Isaia 32:9 Commento

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.

In these verses we have God rising up to judgment against the vile persons, to punish them for their villainy; but at length returning in mercy to the liberal, to reward them for their liberality. I. When there was so great a corruption of manners, and so much provocation given to the holy God, bad times might well be expected, and here is a warning given of such times coming. The alarm is sounded to the women that were at ease (Isa 32:9) and the careless daughters, to feed whose pride, vanity, and luxury, their husbands and fathers were tempted to starve the poor. Let them hear what the prophet has to say to them in God's name: "Rise up, and hear with reverence and attention." 1. Let them know that God was about to bring wasting desolating judgments upon the land in which they lived in pleasure and were wanton. This seems to refer primarily to the desolations made by Sennacherib's army when he seized all the fenced cities of Judah: but then those words, many days and years, must be rendered (as the margin reads them) days above a year, that is, something above a year shall this havock be in the making: so long it was from the first entrance of that army into the land of Judah to the overthrow of it. But it is applicable to the wretched disappointment which those will certainly meet with, first or last, that set their hearts upon the world and place their happiness in it: You shall be troubled, you careless women. It will not secure us from trouble to cast away care when we are at ease; nay, to those who affect to live carelessly even little troubles will be great vexations and press hard upon them. They were careless and at ease because they had money enough and mirth enough; but the prophet here tells them, (1.) That the country whence they had their tents and dainties should shortly be laid waste: "The vintage shall fail; and then what will you do for wine to make merry with? The gathering of fruit shall not come, for there shall be none to be gathered, and you will find the want of them, Isa 32:10. You will want the teats, the good milk from the cows, the pleasant fields and their productions:" the useful fields that are serviceable to human life are the pleasant ones. "You will want the fruitful vine, and the grapes it used to yield you." The abuse of plenty is justly punished with scarcity; and those deserve to be deprived of the supports of life who make them the food and fuel of lust and prepare them for Baal. (2.) That the cities too, the cities of Judah, where they lived at ease, spent their rents, and made themselves merry with their dainties, should be laid waste (Isa 32:13, Isa 32:14): Briers and thorns, the fruits of sin and the curse, shall come up, not only upon the land of my people, which shall lie uncultivated, but upon all the houses of joy - the play-houses, the gaming-houses, the taverns - in the joyous cities. When a foreign army was ravaging the country the houses of joy, no doubt, became houses of mourning; then the palaces, or noblemen's houses, were forsaken by their owners, who perhaps fled to Egypt for refuge; the multitude of the city were left by their leaders to shift for themselves. Then the stately houses shall be for dens for ever, which had been as forts and towers for strength and magnificence. They shall be abandoned; the owners shall never return to them; every body shall look upon them to be like Jericho, an anathema; so that, even when peace returns, they shall not be rebuilt, but shall be thrown to the waste: A joy of wild asses and a pasture of flocks. Thus is many a house brought to ruin by sin. Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit - Corn grows on the site of Troy. 2. In the foresight of this let them tremble and be troubled, strip themselves, and gird sackcloth upon their loins, Isa 32:11. This intimates not only that when the calamity comes they shall thus be made to tremble and be forced to strip themselves, that then God's judgments would strip them and make them bare, but, (1.) That the best prevention of the trouble would be to repent and humble themselves for their sin, and lie in the dust before God in true remorse and godly sorrow, which would be the lengthening out of their tranquillity. This is meeting God in the way of his judgments, and saving a correction by correcting our own mistakes. Those only shall break that will not bend. (2.) That the best preparation for the trouble would be to deny themselves and live a life of mortification, and to sit loose to all the delights of sense. Those that have already by a holy contempt of this world stripped themselves can easily bear to be stripped when trouble and death come. II. While there was still a remnant that kept their integrity they had reason to hope for good times at length and such times the prophet here gives them a pleasant prospect of. Such times they saw in the latter end of the reign of Hezekiah; but the prophecy may well be supposed to look further, to the days of the Messiah, who is King of righteousness and King of peace, and to whom all the prophets bear witness. Now observe, 1. How those blessed times shall be introduced-by the pouring out of the Spirit from on high (Isa 32:15), which speaks not only of the good-will of God towards us, but the good work of God in us; for then, and not till then, there will be good times, when God by his grace gives men good hearts; and therefore God's giving his Holy Spirit to those that ask him is in effect his giving them all good things, as appears by comparing Luk 11:13 with Mat 7:11. This is the great thing that God's people comfort themselves with the hopes of, that the Spirit shall be poured out upon them, that there shall be a more plentiful effusion of the Spirit of grace than formerly, according as the necessity of the church, in its desolate estate, calls for. This comes from on high, and therefore they look up to their Father in heaven for it. When God designs favours for his church he pours out his Spirit, both to prepare his people to receive his favours and to qualify and give success to those whom he designs to employ as instruments of his favour; for their endeavours to repair the desolations of the church are all fruitless until the Spirit be poured out upon them and then the work is done suddenly. The kingdom of the Messiah was brought in, and set up, by the pouring out of the Spirit (Acts 2), and so it is still kept up, and will be to the end. 2. What a wonderfully happy change shall then be made. That which was a wilderness, dry and barren, shall become a fruitful field, and that which we now reckon a fruitful field, in comparison with what it shall be then, shall be counted for a forest. Then shall the earth yield her increase. It is promised that in the days of the Messiah the fruit of the earth shall shake like Lebanon, Psa 72:16. Some apply this to the admission of the Gentiles into the gospel church (which made the wilderness a fruitful field), and the rejection and exclusion of the Jews, which made that a forest which had been a fruitful field. On the Gentiles was poured out a spirit of life, but on the Jews a spirit of slumber. See what is the evidence and effect of the pouring out of the Spirit upon any soul; it is thereby made fruitful, and has its fruit unto holiness. Three things go to make these times happy: - (1.) Judgment and righteousness, Isa 32:16. When the Spirit is poured out upon a land, then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness and turn it into a fruitful field, and righteousness shall remain in the fruitful field and make it yet more fruitful. Ministers shall expound the law and magistrates execute it, and both so judiciously and faithfully that by both the bad shall be made good and the good made better. Among all sorts of people, the poor and low and unlearned, that are neglected as the wilderness, and the rich and great and learned, that are valued as the fruitful field, there shall be right thoughts of things, good principles commanding, and conscience made of good and evil, sin and duty. Or in all parts of the land, both champaign and enclosed, country and city, the ruder parts and those that are more cultivated and refined, justice shall be duly administered. The law of Christ introduces a judgment or rule by which we must be governed, and the gospel of Christ a righteousness by which we must be saved; and, wherever the Spirit is poured out, both these dwell and remain as an everlasting righteousness. (2.) Peace and quietness, Isa 32:17, Isa 32:18. The peace here promised is of two kinds: - [1.] Inward peace, Isa 32:17. This follows upon the indwelling of righteousness, Isa 32:16. Those in whom that work is wrought shall experience this blessed product of it. It is itself peace, and the effect of it is quietness and assurance for ever, that is, a holy serenity and security of mind, by which the soul enjoys itself and enjoys its God, and it is not in the power of this world to disturb it in those enjoyments. Note, Peace, and quietness, and everlasting assurance may be expected, and shall be found, in the way and work of righteousness. True satisfaction is to be had only in true religion, and there it is to be had without fail. Those are the quiet and peaceable lives that are spent in all godliness and honesty, Ti1 2:2. First, Even the work of righteousness shall be peace. In the doing of our duty we shall find abundance of true pleasure, a present great reward of obedience in obedience. Though the work of righteousness may be toilsome and costly, and expose us to contempt, yet it is peace, such peace as is sufficient to bear our charges. Secondly, The effect of righteousness shall be quietness and assurance, not only to the end of time, of our time, and in the end, but to the endless ages of eternity. Real holiness is real happiness now and shall be perfect happiness, that is, perfect holiness, for ever. [2.] Outward peace, Isa 32:18. It is a great mercy when those who by the grace of God have quiet and peaceable spirits are by the providence of God made to dwell in quiet and peaceable habitations, not disturbed in their houses or solemn assemblies. When the terror of Sennacherib's invasion was over, the people, no doubt, were more sensible than ever of the mercy of a quiet habitation, not disturbed with the alarms of war. Let every family study to keep itself quiet from strifes and jars within, not two against three and three against two in the house, and then put itself under God's protection to dwell safely, and to be quiet from the fear of evil without. Jerusalem shall be a peaceable habitation; compare Isa 33:20. Even when it shall hail, and there shall be a violent battering storm coming down on the forest that lies bleak, then shall Jerusalem be a quiet resting-place, for the city shall be low in a low place, under the wind, not exposed (as those cities are that stand high) to the fury of the storm, but sheltered by the mountains that are round about Jerusalem, Psa 125:2. The high forts and towers are brought down (Isa 32:14), but the city that lies low shall be a quiet resting-place. Those are most safe, and may dwell most at ease, that are humble, and are willing to dwell low, Isa 32:19. Those that would dwell in a peaceable habitation must be willing to dwell low, and in a low place. Some think here is an allusion to the preservation of the land of Goshen from the plague of hail, which made great destruction in the land of Egypt. (3.) Plenty and abundance. There shall be such good crops gathered in every where, and every year, that the husbandmen shall be commended, and though happy, who sow beside all water (Isa 32:20), who sow all the grounds that are fit for seedness, who cast their bread, or bread-corn, upon the water, Ecc 11:1. God will give the increase, but then the husbandman must be industrious, and mind his business, and sow beside all waters; and, if he do this, the corn shall come up so thick and rank that he shall turn in his cattle, even the ox and the ass, to eat the tops of it and keep it under. This is applicable, [1.] To the preaching of the word. Some think it points at the ministry of the apostles, who, as husbandmen, went forth to sow their seed (Mat 13:3); they sowed beside all waters; they preached the gospel wherever they came. Waters signify people, and they preached to multitudes. Wherever they found men's hearts softened, and moistened, and disposed to receive the word, they cast in the good seed. And whereas, by the law of Moses, the Jews were forbidden to plough with an ox and an ass together (Deu 22:10), which intimated that Jews and Gentiles should not intermix, now that distinction shall be taken away, and both the ox and the ass, both Jews and Gentiles, shall be employed in, and enjoy the benefit of, the gospel husbandry. [2.] To works of charity. When God sends these happy times blessed are those that improve them in doing good with what they have, that sow beside all waters, that embrace all opportunities of relieving the necessitous; for in due season they shall reap.

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.

Rise up, ye women that are at ease,.... On beds of down, unconcerned about the present or future state of the nation; who had their share of guilt in the nation's sins, particularly pride, luxury, superstition, rejection of the Messiah, and contempt of his Gospel, and so should have their part in its punishment. Some think that the men of the nation are so called, because of their effeminacy. The Jews interpret them of the other cities of Judea, besides Jerusalem; the Targum explains it by provinces: hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear to my speech; the words of the prophet concerning the future desolation of their country; here it is thought the lesser towns and villages are intended by daughters, who dwelt in confidence and security, having no thought and notion of destruction coming upon them; so Ben Melech interprets the "women" of cities, and the "daughters" of villages.

(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 the persecution inflicted on them as to three things. First, as to the loss of fruits, stirring up attention: you women, who cry easily, rich, who have reason to cry from the ruin of their goods; or you women, that is, you feeble Jews: they that trust in their own strength, and glory in the multitude of their riches (Ps 48:7[49:6]).

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.

Rise up, ye women "ye provinces. "Ye careless daughters "ye cities." - Targum. From this verse to the end of the fourteenth, the desolation of Judea by the Chaldeans appears to be foretold.

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).

Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Isa 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. VITRINGA understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze. 16:1-63). See Amo 6:1.

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.

This short address, although rounded off well, is something more than a fragment complete in itself, like the short parabolic piece in Isa 28:23-29, which commences in a similar manner. It is the last part of the fourth woe, just as that was the last part of the first. It is a side piece to the threatening prophecy of the time of Uzziah-Jotham (Isa 3:16.), and chastises the frivolous self-security of the women of Jerusalem, just as the former chastises their vain and luxurious love of finery. The prophet has now uttered many a woe upon Jerusalem, which is bringing itself to the verge of destruction; but notwithstanding the fact that women are by nature more delicate, and more easily affected and alarmed, than men, he has made no impression upon the women of Jerusalem, to whom he now foretells a terrible undeceiving of their carnal ease, whilst he holds out before them the ease secured by God, which can only be realized on the ruins of the former. The first part of the address proclaims the annihilation of their false ease. "Ye contented women, rise up, hear my voice; ye confident daughters, hearken to my speech! Days to the year: then will ye tremble, confident ones! for it is all over with the vintage, the fruit harvest comes to nought. Tremble, contented ones! Quake, ye confident ones! Strip, make yourselves bare, and gird your loins with sackcloth! They smite upon their breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. On the land of my people there come up weeds, briers; yea, upon all joyous houses of the rejoicing city. For the palace is made solitary; the crowd of the city is left desolate; the ofel and watch-tower serve as caves for ever, for the delight of wild asses, for the tending of flocks." The summons is the same as in Gen 4:23 and Jer 9:19 (comp. Isa 28:23); the attributes the same as in Amo 6:1 (cf., Isa 4:1, where Isaiah apostrophizes the women of Samaria). שׁאנן, lively, of good cheer; and בּטח, trusting, namely to nothing. They are to rise up (qōmnâh), because the word of God must be heard standing (Jdg 3:20). The definition of the time "days for a year" (yâmı̄m ‛al-shânâh) appears to indicate the length of time that the desolation would last, as the word tirgaznâh is without any Vav apod. (cf., Isa 65:24; Job 1:16-18); but Isa 29:1 shows us differently, and the Vav is omitted, just as it is, for example, in Dan 4:28. Shânâh is the current year. In an undefined number of days, at the most a year from the present time (which is sometimes the meaning of yâmı̄m), the trembling would begin, and there would be neither grapes nor fruit to gather. Hence the spring harvest of corn is supposed to be over when the devastation begins. ימים is an acc. temporis; it stands here (as in Isa 27:6, for example; vid., Ewald, 293, 1) to indicate the starting point, not the period of duration. The milel-forms פּשׁטה, ערה, חגרה ,ערה , are explained by Ewald, Drechsler, and Luzzatto, as plur. fem. imper. with the Nun of the termination nâh dropped - an elision that is certainly never heard of. Others regard it as inf. with He femin. (Credner, Joel, p. 151); but קטלה for the infinitive קטלה is unexampled; and equally unexampled would be the inf. with He indicating the summons, as suggested by Bttcher, "to the shaking!" "to the stripping!" They are sing. masc. imper., such as occur elsewhere apart from the pause, e.g., מלוכה (for which the keri has מלכה) in Jdg 9:8; and the singular in the place of the plural is the strongest form of command. The masculine instead of the feminine appears already in הרדוּ, which is used in the place of חרדנה. The prophet then proceeds in the singular number, comprehending the women as a mass, and using the most massive expression. The He introduced into the summons required that the feminine forms, רגזי, etc., should be given up. ערה, from ערר, to be naked, to strip one's self. חגרה absolute, as in Joe 1:13 (cf., Isa 3:24), signifies to gird one's self with sackcloth (saq). We meet with the same remarkable enall. generis in Isa 32:12. Men have no breasts (shâdaim), and yet the masculine sōphedı̄m is employed, inasmuch as the prophet had the whole nation in his mind, throughout which there would be such a plangere ubera on account of the utter destruction of the hopeful harvest of corn and wine. Shâdaim (breasts) and שׂדי (construct to sâdōth) have the same common ring as ubera and ubertas frugum. In Isa 32:13 ta‛ăleh points back to qōts shâmı̄r, which is condensed into one neuter idea. The ki in Isa 32:13 has the sense of the Latin imo (Ewald, 330, b). The genitive connection of עלּיזה קריה with משׂושׂ בּתּי (joy-houses of the jubilant city) is the same as in Isa 28:1. The whole is grammatically strange, just as in the Psalms the language becomes all the more complicated, disjointed, and difficult, the greater the wrath and indignation of the poet. Hence the short shrill sentences in Isa 32:14 : palace given up (cf., Isa 13:22); city bustle forsaken (i.e., the city generally so full of bustle, Isa 22:2). The use of בּעד is the same as in Pro 6:26; Job 2:4. ‛Ofel, i.e., the south-eastern fortified slope of the temple mountain, and the bachan (i.e., the watch-tower, possibly the flock-tower which is mentioned in Mic 4:8 along with ‛ofel), would be pro speluncis, i.e., would be considered and serve as such. And in the very place where the women of Jerusalem had once led their life of gaiety, wild asses would now have their delight, and flocks their pasture (on the wild asses, perâ'ı̄m, that fine animal of the woodless steppe, see at Job 24:5; Job 39:5-8). Thus would Jerusalem, with its strongest, proudest places, be laid in ruins, and that in a single year, or ever less than a year.