13 The envy also of Ephraim will depart, and those who persecute Judah will be cut off. Ephraim won't envy Judah, and Judah won't persecute Ephraim.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And the envy of Ephraim shall depart. Here he promises that the Church will be in such a state of peace, that neither will the Israelites and the Jews contend in civil broils, nor will they suffer any annoyance from their enemies, and that they will not be liable to hatred or envy, as they formerly were. Not that there will be no wicked men, but the Lord will at length cut off and destroy them. But we ought chiefly to observe what he adds about allaying domestic quarrels, that henceforth the children of Abraham may not harass each other, but unite in the same religion, and in the pure worship of God; for it was a disgraceful and shocking spectacle that their mutual strife and hostilities had been so long maintained. With good reason does he point out the source of quarrels, namely, envy, in consequence of which the descendants of Abraham have torn each other, while the tribes of Judah and Ephraim strive with each other for renown. This horrible torch has always kindled wars in the world, while every man is unwilling to yield. In short, the Lord here promises outward and inward peace, which is a very great and most desirable blessing. It will be objected that this was never accomplished, and that the very opposite of this took place; for as soon as the gospel began, it was followed by various wars, commotions, and dreadful persecutions, and nearly the whole world was disturbed and shaken. And inwardly what peace did the Church enjoy? Among Christians themselves, Satan, by his tares, (Matthew 13:25,) has raised up dreadful disturbances, so that no enemies were more ferocious and destructive than those which were brought up in the bosom of the Church. I reply, the Prophet here includes the whole of Christ's kingdom, and not merely a single age or century. In this world we taste but the beginning of Christ's kingdom; and while the Church is harassed by enemies both within and without, still the Lord defends and preserves her, and conquers all her enemies. Besides, this prediction properly belongs to the true and lawful children of Abraham, whom the Lord has purified by the cross and by banishment, and has constrained to lay aside ambition and envy; as those who have been tamed in the school of Christ cease to be desirous of renown. Thus the promise which Isaiah makes in this passage has already been in part fulfilled, and is fulfilled every day. But we must proceed in these exercises, and must fight earnestly within and without, till we obtain that everlasting peace which it will be our happiness to enjoy in the kingdom of God.
The envy also - The word "envy" here, is used in the sense of "hatred," or the hatred which arose from the "ambition" of Ephraim, and from the "prosperity" of Judah. Ephraim here, is the name for the kingdom of Israel, or the ten tribes. The reasons of their envy and enmity toward Judah, all arising from their ambition, were the following:
(1) This tribe, in connection with those which were allied to it, constituted a very large and flourishing part of the Jewish nation. They were, therefore, envious of any other tribe that claimed any superiority, and particularly jealous of Judah.
(2) they occupied a central and commanding position in Judea, and naturally claimed the pre-eminence over the tribes on the north.
(3) they had been formerly highly favored by the abode of the ark and the tabernacle among them, and, on that account, claimed to be the natural "head" of the nation; Joshua 18:1, Joshua 18:8, Joshua 18:10; Judges 18:31; Judges 21:19; 1-Samuel 1:3, 1-Samuel 1:24.
(4) when Saul was king, though he was of the tribe of Benjamin 1-Samuel 9:2, they submitted peaceably to his reign, because the Benjaminites were in alliance with them, and adjacent to them. But when Saul died, and the kingdom passed into the hands of David, of the tribe of Judah, their natural rival, thus exalting that powerful tribe, they became dissatisfied and restless. David kept the nation united; but on his death, they threw off the yoke of his successor, and became a separate kingdom. From this time, their animosities and strifes became an importer and painful part of the history of the Jewish nation, until the kingdom of Ephraim was removed. The language here is evidently figurative, and means, that in the time here referred to under the messiah, the causes of animosity, before existing, would cease; that contentions between those who are, by nature, brethren, and who ought to evince the spirit of brethren, would come to an end; and that those animosities and strike would be succeeded by a state of amity and peace. When the scattered Jews shall be regathered to God under the Messiah, all the contentions among them shall cease, and they shall be united under one king and prince. All the causes of contention which had so long existed, and which had produced such disastrous results, would come to an end. The strifes and contentions of these two kingdoms, once belonging to the same nation, and descended from the same ancestors - the painful and protracted "family broil" - was the object that most prominently attracted the attention, then, of the prophets of God. The most happy idea of future blessedness which was presented to the mind of the prophet, was that period when all this should cease, and when, under the Messiah, all should be harmony and love.
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off - That is, Judah shall be safe; the people of God shall be delivered from their enemies - referring to the future period under the Messiah, when the church should be universally prosperous.
Judah shall not vex Ephraim - Shall not oppress, disturb, or oppose. There shall be peace between them. The church prospers only when contentions and strifes cease; when Christians lay aside their animosities, and love as brethren, and are "united" in the great work of spreading the gospel around the world. That time will yet come. When that time comes, the kingdom of the Son of God will be established. "Until" that time, it will be in vain that the effort is made to bring the world to the knowledge of the truth; or if not wholly in vain, the efforts of Christians who seek the conversion of the world will be retarded, embarrassed, and greatly enfeebled. How devoutly, therefore, should every friend of the Redeemer pray, that all causes of strife may cease, and that his people may be united, as the heart of one man, in the effort to bring the whole world to the knowledge of the truth.
The adversaries of Judah "And the enmity of Judah" - צררים tsorerim, Postulat pars posterior versus, ut intelligantur inimicitiae Judae in Ephraimum: et potest (צררים tsorerim) inimicitiam notare, ut (נחומים nichumim) poenitentiam, Hosea 11:8. - Secker.
The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of (h) Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not distress Ephraim.
(h) Here he describes the consent that will be in his Church and their victory against their enemies.
The envy also of Ephraim shall depart,.... With which it envied Judah, on account of the kingdom of the house of David, and the temple being in that tribe; not that this is the thing intended, only alluded to; the meaning is, that whatever envy or jealousy subsisted in the Gentile against the Jew, or in the Jew against the Gentile, should be no more, when gathered into one Gospel church state; or whatever of this kind has appeared in one Christian church, or denomination among Christians, against another, shall cease, when the Gospel in its power and purity shall more generally take place, and the earth shall be filled with it:
and the adversaries of Judah, or of God's professing people,
shall be cut off; and be no more, as the Turks and Papists:
Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim; this is repeated for the confirmation of it; and the sense is, that all animosities, contentions, and discords, shall cease among the people of God, and there shall be entire peace and harmony among them. Jarchi interprets this of the two Messiahs, Messiah ben Joseph, and Messiah ben Judah, the Jews dream of.
envy . . . of Ephraim . . . Judah--which began as early as the time (Judges 8:1; Judges 12:1, &c.). Joshua had sprung from, and resided among the Ephraimites (Numbers 13:9; Joshua 19:50); the sanctuary was with them for a time (Joshua 18:1). The jealousy increased subsequently (2-Samuel 2:8, &c.; 2-Samuel 19:41; 2-Samuel 20:2; 2-Samuel 3:10); and even before David's time (1-Samuel 11:8; 1-Samuel 15:4), they had appropriated to themselves the national name Israel. It ended in disruption (1-Kings 11:26, &c.; 1Ki. 12:1-33; compare 2-Kings 14:9; Psalm. 78:56-71).
adversaries of Judah--rather, "the adversaries from Judah"; those of Judah hostile to the Ephraimites [MAURER]. The parallelism "the envy of Ephraim," namely, against Judah, requires this, as also what follows; namely, "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" (Ezekiel 37:15, Ezekiel 37:17, Ezekiel 37:19).
But this calls to mind the present rent in the unity of the nation; and the third question very naturally arises, whether this rent will continue. The answer to this is given in Isaiah 11:13 : "And the jealousy of Ephraim is removed, and the adversaries of Judah are cut off; Ephraim will not show jealousy towards Judah, and Judah will not oppose Ephraim." As the suffix and genitive after tzōrēr are objective in every other instance (e.g., Amos 5:12), tzorerē Yehudâh must mean, not those members of Judah who are hostile to Ephraim, as Ewald, Knobel, and others suppose, but those members of Ephraim who are hostile to Judah, as Umbreit and Schegg expound it. In Isaiah 11:13 the prophet has chiefly in his mind the old feeling of enmity cherished by the northern tribes, more especially those of Joseph, towards the tribe of Judah, which issued eventually in the division of the kingdom. It is only in Isaiah 11:13 that he predicts the termination of the hostility of Judah towards Ephraim. The people, when thus brought home again, would form one fraternally united nation, whilst all who broke the peace of this unity would be exposed to the immediate judgment of God (yiccârēthu, will be cut off).
Ephraim - Of the ten tribes, frequently called by the name of Ephraim. Of enemies they shall be made friends. The adversaries - Not the body of Ephraim, for they are supposed to be reconciled, and they shall not be cut off, but live in love with Judah, as we see by the next clause; but those few of them who continue in their enmity together with all the rest of their adversaries.
*More commentary available at chapter level.