אוי ═ הוי Woe!¹—Woe unto those that go down to Egypt, that do not see the deliverance that is coming, and go thither in order to be saved, but will in fact perish there.

footnotes: ¹ See c. i., Note 13.

ולא שעו And they look not. Lit. They do not resign themselves to the mercy of God.² Comp. שעו מני turn away from me (22:4); to consider שענו ═ שעו is incorrect.³

footnotes: ² שעה means literally to turn away (See I. E. on 17:7, and note 11); it is, therefore, usually followed by מן from; but by way of ellipsis, sometimes by אל, so that שעה מן ⋯ אל ═ שעה אל. ³ שעו is derived from שעה to turn; שענו from שען to lean.

Yet he also is wise, etc. God also knew their plans, and has brought evil upon them.

לא הסיר He hath not called back.⁴

footnotes: ⁴ A.V., He will not call back.

And not a spirit, that is, not an angel. Comp. ורוחו and His spirit═and His angel (48:16).⁵

footnotes: ⁵ אֵל and רוּחַ are contrasted with אדם and בשר, the help from above with that of man, the deliverance to be caused by God with that expected from the support of Egypt; in the report of the deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian army, the angel is mentioned as the agent; therefore רוח is explained here by angel.

His hand. The striking with His hand.

And they all together, Egypt and those that fled thither. The King of Assyria attacked Egypt at the same time that Jerusalem was threatened by him.⁶

footnotes: ⁶ The expedition of Sennacherib against Egypt was not successful; he besieged Pelusium, but was compelled to retire by Tirhaka, King of Æthiopia. See Geschichte Assure und Babels von Niebuhr, p. 174.

יכליון They shall fail. It is the full form, without dropping the third radical, like יחסיון they trust⁷ (Ps. 36:8)

footnotes: ⁷ Comp. 21:12.

יהגה He roareth. It is the same in meaning as ישאג.

יקרא עליו מלא רעים אשר When all⁸ shepherds are called, one by the other, to join in the fight against the lion.

footnotes: ⁸ A. V., A multitude of.

מלא The full number, all of them, that not one shepherd shall fail to come.

לא יענה He will not abase himself. Root ענה to be poor. Comp. עני poor (Deut. 24:12); לענות to be humble (Ex. 10:3); יענה shall be brought low (25:5).

So shall the Lord of hosts come down, etc. The angel coming down to smite the Assyrian army is meant.

כצפרים As birds. This noun is feminine, although it has the plural termination ־ִים (comp. פילגשים concubines, signifying exclusively a female being, and still with the masculine termination); it is therefore followed by the feminine form עפות flying.

עפות is a participle. Comp. רצות ושבוּת running and returning (Ez. 1:14).⁹

footnotes: ⁹ The Hebrew text has רצות נשבות; this seems to be a corruption of רצות ושבות, (the reading of the Br. Mus. MS.); but this phrase is not found in the Bible; we must, therefore, either suggest another reading, perhaps נשמות ארצות, countries that are desolate, (Ez. 30:7), and explain the quotation as a proof of the correctness of the use of the participle as an adjective, or suppose that I. E. read רצות ושבות (Ez. 1:14), instead of רצוא ושוב of our editions.

יגן He will cover.¹⁰ Comp. מגן shield (Gen. 15:1). As the birds cover with their wings their young ones, in order to protect them, so will the Lord, etc.

footnotes: ¹⁰ A.V., Will defend.—Root גנן to cover, to protect.

וְהִצִּיל And to deliver.¹¹ Although there is a Hirek under the ה, it is nevertheless infinitive.¹²

footnotes: ¹¹ A.V., He will deliver. ¹² The regular form is וְהַצֵּל. The same remark is to be applied to וְהִמְלִיט instead of וְהַמְלִיט

פסוח To pass over. Comp. ופסח and he will pass over (Ex. 12:23)

Turn ye unto him, etc. The prophet, addressing Israel, says: Return, ye Israelites, to God, from whom you have deeply revolted. סרה is derived from סרר to revolt. Comp. סורר rebellious (Deut. 21:18)

Your hands. Your workmen.

חטא For a sin; for a sin κατ ἐξοχήν, a sin that surpasses all others.

With a sword, not of a mighty man, but with the drawn sword of an angel. The sword is a figurative expression.

And his young men that will have escaped shall be discomfited, shall be overtaken on the ways in which they try to flee.

And he shall pass by his stronghold, etc.¹³ He will go beyond his stronghold at the border of his kingdom, for his great fear; he will flee, and not rely on his strongholds. And his princes, etc. His princes that will have escaped, or will remain in the land, will be afraid of every ensign which they will see.

footnotes: ¹³ A. V., And he shall pass over to his stronghold.

Fire, furnace. By these names the altar in Jerusalem is meant; or they are used figuratively,¹⁴ like And the flame of consuming fire (29:6).¹⁵

footnotes: ¹⁴ Signifying the approaching divine punishment. ¹⁵ Comp. I. E., ad locum.