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day, that Jehovah will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee 19 that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorn bushes, and upon all pastures. In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the River [Euphrates], by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet; and it shall also cut off the beard.

20

X.

28

He is come to Aiath; he is passed over [the Jordan]

18 The fly that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt.] The venomous fly of Ethiopia and Abyssinia, the Tsaltsal of chap. xviii. 1, is used as a figure for the Egyptian army, which is the more suitable because Tirhakah the Ethiopian was then on the Egyptian throne.

20 A razor that is hired.] Sennacherib is so called because Tiglath-pilezer, a former king of Assyria, had been paid by king Ahaz to come as his ally. From that time there had been a succession of Assyrian inroads, all having their beginning in the act of hiring which had been proposed by Jotham and Ahaz.

No. 9. [Chap. x. 28-end.]

THE LINE OF MARCH OF THE ASSYRIANS.

We seem to have in Isaiah notices of three invasions of Judea by the Assyrians. In the one here mentioned the Assyrian army passes by Jerusalem on the north side without waiting to besiege it. It probably moved on to the invasion of Egypt. On a second invasion, in chap. xxii., the Assyrians break down the city walls, and King Hezekiah flees for safety. On the third invasion the Assyrian army is sent from Lachish against Jerusalem, as described historically in chap. xxxvi., xxxvii., and in 2 Kings xviii.-xx. From this attack it is withdrawn hastily on news from Nineveh which recalls Sennacherib, and leaves Judea for a time free. These few verses speak of the first of these invasions.

28 He is come to Aiath.] The prophet describes the

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he shall snatch 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; Manasseh that of Ephraim, and Ephraim that of 21 Manasseh; and both together shall be against Judah.

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

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Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write sentences of misery; to turn aside judgment from the needy, and to take away justice from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in 3 the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your wealth? Without me they shall bow down among the prisoners, and they shall fall among the slain.

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

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VII.

Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. And it shall come to pass in that

21 Manasseh that of Ephraim.] Although these tribes are said to have been carried into captivity by Shalmanezer, much of the population was left behind to cultivate the soil for their conquerors. These northern tribes were politically dead, but the enmity of Ephraim and Manasseh towards Judah still remained. The prophet says that in their hunger they shall devour one another.

x. 3 The day of visitation.] Of trouble; of Jehovah's

anger.

No. 8. [Chap. vii. 17-20.]

THE ASSYRIAN INVASION IS FORETOLD.

17 The king of Assyria.] These four verses foretell Sennacherib's invasion of Judea.

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day, that Jehovah will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee 19 that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorn bushes, and upon all pastures. In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the River [Euphrates], by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet; and it shall also cut off the beard.

20

X.

28 He is come to Aiath; he is passed over [the Jordan]

18 The fly that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt.] The venomous fly of Ethiopia and Abyssinia, the Tsaltsal of chap. xviii. 1, is used as a figure for the Egyptian army, which is the more suitable because Tirhakah the Ethiopian was then on the Egyptian throne.

20 A razor that is hired.] Sennacherib is so called because Tiglath-pilezer, a former king of Assyria, had been paid by king Ahaz to come as his ally. From that time there had been a succession of Assyrian inroads, all having their beginning in the act of hiring which had been proposed by Jotham and Ahaz.

No. 9. [Chap. x. 28-end.]

THE LINE OF MARCH OF THE ASSYRIANS.

We seem to have in Isaiah notices of three invasions of Judea by the Assyrians. In the one here mentioned the Assyrian army passes by Jerusalem on the north side without waiting to besiege it. It probably moved on to the invasion of Egypt. On a second invasion, in chap. xxii., the Assyrians break down the city walls, and King Hezekiah flees for safety. On the third invasion the Assyrian army is sent from Lachish against Jerusalem, as described historically in chap. xxxvi., xxxvii., and in 2 Kings xviii.-xx. From this attack it is withdrawn hastily on news from Nineveh which recalls Sennacherib, and leaves Judea for a time free. These few verses speak of the first of these invasions.

28 He is come to Aiath.] The prophet describes the

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to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his baggage; they are passed through the passage; they have taken 29 up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. Shout with thy voice, O daughter of Gal-30 lim; hearken, O Laish, O poor Anathoth. Madmenah 31 is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim flee away. yet he will remain the day at Nob; he shaketh his

As 32

line of march by which Sennacherib entered Judea. Aiath is the feminine plural of Ai. But this is not Ai in the land of Benjamin near to Beth-el, but Ai of Jerem. xlix. 3, on the east side of the Jordan, at an equal distance from Rabbah, from Heshbon, and from the ford of the river. It is the Aim of the Hebrews, or Ije-abarim of Numb. xxi. 11, and xxxiii. 44, 45. that book the plural has a masculine form, not Aiath but Aim. The Assyrian army had marched from Damascus. Such was afterwards Nebuchadnezzer's line of march as described in Ezek. xxi. 19.

He is passed over to Migron.] Migron was at the eastern end of the land of Benjamin, and therefore close to the Jordan. See 1 Sam. xiv. 2. Had Sennacherib crossed at the most southerly ford he would have come to Gilgal. Migron may have been five miles to the north of Gilgal.

At Michmash he hath laid up his baggage.] This is about ten miles to the north of Jerusalem.

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They are passed through the passage.] This narrow passage between two rocks, where an army might easily be checked, is fully described in 1 Sam. xiv. 4. It was between Michmash on the north, and Gibeah of Benjamin on the south.

32 He will remain the day at Nob.] All the towns hitherto mentioned are in Benjamin, several miles to the north of Jerusalem. Nob is close to Gibeah of Judah or Gibeon, and a few miles to the west of Jerusalem. Here the Assyrians touch on the northern point of Judah, intending, it would seem, to pass down the fertile valley of Ajalon to the south-west through the land of the Philistines towards Egypt.

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