Isaiah 57:9

And thou wentest to the king with ointment,.... To the kings of the earth, the singular for the plural, with whom the whore of Rome has committed fornication or idolatry, in allusion to harlots, who,

And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

Thou wentest, either by thyself, or by thy messengers, as it follows. Or, thou didst look, to wit, earnestly, with expectation and vehement affection. To the king; either to Moloch, which was as it were the king or chief of their idols, and which signifies a king. Or to the great king of Assyria, called the king by way of eminency, to whom the Israelites in the days of Isaiah were very prone to seek, and trust, and send presents. Although the word king may be here taken collectively for the kings of Assyria or Egypt, or any other king, from whom they desired or expected help in their straits. And so the prophet passeth here from their idolatry to another sin, even to their carnal confidence in heathen princes, for which they are oft severely reproved; although these two sins were commonly joined together, and they easily received idolatry from those kings whose help they desired. With ointment; with precious ointments, and particularly with balm, which was of great price, and was a commodity peculiar to those parts, and was sometimes sent as a present: see 46:11. Didst increase thy perfumes; didst send great quantities thereof to them to procure their aid. Didst send thy messengers far off; into Assyria, which was far from Judea. Didst debase thyself even unto hell; thou wast willing to submit to the basest terms to procure their aid.

Isaiah 57:9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase [thyself even] unto hell.Ver. 9. And thou wentest to the king.] The King of Assyria, who styled himself the Great King, to whom Ahaz both sent and went. With ointment.] Heb., With oil - that is, with balsam, such as Judea only afforded, and was therefore highly esteemed in other countries. And didst debase thyself even unto hell.] By crouching and cringing to those foreign states in a most submissive and servile way, as Ahaz had done with his, "I am thy servant and thy son," to the dishonour of God, and to the reproach of Israel, who was God’ s "firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth."

(9) Thou wentest to the king . . .—The alteration of a single letter would give to Molech; and this may be the meaning even of the text as it stands. Looking to the Manasseh-surroundings of the passage, however, it is more natural to refer the words to the king, the great king of Assyria, whose religion Judah had basely and shamefully adopted. The sin of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:11) had been reproduced by his grandson. The description that follows is that of a harlot adorning herself for her evil calling, and finds its best illustration in Proverbs 7:14-17. Looking to the previous traces of Isaiah’s study of that book (Isaiah 11:1-4, &c) we may, perhaps, find in it a deliberate reproduction of that passage. The “ointment” and “perfumes” are symbols of the treasures which were lavished to secure the Assyrian alliance. The words help us to understand Isaiah’s indignation at what must have seemed to him the initial step of a like policy on the part of Hezekiah (Isaiah 39:3-7). The words which point to the “far-off” land, to which the messengers were sent, seem almost like an echo from that king’s apology. Even unto hell—i.e., Hades or Sheol, the world of the dead—as the symbol of an abysmal depth of degradation.

Verse 9. And thou wentest to the king with ointment - "And thou hast visited the king with a present of oil"] That is, the king of Assyria, or Egypt. Hosea, Hosea 12:1, reproaches the Israelites for the same practice: - "They make a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried to Egypt." It is well known, that in all parts of the east, whoever visits a great person must carry him a present. "It is counted uncivil," says Maundrell, p. 26, "to visit in this country without an offering in hand. All great men expect it as a tribute due to their character and authority; and look upon themselves as affronted, and indeed defrauded, when the compliment is omitted." Hence שור shur, to visit a person, is equivalent to making him a present; and תשורה teshurah signifies a present made on such occasions; as our translators have rightly rendered it, 1 Samuel 9:7; on which Jarchi says Menachem exponit תשורה teshurah, quod significat oblationem sive manus, ut aliquis aspiciat faciem regis, aut alicuius magnatis. "Menachem expounds תשורה teshurah of an offering or gift which is presented in order to be admitted into the presence of the king or some great man."

9. Pilgrimages and deputations to the shrines of foreign deities form a fitting conclusion to the enumeration of their idolatries. Another view taken of the verse is that it refers to political embassies sent to court the favour of some great heathen power. This idea derives support from the resemblance of the passage to Ezekiel 23:16; Ezekiel 23:40, but it is out of keeping with the other allusions of the verse. Oil and ointment have nothing to do with politics; on the other hand unguents of various kinds played a great part in the cultus of the Semites. (See W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites2, pp. 232 f., 382 f.) And the last line of the verse is most naturally explained as an allusion to infernal deities. And thou wentest to the king, &c.] Rather, And thou hast journeyed to Melek with oil. “Melek” means king, and is here understood by many of the Great King of Assyria or Babylon. But for the reasons given above it is necessary to explain it as the name of a deity. It is, in fact, the word which has come to us in the Hebrew Bible under the form Molech, its proper vowels having been replaced in Jewish tradition by those of bôsheth, “shameful thing.” (see W. R. Smith, l.c. p. 372.) It was a title applied by the Northern Semites to many gods, and even (among the Israelites) to Jehovah, as “king.’ ” Here it seems to be used as a proper name, and the verb “journey” shows that a foreign god is meant; possibly, as Duhm thinks, Milkom, the chief god of the Ammonites, with whom the Samaritans seem to have been in close alliance (Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 4:7; Nehemiah 6:1 ff.). thy perfumes] or ointments. and didst send thy messengers far off] Where they could not go in person they sent messengers with offerings. and didst debase thyself even unto hell] Rather, and hast sent deep to Sheol (lit. “hast deepened [sc. thy sending] to Sheol”), i.e. they sought the favour of the deities of the underworld, by consulting their oracles etc.

And thou wentest to the king - Margin, ‘Respectedst.’ Jerome renders this, ‘Thou hast adorned thyself with royal ointment, and hast multiplied thy painting; and evidently understands it as a

9, 10. To the king — Or, possibly, to Moloch, as both words have the same radical letters, and differ only in vowels. If so, the meaning is plain.