1Woe to the rebellious children, says Jehovah, who take counsel, but not of Me; and who pour out drink offerings, but not of My Spirit; that they sweep away sin after sin; 2who set out to go down to Egypt and have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the refuge of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 3Therefore the refuge of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your reproach. 4For his rulers were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. 5They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them, nor be a help nor gain, but a shame and also a reproach. 6The burden concerning the beasts of the south. Into the land of trouble and anguish, from where the lioness and the lion come; the viper, and the fiery flying serpent; they carry their riches on the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that cannot profit them. 7For Egypt helps in vain, and unto emptiness. Therefore I have proclaimed concerning this, Their arrogance will be to sit still. 8Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it in a book, so that it may be for time to come forever and ever, 9that this is a rebellious people, lying children; children who will not hear the Law of Jehovah; 10who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Do not prophesy to us right things, speak to us smooth things, prophesy deception; 11turn away from the path, thrust aside from the way, desist from the Holy One of Israel from before us. 12Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you have despised this Word, and trust in oppression and perversity, and lean on them; 13therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose crashing comes suddenly in an instant. 14And He shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces. He shall not spare, so that there shall not be found in the fragments of it a shard with which to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the cistern. 15For thus says the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest you shall be saved; and in quietness and confidence shall be your strength. But you were not willing. 16But you said, No; for we will flee on horses. Therefore you shall flee. And you said, We will ride on the swift; therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. 17One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five you shall flee, until you are left as a beacon on the top of a mountain, and as a sign on a hill. 18And so Jehovah waits to be gracious to you. And therefore He is exalted, that He may have mercy on you; for Jehovah is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for Him. 19For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you. 20And though Jehovah gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers shall not be removed into a corner any more, but your eyes shall see your teachers. 21And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. 22You shall also defile the covering of your graven images of silver, and the ornament of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away like a menstruous cloth. You shall say to them, Get away! 23Then He shall give the rain for your seed with which you sow the ground. And the bread of the produce of the earth also shall be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle shall feed in large pastures. 24Also the oxen and the young asses that plow the ground shall eat cured fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork. 25And there shall be on every high mountain, and on every high hill, rivers, streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah binds up the breach of His people and heals the stroke of their wound. 27Behold, the name of Jehovah comes from afar, burning with His anger, and the burden of it is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire. 28And like an overflowing stream, His breath shall reach up to the middle of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity. And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to go astray. 29You shall have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is consecrated; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come into the mountain of Jehovah, to the Mighty One of Israel. 30And Jehovah shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall cause to be seen the bringing down of His arm, with raging anger and flame of a devouring fire, with driving storm, cloudburst and hailstones. 31For through the voice of Jehovah, Assyria shall be beaten down, as struck with a rod. 32And in every place where the appointed staff shall pass, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, it shall be with tambourines and harps. In war with brandishing He will engage the battle. 33For Tophet was arranged in order of old; yea, for the king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large. He makes a fire with much wood. The breath of Jehovah kindles it like a torrent of brimstone.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE THIRTIETH THROUGH THIRTY-SECOND CHAPTERS REFER PROBABLY TO THE SUMMER OF 714 B.C., AS THE TWENTY-NINTH CHAPTER TO THE PASSOVER OF THAT YEAR. (Isa. 30:1-32)
take counsel--rather, as
Isa 30:4,
Isa 30:6 imply, "execute counsels."
cover . . . covering--that is, wrap themselves in reliances disloyal towards Jehovah. "Cover" thus answers to "seek to hide deeply their counsel from the Lord" (
Isa 29:15). But the Hebrew is literally, "who pour out libations"; as it was by these that leagues were made (
Exod 24:8;
Zech 9:11), translate, "who make a league."
not of--not suggested by My Spirit" (
Num 27:21;
Josh 9:14).
that they may add--The consequence is here spoken of as their intention, so reckless were they of sinning: one sin entails the commission of another (
Deut 29:19).
2 walk--are now setting out, namely, their ambassadors (
Isa 30:4).
Egypt--See on
Isa 19:1;
Isa 20:1.
Pharaoh--the generic name of the kings of Egypt, as Cćsar was at Rome. The word in Egyptian means "king" [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 8.6,2]. Phra, "the sun," was the hieroglyphic symbol and title of the king.
shadow--image from shelter against heat: protection (
Ps 121:5-
Ps 121:6).
3 shame--disappointment. Egypt, weakened by its internal dissensions, can give no solid help.
4 his--Judah's (compare
Isa 9:21).
at Zoan--are already arrived there on their errand to Pharaoh (see
Isa 19:11).
came to Hanes--are come there. West of the Nile, in central Egypt: Egyptian Hnes; the Greek Heracleopolis: perhaps the Anysis of HERODOTUS (2.137); according to GROTIUS, Tahpanhes contracted (
Jer 43:7-
Jer 43:9); the seat of a reigning prince at the time, as was Zoan, hence the Jewish ambassadors go to both.
5 (
Jer 2:36.)
6 burden--the prophecy as to, &c. [MAURER]; so the Septuagint, the fresh inscription here marks emphatically the prediction that follows. Or, rather, Isaiah sees in vision, the ambassador's beasts burdened with rich presents travelling southwards (namely, to Egypt,
Dan 11:5-
Dan 11:6), and exclaims, Oh, the burden of treasure on the beasts! &c. (
Hos 8:9;
Hos 12:1).
land of trouble--the desert between Palestine and Egypt, destitute of water and abounding in dangerous animals (
Deut 8:15;
Jer 2:6).
flying serpent-- (
Isa 14:29), a species which springs like a dart from trees, on its prey.
will carry--rather, present, "carry," namely, as presents to Egypt (
1Kgs 15:19).
young asses--rather, "full-grown asses" [MAURER].
7 "Egypt is vanity, and to no purpose will they help" [G. V. SMITH].
strength--Hebrew, Rabah, a designation for Egypt (
Isa 51:9;
Ps 87:4), implying her haughty fierceness; translate, "Therefore I call her Arrogance that sitteth still." She who boasted of the help she would give, when it came to the test, sat still (
Isa 36:6). English Version agrees with
Isa 30:15;
Isa 7:4.
8 table--a tablet (
Hab 2:2), which should be set in public, containing the prophecy in a briefer form, to be read by all.
a book--namely, a parchment roll, containing the prophecy in full, for the use of distant posterity. Its truth will be seen hereafter when the event has come to pass. See on
Isa 8:1;
Isa 8:16.
for ever and ever--rather read, "For a testimony for ever" [Chaldee, JEROME, LOWTH]: "testimony is often joined to the notion of perpetuity (
Deut 31:19,
Deut 31:21,
Deut 31:26).
9 lying--unfaithful to Jehovah, whose covenant they had taken on them as His adopted children (
Isa 59:13;
Pro 30:9).
10 (
Mic 2:6,
Mic 2:11;
Mic 3:5).
See not--as you now do, foretelling misfortune.
Prophesy not . . . right things--Not that they avowedly requested this, but their conduct virtually expressed it. No man, professedly, wished to be deceived; but many seek a kind of teaching which is deceit; and which, if they would examine, they might know to be such (
1Kgs 22:13). The Jews desired success to be foretold as the issue of their league with Egypt, though ill had been announced by God's prophet as the result; this constituted the "deceits."
11 Depart from the true "way" (so in
Acts 19:9,
Acts 19:23) of religion.
cause . . . to cease--Let us hear no more of His name. God's holiness is what troubles sinners most.
12 Holy One--Isaiah so little yields to their wicked prejudices that he repeats the very name and truth which they disliked.
this word--Isaiah's exhortation to reliance on Jehovah.
oppression--whereby they levied the treasures to be sent to conciliate Egypt (
Isa 30:6).
perverseness--in relying on Egypt, rather than on Jehovah.
13 Image from a curve swelling out in a wall (
Ps 62:3); when the former gives way, it causes the downfall of the whole wall; so their policy as to Egypt.
14 he--the enemy; or rather, God (
Ps 2:9;
Jer 19:11).
It--the Jewish state.
potter's vessel--earthen and fragile.
sherd--a fragment of the vessel large enough to take up a live coal, &c.
pit--cistern or pool. The swell of the wall is at first imperceptible and gradual, but at last it comes to the crisis; so the decay of the Jewish state.
15 returning and rest--turning back from your embassy to Egypt, and ceasing from warlike preparations.
quietness--answering to "wait for Him (God)" (
Isa 30:18).
16 flee--not as fugitives, but we will speed our course; namely, against the Assyrians, by the help of cavalry supplied by Egypt (
Isa 31:1). This was expressly against the Mosaic law (
Deut 17:16; see on
Isa 2:7;
Hos 14:3).
shall . . . flee--literally, "before your enemies"; their sin and its punishment correspond.
17 One thousand--A thousand at once, or, "As one man" [MAURER].
rebuke--the battle cry.
shall ye--at the rebuke of five shall ye, namely, all (in contrast to the "one thousand") flee so utterly that even two shall not be left together, but each one shall be as solitary "as a signal staff" [G. V. SMITH], or "a banner on a hill" (
Isa 5:26;
Isa 11:12). The signal staff was erected to rally a nation in war. The remnant of Jews left would be beacons to warn all men of the justice of God, and the truth of His threatenings. GESENIUS (from
Lev 26:8;
Deut 32:30) arbitrarily inserts "ten thousand." "At the rebuke of five shall ten thousand of you flee."
18 therefore--on account of your wicked perverseness (
Isa 30:1-
Isa 30:2,
Isa 30:9,
Isa 30:15-
Isa 30:16), Jehovah will delay to be gracious [HORSLEY]. Rather, wait or delay in punishing, to give you time for repentance (
Isa 30:13-
Isa 30:14,
Isa 30:17) [MAURER]. Or, "Yet therefore" (namely, because of the distress spoken of in the previous verses; that distress will lead the Jews to repentance, and so Jehovah will pity them) [GESENIUS].
be exalted--Men will have more elevated views of God's mercy; or else, "He will rise up to pity you" [G. V. SMITH]. Or (taking the previous clause as MAURER, "Therefore Jehovah will delay" in punishing you, "in order that He may be gracious to you," if ye repent), He will be far removed from you (so in
Ps 10:5, far above out sight); that is, He will not immediately descend to punish, "in order that He may have mercy," &c.
judgment--justice; faithfulness to His covenant.
wait--compare
Isa 30:15, wait, namely, for His times of having mercy.
19 (
Isa 65:9). The restoration from Babylon only typifies the full accomplishment of the prophecy (Isa. 30:18-33).
weep no more-- (
Isa 25:8).
thy cry-- (
Isa 26:8-
Isa 26:9;
Jer 29:12-
Jer 29:14).
20 Rather, "The Lord will give"; the "though" is not in the original.
bread of adversity--He will not deny you food enough to save you in your adversity (
1Kgs 22:27;
Ps 127:2).
be removed--rather, "hide themselves"; they shall no more be forced to hide themselves from persecution, but shall be openly received with reverence [MAURER]. Contrast with this
Ps 74:9;
Amos 8:11.
21 word--conscience, guided by the Holy Spirit (
John 16:13).
22 covering of . . . images--rather, "images" (formed of wood or potter's clay, and) "covered with silver." Hezekiah, and afterwards Josiah, defiled them (
2Kgs 23:8,
2Kgs 23:10,
2Kgs 23:14,
2Kgs 23:16;
2Chr 31:1; compare
Isa 2:20;
Deut 7:25).
23 rain of--rather, "for thy seed." Physical prosperity accompanies national piety; especially under the Old Testament. The early rain fell soon after the seed was sown in October or November; the latter rain in the spring, before the ripening of the corn. Both were needed for a good harvest.
increase--the produce.
fat--bread made of the best wheat flour (compare
Gen 49:20;
Deut 32:14).
24 ear--that is, till. Asses were employed in tillage, as well as oxen (
Deut 22:10).
clean--rather, salted provender [GESENIUS]. The Arab proverb is, "Sweet provender is as bread to camels--salted provender as confectionery." The very cattle shall share the coming felicity. Or else, well-fermented maslin, that is, provender formed of a mixture of various substances: grain, beans, vetches, hay, and salt.
winnowed--not as it is usually given to cattle before it is separated from the chaff; the grain shall be so abundant that it shall be given winnowed.
shovel--by which the grain was thrown up in the wind to separate it from the chaff.
fan--an instrument for winnowing.
25 Even the otherwise barren hills shall then be well-watered (
Isa 44:3).
the day, &c.--when the disobedient among the Jews shall have been slain, as foretold in
Isa 30:16 : "towers," that is, mighty men (
Isa 2:15). Or else, the towers of the Assyrian Sennacherib, or of Babylon, types of all enemies of God's people.
26 Image from the heavenly bodies to express the increase of spiritual light and felicity. "Sevenfold" implies the perfection of that felicity, seven being the sacred number. It shall also be literally fulfilled hereafter in the heavenly city (
Isa 60:19-
Isa 60:20;
Rev 21:23-
Rev 21:24;
Rev 22:5).
breach--the wound, or calamity, sent by God on account of their sins (
Isa 1:5).
27 name of . . . Lord--that is, Jehovah Himself (
Ps 44:5;
Ps 54:1); represented as a storm approaching and ready to burst over the Assyrians (
Isa 30:30-
Isa 30:31).
burden . . . is heavy--literally, "grievousness is the flame," that is, the flame which darts from Him is grievous. Or else (as the Hebrew means an "uplifting") the uprising cloud is grievous [G. V. SMITH]; the gathering cloud gradually rising till it bursts.
28 (
Isa 11:4;
2Thess 2:8).
reach . . . neck--the most extreme danger; yet as the head, or capital of Judah, was to be spared (
Isa 8:8), so the head, or sovereign of Assyria, Sennacherib, should escape.
sieve of vanity--Rather, "the winnowing fan of destruction" [LOWTH] (
Isa 41:16).
bridle in . . . jaws--as prisoners are represented in the Assyrian inscriptions (
Isa 37:29).
causing . . . to err-- (
Isa 63:17). "People," Hebrew, "peoples," namely, the various races composing the Assyrian armies (
Isa 5:26).
29 the night . . . solemnity--As in the passover night ye celebrate your deliverance from Egypt, so shall ye celebrate your rescue from Assyrian bondage. Translate, "the solemnity" (
Exod 12:42).
goeth with a pipe--or flute. They used to go up to Jerusalem ("the mountain of the Lord," Zion) at the three feasts with music and gladness (
Deut 16:16;
Ezra 2:65;
Ps 122:1-
Ps 122:4).
30 Jehovah's "glorious voice," raised against the enemy (
Isa 30:27), is again mentioned here, in contrast to the music (
Isa 30:29) with which His people shall come to worship Him.
lighting down of . . . arm-- (
Isa 30:32;
Ps 38:2). The descent of His arm in striking.
scattering--namely, a blast that scatters, or an "inundation" [MAURER].
31 The Assyrian rod which beat shall itself be beaten, and that by the mere voice of the Lord, that is, an unseen divine agency (
Isa 10:5,
Isa 10:24).
32 grounded--rather, "decreed," "appointed" [MAURER].
staff--the avenging rod.
him--the Assyrian; type of all God's enemies in every age. Margin and MAURER construe, "Every passing through (infliction,
Isa 28:15) of the appointed rod, which, &c., shall be with tabrets," that is, accompanied with joy on the part of the rescued peoples.
battles of shaking--that is, shock of battles (
Isa 19:16; compare "sift . . . sieve,"
Isa 30:28).
with it--namely, Assyria.
33 Tophet--literally, "A place of abomination"; the valley of the sons of Hinnom, southeast of Jerusalem, where Israel offered human sacrifices to Moloch by fire; hence a place of burning (
2Kgs 23:10;
Jer 7:31). Latterly Gehinnom or Gehenna, that is, valley of Hinnom, was the receptacle of the refuse of the city, to consume which fires were constantly burning. Hence it came to express hell, the place of torment. In the former sense it was a fit place to symbolize the funeral pyre of the Assyrian army (not that it actually perished there); the Hebrews did not burn, but buried their dead, but the heathen Assyrians are to be burnt as a mark of ignominy. In the latter sense Tophet is the receptacle "prepared for the devil (antitype to the king,
Isa 14:12-
Isa 14:15) and his angels," and unbelieving men (
Matt 5:22;
Matt 25:41;
Mark 9:43-
Mark 9:44).
