Isaiah 9:5
Verse
Summary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
Every battle of the warrior "The greaves of the armed warrior" - שאון שאון seon soen. This word, occurring only in this place, is oaf very doubtful signification. Schindler fairly tells us that we may guess at it by the context. The Jews have explained it, by guess I believe, as signifying battle, conflict: the Vulgate renders it violenta praedatio. But it seems as if something was rather meant which was capable of becoming fuel for the fire, together with the garments mentioned in the same sentence. In Syriac the word, as a noun, signifies a shoe, or a sandal, as a learned friend suggested to me some years ago. See Luk 15:22; Act 12:8. I take it, therefore, to mean that part of the armor which covered the legs and feet, and I would render the two words in Latin by caliga caligati. The burning of heaps of armor, gathered from the field of battle, as an offering made to the god supposed to be the giver of victory, was a custom that prevailed among some heathen nations; and the Romans used it as an emblem of peace, which perfectly well suits with the design of the prophet in this place. A medal struck by Vespasian on finishing his wars both at home and abroad represents the goddess Peace holding an olive branch in one hand, and, with a lighted torch in the other, setting fire to a heap of armor. Virgil mentions the custom: - " - Cum primam aciem Praeneste sub ipsa Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos." Aen. lib. viii., ver. 561. "Would heaven, (said he), my strength and youth recall, Such as I was beneath Praeneste's wall - Then when I made the foremost foes retire And set whole heaps of conquered shields on fire." Dryden. See Addison on Medals, Series 2:18. And there are notices of some such practice among the Israelites, and other nations of the most early times. God promises to Joshua victory over the kings of Canaan. "To-morrow I will deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire," Jos 11:6. See also Nah 2:13. And the psalmist employs this image to express complete victory, and the perfect establishment of peace: - "He maketh wars to cease, even to the end of the land: He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; And burneth the chariots in the fire. - Psa 46:9. עגלות agaloth, properly plausira, impedimenta, the baggage-wagons: which however the Septuagint and Vulgate render scuta, "shields;" and the Chaldee, "round shields," to show the propriety of that sense of the word from the etymology; which, if admitted, makes the image the same with that used by the Romans. Ezekiel, Eze 39:8-10, in his bold manner has carried this image to a degree of amplification which I think hardly any other of the Hebrew poets would have attempted. He describes the burning of the arms of the enemy, in consequence of the complete victory to be obtained by the Israelites over Gog and Magog: - "Behold, it is come to pass, and it is done, Saith the Lord Jehovah. This is the day of which I spoke: And the inhabitants of the cities of Israel shall go forth. And shall set on fire the armor, and the shield, And the buckler, and the bow, and the arrows, And the clubs and the lances; And they shall set them on fire for seven years. And they shall not bear wood from the field; Neither shall they hew from the forest: For of the armor shall they make their fires; And they shall spoil their spoilers, And they shall plunder their plunderers." R. D. Kimchi, on this verse says this refers simply to the destruction of the Assyrians. Other battles are fought man against man, and spear against spear; and the garments are rolled in blood through the wounds given and received: but this was with burning, for the angel of the Lord smote them by night, and there was neither sword nor violent commotion, nor blood; they were food for the fire, for the angel of the Lord consumed them.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
"For every boot of those who tramp with boots in the tumult of battle, and cloak rolled in blood, shall be for burning, a food of fire." That which is the food of fire becomes at the same time a sĕrēphâh, inasmuch as the devouring fire reduces it to ashes, and destroys its previous existence. This closing statement requires for סאון the concrete sense of a combustible thing; and this precludes such meanings as business (Handel und Wandel), noise, or din (= שׁאון, Jerome, Syriac, Rashi, and others). On the other hand, the meaning "military equipment," adopted by Knobel and others - a meaning derived from a comparison of the derivatives of the Aramaean zūn, ăzan, and the Arabic zâna, fut. yezı̄n (to dress or equip) - would be quite admissible; at the same time, the interchange of Samech and Zain in this word cannot be dialectically established. Jos. Kimchi has very properly referred to the Targum sēn, mesân (Syr. also sâūn with an essentially long a), which signifies shoe (see Bynaeus, de calceo Hebraeorum) - a word which is more Aramaean than Hebrew, and the use of which in the present connection might be explained on the ground that the prophet had in his mind the annihilation of the Assyrian forces. We should no doubt expect sâ'ūn (sandaloumenos) instead of sō'ēn; but the denom. verb sâ'ăn might be applied to a soldier's coming up in military boots, and so signify Caligatum venire, although the primary meaning is certainly Calceare se (e.g., Eph 6:15, Syr.). Accordingly we should render it, "every boot of him who comes booted (des Einherstiefelnden) into the tumult of battle," taking the word ra‛ash, not as Drechsler does, in the sense of the noise made by a warrior coming up proudly in his war-boots, nor with Luzzatto in the sense of the war-boot itself, for which the word is too strong, but as referring to the noise or tumult of battle (as in Jer 10:22), in the midst of which the man comes up equipped or shod for military service. The prophet names the boot and garment with an obvious purpose. The destruction of the hostile weapons follows as a matter of course, if even the military shoes, worn by the soldiers in the enemies' ranks, and the military cloaks that were lying in dâmim, i.e., in blood violently shed upon the battle-field, were all given up to the fire.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
every battle, &c.--rather, "every greave of (the warrior who is) armed with greaves in the din of battle, and the martial garment (or cloak, called by the Latins sagum) rolled in blood, shall be for burning, (and) fuel for fire" [MAURER]. All warlike accoutrements shall be destroyed, as no longer required in the new era of peace (Isa 2:4; Isa 11:6-7; Psa 46:9; Eze 39:9; Mic 5:5, Mic 5:10; Zac 9:9-10). Compare Mal 4:1, as to the previous burning up of the wicked.
John Gill Bible Commentary
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise,.... With the sound of the trumpet and as now with beating of drums, and the huzzas and shoutings of the soldiers, the stamping and neighing of horses, the rushing of chariots, and rumbling of wheels, and the clashing of swords, spears, and shields, and these sometimes striking one against another (k): and garments rolled in blood; of them that were slain in battle: but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire; which refers either to the sudden destruction of the Midianites, or rather to the quick and easy conquest that Christ obtained over sin, Satan, the world, and death; which was as soon over as any combustible matter is burnt with fire. Some interpret this of the destruction of the devil, his angels, of antichrist, and all wicked men by fire, at the last day; and others think that this last clause is to be read in connection with the preceding: "and garments rolled in blood, which shall be for burning, the fuel of fire" (l); that is, which garments rolled in blood shall be burnt with fire, and utterly consumed; and so there be no more war, but perpetual peace. It was usual after victory to burn the armour and spoils of the enemy (m); or rather it may intend the burning love and flaming zeal and affection of Christ the Saviour, next described Isa 9:5. (k) Vid. Lydium de re militari, l. 4. c. 3. p. 159. (l) So Cocceius, De Dieu. (m) Vid. Lydium de re militari, l. 6. e. 4. p. 229.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
9:5 Burning the boots and uniforms marked the end of the need for instruments of war.
Isaiah 9:5
Unto Us a Child Is Born
4For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor. 5For every trampling boot of battle and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
Every battle of the warrior "The greaves of the armed warrior" - שאון שאון seon soen. This word, occurring only in this place, is oaf very doubtful signification. Schindler fairly tells us that we may guess at it by the context. The Jews have explained it, by guess I believe, as signifying battle, conflict: the Vulgate renders it violenta praedatio. But it seems as if something was rather meant which was capable of becoming fuel for the fire, together with the garments mentioned in the same sentence. In Syriac the word, as a noun, signifies a shoe, or a sandal, as a learned friend suggested to me some years ago. See Luk 15:22; Act 12:8. I take it, therefore, to mean that part of the armor which covered the legs and feet, and I would render the two words in Latin by caliga caligati. The burning of heaps of armor, gathered from the field of battle, as an offering made to the god supposed to be the giver of victory, was a custom that prevailed among some heathen nations; and the Romans used it as an emblem of peace, which perfectly well suits with the design of the prophet in this place. A medal struck by Vespasian on finishing his wars both at home and abroad represents the goddess Peace holding an olive branch in one hand, and, with a lighted torch in the other, setting fire to a heap of armor. Virgil mentions the custom: - " - Cum primam aciem Praeneste sub ipsa Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos." Aen. lib. viii., ver. 561. "Would heaven, (said he), my strength and youth recall, Such as I was beneath Praeneste's wall - Then when I made the foremost foes retire And set whole heaps of conquered shields on fire." Dryden. See Addison on Medals, Series 2:18. And there are notices of some such practice among the Israelites, and other nations of the most early times. God promises to Joshua victory over the kings of Canaan. "To-morrow I will deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire," Jos 11:6. See also Nah 2:13. And the psalmist employs this image to express complete victory, and the perfect establishment of peace: - "He maketh wars to cease, even to the end of the land: He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; And burneth the chariots in the fire. - Psa 46:9. עגלות agaloth, properly plausira, impedimenta, the baggage-wagons: which however the Septuagint and Vulgate render scuta, "shields;" and the Chaldee, "round shields," to show the propriety of that sense of the word from the etymology; which, if admitted, makes the image the same with that used by the Romans. Ezekiel, Eze 39:8-10, in his bold manner has carried this image to a degree of amplification which I think hardly any other of the Hebrew poets would have attempted. He describes the burning of the arms of the enemy, in consequence of the complete victory to be obtained by the Israelites over Gog and Magog: - "Behold, it is come to pass, and it is done, Saith the Lord Jehovah. This is the day of which I spoke: And the inhabitants of the cities of Israel shall go forth. And shall set on fire the armor, and the shield, And the buckler, and the bow, and the arrows, And the clubs and the lances; And they shall set them on fire for seven years. And they shall not bear wood from the field; Neither shall they hew from the forest: For of the armor shall they make their fires; And they shall spoil their spoilers, And they shall plunder their plunderers." R. D. Kimchi, on this verse says this refers simply to the destruction of the Assyrians. Other battles are fought man against man, and spear against spear; and the garments are rolled in blood through the wounds given and received: but this was with burning, for the angel of the Lord smote them by night, and there was neither sword nor violent commotion, nor blood; they were food for the fire, for the angel of the Lord consumed them.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
"For every boot of those who tramp with boots in the tumult of battle, and cloak rolled in blood, shall be for burning, a food of fire." That which is the food of fire becomes at the same time a sĕrēphâh, inasmuch as the devouring fire reduces it to ashes, and destroys its previous existence. This closing statement requires for סאון the concrete sense of a combustible thing; and this precludes such meanings as business (Handel und Wandel), noise, or din (= שׁאון, Jerome, Syriac, Rashi, and others). On the other hand, the meaning "military equipment," adopted by Knobel and others - a meaning derived from a comparison of the derivatives of the Aramaean zūn, ăzan, and the Arabic zâna, fut. yezı̄n (to dress or equip) - would be quite admissible; at the same time, the interchange of Samech and Zain in this word cannot be dialectically established. Jos. Kimchi has very properly referred to the Targum sēn, mesân (Syr. also sâūn with an essentially long a), which signifies shoe (see Bynaeus, de calceo Hebraeorum) - a word which is more Aramaean than Hebrew, and the use of which in the present connection might be explained on the ground that the prophet had in his mind the annihilation of the Assyrian forces. We should no doubt expect sâ'ūn (sandaloumenos) instead of sō'ēn; but the denom. verb sâ'ăn might be applied to a soldier's coming up in military boots, and so signify Caligatum venire, although the primary meaning is certainly Calceare se (e.g., Eph 6:15, Syr.). Accordingly we should render it, "every boot of him who comes booted (des Einherstiefelnden) into the tumult of battle," taking the word ra‛ash, not as Drechsler does, in the sense of the noise made by a warrior coming up proudly in his war-boots, nor with Luzzatto in the sense of the war-boot itself, for which the word is too strong, but as referring to the noise or tumult of battle (as in Jer 10:22), in the midst of which the man comes up equipped or shod for military service. The prophet names the boot and garment with an obvious purpose. The destruction of the hostile weapons follows as a matter of course, if even the military shoes, worn by the soldiers in the enemies' ranks, and the military cloaks that were lying in dâmim, i.e., in blood violently shed upon the battle-field, were all given up to the fire.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
every battle, &c.--rather, "every greave of (the warrior who is) armed with greaves in the din of battle, and the martial garment (or cloak, called by the Latins sagum) rolled in blood, shall be for burning, (and) fuel for fire" [MAURER]. All warlike accoutrements shall be destroyed, as no longer required in the new era of peace (Isa 2:4; Isa 11:6-7; Psa 46:9; Eze 39:9; Mic 5:5, Mic 5:10; Zac 9:9-10). Compare Mal 4:1, as to the previous burning up of the wicked.
John Gill Bible Commentary
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise,.... With the sound of the trumpet and as now with beating of drums, and the huzzas and shoutings of the soldiers, the stamping and neighing of horses, the rushing of chariots, and rumbling of wheels, and the clashing of swords, spears, and shields, and these sometimes striking one against another (k): and garments rolled in blood; of them that were slain in battle: but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire; which refers either to the sudden destruction of the Midianites, or rather to the quick and easy conquest that Christ obtained over sin, Satan, the world, and death; which was as soon over as any combustible matter is burnt with fire. Some interpret this of the destruction of the devil, his angels, of antichrist, and all wicked men by fire, at the last day; and others think that this last clause is to be read in connection with the preceding: "and garments rolled in blood, which shall be for burning, the fuel of fire" (l); that is, which garments rolled in blood shall be burnt with fire, and utterly consumed; and so there be no more war, but perpetual peace. It was usual after victory to burn the armour and spoils of the enemy (m); or rather it may intend the burning love and flaming zeal and affection of Christ the Saviour, next described Isa 9:5. (k) Vid. Lydium de re militari, l. 4. c. 3. p. 159. (l) So Cocceius, De Dieu. (m) Vid. Lydium de re militari, l. 6. e. 4. p. 229.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
9:5 Burning the boots and uniforms marked the end of the need for instruments of war.