Isaiah 33

1 that spoilest, etc. Sennacherib. 2 Be Thou their arm. That is, Thy people’s, who “have waited for Thee.”

3 the people. Rather, “the peoples” (R.V.), different tribes represented in Sennacherib’s army.

4. And your spoil. Addressing the Assyrians, whose collected spoils the Jews would clear off as locusts strip the fields.

6. And wisdom and knowledge. Or, as R.V., “There shall be stability in thy times”—an address to Zion—“abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah is his (Israel’s) treasure.” Luther’s version gives a slightly different connexion and meaning to the Hebrew: “There shall be faith in thy time; and power, salvation, wisdom, knowledge (or skill), and the fear of God shall be thy treasure.”

8. The highways lie waste. The presence of Sennacherib’s army had stopped all peaceful intercourse through the country.

9. Lebanon . . . Sharon. The richest districts are now desolate. For “hewn down” read “withereth away” (R.V.). The plain of Sharon lay along the sea-coast between Carmel and Joppa, and was proverbial for fertility and beauty. For “their fruits,” read “their leaves,” the wooded heights of Carmel and the oaks of Bashan being alike stripped of their beauty.

11. Your breath, [as] fire, shall devour you. That is, your proud and angry spirit shall cause your destruction, O Assyrians.

12 the people (peoples) shall be, etc. The destruction shall be complete (lime-burnings) as well as sudden (brushwood).

14 the hypocrites. Rather, “the godless.”

15. He that walketh righteously. The judgements which terrify sinners shall not harm the upright (15, 16), but shall restore to them the glory of better days (17).

blood. i.e., plotting of bloodshed.

17. They shall behold the land that is very far off. Rather, perhaps, “They (thine eyes) shall behold a far-stretching land” (R.V.). The Hebrew means “a land of distances,” and suggests a fair expanse of open country, unencumbered by its foes.

18. Thine heart shall meditate terror. That is, Thou shalt thankfully look back upon thy recent terror from the Assyrian officers, who are now gone. The three mentioned are probably an accountant, a tax-collector (he that weighed the tribute, R.V.), and a military surveyor.

19 that thou canst not understand. See note on xxviii. 11.

21. A place of broad rivers and streams. A source of fertility and wealth, with security from all danger from enemies. The “galley with oars,” and the “gallant ship,” signify ships of war.

24 the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. Suffering shall cease when sin, which is its cause, ceases: see Psa. ciii. 3. The words are only applicable in their fullest sense to a state of things still future, either in heaven or on earth.