17. A king in his beauty shall thine eyes behold. Most writers suppose Hezekiah to be here referred to, either exclusively or as a type of Christ. To see the king in his beauty means in his royal state, with tacit reference to his previous state of mourning and dejection (ch. 37: 1). They (i. e. thine eyes) shall behold a land of distances or distant places. The most natural explanation of this phrase would be a distant land, in which sense it is used by Jeremiah (8:19) and a part of it by Zechariah (10:9), and by both in reference to exile or captivity. The verse before us, taken by itself, might be understood as a threatening that the Jews should see the king of Babylon in his royal state and in a distant land. Interpreters seem to be agreed, however, that in this connection it can be taken only as a promise.

This does not mean, it

18. Thy heart shall meditate terror. shall conceive or experience present terror, but reflect on that which is already past. What follows may be understood as the triumphant exclamation of the people when they found themselves so suddenly delivered from their enemies. Where is he that counted? where is he that weighed? where is he that counted the towers? The counting and weighing may be either that of tribute or of military wages. The towers are the fortifications of Jerusalem. By counting them some understand surveying them, either with a view to garrisoning or dismantling; others the act of reconnoitring them from without, which some ascribe particularly to Rabshakeh or Sennacherib himself. The general meaning of the verse is plain, as an expression of surprise and joy, that the oppressor or besieger had now vanished. The Apostle Paul, in 1 Cor. 1: 20, has a sentence so much like this, in the threefold repetition of the question where, and in the use of the word scribe, that it cannot be regarded as a mere fortuitous coincidence. It is probable, that the structure of the one passage suggested the other. The expression it is written, in the preceding verse of the epistle, introduces

a quotation from ch. 29: 14, but does not necessarily extend to the next verse, which may therefore be regarded as a mere imitation, as to form and diction, of the one before us.

Thou

19. The fierce (or determined) people thou shalt not see. shalt see no more the Assyrians, whose disappearance was implied in the questions of the foregoing verse. The essential idea seems to be that of firmness and decision, perhaps with the accessory idea of aggressive boldness. A people deep of lip from hearing i. e. hard for thee to understand. Deep denotes obscure or unintelligible. The preposition before hearing, though not directly negative, is virtually so, as it denotes away from, which is really equivalent to so as not to hear or be heard. (See the note on ch. 5: 6.) Barbarous tongue (or of a barbarous tongue), without meaning (literally, there is no meaning). The verb in its other forms, means to mock or scoff, an idea closely connected, in the Hebrew usage, with that of foreign language, either because the latter seems ridiculous to those who do not understand it, or because unmeaning jargon is often used in mockery.

20. Behold Zion the city of our festivals. Instead of the presence of foreign enemies, see Jerusalem once more the scene of stated solemnities. The address is to the people as an individual. Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet home, a tent (that) shall not be removed (or taken down). The whole of this description is drawn from the usages of nomadic life. Its stakes shall not be pulled up forever, and all its cords shall not be broken, or in our idiom, none of its cords shall be broken. The peculiar beauty of the imagery lies in ascribing permanence to a tent, which from its very nature must be moveable. This may either imply a previous state of agitation and instability, or that the church, though weak in herself, should be strengthened and established by the power of God.

21. But there shall Jehovah be mighty for us (or in our behalf). The connection of the verses is that Zion shall never be weakened or removed, but on the contrary Jehovah etc. A place of rivers, streams, broad (on) both hands (or sides), i. e. completely surrounding her. Most interpreters connect these words directly with Jehovah. The most obvious explanation seems to be that this clause is an amplification of the adverb there. Jehovah will be mighty for us there. What place is meant? A place of rivers and streams broad on both sides, i. e. spreading in every direction. The situation described is one which has all the advantages of mighty streams without their dangers. There shall not go in it an oared vessel (literally, a ship of oar), and a gallant ship shall not pass through it. The parallel expressions both refer, no doubt, to ships of war, which in ancient. times were propelled by oars.

22. For Jehovah our Judge, Jehovah our Lawgiver, Jehovah our King, he will save us. This is a repetition of the same idea, but without the figures of the preceding verse.

23. Thy ropes are cast loose; they do not hold upright their mast; they do not spread the sail; then is shared plunder of booty in plenty; the lame spoil the spoil. There is, at the beginning of this verse, a sudden apostrophe to the enemy considered as a ship. This figure would be naturally suggested by those of v. 21. It was there said that no vessel should approach the holy city. But now the Prophet seems to remember that one had done so, the proud ship of Assyria. But what was its fate? He sees it dismantled and abandoned to its enemies. eagerness of the pillage is expressed by making the lame join in it.

The

24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick (or have been sick). This may either mean that none shall be sick, or that

those who have been so shall be recovered. The people dwelling in it (is) forgiven (its) iniquity. Some suppose this to be an explanation of the sickness mentioned in the first clause, as a spiritual malady. Others understand it as explaining bodily disease to be the consequence and punishment of sin. The words may be taken in a wider sense than either of these, namely, that suffering shall cease with sin which is its cause. Thus understood, the words are strictly applicable only to a state of things still future, either upon earth or in heaven.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

THIS chapter and the next appear to constitute one prophecy, the first part of which (ch. 34) is filled with threatenings against the enemies of the church, the latter part (ch. 35) with promises to the church itself. The threatenings of ch. 34 are directed, first, against the nations in general, vs. 1-4, and then against Edom in particular, vs. 5-15, with a closing affirmation of the truth and certainty of the prediction, vs. 16, 17. The destruction of the enemies of Zion and the desolation of their lands are represented by the figures of a great sacrifice or slaughter, the falling of the heavenly bodies, the conversion of the soil into brimstone, and the waters into pitch, and the inhabitation of animals peculiar to the desert. This is a general threaten ing of destruction to the enemies of Zion, Edom being particularly mentioned, as an enemy of ancient Israel peculiarly inveterate and malignant, and thence used to represent the whole class of such enemies. Thus understood, the prophecy extends both to the past and future, and may include many particular

events, not excepting the destruction of Antichrist, as the greatest event of this kind which is foretold in prophecy. Compare the note on ch. 11

:

4.

1. Come near, ye nations, to hear, and ye peoples, hearken. Let the earth hear and its fulness (that which fills it, all that it contains), the world and all its issues (or productions, all that comes forth from it). This may either be explained as an appeal to inanimate nature, like the one at the beginning of the book (ch. 1: 2), or as an appeal to men, poetically represented as the fruit of the earth, which is the sense given in the ancient versions. It announces, as about to be delivered, a prediction. of great moment and deserving the attention of the whole world.

2. This verse assigns the reason for the invocation in the one before it. For (there is) anger to Jehovah. The English Version has, the indignation of the Lord. is, an idea which would be otherwise expressed in Hebrew. The construction is the same as in ch. 2:12. Jehovah has anger (or is angry) against all the nations. And wrath (is to Jehovah) against all their host. Not their armies in particular, but their whole multitude, all that belong to them. (Compare the same expression in Gen. 2: 1.)-He has doomed them, or devoted them irrevocably to destruction. For the peculiar usage of the Hebrew verb, see the note on ch. 11: 15.-He has given (i. e. appointed and abandoned) them to the slaughter. The past tense describes the divine determination or decree as really and literally past.

3. And their slain shall be cast out. The Hebrew word strictly means their wounded, but usage gives it the specific sense of wounded mortally, and for the most part in battle. Cast out i e, unburied. This suggests the several ideas of