Isaiah 33:5 Kommentar

This chapter relates to the same events as the foregoing chapter, the distress of Judah and Jerusalem by Sennacherib's invasion and their deliverance out of that distress by the destruction of the Assyrian army. These are intermixed in the prophecy, in the way of a Pindaric. Observe, I. The great distress that Judah and Jerusalem should then be brought into (Isa 33:7-9). II. The particular frights which the sinners in Zion should then be in (Isa 33:13, Isa 33:14). III. The prayers of good people to God in this distress (Isa 33:2). IV. The holy security which they should enjoy in the midst of this trouble (Isa 33:15, Isa 33:16). V. The destruction of the army of the Assyrians (Isa 33:1-3), in which God would be greatly glorified (Isa 33:5, Isa 33:10-12). VI. The enriching of the Jews with the spoil of the Assyrian camp (Isa 33:4, Isa 33:23, Isa 33:24). VII. The happy settlement of Jerusalem, and the Jewish state, upon this. Religion shall be uppermost (Isa 33:6), and their civil state shall flourish (Isa 33:17-22). This was soon fulfilled, but is written for our learning.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 33 This chapter contains an account of God's judgments upon the enemies of his people, and of the peaceable, comfortable, and happy state of the church in the latter day. The judgment denounced, Isa 33:1 a prayer of the church for safety and protection, which it promises itself from what God had heretofore done, Isa 33:2 an answer to it, declaring the spoil of the enemy, and the happy times the people of God should enjoy through his appearance for them, Isa 33:4 though previous thereunto there would be very distressing ones, Isa 33:7 when the Lord resolves to arise and exert his power in the destruction of the people, who should be burnt up like stubble, thorns, and lime, Isa 33:10 persons far and near are called upon to take notice of this, Isa 33:13 which would issue in a different manner, in the surprise and terror of hypocrites, and in the safety and plenty of provisions for good men, who are described, Isa 33:14 and then follow promises to them, of seeing the King in his beauty, and beholding a distant country of reflecting on past terror with pleasure, being freed from it, and in no danger of a foreign enemy, Isa 33:17 and the chapter is concluded with a famous prophecy of the peace, prosperity, and safety of the church, and of the healthfulness of its inhabitants, under the protection of Christ, its King and Lawgiver, its enemies being also an easy prey to it, Isa 33:20.

The Lord is exalted,.... These are the words of the church, or of true believers, setting the praise and glory of God, on account of the victory and spoil of their enemies; by which the Lord is exalted, magnified, and honoured, as he will be in the hearts and mouths of his people when these times shall come; see Rev 11:15 this will be true of Christ, and indeed this will be the time when he, and he alone, shall be exalted, Isa 2:17, for he dwelleth on high; in the highest heaven, and is above his greatest enemies, and can, and will, pour down his wrath and vengeance on them: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness; the church of God, where Christ her King will reign in righteousness, and when all the administrations of his kingly power and government will appear to be just and true; where his word shall be faithfully preached, and his ordinances duly administered; and when all his subjects and people shall be righteous, and live soberly and righteously. The Targum is, "with those that do true judgment and righteousness.''

(Verse 2 and following) Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for you: be our strength in the morning, and our salvation in time of trouble. At the voice of the Angel, the people fled; at your exaltation the nations were scattered. And your spoil will be gathered, as the locust is gathered, as when the ditches are full of it. The Lord is magnified, for he dwells on high: he has filled Zion with judgment and justice. And there will be faith in your times: wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is its treasure. LXX: Lord, have mercy on us, for we trust in You: the seed of the unbelievers has been brought to destruction, but our salvation is in the time of tribulation: because of the voice of fear, the peoples are astonished by your fear, and the nations are scattered. But now your spoils, both small and great, will be gathered together: when someone gathers locusts, they will mock you: O holy God who dwells on high. Zion is filled with justice and righteousness, salvation is stored in the law: wisdom, discipline, and piety come from the Lord, these are the treasures of justice. This is a chapter from the Hebrews, in which it is read: Woe to those who plunder, will they not be plundered themselves? and so on until the end. They believe that this is a statement against King Sennacherib of the Assyrians, who, after overthrowing the ten tribes known as Israel and capturing the cities of Judah, will himself be defeated and his army destroyed by the Angel. Now, from the perspective of the people, giving thanks to God and saying, 'Lord, have mercy on us, we have waited for you,' these words contend, which are contained in the present (or following) chapter, that His arm and strength were the protection for the people besieged in the morning, and salvation in their time of need and distress. For by the voice of the Angel, whom Symmachus translated as it is written in Hebrew, Amun (whom the Hebrews consider to be Gabriel) and has the etymology of the people; the Assyrian fled, and the nations that came with him were scattered here and there from the exaltation of God. As they fled, the spoils were gathered by the Jews, just as a multitude of caterpillars and locusts are collected when they have been heaped into pits. In their victory, the Lord was magnified, and Zion was filled with justice and righteousness, and the faith of the besieged people was proven. And they possessed all riches in wisdom and knowledge of God and fear of the Lord, who alone was their treasure. They said these things according to the history, striving in every way to undermine the sacraments of Christ and his Apostles. But after the happiness of the Apostles, about whom it has been said above (Ad. cap. XXXI, 20): Blessed are those who sow upon all waters, where the ox and the donkey tread, and the lamentation and mourning of those who persecute them, about whom it is said in what follows: Woe to those who make you miserable; but no one makes you miserable; and like moths on clothing, they will wear away, from the person of the same Apostles, we confirm these words for all believers. And this is the sense: Lord, we have hoped in your help, and have trusted in you. The seed of the unbelievers has perished forever, and our salvation has appeared in the time of tribulation. For with your assistance, the multitude of nations has been scattered, and those who sought to conquer and deceive have been defeated. And this has happened because the holy Lord dwells on high, and Zion is filled with judgment and justice, as it is written: Justice and judgment will rest in the wilderness. Therefore, she is Zion, which was previously called a desert, and whoever dwells in her will receive the law of the Gospel, in whose treasure our salvation is, and the wisdom of the believers, and discipline and piety, or faith, which is specifically of the Christians, and the fear of the Lord, in which the treasures of wisdom are contained.

Second, the fruit of the destruction, namely, the glory of God: the Lord is magnified: your mercy is magnified even to the heavens: and your truth unto the clouds (Ps 56:11[57:10]); and the grace of men in rectitude of action, he, namely, the Lord, has filled Zion with judgment, which is the execution of justice.

In this chapter the prophet predicts a restoration of Israel and Judah to the favor of God, attended with such glorious circumstances as shall astonish all the world, Jer 33:1-9. Their prosperity from that period is then described by a beautiful enumeration of circumstances, Jer 33:10-13. Thus leads to the promise of the Messiah, the grand subject of the prophetical writings, and the happiness and stability which the children of Israel shall enjoy under his government; promises which, in so far as they respect the great body of the Jews, remain still to be fulfilled, Jer 33:14-26.

The time is the autumn of 713 B.C. (Isa 33:1, Isa 33:8-9, describe the Assyrian spoiler; strong as he is, he shall fall before Jehovah who is stronger (Isa 33:2-6, Isa 33:10-12)) and thou--that is, though thou wast not spoiled--though thou wast not dealt treacherously with (see on Isa 24:16), thy spoiling and treachery are therefore without excuse, being unprovoked. cease--When God has let thee do thy worst, in execution of His plans, thine own turn shall come (compare Isa 10:12; Isa 14:2; Hab 2:8; Rev 13:10).

We are now in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah's reign. The threatenings of the first years, which the repentance of the people had delayed, are now so far in force again, and so far actually realized, that the Assyrians are already in Judah, and have not only devastated the land, but are threatening Jerusalem. The element of promise now gains the upper hand, the prophet places himself between Asshur and his own nation with the weapons of prophecy and prayer, and the woe turns from the latter to the former. "Woe, devastator, and thyself not devastated; and thou spoiler, and still not spoiled! Hast thou done with devastating? thou shalt be devastated. Hast thou attained to rob? men rob thee." Asshur is described as not devastated and not spoiled (which could not be expressed by a participle as with us, since bâgad is construed with Beth, and not with the accusative of the person), because it had not yet been visited by any such misfortune as that which had fallen upon other lands and nations. But it would be repaid with like for the like as soon as כּ indicating simultaneousness, as in Isa 30:19 and Isa 18:5, for example) its devastating and spoiling had reached the point determined by Jehovah. Instead of בך, we find in some codd. and editions the reading בו, which is equally admissible. In כּהתימך (from תּמם) the radical syllable is lengthened, instead of having dagesh. כּנּלתך is equivalent to כּהנלותך, a hiphil syncopated for the sake of rhythm (as in Isa 3:8; Deu 1:33, and many other passages), written here with dagesh dirmens, from the verb nâlâh, which is attested also by Job 15:29. The coincidence in meaning with the Arab. verb nâl (fut. i and u), to acquire or attain (see Comm. on Job, at Job 15:29 and Job 30:24-27), has been admitted by the earliest of the national grammarians, Ben-Koreish, Chayug, etc. The conjecture כּכלּותך (in addition to which Cappellus proposed כנלאותך) is quite unnecessary. The play upon the sound sets forth the punishment of the hitherto unpunished one as the infallible echo of its sin.

The prophet sees this as he prays, and now feasts himself on the consequences of this victory of Jehovah, prophesying in Isa 33:5, Isa 33:6 : "Jehovah is exalted; for, dwelling on high, He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And there will be security of thy times, riches of salvation, of wisdom, and knowledge. Fear of Jehovah is then the treasure of Judah." Exalted: for though highly exalted in Himself, He has performed an act of justice and righteousness, with the sight and remembrance of which Zion is filled as with an overflowing rich supply of instruction and praise. A new time has dawned for the people of Judah. The prophet addresses them in Isa 33:6; for there is nothing to warrant us in regarding the words as addressed to Hezekiah. To the times succeeding this great achievement there would belong 'emūnâh, i.e., (durability (Exo 17:12) - a uniform and therefore trustworthy state of things (compare Isa 39:8, "peace and truth"). Secondly, there would also belong to them חסן, a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge (compare the verb in Isa 23:18). We regard these three ideas as all connected with chōsen. The prophet makes a certain advance towards the unfolding of the seven gifts in Isa 11:2, which are implied in "salvation;" but he hurries at once to the lowest of them, which forms the groundwork of all the rest, when he says, thirdly, that the fear of Jehovah will be the people's treasure. The construct form, chokhmath, instead of chokhmâh, is a favourite one, which Isaiah employs, even apart from the genitive relation of the words, for the purpose of securing a closer connection, as Isa 35:2; Isa 51:21 (compare pârash in Eze 26:10), clearly show. In the case before us, it has the further advantage of consonance in the closing sound.