The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 9
Chapter IX · Vol. III, pp. 1159–1160
1 What joy shall be in the midst of afflictions by the birth and kingdom of Christ. 8 The judgments upon Israel for their pride, 13 for their impenitency, 18 and for their wickedness.
1 Nevertheless the adimness shall not be such as was in her bvexation, when 1at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
B.C. cir. 741.
a ch.8.22.
b 2 Ki.15.19,29; 17.5,6. Le.26.25,31,33.
1 At the first he debased, but at last he glorified, &c., Mat.4.15,16.
2 Thec people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
c ch.60.1,2; 42.6; 49.6. Jn.1.9; 8.12. Lu.1.78,79. Mat.4.14-16. Ep.5.14. Ac.26.18. Col.1.13. 1 Pe.2.9.
3 Thou hast dmultiplied the nation, and not2 increasede the joy: they joy before thee gaccording to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
d ch.2.2,3. Zec.8.20-23; 2.11.
2 Or, to him.
e ch.liv.; 55.12; lx. lxi. xii. xxv. xxvi. xxxv. Je.31.7,12-14.
g ch.16.9,10. Ps.4.7,8; 119.162; 126.5,6. Ju.5.30. 1 Sa.30.16. 2 Ch.20.25,28. 1 Pe.1.8. Phi.4.4. Jn.16.22. Ac.9.31.
4 For thou hast hbroken3 the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of iMidian.
5 For4 every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be jwith burning and fuel of fire.
4 Or, When the whole battle of the warrior was, &c.—and it was, &c. Or, the graves of the armed warrior and garments rolled in blood shall be for burning and fuel of fire.
j ch.30.33; 37.36; 66.15. 2 Th.1.7. Mat.3.3,11.
6 For kunto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and lthe government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name nshall be called Wonderful, oCounsellor, pThe mighty God, qThe everlasting Father, rThe Prince of Peace.
k ch.7.14; 4.2. Lu.2.11. Mat.15.24. Ro.9.5; 15.8. Jn.1.14; 3.16; 4.10; 6.32,33. 2 Co.9.15.
n ch.7.14; 63.1. Je.31.22. Mat.8.27. Pr.30.4.
A.M. cir. 3263. B.C. cir. 741.
o Zec.6.13. ch.28.29. Jn.1.18; 17.8; 15.15. Re.3.18. Lu.7.30.
p Je.23.6. Ps.45.3-6. Jn.1.1,2. Ro.9.5. Tit.2.13. ch.45.22; 63.1-4. 1 Jn.5.20. He.1.8; 7.25.
q Pr.8.23-31. He.5.9; 2.13. Jn.6.39-51; 10.28; 11.25. ch.53.10,11. Ep.2.10.
r ch.53.5,12. Je.23.5,6. Mi.5.1,2,5. Ro.5.1,10. 2 Co.5.19. Ep.2.14. Jn.16.33; 14.27. Phi.4.7. 2 Th.3.16.
7 Ofs the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it twith judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. uThe zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
s ch.2.2,3. Ps.2.8; 72.8-11,17,19; xciii. xcvii. xcix. Da.2.35,44; 7.14,27. Zec.6.13. Mat.24.14. Lu.1.32,33. 2 Sa.7.16. 1 Co.15.25.
t ch.11.3,4; 32.1. Ps.45.4,6; 72.1-3,7.
u ch.37.32; 59.16,17; 63.4-6.
9 And all the people shall xknow, even Ephraim, and the inhabitant of Samaria, that ysay in the pride and stoutness of heart,
10 Thez bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.5
11 Therefore the LORD ashall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him,6 and join7 his enemies together;
12 Theb Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth.8 Forc all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
b 2 Ki.15.29; 17.6. 2 Ch.28.16-20. Ps.124.3,6. Joel 2.20.
8 Heb. with whole mouth.
c ch.5.25; 10.4; ver.17,21. Je.4.8.
14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel ehead and tail, branch and rush, in one 9day.
e ver.15; ch.19.15. 2 Ki.15.29; 17.6,20. Ho.1.4,6,9; 3.4; 4.5; 5.14; 9.16; 13.15,16. Am.9.1-10.
9 From the lofty mountain the branch of the cedar, from the lowly pool the feeble rush.—C.
16 Forh the leaders of this people1 cause them to err; and they that are led of them2 are destroyed.3
h ch.3.12. Mat.15.14. Ho.9.7,8. Mi.3.5,11. Eze.13.18,20. Je.23.13,16; 27.10.
1 Or, they that call them blessed.
2 Or, they that are called blessed of them.
3 Heb. swallowed up.
17 Thereforei the LORD shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an jhypocrite and an evil-doer, and every mouth speaketh folly.4 For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness kburneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest; and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
19 Throughl the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel5 of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.
A.M. cir. 3263. B.C. cir. 741.
l Ac.2.20. De.32.22-25; 28.49-57. Joel 2.1,2. Je.13.16; 41.7. Am.8.9. ch.8.22; 5.30; 1.31; 42.22,24,25; 66.15,16; 13.10. Mi.7.2,6,8.
5 Heb. meat.
20 Andn he shall snatch6 on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh,o Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah.7 Forp all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
o 2 Ki.15.30,37. 2 Ch.28.6,8; 7.6. La.4.10. Mat.24.7,10.
7 See note † in second column.
p ch.5.25; 10.4; ver.12,17. Je.4.8.
† There could be no more graphic and fearful picture of the state of disorganization in which the country would be involved by sin than that given here. Ephraim and Manasseh were brethren. These tribes had always been closely united; now they were at enmity, wasting each other. And then, whilst rent by internal factions, they were still waging a united war against Judah.—P.
Notes
Ver. 1-7. The distress of Judah, under the Assyrian ravages or the Chaldean captivity, shall not be so dismal and lasting as the captivity of the ten tribes. They shall quickly be surprised with a glorious deliverance, a vast increase, amazing consolations, and perfect freedom from bondage: for God, to pave the way for the incarnation and kingdom of his Son, shall, not by the common forms of war, but by a fearful plague, destroy their Assyrian or other enemies. And as God has debased Canaan by the repeated invasions of heathen troops, so he will glorify it by the instructive and comforting gospel ministrations of his Son and his apostles. Multitudes shall be converted to Christ, and great shall be their spiritual joy, freedom, and victories over their lusts, through the influence of the Holy Ghost; for the Son of God, born in our nature, and given to us, having all power given him in heaven and in earth, shall manifest himself in his wonderful excellencies, offices, and relations, in the erection and government of the gospel church; Jehovah's love to him and the people, and his everlasting love, shall secure the accomplishment of this.—8-10. The Lord has denounced a threatening against the Israelites, the accomplishment of which they shall quickly feel, who proudly boast that, though the Assyrians have demolished their houses, they will build better ones. 11, 12. The Lord shall stir up the Assyrians, together with the enlisted Syrians on the east, and the Philistines on the west (who had lately assisted them against Judah), and they shall make an almost utter end of them: and after all, the judgments of God shall be further inflicted upon them. 14. The Lord will destroy multitudes of all ranks. 18. Their outrageous wickedness has fitted them for ruin, and shall be punished in the destruction of both small and great. 19-21. Amidst their terrible distress they shall restlessly plunder, oppress, and murder one another.
Ver. 1. 'But there shall not hereafter be darkness in the land which was distressed' (Lowth). 'For as in the former time, he debased the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali: so, in the latter time, he will make glorious the way of the sea, along the Jordan, even Galilee of the nations.' Boothroyd.——The concluding verses of the eighth chapter describe a time of almost universal trouble and darkness. The first verse of ch. ix. indicates a change. Light would dawn in due season. It would shine principally on the dark regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, which were much exposed to foreign invasion. The dawn of the new light is connected with the birth of the child promised in ver. 6, 7. The second clause of ver. 1 may be thus translated: 'And afterward did more grievously afflict the country of the sea-coast (the coast of the Sea of Galilee), Peraea, Galilee of the Gentiles.' The ultimate and perfect fulfilment of this prophecy was in the time of our Lord, when he preached and laboured on the shores of the Galilean lake. P.
Ver. 3. Not increased the joy. Eleven of Kennicott's, and six of De Rossi's MSS., for 'not increased' read 'it increased;' which these high authorities, and the sense of the passage, seem to require. Lowth translates it 'increased their joy.' C.
Ver. 4. His burden. The grammar of the passage seems to refer this deliverance, not to the nation, but to 'the Prince,' ver. 6, who 'in all their affliction had been afflicted.' See ch. 53. 7; 63. 9; Ps. 25. 16; Col. 1. 24.—Staff of his shoulder. The staff whereon eastern slaves still continue to bear burdens. C.
Ver. 5. 'For the greaves (the leg armour) of the warrior in the battle, and the garments saturated with blood, shall be for burning, even fuel for the fire.' That is, dealt with as things accursed of God, as were the spoils of Jericho, Jos. 6. 17—emblematic of the blessed time when men shall be cleansed from covetousness (see Jos. 7. 21), and 'shall learn war no more.' C.
Ver. 6. The everlasting Father. Or, 'Father, author of the future or everlasting age,' the Christian dispensation (Lowth). C.
Ver. 8. This is evidently a new subject—a word of warning and judgment to a portion of God's people—called Jacob as heirs of promise in hope, Israel as mighty princes in possession. It lighted as an arrow from the bow, as a javelin from the arm of a mighty warrior. C.
Ver. 17. The universality of corruption in the days of Noah afforded the chief argument to the world against the power of his preaching. And that one alone, or a very few, should be right, and all others, the whole world, with a two or three disregarded exceptions, should be wrong, to the natural man seems impossible. The same argument was urged against our Lord and his apostles. The same argument was urged against the reformers, and the same argument will continue to be urged so long as men are pleased to 'follow a multitude to do evil.' C.
Ver. 19. The wrath of the Lord of hosts. Many have expressed much dissatisfaction at the ascription of wrath to God. They do so on the ignorant, at least the thoughtless supposition, that there can be no wrath but sinful wrath. Alas! do these objectors neither see, nor know, that whether it come from the east or from the west, 'evil pursueth sinners?' And the holy principle of the divine mind and government, by which that evil is righteously inflicted upon the guilty, is all that the Scriptures mean when they speak of the 'wrath of the Lord.' C.
Reflections.—God ordinarily tries men with lesser judgments before he inflicts such as are more severe. But it bodes well to a place when God sends to it the light of the gospel. And no load of adversity is so heavy, but Christ's presence can alleviate and his power deliver from it. Thrice happy are those ignorant sinners whose minds he enlightens in the knowledge of himself! They may enjoy much solid and spiritual joy, freedom, and victory, even when they weep and lament. Unbounded are the excellencies, high the dignities, sweet the relations, and savoury the names of that Immanuel whom God has freely given to us sinful men! O the infinite zeal of Jehovah to honour his Son, and to promote the welfare of his church! Rejoice in these things, my soul—and again rejoice.—God shall make every opposer effectually to know the power of his wrath. But those ripen fast for ruin who continue proud and impenitent under great distress; and whom neither cords of love can draw, nor afflicting rods can drive, to their duty. Hypocrisy towards God, and villany towards men, ordinarily meet together. And none are in God's sight more abominable miscreants than unfaithful ministers. But general concurrence in wickedness issues in general calamities upon all ranks. And often they, whom we make our partners in sin, or in whom we have trusted, are made the distinguished instruments of our ruin.