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ing back his brethren of the house of Ephraim on camels and on dromedaries, the scene changes, and a fresh vision is suddenly presented to his imagination. A multitude, the converted of Judah, appear to come like doves, rapidly flying upon the wings of the wind; and these, though last introduced into the present prediction, will nevertheless be restored, as we may collect from other prophecies, before the remnant of the ten tribes. the far distant isles of the west, the maritime regions of Europe, the prophet beholds the ships of Tarshish, the navy of that power which at the period of the accomplishment of the prophecy may be considered as the modern Tyre, securely bringing over the waves of the ocean the converts of Judah as an offering to the name of the Lord their God.

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Having thus foretold, that the whole house of Israel shall surely be restored, at two different seasons, by land and by sea; and having declared, that the then prevailing maritime power shall be among the first to undertake the restoration of the converted members of the house of Judah*: Isaiah triumphantly enlarges on the future glories of his

* The restoration of the unconverted of Judah is not here noticed. There is reason to believe that it will nearly, if not altogether, synchronize with the restoration of the converted of Judah, and that it will be effected by land through the instrumentality of the Antichristian faction, previous to the subsequent restoration also by land of the remains of the ten tribes.

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people and the sacred happiness of the millennium, intermingling however with his song of victory an allusion to the overthrow of Antichrist and the utter extinction of his abominable tyranny,

PROPHECY XIV.

The restoration and conversion of Judah-The triumph of Christ over the mystic Edom.

Isaiah lxii. 1*. For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. 2. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. 3. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. 4. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate but thou shalt be called My-delight-is-in-her; and thy land, The

*Chap. lxii.] "The former promises of restoring the Jewish "Church and nation are again confirmed by a solemn oath of God's (ver. 8.); which to me is an evident proof, that "this prophecy relates to a scene of affairs that is still future." Mr. Lowth in loc,

VOL. I.

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married-one; for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. 5. For, as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall they, that build thee up, marry thee *; and, as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. 6. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall not hold their peace day nor night ye, that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence: 7. And give him no rest till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

* So shall they, that build thee up, marry thee.] I prefer this translation to that of our English version. That the Hebrew church should be married to her sons, seems to convey an idea neither very intelligible, nor elsewhere warranted in Scripture. Jeremiah represents the Lord as calling unto the backsliding sons of Israel, and as being married to them (Jerem. iii. 14.); but I know not that the church is ever said to be married to her own sons. In addition to this remark it may be observed, that the well known antithesis of the Hebrew poetry requires the first half of the verse to answer to the second: the persons therefore, that marry the church of Israel, must answer to her God that rejoiceth over her. Such being the case, I apprehend that the builders up of Zion are the Lord God Almighty, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is superfluous to remind the Hebrew student of the frequency of this plural phraseology: but for the satisfaction of the English reader it may not be amiss to remark, that, what he has been accustomed to see translated, Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth (Eccles xii. 1.), stands in the original, Remember thy Creators. These Creators, the all-powerful Elohim of Israel, are they, who will build up the walls of Zion, and be the husband of his people Israel. See Bp. Lowth in loc. and compare his note on Isaiah xlix. 17.

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8. The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine. for which thou hast laboured: 9. But they, that have gathered it, shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they, that have brought it together, shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. 10. Go through, go through the gates: prepare ye the way of the people *: cast up, cast up the highway: gather from the stones: lift up a banner for the nations. 11. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world †, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy Saviour cometh ; behold, his reward

*

Prepare ye the way of the people.] "The prophet, rely"ing upon God's oath (ver. 8.), speaks of the general res"toration of the Jews, as if it were actually a doing; and "exhorts those nations, through whose territories they were, "to pass in their return homeward, to go out of their cities "and repair the roads, raising causeways in the lower grounds, "and levelling the rough and stony places. By this figure "the prophet signifies a removal of all obstacles which might "hinder their return." Mr. Lowth in loc.

+ The Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world.] "He hath caused the great trumpet to sound as a signal to "gather the dispersed Jews together (see note on Chap. "xxvii. 13.); or he hath sent preachers of the Gospel to all "parts of the world, in order to the conversion of the Jews." Mr. Lowth in loc.

Behold, thy Saviour cometh.] Such I conceive to be the proper translation of the passage, not thy salvation cometh:

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reward is with him, and his work before him. 12. And they shall call them The-holy-people, Theredeemed-of-the-Lord; and thou shalt be called Sought-out, A-city-not-forsaken.

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Ixiii. 1. ISAIAH. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah†? This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?

MESSIAH. I that speak in righteousness, mighty

to save.

2. ISAIAH. Wherefore art, thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine fat?

3. MESSIAH. I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people there was none with me:

the whole context shews, that a person, not a thing, is spoken of. Accordingly it is so rendered by the Lxx, the Vulgate, the Chaldee Paraphrase, the Syriac, and the Arabic. See Bp. Lowth in loc. Compare the whole of this verse with Isaiah

xl. 10.

Chap. Ixiii.] "Now the prophet comes to describe the day of vengeance. The beginning of the chapter is by way of dialogue between the prophet and Christ, where "the latter is described as returning in triumph from the

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laughter of his enemies, which seems to be much the same "scene which was represented chap. xxxiv. See likewise Joel iii. 12, 13, 14." Mr. Lowth in loc.

+ Edom-Bozrah.] "The prophet seems to take a hint "from some remarkable calamity that befell the Edomites, to "describe some more general judgment, that should be in"flicted upon the enemies of God's Church and truth." Mr, Lowth in loc.

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