Isaiah 2:5-11

2. THE FALSE EMINENT THINGS AND THEIR ABASEMENT IN GENERAL

Isaiah 2:5-11

5          O house of Jacob, come ye,

And let us walk in the light of the Lord.

6     Therefore thou hast6 forsaken thy people the house of Jacob,

Because they be replenished7from the East,

And are soothsayers like the Philistines,

And they 8 9please themselves in the children of strangers.

7     Their land also is full of silver and gold,

Neither is there any end of their treasures;

Their land is also full of horses,Neither is there any end of their chariots:

8     Their land also is full of idols;

They worship the work of their own hands,That which their own fingers have made;

9     And 10the mean man boweth down,

And 11the great man humbleth himself:

12Therefore forgive them not.

10     Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust,

For fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty.

11     The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,

And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

Isaiah 2:5. לְכוּ and וְנֵֽלְכָה, Come, and we will walk, are taken from Isaiah 2:3, and בְּאוֹר י׳ not only reminds of וְיוֹרֵנוּ, Isaiah 2:3, but one is almost tempted to believe that בְּאוֹר י׳ Isaiah 2:3 is an echo of בְּא̇רְחֹתָיו, which, Isaiah 2:3, follows וְנֵ‍ֽלְכָה. And if the words are compared that in Mich. follow the borrowed verses Isaiah 4:1-3; (“For all people will walk every one in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.” Isaiah 2:5) it will be seen that these words, too, floated before Isaiah’s mind. Grammatically there is nothing to object to the view of the comment below. For נֵ‍ֽלְכָה בְּאוֹר may just as well mean eamus in lucem, as in luce, let us walk into the light, as in the light. And if the words of Isaiah 2:2-3 that sound alike are not taken in quite the same meaning, I would ask: are they then identical? And if they were identical, must then the בְּאֹרְחוֹת י׳ לֶכֶת (that must, according to Isaiah 2:3, occur in the last time) be the same with לֶכֶת בְּאוֹר י׳ that the Prophet imposes as a duty o n the Israel of the present?

Isaiah 2:6. נָטַשׁ stands very commonly in the sense of repudiate: Judges 6:1; 1 Samuel 12:22; 1 Kings 8:57; Psalms 27:9; Psalms 94:14; Jeremiah 7:29; Ezekiel 29:5; Ezekiel 32:4. But especially the notion of נָטַשׁ appears significantly as contents of the “burden of Jehovah,” and probably with reference to our passage; Jeremiah 23:33; comp. Jeremiah 12:7 and 2 Kings 21:14. In many of these places עָזַב stands parallel with נָטַשׁ. From that, and from the impossibility of taking דֶּרֶךְ עַם—עַם, way, fashion of the people, nationality, the inaccuracy appears of the explanation given by Saadia, Targ., J. D. Michaelis and others: “thou hast abandoned thy nationality.” מלאו מקדם, according to the comment below is particularly to be maintained as the correct reading. Thus both the conjecture of Brenz and Böttcher (Exeg. Krit. Æhrenlese, p. 29) מִקְסָם (comp. Ezekiel 12:24; Ezekiel 13:7), and that of Gesenius (in his Thesau, s. v. קֶדֶם, p. 1193, though in his commentary he declares for the text). מִקֶּסֶם (comp. Jeremiah 14:14; Ezekiel 13:6; Ezekiel 13:23) are needless. Also the signification of old translations (ὡς τὸ ’ ἆρχῆς,LXX., ut olim, Vulg., ut antea, Peschit., sicut ab initio, Targ., Jon.) is incorrect, because the insertion of the particle of comparison and the leaving out of account the וְ before עֹנְנִים are arbitrary. Drechsler has justly called attention to the fact that מָלֵא with מִן never means the same as מָלֵא with the accusative. For the first does not so much name the matter with which one is filled as the source, the fund, the provision out of which the matter is drawn. Thus e.g. Exodus 16:32, מְלֹא הָֹעמֶר מִמֶּנּוּ is not: imple mesuram eo, but ex eo, i.e., fill the omer with the proper quantity taken from the whole mass. Comp. Leviticus 9:17; Jeremiah 51:34; Ezekiel 32:6; Psalms 127:5. It is different Ecclesiastes 1:8. עֹנְנִים, (Leviticus 19:26; Isaiah 57:3; Jeremiah 27:9; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chronicles 33:6) or מְעֹנְנִים (Deuteronomy 18:10; Deuteronomy 18:14; Micah 5:11) according to the context of the passages cited, are places of magicians or diviners. For the word stands parallel with כִּשֵּׁף sometimes, and sometimes with נחשׁ, as, then, in substance both are nearly related. But the fundamental meaning is doubtful. Fleischer in a note in Delitzsch in loc. controverts the fundamental meaning maintained by Fuerst, “tecta, arcana faciens,” and also the derivation from עַיִן (oculo maligno fascinans), and would derive it either from עָנָן, cloud (weathermaker), or from the Arabic root anna (coercere, stop by magic).—As regards the construction, Drechsler has remarked that the absence of הֵם must occasion no surprise. The verb ישׂפיקו in this sentence causes no little trouble. שָׂפַק occurs in only three places in the Old Testament: Job 27:23; 1 Kings 20:10 and here. Beside that there is also the noun &שֶׂפֶק סֶפֶק) Job 20:22; Job 36:18.—Job 27:23 we read the words יִשְׂפֹּק עָלֵימוֹ כַפֵּימוֹ. Here evidently שָׂפַק סָפַק which often occurs for clapping the hands together, or for slapping on the thigh: Numbers 24:10; Lamentations 2:15; Jeremiah 31:19; Ezekiel 21:17. But 1 Kings 20:10, the king Ben-Hadad of Syria says: “The gods do so unto me and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice (יִשְׂפֹּק) for handfuls for all the people that follow me.” And with this agrees also the Aramaic ספֲק redundare, and the הִשְׂפִּיק “superfluere, satis esse” of the late Hebrew.—Also in regard to the substantive שֶׂפֶק the same division of meaning occurs. For while Job 20:22 the context requires the meaning “abundantia,” opinions vary a great deal in regard to Job 36:18. Still to me the weight of reason seems on the side of the meaning “explosio,” (disapproval, insult by hand clapping, comp. Job 34:26-27). And the explanations of our passage divide into two classes, in that the one bring out the fundamental idea of striking, the other that of superabundance, but each variously modified. The Hiphil occurs only here. It is to be construed in a direct causative sense (complosionem facere).

Isaiah 2:7. קֵצֶה always with וְאֵין only here and Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 3:3; Nehemiah 3:9.

Isaiah 2:8. אֱלִילִים from אַל with intentional like sound to &אֱלֹהִים אֵל, comp. Zechariah 11:17; Jeremiah 14:14; Isaiah 2:18; Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 10:10 sq.; Isaiah 19:1; Isaiah 19:3; Isaiah 31:7. The singular suffix in ידיו and אצבעתיו is to be noticed in grammatical respects. Expositors correctly construe the suffixes as distributive. Comp. Isaiah 5:23 concerning the ideal number.

Isaiah 2:9. At first sight the explanation (adopted, e.g., by Luther), commends itself, that takes the verbs ישׁח and ישׁפל as descriptive of the voluntary homage that the Israelites rendered to the great things depicted verse 7 sq. It appears to belong to the completeness of the mournful picture that the Prophet draws here of the condition of Israel, that also that recognition should be mentioned which those great things named, Isaiah 2:7-8, received at their hands. Moreover the similarity of construction seems to point to a continuation of that strain of complaint against Israel already begun. Indeed the second half of Isaiah 2:9 “and forgive them not,” seems to form the fitting transition to the announcement of judgment, whereas these words, if the announcement of judpment begins with 9 a already, seem to be an ὕστερον πρότερον. That שׁחח and שׁפל in what follows (Isaiah 2:11-12; Isaiah 2:17) and especially Isaiah 5:15, are used for involuntary humiliation would be no objection, in as much as a contrast might be intended. Nevertheless I decide in favor of the meaning approved by all recent expositors, viz., involuntary bowing. What determines me is, first, that already Isaiah 2:8 b speaks of the voluntary bowing to idols. Had the prophet meant to emphasize, not simply this, but also the bowing before the idols of riches and power, he would surely have joined both in a different fashion than happens if Isaiah 2:9 a is referred to Isaiah 2:7. And then Isaiah must have said: ואֲתָּה אַל ת׳, but thou forgive them not. That the antithesis is not marked in Isaiah 2:9 b, is proof that none exists. But then in this case Isaiah 2:9 a itself must contain a threatening of judgment. It is no objection to this that it is expressed in narrative form with the vav. consecutivum; comp. Drechsler in loc. Isaiah 2:9 b is then not antithesis but explanatory continuation. אַל must then be taken in the weaker signification of לֹא. Comp. 2 Kings 6:27.—אָדָם and אִישׁ (comp. Isaiah 5:15; Isaiah 31:8; Psalms 49:3; Proverbs 8:4) form only a rhetorical, not a logical antithesis. It is not = mean and great, but—all and every. The idea of “man” is only for the sake of parallelism expressed by two synonymous words. Comp. Isaiah 2:11. After תִּשָּׂא must עָוֹן be supplied, comp. Genesis 18:24; Genesis 18:26; Hosea 1:6, coll. Isaiah 33:24.

Isaiah 2:10. פחד י׳ genitive of the object, comp. 1 Samuel 11:7; 2 Chronicles 14:13; 2 Chronicles 17:10 and below Isaiah 2:19; Isaiah 2:21. הדר גאון only here.

Isaiah 2:11. גבהות only here and Isaiah 2:17. רוּם in Isaiah only here and Isaiah 2:17; Isaiah 10:12. The singular שָׁפֵל is explained in that גבהות is the main idea. Comp. Isaiah 5:15. שָׁפֵל, a common word with Isaiah (Isaiah 2:9; Isaiah 2:11-12; Isaiah 2:17; Isaiah 5:15; Isaiah 40:4, etc.) is verb, not adjective, for the latter is שָׁפָל. The same ramark obtains in reference to אדם and אנשׁים that was made Isaiah 2:9 concerning אדם and אישׁ.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. The Prophet’s glance has penetrated into the farthest future. There he gazes on the glory of Jehovah and his people. In the words of his fellow prophet Micah, to whom he thereby extends the hand of recognition and joins himself, he portrays how highly exalted then the Lord and His people shall be. That is the true eminence to which Israel is destined, and after which it ought to strive. But what a chasm between that which Israel shall be and what it actually is!

The Prophet calls on the people to set themselves in the light of that word of promise, that promise of glory (Isaiah 2:5). What a sad picture of the present reveals itself! The people in that glorious picture of the future, so one with its God that it does not at all appear in an independent guise, appears in the present forsaken of God, for it has yielded itself entirely to the influences of the world from the East and West, and all sides (Isaiah 2:6). In consequence of this, much that is high and great has, indeed, towered up in the midst of them. But this highness consists only of gold and silver, wagons and horses, and dead idols made by men (Isaiah 2:7-8). For that, in the day of judgment, they shall be bowed down so much the lower and obtain no pardon (Isaiah 2:9). For in that day they must creep into clefts in the rocks and holes in the ground, before the terrible appearance of Jehovah (Isaiah 2:10), and then shall every false, earthly eminence be cast down, that Jehovah alone may appear as the high one (Isaiah 5:11).

2. O house of Jacob—light of the Lord.

Isaiah 2:5. “House of Jacob,” so the Prophet addresses the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1), in that he connects what he says in this address, and in the second half of the verse with the prophetic address uttered in what precedes, in which (Isaiah 2:3) the temple was named “the house of the God of Jacob.” The expression “house of Jacob” for Israel is besides frequent in Isaiah 8:17; Isaiah 10:20; Isaiah 14:1; Isaiah 29:22; Isaiah 46:3; Isaiah 48:1; Isaiah 58:1.—As the Prophet at once expresses what he has to say to the house of Jacob in words that are taken from the prophecy that precedes, he intimates what use he intends to make of these words.

Expositors understand, אוֹר י׳ partly of the favor and grace of the Lord (for which otherwise often אוֹר־פְּנֵי י׳; Psalms 89:16; Psalms 4:7; Psalms 36:10), partly of the instruction through the law of the Lord (lux Jehovæ lex Dei,Vitr.). But neither the one nor the other meaning seems to me to suit the context. For in what follows there is neither a promise of divine grace, nor exhortation to holy walk. I am therefore of the opinion, that the prophet by “light of Jehovah,” understands that light which Jehovah Himself extends to the people by the prophetic word that just precedes. In the light of that word ought Israel to set its present history. The Prophet shows, in what follows, how infinitely distant the present Israel is from the ideal that, Isaiah 2:2-4, he has shown, and which shall be the destiny of this degenerate Israel in “the last time.” Now if Israel will apply the measure of that future to its present, it may escape the judgment of the last time. On this account the Prophet summons his people to set themselves in the “light of Jehovah.”

3. Therefore thou hast—strangers, Isaiah 2:6. The words “thou hast repelled thy people” seem to me to indicate the fundamental thought of the whole address to the end of Chap. 5. From Isaiah 2:2-4, where Jehovah is named the God of Jacob, and Zion the place where God’s word shines so gloriously that all nations assemble to this shining, it is seen that Israel in this last time shall live in most intimate harmony with its God. That it is not so now he proceeds to describe. For God has repudiated His people. Jehovah, however, has not arbitrarily repudiated His people. He could do no otherwise. For the nation had forsaken Him, had abandoned itself to the spirit of the world. They accorded admittance to every influence that pressed on them from East and West. Such is the sense of the following words. “From the east,” means primarily, indeed, those parts of Arabia bordering on Palestine (Judges 6:3; Judges 6:33; Judges 7:12; Judges 8:10), but here, in contrast with Philistines, it signifies the lands generally that lie east of Palestine. That destructive influences, especially of a religious kind, proceeded from these lands to Israel, appears from the instance of Baal-Peor (Numbers 25:3; Deuteronomy 4:3), and of Chemosh (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13) of the Moabites, and Milcom of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:5; 1 Kings 11:7) the altar in Damascus (2 Kings 16:10), and the star worship of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:5; Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 44:17 sqq.; Ezekiel 8:16). But Drechsler,in loc, has proved that not only religious influences, but also social culture of every sort penetrated Israel from the East (comp. on Isaiah 3:18 sqq.; 1 Kings 5:10; 1 Kings 10:1-15; 1 Kings 11:1 sq. If, then, we translate “for they are full from the East,” we would thereby indicate the Prophet’s meaning to be that Israel has drawn from the Orient that of which it is full, in the sense of intellectual nourishment. But the West, too, exercised its destructive influences. The Philistines are named, as representatives of it, and especially they are indicated as Israel’s examples and teachers in witchcraft. It is true that we have no express historical evidence that the Philistines were especially given to witchcraft. Yet 1 Samuel 6:2 mentions their “diviners,” and 2 Kings 1:2, refers to the sanctuary of Baalzebub at Ekron, as a celebrated oracle.

And in the children,etc. Excepting Targ. Jonathan (et in legibus populorum ambulant) all the ancient versions find in our passage a accusation of sexual transgression. The LXX, Peschit, and Ar. understand the words to refer to intercourse of Jewish men or women with the heathen, and the generation of theocratic illegitimate posterity. Jerome, however, understands the “et pueris alienis adhœserunt” of Pederasty, as he expressly says in his commentary. The translation of Symmachus, too, which Jerome quotes, “et cum filiis alienis applauserunt,” is to be understood in the same sense. For Jerome remarks expressly: “Symmachus quodam circuitu et honesto sermone plaudentium eandem cum pueris turpitudinem demonstravit.” Gesenius in his Commentary p. 18 has overlooked this. It is seen that LXX. (τέκνα πολλὰ ), Peschit. (plurimos exterorum filios educarunt), Arab. (nati sunt eis filii exteri permulti) have found the notion of “fulness, superfluity” in ישּפיקו. But Jerome and the Hebrew scholars that after him translate ἑσφηνώθησαν (wedging oneself in, in an obscene sense) proceed evidently from the fundamental meaning “striking.” The later expositors divide into these two classes. Still the majority decide in favor of the meaning, “striking into, i.e., the hand, as sign of making a covenant,” and refer to the construction פָּגַע בְּ (Genesis 32:2; Joshua 16:7; Joshua 17:10, etc.), to illustrate the construction with בְּ here. Still better is it to compare the construction with בְּ of the verbs, בָּחַד אָחַז הֶֽחֱזִיק דָּבָק נָגַיע. are the children of strangers (Psalms 18:45, sq.; Isaiah 60:10, etc.), with only the difference that in ילדי נ the idea of a profane birth is more prominent. The expression is to be understood as generally comprehensive of the eastern and western nations named immediately before, word יֶלֶד itself, it occurs not seldom in Isaiah 9:5; Isaiah 8:18; Isaiah 11:7; Isaiah 29:23; Isaiah 57:4-5.

4. Their land—have made.

Isaiah 2:7-8. Neither the having abundance of children of strangers (Ew.), nor the contenting oneself with such (Drechsler) explains to us why the land of Jacob was full of silver and gold, of horses and wagons. But it is very easily explained if Israel had treaties and a lively commerce with foreign nations. But this was contrary to the law and the covenant of Jehovah. For according to that Israel should be a separate people from all other nations: “And ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.” Leviticus 20:26. Commerce with the world, of course, brought the Israelites material gain, in gold and silver, horses and wagons, so that, in fact, there was a superfluity of these in the land. But by this growth in riches and power the divine prohibition (Deuteronomy 17:17,) was transgressed. It is plain enough now how necessary this prohibition was. For with the treasures of this world the idols of this world are drawn in. This prohibition would guard against that, for the subtile idolatry of riches and power would serve as a bridge to coarser idolatry, because it turns the heart away from the true God, and thereby opens a free ingress to the false gods. Thus is Israel, in consequence of that being full, of which Isaiah 2:6 speaks, also outwardly become full of that which passes for great and glorious in the world. But, regarded in the light of Jehovah, this is a false eminence. On the subject matter comp. Micah 5:9 sqq.

5. Enter into—in that day.

Isaiah 2:10-11. These words stand in an artistic double relation. First, they relate to what precedes (Isaiah 2:9) as specification. Second, to what follows (as far as Isaiah 3:26) as a summary of the contents. For the brief words of Isaiah 2:9 express only in quite a general way the human abasement, and indicate the sole majesty of Jehovah only by ascribing to Him the royal right of pardon. These words are now in both these particulars more nearly determined in Isaiah 2:10-11. With dramatic animation the prophet summons men, in view of the terror that Jehovah prepares, and before the majestic appearance of His glory, to creep into the clefts of the rocks, and rock chasms (comp. Isaiah 2:19 and Isaiah 2:21), and in the depths of the dust i.e., holes or caves in the earth, (comp. Isaiah 2:19). The terror, therefore, shall be like that which spreads before an overpowering invasion of an enemy (Judges 6:2; 1 Samuel 13:6). Then shall the lofty eye be cast down and,—which is the reason for the former—all human highness shall be humiliated. Jehovah alone shall be high in that day, just as all mountains shall have disappeared before the mountain of Jehovah (Isaiah 2:2). It will immediately appear that the matter of both these verses shall be more exactly detailed in what follows.

[Isaiah 2:5. “From this distant prospect of the calling of the gentiles, the Prophet now reverts to his own times and countrymen, and calls upon them not to be behind the nations in the use of their distinguishing advantages. If the heathen were one day to be enlightened, surely they who were already in possession of the light ought to make use of it.” “In the light of Jehovah; (in the path of truth and duty upon which the light of revelation shines). The light is mentioned as a common designation of the Scriptures and of Christ Himself.” (Proverbs 6:23; Psalms 119:105; Isaiah 51:4; Acts 26:23; 2 Corinthians 4:4). J. A. A.

Isaiah 2:6 c. And with the children of strangers they abound.—The last verb does not mean they please themselves, but they abound.—Children of strangers.—Means strangers themselves,—foreigners considered as descendents of a strange stock and therefore alien from the commonwealth, of Israel.”—J. A. A. [See comment on Isaiah 1:0:4בָּנִים מַשְׁחִיתִים——Tr.]

Isaiah 2:7. “The common interpretation makes this verse descriptive of domestic wealth and luxury. But these would hardly have be en placed between the superstitions and the idols, with which Judah had been flooded from abroad. Besides, this interpretation fails to account for gold and silver being here combined with horses and chariots.—But on the supposition that the verse has reference to undue dependence upon foreign powers, the money and the armies of the latter would be naturally named together.—The form of expression, too, suggests the idea of a recent acquisition, as the strict sense of the verb is, not it is full, nor even it is filled, but it was, or has been filled.”—J. A. A.

Isaiah 2:9. “They who bowed themselves to idols should be bowed down by the mighty hand of God, instead of being raised up from their wilful self-abasement by the pardon of their sins. The relative futures denote, not only succession in time, but the relation of cause and effect.”—J. A. A.

Isaiah 2:10. And hide thee in the dust. “May there not be reference here to the mode prevailing in the East of avoiding the Monsoon, or poisonous heated wind that passes over the desert? Travelers there, in order to be safe, are obliged to throw themselves down, and to place their mouths close to the earth until it has passed.”—Barnes.]

Footnotes:

[6]repudiated.

[7]Or, more than the East.

[8]Or, abound with the children, etc.

[9]make covenant with foreign born.

[10]a man is bowed down.

[11]everybody humbled.

[12]And thou wilt not forgive them.