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4 And thou shalt be brought' | dust, and the multitude of the down, and shalt speak out of the terrible ones shall be as chaff ground, and thy speech shall be that passeth away: yea, it shall low out of the dust, and thy voice be at an instant suddenly. shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small

the word occurs in 1 Sam. xiii. 23, xiv. 1, 4, 2 Sam. xxiii. 14, in the sense of a military post, or garrison. I will raise forts. That is, ramparts, such as were usually thrown up against a besieged city, meaning that it should be subjected to the regular process of a siege. The LXX read #opyovs, towers; and so also two MSS. by changing the letter into. But there is no necessity for altering the Hebrew text. Lowth prefers the reading of the LXX.

4. And shalt speak out of the ground. See Note on ch. viii. 19. The sense here is, that Jerusalem, that had been accustomed to pride itself on its strength would be greatly humbled and subdued. Its loud and lofty tone would be changed. It would use the suppressed language of fear and alarm as if it spoke from the dust, or in a shrill small voice, like the pretended conversers with the dead. And thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. Marg. peep, or chirp. See Note ch.

viii. 19.

5. Moreover.

These verses (5, 7, 8) contain a beautiful description of the destruction of the army of Sennacherib.

Though they had laid the plan of a regular siege; though the city, in itself, would not be able to hold out against them, and all was alarm and conscious imbecility within; yet in an instant the siege would be raised, and the advancing hosts of the Assyrians would all be gone. The multitude of thy strangers. The multitude of the strangers that shall besiege thee; called "thy strangers," because they

6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

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besieged, or oppressed thee. "strangers" here as elsewhere means 7. Comp. foreigners. See Note ch. chs. ii. 6, v. 17, xiv. 1, xxv. 2, 5, xxix. Shall be like small dust. 5, lx. 10.

Light, fine dust that is easily dissipated by the wind. ¶ Of the terrible ones. Of the invading, besieging army, that is so much the object of dread. As chaff that passeth away. See Note ch. xvii. 13. This image of chaff driven before the wind, to denote the sudden and entire discomfiture of ene mies, is common in the Scriptures. See Job xxi. 18. Ps. i. 4, xxxv. 5. Hos. xiii. 13. Yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. The forces of Sennacherib were destroyed in a single night by the angel of the Lord (Isa. xxxvii. 36. Notes ch. x. 12, 28-34), and the siege of Jerusalem was of course immediately raised.

6. Thou shalt be visited. This is an address to the mighty army of the Assyrian. Such transitions are not uncommon in the writings of Isaiah. His eye seems to have been directed in vision to the hosts of Sennacherib, and to their sudden dispersion and destruc tion (ver. 5), and by a sudden, but not unnatural transition, he turns and addresses the army itself, with the assu rance that it should be punished. Comp. ch. xxx. 30. ¶ With thunder, &c. The army of the Assyrian was cut off by an angel sent forth from God, ch. xxxvii. 36. It is possible that all the agents here referred to may have been employed in the destruction of the Assyrian host, though they are not particularly specified in the history But it is not absolutely necessary to

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sumes.

7. And the multitude of all the nations. The Assyrians, and their allied hosts. And her munition. Her fortresses, castles, places of strength. Ezek. xix. 9. Eccl. ix. 14. 2 Sam. v. 7. ¶ Shall be as a dream of a night vision. In a dream we seem to see the objects of which we think as really as when awake, and hence they are called visions, and visions of the night. Gen. xlvi. 2. Job iv. 13, vii. 14. Dan. ii. 28, iv. 5, vii. 1, 7, 13, 15. The specific idea here is not that of the suddenness with which objects seen in a dream appear and then vanish, but it is that which occurs in ver. 8, of one who dreams of eating and drinking, but who awakes and is hungry and thirsty still. So it was with the Assyrian. He had set his heart on the wealth of Jerusalem. He had earnestly desired to possess that city-as a hungry man desires to satisfy the cravings of his appetite. But it would be like the vision of the night; and on that fatal morning on which he should awake from his fond dream (ch. xxxvii. 36) he would find all his hopes dissipated, and the longcherished desire of his soul unsatisfied still.

8. It shall even be, &c. This is a most striking figure representing the earnest desire of the Assyrian to pos

hold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty or when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against mount Zion.

sess the city of Jerusalem, and his utter disappointment. The comparison is elegant and beautiful in the highest degree. It is wrought up to great perfection; and is perfectly suited to ilustrate the object in view. The same image substantially is found in the classic writers; and this, says Lowth, may, for beauty and ingenuity, fairly come in competition with one of the most elegant of Virgil (greatly improved from Homer, Iliad. xxii. 119), where he has applied to a different purpose, but not so happily, the same image of the ineffectual workings of the imagination in a dream:

Ac veluti in somnis oculos ubi languida pressit
Nocte quies, nequicquam avidos extendere cursus
Velle videmur, et in mediis conatibus ægri
Succidimus; non lingua valet, non corpore nota
Sufficiunt vires; nec. vox, nec verba sequuntur.
Eniad xii. 908.

And as when slumber seals the closing sight,
The sick wild fancy labours in the night
Some dreadful visionary foe we shun,
With airy strides, but strive in vain to run;
In vain our battled limbs their powers essay,
We faint, we struggle, sink and fall away;
Drained of our strength we neither fight nor fly,
And on the tongue the struggling accents die.

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See, also, Lucretius (iv. 10-19), who also expresses the same image as As the simile of the prophet Isaiah. is drawn from nature, an which describes the actual rence of such a circumstance will be The scarcity of water," agreeable. says Park, "was greater here at Bubaker than at Benown. Day and night the wells were crowded with cattle lowing, and fighting with each other to come at the trough. Excessive thirst made many of them furious; others being too weak to contend for the water, endeavoured to quench their thirst by devouring the black mud from the gutters near the wells; which they

9 Stay yourselves, and won- | der; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

7 or, take your pleasure and riot.
c ch. 51. 21.

did with great avidity, though it was commonly fatal to them. This great scarcity of water was felt by all the people of the camp; and by none more than myself. I begged water from the negro slaves that attended the camp, but with very indifferent success; for though I let no opportunity slip, and was very urgent in my solicitations both to the Moors and to the negroes, I was but ill supplied, and frequently passed the night in the situation of Tantalus. No sooner had I shut my eyes, than fancy would convey me to the streams and rivers of my native land; there, as I wandered along the verdant bank, I surveyed the clear stream with transport, and hastened to swallow the delightful draught; but alas! disappointment awakened me, and I found myself a lonely captive, perishing of thirst amid the wilds of Africa." Travels in Africa.

9. Stay yourselves. Thus far the prophet had given a description of the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib, and of his sudden overthrow. He now turns to the Jews, and reproves their stupidity, formality, and hypocrisy; and the remainder of the chapter is occupied with a statement of the prevalence of these sins, of the judgments that must follow, and of the fact that there should yet be an extensive reformation, and turning to the Lord. The word rendered stay yourselves,"

, means properly to linger, tarry, delay. Gen. xix. 16, xliii. 10. 2 Sam. xv. 28. Here it seems to denote that state of mind in which any one is fixed in astonishment; in which one stops, and stares at some strange and unexpected occurrence. The object of amazement which the prophet supposes would excite astonishment, was the stupidity, dulness, and hypo

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crisy of a people who had been so signally favoured. Comp. Hab. i. 5.

Cry ye out, and cry. There is in the original here a paronomasia which cannot be conveyed in a translation. The word which is used, nun, is one form of the verb, which spread over; hence, in the Hithpalpel means, usually, to make smooth, rub, form which is here used, to be spread over; and hence is applied to the eyes (Isa. vi. 10), to denote blindness, as if they were overspread with something by reason of which they could not see. Here it probably means, be ye dazzled and blinded, that is, ye be astonished, as in the former part of the verse. The idea seems to be that of some ob

ject of sudden astonishment that dime the sight, and takes away all the powers of vision. The word is used in the same sense in ch. xxxii. 3. Comp. ch.. XXXV. 5, xlii. 19. Probably the idea here would be well expressed by our word stare, stare and look with a stupid surprise; denoting the attitude

and condition of a man who is amazed at some remarkable and unlooked for spectacle. They are drunken, but not with wine. The people of Jerusa lem. They reel and stagger, but the cause is not that they are drunken with wine. It is a moral and spiritual intoxication and reeling. They err in their doctrines and practice; and it is with them as it is with a drunken man that sees nothing clearly or correctly, and cannot walk steadily. They have perverted all doctrines; they err in their views of God and his truth, and they are irregular and corrupt in their

conduct.

10. For the LORD hath poured out upon you. The word rendered “hath poured out," 0, is usually referred to the act of pouring out a libation, or

11 And the vision of all is be- | Read this, I pray thee: and he come unto you as the words of a saith, I am not learned. book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed.

12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying,

Rev. 5. 1-9.

13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of 'men :

i Ezek. 33. 31.

Matt. 15. 6-9. I Col. 2. 22.

understand them.

They were as ignorant of their true nature as a man who can read is of the contents of a letter that is sealed up, or as a man who cannot read is of the contents of a book that is handed to him. As the words of a book. Marg. letter. The word

i 4. Jer. xxxii. 11. Deut. xxiv. i. 3),
means any thing which is written (Dan.
but is commonly applied to a book.

Ex. xvii. 14. Josh. i. 8, viii. 34. Ps.
xl. 8.
That is sealed. See Note

on ch. viii. 16.

9 or, letter. g Dan. 12. 4. 9. drink offering in worship. Ex. xxx. 9. Hos. ix. 4. Isa. xxx. 1. Here it means that JEHOVAH had, as it were, drenched them (LXX RɛRÓTIKEV) with a spirit of stupefaction. This is traced to God in accordance with the usual custom in the Bible by which his providential agency is recognized in all may mean either. It properly events. See Notes ch. vi. 9, 10. Comp. Notes Rom. xi. 8, where this passage is quoted from the LXX, and is applied to the Jews in the time of the apostle Paul. The spirit of deep sleep. The word rendered "deep sleep," is the same as is used in Gen. ii. 21, to denote the sleep that God brought on Adam; and in Gen. xv. 12, to denote the deep sleep that fell on Abraham, and when an horror of great darkness fell upon him; and in 1 Sam. xxvi. 12, to denote the deep sleep that came upon Saul when David approached and took away the spear and the cruise of water from his bolster. Here it means spiritual sluggishness, inactivity, stupidity, that prevailed every where among the people in regard to the things of religion. The seers. Those that see visions, another name for the prophets.

Note ch. i. 1. Hath he covered. That is, he has covered their eyes; or they are all blind.

11. And the vision of all. The vision of all the prophets; that is, all the revelations which God has made to you. See Note ch. i. 1. The prophet refers not only to his own communications, but to those of his contemporaries, and of all who had gone before him. The sense is, that although they had the communications which God had made to them, yet they did not

12. And the book is delivered, &c. That is, they are just as ignorant of the true nature and meaning of the revelations of God as a man is of the contents of a book who is utterly unable to read.

13. Wherefore the Lord said. This verse, with the following, is designed to denounce the divine judgment on their formality of worship. They kept up the forms of religion, but they withheld the affections of their hearts from God; and he, therefore, says that he will proceed to inflict on them exemplary and draw near me. deserved punishment. This people

That is, in the temple,

and in the forms of external devotion. And with their lips do honour me. They professedly celebrate my praise, and acknowledge me in the forms of devotion. But have removed their heart. Have withheld the affections of their hearts. And their fear toward me. The worship of God is ofter represented as fear. Job xxviii. 28. Ps. xix. 9, xxxiv. 11. Prov. i. 7. ¶ Is taught by the precept of men. That is, their views, instead of having been derived from the Scriptures, were drawn

14 Therefore, behold, I will *proceed to do a marvellous mwork among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

15 Wo unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in

2 add. m Hab. 1. 5. o Jer. 49. 7. Ob. 8. 1 Co. 1. 19.

from the doctrines of men. Our Saviour referred to this passage, and applied it to the hypocrites of his own time. Matth. xv. 8, 9. The latter part of it is, however, not quoted literally from the Hebrew nor from the LXX, but retains the sense: "But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandinents of men." He quoted it as strikingly descriptive of the people when he lived, not as saying that Isaiah referred directly to his times.

14. I will proceed to do. Heb. 'I will add to do; that is, I will do it. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish. I will bring calamity upon them which shall baffle all the skill and wisdom of their wise men.

Shall be hid. That is, shall not appear; shall vanish. It shall not be sufficient to prevent the calamities that shall come upon the nation.

15. Wo unto them that seek deep, &c. That is, who attempt to conceal their real intentions under a plausible exterior, and correct outward deportment. This is most strikingly descriptive of the character of a hypocrite who seeks to conceal his plans and his purposes from the eyes of men and of God. His external conduct is fair; his observance of the duties of religion exemplary; his attendance on the means of grace and the worship of God regular; his professions loud and constant, but the whole design is to conceal his real sentiments, and to accomplish some sinister and wicked purpose by it. From the LORD. This proves that

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the design of the hypocrite is not always to attempt to deceive his fellowmen, but that he also aims to deceive God.

16. Surely your turning of things upside down. Your perversion of all things. They had no just views of truth. They deemed mere formality to be all that was required. They attempted to conceal their plans even from JEHOVAH; and every thing in the opinions and practice of the nation had become perverted and erroneous. There has been much diversity in rendering this phrase. Luther renders it, "0. how perverse ye are!" Lowth renders it,

"Perverse as ye are ! shall the potter be esteemed as the clay?"

Rosenmüller, also, accords with this interpretation, and renders it, "O your perversity," &c. The sense of the passage seems to be this: Your changing of things is just as absurd as it would be for the thing formed to say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? It is as absurd for you to find fault with the government of God as it would be for the clay to complain of want of skill in the potter. You complain of God's laws, and worship him according to the commandments of men. You complain of his requirements, and offer to him the service of the mouth and the lip, and withhold the heart. You suppose that God does not see you, and do your deeds in darkness. All this supposes that God is destitute of wisdom, and cannot see

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