4. ([Is 42:13]; [Ho 11:10]).
roaring on--"growling over" his prey.
abase himself--be disheartened or frightened.
5. As in the image of "the lion," the point of comparison is the fearless might of Jehovah; so in that of the birds, it is His solicitous affection ([De 32:11]; [Psa 91:4]; [Mt 23:37]).
flying--Rather, "which defend" their young with their wings; "to fly" is a secondary meaning of the Hebrew word [Maurer]. "Hovering over" to protect their young [G. V. Smith].
passing over--as the destroying angel passing over, so as to spare the blood-marked houses of the Israelites on the first passover ([Ex 12:13], [23, 27]). He passed, or leaped forward [Lowth], to destroy the enemy and to spare His people.
6. The power and love of Jehovah, just mentioned, are the strongest incentives for returning to Him ([Eze 16:62], ; [Ho 6:1]).
ye ... Israel--The change of person marks that when they return to the Lord, He will address them in more direct terms of communion in the second person; so long as they were revolters, God speaks of them, as more at a distance, in the third person, rather than to them.
7. In the day of trial the idols will be found to render no help and will therefore be cast away. Compare as to the future restoration and conversion of Israel simultaneously with the interposition of Jehovah in its defense, Zec 12:9-14; 13:1, 2.
for a sin--that is, whereby especially you contracted guilt ([1Ki 12:30]).
8. Assyrian--Sennacherib, representative of some powerful head of the ungodly in the latter ages [Horsley].
sword, not of ... mighty ... mean man--but by the unseen sword of God.
flee--Sennacherib alone fled homewards after his army had been destroyed ([Is 37:37]).
young men--the flower of his army.
discomfited--rather, "shall be subject to slavery"; literally, "shall be liable to tribute," that is, personal service ([De 20:11]; [Jos 9:21]) [Maurer]. Or, not so well, "shall melt away" [Rosenmuller].
9. Rather, "shall pass beyond his strongholds"; he Shall not stop to take refuge in it through fear ([Jud 20:47]; [Jr 48:28]) [Gesenius].
ensign--the banner of Jehovah protecting the Jews [Maurer].
fire ... furnace--"light" and "fire," namely, of Jehovah's altar at Jerusalem ([Is 29:1]). Perhaps "furnace," as distinguished from "fire," may mean that His dwelling-place (His hearth) was at Jerusalem (compare [Is 4:5]); or else the fiery furnace awaiting all the enemies who should attack Jerusalem.
Chapter 32
Is 32:1-20. Messiah's Kingdom; Desolations, to Be Succeeded by Lasting Peace, the Spirit Having Been Poured Out
The times of purity and happiness which shall follow the defeat of the enemies of Jehovah's people ([Is 32:1-8]). The period of wrath before that happy state ([Is 32:9-14]). The assurance of the final prosperity of the Church is repeated ([Is 32:15-20]).
1. king--not Hezekiah, who was already on the throne, whereas a future time is contemplated. If he be meant at all, it can only be as a type of Messiah the King, to whom alone the language is fully applicable ([Ho 3:5]; [Zec 9:9]; see on [Is 11:3-5]). The kingdom shall be transferred from the world kings, who have exercised their power against God, instead of for God, to the rightful King of kings ([Eze 21:27]; [Da 7:13], ).
princes--subordinate; referring to all in authority under Christ in the coming kingdom on earth, for example, the apostles, &c. ([Lu 22:30]; [1Co 6:2]; [2Ti 2:12]; [Re 2:26], 27; 3:21).
2. a man--rather, the man Christ [Lowth]; it is as "the Son of man" He is to reign, as it was as Son of man He suffered ([Mt 26:64]; [Joh 5:27]; ). Not as Maurer explains, "every one of the princes shall be," &c.
rivers--as refreshing as water and the cool shade are to the heated traveller ([Is 35:6], ; ).
3. them that see--the seers or prophets.
them that hear--the people under instruction ([Is 35:5], ).
4. rash--rather, "the hasty"; contrast "shall not make haste" ([Is 28:16]); the reckless who will not take time to weigh religious truth aright. Or else, the well-instructed [Horsley].
stammers--those who speak confusedly on divine things (compare [Ex 4:10-12]; [Jr 1:6]; [Mt 10:19], ). Or, rather, those drunken scorners who in stammering style imitated Isaiah's warnings to mock them [Maurer] ([Is 28:7-11, 13], [14, 22]; ); in this view, translate, "speak uprightly" (agreeably to the divine law); not as English Version, referring to the distinctness of articulation, "plainly."
5. vile--rather, "fool" [Lowth]; that is, ungodly ([Psa 14:1]; ).
liberal--rather, "noble-minded."
churl--rather, "fraudulent" [Gesenius].
bountiful--religiously. The atheistic churl, who envies the believer his hope "full of immortality," shall no longer be held as a patriot struggling for the emancipation of mankind from superstition [Horsley].
6. vile ... villainy--rather, "the (irreligious) fool ... (his) folly."
will speak--rather, "present"; for (so far is the "fool" from deserving the epithet "noble-minded") the fool "speaketh" folly and "worketh," &c.
hypocrisy--rather, "profligacy" [Horsley].
error--impiety, perverse arguments.
hungry--spiritually ([Mt 5:6]).
7. churl--"the fraudulent"; this verse refers to the last clause of [Is 32:5]; as [Is 32:6] referred to its first clause.
speaketh right--pleadeth a just cause ([Is 29:21]); spiritually, "the poor man's cause" is the divine doctrine, his rule of faith and practice.
8. liberal--rather, "noble-minded."
stand--shall be approved under the government of the righteous King.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence ([Is 3:16-23]); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea ([Eze 16:1-63]). See [Am 6:1].