Scriptures for the Whole House of Israel
CHAPTER 1
1. A vision of Yeshayahu, son of Amotz, which he perceived in regard to Yehudah and Yerushalayim in the days of Uzziyahu, Yotham, Achaz, [and] Hizqiyahu, kings of Yehudah.
2."Listen, O skies, and cup your ear, O earth, because YHWH has spoken: `I have caused sons to grow and raised [them], but they have rebelled against Me!
Listen...Cup your ear: This is an allusion back to the song Moshe taught the descendants of Israel just prior to his death so that they would pass it down through all their generations. (D'varim/Deut. 32) The things Moshe warned about were coming to pass, and this was to be a vivid reminder of where the nation was headed. Caused to grow: from a term meaning to twist together, like fibers that make a strong rope. Raised them: or elevated them. Like a faithful parent, He has set in place all the right mix of experiences and attitudes to put them in a position to become as strong as they can be.
3. "`The ox can tell [who] his owner [is], and the donkey [recognizes] his master's feeding trough. Israel [on the other hand] does not acknowledge; My people have not shown themselves to be able to distinguish.
Despite man's dominion over the animals, the latter appear to better understand the authority structures YHWH has set up. But it is worse when those He has invested so much in do not understand who they belong to or who they are supposed to be. His people may have assumed that because YHWH kept feeding them, they could also obtain food elsewhere, but YHWH has very specific things He wants us to partake of. Forming close bonds with foreigners (Ex. 23:32) tends toward idolatry.
4. "`Alas, O sinful nation! O people weighed down with crookedness! O offspring of mischief-makers! Children who bring ruin! They have abandoned YHWH; they have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have gone back to being estranged!
Being estranged: or, "belonging to a stranger". These are pejorative terms because He is very upset. He does not like them right now. He has to address them as children, not as adults, though by now they should have been mature, but they have squandered everything He has given them. A parent can only take them so far. He has done His part; He would be glad to help them out further if they had taken responsibility to stay on the path He set them on, but instead He has to bail them out of the mess they have gotten into. They should be treating one another the way He treated them, yet instead they rebel.
5. "`Why should you continue to be beaten down? You keep veering from the path! The whole head is diseased; the whole heart is unwell!
Head: the rulers who led Yehudah in the wrong direction. (v. 10) They are acting just like foreigners.
6. "`From the sole of the foot all the way to the head, there is no soundness in it. Bruises, scars, and fresh open wounds! They have neither been closed up nor bandaged, nor soothed by ointment.
7. "`Your land is left desolate, your cities burned with fire! As for your farmland, strangers devour it right in front of you, and [it is] desolate as when overthrown by foreigners!
He moves from symbolic language to literal, because they are in very deep trouble now.
8. "`The daughter of Tzion, too, is left like a temporary shelter in a vineyard, like a lean-to in a cucumber garden, like a blockaded city.'
Grapes and cucumbers must be harvested quickly when they ripen, so it was common to build rudimentary huts to spend the night in so the harvester could maximize his time in the field. They lie abandoned after the harvest is over, then become overgrown by the vines. The builder no longer dwells within them. YHWH is saying that (as we see below) the structure of Yehudah's society is still intact, but His presence has been removed since He does not share His glory with another--and they do not even realize it! Blockaded: watched over or guarded (from outside), as in a siege. (No one can enter it anymore.)
9. "If YHWH of the Armies had not left us a surviving remnant--and very few[at that]--we would have become like S'dom, and resembled `Amorah!
10. "Listen to the word of YHWH, you dictators of S'dom; cup your ears to the instruction of our Elohim, you people of `Amorah!
He feels like wringing their necks because they are supposed to be grown up, but are acting like the people He had to destroy because their attitude was so bad.
11. "`What use to Me is the abundance of your slaughterings?' says YHWH. `I am overstuffed with the ascending [offerings] of rams and the fat of overfed beasts, and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, sheep, or [prepared] he-goats.
12. "`When you come to appear before My face, who has required this from your hands--to trample down My courts?
Temple offerings are all going on, and this is not what He has the problem with, but He asks why they are even coming, since they also have idols in their homes. All they are doing, in His eyes, is tracking mud across His floor!
13. "`Do not bring any more empty tribute-offerings. And incense--it's disgusting to Me! [New] moon, Sabbath, [and] summoning of assemblies, I cannot endure! Even the festival assembly is a waste of breath.
He is so fed up with their worshipping outwardly but without “truth in the inward parts” that He simply says, "Stop profaning My extra-special days!" Yehudah is mixing the worship of YHWH with paganism. Sure, He asked for these things at one time, but now He does not want them because of their attitude. They should be grateful that they are even allowed to bring something to His house, but not even want to be around them. Because their heart is not inclined to Him, they are doing little more than murdering animals.
14. "`My soul hates your [new] moons and appointed times. They are a burden to Me; I am tired of putting up with them.
Does this contradict the Torah, which commanded these feasts? No. The key is in the word "your". The way they are carrying out His feasts has turned them into a creation of their own hands.
15. "`When you spread out your hands, I will conceal My face from you; also, when you increase the number of prayers, there will be no listening from Me. Your hands are full of blood!
Spread out your hands: in prayer. They may be satisfied with this arrangement, but He is not. So all they are really doing is murdering animals. Until they confess their guilt and repent, He will hide His face. (cf. Hos. 5:15)
16. Wash [it] off and make yourselves clean! Take away the evil quality of your practices from [right] in front of My eyes! Stop doing injurious things;
Clean: in most biblical imagery, this is an idiom for selflessness. This is what determines whether a certain act is "of the flesh" or "of the spirit" if not specified in Torah. Not only should they stop doing these negative things in front of Him; they need to stop doing it altogether, or sooner or later they will end up doing it in front of Him to, and really ruin things.
17. "`Learn to make [them] right: Demand justice, set straight what is sour, advise those who are bereaved, contend for the case of the widow.
This is the "how" of what it means to make yourself clean. (v. 16) Right: or positive, beneficial. Learn: literally, accept the prodding if it now has to be painful, if that is the only thing that will work. At least it will stimulate you to move in the right direction. See yourself as a vessel designed to hold a lot but then to overflow into smaller containers, expanding them in the process as well. As you teach the less mature, don’t stop learning yourself either, or you will become stagnant, killing any life that remains in you. To teach others, we have to find answers to their questions, and that requires us to learn more. To be mature, you have to learn from everything you see or experience, rather than being preoccuipied with the few things you want to focus on. Appreciate the doors that do open. Like King Shlomo, learn from how the animals solve their problems. Notice the details; the more you know, the closer you come to YHWH, for He knows everything. If you are not being inspired to learn more by what you are teaching, it is probably just rote, sterile, and useless knowledge. Demand: or "seek out" in the strongest sense in which it can be understood. Don’t just wait passively for it to fall into your lap; go after it, ploughing through any obstacles. Learning to discern requires a return to the Torah, which teaches us to make such distinctions. (Lev. 10:10) They have the infrastructure intact, but are perishing because they lack knowledge. To learn how to make proper judgments, we can ask those who know how, but it is even more beneficial to dig it out for yourself, because Google might not always be around when you need the right answer! Better still, learn from your past mistakes and experiences, because failure only shows you how not to do things; it does not mean letting the problem beat you. Set straight: or keep moving straight ahead through what seems sour. Don’t give up, but figure out why it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Break down the reasons and find out if your complaint is valid or not.
18. "`Walk, now, and let [your words] be proven', says YHWH. `If your sins are like scarlet, they can become as white as snow; if they are as red as crimson, they can become like wool.
Proven: or "corrected"; alt., "let us reason together". (You say you love Me; now show it by your actions! Keep My commandments!) Scarlet...white as snow: This may be an allusion to an annual occurrence in which, on Yom Kippur one part of a scarlet cord was tied to the horn of the "scapegoat" for Azazel and the other part hung on the Temple doors. After the goat was thrown off a cliff in the wilderness east of Yerushalayim, YHWH showed His acceptance of their atoning sacrifice by turning the cord bright white. The Talmud tells us that this stopped occurring 40 years before the destruction of the Temple--which would have been the year Y'shua died. In His mercy YHWH put up with Temple services that again were out of His prescribed order until a platform was in place for Torah to still be kept in exile to some degree, in which the main points could be learned more clearly. But this verse is typically translated "though your sins are as scarlet..." and interpreted to mean simply that they would be forgiven, but it says our sins (not we) are what becomes as white as snow. Sin means "missing the target", and while we may start out skilled and able to hit it, but if we slack off, we gradually lose our skill, and it often takes an error as glaring as completely missing the wall the target was on to awaken us to the fact that we are this out of practice, and jars us back to facing how far off course we have come. Thus the fact that we've missed the mark can become a positive thing. Wool is rarely truly white, so the second analogy may not be a parallelism after all. The contrast seems more between natural material and dyed material. If we mark the places we have erred with a bright, impossible-to-ignore attention getter, we can more easily hone in on where the target actually is, and find it again. We had to be jarred by the fact that though we were very religious, half of what we were doing when Christians was pagan, and only when that was made so obvious that we had to admit it, could we get back on track.
19. "`If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the Land.
Consent: not just "are willing", but a very strong term: to pant after, to want very badly. (Compare Gen. 24:8)
20. "`But if you refuse and [remain] rebellious, you will make the sword eat, because the mouth of YHWH has spoken.'
21. "How the reliable town has become an [unfaithful] prostitute! [She was] full of justice; righteousness stayed with her. But now--murderers!
22. "Your silver has turned into dross; your strong drink has been diluted with water.
It is easy to tell watered-down wine from the full strength, but dross looks just like silver until heated up. These people look perfectly religious, but are treating one another like dirt, and oppressing the weakest among them. He can see the difference.
23. "Your princes have backslidden, becoming companions of thieves! Every one loves a bribe, and is running after compensation. They do not vindicate the fatherless, nor does the widow's cause reach them.
Princes: sarim; backslidden: sorarim. It is a Hebrew word play. Running after: But do they ever catch it?
24. "On account of this, the Master YHWH of Armies--the Mighty One of Israel--declares, `Woe [to you]! I will free Myself from My oppressors, and avenge Myself of My enemies.
Free Myself: ease or make Myself comfortable, i.e., not put up with this nuisance anymore.
25. "`Then I will bring My hand back onto you, and purge away your dross as with alkali, and remove all your alloy.
Alkali: or lye or potash, materials used in smelting metal. Alloy: base metal, the part to be separated away.
26. "`And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your advisors as at the beginning. After that, indeed, it will be proclaimed that you are `the city of righteousness', `the reliable town'.
Judges: or law-givers. The Torah lifestyle can only work properly when there is a wide consensus on obedience to His laws such as those of leaving fields fallow, releasing debts, etc. Not until the proper authority structures are restored can the fullest redemption be possible.
27. "`Tzion will be ransomed with due process, and her returnees with ethical vindication.
28. "But the violent shattering of [both] trespassers and those who wander from the way will be brought to an end together with those who abandon YHWH,
Violent shattering: in context, their fragmenting of justice in the court system.
29. "because they will be disappointed by the oaks that you have taken pleasure in, and ashamed of the gardens which you had chosen,
Oaks...gardens: places of pagan worship, usually for fertility rites.
30. "because you will be like a terebinth whose leaf is drooping, and a garden in which there is no water,
31. "and the mighty [in wealth] will be like the tow [shaken from flax], and his deeds like a spark, and both of them shall burn together, and there will be no one to extinguish."
Compare 1 Cor. 3:14, 15.
CHAPTER 2
1. The matter that Yeshayahu, son of Amotz, perceived in regard to Yehudah and Yerushalayim,
2. and it will take place in the latter days: the mountain of YHWH's house will be established at the head of the mountains, and will be lifted up from [among] the hills, and all the nations will stream toward it.
Established: fixed securely, stable, enduring, determined. Head: from a root word meaning shaking, thus, "at the shaking of the mountains". Lifted up from among the hills: an idiom meaning it will be raised higher than all those out of which it came. This appears to have been how it was before the Noachian flood, since after the highest mountains are covered, other mountains are again mentioned. (Gen. 7:20)
3. And many peoples will proceed and say, "Come on, [all of you], and let us ascend to YHWH's mountain--to the House of the Elohim of Yaaqov! And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths!" Because from Tzion will proceed instruction, and the word of YHWH from Yerushalayim.
4. And He will judge between the nations, and will decide for many peoples. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spear-shafts into pruning tools. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore.
An agricultural lifestyle is being returned, because these cycles are the most ideal for comprehending His redemptive calendar. Decide for: or correct, rebuke, reprove, prove right, convince, convict.
5. O House of Yaaqov! Come, let us walk in the light of YHWH!
6. Because You have abandoned your people, the House of Yaaqov, since they are filled up from the east, and conjure clouds like the Filistines, and cause [them] to splash [upon] the children of foreigners.
7. While his land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their storehouses, and his land is well-armed with horses, and there is no end to his chariots,
His land: probably that of the foreigner mentioned in v. 6, but possibly referring to Yaaqov's land.
8. still, his land is filled with worthless [images]; he prostrates himself to the work of his [own] hands--to what his own fingers have produced!
9. So mankind is bowed down, and a man [of importance] lowers himself, so don't You lift them up.
10. Enter into the rock, and hide yourself in the dust from the dread face of YHWH and from the splendor of His majesty!
They have "dug their own graves".
11. The haughty eyes of mankind will be brought to humility, and the loftiness of mortal men will be brought low, and YHWH alone will be set on high in that day,
12. because the day for YHWH of [the] Armies is upon everyone [who is] triumphant and [who] lifts himself up, and he will be brought down--
13. and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
Bashan: the present-day Golan Heights.
14. and upon all the high mountains and upon all the upraised hills,
This is the type of place idols were most commonly worshiped.
15. and upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall,
Fortified: to the point of being insurmountable.
16. and upon all the sailors of Tarshish, and upon every beloved flag
Beloved flag: or precious craft, palace, or desirable image--i.e., any outstanding superlative symbolizing human achievement. How can we help but recall the collapse of skyscrapers and the sinking of the Titanic that "even God could not sink", or the spacecraft that "challenged" YHWH?
17. and the haughtiness of mankind will be humbled, and the loftiness of mortal men will be brought low, and YHWH alone will be set on high in that day
18. Then the worthless [images] will completely [and quickly] vanish,
19. and they will go into the caves of the rocky cliffs and the hollows of the dust, [away] from the dread face of YHWH and from the splendor of His majesty when He arrives on the scene to make the earth tremble!
20. In that day mankind will throw his worthless [images] of silver and his worthless [images] of gold (which they fashioned to bow down before) to the moles and the bats,
Yaaqov also hid idols in the earth under an oak tree. (Gen. 35:4; cf. Yesh. 1:29-30 above.)
21. [as they] go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs and the clefts of the crags, [away] from the dread face of YHWH and from the splendor of His majesty when He arrives on the scene to make the earth tremble!
22. Forego mankind, whose breath is in his nostrils, because what does he count for?
Forego: leave behind, let go. Breath: or spirit. This has a special meaning in this day when the brave new humanistic world order is gaining ascendancy and humanity will actually worship a particular man. Nostrils: ancient images of idols often had a huge nose; because that is where the breath enters and leaves, it was considered the part of the body where the soul resides. But only "panting after" YHWH preserves us. (1:19)
CHAPTER 3
1. Because, indeed, YHWH of Armies is causing the support and the staff [on which you lean] to turn away from Yerushalayim and from Yehudah--the whole supply of grain and the whole supply of water,
Support and staff: what you rely on. He wants to be the only One to whom we look for sustenance.
2. valiant one and man of war, judge and prophet, as well as diviner and elder,
3. the commander of fifty and the uplifted of face, the advisor, the skilled craftsman, and the expert conjurer!
Uplifted of face: i.e., one who is honored. Skilled craftsman: or "shrewd magician" (as one who deals in the secret arts). Expert conjurer: literally, "discreet whisperer".
4. "Then I will permit youths [to be] their commanders, and capricious fools will exercise dominion over them,
Youths: those who are inexperienced and brash, like Rehav'am.
5. "and the nation will be opporessed, man against man, each against his fellow man. The young will behave arrogantly against the old, and the lightweight against the important.
6. "When a man takes hold of his brother in his father's house ('A coat! Come, you can be a ruler for us, and this overthrown ruin can be under your hand!'),
7. "in that day he will raise [his hand to swear], saying, 'I'm not one to bandage up, and there's neither bread nor clothing in my house, so don't appoint me as the people's ruler!'
8. "Because Yerushalayim has stumbled, and Yehudah has fallen, because their tongue and their actions toward YHWH [are] to rebelliously provoke the fount of His weightiness.
9. "The appearance of their faces testifies against them, and, like S'dom, they have made their sin conspicuous; they have not concealed it. Woe to their appetites, because they have dealt out evil to themselves!
10. "Tell the righteous that it is well, because they will eat the fruit of their actions.
11. "Alas for those guilty of evildoing! Because what his hand has dealt out will be done to him.
12. "[As for] My people, fools are their taskmasters, and women rule over it! O people of Mine! Those who are leading you are causing you to go astray, and have swallowed up your lifestyle!"
Fools: people who play like children. Taskmasters: or oppressors. Lifestyle: literally, "way of your journeying-paths".
13. YHWH is taking His position to bring forward His case, and is taking His stand to judge the nation.
14. YHWH will enter into litigation with the elders of His people, and its rulers: "You have consumed away the vineyard; what you have plundered from the poor is in your house!
15. "What is it to you? You are crushing My people and grinding the faces of the poor!" declares Adonai YHWH of Armies.
16. And YHWH has said, "On account of [the fact] that the daughters of Tzion are arrogant and walk with their necks held out, causing eyes to stare, and proceeding to walk with quick little steps, and with their legs making a noise [of the] rattling [of bangles],
17. "Adonai will cause the top of the daughters of Tzion's heads to scab over, and YHWH will uncover their secret openings.
Secret openings: or "hinges"; i.e., their private parts.
18. "In that day Adonai will take away the glory of their anklets, headbands, and [crescent-moon] ornaments,
19. "the pendants, the bracelets, and the veils,
20. "the head-adornments, the jingling anklets, the sashes, the soul-houses, and the amulets,
21. "the rings and the nose-rings,
22. "the removable robes, the covering tunics, the spreading cloaks, and the purses,
23. "the mirrors, the fine linen outer garments, the turbans, and the large veils.
Mirrors: literally, "revealers".
24. "Then what will happen is that instead of a sweet fragrance, there will be the stench of decay; instead of a belt, an encircling rope; instead of a well-set hairdo, baldness; instead of an expensive robe, tied-on burlap; and branding in the place of beauty.
Encircling rope: i.e., to be led away into slavery thereby. Burlap: or sack-cloth. Branding: another sign of ownership by another.
25. "Your people will fall by the sword, and your valiant ones in the battle,
26. "and her entrances will lament and mourn, and she who is cleaned out will remain for the land.
Cleaned out: desolate.
CHAPTER 4
1. "In that day, seven women will take hold of one man, saying, 'We will eat our own food and wear our own clothing; just let us be called by your name, and take away our disgrace!'
In which day? The day of the calamities in chapter 3. Take hold of: or prevail upon, but it literally says, "seven women will make one man strong". Perhaps these are seven of the northern tribes, or perhaps they are the seven congregations of Rev. 1-2. The number "seven" in Hebrew is also the word for "oath" (cf. Gen. 21:30ff, when seven ewes were sacrificed to seal the oath). Thus they may simply be symbolic of the complete number of people who have made the oath of covenant with YHWH--the "7,000 in Israel who have no t bowed the knee to Baal". In any case, they are joining themselves to the Messiah from the tribe of Yehudah. In 3:7, no other men had bread or clothing left in their houses, just as no one else but Messiah is worthy to reign. (Rev. 5:4) But the bread and clothing were paralleled in 3:8 with Yerushalayim and Yehudah. Thus, eating their own food, in this context, relates to living in their own cities, and wearing their own clothing symbolizes keeping their own tribal identity. I.e., they are not trying to be Jews, but they know they must have connections with the Jewish Messiah. One man: or "a unified man"--the restoration of Adam toward which all of Scripture points, and which became possible only through the one Man, the Messiah, who then became the Head of the whole Body. Let us be called by your name: literally, "Let your name by proclaimed [or read] over us." Yirmiyahu (Jer.) 23:6 tells us that the Messiah will be called YHWH Tziqdenu (YHWH our righteousness), and Yirm. 33:16, using parallel phraseology, tells us that Yerushalayim (which we know from Rev. 21:2 is the Bride adorned for her husband) will be called by the very same Name. Our disgrace: not so much having had all their ornaments removed (ch. 3) as the fact that they had been adorned for themselves, not for their bridegroom. (After Aharon had some Israelites donate jewelry out of which to build the golden calf, YHWH said ornaments were no longer to be worn in His sanctuary.) Rabbinically, the name of YHWH is seen as a key that the high priests lifted up to open the heavenlies (Josephus) Once we again began using YHWH's name instead of substitutes, the shame that comes with association with the pagan titles we had used was also removed from our lips.
2. "In that Day the offshoot of YHWH will be [raised to] honor and authority, and the fruit of the Land will be majestic and splendid for the [surviving] remnant of Israel,
In that day: while there is usually an immediate point of reference in the prophet's day, when this phrase is used by the prophets, it also has the specialized reference to the "Day of YHWH", for which all of the precursors were only "dress rehearsals". Those who enter the Messianic Kingdom are the ultimate "surviving remnant of Israel", including the righteous who died throughout all of history. Offshoot of YHWH: identified in Yirmiyahu (Jer.) 23:5; 33:15 as a righteous king from David's line; and Z'charyah 3:8 as YHWH's servant, which 52:13 below links clearly with the Messiah. Authority: or reputable dignity.
3. "And [whatever is] spared in Tzion or remaining in Yerushalayim will be called "set apart", that is, all who are enrolled to live in Yerushalayim.
Enrolled: or inscribed, reminding us of the angelic scribe who, in an event that will be repeated (Rev. 7:3ff), was commanded to mark out those who would be preserved because they wept over the abominations carried out in the midst of Yerushalayim. (Y'hezeq'el/Ezek. 9) In that context, there is a very clear demarcation between those celebrating Passover and those celebrating what would later come to be called "Easter". In Rev. 3:5; 13:8ff; 20:15; 21:27 we see how the names are written in the Book of Life relate to the New Yerushalayim. Our citizenship is in heaven, from which Yahshua will come and bring us the rights this entails. (Phil. 3:15ff; cf. v. 1 above.)
4. "When Adonai has washed off the excrement of the daughter of Tsion, and rinsed away Yerushalayim's blood from its innermost part by the wind of justice and the spirit of burning,
Note the mechanics of how YHWH cleanses us: wind is the same word as "spirit" in Hebrew. "Justice" means "right-ruling (correct verdict) in judgment" (which we cannot have without established rulers); it also bespeaks the fact that Y'shua ransomed us by a fully lawful means which the Adversary can never call into question. "Burning" here can mean "kindling a fire", which takes us to Y'shua's statement that he had a fire to kindle and wished he could do so right away, but had an "immersion" to undergo first. (Luke 12:49, 50). Amos (5:18-20) reminds us that the Day of YHWH will not begin in a pleasant way so that we should look forward to it nonchalantly. It will be a time of burning away our impurities and consuming the wicked before the Kingdom is fully established.
5. "then YHWH will form over every dwelling place of Mount Tsion and over her convocations a cloud and smoke in the daytime, and the brightness of a flaming fire at night, because over all [that is] honorable, [there is] a [wedding] canopy,
Every dwelling place: "each fixed site" or "the whole foundation". YHWH's presence will cover the whole city as He appeared over the Tabernacle. It also separated the nation from Pharaoh, and His presence will again separate us from all that Egypt represents in its paganism and enmity toward YHWH. The heavenly city that descends to earth after the Messianic Kingdom (Rev. 21) may be suspended above the earthly Yerushalayim during the Kingdom. In Rev. 3:12 Yahshua promises that the one who overcomes will be made a pillar in YHWH's Temple and he will have the name of the New Yerushalayim written on him.
6. "and there will be a sukkah for shade from the parching heat in the daytime, and as a refuge and shelter from inundation [by a maelstrom] and what falls from the sky.
Sukkah: a booth or covering that provides temporary shelter, the prominent feature of the feast of Sukkoth, which is a foreshadowing of the Kingdom, which will begin with a time of intense calamity from which YHWH will shelter His people while the rest of the world feels His indignation. This will include "stars" falling from the sky (Rev. 9:1).
CHAPTER 5
1. "Now I will sing for my Beloved my uncle's song concerning his vineyard: 'My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile spur [of ground].
Uncle: or "Beloved", but a different word in Hebrew from that which precedes it, though they share a common root. Probably both refer to YHWH. Very fertile: literally, "son of fatness/oil". Spur: literally "horn", from a root meaning "to send forth rays". Yahshua carried the parable further. (Mark 12)
2. "'And he dug [into] it and threw the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest of vines, and built a watchtower inside it. He also hewed out a wine vat, and waited eagerly for it to produce grapes. But it produced wild, rotten fruit!'
Wine vat: traditionally built as close as possible to the vineyard so as little juice as possible is lost. The choicest of vines: California proved that the best land combined with the best vines produces the best wine. This is what YHWH expected. Rotten: includes the connotation of smelling foul.
3. "'So now, inhabitants of Yerushalayim and men of Yehudah, please judge between Me and My vineyard!
4. "'What more could have been done for My vineyard that I did not do in it? When I was expecting it to produce grapes, why did it produce wild, rotten fruit?
5. "'So, now, I'll go ahead and make known to you what I will do with My vineyard: I'll take away its protective hedge, so it can be grazed in, and make breaches in its wall, so it can be trampled down.
YHWH had given Israel special protection and care, but since it flouted this in His face, He left it open to all the forces that affect all the other nations without His special attention.
6. "'I'll let it waste away; it will not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thornbushes will come up. I will also command the clouds to keep from dropping rain on it',
Compare the forsaken sukkah in 1:8.
7. "because the vineyard of YHWH of Armies is the House of Israel, and the man of Yehudah is the plant that he handles tenderly. And He looked expectantly for justice, but what [He found] was bloodshed! For ethical vindication, but what [He found] was a cry for help!
Justice...bloodshed; ethical vindication...a cry for help: Hebrew wordplays, juxtaposing mishpat with mishpakh and tz'daqah with tz'aqah.
8. "Alas for those who make [one] house extend all the way to [the next] house, who cause [one] cultivated field to run up close to [another] field, until they run out of space and you are forced to dwell in your loneliness in the middle of the countryside!
Until they run out of space: or "until the Place comes to an end". "The Place" is often a euphemism for the Temple or the One who inhabits it. This is reminiscent of there being no room for Y'shua at his birth during Sukkoth, when the temporary shelters were packed so thick that he had to be born in one in the open country outside Beyth Lechem, at the Tower of the Flock. (Micha 4:8; 5:2) But each tribe was also to have its own "standard" (banner). We are to be set apart from other nations, but then Israel is not meant to be a homogeneous "melting pot"; holiness will not look the same for everyone. Tearing down walls is not the meaning of biblical unity; rather, each part of the Body needs to fulfill its function for the good of the whole. Where houses and fields are all flush with each other, there is no room for roads to lead to Yerushalayim. And this just may be the specific intent. Bavel's dream was to stay settled when YHWH says to be pilgrims.
9. "In my ears, YHWH of Armies [has sworn], 'if most [of these] houses don't become desolate, and big, prosperous [ones] without inhabitant...!
10. "'Because the area ten yoke [of oxen could plow in a day] will produce [only] one bath, and a homer's [worth] of seed will yield [only] an eyfah!'
One bath...an eyfah: the equivalent volume in liquid and dry measure. A homer: Ten times the size of an eyfah, so the yield would actually be only a tenth as much as what was planted. One would have to choose between eating and planting.
11. "Woe to those who get up early to run after intoxicating beverage, hanging back in the twilight; wine causes them to hotly pursue.
12. "And there were lyre and harp, tambourine, flute, and wine in their drinking-parties, but they pay no attention to the things YHWH does, nor do they notice the works of His hands.
13. "For this reason My people have gone away into exile: due to lack of knowledge. Its important ones are persons of famine, and its boisterous crowds parched from thirst.
Gone away into exile: or "removed the covering". Remember that clothing can be a symbol of tribal affiliation (4:1), so being "unclothed" in exile means loss of identity. (Compare v.8 above.) Knowledge: as in chapter 3, the structure can be intact outwardly, but if there is no understanding of why we obey the Torah, it is easy for it to seem like a mere burdensome tradition. (Hos. 8:12)
14. "Therefore She'ol has made its appetite grow wider, and gaped its mouth to the point of having no limit, and their adornment, roaring, tumult, and the triumphant person will descend into her.
She'ol: the underworld, or the place of the dead. Remember what happened to Qorach. (Num. 16)
15. "Then humanity will be brought low and man set in a lower place, and the eyes of the haughty will be humbled,
The immediate context is Israel before her enemies crushed her, but this particular verse has a wider context in our day as "humanity" (Heb., "Adam"), rather than YHWH, is being made the measure of all things. Man: or "a man"--perhaps the counterfeit Messiah, who is also haughty. (Y'chezq'wl 29:3)
16. "but YHWH of Armies will be exalted with justice, and the El who is set apart will be shown to be separate through righteousness.
Exalted with justice: raised to prominence in an appropriate, rightful, deserving manner, through due legal process, unlike those who since Nimrod's time have tried to make a name for themselves. There are again judges and authorities in place who do right. Shown to be separate: includes the sense of being treated accordingly as in a class of His own, and the way He distinguishes Himself as unique is that He does right. We also demonstrate His sole worthiness by doing right ourselves.
17. "Then the lambs will graze as in their own pasture, while sojourners eat the places deserted by the fat ones.
Their own pasture: includes the sense of being accustomed to it, thus being at ease. Fat ones: at root, the term means "obliterators". In other words, the haughty (v. 15) who stepped on others to "get to the top" will leave their goods to the needy who come seeking temporary hospitality among YHWH's flock. But even the ones who were righteous, when satisfied with plenty, tend to forget YHWH. (Deut. 32:15; Prov. 30:9)
18. "Woe [to] those who drag perversion along with worthless cords, and [pull their] sin as with a cart rope,
19. "who say, 'Let Him hurry and finish what He is making quickly, so we may see it! And let what the Holy One of Israel has been devising approach and enter, so we may become acquainted with it!'
Reminiscent, perhaps, of the way the men of S'dom responded to YHWH's messengers, this is a perverted curiosity--expecting YHWH's work to be only spectacular excitement but not a challenge to true holiness. Though we wish for Yahshua's Kingdom to come "in our lifetimes and in our days", the first part of YHWH's work to bring it about will not be "pretty" for those who are looking for novelty. (Amos 5:18-20)
20. "Woe to those who avow that evil is good, and say good is evil, who put 'darkness' for light and 'light' for darkness, who define bitter as 'sweet' and sweet as 'bitter'.
Put...define: the same term in Hebrew; i.e., who change the definitions. Who has not likewise shuddered in our day to hear people raving about things they define as "wicked!" or "bad!"? But how much worse to call pagan holidays "blessed" or say that obeying the Torah is contrary to YHWH's will.
21. "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and holding up their own faces [conspicuously] as intelligent!
22. "Woe to those whose claim to fame is [how much] wine [they can] drink, and men whose [only area of] expertise is mixing intoxicating beverage,
23. "who vindicate the cause of the wicked for a bribe, and take the good legal standing of the just away from him!
24. "Therefore, as the fire's tongue devours the chaff, and the dry grass droops to the flame, their root will be like something rotten, and their flower will go up [in smoke] like a cloud of dust, because they have rejected the instruction of YHWH of Armies, and despised what the Holy One of Israel utters.
25. "This is why YHWH's breath has become hot upon His people, and He has stretched out His hand against it and punished it. Then the hills shook and their corpses like off-scouring in the middle of the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned back, and His arm is stretched out still.
Punished: literally, struck. Off-scouring: or "dung" (to be swept away).
26. "Moreover, He will lift up a signal-flag to the distant nations, and will whistle for it [to come] from the ends of the earth, and indeed, it will come quickly [on] light [feet]!
27. "There is not a weary or feeble one among them; not one will be drowsy, and not one will fall asleep. The undergarment of its loins will not be loosened, nor will the thong of their sandals be undone,
Feeble: or "stumbling". Undergarment not loosened: i.e., they will not even stop to relieve themselves, so quickly will they come! Nor the thong...undone: he emphasizes that they will not stop to rest in any way!
28. "whose arrows are sharp, and whose bows bent! Their horses' hoofs will be considered to be like flint, and their [chariot] wheels like a whirlwind!
Flint: i.e., very hard. Wheels...whirlwind: How reminiscent of Eliyahu's chariot ride to the heavens.
29. "Its roaring is like a great lion, and it will roar like young lions; and it will growl and seize the prey and carry it away, and there is none to rescue.
30. "And in that day, it will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. When one considers the land, then behold! Darkness and distress, and the light is darkened by its haze."
Distress: a tight spot, oppression, or a "hard place".
CHAPTER 6
1. In the year of the death of King Uzziyahu, I had a vision of my master seated upon a throne--high and lifted up--and the train of His [robes] filled the Temple [building].
It is usually assumed this “master” was YHWH because of the mention of YHWH in verse 3, but YHWH is not the only one in Scripture called “my master” (Adonai), and YHWH cannot be seen. But just that point is what makes this at least a double-entendre, because this vision made Yeshayahu fearful. (v. 5) But an elevated throne was precisely where a king in the line of David would sit in the Temple courts. That king was the only one permitted to sit down within the holy precinct. Yeshayahu may call the earthly king his master too, for he worked, at least in part, directly for the king’s court. Uzziyahu had been held up as the paradigm of a righteous king. (2 Kings 15:34) He brought Israel great gains, but let it go to his head; he overstepped his limits and usurped the role of the priests, ignoring their rebuke. He was struck with leprosy and quarantined until he died. (2 Chron. 26) His son began to reign in his stead while he was still alive. He was never allowed into the Temple again. But Isaiah is reassured that YHWH is still on His throne so all is not lost.
2. Burning [angels] took their positions above it--each one having six wings: with two [each] concealed his face, and with two he concealed his feet, and with two he flew.
Burning angels: Heb., s'rafim. Their six wings, or extremities, suggest what many call a “star of David”, but which in Hebrew is actually called a “shield of David” because of the shape, which later, when reconstructed, was found to be the most stable, best-supported design in shields. Uzziyahu himself was noted for providing shields for his army of 307,000 (2 Chron. 26:14).
3. This one called out to that one and said, "Holy, holy, holy is YHWH of Armies! The whole earth is filled with His splendor!"
Holy: in a separate class of His own. (The famous complete Isaiah scroll found at Qumran says "Qadosh" (holy) only twice. This may be why it was found intact; if it was a copyist's error, it would have been "buried" in a geniza, or "graveyard" for scrolls that had YHWH's name on them. They would never be destroyed, but would not be used after a mistake was discovered, so this one would survive longer than one that had been worn out by usage.)
4. The supporting-posts of the threshold shook at the sound of the one who called out, and the House was filled with smoke.
Smoke in the Temple would come from the altar of incense, which is symbolic of our prayers.
5. And I said, "Alas for me, because I am silenced, since I myself am a man of impure lips, and I live among a nation of impure lips--since my eyes have seen the King, YHWH of Armies!"
Lips: or "language". YHWH appears to want to give Yeshayahu a special job in the king’s court, but he has a shortcoming is in the area of something he had said. Silenced: or finished, brought to an end, undone, cut off--even "doomed". In common terms, "a goner". Impure: ritually unclean. Yaaqov (James) tells us the same mouth should not bless YHWH (in our prayers, per v. 4) and curse those whom He has chosen.
6. Then one of the burning [angels] flew toward me, with a live coal in his hand, taken with tongs from atop the altar,
The only altar inside the Temple building was the altar of incense—the very place at which Uzziyahu had transgressed. WasYeshayahu’s sin speaking ill of the king because of his mistake? He is not ready to do the job YHWH has in mind for him if he dishonored his authority. Certainly the king had done wrong; he made too much of himself, but he was YHWH’s anointed, and David had shown us how hesitant one must be to harm such a person, yet it had become normal to devalue those in authority who fell short of perfect. Had he continued to carry the weight of profaning the name of one YHWH was still honoring, he never would have succeeded in his job. Uzziyah had been a man of great merit, and if the prophet too was out of line, there would be no one left to stand in the gap and keep this nation back from destruction. He recognizes his error, and may have asked to be silenced completely so he would never do this again. In his hand: The tongs were not due to its heat, for a "burning one" would not be harmed by that, but because he was not permitted to touch the holy altar directly.
7. and he touched it to my mouth, and said, "Here, this has touched your lips, so your guilt is averted, and a covering has been effected over your sin."
Kefa responded similarly to Yeshua’s holiness, saying, “Leave me, because I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8) But Yeshua responded as the s’raf does here, making a way to justify him because he has been chosen for a very special purpose despite his shortcomings. Yeshua also says what Moshe says at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 20:18ff): “Don’t be afraid. You can draw near if you do so in the right way.”
8. Then I heard the voice of YHWH saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" So I said, "Here I am! Send me!"
9. So He said, "Go, and tell this people, ‘Listen, hearing, but do not distinguish! And look, seeing, but do not perceive!
10. "Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and smear its eyes over, lest it [should] see with its eyes or hear with its ears, and be able to discern with its heart, and repent, and someone [should] heal it."
Yeshua's parables had the same purpose (Mat. 13:13), since he had a work to do which he could not accomplish if Yehudah repented too soon. YHWH had something else to accomplish in the meantime. (The context here mainly addresses Yehudah, but still applies to both houses, since Uzziyahu died before the Northern Kingdom was fully scattered.)
11. So I said, "Until when, YHWH?" And He said, "Until the cities may crumble into ruins due to [being] without inhabitant, as well as houses, due to [being] without a human being, and the soil becomes a deserted wasteland.
12. "But when YHWH has removed the human [population] far away, and the abandonment of the land is abundant,
The human [population]: simply "the Adam" in Hebrew. Yeshayahu’s initial enthusiasm was probably based on the idea that he was going to bring a message that would make this people repent. He is clearly sobered by the message he is instead told to give. Not only will repentance not be seen in his lifetime; it will not come at all for the majority of his people for ages. Yet there is hope:
13. "still, there will be a tithe within it, and it will come back, though it had been consumed, like a terebinth or an oak that, even when felled, [still] have a [living] stump. The holy seed is its stump.
Tithe: one tenth, a remnant reserved for YHWH's special use, who would not be destroyed by this curse. Yaaqov promised that if YHWH brought him back to the Land of his birth, he would give YHWH a tenth of all that was his (Gen. 28:22), so a tenth of his descendants belong to YHWH in a special way. When YHWH fulfilled his request, Yaaqov set up a memorial pillar (the same Hebrew word as “stump” here) as a witness, and there YHWH confirmed that his name was now Israel. Though we were cut off from our roots, true and complete life remained within what is left standing, and could thus send forth a new shoot, and the nation could be revived. It’s an occasion to start fresh, without all the baggage that huge trunk held. The errors of our ancestors can be circumvented. But without a witness to the witness, its purpose will be forgotten, like the ancient dolmens on the Golan Heights; no one knows for sure what they memorialize. The seed (Yaaqov’s descendants in each generation) must be taught what it is about and which parts of our heritage to aim for. But one particular seed (Gal. 3:16) in David's line made the posterity of the whole nation secure. A small number of Jews did stay in the Land after it fell to Rome, but this tithe may also refer to Yeshua's followers, who carried on the covenant when it was lost to the many.
CHAPTER 7
1. Now in the days of Akhaz, the son of Yotham, the son of Uzziyahu, king of Yehudah, R'tzin the king of Aram went up to Yerushalayim with Peqach the son of Remalyahu, king of Israel, to make war against it, but they were unable to prevail over it.
Achaz began his reign at age 20 in the seventeenth year of Peqach's reign. [c. 735 B.C.E.] So Peqach was substantially older. The story is detailed in 2 Kings 16. R'tzin means "firm", and Remalyahu, "wealth/abundance of YHWH".
2. And the house of David was informed, "Aram is resting on Efrayim." Then his heart and the heart of his people wavered as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
House of David: An inscription was found in Dan, at the extreme north end of Israel, referring to Yehudah by this name, so apparently it was a common way of describing the current king of Yehudah. "Resting on": or, leaning over--an idiom for encamping on the Northern Kingdom's land, or being allied with them. Wavered: with fear. They were greatly outnumbered.
3. But YHWH told Yeshayahu, "Go out now to meet Akhaz--you and your son Sh'ar-Yashuv--to the end of the conduit of the upper pool of the launderers' field toward the highway,
Sh'ar-Yashuv means "a remnant will return". His presence is part of his message to the king. (See 8:18) Though he is about to prophesy the fall of the Northern Kingdom, Yeshayahu prefaces it, for those with ears to hear, with this promise that keeps the severity of the punishment in perspective. The upper pool: the same place the Assyrians would later meet King Hizqiyahu (36:2; 2 Kings 18:17) Launderers': or "fullers"—those who cleansed the fibers of cloth of their natural oils and bleaching them before dyeing them. Sometimes the dyeing was done by the same man.
4. "and tell him, ‘Make sure you stay calm. Don't be afraid, and don't let your heart go soft from these two stumps of smoking firebrands, because of the burning anger of Retzin, Aram, and the son of Remalyahu,
Calm: or "quiet"; keeping one's mouth shut is closely tied to being unafraid. By voicing "what if's", we erode the rock that YHWH sets us on, convince ourselves of the worst scenario, and get others thinking fearfully. This misdirected energy creates additional problems that were not really there to start with. Smoking firebrands: compare 65:5.
5. "on account of the fact that Aram has given Efrayim and the son of Remalyahu evil advice, saying,
Peqach means “open”. Efrayim (later as the scattered Northern) again teamed up with Aram, the nation of Lavan ("the white one" and a "relative" of Israel, thus a picture of the institutional Gentile church) and together they persecuted the Jews, not realizing that they were closer relatives than the pagans who masquerade as friendly, but really seek only their own advantage. By being "open" to their influence, Israel came very close to destroying his truest brothers.
6. "‘Let's go up against Yehudah and terrorize it, and cause a division in her for our own benefit, and set the son of Tav'el up to reign as king within her!'"
Terrorize: Heb., cause to feel a sickening dread. Tav'el: means "El has been beneficent ", or "Elohim is pleasing", but is also a code name for Remalyahu through a form of Hebrew encryption in which one letter is substituted for another by substituting letters from the first half of the alphabet for those in the second half. (Missler) The last part of the word changes the encryption method to merely substituting El for Yah. The strategy was to divide and conquer. They are actually deluded into thinking the Northern Kingdom will overtake and subject the southern!
7. "Thus says the Master, YHWH: ‘It will not stand; it's not going to take place,
8. "‘because the capital of Aram is Dameseq, and the head of Dameseq is R'tzin, and within sixty-five years, Efrayim will be broken from [being] a people,
Dameseq was where Achaz went to meet the king of Ashur (Assyria), on whose help he called in this crisis. (2 Kings 16:7) But that king then attacked Israel, taking many captive. (2 Kings 15:27) Sixty-five years: long after the fall of the Northern Kingdom, which came only about 10 to 15 years after this prophecy. It seems YHWH had already determined that it would fall, but if repentance had come, the fall might have been substantially delayed.
9. "‘Moreover, the capital of Efrayim is Shomron, and the head of Shomron is Remalyahu's son; if you will not believe it, it is because you are not to be established.'"
Efrayim: shorthand for the whole Northern Kingdom because its first king was from that tribe. Shomron: Samaria, but it means “extremely well-guarded”. Believe: or "stand firm". Not to be established: Because he turned out to call on the help of a human king, and ended up giving away the Temple treasury in order to pay him, rather than simply asking YHWH for help.
10. Then YHWH spoke to Achaz yet again, saying,
11. "Ask for a sign for yourself from YHWH your Elohim; make the request [as] deep [as you wish], or make it from as high above [as you wish]!"
Sign: in Heb., "what distinguishes"--i.e., something clear-cut. This was a merciful offer to a king who lacked assurance of YHWH's beneficent intentions toward Yehudah.
12. But Achaz said, "[No], I won't ask; I don't [want to] put YHWH to the test."
Put to the test: or tempt. YHWH responded favorably to one of the greatest tests ever given Him, that of Eliyahu's soaked sacrifices on Mount Karmel. (1 Kings 18) Achaz had the opposite of this spirit of faith. Since he proved that he would not be established, Yeshayahu broadens the scope of his audience:
13. So he [Yeshayahu] said, "Then listen, O house of David! Is it too small [a thing] for you to try the patience of mortal men? Must you try the patience of my Elohim too?
He had been commanded to ask; "to obey is better than sacrifice"! This was not true humility. Apparently it was mainly the prophet he did not trust, because he thought he knew these two armies well enough to predict what they would do.
14. "Therefore, Adonai Himself will give you a sign: Behold! The young woman has conceived and is giving birth to a son, and she will call his name Imanu-El.
Young woman: of marriageable age, in the broadest sense of the term. The immediate point of reference is a particular young woman present to Yeshayahu and the king (especially in context of v. 16), probably the wife of the king himself, who was quite young. The prophecies here and in chapters 52 and 53 fit well with the life of his son Hizqiyahu. (2 Kings 18) But on the other hand, how would that be an unmistakable sign of something contrary to Akhaz's expectations? What would be so special or miraculous about a young woman conceiving a son? Verse 16 explains that. But the term was translated by the LXX (some 200 years prior to the birth of Yeshua and thus long before the controversy about the virgin birth) as parthenos, a term contrasted in 1 Cor. 7:28 with a married woman, hence, a virgin. Rabbi David Katz says this may be a way of emphasizing that this particular wife was a foreign one taken in battle, as only virgins may be taken in such a case. (Num. 31:18) This is often taken as a reference to Yeshua, but how would an event 700 years later serve as a sign to Akhaz? Ecclesiastes says that "what has occurred once will occur again." Prophecies often have a two-pronged reference: a partial fulfillment in the prophet's own day, and a fuller one later which includes the same elements as the prior fulfillment, but more. Matithyahu (1:23) takes the prophecy as relating to a virgin birth, as it is explicitly stated that Yosef did not have relations with Miryam until after Yeshua was born (1:25; cf. Luk. 1:27). He did not take this verse out of context, for the preservation of the royal Davidic line (cf. 6:13 above) is also Matithyahu's theme. Imanu-El means "El [is] with us". Yeshua indeed said that whoever saw him had seen the Father (Yochanan 14:9), though of course, no one has ever seen the Father Himself. (Yochanan 1:18; 6:46) So the entirety of YHWH was not present when Yeshua walked the earth. Indeed, he drew some clear distinctions between himself and the Father (e.g., Yochanan 14:28), probably to counter the deductions that would one day be made about his deity when the Gospels and Paul were interpreted through Gentile grids, where demi-gods were common lore. Everything he did perfectly communicated exactly what the Father was like, yet he is still the messenger. But in the immediate context this name was meant to comfort the king, and is repeated in 8:10 in the context of YHWH taking Yehudah’s side in the battle. El is a name often correlated with YHWH's attribute of mercy or lovingkindness, in contrast with judgment, and if applied to Yeshua, the point of “Imanu-El” seems to be a reminder that even in our exile and despite our having left the Covenant, YHWH has not forgotten His promises to bring all of Israel back, and that is what Yeshua is about.
15. "He will eat butter and honey, so he may learn to know [how] to refuse the wrong and choose the right,
Butter and honey: in the context of the House of David (v. 13), it is interesting that these were some of the foods chosen to strengthen David's people when they were especially weary. (2 Shmuel 17:29) See also v. 22.
16. "because before the lad knows how to refuse the wrong and choose the right, the ground that you are dreading will be abandoned by both of her kings.
Both of her kings: Aram apparently was considered to own the Land due to a suzerainty treaty.
17. "YHWH will bring upon you and upon your people, as well as upon your father's house, days that have not come since the day that Efrayim departed from Yehudah--[namely] the king of Ashur [Assyria].
18. "Now what will take place in that day [is that] YHWH will whistle for the [stinging] fly that is at the farthest reaches of the rivers of Egypt, and the bee that is in the land of Ashur,
19. "and they will all come and lie down in the steep ravines and in the clefts of the crags, and among all the thornbushes and among all the pastures [with watering places].
YHWH is telling Achaz, "You do not have to worry about stopping these two kings; I already have someone else lined up to deal with them. You just learn from what is going to come against the House of Israel."
20. "In that day, with a razor hired beyond the river--the king of Ashur--YHWH will shave the head and the leg-hair, and it will also sweep away the beard.
Shave the head: normally not allowable, except in the cases of cleansed lepers, Nazirites terminating their period of being set apart by a vow; otherwise, only pagans did so. But it would serve as a sign of the humiliation coming for a people who had disregarded YHWH's Torah. In Hebrew, the term for "legs" is also used for the pilgrimage festivals YHWH prescribed. (E.g., Ex. 23:14) The Talmud explains that the beard is the glory of a male. "Glory" in Hebrew really has the sense of "weightiness", "importance", and thus "authority". So having the beard shaved symbolizes a loss of authority (possibly emphasizing that of the priesthood) or self-rule, as well as the fact that they were no longer a set apart as a people, and that they were essentially becoming pagans. (Hoshea 7:8 vouches for this.)
21. "And what will occur at that time is that a man will preserve a cow and two sheep alive,
22. "and because of the abundance of milk they produce, he will eat butter, because butter and honey [is what] all who are left in the midst of the Land will eat.
The few who remain will be impoverished.
23. "And what will occur on that day [is that] every place where there are a thousand vines [worth] a thousand [pieces of] silver will turn into [a place] for briars and thornbushes.
A thousand vines: an allusion back to the parable in chapter 5.
24. "He will come there with arrows and the bow, because the whole land will become briars and thornbushes,
I.e., it would be so overgrown that it would become a game-hunting ground.
25. "and [as for] all the mountains that can be dug with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briars and thorns; rather, it will be [a place] to send oxen out to pasture, and for flocks to trample down."
This again speaks of few people left to tend the arable land.
CHAPTER 8
1. Then YHWH told me, "Take a large flat surface for yourself and write on it with a mortal man's engraving tool, 'For Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz'."
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means "Plunder hurries, spoils come quickly". The context continues to be the overthrow of the Northern Kingdom and Aram by Ashur (Assyria).
2. So I summoned to myself reliable witnesses, Uriyah the priest and Z'kharyah the son of Y'verechyahu.
Uriyah means "YHWH is my light"; Z'kharyah, "YHWH has remembered", and Y'verechyahu, "May YHWH bless".
3. Then I approached the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and YHWH told me, "Declare that his name is Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz,
4. "because before the lad knows how to cry, "My daddy!" or "My mommy!", the strength of Dameseq and the plunder of Shomron will be carried off in front of the king of Ashur."
My daddy...My mommy: Much easier to say in Hebrew than in English ("avi" and "imi"), thus the child would not need to be very old at all. They could very well be his first words.
5. And YHWH continued to tell me still more:
6. "On account of this people despising the waters of Shiloach which proceed gently, and being excited about R'tzin and Remalyahu's son,
7. "therefore, behold, YHWH is bringing up over them the waters of the River, strong and numerous--the king of Assyria, and al his glory! And he will go up over his channels, and proceed over all his banks,
His banks: the proper boundaries of his empire.
8. "and he will trespass into Yehudah, and he will overflow and cross over. He will reach all the way to the neck, and when his wings are spread out they will fill the whole breadth of your Land, O Immanuel!"
Your Land: YHWH has deeded it specifically to him (Yahshua), but this also suggests that the immediate reference may be to someone in whose hands the Land would be in the immediate context--perhaps Hizqiyahu, the next king? In his days, the Assyrians did try to capture Yerushalayim. (2 Kings 18:13) Hizqiyahu means "YHWH is my Strength". His wings: compare 18:1.
9. Break in pieces, O peoples, then be shattered! And cup your ear, all who are from the far-off parts of the earth. Equip yourselves, then be broken in pieces! Gird yourselves [for war], but you will be shattered!
10. Take counsel and [make your] plan, but it will be frustrated. Speak a word, but it shall not stand, because El is with us--
El is with us: Heb., Immanu-El.
11. because this is what YHWH said to me with the strength of the hand, when correcting me from walking in the way of this nation:
12. "Do not say, 'A conspiracy!' for everything that this nation calls a conspiracy. Don't be afraid of what they are afraid of, and don't be terrified.
13. "YHWH of Armies--He is the One to treat as in a separate category. Let Him be the one you respect, and let Him be the One you makes you tremble with awe!
I.e., concentrate on Him, not on what men are doing. These things have to take place, much like the New World Order we see usurping our nations today, since a unified world is prophesied for the last days. He is still in control. The scattering of the Northern Kingdom was from Him (1 Kings 12:24)--part of an "expansion" that started when YHWH separated Chavvah from Adam, and continued through Bavel and Israel's dispersion until the "fullness of time", when Yahshua appeared (Gal. 4:4), and began to "let the rubber band snap back". He initiated the "restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21) by sending his apostles out to start regathering the "lost sheep of the House of Israel". After we have become a cohesive people, we will again be rejoined with Yehudah (Hos. 1:11), and keep continuing back through the repetition of what happened before (Eccles. 3:15; 6:10) in the "contraction" which will culminate in the "birthpangs" of one new Man (Eph. 4:13). History thus goes through a "mirror image" until Eden itself is restored. Paul speaks of seeing Yahshua as in a mirror and becoming like him. (2 Cor. 3:18; cf. 1 Yochanan 3:2) Yaaqov (James 1:23) says that mirror is the Torah, the perfect law of liberty, because Yahshua is the "word made flesh" and thus by reading YHWH's instruction, we see what He looked like and what we really are as well. Adam ("Man" in Hebrew) and Eden itself will be restored. When all is put under Messiah (the "Last Adam")'s feet, we will continue back even to the day when YHWH was "all in all" (1 Cor. 12:6; 15:28; Eph. 1:23). That is what He is doing in our day, and this is where we must put our energy, rather than focusing on the apparent physical threats.
14. "And He shall become as a sanctuary, a stone to strike and a rock that causes stumbling for both Houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the one who dwells in Yerushalayim.
Sanctuary: a set-apart place. The teachings inherent in the Temple are the "snare" that YHWH promised to use to regather the Northern Kingdom and recapture our hearts (Y'hezq'el/Ezk. 43). It corresponds with Yahshua, our sanctuary, who is indeed described as "a stumbling-stone" (Luk. 2:34; Rom. 9:33; 1 Kefa/Peter 2:8)
15. "And many among them will stumble and fall, and become crippled, entrapped, and captured."
16. Tie up the confirmation; fix a seal on instruction to the ones I have taught,
17. and I will wait for YHWH, who causes His face to be hidden from the House of Yaaqov, and I will watch for Him with eager expectation.
18. Indeed, I and the children YHWH has given me are [to serve] as distinguishing signs and tokens in Israel from YHWH of Armies, who dwells in Mount Tsion.
19. "And since they tell you, 'Consult those who invoke the dead or those who have familiar spirits, who chirp and mutter', shouldn't a nation consult its Elohim, rather than the living praying to the dead?
20. "To instruction and confirmation! If they do not speak in agreement with this, it is because there is no dawning in them!
Instruction: Heb., Torah. This is the way we must weight and test the words of any prophec, and any proper interpretation of the Renewed Covenant will only confirm what it already says. (Mat. 5:17-18; Rom. 3:31) Why look for new revelation, when He has already written His down? What He's told us before is the truth. The main point of any prophecy is to explain the Word that has already been given.
21. "And they will pass through it, hard-pressed and hungry. And because they are hungry, what will happen is that he will work himself into a rage, and have contempt on his king and his Elohim, and turn his face upward.
22. "And they shall turn their attention toward the Land, and behold distress and darkness, and gloom from anguish, and they will be thrust into calamity.
Calamity: or "thick darkness", from a word meaning that the sun had set on something. Compare 9:1.
23. "Yet the covering of darkness will not be what she had the distress about, like the first time He brought contempt on the land of Z'vulun and the land of Nafthali, as afterwards He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea beyond the Yarden--Galil of the Nations.
I.e., the distress would make things turn out well for those YHWH favored. (cf. Rom. 8:28) All through the epistles to the Thessalonians, Paul speaks of how the events that will come as a surprise to those who are in darkness will only benefit those who belong to the Light. Way of the Sea: a major trade route running from Mesopotamia, through the Yarden Valley, then through the Yezre'el Valley and past Megiddo, across the Karmel range, and down along the coast to Egypt. Galil of the Nations: west of Lake Kinnereth, a hilly region that by Yahshua's time had been under Gentile control, then resettled by both Jews and other Israelites, but had a strong Gentile influence. This makes it abundantly clear that these prophecies are Messianic. Galil, the tribal lands of Z'vulun and Nafthali, would be made very important because that is where Yahshua the Messiah would spend most of his life and public ministry. (Mat. 4:13-17) In some English Bibles this verse is 9:1.
CHAPTER 9
1. The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light! A light has shone on those who dwell in the shadow of death!
Note all the imagery of the feast of Sukkoth (Booths) in this chapter: great lights, joy, harvest, release from oppression, the birth of Yahshua, and his Kingdom.
2. You have greatly increased the nation. No, You have magnified the joy! They have rejoiced before You like the joy of harvest, like the gladness in distributing the plunder,
The joy of YHWH seems to transcend our limitations; growth is not always lateral. When He deepens our capacity, we still grow larger. But it is only so we can hold more of what He wants to pour out to others, like the widow who fed Eliyahu (1 Kings 17).
3. because You have shattered the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, and the scepter of the one who oppresses them [through tyranny], like the day of Midyan,
Day of Midyan: or "a day of strife".
4. because every boot of a trampler is in commotion, and a garment is rolled in blood, and it will become fuel to keep a fire burning,
In commotion: or "shaking, quaking, trembling, confused noise". A garment rolled in blood: possibly a reference to the day of Y'shua's execution, when the earth quaked and the Adversary's yoke was thrown off anyone who joins the Second Adam's restored race.
5. because a child is born to us! A son is given to us, and the dominion will be on his shoulder! And his name is proclaimed [to be] "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty Prevailing Judge, Founder of [Eternal] Continuity, Prince of Peace.
Dominion: The position must belong to someone from the tribe of Yehudah and a descendant in particular of David. The word carries the connotation of having fought for it. This may refer to a physical end-time battle and/or Yeshua's having won back the dominion Adam had over the earth before he surrendered it to the taskmaster mentioned above. Yeshua removed haSatan's right to the earth by allowing haSatan to kill him unjustly. HaSatan had a right to kill anyone else, but became a murderer through Yeshua's death, since he had done nothing deserving of death. Shoulder: Heb. sh'chem, the name of the city Yaaqov deeded to Yosef and where he is buried (Nablus today). It was also the city where Yeshua met the Samaritan woman at the well, beginning to take his bride from the lost sheep of the House of Israel, just as Moshe and Yaaqov had met their wives at wells. (Yochanan 4) Wonderful: Identical to the name of the Messenger who brought the news of Shimshon (Samson)'s birth (Judges 13:18), since he said his name was "wonderful" (literally "incomprehensible and hard to understand”). Counselor: or advisor, consultant. Prevailing judge: indeed he defeated the Adversary. The word "judge" is again El. The term ranges from human judges (Ps. 82:6) to angelic beings to YHWH Himself. Thoma recognized that Yeshua was this type of judge (Yochanan 20:28) after he proved his doubting to have been erroneous. As Yosef was given Pharaoh's signet ring and was for nearly all intents and purposes treated as if he were Pharaoh himself, this "son" would have a unique association with YHWH. He would be YHWH's deputy and representative, having been given all authority (Mat. 28:18) by the One greater than He. Continuity: from a word meaning "to advance onward", and Yeshua was the "founder" of this occasion for Adam, the restored human race, to continue into eternity rather than be burned up like the garments and boots in v. 4. Peace: Yeshua's Kingdom will be the first time true peace is known on earth, and it will be enforced with a "rod of iron". But the word "shalom" means more--complete soundness, total well-being, security, and prosperity of every type.
6. There is no end of the increase of his dominion and of peace, on the throne of David, and over his realm, to set it in order and to sustain it with a legal system and righteousness from now on and forever. Jealousy [for] YHWH of Armies will accomplish this.
Set it in order: build a "skeletal" framework on which righteousness can be fleshed out. Though Yeshua initiated it and made it possible, YHWH cannot ratify the Renewed Covenant with the two houses of Israel (Yirmiyahu/Jer. 31:31) until there is again a House of Israel to cut the covenant with! When there is a throne established, Yeshua can take his rightful place. YHWH is beginning to build this framework again, but we need trsutworthy leaders He can again set in place as under Moshe. Sustain: or establish, support. Jealousy for YHWH: exemplified well through Pin'chas (Num. 25:7), the Maccabees, and Y'shua (Yochanan 2:15), who single-handedly took on large-scale opposition to YHWH while others stood idly by. This type of heroic choices will again be part of what establishes the coming Kingdom. Notice the connection with armies, as they may be utilized in setting up this Kingdom of Peace, just as in the days of David and Shlomoh, his ancestors.
7. Adonai sent a word into Yaaqov, and it has come down to Israel,
8. and they will know--all of them: Efrayim and the inhabitant of Shomron, in her arrogance and greatness of heart, saying,
9. "Bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stones; sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars!"
In their arrogance, they did not recognize YHWH's punishment, and simply began to rebuild things in their own way, saying they could do even better this time. Cut stones: symbolizing being shaped by men's doctrines--the antithesis of the altars that could not have any human tool applied (Ex. 20:25), but had to be built with stones shaped only by running water, a symbol of YHWH's pure, unadulterated Word. Compare the Tower of Bavel, which also substituted humanly-processed materials for those in their natural form.
10. But YHWH has raised up the oppressors of R'tzin against him, and his enemies--
11. Aram in front, Filistines behind--and they devour Israel with the whole mouth.
Israel: In this context, only the Northern Kingdom.
12. Despite all this, His anger is not turned back, but His hand is still stretched out, yet the people are not returning to Him who is striking them, and they do not carefully seek out YHWH of Armies.
Despite all this...: This phrase is repeated twice below as a "refrain", showing more clearly how prophets usually sang out their messages. Returning to Him who is striking them: for "whom YHWH loves He disciplines" (Prov. 3:12). Here He seems surprised that they would not come back for more correction; it only shows that they do not wish to be the best they can be. Perhaps the concept of "turning the other cheek" relates to this context of submitting to further sharpening.
13. So YHWH will cut off from Israel head and tail, frond and reed [in] one day.
14. An elder or honored one--he is the head, and the prophet who teaches falsehood, he is the tail,
Honored one: literally, "lifted of face".
15. and this people's guides will be the ones who lead them astray, and the ones in it who are led along are swallowed up.
16. Therefore, Adonai will not rejoice over its young men, nor will He have compassion on their orphans or widows, for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks foolishness. Despite all this, His anger is not turned back, but His hand is still stretched out,
Profane: or a hypocrite.
17. for wickedness burns like a fire; it devours briars and thornbushes, and it sets the thickets of the forest ablaze, and they shall billow up like a column of smoke.
18. The Land is scorched by YHWH's outburst, and the people will become like the fire's fuel; no man will even spare his brother,
19. and he will cut off on the right hand, yet be hungry; he will eat on the left, yet they will not be satisfied. Each man will eat the flesh of his own arm.
Eat the flesh of his own arm: This may include the practice of transubstantiation, in which some claim to actually eat the body of the one called YHWH's "right arm". Having a distorted view of Him, they are still hungry, and cannibalize the Body they too are a part of, rather than asking YHWH Himself for added sustenance.
20. Menashe [devours] Efrayim, and Efrayim, Menashe; together they [will come] against Yehudah. Despite all this, His anger is not turned back, but His hand is still stretched out.
CHAPTER 10
1. "Woe to those who enact unjust decrees and who put in writing wearisome things that they have prescribed,
Wearisome things that they have prescribed: Aramaic, "toilsome writs", i.e., "legalese" in which the fine print is burdensome to read and simple justice is encumbered by numerous manipulative clauses. According to Torah, Israel's justice system is not to work that way; YHWH has no fellowship with injustice. (Ps. 58; 94:20) This, more than the pagan worship that was also going on, was the main reason He was about to bring trouble upon Yehudah, as at the Flood of Noach and the destruction of S'dom.
2. "to thrust the weak away from a just verdict, and by force take away the rights of the poor of My people, so that widows may be their prey, and they may plunder orphans!
Y'shua also rebuked religious leaders for "plundering widows' houses", when the Torah tells us to afford them special protection, and making up new instructions which placed heavier burdens on people than YHWH intended. (Mat. 23:14)
3. "And what will you do for the day of reckoning, and for devastation? It comes from far away! To whom will you escape for help? And where will you abandon your reputation?
4. "Apart from Me, you would have bowed down under the prisoner, and they will fall under the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned back, but His hand is still stretched out.
Apart from Me...: The Aramaic targum interprets this as meaning, "Outside your Land, you will..."
5. "Woe to Ashur, the rod of My anger, and My rage--it is the staff in their hand!
They were oppressing their own nearest kinsmen, so He sent distant cousins to punish them (for Ashur was the second son of Shem).
6. "Against a hypocritical nation will I send him--against the people of My overflowing rage! I will commission him to take the plunder and seize the spoils, and to turn them into a trampling-place like the mud of the streets.
Hypocritical: or profaned. He is speaking about Yehudah, who has turned away from YHWH.
7. "Yet this is not his intent, nor is this what his heart is counting on, because [what is] in his heart is to annihilate and eliminate not a few nations,
8. "since he says, 'Aren't my chieftains just like kings?
He: Apparently a collective reference to a series of Assyrian kings. nnacheriv, who ruled Ashur from 705-681 B.C.E., attacked Yehudah in 701 B.C.E. (See the story in chapters 36-37) By most chronologies this should be 21 years after Shomron fell to his predecessor Shalmaneser (traditionally 722), but 2 Kings 18 states that Sennacheriv attacked Yehudah only six years after Shomron fell. (See also 2 Chron. 32) Thiele's reckoning of the chronology of kings taking into account that sometimes the same year was counted as the last year of one king's reign and the next king's first allows all the chronologies in Scripture to agree, but might thus place the fall of Shomron as late as 709 B.C.E. This might then push the date of the end of the Northern Kingdom's "not being a people" (a 2,730-year sentence) back to as late as A.D. 2019 rather than 2008. However, this time clock may have started 12 years earlier when the Kingdom first began being exiled by Ashur, rather than the year the capital finally fell.
9. "'Isn't Kalno the same as Karchemish? Isn't Chamath the same as Arpad? Isn't Shomron just like Dameseq?
Kalno: Also called Kalneh, it was one of the cities that Nimrod founded (Gen.10:11), but was captured by Assyria during the 8th century B.C.E. Karchemish: the Hittite capital on the Ferath (Euphrates) River, until Assyria overtook it. Chamath: a major Syrian city in the Orontes Valley. Arpad: another major city in Syria. Shomron: Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. I.e., "Aren't they all the same to me?" This boast is also chronicled in 2 Kings 18:29-35. Hizqiyahu had the wisdom to tell the people to simply remain silent in the face of his taunts.
10. "'Just as my hand has succeeded in acquiring the dominions of the imaginary gods whose engravings [were greater] than Yerushalayim or Shomron,
He is taking inventory of these cities that have maintained their prestige under subjection to him. Apparently they had remained prosperous, and he thought he was following the most successful method of conquest. Imaginary gods: literally, "nothings", "falsehoods", or "worthless things".
11. "'won't I do the same to Yerushalayim and her images as I have done to Shomron and her worthless gods?'
His intention was only to conquer, not to carry out YHWH's justice on Israel and Yehudah, but to add to his own repertoire of victories. Images: "shapes that grieve", "formed shapes", or "copies"; since Israel was not to make images of YHWH, any graven images in Yerushalayim would be copies of those from other nations. Was he mistaken about there being images in Yerushalayim? Or is this an indication that idolatry (even if in the Name of YHWH) had crept in there too? Shomron:
12. "So this is what will take place when Adonai will have accomplished all His business on Mount Tsion and Yerushalayim: I will call to account the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Ashur, and [bring the consequences] upon the splendor of his haughty looks,
13. "since he says, 'I have succeeded because of the strength of my hand and my wisdom, because I have the know-how! What's more, I have taken away the borders of nations, and plundered what they had made ready, and subdued their inhabitants like a mighty [man]!
Have the know-how: am intelligent, discerning, savvy. Taken away borders: just what every empire-builder wishes to do to others, adding them to his own territory. We hear the same calls today to unite all the nations of the world into one; the spirit of Bavel still remains.
14. "'I have succeeded in acquiring the wealth of nations; I have collected the whole earth just as one collects eggs from an abandoned nest, and there was not one who fluttered a wing or opened the mouth or chirped!'
I.e., "It's been so easy; those other gods did nothing to stop me. They must be on my side! I must be doing something right! Yet remember that sometimes the wicked prosper by their own wickedness; if they are not receiving any correction from YHWH, it must mean He is paying them little attention (Prov. 3:12), having turned them over to their own foolishness. (Rom. 1:21ff) That He does acknowledge it even to this degree is His mercy, which we see in the account of Yonah, for he prophesied to the Assyrian capital, Nin'veh.
15. "Shall the axe glorify itself over the one who cuts with it? [As] if a saw should promote itself above the one wielding it, like a rod brandishing itself against those who take it up, as [if in] lifting itself up, the staff [was] no [longer merely a piece of] wood!"
The last phrases in Aramaic read, "When one lifts the rod to strike, the rod does not strike, but he who strikes with it." He's only a tool, but he thinks the power is his. But, as with Pharaoh, YHWH was only using Ashur's innate pride serve His purposes.
16. Therefore the Master YHWH of Armies will send scrawniness on His fat ones, and under His heaviness He will kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
Y'shua said He had a fire to kindle after He underwent the "immersion" of His death. (Luk. 12:49; cf. 3:17) Scrawniness: Where is the Assyrian empire today?
17. Then the Light of Israel will come to serve as a fire, and His Holy One as a flame, and it will burn and consume His thornbushes and briers in a single day,
The Light of Israel: YHWH. His Holy One: the Aramaic targum identifies this as His Memra (living Word), i.e., the Messiah.
18. and it will finish off the abundance of His forest and His fruitful plantation, both soul and body, and it will be like when a sick person melts away,
Soul and body: or "life and flesh".
19. and the trees that remain in His forest will be so [few in] number [that] even a boy can record their [tally].
Apparently there were far more thorns and briars than trees.
20. And what will transpire in that Day is that those who remain of Israel and the remnant from the House of Yaaqov who are rescued will never again rely on the one who subjugated it, but rather will truly rely on YHWH, the Holy One of Israel [for support].
21. A remnant will return--the remnant of Yaaqov--to [the] Mighty Prevailing Judge!
A remnant will return: the meaning of the name of Yeshayahu's son, Sh'ar-Yashuv. Mighty Prevailing Judge: El-Gibbor, one of the names of the "child who is born, the Son who is given" (9:5), i.e., Yahshua. He is the one to whom a remnant will return.
22. For though yor people Israel should become like the sand of the sea, [only] a remnant of it will return--a conclusion [that is] decreed, overflowing [with] righteousness,
Decisive...righteousness: or "a mutilating annihilation, washing in with right-rulings".
23. because Adonai, YHWH of Armies, is bringing about a complete, decisive end within the whole Land.
24. Therefore, thus says Adonai, YHWH of Armies, "O people of Mine, who dwell in Tzion, do not be afraid of Ashur! With the rod he will strike you, and he will lift up his staff against you on the way to Egypt,
Rod and staff: YHWH's instruments of comfort, though they are severe. (Psalm 23) On the way to Egypt: It was due to Hizqiyahu's conspiring with Egypt against Ashur that the letter attacked them both, but the phrase could also mean, "the way Egypt did". Note that the message that they should not be afraid only those in Tsion, and only those who are truly YHWH's people--i.e., those loyal to Him. Many other cities in Yehudah were besieged and conquered by the Assyrians, most notably Lachish, for their sins. (Micha 1:13)
25. "yet still in [only] a short while, indignation will come to an end, and My anger [will now be] in regard to their being used."
Or, "My anger in regard to them will be spent." Their: i.e., Israel and Yehudah's being "used up" by Ashur (Assyria).
26. Then YHWH of Armies will stir up over him a whip like the wounding scourge of Midyan at the Rock of Orev, and as His rod was over the sea when he lifted it on the way [from] Egypt.
Rock of Orev: where Gid'on slew two Midyanite kings and their armies. (The story is in Judges 7 and 8.)
27. And what will transpire on that Day is that his burden will be taken off of your shoulder, and his yoke [taken] off the back of your neck, and the yoke will be twisted [until it breaks] from the presence of [the] oil.
One yoke is traded in for another--an "easy yoke" (Mat. 11:29-30) because it is shared by "another called alongside to help" us, for oil is a symbol of the anointing of the Spirit of Holiness, especially upon Messiah (see 11:2 below). And that Spirit is upon His Body in a special way when we are assembled together.
28. He has arrived at Ayath; he has crossed over at Migron, and has entrusted his equipment to Mikhmash!
29. They have crossed the ford! Geva was where they lodged. Ramah is trembling; Giv'ah of Sha'ul has taken flight!
Mikhmash, Geva, Ramah, Giv'ah, and Gallim (v. 30) are just north of Yerushalayim along the border between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. There is a progression in these towns that depicts the army moving closer and closer to Yerushalayim.
30. Let out a shrill scream of distress, O daughter of Gallim! Get their attention in Laish, O afflicted Anathoth!
Anathoth: a town just north of Yerushalayim from which the prophet and priest Yirmiyahu came.
31. Madmenah has fled; the inhabitants have taken refuge in the cisterns.
32. He has continued on and today has taken his stand at Nov; he brandishes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Tsion, the hill of Yerushalayim.
Nov: a town on a hill overlooking Yerushalayim itself. Daughter of Tsion: one of the hills surrounding Yerushalayim, or the villages situated on them.
33. Here YHWH of Armies allows the bough to be lopped off with an awful crash, the lofty ones of stature are cut down, and the haughty ones will be brought low!
2 Kings 19 describes how Sennacheriv came up to the walls of Yerushalayim but was kept from attacking the city. Compare the theme of branches being cut off in Judges 9 and Romans 11.
34. And with iron He will cut all around the thickets of the forest, and the Levanon will fall by a majestic one!
The Levanon: a then-wooded mountain range north of Israel, snow-capped in winter, hence its name, which means "the very white". The Aramaic targum interprets all these trees to be Ashur's armies. The other biblical accounts refer only to Sennacheriv's coming from Lachish (the last of the cities fortified chiefly to defend Yerushalayim), but the Ascent of Beth-Horon (which passes the towns mentioned in vv. 28-32) would be the only major route by which a huge army could travel from Lachish to Yerushalayim due to the mountainous terrain between them.
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
Yeshayahu
(Isaiah)
Introduction:
Yeshayahu means "YHWH is salvation"--the same meaning as Yehoshua, but with the phrasing in the reverse order. Yeshayahu was probably from the tribe of Yehudah. A contemporary of Micha and Hoshea, he prophesied more than 200 years after the division of Israel, beginning c. 740 B.C.E. (Just prior to King Uzziyahu's death in 739), or about 18 years prior to the fall of the Northern Kingdom. But he mainly addresses the southern kingdom of Yehudah, which was now in decline as well, following the same pattern of apostasy that Israel had taken. Since he records the death of Sennakheriv, it is estimated that he continued to prophesy for some 60 years, until about 680B.C.E., when by tradition he was executed by being sawn in two. As with all the prophets, his main theme is, "Come back to the Torah!"
