27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
None shall be weary, nor stumble among them. The meaning is, that everything will be prepared and arranged in such a manner that there shall be no delay or obstruction to their march; as if a prince, having recruited the ranks of his soldiers, immediately gave orders that the roads should be cleared, provisions obtained, and everything necessary provided. He therefore shows that they will be fleet and swift, and that there will be nothing to hinder their rapid march. None shall slumber nor sleep. He expresses their vast activity by saying that they will not be drowsy. In these words, they shall not slumber nor sleep, the natural order is inverted, He ought rather to have said, They shall not sleep nor slumber; for it is a smaller matter to slumber than to sleep. But that phrase ought to be explained in this manner: They shall not slumber nor even sleep; that is, they will be so far from sleeping, that they will not even slumber. You have an instance of this in these words: Lo, he that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (Psalm 121:4.) It is a Hebrew phrase, with which neither the Greek nor the Latin idiom agrees.
None shall be weary - In this verse and the following, the prophet describes the condition of the army that would be summoned to the destruction of Judea. It would be composed of bold, vigorous, courageous men; they would be unwearied by long and painful journies; they would be fierce and violent; they would come fully prepared for conquest. None would be "weary," that is, fatigued with long marches, or with hard service; Deuteronomy 25:18; 2-Samuel 16:14.
Nor stumble - They shall be chosen, select men; not those who are defective, or who shall easily fall by any impediments in the way of their march.
None shall slumber - They shall be unwearied, and indefatigable, pursuing their purpose with ever watchfull vigilance - so much as not to be off their guard. They cannot be taken by surprise.
Neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed - The ancients wore a loose, large, flowing robe, or upper garment. When they labored, or ran, it was necessary to "gird" this up round the body, or to lay it aside altogether. The form of expression here may mean, that they will not relax their efforts; they will not unloose their girdle; they will not unfit themselves for vigorous action, and for battle. "In" that girdle, with which they bound up their robes, the orientals usually carried their dirks and swords; see Nehemiah 4:18; Ezekiel 22:15. It means that they should be fully, and at all times, prepared for action.
Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken - They will be constantly prepared for marches. The shoes, sandals, or "soles" were attached to the feet, not by upper leather, but were girded on by thongs or strings; see the notes at Matthew 3:2.
None - among them - Kimchi has well illustrated this continued exaggeration or hyperbole, as he rightly calls it, to the following effect: "Through the greatness of their courage they shall not be fatigued with their march, nor shall they stumble though they march with the utmost speed: they shall not slumber by day, nor sleep by night; neither shall they ungird their armor, or put off their sandals to take their rest. Their arms shall be always in readiness, their arrows sharpened, and their bows bent. The hoofs of their horses are hard as a rock. They shall not fail, or need to be shod with iron: the wheels of their carriages shall move as rapidly as a whirlwind."
Neither shall the girdle - The Eastern people, wearing long and loose garments, were unfit for action or business of any kind, without girding their clothes about them. When their business was finished they took off their girdles. A girdle therefore denotes strength and activity; and to unloose the girdle is to deprive of strength, to render unfit for action. God promises to unloose the loins of kings before Cyrus, Isaiah 45:1. The girdle is so essential a part of a soldier's accoutrements, being the last that he puts on to make himself ready for action, that to be girded, ζωννυσθαι, with the Greeks means to be completely armed and ready for battle: -
Ατρειδης δ εβοησεν, ιδε ζωννυσθαι ανωγεν
Αργειους.
Iliad, 11:15.
Το δε ενδυναι τα ὁπλα εκαλουν οἱ παλαιοι ζωννυσθαι.
Pausan. Boeot.
It is used in the same manner by the Hebrews: "Let not him that girdeth himself boast as he that unlooseth his girdle," 1-Kings 20:11; that is, triumph not before the war is finished.
None shall (g) be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their loins be loosed, nor (h) the latchet of their shoes be broken:
(g) They will be prompt and lusty to execute God's vengeance.
(h) The enemy will have no impediment.
None shall be weary nor stumble among them,.... Though they should come from far, and make long marches, yet none should be weary by the way, but go on with great cheerfulness and strength; and though they should make such haste, they should not stumble at any thing by the way, nor rush one against another, but proceed with great order in their several ranks:
none shall slumber nor sleep; day nor night, in any fixed stated times, as men usually do:
neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed; with which they should be girded both for strength and greater expedition; this they should not unloose, in order to lie down and take sleep:
nor the latchet of their shoes be broken, which might hinder their journey; they never plucked off their shoes: all the expressions show their indefatigableness, diligence, intenseness, and resolution, and the good order observed by them; see Joel 2:7.
weary--with long marches (Deuteronomy 25:18).
none . . . slumber--requiring no rest.
girdle--with which the ancient loose robes used to be girded for action. Ever ready for march or battle.
nor the latchet . . . broken--The soles were attached to the feet, not by upper leather as with us, but by straps. So securely clad that not even a strap of their sandals gives way, so as to impede their march.
"There is none exhausted, and none stumbling among them: it gives itself no slumber, and no sleep; and to none is the girdle of his hips loosed; and to none is the lace of his shoes broken." Notwithstanding the long march, there is no exhausted one, obliged to separate himself and remain behind (Deuteronomy 25:18; Isaiah 14:31); no stumbling one (Cōshēl), for they march on, pressing incessantly forwards, as if along a well-made road (Jeremiah 31:9). They do not slumber (nūm), to say nothing of sleeping (yâshēn), so great is their eagerness for battle: i.e., they do not slumber to refresh themselves, and do not even allow themselves their ordinary night's rest. No one has the girdle of his armour-shirt or coat of mail, in which he stuck his sword (Nehemiah 4:18), at all loosened; nor has a single one even the shoe-string, with which his sandals were fastened, broken (nittak, disrumpitur). The statement as to their want of rest forms a climax descendens; the other, as to the tightness and durability of their equipment, a climax ascendens: the two statements follow one another after the nature of a chiasmus.
Nor sleep - They shall all be watchful and diligent to take all opportunities of executing my judgments. Nor latchet - I will take all impediments out of their way.
*More commentary available at chapter level.