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Selected Verse: Isaiah 18:2 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 18:2	King James	That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
ambassadors--messengers sent to Jerusalem at the time that negotiations passed between Tirhakah and Hezekiah against the expected attack of Sennacherib (Isa 37:9). by . . . sea--on the Nile (Isa 19:5): as what follows proves. vessels of bulrushes--light canoes, formed of papyrus, daubed over with pitch: so the "ark" in which Moses was exposed (Exo 2:3). Go--Isaiah tells them to take back the tidings of what God is about to do (Isa 18:4) against the common enemy of both Judah and Ethiopia. scattered and peeled--rather, "strong and energetic" [MAURER]. The Hebrew for "strong" is literally, "drawn out" (Margin; Psa 36:10; Ecc 2:3). "Energetic," literally, "sharp" (Hab 1:8, Margin; the verb means to "sharpen" a sword, Eze 21:15-16); also "polished." As HERODOTUS (3:20, 114) characterizes the Ethiopians as "the tallest and fairest of men," G. V. SMITH translates, "tall and comely"; literally, "extended" (Isa 45:14, "men of stature") and polished (the Ethiopians had "smooth, glossy skins"). In English Version the reference is to the Jews, scattered outcasts, and loaded with indignity (literally, "having their hair torn off," HORSLEY). terrible--the Ethiopians famed for warlike prowess [ROSENMULLER]. The Jews who, because of God's plague, made others to fear the like (Deu 28:37). Rather, "awfully remarkable" [HORSLEY]. God puts the "terror" of His people into the surrounding nations at the first (Exo 23:27; Jos 2:9); so it shall be again in the latter days (Zac 12:2-3). from . . . beginning hitherto--so English Version rightly. But GESENIUS, "to the terrible nation (of upper Egypt) and further beyond" (to the Ethiopians, properly so called). meted out--Hebrew, "of line." The measuring-line was used in destroying buildings (Isa 34:11; Kg2 21:13; Lam 2:8). Hence, actively, it means here "a people meting out,--an all-destroying people"; which suits the context better than "meted," passively [MAURER]. HORSLEY, understanding it of the Jews, translates it, "Expecting, expecting (in a continual attitude of expectation of Messiah) and trampled under foot"; a graphic picture of them. Most translate, of strength, strength (from a root, to brace the sinews), that is, a most powerful people. trodden down--true of the Jews. But MAURER translates it actively, a people "treading under foot" all its enemies, that is, victorious (Isa 14:25), namely, the Ethiopians. spoiled--"cut up." The Nile is formed by the junction of many streams in Abyssinia, the Atbara, the Astapus or Blue river (between which two rivers Meroe, the "Ethiopia" here meant, lies), and the Astaboras or White river; these streams wash down the soil along their banks in the "land" of Upper Egypt and deposit it on that of Lower Egypt. G. V. SMITH translates it, "Divide." HORSLEY takes it figuratively of the conquering armies which have often "spoiled" Judea.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

ambassadors--messengers sent to Jerusalem at the time that negotiations passed between Tirhakah and Hezekiah against the expected attack of Sennacherib (Isa 37:9).

by . . . sea--on the Nile (Isa 19:5): as what follows proves.

vessels of bulrushes--light canoes, formed of papyrus, daubed over with pitch: so the "ark" in which Moses was exposed (Exo 2:3).

Go--Isaiah tells them to take back the tidings of what God is about to do (Isa 18:4) against the common enemy of both Judah and Ethiopia.

scattered and peeled--rather, "strong and energetic" [MAURER]. The Hebrew for "strong" is literally, "drawn out" (Margin; Psa 36:10; Ecc 2:3). "Energetic," literally, "sharp" (Hab 1:8, Margin; the verb means to "sharpen" a sword, Eze 21:15-16); also "polished." As HERODOTUS (3:20, 114) characterizes the Ethiopians as "the tallest and fairest of men," G. V. SMITH translates, "tall and comely"; literally, "extended" (Isa 45:14, "men of stature") and polished (the Ethiopians had "smooth, glossy skins"). In English Version the reference is to the Jews, scattered outcasts, and loaded with indignity (literally, "having their hair torn off," HORSLEY).

terrible--the Ethiopians famed for warlike prowess [ROSENMULLER]. The Jews who, because of God's plague, made others to fear the like (Deu 28:37). Rather, "awfully remarkable" [HORSLEY]. God puts the "terror" of His people into the surrounding nations at the first (Exo 23:27; Jos 2:9); so it shall be again in the latter days (Zac 12:2-3).

from . . . beginning hitherto--so English Version rightly. But GESENIUS, "to the terrible nation (of upper Egypt) and further beyond" (to the Ethiopians, properly so called).

meted out--Hebrew, "of line." The measuring-line was used in destroying buildings (Isa 34:11; Kg2 21:13; Lam 2:8). Hence, actively, it means here "a people meting out,--an all-destroying people"; which suits the context better than "meted," passively [MAURER]. HORSLEY, understanding it of the Jews, translates it, "Expecting, expecting (in a continual attitude of expectation of Messiah) and trampled under foot"; a graphic picture of them. Most translate, of strength, strength (from a root, to brace the sinews), that is, a most powerful people.

trodden down--true of the Jews. But MAURER translates it actively, a people "treading under foot" all its enemies, that is, victorious (Isa 14:25), namely, the Ethiopians.

spoiled--"cut up." The Nile is formed by the junction of many streams in Abyssinia, the Atbara, the Astapus or Blue river (between which two rivers Meroe, the "Ethiopia" here meant, lies), and the Astaboras or White river; these streams wash down the soil along their banks in the "land" of Upper Egypt and deposit it on that of Lower Egypt. G. V. SMITH translates it, "Divide." HORSLEY takes it figuratively of the conquering armies which have often "spoiled" Judea.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
That sendeth ambassadors - That is, "accustomed" to send messengers. What was the design of their thus sending ambassadors does not appear. The prophet simply intimates the fact; a fact by which they were well known. It may have been for purposes of commerce, or to seek protection. Bochart renders the word translated 'ambassadors' by "images," and supposes that it denotes an image of the god Osiris made of the papyrus; but there does not seem to be any reason for this opinion. The word ציר tsı̂yr may mean an idol or image, as in Isa 45:16; Psa 49:15. But it usually denotes ambassadors, or messengers Jos 9:4; Pro 25:13; Pro 13:17; Isa 57:9; Jer 49:14; Oba 1:1. By the sea - What "sea" is here meant cannot be accurately determined. The word 'sea' (ים yâm) is applied to various collections of water, and may be used in reference to a sea, a lake, a pond, and even a large river. It is often applied to the Mediterranean; and where the phrase "Great Sea" occurs, it denotes that Num 34:6-7; Deu 11:24. It is applied to the Lake of Gennesareth or the Sea of Galilee Num 34:11; to the Salt Sea Gen 14:3; to the Red Sea often (Exo 13:10; Num 14:25; Num 21:4; Num 33:10, "et al.") It is also applied to "a large river," as, "e. g., the Nile" Isa 19:5; Neh 3:8; and to the Euphrates Jer 51:36. So far as this "word" is concerned, therefore, it may denote either the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Nile, or the Euphrates. If the country spoken of is Upper Egypt or Nubia, then we are naturally led to suppose that the prophet refers either to the Nile or the Red Sea. Even in vessels of bulrushes - The word rendered 'bulrushes' (גמא gôme') is derived from the verb גמא gâmâ', "to swallow, sip, drink;" and is given to a reed or bulrush, from its "imbibing" water. It is usually applied in the Scriptures to the Egyptian "papyrus" - a plant which grew on the banks of the Nile, and from which we have derived our word "paper." 'This plant,' says Taylor ("Heb. Con."), 'grew in moist places near the Nile, and was four or five yards in height. Under the bark it consisted wholly of thin skins, which being separated and spread out, were applied to various uses. Of these they made boxes and chests, and even boats, smearing them over with pitch.' These laminoe, or skins, also served the purpose of paper, and were used instead of parchment, or plates of lead and copper, for writing on. This plant, the Cyperus Papyrus of modern botanists, mostly grew in Lower Egypt, in marshy land, or in shallow brooks and ponds, formed by the inundation of the Nile. 'The papyrus,' says Pliny, 'grows in the marsh lands of Egypt, or in the stagnant pools left inland by the Nile, after it has returned to its bed, which have not more than two cubits in depth. The root of the plant is the thickness of a man's arm; it has a triangular stalk, growing not higher than ten cubits (fifteen feet), and decreasing in breadth toward the summit, which is crowned with a thyrsus, containing no seeds, and of no use except to deck the statues of the gods. They employ the roots as firewood, and for making various utensils. They even construct small boats of the plant; and out of the rind, sails, mats, clothes, bedding, ropes; they eat it either crude or cooked, swallowing only the juice; and when they manufacture paper from it, they divide the stem by means of a kind of needle into thin plates, or laminae, each of which is as large as the plant will admit. All the paper is woven upon a table, and is continually moistened with Nile water, which being thick and slimy, furnishes an effectual species of glue. In the first place, they form upon a table, pefectly horizontal, a layer the whole length of the papyrus, which is crossed by another placed transversely, and afterward enclosed within a press. The different sheets are then hung in a situation exposed to the sun, in order to dry, and the process is finally completed by joining them together, beginning with the best. There are seldom more than twenty slips or stripes produced from one stem of the plant.' (Pliny, xiii. 11, 12.) Wilkinson remarks, that 'the mode of making papyri was this: the interior of the stalks of the plant, after the rind had been removed, was cut into thin slices in the direction of their length, and these being laid on a flat board, in succession, similar slices were placed over them at right angles, and their surfaces being cemented together by a sort of glue, and subjected to the proper deuce of pressure, and well dried, the papyrus was completed.' ("Ancient Egyptians," vol. iii. p. 148.) The word used here is translated 'bulrushes' in Exo 2:3, where the little ark is described in which Moses was laid near the Nile; the 'rush' in Job 8:11; and 'rushes,' in Isa 35:7. It does not elsewhere occur. That the ancients were in the practice of making light boats or vessels from the papyrus is well known. Thus Theophrastus (in the "History of Plants," iv. 9) says, that 'the papyrus is useful for many things, for from this they make vessels,' or ships (πλοῖα ploia). Thus, Pliny (xiii. 11, 22) says, ex ipso quidem papyro navigia texunt - 'from the papyrus they weave vessels.' Again, (vi. 56, 57): 'Even now,' says he, 'in the Britannic Ocean useful vessels are made of bark; on the Nile from the papyrus, and from reeds and rushes.' Plutarch describes Isis going in search of the body of Osiris, 'through the fenny country in a bark made of the papyrus (ἐν βαριδι παπυοινη en baridi papnoinē) where it is supposed that persons using boats of this description (ἐν παπυρινοις ὀκαφεσι πλωοντας en papurinois okaphisi pleontas) are never attacked by crocodiles out of respect to the goddess,' (De Isa 18:1-7.) Moses, also, it will be remembered, was exposed on the banks of the Nile in a similar boat or ark. 'She took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it With slime and with pitch, and put the child therein' Exo 2:3. The same word occurs here (גמא gôme') which is used by Isaiah, and this fact shows that such boats were known as early as the time of Moses. Lucan also mentions boats made of the papyrus at Memphis: Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro. - Phar. iv: 136. At Memphis boats are woven together from the marshy papyrus The sculptures of Thebes, Memphis, and other places, abundantly show that they were employed as punts, or canoes for fishing, in all parts of Egypt, during the inundation of the Nile.' (Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. p. 186.) In our own country, also, it will be remembered, the natives were accustomed to make canoes, or vessels, of the bark of the birch, with which they often adventured on even dangerous navigation. The circumstance here mentioned of the גמא gôme' (the papyrus), seems to fix the scene of this prophecy to the region of the Nile. This reed grew nowhere else; and it is natural, therefore, to suppose, that some nation living near the Nile is intended. Taylor, the editor of Calmet, has shown that the inhabitants of the upper regions of the Nile were accustomed to form floats of hollow earthen vessels, and to weave them together with rushes, and thus to convey them to Lower Egypt to market. He supposes that by 'vessels of bulrushes,' or rush floats, are meant such vessels. (For a description of the "floats" made in Upper Egypt with "jars," see Pococke's "Travels," vol. i. p. 84, Ed. London, 1743.) 'I first saw in this voyage (on the Nile) the large floats of earthen-ware; they are about thirty feet wide, and sixty feet long, being a frame of palm boughs tied together about four feet deep, on which they put a layer of large jars with the mouths uppermost; on these they make another floor, and then put on another layer of jars, and so a third, which last are so disposed as to trim the float, and leave room for the men to go between. The float lies across the river, one end being lower down than the other; toward the lower end on each side they have four long poles with which they row and direct the boat, as well as forward the motion down.' Mr. Bruce, in his "Travels," mentions vessels made of the papyrus in Abyssinia. Upon the waters - The waters of the Nile, or the Red Sea. Saying - This word is not in the Hebrew, and the introduction of it by the translators gives a peculiar, and probably an incorrect, sense to the whole passage. As it stands here, it would seem to be the language of the inhabitants of the land who sent the ambassadors, usually saying to their messengers to go to a distant nation; and this introduces an inquiry into the characteristics of the nation to "whom" the ambassadors are sent, as if it were a "different" people from those who are mentioned in Isa 17:1. But probably the words which follow are to be regarded as the words of the prophet, or of God Isa 17:4, giving commandment to those messengers to "return" to those who sent them, and deliver the message which follows: 'You send messengers to distant nations in reed boats upon the rivers. Return, says God, to the land which sent you foth, and announce to them the will of God. Go rapidly in your light vessels, and bear this message, for it shall speedily be executed, and I will sit calmly and see it done' Isa 17:4-6. A remarkably similar passage, which throws great light on this, occurs in Eze 30:9 : 'In that day shall messengers go forth from me (God) in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt, for lo, it cometh.' Go, ye swift messengers - Hebrew, 'Light messengers.' This is evidently addressed to the boats. Achilles Tatius says that they were frequently so light and small, that they would carry but one person (Rosenmuller). To a nation - What nation this was is not known. The "obvious" import of the passge is, that it was some nation to whom they were "accustomed" to send ambassadors, and that it is here added merely as "descriptive" of the people. Two or three characterstics of the nation are mentioned, from which we may better learn what people are referred to. Scattered - (ממשׁך memushāk). This word is derived from משׁך mâshak, "to seize, take, hold fast;" to draw out, extend, or prolong; to make double or strong; to spread out. The Septuagint renders it, Ἔθνος μετέωρον Ethnos meteōron - 'A lofty nation.' Chaldee, 'A people suffering violence.' Syraic, 'A nation distorted.' Vulgate, 'A people convulsed, and lacerated.' It "may" denote a people "spread out" over a great extent of country; or a people "drawn out in length" - that is, extended over a country of considerable length, but of comparatively narrow breadth, as Egypt is; so Vitringa understands it. Or it may mean a people "strong, valiant;" so Gesenius understands it. This best suits the connection, as being a people 'terrible hitherto.' Perhaps all these ideas may be united by the supposition, that the nation was drawn out or extended over a large region, and was, "therefore," a powerful or mighty people. The idea of its being "scattered" is not in the text. Taylor renders it, 'A people of short stature; contracted in height; that is, dwarfs.' But the idea in the text is not one that is descriptive of "individuals," but of the "collected" nation; the people. And peeled - (מרט môraṭ, from מרט mâraṭ) to make smooth, or sharpen, as a sword," Ezek. 21:14-32; then, to make smooth the head of any one, to pluck off his hair, Ezr 9:3; Neh 13:25; Isa 50:6). The Septuagint renders it, Ξένον λαὸν καὶ χαλεπόν Cenon laon kai chalepon - 'A foreign and wicked people.' Vulgate, 'To a people lacerated.' The Syriac renders the whole verse, 'Go, swift messengers, to a people perverse and torn; to a people whose strength has been long since taken away; a people defiled and trodden down; whose land the rivers have spoiled.' The word used here is capable of two significations: (1) It may denote a people who are shaved or made smooth by removing the hair from the body. It is known to have been the custom with the Egyptians to make their bodies smooth by shaving off the hair, as Herodotus testifies (xi. 37). Or, (2) It may be translated, as Gesenius proposes, a people valiant, fierce, bold, from the sense which the verb has "to sharpen" a sword Eze 21:15-16. The former is the most obvious interpretation, and agrees best with the proper meaning of the Hebrew word; the latter would, perhaps, better suit the connection. The editor of Calmer supposes that it is to be taken in the sense of "diminished, small, dwarfish," and would apply it to the "pigmies" of Upper Egypt. To a people terrible - That is, warlike, fierce, cruel. Hebrew, 'A people feared.' If the Egyptians are meant, it may refer to the fact that they had always been an object of terror and alarm to the Israelites from their early oppressions there before their deliverance under Moses. From their beginning hitherto - Hebrew, 'From this time, and formerly.' It has been their general character that they were a fierce, harsh, oppressive nation. Gesenius, however, renders this, 'To the formidable nation (and) further beyond;' and supposes that two nations are referred to, of which the most remote and formidable one, whose land is washed by streams, is the proper Ethiopian people. By the other he supposes is meant the Egyptian people. But the scope of the whole prophecy rather requires us to understand it of one people. A nation meted out - Hebrew, 'Of line line' (קו־קו qav-qav). Vitringa renders this, 'A nation of precept and precept;' that is, whose religion abounded with rites and ceremonies, and an infinite multitude of "precepts or laws" which prescribed them. Michaelis renders it, 'A nation measured by a line;' that is, whose land had been divided by victors. Doderlin renders it, 'A nation which uses the line;' that is, as he supposes, which extended its dominion over other provinces. The Septuagint renders it, Ἔθνος ἀνέλπιστον ethnos anelpiston - 'A nation without hope.' Aquila, Ἔθνος ὑπόμενον ethnos hupomenon - 'A nation enduring or patient.' Jonathan, the Chaldee, אגיסא עמא ובויזא - 'A nation oppressed and afflicted.' Aben Ezra explains it as meaning 'A nation like a school-boy learning line after line.' Theodore Hasaeus endeavors to prove that the reference here is to Egypt, and that the language is taken from the fact that the Egyptians were early distinguished for surveying and mensuration. This science, he supposes, they were led to cultivate from the necessity of ascertaining the height of the Nile at its annual inundation, and from the necessity of an accurate survey of the land in order to preserve the knowledge of the right of property in a country inundated as this was. In support of this, he appeals to Servius ("ad" Virg. "Ecl." iii. 41), where he says of the "radius" mentioned there, 'The Radius is the rod of the philosophers, by which they denote the lines of geometry. This art was invented in the time when the Nile, rising beyond its usual height, confounded the usual marks of boundaries, to the ascertaining of which they employed philosophers who divided the land by "lines," whence the science was called geometry.' Compare Strabo ("Geo." xvii. 787), who says that Egypt was divided into thirty "nomes," and then adds, 'that these were again subdivided into other portions, the smallest of which were farms αἱ ἄρουραι hai arourai. But there was a necessity for a very careful and subtle division, on account of the continual confusion of the limits which the Nile produced when it overflowed, adding, to some, taking away from others, changing the forms, obliterating the signs by which one farm was distinguished from another. Hence, it became necessary to re-survey the country; and hence, they suppose, originated the science of geometry' (see also Herodot. "Euterpe," c. 109). Hence, it is supposed that Egypt came to be distinguished by the use of "the line" - or for its skill in surveying, or in geometry - or a nation "of the line" (see the Dissertation of Theodore Hasaeus, קו קו גוי - "De Gente kau kau," in Ugolin's "Thes. Ant. Sac." vii. 1568-1580). The word (קו qav) means, properly, "a cord, a line," particularly a measuring line Eze 47:3; Kg2 21:13 : 'I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria' that is, I will destroy it like Samaria. Hence, the phrase here may denote a people accustomed "to stretch out such lines" over others; that is, to lay them waste. It is applied usually to the line connected with a plummet, which a carpenter uses to mark out his work (compare Job 38:5; Isa 28:17; Isa 34:11; Zep 2:1); or to a line by which a land or country is measured by the surveyor. Sometimes it means "a precept, or rule," as Vitringa has rendered it here (compare Isa 28:10). But the phrase 'to stretch out a line,' or 'to measure a people by a line,' is commonly applied to their destruction, as if a conqueror used a line to mark out what he had to do (see this use of the word in Kg2 21:13 : Isa 28:17; Isa 34:11; Lam 2:8; Zac 1:16). This is probably its sense here - a nation terrible in all its history, and which had been distinguished for stretching lines over others; that is, for marking them out for destruction, and dividing them as it pleased. It is, therefore, a simple description, not of the nation as "being itself" measured out, but as extending its dominion over others. And trodden down - (מבוסה mebûsâh). Margin, 'And treading under foot,' or, 'that meteth out and treadeth down.' The margin here, as is frequently the case, is the more correct rendering. Here it does not mean that "they were trodden down," but that it was a characteristic of their nation that "they trod down others;" that is, conquered and subdued other nations. Thus the verb is used in Psa 44:6; Isa 14:25; Isa 53:6; Isa 63:18; Jer 12:10. Some, however, have supposed that it refers to the fact that the land was trodden down by their feet, or that the Egyptians were accustomed to lead the waters of the Nile, when it overflowed, by "treading" places for it to flow in their fields. But the former is the more correct interpretation. Whose land the rivers have spoiled - Margin, 'Despise.' The Hebrew word (בּזאוּ bâz'eû) occurs nowhere else. The Vulgate renders it, Diripuerunt - 'Carry away.' The Chaldee reads it, 'Whose land the people plunder.' The word is probably of the same signification as בזז bâzaz, "to plunder, lay waste." So it was read by the Vulgate and the Chaldee; and this reading is found in four manuscripts. The word is in the present tense, and should be rendered not 'have spoiled,' but 'spoil.' It is probably used to denote a country the banks of whose rivers are washed away by the floods. This description is particularly applicable to Nubia or Abyssinia - the region above the cataracts of the Nile. One has only to remember that these streams continually wash away the banks and bear the earth to deposit it "on" the lands of Lower Egypt, to see that the prophet had this region particularly in his eye. He could not have meant Egypt proper, because instead of "spoiling" the lands, or washing them away, the Nile constantly brings down a deposit from the upper regions that constitutes its great fertility. The "rivers" that are mentioned here are doubtless the various branches of the Nile (see Bruce's "Travels," ch. iii., and Burckhardt's "Travels in Nubia." The Nile is formed by the junction of many streams or branches rising in Abyssinia, the principal of which are the Atbara; the Astapus or Blue River; and the Astaboras or White River. The principal source of the Nile is the Astapus or Blue River, which rises in the Lake Coloe, which Bruce supposes to be the head of the Nile. This river on the west, and the various branches of the Atbara on the east, nearly encompass a large region of country called Meroe, once supposed to be a large island, and frequently called such. The whole description, therefore, leads us to the conclusion that a region is mentioned in that country called in general "Cush;" that it was a people living on rivers, and employing reed boats or skiffs; that they were a fierce and warlike people; and that the country was one that was continually washed by streams, and whose soil was carried down by the floods. All these circumstances apply to Nubia or Abyssinia, and there can be little doubt that this is the country intended.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

That sendeth ambassadors - That is, "accustomed" to send messengers. What was the design of their thus sending ambassadors does not appear. The prophet simply intimates the fact; a fact by which they were well known. It may have been for purposes of commerce, or to seek protection. Bochart renders the word translated 'ambassadors' by "images," and supposes that it denotes an image of the god Osiris made of the papyrus; but there does not seem to be any reason for this opinion. The word ציר tsı̂yr may mean an idol or image, as in Isa 45:16; Psa 49:15. But it usually denotes ambassadors, or messengers Jos 9:4; Pro 25:13; Pro 13:17; Isa 57:9; Jer 49:14; Oba 1:1.

By the sea - What "sea" is here meant cannot be accurately determined. The word 'sea' (ים yâm) is applied to various collections of water, and may be used in reference to a sea, a lake, a pond, and even a large river. It is often applied to the Mediterranean; and where the phrase "Great Sea" occurs, it denotes that Num 34:6-7; Deu 11:24. It is applied to the Lake of Gennesareth or the Sea of Galilee Num 34:11; to the Salt Sea Gen 14:3; to the Red Sea often (Exo 13:10; Num 14:25; Num 21:4; Num 33:10, "et al.") It is also applied to "a large river," as, "e. g., the Nile" Isa 19:5; Neh 3:8; and to the Euphrates Jer 51:36. So far as this "word" is concerned, therefore, it may denote either the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Nile, or the Euphrates. If the country spoken of is Upper Egypt or Nubia, then we are naturally led to suppose that the prophet refers either to the Nile or the Red Sea.

Even in vessels of bulrushes - The word rendered 'bulrushes' (גמא gôme') is derived from the verb גמא gâmâ', "to swallow, sip, drink;" and is given to a reed or bulrush, from its "imbibing" water. It is usually applied in the Scriptures to the Egyptian "papyrus" - a plant which grew on the banks of the Nile, and from which we have derived our word "paper." 'This plant,' says Taylor ("Heb. Con."), 'grew in moist places near the Nile, and was four or five yards in height. Under the bark it consisted wholly of thin skins, which being separated and spread out, were applied to various uses. Of these they made boxes and chests, and even boats, smearing them over with pitch.' These laminoe, or skins, also served the purpose of paper, and were used instead of parchment, or plates of lead and copper, for writing on. This plant, the Cyperus Papyrus of modern botanists, mostly grew in Lower Egypt, in marshy land, or in shallow brooks and ponds, formed by the inundation of the Nile. 'The papyrus,' says Pliny, 'grows in the marsh lands of Egypt, or in the stagnant pools left inland by the Nile, after it has returned to its bed, which have not more than two cubits in depth.

The root of the plant is the thickness of a man's arm; it has a triangular stalk, growing not higher than ten cubits (fifteen feet), and decreasing in breadth toward the summit, which is crowned with a thyrsus, containing no seeds, and of no use except to deck the statues of the gods. They employ the roots as firewood, and for making various utensils. They even construct small boats of the plant; and out of the rind, sails, mats, clothes, bedding, ropes; they eat it either crude or cooked, swallowing only the juice; and when they manufacture paper from it, they divide the stem by means of a kind of needle into thin plates, or laminae, each of which is as large as the plant will admit. All the paper is woven upon a table, and is continually moistened with Nile water, which being thick and slimy, furnishes an effectual species of glue. In the first place, they form upon a table, pefectly horizontal, a layer the whole length of the papyrus, which is crossed by another placed transversely, and afterward enclosed within a press.

The different sheets are then hung in a situation exposed to the sun, in order to dry, and the process is finally completed by joining them together, beginning with the best. There are seldom more than twenty slips or stripes produced from one stem of the plant.' (Pliny, xiii. 11, 12.) Wilkinson remarks, that 'the mode of making papyri was this: the interior of the stalks of the plant, after the rind had been removed, was cut into thin slices in the direction of their length, and these being laid on a flat board, in succession, similar slices were placed over them at right angles, and their surfaces being cemented together by a sort of glue, and subjected to the proper deuce of pressure, and well dried, the papyrus was completed.' ("Ancient Egyptians," vol. iii. p. 148.) The word used here is translated 'bulrushes' in Exo 2:3, where the little ark is described in which Moses was laid near the Nile; the 'rush' in Job 8:11; and 'rushes,' in Isa 35:7.

It does not elsewhere occur. That the ancients were in the practice of making light boats or vessels from the papyrus is well known. Thus Theophrastus (in the "History of Plants," iv. 9) says, that 'the papyrus is useful for many things, for from this they make vessels,' or ships (πλοῖα ploia). Thus, Pliny (xiii. 11, 22) says, ex ipso quidem papyro navigia texunt - 'from the papyrus they weave vessels.' Again, (vi. 56, 57): 'Even now,' says he, 'in the Britannic Ocean useful vessels are made of bark; on the Nile from the papyrus, and from reeds and rushes.' Plutarch describes Isis going in search of the body of Osiris, 'through the fenny country in a bark made of the papyrus (ἐν βαριδι παπυοινη en baridi papnoinē) where it is supposed that persons using boats of this description (ἐν παπυρινοις ὀκαφεσι πλωοντας en papurinois okaphisi pleontas) are never attacked by crocodiles out of respect to the goddess,' (De Isa 18:1-7.) Moses, also, it will be remembered, was exposed on the banks of the Nile in a similar boat or ark. 'She took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it With slime and with pitch, and put the child therein' Exo 2:3. The same word occurs here (גמא gôme') which is used by Isaiah, and this fact shows that such boats were known as early as the time of Moses. Lucan also mentions boats made of the papyrus at Memphis:

Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro.

- Phar. iv: 136.

At Memphis boats are woven together from the marshy papyrus

The sculptures of Thebes, Memphis, and other places, abundantly show that they were employed as punts, or canoes for fishing, in all parts of Egypt, during the inundation of the Nile.' (Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. p. 186.) In our own country, also, it will be remembered, the natives were accustomed to make canoes, or vessels, of the bark of the birch, with which they often adventured on even dangerous navigation. The circumstance here mentioned of the גמא gôme' (the papyrus), seems to fix the scene of this prophecy to the region of the Nile. This reed grew nowhere else; and it is natural, therefore, to suppose, that some nation living near the Nile is intended. Taylor, the editor of Calmet, has shown that the inhabitants of the upper regions of the Nile were accustomed to form floats of hollow earthen vessels, and to weave them together with rushes, and thus to convey them to Lower Egypt to market. He supposes that by 'vessels of bulrushes,' or rush floats, are meant such vessels. (For a description of the "floats" made in Upper Egypt with "jars," see Pococke's "Travels," vol. i. p. 84, Ed. London, 1743.) 'I first saw in this voyage (on the Nile) the large floats of earthen-ware; they are about thirty feet wide, and sixty feet long, being a frame of palm boughs tied together about four feet deep, on which they put a layer of large jars with the mouths uppermost; on these they make another floor, and then put on another layer of jars, and so a third, which last are so disposed as to trim the float, and leave room for the men to go between. The float lies across the river, one end being lower down than the other; toward the lower end on each side they have four long poles with which they row and direct the boat, as well as forward the motion down.' Mr. Bruce, in his "Travels," mentions vessels made of the papyrus in Abyssinia.

Upon the waters - The waters of the Nile, or the Red Sea.

Saying - This word is not in the Hebrew, and the introduction of it by the translators gives a peculiar, and probably an incorrect, sense to the whole passage. As it stands here, it would seem to be the language of the inhabitants of the land who sent the ambassadors, usually saying to their messengers to go to a distant nation; and this introduces an inquiry into the characteristics of the nation to "whom" the ambassadors are sent, as if it were a "different" people from those who are mentioned in Isa 17:1. But probably the words which follow are to be regarded as the words of the prophet, or of God Isa 17:4, giving commandment to those messengers to "return" to those who sent them, and deliver the message which follows: 'You send messengers to distant nations in reed boats upon the rivers. Return, says God, to the land which sent you foth, and announce to them the will of God. Go rapidly in your light vessels, and bear this message, for it shall speedily be executed, and I will sit calmly and see it done' Isa 17:4-6. A remarkably similar passage, which throws great light on this, occurs in Eze 30:9 : 'In that day shall messengers go forth from me (God) in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt, for lo, it cometh.'

Go, ye swift messengers - Hebrew, 'Light messengers.' This is evidently addressed to the boats. Achilles Tatius says that they were frequently so light and small, that they would carry but one person (Rosenmuller).

To a nation - What nation this was is not known. The "obvious" import of the passge is, that it was some nation to whom they were "accustomed" to send ambassadors, and that it is here added merely as "descriptive" of the people. Two or three characterstics of the nation are mentioned, from which we may better learn what people are referred to.

Scattered - (ממשׁך memushāk). This word is derived from משׁך mâshak, "to seize, take, hold fast;" to draw out, extend, or prolong; to make double or strong; to spread out. The Septuagint renders it, Ἔθνος μετέωρον Ethnos meteōron - 'A lofty nation.' Chaldee, 'A people suffering violence.' Syraic, 'A nation distorted.' Vulgate, 'A people convulsed, and lacerated.' It "may" denote a people "spread out" over a great extent of country; or a people "drawn out in length" - that is, extended over a country of considerable length, but of comparatively narrow breadth, as Egypt is; so Vitringa understands it. Or it may mean a people "strong, valiant;" so Gesenius understands it. This best suits the connection, as being a people 'terrible hitherto.' Perhaps all these ideas may be united by the supposition, that the nation was drawn out or extended over a large region, and was, "therefore," a powerful or mighty people. The idea of its being "scattered" is not in the text. Taylor renders it, 'A people of short stature; contracted in height; that is, dwarfs.' But the idea in the text is not one that is descriptive of "individuals," but of the "collected" nation; the people.

And peeled - (מרט môraṭ, from מרט mâraṭ) to make smooth, or sharpen, as a sword," Ezek. 21:14-32; then, to make smooth the head of any one, to pluck off his hair, Ezr 9:3; Neh 13:25; Isa 50:6). The Septuagint renders it, Ξένον λαὸν καὶ χαλεπόν Cenon laon kai chalepon - 'A foreign and wicked people.' Vulgate, 'To a people lacerated.' The Syriac renders the whole verse, 'Go, swift messengers, to a people perverse and torn; to a people whose strength has been long since taken away; a people defiled and trodden down; whose land the rivers have spoiled.' The word used here is capable of two significations:

(1) It may denote a people who are shaved or made smooth by removing the hair from the body. It is known to have been the custom with the Egyptians to make their bodies smooth by shaving off the hair, as Herodotus testifies (xi. 37). Or,

(2) It may be translated, as Gesenius proposes, a people valiant, fierce, bold, from the sense which the verb has "to sharpen" a sword Eze 21:15-16.

The former is the most obvious interpretation, and agrees best with the proper meaning of the Hebrew word; the latter would, perhaps, better suit the connection. The editor of Calmer supposes that it is to be taken in the sense of "diminished, small, dwarfish," and would apply it to the "pigmies" of Upper Egypt.

To a people terrible - That is, warlike, fierce, cruel. Hebrew, 'A people feared.' If the Egyptians are meant, it may refer to the fact that they had always been an object of terror and alarm to the Israelites from their early oppressions there before their deliverance under Moses.

From their beginning hitherto - Hebrew, 'From this time, and formerly.' It has been their general character that they were a fierce, harsh, oppressive nation. Gesenius, however, renders this, 'To the formidable nation (and) further beyond;' and supposes that two nations are referred to, of which the most remote and formidable one, whose land is washed by streams, is the proper Ethiopian people. By the other he supposes is meant the Egyptian people. But the scope of the whole prophecy rather requires us to understand it of one people.

A nation meted out - Hebrew, 'Of line line' (קו־קו qav-qav). Vitringa renders this, 'A nation of precept and precept;' that is, whose religion abounded with rites and ceremonies, and an infinite multitude of "precepts or laws" which prescribed them. Michaelis renders it, 'A nation measured by a line;' that is, whose land had been divided by victors. Doderlin renders it, 'A nation which uses the line;' that is, as he supposes, which extended its dominion over other provinces. The Septuagint renders it, Ἔθνος ἀνέλπιστον ethnos anelpiston - 'A nation without hope.' Aquila, Ἔθνος ὑπόμενον ethnos hupomenon - 'A nation enduring or patient.' Jonathan, the Chaldee, אגיסא עמא ובויזא - 'A nation oppressed and afflicted.' Aben Ezra explains it as meaning 'A nation like a school-boy learning line after line.' Theodore Hasaeus endeavors to prove that the reference here is to Egypt, and that the language is taken from the fact that the Egyptians were early distinguished for surveying and mensuration.

This science, he supposes, they were led to cultivate from the necessity of ascertaining the height of the Nile at its annual inundation, and from the necessity of an accurate survey of the land in order to preserve the knowledge of the right of property in a country inundated as this was. In support of this, he appeals to Servius ("ad" Virg. "Ecl." iii. 41), where he says of the "radius" mentioned there, 'The Radius is the rod of the philosophers, by which they denote the lines of geometry. This art was invented in the time when the Nile, rising beyond its usual height, confounded the usual marks of boundaries, to the ascertaining of which they employed philosophers who divided the land by "lines," whence the science was called geometry.' Compare Strabo ("Geo." xvii. 787), who says that Egypt was divided into thirty "nomes," and then adds, 'that these were again subdivided into other portions, the smallest of which were farms αἱ ἄρουραι hai arourai.

But there was a necessity for a very careful and subtle division, on account of the continual confusion of the limits which the Nile produced when it overflowed, adding, to some, taking away from others, changing the forms, obliterating the signs by which one farm was distinguished from another. Hence, it became necessary to re-survey the country; and hence, they suppose, originated the science of geometry' (see also Herodot. "Euterpe," c. 109). Hence, it is supposed that Egypt came to be distinguished by the use of "the line" - or for its skill in surveying, or in geometry - or a nation "of the line" (see the Dissertation of Theodore Hasaeus, קו קו גוי - "De Gente kau kau," in Ugolin's "Thes. Ant. Sac." vii. 1568-1580). The word (קו qav) means, properly, "a cord, a line," particularly a measuring line Eze 47:3; Kg2 21:13 : 'I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria' that is, I will destroy it like Samaria. Hence, the phrase here may denote a people accustomed "to stretch out such lines" over others; that is, to lay them waste.

It is applied usually to the line connected with a plummet, which a carpenter uses to mark out his work (compare Job 38:5; Isa 28:17; Isa 34:11; Zep 2:1); or to a line by which a land or country is measured by the surveyor. Sometimes it means "a precept, or rule," as Vitringa has rendered it here (compare Isa 28:10). But the phrase 'to stretch out a line,' or 'to measure a people by a line,' is commonly applied to their destruction, as if a conqueror used a line to mark out what he had to do (see this use of the word in Kg2 21:13 : Isa 28:17; Isa 34:11; Lam 2:8; Zac 1:16). This is probably its sense here - a nation terrible in all its history, and which had been distinguished for stretching lines over others; that is, for marking them out for destruction, and dividing them as it pleased. It is, therefore, a simple description, not of the nation as "being itself" measured out, but as extending its dominion over others.

And trodden down - (מבוסה mebûsâh). Margin, 'And treading under foot,' or, 'that meteth out and treadeth down.' The margin here, as is frequently the case, is the more correct rendering. Here it does not mean that "they were trodden down," but that it was a characteristic of their nation that "they trod down others;" that is, conquered and subdued other nations. Thus the verb is used in Psa 44:6; Isa 14:25; Isa 53:6; Isa 63:18; Jer 12:10. Some, however, have supposed that it refers to the fact that the land was trodden down by their feet, or that the Egyptians were accustomed to lead the waters of the Nile, when it overflowed, by "treading" places for it to flow in their fields. But the former is the more correct interpretation.

Whose land the rivers have spoiled - Margin, 'Despise.' The Hebrew word (בּזאוּ bâz'eû) occurs nowhere else. The Vulgate renders it, Diripuerunt - 'Carry away.' The Chaldee reads it, 'Whose land the people plunder.' The word is probably of the same signification as בזז bâzaz, "to plunder, lay waste." So it was read by the Vulgate and the Chaldee; and this reading is found in four manuscripts. The word is in the present tense, and should be rendered not 'have spoiled,' but 'spoil.' It is probably used to denote a country the banks of whose rivers are washed away by the floods. This description is particularly applicable to Nubia or Abyssinia - the region above the cataracts of the Nile. One has only to remember that these streams continually wash away the banks and bear the earth to deposit it "on" the lands of Lower Egypt, to see that the prophet had this region particularly in his eye.

He could not have meant Egypt proper, because instead of "spoiling" the lands, or washing them away, the Nile constantly brings down a deposit from the upper regions that constitutes its great fertility. The "rivers" that are mentioned here are doubtless the various branches of the Nile (see Bruce's "Travels," ch. iii., and Burckhardt's "Travels in Nubia." The Nile is formed by the junction of many streams or branches rising in Abyssinia, the principal of which are the Atbara; the Astapus or Blue River; and the Astaboras or White River. The principal source of the Nile is the Astapus or Blue River, which rises in the Lake Coloe, which Bruce supposes to be the head of the Nile. This river on the west, and the various branches of the Atbara on the east, nearly encompass a large region of country called Meroe, once supposed to be a large island, and frequently called such. The whole description, therefore, leads us to the conclusion that a region is mentioned in that country called in general "Cush;" that it was a people living on rivers, and employing reed boats or skiffs; that they were a fierce and warlike people; and that the country was one that was continually washed by streams, and whose soil was carried down by the floods. All these circumstances apply to Nubia or Abyssinia, and there can be little doubt that this is the country intended.

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
That sendeth ambassadors The local reference is evidently to an embassy from Egypt, resulting in the alliance denounced in Isaiah 30, 31, (Jer 37:7-11).

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Sendeth - That at this time are sending ambassadors, to strengthen themselves with alliances. Bulrushes - Both the Egyptians and Ethiopians, used boats of rushes or reeds, which were more convenient for them than those of wood, because they were both cheaper and swifter, and lighter for carriage from place to place. These seem to be the words of the prophet, who having pronounced a woe against the land hitherto described, here continues his speech, and gives a commission from God to these messengers, to go to this nation scattered, &c. Then he calls to all nations to be witnesses of the message sent, Isa 18:3, and then the message follows in the succeeding verses. Messengers - Whom I have appointed for this work, and tell them what I am about to do with them. Scattered - Not by banishment but in their habitations. Which agrees well to the Ethiopians, for the manner of their habitation, which is more scattered than that of other people. Peeled - Having their hair plucked off. This is metaphorically used in scripture, for some great calamity, whereby men are stripped of all their comforts. And this title may be given to them prophetically, to signify their approaching destruction. Terrible - Such were the Egyptians, and Ethiopians, as appears both from sacred and profane histories. Meted - Meted out as it were with lines to destruction. Trodden - By Divine sentence, and to be trodden down by their enemies. The rivers - Which may be understood of the Assyrians or Babylonians breaking in upon them like a river, and destroying their land and people.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
In vessels of bulrushes "In vessels of papyrus" - This circumstance agrees perfectly well with Egypt. It is well known that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships, or boats, made of the reed papyrus. Ex ipso quidem papyro navigia texunt. Pliny, 42:11. Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro. Lucan, 4:136. Go, ye swift messengers - To this nation before mentioned, who, by the Nile, and by their numerous canals, have the means of spreading the report in the most expeditious manner through the whole country: go, ye swift messengers, and carry this notice of God's designs in regard to them. By the swift messengers are meant, not any particular persons specially appointed to this office, but any of the usual conveyers of news whatsoever, travelers, merchants, and the like, the instruments and agents of common fame. These are ordered to publish this declaration made by the prophet throughout Egypt, and to all the world; and to excite their attention to the promised visible interposition of God. Scattered "Stretched out in length" - Egypt, that is, the fruitful part, exclusive of the deserts on each side, is one long vale, through the middle of which runs the Nile, bounded on each side to the east and west by a chain of mountains seven hundred and fifty miles in length; in breadth from one to two or three days' journey: even at the widest part of the Delta, from Pelusium to Alexandria, not above two hundred and fifty miles broad. Egmont and Hayman, and Pococke. Peeled "Smoothed" - Either relating to the practice of the Egyptian priests, who made their bodies smooth by shaving off their hair, (see Herod. 2:37); or rather to their country's being made smooth, perfectly plain and level, by the overflowing of the Nile. Meted out "Meted out by line" - It is generally referred to the frequent necessity of having recourse to mensuration in Egypt, in order to determine the boundaries after the inundations of the Nile; to which even the origin of the science of geometry is by some ascribed. Strabo, lib. 17 sub init. Trodden down - Supposed to allude to a peculiar method of tillage in use among the Egyptians. Both Herodotus, (lib. ii.), and Diodorus, (lib. i.), say that when the Nile had retired within its banks, and the ground became somewhat dry, they sowed their land, and then sent in their cattle, (their hogs, says the former), to tread in the seed; and without any farther care expected the harvest. The rivers have spoiled "The rivers have nourished" - The word בזאו bazeu is generally taken to be an irregular form for בזזו bazezu, "have spoiled," as four MSS. have it in this place; and so most of the Versions, both ancient and modern, understand it. On which Schultens, Gram. Hebrews p. 491, has the following re; mark:"Ne minimam quidem speciem veri habet בזאו bazau, Esai. Isa 18:2, elatum pro בזזו bazazu, deripiunt. Haec esset anomalia, cui nihil simile in toto linguae ambitu. In talibus nil finire, vel fateri ex mera agi conjectura, tutius justiusque. Radicem בזא baza olim extare potuisse, quis neget? Si cognatum quid sectandum erat, ad בזה bazah, contemsit, potius decurrendum fuisset; ut בזאו bazeu, pro בזו bazu, sit enuntiatum, vel בזיו baziv. Digna phrasis, flumina contemmunt terram, i.e., inundant." "בזא baza, Arab. extulit se superbius, item subjecit sibi: unde praet. pl. בזאו bazeu, subjecerunt sibi, i.e., inundarunt." - Simonis' Lexic. Heb. A learned friend has suggested to me another explanation of the word. בזא baza, Syr., and ביזא beiza, Chald., signifies uber, "a dug," mamma, "a breast;" agreeably to which the verb signifies to nourish. This would perfectly well suit with the Nile: whereas nothing can be more discordant than the idea of spoiling and plundering; for to the inundation of the Nile Egypt owed every thing; the fertility of the soil, and the very soil itself. Besides, the overflowing of the Nile came on by gentle degrees, covering with out laying waste the country: "Mira aeque natura fluminis, quod cum caeteri omnes abluant terras et eviscerent, Nilus tanto caeteris major adeo nihil exedit, nec abradit, ut contra adjiciat vires; minimumque in eo sit, quod solum temperet. Illato enim limo arenas saturat ac jungit; debetque illi Aegyptus non tantum fertilitatem terrarum, sed ipsas." - Seneca, Nat. Quaest., 4:2. I take the liberty, therefore, which Schultens seems to think allowable in this place, of hazarding a conjectural interpretation. It is a fact that the Ganges changes its course, and overruns and lays barren whole districts, from which it was a few years back several miles distant. Such changes do not nourish but spoil the ground.

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²⁵ That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

⁸ The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.

¹³ And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

¹¹ But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

² Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
³ And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

⁹ And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

²⁷ I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

³⁷ And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

¹⁴ Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.

¹⁵ I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.
¹⁶ Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

⁸ Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

³ I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

¹⁰ O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.

⁴ For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

³ And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

⁵ And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

⁹ And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

¹⁰ Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

¹⁸ The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

²⁵ That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

⁶ For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

¹¹ But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

¹⁷ Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

¹³ And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

¹⁰ For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

¹ Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;

¹¹ But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

¹⁷ Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

⁵ Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

¹³ And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

³ And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.

⁶ I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

²⁵ And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

³ And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.

⁹ In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.

⁴ And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
⁵ And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
⁶ Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel.

⁴ And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

¹ The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

³ And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

¹ Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
² That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
³ All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
⁴ For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
⁵ For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
⁶ They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
⁷ In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

⁷ And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

¹¹ Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?

³ And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

³⁶ Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.

⁸ Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah the son of one of the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.

⁵ And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

¹⁰ And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea.

⁴ And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

²⁵ (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

¹⁰ Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

³ All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

¹¹ And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward:

²⁴ Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

⁶ And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.
⁷ And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor:

¹ The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

¹⁴ I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.

⁹ And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

¹⁷ A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.

¹³ As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.

⁴ They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;

¹⁵ But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

¹⁶ They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.

⁷ Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.
⁸ And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
⁹ Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.
¹⁰ For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
¹¹ And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,

³ All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.

² That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!