Isaiah 14:19 Komentář

In this chapter, I. More weight is added to the burden of Babylon, enough to sink it like a mill-stone; I. It is Israel's cause that is to be pleaded in this quarrel with Babylon (Isa 14:1-3). 2. The king of Babylon, for the time being, shall be remarkably brought down and triumphed over (v. 4-20). 3. The whole race of the Babylonians shall be cut off and extirpated (Isa 14:21-23). II. A confirmation of the prophecy of the destruction of Babylon, which was a thing at a distance, is here given in the prophecy of the destruction of the Assyrian army that invaded the land, which happened not long after (Isa 14:24-27). III. The success of Hezekiah against the Philistines is here foretold, and the advantages which his people would gain thereby (Isa 14:28-32).

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 14 This chapter contains prophecies of the restoration of the Jews, of the fall of the king of Babylon, and the destruction of the Assyrian empire, and of the ruin of Palestine. The moving cause of the restoration of the Jews, and their settlement in their own land, is the distinguishing mercy of God towards them; the accomplishment of it, proselytes joined unto them; the means, people of other nations, who should bring them into it, and whom they should possess and rule over; and the consequence of it, rest from sorrow, fear, and hard bondage, Isa 14:1 upon which they are introduced as taking up a proverb, or a triumphant song, concerning the king of Babylon, wondering at his fall, and ascribing it to the Lord, Isa 14:4 representing the inhabitants of the earth, and great men of it, as at peace, and rest, and rejoicing, who before were continually disturbed, and smitten by him, Isa 14:6 introducing the dead, and those in hell, meeting him, and welcoming him into their regions, with taunts and jeers; upbraiding him with his weakness, shame, and disgrace he was come into; putting him in mind of his former pomp and splendour, pride, arrogance, and haughtiness, Isa 14:9 spectators are brought in, as amazed at the low, mean, and despicable condition he was brought into, considering what he had done in the world, in kingdoms and cities, but was now denied a burial, when other kings lay in their pompous sepulchres, Isa 14:16 and then it is foretold that that whole royal family should be cut off, and Babylon, the metropolis of his kingdom, should be utterly destroyed, Isa 14:21 all which was settled and fixed by the purpose of God, which could not be made void, Isa 14:24 and next follows a prophecy of the destruction of Palestine; the date of the prophecy is given Isa 14:28 the inhabitants of Palestine are bid not to rejoice at the death of one of the kings of Judah, since another should arise, who would be fatal to them, Isa 14:29 and while the Jews would be in safety, they would be destroyed by famine and war, Isa 14:30 from all which it would appear, and it might be told the messengers of the nations, or any inquiring persons, that Zion is of the Lord's founding, and under his care and protection, and that his people have great reason and encouragement to trust in him, Isa 14:32.

But thou art cast out of thy grave,.... Or rather "from" it (d); that is, he was not suffered to be put into it, or to have a burial, as the following words show, at least not to be laid in the grave designed for him; though the Jews (e), who apply this to Nebuchadnezzar, have a fabulous story that he was taken out of his grave by his son, to confirm this prophecy; and which their commentators, Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abendana, tell in this manner: that when Nebuchadnezzar was driven from men, and was with the beasts of the field for seven years, the people made his son Evilmerodach king; but when Nebuchadnezzar came to his right mind, and returned to his palace at Babylon, and found his son upon the throne, he put him in prison, where he lay till Nebuchadnezzar died, when the people took him out to make him king; but he refused to be king, saying, he did not believe his father was dead; and that if he should come again, as before, and find him, he would kill him; upon which they took him out of his grave, to show him that he was dead: but the sense here is not that the king of Babylon should be taken out of his grave, after he was laid in it, but that he should be hindered from being put into it; which very likely was the case of Belshazzar. Like an abominable branch; cut off from a tree as useless and hurtful, and cast upon the ground, where it lies and rots, and is good for nothing, neither for fuel, nor anything else, but is neglected and despised of all: and as the raiment of those that are slain; in battle, which being rolled in blood, nobody cares to take up and wear, nor even touch; for such persons were accounted unclean by the ceremonial law, and by the touch of them uncleanness was contracted; and perhaps with a view to this the simile is used, to express the very mean and abject condition this monarch should be in: thrust through with a sword; which was added for explanation sake, to show in which way the persons were slain whose raiment is referred to; the clothes of such being stained with blood, when those that died by other means might not have their raiment so defiled. The word (f) rendered "thrust through", is only used in this place, and in Gen 45:17 where it is rendered "lade", or put on a burden; but, as the several Jewish commentators before mentioned observe (g), in the Arabic language it signifies to pierce or thrust through with sword or spear, and so it is used in the Arabic version of Joh 19:34, that go down to the stones of the pit; into which dead bodies after a battle are usually cast, and which have often stones at the bottom; and into which being cast, stones are also thrown over them: as a carcass trodden underfoot; which is frequently the case of those that fall in battle; and very probably was the case of Belshazzar, when slain by the Chaldeans, whose body in a tumult might be neglected and trodden upon, and afterwards have no other burial than that of a common soldier in a pit; and instead of having a sepulchral monument erected over him, as kings used to have, had nothing but a heap of stones thrown upon him. (d) "a sepulchro tuo", Gataker. (e) Seder Olam Rabba c. 28. fol. 81. (f) Strong's Concondance assigns two numbers to this word, 02943 and 02944. The word is the same in the Hebrew, differing only in the tense. This case is a Pual and the one in Genesis is a Qal. Wigrim's Englishman's Hebrew Concondance also has them in separate categories. There appears to be no good reason for this. Editor. (g) "confodit cum instrumentis, hasta, gladiis", Castel. col. 1546. So it is used in the Arabic version of Lam. iv. 9. and in the Chaldee language it signifies to pierce through and wound; as in the Targum on Jer. li. 4.

(Verse 18, 19.) All the kings of the nations, all slept in glory, each man in his own house. But you have been cast out of your tomb like a useless branch, defiled and wrapped with those who were slain by the sword, and have gone down to the foundations of the abyss; you will not have the company of a decaying corpse, nor be buried with them. The Hebrews tell the following story: Evilmerodach, who during his father Nebuchadnezzar's lifetime spent seven years among the beasts, had reigned before he was restored to the kingdom. After his father's death, he was imprisoned with Joachim, the king of Judah, until he succeeded to the throne again. But when he returned to the kingdom, the princes did not accept him, fearing that the one who was believed to be extinct was still alive. To demonstrate the death of his father, he opened the tomb and dragged out the corpse with hooks and ropes. And the meaning is: With all those who were killed having been buried, you alone will lie unburied. Others, however, interpret this place in the following way: All souls in the underworld will receive some rest, but you alone will be bound in complete darkness. For you will be covered in the blood of all, and the blood of all will press upon you like a shroud of the filth of the dead. Symmachus translated this passage as follows: Even with those who are killed in war, you do not deserve to have a share in burial. But concerning what we have said, as though a useless shoot, it is read in Hebrew: Chaneser Nethab, which Aquila interprets as a polluted sore. Neser, on the other hand, properly means a twig, which grows at the roots of trees and is cut off by farmers as though useless; we can understand this as the same thing as a sore and decay. At the same time, we learn that hell is beneath the earth, as Scripture says: To the foundations of the lake.

Second, they reproach him with the grave he has lost, for he was exhumed by his son, who divided his corpse into two-hundred pieces and bound the pieces to just as many birds gathered from different lands, that he might not rise again: defiled, by the blood of those whom you killed: he shall be buried with the burial of an ass (Jer 22:19).

This chapter begins with foretelling a drought that should greatly distress the land of Judea, the effects of which are described in a most pathetic manner, Jer 14:1-6. The prophet then, in the people's name, makes a confession of sins, and supplication for pardon, Jer 14:7-9. But God declares his purpose to punish, forbidding Jeremiah to pray for the people, Jer 14:10-12. False prophets are then complained of, and threatened with destruction, as are also those who attend to them, Jer 14:13-16. The prophet, therefore, bewails their misery, Jer 14:17, Jer 14:18; and though he had just now been forbidden to intercede for them, yet, like a tender pastor, who could not cease to be concerned for their welfare, he falls on the happy expedient of introducing themselves as supplicating in their own name that mercy which he was not allowed to ask in his, Jer 14:19-22.

Like an abominable branch "Like the tree abominated" - That is, as an object of abomination and detestation; such as the tree is on which a malefactor has been hanged. "It is written," saith St. Paul, Gal 3:13, "Cursed is every man that hangeth on a tree," from Deu 21:23. The Jews therefore held also as accursed and polluted the tree itself on which a malefactor had been executed, or on which he had been hanged after having been put to death by stoning. "Non suspendunt super arbore, quae radicibus solo adhaereat; sed super ligno eradicato, ut ne sit excisio molesta: nam lignum, super quo fuit aliquis suspensus, cum suspendioso sepelitur; ne maneat illi malum nomen, et dicant homines, Istud est lignum, in quo suspensus est ille, ὁ δεινα . Sic lapis, quo aliquis fuit lapidatus; et gladius, quo fuit occisus is qui est occisus; et sudarium sive mantile, quo fuit aliquis strangulates; omnia haec cum iis, qui perierunt, sepeliuntur." Maimonides, apud Casaub. in Baron. Exercitat. 16. An. 34, Numbers 134. "Cum itaque homo suspensu maximae esset abominationi - Judaei quoque prae caeteris abominabantur lignum quo fuerat suspensus, ita ut illud quoque terra tegerent, tanquam rem abominabilem. Unde interpres Chaldaeus haec verba transtulit כחט טמור kechat temir, sicut virgultum absconditum, sive sepultum." Kalinski, Vaticinta Observationibus Illustrata, p. 342. "The Jews never hang any malefactor upon a tree that is growing in the earth, but upon a post fixed in the ground, that it might never be said, 'That is the tree on which such a one was hanged;' for custom required that the tree should be buried with the malefactor. In like manner the stone by which a criminal was stoned to death, or the sword by which he was beheaded, or the napkin or handkerchief by which he was strangled, should be buried with him in the same grave." "For as the hanged man was considered the greatest abomination, so the very post or wood on which he was hanged was deemed a most abominable thing, and therefore buried under the earth." Agreeably to which Theodoret, Hist. Ecc 1:17, Ecc 1:18, in his account of the finding of the cross by Helena, says, "That the three crosses were buried in the earth near the place of our Lord's sepulcher." And this circumstance seems to confirm the relation of the discovery of the cross of Christ. The crosses were found where the custom required they should be buried. The raiment of those that are slain "Clothed with the slain" - Thirty-five MSS., (ten ancient), and three editions, have the word fully written, לבוש lebush. It is not a noun, but the participle passive; thrown out among the common slain and covered with the dead bodies. So Ecc 1:11, the earth-worm is said to be his bedcovering. This reading is confirmed by two ancient MSS. in my own collection.

CONFIRMATION OF THIS BY THE HEREFORETOLD DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIANS UNDER SENNACHERIB; (Isa 14:24-27) choose--"set His choice upon." A deliberate predilection [HORSLEY]. Their restoration is grounded on their election (see Psa 102:13-22). strangers--proselytes (Est 8:17; Act 2:10; Act 17:4, Act 17:17). TACITUS, a heathen [Histories, 5.5], attests the fact of numbers of the Gentiles having become Jews in his time. An earnest of the future effect on the heathen world of the Jews' spiritual restoration (Isa 60:4-5, Isa 60:10; Mic 5:7; Zac 14:16; Rom 11:12).

cast out of--not that he had lain in the grave and was then cast out of it, but "cast out without a grave," such as might have been expected by thee ("thy"). branch--a useless sucker starting up from the root of a tree, and cut away by the husbandman. raiment of those . . . slain--covered with gore, and regarded with abhorrence as unclean by the Jews. Rather, "clothed (that is, covered) with the slain"; as in Job 7:5, "My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust" [MAURER]. thrust through--that is, "the slain who have been thrust through," &c. stones of . . . pit--whose bodies are buried in sepulchres excavated amidst stones, whereas the king of Babylon is an unburied "carcass trodden under foot."

But it is love to His own people which impels the God of Israel to suspend such a judgment of eternal destruction over Babylon. "For Jehovah will have mercy on Jacob, and will once more choose Israel, and will settle them in their own land: and the foreigner will associate with them, and they will cleave to the house of Jacob. And nations take them, and accompany them to their place; and the house of Israel takes them to itself in the land of Jehovah for servants and maid-servants: and they hold in captivity those who led them away captive; and become lords over their oppressors." We have here in nuce the comforting substance of chapters 46-66. Babylon falls that Israel may rise. This is effected by the compassion of God. He chooses Israel once more (iterum, as in Job 14:7 for example), and therefore makes a new covenant with it. Then follows their return to Canaan, their own land, Jehovah's land (as in Hos 9:3). Proselytes from among the heathen, who have acknowledged the God of the exiles, go along with them, as Ruth did with Naomi. Heathen accompany the exiles to their own place. And now their relative positions are reversed. Those who accompany Israel are now taken possession of by the latter (hithnachēl, κληρονομεῖν ἑαυτῷ, like hithpattēach, Isa 52:2, λύεσθαι; cf., p. 62, note, and Ewald, 124, b), as servants and maid-servants; and they (the Israelites) become leaders into captivity of those who led them into captivity (Lamed with the participle, as in Isa 11:9), and they will oppress (râdâh b', as in Psa 49:15) their oppressors. This retribution of life for like is to all appearance quite out of harmony with the New Testament love. But in reality it is no retribution of like for like. For, according to the prophet's meaning, to be ruled by the people of God is the true happiness of the nations, and to allow themselves to be so ruled is their true liberty. At the same time, the form in which the promise is expressed is certainly not that of the New Testament; and it would not possibly have been so, for the simple reason that in Old Testament times, and from an Old Testament point of view, there was no other visible manifestation of the church (ecclesia) than in the form of a nation. This national form of the church has been broken up under the New Testament, and will never be restored. Israel, indeed, will be restored as a nation; but the true essence of the church, which is raised above all national distinctions, will never return to those worldly limits which it has broken through. And the fact that the prophecy moves within those limits here may be easily explained, on the ground that it is primarily the deliverance from the Babylonian captivity to which the promise refers. And the prophet himself was unconscious that this captivity would be followed by another.