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Desolation of the

A. M. cir. 3262.

B. C. cir 742.
Anno Olymp.
Nona 3.
Ante Urbem
Conditam 12.

syria.

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Judah; even the king of As- | hiss for the fly that is in the
uttermost part of the rivers of
Egypt, and for the bee that is in
the land of Assyria.
chap. v. 26.

a

-18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall a Isaiah,

A. M. cir. 3262.
Anno Olymp.

B. C. cir. 742.

Nonæ 3. Ante Urbem Conditam 12.

other than the heir of the throne of David; under in due time, fulfil the predictions of his servant, as rewhich character a great and even a Divine person had lated in the context. On Ahaz humbly refusing to ask been promised? No one of that age answered to this any sign, it is immediately added, "Therefore the character except Hezekiah; but he was certainly born Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin nine or ten years before the delivery of this prophecy. shall conceive and bear a son; and shall call his name That this was so understood at that time is collected, Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat," &c. Both I think, with great probability, from a passage of Mi-the Divine and human nature of our Lord, as well as cah, a prophet contemporary with Isaiah, but who began the miraculous conception, appear to be pointed out in to prophesy after him; and who, as I have already the prophecy quoted here by the evangelist: He shall observed, imitated him, and sometimes used his ex-be called y IMMANU-EL; literally, The STRONG pressions. Micah, having delivered that remarkable GOD WITH US: similar to those words in the New prophecy which determines the place of the birth of Testament: The word which was God-was made Messiah, "the Ruler of God's people, whose goings flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; forth have been of old, from everlasting;" that it should John i. 1, 14. And God was manifested in the flesh, be Bethlehem Ephratah; adds immediately, that nevertheless, in the mean time, God would deliver his people into the hands of their enemies: "He will give them up, till she, who is to bear a child, shall bring forth," Mic. v. 3. This obviously and plainly refers to some known prophecy concerning a woman to bring forth a child; and seems much more properly applicable to this passage of Isaiah than to any others of the same prophet, to which some interpreters have applied it.

1 Tim. iii. 16. So that we are to understand God with us to imply, God incarnated-God in human nature. This seems farther evident from the words of the prophet, ver. 15: Butter and honey shall he eathe shall be truly man-grow up and be nourished in a human natural way; which refers to his being WITH us, i. e., incarnated. To which the prophet adds, That he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good; or rather, According to his knowledge, y ledato, reprobating the evil, and choosing the good; this refers to him as GoD, and is the same idea given by this prophet, chap. liii. 11: By (or in) his know

St. Matthew, therefore, in applying this prophecy to the birth of Christ, does it, not merely in the way of accommodating the words of the prophet to a suitable case not in the prophet's view, but takes it in its strict-ledge, my bedato, (the knowledge of Christ cruciest, clearest, and most important sense; and applies it according to the original design and principal intention of the prophet.-L.

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fied,) shall my righteous servant justify many; for he
shall bear their offences. Now this union of the Di-
vine and human nature is termed a sign or miracle,
oth, i. e., something which exceeds the power of na-
ture to produce. And this miraculous union was to be
brought about in a miraculous way: Behold, a VIRGIN
shall conceive: the word is very emphatic, yn ha-
almah, THE virgin; the only one that ever was, or ever
shall be, a mother in this way. But the Jews, and
some called Christians, who have espoused their des-
perate cause, assert that "the word hy almah does
not signify a VIRGIN only; for it is applied Prov. xxx.
19 to signify a young married woman." I answer,
that this latter text is no proof of the contrary doctrine :
the words by
derech geber bealmah, the

At the time referred to, the kingdom of Judah, under the government of Ahaz, was reduced very low. Pekah, king of Israel, had slain in Judea one hundred and twenty thousand persons in one day; and carried away captives two hundred thousand, including women and children, together with much spoil. To add to their way of a man with a maid, cannot be proved to mean distress, Rezin, king of Syria, being confederate with that for which it is produced. Besides, one of De Pekah, had taken Elath, a fortified city of Judah, and Rossi's MSS. reads by bealmaiv, the way of a carried the inhabitants away captive to Damascus. In strong or stout man (11 geber) IN HIS YOUTH; and in this critical conjuncture, need we wonder that Ahaz this reading the Syriac, Septuagint, Vulgate, and was afraid that the enemies who were now united Arabic agree; which are followed by the first version against him must prevail, destroy Jerusalem, end the in the English language, as it stands in a MS. in my kingdom of Judah, and annihilate the family of David? own possession: the were of a man in his waxing To meet and remove this fear, apparently well ground-youth so that this place, the only one that can with ed, Isaiah is sent from the Lord to Ahaz, swallowed up any probability of success be produced, were the internow both by sorrow and by unbelief, in order to assure pretation contended for correct, which I am by no him that the counsels of his enemies should not stand; means disposed to admit, proves nothing. Besides, and that they should be utterly discomfited. To en- the consent of so many versions in the opposite meancourage Ahaz, he commands him to ask a sign or mira-ing deprives it of much of its influence in this question. cle, which should be a pledge in hand, that God should,

The word by almah, comes from hy alam, to lie

Desolation of the

A. M. cir. 3262.

B. C. cir. 742.

ISAIAH.

19 And they shall come, and all thorns, and upon bushes.

Anno Olymp. shall rest all of them in the

Nonæ 3. Ante Urbem Conditam 12.

desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon

Chap. ii. 19; Jer. xvi. 16. Or, commendable trees. hid, be concealed: and we are told, that "virgins were so called, because they were concealed or closely kept up in their fathers' houses till the time of their marriage." This is not correct: see the case of Rebecca, Gen. xxiv. 43, and my note there; that of Rachel, Gen. xxix. 6, 9, and the note there also; and see the case of Miriam, the sister of Moses, Exod. ii. 8, and also the Chaldee paraphrase on Lam. i. 4, where the virgins are represented as going out in the dance. And see also the whole history of Ruth. This being concealed or kept at home, on which so much stress is laid, is purely fanciful; for we find that young unmarried women drew water, kept sheep, gleaned publicly in the fields, &c., &c., and the same works they perform among the Turcomans to the present day. This reason, therefore, does not account for the radical meaning of the word; and we must seek it elsewhere. Another well-known and often-used root in the Hebrew tongue will cast light on this subject. This is nhi galah, which signifies to reveal, make manifest, or uncover; and is often applied to matrimonial connections in different parts of the Mosaic law: Dhy alam, therefore, may be considered as implying the concealment of the virgin, as such, till lawful marriage had taken place. A virgin was not called hy almah, because she was concealed by being kept at home in her father's house, which is not true; but, literally and physically, because as a woman she had not been uncovered-she had not known man. This fully applies to the blessed virgin, see Luke i. 34. "How can this be, seeing I know no man?" And this text throws much light on the subject before us. This also is in perfect agreement with the ancient prophecy, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent," Gen. iii. 15; for the person who was to destroy the work of the devil was to be the progeny of the woman, without any concurrence of the man. And hence the text in Genesis speaks as fully of the virgin state of the person from whom Christ, according to the flesh, should come, as that in the prophet, or this in the evangelist. According to the original promise there was to be a seed, a human being, who should destroy sin but this seed or human being, must come from the woman ALONE; and no woman ALONE could produce such a human being without being a virgin. Hence, A virgin shall bear a son, is the very spirit and meaning of the original text, independently of the illustration given by the prophet; and the fact recorded by the evangelist is the proof of the whole. But how could that be a sign to Ahaz, which was to take place so many hundreds of years after? I answer, the meaning of the prophet is plain: not only Rezin and Pekah should be unsuccessful against Jerusalem at that time, which was the fact; but Jerusalem, Judea, and the house of David should be both preserved, notwithstanding their depressed state, and the multitude of their adversaries, till the time should come when a VIRGIN should bear a son.

Jews predicted.

all A. M. cir. 3262. B. C. cir. 742. Anno Olymp.

20 In the same day shall the LORD shave with a razor that is

Nonæ 3. Ante Urbem Conditam 12.

Be

d2 Kings xvi. 7, 8; 2 Chron. xxviii. 20, 21; see Ezek. v. 1. This is a most remarkable circumstance—the house of David could never fail, till a virgin should conceive and bear a son-nor did it: but when that incredible and miraculous fact did take place, the kingdom and house of David became extinct! This is an irrefragable confutation of every argument a Jew can offer in vindication of his opposition to the Gospel of Christ. Either the prophecy in Isaiah has been fulfilled, or the kingdom and house of David are yet standing. But the kingdom of David, we know, is destroyed: and where is the man, Jew or Gentile, that can show us a single descendant of David on the face of the earth? The prophecy could not fail: the kingdom and house of David have failed; the virgin, therefore, must have brought forth her son, and this son is Jesus, the Christ. Thus Moses, Isaiah, and Matthew concur; and facts the most unequivocal have confirmed the whole! hold the wisdom and providence of God! -Notwithstanding what has been said above, it may be asked, In what sense could this name, Immanuel, be applied to Jesus Christ, if he be not truly and properly GOD? Could the Spirit of truth ever design that Christians should receive him as an angel or a mere man; and yet, in the very beginning of the Gospel history, apply a character to him which belongs only to the most high God? Surely no. In what sense, then, is Christ GoD WITH US? Jesus is called Immanuel, or God with us, in his incarnation; God united to our nature; God with man, God in man; God with us, by his continual protection; God with us, by the influences of his Holy Spirit, in the holy sacrament, in the preaching of his word, in private prayer. And God with us, through every action of our life, that we begin, continue, and end in his name. He is God with us, to comfort, enlighten, protect, and defend us, in every time of temptation and trial, in the hour of death, in the day of judgment; and God with us and in us, and we with and in him, to all eternity.

A

Verse 17. The Lord shall bring-" But JEHOVAH will bring"] Houbigant reads " vaiyabi, from the Septuagint, aλλa eñas̟ei ó Deos, to mark the transition to a new subject.

Even the king of Assyria.] Houbigant supposes these words to have been a marginal gloss, brought into the text by mistake; and so likewise Archbishop Secker. Besides their having no force or effect here, they do not join well in construction with the words preceding, as may be seen by the strange manner in which the ancient interpreters have taken them; and they very inelegantly forestall the mention of the king of Assyria, which comes in with great propriety in the 20th verse. I have therefore taken the liberty of omitting them in the translation.

Verse 18. Hiss for the fly-" Hist the fly"] See note on chap. v. 26.

Egypt, and-Assyria.] Sennacherib, Esarhaddon.

Desolation of the

B. C. cir. 742.

CHAP. VII.

B. C. cir. 742.

Anno Olymp.

Jews predicted. A. M. cir. 3262. hired, namely, by them beyond that every place shall be, where A. M. cir. 3262. the river, by the king of Assyria; there were a thousand vines the head, and the hair of the at a thousand silverlings, & it feet and it shall also con- shall even be for briers and sume the beard. thorns.

Anno Olymp.
Nonæ 3.
Ante Urbem

Conditam 12.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep:

22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give that he shall eat butter for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left f in the land.

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Nonæ 3. Ante Urbem Conditam 12.

24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.

25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading 23 And it shall come to pass in that day, of lesser cattle.

e Deut. xxxii. 14.

Heb: in the midst of the land.

Chap. v. 6.- — Jer 1. 14.

Pharao-necho, and Nebuchadnezzar, who one after an- than suffer his surgeon to take off his beard. Memoires, other desolated Judea.

tom. iii., p. 214. See also Niebuhr, Arabie, p. 61. The remaining verses of this chapter, 21-25, contain an elegant and very expressive description of a country depopulated, and left to run wild, from its ad

Verse 19. Holes of the rocks—"Caverns"] So the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, whence Houbigant supposes the true reading to be on hannachalolim. One of my oldest MSS. reads 'nan hanna-juncts and circumstances: the vineyards and cornfields, chalolim.

Verse 20. The river] That is, the Euphrates: hanahar. So read the Septuagint and two MSS.

before well cultivated, now overrun with briers and thorns; much grass, so that the few cattle that are left, a young cow and two sheep, have their full range, and abundant pasture, so as to yield milk in plenty to the scanty family of the owner; the thinly scattered people living, not on corn, wine, and oil, the produce of cultivation; but on milk and honey, the gifts of nature; and the whole land given up to the wild beasts, so that the miserable inhabitants are forced to go out armed with bows and arrows, either to defend themselves against the wild beasts, or to supply themselves with necessary food by hunting.

Shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired— “JEHOVAH shall shave by the hired razor"] To shave with the hired razor the head, the feet, and the beard, is an expression highly parabolical, to denote the utter devastation of the country from one end to the other; and the plundering of the people, from the highest to the lowest, by the Assyrians, whom God employed as his instrument to punish the Jews. Ahaz himself, in the first place, hired the king of Assyria to come to help him against the Syrians, by a present made to him of all the treasures of the temple, as well as his A VERY judicious friend has sent me the following own. And God himself considered the great nations, observations on the preceding prophecy, which I think whom he thus employed as his mercenaries; and worthy of being laid before the reader; though they paid them their wages. Thus he paid Nebuchadnez-are in some respects different from my own view of zar for his services against Tyre, by the conquest of Egypt, Ezek. xxix. 18-20. The hairs of the head are those of the highest order in the state; those of the feet, or the lower parts, are the common people; the beard is the king, the high priest, the very supreme in dignity and majesty. The Eastern people have always held the beard in the highest veneration, and have been extremely jealous of its honour. To pluck a man's beard is an instance of the greatest indignity that can be offered. See Isa. 1. 6. The king of the Ammonites, to show the utmost contempt of David, "cut off half the beards of his servants, and the men were greatly ashamed; and David bade them tarry at Jericho till their beards were grown," 2 Sam. x. 4, 5.

the subject.

"To establish the primary and literal meaning of a passage of Scripture is evidently laying the true foundation for any subsequent views or improvements from it.

"The kingdom of Judah, under the government of Ahaz, was reduced very low. Pekah, king of Israel, had slain in Judea one hundred and twenty thousand in one day; and carried away captive two hundred thousand, including women and children, with much spoil. To add to this distress, Rezin, king of Syria, being confederate with Pekah, had taken Elath, a fortified city of Judah, and carried the inhabitants to Damascus. I think it may also be gathered from the sixth verse of chap. viii., that the kings of Syria and Israel had a considerable party in the land of Judea, who, regardless of the Divine appointment and promises, were disposed to favour the elevation of Tabeal, a stranger, to the throne of David.

Niebuhr, Arabie, p. 275, gives a modern instance of the very same kind of insult. "The Turks," says Thevenot, "greatly esteem a man who has a fine beard; it is a very great affront to take a man by his beard, unless it be to kiss it; they swear "In this critical conjuncture of affairs, Isaiah was by the beard." Voyages, i., p. 57. D'Arvieux gives sent with a message of mercy, and a promise of dea remarkable instance of an Arab, who, having receiv-liverance, to Ahaz. He was commanded to take with ed a wound in his jaw, chose to hazard his life, rather him Shearjashub, his son, whose name contained a pro

Observations on the

ISAIAH..

preceding chapter.

"But it may still be objected, that according to this interpretation of the fourteenth verse of chap. vii. nothing miraculous occurs, which is readily admitted; but the objection rests upon the supposition that something miraculous was intended; whereas the word ♫ oth,

mise respecting the captives lately made by Pekah, | comforts with the assurance (ver. 10) that they shall whose return from Samaria, effected by the expostula- prove the fulfilment of the promise contained in the tion of the prophet Oded and the concurrence of the name Immanuel. princes of Ephraim, was now promised as a pledge of the Divine interposition offered to Ahaz in favour of the house of David. And as a farther token of this preservation, notwithstanding the incredulity of Ahaz, Isaiah was directed to predict the birth of another son which should be born to him within the space of a year,sign,' does by no means generally imply a miracle, and to be named Immanuel, signifying thereby the protection of God to the land of Judah and family of David at this present conjuncture, with reference to the promise of the Messiah who was to spring from that family, and be born in that land. Compare chap. viii. 8. Hence Isaiah testifies, chap. viii. 18: Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for types in Israel.' Compare Zech. iii. 8: Thy companions are men of sign and type: see Dr. Lowth on this verse. The message of Divine displeasure against Israel is in like manner expressed by the names the prophet Hosea was directed to give his children; see Hos. i. and ii.

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"Concerning this child, who was to be named Immanuel, the prophet was commissioned to declare, that notwithstanding the present scarcity prevailing in the land from its being harassed by war, yet within the space of time wherein this child should be of age to discern good and evil, both these hostile kings, viz., of Israel and Syria, should be cut off; and the country enjoy such plenty, that butter and honey, food aecounted of peculiar delicacy, should be a common repast. See Harmer's Observations, vol. p. 299.

"To this it may be objected that Isaiah's son was not named Immanuel, but Maher-shalal-hash-baz; the signification of which bore a threatening aspect, instead of a consolatory one. To this I think a satisfactory answer may be given. Ahaz, by his unbelief and disregard of the message of mercy sent to him from God, (for instead of depending upon it he sent and made a treaty with the king of Assyria,) drew upon himself the Divine displeasure, which was expressed by the change of the child's name, and the declaration that though Damascus and Samaria should, according to the former prediction, fall before the king of Assyria, yet that this very power, i. e., Assyria, in whom Ahaz trusted for deliverance, (see 2 Kings xvi. 7, &c.,) should afterwards come against Judah, and fill the breadth of the land,' which was accomplished in the following reign, when Jerusalem was so endangered as to be delivered only by miracle.. The sixth and seventh verses of chap. viii. indicate, I think, as I before observed, that the kings of Syria and Israel had many adherents in Judah, who are said to refuse the peaceful waters of Shiloh or Siloam, him that is to be sent, who ought to have been their confidence, typified by the fountain at the foot of Mount Zion, whose stream watered the city of Jerusalem; and therefore, since the splendour of victory, rather than the blessings of peace, was the object of their admiration, compared to a swelling river which overflowed its banks, God threatens to chastise them by the victorious armies of Ashur. The prophet at the same time addresses words of consolation to such of the people who yet feared and trusted in Jehovah, whom he instructs and

but most commonly an emblematic representation, (see Ezek. iv. 3-12; xi; xx. 20; Zech. vi. 14,) either by actions or names, of some future event either promised or threatened. Exod. iii. 12; 1 Sam. ii. 34; 2 Kings xix. 29; Jer. xliv. 29, 30, are all examples of a future event given as a sign or token of something else which is also future. The birth of Isaiah's son was indeed typical of him whose name he was, at first, appointed to bear, viz., Immanuel, even as Oshea the son of Nun had his name changed to Jehoshua, the same with Jesus, of whom he was an eminent type. Hence the prophet, in the ninth chapter, breaks forth into a strain of exultation: To us a child is born;' after which follow denunciations against Rezin and the kingdom of Israel, which are succeeded by declarations, that when Assyria had completed the appointed chastisement upon Judah and Jerusalem, that empire should be destroyed. The whole of the tenth chapter is a very remarkable prophecy, and was probably delivered about the time of Sennacherib's invasion.

"But still it will be urged, that St. Matthew, when relating the miraculous conception of our Lord, says, 'Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,' &c. To this it may readily be answered, that what was spoken by the prophet was indeed now fulfilled in a higher, more important, and also in a more literal sense, than the primary fulfilment could afford, which derived all its value from its connection with this event, to which it ultimately referred.

"In like manner the prophecy of Isaiah, contained in the second chapter, received a complete fulfilment in our Saviour's honouring Capernaum with his residence, and preaching throughout Galilee; though there appears reason to interpret the passage as having a primary respect to the reformation wrought by Hezekiah, and which, at the eve of the dissolution of the kingdom of Israel by the captivity of the ten tribes, extended to the tribes of Asher and Zebulun, and many of the inhabitants of Ephraim and Manasseh, who were hereby stirred up to destroy idolatry in their country. See 2 Chron. xxxi. 1. And without doubt the great deliverance wrought afterwards for Judah by the miraculous destruction of Sennacherib's army, and the recovery of Hezekiah in so critical a conjuncture from a sickness which had been declared to be unto death, contributed not a little to revive the fear of God in that part of Israel which, through their defection from the house of David, had grievously departed from the temple and worship of the true God; and as Galilee lay contiguous to countries inhabited by Gentiles, they had probably sunk deeper into idolatry than the southern part of Israel.

"In several passages of St. Matthew's Gospel, our translation conveys the idea of things being done in

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order to fulfil certain prophecies; but I apprehend that if the words iva kaι ons were rendered as simply denoting the event, so that and thus was fulfilled, the sense would be much clearer. For it is obvious that our Lord did not speak in parables or ride into Jerusalem previously to his last passover, simply for the purpose of fulfilling the predictions recorded, but also from other motives; and in chap. ii, the evangelist only remarks that the circumstance of our Lord's return from Egypt corresponded with the prophet Hosea's relation of that part of the history of the Israelites. So in the twenty-third verse Joseph dwelt at Nazareth because he was directed so to do by God himself; and the sacred historian, having respect to the effect afterwards produced, (see John vii. 41, 42, 52,) remarks that this abode in Nazareth was a means of fulfilling

against Israel.

those predictions of the prophets which indicate the contempt and neglect with which by many the Messiah should be treated. Galilee was considered by the inhabitants of Judea as a degraded place, chiefly from its vicinity to the Gentiles; and Nazareth seems to have been proverbially contemptible; and from the account given of the spirit and conduct of the inhabitants by the evangelists, not without reason."E. M. B.

To my correspondent, as well as to many learned men, there appears some difficulty in the text; but I really think this is quite done away by that mode of interpretation which I have already adopted; and as far as the miraculous conception is concerned, the whole is set in the clearest and strongest light, and the objections and cavils of the Jews entirely destroyed.

CHAPTER VIII.

Prediction respecting the conquest of Syria and Israel by the Assyrians, 1-4. Israel, for rejecting the gentle stream of Shiloah, near Jerusalem, is threatened to be overflowed by the great river of Assyria, manifestly alluding by this strong figure to the conquests of Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser over that kingdom, 5–7. The invasion of the kingdom of Judah by the Assyrians under Sennacherib foretold, 8. The prophet assures the Israelites and Syrians that their hostile attempts against Judah shall be frustrated, 9, 10. Exhortation not to be afraid of the wrath of man, but to fear the displeasure of God, 11-13. Judgments which shall overtake those who put no confidence in Jehovah, 14, 15. The prophet proceeds to warn his countrymen against idolatry, divination, and the like sinful practices, exhorting them to seek direction from the word of God, professing in a beautiful apostrophe that this was his own pious resolution. And to enforce this counsel, and strengthen their faith, he points to his children, whose symbolic names were signs or pledges of the Divine promises, 16-20. Judgments of God against the finally impenitent, 21, 22.

A. M. cir. 3262.

b

B. C. cir. 742. MOREOVER the LORD said pen concerning Maher-shalal- A. M. cir. 3262. unto me, Take thee a great hash-baz.

Anno Olymp.

Nonæ 3.

A. U. C. 12. roll, and * write in it with a man's 2 And I took unto me faithful

:

B. C. cir. 742.
Anno Olymp.
Nonæ 3.

A. U. C. 12.

rib, which would bring them into the most imminent
danger, like a flood reaching to the neck, in which a
man can but just keep his head above water. The two
next verses, 9 and 10, are addressed by the prophet,
as a subject of the kingdom of Judah, to the Israelites
and Syrians, and perhaps to all the enemies of God's
people; assuring them that their attempts against that
kingdom shall be fruitless; for that the promised Im-
manuel, to whom he alludes by using his name to ex-
press the signification of it, for God is with us, shall
be the defence of the house of David, and deliver the
kingdom of Judah out of their hands.
He then pro-
ceeds to warn the people of Judah against idolatry,
divination, and the like forbidden practices; to which
they were much inclined, and which would soon bring
down God's judgments upon Israel. The prophecy
concludes at the sixth verse of chap. ix. with promises
of blessings in future times by the coming of the great
deliverer already pointed out by the name of Immanuel,
whose person and character is set forth in terms the
most ample and magnificent.

a Chap. xxx. 8; Hab. ii. 2.- „b Heb. in making speed to the spoil he hasteneth the prey, or make speed, &c. The prophecy of the foregoing chapter relates di-invasion of Judah by the same power under Sennacherectly to the kingdom of Judah only the first part of it promises them deliverance from the united invasion of the Israelites and Syrians; the latter part, from ver. 17, denounces the desolation to be brought upon the kingdom of Judah by the Assyrians. The sixth, seventh, and eighth verses of this chapter seem to take in both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. "This people that refuseth the waters of Shiloah," may be meant of both the Israelites despised the kingdom of Judah, which they had deserted, and now attempted to destroy; the people of Judah, from a consideration of their own weakness, and a distrust of God's promises, being reduced to despair, applied to the Assyrians for assistance against the two confederate kings. But how could it be said of Judah, that they rejoiced in Rezin, and the son of Remaliah, the enemies confederated against them? If some of the people were inclined to revolt to the enemy, (which however does not clearly appear from any part of the history or the prophecy,) yet there was nothing like a tendency to a general defection. This, therefore, must be understood of Israel. The prophet denounces the Assyrian invasion, which should overwhelm the whole kingdom of Israel under Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser; and the subsequent

And here it may be observed that it is almost the constant practice of the prophet to connect in like manner deliverances temporal with spiritual. Thus the

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