EXPOSITION. OHAPTER XL VII. xxiii. I 2). "Virgin" does not menn "un- conquered;" for Dabylon hnd been tnken Vere. 1-15.-A SoNo OF T111u11Pn OVER by the Assyrinns some half-dozen time~ Till!! FALL OF BABYLON. The song clivi<lcs (' Ancient lllonnrchies,' vol. ii. pp. 58, 130, itsolf into four strophes, or sto.nzo.s-tho tlret HD, 157, 16-1, 175, eto.). Sit on the grou.ud: one of four verses (vcra, 1-4): the second there is no throne ; n\thcr, •it 011 the qrortwl tlmmelus, or tcilhout u thro11e. J:J°ithnto of throe (vors. 5-7); t!Jo third of four tho "virgin do.ughter" h11d s11t, as it wure, (vors. 8-11); o.u<l the fourth o.lso of four on a throne, ruling the n,\lion8. Now eh~ (vere. 12-15). The spco.ker ia either must sit on the groun<l-thcre was nu throne Johovnh (see vor. 8, ad fin.) or "o. chorus left for her. It is tho fact th11t Dllhylou Wll.8 of coloatio.l beings" (C!Joyno), bent on ex- never, a~tor her capture by Cyru•, tho capital prca•ing their sympathy with Isro.el. of o. kmgdom. Undor tho Acluomoninn kings she wns tho resi<lonco or tho court Vor. 1,-Come down, and lit iD the d111t; for a pnrt of tho ye11r; but Susa w11e tho i.B, "clesoencl to the lowest depth of humilio.- capital. Under Alcxnn<lor sho was Jeei"- tion" (comp. eh. iii. 26 o.nd Job ii. 8). O natt,'11 for hie capitol; but he Jiecl bcfo;u virgin daughter of Babylon. The "virgin his <lcaigne coulcl bo c11rriccl out Un<lcr daughter of Bu.bylon" is the Babylonian ihe Seleucida, she mpi<lly clwiuclled i11 people as distinct from the city ( comp. eh. oonsequenco, until sho becwuo a ruiu. 204 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [oH. nvn. 1-16.
Thon aha.It no more be called tender and Nebuohadnezzar, when she bece.nie the delioate; or, delicate and luxurious (Cheyne). inheritress of the greatness of Assyria, and Babylon had hithert.o been one of the chief exercised rule over a large portion of eeats of Oriental luxury. She wa.s "the Western Asia. Nebuohaduezznr was, no glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chnl- doubt, e.s he is called by both Ezekiel deee' excellency" (eh. xiii. 19), " the golden (xxvi. 7) and Daniel (ii. 87), a "king of city" (eh. xiv. 4). She was given to revelry kings;" and Babylon was then an. empress- and feasting, to mirth e.nd drunkenness, to state, exercising authority over mnny minor a shameless licensed debauchery (Herod., i. kingdoms. It is clear that, both in the 199; Be.ruoh vi. 43). All this would now earlier e.nd the later chapters, the prophet be changed. Her population would have to realizes this condition of things (see eh. xiii. perform the hard duties laid upon them by 19; xiv. 4-6, 12-17; as well as the pre- foreign masters. sent passage). Ver. 2.-Take the millstones, and grind Ver. 6.-1 was wroth with my people (ctlmp. meal. Do the hard work commonly allotted 2 Kings xxiv. 3, 4; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13-17). to female slaves. Turn the heavy upper I have polluted . , , and given ; rather, I millstone all day long npon the nether polluted and gave. The reference. is to the one (comp. Exod. xi. 5). Babylon having conquest of Judrea. by Nebuchadnezzar. been personified as a female captive, the Thon didst shew them no mercy. We have <let.ails have t.o be in unison. Unoover thy very little historical knowledge of the locks. Babylonian women are represented general treatment of the Jewish exiles in the Assyrian sculptures as wearing close- during the Captivity. A certain small fitting caps upon thei, heads (seo • Ancient number-Daniel and the Three Cbildren- Monarchies,' vol ii. p. 500). Make bare the were advanced t.o positions of importance leg ... pass over the rivers. On the way (Dan. i. 19; ii. 48, 49; iii. 30), and, on the from their own city to the land of their whole, well treated. On the other hand, capti,ity, they would have to wade through Jehoiachin underwent an imprisonment of streams, and in so doing to expose parts of thirty-seven years' duration (2 Kings uv. their persons which delicacy required to be 27). Mr. Cheyne says that "the writings concealed. of Jeremiah and Ezekiel do not suggest Ver. 3.-I will not meet thee as a man; that the [bulk of the] exiles were great literally, I shall not meet a 1nan; ie. "I sufferers." This is, no doubt, true; and shnll not find any one to oppose me." we may, perhaps, regard Isaiah's words in Ver. 4.-AB for our Redeemer, etc. Mr. this place as sufficiently made good by the Cheyue suspects, with some reason, that "cruelties which disfigured the first days this is "the margine.l note of a sympathetic of the Babylonian triumph" (Lam. iv. 16; scribe, which has made its way by accident v. 12; 2 Chron. xuvi. 17). Still, there into the text." It is certainly quite unlike may well have been a large nmount of anything else in the song, which would suffering among the ro.nk-and-file of the artistically be improved by its removal. If, captives, of which n.o historic record has however, it be retained, we must regard it come down to us. Ps. cxxxviii. reveille e.s a parenthetic ejaculation of the Jewish some of the bitter feelings of the exiles. Church on hearing the first strophe of the Upon the anoient; rather, upon the aged. song-the Church contrasting itself with The author of Chronicles notes thnt Babylon, which has no one to stand up for Nebuchadnezzar, on taking Jerusalem, it, whereas it has as "Redeemer the Lord "had no compassion on young man or of hosts, the Holy One of Israel." maiden, old mu.n or him thnt slooped for Ver. 5.--Sit thon silent, an.d get thee into age" (l. s. c.), There is no reason for giving darkness. The second slrophe begins, like the words of the present p11Bsage e.n e.lle- the first, with e. double imperative. The gorical meaning. fallen people is recommended to hide its Ver. 7.-And thou eaidst, I shall be a shame in silence and darkness, as disgraced lady for ever. The idea of " continuance" persons do who shrink from being seen by is one of the primary instincts of human their fello.,-s. Thou shalt no more be oalled, nature. Hence we regarcl it ns certain The lady of kingdoms. Babylon can scarcely that the sun will rise on the morrow. We have borue this title in Isaiah's time, or at expect things to "continue in one stny," any earlier period, unless it were a fiery and "to-morrow to be as to-day," if not crnn remote one. She had been secondary to "more abundant." Babylon was not much A•eyria for at least six hundred years when more arrogant than other nations when she L,aiuh wrole, and uuder Sennacherib was assumed that she would be "a Indy for rukd by viceroys of hie appointment. But ever." And she ho.d more excuse than Isaiah's prophetic foresight enables him to almost any other nation. Her capital was realize the later period of Babylon's pros- one of the most ancient cities, if not tM perity and glory under N e.bopolesie.r e.n.d most e.noien.t city in the world (Gen.. x. 10; oa. nvn. 1-15.] THE BOOK OF 'l'HE PROPHET ISAIAH. 205