10

6

Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the 7isle. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is from ancient days? Her own feet shall carry her afar off to 8 sojourn. Who purposed this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers 9are the honoured of the earth? Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honoured of the earth.

Flow over thy land like the river [Nile], O daughter 11 of Tarshish; there is no longer bondage. He hath stretched out his hand over the sea, he hath shaken the kingdoms. Jehovah hath given a command against 12 Canaan, to destroy its strongholds. And he hath said, 'Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed maiden, 'daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to the Chittians; 'there also shalt thou have no rest.'

6 Pass ye over to Tarshish.] They might seek for safety in Tarsus from the Assyrians.

From ancient days.] The Tyrian monarchy was at least as old as the Hebrew monarchy, and very probably older.

8 Whose merchants were princes.] Tyre is the earliest known example of a city gaining great political importance among the neighbouring states from its trading wealth, having no advantages of either mineral or agricultural produce.

10 Flow over thy land like the river [Nile], O daughter of Tarshish.] The city of Tarsus is now free from the dominion of Tyre-free as the Nile when it rises over its banks.

11 Jehovah hath given a command against Canaan.] Thus the Tyrians are included under the common name of Canaanites. We know from the inscriptions that their language was nearly the same as Hebrew.

Thou oppressed maiden, daughter of Sidon.] Sidon, like Tarsus, felt oppression from Tyre.

Pass over to the Chittians.] Shalmanezer had conquered the island of Cyprus, therefore the Tyrians could find no safety there from the Assyrians, the common enemies of all the neighbouring nations.

13

Behold the land of the Chaldeans; now this people is not. The Assyrians have founded it for the wild beasts of the desert. They have set up their watch-towers, they have laid bare its castles, and have brought it to ruin. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid 1a

waste.

V.

NOW LET ME SING to my Beloved a song of love touch- 1 ing his vineyard. My Beloved hath a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. And he raked it, and gathered out its 2 stones, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hollowed out a winepress therein. And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild berries. And now, O 3 inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I 'pray you, betwixt Me and my vineyard. What could 'have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not 'done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should 'bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild berries? 'now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I 'will take away its hedge, and it shall be wasted; I will 'break down its wall, and it shall be trodden down. 'And I will make it a waste, and it shall not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns;

And 5

13 The land of the Chaldeans.] It is described by Strabo, lib. XII. iii. 18, as joining on Armenia.

The Assyrians have founded it for the wild beasts.] They removed the population from the sources of the Euphrates to its mouths. Such was the cruel policy of those times. This was probably done by Pul. See 2 Kings xv. 19.

No. 7. [Chap. v. 1-12 and 18-end, and ix. 12-x. 4.] AGAINST JUDAH FOR LUXURY AND INJUSTICE, IN THE BEGINNING OF HEZEKIAH'S REIGN.

1 A song of love.] Much of this parable is in measured language, and might even be printed as verse.

I will make it a waste.] This was written of the kingdom of Judah in the reign of Hezekiah.

'I will also command the clouds to rain no rain upon it.' 'For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the plant of his delight; and he looked for justice, but behold bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, and ye dwell alone in the midst of the land! Jehovah of hosts [hath said] in mine ears, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even those 10 that are great and fair, without inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield only a Bath [or seven gallons], and the seed of an Homer shall yield only an Ephah [or a tenth part].

11

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until 12 twilight, till wine inflame them; and the harp, and the psaltery, the timbrel, and the pipe, and wine, are in their drinking feasts; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, neither consider the doings of his hands.

18

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of false

7 The vineyard of Jehovah is the house of Israel.] Israel here means the whole people; not, as in chap. ix. 8, the northern kingdom only.

8 Woe unto them that lay field to field.] Thus the law that estates should be sold only for a term of years was not obeyed at this time. Deut. xv., which orders a release of debts every seventh year, had not yet been written; nor Lev. xxv., which orders that on the fiftieth year an estate should go back to the family which had parted with it.

10 Ten acres of vineyard shall yield only a Bath.] Or seven gallons. An acre in France yields about two hundred gallons of wine yearly.-Henderson's "History of Wines.'

The seed of a Homer shall yield only an Ephah.] Ezek. xlv. 11 says that an Ephah is the tenth part of a Homer. Thus the cornfield, instead of yielding an increase, returns only a tenth part of the seed.

hood, and sin as it were with a cart rope; that say, ‘Let 19 'Him make speed, and hasten his work, so that we may see it. And let the purpose of the Holy one of Israel 'draw nigh and come, that we may know it!'

21

24

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; 20 that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to 22 drink wine, and men of valour to mingle strong drink; who acquit the wicked for the sake of a bribe, and take 23 away what is the right of the righteous man from him! Therefore as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the dry grass, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of Jehovah of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled 25 against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them. And the mountains tremble, and their carcases are as dung in the midst of the streets.

Because of all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, 26 and will whistle for them from the end of the earth; and behold, they will come with speed swiftly. None 27 shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be untied. Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs are accounted like flint, and their chariot

19 That say, 'Let Him make speed.'] These men laugh

at Isaiah's warning, and use these words ironically.

26 He will lift up an ensign to the nations.] Jehovah will call for Assyria and its allies to punish Judah.

28 Their horses' hoofs were accounted like flint.] Perhaps the Assyrian horses had hard hoofs, which were a great merit before horseshoes were invented. Or per

28

29 wheels like a whirlwind. Their roaring will be like a lioness, they will roar like young lions; yea, they will rage, and lay hold of the prey, and will carry it away 30 safe, and none shall deliver it. And in that day they shall rage against them like the raging of the sea; and if one look unto the land, behold darkness of distress, -and the light is darkened in the heavy clouds thereof.

IX.

13

15

Because of all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

For the people turneth not to him that smiteth them, 14 neither do they seek Jehovah of hosts. Therefore Jehovah will cut off from [northern] Israel head and tail, palm-branch and bulrush, in one day. The elder and the man of high station, he is the head; and the 16 prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the guides of this people cause them to err; and they that are 17 guided by them are being destroyed. Therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men, neither will have pity on their fatherless and widows; for every one is ungodly and an evil doer, and every mouth speaketh folly.

18

Because of all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

For wickedness burneth as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest; and the rising of the smoke shall curl upwards. Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land scorched, and the people shall be as the fuel of 20 the fire; no man shall have pity on his brother. And

19

haps they were shod with metal. Homer, in the Iliad, speaks of copper-footed horses.

12

IX. Because of all this, his anger is not turned away.] This burden, which we shall have again in this chapter, and which we had in chap. V., tells us that we had better remove vi.-ix. 12, and let these words follow upon chap. v.

14 Jehovah will cut off from Israel.] As in chap. viii. 18 and ix. 8, Israel means the northern nation, which is to be wholly ruined.