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Isaiah 33:1. Wo to thee that spoilest — To Sennacherib, who wasted the land of Judah. The prophet speaks “as if he had found this great spoiler,” to whom he addresses himself, “in the very act of spoiling, and was face to face denouncing the divine judgment upon him.” And thou wast not spoiled — Hadst not received the like injuries. “It is the practice of the great oppressors of the world to make war upon their neighbours without any just provocation, or having received any real injury from them; and it is against such practices that this wo is denounced.” — Lowth. And dealest treacherously — So Sennacherib dealt with Hezekiah, 2 Kings 18:14; 2 Kings 18:17. And, or when, they dealt not treacherously with thee — Hezekiah and the Jews did not. “We read, indeed, (2 Kings 18:7,) that Hezekiah rebelled against the king of Assyria; but the meaning is no more than that he would not stand to those dishonourable terms of slavery, to which his father Ahaz had submitted, when he professed himself the servant of the king of Assyria,” (2 Kings 16:7,) begging his assistance against the Syrians and Ephraimites, for which he paid him well; but the king of Assyria did not keep his agreement with him, for he distressed him, but strengthened him not, 2 Chronicles 28:20. When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled — When thou hast performed the work of chastising my people, to which I have sent thee, thou also shalt be spoiled by thine enemies. The further meaning of this prediction may be, that when the Assyrians, glutted, as it were, with their conquests, should cease to make any further conquests, and give themselves up to luxury and pleasure, then other nations, either mindful of the injuries which they had received from them, or out of rapacity, would attack them in their turn, and spoil them, as they had spoiled others: which came to pass accordingly. Their calamities seem to have begun from the times that Dejoces, king of the Medes, shook off their yoke, about seven hundred years before Christ: for other nations soon followed his example.

Isaiah 33:2. O Lord, be gracious unto us — The prophet and the pious Jews, contemplating the calamity coming upon their country, here direct their prayer unto God for themselves and their people. Be thou their arm — That is, their strength, namely, the strength of all that trust in thee, and wait for thee, Psalm 25:3; every morning — Hebrew, לבקרים, in the mornings; that is, every day seasonably and speedily; on all occasions as they need. In mentioning the mornings, the prophet is thought to refer to the time of the morning sacrifice, which was the morning hour of prayer with the pious Jews; but he includes all other times of prayer, in all which he desires God to hear and answer his people, and to be their salvation all the day long, and especially to support them in the time of trouble.

Isaiah 33:3-4. At the noise of the tumult — Which shall be made upon the angel’s destroying the army; the people fled — Namely, those of the army who escaped that stroke. At the lifting up of thyself — To execute judgment; the nations were scattered — The people of divers nations which made up Sennacherib’s army. And your spoil — That treasure which you have raked together by spoiling divers people; shall be gathered — By the Jews at Jerusalem, when you shall be forced to flee away with all possible speed, leaving your spoils behind you; like the gathering of the caterpillar — As caterpillars gather and devour all the fruits of the earth, which was a common plague in those countries; as the running to and fro of locusts, &c. — As locusts, especially when they are armed by commission from God, come with great force, and run hither and thither devouring every thing before them; shall he run upon them — Namely, Hezekiah, with his people, shall thus eagerly run to the spoil of the Assyrian camp, and shall take it.

Isaiah 33:5-6. The Lord is exalted — By the destruction of so potent an army, and by the defence of his people. For he dwelleth on high — He is, and will appear to be, superior to his enemies, both in place and power. He dwelleth in heaven, whence he can easily and irresistibly pour down judgments upon his enemies. He hath fulfilled — Or, he will fill Zion —

Or Jerusalem; with judgment and righteousness — That is, either, 1st, With a glorious instance of his just judgment against the Assyrians; or, 2d, With the execution of justice by good Hezekiah, and the practice of righteousness among the people, as before the same city was filled with impiety and injustice under Ahaz. The city shall not only be delivered from that wicked enemy, but shall also be established and blessed with true religion and righteousness; which was a great addition to that mercy. And wisdom and knowledge — To govern thyself and the people well. The words seem to be addressed to Hezekiah, either by the prophet, or, as Bishop Lowth thinks, by a chorus of the Jews. Shall be the stability of thy times — Of thy reign; times being often put for the things done in those times, The sense is, thy throne shall be established upon the sure foundations of wisdom and justice; and strength of salvation — Thy saving strength, or thy strong and mighty salvation. The fear of the Lord is his treasure — Thy chief treasure and delight shall be in promoting the fear and worship of God, which shall be a great honour and safeguard to thyself and people.

Isaiah 33:7-9. Behold, &c. — That the mercy here promised might be duly appreciated and magnified, he gives a lively representation of the great danger and distress in which it found them. Their valiant ones — “Three MSS.,” says Bishop Lowth, “read אראלים, lions of God, or strong lions; so they called valiant men, heroes; which appellation the Arabians and Persians still use.” The Hebrew doctors, however, understand by the word, their heralds, or messengers, namely, those whom Hezekiah sent to treat with the Assyrian commissioners, 2 Kings 18:18. Shall cry without — Through grief and fear: the ambassadors of peace — Whom Hezekiah sent to beg peace of the Assyrian; shall weep bitterly — Because they cannot obtain their desire. The wayfaring man ceaseth — Because the Assyrian soldiers possessed and filled the land. He hath broken the covenant — Sennacherib broke his faith given to Hezekiah, of departing for a sum of money, 2 Kings 18:14; 2 Kings 18:17. He hath despised the cities — The defenced cities of Judah, which he contemned and easily took. He regardeth no man — Either to spare, or to fear, or keep faith with him. He neither feareth God nor reverenceth man. The earth mourneth, &c. — Being desolate and neglected. Lebanon is hewn down — By the Assyrians. Or, as קמלrather signifies, and is here rendered by some withereth, or languisheth, because its trees are spoiled and destroyed by the Assyrians. Sharon is like a wilderness — Although before it was a pleasant and fruitful place. Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits — Are spoiled of them. These two places, eminent for fertility, and especially for good pastures, are here put for all such places.

Isaiah 33:10-13. Now will I rise — In this extremity I will appear on the behalf of my people and land. Ye shall bring forth stubble — Instead of solid corn. Your great hopes and designs, O ye Assyrians, shall be utterly disappointed. Your breath, as fire, shall devour you — Your rage against my people shall bring ruin upon yourselves. Or, the arrogance, pride, wrath, and blasphemies which you vent against God shall be your destruction. Dr. Waterland renders the clause, “Your breath shall be the fire that shall consume you.” The people shall be as the burnings of lime — Shall be perfectly consumed, as when chalk-stones are reduced to lime; calcining, or reducing to ashes, being one of the last effects of fire. Thus we learn from this period, that when the calamity of the people, as well as the insolence of their enemies, should be come to the height, God would delay no longer, but immediately interpose and severely punish the oppressors, and thereby exalt his glory before the eyes of the nations, whom he calls upon, in the next words, to consider his doings. Hear, ye afar off, &c. — So remarkable a judgment as this deserves to be known, and laid to heart, by all men, both far and near.

Isaiah 33:14. The sinners in Zion are afraid — This is spoken, not of the Assyrians, but of the Jews. The prophet, having foretold the deliverance of God’s people, and the destruction of their enemies, for the greater illustration of that wonderful work, may be here considered as returning to the description of the dismal condition in which the Jews, especially such of them as were unbelieving and ungodly, should be before this deliverance came. For, although the pious Jews would be, in some measure, supported by a sense of God’s favour, and by his promises, delivered to them by Isaiah, yet very many of them, probably the generality, he foresaw, would be filled with horrors, and expectations of utter destruction. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? — How shall we be able to abide the presence, and endure, or avoid, the wrath of that God, who is a consuming fire; who is now about to destroy us utterly by the Assyrians, and will afterward burn us with unquenchable fire? Or, the prophet may be considered as describing, in these words, the consternation with which the sinners in Zion would be struck, when they should see the Assyrian army destroyed; for the destruction of that is the fire spoken of immediately before, (Isaiah 33:11-12,) and they were conscious to themselves of having provoked this God, by their secret worshipping of other gods, as well as by many other sins. As if he had said, This miraculous destruction of the Assyrians shall strike even the most profane among the Jews, who used to scoff at God’s threatenings, with terror, lest he should proceed in wrath against themselves; so that they shall say, Who among us shall dwell with this devouring fire — Before which so vast an army is as thorns? Who shall dwell with these everlasting burnings — Which have made the Assyrians as the burnings of lime? How shall we be able to endure the wrath of this God, which, if it once seize upon us, will utterly consume us, and will also be a pledge and forerunner of eternal torments in hell, if not prevented by timely repentance? For, since it is sufficiently evident from both the Old and New Testaments, that the Jews, except the Sadducees, did generally believe in the rewards and punishments of a future life; it is not strange if their guilty consciences made them dread both present judgments here, and the terrible consequences of them hereafter.

Isaiah 33:15-16. He that walketh righteously — He who, being first made righteous by the justification of his person, and the renovation of his nature, (see on Genesis 15:6, and Psalm 32:1-2,) afterward practises righteousness in all its branches: (1 John 3:7-8,) and particularly in all his dealings with men, of which the following clauses explain it; and speaketh uprightly — Hebrew, מישׁרים, uprightnesses, who speaks what is true and right, and with an holiest intention. Who does not think one thing and speak another, but whose word is to him as sacred as his oath; that despiseth the gain of oppressions — Who is so far from coveting gain unjustly gotten, that he despises it; thinks it a mean and sordid, as well as a wicked thing, to enrich himself by any injustice done to, or hardship put upon, his neighbour; that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes — Or, from taking, or receiving them, as תמךְis often rendered; who will not receive, much less will retain bribes; that stoppeth his ears, &c. — Who will not assent, or even hearken, to any counsels or practices tending to shed innocent blood; or to any kind of cruelty toward any one; or to any suggestions inciting him to revenge; and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil — That abhors the very sight of sin committed by others, and who himself watches against the occasions of it. Those that would preserve the purity of their souls, must keep a strict guard on the senses of their bodies; stop their ears to temptations, and turn away their eyes from beholding vanity. He shall dwell on high — Out of the reach of danger; his place of defence — the munitions of rocks — The divine power will keep him safe, as though he were in a tower, strong and impregnable, fortified by nature as well as art. God, the Rock of ages, will be his place of defence. Bread shall be given him, &c. — God will furnish him with all things needful. They that fear the Lord shall not want any thing that is good for them.