13. The nations shall rush Like the rushing of many waters: But he shall rebuke them, And they shall flee far off, and shall be chased And like the whirling dust before the storm. 14. At eventide behold terror; And before the morning they are not. Isaiah's Answer to the Ethiopian Ambassadors (Chap. 18) 18. Ah, the land of 1 the rustling of wings, 1 Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 2. That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, Even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, 1 Gr. winged boats. compared the tumult of the many and mighty nations (as we should read in the second half of vs. 12) that went to make up the Assyr ian army. 13 f. Threshing floors were often set upon a height where the wind could easily bear the chaff away. Terror in Jerusalem because of the Assyrian army. These verses describe the completeness and the suddenness with which these foreign plunderers and robbers would be destroyed. Cf. 37:36. 18: 1-7. Ethiopia, the land to the south of Egypt, and now her mistress, had despatched an embassy to Jerusalem, for some purpose which is not definitely stated, but which had no doubt to do with an alliance against the common enemy Assyria. Isaiah implicitly rejects their overtures by his courteous and serene assurance that Jehovah himself would speedily seal the doom of the Assyrians. 1. Ethiopia (modern Nubia) is the land of the rustling of insect wings probably an allusion in particular to the tsetse-fly in which the Nile lands abound. It is vaguely described as beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, i.e. the White and the Blue Nile. 2. By the sea the river Nile is meant, and down its waters the 3. Go, ye swift messengers, To a nation tall and smooth, To a people terrible from their beginning onward: All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers on When an ensign is lifted up on the mountains, see ye; 4. For thus bath the LORD said unto me, "I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling place; Like clear heat in sunshine, 1 Like a cloud of dew in the 1 heat of harvest. 1 Gr. Vg. Syr. day. The ambassadors travel in swift light boats made of papyrus. word saying (RV), which has no Hebrew warrant, obscures the point and should be deleted. In reality, Go introduces the speech of Isaiah to the ambassadors, now arrived at Jerusalem. The Ethiopians are described by the prophet in complimentary terms as tall and smooth, or rather of polished bronze-like skin, dreaded near and far, a nation of strength and victory, whose land the Nile streams divide. They are known to have been remarkable for their beauty and stature (the obscure words of the last half of vs. 2 seem best rendered as above). 3. The announcement of Jehovah's impending triumph concerns not only Ethiopia, but the whole world. Universal attention will be called to it by the rising of a standard and the blast of a trumpet words to be taken not literally but poetically, as symbols of Jehovah's sudden and victorious intervention. Vss. 4-6 contain the real message especially 5 f. 4. The majestic confidence with which Isaiah awaits and foretells the issue is but a reflex of the serenity with which his God contemplates it all. Jehovah looks quietly on, still as the shimmering heat in sunshine when the glow is intense, or as the high motionless dew-clouds in the heat of harvest two pictures beautifully suggestive of the sublime peace of Jehovah. words Thus Jehovah said to me apparently indicate that this The 5. For afore the harvest, when the blossom is over, And the spreading branches shall he take away and 6. They shall be left together unto the ravenous birds of the mountains, 7. 19. And to the beasts of the earth: And the ravenous birds shall summer upon them, And all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. In that time shall a present, be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people tall and smooth, and from a people terrible from their beginning onward; a nation that meteth out and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion. great vision and message of peace came to Isaiah in a moment of ecstasy. 5. The doom of the Assyrians will come upon them as an immense surprise; just when their plans are ripe for execution, they will be swiftly and terribly frustrated. The figures are borrowed from the vintage; just when the grapes are almost ready for gathering, the branches will be hewn mercilessly down. 6. Figure changes to fact. The number of Assyrian slain shall be so great that for a whole summer and winter wild beasts and birds shall feast upon them. 7. It is pretty generally acknowledged that this vs., with its Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, And the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, of it. And I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians: And kingdom against kingdom. repetitions of vs. 2, is much later than Isaiah. In the spirit of a later age, it contemplates the "latter days when Ethiopia would acknowledge Israel's God, and come to Jerusalem, the place of his name, to offer him gifts of homage (cf. Zeph. 3:10). For of a people" read "from a people." The serenity of Isaiah in face of the Assyrian menace recalls his composure on a former occasion, when every other heart was thrown into consternation at the projected invasion of Judah by the joint forces of Israel and Syria (7: 1-7). In all such crises his faith" establishes him (7:9). Chap. 19. The oracle on Egypt appropriately succeeds that addressed to the Ethiopians (Chap. 18). For Egypt the doom is announced of civil war and oppression at the hands of a hard master. With these political calamities are associated disasters of another kind the drying up of the Nile, and the decay of fishing and weaving; and all the ancient and famous wisdom of Egypt shall be unable to cope with this distress, which has been sent upon her by the God of Israel (vss. 1-15). In their terror, however, the Egyptians will cry to this God, who will reveal himself to them, and be, in consequence, honored and worshipped on Egyptian soil. Then Egypt and Assyria will unite in the common worship of Jehovah; a triple alliance will be formed between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, and they shall all be Jehovah's people (vss. 16-25). Civil War and Oppression (vss. 1-4) 1. Jehovah rides on a storm cloud (as in Ps. 18: 10) to Egypt, to execute his will upon her people; and before this mighty God the idols, or impotent gods of Egypt quake, and the people share their terror. 2, 3. Civil war breaks out, and the people so lose head and 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall be made void in the midst of it; And I will destroy the counsel thereof: And they shall seek unto the idols, and to the charmers, 4. And I will give over the Egyptians And a fierce king shall rule over them, 5. And the waters shall fail from the sea, And the river shall be wasted and become dry. 6. And the rivers shall stink; 7. The streams of Egypt shall be minished and dried The reeds and flags shall wither away. 1 The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, 1 Gr. all the green reedgrass round about the river. heart that they resort to occult means of ascertaining the divine will to charmers, i.e. mutterers of magical spells, ghosts and familiar spirits (cf. 8:19). 4. Finally, a prey to confusion and despair, Egypt comes under the domination of a harsh and probably foreign master. Who this is, will depend upon our view of the date and origin of the prophecy-an Assyrian ruler, Sargon or Sennacherib, if the prophecy be Isaiah's. The Drying up of the Nile and the Extinction of Fishing and Weaving (vss. 5-10) 5, 6. By the sea and the river the Nile is meant. The streams, lit. Niles, i.e. arms or canals of the Nile, become dry: reed and rush decay. 7. The first two clauses, which are obscure, may have run somewhat as follows: All withered are the reeds by the banks of the Nile. 19:7 |