When F14 Or, "for the Lord shall wash away"; so Noldius, in Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 88. No. 428. which gives a reason why he "that is left in Zion, &c; shall be called holy"; because "the Lord", &c.; so the Septuagint version, οτι εκπλυνει ; and Aben Ezra observes, that אם , "if", is used for כי , "because." read more
And the Lord will create on every dwelling place of Mount Zion ,.... That is, on every particular church of Christ in Gospel times, and especially in the latter day; which are the dwelling places of Father, Son, and Spirit, and of believers in Christ. The word F15 מכון a כון "paravit, disposuit". used signifies a place well fitted up, and prepared, and established, and settled; and such will be the churches of Christ in the latter day glory; they will be fitly framed together and... read more
And there shall be a tabernacle ,.... Christ, who tabernacled in our nature, and is the minister of the true tabernacle, which God pitched, and not man; who will be spiritually present in the word and ordinances, where the shepherds pitch their tents; and who will be that to his people as shepherds' tents are to them, to which the allusion is: for a shadow in the day time from the heat : from the heat of a fiery law, which works wrath; from the flaming sword of justice, which calls for... read more
The spirit of burning - Means the fire of God's wrath, by which he will prove and purify his people; gathering them into his furnace, in order to separate the dross from the silver, the bad from the good. The severity of God's judgments, the fiery trial of his servants, Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 22:18-22 ;) has set forth at large, after his manner, with great boldness of imagery and force of expression. God threatens to gather them into the midst of Jerusalem, as into the furnace; to blow the fire... read more
And the Lord will create - One MS., the Septuagint, and the Arabic, have יביא yabi , He shall bring: the cloud already exists; the Lord will bring it over. This is a blessed promise of the presence of God in all the assemblies of his people. Every dwelling place "the station" - The Hebrew text has, every station: but four MSS. (one ancient) omit כל col , all; very rightly, as it should seem: for the station was Mount Zion itself, and no other. See Exodus 15:17 . And the... read more
A tabernacle - In countries subject to violent tempests, as well as to intolerable heat, a portable tent is a necessary part of a traveller's baggage, for defense and shelter. And to such tents the words of the text make evident allusion. They are to be met with in every part of Arabia and Egypt, and in various other places in the East. read more
Restoration. It is uncertain whether-there is a secondary allusion here to the coming of the Messiah; but it is certain that, in its primary sense, the passage refers to the condition of Judah after the return from exile. Treating it in this latter signification, we learn— I. THAT THE END OF DIVINE JUDGMENT IS HUMAN TRANSFORMATION . ( Isaiah 4:4 .) The Lord would "wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion … by the spirit [or, 'power'] of judgment." It may be that... read more
As the present prophecy (Isaiah 2-4.), though in the main one of threatening and denunciation, opened with a picture that was encouraging and comforting ( Isaiah 2:2-4 ), so new it terminates with a similar picture. The evangelical prophet, like the great apostle of the Gentiles, is unwilling that any one should be "swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." He will not separate the mercies of God from his judgments. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 4:2-6
By the foregoing threatenings Jerusalem is brought into a very deplorable condition: every thing looks melancholy. But here the sun breaks out from behind the cloud. Many exceedingly great and precious promises we have in these verses, giving assurance of comfort which may be discerned through the troubles, and of happy days which shall come after them, and these certainly point at the kingdom of the Messiah, and the great redemption to be wrought out by him, under the figure and type of the... read more