Chap. xxxiv. 11-15; Rev. xviii. 2. d Heb. Züm.—e Heb. & Heb. daughters of the orl—h Heb. Iim.—Or, palaces Ochim. Or, ostriches. day, made of earth or clay, mixed or beat up with straw to make the parts cohere, and dried only in the sun. This is their method of making bricks; see on chap ix. 9. The walls of the city were built of the earth digged out on the spot, and dried upon the place, by which means both the ditch and the wall were at once formed, the former furnishing materials for the latter. That the walls of Babylon were of this kind is well known; and Berosus expressly says, (apud Joseph. Antiq. x. 11,) that Nebuchadnezzar added three new walls both to the old and new city, partly of brick and bitumen, and partly of brick alone. A wall of this sort must have a great thickness in proportion to its height, otherwise it cannot stand. The thickness of the walls of Babylon is said to have been one-fourth of their height, which seems to have been no more than was absolutely necessary. Maundrell, speaking of the garden walls of Damascus, says, "They are of a very singular structure. They are built of great pieces of earth, made in the fashion of brick, and hardened in the sun. In their dimensions they are two yards long each, and somewhat more than one broad, and half a yard thick." And afterward, speaking of the walls of the houses, he says, " From this dirty way of building they have this amongst other inconveniences, that upon any violent rain the whole city becomes, by the washing of the houses, as it were a quagmire;" p. 124. And-see note on chap. xxx. 13. When a wall of this sort comes to be out of repair, and is neglected, it is easy to conceive the necessary consequences, namely, that in no long course of ages it must be totally destroyed by the heavy rains, and at length washed away, and reduced to its original earth.-L. * Jer. li. 33. CHAPTER XIV. Deliverance of Israel from captivity, which shall follow the downfall of the great Babylonish empire, 1, 2. Triumphant ode or song of the children of Jacob, for the signal manifestation of Divine vengeance against their oppressors, 3-23. Prophecy against the Assyrians, 24, 25. Certainty of the prophecy, and immutability of the Divine counsels, 26, 27. Palestine severely threatened, 28-31. God shall establish Zion in these troublous times, 32. A. M. cir. 3292. B. C. cir. 712. FOR the LORD will have strangers shall be joined with cir. annum a Psa. cii. 13.-b Zech. i. 17; ii. 12. NOTES ON CHAP. XIV. Verse 1. And will yet choose Israel.] That is, will still regard Israel as his chosen people; however he 82 2 And the people shall take 4. M. cir. 3292. Olymp. XVII. 1. B. C. cir. 712. cir. annum Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. e Chap. lx. 4, 5, 10; Eph. ii. 12, 13, &c. may seem to desert them, by giving them up to their enemies, and scattering them among the nations. Judah is sometimes called Israel; see Ezek. xiii. 16; ( 64 ) Pride and destruction of B. C. cir. 712. cir. annum. d CHAP. XIV. A. M. cir. 3292. them, and bring them to their Olymp. XVII. 1. place and the house of Israel Numa Pompilii, shall possess them in the land R. Roman., 4. of the LORD for servants and handmaids and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; f and they shall rule over their oppressors. 3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, h the king of Babylon. B. C. cir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. cir. annum 6 He who smote the people in A. M. cir. 3292. wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. 7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. 9 Hell P from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the 4 That thou shalt take up this proverb dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the against the king of Babylon, and say, How earth; it hath raised up from their thrones hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city all the kings of the nations. ceased! k 10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, 5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the Art thou also become weak as we? art thou wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.. -e d Chap. xlix. 22; 1x. 9; lxvi. 20.- Heb. that had taken them captives.- Chap. 1x. 14.- Chap. xiii. 19; Hab. ii. 6. Ör, taunting speech.- Or, exactress of gold. Mal. i. 1; ii. 11 but the name of Jacob and of Israel, used apparently with design in this place, each of which names includes the twelve tribes; and the other circumstances mentioned in this and the next verse, which did not in any complete sense accompany the return from the captivity of Babylon, seem to intimate that this whole prophecy extends its views beyond that event. Verse 2. For servants and handmaids] For thrallis and thrallesses.-OLD BIBLE. Male and female slaves. Verse 3. In the day-" In that day"] bayom hahu. The word N-hahu is added in two MSS. of Kennicott's, and was in the copies from which the Septuagint and Vulgate translated: ev usga exɛwn, in die illa, († avaravσei, MS. Pachom. adding ,) in that day. This is a matter of no great consequence however, it restores the text to the common form, almost constantly used on such occasions; and is one among many instances of a word apparently lost out of the printed copies. become like unto us? m * Rev. xviii. 16. Psa. cxxv. 3. Heb. a stroke without removing.- Chap. lv. 12; Ezek. xxxi. 16.- Ezek. xxxii. 21. - Or, The grave. Heb. leaders. Or, great goats. though it has hardly any thing figurative in it but it is beautifully sententious, and, from the very form and manner of it, has great spirit, force, and energy. Thus Job's last speeches, in answer to his three friends, chap. xxvii.-xxxi., are called mashals; from no one particular character, which discriminates them from the rest of the poem, but from the sublime, the figurative, the sententious manner which equally prevails through the whole poem, and makes it one of the first and most eminent examples extant of the truly great and beautiful in poetic style. See the note on Prov. i. 1. The Septuagint in this place render the word by Spnvos, a lamentation. They plainly consider the speech here introduced as a piece of poetry, and of that species of poetry which we call the elegiac; either from the subject, it being a poem on the fall and death of the king of Babylon, or from the form of the composition, which is of the longer sort of Hebrew verse, in which the Lamentations of Jeremiah, called by the Septuagint Opavos, are written. The golden city ceased] madhebah, which Verse 4. This proverb-" This parable"] mashal. I take this to be the general name for poetic is here translated golden city, is a Chaldee word. Prostyle among the Hebrews, including every sort of it, bably it means that golden coin or ingot which was as ranging under one or other, or all of the characters, given to the Babylonians by way of tribute. So the of sententious, figurative, and sublime; which are all word is understood by the Vulgate, where it is rendered contained in the original notion, or in the use and ap- tributum; and by Montanus, who translates it aurea plication of the word mashal. Parables or proverbs, pensio, the golden pension. Kimchi seems to have unsuch as those of Solomon, are always expressed in derstood the word in the same sense. De Rossi transshort pointed sentences; frequently figurative, being lates it auri dives, rich in gold, or auri exactrix, the formed on some comparison; generally forcible and exactor of gold; the same as the exactor of tribute. authoritative, both in the matter and the form. And Verse 9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to such in general is the style of the Hebrew poetry. meet thee]. That is, Nebuchadnezzar. "It (hell) hath The verb mashal signifies to rule; to exercise autho- raised up from their thrones all the kings of the earth; rity; to make equal; to compare one thing with ano--the ghosts (rephaim) of all the mighty ones, or goats, ther; to utter parables, or acute, weighty, and power- (ny attudey,) of the earth-all the oppressors of ful speeches, in the form and manner of parables, mankind." What a most terrible idea is here! Tythough not properly such. Thus Balaam's first pro-rannical kings who have oppressed and spoiled manphecy, (Num. xxiii. 7-10,) is called his mashal; kind, are here represented as enthroned in hell; and The fall of A. M. cir, 3292. cir. annum B. C. cur. 712. Olymp. XVII. L. cir. annum 11 Thy pomp is brought down 15 Yet thou shalt be brought A. M. cir. 3292. Olymp. XVII. 1. to the grave, and the noise of down to hell, to the sides of Numa Pompilii, thy viols: the worm is spread the pit. R. Roman., 4. under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, win the sides of the north: Numa Pompiii, 16 They that see thee shall nar- R. Roman, rowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms? 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners. 18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like 14 I will ascend above the heights of the an abominable branch, and as the raiment of clouds; I will be like the Most High. those that are slain, thrust through with a Chap. xxxiv. 4. viii. 10.- w Psa. xlviii. 2. Or, O day star. Matt. xi. 23.- - Dan. Chap. xlvii. 8; 2 Thess. ii. 4.- -y Matt. xi. 23. Or, did not let his prisoners loose homeward. as taking a Satanic pleasure in seeing others of the xxv. 22, and xxix. 42, 43, where God appoints the same description enter those abodes of misery! place of meeting with Moses, and promises to meet with Verse 11. Cover thee-" Thy covering."] Twenty-him before the ark to commune with him, and to speak eight MSS. (ten ancient) of Kennicott's, thirty-nine of De Rossi's, twelve editions, with the Septuagint and Vulgate, read umechassecha, in the singular number. unto him; and to meet the children of Israel at the ohel moed, the "tabernacle of the assembly,” means the place appointed by God, where he would present himself; agreeably to which I have rendered it in this place, the mount of the Divine Presence. Verse 12. O Lucifer, son of the morning] The Versions in general agree in this translation, and render heilel as signifying Lucifer, wopwgos, the morning star, whether Jupiter or Venus; as these are both bringers of the morning light, or morning stars, annually in their turn. And although the context speaks explicitly concerning Nebuchadnezzar, yet this has been, I know not why, applied to the chief of the fallen angels, who is most incongruously denominated Lucifer, (the bringer of light!) an epithet as common to him as those of Satan and Devil. That the Holy Spirit by his prophets should call this arch-enemy of God and man the light-bringer, would be strange indeed. But the truth is, the text speaks nothing at all Verse 19. Like an abominable branch—“Like the concerning Satan nor his fall, nor the occasion of that tree abominated"] That is, as an object of abominafall, which many divines have with great confidence tion and detestation; such as the tree is on which a deduced from this text. O how necessary it is to un-malefactor has been hanged. "It is written," saith derstand the literal meaning of Scripture, that preposterous comments may be prevented! Besides, I doubt much whether our translation be correct. heilel, which we translate Lucifer, comes from yalal, yell, howl, or shriek, and should be translated, “Howl, son of the morning ;" and so the Syriac has understood it; and for this meaning Michaelis contends: see his reasons in Parkhurst, under n halal. Verse 13. I will ascend into heaven] I will get the empire of the whole world. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God-above the Israelites, who are here termed the stars of God. So the Targum of Jonathan, and R. D. Kimchi. This chapter speaks not of the ambition and fall of Satan, but of the pride, arrogance, and fall of Nebuchadnezzar. The mount of the congregation"The mount of the Divine Presence"] It appears plainly from Exod. 84 St. Paul, Gal. iii. 13, “Cursed is every man that hang- "Cum itaque homo suspensus. a Job xviii. 19; Psa. xxi. 10; xxxvii. 28; cix. 13.- b Exod. xx. 5; Matt. xxiii. 35.- C Prov. x. 7; Jer. li. 62. d1 Kings xiv. 10. Job. xviii. 19.- Chap. xxxiv. 11; Zeph. ii. 14. ris abominabantur lignum quo fuerat suspensus, ita ut illud quoque terra tegerent, tanquam rem abominabilem. Unde interpres Chaldæus hæc verba transtulit po on kechat temir, sicut virgultum absconditum, sive sepultum." Kalinski, Vaticinia Observationibus Illustrata, p. 342. "The Jews never hang any malefactor upon a tree that is growing in the earth, but upon a post fixed in the ground, that it might never be said, "That is the tree on which such a one was hanged;' for custom required that the tree should be buried with the malefactor. In like manner the stone by which a criminal was stoned to death, or the sword by which he was beheaded, or the napkin or handkerchief by which he was strangled, should be buried with him in the same grave." "For as the hanged man was considered the greatest abomination, so the very post or wood on which he was hanged was deemed a most abominable thing, and therefore buried under the earth." Agreeably to which Theodoret, Hist. Ecclesiast. i. 17, 18, in his account of the finding of the cross by Helena, says, "That the three crosses were buried in the earth near the place of our Lord's sepulchre." And this circumstance seems to confirm the relation of the discovery of the cross of Christ. The crosses were found where the custom required they should be buried. The raiment of those that are slain-"Clothed with the slain"] Thirty-five MSS., (ten ancient,) and three editions, have the word fully written, v lebush. It is not a noun, but the participle passive; thrown out among the common slain, and covered with the dead bodies. So ver. 11, the earth-worm is said to be his bed-covering. This reading is confirmed by two ancient MSS. in my own collection. Verse 20. Because thou hast destroyed thy land, &c. "Because thou hast destroyed thy country; thou hast slain thy people"] Xenophon gives an instance the Assyrians. B. C. cir. 712. cir. annum 24 The LORD of hosts hath A. M. er. 3292. sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: Olymp. XVII. 1. Numa Pompilii, R. Roman., 4. 25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. h 27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn A. M. cir. 3278, it back? i 28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. B. C. cir. 726. Olymp. XIII. 3. cir. annum Romuli, R. Roman., 28. Chap. x. 27.- -h2 Chron. xx. 6; Job ix. 12; xxiii. 13; Psa. xxxiii. 11; Prov. xix. 21; xxi. 30; chap. xliii. 13; Dan. iv. 31, 35.-2 Kings xvi. 20. of this king's wanton cruelty in killing the son of Gobrias, on no other provocation than that, in hunting, he struck a boar and a lion which the king had missed. Cyrop. iv. p. 309. Verse 23. I will sweep it with the besom of destruction-"I will plunge it in the miry gulf of destruction"] I have here very nearly followed the Version of the Septuagint; the reasons for which see in the last note on 'De Poësi Hebr. Prælect. xxviii. The besom of destruction, as our Version renders it. NONDD bematate. This, says Kimchi, is a Chaldee word: and it is worthy of remark that the prophet, writing to the Chaldeans, uses several words peculiar to their own language to point out the nature of the Divine judgments, and the causes of them. See the note on Jer. x. 11. Sixteen of Kennicott's MSS., and seventeen of De Rossi's, and one ancient of my own, have the word "UND bematatey, in the plural. "I will sweep her with the besoms of destruction."" Verse 25. I will break the Assyrian-upon my. mountains-"To crush the Assyrian-on my mountains"] The Assyrians and Babylonians are the same people, Herod. i. 199, 200. Babylon is reckoned the principal city in Assyria, ibid. 178. Strabo says the same thing, lib. xvi. sub init. The circumstance of this judgment being to be executed on God's mountains is of importance; it may mean the destruction of Sennacherib's army near Jerusalem, and have a still farther view: compare Ezek. xxxix. 4; and see Lowth on this place of Isaiah. Verse 28. In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden] Uzziah had subdued the Philistines, 2 Chron. xxvi. 6, 7; but, taking advantage of the weak reign of Ahaz, they, invaded Judea, and took, and held in possession, some cities in the southern part of the kingdom. On the death of Ahaz, Isaiah delivers this prophecy, threatening them with the destruction that Calamities to fall A. M cir. 3278. cir. annum ISAIAH. on the Moabites. 29 Rejoice not thou, whole Pa- | 31 Howl, O gate; cry, O AM. cir. 3278. k B. C. cir. 726. Olymp. XIII. 3. cir. annum Romuli, Olymp. XIII. 3. lestina, because the rod of him city; thou, whole Palestina, art that smote thee is broken: for dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and R. Roman., 28. none shall be alone in his appointed times. Romuli, R. Roman., 28. out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. 1 m 32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? that the LORD hath shall founded Zion, and the poor of his people 30 And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety and I will kill thy root with famine, and he slay thy remnant. * 2 Chron. xxvi. 6.- - Or, adder. m 2 Kings xviii. 8.he shall not be alone. shall trust in it. Or, Or, assemblies.—P Psa. lxxxvii. 1,5; cii. 16.— Zeph. ii. 12; Hezekiah, his son, and great-grandson of Uzziah, should bring upon them: which he effected; for "he smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof," 2 Kings xviii. 8. Uzziah, therefore, must be meant by the rod that smote them, and by the serpent from whom should spring the flying fiery serpent, ver. 29, that is, Hezekiah, a much more terrible enemy than even Uzziah had been. 66 The Targum renders the twenty-ninth verse in a singular way. For, from the sons of Jesse shall come forth the Messiah; and his works among you shall be as the flying serpent." Verse 30. And the first-born of the poor, &c.] The Targum goes on applying all to the Messiah. "And the poor of the people shall he feed, and the humble shall dwell securely in his days: and he shall kill thy children with famine, and the remnant of thy people shall he slay." I will kill-"He will slay"] The Septuagint reads hemith, in the third person, avɛλɛ; and so the Chaldee. The Vulgate remedies the confusion of persons in the present text, by reading both the verbs in the first person. Verse 31. There shall come from the north a smoke "From the north cometh a smoke"] That is, a cloud of dust raised by the march of Hezekiah's army goyim, sêvwv, plural; and so the Chaldee, and one MS. The ambassadors of the neighbouring nations, that send to congratulate Hezekiah on his success; which in his answer he will ascribe to the protection of God. See 2 Chron. xxxii. 23. Or, if " goi singular, the reading of the text, be preferred, the ambassadors sent by the Philistines to demand peace.-L. The Lord hath founded Zion] Kimchi refers this to the state of Zion under Hezekiah, when the rest of the cities of Judea had been taken, and this only was left for a hope to the poor of God's people: and God so defended it that Rabshakeh could not prevail against it. The true Church of God is a place of safety; for as all its members are devoted to God, and walk in his testimonies, so they are continually defended and supported by him. In the congregations of his people, God dispenses his light and salvation; hence his poor or humble ones expect in his ordinances the blessings they need. A. M. cir. 3278. cir, annum R. Roman., 28. CHAPTER XV. Prediction of very heavy calamities about to fall upon the Moabites, 1–9. THE a burden of Moab. Be- Kir of Moab is laid waste, and с to silence; because in the night to a Jer. xlviii. 1, &c.; Ezek. xxv. 8-11; Amos ii. 1. This and the following chapter, taken together, make one entire prophecy, very improperly divided into two parts. The time of its delivery, and consequently of its accomplishment, which was to be in three years from that time, is uncertain; the former not being marked in the prophecy itself, nor the latter recorded in history. But the most probable account is, that it was delivered soon after the foregoing, in the first year of Hezekiah; and that it was accom He is gone to Bajith, and Dibon, the high places, to b Num. xxi. 28.- C A. M. cir. 3278. B. C. cir. 726. Olymp. XIII. 3. cir. annum Romuli, R. Roman., 28. Or, cut off. Chap. xvi. 12. plished in his fourth year, when Shalmaneser invaded the kingdom of Israel. He might probably march through Moab; and to secure every thing behind him, possess himself of the whole country, by taking their principal strong places, Ar and Kirhares.-L. The authorized Version, which we have followed in the margin, places the prophecy in this chapter fourteen years earlier than that contained in the two preceding. Jeremiah has happily introduced much of this pro |