Isaiah 1:31

“And the strong shall be as tow, &c.] ˆwsjh, “that strong one”, who is eminently so; the little horn, whose look is more stout than his fellows, (<270720>Daniel 7:20) the beast who had great power and authority given by the dragon, (<661302>Revelation 13:2,4,7) who shall be cast alive into the lake of fire; when he will be like tow in those devouring flames, easily, quickly, and irrecoverably consumed, (<270711>Daniel 7:11) (<661920>Revelation 19:20) and the maker of it as a spark, or “his work”; so the Targum, “and the work of their hands shall be as a spark of fire;” or like the embers and ashes of a coal, which are blown away and lost at once: so antichrist, and all his evil works, as well…”

“strong--powerful rulers (Amo 2:9). maker of it--rather, his work. He shall be at once the fuel, "tow," and the cause of the fire, by kindling the first "spark." both--the wicked ruler, and "his work," which "is as a spark." Next: Isaiah Chapter 2”

“And the strong - Those who have been thought to be strong, on whom the people relied for protection and defense - their rulers, princes, and the commanders of their armies. As tow - The coarse or broken part of flax, or hemp. It means here that which shall be easily and quickly kindled and rapidly consumed. As tow burns and is destroyed at the touch of fire, so shall the rulers of the people be consumed by the approaching calamities. And the maker of it - This is an unhappy translation. The word פעלו po‛ălô may be indeed a participle, and be rendered ‘its maker,’ but it is more commonly a noun, and means his work, or his action. This is its plain meaning here. So the Latin Vulgate, the…”

“The strong - Your idols, which you think to be strong and able to defend you. As tow - Shall be as suddenly and easily, consumed by my judgments, as tow is by fire. The maker - Of the idol, who can neither save himself nor his workmanship. Next: Isaiah Chapter 2”

“the strong: Eze 32:21 as tow: Isa 27:4, Isa 43:17, Isa 50:11; Jdg 15:14; Rev 6:14-17 the maker of it: or, his work and they: Isa 34:9, Isa 34:10, Isa 66:24; Eze 20:47, Eze 20:48; Mal 4:1; Mat 3:10; Mar 9:43-49; Rev 14:10, Rev 14:11, Rev 19:20, Rev 20:10 Next: Isaiah Chapter 2”

“Isa 1:31 shows in a third figure where this spark was to come from: "And the rich man becomes tow, and his work the spark; and they will both burn together, and no one extinguishes them." The form poalo suggests at first a participial meaning (its maker), but החסון would be a very unusual epithet to apply to an idol. Moreover, the figure itself would be a distorted one, since the natural order would be, that the idol would be the thing that kindled the fire, and the man the object to be set on fire, and not the reverse. We therefore follow the lxx, Targ., and Vulg., with Gesenius and other more recent grammarians, and adopt the rendering "his work" (opus ejus). The forms פּעלו and פּעלו…”