Isaiah, who is placed first in our sacred volume, prophesied at least during four reigns, as stated Chap. i. 1; and, as some think, during part of the reign of Manasseh, whom the Jews charge with being his murderer, by sawing him asunder at a very advanced age. He calls himself the son of Amoz-not Amos the prophet; but Amoz, the son of Joash, and brother of Uzziah, king of Judah. His style of writing is so sublime and beautiful, that Bishop Lowth calls him," the prince of all the prophets." He has been also called the Evangelical Prophet, from the many discoveries he exhibits of the work and character of the Messiah. As we have hitherto acknowledged the principal help we have received from commentators and critics on separate books, it may be proper here to state, that on the Prophets we have regularly consulted Bishop Lowth, Dr. Blaney, and Bishop Newcome; but our obligations are the most considerable to a small volume by Dr. John Smith, of Cambleton, in which he has admirably condensed the substance of their remarks with many beautiful thoughts and pious reflections of his own." To this valuale book we have had recurrence, even more frequently than we have thought it neces sary to express. We have not, however, omitted to consult the general Commentators, and the New Translation of Dr. Boothroyd. On this book of Isaiah we have had also repeated reference to the "Annotations" put forth by "The Westminster Assembly of Divines," whose exposition of this and some other of the Prophets, is well known to have been written by the very learned Gataker, who was one of their body. * See A Summary View of the Writings of the Prophets, by J. Smith, D.D. &c. 8vo. 1804. CHAP. I. HE vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither been bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by stangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. [to repentance 9 Except the LORD of hosts had. left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean ; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judg ment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be NOTES. tioned in this Book, the Bishop is to be understood, Ver. 11. I am full-Lowth, “ cloyed." Ver. 12. To tread my courts-Bp. Lowth, followe ing the LXX, begins the next verse with these words: "Tread my courts no more: bring no more.” Ver. 14. They are a trouble-Lowth," A burden.” -Weary to bear-Lowth, "Weary of bearing." Ver. 15. Make many prayers → Heb. " Multiply prayer." Ver. 17. Relieve-Marg. “Righten ;" i. e. do justice to the oppressed. Ver. 18. As wool-meaning, white as wool; i. e. cleansed from the guilt of blood, ver. 15. 1 Grace promised, and] ISAIAH. as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be, as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 21 How is the faithful city become an harlot it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: 23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. 24 Therefore saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies : 25 And I will turn my hand upon CHAP. I. [destruction threatened. thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: 26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. 27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. 28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed. 29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. 30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. 31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them. (A) EXPOSITION. (A) Isaiah upbraids the ingratitude and hypocrisy of Judah, and exhorts them to repentance. The first verse we consider as a general title to Isaiah's prophecies, which were delivered during several successive reigns. Bp. Lowth is of opinion, that the first five chapters were written during the reign of king Uzziah. If so, the desolation it describes must allude to the calamities which had been previously occasioned by Jehoash, king of Israel, (2 Kings xiv. 12 -14.) But as prophecies are not always arranged according to the order of time in which they were delivered, Bp. Horsley and others refer it to the time of Ahaz (which it appears to suit better,) and to the invasion of Rezin and Pekah: and some place it still later, when Jerusalem was besieged by Sennacherib. The Prophet, with a boldness and majesty becoming the herald of the Most High, begins with calling on the whole creation to attend, while Jehovah himself speaks; and a charge of gross insensibility and ingratitude is then brought against the Jews, by contrasting their conduct with that of the ox and the ass, the most stupid of all animals. This leads to an amplifi cation of their guilt, highly aggravated by their slighting the chastisements and judg ments of God, though repeated till they had been left almost like Sodom and Gomorrah. The incidental mention of those places leads to an address to the rulers and people of Judah (under the character of princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah,) no less spirited and elegant. In ver. 10, and following, the vanity of trusting to the performance of outward rites and ceremonies of religion is exposed; and the necessity of repentance and reformation strongly urged, as well by the most encouraging promises, as by the most awful threatening. The Prophet, aware that neither of these motives would produce their proper NOTES-Chap. I. Con. Ver. 20. Devoured with the sword-Lowth, "Ye shall be food for the sword. Ver. 23. Come unto them-Lowth, "Come before them." Ver. 25. And I will turn, &c.-Lowth, "1 will again my hand over thee, and I will purge in the ce thy dross, and I will remove all thine alloy." Ver. 27. Her converts-Marg. "They that return of her," Lowth," Her captives." Ver. 28. And the destruction-Heb. " Breaking." Ver. 29. The oaks.... the gardens—that is, the scene and object of their idolatries. Ver. 31. And the maker-Marg," And his work.” So Lowth, The gospel dispensation] CHAP. II. CHAP. II. THE 2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. 6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are Soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. [predicted. 7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: 8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made : 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. 10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low : 13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, 16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. EXPOSITION. effect, he bitterly laments their degeneracy; and concludes with declaring, in the name of Jehovah, his purpose of inflicting still heavier judgments, such as would destroy the wicked, and excite in the righteous (who should also pass through the furnace) an everlasting shame and abhor rence of every thing connected with idolatry, the source of all their misery. "The whole chapter affords a beautiful example of this great Prophet's mauner ; whose writings, like his lips, were touched with haliowed fire." NOTES. CHAP. II. Ver. 1. That Isaiah saw---Lowth, "That was revealed to Isaiah." Ver. 2. Established Compare Micah iv. 1-4. or prepared," Margin. Ver. 4. Pruning-hooks-or "scythes," Margin. Ver. 6. Replenished from the East-Lowth, "Filled (with diviners) from," &c. Ibid. They please themselves - Marg. "Abound with," &c. Lowth, "They multiply a spurious brood of strange children." This refers to the illegitimate produce of their licentious connexion with the heathen, which is here compared (in the original) with the corn, or grass, springing from seed acci dentally scattered. Ver. 7. Full of silver and gold. horses, &c -This was contrary to Deut. xvii. 16, 17. He followed the example of Solomon, 2 Chron. i. 14, 15, Ver. 9. The mean man boweth, &c.-that is, all ranks bow down to idols: but Bp. Lowth renders this in the future; "therefore shall the mean man be bowed:" so Boothroyd.-Forgive them notLowth, "Thou wilt not forgive them." Ver. 12. Shall be upon-"Is against," and so in the four following verses. Lowth. Ver. 13. Cedars of Lebanon, &c.—that is, great men, princes, &c. Ver. 14. High mountains-kingdoms, states, &c Ver. 15. Every high tower-military state, 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the CHAP. II. [of idolatry. glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? (B) CHAP. III. FOR, behold, the LORD, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, 3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. 4 And I will give children to be EXPOSITION. (B) Isaiah prophecies the coming of Messiah's kingdom, and the destruction of Idolatry. This and the two following chapters make one section of prophecy, to which the verse with which it opeus is the title. The first five verses foretel the kingdom of the Messiah, and the conversion of the Gentiles: for it is the opinion of the most learned Rabbins, that the term "latter days" always refers to the times of the Messiah. In the remaining part of the chapter is foretold the punishment of the unbelieving Jews for their idolatrous practices; their self-confidence and distrust in God; also the destruction of idolatry, iu consequence of the establishment of Messiah's kingdom. The description which this chapter contains of the terrible consternation that will seize the wicked, who shall in vain seek for rocks and mountains to hide them from the face of God in the day of his judgments, is beautifully and highly worked up. But to what period these judgments are to be referred is doubtful. Some have applied them to the first, and some to the second coming of our Lord; some to the destruction of the Jews, and some to the fall of Anti-christ! Perhaps we ought not to confiue the words to any one of these events exclusively, The prophecy has, no doubt, been in a great measure fulfilled by the early and astonishing success of the gospel: yet the happy period so beautifully predicted in verse 4th, has only yet dawned, and some signal revolutions may yet be necessary to the establishment of universal peace. Of part of these predictions at least we have lived to see the fulfilment. Messiah is come; the Geutiles have been admitted into his church. Idolatry in many nations has been suppressed; and, even in our own time, the inhabitants in the South Sea Islands, as also in some parts of Africa, and even India, have thrown away their idols. We cannot indeed say that men "learn war no more;" but the calamities attending the late European wars, have induced the nations to make a pause; and it is now generally admitted among civilized governments, that no wars are defensible that are not founded on principles of justice. This is a grand point gained, and, we think, may lead eventually to the attainment of universal peace, the principles of which cannot be too much cherished in the Christian world. NOTES. Ver. 16. Ships of Tarshish-maritime powers. ——— Pleasant pictures Margin, "Pictures of desire." Lowth, " Every lovely work of art." Ver. 18. And the idols, &c-Marg. "The idols shall utterly pass away;" Lowth, "Totally disappear." Ver. 20. Made each one for himself-Marg. “Which they made for him to worship," &c.-To the moles |