But there are also numerous other passages, where, for a, ve~e or two at a time, words are put into the mouth of speakers other than the author, with a lively and stirring effect (see eh. iii. 6, 7; iv. 1; v. 19; vii. 12; viii. 19; ix. 10; x. 8-11, 13, 14; xiv. 10, 13, 14, 16, 17; xix. 11; xxi. 8, 11, 12; nii. 13; xx.iii. 15; x.xix. 11, 12, 15; xxx. 10, 11, 16; xl. 3, 6, 27; xii. 6; xlii. 17; :di~:. 16-20; xiv. 9, 10, 14; xlvii. 7, 10; xlix. ~41 20, 21; l\i., 7; lvi. 3, 12; lviu. 3; b:v. 5; lxvi. 5). . ... 3 . .Antithesis is, no doubt, a characteristic of Hebrew poetry generally, but in the other sacred writers it is often rather verbal than real while in Isaiah it is almost always true, pointed, and telling. The follo~ing may suffice as instances : " Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall. be as 'l!Jhite as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool'' ( ch.i 18); "It shall come to pass, that instead of swee~ smel& [spice] there shall b(? rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instea~ ,of well-set hair, bald- ness; and inste.ad of a stomacher, a girdle of sackcloth; burning instead of beauty" (eh. iii 24);, "He looked for judgment, but ~ehold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry" (eh. v. 7); "Ten.. acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer [ or, 'a. homer of seed '] shall yield u an ephah" (eh. v. 10); Woe unto t'hem that call evil gopd, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and. light for darkness;. that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for biiter" (eh. v. 20); "Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my ser11ants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my seroa,nt, shaU rejo-ice, but ye shall be aiha1med : behold, my ser,,ants shall sing for joy of kearl, but ye shall t:ry Jor sorrow of heart, and shall howZ. jO'f vezai,wt1r of spirit" ( eh. lxv. 13, 14). · 4. "Play npon words" is a.lso a common featnre in Hebrew literatun,; bn.t only 11, few of the sacred writers use it so frequentlY,, or gfve it such prominence, as Isaiah. Knobel gives, as instances, 1 eh. i. 23; v: 7; vii. 9; xvii. 1, 2; x.xii. f,, 6; xxviii. 10, et seqq.; xxix. 1, 2, 9; xxx. 16; xxxii. 7; 17, 19; to which may be added eh. xx:xiv. 14; !xii. 4; and lxv. 10. As; how- ever, this ornament, depending generally upon the assonance, of the Hebre.w words, is necessarily lost in translation, and can only be appreci~ted by 11, Hebrew scholar, we do not propose further to dwell upon it. . i. The "strength., of Isaiah's expressions will be recognized by ~II who 1 • Exegetiaches Bandbuch,' vol. vi. p. 31, THE BOOK OF TllE PROPHET ISAIAH. IV
have studied hi!i work, and me.y be eeen to e. certe.in oxtant even through bhe veil of o. translation. Su.eh phre.ses ae the following arrest attention, and lodge themselves in the, memory, from their intensity and inherent force: •~ There ie no soundness in it; but W01Jln,(U, and bruise.~, and putre- fying sores" ( oh. i. 6) ; "How is the faithful city become an harlot!'' ( oh. i: 21)-; I' Enter into the rock, and hM,e thee in the dust" ( eh. ii. 10) ; "What mean ye that ye beat 'l11t'!J peoplB to pieces, a:nd grind the; faces off~ poor ? " ( oh. iii. 15) ; •1•1fell bath' enlarg-ed her desire, atid opened· ~"m<Nth wifhout meaMe '' (oh. -f; 14); "Their horses' hoofs shall be counted Zike fli-,it; a,nd their wkeels·lilt6"a whi'r"IAbinuJA {eh .. v. 28); "The two tails of tliese srrwking fireorainrls'! (cbl :vii. '4); ·"Hie name shall be called Wonderful, Oownsellor, •Mvghty God,' Everlasting Father, Prince of, Peace" (eh. ix. 6); "He shall smite the earth'with the rod of his moutf~, and;uiith. the breath of his lips shaJl ke slay the wiclced" (eh, xi. 4); IJ:'fhe -earttr•S'hall reel to and, fro Uke a arunkard ,, (oh. xxiv. 20) ; '' God will swallow up death in victory" ( eh. XXV. 8) ; " The. JF..ord with his sore and great and strO'Tlg sword shall punish leviathan the piercing [swift] serpent " ( eh. xxvii. 1) ; " The people shall be as tke bu:rnings af':lime " (eh. n:riii1 •12) j "They that wait upon the Lord shall rer,;ew -tke·i:r• strength;. they shall mount up with wings as eagles '' ( eh. :d. 31); "A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking fla-;i: shall he not quench" •( eh. xlii. 3) ; ·" I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth thftr ·covering "· ( eh. I.. 3) ; ' 1 His. visage was so marred more than any man" -(ch. lii. 14); ·" The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt" ( eh. lvii. 20) ; " The Lord will come with fire, and with his char~ots'.like a whirlwind, t.o render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire" ( eh. lxvi. 15) ; " Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenoked; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh•• (eh. lxvi. 24). 6. The power of-vivid description is remarkably shown : (1) In the pictures of desolation which are so frequent, especially in those of eh. xiii., xiv., and xxxiv. "Babylon:, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees, excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomo:rra.h.. It sba.11 never be inhabited, neither sha.ll it be dwelt in from generation to generation : neither shall -the .Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses· sha.ll be fnll of doleh.l crea.tures; and owls [or, •ostriches'] shall dwell there, and satyrs (?) shall dance there. .And jackals she.II cry in their castles, and dragons in their pleasant palaces : and her -time ie near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged " ( oh. xiii.19-22). " I will make it [ equivalent to 'Babylon'] a possession for the bittern, a.nd pools of water: and I will sweep it with the bosom of destrnotion, saith the Lord of hosts" (eh. xiv. 23). "The pelican and the bittern shall possess it [ equivalent to 'Edom '] ; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it : and one shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness. They ehall call the nobles thereof ·to the kingdom, but none shall be there,_ INTRODUCTION TO