ponderating influence in the valley or the part, Then, suddenly, he te.kes the pa.rt Nile, and under Piankhi, Sh11bak, Bhabatok, described in the le.tter portion of ver. 5, and Tirhakah (Tahtuk), reduced Egypt to " outs off the shoots and hews down the eubjeotion, Isaiah, perho.ps, refers to their branches." Like a olear heat upon herb■, rise under Piankhi as "their beginning." eto. ; rather, tl!hile the7"s u deaf' heat in the A nation meted out and trodden down; su1111hine, while there ia a cloud of deu, in tlM rather, a nation of meting out and trampling; ha,-11est-wa1"111th; i.e. while surrounding in- i.e. one ocoustomed to mete out its neigh- fluences are such e.s must favour the growth bours' bounds with a measuring-line, and to of Assyrie.'s power and pride. trample other nations under its feet. Whose Ver. 5.-Jl'or afore the harvest. God ce.n land the rivers have spoiled; rather, whose rest thus tranquil, because he oe.n step in o.t land river• tkspoil. Tho deposit of mud, any time; and this he is about to do, before whioh fertilizes Egypt, is washed by the Assyria reaps her harvest. When the bud is rivers from Ethiopia, which is thus con- perfect, etc. ; rather, uhen the bloswm ie past, tinuelly losing large quantities of rich soil. and the gTeen grape is becoming a ripening This fact was woll known to the Greeks bunch. Xe shall out off' (comp. eh. x. 33, (Herod., ii. 12, ad fin.), and there is no reason 34). The metaphor is slightly varied in why Ise.ie.h should not have been e.cquainted this place, to suit t!Je imagery of the pre- with it. ceding cle.use, where Assyria has been re- Ver. S.-All ye inhabitants of the world. presented as a vine-stock. Formerly her From exhorting the messengers to hasten " boughs " were to be " lopped ; " now her on their errand, Ise.ie.h turns to the ne.tions '' branches O and "sprigs,, or "sprouts" are generally, e.nd bids them attend to e. coming to be out away with pruning-hooks. signe.1-an ensign is about to be raised, a Ver. 6.-They shall be left together 11llto trumpet is about to be sounded-let them the fowls. At length imagery is dropped. gnze and hee.rken; the result will be well The vine is shown to be an army, slaughtered worth noting. The ime.gery is not to be all "together," and left a prey to kites e.nd taken literally, but in the same way as the vultures, jackals and hyaino.s. Shall sum- notices in oh. xi. 10, 12; xiii. 2. When he mer . , . shell winter. They will furnish lifteth up an ensign . . . when he bloweth a food to the beasts e.nd birds of prey for the trumpet; rather, when an ensign ia lifted reme.inder of the year, up , , . whll1I a t,-umpet sound& On the Ver, 7.-In that time shall the present be mountains, Wherever the great event took brought; rather, a _p1'esent. It would not be ple.oe, the signal for it was given ou the at all improbable tho.t Tirlm.ka.h should, after mountains of Judma (see 2 Kings ili. the destruction of Sennaoherib'A army, send 20-34). a gift to the temple of the Jews, either as a Ver. 4.-Jl'or so ; rather, [07" thua. The recognition of the miracle as wron_ght by word Mh is prospective. I will take my rest, Jehovah, or simply as a thank offering. and I will oonsider ; or, I will be still and Necho sent the armour in which he had look on. The rest of God is contrasted with !ought at Megiddo to the temple of Apollo the bustle end hurry of the Ethiopians and at Branchidai, near Miletus, as a thank offer- Assyrian& God " sits in his holy seat," ing (Herod., ii. 159). We have, however, calm and tranquil, knowing whe.t the result no historical record of Tirkakah's present e..s is about to be, and when it will be; he waits sent. Of a people; rather, from a people while the influences of heat and moisture, (compare the next chuse, which supplies sunshine and dew-his own agenoies-ripen the ellipse of the preposition). (For the A11&yria's BOhemea, impassive, ta.king no rest of the vene, see nutes on ver. 2.)
HOMILETICS. Vcrs. 1-4.-17ie conti·ast of Divine calm with human bustle, hurry, and e:i:citeme-nt. When men take a matter in hand wherein they feel an interest, and set themselves either to carry out a certain design of their own, or to frustrate the designs of others, aothing is more remarkable than (if we may use a vulgarism) the "fuss" that they make about it. Heaven and earth are moved, so to speak, for the accomplishment of the desired end ; the entire nation is excited, stirred, thrilled to its lowest depths ; a universal eagerness prevails; all is noise, clamour, haste, bustle1 tumult, whirl, con- fusion. Assyria's "noise" is compared (eh. xvii. 12) to the roar c,f the sea, and the rushing of mighty waters. Ethiopia's stir is like the sound of many wings (eh. xviii. 1). Even Cyrus, though he has a Divine mission, cannot set about it without "the noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of natiQns gathered together" ( eh, xiii. 4). It is in vain that men are toll! lMlAJI, ~ 308 THE BOOK OF THE 1PROTIHET JSAIAH, [oH, xv11L 1-7.