The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 158

Yer. 8.-The propheten. It is not nooes• at two t.alents of gol<l and e. thousand talents Mry to snppMe th1tt tho •wifo of Isai&h must of silver (see 'Records of the Paet,' vol. v. have uttere<l prophecies bPCauseshe is c&lled p. 52). "the prophetess." TiUes were given in the Vera. 5-10.-TaE FLoon or AssYRIAN Ensl to tlie wi,•es, daughters, cto., of officials, INVASION WILL PASS FROM SYRIA AND SA• which merely reflected the dignity of their husbands, fathers, do. Even Miri&m seems MARIA INTO JUD..EA, BUT WILL THERB DB lo be called R "propl,etess" (Exod. xv. 20) Al\RESTED. Syri& and Samaria were barriers, from her close relationship to Moses, rather breakwaters, so placed es to stem the tide lhRn from an~· supernatural power 'that she of invasion, and be e. defence to Judma had. In the Mishna, a priest's wife or age.inst Assyrian e.ttaok. Wheu ouoe they daughter is enllcd "priestess" (Cheyne), Call his name. There is no reason for were overwhelmed, the waters would have doubting that the name was actually given. free course, and the submersion of Judma Other Israelites had such names e.s J ushab- was certain. It might be delayed by the hesed (1 Chron. iii. 20), Haah-nshtari (1 Divine favour,_ and would be, so long as the Chron. iv. 6), Romamti-ezer (1 Chron. xxv.4), people, or even a remnant of them, remained Me.chnadebai (Ezra. x. 40), and the like. Assyrian names were ernn longer; e.g. As- faithful, but only through the migh~ of the shur-bcl-nisi-sn, Asshllr-kinat-ili-ke.in, etc. name Immanuel, 11 God with ns," In ordinary parlance, names of this type Ver. 6.~Forasmnoh e.s this people. n were commonly shortened, "She.lman-eser" is e. question which people is intended, becoming "Shalman" (Hos. x. H), "Sen- Judah or Israel. Ewald supposes Judah, nacherib" "Jareb" (Hos. x. 6), and the • and ·draws the conclusion that there wail e. like. strong party in Jerusalem which favoured Ver. 4.-lty father . .. my mother. "Abi," 11 the son of Te.heal." Dr. Kay does the "Immi," wonld have been among the first same,.but understands the charge age.inst utterances of childhood-simple sounds, Judah to be, not that it sympathized with combinations of primary vowels with labi- Rezin, but that it fell into the same sins. als, corresponding in easiness of utterance Other commentators suggest that Israel is to "Pappy," "Mammy," rather than to the the people intended (as in eh. ix. 16), the expressions of the text. A child commonly •sense 'bieinlf carried on from ver. 4, where utters such sormds when it is about a the word "Samaria." is suggestive of the year old. The riches of Da.masc11S. The Israelite people. B.efnseth the waters of position of Damascus lay in the direct Shiloa.h, The "pool of Siloah" (Neh. iii. path of the main trade that was carried on 15) was the tank or reservoir e.t the south- between the West and East, which was con- western foot of Ophel; which is supplied ducted by the merchants of Tyre chiefly, with water by a narrow conduit cut through and passed from the Syrian coast by way of the limestone rock for a distance of 1750 Do.mascus and Tadmor to Nin~eh and feet from the II Pool of the Virgin'" on the Babylon. This commerce greatly enriched opposite side of Ophel, in the Kedron ve.lley. the cities lying upon its route. " Damas• This pool itself is fed from reservoirs under cns," says Ezekiel, addressing Tyre, "was the temple area, which have not ye_t been thy merchant in the multitude of the wares fully explored. It is probable that Isaia.h of thy ms.lring,Jor the multitude of allrichea; usee tbe expression " waters of Shiloe.h " in in the wine of Helbon, and white wool " a general sense for the streams, springs, (xxvii 18). The "pa.laces of Benhada.d" reservoirs, conduits, which supplied the seem to have been noted for their magnifi- temple, and were connected with its service. cence (Jer. x.li.x. 27; A.mos i. 4). The apoil 11 Refusing the waters of Shiloah " would of Se.maria. Bhall be ta.ken a.way before the then be, without any violent metaphor, re- King of Aa,yria.. Scripture does not recorJ fusing the temple service and worship, whioh the fulfilment of this prophecy, which makes was exactly wha.t the Israelites had done the same Assyrian king carry off the spoil from the time of Jeroboam. That go softly. of Se.maria and the spoil of Damascus, In contrast with the II waters of the river, fixing also the time of the carrying off as strong and many,'' of the next verse. They within a few years of the time when the who refused the mild e.ud gentle govern- prophecy was given. But the inscriptions ment of Jehovah should experience the im- of Tiglatb-Pileser himsdf supply the de- petuous and torrent-like rush of the Aseyriau ficieney. Th!,y state that this monarch armies. Rejoice in B.ezin; rather, rejoice "sent the population, the goods of the with Rezin; i.e. sympathize with him, re- people of Beth-Omri, and their furniture to joice when he rejoices. the land of Assyria: " after which he "ap- Ver. 7.-The waters of the river, strong pomted Hnsil, (Hoshea) to the dominion and many. " The 1-i ver" is, of course, the (Aer them," and fixed their annual tritrate Enphrates, as in eh. vii. 20. In itB lower ffll, Vlll, 1~22,] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 147