Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 27:10
Yet the defensed city [shall be] desolate, [and] the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
10. Yet the defenced city ] Render with R.V.: For the defenced city is solitary, an habitation deserted (lit. “expelled”) and forsaken, &c. The verbs throughout are in the present tense.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
10, 11. A picture of the desolation of Jerusalem, and the explanation of it. The commoner view is that the same hostile city as in Isa 25:2, Isa 26:5 is referred to, but the latter part of Isa 27:11 must refer to Israel. A partial parallel is found in ch. Isa 42:19 ff.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Yet the defensed city – Gesenius supposes that this means Jerusalem. So Calvin and Piscator understand it. Others understand it of Samaria, others of Babylon (as Vitringa, Rosenmuller, and Grotius), and others of cities in general, denoting those in Judea, or in other places. To me it seems plain that Babylon is referred to. The whole description seems to require this; and especially the fact that this song is supposed to be sung after the return from captivity to celebrate their deliverance. It is natural, therefore, that they should record the fact that the strong and mighty city where they had been so long in captivity, was now completely destroyed. For the meaning of thee phrase defensed city, see the note at Isa 25:2.
Shall be desolate – (see Isa 25:2; compare the notes at Isa. 13)
The habitation forsaken – The habitation here referred to is Babylon. It means the habitation or dwelling-place where we have so long dwelt as captives (compare Pro 3:33; Pro 21:20; Pro 24:15).
And left like a wilderness – See the description of Babylon in the notes at Isa 13:20-22.
There shall the calf feed – It shall become a vast desert, and be a place for beasts of the forest to range in (compare Isa 7:23; see the note at Isa 5:17).
And consume the branches thereof – The branches of the trees and shrubs that shall spring up spontaneously in the vast waste where Babylon was.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. There shall the calf feed] That is, the king of Egypt, says Kimchi.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Yet; yet before this glorious promise concerning the removal of Israels sin and calamity be fulfilled, a dreadful and desolating judgment shall first come upon them.
The defenced city; Jerusalem, and the rest of the defenced cities in the land, the singular number being put for the plural.
The habitation; the most inhabited and populous places. Or, as the Hebrew word properly signifies, their pleasant habitations, whether in the city or country.
Forsaken and left like a wilderness; which was fulfilled in the time of the Babylonish captivity.
The calf; which is synecdochically put for all sorts of cattle, which may securely feed there, because there shall be no men left to disturb or annoy them.
The branches thereof; of their pleasant habitation; of the young trees which shall grow up in that ruinated country.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. cityJerusalem; thebeating asunder of whose altars and images was mentioned in Isa27:9 (compare Isa24:10-12).
calf feed (Isa17:2); it shall be a vast wild pasture.
branchesresuming theimage of the vine (Isa 27:2;Isa 27:6).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Yet the defenced city [shall be] desolate,…. Or “but”, or “notwithstanding” b; though the Lord deals mercifully with his own people, and mixes mercy with their afflictions, and causes them to issue well, and for their good; yet he does not deal so with others, his and their enemies: for by the “defenced city” is not meant Jerusalem, as many interpret it, so Kimchi; nor Samaria, as Aben Ezra; nor literal Babylon, as others; but mystical Babylon, the city of Rome, and the whole Roman or antichristian jurisdiction, called the “great” and “mighty” city, Re 18:10 which will be destroyed, become desolate, or “alone” c, without inhabitants:
[and] the habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness; or “habitations”; the singular for the plural; even beautiful ones, as the word d signifies, the stately palaces of the pope and cardinals, and other princes and great men, which, upon the destruction of Rome, will be deserted, and become as a wilderness, uninhabited by men:
there shall the calf feed: not Ephraim, as Jarchi, from
Jer 31:18 nor the king of Egypt, as Kimchi, from Jer 46:20 nor the righteous that shall attack the city, and spoil its substance, as the Targum; see Ps 68:30 but literally, and which is put for all other cattle, or beasts of the field, that should feed here, without any molestation or disturbance:
there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof; which the Targum interprets of the army belonging to the city; it denotes the utter destruction of it, and its inhabitants; see Re 18:2. Some of the Jewish writers e interpret this passage of Edom or Rome, and of the Messiah being there to take vengeance on it.
b “sed”, Junius Tremellius, Forerius “tamen, nihilominus”, Calvin. c “solitaria”, Pagninus, Montanus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator. d “amoenum habitaculum”, Tigurine version Piscator e Shemot Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 91. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophet said this from out of the midst of the state of punishment, and was therefore able still further to confirm the fact, that the punishment would cease with the sin, by the punishment which followed the sin. “For the strong city is solitary, a dwelling given up and forsaken like the steppe: there calves feed, and there they lie down, and eat off its branches. When its branches become withered, they are broken: women come, make fires with them; for it is not a people of intelligence: therefore its Creator has no pity upon it, and its Former does not pardon it.” The nation without any intelligence (Isa 1:3), of which Jehovah was the Creator and Former (Isa 22:11), is Israel; and therefore the fortress that has been destroyed is the city of Jerusalem. The standpoint of the prophet must therefore be beyond the destruction of Jerusalem, and in the midst of the captivity. If this appears strange for Isaiah, nearly every separate word in these two vv. rises up as a witness that it is Isaiah, and no other, who is speaking here (compare, as more general proofs, Isa 32:13-14, and Isa 5:17; and as more specific exemplifications, Isa 16:2, Isa 16:9; Isa 11:7, etc.). The suffix in “ her branches” refers to the city, whose ruins were overgrown with bushes. Synonymous with , branches (always written with dagesh in distinction from , clefts, Isa 2:21), is katzir , cuttings, equivalent to shoots that can be easily cut off. It was a mistake on the part of the early translators to take katzir in the sense of “harvest” (Vulg., Symm., Saad., though not the lxx or Luther). As katzir is a collective term here, signifying the whole mass of branches, the predicate can be written in the plural, tisshabarnah , which is not to be explained as a singular form, as in Isa 28:3. , in the neuter sense, points back to this: women light it , as in Mal 1:10), i.e., make with it a lighting flame ( ) and a warming fire ( , Isa 54:16). So desolate does Jerusalem lie, that in the very spot which once swarmed with men a calf now quietly eats the green foliage of the bushes that grow between the ruins; and in the place whence hostile armies had formerly been compelled to withdraw without accomplishing their purpose, women now come and supply themselves with wood without the slightest opposition.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
10. Yet the defenced city shall be desolate Here the copulative ו ( vau) is generally supposed to mean for, and some take it for otherwise. There will thus be a twofold interpretation; for if we translate it because, the Prophet will assign a reason for the former statement, but that exposition is rejected by the context, and is altogether absurd. With greater plausibility it is taken for otherwise; for this threatening might be appropriately introduced, “If you do not repent, you see what awaits you, the defenced city shall be like a wilderness.” But I consider that exposition to be a departure from the natural meaning, and therefore I choose rather to take it as signifying nevertheless or yet
The Prophet means that Jerusalem and the other cities of Judea must “nevertheless” be destroyed, and that, although the Lord wishes to spare his people, it is impossible for them to be preserved. Godly men would have grown disheartened, when they saw that holy city overthrown and the temple demolished; but from these predictions they learned that God would have abundance of methods for preserving the Church, and were supported by that consolation. So then the Prophet intended to meet this very sore temptation; and hence also we learn that we ought never to lose courage, though we suffer every hardship, and though the Lord treat us with the utmost severity. Although this threatening extends to the whole of Judea, yet I think it probable that it relates chiefly to Jerusalem, which was the metropolis of the nation.
There shall the calf feed. This metaphor is frequently employed by the prophets when they speak of the desolation of any city; for they immediately add, that it will be a place for pasture. Here we ought to take into account the judgment of God, which places calves and brute beasts in the room of the Jews who had profaned the land by their crimes. Having been adopted by God to be his children, with good reason ought they to have obeyed so kind a Father; but since they had shaken off the yoke and given themselves up to wickedness, it was the just reward of their ingratitude, that the land should be possessed by better inhabitants, taken not from the human race but from brute beasts.
And shall browse on its tops. (206) What he says about the “tops” tends to shew more strongly the desolation; as if he had said that there will be such abundance of grass that the calves will crop none but the tender parts. סעף ( sāīph) signifies also branch; but as branches naturally rise high, I take it here for summit or top. It might also be thought that there is an allusion to the beauty of the city, and that as its houses formerly were lofty and magnificent, when these have been thrown down, nothing will be seen in it but herbs and leaves, the “tops” of which the calves which enjoy abundant pasture will eat in disdain.
(206) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE DOOM OF THE INCORRIGIBLE
Isa. 27:10-11. Yet the defenced city, &c.
I. WHAT A WONDERFUL PICTURE! Proud Babylon so utterly overthrown that on its site cattle feed, and women gather dried sticks for firewood. What an astonishing faith that rendered it possible for any one even to conceive of such a national revolution. That faith grew out of a victorious confidence in the righteousness of God as the ruler of the world, and in His faithfulness to His promises. Such a faith we should cultivate when we see iniquity triumphant. Its utter overthrow is sure. II. WHAT AN ASTONISHING DECLARATION! For it is a people of no understanding; therefore, &c. It appears to be in direct contradiction to our Saviours prayer, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But in the latter case the ignorance was involuntary; in the former, it was deliberate and persistent. Babylon resisted every effort God made to instruct her, and persisted in her career of defiance of His authority and of outrage on all the claims of man. Such obduracy was at length confronted by Divine justice, and then ensued utter ruin. This is the eternal law of the universe. Therefore, let the impenitent tremble, for persistence in sin forfeits all our claims upon God as our Creator (H. E. I., 4488, 4489).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(10) The defenced city shall be desolate . . .The key to this prediction is found in Isa. 25:2, where the same words occur. The defenced city is that of the strangers, who are the enemies of Gods people, and its destruction is contrasted with the restoration of the purified Jerusalem of the preceding verse. To see in the defenced city which is to be laid low Jerusalem itself is at variance with the natural sequence of thought. The picture of desolationcalves feeding in what had been the busy streets of a populous cityis analogous to that of the wild beasts of the desert, roaring among the ruins of Babylon, in Isa. 13:21-22.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10, 11. The defenced city Which some think means Jerusalem, some Samaria, and some Babylon. Samaria, at least, may be ruled out; but the question hangs in doubt as to the other two. In favour of Babylon is the natural conservation of Isa 27:12. In favour of Jerusalem is the easily-supposed figure of a vineyard at the close of this verse, and so still kept up through the next verse. The interpretation is not materially to be changed, whichever is meant. During the captivity all the figures of desolation here apply to Jerusalem, and when Babylon shall be overthrown the stone description will apply to it, though the desolation is not so complete here as in Isa 13:19-22; (where see notes;) but there total desolation was the work of ages, not of a single short period. If it means Jerusalem, the prophet speaks from the foreseen captivity as a point of time. The city ruins are overgrown with grass and thickets, where stray cattle browse. When the shrubs decay, the women (a custom still in the East) gather them for fuel. The lowest class only were left behind the class of least character, and of least regard to Jehovah, apparently uncared for of their Creator, as indicated by their destitution.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Fate of The Defenced City ( Isa 27:10-11 ).
They must not put their trust in their defenced cities, for those will fail them. For, because of their lack of understanding, their defenced city will become a solitary and desolate place where animals feed. This may be seen as spoken to the world which could certainly be pictured as such a city, with every nation trusting in its own strong walls and defences. But it may be that Samaria was especially in mind.
Analysis.
a For the defenced city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken like the wilderness (Isa 27:10 a).
b There will the calf feed, and there will he lie down and consume its branches (Isa 27:10 b).
b When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off, the women will come and set them on fire (Isa 27:11 a).
a For it is a people of no understanding. Therefore He Who made them will not have compassion on them, and He Who formed them will show them no favour (Isa 27:11 b).
In ‘a’ their defenced city is deserted, solitary and forsaken, and in the parallel Yahweh will not have compassion on them and will show them no favour. In ‘b’ it is the grazing place for cattle who will eat from its bushes, and in the parallel women will collect the boughs of what grows there for firewood.
Isa 27:10-11
‘For the defenced city is solitary,
A habitation deserted and forsaken like the wilderness.
There will the calf feed,
And there will he lie down and consume its branches.
When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off.
The women will come and set them on fire.
For it is a people of no understanding.
Therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them,
And he who formed them will show them no favour.’
The ‘defenced city’ (compare Isa 25:2), which represents the world as relying on itself, shutting out God and always at war (compare Isa 24:10; Isa 25:2; Isa 26:5), especially as seen in the great cities of the Ancient Near East, and in this case possibly Samaria, will be left in its aloneness, deserted, forsaken, empty like the wilderness, a ruin. Its defences will have failed. The calf will feed and lie down there, and strip its branches. Its boughs will wither and women will come and break them off and use them as firewood.
For this is what those who ignore Yahweh can expect from the future, desolation and emptiness, with all glory gone. Their defenced city will become like an empty, deserted city in which cattle roam, and feed on the trees which break through the rubble, stripping the branches bare, which in the end have no future except as a source of firewood.
‘For it is a people of no understanding.’ And all this will be the result of its failure to know and understand God, its failure to receive the truth, its blankness of mind towards the things of God. It is because it has ‘the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart’ (Eph 4:18). It is because ‘the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not, lest the light of the good news of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, shine through to them’ (2Co 4:4). It may be significant that the world that turned away from Christ to Islam is indeed suffering and in darkness like this at this time.
The word for ‘understanding’ is a plural of intensity, indicating total barrenness of thought. The world was possibly wise in its own eyes, but it was totally blank in its knowledge and discernment of God.
‘Therefore He who made them will not have compassion on them, and He who formed them will show them no favour.’ This is the saddest picture of all. The God Who made them will no longer have compassion on them, for by their unwillingness to respond to Him they have rendered His help unavailing. The One Who so carefully fashioned them, will show no favour towards them, for He knew that they would spurn that favour and throw it back in His face, as they had done for so long. Their hearts would be too hardened to receive His mercy. Such becomes the state of those who constantly refuse to listen to God. It is not that God has become unmerciful, but that man has become totally unreceptive.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
8. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORDLY CITY AND ISRAELS JOYFUL RESTORATION
Isa 27:10-13
10a Yet the defenced city shall be desolate,
And the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness:
There shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down,
And consume the branches thereof.
11When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off:
The women come and set them on fire:
For it is a people of no understanding;
Therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them,
And he that formed them will show them no favor.
12And it shall come to pass in that day,
That the Lord shall beat off
From the bchannel of the river unto the stream of Egypt,
And ye shall be gathered one by one,
O ye children of Israel.
13And it shall come to pass in that day,
That the great trumpet shall be blown,
And they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria,
And the outcasts in the land of Egypt,
And shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 27:10. (only here in Isaiah) is an adverb, or substantive used adverbially. It might also be (comp. Num 23:9; Mic 7:14). That an adverb can be the predicate is well known.
Isa 27:12. , i.e., to one one, to one which is one and nothing else, wholly one. This combination occurs only here (for Ecc 7:27 is different). is the form of the construct state, and can be treated here as such; for the construct state marks in appositional relations nothing but the closest connection (Naegelsbach Gr., 64, 1). [To one one, i.e., one to the other, to mark careful attention to each individual, and to express the idea that all will be gathered together and without exception.D. M.].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Prophet again draws on a dark background the picture of the worldly power. He had represented it, Isa 27:1, in the form of beasts; here, as already (Isa 24:10-12; Isa 25:2-3; Isa 25:12; Isa 26:5), the great city of the world, the centre of the worldly power, is made to appear. He depicts it as a desolate forsaken place, overgrown with bushes, whose tender branches the calves eat off, whose withered twigs women gather for fuel. This pitiable lot is the punishment of their folly (Isa 27:10-11). Quite different is the case with Israel. This people finds grace in the eyes of its Lord. Out of the sheaves of the nations, which shall be gathered in the day of judgment, all the ears that belong to Israel shall be separated, and bound together (Isa 27:12). And when the great trumpet sounds, all the Israelites lost and scattered in the lands of the heathen, shall return home, in order to worship Jehovah on the holy mountain at Jerusalem (Isa 27:13).
2. Yet the defencedno favor.
Isa 27:10-11. The city which becomes desolate and finds no mercy (Isa 27:11) cannot possibly be Jerusalem. It can only be the city which the Prophet has already (Isa 24:10-12; Isa 21:2-3; Isa 21:12; Isa 26:5) so emphatically set forth as the centre of the worldly power, and distinguished from the earth of which it is the centre. Isa 27:10-11 are therefore connected with Isa 27:1. is here explicative, rather than causal. The defenced city of Isa 27:10 is identical with the in Isa 25:2. (comp. Isa 32:18; Isa 33:20; Isa 34:13; Isa 35:7; Isa 65:10) is originally a habitation of Nomades, a place where people can stay with their flocks and herds. Then it is habitation in general; and as the city is here designated as , what the city was, and not what it is, is denoted by . It was formerly an inhabited city. is accordingly not to be taken here as pasturage, but as habitation, dwelling-place. The is said by Metonymy to be driven away () although only its inhabitants are so. (Comp. . Isa 16:2; Amo 5:3; and Isa 13:20). As the wilderness can be said to be forsaken, but not driven away, we have to connect only with , and not also. On the place that has been so forsaken calves will feed (comp. Isa 5:17; Isa 27:13 sqq.), and lie down, and consume (Isa 49:4) the branches (comp. Isa 17:6) thereof,i.e., of the forsaken city. What remains of the branches ( in the collective sense of foliage, especially in Job 14:9; Job 18:16; Job 29:19), and is withered, is broken off (the plural to be referred to the idea of a multitude of branches contained in ); then women come and kindle it ( as a neuter comp. on Isa 27:4), i.e., they make an , a flame of it (Isa 31:9; Isa 44:16; Isa 50:11 comp. Mal 1:10). This judgment comes upon the people (i.e., the nations conceived as one) of the worldly power; because it is a people without right understanding (plural only here. Comp. on Isa 11:2). Therefore, although Jehovah is the Creator of the heathen also (Gen 1:26 : comp. Job 12:10; Act 17:26), yet He will not be gracious unto them ( as Isa 17:7; Isa 29:16. comp. Isa 29:16; Isa 45:9 et saepe). [Many of the best interpreters hold that the city spoken of in Isa 27:10 is Jerusalem, and not Babylon. The desolation here described is not so complete as that denounced against Babylon (Isa 13:19-22), and corresponds exactly to the judgment foretold elsewhere by Isaiah against Israel and Jerusalem Isa 32:13-14; Isa 5:17. The people of no understand standing, whose Maker and Former is Jehovah, certainly looks like Israel. Comp. Isa 1:3.D. M.].
3. And it shall comeJerusalem.
Isa 27:12-13. In contrast to the sad image of a wilderness in Isa 27:10-11, the Prophet depicts Israels final destiny as a harvest of glory and highest honor for Israel. The image of a great harvest-day (Mat 13:39; Rev 14:14 sqq.), forms the basis of the figurative language of Isa 27:12-13. The sheaves are gathered, even in the countries where Israel lives in exile, mainly therefore, in the countries of the Euphrates and the Nile. For these countries are for the Prophet here, as Isa 11:11 sqq.; Isa 19:23 sqq., representatives of the lands of exile in general. But when the harvest-sheaves of those countries are borne by the reapers, the Lord shall beat these sheaves ( of the beating off of olives Deu 24:20; of the threshing of grain with a staff Jdg 6:11; Rth 2:17; Isa 28:27), and the ears of Israel will fall out, and then be gathered to be brought back. It is plain that the Prophet means by this image what he afterwards, Isa 27:13, states in proper terms. For the scattered Israelitish ears amid the great sheaves of the Gentiles are nothing but the and Isa 27:13. I take therefore Isa 27:12 as a collective designation of ears of grain. For what significance would it have here to give prominence to the Euphrates being at high water, as it is quite indifferent for the Geographical boundary whether the Euphrates has much water or little (, fluxus aquae, emphasizes the abundance of water, Psa 69:3; Psa 69:6; besides only Jdg 12:6 where the meaning is a matter of no consequence)? We dare not press the line of the Euphrates, or the line of the any more than the depth of the Euphrates as a sharply drawn boundary-line. For the grain-ears of the Euphrates are just the ears of the lands of the Euphrates, and the ears of the brook of Egypt are the ears of Egypt, as appears from and Isa 27:13. I believe that in regard to grammar we are fully justified in supplying after and before . The omission of substantives after prepositions of comparison furnishes a perfectly sufficient analogy for this omission (comp. Job 33:25). [The proposed construction is intolerably hard, and has no clear parallel to support it. It is unwarrantably assumed that must mean the high water of the river Euphrates as distinguished from the river at low water. denotes current, flood, and so abundance of water, and it may well be put as an adjunct of the river Euphrates when the other terminus is the insignificant stream of Egypt, the Wadi el Arish. It appears to me exceedingly forced to take here as a collective, meaning ears of grain, and then to suppose an ellipsis of this substantive after .D. M.].
That the is the Wadi el Arish which flows near Rhinocolura into the sea is certain. (Comp. Ebers,Egypt and the books of Moses, I. p. 275). But it is not mentioned along with the Euphrates to designate a boundary of the Israelitish kingdom (Gen 15:18; 1Ki 8:65), but as emblem of the southern and first land of exile; as the Euphrates is emblem of the second and northern land of exile.
At the signal which will be given by sound of trumpet (Isa 18:3; Mat 24:3; 1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:16) all the Israelites who are lost (Jer 50:6) and scattered (Isa 11:12 comp. Eze 34:4; Eze 34:16) in the lands of Assyria and Egypt (in the same lands which were previously designated by and ) come to worship the Lord in Jerusalem, on the mountain of the Sanctuary (Isa 24:23; Isa 25:6-7; Isa 25:10). Here ends the libellus apocalypticus of Isaiah. This worship he conceives as never ending (comp. Isa 25:7 sq.). Israels return to his own land is type of the restoration of redeemed men (the ) into the heavenly home. It is not possible in this connection to think merely (as even Drechsler does) on a single act of worship before taking possession of the land and settling in it.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Isa 24:2. When general judgments take place, no distinction is observed between man and wife, master and servant, mistress and maid, learned and unlearned, noble and plebeian, clergy and laity; therefore let no one rely on any external prerogative or superiority, but let every one without distinction repent and forsake sin.Cramer. Though this is right, yet we must, on the other hand, remember that the Lord declares in reference to the same great event, Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left (Mat 24:10 sq.). There is no contradiction in these two statements. Both are true: outward relations will make no difference; there shall be no respect of persons. But the state of the heart will make a difference. According to the inward character there will, in the case of those whose external position in the world is perfectly alike, be some who enter life, others whose doom is death.
2. Isa 24:5 sq. The earth is burdened with sins, and is therefore deprived of every blessing. The earth must suffer for our guilt, when we have as it were spoilt it, and it must be subject to vanity for our sakes (Rom 8:20). What wonder is it that it should show itself ungrateful toward us?Cramer.
[3. Isa 24:13 sq. Observe the small number of this remnant; here and there one who shall escape the common calamity (as Noah and his family, when the old world was drowned), who when all faces gather blackness, can lift up their head with joy. Luk 21:26-28. Henry.D. M.].
4. Isa 24:17-20. Our earth is a volcanic body. Mighty volcanic forces were active at its formation. That these are still in commotion in the interior of the earth is proved by the many active volcanoes scattered over the whole earth, and by the perpetual volcanic convulsions which we call earthquakes. These have hitherto been confined to particular localities. But who can guarantee that a concentration and simultaneous eruption of those volcanic forces, that is, a universal earthquake, shall not hereafter occur? The Lord makes express mention of earthquakes among the signs which shall precede His second coming (Mat 24:7; Mar 13:8; Luk 21:11). And in 2Pe 3:5 sqq. the future destruction of the earth by fire is set over against the destruction of the old world by water. Isaiah in our place announces a catastrophe whose characteristic features will be that, 1) there will be no escape from it; 2) destructive forces will assail from above and below; 3) the earth will be rent asunder; 4) it will reel and totter; 5) it will suffer so heavy a fall that it will not rise again (Isa 24:20 b). Is there not here a prophecy of the destruction of the earth by volcanic forces? And how suddenly can they break loose! The ministers of the word have every reason to compare this extreme exposedness of our earth to fire, and the possibility of its unexpectedly sudden collapse with the above-cited warnings of the word of God, and to attach thereto the admonition which is added in 2Pe 3:11.
5. Isa 24:21. The earth is a part of our planetary system. It is not what it appears to the optical perception to be, a central body around which worlds of a different nature revolve, but it, together with many similar bodies, revolves round a common centre. The earth according to that view of the account of the creation in Genesis 1, which appears to me the true one, has arisen with all the bodies of our Solar system out of one primary matter, originally united, common to them all. If our Solar System is a well-ordered, complete organism, it must rest on the basis of a not merely formal, but also material unity; i.e., the separate bodies must move, not only according to a principle of order which governs all, but they must also as to their substance be essentially like. And as they arose simultaneously, so must they perish simultaneously. It is inconceivable that our earth alone should disappear from the organism of the Solar System, or pass over to a higher material condition. Its absence, or ceasing to exist in its previous form and substance, would necessarily draw after it the ruin of the whole system. Hence the Scripture speaks every where of a passing away and renovation of the heaven and the earth (Psa 102:26; Isa 51:6; Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22; Mat 5:18; Mat 24:29; Mat 24:35; 2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10; 2Pe 3:13; Heb 12:26; Rev 20:11; Rev 21:1). The heaven that shall pass away with a great noise, whose powers shall be shaken, whose stars shall fall, is the planetary heaven. The same lot will happen to the companions of our earth, to the other planets, and to the centre, the sun, and to all other co-ordinate and subordinate stellar bodies, which will befall the earth itself. This is the substance of the view which serves as a basis for our place. But personal beings are not thereby by any means excluded from the . The parallel expression , and the use in other places of the related expression lead us rather to suppose personal beings to be included. But I believe that a distinction must be made here. As the heavenly bodies which will pass away simultaneously with the earth, can only be those which arose together with it, and which stand in organic connection with it, so also the angelic powers, which are judged simultaneously with us men, can be only those which stand in connection with the heavenly bodies of our Solar System, i.e., with the earthly material world. There are heavenly bodies of glorious pneumatic substance. If personal beings stand in connection with them, they must also be pure, glorious, resplendent beings. These will not be judged. They are the holy angels, who come with the Lord (Mat 25:31). But it is quite conceivable that all the bodies of our Solar System are till the judgment like our earth suffered to be the theatre of the spirits of darkness.
6. Isa 24:21-23, It seems to me that the Prophet has here sketched the chief matters pertaining to eschatology. For the passing away of heaven and earth, the binding of Satan (Rev 20:1-3), the loosing of Satan again (Rev 20:7), and finally the reign of God alone, which will make sun and moon unnecessary (Rev 21:23)are not these the boundary-stones of the chief epochs of the history of the end of the world?
7. Isa 25:6. [The Lord of hosts makes this feast. The provision is very rich, and every thing is of the best. It is a feast, which supposes abundance and variety; it is a continual feast to believers: it is their fault if it be not. It is a feast of fat things and full of marrow; so relishing, so nourishing are the comforts of the Gospel to all those that feast upon them and digest them. The returning prodigal was entertained with the fatted calf; and David has that pleasure in communion with God, with which his soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness. It is a feast of wines on the lees; the strongest-bodied wines, that have been long kept upon the lees, and then are well refined from them, so that they are clear and fine. There is that in the Gospel which, like fine wine, soberly used, makes glad the heart, and raises the spirits, and is fit for those that are of a heavy heart, being under convictions of sin, and mourning for it, that they may drink and forget their misery (for that is the proper use of wine; it is a cordial for those that need it, Pro 31:6-7) may be of good cheer, knowing that their sins are forgiven, and may be vigorous in their spiritual work and warfare, as a strong man refreshed with wine. Henry.D. M.]
8. Isa 25:9. In the Old Testament the vail and covering were before mens eyes, partly because they waited for the light that was to appear, partly because they sat in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luk 1:79). The fulfilment of this prediction has in Christ already begun, and will at last be perfectly fulfilled in the Church triumphant where all ignorance and sorrow shall be dispelled (1Co 13:12). Cramer.
9. Isa 25:8. God here represents Himself as a mother, who presses to her bosom her sorrowful son, comforts him and wipes away his tears (Isa 66:13). The righteous are to believe and appropriate this promise, that every one may learn to speak with Paul in the time of trial: the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, Rom 8:18. Cramer.
10. Isa 25:10. This is now the hope and consolation of the church that the hand of the Lord rests on this mountain, that is, that He will be gracious, and let His power, help and grace be there seen and felt. But the unbelieving Moabites, i.e., the Jews, with all others who will not receive the gospel, shall be threshed to pieces as straw in the mire; these the Lords hand will not rescue, as it helps those who wait on Him, but it shall press them down so that they will never rise, according to the saying, Mar 16:16. Veit Dietrich.
11. Isaiah 25 Three thoughts contained in this chapter we should hold fast: 1) When we see the world triumph over every thing which belongs to the Lord and His kingdom, when our hearts are anxious about the preservation in the world of the Church of Christ, which is sore oppressed, let this word of the Prophet comfort our hearts. The world-city which contains all that is of the world, sinks into the dust, and the church of Christ goes from her chains and bands into the state of freedom and glory. We have often seen that it is the Lords way to let every thing come to maturity. When it is once ripe, He comes suddenly with His sentence. Let us comfort ourselves therewith, for thus will it happen with the world and its dominion over the faithful followers of Christ. When it is ripe, suddenly it will come to an end. 2) No one who has a heart for the welfare of the nations can see without the deepest pain how all hearts are now seduced and befooled, and all eyes closed and covered. The simplest truths are no longer acknowledged, but the more perverse, brutal and mean views and doctrines are, the more greedily are they laid hold of. We cannot avert this. But our comfort is that even this seduction of the nations will reach its climax. Then men will come to themselves. The vail and covering will fall off, and the Gospel will shine with new light before the nations. Therewith let us comfort ourselves. 3) Till this happens, the church is sorrowful. But she shall be full of joy. The promise is given to her that she shall be fully satisfied with the good things of the house of the Lord. A life is promised to her which neither death nor any pain can affect, as she has rest from all enemies. The word of the Lord shall be fulfilled in her: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The Church that has such a promise may wait in patient quietness for its accomplishment, and praise the Lord in affliction, till it pleases Him to glorify her before all nations. Weber, The Prophet Isaiah. 1875.
12. Isa 26:1. The Christian church is a city of God. God has built it, and He is the right Master-builder. It is strong: 1) on account of the Builder; 2) on account of the foundation and corner-stone, which is Christ; 3) on account of the bond wherewith the living stones are bound together, which is the unity of the faith. Cramer. [The security and happiness of true believers, both on earth and in heaven, is represented in Scripture under the image of their dwelling in a city in which they can bid defiance to all their enemies. We dwell in such a city even now, Psa 46:4-5. We look for such a city, Heb 11:10; Heb 11:16; Revelation 21D. M.]
13. Isa 26:2. [These words may be taken as a description of the people whom God owns, who are fit to be accounted members of the church of the living God on earth, and who will not be excluded from the celestial city. Instead of complaining that only the righteous and the faithful will be admitted into the heavenly city, it should rather give us joy to think that there will be no sin there, that none but the just and true will there be found. This has been a delightful subject of reflection to Gods saints. The last words written by Henry Martyn were: Oh! when shall time give place to eternity? When shall appear that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness? There, there shall in no wise enter in any thing that defileth; none of that wickedness which has made men worse than wild beastsnone of their corruptions which add to the miseries of mortality shall be seen or heard of any more.D. M.]
14. Isa 26:4. The fourth privilege of the church is trust in God the Rock of Ages, i.e., in Christ, who not only here, but also Matthew 16; 1 Corinthians 10; 1 Peter 2, is called a rock in a peculiar manner, because no other foundation of salvation and of the church can be laid except this rock, which is here called the rock of ages on account of the eternity of His being, merit and office. Hence a refutation can be drawn of the papistical fable which makes Peter and his successors, the Roman Pontiffs, to be the rock on which the church is built. Foerster. [Whatever we trust to the world for, it will be but for a moment. All we expect from it is confined within the limits of time; but what we trust in God for will last as long as we shall last. For in the Lord Jehovah, Jah, Jehovah, in Him who was, and is, and is to come, there is a rock of ages, a firm and lasting foundation for faith and hope to build upon; and the house built on that rock will stand in a storm. Henry.D. M.]
15. Isa 26:5. It is very common with the prophets, when they prophesy of the kingdom of Christ to make reference to the proud and to the needy, and to represent the latter as exalted and the former as brought low. This truth is directed properly against the self-righteous. For Christ and His righteousness will not endure spiritual pride and presumption; but the souls that are poor, that hunger and thirst for grace, that know their need, these Christ graciously receives. Cramer.
16. Isa 26:6. It vexes the proud all the more that they will be overcome by those who are poor and of no consequence. For example, Goliath was annoyed that a boy should come against him with a staff (1 Sam. 13:43) Cramer.
17. Isa 26:8-10. That the justice of God must absolutely manifest itself that the majesty of the Lord may be seen, and that the wicked may learn righteousness, must even from a new Testament view-point be admitted. But the New Testament disputes the existence of any one who is righteous when confronted by the law, and who is not deserving of punishment. [But that there is none righteous, no not one, is taught most emphatically in the Old Testament also.D. M.]. But it (the New Testament) while it shuts up all, Jews and Gentiles, without exception, under sin (Gal 3:22; Rom 3:9; Rom 11:32), sets forth a scheme of mediation, which, while it renders full satisfaction to justice, at the same time offers to all the possibility of deliverance. This mediation is through the Cross of Christ. It is only when this mediation has not been accepted that punitive justice has free course. It should not surprise us that even the Evangelist of the Old Covenant, who wrote chap. 53, did not possess perfect knowledge of this mediation. Let us remember John the Baptist (Mat 3:7; Mat 11:11) and the disciples of the Lord (Luk 9:54). [Let us not forget that Isaiah was a true Prophet, and spoke as he was moved by the Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul did not find fault with the most terrible denunciations of judgment contained in the Old Testament, or affect a superiority over the men who uttered them. On the contrary, he quotes them as words which could not be suffered to fall, but which must be fulfilled in all their dreadful import. See e.g. Rom 11:9-10.D. M.].
18. Isa 26:12. It is a characteristic of true, sincere Christians, that they give God the glory and not themselves, and freely confess that they have nothing of themselves, but everything from God (1Co 4:7; Php 2:13; Heb 12:2). Cramer.
19. Isa 26:16. The old theologians have many comforting and edifying thoughts connected with this place: A magnet has the power to raise and attract to itself iron. Our heart is heavy as iron. But the hand of God is as a magnet. When that hand visits us with affliction, it lifts us up, and draws us to itself. Distress teaches us to pray, and prayer again dispels all distress. One wedge displaces the other. Ex gravibus curis impellimur ad pia vota. Ex monte myrrhae procedimus ad collem thuris (Cant. 9:6). In amaritudine crucis exsurgit odor devotae precationis (Psa 86:6 sq.). Ubi nulla crux et tentatio, ibi nulla vera oratio. Oratio sine mails est tanquam avis sine alis. Optimus orandi magister necessitas. . Quae nocent, docent. Ubi tentatio, ibi oratio. Mala, quae hic nos premunt, ad Deum ire compellunt. Qui nescit orare, ingrediatur mare. When the string is most tightly drawn, it sounds best. Cross and temptation are the right prayer-bell. They are the press by which God crushes out the juice of prayer. Cramer and Foerster.
20. Isa 26:20. As God, when the deluge was about to burst, bade Noah go into his ark as into his chamber, and Himself shut the door on him (Gen 7:6); so does the Lord still act when a storm is approaching; He brings His own into a chamber where they can be safe, either for their temporal preservation and protection against every might (Psa 91:1), or, on the other hand, to give them repose by a peaceful and happy death. His anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life (Psa 30:6). Cramer.
21. Isa 27:1. [Great and mighty princes [nations] if they oppose the people of God, are in Gods account, as dragons and serpents, and plagues of mankind; and the Lord will punish them in due time. They are too big for men to deal with, and call to an account; and therefore the great God will take the doing of it into His own hands. Henry.D. M.].
22. Isa 27:2-5. It seems to the world that God has no concern for His church and Christians, else, we imagine, they would be better off. But certain it is, that it is not the angels but God Himself that will be watcher over this vineyard, and will send it gracious rain. Veit Dietrich. [The church is a vineyard of red wine, yielding the best and choicest grapes, intimating the reformation of the church, that it now brings forth good fruit unto God, whereas before it brought forth fruit to itself, or brought forth wild grapes, Isa 5:4. God takes care (1) of the safety of this vineyard; I the Lord do keep it. He speaks this, as glorying in it, that He is, and has undertaken to be, the keeper of Israel; those that bring forth fruit to God are, and shall be always, under His protection. (2) God takes care of the fruitfulness of this vineyard: I will water it every moment; and yet it shall not be over watered. We need the constant and continual waterings of the divine grace; for if that be at any time withdrawn, we wither and come to nothing. Henry. D. M.].
23. Isa 27:4. Est aurea promissio, qua praecedentem confirmat. Indignatio non est mihi, fury is not in me. Quomodo enim is nobis irasci potest, qui pro nobis est mortuus? Quanquam igitur appareat, eum irasci, non tamen est verum, quod irascatur. Sic Paulo immittitur angelus Satanae, sed non est ira, nam ipse Christus dicit: sufficit tibi gratia mea. Sic pater filium delinquentem castigat, sed non est ira, quanquam appareat ira esse. Custodia igitur vineae aliquando cogit Deum immittere speciem irae, ne pereat luxurie, sed non est ira. Est insignis textus, which we should inscribe on all tribulations: Non est indignatio mihi, non possum irasci. Quod autem videtur irasci est custodia vineae, ne pereas et fias securus. Luther. In order to understand fully the doctrine of the wrath of God we must have a clear perception of the antithesis: the long-suffering of God, and the wrath of God, wrath and mercy. Lange.
24. Isa 27:7-9. Christ judges His church, i.e., He punishes and afflicts it, but He does this in measure. The sorrow and cross is meted out, and is not, as it appears to us, without measure and infinite. It is so measured that redemption must certainly follow. But why does God let His Christians so suffer? Why does He not lay the cross on the wicked? God answers this question and speaks: the sin of Jacob will thereby cease. That is: God restrains sin by the cross, and subdues the old Adam. Veit Dietrich.
25. Isa 27:13. [The application of this verse to a future restoration of the Jews can neither be established nor disproved. In itself considered, it appears to contain nothing which may not be naturally applied to events long past. J. A. Alexander.This prediction was completely and entirely fulfilled by the return of the Jews to their own country under the decree of Cyrus. Barnes.D. M.].
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Isa 24:4-6. Fast-day sermon. Warning against dechristianization of the life of the people. 1) Wherein such dechristianization consists: a, transgression of the commandments that are in force; b, alteration of the commandments which are essential articles of the everlasting covenant, as e.g. removing of all state institutions from the basis of religion. 2) Its consequences: a, Desecration of the land (subjectively, by the spread of a profane, godless sentiment; objectively, by the secularization of relations hitherto held sacred); b, the curse consumes the land, Isa 24:4.
2. On Isa 25:1-5. The Lord, the refuge of the needy. 1) He has the power to help. This we perceive a, from His nature (Lord, God, Wonderful); b, from His deeds (Isa 25:1 b, Isa 25:2). 2) He gives His strength even to the feeble, (Isa 25:4). 3) These are thereby victorious, (Isa 25:5).
3. On Isa 25:6-9. Easter Sermon, by T. Schaeffer (Manch. Gab. u. ein Geist III. p. 269):The glorious Easter-blessing of the Risen One: 1) Wherein it consists? 2) who receive it? 3) what are its effects? Christmas Sermon, by Romberg [ibid. 1869, p. 78): Our text represents to us Christmas joy under the image of a festive board. Let us consider, 1) the host; 2) the guests; 3) the gifts.
4. On Isa 26:1-4. Concerning the church. 1) She is a strong city in which salvation is to be found. 2) The condition of having a portion in her is faith. 3) The blessing which she is instrumental in procuring is peace.
5. Isa 26:19-21. The comfort of the Christian for the present and future. 1) For the present the Christian is to betake himself to his quiet chamber, where he is alone with his Lord and by Him made cheerful and secure. 2) For the future he has the certain hope, a, that the Lord will judge the wicked, b, raise the believer to everlasting life.
6. Isa 27:2-9. How the Lord deals with His vineyard, the church. 1) Fury is not in Him towards it; 2) He protects and purifies it; 3) He gives it strength, peace and growth; 4) He chastens it in measure; 5) He makes the chastisement itself serve to purge it from sins.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Isa 27:10 Yet the defenced city [shall be] desolate, [and] the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
Ver. 10. Yet, the defensed city shall be desolate. ] Or, But, or therefore, shall they suffer, ut ad saniorem mentem et ad frugem calamitosi redeant, that they may be thereby bettered. See on Isa 27:9 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Yet = For.
forsaken. See note on Isa 1:4.
consume = devour.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the defenced: Isa 5:9, Isa 5:10, Isa 6:11, Isa 6:12, Isa 17:9, Isa 25:2, Isa 64:10, Jer 26:6, Jer 26:18, Lam 1:4, Lam 2:5-9, Lam 5:18, Eze 36:4, Mic 3:12, Luk 19:43, Luk 19:44, Luk 21:20-24
there shall the: Isa 7:25, Isa 17:2, Isa 32:13, Isa 32:14
Reciprocal: Isa 5:5 – I will take Isa 10:22 – the consumption Isa 24:1 – maketh the Isa 24:10 – city Jer 21:14 – in the Jer 22:6 – surely Jer 22:7 – cut Jer 25:37 – General Jer 52:27 – Thus Eze 34:15 – General Hos 11:6 – consume Mic 6:9 – Lord’s Hab 1:12 – for Mat 13:30 – burn Joh 15:4 – As Joh 15:6 – he Heb 6:8 – whose
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 27:10-11. Yet, &c. Before this glorious promise, concerning the removal of Israels sin and calamity, shall be fulfilled, a dreadful and desolating judgment shall come upon them. The defenced city shall be desolate Jerusalem, and the rest of the defenced cities of the land, the singular number being put for the plural; and the habitation forsaken The most inhabited and populous parts of the country; or, as properly signifies, their pleasant habitation, whether in the city or country; left like a wilderness Which was the case in the time of the Babylonish captivity. There shall the calf feed The calf is put for all sorts of cattle, which, it is foretold, should securely feed there, because there should be no man left to disturb or annoy them; and consume the branches thereof Of their pleasant habitation; of the young trees that grow up in that desolated country. When the boughs thereof are withered As they will be when they are thus gnawed and cropped by cattle; they shall be broken off That there may be no hopes of their recovery. The women come, &c.
He mentions women, because the men would be destroyed. For it is a people of no understanding They neither know me, nor themselves; neither my word, nor my works: they know not the things which concern their peace, but blindly and wilfully go on in sin. Therefore he that made them Both as they are creatures, and as they are his people; for this also is expressed by making, or forming; will not have mercy on them So as to save them from this dreadful calamity and ruin, which they bring on themselves. Thus he overthrows their false and presumptuous conceit, that God would never destroy the work of his own hands, nor the seed of Abraham his friend.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
27:10 Yet the {k} fortified city [shall be] desolate, [and] the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume its branches.
(k) Not withstanding his favour that he will show them later, yet Jerusalem will be destroyed, and grass for cattle will grow in it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
At that time the city of the world (Isa 24:10; Isa 24:12; Isa 25:2), notable for its fortifications, will lie overthrown and isolated. Some premillennialists regard this as a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. [Note: See J. Martin, p. 1076.]
"Ruins testify to a commercial and militaristic civilization that has now become quietly pastoral." [Note: Watts, p. 350.]
The prophet pictured the deserted condition of that city: calves grazing there and stripping the vegetation without human restraint, and women gathering dry wood for fires. Normally these activities took place outside cities. Dry limbs reflect a desolate condition since normally trees in cities were alive. The reason for the destruction of this city is that its inhabitants did not have discernment. They did not see their need to humble themselves and submit to God, even though He took great care to form them as His creatures.