12 And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 that the LORD H3068 shall beat off H2251 from the channel H7641 of the river H5104 unto the stream H5158 of Egypt, H4714 and ye shall be gathered H3950 one H259 by one, H259 O ye children H1121 of Israel. H3478
That then the LORD H3068 thy God H430 will turn H7725 thy captivity, H7622 and have compassion H7355 upon thee, and will return H7725 and gather H6908 thee from all the nations, H5971 whither the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath scattered H6327 thee. If any of thine be driven out H5080 unto the outmost H7097 parts of heaven, H8064 from thence will the LORD H3068 thy God H430 gather H6908 thee, and from thence will he fetch H3947 thee:
And it shall come to pass in that day, H3117 that the Lord H136 shall set H3254 his hand H3027 again H3254 the second time H8145 to recover H7069 the remnant H7605 of his people, H5971 which shall be left, H7604 from Assyria, H804 and from Egypt, H4714 and from Pathros, H6624 and from Cush, H3568 and from Elam, H5867 and from Shinar, H8152 and from Hamath, H2574 and from the islands H339 of the sea. H3220 And he shall set up H5375 an ensign H5251 for the nations, H1471 and shall assemble H622 the outcasts H1760 of Israel, H3478 and gather together H6908 the dispersed H5310 of Judah H3063 from the four H702 corners H3671 of the earth. H776 The envy H7068 also of Ephraim H669 shall depart, H5493 and the adversaries H6887 of Judah H3063 shall be cut off: H3772 Ephraim H669 shall not envy H7065 Judah, H3063 and Judah H3063 shall not vex H6887 Ephraim. H669 But they shall fly H5774 upon the shoulders H3802 of the Philistines H6430 toward the west; H3220 they shall spoil H962 them H1121 of the east H6924 together: H3162 they shall lay H4916 their hand H3027 upon Edom H123 and Moab; H4124 and the children H1121 of Ammon H5983 shall obey H4928 them. And the LORD H3068 shall utterly destroy H2763 the tongue H3956 of the Egyptian H4714 sea; H3220 and with his mighty H5868 wind H7307 shall he shake H5130 his hand H3027 over the river, H5104 and shall smite H5221 it in the seven H7651 streams, H5158 and make men go over H1869 dryshod. H5275 And there shall be an highway H4546 for the remnant H7605 of his people, H5971 which H834 shall be left, H7604 from Assyria; H804 like as it was to Israel H3478 in the day H3117 that he came up H5927 out of the land H776 of Egypt. H4714
When thus it shall be in the midst H7130 of the land H776 among H8432 the people, H5971 there shall be as the shaking H5363 of an olive tree, H2132 and as the gleaning grapes H5955 when the vintage H1210 is done. H3615 They shall lift up H5375 their voice, H6963 they shall sing H7442 for the majesty H1347 of the LORD, H3068 they shall cry aloud H6670 from the sea. H3220 Wherefore glorify H3513 ye the LORD H3068 in the fires, H217 even the name H8034 of the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel H3478 in the isles H339 of the sea. H3220 From the uttermost part H3671 of the earth H776 have we heard H8085 songs, H2158 even glory H6643 to the righteous. H6662 But I said, H559 My leanness, H7334 my leanness, H7334 woe H188 unto me! the treacherous dealers H898 have dealt treacherously; H898 yea, the treacherous dealers H898 have dealt very H899 treacherously. H898
How G5101 think G1380 ye? G5213 if G1437 G5100 a man G444 have G1096 an hundred G1540 sheep, G4263 and G2532 one G1520 of G1537 them G846 be gone astray, G4105 doth he G863 not G3780 leave G863 the ninety and nine, G1768 and goeth G4198 into G1909 the mountains, G3735 and seeketh G2212 that which G3588 is gone astray? G4105 And G2532 if so G1437 be G1096 that he find G2147 it, G846 verily G281 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 G3754 he rejoiceth G5463 more G3123 of G1909 that G846 sheep, than G2228 of G1909 the ninety and nine G1768 which G3588 went G4105 not G3361 astray. G4105 Even so G3779 it is G2076 not G3756 the will G2307 of G1715 your G5216 Father G3962 which G3588 is in G1722 heaven, G3772 that G2443 one G1520 of these G5130 little ones G3398 should perish. G622
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 27
Commentary on Isaiah 27 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Upon whom the judgment of Jehovah particularly falls, is described in figurative and enigmatical words in Isaiah 27:1 : “In that day will Jehovah visit with His sword, with the hard, and the great, and the strong, leviathan the fleet serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent, and slay the dragon in the sea.” No doubt the three animals are emblems of three imperial powers. The assertion that there are no more three animals than there are three swords, is a mistake. If the preposition were repeated in the case of the swords, as it is in the case of the animals, we should have to understand the passage as referring to three swords as well as three animals. But this is not the case. We have therefore to inquire what the three world-powers are; and this question is quite a justifiable one: for we have no reason to rest satisfied with the opinion held by Drechsler, that the three emblems are symbols of ungodly powers in general, of every kind and every sphere, unless the question itself is absolutely unanswerable. Now the tannin (the stretched-out aquatic animal) is the standing emblem of Egypt (Isaiah 51:9; Psalms 74:13; Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:2). And as the Euphrates-land and Asshur are mentioned in Isaiah 27:12, Isaiah 27:13 in connection with Egypt, it is immediately probable that the other two animals signify the kingdom of the Tigris, i.e., Assyria, with its capital Nineveh which stood on the Tigris, and the kingdom of the Euphrates, i.e., Chaldea, with its capital Babylon which stood upon the Euphrates. Moreover, the application of the same epithet Leviathan to both the kingdoms, with simply a difference in the attributes, is suggestive of two kingdoms that were related to each other. We must not be misled by the fact that nâchâsh bâriach is a constellation in Job 26:13; we have no bammarōm (on high) here, as in Isaiah 24:21, and therefore are evidently still upon the surface of the globe. The epithet employed was primarily suggested by the situation of the two cities. Nineveh was on the Tigris, which was called Chiddekel ,
(Note: In point of fact, not only does Arab. tyr signify both an arrow and the Tigris, according to the Neo-Persian lexicons, but the old explanation “Tigris, swift as a dart, since the Medes call the Tigris toxeuma ” (the shot or shot arrow; Eustath, on Dion Perieg. v. 984), is confirmed by the Zendic tighri , which has been proved to be used in the sense of arrow or shot ( Yesht 8, 6, yatha tighris mainyavacâo ), i.e., like a heavenly arrow.)
on account of the swiftness of its course and its terrible rapids; hence Asshur is compared to a serpent moving along in a rapid, impetuous, long, extended course ( bâriach , as in Isaiah 43:14, is equivalent to barriach, a noun of the same form as עלּיז , and a different word from berriach , a bolt, Isaiah 15:5). Babylon, on the other hand, is compared to a twisted serpent, i.e., to one twisting about in serpentine curves, because it was situated on the very winding Euphrates, the windings of which are especially labyrinthine in the immediate vicinity of Babylon. The river did indeed flow straight away at one time, but by artificial cuttings it was made so serpentine that it passed the same place, viz., Arderikka, no less than three times; and according to the declaration of Herodotus in his own time, when any one sailed down the river, he had to pass it three times in three days (Ritter, x. p. 8). The real meaning of the emblem, however, is no more exhausted by this allusion to the geographical situation, than it was in the case of “the desert of the sea” (Isaiah 21:1). The attribute of winding is also a symbol of the longer duration of one empire than of the other, and of the more numerous complications into which Israel would be drawn by it. The world-power on the Tigris fires with rapidity upon Israel, so that the fate of Israel is very quickly decided. But the world-power on the Euphrates advances by many windings, and encircles its prey in many folds. And these windings are all the more numerous, because in the prophet's view Babylon is the final form assumed by the empire of the world, and therefore Israel remains encircled by this serpent until the last days. The judgment upon Asshur, Babylon, and Egypt, is the judgment upon the world-powers universally.
The prophecy here passes for the fourth time into the tone of a song. The church recognises itself in the judgments upon the world, as Jehovah's well-protected and beloved vineyard.
In that day a merry vineyard - sing it!
I, Jehovah, its keeper,
Every moment I water it.
That nothing may come near it,
I watch it night and day.
Wrath have I none;
O, had I thorns, thistles before me!
I would make up to them in battle,
Burn them all together.
Men would then have to grasp at my protection,
Make peace with me,
Make peace with me.