Isaiah 6

Chap. VI. Ver. 1—13. Isaiah’s vision of the divine glory, and prophecy respecting the Jews.—Bishop Lowth remarks. ‘In this vision the ideas are taken, in general, from Royal Majesty, as displayed by the Monarchs of the East: for the Prophet could not represent the ineffable presence of God by any other than sensible and earthly images. The particular scenery of it is taken from the Temple. God is represented as seated on his throne above the Ark, in the most holy place, where the glory appeared above the Cherubim, surrounded by his attendant ministers. This is called, by God himself, “The place of his throne, and the place of the soles of his feet.” ((Ezekiel 42:7).) “A glorious throne, exalted of old, is the place of our sanctuary,” saith the prophet Jeremiah, ((Isaiah 17:12).) The very posture of sitting is a mark of state and solemnity; as is observed by Jerome. St. John, who has taken many sublime images from the Prophets of the Old Testament, and in particular from Isaiah, hath exhibited the same scenery, drawn out into a greater number of particulars. ((Revelation 4:2-8).) “The veil separating the most holy place from the holy, or outermost part of the Temple, is here supposed to be taken away; for the Prophet, to whom the whole is exhibited, is manifestly placed by the altar of burnt-offering, at the entrance of the Temple—(compare (Ezekiel 43:5-6).)—which was filled with the train of the robe, the spreading and overflowing of Divine Glory. The Lord upon the throne, according to St.

John, ((Isaiah 12:41).), was Christ, and the vision related to his future kingdom, when the veil of separation was to be removed, and the whole earth was to be filled with the glory of God, revealed to all mankind; which is likewise implied in the hymn of the Seraphim, [which Jerome considers as a demonstration of the trinity.] It (the prophecy) relates indeed primarily to the Prophet’s own time, and the obduration of the Jews of that age, with their punishment by the Babylonish captivity; but extends, in its full latitude, to the age of Messiah, and the blindness of the Jews to the Gospel—(see (Matthew 13:14). (John 12:40). (Acts 28:26). (Romans 11:8).)—the desolation of their country by the Romans, and their being rejected by God; that nevertheless, a holy seed, a remnant, should be preserved, and that the nation should sprout out and flourish again from the old stock.”

Notes on the verses

Chap. VI. Ver. 1. In the | dope area Wells, and Lightfoot, think this was just after Uzziah’s death. In this verse, more than fifty MSS., and one edition, (and in ver. 8. nearly as many,) for Adonai read JEHOVAH. See note on Ps. ex. 1.— His train.—Lowth, “The train of his robe.” N. B. Ver. 1—3, also, 5 and 6 of this —— are admitted to be prose. ¥ ’ Rod 2. Seraphims.—The Hebrew word “Seraphim” is plural, without the (s.). Ver. 3. The whole earth, &c.—See margin. In this anthem, and in ver. 8. where the Divine Being uses the first person plural, we, &c. both the Christian fathers and the most ancient Rabbins find intimations of the Holy Trinity. See Dr. P. Smith’s Messiah, and Lowth’s quotation from Jerome.

Compare (Genesis 1:26), with our exposition. Ver. 4. The posts.—Lowth, “Pillars of the vestibule.” Ver. 6. I am undone.—Lowth, “Struck dumb.” Ver. 10. Fat.—Lowth, “Gross.”—And convert.—Lowth, “Be converted.” ae 12. A great forsaking.—Lowth, “Many a deserted woman.” See (Isaiah 4:1). Ver. 13. But yet, &c.—This verse is very obscure; but Lowth reads, “And though there be a tenth part remaining in it, even this shall undergo a repeated destruction. Yet as the ilex (or teil tree) and the oak, though cut down, hath its stock remaining, a holy seed shall be the stock of the nations.” [The teil tree is the linden or lime tree, a species of the orange tree very common in Palestine; the leaf of which resembles that of the laurel, and its flower that of the olive.

But the original ailah, which our translators render the oak, (but here - ap eee from ailon, the oak,) and Lowth the ilex, in (Isaiah 1:29-30). probably denotes, as Celsius contends, the terebinth: it is an evergreen of moderate size, but having the top and branches large in proportion to the trunk; leaves like those of the olive, but green intermixed with red and purple; flowers, like those of the vine, growing in bunches, and purple; fruit, of a ruddy purple, the size of a juniper berry, hanging in clusters, very juicy, and containing a single seed of the size of a grape stone; wood, hard and fibrous, from which a resin distils; with an excrescence scattered among the leaves, of the size of a chestnut, of a purple colour, variegated with green and white.

See Mariti’s Travels. |—Bagster.