Matthew Poole and continuators on Isaiah 9:1

NEvertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation , when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land of Nephtali , and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea , beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations .

The Words thus rendred contain a Mitigation of the foregoing Threatning: And so the sence of the Verse may be this, The Calamity of this Land and its Inhabitants shall be great, yet not such as that which was brought upon the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes by the King of Assiria, who at first indeed dealt more gently with them, but afterwards quite rooted them out, and carried them away into a dreadful Captivity, from whence they were not to return, no not when the Messiah came into the World; for, after this Darkness, of which I have now spoken, there shall come a glorious Light, as it follows in the next Verse. The Dutch Interpreters take it in the same sence, and render the Words thus, But the Land that was distressed shall not be utterly darkned. To the same purpose they may be thus rendred, according to the Hebrew, But darkness shall not be (i. e. shall not abide or continue; for to be is sometimes put for to abide or continue to be, as 1 Sam. 12. 14. Prov. 23. 5. Mat. 17. 4. Heb. 8. 4.) unto her (to wit, the Land, which by the consent of Interpreters is understood here, as it was ch. 8. 21.) to whom this distress is or shall be. She shall be distressed and darkned, as I said before, ch. 8. 22. but not irrecoverably, nor for ever. Some understand the Words to be an aggravation of the Darkness or Misery threatned ch. 8. 22. rendring the Words thus, for the dimness shall not be, &c. And so the sence is, This shall not be so sleight an Affliction as that which bes[illegible: 1+ letters]l them by Pul, 2 Kings 15. 19. nor as that which succeeded it by Tiglath-Pileser, who, at the desire of Ahaz, did about this time make another Invasion into the Land of Israel, 2 Kings 15. 29. and was an heavier Stroke than the former, but this shall be far heavier than either of them. But the former sence seems better to agree both with the following Verse, and with Mat. 4. 13, 14, 15. where these Words are expoanded as a Promise, and said to be fulfilled by Christ's preaching the Gospel in these Parts.

In the first Invasion which the King of Assyria made upon Israel.

To wit, God, who is oft understood in such Cases, and who is here supposed to be the Author or Inflicter of this Judgment. Or, it is an Impersonal Speech, he afflicted for was aflicted, than which nothing is more common in the Hebrew Language.

Either, 1. by Pul; or rather, 2. by Tiglath-Pileser, who at this time invaded and subdued these Parts, as is expressed 2 Kings 15. 29.

These Parts are particularly mentioned, because this Storm fell most heavily upon them; but under them the other Parts of the Land are understood by a common Figure called Synechdoche.

Either, 1. by Tiglath-Pileser; or rather, 2. by Shalmaneser, who took Sa[illegible: 1+ letters]aria, and carried Israel into Captivity, 2 Kings 17. 5, 6. Of which Calamity, though yet to come, the Prophet speaks as if it were past, as the manner of the Prophets is.

In that part of the Land which bordereth upon the Sea, to wit, the Lake of Genesareth, which is very commonly called a sea, as Mat. 4. 18. Ioh. 21. 1. &c. and upon which the Portions of Zebulun and Nephtali bordered.

Or, on this side Iordan; for this Preposition is used both ways, and this Land might be said to be either beyond or on this side Iordan, in divers respects.

Or, Galilee of the Gentiles, to wit, the Upper Galilee, so called because it bordered upon the Gentiles. But this last Clause, and the two foregoing Clauses, are otherwise rendred and interpreted by divers I earned men, as a Prophecy concerning the Light of the Gospel that should shine in those Parts, As at the first time (to wit, in the former Ages of the Israelitish Church and Commonwealth) he made the land of Zebulun and the land of Nephtali vile or contemptible (as he might be said to have done, partly by putting those People at so great a distance from his Sanctuary, partly by exposing them to some Calamities which other Tribes escaped, and partly by denying them those Honours and Privileges which he afforded to other Tribes, of which see Ioh. 7. 52. Out of Galilee aris[illegible: 1+ letters]th no Prophet; and Ioh. 1. 46. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? which was an eminent City of Galilee); so in the latter or last time (to wit, in the days of the Messiah, or of the Gospel, which are frequently so called in the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament) he made it (i. e. he will make it, for the Prophet speaks of things to come as past, as he doth most commonly in this Prophecy) glorious (to wit, by Christs first preaching the Gospel in those Parts) in or towards the way of the sea (to wit, of Galilee or Genesareth) beyond or on this side Iordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles. Which Interpretation I thought fit to propose, as deserving farther Consideration.

Marginal references: Or, on this side.; Or, populous.