6 The inhabitants of this coast land will say in that day, 'Behold, this is our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria. And we, how will we escape?'"
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Lo, what is become of our expectation? He calls them expectation, or lurking, because the Jews turned towards them, whenever they were oppressed by any calamity, and placed their hope in them. We are accustomed to turn our eyes to that quarter from which we expect any assistance. Hence also, to "look" often signifies, in the Hebrew language, to "hope." (Psalms 34:5; Job 6:19.) Now, they ought to have looked to God alone. Their wandering levity is therefore censured. And the same thing must happen to us, and deservedly, that when we have been invited by God, and refuse the sure refuge which he offers to us, and allow ourselves to be captivated by the delusions of Satan, we may lie down naked and destitute with shame and disgrace. And the inhabitants of the island shall say. He gives the name island not only to Jerusalem, but to the whole of Judea; and it is generally thought that the name is given because its shores are washed by the Mediterranean sea. But I think that there is a different reason for this metaphor, for it is but a small portion of the sea that washes it; but as an island is separated from other lands, so the Lord separated Judea from other countries. It was kept apart from all the nations, which cherished a mortal hatred towards the Jews; for there was a "wall" between them, as Paul says, (Ephesians 2:14,) which Christ at length threw down. Here again Isaiah confirms his prophecy. If you are not now moved by my nakedness, you shall one day be taught by the event, that these words were not spoken to you in vain. Thus, at a late hour, obstinate and rebellious men are constrained by God to confess their guilt, so that they are struck with amazement, and argue within themselves how they could be so greatly blinded by their own stubbornness.
And the inhabitant - The dwellers generally.
Of this isle - The word אי 'iy "isle" is used here in the sense of "coast, or maritime" country, and is evidently applied to Palestine, or the land of Canaan, which is a narrow coast lying on the Mediterranean. That the word is often used in this sense, and may be applied to a maritime country, see the notes at Isaiah 13:22; Isaiah 41:1. The connection here requires us to understand it of Palestine.
Shall say - Shall condemn their own folly in trusting in Egypt, and seeking deliverance there.
And how shall we escape? - They shall be alarmed for their own safety, for the very nation on which they had relied had been made captive. And when the "stronger" had been subdued, how could the feeble and dependent escape a similar overthrow and captivity? All this was designed to show them the folly of trusting in the aid of another nation, and to lead them to put confidence in the God of their fathers.
And the inhabitant of this (g) isle shall say in that day, Behold, such [is] our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?
(g) Meaning Judea which was encompassed by their enemies as an isle with waters.
And the inhabitants of this isle shall say, in that day,.... Not of Ashdod, Isaiah 20:1 or the isle of Caphtor, Jeremiah 47:4 but the land of Israel, as both Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; so called, because it bordered on the sea, as such countries are sometimes called isles; see Jeremiah 25:22. Ben Melech interprets it of Jerusalem, and observes that the word signifies a place or country, whether it has a river or sea encompassing it, or not; besides, the land of Canaan had the Mediterranean sea on one side of it, and the sea of Galilee and Tiberias on the other, and was moreover separated from all other countries by the power, providence, and presence of God:
behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help, to be delivered from the king of Assyria; signifying that it was vain and foolish, and they had acted a very weak, as well as a wicked part, in having recourse to the Egyptians and Ethiopians to help them against the Assyrians, as it plainly appeared by both nations now being conquered by them:
and how shall we escape? seeing they had not, who were more powerful than they were; and how could they think that they could save them, who could not save themselves? and so the Targum,
"if they have not delivered their souls (themselves), how shall we be delivered?''
isle--that is, coast on the Mediterranean--Philistia, perhaps PhÅnicia (compare Isaiah 23:2; Isaiah 11:11; Isaiah 13:22; Psalm 72:10).
we--emphatical; if Egypt, in which we trusted, was overcome, how shall we, a small weak state, escape?
He does not narrate the event, but graphically supposes himself a watchman in Babylon, beholding the events as they pass.
Of the country - Of this land, in which the prophet was, and to whose inhabitants, these words were uttered. Such - So vain is our hope placed upon such a people as are unable to deliver themselves.
*More commentary available at chapter level.