8 In measure, in sending it forth, thou strivest with it, He hath taken away by His sharp wind, In the day of an east wind,
Though he among brethren produceth fruit, Come in doth an east wind, a wind of Jehovah, From a wilderness it is coming up, And it drieth up his fountain, And become dry doth his spring, It -- it spoileth a treasure -- every desirable vessel.
And it is plucked up in fury, To the earth it hath been cast, And the east wind hath dried up its fruit, Broken and withered hath been the rod of its strength, Fire hath consumed it.
At that time it is said of this people, And of Jerusalem: `A dry wind of high places in the wilderness,' The way of the daughter of My people, (Not for winnowing, nor for cleansing,)
For, not to the age do I strive, nor for ever am I wroth, For the spirit from before Me is feeble, And the souls I have made.
No temptation hath taken you -- except human; and God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able, but He will make, with the temptation, also the outlet, for your being able to bear `it'.
Hear, O mountains, the strife of Jehovah, Ye strong ones -- foundations of earth! For a strife `is' to Jehovah, with His people, And with Israel He doth reason. O My people, what have I done to thee? And what -- have I wearied thee? Testify against Me. For I brought thee up from the land of Egypt, And from the house of servants I have ransomed thee, And I send before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O My people, remember, I pray you, What counsel did Balak king of Moab, What answer him did Balaam son of Beor, (From Shittim unto Gilgal,) In order to know the righteous acts of Jehovah.'
And My people are hanging in suspense, about My returning, And unto the Most High they do call, Together they exalt not. How do I give thee up, O Ephraim? Do I deliver thee up, O Israel? How do I make thee as Admah? Do I set thee as Zeboim? Turned in Me is My heart, kindled together have been My repentings. I do not the fierceness of My anger, I turn not back to destroy Ephraim, For God I `am', and not a man. In thy midst the Holy One, and I enter not in enmity,
`Come, and we turn back unto Jehovah, For He hath torn, and He doth heal us, He doth smite, and He bindeth us up. He doth revive us after two days, In the third day He doth raise us up, And we live before Him.
`Hear a word of Jehovah, sons of Israel, For a strife `is' to Jehovah with inhabitants of the land, For there is no truth, nor kindness, Nor knowledge of God, in the land,
Thou, thou dost not fear, My servant Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah -- for with thee I `am', For I make an end of all the nations Whither I have driven thee, And of thee I do not make an end, And I have reproved thee in judgment, And do not entirely acquit thee!'
For with thee `am' I, An affirmation of Jehovah -- to save thee, For I make an end of all the nations Whither I have scattered thee, Only, of thee I do not make an end, And I have chastised thee in judgment, And do not entirely acquit thee.
For thus said Jehovah: All the land is a desolation, but a completion I make not.
Dost thou not do this to thyself? `By' thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, At the time He is leading thee in the way? And now, what -- to thee in the way of Egypt, To drink the waters of Sihor? And what -- to thee in the way of Asshur, To drink the waters of the River? Instruct thee doth thy wickedness, And thy backslidings reprove thee, Know and see that an evil and a bitter thing `Is' thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, And My fear not being on thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts. For from of old thou hast broken thy yoke, Drawn away thy bands, and sayest, `I do not serve,' For, on every high height, and under every green tree, Thou art wandering -- a harlot. And I planted thee a choice vine, wholly a true seed, And how hast thou been turned to Me, To the degenerate shoots of a strange vine? But though thou dost wash with nitre, And dost multiply to thyself soap, Marked is thine iniquity before Me, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. How sayest thou, `I have not been defiled, After the Baalim I have not gone?' See thy way in a valley, know what thou hast done, A swift dromedary winding her ways, A wild ass accustomed to a wilderness, In the desire of her soul she hath swallowed up wind, Her meeting -- who doth turn her back? None seeking her do weary themselves, In her month they find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst, And thou sayest, `It is incurable, No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I go.' As the shame of a thief when he is found, So put to shame have been the house of Israel, They, their kings, their heads, And their priests, and their prophets, Saying to wood, `My father `art' thou!' And to a stone, `Thou hast brought me forth,' For they turned unto me the back and not the face, And in the time of their vexation, They say, `Arise Thou, and save us.' And where `are' thy gods, that thou hast made to thyself? Let them arise, if they may save thee, In the time of thy vexation, For -- the number of thy cities have been thy gods, O Judah, Why do ye strive with Me? All of you have transgressed against Me, An affirmation of Jehovah. In vain I have smitten your sons, Instruction they have not accepted, Devoured hath your sword your prophets, As a destroying lion. O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah: A wilderness have I been to Israel? A land of thick darkness? Wherefore have My people said, `We mourned, We come not in again unto Thee.' Doth a virgin forget her ornaments? A bride her bands? And My people have forgotten Me days without number. What -- dost thou make pleasing thy ways to seek love? Therefore even the wicked thou hast taught thy ways. Also in thy skirts hath been found the blood of innocent needy souls, Not by digging have I found them, but upon all these. And thou sayest, `Because I have been innocent, Surely turned back hath His anger from me?' Lo, I have been judged with thee, Because of thy saying, `I have not sinned.' What? thou art very vile to repeat thy way, Even of Egypt thou art ashamed, As thou hast been ashamed of Asshur, Also from this thou goest out, And thy hands on thy head, For Jehovah hath kicked at thy confidences, And thou dost not give prosperity to them!
And the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, saying, `We have sinned against Thee, even because we have forsaken our God, and serve the Baalim.' And Jehovah saith unto the sons of Israel, ``Have I' not `saved you' from the Egyptians, and from the Amorite, from the Bene-Ammon, and from the Philistines? And the Zidonians, and Amalek, and Maon have oppressed you, and ye cry unto Me, and I save you out of their hand; and ye -- ye have forsaken Me, and serve other gods, therefore I add not to save you. Go and cry unto the gods on which ye have fixed; they -- they save you in the time of your adversity.' And the sons of Israel say unto Jehovah, `We have sinned, do Thou to us according to all that is good in Thine eyes; only deliver us, we pray Thee, this day.' And they turn aside the gods of the stranger out of their midst, and serve Jehovah, and His soul is grieved with the misery of Israel.
In a small moment I have forsaken thee, And in great mercies I do gather thee,
And it hath come to pass, When the Lord doth fulfil all His work In mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I see concerning the fruit of the greatness Of the heart of the king of Asshur. And concerning the glory of the height of his eyes.
Wo `to' Asshur, a rod of Mine anger, And a staff in their hand `is' Mine indignation. Against a profane nation I send him, And concerning a people of My wrath I charge him, To spoil spoil, and to seize prey, And to make it a treading-place as the clay of out places.
Come, I pray you, and we reason, saith Jehovah, If your sins are as scarlet, as snow they shall be white, If they are red as crimson, as wool they shall be! If ye are willing, and have hearkened, The good of the land ye consume, And if ye refuse, and have rebelled, `By' the sword ye are consumed, For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.
Wherefore are ye stricken any more? Ye do add apostacy! Every head is become diseased, and every heart `is' sick.
And He -- the Merciful One, Pardoneth iniquity, and destroyeth not, And hath often turned back His anger, And waketh not up all His fury.
For the fierceness of man praiseth Thee, The remnant of fierceness Thou girdest on.
To the Overseer with stringed instruments, on the octave. -- A Psalm of David. O Jehovah, in Thine anger reprove me not, Nor in Thy fury chastise me.
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).