The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 252

Neh. ii. 7-9). Some shall go eo far ea rt:3~, 1md quiet; then the ne.tione, reoog voluntarily t~ brrome their bondservants in mzmg the blessedness of the change burst Pnlestine. They shall ta.ke them oa.ptive, out into a song of rejoidng. The pe~ce did whose oaptivea they were. This can soaroely not really continue very long; for Persill have been intended literally. The Jews were took up the 1·0/e of conqueror which Babylon at no time a conquering people, nor one that had been forced to drop, nnd, under Cnm• set itself to '' take capt.ives." The true byses e.nd Darius liystaspis, produced e.s meaning is that Jewish ideas shall pene- much stir and disturbance e.s hnd been trate and subdue the nations generally, and caused by Babylon. Still, there was an in- among them those with whom Israel had terval of !\bout eleven ycl\rs between the dwelt as captives. The Jews did become conquest of Babylon by Cyrus (e.o. 588), e.nd very powerful and numerous both in Assyria the expedition by Ce.mbyses against Egypt and Babylonia a.bout the first century after (B,O. 527). Christ, and Christian Churches were early Ver. 8.-Fir trees . . . oede.rs. We may formed in Mesopotamia, Ad.iabene, and even detect e. double meaning here--0ne literal, Babvlon. the other metl\phorice.l. Literally, the trees V~r. 3.-The hard bondage wherein thou of Lebanon e.nd the other mountain ranges wut made to serve (comp. oh. xlvii. 6). We would be spared, since, while both the As- have no Jetailed e.ccount of the Babylonian, syrian and Babylonian kings cut timber in as we have of the Egyptian, servitude; but the Syrian forests for building purposes, it was probably well-nigh as grievous. A the Persians had no such practice ; mete.- few, of royal descent, might be eunuchs in phorice.lly, the firs e.nd cedars a.re the kings the palace of the great king (2 Kings n. and nobles of the countries (comp. Ezek. 18 ; Dan. i. 3), and hold offices of trust ; but xxxi.16), who likewise had a respite. Sinoe with the bulk of the nation it was otherwise. thou a.rt laid down; rather, since thou lieat Ps. cxxxvii. bas the plaintive ring which low. The first stanza here ends, and the marks it ns the utterance of a sorely op- second begins with the next verse. pressed people. And there are passages of Ver. 9.-B:ell from beneath. The Hebrew Eze1.iel w hlch point in the same direction Sheol corresponded nearly to the Greek (see especially xxriv. 27-29). He.des, and the Latin Injeri. It we.s a dis- Ver. 4.-Thou &halt take up this proverb; mal region in the centre of the earth, whither rather, thi.s parabl~, as the word is translated departed souls descended, and where they in Numb. xxiiL and xx:iv.; in Job xxvi. l; remained thenceforth. There were various xxix. I ; Ps. xlix. 4; 1.x:xviii 2 ; Ezek. xvii 2; depths in it, ea.eh o.ppe.rently more dismal xx. 49; xri. 5; xx.iv. 3; Micah ii. 4; He.b. ii. than the preceding; but there is no evidence 6 ; or '' too taunting speech," e.s our trans- that it was considered to contain any place lators render in the margin (see Cheyne, of happiness, until after the return from the a,d, loc. ; and comp. Hab. ii 6). The golden Captivity. The prophet here represents Sheol oity. There a.re two readings here--ma,d,- e.s disturbed by the advent of the Babylonian he'bah and ma,rhe'bah. The latter reading was monarch, e.nd e.s rousing itself to receive him. preferred anciently, and is followed by the The great ones of the earth, e.nd the kings, LXX., the Syriac and Chaldee Versions, who a.re kings even in Hades, and sit upon the Targums, Ewald, Geseniw,, and Mr. thrones, are especially moved by the ocoa- Cheyne. It would give the meaning of" the sion, e.nd prepare to meet e.nd greet their raging one." Madhebah, however, is pre- brother. Persona.I identity e.nd continued ferred by Rosenmiiller, Vitringe., and Dr. consciousness of it after death a.re assumed : Kay. It is supposed to mean "golden," and the former earthly re.nk of the inmates from d'hab, the Chaldee form of the Hebrew seems to be recognized e.nd maintained. It zahab, gold. But the question is pertinent stirreth up the dead. Hell in the aggregate -Whv should e. Chaldee form have been -the place personified-proceeds to a.rouse used by a Hebrew writer ignorant of Chaldee the individual inmates, who a.re called re- and Chalde11 ? phaim - the word commonly translated Ver. 5.-The st&1l' ... the soeptre. Sym- "giants" (Deut. ii.11, 20; xiii. 12; Josh. xii. bols of Babylonian power (comp. eh. x. 5). 4; xiii.12, etc.), but meaning properly" feeble Ver. 6.-Ee who smote the people ; rather, ones." The shades or ghosts of the departed which Bmote the peopk8. The participle trans- were regarded as weak e.nd nerveless, in lated "he who smote " refers to "staff" or comparison with living men (compare the "set,ptre." With a continual stroke ; i.e. in- Homeric .t5111A« 1<a.µ&11-r11111). All the ohief cessantly, one war following another without ones; literally, the he-goats (comp. Jer. 1. pause or stop. He that ruled, ete. ; rather, 8 ; li. 40 ; Zech. x. 3). Raised up from their which ruled the natiom in anger with a per8e- thrones; i.e. " ea.used to rise up from thei.J, cution that held not back. thrones," e.nd stR.nd in eager expectation of Ver. 7.--At rest . . . Binging. The first what was a.bout to happen. reflUlt of the fall of Babylon i8 general peace, Ve,r, lQ.-Art thou aleo l>eoome weak 11 OH. xlv. 1-32.J TBE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 245