H" Among the many offices that have Lj';*.ome obsolete, during the advance of modern civilisation, may be counted that of the watchman. In ancient times, however, the office was considered absolutely necessary for the maintenance of order and safety in towns and cities. It was the watchman's duty to patrol the streets during the night, to prevent thieves and vagabonds prowling about in the dark. It was his duty to sound the alarm in case of imminent danger. It was his duty to announce the hour, and state the various changes in the weather. Those who listened to his firm, steady, regular step, as he passed then* doors, felt a sense of security, and cast themselves with confidence into the arms of sleep. At the entrance of the cities, towers were not infrequently erected, and these were called "watch-towers," in which watchmen were regularly posted, whose eyes ever swept the distant horizon, to see if anybody was coming, of whom it was necessary to give information.^
' D. Rowlauds, in The Cross and the J)iee-Box, p. 217.
ISAIAH 159
2. Tlie Question.
1. The question to the watchman, " What of the night ? " means, What part of the night is it now ? Is it the first, the second, or the third watch ? Will the light soon dawn ? The A.V. translation, says Dr. G. A. Smith,^ though picturesque, is misleading. The voice does not inquire, " What of the night ? " i.e. whether it be fair or foul weather, but " How much of the night is passed ? " literally " What from off the night ? " This brings out a pathos that our English version has disguised. Edom feels that her night is lasting terribly long.
2. It is worth while to point out — for the quality of poetry depends on such minute touches of art — that the sentinel not only repeats his question, but repeats it in an abbreviated form. " Watchman, how far is it in the night ? Watchman, how far in the night ? " expresses in English the Hebrew abbreviation, though in the Hebrew it is much more telling. And both the repetition of the question and the more brief and winged form of the question on the second utterance of it indicate the extreme urgency of the inquiry, the extreme haste and impatience of the inquirer.
3. The word Dumah means " silence," " the land of silent desolation." It is a very suggestive thought. Sin is the great silencer. The end of sin is silence. Assuredly that was true in the case of Edom. It was true of it at the time when the prophet spoke, it was to be true of it still more completely in the ages to follow. Travellers tell us that if we want to know how Providence can turn a fruitful land into barrenness, and make a defenced city a heap, for the iniquity of the inhabitants thereof, we have only to look at Edom, with its hills and plains picked clean of every vestige of vegetation, and its ruined palaces, once the home of busy men, now the haunt of vultures and the lair of scorpions, all human sound gone — the voice of mirth, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride !
4. Of course we are not to take Isaiah's words literally. No voice, no sound, could reach from Mount Seir to Mount Zion. Nor are we to suppose that the Edomites dispatched an
1 The Book of Isaiah, p. 276,
i6o THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
embassy to the prophet at Jerusalem to inquire of him concerning the future fate of Edom. Isaiah was a poet, and describes in a dramatic form the thoughts and questions which rose in his soul as he looked through the ages, and the shadows of coming events passed before him. He had already seen that the Babylonians would conquer Jerusalem ; and that they, in their turn, would be conquered by the Persians. But when the Babylonians came against Jerusalem, the Edomites would join them in despoiling the city and slaying its inhabitants. If the Babylonians were to be judged for their sin against Israel and the God of Israel, were the Edomites, who had shared their sin, to escape their judgment ?
3. The Answer.
The answer is not clear to us now. Perhaps we do not know all the circumstances quite intimately enough. Perhaps it is purposely made enigmatical, as was often the case with an oracle. Perhaps the answer was not clear to the prophet himself. Cox thinks that the prophet, dismissing the Edomite inquirer with a prediction so gloomy, felt some compunction. He cannot see beyond the night ; yet the night may have a morning beyond it. Let the inquirer return, therefore, and repeat his inquiries. The prophet hopes he will. He reiterates the invitation. He makes it more warm and urgent. " If ye will inquire, ye may," turns into the entreaty " return, come again." Davies understands that the Edomite was answered with the promise of alternations of dawning day and darkening night. The Assyrians, Persians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Eomans, Muhammadans would in turn oppress them, and between each oppression there would be but a ray of hope. Perhaps the brightest dawn to them would be the ascendancy of the Herods ; but even that would so soon culminate in a darker night.