17 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken it."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And the residue of the archers. He threatens that this slaughter will not be the end of their evils, because if there be any residue in Arabia, they will gradually decrease; as if he had said, "The Lord will not merely impoverish the Arabians by a single battle, but will pursue to the very utmost, till all hope of relief is taken away, and they are utterly exterminated." Such is the vengeance which he executes against the ungodly, while he moderates the punishment which he inflicts on the godly, that they may not be entirely destroyed. Of the mighty men. He means warlike men and those who were fit to carry arms, and says, that although they escaped that slaughter, still they will be cut off at their own time. He formerly threatened similar chastisements against the Jews, but always accompanied by a promise which was fitted to alleviate their grief or at least to guard them against despair. It frequently happens that the children of God are afflicted as severely as the reprobate, or even with greater severity; but the hope of favor which is held out distinguishes them from the whole world. Again, when we learn that God visits on the wicked deadly vengeance, this is no reason why we should be immoderately grieved even at the heaviest punishments; but, on the contrary, we ought to draw from it this consolation, that he chastises them gently, and "does not give them over to death." (Psalm 118:18.) The God of Israel hath spoken it. The Prophet shews, as we have frequently remarked on former occasions, that we ought not only to acknowledge that these things happened by divine appointment, but that they were appointed by that God whom Israel adores. All men are sometimes constrained to rise to the acknowledgment of God, though they are disposed to believe in chance, because the thought that there is a God in heaven comes into their minds, whether they will or not, and that both in prosperity and in adversity; but then they imagine a Deity according to their own fancy, either in heaven or on earth. Since therefore irreligious men idly and foolishly imagine a God according to their own pleasure, the Prophet directs the Jews to that God whom they adore, that they may know the distinguished privilege which they enjoy in being placed under his guardianship and protection. Nor is it enough that we adore some God as governor of the world, but we must acknowledge the true God, who revealed himself to the fathers, and hath manifested himself to us in Christ. And this ought to be earnestly maintained, in opposition to the profane thoughts of many persons who contrive some strange and confused notion of a Deity, because they dare not openly deny God.
And the residue of the number - That is, those who shall be left in the invasion. Or perhaps it may be read, 'There shall be a renmant of the number of bowmen; the mighty people of Kedar shall be diminished.'
Of archers - Hebrew, 'Of the bow;' that is, of those who use bows in war. The bow was the common instrument in hunting and in war among the ancients.
Shall be diminished - Hebrew, 'Shall be made small;' they shall be reduced to a very small number. We cannot indeed determine the precise historical event to which this refers, but the whole connection and circumstances seem to make it probable that it referred to the invasion by the Assyrian when he went up against Judah, or when he was on his way to Egypt.
The archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar "The mighty bowmen of the sons of Kedar" - Sagittariorum fortium, Vulg.; transposing the two words, and reading גבורי קשה gibborey kesheth; which seems to be right. The strong men of the bow, the most excellent archers.
For the Lord - hath spoken it "For Jehovah hath spoken it" - The prophetic Carmina of Marcius, foretelling the battle of Cannae, lib. 25:12, conclude with the same kind of solemn form: Nam mihi ita Jupiter fatus est; "Thus hath Jupiter spoken to me." Observe that the word נאם naam, to pronounce, to declare, is the solemn word appropriated to the delivering of prophecies: "Behold, I am against the prophets, saith (נאם naam, pronounceth) Jehovah, who use their tongues, וינאמו נאם vaiyinamu neum, and solemnly pronounce, He hath pronounced it;" Jeremiah 23:31. What God says shall most assuredly come to pass; he cannot be deceived.
And the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of (x) Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken [it].
(x) Which was the name of a people of Arabia: and by the horrible destruction of all these nations, he teaches the Jews that there is no place for refuge or to escape God's wrath, but only to remain in his Church, and to live in his fear.
And the residue of the number of archers,.... Or of "bow" (g), for "bows": that is, of men that use the bow, or are expert at it, as the Kedarenes were, both for taking wild beasts, and fighting with men, in which they followed their original ancestor Ishmael, Genesis 21:20 the number of these archers it seems had been great, but would be lessened by the calamity threatened; and those that would escape that, and be preserved from it, should be lessened still, as follows:
the mighty men of the children of Kedar shall be diminished; their military men, the most expert at the use of the bow, and the most valiant and courageous; the few of those that were left, and did not fall by the sword of the Assyrians, should gradually diminish, and be fewer and fewer:
for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it; who cannot lie, nor will repent, and whose word never fails, what he has said he will do, nor will he alter the thing that is gone out of his lips; and he is spoken of as the God of Israel, because it was to the Israelites that this was said, and for their sakes; either because these Arabians some way or other were injurious to them, or they had put some confidence in them. The Targum is,
"because by the word of the Lord God of Israel it is so decreed.''
(g) "numeri arcus", Montanus, Cocceius.
residue . . . diminished--The remnant of Arab warriors, famous in the bow, left after the invasion, shall be small.
That by Sennacherib, in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah; Isaiah 22:8-11, the preparations for defense and securing of water exactly answer to those in 2-Chronicles 32:4-5, 2-Chronicles 32:30. "Shebna," too (Isaiah 22:15), was scribe at this time (Isaiah 36:3) [MAURER]. The language of Isaiah 22:12-14, as to the infidelity and consequent utter ruin of the Jews, seems rather to foreshadow the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in Zedekiah's reign, and cannot be restricted to Hezekiah's time [LOWTH].
*More commentary available at chapter level.