BRING ISRAEL TO Gon. Isaiah returns, in by the faithful when God's enemies assailed ver. 19, to the considemtion of hie disciples. them. Compare Gideon's cry (Judg. vii.18), [n the terrible times impending, they will " For the Lord and for Gideon." I! they speak not acoording to this word, it is be- be recommended to have recourse to necro- oaUBe there is no light in them ; rather, mancy: he urges that they should look to Surely they will speak acwrding to this word, God and the Law. He then further llllggeete when there ilJ no dawn for them; i.e. when that, in the coming affliction which he de- they a.re plunged in darkness (ver. 22) and scribes (vere. 21, 22), men will generally distress, and see no prospect of better clays, surely they-the people generally-will turn for relief to the same quarter (ver. 20). rally to this cry, and repeat it, "For the Ver. 19.-Seek unto them that have fa- Law and for the testimony." They will not miliar spirits. In times of great distress always trust in necromancy. the Israelites seem a.I ways to have been Vere. 21, 22 are supposed by some to be tempted to consult those among them who out of place, and to belong properly to the pretended to magic and divination. So ~au! description of the Assyrian invasion, given in the Philistine war resorted to the witch in vers. 7, 8. But this bold solution of a of Endor (1 Sam. xxviii. 7-20): Manasseh, difficulty is scarcely to be commended, there threatened by Eear-haddon, " used enchant- being no limit to its use. An order followed ments, and dealt with familiar spirits and in all the manuscripts shoulcl not be dis- wizards" (2 Kings x.xi. 6). Israel generally, turbed, if it gives any tolerable sense. Such oppressed by Syria. and Assyria, " used a sense can, it is thought, be found here by divination aud enchantments" (2 Kings xvii. regarding the two verses as exegetical of 17). There was the ea.me inclination now the last clause of ver. 20-" when there is on the pa.rt of many Jews. The vexed no dawn for them." question of the actual powers possessed by Ver. 21.-They shall pass through it. such persons cannot be discussed within the •• It," which is feminine, must mean "the limits of a footnote. It ho.a, moreover, al- land." The Jews left in it shall wander rea.dy been treated in the present Com- about it (comp. eh. vii. 21-25), seeking pas- mentary, in connection with Lev. xix. 31. ture for the remnant of their cattle. They Wizards that peep, and that mutter; rather, eha.11 fret themselves; rather, they shall be that chirp and mu,Uer. Tricks of the ventri- deeply angered (Cheyne). And ourse the~ loquists, probably, who disguised their voices, king and their God. As the ea.uses of the!l' and represented that they were the voices sufferings. And look upward. Not in hope, of ghosts (comp. eh. xxix. 4). The nature.I but in rage and defiance. speech of some tribes has been compared Ver. 22.-They shall look unto the earth. to the" chirping of birds" (Herod., iv. 183: For necessary nutriment, or simply as tht> Bornemann,' Travels,' p. 119). Should not place to which downcast and despairing a people, eto.? Very abrupt and elliptical. eyes are turned naturally. They ~ be Ise.io.h means to say, "Do not attend to driven to darkness. So Kay, who thmks the them : but answer, Should ·not a people," Captivity is meant: but it seems better to etc.? l'or the living. This may either mean render the whole pa.esa.ge, with Mr. Cheyne, "imtead of the living,'' or "on behalf of the " They sh11,ll look to earth, and behold, living." The latter meaning is preferable. distress and darkness, gloom of affliction. The full phrase would be, "Should a people and thick darkness driven (upon them)." on behalf of the living seek to the dead?" The darkness is spoken of :i.s if it wero a or, Would not that be plainly preposterous? thing palpable, like rain or snow (oomp. Ver. 20.-To the Law and to the testimony. Exod. x. 21). A sort of watchword or battle-cry, to be used
HOMILETICS. Ver. 6.-Waters of Shiloah. The waters of Shiloah issued from the roe~ where God had set his Name and fixed the symbol of his presence. They were a copious s1;1pply,_ ever welling forth from an inscrutable source for the refreshment and delectation of Israel. Their overplus irrigated numerous gardens in the valley at the base of the temple hill and made the desert "blossom like the rose." Shiloah is the same as "Shiloh" (Gen. xlix. 10), and "Shiloh" means "sent," or "he who is sent." Hence we may view as "waters of Shiloah "- . I. THE TEACHING OF THE 'l'EMPLE AND ITS RITES, which God sent to Isr_ae_l by ths hand of his servant Moses for their refreshment and delight-a stream of hvrng water to th01e who accepted the truths which the temple rites embodied or symbolized; • 150 THE BOOK OF THE PROPH:ll:T lSAIAH. [ou. vri.1. 1-22