Isaiah 18:1-7

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 18:1-7

Interpreters are very much at a loss where to find this land that lies beyond the rivers of Cush. Some take it to be Egypt, a maritime country, and full of rivers, and which courted Israel to depend upon them, but proved broken reeds; but against this it is strongly objected that the next chapter is distinguished from this by the title of the burden of Egypt. Others take it to be Ethiopia, and read it, which lies near, or about, the rivers of Ethiopia, not that in Africa, which lay south of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 18:1

Woe to the land shadowing with wings ,.... Or, "O land", as calling to it; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi. It is very difficult to determine what land is here meant: some think the land of Assyria is here designed, as Aben Ezra and others, and so it is a continuation of the prophecy concerning the destruction of the Assyrians, in the three last verses of the preceding chapter Isaiah 17:12 ; the stretching out of whose wings is mentioned, Isaiah 8:8 and thought to be referred to here; others are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 18:2

That sendeth ambassadors by the sea ,.... The Red Sea, which washed the coasts of Egypt and Ethiopia, and which were united into one kingdom under Sabacus, or So the Ethiopian, called king of Egypt, 2 Kings 17:4 and this kingdom, or rather the king of it, is here described as sending ambassadors by sea to foreign courts, to make leagues and alliances, and thereby strengthen himself against attempts made on him; though some understand it of one part of Ethiopia, on one side of the Red Sea,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 18:3

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth ,.... All the men of the world are here called upon, either by the Lord, or rather by the prophet, to be eye and ear witnesses of the judgment that should be inflicted upon the above nation, and of the salvation of his own people; which should be so manifest, that all should see it as easily as an ensign set up on a mountain; and the news of it should ring through the earth, and be as plainly heard as when a trumpet is blown: unless... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 18:4

For so the Lord said unto me ,.... The prophet Isaiah, both what goes before, and follows after: I will take my rest ; these are not the words of the prophet, as some think, like those of Habakkuk, Habakkuk 2:1 but of the Lord himself, signifying that he would, as he always did, enjoy himself, amidst all the commotions that were in the world; or that he would take up his rest among his people in Zion, of which he had said, this is my rest for ever, Psalm 132:14 or rather that he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 18:5

For afore the harvest ,.... Or vintage: the above metaphor is carried on; before the designs and schemes of the people above described are ripe for execution, who promised themselves a large harvest of their neighbours: when the bud is perfect ; when the bud of the vine is become a perfect grape, though unripe; when the scheme was fully laid, and with perfect and consummate wisdom as imagined, though not brought into execution: and the sour grape is ripening in the flower ; things go... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 18:6

They shall be left, together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth ,.... That is, both sprigs and branches; with the fruit of them, which being unripe, are disregarded by men, but fed upon by birds and beasts; the fruits by the former, and the tender sprigs and green branches by the latter; signifying the destruction of the Ethiopians or Egyptians, and that the princes and the people should fall together, and lie unburied, and become a prey to birds and beasts; or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 18:7

In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts ,.... Not exactly at the time when this destruction should be, but some time after, even in Gospel times; for to them this part of the prophecy refers: of a people scattered and peeled ; this explains what the present is, that shall be brought to the Lord; it is a people, and therefore not the spoils of Sennacherib's army, as some interpret it; nor yet the people of the Jews, that shall be brought by the Gentiles out of all... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 18:1

Wo to the land - ארץ הוי hoi arets ! This interjection should be translated ho! for it is properly a particle of calling: Ho, land! Attend! Give ear! Shadowing with wings "The winged cymbal" - כנפים צלצל tsiltsal kenaphayim . I adopt this as the most probable of the many interpretations that have been given of these words. It is Bochart's: see Phaleg, 4:2. The Egyptian sistrum is expressed by a periphrasis; the Hebrews had no name for it in their language, not having in use the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 18:2

In vessels of bulrushes "In vessels of papyrus" - This circumstance agrees perfectly well with Egypt. It is well known that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships, or boats, made of the reed papyrus. Ex ipso quidem papyro navigia texunt . Pliny, 42:11. Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro . Lucan, 4:136. read more

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