Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 18:6
They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
6. The figure is now abandoned; instead of the “sprigs and branches” of the vine, we have the dead bodies of the Assyrian soldiers left as carrion for unclean beasts and birds, summer winter ] a whole year. The idea is amplified, with somewhat gruesome details, in Eze 39:11 ff.; cf. also Jer 7:33; 1Sa 17:46; 2Sa 21:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They shall be left together – The figure here is dropped, and the literal narration is resumed. The sense is, that the army shall be slain and left unburied. Perhaps the branches and twigs in the previous verse denoted military leaders, and the captains of the armies, which are now represented as becoming food for beasts of the field and for birds of prey.
To the fowls of the mountains – Their dead bodies shall be unburied, and shall be a prey to the birds that prey upon flesh.
And to the beasts of the earth – The wild animals: the beasts of the forest.
And the fowls shall summer upon them – Shall pass the summer, that is, they shall continue to be unburied. And the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. They shall be unburied through the winter; probably indicating that they would furnish food for the fowls and the wild beasts for a long time. On the multitude of carcasses these animals will find nourishment for a whole year, that is, they will spend the summer and the winter with them. When this was fulfilled, it is, perhaps, not possible to tell, as we are so little acquainted with the circumstances of the people in relation to whom it was spoken. If it related, as I suppose, to the people of Nubia or Ethiopia forming an alliance with the Assyrians for the purpose of invading Judea, it was fulfilled probably when Sennacherib and his assembled hosts were destroyed. Whenever it was fulfilled, it is quite evident that the design of the prophecy was to give comfort to the Jews, alarmed and agitated as they were at the prospect of the preparations which were made, by the assurance that those plans would fail, and all the efforts of their enemies be foiled and disconcerted.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The sprigs and branches being cut down and thrown upon the ground, with the unripe grapes upon them, they shall lie upon the earth neglected by men, as being unripe, and unfit for their use, so that either birds or beasts may shelter themselves with them, or feed on them, both summer and winter. You are not to understand that the summer is appropriated to the fowls, and the winter to the beasts; but this is only an elegancy of the Hebrew language to use such distributions, of which we have many instances in prophetical writings.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. birds . . . beaststransitionfrom the image “sprigs,” “branches,” to the thingmeant: the Assyrian soldiers and leaders shall be the prey of birdsand beasts, the whole year through, “winter” and “summer,”so numerous shall be their carcasses. HORSLEYtranslates the Hebrew which is singular: “uponit,” not “upon them”; the “it” refersto God’s “dwelling-place” (Isa18:4) in the Holy Land, which Antichrist (“the bird of prey”with the “beasts,” his rebel hosts) is to possess himselfof, and where he is to perish.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They shall be left, together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth,…. That is, both sprigs and branches; with the fruit of them, which being unripe, are disregarded by men, but fed upon by birds and beasts; the fruits by the former, and the tender sprigs and green branches by the latter; signifying the destruction of the Ethiopians or Egyptians, and that the princes and the people should fall together, and lie unburied, and become a prey to birds and beasts; or the destruction of the Assyrian army slain by the angel, as Aben Ezra and others; though some interpret it of the army of Gog and Magog, as before observed; see Eze 39:17:
and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them; not that the one should feed upon them in the summer time, and the other in the winter; the fowls in the summer time, when they fly in large flocks, and the beasts in the winter, when they go together in great numbers, as Kimchi; but the sense is, that the carnage should be so great, there would be sufficient for them both, all the year long.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6. They shall be left together. (23) He means that they will be cast aside as a thing of no value, as John the Baptist also compares them to chaff, which is thrown on the dunghill. (Mat 3:12; Luk 3:17.) Thus Isaiah shews that they will be exposed to the wild beasts and to the fowls, so that the fowls will nestle in them in summer, and the wild beasts will make their lairs in them in winter; as if he had said, that not only men, but the wild beasts themselves will disdain them. Such therefore is the end of wicked men, who, situated in a lofty place, and thinking that they are beyond all danger, despise every one but themselves. The fowls and the beasts of prey will make use of them for nests and for food. They will be thrown down, I say, not only beneath all men, but even beneath the beasts themselves, and, being exposed to every kind of insult and dishonor, they will be a proof of the wonderful providence of God. (24)
(23) Bogus footnote
(24) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains . . .The figure and the reality are strangely blended. The grapes of that vintage cut off by those pruning-hooks are none other than the carcases of the host of the Assyrians left unburied, to be devoured by the dogs and vultures.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. They be left The branches cut off for the fowls and beasts represent the carcasses of the enemy laid prostrate on the field, as the Assyrians were arrested in their march against Egypt. Both Judah is saved, and Egypt and Ethiopia are relieved from the dreaded foe. This is the message the Ethiopian ambassadors of Isa 18:2 were summoned to send off to their country. The message relates to the destruction of the enemy, and said destruction was a marked wonder, worthy to be known at the farthest places of the earth. For the enemy just ready to pounce upon the Egyptians, and with them upon Judah also, was itself pounced upon by the Almighty One. This event is the ensign on the mountains, and the trumpet sound (Isa 18:3) to which the prophet invites Ethiopia’s attention. The mustering of their hosts in self-defence is not now necessary. God has come to their defence, but chiefly in behalf of his people in Judah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 18:6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
Ver. 6. They shall be left together. ] They, that is, the Assyrians slain by the angel. as Psa 79:2 Isa 37:36
The fowls shall summer upon them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
left. See note on “forsaken” (Isa 1:4).
fowls. beasts. Note the Alternation.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 14:19, Isa 34:1-7, Jer 7:33, Jer 15:3, Eze 32:4-6, Eze 39:17-20, Rev 19:17, Rev 19:18
Reciprocal: Psa 80:12 – broken Isa 17:11 – the harvest Jer 16:4 – meat Eze 31:13 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
18:6 They shall be left together to the fowls of the mountains, and to the {i} beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
(i) Not only men will contemn them, but the brute beast.