18 He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body. It will be as when a standard bearer faints.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And shall consume the glory of his forest. He goes on with the same comparison of a burning, and declares that the fire will consume both the highest and the lowest, and will leave nothing uninjured. It is possible that a fire might destroy the higher parts of a building, and might leave the lower parts unaffected. And of his fruitful field. I do not think that krml (Carmel) is here a proper name, but rather an appellative, denoting a rich and fertile soil; for to say that Carmel was held as belonging to the dominion of the king of Assyria, would have been inadmissible. The meaning therefore is, that not only will destruction overtake his forests, but the corn will be consumed by the same fire; for it will not only range over the heights, but will penetrate into the lowest places. From the soul even to the flesh. This comparison is taken from man. As man consists of a body and a soul, so each part of him is liable to separate diseases. It frequently happens that, when the soul is healthy, the body is diseased; and often the reverse takes place; but when both are unhealthy at the same time, the case is most dangerous. By this comparison, therefore, he threatens that the Assyrians will have nothing safe or sound, but that they will be devoted to utter destruction, because they will perish from the flesh even to the soul; not that souls are mortal, but because the vengeance of God will fall upon them also. This is truly dreadful; for the design of chastisements is, that the spirit may be saved, though the flesh be destroyed, (1-Corinthians 5:5;) but when the spirit also is involved in the destruction, what can be said or imagined that is more miserable? The flame only scorches the godly, but does not consume them as it consumes the ungodly, in whom it finds nothing but fuel fit for burning. And it shall be as the fainting of a standard-bearer. There is an allusion in the words of the Prophet, which cannot be conveyed in another language. The meaning is the same as in the other comparisons, that there will be utter destruction, like the complete rout of an army when the standard has been taken. When the ensigns have been taken, it is commonly followed by a great slaughter; and when historians describe a fearful carnage, they tell us that the ensigns were taken. He does not threaten these things against the Assyrians on their own account, that they may receive advantage from the warning or may be led to repentance, but to yield consolation to the godly, that they may not think that the Assyrians will pass unpunished when they raged so fiercely against the people of God, or entertain fears either that the Lord has forgotten his promise, or that he cannot frustrate their designs. If the Prophet had not put them on their guard, many scruples of this kind might have arisen in their minds.
The glory of his forest - In these expressions, the army of Sennacherib is compared with a beautiful grove thick set with trees; and as all the beauty of a grove which the fire overruns is destroyed, so, says the prophet, it will be with the army of the Assyrian under the judgments of God. If the 'briers and thorns' Isaiah 10:17 refer to the common soldiers of his army, then the glory of the forest - the tall, majestic trees - refer to the princes and nobles. But this mode of interpretation should not be pressed too far.
And of his fruitful field - וכרמלו vekaremilô. The word used here - "carmel" - is applied commonly to a rich mountain or promontory on the Mediterranean, on the southern boundary of the tribe of Asher. The word, however, properly means a fruitful field, a finely cultivated country, and Was given to Mount Carmel on this account, In this place it has no reference to that mountain, but is given to the army of Sennacherib to "keep up the figure" which the prophet commenced in Isaiah 10:17. That army, numerous, mighty, and well disciplined, was compared to an extensive region of hill and vale; of forests and fruitful fields; but it should all be destroyed as when the fire runs over fields and forests, and consumes all their beauty. Perhaps in all this, there may be allusion to the proud boast of Sennacherib 2-Kings 19:23, that he would 'go up the sides of Lebanon, and cut down the cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof', and enter into the forest of Carmel.' In allusion, possibly, to this, the prophet says that God would cut down the tall trees and desolate the fruitful field - the 'carmel' of his army, and would lay all waste.
Both soul and body - Hebrew, 'From the soul to the flesh;' that is, entirely. As the soul and the flesh, or body, compose the entire man, so the phrase denotes the entireness or totality of anything. The army would be totally ruined.
And they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth - There is here a great variety of interpretation. The Septuagint reads it: 'And he shall flee as one that flees from a burning flame.' This reading Lowth has followed; but for this there is not the slightest authority in the Hebrew. The Vulgate reads it, 'And he shall fly for terror, "et crit terrore profugus." The Chaldee, 'And he shall be broken, and shall fly.' The Syriac, 'And he shall be as if he had never been.' Probably the correct idea is, "and they shall be as when a sick man wastes away." The words which are used (נסס כמסס kı̂mesos nosēs) are brought together for the sake of a paranomasia - a figure of speech common in the Hebrew. The word rendered in our version "fainteth" (מסס mesos) is probably the infinitive construct of the verb מסס mâsas, "to melt, dissolve, faint." It is applied to the manna that was dissolved by the heat of the sun, Exodus 16:21; to wax melted by the fire, Psalm 68:2; to a snail that consumes away, Psalm 58:8; or to water that evaporates, Psalm 58:7.
Hence, it is applied to the heart, exhausted of its vigor and spirit, Job 7:5; to things decayed that have lost their strength, 1-Samuel 15:9; to a loan or tax laid upon a people that wastes and exhausts their wealth. It has the general notion, therefore, of melting, fainting, sinking away with the loss of strength; Psalm 22:14; Psalm 112:10; Psalm 97:5; Isaiah 19:1; Isaiah 13:7; Joshua 2:11; Joshua 5:1; Joshua 7:5. The word rendered "standard-bearer" (נסס nosēs) is from the verb נסס nāsas. This word signifies sometimes "to lift up," to elevate, or to erect a flag or standard to public view, to call men to arms; Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 11:10, Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 13:2; Isaiah 18:3; Isaiah 49:22; and also to lift up, or to exhibit anything as a judgment or public warning, and may thus be applied to divine judgments. Gesenius renders the verb, "to waste away, to be sick." In Syriac it has this signification. Taylor ("Hebrews. Con.") says, that it does not appear that this word ever has the signification of a military standard under which armies fight, but refers to a standard or ensign to "call" men together, or to indicate alarm and danger. The probable signification here, is that which refers it to a man wasting away with sickness, whose strength and vigor are gone, and who becomes weak and helpless. Thus applied to the Assyrian army, it is very striking. Though mighty, confident, and vigorous-like a man in full health - yet it would be like a vigorous man when disease comes upon him, and he pines away and sinks to the grave.
And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul (n) and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer (o) fainteth.
(n) That is, body and soul utterly.
(o) When the battle is lost and the standard taken.
And shall consume the glory of his forest,.... The Assyrian army is compared to a "forest", for the number of men in it; and for the mighty men in it, comparable to large and tall trees, such as oaks and cedars; and like a wood or forest a numerous army looks, when in rank and file, in proper order, and with banners, and having on their armour, their shields, spears, bows and arrows; and the "glory" of it intends either the princes and nobles that were in it, the principal officers, generals, and captains; or the riches of it, the plunder of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, as Kimchi observes, which were all destroyed at once:
both soul and body, or "from the soul even to the flesh" (o); which denotes the total consumption of them, nothing of them remaining; the Targum is,
"the glory of the multitude of his army, and their souls with their bodies, it shall consume;''
and so some understand this of the eternal destruction of soul and body in hell: the Rabbins are divided about the manner of the consumption of the Assyrian army; some say their bodies and souls were both burnt, which these words seem to favour; and others, that their souls were burnt, and not their bodies, their lives were taken away, and their bodies unhurt; which they think is favoured by Isaiah 10:16 where it is said, "under his glory", and not "his glory" (p):
and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth; who when he fails, the whole company or army is thrown into confusion, and flees; and so the Targum,
"and he shall be broken, and flee.''
Some render it, "as the dust of the worm that eats wood" (q); so Jarchi; signifying that they should be utterly destroyed, and become as small as the dust that falls from a worm eaten tree; which simile is used, a forest being made mention of before.
(o) "ab anima usque ad carnem", V. L. Montanus, Piscator. (p) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 113. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol 94. 1, 2. See Kimchi in loc. (q) "at pulvis teredinis", Tigurine version.
glory of his forest--The common soldiers, the princes, officers, &c., all alike together, shall be consumed (see on Isaiah 9:18).
in one day-- (Isaiah 37:36).
fruitful field--literally, "Carmel," a rich mountain in the tribe of Asher. Figurative for Sennacherib's mighty army. Perhaps alluding to his own boasting words about to be uttered (Isaiah 37:24), "I will enter the forest of his Carmel."
soul and body--proverbial for utterly; the entire man is made up of soul and body.
as when a standard bearer fainteth--rather, "they shall be as when a sick man" (from a Syriac root) wastes away." Compare "leanness," that is, wasting destruction (Isaiah 10:16) [MAURER]. Or, "there shall be an entire dissipation, like a perfect melting" (namely, of the Assyrian army) [HORSLEY].
"And the glory of his forest and his garden-ground will He destroy, even to soul and flesh, so that it is as when a sick man dieth. And the remnant of the trees of his forest can be numbered, and a boy could write them." The army of Asshur, composed as it was of many and various nations, was a forest (ya‛ar); and, boasting as it did of the beauty of both men and armour, a garden ground (carmel), a human forest and park. Hence the idea of "utterly" is expressed in the proverbial "even to soul and flesh," which furnishes the occasion for a leap to the figure of the wasting away of a נסס (hap. leg. the consumptive man, from nâsas, related to nūsh, 'ânash, Syr. n‛sı̄so, n‛shisho, a sick man, based upon the radical notion of melting away, cf., mâsas, or of reeling to and fro, cf., mūt, nūt, Arab. nâsa, nâta). Only a single vital spark would still glimmer in the gigantic and splendid colossus, and with this its life would threaten to become entirely extinct. Or, what is the same thing, only a few trees of the forest, such as could be easily numbered (mispâr as in Deuteronomy 33:6, cf., Isaiah 21:17), would still remain, yea, so few, that a boy would be able to count and enter them. And this really came to pass. Only a small remnant of the army that marched against Jerusalem ever escaped. With this small remnant of an all-destroying power the prophet now contrasts the remnant of Israel, which is the seed of a new power that is about to arise.
The glory - Of his great army, which may not unfitly be compared to a forest, for the numbers of men, who stood as thick as trees do in a forest. Field - Of his soldiers, who stood as thick as ears of corn in a fruitful field. Soul and body - Totally, both inwardly and outwardly. They shall be - Like that of an army when their standard - bearer is slain or flees away, which strikes a panic into the whole army.
*More commentary available at chapter level.