Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.

Howl, O gate; cry, O city: all Philistia is thrown down: for a smoke shall come from the north, and there is none that shall escape his troop.

Howl, O gate! cry, O city! thou, Philistia, art wholly dissolved; for there cometh from the north a smoke, and none remaineth apart in his gatherings of troops.

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou art melted away, O Philistia, all of thee; for there cometh a smoke out of the north, and none standeth aloof at his appointed times.

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, all Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.

Howl, O gate; cry, O city, Melted art thou, Philistia, all of thee, For from the north smoke hath come, And there is none alone in his set places.

Send out a cry, O door! Make sounds of sorrow, O town! All your land has come to nothing, O Philistia; for there comes a smoke out of the north, and everyone keeps his place in the line.

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; Melt away, O Philistia, all of thee; For there cometh a smoke out of the north, And there is no straggler in his ranks.

Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! All of Philistia has been prostrated. For a smoke will arrive from the north, and there is no one who will escape his army.

Ulula porta, clama civitas, liquefacta es Palestina, universa tu. Quoniam ab Aquilone venit fumus; nec quisquam solus praefixo ejus die.

Howl, O gate. Here the Prophet makes use of amplifications, that by means of them he may seal his predictions on the hearts of the godly, and may press with greater earnestness those things of which they might otherwise have entertained doubts. In explaining another passage, where it is said that her gates shall mourn and lament, (Isaiah 3:26,) we have stated that the gates mean crowded places, in which public meetings were held. [1] He threatens that there will be mourning in each of the cities, and mourning of no ordinary kind, for it will be spread through every one of the most crowded assemblies. For a smoke cometh from the north. We may understand Smoke to mean Fire, so that the sign will denote the thing signified; for the smoke appears before the fire burns. By the north we may understand the Assyrians as well as the Jews, for both of them lay to the north with respect to the land of the Philistines. Yet I prefer to interpret it as referring to the Jews themselves, though I would not argue against the opposite exposition. The Philistines thought, as we have already said, that they were gainers by what the Jews suffered, as, for instance, when they sustained any defeat from the Assyrians; but they at length found that they suffered along with the Jews in such a defeat. Something of this kind happened, not long ago, to many nations who had taken great delight in seeing their enemies vanquished by the Turk: they found that such victories were destructive and mournful to themselves; for, after the defeat of those whom they wished to see destroyed, the road to themselves was likewise thrown open, and they also were defeated. And no one shall be alone on his appointed day. [2] When he adds, that at that time no one shall be solitary, [3] this relates to the enemies; and he says, that on an appointed day, that is, when God shall have determined to ruin the land of the Philistines, the enemies shall be endued with such power and authority, that no one will remain unemployed at home, but all will be ready for battle; as if one who intended to applaud the authority of some prince should say that his subjects, if he but lift up his finger, assemble and give their attendance.

Footnotes

1 - See [24]page 148

2 - And none shall be alone (or, he shall not be alone) in his appointed times, (or, assemblies.) -- Eng. Ver.

3 - "Jonathan interprets it thus: There will be no one to cause delay in his time in the military forces whom God will assemble to come against you; there will be no one to retard their progress, that he may be solitary, that he may come alone; but all will come at once with prodigious violence." -- Jarchi

Howl, O gate - That is, ye who throng the gate. The gates of a city were the chief places of concourse.
Cry, O city - The prophet here fixes the attention upon some principal city of Philistia, and calls upon it to be alarmed in view of the judgments that were about to come upon the whole land.
Art dissolved - The word 'dissolved' (מוג mûg) is applied to that which melts, or which wastes away gradually, and then to that which faints or disappears. It means here that the kingdom of Philistia would disappear, or be destroyed. It probably conveys the idea of its fainting, or becoming feeble from fear or apprehension.
From the north a smoke - From the regions of Judah, which lay north and east of Philistia. The 'smoke' here probably refers to a cloud of dust that would be seen to rise in that direction made by an invading army.
And none shall be alone in his appointed times - There has been a great variety of interpretation in regard to this passage. Lowth renders it, 'And there shall not be a straggler among his levies.' The Hebrew is, as in the margin, 'And not solitary in his assemblies.' The Septuagint renders it, Καί οὐκ ἔσται τοῦ εῖναι Kai ouk estai tou einai - 'And it is not to be endured.' The Chaldee, 'And there shall be none who shall retard him in his times.' The Arabic, 'Neither is there anyone who can stand in his footsteps.' The Vulgate, 'Neither is there anyone who can escape his army.' Aben Ezra renders it, 'No one of the Philistines shall dare to remain in their palaces, as when a smoke comes into a house all are driven out.' Probably the correct idea is given by Lowth; and the same interpretation is given by Gesenius, Rosenmuller, Dathe, and Michaelis. No one of the invading army of Hezekiah shall come by himself; no one shall be weary or be a straggler; the army shall advance in close military array, and in dense columns; and this is represented as the cause of the cloud or smoke that the prophet saw rising, the cloud of dust that was made by the close ranks of the invading host (compare Isaiah 5:27).

There shall come from the north a smoke "From the north cometh a smoke" - That is, a cloud of dust raised by the march of Hezekiah's army against Philistia; which lay to the south-west from Jerusalem. A great dust raised has, at a distance, the appearance of smoke: Fumantes pulvere campi; "The fields smoking with dust." - Virg. Aen. 11:908.

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, all Palestina, [art] dissolved: for there shall come from the (u) north a smoke, and none [shall be] (x) alone in his appointed times.
(u) That is, from the Jews or Assyrians: for they were brought to extreme misery.

Howl, O gate,.... Or gates of the cities of Palestine; the magistrates that sat there to execute judgment, or the people that passed through there; or because now obliged to open to their enemies; wherefore, instead of rejoicing, they are called to howling:
cry, O city; or cities, the several cities of the land, as well as their chief, because of the destruction coming upon them. The Targum is,
"howl over thy gates, and cry over thy cities;''
or concerning them:
thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved; or "melted"; through fear of enemies coming upon them; or it may design the entire overthrow and dissolution of their state;
for there shall come from the north a smoke; a numerous army, raising a dust like smoke as they move along, and coming with great "swiftness", and very annoying. Some understand this of the Chaldean army under Nebuchadnezzar coming from Babylon, which lay north of Judea; so Aben Ezra; to which agrees Jeremiah 47:1 but most interpret it of Hezekiah's army, which came from Judea: which, Kimchi says, lay north to the land of the Philistines. Cocceius is of opinion that the Roman army is here meant, which came from the north against Judea, called whole Palestine; which country came into the hands of the Jews after the taking of Tyre and Gaza by the Greeks, and therefore the sanhedrim, which sat in the gate, and the city of Jerusalem, are called upon to howl and cry. But the first of these senses seems best, since the utter destruction of Palestine was by the Chaldean army under Nebuchadnezzar; and so the prophecy from the time of Hezekiah, with which it begins, is carried on unto the entire dissolution of this country by the Babylonians.
And none shall be alone in his appointed times; when the times appointed are come, for the gathering, mustering, and marching of the army, whether Hezekiah's or the Chaldean, none shall stay at home; all will voluntarily and cheerfully flock unto it, and enlist themselves; nor will they separate or stray from it, but march on unanimously, and courageously engage the enemy, till the victory is obtained. Aben Ezra understands this of the Philistines, that they should not be able to abide alone in their palaces and houses, because of the smoke that should come in unto them.

gate--that is, ye who throng the gate; the chief place of concourse in a city.
from . . . north--Judea, north and east of Palestine.
smoke--from the signal-fire, whereby a hostile army was called together; the Jews' signal-fire is meant here, the "pillar of cloud and fire," (Exodus 13:21; Nehemiah 9:19); or else from the region devastated by fire [MAURER]. GESENIUS less probably refers it to the cloud of dust raised by the invading army.
none . . . alone . . . in . . . appointed times--Rather, "There shall not be a straggler among his (the enemy's) levies." The Jewish host shall advance on Palestine in close array; none shall fall back or lag from weariness (Isaiah 5:26-27), [LOWTH]. MAURER thinks the Hebrew will not bear the rendering "levies" or "armies." He translates, "There is not one (of the Philistine watch guards) who will remain alone (exposed to the enemy) at his post," through fright. On "alone," compare Psalm 102:7; Hosea 8:9.

The massah consists of two strophes. The first threatens judgment from Judah, and the second - of seven lines - threatens judgment from Asshur. "Howl, O gate! cry, O city! O Philistia, thou must melt entirely away; for from the north cometh smoke, and there is no isolated one among his hosts." שׁער, which is a masculine everywhere else, is construed here as a feminine, possibly in order that the two imperfects may harmonize; for there is nothing to recommend Luzzatto's suggestion, that שׁער should be taken as an accusative. The strong gates of the Philistian cities (Ashdod and Gaza), of world-wide renown, and the cities themselves, shall lift up a cry of anguish; and Philistia, which has hitherto been full of joy, shall melt away in the heat of alarm (Isaiah 13:7, nâmōg, inf. abs. niph.; on the form itself, compare Isaiah 59:13): for from the north there comes a singing and burning fire, which proclaims its coming afar off by the smoke which it produces; in other words, an all-destroying army, out of whose ranks not one falls away from weariness or self-will (cf., Isaiah 5:27), that is to say, an army without a gap, animated throughout with one common desire. (מועד, after the form מושב, the mass of people assembled at an appointed place, or mō'ed, Joshua 8:14; 1-Samuel 20:35, and for an appointed end.)

Gate - The gate is put for the city. City - City is here put collectively for their cities. The north - From Chaldea. A smoak - A grievous judgment and calamity. Times - When God's appointed time shall come, not one of all that numerous army shall desert his colours, or lag behind the rest.