Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 2:13
And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, [that are] high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
And upon all the cedars of Lebanon – This is a beautiful specimen of the poetic manner of writing, so common among the Hebrews, where spiritual and moral subjects are represented by grand or beautiful imagery taken from objects of nature. Mount Lebanon bounded Palestine on the north. It was formerly much celebrated for its large and lofty cedars. These cedars were from thirty-five to forty feet in girth, and very high. They were magnificent trees, and were valuable for ceiling: statues, or roofs, that required durable, and beautiful timber. The roof of the temple of Diana of Ephesus, according to Pliny, was of cedar, and no small part of the temple of Solomon was of this wood. A few lofty trees of this description are still remaining on Mount Lebanon. After three hours of laborious traveling, says DArvieux, we arrived at the famous cedars about eleven oclock. We counted twenty-three of them. The circumference of these trees is thirty-six feet. The bark of the cedar resembles that of the pine; the leaves and cone also bear considerable resemblance. The stem is upright, the wood is hard, and has the reputation of being incorruptible. The leaves are long, narrow, rough, very green, ranged in tufts along the branches; they shoot in spring, and fall in the beginning of winter. Its flowers and fruit resemble those of the pine. From the full grown trees, a fluid trickles naturally, and without incision; this is clear, transparent, whitish, and after a time dries and hardens; it is supposed to possess great virtues. The place where these great trees are stationed, is in a plain of nearly a league in circumference, on the summit of a mount which is environed on almost all sides by other mounts, so high that their summits are always covered with snow. This plain is level, the air is pure, the heavens always serene.
Maundrell found only sixteen cedars of large growth, and a natural plantation of smaller ones, which were very numerous. One of the largest was twelve yards six inches in girth, and thirty-seven yards in the spread of its boughs. At six yards from the ground, it was divided into five limbs, each equal to a great tree. Dr. Richardson visited them in 1818, and found a small clump of large, tall, and beautiful trees, which he pronounces the most picturesque productions of the vegetable world that he had ever seen. In this clump are two generations of trees; the oldest are large and massy, rearing their heads to an enormous height, and spreading their branches to a great extent. He measured one, not the largest in the clump, and found it thirty-two feet in circumference. Seven of these trees appeared to be very old, the rest younger, though, for want of space, their branches are not so spreading.
Bushs Illustrations of Scripture. The celebrated cedar-grove of Lebanon, says Dr. Robinson, is at least two days journey from Beirut, near the northern, and perhaps the highest summit of the mountain. It has been often and sufficiently described by travelers for the last three centuries; but they all differ as to the number of the oldest trees, inasmuch as in counting, some have included more and some less of the younger ones. At present, the number of trees appears to be on the increase, and amounts in all to several hundred. This grove was long held to be the only remnant of the ancient cedars of Lebanon. But Seetzen, in 1805, discovered two other groves of greater extent; and the American Missionaries, in traveling through the mountains, have also found many cedars in other places. The trees are of all sizes, old and young; but none so ancient and venerable as those usually visited. Bib. Researches, iii., 440; 441. The cedar, so large, lofty, and grand, is used in the Scriptures to represent kings, princes, and nobles: compare Eze 31:3; Dan 4:20-22; Zec 11:1-2; Isa 14:8. Here it means the princes and nobles of the land of Israel. The Chaldee renders it, upon all the strong and mighty kings of the people.
And upon all the oaks of Bashan – Bashan was east of the river Jordan, in the limits of the half tribe of Manasseh. It was bounded on the north and east by Gilead, south by the river Jabbok, and west by the Jordan. It was celebrated for pasturage, and for producing fine cattle; Num 21:33; Num 32:33; Psa 22:12; Eze 39:18; Amo 4:1; Mic 7:14. Its lofty oaks are also particularly celebrated; Eze 27:6; Amo 2:9; Zec 11:2. The sense here is not different from the former member of the sentence – denoting the princes and nobles of the land.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. – 16. And upon all the cedars – “Even against all the cedars”] Princes, potentates, rulers, captains, rich men, c. – So Kimchi. These verses afford us a striking example of that peculiar way of writing, which makes a principal characteristic of the parabolical or poetical style of the Hebrews, and in which the prophets deal so largely, namely, their manner of exhibiting things Divine, spiritual, moral, and political, by a set of images taken from things natural, artificial, religious, historical, in the way of metaphor or allegory. Of these nature furnishes much the largest and the most pleasing share and all poetry has chiefly recourse to natural images, as the richest and most powerful source of illustration. But it may be observed of the Hebrew poetry in particular, that in the use of such images, and in the application of them in the way of illustration and ornament, it is more regular and constant than any other poetry whatever; that it has for the most part a set of images appropriated in a manner to the explication of certain subjects. Thus you will find, in many other places besides this before us, that cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan, are used in the way of metaphor and allegory for kings, princes, potentates of the highest rank; high mountains and lofty hills, for kingdoms, republics, states, cities; towers and fortresses, for defenders and protectors, whether by counsel or strength, in peace or war; ships of Tarshish and works of art, and invention employed in adorning them, for merchants, men enriched by commerce, and abounding in all the luxuries and elegances of life, such as those of Tyre and Sidon; for it appears from the course of the whole passage, and from the train of ideas, that the fortresses and the ships are to be taken metaphorically, as well as the high trees and the lofty mountains.
Ships of Tarshish] Are in Scripture frequently used by a metonymy for ships in general, especially such as are employed in carrying on traffic between distant countries, as Tarshish was the most celebrated mart of those times, frequented of old by the Phoenicians, and the principal source of wealth to Judea and the neighbouring countries. The learned seem now to be perfectly well agreed that Tarshish is Tartessus, a city of Spain, at the mouth of the river Baetis, whence the Phoenicians, who first opened this trade, brought silver and gold, (Jer 10:9; Eze 27:12,) in which that country then abounded; and, pursuing their voyage still farther to the Cassiterides, (Bogart, Canaan, i. c. 39; Huet, Hist. de Commerce, p. 194,) the islands of Scilly and Cornwall, they brought from thence lead and tin.
Tarshish is celebrated in Scripture, 2Ch 8:17-18; 2Ch 9:21, for the trade which Solomon carried on thither, in conjunction with the Tyrians. Jehoshaphat, 1Kg 22:48; 2Ch 20:36, attempted afterwards to renew their trade. And from the account given of his attempt it appears that his fleet was to sail to Ezion-geber on the Red Sea; they must therefore have designed to sail round Africa, as Solomon’s fleet had done before, (see Huet, Histoire de Commerce, p. 32,) for it was a three years’ voyage, (2Ch 9:21,) and they brought gold from Ophir, probably on the coast of Arabia; silver from Tartessus; and ivory, apes, and peacocks, from Africa. ” Afri, Africa, the Roman termination, Africa terra. Tarshish, some city or country in Africa. So the Chaldee on 1Kg 22:49, where it renders Tarshish by Aphricah; and compare 2Ch 20:36, from whence it appears, to go to Ophir and to Tarshish is one and the same thing.” – Dr. Jubb.
It is certain that under Pharaoh Necho, about two hundred years afterwards, this voyage was made by the Egyptians; Herodot. iv. 42. They sailed from the Red Sea, and returned by the Mediterranean, and they performed it in three years, just the same time that the voyage under Solomon had taken up. It appears likewise from Pliny, Nat. Hist., ii. 67, that the passage round the Cape of Good Hope was known and frequently practised before his time, by Hanno the Carthaginian, when Carthage was in its glory; by one Eudoxus, in the time of Ptolemy Lathyrus, king of Egypt; and Coelus Antipater, a historian of good credit, somewhat earlier than Pliny, testifies that he had seen a merchant who had made the voyage from Gades to Ethiopia. The Portuguese under Vasco de Gama, near three hundred years ago, recovered this navigation, after it had been intermitted and lost for many centuries. – L.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either,
1. Metaphorically, upon the highest and proudest sinners; or,
2. Literally, as may seem probable from the following verses, where there is distinct mention made of mountains and hills, Isa 2:14, of towers and walls, Isa 2:15, of ships and pictures, Isa 2:16. Whereby he intimates that the judgment should be so universal and terrible, that it should not only reach to men, but to things also, whether natural or artificial, in all which there should be manifest tokens of Gods displeasure against the land. The cedars and oaks standing in the mountains shall be either thrown down by furious winds or earthquakes, or torn in pieces by thunder and lightning, and the stately houses built with cedars and oaks shall be destroyed.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. cedars . . . oaksimagefor haughty nobles and princes (Amo 2:9;Zec 11:1; Zec 11:2;compare Re 19:18-21).
Bashaneast of Jordan,north of the river Jabbok, famous for fine oaks, pasture, and cattle.Perhaps in “oaks” there is reference to their idolatry (Isa1:29).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And upon all the cedars of Lebanon [that are] high and lifted up,…. That is, upon the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication with Babylon, and will join with the beast and false prophet in making war with the Lamb. So the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret it of the kings of the nations, mighty and strong:
and upon all the oaks of Bashan; nobles, princes, governors of provinces, as the same writers explain the words, oaks being inferior to cedars: the day of the Lord will be upon these, and their destruction come on at the battle of Armageddon, Re 19:18.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophet then proceeds to enumerate all the high things upon which that day would fall, arranging them two and two, and binding them in pairs by a double correlative Vav. The day of Jehovah comes, as the first two pairs affirm, upon everything lofty in nature. “As upon all the cedars of Lebanon, the lofty and exalted, so upon all the oaks of Bashan. As upon all mountains, the lofty ones, so upon all hills the exalted ones.” But wherefore upon all this majestic beauty of nature? Is all this merely figurative? Knobel regards it as merely a figurative description of the grand buildings of the time of Uzziah and Jotham, in the erection of which wood had been used from Lebanon as well as from Bashan, on the western slopes of which the old shady oaks ( sindian and ballut ) are flourishing still.
(Note: On the meaning of the name of this region, Bashan ( Basanitis ), see Comm. on Job, Appendix, Eng. Tr.)
But the idea that trees can be used to signify the houses built with the good obtained from them, is one that cannot be sustained from Isa 9:9 (10.), where the reference is not to houses built of sycamore and cedar wood, but to trunks of trees of the king mentioned; nor even from Nah 2:4 (3.), where habberoshim refers to the fir lances which are brandished about in haughty thirst for battle. So again mountains and hills cannot denote the castles and fortifications built upon them, more especially as these are expressly mentioned in Isa 2:15 in the most literal terms. In order to understand the prophet, we must bear in mind what the Scriptures invariably assume, from their first chapter to the very close, namely, that the totality of nature is bound up with man in one common history; that man and the totality of nature are inseparably connected together as centre and circumference; that this circumference is affected by the sin which proceeds from man, as well as by the anger or the mercy which proceeds from God to man; that the judgments of God, as the history of the nations proves, involve in fellow-suffering even that part of the creation which is not free; and that this participation in the “corruption” ( phthora ) and “glory” ( doxa ) of humanity will come out with peculiar distinctness and force at the close of the world’s history, in a manner corresponding to the commencement; and lastly, that the world in its present condition needs a palingenesia , or regeneration, quite as much as the corporeal nature of man, before it can become an object of good pleasure on the part of God. We cannot be surprised, therefore, that, in accordance with this fundamental view of the Scriptures, when the judgment of God fell upon Israel, it should also be described as going down to the land of Israel, and as overthrowing not only the false glory of the nation itself, but everything glorious in the surrounding nature, which had been made to minister to its national pride and love of show, and to which its sin adhered in many different ways. What the prophet foretold began to be fulfilled even in the Assyrian wars. The cedar woods of Lebanon were unsparingly destroyed; the heights and valleys of the land were trodden down and laid waste; and, in the period of the great empires which commenced with Tiglath-pileser, the Holy Land was reduced to a shadow of its former promised beauty.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
13. Upon all the cedars of Lebanon The allegory which is here introduced, about the trees of Lebanon and the lofty mountains, instead of obscuring, sheds light on the subject; for however high may be the wishes or endeavors of a mortal man, yet he will never be able to reach the height of the mountains and the lofty trees, which it is as easy for God to throw down as for a breath of wind to scatter the fallen leaves. Accordingly, in what may be called a painting, Isaiah shows to proud men how idle and foolish they are in believing that their elevation will be their defense. There is also an implied exaggeration, which must have contributed to heighten the terror. It cannot be supposed that God is actually angry with the mountains and trees, or that, having changed his purpose, he throws down what he has built up; but in the harmless creatures Isaiah holds out to view the judgment of God, in order more fully to convince wicked and unprincipled men that their presumption will not pass unpunished. Thus we see the reason why he mixes up the metaphors of cedars, oaks, and mountains
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) Upon all the cedars of Lebanon . . .The words find a striking parallel in the passage from Herodotus just referred to. In that storm which is about to burst over the land, the cedars and the oaks, and, we may add, those who were as the cedars and the oaks, in their pride and glory, should all alike be shattered.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Cedars Majestic trees in the Lebanon range, unsurpassed for beauty, strength, and building utility; often used as symbols of the great men in war and civil power.
Oaks of Bashan They abound on the east of the Jordan. The metaphor applies to men in Israel strong in their self-conscious independence and power. Before Jehovah their pride is to have a fearful fall.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 2:13. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon Lebanon is one of the images which is frequently made use of in the writings of the Hebrews. It was one of the remarkable mountains of Palestine, celebrated for its loftiness, and the tallness, largeness, and abundance of the cedars which shaded its top. Hence, agreeably to the symbolical hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, we find them making use of these images to denote any thing elate with pride, as well as whatever was august and sublime. In this place the cedars of Lebanon, and the oaks of Bashan, mean the kings, princes, and nobles, who carried themselves high, and behaved themselves insolently; and so, agreeably to the same metaphorical style, which is very usual with the prophets, the high mountains and hills, in the next verse, signify kingdoms, cities, and states: See Jer 25:17; Jer 25:38. The high towers and fenced walls, in the 15th verse, signify those who excelled in ingenuity, wisdom, and strength; and the ships of Tarshish, &c. in the 16th verse, signify the merchants, who confided in their wealth and splendour. Vitringa renders the last words of the 16th verse, all desirable fabrics; which is supposed to refer to the ornaments of their ships, in which the Tyrians were remarkably curious and superb. The 17th verse expresses, literally, what is delivered metaphorically in the preceding verse.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 2:13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, [that are] high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
Ver. 13. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon. ] Which was to the north. Ab Aquilone nihil boni.
That are high and lifted up.
And upon all the oaks of Bashan.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
high. Hebrew. rum.
Same word as “haughtiness” (verses: Isa 2:11, Isa 2:17); “lofty”(Isa 2:12); “high” (Isa 2:14).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 10:33, Isa 10:34, Isa 14:8, Isa 37:24, Eze 31:3-12, Amo 2:5, Zec 11:1, Zec 11:2
Reciprocal: Jdg 9:15 – the cedars Psa 29:5 – General Isa 3:2 – mighty Eze 17:24 – have brought Eze 27:6 – the oaks Rev 8:7 – the third