Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 22:23
And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.
23. a nail ] usually a “tent-peg” (and so probably in a figurative sense, Zec 10:4); but also (Eze 15:3) a peg on which household utensils are suspended. The latter idea (according to Isa 22:25) must be intended here.
a glorious throne ] Better: a seat of honour.
to his father’s house ] all his nearest kindred, who are through him advanced from obscurity to great dignity.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place – The word nail here ( yated) means properly a peg, pin, or spike; and is applied often to the pins or large spikes which were used to drive into the ground to fasten the cords of tents. It is also applied to the nails or spikes which are driven into walls, and on which are suspended the garments or the utensils of a family. In ancient times, every house was furnished with a large number of these pegs, or nails. They were not driven into the walls after the house was made, but they were worked in while the walls were going up. The houses were usually made of stone; and strong iron hooks, or spikes, were worked into the mortar while soft, and they answered the double purpose of nails to hang things on, and of cramp-irons, as they were so bent as to hold the walls together. These spikes are described by Sir John Chardin (Harmers Observations, vol. i. p. 191) as large nails with square heads like dice, well made, the ends being so bent as to make them cramp-irons. They commonly, says he, place them at the windows and doors, in order to hang upon them, when they like, veils and curtains. It was also the custom to suspend in houses, and especially temples, suits of armor, shields, helmets, swords, etc., that had been taken in war as spoils of victory, or which had been used by illustrious ancestors, and these spikes were used for that purpose also. The word is here applied to a leader, or officer; and it means that he would be fixed and permanent in his plans and office; and that as a pin in the wall sustained the ornaments of the house safely, so all the glory of the house of David, all that was dear and valuable to the nation, might be reposed on him Isa 22:24.
And he shall be for a glorious throne to his fathers house – A glorious seat; that is, all his family and kindred would be sustained, and honored by him; or their honor and reputation might rest securely on him, and his deeds would diffuse a luster and a glory over them all. Every virtuous, patriotic, benevolent, and pious son diffuses a luster on all his kindred; and this is one of the incitements to virtuous and elevated deeds which God has presented in the government of the world.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 22:23
And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place
The fastening hold of Christ
The fastening force of Christ upon the soul of humanity is seen–
I.
IN HIS HOLD UPON THE GENERAL MIND OF THE WORLD. Who, throughout the history of the ages, have laid such a firm grip upon mankind as Christ has? It is true that Buddha, Zoroaster, Confucius, Mohammed, have had–and still have–a firm hold on millions of souls. Some of them have afar wider influence than that of Christ, but they are not fastened so firmly.
1. Philosophy shows this. Their systems–if systems they can be called–only appeal to certain faculties in human nature; Christ grasps the entire man–intellect, imagination, conscience, hope, fear, love.
2. History shows this. Heathenism does not encroach upon Christianity. Christians are not converted to Zoroaster, Confucius, etc., but their followers are converted to Christianity every day. Heathendom is contracting, Christendom is extending on all hands. Its language, its literature, its institutions, are pushing themselves everywhere. The nail is made so fast, that to extract it would be to tear the world to pieces.
II. IN HIS HOLD UPON THE CONSECRATED MIND OF HIS DISCIPLES. His hold here is far firmer than His hold on the general mind. He goes deeper into humanity, He takes hold of the entire soul, and makes it captive. Or, to change the figure, He strikes His roots into every faculty of the soul. He becomes to the human spirit in this case what the sap is to the tree. You must tear the soul to pieces–nay, you must annihilate it–before you can extract his nail. (Homilist.)
A nail in a sure place
I. THE LESSON OF THE NAIL; that little things may be very important things. We read when David prepared for the building of the temple, he prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates. So all preparation for training, for education, for the formation of character, is a kind of holy iron, hereafter to be fashioned into nails for the sure place. And if you turn to Ezr 9:8, you will find the good man even makes this a matter of prayer, that God would give him a nail in His holy place–that is, that he and his might have a place of security, howeverinsignificant it might be; for a nail, small as it is, speaks of security, it fastens things. There is an old proverb which says how, for want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the rider was lost.
II. THE SURE PLACE. From which you learn, that even things good in themselves must be in a good place, in order that they may be of any good. For instance–
1. Good words, in order that they may do good, need good memories; and the good memory is the sure place.
2. A good example in a fruitful life is a nail in a sure place.
3. Faith fixed on a good object is a nail in a sure place. Faith is not always good; people may believe lies. If you look to Christ and trust in Him there will be the nail in the sure place.
III. THE LESSON OF THE FASTENING.
1. In order to the fastening a nail needs guiding. You will need strength, help, and guidance from God.
2. Fastened. Some things, once fixed, are fixed forever. What a dreadful thing it is, to think that this applies, so far as we are able to say and to see, to bad things! Habit fixes a man like a nail in a sure place, fixes his ways of thought and life so that it seems as if he is immovable; for every time we repeat a wrong thing, it is driven farther and farther into our life. See to it, as you value your happiness for time and eternity, that, if you are fastened as a nail in a sure place, it shall be a good place.
3. In a good place, fastened. Be steadfast, unmovable: act in such a manner that the bad people shall never have any hopes of getting you over on their side, or of drawing you out of your sure place. (Homilist.)
Nails in Eastern houses
These nails, or pegs, when employed in houses, were not driven into the walls after the building was finished, but were worked in while the building was going up. The strong hooks, or spikes, thus secured in the mortar answered the double purpose of clamp irons to hold the walls together, and of nails on which anything could be hung. (J. N. Norton.)
The nail in a sure place
The promise concerning Eliakim amounts to this: I will so build him up into My spiritual temple (so the Almighty may be supposed to say), that he himself may be securely fixed in it, and that others also may safely depend on him for help and counsel. As Eliakim was a type of Christ, we have in this similitude an instructive lesson, both of our duty and our happiness. On Him we must hang our hopes and interests, both with respect to our own salvation, and to the peace and prosperity of the Church.
I. Eliakim was a type of Christ IN BEING THE SUCCESSOR OF ONE WHO HAD PROVED HIMSELF UNWORTHY OF HIS OFFICE. As the haughty and unprincipled Shebna gave place to a man whom no selfish interests could possibly influence, so were the corrupt and evil-minded rulers of the Jewish nation to be set aside at the appearance of the Messiah who was to govern the world in righteousness.
II. Again, Eliakim was a type of Christ, IN THE AUTHORITY ENTRUSTED TO HIM. As the successor of the faithless Shebna was honoured by having the key of the house of David laid upon his shoulder, in token of the unlimited authority which he was thenceforth to exercise, so was the Lord Jesus to be entrusted with all power in heaven and earth; and we find Him adopting the same lofty terms to describe His own regal attributes Rev 3:7).
III. A third particular in which Eliakim may be considered as a type of Christ, is IN THE BENEFITS AND BLESSINGS SECURED BY HIS RIGHTEOUS RULE. Eliakim, we are told, was a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah, but the benefits of the wisest administration of man are few and insignificant, when compared with those which are secured to the world by the glorious reign of the Prince of Peace. (J. N. Norton.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. A nail] In ancient times, and in the eastern countries, as the way of life, so the houses, were much more simple than ours at present. They had not that quantity and variety of furniture, nor those accommodations of all sorts, with which we abound. It was convenient and even necessary for them, and it made an essential part in the building of a house, to furnish the inside of the several apartments with sets of spikes, nails, or large pegs, upon which to dispose of and hang up the several movables and utensils in common use, and proper to the apartment. These spikes they worked into the walls at the first erection of them, the walls being of such materials that they could not bear their being driven in afterwards; and they were contrived so as to strengthen the walls by binding the parts together, as well as to serve for convenience. Sir John Chardin’s account of this matter is this: – “They do not drive with a hammer the nails that are put into the eastern walls. The walls are too hard, being of brick; or, if they are of clay, too mouldering: but they fix them in the brick-work as they are building. They are large nails, with square heads like dice, well made, the ends being bent so as to make them cramp-irons. They commonly place them at the windows and doors, in order to hang upon them, when they like, veils and curtains.” Harmer’s Observ. i. p. 191. And we may add, that they were put in other places too, in order to hang up other things of various kinds; as appears from this place of Isaiah, and from Eze 15:3, who speaks of a pin or nail, “to hang any vessel thereon.” The word used here for a nail of this sort is the same by which they express that instrument, the stake, or large pin of iron, with which they fastened down to the ground the cords of their tents. We see, therefore, that these nails were of necessary and common use, and of no small importance in all their apartments; conspicuous, and much exposed to observation: and if they seem to us mean and insignificant, it is because we are not acquainted with the thing itself, and have no name to express it but by what conveys to us a low and contemptible idea. “Grace hath been showed from the Lord our God,” saith Ezra, Ezr 9:8, “to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place:” that is, as the margin of our Bible explains it, “a constant and sure abode.”
“He that doth lodge near her (Wisdom’s) house,
Shall also fasten a pin in her walls.”
Ecclus. 14:24.
The dignity and propriety of the metaphor appears from the Prophet Zechariah’s use of it: –
“From him shall be the corner-stone, from him the nail,
From him the battle-bow,
From him every ruler together.”
Zec 10:4.
And Mohammed, using the same word, calls Pharaoh the lord or master of the nails, that is, well attended by nobles and officers capable of administering his affairs. Koran, Sur. xxxviii. 11, and lxxxix. 9. So some understand this passage of the Koran. Mr. Sale seems to prefer another interpretation.
Taylor, in his Concordance, thinks yathed means the pillar or post that stands in the middle, and supports the tent, in which such pegs are fixed to hang their arms, c., upon referring to Shaw’s Travels, p. 287. But yathed is never used, as far as appears to me, in that sense. It was indeed necessary that the pillar of the tent should have such pegs on it for that purpose; but the hanging of such things in this manner upon this pillar does not prove that yathed was the pillar itself.
A glorious throne – “A glorious seat”] That is, his father’s house and all his own family shall be gloriously seated, shall flourish in honour and prosperity; and shall depend upon him, and be supported by him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will fasten him; I will establish the power in his hands.
In a sure place; in the strong walls, or solid timber, in the house; which is opposed to Shebnas instability, signified by a ball, Isa 22:18.
He shall be for a glorious throne to his fathers house; by his prudent and righteous government he shall procure great glory, not only to himself, but to all that have any relation to him. This also is opposed to what is said of Shebna in the end of Isa 22:18.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. nail . . . sure placeLargenails or pegs stood in ancient houses on which were suspended theornaments of the family. The sense is: all that is valuable to thenation shall rest securely on him. In Ezr9:8 “nail” is used of the large spike driven into theground to fasten the cords of the tent to.
throneresting-place tohis family, as applied to Eliakim; but “throne,” in thestrict sense, as applied to Messiah, the antitype (Luk 1:32;Luk 1:33).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place,…. In a strong part of the wall or timber, where it shall not fail, or be removed, or cut down, and so let drop what is hung upon it: it denotes the stability and continuance of his government, and of the strength and support he should be of unto others; and well agrees with Christ his antitype; see Zec 10:4 and is expressive of the strength of Christ, as the mighty God; and as the man of God’s right hand, made strong for himself; and as the able Saviour, and mighty Redeemer; and of the stability of his person, he is unchangeable, the same today, yesterday, and for ever; and of his office, as Mediator, Head, and Surety of the covenant; whose priesthood passes not from one to another, and whose kingdom is an everlasting one, and his truths and ordinances unshaken and immovable: the sure place in which he is fixed is both his church, where he is the everlasting Head, Husband, and Saviour of it; and heaven, where he is, and will be retained, until the time of the restitution of all things:
and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house; or make the throne of his father’s house glorious, Eliakim being, as some have thought, of the blood royal; or he should be an honour and credit to his father’s house, by his wise and faithful administration of the government committed to him. Christ is the brightness of his Father’s glory; and, to them that believe, he is an honour; he is on a glorious throne himself, and he will bring all his Father’s family to sit with him on the same throne, 1Sa 2:8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
23. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place. The particle of comparison must here be supplied, and therefore I have inserted in the text the word as. By נאמן, ( nĕĕmān,) faithful, he means what is “firm and sure.” The original idea of the word is “truth;” for where “truth” is, there firmness and certainty are found; (94) and therefore Hebrew writers employ the word “truth” to denote what is firm and certain. Isaiah employs an elegant metaphor, from which godly magistrates, who are few in number, ought to draw large consolation. They may conclude that not only has God raised them to that honorable rank, but they are confirmed and established, as if they had been fixed by his hand. And indeed, where the fear of the Lord dwells, there the stability, and power, and authority of kings, as Solomon says, are established by justice and judgment. (Pro 16:12.)
This consolation ought to be of advantage to princes, not only that they may meet all danger courageously, but likewise that they may firmly and resolutely proceed in their office, and not turn aside on any account, or shrink from any danger. But there are very few who can actually relish this doctrine. Almost all are like Jeroboam, (1Kg 12:28,) and think that religion should yield to them, and, so far as they imagine, that it will be of service to them, follow it, or rather bend and change it for their own convenience. Their last thought is about God and religion; and we need not wonder if they are always in doubt about their own affairs, and are scarcely ever at rest; for they do not direct their thoughts to him from whom all authority proceeds. (Rom 13:1.) Hence springs treachery, hence springs cruelty, covetousness, violence, and frauds and wrongs of every kind, in which the princes of the present day indulge with less restraint and with greater impudence than all others. Yet there are some in whom we see what is here said of Eliakim. The Lord guards and upholds them, and blesses that regard to equity and justice which he had bestowed upon them. If the Lord permits even tyrants for a time, because they have some appearance of regular government, what shall happen when a prince shall endeavor, to the utmost of his power, to defend justice and judgment, and the true worship of God? Will he not be still more confirmed and established by him who is the continual guardian of righteousness?
(94) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place . . .The word for nail is used both for the peg that fastens a tent to the ground, as in the stakes of Isa. 33:20; Isa. 54:2; Jdg. 4:21, or, as in Eze. 15:3, for a nail driven into the wall. Here the context shows that the latter meaning is preferable. It was, as the sequel shows, a symbol of the support upon which others can depend. (Comp. the nail in his holy place of Ezr. 9:8.)
He shall be for a glorious throne . . .Another symbol of sovereignty follows. The form, throne of glory, is found in its highest application in 1Sa. 2:8, and Jer. 14:21; Jer. 17:12. Such a throne, kingly in its state, is to be the pride of the hitherto obscure house of Eliakim.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 22:23-24. And I will fasten him as a nail See Ezr 9:8. The word iathed, rendered a nail, signifies a pole, or post, fixed in the earth, in the middle of a tent, to support the top, which, being full of hooks, serves likewise to hang vessels, garments, and the like, upon. See Zec 10:4. The meaning is, that God would confirm and establish Eliakim, as a nail or pole which remains fixed and immoveable in the earth, and which, moreover, is useful for the support of those things which are hung upon it for the use and ornament of the house. We may just observe, that while from the darkness of history respecting these persons, the literal completion of this prophesy is hard to be known; there seems no doubt that it has a spiritual reference to that true and faithful steward who is figured out by Eliakim, who is said to have the key of the house of David, who openeth, and no man shutteth, and who shutteth, and no man openeth. The meaning of the word Eliakim is, The mighty God will cause to arise. But for a fuller account of this matter we refer to Vitringa. Bishop Lowth reads the second member of the 24th verse, The offspring of high and low degree.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The title of this prophesy is the burden of the valley of vision, alluding to the name of Jerusalem, which signifies the vision of peace; or because that was the place where God made known his will in visions to the prophets. It is called a valley, the hills surrounding it on every side; and the vision is a burden, a heavy calamity, though not utterly consuming, yet greatly terrifying them.
1. Their consternation at the approach of the Assyrian army is great; running to the tops of their houses, to see if any help was at hand, or to observe the approaches of the enemy; full of stirs or noises, preparing to oppose their invaders; or thou wast full of stirs, the streets crowded with people; a tumultuous city, populous and noisy with the din of trade, a joyous city, rich and revelling. But now the voice of mirth has ceased, the horrid sound of war is heard alone, and fear and consternation are spread abroad. Though the sword had not reached them, the famine was felt; or the fright they were put into sunk them spiritless, as if thrust through with a sword. Nor was this panic among the people only; their rulers increased it, flying from all the neighbouring cities to Jerusalem, without attempting to defend them, (see chap. 36:) or many of Jerusalem, instead of encouraging the people, thought only how to secure themselves by flight: instead of preparing for a vigorous defence, they surrendered themselves to bonds, or were so disheartened, that they had not courage to make an arrow, as it may be rendered, bound from the bow. Note; The alarm of war is terrible: May we never, by our abuse of the blessings of peace, provoke God to bring the scourge upon us; for, if under his wrath, our fleets and armies could yield us small protection!
2. Great is the prophet’s grief at the scene of desolation before him. He desires his friend not to attempt to comfort him, but to leave him to weep bitterly over the spoiling of the daughter of his people; and abundant cause there is for his tears, when trouble is on every side, the people as mire in the streets trodden down by the Assyrians, the walls of the fortified cities battered into dust, all the land full of distress and perplexity; and the Lord’s correcting hand seen in the judgment adds bitterness to the affliction. Note; (1.) Every good man is a patriot, and when he can do no more to save his country will weep over its ruins. (2.) Whatever we feel of afflictions from man, we must look farther to the hand of God who sends or permits them.
3. The vast hosts, composed of different nations, Persians, and Medes, which were in Sennacherib’s army, fill the country with chariots and horsemen, and prepare for the siege of Jerusalem: they make ready their shields, and place their advanced guard, to intercept any going in, or coming out of the gates of the city. How melancholy a change, to see those valleys, once so thick with corn, now yield an iron harvest of erected spears.
2nd, When recovered a little from their terrors, they began to think what was to be done. He discovered the covering of Judah; either Hezekiah opened his magazines, or God detected their hypocrisy in this time of danger, by the temper they discovered; or rather Sennacherib, having taken the surrounding fortresses which covered the city, came in full view of it, ready to begin the siege. Hereupon we are told,
1. The steps they took to put Jerusalem in a posture of defence. Their first concern was, to arm the people; for which purpose, the armoury of the house of the forest of Lebanon, built by Solomon, is opened; they next surveyed the fortifications, and set themselves to repair the breaches of the fortress, called the city of David, 2Sa 5:7 which in times of peace had been greatly neglected. To secure plenty of water, they collected together those of the lower pool; and, having raised an outer wall, drew the water out of the old pool into the ditch between the walls, to strengthen the place, as well as to distress the enemy for want of it. The houses are numbered, that each may furnish its quota of men, money, or provisions; for the use of the soldiery; and those in the suburbs, which might facilitate the approaches of the besiegers, or which were too near the wall within, so as to prevent an easy communication from one part to another, are demolished, and the materials applied to strengthen the wall. Note; (1.) In times of danger we must exert our utmost efforts, and trust God with the issue. (2.) Times of peace are often times of waste; because war seems distant, a provision against it is neglected, and that is a temptation to the enemy to attack us unprepared.
2. Amid their warlike preparations they neglected the God of war: they fortified the city, but forgot the Maker of it, without whom the watchman waketh in vain.
Their king indeed looked up to him, 2Ki 18:5. 2Ch 32:8 but his irreligious courtiers, with Shebna at their head, seemed to have no thought of divine assistance, and trusted only to the arm of flesh. Note; Though kings may make religion fashionable by espousing the profession of it, it is not in their power to convert the heart. A greater king than they must work, or their courtiers, though complaisantly submissive, will be mere outward conformists, not internal converts.
3. Their unhumbled temper under this visitation is remarked to their shame. God called to weeping and mourning, &c. the expressive signs of true penitential sorrow; to produce which, was the great end of their affliction; and his prophets seconded the providence with their preaching; but vain was the call. Having, as they thought, secured the city, they set danger at defiance, and mirth, jollity, and riot reigned; they treated the prophetic warnings with contempt; and since the prophet urged their danger, and death at their door, as an argument to humble their souls in sorrow for their sins before God, they, with infidel disregard, made it a plea for their impiety, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die; if it be a short life, let it be a merry one; and, disbelieving the doctrine of a future state, appeared fearless of the consequences of their sins, 1Co 15:32. Note; (1.) A life of pleasure naturally leads to a state of infidelity. (2.) They who risk eternity on the miserable hope that at death their being is at an end, will find too late their dreadful delusion.
4. God, in displeasure against such impiety, denounces his wrath on these proud mockers. They contemned the prophet’s warning, but they shall feel the wrath which they despised.
3rdly, We have a prophesy of a domestic occurrence in the household of Hezekiah, which foretells the disgrace of Shebna, and the advancement of Eliakim. What was Shebna’s particular crime, which occasioned his being degraded, does not appear: the Jews say he was a traitor, and had agreed to give up the city to the Assyrians; but, being disappointed in the attempt, was carried away captive by them, and severely used for deceiving them.
1. His fall is declared to him by Isaiah. Though a great man, and high in office, both treasurer and steward of the household, he is not too great to be faithfully admonished. What hast thou here? what estate, or what business? being, it is supposed, a foreigner promoted by Ahaz, and continued in office by Hezekiah, to whose reformation he conformed; and whom hast thou here? or what friends to prevent thy ruin, or what family, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre? a habitation in a rock, with a stately monument erected over it, where his remains might be deposited with pomp: vain preparations, when doomed to captivity, sudden and terrible, and covered as a criminal led to execution! Tossed to and fro as a ball in a strange land, he should lead a wearisome life, and lie there, destitute of all his former splendor, a shame to his master’s house, to Ahaz, who promoted him. Suspected, probably before, and now degraded by Hezekiah, he shall fall from his high station, in which he seemed fixed as a nail in a sure place; and all his dependants and followers, as is the case when favourites are disgraced, sink with him. Note; (1.) High places are slippery; they who seem most firmly fixed, are often nearest the precipice of ruin. (2.) Pride looks even to the tomb, and the lying monument is taught to flatter, when the corpse is turning to putrefaction. (3.) A faithful minister of God must not fear to deliver his message boldly to the greatest, however offensive it may appear.
2. Eliakim’s advancement is foretold; a faithful servant of God, promoted at the prophet’s instigation, who inclined Hezekiah to put so worthy a man in Shebna’s stead; and it would be a deep mortification to the disgraced minister, to see the ensigns of office that he wore now transferred to another; the robe, the girdle, and the key. A worthy magistrate would he prove, a father to the people, strengthened of God to discharge the trust reposed in him, having the entire management of affairs committed to him, fixed in his office, and, through God’s blessing, an honour to his family. Note; (1.) When preferment comes, not hunted down by solicitation in the way of pride and covetousness, but unsought for from the hand of Providence, and conferred as the wages of desert, then it is truly honourable. (2.) When God calls us into office, we may expect from him strength to discharge it. (3.) They who would rule well, must regard their subjects as children, display parental affection with authority, and shew that the great end of all they do is the public good: and then Pater patriae, the father of their country, will be their most honourable title. (4.) The higher the office, the heavier the burden; and the greater diligence, fidelity, and zeal are required to discharge it. (5.) Eliakim was herein the type of the Lord Jesus, the servant of God, emphatically so called, chap. Isa 42:1 appointed by his Father to the office of Ruler in his church, and upheld by him in the discharge of his arduous undertaking, invested with the ensigns of royalty, and possessed of all power; having the keys of wisdom and grace to unlock the treasures of his word; the keys of heaven, to open the kingdom to all believers; and of death and hell, which he shuts, and none can open; he opens, and none shut. His government is fixed and established for ever; he is the brightness of his Father’s glory; his people’s happiness and honour are derived from him; and, careful of the interest of his faithful subjects, from the least to the greatest they receive out of his fulness.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 22:23 And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.
Ver. 23. And I will fasten him as a nail. ] Paxilli simile et concinnum et amabile est. a On a nail are hung utensils of the house – any such thing as cannot stand by its own strength. Eliakim was to be a common support to the people, but especially to his father’s house.
And he shall be for a glorious throne.
a Sit princeps miscris paxillum, cui appendeant urceolos suos. – Scalt.
I will: Ezr 9:8, Ecc 12:11, Zec 10:4
a glorious: Gen 45:9-13, 1Sa 2:8, Est 4:14, Est 10:3, Job 36:7, Luk 22:29, Luk 22:30, Rev 3:21
Reciprocal: Exo 27:19 – all the pins thereof Exo 38:20 – the pins
Isa 22:23. I will fasten him as a nail I will establish the power in his hands, as a nail is fixed in the strong walls or solid timber of a house. In ancient times, and in eastern countries, as the way of life, so the houses were much more simple than ours at present. They had not that quantity and variety of furniture, nor those accommodations of all sorts, with which we abound. It was convenient, and even necessary for them, and it made an essential part in the building of a house, to furnish the inside of the several apartments with sets of spikes, nails, or large pegs, upon which to dispose of, and hang up, the several moveables and utensils in common use, and proper to the apartment. These spikes they worked into the walls at the first erection of them; the walls being of such materials that they could not bear their being driven into them afterward; and they were contrived so as to strengthen the walls by binding the parts together, as well as to serve for convenience. We see, therefore, that these nails were of necessary and common use, and of no small importance in all their apartments; conspicuous, and much exposed to observation; and if they seem to us mean and insignificant, it is because we are not acquainted with the thing itself, and have no name to express it by, but what conveys to us a low and contemptible idea. Grace hath been showed from the Lord our God, says Ezra, (Ezr 9:8,) to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place; that is, as the margin of our Bible explains it, a constant and sure abode. Bishop Lowth. And he shall be a glorious throne to his fathers house By his prudent and righteous government he shall procure great glory, not only to himself, but to all that have any relation to him.
22:23 And I will fasten him [as] a {y} nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.
(y) I will establish him, and confirm him in his office, of this phrase read Ezr 9:9 .
He would also serve as a tent peg holding the royal house and all Jerusalem stable against the winds of adversity. He would bring glory to his father’s house. He would be such a strong figure that many people would rely on him and commit much responsibility to him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)