The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 15

glory and a royal diadem" in the hand of Jehovah (eh. lxii. 3). The "thorns and briars," which a.re represented in Part I. as all that Israel produces (oh. v. 6; :nxii. 13), give place in Part ID. to a better growth 1 " Instead of the thorn shall come up the flr tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree" (eh. lv. 13); cc They shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the wa.ter-oourses" (oh. xliv. 4). . , It me.y also be observed that the local colouring, including the allusions to scenery and natural objects, to mountains, forests, trees, rooks, streams, fertile fields, etc., has the same cast in both the earlier and the .l11ter chapters. The scenery is throughout that of Syria and Palestine, not that of Babylonia or of Egypt, except in one short passage (eh. xix. 5,.___10); The writer's admiration is for Lebanon, with its cedars that are; high and lifted up ( eh. ii. 13; x. 34; xiv. 8; xxix. 17; xx:xiii. 9; xxxv. 2; xxxvii. 24 • xl. 16; Ix. 13); its" choice firs," its "pines," and" box trees;;, for Bashan: with its oaks (eh. ii. 13) and orchards (eh. xx::riii. 9); for Carmel (oh. v. 18; xvi. 10; xxix. 17; xxxii. 15, 16; XXXV. 2; xxxvii. 24); for Sharon (eh. x:xriii. 9; xxxv. 2; lxv. 10); for the rich Gilead region, with its vineyards and "summer fruits," and glad harvests (oh. xv. 9, 10). The trees are all ·of them Palestinian, or at any rate Syrian-cedars, oaks, firs, pines, box trees, sycamores, cypresses, shitta.h trees, olives, vines, myrtles. The palm, which is the great glory of Babylonia, obtains n~ .mention. The abounding river Euphra.tes occnrs once only (eh. viii. 7), and th~t once is in Part L Elsewhere the water spoken of consists of" streams,".''.brooks," "fountains," "pools" or reservoirs, cc springs," and the like (eh. xv. 7; xxii. 11 ; m. 25; xx:rv. 7; xli. 18; xlviii. 21 ~ lviii. 11, etc.).:._all forms' of water familiar to dwellers in Palestine. Rooks, " ragged. rocks," " clefts in the rock," "holes in the rock," are also portions of the writer's scenery ( oh. ii. 10, 19, 21; xlii. 22 ; lvii. 5)-things unknown in Babylonia .. Moun- tains, woods, forests, wild beasts of the forest, bears, a.re equally withln hie cognizance, and furnish him with frequent images (eh. ii. 14; ix. 18; x~ 18, 34; xiii. 4; :xl. 12; xiii. 11; liv. 10; Iv. 12, 13; lvi. 9; lix. 11, etc.). Mr. Cheyne confesses the force of this entire argument, when he says- " Some passages of II. Isaiah (i.e. eh. :xl.-lxvi.) are in various degrees really favourable to the theory of a Palestinian origin. Thus, in eh. lvii. 5, the reference to torrent-beds is altogether inapplicable to the alluvial plains of Babylonia; and equally so is that to subterranean 'holes' in eh. xlii. 22; and, though no doubt Babylonia wBB more wooded in ancient times than it is at present, it is certain that the trees mentioned in eh. xii. 19 were not for the most pa.rt natives of that country, while the date-palm, the commonest of all the Ba by Ionian trees, is not once referred to." 1 It is evident that the " Palestinian origin " of II. Isaiah, though not conclusively proving Isaiah's authorship, is in thorough harmony with it, and has an appreciable value as a subsidiary argument in favour of the unity of the book. 1 • Propbeaiea of Ieaia.b,' voL Ii. p. llL  THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. xxiI