The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 171

by, and on thRt tablet, as though it were the heading of a proclamation or dedication he was to write 'to MRher-shalal-hash-baz.'" This name recRlls the prophecy which IsaiRh had already (1;iven (eh. vii. 14-16). The word actually Rnd precisely means "Speed plunder, haste spoil." It refers t-0 the Assyrians whom Isaiah sees hurrying tD spoil both Syria and Samaria. First the public sign, and then lbe child, bearing the prophetic name, were to be a constant testimony to the truth of Isaiah's words, and 11 means of keeping t.he cheering prophecy ever before thll people. The passage reminds us of the value attached to, and the use made of, Old 'l'estament names. On this subject F. W. Robertson has a very suggestive passage (vol. i. 41, 42): "In the Hebrew history are discernible three periods distinctly marked, in which names and words bore very different characters. These three, it has been observed by acute philologists, correspond to the periods iu which the nation bore the three different appellations of Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews. In the first of these periods names meant truths, and words were the symbols of realities, The characteristics of the names given then were simplicity and sincerity. The second period begins about the time of the departure from Egypt, and it iis characterized by unabated simplicity, with the addition of sublimer thought, and feeling more intensely religious. Words mean realities, but ther are impregnated with deeper religious thought. The third period was at its zenith in the time of Christ; words bad lost their meaning, and sbarc:>d the hollow unreal state of all things." Keeping in mind how conveniently and efficiently Isaiah wraps up his prophecy into a name which will at once arrest attention, this use of names may be illustrated: 1. In relo.tion to families. We recall to mind loved relatives, or acts of kindness done to us, or persons whose heroic lives we admire, by gi,in'.:'. to our children some significant name. 2. In relation to the sale of articles. The skill of the advertiser is shown in the discovery of some taking name, which will draw public attention to the article offered. 3. In relation to science and invention: The results of research and discovery do not become public property until they can be fixed in a name; even men's theorizings getting thus fabelled for use. 4. In relation to doctrines. Statements of Divine revelation do not become public property until they get a name, which is a sort of handle, by which the ordinary mind may grasp them. By such illustrations the practical wisdom of Isaiah's act may be shown, and then the truth which he sought thns to keep before the minds of the people may be impressed, The staring name, calling the attention of all the passers-by, said plainly, "Trust God, not man." "Fear nobody but God; nothing but God." "Hie word is surely true: though you see it not, it is hurrying even now to its accomplishment." That name said, "Trust in the Lord for ever." "He maketh the wrath of man praise him, and restrains the remainder of wratb."-R. T. Ver. 6.-Jehovah like the waters of Shiloah. The fountain of Siloam, at the mouth of the Tyror rean valley, and so at the roots of both Zion and Moriah, is fed with water which flows through a narrow subterranean conduit from the "Pool of the Virgin." The point of the comparison presented by Isaiah cannot be better stated than in the rol\owing passage : " These waters of Shiloah, the sacred waters that came forth from the holy mountain, seemed poor and ignoble in comparison with the Abana end Pharpar of Syria, or the Jordan of Ephraim; bow much more, then, with the Euphrates and Tigris! Calm and tranqnil faith in the prophetic word which God sent them, in the gently flowing current of his providential dealings (springing out of the depthB of his eternal wisdom and goodness),-tbis was not to their mind. They must have something that appealed to eye and ear, that gratified the fancy with its ambi- tious cravings" (Dr. Ka.\). Henderson applies the figure of tJ:ie text to the house of David, but Cheyne properly argues that it is better to take the phrase as symbolizing the temple, and its almighty and gracious Lord; and he remarks that the figure is not an unfamiliar one. The psalmist says (Ps. xlvi. 4, 5), "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. , . , God is in the midst of her.'' And Jeremiah speaks of the people having "forsaken the Lord, the Fountain of living waters" (Jer. xvL 13). Taking these waters of Shiloah as the figure for Jehovah, they may be shown to i\lnstrate- 1. THE GENTLENESS OF JEHOV.AB. His kingdom "cometh not with observation." There is no cry, uo lirting up of voice, He never rolleth like a desolating flood, eav@ OJI, VIII, 1 -22.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 161