Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 30:27
Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning [with] his anger, and the burden [thereof is] heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
27. the name of the Lord ] appears here to be synonymous with what is elsewhere called the “glory of Jehovah” (cf. the parallelism, ch. Isa 59:19; Psa 102:15) i.e. the visible manifestation of His presence. It may have the same sense in ch. Isa 18:7, the Temple of the future being conceived as the scene of a perpetual Theophany (Eze 43:2 ff.). Amongst the later Jews the expression “the Name” was commonly used, out of reverence, to avoid the use of Jehovah (cf. Lev 24:11).
cometh from far ] In Jdg 5:4; Deu 33:2, the Theophany comes from Seir or Sinai; here its origin is left indefinite. Jehovah’s coming is like that of the thundercloud which appears on the distant horizon, no eye having observed the mysterious process by which it was formed. In what follows the figure of the storm is inseparably blended with an anthropomorphic representation of Jehovah.
and the burden thereof is heavy ] Render: and with thick uplifting (of smoke) (Cheyne). R.V. “in thick rising smoke.” Cf. Jdg 20:38.
full of indignation ] Perhaps “full of angry foam.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
27, 28. These verses describe the Theophany, in which Jehovah appears to destroy the Assyrians, cf. Jdg 5:4-5; Psa 18:7 ff. Psa 50:3-5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold, the name of the Lord cometh – (compare the notes at Isa 19:1). The verses following, to the end of the chapter, are designed evidently to describe the destruction of the army of Sennacherib. This is expressly declared in Isa 30:31, and all the circumstances in the prediction accord with that event. There is no necessity of supposing that this is the commencement of a new prophecy, for it is connected with the main subject in the previous part of the chapter. The whole prophecy was composed evidently in view of that threatened invasion. In the apprehension of that, they sought the aid of Egypt Isa 30:1-6, for that, the prophet denounces judgment on them (Isa 30:8 ff); in view of these judgments, however, he promises a more happy state Isa 30:18-26; and now, in the close of the chapter, in order to deter them from the alliance, he assures them that, without any foreign aid, the Assyrian would be destroyed by Yahweh himself. The phrase name of Yahweh, is probably another mode of designating Yahweh himself; as the name of God is often put for God himself (see Act 3:6-7, Act 3:12, 30; Act 4:10; 1Co 1:10). The idea is, that the destruction of the Assyrian hosts would be accomplished by the immediate power of Yahweh himself without any need of the aid of the Egyptian or of any foreign alliances.
From afar – That is, from heaven (compare the note at Isa 19:1).
Burning with his anger – Or, rather, his anger is enkindled.
And the burden thereof – Margin, Grievousness of flame. Lowth renders it, The flame rageth violently. Noyes, Violent is the flame. The Septuagint renders it, A burning wrath The word mas’a’ah, from nas’a’ to bear, lift up, carry, means properly a lifting up Psa 141:2; a burden Zep 3:18; then a mounting up, particularly of a flame or smoke in a conflagration Jdg 20:38. This seems to be the idea here, that the anger of God would be like a heavy, dark column of mingled smoke and flame bursting out, and rising up over a city.
His lips are full of indignation – All this language is of course figurative, and means that he would issue a command to destroy the Assyrians, or that they would be destroyed in such a manner as most effectively to exhibit his displeasure.
And his tongue as a devouring fire – That is, he shall issue a command that shall destroy like a raging and devouring fire.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. And the burden thereof is heavy – “And the flame raged violently”] massaah; this word seems to be rightly rendered in our translation, the flame, Jdg 20:38; Jdg 20:40, c. a sign of fire, Jer 6:1; called properly masseeth, an elevation, from its tending upwards.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here begins the last part of the chapter, wherein he gives them an earnest of those greater mercies promised for times to come, by assuring them of the approaching destruction of the Assyrian forces.
The name of the Lord; the Lord himself: for as the names of men are oft put for the men themselves, as Num 26:53 Act 1:15; Rev 3:4; 11:13; so the name of God is frequently put for God, as Gen 4:26; Deu 28:58; Psa 20:1,7, &c.
Cometh from far; from a very remote place, even from heaven, whence God sent his angel to destroy them, Isa 37:36. Possibly this expression may respect the judgment of the Assyrians, who looked upon God as one afar off, not only in his presence, which they thought to be confined to heaven, but in his care of and affections to the Jews; and therefore no more expected any opposition from him than from them who live in the ends of the earth.
The burden thereof is heavy; he will inflict heavy judgments upon them.
His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire; he hath pronounced a severe sentence against them, and will give command for the execution of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. name of . . . Lordthatis, Jehovah Himself (Psa 44:5;Psa 54:1); represented as a stormapproaching and ready to burst over the Assyrians (Isa 30:30;Isa 30:31).
burden . . . isheavyliterally, “grievousness is the flame,” thatis, the flame which darts from Him is grievous. Or else (as theHebrew means an “uplifting”) the uprising cloudis grievous [G. V. SMITH];the gathering cloud gradually rising till it bursts.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far,…. From hence to the end of the chapter Isa 30:28 is a very full account, by way of prophecy, of the destruction of the Assyrian army by the Lord; and which is to be considered as a type of the destruction of antichrist, by and at the coming of the Lord Jesus. It is introduced with a “behold”, as declaring something of moment and importance worthy of attention, and even wonderful. “The name of the Lord” is the Lord himself; unless it is to be understood of the angel that came in the name of the Lord, and destroyed Sennacherib’s army; who may be said to come “from far”, because he came from heaven; and from whence Christ the Angel uncreated, in whom the name of the Lord is, will come to judge the world, and to take vengeance on all his and his people’s enemies, antichrist and all his followers:
burning [with] his anger; against the Assyrian monarch and his army. So our Lord, when he shall come forth to make war with the antichristian kings of the earth, his “eyes” shall be “as a flame of fire”: and when he comes to judge the world, he will descend in “flaming fire”,
Re 19:12 the day of the Lord will burn as an oven, Mal 4:1:
and the burden [thereof is] heavy: the punishment inflicted, in his burning anger and hot displeasure, will be heavy, even intolerable, heavier than it can be borne, as the Targum paraphrases it; see Ge 4:13:
his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire; the words he will utter, the sentence he will pronounce, will be dreadful, executed by the angel; so the sharp sword that goes out of the mouth of Christ, with which he will smite the nations; and such the awful sentence pronounced by him on the wicked, “go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire”, &c. see Re 19:15. So the Targum,
“from before him goes out the curse upon the ungodly, and his Word as a consuming fire.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning His wrath, and quantity of smoke: His lips are full of wrathful foam, and His tongue like devouring fire. And His breath is like an overflowing brook, which reaches half-way to the neck, to sift nations in the sieve of nothingness; and a misleading bridle comes to the cheeks of the nations.” Two figures are here melted together – namely, that of a storm coming up from the farthest horizon, which turns the sky into a sea of fire, and kindles whatever it strikes, so that there rises up a heavy burden, or thick mass of smoke ( kobhed m assa’ah , like mas’eth in Jdg 20:40, cf., Jdg 20:38; on this attributive combination, burning His wrath (Ewald, 288, c) and a quantity, etc., see Isa 13:9); and that of a man burning with wrath, whose lips foam, whose tongue moves to and fro like a flame, and whose breath is a snorting that threatens destruction, which when it issues from Jehovah swells into a stream, which so far covers a man that only his neck appears as the visible half. We had the same figure in Isa 8:8, where Asshur, as it came upon Judah, was compared to such an almost overwhelming and drowning flood. Here, again, it refers to Judah, which the wrath of Jehovah had almost though not entirely destroyed. For the ultimate object of the advancing name of Jehovah ( shem , name, relating to His judicial coming) is to sift nations, etc.: lahanaphah for l e hanph (like lahazadah in Dan 5:20), to make it more like naphah in sound. The sieve of nothingness is a sieve in which everything, that does not remain in it as good corn, is given up to annihilation; is want of being, i.e., of life from God, and denotes the fate that properly belongs to such worthlessness. In the case of v’resen (and a bridle, etc.) we must either supply in thought ( ), or, what is better, take it as a substantive clause: “a misleading bridle” (or a bridle of misleading, as Bttcher renders it, matheh being the form mashqeh ) holds the cheeks of the nations. The nations are regarded as wild horses, which could not be tamed, but which were now so firmly bound and controlled by the wrath of God, that they were driven down into the abyss.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Judgments on Assyria. | B. C. 720. |
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: 28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel. 30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. 31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. 32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. 33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
This terrible prediction of the ruin of the Assyrian army, though it is a threatening to them, is part of the promise to the Israel of God, that God would not only punish the Assyrians for the mischief they had done to the Israel of God, but would disable and deter them from doing the like again; and this prediction, which would now shortly be accomplished, would ratify and confirm the foregoing promises, which should be accomplished in the latter days. Here is,
I. God Almighty angry, and coming forth in anger against the Assyrians. He is here introduced in all the power and all the terror of his wrath, v. 27. The name of Jehovah, which the Assyrians disdain and set at a distance from them, as if they were out of its reach and it could do them no harm, behold, it comes from far. A messenger in the name of the Lord comes from as far off as heaven itself. He is a messenger of wrath, burning with his anger. God’s lips are full of indignation at the blasphemy of Rabshakeh, who compared the God of Israel with the gods of the heathen; his tongue is as a devouring fire, for he can speak his proud enemies to ruin; his very breath comes with as much force as an overflowing stream, and with it he shall slay the wicked, ch. xi. 4. He does not stifle or smother his resentments, as men do theirs when they are either causeless or impotent; but he shall cause his glorious voice to be heard when he proclaims war with an enemy that sets him at defiance, v. 30. He shall display the indignation of his anger, anger in the highest degree; it shall be as the flame of a devouring fire, which carries and consumes all before it, with lightning or dissipation, and with tempest and hailstones, all which are the formidable phenomena of nature, and therefore expressive of the terror of the Almighty God of nature.
II. The execution done by this anger of the Lord. Men are often angry when they can only threaten and talk big; but when God causes his glorious voice to be heard that shall not be all: he will show the lighting down of his arm too, v. 30. The operations of his providence shall accomplish the menaces of his word. Those that would not see the lifting up of his arm (ch. xxvi. 11) shall feel the lighting down of it, and find, to their cost, that the burden thereof is heavy (v. 27), so heavy that they cannot bear it, nor bear up against it, but must unavoidably sink and be crushed under it. Who knows the power of his anger or imagines what an offended God can do? Five things are here prepared for the execution:– 1. Here is an overflowing stream, that shall reach to the midst of the neck, shall quite overwhelm the whole body of the army, and Sennacherib only, the head of it, shall keep above water and escape this stroke, while yet he is reserved for another in the house of Nisroch his god. The Assyrian army had been to Judah as an overflowing stream, reaching even to the neck (Isa 8:7; Isa 8:8), and now the breath of God’s wrath will be so to it. 2. Here is a sieve of vanity, with which God would sift those nations of which the Assyrian army was composed, v. 28. The great God can sift nations, for they are all before him as the small dust of the balance; he will sift them, not to gather out of them any that should be preserved, but so as to shake them one against another, put them into great consternation, and shake them all away at last; for it is a sieve of vanity (which retains nothing) that they are shaken with, and they are found all chaff. 3. Here is a bridle, which God has in their jaws, to curb and restrain them from doing the mischief they would do, and to force and constrain them to serve his purposes against their own will, ch. x. 7. God particularly says of Sennacherib (ch. xxxvii. 29) that he will put a hook in his nose and a bridle in his lips. It is a bridle causing them to err, forcing them to such methods as will certainly be destructive to themselves and their interest and in which they will be infatuated. God with a word guides his people into the right way (v. 21), but with a bridle he turns his enemies headlong upon their own ruin. 4. Here is a rod and a staff, even the voice of the Lord, his word giving orders concerning it, with which the Assyrian shall be beaten down, v. 31. The Assyrian had been himself a rod in God’s hand for the chastising of his people, and had smitten them, ch. x. 5. That was a transient rod; but against the Assyrian shall go forth a grounded staff, that shall give a steady blow, shall stick close to him and strike home, so as to leave an impression upon him. It is a staff with a foundation, founded upon the enemies’ deserts and God’s determinate counsel. It is a consumption determined (ch. x. 23), and therefore there is no escaping it, no getting out of the reach of it; it shall pass in every place where an Assyrian is found, and the Lord shall lay it upon him, and cause it to rest, v. 32. Such is the woeful case of those that persist in enmity to God: the wrath of God abides on them. 5. Here is Tophet ordained and prepared for them, v. 33. The valley of the son of Hinnom, adjoining to Jerusalem, was called Tophet. In that valley, it is supposed, many of the Assyrian regiments lay encamped, and were there slain by the destroying angel; or there the bodies of those that were so slain were burned. Hezekiah had lately, and from yesterday (so the word is) ordained it; that is, say some, he had cleared it of the images that were set up in it, to which they there burnt their children, and so prepared it to be a receptacle for the dead bodies of their enemies, for the king of Assyria (that is, for his army) it is prepared, and there is fuel enough ready to burn them all; and they shall be consumed as suddenly and effectually as if the fire were kept burning by a continual stream of brimstone, for such the breath of the Lord, his word and his wrath, will be to it. Now as the prophet, in the foregoing promises, slides insensibly into the promises of gospel graces and comforts, so here, in the threatening of the ruin of Sennacherib’s army, he points at the final and everlasting destruction of all impenitent sinners. Our Saviour calls the future misery of the damned Gehenna, in allusion to the valley of Hinnom, which gives some countenance to the applying of this to that misery, as also that in the Apocalypse it is so often called the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is said to be prepared of old for the devil and his angels, for the greatest of sinners, the proudest, and that think themselves not accountable to any for what they say and do; even for kings it is prepared. It is deep and large, sufficient to receive the world of the ungodly; the pile thereof is fire and much wood. God’s wrath is the fire, and sinners make themselves fuel to it; and the breath of the Lord (the power of his anger) kindles it, and will keep it ever burning. See ch. lxvi. 24. Wherefore stand in awe and sin not.
III. The great joy which this should occasion to the people of God. The Assyrian’s fall is Jerusalem’s triumph (v. 29): You shall have a song as in the night, a psalm of praise such as those sing who by night stand in the house of the Lord, and sing to his glory who gives songs in the night. It shall not be a song of vain mirth, but a sacred song, such as was sung when a holy solemnity was kept in a grave and religious manner. Our joy in the fall of the church’s enemies must be a holy joy, gladness of heart, as when one goes, with a pipe (such as the sons of the prophets used when they prophesied, 1 Sam. x. 5), to the mountain of the Lord, there to celebrate the praises of the Mighty One of Israel. Nay, in every place where the divine vengeance shall pursue the Assyrians they shall not only fall unlamented, but all their neighbours shall attend their fall with tabrets and harps, pleased to see how God, in battles of shaking, such as shake them out of the world, fights with them (v. 32); for when the wicked perish there is shouting; and it is with a particular satisfaction that wise and good men see the ruin of those who, like the Assyrians, have insolently bidden defiance to God and trampled upon all mankind.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 27-33: THE ASSYRIAN BROKEN WITHOUT HUMAN AID
1. This passage begins with the portrayal of the Lord’s coming in fiery indignation, with wrath upon His enemies and those of His people, (vs. 27-28).
2. As when a holy feast is held (Psa 42:4), the heart of Judah will be gladdened with “songs in the night” (Isa 12:1; Isa 26:1) – as when one goes, in holy convocation, to the mountain of the Lord that he may extol “the Rock of Israel”, (vs. 29; Isa 2:3; Isa 17:10; Isa 26:4; Isa 44:8).
3. In the meantime, the glorious voice of Jehovah (Isa 66:5-6; Isa 11:4; Joe 2:11; Joe 3:16-17; Rev 19:15), and the outstretched arm of His indignation (Jer 17:6; Eze 20:33-36), will be lifted against the dismayed Assyrian (Isa 10:12; Isa 14:25; Isa 37:7; Isa 37:36-38) – effectively ending his reign of terror, and without human instrumentality, (vs. 30-32; Isa 31:8).
4. At Tophet, the place in the valley of Jehoshaphat and Hinnom, where abominable sacrifices were made to Moloch, the Lord will consume the armies of Assyria (and later those of Anti-christ) by the fire of His wrath, (vs. 33; comp. Isa 63:1-6; Psa 2:1-6; Joe 2:11; Joe 3:9-16; 2Th 2:8; Rev 19:11-21).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
27. Behold the name of the Lord cometh. He threatens the destruction of the Assyrians, who were at that time the chief enemies of the Church. From almost all their neighbors, indeed, the Jews received annoyance; but as the Assyrians were greatly superior to others in wealth and power, so the prophets, when they speak of enemies, mention them almost exclusively, and afterwards the Babylonians, who obtained the monarchy; though, as we have already seen, they frequently, by a figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole, include the Chaldeans under the name of Assyrians. By “the name of God” he unquestionably means God himself; but he makes use of this circumlocution, because the Assyrians and other nations worshipped gods made of gold and silver, and held up the Jews to ridicule, because they did not worship him under any image, or statue, or resemblance; as one who wrote against them says that “they worship the bright clouds and the deity of the sky.” (306) Thus wicked and ungodly men always judge of God according to outward appearances; while the prophets, on the other hand, remind believers of “the name of God.” “That God who revealed himself to you by his name, whom you do not feel, whom you do not see, will take vengeance on your insults.”
From afar. He adds this as if he granted what was said by them; for ungodly men, when they do not perceive the hand of God, think that he is at a great distance, and mock at the confidence of believers as groundless. Accordingly, the Prophet, adapting his language to the views of unbelievers, shews that God, whom they thought to be at a great distance, will come, or rather, has already come, and is at hand. This is what he means by the particle הנה, ( hĭnnĕh,) behold, which he contrasts with the word ממרהק, ( mĭmmĕrhŏk,) “from afar,” directing believers, in this manner, to rise above all obstructions, that by their hope they may arrive at that assistance which he promised.
His face burneth. In order to shew that the celebration of the name of God in Judea is not vain or groundless, the Prophet describes the power of God, that is, the power which he will employ in driving out the enemies of the Church, as dreadful. When he addresses those who believe in him, in order to encourage them to the exercise of faith, he shews himself to be kind, gentle, patient, slow to anger, and merciful; but to the ungodly he holds out nothing but fear and terror. (Exo 34:6.) And as the ungodly are terrified when God is mentioned, so believers, drawn by a conviction of his goodness, rely on him, and are not distressed by such fears. This shews us that we ought continually to persevere in the fear of God, that we may not find God to be what he is here described by the Prophet.
His burden is heavy. (307) That is, the Lord will bring with him dreadful calamities, which the ungodly will not be able to endure; for by “burdens” he means the punishments which are inflicted on the ungodly. He expresses the same thing by the words lips and tongue. But why did he speak of them rather than of the hands? It is, because ungodly men mock at all the threatenings which are uttered by the word of God, and treat as fabulous all that is declared by the prophets. To their own cost, therefore, they shall learn that the sound which proceedeth from the sacred name of God is not without meaning, and is not idle thunder intended merely to strike the ears, but shall at length know by experience what is the power of that word which they despised.
(306) Bogus footnote
(307) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(27) Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far . . .The use of the Name of Jehovah for Jehovah Himself is noticeable as an anticipation of the later use of the memra (sc., word) in the Targumim (or paraphrases) of the sacred writings, and of the logos of St. John, a distinct, though not defined, conception of a duality in the Divine essence. In other respects the vision of the Theophany has its parallels in Jdg. 5:4-5; Exo. 24:17.
And the burden thereof is heavy.Better, in thick uplifting of smoke.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27, 28. The transition here is sudden.
The name The “name” of Jehovah is Jehovah himself, that is, Jehovah in absolute and distinctive personality as revealed in word and act.
Cometh from far The revelation of God’s righteousness cometh from all his works and providences. Manifestations of divine judgments are everywhere. God is judge. Nations are brought before him. Evil doing is condemned, and monuments thereof cover the world. The judgments now to be rendered are upon Assyria, the persecutor of Judah. The storm, ready to burst, is hovering over the world-power, but the description applies in principle to all judgment scenes. Jehovah comes in deliverance to all his trusting people through awful but necessary calamities to his enemies.
His anger His felt moral outrage against defiant independence of him.
Burden is heavy Literally, Grievous is the flame. Possibly this means, “Tremendous is the bursting lightning which darts from the blackened heavens.”
And his breath His Spirit moving, now gently, now in tornado force, as occasion calls; in this action it is violent, destructive.
As an overflowing stream Rushing forth as such a stream rushes.
Neck Or, divides at the neck. Only the head is yet out of peril. Perhaps meaning Assyria, not yet completely doomed.
Sieve of vanity Divine judgment sifts the nations, and what remains is emptiness, nothingness, destruction. Lowth calls it the winnowing fan of destruction.
Bridle In the jaws of unwilling nations, leading them into ways they did not intend. See Assyrian inscriptions.
Here are metaphors jumbled, but of striking force and of clear meaning. The figures melt into each other. A storm is conceived rising from the farthest horizon; the black cloud is turned into a sea of fire, or lightnings consuming where they strike, and raising volumes (burden) of smoke, all of which symbolizes the divine wrath, swelling as it were into a stream, covering men up to the neck, the same as in chap. Isa 8:8, which see. The judicial effect is the same as sifting chaff to the winds by the winnowing fan, common to this day in Palestine. All that is worth saving is left, the rest cast utterly away. Nations are destroyed, or diminished and held as by a “bridle” from pursuing and compassing their utterly selfish ends.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Destruction of Assyria ( Isa 30:27-33 ).
However, although there will be no help for them in Egypt, they will be delivered, for God Himself will act to deliver them. For the remnant who come through the fire, those who have sought refuge on God’s mountain, the true believers, there will be mercy, because God will act for them and sweep away the enemy.
This passage opens with ‘the name of Yahweh’ being revealed in judgment and fire, and closes with ‘the breath of Yahweh’ expressing itself in judgment, as the enemy are offered up like a sacrifice to a heathen god. His name represents His greatness and glory, His breath His powerful judgment. It describes the dreadfulness of Yahweh’s judgment on Assyria.
Analysis.
a Behold the name of Yahweh comes from far, burning with his anger and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue is as a devouring fire, and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reaches even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of worthlessness, and a bridle that causes to err will be in the jaws of the peoples (Isa 30:27-28).
b You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goes with a pipe to come to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel (Isa 30:29).
c And Yahweh will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descending blow of His arm in the indignation of His anger, and the flame of a devouring fire with the crashing of a storm, and tempest and hailstones (Isa 30:30).
c For through the voice of Yahweh will the Assyrian be broken in pieces, who smote with a rod (or ‘whom he smote with a rod’) (Isa 30:31).
b And every stroke of the appointed staff that Yahweh will lay on him will be with tambourines and harps, and He will fight with them in battles of shaking (Isa 30:32).
a For a Topheth is prepared of old, yes, it is made ready for the king. He has made it deep and large. Its pile is fire and much wood. The breath of Yahweh like a stream of brimstone kindles it (Isa 30:33).
In ‘a’ Yahweh will come burning with anger in thick smoke, His breath like an everflowing stream which reaches to the neck, to sift the nations, and in the parallel He has prepared for a sacrifice on piles of fire, and His breath is like a stream of brimstone which kindles it. In ‘b’ they will have a song and gladness of heart as they rest on the Rock of Israel, and in the parallel they will have tambourines and harp as the enemy are defeated by Yahweh. In ‘c’ Yahweh will reveal His effective power, and in the parallel will break the Assyrian in pieces.
Isa 30:27-28
‘Behold the name of Yahweh comes from far,
Burning with his anger and in thick rising smoke.
His lips are full of indignation,
And his tongue is as a devouring fire,
And his breath is as an overflowing stream,
That reaches even to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of worthlessness,
And a bridle that causes to err will be in the jaws of the peoples.’
The approach of the name of Yahweh demonstrates that He has come for vindication, to establish His name and reputation. Assyria, His rod, has thwarted His will and gone beyond its remit (Isa 10:6-7; Isa 10:12-15). Now Yahweh comes to make matters right. For anger combined with thick rising smoke compare Gen 19:28 of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (compare Isa 13:19 of the judgment on Babylon). Also see Exo 19:18. For devouring fire compare Isa 29:6; Isa 33:14; Exo 24:17. The thick rising smoke emphasises the burning nature of His anger. It is all consuming. Whenever people saw thick rising smoke in the distance they knew that it was always ominous, and that destruction accompanied it.
Thus we have here the God of Sinai, the God of the covenant, the Great Deliverer, appearing to exercise His wrath. He ‘comes from far’ for He has been standing back, out of this world, allowing events to go forward, but now He can stand by no longer. He burns with anger, His lips flow with indignation, His tongue is like a devouring fire, His breath (or wind) like a devastating flood that reaches even to the neck (compare Isa 8:8; Isa 11:4), because of the treatment meted out to His people. (Isaiah’s purpose is to bring out Yahweh’s depth of feeling for His people). He has come to sieve their oppressors in ‘the sieve of worthlessness’ which will analyse and reveal what they are, revealing their worthlessness and futility, and to lead them into disaster with a bridle that causes to err, to go astray. They are still under His control, no longer as the rod of His anger, but now as the butt of His anger. They have overstepped the mark. And He will work His will on them.
The idea of the flood to the neck, which is recompensing Assyria’s earlier behaviour (see Isa 8:8), while stressing its depth, may be to give an assurance that it will not be like the flood in the time of Noah, all consuming. While it will be severe judgment, it will not be final.
Isa 30:29
‘You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goes with a pipe to come to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel.’
Israel/Judah on the other hand will rejoice because their enemy are being dealt with. As they watch over the walls in amazement they will see large numbers of dead men being carried from their tents and piled up, and will recognise that it can only mean the cessation of the siege. The previous day the camp had been vibrant with hostility and purpose. Now it was a graveyard. Yahweh has visited their enemies. Assyria and its allies have suffered a cruel blow from which they cannot recover.
The watchers will thus sing as they would by night at a holy feast, possibly especially at Passover, the feast of deliverance, which was specifically celebrated at night, with spontaneous delight and a sense of release. But the emphasis here is on the fact that it will be spontaneous worship, not the result of a specific feast but of a unique event that has brought them special joy, just as the original Passover did. They will be as they would when they play their pipes and ascend the mountain of Yahweh, the Rock of Israel, full of gladness and rejoicing in Him. The name ‘Rock of Israel’ confirms the solidity of their foundations (compare Isa 26:4). They have found Him to be so and have cause to rejoice.
Isa 30:30-31
‘And Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descending blow of his arm in the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire with the crashing of a storm, and tempest and hailstones. For through the voice of Yahweh will the Assyrian be broken in pieces, who smote with a rod (or ‘whom he smote with a rod’).’
For Yahweh will have spoken with a majestic and glorious voice by His act of power in destroying the Assyrian army. His mighty arm will have descended revealing His fierce anger against their sin, His devouring fire will have done its work like thunderbolts and forked lightning in a mighty storm. This need not signify a literal storm. It is a picture of the invisible power of Yahweh at work, bringing about the havoc that such a storm causes. For Yahweh will have decimated the Assyrians with one mighty blow.
‘Who smote with a rod (or ‘whom he smote with a rod’).’ This refers to the fact that what Assyria had initially done to the cities of Judah was as Yahweh’s rod (compare Isa 10:5). But now the rod itself will be punished and destroyed because it went far beyond Yahweh’s remit. For Assyria had not knowingly acted as Yahweh’s rod, they had acted as they did because they were greedy, rapacious and bloodthirsty, and even while ‘controlled’ they had been uncontrolled. Alternately it could refer to the smiting with a rod by Yahweh of the Assyrian army. Either way it is a reminder that Assyria is receiving what it sowed.
Isa 30:32-33
‘And every stroke of the appointed staff that Yahweh will lay on him will be with tambourines and harps, and he will fight with them in battles of shaking. For a Topheth is prepared of old, yes, it is made ready for the king. He has made it deep and large. Its pile is fire and much wood. The breath of Yahweh like a stream of brimstone kindles it.’
Yahweh in turn has appointed a staff with which to smite His people’s enemies, and every stroke it makes results in music of rejoicing from the besieged. Note how the music here parallels Isa 30:29. Only those who have been under siege in a walled city with a cruel enemy surrounding, awaiting what seems to be the inevitable cruel end for themselves, their wives and their children, can appreciate the exaltation when the siege is unexpectedly lifted by the defeat of the enemy, and the wild expression of release in the playing of every instrument to hand and the singing of songs of deliverance.
In divine contrast with the tambourines and harps is Yahweh fighting for them in ‘battles of shaking.’ Compare Isa 19:16. ‘Battles’ is probably a plural of intensity. It is the mother of all battles. The reference would appear to be to the hand of Yahweh shaking (or ‘waving’) with expressed power over them in battle, which will cause their enemies also to shake, but with fear. It may even also be a deliberate comparison with the people’s shaking of their tambourines. As they shake their tambourines He will be shaking the enemy. Also included may be a reference to the shaking that resulted from the fever with which Yahweh possibly smote the Assyrian army. The phrase may signify ‘an intensive battle (plural of intensity) which results in shaking’.
But all the while from the battlements of Jerusalem will be heard the tambourines and the harps as they give glory for their deliverance. We have here a wonderful illustration of what it means to ‘stand still and see the salvation of God’ (Exo 14:13), when God does it all and His people watch in rejoicing.
‘For a Topheth is prepared of old.’ Topheth probably means ‘abominable fireplace’. The root tpt relates to the Aramaic and Arabic for fireplace, with the vowels of bosheth (‘shame’) applied to it. It was the name given to a high place in the Valley of Hinnom where children were passed through the fire to Melech (‘King’ – from which comes Molech – using the vowels of bosheth to denote shame). It is thus a place of burning which is shameful, and thus suitable for this idolatrous king and his arrogant pride. God has made it deep and large, sufficient for its purpose. He has piled it high with burning wood, and His breath kindles it like a stream of brimstone, a stream of burning sulphur. Destructive fire is often spoken of in terms of brimstone.
The whole picture is demonstrating the awful end of the king and his armies at the hand of Yahweh, as though they were being burned in a fire as a heathen sacrifice to the gods. All are doomed.
Such passages remind us of the holiness of God. They remind us that He is not to be treated lightly. That He is the Holy One. That His fury at sin results in judgment. But they also indicate that He will protect His own when they look to Him. Then we will have cause for singing when we enjoy His deliverance.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 30:27-28. Behold, the name of the Lord cometh Lo! the name of JEHOVAH cometh from afar; his wrath burneth, and the shame rageth violently: his lips are filled with indignation; and his tongue is as a consuming fire. His spirit is like a torrent overflowing; it shall reach to the middle of the neck: he cometh to toss the nations with the van of perdition, &c. Bishop Lowth. This exquisitely fine and most sublime passage refers, according to Vitringa, to the formidable judgment of God upon the Assyrian, as a type of other powerful enemies, who in the various ages of the church should arise up against it. It is thus connected with the argument and scope of the whole discourse, wherein the prophet convinces the Ephraimites of the folly and vanity of their counsels, in imploring the aid of the Egyptians against the Assyrians, to the utter neglect of their duty towards God; and foretels that the event of this counsel would be the entire subversion of their state, as we have seen, Isa 30:3; Isa 30:13-14. This period concerning the judgment of the Assyrian, is connected with and answers to each part of this argument: for it teaches that they had no need to fly to Egypt in a doubtful case, since God was sufficient to defend them, and had determined the destruction of the Assyrian. For a similar connection, see chap. Isa 31:3-4. Besides, the prophets having foretold the subversion of the Ephraimites by the Assyrians, subjoins the judgment upon the Assyrian, to inform true believers that nothing of this happened without the will of God; so we find, in chap. 9: and 10: after the subversion of Ephraim had been foretold, the destruction of the Assyrian is immediately subjoined, Isa 30:5, &c. More immediately this passage connects with the latter part of the 25th verse, where having mentioned the fall of the towers, or of the powerful enemies of the church, a remarkable example thereof in the Assyrian is given in these verses, wherein the prophet, speaking humano more, (after the manner of men) introduces God as an enraged prince, prepared to take vengeance on his enemies, and to pour upon them the severity of his indignation. The reader, by referring to the destruction of Sennacherib, and the character of that proud and insolent prince, will see still more beauty and emphasis in this passage. The meaning of the last phrase in the 28th verse is, that God, according to the secret ways of his wonderful providence, would lead the Assyrian with his great army, as it were with a bridle, to his utter destruction, while he was vainly proposing to himself the most ample success. See the passage remarkably explained, ch. Isa 37:29.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
5. THE MUSIC OF THE WORLDS JUDGMENT
Isa 30:27-33
27Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far,
Burning with his anger, 23and the burden thereof Isaiah 24 heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And his tongue as a devouring fire:
28And his breath, as an overflowing stream,
Shall reach to the midst of the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of vanity:
And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.
29Ye shall have a song, as in the night
When a holy solemnity is kept;
And gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe
To come into the mountain of the Lord,
To the 25mighty One of Israel.
30And the Lord shall cause 26his glorious voice to be heard,
And shall show the lighting down of his arm,
With the indignation of his anger,
And with the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
31For through the voice of the Lord
Shall the Assyrian be beaten down,
27Which smote with a rod.
32And 2829in every place where the grounded staff shall pass,
Which the Lord shall 30lay upon him,
It shall be with tabrets and harps;
And in battles of shaking will he fight 31with it.
33For 32Tophet is ordained 33of old;
Yea, for the king it is prepared;
He hath made it deep, and large,
The pile thereof is fire and much wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
Doth kindle it.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 30:28. for () Isa 10:15 is a verbal noun used as an infinitive. Comp. Est 2:18.
Isa 30:32. Instead of which we must refer to the land of Assyria, the Kri has the preferable reading .
Isa 30:33. The reading of the Kri has probably arisen through the attempt to produce a conformity with the feminine suffix in .
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Prophet sees the Lord appear with all His attributes as Judge, and the nations brought to Him as beasts compelled by the bridle to come to be destroyed (Isa 30:27-28). Meanwhile Israels song is heard as the rejoicing at a festival (Isa 30:29). Then Jehovahs majestic voice sounds forth, and His arm is seen to descend to strike (Isa 30:30). It is Assyria that stands trembling before Him and receives the strokes (Isa 30:31), and every stroke is inflicted with the music of tabrets and harps, to which the sound of the heavy blows forms as it were the accompaniment (Isa 30:32). This is the immolation of Assyria, as we see from the broad and deep place of burning which is prepared with a huge pyre, which the breath of the Lord, as a brook of burning brimstone, will kindle in order to consume the slaughtered victim Assyria, i. e., the worldly power (Isa 30:33).
2. Behold the nameto err. Isa 30:27-28. The name of Jehovah that comes from far to judgment is not a mere word, nor does it stand simply for God Himself, but it is a manifestation of Deity in which He reveals His holy and righteous nature and His almighty majesty for the purpose of judgment. We have here to refer to Exo 23:21, where the Lord declares of His angel: my name is in him;and to all those places where it is said that the name of Jehovah dwells in His holy temple; and, lastly, to places such as Psa 75:2 where we read Thy name is near. The name of Jehovah that comes to judgment is a person. It is He who is the Agent in every revelation of the Godhead, and accordingly He to whom the Father has committed all judgment (Joh 5:22; Act 17:31; Rom 14:10; et saepe). The name of God comes from far, because He comes from heaven (Psa 138:6). But as far as the eye can reach He is seen. His appearance is like a tempest. recalls Psa 2:12. supply ( .) is lifting up, and according to Jdg 20:38 of smoke. It occurs only here. foam, foaming rage, (Isa 10:5; Isa 10:25; Isa 13:5; Isa 26:20). occurs Exo 24:17; Deu 4:24; Deu 9:3; hence in Joe 2:5 and Isa 29:6; Isa 30:27; Isa 30:30; Isa 33:14. It has been rightly remarked that two imagesthat of a tempest and that of a raging manare here blended. The Lord moves along in His wrath like an overflowing brook which divides () the man who has fallen into it into two unequal parts, only the smaller appearing above the water (Isa 8:8). He sifts the people with the sieve (. .) of emptiness,i. e., a sieve Which lets the light, useless grain fall through it. [This explanation is not natural. The sieve of vanity, or emptiness, or destruction is so-called as marking the result of the sifting, a reduction to nothingness.D. M.]. The Lord comes as Judge. The nations are brought to Him against their will. A bridle is put into their jaws which compels them to go from the way which they intended the expression only here, in Isa 3:12; Isa 9:15; Isa 19:13 sq.: Isa 63:17).
3. Ye shall have a songIsrael. Isa 30:29. The Prophet marks by the article before the customary solemn festal song. is the dat. commodi. The night when the festival is kept or consecrated is the night from the fourteenth to the fifteenth of the month Nisan, the night in which the paschal lamb was eaten amid solemn songs; for this was the only festival which was celebrated at night. On the fifteenth the feast of unleavened bread began, to which the passover served as an introductory dedication. Israels preservation in the night when the destroying angel smote the host of Sennacherib (Isa 37:36 sqq.) can be regarded as one, but not the only one, of the events which Isaiah had here in his eye. The Prophet comprehends in the section Isa 30:27-33, all that is future, as he had done in the parallel section Isa 30:19-26. is vox solemnis for the consecration preparatory to the festival (Exo 19:22; Num 11:18; Jos 3:5; Jos 7:13 et saepe). But in those places the people or the priests are the subject. Here it is the festival. The expression is a metonymy, the festival being put for those who celebrate it. is elsewhere the feast of tabernacles. Here the festival is definitely marked as that of the passover by . Beside the solemnity celebrated at night with song, the Prophet makes mention in the second part of the verse of another such solemnity happening by day. He also employs the manifold festal processions which with accompaniment of song and music moved to the temple, as types of the joy granted to Israel in distinction from the heathen. = comp. Isa 5:29; Isa 10:10; Isa 13:4, et saepe.5:12; marks accompaniment, Isa 12:6; Isa 14:9. . n order to avoid using the same preposition twice is here used instead of or . The expression occurs besides here only 2Sa 23:3. The expression suits admirably the context in which it is said that Israel stands while all else falls. How could what has this rock as a refuge fall?
4. And the Lordkindle it. Isa 30:30-33. The verses 27 and 28 had depicted the approach of the judge (comp. Isa 30:27). The description of the judgment begins with Isa 30:30. Jehovah makes the glory of his voice to be heard,the action of his arm he makes to be seen. The image of corporal chastisement is employed by the Prophet to make his picture of the judgment the more incisive. snorting, anhelitus, only here in Isaiah. is . . The root denotes to scatter, to break or dash in pieces (Isa 11:12; Isa 33:3; Jer 51:20 sqq.). As snorting of the nose and flame of fire point to a thunder storm, while and are kinds of rain, must also belong to this category. We take it as signifying the breaking, the rending of a cloud, a water-spout. comp. on Isa 28:2. comp. Isa 28:17; Jos 10:11. in Isa 30:31 is explicative. What is the nature of the chastisement in question is explained. First, we are told who is the party punished. It is Assyria. He stands before the Lord and trembles as a boy before his punishers rebuke comp. Isa 7:8; Isa 31:4; Isa 51:6-7 et saepe. He who administers the punishment is Jehovah. It is He who strikes with the staff. Hence the repeated lighting down of his arm. The words I do not refer to Assyria notwithstanding the agreement with Isa 10:24. For it was not needful to mention that Assyria formerly smote Israel with the rod. But it was necessary to say that Jehovah now strikes Assyria with the rod, in order to explain Isa 30:30 and also Isa 30:32. The staff makes strokes, passes ( here in the active sense, the passing over). The staff is called ( ) because it is handled according to divine appointment and ordination (Hab 1:12) comp. Isa 28:16 and Eze 41:8. is related to Ver 30. The meaning is to make rest, so that the ceasing, the extreme point of the motion is thus indicated (comp. Eze 5:13; Eze 16:42; Eze 44:30; Exo 17:11). Every stroke, which Jehovah makes to fall or rest on Assyria, is inflicted amid the noise of timbrels (Isa 5:12; Isa 24:8) and harps (Isa 5:12; Isa 16:11; Isa 23:16; Isa 24:8). This is doubtless that joyous noise with which Israel as it were accompanies the acts of judgment of his God (Isa 30:29). Thus there arises a complete concert. The timbrels and harps form the soprano; the battles of shaking, i. e., the battles of the Lord fought with shaken, brandished hand, beat as it were the time, and also represent the bass. The strokes spoken of in Isa 30:30; Isa 30:32 are deadly strokes. This appears from the altar being already prepared for the slaughtered victim. And a dreadful altar it will be, a Tophet, deep and broad, with a huge pile of wood, which will be set on fire by the breath of the Lord in the form of a burning stream of brimstone. The Prophet had already said (Isa 10:16 sqq.), that Assyrias glory will perish by violent fire. Who does not here think of the destruction of Nineveh, in which fire played a prominent part (comp. Otto Strauss on Nah 3:15)? is . . occurs most frequently in Jeremiah. The derivation is uncertain (comp. my remarks on Jer 7:31). The form is after the analogy of ,. The Tophet in the valley of Hinnom was a place of sacrifice dedicated to Moloch; the Tophet here spoken of is intended to burn up the himself, in which word there is probably an allusion to . It is therefore a place like Tophet, and this may be the force of the form enlarged by the addition of . The form occurs only here and Mic 2:8. With the preposition it is commonly . It cannot possibly mean here the definite past (yesterday). It denotes the indefinite past which is represented by yesterday. From the fact that the place of burning has been long ago prepared, we see that those strokes (Isa 30:30; Isa 30:32) are not mere chastisements administered in love, but destructive, deadly strokes. With the second sentence begins. These words cannot be referred to , for then they must come after it. But the Prophet intends to say that Ashur shall not only be slaughtered, but also solemnly consumed in a vast place of sacrifice specially prepared for this purpose. But why this consuming by fire ? Not simply to denote total annihilation. If the supposition should not be established that the worship of Moloch which Ahaz introduced was connected with Assyrian influences (comp. Keil on 2Ki 16:3), still Assyria was essentially a representative of the idolatrous worldly power. And when Ashur is now told that the dreadful end of a sacrifice to Moloch awaits him, there lies therein a not indistinct allusion to the everlasting fire of that infernal lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which we find again Isa 34:9-10, whose name Gehenna is derived from the place Tophet , a trace of which drawn from Isaiah we meet with Dan 7:11, and which is more fully unfolded in the eschatological discourse of our Lord (Matthew 24, 25 where Mat 25:41 clearly recalls ordained of old in our passage), and the Rev 14:10-11; Rev 19:20; Rev 20:9-10; Rev 20:14. When mention is made in these places of a pool of fire and brimstone, it may be maintained that the idea of the is drawn from the expression he hath made it deep and wide, while the idea of fire and brimstone comes from the latter half of this verse. from (Isa 22:18; Isa 29:3) is the round pile of wood, the pyre. The word is found besides only Eze 24:9 comp. ibid. Isa 30:5. I do not look on as a hendiadys; for we see from the last clause of the verse that the Prophet desires to give prominence to the circumstance that fire will not be wanting to kindle properly the huge pile of wood. The two ideas of wood and fire are therefore not to be blended, but to be kept distinct. The words accordingly tell us whence the mighty fire will come which is destined to kindle the pile of wood. The breath of Jehovah (Isa 2:22; Isa 42:5) is here described as a stream of brimstone ( comp. Isa 34:9). Brimstone is set forth in Scripture as a destructive means of judgment, on the ground of that rain of brimstone which fell on Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24). in the signification accendere or accendiHos. Isa 7:4; Psa 2:12. Not slowly and gradually from a spark will the flame spread, but suddenly and in an imposing manner a whole stream of burning brimstone shall kindle the pile of wood. Thus the view of the Prophet, which embraces together the near and the most remote, is directed from the temporary occasion of the Egyptian embassy to the end of the present dispensation.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa 30:1-14. Such false trust as the Jewish people placed in Egypt is the sin of idolatry, which is so strictly forbidden; and all who herein follow the example of the Jews are fitly called rebellious, disobedient, lying children. God brings them to shame and derision in regard to what they relied on, and ordains a curse and destruction upon them. Therefore the Scripture saith: The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Comp. also Psa 146:3 and Jer 17:5-8. Renner. [God is true, and may be trusted; but every man a liar, and must be suspected. The Creator is a Rock of Ages, the creature a broken reed; we cannot expect too little from man, or too much from God. Henry.]
2. Isa 30:8. [The Prophet must not only preach this, but he must write it. 1. To shame the men of the present age who would not hear and heed it when it was spoken; their children may profit by it, though they will not. 2. To justify God in the judgments He was about to bring upon them; people will be tempted to think He was too hard upon them, and over severe, unless they know how very bad they were. 3. For warning to others not to do as they did, lest they fare as they fared. Henry.]
3. Isa 30:10. A faithful minister must not suffer men to prescribe to him what he should preach. For some would tell him to prophesy of wine and strong drink (Mic 2:11), the covetous would ask that he should preach how they might practice extortion and oppression. Or if they dare not be so impudent, they would at least desire that he should pass over in silence what would be disagreeable to them, and speak what their ears itched for (2Ti 4:3). But faithful ministers preach sharply against sin that it may be avoided. Examples: Ahijah, 1Ki 14:6; Micaiah, 1Ki 22:18. Cramer.
4. Isa 30:15. Neque in religione solum valet hic locus sed etiam in politia. Sic enim fere accidit quod praecipitia consilia fallunt. Contra felicia sunt ea, quae timide et cum ratione suscipiuntur. Ideo laudant Romani cunctatorem Fabium qui cunctando restituit rem. Semper etiam fallit praesumtio de nostris viribus. Bene igitur dictum est illud patiens terit omnia virtus Et Paulus: Vincite in bono malum .. non enim possunt durare impii, et est verissimum, quod dicitur malum destruit se ipsum. Simus igitur quieti et commendemus omnia manibus Dei. Deinde etiam speremus futuram liberationem et experiemur, quod spes non confundet nos, sed confundentur adversarii nostri, qui impietatis causam contra Christum impie defendendam susceperunt. Luther.
5. Isa 30:18. Precious consolatory discourse for all who have to bear the cross. God waits till the right time to help comes. Cramer.
6. Isa 30:19. [He will be very graciousand this in answer to prayer, which makes His kindness doubly kind: He will be gracious to thee at the voice of thy cry; the cry of thy necessity, when that is most urgent; the cry of thy prayer, when that is most fervent. When He shall hear itthere needs no moreat the first word He will answer thee, and say, Here I am. Herein He is very gracious indeed. Henry.]
7. Isa 30:20. [It was a common saying among the old Puritans, Brown bread and the Gospel are good fare. Henry.]
8. Isa 30:22. [Note: To all true penitents sin is very odious; they loathe it, and loathe themselves because of it; they cast it away to the dunghill. Henry.]
9. Isa 30:29. [It is with a particular satisfaction that wise and good men see the ruin of those who, like the Assyrians, have insolently bid defiance to God, and trampled upon all mankind. Henry.]
HOMILETICAL HINTS
On Isa 30:1-3. What one who needs counsel has to do. 1) He is not to take counsel without the Lord; for a. thereby he apostatizes from the Lord, and heaps sin on sin; b. the counsel thus resolved on leads only to disgrace and misery. 2) He is to let himself be led by the Spirit of the Lord, while he a. invokes Him in prayer; b. seeks to know His will out of the word of God; c. according to such direction makes conscientious use of the means at his command.
2. On Isa 30:8. Text for a sermon at a Bible festival. The importance of the written wordlitera scripta manet.
3. On Isa 30:9-14. A mirror which the Prophet holds before our churches also. 1) Do you make the same demands on your minister which the contemporaries of Isaah, according to Isa 30:9-11, made on the prophets? If so, it will happen to you according to the word of the prophet in Isa 30:12 to Isa 14:2) Or will you hear the law of the Lord (Isa 30:9)? Then you will be spared the judgments of God, and the peace of God will be imparted unto you.
4. On Isa 30:15-17. We have many and severe conflicts against outward and inward foes to stand. For this we need strength. Wherein does the right strength consist? 1) Not in horses and runners, etc. 2) The right strength is in the Lord, which we obtain when a. we make room for it by being still; when b. by believing hope we attract it to us.
5. On Isa 30:18. [He will wait to be gracious; He will wait till you return to Him, and seek His face, and then He will be ready to meet yon with mercy. He will wait, that He may do it in the best and fittest time, when it will be most for His glory, when it will come to you with the most pleasing surprise. He will continually follow you with His favors, and not let slip any opportunity of being gracious to you. Henry.D. M.]
6. On Isa 30:20-21. The importance of a faithful teacher.
7. On Isa 30:26-33. We can in treating of the last things cite these words, and show that the judgment has two sides, according as it has respect to the children of God, or to the ungodly.
Footnotes:
[23]Or, and the grievousness of flame.
[24]Heb. heaviness.
[25]Rock.
[26]Heb. the glory of his votes.
[27]with the rod will he smite.
[28]Heb. every passing of the rod founded.
[29]every stroke of the rod of doom.
[30]Heb. cause to rest upon him.
[31]Or, against them.
[32]a place of burning.
[33]Heb. from yesterday.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
I hope that the Reader is, by this time, so well acquainted with scripture, as to need not the remark how, all along, the Lord is forever blending, judgment with mercy. Here we have, as in many other places in the word of God, the horrible punishment of the despisers of God and of his Christ; while we have been comforted with the blessings of those that love and fear him. And in all periods of the Church we find these united predictions constantly and faithfully fulfilled. And the people of God are called upon to bless God, when the Lord puts down their enemies before their face. They have a song as in the night. Witness the case in Egypt, Exo 15:1 , etc. Witness the same in Babylon, Psa 137:8-9 . And the final triumph of God’s people is described the same, when standing on the sea of glass, and singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb: Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name, for thou only art holy? For all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest! Rev 15:2-4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning [with] his anger, and the burden [thereof is] heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
Ver. 27. Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far. ] That is, an angel cometh from heaven to destroy the Assyrians: or, The name of the Lord, that is, Maiestas Dei nominatissimi, the glorious and renowned God himself.
Burning with anger.
His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue, &c.
“ S, .”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 30:27-33
27Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place;
Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke;
His lips are filled with indignation
And His tongue is like a consuming fire;
28His breath is like an overflowing torrent,
Which reaches to the neck,
To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve,
And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.
29You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival,
And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
To go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.
30And the LORD will cause His voice of authority to be heard,
And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.
31For at the voice of the LORD Assyria will be terrified,
When He strikes with the rod.
32And every blow of the rod of punishment,
Which the LORD will lay on him,
Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33For Topheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.
Isa 30:27-33 This strophe reflects God’s judgment on Assyria in the idiom of a theophany as an approaching storm (cf. Exo 19:16 ff; Jdg 5:4-5; Psa 18:7 ff; Psa 50:3-5; Hab 3:3-4).
1. elements of theophany – Isa 30:27; Isa 30:30 -c, 33e
2. elements of storm – Isa 30:28; Isa 30:30 d
3. elements of restoration – Isa 30:29
4. elements of judgment – Assyria, Isa 30:31-33
Isa 30:27
NASBdense is His smoke
NKJVHis burden is heavy
NRSVin thick rising smoke
NJBheavy his threat
The MT has , BDB 457, KB 451, CONSTRUCT BDB 673, rising smoke. The first word can mean
1. be heavy
2. weighty
3. burdensome
4. honored
The second term (, BDB 673, KB 640) is found only here in the OT. BDB says it means the uplifted (cloud). KB says it means lifting up, exaltation, but it also lists Jdg 20:38-40 as a parallel where , Jdg 20:38, denotes rising smoke from a burning city. The context of Isa 30:27 is one of theophany and judgment, so both fit.
1. exaltation, denoting a cloud (i.e., Shekinah)
2. heavy smoke
Isa 30:28 Which reaches to the neck This same idiom was used of the Assyrian invasion in Isa 8:8. Here the idiom is reversed and YHWH fights on Judah’s side against Assyria.
Isa 30:29 the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel These are idioms for the temple in Jerusalem because of parallelism. Often the rock refers to YHWH Himself (cf. Isa 17:10; Deu 32:4; Deu 32:18; Deu 32:30; 1Sa 2:2; Psa 18:2; Psa 18:31; Psa 18:46; Psa 28:1; Psa 31:3; Psa 42:9).
Isa 30:30 His voice Literally, the majesty (BDB 217) of His voice. God’s will is accomplished through speaking (i.e., creation, Genesis 1). His voice is effective (cf. Isa 45:23; Isa 55:11; Mat 24:35). The imagery of Jesus with a two-edged sword (cf. Heb 4:12) coming out of His mouth (cf. Isa 49:2; Rev 1:16; Rev 2:12; Rev 2:16; Rev 19:15) is theologically parallel, as is the rod of His mouth in Isa 11:4.
hailstones God used them in Jos 10:11 as a way to defeat the Canaanites and give victory to Israel (cf. Jos 10:14; Jos 10:42; Jos 23:3; Jos 23:10).
Isa 30:31
NASB, TEV,
NJBwill be terrified
NKJVwill be beaten down
NRSVwill be terror-stricken
JBwill be battered
LXX,
PESHITTAwill be defeated
The VERB (BDB 369, KB 365, Qal IMPERFECT) literally means be shattered, denoting a complete defeat in battle which is preceded by a numbing, paralyzing fear of the upcoming defeat (cf. Isa 7:8; Isa 8:9 [thrice]; Isa 9:4; Isa 20:5; Isa 30:31; Isa 31:4; Isa 31:9; Isa 37:27; Isa 51:6-7). YHWH is fighting on His people’s side against Assyria. The fear and panic and loss experienced by Israel and Judah is now being felt by Assyria (the rod of YHWH’s anger, cf. Isa 10:5).
He strikes with a rod In Isa 10:5, Assyria is called the rod of God’s anger, but here the roles are reversed and God is back on His people’s side. The rod now feels the rod!
Isa 30:32 The judgment of the Lord is expressed by the idiom of a beating with a rod. It is possible that the next two lines (Isa 30:32 c,d) depict
1. strokes being given at the musical beat of rejoicing
2. that Judah’s rejoicing follows Assyria’s defeat by YHWH (cf. Isa 30:32 d).
Isa 30:33 Topheth This is the Hebrew word for place of burning (BDB 1075). It is often used in connection with the worship of the god Molech. Here the context could imply
1. a place of sacrifice to YHWH prepared by the king of His restored people
2. the funeral pyre for Assyria’s king prepared by YHWH Himself (cf. Isa 31:9)
3. the King which refers to Molech, the Phoenician fire god (cf. Lev 18:21)
In context #2 fits best.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos.
the name. See note on Psa 20:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 30:27-33
Isa 30:27-33
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIANS
“Behold the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is a devouring fire; and his breath is an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples. Ye shall have a song as in a night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness in the heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. And Jehovah shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lightning down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he smite him. and every stroke of the appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, shall be with the sound of tabrets and harps; and in battles with the brandishing of his arm, will he fight with them. For a Tophet is prepared of old; yea, for the king it is made ready; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.”
There is strange intermingling here of songs and tabrets and harps, along with terrible destruction and death. “The simple idea is, that the sudden and complete destruction of Sennacherib’s army would be the occasion of the highest joy in Israel.”
Despite the application of these verses to the forthcoming destruction of Sennacherib’s host, “They further apply to the end time. One day, the godless powers of the earth will find themselves caught like Judah (Isa 8:8) in a rising tide, and drawn by God’s bridle (like Assyria in Isa 37:29) to their destruction.” However, the grave of the oppressors on that Day of Judgment will not be the Red Sea, but Tophet.
This mention of “bridle” appears to be a reference to the habit of the Assyrians of linking long lines of prisoners together with devices fastened in the ears, the jaws, or the lips of their victims as they were cruelly marched away. Here it is used to describe the unwillingness of evil men to face God in judgment, (Rev 6:12 ff), and their inability to avoid it.
Tophet is the name of the same place that is called in the New Testament “Gehenna”, or hell, the New Testament name having been derived from “Sons of Hinnon,” as suggested in Jer 7:31. This abominable valley (of Topher) was the shrine of a pagan god Molech (Melech), to whom a giant statue with brazen arms and a furnace in his belly had been erected, and who was worshipped by casting little babies alive into his arms heated red hot, the cries of which were drowned out with noisy drums and instruments of music. Even a king of Israel (Ahaz) sacrificed his son unto Molech (2Ki 16:3). They called this monstrous ceremony “passing through the fire to Molech!” No wonder such a place gave a name that in the New Testament would mean “hell.”
The destruction prophesied here for Assyria will be accomplished by God’s rod (Isa 30:31); but Assyria was God’s “rod” in Isa 10:5; and now it will be another “rod of God” that Jehovah will use to destroy Assyria. “Babylon was the `rod’ that destroyed Assyria.”
This paragraph gives a magnificent picture indeed of Jehovah as the judge and the ultimate destroyer of wicked men. Nothing is more emphatically taught in both the Old Testament and the New Testament than the ultimate promise of Almighty God to “judge the world in righteousness, by that Man whom he has appointed, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Act 17:31 f).
Despite the fact of the unwillingness of many millions of people today to believe in any such thing as the eternal judgment, it stands, nevertheless, in the New Testament, where it is designated as one of the “Six Fundamentals” of the Christian religion (Heb 6:2).
Isa 30:27-33 REJOICING: After repentance and restoration comes rejoicing. The Lords people are portrayed as rejoicing when they see the all-powerful deliverance given to them by Him. He is coming from His place, burning with His anger and He will destroy His enemies with the word of His mouth. If God can bring the universe into existence by His word, He can destroy His enemies by the word of His mouth. His defeat of His enemies is inevitable and all consuming. Their defeat will be complete. Jehovah is going to bring this judgment upon the goyim (Gentiles, nations). The nations are brought to Him to be judged as beasts compelled by a halter or bridle are led to sacrifice. God will bring His enemies to judgment even against their will to be brought. When this great victory of God occurs it will result in a great deliverance for His people and this will cause His people to sing and rejoice at their redemption. Gods people do not rejoice in a malicious attitude at the destruction of others-they are praising God for His glory and faithfulness. Their deliverance will be like a great feast!
Isa 30:30 indicates that the main purpose of judgment and deliverance is to cause Gods voice to be heard and His power to be exhibited. The initial focus of this judgment and deliverance will be upon Assyria. God will defeat the Assyrians in a stupendous, miraculous way when they surround Jerusalem in the day of Hezekiah (cf. Isaiah 36-39). But it seems to refer to a much greater and more complete victory of the Lord over the nations and Assyria is its beginning.
The word battles in Isa 30:32 is tenoophah which means more precisely, shaking. God is going to shake all the nations. All kingdoms of men oppose Gods kingdom. He is going to shake them all down and establish a kingdom that cannot be shaken (cf. Heb 12:25-29). God is going to thoroughly destroy His enemies. He is going to bury them. Topheth was located in the valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem and was the place where unbelieving Israelites offered up their sons and daughters to Moloch. Here, too, the refuse of the city was deposited and burned; the fires burned continually. Thus the place came to take on the name Gehenna, i.e., the valley of Hinnom, and was a symbol of the place of eternal destruction.
The point of all this is found in the key words we have used in each section: Repentance, Restoration, Rejoicing. The Hebrew people had decided to find deliverance from their enemies (Assyria) in human governments and earthly programs (Egypt). Isaiah declares that the true people of God find their deliverance in turning to Him, because God is going to completely destroy all the nations, beginning with Assyria. Daniel symbolizes this so clearly in the vision of the great image (Daniel 2) and the vision of the four beasts (Daniel 7). The ultimate fulfillment of all this is accomplished in that great victory of God at Calvary, the Empty Tomb and Pentecost when God defeated mans greatest enemy, Satan, and established His kingdom on earth, the church.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Behold
The imagery of Isa 30:27; Isa 30:28 is cumulative. Judah is making an alliance with Egypt when she might be in league with Him whose judgment upon the world-powers will be like a terrible thunder-tempest (Isa 30:27), turning streams into torrents neck-deep (Isa 30:28, f.c.); who will sift the nations in their own sieve of vanity (or “destruction”), and put His bridle into the jaws of the peoples.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
burning: Isa 9:5, Isa 10:16, Isa 10:17, Isa 33:12, Isa 34:9, Deu 32:22, Deu 33:2, Psa 18:7-9, Psa 79:5, Lam 1:12, Lam 1:13, Dan 7:9, Nah 1:5, Nah 1:6, 2Th 2:8, Heb 12:29
the burden thereof: or, the grievousness of flame
heavy: Heb. heaviness. Zep 3:8
Reciprocal: Deu 9:3 – a consuming fire 2Sa 22:9 – went Psa 18:15 – O Lord Isa 10:3 – in the desolation Isa 30:33 – the breath Isa 31:8 – shall the Isa 33:14 – Who among us shall dwell with the Isa 34:2 – and his Isa 66:15 – the Lord Jer 4:4 – lest Dan 7:10 – fiery Mic 6:9 – the man of wisdom shall see thy name Jam 3:6 – the tongue
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 30:27-28. Behold, &c. Here begins the last part of the discourse contained in this chapter, in which the prophet gives an earnest of those greater blessings promised, for times to come, by assuring his people of the approaching destruction of the Assyrian forces. It is an exquisitely fine and sublime passage, and closely connected with the argument and scope of the whole discourse, in that it teaches that the Jews and Israelites had no need to flee to Egypt for help against the Assyrians, to the neglect of their duty toward God, since God was perfectly sufficient to defend them, and had determined to destroy the Assyrian. Vitringa. The name of the Lord is here put for the Lord himself, and he is said to come from far, either as coming unexpectedly, or as having for a long time appeared to withdraw his presence, and withhold his help from his people; burning with anger Determined to take signal vengeance on his enemies. And the burden thereof is heavy The punishment which he will inflict will prove very grievous and intolerable. His lips are full of indignation He hath pronounced a severe sentence against them, and will give command for the execution of it. And his breath His anger, or rather, the effects thereof; (the expression is borrowed from mens discovering their anger by strong and vehement breathing; see on Job 4:9;) as an overflowing stream Coming from him as vehemently as a mighty torrent of waters; shall reach to the midst of the neck Shall bring the Assyrian into a most dangerous condition, as a man, who is in waters which reach to his neck, is in great danger of being drowned; see on Isa 8:8. To sift the nations with the sieve of vanity To shake and scatter, as it were, with a sieve, the Assyrian army, made up of the people of different nations. Vanity, says Lowth, sometimes signifies destruction: so Isa 57:13. Vanity shall take them, that is, they shall be destroyed. And here the sieve of vanity is such a one as doth not separate the chaff in order to save the corn, but makes an entire riddance, as when chaff is scattered before the wind. Bishop Lowth translates the clause, To toss the nations with the van of perdition, judging that rather signifies a van than a sieve, and observing from Kimchi, The use of the van is to cleanse the corn from the chaff and straw: but the van with which God will winnow the nations, will be the van of emptiness or perdition; for nothing useful shall remain behind, but all shall come to nothing, and perish. In like manner a bridle is designed to guide the horse in the right way; but the bridle which God will put in the jaws of the people, shall not direct them aright, but shall make them err, and lead them into destruction.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 30:27-33. If this is the work of Isaiah, it describes the overthrow of Assyria. The description is very vigorous, and some feel that the loud colours are dashed on too violently to make Isaiahs authorship probable. And the zest with which the disaster is painted is thought to be unworthy of him. But these reasons are far from cogent. Yahweh comes like the dense thunder-cloud from the far horizon, from which the devastating lightning will leap, while torrential rain floods the land. The nations will be passed through the sieve till they are destroyed, and will be guided in the way of ruin. While the Assyrians are being overthrown the Jews are exultant, as when they sing their song by night at the Feast of Tabernacles (or perhaps Passover), or as when they go in procession to the Temple. For Yahwehs voice shall peal out in thunder, while the lightnings flash, the clouds burst, and the hail descends, and the Assyrian is seized with panic. A funeral pyre has been prepared for the hosts of the Assyrian dead, vast in extent, burning fiercely at the blast of Yahwehs breath.
Isa 30:27. the name: for primitive thought the name was an essential part of the personality (Gen 32:27*). The name of Yahweh in the OT usually means Yahweh in His self-revealing aspect; just as the name manifests the nature, so Yahwehs action discloses His character
Isa 30:32. Unintelligible (see CB2).
Isa 30:33. Topheth: Jer 7:31*, and note on that passage in Cent.B.for the king: either the king of Assyria or Molech.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
30:27 Behold, {z} the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning [with] his anger, and the burden [of it is] heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
(z) This threatening is against the Assyrians the chief enemies of the people of God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Immanent restoration in spite of unfaithfulness 30:27-33
From the distant future (millennial blessings), Isaiah turned to the immediate future and promised deliverance from the Assyrian threat. In spite of the Judahites’ sinful reliance on Egypt, God would spare them from defeat at the hands of the Assyrians.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord would involve Himself in Judah’s situation personally, His name being the summation of His character (cf. Exo 3:15; Eze 1:28). He would come from heaven to judge the nations. The imagery of the passage is strongly anthropomorphic and theophanic (cf. Exo 13:21; Exo 19:18; Psa 18:7-15; Psa 50:3; Nah 1:3-8; Hab 3:3-15). "Anthropomorphic" means in human form, and "theophanic" means Godlike in appearance. God’s anger burned like fire, and His judgment would overwhelm people like a flood. He would sift the nations in judgment like grain in a sieve, and He would control them as a rider directs his horse.