XXI. prevent thofe that flee, which is fpoken by the Prophet to Chapter let the Temaites know what Streights their Country-men of other Parts of Arabia fhould be reduc'd to, forc'd to quit their Habitations, and flee to the Woods for Shelter, and there live on what they could find; here is an Enallage both of the Perfon and Number, for the Prophet here fpeaks in the Third Singular of the fame diftrefs'd Arabians, whom he spoke of in the foregoing Verfe in the Se cond Plural. Ver. 15. For they fled from the fwords, from the drawn fword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.] He changes the Number again, and fpeaks of them in the Plural, and the Verb fhould be render'd by the Future, For they shall flee from the Sword, from the drawn Sword, &c. for it is not a groundless Fear which fhall make them flee thus, but the Dread and Terror of a potent Enemy, whofe Forces they cann't oppofe or withftand. Ver. 16, 17. For thus hath the Lord faid unto me, within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Redar fhall fail. And the refidue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar fhall be diminished: for the Lord God of Ifrael hath Spoken it.] Benoth Shanah, that is, before this prefent Year is ended, thus the Origi mal fignifies, and those who heard Ifaiah fpeak this foon faw the Event of his Prediction; but tho' the Time be thus exactly fix'd, we are at as great an Uncertainty about it as if there had been no Date at all, because we neither know in what Year the Prophet fpoke it, nor in what Year it was fulfill'd. The Glory of Kedar fhall fail, that is, they fhall be driven from their Habitations; the Kedarens were Arabians, a Generation of hardy People, living in moveable Tents, which, as faft as they confum'd the Forage of one place, they remov'd to another; all the Harm that Sennacherib could do them was to take away, their Cattel, and make them ferve in his Army, for as for Riches they were Strangers to them, and beautiful Cities they had none, and this the Prophet feems to intimate in the next Verfe, that their mighty Men fhould be diminish'd, which was more likely to be done by forcing them into his Service than by their faring hardly in the Mountains, Chapter Mountains, which was no more than they were always XXI. us'd to; the Bow was the chief Arms in ufe among them, therein imitating their Ancestor Ishmael, who and Gen. 21. 20. dwelt in the wilderness and became an Archer. Munfter, Vatablus, Clarius, grew The ARGUMENT of Chapter XXII. (Hieron. Moft (a) Interpreters understand this Chapter of the taking of Jerufalem by the Chaldeans, and there are feveral Expreffions as they stand in our Tranflation which feem to countenance their Expofition; but, as Grotius obferves, at the delivering of this Prophecy Eliakim was not Lord-Treafurer or Major Domo to the King of Judah, which Place we find him in Poffeffion of at the coming of Sennacherib into Judea, therefore this Prediction was reveal'd to Ifaiah, and by him deliver'd to the Jews in all Probability about the Time of the taking of Samaria by Salmanafar, 6to Hezekia, at which Time this Shebnah was chief Favourite in the Court of Judah, a Man of no Character or Principles, who in the Reign of Ahaz had recommended himself to that diffolute Prince by running the fame Length of Extravagance, and continu'd fome Time in his Place under Hezekiah. Another Argument that this Prophecy belongs to thefe Times may be taken from the Words of the 11th Verfe, where we find a particular Circumftance foretold which was fulfill'd by Hezekiah, who, as foon as he heard of the Preparations of Sennacherib against him, ftopt all the Fountains and the Brook which ran thro' the midst of the Land, and built up the Wall that was broken, and made a capacious Ditch between the Two Walls to receive the Water of the Pool, that Sennacherib might be incommoded for want of Water; and thus St. Jerom owns his Jewish Instructor understood this Chapter of the Siege of Jerufalem by Sennacherib, and the (b) whole Tenour of the Chapter agrees with this best. (b) Gataker. CHAP. Verse 1. Chapter CHAP. XXII. HE burthen of the valley of vifion. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the house tops? Ferufalem is call'd a Valley because of its low Situation, being a great part of it built at the Foot of Mount Sion, and encompafs'd about with (a) Hills on every fide; (4) Pf. 125.2. the Valley of Vifion, either from Mount Moria, where (b) (b) Forerius. Abraham being about to facrifice his Son, Dominus fibi vidit feu providit de victimà; or because it was the Seminary of the (c) Seers, as the Prophets were call'd, who had a Col- (c) Clarius. lege therein, and liv'd as a Society distinct from the rest of the Inhabitants of Jerusalem. Now it was the Custom in Times of public Calamity to go to the Top of their Houses to pray, to lament their Misfortunes, to discover the Approach of their Enemies, or to look out for Affiftance; for one or more of thefe Reasons this running of the Inhabitants of Jerufalem to the Tops of their Houses may be fuppos'd to be, and the Prophet by asking the Question, What aileth thee that thou art wholly gone up? must be underftood to mean, that the Time was coming when they fhould do fo. Ver. 2. Thou that art full of ftirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city; thy flain men are not flain with the fword, nor dead in battel. Once thou waft a City full of Mirth and Jollity, but now melancholy Silence and dejected Looks fhew there must be fome real Caufe of fo great an Alteration; if there were War in thy Land, and thy Children within thee were flain by the Sword, or fell in the Field of Battel, I fhould not wonder that thou art wholly gone up to lament thy Calamities; but there is no fuch Matter, they which die in thee die not by the Sword, nor are llain in Battel; whence then proceeds this univerfal Sorrow which I fee in every Face? Ver. 3. All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.] Mah Leka in the first Verse fhould be. here repeated, What aileth thee that all thy Rulers are ready to flee away from the Affyrian Archers? They have confpir'd, most of the principal Men within thee have Y confpir'd XXII. Chapter confpir'd to fecure themselves by a speedy Flight into distant Countries; thus Grotius understands Ufferu; but others think the Words will admit a different Turn, What is the matter with thee, O Jerufalem, that all thy Rulers and chief Men, which liv'd in feveral Places of thy Land, flee from their own Dwellings to thee? Why do they look as Men bound by the Soldiers of their Enemies to be carry'd away into Captivity? Why thefe pale frightful Looks in all thofe who are fled to thee from afar? He fpeaks as if he had feen the great Men of Judea leaving their Country Seats for fear of Salmanazar, at this time plundering and destroying the Cities of their Brethren of Ifrael. (4) Menoch, Ver. 4. Therefore said 1, Look away from me, I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me; because of the fpoiling of the daughter of my people.] Some (a) think the Prophet fpeaks of himself, others (b) that the City Jerufalem is brought in answering the Queftions of the Prophet in the former Verfe, which way foever we take it, the Prophet designs to fet forth fuch a Degree of Sorrow as would admit no Confolation; as if he had faid, Give me Leave to vent my Grief in private and eafe my labouring Mind, think not with foothing Words and flattering Hopes to alleviate my Sorrow, which is not capable of Mitigation; but it's more natural, I think, to understand the Words of Jerufalem, as if fhe made anfwer to the Prophet, Therefore went I wholly up to the House tops, because I said, Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; that is, becaufe I had a mind to lament my Misfortunes in private, where I might be fure not to have my Grief interrupted by the vain Endeavours of foothing Comforters, and I had abundant Reason to give way to my Grief, because of the spoiling of the daugh ter of my people; by which may be meant the fpoiling of the Cities of Samaria, as Grotius thinks, or of the Cities of Judea by Sennacherib, which to me feems a jufter Occafion of Sorrow to Jerufalem than the Calamities of the Ten Tribes, who were their Brethren indeed, but the worst Enemies they had. Ver. 5. For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision; breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.] This Grotius Grotius refers to the Destruction of the Cities of the Ten Tribes, and renders Mebucha Lathonai materia fletu clamandi ad deum; as if she had faid, I have fufficient Reafon to grieve, for it is a day of trouble and of treading down to my Brethren of Ifrael, and therefore I have Reason to bewail their Misfortunes, and cry unto God for them; but the treading down of the Cities of Judea by Sennacherib may juftify this Sorrow full as well, and there is nothing which hinders from interpreting it of that Time of trouble and treading down but the Expreffion Mekarkar kir, breaking down the wall, which probably Sennacherib's Forces might do in one part or other, and put the Inhabitants to a great Confternation, tho' we read nothing of it in the short Journal of that Siege. Chapter XXII. Ver. 6. And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.] The Prophet describes the Perfons who fhould be employ'd in this Expedition against Jerufalem, first Elam, or the Perfians, at that Time fubject to the Affyrian Monarch, a People very dextrous in shooting with Bows and Arrows, and Kir, who uncover'd or fhall uncover the Shield; thus (a) fome ren- (4) Grotius. der the Words, making Kir a proper Name of a City in Media, at this Time under the Dominion of the Kings of Affyria; as if the Prophet meant, that Sennacherib fhould thence take Soldiers expert in the Bufinefs of War, who fhould take off the Covering of their Shields, put on to preferve them from Duft, and new furbish them; others taking Kir as it fignifies a Wall (b) think the Prophet (b) Forerius. means, that the Perfians fhould come well appointed with Shields to defend themselves, as if they had exhausted their Armories, and left the Walls quite bare. Ver. 7, 8. And it shall come to pass that thy choiceft valleys fhall be full of chariots, and the horsemen fhall fet themselves in aray at the gate. And he difcovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the foreft.] St. Jerom thinks the Covering here mention'd was the Veil of the Sanctuary, within which all their Sacred Things were depofited, but by Mafak Jehuda may be underftood her strong Holds and fortify'd Cities, by which the Inhabitants are cover'd from Danger, and this (c) I (c) Gataker. take to be the genuine meaning of this Word, it being, Y 2. (as |
