Isaiah 9:21 Maoni

The prophet in this chapter (according to the directions given him, Isa 3:10, Isa 3:11) saith to the righteous, It shall be well with thee, but Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him. Here are, I. Gracious promises to those that adhere to the law and to the testimony; while those that seek to familiar spirits shall be driven into darkness and dimness, they shall see a great light, relief in the midst of their distresses, typical of gospel grace. I. In the doctrine of the Messiah (Isa 9:1-3). 2. His victories (Isa 9:4, Isa 9:5). 3. His government and dominion as Immanuel (Isa 9:6, Isa 9:7). II. Dreadful threatenings against the people of Israel, who had revolted from and were enemies to the house of David, that they should be brought to utter ruin, that their pride should bring them down (Isa 9:8-10), that their neighbours should make a prey of them (Isa 9:11, Isa 9:12), that, for their impenitence and hypocrisy, all their ornaments and supports should be cut off (Isa 9:13-17), and that by the wrath of God against them, and their wrath one against another, they should be brought to utter ruin (Isa 9:18-21). And this is typical of the final destruction of all the enemies of the Son of David and his kingdom.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 9 This chapter contains a prophecy, partly of comfort to the church and people of God, against the calamities predicted in the preceding chapter Isa 8:1; and partly of punishment, to be inflicted upon the ungodly Israelites by their enemies. The comfort promised arises from the appearance of Christ, the great light, in some certain places of the land mentioned, said before to be afflicted, Isa 9:1 which would occasion a joy among them; illustrated by some similes, by the joy in harvest, and at the dividing of spoils, Isa 9:3 the cause of which is a deliverance from a burdensome yoke of tyranny and bondage, wrought in like manner as that by Gideon formerly; different from all other salvations, which are usually obtained with noise and blood, Isa 9:4 the author of which is the Messiah; who is described by his birth as man, and by his divine sonship as God; or by his person, having two natures united in him; and by the government devolved on him; and by his several names, which express the greatness and glory of his person and office; and by the increase and administration of his government, Isa 9:6 then follows a denunciation of judgment on Israel, Isa 9:8 the instruments of which are pointed at, Isa 9:11, and the persons described that should suffer, high and low, rich and poor, young and old, Isa 9:14 the reasons of it, their making light of former corrections, Isa 9:9 their impenitence and hardness under chastenings, Isa 9:13 their going astray by means of their leaders; and their hypocrisy and wickedness, Isa 9:16 all which would occasion the wrath of God to burn against them, and consume them, Isa 9:18 yea, through hunger and want of provisions, should destroy one another, Isa 9:20.

Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh,.... That is, "Manasseh" shall eat or devour "Ephraim"; and "Ephraim" shall eat or devour "Manasseh"; as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it; which is to be understood of their quarrels, contentions, and wars among themselves, whereby they bit, devoured, and consumed each other, though they were brethren; which explains and confirms what is before said, of no man sparing his brother, and everyone eating the flesh of his own arm. The Targum paraphrases the words thus, "they of the house of "Manasseh", with those of the house of "Ephraim", and they of the house of "Ephraim", with those of the house of "Manasseh", shall be joined together as one, to come against them of the house of Judah;'' and so Jarchi interprets them, ""Manasseh" shall be joined with "Ephraim", and "Ephraim" shall be joined with "Manasseh", and they together shall be joined against Judah;'' so it follows, and they together shall be against Judah; as the ten tribes did sometimes make war against the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, see Ch2 28:6, for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still; more and sorer judgments were to come upon this people for their sins. See Gill on Isa 9:12.

(Vers. 14 seqq.) And the Lord will scatter from Israel the head and the tail, the bend and the corrupt in one day. The venerable and honorable, he is the head; and the Prophet teaching falsehood, he is the tail. And there will be those who call this people blessed, deceiving, and those who are called blessed, being cast down. Therefore, the Lord will not rejoice over his young men, and will not have mercy on his orphans and widows, for every hypocrite is wicked, and every mouth has spoken foolishness. In all these things his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness is kindled as a fire: it shall devour the brier and the thorn, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manassen, together they are against Judah. In all these things, his fury is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out. Not only will the Lord raise up adversaries against him, and turn his enemies into turmoil, Syria from the East and the Philistines from the West, to devour Israel with their whole mouth, but because he has not turned back to the one striking him, nor has he sought the Lord of hosts, he will extend his hand to strike, to destroy the head and the tail, the one perverting what is right (Jeremiah 2). He himself, the long-lived and honorable one, has interpreted who is the head. And he says that the tail is the Prophet who teaches falsehood, that is, the false prophet. He spoke about the rulers and now he joins together the nobles and the common people, so that both the teachers and the disciples, the learned and the ignorant masses, should equally obey. For those who called the people blessed are deceivers; and those who were called blessed, not because of their virtue, but because of their gifts, will be thrown into death. And above, we read: My people, who call you blessed, deceive you and overthrow the paths of your feet (Isa. III, 12). In such a people, God will have no mercy on anyone: not the orphans, not the widows, because every hypocrite is one who pretends one thing and does another: promising chastity and living luxuriously, preferring poverty and filling their pockets. From where he connects and says: And the whole mouth has spoken foolishness. Because of all these things, the Lord does not cease to be angry, but still raises His hand to strike. And because they have done these things, impiety will be kindled like fire, so that it devours not the cultivated field, but thorns and thistles; not fruitful trees, but a barren wilderness, in which beasts dwell, and the consuming flame snatches away. Therefore, it is said that the density of the wilderness, with fire placed underneath, is twisted by the smoke of pride and height. For everything that is exalted and rises high can be called proud. For unknowingly desiring something, the seventy translated: and it will devour all things around the hills. From hence, the earth trembled at the anger of the Lord, and the people became fuel for the fire, because there was such cruelty in them, that they spared not even the dearest name of brotherhood, but forsaking and despising the right hand, they were satiated with the things that were on the left: while enduring hunger for pleasures and evils, and always desiring to join worse things with bad ones. Moreover, Manasseh and Ephraim, who were born of the same mother and from the same parent, erupted into such rage that they clashed with each other in hostile hatred. Let us read the volumes of Kings and Chronicles, and we will find civil wars among the people of Samaria, as they fought for different kings, and how, with their own kings killed, they surrendered to the conquest of Judah. According to the allegory, the Lord will remove both the head and the tail, the greater and the lesser. Calling them tails, not humans, but beasts, reveals that heretics use this member to protect their excrement and to repel small animals. And it joins together and distorts the head and the tail, which subvert the precepts of the law and pervert the straight way. It will also destroy the long-lived one, because it is the head, and the false prophet who is placed in the tail, and both teachers and disciples; some who praise sinners for their gifts: others who do not feel their own evils praised, nor do they repent. Because of this, the Lord will not rejoice in their youths. Woe to the city whose king is a youth! And those who have lost the true God the Father or Lord will not obtain mercy. For every heretic is a hypocrite, doing one thing and pretending another, and whatever he speaks, although it may seem to be wisdom, is foolishness. Because of these things, He stretches out His hand to punish, and like a voracious flame, He will consume all their impieties, like thorns. And words without virtues, which are compared to a fruitless jump, will be enveloped in the smoke of pride. For their punishment, the whole earth will quake, and the deceived peoples will be handed over to eternal fires, because for the sake of shameful gain, they do not spare even their own, but eagerly seize plunder from the deceived peoples, leaving behind their possessions and dwelling in the worst things. And although they always find the left path, they are never satisfied with their own errors, devouring the flesh of their own arm and fighting against the Church with equal zeal. Because of luxury and pleasures and the pursuit of wealth, people among themselves have discord, so that from one heresy two are made, and again they themselves are divided into factions, to lead away their own flocks and devour the homes of widows and sinful women, always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3). In all these things, the wrath of the Lord does not turn away, consuming vices and overturning; but as much as they excel in sinning, so much more does He extend His hand for punishment.

Second, he explains this metaphor as to kinsmen: Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasses, who were both sons of Joseph. Third, as to enemies: they together shall be against Judah: every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully (Jer 9:4). Above: and the people shall rush one upon another, and every man against his neighbor (Isa 3:5). 321. After all these things his indignation is not turned away, but his hand. Explain all this as above.

The prophet bitterly laments the terrible judgments about to be inflicted upon his countrymen, and points out some of the evils which have provoked the Divine Majesty, Jer 9:1-9. Judea shall be utterly desolated, and the inhabitants transplanted into heathen countries, Jer 9:10-17. In allusion to an ancient custom, a band of mourning women is called to lament over the ruins of Jerusalem, Jer 9:17, Jer 9:18; and even the funeral dirge is given in terms full of beauty, elegance, and pathos, Jer 9:19-22. God is the fountain of all good; man, merely an instrument by which a portion of this good is distributed in the earth; therefore none should glory in his wisdom, might, or riches, Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24. The judgments of God shall fall, not upon the land of Judea only, but also upon many heathen nations, Jer 9:25, Jer 9:26.

CONTINUATION OF THE PROPHECY IN THE EIGHTH CHAPTER. (Isa 9:1-7) Nevertheless, &c.--rather, "For darkness shall not (continually) be on it (that is, the land) on which there is (now) distress" [HENGSTENBERG and MAURER]. The "for" refers, not to the words immediately preceding, but to the consolations in Isa 8:9-10, Isa 8:17-18. Do not despair, for, &c. when at the first, &c.--rather, "as the former time has brought contempt on the land of Zebulun and Naphtali (namely, the deportation of their inhabitants under Tiglath-pileser, Kg2 15:29, a little before the giving of this prophecy); so shall the after-coming time bring honor to the way of the sea (the district around the lake of Galilee), the land beyond (but HENGSTENBERG, "by the side of") Jordan (Perea, east of Jordan, belonging to Reuben, Gad, and half-Manasseh), the circle (but HENGSTENBERG, "Galilee") (that is, region) of the "Gentiles" [MAURER, HENGSTENBERG, &c.]. Galil in Hebrew is a "circle," "circuit," and from it came the name Galilee. North of Naphtali, inhabited by a mixed race of Jews and Gentiles of the bordering Phœnician race (Jdg 1:30; Kg1 9:11). Besides the recent deportation by Tiglath-pileser, it had been sorely smitten by Ben-hadad of Syria, two hundred years before (Kg1 15:20). It was after the Assyrian deportation colonized with heathens, by Esar-haddon (Kg2 17:24). Hence arose the contempt for it on the part of the southern Jews of purer blood (Joh 1:46; Joh 7:52). The same region which was so darkened once, shall be among the first to receive Messiah's light (Mat 4:13, Mat 4:15-16). It was in despised Galilee that He first and most publicly exercised His ministry; from it were most of His apostles. Foretold in Deu 33:18-19; Act 2:7; Psa 68:27-28, Jerusalem, the theocratic capital, might readily have known Messiah; to compensate less favored Galilee, He ministered mostly there; Galilee's very debasement made it feel its need of a Saviour, a feeling not known to the self-righteous Jews (Mat 9:13). It was appropriate, too, that He who was both "the Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of His people Israel," should minister chiefly on the border land of Israel, near the Gentiles.

Manasseh, Ephraim--the two sons of Joseph. So closely united as to form between them but one tribe; but now about to be rent into factions, thirsting for each other's blood. Disunited in all things else, but united "together against their brother Judah" (Kg2 15:10, Kg2 15:30). Next: Isaiah Chapter 10