiarity of the prophet with the prac tices of those who are condemned, that he is addressing, not Israel, but Judah ; in other words, that these verses do not belong to the same discourse as ix. 7/8-20/21. Obliged by these reasons to look elsewhere for a con clusion, and guided by the appearance of the familiar refrain in v. 25, one at length finds what is sought in v. 26-30. At the same time, both the form and the content of the paragraph now under consideration lead one to place it, minus the refrain, among the woes of the fifth chapter. Comp. Cheyne, TBI, 46 f.* x. 1. The prophet addresses himself to them that record iniquitous decrees, the judges already more than once arraigned for their injustice. The same are prob ably meant by the writers that engross trouble, decisions that work hardship. Comp. Dillmann. 2. That judges, and not legislators, are meant, seems * Cheyne, following Ewald, inserts x. 1-4 between ix. 20/21 and v. 26; and thus, besides introducing a woe against Judah into a prophecy con cerning Israel, furnishes this prophecy with a very inartistic double con clusion, the two parts of which are separated by a refrain that Isaiah would not have used in a prediction. X. 2-4] COMMENTS. 223 to be indicated by the terms in which the prophet de velops his accusation. The persons arraigned are accused of turning the lowly from judgment, preventing them from obtaining their rights. This is the negative side of their offence : the positive is, that widows are their prey, and orphans their plunder. See i. 23. 3. The prophet's indignation is aroused at the thought of such injustice. It does not occur to him to doubt that it will be punished, and that the penalty will be a terrible one. What, then, he demands, will ye do against the day of retribution ? how prepare yourselves (Am. iv. 12) to meet Jehovah, the Judge of the whole earth, when he comes to reward you according to your desert? It is the day of destruction (lit. tempest) that cometh, at the command of the Lord of the whole earth, from afar, the distant region of Assyria (v. 26). He insists upon an examination of their resources. To whom will ye flee for help, against the Almighty ? and where will ye bestow yourselves (lit. your glory, soul), to be safe from his vengeance ? * 4. Isaiah does not wait for an answer to his question. He knows that the accused are helpless. He therefore proceeds, in Jehovah's name, and with a brevity that greatly enhances its impressiveness, to pronounce their * Both of these questions have a pregnant construction. In the former, the use- of IB, on, instead of bX, to, gives to the sentence the force of, On whom, fleeing, will ye rely for help? and in the latter TCIX, whither, has a similar effect. In this case the complete expression would be, Whither will ye betake and bestow yourselves ? On the construction, see Ges. § 119, 4; comp. Buhl. The usual rendering for D31133 is your wealth (Skin ner), a rarer one your nobility (Henderson); but parallelism requires the one above given, and it is supported by such passages as Ps. vii. 6 and xvi. 10. 224 ISAIAH. [X. 4 sentence. It is in the form of an alternative: Whoso sinketh not, exhausted by fatigue or privation, under the feet of prisoners, his fellows in fetters, shall fall, before the arms of the conqueror, beneath, and one of, the slain.* Here ends the strophe, if such, in this connection, it may be called ; the refrain, since it can properly refer only to the past, being an editorial addi tion, made for the purpose of connecting the whole with the three strophes preceding. It was early in Isaiah's career when the prophecies just examined were delivered. The Assyrians had then, however, already made their appearance in the West. The prophet saw in them the instrument by which Jehovah intended to punish his people, as well as the surrounding nations, for their offences; and he was * The passage is a difficult one. It seems to read, literally, Except, one have sunk under a prisoner, and under the slain shall they fall; but 1 must often be translated then, rather than and, or omitted, when it introduces an apodosis. See Ges. § 154. Moreover, the use of the singular for the plural, both of the noun and the verb, is of frequent occurrence. See Ges. §§ 123, b; 144, 3, a. The interpretation adopted, therefore, is lin guistically defensible; and, being in harmony with the evident meaning of the context, is probably a substantially accurate reproduction of what the prophet intended to say. Similarly the Peshita. Another possible trans lation is, \_Naught remaineth for them\ except to sink under prisoners (as a prisoner) and (or) fall under the slain (Delitzsch) . See, however, the difference in tense between the verbs. Many other interpretations have been suggested, but none of those based on the present text is so satis factory as either of the two given. Lagarde has suggested an ingenious emendation of the text. He would read the first line Iin nBlb 'fll?, "VOX, Beltis boweth, Osiris is broken. Comp. xlvi. 1. This is very striking and attractive, since these gods may be regarded as representing Assyria and Egypt, the two powers to which the Jews alternately turned for as sistance; but, on second thought, it seems almost too abrupt to be the correct reading. X. 5-7] COMMENTS. 225 content that they should do their work. Years later, when, one after another, the kings of Assyria had over run Palestine; when Israel had been destroyed, and Judah was threatened with a similar fate; he became better acquainted with the conquerors, and began to inquire how long their haughty cruelty was to go un checked. The answer to this question is his prophecy concerning (2) The Rod of God's Anger (x. 5—34). — In its present form, it is divisible into four sections, the first of which recites (a) The Boast of the Assyrian (vv. 5-r I ). — 5. The Woe with which the prophet begins anticipates the specific denunciations of the next section. It is pro nounced upon Assyria as represented by its king (vii. 17, 20). Jehovah calls him the rod of his anger, the instrument of his displeasure, and a staff at his command in the day of his vengeance.* 6. He sent him Against a faithless nation, his chosen, but rebellious, people, the Hebrews; who, by their faith lessness, had aroused his fury. He commissioned him to take booty, conquer them ; and to trample them like the mire of the streets, completely subjugate them. 7. The Assyrian, however, was not so minded, was not in harmony with the divine purpose ; for it was in * The text has IttBI DT3 XM1 nts(3 ; an impossible construction. Various emendations have been suggested : as, e.g., the omission of the first word, after the rendering of the Septuagint (Bredenkamp) ; the second (Lowth) ;. or the second and the third (Hitzig) ; but the last makes the line too short; and the other two leave the figure unclear, and the suffix of DTB, in their hand, unexplained. All these objections are avoided by adopting Seeker's suggestion, and changing DT3 to OYO, in the day of, as in the above trans lation. 226 ISAIAH. [X. 7-9 his heart, as an aim and ambition, to destroy his rivals and cut off nations not a few, as many as possible ; thus extending his own empire. See xlvii. 6; Zee. i. 15. 8. The disposition of the great king appears in the first words put into his mouth. He says, Are not my princes, the governors of the various divisions of the empire, all kings ? This might mean that they were conquered sovereigns (2 Kgs. xvii. 3). Some of them were, but others were Assyrian officers ; hence it is probable that Isaiah here intends to represent the Assyrian monarch as claiming, what was doubtless true, that his governors, whether they had the royal title or not, were at least equal in power to the kings of western Asia. See xxxvi. 9. This, however, does not exhaust the meaning of the question. It is intended, not to exalt the princes referred to, but, as appears from the following verses, to suggest the invincibility of their lord and master. Moreover, it is perfectly in character; for Sennacherib, in the inscription over his picture of the capture of Lakish, calls himself " king of nations," as well as " king of Assyria." * 9. The boaster proceeds to demonstrate the folly of opposing him. Is not Kalno as Karkemish ? they have been taken, the one as well as the other. Kalno, the Kalneh of Am. vi. 2, can hardly be the Kulunu (Zirlab) in Babylonia taken by Sargon (Schrader, KAT, 444; Fried. Delitzsch; WP, 225 f.): it is probably either Kunulua (Kinalia), the capital of Patin, in northern Syria, taken by Tiglath-pileser in 740 b.c. (Guthe, ZJ, * See also the introduction to the famous Taylor Cylinder, where he is entitled " the great king, the mighty king, the king of the world, the king of Assyria, the king of the four quarters " (Schrader, KB, II. 80 f.) . X. 9, io] COMMENTS. 227 43; Meyer, GA, I. 448); or the Gullani (Kullani) against which, according to the Eponym Canon, this latter king directed his operations in 738 (Tiele, BAG, 230; Winck ler, A U, 131; Cheyne, IBI, 50) ; more probably the latter. Karkemish (Ass. Gargamis) was the capital of the Hittites, on the right bank of the upper Euphrates, at the site of the modern Jerabis (Delitzsch, WP, 265 ff.). It was taken for the last time by the Assyrians under Sargon in 717 b.c (Schrader, KAT, 384 f . ; KB, 38 f . ; McCurdy, HPM, II. 243; Ragozin, SA, 261). Four more conquered cities, two pairs, are enumerated : first, Hamath, on the Orontes, just beyond the northern limit of the Promised Land (Num. xxxiv. 8), now Hamah. It submitted to Tiglath-pileser in 738 (Schrader, KA T, 220 f., 252 f . ; KB, II. 20 f., 26 f.), but it had to be re conquered by Sargon in 720 (Schrader, KAT, 323 f . ; KB, II. 56 f. ; McCurdy, HPM, II. 240; Ragozin, SA, 255). The other three cities were concerned in the revolt, as the result of which Hamath lost its indepen dence; but they seem to have returned to their alle giance, when they saw their ally crushed. They had all recently felt the power of Assyria, and they shrank from the prospect of a repetition of that experience. Arpad, now Tell Erfad, a few miles north of Aleppo, had been conquered after a struggle of three years, in 740 B.C., by Tiglath-pileser (Schrader, KA T, 486 f. ; KB, I. 212 f.; McCurdy, HPM, I. 337; Ragozin, SA, 226); Damascus, after one of two years, in 732, by the same king(Intr. Stud. II.); and Samaria, after one of three years, in 722, by Sargon (Intr. Stud. IL). 10. These six cities, among the strongest within the Jewish horizon, have fallen before the Assyrians. The 228 ISAIAH. [X. io lesson is obvious, but the king is represented as giving it an explicit statement. In so doing he uses the expres sion my hands. This must not be taken strictly, since neither Sargon nor Sennacherib could claim that he had personally subdued all the cities mentioned. It is the hands of the people whom the speaker represents that have seized these kingdoms.* The kingdoms are described as kingdoms which had statues, f of their divinities, above those of Jerusalem and Samaria. It is most natural to interpret this as meaning that the cities first enumerated, except Samaria, had, each of them, a larger number of idol* than either of the two last named. Comp. Henderson. This means, of course, what the next verse more clearly expresses, that Samaria had worshipped idols, and that Jerusalem was now de pending upon them for protection. The former of these statements cannot be gainsaid. At any rate, according to the books of Kings, Israel was an idolatrous kingdom; and, in fact, idolatry was the sin which had most to do with its destruction (2 Kgs. xviii. 9 ff.). The statement concerning Jerusalem, on the other hand, is not con firmed by the Hebrew historian ; for, whether Sargon or Sennacherib be the mouth-piece of Assyria, the date of the prophecy falls within the reign of Hezekiah, the king of Judah who distinguished himself by destroying the high-places and removing the symbols of false relig ion from his borders (2 Kgs. xviii. 4). Moreover, in the * The text has T7KH fObfotib, the kingdoms of the idol, or idols; but the strangeness of the expression, both in form and content, makes it probable that the original reading was IIKI rOIBBI, these kingdoms, as above. See Am. vi. 2; comp. Duhm. t For DIT^DB, their statues, read OH1? Q^'DB, statues to them. X. 10-12] COMMENTS. 229 account of Sennacherib's invasion, the Assyrian spokes man recognizes Jehovah as the God and Champion of Judah (2 Kgs. xviii. 32 ff. ; xix. 10 ff.). 11. Such being the case, it is not probable that Isaiah wrote the words just quoted, or put into the mouth of the Assyrian the question with which the paragraph now closes, as I have done to Samaria and its idols, shall I not do to Jerusalem and its images ? Both verses must have been added to the text by a later writer who, for some reason, did not notice the discrepancy between them and the preceding context.* The second section of the prophecy describes (b) The Overthrow of the Boaster (vv. 12-19). — If is not entirely the work of Isaiah ; in fact, there are but two or three verses, — 13 and 14, and perhaps 15, — which, in their present form, can have been written by him. 12. The boaster is to be punished, but only when the Lord shall have finished his whole work, the chastise ment of his people, in Jerusalem. Then f he will punish the vaunt of the arrogance, the arrogant vaunt, of the king of Assyria. If there were other reasons for thinking this verse genuine, the mention of Assyria would settle the matter ; but since the other indications are to the contrary, it is necessary to suppose that the name Assyria is here, as in Ezr. vi. 22, applied to some other power. Compare the use of Babylon in Neh. xiii. 6 and Rev. xiv. 8. * There are two other facts pointing in the same direction; viz. that these two verses fall out of the rhythm of vv. 5-9; and that the thought contained in them is not expressed with Isaiah's clearness and succinctness. t The text has IpBX, I will punish, an evident error. 230 ISAIAH. [X. 13 13. The Assyrian, whose vain-glorious soliloquy was interrupted by vv. 10-12, is now permitted to continue. With the strength of my own hand, he asserts, have I wrought. Taken strictly, this utterance hardly .does justice to the supposed speaker. The Assyrian kings were doubtless very proud, but they were also very care ful to give to their gods a share in the credit of their achievements. Thus Sennacherib, at the beginning of the inscription in which he recounts his campaign against Hezekiah, calls himself " the favorite of the gods," and attributes the success of his arms to the favor of " Asshur the great rock" (Schrader, KB, II. 82 f.). What the prophet means is, that the Assyrian ignores Jehovah, by whom, and not by his own gods, he is being directed. (See Dan. iv. 30.) In his own strength and wisdom he claims to have removed * the boundaries of the peoples, in accordance with the policy of Tiglath-pileser (Ragozin, SA, 219 ff.), by annexing conquered territory, and deport ing the inhabitants to other parts of the empire ; a pro ceeding which, since, according to Deu. xxxii. 8, these boundaries were established by Jehovah himself, like the removal of private landmarks (Deu. xiv. 14), was a sort of sacrilege. The parallel line, their treasures I have plundered, f is also in character; for the Assyrian inscriptions consist largely of records of the booty of all sorts taken by the kings in their campaigns. Sen nacherib brought back from his first expedition, besides gold and silver and precious stones in great quantities, 7200 horses and mules, 11,073 asses, 5230 camels, 80,- 100 beeves, and 800,600 head of small cattle (Schrader, * For 1'DSl read I'DKl. Comp. Ges. § 107, 1, a; Dri. § 84, «. t On the form WW, for TIDW, see Ols. § 254. X. 13, 14] COMMENTS. 231 KB, II. 84 f.). The remnant of the verse was meant to be a continuation of the same subject, and the present text can be so interpreted, but the exact words of Isaiah have not been preserved. It is probable that the origi nal was, I have also brought down to the earth cities, and destroyed their inhabitants,* or its equivalent. At any rate, a boast of this sort would have been perfectly in harmony with the practice of recording the number of cities taken and enemies slain, followed by the Assyrian kings. Sennacherib, e.g., in the inscription already quoted, claims, in his first expedition, to have taken seventy-five fortified towns in Chaldea, and four hundred and twenty smaller places in their vicinity ; and in another, describing his second campaign, he says that he slew " the inhabitants of Babylon small and great," and " filled the streets of the city with their carcasses " (Schrader, KB, II. u8f.). 14. The Assyrian closes his re'sume' of his achieve- * There is no doubt about the corruption of the text. In the first place, there is only one line, while there ought to be two. Secondly, what there is, is not intelligible. Duhm, following a clue furnished by the Septuagint, suggests that the first line must have been, D'HB 1BS3 T11K1, / also caused to sink in ashes cities ; but, having neglected the indications of the text itself, he is unable to restore the second. Now it seems clear, that, if, as the 7ro\eis of the Septuagint would indicate, the first line contained the word D'lB, cities, the D13tCT of the second should be rendered, not those enthroned, but inhabitants. It seems natural, also, to look for the verb corresponding to THIX in the form T3K; and, upon finding T3X used by Jeremiah in a precisely similar connection (xlvi. 8) , to conclude that "p3Kl, and I destroyed, and not TOK3, like a bull, was the original reading. Having reached this point, one sees that another word must be inserted into the first line and a suffix added to the noun of the second. The result is the Hebrew of the rendering above given, D'lB JHN1 THIN! DI'SOT -p3Sl. On T11K1, comp. Ges. § 107, 1, a; Dri. § 84, a; on T3K1, see Ges'. § 68, 2, R. 1. . 232 ISAIAH. [X. 14, 15 ments with a characteristic illustration. He compares himself to a hunter. The people were birds, and their treasuries nests whose contents, their wealth, he coveted, and, he says, as one gathereth deserted eggs, eggs der serted by the frightened brooders, have I gathered the riches of the whole earth ; nor was there one that fluttered a wing or opened his mouth and peeped, in protest ; so terrified were the poor, helpless victims of his rapacity. The cruelty of this simile is only equalled by its appro priateness ; but it hardly surpasses in either respect figures used in the Assyrian inscriptions. Thus, e.g., Sargon says that he " hooked the Ionians like fish from the midst of the sea " (Schrader, KB, II. 42 f.) ; and Sen nacherib, that he " shut up Hezekiah in Jerusalem, his capital, like a bird in a cage " (id. 94 f.). How and where did Isaiah become so familiar with the Assyrian style ? 15. Jehovah replies, Doth the axe, a mere instrument, vaunt itself over him that wieldeth it ; by whose strength and skill it is made to do whatever it does ? The idea is ridiculous ; but it is not more so than that any man, however exalted his station, should claim to be his own master. This is the argument. The succession of figures that follows is intended merely to add to its impressiveness. The first one, that of the saw, simply forms a parallelism with the one just quoted. In the; last two, which also form a couplet, the idea of the first two is exaggerated ; for, the rod is presented to the imagination, not merely as asserting its independence, but as actually brandishing him that uplifteth it,* and the staff as uplifting that which is not wood, i.e., its living, intelligent wielder. » For vana nxi read wna nx. X. 16-18] COMMENTS. 233 16. The power of Jehovah being thus established, it remains to indicate how it is to be displayed. A first statement says that he will send into his, Assyria's, fat, his overgrown prosperity, a consumption, adversity; so that, as the invalid loses his flesh, the nation shall be stripped of its greatness. The completion of the figure is found in v. 18, the latter part of which should be transferred to this connection. See xvii. 4. According to a second figure, under his glory, the splendor of his greatness, shall be kindled a burning, a destroying agency ; which shall be as fatal to that greatness as the burning of fire to the fuel by which it is fed. 17. This fire is not a blind, impersonal physical agency. It is nothing less than Jehovah, who will, at the same time, be the Light of Israel, cheering and blessing them with his favor (ii. 5), and a fire, bringing disaster and destruction to their enemies. The figure is carried out as in ix. 17. The fire first attacks his thorns and his briers, inflicts slight damage. For the final phrase, see v. 18. 18. At last, however, it reaches his forest and orchard, the more substantial elements of his greatness ; and they disappear in a day. The rest of the verse is foreign to this connection, being the misplaced development of v. 16 a. Soul and body means, completely.* * It is hardly necessary to defend the changes made in the text of vv. 16- 18. It is perfectly clear that soul . . . wasteth disturbs the connection in which it now stands, and that v. 16 a is incomplete without it. Nor can there be any doubt that the phrase in a day should be inserted after orchard, so as to give to the two phrases which it now separates the same force as in ix. 17/18. These changes having been made, the verses ought to be rearranged so that p. 17 would begin with Also under, and v. \% with 234 ISAIAH. [X. ig 19. The result of the conflagration predicted will be that the remaining trees of his forest shall be so few in number that a boy can write them : his power will be reduced almost to extinction. The confusion in the text of the last verses of this section weakens the impression that they would other wise produce ; but, when it has been corrected, one can not help feeling that they still fall far short of being worthy of so forceful a writer as Isaiah. Moreover, toward the last, one begins to feel that the situation implied in v. 9 has been lost sight of, and a different one substituted for it. These considerations make it probable, that, as is held by several recent critics, vv. 16-19, and perhaps v. 15, were not called forth by the exigency that Isaiah had to face, but by a later con dition of things from which God's people were thus encouraged to expect deliverance. Probably, also, as Cheyne claims (IBI, 79), the conclusion of the original prophecy is the fragment found in xiv. 24-27, the form and content of which indicate that it belongs with the Isaianic portions of this chapter. The present state of the text may be explained by supposing, that, after Isaiah's prophecy had served its immediate purpose, so much of it as could be used to advantage was incorporated by a later writer into one bearing upon a and it shall burn ; i.e., if the division into verses is to be retained. The passage, thus rearranged, would read as follows : 16 Therefore will the Lord send into his fat a consumption; soul and body shall it destroy, and it shall be as when a sick man wasteth. 17 Also under his glory shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire; yea, the Light of Israel will be a fire, and their Holy One a flame; ls and it shall burnand devour his thorns and his briers, also the glory of his forest and orchard, in a day. X. ig-22] COMMENTS. 235 similar situation, and the rest left to stand as a separate utterance. What the new situation was will become clear in the paragraph that follows. (c) The Liberation of the Remnant(vv. 20-27) — is the subject of this third section. It is wholly in the inferior style of the last four verses of the preceding. 20. The remnant, therefore, cannot be the survivors of an Assyrian invasion, but must be they that escape from the later situation with which the remodelled prophecy has to do. The character of this remnant is first described. They shall no longer, as the nation, notably in the case of Ahaz' appeal to Assyria (2 Chr. xxviii. 20), had done, lean upon their smiter, a helper who will finally do them more harm than good, in short, any human ally ; but shall lean upon Jehovah, who was himself the smiter in ix. 12, faithfully, fully and forever. 21. Will, then, the writer seems to ask himself, or imagine somebody asking him, the people be saved ? He replies by quoting the promise contained in the name of Isaiah's eldest son, A remnant shall return ; adding, by way of interpretation, to Mighty-lord, the head of the restored nation (ix. 5), and vice-gerent of the Almighty (Hos. iii. 5). Comp. Orelli. 22. A second promise occurs to the writer, — the one given to Abraham (Gen. xxii. 17), repeated to Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 12), and quoted, as a stimulus to faith, Hos. ii. 1 (i. 10);* and he quotes it in support of the first one. Surely, he says, if, as Jehovah promised our fathers, thy people, 0 Israel ! are to be as the sand of the * Hos. ii. 1-3 (i. 10-ii. 1) is probably, as recent critics claim, an inter polation (Giesebrecht, Bf, 212 ff.), but its date is immaterial in this connection. 236 ISAIAH. [X. 22-24 sea for multitude, — and who can doubt that the promise is to be fulfilled ? — a remnant thereof shall, must neces sarily, return.* If, now, the verse, thus far, is not a threat, but a promise, the rest of it cannot refer to Israel, but must be interpreted as an announcement of judgment upon their enemies. Their Destruction is de creed; onrushing against them is the retributive right eousness of Jehovah, j 23. The last statement, also, is fortified by a quota tion. This time, however, it is a passage, slightly modi fied, from one of Isaiah's prophecies (xxviii. 22), to which there are allusions in the book of Daniel (ix. 26 f . ; xi. 36). The passage, in its original connection, was a threat launched at the drunken rulers of Judah. Here it becomes a prediction of the fate, — destruction, already ordained, — of the enemies of the chosen peo ple, and, indeed, of the whole earth, the entire heathen world. % 24. In view of this decree, Jehovah encourages his people that dwell in Zion not to fear Assyria. Here are two expressions that might be interpreted as betray- * The usual interpretation introduces into the text an only for which there is no warrant, and thus destroys the connection between this and the following verse. t This is the natural rendering. The order of the words in the first part is reversed in the second for the sake of variety; as often in the Old Tes tament (Prv. iii. 16). One is tempted to translate pIPI, active. On Ppltt> and its meaning, see Jer. viii. 6; and on flp13£, Isa. v. 16. Comp. De litzsch. X This final phrase, from which, by the way, "?3, whole, is omitted in some codices, is an indication of lateness of date. The appearance of its equivalent in xxviii. 22 cannot be cited in proof of the contrary, since the flSn 13 IB, upon the whole earth, of that passage is clearly an inter polation. See Duhm. X. 24, 25] COMMENTS. 237 ing the hand of Isaiah. There is, however, the same reason for caution in this instance as in the case of v. 12. Here, too, the style is too prosaic to be Isaiah's. The reference to Egypt, also, is significant ; for all the passages, outside of this chapter, in which there are reminiscences of the Exodus, are of Exilic or post-Ex ilic origin. See iv. 5; xi. 15; but especially xliii. 16; xlviii. 21; li. 10; Ixiii. 11. On the whole, then, it is safest to conclude that Assyria is here, as in v. 12, a symbolic term ; and that the phrase, that dwell in Zion, indicates the post-Exilic origin of the passage. When it was written the Jews were suffering from the cruelty of their masters, probably the Persians; but they are exhorted not to lose heart though the rod and the staff be uplifted against them after the manner of Egypt; though they be treated with the same severity as were their forefathers by the Egyptians (Ex. i. 13 f.). 25. They are further encouraged by being assured that it will be but a brief moment, a very short time, before Jehovah's vengeance,* not upon his own people, as v. 5 has led many exegetes to suppose (Delitzsch), but, as the context and such parallel passages as Eze. v. 13 require, upon their oppressors (see also Eze. vii. 8 ; xx. 8, 21; Dan. xi. 36), shall be completed. The last clause of the verse is a repetition of the promise, f * For DBT, vengeance, read, with Lowth, ''BBt, my vengeance. t The text has Drcbsn ^B HMO, lit. and my anger upon their ruin; which is interpreted as meaning that the wrath of Jehovah will be directed to the destruction of the Assyrians; but it is doubtful if the clause will bear this interpretation. Luzzatto, dividing the last word into Dri'' 13P1, renders the whole, and my anger against the world, the nations oppressed by Assyria, shall cease. Delitzsch suggests that a better rendering of such a text would be, and my anger against the world, the sinful world repre- 238 ISAIAH. [X. 26, 27 26. The final stimulus to faith is an appeal to history. Jehovah (the third person) will brandish over the op pressor a scourge, and smite him as when Midian (ix. 3/4) were smitten by the Ephraimites at the rock Oreb (Jud. vii. 25). He will again manifest the power, which, when Moses extended his staff over the sea, wrought the overthrow of Pharaoh's host (Ex. xiv. 26) ; and thus punish Egyptian cruelty (v. 24) after the manner of Egypt.* 27. Thus his burden, the oppressive exactions now en dured, shall be removed . . . and his yoke, subjection to his will and authority, broken. \ See ix. 3/4; xiv. 25. (d) The Decisive Hour(vv. 28-34). — The final section pictures the fulfilment of the promise of deliverance. It consists of a dramatic fragment of a genuine proph ecy, to which are added a few lines containing a varia tion, by the editor, upon the figure of vv. 18 f. The fragment by Isaiah begins with the abrupt and startling announcement, He hath come up into Benja min \% The subject is the Assyrian invader. He is sented by Assyria, shall be fulfilled '; but he does not adopt the emendation. The following expresses even more closely than Luzzatto's text the thought that must have been in the mind of the writer : UTvSn 1B31 'BSl, and my anger shall accomplish his ruin. The first change is the restoration of two letters that would easily be omitted by a scribe ; the second, the correction of a suffix to bring it into harmony with the context. For a similar expression, see Ps. lxxiv. 12. * For 1K1OT1 DM ^B liTBB, lit. and his staff over the sea and he shall up lift it, Winckler, A U, I7&f., suggests KiP1 UTfbo 1.1BB, his staff over them shall he uplift. See v. 24. t For 13H, and shall be broken, read, with Duhm, 13IT, shall be broken. WRSmith (four. Phil. 1884, 62 f.) prefers "?1IT, shall cease. For the last three words of the text, see the next section. X The text has JB1P '3BB IB, yoke on account of fat. The preceding X. 27, 28] COMMENTS. 239 moving from the less elevated region of central Palestine into the highlands occupied by the tribe of Benjamin, which, with the tribe of Judah, constituted the kingdom of Judah ; in other words, he is invading Judah. 28. His route from the northern boundary of the kingdom to the capital is described. He first comes to Ayyath, or Ai, near Bethel (Gen. xii. 8), the first town in the interior of western Palestine captured by Joshua (Jos. viii. 1 ff.). He destroyed it, and, when Jos. viii. 29 was written, it remained deserted. It had now been re built, perhaps fortified for the protection of the northern border of the kingdom. The location of the city is dis puted. Robinson (BRP, II. 312 f.) favors a site in the word 13H1, shall be broken, is generally connected with this phrase, but it is needed to complete the line preceding. Moreover, another line is wanted, not at the end of v. 27, where it would be redundant, but at the beginning of v. 28, where there is a fellow for it. Now it is plain that the phrase quoted cannot, in its present form, have any reference to what fol lows. It is, therefore, without doubt, corrupt; and a better reading must be found if possible. No help is to be got from the versions. Hence critics have been forced to resort to conjecture. WRSmith (/our. Phil. 1884, 62 f.) suggests that the text be amended to read lltf |1B3£B rbv, There hath come up from the north a destroyer, and it js probable that the first word is correct; but the other two find so little support in the recog nized writings of Isaiah, that they can hardly be considered a satisfactory solution of the problem. Duhm substitutes for them J1B1 ,JBB, from Pene- rimmon, or from before Rimmon. To this it may reasonably be objected, not only that it leaves the movement without a starting-point (Skinner), but that one could hardly speak of going up from Rimmon, which was situated on a conspicuous eminence (Robinson, BRP, I. 440, III. 290), to Ayyath. The reading above adopted, pB'SB ?bv, seems less objection able. In the first place, it is not too unlike the present text. Secondly, it furnishes the name that would most naturally head such a list as is given in this passage. Finally, it is favored by the fact that Benjamin actually occurs in a passage in Hosea (v. 8) so similar that it may well have sug gested this one. 240 ISAIAH. [X. 28, 29 neighborhood of Kudeirah, just south of Deir Diwan; but van de Velde (SP, II. 278) prefers Tell el-Chajar, a little north of the same village, and this seems to be the more reliable identification. The next place is Migron, probably the modern Makrun, a ruined village south of Deir Diwan, on the way to Mikmash, now Mukmas, just north of Wady Suweinit, a deep valley (1 Sam. xiv. 13) which begins at el-Bireh (Beeroth) and runs into that of the Jordan. 29. Here the Assyrian is represented as depositing his baggage, his heavy stores and surplus munitions ; as well he might, before attempting the rough task of getting his army over the passage through the valley just described to Geba, now Jeba, on the opposite side (1 Sam. xiv. 5), which Asa fortified (1 Kgs. xv. 22), and which, in the time of Josiah, marked the northern fron tier of Judah (2 Kgs. xxiii. 8). Here, about five miles from Jerusalem, his army makes its bivouac. With break of day he is again astir. Meanwhile the people in his front are smitten with dismay. Ramah trembleth. Several places bearing this name are mentioned in the Old Testament. This is the one usually designated as Ramah of Benjamin. Whether it is the same with that where Samuel lived and died is disputed. The trend of opinion seems to be toward the negative. See Conder, TW, II. 116; Riehm, HBA, art. Rama. The one here meant, now er-Ram, was situated on a high hill, near another road to Jerusalem, about two miles west of Geba. Nevertheless, its inhabitants quaked, when they saw the Assyrians in motion. They of Gibea of Saul, now Tuleil el-Ful, although they too were off the direct route, in their terror left their little city and fled. X. 30-32] COMMENTS. 241 30. Gibea was a little more than two miles from Jeru salem. Gallim and Laish must have been in the vicinity, and, since the cries of the former could be heard at the latter, near each other ; but their sites have not yet been recovered.* Anathoth, a priestly city (Jos. xxi. 18; 2 Kgs. ii. 26), the home of Jeremiah (Jer. i. 1), now Anata, lay on the direct route of the Assyrians, about half-way between Geba and Jerusalem. See Geikie, HLB, II. 159L It is not strange, therefore, that it fainteth,t helpless with terror. 31. Madmenah, according to Valentiner (ZDMG, xii. 169) is to be identified with Shafat, about two miles west of Anathoth. Its inhabitants flee, not knowing whither, while those of Gebim, whose site is unknown, hurry away their cattle, just as the Hebrews were in structed to do on the eve of the Exodus (Ex. ix. 19). 32. The prophet sees the goal reached, this very day he will halt, take a position, at Nob, a priestly city, where the tabernacle for some time stood (1 Sam. xxi. * The former is mentioned also 1 Sam. xxv. 44. The name Laish oc curs in the same passage, but as that of a person instead of a place. So, also, 2 Sam. iii. 15. t The text has !T3B, which has been taken as an attributive (Alexan der), or an appositive (Delitzsch), of the noun following, or a proper name, the !THV of Neh. xi. 32 and the Bethany of the New Testament (Henderson); but the later exegetes, following the Peshita, generally pre fer to read !T3B, answer her. This would do, if the division between vv. 30 and 31 were correct. As a matter of fact, the line to which this word belongs makes a couplet, not with the one that precedes, but the one that follows it. This being the case, it is more probable that the sentence was a declaration, than that it was an exhortation. On the other hand the adjective afflicted does not seem perfectly to fit the connection. The word needed is the 13B of xxxi. 4, and the form, the 3d sing, fern., !"iri3B, which may be rendered cower eth, or, for the sake of assonance, as above, fainteth. 242 ISAIAH. [X. 32-XI. 1 1 ff.). It must have been very near Jerusalem ; other wise the prophet would not have thought of it as the base of the invader's operations against the city. It was probably on Mt. Scopus, the ridge, about two miles dis tant, that commands it on the north. From this point, looking down upon it, he will shake his hand against, threaten, the mount of Zion the fair,* i.e., as is explained in the final clause, the hill, or cluster of hills, of Jerusa lem. On the view from this point, see Geikie, HLB, II. 156 f. 33. The Assyrian against the northern horizon recalls the figure of the forest. This time, however, it is not to be destroyed by fire, but Jehovah will lop the foliage with which it is decked with a crash (lit. terror) ; f and the lofty in stature, the towering trunks, shall be felled. 34. Thus shall this Lebanon, with all its glory, fall by a more glorious one than he, Jehovah of Hosts, the Lord. The overthrow of the old is but a preparation for the establishment of (3) A New Order (xi.-xii.). — This was the teaching of Isaiah in ix. 1/2 ff.: it is now repeated. Moreover, as in the prophecy quoted, so here, the new order of things takes the form of (a) An Ideal Kingdom (xi. 1-10). — Here, however, the prophet's idea is more fully developed than it was when first imparted to his disciples. In the first place, a. the inspired king (vv. 1-5) — is portrayed in his character as well as in his achievements. 1. He is to * The text, doubtless through a scribal error, has fFB, house. t For niXBB Duhm reads 13CBB, axe; but the introduction of the in strument at this point weakens the figure. XI. i, 2] COMMENTS. 243 be a shoot from the stump of Jesse. The mention of Jesse in this connection has sometimes been supposed to contain a prediction, that, before the appearance of the promised ruler, the royal family of Judah would be reduced to the rank to which Jesse belonged when his son was chosen to succeed Saul (Calvin) ; but it has no such significance. Like the reference to Bethlehem in Mic. v. 2, it means simply that the future king is to be " of the house and lineage of David " (Luk. ii. 4). The comparison of the dynasty to a stump, however, indi cates that Isaiah expected it to lose the remnant of its glory preserved by Ahaz, perhaps to be as nearly destroyed as it was by the wicked queen Athaliah (2 Kgs. xi. 1 f.). But the promised shoot, or, as he is called in the second line, sprout, shall bear fruit, restore to the royal house its lost vigor and regain its original power (ix. 6/7). 2. The secret of his success is, that there shall rest on him the spirit of Jehovah, the source of all excellence in human character and achievement. This spirit has diverse operations (1 Cor. xii. 6); in this case in the same person. It is, first of all, the spirit of wisdom and insight, the source of the ability to discover the things which it is necessary for a successful ruler to know. Such a gift was bestowed upon Moses, and the elders appointed to assist him in the government of his people (Num. xi. 17). The same gift was possessed by David (2 Sam* xiv. 20) and Solomon (1 Kgs. iii. 12). See, also, the cases of Joseph (Gen. xl. 38) and Daniel (Dan. iv. 8 f.). It will procure for its possessor the title " Wondrous-counsellor " (ix. 5/6). The same spirit will manifest itself as the spirit of prudence and might, i.e., 244 ISAIAH. [XI. 2-4 the source of the wisdom for planning enterprises and the power to carry them into effect. These fruits of the spirit appear in the cases of Gideon (Jud. vi. 24), Saul ( 1 Sam. xi. 6), and David ( 1 Sam. xvi. 1 3). In the new David they will be so abundant, that, as ix. 5/6 has it, men will call him "Mighty-lord," etc. There follows another pair of characteristics to which there is nothing in the previous prophecy to correspond, the knowledge and the fear of Jehovah. They are the most important that have been mentioned, for they furnish a guarantee that the others will not be misused. Being, through the spirit, made acquainted with Jehovah and rendered sub missive to his will, the coming ruler can never, like Samson or Solomon, use his strength or wisdom for unworthy ends, but must always employ them for the realization of the highest ideals ; in other words, he will be a perfect instrument in the hands of Jehovah for the accomplishment of his purpose to make of Israel "a great nation." 3. The knowledge and the fear of Jehovah, then, are not mere sentiments, but practical qualities. This is made perfectly clear by the fact that the rest of the paragraph is devoted to a description of a brilliant, but righteous government,* he shall not judge according to the sight of his eyes, from appearances, or the hearing of his ears, the testimony of others ; 4. but, being gifted with extraordinary insight (2 Sam. * The declaration, his delight, also, shall be in the fear of Jehovah, must be excepted. It describes a pure sentiment. This fact, alone, makes its genuineness doubtful; but when one notices, also, that it makes an odd line, easily explained (Bickell) as a dittograph of the last words of the preceding verse, its ungenuineness seems established. XI. 4-6] COMMENTS. 245 xiv. 20; 1 Kgs. iii. 9), and thus being able to discern the truth, in spite of the attempts of their enemies to conceal it, in righteousness shall he judge those who were oftenest the victims of injustice, the lowly, not of the earth, — Isaiah's vision is not so wide as that, — but of the land, his kingdom. Comp. Henderson. On the other hand, he shall smite the violent,* the op pressors of the weak, with the rod of his mouth, by a word bring about their punishment, perhaps without the intervention of an executioner. See Hos. vi. 5 ; Acts v. S ; comp. Zee. ix. 10. • 5. The description closes with the figurative state ment that righteousness . . . and faithfulness, or un changing righteousness, shall be the cincture f of his reins ; i.e., just as the girdle completes one's dress, and, when tightened, prepares one for action, so shall right eousness, the fear of Jehovah in action, hold all his other qualities in their just relations, and fit him for the high est possible efficiency in his divinely appointed office. The child of ix. 5/6 at last receives the title Prince-of- peace. So here, when the shoot of Jesse has delivered his country and destroyed its enemies, begins ft. the reign of peace (vv. 6-10). — 6. The peace- fulness of the new era is illustrated by a number of con crete examples. Then shall the wolf, one of the worst * The text has f IR, the land, which does not express the evident thought of the author. It is expressed by the word piB, the violent, which, moreover, occurs several times as a synonym of the term godless. See Jer. xv. 21. It is safe, therefore, to conclude, with Krochmal, that this was the original reading. Comp. Delitzsch. t In the text 11JK, girdle, occurs twice. It is probable, as Duhm sug gests, that originally the synonym 113n was used in one line or the other. 246 ISAIAH. [XI. 6, 7 enemies of the shepherd, because it usually attacks his flock at night (Tristram, NHB, 153), rest, lie peaceably, with the lamb ; and the leopard, still common in Pales tine, an even more dangerous animal than the wolf, lying in wait for its prey and fighting for it, when neces sary, with great fierceness (Tristram, NHB, 112), lie down with the kid, heretofore so often its victim. In these two pairs the wild animal is mentioned first, as if the prophet wished to emphasize the loss of its natural fierceness; in the other two the disappearance of the natural timidity of the tame animals seems to be made prominent by reversing the order. The third pair are the calf and the young lion. The lion has now disap peared from Palestine; but it was formerly common (Jud. xiv. S ; 2 Kgs. xvii. 25 f.), and it remained in some localities as late as the twelfth century (Tristram, NHB, 115 ff.). Its destructiveness to cattle is repeatedly re ferred to (xxxi. 4; 1 Sam. xvii. 34; Am. iii. 12). Its nature is to be so changed that the calf will no longer fear it, but the two will quietly fatten * together. In that day men like David and Amos will not be needed to protect the animals from one another : it will be sport for a little child to lead them. 7. A fourth illustration is added. The animals are The cow and the bear. The latter is not very frequently mentioned in the Old Testament ; but it was reckoned * The text has S'lBl, and falling, but this can hardly be correct. The line, like the two preceding, should have a verb and only two nouns. In the Septuagint it is so constructed. It is therefore probable that this was the original construction in Hebrew. The only difficulty is in determining the precise verb that was used. Wellhausen, following the Septuagint, suggests Din, feed, but there is more to be said for 1X13'' (Duhm) 01 1K1B1 (Buhl), either of which might mean fatten. See I Sam. ii. 29. XI. 7, 8] COMMENTS. 247 among the enemies of the shepherd (i Sam. xvii. 34 ff.). It is now rare in Palestine, except in the region of Mt. Hermon (Tristram, NHB, 46 ff.). These two are to company,* live together in harmony ; together shall their young lie down, as calves and cubs do while their mothers are feeding about them.t 8. Nor is this all. The serpent, to the Hebrew the most repulsive and malicious of all God's creatures, is to become the harmless plaything of its hitherto in voluntary enemy, the babe shall delight in, perhaps crow over, the glittering, and, according to the ancients, paralyzing eye % of the asp, or, perhaps, as Tristram (NHB, 270 f.) inclines to think, the cobra, the species of serpent most frequently used by charmers; and toward the viper's (Tristram, NHB, 275 f.) sparkling pupil (Prv. xv. 30) shall the child, as children naturally do, when they see anything attractive, with impunity stretch its hand. * For rWBin, feed, read, with Lagarde, WDIfln, as in Prv. xxii. 24, where it is rendered make friends. This change makes the addition of another VirP, together (Lowth), unnecessary. t The text has an additional line, and the lion shall eat straw like oxen. It cannot, however, belong here, (i) It has no place in the rhyth mical scheme of the prophecy, being, like the first line of v. 3, without a mate with which to form a distich. (2) It brings back an animal that has already been disposed of. (3) It produces confusion in the thought of the paragraph. In all the rest of vv. 6-8, as one would expect, it is a change in the disposition of the animals mentioned that is predicted; here it is a change of habit, involved, perhaps, in the preceding statements, but beyond the prophet's present purpose. In lxv. 25, on the other hand, it creates no particular difficulty. Hence that is probably its original setting. | The word 1PI literally means hole, but the use of it in Can. v. 4 in the sense of window, and the occurrence of a word for eye in the next line, seem to warrant one in concluding that here it denotes the opening through which the animal looks. 248 ISAIAH. [XI. g 9. It is evident, that, while painting this picture, the author of it had in mind the ideal conditions under which another equally gifted writer depicted the race as beginning its existence (Gen. ii. 18). The teaching of the passage, therefore, is, that, as in Eden, so under the reign of the king of the future, the animals will be what they were intended to be, one and all the harm less and docile companions of man. Comp. Henry. If, however, the animals are to be so changed, will the new regime have a less happy effect upon the restored nation ? The question does not require an answer ; but one, whether by Isaiah, or some later seer, it is difficult to determine, is given.* They, probably the people, shall not hurt (2 Sam. xx. 6) nor destroy one another, in all my holy highlands, i.e., as the parallel line shows, Ca naan. Before its occupation by the Hebrews it is desig nated "the highlands of the Amorites" (Deu. i. 7), and later, " the highlands of Judah and . . . Israel " (Jos. xi. 21). It is here called holy because it has been chosen by Jehovah for his servants and worshippers. See Jer. xxxi. 23; comp. Alexander. The reason for this blissful state of things is given : the land through the agency of the same spirit by which its ruler is in spired, shall be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as completely as the water covereth the bed of the Sea. * Cheyne thinks the conclusion that this verse is of late origin irresist ible, but none of his arguments seems so decisive. He exaggerates the difference in rhythm between this and the preceding verses; and, in arguing for the lateness of the phrase my holy mountain, overlooks the fact, that in this case it is modified by all, and that therefore most of the passages cited by him are beside the point. Duhm seems much more convincing. It certainly is not perfectly apparent who or what are not to do evil; moreover, the word my sounds strangely in the connection. XI. io, n] COMMENTS. 249 All, without exception, by obedience to his precepts, will recognize Jehovah as their God, and the effect of this their righteousness will be peace and security for ever (xxxii. 1 7). io. The final touch was not given to this picture by Isaiah. He did not see the entire breadth of Jehovah's purpose ; but, when his prophecy had done its work in sustaining the faith of his people during the Assyrian crisis, and had long been cherished as a proof of the divine faithfulness, some one whose heart Jehovah had touched boldly read into it another promise of deliver ance, and supplemented it with the declaration, that the restoration of Israel would be the prelude to the salva tion of the world. He boasts that the root of Jesse is to become a signal to the nations ; so that, as a tall tree growing on a hill becomes a landmark and a rallying- point for the surrounding country, the future ruler will attract the peoples, and they shall come to him for in struction in the knowledge of the true God (ii. 2f.); and his abode, Jerusalem, enriched by their treasures as it was not even in the days of Solomon, shall be glori ous. See i Kgs. x. i ff. ; Isa. Ix. 5 ff.* (b) The Restoration of the Outcast (xi. 11-16) — was another article in the faith of Exilic and post-Exilic times. It is the subject of a second supplement to the original prophecy. 11. The section is introduced by the same phrase as the preceding verse, in that day. It is the day when Jehovah, having driven his people of both kingdoms into exile, in mercy will restore them to favor. Then he will * Compare the interesting but mistaken rendering of the Vulgate. 250 ISAIAH. [XI. n, 12 a second time, the first being on the occasion of the Exodus (v. 16), put forth * his hand to redeem Israel. This time, however, the redeemed will be but the rem nant of his people, viz. those that are left, when they are summoned from the countries into which they have been driven. Eight such countries are enumerated. The first are Assyria and Egypt. They are the two whose names are used by Hosea (xi. n) in a similar prophecy, and probably the only ones originally mentioned in this passage. See v. 15. The first of the added names is Pathros, Upper Egypt, whither some of the Jews escaped after the destruction of Jerusalem (Jer. xliv. 1). Isaiah could not well have referred to it as a distinct country. He did not distinguish even between Egypt and Kush, Ethiopia, for the reason that, in his time, both countries were under the same government. See xviii. 1 ff . ; t xx. 3 ; xxx. 2. After these two western, two more eastern countries are added, Elam, at the head of the Persian Gulf, whose capital, Shushan, became the prin cipal residence of the Persian kings (Neh. i. 1), and Shinar, Babylonia. The last two are Hamath % and the countries on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea (Gen. x. 5). 12. When the time comes to fulfil his purpose, Jehovah will uplift a signal to the nations. This time, however, * The text has rf'DT', add, after which, as in Num. xi. 25, a verb, eg., nilP, is to be supplied, or rP3!P, a second time, changed to Cft), set (Ex. xxiii. 1), or nKE>, raise (Eze. xx. 5 f.). t The point of the reference in this case is not in the name Kush, which, as Duhm asserts, is doubtless a gloss, but in the fact that Ethiopia here represents the dual empire of Tirhaka. X For nan Cornill (ZA W, 1884, 93) proposes to read SHBHS, Egba- tana, here Media (Ezr. vi. 2). See 2 Kgs. xviii. 11. XI. 12-14] COMMENTS. 251 they will be commissioned, not to destroy (v. 26), but to restore the outcast of Israel . . . and the scattered * of Judah, from the four quarters of the earth, all parts of the East and the West. See xlix. 22. 13. One of the means by which God's people were permitted to destroy themselves, was internal strife (ix. 17/18 ff.). After the restoration there will be noth ing of the kind. Then shall the envy of Ephraim, by Judah, depart, and the vexers of Judah, in Ephraim, be destroyed. On the other hand, Ephraim shall not envy Judah, nor shall Judah vex Ephraim. In other words, the two nations will be reunited in a single common wealth, and henceforth live in peace and amity, f 14. The reunited people, however, will not be content with anything less than the possession of the entire Promised Land, they shall pounce, like a bird of prey (Hab. ii. 8), upon the shoulders, in modern parlance, backs, % of the Philistines westward, together shall they plunder the sons of the East, the wandering tribes of the eastern desert. See Gen. xxix. 1 ; Jud. vi. 3 ; Jer. xlix. 28; comp. Gen. xxv. 13. Their remaining neighbors, also, are to be subdued, — Edom . . . Moab . . . and the sons of Ammon ; and the boundaries of the kingdom * The word outcast, in the original, is masculine, while the word scat tered is feminine. The change of gender does not mean that only males of Israel and females of Judah are to be redeemed; it is merely the Hebrew way of saying that both sexes will be represented among the returning exiles. See iii. 1. t This interpretation, which is perfectly defensible, makes it unneces sary, with Duhm, to pronounce the second distich a gloss. X For 'irD, so pointed because it was supposed to have indirect ref erence to the geography of Philistia (Jos. xv. n), read P|p3. Comp. Skinner. 252 _ ISAIAH. [XI. 14, 15 of David thus reestablished. See Am. ix. 12. It is possible, perhaps, to harmonize this prediction with vv. 1-9, but it can hardly be reconciled with v. 10. See, also, ii. 2 ff. 15. There follow two verses that continue the subject of v. 12, and therefore properly belong between it and v. 13. They describe the way in which Jehovah will bring the outcast back to their country. He will dry up * the tongue of the Egyptian, i.e., the Red, Sea, as he did at the first exodus, and thus make a way for those who come from the West. For_those who come from the East he will wave his hand over the River, the Euphrates, at the same time letting loose upon it his mighty wind, f and smite it into seven, i.e., a large num ber of, streams, canals such as those into which it was actually divided for purposes of irrigation. It will then no longer be an obstacle in the way of the returning captives ; for one can cross it in sandals. * Bnnn, in harmony with the Peshita and the Targum, for Dnnn, lay under ban. t The text has Iffll BID, which is usually rendered with the glow of his wind, i.e., his glowing wind. It presents various difficulties. In the first place, if the reading DT is correct, it is by no means certain that it has the meaning given to it. Secondly, if the word is correctly rendered, the phrase to which it belongs is evidently misplaced; since the Euphrates is not to be dried up, but smitten into streams so small that they will be easily passable. Finally, if the phrase belongs to the first line, it can hardly be an original part of it, since it lengthens the line out of all pro portion to the others of the verse. It is necessary, therefore, with Duhm, to pronounce the whole a gloss, or explain or emend it so as to make it fit its present context. Krochmal, following the Septuagint, suggests 1PI11 D3£B3, with the strength of his wind, i.e., with his strong wind; but since, in the record of which this is a reminiscence (Ex. xiv. 21), the ex pression used is UB Pill, a strong wind, a more probable conjecture is Iflll fflB3, with the same meaning. See xiii. 25; Ps. cxlv. 6. XI. I6-XII. 2] COMMENTS. 253 16. Thus there shall be a highway . . . from Assyria, as there was . . . from Egypt.* When Jehovah delivered his people from bondage in Egypt, they sang his praise on the hither shore of the Red Sea (Ex. xv.). So, also, when the ransomed return to their country, they will celebrate their redemption in (c) Songs of Deliverance (xii.). — The first effect of this new evidence of Jehovah's love will find expression in a. A song of faith (vv. 1-3). — 1. It opens with a burst of gratitude, I will praise thee; and the reason for it, although thou wast angry with me, on account of my sins, now that thy anger, being satisfied, is turned \ (ix. 11), thou comfortest me. The first person is here, as in many at least of the Psalms, collective. The nation, as one man, confess their past disloyalty, and attribute their present happiness solely to the mercy of God. 2. Their indebtedness to Jehovah finds further expres sion in the glad acclamation, Lo, the God of my deliver ance ! for it looks backward as well as forward. In fact, it is the experience of Jehovah's helpfulness in the past that warrants them in saying, I will trust and not trem ble, be tormented by fear or uncertainty. Then follows, as a statement of the ground of this confidence, a quota tion from the song of Moses (xv. 2): my strength, the one on whom I relied for strength, and therefore my song, % * This verse is a remarkable example of the fondness of the Hebrews for assonance. Of the fourteen words of which it is composed all but five contain a sibilant. t The translation is intended to give the jussive 3B>\ lit. let turn, a conditional force. See Ges. § 109, 2, b; comp. § 109, 2, b, R.; Dri. § 174. X TUB! for niBT. Comp. Ges. § 80, R, 2, b. 254 ISAIAH. [XII. 2-5 the object of my praise, was Jah,* i.e., as is explained in a gloss, Jehovah ; and he has not disappointed me, but become my deliverance. 3. The Hebrews escaped from the Egyptians only to find themselves in danger of perishing with thirst ; but Jehovah came to their relief,, and, throughout their wanderings in the desert, by one means and another, he supplied them with water. The prophet promises his people, that they, also, shall draw water with glad ness from wells of deliverance, constantly rejoice in the presence of Jehovah as a deliverer. The second song prompted by the contemplation of the deliverance wrought will be ft. a song of praise (4-6). — 4. It is throughout hortatory. The people are exhorted to Praise Jehovah, and to call upon his name, i.e., recognize him as their God (Deu. x. 20; Isa. xxvi. 13). Nor are they to stop here. They are to make known among the peoples sur rounding them his deeds, especially the manifestation of his power in their recent deliverance ; and thus most effectually proclaim that his name is exalted, that he deserves honor and worship above all other gods. The first two lines of this verse occur also in Ps. cv. 1. The last is found, slightly modified, in Ps. cxlviii. I3.f 5. Extol Jehovah, for he hath wrought gloriously is * This contracted form of the divine name is rare except in the ex pression iT 1111, E V, Praise ye the Lord, in some of the later psalms. Jastrow (ZAW, 1896, 6f.) explains it as an artificial abbreviation of the name 111'', fehovah, which has here taken the place of the final letter of the preceding word. The Septuagint have nothing to correspond to it. t Bickell suggests that the original of the song had only the first and third of these lines, and that the second was involuntarily inserted by a copyist. Is it not, however, more probable that the third was added by a reader as an explanation of the second? XII. 5, 6] COMMENTS. 255 another reminiscence of Ex. xv. (v. i). The second line repeats the second of v. 4.* 6. The glorious things that Jehovah has wrought in themselves furnish a sufficient reason for the most exu berant praise. Their significance, however, is not exhausted, when they are regarded merely as historical facts. In addition they are a guarantee for the future. This is the thought of the final exhortation to Shout and sing, sing lustily, addressed to the dwellers in Zion.f It appears in the causal sentence with which the verse and the chapter close, for great, in power as well as in goodness, in your midst, as a friend and protector, is the Holy One of Israel, the God of the Hebrews. % The future of God's people — this was the thought that lay on the heart, and busied the thoughts, both of Isaiah and the later prophet by whom the preceding chapters were put into their present form and order. There can be no doubt what they taught concerning it. They had to confess that the Israel of their day fell far short of deserving to be called the chosen of Jehovah, and that, therefore, it was not strange that they should have suffered from his displeasure; but both alike believed with all their hearts, that this period of estrangement and misfortune was to be followed by a restoration to favor and prosperity, and they did what they could to hasten such a consummation. * For flBTB read, with the Masoretes, nBllB. t The original has the feminine singular, inhabilress ; but this, like the word daughter in similar connections (x. 30), is doubtless equivalent to a collective. X On the date of this chapter comp. FBrown and WHCobb, /BL, 1890, I. 128 ff. and 1891, II. 131 ff- INDEXES. I. TOPICS TREATED. Additions to Isaiah: extent, 48 f., 56 f.; character, 53, m ff., 132 ft, 135 I., 141 f., 159 f., 169, 204 f., 218 f., 234 f., 249; style, 159, 234 f., 236; standpoint, 135 f., 141. Ahaz, 31 ff., 36 f., 46 f., 82, 126, 130, 171 ft, 186, 192, 193, 196. Amos, influence of, 16, 22, 96, 131, 154, 204, 216. Anathoth, 241. Antithesis, 27, 134, 182 f. Arpad, 227. Article in Hebrew, 180. Ashdod, 39 f., 47, 50. Ashkelon, 41 f., 43. Asshurbanipal, 176. Assonance, 122, 241, 253. Assyria : character: avarice, 230; cruelty, 231 f.; pride, 226 ft; style, 232. government: governors, 226; trib ute, 32, 38, 39, 42, 44, 209. history: relations with the He brews, 35 ft, 227; with other peoples, 226 f. representative of the world-power, 229, 236 f., 250, 253. Augurer, 116. Ayyath, 239. Azariah. See Uzziah. Catchwords, 55, 196. Cedar. See Lebanon. Champion of Israel, 103. Chronicles, authority of, 36, 90. Chronology: difficulties, 32 ff.; table of Kings, 46 f.; of chapters i.- xxxix., 56 f. Conslructio pregnans, 223. Diviner, 116, 124. Egypt, 36 ft, 187 f., 237, 250, 252 ff. Ekron, 41, 43. Elam, 250. Eltekeh : battle of, 41 f., 43; capture of, 43- Eponym Canon, 227. Errors in division of text : chapters, 123, 136, 204; verses, 95 f., 97, 112, 158, 203, 219 {., 233 f., 241. Esarhaddon, 45, 47, 176. Exodus, references to the, 66 f., 78, 80, 141 f., 237 f., 250, 252 ff. Feminine, uses of, 124, 251, 255. 257 258 INDEXES. Galilee, 206 f. Gallim, 241. , Geba, 240. Gebim, 241. Gibea, 240. Gihon, 193. Hamath, 32, 35, 38, 227, 250, 254. Hanno of Gaza, 36, 38 f. Hezekiah, 22, 31, 33 f., 39 ft, 47, 82, 186, 228. Holy One of Israel, 85, 153, 163, 255. Hosea, influence of, 16, 102, 239. Hoshea, 33, 37 f., 47. Iaudi, 32 f. Iaudu, 39. Idolatry, 101, 106, 117, 122, 228 f. Immanuel: his significance, 18 iff.; a contrast to the child of ix., 210. Infinitive absolute, 145, 200. Inspiration, 20, 56, 81, 161 f. Interrogation, 27. Isaiah : book : composition, 48 f. ; arrange ment, 49 ff.; date, 52; object of arrangement, 52 ft; origin of collection, 54 f. ; twofold inter pretation, 55 f.; chronological table, 56 f.; topical table, 58 f. character: equanimity, 19 f., 174 ft.; sagacity, 21 f., 200 ft; hopefulness, .23 f., 136 ft, 207 ft ideas: of God, 161 ff.; of religion, 92 ff., 139 f.; of salvation, 99 f., 137 ff., 209, 245 ft; of the Mes siah, 214 f., 245 ft life: birth, 16; standing, 16; call, 17 f., 34, 160 ft; end, 18, 45; age, 34- name, 81, 201. style: conciseness, 25 f.; vividness, 27; richness, 28 ff.; freedom, 30; importance, 31. work: duration, 17, 31 f.; method, 18, 22; results, 18, 22. Israel, meanings of the name, 84, 146, 216. Israel, the nation: its history, 35 ff.; its kings, 46 f., 90 ff., 146, 171 f., 216 ff.; its fate, 156 ff., 169 f., 175 f., 184 f., 190 ft Jacob, meanings of, 112, 115, 201, 216. Jeberekiah, 191. Jehoahaz. See Ahaz. fehovah of Hosts, 89. Jeroboam IL, 34, 36. Jerusalem : used for Judah, 91 ; per sonified, 89, 135. Jesus: his adaptation of Isaiah's parable, 30, 145; fulfilment of Isaiah's hopes, 215. Judah: origin, 185; extent, 34, 239; history, 39 ff.; future, 123 ff., 136, 187 ft, J93ff-i 20°- fudah and ferusalem, 82, 109. Kalno, 226. Karkemish, 226. Kush, 250. Laish, 241. Lakish, 44. Law, the ceremonial, 96. Lebanon: cedars of, 120, 217; as a figure, 242. Lord, the divine name, 103, INDEXES. 259 Madmenah, 241. Magician, 125. Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 191 f., 201. Mamilla, Pool of, 173, 194. Manasseh, 18, 34, 45, 47. Menahem, 32, 35, 46. Metaphor, 26, 27, 30, 101. Meteorology of Palestine: rainfall, 107; extremes, 142. Migron, 240. Mikmash, 240. Milucha, 40. Morals in Isaiah's time, 97 f., 101 f., 128 ft, 148 ft Necromancer, 117. Nob, 241 f. Oak, 120. Parable, 27, 143. Parallelism, 100, 112, 137, 152, 197, 223. Paronomasia, 26, 85, 102, 117, 146 f., 176, 194. Pathros, 250. Pekah, 35 ft, 46, 171 ft, 197 f. Pekahiah, 35, 46. Perfect in Hebrew, 208. Prophets: origin, 15; inspiration, 20; office, 21, 125, 219. Psalm of Hezekiah, 49. Pul. See Tiglath-pileser. Ramah, 240. Raphia, battle of, 38 f., 47. Relation of Jehovah to his people : paternal, 83 f.; conjugal, 101. Resin, 35 f., 171ft, 197 f. Rhythm, 30, 86, 90, 158, 203 f., 229, 244. Ritual in Isaiah's time, 93 ff. Samaria, 37 ft, 47, 91, 227 ff. Sargon II., 38 ft, 47, 91 f., 205, - 226 ft, 232. Sennacherib, 20, 40 ft, 47, 50, 91, 226, 228, 230 ff. Shabaka, 37 f., 47. Shabataka, 40, 47. Shalmaneser IV., 37 f., 47, 205. Shear-yashub, 19, 23 f., 172, 201, 207. Sibu, 37 f., 39. Signs, 179 f., 185 f. Siloam: pool of, 1 93; tunnel of, 193 f- Simile, 29, 30, 172. So. See Sibu. Soothsayer, 202. Tarshish, 121. Taylor Cylinder, 42 ft, 226. Terebinth, 107. Tiglath-pileser III., 32, 35 ff., 46 f., 50, 187 f., 192, 205,217,227. Tirhaka, 40 f., 47, 188. Uriah, 191. Uzziah, 31 ft, 34 f., 46, 82, 117, 161. Vocabulary of Isaiah, 28. Waw consecutive, 118, 152, 191. Wealth in Isaiah's time, 34, 117. Wine, 87, 101 f., 149 f., 154. Zion, personified, 89, 140. 260 INDEXES. II. AUTHORS QUOTED. Aben Ezra, 1 80. Alexander, 130, 151, 162, 179, 204, 241, 248. Aristophanes, 101. Ascension of Isaiah, 18. Bathgen, 212. Barnes, 120. Barth, 204. Baudissin, 86, 106, 107, 163. Beecher, 38. Bickell, 244, 254. Bottcher, 116; jE.hr enl., 129; Lehrb., 1 95. Bredenkamp, 87, 125, 142, 172, 183, 191, 199, 201, 202, 217, 225. Brenz, 116. Brown, 30, 119, 135, 255. Budde, 103. Buhl, 33, 88, 153, 1642, 172, 185, 223, 246. Calvin, 167, 174, 243. Cheyne : IB I, 33, 49, 84, 86, 91, 101, 104, 106, m, 141, 156, 176, 184, 188, 196, 219, 222s, 227, 234, 248; PI, 84, 87, 129, 141, 164, 170, 196, 200, 211. Cobb, 255. Conder, 240. Cornill: PI, 22; ZAW, 552, 196, 250. Davidson, A. B., 180, 200. Davidson, S., 191. Delitzsch, Franz, 33, 87, 88, 100, i05a, no, 113, 116, 118, 125, 126, 129, 133, 139, 142, 146, 150, 151, 154, 158, 160, 163, 1642, 165, 173, 175, 180, 184, 190, 193, 200, 202, 203, 209, 212, 219, 220, 224, 236, 237s, 241, 245. Delitzsch, Fried., 40, 226, 227. de Dieu, 151. Dillmann, 88, 123, 142, 146, 170, 181, 190, 195, 202, 203, 222. Doderlein, 105. Driver: Intr., 33, 90; Sam., 194; Tenses, 84, 1182, 119, 1 5 1, 195, 216, 230, 231, 253. Duhm, 28, 94, 97, 99, 101, 103, 1042, no, in, 115, 116, 118, 1192, 126, 127, 135, 136, 137, 141, '51. *52. 153. t56> "58> 16°, 164, 165, 177, 178, 180, 191, 196, 1992, 204, 208, 219, 221, 228, 231, 236, 238, 239, 242, 245, 246, 248, 250, 251. Duncker, 33. Durell, 104, 153. Eichhorn, 132, 1 38. English Version, 81, 105, 137, 151, 204,211; AV,lll; RV,igo. Ewald : Lehrb., 108, 213; PAB, 83, 121, 151, 176, 222. Frere, 101. Furst: Cone., 103; KAT, 23. Geikie, 241, 242. Gesenius: Com., 99, 121, 138, 147; Gram., 84, 85, 87, 89s, 97, 100, INDEXES. 261 101, 1032, 106, 1172, n88, H92, 122, 124, 1282, 1312, 1326, 135, 142, 145, 153, 164, 167, 1682, 174, 176, 180, 1812, 183, 195, 198, 2002, 203, 2042, 205, 208, 213, 216, 218, 223, 2242, 230, 2312, 2532; Thes., 175. Giesebrecht, 156, 235. Guthe: ZDPV, 174; Z/, 213, 226. Hackmann, 90, 104, 141, 169, 187. Henderson, 89, in, 113, 162, 172, I77» '93. 202> 223> 228» 24l. 245- Hengstenberg, 139. Henry, 85, 113, 118, 152, 248. Herodotus, 45. Hitzig, 89, 100, 109, no, 123, 147, 153, 164, 194, 217, 225. Houbigant, 217. Jastrow, 254. Jerome, 138. Josephus: A/, 38, 88; /W, 1732, 207. Kamphausen, 33. Kautsch, 141. Kay, 118, 124, 132, 179, 183. Kellner, 59. Kimchi, D., 180. Kittel, 33, 176. Klostermann, 36, 171. Knobel, 121, 153, 180. Kocher, 142. Konig, 176, 213. Koppe, 48. Krochmal, 116, 208, 220, 245, 252. de Lagarde : Acad., 224; Sem., 54, 108, no, 115, 122, 172, 177, 217, 218, 219, 247. Layard, 37. Lowth, 88, 116, 132, 134, 142, 225, 247^ Luther, 105, 148, 211. Luzzatto, 115, 147, 175, 204, 211, 237f- McCurdy, 33, 37, 382, 40, 45s, 2272. Menander, 38. Meyer, 33, 38, 40, 45, 188, 227. Michaelis, J. D., 89, 99, 217. Mitchell: Amos, 5, 16; AR, 186. Miihlau and Volck, 8i, 175. Muller, 100. Nagelsbach, 93, 113, 128, 130, 139, 140, 164, 177, 181, 190, 192, 193- Olshausen, 87, 213, 230. von Orelli, 85, 902, 93, 107, 115, 126, 139, 147. I53f J54. 162, 180, 191, 194, 201, 210, 216, 235- Peshita, 105, 130, 132, 166, 224, 241, 252. Peters, 133. Piepenbring, 167. Porter, 186, 198. Ragozin, 32, 38, 41, 44. 'S8. l89> 227s, 230. Rawlinson: SAE, l&S; SP, 38. Reuss, 127, 139, 183. Riehm, 116, 149, 150, 158, 189,202, 240. Robinson, 173, 194, 2392. Roorda, 139. Rosenmiiller, 125. 262 INDEXES. Saadia, 115. Scheid, 89s. Schrader: KAT, 32*, 376, 382, 392, 402, 42, 82, 171, 176, 226, 227*; KB, 322, 378, 382, 398, 40, 42, 45, 209, 226, 227*, 2302, 231, 232; KGF, 32. Schroder, 133. Seeker, 221, 225. Septuagint, 84, 86, 942, 95, 101, 105, 106, in, 115, 118, 123, 128, 129, 1302, 132, 140, 141, 142, 148, 166, 168, 169, 175, 181, 197, 204, 211, 216, 217, 225, 231, 2462, 252, 254. Siegfried and Stade, 87. Skinner, 102, 124, 205, 223, 239, 251. Smith, G., 151. Smith, G. A., HGHL, 188, 206; Isa., 156, 164. Smith, W., 116, 133, 149, 158. Smith, W. R.: /P, 238 f.; PI, 22, 86. Stade: GVI, 45, 174, 194; ZAW, 132, 141. Studer, 80. Targum, 106, 121, 128, 139, 142, 252. Thenius, 149. Thomson, 89, 106, 120, 142, 144, 217, 220. Tiele, 37, 38, 40, 41, 227. Toy, 181. Tristram, 89, 107, 120, 183, 246s, 247s. Umbreit, 180. Usher, 32, 34. Valentiner, 241. Van Lennep, 113, 132, 134, 136, 144, 183. van de Velde, 240. Vitringa, 83, 112, 121, 128, 183. Vulgate, 84, 86, 105, 132, 191, 249. Weir, 89. Wellhausen, 246; SV, 213. Wickes, 86, 90, 94, 155, 199. Wilson, Warren, etc., 173, 194. Winckler: AF, 33; AU, 37, 402, 118,175,227,238; UAG,38. Zwingli, 139. III. PASSAGES INCIDENTALLY EXPLAINED. PAGE PAGE Gen. ii. 18, 248 1 Kgs. xi. 23, i75 Ex. iii. 12, 186 xii. 10, 205 xiv. 21, 252 2 Kgs. v. 4 (iv. 24) 206 XV., 253 «f. xv. 29, 205 Lev. xxiii., 95 3°. 33 Jos. viii. 20, 94 33. 33 INDEXES. 263 PAGE PAGE 2 Kgs xvi. I, 33 Jer. xlvi. 8, 23' s. 171 Eze. xxii. 21, 212 6, 36 Hos. ii. 1-3 (i. 10-ii. 1), 235 xvii. 4, 37 v.8, 239 xviii. I, 36 Am. ii. 8, 154 IO, 33 9ft, 2l6 13. 33 V. 20, 204 xviii. 13-xix 37. 44 f. Mic. iv. 1 ft, 1 10 ft xviii. 13-xx. 21, 48 £..55 V. 2, 240 xix. 29, 186 3. 210 xx. 20, 194 4. 212 Isa. xiv. 24-27, 234 Zee. iii. 8, 137 Jer. iv. 16 f., 89 vi. 12, '37 xv. 5, 157 Ps. xlix. 3/2, 118 21, 245 lxxiv. 12, 238 xxiii. 5, i37£ Can. v. 4, 247 xxxiii. 15, 137 £ Mat. i. 22 f., 179, 182 IV. HEBREW EXPRESSIONS DISCUSSED. PAGE jiin, lord, 103 din, man . . . mankind, 118 S», not, 167 Sn, lord, god, God, 212 13, purity, fl-ux ( ? ), 104 N13, create, 141 Sh>, district, Galilee, 206 mm, And it shall come to pass, 109 jvn, vision, 81 133, be heavy, 205 PAGE 1133, honor, wealth, 150 '3, for, but, 146 S3, all, every, 87, 142 nisn1?, to see, 93 Nlpn, proclamation, holiday, iji, f. ix:, watch, 89 iy, booty, continuance, 213 \3 Sy, therefore, 156 nD Sy, why, 179 rmSy, young woman, 179 mxy, restraint, festival, 95 3 9002 08844 7678 ' :