Isaiah 2:16
Ver. 16. And upon all the ships of Tarshish,.... Upon all the merchants and merchandises of Rome. The Targum is,
"and upon all that dwell in the islands of the sea.''
See Re 16:20. Tarshish, as Vitringa observes, designs Tartessus or Gades in Spain, which must bring to mind the memorable destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1558, as he also notes.And upon all pleasant pictures; of Christ and the Virgin Mary, of angels, and of saints departed, the Papists make use of to help their devotion. The Targum is,"and upon all that dwell in beautiful palaces;''such as those of the pope and his cardinals at Rome, and of archbishops and bishops at other places. The Septuagint version is, "and upon all the sight of the beauty of ships"; such were the ships of the Phoenicians, which were very much ornamented, and beautiful to behold. Isaiah 2:17Ver. 17. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down,.... This, with what follows in this verse, is repeated for the confirmation and certainty of it; and also for the further explanation of what is before figuratively and metaphorically expressed. See Gill on "Isa 2:11". Jarchi interprets "that day", here spoken of, of the day of judgment; and then indeed every tongue shall confess, whether they will or not, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, Php 2:11. Isaiah 2:18Ver. 18. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. The images of saints worshipped by the Papists: after the destruction of antichrist, and when the spiritual reign of Christ takes place, there will be no idolatry or worshipping of images any more, see Zec 13:2. The wordMylyla, used for "idols", signifies things that are not, for an idol is nothing in the world, 1Co 8:4 these the Lord "will cause to pass away", even all of them, they shall disappear. Isaiah 2:19Ver. 19. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth,.... That is, the worshippers of idols, as they are bid to do, Isa 2:10for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty,See Gill on "Isa 2:10"when be ariseth; out of his place; Jarchi says, at the day of judgment; but it respects the judgment of the great whore, and the time when Babylon the great shall come in remembrance before God:to shake terribly the earth; at which earthquake, or shaking of the earth, that is, a revolution of the antichristian state, the tenth part of the city will fall, and seven thousand men of name be slain, Re 9:13 and so the Targum paraphrases it,"when he shall be revealed, to break in pieces the wicked of the earth;''which will be done by him, as the vessels of a potter are broken to shivers, Re 2:27. Isaiah 2:20Ver. 20. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols o[ gold,.... Being frightened at the terrible shaking of the earth, and at the glory and majesty of Christ, which will be seen in his witnesses and people, at the time of his spiritual coming, and the destruction of antichrist; insomuch that they shall cast away their idols, and relinquish their idolatrous practices, and give glory to the God of heaven, Re 11:11:which they made [each one] for himself to worship; everyone having their peculiar idol, the work of their own hands; which shows their gross ignorance and wretched stupidity:to the moles, and to the bats; that is, either they shall leave them to persons as blind and ignorant as moles and bats; or rather they shall cast them into the holes which moles make, and bats have recourse unto. The Targum makes these the objects of worship, rendering the words,"that they may worship the idols and images;''and the Jewish writers interpret them of images worshipped in the form of moles and bats; though we never read of those creatures being worshipped, Moles were sacrificed to Neptune {w}. Kimchi refers this text to the times of the Messiah; and some of their ancient writers {x} apply it to the Messiah, and to his arising and appearing in the land of Galilee.{w} Phurnutus de Natura Deorum, p. 59. {x} Zohar in Exod. fol. 3. 3. &. in Numb. fol. 99. 3. Isaiah 2:21Ver. 21. To go into the clifts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks,.... That is, the idolaters shall either go there themselves; or they shall cause their idols to go there, thither they shall cast them; though the former sense seems the best, because of what follows,for fear of the Lord, &c. See Gill on "Isa 2:10" see Gill on "Isa 2:19". Isaiah 2:22Ver. 22. Cease ye from man, whose breath [is] in his nostrils,.... "From that man" {y}, meaning antichrist, the man of sin; who is but a mere man, a poor, frail, mortal man; though he sits in the temple of God, as if he was God, showing himself to be God, by taking that to himself which belongs to the Deity. This is advice to the followers of antichrist, to cease from going after him, and worshipping him, seeing he is not the living God, but a dying man:for wherein is he to be accounted of? The Targum is,"for he is alive today, and tomorrow he is not, and he is to be accounted as nothing;''and much less as Peter's successor, as head of the church, and vicar of Christ, and as having all power in heaven, earth, and hell. It may be applied to men in general, in whom no confidence is to be placed, even the greatest of men, Ps 118:8 and particularly the Egyptians, in whom the Jews were apt to trust, who were men, and not God; and whose horses were flesh, and not spirit, Isa 31:3 so Vitringa; but the first sense is best.{y} Mdah Nm.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.