Isa 8:11-15 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 11. With a strong hand -"As taking me by the hand"] Eleven MSS., ( two ancient,) of Kennicott's , thirty-four of De Rossi's, and seven editions, read kechezkath ; and so Symmachus , the Syriac , and Vulgate . Or rather with a strong hand , that is, with a strong and powerful influence of the prophetic Spirit.

‏ Isaiah 8:11-15

Verse 11. With a strong hand-"As taking me by the hand"] Eleven MSS., (two ancient,) of Kennicott's, thirty-four of De Rossi's, and seven editions, read kechezkath; and so Symmachus, the Syriac, and Vulgate. Or rather with a strong hand, that is, with a strong and powerful influence of the prophetic Spirit.

Verse 12. Say ye not, A confederacy-"Say ye not, It is holy"] kesher. Both the reading and the sense of this word are doubtful. The Septuagint manifestly read kashah; for they render it by σκληρον, hard. The Syriac and Chaldee render it merda, and merod, rebellion. How they came by this sense of the word, or what they read in their copies, is not so clear. But the worst of it is, that neither of these readings or renderings gives any clear sense in this place. For why should God forbid his faithful servants to say with the unbelieving Jews, It is hard; or, There is a rebellion; or, as our translators render it, a confederacy? And how can this be called "walking in the way of this people?" Isa 8:11, which usually means, following their example, joining with them in religious worship. Or what confederacy do they mean? The union of the kingdoms of Syria and Israel against Judah? That was properly a league between two independent states, not an unlawful conspiracy of one part against another in the same state; this is the meaning of the word kesher. For want of any satisfactory interpretation of this place that I can meet with, I adopt a conjecture of Archbishop Secker, which he proposes with great diffidence, and even seems immediately to give up, as being destitute of any authority to support it. I will give it in his own words:- "Videri potest ex cap. v. 16, et hujus cap. 13, 14, 19, legendum vel kadosh, eadem sententia, qua Eloheynu, Ho 14:3. Sed nihil necesse est. Vide enim Jer 11:9; Eze 22:25. Optime tamen sic responderent huic versiculo versiculi 13, 14." The passages of Jeremiah and Ezekiel above referred to seem to me not at all to clear up the sense of the word kesher in this place. But the context greatly favours the conjecture here given, and makes it highly probable: "Walk not in the way of this people; call not their idols holy, nor fear ye the object of their fear:" (that is, the σεβασματα, or gods of the idolaters; for so fear here signifies, to wit, the thing feared. So God is called "The fear of Isaac," Ge 31:42, 53:) "but look up to JEHOVAH as your Holy One; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread; and he shall be a holy Refuge unto you." Here there is a harmony and consistency running through the whole sentence; and the latter part naturally arises out of the former, and answers to it. Idolatry, however, is full of fears. The superstitious fears of the Hindoos are very numerous. They fear death, bad spirits generally, and hobgoblins of all descriptions. They fear also the cries of jackalls, owls, crows, cats, asses, vultures, dogs, lizards, &c. They also dread different sights in the air, and are alarmed at various dreams. See WARD'S Customs. Observe that the difference between kesher and kadosh is chiefly in the transposition of the two last letters, for the letters resh and daleth are hardly distinguishable in some copies, printed as well as MS.; so that the mistake, in respect of the letters themselves, is a very easy and a very common one.-L.

Verse 14. And he shall be for a sanctuary-"And he shall be unto you a sanctuary"] The word lachem, unto you, absolutely necessary, as I conceive, to the sense, is lost in this place: it is preserved by the Vulgate, "et erit vobis in sanctificationem." The Septuagint have it in the singular number: εσταισοιεις αγιασμον, it shall be to THEE. Or else, instead of mikdash, a sanctuary, we must read mokesh, a snare, which would then be repeated without any propriety or elegance, at the end of the verse. The Chaldee reads instead of it mishpat, judgment; for he renders it by purean, which word frequently answers to mishpat in his paraphrase. One MS. has in stead of mikdash uleeben, lahem leeben, which clears the sense and construction. But the reading of the Vulgate is, I think, the best remedy to this difficulty; and is in some degree authorized by lahem, the reading of the MS. above mentioned.