Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as a field of grain before it is grown up.

The inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled, and were confounded: they became like the grass of the field, and the herb of the pasture, and like the grass of the housetops, which withered before it was ripe.

And their inhabitants were powerless, they were dismayed and put to shame; they were as the grass of the field and the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and grain blighted before it be grown up.

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house-tops, and as corn blasted before it is grown up.

And their inhabitants are feeble-handed, They were broken down, and are dried up. They have been the herb of the field, And the greenness of the tender grass, Grass of the roofs, And blasted corn, before it hath risen up.

This is why their townsmen had no power, they were broken and put to shame; they were like the grass of the field, or a green plant; like the grass on the house-tops, which a cold wind makes waste.

Their inhabitants had unsteady hands. They trembled and were confused. They became like the plants of the field, and the grass of the pastures, and like the weeds on the rooftops, which wither before they are mature.

Nam incolae earurn manu fuerunt mutilati, territi et confusi sunt; facti sunt tanquam gramen agri, olus viride, herba tectorum, quae ante maturitatem exarescit.

For their inhabitants were maimed. [1] Here the Prophet expresses more fully what he had formerly glanced at briefly, that we ought not to judge of the condition of the Church from the stability of this world; for although fortified cities are taken, and the strongest men lose courage and fall into the hands of their enemies, yet the Church shall stand and flourish, because it does not rest on its own strength, and has its foundation not on the earth but in heaven. There is thus an implied contrast between fortified cities, which alarmed and terrorstruck inhabitants are unable to defend, and the Church of God, which rests on his grace alone, and therefore resists every attack, so that it never fails; for the Church refers everything to God alone, from whom she receives the commencement of life, uninterrupted strength, perseverance, every part of salvation, and every blessing. Hence we learn that all fortresses are of no avail, if the hand of the Lord do not assist. All human strength will be broken and decay, if it be not supported by his power; castles, bulwarks, and the most powerful armies will be of no use without him. This is expressed more fully by the following metaphors, Like the grass of the field and the green herb. It is of importance that believers should be led to admire the wonderful grace which God exercises towards them, that they may not envy the earthly wealth possessed by irreligious men. Although their power be dazzling and magnificent, yet he shews that they are like "the green herb and the grass," which indeed flourish for a time, but quickly wither. He dwarfs them still more by another metaphor which he adds, The grass of the housetops. It is indeed lofty and seen by all, but the more elevated its position, it is the nearer to the heat, and withers more quickly, and is of no use whatever; and it is said also in the psalm, that "they who pass by do not bless it." (Psalm 129:8.) Though the enemies of the Church [2] are high, and as it were exalted to heaven, though they flourish and have abundant wealth, yet they quickly fall. In like manner, therefore, as the corn which lies on the ground at our feet is more valuable than the unfruitful herb that grows on the housetops; so the Lord shews that the low condition of his servants is far more desirable than that of those who, leaning on their own strength, vaunt themselves above others, and boast against God himself. [3] Which withereth before it is ripe. Some think that this is a fourth comparison, but I think that the Prophet added it for the sake of exposition; as if he had said, that grass of this kind withers before it come into the stalk, that is, before it is fully ripe; in the same manner as it is said in the psalm, "Before it is grown up, it withereth." (Psalm 129:6.)

Footnotes

1 - "Their inhabitants were of small power. Heb., short of hand." -- (Eng. Ver.) "Their inhabitants are short of hand, that is, I have made them weak, they are ashamed and confounded. By these and the following expressions he shews how easily the nations were vanquished by the king of Assyria, when it had been so determined by Jehovah." -- Rosenmuller.

2 - Les ennemis de l'Eglise.

3 - "On the flat roofs of the east, if they be not carefully kept clean, herbage grows from seeds, which perhaps had been left there while they were in process of being dried, or had been brought thither by the wind. But in consequence of the want of soil it quickly withered." -- Rosenmuller.

Therefore - Not because you have so great power; but because I have rendered them incapable of resisting you.
Were of small power - Hebrew, 'Short of hand;' they were feeble, imbecile, unable to resist you.
They were dismayed - Hebrew, 'They were broken and ashamed.' Their spirits sank; they were ashamed of their feeble powers of resistance; and they submitted to the ignominy of a surrender.
They were as the grass of the field - The same idea is expressed by Sennacherib himself in Isaiah 10:15, though under a different image (see the note on that verse). The idea here is, as the grass of the field offers no resistance to the march of an army, so it was with the strongly fortified towns in the way of Sennacherib.
As the grass on the housetops - In eastern countries the roofs of houses are always flat. They are made of a mixture of sand gravel, or earth; and on the houses of the rich there is a firmly constructed flooring made of coals, chalk, gypsum, and ashes, made hard by being beaten or rolled. On these roofs spears of wheat, barley, or grass sometimes spring up, but they are soon withered by the heat of the sun Psalm 129:6-8. The idea here, therefore, is that of the greatest feebleness. His enemies were not simply like the grass in the field, but they were like the thin, slender, and delicate blade that sprung up in the little earth on the roof of a house, where there was no room for the roots to strike down, and where it soon withered beneath the burning sun.
As corn blasted before it is grown up - Before it acquires any strength. The idea in all these phrases is substantially the same - that they were incapable of offering even the feeblest resistance.

Corn blasted - שדמה shedemah, parched: it does not appear that there is any good authority for this word. The true reading seems to be שדפה shedephah, blasted, as it is in six MSS. (two ancient) here, and in the other copy.

Therefore their inhabitants [were] of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were [as] the grass of the field, and [as] the green herb, [as] the grass on the housetops, and [as grain] blighted (s) before it is grown up.
(s) He shows that the state and power of most flourishing cities endures but a moment in respect to the Church, which will remain forever, because God is the maintainer of it.

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power,.... Or, "short of hand" (u); it was not in the power of their hands to help themselves, because the Lord took away their strength, having determined that they should be destroyed for their sins; otherwise it would not have been in the power of Sennacherib to have subdued them; this takes off greatly from the king of Assyria's triumph, that they were a weak people, whom he had conquered, and were given up into his hands by the Lord, according to his purposes, or he had never been lord over them:
they were dismayed and confounded; not so much at the sight of Sennacherib's army, but because the Lord had dispirited them, and took away their natural courage from them, so that they became an easy prey to him:
they were as the grass of the field: which has no strength to stand before the mower:
and as the green herb; which is easily cropped with the hand of man, or eaten by the beasts of the field:
as the grass on the housetops: which has no matter of root, and is dried up with the heat of the sun:
and as corn blasted before it be grown up; before it rises up into anything of a stalk, and much less into ears; so the Targum,
"which is blasted before it comes to be ears;''
all which represent the feeble condition of the people overcome by him; so that he had not so much to glory of, as having done mighty things.
(u) breviati, "vel breves manu", Forerius; "abbreviati manu", Vatablus, Montanus.

Therefore--not because of thy power, but because I made them unable to withstand thee.
grass--which easily withers (Isaiah 40:6; Psalm 37:2).
on . . . housetops--which having little earth to nourish it fades soonest (Psalm 129:6-8).
corn blasted before it be grown up--SMITH translates, "The cornfield (frail and tender), before the corn is grown."