14 The LORD will enter into judg- A. M. 3244. ment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up " the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 15 What mean ye that ye • beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith 13 The LORD standeth up to plead, and the Lord GOD of hosts. standeth to judge the people. iPsa. xi. 6; Fccles. viii. 13.- Heb. done to him. Verse 4. Chap. ix. 16.6 Or, they which call thee blessed. to the people; that it shall be well with him--Even when it is ill with the wicked, and with the nation in general; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings ---God will be their safeguard and portion in the common calamity; therefore let them not fear, but let them commit themselves, and their all, to his protection, and resign themselves up to his disposal. They shall either be hid in the day of the Lord's anger, or shall have divine supports and comforts, which shall abound in proportion as trials and troubles abound. "This is an admirable sentence to support the souls of the pious, amidst all the calamities of this life. God will not forsake those who truly love and serve him. This, reason teaches us; this, the experience of all times confirms; and it is the constant and comfortable doctrine of the word of God. The event must and will be happy to the good man." Wo unto the wicked, &c.-These heavy judgments are designed against them, and shall certainly find them out, though here they be mixed with the righteous. As happiness, either in this world or the next, is, by the divine determination, the certain consequence of righteousness, so the contrary is the certain consequence of wickedness. Verse 12. As for my people-In this and the following verses, says Dr. Dodd, "the prophet describes the incapacity and weakness, the ignorance and corruption, the oppression and cruelty of the priests and rulers of the people; such as we learn from history they were before the Babylonish captivity." Chil- || dren are their oppressors-Persons young in years, of little experience, and who have not due considera- || tion, but, following the impulse of their passions, without regard to any thing else, have the power in their hands, which they use at their pleasure, of exacting tribute of the people; and women rule over them-Weak and effeminate rulers. Or, perhaps he speaks of the wives and concubines of their kings and great men, who, by their arts, gaining an ascendency over their husbands, induced them to act as they desired, though frequently to the people's prejudice, and in a manner contrary to all the laws. Thus it was in the reign of Jehoram, king of Judah,|| whose wife Athaliah, a cruel and weak-woman, occasioned great disorders in the state; see 2 Chron. chap. xxi. and xxii.; and thus undoubtedly it frequently happened after the time Isaiah uttered this prophecy. They who lead thee-Thy rulers, civil 16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the Heb. swallow up.—m Mic. vi. 2. 8 Or, burnt. 7; Matt. xxi. 33. Chap. lviii. 4; Mic. iii. 2, 3. Chap. v. and ecclesiastical, whose duty it is to show thee the right way; or, as T, may be properly rendered, they that bless thee; that is, thy false prophets, who flatter thee, and speak peace to thee; cause thee to err-From the way of truth and duty, from the way of safety and prosperity. Instead of leading thee to repentance and reformation, they encourage thee to go on in sin and rebellion against him, on whom thou art dependant for all things. Those teachers are indeed impostors, that pronounce a people safe and happy who continue in sin; for it is contrary to the very nature of things, that any people can be happy who are contemners of the divine laws. Their punishment may be delayed, but it is not therefore remitted; and every step they take in such a way is a step toward misery and ruin. And destroy the way of thy paths-Keep thee from the knowledge or practice of those paths which lead to safety and happiness, and mislead thee into evil courses, by their wicked counsels or examples. Verses 13-15. The Lord standeth up to plead-He will shortly and certainly stand up as a judge to inquire into the cause, and to give sentence; and standeth to judge the people-To call the wicked into judgment, and to denounce upon them as they deserve; or to defend and deliver his own people, judging for them, as this phrase often means. Will enter into judgment with the ancients-The princes or rulers, as it is explained in the next clause, often called elders, because they were commonly chosen from those that were advanced in years. For ye have eaten up the vineyard-Destroyed, instead of preserving and dressing it, as you should have done. The church and commonwealth of Israel is often called God's vineyard, and here the vineyard, by way of eminence, intrusted to the care of these rulers. The spoil of the poor is in your houses-The goods which you have violently taken away from them. What mean ye that ye beat my people?-What warrant have ye for it? How durst you presume to do it? and grind the faces of the poor-A strong metaphor to denote grievous oppression; but it is exceeded by the Prophet Micah, chap. iii. 1-3. Verse 16. Moreover, the Lord saith-After God had reproved the rulers of the Jews for their iniqui ty, injustice, and rapacity in spoiling the people, "he draws an argument of the same kind from the pride and luxury of the noble matrons and virgins, The pride of women, B. C. 760. B. C. 760. A. M. 3244. daughters of Zion are haughty, and || bravery of their tinkling ornaments A. M. 3244. walk with stretched-forth necks and about their feet, and their 12 cauls, wanton eyes, walking and 10 mincing as they and their round tires like the moon, go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 9 17 Therefore the LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover a their secret parts. 18 In that day the LORD will take away the 'Heb. deceiving with their eyes.10Or, tripping nicely.PDeut. xxviii. 27. Heb. make naked.-4Chap. xlvii. 2, 3; Jer. xiii. || 19 The 13 chains, and the bracelets, and the 14 mufflers, whose ornaments, collected from the spoils of the here denounced upon the luxurious and proud wopeople, were borne proudly and insolently by them; men: first, taking away, not only the ornaments, upon whom therefore he denounces judgments; for wherewith they set off their beauty, but also their of these two parts consists this last period of his re- || garments, which were of necessary use, to verse 24; proving discourse: urging, 1st, In this verse the crimes secondly, deprivation of their husbands and children, of luxury and wanton haughtiness; denouncing, 2d, verses 25, 26; thirdly, the consequence hereof, by The punishment with which God would pursue these which this loss might be repaired, chap. iv. 1:" see crimes, verse 17 to chap. iv. 1:" see Vitringa and Vitringa. Will take away the bravery of their Dodd. Because the daughters of Zion are haugh- || tinkling ornaments, &c.-It is justly observed by a ty--Proud and disdainful; and walk with stretched-||learned commentator here, that the words which forth necks-Affecting stateliness, (Psa. lxxv. 5,) and describe the women's ornaments in this and the folendeavouring to appear tall; and wanton eyes-lowing verses are of very doubtful signification; the Hebrew, po, falsifying their eyes; that is, falsely setting off their eyes with paint, as Bishop Lowth translates it, observing that he takes it to be the true meaning and literal rendering of the word; walking and mincing as they go--Taking petty tripping steps in their walking, that they may appear the younger; making a tinkling with their feet-be as little understood as some of those here named. Dr. Waterland renders this clause, and with chains, or shackles, upon their feet. The prophet is thought, by some learned men, to "allude to a custom among the eastern ladies of wearing on their legs large hollow rings, or circles, with little rings hanging round them; the cavities of these rings being filled with small flints, which caused them to sound like bells on the least motion." Bishop Lowth translates the last two clauses, "Mincing their steps as they go, and with their feet lightly tripping along." || modes of every age and country varying so often, that the succeeding fashion makes the former to be quickly forgotten, and the words that express it to become obscure, or even unintelligible. Probably a hundred years hence the names of some of the ornaments that are now in use in our own land will It is judged unnecessary and improper, therefore, to trouble the reader here with the different interpretations which learned men have given of them. It is agreed by all, that they were ornaments used by the women in Judea at that time, and that they were made the means of increasing their pride and other vices, and therefore were displeasing to God. And it is of no concern exactly to understand the differences of them. Instead therefore of spending time on this barren subject, we shall content ourselves Verse 17. Therefore the Lord will smite, &c.- with laying before the reader Bishop Lowth's transWill humble the head of the daughters of Zion; || lation of the Hebrew terms used to express them, and Jehovah will expose their nakedness. Thus with some occasional observations which he has Bishop Lowth renders the verse, observing, that "it made on some of the articles. In that day will the was the barbarous custom of the conquerors of Lord take away from them the ornaments of the those times to strip their captives naked, and to feet-rings, and the net-works, and the crescents, make them travel in that condition, exposed to the verse 18. The pendents, and the bracelets, and inclemency of the weather; and, which was worst the thin veils, verse 19. The tires, and the fetters, of all, to the intolerable heat of the sun. But this, and the zones, and the perfume-boxes, and the amuto the women, was the height of cruelty and indigni- || lets, verse 20. The rings, and the jewels of the ty; and especially to such as those here described, || nostril, verse 21. Many commentators explain this who had indulged themselves in all manner of deli- of jewels, or strings of pearl, hanging from the forecacies of living, and all the superfluities of ornament-head, and reaching to the upper part of the nose. al dress; and even whose faces had hardly ever But it appears from many passages of Holy Scripture, been exposed to the sight of man. This is always that the phrase is to be literally and properly undermentioned as the hardest part of the lot of captives. stood of nose-jewels, rings set with jewels, hanging Nahum, denouncing the fate of Nineveh, paints it from the nostrils, as ear-rings from the ears, by holes in very strong colours," chap. iii. 5, 6. bored to receive them. Ezekiel, enumerating the common ornaments of women of the first rank, has not omitted this particular, and is to be understood Verse 18. In that day the Lord, &c.--"Punishment, which, though slow, always follows vice, is Desolate state of CHAPTER IV. the land of Judea. A. M. 3244. 22 The changeable suits of apparel, || 'baldness; and instead of a stomacher, A. M. 3244. and the mantles, and the wimples, anda girding of sackcloth and burning the crisping-pins, instead of beauty. B. C. 760. 23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils. B. C. 760. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy 16 mighty in the war. t 24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of 26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead || and she, being " desolate,18 " shall sit upon the of a girdle, a rent; and instead of well-set hair, ground. t Jer. xiv. 2; Lam. i. 4.- 17Heb. cleansed.- 18 Or, emptied.- "Lam. ii. 10. Chap. xxii. 12; Mic. i. 16.- 16 Heb. might. in the same manner, chap. xvi. 11, 12; see also Gen. in these verses the second evil; the desolation and xxiv. 47, and Prov. xi. 22. widowhood of the matrons and virgins: see Lam. ii. 21, 22. But we must observe, that the prophet here does not address the women themselves, but Zion, which frequently is spoken of and represented in the character of a woman. Her gates shall lament do. Verses 22-24. The embroidered robes, and the|| tunics, and the cloaks, and the little purses, verse 22. The transparent garments--A kind of silken dress, transparent like gauze; worn only by the most delicate women, and such as dressed themselves, The gates of Zion, which, by a figure, are said to as Sallust observes, "elegantius quam necesse esset lament, to imply the great desolation of the place, probis," more elegantly than was necessary for that there would be no people to go out and come in modest women. This sort of garments was after-by them, or to meet together there as they used to ward in use among the Greeks. And the fine linen vests; and the turbans, and the mantles, verse 23. And there shall be, instead of perfume, a putrid ulcer-A principal part of the delicacy of the Asiatic ladies consists in the use of baths, and of the richest oils and perfumes; an attention to which is, in some degree, necessary in those hot countries. Frequent mention (as we have seen) is made of the rich ointments of the spouse in the Song of Solomon; and the preparation for Esther's being introduced to King Ahasuerus was a course of bathing and perfuming for a whole year; six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, Esther ii. 12. A diseased and loathsome habit of body, instead of a beautiful skin, softened and made agreeable with all that art could devise, and all that nature, so prodigal, in those countries, of the richest perfumes, could supply, must have been a punishment the most severe and the most mortifying to the delicacy of these haughty daughters of Zion. And, instead of well-girt raiment, rags; and, instead of high- || dressed hair, baldness; and, instead of a zone, a girdle of sackcloth: a sun-burnt skin, instead of beauty, verse 24. Verses 25, 26. Thy men shall fall, &c.--We have And she, being desolate-Bereaved of her children; Hebrew, np, emptied, or cleansed, that is, deprived of all that she had held dear, and delighted in; shall sit upon the ground-In the posture of a mourner, bewailing her sad calamity. Sitting on the ground, the reader will observe, was a posture denoting deep distress: see on Job ii. 13. The Prophet Jeremiah has noticed it, in the first place, among many indications of sorrow, in an elegant description of this same state of distress of his country, Lam. ii. 8-10. Thus also the psalmist, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. For, undoubtedly, Isaiah in this prophecy had in his view, at least first and immediately, the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the dissolution of the Jewish state under the captivity of Babylon. His prediction, however, received a second, and still more awful accomplishment, in the destruction of that city and nation by the Romans. And, what is remarkable, in a medal coined by Vespasian's order, Jerusalem is represented, according to the picture drawn of her here by the prophet, as lamenting that calamity, under the emblem of a woman sitting on the ground in a melancholy and mournful posture. CHAPTER IV. In the extremity of evils, Christ's glorious kingdom should appear to those who are left alive, 1, 2. They shall be holy, 3. Purged, 4. A glory and a defence upon them, 5. A sanctuary from evils, 6. A. M. 3244. AND ND in that day seven women own apparel: only let us be called A. M. 3244. shall take hold of one man, say-by thy name, 'to take away our re ing, We will beat our own bread, and wear our * Chap. ii. 11, 17.- b 2 Thess. iii. 12. 1 Heb. let thy name NOTES ON CHAPTER IV. Verse 1. In that day-Of which he has hitherto been speaking, chap. ii. and iii., and still continues to proach. с B. C. 760. be called upon us.- 3 And it shall come to pass, that he A. M. 3244. that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, even every one that is living in Jerusalem: shall be called holy, written 5 among the Chapter lx. 21. Phil. iv. 3; Revelation iii. 5.- Or, that seven women shall be glad to apply to a single brought upon the Jews, and they had been restored man for protection, preservation, and marriage: and to their own land; and after they had been chastised shall importune him, though contrary to the natural and purified still more, by the calamities brought modesty of their sex, to consent to take away their upon them by Antiochus Epiphanes and other reproach-For not barrenness only, but a single princes of the Grecian empire, and by the Romans state also was reckoned opprobrious among the || under Pompey, the Messiah should be born; and Jews." "And in spite of the natural suggestions of that, after the utter destruction which should be jealousy, they will each be content with a share only brought upon the Jewish city, temple, and nation, of the rights of marriage in common with several || by Titus, the Roman general, the kingdom of the others; and that on hard conditions, renouncing the Messiah should become beautiful and glorious, as is legal demands of the wife on the husband, (see here expressed. According to this interpretation, Exod. xxi. 10,) and begging only the name and the expression, in that day, in the beginning of the credit of wedlock, to be freed from the reproach of verse, must be considered as used with great latitude, celibacy." See Vitringa and Bishop Lowth. as it often is by this prophet, signifying, as Lowth Verse 2. In that day—About and after that time, observes, "not the same time with that which was when the Lord shall have washed away (as this last mentioned, but an extraordinary season, remarktime is particularly expressed, verse 4,) the filth of able for some signal events of providence, called elseZion, by those dreadful judgments now described. where, by way of excellence, the day of the Lord, The third part of this discourse, the reader will ob- just as that day denotes the day of judgment in serve, begins here, in which is set forth the flourish- the New Testament, as being a time of all others ing state of the remnant of the Jews after the times the most remarkable; see 2 Thess. i. 10; 2 Tim. i. of the former calamity. Shall the branch of the 12, 18, and iv. 8. "It is usual," says Grotius, "for Lord be beautiful and glorious-The church and the prophets to pass from the threatenings that repeople of Israel may be here intended by the branch late to their own times, to the promises which belong of the Lord, being often called God's vine, or vine- to the times of the gospel." It may be further obyard, as we have seen before, and the branch of his served here, that the Scriptures often speak of great planting, chap. lx. 21. It is a metaphorical expres- tribulations, as preceding, and preparing the way sion, taken from a tree cut down, which, notwith- for, the enlargement and prosperity of Christ's kingstanding, sprouts forth anew from the root, by young dom. In consistency with this application of the suckers, and brings forth many trees. And thus the passage, by the fruit of the earth, here said to be exprophet foretels, that, notwithstanding the grievous cellent and comely, must be meant the spiritual calamities and great destructions which he had blessings of the gospel, frequently described under predicted, and which would certainly come to pass, the emblems of the fruitfulness of the earth and yet, nevertheless, the small remainder of them plenty. And by them that are escaped of Israel, which should return out of captivity, with those we must understand those Jews who, the prophet that should be left in the land, when it was laid de- || foresaw, would be converted by the preaching of solate by the Chaldeans, should increase into a great || Christ and his apostles, and should thereby escape people. And to them the fruit of the earth should || that vengeance which would involve the rest of their be excellent and comely-That is, through the nation. This accords well with the following verses abundant produce of the land they should be made of the chapter. rich, and should be rendered respectable to the neighbouring nations. This seems to be the primary and most obvious meaning of the passage, considered in connection with what precedes and follows. The Chaldee Paraphrast, however, says, the branch here means the Messiah of Jehovah, and of him many Jewish doctors, as well as Christian commentators, understand the expression. Certainly he is frequently signified, in Scripture, by this title, the branch: see chap. xi. 1; Jer. xxiii. 5, and xxxiii. 15; Zech. iii. 1; and, in one place, namely, Zech. vi. 12, his name is expressly said to be the branch. Understood of him, the meaning of the passage must be, that after the foregoing miseries had been 1 Verse 3. And he that is left in Zion—Those that escape the common destruction brought on their countrymen; see verse 2; shall be called holy— Shall be really such. The Jews that survived the Babylonish captivity, and returned into their own land, were greatly reformed, especially in one point, they relapsed no more into idolatry: and in other respects also a spirit of religion was revived among them. But the prophecy was much more eminently fulfilled in the first converts from Judaism to Christianity, to whose purity and holiness the apostles often bear witness, and of which they glory in their writings. Even every one that is written among the living, &c.-Whose names are recorded in the book The presence of God in CHAPTER IV. the assemblies of his people. B. C.760. h B. C. 760. A. M. 3244. 4 When the LORD shall have || blies, a cloud and smoke by day, and A. M. 3244. washed away the filth of the daugh-the shining of a flaming fire by night: for "upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat, and * for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. ters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. 5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and upon her assem Mal. iii. 2, 3.- Exod. xiii. 21.—i Zech. ii. 5.-6 Or, of life, or the book of the divine knowledge and remembrance, as persons who, by repentance toward God and faith in the Messiah, expected, or already revealed, have passed from death unto life. The phrase is used in allusion to the registers which were kept of the Jewish tribes and families: see notes on Exod. xxxii. 32; Psa. Ixix. 28. above. -7 Heb. a covering, Chap. viii. 14.- Chap. xxv. 4. attempts of their enemies, as we learn from the book of Nehemiah: and thus especially he was present with, and guided, protected, and preserved the first Christian Church, when he destroyed their unbelieving and disobedient countrymen. Upon all the glory shall be a defence-Upon all that church and people, which God will make glorious: upon the literal, but especially upon the mystical Jerusalem, upon all holy societies, or assemblies of sincere Christians. A learned commentator, who says the dwelling-places and assemblies of Sion "refer to the meetings of the apostles and other Christians at Jerusalem;" and that the next clause, upon all the glory, &c., means that the divine protection shall be afforded wherever God manifests himself by the extraordinary signs of his gracious presence, adds as follows: "Every symbol of the divine grace and glory, such as was the cloud, brings with it the protection and defence of that place or assembly, which is blessed with this prerogative. The event proves the truth of this interpretation. So long as God was in the temple, that place rejoiced in the benefit of the divine protection. When the voice was heard, Verse 4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth, &c.-This shall be accomplished when God shall have thoroughly cleansed the Jewish nation from their sins; and shall have purged away the|| blood of Jerusalem-The sins of cruelty and oppression, (ch. v. 7,) or of bloodshed and murder, particularly in killing the prophets, and persecuting God's servants. By the spirit of judgment and burning-By the effects of his justice and wrath in punishing them severely; by making them pass through the furnace of affliction, as it is expressed ch. xlviii. 10: or the Holy Spirit's influences may be chiefly intended, especially as this mode of purification is opposed to the legal way, which was by water. The Holy Spirit may well be called a spirit of judgment, because he executes judgment in the church, and in the consciences of men, convincing sinners of sin,'Let us depart hence,' it was left to the desolation leading them to judge and condemn themselves, and of its enemies." Now the same, as he says, holds humbling them before God. And the same Spirit good in the Christian Church. While she cleaves to may be properly called a spirit of burning, because God, adheres to his truth, possesses his grace, obeys he burns up and consumes the dross which is in the his laws, and worships him in the beauty of holichurch, and in the hearts of sinners, operates likeness, she has his presence with her, and is safe and refiners' fire, purges believers as gold and silver are purged, (Mal. iii. 3,) inflames their souls with love to God and zeal for his glory, and transforms them into his holy nature and image. This was effectually || done with respect to those Jews that embraced the gospel in the early days of Christianity. happy. But, when the reverse of all this takes place, when his truth is disbelieved, his grace neglected, his laws broken, and his ordinances slighted, or attended in a mere formal way, his presence is withdrawn, and her glory and defence depart together. Verse 6. And there shall be, &c.-Or, He, that is, the Lord, shall be, a tabernacle, or a tent, for a shadow from the heat, &c.-He alludes to the circumstance of tents being necessary, in those eastern countries, to defend people from the intolerable heat of the sun, and the violent tempests which fre Verse 5. And the Lord will create-Will, in a marvellous manner, produce, as it were, by a new work of creation; upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion-Upon all the private habitations of his people; and upon her assemblies-Upon the places of their public worship, and the persons assembled therein; a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining,||quently happen; in consequence of which a portable &c. He alludes to the pillar of a cloud and fire, which conducted and protected the Israelites in the wilderness, and afterward rested upon the tabernaele; and his words imply, that God would be the protector and glory of Zion. Such he was to Jeru-secutions, stood in peculiar need of the divine prosalem after the return from Babylon; directing the Jews in their various difficulties, and defending them in their weak state against all the contrivances and 3 tent becomes an important part of a traveller's baggage, for defence and shelter. Thus, he signifies, the Christian Church, in its early ages, exposed as it was to the heat and violent storms of repeated per tection, and was favoured therewith, and that frequently, in a very extraordinary and even miraculous way. 73 |