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Selected Verse: Isaiah 14:8 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Isa 14:8 |
King James |
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
the fir trees--now left undisturbed. Probably a kind of evergreen.
rejoice at thee-- (Psa 96:12). At thy fall (Psa 35:19, Psa 35:24).
no feller--as formerly, when thou wast in power (Isa 10:34; Isa 37:24).
Hades (the Amenthes of Egypt), the unseen abode of the departed; some of its tenants, once mighty monarchs, are represented by a bold personification as rising from their seats in astonishment at the descent among them of the humbled king of Babylon. This proves, in opposition to WARBURTON [The Divine Legation], that the belief existed among the Jews that there was a Sheol or Hades, in which the "Rephaim" or manes of the departed abode. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee - They join with the inhabitants of the nations in rejoicing at thy downfall - for they now, like those inhabitants, are suffered to remain undisturbed. (On the word rendered "fir trees," see the notes at Isa 1:29.) It is evident that a species of evergreen is meant; and probably some species that grew in Syria or Palestine. The idea is plain. The very forest is represented as rejoicing. It would be safe from the king of Babylon. He could no longer cut it down to build his palaces, or to construct his implements of war. This figure of representing the hills and groves, the trees, the mountains, and the earth, as exulting, or as breaking forth into joy, is common in the Scriptures:
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein:
Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
Before the Lord.
Psa 96:11-13.
Let the floods clap their hands.
Let the hills be joyful together
Before the Lord.
Psa 98:8-9.
Praise the Lord from the earth,
Ye dragons and all deeps;
Fire and hail; snow and vapor;
Stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars.
Psa 148:7-12.
(Compare Ch1 16:31; Hab 3:10-11.)
The cedars of Lebanon - (note, Isa 10:34). The cedars of Lebanon were much celebrated for building; and it is not impossible that the king of Babylon had obtained timber from that mountain with which to construct his palaces at Babylon. They are now represented as rejoicing that he is fallen, since they would be safe and undisturbed. A similar figure of speech occurs in Virgil, "Ecl." v. 68:
Peace, peace, mild Daphnis loves; with joyous cry.
The untill'd mountains strike the echoing sky;
And rocks and towers the triumph spread abroad -
'A god! Menalcas! Daphnis is a god!'
Wrangham
It is a beautiful figure; and is a fine specimen of the poetry of the Hebrews, where everything is animated, and full of life.
Since thou art laid down - Since thou art dead.
No feller - No one to cut us down. Jowett ("Chris. Res.") makes the following remarks on this passage on his visit to Lebanon: 'As we passed through the extensive forest of fir trees situated between Deir-el-Karat and Ainep, we had already heard, at some distance, the stroke of one solitary axe, resounding from hill to hill. On reaching the spot, we found a peasant, whose labor had been so far successful, that he had felled his tree and lopped his branches. He was now hewing it in the middle, so as to balance the two halves upon his camel, which stood patiently by him waiting for his load. In the days of Hiram, king of Tyre, and subsequently under the kings of Babylon, this romantic solitude was not so peaceful; that most poetic image in Isaiah, who makes these very trees vocal, exulting in the downfall of the destroyer of nations, seems now to be almost realized anew - "Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us."' |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| The trees - Which were felled for the service of her pride and luxury, but now are suffered to stand. |
24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
24 Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.
19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
9 Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
10 Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
11 Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
12 Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
8 Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together
9 Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.