12 Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Alas [1] for the multitude! Some render Woe, making it to denote execration. Sometimes, as we have seen elsewhere, it is employed in calling to a person; but on the present occasion I rather think that it betokens sorrow, [2] for he groans on account of the calamity which he foresees will befall Israel, and he does so either out of brotherly affection, or in order that the prophecy may make a more powerful impression on the minds of a sluggish and indolent people. It is certain, that the prophets regarded with greater horror than other men the vengeance of God, of which they were the heralds; and although, in sustaining the character assigned to them, they threatened severely, still they never laid aside human feelings, so as not to have compassion on those who perished. But the chief reason was a consideration of the covenant which God had made with the seed of Abraham; and we see that Paul also had this feeling to such an extent, that he "wished to be accursed for his brethren." (Romans 9:3). When therefore Isaiah brings the fact before his mind, he cannot but be deeply affected with grief; and yet, as I have hinted, it tends to make the fact more certain, when he places it before his eyes as if he actually saw it. The word multitude is here employed, because the army had been collected out of many and various nations, of which the Assyrian monarchy was composed. The metaphors which he adds are intended for no other purpose than to exhibit more forcibly what has been already stated; for he compares them to a sea or a deluge, which overflows a whole country.
1 - Woe to the multitude. -- Eng. Ver.
2 - "Mais il me semble plustost qu'il se prend ici pour Helas." -- "But I rather think that here it stands for Alas!"
Wo to the multitude - The word 'woe' (הוי hôy) may be either an interjection simply directing the attention to them, or it may be a word indicating approaching calamity and judgment (see the note at Isaiah 5:6). Gesenius supposes that it is rather the language of compassion, on account of the evil which they threatened to bring upon the people of God, like 1-Kings 13:30, 'Ah! wo, my brother!'
The multitude of many people - Or, the tumult of many nations - a description of the noise attending an invading army made up of many nations mingled together, such as was that of Sennacherib.
Which make a noise - This is a beautiful description of a vast army, and of the shouting, the tumult, the din, which attends its march. The same comparison occurs in Jeremiah 6:23; Psalm 65:7 (see Ezekiel 43:2; Revelation 1:15; Revelation 14:2; Revelation 19:6).
And to the rushing of nations - The rushing of mighty armies to conquest.
Wo to the multitude - The three last verses of this chapter seem to have no relation to the foregoing prophecy, to which they are joined. It is a beautiful piece, standing singly and by itself; for neither has it any connection with what follows: whether it stands in its right place, or not, I cannot say. It is a noble description of the formidable invasion and the sudden overthrow of Sennacherib; which is intimated in the strongest terms and the most expressive images, exactly suitable to the event.
Like the rushing of mighty waters! - Five words, three at the end of the twelfth verse, and two at the beginning of the thirteenth, are omitted in eight MSS., with the Syriac; that is, in effect, the repetition contained in the first line of Isaiah 17:13 in this translation, is not made. After having observed that it is equally easy to account for the omission of these words by a transcriber if they are genuine, or their insertion if they are not genuine, occasioned by his carrying his eye backwards to the word לאמים leammim, or forwards to ישאון yeshaon, I shall leave it to the reader's judgment to determine whether they are genuine or not. Instead of כהמות cahamoth, "as the roaring," five MSS. and the Vulgate have כהמון kehamon, "as the multitude."
(o) Woe to the multitude of many people, [who] make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, [that] make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
(o) The prophet laments, considering the horrible plague that was prepared against Israel by the Assyrians, who were infinite in number, and gathered from many nations.
Woe to the multitude of many people,..... Not as lamenting the people of the Jews with Hezekiah, as if they were the words of the prophet bemoaning their condition, saying, "O the multitude", &c. nor intending the Syrians and Israelites joined together against Judah; but the Assyrian army under Sennacherib, which consisted of people of many nations, and was very numerous, who are either threatened or called unto. A new subject is here begun, though a short one.
which make a noise like the noise of the seas; in a storm, when they foam and rage, and overflow the banks; this may refer both to the noise made by the march of such a vast army, the rattling of their armour and chariot wheels, and prancing of their horses; and to the hectoring, blustering, and blasphemous speeches of Sennacherib and Rabshakeh:
and to the rushing of nations, or "rushing nations",
that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty, waters; which denotes the fury and force with which they come, threatening to bear down all before them, as an inundation of water does.
The rage and force of the Assyrians resembled the mighty waters of the sea; but when the God of Israel should rebuke them, they would flee like chaff, or like a rolling thing, before the whirlwind. In the evening Jerusalem would be in trouble, because of the powerful invader, but before morning his army would be nearly cut off. Happy are those who remember God as their salvation, and rely on his power and grace. The trouble of the believers, and the prosperity of their enemies, will be equally short; while the joy of the former, and the destruction of those that hate and spoil them, shall last for ever.
SUDDEN DESTRUCTION OF A GREAT ARMY IN JUDEA (namely that of the Assyrian Sennacherib), AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE EVENT TO THE ETHIOPIAN AMBASSADORS. (Isaiah. 17:12-18:7)
Woe . . . multitude--rather, "Ho (Hark)! a noise of," &c. The prophet in vision perceives the vast and mixed Assyrian hosts (Hebrew, "many peoples," see on Isaiah 5:26): on the hills of Judah (so "mountains," Isaiah 17:13): but at the "rebuke" of God, they shall "flee as chaff."
to the rushing . . . that make--rather, "the roaring . . . roareth" (compare Isaiah 8:7; Jeremiah 6:23).
Fourth turn: "Woe to the raoring of many nations: like the roaring of seas they roar; and to the rumbling of nations, like the rumbling of mighty waters they rumble! Nations, like the rumbling of many waters they rumble; and He threatens it: then it flies far away, and is chased like chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a cloud of dust before the gale. At eventide, behold consternation; and before the morning dawn it is destroyed: this the portion of our plunderers, and the lot of our robbers." It is the destruction of Asshur that the prophet is predicting here (as in Isaiah 14:24-27; Isaiah 29:5-8, etc.), though not of Asshur as Asshur, but of Asshur as the imperial kingdom, which embraced a multitude of nations (Isaiah 22:6; Isaiah 8:9, Isaiah 8:10; Isaiah 14:26; Isaiah 29:7, Isaiah 29:8) all gathered together under the rule of one will, to make a common attack upon the church of God. The connection between this fourth turn and the third is precisely the same as between Isaiah 8:9, Isaiah 8:10, and Isaiah 8:6-8. The exclamation of woe (hoi) is an expression of pain, as in Isaiah 10:1; and this is followed by a proclamation of the judgment of wrath. The description of the rolling wave of nations is as pictorial as the well-known illi inter sese, etc., of the Cyclops in Virgil. "It spreads and stretches out, as if it would never cease to roll, and roar, and surge, and sweep onward in its course" (Drechsler). In the expression "it" (bo) in Isaiah 17:13, the many surging nations are kneaded together, as it were, into one mass. It costs God simply a threatening word; and this mass all flies apart (mimmerchâk like mērâchōk, Isaiah 23:7), and falls into dust, and whirls about in all directions, like the chaff of threshing-floors in high situations, or like dust whirled up by the storm. The judgment commences in the evening, and rages through the night; and before the morning dawns, the army of nations raised by the imperial power is all destroyed (compare Isaiah 29:7, Isaiah 29:8, and the fulfilment in Isaiah 37:36). The fact that the oracle concerning Damascus in its fourth stage takes so comprehensive and, so far as Israel is concerned, so promising a form, may be explained on the ground that Syria was the forerunner of Asshur in the attack upon Israel, and that the alliance between Israel and Syria became the occasion of the complications with Asshur. If the substance of the massâ Dammesek (the oracle concerning Damascus) had been restricted to the prophecy contained in the name Mahershalal, the element of promise so characteristic of the prophecies against the nations of the world would be entirely wanting. But the shout of triumph, "This is the portion," etc., supplied a terminal point, beyond which the massa could not go without the sacrifice of its unity. We are therefore warranted in regarding Isaiah 18:1-7 as an independent prophecy, notwithstanding its commencement, which apparently forms a continuation of the fourth strophe of Isaiah 17:1-14.
Woe - This is a new prophecy, added for the comfort of God's people. Many - Combined together against Judah. Seas - Who invade my land and people with great force, as the sea does when it enters into the land by a breach.
*More commentary available at chapter level.