that chirp and that mutter": should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek 20. unto the dead? "To the law and to the testimony!' if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them. 21. And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry : And it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, 1 And curse 1 by their king and by their God, 1 Or om. by. 8:19-22. The depths of despair to which the unbelievers will be reduced are strikingly portrayed in this passage. powerful picture of the effects of an Assyrian invasion. It is a very 19. The contrast between the popular way (vs. 11) and Isaiah's is vividly suggested here. The prophet can always consult the living God: the people, in their despair, turn like Saul (1 Sam. 28) to necromancy and witchcraft. On this view of the verse, the first half represents the people's speech, and the second the prophet's indignant reply. It is possible, however, to regard the whole verse as spoken by the people. In that case the last clause should be translated, On behalf of the living should they not seek unto the dead? and the dead would be the gods consulted (cf. the previous clause), exactly as in 1 Sam. 28: 13 the shade of Samuel is called a god. For similar superstitious practices, cf. 2:6. We might translate ghosts and familiar spirits that cheep and moan (Cheyne). The Greek suggests, what is very probable, that the professors of the arts here alluded to were ventriloquists. 20. This verse is very obscure. The meaning may be that, realizing the impotence of those whom they have consulted, the desperate people will clamor for some such prophetic instruction as that which is now sealed up, because they have already rejected it (vs. 16); their cry will be to the law and to the testimony (cf. Amos 8: 11). Such assuredly will be the words uttered by those for whom there is no daybreak. The thick night has fallen about them, unbroken by any light from heaven; they are wrapped in despair. 21, 22. The spiritual desolation is accompanied by physical distress. In their flight through it, i.e. the land, the desperate people are goaded by their hunger into indignation and blasphemy, 22. And turn their faces upward: and they shall look unto the earth, 9. And behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; The Great Deliverance and the Glorious King (9:1-7) But there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time hath he made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 1 1 m. the district. cursing the king who cannot and the God who will not save them. In all directions they will look for help, up to the heaven, down to the earth, but everywhere will be distress and gloom. 9:1-7. The contrast between the joy of this section and the anguish of the last is very dramatic. The darkness in which it was wrapped is illuminated by a great light, the distress of invasion gives place to the joy of deliverance and victory; and the gladness of these latter days is crowned by the birth of a child, who, possessed with no less than marvellous gifts for government, is destined to sit upon the throne of David- a throne whose stability and perpetuity are now guaranteed. 1. The transition from the last section to this is mediated by this verse. This is especially obvious, if we accept the translation of RV But there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish, etc. AV seriously mistranslates the whole verse. As, however, the last section had dealt with an invasion of Judah, while the districts mentioned in this verse as first humbled and then lifted to honor belong to Israel, it has been not unnaturally suggested that this verse which, unlike the poem that follows, is written in prose, was added to connect the two sections, by one who referred the darkness of vs. 2 to the deportation of the inhabitants of the northern districts of Israel by the Assyrian king (2 Kings 15: 29). The sea is the sea of Galilee. Beyond the Jordan, i.e. east of it Gilead. Galilee, rather the circuit of the nations - part of the district later known as Galilee. Both in Old and New Testament times its population appears to have been very heterogeneous. 2. The people that walked in darkness Have seen a great light: They that dwelt in the land of the 1 shadow of death, Upon them hath the light shined. 3. Thou hast multiplied the nation, 2 Thou hast increased their joy; They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, 4. For the yoke of his burden, And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, Thou hast broken as in the day of Midian. 1 m. deep darkness. 2 A Hebrew variant is thou didst not increase the joy. 2. It was natural and almost inevitable that the light that arose upon the people of Galilee should be interpreted by Jewish-Christians as a prophecy of the appearance of Jesus in Galilee at the beginning of his ministry (Mat 4:12–16). 3. There can be no doubt that RV- Thou hast increased their joy is right, as against AV (thou hast not increased the joy). The Hebrew words for not and to him (Thou hast increased the joy to him, i.e. the nation) sound alike (viz., lo); and the parallelism excludes the possibility of the negative. This same law of parallelism, however, suggests the high probability of the following translation, which greatly improves the parallelism, and rests upon a very simple emendation "Thou hast multiplied the gladness and increased the joy." The joy is described as the keenest known to Hebrew experience - harvest joy and battle joy, the joy of the reaper and that of the victor as he divides the spoil. 4. The joy is explained by the defeat of the enemy, i.e. the Assyrian. The yoke which burdened him (i.e. Israel, or rather Judah; see note on vs. 1) and the staff with which the oppressor, or rather taskmaster, beat his shoulder or back, are broken in pieces; it is as a deliverance from a second Egyptian bondage. The Assyrians are routed as completely as the Midianites were in that great day, i.e. battle-day, in the olden times, by Gideon (Jud. chaps. 6-8). The discomfiture of the enemy, and indeed all the incidents of this section, the rising of the light, the birth of the Mat. 4:1416 Lk. 1:79 5. For all the armour of the armed man in the tumult, And the garments rolled in blood, Shall even be for burning, For fuel of fire. 6. For unto us a child is born, 1 m. every boot of the booted warrior. child, etc., belong to the future; but they are described in the perfect tense, because to the prophet they are divine certainties. 5. A splendid verse. For every boot of the booted warrior that thundered along, Shall be doomed to the burning, Fuel for the fire. Every trace of war and its accoutrements - heavy warrior boots and bloody cloaks — must vanish. 6. Associated with this deliverance, and indeed the most blessed feature of the happy days to which the prophet looks forward, is the birth, the gift (as he also calls it), of a child, none other than the Messianic king. On his shoulders rests the government, the insignia of government - perhaps a royal robe is intended. The name by which he is to be called indicates how splendid is his equipment for the royal office. Particular emphasis is laid upon the two most essential qualities, - wisdom and power, - and his rule will guarantee the peace and welfare of his people. There can be little doubt that his name is fourfold, not (as in AV and RV) fivefold; the first two words, Wonderful, Counsellor, ought to be taken together, whether we interpret the Hebrew as a wonder of a counsellor, or one whose counsel is wonderful (practically =wonderful counsellor). And his strength is as divine as his wisdom. The phrase Mighty God, however, is somewhat misleading, suggesting as it does to English ears that the king is God incarnate. The same Hebrew words may indeed be used of God (cf. Jer. 32: 18), but, in such a context as this, their flavor would be better represented by some such translation as Warrior Divine, or Hero of Superhuman Might; Deity is in him, but he is not Deity. Un And his name shall be called 1 Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7. 2 Of the increase of his government And of peace there shall be no end, Upon the throne of David And upon his kingdom, To establish it, and to uphold it With judgement and with righteousness From henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall perform this. 1 m. wonderful counsellor. 2 Gr great (shall be) his government. fortunately much doubt attaches to the meaning of the words rendered Everlasting Father. Father of duration, or eternity, has been explained as (i) one possessing the attribute of eternity, i.e. eternal; or (ii) fatherly (cf. Job 29: 16) forever. Neither explanation is very satisfactory, and there is a strong temptation, especially in so military a context, to adopt the other possible translation, Father of booty, i.e., the Messianic king is one who, as a warrior divine, vanquishes his foes, divides the booty, and secures peace for his people, becoming thus in very truth a prince of peace. But in so lofty a context, everlasting father appears, perhaps, to be the most appropriate meaning after all. 7. The perpetuity of a kingdom with such a king is guaranteed, especially as it is supported by those ethical qualities which alone exalt a nation; it is the justice and righteousness that ensure its continuance from henceforth and even for ever. Religiously speaking, the certainty of this whole brilliant future is guaranteed by the zeal of Jehovah - jealousy on its good side, that warm passion with which Jehovah defends and maintains his interests and his honor. With the omission of two Hebrew letters which appear to have been inadvertently repeated, the first clause of vs. 7 runs thus: "Great is the (i.e., his) government, and without end the peace.". Though in this remarkable poem, the kingdom and the king are sketched in very rapid outlines, and the details are few, every stroke tells. In the future days war will be abolished, and its Lk. 1:32 f. |