Isaiah 32:15 Komentář

This chapter seems to be such a prophecy of the reign of Hezekiah as amounts to an abridgment of the history of it, and this with an eye to the kingdom of the Messiah, whose government was typified by the thrones of the house of David, for which reason he is so often called "the Son of David." Here is, I. A prophecy of that good work of reformation with which he should begin his reign, and the happy influence it should have upon the people, who had been wretchedly corrupted and debauched in the reign of his predecessor (Isa 32:1-8). II. A prophecy of the great disturbance that would be given to the kingdom in the middle of his reign by the Assyrian invasion (Isa 32:9-14). III. A promise of better times afterwards, towards the latter end of his reign, in respect both of piety and peace (Isa 32:15-20), which promise may be supposed to look as far forward as the days of the Messiah.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 32 This chapter contains a prophecy of the Messiah; for, however applicable it may be to Hezekiah, as a type of Christ, it only has its full accomplishment in him, and in his times; who is described as a righteous King, and as having just princes ruling under him, Isa 32:1 and as a very great blessing, protection, and comfort to his subjects, Isa 32:2 when follows a prediction of great light and knowledge that should be in his days, Isa 32:3 and of the vileness, hypocrisy, and covetousness of the Jews in his times, Isa 32:5 and of the destruction of their country, because of their sins, of which they seemed greatly insensible, and were unconcerned about it, and are therefore called upon to lament it, Isa 32:9 which should continue until there would be a very great effusion of the Spirit, as should make the world, comparable to a wilderness, fruitful in grace and good works; the consequence of which is great prosperity, peace, and safety, to the saints, Isa 32:15 and destruction to their enemies, particularly the city of Rome, Isa 32:19 and the chapter is concluded with the happiness of the Gospel ministration, and the success of it, Isa 32:20.

Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high,.... That is, Jerusalem shall lie in ruins until this time comes; which therefore cannot be understood of the effusion of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, which, as it was before the destruction of the city by the Romans, so the desolation it was brought to by the Chaldeans did not last so long; but must be interpreted of a pouring forth of the Spirit in his gifts and graces yet to come, which will bring on the fulness of the Gentiles, and the conversion of the Jews, and till that time comes Jerusalem will continue in a ruinous condition; the sense is the same with that of Luk 21:24 "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled". The Targum of the place is, "until refreshing comes to us from the face of him, whose Shechinah, or Majesty, is in the highest heavens;'' with which may be compared Act 3:19, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest; this will be the consequence, fruit, and effect of the effusion of the Spirit in the latter day; that such parts of the world as were like a wilderness, barren and unfruitful, producing nothing but the briers and thorns of impiety, infidelity, superstition, and idolatry, should now become like a fruitful field; the Gospel being now preached everywhere, multitudes of souls converted, churches raised and formed, and these filled with such as were laden with the fruits of righteousness; and such places where the Gospel had been preached and professed, and where churches had been planted, and there were some good degree of fruitfulness in word and works, now should be abundantly more fruitful, and the professors of religion more numerous, and look more like a forest, for number of trees, than a field. Kimchi says this whole paragraph shall be accomplished in the days of the Messiah.

(Verse 9 and following) Women of wealth, rise up and listen to my voice: confident daughters, hear my words. After days and years, you will be troubled, O confident ones: for the harvest is complete, and there will be no more gathering. O women of wealth, be astounded, be troubled: strip yourselves and be ashamed. As Symmachus interpreted, expose yourselves: it continues. Gird your loins, beat your breasts, over the desirable region, over the fertile vineyard: over the ground of my people, thorns and thistles will grow: how much more over all the houses of the joyful city? For the house was abandoned: the multitude of the city was left behind: darkness and groping became over caves forever: the joy of wild donkeys the pasture of flocks. Until the spirit is poured out upon us from on high: and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness quietness and confidence forever. And my people shall dwell in the beauty of peace, and in tabernacles of trust, and in abundant rest. But there shall be hail in the descent of the forest, and with humility the city shall be humbled. Blessed are those who sow over all waters, sending forth the foot of the ox and the donkey. Seventy, for darkness and groping, which were made over the caves forever, they were transferred, and your cities shall be caves forever: which in Hebrew is called Ophel and Been, which the Hebrews think to be two towers in Jerusalem, lofty and very sturdy, which are called by these names. The first of these is interpreted as darkness or clouds, because it raised its head up to the clouds. The second is the proof and strength, or as Symmachus translates it, the inquiry: because the eyes were deceived in contemplating its summit. In the end, the chapters are interpreted as follows: Blessed are they who sow over all waters, where the ox and the donkey tread. After the calling of the Gentiles, when Christ the king shall rule with justice, and his princes, the apostles and apostolic men shall govern believers in judgment, the prophetic discourse will be directed to rich women, whom we should understand to be either the cities of Judea, or the synagogues of that time, or as most people think, the wealthy matrons of the former Jewish people, who are spoken of as if they were lying down after the ruin: Arise; and yet they are also called confident daughters, or hopeful: and it is commanded to them that they listen to the words of the Lord, and remember the days and years, about which we shall speak in what follows, the Savior himself saying: The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for which reason he has anointed me: he has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind: to call the year of the Lord acceptable (Luke IV, 18, 19), and let this remembrance be for them according to the Septuagint, in sorrow with hope, that they may lament that the Lord denied them, and have hope of salvation, if they repent. For he says that the vintage is finished, and after the final devastation, which happened under Vespasian and Titus and Hadrian, there will by no means be another captivity, nor will there remain grapes on the vines that need to be gathered afterward. Hence they are prompted to lamentation, and are commanded to bare their chests and gird their loins, because once a desirable region and a fruitful vineyard, of which it is written: I have planted you a fruitful vineyard, the whole of it true: how have you turned into the bitterness of a strange vine (Jer. II, 21)? Being destroyed, he said, the land of my people shall be overgrown with thorns and briars, or it shall be covered with hay. And the meaning is this: If the land of Judea, which is the promised land, is overgrown with thorns and briars, how much more so other cities that are filled with joy, and those that will achieve that evangelical promise; Woe to you who are rejoicing now, for you shall mourn (Luke 6:25)! For the Lord (or, the House) has been forsaken, as I said to the Apostles: Arise, let us go hence (John 14:31); and to the unbelievers: Your house shall be left desolate (Luke 13:35). The secret chambers of the Temple and the hidden mysteries have been taken over by palpable darkness, and the cellars of the Lord's vessels have become caves forever. For they had heard from the Lord and Savior (Matthew 21:13): My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. He says: The joy of wild donkeys, the grazing grounds of the flocks. This can be understood either literally, because all things are deserted, or spiritually, because after Israel was driven out, wild men, lacking knowledge of God, inhabit Judea. And let this be done until the Spirit from on high is poured out upon us, whom the Savior, ascending to the Father, promised to believers, saying: Behold, I go, and I will send you the Advocate, the Spirit of truth (John 16). And again: Until you receive power from on high (Luke 24:49). And what he said above: Yet a little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest. And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind shall see (Isaiah 29); he now repeats in other words the same thing, that the wilderness of the nations shall be turned into the riches of Israel, and Israel shall be esteemed as the nations. At that time the Lord and Savior, to whom the Father has given all judgment, will dwell in the desert. And justice will rest in Carmel, of which it was said above: And it will be in Carmel, a desert in which judgment and justice reside, and it will rest in Carmel, which was previously called a desert. The work of justice is also peace, which, according to the Apostle, surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4). And the worship of justice is silence, so that they may not worship the Lord with excessive words like the Jews, but with the brevity of faith; and may they rest in eternal peace, and may wealth be in their dwellings, about which the Apostle spoke (1 Corinthians 1:5): I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ, because in everything you have been enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge. But when the Christian people have settled or dwelled in beauty, as the LXX translated, in the city of peace, undoubtedly in the Church; then hail and storm, and the anger of the Lord raging, will descend in a leap, of which it was said above: And Charmel will be considered a leap; and the city of Jerusalem will be humbled, and according to another Scripture, it will speak from the earth. When these things are so, and we have learned from the prophetic prophecy how much good the Church will possess, and how many evils Jerusalem will suffer: blessed are you, Apostles, and other Teachers, who sow above all waters of holy Scripture, in which the ox and the donkey tread. The world is a dirty place because of the choices of the fathers, the donkey is unclean because of the idolatry of the former pagans, so that both the Church of the Lord may be assembled concerning Circumcision and concerning the Uncircumcision. That which is said above, according to the Septuagint, is: On the earth of my people thorns and hay shall come up. It can be understood as referring both to heretics and to simple believers who do not understand Holy Scripture as it befits its majesty. Therefore, we have connected each thing to its corresponding thing, so that the land of the people of God may bring thorns to the heretics and hay to the ignorant ones.

Here he describes their liberation. And first, he sets out the consolation of the Jews; second, the destruction of their enemies: but hail (Isa 32:19); third, the prophet's congratulation: blessed are you that sow (Isa 32:20). Concerning the first, he sets out three things. First, divine consolation: these things, I say, will happen, when Sennacherib lays waste the land, until the spirit, divine consolation, be poured upon us: you shall know that I am the Lord, for I will send spirit into you, and you shall live (Ezek 37:5–6). Second, the manner and order of the consolation, as to the fertility of the land: and the desert shall be as Carmel, and Carmel shall be counted for a forest; that is, your land, formerly a desert, will be so fertile like Carmel, that Carmel's fertility will be considered barrenness in comparison to your land; above (Isa 29:19) has the same thing.

Jeremiah, now confined for his faithful admonitions, foretells the fate of the king and city, Jer 32:1-5. According to the direction of God, he buys of his cousin Hanameel a field in Anathoth; the contract, or deed of sale, being subscribed, sealed, and witnessed, and delivered to Baruch, together with a duplicate not sealed, who is commanded to put them into an earthen vessel that they may remain there for many days, Jer 32:6-14. This transaction of the prophet, which is entered and subscribed in the public register, God constitutes a sign or pledge of the Jews' return from the Babylonish captivity, and of their again possessing houses, fields, and vineyards, in their own land, and by their own right, according to their tribes and families, Jer 32:15. Jeremiah's prayer, in which he recounts God's marvellous acts towards the children of Israel, and deeply deplores the lamentable state of the country, and the numerous provocations which have led to it, Jer 32:16-25. After which God is introduced declaring his purpose of giving up his people into the hands of their enemies, Jer 32:26-35; promising, however, to restore them in due time to their ancient possessions, and to make with them an everlasting covenant, Jer 32:36-44.

And the fruitful field - והכרמל vehaccarmel. So fifteen MSS., six ancient, and two editions; which seems to make the noun an appellative.

MESSIAH'S KINGDOM; DESOLATIONS, TO BE SUCCEEDED BY LASTING PEACE, THE SPIRIT HAVING BEEN POURED OUT. (Isa. 32:1-20) king--not Hezekiah, who was already on the throne, whereas a future time is contemplated. If he be meant at all, it can only be as a type of Messiah the King, to whom alone the language is fully applicable (Hos 3:5; Zac 9:9; see on Isa 11:3-5). The kingdom shall be transferred from the world kings, who have exercised their power against God, instead of for God, to the rightful King of kings (Eze 21:27; Dan 7:13-14). princes--subordinate; referring to all in authority under Christ in the coming kingdom on earth, for example, the apostles, &c. (Luk 22:30; Co1 6:2; Ti2 2:12; Rev 2:26-27; Rev 3:21).

This can only partially apply to the spiritual revival in Hezekiah's time; its full accomplishment belongs to the Christian dispensation, first at Pentecost (Joe 2:28; Act 2:17), perfectly in coming times (Psa 104:30; Eze 36:26; Eze 39:29; Zac 12:10), when the Spirit shall be poured on Israel, and through it on the Gentiles (Mic 5:7). wilderness . . . fruitful field . . . forest--when Judea, so long waste, shall be populous and fruitful, and the land of the enemies of God shall be desolate. Or, "the field, now fruitful, shall be but as a barren forest in comparison with what it shall be then" (Isa 29:17). The barren shall become fruitful by regeneration; those already regenerate shall bring forth fruits in such abundance that their former life shall seem but as a wilderness where no fruits were.

For Judah, sifted, delivered, and purified, there now begins a new ear. Righteous government, as a blessing for the people, is the first beneficent fruit. "Behold, the king will reign according to righteousness; and the princes, according to right will they command. And every one will be like a shelter from the wind, and a covert from the storm; like water-brooks in a dry place, like the shadow of a gigantic rock in a languishing land." The kingdom of Asshur is for ever destroyed; but the kingdom of Judah rises out of the state of confusion into which it has fallen through its God - forgetting policy and disregard of justice. King and princes now rule according to the standards that have been divinely appointed and revealed. The Lamed in ūlesârı̄m (and the princes) is that of reference (quod attinet ad, as in Psa 16:3 and Ecc 9:4), the exponent of the usual casus abs. (Ges. 146, 2); and the two other Lameds are equivalent to κατά, secundum (as in Jer 30:11). The figures in Isa 32:2 are the same as in Isa 25:4. The rock of Asshur (i.e., Sennacherib) has departed, and the princes of Asshur have deserted their standards, merely to save themselves. The king and princes of Judah are now the defence of their nation, and overshadow it like colossal walls of rock. This is the first fruit of the blessing.

The state would then continue long, very long, until at last the destruction of the false rest would be followed by the realization of the true. "Until the Spirit is poured out over us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as the forest. And justice makes its abode in the desert, and righteousness settles down upon the fruit-field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the reward of righteousness rest and security for ever. And my people dwells in a place of peace, and in trustworthy, safe dwellings, and in cheerful resting-places. And it hails with the overthrow of the forest, and into lowliness must the city be brought low." There is a limit, therefore, to the "for ever" of Isa 32:14. The punishment would last till the Spirit, which Israel had not then dwelling in the midst of it (see Hag 2:5), and whose fulness was like a closed vessel to Israel, should be emptied out over Israel from the height of heaven (compare the piel ערה, Gen 24:20), i.e., should be poured out in all its fulness. When that was done, a great change would take place, the spiritual nature of which is figuratively represented in the same proverbial manner as in Isa 29:17. At the same time, a different turn is given to the second half in the passage before us. The meaning is, not that what was now valued as a fruit-bearing garden would be brought down from its false eminence, and be only regarded as forest; but that the whole would be so glorious, that what was now valued as a fruit-garden, would be thrown into the shade by something far more glorious still, in comparison with which it would have the appearance of a forest, in which everything grew wild. The whole land, the uncultivated pasture-land as well as the planted fruitful fields of corn and fruit, would then become the tent and seat of justice and righteousness. "Justice and righteousness' (mishpât and tsedâqâh) are throughout Isaiah the stamp of the last and perfect time. As these advance towards self-completion, the produce and result of these will be peace (ma‛ăseh and abhōdâh are used to denote the fruit or self-reward of work and painstaking toil; compare פּעלּה). But two things must take place before this calm, trustworthy, happy peace, of which the existing carnal security is only a caricature, can possibly be realized. In the first place, it must hail, and the wood must fall, being beaten down with hail. We already know, from Isa 10:34, that "the wood" was an emblem of Assyria; and in Isa 30:30-31, we find "the hail" mentioned as one of the forces of nature that would prove destructive to Assyria. And secondly, "the city" (העיר, a play upon the word, and a counterpart to היּער) must first of all be brought low into lowliness (i.e., be deeply humiliated). Rosenmller and others suppose the imperial city to be intended, according to parallels taken from chapters 24-27; but in this cycle of prophecies, in which the imperial city is never mentioned at all, "the city" must be Jerusalem, whose course from the false peace to the true lay through a humiliating punishment (Isa 29:2-4; Isa 30:19., Isa 31:4.).