18 Your heart shall muse on the terror: Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed [the tribute]? where is he who counted the towers?
Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which you put on me will I bear. The king of Assyria appointed to Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn't God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
and blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, that have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. For in very deed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, except you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, Go up in peace to your house; behold, I have listened to your voice, and have accepted your person. Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.
Don't listen to Hezekiah: for thus says the king of Assyria, Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat you everyone of his vine, and everyone of his fig tree, and everyone drink the waters of his own cistern;
I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness, For you have seen my affliction. You have known my soul in adversities. You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place.
You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, You will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.
Therefore will the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory there shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire. The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day. He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints. The remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child may write them.
The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness. I said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of Sheol: I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see Yah, Yah in the land of the living: I shall see man no more with the inhabitants of the world. My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent: I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the loom: From day even to night will you make an end of me. I quieted [myself] until morning; as a lion, so he breaks all my bones: From day even to night will you make an end of me. Like a swallow [or] a crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; my eyes fail [with looking] upward: Lord, I am oppressed, be my collateral. What shall I say? he has both spoken to me, and himself has done it: I shall go softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. Lord, by these things men live; Wholly therein is the life of my spirit: You restore me, and cause me to live. Behold, [it was] for [my] peace [that] I had great bitterness: But you have in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; For you have cast all my sins behind your back. For Sheol can't praise you, death can't celebrate you: Those who go down into the pit can't hope for your truth. The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known your truth. Yahweh is [ready] to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Yahweh. Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster on the boil, and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh?
For we don't desire to have you uninformed, brothers,{The word for "brothers" here and where context allows may also be correctly translated "brothers and sisters" or "siblings."} concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 33
Commentary on Isaiah 33 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 33
Isa 33:1-24. The Last of Isaiah's Prophecies as to Sennacherib's Overthrow.
Isa 33:1, 8, 9, describe the Assyrian spoiler; strong as he is, he shall fall before Jehovah who is stronger (Isa 33:2-6, 10-12). The time is the autumn of 713 B.C.
1. and thou—that is, though thou wast not spoiled—though thou wast not dealt treacherously with (see on Isa 24:16), thy spoiling and treachery are therefore without excuse, being unprovoked.
cease—When God has let thee do thy worst, in execution of His plans, thine own turn shall come (compare Isa 10:12; 14:2; Hab 2:8; Re 13:10).
2. us; we … their … our—He speaks interceding for His people, separating himself in thought for a moment from them, and immediately returns to his natural identification with them in the word "our."
every morning—each day as it dawns, especially during our danger, as the parallel "time of trouble" shows.
3. the tumult—the approach of Jehovah is likened to an advancing thunderstorm (Isa 29:6; 30:27), which is His voice (Re 1:15), causing the people to "flee."
nation—the Assyrian levies.
4. The invaders' "spoil" shall be left behind by them in their flight, and the Jews shall gather it.
caterpillar—rather, "the wingless locust"; as it gathers; the Hebrew word for "gathers" is properly used of the gathering of the fruits of harvest (Isa 32:10).
running to and fro—namely, in gathering harvest fruits.
he—rather, "they."
them—rather, "it," that is, the prey.
6. wisdom—sacred; that is, piety.
thy—Hezekiah's; or rather, "Judea's." "His" refers to the same; such changes from the pronoun possessive of the second person to that of the third are common in Hebrew poetry.
treasure—Not so much material wealth as piety shall constitute the riches of the nation (Pr 10:22; 15:16).
7-9. From the vision of future glory Isaiah returns to the disastrous present; the grief of "the valiant ones" (parallel to, and identical with, "the ambassadors of peace"), men of rank, sent with presents to sue for peace, but standing "without" the enemy's camp, their suit being rejected (2Ki 18:14, 18, 37). The highways deserted through fear, the cities insulted, the lands devastated.
cry—(Isa 15:4).
8. broken … covenant—When Sennacherib invaded Judea, Hezekiah paid him a large sum to leave the land; Sennacherib received the money and yet sent his army against Jerusalem (2Ki 18:14, 17).
despised—make slight of as unable to resist him (Isa 10:9; 36:19); easily captures them.
9. (Isa 24:4).
Lebanon—personified; the allusion may be to the Assyrian cutting down its choice trees (Isa 14:8; 37:24).
Sharon—south of Carmel, along the Mediterranean, proverbial for fertility (Isa 35:2).
Bashan—afterwards called Batanea (Isa 2:13).
fruits—rather, understand "leaves"; they lie as desolate as in winter.
10. The sight of His people's misery arouses Jehovah; He has let the enemy go far enough.
I—emphatic; God Himself will do what man could not.
11. Ye—the enemy.
conceive chaff—(Isa 26:18; 59:4).
your breath—rather, your own spirit of anger and ambition [Maurer], (Isa 30:28).
12. (Isa 9:19; Am 2:1). Perhaps alluding to their being about to be burnt on the funeral pyre (Isa 30:33).
thorns—the wicked (2Sa 23:6, 7).
13. far off—distant nations.
near—the Jews and adjoining peoples (Isa 49:1).
14. sinners in Zion—false professors of religion among the elect people (Mt 22:12).
hypocrites—rather, "the profane"; "the abandoned" [Horsley].
who, &c.—If Jehovah's wrath could thus consume such a host in one night, who could abide it, if continued for ever (Mr 9:46-48)? Fire is a common image for the divine judgments (Isa 29:6; 30:30).
among us—If such awful judgments have fallen on those who knew not the true God, how infinitely worse shall fall on us who, amid religious privileges and profession, sin against God, (Lu 12:47, 48; Jas 4:17)?
15. In contrast to the trembling "sinners in Zion" (Isa 33:14), the righteous shall be secure amid all judgments; they are described according to the Old Testament standpoint of righteousness (Ps 15:2; 24:4).
stoppeth … ears … eyes—"Rejoiceth not in iniquity" (1Co 13:6; contrast Isa 29:20; Ps 10:3; Ro 1:32). The senses are avenues for the entrance of sin (Ps 119:37).
16. on high—heights inaccessible to the foe (Isa 26:1).
bread … waters—image from the expected siege by Sennacherib; however besieged by trials without, the godly shall have literal and spiritual food, as God sees good for them (Isa 41:17; Ps 37:25; 34:10; 132:15).
17. Thine—the saints'.
king in … beauty—not as now, Hezekiah in sackcloth, oppressed by the enemy, but King Messiah (Isa 32:1) "in His beauty" (So 5:10, 16; Re 4:3).
land … very far off—rather, "the land in its remotest extent" (no longer pent up as Hezekiah was with the siege); see Margin. For Jerusalem is made the scene of the king's glory (Isa 33:20, &c.), and it could not be said to be "very far off," unless the far-off land be heaven, the Jerusalem above, which is to follow the earthly reign of Messiah at literal Jerusalem (Isa 65:17-19; Jer 3:17; Re 21:1, 2, 10).
18. meditate—on the "terror" caused by the enemy, but now past.
where, &c.—the language of the Jews exulting over their escape from danger.
scribe—who enrolled the army [Maurer]; or, who prescribed the tribute to be paid [Rosenmuller]; or, who kept an account of the spoil. "The principal scribe of the host" (2Ki 25:19; Jer 52:25). The Assyrian records are free from the exaggerations of Egyptian records. Two scribes are seen in every Assyrian bas-relief, writing down the various objects brought to them, the heads of the slain, prisoners, cattle, sheep, &c.
receiver—"weigher," Margin. Layard mentions, among the Assyrian inscriptions, "a pair a scales for weighing the spoils."
counted … towers—he whose duty it was to reconnoitre and report the strength of the city to be besieged.
19. fierce people—The Assyrians shall not be allowed to enter Jerusalem (2Ki 19:32). Or, thou shalt not any longer see fierce enemies threatening thee as previously; such as the Assyrians, Romans, and the last Antichristian host that is yet to assail Jerusalem (De 28:49, 50; Jer 5:15; Zec 14:2).
stammering—barbarous; so "deeper," &c., that is, unintelligible. The Assyrian tongue differed only in dialect from the Hebrew, but in the Assyrian levies were many of non-Semitic race and language, as the Medes, Elamites, &c. (see on Isa 28:11).
20. solemnities—solemn assemblies at the great feasts (see on Isa 30:29; Ps 42:4; Ps 48:12).
not … taken down … removed—image from captives "removed" from their land (Isa 36:17). There shall be no more "taking away" to an enemy's land. Or else, from nomads living in shifting tents. The saints, who sojourned once in tabernacles as pilgrims, shall have a "building of God—eternal in the heavens" (2Co 5:1; Heb 11:9, 10; compare Isa 54:2).
stakes—driven into the ground; to these the "cords" were fastened. Christ's Church shall never fall (Mt 16:18). So individual believers (Re 3:12).
21. there—namely, in Jerusalem.
will be … rivers—Jehovah will be as a broad river surrounding our city (compare Isa 19:6; Na 3:8), and this, too, a river of such a kind as no ship of war can pass (compare Isa 26:1). Jerusalem had not the advantage of a river; Jehovah will be as one to it, affording all the advantages, without any of the disadvantages of one.
galley with oars—war vessels of a long shape, and propelled by oars; merchant vessels were broader and carried sail.
gallant—same Hebrew word as for "glorious," previously; "mighty" will suit both places; a ship of war is meant. No "mighty vessel" will dare to pass where the "mighty Lord" stands as our defense.
22. Lord—thrice repeated, as often: the Trinity (Nu 6:24-26).
judge … lawgiver … king—perfect ideal of the theocracy, to be realized under Messiah alone; the judicial, legislative, and administrative functions as king to be exercised by Him in person (Isa 11:4; 32:1; Jas 4:12).
23. tacklings—Continuing the allegory in Isa 33:21, he compares the enemies' host to a war galley which is deprived of the tacklings or cords by which the mast is sustained and the sail is spread; and which therefore is sure to be wrecked on "the broad river" (Isa 33:21), and become the prey of Israel.
they—the tacklings, "hold not firm the base of the mast."
then—when the Assyrian host shall have been discomfited. Hezekiah had given Sennacherib three hundred talents of silver, and thirty of gold (2Ki 18:14-16), and had stripped the temple of its gold to give it to him; this treasure was probably part of the prey found in the foe's camp. After the invasion, Hezekiah had so much wealth that he made an improper display of it (2Ki 20:13-15); this wealth, probably, was in part got from the Assyrian.
the lame—Even the most feeble shall spoil the Assyrian camp (compare Isa 35:6; 2Sa 5:6).
24. sick—Smith thinks the allusion is to the beginning of the pestilence by which the Assyrians were destroyed, and which, while sparing the righteous, affected some within the city ("sinners in Zion"); it may have been the sickness that visited Hezekiah (Isa 38:1-22). In the Jerusalem to come there shall be no "sickness," because there will be no "iniquity," it being forgiven (Ps 103:3). The latter clause of the verse contains the cause of the former (Mr 2:5-9).