*H Woe to them that make wicked laws: and when they write, write injustice:
Ver. 1. Injustice. These great ones excite God's indignation. C. — Jeroboam forbidding any to go to Jerusalem; and the Pharisees establishing their wicked traditions, ruined all. W.
*H What will you do in the day of visitation, and of the calamity which cometh from afar? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
Ver. 3. Afar. When Salmanasar shall come from Ninive to destroy Samaria, to punish the people for their idolatry (C.) and oppressions. H. — Glory. Golden calves, (Ose. viii. 5. and x. 5.) or possessions. C. ix. 8.
*H Woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod and the staff of my anger, and my indignation is in their hands.
Ver. 5. Woe. Or come on, Heus, though (C.) ho is ordinarily rendered, alas! It here indicates that God makes use of this scourge with regret, and will afterwards consign it to the flames. H. — The prophet speaks of Salmanasar, or of Sennacherib. S. Cyr. S. Jer.
*H I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath, to take away the spoils, and to lay hold on the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Ver. 6. Deceitful. Heb. "hypocritical," joining my worship with that of idols. C. — They had solemnly promised to serve the Lord. Ex. xix. 8. W.
*H But he shall not take it so, and his heart shall not think so: but his heart shall be set to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.
Ver. 7. So. He will not think that he is executing my vengeance, supposing that he conquers by his own power.
*H Are not my princes as so many kings? is not Calano as Charcamis: and Emath as Arphad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
Ver. 9. As. Lit. "altogether kings." H. — Thus Nabuchodonosor kept the conquered princes for derision. Hab. i. 10. Judg. i. 7. — Arphad, Arad, or rather Raphanæ. Jer. xlix. 23. — Damascus. These two cities were not yet subdued.
*H As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idol, so also their idols of Jerusalem, and of Samaria.
Ver. 10. Idols. He looks upon the true God as no better than any idols, (4 K. xviii. 32.) and falsely supposes that the latter were adored in Jerusalem. C.
*H And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord shall have performed all his works in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes.
Ver. 12. Works. Humbling and terrifying Ezechias and his subjects, who were reduced to great distress, in order to avert the impending war. H. — Eyes. The Assyrians were punished in their turn.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 19 : 35
And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when he arose early in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead.*H And my hand hath found the strength of the people as a nest; and as eggs are gathered, that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or made the least noise.
Ver. 14. Nest. Some put these words in the mouth of God. Tert. Abdias 4. — But they shew the insolence of Sennacherib.
*H Shall the axe boast itself against him that cutteth with it? or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? as if a rod should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff exalt itself, which is but wood.
Ver. 15. Axe. The Assyrian has no right to boast. What can man do without God's assistance? C. — Gratiæ tuæ deputo et quæcumque non feci mala. S. Aug. Conf. ii. 7. — Sennacherib persecuted the Jews of his own free will, though he was God's instrument. W.
*H Therefore the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send leanness among his fat ones: and under his glory shall be kindled a burning, as it were the burning of a fire.
Ver. 16. Fire. The Jews assert, that 185,000 perished by an inward burning, so that only ten men were left. v. 19. S. Jer.
*H And the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and the Holy One thereof as a flame: and his thorns and his briers shall be set on fire, and shall be devoured in one day.
Ver. 17. Light. God. H. — Thorns. Private soldiers. C.
*H And the glory of his forest, and of his beautiful hill, shall be consumed from the soul even to the flesh, and he shall run away through fear.
Ver. 18. Glory. Officers. — Flesh. Or body. All shall perish. H. — Fear. Sennacherib escaped alone, and fell by the sword of his own sons.
*H And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no more upon him that striketh them: but they shall lean upon the Lord the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
Ver. 20. Israel now submitted to Ezechias, as their kingdom was overturned in the sixth year of his reign, eight years before Sennacherib's arrival. Isaias speaks of this time, and therefore makes no distinction of the kingdoms. Striketh the Assyrian.
*H For if thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted, the consumption abridged shall overflow with justice.
Ver. 22. Converted. This was partly verified in the children of Israel who remained after the devastations of the Assyrians, in the time of king Ezechias: and partly in the conversion of a remnant of the Jews to the faith of Christ. Ch. — 4 K. xviii. 3. Rom. ix. 27. The apostle follows the Sept. (C.) "and if the people of Israel be." — Converted. Sept. "saved, for perfecting the word and abridging in justice. Because God, the Lord of hosts, will make an abridged word in the universe." H. — As the apostle has explained this passage, "every other interpretation must cease." S. Jer. — The few who were converted under Ezechias were a figure of those who should embrace the faith of Christ. C. — Consumption. That is, the number of them cut short, and reduced to few, shall flourish in the abundance of justice. Ch. — Heb. "the desolation is decreed, justice shall overflow." God will treat all with rigour. Nah. i. 8. The incredulous Jews shall be rejected. v. 23. Rom. ix.
* Footnote * Romans 9 : 27
And Isaias cried out concerning Israel: If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.*H Therefore, thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: O my people that dwellest in Sion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall strike thee with his rod, and he shall lift up his staff over thee in the way of Egypt.
Ver. 24. Egypt. He sent Rabsaces from Lachis, when he set out to meet Tharaca. 4 K. xix.
*H For yet a little and a very little while, and my indignation shall cease, and my wrath shall be upon their wickedness.
Ver. 25. Little. Twenty-eight years, (Ps. lxxxix. 4.) or he alludes to the destruction which took place in a single night, (C.) or in a moment. v. 16. H.
*H And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him, according to the slaughter of Madian in the rock of Oreb, and his rod over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt.
Ver. 26. Oreb. Judg. vii. 25. — And his. Moses thus let loose the waters of the Red Sea on the Egyptians, by stretching forth his rod. C.
* Footnote ** Judges 7 : 25
And having taken two men of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: Oreb they slew in the rock of Oreb, and Zeb in the winepress of Zeb. And they pursued Madian, carrying the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gedeon, beyond the waters of the Jordan.*H And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall putrefy at the presence of the oil.
Ver. 27. Oil. That is, by the sweet unction of divine mercy. Ch. — Chal. "before the anointed," in consideration of Ezechias and Isaias. In the higher sense, it denotes the victory of Christ over the devil. C.
*H He shall come into Aiath, he shall pass into Magron: at Machmas he shall lay up his carriages.
Ver. 28. Into Aiath, &c. Here the prophet describes the march of the Assyrians under Sennacherib; and the terror they should carry with them; and how they should suddenly be destroyed. Ch.
*H They have passed in haste, Gaba is our lodging: Rama was astonished, Gabaath of Saul fled away.
Ver. 29. Lodging. Here, say the Assyrians, we will encamp.
*H Medemena is removed: ye inhabitants of Gabim, take courage.
Ver. 31. Take. Prot. "gather themselves to flee." H.
*H It is yet day enough, to remain in Nobe: he shall shake his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Sion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Ver. 32. Nobe. He may arrive thither shortly, in the environs of Jerusalem. C. — Sept. "exhort to-day, that they may continue on the road. Comfort with the hand the daughter of Sion, thou rock and hills within Jerusalem." H. — Hand. As Nicanor did against the temple. 2 Mac. xv. 32. C.
*H Behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel with terror, and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled.
Ver. 33. Vessel. Like Gideon, when he attacked Madian. v. 26. Judg. vii. 19. Sept. "the nobles." H. — Heb. "their beauty." The empire of Assyria shall presently fall. C.