hair of the goat, and was worn as a zone, or girdle around the loins. That this was the dress of Elijah is apparent from 2 Kings i. 8. "He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather," &c.; that is, he was clothed in a garment made of hair, of the coarse hair of the goat. The same was true of John the Baptist. Matth. iii. 4. That the prophets wore "a rough garment" is apparent also from Zech. xiii. 4, "neither shall they (the false prophets) wear a rough garment (Heb. a garment of hair) to deceive;" i. c. the false prophets shali not assume the dress of the true prophets for the purpose of deluding the people, or to make them think that they were the true prophets. It is evident, therefore, that this hairy garment was regarded as a dress that appertained particularly to the prophets. It is well known, also, that the ancient Greek philosophers had a peculiar dress to distinguish them from the common people. Probably the custom of wearing hair cloth among the monks of later ages took its rise from this example of the prophets. His removing this garment and his shoe, was designed to be a sign or an emblem to show that the Egyptians should be stripped of all their possessions, and carried captive to Assyria. Walking naked, &c. That is, walking without this peculiar prophetic garment. It does not mean that he was in a state of entire nudity; for all that he was directed to do was to lay this garmentthis emblem of his office-aside. It was his peculiar garment; and to be stripped of that was to be regarded as naked. The word naked, moreover, is used in the Scriptures, not to denote an absolute destitution of clothing, but to denote that the outer garment was laid aside. See Note John xxi. 7. Thus it is said of Saul (1 Sam. xix. 24.) that he "stripped off his clothes also, and prophecied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day," &c., i. e. he stripped off his royal robes, and was naked or unclothed in that respect. He removed his peculiar dress as a king, or military chieftain, and appeared in the ordinary dress. It cannot be supposed that the king of Israel would become literally without raiment. So David is said to have danced naked before the ark, i. e. with his royal robes laid aside. How long Isaiah walked in this manner has been a matter of doubt. See Note on ver. 3. That the prophets were accustomed to use symbolical actions to denote the events which they foretold, there can be no question. See Note ch. viii. 18. Thus the children of Isaiah, and the names given to them, were significant of important events, ch. viii. 1, 2, 3. See Jere. miah xviii. 1—6, xliii. 8, 9, in both of which places he used emble. 3 And the LORD said, Like as my | barefoot three years for a sign and servant Isaiah hath walked naked and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; New Translation. 3. And JEHOVAH said, "As my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot, "A three years sign and wonder, "In regard to Egypt and to Cush; matic actions to exhibit the events concerning which he prophecied in a striking manner. Thus also the prophets are expressly called "signs, and wonders." Zech. iii. 8, Ez. xii. 6. 3. Like as. That is, as Isaiah has gone stripped of his peculiar garment as a prophet, so shall the Egyptians and Ethiopians be stripped of all that they value and be carried captive into Assyria. They shall be despoiled of all that they possess, and become prisoners to the invading army of the Assyrians.' Hath walked-three years. There has been a great deal of difficulty felt in the interpretation of this place, from the strong improbability that Isaiah should have gone in this manner for a space of time so long as our translation expresses. The LXX render this, "as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years, three years shall be for signs and wonders to the Egyptians and Ethiopians." The phrase in the Hebrew, "three years," may either be taken with the preceding part of the sentence, as in our translation, meaning that he actually walked so long; or it may be taken with that which follows, and then it will denote that he was a sign and wonder with reference to the captivity of the Egyptians and Ethiopians; or that by this symbolical action he, in some way, indicated that they would be carried away captive for that space of time; or as Eben-Ezra and Abarbanel suppose, that he signified that their captivity would commence after three years. Lowth sup poses that it means that his walking was for three days, and that the Hebrew text has been corrupted. Vitringa also seems to suppose that this is possible, and that a day was a symbolical sign for a year. Rosenmüller supposes that this prophetic action was continued during three years at intervals, so that the subject might be kept before the mind of the people. But the supposition that this means that the symbolic action of walking naked and barefoot continued for so long a time in any manner, is highly improbable. (1.) The Hebrew does not necessarily require it. It may mean simply that his actions were a 6 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is 1 or, country, Jer. 47. 4. b Job 6. 20. our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the King of Assyria and how shall we escape? New Translation. 6. "And the inhabitant of this coast shall say in that day, Lo, such is our trust To which we fled for succour, "That we might be delivered from the king of Assyria! •And how then shall we escape?"" ever confided in a people so little able to aid them, instead of trusting in the arm of God. Egypt their glory. Their boast, as if Egypt was able to save them. The word here rendered glory means properly ornament, praise, honor; and then it may mean the object of glory, or that in which men boast, or confide. That is its sense here. Comp. Isa. x. 12, xiii. 19, Zech. xii. 7. 6. And the inhabitant. The dwellers generally. The people. ¶ Of this isle. N. The word " isle is used here in he sense of coast, or maritime country, and is evidently applied to Palestine, or the land of Canaan, which is a narrow coast lying on the Mediterranean. That the word is often used in this sense, and may be applied to a maritime country, see Notes ch. xiii. 22, xli. 1. The connection here requires us to understand it of Palestine. T Shall say, &c. Shall condemn their own folly in trusting in Egypt, and seeking deliverance there. And how shall we escape? They shall be alarmed for their own safety, for the very nation on which they had relied had been made captive. And when the stronger had been subdued, how should the feeble and dependent escape a similar overthrow and captivity? All this was designed to show them the folly of trusting in the aid of another nation, and to lead them to trust in the God of their fathers. THE prophecy which commences this chapter occupies the first ten verses. That it relates to Babylon is apparent from ver. 2 and ver. 9. The object is to foretell the destruction of that city by the Medes and Persians, and the design is the same as in the more extended and minute description of the same event in ch. xiii, xiv. Whether it was delivered at the same time, or at another time, cannot be determined from the prophecy. The purpose however of the prophecy is the same as there-to give consolation to the Jews who should be carried captive to that city; to assure them that Babylon would be destroyed, and that they would be delivered from their long and severe bondage. This is indicated in a brief and graphic manner in ver. 10. This oracle or ode is one of singular beauty. It is distinguished for its brevity, energy, and force; for the variety and the rapidity of the action, and for the striking manner in which the events are made to pass before the mind. It is the language of strong excitement and of alarm; language that expresses rapid and important movements; and language that belongs to great vigor of conception and sublimity in description. In the oracle the prophet supposes himself in Babylon, and the events which are described are made to pass rapidly in vision (see Intro. § 7, 4) before him. He first sees (ver. 1) the dreadful storm coming at a distance (the hostile armies), approaching like a whirlwind and threatening destruction to every thing in its way. He then (ver. 2) hears God's direction to the invading armies; represents himself as made acquainted with the design of the vision; and hears the command of God to Elam (Persia) and Media to go up and commence the siege. Regarding himself as among the exiles in the midst of Babylon, and in view of these invading hosts, he (ver. 3, 4) represents the influence on his own mind, and describes himself as deeply affected in view of this sudden invasion, and of the calamities that were coming upon Babylon. In ver. 5 he describes the state of the Babylonians. It is done in a most rapid and graphic manner. They are represented first, as preparing the table, making ready for feasting and revelry, setting the watch on the watch-tower, and giving themselves up to feasting; and secondly, as suddenly alarmed and called to anoint the shield, and prepare for war. He then (vs. 6-9) declares the event, and the way in which the princes of Babylon would be roused from their revelry. But it is described in a very remarkable manner. He does not narrate the events, but he represents himself as directed to appoint a watchman (ver. 6) to declare or announce what he should see. That watchman (ver. 7) sees two chariots-representing two nations coming rapidly onward to execute the orders of God. So rapid is their approach, so terrible their march, that the watchman cries out (ver. 9) that Babylon is fallen, and will be inevitably destroyed. The prophet then (ver. 10) closes the prophecy by an address to the afflicted Jews whom God had "threshed" or punished by sending them captive to Babylon, and with the declaration that this was intended by the Lord of hosts to be declared unto them. The whole design of the prophecy, therefore, is to console them, and to repeat the assurance given in ch xiii, xiv, that Babylon would be destroyed, and that they would be deliv, ered from bondage. VOL. II.* 9 1 The burden of the desert of the sea. | through; so it cometh from the desert, As whirlwinds in the south pass from a terrible land. 1. THE ORACLE CONCERNING THE DESERT OF THE SEA. Like whirlwinds violently rushing along from the south, So it cometh from the desert From a terrible land. 1. The burden. See Note ch. xiii. 1. Of the desert of the sea. Respecting the desert of the sea. There have been almost as many interpretations of this expression as there have been interpreters. That it means Babylon, or the country about Babylon, there can be no doubt; but the question why this phrase was applied, has given rise to a great diversity of opinions. The term desert midhbor is usually applied to a wilderness, or to a comparatively barren and uncultivated country-a place for flocks and herds (Ps. lxv. 13, Jer. ix. 9, &c.); or to an actual waste, a sandy desert (Isa. xxxii. 15, xxxv. 1); and particularly to the deserts of Arabia (Gen. xiv. 6, xvi. 7, Deut. xi. 24). It may here be applied to Babylon either historically, as having been once an unreclaimed desert, or by anticipation as descriptive of what it would be after it should be destroyed by Cyrus, or possibly both these ideas may have been combined. That it was once a desert or vast waste before it was reclaimed by Semiramis is the testimony of all history; that it is now a vast waste is the united testimony of all travellers. There is every reason to think that a large part of the country about Babylon was formerly overflowed with water before it was reclaimed by dykes, and that the name desert is given to it because it was the appropriate and natural description of the place. It was naturally a waste, and when the artificial dykes and dams should be removed it would again be a desert. Of the sea. Yom. There has been also much difference of opinion in regard to this word. But there can be no doubt that it refers to the Euphrates, and to the extensive region of marsh that was covered by its waters. The name sea, b, is not unfrequently given to a large river, to the Nile, and to the Euphrates. See Note ch. xi. 15. Comp. ch. xix. 5. Herodotus i. 184, says that "Semiramis confined the Euphrates within its channel by raising great dams against it; for before, it over |