Isaiah 31 commentary

God will oppose the help sought from workers of iniquity. Sinners may be convicted of folly by plain and self-evident truths, which they cannot deny, but will not believe. There is no escaping the judgments of God; and evil pursues sinners. The Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion. The Lion of the tribe of Judah will appear for the defence of his church. And as birds hovering over their young ones to protect them, with such compassion and affection will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. He will so defend it, as to secure its safety.

They have been backsliding children, yet children; let them return, and their backslidings shall be healed, though they have sunk deep into misery, and cannot easily recover. Many make an idol of their silver and gold, and by the love of that are drawn from God; but those who turn to God, will be ready to part with it. Then, when they have cast away their idols, shall the Assyrian fall by the sword of an angel, who strikes more strongly than a mighty man, yet more secretly than a mean man. God can make the stoutest heart to tremble. But if we keep up the fire of holy love and devotion in our hearts and houses, we may depend upon God to protect us and them.

1. Woe to them that go down to Egypt. He again returns to the subject which he had handled at the beginning of the former chapter; for he still cries loudly against the Jews, whose ordinary custom it was, in seasons of danger, to resort, not to the Lord, but to the Egyptians. We have formerly explained why this was so highly displeasing to God. To state the matter briefly, there are two reasons why the Prophet reproves this crime so severely. The first is, because it is impossible for us to place confidence for our salvation in creatures, and at the same time in God; for our eyes must be withdrawn from him as soon as they are directed to them. The second reason is, God had expressly forbidden them to enter into alliance with the Egyptians. (Deuteronomy 17:16.) To sinful confidence was added rebelliousness, as if they had resolved to provide for their safety by despising God, and by disobeying his will.

We must therefore look at the source of this evil, if we wish to understand fully the Prophet’s meaning. There was also a peculiar reason, as we have formerly remarked, why the Lord wished the Jews to have no intercourse with the Egyptians. It was, lest that wicked alliance should obliterate the remembrance of the redemption from Egypt, and lest they should be corrupted by the superstitions and sinful idolatry of the Egyptians. Yet these arguments were regarded by them as of no weight; and, though God had forbidden it, this did not hinder them from continually applying to them for assistance, and imagining that their assistance was a shield which defended them against the arm of God. Consequently, there are good reasons why the Prophet exclaims so earnestly against such madness. Even on the ground that God had forbidden it, their “going down into Egypt” deserved to be severely blamed; but it was still more intolerably criminal, that by false confidence they bestowed on mortal men the glory which was due to God. In order to make it still more clear that in this manner they defraud God of his right, he not only accuses them of having relied on the Egyptians, but likewise brings a charge against them, on the other hand, that

They have not looked to the Holy One of Israel. Here appears more clearly the reason why that treachery of the Jews is so sharply reproved by Isaiah; for in other respects God does not disapprove of our using lawful remedies, just as we eat bread and other kinds of food which were intended for our use. Thus if any person, placed in danger, employ means which were not forbidden, but which are customary and lawful, provided that he do not at all deny the power of God, he certainly ought not to be blamed; but if we are so strongly attached to outward means, that we do not at the same time seek God, and if, through distrust of his promises, we resort to unlawful methods, this is worthy of condemnation and abhorrence.

The word look is frequently employed in Scripture to denote this confidence; for we commonly turn our eyes towards that quarter from which we expect assistance. In a word, we are here taught that we ought to place our trust for salvation in none other than in God alone, that, relying on his promises, we may boldly ask from him whatever is desirable. He undoubtedly permits us to use all things which he intended for our use, but in such a manner that our minds must be entirely fixed on him.

When he calls God “the Holy One of Israel,” he presents in a striking light the wickedness and ingratitude of the people, who, after having been taken under God’s protection and guardianship, despised such a protector and guardian of their salvation, and ran eagerly after their own lusts. By immediately adding, neither have they sought Jehovah, he shews that neither the power, nor the goodness, nor the fatherly kindness of God, could keep them in the discharge of their duty. In the present day, since he invites us not less kindly to come to him, we offer a grievous insult to him if we look to any other, and do not resolve to trust in him alone; and everything that shall turn away and withdraw our minds from God will be to us like “Egypt.”

2. Yet he also is wise. By calling God “wise,” he does not merely bestow on him the honor of an attribute which always belongs to him, but censures the craftiness of those whom he saw to be too much delighted with their own wisdom. He said a little before, (Isaiah 29:15,) that they “dug caves for themselves,” when they thought that, by hidden plans and secret contrivances, they avoided and deceived the eyes of God. He now pours witty ridicule on this madness, by affirming that, on the other hand, wisdom belongs also to God; indirectly bringing against them the charge of believing that they could shut God’s mouth as not knowing their affairs. As if he had said, “What shall become of your wisdom?” Will the effect of it be that God shall cease to be “wise?” On the contrary, by reproving your vanity, he will give practical demonstration that “he taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” (Job 5:13;1 Corinthians 3:19.)

We may draw from this a general doctrine, that they who shelter themselves under craftiness and secret contrivances, gain nothing but to provoke still more the wrath of God. A bad conscience always flees from the judgment of God, and seeks lurking-places to conceal itself. Wicked men contrive various methods of guarding and fortifying themselves against God, and think that they are wise and circumspect, even though they be covered only with empty masks; while others, blinded by their elevated rank, despise God and his threatenings. Thus, by declaring that “God is also wise,” the Prophet wounds them painfully and sharply, that they may not lay claim to so great craftiness as to be capable of imposing on God by their delusions.

He will arise against the house of the evil-doers. As they did not deserve that he should reason with them, he threatens that they shall feel that God has his arguments at his command, for ensnaring transgressors. First, they did not think that God has sufficient foresight, because he did not, according to the ordinary practice of the world, provide for their safety amidst so great dangers, and because they considered all threatenings to be empty bugbears, as if they had it in their power by some means to guard against them. Hence arises their eagerness to make every exertion, and their hardihood to plot contrivances. He therefore threatens that God will take revenge on so gross an insult, and that he has at his command the means of executing what he has promised; and that no schemes, inventions, or craftiness can overthrow the word of God.

Of the workers of vanity. “Of them that work iniquity.” — Eng. Ver.

FT574 “Return to him against whom you have entertained deep thoughts; in the same manner as you revolted, and have still revolted, from him, return now to him.” — Jarchi. Among the commentators who belonged to the Hebrew nation, or wrote in the Hebrew language, Jarchi was probably held, on the ground of the first part of his paraphrase, to support that view which our Author condemns; but the second part of it, beginning with “in the same manner as” approaches very closely to the Reformer’s own words. — Ed

FT575 Piscator and others construe לאשר (lăăshĕr) as equivalent to אשר ממנו אליו, (ēlāiv ăshĕr mĭmmĕnnū,) “to him from whom.” Vitringa does not reject this exposition, which he acknowledges to be supported by an analogous use of מאשר, (mēăshĕr,) in Ruth 2:9; but he pronounces the rendering, “according as.” to be more elegant and probably more correct. Modern critics, however, approve of the meaning given in our common version. “The syntax may be solved either by supposing ‘to him’ to be understood, and giving לאשר (lăăshĕr) the sense of ‘with respect to whom,’ or by assuming that, as both these ideas could be expressed by this one phrase, it was put but once in order to avoid the tautology.” — Alexander. The other mode of resolving the syntax, by bringing out the sense, “to him from whom,” appears to adhere more closely to the usage of the Hebrew language. — Ed

FT576 העמיקו סרה (hĕgnĕmīkūsārāh) literally signifies, “they have deepened revolt;” and Professor Alexander justly remarks that the substitution of the second person for the third, in the ancient versions, and in Barnes, (ye have revolted), is wholly arbitrary. — Ed

FT577 “Enfans rebelles;” — “Rebellious children.”

FT578 “Et pourtant il marque la repentance par les fruits;” — “And therefore he points out repentance by the fruits.”

FT579 See Commentary on Isaiah, vol. 1 p. 118

FT580 That is, he does not follow the ancient versions, by viewing it as an adjective, qualifying the word “hands,” — “your sinful hands.” — Ed

FT581 לא איש (lōīsh,) not of a man, that is, of one who is totally different from a man. The word לא (lō) often unites with a substantive, so as to form one word, which shall bear a quite different and even opposite meaning; as תהו לא דרך (tōhūlōdĕrĕch ‘desolation not-a-way,’ that is, ‘an impassable way.’ Psalm 107:40; and לא שם לו, (lōshēm lō,) ‘he shall have not-a-name,’ that is, ‘he shall have public disgrace.’ (Job 18:17.)” — Rosenmüller. “An Hebrew idiom; of one far different from a man, viz., an angel.” — Stock

FT582 “And his young men shall be discomfited. (Heb. for melting or tribute.)” — Eng. Ver.

FT583 “And he shall pass over to his stronghold (or, his strength) for fear, (Heb. his rock shall pass away for fear.” — Eng. Ver. He gives them this appellation, because they wished to fortify themselves against the hand of God by a useless defense; that is, by the unlawful aid of the Egyptians. Formerly, it might be thought that he silently admitted their claim to the appellation of “wise men,” by contrasting them with the wisdom of God; but now he scatters the smoke, and openly displays their shame and disgrace. This teaches us that there is nothing better than to renounce our own judgment, and to submit entirely to God; because all that earnest caution by which wicked men torture themselves has no solidity, but, on the contrary, as if on purpose, provokes the wrath of God by the deceitful contrivances of the flesh.

3. And surely the Egyptian is a man, and not God. It may be thought that Isaiah here brings forward nothing but what is common and beyond all doubt; for who ever imagined that the Egyptians were not “men,” and must be put in the place of “God?” There is indeed no debate on this point, and it is openly acknowledged; but when it is found necessary to reduce it to practice, men are altogether dull of apprehension, or remain uncertain about that which they formerly appeared to know and firmly to believe. They exalt themselves as highly, and claim as much for themselves, as if they did not believe that they are men, and did not think that they ought to obey God. This is the reason why Scripture so frequently warns

“not to trust in men, than whom nothing can be more vain.” (Psalm 146:3.)

“Cursed is he who trusteth in man, and relieth on an arm of flesh.” (Jeremiah 17:5.)

Yet we see both princes and men of ordinary rank contrive and resolve in such a manner as if they could establish for a hundred years all that they contrived, and could subject heaven, sea, and earth, and could regulate and dispose everything according to their will. When we perceive in men such pride and arrogance, we need not wonder that the Prophet exclaims that “the Egyptians are men, and not God;” for the Jews ascribed to them what ought to be ascribed to God, the defense and preservation of the Church, which God claims for himself alone, and does not allow to be given to another. Isaiah therefore indirectly censures that contempt of God and wicked confidence by which they are swelled with pride.

Here we see how great a difference there is between God and men; for men have no power in themselves but what God has granted to them. If we were reasoning about the nature and excellence of man, we might bring forward the singular gifts which he has received from God; but when he is contrasted with God, he must be reduced to nothing; for nothing can be ascribed to man without taking it from God. And this is the reason why we cannot agree with the Papists, when we argue about the cause of salvation, freewill, the value of works, and merits; for since on this subject God is contrasted with man, we must take from God whatever is attributed to man. But they make a division between man and God, so as to assign one part to God, and another part to man; while we say, that the whole and undivided cause of salvation must be ascribed to God, and that no part of it can be attributed to another without detestable sacrilege. In a word, let us learn that in such a contrast nothing worthy of praise can be left for man.

And their horses are flesh and not spirit. By the word flesh he means weakness and frailty; for what is there in “flesh” but corruption? He speaks of “horses,” but to the Egyptians also belongs a weakness of the same or of a kindred nature; as if he had said that they, and all their forces, have nothing that is solid or permanent. Although the Egyptians had a soul as well as a body, yet, so far as they were creatures, and dwelt in a frail tabernacle, they must hold an inferior rank; as if he had said, that they do not possess heavenly or spiritual power; as it is said also in the Psalm,

“Do not trust in princes; for their breath shall go out, and they shall return to their earth.” (Psalm 146:3.)

So far as relates to “horses,” the word “flesh” applies to them with greater propriety; but it is not wonderful that men are sent to learn from rottenness how frail they are.

As soon as Jehovah shall stretch out his arm. From this threatening we may draw a universal doctrine, that this wickedness shall not pass unpunished; for the Lord will not suffer men with impunity to give to creatures the honor due to him, or to rely on the assistance of men with that confidence which ought to be placed on him alone. He therefore threatens those who shall yield assistance and give occasion to false confidence, as well as those who shall make use of their assistance and rely on it for their safety. And if the Lord cannot endure this wicked confidence, where nothing more than temporal safety is concerned, how much less will he endure those who, in order to obtain eternal salvation, contrive various aids according to their own fancy, and thus elevate the power of men, so as to ascribe to it the place and authority of God.

4. For thus hath Jehovah said to me. The Prophet adds this verse, that it may not be thought that the Lord leaves us destitute of necessary means; for if, while he forbids us to place our confidence in creatures, he did not promise us any assistance, we might complain that he gave ground for despair, and not for consolation; as we saw, a little before, that men are more careful and attentive than they ought to be, because they think that they will be deficient in thoughtfulness, if they rest satisfied with God alone, and abstain from forbidden means. He therefore takes away every excuse, when he promises that he will be a faithful guardian to us; for what pretense can be left, if we despise the salvation which he offers to us of his own accord? It is therefore as if he had said, “The Lord assists, and will assist; he forbids you to ask assistance from the Egyptians.” By comparing himself to a lion, a very powerful animal and keenly bent on prey, he employs a very appropriate comparison, to shew that he is in the highest degree both able and willing to defend us.

In the second part of the comparison, the Prophet dwells largely on the great eagerness with which the Lord takes hold of his people, keeps them near himself, preserves them from being carried off, and defends them against all dangers; while he also points out that strength and power which no arms and no forces can resist. Now, it is impossible that comparisons should hold on every point, nor is it necessary, but they ought to be suitable to the subject which is handled. Since therefore we know that the Lord loves us so much and takes such care of us, must we not be worse than mad if we despise him, and seek other aids, which will not only be useless but destructive to us?

5. As birds that fly. This is the second comparison, by which the Prophet shews how great care the Lord takes of us, and how earnestly he is bent on making us happy. It is taken from birds, which are prompted by astonishing eagerness to preserve their young; for they almost kill themselves with hunger, and shrink from no danger, that they may defend and preserve their young. Moses makes use of the same comparison when, reproaching the people for their ingratitude, he compares the Lord to an eagle

“laying her nest, spreading her wings, and fluttering over her young.” (Deuteronomy 32:11.)

Christ also remonstrates with Jerusalem,

“How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37.)

The sum of this passage is, that the Lord will be sufficiently powerful to defend his people, for whom he has a special love and a peculiar care. What Moses relates that God did, Isaiah promises that he will always do; for he will never forsake those whom he has once received into his favor. Lest any one therefore should imagine that this statement related only to the men of a single age, he expressly declares that God will spread his wings to defend Jerusalem. Nor is it unnecessarily that he mentions not only Mount Zion but its hill; for on that “hill” was built the temple in which God desired that men should call upon him. Wherever therefore the worship of God is pure, let us know that salvation will be certain; for men cannot call upon him in vain.

“Let us be his people, and, on the other hand, he will be our God.” (Leviticus 26:12.)

6. Return. This verse is explained in various ways; for the Hebrew commentators explain it thus, “Return to the Lord, for you have multiplied revolts.” But, in my opinion, the meaning is more simple: “Return according as you have made a deep revolt; {Bogus footnote} for לאשר (lăăshĕr) is, I think, employed in the same sense as כאשר (kăăshĕr), “according as.” {Bogus footnote} He means that the aggravated nature of their wickedness does not shut the door against them from returning to God, if they repent; that, although they have been sunk into the deepest wickedness, still God will pardon them. Yet, at the same time, he makes use of this spur to stimulate them to earnest grief and hatred of their sins, that they may not carelessly and lightly, as frequently happens, aim at a half repentance. He therefore bids them consider attentively with what fearful destruction they have cast themselves down to hell, that they may abhor themselves on account of their aggravated transgressions.

It ought first to be observed, that the Prophet does not lessen the guilt of the people. They who need to be brought back to the Lord must first be made to have a deep and painful conviction of their guilt; for they who flatter themselves in their iniquities are very far from obtaining pardon, and therefore there is nothing better than to lay open the alarming nature of the disease, when a remedy must be applied. Yet, that their hearts may not be led to despair, they must be encouraged and comforted by holding out to them the mercy of God; for Satan aims at nothing else than to cut us off from all hope of pardon. Accordingly, Isaiah declares that, although by their wickedness they have sunk down to hell, God is ready to forgive; for not in vain does the Lord invite us to repentance, but he likewise offers pardon. Hence also, to such exhortations the Scripture always adds promises of grace, that, whenever we are called to repentance, we may know that the hope of pardon is also held out to us.

As you have made a deep revolt. Instead of this rendering, the word עמק, (gnāmăk,) which signifies to be deep, is explained by some as meaning to multiply and the metaphor is supposed to be borrowed from heaps, “As you have heaped up your sins, so return now.” But I prefer the former exposition. סרה (sārāh) signifies “revolt.” Others explain it to mean here “depravity,” but the word “revolt” is more appropriate. The Prophet therefore invites them to return to the Lord. {Bogus footnote}

O children of Israel. In calling them by this name, he does not intend to shew them respect, but reproaches them for their ingratitude; for they were degenerate sons {Bogus footnote} who had revolted from the faith and obedience of their fathers, and therefore this title contains an indirect reproach. Yet he means that the Lord had not forgotten the covenant which he made with their fathers, though they had departed widely from him by their treachery; for he declares, that he will acknowledge them to be “the children of Israel,” and will fulfill all that he promised to Abraham and the other patriarchs, if they return to him with all their heart.

7. For in that day. He continues the subject which he began in the former verse. Yet there is this difference, that in the former verse he exhorted to repentance, but now he points out the fruits of repentance, which, we know, is the customary way of teaching in Scripture; for, since repentance is concealed within us, and has its root in the heart, it must be made known by the practical result, and by works, as “a tree shews by its fruits” (Matthew 7:17) its inherent goodness; and therefore he points out repentance by works which are the fruit of it. {Bogus footnote}

Shall cast away the idols. When he speaks of “idols” only, it is by a figure of speech frequently employed in Scripture, in which a part is taken for the whole; for the Prophet undoubtedly intended to speak of the whole of man’s conversion, but, as it would have been tedious to enumerate all the kinds, under one of them he includes all the rest. Now, the beginning of repentance is the change of the heart; and next we must come to outward fruits, that is, to works. Above all, we must observe the object which the Prophet had in view in discoursing about repentance. It was because the Lord had promised salvation near at hand; and, that they might be capable of it, he exhorts them to repentance. Hence it ought to be observed that, when we persevere in being wicked, we resist God by our wickedness, and thus restrain his grace from assisting us; and, therefore, that the way may be open for God’s assistance, he demands that we shall repent.

He calls them The idols of his silver and the idols of his gold, because, as we have formerly seen, {Bogus footnote} they who sincerely repent are affected by deep grief for their sin, so that the traces of their superstitions, which are stamped with the highest dishonor of God, cannot be beheld by them without the greatest horror. On this account they abhor them, and do not dread the loss of “gold or silver,” to testify their conversion and their faith; for he who has sincerely renounced superstitions does not spare any expense in order to possess the pure worship of God. This is what the Prophet intended to express by calling them “gold and silver” rather than wood and stone. However excellent anything may be, the loss of it is a happy event when we are cleansed from such base and abominable pollutions. Those who retain them, though they profess to be Christians, shew that they are still involved in the remains of superstition; and hence it is evident that their hearts are not truly or completely reformed. In this matter we must listen to none of the excuses which we frequently hear from the lips of hypocrites, who cannot absolutely renounce idolatry, “What could I do? How could I live? I am aware that this revenue, this ‘gold,’ is detestable in the sight of God, because it arises from idolatry; but in some way or other my life must be supported.” Away with such fooleries! say I; for where the conversion of the heart is real, that which cannot be retained without insulting or dishonoring God is instantly thrown away.

Which your own hands have made. The Prophet urges them to make a more full acknowledgment of their sin; for, when men are accused, they generally throw the blame on some other person, and do not willingly allow it to fall on themselves, or acknowledge that it is chargeable upon them; in like manner as the common people willingly accuse the priests, but no man is willing to acknowledge his own guilt. The Prophet therefore bids them look to “their own hands,” that they may know that they have committed so great a crime. He reminds them, at the same time, how grossly they have been deceived by their unbelief in making gods to themselves; and hence we ought to conclude that God rejects everything that is of our contrivance, and that he cannot accept as good that worship which has originated with ourselves.

I consider חאט, (chēt,) sin, to be a noun; {Bogus footnote} as if he had said, “Whenever you behold idols, behold your guilt; acknowledge the proofs of your treachery and revolt; and if you are truly converted to God, shew it practically, that is, by throwing away idols and bidding adieu to superstitions; for this is the true fruit of conversion.”

8. Then the Assyrian. The copulative ו (vau) is better translated as an adverb of time: “Then the Assyrian shall fall down;” that is, “When you shall have turned to the Lord, and when your life shall testify a sincere repentance, then the enemy shall fall down;” for, as the Lord raised up the Assyrian to punish the Jews for their crimes, and especially for idolatry, so he promises that the Assyrians shall be brought down, when they shall have ceased to sin and worship idols. Hence he informs us, that our obstinacy is the reason why the Lord adds evil to evil, and doubles his strokes, and pursues us more and more; for we continually supply fresh materials to inflame his vengeance against us more and more. If therefore we wish that God’s chastisements should be less severe, if we wish that the enemies should fall to the ground and perish, let us endeavor to be reconciled to him by repentance; for he will speedily put an end to the chastisement, and will take away from enemies strength and power to injure us.

By the sword not of a man. {Bogus footnote} The Prophet means that the deliverance of the Church is God’s own work, that the Jews may know that, although no earthly power is visible, God’s secret power is sufficient to deliver them. If therefore enemies are subdued, if their rage is restrained, let us know that it proceedeth from the Lord. By various methods, indeed, he represses the force and violence of wicked men, but by his own hand alone he delivers his Church; for, while the Lord makes use of human means, he preserves his own people miraculously and by extraordinary methods, which may be seen to have happened since the beginning of the world, and which we may even now behold, if we are not blind. And yet this does not hinder the Lord from employing his servants to deliver the Church; but he employs them in such a manner that his own hand is peculiarly and illustriously displayed in it.

We know that this prediction of Isaiah was fulfilled when the Assyrian army was destroyed, and Sennacherib was put to flight; for “not by the arm of man” was he destroyed, but the Lord displayed his power, that it might be known that he alone is the deliverer of his Church. (2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36.) By delivering Jerusalem at that time from the siege, God thus exhibited, as in a picture, spiritual redemption. He alone, therefore, will destroy our spiritual enemies. In vain shall we resort to other aids or remedies, or rely on our own strength, which is nothing; but let us have the direction and assistance of God, and we shall come off victorious.

And his young men shall melt away. {Bogus footnote} He means that the power of the Lord displayed against the Assyrians will be so great that the hearts of young men, who in other circumstances are wont to be fierce, shall be altogether softened and melt like wax; for young men, having less experience than old men, are on that account more fierce and impetuous. God will easily restrain such fierceness, when he shall determine to deliver his people from the hands of their enemies. For this reason Isaiah has especially mentioned “young men;” as if he had said, “the very flower or strength.”

9. He shall pass to his stronghold for fear. {Bogus footnote} He now speaks of Sennacherib himself, who, trembling, shall betake himself in base and shameful flight to his “stronghold” or fortress, Nineveh, as to his nest. (2 Kings 19:36.) The Prophet adds that “his princes,” or military officers, whose duty it is to encourage the rest of the soldiers, will be so timid that they shall not venture to join the ranks or await the battle, but shall “flee away from the standard.”

Saith Jehovah, who hath a fire in Zion. At length he declares that he is God’s herald in making this proclamation, that the Jews may not, as they are accustomed to do, dispute or hesitate as to the accomplishment of it, or afterwards forget so great a blessing, and ascribe it to fortune. If we read, as some do, Whose fire is in Zion, the meaning will be, that God has abundance of fiery power to consume his enemies. But I think that the relative אשר (ăshĕr) is redundant, or that it should be rendered in the nominative case, “Who shall be to him a fire;” for God is justly called “a fire,” in reference to the Assyrians, whom he will consume.

When the Prophet calls him “a fire,” some consider it to refer to sacrifices; but such an interpretation appears to me to be feeble and unnatural. I have no doubt that he says either that “the Lord has a fire” to consume the Assyrian, or that “God himself is a fire,” and that he thus makes an implied comparison of the Assyrian to straw or chaff. He says that this “fire” is kindled and kept alive “in Zion and Jerusalem,” that is, in the midst of his people, in order to intimate that the persecution of the Church of God by wicked men shall not pass unpunished; for they shall one day feel that he is their Judge, and shall know by experience that he assists his people, who thought that they had been left without all assistance.

In a word, against wicked men, who have maintained unceasing hostility against the Church, vengeance is prepared; and the Lord will not only avenge himself, but will also avenge his people. Let us therefore enjoy this consolation; and though it may appear as if we were defenceless and exposed to every danger, yet let us be fully convinced that the Lord will be “a fire” to our adversaries.

CHAPTER 32

Isaiah 32:1-20

1. Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgement.

1. Ecce in justitia regnabit rex, et principes in judicio præerunt.

2. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

2. Et erit ille vir velut latibulum a vento, receptus ab imbre, rivi aquarum in terra arida, umbra magnæ rupis in terra laboriosa.

3. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim; and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

3. Tunc non oblinentur oculi videntium, et aures audientium auscultabunt.

4. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

4. Et cor stultorum intentum erit ad scientiam, et lingua balborum expedita erit ad loquendum diserte.

5. The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

5. Non vocabitur amplius sordidus liberalis, neque parcus dicetur largus.

6. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry; and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

6. Quoniam sordidus loquetur sordes, et cor ejus machinabitur iniquitatem, ad designandam pravitatem, ut proferat subsannationem contra Iehovam, exinaniat animam famelicam, et potum sitienti subtrahat.

7. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

7. Avari arma sunt mala (vel, mensurœ sunt malœ) ipse pravitates excogitat, ut circumveniat simplices verbis mendacibus, et loquatur contra pauperem in judicio.

8. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

8. At liberalis liberalia agitabit, et liberaliter agendo progredietur.

9. Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

9. Mulieres quitæ, surgite; audite vocem meam, filiæ confidentes; auscultate sermonem meum.

10. Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

10. Dies super annum expavescetis, confidentes; quia deficiet vindemia, et collectio non veniet.

11. Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones; strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

11. Contremiscite, quietæ; trepidate, confidentes; spoliate, nudate, accingite lumbos.

12. They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

12. Super ubera plangentes, super agros desideratos, super vitem frugiferam.

13. Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briars; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

13. Super terram populi mei ascendet spina et vepris; etiam super omnes domos lætitæ in urbe exultationis.

14. Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

14. Quoniam palatium desertum, strepitus urbis relictus, turris et propugnaculum redigentur in speluncas in perpetuum, ubi gaudeant onagri, et pascantur greges.

15. Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

15. Donec super nos effundatur Spiritus ex alto, et ponatur desertum in agrum cultum, et ager cultus instar sylvæ reputetur.

16. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

16. Et habitabit in deserto judicium, et justitia in agro culto sedebit.

17. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever.

17. Et erit opus justitæ pax; effectus, inquam, justitæ, securitas et quies in perpetuum.

18. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet restingplaces.

18. Et sedebit populus meus in tabernaculo pacis, et in mansionibus securis, et in refrigeriis quieis.

19. When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.

19. Et grando in sylvam descensu divertet, et in loco humili considet civitas.

20. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

20. Beati vos qui seritis super omnes aquas, qui immittitis pedem bovis et asini.

CHAPTER 31

Is 31:1-9. The Chief Strength of the Egyptian Armies Lay in Their Cavalry.

1. and stay on horses, and trust in chariots--In their level and fertile plains horses could easily be used and fed (Ex 14:9; 1Ki 10:28). In hilly Palestine horses were not so easily had or available. The Jews were therefore the more eager to get Egyptian chariots as allies against the Assyrian cavalry. In Assyrian sculptures chariots are represented drawn by three horses, and with three men in them (see Is 36:9; Psa 20:7; Da 9:13).

2. he also is wise--as well as the Egyptian priests, so famed for wisdom (Ac 7:22), but who are "fools" before Him (Is 19:11). He not only devises, but executes what He devises without "calling back His words" (Nu 23:19).

home--the whole race.

help--the Egyptian succor sought by the Jews.

3. not spirit--not of divine power (Psa 56:4; 146:3, 5; Zec 4:6).

he that helpeth--Egypt.

holpen--Judah.

4. (Is 42:13; Ho 11:10).

roaring on--"growling over" his prey.

abase himself--be disheartened or frightened.

5. As in the image of "the lion," the point of comparison is the fearless might of Jehovah; so in that of the birds, it is His solicitous affection (De 32:11; Psa 91:4; Mt 23:37).

flying--Rather, "which defend" their young with their wings; "to fly" is a secondary meaning of the Hebrew word [Maurer]. "Hovering over" to protect their young [G. V. Smith].

passing over--as the destroying angel passing over, so as to spare the blood-marked houses of the Israelites on the first passover (Ex 12:13, 23, 27). He passed, or leaped forward [Lowth], to destroy the enemy and to spare His people.

6. The power and love of Jehovah, just mentioned, are the strongest incentives for returning to Him (Eze 16:62, 63; Ho 6:1).

ye ... Israel--The change of person marks that when they return to the Lord, He will address them in more direct terms of communion in the second person; so long as they were revolters, God speaks of them, as more at a distance, in the third person, rather than to them.

7. In the day of trial the idols will be found to render no help and will therefore be cast away. Compare as to the future restoration and conversion of Israel simultaneously with the interposition of Jehovah in its defense, Zec 12:9-14; 13:1, 2.

for a sin--that is, whereby especially you contracted guilt (1Ki 12:30).

8. Assyrian--Sennacherib, representative of some powerful head of the ungodly in the latter ages [Horsley].

sword, not of ... mighty ... mean man--but by the unseen sword of God.

flee--Sennacherib alone fled homewards after his army had been destroyed (Is 37:37).

young men--the flower of his army.

discomfited--rather, "shall be subject to slavery"; literally, "shall be liable to tribute," that is, personal service (De 20:11; Jos 9:21) [Maurer]. Or, not so well, "shall melt away" [Rosenmuller].

9. Rather, "shall pass beyond his strongholds"; he Shall not stop to take refuge in it through fear (Jud 20:47; Jr 48:28) [Gesenius].

ensign--the banner of Jehovah protecting the Jews [Maurer].

fire ... furnace--"light" and "fire," namely, of Jehovah's altar at Jerusalem (Is 29:1). Perhaps "furnace," as distinguished from "fire," may mean that His dwelling-place (His hearth) was at Jerusalem (compare Is 4:5); or else the fiery furnace awaiting all the enemies who should attack Jerusalem.

Wo to them that go down to Egypt - This is a reproof to the Israelites for forming an alliance with the Egyptians, and not trusting in the Lord.

And stay on horses "Who trust in horses" - For ועל veal, and upon, first twenty MSS. of Kennicott's, thirty of De Rossi's, one of my own, and the Septuagint, Arabic, and Vulgate, read על al, upon, without the conjunction, which disturbs the sense.

His words "His word" - דברו debaro, singular, without י yod, two MSS. of Dr. Kennicott's the Septuagint, and Targ. Hieros. דרכיו derachaiv, his ways, is found in one MS.

He that helpeth (the Egyptians) shall fall and he that is holpen (the Israelites) shall fall down-together.

Like as the lion - This comparison is exactly in the spirit and manner, and very nearly approaching to the expression, of Homer. Βη ρ' ιμεν, ὡστε λεων ορεσιτροφος, ὁστ' επιδευης Δηρον εῃ κρειων, κελεται δε ἑ θυμος αγηνωρ, Μηλων πειρησοντα, και ες πυκινον δομον ελθειν· Ειπερ γαρ χ' εὑρῃσι παρ' αυτοψι βωτορας ανδρας Συν κυσι και δουρεσσι φυλασσοντας περι μηλα, Ου ρα τ' απειρητος μεμονε σταθμοιο διεσθαι. Αλλ' ὁγ' αῥ η ἡρπαξε μεταλμενος, ηε και αυτος Εβλητ' εν πρωτοισι θοης απο χειρος ακοντι.

Iliad 12:299.

As the bold lion, mountain-bred, now long

Famished, with courage and with hunger stung

Attempts the thronged fold: him nought appals,

Though dogs and armed shepherds stand in guard

Collected; he nathless undaunted springs

O'er the high fence, and rends the trembling prey;

Or, rushing onward, in his breast receives

The well-aimed spear.

Of metaphors, allegories, and comparisons of the Hebrew poets, in which the Divine nature and attributes are represented under images taken from brutes and other low objects; of their effect, their sublimity, and the causes of it; see De Sac. Poes. Heb., Praelect. 16 sub. fin.

Passing over "Leaping forward" - The generality of interpreters observe in this place an allusion to the deliverance which God vouchsafed to his people when he destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians, and exempted those of the Israelites sojourning among them by a peculiar interposition. The same word is made use of here which is used upon that occasion, and which gave the name to the feast which was instituted in commemoration of that deliverance, פסח pesach. But the difficulty is to reconcile the commonly received meaning of that word with the circumstances of the similitude here used to illustrate the deliverance represented as parallel to the deliverance in Egypt. "As the mother birds hovering over their young,

So shall Jehovah God of hosts protect Jerusalem;

Protecting and delivering, passing over, and rescuing her."

This difficulty is, I think, well solved by Vitringa, whose remark is the more worthy of observation, as it leads to the true meaning of an important word, which hitherto seems greatly to have been misunderstood, though Vitringa himself, as it appears to me, has not exactly enough defined the precise meaning of it. He says, "פסח pasach signifies to cover, to protect by covering: σκεπασω ὑμας, Septuagint. Jehovah obteget ostium; 'The Lord will cover or protect the door:'" whereas it means that particular action or motion by which God at that time placed himself in such a situation as to protect the house of the Israelite against the destroying angel; to spring forward, to throw one's self in the way, in order to cover and protect. Cocceius comes nearer to the true meaning than Vitringa, by rendering it gradum facere, to march, to step forward; Lexicon in voc. The common meaning of the word פסח pasach upon other occasions is to halt, to be lame, to leap, as in a rude manner of dancing, (as the prophets of Baal did, 1Kgs 18:26), all which agrees very well together; for the motion of a lame person is a perpetual springing forward, by throwing himself from the weaker upon the stronger leg. The common notion of God's passage over the houses of the Israelites is, that in going through the land of Egypt to smite the first-born, seeing the blood on the door of the houses of the Israelites, he passed over, or skipped, those houses, and forbore to smite them. But that this is not the true notion of the thing, will be plain from considering the words of the sacred historian, where he describes very explicitly the action: "For Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood on the lintels and on the two side posts, Jehovah will spring forward over (or before) the door, ופסח יהוה על הפתח upasach Yehovah al happethach, and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you, "Exo 12:23. Here are manifestly two distinct agents, with which the notion of passing over is not consistent, for that supposes but one agent. The two agents are the destroying angel passing through to smite every house, and Jehovah the Protector keeping pace with him; and who, seeing the door of the Israelite marked with the blood, the token prescribed, leaps forward, throws himself with a sudden motion in the way, opposes the destroying angel, and covers and protects that house against the destroying angel, nor suffers him to smite it. In this way of considering the action, the beautiful similitude of the bird protecting her young answers exactly to the application by the allusion to the deliverance in Egypt. As the mother bird spreads her wings to cover her young, throws herself before them, and opposes the rapacious bird that assaults them, so shall Jehovah protect, as with a shield, Jerusalem from the enemy, protecting and delivering, springing forward and rescuing her; ὑπερβαινων, as the three other Greek interpreters, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, render it. The Septuagint, περιποιησεται· instead of which MS. Pachom. has περιβησεται, circumeundo proteget, "in going about he shall protect, "which I think is the true reading. - Homer, 2 viii. 329, expresses the very same image by this word: - Αιας δ' ουκ αμελησε κασιγνητοιο πεσοντος, Αλλα θεων περιβη, και οἱ σακος αμφεκαλυψε: " - But Ajax his broad shield displayed,

And screened his brother with a mighty shade." - Ὁς Χρυσην αμφιβεβηκας.

Il. 1:37

Which the scholiast explains by περιβεβηκας, ὑπερμαχεις, i.e., "Thou who strictly guardest Chryses." - L. On this verse Kimchi says, "The angel of the Lord which destroyed the Assyrians is compared to a lion, Isa 31:4, for his strength: and here (Isa 31:5) to flying birds, for his swiftness."

Have deeply revolted "Have so deeply engaged in revolt" - All the ancient Versions read תעמיקו taamiku, in the second person, instead of העמיקו heemiku, they have deeply revolted, etc.

Which your own hands have made unto you for a sin "The sin, which their own hands have made" - The construction of the word חטא chet, sin, in this place is not easy. The Septuagint have omitted it: MSS. Pachom. and 1. D. 2 and Cod. Marchal. in margine, supply the omission by the word ἁμαρτιαν, sin, or ἁμαρτημα, said to be from Aquila's Version, which I have followed. The learned Professor Schroeder, Institut. Ling. Hebrews p. 298, makes it to be in regimine with ידיכם yedeychem, as an epithet, your sinful hands. The Septuagint render the pronoun in the third person, αἱ χειρες αυτων, their hands; and an ancient MS. has, agreeable to that rendering, להם lahem, to them, for לכם lachem, to you; which word they have likewise omitted, as not necessary to complete the sense.

Then shall the Assyrian fall, etc. - Because he was to be discomfited by the angel of the Lord, destroying in his camp, in one night, upwards of one hundred and eighty thousand men; and Sennacherib himself fell by the hands of the princes, his own sons. Not mighty men, for they were not soldiers; not mean men, for they were princes.

Horses - For Egypt had many and choice horses.

He is safe - You think you are safe, in engaging the Egyptians; but God is not inferior to them in wisdom or strength, and therefore you have done foolishly, in preferring them before him, who will execute his judgments upon you, notwithstanding all the Egyptians can do. The help - The helpers, as it is explained in the next verse.

Flesh - Weak and frail.

For - Although you have done evil in sending to Egypt for help, yet the Lord himself will, of his own grace, give you that help which you do not deserve.

As birds - Which come from above, and so cannot be kept off; which fly swiftly, and engage resolutely, when their young ones are in danger. Passing over - The destroying angel shall pass over Jerusalem.

The sword - Not of any man, but of an angel. Discomfited - Heb. shall melt away, a great part of them being destroyed by the angel; and the hearts of the rest melting for fear.

He - Sennacherib shall flee away, from Jerusalem, to his strong city of Nineveh. The ensign - Of the Lord's ensign, which he hath lifted up against them. Whose fire - Who is, and will appear to be in Zion, like a fire to defend his people, and to consume their enemies.

1. WO to them that go down to Egypt for help , and stay on horses , and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen, because they are very strong: but they look not unto the holy one of Israel, neither seek the LORD .

As the Iews did contrary to God's Command, Deut. 17. 16. and 28. 68.

For Egypt had many and choice Horses.

Their confidence in the Creature was accompanied with, and did produce a distrust of God, and a neglect of seeking to Him by Prayer for His help.

Marginal references: Chap. 30. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]

2. Yet he also is wise , and will bring evil , and will not call back his words : but will arise against the house of evil doers , and against the help of them that work iniquity.

You think you are wise, and act wisely in ingaging the Egyptians, who are a wise and warlike People, to help you; but God is not inferiour to them in Wisdome nor in Strength, but much their Superior; and therefore you have done foolishly, and wickedly in preferring them before Him.

Will execute His Judgments upon you, notwithstanding all that you, or your Allies the Egyptians, can do to hinder it

His Threatnings denounced against you, but will infallibly Execute them.

Though at present He sit still, yet He will bestir himself and Fight.

Against this wicked and rebellious People of the Iews.

The helpers, as it is explained in the next Verse: The Abstract being put for the Concrete.

Marginal references: Heb. remove.

3. Now the Egyptians are men and not God , and their horses flesh , and not spirit , when the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.

And therefore utterly unable to defend you, either without or against my Will.

Weak and frail, as that word signifies, Psal. 78. 39. Heb. 5. 7. and elsewhere.

Not like spiritual Substances, such as the Angels, who are immortal, and invisible by Men; whereof we have Instances, Exod. 12. 29, 30. Isa. 37. 36.

Marginal references: Heb. Egypt is a man.

4. For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey , when a multitude of shepheards is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them, so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

Or, But: or, Nevertheless, as this particle is elsewhere used, as hath been proved before. Although you have done evil in sending to Egypt for help, and they shall not be able to help you; yet the Lord himself will, of His own Grace, and for the Glory of His own Name, give you that Help and Deliverance which you do not deserve, and have no reason to expect from Him. And therefore desist from those evil Counsels and Courses▪ as those which are both unnecessary and pernicious.

When He is ready to seize upon it, and devour it.

It hath been observed of Lions, That when they are pursued, they do not run away with all speed, as other Creatures do, but march away slowly, and make an honourable Retreat.

Although this Hebrew particle might be rendred against; and so this place might be understood of God's fighting against the Iews and Egyptians, of which He speaks, ver. 3. yet it is better rendred, for, as it is taken in many other places, as is manifest from the following similitude and verse.

Marginal references: Or, multitude.

5. As birds flying ▪ so will the LORD of hosts defend Ierusalem, defending also he will deliver it, and passing over he will preserve it.

Which come from above, and so cannot be kept off, which fly swiftly, and ingage themselves valiantly and resolutely, when they perceive, that their young Ones are in eminent▪ danger. [illegible: 1+ letters]e seems to allude, and to oppose this to those boasting Expressions of the Assyrian, Isa. 10. 14. compare Deut. 32. 11, 12. Mat. 23. 37.

The destroying Angel shall pass over Ierusalem untouched, and shall fall upon the Assyrians. He seems to allude to the History of God's passing over, and sparing the Houses of the Israelites, when He slew the Egyptians, in which this Word is constantly used, Exod. 12. 12, 22, 26.

Marginal references: Psal. 91. 4.; Psal. 37. [illegible: 1+ letters]0.

6. Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted .

Let the consideration of this gracious Promise ingage you to repent of your carnal Policies, in seeking and trusting to Egypt for Help, and sincerely to return to God.

Either 1. the Israelites, strictly so called, who are now utterly Destroyed for their Apostacy; and therefore take heed that you do not follow their Example. Or 2. you Iews, who are the Children of Israel: which Title, he here gives them, partly to admonish them of their great and many Obligations to God; and partly to aggravate the Sin of their Apostacy.

In neglecting and forsaking Him, and seeking to Egypt for Help; which he calls a deep revolt, partly because it was an hainous Sin, being contrary to God's express Command, and highly dishonourable to God: And partly because it was carried on with deep Dissimulation, and with a publick Profession of cleaving to God, and with a design of Seeking deep to hide this their counsel from the Lord, wherewith He charged this People, Isa. 29. 15.

7. For in that day every Man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin .

For when the Assyrian shall invade your Land, you shall find the vanity of those Idols, to which you have trusted; and therefore shall cast them away with indignation, and be forced to seek to Me for Help. So this is added, as an Argument to perswade them to practise his Counsel of turning to God.

Which you have made as Instruments of your sin of Idolatry. Or, Which your sinful hands (by a common Hebraisme, called hands of sin) have made for you. Or, the sin (as an Idol is called, Deut, 9. 21:) which your hands have made for you. So there is onely a Transposition of one Word, which is very usual in the Hebrew Text.

Marginal references: Chap. 2. 20. & 30. 22.; Heb. the idols of his gold.

8. Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man, and the sword, not of a mean man shall devour him, but he shall flee from the sword , and his young men shall be discomfited.

When you have cast away your Idols, and seriously sought to Me for Help; both which things were performed by Hezekiah.

By the Sword, not of any Man, either mean or mighty, but of an Angel.

From, or for fear of, that Plague which so strangely and suddenly destroyed his Army.

Heb. his choice young men, his Guards, and valiant Commanders and Souldiers.

e Heb. shall melt away, a great part of them being Destroyed by the Angel; and the Hearts of the rest melting for fear.

Marginal references: See 2 Kin. 19. 35.; Or, for fear of the sword.; Or, tributary.; Heb. for melting, or, tribute.

9. And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign , saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion , and his furnace in Ierusalem .

Sennacherib shall flee away, with all speed, from Ierusalem, to his strong City of Nineveh, Isa. 37. 37. Or, as it is in the Margent, and as the Words lie in the Hebrew Text, his rock (i. e. his Strength, the greatest Champions of his Army, to whom he trusted) shall pass away (shall flee with all speed from Ierusalem) for fear, lest the Sword of the destroying Angel should overtake them.

Either 1. of any Ensign. This dreadful Judgment shall strike them with such a Terror, that they shall not dare to look any Enemy in the Face. Or 2. of the Lord's Ensign, which He hath lifted up against them.

So the Sence is, Either 1. whose Fire is continually burning upon the Altar in Zion; which signifies his Presence and Residence there. Or rather 2. who is, and will appear to be in Zion, like a Fire to defend his People, and to consume their Enemies; for which end God promiseth, That He would be u[illegible: 1+ letters]o Ierusalem a wall of fire round about, Zech. 2. 5. And that He would make the Governours of Judah like a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a Torch of fire in a sheaf; and that they should devour all the people round about. Possibly these, and the following Words, may be thus rendred, and that very agreeable to the Hebrew words, Who will be a fire (to wit, a consuming Fire) to him (to the King of Assyria, of whom he is here speaking) in Zion (from whence he will send forth that Fire which shall consume his Army: Or, for Zion, for Zion's sake; for the Prefix here rendred in, frequently signifies for, as hath been proved) and a furnace to him in or for Ierusalem. But this I onely propose, leaving it to the Judgment of the intelligent Reader.

The same thing repeated in other Words.

Marginal references: Heb. his rock shall pass away for fear.; Or, his strength.

Isa 31:1-3

There is nothing to surprise us in the fact, that the prophet returns again and again to the alliance with Egypt. After his warning had failed to prevent it, he wrestled with it in spirit, set before himself afresh the curse which would be its certain fruit, brought out and unfolded the consolation of believers that lay hidden in the curse, and did not rest till the cursed fruit, that had become a real thing, had been swallowed up by the promise, which was equally real. The situation of this fourth woe is just the same as that of the previous one. The alliance with Egypt is still in progress. “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely upon horses, and put their trust in chariots, that there are many of them; and in horsemen, that there is a powerful multitude of them; and do not look up to the Holy One of Israel, and do not inquire for Jehovah! And yet He also is wise; thus then He brings evil, and sets not His words aside; and rises up against the house of miscreants, and against the help of evil-doers. And Egypt is man, and not God; and its horses flesh, and not spirit. And when Jehovah stretches out His hand, the helper stumbles, and he that is helped falls, and they all perish together.” The expression “them that go down” (hayyōredı̄m) does not imply that the going down was taking place just then for the first time. It is the participle of qualification, just as God is called הבּרא. לעזרה with Lamed of the object, as in Isa 20:6. The horses, chariots, and horsemen here, as those of Egypt, which Diodorus calls ἱππάσιμος, on account of its soil being so suitable for cavalry (see Lepsius in Herzog’s Cyclopaedia). The participle is combined in the finite verb. Instead of ועל־סוּסים, we also find the reading preferred by Norzi, of על without Vav, as in Isa 5:11 (cf., Isa 5:23). The perfects, שׁעוּ לא and דרשׁוּ לא, are used without any definite time, to denote that which was always wanting in them. The circumstantial clause, “whilst He is assuredly also wise,” i.e., will bear comparison with their wisdom and that of Egypt, is a touching μείωσις. It was not necessary to think very highly of Jehovah, in order to perceive the reprehensible and destructive character of their apostasy from Him. The fut. consec. ויּבא is used to indicate the inevitable consequence of their despising Him who is also wise. He will not set aside His threatening words, but carry them out. The house of miscreants is Judah (Isa 1:4); and the help (abstr. pro concr., just as Jehovah is frequently called “my help,” ‛ezrâthı̄, by the Psalmist) of evil-doers is Egypt, whose help has been sought by Judah. The latter is “man” ('âdâm), and its horses “flesh” (bâsâr); whereas Jehovah is God (El) and spirit (rūăch; see Psychol. p. 85). Hofmann expounds it correctly: “As ruuach has life in itself, it is opposed to the bâsâr, which is only rendered living through the rūăch; and so El is opposed to the corporeal 'âdâm, who needs the spirit in order to live at all.” Thus have they preferred the help of the impotent and conditioned, to the help of the almighty and all-conditioning One. Jehovah, who is God and spirit, only requires to stretch out His hand (an anthropomorphism, by the side of which we find the rule for interpreting it); and the helpers, and those who are helped (i.e., according to the terms of the treaty, though not in reality), that is to say, both the source of the help and the object of help, are all cast into one heap together.

Isa 31:4

And things of this kind would occur. “For thus hath Jehovah spoken to me, As the lion growls, and the young lion over its prey, against which a whole crowd of shepherds is called together; he is not alarmed at their cry, and does not surrender at their noise; so will Jehovah of hosts descend to the campaign against the mountain of Zion, and against their hill.” There is no other passage in the book of Isaiah which sounds so Homeric as this (vid., Il. xviii. 161, 162, xii. 299ff.). It has been misunderstood by Knobel, Umbreit, Drechsler, and others, who suppose על לצבּא to refer to Jehovah’s purpose to fight for Jerusalem: Jehovah, who would no more allow His city to be taken from Him, than a lion would give up a lamb that it had taken as its prey. But how could Jerusalem be compared to a lamb which a lion holds in its claws as tereph? (Isa 5:29). We may see, even from Isa 29:7, what construction is meant to be put upon על צבא. Those sinners and their protectors would first of all perish; for like a fierce indomitable lion would Jehovah advance against Jerusalem, and take it as His prey, without suffering Himself to be thwarted by the Judaeans and Egyptians, who set themselves in opposition to His army (The Assyrians). The mountain of Zion was the citadel and temple; the hill of Zion the city of Jerusalem (Isa 10:32). They would both be given up to the judgment of Jehovah, without any possibility of escape. The commentators have been misled by the fact, that a simile of a promising character follows immediately afterwards, without anything to connect the one with the other. But this abrupt μετάβασις was intended as a surprise, and was a true picture of the actual fulfilment of the prophecy; for in the moment of the greatest distress, when the actual existence of Jerusalem was in question (cf., Isa 10:33-34), the fate of Ariel took suddenly and miraculously a totally different turn (Isa 29:2). In this sense, a pleasant picture is placed side by side with the terrible one (compare Mic 5:6-7).

Isa 31:5

Jehovah suddenly arrests the work of punishment, and the love which the wrath enfolds within itself begins to appear. “Like fluttering birds, so will Jehovah of Hosts screen Jerusalem; screening and delivering, sparing and setting free.” The prophet uses the plural, “like fluttering birds,” with an object - namely, not so much to represent Jehovah Himself, as the tender care and, as it were, maternal love, into which His leonine fierceness would be changed. This is indicated by the fact, that he attaches the feminine ‛âphōth to the common gender tsippŏrı̄m. The word pâsōăch recals to mind the deliverance from Egypt (as in Isa 30:29) in a very significant manner. The sparing of the Israelites by the destroyer passing over their doors, from which the passover derived its name, would be repeated once more. We may see from this, that in and along with Assyria, Jehovah Himself, whose instrument of punishment Assyria was, would take the filed against Jerusalem (Isa 29:2-3); but His attitude towards Jerusalem is suddenly changed into one resembling the action of birds, as they soar round and above their threatened nests. On the inf. abs. kal (gânōn) after the hiphil, see Ewald, §312, b; and on the continuance of the inf. abs. in the finite verb, §350, a. This generally takes place through the future, but here through the preterite, as in Jer 23:14; Gen 26:13, and 1Sa 2:26 (if indeed vegâdēl is the third pers. preterite there).

Isa 31:6

On the ground of this half terrible, half comforting picture of the future, the call to repentance is now addressed to the people of the prophet’s own time. “Then turn, O sons of Israel, to Him from whom men have so deeply departed.” Strictly speaking, “to Him with regard to whom (אשׁר) ye are deeply fallen away” (he‛ĕmı̄q, as in Hos 9:9, and sârâh, that which is alienated, alienation, as in Isa 1:5); the transition to the third person is like the reverse in Isa 1:29. This call to repentance the prophet strengthens by two powerful motives drawn from the future.

Isa 31:7

The first is, that idolatry would one day be recognised in all its abomination, and put away. “For in that day they will abhor every one their silver idols and their gold idols, which your hands have made you for a sin,” i.e., to commit sin and repent, with the preponderance of the latter idea, as in Hos 8:11 (compare 1Ki 13:34). חטא, a second accusative to עשׂוּ, indicating the result. The prospect is the same as that held out in Isa 30:22; Isa 27:9; Isa 17:8; Isa 2:20.

Isa 31:8-9

The second motive is, that Israel will not be rescued by men, but by Jehovah alone; so that even He from whom they have now so deeply fallen will prove Himself the only true ground of confidence. “And Asshur falls by a sword not of a man, and a sword not of a man will devour him; and he flees before a sword, and his young men become tributary. And his rock, for fear will it pass away, and his princes be frightened away by the flags: the saying of Jehovah, who has His fire in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem.” The lxx and Jerome render this falsely φεύξεται οὐκ (לא) ἀπὸ προσώπου μαχαίρας. לו is an ethical dative, and the prophet intentionally writes “before a sword” without any article, to suggest the idea of the unbounded, infinite, awful (cf., Isa 28:2, beyâd; Psalter, vol. i. p. 15). A sword is drawn without any human intervention, and before this Asshur falls, or at least so many of the Assyrians as are unable to save themselves by flight. The power of Asshur is for ever broken; even its young men will henceforth become tributary, or perform feudal service. By “his rock” most commentators understand the rock upon which the fugitive would gladly have taken refuge, but did not dare (Rosenmüller, Gesenius, Knobel, etc.); others, again, the military force of Asshur, as its supposed invincible refuge (Saad., etc.); others, the apparently indestructible might of Asshur generally (Vulgate, Rashi, Hitzig). But the presence of “his princes” in the parallel clause makes it most natural to refer “his rock” to the king; and this reference is established with certainty by what Isa 32:2 affirms of the king and princes of Judah. Luther also renders it thus: und jr Fels wird fur furcht wegzihen (and their rock will withdraw for fear). Sennacherib really did hurry back to Assyria after the catastrophe in a most rapid flight. Minnēs are the standards of Asshur, which the commanders of the army fly away from in terror, without attempting to rally those that were scattered. Thus speaks Jehovah, and this is what He decrees who has His 'ūr and tannūr in Jerusalem. We cannot suppose that the allusion here is to the fire and hearth of the sacrifices; for tannūr does not mean a hearth, but a furnace (from nūr, to burn). The reference is to the light of the divine presence, which was outwardly a devouring fire for the enemies of Jerusalem, an unapproachable red-hot furnace (ignis et caminus qui devorat peccatores et ligna, faenum stipulamque consumit: Jerome).

Confidence in Egypt Reproved. (b. c. 720.)

1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord ! 2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. 3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. 4 For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. 5 As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.

This is the last of four chapters together that begin with woe; and they are all woes to the sinners that were found among the professing people of God, to the drunkards of Ephraim (ch. xxviii. 1), to Ariel (ch. xxix. 1), to the rebellious children (ch. xxx. 1), and here to those that go down to Egypt for help; for men's relation to the church will not secure them from divine woes if they live in contempt of divine laws. Observe,

I. What the sin was that is here reproved, v. 1. 1. Idolizing the Egyptians, and making court to them, as if happy were the people that had the Egyptians for their friends and allies. They go down to Egypt for help in every exigence, as if the worshippers of false gods had a better interest in heaven and were more likely to have success of earth than the servants of the living and true God. That which invited them to Egypt was that the Egyptians had many chariots to accommodate them with, and horses and horsemen that were strong; and, if they could get a good body of forces thence into their service, they would think themselves able to deal with the king of Assyria and his numerous army. Their kings were forbidden to multiply horses and chariots, and were told of the folly of trusting to them (Ps. xx. 7); but they think themselves wiser than their Bible. 2. Slighting the God of Israel: They look not to the Holy One of Israel, as if he were not worth taking notice of in this distress. They advise not with him, seek not his favour, nor are in any care to make him their friend.

II. The gross absurdity and folly of this sin. 1. They neglected one whom, if they would not hope in him, they had reason to fear. They do not seek the Lord, nor make their application to him, yet he also is wise, v. 2. They are solicitous to get the Egyptians into an alliance with them, because they have the reputation of a politic people; and is not God wise too? and would not infinite wisdom, engaged on their side, stand them in more stead than all the policies of Egypt? They are at the pains of going down to Egypt, a tedious journey, when they might have had better advice, and better help, by looking up to heaven, and would not. But, if they will not court God's wisdom to act for them, they shall find it act against them. He is wise, too wise for them to outwit, and he will bring evil upon those who thus affront him. He will not call back his words as men do (because they are fickle and foolish), but he will arise against the house of the evil-doers, this cabal of them that go down to Egypt; God will appear to their confusion, according to the word that he has spoken, and will oppose the help they think to bring in from the workers of iniquity. Some think the Egyptians made it one condition of their coming into an alliance with him that they should worship the gods of Egypt, and they consented to it, and therefore they are both called evil-doers and workers of iniquity. 2. They trusted to those who were unable to help them and would soon appear to be so, v. 3. Let them know that the Egyptians, whom they depend so much upon, are men and not God. As it is good for men to know themselves to be but men (Ps. ix. 20), so it is good for us to consider that those we love and trust to are but men. They therefore can do nothing without God, nothing against him, nothing in comparison with him. They are men, and therefore fickle and foolish, mutable and mortal, here to day and gone to morrow; they are men, and therefore let us not make gods of them, by making them our hope and confidence, and expecting that in them which is to be found in God only; they are not God, they cannot do that for us which God can do, and will, if we trust in him. Let us not then neglect him, to seek to them; let us not forsake the rock of ages for broken reeds, nor the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns. The Egyptians indeed have horses that are very strong; but they are flesh, and not spirit, and therefore, strong as they are, they may be wearied with a long march, and become unserviceable, or be wounded and slain in battle, and leave their riders to be ridden over. Every one knows this, that the Egyptians are not God and their horses are not spirit; but those that seek to them for help do not consider it, else they would not put such confidence in them. Sinners may be convicted of folly by the plainest and most self-evident truths, which they cannot deny, but will not believe. 3. They would certainly be ruined with the Egyptians they trusted in, v. 3. When the Lord does but stretch out his hand how easily, how effectually, will he make them ashamed of their confidence in Egypt, and the Egyptians ashamed of the encouragement they gave them to trust in them; for he that helps and he that is helped shall fall together, and their mutual alliance shall prove their joint ruin. The Egyptians were shortly to be reckoned with, as appears by the burden of Egypt (ch. xix.), and then those who fled to them for shelter and succour should fall with them; for there is no escaping the judgments of God. Evil pursues sinners, and it is just with God to make that creature a scourge to us which we make an idol of. 4. They took God's work out of his hands. They pretended a great deal of care to preserve Jerusalem, in advising to an alliance with Egypt; and, when others would not fall in with their measures, they pleaded self preservation, and went to Egypt themselves. Now the prophet here tells them that Jerusalem should be preserved without aid from Egypt and that those who tarried there should be safe when those who fled to Egypt should be ruined. Jerusalem was under God's protection, and therefore there was no occasion to put it under the protection of Egypt. But a practical distrust of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our sinful departures from him to the creature. The prophet tells them he had it from God's own mouth: Thus hath the Lord spoken to me. They might depend upon it, (1.) That God would appear against Jerusalem's enemies with the boldness of a lion over his prey, v. 4. When the lion comes out to seize his prey a multitude of shepherds come out against him; for it becomes neighbours to help one another when persons or goods are in danger. These shepherds dare not come near the lion; all they can do is to make a noise, and with that they think to frighten him off. But does he regard it? No: he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself so far as to be in the least moved by it either to quit his prey or to make any more haste than otherwise he would do in seizing it. Thus will the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, with such an unshaken undaunted resolution not to be moved by any opposition; and he will as easily and irresistibly destroy the Assyrian army as a lion tears a lamb in pieces. Whoever appear against God, they are but like a multitude of poor simple shepherds shouting at a lion, who scorns to take notice of them or so much as to alter his pace for them. Surely those that have such a protector need not go to Egypt for help. (2.) That God would appear for Jerusalem's friends with the tenderness of a bird over her young, v. 5. God was ready to gather Jerusalem, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings (Matt. xxiii. 37); but those that trusted to the Egyptians would not be gathered. As birds flying to their nests with all possible speed, when they see them attacked, and fluttering about their nests with all possible concern, hovering over their young ones to protect them and drive away the assailants, with such compassion and affection will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. As an eagle stirs up her young when they are in danger, takes them and bears them on her wings, so the Lord led Israel out of Egypt (Deut. xxxii. 11, 12); and he has now the same tender concern for them that he had then, so that they need not flee into Egypt again for shelter. Defending, he will deliver it; he will so defend it as to secure the continuance of its safety, not defend it for a while and abandon it at last, but defend it so that it shall not fall into the enemies' hand. I will defend this city to save it, ch. xxxvii. 35. Passing over he will preserve it; the word for passing over is used in this sense only here and Exod. xii. 12, 23, 27, concerning the destroying angel's passing over the houses of the Israelites when he slew all the first-born of the Egyptians, to which story this passage refers. The Assyrian army was to be routed by a destroying angel, who should pass over Jerusalem, though that deserved to be destroyed, and draw his sword only against the besiegers. They shall be slain by the pestilence, but none of the besieged shall take the infection. Thus he will again pass over the houses of his people and secure them.

A Call to Repentance; Deliverance of Jerusalem. (b. c. 720.)

6 Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. 7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. 8 Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. 9 And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord , whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.

This explains the foregoing promise of the deliverance of Jerusalem; she shall be fitted for deliverance, and then it shall be wrought for her; for in that method God delivers.

I. Jerusalem shall be reformed, and so she shall be delivered from her enemies within her walls, v. 6, 7. Here is, 1. A gracious call to repentance. This was the Lord's voice crying in the city, the voice of the rod, the voice of the sword, and the voice of the prophets interpreting the judgment: "Turn you, O turn you now, from your evil ways, unto God, return to your allegiance to him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted, from whom you, O children of Israel! have revolted." He reminds them of their birth and parentage, that they were children of Israel, and therefore under the highest obligations imaginable to the God of Israel, as an aggravation of their revolt from him and as an encouragement to them to return to him. "They have been backsliding children, yet children; therefore let them return, and their backslidings shall be healed. They have deeply revolted, with great address as they supposed (the revolters are profound, Hos. v. 2); but the issue will prove that they have revolted dangerously. The stain of their sins has gone deeply into their nature, not to be easily got out, like the blackness of the Ethiopian. They have deeply corrupted themselves (Hos. ix. 9); they have sunk deep into misery, and cannot easily recover themselves; therefore you have need to hasten your return to God." 2. A gracious promise of the good success of this call (v. 7): In that day every man shall cast away his idols, in obedience to Hezekiah's orders, which, till they were alarmed by the Assyrian invasion, many refused to do. That is a happy fright which frightens us from our sins. (1.) It shall be a general reformation: every man shall cast away his own idols, shall begin with them before he undertakes to demolish other people's idols, which there will be no need of when every man reforms himself. (2.) It shall be a thorough reformation; for they shall part with their idolatry, their beloved sin, with their idols of silver and gold, their idols that they are most fond of. Many make an idol of their silver and gold, and by the love of that idol are drawn to revolt from God; but those that turn to God cast that away out of their hearts and will be ready to part with it when God calls. (3.) It shall be a reformation upon a right principle, a principle of piety, not of politics. They shall cast away their idols, because they have been unto them for a sin, an occasion of sin; therefore they will have nothing to do with them, though they had been the work of their own hands, and upon that account they had a particular fondness for them. Sin is the work of our own hands, but in working it we have been working our own ruin, and therefore we must cast it away; and those are strangely wedded to it who will not be prevailed upon to cast it away when they see that otherwise they themselves will be castaways. Some make this to be only a prediction that those who trust in idols, when they find they stand them in no stead, will cast them away in indignation. But it agrees so exactly with ch. xxx. 22 that I rather take it as a promise of a sincere reformation.

II. Jerusalem's besiegers shall be routed, and so she shall be delivered from the enemies about her walls. The former makes way for this. If a people return to God, they may leave it to him to plead their cause against their enemies. When they have cast away their idols, then shall the Assyrian fall, v. 8, 9. 1. The army of the Assyrians shall be laid dead upon the spot by the sword, not of a mighty man, nor of a mean man, not of any man at all, either Israelite or Egyptian, not forcibly by the sword of a mighty man nor surreptitiously by the sword of a mean man, but by the sword of an angel, who strikes more strongly than a mighty man and yet more secretly than a mean man, by the sword of the Lord, and his power and wrath in the hand of the angel. Thus the young men of the army shall melt, and be discomfited, and become tributaries to death. When God has work to do against the enemies of his church we expect it must be done by mighty men and mean men, officers and common soldiers; whereas God can, if he please, do it without either. He needs not armies of men who has legions of angels at command, Matt. xxvi. 53. 2. The king of Assyria shall flee for the same, shall flee from that invisible sword, hoping to get out of the reach of it; and he shall make the best of his way to his own dominions, shall pass over to some strong-hold of his own, for fear lest the Jews should pursue him now that his army was routed. Sennacherib had been very confident that he should make himself master of Jerusalem, and in the most insolent manner had set both God and Hezekiah at defiance; yet now he is made to tremble for fear of both. God can strike a terror into the proudest of men, and make the stoutest heart to tremble. See Job xviii. 11; xx. 24. His princes that accompany him shall be afraid of the ensign, shall be in a continual fright at the remembrance of the ensign in the air, which perhaps the destroying angel displayed before he gave the fatal bow. Or they shall be afraid of every ensign they see, suspecting it is a party of the Jews pursuing them. The banner that God displays for the encouragement of his people (Ps. lx. 4) will be a terror to his and their enemies. Thus he cuts off the spirit of princes and is terrible to the kings of the earth. But who will do this? It is the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem. (1.) Whose residence is there, and who there keeps house, as a man does where his fire and his oven are. It is the city of the great King, and let not the Assyrians think to turn him out of the possession of his own house. (2.) Who is there a consuming fire to all his enemies and will make them as a fiery oven in the day of his wrath, Ps. xxi. 9. He is himself a wall of fire round about Jerusalem, so that whoever assaults her does so at his peril, Zech. ii. 5; Rev. xi. 5. (3.) Who has his altar there, on which the holy fire is continually kept burning and sacrifices are daily offered to his honour, and with which he is well pleased; and therefore he will defend this city, especially having an eye to the great sacrifice which was there also to be offered, of which all the sacrifices were types. If we keep up the fire of holy love and devotion in our hearts and houses, we may depend upon God to be a protection to us and them.

CHAP. XXXI.

Ver. 1. WO to them that go down to Egypt for help] The Prophet ſaw them ſet upon it to ſend down to Egypt; he therefore addeth another Woe to ſuch refractaries, and layeth before them more reaſons to diſſwade them from doing ſo: a good preſident for Preachers. Oecolampadius rendreth it, O deſcendentes, O ye that go down to Egypt, &c. Oh ye are a wiſe company of you, and full well ye have done it!

But they look not to the holy one of Iſrael] They truſt not God at all, that not alone. He that ſtands with one foot on a rock, and another foot upon a quick-ſand, will ſink and periſh as certainly as he that ſtands with both feet on a quick-ſand. See Pſal. 62.2, 5, 6.

Ver. 2. Yet he alſo is wiſe] yea he is the only wiſe God, whatever the worlds wizzards think of Him, or of themſelves. They counted, the voyage down to Egypt the wiſeſt way; and to reſt altogether upon God,Tacita Antitheſis in qua latet Antanaclaſis. to be altogether impolitique, as the caſe now ſtood. Egypt alſo they knew was famous for wiſdom, chap. 19.11, 12. but conſidered not how God had fooled them, Exod. 1. and taken thoſe foxes in their own craft, 1 Cor. 3 19.

And will bring evil] To thoſe evil-Counſellors eſpecially, [non-Latin text not transcribed].

Ver. 3. Now the Egyptians are men and not God] Poets fain that in the Trojan war one god fought againſt another, Mulciber in Trojam, pro Troja ſtabat Apollo.

But theſe Jews could not imagine that the Egyptians in whom they confided, were fit matches for God, and able to deal with him. Who would ſet thoſe briars and thorns againſt me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together, chap. 27.4.

And their horſes fleſh and not ſpirit] God is Lord of hoſts: and as the Rabbins well obſerve, he hath his Cavallery and his Infantry, or his horſe and his foot: his upper forces and his lower, ready preſt. The charets of God are twenty thouſand, even thouſands of Angels, Pſal. 68.17. and what can the Egyptian horſe do againſt ſuch worthy warriors?

Ver. 4. Like as the Lion, and the young Lion] That they may truſt in God, and not in the arm of fleſh, the Prophet ſetteth before them under two fit ſimilitudes the power of God, ver. 4. and the mercy of God, ver. 5. Theſe are the Jachin and the Boaz, the two main pillars and ſupports of Truſt in God. Procopius here noteth that the Lyon when he preyeth, firſt roareth ſo terribly, that he thereby amazeth both the cattle and their keepers, and then he falleth upon them and teareth them in pieces: ſo doth God firſt roar, that is, threaten by his Prophets, and then he deſtroyeth ſuch as obſtinate themſelves in a ſinful courſe.

Ver. 5. As birds flying, ſo will the Lord of Hoſts] This is the ſecond ſimilitude: the Eagle, when ſhe flyeth higheſt of all from the neſt, and ſeemeth to ſet her ſelf among the clouds, ſtill keeps her eye on her neſt, ſo that if any come near her young ones to offend them, ſhe makes all poſſible ſpeed for their defence. Such an Eagle is Almighty God, Deut. 32.11. ſuch a hen is Jeſus Chriſt, Mat. 23.37. ſee Pſal. 91.1, 2. The Church is Gods neſt; who dare meddle with it? Sennacherib had threatned to deſtroy neſt and young ones together, becauſe he had done ſo elſewhere, and none durſt wag the wing at him, chap. 10.14. but he found it otherwiſe here, chap. 37.33.

Ver. 6. Turn ye unto him] Vos Apoſtatae Judaei. He runs far that never turneth again, we ſay: ye have revolted and run away from God with all your hearts, doing evil as ye could: O Turn again to Him, ex profundo imo que corde ad illum redite, let there be a proportion betwixt your ſin and your repentance. Turn ye unto me, uſque ad me, all out as far as to me, give not the half turn only; with all your heart, Joel 2.12. Take heed left there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.Heb. 3.12. [non-Latin text not transcribed] parit [non-Latin text not transcribed].

Ver. 7. For in that day] Sc. of your effectual converſion, chap. 30, 22. or, when the Aſſyrian ſhall aſſault you, then you ſhall ſee the vanity of your Idols, and of all humane helps: ſo chap. 2.20.22.

Ver. 8. Then ſhall the Aſſyrian fall] fall in his forces, flee in his perſon: but evil ſhall hunt that violent man to deſtroy him, Pſal. 140.11.

Not of a mighty man] or of a mean man, but of an Angel.

And his young men ſhall be diſcomfited] Heb. ſhall be unto melting, they ſhall melt away, as 1 Sam. 14.16. Vide hic ſaith à Lapide, ſee here how this world is nothing elſe but a perpetual ruin of all kinds and conditions of men.

Ver. 9. And he ſhall paſs over to his ſtronghold] To Nineveh, never thinking himſelf ſafe till he come thither.

And his Princes ſhall be afraid of the Enſign] lifted up by Gods Angels in the ſlaughter of their fellows.

Whoſe fire is in Zion] Who keep; houſe there: ſumpta Metaphora à re Oeconomica: there he had his fire and his chimney, ſc. in the Temple from whence alſo came this deſtruction to the enemy: Pſal. 76.2, 3. with the Notes there.