Section III Oracles Against Foreign Nations

Isaiah 13:1—23:18

A. CONCERNING BABYLON, 13:1—14:27

The title of the section contained in cc. 13—14 is given in v. 1. It is a burden, a prophecy of grievous import, clearly seen in a vision by Isaiah the son of Amoz, concerning the doom and desolation of Babylon. The Hebrew word translated burden suggests “an oracle of doom.” Babylon in Isaiah's day was the chief province of Assyria (see map 1). Sargon, the Assyrian, took for himself the title “vicar of the gods in Babylon.”

1.A Dialogue of Destiny (13:2-22)

a. The divine announcement (13:2-3). In this divine announcement we have the summons from “signal hill.” The foreign invaders were thought of as weapons of God's indignation. Thus when God commanded His sanctified ones, the reference is to the fierce tribes of the destroyer, appointed for a special task.

b. The prophet's description (13:4-10). The first scene is the tumult of the mustering multitudes (4-5), in which the Lord of hosts is calling an army to battle. The prophet announces, The day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty (6).¹ The call is therefore to wail and travail (6, 8). Hands will become feeble and hearts dismayed, while men stare at each other aghast, their faces … as flames, flushed with excitement (8). Desolation, destruction, and darkness (9-10) shall be characteristics of that day. There shall be desolation for the earth, and destruction of sinners from out of it (9). These will be accompanied by astronomical disturbances² such as make the stars fade, the sun fail at dawning, and cause the moon … not … to shine (10).

c. God speaks of retribution (13:11-12). The divine declaration is: “I will punish and put an end to sinners in their pride. Tyrants shall bite the dust, and mortals become more scarce than gold.”

d. The oracle continued (13:13-16). Isaiah's portrait of that day depicts a trembling heavens and a reeling earth (13). There will be a frantic flight of the foreigner from Babylon to safety in his own land (14). Like hunted animals or shepherdless sheep, foreigners will stampede homeward for safety; yet whoever is overtaken shall fall by the sword (15). Infants shall be dashed to pieces (16) in the sight of their parents; houses will be plundered and wives raped. In the midst of such a picture God speaks again.

e. The role of the Medes (13:17-18). It is the Medes (17) who shall destroy Babylon in Assyria. This terrible nation cannot be bribed with silver or gold. Their bows (18) and sharp arrows will slaughter the young men; they have no pity for the unborn child, nor do they spare children (18). The Medes were skilled archers, and they were destined to destroy both Nineveh and Babylon (cf. Intro, to Daniel, this volume).

f. Babylon's desolation (13:19-22). Babylon, the pride of all Chaldeans, will resemble Sodom and Gomorrah (19) in the day of her overthrow. It shall be uninhabited for generations, and not even the Arabian (20) Bedouins will camp there with their flocks.³ It will be the haunt of wild birds and howling beasts (21). Owls may be translated “ostriches”; satyrs means “shaggy beasts”—perhaps wild goats; dragons (22) is better “jackals.” Time's up, and Babylon's days are numbered.

2.Restoration for Israel (14:1-4a)

The restoration of Israel and Jacob to their homeland is related to the destruction of Babylon. As the Babylonian captivity was a rejection of Israel as God's peculiar people, so the restoration bespeaks God's choice of them once again. The prophecy in summary proclaims mercy on Jacob (1), election for Israel, with strangers (foreigners) for their neighbors and friends. Their former taskmasters shall be their servants and handmaids (2); their captors shall now be their captives. The sorrow, fear, and hard bondage (3) of captivity will be replaced by the singing of a song of triumph.

3.Song of the Tyrant's Downfall (14:4b-23)

The newer translations refer to this passage as “a taunt-song”—a derisive utterance in poetic and figurative speech.

a. The joy of release from terror (14:4b-8). This proverb of peace comprises the first of five stanzas in the song of Babylon's doom. The tyrant and his golden city (4) are no more. His staff of wickedness is broken and his sceptre (5) of authority that rained unceasing blows of unrelenting persecution upon the nations is quiet. The earth is at rest and her people are singing (7). The Assyrian kings made it a practice to cut down the forests wherever they conquered. Hence even the trees rejoice (8) in the fact that since the tyrant has fallen there is respite from the woodsman's ax. Fir trees would be the Aleppo pine.

b. The welcoming underworld (14:9-11). Hell (here the place of the dead) hastens to meet the once proud king of Babylon. Summoning the ghosts of the former chief ones of the earth, the underworld bids him welcome with its taunt-song: “So you are as weak as the rest of us, eh? (10) Your pomp descends to the grave to the sound of your funeral harps. A mattress of maggots is beneath you, a blanket of worms covers you, while giant spectres⁴ haunt you (11).” Death puts all on the same level, and the proud man is eaten of worms at the end of earth's glory.

c. The end of a false ambition (14:12-15). Since this stanza begins with an apostrophe to Lucifer,⁵ some have taken it as a description of the fall of Satan. Valid exegesis would hold that at best it is only typically satanic, for the subject of the taunt-song is still the king of Babylon. Summarized, it says:

Ah, how you have fallen,

You shining son of the dawn!

You who once laid all nations low

Are now cut down to the ground.

Recall your boasts!

You who would ascend above the stars,

And sit among the gods beyond the northwind,

Are now cut down to the abyss! (Lit.)

Then, as in some cases today, divine names were used for their kings by various nations, but they remained nonetheless human, and pitifully mortal. He who was most illustrious now stands as an object lesson of retribution. One short lifetime suffices to have seen kaisers defeated and dictators die in defeat and disgrace. This present century has witnessed an emperor of a proud nation renounce his deity over a nationwide radio hookup.

d. A king without a grave (14:16-20a). In this stanza the prophetic word declares: Kings have honorable burials but thou shalt be trodden underfoot as an abominable thing (19). Your final humiliation is at hand. The onlookers shall narrowly look upon thee (16; “stare at you,” RSV), pondering your fate. Is this the man who made kingdoms quake, turned the earth into a desert, laid its cities in heaps of rubble, and never released his prisoners (17)? Unlike other kings of the nations (18) who receive an honorable burial, Babylon's king shall lie unburied among the slain, a carcase trodden under feet (19), not joined with his ancestors in death (20a).

e. The broom sweeps clean (14:20b-23). This final stanza depicts the fate of the king's posterity. One's evil influence never confines itself to him alone. When a great tree is felled in the forest, it brings smaller ones crashing down with it. The wicked king had ruined, not only himself, but his land, his people, and his posterity. The last clause of 20 is more properly rendered as an imprecation: “May the descendants of evildoers not be mentioned forever” (Berk.). The prophet recognizes that the king's children (royal heirs) must die, lest they revolt and rebuild cities, thus seeking to repossess the earth (21). The Eternal's vow is to wipe out Babylon completely, leaving not even a son, and nephew (22; grandson). Swamps and bittern (23; waterfowl) will take over the territory, the Lord's besom (broom) of destruction having swept the city away.

4.The Oath of Assyria's Doom (14:24-27)

Here follows a second and shorter oracle against Assyria, of which Babylon was the chief province. The sworn purpose of the Lord of hosts (24) is the utter destruction of the Assyrian (25). Thus Isaiah offers fresh assurance to Israel concerning her present enemy. It will be in my land, and upon my mountains (the mountains of Palestine) that Assyria shall meet its doom. The burden of Assyrian oppressian will be lifted off the back of God's people. The Lord's outstretched hand will assure the outcome which none shall disannul (26-27).

B. CONCERNING PHILISTIA, 14:28-32

This oracle of warning came to Palestina (29, Philistia; the name Palestine comes from Philistine). It was dated in the year of the death of king Ahaz (28), and warns against false pride. Dates for this period of Old Testament chronology are difficult to determine, and for the death of Ahaz range from 727 to 716 B.C.⁶ The historical background is found in II Chron. 28:18-27.

1.Premature Exultation (14:28-30)

Isaiah reminds the Philistines that although their chastening rod, the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser, has been broken in death, their rejoicing and their invasion of Judah are both premature. The successors of that oppressor will be more destructive than he was. Out of the serpent's root (29) shall come one more poisonous. Sargon was worse than Tiglath-pileser, and Sennacherib was like the flying serpent of the desert in his attack. Philistia is told that Judah's firstborn of the poor (30), those who have inherited a double portion of poverty, will find food and refuge, but Philistia's root and remnant shall die of famine and the sword.

2.Terror Advances (14:31)

Shrieking lamentations befit the city and its gate (government). Away to the north are seen the smoke of burning towns⁷ and the smoke signals for a fresh rendezvous for another attack. None shall be alone, i.e., there shall be no stragglers among the enemy. The Philistine city of Ashdod would be the gateway to the nation as an invading army made its approach from the north along the coastal trunk road, down across the plain of Sharon toward the Gaza strip (see map 2).

3.The Only Sure Refuge (14:32)

Here Isaiah seems to be pondering his reply to an embassy from the Philistines enquiring about their fate. His answer is that even the poor of his people shall fare better than Philistia. The Lord has founded Zion and she stands firm under His protection. In her the afflicted shall find refuge.

C. CONCERNING MOAB, 15:1—16:14

This oracle of Moab's doom⁸ takes chiefly the form of an elegy.⁹ Due to the uncertainty of the text and the resulting variety of translations by the scholars,¹⁰ this is a confessedly difficult passage. Here the expositor finds little help from the exegetes. Isaiah may have worked over a former, and now anonymous, elegy which lamented a great calamity suffered by Moab from a northern invader prior to his day. Verse 13 of c. 16 would seem so to indicate. If this be the case, Isaiah sees the elegy as applicable to the fate which he himself prophesies will befall Moab just three years hence (16:14).

1.The Devastation of Moab (15:1-9)

a. Moab is undone (15:1-4). Because of the fall of her two chief cities¹¹ in a single night, Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence (1). Consequently Moab wails aloud (2-4) with heads shaved and beards clipped. Clothed with sackcloth, the people ascend to the sacred shrines¹² and to the tops of their houses for prayer. Even as folk meet in the intersections of their streets, they weep. Heshbon and Elealeh (4) were Moabite towns about two miles apart, between the Jabbok and the Arnon rivers, northeast of the Dead Sea.

b. The prophet mourns for Moab (15: 5-9). My heart shall cry out for Moab (5) is the prophet's way of saying that he too participates in this pain. The calamities which he must announce move him to sorrow and not to exultation.¹³ The flight of Moab's fugitives (5) and the fate of those who escape the destroyer (9) are no occasion for rejoicing on the prophet's part. From the waters of Nimrim (6; the Wady Shaib), near the modern city of Es Salt in the north, to Zoar (5), across the torrent Zered¹⁴ in the south, the fugitives beheld a once beautiful land turned to utter waste (cf. II Kings 3:19). An heifer of three years old (5) is probably the name of a town and should read “Eglath-shelishiyah” (RSV). Thus their cries rang through the length and breadth of Moab, reaching to Eglaim (twin pools, 8) and Beerelim (the well of the princes). Even the streams flow red with the blood (9) of the slain, while the destroyer pursues them like a lion after its prey.

2.Moab Seeks Sanctuary (16:1-7)

a. A plea and a peace offering to Zion (16:1-5). A tribute of lambs (1) seems ever to have been Moab's tax. It was so in the days of Ahab (II Kings 3:4), who collected a heavy tax from his tributary people. The Moabite chieftains having fled to Sela (Petra),¹⁵ deliberating in their distress, directed their appeal to Zion (1) for sanctuary for their fugitives. The prophetic advice is that submission to the house of David is Moab's real and only hope. Confusion at the fords of the river Arnon (2; see map 2) would result as the people, driven from their homes by the invader, sought to escape. The steep terrain and the narrow descents would create congestion along these escape routes. The picture is that of fluttering birds that scatter from a rifled nest. The plea is that the Moabite outcasts (3-4a) may find in Zion a refuge from the destroyer. In response to this act of mercy, God gives Judah a promise of merciful love (4b-5); the throne shall be established and it shall be characterized by the trustworthiness and justice of the Davidic dynasty.

b. But what about Moab's sincerity? (16:6-7) Moab has a reputation for haughtiness and … pride (6). Can her sincerity be depended upon now? Her pride and false boasts, colored by insolence and sham, demand a retribution of wailing and misery (7). Kir-hareseth or “Kirharesh” (11) is probably “Kir of Moab” (15:1), southeast of the Dead Sea.

3.The Stricken Condition of Moab (16:8-12)

a. Failure of the vine and harvest (16:8). Grapes and small grain were the chief crops of this part of the trans-Jordan highlands. Both would be destroyed.

b. The battle shout has replaced the shout of vintage (16: 9-10). No longer is heard the song of the vintage gatherers and the reapers, but the cry of the enemy as they trample on the fields and tear up the vines. For Heshbon, and Elealeh (9), see comment on 15:4.

c. The prophet mourns Moab's unavailing prayers (16:11-12). Moab's unavailing petitions at the high place of her Chemosh worship call forth the prophet's feelings of pity. Prayer to false gods is always futile.

4.A Past Oracle and Present Fulfillment (16:13-14)

The word of the Lord (13) was the judgment promised to Moab by Balaam (Num. 24:17) and Moses (Deut. 23:3-4). Moab's glory shall soon turn to mere mockery. Despite her present multitudes, her escapees shall be few and insignificant. Three years (14) are but a brief interval, but they seem long to one who hires himself to another. Or as the years of an hireling may be intended to indicate the definiteness of the prediction, as a hired hand is careful not to work beyond the time for which he is paid.

D. CONCERNING DAMASCUS AND EPHRAIM, 17:1-14

In this oracle Isaiah spells out the doom of the Syro-Ephraimitic alliance (see Intro.). He presents the inevitable issues of an alliance based on practical rejection of the true God and the adoption of foreign idolatries. The date is prior to the Assyrian conquest of Damascus, perhaps about 735 B.C.¹⁶

1.The Ruin of Damascus (17:1-3)

Damascus (1) has been destroyed more often than any other city, yet it boasts also of being the oldest continuously inhabited city of the world. It has never permanently ceased to be a city, though it has more than once become a heap of ruins. There were two cities of Aroer (2) east of the Jordan River, one in the land of Reuben, the other in Gad.¹⁷ The very name signifies “laid bare, or naked,” as ominous of utter ruin. And a town is in ruins when it becomes only a place for flocks (2). Ephraim (3) is due to lose her defenses, and Damascus her domain. The prophet paints their downfall under the symbol of the departing and transient glory of the children of Israel.

2.The Fate of Ephraim (17:4-6)

Isaiah conceives the fate of the Northern Kingdom under the symbol of an emaciated Jacob (4). He is sure that Israel is as ripe for judgment as when the harvestman gathereth the corn (5). The great Harvestman will leave only so many stalks of wheat as one can gather in his arm (5). It shall be as if one were gleaning stalks of wheat in the vale of Rephaim,¹⁸ where battles were often fought at harvesttime. Or like an olive tree from which the berries have been beaten off, with but a few stray ones left in the topmost and outmost … branches (6).¹⁹ Only a small remnant would be left of this Northern Kingdom.

3.The Futility of Fabricated Gods (17:7-8)

In that hour of calamity, those few who have been transformed by the bitter disappointments of a futile idolatry will recognize their Maker as the true Source of their strength (7). No longer will a man look to … the work of his hands, neither … that which his fingers have made (8). The groves and images for the practice of idolatry seem fitting only to the soul that has lost its God and must have some visible substitute in the form of an idol.

4.The Fruit of Apostasy (17:9-11)

Israel's strong (fortified) cities shall be like a forsaken tract of forest, deserted now again as they once were by the Canaanites at the time of the invasion of Palestine by the children of Israel (9). The nation's abandonment of the God of … salvation (10) in offering homage to strange slips (foreign cults) upon her soil, with their pleasant and hedged-in “hothouse” plantings,²⁰ guarantees a sad harvest. Sin at first looks promising; however its ultimate outcome will not be one of good fortune but of grief and … desperate sorrow (10-11). Having transplanted heathen gods into their worship, they must reap the Lord's abandonment of the nation to its enemies.²¹

5.The Finale for Assyria (17:12-14)

In this stanza Isaiah pictures the sounds of the mixed multitudes in the Assyrian army as the noise of the seas (12). But God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee … as the chaff of the mountains before the wind (13),²² and like “whirling dust before the storm” (13, RSV).²³ Thus overnight the situation will change completely with the Assyrian hordes vanquished between eveningtide and morning (14). Isaiah often adds the reason after describing the event. This, then, is the portion (14) of Judah's plunderers and the lot of those who pillage her wealth. God supplies the terminal point beyond which the instrument of His judgment cannot go. The evening may see him spreading trouble and consternation, but for him the morning dawns desolate and serene.

E. CONCERNING ETHIOPIA, 18:1-7

This address seems to have been the prophet's response at the arrival in Jerusalem of ambassadors from Ethiopia to confer with Judah on the Assyrian menace. His people have been cast into excitement because of the news of the Assyrian advance, but Isaiah reminds them that the Lord is quietly watching and biding His time until the Assyrian is ripe for destruction. At that time God will act with His pruning knife of destiny. When the Ethiopians see His sudden miracle they will send tribute to the Lord at Mount Zion. It is difficult to know to which southward march of Assyria to ascribe this prophecy—Sargon's or Sennacherib's—for at the time of both of these an Ethiopian ruled Egypt.

1.The Apostrophe to Ethiopia (18:1-2)

The exclamation, Woe (1), is used here as an expression of compassion rather than anger; it may also be translated “ah,” or “alas.” The mighty Ethiopian is terrified by the approaching and perhaps mightier Assyrian. The designation land shadowing with wings has been a troubler for the translators. The Septuagint reads “land of winged boats”; and George Adam Smith, “land of many sails.”²⁴ The river craft of Egypt and Ethiopia use sails as well as oars, and a sailboat ride on the Nile is one of the delights of the modern tourist who visits Egypt. The rivers of Ethiopia are the Blue and the White Nile,²⁵ with their tributaries dividing the land. The Hebrew term is Cush, which would include the modern Arab state of Sudan as well as modern Ethiopia. When Isaiah speaks of ambassadors by the sea (2), it should be kept in mind that the natives refer to the upper Nile as a “sea” because of its great width. Vessels of bulrushes is better translated “vessels of papyrus” (ASV, RSV). These would be light, paper-covered²⁶ skiffs. Go, ye, may very well mean, “Return ye,” as Isaiah bids the Ethiopian envoys depart. Judah cannot accept the alliance they have come to proffer. A nation scattered and peeled means “very tall and bronzed.” Herodotus described the Ethiopians as “the tallest and most handsome of all men.” Isaiah seems to have been impressed with the stately comeliness of these bronzed warriors.²⁷

A nation meted out and trodden down in the Hebrew is “line, Une, and treading down.” Probably the reference is to the warriors of Ethiopia, marching line upon line and stamping to the beat of drums as they moved in unison step by step.²⁸ Whose land the rivers have spoiled is better translated “whose land the rivers divide” (RSV).

2.A Message for Ethiopia (18:3-6)

Since the brunt of the Assyrian attack must fall upon Jerusalem, all the inhabitants of the world may watch for the alarm signal of the battle there. Isaiah says: All ye … see ye … hear ye (3). Two signals, an ensign (banner) and a trumpet blast, will indicate the decisive moment.

Next Isaiah paints in vivid poetry the calmness and deliberation of the divine judgments. The Lord awaits the issue with quiet strength, watching all the while from the heavenly seat of His glorious presence, like dazzling heat in sunshine, and silent dew of the nighttime (4). Serene as a summer cloud, He bides His time, not in negligence, but with well-ordered resolution. Then at the critical moment ere the harvest (5) has arrived, when the blossom is over and the flower turns to ripening grape, there comes the knife of destiny. The pruning hooks sever the tendrils, and the anticipated vintage never occurs. The fowls of the summer and the beasts of winter shall forage upon the unripened grapes (6).

This is the prophet's way of saying that man proposes, but God disposes. The Assyrians fell in ruin at the height of their power, and the birds of carrion and the beasts of prey fed upon the dead bodies of their stricken warriors (cf. 37:36).

3.Ethiopia's Tribute (18:7)

Here Isaiah sees the Ethiopians offering themselves to the eternal God as a freewill offering by reason of the profound impression made upon them by the mighty acts of divine providence. From these who are tall, tan, and terrible shall come gifts to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts (see comments on v. 2).

F. CONCERNING EGYPT, 19:1—20:6

Isaiah was a statesman with an international outlook based on a knowledge of the ways of God. Here is his diagnosis of the causes of national ruin and his delineation of remedy. In 19:1-17 we see a nation descending step by step from judgment to judgment; in vv. 18-25 we see it ascending step by step from salvation to salvation. In c. 20, Isaiah reminds us that those who are doomed for captivity cannot really save others from it. His acted parable warns against the futility of a pro-Egyptian policy for Judah.

1.Confounding the Overconfident (19:1-17)

a. When morale is lost (19:1-4). The beginning of the divine visitation upon this self-sufficient nation is the advent of the Lord riding upon a swift cloud (1) to institute judgment. Ezekiel also had a vision of this cloud-chariot as God came to deal with men (Ezek. 1:4). At His appearance Isaiah notes that Egypt's idols (false gods) will tremble, and the heart of Egypt shall melt as courage vanishes. Passing by all secondary causes, the prophet hears God saying, I will set … every one against his brother (2). There is no real unity for a nation that has many gods. Civil strife was rampant in Egypt just prior to 712B.C. There was no strong central government and the land was filled with internal discord. Lacking a united purpose back of a strong national program, counsel (3) was destroyed and the nation became witless and perplexed. “Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.” When statesmanship fails, magical arts make a poor substitute. But Egypt had (and has) a reputation for these (Exod. 7:22; 8:7). Idols … charmers²⁹ … familiar spirits, and … wizards make poor counselors in any day of national crisis. Such a time is ripe for dictators, for one of God's judgments upon anarchy is a cruel lord; and a fierce king (4)—a despot. Those who will not have responsible government open the door to irresponsible demagoguery.

b. When natural resources fail (19:5-10). Were it not for the waters of the Nile, Egypt would be but a part of the desert. The Nile is the only conqueror of the Sahara. It is the sole source of life and the chief artery of movement for the people of the lands it traverses.

The sea (5) is a native expression for this wide and significant river at flood stage (usually August through October). The river specifies its main stream. The rivers (6) would refer to the many irrigation canals leading from the Nile, or perhaps to the arms of the Nile at its delta. The brooks would likewise indicate smaller water-courses. For brooks of defence, see II Kings 19:24. Were the Nile to fail, every thing sown would wither (7), and the fishers would mourn (8). Verse 7 may be read, “There will be bare places by the Nile” (RSV). Since much flax is grown in Egypt for the production of linen, they that work in fine flax would be confounded (9). They that weave networks refers to the production of the cotton fabrics for which Egypt is noted. A better translation for v. 10 is: “And the pillars of Egypt shall be broken in pieces; all they that work for hire shall be grieved in soul” (ASV). Employers will become bankrupt, and therefore all who work for hire will be dismayed because unemployed. The leading classes, or pillars of an economy (entrepreneurs), are the main stays of the state along with its working classes. When management “goes under,” labor goes unemployed.

c. When wisdom fails (19:11-15). Zoan (11) is Tanis (the modern San el Hagar) on the northeast corner of the Nile delta. Hence it was one of the nearest of the great cities of Egypt in relation to Judah. It was a residence of the Egyptian kings as early as Rameses II (13th century B.C.) and was probably the residence of the Ethiopian dynasty of Egyptian kings. Whenever wise counsellors … become brutish they make the silliest plans. Any one of Pharaoh's advisers would claim to be the son of the wise and ancient kings. But to all these counsellors Isaiah poses the question: Being devoid of wisdom, how can you lay claim to it by right of family descent? Professions were hereditary among the Egyptians, but heredity is no guarantee of either brains or efficiency. Hence Isaiah's challenge: Let them tell thee now … what the Lord has planned for Egypt (12; cf. I Cor. 1:20).

Noph (13) was the ancient site of Memphis, capital of Lower Egypt, ten miles southeast of Cairo. Her princes had joined those of Zoan and had seduced Egypt, when they should have been her stay. A perverse spirit (14) has caused more than Egypt to err. Perverted minds and warped judgments conceive only distortion. Little wonder that they caused Egypt to stagger as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. With no ability to walk straight and think straight, neither high nor low will accomplish anything for Egypt (15). A modern example would be any nation that thinks it can drink, fight, or spend itself into security.

d. When weakness prevails (19:16-17). Isaiah's phrase like unto women (16) bespeaks a situation of terror and weakness (cf. Jer. 48:41). The judgmental hand of the Lord of hosts swings repeatedly over Egypt with smiting blows. If the God of Judah proposes to punish Egypt, the mere mention of Judah is a terror (17) to those who are aware of the divine decree. Yet “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” and repentance. Here, then, is the logical transition point to Egypt's conversion.³⁰

2.Colonization for Conversion (19:18-25)

a. A spiritual beachhead (19:18). Five cities with a common language, a common Lord, and a capital of righteousness could do much to redeem a country. But has a program of benevolent infiltration really been tried on a national scale? It would require an abundance of lay missionaries of all walks of life. Isaiah seems to have felt that nations as well as individuals could be missionaries. The Hebrew prophets were sure that Judah's mission among the nations was one of spiritual leadership rather than imperial conquest.³¹ Speaking the language of Canaan indicates the use of the Hebrew of Judah either as their native tongue or at least as their sacred language of worship. Swearing to the Lord of hosts would be an acknowledgment of God. That one of these should be called, The city of destruction³² hardly makes sense. The Septuagint reads: “City of Righteousness.” This would seem to be a better name for the capital of a league of five redemptive cities.

b. Alternatives to desolation (19:19-22). These alternatives Isaiah lists as: (a) An altar … in the midst … and a pillar (witness) at the border (19). An altar for the worship of the true God and an obelisk³³ inscribed in His honor would constitute a witness … in the land of Egypt (20). (b) A calling upon God for a Saviour to deliver (20b), for they shall cry unto the Lord … and he shall deliver them. This looks forward to a conversion of Egypt to the worship of the true God.³⁴ If a nation in desperate plight begins to recognize the hand of God in its calamity, it is in position to repent and find mercy, (c) A knowledge of the Lord and a proof of conversion (21). The eternal God will now make himself known. Animal and vegetable offerings become acceptable when vows made to God are kept. (d) Chastisement from the Lord with its ministry of healing (22). He shall smite and heal; for when God smites, it is in order that He may heal (cf. Hos. 6:1).

c. A neighborhood of nations (19:23-25). For Isaiah this neighborhood will include (a) highways for communication and commerce (23), and (b) alliances for mutual blessings and benefits (24-25). This highway connecting two ancient enemies and running through Palestine would still be an ideal thing in the Near East. Here the prophet sees Israel as the third member of this Messianic league functioning as a blessing in the midst (24). Each of them bears one of the endearing titles from the Lord—Egypt my people … Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel in preeminence as His inheritance (25).³⁵

3.The Sign of Coming Captivity (20:1-6)

Here the prophet challenges the pro-Egyptian party in Jerusalem with the question: How shall we escape (6) if the enemy captures our refuge? He is quite certain that Egypt and Ethiopia shall suffer Ashdod's fate at the hands of Assyria. This historical note brings to a conclusion Isaiah's warning message to Egypt and Ethiopia.

a. Tartan takes Ashdod (20:1). This occurred in 711 B.C. Sargon was one of the greatest of the Assyrian monarchs. The title Tartan is Assyrian for “Generalissimo.” Ashdod was the gate-city of Philistia. Azuri, king of Ashdod, refused to pay tribute and revolted. Sargon deposed him and placed his brother Akhismit on the throne. The people in turn revolted against Akhismit and chose Yaman as their king. Sargon then marched against the city, took it, and carried off its gods and treasures as booty. In the light of this event, Judah pondered an alliance with Egypt for the sake of safety. Isaiah opposed the pro-Egyptian policy.

b. God's command to Isaiah (20:2). The command, Loose the sackcloth … put off thy shoe, called for the removal of the burlap outer garment of the prophetic order (II Kings 1:8) and the removal of his sandals.

c. A sign and a symbol (20:3-4). Walking about the streets of Jerusalem naked and barefoot, clad only in the long linen tunic worn next to the skin, for three years, Isaiah became a prophecy in action. This acted parable, behaving as if he were already a captive, would speak a silent but solemn message to the people of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 21:11). It would warn them against an Egyptian-Ethiopian alliance.

d. Shame and dismay (20:5). Here is a picture of the treatment of prisoners on their march to captivity. Expectation, and … glory turn now to fear and shame. Of what value is an alliance with Egypt if this is to be her fate? Not Sargon, or Sennacherib, but Esarhaddon fulfilled this prophecy.

e. The cry of the coastlands (20:6). This isle is better translated “coast-land.” The term would include Philistia, Phoenicia, and Tyre. The whole seaboard would find no ability to resist the conqueror even with the help of Ethiopia and Egypt.

Isaiah thus preached by his actions that it is best to trust the Lord for deliverance. Captives cannot save one from captivity. Hence an alliance with Egypt is of no value to Judah.

G. CONCERNING “THE WILDERNESS OF THE SEA,” 21:1-10

This oracle on the doom of Babylon is best related to the Assyrian reconquest of Babylon following the revolt of Merodachbaladan in 710 B.C.³⁶ That patriot had sought indefatigably to free his native city from its condition of unwilling subjection to Assyria. As many as twelve years earlier he had sent ambassadors seeking to encourage other nations to join him in revolt. Isaiah was convinced that Babylon, like Egypt, was certain to go down before the Assyrian. If the pro-Egyptian party in Jerusalem thought of joining with Egypt and thus aiding Babylon, the prophet assures them it is of no use. As surely as Sargon's cavalcades marched against Babylon, so surely the report would come back, Babylon is fallen (9).

1.The Terrifying Vision (21:1-5)

In the cuneiform inscriptions, south Babylonia was called “land of the sea.” Xenophon describes the whole plain of the Euphrates, which is intersected by marshes and lakes, as looking like a sea. The words of this oracle seemed to have come to the prophet like whirlwinds in the Negeb (desert southland). Desert lands are tempestuous with their updrafts and twisters, as pilots of low-flying small aircraft across desert areas can well testify. But like a sirocco off the desert from a terrible land (1), a grievous vision is declared unto the prophet (2). Moffatt calls it “a grim revelation.” The treacherous man still deals in treachery, and the spoiler still seeks his spoils. Assyria practiced sudden warfare, falling upon his foes before they were ready for battle. At his words the nations move—Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media.

The agitation of the prophet is graphically set forth as like convulsive pains of childbirth. Writhing with mental anguish, he is stunned at what he hears and dismayed (3) at what he sees. Where the modern person would have said, “My mind reels,” the Hebrew says, My heart panted (4). The twilight, which is a delightful time on the desert, is no longer a time of peace but one of panic. In his vision the prophet sees the banqueting Babylonians with the table spread. They eat and drink (5) when they ought to be watching and preparing to do battle. In the very midst of their reveling comes the summons: Arise, ye princes, and grease your shields!³⁷ The banqueting breaks up in confusion, for the foe is at the very gates.

2.The Prophet as a Watchman (21:6-9)

At this moment God speaks to His messenger to make his own soul a watchman (6) and report whatever he sees. He discerned a riding company of horsemen in pairs, followed by troops of asses and camels (8).³⁸ Sharpening his ears to their keenest intensity, he hearkened diligently.³⁹

The phrase, he cried, A lion (8), has given the translators trouble. Phillips thinks of it as an admonition to “watch closely as a lion watches his prey.” Plumptre takes it to indicate a cry, like a lion, of eager impatience during the daytime and the whole nights of waiting and watching for the prophetic insight that shall enable him to declare the outcome. At last the vision became vocal and he again saw a cavalcade of horsemen riding two by two, and heard the sounds of a captured city. Thus he was able to announce, Babylon is fallen … and all … her gods he hath broken (9).⁴⁰ The idolatrous system was unable to save its devotees.

3.Apostrophe to the Afflicted (21:10)

Isaiah now turns toward his own people and speaking for the Lord he cries: O my threshing, and the corn of my floor. There is deep pathos in this simile of suffering. The expression “son of a threshing floor” is idiomatic for an afflicted people. Isaiah would have preferred to speak otherwise but everything—even Babylon—must go down before the Assyrian. As surely as Sargon's battalions went against her, so surely must the announcement come, “Babylon is fallen.”⁴¹ Judah cannot yet expect respite from the Assyrian menace for which she so constantly longs. The prophet concludes, That which I have heard … have I declared.

H. CONCERNING DUMAH (EDOM),42 21:11-12

The prophet hears someone calling repeatedly to him out of Mount Seir in the land of the Edomites: “Guardian,⁴³ is the night almost over?” And the night patrolman answers: “When the morning comes, it will still be night. If you wish to enquire further, come back later and ask.” The word Dumah means “silence.” But the Septuagint translator, knowing that Seir was located in the land of Edom, used the Greek term for Idumea. Isaiah was probably punning in this reference to Edom. At Petra, capital of Edom, was her rose-red fortress and necropolis.⁴⁴ The tombs and treasury were securely carved into the red sandstone. One wonders if Isaiah thought of Edom as “the silent city of the dead” from which a voice broke through the dark night of Assyrian oppression asking, “How much longer?” The answer to Mount Seir from Mount Zion is, “A change is coming, but whether it brings any permanent relief is debatable.”

Edom had offended Sargon by joining with Ashdod of the Philistines, and now felt that her night of oppression by that tyrant was long. Isaiah answers, “Even if morning dawns, another night soon follows.” And history validates the prophecy. The Assyrian conqueror was followed by the Chaldean, the Greek, and the Roman. Isaiah was not a provincial preacher; he was a statesman with an international reputation and an international outlook. He saw history in the hands of the Eternal One. Only one who thus acknowledges God acting within the arena of history has any real hope for eternal dawn.

I. CONCERNING ARABIA, 21:13-17

Shifting his vision a bit farther south and east, the prophet discerns what is in store for Arabia (see map 1). In Isaiah's lifetime north Arabia felt the weight of the Assyrian oppression and paid tribute. Two facts stand out in the prophet's mind, the peril and flight of the commercial caravans and the conquest of Kedar by the Assyrian.

1.Calamity for the Caravans (21:13-15)

Some commentators think that Isaiah is punning here again and change the second Arabia to ' Ereb, which would then mean “of the evening.” They believe the prophet was warning the Dedanites that they must spend the night in some thicket. White-house, however, makes a good case that the term should be translated “steppe” and calls attention to the fact that this part of Arabia is steppe-land.⁴⁵ The travelling companies of Dedanim (13) indicates caravans. These Dedanites were, for the most part, traveling merchants between the Persian Gulf and Palestine. Due to the Assyrian peril they were forced to leave their regular caravan routes with their oases, and flee for shelter to thickets or rocky outcroppings in the land south of Edom.⁴⁶ Thither the prophet exhorts the inhabitants … of Tema⁴⁷ to bring water to him that is thirsty and bread for him that fled (14),⁴⁸ from those who pursued him with drawn sword and bent bow (15).

2.Cessation of Kedar's Glory (21:16-17)

Again Isaiah risks his reputation as a prophet by setting a time within which the nomadic tribes of north Arabia will be utterly put to rout. Where KJV reads within a year (16) the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah reads “within three years” (cf. 16:14); but in either case it becomes a test as to his forecast of the future. By the authority of the eternal God of Israel he declares that the remaining number of Kedar's⁴⁹ mighty archers shall be greatly diminished (17). The years of an hireling (16); cf. 16:14, comment.

As long as his mighty men, armed with their death-dealing bows, could ravage and plunder others at pleasure, “the grievousness of war” was not felt. They sang and shouted from the tops of their mounts (cf. 42:11). But Isaiah prophesied the day when Kedar itself would be attacked and plundered. “The drawn sword” and “the bent bow” in the hand of the Assyrian would be turned upon them. They would realize that history often decrees that one shall reap what he has sowed.

J. A SOLEMN UTTERANCE FROM THE VALLEY OF VISION, 22:1-25

Instead of valley of vision (1) the Septuagint reads “the valley of Zion.” But even this does not help us know which of the valleys next to Mount Zion is meant. Jerusalem's surrounding valleys are the Kidron, the Tyropoean, and Hinnom. Was Isaiah's home in one of these valleys, and is that the reason this oracle has such a name? Both the Tyropoean and the Hinnom valleys have been suggested.

The best vision of Mount Zion is from Hinnom, south of the city; hence Moffatt favors Hinnom and so translates. The greater contrast of depth and the valley with a water supply however is the Tyropoean. It seems more likely that this was the home of the prophet. There he received his revelations and visions. Interpreters have differed as to whether this oracle is a prophecy of the future or a portrayal of a situation contemporaneous with the prophet. The latter seems more probable in this context.

1.Presumptuous Security (22:1-14)

a. The city and the prophet (22:1-4). Here we have in bold contrast a lighthearted people giving themselves over to revelry and a sorrowing prophet who sees how inappropriate such exultation is in the light of the present peril. The people are thrilled over what the prophet knows is but a temporary alleviation of peril rather than a permanent relief. On the other hand, there seem to have been some among them who felt the present insecurity and were determined to drown their apprehensions with wine and feasting.

The time for this oracle must have been 701B.C. when Sennacherib temporarily raised the siege of Jerusalem (II Kings 18: 13-16). Sennacherib defeated the Egyptians at Eltekeh, then returned to complete the siege of Ekron. Instead of ascending to Jerusalem himself, he sent a detachment eastward up the mountain passes to overrun Judah and threaten the capital. He himself advanced southward in hot pursuit of the fleeing Egyptians. This decision on Sennacherib's part may well have been the occasion for celebrations in Jerusalem (cf. Intro.). Isaiah could not believe the present respite to be a time for rejoicing when he knew with how heavy a tribute Hezekiah had purchased it, and how soon the Assyrian Rabshakeh (chief of the officers) would be at the gates demanding unconditional surrender.

House tops (1) would be used not only for observation of the departing enemy, but for festival celebrations. Isaiah is sure that the slain men (2) will not have died in valor against the sword but under bad politics. The rulers (3) will flee en masse, and be captured before the archers can even draw a bow. It is in such a fiasco of cowardice that the prophet refuses any comfort as he weeps bitterly over the spoiling of the daughter of my people (4).

b. A day of tumult (22:5-8a). Here the prophet foresees a day (5)—the coming siege of the city. It would be under two important contingents of the Assyrian army, Elam and Kir (6). Elam, the empire east of Babylonia, was in league with the Assyrians. Kir in this context cannot now be located with certainty. The assault would be made with the shield unsheathed, their chariots racing, and their bows drawn to shoot. They would set themselves in array (7) at the very gates of the city, “and the defences of Judah are laid bare” (8a; Smith-Goodspeed).

c. A false reckoning of defenses (22:8b-11). The house of the forest (8b) was the largest of Solomon's buildings, made with columns of cedar brought from Lebanon and serving as the armory. Hezekiah had repaired the walls of the city (II Chron. 32:5), and had dug his famous tunnel⁵⁰ for collecting the waters of the lowel pool (Siloam; 9). Certain of the houses of Jerusalem (10) built of native stone were torn down to fortify the wall, and a ditch (reservoir) for the water (11) was dug between the two walls. But no account was taken of the Lord, who had situated their city over such a water supply and fashioned it long ago. Isaiah knew that material defenses avail but little if one disregards the divine Source of true security.

d. National danger calls for national repentance (22:12-14). “When God calls for a fast, you stage a feast,” says the prophet. “Shaved heads, burlap robes, tearful eyes, and mournful groans become a nation on the brink of disaster” (12). But some who heard the prophet's warning flippantly remarked, Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die (13). There is a point where impenitent presumption passes the bounds of divine forgiveness: Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die (14). “For such a state of mind Isaiah will hold out no promise; it is the sin against the Holy Ghost, and for it there is no forgiveness.”⁵¹

2.Perversions of Stewardship (22:15-25)

a. A presumptuous prime minister (22:15-19). This is Isaiah's only personal invective against an individual. Shebna (15) was probably a foreigner in the service of the king as steward of the king's palace. At the defeat of the Egyptians by Sennacherib the pro-Egyptian party (which held the reigns of government under Hezekiah in Jerusalem) lost face, and the influence of the king's adviser, Shebna, was broken. Shebna was an officious administrator. In his desire for status he had a tomb hewed out for himself (16) among those of the kings and princes of Judah, though he was neither a citizen nor a venerable patriarch. The Lord (17), who covered him with excellent garments and clothed him gorgeously, was about to roll him up in a bundle of captivity and toss him into a foreign land to die there. Thither, too, should go his chariots of … glory (18) which have brought shame and contempt to his lord's house. Not content to ride on a mule or horse as an ordinary official (Judg. 5:10; 10:4; 12:14; II Sam. 17: 23), he must have stately chariots whenever he appeared in public. The verdict of the Lord is, I will drive thee from thy station (19).

b. The elevation and downfall of Eliakim (22:20-25). Politics had reached such a low state that a change of ministry was the only wise thing for the city. Eliakim means “God will establish,” and God refers to him as my servant (20). To him were to be transferred the robe and girdle of Shebna, and he would become a father (benefactor) to the inhabitants of Jerusalem (21). The key of the house of David became his symbol of authority (22). He was like a peg in a sure place (23), and would have a position of honor among his kindred. But though he brought honor and respect to his father's house, the filling of important offices with vessels of small quantity (24; worthless and incompetent relatives) ruined him. How much weight can one peg carry? “The fate of the overburdened nail is as grievous as that of the rolling stone.”⁵² Let the modern man of state (or church) beware of nepotism.

In the case of the presumptuous city we have (1) The tragedy of the unaware, 1-14; in Shebna's case, (2) The tragedy of the unashamed, 15-19; and in the case of Eliakim's relatives, (3) The tragedy of the undeserving, 24-25.

When one considers the tumultuous and sensual city, the correctness of Moffatt's title for this oracle as “the vision of the valley of Hinnom” (Gehenna) seems apparent. Gehenna symbolizes the destiny of all such base and presumptuous epicureanism, whether in ancient or modern times.

K. CONCERNING TYRE, 23:1-18

This chapter has two main sections. Verses 1-14 speak of the fall of Tyre, while vv. 15-18 speak of the city's eventual restoration. Basically there are four strophes dealing with Tyre's calamity (1-5), Tyre's humiliation (6-9), Tyre's empire in disintegration (10-14), and Tyre's renewal and sanctification (15-18).

The oracle is best dated in the days of Sargon (710B.C.), or Sennacherib (702B.C.),⁵³ even though its more complete fulfillment came in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great (332 B.C.), or even the later conquest of Tyre by the Moslems in the thirteenth centuryA.D.⁵⁴

1.The Fall of the Mart of Nations (23:1-5)

In Isaiah's day “Tyre … was the pioneer of commerce, the parent of colonies, the mistress of the Sea.”⁵⁵ Strategically located, it was 20 miles south of Sidon (see map 2) and 23 miles up the coast from Acre (the plain of Asher). In the days of Isaiah it consisted of two parts, a rocky coast of great strength on the mainland, and a small, well-fortified city upon a rocky offshore island less than a half-mile out to sea. King Hiram had built a breakwater for it 820 yards long and 9 yards thick, making it one of the best harbors in the Mediterranean. According to Josephus, the city had been founded about 240 years before the time of Israel's King Solomon.⁵⁶

The famous ships of Tarshish (1) were Phoenician vessels sailing the Mediterranean as far west as the colony of Tartessus (Spain). The prophet calls upon them to wail because of the news they have received, as they docked at Chittim (Cyprus) on their eastward voyage. The house (harbor) to which they were sailing is laid waste.

Due to the twofold meaning of the Hebrew, ye inhabitants of the isle (2) may refer to those situated on the small island of Tyre or to the “inhabitants of the coast” (RSV). The merchants of Zidon were traders from the mother city, whose commerce filled not only Tyre but other daughter cities. They sailed upon great waters (3; “many an ocean,” Moffatt). Sihor means “the dark river,” hence the Nile. Its seed and harvest shippings produced a fine revenue for this “merchant of the nations” (RSV).⁵⁷

But now Zidon (4) is called upon to lament in shame as a barren woman, since she has been bereft of her colonies and Tyre—the “stronghold of the sea.” Surely when news of this is heard in Egypt, anguish will prevail at the report of Tyre (5); not because the Egyptians bore any great affection for foreigners, but because the fall of Tyre would portend evil for themselves. Any power great enough to capture Tyre would be expected soon to attempt the conquest of the Nile valley. A secondary reason would be the lack of shipping and sale for Egyptian goods.

2.The Failure of Human Glory (23:6-9)

Isaiah exhorts the inhabitants of the Phoenician coastlands to flee as far away as Tarshish, the extreme colony of their commerce, to seek safety (6). When Alexander the Great laid siege to the city of Tyre in 332 B.C. its old men, women, and children were sent to its colony at Carthage. The prophet next raises the chiding question: “Is this heap of ruins your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days?” (7) And though it was not as ancient as Sidon, yet it was very old. Herodotus says in 450 B.C. that its temple of Melkart (Hercules) had been built 2,300 years previously.⁵⁸ Now her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn in a distant land. Referring to the far-ranging voyages of Tyre's merchantmen and colonists, The Berkeley Version translates this clause, “whose feet carried her to settle far away.”

Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre (8), the city that dispensed crowns to the rulers of her colonies, and whose traders⁵⁹ were the honourable men and princes … of the earth? It is God's edict, for the Lord of hosts hath purposed it (9). His program is to desecrate the temples in which the heathen take so much pride, and to bring into contempt all that earth so vainly honors.

3.The Falling Apart of an Empire (23:10-14)

The colonists of Tarshish are now called upon to exert their full independence of Tyre, since “there is no restraint any more” (10, ASV). Cyprus did revolt about this time, and the Phoenician colonies took part in attacking the mother city under Sennacherib, according to Josephus.⁶⁰ God has stretched out his hand over the sea (11) and hath shaken the kingdoms, even the great maritime power and all the cities of her coast and commerce. And the Eternal said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed⁶¹ … daughter of Zidon (12). Even though you flee to Chittim (Cyprus), the usual refuge of Phoenician kings, you will not be safe there. In the days of Esarhaddon, when the king of Sidon fled to Cyprus, the Assyrian monarch pursued him there and cut off his head.

Isaiah next cites the example of the land of the Chaldeans … the Assyrian … brought it to ruin (13). Sargon conquered Babylon in 710 B.C., making himself its king, but in 705B.C. it rebelled and regained its independence. In 704 B.C, Sennacherib reconquered it, and again in 700 B.C. when his eldest son was made viceroy. Isaiah seems to be saying that, if the Assyrians have their way, Tyre, like Babylon, will be only a ruins and an uninhabited waste. The towers are siege-towers erected by the Assyrian against Babylon; the palaces were not raised but razed (torn down and demolished) by them as they reduced the city to ruins.⁶²

This strophe climaxes with the chiding exhortation, “Cry aloud with pain,” ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste (14); i.e., your stronghold has been wrecked, your haven is destroyed.

4.A Future of Sacred Stewardship (23:15-18)

Seventy years (15) is a symbolic number just as is the number forty. It indicates here an indefinite time span, a conventional period of disaster. According to the days of one king would mean without any alteration of policy or hoped-for change. At the end of her time of being forgotten of God, Tyre shall sing as an harlot. “Tyre will fare as the prostitute in the song” (Berk.). Isaiah had been using this symbol for the commercial city and its international trade. He therefore sees the city after its divine visitation once more welcoming foreigners of all nations as her lovers for the sake of commercial gain. But now as a revived center of commerce her trade is transformed in the sanctified stewardship which is rendered. Take an harp … thou harlot (16) is reminiscent of the fact that ancient harlots were usually at least amateur musicians, and the harp was the usual instrument.

The promise now is, The Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire (17). By the mercy of God, Tyre will again become a center of commerce and deal once more with all the world's kingdoms.⁶³ But her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord (18); i.e., the proceeds of her trade shall be dedicated to the Lord. “There is nothing intrinsically wrong or debasing in commerce. Rightly pursued, and engaged in with the view of devoting the profits made in it to good and pious ends, the commercial life may be as religious and as acceptable to God as any other. The world has known many merchants who were Christians, in the highest sense of the word. … Applied to religious uses … such an employment of the gains made sanctifies commerce, and makes it a good and blessed thing.”⁶⁴