Commentary on Isaiah Part 5 (No. F023v)

Chapter 17

¹An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and will become a heap of ruins. ²Her cities will be deserted for ever; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. ³The fortress will disappear from E'phraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, says the LORD of hosts. ⁴And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. ⁵And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Reph'aim. ⁶Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten--two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, says the LORD God of Israel. ⁷In that day men will regard their Maker, and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel; ⁸they will not have regard for the altars, the work of their hands, and they will not look to what their own fingers have made, either the Ashe'rim or the altars of incense. ⁹In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the Amorites, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation. ¹⁰For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and set out slips of an alien god, ¹¹though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow; yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain. ¹²Ah, the thunder of many peoples, they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations, they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! ¹³The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. ¹⁴At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who despoil us, and the lot of those who plunder us.

Intent of Chapter 17

Oracle concerning Damascus

17:1 This text refers to the final rebuke of the nation of Syria and also the region of Ephraim in these final wars of the end about to engulf us all.

Ephraim will lose its military structure and Damascus will be absorbed into Israel under Messiah where the remnant of Syria will be as the Glory of the Children of Israel.

The text was considered to be an oracle against the Syro-Ephraimite alliance (ca 734 BCE – see 2Kgs. 16:1-20; Isa. 7:1-8:4; see also OARSV n.).

However this prophecy is Messianic and goes on to the Advent of the God of Israel of Pss. 45, 110 (see vv. 7ff). Israel was sent into captivity from 722 BCE. Damascus is as yet to be completely destroyed in this final war of the end breaking upon us. The two stanzas (1-3, 4-6) reaffirm the ultimate defeat of Damascus and Northern Israel down to the valley of Rephaim, Northwest of Jerusalem (2Sam. 5:18). The glory of Israel is at the final restoration of Messiah and shows that the remnant of Syria are with them in that restoration.

17:7-11 Extermination of Idolatry in greater Israel

17:7-9 The text refers to the Day of the lord when they regard their Maker and the Holy One of Israel

The text here says plainly that in that day they will turn to God and the Holy One of Israel (1:29-31). They will reject all the idols of the Sun and Mystery Cults and the Asherim (sacred wooden poles of the mother goddess 6:13 n.) and their altars of incense. The cities in the Last days will be as it was with the Hivites and the Amorites under the initial invasion after the Exodus (Deut. 7:1) (cf. F006). All devotees of the Mystery and Sun Cults will be eliminated (see No. 141F). There will be desolation everywhere (see F066v).

17:10-11 The Children of Abraham (No. 212A) have forgotten the God of their Salvation and the Rock of their refuge (see also Acts 7:30-53 (F044ii); 1Cor. 10:1-4). Plants, slips These are the gardens of Tammuz with plants (Ezek. 8:14-18), and also slips dedicated to the goddess in the gardens of Tammuz. Today they are called the Gardens of Easter or Adonis and were also dedicated to Adonis in the Balkans and are still found among the Trinitarian Sunday worshippers there. What they plant and do in service of these idols will fail and produce nothing in the long term.

17:12-14 The nations will attempt to stop the Messiah (Rev. 19:19) (see Nos. 141E; 141E_2); and roar like the thunder of the sea but they will fail. Messiah will rebuke them and they will flee far off; hence terror in the evening and by morning they are gone. They are in fact destroyed (F066v). (Indeed, Assyria's onslaught of 701 BCE was dispelled but that is not the purpose of this text.)

Chapter 18

¹Ah, land of whirring wings which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; ²which sends ambassadors by the Nile, in vessels of papyrus upon the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation, tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. ³All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, hear! ⁴For thus the LORD said to me: "I will quietly look from my dwelling like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." ⁵For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches he will hew away. ⁶They shall all of them be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. And the birds of prey will summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter upon them. ⁷At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the LORD of hosts.

Intent of Chapter 18

Modern scholars attempt to isolate this text to the Anti-Assyrian plot by Egypt of 714 BCE (e.g. OARSV n.). This text refers to the time of the Restoration under Messiah where all nations will be required to send their representatives to Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles. If they do not keep the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts everywhere (Isa. 66:23-24), they will get no rain in due season and suffer the plagues of Egypt (see Zech. 14:16-21). The text begins with the nations of Africa beyond the Nile that are included in the nations of the last days. The Land the rivers divide refers to the Nile and its branches (pl.), hence Ethiopia/Abyssinia.

18:3 directs the message to all nations of the world, to all who dwell on the earth. They are told that when a signal is raised on the mountains to look and when a trumpet is blown to hear (see also Jer. 4:15-27; F024).

18:5-6 Before the final harvest, God says He will cut off the shoots with pruning hooks and the spreading branches He will hew away. Because of the sins and false religion of the people they will be left to the birds of prey and the beasts of the field. These people that survive the final holocaust are the Holy Seed referred to in Isa. 6:9-13.

18:7 refers to the gifts in offerings and tithes (No. 161) and tribute that is brought to Jerusalem in Zech. 14:16-21.

Chapter 19

¹An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. ²And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, every man against his brother and every man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; ³and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their plans; and they will consult the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the wizards; ⁴and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master; and a fierce king will rule over them, says the Lord, the LORD of hosts. ⁵And the waters of the Nile will be dried up, and the river will be parched and dry; ⁶and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away. ⁷There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will dry up, be driven away, and be no more. ⁸The fishermen will mourn and lament, all who cast hook in the Nile; and they will languish who spread nets upon the water. ⁹The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton. ¹⁰Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for hire will be grieved. ¹¹The princes of Zo'an are utterly foolish; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings"? ¹²Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you and make known what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt. ¹³The princes of Zo'an have become fools, and the princes of Memphis are deluded; those who are the cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray. ¹⁴The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion; and they have made Egypt stagger in all her doings as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. ¹⁵And there will be nothing for Egypt which head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do. ¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand which the LORD of hosts shakes over them. ¹⁷And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians; every one to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose which the LORD of hosts has purposed against them. ¹⁸In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of the Sun. ¹⁹In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. ²⁰It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry to the LORD because of oppressors he will send them a savior, and will defend and deliver them. ²¹And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians; and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and burnt offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. ²²And the LORD will smite Egypt, smiting and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will heed their supplications and heal them. ²³In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. ²⁴In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage."

Intent of Chapter 19

Oracle Concerning Egypt

The Oracle to Egypt prophecies its future to the Messianic Age (see also Ezek. Chs. 29-32).

God was to send Isaiah to deal with Egypt and to prophecy against them and tell them what was to become of them over the age. This text covers the age overall to the birth of the Messiah and then beyond to the Last Days.

19:1-4 God prophecies the age of civil turbulence in Egypt which He is to use to reduce them to a weak and downtrodden people due to their idolatry. It appears to have commenced with the Twenty-fifth (Ethiopian) Dynasty ca. 714 BCE, by Piankhi, who began the time of the hard master of v. 4. That continued with the defeat of Egypt by Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon in support of the Assyrians in 605 BCE, and then to Cambyses' invasion of Egypt in 525 BCE and its occupation under Satraps to the beginning of the Fourth Century BCE. It was then occupied by the Greeks who were superseded by the Romans from the battle of Actium.

19:5-10 Prophecy concerning the Nile

The prophecy refers to the Nile drying up. The building of the Aswan Dam has increased the vulnerability to this type of catastrophe. God will use this disaster in the last days. How could they have overlooked God's plan for them?

19:11-15 God here taunts Egypt.

Through Isaiah, God asks them if through their “wisdom” can they control natural disasters. Zoan and Memphis see Ezek. 30:13-19 n.

Palm and reed – rulers and the ruled (9:14).

The Lord added a spirit of Confusion to the princes of Egypt in order to cause Egypt to stagger in all her doings (v. 14) and there is nothing its leadership may do (v. 15).

19:16-25 In that day refers to the Messianic Age which began after the Greek conquest of Egypt. Jewish settlements in the area are known from the Sixth Century onwards (see OARSV n.). 19:19-23 The visit of the High Priest Onias IV to Egypt ca. 160 BCE saw the establishment of a Temple in the Land of Goshen at Heliopolis (City of the Sun) (exact location uncertain) (see Jer. 43;13). There were functioning temples to the Lord at Elephantine (fifth century BCE) and at Leontopolis). This area was the land that Israel occupied prior to the Exodus and which came to be occupied again by Jews into Alexandria and its surrounds in the Second Century BCE and beyond. Onias IV ordered the construction of the Temple there which stood until its closure in 71 CE, by order of Vespasian, before the Passover, after the Fall of the Temple in Israel in 70 CE (see The Sign of Jonah … (Nos. 013; 298).

The purpose was to be there for the Messiah when he was forced to be taken to Egypt by his parents in 5 BCE, in protection from Herod.

19:19-22. The text shows that the last days see Egyptian converts are treated as Israel.

19:24-25 Israel is to become the mediator and blessing for the nations (Gen. 12:3).

Chapter 20

¹In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and took it, -- ²at that time the LORD had spoken by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take off your shoes from your feet," and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot-- ³the LORD said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Ethiopia, ⁴so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians captives and the Ethiopians exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. ⁵Then they shall be dismayed and confounded because of Ethiopia their hope and of Egypt their boast. ⁶And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, 'Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?'"

Intent of Chapter 20

Again Against Egypt

Egypt failed to defend a co-conspirator Ashdod against Sargon's attack in 711 BCE. Isaiah naked like a prisoner warns Egypt of its impending captivity and begins the sequence.

20:2 Sackcloth was customarily worn by prophets when uttering prophecy (2Kgs. 1:8; Zech. 13:4-6) and also in the final phase of the Last Days (Rev. 11:3).

Chapter 21

¹The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land. ²A stern vision is told to me; the plunderer plunders, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam, lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end. ³Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in travail; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear, I am dismayed so that I cannot see. ⁴My mind reels, horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. ⁵They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes, oil the shield! ⁶For thus the Lord said to me: "Go, set a watchman, let him announce what he sees. ⁷When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on asses, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently." ⁸Then he who saw cried: "Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights. ⁹And, behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!" And he answered, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her gods he has shattered to the ground." ¹⁰O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you. ¹¹The oracle concerning Dumah. One is calling to me from Se'ir, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" ¹²The watchman says: "Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; come back again." ¹³The oracle concerning Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge, O caravans of De'danites. ¹⁴To the thirsty bring water, meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema. ¹⁵For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the press of battle. ¹⁶For thus the Lord said to me, "Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end; ¹⁷and the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken."

Intent of Chapter 21

Oracle Concerning the Wilderness of the Sea

This text is an oracle concerning the attacks against Babylon by the Medes and Persians (13:1).

21:1-10 Attack against Babylon Negeb in southern Palestine.

21:2-5 Prepare for the attack! Elam Jer. 49:34-39.

Media aided Persia against Babylon (13:17-19).

Oil the shield (to preserve leather’s suppleness and capacity)

21:6-10 The prophet (as watchman Ezek. 3:17) awaits the news of Babylon's fall (Jer. 51:33; and in Rev. 18:2) for the final phase in the Last Days and Return of the King (No. 282E).

v. 9 ground - to the underworld (of Tartaros as the pit for the demons) (Jer. 17:12-13 n.). It symbolises the Babylonian system under Satan being sent to the pit (F066iv, v).

21:11-12 The Oracle Concerning Dumah

Concerning Edom who shared Ashdod's fate (20:1). The prophet suggests a relief (morning) followed by renewed oppression (night). Their problems were thus sequential.

Dumah – a town in Arabia; The word means silence and here may be a name for Edom meaning silence. Edom was conquered by John Hyrcanus in the Second Century BCE and converted under force and absorbed into Judah (No. 212E).

Seir – Gen. 32:3).

21:13-17 Concerning Arabia

Dedan in Northern Arabia (Ezek. 25:13).

Tema – an Oasis in Northwestern Arabia (Jer. 25:23).

Kedar in northern Arabia.

Kedar was aggressive (Jer. 49:28) and as we see from the Psalms when David wanted peace they were for war (Psa. 120:5 F019_5iii). They will be reduced to a remnant also.

Bullinger’s Notes on Chs. 17-21 (for KJV)

Chapter 17

Verse 1

burden. The second of the seventh burdens.

Damascus. The capital of Syria.

is taken away = is swept away. This was by Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, and the slaughter of Rezin (632. B.C.) See 2 Kings 16:9 , and 2 Kings 7:9 , 2 Kings 7:16 , above.

city. heap. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia ( App-6 ) Hebrew. me'ir. mei .

Verse 2

cities of Aroer. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia . Hebrew. arey aro'er .

Aroer. There were three other cities of that name, and this one which is not identified.

Verse 3

children = sons.

Verse 4

be = become.

Verse 5

it: i.e. Jacob's glory (Isaiah 17:4 ).

it: i.e. Jacob's fatness (Isaiah 17:4 ).

Rephaim. South-west of Jerusalem. So called after one "Kapha", a mighty one among the descendants of the Nephilim, as Anak was, who gave his name to another branch. See App-23 and App-25 .

Verse 6

the LORD God of Israel. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 32:27 . Compare Joshua 9:18 , Joshua 9:19 ; Joshua 10:40 , Joshua 10:42 , &c). See note on Isaiah 29:23 .

God of Israel. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 24:10 . Numbers 16:9 ). Occurs in latter part of Isaiah (Isaiah 41:17 ; Isaiah 45:3 ; Isaiah 48:2 ).

Verse 7

a man = Literally the man. Hebrew. 'adam. App-14 . I

look = have an eye unto.

have respect = have regard. Note the Alternation in verses: Isaiah 17:7 , Isaiah 17:8 , "look" and "have respect".

the Holy One of Israel. See note on Isaiah 1:4 .

Verse 8

the groves = the Asherahs. See App-42 . Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 34:13 .Deuteronomy 7:5 ; Deuteronomy 12:3 ; Deuteronomy 16:21 ). App-79 .

images = sun images. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 26:30 ); both mentioned again (Isaiah 27:9 ).

Verse 9

desolation. See note on Isaiah 1:7 .

Verse 10

Rock. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:13 ). App-92 .

pleasant plants. Probably = plantings of Adonis.

strange slips: or slips of a strange [God],

Verse 11

In the day = By day.

Verse 12

people = peoples.

noise = booming, or roaring.

rushing. Note the Figure of speech Repetitio ( App-6 ), for emphasis.

Verse 13

God = One.

chaff = dried grass.

a rolling thing = a galgal. See note on Psalms 83:13 .

Verse 14

trouble = consternation.

he is not: or, he is no more. Some codices, with two early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "and he is no more".

Chapter 18

Verse 1

Woe = Ho! The third of the seven burdens.

land. beyond: i.e. land. beyond Abyssinia.

shadowing with wings = of the rustling zalzal (from zalal, to tinkle, compare Deuteronomy 28:42 ).

Verse 2

the sea = the Nile. So called by the inhabitants of the Sudan to-day.

bulrushes = reeds. Not the papyrus, but its companion reed, the ambach, which reaches a height of fifteen feet and has yellow flowers.

scattered and peeled = "tall and smooth-faced".

terrible. They formed the armies of "So" or Sha-baka, and are the backbone of the Anglo-Egyptian army.

whose land the rivers have spoiled: i.e. the "sudd" or swamps (hence Sudan). The Dinka and Shilluk negroes live on the floating cakes of sudd.

Verse 3

He =. Jehovah. See Structure, above.

Verse 4

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

cloud of dew = summer night mist. Hebrew. 'ab. Not a raincloud, which latter is never seen in harvest. Eight times rendered "thick clouds".

Verse 6

left. See note on "forsaken" (Isaiah 1:4 ).

fowls. beasts. Note the Alternation.

Verse 7

present. Hebrew shai, because of being conveyed. Only here, and Psalms 68:29 ; Psalms 76:11 .

the LORD of hosts. See note on Isaiah 1:9 .

the name. See note on Psalms 20:1 .

Chapter 19

Verse 1

burden. The fourth of the seven burdens.

rideth. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.

Verse 2

set the Egyptians, &c. Referring to the anarchy consequent on the defeat of Egypt by Sargon (688 B.C.)

Verse 3

spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .

idols. See note on Isaiah 2:8 .

charmers. Hebrew. ittim = mutterers. Occurs only here.

familiar spirits. See note on Leviticus 19:31 . Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 20:6 , Leviticus 20:27 ; Deuteronomy 18:11 , &c.) App-92 .

Verse 4

cruel lord. Sing, adjective with plural noun = the lord of the nations, as the kings of Assyria called themselves.

Verse 5

fail = be dried up. Hebrew. nashath. Occurs only here in "former" portion, and only in Isaiah 41:17 in the "latter" portion. Elsewhere only in Jeremiah 51:30 . App-79 .

the river: i.e. the Nile.

Verse 6

they shall turn, &c. = the arms of the river shall stink.

brooks = canals of Matzor : i.e. Egypt. See note on Isaiah 7:18 .

emptied = shallow.

Verse 7

paper reeds = meadows. Occurs only here.

wither = be dried up. and be no more: or, and disappear.

Verse 8

mourn. See note on Isaiah 3:26 .

Verse 9

weave. Occurs in the "former" portion only here, and in Isaiah 38:12 ; and in the "latter" portion only in Isaiah 59:5 .

Verse 10

purposes: or, foundations. Compare Psalms 11:3 .

make sluices. fish: or, work for wages shall be grieved in soul.

fish = souls Hebrew. nephesh, App-13 . margin, "living things".

Verse 11

Zoan. See note on Isaiah 30:4 .

fools. Hebrew. aval . See note on Proverbs 1:7 .

Verse 14

staggereth = goeth astray, as in preceding clause.

Verse 15

rush. See note on Isaiah 9:14 .

Verse 16

In that day: i.e. the day when this burden should be fulfilled (not "the day of the Lord "). Note the six steps, verses: Isaiah 19:16 , Isaiah 19:18 , Isaiah 19:19 , Isa 16:21 , Isa 16:23 , Isa 16:24 .

the hand. Put for the judgments indicated by the act.

Verse 17

the land of Judah. The Assyrian armies came through Judah.

Verse 18

five cities. These were probably Heliopolis, Leontopolis, Daphne, Migdol, and Memphis.

the language of Canaan: i.e. the Hebrew language, by the multitude of Jews that went thither.

destruction. The primitive reading was doubtless hazedek = "righteousness", which the Septuagint simply transliterates, aoeoek . From a desire not to compete with "Jerusalem", which bore this name (Isaiah 1:26 ), it was altered to cheres , which in Chaldee = "the sun", or in Greek = "Heliopolis", which is the reading in many MSS., two early printed editions, and the margins of the Authorized Version and Revised Version But when the temple at Jerusalem was cleansed and restored, the temple at Heliopolis was deemed schismatic; and, by altering one letter (= CH, for = H), cheres (the sun) was altered to heres (destruction). Hence the present reading of the current Hebrew text.

Verse 19

an altar. See App-81 .

a pillar. Probably a boundary pillar. Hebrew. nazab . A pillar or monument. Not for worship.

at = close to.

Verse 20

sign. See note on Isaiah 7:11 .

Verse 21

do sacrifice. "The third Ptolemy, when he had occupied all Syria by force, did not sacrifice thankofferings to the gods in Egypt, but came to Jerusalem and made votive offerings" (Josephus, c. Apion , Isaiah 11:5 ).

Verse 23

In that day: i.e. the glorious future, the day of the LORD. Not the same as Isaiah 19:11 . highway. See note on Isaiah 7:3 .

Verse 24

land: or, earth.

Chapter 20

Verse 1

Tartan. A title = commander in-chief.

Sargon. Never once named by classic writers, and in Scripture only here.

Verse 2

the same = that.

by = by the hand of.

Isaiah. See note on Isaiah 13:1 .

naked. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Whole), for being scantily clad.

Verse 3

sign and wonder. Reference to Pentateuch, (see note on Isaiah 7:11 with Isaiah 8:18 ), and App-92 .

Verse 5

expectation. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), for the help expected from Egypt.

Egypt their glory. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), for the Egyptians, in whom they gloried.

Verse 6

isle = sea coast, or coast land. See note on Isaiah 11:11

Chapter 21

Verse 1

burden. The fifth of the seven burdens.

of = relating to. Genitive of Relation. App-17 .

the sea. The waters of the Euphrates in flood were so called, as the Nile was (Isaiah 19:6 ). Compare Revelation 17:3 , Revelation 17:15 .

whirlwinds = storms.

pass = sweep.

Verse 2

dealer = one.

sighing. Caused by the oppression of Babylon.

Verse 4

night. A Homonym. Hebrew. nesheph = darkness, here, but daylight in Job 7:4 . 1 Samuel 30:17 . See notes there. The Revised Version, in doubt, renders it here "twilight".

pleasure = joy.

fear = trembling.

Verse 5

Prepare, &c. Figure of speech Irony. App-6 .

Verse 7

a chariot = a troop.

a chariot with a couple of horsemen = a troop of horsemen in pairs.

Verse 8

Alion: My LORD*. Read: [as] a lion, "O LORD", &c.

Verse 9

men. Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 .

Babylon is fallen, &c. Note the Figure of speech Epizeuxis , for emphasis.

the graven images of her gods. Reference to Pentateuch. Phrase peculiar to Deuteronomy 7:25 ; Deuteronomy 12:3 . App-92 .

Verse 10

threshing. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause) for the results of it. Here = my oppressed People. Compare Isaiah 41:15 .Micah 4:13 .Jeremiah 51:33 .

corn of my floor. Literally son of my threshingfloor.

the LORD of hosts. See note on Isaiah 1:9 .

the God of Israel. See note on Isaiah 29:23 .

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .

Verse 11

burden. The sixth of the seven burdens.

Dumah = Edom. An abbreviated form of fuller name "Idumea" (Isaiah 34:5 .Ezekiel 35:15 ; Ezekiel 36:5 .Mark 3:8; Mark 3:8 ).

Dumah = silence, prophetic of its end.

Seir. The inheritance of Esau (or Edom).

what of the night? = how far is it in the night? Note the Figure of speech Epizeuxis . Repeated in an abbreviated form thus: Hebrew. shomer mah-millayelah? shomer ma-milleyl ? = how far gone is the night? how far gone the night? This is Edom's inquiry.

Verse 12

The morning cometh, &c. This may be the oracle of silence implied in the name "Dumah" (see above, and compare Psalms 94:17 ; Psalms 115:17 ).

if ye will inquire. Isaiah had no answer. He is silent,

Verse 13

burden. The seventh and last of the seven burdens

upon Arabia: ba'rab = in Arabia.

in Arabia: or, in the evening, or, at sunset. The name is as significant as "Dumah" (Isaiah 21:11 ).

travelling companies = caravans.

Dedanim = Dedanites, Descendants of Abraham by Keturah: Dedan, son of Midian (Genesis 25:3 . 1 Chronicles 1:32 ).

Verse 14

Tema. Descendants of Abraham through Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 25:3 . 1 Chronicles 1:32 ): both mentioned in Jeremiah 25:23 .Job 6:19 .

brought = bring ye.

prevented = meet ye.

Verse 15

they fled. From the Assyrian invaders.

Verse 16

Within a year. Later afflictions were foretold in Jeremiah 49:28 .

Kedar. Another descendant of Abraham by Hagar through Ishmael (Genesis 25:13 ).

Verse 17

mighty men. Hebrew. gibbor . App-14 .

children = sons.

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