:

"5. And now go to: I will tell you "what I will do to my vineyard; I will "take away the hedge thereof, and it "shall be eaten up: and break down "the wall thereof, and it shall be "trodden down. 6. And I will lay it "waste it shall not be pruned, nor

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digged, but there shall come up "briers and thorns: I will also com"mand the clouds that they rain no "rain upon it. 7. For the vineyard of "the LORD of hosts is the house of "Israel, and the men of Judah his

pleasant plant: and he looked for "judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry (p). "8. Woe (g) unto them that join house "to house (r), that lay field to field "till there be no place, that they may "be placed alone in the midst of the "earth. 9. In mine ears said the LORD "of hosts, "Of a truth many houses "shall be desolate, even great and fair, "without inhabitant. 10. Yea, ten acres "of vineyard shall yield one bath (s), " and the seed of an homer shall yield "an ephah (s)." 11. Woe unto them "that rise up early in the morning, "that they may follow strong drink,

(p) v.7." A cry," from those who were oppressed.

(q) v. 8. "Woe, &c." Denunciations against sinners of all descriptions, the rapacious miser, the drunkard, the presumptuous idolater, the false teacher, the selfsufficient, and the corrupt and unjust judge.

(r)" Join house to house," i. e. "set "their whole minds upon increasing their "possessions."

(s) 2. 10. One bath," "one ephah," something less than a bushel. "An homer" was eight bushels; a bath, an ephah, and the 10th of an homer, were the same. Ezek. xlv. 11. The meaning therefore here is, the scarcity shall be so great, that the harvest shall not produce more than a tenth of what was sown.

(t) v. 12. "The harp, &c." Though there is every thing to heighten their enjoyments, they omit to think of Him from whom all blessings and powers of enjoy

ment come.

(u) v. 13. Therefore." This is the reason, because they have no knowledge.

See ante, note on Is. ii. 16.

(v) v. 14. "Hell, &c." A bold figur

"that continue until night, fill wine in"flame them. 12. And the (t) harp " and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and "wine are in their feasts: but they re"gard not the work of the LORD, "neither consider the operation of his "hands. 13. Therefore (u) my peo

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ple are gone into captivity, because "they have no knowledge: and their "honourable men are famished, and "their multitude dried up with thirst. "14. Therefore hell (v) hath enlarged "herself, and opened her mouth with "out measure: and their glory, and "their multitude, and their pomp, and "he that rejoiceth shall descend into it. "15. And the mean man (w) shall be "brought down, and the mighty man "shall be humbled, and the eyes of the "lofty shall be humbled. 16. But the "LORD of hosts shall be exalted m "judgment, and God that is holy "shall be sanctified in righteousness "17. Then shall the lambs (r) feed "after their manner (y), and the waste places of the fat ones (2) shall stran

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gers (a) eat. 18. Woe unto them that "draw Iniquity (b) with cords of vanity, "and Sin as it were with a cart-rope:

ative expression: intimating a destruction so great, that hell (personified) would feel unable to hold the numbers, unless she were enlarged.

(w) v. 15. "The mean man," and "the "mighty man," i. e. " all ranks."

(x) v. 17. "The lambs," i. e. either literally, or "the meek, the innocent, the un"assuming."

(y) "After their manner," i. e. (probably,) "as they please: securely, with"out interruption or restraint."

(2) "The waste places of the fat ones," i. e. "the extensive possessions of the "rich" where, according to v. 8. "field "is laid to field, till there be no place." (a) "Strangers," who have no title

to it.

(b) v. 18. “Draw iniquity, &c." Bald imagery (as I conjecture) in Isaiah's finest stile, to paint the insolent audacity of the wicked: placing Sin and Iniquity (person ified) as idols in a triumphal car, drawing them in triumph with decorated cords of traces, hurrying them fearlessly along as if their cords had the strength of cart ropes or cables, and were in no danger of break

put bitter for sweet, and sweet for "bitter. 21. Woe unto them that are "wise (d) in their own eyes, and pru"dent in their own sight. 22. Woe "unto them that are mighty to drink "wine, and men of strength to mingle (e) "strong drink: 23. Which justify the "wicked for reward, and take away (g) "the righteousness of the righteous "from him. 24. Therefore as (h) the "fire devoureth the stubble, and the "flame consumeth the chaff, so their "root shall be as rottenness, and their “blossom shall go up as dust: because

:

ing, and then defying the Holy One of Israel in the words of v. 19. "Sin," here is undoubtedly a substantive and that their idols were carried about in chariots with great pomp may be inferred from 22 Kings xxiii. 11. ante, 605.; for Josiah took away the horses the kings of Judah "had given to the sun," (one of the chief objects of idolatrous worship,)" and "burned the chariots of the sun with fire." See Parkhurst's Heb. Lexicon, 4th ed. 685. An account of the procession of Juggernaut, the great idol of the Hindoos, which Dr. Buchanan witnessed in 1806, (and which account was met with long after the former part of this note was written), may enable the reader the better to appreciate the explanation here suggested. "The throne of the idol was placed on a "stupendous car or tower, about 60 feet "in height, resting on wheels, which in"dented the ground deeply as they turned "slowly under the ponderous machine. "Attached to it were six cables of the "size and length of ships' cables, by which "the people drew it along. Thousands "of men women and children pulled by "each cable, crowding so closely that "some could only use one hand. Infants " are made to exert their strength in this "office, for it is accounted a merit of " righteousness to move the god." Buchanan's Researches, 25, 26. See 2 Just. M. 55.

"they have cast away the law of the "LORD of hosts, and despised the word "of the Holy One of Israel. 25. There"fore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath "stretched (i) forth his hand against "them, and hath smitten them: and "the hills did tremble, and their car

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cases were torn in the midst of the "streets: For all this his anger is "not turned away, but his hand is "stretched out still. 26. And he will. "lift (k) up an ensign to the nations "from far, and will hiss (7) unto them "from the end of the earth: and be"hold, they shall come with speed "swiftly. 27. None shall be weary, nor "stumble amongst them: none shall "slumber nor sleep: neither shall the

girdle of their loins be loosed (m), nor "the latchet of their shoes be broken. "28. Whose arrows are sharp, and all

(c) v. 19. "Him," i. e. "the Holy One "of Israel," in derision; "him whom ye so call."

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(d) v. 21. "Wise in their own eyes." "Above being instructed."

(e) v. 22. "Mingle, &c." They used to add spices to their wine, to increase its strength. See Ps. lxxii. 9.

(g) v. 23. "Take away, &c." "treat"ing him as a guilty person."

(h) v. 24. “As, &c." or "as the stubble "the fire devoureth, and the chaff the fire "consumeth, so, &c." " they shall be like "burnt stubble or chaff."

(i) v. 25. "Hath stretched, &c." This may refer to the calamities in the times of Ahaz, when the Lord brought Judah low, and delivered Judah and Jerusalem "to "trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, "because of the sins of Ahaz." See ante, note on Is. i. 2.

(k) v. 26. "Lift up an ensign, &c." to gather them to his standard.

(2) "Hiss," i. e. " call," to collect them. The same expression occurs, Is. vii. 18. "The Lord shall hiss for the fly, and "for the bee."

(m) v. 27. "Be loosed," i. e. "they shall "always be ready for action." The garments in those times were long and flow. ing, and when they were to move rapidly, required girding. For the description of another irresistible army, see Joel ii. 2. &c. post,

"their bows bent, their horses hoofs "shall be counted like flint (g), and their "wheels like a whirlwind (h). 29. Their "roaring shall be like a lion, they shall "roar like young lions: yea, they shall "roar and lay hold of the prey, and "shall carry it away safe, and none shall "deliver it. 30. And in that day they "(i) shall roar against them (i), like "the roaring of the sea: and if one look "unto the land, behold darkness and "sorrow, and the light (k) is darkened "in the heavens thereof."

CHAP. VII. Verse 10 to 17.

MOREOVER (1), the LORD spake again

(g) v. 28. "Like flint." No road shall be too hard for them, and nothing shall lame them: the horses in those times had no shoes, so that a hard hoof was of great importance. 2 Lowth.

(h)" Like a whirlwind." "Irresistible, "what nothing can stop or withstand."

(i) v. 30. "They," i. e. " these hostile "armies;"" them," i. e. " the Jews."

(k)" And the light, &c." i. e. probably " even in the heavens," (the place for light) "there is nothing but darkness." The whole verse is figurative, to denote the greatness of their distress."

(1) A prophecy of the miraculous conception of the Messiah. See ante, 53.

(m) v.10. "Ahaz," king of Judah; a very wicked king. See ante, 622. note on Isaiah, i. 2. B. C. 742.

(n) v. 11. "A sign." Ahaz was at this time under great apprehensions from Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel: God had just sent him an assurance that they should not succeed, and here offers him a sign to confirm it.

(o) "Thy God," who ought to be thy God, whom alone thou ought to worship. See v. 13. where after the refusal by Ahaz, the prophet calls him " my God."

(p) v. 12. "I will not, &c." a presumptuous refusal, from insolence and pride and disregard of God! It was his duty, when commanded, to obey. See Jerome in loco.

(q) "Tempt," i. e. (probably) "try, "trust; appeal to. I have no confidence

"in him."

(r) v. 13. "Ohouse of David," addressing the whole house-no longer speaking individually to Ahaz, who had shewn himself unworthy.

(s) "Weary," by distrusting, by disbelieving, by despising: would it be a small fence to discredit man, and do ye dare to credit God? Chrys. in loco.

unto Ahaz (m), saying, 11. "Ask thee "a sign "a sign (n) of the LORD thy (0) God, "ask it either in the depth, or in the "height above." 12. But Ahaz said, "I will (p) not ask, neither will I 66 tempt (q) the LORD." 13. And he said, "Hear ye now, O (7) house of "David, Is it a small thing for you to

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weary men, but will ye weary(s) my(t) "God also? 14. Therefore the LORD "himself (u) shall give you a sign, "Be "hold, a virgin (v) shall conceive, and "bear a son, and shall call his name() "Immanuel. 15. Butter and honey (s) "shall he eat, that (y) he may

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to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

(t)" My," emphatically, to intimate that they had deserted him, and turned him off; that they had no longer confidence or hope in him, so that he was no longer their God. To what an extent Ahaz and the people had abandoned God may be seen, ante, 622. note on Isaiah i. 2.

(u) v. 14. “ Himself," i. e. (perhaps) "of "himself, unasked."

(v)"A virgin, &c." or rather "The "virgin. 2. Hales, 454." apén. Sept. "So far from God's meaning to gi "up the Jews, he shall in his own time "break through the course of nature, "and cause even one of their virgins to "conceive and bear a son, who shall be “Emanuel, or God with us." This miraculous conception is perhaps implied in the first promise (Gen. iii. 15.), that "the seed

of the woman should bruise the serpent's "head," and it is more distinctly referred to, Jer. xxxi. 22. "The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman skall

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compass a man." And see Mic. v. 3. where after the known prophecy that it should be out of Bethlehem Ephratah that the Messiah should come forth, it is added, "therefore will he give them up, until the "time that she which travaileth hath brought "forth." And see ante, 53. note on Matt. i. 23. 2 Lightf. 101.

(w) "Call his name," i. e. " he shall be." (x) v. 15. "Butter and honey," which were commonly given to infants in those times. It was probably intended to inti mate that though on the one hand he was to be Immanuel (i. e. God with us), yet on the other he was also to be very man of the substance of his mother, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting, and that as a proof thereof he should be in infancy in the state of ordinary infants, and should pass through childhood as other children do. (y) "That he may know," i. e. (pro

"NEVERTHELESS (g) the dimness (h)

bably) that he may reach the ing, be reared to that age, shall know.

age of knowor- till he

(z) v. 16. " For," or "moreover." This seems a new and distinct prophecy, referring to what was the immediate subject of Ahaz's alarm.

(a)" The child," or "this child," i. e. (as many think) "Shearjashub," whom Isaiah was ordered to take with him to meet Ahaz, Isaiah vii. 3. The object is supposed to be, by giving a pledge which should come to pass before that child, Shearjashub, should reach the age of distinguishing good from bad, to make the punctual performance of the more distant promise, the virgin's conception, free from doubt. See Chandl. Def. 316 to 339. Dr. Trapp's 1st Discourse, and Benson's Introduction, xxiii. to xxv. In Isaiah viii. 4. is a promise, that before another child, Mahershalalhashbaz, should have knowledge to cry "My Father, and My Mother, (i. e. "to speak plain)" the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria (the capitals of Syria and Israel) should be taken away before the king of Assyria. The mode of expression there throws light on this passage.

(b)" Know to refuse, &c." i. e. " attain to years of discretion."

(c) " Abhorrest," or "fearest," referring to the countries of Syria and Israel. 2 Hales, 455.

(d) "Forsaken," or "deprived. 2 Hales, "455."

(e) A prophetic ecstacy, upon contemplating the blessings of the Messiah.

v. 1. "Nevertheless," or " for." (2) The dimness, &c." The preceding chapter ended with denouncing one of God's heavy visitations, referring probably to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; and the meaning here seems to be, that at the time he is contemplating, want of light shall not be a ground, as in former instances, for a mitigation of severity; that the objects of this visitation should act in opposition to the strongest light, and thereby justify to the utmost the

"shall not be such as was in her vex"ation, when at the first (i) he (k) "lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun " and the land of Naphtali, and after"ward (1) did more grievously afflict "her by the way of the sea (m), beyond "Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. "2. The people that walked in darkvengeance he had been denouncing. This leads naturally to the rapturous exclamations upon the nature and blessings of this light. See 1 Lightf. 622, 623.-2 Lightf. 131. Bp. Lowth has materially improved the translation of the early part of the chapter. "But there shall not hereafter. "be darkness in the land which was dis"tressed; in the former time he debased "the land of Zebulun and the land of "Naphtali; but in the latter time he hath "made it glorious; even the way of the

sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the na"tions. The people that walketh in darkness have seen a great light, they that "dwell in the land of the shadow of death, "unto them hath the light shined. Thou "hast multiplied the nation, thou hast in"creased their joy; they rejoice before "thee, as with the joy of harvest, as they "rejoice who divide the spoil. For the "yoke of his burthen, the staff laid on his "shoulder, the rod of his oppressor hast "thou broken, as in the day of Midian. "For the graves of the armed warrior in "the conflict, and the garments rolled in "much blood shall be for a burning, even "fuel for the fire. For unto us, &c." Dr. Hales's rendering of part of the passage is also entitled to notice. "As (God) in "the former times debased the land of "Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, so in "the future shall he make glorious (by) "the way of the sea, beside Jordan, Ga"lilee of the nations. The people that "walked, &c." See also Mede on Rev. 77, 78. and Kidder, 95.

(i)" At the first;" referring probably to the invasion of Benhadad, 1 Kings xv. 26. (k) "He," i. e. perhaps impersonally.

"Afterward;" perhaps alluding to the captivity by Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, 2 Kings xv. 29. Mede on Revel. 77, 78.

(m) "The way of the sea," leading from Syria through the middle of Capernaum to Jordan, and from thence by the sea of Galilee into Egypt. Mede on Revel. 77, 78.

ness, have seen (n) a great light (o): "they that dwell in the land of the "shadow of death, upon them hath (0) "the light shined. 3. Thou hast multi"plied the nation, and not increased (p) "the joy they joy before thee, according to the joy (q) in harvest (r), "and as men rejoice when they divide "the spoil (r). 4. For thou hast broken "the yoke (s) of his burden, and the "staff (s) of his shoulder, the rod (s) "of his oppressor, as in the day of "Midian (t). 5. For every battle of "the warrior is with confused noise and 66 garments rolled in blood, but this shall "be with burning (u) and fuel of fire. "6. For unto us a child is (v) born, "unto us a son is (v) given; and the government shall be upon his shoul"der: and his name shall be called (w) "Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty "God, The everlasting Father, The "Prince of Peace (x). 7. Of the in

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(n) v. 2. "Have seen," and "hath "shined," i. e. " shall see," and "shall, "shine." The past for the future: as certain as though it had already happened.

(o) "A great light," i. e. "the Messiah," the person referred to in verse 6.

(p) v. 3. "And not increased," rather "thou hast increased. Pole." Or it may be interrogatively, “ Hast thou multiplied the "nation, and not increased the joy?" and then the extent of that joy and the grounds for it are naturally enumerated. See Dr. Lowth in loco.

(g) "The joy in harvest." A proverb for great joy.

(r)" Harvest," and "spoil." Sources of joy; the one in peace, the latter in war.

(s) v. 4. "The yoke, &c." " the staff, &c."" the rod, &c." figurative expressions to denote the weight of those burthens (the burthens of sin) from which they were to be delivered.

(t)" Of Midian." See Judges vi. vii. viii. This was one of God's signal deliverances, about 1250 years before Christ. Israel served the Midianites seven years; and at the end of that time, Gideon, with 300 men, went up against Midian: their hosts were discomfited and fell upon each other, their princes and 120,000 men were slain, and Israel was delivered.

(u) v. 5. "Burning, &c." Burning arms was a symbol of peace; and the meaning

verse 2.

(w) "His name shall be called," i. e. "he shall be."

(x) Of peace." So that peace (or principles calculated to produce it), was to be one of the characteristics of his kingdom. See ante, Is. ii. 4. — Mic. v. 5.

(y) v.7. "No end." So Dan. vii. 14. "His" (i. e. the Messiah's)" dominion is "an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which "shall not be destroyed." And see Dan. ii. 44. - Dan. vii. 18. 27.

(2) With judgment and with justice." Another characteristic. See post, Is. xi. 4.

(a) A prophetic account of the charac ter of the Messiah, and the peaceable na ture of his kingdom, of the call of the Gentiles, and restoration of the Jews.

(b) v. 1. "A rod," and "a branch," i. e. "the Messiah." Though the nation might have been so reduced, that they might be compared to a tree which had nothing left but stem and roots, yet from thence should a rod or shoot come forth, and a branch grow. See 2 Lightf. 584.