Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 28:18
And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
18. See on Isa 28:15. shall be disannulled ] lit. “smeared over” (cf. Gen 6:14) i.e. “cancelled,” “obliterated.” The verb is the technical word for expiate (as e.g. Isa 22:14), and although it is nowhere else in the O.T. used exactly as here, the sense is supported by Syriac usage, and an alteration of the text is not necessary.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And your covenant with death – (see the note at Isa 28:15).
Shall be disannulled – The word rendered shall be disannulled, ( vekupar from kaphar), properly means to cover, overlay; then to pardon, forgive; then to make atonement, to expiate. It has the idea of blotting out, forgiving, and obliterating – because a writing in wax was obliterated or covered by passing the stylus over it. Hence, also, the idea of abolishing, or rendering nought, which is the idea here. When the overflowing scourge (see the note at Isa 28:15).
Then ye shall be trodden down by it – There is in this verse a great intermingling of metaphor, not less than three figures being employed to denote the calamity. There is first the scourge, an instrument of punishment; there is then the idea of inundating waters or floods; then there is also the idea of a warrior or an invading army that treads down an enemy. All the images are designed to denote essentially the same thing, that the judgments of God would come upon the land, and that nothing in which they had trusted would constitute a refuge.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Your covenant with death shall be disannulled – “Your covenant with death shall be broken”] For caphar, which seems not to belong to this place, the Chaldee reads taphar, which is approved by Houbigant and Secker. See Jer 33:21, where the very same phrase is used. See Prelim. Dissert. p. l.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Disannulled; made void, or of none effect; it shall stand you in no stead.
Ye shall be trodden down by it; which you flattered yourselves that it should not come unto you, Isa 28:15.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. disannulledobliterated,as letters traced on a waxen tablet are obliterated by passing thestylus over it.
trodden downpassingfrom the metaphor in “scourge” to the thing meant, the armywhich treads down its enemies.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And your covenant with death shall be disannulled,…. Or, “be besmeared” x, or daubed over, as the ark was with pitch, Ge 6:14 where the same word is used as here; so that it shall not be legible, as any writing that is blotted out by ink, or any other liquor, so that it cannot be read; in like manner this their covenant with death should be so obliterated, that the articles of it could not be made out, and so of no force; thus the Targum renders it,
“shall be made void;”
[See comments on Isa 28:15]:
and your agreement with hell shall not stand; or “vision”, or “provision” y; which they had made by compact, with the greatest care, caution, and foresight, to secure themselves from destruction, would be found insufficient. The Targum is,
“and our peace, which was with the destroyer, shall not stand;”
[See comments on Isa 28:15]:
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through: the land of Judea and the city of Jerusalem; [See comments on Isa 28:15]:
then shall ye be trodden down by it: though they flattered themselves it should not come near them, yet it would; and they would not be able to stand before it, but would be thrown down, and trampled upon by it as the mire of the streets; see Lu 21:24.
x “Heb. oblinetur”, Piscator; “quasi pica illita tabulae literaeque foederis incrustentur, inducantur ac dispereant”, Gusset. Comment. Ebr. p. 397. y “et visio vestra”, Vatablus; “cautio vestra”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Heb. “visio”, i.e. “provisio”, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And the whip which Jehovah swings will not be satisfied with one stroke, but will rain strokes. “And your covenant with death is struck out, and your agreement with Hades will not stand; the swelling scourge, when it comes, ye will become a thing trodden down to it. As often as it passes it takes you: for every morning it passes, by day and by night; and it is nothing but shuddering to hear such preaching. For the bed is too short to stretch in, and the covering too tight when a man wraps himself in it.” Although b e rth is feminine, the predicate to it is placed before it in the masculine form (Ges. 144). The covenant is thought of as a document; for khuppar (for obliterari (just as the kal is used in Gen 6:14 in the sense of oblinere ; or in Pro 30:20, the Targum, and the Syriac, in the sense of abstergere ; and in the Talmud frequently in the sense of wiping off = qinneach , or wiping out = m achaq – which meanings all go back, along with the meaning negare , to the primary meaning, tegere , obducere ). The covenant will be “struck out,” as you strike out a wrong word, by crossing it over with ink and rendering it illegible. They fancy that they have fortified themselves against death and Hades; but Jehovah gives to both of these unlimited power over them. When the swelling scourge shall come, they will become to it as m irmas , i.e., they will be overwhelmed by it, and their corpses become like dirt of the streets (Isa 10:6; Isa 5:5); has the mercha upon the penult., according to the older editions and the smaller Masora on Lev 8:26, the tone being drawn back on account of the following . The strokes of the scourge come incessantly, and every stroke sweeps them, i.e., many of them, away. (from , construct , sufficiency, abundance) followed by the infinitive, quotiescunque irruet ; laqach , auferre , as in Jer 15:15, and in the idiom laqach nephesh . These scourgings without end – what a painful lecture Jehovah is reading them! This is the thought expressed in the concluding words: for the meaning cannot be, that “even ( raq as in Psa 32:6) the report (of such a fate) is alarming,” as Grotius and others explain it; or the report is nothing but alarming, as Gussetius and others interpret it, since in that case (cf., Isa 23:5) would have been quite sufficient, instead of . There is no doubt that the expression points back to the scornful question addressed by the debauchees to the prophet in Isa 28:9, “To whom will he make preaching intelligible?” i.e., to whom will he preach the word of God in an intelligible manner? (as if they did not possess bnah without this; , , as in Isa 53:1). As Isa 28:11 affirmed that Jehovah would take up the word against them, the drunken stammerers, through a stammering people; so here the scourging without end is called the sh e muah , or sermon, which Jehovah preaches to them. At the same time, the word habhn is not causative here, as in Isa 28:9, viz., “to give to understand,” but signifies simply “to understand,” or have an inward perception. To receive into one’s comprehension such a sermon as that which was now being delivered to them, was raq – z e vaah , nothing but shaking or shuddering ( raq as in Gen 6:5); (from which comes , or by transposition ) is applied to inward shaking as well as to outward tossing to and fro. Jerome renders it “ tantummodo sola vexatio intellectum dabit auditui ,” and Luther follows him thus: “but the vexation teaches to take heed to the word,” as if the reading were . The alarming character of the lecture is depicted in Isa 28:20, in a figure which was probably proverbial. The situation into which they are brought is like a bed too short for a man to stretch himself in ( min as in 2Ki 6:1), and like a covering which, according to the measure of the man who covers himself up in it (or perhaps still better in a temporal sense, “when a man covers or wraps himself up in it,” cf., Isa 18:4), is too narrow or too tight. So would it be in their case with the Egyptian treaty, in which they fancied that there were rest and safety for them. They would have to acknowledge its insufficiency. They had made themselves a bed, and procured bed-clothes; but how mistaken they had been in the measure, how miserably and ridiculously they had miscalculated!
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
18. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled. Formerly he directed his reproof against hypocrites, who obstinately mocked at God and all his threatenings; and he checked their thoughts in imagining that “they had made a covenant with death,” (Isa 28:15,) that is, in promising to themselves that all their transgressions would pass unpunished; as if by jeers and laughter they could escape the arm of God. He now threatens that, when they shall be fully aware that they must render an account to God, they shall be struck with fear and dread, whether they will or not; (235) for that state of ease and indifference into which they are sunk, arises from a kind of lethargy or drunkenness, which hinders them from perceiving the alarming nature of their disease; but the Lord will arouse them from their sleep, however profound, and will annul their imaginary compacts.
In short, he means that that peace which the wicked enjoy, while they slumber in their sins, will not be perpetual; for they shall be compelled, even against their will, to acknowledge that God is their judge, and, when they shall wish to enjoy repose, and while they are careless and unprepared, they shall be suddenly seized and agitated by strange terrors and anguish of mind. Their case is similar to that of malefactors, who, if they have broken out of prison and escaped, mock their judges, and utter reproachful and forward and insolent language against them, but, when they see the officers of justice close at their heels, suddenly tremble, and find that all their joy is turned into mourning, and that their condition is far worse than if they had not broken out of prison. Thus the wicked enjoy some momentary gladness, which they obtain by forgetfulness of their guilt; but the Lord immediately lays his hand on them, and terrifies their consciences in such a manner that they can find no rest.
(235) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
FALSE REFUGES
Isa. 28:18. Your covenant with death shall be disannulled.
Like the sinners spoken of in this chapter, most sinful men say in effect, We have made a covenant with death, &c. (Isa. 28:15).
I. That he may escape the dreaded consequences of sin, the troubled sinner seeks a refuge. He flees
1. From the voice of reason. The presence of a reasoning power in man is incompatible with the practice of sin. This is seen in the fact that when sinners can be brought to think, they at once admit themselves to be wrong. The moment a man commences to think about sin, that moment he becomes aware that it will not bear thinking about. It is because a sinful life is an unthinking life that Gods invitations to sinners are invitations to reason (chap. Isa. 1:18; Psa. 50:22).
2. From an accusing conscience. The authority of conscience is supreme, and no man can sin without feeling its sting. To escape remorse, which is conscience at work, men seek a refuge.
3. From an offended God. Sin is offensive to Gods holiness; for being pure, He must hate impurity. Because sinners are conscious that they have rendered themselves obnoxious to God, they seek a refuge.
4. From a broken law. In obedience to law there is safety, right, and happiness; while in disregarding law there is nothing but disaster. And from the consequences of the broken lawthe broken law of God written on the heart, proclaimed in Nature, revealed in the Biblethe sinner tries to hide.
5. From an endless future. This more than anything else terrifies sinners and drives them to seek shelter.
II. Sinners, blindly infatuated, seek a refuge in wrong objects. They make a covenant with death and an agreement with hell. The terms death and hell stand for the whole class of false securities in which men seek shelter by making a covenant and agreement with them.
1. Unbelief is one of the more modern refuges of sin. When men can blot out of the universe the idea of God, quench the sense of moral responsibility, remove the belief in immortality, persuade themselves that there is no other world, that death is an eternal sleep, that heaven is only an air-castle, and hell a mere chimera, they may then indulge in evil to their hearts content.
2. Superstition is another. Not in open unbelief, but under the cover of a false religion others seek to shelter. Unable to shake off belief in God and in a spiritual world, they search for some system which will at once allow a profession of religion and a practice of wickedness. Nor are such systems wanting, nor are they without disciples. Romanism offers indulgences for gold and pardons for pence, and thus provides a refuge for the stronger in pocket than in brain.
3. Annihilation is another. According to some, such is the awfulness of the thought of extinction of being, that men revolt from it. Establish it that when sinners die they cease to live, and what better refuge for sin is possible, and what other is needed? Sinful men will soon say, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
4. Excess is another. When the previous ones have failed to give comfort, the sinner rushes madly into excess. The drunkard seeks in increased intemperance to drown the sorrow his indulgence has occasioned.
5. Indifference is the last. This is the only comfort some men can find in their career of evil. But indifference is impossible without a denial of human responsibility. Sad indeed must the condition of human nature be when brought to this.
III. The refuges so confidently trusted in are utterly insecure.
1. Because they are incompatible with the real need of man. Only that can be conducive to mans safety which meets mans need. No human need is met by infidelity, or by superstition, or by annihilation, or by indulgence, or by indifference. Any one of these, tested by this argument drawn from human necessities, will be found a refuge of lies.
2. Because they are at variance with human instincts. Instinctively men believe in a Divine existence, in moral accountability, and in immortality.
3. Because they contradict human experience. They have all been tried, and as often as they have been tried they have been found false.
4. Because they are opposed to the teaching of revelation, both natural and Biblical. Nature proclaims loudly against all sin-sought refuges. The teaching of Nature and the Bible is that man is incompetent to provide for his own security, and that God only, in the exercise of His Divine prerogative, can provide for sinners the security they need.
IV. By Divine appointment the refuges so madly sought shall be totally destroyed. Your covenant with death shall be disannulled.
1. By consequence of their inherent character. They are refuges of lies, and necessarily all refuges built on lies must perish.
2. By necessity of strict justice. Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet (Isa. 28:17).
3. By the exertion of Almighty power. And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
CONCLUSION.God has mercifully provided a true refuge. He only cuts off the false that He may exhibit the true. Behold, I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone, &c. (Isa. 28:16).William Brooks: Study and the Pulpit, New Series, vol. 1 pp. 413416.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
18. Covenant Covenants secured by outside sorcery, black art, and oracle, shall be obliterated. So the literal word, in allusion to erasures of waxen tablets. Death and hell (original, sheol) are ghastly impersonations; very proper parties of the second part for such covenants and arguments.
Scourge See on Isa 28:15; a mixed metaphor; an invading army using blows heavily laid on, and trampling under feet as it advances.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 28:18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
Ver. 18. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled. ] See Isa 28:15 . God shall shoot at such with an arrow suddenly; Psa 64:7 and when they shall say, Peace and safety, then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. 1Th 5:3 They made a covenant with death and hell, but death and hell make no covenant with them. Thus it befell the rich fool; Luk 12:20 Alexander the Great, whom his parasites flattered into a fond conceit of an immortality; and Pope Sylvester the second, who dealt with the devil for the popedom, and was persuaded by him that he should never die till he sang mass in Jerusalem; but when he saw how he was cheated, and that he must die, he cried out,
“ Ah miser! aeternos vado damnatus ad ignes. ”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hell
Heb. “Sheol,” (See Scofield “Hab 2:5”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
your covenant: Isa 7:7, Isa 8:10, Jer 44:28, Eze 17:15, Zec 1:6
shall be disannulled: For kuppar Houbigant, Archbp. Secker, and Bp. Lowth, would read tuppar; but the former may well have the sense ascribed to it here, as it signifies in Chaldee and Syriac, abstersit, diluit, abolevit.
when: Isa 2:15, Isa 8:8, Jer 47:2, Dan 8:9-13, Dan 9:26, Dan 9:27, Dan 11:40, Rev 12:15, Rev 17:15
trodden down by it: Heb. a treading down to it, Isa 28:3, Mal 4:1-3
Reciprocal: Deu 13:5 – prophet Job 40:8 – disannul Ecc 8:8 – neither Isa 5:5 – trodden down Isa 16:6 – but Isa 30:28 – an overflowing Isa 59:6 – webs Jer 19:7 – I will make Lam 1:15 – trodden Gal 3:17 – cannot
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 28:18-19. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled Made void, or of none effect. Ye shall be trodden down Namely, by the overflowing scourge, which you flattered yourselves should not come unto you. From the time that it goeth forth Namely, from me into the land, it shall assuredly, and with the first, seize upon and carry away you scoffers. Morning by morning it shall pass over, &c. It shall not only come to you, but it shall abide upon you; and when it hath passed over you, it shall return again to you, morning after morning, and shall follow you day and night, without giving you the least respite. It shall be a vexation to understand the report So dreadful shall the judgment be, that it shall strike you with horror when you only hear the rumour of its approach.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Their signed agreements would prove meaningless. Their boast of immunity from catastrophe would prove hollow. They mocked a message leading to rest and chose to embrace a message resulting in terror. The scourge God would send would be like a marauding beast as well as a hailstorm and a flood.
"The Assyrian annals report numerous returns to the same areas, each return being accompanied by vast slaughter and pillage. The steady hammer blows of such an attack spread out over years, whether calculatedly so, or as a result of political exigencies elsewhere, could be expected to reduce a people to shivering terror, as the prophet noted here." [Note: Oswalt, pp. 519-20.]