Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 33

Woe to you that spoil - This description agrees entirely with Sennacherib and his army, who had plundered the cities and countries which they had invaded, and who were about to advance to Jerusalem for the same purpose (Isaiah 37:11).

And you were not spoiled - That is, you had not been plundered by the Jews against whom you are coming. It was because the war was so unprovoked and unjust, that God would bring so signal vengeance on them.

And deal treacherously - (See the note at Isaiah 21:2). The treachery of the Assyrians consisted in the fact that when their assistance was asked by the Jews, in order to aid them against the combined forces of Syria and Samaria , they had used that invitation as an opportunity to bring desolation on Judah (see Isaiah 7:17, Isaiah 7:20; Isaiah 8:6–8, note; Isaiah 10:6, note). Hezekiah also gave to Sennacherib thirty talents of gold and three hundred talents of silver, evidently with an understanding that this was all that he demanded, and that if this was paid, he would leave the nation in peace. But this implied promise he perfidiously disregarded (see 2 Kings 18:14–15).

When you shall cease to spoil - This does not refer to his having voluntarily ceased to plunder, but to the fact that God would put an end to it.

You shall be spoiled - This was literally fulfilled. The Assyrian monarchy lost its splendor and power, and was finally merged in the more mighty empire of Babylon. The nation was, of course, subject to the depredation of the conquerors, and compelled to submit to them. When you shall make an end. The idea is, that there would be a completion, or a finishing, of his acts of treachery toward the Jews, and that would be when God should overthrow him and his army.

They shall deal treacherously with you - The words ‘they shall,’ are here equivalent to, ‘you shall be dealt with in a treacherous manner.’ The result was, that Sennacherib was treacherously slain by his own sons as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god (Isaiah 37:38), and thus the prophecy was literally fulfilled. The sense of the whole is, that God would reward their desire of plundering a nation that had not injured them with the desolation of their own land; and would recompense the perfidiousness of the kings of Assyria that had sought to subject Jerusalem to their power, with perfidiousness in the royal family itself.

O Lord - This is a solemn prayer to Yahweh, made by the Jews in their apprehension of the Assyrian invasion. It does not mean that this prayer was actually offered, but it is a prophetic representation indicating the alarm of the Jews at his approach, and their disposition to throw themselves upon the mercy of God.

We have waited for you - That is, we have looked for deliverance from this threatened invasion from your hand (compare the note at Isaiah 26:8).

Be you their arm - The arm is a symbol of strength. It is used in the Scriptures as emblematic of the divine protection, or of the interposition of God in time of calamity and danger (Exodus 15:16; Job 40:9; Psalms 44:3; Psalms 77:15; Psalms 89:21; Psalms 98:1).

Lowth proposes to read our arm instead of their arm; and the connection would seem to demand such a reading. The Vulgate and the Chaldee read it in this manner, but there is no authority from manuscripts for a change in the text. The truth seems to be that Isaiah, impelled by prophetic inspiration, here interposes his own feelings as a Jew, and offers his own prayer that God would be the strength of the nation. The form, however, is immediately changed, and he presents the prayer of the people.

Every morning - Constantly; at all times.

In the time of trouble - Referring particularly to the trouble consequent on the Assyrian invasion.

At the noise of the tumult - Lowth supposes that this is addressed by the prophet in the name of God, or rather by God himself to the Assyrian, and that it means that despite the terror which he had caused in the invaded countries, he himself would fall and become an easy prey to those whom he intended to subdue. But it should probably be regarded as a part of the address which the Jews made to Yahweh (Isaiah 33:2), and the word ‘tumult’—המון hâmôn (sound, noise, as of rain (1 Kings 18:41); or of music (Ezekiel 26:13; Amos 5:23); or the bustle or tumult of a people (1 Samuel 4:11; 1 Samuel 14:19; Job 39:7))—refers here to the voice of God by which the army was overthrown.

Yahweh is often represented as speaking to people in a voice suited to produce consternation and alarm. Thus, it is said of the vision which Daniel saw of a man by the side of the river Hiddekel, his words were like the voice of a multitude (המון hâmôn), (Daniel 10:6). And thus, in Revelation 1:10, the voice of Christ is said to have been like the voice of a trumpet; and in Isaiah 33:15, like the sound of many waters. It will also be recollected that it was said that God would send upon the Assyrian army thunder, and an earthquake, and a great noise, with storm and tempest, and a flame of devouring fire (Isaiah 29:6); and it is doubtless to this prediction that the prophet refers here.

God would come forth with the voice of indignation, and would scatter the combined armies of the Assyrian.

The people fled - The people in the army of the Assyrian. A large part of them were slain by the angel of the Lord in a single night, but a portion of them with Sennacherib escaped and fled to their own land (Isaiah 37:36–37).

At the lifting up of thyself - Of Yahweh; as when one rouses himself to strike.

The nations - The army of Sennacherib was doubtless made up of levies from the nations that had been subdued, and that composed the Assyrian empire.

And your spoil – The booty that the Assyrian army had gathered in their march toward Jerusalem, and which would now be left by them to be collected by the Jews.

Shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar – The grammatical construction here allows for two interpretations. It may either mean, as the caterpillar or the locust is gathered, or it may mean, as the caterpillar gathers its spoil. It often happened that in countries where the locust was an article of food, they were scraped together in large quantities, thrown into ditches or reservoirs, and kept to be eaten. This is the custom in some parts of Africa. But the meaning here is undoubtedly that the plunder of the Assyrian army would be collected by the Jews, as the locust gathered its food.

The sense is that as locusts spread out over a land, as they go to and fro without rule and without molestation, gathering whatever is in their way and consuming everything, so the Jews in great numbers, and without regular military array, would run to and fro collecting the spoils of the Assyrian army. In a country where such devastation was made by the caterpillar and locust as in Palestine, this was a very striking figure. The word rendered ‘caterpillar’ here, חסיל (châseyl, from חסל, châsal, to cut off, consume), properly denotes the devourer and is usually applied to a species of locust. So it is understood here by most of the versions. The Septuagint renders it, ‘As if one were gathering locusts, so will they insult you.’

The Lord is exalted - . The prophet here introduces a chorus of the Jews, celebrating the praises of God for delivering them from the Assyrian.

He has filled Zion with judgment - That is, the effect of his destroying his enemies will be to fill Jerusalem with reverence for his name. The deliverance would be so signal, and the manifestation of the divine mercy so great, that the effect would be that the nation would turn to God, and acknowledge his gracious interposition (see Isaiah 30:22-26, Isaiah 30:29, Isaiah 31:6, and Isaiah 32:15-18).