inhabiteth et,ernity" ( eh. lvii. 15). God is p1·imarily with him. e.11 objeot of 'reverent, fear a.nd awe. "Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself," he excl~itns; "and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread" (eh. viii. 13); and age.in, "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty" (eh. ii. 10). It is as.if the memory of his "vision of God" never quitted him-as if. he felt himself ever standing before tbe throne, where he "saw the Lord sitting, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims : e1tch one l1ad six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with, twain he c-o.ered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto-another and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts : the whole earth is full of his glory. And tbe posts of the door moved at the voice of _him that· cried, and the house was filled with smoke." And the prop.bet cried, '"Woe is me ! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips : for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (eh. vi. 1-5).
§ 2. ON TH'E HISTORICAL CIRCUJ,ISTANCES UNDER WHICH Is!UII rLtv~D • AND WROTE.
Isaiah grew to manhood as a s~bject 9f the J:udrell,n, ~ingdom, ,dqrin,~ the period of the two kingdoms known re$pectiveiy as those of Israel· and Judah. Israel, the schismatical kingdo·m. ~stabliE1;iied by.Jeroboam· oµ 'tb..~ death of Solomon, was approaching to its fall< . After existing for ·t.wo centuries under eighteen monarchs of eight different families, and 'with some difficulty maintaining its independence . against the attacks of its northern neighbour, Syria of Damascus, the Israelifoih king4~m JV!l,S, OI,l the point of succumbing to a far greater power, the welHrno_wn Assyri11,1i empire. When Isaiah was about ten or t~elve years of age, _an A~syrie.n monarch, whom the Hebrews called Pul, ''came against the Ia:ii.d,>'.~nd his enmity had to be bought off by the payment of a. thonsand talei:its of silver (2 Kings xv. 19). A fa.r grea\er monarch,,, l'iglath-Pileser n.:, ascended the Assyrian throne about twenty years ,la,ter (B.c. 745), . w_he,n Isaiah may have been thirty or thirty-five, a,nd b,egan at ouc~· a 1~aieei: ()f conquest, which spread alarm over all the neighbouring nations .. ·rn Syria it was felt that the new enemy could only be resisted by a generaf Cloi- federacy of the petty monarohs who divided among them the Syro- Palestinian region ; and accordingly a,n effort was made to unite them all under the presidency of Rezin of Damascus. 1 Ahaz, however, the, ·ki~g of Judah at the time, declined to make common cause with the other.petty princes. Taking a narrow view of the situatipn, he thought. that his. own interests would be best promoted by the crippling of Syr-ia ,and. Israel, powers generally hostile to Ja.dab, and close upon ,his bcirqers. '.I:'he immediate oonsequence of his refusal to join. the league was an. ·atteiit);\t 1 Bee' Ancient Mona.reliie11,' vol. ii. p. 131. THE BOOK OF •rnE PROPHET ISAIAH. vii
to coerce him, or to depose him and place upon his throne a. prince who would adopt the Syrian policy. Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Sama.ri& attacked him in different quarters, and inflicted on him severe defeats (2; Chron. xxviii. 5, 6). They then conjointly marched into the heart of his, kingdom, and besieged Jerusalem (2 Kings xvi. 5). Under these circumstances, .Ahaz placed himself under the protection of the Assyrian monarch, declared himself his "servant," and humbly besought hie aid. Tiglath-Pileser readily complied, and, having marched a great army into Syria, conquered ·namascns, slew Rezin, defeated Pekah, and carried a large portion of the Israelite nation into captivity (2 Kings xv. 29; xvi. 9; 1 Chron. v. 26). Ahaz personally appeared before him at Damascus, and did honiage for his crown, thenceforth reigning as a vassal and tributary monarch. The crushing blow dee.It to the kingdom of Israel by Tiglath-Pileser was shortly followed by a still severer calamity. In B.c. 724, when Iea.i.ah was about fifty-five yea.re of age, Shalmaneeer IV., Tiglath-Pileser's successor, determined to destroythe last vestige of Israelite independence, and, march- ing an army into the country, laid siege to Samaria.. The city was one of great strength, and for three years resisted every assault. Finally, how- ever, in B.C. 722, it fell, just about the time that Shalmaneser was dis- possessed of his throne by the usurping Sargon. Sargon claims the glory of having captured the place, and of having carried off from it 27,281) prieoners.1 Jridma now stood stripped of independent neighbollrB, manifestly the next country on which the weight-of the Assyrian arms would fall. The sub- mission of .Ahaz, and his subserviency to Assyria throughout his whole reign (2 Kings xvi. 10.c-18), had helped to defer the evil day; in addition to which Assyria had been much occupied by revolts of conquered countries and by internal dissensions. '.But with the accession of Hezekiah (B.C. 727) a. bolder line of policy had been adopted by the Jewish state. Hezekiah "rebelled against the King of Assyria, e.nd served him not" (2 Kings xviii. 7). In this rebellion he had probably the countenance and support of Isaiah, who always exhorted his countrymen not to be afraid of the Assyrians ( eh. x. 24; xxxvii. 6). Isaiah's counsel was that no foreign alliance should be sought, but that entire dependence should be placed on Jehovah, who would protect his own people, and discomfit the Assyrians, should they venture on making an attack. Hezekiah, however, had other advisers also, men of a. different stamp, politicians such as Shebna and Elial--im, to whom the simple faith of the prophet appeared fanaticism and folly. The dictates of worldly wisdom seemed to'them to require that the alliance of some powerful nation should be-courted, and a treaty made whereby J udrea might secure the assist- ance of a strong body of auxiliaries, should her indepe.!ldence be menaced. The political. horizon: p1·esented at the time one only power of this kind- 1 G. Smith,' Eponym Cnnon.' \ Iii INTRODUCTION TO