Introduction. Author. ISAIAH (= salvation of Jehovah), in the N.T. (fr. LXX. and Vulg.) spelled Esaias. Of his personal hist. little is known. He was son of one Amos (i. 1), confounded by some with the Prophet of that name; and said to be bro. of K. Amaziah. He was mar. (viii. 3), and his wife was called a prophetess. He may have worn hair-cloth (xx. 2), but there is no reason to believe he was an ascetic. Receiving the Divine call in last year of Uzziah (vi.), he continued to prophesy during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (i. 1). Some say he lived into reign of Manasseh; and acc. to trad. suffered martyrdom by being sawn asunder (Heb. xi. 37). He is said to have written a "History of the Acts of King Uzziah " (2 Ch. xxvi. 22), wh. has been lost. Time. B.C. 765-618. Style. "He is at once elegant and sublime, forcible and ornamental; he unites energy with copiousness, and dignity with variety. In his sentiments there is uncommon elevation and majesty; in his imagery the utmost propriety, elegance, dignity, and diversity; in his language uncommon beauty and energy; and, notwithstanding the obscurity of his subjects, a surprising degree of clearness and simplicity" (Lowth). Scope. So much more fully and clearly does Isa. predict the Messiah and disc. His kingdom, than any other Prophet, that he is styled "the Evangelical Prophet." His chief prophecies are the captivities (xxxix. 6, 7), the ruin of various nations (xiii. 19 -22, xiv. 22-24, xlvii.). He threatens the destr. of Syria and Israel (vii. 1, 2, 18, xvii.) accomp. by K. of Assyria (viii. 4), Tiglath-pileser (2 K. xv. 29). He encouraged Ahaz (vii. 1) and Hezekiah (2 K. xix. 2; Isa. xxxvii. 21). Predicted Cyrus nearly 200 yrs. bef. his birth (xliv. 28, xlv. 1—5). But he especially predicts the Messiah,-His Divine character (vii. 14, vi., ix. 6, xxxv. 4, xl. 5, 9, 10, xlii. 6-8, lxi. 1, lxii. 11), His miracles (xxxv. 5, 6), His character (xi. 2, 3, xl. 11, xliii. 1—3), His rejection (vi. 9—12, viii. 14, xlix. 7, liii. 3), His sufferings (i, 6. lxiii. 4—11), His death and burial (liii. 8, 9), His resurrection (xxv. 8, lii. 10), His final glory (xlix. 7, 22, 23, liv. 13-15), and the establishment, increase (ii. 2-4, ix. 7, xlii. 4, xlvi. 13), and perfection of His Kingdom (ix. 2. 7, xi. 4-10, xvi. 5, xxix. 18-24, xxxii. 1, xl. 4, 5, xlix. 9-13, li. 3—6, lii. 6-10, lv. 1-3, lix. 16—21, lx., lxi. 1-5, lxv. 25). The special prophecies respecting Christ are-His forerunner (xl. 3), His family (xi. 10), His birth (vii. 14), His name and kingdom (ix. 6, 7), His preaching and miracles (xi. 4, lxi. 1—3, xxxv. 5, 6), His sufferings (liii.), His rejection by the Jews (viii. 14, lxv. 15), His reception by the Gentiles (xlix. 6, 7; Acts xiii. 47). Note on prophecy.-The mind of God was conveyed to the Prophets in various ways. In dreams, in visions, or by an influence upon the mind of which the subjects were conscious, they received the Divine inspiration, and by a strong internal impulse were constrained to deliver their message. Many of the symbolical acts which the Prophets are represented as performing, such as Jeremiah's hiding the girdle near the River Euphrates (Jer. xiii. 1–9), a distance from Jerusalem of about twenty days), are reasonably supposed to have passed before their minds in vision. This must have been the case with those manifestations of the Divine presence which are more than once recorded 1 Kings xxii. 17-19; Isa. iv. 1 (Litton). de Gat, at some distance from the shore, the ass was thrown overboard, to give it a chance of swimming to land, a poor one, for the sea was running so high that a boat which left the ship was lost. A few days afterwards, however, when the gates of Gibraltar were opened in the morning, the ass presented himself for admittance, and proceeded to the stable of Mr. Weeks, a merchant, which he had formerly occupied, to the no small surprise of this gentleman, who imagined that, from some accident, the animal had never been shipped on board the Ister. On the return of this vessel to repair, the mystery was explained; and it turned out that the ass had not only swam safely to shore, but had found his way from Point de Gat to Gibraltar, a distance of more than two hundred miles, through a mountainous and intricate country, intersected by streams which he had never traversed before, and in so short a period that he could not have made one false turn. His not having been stopped on the road was attributed to the circumstance of his having been formerly used to whip criminals upon, which was indicated to the peasants, who have a superstitious horror of such asses, by the holes in his ears, to which the persons flogged were tied.& 66 5, 6. (5) why.. more? or, "whereupon," i.e. on what part of the body can ye be stricken?" since already they had passed ⚫under such chastisements." Or, "To what purpose shall one smite you more?" seeing you will learn nothing under the most gracious chastisement. whole.. faint, referring rather to their punishments than their sins. They are covered all over with the marks and signs of Divine chastisement. (6) Amplification of the previous statement. Israel was like a child so punished, beaten, and bruised, that there seemed no place left on wh. new blows might fall. mollified, "the art of medicine in the E. consists chiefly in external applications." "d ointment, or olive oil. to revolt, and provoke this series of Divine punishments, when already the body was one mass of festering stripe-wounds? Spk. Com. The sinfulness and incorrigibleness of the nation (vv. 4, 5).—ever - advancing These words lead us to set before you-I. Our sinfulness. 1. The general description of the Jews is equally suitable to us; 2. So also is the particular charge. II. Our incorrigibleness. 1. What improvement have we made of our chastisements? 2. What reason have we to hope that our troubles will be sanctified to our good? Apply :—1. Adore God for His long patience; 2. Tremble at His judgments; 3. Take encouragement from His present dealings with us.e The Disease of the body.-We are so prone to content ourselves with a general reading, without taking up particulars, in order to submit them to a distinct and patient scrutiny, that it is no marvel that many interesting circumstances escape our notice. The verse gives a compendious view of the surgical treatment adopted for three several derangements of the human body. questions that arise out of this affecting description are these :Did the Prophet nicely understand what he was speaking of? or did he fall in with the popular style, and use general terms? A little examination will set the matter in its true light. Prophet speaks first of that kind of injury which is called "wound," where the continuity of the soft parts has been broken through, by the violence of some external cause. Let us look at the treatment: "they have not been closed,” or, "they have not closed it." The business of the surgeon, in the case of an incised or cut wound, is, as soon as the blood is staunched, to bring the The a Jer. ii. 30, v. 3. c "The two no blest parts of the here selected to early stage a great degree confined to out ward applications, and what we should now call surgical practice." -- Kitto. e C. Simeon, M.A. |