{"commentary":{"id":"john-gill","name":"John Gill Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gill_(theologian)","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"John Gill Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"f6fcfd6c3a726dc834cfaf1ae1cd0bf49bffb88c1246ac3500699e8af7be71a5","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/john-gill/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/john-gill/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":66,"totalNumberOfChapters":1189,"totalNumberOfVerses":29707,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"ISA","commentaryId":"john-gill","name":"Isaiah","commonName":"Isaiah","introduction":"INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH \n\nThis book is called, in the New Testament, sometimes \"the Book of the Words of the Prophet Esaias\", Luk 3:4 sometimes only the \"Prophet Esaias\", Act 8:28 and sometimes, as here, the \"Book of the Prophet Esaias\", Luk 4:17. In the Syriac version the title is, \"the Prophecy of Isaiah the Son of Amos\": and in the Arabic version, \"the Beginning of the Prophecy of Isaiah the Prophet\". It stands first of all the prophets; though the order of the prophets, according to the Jews (a), is, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the twelve. But it is here placed first, not because Isaiah prophesied before the other prophets; for Joel, Jonah, Hosea, and Amos, begun before him, namely, in or before the days of Jeroboam the Second; but because of the excellency of the matter contained in it. Isaiah is called by Ben Syra (b) the great prophet, and by Eusebius (c) the greatest of the prophets; and Jerom (d) a says, he should rather be called an evangelist than a prophet, since he seems rather to write a history of things past, than to prophesy of things to come; yea, he styles him an apostle, as well as an evangelist (e): and certain it is that no one writes so fully and clearly of the person, offices, grace, and kingdom of Christ; of his incarnation and birth of a virgin; of his sufferings and death, and the glory that should follow, as he does. John, the forerunner of Christ, began his ministry with a passage out of him concerning himself, Mat 3:3. Our Lord preached his first sermon at Nazareth out of this book, Luk 4:17 and it was in this the eunuch was reading when Philip came up to him, who from the same Scripture preached to him Christ, Act 8:28. And there are more citations in the New Testament made out of this prophecy than any other book, excepting the book of Psalms, as Musculus observes. To which may be added, as another reason, the elegance and sublimity of his style in which he exceeds the greatest of orators, Demosthenes among the Greeks, and Tully among the Romans; and this is observed both by Jews and Christians. Abarbinel (f) says, that the purity, and elegance of his diction is like that of kings and counsellors, who speak more purely and elegantly than other men: hence their Rabbins, he says, compare Isaiah to a citizen, and Ezekiel to a countryman. And Jerom (g) observes, that Isaiah is so eloquent and polite, that there is nothing of rusticity in his language; and that his style is so florid, that a translation cannot preserve it. Moreover, another reason of this book being placed first may be the bulk of it; it being larger, and containing more chapters, than any of the greater prophets, and almost as many as all the lesser prophets put together. That Isaiah was the writer of this book is not to be questioned; many of the prophecies in it are by name ascribed to him, Mat 13:14 though some others might be the compilers of it, collect his prophecies, and digest them in order: so the Jews say (h), that Hezekiah and his company wrote Isaiah, &c. At what time, and in whose days he prophesied, may be learnt from Isa 1:1 by which it appears that he prophesied long, and lived to a good old age. He began to prophesy about A. M. 3236, and about seven hundred and seventy years before Christ. Abulpharagius, an Arabic writer, says (i), he lived an hundred and twenty years, eighty five of which he prophesied. It is a generally received tradition with the Jews, that he lived to the time of Manasseh, and that he was sawn asunder by him; and which has been embraced by the ancient Christian writers, and is thought to be referred to in Heb 11:37. See Gill on Heb 11:37. But Aben Ezra on Isa 1:1 observes, that had he lived to the time of Manasseh, it would have been written, and is of opinion that he died in Hezekiah's time. According to the Cippi Hebraici (k), he was buried at Tekoah, over whose grave a beautiful monument was erected; though Epiphanius (l), or the author of the Lives of the Prophets that go by his name, says he was buried under the oak of Rogel, near the fountain of Siloam; and it is a tradition with the Syriac writers, that his body lay hid in the waters of Siloah; See Gill on Joh 5:4 but these are things not to be depended on; and alike fabulous are all other writings ascribed to him, besides this prophecy; as what are called the ascension of Isaiah, the vision of Isaiah, and the conference of Isaiah. This book contains some things historical, but chiefly prophetic; of which some relate to the punishment of the Jews, and other nations; but for the most part are evangelical, and concern the kingdom and grace of Christ; of which some are delivered out more clearly and perspicuously, and others more obscurely, under the type of the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity. \n\n(a) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 14. 2. (b) Ecclesiasticus, ch. xlviii. ver. 22. (c) Demonstrat, Evangel. l. 5. c. 4. inscript. p. 225. (d) Adv. Ruffinum, fol. 76. D. tom. 2. ad Paulam & Eustechium, fol. 8. M. tom. 3. (e) Prooem. in Es. fol. 2. B. tom. 5. (f) Comment. in Proph. Poster. fol. 1. 2. (g) Ad Paulam, ut supra, (& Eustechium, fol. 8. M. tom. 3.) (h) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 15. 1. (i) Hist. Dynast. p. 43. (k) P. 11. Ed. Hottinger. (l) De Vitis Prophet. c. 7. & Isidor. Hispalens. de Vit. & Mort. Sanct. c. 37. \n\n\n\nNext: Isaiah Chapter 1\n\n","order":23,"numberOfChapters":66,"sha256":"0fdec92bb44896a043963c0d66c20f49ab8505986420016b97be38a68f84c6d0","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/john-gill/ISA/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"john-gill","book":"ISA","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":66,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/john-gill/ISA/66.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"john-gill","book":"ISA","chapter":66},"totalNumberOfVerses":1292},"chapter":{"number":17,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["The burden of Damascus,.... A heavy and grievous prophecy, concerning the destruction of it; the Arabic version is,\n\n\"the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Damascus;''\n\nand the Targum is,\n\n\"the burden of the cup of cursing to give Damascus to drink.''\n\nBehold, Damascus is taken away from being a city; a kingdom, as the Targum; it was the head of one, but now its walls were demolished, its houses pulled down, and its inhabitants carried captive; this was done by Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, 2 Kings 16:9 it had been a very ancient city, see Genesis 15:2 and the head of the kingdom of Syria, Isaiah 7:8, and though it underwent this calamity, it was rebuilt again, and was a city of great fame, when destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 49:24 after which it was raised up again, and was in being in the apostle's time, and still is, Acts 9:22, 2 Corinthians 11:32.\n\nand it shall be a ruinous heap; or a heap of stones, as the Targum and Kimchi interpret it. A \"behold\" is prefixed to the whole, as being very wonderful and remarkable, unthought of, and unexpected. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["The cities of Aroer are forsaken,.... The inhabitants of them being slain, or carried captive, or obliged to flee. Aroer was a city by the river Arnon, on the borders of Moab and Ammon, Deuteronomy 2:36, Deuteronomy 3:12, it was originally in the hands of the Amorites, and sometimes in the hands of the Moabites and Ammonites: it was given by Moses to the Reubenites and, Gadites, from whom it was taken by the Syrians, and in whose possession it seems to have been at this time; see 2 Kings 10:33 though Jarchi thinks it was now in the hands of Pekah king of Israel, and said to be forsaken, because the Reubenites and Gadites were now carried captive. Jerom (m) says it was seen in his time, upon the top of the mountain. Here it seems to designs a country of this name, in which were many cities. Grotius thinks it was a tract of land in Syria, the same with the Aveira of Ptolemy (n). Vitringa is of opinion that Damascus itself is meant, which was a double city, like that divided by the river Chrysorrhoas, as this was by Arnon.\n\nThey shall be for flocks which shall lie down; instead of houses, there should be sheepcotes and shepherds' tents, and instead of men, sheep; and where streets were, grass would grow, and flocks feed and lie down; which is expressive of the utter desolation of these cities, or this tract of ground:\n\nand none shall make them afraid; the flocks of sheep, timorous creatures, easily frightened; but so great should be the depopulation now, there would be no man upon the spot, or any pass by, to give them any disturbance.\n\n(m) De locis. Heb. fol. 87. 1.((n) Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,.... The ten tribes, now in confederacy with the Syrians, whose metropolis or fortress was Samaria, which seems to be intended here; and should be destroyed, at least taken out of the hands of the Israelites, and they be carried captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, 2 Kings 17:6 and this may be understood, not of that particular city and fortress only, but of all their strongholds, the singular being, put for the plural. The Targum is, \"the government shall cease from Ephraim\"; they shall have no more a king over them, nor have they to this day:\n\nand the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria; Damascus was the head city of Syria, where the kings of Syria had their palace; but now that and the rest of Syria should no more be a kingdom of itself, but should be subject unto others, as it has been ever since:\n\nthey shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts; that is, the Syrians, who were in alliance with Israel, should share the same fate; should be carried captive as they were; should have their metropolis and other cities, and their whole kingdom, taken from them, and be stripped of their grandeur and wealth, and have no more glory than they had; which was none at all; or at least very small, as the next verse shows Isaiah 17:4. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["And in that day it shall come to pass,.... It being much about the same time that both kingdoms were destroyed by the Assyrians:\n\nthat the glory of Jacob shall be made thin; the same with Ephraim and Israel, the ten tribes, whose glory lay in the superior number of their tribes to Judah; in the multitude of their cities, and the inhabitants of them; but now would be thinned, by the vast numbers that should be carried captive:\n\nand the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean: like a man in a consumption, that is become a mere skeleton, and reduced to skin and bones: the meaning is, that all their wealth and riches should be taken away; so the Targum,\n\n\"and the riches of his glory shall be carried away.'' \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn,.... The \"standing\" corn, as in the Hebrew text: \"and reapeth the ears with his arm\"; or \"his arm reaps the ears\" (o); that is, with one hand he gathers the standing corn into his fist, and then reaps it with his other arm; and just so it should be with the people of Israel: they were like a field of standing corn, for number, beauty, and glory; the Assyrian was like a harvestman, who laid hold upon them, and cut them down, as thick and as numerous as they were, just as a harvestman cuts down the corn, and with as much ease and quick dispatch; they being no more able to stand before him than a field of corn before the reaper! this was done both by Tilgathpilneser, 2 Kings 15:29 and by Shalmaneser, 2 Kings 17:6 kings of Assyria:\n\nand it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim; the Targum renders it,\n\n\"the valley of giants.''\n\nand so it is translated, Joshua 15:8 mention is made of it in 2 Samuel 5:18 it was a valley not far from Jerusalem, as Josephus (p) says; who also calls it the valley of the giants: it is thought to have been a very fruitful place, where the ears of corn were very large and heavy, and so great care was taken in gathering and gleaning that none be lost: wherefore, as the former simile signifies the carrying off the people of Israel in great numbers by the above kings, this may signify, as some have thought, either the picking up of those that fled without, or the gleaning of them in after times by Esarhaddon, Ezra 4:2.\n\n(o)   \"et brachium ejus spicas demeteret\", Junius & Tremellius; \"demetit\", Piscator, &c. (p) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 4. sect. 1. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it,.... In Ephraim or Jacob; that is, in the ten tribes, a few of them should escape, a remnant should be saved; comparable, for the smallness of their number, to grapes that are gleaned after the vintage is got in: though Kimchi interprets it of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were but few, in comparison of the ten tribes, who were many; and Jarchi explains it of Hezekiah and his company, in the midst of Jerusalem, who were but few; and observes, that some of their Rabbins understood it of the few men that were left of the multitude of Sennacherib's army, when it was destroyed; but the first sense is best: and the same thing is signified by another simile,\n\nas the shaking of an olive tree; with the hand, when the fruit is ripe; or, \"as the striking\" (q) of it with a staff; to beat off the berries, when there are left\n\ntwo or three berries at the top of the uppermost bough: the word \"amir\" is only used here, and in Isaiah 17:9 and signifies, as Kimchi says, the upper bough or branch; and so Aben Ezra interprets it, the highest part of the olive; and observes, that it so signifies in the language of Kedar, or the Arabic language; in which it is used for a king, a prince, an emperor, one that has the command and government of others (r); and hence the word \"amiral\" or \"admiral\" comes: now two or three olive berries, being in the uppermost bough, are left, because they cannot be reached by the hand of the gatherer, nor by the staff of the striker. Kimchi applies this to Jerusalem, which was the highest part of the land of Israel; and what was in it the hand of the king of Assyria could not reach:\n\nfour or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof; which escape the gatherer, shaker, or striker, for the same reason. These similes are very aptly made use of, since the people of Israel are frequently compared to grapes, and vines, and olives, Isaiah 5:1, Jeremiah 11:16,\n\nsaith the Lord God of Israel; this is added to confirm what is said, and to express the certainty of it; and shows that the Israelites are meant, to whom the Lord was a covenant God. The Targum applies the metaphors thus,\n\n\"so shall the righteous be left alone in the world among the kingdoms, saith the Lord God of Israel.''\n\n(q)  \"ut strictura oleae\", Cocceius. (r) \"imperator; princeps, dux qui allis quomodo cumque praest imperatque\", Golius, col. 158. Castel. Colossians 150. though the verb in the Hebrew language is used in the sense of elevation or lifting up, and seems to be derived from hence. So Schindler, Colossians 96. \"ramus, summitas rami----inde verbum\", \"eminere aut prominere fecit, rami aut frondis instar exaltavit, extulit, evexit\", Deuteronomy 26.17, 18. Psal. xciv. 4. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["At that day shall a man look to his Maker,.... The one only living and true God, who has made him, and not he himself, nor any other creature; that is, such as are left, as before described, the remnant, according to the election of grace; these shall look to God for help and assistance, for supply, support, and protection; and to Christ particularly, who is the Maker of all things, without whom was not any thing made that is made, for all spiritual blessings; for righteousness and strength, for peace and pardon, for food, and all comfortable supplies of grace, for life and salvation; who is set up to be looked unto for these things; to whom men are directed and encouraged to look for them, both by himself, and by his ministers, and to whom saints in all ages have looked and have not been disappointed; and to this sense the following words incline:\n\nand his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel; who in this prophecy is said to be the Redeemer, Isaiah 43:14 he is the Holy One that sprung from literal Israel; and is the sanctifier of mystical Israel; to which agrees the Targum,\n\n\"and his eyes shall hope for the Word of the Holy One of Israel:''\n\nthe Word by whom all things were made in the beginning, and who was made flesh and dwelt among men. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["And he shall not took to the altars, the work of his hands,.... That is, to altars erected to the worship of idols, which are both the works of men's hands, so as to serve at them, and sacrifice upon them. Kimchi observes, that the latter clause is not to be understood as belonging to the former, but as distinct from it, and signifies idols which men have made; otherwise all altars, even the altars of God, were the works of men, which yet it was right to look unto, and offer sacrifice upon; but idol altars, and idols themselves, are here meant: and a good man will not look unto his good works as altars to atone for sin; he knows that nothing that a creature can do can expiate sin; that his best works are such as are due to God, and therefore can never atone for past crimes; that Jesus Christ is only the altar, sacrifice, and priest, to whom he looks for, and from whom he receives the atonement:\n\nneither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves or the images; both might be said to be made by the fingers of men, the former being planted, and, the latter carved and fashioned by them; whether by groves are meant clusters of trees, where idols and altars were placed, or medals struck with such a representation on them, and also whatever images are here designed: the word signifies sun images, images made to represent the sun, or for the honour and worship of it. Aben Ezra says they were images made according to the likeness of chariots for the sun. The Targum renders it \"temples\", such as were dedicated to the sun; though some understand by it sunny places, where their idols were set and sunburnt, as distinct from shady groves. Good men will not took to their own works, what their fingers have wrought, as groves to shelter them from divine wrath and vengeance, or as idols to bow down to, trust in, and depend upon for salvation; but reject them, and look to Christ only. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch,.... Meaning the strong cities of Ephraim or Jacob, the ten tribes, which should be forsaken of their inhabitants; having fled from before the enemy, or being slain or carried captive; like a bough of a tree, that is forsaken stripped of its leaves, and an uppermost branch of a tree that is dead and dry, and has nothing on it:\n\nwhich they left; or \"as they left\", or \"were left\":\n\nbecause of the children of Israel; \"from the face of\" them; or for fear of them; that is, the same cities which the Canaanites left; and as they left them, or were left by them, for fear of the Israelites; the same, and in the same manner, shall they be left by the Israelites, for fear of the Assyrians; and so the Septuagint version reads the words,\n\n\"in that day thy cities shall be forsaken, in like manner as the Amorites and Hivites left them, from the face of the children of Israel;''\n\nand this sense is given by Aben Ezra and Kimchi: though some interpret it of some places being spared and left for the remnant to dwell in; but what follows in this verse, and in the next Isaiah 17:10, shows the contrary sense:\n\nand there shall be desolation; over all those cities, and in all the land; though Aben Ezra particularly applies it to Samaria, the royal city. Jerom interprets the whole of the cities of Judea being forsaken of their inhabitants, when the Romans besieged Jerusalem, and made the land desolate; which calamity came upon them, for their neglect and forgetfulness of Jesus the Saviour. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation,.... Who had been the author of salvation to them many a time, in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in various instances since; and yet they had forgot his works of mercy and goodness, and had left his worship, and gone after idols; and this was the cause of their cities being forsaken, and becoming a desolation:\n\nand hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength; or strong Rock, who had supplied and supported them, protected and defended them:\n\ntherefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants; or \"plants of pleasant fruit\" (s), or \"plants of Naamanim\"; and so Aben Ezra takes it to be the proper name of a plant in the Arabic language, and which he says is a plant that grows very quick; perhaps he means \"Anemone\", which is so called in that language (t), and is near to it in sound; though rather, not any particular plant is meant, but all sorts of pleasant plants, flowers, and fruit trees, with which the land of Israel abounded:\n\nand shall set it with strange slips; with foreign ones, such as are brought from other countries, and are scarce and dear, and highly valued; and by \"plants\" and \"slips\" may be meant false and foreign doctrines, inculcating idolatry and superstition, which are pleasing to the flesh (u).\n\n(s)  \"plantas amaenorum fructuum\", Piscator. (t) Alnaaman \"Anemone\", in Avicenna, l. 256. 1. \"vel a colore sanguineo, vel quod ab illo adamaretur rege\", Golius, col. 2409. Castel. col. 2346. (u) So Vitringa. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["In the day shall thou make thy plant to grow,.... Not that it is in the power of man to make it grow; but the sense is, that all means and methods should be used to make it grow, no cost nor pains should be spared:\n\nand in the morning shall thou make thy seed to flourish; which may denote both diligence in the early care of it, and seeming promising success; and yet all should be in vain, and to no purpose:\n\nbut the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief; or \"of inheritance\"; when it was about to be possessed and enjoyed, according to expectation, it shall be all thrown together in a heap, and be spoiled by the enemy: or, \"the harvest\" shall be \"removed in the day of inheritance\" (w); just when the fruit is ripe, and going to be gathered in, the enemy shall come and take it all away; and so, instead of being a time of joy, as harvest usually is, it will be a time of grief and trouble,\n\nand of desperate sorrow too, or \"deadly\"; which will leave them in despair, without hope of subsistence for the present year, or of having another harvest hereafter, the land coming into the hands of their enemies.\n\n(w)    \"recedit messis in die hereditatis sive possessionis\"; so some in Vatablus. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["Woe to the multitude of many people,..... Not as lamenting the people of the Jews with Hezekiah, as if they were the words of the prophet bemoaning their condition, saying, \"O the multitude\", &c. nor intending the Syrians and Israelites joined together against Judah; but the Assyrian army under Sennacherib, which consisted of people of many nations, and was very numerous, who are either threatened or called unto. A new subject is here begun, though a short one.\n\nwhich make a noise like the noise of the seas; in a storm, when they foam and rage, and overflow the banks; this may refer both to the noise made by the march of such a vast army, the rattling of their armour and chariot wheels, and prancing of their horses; and to the hectoring, blustering, and blasphemous speeches of Sennacherib and Rabshakeh:\n\nand to the rushing of nations, or \"rushing nations\",\n\nthat make a rushing like the rushing of mighty, waters; which denotes the fury and force with which they come, threatening to bear down all before them, as an inundation of water does. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters,.... With great force and noise, and run over the whole land, as the Assyrian army did, until it came to Jerusalem, and there it stopped; see Isaiah 8:7,\n\nbut God shall rebuke them; as he did the waters of the Red Sea, Psalm 106:9 and as Christ rebuked the winds and sea, and made a calm, Matthew 8:26. The word \"God\" is not in the text, but rightly supplied; for as none but he can rebuke the mighty waters of the sea, so none but he could have destroyed such an army in the manner it was, and wrought such a salvation for his people. The phrase, is expressive both of his wrath and power.\n\nAnd they shall flee afar off; from Jerusalem to Nineveh, reckoned to be six hundred and eighty four miles from thence: or, \"he shall flee afar off\" (x); that is, Sennacherib, and the few that escaped with him, for, his army was destroyed; see 2 Kings 19:36,\n\nand shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind; chaff upon the floor is easily chased away with the fan, and much more easily chaff upon the mountains with the wind; it was usual with the Jews to thresh their corn, and winnow it on hills and mountains, to which the allusion is; see 2 Chronicles 3:1 or \"the dust of the mountains\", as some (y) render it, which is more exposed to the wind than that in the valleys. Kings and great men of the earth are but as dust with God; and the higher they are, or they exalt themselves, the more they are exposed to the power of his wrath, and as easily cast down as the dust is scattered by the wind:\n\nand like a rolling thing before the whirlwind; or \"like a wheel\" (z), as the word is sometimes rendered; or any round thing, as a round wisp of straw or stubble, which is easily and swiftly moved and rolled along, especially by a strong wind. Jarchi interprets it of the flower of thorns; that is, the down of the thistle, which, when blown off, rolls up, and, being exceeding light, is carried away at once; see Psalm 83:13 all which shows what poor light things the greatest of men are in the hands of God, and with what ease he can chase them from place to place, and out of the world, when it is his pleasure.\n\n(x)  \"fugiet de procul\", Vatablus. (y)  \"velut, pulvis montium\", Tigurine version. (z) \"sicut rota\". Junius & Tremellius; \"tanquam glomus stipularum\", Piscator. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["And behold at eveningtide trouble,.... Or terror (a) and consternation; which some understand of that which was in the Assyrian army, when the Angel of the Lord destroyed it, taking \"evening for night\", for it was in the night that that was done; so Jarchi interprets it of Shedim, a sort of spirits or demons, that came against the enemy, and troubled and frightened them: but it is best to take it in the more common sense, of the trouble that Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were in, on the evening or night before their deliverance; the whole land of Judea round about them being laid waste, their city besieged by a powerful army, and the enemy blaspheming, blustering, and triumphing:\n\nand before the morning he is not; Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, he was not before Jerusalem, he was fled: or \"it was not\" (b); the Assyrian army was not, it was destroyed by an angel in the night, and in the morning were all dead corpses, 2 Kings 19:35 or trouble was not, that was all over, joy came in the morning; see Psalm 30:5,\n\nthis is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us; these are the words of the prophet, and of the people of God, he represents, making observation upon, and use of the above dispensation, though not confining it to that; and their meaning is, that this is not the case of these Assyrians only, but of all the enemies of God's people, who, sooner or later, come to destruction; and which is not by chance, but by the appointment and disposition of God, who allots and portions out ruin unto them, as the just reward of their works; see Job 20:29.\n\n(a) \"terror\", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (b) \"non ipsa\", Montanus. \n"]}]},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/john-gill/ISA/17.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"john-gill","book":"ISA","chapter":17},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/john-gill/ISA/18.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"john-gill","book":"ISA","chapter":18},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/john-gill/ISA/16.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"john-gill","book":"ISA","chapter":16},"numberOfVerses":14}