Biblical Commentary

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 30: The Righteous Ruler

Only Yahweh God may justly rule over the children of Israel, and only He can truly be a righteous ruler. When Israel had demanded an earthly king, as it is described in 1 Samuel chapter 8, they had actually rejected the rule of Yahweh their God. There we read, in part: “4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” 

Of course, Samuel had not yet died, that his sinful sons might become their judges, so the elders and the people should have instead prayed to God for a righteous judge, and not for a king. They had sought an earthly solution to a problem that only God could have been expected to resolve. However a sinful people have the government that they deserve, and men shall have a tyrannical government when they deserve to be punished, as Paul of Tarsus had explained in Romans chapter 13. This is certainly a signal example of the truth of the adage, Be careful what you ask for, as the descendants of those ancient children of Israel continue to suffer on account of their demands. So today men must come to the realization, that if demanding an earthly king was a national sin, then subjecting oneself to Christ and rejecting all earthly kings, or presidents, or whatever else such a ruler may be called, must be an element of national repentance.

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 29: No Reason to Run

In the early portion of Isaiah chapter 30, the people of Judah were portrayed as Fugitives from Justice, seeking either to flee to Egypt or to attain help from the pharaoh in order to stave off the Assyrians in their endeavor to escape from the judgment which Yahweh had decreed as punishment for their sins. But much earlier in Isaiah, in the burden of Egypt in Isaiah chapter 19, the prophet had begun warning the people of Judah against this, and the warnings continued throughout subsequent chapters. So in chapter 20 where the burden of Egypt continues we read in part, where it refers to the children of Judah as well as to the inhabitants of the coastal towns with whom Hezekiah had evidently been in league: “5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. 6 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?” The kings of Ethiopia, or properly Kush, had been in control of most of Egypt at that same time.

Likewise, in Isaiah chapter 21, the burden upon Arabia was also on account of the children of Judah who would flee to the south for refuge, as we read in reference to them that “14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. 15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.” There we had noted in relation to verse 14, that other translations have it to read “Bring water for the thirsty, O inhabitants of the land of Tema, Meet the fugitive with bread.” Therefore just like Egypt, Arabia was also portrayed as having harbored the fugitives of Judah who would flee from the wrath of Yahweh, and the children of Judah, those who could not escape by sea, had nowhere to run, but here, as we continue with this 30th chapter of Isaiah, we shall see that they also had no reason to run. 

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 28: Fugitives from Justice 

Near the beginning of his long series of burdens on the nations, in Isaiah chapters 18 and 19 the prophet had announced the Burdens of Captivity, as we had described his burdens for Egypt and the land beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, or Kush. Then in Isaiah chapter 20 we read: “3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia,” or Kush, and in Isaiah’s time kings of Kush had ruled over Egypt, something which they had done for approximately seventy-five years, or by some accounts, nearly as long as ninety years. Having discussed those burdens, we had posited that they had more than one aspect of meaning. The people of Judah at the time of Isaiah had indeed sought help from the Egyptians, in order to fend off the encroaching Assyrians, while many of them had also sought refuge in Egypt, having fled from the Assyrians. But Egypt is also used as an allegory for the Israelites, who had once been in captivity in Egypt, and in that manner also as a prophetic metaphor for Israel in captivity.

The twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt is often called the dynasty of “Black Pharaohs”, but that concept is entirely laughable, and the archaeological evidence is contrary, as many ancient statues of Kushite rulers with fine European features have been discovered, and since the Kushites of Africa had several language dialects among them which were clearly derived from the Akkadian language of Mesopotamia, which had also once belonged to the empire of Kush in Mesopotamia. However it is evident that the Kushites in Egypt had been accompanied by Nubians, having had Nubians in their own armies. The ultimate union of Kush and Nubia is described perhaps a hundred years after Isaiah, in Jeremiah chapter 13 where the Word of Yahweh asks a rhetorical question and its says: “23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” This is a Hebrew parallelism, where we see that by Jeremiah’s time the skin of Kush in Africa had become as that of a leopard, mixed with both black and white. (Isaiah chapter 43 also touches on this subject.)

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 27: Instruction from God

Thus far in the course of our discussion of Isaiah chapter 28, we have once again observed that as the children of Israel had been taken off into captivity for punishment for their sins, they were given hope in promises of a future reconciliation. However the terms of that reconciliation had also been expressed along with those promises. So where the prophet had asked “whom shall He teach knowledge?” and “whom shall He make to understand doctrine?”, as those questions had been answered in his prophecy it becomes manifest that doctrine and knowledge as they are taught by the Word of God are prerequisite to entering the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, as we discussed those answers, we noticed that Paul of Tarsus had cited this very passage in Isaiah where he wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 that “21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.” There Paul had purposely omitted the reference to the rest of Yahweh which is found in that same statement he had cited from Isaiah 28:11-12. However writing in (what we now know as) Hebrews chapter 4, Paul spoke of the necessity of hearing the Word of Yahweh in order to enter into His rest, where he had said in part: “7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

Here in Isaiah, hearing the voice of Yahweh is described as learning His knowledge and understanding His doctrine, so Paul of Tarsus was essentially teaching the same things which the prophet Isaiah had also declared, even if it was from a somewhat different perspective. The hardening of hearts is the rejection of the Word of God, as Paul wrote earlier in that same epistle, in chapter 3, “15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” This is explained in Proverbs chapter 28 where we read “13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 14 Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.” There, hardening the heart is a rejection of the Word of God, and concealment of sin leads to evil, or, as the Hebrew word may also mean, distress, injury, misery or calamity. That is what happened to the children of Israel, they just kept sinning, and justified themselves for their sins. So the evil which resulted was the destruction of their kingdom, and their calamity was their going into captivity. 

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 26: Terms of Reconciliation

Here we must attest once again, that the main purpose of Isaiah was not so much for his own time as it was for his distant future, and that the purpose of the prophet was not only to warn the children of Israel of their impending captivity, but also to describe both what would become of them in captivity, and how they should ultimately be redeemed from captivity and reconciled to Yahweh their God. Therefore in Isaiah, the reasons for the punishment of Israel are described, the taking of Israel into captivity is described, and the terms of reconciliation for Israel is described, along with allusions to the dismal alternatives if Israel could somehow refuse those terms, some of which we shall see here in Isaiah chapter 28. Along the way, it is made evident in the words of the prophet that in the course of events future to his time, the things which Yahweh God has purposed for the world are all for the benefit of the children of Israel, whether they be for their punishment or for their edification.

Therefore, throughout the past few chapters of Isaiah, we have discussed The Burden of Tyre which had begun in Isaiah chapter 23, and then, where Tyre had been used as a type for the Mystery Babylon of the Revelation, as it had been a great mercantile city, in chapter 26. There we also discussed The City of God for which Jerusalem had been used as a type, and the two cities were set in contrast to one another. Then, presenting our commentary for the closing verses of Isaiah chapter 26 along with chapter 27, we discussed the Triumph of the Righteous and prophecies of the resurrection of the dead, and we also began to exhibit from later chapters in Isaiah that in the end, all of the children of Israel shall be justified by God in Yahshua Christ.

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 25: Triumph of the Righteous

In our last presentation, The City of God, we hope to have demonstrated that in these chapters of Isaiah, ancient Tyre is a prophetic type for the Mystery Babylon of the Revelation, and Jerusalem is a type for the City of God which is ultimately described in the final chapters of the Revelation. So in the course of this description of Jerusalem, the strong city in the land of Judah, the people are portrayed as fixing their minds on God and trusting in Him, as emulating the path of the just, and as desiring and awaiting the judgment of God. With that, the high and lofty city, corresponding to Mystery Babylon, is tread down by the feet of the poor and needy. This evokes the words of the 37th Psalm: “10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 12 The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. 13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. 14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. 15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. 16 A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.” Now here at the end of this chapter of Isaiah, and throughout the following chapter, there is another promise of the destruction of the wicked, and the triumph of the righteous. 

As for the correlation of the righteous with the poor and needy, which is an element of that psalm, while some of the men whom Christ had justified during the course of His earthly ministry had been wealthy, such as Joseph of Arimathaea and Zacchaeus the chief publican, this would not be the case for most of the righteous who would follow Christ. Even today, many righteous Christians are oppressed by the wealthy, and most of them are not even aware of their oppression. However a wealthy man may live a humble life, and even the room where the disciples of Christ had prepared the feast on the day before His trials had been owned by a man of substance who must have also been righteous. So while a wealthy man may certainly have a place in the Kingdom of God, as we read in the words of Christ in Luke chapter 6: “20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.” Having made enemies with the wicked society for the sake of Christ, whether wealthy or poor a man certainly shall be humble. Joseph of Arimathaea was secretly a disciple of Christ, as John had explained in his Gospel (John 19:38). But through his wealth he was able to fill a significant role in the quite significant events of the final days of His earthly ministry. 

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 24: The City of God

Describing the words of the prophet in the opening verses of Isaiah chapter 25 as we had discussed them in our last presentation, The Wonder of Seeing, the prophet had explained that when the people saw the destruction of the city, which continues to be a reference to the burden of Tyre that had begun in Isaiah chapter 23, that they would know that God is true, speaking in reference to those who had His Word in the first place. Therefore upon seeing the prophesied judgment, they should exalt God and praise His Name. This evokes the words of the 64th Psalm, attributed to David, where he wrote of men who witness the judgment of God and said: “9 And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing. 10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.” So the righteous should be glad when they see, or even understand, the judgment of Yahweh whenever it is executed in the earth. Here in Isaiah chapter 26, the then-future destruction of Tyre remains in view, from Isaiah’s perspective, and now it shall be set in contrast to Jerusalem. However the Jerusalem portrayed here is not necessarily the Jerusalem of Isaiah’s time.

The destruction of ancient Jerusalem had already been prophesied in earlier chapters of Isaiah, and especially in chapters 3 through 5 and chapter 10, but as recently as chapter 22 and the burden of The Valley of Vision. While Yahweh had explicitly protected Jerusalem from the siege of the Assyrians in the time of Hezekiah, which we shall also see here in later chapters of Isaiah, there are also further prophecies of its ultimate destruction. However before that destruction was fulfilled, there were even later promises that Jerusalem would be rebuilt, and that it would remain at least until the coming of the Messiah, which is evident in Daniel chapter 9, whereas here it was stated that Tyre would not be rebuilt. As we have asserted, while there may have been structures at the site of ancient Tyre in later times, it was certainly not the same as the ancient city, simply because the land was occupied once again.

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 23: The Wonder of Seeing

Having discussed the Burden of Tyre and the Justice in Judgment in Isaiah chapters 23 and 24, we hope to have elucidated the history of the Phoenicians in relation to Scripture to the extent that the identity of the Phoenicians as a portion of the ancient children of Israel cannot be rationally denied. Although the context of chapter 24 is widened to include all of the children of Israel under these burdens, the city of Tyre is still the subject of the discourse where in chapter 24 there is a lamentation that “the city of confusion is broken down … the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction” (24:10-12). Then we read a little further on in the chapter, on account of the prophesied destruction of Tyre, a plea of encouragement which was an exhortation for the people who escaped that destruction: “15 Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.” The Tyrians had remained the subjects of the prophet’s discourse throughout both chapters, and those Tyrians who were described as having departed on the ships of Tarshish in chapter 23 (23:6 ff.) were indeed among the Israelites in the “isles of the sea” mentioned in chapter 24 (24:15). Later in this next chapter of Isaiah, chapter 25, Isaiah shall explain in further detail just why the destruction of one’s home city should bring one to glorify God, and that is the wonder of seeing.

The so-called “golden age” of Phoenicia is generally dated from about 1200 to 332 BC. This is from the middle of the period of the Judges to the time when Alexander of Macedon had conquered the island city of Tyre. While our assertion that the Phoenicians of this period were of Israel is absolutely contrary to the general narrative found among mainstream academic historians and theologians, in spite of their narrative, it is absolutely agreeable to all of the testimony in Scripture, both in the historical books and in the writings of the prophets. Here in Isaiah, our assertion concerning the identity of the ancient Phoenicians as Israel is incontrovertibly supported, and the views of the academics are refuted. Isaiah was a prophet of Yahweh, elucidating the Word of God for the children of Israel in his own time, and not only recording them for posterity but also announcing his prophecies as he himself had traveled throughout the land, and he was not simply fabricating lies in order to be fashionable. As we had seen in the early chapters of Isaiah, the prophet was a man of renown in Judah, who had access to kings and to the priests and other officers of the temple, and he even had them do his bidding when it was necessary, something which is fully revealed in the circumstances of the conception and birth of his son, Mahershalalhashbaz. The prophet Isaiah was an eye-witness to the glory of the Tyrians, and here he identified them as Israel, and that is also the wonder of seeing.

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 22: The Justice in Judgment

With our last presentation here, The Burden of Tyre, concluding Isaiah chapter 23 the prophet seems to have finally come to the end of his long list of burdens concerning certain of the people of the ancient world of Israel. So, as we hope to have explained, the burdens of Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, the Desert of the Sea, Dumah – which much more likely should have been Edom, the burden of Arabia and the burden of Jerusalem in the Valley of Vision, and finally, the burden of Tyre, had all actually been directed at Israelites who had been in the process of being taken into captivity, or in the process of trying to avoid captivity. So even where statements are made concerning Babylonians, Egyptians or Arabians, they were made for the sake of the children of Israel, and not for the sake of those others. The entire Bible was written for the sake of the children of Israel, and the others are of no consequence unless Yahweh uses them to punish Israel. So each of the burdens were ominous warnings for Israel, but Israel was also granted some degree of hope or mercy throughout.

As we closed Isaiah chapter 23, concerning the Tyrians the promise of mercy was quite subtle, where, speaking of the merchandise of ancient Tyre, the Word of Yahweh declared that it would be “for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.” This message of hope for the Israelites of Tyre, those of the Tyrians who dwell before Yahweh, evokes the words of Christ in Luke chapter 12 where He told His disciples, in part: “27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? 29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.” Having food and raiment is enough of a blessing, and it is also probably better than one may expect in a time of judgment. The word for durable is עתיק or athiq (# 6266) and Strong’s defined it as “probably antique, i.e. venerable or splendid” so it is evident that Yahweh would even clothe them well. Likewise, He would also feed them well, as the word for sufficiently is שׂבעה or sobah (# 7654) which is defined as satiety, so that they would be satisfied with their victuals. 

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 21: The Burden of Tyre 

Since Isaiah chapter 13 and the burden of Babylon, the prophet has announced an entire series of burdens against what may be considered to have been the world of ancient Israel at this time in history, with the death of Ahaz and the first few years after Hezekiah had become king of Judah. In the course of these burdens, there is no mercy for Babylon, nor for the king of Babylon. But there is mercy for the Israel in the burdens of Moab and Damascus. There was also mercy for the Israelites of the “land shadowing with wings”, which are evidently those of the Assyrian deportations who were portrayed as making a future supplication to God. Then there were expressions of hope and mercy for the people of Judah who would flee into Egypt, although they would suffer for having done so, and plausibly also for those who would flee into Arabia. However in the course of those burdens, there was no hope or mercy extended to the Egyptians, Ethiopians, Edomites or Arabians. Then finally, in the Valley of Vision, which was an oracle against Jerusalem, there were continued expressions of hope for the people of Judah in the face of an ominous condemnation, even if that hope is expressed enigmatically in the promise of the Key of David. Now we come to the final burden of the series, and it is the burden of Tyre, and even though Tyre itself is condemned, as Jerusalem had been, there are still messages of hope and mercy for at least a portion of its people, as we shall see here in our discussion of Isaiah chapter 23.

So now, discussing the Burden of Tyre, we must first make an insistence, that the Phoenicians of the Judges and Kingdom periods of ancient Israel certainly had been Israelites, at least for the most part, in spite of the general insistence of modern Jewry that they had been Canaanites. So on most Bible maps which are published today, a land labeled as Phoenicia is demarcated in a manner where it appears to have been separate from the land of the tribes of Israel. But that is not true, and every Bible map which has done so has perpetuated a lie which is contrary to the actual text of Scripture. The evidence of this is seen as early as Judges chapter 5, where in the Song of Deborah the prophetess had lamented that “17 Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches.”

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 20: The Valley of Vision 

Having left off in our last presentation with the burden of The Desert of the Sea in the middle of Isaiah chapter 21, we are coming to the end of a series of prophecies which had begun in Isaiah chapter 13 with the burden of Babylon, and, on the surface, the burdens seem to have been against all of the nations or places surrounding ancient Judah. Yet in the course of our discussion we hope to have demonstrated that even though they seem to be quite enigmatic, many of them are actually relevant to the children of Israel, and many of them are even more relevant to the far vision of the future of Israel, from Isaiah’s time, rather than to the immediate circumstances and events which had befallen them in ancient times. 

So for reasons which we have already explained, the burden of Babylon is apparently more relevant to the future world empires and the entity known as Mystery Babylon in the Revelation, than it was to the short-lived empire of Nebuchadnezzar, and the burden against the king of Babylon is relevant to all of the rulers of that same long line of empires which had been in Isaiah’s future. The burden of Moab was actually directed towards the Israelites who had dwelt east of the River Jordan, the burden of Damascus towards the Israelites who dwelt in Syria, and the oracle for “the land shadowing with wings” was meant for Israelites of the Assyrian captivity, while the burden of Egypt served as a warning to the remaining people of Judah, not to flee to Egypt for refuge from the coming Assyrians. The last of these burdens that we have already discussed is the “burden of the desert of the sea”, which we had described as having represented the general mass of the world’s peoples who, in the near vision, would face the coming rise of the empire of the Persians and the Medes. So in that sense, it was another prophecy against Babylon, and therefore the declaration that Babylon is fallen was made near its end. 

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 19: The Desert of the Sea

In the King James Version of the Bible, the Hebrew name כושׁ or Kush (# 3568) is usually translated as Ethiopia. Exceptions to this are found only in the genealogy of the sons of Ham, in Genesis chapter 10, and in the copy of that genealogy which is repeated in 1 Chronicles chapter 1, where the personal name Kush is properly transliterated as Cush. This is a cause of confusion, because the Cush of Genesis chapter 10 was certainly the patriarch of the tribe of Cush which had inhabited Mesopotamia and parts of the adjacent land to the west which had later become known as Arabia. Cush also inhabited parts of the lands of east of the Tigris River which eventually became part of later Persia. However in modern times the word Ethiopia is only associated with the land to the south of Egypt in Africa.

Doing this, the King James translators had only followed the same convention which had been used in the much earlier Greek Septuagint translation of Scripture. There, in the genealogies found in Genesis chapter 10 and in 1 Chronicles chapter 1 the name was rendered as Χους or Chous in Greek. But everywhere else in the Septuagint, the name is rendered with some form of the word Αἰθιοπία or Ethiopia. Interestingly, the Greek word χοῦς is a common noun which was either a unit of measure, or it was used to describe dust or soil. 

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 18: The Burdens of Captivity

In our most recent commentaries for Isaiah, presenting chapters 16 and 17 we had discussed the fact that the burdens which the prophet had for Moab and Damascus had actually addressed the Israelites who were settled in the ancient lands of Moab and Damascus. Then as we had progressed through each of these burdens, it had become more and more apparent that they had actually been for Israelites. 

For example, in Isaiah chapter 16 where there is a promise of mercy, we read: “5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness”, and all of the cities of Moab which had been named in that chapter were cities in Moab that had been occupied by the children of Israel from the days of Moses and Joshua, for roughly 700 years. 

Then, in chapter 17, in verse 10 we read in part: “10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips”, and it is clear that since Yahweh was the God of Israel and was only known by Israel in that sense, the words of the prophet had addressed Israelites in Damascus, and not merely Syrians who never knew Yahweh so that they could have forgotten Him. 

Likewise it shall be here, in Isaiah chapter 18, that the words of the prophet are addressing at least a portion of the Israelites in captivity, and in chapter 19, while Egypt is a subject of the Burden of Egypt prophecy in the immediate sense of the prophet, which is the near vision, in the far vision Egypt stands an allegory for the captivity of Israel, and a portion of Israel is being addressed as Egypt. 

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 17: The Burden of Damascus

As we hope to have demonstrated discussing the Burden of Moab and Isaiah chapters 15 and 16, the prophecy actually concerns the children of Israel who had dwelt in the land of Moab, the northern portion of the original land of Moab which the Moabites had first lost to the Amorites, and which the children of Israel had later taken for themselves in the days of Moses. This is because all of the cities mentioned in the prophesy were in the lands which were occupied by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, with the possible exceptions of Ar and Kir. However the children of Israel had long held the Moabites themselves as a subject state, and it is plausible that Israelites had also dwelt in those places, after an occupation of nearly 300 years from the time of David. But it is also possible that since Ar and Kir are generic terms, they very likely also applied to Israelite cities in other ways. For example, the Ar mentioned in the opening verses of Isaiah chapter 15 is very likely a reference to the city Aroer found on the banks of the river Arnon, a town of Reuben which is mentioned in Joshua chapter 13. While the name Ar simply means city, Aroer means ruins, so it could also be a pejorative for any city. It is used as a pejorative here in a different context in Isaiah chapter 17.

As a digression, this interpretation of the use of the term Moab, which is fully substantiated in Isaiah chapters 15 and 16, also supports our interpretation of the Book of Ruth, and our assertion which is based on several points of evidence within that book, that Ruth was an Israelite in Moab, who was only called a Moabite because of the circumstances of her geographic origin. So if the tribes of Reuben and Gad were called Moab here by the prophet, for reason that they were Israelites dwelling in Moab, then Ruth was also an Israelite dwelling in Moab, as the internal evidence suggests. Certainly Boaz, a pious man, and the elders of Israel with him, portrayed as having been pious men, were also all described as having upheld the law of Moses, so it is not just to imagine that they would transgress that same law of Moses by bringing a racial Moabitess into the congregation, which is contrary to the law. One law cannot force a man to transgress another.

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 16: The Burden of… Moab?

Discussing Isaiah, before we move on from the prophecies of the destruction of Babylon and the fall of the king of Babylon which are found in Isaiah chapters 13 and 14, it should be noted that at the end of Isaiah chapter 14, in verse 25, there is a shift in focus from Babylon back to Assyria, the demise of which Isaiah had already prophesied in chapter 10. Then in verse 28 there is an odd break in the context where Isaiah mentioned that this burden, referring to the prophecy of doom of Babylon, had come to him in the year of the death of Ahaz king of Judah. Here it is unclear, as to whether the reference to the death of Ahaz was spoken in relation to the burden against Babylon which had preceded, or to that which would follow, beginning with four verses at the end of the chapter in which Isaiah had warned Palestine of its coming destruction. It is more likely to have been a parenthetical remark, since with all certainty the warning to Palestine here is contextually connected to the mention of Assyria a little earlier in the chapter. By itself, this also seems to suggest that the fate of Babylon is tied to the fate of Assyria, and that association is strengthened as the chapter proceeds.

So immediately following the mention of the death of Ahaz, there are four verses containing the warning for Palestine, and within them there is revealed one significant element of the nature of these empires, where it states in verse 29: “Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.” The “rod of him that smote thee” would be a reference to Assyria, which had reduced and subjected Palestine beginning with the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III, who listed Philistia among his tributaries in inscriptions from the 17th year of his reign. [1] As we have also discussed, that is very close to the time when Ahaz had died, and Tiglath-Pileser had met his own end after having ruled for eighteen years.