Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, by R.A. Torrey, [ca. 1880], at sacred-texts.com
Isaiah Chapter 18
Overview
Isa 18:1, God, in care of his people, will destroy the Ethiopians; Isa 18:7, An accession thereby shall be made to the church.
am cir, 3290, bc cir, 714
Woe: Bp. Lowth renders, after Bochart, "Ho! to the land of the winged cymbal;" which he thinks is a periphrasis for the Egyptian sistrum; and consequently, that Egypt, "which borders on the rivers of Cush," is the country to which the prophecy is addressed. If we translate "shadowing with wings," it may allude to the multitude of its vessels, whose sails may be represented under the notion of wings.
the land: Isa 20:3-6, Isa 30:2, Isa 30:3, Isa 31:1
shadowing: Rut 2:12; Psa 17:8, Psa 36:7, Psa 57:1, Psa 61:4, Psa 63:7, Psa 91:4; Mat 23:37
which: Kg2 19:9; Eze 30:4, Eze 30:5; Zep 2:12, Zep 3:10
sendeth: Isa 30:2-4; Eze 30:9
vessels: It is well known that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships or boats made of the papyrus. See note on Exo 2:3.
to a nation: Isa 18:7
scattered and peeled: or, outspread and polished, Or, as Bp. Lowth renders, "stretched out in length and smoothed." Egypt, which is situated between 24 degrees and 32 degrees n lat. and 30 degrees and 33 degrees e long., being bounded on the south by Ethiopia, on the north by the Mediterranean, on the east by the mountains of Arabia, and on the west by those of Lybia, is one long vale, 750 miles in length (through the middle of which runs the Nile), in breadth from one to two or three day's journey, and even at the widest part of the Delta, from Pelusium to Alexandria, not above 250 miles broad.
to a people: Gen 10:8, Gen 10:9; Ch2 12:2-4, Ch2 14:9, Ch2 16:8, Heb
Meted out and trodden down: or, that meteth out and treadeth down, Heb. of line, line, and treading under foot, This is an allusion to the frequent necessity of having recourse to mensuration in Egypt, in order to determine their boundaries, after the inundation of the Nile had smoothed their land and effaced their landmarks; and to their method of throwing seed upon the mud, when the waters had subsided, and treading it in by turning their cattle into the fields.
have spoiled: or, despise, Isa 19:5-7
All ye: Isa 1:2; Psa 49:1, Psa 49:2, Psa 50:1; Jer 22:29; Mic 6:2
see ye: Isa 5:26, Isa 7:18, Isa 13:2, Isa 13:4, Isa 26:11; Amo 3:6-8; Mic 6:9; Zac 9:14; Mat 13:9, Mat 13:16
I will: Isa 26:21; Psa 132:13, Psa 132:14; Hos 5:15
consider in my dwelling place: or, regard my set dwelling, Isa 18:7, Isa 12:6, Isa 14:32, Isa 31:9, Isa 46:13; Joe 3:17
like a clear: Sa2 23:4; Psa 72:6
upon herbs: or, after rain
Isa 17:11; Sol 2:13, Sol 2:15; Eze 17:6-10
Isa 14:19, Isa 34:1-7; Jer 7:33, Jer 15:3; Eze 32:4-6, Eze 39:17-20; Rev 19:17, Rev 19:18
shall the: Isa 16:1, Isa 23:17, Isa 23:18, Isa 45:14; Ch2 32:23; Psa 68:29-31, Psa 72:9-15; Zep 3:10; Mal 1:11; Mat 2:11; Act 8:27, Act 8:28
scattered and peeled: or, outspread and polished, Isa 18:2
to the: Isa 18:4, Isa 60:6-9; Mic 4:13; Zac 14:16, Zac 14:17