Robert Jamieson, A R Fausset And David Brown
Commentary Critical And Explanatory On The Whole Bible (1871)

THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH

Commentary by ROBERT JAMIESON

ISAIAH, son of Amoz (not Amos); contemporary of Jonah, Amos, Hosea, in Israel, but younger than they; and of Micah, in Judah. His call to a higher degree of the prophetic office ( Isa 6:1-13) is assigned to the last year of Uzziah, that is, 754 B.C. The first through fifth chapters belong to the closing years of that reign; not, as some think, to Jotham's reign: in the reign of the latter he seems to have exercised his office only orally, and not to have left any record of his prophecies because they were not intended for all ages. The first through fifth and sixth chapters are all that was designed for the Church universal of the prophecies of the first twenty years of his office. New historical epochs, such as occurred in the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah, when the affairs of Israel became interwoven with those of the Asiatic empires, are marked by prophetic writings. The prophets had now to interpret the judgments of the Lord, so as to make the people conscious of His punitive justice, as also of His mercy. Isa 7:1-10:4 belong to the reign of Ahaz. The thirty-sixth through thirty-ninth chapters are historical, reaching to the fifteenth year of Hezekiah; probably the tenth through twelfth chapters and all from the thirteenth through twenty-sixth chapters, inclusive, belong to the same reign; the historical section being appended to facilitate the right understanding of these prophecies; thus we have Isaiah's office extending from about 760 to 713 B.C., forty-seven years. Tradition (Talmud) represents him as having been sawn asunder by Manasseh with a wooden saw, for having said that he had seen Jehovah ( Ex 33:20; 2Ki 21:16; Heb 11:37). 2Ch 32:32 seems to imply that Isaiah survived Hezekiah; but "first and last" is not added, as in 2Ch 26:22, which makes it possible that his history of Hezekiah was only carried up to a certain point. The second part, the fortieth through sixty-sixth chapters, containing complaints of gross idolatry, needs not to be restricted to Manasseh's reign, but is applicable to previous reigns. At the accession of Manasseh, Isaiah would be eighty-four; and if he prophesied for eight years afterwards, he must have endured martyrdom at ninety-two; so Hosea prophesied for sixty years. And Eastern tradition reports that he lived to one hundred and twenty. The conclusive argument against the tradition is that, according to the inscription, all Isaiah's prophecies are included in the time from Uzziah to Hezekiah; and the internal evidence accords with this.

His WIFE is called the prophetess [ Isa 8:3], that is, endowed, as Miriam, with a prophetic gift.

His CHILDREN were considered by him as not belonging merely to himself; in their names, Shearjashub, "the remnant shall return" [ Isa 7:3, Margin], and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, "speeding to the spoil, he hasteth to the prey" [ Isa 8:1, Margin], the two chief points of his prophecies are intimated to the people, the judgments of the Lord on the people and the world, and yet His mercy to the elect.

His GARMENT of sackcloth ( Isa 20:2), too, was a silent preaching by fact; he appears as the embodiment of that repentance which he taught.

His HISTORICAL WORKS.--History, as written by the prophets, is retroverted prophecy. As the past and future alike proceed from the essence of God, an inspired insight into the past implies an insight into the future, and vice versa. Hence most of the Old Testament histories are written by prophets and are classed with their writings; the Chronicles being not so classed, cannot have been written by them, but are taken from historical monographs of theirs; for example, Isaiah's life of Uzziah, 2Ch 26:22; also of Hezekiah, 2Ch 32:32; of these latter all that was important for all ages has been preserved to us, while the rest, which was local and temporary, has been lost.

The INSCRIPTION ( Isa 1:1) applies to the whole book and implies that Isaiah is the author of the second part (the fortieth through sixty-sixth chapters), as well as of the first. Nor do the words, "concerning Judah and Jerusalem" [ Isa 1:1], oppose the idea that the inscription applies to the whole; for whatever he says against other nations, he says on account of their relation to Judah. So the inscription of Amos, "concerning Israel" [ Am 1:1], though several prophecies follow against foreign nations. EWALD maintains that the fortieth through sixty-sixth chapters, though spurious, were subjoined to the previous portion, in order to preserve the former. But it is untrue that the first portion is unconnected with those chapters. The former ends with the Babylonian exile ( Isa 39:6), the latter begins with the coming redemption from it. The portion, the fortieth through forty-sixth chapters, has no heading of its own, a proof that it is closely connected with what precedes, and falls under the general heading in Isa 1:1. JOSEPHUS (The Antiquities of the Jews, 11. 1, sec. 1, 2) says that Cyrus was induced by the prophecies of Isaiah ( Isa 44:28; 45:1, 13) to aid the Jews in returning and rebuilding the temple Ezr 1:1-11 confirms this; Cyrus in his edict there plainly refers to the prophecies in the second portion, which assign the kingdoms to him from Jehovah, and the duty of rebuilding the temple. Probably he took from them his historical name Cyrus (Coresh). Moreover, subsequent prophets imitate this second portion, which E WALD assigns to later times; for example, compare Jer 50:1-51:64 with Isaiah's predictions against Babylon [ Is 13:1-14:23]. "The Holy One of Israel," occurring but three times elsewhere in the Old Testament [ 2Ki 19:22; Ps 78:41; 89:18; Jer 50:29; 51:5], is a favorite expression in the second, as in the first portion of Isaiah: it expresses God's covenant faithfulness in fulfilling the promises therein: Jeremiah borrows the expression from him. Also Ecclesiasticus 48:22-25 ("comforted"), quotes Isa 40:1 as Isaiah's. Lu 4:17 quotes Isa 61:1, 2 as Isaiah's, and as read as such by Jesus Christ in the synagogue.

The DEFINITENESS of the prophecies is striking: As in the second portion of isaiah, so in Mic 4:8-10, the Babylonian exile, and the deliverance from it, are foretold a hundred fifty years before any hostilities had arisen between Babylon and Judah. On the other hand, all the prophets who foretell the Assyrian invasion coincide in stating, that Judah should be delivered from it, not by Egyptian aid, but directly by the Lord. Again Jeremiah, in the height of the Chaldean prosperity, foretold its conquest by the Medes, who should enter Babylon through the dry bed of the Euphrates on a night of general revelry. No human calculation could have discovered these facts. EICHORN terms these prophecies "veiled historical descriptions," recognizing in spite of himself that they are more than general poetical fancies. The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah was certainly written ages before the Messiah, yet it minutely portrays His sufferings: these cannot be Jewish inventions, for the Jews looked for a reigning, not a suffering, Messiah.

Rationalists are so far right that THE PROPHECIES ARE ON A GENERAL BASIS whereby they are distinguished from soothsaying. They rest on the essential idea of God. The prophets, penetrated by this inner knowledge of His character, became conscious of the eternal laws by which the world is governed: that sin is man's ruin, and must be followed by judgment, but that God's covenant mercy to His elect is unchangeable. Without prophetism, the elect remnant would have decreased, and even God's judgments would have missed their end, by not being recognized as such: they would have been unmeaning, isolated facts. Babylon was in Isaiah's days under Assyria; it had tried a revolt unsuccessfully: but the elements of its subsequent success and greatness were then existing. The Holy Ghost enlightened his natural powers to discern this its rise; and his spiritual faculties, to foresee its fall, the sure consequence, in God's eternal law, of the pride which pagan success generates--and also Judah's restoration, as the covenant-people, with whom God, according to His essential character, would not be wroth for ever. True conversion is the prophet's grand remedy against all evils: in this alone consists his politics. Rebuke, threatening, and promise, regularly succeed one another. The idea at the basis of all is in Isa 26:7-9; Le 10:3; Am 3:2.

The USE OF THE PRESENT AND PRETERITE in prophecy is no proof that the author is later than Isaiah. For seers view the future as present, and indicate what is ideally past, not really past; seeing things in the light of God, who "calls the things that are not as though they were." Moreover, as in looking from a height on a landscape, hills seem close together which are really wide apart, so, in events foretold, the order, succession, and grouping are presented, but the intervals of time are overlooked. The time, however, is sometimes marked ( Jer 25:12; Da 9:26). Thus the deliverance from Babylon, and that effected by Messiah, are in rapid transition grouped together by THE LAW OF PROPHETIC SUGGESTION; yet no prophet so confounds the two as to make Messiah the leader of Israel from Babylon. To the prophet there was probably no double sense; but to his spiritual eye the two events, though distinct, lay so near, and were so analogous, that he could not separate them in description without unfaithfulness to the picture presented before him. The more remote and antitypical event, however, namely, Messiah's coming, is that to which he always hastens, and which he describes with far more minuteness than he does the nearer type; for example, Cyrus (compare Isa 45:1 with Isa 53:1-12). In some cases he takes his stand in the midst of events between, for example, the humiliation of Jesus Christ, which he views as past, and His glorification, as yet to come, using the future tense as to the latter (compare Isa 53:4-9 with 53:10-12). Marks of the time of events are given sparingly in the prophets: yet, as to Messiah, definitely enough to create the general expectation of Him at the time that He was in fact born.

The CHALDÆISMS alleged against the genuineness of the second portion of Isaiah, are found more in the first and undoubted portion. They occur in all the Old Testament, especially in the poetical parts, which prefer unusual expressions, and are due to the fact that the patriarchs were surrounded by Chaldee-speaking people; and in Isaiah's time a few Chaldee words had crept in from abroad.

His SYMBOLS are few and simple, and his poetical images correct; in the prophets, during and after the exile, the reverse holds good; Haggai and Malachi are not exceptions; for, though void of bold images, their style, unlike Isaiah's, rises little above prose: a clear proof that our Isaiah was long before the exile.

Of VISIONS, strictly so called, he has but one, that in the sixth chapter; even it is more simple than those in later prophets. But he often gives SIGNS, that is, a present fact as pledge of the more distant future; God condescending to the feebleness of man ( Isa 7:14; 37:30; 38:7).

The VARIETIES IN HIS STYLE do not prove spuriousness, but that he varied his style with his subject. The second portion is not so much addressed to his contemporaries, as to the future people of the Lord, the elect remnant, purified by the previous judgments. Hence its tenderness of style, and frequent repetitions ( Isa 40:1): for comforting exhortation uses many words; so also the many epithets added to the name of God, intended as stays whereon faith may rest for comfort, so as not to despair. In both portions alike there are peculiarities characteristic of Isaiah; for example, "to be called" equivalent to to be: the repetition of the same words, instead of synonyms, in the parallel members of verses; the interspersing of his prophecies with hymns: "the remnant of olive trees," &c., for the remnant of people who have escaped God's judgments. Also compare Isa 65:25 with Isa 11:6.

The CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT favors the opinion that Isaiah himself collected his prophecies into the volume; not Hezekiah's men, as the Talmud guesses from Pr 25:1. All the portions, the dates of which can be ascertained, stand in the right place, except a few instances, where prophecies of similar contents are placed together: with the termination of the Assyrian invasion (the thirty-sixth through thirty-ninth chapters) terminated the public life of Isaiah. The second part is his prophetic legacy to the small band of the faithful, analogous to the last speeches of Moses and of Jesus Christ to His chosen disciples.

The EXPECTATION OF MESSIAH is so strong in Isaiah, that JEROME To Paulinus calls his book not a prophecy, but the gospel: "He is not so much a prophet as an evangelist." Messiah was already shadowed forth in Ge 49:10, as the Shiloh, or tranquillizer; also in Psalms 2, 45, 72, 110. Isaiah brings it out more definitely; and, whereas they dwelt on His kingly office, Isaiah develops most His priestly and prophetic office; the hundred tenth Psalm also had set forth His priesthood, but His kingly rather than, as Isaiah, His suffering, priesthood. The latter is especially dwelt on in the second part, addressed to the faithful elect; whereas the first part, addressed to the whole people, dwells on Messiah's glory, the antidote to the fears which then filled the people, and the assurance that the kingdom of God, then represented by Judah, would not be overwhelmed by the surrounding nations.

His STYLE (HENGSTENBERG, Christology of the Old Testament,) is simple and sublime; in imagery, intermediate between the poverty of Jeremiah and the exuberance of Ezekiel. He shows his command of it in varying it to suit his subject.

The FORM is mostly that of Hebrew poetical parallelism, with, however, a freedom unshackled by undue restrictions.

JUDAH, the less apostate people, rather than Israel, was the subject of his prophecies: his residence was mostly at Jerusalem. On his praises, see Ecclesiasticus 48:22-25. Christ and the apostles quote no prophet so frequently.

CHAPTER 1

Isa 1:1-31.

1. THE GENERAL TITLE OR PROGRAM applying to the entire book: this discountenances the Talmud tradition, that he was sawn asunder by Manasseh.
      Isaiah--equivalent to "The Lord shall save"; significant of the subject of his prophecies. On "vision," see 1Sa 9:9; Nu 12:6; and see my Introduction.
      Judah and Jerusalem--Other nations also are the subjects of his prophecies; but only in their relation to the Jews ( Isa 13:1-23:18); so also the ten tribes of Israel are introduced only in the same relation ( Isa 7:1-9:21). Jerusalem is particularly specified, being the site of the temple, and the center of the theocracy, and the future throne of Messiah ( Ps 48:2, 3, 9; Jer 3:17). Jesus Christ is the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" ( Re 5:5).
      Uzziah--called also Azariah ( 2Ki 14:21; 2Ch 26:1, 17, 20). The Old Testament prophecies spiritually interpret the histories, as the New Testament Epistles interpret the Gospels and Acts. Study them together, to see their spiritual relations. Isaiah prophesied for only a few years before Uzziah's death; but his prophecies of that period ( Isa 1:1-6:13) apply to Jotham's reign also, in which he probably wrote none; for Isa 7:1-25 enters immediately on Ahaz' reign, after Uzziah in Isa 6:1-13; the prophecies under Hezekiah follow next.

2. The very words of Moses ( De 32:1); this implies that the law was the charter and basis of all prophecy ( Isa 8:20).
      Lord--Jehovah; in Hebrew, "the self-existing and promise-fulfilling, unchangeable One." The Jews never pronounced this holy name, but substituted Adonai. The English Version, LORD in capitals, marks the Hebrew "Jehovah," though Lord is rather equivalent to "Adonai" than "Jehovah."
      children-- ( Ex 4:22).
      rebelled--as sons ( De 21:18) and as subjects, God being king in the theocracy ( Isa 63:10). "Brought up," literally, "elevated," namely, to peculiar privileges ( Jer 2:6-8; Ro 9:4, 5).

3. ( Jer 8:7).
      crib--the stall where it is fed ( Pr 14:4). Spiritually the word and ordinances.
      Israel--The whole nation, Judah as well as Israel, in the restricted sense. God regards His covenant-people in their designed unity.
      not know--namely, his Owner, as the parallelism requires; that is, not recognize Him as such ( Ex 19:5, equivalent to "my people," Joh 1:10, 11).
      consider--attend to his Master ( Isa 41:8), notwithstanding the spiritual food which He provides (answering to "crib" in the parallel clause).

4. people--the peculiar designation of God's elect nation ( Ho 1:10), that they should be "laden with iniquity" is therefore the more monstrous. Sin is a load ( Ps 38:4; Mt 11:28).
      seed--another appellation of God's elect ( Ge 12:7; Jer 2:21), designed to be a "holy seed" ( Isa 6:13), but, awful to say, "evildoers!"
      children--by adoption ( Ho 11:1), yet "evildoers"; not only so, but "corrupters" of others ( Ge 6:12); the climax. So "nation--people--seed children."
      provoked--literally, "despised," namely, so as to provoke ( Pr 1:30, 31).
      Holy One of Israel--the peculiar heinousness of their sin, that it was against their God ( Am 3:2).
      gone . . . backward--literally, "estranged" ( Ps 58:3).

5. Why--rather, as Vulgate, "On what part." Image from a body covered all over with marks of blows ( Ps 38:3). There is no part in which you have not been smitten.
      head . . . sick, &c.--not referring, as it is commonly quoted, to their sins, but to the universality of their punishment. However, sin, the moral disease of the head or intellect, and the heart, is doubtless made its own punishment ( Pr 1:31; Jer 2:19; Ho 8:11). "Sick," literally, "is in a state of sickness" [GESENIUS]; "has passed into sickness" [M AURER].

6. From the lowest to the highest of the people; "the ancient and honorable, the head, the prophet that teacheth lies, the tail." See Isa 9:13-16. He first states their wretched condition, obvious to all ( Isa 1:6-9); and then, not previously, their irreligious state, the cause of it.
      wounds--judicially inflicted ( Ho 5:13).
      mollified with ointment--The art of medicine in the East consists chiefly in external applications ( Lu 10:34; Jas 5:14).

7. Judah had not in Uzziah's reign recovered from the ravages of the Syrians in Joash's reign ( 2Ch 24:24), and of Israel in Amaziah's reign ( 2Ch 25:13, 23, &c.). Compare Isaiah's contemporary ( Am 4:6-11), where, as here ( Isa 1:9, 10), Israel is compared to "Sodom and Gomorrah," because of the judgments on it by "fire."
      in your presence--before your eyes: without your being able to prevent them.
      desolate, &c.--literally, "there is desolation, such as one might look for from foreign" invaders.

8. daughter of Zion--the city ( Ps 9:14), Jerusalem and its inhabitants ( 2Ki 19:21): "daughter" (feminine, singular being used as a neuter collective noun), equivalent to sons ( Isa 12:6, Margin) [MAURER]. Metropolis or "mother-city" is the corresponding term. The idea of youthful beauty is included in "daughter."
      left--as a remnant escaping the general destruction.
      cottage--a hut, made to give temporary shelter to the caretaker of the vineyard.
      lodge--not permanent.
      besieged--rather, as "left," and Isa 1:9 require, preserved, namely, from the desolation all round [MAURER].

9. Jehovah of Sabaoth, that is, God of the angelic and starry hosts ( Ps 59:5; 147:4; 148:2). The latter were objects of idolatry, called hence Sabaism ( 2Ki 17:16). God is above even them ( 1Ch 16:26). "The groves" were symbols of these starry hosts; it was their worship of Sabaoth instead of the Lord of Sabaoth, which had caused the present desolation ( 2Ch 24:18). It needed no less a power than His, to preserve even a "remnant." Condescending grace for the elect's sake, since He has no need of us, seeing that He has countless hosts to serve Him.

10. Sodom--spiritually ( Ge 19:24; Jer 23:14; Eze 16:46; Re 11:8).

11. God does not here absolutely disparage sacrifice, which is as old and universal as sin ( Ge 3:21; 4:4), and sin is almost as old as the world; but sacrifice, unaccompanied with obedience of heart and life ( 1Sa 15:22; Ps 50:9-13; 51:16-19; Ho 6:6). Positive precepts are only means; moral obedience is the end. A foreshadowing of the gospel, when the One real sacrifice was to supersede all the shadowy ones, and "bring in everlasting righteousness" ( Ps 40:6, 7; Da 9:24-27; Heb 10:1-14).
      full--to satiety; weary of
      burnt offerings--burnt whole, except the blood, which was sprinkled about the altar.
      fat--not to be eaten by man, but burnt on the altar ( Le 3:4, 5, 11, 17).

12. appear before me--in the temple where the Shekinah, resting on the ark, was the symbol of God's presence ( Ex 23:15; Ps 42:2).
      who hath required this--as if you were doing God a service by such hypocritical offerings ( Job 35:7). God did require it ( Ex 23:17), but not in this spirit ( Mic 6:6, 7).
      courts--areas, in which the worshippers were. None but priests entered the temple itself.

13. oblations--unbloody; "meat (old English sense, not flesh) offerings," that is, of flour, fruits, oil, &c. ( Le 2:1-13). Hebrew, mincha.
      incense--put upon the sacrifices, and burnt on the altar of incense. Type of prayer ( Ps 141:2; Re 8:3).
      new moons--observed as festivals ( Nu 10:10; 28:11, 14) with sacrifices and blowing of silver trumpets.
      sabbaths--both the seventh day and the beginning and closing days of the great feasts ( Le 23:24-39).
      away with--bear, MAURER translates, "I cannot bear iniquity and the solemn meeting," that is, the meeting associated with iniquity--literally, the closing days of the feasts; so the great days ( Le 23:36; Joh 7:37).

14. appointed--the sabbath, passover, pentecost, day of atonement, and feast of tabernacles [HENGSTENBERG]; they alone were fixed to certain times of the year.
      weary-- ( Isa 43:24).

15. ( Ps 66:18; Pr 28:9; La 3:43, 44).
      spread . . . hands--in prayer ( 1Ki 8:22). Hebrew, "bloods," for all heinous sins, persecution of God's servants especially ( Mt 23:35). It was the vocation of the prophets to dispel the delusion, so contrary to the law itself ( De 10:16), that outward ritualism would satisfy God.

16. God saith to the sinner, "Wash you," &c., that he, finding his inability to "make" himself "clean," may cry to God, Wash me, cleanse me ( Ps 51:2, 7, 10).
      before mine eyes--not mere outward reformation before man's eyes, who cannot, as God, see into the heart ( Jer 32:19).

17. seek judgment--justice, as magistrates, instead of seeking bribes ( Jer 22:3, 16).
      judge--vindicate ( Ps 68:5; Jas 1:27).

18. God deigns to argue the case with us, that all may see the just, nay, loving principle of His dealings with men ( Isa 43:26).
      scarlet--the color of Jesus Christ's robe when bearing our "sins" ( Mt 27:28). So Rahab's thread ( Jos 2:18; compare Le 14:4). The rabbins say that when the lot used to be taken, a scarlet fillet was bound on the scapegoat's head, and after the high priest had confessed his and the people's sins over it, the fillet became white: the miracle ceased, according to them, forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem, that is, exactly when Jesus Christ was crucified; a remarkable admission of adversaries. Hebrew for "scarlet" radically means double-dyed; so the deep-fixed permanency of sin in the heart, which no mere tears can wash away.
      snow-- ( Ps 51:7). Repentance is presupposed, before sin can be made white as snow ( Isa 1:19, 20); it too is God's gift ( La+5:21,Ac+5:31">Jer 31:18, end; La 5:21; Ac 5:31).
      red--refers to "blood" ( Isa 1:15).
      as wool--restored to its original undyed whiteness. This verse shows that the old fathers did not look only for transitory promises (Article VII, Book of Common Prayer). For sins of ignorance, and such like, alone had trespass offerings appointed for them; greater guilt therefore needed a greater sacrifice, for, "without shedding of blood there was no remission"; but none such was appointed, and yet forgiveness was promised and expected; therefore spiritual Jews must have looked for the One Mediator of both Old Testament and New Testament, though dimly understood.

19, 20. Temporal blessings in "the land of their possession" were prominent in the Old Testament promises, as suited to the childhood of the Church ( Ex 3:17). New Testament spiritual promises derive their imagery from the former ( Mt 5:5).

20. Lord hath spoken it--Isaiah's prophecies rest on the law ( Le 26:33). God alters not His word ( Numbers 23. 19).

21. faithful--as a wife ( Isa 54:5; 62:5; Ho 2:19, 20).
      harlot-- ( Eze 16:28-35).
      righteousness lodged-- ( 2Pe 3:13).
      murderers--murderous oppressors, as the antithesis requires (see on Isa 1:15; 1Jo 3:15).

22. Thy princes and people are degenerate in "solid worth," equivalent to "silver" ( Jer 6:28, 30; Eze 22:18, 19), and in their use of the living Word, equivalent to "wine" ( So 7:9).
      mixed--literally, "circumcised." So the Arabic, "to murder" wine, equivalent to dilute it.

23. companions of thieves--by connivance ( Pr 29:24).
      gifts-- ( Eze 22:12). A nation's corruption begins with its rulers.

24. Lord . . . Lord--Adonai, JEHOVAH.
      mighty One of Israel--mighty to take vengeance, as before, to save.
      Ah--indignation.
      ease me--My long tried patience will find relief in at last punishing the guilty ( Eze 5:13). God's language condescends to human conceptions.

25. turn . . . hand--not in wrath, but in grace ( Zec 13:7), "upon thee," as Isa 1:26, 27 show; contrasted with the enemies, of whom He will avenge Himself ( Isa 1:24).
      purely--literally, "as alkali purifies."
      thy dross--not thy sins, but the sinful persons ( Jer 6:29); "enemies" ( Isa 1:24); degenerate princes (see on Isa 1:22), intermingled with the elect "remnant" of grace.
      tin--Hebrew, bedil, here the alloy of lead, tin, &c., separated by smelting from the silver. The pious Bishop Bedell took his motto from this.

26. As the degeneracy had shown itself most in the magistrates ( Isa 1:17-23), so, at the "restoration," these shall be such as the theocracy "at the first" had contemplated, namely, after the Babylonish restoration in part and typically, but fully and antitypically under Messiah ( Isa 32:1; 52:8; Jer 33:7; Mt 19:28).
      faithful--no longer "an harlot."

27. redeemed--temporarily, civilly, and morally; type of the spiritual redemption by the price of Jesus Christ's blood ( 1Pe 1:18, 19), the foundation of "judgment" and "righteousness," and so of pardon. The judgment and righteousness are God's first ( Isa 42:21; Ro 3:26); so they become man's when "converted" ( Ro 8:3, 4); typified in the display of God's "justice," then exhibited in delivering His covenant-people, whereby justice or "righteousness" was produced in them.
      converts--so MAURER. But Margin, "they that return of her," namely the remnant that return from captivity. However, as Isaiah had not yet expressly foretold the Babylonian captivity, the English Version is better.

28. destruction--literally, "breaking into shivers" ( Re 2:27). The prophets hasten forward to the final extinction of the ungodly ( Ps 37:20; Re 19:20; 20:15); of which antecedent judgments are types.

29. ashamed-- ( Ro 6:21).
      oaks--Others translate the "terebinth" or "turpentine tree." Groves were dedicated to idols. Our Druids took their name from the Greek for "oaks." A sacred tree is often found in Assyrian sculpture; symbol of the starry hosts, Saba.
      gardens--planted enclosures for idolatry; the counterpart of the garden of Eden.

30. oak--Ye shall be like the "oaks," the object of your "desire" ( Isa 1:29). People become like the gods they worship; they never rise above their level ( Ps 135:18). So men's sins become their own scourges ( Jer 2:9). The leaf of the idol oak fades by a law of necessary consequence, having no living sap or "water" from God. So "garden" answers to "gardens" ( Isa 1:29).

31. strong--powerful rulers ( Am 2:9).
      maker of it--rather, his work. He shall be at once the fuel, "tow," and the cause of the fire, by kindling the first "spark."
      both--the wicked ruler, and "his work," which "is as a spark."

CHAPTER 2

Isa 2:1-22.

1. The inscription.
      The word--the revelation.

2. Same as Mic 4:1. As Micah prophesied in Jotham's reign, and Isaiah in Uzziah's, Micah rests on Isaiah, whom he confirms: not vice versa. H ENGSTENBERG on slight grounds makes Mic 4:1 the original.
      last days--that is, Messiah's: especially the days yet to come, to which all prophecy hastens, when "the house of the God of Jacob," namely, at Jerusalem, shall be the center to which the converted nations shall flock together ( Mt 13:32; Lu 2:31, 32; Ac 1:6, 7); where "the kingdom" of Israel is regarded as certain and the time alone uncertain ( Ps 68:15, 16; 72:8, 11).
      mountain of the Lord's house . . . in the top, &c.--the temple on Mount Moriah: type of the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem, and, like an object set on the highest hill, made so conspicuous that all nations are attracted to it.
      flow--as a broad stream ( Isa 66:12).

3. If the curse foretold against Israel has been literally fulfilled, so shall the promised blessing be literal. We Gentiles must not, while giving them the curse, deny them their peculiar blessing by spiritualizing it. The Holy Ghost shall be poured out for a general conversion then ( Jer 50:5; Zec 8:21, 23; Joe 2:28).
      from Jerusalem-- ( Lu 24:47) an earnest of the future relations of Jerusalem to Christendom ( Ro 11:12, 15).

4. judge--as a sovereign umpire, settling all controversies (compare Isa 11:4). LOWTH translates "work," "conviction."
      plowshares--in the East resembling a short sword ( Isa 9:6, 7; Zec 9:10).

5. The connection is: As Israel's high destiny is to be a blessing to all nations ( Ge 12:3), let Israel's children walk worthy of it ( Eph 5:8).

6. Therefore--rather, "For": reasons why there is the more need of the exhortation in Isa 2:5.
      thou--transition to Jehovah: such rapid transitions are natural, when the mind is full of a subject.
      replenished--rather, filled, namely, with the superstitions of the East, Syria, and Chaldea.
      soothsayers--forbidden ( De 18:10-14).
      Philistines--southwest of Palestine: antithesis to "the east."
      please themselves--rather, join hands with, that is, enter into alliances, matrimonial and national: forbidden ( Ex 23:32; Ne 13:23, &c.).

7. gold--forbidden to be heaped together ( De 17:17). Solomon disobeyed ( 1Ki 10:21, 27).
      horses . . . chariots--forbidden ( De 17:16). But Solomon disobeyed ( 1Ki 20:26). Horses could be used effectively for war in the plains of Egypt; not so in the hilly Judea. God designed there should be as wide as possible a distinction between Israel and the Egyptians. He would have His people wholly dependent on Him, rather than on the ordinary means of warfare ( Ps 20:7). Also horses were connected with idolatry ( 2Ki 23:11); hence His objection: so the transition to "idols" ( Isa 2:8) is natural.

8. ( Ho 8:4). Not so much public idolatry, which was not sanctioned in Uzziah's and Jotham's reign, but (see 2Ki 15:4, 35) as private.

9. mean--in rank: not morally base: opposed to "the great man." The former is in Hebrew, Adam, the latter, ish.
      boweth--namely, to idols. All ranks were idolaters.
      forgive . . . not--a threat expressed by an imperative. Isaiah so identifies himself with God's will, that he prays for that which he knows God purposes. So Re 18:6.

10. Poetical form of expressing that, such were their sins, they would be obliged by God's judgments to seek a hiding-place from His wrath ( Re 6:15, 16).
      dust--equivalent to "caves of the earth," or dust ( Isa 2:19).
      for fear, &c.--literally, "from the face of the terror of the Lord."

11. lofty looks--literally, "eyes of pride" ( Ps 18:27).
      humbled--by calamities. God will so vindicate His honor "in that day" of judgments, that none else "shall be exalted" ( Zec 14:9).

12. Man has had many days: "the day of the Lord" shall come at last, beginning with judgment, a never-ending day in which God shall be "all in all" ( 1Co 15:28; 2Pe 3:10).
      every--not merely person, as English Version explains it, but every thing on which the nation prided itself.

13. cedars . . . oaks--image for haughty nobles and princes ( Am 2:9; Zec 11:1, 2; compare Re 19:18-21).
      Bashan--east of Jordan, north of the river Jabbok, famous for fine oaks, pasture, and cattle. Perhaps in "oaks" there is reference to their idolatry ( Isa 1:29).

14. high . . . hills--referring to the "high places" on which sacrifices were unlawfully offered, even in Uzziah's (equivalent to Azariah) reign ( 2Ki 15:4). Also, places of strength, fastnesses in which they trusted, rather than in God; so

15. tower . . . wall--Towers were often made on the walls of cities.
      fenced--strongly fortified.

16. Tarshish--Tartessus in southwest Spain, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, near Gibraltar. It includes the adjoining region: a Phœnician colony; hence its connection with Palestine and the Bible ( 2Ch 9:21). The name was also used in a wide sense for the farthest west, as our West Indies ( Isa 66:19; Ps 48:7; 72:10). "Ships of Tarshish" became a phrase for richly laden and far-voyaging vessels. The judgment shall be on all that minister to man's luxury (compare Re 18:17-19).
      pictures--ordered to be destroyed ( Nu 33:52). Still to be seen on the walls of Nineveh's palaces. It is remarkable that whereas all other ancient civilized nations, Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome, have left monuments in the fine arts, Judea, while rising immeasurably above them in the possession of "the living oracles," has left none of the former. The fine arts, as in modern Rome, were so often associated with polytheism, that God required His people in this, as in other respects, to be separate from the nations ( De 4:15-18). But Vulgate translation is perhaps better, "All that is beautiful to the sight"; not only paintings, but all luxurious ornaments. One comprehensive word for all that goes before (compare Re 18:12, 14, 16).

17. Repeated from Isa 2:11, for emphatic confirmation.

18. idols--literally, "vain things," "nothings" ( 1Co 8:4). Fulfilled to the letter. Before the Babylonian captivity the Jews were most prone to idolatry; in no instance, ever since. For the future fulfilment, see Zec 13:2; Re 13:15; 19:20.

19. The fulfilment answers exactly to the threat ( Isa 2:10).
      they--the idol-worshippers.
      caves--abounding in Judea, a hilly country; hiding-places in times of alarm ( 1Sa 13:6).
      shake . . . earth--and the heavens also ( Heb 12:26). Figure for severe and universal judgments.

20. moles--Others translate "mice." The sense is, under ground, in darkness.
      bats--unclean birds ( Le 11:19), living amidst tenantless ruins ( Re 11:13).

22. The high ones ( Isa 2:11, 13) on whom the people trust, shall be "brought low" ( Isa 3:2); therefore "cease from" depending on them, instead of on the Lord ( Ps 146:3-5).

CHAPTER 3

Isa 3:1-26.

1. For--continuation of Isa 2:22.
      Lord of hosts--therefore able to do as He says.
      doth--present for future, so certain is the accomplishment.
      stay . . . staff--the same Hebrew word, the one masculine, the other feminine, an Arabic idiom for all kinds of support. What a change from the previous luxuries ( Isa 2:7)! Fulfilled in the siege by Nebuchadnezzar and afterwards by Titus ( Jer 37:21; 38:9).

2. Fulfilled ( 2Ki 24:14).
      prudent--the Hebrew often means a "soothsayer" ( De 18:10-14); thus it will mean, the diviners, on whom they rely, shall in that day fail. It is found in a good sense ( Pr 16:10), from which passage the Jews interpret it a king; "without" whom Israel long has been ( Ho 3:4).
      ancient--old and experienced ( 1Ki 12:6-8).

3. captain of fifty--not only captains of thousands, and centurions of a hundred, but even semi-centurions of fifty, shall fail.
      honourable--literally, "of dignified aspect."
      cunning--skilful. The mechanic's business will come to a standstill in the siege and subsequent desolation of the state; artisans are no mean "stay" among a nation's safeguards.
      eloquent orator--rather, as Vulgate, "skilled in whispering," that is, incantation ( Ps 58:5). See Isa 8:19, below; and on "prudent," see on Isa 3:2.

4. children--in ability for governing; antithesis to the "ancient" (see Isa 3:12; Ec 10:16).
      babes--in warlike might; antithesis to "the mighty" and "man of war."

5. The anarchy resulting under such imbecile rulers ( Isa 3:4); unjust exactions mutually; the forms of respect violated ( Le 19:32).
      base--low-born. Compare the marks of "the last days" ( 2Ti 3:2).

6. Such will be the want of men of wealth and ability, that they will "take hold of" ( Isa 4:1) the first man whom they meet, having any property, to make him "ruler."
      brother--one having no better hereditary claim to be ruler than the "man" supplicating him.
      Thou hast clothing--which none of us has. Changes of raiment are wealth in the East ( 2Ki 5:5).
      ruin--Let our ruined affairs be committed to thee to retrieve.

7. swear--literally, "lift up," namely, his hand; the gesture used in solemn attestation. Or, his voice, that is, answer; so Vulgate.
      healer--of the body politic, incurably diseased ( Isa 1:6).
      neither . . . clothing--so as to relieve the people and maintain a ruler's dignity. A nation's state must be bad indeed, when none among men, naturally ambitious, is willing to accept office.

8. Reason given by the prophet, why all shrink from the government.
      eyes of his glory--to provoke His "glorious" Majesty before His "eyes" (compare Isa 49:5; Hab 1:13). The Syriac and LOWTH, by a slight change of the Hebrew, translate, "the cloud of His glory," the Shekinah.

9. show--The Hebrew means, "that which may be known by their countenances" [GESENIUS and WEISS]. But MAURER translates, "Their respect for person"; so Syriac and Chaldee. But the parallel word "declare" favors the other view. KIMCHI, from the Arabic, translates "their hardness" ( Job 19:3, Margin), or impudence of countenance ( Jer 3:3). They have lost not only the substance of virtue, but its color.
      witness--literally, "corresponds" to them; their look answers to their inner character ( Ho 5:5).
      declare-- ( Jude 13). "Foaming out their own shame"; so far from making it a secret, "glorying" in it ( Php 3:19).
      unto themselves--Compare "in themselves" ( Pr 1:31; 8:36; Jer 2:19; Ro 1:27).

10. The faithlessness of many is no proof that all are faithless. Though nothing but croaking of frogs is heard on the surface of the pool, we are not to infer there are no fish beneath [BENGEL]. (See Isa 1:19, 20).
      fruit of doings-- ( Pr 1:31) in a good sense ( Ga 6:8; Re 22:14). Not salvation by works, but by fruit-bearing faith ( Isa 45:24; Jer 23:6). GESENIUS and WEISS translate, Declare as to the righteous that, &c. MAURER, "Say that the righteous is blessed."

11. ill--antithesis to "well" ( Isa 3:10); emphatic ellipsis of the words italicized. "Ill!"
      hands--his conduct; "hands" being the instrument of acts ( Ec 8:12, 13).

12. (See Isa 3:4).
      oppressors--literally, "exactors," that is, exacting princes ( Isa 60:17). They who ought to be protectors are exactors; as unqualified for rule as "children," as effeminate as "women." Perhaps it is also implied that they were under the influence of their harem, the women of their court.
      lead--Hebrew, "call thee blessed"; namely, the false prophets, who flatter the people with promises of safety in sin; as the political "rulers" are meant in the first clause.
      way of thy paths-- ( Jer 6:16). The right way set forth in the law. "Destroy"--Hebrew, "Swallow up," that is, cause so utterly to disappear that not a vestige of it is left.

13. standeth up--no longer sitting in silence.
      plead--indignant against a wicked people ( Isa 66:16; Eze 20:35).

14. ancients--Hence they are spoken of as "taken away" ( Isa 3:1, 2).
      vineyard--the Jewish theocracy ( Isa 5:1-7; Ps 80:9-13).
      eaten up--"burnt"; namely, by "oppressive exactions" ( Isa 3:12). Type of the crowning guilt of the husbandmen in the days of Jesus Christ ( Mt 21:34-41).
      spoil . . . houses-- ( Mt 23:14).

15. What right have ye to beat, &c. ( Ps 94:5; Mic 3:2, 3).
      grind--by exactions, so as to leave them nothing.
      faces--persons; with the additional idea of it being openly and palpably done. "Presence," equivalent to "face" (Hebrew).

16. Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, &c.--Luxury had become great in Uzziah's prosperous reign ( 2Ch 26:5).
      stretched forth--proudly elevated ( Ps 75:5).
      wanton--rather, "making the eyes to glance about," namely, wantonly ( Pr 6:13) [MAURER]. But LOWTH, "falsely setting off the eyes with paint." Women's eyelids in the East are often colored with stibium, or powder of lead (see on Job 42:14; Jer 4:30, Margin).
      mincing--tripping with short steps.
      tinkling--with their ankle-rings on both feet, joined by small chains, which sound as they walk, and compel them to take short steps; sometimes little bells were attached ( Isa 3:18, 20).

17. smite with a scab--literally, "make bald," namely, by disease.
      discover--cause them to suffer the greatest indignity that can befall female captives, namely to be stripped naked, and have their persons exposed ( Isa 47:3; compare with Isa 20:4).

18. bravery--the finery.
      tinkling--(See Isa 3:16).
      cauls--network for the head. Or else, from an Arabic root, "little suns," answering to the "tires" or neck-ornaments, "like the moon" ( Jud 8:21). The chumarah or crescent is also worn in front of the headdress in West Asia.

19. chains--rather, pendants, hanging about the neck, and dropping on the breast.
      mufflers--veils covering the face, with apertures for the eyes, close above and loosely flowing below. The word radically means "tremulous," referring to the changing effect of the spangles on the veil.

20. bonnets--turbans.
      ornaments of the legs--the short stepping-chains from one foot to another, to give a measured gait; attached to the "tinkling ornaments" ( Isa 3:16).
      headbands--literally, "girdles."
      tablets--rather, "houses of the breath," that is, smelling boxes [Vulgate].
      earrings--rather, amulets suspended from the neck or ears, with magic formulæ inscribed; the root means to "whisper" or "conjure."

21. nose jewels--The cartilage between the nostrils was bored to receive them; they usually hung from the left nostril.

22. Here begin entire articles of apparel. Those before were single ornaments.
      changeable--from a root, "to put off"; not worn commonly; put on and off on special occasions. So, dress-clothes ( Zec 3:4).
      mantles--fuller tunics with sleeves, worn over the common one, reaching down to the feet.
      wimples--that is, mufflers, or hoods. In Ru 3:15, "veils"; perhaps here, a broad cloak, or shawl, thrown over the head and body.
      crisping pins--rather, money bags ( 2Ki 5:23).

23. glasses--mirrors of polished metal ( Ex 38:8). But the Septuagint, a transparent, gauze-like, garment.
      hoods--miters, or diadems ( Isa 62:3; Zec 3:5).
      veils--large enough to cover the head and person. Distinct from the smaller veils ("mufflers") above ( Ge 24:65). Token of woman's subjection ( 1Co 11:10).

24. stink--arising from ulcers ( Zec 14:12).
      girdle--to gird up the loose Eastern garments, when the person walked.
      rent--the Septuagint, better, a "rope," an emblem of poverty; the poor have nothing else to gird up their clothes with.
      well-set hair-- ( 1Pe 3:3, 4).
      baldness-- ( Isa 3:17).
      stomacher--a broad plaited girdle.
      sackcloth-- ( 2Sa 3:31).
      burning--a sunburnt countenance, owing to their hoods and veils being stripped off, while they had to work as captives under a scorching sun ( So 1:6).

25. Thy men--of Jerusalem.

26. gates--The place of concourse personified is represented mourning for the loss of those multitudes which once frequented it.
      desolate . . . sit upon . . . ground--the very figure under which Judea was represented on medals after the destruction by Titus: a female sitting under a palm tree in a posture of grief; the motto, Judæa capta ( Job 2:13; La 2:10, where, as here primarily, the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar is alluded to).

CHAPTER 4

Isa 4:1-6.

that day--the calamitous period described in previous chapter.
      seven--indefinite number among the Jews. So many men would be slain, that there would be very many more women than men; for example, seven women, contrary to their natural bashfulness, would sue to (equivalent to "take hold of," Isa 3:6) one man to marry them.
      eat . . . own bread--foregoing the privileges, which the law ( Ex 21:10) gives to wives, when a man has more than one.
      reproach--of being unwedded and childless; especially felt among the Jews, who were looking for "the seed of the woman," Jesus Christ, described in Isa 4:2; Isa 54:1, 4; Lu 1:25.

2. In contrast to those on whom vengeance falls, there is a manifestation of Jesus Christ to the "escaped of Israel" in His characteristic attributes, beauty and glory, typified in Aaron's garments ( Ex 28:2). Their sanctification is promised as the fruit of their being "written" in the book of life by sovereign love ( Isa 4:3); the means of it are the "spirit of judgment" and that of "burning" ( Isa 4:4). Their "defense" by the special presence of Jesus Christ is promised ( Isa 4:5, 6).
      branch--the sprout of JEHOVAH. Messiah ( Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zec 3:8; 6:12; Lu 1:78, Margin). The parallel clause does not, as MAURER objects, oppose this; for "fruit of the earth" answers to "branch"; He shall not be a dry, but a fruit-bearing branch ( Isa 27:6; Eze 34:23-27). He is "of the earth" in His birth and death, while He is also "of the Lord" (Jehovah) ( Joh 12:24). His name, "the Branch," chiefly regards His descent from David, when the family was low and reduced ( Lu 2:4, 7, 24); a sprout with more than David's glory, springing as from a decayed tree ( Isa 11:1; 53:2; Re 22:16).
      excellent-- ( Heb 1:4; 8:6).
      comely-- ( So 5:15, 16; Eze 16:14).
      escaped of Israel--the elect remnant ( Ro 11:5); (1) in the return from Babylon; (2) in the escape from Jerusalem's destruction under Titus; (3) in the still future assault on Jerusalem, and deliverance of "the third part"; events mutually analogous, like concentric circles ( Zec 12:2-10; 13:8, 9, &c.; 14:2; Eze 39:23-29; Joe 3:1-21).

3. left in Zion--equivalent to the "escaped of Israel" ( Isa 4:2).
      shall be called--shall be ( Isa 9:6).
      holy-- ( Isa 52:1; 60:21; Re 21:27).
      written--in the book of life, antitypically ( Php 4:3; Re 3:5; 17:8). Primarily, in the register kept of Israel's families and tribes.
      living--not "blotted out" from the registry, as dead; but written there as among the "escaped of Israel" ( Da 12:1; Eze 13:9). To the elect of Israel, rather than the saved in general, the special reference is here ( Joe 3:17).

4. When--that is, After.
      washed-- ( Zec 13:1).
      filth--moral ( Isa 1:21-25).
      daughters of Zion--same as in Isa 3:16.
      purged--purified by judgments; destroying the ungodly, correcting and refining the godly.
      blood-- ( Isa 1:15).
      spirit--Whatever God does in the universe, He does by His Spirit, "without the hand" of man ( Job 34:20; Ps 104:30). Here He is represented using His power as Judge.
      burning-- ( Mt 3:11, 12). The same Holy Ghost, who sanctifies believers by the fire of affliction ( Mal 3:2, 3), dooms unbelievers to the fire of perdition ( 1Co 3:13-15).

5. create--The "new creation" needs as much God's creative omnipotence, as the material creation ( 2Co 4:6; Eph 2:10). So it shall be in the case of the Holy Jerusalem to come ( Isa 65:17, 18).
      upon--The pillar of cloud stood over the tabernacle, as symbol of God's favor and presence ( Ex 13:21, 22; Ps 91:1). Both on individual families ("every dwelling") and on the general sacred "assemblies" ( Le 23:2). The "cloud" became a "fire" by night in order to be seen by the Lord's people.
      upon all the glory--"upon the glorious whole"; namely, the Lord's people and sanctuary [MAURER]. May it not mean, "Upon whatever the glory (the Shekinah spoken of in the previous clause) shall rest, there shall be a defense." The symbol of His presence shall ensure also safety. So it was to Israel against the Egyptians at the Red Sea ( Ex 14:19, 20). So it shall be to literal Jerusalem hereafter ( Zec 2:5). Also to the Church, the spiritual "Zion" ( Isa 32:18; 33:15-17; Heb 12:22).
      tabernacle--Christ's body ( Joh 1:14). "The word 'tabernacled' (Greek for 'dwelt') among us" ( Joh 2:21; Heb 8:2). It is a "shadow from the heat" and "refuge from the storm" of divine wrath against man's sins ( Isa 25:4). Heat and storms are violent in the East; so that a portable tent is a needful part of a traveller's outfit. Such shall be God's wrath hereafter, from which the "escaped of Israel" shall be sheltered by Jesus Christ ( Isa 26:20, 21; 32:2).
      covert--answering to "defense" ( Isa 4:5). The Hebrew for defense in Isa 4:5, is "covering"; the lid of the ark or mercy seat was named from the same Hebrew word, caphar; the propitiatory; for it, being sprinkled with blood by the high priest once a year, on the day of atonement, covered the people typically from wrath. Jesus Christ is the true Mercy Seat, on whom the Shekinah rested, the propitiatory, or atonement, beneath whom the law is kept, as it was literally within the ark, and man is covered from the storm. The redeemed Israel shall also be, by union with Him, a tabernacle for God's glory, which, unlike that in the wilderness, shall not be taken down ( Isa 38:20).

CHAPTER 5

Isa 5:1-30. PARABLE OF JEHOVAH'S VINEYARD.

A new prophecy; entire in itself. Probably delivered about the same time as the second and third chapters, in Uzziah's reign. Compare Isa 5:15, 16 with Isa 2:17; and Isa 5:1 with Isa 3:14. However, the close of the chapter alludes generally to the still distant invasion of Assyrians in a later reign (compare Isa 5:26 with Isa 7:18; and Isa 5:25 with Isa 9:12). When the time drew nigh, according to the ordinary prophetic usage, he handles the details more particularly ( Isa 7:1-8:22); namely, the calamities caused by the Syro-Israelitish invasion, and subsequently by the Assyrians whom Ahaz had invited to his help.

1. to--rather, "concerning" [GESENIUS], that is, in the person of My beloved, as His representative [VITRINGA]. Isaiah gives a hint of the distinction and yet unity of the Divine Persons (compare He with I, Isa 5:2, 3).
      of my beloved--inspired by Him; or else, a tender song [CASTALIO]. By a slight change of reading "a song of His love" [HOUBIGANT]. "The Beloved" is Jehovah, the Second Person, the "Angel" of God the Father, not in His character as incarnate Messiah, but as God of the Jews ( Ex 23:20, 21; 32:34; 33:14).
      vineyard-- ( Isa 3:14; Ps 80:8, &c.). The Jewish covenant-people, separated from the nations for His glory, as the object of His peculiar care ( Mt 20:1; 21:33). Jesus Christ in the "vineyard" of the New Testament Church is the same as the Old Testament Angel of the Jewish covenant.
      fruitful hill--literally, "a horn" ("peak," as the Swiss shreckhorn) of the son of oil; poetically, for very fruitful. Suggestive of isolation, security, and a sunny aspect. Isaiah alludes plainly to the Song of Solomon ( So 6:3; 8:11, 12), in the words "His vineyard" and "my Beloved" (compare Isa 26:20; 61:10, with So 1:4; 4:10). The transition from "branch" ( Isa 4:2) to "vineyard" here is not unnatural.

2. fenced--rather, "digged and trenched" the ground to prepare it for planting the vines [MAURER].
      choicest vine--Hebrew, sorek; called still in Morocco, serki; the grapes had scarcely perceptible seeds; the Persian kishmish or bedana, that is, "without seed" ( Ge 49:11).
      tower--to watch the vineyard against the depredations of man or beast, and for the use of the owner ( Mt 21:33).
      wine-press--including the wine-fat; both hewn, for coolness, out of the rocky undersoil of the vineyard.
      wild grapes--The Hebrew expresses offensive putrefaction, answering to the corrupt state of the Jews. Fetid fruit of the wild vine [MAURER], instead of "choicest" grapes. Of the poisonous monk's hood [GESENIUS]. The Arabs call the fruit of the nightshade "wolf grapes" ( De 32:32, 33; 2Ki 4:39-41). JEROME tries to specify the details of the parable; the "fence," angels; the "stones gathered out," idols; the "tower," the "temple in the midst" of Judea; the "wine-press," the altar.

3. And now, &c.--appeal of God to themselves, as in Isa 1:18; Mic 6:3. So Jesus Christ, in Mt 21:40, 41, alluding in the very form of expression to this, makes them pass sentence on themselves. God condemns sinners "out of their own mouth" ( De 32:6; Job 15:6; Lu 19:22; Ro 3:4).

4. God has done all that could be done for the salvation of sinners, consistently with His justice and goodness. The God of nature is, as it were, amazed at the unnatural fruit of so well-cared a vineyard.

5. go to--that is, attend to me.
      hedge . . . wall--It had both; a proof of the care of the owner. But now it shall be trodden down by wild beasts (enemies) ( Ps 80:12, 13).

6. I will . . . command--The parable is partly dropped and Jehovah, as in Isa 5:7, is implied to be the Owner: for He alone, not an ordinary husbandman ( Mt 21:43; Lu 17:22), could give such a "command."
      no rain--antitypically, the heaven-sent teachings of the prophets ( Am 8:11). Not accomplished in the Babylonish captivity; for Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah prophesied during or after it. But in gospel times.

7. Isaiah here applies the parable. It is no mere human owner, nor a literal vineyard that is meant.
      vineyard of the Lord--His only one ( Ex 19:5; Am 3:2).
      pleasant--"the plant of his delight"; just as the husbandman was at pains to select the sorek, or "choicest vine" ( Isa 5:2); so God's election of the Jews.
      judgment--justice. The play upon words is striking in the Hebrew, He looked for mishpat, but behold mispat ("bloodshed"); for tsedaqua, but behold tseaqua (the cry that attends anarchy, covetousness, and dissipation, Isa 5:8, 11, 12; compare the cry of the rabble by which justice was overborne in the case of Jesus Christ, Mt 27:23, 24).

Isa 5:8-23. SIX DISTINCT WOES AGAINST CRIMES.

8. ( Le 25:13; Mic 2:2). The jubilee restoration of possessions was intended as a guard against avarice.
      till there be no place--left for any one else.
      that they may be--rather, and ye be.
      the earth--the land.

9. In mine ears . . . the Lord--namely, has revealed it, as in Isa 22:14.
      desolate--literally, "a desolation," namely, on account of the national sins.
      great and fair--houses.

10. acres--literally, "yokes"; as much as one yoke of oxen could plow in a day.
      one--only.
      bath--of wine; seven and a half gallons.
      homer . . . ephah--Eight bushels of seed would yield only three pecks of produce ( Eze 45:11). The ephah and bath, one-tenth of an homer.

11. Second Woe--against intemperance.
      early--when it was regarded especially shameful to drink ( Ac 2:15; 1Th 5:7). Banquets for revelry began earlier than usual ( Ec 10:16, 17).
      strong drink--Hebrew, sichar, implying intoxication.
      continue--drinking all day till evening.

12. Music was common at ancient feasts ( Isa 24:8, 9; Am 6:5, 6).
      viol--an instrument with twelve strings [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 8.10].
      tabret--Hebrew, toph, from the use of which in drowning the cries of children sacrificed to Moloch, Tophet received its name. Arabic, duf. A kettle drum, or tambourine.
      pipe--flute or flageolet: from a Hebrew root "to bore through"; or else, "to dance" (compare Job 21:11-15).
      regard not . . . Lord--a frequent effect of feasting ( Job 1:5; Ps 28:5).
      work . . . operation--in punishing the guilty ( Isa 5:19; Isa 10:12).

13. are gone--The prophet sees the future as if it were before his eyes.
      no knowledge--because of their foolish recklessness ( Isa 5:12; Isa 1:3; Ho 4:6; Lu 19:44).
      famished--awful contrast to their luxurious feasts ( Isa 5:11, 12).
      multitude--plebeians in contradistinction to the "honorable men," or nobles.
      thirst-- ( Ps 107:4, 5). Contrast to their drinking ( Isa 5:11). In their deportation and exile, they shall hunger and thirst.

14. hell--the grave; Hebrew, sheol; Greek, hades; "the unseen world of spirits." Not here, "the place of torment." Poetically, it is represented as enlarging itself immensely, in order to receive the countless hosts of Jews, which should perish ( Nu 16:30).
      their--that is, of the Jewish people.
      he that rejoiceth--the drunken reveller in Jerusalem.

15. (Compare Isa 2:9, 11, 17). All ranks, "mean" and "mighty" alike; so "honorable" and "multitude" ( Isa 5:13).

16. God shall be "exalted" in man's view, because of His manifestation of His "justice" in punishing the guilty.
      sanctified--regarded as holy by reason of His "righteous" dealings.

17. after their manner--literally, "according to their own word," that is, at will. Otherwise, as in their own pasture [GESENIUS]: so the Hebrew in Mic 2:12. The lands of the Scenite tent dwellers ( Jer 35:7). Arab shepherds in the neighborhood shall roam at large, the whole of Judea being so desolate as to become a vast pasturage.
      waste . . . fat ones--the deserted lands of the rich ("fat," Ps 22:29), then gone into captivity; "strangers," that is, nomad tribes shall make their flocks to feed on [MAURER]. Figuratively, "the lambs" are the pious, "the fat ones" the impious. So tender disciples of Jesus Christ ( Joh 21:15) are called "lambs"; being meek, harmless, poor, and persecuted. Compare Eze 39:18, where the fatlings are the rich and great ( 1Co 1:26, 27). The "strangers" are in this view the "other sheep not of the" the Jewish "fold" ( Joh 10:16), the Gentiles whom Jesus Christ shall "bring" to be partakers of the rich privileges ( Ro 11:17) which the Jews ("fat ones," Eze 34. 16) fell from. Thus "after their (own) manner" will express that the Christian Church should worship God in freedom, released from legal bondage ( Joh 4:23; Ga 5:1).

18. Third Woe--against obstinate perseverance in sin, as if they wished to provoke divine judgments.
      iniquity--guilt, incurring punishment [MAURER].
      cords, &c.--cart-rope--Rabbins say, "An evil inclination is at first like a fine hair-string, but the finishing like a cart-rope." The antithesis is between the slender cords of sophistry, like the spider's web ( Isa 59:5; Job 8:14), with which one sin draws on another, until they at last bind themselves with great guilt as with a cart-rope. They strain every nerve in sin.
      vanity--wickedness.
      sin--substantive, not a verb: they draw on themselves "sin" and its penalty recklessly.

19. work--vengeance ( Isa 5:12). Language of defiance to God. So Lamech's boast of impunity ( Ge 4:23, 24; compare Jer 17:15; 2Pe 3:3, 4).
      counsel--God's threatened purpose to punish.

20. Fourth Woe--against those who confound the distinctions of right and wrong (compare Ro 1:28), "reprobate," Greek, "undiscriminating: the moral perception darkened."
      bitter . . . sweet--sin is bitter ( Jer 2:19; 4:18; Ac 8:23; Heb 12:15); though it seem sweet for a time ( Pr 9:17, 18). Religion is sweet ( Ps 119:103).

21. Fifth Woe--against those who were so "wise in their own eyes" as to think they knew better than the prophet, and therefore rejected his warnings ( Isa 29:14, 15).

22, 23. Sixth Woe--against corrupt judges, who, "mighty" in drinking "wine" (a boast still not uncommon), if not in defending their country, obtain the means of self-indulgence by taking bribes ("reward"). The two verses are closely joined [MAURER].
      mingle strong drink--not with water, but spices to make it intoxicating ( Pr 9:2, 5; So 8:2).
      take away the righteousness--set aside the just claims of those having a righteous cause.

24. Literally, "tongue of fire eateth" ( Ac 2:3).
      flame consumeth the chaff--rather, withered grass falleth before the flame ( Mt 3:12).
      root . . . blossom--entire decay, both the hidden source and outward manifestations of prosperity, perishing ( Job 18:16; Mal 4:1).
      cast away . . . law--in its spirit, while retaining the letter.

25. anger . . . kindled-- ( 2Ki 22:13, 17).
      hills . . . tremble--This probably fixes the date of this chapter, as it refers to the earthquake in the days of Uzziah ( Am 1:1; Zec 14:5). The earth trembled as if conscious of the presence of God ( Jer 4:24; Hab 3:6).
      torn--rather, were as dung ( Ps 83:10).
      For all this, &c.--This burden of the prophet's strains, with dirge-like monotony, is repeated at Isa 9:12, 17, 21; 10:4. With all the past calamities, still heavier judgments are impending; which he specifies in the rest of the chapter ( Le 26:14, &c.).

26. lift . . . ensign--to call together the hostile nations to execute His judgments on Judea ( Isa 10:5-7; 45:1). But for mercy to it, in Isa 11:12; 18:3.
      hiss-- ( Isa 7:18). Bees were drawn out of their hives by the sound of a flute, or hissing, or whistling ( Zec 10:8). God will collect the nations round Judea like bees ( De 1:44; Ps 118:12).
      end of the earth--the widely distant subject races of which the Assyrian army was made up ( Isa 22:6). The ulterior fulfilment took place in the siege under Roman Titus. Compare "end of the earth" ( De 28:49, &c.). So the pronoun is singular in the Hebrew, for "them," "their," "whose" (him, his, &c.), Isa 5:26-29; referring to some particular nation and person [H ORSLEY].

27. weary--with long marches ( De 25:18).
      none . . . slumber--requiring no rest.
      girdle--with which the ancient loose robes used to be girded for action. Ever ready for march or battle.
      nor the latchet . . . broken--The soles were attached to the feet, not by upper leather as with us, but by straps. So securely clad that not even a strap of their sandals gives way, so as to impede their march.

28. bent--ready for battle.
      hoofs . . . flint--The ancients did not shoe their horses: hence the value of hard hoofs for long marches.
      wheels--of their chariots. The Assyrian army abounded in cavalry and chariots ( Isa 22:6, 7; 36:8).

29. roaring--their battle cry.

30. sorrow, and the light is darkened--Otherwise, distress and light (that is, hope and fear) alternately succeed (as usually occurs in an unsettled state of things), and darkness arises in, &c. [MAURER].
  &nbs