Annotations upon the Holy Bible. Vol. I wherein the sacred text is inserted, and various readings annex'd, together with parallel scriptures, the more difficult terms in each verse are explained, seeming contradictions reconciled, questions and doubts resolved, and the whole text opened / by the late reverend and learned divine Mr. Matthew Poole.

CHAP. XX.

IN the year that * 1.1 Tartan a 1.2 came unto Ash∣dod b 1.3, (when Sargon c 1.4 the king of Assyria sent him) and fought against Ashdod and took it:

2 At the same time spake the LORD † 1.5 by I∣saiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose d 1.6 the saccloth e 1.7 from off thy loins f 1.8, and put off thy shoe from thy foot: And he did so, * 1.9 walk∣ing naked g 1.10 and bare-foot h 1.11.

3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant I∣saiah hath walked naked and bare-foot three years i 1.12 for a sign k 1.13 and wonder upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia:

4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away l 1.14 † 1.15 the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians cap∣tives, young and old, naked and bare-foot, even with their buttocks uncoverd m 1.16 to the † 1.17 shame of Egypt.

5 And they n 1.18 shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

6 And the inhabitants of this ‖ 1.19 isle o 1.20 shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation p 1.21 whi∣ther we flee for help q 1.22, to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape r 1.23?

Notes

• * 1.1

  2 Kin. 18. 17.
• a 1.2

  A great Commander in Sennacherib's Army, 2 Kings 18. 17.
• b 1.3

  An eminent and strong City of the Philistins, Ios. 13. 3. 1 Sam. 5. 1. in the utmost part of the Land of Canaan, towards Egypt.
• c 1.4

  What King of Assyria this was, is much disputed. It is well known, and confessed, that one and the same Person hath frequently several Names, both in Scripture, as hath been observed again and again, and in other Authors. And therefore this may be either, 1. Salmaneser, who, when he took Samaria, might also by Tartan take this Place; or, 2▪ Sennacherib, who, before he came to Ierusalem, came up against and took all the fenced cities of Iudah, 2 Kings 18. 13. of which Ashdod might be recko∣ned one, as being in the Tribe of Iudah, Ios. 13. 3. & 15. 47. and taken by Hezekiah from the Philistins, as it seems very probable from that Passage, 2 Kings 18. 8. He smote the Phi∣listins even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city: Or, 3. Esarhadden, Sennache∣rib's Son, who, by cutting off the first Letter, is called Sarchedon, Tobit 1. 21. and thence possibly, by abbreviation, Sargon: Who might do this thing in Hezekiah's time, some years after his Father's Death, and his coming to the Em∣pire, although it be not recorded in Scripture: For no man doubts that there were many great Actions in those Times, which are wholly omitted in the Sacred Writings.
• † 1.5

  Heb. by the hand of Isaiah.
• d 1.6

  Ungird it and put it off; the Antecedent put for the Consequent, which is very usual, as hath been often noted. God would sometimes have his Prophets to add to their Word a visible Sign, to awaken Peoples Minds to a more se∣rious Consideration of the Matters proposed to them.
• e 1.7

  Either, 1. his course and hairy Garment, which the Pro∣phets used to wear, 2 Kings 1. 8. Zech. 13. 4. as many un∣derstand it. But that is expressed by another Word in the places quoted, and never, to my knowledge, by this Word: Or 2. his mournful Habit, which was commonly made of Saccloth, and which he wore in token of his hearty grief for the great Calamities which were already come upon Israel, and were either come or coming upon Iudah.
• f 1.8

  Upon which the upper Garments were commonly girt, 1 Kings 20. 32. 2 Kings 9. 1.
• * 1.9

  Mich. 1. 8, 11.
• g 1.10

  Not wholly naked, which had been indecent and scandalous, and withal very dan∣gerous, at least to do so for three years, as he did, v. 3. but without his upper Garment, as slaves and prisoners used to do, whose posture he was to represent, v. 4. And so the word naked is used, 1 Sam. 19. 24. 2 Sam. 6. 20. Ioh. 21. 7. Thus also men are said to be naked when they are ill-clothed, as Iob 22. 6. Mat 25. 36. 1 Cor. 4. 11. Iames 2. 15.
• h 1.11

  After the manner of Mourners, 2 Sam. 15. 30. and Captives, Ier. 2. 25.
• i 1.12

  Not constantly, but when he went abroad among the People, to whom this was appointed for a Sign. Some think it was only three days, a day being usually put for a year in Prophetical Scriptures, as Numb. 14. 33, 34. Ezek. 4. 4, 5, 6. But although a day be put for a year, yet a year is never put for a day.
• k 1.13

  Either, 1. when this Judgment should come; to wit, three years after this Prophecy. Or, 2. how long it should continue; for three years: For some have observed that the Chaldeans spent so much time in Conquering Egypt and Ethiopia.
• l 1.14

  Like Beasts, of which this Word is commonly used.
• † 1.15

  Heb. the cap∣tivity of E∣gypt.
• m 1.16

  Having their Garments cut off by the middle, to the dis∣covery of their Buttocks and their Secret parts. Compare 2 Sam. 10. 4. Isa. 47. 2.
• † 1.17

  Heb. naked∣ness.
• n 1.18

  All they that shall trust to them, and glory in them, as appears from the following Words, the Pronoun they being put Indifinitely here, as it is Isa. 2. 19. and else∣where. But under this general expression the Israelites not onely are comprehended, but seem to be principally intend∣ed, because to them this Prophecy was delivered, and they were eminently guilty of this Sin; of which see Isa. 30. 2. & 31. 1.
• ‖ 1.19

  Or, countrey.
• o 1.20

  Of this Land, in which the Prophet was, and to whose Inhabitants these Words were uttered. For the Title of Isles or Islands in Scripture is frequently given not onely to Lands encompased with the Sea, but also to such Countries, as lay upon the Sea-Coasts, as Psal. 72. 10. Ezek. 26. 15, 18. as Palestina or Canaan did, yea to such Countries as are remote or separated from that place in or of which the Words are spoken, as Esth. 10. 1. Isa. 24. 15. & 42. 4, 10, &c. as Canaan was from Egypt, or at least from Ethiopia. Add to this, that Canaan had some re∣semblance with an Isle, either because it was almost incom∣passed with the Midland Sea on one side, and with the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee or Tiberias and Iordan on the other side; or because, as Isles are separated from o∣ther Lands by the Sea, so this Land and People were sepa∣rated from all the rest of the World by God's special Pro∣vidence, and Presence, and Worship.
• p 1.21

  So vain is our hope placed upon such a People as are unable to deliver themselves, and much more to deliver us.
• q 1.22

  To whom we now and usualy trust, for this was the common dis∣sease of the People of Israel, although Hezekiah was in a good measure free from it, as we read 2 Kings 18. 5.
• r 1.23

  Either by their help, who cannot defend our selves; or, by our own strength; seeing they who were much more potent than we are, could not escape.