Isaiah 10:9
Ver. 9. [Is] not Calno as Carchemish?.... Jarchi's note is,
"as the children of Carchemish are princes and rulers, so are the children of Calno;''
as if this was giving an instance of the grandeur of his subjects; but much better is the Targum,
"as Carchemish is subdued before me, shall not Calno be so?''
as I or my ancestors have conquered the one, it is as easy for me to conquer the other; or as sure as the one is subject to me, so sure shall the other be; for Carchemish was a city belonging to the Assyrians, situated upon the river Euphrates, 2Ch 35:20 called by Ammianus {k} Circusium; the Syriac version calls it Barchemosh; and Calno is the same with Calneh in the land of Shinar, a city built by Nimrod, Ge 10:10 in the Septuagint version it is called Chalane, and it is added,
"where the tower was built;''
from whence the country, called by Pliny {l} Chalonitis, had its name, the chief city of which was Ctesiphon, thought to be the same with Calneh.
[Is] not Hamath as Arphad? Hamath and Arphad were both cities conquered by the Assyrians; see 2Ki 18:34 and are both mentioned along with Damascus, Jer 49:23.
[Is] not Samaria as Damascus? Damascus was the metropolis of Syria, and was taken by the Assyrians; and Samaria was the metropolis of Ephraim, or the ten tribes; see Isa 7:8 and was as easy to be taken as Damascus was. The Targum is,
"as Arphad is delivered into my hands, shall not Hamath be so? As I have done to Damascus, so will I do to Samaria.''
{k} L. 23. c. 5. p. 360. {l} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 26. and 27.