Jehovah, to the house of the God | tain of Jehovah, to the house of of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths; for from Zion shall go forth a law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. He shall be a judge of the nations, and an umpire of many kingdoms; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."" the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. For from Zion shall go forth a law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem; he shall be a judge of the nations, and an umpire of many kingdoms afar off. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Judging from the state of the times, and the Messianic idea in this passage, it is not probable Micah was its author, but that both he and Isaiah borrowed it from an old prophet, perhaps, as Hitzig thinks, from Joel." III. It is expressly stated the following are from the time of Ahaz, (741-725 B. C.,) namely, 1. Chap. vii. 1, x. 4; and, 2. Chap. xvii. 1—11; both relating to the hostile kingdoms of Israel and Damascus. 3. Chap. xiv. 28-32, an oracle against the Philistines. Perhaps, 4. Chap. i., as Gesenius thinks. Vitringa, Eichhorn, and Hitzig, refer it to Hezekiah's time; Hendewerk to Jotham's, and Rosenmüller to Uzziah's. 5. Chap. v. IV. The following belong to Hezekiah's time, (725 -696 B. C.) 1. Chap. xxviii.-xxxiii., announcing the destruction of the kingdom of Ephraim by the Assyrians; the peril of Judah; the siege and deliverance of Jerusalem, (xxix. 1-8;) the desolation of the land, " See Michaelis, Gesenius, and Hendewerk. Hitzig (in Stud. und Kritik. for 1829, p. 349, sqq.) ascribes it to Joel; but Hendewerk and Credner (1. c. p. 72, sqq.) do not agree with him. a (xxxii. 10-14, xxxiii. 8, 9;) the humiliation of the enemy, (xxx. 27-33, xxxiii. 10-12 ;) reproof for disbelieving prophecies, (xxix. 9, sqq.;) reproof of a wanton reliance on the friendship and help of Ægypt, (xxx. xxxi. ;) and the promise of happier times after their misfortunes, (xxxii. 1, sqq., xxxiii. 17, sqq.) 2. Chap. x. 3, xii. 6, and perhaps the fragment, xix. 24-27, should be inserted after x. 34. It speaks of the arrogance of the Assyrians, the chastisement they inflict on Judah, their humiliation, and a Messianic prophecy, from the time after the fall of Samaria. (x. 9.) 3. Chap. xx., threat against Egypt, from the time of Sargon, the predecessor of Sennacherib, and therefore before the fourteenth year of Hezekiah. 4. Chap. xxii. 16-25, the fall of Shebna, the elevation of Eliakim. This is from the time. before Sennacherib's invasion.' 5. Chap. xxii. 1—14, the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians. It was probably written during this invasion. 6. Chap. xvii. 12— 14, the extirpation of the Assyrians. 7. Chap. xviii. an enigmatical passage, relating to the embassy to Egypt. § 212. ON ISAIAH XXXVI.-XXXIX. This historical passage is not the work of Isaiah. Its spuriousness is proved by its relating the murder of Sennacherib, and the succession of Esar-haddon, events These chapters seem to belong together, and to the period before the time when Samaria was taken by Shalmaneser. Hitzig and Hendewerk try to determine the date of the separate chapters. Hitzig erroneously places chap. xxviii. after this event. much later than Isaiah's time, (xxxvii. 38,) and by its mythical contents, and more modern language." With the exception of Isaiah's song of thanksgiving, (xxxviii. 9, sqq.) it may be found in 2 Kings xviii. 13-xx. 19. The passage, xxxvi. 1, 2, is made more intelligible by referring to 2 Kings xviii. 7, 13-16: Isa. xxxvi. 1-3. "Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder."" 2 Kings xviii. 7, 13-16. "And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. "Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, 'I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me I will bear.' And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria." , xxxvi. 9;, verse 11. The following passage from Kings is more complete than that from Isaiah, and perhaps its author was more fond of the marvellous : 2 Kings xx. 9-11. "And Isaiah said, 'This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?' And Hezekiah answered, 'It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.' And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz." Isa. xxxviii. 7, 8. "And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun-dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.' So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down." Now, since the text of the passage in Kings in many Comp. Isa. xxxviii. 22. Verses 21, 22, are misplaced. Comp. 2 Kings xviii. 7, 8. Comp. Isa. xxxvi. 21, with 2 Kings xviii. 36, ( is wanting ;) and xxxvii. 25, with 2 Kings xix. 24, 7. Explanatory readings occur in Isaiah, for 7 is omitted. Verse 14, ; xxxvii. 17. Verse 24 is like ix, for ni, (a more difficult form ;) verse 26, ; xxxvi. 5. is more regular than . the Keri in 2 Kings. and many others. a places seems to be more correct and original than that in Isaiah, and since the collection of the Isaianic prophecies was made at a later date than the books of Kings, therefore some have maintained that the passage in Isaiah was derived from that in Kings. Such was the opinion of Gesenius, and expressed in former editions of this work. But, on the other hand, it has been observed that the text in Isaiah, also, has, sometimes, an original character,' and that the song of thanksgiving, (xxxviii. 9, sqq.,) and the whole chapter, must have been derived from one and the same source. Accordingly, it has been maintained that both collectors drew from a larger historical work. But the analogy of Jer. lii. is not favorable to this hypothesis; for that chapter is derived from the second book of Kings, and its text has been subsequently revised and enlarged." § 213. ORIGIN OF THIS MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTION. Since in chap. i. xii. there are combined passages that are certainly genuine, all of which relate to the kingdom of Judah, this is, perhaps, the original collection, to which the inscription (chap. li.) belongs. Bertholdt makes use of the account in Baba Bathra to support the opinion that Hezekiah caused this collection to be made. xxxvii. 14) is more difficult than 77, (2 Kings xix. 14.) But compare the following: 7, (xxxvii. 18,) which is more difficult than bia, (2 Kings xix. 17.) [?] |