Isaiah 20
PATthat is, Shame; (Jcr. xi. 23. IIos. ix. 10.) and when the Mount of Olives was defiled with idolatry they called it the Mount of Corruption, (2 Kings xxiii. 13.) changing the Hebrew name, liar Mischah, into liar Mischith. In like manner Beth-el, which signifies the house of God, when it came to be the seat of idolatry, was called Bcth-aven, i. e. the house of vanity, (Hos. iv. 15. x. 5.) So here I suppose the prophet calleth the city of Chores, by way of irony, the city of Heres. The Chaldee paraphrase joins both tho readings together, thus: One of the cities shall be called Beth-skemesh, which shall be destroyed.. This chapter foretells the conquest of the Egyptians and. Ethiopians, the Jews’ confederates, by Sennacherib. (Sec the Argument of chap, xviii.) x phets commonly \v6re sackcloth, the habit of mourners, as a dress suitable to (heir employment. (See Rev. xi. 3.) Of this kind was that hairy garment by which Elias and John Baptist are described, 2 Kings i. 8. Matt. iii. 4. and such a garment is spoken of as the usual habit of the prophets, Zech.xiii. 3. Going barefoot was likewise a sign of mourning. (See 2 Sam. xv. 30.) And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.’] Those arc •said to be naked, in the Scripture-phrase, who go without their upper garments, (see John xxi. 7. Acts xix. 16.) or have put off the habit proper to their quality. (See 1 Sam. xix. 24. 2 Sam. vi. 20.) t
Isaiah 20:1
J.N the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, &c. It appears from ver. 5, 6. thatthis expedition was made while the Jews were under the apprehension of Sennacherib’s invasion; and thereupon, to strengthen themselves, they entered into a confederacy with Egypt and Ethiopia. Tartan is mentioned (2 Kings xviii; 17.) as one of the generals of Sennacherib’s army, who is probably meant by Sargon here, and when his armies invaded Judea for a considerable time, and took all the fenced cities of it, (2 Kings xviii. 13.) he might then send a detachment, and besiege Ashdod.
Isaiah 20:2
Loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. As it was a principal part of the prophetic office to denounce God’s judgments; so the pro-
Isaiah 20:3
Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and -barefoot three years for a sign and wonder, &c. Egypt was subdued by Sennacherib before he besieged Jerusalem, as hath been observed upon the first verse of this chapter: to this sense Bochart explains that expression, (xxxvii.25.) " With the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of Egypt/* The Hebrew reads Metzor, which is often taken tor Egypt. (See note on xix. 6.) Archbishop Usher supposes this war against Egypt, and •the rest of the Jews’ confederates, to have lasted three years, and to have concluded in the desolation of those countries. (See his Annales V. Test’ ad A. M. 3294.) The prophets foreshowed things by actions as well as by words, which sometimes appeared strange and uncouth in the eyes of the people. (See viii.3. 18. and the notes there, and Ezek. xxiv. 18, 19.) •.
Isaiah 20:4
Even with their buttocks uncovered. Seo note on iii. 17…
Isaiah 20:5
They shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia ■their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. The inhabitants of Judea, or Jerusalem, mentioned in the following verse, shall be ashamed of such weak and insignificant allies. The Jews are often upbraided with placing their confidence in an arm of flesh, and particularly for trusting in the shadow of Egypt. (See the Argument to chap, xix.). Ver. G. And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day.] Some understand this isle of Ashdod, mentioned ver. 1. and the sea-coast of the Philistines, called the isle of.Caphthor, Jer. xlvii. 4. But the w T ord may more fitly be expounded of Judea or Jerusalem; for an isle sometimes is. taken in a general sense for any country or place. (See xl. 15. lix. 18. Job xxii. 30.),
In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt. It is a judicious observation of Calvin upon Ivi. 7. Loquitur prophetafiguris, qua sitce cetati conveniunt. The prophets when they speak of the gentiles coming into the church,. express their serving the true God by such acts of devotion as were most in use in their own time, and therefore could be best understood by those to whom they directed their discourses; such were offering sacrifices, and keeping the solemn feasts at Jerusalem, to which the gentiles from all parts should resort, as several prophecies express their conversion. (Seeii. 3. xxvii. 13. Ivi. 7. lxvi. 23. Zcch. xiv. 16. Mai. i. 11.) And to this sense I understand the altar and the sacrifice,, oblation and vows, mentioned here, and ver. 21. as taken metonymically, for the worship and service of God in general. Onias, indeed, in aftertimes built an altar and temple in Egypt for the use of the Jews, thinking to fulfil this prophecy literally; but it was against the general sense of his own nation, who thought, that, according to their laws, no temple ought to be built but in Jerusalem. (See Joseph. dcBell. Jud. lib.vii. cap.30.) From whence it appears that they thought this prophecy was to have a mystical, and not a literal completion. And a pillar in the border thereof to the Lord.] These and the following words at the beginning of the next verse, allude to Jacob’s pillar which he set up in Beth-el, (Gen. xxviii.lS.) and to the altar which the Reubenites and their brethren built upon the borders of Jordan, (Josh. xxii. 10.) to be a witness between us and you, and the generations after us, as it there follows.
For they shall ery unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, anda great one, and he shall deliver them. Egypt was conquered by Sennacherib (sec the following chapter); and some understand the saviour and. great one here mentioned, of the angel that cut off his forces, which was a general deliverance of all the neighbouring countries from his tyranny: the words may fitly be applied to that tyranny which the devil exercises over the heathen world, who are led captive by him at his vijill, from whence they can he redeemed only by the great Saviour of the world, Christ Jesus. Many of the gentiles were sensible of the ignorance they lay under, with respect to the things of God, and had some general hopes and desires of being delivered from the bondage of corrupt tio?i: in which respect Christ is called by the prophet Haggai, the desire of all nations, (Hag. ii. 7.) i. e. he who alone can answer all their wants and desires.
And shall do sacrifice and oblation. See note on ver. 19. r.’ * Yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Ij>rd, and perform it.] Making vows, and dedicating frcc-will-offerings unto God, was a considerable part of religious worship among the Jews. (Sec Lev. xxvii. 1, &c. Numb. vi. 1, &c. xxx. 1^ Dcut. xxiii. 21, 22.) The sense of this expression hath been likewise explained on ver. 19. Some explain this of the devout acknowledgments which the Egyptians, the Jews’ confederates, made at the temple, upon Sennacherib’s defeat. (Sec note on xviii. 7.)
And the Lord shall smite Egypt; he shall smite and heal it. That is, he shall heal it of those plagueswherewith he had smote it.
In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria. The expression denotes the intercourse and correspondence that shall be between the Jews, Assyrians, and Egyptians; (see ver. 24.) which implies, first, the. restoration of the Jews from their several dispersions, which is often expressed by their return out of Assyria and* Egypt; (sec note on xi. 16.) and then that their oppressors themselves should be made members of the same church with them.. And the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.] Shall serve the same God of Israel, who shall be the third in conjunction with them, joined together in the holy bond of church society, as it follows.. Ver.. 24. Even a blessing in the midst of the land.] Or, In the midst of the earth: to be a blessing is to be a remarkable instance of God’s favour, so that it should become a form of blessing for others, to wish their friends the same happiness that these favourites of heaven enjoy. (See Gen. xii. 2. xlviii. 20. Zech.viii. 13.)
Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance. My people, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, are equivalent expressions; and imply, that Egypt and Assyria, that is, those who before were enemies to God’s truth and people, (see note on xi. 14.) should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of the promises, which were made to, the Jews, by the gospel, as St. Paul speaks, Ephes. iii. 6. s The work of mine hands.] The expression is always used, in this prophet, of those who are in covenant with. God, and members of his church. (Seexxix.23. xlv. 11. Ix. 21.)