Bible Commentary

And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 3. the spirit of Egypt shall fail ] lit. be poured out, cf. Jer 19:7. … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 19:3”

And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom. 2. Jehovah speaks. The description of anarchy and civil war recalls ch. Isa 3:5, Isa 9:18 ff. I will set Egyptians ] Lit. I … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 19:2”

The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. 1. On the superscription, see on ch. Isa 13:1. rideth upon a swift cloud ] … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 19:1”

In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 18:7”

They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. 6. The figure is now abandoned; instead of the “sprigs and branches” of the vine, we have the dead … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 18:6”

For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away [and] cut down the branches. 5. Assyria is here compared to a vine, ripening its grapes under the favourable influences indicated in Isa 18:4. … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 18:5”

For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, [and] like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 4. I will take consider ] Better: I will quietly look on, the first verb being subordinate to … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 18:4”

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. 3. This verse gives the message which the ambassadors are to carry home to their countrymen, although it concerns all the world as much as … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 18:3”

That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, [saying], Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! 2. The ambassadors are those who have arrived in … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 18:2”

Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which [is] beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 1. The word rendered woe is here neither a ‘cry of pity’ nor (as usually in Isaiah) of indignation. It is simply a particle of salutation ( heus) as in ch. Isa 55:1; Zec 2:6-7 (10, 11 Heb.). Render: Ha, the … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 18:1”