The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 19

Iarael. A specially lAAian phrA8e, emrloyed but an Assyrian army wna intent on plunder hy lBB.ie.h twcnty-ei!!ht tinws, e.ud on y live e.n<l devnstnli,m, tl<) kss ihl\n upon conquest, (im,-s in nil the rest of SeriJ>inre. A ,trong and would 11sc~11<l mountain regions llmt ,lid proof, if ony proof beyond tho unmistnknblo not lio on its <lirc<t line of ml\rch for oilher Isnie.n spirit of tho entire pr,,phecy were or both of th<.•se objects. It Wl\s oustomo.ry uceJed, of the gcnnineness of the present for the soldiers to out dowu the ta.11 oedar1 p11SB&ge. and ohoice ftr trees of Lebanon on their Ver. 24.-By thy 1erve.nta hast thou re- Syrian cmnpaigns, in or,ler to transport the proe.ohed the Lord (see eh. xxxvi. 15-20). timber lo Nineveh l\nd other great cities, And hut ea.id. Senne.cherib had not actue.lly where it was used for building (see the uttered these words with his mouth ; but the comment on oh. xiv. 8, Rnd comparo prophet clothes in his own highly poetic Lnyard, 'Nineveh und Babylon,' pp. 356, Je.ngue.ge the thoughts which the Assyrian 357, and ' Records of the Past,• vol. ill. pp. king had cherished in his bee.rt. He had 40, 47, 83, 90; vol. v. p. 119; vol. ix. p. lG, regnrded "the multitude of his chariots" as etc.). It w,1s e.lso customRry to destroy the irresistible; ho had consiJcred that the trees in an enemy's com1try, simply in order mountnins which gue.rJcd Palestine would to intlict injury upon the foe (' Ancient be no obstacle to his advance; he had con- Monarohies,' vol. ii. p. 84). I will enter templated rnvaging and despoiling of its into the height of his border; re.ther, I will timber the en lire country; he had meant to enter into its uttermost height; i.e. I will penetrate into every region the.I we.s lovely penetrate through the entire mounte.in region and fertile. The emphatic "I" of the of Palestine, called roughly "Lebanon," to origine.1-ani-twice rcpc.~ted, marks the the fmthest height of o.ny importance-the.t proud egotism of the mone.rch. By the mul- on which Jerus:1lem stood-and thus occupy titude of my ohariota a.m I oome up to the the whole l!md. The pare.lie! passe.ge of 2 height of the mountains; rather, tcith the Kings has "lodging" for "height," in ap- multitude ; or, according to another ree.<ling, parent allusion to the pa.lace of Hezekiah. with chariots upon chariots. The Assyrian .And the forest of his Carmel ; or, the forest kings contri'l"ed to cross with their chariots of its pl.ea.sure-garden; i.e. the rich ple.nte.- mountuin chains of great difficulty, nud fre- tion tracts, covered with vinee, olives, and quenily boa,t of the achievement. Tiglnth- fig trees, which formed the specie.I glory of Pileser I. says, "I assembled my cLe.r1ot.s Judma (see eh. x.xxvi. 16, 17). o.nd warriors. I betook mvself to carts of Ver. 25.-I have digged, and drunk water. iron in order to overcome the rough moun- Sennacherib notes three ne.tnral obstacles to to.ins and their difficnlt marches. I made his e.dve.nce-the forces of his opponents he the "ilderncss thus practicable for the pas- does not o.ppear to account an obstacle-viz. sage of my ch::.riots and wan:iors" (' Records mounte.ins, deserts, rivers. Mounte.ins do of the Past,' vol. v. pp. 9, 10). Asshur-izir- not stop him-he crosses them even with his pe.J, "The rugged hill country, unfitted for chariot-force (ver. 24). Deserts do not stop the passage of cha.riots and armies, with him-he digs wells tbere, e.nd drinks their instruments of iron I cnt through, and with waters. Rivers will not stop him-he will metal rollers I beat down ; the chariots and dry them up, trample them into puddles. troops I brought over" (ibid., vol. iii. p. 58). Note the contrast between the past tenses, "I Shalmaneser II., "Trackless paths, difficult he.ve come up," "I have digged,'' "I have mountains, which like the point of an iron drunk," and the future, "1 will dry up." sword stood pointed to the sky, on wheels of He had crossed the mountain ranges Sinjar, iron e.nd bronze I penetrated. My chariots Aman us, Lebanon; he he.d passed waterless e.nd armies I transported over them " (ibid., tracts, where he had had -to dig wells, in p. 85). In the less rough part.s, while the Mesopotamia and Northern Syria.. He was warriors dismounted, the horses drew the about to find his chief obstacle, rivers, when chariots, which were assisted over obstacles he invaded Lower Egypt. The rivers of the by attendants (' Ancient Monarchies,' voL besieged pla.cee ; rather, the river, of Egypt. ii. p. 74); but, in regions of greater di.fficully, Jllazor, the singular form (compare Assyrian they were conveyed e.croll8 the mountain Muzr, and modern Aro.hie Mi,r), is used here ro.nges in waggons of rude and strong con- (Wl in Micah vii. 12, e.nd perhaps in eh. xix struction (' Records of the Past,' vol v. p. 6), instead of the ordinary due.I form, Mia 13). The cha.riot-force was regarded as so raim, probo.bly bece.use Lower Egypt is important tho.t the .Assyrians never made especially intended. Sennacherib was look- any distant expedition without it. To the ing especie.Jly to the inve.eion of Lower sides of Lebanon. It was not uecesse.ry to Eeypt, where the Nile had "seven branches" cross either Libanus or A.nti-Libunus in (Herod., ii. 17), and tho '.country wo.s also order to in va<le J udma, since the nature.I cut up by numerous canals, whi~h would route was along the Ccele-Syrian valley e.nd na.turo.Jly constitute e. great difficulty to e. u.croaa the spurs of Hermon to the J or<!an ; force depending- ~inly on its cµariotf, :tt:11 Ok. xxxvu. 1-88.] 'tHE BOOK OF THE PROPHET lSAIAtt. Zl