THE EDITOR’S TRANSLATION OF ISAIAH.

 From Chapter 17: 12 to 18: 7.

            Hark! A multitude of many peoples making an uproar as the noise of seas. Hark! A tumult among peoples, roaring as a tumult of mighty waters; they rage against peoples like a roar of many waters: but HE shall rebuke him, and he shall flee afar off; and He shall chase him as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and as stubble before the whirlwind. Behold also at evening time sudden destruction; and before dawn he is not. This is the portion of our spoilers, and a lot for them who scatter us.

            Ho! Land of widely o’ershadowing wings extending from beyond to rivers of Cush; which sendeth by sea whirling things even upon vessels of fleetness on the surface of waters! Go swiftly, ye fleet messengers, to a nation carried away and oppressed; to a people terrible from this and onward; a nation prostrate and trodden down, whose lands rivers have spoiled.

            All the inhabitants of the world, and dwellers of the earth, at the lifting up of an ensign on the mountains, shall tremble, and at the sounding of a trumpet, shall hear. For thus said Jehovah to me, I will be still (yet in my dwelling place I will be without fear) as dry heat impending lightning, as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For before harvest as the perfecting of fruit when sour grapes are ripening, there shall be a blossom: and He will cut (it) off as vine-shoots by pruning hooks, and luxuriant twigs are lopped away. They shall be left together for the carrion-bird of the mountains, and the wild beast of the land; and the bird of prey shall destroy upon it, and every wild beast of the land shall ravin upon it.

            At that time a present shall be diligently brought to Jehovah of armies, a people carried away and oppressed even of a people terrible from this (time) and onward; a nation prostrate and trodden down, whose land rivers have spoiled; to the dwelling-place of the NAME of Jehovah of armies, Mount Zion.

ANNOTATIONS.

            Hark! —Hui, pronounced Masoretically ho, is the interjection with which Isaiah, 17: 12 and 18: 1, begin. It signifies Ho! Hark! Woe! Alas! a word of threatening, of grief, and of exhortation. In the common version it is rendered “woe” in both these texts; but Lowth, Rochester and Boothroyd, adopt “ho” in the same. The prophet’s exclamation evidently arises from a different cause in each case. In the first, he is like one who catches the sound of some distant uproar, and that he may discern more perfectly what is to do, exclaims with a listening ear, Hark! What is that? Having ascertained the nature of the tumult, he turns to the standers by, and says, “It is the multitude of many peoples making an uproar as the noise of seas.” There is great sublimity in this. The prophet in Jerusalem upwards of 2500 years ago, being “in the spirit,” hears the loud-sounding uproar of nations, rushing from far distant realms to battle in Israel’s land, in the eventide of Gentile times. “Hark!” says he, “do you hear that roar of mighty waters?” It is the last conflict of the nations ere the dawn of Israel’s glory. I hear them approach the Holy City. Onward, and nearer still they come! The roar is terrible. The flood no barrier heeds: our land is deluged, and the city falls before it. But O, the majesty and power of Israel’s King! I see him robed in glory and might, and hurling sudden destruction upon the foe! He pursues the enemy, and overtakes them. They cry, but there’s none to save them, even to Jehovah, but he answers them not. How terrible the chace! He beats them small as the dust before the wind, and tramples them in the fury of his power! Thus doth he tread the winepress alone, and bring down the strength of the destroyer to the earth. Compare Psalm 18: 37-42, with Isaiah 63: 3-6, and the text before us.

            The victory being thus gained by the Name of Jehovah who comes from far (chapter 30: 27,) he takes up his abode in the City of David on Mount Zion. The din of battle, and the tumult of peoples, is all hushed into the stillness of a sultry atmosphere impending a threatening storm. There is no uproar now to cause the prophet to exclaim “Hark!” The time of proclamation has arrived, especially to a power whose services are in requisition at the crisis. I do not therefore render hui in the second place by “hark,” but by “Ho!” as calling to the land. —I have repeated “hark” after “seas,” as emphatic instead of wav, which should otherwise be rendered and.

            “But He shall rebuke him”—ugar bo, pronounced ve-gah-ar bo. The common version reads, “but God shall rebuke them”: Dr. Lowth, “but he shall rebuke them”; while Boothroyd agrees with the common version. “God” is not in the Hebrew text. The Holy One of Israel, who bears the name of Jehovah, is doubtless the rebuker, as appears from the Psalm already quoted; and the additional testimony of Micah in chapter 4: 3, and chapter 5: 2, 5-6: —“He shall rebuke strong nations afar off.” “Out of Bethlehem Ephratah shall he come forth unto me to be Ruler in Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God: and they (Israel) shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth. And this (Ruler) shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land.” This ruler for Israel is admitted by all professors, except Jews, to be Jesus of Nazareth, who was born at Bethlehem: but while this is conceded, what is here affirmed of him is rejected. We, however, believe it; and maintain that though Jesus has never encountered the Assyrian in battle, he is yet to do it. Jesus Christ, who is soon to stand in Mount Zion in the majesty of the name of Jehovah, is the rebuker of the uproarious nations, who follow the Assyrian’s standard. He is to be the peace when the Assyrian invades the land of Israel. The testimony of Micah shows that it is the Assyrian which is the power to be rebuked in Judea at the second appearing of the Lord Jesus—the Assyrian styled “the King of the north” by Daniel; “Gog” by Ezekiel; and “the Autocrat of all the Russias” by the moderns.

            The translators referred to, not understanding the teaching of the prophets concerning the Assyrian of the latter days, could not discern the propriety of bo in the text, as no single individual had been mentioned, or alluded to, in the context. Instead, therefore, of rendering the words gahar bo, rebuke him, they nullified the prophet’s significant allusion to Israel’s enemy of the latter days, and converted bo into “them.” In my rendering, I have restored the idea they suppressed. Jesus, the stone the builders refused, shall rebuke the Russo-Assyrian Head of the Serpent, and he shall flee afar off: Jesus shall chase him as stubble, and destroy him suddenly.

            “At evening time * * * and before the dawn.” This interval between the evening and dawn is styled in Daniel, “the time of the end.” We are now in the evening time of the day of salvation—the “today” of the times of the Gentiles. About half an hour of the period remains ere the Assyrian obtains Jerusalem and is suddenly destroyed. The evening time before the dawn is the “time of trouble” foretold by Daniel, when Jehovah shall come with his holy ones. “But,” saith Zechariah, “light shall not be, the splendid ones draw themselves in. But it shall be one day, this is known to Jehovah, not day nor night, but it shall be at evening time there shall be light.” This is a remarkable passage. Yiquahroth yiquiphpahon, the splendid ones draw themselves in. Though they that be wise are to shine as the sun, as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars, in the kingdom, we learn from this text in Zechariah, that when they appear with Jesus “before the dawn,” before the kingdom is set up, that they restrain their splendour, as it may be supposed Christ did during his forty days sojourning with his disciples after his resurrection and before his ascension. This leads to the conclusion that while Christ and the saints are carrying on the war of Armageddon against “the Beast, the False Prophet, and the kings of the earth and their armies,” during the evening time, they will appear like other men. They will draw themselves in, restraining the manifestation of their brightness until they have fully executed the judgment given them to do.

            At evening time brightness shall shine forth. That is, at the close of it. When the light shines, the dawn has passed, and the darkness chased away. The day of glory shines upon the world, and the earth becomes full of the knowledge of it. The interval between the rebuke of the Assyrian by Christ Jesus, and the shining forth of His day, will be, I take it, about forty years. This will be the most extraordinary period of the world’s history. The reappearance of Christ, the resurrection of the saints, the dashing in pieces of the goat-governments as a potter’s vessel, the restoration of Israel, the manifestation of Paradise in the Holy Land, and the regeneration of the nations, are the events characteristic of the period. Who would not pray, “Thy kingdom come?”

            “Before the dawn he is not,” beterem boquer ainennu. Boothroyd has it, “they are no more;” Dr. Lowth, “he is no more;” but the common version correctly, “he is not.” In answer to the question, “Who is not?” we have, “he whom the Ruler of Israel rebukes, and chases like chaff before the wind.” The fate of this Assyrian awaits all the powers that oppress Israel.

            “Land of widely o’ershadowing wings,” eretz tziltzal kenahphahyim. These are the words rendered by Dr. Lowth “land of the winged cymbal.” He says tziltzal is never used to signify shadow. This may be granted, without admitting that it has no relation to shadow at all. The Robinson-Gesenius Lexicon translates the phrase “land of the whizzing of wings; that is, land of the clangor of armies; full of armies (wings) clanging their arms, viz., Ethiopia!!” This is unadulterated nonsense. Parkhurst is more rational. He derives it from the root tzahlal, to be overshadowed. By inserting the letter tzade between the lameds, thus, tzahl-tz-al, the verb is intensified, and made to signify “to overshadow exceedingly, or very much.” As a noun, tzltzl is applied to the locust, from their sometimes flying in such swarms as to obscure the sun, or darken the air. Though Gesenius does not perceive the meaning of tzltzl in our text, he rejects Dr. Lowth’s “cymbal” for whizzing or whistling.” It is true that cymbals, and whizzing, are found in connection with this family of words, as mtzlthim, pronounced metzailthaim; and tzltzlim, pronounced tzeltzelim, because of some resemblance between the sound of tziltzahl, when spoken sibilantly and broadly, and the cling clahng, or clangor of the cymbal plates when struck together, and waved with a tremulous motion through the air. But there is nothing in the primitive idea of the root of the word connected with sound. The verb tzahlal comes from tzl, pronounced tzail, which signifies shade, shadow; and concretely, these as affording shelter, or protection, by supreme power, the figure being preserved: as betzail kenahphekah, “under the shadow of thy wings” hide me; that is, under the protection of Jehovah’s power. Tzail is intensified by the doubling of its lamed: as tzll, as if it were written tzaill. But to distinguish the latter from the former, the Masorites have pointed it so as to sound tzahlal, instead of tzaill, which could only be distinguished from tzail by the eye. The genealogy of our tziltzal is obvious. Its grandfather is tzl, a shadow; and its father, tzll, overshadow; while the grandson is tzltzl, to overshadow exceedingly, or very much; that is, widely o’ershadowing, as I have rendered it in the text.

            Eretz and tziltzal, are both in regimen, and should therefore be literally rendered, land of the widely o’ershadowing of wings. This seems to bring out more forcibly the wings as the overshadowing agents. The proclamation is to a land of wings, not folded up as a bird at rest; but spread out, or extended widely, and therefore capable of affording protection to peoples inhabiting countries far distant from the throne of its power. “A land of wings” is a figurative expression, like that of “wings of the God of Israel.” Isaiah, predicting the invasion of the Holy Land by the king of Assyria, says, “The stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!” That is, his dominion shall overshadow it from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates. This is a beautiful allusion to the eagle-winged lions of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian power. A winged lion is used in Daniel as the symbol of Assyria under its Ninevite dynasty. When the sovereignty was transferred from Nineveh to Babylon, the prophet represents the wings as being plucked. Nineveh lost its wings, and could, therefore, overshadow no more. It was once a City of Wings, and Assyria a land of wings; so that if the prophet had any message to proclaim to it from afar, he might have exclaimed, “Ho, land of the overshadowing wings!” A city or land of wings, then, is a city or land having dominion; and if the wings are wide-spreading, which is indicated by a widely extended shadow, the dominion is extensive, perhaps very extensive, if an intensive word be used to express the idea of shadowing. But all lands have not wings, because all lands have not dominion. Canada and the West Indies, Hungary and Lombardy, have no wings. The wings of the mighty overshadow them all. They have no dominion over their own lands, even; hence none dwell under their shadow. Austria, on the other hand, is a land of overshadowing of wings. So are Russia, Turkey, France and Britain. Belgium is a lion without wings. Its dominion is restricted to its home-land—a land which overshadows none but its own people. But we need add no more under this head; for by this time, the reader will certainly perceive what is meant by the figurative expression, “land of widely o’ershadowing wings.”

            “Extending from beyond to”—ashr maivr le, pronounced asher mai-aiver le. ASHER is the relative pronoun who, which, that, singular and plural, masculine and feminine; and agrees with its antecedent kenahphahyim, wings. Hence, literally, wings that from beyond to, that is “wings extending from beyond to,” as I have given it in the text.

            Maivr comes from the root ahvar; without the points ovr, pronounced over; from which originates our English word over. Hence, as a verb, “over with you,” that is, pass over or beyond, which is the import of the root ahvar. With the prefix m, from, it becomes a preposition, as m-ovr, Masoretically maiaiver, and signifies from over or from beyond; and followed by le meaning to.

            “Extending from beyond to,” is a geographical phrase. To understand it aright, we must remember that it was not penned by one in London, Constantinople, or New York; but by the prophet in Jerusalem. “From beyond” is used in Scripture in reference to east and west from Jerusalem; or in reference to the Euphrates alone, if the writer were sojourning on the east of that river. The phrase aiver hyyardain, “beyond Jordan,” signifies the country east of that river: be-aiver hyyom, literally, in beyond the sea, that is, “in the country beyond the Mediterranean,” or west from Judea. In the text before us, it is not “from beyond to the Sihor.” If it were, we might look for the wing dominion as extending from, perhaps, the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Nile. “From beyond” leaves the how far beyond undefined. It may be one degree beyond the “to,” or forty. The how far beyond is not important to the understanding of the prophecy.

            “Rivers of Cush,” nhri kush, pronounced naharai koosh. Cush is the name of a grandson of Noah in the line of Ham, and the brother of Mitzraim, Phut, and Canaan. These all began their migrations from Ararat. Cush and his brethren journeyed southward, towards, towards the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and countries of the Nile. Japheth’s descendants spread themselves over the north and west; while Shem’s branched off towards the east. Cush’s brother Mitzraim settled Egypt; and Canaan, another, a cursed race, the land afterwards possessed by the Israelites, descended from Shem. The sons of Cush descended the Tigris and Euphrates, and from thence, spread around the waters of the Persian Gulf, to Muscat, and thence to Aden, the regions of his sons Sheba and Dedan. They diffused themselves along the southeastern coast of the Red Sea; while some of them crossed it, and extended their settlements to the region of the Upper Nile.

            “Cush begat Nimrod.” Nimrod founded the first kingdom that existed after the flood. It commenced with four cities in the land of Shinar, the principal of which was Babel, afterwards styled Babylon. “Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh” on the Tigris or Hiddekel: “the same,” says Moses, “is a great city.” The land of Shinar thus became the land of Cush; whose original stock ruled the countries afterwards styled Mesopotamia and Babylonia. Cushan-rishathaim was the Cushite sovereign who first subjected Israel after the death of Joshua. “The tents of Cushan” thus extended from beyond Nineveh to Midian on the Red Sea; but Cush proper, as pertaining to the kingdom of Nimrod, is the country between Persia, Arabia, and the Holy Land.

            The rivers of Cush are those enumerated by Moses in Genesis 2: 11—the Pishon winding through the whole land of Havilah, a son of Cush; the Gihon through Cush’s land more specially; the Hiddekel or Tigris, which flows before Assyria; and the Euphrates. The Tigris and Euphrates are Cush’s rivers, as is clearly seen by his people founding a kingdom on their course, with its capital near the junction of the two.

            To return then to the text. The dominion-wings extend from beyond to the Tigris and Euphrates, at the time that the proclamation is made to the land to which the wings belong. As I have said, how far from beyond the Euphrates and Tigris the dominion-wings stretch—whether from the Indus, the Ganges, Irrawaddy, or Canton rivers—is not indicated in this prophecy. If we suppose it begins at Hindostan, east of the rivers of Cush, it will certainly extend “to” the Tigris and Euphrates; for the words are l-nhri Cush, le-naharai coosh, “to rivers of Cush.” Dr. Lowth makes the land “border on the rivers of Cush.” Rochester renders it, “wings which are beyond the rivers of Cush.” Boothroyd copies Lowth; while the king’s version is, “land beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.” Hence, none of them, it will be seen, have paid any regard to the prepositions m, from, and l, to, which are essential to the sense.

            “Which sendeth by sea,” hshlch byym, pronounced hassholaiach byyom. The wing of the land, or its dominion, being so wide-spreading from tip to tip, it is obliged to communicate with its possessions under their shadow, “by sea.” This character in the text shows that the overshadowing land is a maritime power. It is neither Austria, Russia, nor Turkey; because they do not correspond with their possessions by sea; neither is it France, or the United States; because their wings do not stretch beyond to the Tigris and Euphrates. It can be no other than the British power, whose wings stretch from Burma to the land of Sheba, and west of the Indus; and will advance to Cushistan from the Persian Gulf, as soon as it perceives it necessary for the protection and promotion of its commercial interests. The movements of the Russo-Assyrian autocrat in regard to Turkey, will cause Britain to extend the shadow of her wings to the rivers of Cush. These waters are the borders beyond which her wings will spread no further westward. Britain on the Euphrates, and the Assyrian as a cloud to cover Israel’s land, will bring face to face, in the heart of Asia, the friend and foe of God’s oppressed, dispersed, and captive nation. Policy and interest will identify Britain with the Jews, while many of its people will sympathise with them on religious principles. But the Jews are enemies to Jesus; and the British government, while they profess to venerate him, pay no respect to his teaching or commands. Their pride must therefore be humbled before either of them can be employed as allies in the work of the evening time. Hence, “two-third parts” of Judah in the land are cut off by the Assyrian, leaving the other third for the purposes of the Deliverer: while the powerful fleet of the overshadowing power, cooperating in the war against the Russo-Assyrian, is broken and dispersed. The testimony in support of this is found in the forty-eighth psalm, which contains a prophecy parallel with this of Isaiah. “As we have heard so have we now seen concerning the city of Jehovah of hosts, concerning the city of our Elohim—the Elohim will establish it throughout the age.” It refers, then, to the time when Zion exists as “the city of the great King,” with the “Elohim manifested in its palaces for protection.” But before this manifestation “the kings were assembled (against her;) they rushed along together; but when they saw, they were in great consternation; they were confounded; they fled in terror. Trembling seized upon them there, a pang as of travail.” After predicting this headlong flight of the Assyrian’s kings, he goes on to say, “by an east wind thou wilt break in pieces the ships of Tarshish”—of that Tarshish which, having partaken of the general dismay, shall be among the first to place its ships at the victor’s disposal, to bring Zion’s sons from far to their fatherland. Thus will Britain, and the Jews already in Judea, be prepared for cooperation in the work of the evening time.

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