Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched.

“Their disappointment in the very height of their confident expectation of taking Jerusalem shall be as great as that of the hungry man who in a dream fancies he eats, but awakes to hunger still (Ps 73:20); their dream shall be dissipated on the fatal…”

For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.

“Quoted by Paul, with variations from the Septuagint, Ro 11:8. Ps 69:23. eyes; the prophets, &c.--rather, "hath closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads (Margin; see also Isa 3:2), the seers, He hath covered."”

Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

“The "marvellous work" is one of unparalleled vengeance on the hypocrites: compare "strange work," Isa 28:21.”

Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”

“The reference is to the secret plan which many of the Jewish nobles had of seeking Egyptian aid against Assyria, contrary to the advice of Isaiah.”

For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,

“West of the Nile, in central Egypt: Egyptian Hnes; the Greek Heracleopolis: perhaps the Anysis of HERODOTUS (2.137); according to GROTIUS, Tahpanhes contracted (Jer 43:7-9); the seat of a reigning prince at the time, as was Zoan, hence the Jewish ambassadors go to both.”

Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.

“"Egypt is vanity, and to no purpose will they help" [G. SMITH]. strength--Hebrew, Rabah, a designation for Egypt (Isa 51:9; Ps 87:4), implying her haughty fierceness; translate, "Therefore I call her Arrogance that sitteth still."”

They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.

“No man, professedly, wished to be deceived; but many seek a kind of teaching which is deceit; and which, if they would examine, they might know to be such (1Ki 22:13).”

Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”

“Depart from the true "way" (so in Ac 19:9, 23) of religion. cause . . . to cease--Let us hear no more of His name. God's holiness is what troubles sinners most.”

The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

“Asses were employed in tillage, as well as oxen (De 22:10). clean--rather, salted provender [GESENIUS]. The Arab proverb is, "Sweet provender is as bread to camels--salted provender as confectionery." The very cattle shall share the coming felicity.”

And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall.

“Even the otherwise barren hills shall then be well-watered (Isa 44:3). the day, &c.--when the disobedient among the Jews shall have been slain, as foretold in Isa 30:16: "towers," that is, mighty men (Isa 2:15).”

The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day…

“"Sevenfold" implies the perfection of that felicity, seven being the sacred number. It shall also be literally fulfilled hereafter in the heavenly city (Isa 60:19, 20; 22:5). breach--the wound, or calamity, sent by God on account of their sins (Isa 1:5).”

And with every stroke of the rod of punishment that the LORD brings down on them, the tambourines and lyres will sound as He battles with weapons brandished.

“Margin and MAURER construe, "Every passing through (infliction, Isa 28:15) of the appointed rod, which, &c., shall be with tabrets," that is, accompanied with joy on the part of the rescued peoples. battles of shaking--that is, shock of battles (Isa 19:16; compare "sift . .”

Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”

“As in the image of "the lion," the point of comparison is the fearless might of Jehovah; so in that of the birds, it is His solicitous affection (De 32:11; Mt 23:37).”

For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.

“In the day of trial the idols will be found to render no help and will therefore be cast away. Compare as to the future restoration and conversion of Israel simultaneously with the interposition of Jehovah in its defense, Zec 12:9-14; 13:1, 2.”

Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is…

“Rather, "shall pass beyond his strongholds"; he Shall not stop to take refuge in it through fear (Jud 20:47; Jer 48:28) [GESENIUS]. ensign--the banner of Jehovah protecting the Jews [MAURER]. fire . . . furnace--"light" and "fire," namely, of Jehovah's altar at Jerusalem (Isa 29:1).”

Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters. In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones.

“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…”

In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive.

“As the wheat harvest is omitted, Isaiah must look for the invasion in the summer or autumn of 714 B.C., when the wheat would have been secured already, and the later fruit "gathering," and vintage would be still in danger.”

and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.

“However, the prophecy, in its full accomplishment, refers to the utter desolation of Judea and its capital by Rome, and subsequently, previous to the second coming of the King (Ps 118:26; 19:38); "the joyous city" is in this view, Jerusalem (Isa 22:2).”

Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.

“CASTALIO thinks there is an allusion to the Mosaic precept, not to plough with an ox and ass together, mystically implying that the Jew was to have no intercourse with Gentiles; the Gospel abolishes this distinction (Col 3:11); thus the sense here is, Blessed are…”

Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.

“The invaders' "spoil" shall be left behind by them in their flight, and the Jews shall gather it. caterpillar--rather, "the wingless locust"; as it gathers; the Hebrew word for "gathers" is properly used of the gathering of the fruits of harvest (Isa 32:10).”

Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. The highways are deserted; travel has ceased.

“From the vision of future glory Isaiah returns to the disastrous present; the grief of "the valiant ones" (parallel to, and identical with, "the ambassadors of peace"), men of rank, sent with presents to sue for peace, but standing "without" the enemy's camp, their suit…”

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled…

“The saints, who sojourned once in tabernacles as pilgrims, shall have a "building of God--eternal in the heavens" (2Co 5:1; Heb 11:9, 10; compare Isa 54:2). stakes--driven into the ground; to these the "cords" were fastened. Christ's Church shall never fall (Mt 16:18).”

But there the Majestic One, our LORD, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals, where no galley with oars will row, and no majestic vessel will…

“Jerusalem had not the advantage of a river; Jehovah will be as one to it, affording all the advantages, without any of the disadvantages of one. galley with oars--war vessels of a long shape, and propelled by oars; merchant vessels were broader and carried sail.”

Your ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder.

“Hezekiah had given Sennacherib three hundred talents of silver, and thirty of gold (2Ki 18:14-16), and had stripped the temple of its gold to give it to him; this treasure was probably part of the prey found in the foe's camp.”

When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.

“Or else, knife for sacrifice for God does not here appear as a warrior with His sword, but as one about to sacrifice victims doomed to slaughter [VITRINGA]. (Eze 39:17). bathed--rather "intoxicated," namely, with anger (so De 32:42).”