Isaiah 27

Isa 27:1-13.

CONTINUATION OF THE

TWENTY-FOURTH,

TWENTY-FIFTH, AND

TWENTY-SIXTH

CHAPTERS.

At the time when Israel shall be delivered, and the ungodly nations

punished, God shall punish also the great enemy of the Church.

1. sore--rather, "hard," "well-tempered."

leviathan--literally, in Arabic, "the twisted animal," applicable

to every great tenant of the waters, sea-serpents, crocodiles, &c. In

Eze 29:3; 32:2;

Da 7:1, &c.

Re 12:3,

&c., potentates hostile to Israel are similarly described;

antitypically and ultimately Satan is intended

(Re 20:10).

piercing--rigid [LOWTH]. Flying

[MAURER and Septuagint]. Long,

extended, namely, as the crocodile which cannot readily bend back its

body [HOUBIGANT].

crooked--winding.

dragon--Hebrew, tenin; the crocodile.

sea--the Euphrates, or the expansion of it near Babylon.

2. In that day when leviathan shall be destroyed, the vineyard

(Ps 80:8),

the Church of God, purged of its blemishes, shall be lovely in

God's eyes; to bring out this sense the better, LOWTH, by changing a Hebrew letter, reads

"pleasant," "lovely," for "red wine."

sing--a responsive song [LOWTH].

unto her--rather, "concerning her"

(see on

Isa 5:1);

namely, the Jewish state [MAURER].

3. lest any hurt it--attack it [MAURER].

"Lest aught be wanting in her" [HORSLEY].

4. Fury is not in me--that is, I entertain no longer anger

towards my vine.

who would set . . . in battle--that is, would that I had the briers,

&c. (the wicked foe;

Isa 9:18; 10:17;

2Sa 23:6),

before me! "I would go through," or rather, "against them."

5. Or--Else; the only alternative, if Israel's enemies wish to escape

being "burnt together."

strength--rather, "the refuge which I afford"

[MAURER]. "Take hold,"

refers to the horns of the altar which fugitives often laid hold of

as an asylum

(1Ki 1:50; 2:28).

Jesus is God's "strength," or "refuge" which sinners must repair to and

take hold of, if they are to have "peace" with God

(Isa 45:24;

Ro 5:1;

Eph 2:14;

compare

Job 22:21).

6. He--Jehovah. Here the song of the Lord as to His vineyard

(Isa 27:2-5)

ends; and the prophet confirms the sentiment in the song, under the

same image of a vine (compare

Ps 92:13-15;

Ho 14:5, 6).

Israel . . . fill . . . world--

(Ro 11:12).

7. him . . . those--Israel--Israel's enemies. Has God punished His

people as severely as He has those enemies whom He employed to chastise

Israel? No! Far from it. Israel, after trials, He will restore; Israel's

enemies He will utterly destroy at last.

the slaughter of them that are slain by him--rather, "Is Israel slain according to the slaughter of the enemy slain?" the slaughter

wherewith the enemy is slain [MAURER].

8. In measure--not beyond measure; in moderation

(Job 23:6;

Ps 6:1;

Jer 10:24; 30:11; 46:28).

when it shooteth--image from the vine; rather, passing from the image

to the thing itself, "when sending her away (namely, Israel to exile;

Isa 50:1,

God only putting the adulteress away when He might justly

have put her to death), Thou didst punish her" [GESENIUS].

stayeth--rather, as Margin, "when He removeth it by His rough

wind in the day," &c.

east wind--especially violent in the East

(Job 27:21;

Jer 18:17).

9. By this--exile of Israel (the "sending away,"

Isa 27:8).

purged--expiated [HORSLEY].

all the fruit--This is the whole benefit designed to be brought

about by the chastisement; namely, the removal of his (Israel's) sin

(namely, object of idolatry;

De 9:21;

Ho 10:8).

when he--Jehovah; at the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar,

His instrument. The Jews ever since have abhorred idolatry (compare

Isa 17:8).

not stand up--shall rise no more [HORSLEY].

10. city--Jerusalem; the beating asunder of whose altars and images

was mentioned in

Isa 27:9

(compare

Isa 24:10-12).

calf feed--

(Isa 17:2);

it shall be a vast wild pasture.

branches--resuming the image of the vine

(Isa 27:2,6).

11. boughs . . . broken off--so the Jews are called

(Ro 11:17, 19, 20).

set . . . on fire--burn them as fuel; "women" are specified, as

probably it was their office to collect fuel and kindle the fire for

cooking.

no understanding--as to the ways of God

(De 32:28, 29;

Jer 5:21;

Ho 4:6).

12. Restoration of the Jews from their dispersion, described under

the image of fruits shaken from trees and collected.

beat off--as fruit beaten off a tree with a stick

(De 24:20),

and then gathered.

river--Euphrates.

stream of Egypt--on the confines of Palestine and Egypt

(Nu 34:5;

Jos 15:4, 47),

now Wady-el-Arish, Jehovah's vineyard, Israel, extended

according to His purpose from the Nile to the Euphrates

(1Ki 4:21, 24;

Ps 72:8).

one by one--gathered most carefully, not merely as a nation, but as

individuals.

13. great trumpet--image from the trumpets blown on the first day of

the seventh month to summon the people to a holy convocation

(Le 23:24).

Antitypically, the gospel trumpet

(Re 11:15; 14:6)

which the Jews shall hearken to in the last days

(Zec 12:10; 13:1).

As the passover in the first month answers to Christ's crucifixion, so

the day of atonement and the idea of "salvation" connected with the

feast of tabernacles in the same seventh month, answer to the

crowning of "redemption" at His second coming; therefore

redemption is put last in

1Co 1:30.

Assyria--whither the ten tribes had been carried; Babylonia is mainly

meant, to which Assyria at that time belonged; the two tribes were

restored, and some of the ten accompanied them. However, "Assyria"

is designedly used to point ultimately to the future restoration of

the ten fully, never yet accomplished

(Jer 3:18).

Egypt--whither many had fled at the Babylonish captivity

(Jer 41:17, 18).

Compare as to the future restoration,

Isa 11:11, 12, 16; 51:9-16

("Rahab" being Egypt).