25:1 - 27:13. Mercy.

(Introversion [Chiasmo]).

A²  D  25:1-12. Praise.
     E  26:1-21. Song in Judah.
      F  27:1. The old sepent punished.
     E  27:2-6. Song of Israel.
    D  27:7-13. Acknowlegment.

25:1-12. Praise.

(Alternation and Introversion).

D  G  1. raise.
    H  g  2-5. Destruction of enemies.
        h  6-8. Place. This mountain.
   G  9. Praise.
    H  g  10-. Place. This mountain.
        h  -11-12. Destruction of enemies.

25)

 1 O Yehvah, You are my Elohim; I will exalt You, I will praise Your name (fig., put for solemn emphasis, to attract our attention); for You have done a wonderful deed; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

 2 For You have made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of foreigners (see 5:17) to be no city; it shall never be built.
 3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify You, the city of the terrible nations shall fear You.
 4 For You have been a stronghold to the impoverished, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, for the blast of the terrible one [is] as a storm against the wall.
 5 You shall bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the triumphal song of the terrible ones shall become low.

 6 And in this mountain shall Yehovah Sabaioth make unto all the peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines purified from the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines purified from the lees well refined. (All these words are thus heaped together to impress us with the greatness of this feast)
 7 And He will swallow up in this mountain (i.e. Zion [2:1,2; 24:23) the face of the covering covered over all the peoples, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
 8 He will swallow up death for ever (swallow up same word as "destroy" v.7, so as to cause a thing to dissappear and be no more. cp. Num.16:30. Ps.69:15; 106:17. Jonah 1:17. Quoted in 1 Cor.15:54: where we have the Holy Spirit's comment on the word, giving the additional thought of "victory"); and Adonai Yehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of His People shall He take away from off all the earth: for Yehovah has spoken it.

 9 And it shall be said in that day, “Lo, this is our Elohim; we have waited for Him (see Gen.49:18), and He will save us: this is Yehovah; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

 10 For in this mountain shall the hand of Yehovah rest,

and Moab shall beaten to pices by treading under Him, even as straw is trodden down in Madmenah. (as in 10:31 and Jer.48:2. R.V. quite wrong, "in the water of the dunghill". Dung is never watered in the East, but dried, and used as fuel [Ezek.4:15], and is found only in the streets of towns and villages. In Ps.83:10 "earth" = ground)
 11 And He shall spread forth His hands in the midst of them (in the East all swimmers swim "hand over hand", and beat the water with a loud noise. Parallel with the beating of straw in v.10. Cp. Isa.63), according as he that swims spreads forth his hands to swim: and He shall bring down their pride together with the devices (or artifices) of their hands.
 12 And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust. (to emphasis the certainty and reality of what had been expressed)

E  i¹  1-4. The righteous. Their salvation.
    k²  5,6. The wicked. Brought down.
   i²  7-9. The righteous. Their way.
    k²  10,11. The wicked. Devoured.
   i³  12,13. The righteous. Their God.
    k³  14. The wicked (Rephaim). No resurrection.
   i4  15-19-. The righteous nation. Increased.                  Resurrection.
    i5  -19. The wicked (Rephaim). No resurrection.
   i6  20. The righteous nation. Preserved.
    k6  21.  The wicked. Destroyed.

26)

 5 For He brings down them that dwell on high (see 25:12); the lofty city, He laya it low; He lays it low, even to the earth; He brings it even to the dust.
 6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the afflicted, and the steps of the lowly ones.

 7 The way (see 2:3 "path") of a just one is a level way: You, most upright, do ponder the path of a just one.
 8 Yes, in the way of your judgments, O Yehovah, have we waited for You (see 25:9); the desire of our soul is to Your name, and to the remembrance of you. (same as "memoral" in Ex.3:15. The words are again quoted in Pss.102:12; 135:13 and Hos.12:5, and nowhere else)
 9 With my soul have I desired You in the night; yes, with my spirit (ruach) within me will I seek thee early: for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (hence the multitudes will come out of the great tribulation in Rev.7:14-17)

 10 Let favour be showed to the lawless one, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of Yehovah.
 11 Yehovah, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them. (or, fire shall devour Your adversaries)

 12 Yehovah, You will arrange peace for us: for You also have wrought all our works for us.
 13 O Yehovah our Elohim, other owners beside You have domineered over us (referring to the Canaanite oppressors of Israel and their false gods): but by thee only will we call upon You (see Ps.20:1).

 14 They are dead (i.e. the "other lords" of v.13. Heb. methim. Not dead men, as such, for "all" men shall rise again [Dan.12:2. John 5:28,29. Acts 23:6,8; 24:15. 1 Cor.15:22. Rev.20:4-6,13], but those referred to in v.13), they shall not live; they are the Rephaim (this is a proper name, and should not be translated. Where it is translated it is always rendered "giants" or "dead" [v.10. Job 26:5. Ps.88:10. Prov.2:18; 9:18; 21:16. Isa.14:9]; why not so here? or transliterated, as it is in 17:5), they shall not rise (these Rephaim will not rise. They were the progeny of the fallen angels: these latter are kept "in prison" [1 Pet.3:19], in "chains" [2 Pet.2:4.. Jude 6], "reserved" unto judgment: but their progeny will "not rise" [vv.14,19] or be judged, for they have been "visited", "destroyed", and "perished". See Gen.6:2,4): therefore have You visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

 15 You have added to the nation (i.e. Israel. The future nation of Matt.21:43), O Yehovah, You have increased the nation: thou art glorified: You have enlarged (or extended) all the boundries of the land.
 16 Yehovah, in trouble have they visited You, they poured out a prayer when Your discipline was upon them.
 17 Like as a woman with child, that draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs (see Gen.3:16. Cp. 13:8;37:3; 42:14; 66:7,9. These refer to the birth-pangs of the Great Tribulation, which issue in the new nation); so have we been in Your sight, O Yehovah.
 18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind (ruach); we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; nor did the inhabitants of the world come to the light (i.e. by being born).
 19 Your dead ones shall live (Heb. methim, as in v.14. These are very different from the dead in v.14. They are Yehovah's dead. These shall rise), together with my dead body shall they arise (i.e. all the dead bodies of Yehovah's people. I.e.e spiritual body. All these shall awake and sing [Ps.17:15]). Awake and sing, all you that lie in the dust (i.e. burried in the dust of the earth): for thy dew is like the dew upon herbs, (i.e. reviving them. Cp. 66:14)

bu (introducing the important contrast already expressed in v.14) the earth shall cast out the Rephaim. (or, cast away. Not yield up in resurrection. Whom will the earth thus cast away? the Rephaim. These will "not rise". See v.14 )

 20 Go, My People, enter you into your chambers, and shut your doors about thee: hide yourself as it were for a little moment (see Prov.5:14), until the indignation be overpast.

 21 For, behold, Yehovah comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood (see Gen.4:10,11), and shall no more cover her slain.

27)

D  l  7. Enemies.
    m  8,9. Israel.
   l  10,11. Enemies.
    m  12,13. Israel.

 7 Has He smitten him, according to the stroke of those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?
 8 By measure (referriing to the smiting of Israel, as being in a limited measure), when You did send it forth (i.e. the stroke of v.7), You will curb it (i.e. the stroke of v.7): He stays His harsh (or severe) wind (ruach) in the day of the east wind. (a violent, hot, scorching wind; pernicious to the fruit of a vineyard)
 9 In this way therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be covered (i.e atoned for. Heb. kaphar. See Ex.29:33); and all this is all the fruit (or result) to take away his sin; when He makes all the stones of [all] altar no better than chalkstones that are beaten to pieces, the asherahs and images of ashteroth shall no more stand up. (see 17:8)
 10 For the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken (see 1:4), and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and devour the branches thereof.
 11 When her harvest dries up, they (fem., i.e. the "stones" of v.9) shall be broken (or detroyed): the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore He that made them will not have mercy on them, and He that formed them will shew them no favour.
 12 And it shall come to pass in that day (vv.12,13 refer to Israel, as vv.7,10, and 11 refer to Israel's enemies), that Yehovah shall beat off (i.e. as olives from a tree = "beat of [His fruit]": i.e. gather the sons of Israel) from the flood of the river (i.e. the Euphrates) to the stream of Egypt, and you all shall be gathered one by one, O all you sons of Israel.
 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt (so the end will be like the begnning. See Deut.26:5), and shall worship Yehovah in the set apart mountain at Jerusalem. (see Ex.3:5)

D  J¹  K¹  28:1-22. Ephraim (Samaria and Israel).
        L¹  28:23-29. Yehovah the Instructor.
       K²  29:1-21. Jerusalem and Lebanon.
        L²  29:22-24. Yehovah the Redeemer.
       K³  30:1-17. The Egyptian League.
        L³  30:18-33. Yehovah the gracious One.
       K4  31:1-9. Apostates.
        L4  32:1-20. Yehovah thee righteous King.
       K5  33:1-12. The Assyrian spoiler.
        L5  33:13-24. Yehovah the King in His beauty.
       K6  34:1-17. Gentile nations.
        L6  35:1-10. Jehovah, the King in His glory.

K¹  M  n  1. Ephraim. Pride.
        o  2-6. Yehovah the Instructor.
       n  7,8. Judah. Drink.
         N  p  9. Whom shall He teach.
             q  10,11. Teaching. Mcking.
         N  p  12. Refusal to hear.
             q  13. Teaching. Threatening.
    M  r  14,15. Judah. Scorners.
        s  16,17. Yehvah's foundation.
       r  18-22. Judah. Scorners.

28)

 2 Behold, Yehovah has a mighty one, immensely strong (i.e. Assyria [2 Kings 17:5,6; 18:10), which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast [Ephraim] down to the earth with the hand.
 3 The pride's crown, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
 4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley, shall becom a fading flower, as the early fig [becomes] before the summer; which when he that looks upon it sees it, while it is yet in his hand he swallows it.
 5 In that day shall Yehovah Sabaioth be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of His People,
 6 And for a spirit (ruach) of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn (or drive back) the battle to the gate.

 7 But they (referring to Judah) also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in pronouncing judgment.
 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness (Used at sacrificial feasts [Tabernacles, Harvest, &c.]. 1 Sam.20:34. Ezek.40:39-43. Mal.1:7,12), so that there is no place clean.

 9 Whom [say they] shall He teach knowledge? and whom shall He make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. (two questions)

 10 For (= For [say they] mimicking the prophet as though he were teaching little children in school) precept must be (or, has been) upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: (may be Englished by: "Law upon law, Saw upon saw")
 11 Yes, verily (taking the words out of their own taunting lips, and turning them against themselves. Quoted in 1 Cor.14:21) with jabbering lips and foreign tongue (referring to the Assyrian language they were [alas!] soon to hear [cp.33:19. Deut.28:49]) will He speak (i.e. by the Assyrians) to this People.

 12 To whom He said (or, He, Yehovah, Who said to them: i.e. by His prophets [7:4; 8:6; 30:15. Jer.6:16]), “This is the rest wherewith you all may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing:” yet they would not hear.

 13 But the Word of Yehovah became to them (giving back to the scoffers their own words [from v.10] in the form of threatening) precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and caught. (fig., by which the similar words are heaped together to impress on them the solemnity and certainty of the judgment)

 14 Wherefore hear the Word of Yehovah, all you scornful men, that rule this People which is in Jerusalem.
 15 Because you all have said, “We have solemnized a covenant with death (it is alleged that the use of the word "covenant" is confined to Yehovah by the second "Isaiah" [i.e. after Chapter 40]: but it is so used before that [se 24:5; 33:8]. But why should not a covenant be made with, and by, other parties as it is here?), and with Sheõl are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:”

 16 Therefore thus says Adonai Yehovah, “Behold (fig., emphasising the contrast between the false foundation of v.15 with the true foundation. [This is quoted in Rom.9:23. 1 Pet.2:6]), I have laid (laid, in the counsels of eternity: in Abraham's promise [Gen.12]; in David's covenant [1 Sam.7]) in Zion (In Zion; not Zion itself) for a foundation a stone (this is a distinct reference to Gen.49:24. It is the Immanuel [of ch.7], the promised Son [of ch.9], the rod of Jesse's stem [of ch.11]), a test stone (i.e. tested itself, and testing others. Cp. v.17, and Zech.3:9), a precious corner stone, a sure foundation (fig., for emphasis. I.e. a well-founded foundation, or a firm or sure foundation): he that believes shall be constant. (or steady, not fleeing away. See Prov.8:30. Fig., by which the hastening, or flight, is put for the confusion and shame which is the cause of it. Sept. reads "ashamed". In Rom.9:33; 10:11. 1 Pet.2:6, the figure is translated, and means therefore exactly the same thing: = sall have no need for hurried flight [cp. 49:23])
 17 I will make judgment the lie, and righteousness the plumb-line: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

 18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with Sheõl shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you all shall be trodden down by it.
 19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you away: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a terror only to understand the hearing.
 20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. (this allegory is to show that their false security as to the approach of Sennacherib would afford them no real rest, it would soon be desturbed)
 21 For Yehovah shall rise up as in mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon (this could not be known or understood without referrence to 2 Sam.5:20, and Josh.10:10; and this reference must have been in wrting: too long before [700 years] to be a matter of mere memory), that He may do His work, strange His work [is] (= foreign); and bring to pass His act, unwonted [is] His strange act.
 22 Now therefore be you all not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from Yehovah Sabaioth a consumption, even determined upon the whole land (or soil).

L¹  t  23-25. Ploughing and sowing.
     u  26. Divine instuction.
    t  27,28. Threshing.
     u  29. Divine instruction.

 23 Give you all ear, and hear My voice; listen, and hear My speech.
 24 Does the plowman plow all day to sow? (i.e. continually = ever keep ploughing? See v.28) does he [for ever] open and break the clods of his ground?
 25 When he has made plain the face thereof, does he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the wheat in rows and the appointed barley and the rie in their due order? (connect "appointed" with "due order", not with "barley")
 26 For One has instructed him in the right course; his Elohim does teach him.
 27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
 28 Corn (=Corn. Fig., put for the corn of which it is made. Cp. Job 28:5) is crushed (i.e. reduced to powder. Cp. Ex.32:20. 2 Kings 23:6. Render, as a question: Is corn crushed?); no, he will not for ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor crush it with his horsemen.
 29 This (i.e. this same design in His treatment of His People. His purpose is the same as that of husbandman. Cp. Amos 9:9) also comes forth from Yehovah Sabaioth, which is wonderful in counsel, and lofty in wisdom. (the sort of wisdom which carries the purpose through to permanency. See Prov.2:7)