Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 6:13

"And if there be yet a tenth in it, it also shall in turn be eaten up: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remaineth, when they are felled; so the holy seed is the stock thereof." — Isaiah 6:13 (ASV)

But yet... The main idea in this verse is clear, though there is considerable difficulty in explaining the particular phrases. The leading thought is that the land would not be utterly and finally abandoned. There would be remnants of life—much like in an oak or terebinth tree after it has fallen; compare the notes at (Isaiah 11:1).

A tenth—That is, a tenth of the inhabitants, or a very small part. Amid the general desolation, a small part would be preserved. This was accomplished during the captivity of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar. We should not suppose that literally a tenth of the nation would remain, but rather a part that would bear somewhat the same proportion to the entire nation, in strength and resources, as a tenth does to the whole.

Accordingly, in the captivity by the Babylonians, we are told (2 Kings 25:12) that the captain of the guard left the poor of the land to be vinedressers and farmers. Compare (2 Kings 24:14), where it is said that Nebuchadnezzar carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths; none remained save the poorer sort of the people of the land. Over this remnant, Nebuchadnezzar made Gedaliah king (2 Kings 25:22).

And it shall return—This expression can be explained by history. The prophet mentions the return, but he has omitted the fact that this remnant would go away; hence the difficulty experienced in explaining this. History informs us (2 Kings 25:26) that this remnant, this tenth part, arose and came to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldees. A part of the nation was also scattered in Moab and Edom, and among the Ammonites (Jeremiah 40:2). By connecting this idea with the prophecy, there is no difficulty in explaining it.

It was of the return from Egypt that the prophet speaks here; compare (Jeremiah 42:4–7). After this flight to Egypt, they returned again to Judea, together with those who were scattered in Moab and the neighboring regions (Jeremiah 40:11–12). This remnant, thus collected, was what the prophet referred to as returning after it had been scattered in Egypt, Moab, Edom, and among the Ammonites.

And shall be eaten—This is a problematic translation. It has arisen from the difficulty of making sense of the passage by not considering the circumstances just referred to. The word translated 'eaten' means to feed, to graze, to consume by grazing, to consume by fire, to consume or destroy in any way, to remove. Gesenius on the word בער (bâ‛ar). Here it means that this remnant will be for destruction; that judgments and punishments will follow them after their return from Egypt and Moab. Even this remnant will be the object of divine displeasure and will feel the weight of His indignation; see (Jeremiah 43:1–13; Jeremiah 44).

As a teil-tree—The word teil means the linden, though there is no evidence that the linden is denoted here. The word used here—אלה ('êlâh)—is translated elm in (Hosea 4:13), but generally oak: (Genesis 35:4; Judges 6:11, 6:19; 2 Samuel 18:9, 18:14). It is here distinguished from the אלון ('allôn) oak. It probably denotes the terebinth, or turpentine tree, for a description of which, see the notes at (Isaiah 1:29).

Whose substance—A marginal note offers 'stock' or 'stem' for 'substance,' and this is considered the more correct translation. The word usually denotes the upright shaft, stem, or stock of a tree. It means here, whose vitality will remain; that is, they do not entirely die.

When they cast their leaves—The words 'their leaves' are not in the original and should not be in the translation. The Hebrew means 'in their falling'—or when they fall. As the evergreen did not cast its leaves, the reference is to the falling of the body of the tree. The idea is that when the tree falls and decays, the life of the tree would still remain. Life would remain in the root.

It would send up new shoots, and thus a new tree would be produced; see the notes at (Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 11:1). This was particularly the case with the terebinth, as it is with the fir, the chestnut, the oak, the willow, etc.; see (Job 14:7). The idea is that it would be so with the Jews.

Though desolate, and though one judgment would follow another, and though even the remnant would be punished, the race would not be extinguished. It would spring up again and survive. This was the case in the Babylonian captivity and again in the destruction of Jerusalem. In all their persecutions and trials since, the same has always occurred. They survive; and though scattered in all nations, they still live as a demonstration of the truth of the divine predictions (Deuteronomy 28).

The holy seed—The few remaining Jews. They will not be utterly destroyed but will be like the life remaining in the root of the tree. No prophecy, perhaps, has been more remarkably fulfilled than that in this verse.

Though the cities lie waste and the land is desolate, it is not from the poverty of the soil that the fields are abandoned by the plow, nor from any decrease in its ancient and natural fertility that the land has rested for so many generations.

Judea's luxuriant cultivation was not achieved merely by artificial means or temporary local causes, as might be the case with a naturally barren country. Regarding such a barren land, it would not require a prophet to predict that, if devastated and abandoned, it would ultimately revert to its original sterility.

Phoenicia at all times held a far different rank among the richest countries of the world. The land God gave in possession and by covenant to the seed of Abraham was not a bleak and sterile portion of the earth, nor a land that even many ages of desolation and neglect could impoverish.

No longer cultivated as a garden but left like a wilderness, Judea is indeed greatly changed from what it was. All that human ingenuity and labor devised, erected, or cultivated, people have laid waste and desolate.

All the plenteous goods with which it was enriched, adorned, and blessed have fallen like seared and withered leaves when their greenness is gone. Stripped of its ancient splendor, it is left as an oak whose leaf fadeth.

Yet, its inherent sources of fertility are not dried up; the natural richness of the soil is unblighted. The substance is in it, strong as that of the teil-tree or the solid oak, which retain their substance when they cast their leaves.

And as the leafless oak waits throughout winter for the genial warmth of returning spring to be clothed with renewed foliage, so the once glorious land of Judea is still full of latent vigor, or vegetative power, strong as ever. It is ready to shoot forth, even better than at the beginning, whenever the sun of heaven shines on it again, and the holy seed is prepared to finally become the substance thereof.

The substance that is in it—which alone needs to be proved here—is, in a few words, thus described by an enemy: "The land in the plains is fat and loamy and exhibits every sign of the greatest fecundity. Were nature assisted by art, the fruits of the most distant countries might be produced within the distance of twenty leagues."

"Galilee," says Malte Brun, "would be a paradise, were it inhabited by an industrious people, under an enlightened government."