Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary--9 Verses 8, 9. For the head of Syria, &c.] "Though the head of Syria be Damascus, And the head of Damascus Retsin; Yet within threescore and five years Ephraim shall be broken, that he be no more a people: And the head of Ephraim be Samaria; And the head of Samaria Remaliah's son.
"Here are six lines, or three distichs, the order of which seems to have been disturbed by a transposition, occasioned by three of the lines beginning with the same word arw verosh, "and the head," which three lines ought not to have been separated by any other line intervening; but a copyist, having written the first of them, and casting his eye on the third, might easily proceed to write after the first line beginning with arw verosh, that which ought to have followed the third line beginning with arw verosh. Then finding his mistake, to preserve the beauty of his copy, added at the end the distich which should have been in the middle; making that the second distich, which ought to have been the third. For the order as it now stands is preposterous: the destruction of Ephraim is denounced, and then their grandeur is set forth; whereas naturally the representation of the grandeur of Ephraim should precede that of their destruction. And the destruction of Ephraim has no coherence with the grandeur of Syria, simply as such, which it now follows: but it naturally and properly follows the grandeur of Ephraim, joined to that of Syria their ally.
"The arrangement then of the whole sentence seems originally to have been thus:- Though the head of Syria be Damascus, And the head of Damascus Retsin And the head of Ephraim be Samaria; And the head of Samaria Remaliah's son: Yet within threescore and five years Ephraim shall be broken that he be no more a people." DR. JUBB.
Threescore and five years] It was sixty-five years from the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, when this prophecy was delivered, to the total depopulation of the kingdom of Israel by Esarhaddon, who carried away the remains of the ten tribes which had been left by Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, and who planted the country with new inhabitants. That the country was not wholly stripped of its inhabitants by Shalmaneser appears from many passages of the history of Josiah, where Israelites are mentioned as still remaining there,2 Chron. xxxiv. 6, 7, 33; xxxv. 18; 2 Kings xxiii. 19, 20. This seems to be the best explanation of the chronological difficulty in this place, which has much embarrassed the commentators: see Usserii Annal. v. T. ad an. 3327, and Sir i. Newton, Chronol. p. 283.
"That the last deportation of Israel by Esarhaddon was in the sixty-fifth year after the second of Ahaz, is probable for the following reasons: The Jews, in Seder Olam Rabba, and the Talmudists, in D. Kimchi on Ezek. iv., say that Manasseh king of Judah was carried to Babylon by the king of Assyria's captains,2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, in the twenty-second year of his reign; that is, before Christ 676, according to Dr. Blair's tables. And they are probably right in this. It could not be much earlier; as the king of Assyria was not king of Babylon till 680, ibid. As Esarhaddon was then in the neighbourhood of Samaria, it is highly probable that he did then carry away the last remains of Israel, and brought those strangers thither who mention him as their founder, Ezra iv. 2. But this year is just the sixty-fifth from the second of Ahaz, which was 740 before Christ. Now the carrying away the remains of Israel, who, till then, though their kingdom was destroyed forty-five years before, and though small in number, might yet keep up some form of being a people, by living according to their own laws, entirely put an end to the people of Israel, as a people separate from all others: for from this time they never returned to their own country in a body, but were confounded with the people of Judah in the captivity; and the whole people, the ten tribes included, were called Jews."-DR. JUBB.
Two MSS. have twenty-five instead of sixty-five; and two others omit the word five, reading only sixty.
If ye will not believe "If ye believe not"] "This clause is very much illustrated by considering the captivity of Manasseh as happening at the same time with this predicted final ruin of Ephraim as a people. The near connection of the two facts makes the prediction of the one naturally to cohere with the prediction of the other. And the words are well suited to this event in the history of the people of Judah: 'If ye believe not, ye shall not be established;' that is, unless ye believe this prophecy of the destruction of Israel, ye Jews also, as well as the people of Israel, shall not remain established as a kingdom and people; ye also shall be visited with punishment at the same time: as our saviour told the Jews in his time, 'Unless ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish;' intimating their destruction by the Romans; to which also, as well as to the captivity of Manasseh, and to the Babylonish captivity, the views of the prophet might here extend. The close connection of this threat to the Jews with the prophecy of the destruction of Israel, is another strong proof that the order of the preceding lines above proposed is right."-DR. JUBB.
"If ye believe not in me."-The exhortation of Jehoshaphat,2 Chron. xx. 20, to his people, when God had promised to them, by the prophet Jahaziel, victory over the Moabites and Ammonites, is very like this both in sense and expression, and seems to be delivered in verse: "Hear me, O Judah; and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in JEHOVAH your God, and ye shall be established: Believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper." Where both the sense and construction render very probable a conjecture of Archbishop Secker on this place; that instead of yk ki, we should read yb bi. "If ye will not believe in me, ye shall not be established." So likewise Dr. Durell. The Chaldee has, "If ye will not believe in the words of the prophet;" which seems to be a paraphrase of the reading here proposed. In favour of which it may be farther observed that in one MS. yk ki is upon a rasure; and another for the last al lo reads alw velo, which would properly follow yb bi, but could not follow yk ki.
Some translate thus, and paraphrase thus: If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. Or, If ye do not give credit, it is because ye are unfaithful. Ye have not been faithful to the grace already given: therefore ye are now incapable of crediting my promises.
Matthew Henry Commentary
- The vision which Isaiah beheld in the temple. (Is. 6:1-8) The Lor declares the blindness to come upon the Jewish nation, and the destruction which would follow. (Is. 6:9-13)
Is. 6:1-8 In this figurative vision, the temple is thrown open to view even to the most holy place. The prophet, standing outside the temple sees the Divine Presence seated on the mercy-seat, raised over the ar of the covenant, between the cherubim and seraphim, and the Divin glory filled the whole temple. See God upon his throne. This vision is explained, John 12:41, that Isaiah now saw Christ's glory, and spake of Him, which is a full proof that our Saviour is God. In Christ Jesus God is seated on a throne of grace; and through him the way into the holiest is laid open. See God's temple, his church on earth, fille with his glory. His train, the skirts of his robes, filled the temple the whole world, for it is all God's temple. And yet he dwells in ever contrite heart. See the blessed attendants by whom his government is served. Above the throne stood the holy angels, called seraphim, whic means "burners;" they burn in love to God, and zeal for his glor against sin. The seraphim showing their faces veiled, declares tha they are ready to yield obedience to all God's commands, though they d not understand the secret reasons of his counsels, government, or promises. All vain-glory, ambition, ignorance, and pride, would be don away by one view of Christ in his glory. This awful vision of the Divine Majesty overwhelmed the prophet with a sense of his ow vileness. We are undone if there is not a Mediator between us and thi holy God. A glimpse of heavenly glory is enough to convince us that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Nor is there a man that woul dare to speak to the Lord, if he saw the justice, holiness, and majest of God, without discerning his glorious mercy and grace in Jesu Christ. The live coal may denote the assurance given to the prophet, or pardon, and acceptance in his work, through the atonement of Christ Nothing is powerful to cleanse and comfort the soul, but what is take from Christ's satisfaction and intercession. The taking away sin is necessary to our speaking with confidence and comfort, either to God in prayer, or from God in preaching; and those shall have their sin take away who complain of it as a burden, and see themselves in danger of being undone by it. It is great comfort to those whom God sends, tha they go for God, and may therefore speak in his name, assured that he will bear them out.
Is. 6:9-13 God sends Isaiah to foretell the ruin of his people. Man hear the sound of God's word, but do not feel the power of it. God sometimes, in righteous judgment, gives men up to blindness of mind because they will not receive the truth in the love of it. But n humble inquirer after Christ, need to fear this awful doom, which is spiritual judgment on those who will still hold fast their sins. Le every one pray for the enlightening of the Holy Spirit, that he ma perceive how precious are the Divine mercies, by which alone we ar secured against this dreadful danger. Yet the Lord would preserve remnant, like the tenth, holy to him. And blessed be God, he stil preserves his church; however professors or visible churches may be lopped off as unfruitful, the holy seed will shoot forth, from whom all the numerous branches of righteousness shall arise _________________________________________________
Original Hebrew וראשׁ7218 אפרים669 שׁמרון8111 וראשׁ7218 שׁמרון8111 בן1121 רמליהו7425 אם518 לא3808 תאמינו539 כי3588 לא3808 תאמנו׃539
