Isaiah 33:8 - Exposition

The highways lie waste {croup. 5:6 ). The meaning is that' they were unoccupied. Fear of the Assyrians restrained men from travelling. He hath broken the covenant . Sennacherib, when he accepted the sum of money sent him by Hezekiah, must have consented to leave him unmolested for the future. But in a very short time we find him, apparently without any reasonable pretext, sending a fresh expedition against Jerusalem, requiring it to be admitted within the walls, and even threatening the city with destruction ( 2 Kings 18:17-35 ; 2 Kings 19:10-13 ). Isaiah, therefore, taxes him with having broken his covenant. Despised cities . "Sennacherib," says Delitzsch, "continued to storm the fortified places of Judah, in violation of his agreement." Regardeth no man ; i.e. "pays no attention to the protests that are made against his infraction of the treaty—does not care what is said or thought of him."