{"commentary":{"id":"adam-clarke","name":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clarke","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"92e28c9363c876d215e296f2fe04abb3ab7e34a2aacebdf06bd62ae79c6e3dba","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":57,"totalNumberOfChapters":854,"totalNumberOfVerses":13318,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"ISA","commentaryId":"adam-clarke","name":"Isaiah","commonName":"Isaiah","introduction":"Introduction to the Book of the Prophet Isaiah On the term prophet, and on the nature and several kinds of prophecy, I have already discoursed in different parts of this work. See the notes on Gen 15:1 (note); Gen 20:7 (note), and the preface to the four Gospels, and Acts of the Apostles. A few things only require to be recapitulated. נבא naba signifies not only to foretell future events, but also to pray and supplicate; and נביא nabi, the prophet, was by office not only a declarer of events still future, but the general preacher of the day; and as he frequently foresaw the approach of disastrous times, such was the wickedness of the people, he employed his time in counseling sinners to turn from the error of their ways, and in making strong prayer and supplication to God to avert the threatened judgments: for such predictions, however apparently positive in their terms, were generally conditional; strange as this may appear to some who, through their general ignorance of every thing but the peculiarities of their own creed, suppose that every occurrence is impelled by an irresistible necessity. To his own conduct, in reference to such matters, God has been pleased to give us a key (see Jeremiah 18.) which opens all difficulties, and furnishes us with a general comment on his own providence. God is absolute master of his own ways; and as he has made man a free agent, whatever concerns him in reference to futurity, on which God is pleased to express his mind in the way of prophecy, there is a condition generally implied or expressed. As this is but seldom attended to by partial interpreters, who wish by their doctrine of fatalism to bind even God himself, many contradictory sentiments are put in the mouths of his prophets. In ancient times those who were afterwards called Prophets were termed Seers; Sa1 9:9. הראה haroeh, the seeing person; he who perceives mentally what the design of God is. Sometimes called also חזה chozeh, the man who has visions, or supernatural revelations; Kg1 22:17; Kg2 17:13. Both these terms are translated seer in our common Version. They were sometimes called men of God, and messengers or angels of God. In their case it was ever understood that all God's prophets had an extraordinary commission and had their message given them by immediate inspiration. In this the heathen copied after the people of God. They also had their prophets and seers; and hence their augurs and auguries, their haruspices, and priestesses, and their oracles; all pretending to be divinely inspired, and to declare nothing but the truth; for what was truth and fact among the former, was affected and pretended among the latter. Many prophets and seers are mentioned in the sacred writings; but, fragments and insulated prophecies excepted, we have the works of only Sixteen; four of whom are termed the former or larger prophets, and twelve, the latter or minor prophets. They have these epithets, not from priority of time, or from minor importance, but merely from the places they occupy in the present arrangement of the books in the Bible, and from the relative size of their productions. The Jews reckon forty-eight prophets, and seven prophetesses; and Epiphanius, in a fragment preserved by Cotelerius, reckons not fewer than seventy-three prophets, and ten prophetesses; but in both collections there are many which have no Scriptural pretensions to such a distinguished rank. The succession of prophets in the Jewish Church is well worthy of note, because it not only manifests the merciful regards of God towards that people, but also the uninterrupted succession of the prophetic influence, at least from Moses to Malachi, if not before; for this gift was not withheld under the patriarchal dispensation; indeed we might boldly ask any man to show when the time was in which God left himself without a witness of this kind. To show this succession, I shall endeavor to give the different prophets in order of time. 1. The first man, Adam, has an undoubted right to stand at the head of the prophets, as he does at the head of the human race. His declaration concerning marriage, \"For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife,\" is so truly prophetic, that no doubt can be formed on the subject. There was then nothing in nature or experience to justify such an assertion; and he could have it only by Divine inspiration. The millions of instances which have since occurred, and the numerous laws which have been founded on this principle among all the nations of the earth, show with what precision the declaration was conceived, and with what truth it was published to the world. Add to this, his correct knowledge of the nature of the different animals, so that he could impose on them names expressive of their respective natures or propensities; which proves that he must have acted under a Divine inspiration; for known only to God are all his works from the beginning. 2. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, is expressly called a prophet; and St. Jude, Jde 1:14, Jde 1:15, has preserved a fragment of one of his prophecies, relative to the corruption of the ante-diluvian world, and the approaching judgments of God. 3. Noah was a prophet and preacher of righteousness, and predicted the general deluge, and the time of respite which God in his mercy had granted to the offenders of that age. 4. Abraham is expressly called a prophet also, Gen 20:7; and it appears from Psa 105:15, that he partook of the Divine anointing. 5. Isaac, Gen 27:27, predicted the future greatness of his son Jacob, and of the race that was to spring from him. 6. Jacob was so especially favored with the prophetic gift, that he distinctly foretold what should happen to each of his sons. See Genesis 49. 7. Joseph was favored with several prophetic visions, and had the gift of interpreting dreams which portended future occurrences; (see Genesis 27, 40, 41.); and foretold the redemption of the Israelites from Egypt; Gen 50:25. Thus far the prophetic influence extended through the patriarchal dispensation for about two thousand three hundred and seventy years from the creation. With the Jewish dispensation the prophetic gift revived; and, 8. Moses became one of the most eminent prophets that had ever appeared. He not only enjoyed the continual prophetic afflatus, but had such visions of and intercourse with God as no other person either before or since was favored with; and by which he was highly qualified to perform the arduous work which God had given him to do, and to frame that Code of Laws which had no equal before the promulgation of the Gospel. See Deu 24:10. He predicted expressly the coming of the Messiah. See Deu 18:18. 9. Aaron, the brother of Moses, his prime minister and God's high priest, was also a partaker of his Divine influence, and declared the will of God to Pharaoh and the Israelites, not merely from information received from Moses, but also by immediate communication from God. See Exo 4:15. 10. Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, is expressly called a prophetess, Exo 15:20; Num 12:2. 11. Joshua, who succeeded Moses, was a partaker of the same grace. He was appointed by Moses under the especial direction of God; Num 27:18-23; Deu 34:9; and has always been reckoned among the Jews as one of the prophets. See Sirach 46:1-6. Though I cannot place them in the same rank, yet it is necessary to state that, by the Jews, several of the judges are classed among the prophets; such as Othniel, Ehud, Samson, and Barak. 12. Deborah, the coadjutor of Barak, is called a prophetess, Jdg 4:4. During her time, and down to the days of Eli the high priest, prophecy had been very scarce, there having been very few on whom the Spirit of the Lord had rested; for \"the word of the Lord was scarce in those days, and there was no open vision;\" Sa1 3:1. 13. Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, is supposed to have partaken of the spirit of prophecy; and to have foretold, at least indirectly, the advent of the Messiah, and the glory that should be revealed under the Gospel. See her Song, Sa1 2:1-10. And what renders this more likely is, that it is on the model, and with many of the expressions, of this song, that the blessed Virgin composed her Magnificat, Luk 1:46-55. 14. Samuel, her son, was one of the most eminent of the Jewish prophets, and was the last, and indeed the greatest, of the judges of Israel. In his time the prophetic influence seems to have rested upon many; so that we find even whole schools or colleges of prophets which were under his direction. See Sa1 10:5, Sa1 10:10; Sa1 19:20, and elsewhere. 15. David united in himself the character of prophet and king, in the most eminent manner; and from his reign down to the captivity the succession was not only not interrupted, but these extraordinary messengers of God became very numerous. 16. Gad flourished under his reign, and was emphatically called David's Seer, Sa2 24:11; Ch1 21:9, Ch1 21:19, Ch1 21:20; and it appears that he had written a Book of Prophecies, which is now lost, Ch1 29:29. 17. Nathan lived also under the same reign, Sa2 7:2; and, in conjunction with Gad, composed a book of the acts of David, Ch1 29:29. 18. To Solomon also, son of David, the prophetic gift has been attributed. This might be implied in the extraordinary wisdom with which God had endowed him, Kg1 3:5-9; Ch2 1:7; Ch2 7:12; and in his writings several prophetic declarations may be found, even independently of the supposed reference to Christ and his Church in the Song of Solomon. 19. Iddo is termed a Seer, Ch2 12:15; Ch2 13:22; and was one of Solomon's biographers. 20. Shemaiah lived under Rehoboam; he is called a man of God, and to him the word of prophecy came relative to Judah and Benjamin, Kg1 12:22-24. Some think this was the same person who was sent to Jeroboam relative to his idolatry; see Kg1 13:1, etc. 21. Ahijah, the Shilonite, prophesied to Jeroboam, Kg1 11:29-39. 22. Hanani the Seer prophesied under Azariah and Asa, Ch2 16:7. 23. Jehu, son of Hanani, prophesied under Jehoshaphat, Kg1 16:1, Kg1 16:7; Ch2 16:7; Ch2 19:2; and Ch2 20:34. 24. Azariah, the son of Oded, prophesied under Asa, Ch2 15:1. 25. Elijah prophesied under the reign of Ahab and Jezebel. 26. Elisha succeeded Elijah under the same reigns. And these eminent men had many disciples on whom the spirit of prophecy rested. They, and their masters, Elijah and Elisha, prophesied in the kingdoms both of Israel and Judah. Their histories make a prominent part of the first and second Books of Kings; and are well known. 27. Micaiah, the son of Imlah, prophesied under the same reign, Kg1 21:9. 28. Hosea prophesied under Jeroboam the second, king of Israel, and under the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah. 29. Isaiah was contemporary with Hosea, but probably began to prophesy a little later than he did. 30. Amos prophesied about the same time. 31. Jonah, son of Amittai, is supposed to have been contemporary with the above. 32. Eliezer, the son of Dodavah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah, Ch2 20:37. 33. Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, prophesied against Judah and Israel under the same reign, Ch2 20:14. 34. Micah prophesied against Samaria and Jerusalem, in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. 35. Oded, father of Azariah, prophesied against Asa, Ch2 15:8. 36. Nahum prophesied under Hezekiah. 37. Joel, under Josiah. 38. Jeremiah, about the same time. 39. Zephaniah, under the same reign. See their prophecies. 40. Huldah, the prophetess, was contemporary with the above. 41. Igdaliah, called a man of God, and probably a prophet, was contemporary with Jeremiah, Jer 35:4. 42. Habakkuk lived about the end of the reign of Josiah, or the beginning of that of Jehoiakim. 43. Ezekiel lived under the captivity; and prophesied in Mesopotamia, about the time that Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem. 44. Obadiah lived in Judea, after the capture of Jerusalem and before the desolation of Idumea by Nebuchadnezzar. 45. Daniel prophesied in Babylon during the captivity. 46. Haggai prophesied during and after the captivity. 47. Urijah, the son of Shemaiah, prophesied under Jehoiakim. See Jer 26:20, Jer 26:21. 48. Zechariah, son of Barachiah, flourished in the second year of Darius, after the captivity. 49. Malachi lived under Nehemiah, and some time after Haggai and Zechariah. Here is a succession of divinely inspired men, by whom God at sundry times and in divers manners spake unto the fathers, from the beginning of the world down to the restoration from the Babylonish captivity, a period of three thousand six hundred years. From the time of Malachi, who was the last of the prophets, till the advent of Christ, a period of nearly four hundred years elapsed without vision or prophecy: but during the whole of that interval the Jews had the law and the prophetical writings, to which, till the time of Christ, there was no necessity to add any thing; for God had with the writings of the last mentioned prophet completed the canon of the Old Testament, nothing being further necessary, till he should, in the fullness of time, superadd the Gospel; and this having taken place, vision and prophecy are now for ever sealed up, and the temple of God is established among all genuine believers in Christ Jesus. It is not easy to ascertain the order in which the sixteen prophets, whose writings are preserved, have succeeded to each other. There are chronological notes prefixed to several of their prophecies, which assist to settle generally the times of the whole. Several were contemporary, as the reader has already seen in the preceding list. The major and minor prophets may be thus arranged: - 1. Jonah, under the reign of Jeroboam the second. 2. Hosea, under Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, etc. 3. Joel, contemporary with Hosea. 4. Amos, under Uzziah and Jeroboam the second. 5. Isaiah, under Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. 6. Micah, contemporary with Isaiah. 7. Nahum, under the reign of Hezekiah. 8. Habakkuk, under the reign of Manasseh or Josiah. 9. Zephaniah, under Josiah. 10. Jeremiah, from Josiah to Zedekiah. 11. Daniel, under the captivity, after Zedekiah. 12. Ezekiel, at the same time. 13. Obadiah, during the captivity. 14. Haggai began to prophecy in the second year of Darius. 15. Zechariah, about the same time. See Zac 1:1; Zac 7:1. 16. Malachi, under Nehemiah. The last of all the prophets. The works of these prophets constitute the principal and most important part of what is called The Bible or Old Testament. On the style of the prophets much has been said by several learned men; particularly Calmet, Lowth, Bishop Newton, Vitringa, Michaelis, and Houbigant. Their chief observations, and especially those most within the reach of the common people, have been selected and abridged with great care and industry by the Revelation Dr. John Smith, of Cambleton, in his little Tract entitled \"A Summary View and Explanation of the Writings of the Prophets,\" to which it forms preliminary observations, drawn up at the desire of the Scottish Society for propagating Christian Knowledge, in a small 8vo. 1804. From this work I thankfully borrow what concerns the present subject; taking occasion at the same time to recommend the whole to all Christian ministers, to private persons, and to all families who wish to read the prophets to their edification. \"The writings of the prophets, the most sublime and beautiful in the world, lose much of that usefulness and effect which they are so well calculated to produce on the souls of men, from their not being more generally understood. Many prophecies are somewhat dark, till events explain them. They are, besides, delivered in such lofty and figurative terms, and with such frequent allusions to the customs and manners of times and places the most remote, that ordinary readers cannot, without some help, be supposed capable of understanding them. It must therefore be of use to make the language of prophecy as intelligible as may be, by explaining those images and figures of speech in which it most frequently abounds; and this may be done generally, even when the prophecies themselves are obscure. \"Some prophecies seem as if it were not intended that they should be clearly understood before they are fulfilled. As they relate to different periods, they may have been intended for exciting the attention of mankind from time to time both to providence and to Scripture and to furnish every age with new evidence of Divine revelation; by which means they serve the same purpose to the last ages of the world that miracles did to the first. Whereas, if they had been in every respect clear and obvious from the beginning, this wise purpose had been in a great measure defeated. Curiosity, industry, and attention would at once be at an end, or, by being too easily gratified, would be little exercised. \"Besides, a great degree of obscurity is necessary to some prophecies before they can be fulfilled; and if not fulfilled, the consequence would not be so beneficial to mankind. Thus many of the ancient prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem had a manifest relation to the remoter destruction by the Romans, as well as to the nearer one by the Chaldeans. Had the Jews perceived this, which was not indeed clear enough till the event explained it, they would probably have wished to have remained for ever in their captivity at Babylon, rather than expose themselves or their offspring a second time to a destruction so dreadful as that which they had already experienced. \"With respect to our times, by far the greatest number of prophecies relate to events which are now past; and therefore a sufficient acquaintance with history, and with the language and style of prophecy, is all that is requisite to understand them. Some prophecies, however, relate to events still future; and these too may be understood in general although some particular circumstances connected with them may remain obscure till they are fulfilled. If prophecies were not capable of being understood in general, we should not find the seers so often blamed in this respect for their ignorance and want of discernment. That they did actually understand many of them when they chose to search the Scriptures we know. Daniel understood, from the prophecies of Jeremiah, the time at which the captivity in Babylon was to be at an end; and the scribes knew from Micah, and told Herod, where the Messiah was to be born. A very little attention might have enabled them in the same manner to understand others, as they probably did; such as the seventy weeks of Daniel; the destruction of the Babylonian empire, and of the other three that were to succeed; and also of the ruin of the people and places around them, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, Philistia, Egypt, and Idumea. Perhaps, indeed, a few enigmatical circumstances might have been annexed, which could not be understood till they were accomplished; but the general tenor of the prophecies they could be at no loss to understand. With regard to prophecies still future, we are in a similar situation. It is understood in general, that the Jews will be gathered from their dispersions, restored to their own land, and converted to Christianity; that the fullness of the Gentiles will likewise come in; that Antichrist, Gog and Magog, and all the enemies of the Church will be destroyed; after which the Gospel will remarkably flourish, and be more than ever glorified. But several circumstances connected with those general events must probably remain in the dark till their accomplishment shall clearly explain them. \"But this degree of obscurity which sometimes attends prophecy does not always proceed from the circumstances or subject; it frequently proceeds from the highly poetical and figurative style, in which prophecy is for the most part conveyed, and of which it will be proper to give some account. To speak of all the rhetorical figures with which the prophets adorn their style would lead us into a field too wide, and would be more the province of the rhetorician than of the commentator. It will be sufficient for our purpose at present to attend to the most common of them, consisting of allegory, parable, and metaphor, and then to consider the sources from which the prophets most frequently borrow their images in those figures, and the sense which they wish to convey by them. \"By allegory, the first of the figures mentioned, is meant that mode of speech in which the writer or speaker means to convey a different idea from what the words in their obvious and primary signification bear. Thus, 'Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns,' (Jer 4:3), is to be understood, not of tillage, but of repentance. And these words, 'Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters, the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas,' Eze 27:26, allude not to the fate of a ship, but of a city. \"To this figure the parable, in which the prophets frequently speak, is nearly allied. It consists in the application of some feigned narrative to some real truth, which might have been less striking or more disagreeable if expressed in plain terms. Such is the following one of Isaiah, Isa 5:1, Isa 5:2 : 'My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine-press therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.' The seventh verse tells us that this vineyard was the house of Israel, which had so ill requited the favor which God had shown it. On this subject see the dissertation at the end of the notes on Matthew 13 (note). \"There is, besides, another kind of allegory not uncommon with the prophets, called mystical allegory or double prophecy. Thus it is said of Eliakim, Isa 22:22 : 'And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.' In the first and obvious sense, the words relate to Eliakim; but in the secondary or mystical sense, to the Messiah. Instances of the same kind are frequent in those prophecies that relate to David, Zerubbabel, Cyrus, and other types of Christ. In the first sense the words relate to the type; in the second, to the antitype. The use of this allegory, however, is not so frequent as that of the former. It is generally confined to things most nearly connected with the Jewish religion; with Israel, Sion, Jerusalem, and its kings and rulers; or such as were most opposite to these, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Idumea, and the like. In the former kind of allegory the primitive meaning is dropped, and the figurative only is retained; in this, both the one and the other are preserved, and this is what constitutes the difference. \"But of all the figures used by the prophets the most frequent is the metaphor, by which words are transferred from their primitive and plain to a secondary meaning. This figure, common in all poetry and in all languages, is of indispensable necessity in Scripture, which, having occasion to speak of Divine and spiritual matters, could do it only by terms borrowed from sensible and material objects. Hence it is that the sentiments, actions, and corporeal parts, not only of man, but also of inferior creatures, are ascribed to God himself; it being otherwise impossible for us to form any conceptions of his pure essence and incommunicable attributes. But though the prophets, partly from necessity and partly from choice, are thus profuse in the use of metaphors, they do not appear, like other writers, to have the liberty of using them as fancy directed. The same set of images, however diversified in the manner of applying them, is always used, both in allegory and metaphor, to denote the same subjects, to which they are in a manner appropriated. This peculiar characteristic of the Hebrew poetry might perhaps be owing to some rules taught in the prophetic schools, which did not allow the same latitude in this respect as other poetry. Whatever it may be owing to, the uniform manner in which the prophets apply these images tends greatly to illustrate the prophetic style; and therefore it will be proper now to consider the sources from which those images are most frequently derived, and the subjects and ideas which they severally denote. These sources may be classed under four heads; natural, artificial, religious, and historical. \"I. The first and most copious, as well as the most pleasing source of images in the prophetic writings, as in all other poetry, is nature; and the principal images drawn from nature, together with their application, are the following: - \"The sun, moon, and stars, the highest objects in the natural world, figuratively represent kings, queens, and princes or rulers; the highest in the world politic. 'The moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed;' Isa 24:23. 'I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light;' Eze 32:7. \"Light and darkness are used figuratively for joy and sorrow, prosperity and adversity. 'We wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness;' Isa 59:9. An uncommon degree of light denotes an uncommon degree of joy and prosperity, and vice versa. 'The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold;' Isa 30:26. The same metaphors are likewise used to denote knowledge and ignorance. 'If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them;' Isa 8:20. 'The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light;' Isa 9:2. \"Dew, moderate rains, gentle streams, and running waters denote the blessings of the Gospel. 'Thy dew is as the dew of herbs;' Isa 26:19. 'He shall come unto us as the rain;' Hos 6:3. 'I will water it every moment;' Isa 27:3. 'I will pour water on him that is thirsty;' Isa 44:3. \"Immoderate rains on the other hand, hail, floods, deep waters, torrents, and inundations, denote judgments and destruction. 'I will rain upon him an overflowing rain, and great hailstones,' Eze 38:22. 'Waters rise up out of the north, and shall overflow the land,' Jer 47:2. \"Fire also, and the east wind, parching and hurtful, frequently denote the same. 'They shall cast thy choice cedars into the fire,' Jer 22:7. 'He stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind,' Isa 27:8. \"Wind in general is often taken in the same sense. 'The wind shall eat up all thy pastures,' Jer 22:22. Sometimes it is put for any thing empty or fallacious, as well as hurtful. 'The prophets shall become wind,' Jer 5:13. 'They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind,' Hos 8:7. \"Lebanon and Carmel; the one remarkable for its height and stately cedars, was the image of majesty, strength, or anything very great or noble. 'He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one,' Isa 10:34. 'The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon,' Eze 31:3. The other mountain (Carmel) being fruitful, and abounding in vines and olives, denoted beauty and fertility. 'The glory of Lebanon shall be given it, the excellency of Carmel,' Isa 35:2. The vine alone is a frequent image of the Jewish Church. 'I had planted thee a noble vine,' Jer 2:21. \"Rams and bullocks of Bashan, lions, eagles, sea-monsters, or any animals of prey, are figures frequently used for cruel and oppressive tyrants and conquerors. 'Hear this word ye kine of Bashan, which oppress the poor,' Amo 4:1. 'The lion is come up from his thicket,' Jer 4:7. 'A great eagle came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar,' Eze 17:3. 'Thou art as a whale in the seas,' Eze 32:2. 'The unicorns shall come down, and their land shall be soaked with blood,' Isa 34:7. \"II. The ordinary occupations and customs of life, with the few arts practiced at the time, were another source from which the prophets derived many of their figures, particularly, \"From husbandry in all its parts, and from its implements. 'Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy: break up your fallow ground,' Hos 10:12. 'Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe,' Joe 3:13. 'I am pressed under you, as a wain under a load of sheaves,' Amo 2:13. Threshing was performed in various ways, (mentioned Isa 28:24, etc.), which furnish a variety of images denoting punishment. 'Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thine horn iron, and thy hoofs brass,' etc., Mic 4:13. The operation was performed on rising grounds, where the chaff was driven away by the wind, while the grain remained; a fit emblem of the fate of the wicked, and of the salvation of the just. 'Behold, I will make thee a new threshing-instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and thou shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them,' Isa 41:15, Isa 41:16. \"The vintage and winepress also furnish many images, obvious enough in their application. 'The press is full, the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great,' Joe 3:13. 'I have trod the winepress alone. I will tread down the people in mine anger,' Isa 63:3, etc. As the vintage was gathered with shouting and rejoicing, the ceasing of the vintage-shouting is frequently one of the figures that denote misery and desolation. 'None shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting,' Jer 48:33. \"From the occupation of tending cattle we have many images. 'Wo unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture,' Jer 23:1. The people are the flock; teachers and rulers the pastors. 'Israel is a scattered sheep, the lions have driven him away.' 'As a shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear,' etc., Amo 3:12. Some of the images derived from husbandry, tending cattle, etc., may perhaps appear mean to us; though not to the Jews, whose manner of life was simple and plain, and whose greatest men (such as Moses, David, Gideon, etc.) were often husbandmen and shepherds. Accordingly, the Messiah himself is frequently described under the character of a shepherd. [See Fleury's Manners of the Israelites]. \"It was customary in deep mournings to shave the head and beard, to retire to the housetops, which in those countries were flat, and furnished with little chambers adapted to the purposes of devotion or of sequestered grief; also to sing dirges at funerals, and to accompany them with a mournful sort of music; and from these and the like circumstances images are frequently borrowed by the prophets to denote the greatest danger, and the deepest distress. 'Mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes.' 'Every head shall be bald, and every beard clipt - there shall be lamentation on all the house - tops of Moab,' Jer 48:36-38; Isa 15:2, Isa 15:3. \"The mode of burying in the Jewish sepulchers, or 'sides of the pit,' and their Hades, or state of the dead, supplied many images of the same kind. See observations on Isaiah 14 (note), and Eze 26:20 (note). \"According to the barbarous custom of those times, conquerors drove their captives before them almost naked, and exposed to the intolerable heat of the sun, and the inclemencies of the weather. They afterwards employed them frequently in grinding at the handmill, (watermills not being then invented); hence nakedness, and grinding at the mill, and sitting on the ground (the posture in which they wrought) express captivity. 'Descend and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; take the millstones - thy nakedness shall be uncovered,' Isa 47:1-3. \"The marriage relation supplied metaphors to express the relation or covenant between God and his people. On the other hand adultery, infidelity to the marriage bed, etc., denoted any breach of covenant with God, particularly the love and worship of idols. 'Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you,' Jer 3:14. 'There were two women, the daughters of one mother, and they committed whoredoms - with their idols have they committed adultery,' etc., Ezekiel 23:2-37. \"The debility and stupefaction caused by intoxicating liquors suggested very apt images to express the terrible effects of the Divine judgments on those who are the unhappy objects of them. 'Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness, with the cup of thy sister Samaria,' Eze 23:33. \"From the method of refining metals in the furnace images are often borrowed to denote the judgments inflicted by God on his people, with a view to cleanse them from their sins, as metal from its dross. 'Israel is dross in the midst of the furnac","order":23,"numberOfChapters":66,"sha256":"a528018850c41a64a3b051dc0473b385e63be7ccaadc79712fbb8ec16cf5e182","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ISA/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ISA","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":66,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ISA/66.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ISA","chapter":66},"totalNumberOfVerses":171},"chapter":{"number":65,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["I am sought of them that asked not for me \"I am made known to those that asked not for me\" - נדרשתי nidrashti, εμφανης εγενομην, the Septuagint, Alexandrian, and St. Paul, Rom 10:20; who has however inverted the order of the phrases, εμφανης εγενομην, \"I was made manifest, \"and ευρεδην, \"I was found, \"from that which they have in the Septuagint. נדרשתי nidrashti means, \"I am sought so as to be found.\" Vitringa. If this be the true meaning of the word, then שאלו shaalu, \"that asked,\" which follows, should seem defective, the verb wanting its object: but two MSS., one of them ancient, have שאלוני shealuni, \"asked me;\" and another MS. שאלו לי shealu li, \"asked for me;\" one or other of which seems to be right. But Cocceius in Lex., and Vitringa in his translation, render נדרשתי nidrashti, by \"I have answered;\" and so the verb is rendered by all the ancient Versions in Eze 20:3, Eze 20:31. If this be right, the translation will be, \"I have answered those that asked not.\" I leave this to the reader's judgment; but have followed in my translation the Septuagint and St. Paul, and the MSS. above mentioned. בקשני bikeshuni is written regularly and fully in above a hundred MSS. and in the oldest edition, בקשוני bikeshuni. - L. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["That sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick \"Sacrificing in the gardens, and burning incense on the tiles\" - These are instances of heathenish superstition, and idolatrous practices, to which the Jews were immoderately addicted before the Babylonish captivity. The heathen worshipped their idols in groves; whereas God, in opposition to this species of idolatry, commanded his people, when they should come into the promised land, to destroy all the places wherein the Canaanites had served their gods, and in particular to burn their groves with fire, Deu 12:2, Deu 12:3. These apostate Jews sacrificed upon altars built of bricks; in opposition to the command of God in regard to his altar, which was to be of unhewn stone, Exo 20:26. Et pro uno altari, quod impolitis lapidibus Dei erat lege constructum, coctos lateres et agrorum cespites hostiarum sanguine cruentabant. \"And instead of one altar which, according to the law of God, was, to be constructed of unhewn stones, they stained the bricks and turfs of the fields with the blood of their victims.\" Hieron. in loc. Or it means, perhaps, that they sacrificed upon the roofs of their houses, which were always flat, and paved with brick, or tile, or plaster of terrace. An instance of this idolatrous practice we find in Kg2 23:12, where it is said that Josiah \"beat down the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made.\" See also Zep 1:5. Sir John Chardin's MS. note on this place of Isaiah is as follows: \"Ainsi font tous les Gentiles, sur les lieux eleves, et sur les terrasses, appellez latcres, pareeque sont faits de briq.\" \"Who dwell in the sepulchres, and lodge in the caverns,\" for the purposes of necromancy and divination; to obtain dreams and revelations. Another instance of heathenish superstition: so Virgil: - \nHuc dona sacerdos\nCum tulit, et caesarum ovium sub nocte silenti\nPellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit:\nMulta modis simulacra videt volitantia miris,\nEt varias audit voces, fruiturque deorum\nColloquio, atque imis Acheronta affatur Avernis.\nAen. 7:86. - L.\n\"Here in distress the Italian nations come,\nAnxious, to clear their doubts, and learn their doom.\nFirst, on the fleeces of the slaughtered sheep,\nBy night the sacred priest dissolves in sleep:\nWhen in a train, before his slumbering eye,\nThin airy forms and wondrous visions fly.\nHe calls the powers who guard the infernal floods,\nAnd talks inspired, familiar with the gods.\"\nPitt.\nThere was a practice exactly like this which prevailed among the Highlanders of Scotland; an authentic account of this is given by Sir Walter Scott, in a note on his poem called The Lady of the Lake. It is as follows: - \n\"The Highlanders, like all rude people, had various superstitious modes of inquiring into futurity. One of the most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in the text. A person was wrapped up in the skin of a newly-slain bullock, and deposited beside a waterfall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or in some other strange, wild, and unusual situation, where the scenery around him suggested nothing but objects of horror. In this situation he revolved in his mind the question proposed; and whatever was impressed upon him by his exalted imagination passed for the inspiration of the disembodied spirits who haunt these desolate recesses. In some of the Hebrides, they attributed the same oracular power to a large black stone by the sea-shore, which they approached with certain solemnities; and considered the first fancy which came into their own minds after they did so, to be the undoubted dictate of the tutelar deity of the stone; and as such to be, if possible, punctually complied with. Martin has recorded the following curious modes of Highland augury, in which the Taghairm, and its effects upon the person who was subjected to it, may serve to illustrate the text.\n\"It was an ordinary thing among the over-curious to consult an invisible oracle concerning the fate of families and battles, etc. This was performed three different ways; the first was by a company of men, one of whom, being detached by lot, was afterwards carried to a river, which was the boundary between two villages. Four of the company laid hold on him; and, having shut his eyes, they took him by the legs and arms, and then, tossing him to and again, struck his hips with force against the bank. One of them cried out, What is it you have got here? Another answers, A log of birch-wood. The other cries again, Let his invisible friends appear from all quarters, and let them relieve him by giving an answer to our present demands; and in a few minutes after, a number of little creatures came from the sea, who answered the question, and disappeared suddenly. The man was then set at liberty; and they all returned home, to take their measures according to the prediction of their false prophets; but the poor deluded fools were abused, for the answer was still ambiguous. This was always practiced in the night, and may literally be called the works of darkness.\n\"I had an account from the most intelligent and judicious men in the Isle of Skie, that, about sixty-two years ago, the oracle was thus consulted only once, and that was in the parish of Kilmartin, on the east side, by a wicked and mischievous race of people, who are now extinguished, both root and branch.\n\"The second way of consulting the oracle was by a party of men, who first retired to solitary places, remote from any house; and there they singled out one of their number, and wrapt him in a big cow's hide, which they folded about him. His whole body was covered with it, except his head, and so left in this posture all night, until his invisible friends relieved him, by giving a proper answer to the question in hand; which he received, as he fancied, from several persons that he found about him all that time. His consorts returned to him at the break of day, and then he communicated his news to them; which often proved fatal to those concerned in such unwarrantable inquiries.\n\"There was a third way of consulting, which was a confirmation of the second above mentioned. The same company who put the man into the hide took a live cat, and put him on a spit. One of the number was employed to turn the spit, and one of his consorts inquired of him, What are you doing? He answered, I roast this cat until his friends answer the question; which must be the same that was proposed by the man shut up in the hide. And afterwards, a very big cat (in allusion to the story of 'the King of the Cats,' in Lord Lyttleton's Letters, and well known in the Highlands as a nursery tale) comes, attended by a number of lesser cats, desiring to relieve the cat turned upon the spit, and then answers the question. If this answer proved the same that was given to the man in the hide, then it was taken as a confirmation of the other, which, in this case, was believed infallible.\n\"Mr. Alexander Cooper, present minister of North-Vist, told me that one John Erach, in the Isle of Lewis, assured him it was his fate to have been led by his curiosity with some who consulted this oracle, and that he was a night within the hide, as above-mentioned; during which time he felt and heard such terrible things, that he could not express them. The impression it made on him was such as could never go off; and he said for a thousand worlds he would never again be concerned in the like performance, for this had disordered him to a high degree. He confessed it ingenuously, and with an air of great remorse; and seemed to be very penitent under a just sense of so great a crime. He declared this about five years since, and is still living in the Lewis for any thing I know.\" - Description of the Western Isles p. 110. See also Pennant's Scottish Tour, vol. 2 p. 361. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["Which remain among the graves - \"For the purpose of evoking the dead. They lodged in desert places that demons might appear to them; for demons do appear in such places, to those who do believe in them.\" - Kimchi.\nIn the monuments \"In the caverns\" - בנצורים bannetsurim, a word of doubtful signification. An ancient MS. has בצורים batstsurim, another בצרים batstsurim, \"in the rocks;\" and Le Clec thinks the Septuagint had it so in their copy. They render it by εν τοις στηλαιοις, \"in the caves.\"\nWhich eat swine's flesh - This was expressly forbidden by the law, Lev 11:7, but among the heathen was in principal request in their sacrifices and feasts. Antiochus Epiphanes compelled the Jews to eat swine's flesh, as a full proof of their renouncing their religion, 2 Maccabees 6:18 and 7:1. \"And the broth of abominable meats,\" for lustrations, magical arts, and other superstitious and abominable practices.\nIn their vessels - For כליהם keleyhem, a MS. had at first בכליהם bichleyhem. So the Vulgate and Chaldee, (and the preposition seems necessary to the sense), \"in their vessels.\" \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["For I am holier than thou - So the Chaldee renders it.\nקדשתיך kedashticha is the same with קדשתי ממך kadashti mimmecha. In the same manner חזקתני chazaktani, Jer 20:7, is used for חזקת ממני chazacta mimmenni, \"thou art stronger than I.\" - L. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["Behold, it is written before me - Their sin is registered in heaven, calling aloud for the punishment due to it.\nI will - recompense into their bosom - The bosom is the place where the Asiatics have their pockets, and not in their skirts like the inhabitants of the west. Their loose flowing garments have scarcely any thing analogous to skirts.\nInto their bosom - For על al, ten MSS. and five editions have אל el. So again at the end of this verse, seventeen MSS. and four editions have אל al. - L. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers \"Their iniquities, and the iniquities of their fathers\" - For the pronoun affixed of the second person חם chem, your, twice, read הם hem, their, in the third person; with the Septuagint and Houbigant. - L. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["A blessing is in it - The Hebrews call all things which serve for food ברכה berachah, \"a blessing.\" On this verse Kimchi remarks: \"As the cluster of grapes contains, besides the juice, the bark, and the kernels, so the Israelites have, besides the just, sinners among them. Now as the cluster must not be destroyed because there is a blessing, a nutritive part in it; so Israel shall not be destroyed, because there are righteous persons in it. But as the bark and kernels are thrown away, when the wine is pressed out, so shall the sinners be purged away from among the just, and on their return from exile, shall not be permitted to enter into the land of Israel;\" Eze 20:38.\nFor my servant's sakes \"For the sake of my servant\" - It is to be observed that one of the Koningsburg MSS. collated by Lilienthal points the word עבדי abdi, singular; that is, \"my servant,\" meaning the Messiah; and so read the Septuagint, which gives a very good sense. In two of my old MSS. it is pointed עבדי abadai, and עבדי abdi, \"my servant, \"this confirms the above reading. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["An inheritor of my mountains \"An inheritor of my mountain\" - הרי hari, in the singular number; so the Septuagint and Syriac; that is, of Mount Sion. See Isa 65:11 and Isa 56:7, to which Sion, the pronoun feminine singular, added to the verb in the next line, refers; ירשוה yereshuah, \"shall inherit her.\" - L. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["Sharon - and the valley of Achor - Two of the most fertile parts of Judea; famous for their rich pastures; the former to the west, not far from Joppa; the latter north of Jericho, near Gilgal. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["That prepare a table for that troop \"Who set in order a table for Gad\" - The disquisitions and conjectures of the learned concerning Gad and Meni are infinite and uncertain: perhaps the most probable may be, that Gad means good fortune, and Meni the moon. \"But why should we be solicitous about it?\" says Schmidius. \"It appears sufficiently, from the circumstances, that they were false gods; either stars, or some natural objects; or a mere fiction. The Holy Scriptures did not deign to explain more clearly what these objects of idolatrous worship were; but chose rather, that the memory of the knowledge of them should be utterly abolished. And God be praised, that they are so totally abolished, that we are now quite at a loss to know what and what sort of things they were.\" Schmidius on the place, and on Jdg 2:13, Bibl. Hallensia.\nJerome, on the place, gives an account of this idolatrous practice of the apostate Jews, of making a feast, or a lectisternium, as the Romans called it, for these pretended deities. Est in cunctis urbibus, et maxime in Aegypto, et in Alexandria, idololatriae vetus consuetudo, ut ultimo die anni, et mensis ejus qui extremus est, ponant mensam refertam varii generis epulis, et poculum mulso mixtum; vel praeteriti anni vel futuri fertilitatem auspicantes. Hoc autem faciebant et Israelitae, omnium simulachrorum portenta venerantes; et nequaquam altari victimas, sed hujusmodi mensae liba fundebant. \"In all cities, and especially in Egypt and Alexandria, it was an ancient idolatrous custom on the last day of the year, to spread a table covered with various kinds of viands, and a goblet mixed with new wine, referring to the fertility either of the past or coming year. The Israelites did the same, worshipping all kinds of images, and pouring out libations on such tables,\" etc. See also Le Clerc on the place; and on Isa 66:17, and Dav. Millii Dissert. v.\nThe allusion to Meni, which signifies number, is obvious. If there had been the like allusion to Gad, which might have been expected, it might perhaps have helped to let us into the meaning of that word. It appears from Jerome's version of this place, that the words τῳ δαιμονιω, to a demon, (or δαιμονι, as some copies have it), and τῃ τυχῃ, to fortune, stood in his time in the Greek version in an inverted order from that which they have in the present copies; the latter then answering to גד gad, the former to מני meni: by which some difficulty would be avoided; for it is commonly supposed that גד gad signifies τυχη, Fortune. See Gen 30:11, apud Sept. This matter is so far well cleared up by MSS. Pachom. and 1. D. II., which agree in placing these two words in that order, which Jerome's version supposes. - L.\nMy Old MS. Bible translates: That putten the borde of fortune; and offreden licours upon it; and so the Vulgate.\nἙτοιμαζοντες τῳ δαιμονιῳ τραπεζαν, και πληρουντες τῃ τυχῃ κερασμα. Preparing a table for the demon, and filling up, or pouring out, a libation to fortune.\"\nSeptuagint.\nYe have set up an aulter unto fortune\nAnd geven rich drink offeringes unto treasure.\nCoverdale. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["Therefore will I number you - Referring to Meni, which signifies number \"Rabbi Eliezar said to his disciples, Turn to God one day before you die. His disciples said, How call a man know the day of his death? He answered, Therefore it is necessary that you should turn to God to-day, for possibly ye may die to-morrow.\" \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["My servants shalt eat, but ye shall be hungry - Rabbi Joachan ben Zachai said in a parable: There was a king who invited his servants, but set them no time to come to the feast. The prudent and wary who were among them adorned themselves; and, standing at the gate of the king's house, said, Is there any thing lacking in the king's house? i.e., Is there any work to be done in it? But the foolish which were among them went, and mocking said, When shall the feast be, in which there is no labor? Suddenly, the king sought out his servants: they who were adorned entered in, and they who were still polluted entered in also. The king was glad when he met the prudent, but he was angry when he met the foolish. Therefore he said, Let those sit down, and let them eat; but let these stand and look on.\nThis parable is very like that of the wise and foolish virgins, Matthew 25, and that of the marriage of the king's son, Matthew 22. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["Shall slay thee \"Shall slay you\" - For והמיתך vehemithecha, shall slay thee, the Septuagint and Chaldee read והמיתכם vehemithechem, shall slay you, plural. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":17,"content":["I create new heavens and a new earth - This has been variously understood. Some Jews and some Christians understand it literally. God shall change the state of the atmosphere, and render the earth more fruitful. Some refer it to what they call the Millennium; others, to a glorious state of religion; others, to the re-creation of the earth after it shall have been destroyed by fire. I think it refers to the full conversion of the Jews ultimately; and primarily to the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":18,"content":["Rejoice for ever in that which I create \"Exult in the age to come which I create\" - So in Isa 9:5 אבי עד abi ad, πατηρ του μελλοντος αιωνος, \"the father of the age to come,\" Sept. See Bishop Chandler, Defence of Christianity, p. 136. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":19,"content":["The voice of weeping, etc. - \"Because of untimely deaths shall no more be heard in thee; for natural death shall not happen till men be full of days; as it is written, Isa 65:20 : There shall be no more thence an infant of days, i.e., the people shall live to three or five hundred years of age, as in the days of the patriarchs; and if one die at one hundred years, it is because of his sin; and even at that age he shall be reputed an infant; and they shall say of him, An infant is dead. These things shall happen to Israel in the days of the Messiah.\" - Kimchi. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":20,"content":["Thence \"There\" - For משם mishsham, thence, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read שם sham, there. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":22,"content":["They shall not build, and another inhabit - The reverse of the curse denounced on the disobedient, Deu 28:30 : \"Thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein; thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.\"\nFor as the days of a tree - It is commonly supposed that the oak, one of the most longlived of the trees, lasts about a thousand years; being five hundred years growing to full perfection, and as many decaying: which seems to be a moderate and probable computation. See Evelyn, Sylva, B. 3 chap. 3. The present emperor of China, in his very ingenious and sensible poem entitled Eloge de Moukden, a translation of which in French was published at Paris, 1770, speaks of a tree in his country which lives more than a hundred ages: and another, which after fourscore ages is only in its prime, pp. 37, 38. But his imperial majesty's commentators, in their note on the place, carry the matter much farther; and quote authority, which affirms, that the tree last mentioned by the emperor, the immortal tree, after having lived ten thousand years, is still only in its prime. I suspect that the Chinese enlarge somewhat in their national chronology, as well as in that of their trees. See Chou King. Preface, by Mons. de Guignes. The prophet's idea seems to be, that they shall live to the age of the antediluvians; which seems to be very justly expressed by the days of a tree, according to our notions. The rabbins have said that this refers to the tree of life, which endures five hundred years. - L. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":23,"content":["They shall not labor in vain \"My chosen shall not labor in vain\" - I remove בחירי bechirai, my elect, from the end of the twenty-second to the beginning of the twenty-third verse, on the authority of the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, and a MS.; contrary to the division in the Masoretic text. - L. The Septuagint is beautiful: My chosen shall not labor in vain, neither shall they beget children for the curse; for the seed is blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with them.\"\nNor bring forth for trouble \"Neither shall they generate a short-lived race\" - לבהלה labbehalah, in festinationem, \"what shall soon hasten away.\" Εις καταραν for a curse, Sept. They seem to have read לאלה lealah. - Grotius. But Psa 78:33 both justifies and explains the word here: - \n\nימיהם בהבל ויכל yemeyhem bahebel vayechal בבהלה ושנותם babbehalah ushenotham \n\"And he consumed their days in vanity;\nAnd their years in haste.\"\nμετα σπουδης, say the Septuagint. Jerome on this place of Isaiah explains it to the same purpose: \"εις ανυπαρξιαν, hoc est, ut esse desistant.\" \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":24,"content":["Before they call, I will answer - I will give them all they crave for, and more than they can desire. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":25,"content":["The wolf and the lamb, etc. - The glorious salvation which Jesus Christ procures is for men, and for men only: fallen spirits must still abide under the curse: \"He took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.\"\nShall feed together - For כאחד keechad, as one, an ancient MS. has יחדו yachdav, together; the usual word, to the same sense, but very different in the letters. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate seem to agree with the MSS. - L.\n\n"]}],"introduction":"We have here a vindication of God's dealings with the Jews, Isa 65:1, Isa 65:2. To this end the prophet points out their great hypocrisy, and gives a particular enumeration of their dreadful abominations, many of which were committed under the specious guise of sanctity, Isa 65:3-5. For their horrid impieties, (recorded in writing before Jehovah), the wrath of God shall certainly come upon them to the uttermost; a prediction which was exactly fulfilled in the first and second centuries in the reigns of the Roman emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Hadrian, when the whole Jewish polity was dissolved, and the people dispersed all over the world, Isa 65:6, Isa 65:7. Though God had rejected the Jews, and called the Gentiles, who sought him not, (Rom 9:24-26), yet a remnant from among the former shall be preserved, to whom he will in due time make good all his promises, Isa 65:8-10. Denunciation of Divine vengeance against those idolaters who set in order a table for Gad, and fill out a libation to Meni, ancient idolatries, which, from the context, and from the chronological order of the events predicted, have a plain reference to the idolatries practiced by Antichrist under the guise of Christianity, Isa 65:11, Isa 65:12. Dreadful fate which awaits these gross idolaters beautifully contrasted with the great blessedness reserved for the righteous, Isa 65:13-16. Future restoration of the posterity of Jacob, and the happy state of the world in general from that most glorious epoch, represented by the strong figure of the creation of new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, and into which no distress shall be permitted to enter, Isa 65:17-19. In this new state of things the term of human life shall be greatly protracted, and shall possess none of that uncertainty which attaches to it in \"the heavens and the earth which are now.\" This is elegantly illustrated by the longevity of a tree; manifestly alluding to the oak or cedar of Lebanon, some individuals of which are known to have lived from seven to ten centuries, Isa 65:20-23. Beautiful figures shadowing forth the profound peace and harmony of the Church of Jesus Christ, which shall immediately follow the total overthrow of Antichrist; with a most gracious promise that the great chain of Omnipotence shall be put upon every adversary, so that none will be able any longer to hurt and destroy in all God's holy mountain, Isa 65:24, Isa 65:25.\nThis chapter contains a defense of God's proceedings in regard to the Jews, with reference to their complaint in the chapter preceding. God is introduced declaring that he had called the Gentiles, though they had not sought him; and had rejected his own people for their refusal to attend to his repeated call; for their obstinate disobedience, their idolatrous practices, and detestable hypocrisy. That nevertheless he would not destroy them all; but would preserve a remnant, to whom he would make good his ancient promises. Severe punishments are threatened to the apostates; and great rewards are promised to the obedient in a future flourishing state of the Church. - L. \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ISA/65.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ISA","chapter":65},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ISA/66.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ISA","chapter":66},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ISA/64.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ISA","chapter":64},"numberOfVerses":21}