Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Dcslruclion of Sennacherib Predicted. ISAIAH XXXVII. An Angel Slayelh the Assyrians.
chief aiTiDug tlie tameand useful animals; *,he lion among ever, English Version is supported by ch. 3;?. 13; 45.6,21; tlie wild ones; the eagle among birds; and man, the head of all (llie original headship of man over the animal kingdom, about to be restored iu Jesus Christ, Psalm 8.4-8, is also implied in this combination). They are, throughout Scripture, represented as distinct from God; they could hot be likenesses of Him which He forbade in any shape.
48. 5. 27. Tlierefore—Not because of thy power, but because I made them unable to withstand thee, gratis— which easily withers (ch. 40.6; P.salm 37.2). on... house-tops—which having little earth to nourish it fades soonest (Psalm 12;). 6-8). corn blasted before it be grown up—Smith translates, "The corn-field (frail and tender), before the corn is grown." 28. abode—rather, sitting down (Psalm 139. 2). The expressions here describe a man's whole course of life (Deuteronomy 0. 7; 28. 6; 1 Kings 3. 7; Psalm 121. 8). There is also a special reference to Sennacherib's first being at home, then going forth against JudaU and Egypt, and raging against Jehovah (v. 4). 29. tumult —insolence, hook in . . . nose—like a wild beast led by a ring through the nose, he shall be forced back to his own country (cf. Job 41. 1,2; Ezekiel 19.4; 29.4; 38.4). In a bas-relief of Khorsabad, captives are led before the king by a cord attached to a hook, or ring, passing through the under lip or the upper lip, and nose. 30. Addressed to Hezekiah. sign—a token which, when fulfl Ued, would assure him of the truth of the whole prophecy as to the enemy's overthrow. The two years, in which they were sustained by the spontaneous growth of the earth, were the two in which Judea had been already ravaged by Sennacherib (ch. 32. 10). Thus translate, "Ye did eat (the first year) such as groweth of itself, and in the second year that, &c.,but in this third year sow ye," &c., for in this year the land shall be delivered from the foe. The fact tliat Sennacherib moved away his camp immediattly after shows that the first two years refer to the past, not to the future. [Rosenmuller.] Others, referring the first two years to the future, get over the difficulty of Sennacherib's speedy departure, by supposing that year to have been the sabbatical year, and the second year the jubilee; no indication of this appears in the context. 31. remnant— Judah remained after the ten tribes were carried away; also those of Judah who should survive Sennacherib's Invasion are meant. 33. witlx shields— He did coma near it, but was not allowed to conduct a proper siege, bank—a mound to defend the assailants in attacking the walls.' 34. (See v. 29, 37; ch. 29. 5-8.) 35. I will defend Notwithstanding /TeseAi'a/i's measures of defence (2 Chronicles 32. 3-5), Jehovah was its true defender, miite own sake—since Jehovah's name was blaspliemed by .Sennacherib (i;. 23). David's sake—on account of His promise to David (Psalm 132. 17, 18), and to Messiah the heir of David's throne (ch. 9. 7; 11. 1). 36. Some attribute the destruction to the agency of the plague (Note ch. 3-3. 24), which may have caused Hezekiah's sickness, narrated immediately after; but ch. 33. 1, 4, proves that the Jews spoiled the corpses, which they would not have dared to do, had there been on Uiem infection of a plague. The secondary agency seems, from ch. 29. 6 ; 30. 30, to have been a storm of hail, thunder, and lightning (cf. Exodus 9. 22-
(3.) They are introduced iu tlie third or gospel dispensation (Revelation i. 6), as livimg creatures (not so well translated "beasts" in English Version), not angels, but beings closely connected with the redeemed Church. So also in Ezekiel 1. and 10. Thus, throughout the three dispensations, they seem to be symbols of those who in every age should officially study and proclaim the manifold wisdom of God. thou alone lit., " Thou art He tvho alone art God of all the kingdoms;" whereas Sennacherib had classed Jehovah with, the heathen gods, he asserts the nothingness of the latter and the sole lordship of the former. IT. ear . . . eyes singular, plural. When we wish to hear a thing we lend one ear; when we wish to see a thing we open both eyes. 18. Have laid waste—conceding the truth of the Assyrian's allegation (ch. 36. 18-20), but adding the reason, " For they were no gods." 19. cast . . . gods into. . . fire—The policy of the Assyrians in order to alienate the conquered peoples from their own countries was, both to deport them elsewhere, and to destroy the tutelary idols of their nation, the strongest tie which bound them to their native land. The Roman policy was just the reverse. 20. The strongest argument to plead before God in prayer, the }imiour of God (Exodus 32. 12-14 ; Psalm 83. 18; Daniel 9.
18, 19). 21. Wliereas t!ion Iiast prayed to me i. e., hast not relied on thy own strength, but on me (cf. 2 Kings 19.
20). " That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib, &e., I have heard" (Psalm 65. 2). 23. Transition to poetry: in parallelism, virgin. . . daughter — honourable terms. " Virgin" implies that the city is, as yet, inviolate. " Daughter" is an abstract collectivefeminine personitication ol t\\e population, the child of the place denoted
(Note, ch. 23. 10; 1. 8). Zion and he)- inhabitants, shaken . . . head—in scorn (Psalm 22. 7 ; 109. S; Matthew 27. 39). With us to shake the head is a sign of denial'or displeasure; but gestures have different meanings in dit Terent countries
(ch. 58. 9 ; Jizekiel 2.). 6 ; Zephaniah 2. 15). 23. Whom—Not an idol. 24. said—virtually. Hast thou within thyself? height—imagery from the Assyrian felling of trees in Lebanon (ch. 14. H; 3:^.9); fig. for, "I have carried my victorious army througli the regions most ditflcult of access, to the most remote lands." sides—rather, recesses. [G. V. Smith.] fir trees—not cypresses, as some translate; pine foliage and cedars are still found on the north-west side of Lebanon. [Stanley.] hciglit of . . . border— In
2 Kings 19. 2.3, "the lodgings of his borders." Perhaps on the ascent to the top there was a place of repose or caravansery, vvhicii bounded the usual attempts of jjersons to ascend. [Baknes.] Here, simply, "its extreme height." forest of . . . Carmel—rather, " its tliickest forest." Carmcl expresses thick lu.xuriance (Note, ch. 10. 18; 29. 17). 25. digged, and drunk water—In 2Kings W.'li,\t\s" strange waters." I have marched into foreign lands where I had
25). The simoon belongs rather to Africa and Arabia, than Palestine, and ordinarily could not produce such a destructive effect. Some few of the army, as 2 Chronicles
32. 21 seems to imply, survived and accompanied Sennacherib home. Herodotus (2. 141) gives an account confirming Scripture in so far as the sudden discomfiture of the Assyrian array is concerned. The Egyptian priests told him that Sennacherib was forced to retreat from Pelusium owing to a multitude of field-mice, sent by one of their gods, having gnawed the Assyrians' bow-strings and shield-straps. Cf. the language (v. Xi), "He shall not shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields," which the Egyptians corrupted into their version of the story. Sennacherib was at the time with a part of his army, not at Jerusalem, but on the Egyptian frontier, south-west of Palestine. The sudden destruction of the host near Jerusalem, a considerable part of his whole army, as well as the advance of the Ethiopian Tirhakah, indutied him to retreat, which the Egyptians accounted for in a way honouring to tlieir own gods. The mouse was the Egyptian emblem of destruction. The Greek Apollo was called Sminthian, from a Cretan woi'd for a mouse ; as a tutelary god of agriculture, he was represented with one foot upon a mouse, since field-mice hurt corn. Tiie Assyrian iuscripto dig wells for the supply of my armies; even the natural destitution of water there did not impede my march, rivers of . . . besieged places—rather, " the streams (artificial canals from the Nile) of Egypt." "With the sole of my foot," expresses that as soon as his vast armies marched in to a region, the streams were drunk up by them or rather, that the rivers proved no obsti-nction to the onward march of his armies. So ch. 19. 4-6, referring to Egypt, " the river-6)vjo/i:s of de/i»?ice—sliall be dried up." Horsley translates the Hebrew for "besieged places," rocks. 2G. Reply of God to Sennacherib, long ago—join, rather, with "I have done it." Thou dost boast that it is all by thy counsel and might: but it is / who, long ago, have ordered it so (ch. 22. 11); thou wcrt but the instrument in my hands (ch. 10. 5, 15). This was the reason why " the Inhabitants were of small power before thee " (v. 27), viz., Uiat I ordered it so ; yet thou art in my hands, and I know lliy ways {v. 28), and I will check thee (v. 29). Connectalso, " i from ancient times have arranged ('formed') It." How470
ISAIAH XXX vni.
The Sun goelh Ten Degrees Backward.
Hteekiah has his Life Prolonged.
tions, of couFKe, suppress their own defeat, but nowhere
Testament legal righteousness was, however, a standard very much below tiie «ptn< of the law as unfolded by Christ (Matthew 5. 20-48 ; 2 Corintliians 8. 0, 14, 17.) wei>tsoi-e— JoSEPHUSsays, the reason why he wept so sorely, was that being childless, he was leaving the kingdom without a successor. How often our wishes, when gratified, prove curses .' Hezekiah lived to have a son ; tliat son was the idolater Manasseh, the chief cause of God's wrath against Judali, and of the overthrow of the kingdom (2 Kings 2;!.
boiust of having taiieu Jerusalem ; and the only reason to be given for Seiinaclierib not having, amidsthis many subsequent expeditions recorded in the monuments, returned to Juilali, is tl'.e terrible calamity ne had sustained there, wliicli coiiviixced liim that Hezekiah was under the Divine protection. Rawlixson says. In Sennacherib's account of his wars witli Hezekiah, inscribed with cuneiform characters in the hall of the palace of Koyunjik, built by him (140 feet long by 120 broad), wherein even the Jewish physiognomy of the captives is portrayed, there occurs a remarkable passage; after his mentioning his •aking two hundred thousand captive Jews, he adds, "Tlien I prayed unto God;" the only instance of an Inscription wherein the name of God occurs without a heatlien adjunct. The 46th Psalm probably commemorates JuJah's deliverance. It occurred in one " niglit," according to 2 Kings 19. 35, with which Isaiah's words, " wlien tliey arose early in the morning," <fec., are in undesigned coincidence, tliey . . . they the Jews . . . the Asai/rianx. 37. dwelt in Nineveh—for about twenty years after liis disaster, according to the inscriptions. The
2G, 27). 4. In 2 Kings 20. 4, the quickness of God's answer to the prayer is marked, "afore Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, tlie word of the Lord came to liini: i. e., before lie had left, Hezekiali, or at least when he had just left him, and Hezekiali was in the act of praying alter having heard God's message by Isaiah (cf. ch. 05. 24 ; I'salm
32. 5; Daniel 9. 21). 5. God of Dnvid thy father—God remembers tlie covenant with tlie father to the children (E.YOdus 20. 5; Psalm 89. 28, 29). tears—(Psalin 56. 8.) days. . . years—man's years, however many, are but as so many days (Genesis 5. 27). 6. In 2 Kings 20. 8, after this vierse comes the statement which is put at the end, iu order not to interrupt God's message (f. 21, 22) by Isaiali
(v. 5-8). will deliver—tlie city was already delivered, but here assurance is given, that Hezekiah shall have no viore to fear from the Assyrians. 7. sign—a token tliat God would fulfil His promise, that Hezekiah sliould " go up into tlie house of the Lord the third day" (2 Kings 20. 5, woixl, "dwelt," is consistent with any indefinite length of time. Nineveh, so called from Ninus, i. e., Nimrod, its founder; liis name means exceedingly impiom rebel ; he subverted tlie existing patriarchal order of society, by setting vipasystem of chieftainship, founded on conquest; the liunting field was liis training school for war; he was of the race of Ham, and transgressed the limits marked
8); tlie words in italics are not iu Isaiali. 8. bring again —cause to return (Joshua 10. 12-14). In 2 Kings 20. 0, 11, the choice is stated to have been given to Hezekiali, wliether the shadow should go forwaril, or go back, ten degreesi. Hezekiah replied, "It is a light tiling (a less decisive mii-ade) for the shadow to go down (its usual direction) ten degrees : nay, l)ut let it return backward ten degrees;" so Isaiah cried to Jeliovah tliat it sliould be so, and it was so (cf. Joshua 10. 12, 14). sun-dial of Aiiaz—IlEltonoTUS by God (Genesis 10. 8-11, 25), encroaching on Sheni's portion ; he abandoned Babel for a time, after the miraculous confusion of tongues, and went and founded Nineveli; he was, after death, worshipped as Orion the constellation
Job 9. 9; 38. 31). 38. Nlsroch—iVisr, in Semitic, means eagle ; the termination och, means great. Tlie eagie-headod human figure in Assyrian sculptures is no doubt Nisroch, tlie same as Asshur, the chief Assyrian god; the corresponding goddess was Asheera, or Astarte;
(2. 109) states tliat the sun-dial, and the division of the day into twelve hours, were invented by the Babylonians; from tliem Ahaz borrowed the invention. He was one, from his connection with Tiglath-pileser, likely to have done so (2 Kings 16.7,10). "Shadow of the degrees" means the shadow made on the degrees. Josephus tliinks these degrees were steps ascending to the palace of Ahaz; the time of day was indicated by the number of steps reached Ijy the shadow. But probably a sun-dial, strictly so, called. Is meant; It was of such a size, and so placed, that Hezekiah, when convalescent, could witness the miracle from his chamber. Cf. iJ. 21, 22 with 2 Kings 20.9, where translate, shall this shadow go forward, &c. ; the dial was no doubt in sight, probably " in the middle court" (2 Kings 20. 4), the point where Isaiah turned back to announce God's gracious answers to Hezekiah. Hence this particular sign was given. The retrogression of the shadow may have been effected by refraction; a cloud denser than the air interposing between the gnomon and dial would cause the phenomenon, which does not take from the miracle, for God gave him the choice whether the shadow should go forward or back, and regulated the time and place. Bosanquet makes the this means a "grove," or sacred tree, often found as the eyml)ol of the heavenly hosts (Saba) in the sculptures, as Asshur the Eponymus hero of Assyria (Genesis 10. 11) answered to the sun or Baal, Belus, the title of office. Lord. This explains "image of the grove" (2 Kings 21.7). The eagle was worshipped by the ancient Persians and Arabs. JBsar-haddon—In Ezra 4. 2 he is mentioned as having brought colonists into Samaria. He is also thought to have been the king who carried Manasseh captive to Babylon (2 Chronicles 33. 11). He built the palace on the mound Nebbi-yunus, and that called the south-west palace of Nimroud. The latter was destroyed by fire, but his name and .wars are recorded on the great bulls taken from the building. He obtained his building materials from the north-west palaces of the ancient dynasty, ending in Pul.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Ver. 1-22. Hkzekiah's Sickness; perhaps connected WITH TUK Pr.AOUE OR BLAST WHEEEBY THE ASSYRIAN Army had been Destroyed. 1. Set . . . house in order —Make arrangement as to the succession to the throne;
14t,h year of Hezekiah to be 689 B. c, the known year of a solar eclipse, to which he ascribes the recession of the shadow. At all events, there is no need for supposing any revolution of the relative positions of the sun and earth, but merely an effect produced on the sliadow (2 Kings 20.9-11); that effect was only local, and designed for the satisfaction of Hezekiah, for tlie Babylonian astronomers and king " sent to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land" (2 Chronicles 32. 31), implying that for he liad then no son; and as to thy other concerns, thou tihalt die—speaking according to the ordinary course of the disease. His being spared fifteen years was not a change in God's mind, but an illustration of God's dealings being unchangeably regulated by the state of man in relation to Him. 3. The couches in the East run along the walls of houses. He turned away from the spectators to hide his emotion and collect his tlioughts it had not extended to their country. No mention of any instrument for marking time occurs before this dial of Ahaz, 700 B. c. The first mention of the "hour" is made by Daniel at Babylon (Daniel 3. 6). 9-20. The prayer and thanksgiving song of Hezekiah is only given here, not in the parallel passages of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles; v. 9 Is the heading or inscription. 10. cutting off—Rosenmulfor prayer. 3. He mentions his past religious consistency not as a iMiast, or a ground for justification, but according to tlie Old Testament dispensation, wherein temporal rewarfls I'as long life, &c.. Exodus 20. 12) followed legal obedience, he makes his religious conduct a plea for asking the prolongation of his life, walked—life is a journey the pious "walk" with God" (Genesis 5.24; 1 Kings 9.4). perfect sincere; not absolutely perfect, but aiming towards It (.Mattliew 5. 45); single-minded In walking as in the presence of God (Genesis 17. 1). The letter oi the Old
T.'E.VL translates, "the meridian;" when the sun stands in the zenith : so " the perfect day" (Proverbs 4. 18'. Rather, "in the tranquillity of my days," i. e., that period of life
HezekwiKs Sony of Thanksgiving. ISAIAH XXXIX. His Error in the Display of his Richei.
I might now look forward to a tranquil reign. [Maurer.] The Hebrew is so translated (cli. 62. 6, 7). go <o— ratlier, "go uito," as in cli. 46. 2. [Maurer.] residue of my years—tliose wliich 1 had calculated on. God sends sickness to leach man not to calculate on the morrow, but to live more wholly to God, as if each day were the last. 11. Iord . . . Lord—The repetition, as in v. 19, expresses the excited feeling of the king's mind. To see the Lord (" Jehovah") is flg. for, to enjoy His good gifts. So, In a similar connection (Psalm 27. 13), "I had fainted, unless I had believed toseethe goodness of the Lord in tlie Land of the living" (Psalm 34. 12); " AVhat man is he ttiat desireth life that lie may see good f" world—ratlier, translate, "among the inhabitants of tlie land of stillness," i. e., Hades [M.M'KER], in parallel antithesis to " tlie land of the living" in the first clause. Tlie Hebrew comes from a tlve convalescence, which he expressed, "Thou m*i« recover me." [Maurer.] 17. for peacinstead of the prosperity wliicli I had previousl.v. great btttei-iiess lit., bitterness to me, bitterness ; expressing intense emot ion. In love lit., attac/iment, such as joins one to anothe'' tenderly
"Thou hast been lovingly attached to me from the pit;" a pregnant phrase for. Thy love has gone down to the pit, and drawn me out from it. Tlie "pit" is here simply death, in Hezekiah's sense; realized in its fulness only in reference to the soul's redemption from hell by Jesus Christ (ch. 61. 1), who went down to tlie pit for that purpose Himself (Psalm 88.4-6; Zechariali 9. 11, 12; Hebiews 13.
20). "Sin" and sickness are connected (Psalm 103.3; cf. ch. 53. 4, with Matthew 8. 17; 9. 5, 6), especially under the Old Testament dispensation of temporal sanctions; but even now, sickness, tliough not invariably arising from sin in individuals, is connected with it in the general moral view, cast . . . behind back—consigned my sins to oblivion. The same phrase occurs (1 Kings 14.9; Neheniiah 9. 26; Psjilm 50. 17). Contrast Psalm 00. 8, "Thoa hast set our iniquities befon-e thee, our .secret sins in the light of thy countenance." 18. death—i. e., tlie dead ; Hades and its inhabitants (Job 28. 22; see 7iote, v. 11). Plainly Hezekiah believed in a world of disembodied spirits; his language does not imply what skepticism h;is drawn from root, to rest or cease (Job It. 6). 12. age—ratlier, as tlie parallel "sheplierd's tent" requires hahitatimi, so tlie Arabic. [Gesesius.] departed—is broken up, or shifted, as ,i tent to a difl Perent locality. The same image occurs (2 Corinthians 5. 1 ; 2 Peter 1. 12, 13). He plainly expects to exist, and not cease to be in anotlier state ; as the shepherd still lives, after he lias struck his tent and removed elsewhere. I liave cut ofF—He attriliutes to himself tliat which is
Goci'.v will wit li respect to him; because he declares tliat will. So Jeremiah is said to "root out" kingdoms, because lie declares God's purpose of doing so (Jeremiah 1.
it, but simply that he regarded the disembodied state as one incapable of declaring the praises of God before men, for it is, as regards this world, an unseen land of stillness
10). The weaver cuts off liis well from the loom wlien completed lob 7. 6 has a like image. Tlie Greeks represented the Fates as spinning and cutting ofT the threads of each man's life, he—God. wltU pining sickness ra Xher, from lite thrum, or thread, which tied the loom to the weaver s beam, from day . . . to nlgUt-?. e., in the space of a single day between morning and night (Job 4.
"the living" alone can praise God on eartli, in reference to which only he is speaking; eh. 57. 1, 2 shows that at this time the true view, of the blessedness of the righteous dead was lield, though not with the full ch-arness of the gospel, which " has brought life and inimorlality to light"
(2 Timothy 1. 10). hope for thy tnsth—(I'salm 104. 27.) Their probation is at an end. They can no longer e.xercise faith and hope in regard to thy faithfulness to thy prom-
2)). 13. 1 reckoned . . . that—rather, / composed (my mind, during the niglit, expecting relief in the "morning," so Job 7. 4): for (thai is not, as in the English Version, to be supplied) as a lion He was breaking all my bones. [VlTKlNGA.l (Job 10. 16 i.ses, which are limited to the present state. For "liope" ceases (even in the ease of the go<lly) when sight begins (Romans 8. 24, 25) ; the ungodly have " no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4. 13). Hope in God's truth is one of the grounds of praise to God (Psalm 71. 14; 119.49). Others transtale, " cannot celebrate." 9. living . . . living—emphatic repetition, as in i'. 11, 17; his heart is so lull of the main object of his prayer, that for want of adequate words he repeats the same word, father to the chlldi-en—one generation of the living to another. He probably, also,;' Lamentations 3. 10, 11.) The Hebre~.i, \n Psalm 131.2, is rendered / qvieted. Or else, "I made ni.vself like a lion (viz., in roaring, through painl. He was so breaking m.v bones!" Poets often compare great groaning to a lion's roaring, so, next verse, he compares his groans to the sounds of other animals (Psalm 22. I). [IMaurer.] 1-4. Rather, "Like a swallow, or a crane" (from a root, to disturb the ivairr, a bh'd frequenting the wateri [Mai'RER], (Jeremiah 8. 7). cHiatter twitter: broken sounds expressive of pain, dove—called by the Arabs the daxighter of mourning, from its plaintive DOte (ch. 59. II). looking upward— to God for relief, undertake for lit., be stirety for me; assure me that I ihall be restored (Psalm 119. 122). 15-20. The secon<i part of the song passes liom pra.ver to thanksgiving at the pra.yer being heard. What shall I say—The language of one at a loss for words to express his sense of the unexpected deliverance, hoth spoken . . . and . . . done It (Numbers 23. 19.) Both promised and performed (1 Tliesealonians .5.21; Hebrews 10.2;!). himself— no one else could have done it (P.salm 9S. 1). go softly. . . In the
Iiints at his own desire to live until he .should have a child, the successor to liis throne, to whom he might make known and so perpetuate the memory of God's truth. timtii—faillifulness to His promises; especiall.v In Hezekiah's case. His promise of hearing pmyer. 20. was ready—not in the Hcbretv ; "Jehovah was for my salvation," i. e., saved me (cf. ch. 12. 2). we— I and my people. In the house of the Lord—This song was designed, as many of the other Psalms, as a. form to be used i»:i public worship at stated times, perhaps on every anniversar.v of his recover.v ; hence "all the days of o»r life." lump of flgs—a round cake of figs pressed into a mass (1 Samuel 25. 18). God works by means; the meanest of which He can make effectual, boil—iiitlamed nicer, produced by the plague. H'i. house of tlie Lord—Hence he makes the praises to l)o sung there prominent in his song (V. 20; I'salm 116. l'2-ll, 17-19).
bitterir.ess — rather, "on account of the bitterness;" I will beli.ave myself himibly in remembrance of my past sorrow and sickness from which I have been delivered by God's mercy (see 1 Kings 21. 27, 29). In Psalm 42.4, the same Hebrew verb expresses the slow and solemn gait of one going up to the house of God ; it is found nowhere else; hence Uosenmuli.er explains It, "I will reverenfl.v attend the sacred festivals in the temple:" but this ellipsis would he harsh; rather metaphorically the word Is transferred to a calm, soleynn, and submissive walk of lift?. 10. by these—ui'z., by dad's
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Ver. I-S. Hk/.kkiah's Error in thk Pisi'lay of His Riches to thk Hauyi.oxian AMn.vss AiiOK. 1. Nero- <lach-biilndan—Kor 150 years before the overt li row ol Nineveh by (Jyaxares the Mede, .a succession of rulers, mostly viceroys of Assyria, ruled Dnb.vloii, from the time of Nabona.ssar, 717 n. c. That date is called "the Kra of Nal)onas.sar." Pul or Phallukha was then expelled, and H new dynasty set up nt Nineveh, under Tiglatli-pileser.
henejils, which are implied in the context (x\ ir>, "He hath Kimself done it" "unto me"). All "men live by tlu'se" benefits (Psalm 104. 27-'!0), "and in all these Is the life of my spirit," i. e., J also live by them ( Oeiiteronotn.v
8. 3). and (wilt) make ine to live—TIh? Hebrrii' is iin-
Ki inirnmis Pul's wile, then retired to I'.jib.vlon, M'ith Nft-
"make ine to live." In this view li<' adds a. yrayer to the confident hope founiled on his eompara472 biiiiassar, her son, whose advent to the 111 rone of Ilabylon, al'ler the overthrow of the old line at Nlneveli, nuukeJ a
The Bithyhnian Captivity Foretold, ISAIAH XL. The Promulgation of the Gospel.
CHAPTER XL.
new era. Sometimes the viceroys of Babylon made them-
Belves, for a tiiae, independent of Assyria; thus Merodach-balailan at this time did so, encouraged by the AsByriau disaster in tlie Jewish campaign; he liad done so
Ver. 1-31. Second Part of the Prophecies of Isaiah. The former were local and temporary in their reference. These belong to the distant future, and are world-wide in their interest; the deliverance from Babylon under Cyrus, wlilch lie liere Ibretells by prophetic suggestion, carries him on to tlie greater deliverance under Messiah, the Saviour of Jews and Gentiles in the present eclectic Church, and the restorer of Israel and"Head of the worldwide kingdom, literal and spiritual, ultimately. As Assyria was the hostile world-power in the former part, wliicli relers to Isaiah's owh time, so Babylon is so in tho latter part, which refers to a period long subsequent. The connecting linlc, however, is furnislied (ch. 39.6) at tha close of the former part. The latter part was written in the old age of Isaiah, as appears from Die greater mellowness of style and tone which pervades it; it is less fiery and more tender and gentle than the former part. 1. Comfort ye—twice repeated to give doulile assurance. Having announced the coming captivity of the Jews In Babylon, God now desires His servants, the prophets (ch.
before, and was defeated iu the first yearof Sennaoiierib's reign, as is recorded in cuneiform characters in that monarcli's palace of Koyunjili. Nabopoiassar was the first who estabiislied, pe»ma?ten;^, his independence; his son, Nebucliadnez/.ar, raised Babylon to the position wliich Nineveh once occupied; but from the want of stone near the Lower Kupln-ates, the buildings of Babylon, formed of sun-dried brick, have not stood the wear of ages as Nineveh has. Mcrodach was an idol, the same as tlie god of war and planet Mars (Jeremiah 50. 2). Often kings took their names from their gods, as if peculiarly under their tutelage. So Belshazzar from Bel. Baladan means Bel is his lord. The chronicle of Eusebius contains a fragment of Berosus, stating that Acises, an Assyrian viceroy, usurped the supreuie command at Babylon. Merodacli-
(or Berodach) baladan murdered him and succeeded to the throne. Sennacherib conquered Merodach-baladan and left Esar-haddon, his son, as governor of Babylon. Merodach-baladan would naturally court the alliance of Hezekiali, who, like himself, had thrown off the yoke of the Assyrian king, and who would be equally glad of the Babylonian alliance against Assyria; hence arose tlie excessive attention which he paid to the usurper, slek—An additional reason is given (2 Chronicles 32. 31). "The princes of Babylon sent to inquire of the wonder that was done in tlie land," viz., the recession of the sliadow on Almz's sun-dial; to the Chaldean astronomers, sucli a fact would be especially interesting, the dial having been invented at Babylon. 3. glad—It was not the mere act, but the spirit of it, which provoked God (2 Clironicles 32.
52.7), to comfort them; the scene is laid in liabylon; the time, near tlie close of the captivity; the ground of comfort is tlie speedy ending of the captivity, the Lord Himself being tlieir leader, my people . . . your God—correlatives (Jereniiali 31. 33; Hosea 1. 9, 10). It is God's covenant relation with His people, an<I His " word" of promise (v. 8) to their fiorefathers, which is the ground of His interposition in their lielialf, after liaviiig for a time chastised them (ch. 54.8). a. comfortably lU., to tlie heart; not merely to the intellect. Jerusalem—thougli then in ruins, regarded by God as about to be rebuilt; her people are chiefly meant, but the city is personified, ci-j-—publicly and emphatically as a herald cries aloud (v. 3). warfare—the appointed time of her misery (Job 7. 1, Margin ; 14.14; Daniel 10. 1). The ulterior and Messianic reference probably is the definite time ot the legal economy of burdensome rites is at an end (Galatlans 4. 3, 4). pardoned— The Hebrew expresses, that her iniquity is so expiated that God now delights in restoring her. double for all her sins—This can only, in a very restricted sense, hold good of Judali's restoration after the first captivity. For how can it be said her "warfare was accomplished," when as yet the galling yoke of Antiochus and also of Rome was before them? The "double for her sins" must refer to the twofold captivity, the Assyrian and the Roman; at the coming close of this latter dispersion, and then only, can her "Iniquity" be said to be "pardoned," or fully expiated. [Houbigant.] It does not mean double as much as she deserved, but ample punishment in her
23), " Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto lilni, for his heart was lifted up ;" also cf. v. 31. God "tries" His people at different times by different ways, bringing out "all that is in their heart," to show tliem its varied corruptions. Cf. David in a similar case
(1 Chronicles 21. 1-8). precious things—rather, " the house of his (aromatic) spices;" from a Hebrew root, to break to pieces, as is done to aromatics. silver . . . gold—partly got from tlie Assyrian camp (ch. 33. 4); partly from presents (2 Clironicles 32. 23, 27-29). precious oliitment—used for anointing kings and priests, armour ov e\se vessels In general; the parallel passage (2 Chronicles 32. 27), "treasuries . . . for shields," favours English Version. His arsenal. 3. Wliat . . . vvlience—Implying tliat any proposition coming from the idolatrous enemies of God, with whom Israel was forbidden to form alliance, should have been received with any thing hnt gladness. Reliance on Babylon, ratlier than on God, was a similar sin to the previous reliance on Egypt (ch. 30. and 31). far country —implying that he had done nothing more tlian was proper in sliowiug attention to strangers "from a far country." 4. All—a frank confession of his w/ioie fault; the king submits his conduct to the scrutiny of a subject, because that subject. was accredited by God. Contrast Asa (2 Chronicles 16. 7-10). 5. liord of Iiosts—who has all thy goods at His disposal. 6. days come—120 years afterwaids. Tliis is the first intimation that tlie Jews would be carried to Babylon—the first designation of their place of punishment. The general prophecy of Moses (Leviticus 23.33; Deuteronomy 28. 64); the more particular one of Aliijah in Jeroboam's time (I Kings 14. 13), " beyond tlie river;" and of Ainos 3. 27, "captivity beyond Damascus;" are now concentrated in this specific one as to " Babylon" (Micah 4. 10). It was an exact retribution in kind, that as Babylon had been the instrument of Hezekiah and Judah's sin, so also it should be the instrument of their punishment. 7. sons . . . from thee—the sous which Hezekiah (as Josephus tells us) wished to have («o<e, ch.
twofold captivity. Messiah is the antitypical Israel (cf. Matthew 2.15, with Hosea 11.1). He indeed has "received" of sufferings amply more than enouglr to expiate "for our sins" (Romans 5.15, 17). Otherwise (cry unto her), " that she sluill receive (blessings) of the Lord's hand double to the punisliment of all her sins" (so "sin" is used, Zecliariah 14. 19, Margin). [Lowth.] English Version is simpler. 3. crieth in the wilderness—So t he LXX. and Matthew 3. 3 connect tlie words. The Hebrew accents, however, connect them tlius: "In the wilderness prep'are ye," &.C., and the parallelism also requires this, "Prepare ye in the wilderness," answering to "make straight m <Ae desert." Matthew was entitled, as under inspiration, to vary the connection, so as to bring out another sense, included i.-i tlie Holy Spirit's Intention; in Matthew 3. 1, "John the Ba,ptiHt, preaching in the wildernelk," answers thus to "The voice of one crying in the vjilderness,'^ Maurer takes the participle as put for the finite verb (so in V. 6), "A voice crieth." The clause, "In the wilderness," alludes to Israel's passage through it from Egypt to Canaan (Psalm 68. 7), Jehovah being their leader; so it shall be at the ccmiing restoration of Israel, of which the restoration from Babylon was but a type (not full realization ; for their way from It was not through the "wilderness"). 'Where John preaclied (viz., in the wilderness; the type of this earth, a moral wilderness), t>ier« were the liearers who are ordered to prejiare the way of
28. 3, on " wept sore ') will be among the foremost in suffering, eunuclis—fulfilled (Daniel 1.2,3,7). 8. peace . . . Cn my days—tlie punishment was not, as in David's case
(2 Samuel 21. 13-13), sent in his time. True repentance acquiesces in all God's ways, and finds cause of thanksgiving In any mitigalion