Isa 66:15-16, 18 | JFB | e4.org | 15. ( ). chariots . . . whirlwind — ( ). render —as the Hebrew elsewhere ( ) means to "allay" or "stay wrath." MAURER translates it so here: He stays His anger with nothing but fury, " &c.; nothing short of pouring out all His fiery fury will satisfy His wrath. fury —"burning heat" [LOWTH ], to which the parallel, "flames of fire," answers.

‏ Isaiah 66:15-16

15. (Isa 9:5; Ps 50:3; Hab 3:5; 2Th 1:8; 2Pe 3:7).

chariots . . . whirlwind— (Jer 4:13).

render—as the Hebrew elsewhere (Job 9:13; Ps 78:38) means to "allay" or "stay wrath." MAURER translates it so here: He stays His anger with nothing but fury," &c.; nothing short of pouring out all His fiery fury will satisfy His wrath.

fury—"burning heat" [LOWTH], to which the parallel, "flames of fire," answers.

16. Rather, "With fire will Jehovah judge, and with His sword (He will judge) all flesh." The parallelism and collocation of the Hebrew words favor this (Isa 65:12).

all flesh—that is, all who are the objects of His wrath. The godly shall be hidden by the Lord in a place of safety away from the scene of judgment (Isa 26:20, 21; Ps 31:20; 1Th 4:16, 17).

‏ Isaiah 66:18

18. know—not in the Hebrew. Rather, understand the words by aposiopesis; it is usual in threats to leave the persons threatened to supply the hiatus from their own fears, owing to conscious guilt: "For I . . . their works and thoughts," &c.; namely, will punish [MAURER].

it shall come—the time is come that I will, &c. [MAURER].

gather . . . nations—against Jerusalem, where the ungodly Jews shall perish; and then the Lord at last shall fight for Jerusalem against those nations: and the survivors (Isa 66:19) shall "see God's glory" (Zec 12:8, 9; 14:1-3, 9).

tongues—which have been many owing to sin, being confounded at Babel, but which shall again be one in Christ (Da 7:14; Zep 3:9; Re 7:9, 10).