22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt; shall be entreated of them, and shall he shall smite and heal it and they heal them. : shall return even to the LORD, and he New Translation. 22. And JEHOVAH shall smite Egypt-smiting and healing it— And they shall return to JEHOVAH, And he will be entreated of them and will heal them. cause, or to judge. Lowth renders it "a vindicator." The word means great, mighty; and is repeatedly applied to a prince, chief, or captain. 2 Kings xxv. 8, Dan. i. 3, Esth. i. 8, Dan. v. 11, ii. 48. 21. And the LORD. JEHOVAH-the true God. ¶ Shall be known to Egypt. Shall be worshipped and honored by the Jews who shall dwell there, and by those who shall be proselyted to the true religion. And the Egyptians, &c. That many of the Egyptians would be converted to the Jewish religion there can be no doubt. This was the result in all countries where the Jews had a residence. Comp. Notes Acts ii. 9-11. And shall do sacrifice. Shall offer sacrifices to JEHOVAH. That is, they shall worship him in the usual manner; or shall unite with the Jews in worshipping the true God. ¶ And oblation. Or offering. The word minhhâ denotes any offering that is not a bloody sacrifice-a thank-offering; an offering of incense, flour, grain, &c. See vol. 1, p. 98. The sense is, that they should be true worshippers of God. ¶ They shall vow a vow, &c. They shall be sincere and true worshippers of God. The large numbers of the Jews that dwelt there; the fact that many of them doubtless were sincere; the circumstances recorded (Acts ii. 9-11.) that Jews were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost; and the fact that the true religion was carried to Egypt, and the Christian religion established there, all show how fully this prediction was fulfilled. 22. And the LORD shall smite Egypt. That is, in the manner described in the previous part of this prophecy (ver. 2-10). ¶ And heal it. Or restore it-to more than its former splendor and prosperity -as described in the previous verses (vs. 18-20). He shall send it a saviour; he shall open new sources of prosperity; and he shall cause the true religion to flourish there. These advantages would be more than a compensation for all the calamities that he would bring upon it. And they shall return, &c. They shall turn to JEHOVAH as the result of these calamities. 23 In that day shall there be a high- | Egyptians shall serve with the Assyway out of Egypt to Assyria; and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the g ch. 11. 16. rians. 24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land. New Translation. 23. In that day shall there be a high-way from Egypt to Assyria; And the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; And the Egyptian shall serve with the Assyrian. 24. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Assyria, A blessing in the midst of the land. 23. There shall be a highway. A communication; that is, there shall be an alliance between Egypt and Assyria as constituting parts of one empire, and as united in the service of the true God. These two nations had been formerly at war. Now they would be united as parts of the same kingdom, and in the same worship of one God. The same figure of a highway is found in ch. xi. 16. See Note on that place. The truth was, that Alexander by his conquests subjected Assyria and Egypt; and they constituted parts of his empire, and were united under him. It was true also that there were large numbers of Jews in both these countries, and that they were united in the service of the true God. They worshipped him in those countries; and they met at Jerusalem at the great feasts, and thus Judah, Assyria, and Egypt were united in this worship. And the Assyrian shall come into Egypt. There shall be free and uninterrupted intercourse between the two nations for commerce as parts of the same empire. And the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In the same armies; under the same leader. This was the case under Alexander the Great. Or the word serve may mean that they would serve God unitedly. So Lowth and Noyes render it. 24. In that day. Note, ver 18. ¶ Shall Israel be the third, &c. That is, the three shall be united as one people. Instead of being rival, hostile and contending kingdoms, they shall be united and friendly; and instead of having different and jarring religions they shall all worship the same God. Under Alexander the Great, Assyria and Egypt were united in one empire; and in the times succeeding him the Jews were scattered extensively in Assyria and Egypt, and they were thus united in the worship of the same God. The prophecy rather refers to the 25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall | people, and Assyria the work of my bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt; my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. 1 Pet. 2. 10. New Translation. u Eph. 2. 10. 25. Whom JEHOVAH of hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed be my people Egypt; “And Assyria the work of my hands; "And Israel mine inheritance." spread of the true religion, and the worship of the true God, than to a political or civil alliance. ¶ Even a blessing. It shall be a source of blessing, because from Judea the true religion would extend into the other lands. In the midst of the land. That is, the united land— the land, or united nation composed of the three nations now joined in alliance. Judea was situated in the midst of this united land, or occupied a central position between the two. It was also true that it occupied a central position in regard to the whole earth, and that from it, as a ra. diating point, the true religion was disseminated throughout all nations. 25. Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless. That is, which united country he shall acknowledge as truly worshipping him, and on which he shall bestow his favors as his united and favored people. Egypt my people. Worshipping me; or regarded and treated as my friends. Assyria the work of my hands. This is synonymous with the expression my people.' It means that the arrangements by which the true religion would be established among them, were the work of God. Conversion or turning to God is every where in the Scriptures spoken of as the work, or creation of God. See Eph. ii. 10. "For we are his workmanship; created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Comp. 2 Cor. v. 17, Ps. c. 3. ¶ Israel mine inheritance. My possession; the land and people in which I have a peculiar property, or which is peculiarly my own-a name not unfrequently given to Israel. For a learned examination of the various hypotheses in regard to the fulfillment of this prophecy, see Vitringa. He himself applies it to the times succeeding Alexander the Great. Alexander he regards as the "saviour" mentioned in ver. 20; and the establishment of the true religion referred to by the prophet as that which would take place under the Ptolemies. Vitringa has proved-what indeed is known to all who have the slightest knowledge of history-that there were large num. bers of Jews under the Ptolemies in Egypt, and that multitudes became proselytes to the Jewish faith. VOL. II.* 8 CHAPTER XX. ANALYSIS. THIS prophecy occupies this single chapter. Its design and scope it is not difficult to understand. The time when it was delivered is designated in ver. 1, and was manifestly in the reign of Hezekiah. The Assyrian empire had extended its conquests far. They had conquered Syria, Damascus, and Ephraim or Samaria. 2 Kings xviii. 9-12. The king of Assyria had sent Tartan to take possession of Ashdod or Azotus, the maritime key of Palestine, and there was evident danger that the Assyrians would also overthrow the government of Judah, and secure also the conquest of Egypt. In these circuinstances of danger, the main reliance of Judah was on the aid which they hoped to derive from Egypt and Ethiopia (ver. 5.), as being alone able to repel the invasion of the Assyrians. They relied rather on that aid than on God. To recall them from this, and to show them the vanity of such a dependence, and to lead them to rely on God, Isaiah was sent to them to be a sign; or to indicate by a symbolical action what would be the fate of the Egyptians on whom they were placing their reliance. Ver. 4. By showing the Jews what would be the destiny of Egypt, and that that destiny would soon overtake them, he designed to withdraw them from resting on their assistance, and to turn them to God for protection and aid. 1 In the year that Tartan came v of Assyria sent him.) and fought unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king against Ashdod and took it; 2 Kings 18. 17. New Translation. VISION XV. CHAPTER XX. Egypt and Assyria. 1. In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him), and fought against Ashdod, and took it; 1. In the year that Tartan, &c. of Sennacherib. ¶ Came unto Ashdod. Tartan was one of the generals Azotus, was a sea-port on the Mediterranean between Askelon and Ekron, and not far from Gaza. It was one of the five cities of the Philistines, assigned to the tribe of Judah, but never conquered by them. Josh. xiii. 8, xv. 46, 47. The temple of Dagon stood here; and hither the ark of God was brought after the fatal battle of Ebenezer. 1 Sam. v. 1, seq. It sustained many sieges, and was regarded as an important place in respect to Palestine, and also to Egypt. It was taken by Tartan, and remained in the possession of the Assyrians until it was besieged by Psammetichus the Egyptian king, who took it after a siege of twenty-nine years. Herod. ii. 157. It was about 2 At the same time spake the LORD thy loins, and put off thy shoe from by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, thy foot. And he did so, walking naked Go, and loose the sackcloth from off and barefoot. 6 by the hand of. New Translation. 2. At that time JEHOVAH spake by Isaiah the son of Amos, saying, "Go and loose the sackcloth from thy loins, "And put off thy shoes from thy feet." And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. thirty miles from Gaza. It is now a small village, and is called Esdud. It was besieged and taken by Tartan as preparatory to the conquest of Egypt, and if the king who is here called Sargon was Sennacherib, it is probable that it was taken before he threatened Jerusalem. When Sargon, &c. Who this Sargon was is not certainly known. Some have supposed that it was Sennacherib, and others that it was Shalmanezer the father of Sennacherib, and others that it was Esar-Haddon the successor of Sennacherib. Michaelis. Rosenmüller supposes that it was a king who reigned between Shalmanezer and Sennacherib. Tartan was a general of Sennacherib, and it is natural to suppose that he is here intended. Jerome says that Sennacherib had seven names, and Kimchi says he had eight; and it has been supposed that Sargon was one of those names. Oriental princes often had several names; and hence the difficulty of identifying them. It is by no means easy to determine who is intended here; nor is it very material in order to see the main drift of the prophecy. As however Tartan was a leader of the army of Sennacherib; as Sennacherib meditated the conquest of Egypt; and as Judah was relying on the aid of Egypt when Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem (Isa. xxxvi. 6.), these circumstances would rather incline us to the opinion that Sennacherib is intended. See a full description of the various hypotheses in Vitringa on this place. 2. By Isaiah. Marg. "by the hand of Isaiah." So the Hebrew. That is, by the instrumentality of Isaiah; or through him. He sent him to make known the fate of the Egyptians, and the folly of trusting in them on this occasion. ¶ Go and loose the sackcloth, &c. For the meaning of the word sackcloth, see Note, ch. iii. 24. It was commonly worn as an emblem of mourning. But there is also reason to believe that it was also worn by prophets, and was regarded, in some degree, as their appropriate dress. It was made usually of the coarse |