A VERSE BY VERSE COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH CHAPTER 18.

1. ISAIAH 18 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
A Prophecy Against Cush
18 Woe to the land of whirring wings[a]
along the rivers of Cush,[b]
1.BARNES, “Woe to the land - (‫הוי‬ hoy). This word, as has been already remarked (the
note at Isa_17:12), may be a mere interjection or salutation, and would be appropriately
rendered by ‘Ho!’ Or it may be a word denouncing judgment, or wrath, as it is often used in this
prophecy (the note at Isa_5:8).
Shadowing with wings - (‫כנפים‬ ‫צלצל‬ tsı le
tsal ke
napaı ym). This is one of the most difficult
expressions in the whole chapter; and one to which as yet, probably, no satisfactory meaning has
been applied. The Septuagint renders it, Οᆒαᆳ γᇿς πλοᆳων πτέρυγες Ouai ges ploion pteruges - ‘Ah!
wings of the land of ships.’ The Chaldee, ‘Woe to the land in which they come in ships from a
distant country, and whose sails are spread out as an eagle which flies upon its wings.’ Grotius
renders it, ‘The land whose extreme parts are shaded by mountains.’ The word rendered,
‘shadowed’ ‫צלצל‬ tsı le
tsal, occurs only in this place and in Job_41:7, where it is translated ‘fish-
spears’ - but as we know nothing of the “form” of those spears, that place throws no light on the
meaning of the word here. The word is derived, evidently, from ‫צלל‬ tsalal, which has three
significations:
(1) “To be shady, dark, obscure;” and hence, its derivatives are applied to anything that
“makes” a shade or shadow - particularly “shady trees” Job_40:21-22; the shades of night
Son_2:17; Son_4:6; or anything that produces obscurity, or darkness, as a tree, a rock, a wing,
etc.
(2) It means “to tingle,” spoken of the ears 1Sa_3:11; 2Ki_21:13; “to quiver,” spoken of the lips
Hab_3:16; and hence, its derivatives are applied to anything that makes a sound by “tinkling” -
an instrument of music; a cymbal made of two pieces of metal that are struck together 2Sa_6:5;
1Ch_15:16; 1Ch_16:42; 1Ch_25:6; 2Ch_5:12; Neh_12:27; Psa_150:5)
(3) It means “to sink” Exo_15:10. From the sense of making “a shade,” a derivative of the verb
‫צלצל‬ tse
latsal - the same as used here except the points - is applied to locusts because they appear
in such swarms as to obscure the rays of the sun, and produce an extended shade, or shadow,
over a land as a cloud does; or because they make a rustling with their wings.
The word used here, therefore, may mean either “shaded, or rustling, or rattling,” in the
manner of a cymbal or other tinkling instrument. It may be added, that the word may mean a
“double shade,” being a doubling of the word ‫צל‬ tsel, a “shade, or shdow,” and it has been
supposed by some to apply to Ethiopia as lying betwen the tropics, having a “double shadow;”

2. that is, so that the shadow of objects is cast one half of the year on the north side, and the other
half on the south. The word ‘wings’ is applied in the Scriptures to the following things, namely:
(1) The wing of a fowl. This is the literal, and common signification.
(2) The skirts, borders, or lower parts of a garment, from the resemblance to wings
Num_15:38; 1Sa_24:5, 1Sa_24:11; Zec_8:13. Also a bed-covering Deu_33:1.
(3) The extremities or borders of a country, or of the world Job_37:3; Isa_24:16; Eze_17:3,
Eze_17:7.
(4) The “wing” or extremity of an army, as we use the word “wing” Isa_8:8; Jer_48:40;
Dan_9:27.
(5) The expanding rays of the morning, because the light “expands or spreads out” like wings
Psa_139:9; Mal_4:2.
(6) The “wind” - resembling wings in rapid motion Psa_18:10, Psa_18:21; Psa_104:3;
Hos_4:19.
(7) The battlement or pinnacle of the temple - or perhaps the porches extended on each side of
the temple like wings (Dan_9:27; compare Mat_4:5).
(8) “Protection” - as wings are a protection to young birds in their nest (see Psa_18:8;
Psa_36:7; Psa_61:4; Psa_91:4; Mat_23:37). It has been proposed by some to apply this
description to “ships,” or the sails of vessels, as if a land was designated which was covered
with “sails,” or the “wings” of vessels. So the Septuagint, and the Chaldee. But there is no
instance in which the word “wings” is so applied in the Scriptures.
The expression used here “may,” therefore, be applied to many things; and it is not easy to
determine its signification. The “general” idea is, that of “something” that abounds in the land
that is stretched out or expanded; that, as it were, “covers” it, and so abounds as to make a shade
or shadow everywhere. And it may be applied:
(1) to a nation that abounds with birds or fowls, so that they might be said to shade the land;
(2) to a nation abounding with locusts, shading the land or making a rustling noise; or
(3) to a nation furnishing protection, or stretching out its wings, as it were, for the defense of a
feeble people. So Vitringa interprets this place, and supposes that it refers to Egypt, as
being the nation where the Hebrews sought protection. Or
(4) to a country that is shaded with trees, mountains, or hills. So Grotius supposes it means
here, and thinks that it refers to Ethiopia, as being bounded by high hills or mountains.
(5) It “may” mean a people distinguished for navigation - abounding in “sails” of vessels - as if
they were everywhere spread out like wings. So the Septuagint and the Chaldee
understand this; and the interpretation has some plausibility, from the fact that light
vessels are immediately mentioned.
(6) The editor of Calmet’s “Dictionary” supposes that it refers to the “winged Cnephim” which
are sculptured over the temple gates in Upper-Egypt. They are emblematic representatives
of the god “Cneph,” to which the temples are dedicated, and abound in Upper Egypt. The
symbol of the “wings” is supposed to denote the “protection” which the god extended over
the land.
(7) Gesenius (“Com. on Isaiah”) renders it, ‘land rustling with wings,’ and supposes that the
word rendered ‘shadowing,’ denotes the “rustling” sound that is made by the clangor of
weapons of war. Amidst this variety of interpretation, it is, perhaps, not possible to
determine the meaning of the phrase. It has no parallel expression to illustrate it; and its
meaning must be left to conjecture.
Almost anyone of the above significations will suit the connection; and it is not very material
which is chosen. The one that, perhaps, best suits the connection, is that of the Septuagint and

3. the Chaldee, which refers it to the multitude of ships that expand their sails, and appear to fill all
the waters of the land with wings.
Which is beyond - (‫מעבר‬ me‛eber). This does not, of necessity, mean “beyond,” though that
is its usual signification. It properly means “from the passing, the passages, the crossing over,”
of a river; and may be rendered what is on the other side; or over against. It sometimes means
on this side, as if used by one living on the other side Deu_4:49; Jos_13:27; 1Ki_4:24; in which
places it has not the sense of “beyond,” but means either on this side, or lying alongside. The
sense here is, probably, that this country was situated “not far” from the rivers of Cush,
“probably” beyond them, but still it is implied that they were not “far” beyond them, but were
rather at their passings over, or crossing-places; that is, near them.
The rivers of Ethiopia - Hebrew, ‘Rivers of Cush.’ (On the meaning of the word ‘Cush,’ see
the note at Isa_11:11) It is sometimes applicable to Ethiopia or Nubia - that is, the portion of
Egypt above the cataracts of the Nile. Compare Jer_13:23 : ‘Can the Ethiopian (the “Cushite”)
change his skin?’ (see also Eze_29:10). This word does not determine with certainty the country
to which reference is made - for the country of Cush “may” mean that east of the Euphrates, or
southern Arabia, or southern Egypt. Egypt and Cush are, however, sometimes connected
(2Ki_19:9; Psa_68:31; Isa_20:3; Isa_43:3; Nah_3:9; compare Dan_11:43). The “probability”
from the use of this word is, that some part of Upper Egypt is intended. Ethiopia in part lies
beyond the most considerable of the streams that make up the river Nile.
2. CLARKE, “Wo to the land - ‫הוי‬‫ארץ‬ hoi arets! This interjection should be translated ho!
for it is properly a particle of calling: Ho, land! Attend! Give ear!
Shadowing with wings “The winged cymbal” - ‫צלצל‬‫כנפים‬ tsiltsal kenaphayim. I adopt
this as the most probable of the many interpretations that have been given of these words. It is
Bochart’s: see Phaleg, 4:2. The Egyptian sistrum is expressed by a periphrasis; the Hebrews had
no name for it in their language, not having in use the instrument itself. The cymbal they had
was an instrument in its use and sound not much unlike the sistrum; and to distinguish it from
the sistrum, they called it the cymbal with wings. The cymbal was a round hollow piece of metal,
which, being struck against another, gave a ringing sound: the sistrum was a round instrument,
consisting of a broad rim of metal, through which from side to side ran several loose laminae or
small rods of metal, which being shaken, gave a like sound. These, projecting on each side, had
somewhat the appearance of wings; or might be very properly expressed by the same word
which the Hebrews used for wings, or for the extremity, or a part of any thing projecting. The
sistrum is given in a medal of Adrian, as the proper attribute of Egypt. See Addison on Medals,
Series 3. No. 4; where the figure of it may be seen. The frame of the sistrum was in shape rather
like the ancient lyre; it was not round.
If we translate shadowing with wings, it may allude to the multitude of its vessels, whose sails
may be represented under the notion of wings. The second verse seems to support this
interpretation. Vessels of bulrushes, ‫גמא‬ gome, or rather the flag papyrus, so much celebrated as
the substance on which people wrote in ancient times, and from which our paper is
denominated. The sails might have been made of this flag: but whole canoes were constructed
from it. Mat sails are used to the present day in China. The Vulgate fully understood the
meaning of the word, and has accordingly translated, in vasis papyri, “in vessels of papyrus.”
Reshi vesselis. - Old MS. Bib. This interpretation does not please Bp. Lowth, and for his dissent
he gives the following reasons: -

4. In opposition to other interpretations of these words which have prevailed, it may be briefly
observed that ‫צלצל‬ tsiltsel is never used to signify shadow, nor is ‫כנף‬ canaph applied to the sails
of ships. If, therefore, the words are rightly interpreted the winged cymbal, meaning the sistrum,
Egypt must be the country to which the prophecy is addressed. And upon this hypothesis the
version and explanation must proceed. I farther suppose, that the prophecy was delivered before
Sennacherib’s return from his Egyptian expedition, which took up three years; and that it was
designed to give to the Jews, and perhaps likewise to the Egyptians, an intimation of God’s
counsels in regard to the destruction of their great and powerful enemy.
Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia “Which borders on the rivers of Cush” -
What are the rivers of Cush? whether the eastern branches of the lower Nile, the boundary of
Egypt towards Arabia, or the parts of the upper Nile towards Ethiopia, it is not easy to
determine. The word ‫מעבר‬ meeber signifies either on this side or on the farther side: I have made
use of the same kind of ambiguous expression in the translation.
3. GILL, “Woe to the land shadowing with wings,.... Or, "O land", as calling to it; so Aben
Ezra and Kimchi. It is very difficult to determine what land is here meant: some think the land
of Assyria is here designed, as Aben Ezra and others, and so it is a continuation of the prophecy
concerning the destruction of the Assyrians, in the three last verses of the preceding chapter
Isa_17:12; the stretching out of whose wings is mentioned, Isa_8:8 and thought to be referred to
here; others are of opinion that the land of Judea is intended, which trusted under the shadow of
the wings of Egypt and Ethiopia, to whom the characters in the next verse Isa_18:2 are
supposed to belong: but the more generally received sense is, that either Egypt or Ethiopia
themselves are pointed at, described as "shadowing with wings"; not with the wings of birds, as
Jarchi interprets it, which flocked thither in great numbers, the country being hot, and so
shaded it with their wings; but rather with mountains, with which Ethiopia, at least some part of
it, was encompassed and shaded; or else with ships, whose sails are like wings, and which
resorting hither, in numerous fleets of them, and hovering about their coasts and ports, seemed
to shadow them; to which agrees the Septuagint version, "Woe to the land, the wings of ships!"
and so the Targum,
"Woe to the land to which they come in ships from a far country, whose sails are stretched out,
as an eagle that flies with its wings;''
so Manasseh Ben Israel (c) renders them,
"Woe to the land, which, under the shadow of veils, falls beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.''
The word translated "shadowing" is used for a cymbal, 2Sa_6:5, Psa_150:5 and so it is rendered
here in the Vulgate Latin version, "Woe to the land, with the cymbal of wings": and some think
the "sistrum", is meant, which was a musical instrument used by the Egyptians in their worship
of Isis; and which had wings to it, or had transverse rods in the middle of it, which looked like
wings, one of which may be seen in Pignorius (d); and so it describes the land of Egypt, famous
for its winged cymbals. Minucius Felix (e) makes mention of the swallow along with the sistrum,
which was a bird of Isis; and which some say was placed over the statue of Isis, with its wings
stretched out.

5. Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; the principal of which were Astaboras and Astapus
(f), and also Nile itself, which came out of Ethiopia into Egypt: or, "which is on this side of the
rivers of Ethiopia" (g); and so may intend Egypt, which bordered on this side of it towards
Judea; or, "which is beside the rivers of Ethiopia" (h); and so may denote Ethiopia itself,
situated by these rivers. The Targum renders it,
"the rivers of Judea.''
Some would have it, that the rivers of Arabia Chusaea are meant, which, lay between Judea and
Egypt, as Besor, Rhinocorura, Trajan, and Corys; and Arabia seems rather to be meant by
"Cush", than Ethiopia in Africa, since that lay beyond the rivers of Egypt, rather than Egypt
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.
4. HENRY, “Interpreters are very much at a loss where to find this land that lies beyond the
rivers of Cush. Some take it to be Egypt, a maritime country, and full of rivers, and which
courted Israel to depend upon them, but proved broken reeds; but against this it is strongly
objected that the next chapter is distinguished from this by the title of the burden of Egypt.
Others take it to be Ethiopia, and read it, which lies near, or about, the rivers of Ethiopia, not
that in Africa, which lay south of Egypt, but that which we call Arabia, which lay east of Canaan,
which Tirhakah was now king of. He thought to protect the Jews, as it were, under the shadow
of his wings, by giving a powerful diversion to the king of Assyria, when he made a descent upon
his country, at the time that he was attacking Jerusalem, 2Ki_19:9. But though by his
ambassadors he bade defiance to the king of Assyria, and encouraged the Jews to depend upon
him, God by the prophet slights him, and will not go forth with him; he may take his own course,
but God will take another course to protect Jerusalem, while he suffers the attempt of Tirhakah
to miscarry and his Arabian army to be ruined; for the Assyrian army shall become a present or
sacrifice to the Lord of hosts, and to the place of his name, by the hand of an angel, not by the
hand of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Isa_18:7. This is a very probable exposition of this chapter.
But from a hint of Dr. Lightfoot's, in his Harmony of the Old Testament, I incline to understand
this chapter as a prophecy against Assyria, and so a continuation of the prophecy in the last
three verses of the foregoing chapter, with which therefore this should be joined. That was
against the army of the Assyrians which rushed in upon Judah; this is against the land of Assyria
itself, which lay beyond the rivers of Arabia, that is, the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, which
bordered on Arabia Deserta. And in calling it the land shadowing with wings he seems to refer
to what he himself had said of it (Isa_8:8), that the stretching out of his wings shall fill the
breadth of thy land, O Immanuel! The prophet might perhaps describe the Assyrians by such
dark expressions, not naming them, for the same reason that St. Paul, in his prophecy, speaks of
the Roman empire by a periphrasis: He who now letteth, 2Th_2:7. Here is,
5. JAMISON, “

6. Isa_18:1-7. Isaiah announces the overthrow of Sennacherib’s hosts and desires the Ethiopian
ambassadors, now in Jerusalem, to bring word of it to their own nation; and he calls on the
whole world to witness the event (Isa_18:3). As Isa_17:12-14 announced the presence of the foe,
so Isa_18:1-7 foretells his overthrow.
Woe — The heading in English Version, “God will destroy the Ethiopians,” is a mistake
arising from the wrong rendering “Woe,” whereas the Hebrew does not express a threat, but is
an appeal calling attention (Isa_55:1; Zec_2:6): “Ho.” He is not speaking against but to the
Ethiopians, calling on them to hear his prophetical announcement as to the destruction of their
enemies.
shadowing with wings — rather, “land of the winged bark”; that is, “barks with wing-like
sails, answering to vessels of bulrushes” in Isa_18:2; the word “rivers,” in the parallelism, also
favors it; so the Septuagint and Chaldee [Ewald]. “Land of the clanging sound of wings,” that is,
armies, as in Isa_8:8; the rendering “bark,” or “ship,” is rather dubious [Maurer]. The armies
referred to are those of Tirhakah, advancing to meet the Assyrians (Isa_37:9). In English
Version, “shadowing” means protecting - stretching out its wings to defend a feeble people,
namely, the Hebrews [Vitringa]. The Hebrew for “wings” is the same as for the idol Cneph,
which was represented in temple sculptures with wings (Psa_91:4).
beyond — Meroe, the island between the “rivers” Nile and Astaboras is meant, famed for its
commerce, and perhaps the seat of the Ethiopian government, hence addressed here as
representing the whole empire: remains of temples are still found, and the name of “Tirhakah”
in the inscriptions. This island region was probably the chief part of Queen Candace’s kingdom
(Act_8:27). For “beyond” others translate less literally “which borderest on.”
Ethiopia — literally, “Cush.” Horsley is probably right that the ultimate and fullest reference
of the prophecy is to the restoration of the Jews in the Holy Land through the instrumentality of
some distant people skilled in navigation (Isa_18:2; Isa_60:9, Isa_60:10; Psa_45:15;
Psa_68:31; Zep_3:10). Phoenician voyagers coasting along would speak of all Western remote
lands as “beyond” the Nile’s mouths. “Cush,” too, has a wide sense, being applied not only to
Ethiopia, but Arabia-Deserta and Felix, and along the Persian Gulf, as far as the Tigris
(Gen_2:13).
6. K&D 1-3, “The prophecy commences with hoi, which never signifies heus, but always vae
(woe). Here, however, it differs from Isa_17:12, and is an expression of compassion (cf.,
Isa_55:1; Zec_2:10) rather than of anger; for the fact that the mighty Ethiopia is oppressed by
the still mightier Asshur, is a humiliation which Jehovah has prepared for the former. Isa_18:1,
Isa_18:2: “Woe to the land of the whirring of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Cush, that
sends ambassadors into the sea and in boats of papyrus over the face of the waters.” The land
of Cush commences, according to Eze_29:10 (cf., Isa_30:6), where Upper Egypt ends. The Seve
neh (Aswan), mentioned by Ezekiel, is the boundary-point at which the Nile enters Mizraim
proper, and which is still a depot for goods coming from the south down the Nile. The nahare-
Cush (rivers of Cush) are chiefly those that surround the Cushite Seba (Gen_10:7). This is the
name given to the present Sennâr, the Meroitic island which is enclosed between the White and
Blue Nile (the Astapos of Ptolemy, or the present Bahr el-Abyad, and the Astaboras of Ptolemy,
or the present Bahr el-Azrak). According to the latest researches, more especially those of
Speke, the White Nile, which takes its rise in the Lake of Nyanza, is the chief source of the Nile.
The latter, and the Blue Nile, whose confluence (makran) with it takes place in lat. 15° 25´, are

7. fed by many larger or smaller tributary streams (as well as mountain torrents); the Blue Nile
even more than the Nile proper. And this abundance of water in the land to the south of Seveneh,
and still farther south beyond Seba (or Meroë), might very well have been known to the prophet
as a general fact. The land “beyond the rivers of Cush” is the land bounded by the sources of the
Nile, i.e., (including Ethiopia itself in the stricter sense of the word) the south land under
Ethiopian rule that lay still deeper in the heart of the country, the land of its African auxiliary
tribes, whose names (which probably include the later Nubians and Abyssinians), as given in
2Ch_12:3; Nah_3:9; Eze_30:5; Jer_46:9, suppose a minuteness of information which has not
yet been attained by modern research. To this Ethiopia, which is designated by its farthest limits
(compare Zep_3:10, where Wolff, in his book of Judith, erroneously supposes Media to be
intended as the Asiatic Cush), the prophets give the strange name of eretz tziltzal cenap. This has
been interpreted as meaning “the land of the wings of an army with clashing arms” by Gesenius
and others; but cenaphaim does not occur in this sense, like 'agappim in Ezekiel. Others render it
“the land of the noise of waves” (Umbreit); but cenaphaim cannot be used of waters except in
such a connection as Isa_8:8. Moreover, tziltzal is not a fitting onomatopoetic word either for
the clashing of arms or the noise of waves. Others, again, render it “the land of the double
shadow” (Grotius, Vitringa, Knobel, and others); but, however appropriate this epithet might be
to Ethiopia as a tropical land, it is very hazardous to take the word in a sense which is not
sustained by the usage of the language; and the same objection may be brought against
Luzzatto's “land of the far-shadowing defence.” Shelling has also suggested another objection -
namely, that the shadow thrown even in tropical lands is not a double one, falling northwards
and southwards at the same time, and therefore that it cannot be figuratively described as
double-winged. Tziltzal cenaphaim is the buzzing of the wings of insects, with which Egypt and
Ethiopia swarmed on account of the climate and the abundance of water: ‫ל‬ ַ‫צ‬ ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫,צ‬ constr. ‫ל‬ ַ‫צ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ִ‫,צ‬
tinnitus, stridor, a primary meaning from which the other three meanings of the word-cymbal,
harpoon (a whirring dart), and grasshopper
(Note: Schröring supposes tziltzal to be the scarabaeus sacer (Linn.); but it would be much
more natural, if any particular animal is intended, to think of the tzaltzalya, as it is called in
the language of the Gallas, the tzetze in the Betschuana language, the most dreaded diptera
of the interior of Africa, a species of glossina which attacks all the larger mammalia (though
not men). Vid., Hartmann, Naturgeschichtlich-medic. Skizze der Nilländer, Abth. i. p. 205.)
- are derived. In Isa_7:18 the forces of Egypt are called “the fly from the end of the rivers of
Egypt.” Here Egypt and Ethiopia are called the land of the whirring of wings, inasmuch as the
prophet had in his mind, under the designation of swarms of insects, the motley swarms of
different people included in this great kingdom that were so fabulously strange to an Asiatic.
Within this great kingdom messengers were now passing to and fro upon its great waters in
boats of papyrus (on gome, Copt. ‛gome, Talm. gami, see at Job_8:11), Greek βαρίδες παπύριναι (β
αρίς, from the Egyptian bari, bali, a barque). In such vessels as these, and with Egyptian tackle,
they went as far as the remote island of Taprobane. The boats were made to clap together
(pilcatiles), so as to be carried past the cataracts (Parthey on Plutarch. de Iside, pp. 198-9). And it
is to these messengers in their paper boats that the appeal of the prophet is addressed.
He sends them home; and what they are to say to their own people is generalized into an
announcement to the whole earth. “Go, swift messengers, to the people stretched out and
polished, to the terrible people far away on the other side, to the nation of command upon

8. command and treading down, whose land rivers cut through. All ye possessors of the globe
and inhabitants of the earth, when a banner rises on the mountains, look ye; and when they
blow the trumpets, hearken!” We learn from what follows to what it is that the attention of
Ethiopia and all the nations of the earth is directed: it is the destruction of Asshur by Jehovah.
They are to attend, when they observe the two signals, the banner and the trumpet-blast; these
are decisive moments. Because Jehovah was about to deliver the world from the conquering
might of Assyria, against which the Ethiopian kingdom was now summoning all the means of
self-defence, the prophet sends the messengers home. Their own people, to which he sends them
home, are elaborately described. They are memusshak, stretched out, i.e., very tall (lxx ᅞθνος µετέ
ωρον), just as the Sabaeans are said to have been in Isa_45:14. They are also morat = me
morat
(Ges. §52, Anm. 6), smoothed, politus, i.e., either not disfigured by an ugly growth of hair, or
else, without any reference to depilation, but rather with reference to the bronze colour of their
skin, smooth and shining with healthy freshness. The description which Herodotus gives of the
Ethiopians, µέγιστοι καᆳ κάλλιστοι ᅊνθρώπων πάντων (iii. 20), quite answers to these first two
predicates. They are still further described, with reference to the wide extent of their kingdom,
which reached to the remotest south, as “the terrible nation ‫ה‬ፎ ְ‫ל‬ ָ‫ה‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫ן־הוּ‬ ִ‫מ‬‫א‬ ,” i.e., from this point,
where the prophet meets with the messengers, farther and farther off (compare 1Sa_20:21-22,
but not 1Sa_18:9, where the expression has a chronological meaning, which would be less
suitable here, where everything is so pictorial, and which is also to be rejected, because ‫ן־הוּ‬ ִ‫מ‬‫א‬
cannot be equivalent to ‫הוּא‬ ֶ‫ר‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֶ‫א‬ ֵ‫;מ‬ cf., Nah_2:9). We may see from Isa_28:10, Isa_28:13, what ka
v (kav, with connecting accusatives and before makkeph), a measuring or levelling line, signifies,
when used by the prophet with the reduplication which he employs here: it is a people of
“command upon command,” - that is to say, a commanding nation; (according to Ewald,
Knobel, and others, kav is equivalent to the Arabic kuwe, strength, a nation of double or gigantic
strength.) “A people of treading down” (sc., of others; me
busah is a second genitive to goi), i.e.,
one which subdues and tramples down wherever it appears. These are all distinctive predicates -
a nation of imposing grandeur, a ruling and conquering nation. The last predicate extols its
fertile land. ‫א‬ָ‫ז‬ ָ we take not in the sense of diripere, or as equivalent to bazaz, like ‫ס‬ፍ ָ‫,מ‬ to melt,
equivalent to masas, but in the sense of findere, i.e., as equivalent to ‫ע‬ַ‫ז‬ ָ‫,ב‬ like ‫א‬ ָ‫מ‬ָ, to sip = ‫ע‬ ַ‫מ‬ָ. For
it is no praise to say that a land is scoured out, or washed away, by rivers. Böttcher, who is
wrong in describing this chapter as “perhaps the most difficult in the whole of the Old
Testament,” very aptly compares with it the expression used by Herodotus (ii. 108), κατετµήθη ᅧ
Αᅺγυπτος. But why this strange elaboration instead of the simple name? There is a divine irony in
the fact that a nation so great and glorious, and (though not without reason, considering its
natural gifts) so full of self-consciousness, should be thrown into such violent agitation in the
prospect of the danger that threatened it, and should be making such strenuous exertions to
avert that danger, when Jehovah the God of Israel was about to destroy the threatening power
itself in a night, and consequently all the care and trouble of Ethiopia were utterly needless.
7. BI, “The Ethiopians
The people here peculiarly described are the Ethiopians, and the prophet prophesies the effect
on Ethiopia of the judgment concerning Assyria which Jehovah executes, as Drechsler has

9. convincingly proved, and as is now universally recognised.
(F. Delitzsch.)
Ethiopia
What land is it of which the prophet speaks? It is no doubt Ethiopia itself, a great kingdom in the
olden time. For although he says “beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,” that is the Blue Nile, and the
White Nile, and the Astaboras, the meaning is perhaps more accurately “beside” those rivers. In
any event the ancient land of Ethiopia reached out to the south far beyond the confluence of
those rivers in the mighty Nile, including probably all upper Egypt beyond Philae, Nubia, and
the northern portion of modern Abyssinia. It was a fertile country, very rich in gold, ivory,
ebony, frankincense, and precious stones. A country thickly inhabited by a stalwart well-formed
race, “men of stature” the prophet calls them, who if they were black were yet comely. It was a
mighty kingdom for many centuries, a rival of Egypt, sometimes its enemy, and apparently even
its conqueror; a kingdom able to make war against the Assyrians, and a kingdom, too, carrying
on a great trade by means of abundant merchandise with many people. (A. Ritchie.)
“The land shadowing with wings”
1. Full of poetic suggestion is the expression “shadowing with wings.” The thought is of
tender protection, as the mother bird hovers over and shields her young. The Psalmist is
never tired of crying out to God, “Hide me under the covering of Thy wings.” It was right that
Israel and Judah should cry thus to Jehovah for protection, but not that they should look to
the shadowing wings of Ethiopia. Just as it was pathetically true that in later times our Lord
should say of the Holy City, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not”—so seven
hundred years earlier it was true that Judah would not seek refuge under the wings of the
Lord, but under the shadowing of Egypt and the covering of Ethiopia.
2. In the Revised Version we have the passage rendered, “Ah, the land of the rustling of
wings.” Some of the old commentators find in this an allusion to the multitude of bees and
the swarms of flies in Ethiopia, so that there the hum of wings was never absent. More
picturesque is another suggestion, that the reference is to the ever plashing waters of the
rivers, hurrying along with swift current, in rapids and through cataracts until the broad
bosom of father Nile was reached. The swish and lapping of the rushing waters seemed to
the poet like the noise made by the swift flight of many birds, beating the air with strong
pinions, as they sweep on towards the horizon.
3. If we turn to the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, we read the text thus: “Woe to you,
ye wings of the land of ships.” What are the wings of the land of ships but the many sails
whereby those ships flit hither and thither? One sees before him a new picture. The graceful
dahabiehs with their long yards and triangular sails, dotting the water everywhere, and
naturally suggesting great sea birds, with outspread wings, shining in the starlight white and
ghostly on the calm surface of the mysterious river which is Egypt’s life.
4. Some of the more acute Hebrew scholars point out that it is possible to understand the
prophet’s language in yet another way: “Woe to the land where the shadow falleth both
ways,” that is, of course, near the Equator, where sometimes the shadows stretch out to the
south and sometimes to the north, according to the time of the year. If we understand our
text so, it is natural to see in it an allusion to the fickleness of the Ethiopians, a nation which

10. Judah vainly trusted in, since today it would be found an ally and tomorrow an enemy. (A.
Ritchie.)
The prophet’s charge to the Ethiopian ambassadors
Ethiopia (Hebrews, “Cush”) corresponds generally to the modern Soudan (i.e., the blacks)
. Egypt and Ethiopia were at this time ruled by Tirkakah (704-685). His ambassadors are in
Jerusalem offering an alliance against the Assyrian; and the prophet sends them back to their
people with the words, “Go, ye swift messengers,” etc. Jehovah needs no help against His
enemies. (A. B.Davidson, LL. D.)
Note
Full stop at “waters” (Isa_18:2), and omit “saying.” The prophet speaks: “Go, ye swift
messengers, to a nation tall and smooth . . . a nation all-powerful and subduing, whose land
rivers divide (intersect).” “Smooth” may refer to the glancing, bronzed skin of the people. (A.
B.Davidson, LL. D.)
Vessels of bulrushes
It is well known that timber proper for building ships was very scarce in Egypt: to supply this
deficiency, the Egyptians used bulrushes, or a reed called papyrus, of which they made vessels fit
for sailing. Ships and boats built of this sort of materials, being extremely light, and drawing
very little water, were admirably suited to traverse the Nile, along the banks of which there were
doubtless many morasses and shoals. They were also very convenient and easy to be managed at
the waterfalls, where they might be carried with no great difficulty to smooth water. From such
circumstances as these, we may conclude, that they would sail exceeding fast, and afford a very
speedy conveyance of all kinds of intelligence from one part of the country to another, and from
Egypt to neighbouring nations. In them, therefore, ambassadors or messengers were often sent
to different places with various kinds of information, after having received their orders in terms
such as these, “Go, ye swift messengers.” (R. Macculloch.)
They were made for folding together, so that they could be carried past the cataracts. (F.
Delitzsch, D. D.)
8. PULPIT, “THE HOMAGE OF ETHIOPIA TO JEHOVAH. Amid the general excitement caused by the
advance of Assyria, Ethiopia also is stirred, and stirred to its furthest limits. The king sends messengers in
beats upon the canals and rivers to summon his troops to his standard (Isa_18:1, Isa_18:2). The earth
stands agaze to see the result of the approaching collision (Isa_18:3); but God rests calmly in heaven
while events are ripening (Isa_18:4, Isa_18:5). When the time comes he will strike the blow—Assyria will
be given to the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field (Isa_18:6). Then Ethiopia will make an act of
homage to Jehovah by the sending of a present to Jerusalem (Isa_18:7). The time seems to be that

11. immediately preceding the great invasion of Sennacherib, when Shabatok the Ethiopian was King of
Egypt, and Tirhakah (Tahark) either Crown Prince under him, or more probably Lord Paramount of Egypt
over him, and reigning at Napata.
Isa_18:1
Woe to the land; rather, Ho for the land! (comp. Isa_17:12). Shadowing with wings; literally, either the
land of the shadow of wings or the land of the noise of wings, most probably the latter. Allusion is thought
to be made to the swarms of buzzing flies, especially the tsetse, with which Ethiopia abounds. At the
same time, these swarms are, perhaps, intended to be taken as emblems of the hosts of warriors which
Ethiopia can send forth (comp. Isa_7:18). Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. The prophet cannot be
supposed to have had more than a vague knowledge of African geography. He seems, however, robe
aware that Ethiopia is a land of many rivers (see Baker's 'Nile Tributaries'), and he assumes that the
dominion of the Ethiopian kings extends even beyond these rivers to the south of them. His object is, as
Mr. Cheyne says, "to emphasize the greatness of Ethiopia." It may be questioned, however, whether the
dominion of the Ethiopian kings of the time extended so far as he supposed. The seat of their power was
Napata, now Gebel Berkal, in the great bend of the Nile between lat. 18° and 19° N.; and its southern limit
was probably Khar-toum and the line of the Blue Nile.
9. CALVIN, “1.Woe to the land. I cannot determine with certainty what is the nation of which Isaiah
speaks, though he shews plainly that it bordered on Ethiopia. Some consider it to refer to the whole of
Egypt; but this is a mistake, for in the next chapter he treats of Egypt separately, from which it is evident
that the people here meant were distinct from the Egyptians. Some think that the Troglodytes are here
meant, which does not appear to me to be probable, for they had no intercourse with other nations,
because their language, as geographers tell us, was hissing and not speech; (12) but those who are
mentioned evidently had intercourse and leagues with other nations.
Still it is uncertain whether they leagued against the Jews or joined with the Egyptians in driving out the
Assyrians. If they were avowed enemies to the Jews, Isaiah threatens punishment; but if they deceived
them by false promises, he shews that nothing is to be expected from them, because by idle messages
they will only protract the time. However that may be, from the neighboring nations to be mentioned in the
next chapter, we may in part ascertain where they were situated, that is, not far from Egypt and Ethiopia:
yet some may be disposed to view it as a description of that part of Ethiopia which lay on the sea-coast;
for we shall afterwards see that the Assyrians were at war with the king of the Ethiopians. (Isa_37:9.)

12. When he says that that land shadows with wings, we learn from it that its sea was well supplied with
harbours, so that it had many vessels sailing to it and was wealthy; for small and poor states could not
maintain intercourse or traffic with foreign countries. He therefore means that they performed many
voyages.
(12) “ Ethiopian Troglodytes,” says Herodotus “ the swiftest of foot of all men of whom we have received
any accounts. The Troglodytes feed on serpents, and lizards, and reptiles of that sort, and the language
which they have adopted has no resemblance to any other, but they screech like bats. — Herod. 4:183.
FT270 “ vessels of bulrushes.” — Eng. Ver.
FT271 “ and peeled, or, outspread and polished.” — Eng. Ver.
FT272 “ nation meted out and trodden down.” Heb. “ nation of line, and line, and treading under foot.” —
Eng. Ver.
FT273 “ nation meted out by line, that is, utterly subdued. Heb. Put under line and line, to decide what part
of them should be destroyed, and what saved by the conquerors. In this manner David is described,
(2Sa_8:2,) as having dealt with the children of Moab. See Lam_2:8. Such a nation might well deserve to
be calleddrawn out and pilled, that is drawn through the fingers (or an instrument) like a willow, in order to
be peeled and made fit for wicker work.” — Stock.
FT274 “Videbitis.” “Vous le verrez.”
FT275 “ ye.” “ ye.” — Eng. Ver.
FT276 “ I will consider in my dwelling-place.” — Eng. Ver. “ will rest, and look round in my dwelling-place.”
— Stock.
FT277 “ a clear heat upon herbs,” or “ rain” — Eng. Ver.
FT278 Like the clear heat at the coming of daylight. The resting of Jehovah, hovering over the enemy till
they are ripe for destruction, is here beautifully compared to the condensed gloom before daylight, which
is wont to usher in a hot summer’ day, and to the sheet of dew that appears to hang over the ground in

13. harvest time presently after sunset. ‫,עלי‬ (ălē) is here used for near the time of, as we say, against such a
time. ‫עלי‬ ‫,אור‬ (ălēō) prope lucem, adventante luce. — Stock.
FT279 Rosenmü takes notice of another reading supported by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, ‫ביום‬
‫,קציר‬ (bĕō kāī) “at the time of harvest,” instead of, ‫בהם‬ ‫,קציר‬ (bĕō kāī) “ the heat of harvest,” but justly
remarks that it makes no difference to the meaning. — Ed.
FT280 “ is, their dead bodies.” — Jarchi.
FT281 “ quit the metaphor, the flourishing leaders of a people, devoted by Jehovah to destruction, shall be
cut off and trampled on. The people here spoken of are the Assyrians under Sennacherib.” — Stock.
10. PULPIT, “The contrast of Divine calm with human bustle, hurry, and excitement.
When men take a matter in hand wherein they feel an interest, and set themselves either to carry out a
certain design of their own, or to frustrate the designs of others, nothing is more remarkable than the
"fuss" that they make about it. Heaven and earth are moved, so to speak, for the accomplishment of the
desired end; the entire nation is excited, stirred, thrilled to its lowest depths; a universal eagerness
prevails; all is noise, clamor, haste, bustle, tumult, whirl, confusion. Assyria's "noise" is compared
(Isa_17:12) to the roar of the sea, and the rushing of mighty waters. Ethiopia's stir is like the sound of
many wings (Isa_18:1). Even Cyrus, though he has a Divine mission, cannot set about it without "the
noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of
nations gathered together" (Isa_13:4). It is in vain that men are told to "stand still and see the salvation of
God" (Exo_14:13), or admonished that "in quietness and confidence should be their strength"
(Isa_30:15); they cannot bring themselves to act on the advice tendered. Great minds indeed are
comparatively quiet and tranquil; but even they are liable upon occasion to be swept away by the
prevailing wave of excited feeling, and dragged, as it were, from their moorings into a turbid ocean. And
the mass of mankind is wholly without calm or stability. It trembles, flutters, rushes hither and thither,
mistakes activity for energy, and "fussiness" for the power of achievement. This condition of things results
from three weaknesses in man:
1. His want of patience.
2. His want of confidence in himself.

14. 3. His want of confidence in God.
I. MAN'S WANT OF PATIENCE. Man desires to obtain whatever end he sets himself at once. The boy is
impatient to be grown up, the subaltern would at once be a general, the clerk a partner, the student a
professor of his science. Men "make haste to be rich" (Pro_28:20), and overshoot the mark, and fall hack
into poverty. They strive to become world-famous when they are mere tyros, and put fetch ambitions
writings which only show their ignorance. They fail to recognize the force of the proverb, that "everything
comes to those who wait." To toil long, to persevere, to make a small advance day after day—this seems
to them a poor thing, an unsatisfactory mode of procedure. They would reach the end per saltum, "by a
bound." Hence their haste. Too often "most haste is worst speed" "Vaulting ambition cloth o'er leap itself,
and falls on the other side."
II. MAN'S WANT OF CONFIDENCE IN HIMSELF. He who is sure of himself can afford to wait. He knows
that he will succeed in the end; what matters whether a little sooner or a little later? But the bulk of men
are not sure of themselves; they misdoubt their powers, capacities, perseverance, steadiness, reserve
fund of energy. Hence their spasmodic efforts, hurried movements, violent agitations, frantic rushings
hither and thither. If they do not gain their end at once, they despair of ever attaining it. They are
conscious of infinite weakness in themselves, and feel that they cannot tell what a day may bring forth in
the way of defeat and disappointment. They say that it is necessary to strike while the iron is hot; but their
real reason for haste is that they question whether their ability to strike will not have passed away if they
delay ever so little.
III. MAN'S WANT OF CONFIDENCE IS GOD. He who feels that God is on his side has no need to
disquiet himself. He will not fear the powers of darkness; he will not be afraid of what flesh can do unto
him. But comparatively few men have this feeling. Either they put the thoughts of God altogether away
from them, or they view him as an enemy, or they misdoubt, at any rate, his sympathy with themselves.
Mostly they feel that they do not deserve his sympathy. They cannot "rest in the Lord," and they cannot
find rest outside of him. Hence they remain in perpetual disturbance and unrest. Strangely in contrast with
man's unquiet is God's immovable calm and unruffled tranquility. "The Lord said, I will take my rest"
(Isa_18:4). None can really resist his will, and hence he has no need to trouble himself if resistance is
attempted. "The fierceness of man" will always "turn to his praise." Time is no object with him who is
above time, "whose goings have been from the days of eternity" (Mic_5:2). In silence and calm he
accomplishes his everlasting purposes. Himself at rest in the still depths of his unchangeable nature, it is
he alone who can give his creatures rest. As they grow mere like to him, they will grow more and more
tranquil, until the time comes when they will enter finally into that rest which "remaineth for his people"
(Heb_4:9).

15. 11. PULPIT, “Homage of Ethiopia to Jehovah.
I. AGITATION IN ETHIOPIA. The oracle opens with a scene full of life. Hosts of Egyptian and Ethiopian
warriors are seen, like buzzing swarms of flies moving to and fro. Messengers are speeding in papyrus
boats to announce the approach of the Assyrians. The Ethiopians are described as a nation "tall and
polished," terrible, strong, and all-subduing, whose land rivers cut through. A sense of mystery and
greatness hung about this! and from the earliest times—the land of the source of the Nile, opened up by
our countryman Spoke and others. The prophet lifts up his voice to this people. A signal will be seen on
the mountains, the blast of a trumpet will be heard. There will be symptoms of the Divine presence,
restraining, overruling the wrath of men for ends of Divine wisdom. "When wars are carried on, every one
sees clearly what is done; but the greater part of men ascribe the beginning and end of them to chance.
On the other hand, Isaiah shows that all these things ought to be ascribed to God, because he will display
his power in a new and extraordinary manner; for sometimes he works so as to conceal his hand, and to
prevent his work from being perceived by men, but sometimes he displays his hand in it in such a manner
that all men are constrained to acknowledge it; and that is what the prophet meant" (Calvin).
II. THE WAITING OF JEHOVAH. Impressive is the contrast between the noise and stir and agitation
below, and the calmness above. Jehovah "will be still"—as the blue sky behind a moving host of clouds,
above a surging sea below. In the second psalm we have the picture of him sitting in the heavens and
"laughing" at the vain attempts of the enemies of the Messianic kingdom. There are three thoughts here.
1. The repose of God. It seems as if we must ever contemplate him resting from his toils of designing and
creating and providing—entered on an eternal sabbath. The consciousness of vast force, sleeping, held
in reserve, we must conceive of in God. Hence his stillness amidst our excitement. At times when vague
movements are passing through the bosom of society, many voices rend the air with opposing cries, deep
questions agitate the heart and conscience of thoughtful men. We long to hear the one infallible voice, to
see the signal extended; and yet "God speaks not a word." Perhaps it may be said, a still small voice,
saying, "Be still, and know that I am God!" may be heard by acuter spiritual ears. His stillness must be the
effect of infinite strength and profoundest confidence.
2. His contemplativeness. He "looks on in his mansion." Not as the Epicureans represented the gods of
the heathen, sitting apart, reckless of the weal or woe of men; but intently watchful of the development of
things, the ripening of good, the gathering up of evil towards the day of sifting and judgment. In a powerful
biblical image, "his eyes are in every place, beholding the good and the evil." And our thought, to be in

16. harmony with his, must in many matters and at many times fall into the mood of contemplation. Instead of
seeking to theorize rashly upon the strange mixture of tendencies life at any troubled epoch presents, it
were well to possess our souls in patience—to look on and "let both grow together till the harvest."
3. His waiting attitude. "While there is clear heat in sunshine, while there are clouds of dew in harvest-
heat," he is waiting "till the fruit of Assyrian annoyance is all but ripe." The heat and the clouds of dew
hasten the powers in nature; there are corresponding forces at work in the moral world, seen by him to be
working towards certain results. God can wait because he knows. And may not we in a measure
compose our souls into that attitude of waiting? Some things we, too, know; about many others we can
say, "God knows," and so leave them. Especially so in times or in moods of alarm. In the present case
men below see one picture of the future; quite another is seen by God above. To them a vast black cloud
is gathering over the horizon; he sees the sun that will presently smite it asunder. They see a fell harvest
of woe for themselves ripening; he has the pruning-knife in his hand, with which he will make havoc
among the growth. They see an immense host of irresistible warriors; he the birds of prey and the beasts
that will soon be feeding upon their remains. Let us think of the immense reserves of force at the disposal
of Jehovah. The statesman, in times of alarm, assures a trembling country that the "resources of
civilization" are not yet exhausted; yet they have their limit. Behind them lie the absolutely inexhaustible
resources of the living and eternal God. Let our hearts be stayed on him, and all will be well.
III. THE EFFECT ON ETHIOPIA. They will bring a tribute to Jehovah Sabaoth, to the Lord of hosts, in his
seat on Mount Zion. It is he who has done these things. We find the like impressive picture passing
before a prophetic eye in Psa_68:32 : "Kingdoms of splendor come out of Egypt, Ethiopia stretches out
her hands to God." The gathering of so glorious a people into the true Church is to be the result of the
manifestation of the power of Israel's God.
LESSONS.
1. The providence of God over the Church. "He shows that he takes care of the Church, and that, though
he determines to chastise it, still he comes forward at the proper season to hinder it from perishing, and
displays his power in opposition to tyrants and other enemies, that they may not overthrow it or succeed
in accomplishing what they imagined to be in their powers. In order, therefore, to excite them to patience,
he not only distinguishes them from the Ethiopians, but likewise reminds them that God mitigates his
judgments for their preservation" (Calvin).
2. The indestructibility of the spiritual life. This must not be confounded with the institutions in which it
dwells for a time. But, understanding the "Church" in the spiritual or mystical sense, it cannot perish.

17. Calvin wrote in his day, "The Church is not far from despair, being plundered, scattered, and everywhere
crushed and trodden underfoot. What must be done in straits so numerous and so distressing? We ought
to lay hold on these promises so as to believe that God will still preserve the Church. The body may be
torn, shivered into fragments and scattered; still, by his Spirit, he will easily unite the members, and will
never allow the remembrance and calling on his Name to perish."
3. The self-concealment of God. The trial of faith in all ages. Oh that he would show his face, bare his
arm, disclose his majesty, exert his power, appear as Judge to end once for all the strifes of the world!
But we must learn to say, "God's in his heaven, all's right with the world." At the proper season he will
come forth. "If he instantly cut the wicked down and took them away like a sprouting blade of corn, his
power would not be so manifest, nor would his goodness be so fully ascertained, as when he permits
them to grow to a vast height, to swell and blossom, that they may afterwards fall by their own weight, or,
like large and fat ears of corn, cuts them down with pruning-knives."
4. The unity of religion the prophetic ideal. Mount Zion was its ancient symbol; for us it is not Rome, nor
any other city or mount,—it is the human heart, with all its pathos, its faith, hope, and love, its regenerate
life and aspirations, it is one spirit universal in mankind.—J.
12. PULPIT, “The patience of power.
The most striking and distinctive truth this chapter contains is that of the patience of Divine power, which
permits evil to rise and to mature, and which, at the right moment, effectually intervenes. But there are
other points beside this; they are—
I. THE MISDIRECTION OF HUMAN INTELLIGENCE. Whatever may be the right translation and the true
application of these verses, it is clear that reference is made to a warlike people—a people "terrible" to
their neighbors, a people "of command" or "treading underfoot," aggressive and victorious. It shows how
far we have fallen from our first estate and from the condition for which we were created, that it does not,
strike us as strange that this should be the description of a people; that the number of nations whom it
characterizes is so great that we fail to identify the nation which is in the prophet's vision. Under sin it has
become common, not to say natural, that a nation should be "terrible," should be treading down or
crushing, and full of commands to its neighbors. But to how much better purpose might the strong
peoples of the earth devote their strength! God has made rich provision for the peaceable and fruitful
exercise of our largest powers. There are rivers and seas (Isa_18:2) for travelling, exploration, commerce;
there is vegetation (bulrushes, papyrus), which may be made to carry men's bodies, or which, by the

18. exercise of human ingenuity, may be made to convey their thoughts to distant lands and remotest times;
there is land and there are seeds, there is sunshine and there is dew, which can be made to produce
golden harvests that will satisfy man's wants and minister to his most refined tastes (Isa_18:4, Isa_18:5);
there are birds and beasts (Isa_18:6), with whose habits men may become intelligently familiar; there is
wealth beneath the soil in precious metals, which can not only be raised and collected to enrich the
homes of men, but which can be conveyed, as the tribute of piety, to the house of the Lord (Isa_18:7).
But, despising and neglecting such materials and such ambitions as these, nations have aspired to rule
over others—have perfected themselves in all the arts and enginery of war, have congratulated
themselves on nothing so much as in being "terrible" to those on the other side the river or across the
mountain range.
II. THE COMPLETENESS OF MAN'S OVERTHROW IN THE DAY OF DIVINE ANGER. The destruction
threatened (Isa_18:5, Isa_18:6) probably refers to that of the army of Sennacherib; but if the reference be
to some other national calamity, it certainly points to an overthrow, signal and fearful, from which the
imagination turns away oppressed. So has it been found, both by individual men and nations, that when
God arises to judgment, their feeble defenses are scattered to the winds, and their doom is utterly
irreversible by anything they can do to mend it (see Psa_2:1-12.; 63:17-20; Psa_92:6, Psa_92:9).
III. THE LESSON OF GOD'S JUDGMENTS. The result in this case is seen in the bringing of a tribute to
the Lord (Isa_18:7). If God puts forth his power in overwhelming retribution, it is, chiefly if not wholly, that
they who witness it (men or nations) may repent of their own misdeeds or impiety, and may return unto
the Lord in penitence, in prayer, in consecration; for the most acceptable "present" that can be "brought
unto the Lord of hosts" is the humbled, believing, obedient heart.
IV. THE PATIENCE OF DIVINE POWER. (Isa_18:4.) The Lord said, "I will fake my rest [I will be calm or
still], I will consider in my dwelling-place [I will look on from my habitation] like a clear heat upon herbs,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." God will not be provoked into hurried and impatient judgments;
he will retain a Divine composure, he will manifest the patience which belongs to conscious power; the
heavens should be as still as on the calmest summer day while evil was working to its bitter end, while sin
was advancing to its doom. Here is a contrast to us and here are lessons for us. We, in our finite
feebleness, are often impatient in spirit and hurried in action. We are afraid that, if we do not strike at
once, we shall not have time to strike at all, or that our resources of retribution will fall, or that our
adversary will be out of our reach. God can entertain no such fear and be affected by no such thought.
1. All time is at his command.

19. 2. All resources are in his hands.
3. The men (nations) whom he may find it needful to chastise can never be beyond the reach of his
power.
Hence his calmness in place of our confusion, his patience in contrast with our feverish restlessness.
(1) Let not the wicked presume on Divine disregard; God will put forth his hand in punishment at his own
chosen time.
(2) Let not the righteous be surprised or disheartened by his delay; he does not count time by our
chronometry; he has not the reasons for haste which urge us to immediate action; the hour of his merciful
intervention will arrive in time.—C.
2
which sends envoys by sea
in papyrus boats over the water.
Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,
to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
whose land is divided by rivers.
1.BARNES, “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 tsı yr 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.

20. By the sea - What “sea” is here meant cannot be accurately determined. The word ‘sea’ (‫ים‬ ya
m) 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 gome') is derived from
the verb ‫גמא‬ gama', “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 (πλοሏα

21. 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 (ᅚν βαριδι παπυοινη en baridi papnoine) where it is supposed that persons using boats of
this description (ᅚν παπυρινοις ᆆκαφεσι 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 gome') 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 go
me' (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

22. 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 me
mushak). This word is derived from ‫משׁך‬ mashak, “to seize, take, hold
fast;” to draw out, extend, or prolong; to make double or strong; to spread out. The Septuagint
renders it, ᅤθνος µετέωρον Ethnos meteoron - ‘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 moratʖ, from ‫מרט‬ maratʖ) 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 λαᆵν καᆳ 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

23. 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, ᅤθνος ᅊνέλπιστον ethnos anelpiston - ‘A nation without
hope.’ Aquila, ᅤθνος ᆓπόµενον 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 αᅷ ᅎρου
ι 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; 2Ki_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 2Ki_21:13 : Isa_28:17; Isa_34:11; Lam_2:8;
Zec_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

24. 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 me
busah). 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 (‫זאוּ‬ baz'e
u)
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 bazaz, “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.
2. CLARKE, “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

25. 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

26. 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.
3. GILL, “That sendeth ambassadors by the sea,.... The Red Sea, which washed the coasts
of Egypt and Ethiopia, and which were united into one kingdom under Sabacus, or So the
Ethiopian, called king of Egypt, 2Ki_17:4 and this kingdom, or rather the king of it, is here
described as sending ambassadors by sea to foreign courts, to make leagues and alliances, and
thereby strengthen himself against attempts made on him; though some understand it of one
part of Ethiopia, on one side of the Red Sea, sending to that on the other side; and some of
Tirhakah the Ethiopian sending messengers to the king of Assyria to bid him defiance, and let
him know he intended to fight him; and at the same time sent to the Jews, that they might
depend upon his protection and help, Isa_37:9 some understand this of the Egyptians sending
to the Ethiopians, to let them know of the Assyrian expedition; and others, of their sending to
the Jews, with the promise of a supply; and the word for "ambassadors" signifying "images",
Isa_45:16 some have thought it is to be understood of carrying the head of Osiris, and the image
of Isis, from place to place, in proper vessels:
even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters; or, "upon the face of the waters" (i); where
these light vessels floated without sinking, not drawing the quantity of waters as vessels of wood
did. Both the Egyptians and Ethiopians had ships made of the "papyrus" (k), or "biblus" (l), a
sort of rush, that grew upon the banks of the Nile, and which were light, and moved swiftly, and
were also safest; there was no danger of their being broken to pieces, as other vessels, on
shelves, and rocks, and in waterfalls: yea, Pliny (m) says, that the Ethiopian ships were so made,
as to fold up and be carried on their shoulders, when they came to the cataracts.
Saying, go, ye swift messengers; the word "saying" is not in the text, nor is it to be
supplied; for these are not the words of the nation before described, sending its messengers to
another nation after described, either the Jews or the Assyrians; but they are the words of God
to his messengers, angels or men, who were swift to do his will, whom he sends to denounce or
inflict judgment upon the same nation that is before mentioned, with which agrees Eze_30:9,
to a nation scattered; that dwelt in towns, villages, and houses, scattered about here and
there; or who would be scattered and dissipated by their enemies: or, "drawn out", and spread
over a large tract of ground, as Ethiopia was:
and peeled; of their hair, as the word signifies; the Ethiopians, living in a hot country, had very
little hair upon their bodies. Schultens (n), from the use of the word in the Arabic language,
renders it,
"a nation strong and inaccessible:''
to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; for their black colour and grim looks,
especially in some parts; and for the vast armies they brought into the field, as never were by any
other people; see 2Ch_12:3 and they might well be said to be so from the beginning, since
Nimrod, the mighty hunter, was the son of Cush, from whence the Ethiopians have the name of
Cushites, and is the name Ethiopia is called by in the preceding verse Isa_18:1,
a nation meted out, and trodden down: to whom punishment was measured by line, in
proportion to their sins, and who in a little time would be trodden under foot by their enemies:

27. whose land the rivers have spoiled: which must not be understood literally of Niger and
Nilus, of Astapus and Astaboras, which were so far from spoiling the land, that it was much
more pleasant and fruitful for them; but figuratively, of powerful princes and armies, that
should come into it, and spoil and plunder it; see Isa_8:7. Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it of the
kings of the nations of the world; and so the Targum,
"whose land the people spoil.''
Some understand all this of the Assyrians, whose army was now scattered, and its soldiers
exhausted, who had been from the beginning of their monarchy very terrible to their
neighbours, but now marked for destruction; and whom the Ethiopians, who dwelt by the rivers,
despised, as some render the words: and others interpret them of the Jews, as overrun by the
Assyrian army like a mighty river, by whom they were scattered, and peeled, and spoiled, and
plundered; who from their beginning had been very terrible, because of the wonderful things
wrought for them at the Red Sea, in the wilderness, and in the times of Joshua and the judges;
and because of the dreadful punishments inflicted on them; but the first sense is best. Vitringa
interprets all this of the Egyptians, whose country was drawn out or long, their bodies peeled or
shaved; a people terrible to their neighbours, and very superstitious; a nation of line and line, or
of precept and precept.
(i) ‫על‬‫פני‬‫מים‬ "super facies aquarurum", Montanus. (k) Hence παπυρινα σκαφη, paper skiffs, in
Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. and πλοια καλαµινα, ships of reeds which the Indians made and used, as
Herodotus relates, l. 3. sive Thalia, c. 98. and so Diodorus Siculus speaks of ships made of a reed
in India, of excellent use, because they are not liable to be eaten by worms, Bibliothec. l. 2. p.
104. to the Egyptian vessels of this kind Lucan has respect when he says, "-----Sic cum tenet
omnia Nilus, Conficitur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro. Pharsal. l. 4.
4. HENRY, “The attempt made by this land (whatever it is) upon a nation scattered and
peeled, Isa_18:2. Swift messengers are sent by water to proclaim war against them, as a nation
marked by Providence, and meted out, to be trodden under foot. Whether this refer to the
Ethiopians waging war with the Assyrians, or the Assyrians with Judah, it teaches us, 1. That a
people which have been terrible from their beginning, have made a figure and borne a mighty
sway, may yet become scattered and peeled, and may be spoiled even by their own rivers, that
should enrich both the husbandman and the merchant. Nations which have been formidable,
and have kept all in awe about them, may by a concurrence of accidents become despicable and
an easy prey to their insulting neighbours. 2. Princes and states that are ambitious of enlarging
their territories will always have some pretence or other to quarrel with those whose countries
they have a mind to. “It is a nation that has been terrible, and therefore we must be revenged on
it; it is now a nation scattered and peeled, meted out and trodden down, and therefore it will be
an easy prey for us.” Perhaps it was not brought so low as they represented it. God's people are
trampled on as a nation scattered and peeled; but whoever think to swallow them up may find
them still as terrible as they have been from their beginning; they are cast down, but not
deserted, not destroyed.
5. JAMISON, “ambassadors — messengers sent to Jerusalem at the time that negotiations
passed between Tirhakah and Hezekiah against the expected attack of Sennacherib (Isa_37:9).

28. 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, Eze_21:16); 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 (Zec_12:2, Zec_12:3).
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; 2Ki_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.
6. PULPIT, “That sendeth ambassadors; rather, perhaps, messengers, as the word is translated
in Isa_57:9 and Pro_25:13. They are sent, apparently, by the king to his own people. By the sea. "The
sea" must in this place necessarily mean the Nile, which is called "the sea" in Nah_3:8 certainly, and
probably in Isa_19:5. Vessels of papyrus could not possibly have been employed in the very difficult
navigation of the Red Sea. Vessels of bulrushes. That some of the boats used upon the Nile were
constructed of the papyrus (which is a sort of bulrush) we learn from Herodotus (2. 96), Theophrastus
('Hist. Plant.,' 4.9), Plutarch ('De Isid. et Osir.,' § 18), Pliny (Hist. 'Nat.,' 6.22), and Lucan ('Pharsal.,'
4.136). They are represented occasionally on the Egyptian monuments. Saying. This word is interpolated
by our translators, and gives a wrong sense. It is the prophet that addresses the messengers, not the king

29. who sends them. To a nation scattered and peeled; rather, tall and polished, or tall and sleek. The word
translated "scattered" means properly "drawn out," and seems to be applied here to the physique of the
Ethiopians, whose stature is said to have been remarkable. The other epithet refers to the glossy skin of
the people. A people terrible from their beginning hitherto; The Israelites first knew the Ethiopians as
soldiers when they formed a part of the army brought by Shishak (Sheshonk I.) against Rehoboam, about
B.C. 970 (2Ch_12:3). They had afterwards experience of their vast numbers, when Zerah made his attack
upon Asa; but on this occasion they succeeded in defeating them (2Ch_14:9-13). It was not till about two
centuries after this that the power of Ethiopia began to be really formidable to Egypt; and the "miserable
Cushites," as they had been in the habit of calling them, acquired the preponderating influence in the
valley of the Nile, and under Piankhi, Shabak, Shabatek, and Tirhakah (Tahark), reduced Egypt to
subjection. Isaiah, perhaps, refers to their rise under Piankhi as "their beginning." A nation meted out
and trodden down; rather, a nation of meting out and trampling; i.e. one accustomed to mete out its
neighbors' bounds with a measuring-line, and to trample other nations under its feet. Whose land the
rivers have spoiled; rather, whose land rivers despoil. The deposit of mud, which fertilizes Egypt, is
washed by the rivers from Ethiopia, which is thus continually losing large quantities of rich son. This fact
was well known to the Greeks (Herod; 2.12, ad fin.), and there is no reason why Isaiah should not have
been acquainted with it.
7. CALVIN, “
2.Sending ambassadors by the sea. This relates strictly to the state of those times. It would appear that
this nation solicited the Egyptians or Syrians to harass the Jews, or that the Assyrians employed them for
the purpose of harassing the Jews, or that they had formed an alliance with the Egyptians, in order that,
by their united force, they might prevent the power of the Assyrians from increasing beyond bounds; for
nothing more than conjectures can be offered, because we have no histories that give any account of it,
and where historical evidence is wanting, we must resort to probable conjectures. These voyages, there
is reason to believe, were not made to any place near at hand, but to a distant country.
In ships of reeds. (13) We ought not to think it strange that he calls them ships of reeds, for it is evident
from the ancient histories that these were commonly used by the Egyptians, because the channel of the
Nile is in some places very steep and dangerous to navigators on account of the cataracts, which the
Greeks callΚατάδουπα, so that ships of wood cannot be used at those places without being broken and
dashed to pieces on the rocks; and therefore it is necessary to employ ships of pliant materials. That the
ships might not admit water and thus be sunk, historians tell us that they were daubed within with pitch.
Go, ye swift messengers. This passage is obscure, but I shall follow what I consider to be probable. The
Prophet shews the design of his prediction, or the reason why he foretold the destruction of that nation. If