Matthew Poole and continuators on Isaiah 9:18

18 For wickedness burneth as the fire, it shall devour the briers and thorns , and shall kindle in the thickets of the forrest , and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke .

i. e. Shall burn you, as it follows, shall devour. Your iniquity shall be your ruine, as God threatens, Ezek. 18. 30.

Either, 1. the Wicked, who are oft compared to briers and thorns, as 2 Sam. 23. 6. Isa. 27. 4. or rather, 2. the low and mean Persons; for these are opposed to the thickets of the forest, in the next Clause.

In the Wood, where the Trees are tall, and stand thick, having their Boughs entangled together, which makes them more ready both to catch and to spread the Fire.

Sending up Smoke like a vast Furnace. Heb. with heighth or pride of smoke, i. e. with aspiring Smoke, which in that case riseth high, and spreadeth far, and filleth all the neighbouring Air.

Marginal references: Chap. 10. 17.