The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 492

Kings xxli. IS). Beers . , , prophets, Not effect till the conquest of Jer11831em by two olaaaea of persona, but two names for Nebuchadnezzar. the same olasa. The " parallelism" of He• Ver. 15.-J'or thus saith the Lord God, brew poetry leo.d.li to the conatan t employ- the Holy One of Israel. As the irreligious ment of synonymouR clo.uses. Bight things; party wished to hear no m(lre of" the Holy i.e. the truth in o.11 its plo.innesa. Smooth One of Israel " ( ver. 11 ), Iso.iah takes care thinga; i.e. soft, pleasant announcements, to keep him constantly before their minds Deoeits; or, illusions (comp. Jcr. ix. 5, (comp. eh. xxxi. I). In returning and rat "They will deceive" or "mock "-where shall ye be saved; rather, ,ltould ye ~ we have the so.me root). aa-,,ed, or might ye be sa-,,ed. The conditions Ver. 11.-Cause the Holy One of Israel to are put forward, not as now capable of oease from before us. "The Holy One of being realized, but as those which might Israel" was one of Isaiah's most frequent have been realized at an car lier date. The no.mes for the Almighty. He used it especi- "returning" spoken of ia an abandonment nlly when rebuking Isro.el's unholiness (eh. of the course hitherto pursued, which waa i; 4; v. 24, etc.). The irreligious Jews reckless provocation of Assyria and trust in were weary of this constant iteration, nnd Egypt. The "rest" is staying upon God- .vished to hear no more concerning this renunciation of trnst on any arm of flesh, "Holy One," whose very holiness was a and simple reliance on the Divine aid, as repi'oo.ch to them. sure to be sufficient when the need came. Ver. 12.-Beoause ye despise this word; In quietness and oonftdence shall be you:r rather, because ye reject this word (see 1 Sam. strength; ro.ther, should be. The clause is viii. 7; xv. 23, 26; 2 Kings xvii. 15, etc.). a mere iteration in other words of the pre- The "word" intended is probably the pro- ceding one. Ye would not. They had phecy against trusting in Egypt (vers. practically rejected the policy of quiescence 1-7). • And trust in oppression; or, extor- and patient waiting upon God, when they tion. Oppressive measures employed to sent the embassy into Egypt. obtain the rich gifts which had to be sent Ver. 16.-Ye said, No; for we will :11.ee into Egypt (ver. 6) a.re probably intended upon horses; rather, tee u:ill fly upon hors~. (comp. 2 Kings xv. 20). Gratz and Cheyne The nobles had perhaps a manly eagerness change the reading from 'oshek to 'il.lcesh to mount the Egyptian war-horses, and (" pervers.eness "); but without any neces- rush upon the enemy at full speed, in the sity. And perverseness ; Hterally, crooked- hope of discomfiting them. Isaiah warns ness; i.e. "tortuous policy" (Kay). And them that they will not really fly on the stay thereon; rather, lean or stay yoursel-,,ea enemy, bnt flee before him. We will ride thereon. upon the swift. "The swift" (lcal) seems Ver. 13.-This iniquity shall be to you to be o. mere variant for "horse," the paral- as a breaoh ready to fall. Your sin in re- lelism being, as so frequently, "synony- belling ago.inst God, rejecting the warnings mous." Therefore shall they that pursue you of hie prophets, and trusting_ in your own be swift. However swift the horses of the Ju- devices sho.11 -bring you into the condition dreans,theirenemieswould beas well mounted of a wall in which there is a " breach," or and would pursue and overtake them. rather, a "bulge," which therefore totters Ver. 17.-0ne thousand shall flee at the to its fall, o.nd is liable to dissolve in ruins rebuke of one. A hyperbole common in at o.ny moment. Swelling out in a high Scripture (Dent. xx:xii. 30 ; Josh. x:xiii. wall. The higher the wall, the greater the 10 ; Lev. xxvi. 8), and not confined to the d1mger, and the more complete the destruc- sacred writers. Piankhi the Ethiopian tion. boasts, in his great inscription, that, with Ver. 14.-And he shall break it as the Ammon's he) p, "many shonld turn their breaking of the potters' veseel that is broken bo.cks upon a few, and one should rout a in pieoes. Isaiah is fond of mixed meta- thousand" (' Records of the Past,' vol. ii. p. phors, and of superseding one metaphor by 84). At the rebuke of :five. The "rebuke" another. From comparing Judah's fall and of five (i.e. their war-shout) would pnt ruin to the shattering of a lofty wall, he to flight the whole army. As a beacon; suddenly turus to o. comparison of it with rather, as a flag-staff-stripped and bare the breaking to pieces of an earthen pitcher. (comp. eh. xxxiii. 23; Ezek. x.xvii. 5). Judah shall be so broken as when the A tree stripped of its branches and left pitcher is crushed into minute fro.gruents, standing ns a landmark seems to be in- so that there is no piece large enough to tended. As an ensign. A military sto.nd- convey a coo.l from one t'ire for the lighting ard, suoh as was in common use omong of another, or to be of even the least use for the Assyrians and Egyptil\ns, us among drawing water from a well. A complete the Greeks and Romans (see • Ancient dissolution of the political fnbrio is fore- Monarchies,' vol. ii. p. 57; Rawlinso11t shadowed, ~uoh as did not actually take • Hist. of Egypt,' vol. i. p. 463)  THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAlt. [dtt. xxx. 1-38,