Isaiah 33
DOYLYVer. 3. Their slain also shall be cast out, &c.] The Prophet, in the description of this terrible judgment, begins with the common circumstances which attend the slaughter made by a victorious enemy; ver. 4, he rises in tone, and, borrowing his images from original chaos, (as is usual in describing the overthrow of kingdoms, see notes on chap. xiii. 10. 13.) goes on to repre-
with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
Isaiah 33:18
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Thine heart shall meditate terror, &c.] Shall reflect on the past terrour, and every one shall be ready to exclaim in a triumphant manner, Where is the scribe or muster-master? where is the collector of the taxes? where the commander of the enemy, to survey the fortifications of the city, and take an account of the height, strength, and situation of the walls and towers? W. Lowth, Bp. Lowth.
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— a people of deeper speech than thou canst perceive: The Hebrew expresses a foreign language, by a “deep lip” or “speech;” our translators render it, “a strange speech,” Ezek. iii. 5, 6. W. Lowth.
Isaiah 33:22
- For the Lord is our judge, &c.] We must observe that in this verse, as in many other places of the Old
Testament, the name of the Lord thrice repeated has been usually thought to refer to the mystery of the blessed Trinity. Vstringa. This passage is parallel to the form of blessing given Numb. vi. 24—26. Bp. Kidder. See notes on that place.
Isaiah 33:23
- Thy tacklings are loosed; &c.] Having compared the Assyrian army to a naval force, ver. 21, the Prophet persists in that metaphor, and describes them as in a shipwrecked condition, the spoil of the wreck to be divided among the citizens of Jerusalem, even the sick and diseased of them throwing aside their infirmities, and recovering strength enough to hasten to the general plunder. W. Lowth, Bp. Lowth.
Isaiah 33:24
- — the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.] The last sentence is parallel to the former, and expresses the same sense in other words: sickness being considered as a visitation from God, and punishment for sin, the forgiveness of sin is equivalent to the removal of a disease. We find them thus coupled, Ps. cii. 3; and our blessed Saviour reasons with the Jews on the same principle, Mark ii. 9. Bp. Lowth.
The fulfilment of this prophecy appears from the history of the great event given by the Prophet: it is plain that Hezekiah, by his treaty with Sennacherib, had stripped himself of his whole treasure, 2 Kings xviii. 15, 16: his “exceeding much riches,” afterwards, 2 Chron. xxxii. 27, cannot be otherwise accounted for, than by the prodigious spoil that was taken on the destruction of the Assyrian army. Bp. Lowth.
Chap. XXXIV. This chapter and the next make one distinct prophecy; an entire, regular, and beautiful
T 2 The judgments wherewith God revengeth his church. Before CHRIST about 713. fairness thereof.
COME near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and † all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.