into the ground The Lord speaks here of himself in the third person by an Enallage and useth the Preterperfect tense for a Future 10. O my threshing and the corne of my floor The Prophet speaks here in his own person and useth this Apostrophe to the Jewes whom he calls threshing and corn in the floor because of their divers afflictions with which they had been and were and should be afflicted by the Assyrians The word threshing is to be taken here passively for the thing threshed and by the threshing the corn in the floor he meaneth one and the same thing viz. the corn of the floore vvhich is laid on the floor to be threshed It is usual in the Scripture to call Affliction metaphorically by the name of threshing and those which are afflicted threshed See Cap. 41.15 Jer. 51.33 Mich. 4.13 And so doth the Prophet call them here But why doth he call them his threshing and the corn of his floor Answer Because they were his brethren and kinsmen of the same blood and nation and living in the same Land with him so that by saying thus it is as if he should say O my afflicted brethren or O the persecuted and oppressed men of my countrey That which I have heard of the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel Supple Concerning Babylon and those which live in the Wilderness neer unto the Red Sea which are your deadly enemies and which have threshed you as the corn is threshed on the floor c. Have I declared unto you Supple For this end that you may receive comfort thereby when you hear that they which afflict you are your deadly enemies shall be themselves afflicted and destroyed 11. The burthen of Dumah i. e. The burthen of the Ismaelites which descended from Ismael by Dumah Dumah was the Son of Ismael Gen. 25.14 and is put here by a Metonymy for the Sons of Dumah which were Ismaelites He called to me out of Seir i. e. A certain Edomite of Mount Seir called to me who am an Ismaelite out of Mount Seir as I passed along thereby saying c. They which dwelt in Mount Seir were Edomites the Sons of Esau who was called Edom Gen. 36. verse 7 8 9. Mount Seir was either directly in the way from Babylon to the Land of the Ismaelites or else this Ismaelite took his way by Mount Seir homeward because he thought it the safest way That which the Prophet here tells of was shewed to him by the Lord in a vision and what he saw or was represented to him in that vision was an Ismaelite descended from Ismael by Dumah speaking as he here speaks in these two verses That therefore which is here spoken is spoken in the person of a Son of Dumah an Ismaelite who being in Babylon as a Souldier when Babylon was taken and destroyed by the Medes made an escape and hasted as for life homeward travelling night and day he took his way from Babylon to his own Countrey by Mount Seir where a certain Edomite of Mount Seir seeing him travelling thus in the night and guessing him to be a Souldier by his habit and somewhat marvelling why he travelled so late in the night and imagining that it was upon more then an ordinary occasion that he thus travelled asked him the cause of his so late travelling the Ismaelite tells him that he was a Souldier in Babylon and that Babylon was taken and destroyed by the Medes and that the Medes had sent out armies to subdue not onely Babylon but all that had any confederacy with Babylon from the River Euphrates even to the River Nilus and that he escaped and ran for his life to his own Countrey The Edomite some that were with him hearing him tell that the Medes had taken and destroyed Babylon and had sent out Armies to subdue all the confederates of Babylon from Euphrates even to Nilus would not altogether beleeve him but made as if they would go towards Babylon to enquire the truth of the Ismaelites words whereupon the Ismaelite saith unto them if ye will enquire enquire But the Edomites were not gone far but they fall into a doubt whether they should go or no which the Ismaelite perceiving calls to them to return saying Return come intimating thereby that it was true which he had told them and that all was lost they were undone To me i. e. To me who am an Ismaelite and a son of Dumah as I passed by Mount Seir homewards from Babylon where I was a Souldier and from whence I escaped when Babylon was taken and destroyed by the Medes Watchman i. e. Souldier Souldiers may be called Watchmen in an honourable way because they lie abroad in the fields and observe the motions of the enemy and watch over the City or Land which they fight for that they may preserve it What of the night i. e. Why or what is the reason that thou travellest thus in the night This phrase is curt and short and thus to be understood Note that the Particle Of is not here a note or signe of the Genitive Case but a Praeposition and answereth to the Hebrew Praefix Mem and to the Latin Praeposition De and as the Hebrew Praefix Mem doth sometimes signifie In as Job 19. vers 26. And the Latin Praeposition De doth sometimes signifie the like as when Plautus saith de die in the day and Iuvenalde nocte in the night so doth Of in this place and of the night is as much as in the night What of the night The Edomite doubteth his question here out of the great desire he had to know why this Souldier travelled so late for he guessed it to be an extraordinary occasion which made him travel so in the night and perhaps he asketh as one that had heard of the Medes expedition against Babylon and desired to know what the event thereof was and thought that this Souldier could resolve him therefore seeing the Souldier travelling so fast on his way he asketh him the question twice out of earnestness as we use to double our question in the like case 12. The Watchman said i. e. I said The Souldier speaks of himself in the third person The morning cometh and also the night q. d. The morning cometh to some and the night to others that is Some rise and some fall and in particular the Medes they rise having got a great victorie over Babylon and Babylon is fallen and we and all that were confederates with her are undone and shall fall with her The morning signifieth prosperity rising and encreasing Prosperity as I may call it in its spring the night adversity adversity after a time or state of prosperity But secondly the morning may not onely signifie prosperity but it may signifie Gods judgements also and so it signifieth Ezech. 7.7 in these words The morning is come unto Thee O Thou that dwellest in the Land Where the morning is put for judgements in allusion to that that
as weak man cannot make but sheweth it self to be the work of God by the greatnesse and inevitablenesse thereof 7. Therefore shall all hands be faint i. e. All the hands of the Babylonians shall be faint and not able to hold up a weapon against the Medes And every mans heart i. e. Every Babylonians heart Synechdoche Generis Every mans heart shall melt Supple As Ice Josh 7.5 or as melting Wax Psal 22.14 to wit for fear The heart is put here for the courage And then a mans courage is said to melt when he hath not courage enough to resist his enemy but flies away from him and stands not to him Things which melt wax soft and things which are soft cannot resist the Agents which presse upon them as hard things can And therefore because a fearfull man flies from his enemie and is not able to withstand him his heart is said to melt by a Metaphor from ice or wax which being hard in themselves grow soft being melted and so not able to resist the Agent which presseth upon them And that this is the reason of this Metaphor we may learn from Job who saith I am afraid of him for God maketh my heart soft Job 23. v. 15 16. And Caesar speaking of the Gaules saith Vt ad bella suscipienda Gallorum alacer ac promptus est animus Sic mollis ac minime resistens ad calamitates perferendas mens eorum est Caes Com lib. 3. pag. 63. As the courage of the Gaules is chearfull and ready to undertake warres So their heart is soft and of little resistance to undergoe miseries 8. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth q. d. Great sorrow and trouble and anxiety and vexation of mind shall lay hold upon them The pangs and sorrows and pains of a woman in travail are Metaphorically here to be understood of the sorrow and trouble and anxiety and vexation of the mind They shall be amazed one at another Supple To see themselves so timorous faint-hearted and cowardly now which use to be so valiant at other times And such shall be their amazement as that they shall not be able to counsell or encourage one another Their faces shall be as flames i. e. They shall blush for shame to see themselves so faint-hearted and cowardly so that their faces shall be as red as flames that is as red as fire with blushing Because these passions may seem incompatible to the same subject at the same time understand them of the same subjects at severall times or of severall subjects at the same time 9. Behold the day of the Lord cometh See verse 6. Cruell both with wrath and fierce anger He speaks here of a day as of an angry man By a Metaphor or Prosopopeia A day if we will speak without a Metaphor is said to be cruell for no other reason than because cruell things are done in it And though the things which were done by the Medes at this time were cruell indeed in respect of them yet in respect of God they were just To lay the Land He meaneth the Land of Babylon See verse 5. 10. For the Starres of Heaven and the Constellations thereof shall not give their light i. e. For such shall be the miseries and calamities that that day shall bring upon the men of Babylon and their Land as that the Heavens and Constellations thereof shall not give their light but they shall cloth themselves with darknesse and mourn as being affected and much moved with the miseries and calamities which shall befall Babylon and the men thereof at that time See notes Cap. 2. v. 19. and Cap. 5. v 25 30. This is to be referred to those words The day of the Lord cometh cruell both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate and is as an argument to prove the cruelty and the wrath and the anger which shall be shewed in that day The Constellations thereof A Constellation is a certain number of starres which goes to the making up of one Sign in the Heavens such as is Aries Taurus Gemini Virgo c. In his going forth i. e. At his rising When the Sun riseth it is said to goe forth as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber by a Metaphor Psal 119. v. 5. 11. And I will punish i. e. For I will punish And for For as it is often used by the Hebrews The Prophet speaks here in the Person of God The world i. e. The Land or the Sinners of Babylon Synechdoche integri hyperbolica Of the proud i. e. Of the proud Babylonians Synechdoche Generis Of the terrible i. e. Of the Babylonians who haue been a terrour to their adjoyning Neighbours And in a speciall mannen to the people of Israel 12. I will make a man more pretious than fine gold q. d. I will either cut off so many of the Babylonians with the sword of the Medes or make them flie from their own houses and land to save their lives abroad for fear of the Medes as that I will leave but very few Babylonians in the Land of Babylon so few as that a man shall be more scarce than a apiece of fine gold A man i. e. A Babylonian Synâ—chdoche generis More pretious i. e More rare or scarce for every thing which is rare and scarce is pretious Metonymia effecti Even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir This is a repetition of the former sentence Ophir was the place whither Salomon sent his shipps for gold 1 Kings 9.28 No wonder therefore if they had gold in the wedge from thence being that there were Mines of gold there Ophâ—r is thought to have been some part or other of the East Jndies 13. Therefore I will shake the heavens q. d. Therefore that I may do this or bring this to passe i. e. That I may make a man more pretious than gold even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir I will do such terrible things in the Land of Babylon as shall make the very heavens over it to tremble I will shake the heavens i. e. I will do such terrible things as shall make the heavens to shake See Notes Cap. 2.19 c. 5.25.30 and here Cap. 13.10 And the earth shall remove out of her place q. d. And the earth tremble for fear to see all those direfull things that I will do upon her yea it shall even remove out of her place for fear In the wrath i. e. At the wrath or to see the wrath of the Lord of Hosts which he will execute upon the men of Babylon Or In the wrath i. e. In the day of that wrath Of the Lord of Hosts Note here the Enallage of the person from the first to the third 14. And it shall be as the chased Roe i. e. And Babylon shall be as a Roe-deer which is chased with hounds and huntsmen for as a Roe which is so chased flies from it's
wonted place it knowes not whether So Babylon being pursued by the Medes shall flie from her owne home into forreigne Lands which she knowes not that there she may save her life Here is a Relative without an Antecedent expressed The Relative It without an Antecedent but the Antecedent is easie to be understood for the Antecedent is Babylon of whom he speakes as of a woman by a Prosopopoeia This person is given here to Babylon to shew how her Inhabitants shall be forced to fly at that day And as a sheep that no man taketh up i. e. And as a wandering sheep that no man taketh up or hath care of when he seeth it wandering but lets it wander on For as such a sheep wandereth in unknown wayes untill it falls into some pit or other or into the jawes of the Wolfe or some other ravenous beast So shall Babylon wander untill shee falls into some destruction or other They shall turne every man to his own people i. e. They which came as Auxiliaries or were hired by the Babylonians to help them to serve them in their warres shall upon the comming of the Medes in the day of the Lord fly every one to his own home and leave the Babylonians destitute Here is a Relative againe viz. they put without an Antecedent after the manner of the Hebrews 15. Every one that is found i. e. Every Babylonian which the Medes find either remaining in Babylon or flying out of it Shall be thrust thorow Supple with a sword i. e. Shall be slaine And every one that is ioyned to them i. e. And every stranger or out-landish man that joyned himself to the Babylonians to help them By the sword Supple Of the Medes 16. Their Children also i. e. The Children also of the Babylonians Shall be dashed in pieces Supple By the Medes who shall take their Children and dash them against the stones as Psal 137. v. 9. Their houses shall be spoiled i. e. Their houses shall be plundered of all their goods 17. Behold I will stirre up the Medes against them i. e. For behold I will stir up the Medes against them Here he sheweth by whom he will execute his judgements upon the Babylonians he will execute them by the Medes Which shall not regard silver And therefore shall not call to the Babylonians to ransome their lives when they have got them into their power Nor accept of a ransome if the Babylonians should offer them a ransome to save their lives but shall kill every one which they take and meet with 18. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces i. e. They shall also dash out the brains of the young men with the stocks of their Bows This is a sign of extream fury and hatred On the fruit of the womb i. e. On Children For Children are the fruit of the womb Psal 127. v. 3. Their eyes shall not spare Children i. e This is a repetition of the fore-going sentence It is a sign of extream cruelty thus to use Children whose weak age used to priviledge them from the sword as Deut. 20. v. 13 14. Their eyes That is They. The eye which is but a part is put here by a Synechdoche for the whole man And therefore the eye rather than any other part because we are more ready to pitty a miserable object when we see it than when we hear of it c. 19. And Babylon the glory of Kingdomes The Assyrian had many Kingdomes subject to him in which there was no City more famous than Babylon Hence he calls it The glory of Kingdomes The beauty of the Chaldees excellencie i. e. The prime and chief and most beautiful of all those excellent Cities which the Chaldees had He puts beauty and excellencie here by a Metonymie for beautifull and excellent Cities Or by the Chaldees excellencie may be meant the Chaldees themselves by a Periphrasis So when we say of a General the Generals Excellencie we mean the General himself Babylon that famous City was scituate in Chaldea and therefore is it called the beauty of the Chaldees excellencie Shall be as when God overthrew Sodome and Gomorrah i. e. Shall be utterly overthrown Note here that by the overthrow of Sodome and Gomorrah is usually signified an utter destruction of a City and such a destruction as is never repaired again as appeares by this place and by Jerem. 49. v. 18. 20 It shall never be inhabited neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation An utter desolation is here prophesied of Babylon and that it should never be inhabited again But how could this Prophesie be fulfilled when the Medes broke to pieces the Assyrians Empire whereas Babylon was so farre from being overthrown like to the overthrow of Sodome and Gomorrah and from being never inhabited from that time as that it remaines in some renown even to this day for at this day it is a Town of great â—raffique if we believe reports Answer That Babylon when the Medes invaded the Assyrian Empire was grievously ruined is more than probable For at that time Babylon was not not so strongly fortified as it had been in former and was in after times For Eusebius reporteth in the end of the ninth book of his Evangelicall preparation out of Abydenus that Belus had fortified Babylon with a wall but that that wall was in processe of time abolished untill Nebuchadnezar fortified it again with a new wall So that it was no hard matter for the Medes to take Babylon by force and storm in that interim And by force and storm it is likely that they took it and having so taken it that they did fire it and grievously ruinate it For as though it had been utterly ruinated at that time Nebuchadnezar saith of what he built afterwards is not this great Babylon which I have built Dan. 4. v. 30. So then when the Medes did destroy the Assyrian Empire Babylon in all likelihood was grievously ruined besides that that the power of the Assyrians which ruled there was quite destroyed yet some part of it without doubt was left remaining as may be gathered from 2 Kings chap. 20. vers 12. where mention is made of Baladon King of Babylon though we know that men oftentimes bear titles from places which have been but now are not therefore it is said here that Babylon shall be as when God overthrew Sodome and Gomorrah I conceive that Babylon is to be taken per Synechdochen integri for the greatest part of Babylon And in all likelihood the greatest part of Babylon was utterly destroyed at this time I conceive moreover that though Nebuchadnezar did build Babylon yet that part of Babylon which was so ruinated by the Medes was never built or inhabited again and that Nebuchadnezar built not upon the old ruines but upon new ground as Rome which was built after the inundation of the Gothes was not built upon the old ruines but lower on the bank of Tiber upon
trie him 2 Chron. 32.31 Others say that Hezekiah gave an answer to both Questions but one of them is here omitted because the Prophet took an occasion onely from his last Answer to reprehend him This Answer of Hezekiah savours of vaine-glory also and was spoke out of boasting 6. Shall be carried to Babylon This was fulfilled hy Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon 2 Kings 24.13 7. Of thy Sonnes that shall issue from thee which thou shalt begâ—t shall they take away This was fulfilled 2 Kings 24.15 and 25.7 And they shall be Eunuchs in the Pallace of the King of Babylon An Eunuch signifieth properly a man which is gelt And he is so called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. from the care and charge which he had of the Beds for they were wont to be employed by great Princes in their Bed-Chambers and in the care and custody of their Wives and Concubines because they were more nimble and serviceable then women and yet chaste by reason of their being gelt And because these were so near to Princes and their Wives and Concubines hence all great Officers in the Kings Court were called Eunuches though they were not gelt nor imployed in the Bed-chamber about the Kings Wives and Concubines as Eunuches were Yea any Courtier might be called an Eunuch Per Synecdochen speciei Though their Office be never so great in a forraigne Kings Court yet it is a griefe and miserie for Kings and the Children of Kings to be Servants though to Kings upon such a way as these were 8. Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken These words may signifie Hezekiah's submission to the judgement of God here denounced against him For by this kinde of speech did inferiours signifie that they submitted themselves to the sentence of their Superiours though it were bitter See 1 Kings 2. verse 38. and 42. Yet the Hebrewes doe so interpret this place as if Hezekiah had therefore said that the Word of the Lord was good Because the judgement thereby denounced was not to fall upon him in person nor in his dayes but onely to fall upon his Children in after times And indeed these words For there shall be Peace and Truth in my dayes seem much to favour this Interpretation of theirs and much more as they are recorded in the same story 2 Kings 20.19 They therefore reprehend Hezekiah here for that he seemed not to be much touched with that which should fall upon his People and upon his Children being that he himselfe was not to taste of that Cup. But if Hezekiah offended here he humbled himselfe afterward 2 Chro. cap. 32. v. 26. He said moreover q. d. And he did not onely say that the Word of the Lord was good But he did moreover shew a reason why he said It was good Thâ—re shall be peace and truth in my dayes i. e. There shall be a sure or firm peace in my days for though this judgement shall take away peace when it cometh yet it shall not come so long as I live For understanding of this sense Note first that the word Truth is to be taken here for Firmness and Assurance as to speak the Truth is taken for to be constant and firm Ephes 4.15 And that upon this ground because the Hebrew word Emeth signifieth Firmness and Assurance aswell as Truth and this word Truth must be thought to be of equall signification with its Originall Emeth Note secondly that in these words Peace and truth that is peace and assurance or peace and firmnes there is a figure called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and two words are used to expresse one thing Peace and Truth that is Peace and Assurance or Peace and Firmness to express a sure and firm Peace The like to which we observed cap. 4.5 in those words A smoak and a cloud by day for a smoaky Cloud by day Jer 14.13 we read this I will give you assured peace yet in the Originall there are the same words as are in this place of Isaiah to wit Sheloth Emeth There shall be peace and truth in my days It may be here asked how Hezekiah came to know that there should be peace and truth in his dayes Answ Hezekiah might easily gather it out of the Prophets words recorded in this place For the threats here are not that he but that his Sons should be taken away and made Eunuchs in the Pallace of the King of Babylon yea it may be that the Prophet told him in plain termes that the judgment which God had denounced against him at this time should not fall out in his dayes though it be not expressed but omitted for brevity sake and left to be understood out of these words for such kinde of Brachylogie is often used See cap. 32.24 In my dayes i. e. All the dayes of my life Note that the peace here promised to Hezekiah was onely a Security or Assurance that he should not be infested from Babylon during his life Therefore notwithstanding this he might have war especially an offensive war with other Nations as it is probable he had with the Philistines Cap. 11.14 ISAIAH CHAP. XL. COmfort ye comfort ye my people c. The Prophet having foretold the Captivity of the Jews wherein they were carryed captive into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuzaradan one of the Captains of Nebuchadnezzar that he might comfort the godly who were carryed into Captivity for the wickedness of other men he doth in this last part of his Book prophecy to them of their deliverance out of their Captivity which should be glorious and their flourishing estate in which they should live when they were come back into their own Land and the Security and Safety which they should live in there and the great Victories which they should atchieve c. And note that when all the blessings of God bestowed upon the Jews had in them a shadow of those blessings which we receive by Christ those blessings which Isaiah mentioneth here from this place to the end of this Prophecy do in a most eminent manner shadow forth those blessings which we receive by Christ the very words of the Prophet being so directed by God as that they do oftentimes more simply and clearly signifie those things which we enjoy by Christ then those things which Isaiah would first signifie thereby that is then the blessings which God would bestow upon the Jews by and after their deliverance from their Captivity Comfort ye comfort ye my people Comfort ye my people the Jews which are in captivity Comfort them with the joyful news of their deliverance Saith your God i. e. Saith your God ye Jews to his Prophets 2. Speak comfortably to Jerusalem q. d. Speak ye comfortable words to Jerusalem O ye my servants To Jerusalem By Jerusalem he meaneth the material City of Jerusalem which he here speaketh to as a person by a Metaphor or Prosopopeia Her warfare is accomplished i. e. Her great labor and hardship which
setting judgment in the Earth See the like phrase Cap. 7.6 And the Isles shall wait for his Law q. d. And when he hath made known my judgments the inhabitants of the Isles shall look for the fulfilling and accomplishment of these my judgments In such credit shall my servant be By Isles the Hebrews mean not onely those places which are environed with the Sea but those also which are neer to the Sea and to great Rivers and Waters as was said cap. 41. v. 1. Yea every particular Land may be called an Isle as we shewed cap. 20.6 But by Isles here are meant not the Isles themselves but the inhabitants of the Isles by a Metonymy His Law The word Law is sometimes taken in a large sence for any Word of God whatsoever See Notes cap. 1.10 And here it is taken first for the judgments of God denounced then by a Metonymy for the fulfilling or accomplishment of those judgments This testimony from the beginning of the Chapter hitherto the Lord gave of the Prophet that his words might finde the better entertainment with them that should hear him while he lived or read his Writings after his death 5. Thus saith the Lord Thus say I the Lord Supple To my servant Isaiah The Lord speaketh here of himself in the third person And stretched them out Supple Like the curtains of a Tent or Tabernacle to dwell in See cap. 40. v. 22. He that spreadeth forth the Earth and that which cometh out of it i. e. I that made the Earth and all things that spring out of it The Prophet alludeth here to the spreading forth of a sheet or some other cloth or to the spreading forth of a garment which was folded up before see Heb. 1.12 And he alludeth to this while he speaketh of Gods making the Earth and all that cometh out thereof Because when God made the Earth and that which cometh out thereof he made them quanta that is he gave them quantity and extension so soon as ever he gave them their substantial Being And spirit to them that walk therein i. e. And Breath to every living creature Spirit is taken here for Breath Therein i. e. Thereon The Lord doth here magnifie his power First That he might the more encourage his Prophet in the execution of that business on which he sets him Secondly That all men may be the better perswaded of the event of what he foretels Thirdly That he might shew himself to be greater then the gods of the Heathen who worshipped Idols 6. I the Lord have called thee i. e. I the Lord have called thee O Isaiah my servant to do the work which I have appointed for thee to do In righteousness i. e. In good-will towards thee or in that wise that thou shalt see my goodness towards thee whilest thou art doing that work to which I have called thee Righteousness is put here for goodness as it is also cap. 41.10 I will hold thine hand i. e. I will preserve thee Supple Until thou hast done all my work Concerning the reason of this phrase see cap. 41.10 And give thee for a Covenant of the people These words must needs be figuratively that is Metonymically understood The meaning therefore of these words is this q.d. I will give thee to be a Remembrancer of my people the Jews that thou mayst put them in minde of the Covenant which they their fathers made with me and they have broken and to be a means to them to renew their Covenant again For a light of the Gentiles i. e. And for a light to the Gentiles Tò And is here to be understood Isaiah was a light to the Gentiles in that he shewed them the vanity of the Idols which they worshipped and taught them that there was but one God who created Heaven and Earth And this he doth in many places of this Book of his Prophecy 7. To open the blinde eyes i. e. To instruct those which are ignorant yea very ignorant ignorant of the Vanity of Idols and ignorant of the Unity of the Godhead c. By eyes he meaneth the eyes of the understanding which are blinde through ignorance Note that these words To open the blind eyes relate to those words which went immediately before viz. For a light to the Gentiles To bring out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house i. e. And to bring my people the Jews which are in captivity in Babylon out of that their captivity Tò And is here to be understood Note that these words To bring the prisoners from the prisons and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house relate to those words of the sixth Verse I will give thee for a Covenant of the people The Prophet speaks here of the captivity of the Jews as of an Imprisonment and compares the Land of their captivity to a prison both because they could no more get out thence then a prisoner can get out of a prison as also because it was as irksom to them as a prison is to a prisoner Yea it may be that many of them were shut up in houses and there kept to hard work as in prisons The Prophet is therefore said to bring the prisoners out of prison that is the Jews out of their captivity because he did by his admonitions bring the Jews to think of the Covenant which they had broken and the sins which they had committed and bewail them and amend their lives and renew their Covenant with God which moved God to free them and deliver them out of captivity and bring them to their own Land again But you will say that Isaiah was dead before the Jews were carryed captive into Babylon which was a long time before their delivery thence How then could he so admonish them as that they should repent them of their sins and amend their lives and renew their Covenant with God by his Admonitions and so move God to deliver them Ans Though Isaiah were dead yet might he be said to admonish them because of his Writings which he directed to them by a Prophetique Spirit So Moses though he was dead many years before was said to command the Jews which lived in our Saviours time Mark 10.3 And so the Jews called themselves Moses's Disciples Joh. 9.28 And them that sit in darkness out of the prison house Though darkness be oftentimes put figuratively for misery and affliction yet I conceive that the Prophet alludeth here to prisons which use to be dark having but few windows and those small ones too that the walls of the prison might be the stronger and especially to Dungeons which are under ground Note that this is but a repetition of the former sentence 8. I am the Lord q. d. I am the Lord the onely God which created Heaven and Earth who am of my self but give Being to all things c. That is my Name i. e. That is the Name
by his name whereas they call an ordinary servant not by his name but with an hisse or a whistle or the like Thou art mine i. e. Thou art my servant yea my peculiar servant and therefore I will have a care of thee These words contain the meaning of those that went immediately before 2. When thou passest thorow the waters I will be with thee c. This and the other sentences which follow in this verse are proverbiall kinds of speeches and signifie all one and the same thing namely that the Lord will keep him safe in all dangers 3. Thy God And therfore will protect thee and provide for thee I gave Egypt for thy ransome Ethiopia and Seba for thee i. e. When Senacherib King of Assyria warred against thee and left Ashardhaddon his sonne to govern Assyria in his absence and to supply him with men and all things necessary for the absolute conquest of Judaea And Asharhaddon thought now to doe his utmost for subduing thee and destroying thy Land I diverted him and imployed his forces against Tirakah King of Ethiopia and the Egyptians and Sabaeans which accompanied him in his expedition against Assyria all whom I made a prey to the Assyrians sword and so I preserved thee Concerning Tirakah King of Egypt his expedition against Assyria See Cap. 37.9 and Cap. 18. where the event of his Expedition is foretold which was that hee should be overcome by the Assyrians Egypt By Egypt understand the Egyptians by a Metonymy And by the Egyptians those Egyptians which warred under Tirakah King of Ethiopia when he went in expedition against Assyria by a Synechdoche For thy ransome i. e. That I might deliver thee from the danger of the Assyrians and preserve thee A ransome properly taken is the price which is given for the redemption of a Captive by the mutuall consent of the redeemer and him of whom the Captive is redeemed when therefore he saith He gave Egypt for thy ransome c. He speaketh Metaphorically Ethiopia Ethiopia is a large Region lying beyond Egypt Southward Here it is taken by a Metonymy for the Ethiopians those Ethiopians which served under Tirakah their King against Assyria Seba. Seba was the Son of Cush Gen. 10.7 which was the father of the Sabaeans which inhabited Arabia the Happy And it is taken here for the Sabaeans the children of Seba or Laba even these Sabaeans that served under Tirakah King of Ethiopia in the expedition aforesaid For Thee i. e. For thy ransome or that I might deliver thee from the fury of the Assyrians Since thou wast precious in my sight i. e. Since the time that I made thee a peculiar Treasure to my selfe Exod. 19.5 That is since the time that I brought thee out of Egypt and cast a favourable eye upon thee Thou hast been honourable i. e. Thou hast been honourable in the sight of the Nations by reason of these great things which I have done for thee And I have loved thee i. e. And I have shewed my love unto thee Metonymia Efficientis Therefore will I give men for thee q. d. I am I say The Lord thy God the holy one of Israel thy Saviour and I have given Egypt for thy ransome c. and I have loved thee therefore will I give men for thee c. God is not like man but whom he loveth he loveth to the end Iohn 13.1 And his former blessings are a motive to blesse againe whom he hath blest before I will give men for thee i. e. I will give men for thy ransom that I may redeeme thee out of the Babylonish captivity This was fulfilled when God gave the Babylonians as a prey to Cyrus by reason of which the Jewes which were held Captives by the Babylonians were delivered out of that Captivity And people for thy life i. e. And people to save thy life This is a repetition of the former Sentence 5. I will bring thy seed from the East and gather thee from the West c When the Babylonians invaded Iudaea they carried many of the Jewes away Captive into Babylon which lay Eastward from Iudaea and many of the Iewes fled Westward and many Northward and many Southward to save their lives and there lived in a kinde of Exile These therefore doth God here promise to bring backe againe into their own Land And he brought those of the Captivity into their own Land by the meanes of Cyrus Ezra 1. And the other hearing how mercifully God had dealt with them of the Captivity returned to their own Countrey againe not without joy and gladnesse of heart I will bring thy Seed i. e I will bring thy children O Iacob c. Metonymia Materiae And gather thee i. e. And gather thy Children Metonymia Efficientis 6. I will say to the North i. e. I will say to the Northerne people or people which dwell in the North parts of the earth Give up i. e. Give up my people which is among you into mine hands Bring my sonnes from farre i. e. All you which live a farre off bring the children of Israel which are to me as my sonnes which dwell among you into their owne Land 7. Even every one that is called by my name i. e. Bring yee even every one that is mine What is Gods is called by Gods name as v.g. The Son of God the Daughter of God As that which is Pauls is called by the name of Paul as Pauls cloake And what is Peters is called by the name of Peter as Peters sword c. And every thing which is owned is called by the name of its owner For I have created him i. e. I have made him For my glory i. e. That my glory That is that my power and my fidelity and my goodnesse may appeare in his preservation And that he may glorifie me and serve me onely because of these great things which I have determined and will doe for him I have formed him yea I have made him supple that I may be glorified in him and by him 8. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and the deafe that have eares Bring forth the Idolls that have â—yes but see not and have eares but heare not Psa 115.6 This manner of speaking carrieth contempt with it As the Lord when he had told what he would doe for his people the Iewes and how he would deliver them out of the Babylonians Captivity made that his telling or foretelling of this an argument of his divinity And called upon the Idolaters and their Idols to bring what reasons they could The Idols to prove their own divinity and the Idolaters to prove the divinity which they gave to their Idols and in particular to shew whether they did ever foretell of that which God said He would bring to passe namely the delivery out of the Babylonish Captivity and bringing them to their own Land againe Cap. 42. v. 21 22 c. So doth he here and so often as he
to punish any one man or people It must follow that the Lord is God and God only He hath not his equall The Lord intimateth here by the By for the comfort of the Iewes which were held Captive by the Babylonians that he would surely destroy the Babylonians by Cyrus and that no power should be able to deliver the Babylonians out of his hands I will work i. e. I will doe what I please 14. Thus saith the Lord your redeemer The Prophet returneth here to the Subject which he treated of in the beginning of the Chapter to wit the redemption of the Iewes out of the Babylonish Captivity which he intermitted at the eighth verse to argue against Idols and Idolatry upon the occasion there spoken of For your sakes I have sent to Babylon i. e. For your sakes I will send Cyrus with an Army to Babylon to fight against it and take it He puts here a preterperfect Tense for a future to signifie the certainty of what he speakes of This sending of Cyrus with an Army against Babylon was advantageous to the Iewes which were in Captivity for by this meanes the Babylonians who held them Captives were destroyed and they were delivered And have brought downe all their Nobles i. e. And will bring downe all the Nobles of the Babylonians which doth oppresse you and keep you in an hard Captivity and will tread upon them as mortar See Cap. 41.25 And the Chaldaeans In the Babylonish Empire the Chaldaeans were the chiefe of any other people the Emperour himselfe being a Chaldaeans and Babylon the head City of the Empire being in Chaldaea And hence it may be that he mentioneth the Chaldaeans by name in this place Or therefore may he mention the Chaldaeans here because they had more of the Captive Iewes then any other people under them and used them more hardly Whose cry is in the ships q.d. Who shall be heard to cry and howle in the ships He puts a Present Tense for a Future here as he puts a preterperfect tense for a Future a little before Babylon and Chaldaea have two great Rivers Tygris and Euphrates running through them or close to them navigable Rivers and certainely as able to beare as great Vessels as our Thames which beares Vessels of the greatest bulke yea Chaldaea reacheth to the Persian Gulfe where the greatest ships may ride and saile At the time which Babylon was taken by Cyrus no doubt but every Babylonian and Chaldaean endeavoured to escape as well as he could And as some endeavoured to escape by Land so others attempted to escape by water in ships and of these latter may he say Their cry is in the ships Or he may say that their Cry is in the ships or shall be in the ships not because they which cryed were or should be in the ships but because their cry should be so great as that it should be heard to the Sea of those which sailed in their ships Againe it was the custome of the Eastern people when they subdued a Nation to transplant the Inhabitants thereof an example whereof you may see 2 Kings 17.6 Cyrus therefore might send many of the Babylonians away in ships and they as they were in the ships might howle and cry for the misery which was come upon them 15. Your holy One i. e. He whom you have made choyce of to be your God and whom alone you worship and therefore will preserve and blesse you Your King See Cap. 33.22 This verse relates to that which went before in the fourteenth verse and containes a reason of what is there said q. d. For your sake I will send to Babylon and will bring downe all their Nobles For I am the Lord your Holy One the Creatour of Israel your King 16. Thus saith the Lord q. d. Yea thus saith the Lord. Which maketh a way in the Sea Rather which made a way in the Sea for this must be understood in the Preterperfect Tense God made a way for his people in the red Sea when he brought them out of Egypt Exod. 14. v. 21 22. And of this it is which he makes mention in this place And a Path in the mighty waters The Lord when the children of Israel passed over Jordan divided the River Jordan and made a way for them to passe over dry foot even when Jordan was so high as that it overflowed all his Banks Iosh 3. v. 15 16 17. Some therefore understand this place of this dividing Jordan and of the way which he made in it at this time But I rather take this to be a Repetition of the former Sentence Because our Prophet delighteth in such Repetitions and because in the next words he mentioneth that which fell out at the dividing of the red Sea and making a way for his people through it when their enemies were drowned 17. Which bringeth forth the Charet and Horse the Army and the Power Rather which brought forth the Charets and the Horses the Army and the Power supple of Pharaoh to their destruction When the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt he hardened Pharaohs heart so that Pharaohs heart and the heart of all his people was turned against the children of Israel and they said why have we done this that we have let Israel goe from serving us And Pharaoh pursued after the children of Israel with 600. chosen Charets and all the Charets of Egypt and in the pursuit followed the children of Israel into the midst of the Sea and there were drowned Exod. 14. This is that which the Lord here mentioneth and these things doth he mention in this place to wit His dividing of the Sea for the Israelites and his drawing out of Pharaohs host that he might drown it in the red Sea to put the Jews in minde of his power which is such as that no difficulty can hinder him from redeeming or delivering his people at any time and of that love which he bore to his people that they remembering these things might the more easily be induced to believe those things which he said he would do for them namely That he would deliver them out of the Babylonish captivity and destroy the Babylonians their Enemies They shall lie down together i. e. The Nobles of Babylon and the Caldeans shall lie down all of them in the dust of the Earth that is they shall be all brought down to the Grave Death is both in sacred and profane Writers often likened to a sleep and the Grave to the Bed in which we sleep and the Prophet alludes to the same here when he saith They shall lie down together for he alludeth to men lying down in a bed to sleep But his meaning is that they shall be slain and brought down to the pit They shall i. e. The Nobles of Babylon and the Caldeans shall lie down c. of whom he spoke vers 14. They shall not rise q. d. They shall not awake and rise any more
that is they shall not be restored to life again He persists in his Metaphor still He adds this that there may be no fear of these mens returning to life again to vex the Jews and oppress them or to meditate upon revenge against them Or else we may say that this is an Hebraism like to that I have chosen thee and not cast thee away Cap. 42.9 They are extinct they are quenched as tow i. e. They shall be extinguished and quenched as a candle is quenched which is put into the water He puts a present for a future tense By tow he meaneth the wiek of a candle which is made of tow per Metonymiam Materiae and by the wiek the whole candle per Synecdochen partis He likeneth the Caldeans to tow that is to a burning candle because of their rage and hot anger against the Jews their captives So doth he liken Rezin King of Syria and Pekah King of Israel to two fire-brands because of their rage against Judah cap. 7.4 yet nevertheless they shall be quenched 18. Remember ye not former things q. d. That ye may know how precious ye are in my sight and how great my love is to you ye shall not need to remember former things or to call to minde what I did for you heretofore when I brought you out of Egypt for behold c. 19. Behold I will do a new thing Supple By which ye shall know the greatness of my love to you Now it shall spring forth i. e. It shall come to pass very shortly He useth a Metaphor here from Plants springing out of the Earth Shall ye not know it q. d. It shall come to pass in your days that you may see it and know it This Interrogation hath the force of a strong Asseveration I will even make a way in the Wilderness and Rivers in the Desart c. This is the new thing he said he would do I will even make a way in the wilderness The wilderness here meant is the wilderness which lay between Babylon and the Land of Judah through which the Jews were to pass when they went out of the Land of their captivity into their own Land This wilderness was very rugged and stony and ill to go in wherefore the Lord saith here that he would make in this wilderness a plain and easie way for the Jews when they were to pass through it And Rivers in the Desart This Desart was a very dry and thirsty Land where there was heat and drought more then enough to procure thirst but no waters to quench it Therefore the Lord saith here that he would make Rivers in the Desart for his people to quench their thirst thereat as they passed through it What is here spoken some understand literally to wit That as God gave the Israelites water in the Wilderness which he brought out of a Rock and made run down like Rivers Exod. 17.6 Psal 78.17 when he brought them out of the Land of Egypt into the Land of Canaan So he would give the Jews waters in abundance and cause Rivers to flow in abundance in the Wilderness in which they were to pass from Babylon into Judea when he brought them out of Babylon thither But others think that all that is signified by these expressions is this viz. That the Lord would vouchsafe the Jews high favors in their return from Babylon home-ward by the removal of all lets and the supply of all necessaries and that the Prophet doth here allude onely to that which the Lord did for the Israelites when he brought them out of Egypt for he loveth to express like things by like See what we said Cap. 4. v. 5. 20. The beasts of the field shall honor me the Dragons and the Owls c. The beasts of the fiâ—ld and the Dragons and the Owls may be said to honor the Lord because when he gave Waters in the Wilderness and Rivers in the Desart to give drink to his people his câ—osen they living in the Wilderness and Desart did receive benefit by those Waters and Rivers and quenched their thirst thereat so that if they had reason they would praise God therefore Note that to honor God is an act onely of the intellectual or rational Creatures if we speak properly yet by an Hyperbolical kinde of Metaphor the Scripture doth often attribute those acts which are the acts of the intellectual or rational Creatures to Creatures voyd of reason and understanding yea to Creatures voyd of sense See Psal 69.34 96.12 98.8 c. My chosen i. e. Whom I have chosen to be a peculiar people to my self 21. This people have I formed for my self i. e. For I have created this people even the people of the Jews for my self that I might shew my power and my goodness in and for them and that they might sanctifie and praise me These words contain a reason of what he said in the nineteenth and twentyeth Verses q. d. This people have I formed for my self therefore I will make for them a way in the Wilderness and Rivers in the Desart I will provide for their welfare and they shall shew forth my praise They shall shew forth my praise q. d. Therefore I will do that for them for which they shall praise me 22. But thou hast not called upon me O Jacob i. e. But for all your sayings ye have not worshipped me O ye sons of Jacob He puts Jacob here for the Jews which were the sons of Jacob And when he saith They have not called upon me his meaning is That they have not worshiped him For to call upon God which is but part of Gods worship is put often for the whole worship of God by a Synecdoche Here he prevents an Objection which the Jews some of them at least might make For whereas the Lord told them what great things he would do for them in the former Verses they might object If it were true which he said why would he then pour out his fury upon them and give them over into the Babylonians hands to be made slaves and captives for his own wills sake not for any demerit of theirs For as for their part they truly worshiped him and served him To this the Lord answers That it is true that he gave them over into the hands of the Babylonians yet it was not for his wills sake but it was because they had sinned against him for though they say that they worshipped the Lord truly yet they did not worship him but they worshipped Baal and all the host of Heaven and for this he gave them into the hands of the Babylonians c. But thou hast been weary of me i. e. But for all your sayings ye have been weary of my service 23. Thou hast not brought me the small cattel of thy burnt-offerings As Lambs and Kids c. Exod. 12.5 q. d. Thou hast not offered thy Lambs and thy Kids to me for burnt-offerings but thou hast offered