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Isaiah 9

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Light Dawns in Galilee 1–7

1
Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. ​
2
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. ​
3
Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4
For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. ​
5
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ​
7
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. ​

The Lord's Indictment Against Israel 8–21

8
The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. ​
9
And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, ​
10
The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. ​
11
Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
12
The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. ​
13
For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts. ​
14
Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
15
The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. ​
16
For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
17
Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. ​
18
For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
19
Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.
20
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: ​
21
Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 9

Verse 1

Galilee of the nations — Zebulun and Naphtali were struck first. Tiglathpileser took ‘Galilee, all the land of Naphtali’ (2 Kgs 15:29). The two verbs mark the contrast: ‘lightly afflicted’ is qalal, to make light, and ‘more grievously’ is kabad, to make heavy. Matthew quotes the verse, ‘Galilee of the Gentiles’, when Christ settles in Capernaum (Matt 4:13–15).

Verse 2

the shadow of death — Tsalmaveth, deep darkness, the word of Ps 23:4. ‘Light’ (or) is seen by the people and ‘shined’ (nagah) upon those in that land. Matthew applies it to Christ’s ministry in Galilee (Matt 4:16), and Zacharias echoes it of the dayspring that gives ‘light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death’ (Luke 1:79).

Verse 4

as in the day of Midian — ‘Yoke’, ‘staff’ and ‘rod’ are the three instruments of the driver laid on the people. ‘The day of Midian’ is Gideon’s, won by the three hundred men the LORD chose (Judg 7:7) and ending with the slaying of Oreb at the rock Oreb (Judg 7:25). Isaiah returns to it in Isa 10:26: ‘according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb’.

Verse 6

The mighty God — El gibbor. The same two words stand in Isa 10:21: ‘The remnant shall return… unto the mighty God.’ ‘Wonderful’ is pele, a marvel, and ‘Counsellor’ is yaats. ‘The everlasting Father’ is literally ‘father of eternity’. ‘Government’ (misrah) occurs only here and in v.7; Christ says, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth’ (Matt 28:18).

Verse 7

upon the throne of David — The promise made to David, ‘thy throne shall be established for ever’ (2 Sam 7:16), is given its heir. Gabriel repeats it to Mary: ‘the throne of his father David… of his kingdom there shall be no end’ (Luke 1:32–33). ‘Zeal’ is qinah, the LORD’s jealous resolve; Hezekiah hears the same words in Isa 37:32.

Verse 8

it hath lighted upon Israel — A new oracle begins, against the northern kingdom named by both its names, Jacob and Israel. ‘Lighted’ is naphal, to fall, the verb used of the bricks in v.10. The oracle runs on to v.21 and ends on the refrain ‘his hand is stretched out still’, which Isa 10:4 repeats.

Verse 9

Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria — Ephraim, the leading tribe, stands for the northern kingdom, and Samaria is its capital. Their speech in v.10 is introduced as ‘pride’ (gaavah) and ‘stoutness of heart’ (godel levav); Isaiah calls the same people ‘the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim’ (Isa 28:1).

Verse 10

we will build with hewn stones… cedars — Hewn stone built Solomon’s court (1 Kgs 7:9, 12), and in his day cedars were ‘as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance’ (1 Kgs 10:27). ‘Fallen’ is naphal, the verb of v.8. The vow is to rebuild with costlier materials; compare Edom’s ‘we will return and build’ (Mal 1:4).

Verse 12

The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind — ‘Syrians’ is Aram; ‘before’ is qedem, the front or east, and ‘behind’ is achor, the back or west: Israel is pressed from both sides. The refrain ‘his hand is stretched out still’ (natah) appears at vv.12, 17, 21 and 10:4, and its first form is in Isa 5:25. In Isa 5:25 the stretched hand ‘hath smitten them’.

Verse 13

turneth not unto him that smiteth them — ‘Turneth’ is shub, the verb of repentance, and ‘seek’ is darash. The one who smites is the LORD himself, and the blows were meant to turn them back. Amos 4 has the same complaint about the famine and drought, ‘yet have ye not returned unto me’ (Amos 4:8); Isa 10:20 promises a remnant that will lean on the LORD, not ‘him that smote them’.

Verse 15

the ancient and honourable… the prophet that teacheth lies — The verse interprets its own figures: the ‘head’ is the elder, ‘honourable’ (literally ‘lifted of face’, nasa panim), and the ‘tail’ is the prophet whose teaching is sheqer, falsehood. Both are removed ‘in one day’ (v.14). Isa 3:2–3 lists the same office-bearers whose removal strips the nation of its leaders.

Verse 17

their fatherless and widows — The LORD is ‘a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows’ (Ps 68:5), so withholding his mercy (racham) from them is the measure of the corruption. The reason given is that ‘every one is an hypocrite’ (chaneph, profane) ‘and an evildoer’, ‘and every mouth speaketh folly’ (nebalah); ‘young men’ are the bachur, the picked ones.

Verse 20

the flesh of his own arm — ‘Snatch’ is gazar, to cut off a piece; hunger cannot be satisfied on either hand. This is the covenant curse for disobedience: ‘ye shall eat, and not be satisfied’ (Lev 26:26), and ‘ye shall eat the flesh of your sons’ (Lev 26:29). Jeremiah repeats it of the siege of Jerusalem (Jer 19:9).

Verse 21

Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh — The sons of Joseph, Manasseh the firstborn and Ephraim the second (Gen 41:51–52), turn on each other and agree only against Judah. Pekah of Israel ‘slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day’ (2 Chr 28:6); Isa 11:13 looks to the day when ‘Ephraim shall not envy Judah’.