The desolations A. M. cir. 3290. CHAP. XIX. be emptied and dried up: the 2 And I will set the Egyp- and the brooks " of defence shall Olymp. XVI. 3. tians against the Egyptians: and Numa Pompilii, they shall fight every one against R. Roman., 2. his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3 And the spirit of Egypt & shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4 And the Egyptians will I give over 1into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. 5 m And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. 6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; d Heb. mingle.- Judg. vii. 22; 1 Sam. xiv. 16, 20; 2 Chron. XX. 23.- Ezek. xxxix. 21.- Heb. shall be emptied.Heb. swallow up. Chap. viii. 19; xlvii. 12.- Or, shut up. 1Chap. xx. 4; Jer. xlvi. 26; Ezek. xxix. 19. These worshipped the God of their fathers; and their example and influence must have had a great effect in spreading the knowledge and worship of the true God through the whole country. See Bp. Newton on the Prophecies, Dissert. xii. NOTES ON CHAP. XIX. Verse 1. The burden of Egypt.] That is, the prophet's declaration concerning Egypt. Verse 3. They shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.] And thei schul asken their spmu lacres, and their debpnouris, and their debpl clepers, and their debpl sacrifters, Old Bible. The import of the original words has already been given where they occur in the Pentateuch. See Deut. xviii. 10, &c. Verse 4. A cruel lord-" Cruel lords"] Nebuchadnezzar in the first place, and afterwards the whole succession of Persian kings, who in general were hard masters, and grievously oppressed the country. Note, that for up kasheh, lord, a MS. reads up kashim, 7 The paper reeds by the of Egypt. A. M. cir. 3290. Olymp. XVI. 3. B. C. cir. 714. cir, annum Numa Pompilii, brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. 9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave a networks, shall be confounded. 10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds s for fish. 11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, Jer. l. 36; Ezek. xxx. 12.- n2 Kings xix. 24.- - Heb. 28; Prov. vii. 16.- - Or, white Heb. of living things.- Num. The form of in that place seems plainly to require. Verse 8. The fishers also "And the fishers"] They that weave networks shall be confoundedAnd confounden schul ben that wrogten star, plats tinge, and webpnge sotel thingis.-Old MS. Bible. Verse 10. And they shall be broken, &c.-" Her stores"] 'n shathotheyha, arobnxas, granaries.— Aquila. All that make sluices and ponds for fish-" All that make a gain of pools for fish."] This obscure line is rendered by different interpreters in very different manlords, agreeable to which is the rendering of the Sep-ners. Kimchi explains DIN agmey as if it were the tuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. Verse 5. The river shall be wasted and dried up.] The Nile shall not overflow its banks; and if no inundation, the land must become barren. For, as there is little or no rain in Egypt, its fertility depends on the overflowing of the Nile. Verse 6. Shall turn the rivers far away" Shall become putrid"] heeznichu. This sense of the word, which Simonis gives in his Lexicon, from the meaning of it in Arabic, suits the place much better than any other interpretation hitherto given; and that the word in Hebrew had some such signification, is probable from 2 Chron. xxix. 19, where the Vulgate renders it by polluit, polluted, and the Targum, by profaned, and made abominable, which the context VOL. IV. ( 7 ) same with pay agemah, from Job xxx. 25, in which Verse 11. The counsel of the wise counsellors of 97 bam; so the Septuagint, and perhaps more correctly." The head or tail, branch or rush] R. D. Kimchi says, there are some who suppose that these words mean the dragon's head and tail; and refer to all those who are conversant in astronomy, astrology, &c. brutish counsel"] The sentence as it now stands in the Hebrew, is imperfect: it wants the verb. Archbishop Secker conjectures that the words ay 'y' yoatsey pharoh should be transposed; which would in some degree remove the difficulty. But it is to be observed, that the translator of the Vulgate seems to have found in his copy the verb yy yaatsu added after ny pharoh: Sapientes consiliarii Pharaonis dederunt conVerse 16. Shall Egypt be-"The Egyptians silium insipiens, "The wise counsellors of Pharaoh shall be"] yihyu, they shall be, plural, MS. gave unwise counsel." This is probably the true read-Bodl. Septuagint, and Chaldee. This is not ing it is perfectly agreeable to the Hebrew idiom, proposed as an emendation, for either form is makes the construction of the sentence clear, and ren- proper. ders the transposition of the words above mentioned unnecessary.-L. Verse 12. "Let them come"] Here too a word seems to have been left out of the text. After TN chachameycha, thy wise men, two MSS., one ancient, add Nyibu, let them come; which, if we consider the form and construction of the sentence, has very much the appearance of being genuine otherwise the connective conjunction at the beginning of the next member is not only superfluous but embarrassing. See also the Version of the Septuagint, in which the same deficiency is manifest. Let them tell thee now" And let them declare"] For Tyidu, let them know, perhaps we ought to read yodiu, let them make known.-Secker. The Septuagint and Vulgate favour this reading, Tarwdav, let them declare. Verse 17. And the land of Judah] The threatening hand of God will be held out and shaken over Egypt, from the side of Judea; through which the Assyrians will march to invade it. It signifies that kind of terror that drives one to his wit's end, that causes him to reel like a drunken man, to be giddy through astonishment. Such is the import of an chag, and nan chagah. Five MSS. and two editions have nan lechagah. Verse 18. The city of destruction-"The city of the sun"] Dry ir hacheres. This passage is attended with much difficulty and obscurity. First, in regard to the true reading. It is well known that Onias applied it to his own views, either to procure from the king of Egypt permission to build his temple in the Hieropolitan Nome, or to gain credit and authority to it when built; from the notion which he industriously propagated, that Isaiah had in this place prophesied of the building of such a temple. He pretended that the very place where it should be built was expressly named by the prophet, on y ir hacheres, the city of the sun. This possibly may have been the original reading. The present text has Dny ir haheres, the city of destruction; which some suppose to have been introduced into the text by the Jews of Palestine afterwards, to express their debekir- testation of the place, being much offended with this ( 7 ) Verse 13. Are deceived-"They have caused," &c.] The text has y vehithu, AND they have caused to err. Fifty of Kennicott's MSS., fifty-three of De Rossi's, and one of my own, ancient, thirtytwo editions, and the Vulgate and Chaldee, omit the 1 vau, and. Stay "Pillars"] pinnath, to be pointed as plural pinnoth, without doubt. So Grotius, and so the Chaldee. Verse 14. In the midst thereof]" 98 Promises of the conversion A. M. cit. 3290. Olymp. XVI. 3. cir. annum R. Roman., 2. 19 In that day shall there be | shall smite and heal it: and they an altar to the LORD in the midst shall return even to the LORD, of the land of Egypt, and a pillar and he shall be intreated of at the border thereof to the LORD. them, and shall heal them. 20 And hit shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it. 22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he Gen. xxviii. 18; Exod. xxiv. 4; Josh. xxii. 10, 26, 27.- - See schismatical temple in Egypt. Some think the latter k A. M. cir. 3290. B. C. cir. 714. cir. annum R. Roman., 2. 23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. Mal. i. 11. Chap. xi. 16.- Psa. c. 3; chap. xxix. 23; that of Jerusalem. Upon the whole, the true reading of the Hebrew text in this place is very uncertain; fifteen MSS. and seven editions have on cheres, the city of Hacheres, or, of the sun. So likewise Symmachus, the Vulgate, Arabic, Septuagint, and Complutensian. On the other hand, Aquila, Theodotion, and the Syriac read on heres, destruction; the Chaldee paraphrase takes in both readings. The reading of the text being so uncertain, no one can pretend to determine what the city was that is here mentioned by name; much less to determine what the four other cities were which the prophet does not name. I take the whole passage from the 18th verse to the end of the chapter, to contain a general intimation of the future propagation of the knowledge of the true God in Egypt and Syria, under the successors of Alexander; and, in consequence of this propagation, of the early reception of the Gospel in the same countries, when it should be published to the world. Seé more on this subject in Prideaux's Connect. An. 145; Dr. Owen's Inquiry into the present state of the Septuagint Version, p. 41; and Bryant's Observations on Ancient History, p. 124.-L. Verse 19. An altar to the Lord] NY tsebaoth, " of hosts," or Yehovah tsebaoth, is added by eight MSS. of good repute, and the Syriac Version. Verse 23. Shall there be a highway] Under the latter kings of Persia, and under Alexander, Egypt, Judea, and Assyria lived peaceably under the same government, and were on such friendly terms that there was a regular, uninterrupted intercourse between them, so that the Assyrian came into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and Israel became the third, i. e., was in strict union with the other two; and was a blessing to both, as affording them some knowledge of the true God, ver. 24. Verse 25. Blessed be Egypt-Assyria-and Israel] All these countries shall be converted to the Lord. Concerning Egypt, it was said, chap. xviii. 7, that it should bring gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem. Here it is predicted, ver. 19, that there shall be an altar to The Assyrians ISAIAH. shall oppress Egypt. the Lord in Egypt itself; and that they, with the countries shall be all, and perhaps at no very distant Assyrians, shall become the people of God with the time from this, converted to the faith of our Lord Jesus Israelites. This remains partly to be fulfilled. These Christ. CHAPTER XX. The Prophet Isaiah a sign to Egypt and Cush or Ethiopia, that the captives and exiles of these countries shall be indignantly treated by the king of Assyria, 1–6. B. C. cir. 714. cir. annum B. C. cir. 714. 4 So shall the king of Assyria 4. M. cir. 3290. lead away f the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and bare A. M. cir. 3290. IN the year that a Tartan came 3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; e a2 Kings xviii. 17.b Heb. by the hand of Isaiah.- - Zech. xiii. 4.- d1 Sam. xix. 24; Mic. i. 8, 11.- -e Chap. viii. 18. THeb. the captivity of Egypt. h i Olymp. XVI. 3. cir. annum even with their buttocks uncovered, to shame of Egypt. 5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. 6 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape? 82 Sam. x. 4; chap. iii. 17; Jer. xiii. 22, 26; Mic. i. 11. Heb. nakedness.- 12 Kings xviii. 21; chap. xxx. 3, 5, 7; xxxvi. 6. —k Or, country; Jer. xlvii. 4. time was denoted as well as the event; but his appearing in that manner for three whole years could give no premonition of the time at all. It is probable, therefore, that the prophet was ordered to walk so for three days to denote the accomplishment of the event in three years; a day for a year, according to the prophetical rule, Num. xiv. 34; Ezek. iv. 6. The words 'who shalosh yamim, three days, may possibly have been lost out of the text, at the end of the second verse, after ' yacheph, barefoot; or after the same word in the third verse, where, in the Alexandrine and Vatican copies of the Septuagint, and in MSS. Pachom. and 1. D. 11. the words Tpia Ern, three years, are twice expressed. Perhaps, instead of why NOTES ON CHAP. XX. probable that the prophet walked uncovered and bareTartan besieged Ashdod or Azotus, which probably foot for three years; his appearing in that manner belonged at this time to Hezekiah's dominions; see was a sign that within three years the Egyptians and 2 Kings xviii. 8. The people expected to be relieved Cushites should be in the same condition, being conby the Cushites of Arabia and by the Egyptians.quered and made captives by the king of Assyria. The Isaiah was ordered to go uncovered, that is, without his upper garment, the rough mantle commonly worn by the prophets, (see Zech. xiii. 4,) probably three days, to show that within three years the town should be taken, after the defeat of the Cushites and Egyptians by the king of Assyria, which event should make their case desperate, and induce them to surrender. Azotus was a strong place; it afterwards held out twenty-nine years against Psammitichus, king of Egypt, Herod. ii. 157. Tartan was one of Sennacherib's generals, 2 Kings xviii. 17, and Tirhakah, king of the Cushites, was in alliance with the king of Egypt against Sennacherib. These circumstances make it probable that by Sargon is meant Sennacherib. It might be one of the seven names by which Jerome, on 'D' shalosh yamim, three days, the Greek translator this place, says he was called. He is called Sacher- might read 'w why shalosh shanim, three years, by donus and Sacherdan in the book of Tobit. The taking his own mistake, or by that of his copy, after ' of Azotus must have happened before Sennacherib's yacheph in the third verse, for which stands the first attempt on Jerusalem; when he boasted of his latergia son, three years, in the Alexandrine and Vatican conquests, chap. xxxvii. 25. And the warning of the Septuagint, and in the two MSS. above mentioned. prophet had a principal respect to the Jews also, who It is most likely that Isaiah's walking naked and were too much inclined to depend upon the assistance barefoot was done in a vision; as was probably of Egypt. As to the rest history and chronology af- that of the Prophet Hosea taking a wife of fording us no light, it may be impossible to clear either whoredoms. None of these things can well be taken this or any other hypothesis, which takes Sargon to be literally. Shalmaneser or Asarhaddon, &c., from all difficulties. -L. Kimchi says, this happened in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah. Verse 2. Walking naked and barefoot.] It is not From thy foot] Th ragleycha, thy feet, is the reading of thirty-four of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., four ancient editions, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic. The destruction of CHAP. XXI. CHAPTER XXI. Babylon foretold. Prediction of the taking of Babylon by the Medes and Persians at the time of a great festival, 1-9. Short application of the prophecy to the Jews, partly in the person of God, and partly in his own, 10. Obscure prophecy respecting Dumah, 11, 12. Prophecy concerning the Arabians to be fulfilled in a very short time after its delivery, 13-17. A. M. cir. 3290. 714. B. C. cir. 24. THE burden of the desert of A. M. cir. 3290. cir. annum R. Roman., 2. 3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: 2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down Zech. ix. 14.b Heb. hard.- Chap. xxxiii. 1.- d Chap. xiii. 17; Jer. xlix. 34.- Chap. xv. 5; xvi. 11.- -f Chap. xiii. 8. The first ten verses of this chapter contain a pre-country like a sea." And Abydenus, (quoting Megasdiction of the taking of Babylon by the Medes and thenes, apud Euseb. Præp. Evang. IX. 41,) speaking Persians. It is a passage singular in its kind for its of the building of Babylon by Nebuchadonosor, says, brevity and force, for the variety and rapidity of the " "it is reported that all this part was covered with water, movements, and for the strength and energy of co- and was called the sea; and that Belus drew off the louring with which the action and event are painted. waters, conveying them into proper receptacles, and It opens with the prophet's seeing at a distance the surrounded Babylon with a wall." When the Euphradreadful storm that is gathering and ready to burst tes was turned out of its channel by Cyrus, it was sufupon Babylon. The event is intimated in general fered still to drown the neighbouring country; and, the terms, and God's orders are issued to the Persians Persian government, which did not favour the place, and Medes to set forth upon the expedition which he taking no care to remedy this inconvenience, it behas given them in charge. Upon this the prophet en- came in time a great barren morassy desert, which ters into the midst of the action; and in the person of event the title of the prophecy may perhaps intimate. Babylon expresses, in the strongest terms, the astonish- Such it was originally; such it became after the takment and horror that seizes her on the sudden surprise ing of the city by Cyrus; and such it continues to this day. of the city at the very season dedicated to pleasure and festivity, ver. 3, 4. Then, in his own person, describes the situation of things there, the security of the Babylonians, and in the midst of their feasting the sudden alarm of war, ver. 5. The event is then declared in a very singular manner. God orders the prophet to set a watchman to look out, and to report what he sees; he sees two companies marching onward, representing by their appearance the two nations that were to execute God's orders, who declare that Babylon is fallen, ver. 6-9. As whirlwinds in the south-"Like the southern tempests"] The most vehement storms to which Judea I was subject came from the desert country to the south of it. "Out of the south cometh the whirlwind," Job xxxvii. 9. "And there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house," Job i. 19. For the situation of Idumea, the country (as I suppose) of Job, see Lam. iv. 21 compared with Job i. 1, was the same in this respect with that of Judea : "And JEHOVAH shall appear over them, And his arrow shall go forth as the lightning; But what is this to the prophet, and to the Jews, the object of his ministry? The application, the end, and design of the prophecy are admirably given in a short, expressive address to the Jews, partly in the person of God, partly in that of the prophet: "O my threshing-" "O my people, whom for your punishment Iously, shall make subject to the Babylonians, to try and to prove you, and to separate the chaff from the corn, the bad from the good, among you; hear this for your consolation: your punishment, your slavery, and oppression will have an end in the destruction of your oppressors."-L. NOTES ON CHAP. XXI. Verse 1. The desert of the sea] This plainly means Babylon, which is the subject of the prophecy. The country about Babylon, and especially below it towards the sea, was a great flat morass, overflowed by the Euphrates and Tigris. It became habitable by being drained by the many canals that were made in it. Herodotus, lib. i. 184, says that "Semiramis confined the Euphrates within its channel by raising great dams against it; for before it overflowed the whole and the spoiler spoileth-"The plunderer is plundered, and the destroyer is destroyed."] 17 habboged boged vehashshoded shoded. The MSS. vary in expressing or omitting the 1 vau, in these four words. Ten MSS. of Kennicott are without the vau in the second word, and eight MSS. are without the vau in the fourth word; which justifies Symmachus, who has rendered them passively: abεTwv absTsitaι xaι & Taλaiπwpi(WV TαλαιTwp. He read 11 11 bagud shadud. Cocceius (Lexicon in voce) observes that the Chaldee very often renders the verb 112 bagad, by 112 bazaz, he spoiled; and in this place, and in xxxiii. 1, by the equivalent word DN anas, to press, give trouble; and in chap. xxiv. 16 both by DIN anas and 1 bazaz; and the Syriac in this place renders it by pho talam, he oppressed. All the sighing thereof have I made to cease" I |