Isaiah 30:18

And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you,....

And therefore will he be exalted “Even for this shall he expect in silence” - For ירום yarum, he shall be exalted, which belongs not to this place, Houbigant reads ידום yadum, he shall be silent: and so it seems to be in a MS. Another MS. instead of it reads ישוב yashub, he shall return. The mistakes occasioned by the similitude of the letters ד daleth and ר resh are very frequent, as the reader may have already observed.

Or, "Yet therefore" (namely, because of the distress spoken of in the previous verses; that distress will lead the Jews to repentance, and so Jehovah will pity them) [GESENIUS]. be exalted--Men will have more elevated views of God's mercy; or else, "He will rise up to pity you" [G.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-brackets

The people were in a great hurry to be delivered from their enemies. The Assyrians had come up in great force and were covering the land with their armies. They had already devastated the neighboring kingdom of Israel and, therefore, the men of Judah were afraid that they would be swallowed up quickly, even as dry stubble is devoured by fire. The Prophet bade the inhabitants of Jerusalem remain where they were, adding, "For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." But they would not listen to the counsel of wisdom—they preferred to follow the suggestion of their fears and go down into Egypt for shelter. They were impatient because they were unbelieving. They were slow to obey, but they were swift to rebel and, therefore, the Lord cries to them by His Prophet—"Woe to the rebellious children that take counsel, but not of Me." They sent their princes as ambassadors to Zoan to entreat aid from the Egyptian king! Yes, they sent a great treasure upon camels as a bribe to Pharaoh to espouse their cause against Assyria. They would not rely upon their God and so they looked to the land of the viper and the fiery flying serpent—and were stung with bitter disappointment—for vapor and emptiness were the help of Egypt. It seemed as if the motto of the people then was, "We will flee upon horses; we will ride upon the swift." Again and again Isaiah urged them to be quiet, saying, "Your strength is to sit still," but they would not learn that rash haste is but ill-speed. They could not be quiet by reason of their fear and folly. But the Lord waited and turned not from His long-enduring patience.

The people were in a great hurry to be delivered from their enemies. The Assyrians had come up in great force and were covering the land with their armies. They had already devastated the neighboring kingdom of Israel and, therefore, the men of Judah were afraid that they would be swallowed up quickly, even as dry stubble is devoured by fire.

And therefore - The sense of the words rendered ‘and therefore,’ may be better expressed by the phrase, ‘yet moreover,’ meaning, that notwithstanding their sins, and the necessity of punishing them, Yahweh would be longsuffering, and would yet bring the nation to repentance. And therefore will he be exalted - Lowth renders this in accordance with a conjecture of Houbigant, ‘Shall he expect in silence, by reading ידוּם yâdûm instead of ירוּם yârûm. But there is no authority for this except a single MS. Rosenmuller supposes it means, in accordance with the interpretation of Jarchi, that he would delay, that is, that his mercy would be “long” or his judgment remote. But the sense seems to be, that God would be so forbearing that his character would be “exalted,” that is, that people would have more elevated conceptions of his truth, mercy, and faithfulness. For the Lord is a God of judgment - He will do what is right. He will spare the nation still; and yet establish among them the true religion, and they shall flourish. Blessed are all they that wait for him - This seems to have been recorded to encourage them, when the threatened calamities should come upon them, to put their confidence in God, and to trust that he would yet appear and restore the nation to himself. This verse is the commencement of the annunciation of the blessings which should yet be conferred on them. The description of these blessings is continued to Isa 30:26.