above nations; though probably this might be made
known to the Egyptians and Ethiopians.
Vet. 4. So shall the king of Assyria lead away the
Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, &c.3
As beasts are led or driven, being taken prisoners, and
carried captive by the king of AsSyria, namely Sargon,
whoever is intended by him: young and old; without
any regard to age, sparing none for their tender years
or gray hairs: naked and barefoot; as prisoners of war
commonly are, being stripped by their conquerors of
their clothes, and having only a few rags given them to
cover their nakedness with, and obliged to travel with-
out shoes on their feet: even with their buttocks unco-
vered, to the shame of Egypt; having no clothes on them
to cover those parts; or the skirts of their garments
cut off, as David's servants were by the Ammonites,
2 Sam. x. 4. and this to humble and mortify the pride
of the Egyptians.
Vet. 5. And they shall be afraid and ashamed, &c.]
That is, those that trusted and depended upon the
Egyptians and Ethiopians, particularly the Jews after
mentioned, shall be afraid that it will be their turn
next, that they also shall be taken and carried captive;
and they shall be ashamed,that they have put their
trust and confidence in those nations, and not in the
Lord: of Ethiopia their expectation; from whom they
expected assistance and protection, particularly when
Tirhakah king of Ethiopia went out against the king
of Assyria, that he would have been a match for him,
and have overcome him, and s0 have freed them from
such a powerful enemy: and of Egypt their glory;
who was their ally, an,d a very potent one, and
in whom they gloried; but now should be as. hamed,
when .both those people on whom they relied were
carried captive.
Ver. 6. And the inhabitants of this isle shall say, in
that day, &c.] Not of A shdod, ver. 1. or the isle of
Caphtor, Jer. xlvii. 4. but the land of Israel, as both
Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; so called, becauseit
bordered on the sea, as such countries are some-
times called isles; see Jer. xxv. 22. Ezek. xxvii. 3, 15.
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 fi'om all other countries
by the power, providence, and presence of God: be-
hold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help,
to be delivered from the king oJ' 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 Tar-
gum," if they have not delivered their souls (them-
" selves), how shall we be delivered ?"

C H A P. XXI.

THIS chapter contains prophecies against Babylon,
Idumea, and Arabia. The prophecy against Babylon
is called the burden of the desert of the sea; whose ene-
mies are descri bed by the fierce manner of their coming,
and by the land from whence they came, vet. 1. which
vision being declared to the prophet, is called a grievous
one; what made it so was treachery among themselves;
and the Medes and Persians are invited to besiege them,
ver. o.. their terror and distress upon it are represented
by the pains of a woman in travail, whom the prophet
personates, vet. 3, 4. and by the methods they took to
defend themselves, to which they were alarmed, when
in the greatest security and jollity, vet. 5. all which is
illustrated by the vision of the watchman, who saw the
Medes and Persians on the march, signified by a cha-
riot and a couple of horsemen, who declares the fall
of Babylon, and the destruction of its gods, ver. 6, 7,
8, 9. which would issue in the good and comfort of
the church and people of God, ver. 10. then follows
the prophecy against Idtimea, which consists of a ques-
tion put to the watchman, and his answer to it; to
which an exhortation is added, yet. 11, 12. and the
chapter concludes with another prophecy against
Arabia: the calamities threatened are lodging in a
forest, thirst, famine, and fleeing from the sword,
yet. 13, 14, 15. and the time is fixed when all this
should be, by which their glory would fail, and the
number of their archers and mighty men be lessened;
for the confirmation of which the divine testimony is
annexed, ver. 16, 17.
Ver. 1. The burden of the desert of the sea, &c.]
That this is a prophecy of the destruction of Babylon
is clear from the express mention both of the Medes
and Persians, by whom it should be, and of Babylon
itself, and its fall, ver. 2, 9. which, though prophesied
of before, is here repeated, partly for the certainty of
it, and partly for the comfort of the. people of the
Jews, who would be captives in it, and so break off
and prevent their confidence in a nation that would be
ruined; and perhaps this prophecy might be delivered
out about the time or on account of Merodach king
of Babylon sending letters and a present to Hezekiah,
who shewed to his messengers all his treasures. Babylon
is here called the desert of the sea, not because it was
a desert land, for it was a very fruitful one; or be-
cause it would be laid desolate, and become as a wil-
derness; but either because there was one between
that and the countries of Media and Persia, as Kimchi,
from whence its destroyers would- come; or rather,
because it was, as the word may be rendered, a plain,
for so the land of Chaldea was, and the city of Baby-
lon particularly was built in a plain, Gen. xi. 2. and
because this country abounded with pools and lakes,
which with the Hebrews are called seas; and espe-
cially since the city of Babylon was situated by the
river Euphrates, which ran about it, and through it