of bows and arrows, because such would be the dread of enemies, that no man unarmed would venture to approach his possessions. But I consider it to be more probable that the Prophet means that, where the richest cultivation formerly existed, opportunity for hunting will be found; for there the wild beasts have their dens. Now, it is a most wretched change, when fields formerly cultivated and fertile are turned into woods and thickets. By bow and arrow here, therefore, I understand hunting, in this sense: "it shall not be approached by husbandmen but by hunters, and they shall not plant or dress vines, but chase wild beasts." In short, it means nothing else than frightful desolation, which shall change the aspect of the land. 25. And on all the hills that are dug with the hoe. Here the Prophet appears to contradict himself; for, having hitherto spoken of the desolation of the land, he now describes what may be called a new condition, when he says. that, where thorns and briers were, there oxen will feed. The consequence has been, that some have applied these words to the consolation of the people. But the intention of the Prophet is totally different; for he means that hills, which were at a great distance from a crowded population, and which could not be approached without much difficulty, will be fit for pasturage, on account of the great number of men who go thither; that is, because men will betake themselves to desert mountains, which formerly were inaccessible, there will be no need to be afraid of briers,1 for there will be abundance of inhabitants. Now, this is a most wretched state of things, when men cannot escape death but by resorting to thorns and briers; for he means hills formerly desolate and uncultivated, in which men shall seek a residence and abode, because no part of the country will be. safe. Thus he describes a distressful and melancholy condition of the whole country, and destruction so awful that the aspect of the country shall be altogether different from what it had formerly been. "The shepherds shall be under no apprehension of finding on those hills hedges of brier and thorn, to interrupt the free range of their flock."— Rosenmüller. When he foretold these things to King Ahaz, there can be no doubt that Ahaz despised them; for that wicked king, relying on his forces and on his league with the Assyrians, settled, as it were, on his lees, as soon as the siege of the city was raised. But Isaiah was bound to persevere in the discharge of his office, in order to show that there was no help but from God, and to inform the wretched hypocrite, that his destruction would come from that quarter from which he expected his preservation. CHAPTER VIII. 1. Moreover, the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahar-shalal-hash-baz. 2. And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. 3. And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son: then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahar-shalal-hash-baz: 4. For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. 5. The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, 6. Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; 7. Now therefore, behold, the LORD bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory; and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks. 8. And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over; he shall reach even to the neck: and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. 1. Et dixit Iehova ad me: Sume tibi volumen grande, et scribi in eo stylo vulgari,(vel, hominis:) Accelera ad diripiendum, festina ad prædam. 2. Et adhibui mihi testes fideles, Uriam sacerdotem, et Zachariam filium lebarachiæ. 3. Et accessi ad prophetissam, quæ concepit, et peperit filium. Dixitque mihi Iehova: Voca nomen ejus, Accelera ad diripiendum; festina ad prædam. 4. Sanè antequam sciat puer clamare, Pater mi et mater mea, tolletur substantia Damasci, et spolia Samariæ, coram Rege Assyriæ. 5. Rursus loquutus est mecum Iehova, iterum dicens: 6. Quandoquidem rejecit populus iste aquas Siloe, quæ fluunt cum silentio, et gaudium fuit illi ad Rezin, et filium Romelia. 7. Ideo, ecce Dominus adducit super eos aquas fluvii, violentas et magnas: nempe Regem Assyriæ et omne robur ejus; ascendetque super omnes rivos, et transibit super omnes ripas ejus. 8. Et trajiciens in Iudam inundabit, et transibit, pertinget usque ad collum. Et implebit extensio alarum ejus latitudinem terræ tuæ, O Immanuel. 260 COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH. 9. Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 10. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. 11. For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, 12. Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence, to both the houses of Israel; for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17. And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me, are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. 19. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21. And they shall pass through it hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. CHAP. VIII. fringemini; auribus percipite quot9. Consociate vos populi, et conquot è longinqua terra estis. Accingite vos, et confringemini; accingite, inquam, vos, et confringemini. solvetur; decernite decretum, et non 10. Consultate consilium, et disstabit; quia nobiscum Deus. (Hebraicè, Immanuel.) tanquam apprehensione (vel, robo11. Nam sic dixit mihi Iehova, ratione) manus; et erudivit me, ne irem per viam populi hujus, dicens: buscunque populus iste dicit, Con12. Ne dicatis, Conspiratio, in quispiratio, neque timorem eorum timueritis, aut formidaveritis. sanctificate; et sit ipse timor vester; 13. Iehovam exercituum ipsum et idem sit pavor vester. in lapidem offendiculi; et in petram 14. Tum ipse erit in sanctuarium; ruinæ, duabus domibus Israel; in laqueum, et tendiculum incolæ Ierusalem. s; ideoque corruent, et conterentur, ir15. Et impingent multi inter eos retientur, et capientur. 16. Liga contestationem; obsigna legem inter discipulos meos. abscondit faciem suam & 17. Itaque expectabo, dovam, qui et præstolabor eum. n -bacob, 18. Ecce ego et puel de thedit Israel; a Iehova exercituum, qui mihi Iehova, in signa é prouigla in habitat in monte Sion. citamini à pythonicis et divinis, qui non loquuti fuerint secundum ver- bunt oppressi et famelici. Et accidet 22. And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. 22. Et quum spectaverit ad terram, ecce tribulatio et tenebræ, caligo, angustia, et ad obscuritatem impulsus. 1. And Jehovah said to me. This prophecy contains nothing new, but is a confirmation of the preceding one, in which Isaiah predicted the approaching desolation of the kingdom of Israel and Syria. He had foretold that both countries would be deprived of their kings, before the children who should soon afterwards be born could distinguish between good and evil, that is, before they were grown up. (Is. vii. 16.) But because the wicked are not terrified by any threatenings, it was therefore necessary that this prediction should be repeated and demonstrated by some outward sign. First, in order more effectually to arouse the nation, God commands that this prophecy be made publicly known by writing, that it may be understood by all. We have formerly said, that it was the custom of the Prophets, after having been enjoined to deliver any message to the people, to sum up in a few words the substance of what they had said, and to affix it to the gates of the temple; as may be learned from Habakkuk ii. 2; for if that passage be compared with the present, the matter will be sufficiently obvious. But here something peculiar is expressed; for God does not merely command him to write the prophecy, but demands a great and large roll, in order that it may be read at a distance. The smaller the writing is, it is the more obscure, and can with greater difficulty be read. To the same purpose is what immediately follows, with the pen of a common man, for N (enosh) denotes any man of ordinary rank; and the meaning is, that not even the most ignorant and uneducated persons may be unable to read the writing. Make speed to spoil, hasten to the prey. 3 1 Moreover, the LORD said unto me.-Eng. Ver. See the Author's l'reface, page xxxii. This concise With a man's pen.-Eng. Ver. Our Author's version is, Write on it with a common pen, and his marginal reading is, or, with the pen of a man.-Ed. Our translators have not translated these words, but have left them nthe form of the original Hebrew, Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Their mar brevity is more emphatic than if he had made a long discourse; for any one could carry home four words, and perceive in them the swiftness of the wrath of God, and be truly and deeply affected by the judgment of God, as if it had been pointed out with the finger. In short, God determined that he should not waste words, because there was no time for controversy, but that he should represent the matter by an outward sign. The Prophets having, so frequently, and without any good effect, threatened vengeance, he gave a striking exhibition of it by an example, that it might make a deeper impression on their minds, and be engraven on their memory. As often as these words D (Maher-shalal-hash-baz) were mentioned, they would recall to their remembrance the destruction of Israel and Syria, and would make them more certain of it. Isaiah having prophesied about the coming of Christ in the former chapter, (Is. vii. 14,) many improperly explain this also as relating to the same subject, that, endued with heavenly power, he came to spoil the prince of this world, (John xii. 31,) and therefore hastened to the prey. This ingenuity is pleasing enough, but cannot at all harmonize with the text; for the true and natural view of the context shows that in this passage the Prophet brings forward nothing that is new, but supports what he had formerly said. 2. And I took unto me witnesses. The noun D, arm) and the verb TVN, (agnid,) which the Prophet employs, are derived from the same root, and the allusion is elegant, as if we were to say, "I have called-to-witness witnesses." As this was a matter of great importance, he therefore took "1 ginal reading is, "Heb. In making speed to the spoil he hasteneth the prey, or, make speed," &c. "To the next word 2, (maher,) the prefix (lamed) shews," says Bishop Stock, "that it is an inscription; as in Ezek. xxxvii. 16, Write on it anw, abı mımb (lihudah vělibně Israel) (ro) this inscription, Judah and the sons of Israel. MAHERSHALAL-HASH-BAZ means, Hasteneth the spoil! soon cometh the prey.”— Ed. The Latin language afforded to our Author an exceedingly successful imitation of the Hebrew phrase, “Contestatus sum testes." It is readily acknowledged that the turn of expression adopted by the translator is much less felicitous; but it is hoped that it will aid the judgment, though it may fail to gratify the taste, of the English reader.-Ed. |