Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary Verse 9. With the rich tn his death "With the rich man was his tomb"] It may be necessary to introduce Bishop Lowth's translation of this verse before we come to his very satisfactory criticisms:- And his grave was appointed with the wicked; But with the rich man was his tomb: Although he had done no wrong, Neither was there any guile in his mouth.
Among the various opinions which have been given on this passage, I have no doubt in giving my assent to that which makes the b beth in wytwmb bemothaiv radical, and renders it excelsa sua. This is mentioned by Aben Ezra as received by some in his time; and has been long since approved by Schindler, Drusius, and many other learned Christian interpreters.
The most simple tombs or monuments of old consisted of hillocks of earth heaped up over the grave; of which we have numerous examples in our own country, generally allowed to be of very high antiquity. The Romans called a monument of this sort very properly tumulus; and the Hebrews as properly twmb bamoth, "high place, "for that is the form of' the noun in the singular number; and sixteen MSS. and the two oldest editions express the word fully in this place, wytwmb bamothaiv. Tumulus et collem et sepulchrum fuisse significat. Potest enim tumulus sine sepulchro interpretatione collis interdum accipi. Nam et terrae congestio super ossa tumulus dicitur. "Tumulus signifies a sepulcher with a hillock of earth raised over it. The word is sometimes restrained to the bank of earth; for the heaping up of the earth over the bones is named the tumulus." - Servius, AEn. iii. 22. And to make the tumulus still more elevated and conspicuous, a pillar or some other ornament was often erected upon it:- tumbon ceuantev, kai epi sthlhn erusantev, phxamen akrotatw tumbw euhrev eretmon. Odyss. sii. 14.
"A rising tomb, the silent dead to grace, Fast by the roarings of the main we place; The rising tomb a lofty column bore, And high above it rose the tapering oar." Pope The tomb therefore might with great propriety be called the high place.
The Hebrews might also call such a tomb twmb bamoth, from the situation, for they generally chose to erect them on eminences. The sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea, in which the body of Christ was laid, was upon a hill, Mount Calvary. See chap. xxii. 16, and the note there.
"It should be observed that the word wytwmb bamothaiv is not formed from twmb bamoth, the plural of hmb bamah, the feminine noun, but from µytwmb bamothim, the plural of a masculine noun, twmb bamoth.
This is noted because these two nouns have been negligently confounded with one another, and absurdly reduced to one by very learned men. So Buxtorf, lex. in voc. hmb bamah, represents ytwmb bamotey, though plainly without any pronoun suffixed, as it governs the word Åra arets following it, as only another form of twmb bamoth; whereas the truth is, that twmb bamoth and µytwmb bamothim are different words, and have through the whole Bible very different significations; hmb bamah, whether occurring in the singular or plural number, always signifying a place or places of worship; and µytwmb bamothim always signifying heights.
Thus in Deut. xxxii. 13; chap. lviii. 14; Amos iv. 13; and Micah i. 3, Åra ytwmb bamothey arets signifies 'the heights of the earth;' chap. xiv. 14, b[ ytwmb bamothey ab, 'the heights of the clouds;' and in Job ix. 8, µy ytwmb bamothey yam, 'the heights of the sea,' i.e., the high waves of the sea, as Virgil calls a wave praeruptus aqua mons, 'a broken mountain of water.' These being all the places where this word occurs without a suffix, the sense of it seems nearly determined by them. It occurs in other instances with a pronoun suffixed, which confirm this signification.
Unluckily, our English Bible has not distinguished the feminine noun hmb bamah from the masculine singular noun twmb bamoth; and has consequently always given the signification of the latter to the former, always rendering it a high place; whereas the true sense of the word appears plainly to be, in the very numerous passages in which it occurs, 'a place of worship,' or 'a sacred court,' or 'a sacred inclosure;' whether appropriated to the worship of idols or to that of the true God, for it is used of both, passive. Now as the Jewish graves are shown, from2 Chronicles xxxii. 33, and chap. xxii. 16, to have been in high situations, to which may be added the custom of another eastern nation from Osbeck's Travels, who says, vol. i. p. 339, 'the Chinese graves are made on the side of hills;' 'his heights' becomes a very easy metaphor to express 'his sepulcher.' "-JUBB.
The exact completion of this prophecy will be fully shown by adding here the several circumstances of the burial of Jesus, collected from the accounts of the evangelists:- "There was a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, a member of the sanhedrin, and of a respectable character, who had not consented to their counsel and act; he went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus: and he laid it in his own new tomb, which had been hewn out of the rock, near to the place where Jesus was crucified; having first wound it in fine linen with spices, as the manner of the Jews was to bury the rich and great." It has been supposed that wrbq kibro, his grave, and wytmb bemothaiv, in his death, may have been transposed, as also the prefix b be originally placed before µy[r reshaim, the wicked. Thus:- wytm ta µy[rb tyw mothaiv eth bireshayim vaiyitten wrbq ry[ taw kibro ashir veeth Yea, his death was appointed among the wicked, And with a rich man, his tomb.
By these alterations it is supposed the text would be freed from all embarrassment. But see the preceding notes of Bishop Lowth, and the various readings of De Rossi, in loc.
Matthew Henry Commentary
- The welcome news of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 52:1-12) The humiliation of the Messiah. (Is. 52:13-15)
Is. 52:1-12 The gospel proclaims liberty to those bound with fears. Le those weary and heavy laden under the burden of sin, find relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts and fears, an loose themselves from those bands. The price paid by the Redeemer for our salvation, was not silver or gold, or corruptible things, but his own precious blood. Considering the freeness of this salvation, and ho hurtful to temporal comfort sins are, we shall more value the redemption which is in Christ. Do we seek victory over every sin recollecting that the glory of God requires holiness in every followe of Christ? The good news is, that the Lord Jesus reigns. Christ himsel brought these tidings first. His ministers proclaim these good tidings keeping themselves clean from the pollutions of the world, they ar beautiful to those to whom they are sent. Zion's watchmen coul scarcely discern any thing of God's favour through the dark cloud of their afflictions; but now the cloud is scattered, they shall plainl see the performance. Zion's waste places shall then rejoice; all the world will have the benefit. This is applied to our salvation by Christ. Babylon is no place for Israelites. And it is a call to all in the bondage of sin and Satan, to use the liberty Christ has proclaimed They were to go with diligent haste, not to lose time nor linger; but they were not to go with distrustful haste. Those in the way of duty are under God's special protection; and he that believes this, will no hasten for fear.
Is. 52:13-15 Here begins that wonderful, minute, and faithfu description of the office, character, and glory of the Messiah, whic has struck conviction to many of the most hardened unbelievers. Chris is Wisdom itself; in the work of our redemption there appeared the wisdom of God in a mystery. Those that saw him, said, Surely never ma looked so miserable: never was sorrow like unto his sorrow. But God highly exalted him. That shall be discovered by the gospel of Christ which could never be told in any other way. And Christ having once she his blood for sinners, its power still continues. May all opposers se the wisdom of ceasing from their opposition, and be made partakers of the blood of sprinkling, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost; obeyin him, and praising his salvation _________________________________________________
Original Hebrew ויתן5414 את854 רשׁעים7563 קברו6913 ואת854 עשׁיר6223 במתיו4194 על5921 לא3808 חמס2555 עשׂה6213 ולא3808 מרמה4820 בפיו׃6310
