b Psa. lxxxiii. 18. Exod. xv. 2.d John iv. 10, 14; vii. 37, 38.- -e1 Chron. xvi. 8; Psa. cv. 1. Or, proclaim his name.- Psalm cxlv. 4, 5, 6. Psalm xxxiv. 3. The Jews themselves seem to have applied it to the times of Messiah. On the last day of the feast of tabernacles they fetched water in a golden pitcher from the fountain of Shiloah, springing at the foot of Mount Sion without the city: they brought it through the watergate into the temple, and poured it, mixed with wine, on the sacrifice as it lay upon the altar, with great rejoicing. They seem to have taken up this custom, for it is not ordained in the law of Moses, as an emblem of future blessings, in allusion to this passage of Isaiah, "Ye shall draw waters with joy from the fountains of salvation," expressions that can hardly be understood of any benefits afforded by the Mosaic dispensation. Our Saviour applied the ceremony, and the intention of it, to himself, and the effusion of the Holy Spirit, promised, and to be given, by him. The sense of the Jews in this matter is plainly shown by the following passage of the Jerusalem Talmud: "Why is it called the place or house of drawing?" (for that was the term for this ceremony, or for the place where the water was taken up) "Because from thence they draw the Holy Spirit; as it is written, And ye shall draw water with joy from the fountains of salvation." See Wolf. Curæ Philol. in N. T. on John vii. 37, 39.-L. The water is Divine knowledge, says Kimchi, and the wells the teachers of righteousness. The Targum renders this in a very remarkable manner: "Ye shall receive with joy (¡ulephan chadath) a new doctrine from the chosen among the righteous." Does not this mean the Gospel, the new covenant? And did not the Targumist speak as a prophet? NOTES ON CHAP. XII. Verse 1. Though thou wast angry-"For though thou hast been angry"] The Hebrew phrase, to which the Septuagint and Vulgate have too closely adhered, is exactly the same with that of St. Paul, Rom. vi. 17: "But thanks be to God, that ye were the slaves of sin; but have obeyed from the heart;" that is, "that whereas, or though, ye were the slaves of sin, yet ye have h praise for God's mercies. doings among the people, made mention that his name is exalted. 5 Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. A. M. cir. 3291. B. C. cir. 713. Olymp. XVI. 4. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 3. 6 Cry out and shout, thou1 inhabitant of Zion: for great is a the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. i Exod. xv. 1, 21; Psa. lxviii. 32; xcviii. 1.- Chap. liv. 1; Zeph. iii. 14. Heb. inhabitress.- Psa. lxxi. 22; lxxxix. 18; chap. xli. 14, 16. now obeyed from the heart the doctrine on the model of which ye were formed." Verse 2. The Lord JEHOVAH] The word ' Yah read here is probably a mistake; and arose originally from the custom of the Jewish scribes, who, when they found a line too short for the word, wrote as many letters as filled it, and then began the next line with the whole word. In writing the word Yehovah, the line might terminate with Yah, the two first letters; and then at the beginning of the next line the whole word Yehovah would be written. This might give rise to Yah Yehovah. The Yah is wanting here in two of Dr. Kennicott's MSS., in one ancient MS. of my own, and in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic. See Houbigant and De Rossi. My song] The pronoun is here necessary; and it is added by the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac, who read 'n zimrathi, as it is in a MS. Two MSS. omit Yah, see Houbigant, not. in loc. Another MS. has it in one word, 'zimrathyah. Seven others omit n' Yehovah. See Exod. xv. 2, with Var. Lect. Kennicott. Verse 4. Call upon his name] 1 p kiru bishmo, invoke his name. Make him your Mediator, or call the people in his name. Preach him who is the Root of Jesse, and who stands as an ensign for the nations. Call on the people to believe in him; as in him alone salvation is to be found. Verse 6. Thou inhabitant of Zion] Not only the Jewish people, to whom his word of salvation was to be sent first; but also all members of the Church of Christ as in them, and in his Church, the Holy One of Israel dwells. St. Paul, speaking of the mystery which had been proclaimed among the Gentiles, sums it up in these words: "which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory; whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;" Col. i. 27, 28. Well, therefore, may the inhabitant of Zion cry out and shout, and proclaim the greatness of her Redeemer. CHAPTER XIII. God mustereth the armies of his wrath against the inhabitants of Babylon, 1-6. The dreadful consequences of this visitation, and the terror and dismay of those who are the objects of it, 7-16. The horrid cruelties that shall be inflicted upon the Babylonians by the Medes, 17, 18. Total and irrecoverable desolation of Babylon, 19–22. a Chap. xxi. 1; xlvii. 1; Jer 1., li. This and the following chapter,-striking off the five last verses of the latter, which belong to a quite different subject, contain one entire prophecy, foretelling the destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians; delivered probably in the reign of Ahaz, (see Vitringa, i. 380,) about two hundred years before its accomplishment. The captivity itself of the Jews at Babylon, which the prophet does not expressly foretell, but supposes, in the spirit of prophecy, as what was actually to be effected, did not fully take place till about one hundred and thirty years after the delivery of this prophecy and the Medes, who are expressly mentioned chap. xiii. 17, as the principal agents in the overthrow of the Babylonian monarchy, by which the Jews were released from that captivity, were at this time an inconsiderable people; having been in a state of anarchy ever since the fall of the great Assyrian empire, of which they had made a part, under Sardanapalus; and did not become a kingdom under Deioces till about the seventeenth of Hezekiah. The former part of this prophecy is one of the most beautiful examples that can be given of elegance of composition, variety of imagery, and sublimity of sentiment and diction, in the prophetic style; and the latter part consists of an ode of supreme and singular excellence. Jer. li. 25. 4. M. eir. 3292 B. C. eir. 712. Olymp. XVII. L cir. annum Numa Pompili, R. Roman., 4. Chap. x. 32. b Chap. v. 26; xviii. 3; Jer. 1. 2.- The scene is immediately changed, and a new set The prophecy opens with the command of God to gather together the forces which he had destined to this service, ver. 2, 3. Upon which the prophet immediately hears the tumultuous noise of the different nations crowding together to his standard; he sees them advancing, prepared to execute the Divine wrath, ver. 4, 5. He proceeds to describe the dreadful consequences of this visitation, the consternation which will seize those who are the objects of it; and, trans-See Ezek. xxxii. 27. On which place Sir John Charferring unawares the speech from himself to God, ver. 11, sets forth, under a variety of the most striking images, the dreadful destruction of the inhabitants of Babylon which will follow, ver. 11-16, and the everlasting desolation to which that great city is doomed, ver. 17-22. din's MS. note is as follows: "En Mingrelie ils dor- illustrious shades rise at once from their couches, as The deliverance of Judah from captivity, the imme-dead with their arms placed in the same manner. These diate consequence of this great revolution, is then set forth, without being much enlarged upon, or greatly amplified, chap. xiv. 1, 2.. This introduces, with the greatest ease and the utmost propriety, the triumphant song on that subject, ver. 4-28. The beauties of which, the various images, scenes, persons introduced, and the elegant transitions from one to another, I shall here endeavour to point out in their order, leaving a few remarks upon particular passages of these two chapters to be given after these general observations on the whole. A chorus of Jews is introduced, expressing their surprise and astonishment at the sudden downfall of Babylon; and the great reverse of fortune that had befallen the tyrant, who, like his predecessors, had The Jews now resume the speech; they address Immediately follows a different scene, and a most The prophecy A. M. cir. 3292. CHAP. XIII. against Babylon. * be A. M. cir. 3292. 3 I have commanded my sanctik 7 Therefore shall all hands Olymp. XVII. 1. fied ones, I have also called faint, and every man's cir. annum e Numa Pompilii, my mighty ones for mine anger, shall melt. R. Roman., 4. highness. even them that rejoice in my 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together; the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 6 Howl ye; h for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. e Joel iii. 11. f Psa. cxlix. 2, 5, 6.- -g Heb. the likeness of. Zeph. i. 7; Rev. vi. 17. Job xxxi. 23; Joel i. 15. Or, fall down. Psa. xlviii. 6; chap. xxi. 3.- Heb. wonder. are introduced who light upon the corpse of the king of Babylon, cast out and lying naked on the bare ground, among the common slain, just after the taking of the city; covered with wounds, and so disfigured, that it is some time before they know him. They accost him with the severest taunts; and bitterly reproach him with his destructive ambition, and his cruel usage of the conquered; which have deservedly brought him this ignominious treatment, so different from that which those of his rank usually meet with, and which shall cover his posterity with disgrace. To complete the whole, God is introduced, declaring the fate of Babylon, the utter extirpation of the royal family, and the total desolation of the city; the deliverance of his people, and the destruction of their enemies; confirming the irreversible decree by the awful sanction of his oath. I believe it may with truth be affirmed, that there is no poem of its kind extant in any language, in which the subject is so well laid out, and so happily conducted, with such a richness of invention, with such variety of images, persons, and distinct actions, with such rapidity and ease of transition, in so small a compass, as in this ode of Isaiah. For beauty of disposition, strength of colouring, greatness of sentiment, brevity, perspicuity, and force of expression, it stands, among all the monuments of antiquity, unrivalled.-L. NOTES ON CHAP. XIII. Verse 1. The burden of Babylon] The prophecy that foretells its destruction by the Medes and Persians see the preceding observations. Verse 2. Exalt the voice] The word on lahem, "to them," which is of no use, and rather weakens the sentence, is omitted by an ancient MS., and the Vulgate. Verse 3. I have commanded my sanctified ones] mekuddashai, the persons consecrated to this very purpose. Nothing can be plainer than that the verb 1 heart B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. 8 And they shall be afraid; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed none at another; their faces shall be as flames. m 9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. Heb. every man at his neighbour.- Heb. faces of the flames. P Mal. iv. 1.—Psa. civ. 35; Prov. ii. 22. Chap. xxiv. 21, 23; Ezek. xxxii. 7; Joel ii. 31; iii. 15; Matt. xxiv. 29; Mark xiii. 24; Luke xxi. 25. B .r wap kadash, “to make holy," signifies also to consecrate or appoint to a particular purpose. Bishop Lowth translates, "my enrolled warriors." This is the sense. Verse 4. Of the battle-"For the battle."] The Bodleian MS. has lemilchamah. Cyrus's army was made up of many different nations. Jeremiah calls it an "assembly of great nations from the north country," chap. 1. 9. And afterwards mentions the kingdoms of " Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz, (i. e. Armenia, Corduene, Pontus or Phrygia, Vitring.,) with the kings of the Medes," chap. li. 27, 28. See Xenophon. Cyrop. Verse 5. They come from a far country] The word meerets is wanting in one MS. and in the Syriac : "They come from afar." From the end of heaven] Kimchi says, Media, "the end of heaven," in Scripture phrase, means, the EAST. Verse 8. And they shall be afraid-" And they shall be terrified"] I join this verb, in venibhalu, to the preceding verse, with the Syriac and Vulgate. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them-"Pangs shall seize them"] The Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee read Din yochezum, instead of in yochezun, which does not express the pronoun them, necessary to the sense. Verse 10. For the stars of heaven-" Yea, the stars of heaven"] The Hebrew poets, to express happiness, prosperity, the instauration and advancement of states, kingdoms, and potentates, make use of images taken from the most striking parts of nature, from the heavenly bodies, from the sun, moon, and stars which they describe as shining with increased splendour, and never setting. The moon becomes like the meridian sun, and the sun's light is augmented sevenfold; (see Isa. xxx. 26;) new heavens and a new earth are created, and a brighter age commences. On the contrary, the overflow and destruction of kingdoms is represented by opposite images. The stars are obscured, the moon withdraws her light, and the sun shines no more! The earth quakes, and the heavens tremble; The desolation A. M. cir. 3292. ISAIAH. Olymp. XVII. 1. for their evil, and the wicked for cir. annum R. Roman., 4. 11 And I will punish the world | a sheep that no man taketh up: Numa Pompilii, their iniquity; and I will cause 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. dashed to 16 Their children also shall be pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight w Psa. cxxxvii. 9; Nah. iii. 10; Zech. xiv. 2.- Chap. xxi. 2; Jer. li. 11, 28; Dan. v. 28, 31. 14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as in it. Chap. ii. 17. Hag. ii. 6.- Psa. cx. 5; Lam. i. 12. Jer. 1. 16; li. 9. and all things seem tending to their original chaos. See Joel ii. 10, iii. 15, 16; Amos viii. 9; Matt. xxiv. 29; and De S. Poës. Herb. Præl. VI. et IX. And the moon shall not cause her light to shine] This in its farther reference may belong to the Jewish polity, both in Church and state, which should be totally eclipsed, and perhaps shine no more in its distinct state for ever. sword of the enemy. The Septuagint have understood Και οἵτινες συνηγμένοι εισι πεσουνται μαχαιρα. Verse 11. I will punish the world-"I will visit Where, for nonostaι, MS. Pachom has exxsvöngerai, the world"] That is, the Babylonish empire; as net oi r Cod. Marchal. in margine, et MS. 1. D. II. xouμev, for the Roman empire, or for Judea, Luke xxEvrenσerα, which seems to be right, being properii. 1; Acts xi. 28. So the universus orbis Romanus, ly expressive of the Hebrew. for the Roman empire; Salvian. lib. v. Minos calls Crete his world: "Creten, quæ meus est orbis;" Ovid. Metamorph. viii. 9. Verse 12. I will make a man more precious than fine gold-wedge of Ophir.] The Medes and Persians will not be satisfied with the spoils of the Babylonians. They seek either to destroy or enslave them; and they will accept no ransom for any man-either for Nenosh, the poor man, or for DN adam, the more honourable person. All must fall by the sword, or go into captivity together; for the Medes, (ver. 17,) regard not silver, and delight not in gold. Verse 14. "And the remnant"] Here is plainly a defect in this sentence, as it stands in the Hebrew text; the subject of the proposition is lost. What is shear, it that shall be like a roe chased? The Septuagint They shall turn—“They shall look"] That is, the forces of the king of Babylon, destitute of their leader, and all his auxiliaries, collected from Asia Minor, and other distant countries, shall disperse and flee to their respective homes. Verse 15. Every one that is found" Every one that is overtaken"] That is, none shall escape from the slaughter; neither they who flee singly, dispersed and in confusion; nor they who endeavour to make their retreat in a more regular manner, by forming compact bodies: they shall all be equally cut off by the Verse 17. Which shall not regard silver-" Who shall hold silver of no account"] That is, who shall not be induced, by large offers of gold and silver for ransom, to spare the lives of those whom they have subdued in battle; their rage and cruelty will get the better of all such motives. We have many examples in the Iliad and in the Æneid of addresses of the vanquished to the pity and avarice of the vanquishers, to induce them to spare their lives. : Est domus alta: jacent penitus defossa talenta It is remarkable that Xenophon makes Cyrus open The desolation A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. CHAP. XIII. of Babylon. 18 Their bows also shall dash be as when God overthrew A. M. cir. 3292. Olymp. XVII. 1. the young men to pieces; and Cir. annum Numa Pompilii, they shall have. no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall R. Roman., 4. not spare children. a Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 b It shall never be inhabited, B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1 eir. annum Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. b Jer. 1. 3, 39; li. 29, 62. companied me in this expedition with a view of acquir- entering the place at night by the dry channel. The ing wealth.”—Cyròp. lib. v. Verse 18. Their bows also shall dash-" Their bows shall dash"] Both Herodotus, i. 61, and Xenophon, Anab. iii., mention, that the Persians used large bows roga pɛyaλa; and the latter says particularly that their bows were three cubits long, Anab. iv. They were celebrated for their archers, see chap. xxii. 6; Jer. xlix. 35. Probably their neighbours and allies, the Medes, dealt much in the same sort of arms. In Psa. xviii. 34, and Job xx. 24, mention is made of a bow of steel; if the Persian bows were of metal, we may easily conceive that with a metalline bow of three cubits' length, and proportionably strong, the soldiers might dash and slay the young men, the weaker and unresisting of the inhabitants (for they are joined with the fruit of the womb and the children) in the general carnage on taking the city. terattashnah, shall be broken or shivered to pieces. This seems to refer, not to Dynearim, young men, but to up keshathoth, their bows. The bows of the young men shall be broken to pieces. On the fruit, &c.-"And on the fruit," &c.] A MS. of Dr. Kennicott's, reads "veal peri, and on the fruit. And nine MSS. (three ancient) and two editions, with the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac, add likewise the conjunction 1 vau, and, to by al, upon, afterwards. Verse 19. And Babylon] The great city of Babylon was at this time rising to its height of glory, while the Prophet Isaiah was repeatedly denouncing its utter destruction. From the first of Hezekiah to the first of Nebuchadnezzar, under whom it was brought to the highest degree of strength and splendour, are about one hundred and twenty years. I will here very briefly mention some particulars of the greatness of the place, and note the several steps by which this remarkable prophecy was at length accomplished in the total ruin of it. It was, according to the lowest account given of it by ancient historians, a regular square, forty-five miles in compass, inclosed by a wall two hundred feet high and fifty broad; in which there were a hundred gates of brass. Its principal ornaments were the temple of Belus, in the middle of which was a tower of eight stories of building, upon a base of a quarter of a mile square, a most magnificent palace, and the famous hanging gardens, which were an artificial mountain, raised upon arches, and planted with trees of the largest as well as the most beautiful sorts. Cyrus took the city by diverting the waters of the Euphrates which ran through the midst of it, and river being never restored afterward to its proper course, overflowed the whole country, and made it little better than a great morass; this and the great slaughter of the inhabitants, with other bad consequences of the taking of the city, was the first step to the ruin of the place. The Persian monarchs ever regarded it with a jealous eye; they kept it under, and took care to prevent its recovering its former greatness. Darius Hystaspes not long afterward most severely punished.it for a revolt, greatly depopulated the place, lowered the walls, and demolished the gates. Xerxes destroyed the temples, and with the rest the great temple of Belus, Herod. iii. 159, Arrian. Exp. Alexandri, lib. vii. The building of Seleucia on the Tigris exhausted Babylon by its neighbourhood, as well as by the immediate loss of inhabitants taken away by Seleucus to people his new city, Strabo, lib. xvi. A king of the Parthians soon after carried away into slavery a great number of the inhabitants, and burned and destroyed the most beautiful parts of the city, Valesii Excerpt. Diodori, p. 377.. Strabo (ibid.) says that in his time great part of it was a mere desert; that the Persians had partly destroyed it; and that time and the neglect of the Macedonians, while they were masters of it, had nearly completed its destruction. Jerome (in loc.) says that in his time it was quite in ruins, and that the walls served only for the inclosure for a park or forest for the king's hunting. Modern travellers, who have endeavoured to find the remains of it, have given but a very unsatisfactory account of their success. What Benjamin of Tudela and Pietro della Valle supposed to have been some of its ruins, Tavernier thinks are the remains of some late Arabian building. Upon the whole, Babylon is so utterly annihilated, that even the place where this wonder of the world stood cannot now be determined with any certainty! See also note on chap. xliii. 14. We are astonished at the accounts which ancient historians of the best credit give of the immense extent, height, and thickness of the walls of Nineveh and Babylon; nor are we less astonished when we are assured, by the concurrent testimony of modern travellers, that no remains, not the least traces, of these prodigious works are now to be found. Scattered fragments of its tiles and bricks are yet to be found. Proud Babylon reduced now to a few brick-bats! Our wonder will, I think, be moderated in both respects, if we consider the fabric of these celebrated walls, and the nature of the materials of which they consisted. Buildings in the east have always been, and are to this |