Isaiah 28 commentary

What men are proud of, be it ever so mean, is to them as a crown; but pride is the forerunner of destruction. How foolishly drunkards act! Those who are overcome with wine are overcome by Satan; and there is not greater drudgery in the world than hard drinking. Their health is ruined; men are broken in their callings and estates, and their families are ruined by it. Their souls are in danger of being undone for ever, and all merely to gratify a base lust. In God's professing people, like Israel, it is worse than in any other. And he is just in taking away the plenty they thus abuse. The plenty they were proud of, is but a fading flower. Like the early fruit, which, as soon as discovered, is plucked and eaten.

The prophet next turns to Judah, whom he calls the residue of his people. Happy are those alone, who glory in the Lord of hosts himself. Hence his people get wisdom and strength for every service and every conflict. But it is only in Christ Jesus that the holy God communicates with sinful man. And whether those that teach are drunk with wine, or intoxicated with false doctrines and notions concerning the kingdom and salvation of the Messiah, they not only err themselves, but lead multitudes astray. All places where such persons have taught are filled with errors. For our instruction in the things of God, it is needful that the same precept and the same line should be often repeated to us, that we may the better understand them. God, by his word, calls us to what is really for our advantage; the service of God is the only true rest for those weary of the service of sin, and there is no refreshment but under the easy yoke of the Lord Jesus. All this had little effect upon the people. Those who will not understand what is plain, but scorn and despise it as mean and trifling, are justly punished. If we are at peace with God, we have, in effect, made a covenant with death; whenever it comes, it cannot do us any real damage, if we are Christ's. But to think of making death our friend, while by sin we are making God our enemy, is absurd. And do not they make lies their refuge who trust in their own righteousness, or to a death-bed repentance? which is a resolution to sin no more, when it is no longer in their power to do so.

Here is a promise of Christ, as the only foundation of hope for escaping the wrath to come. This foundation was laid in Zion, in the eternal counsels of God. This foundation is a stone, firm and able to support his church. It is a tried stone, a chosen stone, approved of God, and never failed any who made trial of it. A corner stone, binding together the whole building, and bearing the whole weight; precious in the sight of the Lord, and of every believer; a sure foundation on which to build. And he who in any age or nation shall believe this testimony, and rest all his hopes, and his never-dying soul on this foundation, shall never be confounded. The right effect of faith in Christ is, to quiet and calm the soul, till events shall be timed by Him, who has all times in his own hand and power. Whatever men trust to for justification, except the righteousness of Christ; or for wisdom, strength, and holiness, except the influences of the Holy Ghost; or for happiness, except the favour of God; that protection in which they thought to shelter themselves, will prove not enough to answer the intention. Those who rest in a righteousness of their own, will have deceived themselves: the bed is too short, the covering too narrow. God will be glorified in the fulfilling of his counsels. If those that profess to be members of God's church, make themselves like Philistines and Canaanites, they must expect to be dealt with as such. Then dare not to ridicule the reproofs of God's word, or the approaches of judgements.

The husbandman applies to his calling with pains and prudence, in all the works of it according to their nature. Thus the Lord, who has given men this wisdom, is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in his working. As the occasion requires, he threatens, corrects, spares, shows mercy, or executes vengeance. Afflictions are God's threshing instruments, to loosen us from the world, to part between us and our chaff, and to prepare us for use. God will proportion them to our strength; they shall be no heavier than there is need. When his end is answered, the trials and sufferings of his people shall cease; his wheat shall be gathered into the garner, but the chaff shall be burned with unquenchable fire.

1. Woe to the crown of pride. Isaiah now enters on another and different subject from that which goes before it; for this discourse must be separated from the former one. He shews that the anger of the Lord will quickly overtake, first, Israel, and afterwards the Jews; for it is probable that the kingdom of Israel was still entire when the Prophet uttered these predictions, though nothing more can be affirmed with certainty than that there is good reason to believe that the ten tribes had not at that time been led into captivity.

Accordingly, the Prophet follows this order. First, he shews that the vengeance of God is not far from Israel, because various sins and corruption of every kind prevailed in it; for they were swelled with pride and insolence, had plunged into their luxuries and given way to every kind of licentiousness, and, consequently, had broken out into open contempt of God, as is usually the case when men take excessive liberties; for they quickly forget God. Secondly, he shews that God in some measure restrains his anger by sparing the tribe of Judah; for when the ten tribes, with the half tribe of Benjamin, had been carried into captivity, the Jews still remained entire and uninjured. Isaiah extols this compassion which God manifested, in not permitting his Church to perish, but preserving some remnant. At the same time he shews that the Jews are so depraved and corrupted that they do not permit God to exercise this compassion, and that, in consequence of the wickedness which prevailed among them, not less than in Israel, they too must feel the avenging hand of God. This order ought to be carefully observed; for many persons blunder in the exposition of this passage, because the Prophet has not expressly mentioned the name of Israel, though it is sufficiently known that Ephraim includes the ten tribes.

As to the words, since the particle הוי (hōī) very frequently denotes “wishing evil on a person,” I was unwilling to depart from the ordinary opinion of commentators, more especially because the Prophet openly threatens in this passage; yet if the translation, Alas the crown! be preferred, I have no objection.

For the excellence of its glory shall be a fading flower {Bogus footnote} The copulative ו (vau) signifies for or because. He compares the “glory” and “excellence” of Israel to “a fading flower,” as will afterwards be stated. In general, he pronounces a curse on the wealth of the Israelites; for by the word “Crown” he means nothing else than the wicked confidence with which they were puffed up, and which proceeded from the excess of their riches. These vices are almost always joined together, because abundance and fullness produce cruelty and pride; for we are elated by prosperity, and do not know how to use it with moderation. They inhabited a rich and fertile country, and on this account Amos (Amos 4:1) calls them “fat cows,” which feed on the mountain of Samaria. Thus, being puffed up by their wealth, they despised both God and men. The Prophet calls them “drunkards,” because, being intoxicated by prosperity, they dreaded no adversity, and thought that they were beyond the reach of all danger, and that they were not even subject to God himself.

A fading flower. He alludes, I doubt not, to the crowns or chaplets {Bogus footnote} which were used at banquets, and which are still used in many places in the present day. The Israelites indulged in gluttony and drunkenness, and the fertility of the soil undoubtedly gave occasion to their intemperance. By calling it “a fading flower” he follows out his comparison, elegantly alluding to flowers which suddenly wither.

Which is on the head of the valley of fatness. {Bogus footnote} He says that that glory is “on the head of the valley of fatness,” because they saw under their feet their pastures, the fertility of which still more inflamed their pride. שמנים (shĕmānīm) is translated by some “of ointments;” but that is inapplicable, for it denotes abundance and fullness, which led them to neglect godliness and to despise God. By the word “head” or “top,” he alludes to the position of the country, because the Israelites chiefly inhabited rich valleys. He places on it a crown, which surrounds the whole kingdom; because it was flourishing and abounded in every kind of wealth. This denotes riches, from which arose sluggishness, presumption, rashness, intemperance, and cruelty. This doctrine relates to us also; for the example of these men reminds us that we ought to use prosperity with moderation, otherwise we shall be very unhappy, for the Lord will curse all our riches and abundance.

2. Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one. This may refer to the Assyrians, as if he had said, that they will be ready at God’s command to fight under his authority, as soon as they shall be called. Yet I prefer to take it without a substantive, to mean either “a staff,” or some other instrument, by which the Lord will cast them down from this lofty pride.

As a deluge of hail. He compares it to “a deluge” or to “hail,” by which both herbs and flowers are thrown down, and all the beauty of the earth is marred. Thus he continues the metaphor of the “fading flower,” which he had introduced at the beginning of the chapter; for nothing can be more destructive to flowers than a heavy shower or “hail.” He makes use of the demonstrative particle הנה, (hinnēh,) behold; because wicked men are not moved by any threatenings, and therefore he shews that he does not speak of what is doubtful, or conjecture at random, but foretells those things which will immediately take place.

Casting them down with the hand to the earth. ביד, (bĕyād,) which I have translated “with the hand,” is translated by Jerome, “a spacious country,” which does not agree with the words. Others take it for “strength,” so as to mean a violent casting down. But the plain meaning appears to me to be, that the glory and splendor of the Israelites will be laid low, as if one threw down a drunk man “with the hand.” The same statement is confirmed by him in the third verse.

4. And the excellence of its glory. He repeats nearly the same words; for we know how difficult it is to terrify and humble those who have been blinded by prosperity, and whose eyes success covers in the same manner that fatness would. As Dionysius the Second, {Bogus footnote} in consequence of gorging himself at unseasonable banquets, was seized with such blindness that he constantly stumbled, so pleasures and luxuries blind the minds of men in such a manner that they no longer know either God or themselves. The Prophet therefore inculcates the same truth frequently on the minds of men who were stupid and amazed, that they might understand what would otherwise have appeared to them to be incredible. {Bogus footnote}

As the hasty fruit before the summer. He now illustrates the subject by another metaphor exceedingly beautiful and appropriate; for the first-ripe fruits are indeed highly commended, because they go before others, and hold out the expectation of the rest of the produce; but they last but a short time, and cannot be preserved, for they are quickly eaten up either by pregnant women, or by children, or by men who do not make a proper selection of their food. He says that the happiness of the Israelites will be of that sort, because their flourishing prosperity will not be of long duration, but will be swallowed up in a moment. What Isaiah declared about the kingdom of Israel, applies also to the whole world. By their ingratitude men prevent all the goodness which the Lord has bestowed on them from reaching maturity; for we abuse his blessings and corrupt them by our wickedness. The consequence is, that hasty and short-lived fruits are produced, which could not yield to us continual nourishment.

5. In that day shall the Lord of hosts. After having spoken of the kingdom of Israel, he passes to the tribe of Judah, and shews that, amidst this severe vengeance of God, there will still be room for compassion, and that, although ten tribes perished, yet the Lord will preserve some remnant, which he will consecrate to himself; so that there will be in it a crown of glory and diadem of excellence, that is, that the Church is never disfigured in such a manner that the Lord does not adorn it with beauty and splendor.

Yet I do not extend this prophecy indiscriminately to all the Jews, but to the elect who were wonderfully rescued from death; for although he calls the tribe and half-tribe a remnant, as compared with the other ten tribes, yet, as we advance, we shall see that he makes a distinction between the tribe of Judah itself and the others. Nor ought we to wonder that the Prophet speaks differently about the same people, directing his discourse, sometimes to a body corrupted by crimes, and sometimes to the elect. Certainly, as compared with the ten tribes, which had revolted from the worship of God and from the unity of faith, he justly calls the Jews a remnant of the people; but when he leaves out of view this comparison, and considers what they are in themselves, he remonstrates with equal justice against their corruptions.

I am aware that some expound it differently, on account of what is said immediately afterwards about wine and strong drink, (verse 7,) and think that this statement ought to be viewed in connection with the beginning of the chapter. Yet perhaps the Lord spares the Jews. But how would he spare them? They are in no respect better than the others; for they are equally in fault, {Bogus footnote} and must also be exposed to the same punishments. But those commentators do not consider that the Prophet holds out an instance of the extraordinary kindness of God, in not exercising his vengeance at the same time against the whole family of Abraham, but, after having overthrown the kingdom of Israel, granting a truce to the Jews, to see if they would in any degree repent. Neither do they consider that, by the same means, he employs the circumstance which he had stated for placing in a stronger light the ingratitude of the people, that is, that they ought to have been instructed by the example of their brethren; {Bogus footnote} for the calamity of Israel ought to have aroused and excited them to repentance, but it produced no impression on them, and did not make them better. Although therefore they were unworthy of so great benefits, yet the Lord was pleased to preserve his Church in the midst of them; for this is the reason why he rescued the tribe of Judah, and the half-tribe of Benjamin, from that calamity.

Now, since the tribe of Judah was a small portion of the nation, and therefore was despised by the haughty Israelites, the Prophet declares that in God alone there is enough of riches and of glory to supply all earthly defects. And hence he shews what is the true method of our salvation, namely, if we place our happiness in God; for as soon as we come down to the world, we gather fading flowers, which immediately wither and decay. This madness reigns everywhere, and more than it ought to be among ourselves, that we wish to be happy without God, that is, without happiness itself. Besides, Isaiah shews that no calamities, however grievous, can prevent God from adorning his Church; for when it shall appear that everything is on the eve of destruction, God will still be a crown of glory to his people. It is also worthy of observation, that Isaiah promises new splendor to the Church only when the multitude shall be diminished, that believers may not lose courage on account of that dreadful calamity which was at hand.

6. And for a spirit of judgment. He explains the manner in which the Lord will adorn that “remnant” with additional splendor; for he holds out instances of the true art of civil government, which mainly contributes to the upholding of nations. It consists chiefly of two things, counsel and strength. The internal administration must be conducted by counsel and wisdom, and “strength” and force are needed against enemies who are without. Since therefore it is by these two defences that kingdoms and commonwealths defend and uphold their rank, he promises to his people the spirit of “wisdom” and “strength.” At the same time he shews that it is God who gives both, and that they ought not to be expected from any other; for magistrates will not be able to rule and to administer justice in a city, and military generals will not be able to repel enemies, unless the Lord shall direct them.

7. But they also have erred through wine. He returns to the irreligious despisers of God, who were Jews in name only, and proves their ingratitude to be highly aggravated, because, though they had before their eyes a striking proof of the anger of God, when they saw their brethren severely chastised, and not withstanding experienced God’s forbearance towards themselves, yet neither that example of severity, nor the conviction of the divine goodness, could bring them back into the right path, or make them in any respect better, although the Lord spared them. Here he speaks of “wine and strong drink” metaphorically; for I do not understand it to relate to ordinary drunkenness, against which he remonstrated at the beginning of the chapter, but, on the contrary, he says that they were like drunk men, because they wanted knowledge and sound understanding. If the word as be supplied before the words “through wine and through strong drink,” the meaning will be more easily understood. I do acknowledge that by continued drunkenness men become, as it were, brutalized, and I have no doubt that drunkenness and excessive eating and drinking contributed also to stupefy the minds of the Jews; but if we examine the whole of the context, it will be easy to see that the madness which he condemns is metaphorical.

The priest and the prophet have erred. He proceeds still farther to exhibit their aggravated guilt, and says that not only the common people were drunk, but the priests themselves, who ought to have held out the light and pointed out the path to others; for, as Christ declares, they may be regarded as “the salt of the earth.” (Matthew 5:13.) If they are mad, what shall the common people be? “If the eye is blind,” what shall become of the other parts of the body? (Matthew 6:23.)

They have erred in vision. The most grievous thing of all is, when he says that they err not only in the more flagrant transgressions of life, but in vision and judgment. Hence we ought to infer how desperate was the condition of the Jewish Church, and here, as in a mirror, we may behold our transgressions. It is indeed something monstrous that, after so many chastisements which God has employed for cleansing it, the Church is so deeply corrupted; but such is our wickedness that we fight against his strokes, {Bogus footnote} and though he continually restrains us, and uses unceasing efforts to purify us from our sins, we not only render all his remedies useless, but bring upon ourselves new diseases. We ought not therefore to wonder that in the present day, after the numerous scourges and afflictions with which the Church has been chastised, men appear to be obstinate, and even become worse, when Isaiah testifies that the same thing took place in the ancient Church. True, indeed, the goodness of the Lord rose above the base and shameful wickedness of that nation, and still preserved the Church; but this was accomplished by his secret power, contrary to the expectation of all; for it would be of no advantage to us, if he employed ordinary remedies.

Hence also it is evident how silly and childish is the boasting of the Papists, who always have in their mouth “The Church,” and use as a pretext the names of priests, bishops, and pontiffs, and wish to fortify themselves by their authority against the word of God, as if that order could never err or mistake. They think that they have the Holy Spirit confined within their brains, and that they represent the Church, which God never forsakes. But we see what the Prophet declares concerning the priests, whose order was more splendid and illustrious. If ever there was a Church, there certainly was one at that time among the Jews; and that order derived from the word of God support to which they have no claim. And yet he shews that not only were they corrupt in morals, but erred “in vision and judgment,” and that the prophets, whom we know that God added to the priests, out of the ordinary course, on account of the carelessness of the priests, were nevertheless blind in that sacred office of teaching and in revelations. Nothing therefore is more idle than, under the pretext of an office which bears a splendid title, to hold out as exempt from the danger of erring those who, having forsaken God, and not only cast away all regard to religion, but even trodden shame under their feet, defend their tyranny by every means in their power.

8. For all tables are full of vomiting. He pursues the same metaphor, and draws, as it were, a picture of what usually happens to men who are given up to drunkenness; for they forget shame, and not only debase themselves like beasts, but shrink from nothing that is disgraceful. It is certainly an ugly and revolting sight to see “tables covered with vomiting;” and, accordingly, under this figure Isaiah describes the whole life of the people as shameful beyond endurance. There can be no doubt that the Prophet intended to express by a single word, that no sincerity or uprightness was left among the Jews. If we approach their tables, we can find nothing but foul drunkenness; if we look at their life, no part of it is pure or free from crimes and enormities. Doctrine itself is so corrupt that it stinks as if it were polluted by vomiting and filth. In expounding allegories, I have no intention to enter, as some do, into ingenious disquisitions.

9. Whom shall he teach knowledge? Here the Prophet shews by an expression of amazement, that the disease of the people is incurable, and that God has no other remedies adapted to cure them, for he has tried every method without effect. When he calls wanderers to return to the right path, and unceasingly warns those who are thoughtlessly going astray, this undoubtedly is an extraordinary remedy; and if it do no good, the salvation of those who refuse to accept of any aid from a physician is utterly hopeless.

Those who are weaned from the milk. The Prophet complains that the stupidity of the people may be said to hinder God from attempting to cure them of their vices; and therefore he compares the Jews to very young infants, {Bogus footnote} or who are but beginning to prattle, and whom it would be a waste of time to attempt to teach. Justly indeed does Peter exhort believers to draw near, “like infants newly born, to suck the milk of pure doctrine;” for no man will ever shew himself to be willing to be taught until he has laid aside that obstinacy which is the natural disposition of all. {Bogus footnote} (1 Peter 2:2.) But now the Prophet condemns another kind of infancy, in which men who are stupefied by their vices pay no more regard to heavenly doctrine than if they had no understanding whatsoever. It is therefore a mistake to connect this statement of the Prophet with that passage in the Apostle Peter, as if Isaiah represented God as desirous to obtain disciples who had divested themselves of all pride, and were like infants lately weaned; for the Prophet, on the contrary, loudly complains, that to “teach doctrine” is useless, and merely provokes ridicule among stupid and senseless persons, who are “children, not in malice, but in understanding,” as Paul speaks. (1 Corinthians 14:20.) From what follows it will more clearly appear that, since they were unfit for receiving doctrine, God cannot be accused of undue severity if he reject them, and if he resolve not to bestow useless labor by thundering in their ears any longer.

10. For precept must be on precept. This shews plainly that the Lord complains of spending his labor to no purpose in instructing this unteachable people, just as if one were to teach children, who must have elementary instructions repeated to them over and over again, and quickly forget them, and when the master has spent a whole day in teaching them a single letter, yet on the following day and afterwards, the same labor must be renewed, and though he leave nothing untried that care or diligence can do, still they will make no progress under him. Those who change the words of this verse, in order to avoid offending the ears of the readers, {Bogus footnote} obscure the Prophet’s meaning through a foolish affectation of copiousness of language, and even destroy the elegance of the style; for, by using the same words, he intended to express a repetition which is constant and unceasing, and full of annoyance. The metaphor, as I have already said, is taken from children, to whom teachers do not venture to give long lessons, because they are incapable of them, but give them, as it were, in little drops. Thus, they convey the same instructions a second and third time, and oftener; and, in short, they continue to receive elementary instructions till they acquire reason and judgment. By a witty imitation he repeats the words, “here a little, there a little.”

Instruction upon instruction. {Bogus footnote} The word קו (kăv) is improperly, in my opinion, translated by some interpreters line, as if the Prophet alluded to the slow progress of a building, which rises gradually by “lines.” That would be a harsh and far-fetched metaphor, for this passage relates to elementary instruction conveyed to children. I acknowledge that the same Hebrew word is used in the eighteenth chapter, where we have translated it “Line by line,” {Bogus footnote} and in many other passages; but here the connection demands a different meaning, as is also the case in Psalm 19:4, where, however, the word line {Bogus footnote} or dimension could be admitted with greater propriety than in this verse. Yet I admit that it is taken metaphorically for an instruction or rule; for as in buildings קו (kăv) denotes the “rule” or “plumb-line,” as we shall see that it means in a later portion of this chapter, we need not wonder that it is applied to other rules.

11. For with stammering lips. {Bogus footnote} Some supply, that “it is as if one should say;” but that is superfluous. I therefore view these words as relating to God, who became, as the Prophet tells us, a barbarian {Bogus footnote} to a people without understanding. This reproof must have wounded them to the quick, because by their own fault they made God, who formed our tongues, to appear to be “a stammerer.” He does not as yet threaten them, but lays the blame on their indolence, that they rendered the proclamation of heavenly doctrine a confused noise, because of their own accord they shut their eyes, and thus derived no advantage from it. Their infatuation, in not hearing God speaking to them, is compared by the Prophet to a prodigy.

12. For he said to them. Some explain it by circumlocution in this manner: “If one should say to them, This is the rest, they refuse to hear.” But this is a feeble exposition, and does not connect the various parts of the passage in a proper manner. On the contrary, the Prophet assigns the reason why God appears to the Jews to be a barbarian: it is, because they had not ears. Words were spoken to the deaf. It was to no purpose that the Lord offered to them rest. This deafness arose from obstinacy, for they wickedly and rebelliously rejected doctrine. Their wickedness was doubly inexcusable in refusing rest which was offered to them, and which all men naturally desire. It was in itself intolerable baseness to be deaf to the voice of God speaking, but it was still more foul ingratitude deliberately to reject a blessing which was in the highest degree desirable. Accordingly, he points out the benefit which they might have derived from the obedience of faith, and of which they deprived themselves by their own wickedness. He therefore reproaches them with this ignorance and blindness; for it springs from their own stubbornness in maliciously turning away their eyes from the light which was offered to them, and choosing rather to remain in darkness than to be enlightened.

Hence it follows that unbelievers, as soon as God has exhibited to them his word, voluntarily draw down on themselves wretched uneasiness; for he invites all men to a blessed rest, and clearly points out the object by which, if we shape the course of our life, true happiness awaits us; for no man who has heard heavenly doctrine can go astray except knowingly and willingly. We learn from it how lovely in our eyes heavenly doctrine ought to be, for it brings to us the invaluable blessing of enjoying peace of conscience and true happiness. All confess loudly that there is nothing better than to find a place of security; and yet, when rest is offered, many despise it, and the greater part of men even refuse it, as if all men expressly desired to have wretched perplexity and continual trembling: and yet no man has a right to complain that he errs through ignorance; for nothing is clearer or plainer than the doctrine of God, so that it is vain for men to plead any excuse. In short, nothing can be more unreasonable than to throw the blame on God, as if he spoke obscurely, or taught in a confused manner. Now, as God testifies in this passage that he points out to us in his word assured rest, so, on the other hand, he warns all unbelievers that they suffer the just reward of their wickedness when they are harassed by continual uneasiness.

Cause the weary to rest. Some explain it thus, that God demands the duties of brotherly kindness, in order that he may be reconciled to us, and that those duties are here included, a part being taken for the whole. But I think that the Prophet’s meaning is different, namely, that God points out to us that rest by which our weariness may be relieved, and that consequently we are convicted of deeper ingratitude, if even necessity, which is a very sharp spur, does not quicken us to seek a remedy. This saying of the Prophet corresponds nearly to the words of Christ,

“Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28.)

In a word, Isaiah informs the Jews that they have this choice, “Do they prefer to be refreshed and relieved, or to sink under the burden and be overwhelmed?” This confirms a passing remark which I made a little before, that God does not in vain exhort those who seek repose to come to him, as we shall elsewhere see,

“I have not in vain said to the house of Jacob, Seek me.” (Isaiah 45:19.)

Since, therefore, if we do not stand in the way, we shall be taught by his word, we may safely rely on the doctrine which is contained in it; for he does not intend to weary us out by vain curiosity, as men often draw down upon themselves much distress and anguish by idle pursuits.

Besides, when he shews that this rest is prepared for the weary who groan under the burden, let us at least be taught by the distresses which harass us to betake ourselves to the word of God, that we may obtain peace. We shall thus find that the word of God is undoubtedly fitted to soothe our uneasy feelings, and to give peace to our perplexed and trembling consciences. All who seek “rest” in any other way, and run beyond the limits of the word, must always be subjected to torture or wretched uncertainty, because they attempt to be wise and happy without God. We see that this is the condition of the Papists, who, having despised this peace of God, are wretchedly tormented during their whole life; for Satan tosses and drives them about in such a manner that they are tormented with dreadful uneasiness, and never find a place of rest.

13. The word of the Lord shall therefore be to them. Although the Prophet repeats the same words, yet the meaning is somewhat different; for, having formerly spoken of voluntary stupidity, he now threatens the punishment of it, namely, that God will strike them with such bewilderment, that they shall be totally deprived of the benefit of saving doctrine, and shall perceive in it nothing but an empty sound. In short, he concludes, from what goes before, that since they had not profited by the word of God, the Jews shall be justly punished for their ingratitude; not that the word shall be taken from them, but that they shall be deprived of sound judgment and understanding, and shall be blind amidst the clearest light. Thus God blinds and hardens the reprobate more and more on account of their disobedience.

Paul quotes this passage (1 Corinthians 14:21) when he reproves the Corinthians for foolish affectation, in consequence of their being so much under the influence of ambition, that they regarded with the highest admiration those who spoke in a foreign tongue, as the common people are accustomed to stare at everything that is unknown and uncommon. This passage in the writings of Paul has been misunderstood, because these words of the Prophet have not been duly weighed. Now, Paul applies these words most appropriately to his object; for he shews that the Corinthians are under the influence of a foolish and absurd admiration, and that they improperly aspire to those things from which they can derive no advantage; in short, that they are “like children, not in malice, but in knowledge and understanding;” that thus they voluntarily draw down on themselves the curse which the Prophet here threatens; and that the word of God becomes to them precept on precept, and they receive no more instruction from it than if a person were to bawl out to them in an unknown tongue. It is the height of madness to bring upon themselves, by idle affectation, that blindness and stupidity which the Lord threatens against obstinate and rebellious men. Paul therefore explains and renders more intelligible this statement made by the Prophet, for he shews that they who abuse the doctrine of salvation do not deserve to make progress in it in any way whatever.

We have seen a passage closely resembling it in which the Prophet compared his doctrine to “sealed letters.” (Isaiah 8:16) Afterwards we shall find that the Prophet compares it to a book that is “shut.” (Isaiah 29:11.) This takes place when, on account of the ingratitude of men, God takes from them judgment and sound understanding; so that, “seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear,” and thus are most justly punished. (Isaiah 6:9; Mark 4:12.) This ought to be carefully observed; for frequently we think that all is well with us, and are highly delighted with ourselves, because we continue to enjoy the word. {Bogus footnote} But of what avail will it be to us, if it do not enlighten our understanding and regulate our hearts? We thus draw down upon ourselves a heavier judgment, and therefore we need a twofold grace; first, that God would shine on us by his word; and secondly, that he would open our understandings and dispose our hearts to obedience, otherwise we shall derive no more aid from the brilliancy of the gospel than blind men derive from the brightness of the sun. By this punishment, therefore, we are reminded that we must not abuse the word of God, but must look directly to the object which the Lord holds out to us in the word.

They shall fall backward, and be broken and snared. At length he describes the destruction of those who are blind to this brightness of the word; for nothing remains for them but to be thrown down headlong, because they have departed from the right path, and therefore they must stumble and fall. He means that the fall will not be slight, for they shall be bruised by it. By the word snared he employs another metaphor, namely, that for all unbelievers “snares” are prepared, by which they shall be entangled and drawn to destruction. We had a similar sentiment on a former occasion, (Isaiah 8:15,) and expressed in nearly the same words; {Bogus footnote} for there the Prophet speaks on the same subject, the blinding of the people, who by their obstinacy had provoked the wrath of God. He shews that they who go astray, in opposition to the word of God, are always very near destruction. Either they shall meet with stumbling blocks on which they shall “stumble,” or with snares by which they shall be “ensnared.” In short, it will be impossible that evil shall not befall those who do not keep the path which God has pointed out; for either they shall openly “fall and be bruised,” or through concealed traps they shall fall into a “snare.”

14. Wherefore hear ye the word of the Lord. He goes on to address to them still stronger reproof, and at the same time mingles with it a consolation in order to encourage the hearts of the godly. While he threatens utter destruction against the wicked, he leaves for believers ground of consolation, by declaring that their salvation is dear and precious in the sight of God.

Ye scornful men. By this term he means men who are addicted to sophistry and deceit, who think that by jeers and cunning they can escape the judgment of God; for לוץ (lūtz) {Bogus footnote} signifies to jeer or scorn. Now, he addresses not ordinary men, but rulers and governors, who, in governing the people, thought that they surpassed other men in sharpness and dexterity, but turned their acuteness to cunning, by which they acted hypocritically towards God himself, and therefore, in keen irony, he calls them “scorners;” as if he had said,

“You think that you have enough of craftiness to mock God, but you will not succeed in mocking him.” (Galatians 6:7.)

The Prophet’s chief and severest contest was with the nobles; for although all ranks were exceedingly corrupted, yet the nobles, being puffed up with a false belief of their own wisdom, were more obstinate than the rest. It has commonly been found, in almost every age, that the common people, though they are distinguished by unrestrained fierceness and violence, do not proceed to such a pitch of wickedness as nobles or courtiers, or other crafty men, who think that they excel others in ability and wisdom. The ministers of the word ought chiefly, therefore, to arm themselves against ingenious adversaries. None can be more destructive; for they not only of themselves do injury, but excite others to the same kind of scorn and wickedness, and frequently, through the estimation in which they are held, and the splendor of their reputation, they dazzle the common people who are less clear-sighted. It is a dreadful and monstrous thing when the governors of the Church not only are themselves blinded, but even blind others, and excite them to despise God, and ridicule godly doctrine, and taunt it by their jeers, and, in short, employ their utmost ingenuity for overturning religion; but in opposition to such persons we ought to encourage our hearts by the example of the Prophet, that we may not sink or lose heart in this contest. He shews us also the way in which we ought to treat such persons. {Bogus footnote} We ought not to spend much time in teaching them, (for instruction would be of little use,) but must threaten them severely, and terrify them by the judgment of God.

This people which is in Jerusalem. Their guilt is highly aggravated by the consideration that they inhabit the very sanctuary of God, and infect with their pollution God’s chosen people.

15. Because ye have said. The Prophet next assigns the reason why he called them “scorners;” it was because they had thrown off all fear of God. He likewise describes the manner in which they acted, by saying that they promised to themselves that they would escape punishment amidst all their crimes and enormities, and became the more daring, and, as if they had obtained greater liberty to pursue wicked courses, rushed forward without dread wherever their unruly passions carried them.

We have struck a league with death, and with hell have we made a compact. This is what he means by the league into which they had entered with death and the grave; for by despising and boldly ridiculing all God’s threatenings and chastisements, they thought that they were out of all danger. חזה (chōzĕh) means what he had formerly expressed by ברית, (bērīth,) for it is a repetition of the same statement. Literally it signifies seeing, {Bogus footnote} and denotes what is conveyed by the French phrase, avoir intelligence, or by the English phrase, “to have a mutual understanding.” There appears to be also an implied contrast between prophetic visions and that deceitful craftiness on which veterans in wicked arts value themselves.

We have made lies our refuge. It is certain that those cunning men never broke out into such boasting as to utter those offensive words, for that would have been childish and absurd. {Bogus footnote} Besides, though they despised God and set at nought all his admonitions, they undoubtedly wished to be held in some estimation by the people, and would never have confessed that they “made lies their refuge;” but the Prophet looked at their feelings and aims, and not at their pretexts, and took into account their actions and dispositions, and not their words. Whoever, then, flatters himself and his vices, and fearlessly despises God’s threatenings, declares that he has “entered into a league with death,” which he does not at all dread, notwithstanding the Lord’s threatenings.

The Prophet, therefore, reproves in general that carnal presumption by which men are led to forgetfulness of the judgment of God, and willingly deceive themselves, as if they could escape the arm of God: but chiefly he attacks Lucianists {Bogus footnote} and censorious men, who place their wisdom in nothing else than in irreligious contempt of God; and the more eager they are to conceal their dishonor, the more earnestly does the Prophet expose them, as if he had dragged forth to the light, from a deep concealment, their cunning wiles, and as if he had said, “This is the dexterity, skill, and cunning of the wise men of this world, who are exposed on every hand to troubles and afflictions, and yet imagine that they are concealed and safe. They unquestionably deserve to seek salvation from falsehood, for they disregard God’s salvation, and despise and ridicule him.” Their tricks, and cunning, and imposture, are indeed concealed by them under plausible names, and they do not think that they are falsehoods; but the Prophet calls them by their proper names.

When the overflowing scourge shall pass through. As to “the overflowing scourge,” the Prophet here includes two metaphors; for he compares the calamities and afflictions by which God chastises the transgressions of the world to a “scourge,” and then says, that they are so rapid and violent that they resemble a “flood.” Against those calamities, however severe and distressing, wicked men of this description think that they are fortified by lying and deceit, and hope that they shall be able to escape them, though they overflow far and wide over the whole world. They perceive the judgments of God, and the calamities to which men are exposed; but, because they do not observe the hand and providence of God, and ascribe everything that happens to fortune, they therefore seek to obtain such defences and safeguards as may drive such “scourges” away from them.

16. Therefore thus saith the Lord God. Isaiah now comforts the godly, and threatens against the wicked such punishment as they deserved. In the first instance, he brings forward consolation, because the godly were a laughingstock to those crafty men, as we see at the present day that irreligious men laugh at our simplicity, and reckon us to be fools, because amidst such deep adversity and sore afflictions we still hope that it will turn out to our advantage. In opposition to this insolence of the reprobate, the Prophet encourages and supports the hearts of the godly to pass by with indifference, and reckon of no account their jeers and reproaches, and to believe firmly that their hope will not be confounded or vain.

Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, a stone of trial. The demonstrative particle behold expresses certainty; as if he had said, “Though wicked men despise my words, and refuse to believe them, yet I will perform what I have promised.” The pronoun I is emphatic, that the prophecy may be more firmly believed. As to the words, the genitive בחן, (bōchăn,) of trial, which is used instead of an adjective along with stone, may be taken both in an active and in a passive sense, either for a stone by which the whole building is “tried,” or examined as by a standard, or for a “tried stone.” The former meaning appears to me to be more appropriate, and undoubtedly the usage of the Hebrew language requires us to interpret it rather in an active sense. He calls it therefore a trying stone, or a trier, on account of the effect produced; because by this stone the whole building must be squared and adjusted, otherwise it must unavoidably totter and fall.

A precious corner-stone, a sure foundation. He calls it a corner-stone, because it supports the whole weight of the building, and by this name, which is also given to it in Psalm 118:22, he commends its force and strength. Lastly, he calls it a “foundation,” and, so to speak, a “fundamental foundation,” proceeding gradually in the commendation of it; for he shews that it is not an ordinary stone, or one of many which contribute to the building, but that it is a highly valuable stone, on which the whole weight of the building exclusively rests. It is a stone, but a stone which fills the whole corner; it is a corner-stone, but the whole house is founded on it. As “another foundation cannot be laid,” so on it alone must the whole Church, and every part of it, rest and be built. (1 Corinthians 3:11.)

He that believeth shall not make haste. This clause is interpreted by some as an exhortation, “He that believeth, let him not make haste.” But I prefer to take it in the future tense, both because that meaning agrees best with the context, and because it is supported by the authority of the Apostle Paul. I do acknowledge that the Apostles followed the Greek translation, {Bogus footnote} and used such liberty, that while they were satisfied with giving the meaning, they did not quote the exact words. Yet they never changed the meaning, but, taking care to have it properly applied, they gave the true and genuine interpretation. Whenever, therefore, they quote any passage from the Old Testament, they adhere closely to its object and design.

Now, Paul, when he quotes this prophecy, adopts the Greek version, “He that believeth shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 9:33; 10:11.) And certainly the design of the Prophet is to shew, that they who believe will have peace and serenity of mind, so that they shall not desire anything more, and shall not wander in uncertainty, or hasten to seek other remedies, but shall be fully satisfied with this alone. That is not a departure from the meaning, for the word signifying to make haste conveys the idea of eagerness or trembling. In short, the design of the Prophet is, to extol faith on account of this invaluable result, that by means of it we enjoy settled peace and composure. Hence it follows that, till we possess faith, we must have continual perplexity and distress; for there is but one harbour on which we can safely rely, namely, the truth of the Lord, which alone will give us peace and serenity of mind.

This fruit of faith is elsewhere described by the same Apostle Paul, when he says that, “being justified by faith, we obtain peace with God.” (Romans 5:1.) The Apostles and evangelists shew that this “stone” is Christ, because the Church was actually settled and founded at the time when he was presented to the view of the world. (Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:6.) First, in him the promises have their firmness; secondly, the salvation of men rests on him alone, and therefore if Christ be taken away, the Church will fall down and be ruined. The state of the fact therefore shews, that these statements must undoubtedly be referred to Christ, without whom there is no certainty of salvation; and therefore at every moment ruin is at hand. Next, we have the authority of evangelists and Apostles; and indeed the Holy Spirit conveys that instruction by their mouth.

But it will be proper to examine it more closely, that we may see in what manner these things are applied to Christ. First, it is not without good reason that Isaiah represents God as speaking, whose peculiar work it is to found the Church, as we have already seen elsewhere, and as the Prophet will afterwards declare; and this statement occurs very frequently in the Psalms. For if all men devote their labor to it, they will not be able to lay the least stone. It is God alone, therefore, who founds and builds his Church, though he employs for this purpose the labors and services of men. Now, by whom was Christ given, but by the Father? So then it was the heavenly Father who did and accomplished these things, and who appointed Christ to be the only foundation on which our salvation rests.

But was not this stone laid before? Did not the Church always rest on this foundation? I acknowledge that it did, but only in hope; for Christ had not yet been revealed, and had not fulfilled the office of a Redeemer. On this account the Prophet speaks of it as a future event, that believers may be fully persuaded that the Church, which they saw not only tottering and falling, but grievously shaken and almost laid in ruins, will yet be made firm by a new support, when it shall rest on a stone laid by the hand of God.

I lay in Zion. He says that it is “in Zion;” because Christ must come out of it, which contributes greatly to confirm our faith, when we see that he came out of that place which was appointed for this purpose so long before. Now, at the present day, “Mount Zion” is everywhere; for the Church has spread to the ends of the world.

Christ is truly “the stone of trial,” for by him must the whole building be regulated, and we cannot be the building of God, if we are not adapted to him. Hence also Paul exhorts us to

“grow in him who is the head, from whom the whole body must be joined and united.” (Ephesians 4:15.)

Our faith must be wholly applied to Christ, that he may be our rule. He is also the “corner-stone,” on which rests not only one part of the building, but its whole weight, and the foundation itself.

“No man,” as Paul says, “can lay any other foundation than Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11.)

This is the reason why, when the Lord promises by the mouth of Isaiah the restoration of his Church, he reminds us of the foundation; for it was wasted in such a manner that it resembled a ruin, and there was no way in which it could be restored but by Christ. As to Christ being called also the “stone of stumbling,” this is accidental; for the fault lies on ungrateful men, who, having rejected him, find him to be altogether different from what he would have been to them. But on this subject we have spoken at 8:14. {Bogus footnote}

17. And I will lay judgment to the line. The ruinous condition of the Church being such that believers hardly ventured to hope that it would be improved, he shews that God has in his hand the ready means of forming the Church entirely anew. As he lately mentioned a building, so now, by a different metaphor, he shews that there is no reason to fear that God will not at length finish the work of building which has been begun. Yet indirectly he reproves the pride and insolence of those who wished to be accounted pillars of the Church, while they were endeavoring, as far as lay in their power, to raze it to the foundation. Although, in consequence of an almost total extinction of the light of faith, and a frightful corruption of the worship of God, the state of the people was hideous, yet they boasted of their royal priesthood, in the same manner as we see the Papists at the present day shamelessly utter similar boasting, though lamentable confusion cries aloud that the form of the Church has utterly perished among them. For this reason the Prophet describes what will be the reformation of the Church.

Judgment to the line, and righteousness to the measure or plummet. It is probable that קו, (kāv,) a line, and משקלת, (mĭshkōlĕth,) a plummet, mean the same thing, as may be inferred with greater certainty from another passage:

“I will stretch over Jerusalem the rope or line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab.” (2 Kings 21:13.)

Yet I do not deny that he alludes to the examination of weights; but both metaphors are taken from buildings, in which the master-builders and masons try everything by a rule, in order to preserve a due proportion in every part. Thus it is said that the Lord administers equal judgment, when he restores the Church, in which otherwise everything is disordered and confused, as in a hideous ruin, when the ungodly are exalted and enjoy prosperity, while the godly are despised and sorrowful.

He makes the same statement concerning “righteousness,” that he will measure or try it by his weights, and will regulate everything by a rule; for by righteousness and judgment he means a proper and lawful administration of the Church, as contrasting with the masks and disguises boasted of by those who fear the title of Bishops. The meaning is, that this foundation is laid, not only that the Church may be commenced, but that it may be perfectly restored, to use a common phrase, “from top to bottom” (De fonds en comble.)

The hail shall sweep away the reliance of falsehood. This second part of the metaphor denotes also a very exact equality. Nothing then will be wanting to the building, if Christ be laid for the foundation; and, on the other hand, if he be not there, all will be vanity and confusion. Now since there was no room for “judgment and righteousness,” but by sweeping away the false confidences, he declares that they shall be all swept away, because the violence of God’s anger shall cast down all loftiness, and the flood shall penetrate all the hiding-places of thoughtless indifference. He therefore threatens that hypocrites, with all their boasting, shall nevertheless perish, even though the Lord preserve the Church; for he does not speak of chastisements, as if the wicked would be corrected by them, because, on the contrary, they become hardened and more obstinate. The cleansing, therefore, he shews, will be such as to drag them forth from their hiding-places and strip them of false and empty confidence; for wicked men think that they are so thoroughly concealed by their falsehood and deceit, that they shall never feel strokes, and therefore they please and flatter themselves amidst their iniquities and crimes; but the waters will easily reach them; that is, the wrath of God, which shall rush down upon them like a deluge, will easily break through their lurking-places.

18. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled. Formerly he directed his reproof against hypocrites, who obstinately mocked at God and all his threatenings; and he checked their thoughts in imagining that “they had made a covenant with death,” (verse 15,) that is, in promising to themselves that all their transgressions would pass unpunished; as if by jeers and laughter they could escape the arm of God. He now threatens that, when they shall be fully aware that they must render an account to God, they shall be struck with fear and dread, whether they will or not; {Bogus footnote} for that state of ease and indifference into which they are sunk, arises from a kind of lethargy or drunkenness, which hinders them from perceiving the alarming nature of their disease; but the Lord will arouse them from their sleep, however profound, and will annul their imaginary compacts.

In short, he means that that peace which the wicked enjoy, while they slumber in their sins, will not be perpetual; for they shall be compelled, even against their will, to acknowledge that God is their judge, and, when they shall wish to enjoy repose, and while they are careless and unprepared, they shall be suddenly seized and agitated by strange terrors and anguish of mind. Their case is similar to that of malefactors, who, if they have broken out of prison and escaped, mock their judges, and utter reproachful and forward and insolent language against them, but, when they see the officers of justice close at their heels, suddenly tremble, and find that all their joy is turned into mourning, and that their condition is far worse than if they had not broken out of prison. Thus the wicked enjoy some momentary gladness, which they obtain by forgetfulness of their guilt; but the Lord immediately lays his hand on them, and terrifies their consciences in such a manner that they can find no rest.

19. From the time that it shall pass. He expresses more in this verse than in the preceding one; for he declares that the destruction of the reprobate is close at hand, though they promise to themselves everlasting happiness. Wicked men indeed perceive that they are liable to many calamities, but yet they flatter and stupefy themselves, and imagine that in this way they can ward off their calamities. They have in their mouth proverbs of this sort, “Let us not distress ourselves before the time: Let us enjoy the season while it lasts: Let us be cheerful, and not give ourselves uneasiness when we can avoid it.” But he threatens that there hangs over their heads a hidden destruction, {Bogus footnote} and adds:

It shall seize you every morning, and shall pass every day by day and night. By “every morning” is meant “quickly and continually;” for it is only when they feel distress that wicked men are touched with the fear of God. Frequently indeed they are afraid when there is no danger; but it is a blind terror, for they do not understand whence their alarm proceeds. While God threatens, they are unconcerned, because they do not acknowledge him to be their judge, and thus they have no serious thoughts about God till they feel his hand. When he again repeats “in the morning,” and afterwards adds, “by day and by night,” he means, as I have said, that the scourge will be constant and daily; that they may not persuade themselves that it will be a light calamity, or deceive themselves by the hope of any mitigation; for, while the wrath of God against believers is momentary, against unbelievers it is eternal, for it never ceases to pursue them to the end.

Terror alone shall cause them to understand the report. {Bogus footnote} Here commentators differ. Jerome’s translation is, “Terror shall give understanding to the report.” But they come nearer to the meaning of the Prophet who give this interpretation, “The report alone shall make you understand,” that is, “The men to whom the messenger shall come will be rendered obedient to God by the report alone.” For my own part, I adopt a simpler view, though I do not choose to refute the expositions given by others. “It will come to pass that terror alone shall enable you to understand doctrine.” As if he had said, “Hitherto I have not succeeded in my exhortations to you, but the Lord will find out a new method of instructing you, that is, chastisements and calamities, by which he will terrify you in such a manner that you shall know with whom you have to do.” It is as if a grieved and sorrowful father were thus to remonstrate with a disobedient and incorrigible son, “Since you despise my advices, you must one day be taught by the executioner.” {Bogus footnote}

Thus Isaiah threatens wicked men, who mocked at all his threatenings, and tells them that they do not care for the assistance of prophets, but that one day they will actually know with what sincerity and truth they addressed them, and yet that it will be of no advantage to them, because knowledge so late will leave no room for repentance. We must “seek the Lord while there is time.” (Isaiah 55:6.) Pharaoh was made no better by the chastisements which he received, (Exodus 8:15,) and Esau gained nothing by his tears, when he saw that he had been stripped of his birthright, (Genesis 27:38; Hebrews 12:17;) for they were not followed by any repentance or any amendment of life. By the word “terror” he shews how “dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God,” (Hebrews 10:31,) and that they who despise his word are never allowed to pass unpunished. He employs the word שמועה (shĕmūgnāh) to denote what is heard, that is, doctrine.

20. For the bed shall be short. By this metaphor he adorns the former statement; for he compares the reprobate, who are pressed down by the hand of God, to those who have concealed themselves in a “short and narrow bed,” in which they can scarcely stretch their limbs or lift their head, and where, in short, instead of rest, they feel sharp pains. He means that the Jews will be shut up in such a manner that they shall be overwhelmed with the severity of their distresses, and that the “bed,” which is given to man for rest, will be an instrument of torture.

If they seek a “covering,” he says that “it will be too short to wrap themselves in it,” and that it is an addition to their former distress, that amidst those heavy calamities they will want all necessary comforts. He chose to express this by the metaphor of a “narrow covering,” that they may know that their condition will be in the highest degree wretched; because the vengeance of God will pursue them on all sides, both above and below, so that they shall have no abatement or mitigation, and shall find no relief. The Lord employs these metaphors, in order to accommodate himself to our weakness; because otherwise we cannot understand how dreadful is the judgment of God. Hence therefore we learn how dreadful are the terrors which shake and confine wicked men, when the Lord pursues them; they search eagerly for places of concealment, and would willingly hide themselves in the center of the earth; but the Lord drags them forth to light, and confines and hems them in, so that they cannot move.

21. For as in Mount Perazim. Since he speaks here of the reprobate, the Prophet holds out nothing but terrors and cruel punishment; for while the Lord deals kindly and gently with his children, he shews that he will be an object of terror to the reprobate. For this purpose he produces examples, in which the Lord displayed his arm in defense of his people, as when he routed the Philistines in the valley of Perazim, when David pursued them, (2 Samuel 5:20; 1 Chronicles 14:11,) and at another time, when the Amorites and other enemies were slain by the Israelites in the valley of Gibeon, with Joshua as their leader, to whom the Lord granted that the “sun and moon should stand still,” that they might more easily pursue their enemies. (Joshua 10:10-14.)

Shall Jehovah rise up. By the word “rise up” he points out the power of God, because we think that he is lazy and indolent, when he does not punish the reprobate. It is therefore said that he “rises up” or stands erect, when he openly exhibits to us proofs of his power, and such as especially manifest the great care which he takes of his Church. Although the manner was different, (for in ancient times he “rose up” in defense of his chosen people against foreigners, but now he threatens war against the Jews,) yet Isaiah skillfully applies these examples; for by driving out internal enemies God will promote the advantage of his Church not less than if he directed his strength and arms against foreigners. He would thus reckon them in the number of enemies, though they falsely boasted that they were his people.

His strange work. {Bogus footnote} Some think that this “work” is called “strange,” because nothing corresponds better to the nature of God than to be merciful and to pardon our sins; and that when he is angry, he acts against his will, and assumes a character that is foreign to him and that is contrary to his nature. By nature he is gentle, compassionate, patient, kind, slow to anger, as Scripture declares by many words and by a variety of expressions his infinite compassion. (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:8.) Others explain it to mean that the “work” is “strange,” because formerly he was wont to defend his people, and that it is monstrous that he now proceeds to attack and exterminate them, as if they were enemies.

For my own part, I consider “strange” to mean simply what is uncommon or wonderful; for this appellation is given to what is rare and unusual among men, and we know that they almost always view with astonishment whatever is new. It is as if he had said, “The Lord will punish you, and that not in a common or ordinary way, but in a way so amazing that at the sight or hearing of it, all shall be struck with horror.” It is certain that all the works of God are so many proofs of his power, so that they ought justly to excite our admiration; but because, through constant habit and looking at them, they are despised by us, we think that he does nothing unless he adopt some extraordinary methods. On this account Isaiah quotes ancient examples, in order that we may know that, though to men this vengeance be new and amazing, yet to God it is far from being new, since for a long period he has given proofs of his power and ability not less remarkable than these. Yet I willingly admit that the Prophet contrasts the wicked Israelites with the Philistines and Canaanites, as if he had said, “The Lord formerly performed miracles when he wished to save his people; he will now perform them in order to destroy that people; for since the Israelites have degenerated, they shall feel the hand of God for their destruction which their fathers felt for their salvation.”

22. Now therefore. He again reminds those wicked men, whom he had formerly called “scorners,” (verse 14,) that their cunning, and contempt, and jeers, and mockery, will avail them nothing, because all their ingenuity will be thwarted; and he exhorts them to repentance, if there still be any of them that are capable of being cured. For this reason he repeats the same threatenings, in order to arouse them.

Lest your chains be more firmly fastened. He says that all that they will gain by resistance will be to draw themselves more firmly into their nets. Instead of “chains,” there are some who render מוסרים (mōsĕrīm) “chastisements;” but this does not agree with the context. The metaphor of “chains” is highly appropriate in this passage; for, as the fox which has fallen into a snare, fastens the knot more firmly by his attempts to extricate himself and escape, so wicked men by their disobedience entangle and fasten themselves more and more. They desire to escape the hand of God, and kick against the spur, like an unruly horse which bends all its strength to shake of its rider; but all that they accomplish by their obstinacy and stubbornness is to receive heavier and severer blows.

Be ye not mockers. This shews us how we ought to deal with wicked men, when we see that they are altogether destitute of the fear of God. All that remains for us to do is, to warn them that their jeers and scorn will be attended by no success in resisting the vengeance of God which hangs over them. We are also reminded that we ought not to sport with God, since we see, as in a mirror, what has been the end of those who despised the warnings and threatenings of the prophets since the beginning of the world.

For I have heard a consumption. That his prediction may be firmly believed, he declares that he brings nothing forward which God did not reveal. כלה (chālāh) sometimes signifies “perfection,” and sometimes “consumption,” as we formerly stated {Bogus footnote} (Isaiah 10:23.) Here it must denote “consumption,” for the Prophet means nothing else than that God has determined speedily to destroy the whole earth by a general slaughter. This includes two things; first, that dreadful and grievous destruction is about to overtake the world, (unless it be thought better to limit the word “earth” to Judea, to which I do not object,) and, secondly, that the day is fixed and is not distant. The word hearing is here used to denote Revelation. He says that it has been made known to him; for, as the Lord determined to make use of the ministry of the prophets, so he revealed to them his secrets, that they might be, as it were, interpreters of them.

Upon the whole earth. As if he had said, “The whole world abounds with shocking impiety, reprobate men have grown wanton in their wickedness, as if there would be no judgment of God; but throughout the whole world, or in every part of Judea, God will shew that he is judge and avenger, and not a corner of the earth will be exempted from troubles and calamities, because they have despised the word.” Now, although these things were revealed in the age of Isaiah, yet they belong not less to other times, in which God shews that he is always like himself, and is wont to execute his judgments by the same method and rule. {Bogus footnote}

23. Give ear and hear my voice. Isaiah makes use of a preface, as if he were about to speak of something important and very weighty; for we are not wont to demand attention from our hearers, unless when we are about to say what is very important. And yet he seems here to speak of common and ordinary subjects, as for example, about agriculture, sowing, thrashing, and such like operations. But the Prophet intended to direct the minds of his hearers to higher matters; for when he discourses about the judgments of God, and shews with what wisdom God governs the world, though wicked men think that everything moves by chance and at random, he intended to lay down and explain a difficult subject, in a plain style, by metaphors drawn from objects which are well known and understood. We often complain that God winks too much at the crimes of wicked men, because he does not immediately punish them agreeably to our wish; but the Prophet shews that God appoints nothing but what is just and proper.

The design of this preface therefore is, that men may perceive their stupidity in carping at the judgments of God, and putting an unfavourable construction on them, while even in the ordinary course of nature they have a very bright mirror, in which they may see them plainly. There is an implied expostulation with men who shut their eyes amidst so clear light. He shews that they are dull and stupid in not understanding the works of God which are so manifest, and yet are so rash and daring that they presume to judge and censure what is hidden. In like manner Paul also, when speaking of the resurrection, pronounces that those who do not perceive the power of God in the seeds which are thrown into the earth are madmen.

“Thou fool, that which thou sowest does not grow or vegetate till it has rotted.” (1 Corinthians 15:36.)

Thus Isaiah here declares that those who do not see the wisdom of God in things so obvious are stupid, and, in short, that men are blind and dull in beholding the works of God.

24. Doth the ploughman plough every day {Bogus footnote} to sow? This passage is commonly explained as if the Lord reproached his people for ingratitude, because he had cultivated the field as a husbandman, and had spent on it all his care and industry, and yet did not reap such fruit as it ought to have yielded. Such is the interpretation given by the Jews, who have been followed also by the Greek and Latin commentators; but Isaiah’s meaning was quite different. He connects this doctrine with his former statement, that the destruction of Judea, or of the whole world, had been revealed to him; and therefore he adds, that still God does not always display his hand, or constantly punish the wickedness of men; for he often appears as if he did not see it, and delays the punishment of it for a time. The Lord’s forbearance and slowness to punish, which is thus manifested, is abused by wicked men for leading them to greater lengths in wickedness, as Solomon remarks that men are encouraged to commit wickedness by observing that

“all things happen alike to the good and to the bad,” (Ecclesiastes 8:14,)

that all the worst and basest men enjoy prosperity, while the godly are liable to distresses not less and even greater than those of other men. {Bogus footnote}

In short, when the wicked perceive no difference in outward matters, they think either that there is no God, or that everything is governed by the blind violence of fortune. To such thoughts therefore Isaiah replies, “Do you not know that God has his seasons, and that he knows what he ought to do at the proper time?” If ploughmen do not “every day” cleave the earth or break the clods, this ought not to be attributed to their want of skill; for, on the contrary, their skill requires them to desist. {Bogus footnote} What would they gain by continually turning over the soil, but to weary themselves to no purpose, and prevent it from yielding any fruit? Thus God does not act with bustle or confusion, but knows the times and seasons for doing his work. {Bogus footnote}

25. When he hath levelled its surface. He now speaks about sowing. The sower will not put into the earth as much as he can, nor will he throw it in at random, but will measure the ground, and give to it as much as is necessary; for otherwise the superfluous mass would rot, and not a single grain would take root.

Wheat in measure, and barley measured. {Bogus footnote} He will not mix various seeds, but will allot one part of the field for “wheat,” another for “vetches,” and another for “cummin.” He will do this in measure, for that I consider to be the proper interpretation of שורה (sōrāh.) {Bogus footnote} It does not mean excellent or good; for he is speaking about measurement. Similar statements are made about reaping and thrashing; for all kinds of grain are not thrashed in the same manner. Wheat is thrashed with the wheel of a cart or wagon, vetches with a staff, and cummin with a thicker rod. He speaks according to the custom of the country. This mode of thrashing is unknown in any part of France, except Provence. {Bogus footnote} In short, he means that the manner of thrashing which is suitable to the grain does not apply equally to all. Besides, the husbandman is not constantly or incessantly employed in thrashing, but exercises moderation, that he may not bruise the grain.

26. His God instructeth and teacheth him what is right. From whom did the husbandman learn these things but from God? If they are so well educated and taught in the smallest matters, what ought we to think of so great a teacher and instructor? Does he not know how to apply a fixed measure and equity to his works? Does he not see the time for executing his judgment; when he ought to cut down the people, and, as we may say, to harrow {Bogus footnote} them; when he ought to thrash; what strokes, what kind of chastisements he ought to inflict; in short, what is most suitable to each time and to each person? Will not he who appointed the universal order of nature regulate these things also by a just proportion? Are men so headstrong that they will venture to remonstrate with him, or to impugn his wisdom? The general meaning is, that we ought not to judge rashly, if God does not immediately punish the wickedness of men.

This shews that we ought to restrain the presumption of men, who, even in the smallest matters, often fall into mistakes. If a person ignorant of agriculture should see a husbandman cutting fields with a plough, making furrows, breaking clods, driving oxen up and down and following their footsteps, he would perhaps laugh at it, imagining that it was childish sport; but that man would be justly blamed by the husbandman, and convicted of ignorance and rashness; for every person of great modesty will think that those things are not done idly or at random, though he does not know the reason. When the seed is committed to the ground, does it not appear to be lost? If ignorant men find fault with these things, as ignorance is often rash and presumptuous in judging, will not intelligent men justly blame and pronounce them to have been in the wrong? If this be the case, how shall the Lord deal with us, if we dare to find fault with his works which we do not understand?

Let us therefore learn from this how carefully we ought to avoid this rashness, and with what modesty we ought to restrain ourselves from such thoughts. If we ought to act modestly towards men, and not to condemn rashly what exceeds our understanding or capacity, we ought to exercise much greater modesty towards God. When we consider therefore the various calamities with which the Church is afflicted, let us not complain that loose reins are given to the wicked, {Bogus footnote} and that consequently she is abandoned to her fate, or that all is over with her; but let us believe firmly, that the Lord will apply remedies at the proper time, and let us embrace with our whole heart his righteous judgments.

If any person carefully examining those words shall infer from them that some are punished more speedily and others more slowly, and shall pronounce the meaning to be, that punishment is delayed, such a view is not merely probable, but is fully expressed by the Prophet. We draw from it a delightful consolation, that the Lord regulates his thrashing in such a manner that he does not crush or bruise his people. The wicked are indeed reduced by him to nothing and destroyed; but he chastises his own people, in order that, having been subdued and cleansed, they may be gathered into the barn.

29. This also hath proceeded from Jehovah of hosts. This passage is explained by some, as if The Prophet had said that the science of agriculture proceeded from the Lord; but I consider it to be the application of what goes before. Having pointed out the wisdom of God, even in the smallest matters, he bids us, in like manner, raise our eyes to higher subjects, that we may learn to behold with greater reverence his wonderful and hidden judgments. A passing observation on the 26th verse may be made, and indeed ought to be made, that not only agriculture, but likewise all the arts which contribute to the advantage of mankind, are the gifts of God, and that all that belongs to skillful invention has been imparted by him to the minds of men. Men have no right to be proud on this account, or to arrogate to themselves the praise of invention, as we see that the ancients did, who, out of their ingratitude to God, ranked in the number of the gods those whom they considered to be the authors of any ingenious contrivance. Hence arose deification and that prodigious multitude of gods which the heathens framed in their own fancy. Hence arose the great Ceres, and Triptolemus, and Mercury, and innumerable others, celebrated by human tongues and by human writings. The Prophet shews that such arts ought to be ascribed to God, from whom they have been received, who alone is the inventor and teacher of them. If we ought to form such an opinion about agriculture and mechanical arts, what shall we think of the learned and exalted sciences, such as Medicine, Jurisprudence, Astronomy, Geometry, Logic, and such like? Shall we not much more consider them to have proceeded from God? Shall we not in them also behold and acknowledge his goodness, that his praise and glory may be celebrated both in the smallest and in the greatest affairs?

CHAPTER 29

Isaiah 29:1-24

1. Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.

1. Heus Ariel, Ariel, urbs quam incoluit David. Addite annum ad annum, quibus jugulentur agni.

2. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.

2. Atqui in angustum redigam Ariel, et erit mœror et tristitia, eritque mihi tanquam Ariel.

3. And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

3. Et castrametabor adversum te in circuitu, et oppugnabo te in statione, et erigam contra te aggeres.

4. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

4. Tum humiliaberis, e terra loqueris, et e pulvere exibit eloquium tuum, et erit quasi Pythonis e terra vox tua, et e pulvere eloquium tuum mussitabit.

5. Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away; yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

5. Et erit quasi pulvisculus sonitus extraneorum tuorum, et quasi stipula transiens multitudo fortium, et erit ad momentum repente.

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.

6. Ab Iehova exercituum visitaberis, in tonitru, et tumultu, et fragore magno, in turbine, et tempestate, et flamma ignis vorantis.

7. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night-vision.

7. Et erit quasi somnium visionis nocturnæ multitudo omnium gentium pugnantium adversus Ariel; omnis, inquam, pugnantis, et munitiones erigentis in eam, et constringentium eam.

8. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty; or as 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.

8. Fiet ergo quemadmodum famelicus somniat, et ecce comedit; cum autem evigilat, inanis est anima ejus; et quemadmodum sitiens somniat, et ecce bibit; cum autem evigilat, lassus est, et anima ejus appetens; sic erit multitudo omnium gentium pugnantium adversus montem Sion.

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

9. Immoremini, et admiremini. Excæcati sunt et excæcant; ebrii sunt, et non vino; concussi sunt, et non sicera.

10. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

10. Quia obtexit super vos Iehova spiritu soporis, obstruxit oculos vestros: Prophetas vestros et præcipuos Videntes caligine obduxit.

11. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a 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.

11. Itaque facta est vobis omnis visio quasi verba libri obsignati; quem si tradant scienti literas, ac dicant, Lege, quæso, in eo; tum dicet, Non possum, quia est obsignatus:

12. And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

12. Quod si detur ei liber qui non didicit literas, ac dicatur, Lege, quæso, in eo; tum dicet, Nescio literas.

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:

13. Ergo dicit Dominus: propterea quod appropinquat populus iste ore suo, et labiis suis honorat me, ac cor suum longè a me removit, et fuit timor eorum erga me præcepto hominum doctus;

14. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work 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.

14. Propterea ecce adjicio ut faciam rem mirandam in populo hoc, miraculum, inquam, et portentum; nam peribit sapienta sapientum ejus, et prudentia prudentum ejus evanescet.

15. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us.

15. Væ latitantibus ab Iehova, ut abscondant consilium; nam sunt in tenebris opera eorum, ac dicunt, Quis videt nos? et, Quis scit nos?

16. Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

16. Vestra concersio an sicut lutum figuli reputatur? nempe, dicit opus de auctore suo, Non fecit me; et figmentum de fictore suo, Non intellexit?

17. Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

17. Nonne adhuc paululum, paululum, et redigetur Libanus in Carmelum, et Carmelus in sylvam reputabitur.

18. And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

18. Et audient in die illa surdi verba libri, et de caligine et tenebris oculi cæcorum videbunt.

19. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

19. Tunc repentent humiles in Iehova lætitiam, et pauperes hominum exultabunt in Sancto Israelis.

20. For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:

20. Quoniam in nihilum redactus est violentus, contemptus est derisor; perierunt qui manè festinabant ad iniquitatem.

21. That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.

21. Facientes hominem peccare in verbo, qui arguentem in porta illaquearunt, et justum flexerunt ad nihilum.

22. Therefor thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.

22. Propterea sic dicit Iehova ad domun Iacob, qui redemit Abraham: Non confundetur nunc Iacob, neque pallescet nunc facies ejus.

23. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

23. Nam ubi viderit natos suos, opus manuum mearum, in medio sui, sanctificabunt nomen meum, sanctificabunt Sanctum Iacob, Deum Israel timebunt.

24. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

24. Tum errantes spiritu discent intelligentiam; et murmuratores discent doctrinam.

CHAPTER 28

Is 28:1-29.

The twenty-eighth through thirty-third chapters form almost one continuous prophecy concerning the destruction of Ephraim, the impiety and folly of Judah, the danger of their league with Egypt, the straits they would be reduced to by Assyria, from which Jehovah would deliver them on their turning to Him; the twenty-eighth chapter refers to the time just before the sixth year of Hezekiak's reign, the rest not very long before his fourteenth year.

1. crown of pride--Hebrew for "proud crown of the drunkards," &c. [Horsley], namely, Samaria, the capital of Ephraim, or Israel. "Drunkards," literally (Is 28:7, 8; Is 5:11, 22; Am 4:1; 6:1-6) and metaphorically, like drunkards, rushing on to their own destruction.

beauty ... flower--"whose glorious beauty or ornament is a fading flower." Carrying on the image of "drunkards"; it was the custom at feasts to wreathe the brow with flowers; so Samaria, "which is (not as English Version, 'which are') upon the head of the fertile valley," that is, situated on a hill surrounded with the rich valleys as a garland (1Ki 16:24); but the garland is "fading," as garlands often do, because Ephraim is now close to ruin (compare Is 16:8); fulfilled 721 B.C. (2Ki 17:6, 24).

2. strong one--the Assyrian (Is 10:5).

cast down--namely, Ephraim (Is 28:1) and Samaria, its crown.

with ... hand--with violence (Is 8:11).

3. crown ... the drunkards--rather, "the crown of the drunkards."

4. Rather, "the fading flower, their glorious beauty (Is 28:1), which is on the head of the fat (fertile) valley, shall be as the early fig" [G. V. Smith]. Figs usually ripened in August; but earlier ones (Hebrew bikkurah, Spanish bokkore) in June, and were regarded as a delicacy (Jr 24:2; Ho 9:10; Mi 7:1).

while it is yet--that is, immediately, without delay; describing the eagerness of the Assyrian Shalmaneser, not merely to conquer, but to destroy utterly Samaria; whereas other conquered cities were often spared.

5-13. The prophet now turns to Judah; a gracious promise to the remnant ("residue"); a warning lest through like sins Judah should share the fate of Samaria.

crown--in antithesis to the "fading crown" of Ephraim (Is 28:1, 3).

the residue--primarily, Judah, in the prosperous reign of Hezekiah (2Ki 18:7), antitypically, the elect of God; as He here is called their "crown and diadem," so are they called His (Is 62:3); a beautiful reciprocity.

14. scornful--(See on Is 28:9).

15. said--virtually, in your conduct, if not in words.

covenant--There may be a tacit reference to their confidence in their "covenant" with the Assyrians in the early part of Hezekiah's prosperous reign, before he ceased to pay tribute to them, as if it ensured Judah from evil, whatever might befall the neighboring Ephraim (Is 28:1). The full meaning is shown by the language ("covenant with death--hell," or sheol) to apply to all lulled in false security spiritually (Psa 12:4; Ec 8:8; Jr 8:11); the godly alone are in covenant with death (Job 5:23; Ho 2:18; 1Co 3:22).

overflowing scourge--two metaphors: the hostile Assyrian armies like an overwhelming flood.

pass through--namely, through Judea on their way to Egypt, to punish it as the protector of Samaria (2Ki 17:4).

lies--They did not use these words, but Isaiah designates their sentiments by their true name (Am 2:4).

16. Literally, "Behold Me as Him who has laid"; namely, in My divine counsel (Re 13:8); none save I could lay it (Is 63:5).

stone--Jesus Christ; Hezekiah [Maurer], or the temple [Ewald], do not realize the full significancy of the language; but only in type point to Him, in whom the prophecy receives its exhaustive accomplishment; whether Isaiah understood its fulness or not (1Pe 1:11, 12), the Holy Ghost plainly contemplated its fulfilment in Christ alone; so in Is 32:1; compare Ge 49:24; Psa 118:22; Mt 21:42; Ro 10:11; Ep 2:20.

tried--both by the devil (Lu 4:1-13) and by men (Lu 20:1-38), and even by God (Mt 27:46); a stone of tested solidity to bear the vast superstructure of man's redemption. The tested righteousness of Christ gives its peculiar merit to His vicarious sacrifice. The connection with the context is, though a "scourge" shall visit Judea (Is 28:15), yet God's gracious purpose as to the elect remnant, and His kingdom of which "Zion" shall be the center, shall not fail, because its rests on Messiah (Mt 7:24, 25; 2Ti 2:19).

precious--literally, "of preciousness," so in the Greek, (1Pe 2:7). He is preciousness.

corner-stone--(1Ki 5:17; 7:9; Job 38:6); the stone laid at the corner where two walls meet and connecting them; often costly.

make haste--flee in hasty alarm; but the Septuagint has "be ashamed"; so Ro 9:33, and 1Pe 2:6, "be confounded," substantially the same idea; he who rests on Him shall not have the shame of disappointment, nor flee in sudden panic (see Is 30:15; 32:17).

17. line--the measuring-line of the plummet. Horsley translates, "I will appoint judgment for the rule, and justice for the plummet." As the corner-stone stands most perpendicular and exactly proportioned, so Jehovah, while holding out grace to believers in the Foundation-stone, will judge the scoffers (Is 28:15) according to the exact justice of the law (compare Jas 2:13).

hail--divine judgment (Is 30:30; 32:19).

18. disannulled--obliterated, as letters traced on a waxen tablet are obliterated by passing the stylus over it.

trodden down--passing from the metaphor in "scourge" to the thing meant, the army which treads down its enemies.

19. From the time, &c.--rather, "As often as it comes over (that is, passes through), it shall overtake you" [Horsley]; like a flood returning from time to time, frequent hostile invasions shall assail Judah, after the deportation of the ten tribes.

vexation ... understand ... report--rather, "It shall be a terror even to hear the mere report of it" [Maurer], (1Sa 3:11). But G. V. Smith, "Hard treatment (Horsley, 'dispersion') only shall make you to understand instruction"; they scorned at the simple way in which the prophet offered it (Is 28:9); therefore, they must be taught by the severe teachings of adversity.

20. Proverbial, for they shall find all their sources of confidence fail them; all shall be hopeless perplexity in their affairs.

21. Perazim--In the valley of Rephaim (2Sa 5:18, 20; 1Ch 14:11), there Jehovah, by David, broke forth as waters do, and made a breach among the Philistines, David's enemies, as Perazim means, expressing a sudden and complete overthrow.

Gibeon--(1Ch 14:16; 2Sa 5:25, Margin); not Joshua's victory (Jos 10:10).

strange--as being against His own people; judgment is not what God delights in; it is, though necessary, yet strange to Him (La 3:33).

work--punishing the guilty (Is 10:12).

22. mockers--a sin which they had committed (Is 28:9, 10).

bands--their Assyrian bondage (Is 10:27); Judah was then tributary to Assyria; or, "lest your punishment be made still more severe" (Is 24:22).

consumption--destruction (Is 10:22, 23; Da 9:27).

23. Calling attention to the following illustration from husbandry (Psa 49:1, 2). As the husbandman does his different kinds of work, each in its right time and due proportion, so God adapts His measures to the varying exigencies of the several cases: now mercy, now judgments; now punishing sooner, now later (an answer to the scoff that His judgments, being put off so long, would never come at all, Is 5:19); His object being not to destroy His people any more than the farmer's object in threshing is to destroy his crop; this vindicates God's "strange work" (Is 28:21) in punishing His people. Compare the same image, Jr 24:6; Ho 2:23; Mt 3:12.

24. all day--emphatic; he is not always ploughing: he also "sows," and that, too, in accordance with sure rules (Is 28:25).

doth he open--supply "always." Is he always harrowing?

25. face--the "surface" of the ground: "made plain," or level, by harrowing.

fitches--rather, "dill," or "fennel"; Nigella romana, with black seed, easily beaten out, used as a condiment and medicine in the East. So the Septuagint, "cummin" was used in the same way.

cast in ... principal wheat--rather, plant the wheat in rows (for wheat was thought to yield the largest crop, by being planted sparingly [Pliny, Natural History, 18.21]); [Maurer]; "sow the wheat regularly" [Horsley]. But Gesenius, like English Version, "fat," or "principal," that is, excellent wheat.

appointed barley--rather, "barley in its appointed place" [Maurer].

in their place--rather, "in its (the field's) border" [Maurer].

26. to discretion--in the due rules of husbandry; God first taught it to man (Ge 3:23).

27. The husbandman uses the same discretion in threshing. The dill ("fitches") and cummin, leguminous and tender grains, are beaten out, not as wheat, &c., with the heavy corn-drag ("threshing instrument"), but with "a staff"; heavy instruments would crush and injure the seed.

cart wheel--two iron wheels armed with iron teeth, like a saw, joined together by a wooden axle. The "corn-drag" was made of three or four wooden cylinders, armed with iron teeth or flint stones fixed underneath, and joined like a sledge. Both instruments cut the straw for fodder as well as separated the corn.

staff--used also where they had but a small quantity of corn; the flail (Ru 2:17).

28. Bread corn--corn of which bread is made.

bruised--threshed with the corn-drag (as contrasted with dill and cummin, "beaten with the staff"), or, "trodden out" by the hoofs of cattle driven over it on the threshing-floor [G. V. Smith], (De 25:4; Mi 4:13).

because--rather, "but" [Horsley]; though the corn is threshed with the heavy instrument, yet he will not always be thus threshing it.

break it--"drive over it (continually) the wheel" [Maurer].

cart--threshing-drag.

horsemen--rather, "horses"; used to tread out corn.

29. This also--The skill wherewith the husbandman duly adjusts his modes of threshing is given by God, as well as the skill (Is 28:26) wherewith he tills and sows (Is 28:24, 25). Therefore He must also be able to adapt His modes of treatment to the several moral needs of His creatures. His object in sending tribulation (derived from the Latin tribulum, a "threshing instrument," Lu 22:31; Ro 5:3) is to sever the moral chaff from the wheat, not to crush utterly; "His judgments are usually in the line of our offenses; by the nature of the judgments we may usually ascertain the nature of the sin" [Barnes].

Wo to the crown of pride - By the crown of pride, etc., Samaria is primarily understood. "Sebaste, the ancient Samaria, is situated on a long mount of an oval figure, having first a fruitful valley, and then a ring of hills running round about it;" Maundrell, p. 58. "E regione horum ruderum mons est peramoenus, planitie admodum frugifera circumseptus, super quem olim Samaria urbs condita fuit;" Fureri Itinerarium, p. 93. The city, beautifully situated on the top of a round hill, and surrounded immediately with a rich valley and a circle of other hills beyond it, suggested the idea of a chaplet or wreath of flowers worn upon their heads on occasions of festivity, expressed by the proud crown and the fading flower of the drunkards. That this custom of wearing chaplets in their banquets prevailed among the Jews, as well as among the Greeks and Romans, appears from the following passage of the book of The Wisdom of Solomon: - "Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments,

And let no flower of the spring pass by us:

Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds before they are withered."

The Wisdom of Solomon 2:7, 8.

Behold the Lord hath a mighty and strong one "Behold the mighty one, the exceedingly strong one" - אמץ לאדני ammits ladonai, fortis Domino, i.e., fortissimmus, a Hebraism. For לאדני ladonai, to the Lord, thirty-eight MSS. Of Dr. Kennicott's and many of De Rossi's, with some of my own, and two editions, read ליהוה laihovah, to Jehovah.

The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim "The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim" - I read עטרות ataroth, crowns, plural, to agree with the verb תרמסנה teramasnah, "shall be trodden down."

The hasty fruit before the summer "The early fruit before the summer" - "No sooner doth the boccore, (the early fig), draw near to perfection in the middle or latter end of June, than the kermez or summer fig begins to be formed, though it rarely ripens before August; about which time the same tree frequently throws out a third crop, or the winter fig, as we may call it. This is usually of a much longer shape and darker complexion than the kermez, hanging and ripening upon the tree even after the leaves are shed; and, provided the winter proves mild and temperate, is gathered as a delicious morsel in the spring; "Shaw, Travels, p. 370, fol. The image was very obvious to the inhabitants of Judea and the neighboring countries, and is frequently applied by the prophets to express a desirable object; by none more elegantly than by Hos 9:10 : - "Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel;

Like the first ripe fig in her prime, I saw your fathers."

Which when he that looketh upon it seeth "Which whoso seeth, he plucketh it immediately" - For יראה yireh, which with הראה haroeh makes a miserable tautology, read, by a transposition of a letter, יארה yoreh; a happy conjecture of Houbigant. The image expresses in the strongest manner the great ease with which the Assyrians shall take the city and the whole kingdom, and the avidity with which they shall seize the rich prey without resistance.

In that day - Thus far the prophecy relates to the Israelites, and manifestly denounces their approaching destruction by Shalmaneser. Here it turns to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the remnant of God's people who were to continue a kingdom after the final captivity of the Israelites. It begins with a favorable prognostication of their affairs under Hezekiah; but soon changes to reproofs and threatenings for their intemperance, disobedience, and profaneness.

Jonathan's Targum on this verse is worthy of notice: "In that time Messiah, the Lord of hosts משיחא דיי צבאות meshicha dayai tsebaoth, shall be a crown of joy and a diadem of praise to the residue of his people." Kimchi says the rabbins in general are of this opinion. Here then the rabbins, and their most celebrated Targum, give the incommunicable name, יהוה צבאות Yehovah tsebaoth, the Lord of hosts, to our ever blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

The battle to the gate "The war to the gate of the enemy" - That is, who pursue the fleeing enemy even to the very gates of their own city. "But we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate," 2Sam 11:23; that is, we drove the enemy back to their own gates. See also 1Sam 17:52. The Targum says, The Messiah shall give the victory to those who go out to battle, that he may bring them back to their own houses in peace.

Whom shall he teach knowledge?" Whom, say they, would he teach knowledge?" - The scoffers mentioned below, Isa 28:14, are here introduced as uttering their sententious speeches; they treat God's method of dealing with them, and warning them by his prophets, with contempt and derision. What, say they, doth he treat us as mere infants just weaned? doth he teach us like little children, perpetually inculcating the same elementary lessons, the mere rudiments of knowledge; precept after precept, line after line, here and there, by little and little? imitating at the same time, and ridiculing, in Isa 28:10, the concise prophetical manner. God, by his prophet, retorts upon them with great severity their own contemptuous mockery, turning it to a sense quite different from what they intended. Yes, saith he, it shall be in fact as you say; ye shall be taught by a strange tongue and a stammering lip; in a strange country; ye shall be carried into captivity by a people whose language shall be unintelligible to you, and which ye shall be forced to learn like children. And my dealing with you shall be according to your own words: it shall be command upon command for your punishment; it shall be line upon line, stretched over you to mark your destruction, (compare 2Kgs 21:13); it shall come upon you at different times, and by different degrees, till the judgments, with which from time to time I have threatened you, shall have their full accomplishment.

Jerome seems to have rightly understood the general design of this passage as expressing the manner in which the scoffers, by their sententious speeches, turned into ridicule the warnings of God by his prophets, though he has not so well explained the meaning of the repetition of their speech in Isa 28:13. His words are on Isa 28:9 "Solebant hoc ex persona prophetarum ludentes dicere:" and on Isa 28:14 "Quod supra diximus, cum irrisione solitos principes Judaeorum prophetis dicere, manda, remanda, et caetera his similia, per quae ostenditur, nequaquam eos prophetarum credidisse sermonibus, sed prophetiam habuisse despectui, praesens ostendit capitulum, per quod appellantur viri illusores." Hieron. in loc.

And so Jarchi interprets the word משלים mishelim in the next verse: Qui dicunt verba irrisionis parabolice." And the Chaldee paraphrases Isa 28:11 to the same purpose, understanding it as spoken, not of God, but of the people deriding his prophets: "Quoniam in mutatione loquelae et in lingua subsannationis irridebant contra prophetas, qui prophetabant populo huic." - L.

For precept must be upon precept - The original is remarkably abrupt and sententious. The hemistichs are these: - לצו צו לצו צו כי latsav tsav latsav tsav ki לקו קו לקו קו lakau kau lakau kau שם זעיר שם זעיר sham zeeir sham zeeir

For, - Command to command, command to command.

Line to line, line to line.

A little there, a little there.

Kimchi says צו tsau, precept, is used here for מצוה mitsuah, command, and is used in no other place for it but here. צו tsau signifies a little precept, such as is suited to the capacity of a child; see Isa 28:9. קו kau signifies the line that a mason stretches out to build a layer of stones by. After one layer or course is placed, he raises the line and builds another; thus the building is by degrees regularly completed. This is the method of teaching children, giving them such information as their narrow capacities can receive; and thus the prophet dealt with the Israelites. See Kimchi in loc., and see a fine parallel passage, Heb 5:12-14, by which this may be well illustrated.

My old MS. Bible translates oddly: -

For sende efter sende, sende efter sende:

Abide efter abiide, abide efter abiide:

Lytyl ther, lytyl ther.

Coverdale is also singular: -

Commande that may be commanded;

Byd that maye be bydden:

Foorbyd that maye be forbydden;

Kepe backe that maye be kepte backe:

Here a litle, there a litle.

This is the rest "This is the true rest" - The sense of this verse is: God had warned them by his prophets that their safety and security, their deliverance from their present calamities and from the apprehensions of still greater approaching, depended wholly on their trust in God, their faith and obedience; but they rejected this gracious warning with contempt and mockery.

A covenant with death - To be in covenant with, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote perfect security from evil and mischief of any sort: - "For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field;

And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee." Job 5:23. "And I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field. And with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground." Hos 2:18.

That is, none of these shall hurt them. But Lucan, speaking of the Psylli, whose peculiar property it was to be unhurt by the bite of serpents, with which their country abounded, comes still nearer to the expression of Isaiah in this place: -

Gens unica terras

Incolit a saevo serpentum innoxia morsu

Marmaridae Psylli. -

Pax illis cum morte data est.

Pharsal. 9:891. "Of all who scorching Afric's sun endure,

None like the swarthy Psyllians are secure:

With healing gifts and privileges graced,

Well in the land of serpents were they placed:

Truce with the dreadful tyrant death they have,

And border safely on his realm the grave."

Rowe.

We have made a covenant with death and with hell are we at agreement - עשינו חזה asinu chozeh, we have made a vision, we have had an interview, struck a bargain, and settled all preliminaries. So they had made a covenant with hell by diabolic sacrifice, כרתנו ברית carathnu beritth. "We have cut the covenant sacrifice;" they divided it for the contracting parties to pass between the separated victim; for the victim was split exactly down the middle, so that even the spinal marrow was exactly divided through its whole length; and being set opposite to each other, the contracting parties entered, one at the head part, the other at the feet; and, meeting in the center, took the covenant oath. Thus, it is intimated, these bad people made an agreement with שאול sheol, with demons, with whom they had an interview; i.e., meeting them in the covenant sacrifice! To such a pitch had the Israelitish idolatry reached at that time!

Behold, I lay in Zion - See the notes on Gen 49:32; Psa 118:22 (note); Mat 21:42 (note); Act 4:11 (note); Rom 9:33 (note); Rom 10:11 (note); Eph 2:20 (note); 1Pet 2:6-8 (note). Kimchi understands this of Hezekiah; but it most undoubtedly belongs to Jesus Christ alone; and his application of it to himself, even the Jews could not contest.

Your covenant with death shall be disannulled "Your covenant with death shall be broken" - For כפר caphar, which seems not to belong to this place, the Chaldee reads תפר taphar, which is approved by Houbigant and Secker. See Jer 33:21, where the very same phrase is used. See Prelim. Dissert. p. l.

For the bed is shorter - A mashal or proverbial saying, the meaning of which is, that they will find all means of defense and protection insufficient to secure them, and cover them from the evils coming upon them. מסך massek, Isa 22:8, the covering, is used for the outworks of defense, the barrier of the country; and here, in the allegorical sense, it means much the same thing. Their beds were only mattresses laid on the floor; and the coverlet a sheet, or in the winter a carpet, laid over it, in which the person wrapped himself. For כהתכנס kehithcannes, it ought probably to be מהתכנס mehithcannes. Houbigant, Secker.

As in Mount Perazim - כהר kehar; but בהר bahar, In the mount, is the reading of two of Kennicott's, one of De Rossi's, and one of my own MSS.

The Lord God - אדני יהוה Adonai Jehovah. Adonai is omitted by four of Kennicott's MSS., and in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic.

Give ye ear, and hear my voice "Listen ye, and hear my voice" - The foregoing discourse, consisting of severe reproofs, and threatenings of dreadful judgments impending on the Jews for their vices, and their profane contempt of God's warnings by his messengers, the prophet concludes with an explanation and defense of God's method of dealing with his people in an elegant parable or allegory; in which he employs a variety of images, all taken from the science of agriculture. As the husbandman uses various methods in preparing his land, and adapting it to the several kinds of seeds to be sown, with a due observation of times and seasons; and when he hath gathered in his harvest, employs methods as various in separating the corn from the straw and the chaff by different instruments, according to the nature of the different sorts of grain; so God, with unerring wisdom, and with strict justice, instructs, admonishes, and corrects his people; chastises and punishes them in various ways, as the exigence of the case requires; now more moderately, now more severely; always tempering justice with mercy; in order to reclaim the wicked, to improve the good, and, finally, to separate the one from the other.

For his God doth instruct him - All nations have agreed in attributing agriculture, the most useful and the most necessary of all sciences, to the invention and to the suggestions of their deities. "The Most High hath ordained husbandry, "saith the son of Sirach, Ecclus. 7:15.

Namque Ceres fertur fruges, Liberque liquoris

Vitigeni laticem mortalibus instituisse.

Lucretius, 5:14. "Ceres has taught mortals how to produce fruits; and Bacchus has taught them how to cultivate the vine." Ὁ δ' ηπιος ανθρωποισι Δεξια σημαινει, λαους δ' επι εργον εγειρει Μιμνησκων βιοτοιο· λεγει δ' ὁτε βωλος αριστη Βουσι τε και μακελῃσι· λεγει δ' ὁτε δεξιαι ὡραι Και φυτα γυρωσαι, και σπερματα παντα βαλεσθαι.

Aratus, Phantom. v. "He, Jupiter, to the human race

Indulgent, prompts to necessary toil

Man provident of life; with kindly signs

The seasons marks, when best to turn the glebe

With spade and plough, to nurse the tender plant,

And cast o'er fostering earth the seeds abroad."

Four methods of threshing are here mentioned, by different instruments; the flail, the drag, the wain, and the treading of the cattle. The staff or flail was used for the infirmiora semina, says Jerome, the grain that was too tender to be treated in the other methods. The drag consisted of a sort of strong planks, made rough at the bottom, with hard stones or iron; it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn sheaves spread on the floor, the driver sitting upon it. Kempfer has given a print representing the manner of using this instrument, Amaen. Exot. p. 682, fig. 3. The wain was much like the former; but had wheels with iron teeth, or edges like a saw: Ferrata carpenta rotis per medium in serrarum modum se volventibus. Hieron. in loc. From this it would seem that the axle was armed with iron teeth or serrated wheels throughout. See a description and print of such a machine used at present in Egypt for the same purpose in Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie, Tab. 17 p. 123; it moves upon three rollers armed with iron teeth or wheels to cut the straw. In Syria they make use of the drag, constructed in the very same manner as above described; Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie, p. 140. This not only forced out the grain, but cut the straw in pieces for fodder for the cattle; for in the eastern countries they have no hay. See Harmer's Observ. 1 p. 425. The last method is well known from the law of Moses, which "forbids the ox to be muzzled, when he treadeth out the corn;" Deu 25:4.

The bread-corn - I read ולהם velahem, on the authority of the Vulgate and Symmachus; the former expresses the conjunction ו vau, omitted in the text, by autem; the latter by δε.

Bruise it with his horsemen "Bruise it with the hoofs of his cattle" - For פרשיו parashaiv, horsemen or teeth, read פרסיו perasaiv, hoofs. So the Syriac, Syrnmachus, Theodotion, and the Vulgate. The first is read with ש shin, the latter with ס samech, the pronunciation is nearly the same.

Pride - That proud and insolent kingdom. Drunkards - Having many and excellent vines among them, they were much exposed to this sin. Ephraim - Of the kingdom of the ten tribes. Who are - Who have their common abode. The head - Samaria, might well be called the head, as being seated upon a mountain, and the head of the kingdom, and the head of the fat valleys, because it was encompassed with many fat and rich valleys.

A strong one - The king of Assyria. Shall cast down - The crown of pride. The hand - By the hand of God, which shall strengthen him in this work.

Trodden - The expression is emphatical; the crown which was upon their own heads, shall be trodden under the feet of others; and they, whose drunkenness made them fall to the ground, shall be trodden down there.

He eateth - Which, as soon as a man sees he plucks it off, and devours it, as soon as he can get it into his hand. And so shall it be with Ephraim's glory, which his enemies shall devour greedily.

In that day - When the kingdom of Israel shall be destroyed. A diadem - God shall give eminent glory and beauty, to the kingdom of Judah.

To them - Who not only drive their enemies from their land, but pursue them into their own lands, and besiege them in their own cities.

But - Judah is guilty of the same sins with Israel, therefore they also must expect the same calamities; of which he speaks afterward. The prophet - The teachers, who should have been patterns of sobriety to the people. They err - The prophets miscarry in their sacred employment. Stumble - The priests mistake in pronouncing the sentence of the law, which was their duty.

He - God. Them - Who is there among this people that are willing to be taught the knowledge of God? A minister may as soon teach an infant as these men.

For - They must be taught like little children, because of their great dullness. Line - One line of the book after another, as children are taught to read.

Another tongue - By people of a strange language, whom he shall bring among them, seeing they will not hear him speaking, by his prophets, in their own language.

This - This doctrine. The rest - The only way, in which you will find rest.

Here a little - As this method has been used and was altogether necessary for them; so it still is, and for the future shall be. As they were children in understanding, they shall still continue to be such; they shall be ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth. That - This will be the event, or consequence of their sin: they will fall backward, which is the worst, and most dangerous way of falling; and so be broken to pieces.

Said - In your hearts. We - We are as safe from death, and hell, or the grave, as if they had entered into covenant with us. The scourge - The judgment of God. Through - The land. For - We shall secure ourselves by lying and dissimulation.

Therefore - Because your refuges are so vain, and deceitful; therefore I will direct you to a surer refuge, which God hath laid in Zion. But if you despise that refuge; then know, that I will lay judgment to the line, &c. I lay - I have promised it, and will, in the fulness of time, perform it. In Zion - In my church. A foundation - Upon which I will build my church. A stone - The Messiah. Tried - Which I have tried, and approved as every way sufficient. Corner - stone - Uniting the several parts of the building together. Sure - Upon whom you may securely rest. Believeth - This promise. Shall not - Hastily catch at any way of escaping danger, but shall patiently wait upon God in his way, 'till he deliver him.

Plummet - I will execute just judgment, as it were by a line and plummet annexed to it; that is, with exactness and care: I will severely punish, and utterly destroy all who reject that stone. For the line and plummet, or the plumb - line, was not only used in erecting buildings, but also in pulling them down; those parts of the building being thus marked out, which were to be demolished.

Pass over - It shall not only come to you, but it shall abide upon you; and when it hath passed over you, it shall return again to you, morning after morning; and shall follow you day and night, without giving you the least respite. The report - So dreadful shall the judgment be, that it shall strike you with horror, when you only hear the rumour of it.

For - For those lying refuges, to which you trust, will not be able to give you that protection, which you expect from them; no more than a man can stretch himself upon a bed that is too short for him.

Perazim - Where he fought against the Philistines, 2Sam 5:20. Gibeon - Where he fought against the Canaanites, Josh 10:10, &c. and afterwards against the Philistines, 1Chron 14:16. Strange work - For this work of bringing total destruction upon Israel, was contrary to the benignity of his own nature, and to the usual way of dealing with his people.

Lest - Lest thereby you make the judgments of God sure and unavoidable. For - God hath assured me, that he will utterly destroy the people of Israel.

Doth - The plowman doth not spend all his time in plowing the ground; but he has several times for several works. And so God has his times and seasons for several works, and his providence is various at several times, and towards several people. Therefore those scoffing Israelites were guilty of great folly, in flattering themselves, because of God's long patience towards them; for God will certainly take a time to thresh, and break them with his judgments, as at present he plowed and harrowed them, and so prepared them for it by his threatenings. Open - Understand, all day. Break - Which they used to do with a kind of harrow.

Made plain - By breaking the clods. The wheat - The best which he chuses for seed. Barley - That proportion of barley which he appointed. Place - Heb. in his border; each seed in a several place.

A threshing instrument - This then was made like a sledge shod with iron, which was drawn by men or beasts, over the sheafs of corn, to bruise them, and tear the grain out of them. A wheel - A lower wheel than a cart wheel, but of the same form, upon which possibly the threshing instrument was drawn.

Bruised - With a threshing instrument. Break it - Understand, forever. Horses - This was another way of threshing out the corn, by driving horses, or other cattle, over the sheaves to tread it.

This also - This part of the husbandman's discretion. These words contain the application of the similitude. The husbandman manages his affairs with common discretion; but God governs the world, and his church, with wonderful wisdom: he is great and marvellous, both in the contrivance of things, and in the execution of them.

1. WO to the Crown of Pride , to the Drunkards of Ephraim , whose glorious Beauty is a fading Flower , which are on the head of the fat Valleys of them that are overcome with Wine.

That proud and insolent Kingdom; for the Crown is oft put for the Kingdom, as Ier. 13. 18. &c.

Either 1. Metaphorically, drunk with proud self-confidence, and security, & prosperity: Or rather 2. Properly, by comparing this with v. 7. & Hos. 7. 5. Amos 6. 6. where the Israelites are taxed with this sin. For having many and excellent Vines among them, they were exposed to this Sin, and frequently overcome by it.

Of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, which is commonly called by the name of Ephraim, as hath been oft noted before.

Whose Glory and Greatness shall suddenly wither and perish.

Which proud and drunken Israelites have their common and chief abode. Or, which is, i. e. which flower is; or which beauty or glory is.

Either 1. in Samaria, which might well be called the Head, as being seated upon a Mountain, and the Head of the Kingdom, and The head of the fat Valleys, because it was encompassed with many fat and rich Valleys. Or. 2. Upon the chief or choicest (as this word signifies, Exod. 30. 23. C[illegible: 1+ letters]nt. 4. 14. Isa. 9. 14, 15. and elsewhere) of the fat or rich Valleys: which they made occasions and instruments of Luxury,

Heb. That are smitten, or broken, or overthrown, or knocked down; all which significations of this word fitly agree to Drunkards.

Marginal references: Heb. Uale of [illegible: 1+ letters]nesses.; Heb. broken.

2. Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong One , which as a Tempest of Hail, and a destroying Storm, as a floud of mighty Waters overflowing, shall cast down to the Earth with the hand .

To wit, at His command, prepared and ready to execute His Judgments.

The King of Assyria.

Understand it, the crown of pride, or them, the drunkards of Ephraim.

Or, by his hand, either by that Kings force or strong hand; or by the hand of God, which shall strengthen, and succeed him in this work.

3. The Crown of Pride, the Drunkards of Ephraim, shall be troden under Feet .

The Expression is emphatical; the Crown which was upon their own heads, shall be trodden under the feet of others; and they, whose Drunkenness made them stagger, and fall to the ground, shall be trodden down there.

Marginal references: Heb. with feet.

4. And the glorious Beauty which is on the head of the fat Valley, shall be a fading Flower, and as the hasty Fruit before the Summer: which when he that looketh upon it, seeth it, while it is yet in his hand, he eateth it up .

Which coming before the Season, and before other Fruits, is most acceptable.

Which, as soon as a Man sees he covets it, and plucks it off, yet doth not long enjoy it, but through greediness devours it, almost as soon as he can get it into his hand. And so shall it be with Ephraims glory▪ which his Enemies, as soon as they observe, shall covet and spoil, and devour it greedily, and with delight.

Marginal references: Heb. swalloweth.

5. In that day shall the Lord of Hosts be for a Crown of Glory, and for a Diadem of Beauty unto the residue of his People :

When the Kingdom of Israel shall be utterly destroyed.

God shall give them eminent Glory and Beauty.

Unto the Kingdom of Iudah, who shall continue in their own Country▪ when Israel is carried into Captivity.

6. And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strengh to them that turn the battel to the gate .

He explains how, or wherein God would glorify and beautify them, even by giving wisdom to their Rulers, and courage to their Souldiers; which two things contribute much to the strength and safety, and glory of a Nation.

To their Warriors; whom he describeth by this Phrase to intimate, That their Valour should be crowned with Success, and that they should not onely drive their Enemies from their own Gates and Land, but should pursue them into their own Lands, and besiege them in their own Cities, which Hezekiah did, 2 Kings 18. 8.

7. But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way : the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine: they are out of the way through strong drink, they err in vision , they stumble in judgment .

But alas! Iudah is guilty of the same sins with Israel, and therefore they also must expect the same Calamities▪ of which he speaks afterward.

They run into the same excess of Wine and strong Drink, whereby they be[illegible: 1+ letters]ot themselves, and fall into many errors and miscarriages▪ both in sacred and civil Things. The many emphatical Phrases and Repetitions of the same thing in other words, in this verse seem to evince, That he here speaks of Drunkenness, properly so called, although he afterward chargeth them with Ignorance, and Error, and Stupidity; which also were the Companions, and in part, the Effects of that S[illegible: 1+ letters].

To whom strong Drink was expresly forbidden, in the time of their sacred Ministrations, lest they should thereby be led into errors in their work, Levit. 10. 9, 10.

The Teachers, who should have been patterns of Sobriety to the people, and to whom Sobriety was absolutely necessary for the right discharge of their Office.

In their conversation, and in their holy Administrations.

They are, as we say, drowned in it; their Senses and Reason are swallowed up, and lost in it. They design onely to swallow it, but indeed are swallowed up by it.

The Prophets miscarry in their sacred Employment of Prophecying or Teaching, which is called Vision, Prov. 29. 18. and elsewhere.

The Priests mistake in pronouncing the Sentence of the Law, which was their duty, Deut. 17. 9, 10, 11.

8. For all tables are full of vomit, and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

At which the Priests and Prophets, and other Iews did eat and drink. They hardly made one sober Meal: Drunkenness was their daily practice.

No Table, or no part of the Table; no not so much as the holy Places, in which the Priests did frequently eat their Meals.

9. Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts .

To wit, the Teacher, which is easily understood, out of the following Verb, either God, or his Prophets, or Ministers.

Who is there among this People, that are capable and willing to be taught the good knowledge of God? A Minister may as soon teach a young Child, as these Men.

Marginal references: Heb. the hearing.

10. For precept must be upon precept , precept upon precept; line upon line , line upon line; here a little, and there a little.

They must be taught, like little Children, slowly, and by leasure, the same things being oft repeated, because of their great dulness.

One line of the book after another, as Children are taught to read.

Marginal references: Or, hath been.

11. For with stammering lips , and another tongue will he speak to this people .

Or, therefore, as this Particle is oft used. For this seems to be the punishment of their dulness.

Either 1. in way of condescention, as Mothers or Nurses teach Children, lisping and stammering with them. Or, 2. in way of judgment; which suits best with the next Clause.

By people of a strange Language, whom He shall bring among them, and into whose power He shall deliver them; which is a great aggravation of their Misery, see Deut. 28. 49. Ier. 5. 15. Ezek. 3. 5.

Seeing they will not hear Him speaking, by His Prophets and Ministers, in their own Language, they shall hear their Enemies speaking to them in a strange and rough Language.

Marginal references: Heb. stammerings of lips.; 1 Cor. 14. 21.; Or, he hath spoken.

12. To whom he said , This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest , and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear .

To which People the Lord, by his Ministers, said.

This Doctrine or Precept, as it is expressed, ver. 9, 10. or the word of the Lord, as it follows, ver. 13.

The onely way, in the observation of which you will find rest and satisfaction.

Heb. Cause the weary (understand either Soul or Country) to rest. As Rest is offered to you by the Prophets in God's name, do you embrace it; which is to be done by hearkening to God's Word, as appears by the following Clauses. So shall this People, which hath been so oft, and so long wearied, and harassed by great and manifold Calamities, find Rest and Peace.

They are wilfully ignorant, and obstinately refused the very means of Instruction.

13. But the word of the LORD was unto them, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little ; that they might go and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken .

The sence of the words thus rendred, may be this, They spake of God's Word, with scorn and contempt, repeating the Prophets words in a scoffing manner, and with a stammering and ridiculous tone, saying, Precept upon precept, &c. as if they had said, It seems the Prophet takes us to be meer Children, that need to be taught our first Rudiments, and that but slowly. That these were scornful men and mockers, is affirmed, ver. 14, 22. and as scoffers frequently catch the words out of other mens Mouths, and use them in way of derision; so it may be thought they did with the Prophets words. But the words may be, and by divers learned Men, are rendred a little otherwise; And the word of the Lord shall be unto them, precept upon precept, &c. As this Method hath been used with them, and was altogether necessary for them; so it still is, and for the future shall be. As they were Children in understanding, they shall still continue to be such; they shall be ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the Truth; as they formerly would not, so now they shall not profit by the Word; and their sin shall be their punishment. And this seems to suit with the following Clause, which notes the dreadful design and effect of that judicial blindness, That they may, or might go and fall backward, &c.

According to the former, which is our Translation, this Clause notes onely the event, or consequent of their Sin: According to the Latter, it notes the just Judgment of God designed and inflicted for it; that God's Word being so horribly abused by them, might be an occasion at which they might stumble and fall, and that backward, which is the worst, and most dangerous way of falling; and so be broken to pieces, or by which they might be snared and taken.

14. Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men that rule this people, which is in Ierusalem.

Which make a mock at sin, and at God's Words and Threatnings; and doubt not by your witty Devices, and by your wicked Practices, to escape God's Judgments, of which we read in the next Verse.

15. Because ye have said , We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through , it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falshood have we hid our selves .

In your hearts.

We are as safe from Death, and Hell, or the Grave, as if they had entred into Covenant with us, that they would not invade us. The word rendred Hell, most commonly signifies the Grave; which also seems most proper in this place, that so the same thing may be repeated in other words, as is most usual in Prophetical Writings.

The judgment of God, which is called a Scourge, for its sharpness and severity, and overflowing for its universality; two differing Metaphors being joyned together▪ which is not unusual, both in Scripture, and in other Authors.

To wit, the Land.

We shall secure our selves by lying and dissimulation, by compliance with our Enemies, and with their Religion too if it be necessary, and many crafty devices. Or by lies and falshood, he means their Riches and Strength, to which they trusted, to which he giveth these Titles, not that they called or thought them such; but that he might signify what they really were, and would appear to be; see the Notes on Prov. 1. 11.

16. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation , a stone , a tried stone , a precious cornerstone , a sure foundation : he that believeth , shall not make hast .

The Coherence is something obscure and difficult. It may be made either 1. thus, Therefore I will bring most terrible Judgments upon you; which are fully expressed, ver. 17. 18, 19, 20, 21. But before he comes to the Commination, to which, therefore, properly belongs, he first propoundeth a comfortable Promise concerning the sending of the Messiah, partly for the support of Believers, who are apt to tremble at God's Word, and might otherwise be apt to despond at the prediction of such dreadful Things: And partly to aggravate their Misery by comparing it with the safety and happiness, which the Godly, and Believing Iews, whom they despised and mocked, should find in Zion; and by signifying, that that blessed and sure Foundation laid in Zion, should yield them no support nor benefit, nor secure them from the Vengeance of God. Or 2. thus, Because your Refuges are so mean, and vain, and deceitful; therefore I will direct you to a better and surer Refuge, which will never fail those that trust to it, which God hath made in Zi[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ But if you shall despise and reject that Refuge, which I now offer to you All, if you will Believe; then know, that I will lay judgment to the line, &c. as it follows, ver. 17. And this seems to me, to be the most natural and easy Connexion.

I have purposed and promised it, and will, in the fulness of time, actually perform it.

In my Church, which is commonly called Zion; and in Ierusalem, where this Stone shall be first laid, which afterwards spread further, and filled the whole Earth, as it is said of it, Dan. 2. 35.

Upon which I will Build my Church, consisting both of Iews and Gentiles, the Foundation of all the hopes, and comfort, and happiness of my People; the Foundation of my Covenant made with my Church, and of all my Promises.

Not Hezekiah, but the Messiah, as appears: 1. From those Scriptures of the Old-Testament, in which Christ is called a Stone, as Psal. 118. 22. Isa. 8. 14. Dan. 2. 34, 35, 45. Zach. 3. 9. 2. From the New-Testament, where this Text is directly expounded of Christ, as Rom. 9. 32, 33. 1 Pet. 2. 4. 3. From the last Clause, wherein He requires Faith in this Stone, which is not to be given to any meer Man, Ier. 17. 5. and wherein He implies, That this Stone was not yet come, nor to come speedily into the World; whereas Hezekiah was King at the time of this Prophecy. 4. From the usual practice of the Prophets, and especially of this Prophet, which is, to comfort and fortify God's People, against the dread of approaching Calamities, by that great and fundamental Promise of the Messiah, in whom alone all other Promises are, Yea, and Amen; whereof we have seen some Instances already, and shall see more hereafter.

Which I have tried, and approved as every way sufficient to be a Corner-Stone, and a Foundation-Stone. Such Stones in Buildings use to be chosen with care, and to be thoroughly examined by the Builder.

Giving not only strength, but beauty, and glory to the Building, as Corner-Stones frequently do, Psal 144. 12.

Uniting the several parts of the Building together, making Ephraim and Iudah, now sadly divided, one stick, Ezek. 37. 19, 24. and Iews and Gentiles, now implacable Enemies, one Church and People, Eph. 2. 14. &c.

Upon whom you may securely Rest; One who will not fail, nor deceive you, as your lying Refuges will.

To wit, this Promise; or in this Stone, as it is explained, 1 Pet. 2. 6.

Shall not make more hast than he ought, or, as we say, more hast than good speed; shall not hastily and greedily catch at any way of escaping his danger, whether it be right or wrong, but shall patiently wait upon God in His way, till He deliver him. Withal, here is a plain intimation, that the Mercy here promised was not to be given presently, but after some considerable time; and therefore, that they should quietly, and patiently submit to God's Will, under their present difficulties, and expect the accomplishment of it in God's due time; compare Hag. 2. 3. The Word here rendred, make hast, is by the Seventy Interpreters rendred, be confounded, whom the Apostles follow, Rom. 9. 33. and 1 Pet. 2. 6. either because they thought it most convenient, in a matter where the difference was not considerable, to follow that Translation which was most used, and best understood by the generality of Iewish and Gentile Christians; or because the same Word hath both these significations in the Eastern Languages, as the most Learned, and Worthy Dr. Pocock hath proved; or because the one follows upon the other; and precipitation or hast, commonly exposeth Men to shame and confusion; which also is implied in the following Verses, wherein the dreadful Judgments of God are denounced against those, who should not believe, and would make hast to prevent or remove their Dangers by any means whatsoever.

Marginal references: Psal. 118. 22. Mat. 21. 42. Act. 4. 11. Rom. 9. 33. Eph. 2. 20. 1 Pet. 2. 6. 7, 8.; Heb. stone of trial.; Rom. 10. 11.

17. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet , and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place .

I will Execute just Judgment, as it were by a Line and Plummet, annexed to it, i. e. with exactness and care. And this may be understood, either 1. That God would so order and settle things in His Church, that Justice and Judgment should prevail, and not Iniquity, as hitherto it had done: or rather 2. That as God would build up, and preserve all Believers upon that Foundation-Stone, so He would severely punish, and utterly destroy all those unbelieving Iews, who should reject that Stone. For the line and plu[illegible: 1+ letters]met, or the plumb-line, was not onely used in erecting Buildings, but also in pulling them down; those parts of the Building being thus marked out, which were to be demolished; and therefore is used in Scripture, to signify the Destruction of a Place or People, as is evident from 2 Kings 21. 13. Isa. 34. 11. Lame[illegible: 1+ letters]t. 2. 8. Amos 7. 7, 8. And this sence agrees best with the following Clause and Verse.

My Judgments, which in Scripture are compared to a storm of Hail or Rain, shall discover the vanity of all your crafty and wicked Devices, and shall sweep you away with the Besom of Destruction, in spight of them.

18. And your covenant with death shall be disanulled , and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be troden down by it .

Made void or of none effect: it shall stand you in no stead.

Which you flattered your selves, that it should not come unto you, ver. 15.

Marginal references: Heb. a treading down to it.

19. From the time that it goeth forth, it shall take you : for morning by morning it shall pass over , by day and by night, and it shall be a vexation, onely to understand the report .

As soon as this overflowing Scourge or Judgment shall go forth from me into the Land, it shall assuredly, and with the first, take or seize upon you scoffers, or carry you away, which agrees well, both with the Hebrew word, which is frequently taken in that Sence, and with the Metaphor of a Flood, which is here used.

It shall not onely come to you, contrary to your presumption, ver. 15. but it shall abide upon you; and when it hath passed over you, it shall return again to you, morning after morning; and shall follow you day and night, without giving you the least respite.

So dreadful shall the Judgment be, that it shall strike you with great horror, when you onely hear the rumor of its approach, or of the sad effects of it, upon other persons or parts of the Land.

Marginal references: Or, when he shall make you to understand Doctrine.

20. For the bed is shorter, than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower, than that he can wrap himself in it .

For those lying Refuges, to which you trust, will not be able to give you that Protection and Comfort, which you expect from them; no more than a man can stretch himself (as these luxurious Israelites used to do, Amos 6. 4.) upon a bed which is too narrow for him, or wrap and keep himself warm, with a covering or bed cloaths, which are not large enough for him.

Marginal references: Heb. narrow when he wrappeth himself.

21. For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim , he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon , that he may do his work, his strange work ; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

To act and fight against you, as he is said to sit still, when he doth forbear to act.

Where he fought against the Philistines, 2 Sam. 5. 20.

Where he fought against the Canaanites, Ios. 10. 10. &c. and afterwards against the Philistines, 1 Chron. 14. 16.

The execution of his Judgment against Israel, which he calleth his strange work, to intimate, either 1. That God would punish them not with ordinary punishments; but in a most dreadful and singular, and extraordinary manner; such a Judgment being called a marvellous work, Isa. 29, 14. although the Hebrew word there used, be not the same with this, but of a much differing signification: Or rather 2. That this work of bringing total and irrecoverable Destruction upon Israel, was contrary to the benignity of his own Nature, and to his usual way of dealing with his people, whom he used and delighted to protect, and spare, and bless; and whom, even when he is angry with them, and punisheth them, he handleth more gently, than he doth other persons, in Judgment remembring Mercy to them, as was noted, Isa. 27. 7, 8. see also Chap. 26. 11.

Marginal references: 2 Sam. 5. 20. 1 Chr. 14. 11.; Josh. 10. 12. 2 Sam. 5. 25. 1 Chr. 14. 16.

22. Now therefore be ye not mockers , lest your bands be made strong : for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth .

For your own sakes do not make a mock of God's Word and Threatnings, as you use to do.

Lest thereby you make the Judgments of God, which are oft compared to bands, as Psal. 66. 11. and 73. 4. and elsewhere, more sure and unavoidable, and more severe and terrible, as bands are, when they are tyed faster, and more strongly upon a prisoner.

God hath assured me, That He will utterly root out, and destroy the people of Israel; as indeed he did in Hezekiah's reign.

Marginal references: chap. 10. 22, 23.

23. Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken and hear my speech .

Observe what I say, and do you judge if it be not reasonable.

24. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow ? doth he open and break the clods of his ground ?

The plowman doth not spend all his time in plowing the Ground, in order to the sowing it, or, as it follows, in open[illegible: 1+ letters]g it, and breaking its clods; but he hath several times for several works, a time for plowing, and a time for sowing and harrowing, and a time for reaping, and a time for threshing or beating, and bruising his Corn for his own use. Which wisdom God hath put into him. This is the Sum of the similitude propounded here, and in the following Verses. The design and meaning whereof seems to be this, to teach them, That God had his times and seasons for several Works, and that the methods of his providence were various at several times, and towards several persons or people; and therefore, that those scoffing Israelites were guilty of great Folly, in flattering themselves, and despising God's Threatnings, because of God's long Patience towards them, and because of their present impunity and prosperity; for God would certainly and speedily take a time to Thresh, and break them with his Judgments, as at present He Plowed and Harrowed them, and so prepared them for it by His threatnings.

Understand, all day, or continually, out of the foregoing Clause,

Which they used to do with a kind of Harrow, or other proper Instrument. See Ier. 4. 3. Hos. 10. 11, 12.

25. When he hath made plain the face thereof , doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat , and the appointed barley , and the rie in their place ?

By breaking the Clods, which made it ragged and uneven.

Either 1. the Wheat, which is the principal or chief of all these Grains: Or, 2. The best Wheat, which He prudently chuseth for Seed.

That proportion of Barley which He appointed. Or, as others, the marked Barley; or, the choice Barley, which they laid aside in a sack for Seed; and therefore set it apart with a peculiar Mark upon it.

Heb. in his Border; each Seed in a several and proper place.

Marginal references: Or, the wheat in the principal place, and barley in the appointed place.; Or, spelt.; Heb. border.

26. For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him .

The Sense of the Words thus rendred is this, All this he performeth by that discretion, which God hath put into him: and therefore be assured, That God will order all His Affairs with Judgment, and will in due season execute the Punishments which now He threatens, and will perfect His own Works. But the Words by some, are rendred otherwis[illegible: 1+ letters] And he beateth it out (as this Word may be rendred, 1 Kings 12. 11. Prov. 19. 18. and 29. 17.) in such sort, as his God doth teach him, in a discreet manner, which being generally mentioned here, is particularly described in the following Verse.

Marginal references: Or, and he bindeth it in such sort as his God doth teach him.

27. For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument , neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin: but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, & the cummin with a rod .

Which then and there was made like a Sled shod with Iron, which was drawn by Men or Beasts, over the sheafs of Corn, to bruise them, and beat the Grain out of them.

A lesser and lower Wheel than a Cart-wheel, but of the same form, upon which possibly the threshing Instrument was drawn.

As being unable to bear harder usage.

28. Bread-corn is bruised ; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen .

With a threshing Instrument, by comparing this with the foregoing Verse, and the following Words.

Or rather, but, or nevertheless, as this Word is frequently used. The Sense is, The Husbandman doth indeed thresh the Bread-corn, but he doth it with moderation, and onely for a time, not for ever.

Understand, for ever, out of the foregoing Clause, as is usual in Scripture.

Which governed the Horse or Horses, that drew the threshing Instrument. Or, with horses: For it is evident, and hath been observed before, that this Hebrew word signifies Horses, as well as Horsemen. And this was another way of Threshing out the Corn, by driving Horses, or other Cattel, over the Sheaves to tread it out: of which, see Deut. 25. 4. Mich. 4. 13.

29. This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working .

This part of the Husbandmans discretion expressed, ver. 27, 28. as well as that expressed, ver. 24, 25.

These words contain the Application of the Similitude. The Husbandman manageth all his Affairs with common discretion; but God governs the World, and His Church, with wonderful Wisdom: He is great and marvellous, both in the design or contrivance of Things, and in the Execution of them.

Marginal references: Jer. 32. 19.; Heb. he hath made counsel wonderful, he hath made wisdom great.

Book of Woes or Historical Discourses Relating to Asshur and the Egyptian Alliance - Isaiah 28-33 part v

These chapters carry us to the earliest years of Hezekiah’s reign, probably to the second and third; as Samaria has not yet been destroyed. They run parallel to the book of Micah, which also takes its start from the destruction of Samaria, and are as faithful a mirror of the condition of the people under Hezekiah, as chapters 7-12 were of their condition under Ahaz. The time of Ahaz was characterized by a spiritless submission to the Assyrian yoke; that of Hezekiah by a casual striving after liberty. The people tried to throw off the yoke of Assyria; not with confidence in Jehovah, however, but in reliance upon the help of Egypt. This Egypticizing policy is traced step by step by Isaiah, in chapters 28-32. The gradual rise of these addresses may be seen from the fact, that they follow the gradual growth of the alliance with Egypt through all its stages, until it is fully concluded. By the side of this casual ground of trust, which Jehovah will sweep away, the prophet exhibits the precious corner-stone in Zion as the true, firm ground of confidence. We might therefore call these chapters (Isaiah 28-33) “the book of the precious corner-stone,” just as we called chapters 7-12 “the book of Immanuel.” But the prophecy in Isa 28:16 does not determine and mould the whole of this section, in the same manner in which the other section is moulded and governed by the prophecy of the Son of the Virgin. We therefore prefer to call this cycle of prophecy “the book of woes;” for censure and threatening are uttered here in repeated utterances of “woe,” not against Israel only, but more especially against Judah and Jerusalem, until at last, in chapter 33, the “hoi concerning Jerusalem” is changed into a “hoi concerning Asshur.” All the independent and self-contained addresses in this cycle of prophecy commence with hoi (“woe:” chapters 28, 29, 30, 31-32, 33). The section which does not begin with hoi (viz., Isa 32:9-20) is the last and dependent part of the long address commencing with Isa 31:1. On the other hand, Isa 29:15-24 also commences with hoi, though it does not form a distinct address in itself, since chapter 29 forms a complete whole. The subdivisions of the sections, therefore, have not a uniform commencement throughout; but the separate and independent addresses all commence with hoi. The climax of these prophecies of woe is chapter 30. Up to this point the exclamation of woe gradually ascends, but in chapters 31-32 it begins to fall; and in chapter 33 (which contains an epilogue that was only added in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign) it has changed into the very opposite. The prophet begins with hoi, but it is a woe concerning the devastator. This utmost woe, however, was not fulfilled at the point of time when the fulfilment of “the utmost” predicted in chapters 28-32 was apparently close at hand; but Jerusalem, though threatened with destruction, was miraculously saved. Yet the prophet had not merely to look on, as Jonah had. He himself predicted this change in the purpose of God, inasmuch as the direction of the “woe” in his mouth is altered, like that of the wrath of God, which turns from Jerusalem to Asshur, and destroys it.

Isa 28:1

Isaiah, like Micah, commences with the fall of the proud and intoxicated Samaria. “Woe to the proud crown of the drunken of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of its splendid ornament, which is upon the head of the luxuriant valley of those slain with wine.” The allusion is to Samaria, which is called (1.) “the pride-crown of the drunken of Ephraim,” i.e., the crown of which the intoxicated and blinded Ephraimites were proud (Isa 29:9; Isa 19:14), and (2.) “the fading flower” (on the expression itself, compare Isa 1:30; Isa 40:7-8) “of the ornament of his splendour,” i.e., the flower now fading, which had once been the ornament with which they made a show. This flower stood “upon the head of the valley of fatnesses of those slain with wine” (cf., Isa 16:8), i.e., of the valley so exuberant with fruitfulness, belonging to the Ephraimites, who were thoroughly enslaved by wine. Samaria stood upon a beautiful swelling hill, which commanded the whole country round in a most regal way (Amo 4:1; Amo 6:1), in the centre of a large basin, of about two hours’ journey in diameter, shut in by a gigantic circle of still loftier mountains (Amo 3:9). The situation was commanding; the hill terraced up to the very top; and the surrounding country splendid and fruitful (Ritter, Erdkunde, xvi. 660, 661). The expression used by the prophet is intentionally bombastic. He heaps genitives upon genitives, as in Isa 10:12; Isa 21:17. The words are linked together in pairs. Shemânı̄m (fatnesses) has the absolute form, although it is annexed to the following word, the logical relation overruling the syntactical usage (compare Isa 32:13; 1Ch 9:13). The sesquipedalia verba are intended to produce the impression of excessive worldly luxuriance and pleasure, upon which the woe is pronounced. The epithet nōbhēl (fading: possibly a genitive, as in Isa 28:4), which is introduced here into the midst of this picture of splendour, indicates that all this splendour is not only destined to fade, but is beginning to fade already.

Isa 28:2-4

In the next three vv. the hoi is expanded. “Behold, the Lord holds a strong and mighty thing like a hailstorm, a pestilent tempest; like a storm of mighty overflowing waters, He casts down to the earth with almighty hand. With feet they tread down the proud crown of the drunken of Ephraim. And it happens to the fading flower of its splendid ornament, which is upon the head of the luxuriant valley, as to an early fig before it is harvest, which whoever sees it looks at, and it is no sooner in his hand than he swallows it.” “A strong and mighty thing:” ואמּי חזק we have rendered in the neuter (with the lxx and Targum) rather than in the masculine, as Luther does, although the strong and mighty thing which the Lord holds in readiness is no doubt the Assyrian. He is simply the medium of punishment in the hand of the Lord, which is called yâd absolutely, because it is absolute in power - as it were, the hand of all hands. This hand hurls Samaria to the ground (on the expression itself, compare Isa 25:12; Isa 26:5), so that they tread the proud crown to pieces with their feet (tērâmasnâh, the more pathetic plural form, instead of the singular tērâmēs; Ges. 47, Anm. 3, and Caspari on Oba 1:13). The noun sa‛ar, which is used elsewhere in the sense of shuddering, signifies here, like סערה, an awful tempest; and when connected with קטב, a tempest accompanied with a pestilential blast, spreading miasma. Such destructive power is held by the absolute hand. It is soon all over then with the splendid flower that has already begun to fade נבל ציצת, like הקּטן כּלי in Isa 22:24). It happens to it as to a bikkūrâh (according to the Masora, written with mappik here, as distinguished from Hos 9:10, equivalent to kebhikkūrâthâh; see Job 11:9, “like an early fig of this valley;” according to others, it is simply euphonic). The gathering of figs takes place about August. Now, if any one sees a fig as early as June, he fixes his eyes upon it, and hardly touches it with his hand before he swallows it, and that without waiting to masticate it long. Like such a dainty bit will the luxuriant Samaria vanish. The fact that Shalmanassar, or his successor Sargon, did not conquer Samaria till after the lapse of three years (2Ki 18:10), does not detract from the truth of the prophecy; it is enough that both the thirst of the conqueror and the utter destruction of Samaria answered to it.

Isa 28:5-6

The threat is now followed by a promise. This is essentially the same in character as Isa 4:2-6. The place of the false glory thus overthrown is now filled by a glory that is divine and true. “In that day will Jehovah of hosts be the adorning crown and the splendid diadem to the remnant of His people; and the spirit of justice to them that sit on the judgment-seat, and heroic strength to them that drive back war at the gate.” “The remnant of His people” (שׁאר with a fixed kametz, as in Isa 21:17) is not Judah, as distinguished from Ephraim that had utterly perished; but Judah and the remaining portion of Ephraim, as distinguished from the portion which had perished. After the perishable thin in which they gloried had been swept away, the eternal person of Jehovah Himself would be the ornament and pride of His people. He, the Lord of the seven spirits (Isa 11:1), would be to this remnant of His people the spirit of right and heroic strength. There would be an end to unjust judging and powerless submission. The judges are called “those who sit ‛al-hammishpât” in the sense of “on the seat of judgment” (Psa 9:5; Psa 122:5); the warriors are called “those who press back milchâmâh shâ‛râh” (war at the gate), i.e., either war that has reached their own gate (Isa 22:7), or war which they drive back as far as the gate of the enemy (2Sa 11:23; 1 Macc. 5:22). The promise in this last passage corresponds to Mic 5:4-5. The athnach in Isa 28:6 ought to stand at hammishpât; the second clause of the v. may be completed from the first, ולגבוּרה being equivalent to גבורה ולרוח, and משיבי to למישבי. We might regard 2 Chron 30 as a fulfilment of what is predicted in Isa 28:6, if the feast of passover there described really fell in the age succeeding the fall of Samaria; for this feast of passover did furnish a representation and awaken a consciousness of that national unity which had been interrupted from the time of Rehoboam. But if we read the account in the Chronicles with unprejudiced minds, it is impossible to shut our eyes to the fact that this feast of passover took place in the second month of the first year of Hezekiah’s reign, and therefore not after the depopulation of the northern kingdom by Shalmanassar, but after the previous and partial depopulation by Tiglath-pileser. In fact, the fulfilment cannot be looked for at all in the space between the sixth and fourteenth years of Hezekiah, since the condition of Judah during that time does not answer at all to the promises given above. The prophet here foretells what might be hoped for, when Asshur had not only humbled Ephraim, but Judah also. The address consists of two connected halves, the promising beginnings of which point to one and the same future, and lay hold of one another.

Isa 28:7-8

With the words, “and they also,” the prophet commences the second half of the address, and passes from Ephraim to Judah. “And they also reel with wine, and are giddy with meth; priest and prophet reel with meth, are swallowed up by wine: they are giddy with meth, reel when seeing visions, stagger when pronouncing judgment. For all tables are full of filthy vomit, without any more place.” The Judaeans are not less overcome with wine than the Ephraimites, and especially the rulers of Judah. In wicked violation of the law of God, which prohibited the priests from drinking strong drink when performing priestly service, and that on pain of death (Lev 10:9, cf., Eze 44:21), they were intoxicated even in the midst of their prophetic visions (הראה, literally “the thing seeing,” then the act of seeing; equivalent to ראי, like חזה in Isa 28:15 = חזוּת; Olshausen, §176,c), and when passing judicial sentences. In the same way Micah also charges the prophets and priests with being drunkards (Mic 3:1., cf., Isa 2:11). Isaiah’s indignation is manifested in the fact, that in the words which he uses he imitates the staggering and stumbling of the topers; like the well-known passage, Sta pes sta mi pes stas pes ne labere mi pes. Observe, for example, the threefold repetition of shâgu - tâghu, shâgu - tâghu, shâgu - pâqu. The hereditary priests and the four prophets represent the whole of the official personages. The preterites imply that drunkenness had become the fixed habit of the holders of these offices. The preposition בּ indicates the cause (“through,” as in 2Sa 13:28 and Est 1:10), and min the effect proceeding from the cause (in consequence of wine). In v. 8 we can hear them vomit. We have the same combination of the and צ in the verb kotzen, Gothic kozan. All the tables of the carousal are full, without there being any further room (cf., Isa 5:8); everything swims with vomit. The prophet paints from nature, here without idealizing. He receives their conduct as it were in a mirror, and then in the severest tones holds up this mirror before them, adults though they were.

Isa 28:9-10 “Whom then would he teach knowledge? And to whom make preaching intelligible? To those weaned from the milk? To those removed from the breast? For precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there!” They sneer at the prophet, that intolerable moralist. They are of age, and free; and he does not need to bring knowledge to them (da‛ath as in Isa 11:9), or make them understand the proclamation. They know of old to what he would lead. Are they little children that have just been weaned (on the constructives, see Isa 9:2; Isa 5:11; Isa 30:18; Ges. §114, 1), and who must let themselves be tutored? For the things he preaches are nothing but endless petty teazings. The short words (tsâv, as in Hos 5:11), together with the diminutive זעיר (equivalent to the Arabic sugayyir, mean, from sagı̄r, small), are intended to throw ridicule upon the smallness and vexatious character of the prophet’s interminable and uninterrupted chidings, as ל (= על, אל; comp. יסף ל, Isa 26:15) implies that they are; just as the philosophers in Act 17:18 call Paul a σπερμολόγος, a collector of seeds, i.e., a dealer in trifles. And in the repetition of the short words we may hear the heavy babbling language of the drunken scoffers.

Isa 28:11-13

The prophet takes the ki (“for”) out of their mouths, and carries it on in his own way. It was quite right that their ungodliness should show itself in such a way as this, for it would meet with an appropriate punishment. “For through men stammering in speech, and through a strange tongue, will He speak to this people. He who said to them, There is rest, give rest to weary ones, and there is refreshing! But they would not hear. Therefore the word of Jehovah becomes to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there, that they may go and stumble backwards, and be wrecked to pieces, and be snared and taken.” Jehovah would speak to the scoffing people of stammering tongue a language of the same kind, since He would speak to them by a people that stammered in their estimation, i.e., who talked as barbarians (cf., βαρβαρίζειν and balbutire; see Isa 33:19, compared with Deu 28:49). The Assyrian Semitic had the same sound in the ear of an Israelite, as Low Saxon (a provincial dialect) in the ear of an educated German; in addition to which, it was plentifully mixed up with Iranian, and possibly also with Tatar elements. This people would practically interpret the will of Jehovah in its own patios to the despisers of the prophet. Jehovah had directed them, through His prophets, after the judgments which they had experienced with sufficient severity (Isa 1:5.), into the true way to rest and refreshing (Jer 6:16), and had exhorted them to give rest to the nation, which had suffered so much under Ahaz through the calamities of war (2 Chron 28), and not to drag it into another way by goading it on to rise against Assyria, or impose a new burden in addition to the tribute to Assyria by purchasing the help of Egypt. But they would not hearken (אבוּא = אבוּ, Isa 30:15-16; Ges. §23, 3, Anm. 3). Their policy was a very different one from being still, or believing and waiting. And therefore the word of Jehovah, which they regarded as en endless series of trivial commands, would be turned in their case into an endless series of painful sufferings. To those who thought themselves so free, and lived so free, it would become a stone on which they would go to pieces, a net in which they would be snared, a trap in which they would be caught (compare Isa 8:14-15).

Isa 28:14-17

The prophet now directly attacks the great men of Jerusalem, and holds up a Messianic prophecy before their eyes, which turns its dark side to them, as chapter 7 did to Ahaz. “Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful lords, rulers of this people which is in Jerusalem! For ye say, We have made a covenant with death, and with Hades have we come to an agreement. The swelling scourge, when it cometh hither, will do us no harm; for we have made a lie our shelter, and in deceit have we hidden ourselves. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am He who hath laid in Zion a stone, a stone of trial, a precious corner-stone of well-founded founding; whoever believes will not have to move. And I make justice the line, and righteousness the level; and hail sweeps away the refuge of lies, and the hiding-place is washed away by waters.” With lâkhēn (therefore) the announcement of punishment is once more suspended; and in Isa 28:16 it is resumed again, the exposition of the sin being inserted between, before the punishment is declared. Their sin is lâtsōn, and this free-thinking scorn rests upon a proud and insolent self-confidence, which imagines that there is no necessity to fear death and hell; and this self-confidence has for its secret reserve the alliance to be secretly entered into with Egypt against Assyria. What the prophet makes them say here, they do not indeed say exactly in this form; but this is the essential substance of the carnally devised thoughts and words of the rulers of the people of Jerusalem, as manifest to the Searcher of hearts. Jerusalem, the city of Jehovah, and such princes as these, who either proudly ignore Jehovah, or throw Him off as useless, what a contrast! Chōzeh, and châzūth in Isa 28:18, signify an agreement, either as a decision or completion (from the radical meaning of the verb châzâh), or as a choice, beneplacitum (like the Arabic ray), or as a record, i.e., the means of selecting (like the talmudic châzı̄th, a countersign, a ra'ăyâh, a proof or argument: Luzzatto). In shōt shōtēph (“the swelling scourge,” chethib שׁיט), the comparison of Asshur to a flood (Isa 28:2, Isa 28:8, Isa 28:7), and the comparison of it to a whip or scourge, are mixed together; and this is all the more allowable, because a whip, when smacked, really does move in waving lines (compare Jer 8:6, where shâtaph is applied to the galloping of a war-horse). The chethib עבר in Isa 28:15 (for which the keri reads יעבר, according to Isa 28:19) is to be read עבר (granting that it shall have passed, or that it passes); and there is no necessity for any emendation. The Egyptian alliance for which they are suing, when designated according to its true ethical nature, is sheqer (lie) and kâzâb (falsehood); compare 2Ki 17:4 (where we ought perhaps to read sheqer for qesher, according to the lxx), and more especially Eze 17:15., from which it is obvious that the true prophets regarded self-willed rebellion even against heathen rule as a reprehensible breach of faith.

The lâkhēn (therefore), which is resumed in Isa 28:16, is apparently followed as strangely as in Isa 7:14, by a promise instead of a threat. But this is only apparently the case. It is unquestionably a promise; but as the last clause, “he that believeth will not flee,” i.e., will stand firm, clearly indicates, it is a promise for believers alone. For those to whom the prophet is speaking here the promise is a threat, a savour of death unto death. Just as on a former occasion, when Ahaz refused to ask for a sign, the prophet announced to him a sign of Jehovah’s own selection; so here Jehovah opposes to the false ground of confidence on which the leaders relied, the foundation stone laid in Zion, which would bear the believing in immoveable safety, but on which the unbelieving would be broken to pieces (Mat 21:44). This stone is called 'ebhen boochan, a stone of proving, i.e., a proved and self-proving stone. Then follow other epithets in a series commencing anew with pinnath = 'ebhen pinnath (compare Psa 118:22): angulus h. e. lapis angularis pretiositatis fundationis fundatae. It is a corner-stone, valuable in itself (on yiqrath, compare 1Ki 5:17), and affording the strongest foundation and inviolable security to all that is built upon it (mūsâd a substantive in form like mūsâr, and mūssâd a hophal participle in the form of those of the verba contracta pe yod). This stone was not the Davidic sovereignty, but the true seed of David which appeared in Jesus (Rom 9:33; 1Pe 2:6-7). The figure of a stone is not opposed to the personal reference, since the prophet in Isa 8:14 speaks even of Jehovah Himself under the figure of a stone. The majestically unique description renders it quite impossible that Hezekiah can be intended. Micah, whose book forms the side piece of this cycle of prophecy, also predicted, under similar historical circumstances, the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem Ephratah (Mic 5:1). What Micah expresses in the words, “His goings forth are from of old,” is indicated here in the preterite yissad connected with hineni (the construction is similar to that in Oba 1:2; Eze 25:7; compare Isa 28:2 above, and Jer 49:15; Jer 23:19). It denotes that which has been determined by Jehovah, and therefore is as good as accomplished. What is historically realized has had an eternal existence, and indeed an ideal pre-existence even in the heart of history itself (Isa 22:11; Isa 25:1; Isa 37:26). Ever since there had been a Davidic government at all, this stone had lain in Zion. The Davidic monarchy not only had in this its culminating point, but the ground of its continuance also. It was not only the Omega, but also the Alpha. Whatever escaped from wrath, even under the Old Testament, stood upon this stone. This (as the prophet predicts in יסהישׁ לא המּאמין יחישׁ׃ the fut. kal) would be the stronghold of faith in the midst of the approaching Assyrian calamities (cf., Isa 7:9); and faith would be the condition of life (Hab 2:4). But against unbelievers Jehovah would proceed according to His punitive justice. He would make this (justice and righteousness, mishpât and tsedâqâh) a norm, i.e., a line and level. A different turn, however, is given to qâv, with a play upon Isa 28:10, Isa 28:11. What Jehovah is about to do is depicted as a building which He is carrying out, and which He will carry out, so far as the despisers are concerned, on no other plan than that of strict retribution. His punitive justice comes like a hailstorm and like a flood (cf., Isa 28:2; Isa 10:22). The hail smites the refuge of lies of the great men of Jerusalem, and clears it away (יעה, hence יע, a shovel); and the flood buries their hiding-place in the waters, and carries it away (the accentuation should be סתר tifchah, מים mercha).

Isa 28:18-20

And the whip which Jehovah swings will not be satisfied with one stroke, but will rain strokes. “And your covenant with death is struck out, and your agreement with Hades will not stand; the swelling scourge, when it comes, ye will become a thing trodden down to it. As often as it passes it takes you: for every morning it passes, by day and by night; and it is nothing but shuddering to hear such preaching. For the bed is too short to stretch in, and the covering too tight when a man wraps himself in it.” Although berı̄th is feminine, the predicate to it is placed before it in the masculine form (Ges. §144). The covenant is thought of as a document; for khuppar (for obliterari (just as the kal is used in Gen 6:14 in the sense of oblinere; or in Pro 30:20, the Targum, and the Syriac, in the sense of abstergere; and in the Talmud frequently in the sense of wiping off = qinnēăch, or wiping out = mâchaq - which meanings all go back, along with the meaning negare, to the primary meaning, tegere, obducere). The covenant will be “struck out,” as you strike out a wrong word, by crossing it over with ink and rendering it illegible. They fancy that they have fortified themselves against death and Hades; but Jehovah gives to both of these unlimited power over them. When the swelling scourge shall come, they will become to it as mirmâs, i.e., they will be overwhelmed by it, and their corpses become like dirt of the streets (Isa 10:6; Isa 5:5); והייתם has the mercha upon the penult., according to the older editions and the smaller Masora on Lev 8:26, the tone being drawn back on account of the following לו. The strokes of the scourge come incessantly, and every stroke sweeps them, i.e., many of them, away. מדּי (from דּי, construct דּי, sufficiency, abundance) followed by the infinitive, quotiescunque irruet; lâqach, auferre, as in Jer 15:15, and in the idiom lâqach nephesh. These scourgings without end - what a painful lecture Jehovah is reading them! This is the thought expressed in the concluding words: for the meaning cannot be, that “even (raq as in Psa 32:6) the report (of such a fate) is alarming,” as Grotius and others explain it; or the report is nothing but alarming, as Gussetius and others interpret it, since in that case שׁמועה שׁמע (cf., Isa 23:5) would have been quite sufficient, instead of שׁמוּעה הבין. There is no doubt that the expression points back to the scornful question addressed by the debauchees to the prophet in Isa 28:9, “To whom will he make preaching intelligible?” i.e., to whom will he preach the word of God in an intelligible manner? (as if they did not possess bı̄nâh without this; שׁמוּעה, ἀκοή, as in Isa 53:1). As Isa 28:11 affirmed that Jehovah would take up the word against them, the drunken stammerers, through a stammering people; so here the scourging without end is called the shemū‛âh, or sermon, which Jehovah preaches to them. At the same time, the word hâbhı̄n is not causative here, as in Isa 28:9, viz., “to give to understand,” but signifies simply “to understand,” or have an inward perception. To receive into one’s comprehension such a sermon as that which was now being delivered to them, was raq-zevâ‛âh, nothing but shaking or shuddering (raq as in Gen 6:5); זוּע (from which comes זועה, or by transposition זעוה) is applied to inward shaking as well as to outward tossing to and fro. Jerome renders it “tantummodo sola vexatio intellectum dabit auditui,” and Luther follows him thus: “but the vexation teaches to take heed to the word,” as if the reading were תּבין. The alarming character of the lecture is depicted in Isa 28:20, in a figure which was probably proverbial. The situation into which they are brought is like a bed too short for a man to stretch himself in (min as in 2Ki 6:1), and like a covering which, according to the measure of the man who covers himself up in it (or perhaps still better in a temporal sense, “when a man covers or wraps himself up in it,” cf., Isa 18:4), is too narrow or too tight. So would it be in their case with the Egyptian treaty, in which they fancied that there were rest and safety for them. They would have to acknowledge its insufficiency. They had made themselves a bed, and procured bed-clothes; but how mistaken they had been in the measure, how miserably and ridiculously they had miscalculated!

Isa 28:21

It would be with them as it was with the Philistines when David turned their army into water at Baal-perazim (2Sa 5:20; 1Ch 14:11), or when on another occasion he drove them before him from Gibeon to Gezer (1Ch 14:13.). “For Jehovah will rise up as in the mountain of Perazim, and be wroth as in the valley at Gibeon to work His work; astonishing is His work; and to act His act: strange is His act.” The Targum wrongly supposes the first historical reminiscence to refer to the earthquake in the time of Uzziah, and the second to Joshua’s victory over the Amorites. The allusion really is to the two shameful defeats which David inflicted upon the Philistines. There was a very good reason why victories over the Philistines especially should serve as similes. The same fate awaited the Philistines at the hands of the Assyrians, as predicted by the prophet in Isa 14:28. (cf., Isa 20:1-6). And the strangeness and verity of Jehovah’s work were just this, that it would fare no better with the magnates of Judah at the hand of Asshur, than it had with the Philistines at the hand of David on both those occasions. The very same thing would now happen to the people of the house of David as formerly to its foes. Jehovah would have to act in opposition to His gracious purpose. He would have to act towards His own people as He once acted towards their foes. This was the most paradoxical thing of all that they would have to experience.

Isa 28:22

But the possibility of repentance was still open to them, and at least a modification of what had been threatened was attainable. “And now drive ye not mockeries, lest your fetters be strengthened; for I have heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a judgment of destruction, and an irrevocable one, upon the whole earth.” It is assumed that they are already in fetters, namely, the fetters of Asshur (Nah 1:13). Out of these fetters they wanted to escape by a breach of faith, and with the help of Egypt without Jehovah, and consequently they mocked at the warnings of the prophet. He therefore appeals to them at any rate to stop their mocking, lest they should fall out of the bondage in which they now ere, into one that would bind them still more closely, and lest the judgment should become even more severe than it would otherwise be. For it was coming without fail. It might be modified, and with thorough repentance they might even escape; but that it would come, and that upon the whole earth, had been revealed to the prophet by Jehovah of hosts. This was the shemū‛âh which the prophet had heard from Jehovah, and which he gave them to hear and understand, though hitherto he had only been scoffed at by their wine-bibbing tongues.

Isa 28:23-26  The address of the prophet is here apparently closed. But an essential ingredient is still wanting to the second half, to make it correspond to the first. There is still wanting the fringe of promise coinciding with Isa 28:5, Isa 28:6. The prophet has not only to alarm the scoffers, that if possible he may pluck some of them out of the fire through fear (Jdg 5:23); he has also to comfort believers, who yield themselves as disciples to him and to the word of God (Isa 8:16). He does this here in a very peculiar manner. He has several times assumed the tone of the mashal, more especially in chapter 26; but here the consolation is dressed up in a longer parabolical address, which sets forth in figures drawn from husbandry the disciplinary and saving wisdom of God. Isaiah here proves himself a master of the mashal. In the usual tone of a mashal song, he first of all claims the attention of his audience as a teacher of wisdom. V. 23 “Lend me your ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my address!” Attention is all the more needful, that the prophet leaves his hearers to interpret and apply the parable themselves. The work of a husbandman is very manifold, as he tills, sows, and plants his field. Vv. 24-26 “Does the ploughman plough continually to sow? to furrow and to harrow his land? Is it not so: when he levels the surface thereof, he scatters black poppy seed, and strews cummin, and puts in wheat in rows, and barley in the appointed piece, and spelt on its border? And He has instructed him how to act rightly: his God teaches it him.” The ploughing (chârash) which opens the soil, i.e., turns it up in furrows, and the harrowing (siddēd) which breaks the clods, take place to prepare for the sowing, and therefore not interminably, but only so long as it necessary to prepare the soil to receive the seed. When the seed-furrows have been drawn in the levelled surface of the ground (shivvâh), then the sowing and planting begin; and this also takes place in various ways, according to the different kinds of fruit. Qetsach is the black poppy (nigella sativa, Arab. habbe soda, so called from its black seeds), belonging to the ranunculaceae. Kammōn was the cummin (c uminum cyminum) with larger aromatic seeds, Ar. kammūn, neither of them our common carraway (Kümmel, carum). The wheat he sows carefully in rows (sōrâh, ordo; ad ordinem, as it is translated by Jerome), i.e., he does not scatter it about carelessly, like the other two, but lays the grains carefully in the furrows, because otherwise when they sprang up they would get massed together, and choke one another. Nismân, like sōrâh, is an acc. loci: the barley is sown in a piece of the field specially marked off for it, or specially furnished with signs (sı̄mânı̄m); and kussemeth, the spelt (ζειά, also mentioned by Homer, Od. iv 604, between wheat and barley), along the edge of it, so that spelt forms the rim of the barley field. It is by a divine instinct that the husbandman acts in this manner; for God, who established agriculture at the creation (i.e., Jehovah, not Osiris), has also given men understanding. This is the meaning of v'yisserō lammishpât: and (as we may see from all this) He (his God: the subject is given afterwards in the second clause) has led him (Pro 31:1) to the right (this is the rendering adopted by Kimchi, whilst other commentators have been misled by Jer 30:11, and last of all Malbim Luzzatto, “Cosi Dio con giustizia corregge;” he would have done better, however, to say, con moderazione).

Isa 28:27-29

Again, the labour of the husbandman is just as manifold after the reaping has been done. “For the black poppy is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cummin; but black poppy is knocked out with a stick, and cummin with a staff. Is bread corn crushed? No; he does not go on threshing it for ever, and drive the wheel of his cart and his horses over it: he does not crush it. This also, it goeth forth from Jehovah of hosts: He gives wonderful intelligence, high understanding.” Ki (for) introduces another proof that the husbandman is instructed by God, from what he still further does. He does not use the threshing machine (chârūts, syn. mōrag, Ar. naureg, nōreg), or the threshing cart (agâlâh: see Winer’s Real-Wörterbuch, art. Dreschen), which would entirely destroy the more tender kinds of fruit, but knocks them out with a staff (baculo excutit: see at Isa 27:12). The sentence lechem yūdâq is to be accentuated as an interrogative: Is bread corn crushed? Oh no, he does not crush it. This would be the case if he were to cause the wheel (i.e., the wheels, gilgal, constr. to galgal) of the threshing cart with the horses harnessed in front to rattle over it with all their might (hâmam, to set in noisy violent motion). Lechem, like the Greek sitos, is corn from which bread is made (Isa 30:23; Psa 104:14). אדושׁ is metaplastic (as if from אדשׁ) for דושׁ (see Ewald, §312,b). Instead of וּפרשׁיו, the pointing ought to be וּפרשׁיו (from פרשׁ with kametz before the tone = Arab. faras, as distinguished from פרשׁ with a fixed kametz, equivalent to farras, a rider): “his horses,” here the threshing horses, which were preferred to asses and oxen.Even in this treatment of the fruit when reaped, there is an evidence of the wonderful intelligence (הפלא), as written הפלא) and exalted understanding (on תּוּשׁהיה, from ושׁי, see at Job 26:3) imparted by God. The expression is one of such grandeur, that we perceive at once that the prophet has in his mind the wisdom of God in a higher sphere. The wise, divinely inspired course adopted by the husbandman in the treatment of the field and fruit, is a type of the wise course adopted by the divine Teacher Himself in the treatment of His nation. Israel is Jehovah’s field. The punishments and chastisements of Jehovah are the ploughshare and harrow, with which He forcibly breaks up, turns over, and furrows this field. But this does not last for ever. When the field has been thus loosened, smoothed, and rendered fertile once more, the painful process of ploughing is followed by a beneficent sowing and planting in a multiform and wisely ordered fulness of grace. Again, Israel is Jehovah’s child of the threshing-floor (see Isa 21:10). He threshes it; but He does not thresh it only: He also knocks; and when He threshes, He does not continue threshing for ever, i.e., as Caspari has well explained it, “He does not punish all the members of the nation with the same severity; and those whom He punishes with greater severity than others He does not punish incessantly, but as soon as His end is attained, and the husks of sin are separated from those that have been punished, and the punishment ceases, and only the worst in the nation, who are nothing but husks, and the husks on the nation itself, are swept away by the punishments” (compare Isa 1:25; Isa 29:20-21). This is the solemn lesson and affectionate consolation hidden behind the veil of the parable. Jehovah punishes, but it is in order that He may be able to bless. He sifts, but He does not destroy. He does not thresh His own people, but He knocks them; and even when He threshes, they may console themselves in the face of the approaching period of judgment, that they are never crushed or injured.

Ephraim Reproved and Threatened; The Punishment of Ephraim; (b. c.  725.)

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! 2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. 3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: 4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. 5 In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, 6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. 7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

Here, I. The prophet warns the kingdom of the ten tribes of the judgments that were coming upon them for their sins, which were soon after executed by the king of Assyria, who laid their country waste, and carried the people into captivity. Ephraim had his name from fruitfulness, their soil being very fertile and the products of it abundant and the best of the kind; they had a great many fat valleys (v. 1, 4), and Samaria, which was situated on a hill, was, as it were, on the head of the fat valleys. Their country was rich and pleasant, and as the garden of the Lord: it was the glory of Canaan, as that was the glory of all lands; their harvest and vintage were the glorious beauty on the head of their valleys, which were covered over with corn and vines. Now observe,

1. What an ill use they made of their plenty. What God gave them to serve him with they perverted, and abused, by making it the food and fuel of their lusts. (1.) They were puffed up with pride by it. The goodness with which God crowned their years, which should have been to him a crown of praise, was to them a crown of pride. Those that are rich in the world are apt to be high-minded, 1 Tim. vi. 17. Their king, who wore the crown, was proud that he ruled over so rich a country; Samaria, their royal city, was notorious for pride. Perhaps it was usual at their festivals, or revels, to wear garlands made up of flowers and ears of corn, which they wore in honour of their fruitful country. Pride was a sin that generally prevailed among them, and therefore the prophet, in his name who resists the proud, boldly proclaims a woe to the crown of pride. If those who wear crowns be proud of them, let them not think to escape this woe. What men are proud of, be it ever so mean, is to them as a crown; he that is proud thinks himself as great as a king. But woe to those who thus exalt themselves, for they shall be abased; their pride is the preface to their destruction. (2.) They indulged themselves in sensuality. Ephraim was notorious for drunkenness, and excess of riot; Samaria, the head of the fat valleys, was full of those that were overcome with wine, were broken with it, so the margin. See how foolishly drunkards act, and no marvel when, in the very commission of the sin, they make fools and brutes of themselves; they yield, [1.] To be conquered by the sin; it overcomes them, and brings them into bondage (2 Pet. ii. 19); they are led captive by it, and the captivity is the more shameful and inglorious because it is voluntary. Some of these wretched slaves have themselves owned that there is not a greater drudgery in the world than hard drinking. They are overcome not with the wine, but with the love of it. [2.] To be ruined by it. They are broken by wine. Their constitution is broken by it, and their health ruined. They are broken in the callings and estates, and their souls are in danger of being eternally undone, and all this for the gratification of a base lust. Woe to these drunkards of Ephraim! Ministers must bring the general woes of the word home to particular places and persons. We must say, Woe to this or that person, if he be a drunkard. There is a particular woe to the drunkards of Ephraim, for they are of God's professing people, and it becomes them worse than any other; they know better, and therefore should give a better example. Some make the crown of pride to belong to the drunkards, and to mean the garlands with which those were crowned that got the victory in their wicked drinking matches and drank down the rest of the company. They were proud of their being mighty to drink wine; but woe to those who thus glory in their shame.

2. The justice of God in taking away their plenty from them, which they thus abused. Their glorious beauty, the plenty they were proud of, is but a fading flower; it is meat that perishes. The most substantial fruits, if God blast them and blow upon them, are but fading flowers, v. 1. God can easily take away their corn in the season thereof (Hos. ii. 9), and recover locum vastatum—ground that has been alienated and has run to waste, those goods of his which they prepared for Baal. God has an officer ready to make a seizure for him, has one at his beck, a mighty and strong one, who is able to do the business, even the king of Assyria, who shall cast down to the earth with the hand, shall easily and effectually, and with the turn of a hand, destroy all that which they are proud of and pleased with, v. 2. He shall throw it down to the ground, to be broken to pieces with a strong hand, with a hand that they cannot oppose. Then the crown of pride, and the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under foot (v. 3); they shall lie exposed to contempt, and shall not be able to recover themselves. Drunkards, in their folly, are apt to talk proudly, and vaunt themselves most when they most shame themselves; but they thereby render themselves the more ridiculous. The beauty of their valleys, which they gloried in, will be, (1.) Like a fading flower (as before, v. 1); it will wither of itself, and has in itself the principles of its own corruption; it will perish in time by its own moth and rust. (2.) Like the hasty fruit, which, as soon as it is discovered, is plucked and eaten up; so the wealth of this world, besides that it is apt to decay of itself, is subject to be devoured by others as greedily as the first-ripe fruit, which is earnestly desired, Mic. vii. 1. Thieves break through and steal. The harvest which the worldling is proud of the hungry eat up (Job v. 5); no sooner do they see the prey but they catch at it, and swallow up all they can lay their hands on. It is likewise easily devoured, as that fruit which, being ripe before it has grown, is very small, and is soon eaten up; and there being little of it, and that of little worth, it is not reserved, but used immediately.

II. He next turns to the kingdom of Judah, whom he calls the residue of his people (v. 5), for they were but two tribes to the other ten.

1. He promises them God's favours, and that they shall be taken under his guidance and protection when the beauty of Ephraim shall be left exposed to be trodden down and eaten up, v. 5, 6. In that day, when the Assyrian army is laying Israel waste, and Judah might think that their neighbour's house being on fire their own was in danger, in that day of treading down and perplexity, then God will be to the residue of his people all they need and can desire; not only to the kingdom of Judah, but to those of Israel who had kept their integrity, and, as was probably the case with some, betook themselves to the land of Judah, to be sheltered by good king Hezekiah. When the Assyrian, that mighty one, was in Israel as a tempest of hail, noisy and battering, as a destroying storm bearing down all before it, especially at sea, and as a flood of mighty waters overflowing the country (v. 2), then in that day will the Lord of hosts, of all hosts, distinguish by peculiar favours his people who have distinguished themselves by a steady and singular adherence to him, and that which they most need he will himself be to them. This very much enhances the worth of the promises that God, covenanting to be to his people a God all-sufficient, undertakes to be himself all that to them which they can desire. (1.) He will put all the credit and honour upon them which are requisite, not only to rescue them from contempt, but to gain them esteem and reputation. He will be to them for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty. Those that wore the crown of pride looked upon God's people with disdain, and trampled upon them, for they were the song of the drunkards of Ephraim; but God will so appear for them by his providence as to make it evident that they have his favour towards them, and that shall be to them a crown of glory; for what greater glory can any people have than for God to acknowledge them as his own? And he will so appear in them, by his grace, as to make it evident that they have his image renewed on them, and that shall be to them a diadem of beauty; for what greater beauty can any person have than the beauty of holiness? Note, Those that have God for their God have him for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty; for they are made to him kings and priests. (2.) He will give them all the wisdom and grace necessary to the due discharge of the duty of their place. He will himself be a spirit of judgment to those that sit in judgment; the privy counsellors shall be guided by wisdom and discretion and the judges shall govern by justice and equity. It is a great mercy to any people when those that are called to places of power and public trust are qualified for their places, when those that sit in judgment have a spirit of judgment, a spirit of government. (3.) He will give them all the courage and boldness requisite to carry them resolutely through the difficulties and oppositions they are likely to meet with. He will be for strength to those that turn the battle to the gate, to the gates of the enemy whose cities they besiege, or to their own gates, when they sally out upon the enemies that besiege them. The strength of the soldiery depends as much upon God as the wisdom of the magistracy; and where God gives both these he is to that people a crown of glory. This may well be supposed to refer to Christ, and so the Chaldee paraphrast understands it: In that day shall the Messiah be a crown of glory. Simeon calls him the glory of his people Israel; and he is made of God to us wisdom, righteousness, and strength.

2. He complains of the corruptions that were found among them, and the many corrupt ones (v. 7): But they also, many of those of Judah, have erred through wine. There are drunkards of Jerusalem, as well as drunkards of Ephraim; and therefore the mercy of God is to be so much the more admired that he has not blasted the glory of Judah as he has done that of Ephraim. Sparing mercy lays us under peculiar obligations when it is thus distinguishing. Ephraim's sins are found in Judah, and yet not Ephraim's ruins. They have erred through wine. Their drinking to excess is itself a practical error; they think to raise their fancy by it, but they ruin their judgment, and so put a cheat upon themselves; they think to preserve their health by it and help digestion, but they spoil their constitution and hasten diseases and deaths. It is also the occasion of a great many errors in principle; their understanding is clouded and their conscience debauched by it; and therefore, to support themselves in it, they espouse corrupt notions, and form their minds in favour of their lusts. Probably some were drawn in to worship idols by their love of the wine and strong drink which there was plenty of at their idolatrous festivals; and so they erred through wine, as Israel, for love of the daughters of Moab, joined themselves to Baal-peor. Three things are here observed as aggravations of this sin:—(1.) That those were guilty of it whose business it was to warn others against it and to teach them better, and therefore who ought to have set a better example: The priest and the prophet are swallowed up of wine; their office is quite drowned and lost in it. The priests, as sacrificers, were obliged by a particular law to be temperate (Lev. x. 9), and, as rulers and magistrates, it was not for them to drink wine, Prov. xxxi. 4. The prophets were a kind of Nazarites (as appears by Amos ii. 11), and, as reprovers by office, were concerned to keep at the utmost distance from the sins they reproved in others; yet there were many of them ensnared in this sin. What! a priest, a prophet, a minister, and yet drunk! Tell it not in Gath. Such a scandal are they to their coat. (2.) That the consequences of it were very pernicious, not only by the ill influence of their example, but the prophet, when he was drunk, erred in vision; the false prophets plainly discovered themselves to be so when they were in drink. The priest stumbled in judgment and forgot the law (Prov. xxxi. 5); he reeled and staggered as much in the operations of his mind as in the motions of his body. What wisdom or justice can be expected from those that sacrifice reason, and virtue, and conscience, and all that is valuable to such a base lust as the love of strong drink is? Happy art thou, O land! when thy princes eat and drink for strength, and not for drunkenness, Eccl. x. 17. (3.) That the disease was epidemic, and the generality of those that kept any thing of a table were infected with it: All tables are full of vomit, v. 8. See what an odious thing the sin of drunkenness is, what an affront it is to human society; it is rude and ill-mannered enough to sicken the beholders, for the tables where they eat their meat are filthily stained with the marks of this sin, which the sinners declare as Sodom. Their tables are full of vomit, so that the victor, instead of being proud of his crown, ought rather to be ashamed of it. It bodes ill to any people when so sottish a sin as drunkenness has become national.

The Degeneracy of Judah. (b. c. 725.)

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. 13 But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

The prophet here complains of the wretched stupidity of this people, that they were unteachable and made no improvement of the means of grace which they possessed; they still continued as they were, their mistakes not rectified, their hearts not renewed, nor their lives reformed. Observe,

I. What it was that their prophets and ministers designed and aimed at. It was to teach them knowledge, the knowledge of God and his will, and to make them understand doctrine, v. 9. This is God's way of dealing with men, to enlighten men's minds first with the knowledge of his truth, and thus to gain their affections, and bring their wills into a compliance with his laws; thus he enters in by the door, whereas the thief and the robber climb up another way.

II. What method they took, in pursuance of this design. They left no means untried to do them good, but taught them as children are taught, little children that are beginning to learn, that are taken from the breast to the book (v. 9), for among the Jews it was common for mothers to nurse their children till they were three years old, and almost ready to go to school. And it is good to begin betimes with children, to teach them, as they are capable, the good knowledge of the Lord, and to instruct them even when they are but newly weaned from the milk. The prophets taught them as children are taught; for, 1. They were constant and industrious in teaching them. They took great pains with them, and with great prudence, teaching them as they needed it and were able to bear it (v. 10): Precept upon precept. It must be so, or (as some read) it has been so. They have been taught, as children are taught to read, by precept upon precept, and taught to write by line upon line, a little here and a little there, a little of one thing and a little of another, that the variety of instructions might be pleasing and inviting,—a little at one time and a little at another, that they might not have their memories overcharged,—a little from one prophet and a little from another, that every one might be pleased with his friend and him whom he admired. Note, For our instruction in the things of God it is requisite that we have precept upon precept and line upon line, that one precept and line should be followed, and so enforced by another; the precept of justice must be upon the precept of piety, and the precept of charity upon that of justice. Nay, it is necessary that the same precept and the same line should be often repeated and inculcated upon us, that we may the better understand them and the more easily recollect them when we have occasion for them. Teachers should accommodate themselves to the capacity of the learners, give them what they most need and can best bear, and a little at a time, Deut. vi. 6, 7. 2. They courted and persuaded them to learn, v. 12. God, by his prophets, said to them, "This way that we are directing you to, and directing you in, is the rest, the only rest, wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this will be the refreshing of your own souls, and will bring rest to your country from the wars and other calamities with which it has been long harassed." Note, God by his word calls us to nothing but what is really for our advantage; for the service of God is the only true rest for those that are weary of the service of sin and there is no refreshing but under the easy yoke of the Lord Jesus.

III. What little effect all this had upon the people. They were as unapt to learn as young children newly weaned from the milk, and it was as impossible to fasten any thing upon them (v. 9): nay, one would choose rather to teach a child of two years old than undertake to teach them; for they have not only (like such a child) no capacity to receive what is taught them, but they are prejudiced against it. As children, they have need of milk, and cannot bear strong meat, Heb. v. 12. 1. They would not hear (v. 12), no, not that which would be rest and refreshing to them. They had no mind to hear it. The word of God commanded their serious attention, but could not gain it; they were where it was preached, but they turned a deaf ear to it, or as it came in at one ear it went out at the other. 2. They would not heed. It was unto them precept upon precept, and line upon line (v. 13); they went on in a road of external performances; they kept up the old custom of attending upon the prophet's preaching and it was continually sounding in their ears, but that was all; it made no impression upon them; they had the letter of the precept, but no experience of the power and spirit of it; it was continually beating upon them, but it beat nothing into them. Nay, 3. It should seem, they ridiculed the prophet's preaching, and bantered it. The word of the Lord was unto them Tsau latsau, kau lakau; in the original it is in rhyme; they made a song of the prophet's words, and sang it when they were merry over their wine. David was the song of the drunkards. It is great impiety, and a high affront to God, thus to make a jest of sacred things, to speak of that vainly which should make us serious.

IV. How severely God would reckon with them for this. 1. He would deprive them of the privilege of plain preaching, and speak to them with stammering lips and another tongue, v. 11. Those that will not understand what is plain and level to their capacity, but despise it as mean and trifling, are justly amused with that which is above them. Or God will send foreign armies among them, whose language they understand not, to lay their country waste. Those that will not hear the comfortable voice of God's word shall be made to hear the dreadful voice of his rod. Or these words may be taken as denoting God's gracious condescension to their capacity in his dealing with them; he lisped to them in their own language, as nurses do to their children, with stammering lips, to humor them; he changed his voice, tried first one way and then another; the apostle quotes it as a favour (1 Cor. xiv. 21), applying it to the gift of tongues, and complaining that yet for all this they would not hear. 2. He would bring utter ruin upon them. By their profane contempt of God and his word they are but hastening on their own ruin, and ripening themselves for it; it is that they may go and fall backward, may grow worse and worse, may depart further and further from God, and proceed from one sin to another, till they be quite broken, and snared, and taken, and ruined, v. 13. They have here a little and there a little of the word of God; they think it too much, and say to the seers, See not; but it proves too little to convert them, and will prove enough to condemn them. If it be not a savour of life unto life, it will be a savour of death unto death.

Judgments Announced; The Corner-stone in Zion. (b. c. 725.)

14 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord , ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God , Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. 20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. 21 For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. 22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

The prophet, having reproved those that made a jest of the word of God, here goes on to reprove those that made a jest of the judgments of God, and set them at defiance; for he is a jealous God, and will not suffer either his ordinances or his providences to be brought into contempt. He addressed himself to the scornful men who ruled in Jerusalem, who were the magistrates of the city, v. 14. It is bad with a people when their thrones of judgment become the seats of the scornful, when rulers are scorners; but that the rulers of Jerusalem should be men of such a character, that they should make light of God's judgments and scorn to take notice of the tokens of his displeasure, is very sad. Who will be mourners in Zion if they are scorners? Observe,

I. How these scornful men lulled themselves asleep in carnal security, and even challenged God Almighty to do his worst (v. 15) You have said, We have made a covenant with death and the grave. They thought themselves as sure of their lives, even when the most destroying judgments were abroad, as if they had made a bargain with death, upon a valuable consideration, not to come till they sent for him or not to take them away by any violence, but by old age. If we be at peace with God, and have made a covenant with him, we have in effect made a covenant with death that it shall come in the fittest time, that whenever it comes, it shall be no terror to us, nor do us any real damage; death is ours if we be Christ's (1 Cor. iii. 22, 23): but to think of making death our friend, or being in league with it, while by sin we are making God our enemy and are at war with him, is the greatest absurdity that can be. It was fond conceit which these scorners had, "When the overflowing scourge shall pass through our country, and others shall fall under it, yet it shall not come to us, not reach us, though it extend far, not bear us down, though it is an overflowing scourge." It is the greatest folly imaginable for impenitent sinners to think that either in this world or the other they shall fare better than their neighbours. But what is the ground of their confidence? Why, truly, We have made lies our refuge. Either, 1. Those things which the prophets told them would be lies and falsehood to them and would deceive, but which they themselves looked upon as substantial fences. The protection of their idols, the promises with which their false prophets soothed them, their policy, their wealth, their interest in the people; these they confided in, and not in God; nay, these they confided in against God. Or, 2. Those things which should be lies and falsehood to the enemy, who was flagellum Dei—the scourge of God, the overflowing scourge; they would secure themselves by imposing upon the enemy with their stratagems of war, or their feigned submissions in treaties of peace. The rest of the cities of Judah were taken because they made an obstinate defence; but the rulers of Jerusalem hope to succeed better. They think themselves greater politicians than those of the country towns; they will compliment the king of Assyria with a promise to surrender their city, or to become tributaries to him, with a purpose at the same time to shake off his yoke as soon as the danger is over, not caring though they be found liars to him, as the expression is, Deut. xxxiii. 29. Note, Those put a cheat upon themselves that think to gain their point by putting cheats upon those they deal with. Those that pursue their designs by trick and fraud, by mean and paltry shifts, may perhaps compass them, but cannot expect comfort in them. Honesty is the best policy. But such refuges as these are those driven to that depart from God, and throw themselves out of his protection.

II. How God, by the prophet, awakens them out of this sleep, and shows them the folly of their security.

1. He tells them upon what grounds they might be secure. He does not disturb their false confidences, till he has first shown them a firm bottom on which they may repose themselves (v. 16): Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone. This foundation is, (1.) The promises of God in general—his word, upon which he has caused his people to hope—his covenant with Abraham, that he would be a God to him and his; this is a foundation, a foundation of stone, firm and lasting, for faith to build upon; it is a tried stone, for all the saints have stayed themselves upon it and it never failed them. (2.) The promise of Christ in particular; for to him this is expressly applied in the New Testament, 1 Pet. ii. 6-8. He is that stone which has become the head of the corner. The great promise of the Messiah and his kingdom, which was to begin at Jerusalem, was sufficient to make God's people easy in the worst of times; for they knew well that till he came the sceptre should not depart from Judah. Zion shall continue while this foundation is yet to be laid there. "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, for the comfort of those that dare not make lies their refuge, Behold, and look upon me as one that has undertaken to lay in Zion a Stone," Jesus Christ is a foundation of God's laying. This is the Lord's doing. He is laid in Zion, in the church, in the holy hill. He is a tried stone, a trying stone (so some), a touch-stone, that shall distinguish between true and counterfeit. He is a precious stone, for such are the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Rev. xxi. 19), a corner-stone, in whom the sides of the building are united, the head-stone of the corner. And he that believes these promises, and rests upon them, shall not make haste, shall not run to and fro in a hurry, as men at their wits' end, shall not be shifting hither and thither for his own safety, nor be driven to his feet by any terrors, as the wicked man is said to be (Job xviii. 11), but with a fixed heart shall quietly wait the event, saying, Welcome the will of God. He shall not make haste in his expectations, so as to anticipate the time set in the divine counsels, but, though it tarry, will wait the appointed hour, knowing that he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. He that believes will not make more haste than good speed, but be satisfied that God's time is the best time, and wait with patience for it. The apostle from the LXX. explains this, 1 Pet. ii. 6. He that believes on him shall not be confounded; his expectations shall not be frustrated, but far out-done.

2. He tells them that upon the grounds which they now built on they could not be safe, but their confidences would certainly fail them (v. 17): Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. This denotes,

(1.) The building up of his church; having laid the foundation (v. 16), he will raise the structure, as builders do, by line and plummet, Zech. iv. 10. Righteousness shall be the line and judgment the plummet. The church, being grounded on Christ, shall be formed and reformed by the scripture, the standing rule of judgment and righteousness. Judgment shall return unto righteousness, Ps. xciv. 15. Or,

(2.) The punishing of the church's enemies, against whom he will proceed in strict justice, according to the threatenings of the law. He will give them their deserts, and bring upon them the judgments they have challenged, but in wisdom too, and by an exact rule, that the tares may not be plucked up with the wheat. And when God comes thus to execute judgment,

[1.] These scornful men will be made ashamed of the vain hopes with which they had deluded themselves. First, They designed to make lies their refuge; but it will indeed prove a refuge of lies, which the hail shall sweep away, that tempest of hail spoken of v. 2. Those that make lies their refuge build upon the sand, and the building will fall when the storm comes, and bury the builder in the ruins of it. Those that make any thing their hiding place but Christ shall find that the waters will overflow it, as every shelter but the ark was over-topped and overthrown by the waters of the deluge. Such is the hope of the hypocrite; this will come of all his confidences. Secondly, They boasted of a covenant with death, and an agreement with the grave; but it shall be disannulled, as made without his consent who has the keys and sovereign command of hell and death. Those do but delude themselves that think by any wiles to evade the judgments of God. Thirdly, They fancied that when the overflowing scourge should pass through the land it should not come near them; but the prophet tells them that then, when others were falling by the common calamity, they should not only share in it, but should be trodden down by it: "You shall be to it for a treading down; it shall triumph over you as much as over any other, and you shall become its easy prey." They are further told (v. 19), 1. That it shall begin with them; they shall be so far from escaping it that they shall be the first that shall fall by it: "From the time it goes forth it shall take you, as if it came on purpose to seize you." 2. That it shall pursue them closely: "Morning by morning shall it pass over; as duly as the day returns you shall hear of some desolation or other made by it; for divine justice will follow its blow; you shall never be safe nor easy by day nor by night; there shall be a pestilence walking in darkness and a destruction wasting at noonday." 3. That there shall be no avoiding it: "The understanding of the report of its approach shall not give you any opportunity to make your escape, for there shall be no way of escape open; but it shall be only a vexation, you shall see it coming, and not see how to help yourselves." Or, "The very report of it at a distance will be a terror to you; what then will the thing itself be?" Evil tidings are a terror and vexation to scorners, but he whose heart is fixed, trusting in God, is not afraid of them; whereas, when the overflowing scourge comes, then all the comforts and confidences of scorners fail them, v. 20. (1.) That in which they thought to repose themselves reaches not to the length of their expectations: The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself upon it, so that he is forced to cramp and contract himself. (2.) That in which they thought to shelter themselves proves insufficient to answer the intention: The covering is narrower than that a man can wrap himself in it. Those that do not build upon Christ as their foundation, but rest in a righteousness of their own, will prove in the end thus to have deceived themselves; they can never be easy, safe, nor warm; the bed is too short, the covering is too narrow; like our first parents' fig-leaves, the shame of their nakedness will still appear.

[2.] God will be glorified in the accomplishment of his counsels, v. 21. When God comes to contend with these scorners, First, He will do his work, and bring to pass his act, he will work for his own honour and glory, according to his own purpose; the work shall appear to all that see it to be the work of God as the righteous Judge of the earth. Secondly, He will do it now against his people, as formerly he did it against their enemies, by which his justice will appear to be impartial; he will now rise up against Jerusalem as, in David's time, against the Philistines in Mount Perazim (2 Sam. v. 20), and as, in Joshua's time, against the Canaanites in the valley of Gibeon. If those that profess themselves members of God's church by their pride and scornfulness make themselves like Philistines and Canaanites, they must expect to be dealt with as such. Thirdly, This will be his strange work, his strange act, his foreign deed. It is work that he is backward to: he rather delights in showing mercy, and does not afflict willingly. It is work that he is not used to as to his own people; he protects and favours them. It is a strange work indeed if he turn to be their enemy and fight against them, ch. lxiii. 10. It is a work that all the neighbours will stand amazed at (Deut. xxix. 24), and therefore the ruins of Jerusalem are said to be an astonishment, Jer. xxv. 18.

Lastly, We have the use and application of all this (v. 22): "Therefore be you not mockers; dare not to ridicule either the reproofs of God's word or the approaches of his judgments." Mocking the messengers of the Lord was Jerusalem's measure-filling sin. The consideration of the judgments of God that are coming upon hypocritical professors should effectually silence mockers, and make them serious: "Be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong, both the bands by which you are bound under the dominion of sin" (for there is little hope of the conversion of mockers) "and the bands by which you are bound over to the judgments of God." God has bands of justice strong enough to hold those that break all the bonds of his law asunder and cast away all his cord from them. Let not these mockers make light of divine threatenings, for the prophet (who is one of those with whom the secret of the Lord is) assures them that the Lord God of hosts has, in his hearing, determined a consumption upon the whole earth; and can they think to escape? or shall their unbelief invalidate the threatening?

Husbandry a Divine Art. (b. c. 725.)

23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. 24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground? 25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place? 26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. 27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. 28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. 29 This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

This parable, which (like many of our Saviour's parables) is borrowed from the husbandman's calling, is ushered in with a solemn preface demanding attention, He that has ears to hear, let him hear, hear and understand, v. 23.

I. The parable here is plain enough, that the husbandman applies himself to the business of his calling with a great deal of pains and prudence, secundum artem—according to rule, and, as his judgment directs him, observes a method and order in his work. 1. In his ploughing and sowing: Does the ploughman plough all day to sow? Yes, he does, and he ploughs in hope and sows in hope, 1 Cor. ix. 10. Does he open and break the clods? Yes, he does, that the land may be fit to receive the seed. And when he has thus made plain the face thereof does he not sow his seed, seed suitable to the soil? For the husbandman knows what grain is fit for clayey ground and what for sandy ground, and, accordingly, he sows each in its place—wheat in the principal place (so the margin reads it), for it is the principal grain, and was a staple commodity of Canaan (Ezek. xxvii. 17), and barley in the appointed place. The wisdom and goodness of the God of nature are to be observed in this, that, to oblige his creatures with a grateful variety of productions, he has suited to them an agreeable variety of earths. 2. In his threshing, v. 27, 28. This also he proportions to the grain that is to be threshed out. The fitches and the cummin, being easily got out of their husk or ear, are only threshed with a staff and a rod; but the bread-corn requires more force, and therefore that must be bruised with a threshing instrument, a sledge shod with iron, that was drawn to and fro over it, to beat out the corn; and yet he will not be ever threshing it, nor any longer than is necessary to loosen the corn from the chaff; he will not break it, or crush it, into the ground with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it to pieces with his horsemen; the grinding of it is reserved for another operation. Observe, by the way, what pains are to be taken, not only for the earning, but for the preparing of our necessary food; and yet, after all, it is meat that perishes. Shall we then grudge to labour much more for the meat which endures to everlasting life? Bread-corn is bruised. Christ was so; it pleased the Lord to bruise him, that he might be the bread of life to us.

II. The interpretation of the parable is not so plain. Most interpreters make it a further answer to those who set the judgments of God at defiance: "Let them know that as the husbandman will not be always ploughing, but will at length sow his seed, so God will not be always threatening, but will at length execute his threatenings and bring upon sinners the judgments they have deserved; but in wisdom, and in proportion to their strength, not that they may be ruined, but that they may be reformed and brought to repentance by them." But I think we may give this parable a greater latitude in the exposition of it. 1. In general, that God who gives the husbandman this wisdom is, doubtless, himself infinitely wise. It is God that instructs the husbandman to discretion, as his God, v. 26. Husbandmen have need of discretion wherewith to order their affairs, and ought not undertake that business unless they do in some measure understand it; and they should by observation and experience endeavour to improve themselves in the knowledge of it. Since the king himself is served of the field, the advancing of the art of husbandry is a common service to mankind more than the cultivating of most other arts. The skill of the husbandman is from God, as every good and perfect gift is. This takes off somewhat of the weight and terror of the sentence passed on man for sin, that when God, in execution of it, sent man to till the ground, he taught him how to do it most to his advantage, otherwise, in the greatness of his folly, he might have been for ever tilling the sand of the sea, labouring to no purpose. It is he that gives men capacity for this business, an inclination to it, and a delight in it; and if some were not by Providence cut out for it, and mad to rejoice (as Issachar, that tribe of husbandmen) in their tents, notwithstanding the toil and fatigue of this business, we should soon want the supports of life. If some are more discreet and judicious in managing these or any other affairs than others are, God must be acknowledged in it; and to him husbandmen must seek for direction in their business, for they, above other men, have an immediate dependence upon the divine Providence. As to the other instance of the husbandman's conduct in threshing his corn, it is said, This also comes forth from the Lord of hosts, v. 29. Even the plainest dictate of sense and reason must be acknowledged to come forth from the Lord of hosts. And, if it is from him that men do things wisely and discreetly, we must needs acknowledge him to be wise in counsel and excellent in working. God's working is according to his will; he never acts against his own mind, as men often do, and there is a counsel in his whole will: he is therefore excellent in working, because he is wonderful in counsel. 2. God's church is his husbandry, 1 Cor. iii. 9. If Christ is the true vine, his Father is the husbandman (John xv. 1), and he is continually by his word and ordinances cultivating it. Does the ploughman plough all day, and break the clods of his ground, that it may receive the seed, and does not God by his ministers break up the fallow ground? Does not the ploughman, when the ground is fitted for the seed, cast in the seed in its proper soil? He does so, and so the great God sows his word by the hand of his ministers (Matt. xiii. 19), who are to divide the word of truth and give every one his portion. Whatever the soil of the heart is, there is some seed or other in the word proper for it. And, as the word of God, so the rod of God is thus wisely made use of. Afflictions are God's threshing-instruments, designed to loosen us from the world, to separate between us and our chaff, and to prepare us for use. And, as to these, God will make use of them as there is occasion; but he will proportion them to our strength; they shall be no heavier than there is need. If the rod and the staff will answer the end, he will not make use of his cart-wheel and his horsemen. And where these are necessary, as for the bruising of the bread-corn (which will not otherwise be got clean from the straw), yet he will not be ever threshing it, will not always chide, but his anger shall endure but for a moment; nor will he crush under his feet the prisoners of the earth. And herein we must acknowledge him wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.

CHAP. XXVIII.

Ver. 1. VVO to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim] Drunkenneſs is a ſin, at the heel whereof hangeth many a Woe. Some think it is a dry drunkenneſs that is here threatned (that there is a dry drunkenneſs as well as a wet; ſee chap. 51.21. 2 Tim. 2.26. [non-Latin text not transcribed] that they may awake out of their drunken ſleep) a drunkenneſs with proſperity, which made them proud and diſſolute, even the King of Iſrael and his Counſellors alſo; not conſidering that in maxima libertate minima eſt licentia; It is not for Kings to drink wine, Prov. 31.4.

Whoſe glorious beauty is a fading flower] Or, and to the fading flower of his goodly gallantry. Some conceive that the Prophet here alludeth to the Etymologie of the word Ephraim, whereof ſee Gen. 41.42. but Ephraim was now declining and decaying.

[non-Latin text not transcribed] Crapula, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. That are overcome with wine] Heb. ſmitten, beaten, overmaſtered, as Siſera was by Jaels hammer, which hath its name from the word here uſed, Judges 4.23. Tremellius rendreth it, Obtuſis vino, to thoſe that are blunted with wine, or beaten about ears with it.

Ver. 2. Behold the Lord hath a mighty and a ſtrong One] viz. Salmaneſer King of Aſſyria. For whereas Ephraim might ſay, Who is there that can or dare pull off the flower of our goodly gallantry? God anſwereth that he hath at hand One that can do it;The Romans pictured Pride with a triple crown: on the firſt crown was written, Tranſcendo, on the next, Non obedio, on the third, Perturbo. and do it with a turn of a hand, with little ado.

Ver. 3. The Crown of pride—ſhall be trodden under foot] This noteth utmoſt ignominy. Finge ideam animo, ſaith one here: imagine you ſaw Salmantſer pulling the Crown from the King of Iſraels head, throwing it to the ground, and then trampling on it. What brave Rhetorick is here?

Ver. 4. As the haſty fruit] quaſi primae & praematurae ficus, rath-ripe fruits much coveted and caught at.

Ver. 5. For a Crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty] ſo he was to Judah alled here the reſidue of his people) during Hezekiahs daies; a crown unfading or a garland made of Amaranth (as 1 Pet. 1.4.) which is, ſaith Clemens, a certain flower that being hung up in the houſe, yet is ſtill freſh and green. And as God is thus to his people, ſo (enterchangeably) are they to him a crown of glory, Iſa. 62.3. and a royal diadem, ib. his throne of glory, Jer. 4.21. The beauty of his Ornament, Ezek. 7.20.

Ver. 6. And for a ſpirit of judgement] A ſagacity more then ordinary[illegible: 1 letter]: in regard whereof Solomon calleth the Kings doom a divination, Prov. 16.10. as is well obſerved.

And for ſtrength to them, &c.] In this verſe we have the deſcription of an happy State, governed juſtly at home,Diod. and able abroad to reſiſt any endeavour of the enemy.

Ver. 7. But they alſo have erred through wine] Judah had caught this diſeaſe of Ephraim, as the Engliſh are ſaid to have done of the drunken Dutchmen. Sin is more contagious and catching then the plague. The Hebrew word importeth an alienation of mind, Prov. 20.1. Hoſ. 11. Jer. 23.9. Vino ſapientia obſcuratur, ſaid Alphonſus King of Arragon.

They are ſwallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through ſtrong drink] Errarunt propter Shecar: they are buckt in beer, they are drowned in drink; like as George Duke of Clarence was drowned in a out of Malmſey by his own election: Nam ſicut athletico potore dignum erat, ut potando moreretur, elegit, ſaith mine Author; for being condemned to die by his brother King Edward the fourth, he choſe that kind of death, as became a ſtout drunkard.

They err in viſion] the Prophets do.

They ſtumble in judgement] the Prieſts do; for they were to interpret the law, and to decide differences. Drunkenneſs in Rulers is a capital ſin, and maketh the land reel.

Ver. 8. For all places are full of vomit and filthineſs, Vah, vah, vah: Cum tu Narbone menſas hospitum convomeres, ſaid Tully to Antony; who was not aſhamed likewiſe to write, or rather to ſpue out a book concerning his own great ſtrength to bear ſtrong drink, and to lay up others who ſtrove with him for the maſtery. Tully taxeth Julius Caeſar for this ſoul cuſtom: ſo doth Philo Caligula, Veniunt ut edant, edunt ut vomant. Senec. and Suetonius Vitellius.

Ver. 9. Whom ſhall he teach knowledge?] Quem docebit ſcientiam? Doceo governeth two Accuſative caſes. Miniſters muſt have 1. Quem, whom to teach: and 2. Quid, what to teach, ſc. Knowledge. Iſaiah had no want of knowledge, as being apt and able to teach, but he wanted a fit Audience, as having to do with a ſort of drunken ſots that were unteachable, uncapable. So Ezek. 47.11. when the waters of the Sanctuary flowed, the miry places could not be healed. Think the ſame alſo of thoſe that are drunk with pride (as ver. 1.) and ſelf-conceitedneſs, who make Divinity only a matter of diſcourſe, or that come to ſit as Judges or Criticks on their Miniſters gifts, &c. It will be long enough ere ſuch will be taught any thing. One may as good undertake to teach a young weanling void of underſtanding; and in ſome reſpects better; for theſe to their natural corruption and impotency have added habitual hardneſs and obſtinacy, to their ſinews of iron, brows of braſs, Iſaiah 48.4. and what hope can there be of working upon ſuch?

Ver. 10. For precept muſt be upon precept] Children are of weak underſtanding, and of ſhort memories; and Hebraei dicunt hiſce verbis infantilitatem ſignificari, they muſt alſo have ſhort words and ſentences preſcribed unto them (ſuch as are kau and flau) and inculcated upon them, that ſomething at leaſt may ſtick: ſo muſt moſt of our Hearers, or little good will be done, Deut. 6.7. thou ſhalt teach them diligently unto thy Children, Heb. thou ſhalt whet or repeat them by often going over the ſame thing, as the knife goeth over the whetſtone till it be ſharp. But very many of our common hearers are not only unteachable, but untameable, deriding ſound doctrine, and making a mocking ſtock of their godlieſt Miniſters. And ſo ſome very good Expoſitors, haec [non-Latin text not transcribed] & [non-Latin text not transcribed] à Prophetadici tradunt, make theſe words here recited to be the ſcoffs and taunts of thoſe profane mockers, ver. 14. & 22. which they put upon the Prophet; q. d. We have nothing but rule upon rule, precept upon precept, &c. Zaulazau, kau lakau, the very ſound of the words carrieth a jear; like as ſcornful people by the tone of their voice and riming words, ſcorn at ſuch as they deſpiſe: Thus this good Prophet became the drunkards ſong. Any man may be witty in a biting way: and thoſe that have the dulleſt brains, have commonly the ſharpeſt teeth to that purpoſe. Rightly ſaid the Comedian, Homine imperito nunquam quicquam injuſtius; Terent.Qui, niſi quod ipſe fecit, nihil rectum putat.

Ver. 11. For with ſtammering lips, &c.] with a liſping lip, Heb. with ſcoffs of lip, or with language of mocks. Surely God ſcorneth the ſcorners, Prov. 3.34. for he loveth to retaliate and proportion choice to choice, Iſa. 66.3, 4 device to device, Micah 2.1.3. frowardneſs to forwardneſs, Pſal. 18.26. ſcoffing to ſcoffing, Prov. 1.25.26.

And with another tongue] lingua exotica, ſuch as they ſhall be no whit the better for; ſee 1 Cor. 14.21. We read of John Elmar Biſhop of London in Queen Elizabeth's raign, that on a time when he ſaw his Auditory grow dull in their attention to his Sermon, he preſently read unto them many verſes out of the Hebrew Text: whereat they all ſtarted, admiring what uſe he meant to make thereof: then ſhewed he them their folly, that whereas they neglected Engliſh, whereby they might be edifyed, they liſtened to Hebrew whereof they underſtood not a word: and how juſtly God might bring in Popery again (with Latine ſervice, blind obedience, and dumb offices) for their contempt of the Goſpel.

Ver. 12. To whom he ſaid, This is the reſt] i. e. the ready way to find reſt to your ſouls, as Mat. 11.28, 29. ſc. by obeying my precepts, and embracing my promiſes.

Wherewith ye may cauſe the weary to reſt] i. e. Me who am preſſed by your ſins, Amos 2.13. and wearied out with your iniquities, Iſa 43.24. or your poor brethren tired with miſeries, or your own ſouls laden with ſin guiltineſs.

Ver. 13. But the word of God was unto them precept upon precept, &c.] i. e. a deriſion, as ver. 10. therefore henceforth hearing they ſhall hear and not underſtand: Sic Sanniones Deus punit.

That they may go and fall backward] ut vadant & cadant retrorſum, tanquam turpiter ab hoſte ſuperati & reſuperati, laid flat on their backs, brought to remedileſs ruin. This came of their obſtinacy; though not intentionally, yet eventually.

Ver. 14. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord] Stand forth and hear your doom, ye that jear when you ſhould fear, as if ye were out of the reach of Gods rod.

Ye ſcornful men] Heb. ye men of mockage, ye who mock at the word of God by your words, deeds and geſtures; quales ſycophantas quotidie videmus, of which ſort we find not a few now a dayes; ſuch duſt-heaps as theſe we have in every corner, men that have turned religion not only into a form but alſo into a ſcorn, accounting the wiſdom of God fooliſhneſs. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Theſe Saint Peter calleth ſcoffers, or ſuch as make ſport with the word, 2 Pet. 3.3. And the Prophet here uno verbo multa peccata exprimit, dum Illuſores nominat, in calling them mockers, calleth them all that naught is.

That rule the people] ſuch as Shebna now was, and afterwards Tobiah, Neh. 2.19. Herod, Domitian, Julian, Sr. Thomas Moor, &c.

Ver. 15. Becauſe ye have ſaid] i. e. ye have thought and reckoned ſo, but without your hoaſt, as they ſay, Jer. 6.19. Hear O earth, behold I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts.

We have made a covenant with death] Nos ab omni malo ſumus ſecuriſſimi: Thraſonicae hyperbolae, we are ſhot-free and ſhall ſcape ſcotfree: Beckets friends adviſed him (for his ſecurity) to have a Maſs in honour of St. Stephen, to keep him from the hands of his enemies:Spencer. He had ſo, but it ſaved him not: As not to have been dipt in Lethe-lake, could ſave the Son of Thetis from to dye, &c.

And with hell are we at agreement] Heb. we have made proviſion, or taken order, egimus cantum. The Prophets tell us a tale of death and hell, but we ſhall yet dance upon their graves; and for hell we fear it not. The Lyon is not ſo fierce as he is painted, nor the Devil ſo black as he is repreſented. Diabolo optimè convenit cum lurconib us. Good-fellows ſhall have good quarter with the Devil, ſay our modern Atheiſts. But what a mad fellow was that Advocate in the Court of Rome mentioned by Bellarmine, who lying at his laſt gaſp almoſt, and being called upon to repent and cry to God for mercy, prayed thus; O Lord, I have much deſired to ſpeak one word unto thee before I dye, not for my ſelf, but for my wife and children: ego enim propero ad inferos, neque eſt ut aliquid pro me agas; for I am haſting to hell, neither is there any thing now to be done by thee for me? De arte mor. lib. 2. cap. 10. And this he ſpoke (ſaith Bellarmine who was by and heard it) with as much confidence, as if he were but travelling to the next town.

When the overflowing ſcourge ſhall paſs thorough] to ſweep away ſuch as are drowned in drunkenneſs and dread no danger.

It ſhall not come to us] whatever the Prophets prate: let them ſay as they pleaſe, we will believe as we liſt.

For we have made lyes our refuge] a poor refuge: for tenue mendacium pellucot, lyes are ſo thin they may be ſeen thorough; but it may be that they called their falſe refuges lyes, not becauſe they held them ſo, but becauſe the Prophets called them ſo: whereas to themſelves they ſeemed prudent counſels.

Ver. 16. Therefore thus ſaith the Lord God] This is purpoſely prefaced for the ſupport of the faithful, when they ſhould hear the enſuing dreadful denunciations, and ſee them executed. We cannot beat the dogs but the children will be ready to cry.

For a foundation a ſtone] firm and faſt, oppoſed here to the fickle ſtayes and vain faſtneſſes of wicked worldlings: this foundation-ſtone is Chriſt, Rom. 9.33. & 10.11. not Hezekiah as the Jews would have it; or Peter, as the Papiſts: ſee Peter to the contrary, 1 Pet. 2.6. and Paul, 1 Corinth. 3.11.

He that believeth ſhall not make haſte] viz. to help himſelf as he can, ſith God defers his help; as did faithleſs Saul, Ahaz, theſe Jews, ver. 15. thoſe Bethulians that ſet him a time, and ſent for him by a poſt as it were, David ſtaid Gods leaſure for the Kingdom; thoſe in Eſther for deliverance, and thoſe other in the Hebrews for the accompliſhment of the promiſes, Heb. 10.36. Hold out faith and patience. We know not what we loſe by making haſte, and not holding up our hand as Moſes did to the going down of the Sun.

Ver. 17. Judgement alſo will I lay to the line] Or, I will ſet out judgement by line, and juſtice by plummet; that is, I will proportion your puniſhments to your offences, as it were by line and by level, that the wicked may have their due, and the godly ſuſtain no dammage. See 2 Kings 21.12, 13. Amos 7.8. Calvin ſaith, that by this expreſſion borrowed from builders, the Lord here ſheweth that when the corner-ſtone before ſpoken off ſhall be laid, the Church of the faithful built thereupon, ſhall riſe up to a fair and uniform built temple in the Lord, according to Epheſ. 2.20.

And the hail ſhall ſweep away the refuge of lyes] Or ſhovel away, or quaſi furcillis extrudet, ſhall fork away, or burn up your vain confidences; as he deſtroyed the Egyptians by hail mingled with fire.

And the waters] ſee ver. 15. & Mat. 7.27.

Ver. 18. And your covenant with death ſhall be diſannulled] See ver. 15.They made a covenant with death and hell; but death and hell make no covenant with them. God ſhall ſhoot at ſuch with an arrow ſuddenly, Pſal. 64.7. and when they ſhall ſay peace and ſafety, then ſhall ſuddain deſtruction come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they ſhall not eſcape, 1 Theſ 5.3. Thus it befell the rich fool. Luk 12. Alexander the great, whom his paraſites flattered into a fond conceit of an immortality: and Pope Sylveſter the ſecond, who dealt with the Devil for the Popedom, and was perſwaded by him, that he ſhould never dye till he ſang Maſs in Jeruſalem: but when he ſaw how he was cheated, and that he muſt dye, he cryed out, Ah miſer aetern[illegible: 1 letter]s vado damnatus ad ignes.

Ver. 19. From the time that it goeth forth it ſhall take you] this was oppoſed to their fond conceit of impunity, or at leaſt immunity for a long ſeaſon, ver. 15. the moſt ſecure are ſooneſt ſurprized.

And it ſhall be a vexation, &c.] Vexatio dabit intellectum, Luther after the Vulgar rendreth it, ſententiam Prophetae non male exprimens; See chap. 26.9. The Croſs is the beſt Tutor.

Ver. 20. For the bed is ſhort] Here the Prophet ſeemeth to ſome to threaten them for their lectulorum luxus, Amos 6.4. their beds of ivory, whereon, when well whittled, they once ſtretcht themſelves at full length, and ſlept out their drunkenneſs: but when brought to Babylon, the caſe ſhould be otherwiſe with them. Diodate faith that theſe are figurative and proverbial terms, importing that all means and devices they can uſe will no way defend them. Gods wrath is ſuch as none can avert or avoid.

Ver. 21. As in Mount Perazim] See 2 Sam. 5.20. God uſually ſitteth amidſt his people in his mercy-ſeat, or throne of grace: neither ariſeth he to puniſh them till much provoked; and then he may poſſibly deal as ſeverely with them, as he did with the Philiſtines at mount Perazim, or with the Amorites in the valley of Gibeon, Joſh. 10.10. But then he doth his work his ſtrange work, and brings to paſs his act his ſtrange act, i. e. that which is neither his wont nor his delight, Lam. 3.33. Mic. 7.18. Ezek. 33.11. To fall foul upon his people by his plagues and judgements, goeth as much againſt the heart with him, as againſt the hair with them. And beſides by doing this his ſtrange work he maketh way for the doing of his own proper work, 1 Cor. 11.32.

Ver. 22. Now therefore be ye not m[illegible: 1 letter]ckers] for thoſe are the worſt of men, ver. 14. Peſts the Septuagint commonly render them: Abjects and caſtawayes David calleth them; and yet they proudly diſdain others (and far their betters) as thimbles full of duſt, and the goodly braveries of their ſcorn. But ſhall they eſcape by this iniquity? ſhall they carry it away ſo? In no wiſe: for,

Ne vincula veſtra invaleſcant. Their bands ſhall be made ſtrong] their ſorrows ſhall be multiplyed, and they ſhall have more load of miſeries and miſchiefs laid upon them: though now they mock at Gods menaces as uttered in terrorem only for fray-bugs, and at his Miniſters as falſe Prophets. Among many other memorable examples of Gods judgements upon ſuch out of Gods bleſſed book, the Acts and Monuments of the Church and other Hiſtories, Nicholas Hemingius relateth a ſtory of a lewd fellow in Denmark, Anno Chriſti 1550. which uſually made a mock at Religion and the profeſſors of it; and on a time coming into a Church where a godly Miniſter was preaching, by his countenance and geſtures ſhewed a great contempt againſt the Word: but as he paſſed out of the Church, a tyle fell upon his head and ſlew him in the place. How much more mercifully dealt Almighty God with that Miller in Leceſterſhire, who ſitting in an Alehouſe on a Sabbath day with one of his companions, ſaid to him, I hear that bawling Hooker is come to Town, let us go and hear him, we ſhall have excellent ſport; and accordingly they went on purpoſe to jeer him: But it pleaſed God, the Sermon ſo wrought upon him, that being pricked at the heart,Mr. Clark from Mr. White. Jun. he went to Mr. Hooker, intreating him to tell him what he might do to be ſaved; and afterwards went with him to New-England. By ſins mens bands are made ſtrong, as by repentance they are looſened: videte ergo ut reſipiſcatis mature.

Ver. 23. Give ear, and hear my voice, hearken, &c] Being to aſſure the faithful of Gods fatherly care of their ſafety and indemnity amidſt all thoſe diſtractions and diſturbances of the times, he calleth for their utmoſt attention, as knowing how flow of heart and dull of hearing the beſt are, how backward to believe, Luk. 24.25. and apt to forget the conſolation, Heb. 12.5. See the Note on Mat. 13.3.

Ver. 24. Doth the plowman plow all day to ſow?] Or, every day. Doth he not find him ſomewhat elſe to do beſides?Preponit parabolam ruſticam, ſed magna ſapientia refertam. Sua ſunt rebus omnibus agendis tempora, novandi, arandi, occandi, aequandi, ſerendi, metendi, colligandi & excernendi grani, & ſuae rationes ſingulis. And ſhall not the only wiſe God afflict his people with moderation and diſcretion? yea verily; for he is a God of judgement, and waiteth to be gratious: chap. 30.18. We are no longer plowed then needs: and whereas we may think our hearts ſoft enough; it may be ſo for ſome grace, but God hath ſeeds of all ſorts to caſt in, the wheat and the rie, &c. and that ground which is ſoft enough for one, is not for another. God (ſaith Chryſoſtom) doth like a Lutaniſt, who will not let the ſtrings be too ſlack, leſt they marr the muſick: nor ſuffer them to be too hard-ſtretcht or ſcrued up, leſt they break.

Ver. 25. When he hath made plain] laid it level and equal.

Doth he not caſt in the fitches] See on ver. 24.

The appointed barley] Hordeum ſignatum. Whatſoever is ſealed with a ſeal, is excellent in its own kind: ſo are all Gods ſealed ones, Eph. 4.30.

Ver. 26. For his God doth inſtruct him to diſcretion] Being a better Tutor to him then any Varro de Agricultura, Cato derè Ruſtica, Heſiod in his works and dayes, Virgils Georgicks, or, Geonomica Conſtantino inſcripta. Some read the verſe thus, And he beateth it out according to that courſe that his God teacheth him, that is, according to the judgement of right reaſon. God is to be praiſed for the art of Agriculture. How thankful were the poor Heathens to their Saturn, Triptolemus, Ceres, &c.

Ver. 27. For the fitches are not threſhed out, &c.] So are Gods viſitations diverſly diſpenſed: he proportioneth the burthen to the back, and the ſtroke to the ſtrength of him that beareth it, ſparing his afflicted as a man ſpareth his Son that ſerveth him. Thus Epaphroditus was ſick nigh unto death, but not unto death, and why, ſee Phil. 2.27. Some of the ſweet ſmelling-Smyrnians were in priſon ten dayes and no more, Rev. 2.10.

Ver. 28. Bread-corn is bruiſed] yet not mauled or marred. That of Ignatius is well known, Commolor dentibus ferarum ut purius Domino panis fiam.

Becauſe he will not ever be threſhing it] As he is not ever ſowing mercies, ſo he will not alwayes be inflicting miſeries.

Nor bruiſe it with his horſemen] Or, with his horſes-hoofs.

Ver. 29. This alſo cometh forth from the Lord] [non-Latin text not transcribed] As doth likewiſe [non-Latin text not transcribed], Jam. 1.17.

Which is wonderful] qui mirificus eſt conſilio, & magnificus opere.