Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 25

O Lord, thou art my God - The prophet speaks, not in his own name, but in the name of the people who would be delivered from bondage. The sense is that Yahweh had manifested himself as their covenant-keeping God; and that in view of his faithfulness in keeping his promises, it was now demonstrated to them that he was their God.

I will exalt thee - This is a form of expression often used to denote praise (Psalms 118:28; Psalms 145:1), meaning that the worshipper would exalt God in his own mind, or would regard him as above all other beings and objects.

For thou hast done wonderful things - On the meaning of the Hebrew, פלא pel' - ‘wonderful,’ see the note at Isaiah 9:6.

Thy counsels of old - These are counsels which were formed and revealed long ago. The counsels referred to are those concerning the delivery of his people from bondage, which had been expressed even long before their captivity commenced, and which would now be completely and triumphantly fulfilled.

Are faithfulness - They have been brought to pass; they do not fail.

And truth - Hebrew, אמן 'omen - from which our word Amen comes. Septuagint, Γένοιτο Genoito - ‘Let it be.’ The word denotes that the purposes of God were firm and would certainly be fulfilled.

For you have made - This is supposed to be uttered by the Jews who would return from Babylon, and therefore refers to what would have been seen by them. In their time, it would have occurred that God had made the city a heap.

Of a city - I suppose the whole scope of the passage requires us to understand this of Babylon. There has been, however, a great variety of interpretation of this passage. Grotius supposed that Samaria was intended. Calvin believed that the word is used collectively and that various cities are intended. Piscator thought that Rome, the seat of antichrist, was intended. Jerome says that the Jews generally understand it of Rome. Aben Ezra and Kimchi, however, understand it to refer to many cities which they say will be destroyed in the times of Gog and Magog. Nearly all these opinions are examined and shown to be unfounded in Vitringa.

A heap - It is reduced to ruins (see the notes at Isaiah 13; Isaiah 14). The ruin of Babylon commenced when it was taken by Cyrus, and the Jews were set at liberty; it was not completed until many centuries after. The form of the Hebrew here is, ‘You have placed from a city to a ruin:’ that is, you have changed it from being a city to a pile of ruins.

Of a defensed city - A city fortified and made strong against the approach of an enemy. How true this was of Babylon can be seen in the description prefixed to Isaiah 13.

A palace - This word properly signifies the residence of a prince or monarch (Jeremiah 30:18; Amos 1:4, 1:7, 1:10, 1:12). Here it is applied to Babylon on account of its splendor, as if it were a vast palace, the residence of princes.

Of strangers - Foreigners; a term often given to the inhabitants of foreign lands, and especially to the Babylonians (see the note at Isaiah 1:7; Joel 3:17). It means that this was, by way of eminence, the city of the foreigners; the capital of the whole Pagan world; the city where foreigners congregated and dwelt.

It shall never be built - (See the notes at Isaiah 13:19-22).

The strong people - The reference here is probably not to the Babylonians, but to the surrounding nations. The deliverance of the Jews, and the destruction of Babylon, would be such striking events that they would lead the surrounding nations to acknowledge that it was the hand of God.

The city of the terrible nations - The word ‘city’ here is probably taken in a collective sense, to denote the cities or the strong places of the surrounding nations which would thus be brought to tremble before God. The destruction of a city so proud and wicked as Babylon would alarm them, and would lead them to fear that they might share the same fate, especially as many of them had been associated in oppressing the now delivered people of the land of Judea.

For thou hast been a strength to the poor - You have sustained and upheld them in their trials and have delivered them. God is often spoken of as His people's strength. (Isaiah 26:4): In the Lord Yahweh is everlasting strength. (Psalms 27:1): The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalms 28:8; Psalms 29:11; Psalms 31:2; Psalms 46:1; Isaiah 45:24).

By the 'poor' and the 'needy' here are undoubtedly meant the captive Jews who had been stripped of their wealth, carried from their homes, and confined in Babylon.

A refuge - A place of safety, a retreat, a protection.

God is often spoken of as such a refuge: (Deuteronomy 33:27): The eternal God is thy refuge. (2 Samuel 22:3; Psalms 9:9; Psalms 14:6; Psalms 46:1, 7, 11; Psalms 57:1; Psalms 59:16).

From the storm - This word (זרם zerem) usually denotes a tempest of wind and rain. Here it is used for calamity and affliction. The figure is common in all languages.

A shadow from the heat - (See Isaiah 4:6, note; Isaiah 16:3, note).

When the blast of the terrible ones - Of the fierce, mighty, invading enemies. When they sweep down all before them as a furious tempest does.

Is as a storm against the wall - For 'wall' here (קיר qiyr), Lowth proposes to read קוּר qûr—from קרר qârar—to be cold or cool, and supposes that this means a winter's storm.

In this interpretation, Vitringa and Cappellus also coincide. But there is no need to suppose an error in the text.

The idea is probably that of a fierce, driving storm that would prostrate walls and houses. This means a violent tempest, intending to describe in a striking manner the severity of the calamities that had come upon the nation.

You will bring down the noise - The tumult; the sound which they make in entering into battle; or the note of triumph, and the sound of revelry. The phrase may refer either to their shout of exultation over their vanquished foes; or to the usual sound of revelry; or to the hum of business in a vast city.

Of strangers - Of foreigners (see the note at Isaiah 25:2).

As the heat in a dry place - The parallelism here requires that we should suppose the phrase ‘with the shadow of a cloud’ to be supplied in this hemistich, as it is obscurely expressed in our translation by the word ‘even,’ and it would then read thus:

As the heat in a dry place (by the shadow of a cloud),
The noise of the strangers you will humble;
As the heat by the shadow of a cloud,
The exultation of the formidable ones you will bring low.

The idea thus is plain. Heat pours down intensely on the earth, and if unabated would wither up every green thing, and dry up every stream and fountain.

But a cloud intervenes and checks the burning rays of the sun.

So the wrath of the ‘terrible ones,’ the anger of the Babylonians, raged against the Jews. But the mercy of God interposed.

It was like the intervening of a cloud to shut out the burning rays of the sun. It stayed the fury of their wrath and rendered them impotent to do injury, just as the intense burning rays of the sun are completely checked by an interposing cloud.

The branch of the terrible ones - This is a very unhappy translation. The word זמיר zâmiyr is indeed used to denote a branch, or bough, as derived from זמר zâmar — “to prune a vine;” but it also has the sense of “a song,” a song of praise, or a song of exultation, from a second signification of זמר zâmar — “to sing,” perhaps from the song with which the work of the vineyard was usually accompanied.

See the verb used in this sense in Judges 5:3; Psalms 9:12; Psalms 30:5; Psalms 47:7; and the word which occurs here (zâmiyr) used in the sense of a song in Psalm 119:54; 2 Samuel 23:1; Job 35:10. Here it is undoubtedly used in the sense of a song, meaning either a shout of victory or of revelry; and the idea of the prophet is, that this would be brought low by the destruction of Babylon, and by the return of the captive Jews to their own land.