7 Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?
Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.
The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.
And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased. Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 27
Commentary on Isaiah 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
Isa 27:1-13. Continuation of the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-sixth Chapters.
At the time when Israel shall be delivered, and the ungodly nations punished, God shall punish also the great enemy of the Church.
1. sore—rather, "hard," "well-tempered."
leviathan—literally, in Arabic, "the twisted animal," applicable to every great tenant of the waters, sea-serpents, crocodiles, &c. In Eze 29:3; 32:2; Da 7:1, &c. Re 12:3, &c., potentates hostile to Israel are similarly described; antitypically and ultimately Satan is intended (Re 20:10).
piercing—rigid [Lowth]. Flying [Maurer and Septuagint]. Long, extended, namely, as the crocodile which cannot readily bend back its body [Houbigant].
crooked—winding.
dragon—Hebrew, tenin; the crocodile.
sea—the Euphrates, or the expansion of it near Babylon.
2. In that day when leviathan shall be destroyed, the vineyard (Ps 80:8), the Church of God, purged of its blemishes, shall be lovely in God's eyes; to bring out this sense the better, Lowth, by changing a Hebrew letter, reads "pleasant," "lovely," for "red wine."
sing—a responsive song [Lowth].
unto her—rather, "concerning her" (see on Isa 5:1); namely, the Jewish state [Maurer].
3. lest any hurt it—attack it [Maurer]. "Lest aught be wanting in her" [Horsley].
4. Fury is not in me—that is, I entertain no longer anger towards my vine.
who would set … in battle—that is, would that I had the briers, &c. (the wicked foe; Isa 9:18; 10:17; 2Sa 23:6), before me! "I would go through," or rather, "against them."
5. Or—Else; the only alternative, if Israel's enemies wish to escape being "burnt together."
strength—rather, "the refuge which I afford" [Maurer]. "Take hold," refers to the horns of the altar which fugitives often laid hold of as an asylum (1Ki 1:50; 2:28). Jesus is God's "strength," or "refuge" which sinners must repair to and take hold of, if they are to have "peace" with God (Isa 45:24; Ro 5:1; Eph 2:14; compare Job 22:21).
6. He—Jehovah. Here the song of the Lord as to His vineyard (Isa 27:2-5) ends; and the prophet confirms the sentiment in the song, under the same image of a vine (compare Ps 92:13-15; Ho 14:5, 6).
Israel … fill … world—(Ro 11:12).
7. him … those—Israel—Israel's enemies. Has God punished His people as severely as He has those enemies whom He employed to chastise Israel? No! Far from it. Israel, after trials, He will restore; Israel's enemies He will utterly destroy at last.
the slaughter of them that are slain by him—rather, "Is Israel slain according to the slaughter of the enemy slain?" the slaughter wherewith the enemy is slain [Maurer].
8. In measure—not beyond measure; in moderation (Job 23:6; Ps 6:1; Jer 10:24; 30:11; 46:28).
when it shooteth—image from the vine; rather, passing from the image to the thing itself, "when sending her away (namely, Israel to exile; Isa 50:1, God only putting the adulteress away when He might justly have put her to death), Thou didst punish her" [Gesenius].
stayeth—rather, as Margin, "when He removeth it by His rough wind in the day," &c.
east wind—especially violent in the East (Job 27:21; Jer 18:17).
9. By this—exile of Israel (the "sending away," Isa 27:8).
purged—expiated [Horsley].
all the fruit—This is the whole benefit designed to be brought about by the chastisement; namely, the removal of his (Israel's) sin (namely, object of idolatry; De 9:21; Ho 10:8).
when he—Jehovah; at the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, His instrument. The Jews ever since have abhorred idolatry (compare Isa 17:8).
not stand up—shall rise no more [Horsley].
10. city—Jerusalem; the beating asunder of whose altars and images was mentioned in Isa 27:9 (compare Isa 24:10-12).
calf feed—(Isa 17:2); it shall be a vast wild pasture.
branches—resuming the image of the vine (Isa 27:2,6).
11. boughs … broken off—so the Jews are called (Ro 11:17, 19, 20).
set … on fire—burn them as fuel; "women" are specified, as probably it was their office to collect fuel and kindle the fire for cooking.
no understanding—as to the ways of God (De 32:28, 29; Jer 5:21; Ho 4:6).
12. Restoration of the Jews from their dispersion, described under the image of fruits shaken from trees and collected.
beat off—as fruit beaten off a tree with a stick (De 24:20), and then gathered.
river—Euphrates.
stream of Egypt—on the confines of Palestine and Egypt (Nu 34:5; Jos 15:4, 47), now Wady-el-Arish, Jehovah's vineyard, Israel, extended according to His purpose from the Nile to the Euphrates (1Ki 4:21, 24; Ps 72:8).
one by one—gathered most carefully, not merely as a nation, but as individuals.
13. great trumpet—image from the trumpets blown on the first day of the seventh month to summon the people to a holy convocation (Le 23:24). Antitypically, the gospel trumpet (Re 11:15; 14:6) which the Jews shall hearken to in the last days (Zec 12:10; 13:1). As the passover in the first month answers to Christ's crucifixion, so the day of atonement and the idea of "salvation" connected with the feast of tabernacles in the same seventh month, answer to the crowning of "redemption" at His second coming; therefore redemption is put last in 1Co 1:30.
Assyria—whither the ten tribes had been carried; Babylonia is mainly meant, to which Assyria at that time belonged; the two tribes were restored, and some of the ten accompanied them. However, "Assyria" is designedly used to point ultimately to the future restoration of the ten fully, never yet accomplished (Jer 3:18).
Egypt—whither many had fled at the Babylonish captivity (Jer 41:17, 18). Compare as to the future restoration, Isa 11:11, 12, 16; 51:9-16 ("Rahab" being Egypt).