His personality is proved (1) from the fact that the
attributes of personality, as intelligence and volition,
are ascribed to him (John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 1 Cor. 2:10,
11; 12:11). He reproves, helps, glorifies, intercedes (John
16:7-13; Rom. 8:26). (2) He executes the offices peculiar
only to a person. The very nature of these offices involves
personal distinction (Luke 12:12; Acts 5:32; 15:28; 16:6;
28:25; 1 Cor. 2:13; Heb. 2:4; 3:7; 2 Pet. 1:21).
His divinity is established (1) from the fact that the
names of God are ascribed to him (Ex. 17:7; Ps. 95:7; comp.
Heb. 3:7-11); and (2) that divine attributes are also
ascribed to him, omnipresence (Ps. 139:7; Eph. 2:17, 18; 1
Cor. 12:13); omniscience (1 Cor. 2:10, 11); omnipotence
(Luke 1:35; Rom. 8:11); eternity (Heb. 9:4). (3) Creation
is ascribed to him (Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; Ps. 104:30), and
the working of miracles (Matt. 12:28; 1 Cor. 12:9-11). (4)
Worship is required and ascribed to him (Isa. 6:3; Acts
28:25; Rom. 9:1; Rev. 1:4; Matt. 28:19).
The arrangement of the temple (q.v.) was the same in this
respect. In it the walls of hewn stone were wainscotted
with cedar and overlaid with gold, and adorned with
beautiful carvings. It was entered from the porch by
folding doors overlaid with gold and richly embossed.
Outside the holy place stood the great tank or
"sea" of molten brass, supported by twelve oxen,
three turned each way, capable of containing two thousand
baths of water. Besides this there were ten lavers and the
brazen altar of burnt sacrifice.
(3.) Debash denotes bee-honey (Judg. 14:8); but also
frequently a vegetable honey distilled from trees (Gen.
43:11; Ezek. 27:17). In these passages it may probably mean
"dibs," or syrup of grapes, i.e., the juice of
ripe grapes boiled down to one-third of its bulk.
(4.) Tsuph, the cells of the honey-comb full of honey
(Prov. 16:24; Ps. 19:10).
(5.) "Wild honey" (Matt. 3:4) may have been the
vegetable honey distilled from trees, but rather was honey
stored by bees in rocks or in trees (Deut. 32:13; Ps.
81:16; 1 Sam. 14:25-29).
Canaan was a "land flowing with milk and honey"
(Ex. 3:8). Milk and honey were among the chief dainties in
the earlier ages, as they are now among the Bedawin; and
butter and honey are also mentioned among articles of food
(Isa. 7:15). The ancients used honey instead of sugar (Ps.
119:103; Prov. 24:13); but when taken in great quantities
it caused nausea, a fact referred to in Prov. 25:16, 17 to
inculcate moderation in pleasures. Honey and milk also are
put for sweet discourse (Cant. 4:11).
(2.) Hakkah, a fish "hook" (Job 41:2, Heb. Text,
40:25; Isa. 19:8; Hab. 1:15).
(3.) Vav, a "peg" on which the curtains of the
tabernacle were hung (Ex. 26:32).
(4.) Tsinnah, a fish-hooks (Amos 4:2).
(5.) Mazleg, flesh-hooks (1 Sam. 2:13, 14), a kind of fork
with three teeth for turning the sacrifices on the fire,
etc.
(6.) Mazmeroth, pruning-hooks (Isa. 2:4; Joel 3:10).
(7.) 'Agmon (Job 41:2, Heb. Text 40:26), incorrectly
rendered in the Authorized Version. Properly a rush-rope
for binding animals, as in Revised Version margin.
Flasks or vessels were made of horn (1 Sam. 16:1, 13; 1
Kings 1:39).
But the word is used also metaphorically to denote the
projecting corners of the altar of burnt offerings (Ex.
27:2) and of incense (30:2). The horns of the altar of
burnt offerings were to be smeared with the blood of the
slain bullock (29:12; Lev. 4:7-18). The criminal, when his
crime was accidental, found an asylum by laying hold of the
horns of the altar (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28).
The word also denotes the peak or summit of a hill (Isa.
5:1, where the word "hill" is the rendering of
the same Hebrew word).
This word is used metaphorically also for strength (Deut.
33:17) and honour (Job 16:15; Lam. 2:3). Horns are emblems
of power, dominion, glory, and fierceness, as they are the
chief means of attack and defence with the animals endowed
with them (Dan. 8:5, 9; 1 Sam. 2:1; 16:1, 13; 1 Kings 1:39;
22:11; Josh. 6:4, 5; Ps. 75:5, 10; 132:17; Luke 1:69,
etc.). The expression "horn of salvation,"
applied to Christ, means a salvation of strength, or a
strong Saviour (Luke 1:69). To have the horn
"exalted" denotes prosperity and triumph (Ps.
89:17, 24). To "lift up" the horn is to act
proudly (Zech. 1:21).
Horns are also the symbol of royal dignity and power (Jer.
48:25; Zech. 1:18; Dan. 8:24).
The second part, containing 4-14, is a summary of
Hosea's discourses, filled with denunciations,
threatenings, exhortations, promises, and revelations of
mercy.
Quotations from Hosea are found in Matt. 2:15; 9:15; 12:7;
Rom. 9:25, 26. There are, in addition, various allusions to
it in other places (Luke 23:30; Rev. 6:16, comp. Hos. 10:8;
Rom. 9:25, 26; 1 Pet. 2:10, comp. Hos. 1:10, etc.).
As regards the style of this writer, it has been said that
"each verse forms a whole for itself, like one heavy
toll in a funeral knell." "Inversions (7:8; 9:11,
13; 12: 8), anacolutha (9:6; 12:8, etc.), ellipses (9:4;
13:9, etc.), paranomasias, and plays upon words, are very
characteristic of Hosea (8:7; 9:15; 10:5; 11:5;
12:11)."
(2.) 1 Chr. 27:20. The ruler of Ephraim in David's
time.
(3.) The last king of Israel. He conspired against and slew
his predecessor, Pekah (Isa. 7:16), but did not ascend the
throne till after an interregnum of warfare of eight years
(2 Kings 17:1, 2). Soon after this he submitted to
Shalmaneser, the Assyrian king, who a second time invaded
the land to punish Hoshea, because of his withholding
tribute which he had promised to pay. A second revolt
brought back the Assyrian king Sargon, who besieged
Samaria, and carried the ten tribes away beyond the
Euphrates, B.C. 720 (2 Kings 17:5, 6; 18:9-12). No more is
heard of Hoshea. He disappeared like "foam upon the
water" (Hos. 10:7; 13:11).
In warfare, a troop or military force. This consisted at
first only of infantry. Solomon afterwards added cavalry (1
Kings 4:26; 10:26). Every male Israelite from twenty to
fifty years of age was bound by the law to bear arms when
necessary (Num. 1:3; 26:2; 2 Chr. 25:5).
Saul was the first to form a standing army (1 Sam. 13:2;
24:2). This example was followed by David (1 Chr. 27:1),
and Solomon (1 Kings 4:26), and by the kings of Israel and
Judah (2 Chr. 17:14; 26:11; 2 Kings 11:4, etc.).
With the ancient Hebrews the divisions of the day were
"morning, evening, and noon-day" (Ps. 55:17,
etc.). The Greeks, following the Babylonians, divided the
day into twelve hours. The Jews, during the Captivity,
learned also from the Babylonians this method of dividing
time. When Judea became subject to the Romans, the Jews
adopted the Roman mode of reckoning time. The night was
divided into four watches (Luke 12:38; Matt. 14:25; 13:25).
Frequent allusion is also made to hours (Matt. 25:13;
26:40, etc.).
An hour was the twelfth part of the day, reckoning from
sunrise to sunset, and consequently it perpetually varied
in length.
The roofs of the dwelling-houses were flat, and are often
alluded to in Scripture (2 Sam. 11:2; Isa. 22:1; Matt.
24:17). Sometimes tents or booths were erected on them (2
Sam. 16:22). They were protected by parapets or low walls
(Deut. 22:8). On the house-tops grass sometimes grew (Prov.
19:13; 27:15; Ps. 129:6, 7). They were used, not only as
places of recreation in the evening, but also sometimes as
sleeping-places at night (1 Sam. 9:25, 26; 2 Sam. 11:2;
16:22; Dan. 4:29; Job 27:18; Prov. 21:9), and as places of
devotion (Jer. 32:29; 19:13).
His humiliation was necessary (1) to execute the purpose of
God (Acts 2:23, 24; Ps. 40:6-8), (2) fulfil the Old
Testament types and prophecies, (3) satisfy the law in the
room of the guilty (Isa. 53; Heb. 9:12, 15), procure for
them eternal redemption, (4) and to show us an example.
Christ has set us an example of humility (Phil. 2:6-8). We
should be led thereto by a remembrance of our sins (Lam.
3:39), and by the thought that it is the way to honour
(Prov. 16:18), and that the greatest promises are made to
the humble (Ps. 147:6; Isa. 57:15; 66:2; 1 Pet. 5:5). It is
a "great paradox in Christianity that it makes
humility the avenue to glory."
(2.) The husband of Miriam, Moses' sister (Ex.
17:10-12). He was associated with Aaron in charge of the
people when Moses was absent on Sinai (Ex. 24:14). He was
probably of the tribe of Judah, and grandfather of Bezaleel
(Ex. 31:2; 35:30; 1 Chr. 2:19).
(3.) One of the five princes of Midian who were defeated
and slain by the Israelites under the command of Phinehas
(Num. 31:8).
The noun hymn is used only with reference to the services
of the Greeks, and was distinguished from the psalm. The
Greek tunes required Greek hymns. Our information regarding
the hymnology of the early Christians is very limited.
(8.) Semel, "likeness;" "a carved
image" (Deut. 4:16).
(9.) Tselem, "a shadow" (Dan. 3:1; 1 Sam. 6:5),
as distinguished from the "likeness," or the
exact counterpart.
(10.) Temunah, "similitude" (Deut. 4:12-19). Here
Moses forbids the several forms of Gentile idolatry.
(11.) 'Atsab, "a figure;" from the root
"to fashion," "to labour;" denoting
that idols are the result of man's labour (Isa. 48:5;
Ps. 139:24, "wicked way;" literally, as some
translate, "way of an idol").
(12.) Tsir, "a form;" "shape" (Isa.
45:16).
(13.) Matztzebah, a "statue" set up (Jer. 43:13);
a memorial stone like that erected by Jacob (Gen. 28:18;
31:45; 35:14, 20), by Joshua (4:9), and by Samuel (1 Sam.
7:12). It is the name given to the statues of Baal (2 Kings
3:2; 10:27).
(14.) Hammanim, "sun-images." Hamman is a synonym
of Baal, the sun-god of the Phoenicians (2 Chr. 34:4, 7;
14:3, 5; Isa. 17:8).
(15.) Maskith, "device" (Lev. 26:1; Num. 33:52).
In Lev. 26:1, the words "image of stone" (A.V.)
denote "a stone or cippus with the image of an idol,
as Baal, Astarte, etc." In Ezek. 8:12, "chambers
of imagery" (maskith), are "chambers of which the
walls are painted with the figures of idols;" comp.
ver. 10, 11.
(16.) Pesel, "a graven" or "carved
image" (Isa. 44:10-20). It denotes also a figure cast
in metal (Deut. 7:25; 27:15; Isa. 40:19; 44:10).
(17.) Massekah, "a molten image" (Deut. 9:12;
Judg. 17:3, 4).
(18.) Teraphim, pl., "images," family gods
(penates) worshipped by Abram's kindred (Josh. 24:14).
Put by Michal in David's bed (Judg. 17:5; 18:14, 17,
18, 20; 1 Sam. 19:13).
"Nothing can be more instructive and significant than
this multiplicity and variety of words designating the
instruments and inventions of idolatry."
The forms of idolatry are, (1.) Fetishism, or the worship
of trees, rivers, hills, stones, etc.
(2.) Nature worship, the worship of the sun, moon, and
stars, as the supposed powers of nature.
(3.) Hero worship, the worship of deceased ancestors, or of
heroes.
In Scripture, idolatry is regarded as of heathen origin,
and as being imported among the Hebrews through contact
with heathen nations. The first allusion to idolatry is in
the account of Rachel stealing her father's teraphim
(Gen. 31:19), which were the relics of the worship of other
gods by Laban's progenitors "on the other side of
the river in old time" (Josh. 24:2). During their long
residence in Egypt the Hebrews fell into idolatry, and it
was long before they were delivered from it (Josh. 24:14;
Ezek. 20:7). Many a token of God's displeasure fell
upon them because of this sin.
The idolatry learned in Egypt was probably rooted out from
among the people during the forty years' wanderings;
but when the Jews entered Palestine, they came into contact
with the monuments and associations of the idolatry of the
old Canaanitish races, and showed a constant tendency to
depart from the living God and follow the idolatrous
practices of those heathen nations. It was their great
national sin, which was only effectually rebuked by the
Babylonian exile. That exile finally purified the Jews of
all idolatrous tendencies.
The first and second commandments are directed against
idolatry of every form. Individuals and communities were
equally amenable to the rigorous code. The individual
offender was devoted to destruction (Ex. 22:20). His
nearest relatives were not only bound to denounce him and
deliver him up to punishment (Deut. 13:20-10), but their
hands were to strike the first blow when, on the evidence
of two witnesses at least, he was stoned (Deut. 17:2-7). To
attempt to seduce others to false worship was a crime of
equal enormity (13:6-10). An idolatrous nation shared the
same fate. No facts are more strongly declared in the Old
Testament than that the extermination of the Canaanites was
the punishment of their idolatry (Ex. 34:15, 16; Deut. 7;
12:29-31; 20:17), and that the calamities of the Israelites
were due to the same cause (Jer. 2:17). "A city guilty
of idolatry was looked upon as a cancer in the state; it
was considered to be in rebellion, and treated according to
the laws of war. Its inhabitants and all their cattle were
put to death." Jehovah was the theocratic King of
Israel, the civil Head of the commonwealth, and therefore
to an Israelite idolatry was a state offence (1 Sam.
15:23), high treason. On taking possession of the land, the
Jews were commanded to destroy all traces of every kind of
the existing idolatry of the Canaanites (Ex. 23:24, 32;
34:13; Deut. 7:5, 25; 12:1-3).
In the New Testament the term idolatry is used to designate
covetousness (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5).
As to the nature of inspiration we have no information.
This only we know, it rendered the writers infallible. They
were all equally inspired, and are all equally infallible.
The inspiration of the sacred writers did not change their
characters. They retained all their individual
peculiarities as thinkers or writers. (See BIBLE
¯T0000580; WORD OF.)
When on earth he made intercession for his people (Luke
23:34; John 17:20; Heb. 5:7); but now he exercises this
function of his priesthood in heaven, where he is said to
appear in the presence of God for us (Heb. 9:12,24).
His advocacy with the Father for his people rests on the
basis of his own all-perfect sacrifice. Thus he pleads for
and obtains the fulfilment of all the promises of the
everlasting covenant (1 John 2:1; John 17:24; Heb. 7:25).
He can be "touched with the feeling of our
infirmities," and is both a merciful and a faithful
high priest (Heb. 2:17, 18; 4:15, 16). This intercession is
an essential part of his mediatorial work. Through him we
have "access" to the Father (John 14:6; Eph.
2:18; 3:12). "The communion of his people with the
Father will ever be sustained through him as mediatorial
Priest" (Ps. 110:4; Rev. 7:17).
Figuratively, a yoke of iron (Deut. 28:48) denotes hard
service; a rod of iron (Ps. 2:9), a stern government; a
pillar of iron (Jer. 1:18), a strong support; a furnace of
iron (Deut. 4:20), severe labour; a bar of iron (Job
40:18), strength; fetters of iron (Ps. 107:10), affliction;
giving silver for iron (Isa. 60:17), prosperity.
For purposes of irrigation, water was raised from streams
or pools by water-wheels, or by a shaduf, commonly used on
the banks of the Nile to the present day.
(2.) The only son of Abraham by Sarah. He was the longest
lived of the three patriarchs (Gen. 21:1-3). He was
circumcised when eight days old (4-7); and when he was
probably two years old a great feast was held in connection
with his being weaned.
The next memorable event in his life is that connected with
the command of God given to Abraham to offer him up as a
sacrifice on a mountain in the land of Moriah (Gen. 22).
When he was forty years of age Rebekah was
chosen for his wife (Gen. 24). After the death and burial
of his father he took up his residence at Beer-lahai-roi
(25:7-11), where his two sons, Esau and Jacob, were born
(21-26), the former of whom seems to have been his
favourite son (27,28).
In consequence of a famine (Gen. 26:1) Isaac went to Gerar,
where he practised deception as to his relation to Rebekah,
imitating the conduct of his father in Egypt (12:12-20) and
in Gerar (20:2). The Philistine king rebuked him for his
prevarication.
After sojourning for some time in the land of the
Philistines, he returned to Beersheba, where God gave him
fresh assurance of covenant blessing, and where Abimelech
entered into a covenant of peace with him.
The next chief event in his life was the blessing of his
sons (Gen. 27:1). He died at Mamre, "being old and
full of days" (35:27-29), one hundred and eighty years
old, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah.
In the New Testament reference is made to his having been
"offered up" by his father (Heb. 11:17; James
2:21), and to his blessing his sons (Heb. 11:20). As the
child of promise, he is contrasted with Ishmael (Rom. 9:7,
10; Gal. 4:28; Heb. 11:18).
Isaac is "at once a counterpart of his father in
simple devoutness and purity of life, and a contrast in his
passive weakness of character, which in part, at least, may
have sprung from his relations to his mother and wife.
After the expulsion of Ishmael and Hagar, Isaac had no
competitor, and grew up in the shade of Sarah's tent,
moulded into feminine softness by habitual submission to
her strong, loving will." His life was so quiet and
uneventful that it was spent "within the circle of a
few miles; so guileless that he let Jacob overreach him
rather than disbelieve his assurance; so tender that his
mother's death was the poignant sorrow of years; so
patient and gentle that peace with his neighbours was
dearer than even such a coveted possession as a well of
living water dug by his own men; so grandly obedient that
he put his life at his father's disposal; so firm in
his reliance on God that his greatest concern through life
was to honour the divine promise given to his race.",
Geikie's Hours, etc.
He exercised the functions of his office during the reigns
of Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1).
Uzziah reigned fifty-two years (B.C. 810-759), and Isaiah
must have begun his career a few years before Uzziah's
death, probably B.C. 762. He lived till the fourteenth year
of Hezekiah, and in all likelihood outlived that monarch
(who died B.C. 698), and may have been contemporary for
some years with Manasseh. Thus Isaiah may have prophesied
for the long period of at least sixty-four years.
His first call to the prophetical office is not recorded. A
second call came to him "in the year that King Uzziah
died" (Isa. 6:1). He exercised his ministry in a
spirit of uncompromising firmness and boldness in regard to
all that bore on the interests of religion. He conceals
nothing and keeps nothing back from fear of man. He was
also noted for his spirituality and for his deep-toned
reverence toward "the holy One of Israel."
In early youth Isaiah must have been moved by the invasion
of Israel by the Assyrian monarch Pul (q.v.), 2 Kings
15:19; and again, twenty years later, when he had already
entered on his office, by the invasion of Tiglath-pileser
and his career of conquest. Ahaz, king of Judah, at this
crisis refused to co-operate with the kings of Israel and
Syria in opposition to the Assyrians, and was on that
account attacked and defeated by Rezin of Damascus and
Pekah of Samaria (2 Kings 16:5; 2 Chr. 28:5, 6). Ahaz, thus
humbled, sided with Assyria, and sought the aid of
Tiglath-pileser against Israel and Syria. The consequence
was that Rezin and Pekah were conquered and many of the
people carried captive to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; 16:9; 1
Chr. 5:26). Soon after this Shalmaneser determined wholly
to subdue the kingdom of Israel. Samaria was taken and
destroyed (B.C. 722). So long as Ahaz reigned, the kingdom
of Judah was unmolested by the Assyrian power; but on his
accession to the throne, Hezekiah (B.C. 726), who
"rebelled against the king of Assyria" (2 Kings
18:7), in which he was encouraged by Isaiah, who exhorted
the people to place all their dependence on Jehovah (Isa.
10:24; 37:6), entered into an alliance with the king of
Egypt (Isa. 30:2-4). This led the king of Assyria to
threaten the king of Judah, and at length to invade the
land. Sennacherib (B.C. 701) led a powerful army into
Palestine. Hezekiah was reduced to despair, and submitted
to the Assyrians (2 Kings 18:14-16). But after a brief
interval war broke out again, and again Sennacherib (q.v.)
led an army into Palestine, one detachment of which
threatened Jerusalem (Isa. 36:2-22; 37:8). Isaiah on that
occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians
(37:1-7), whereupon Sennacherib sent a threatening letter
to Hezekiah, which he "spread before the Lord"
(37:14). The judgement of God now fell on the Assyrian
host. "Like Xerxes in Greece, Sennacherib never
recovered from the shock of the disaster in Judah. He made
no more expeditions against either Southern Palestine or
Egypt." The remaining years of Hezekiah's reign
were peaceful (2 Chr. 32:23, 27-29). Isaiah probably lived
to its close, and possibly into the reign of Manasseh, but
the time and manner of his death are unknown. There is a
tradition that he suffered martyrdom in the heathen
reaction in the time of Manasseh (q.v.).
(2.) One of the heads of the singers in the time of David
(1 Chr. 25:3,15, "Jeshaiah").
(3.) A Levite (1 Chr. 26:25). (4.) Ezra 8:7. (5.) Neh.
11:7.
The book, as a whole, has been divided into three main
parts: (1.) The first thirty-five chapters, almost wholly
prophetic, Israel's enemy Assyria, present the Messiah
as a mighty Ruler and King. (2.) Four chapters are
historical (36-39), relating to the times of Hezekiah. (3.)
Prophetical (40-66), Israel's enemy Babylon, describing
the Messiah as a suffering victim, meek and lowly.
The genuineness of the section Isa. 40-66 has been keenly
opposed by able critics. They assert that it must be the
production of a deutero-Isaiah, who lived toward the close
of the Babylonian captivity. This theory was originated by
Koppe, a German writer at the close of the last century.
There are other portions of the book also (e.g., ch. 13;
24-27; and certain verses in ch. 14 and 21) which they
attribute to some other prophet than Isaiah. Thus they say
that some five or seven, or even more, unknown prophets had
a hand in the production of this book. The considerations
which have led to such a result are various: (1.) They
cannot, as some say, conceive it possible that Isaiah,
living in B.C. 700, could foretell the appearance and the
exploits of a prince called Cyrus, who would set the Jews
free from captivity one hundred and seventy years after.
(2.) It is alleged that the prophet takes the time of the
Captivity as his standpoint, and speaks of it as then
present; and (3) that there is such a difference between
the style and language of the closing section (40-66) and
those of the preceding chapters as to necessitate a
different authorship, and lead to the conclusion that there
were at least two Isaiahs. But even granting the fact of a
great diversity of style and language, this will not
necessitate the conclusion attempted to be drawn from it.
The diversity of subjects treated of and the peculiarities
of the prophet's position at the time the prophecies
were uttered will sufficiently account for this.
The arguments in favour of the unity of the book are quite
conclusive. When the LXX. version was made (about B.C. 250)
the entire contents of the book were ascribed to Isaiah,
the son of Amoz. It is not called in question, moreover,
that in the time of our Lord the book existed in the form
in which we now have it. Many prophecies in the disputed
portions are quoted in the New Testament as the words of
Isaiah (Matt. 3:3; Luke 3:4-6; 4:16-41; John 12:38; Acts
8:28; Rom. 10:16-21). Universal and persistent tradition
has ascribed the whole book to one author.
Besides this, the internal evidence, the similarity in the
language and style, in the thoughts and images and
rhetorical ornaments, all points to the same conclusion;
and its local colouring and allusions show that it is
obviously of Palestinian origin. The theory therefore of a
double authorship of the book, much less of a manifold
authorship, cannot be maintained. The book, with all the
diversity of its contents, is one, and is, we believe, the
production of the great prophet whose name it bears.