Isaiah 33:18

“Thine heart shall meditate terror, &c.] shall recollect, and think of with pleasure and thankfulness, the terror they were formerly seized with, when surrounded and oppressed by their enemies, particularly at the time of the slaying of the witnesses, which will be a terrible time to the church and people of God; but when that is over, they will call it to mind with gratitude, for deliverance from itf660. This is commonly understood of the terror and consternation the Jews were in when besieged by the Assyrian army; and so the following words, Where [is] the scribe? where [is] the receiver? where [is] he that counted the towers? are taken to be either the words of the Jews in their distress,…”

“meditate--on the "terror" caused by the enemy, but now past. where, &c.--the language of the Jews exulting over their escape from danger. scribe--who enrolled the army [MAURER]; or, who prescribed the tribute to be paid [ROSENMULLER]; or, who kept an account of the spoil. "The principal scribe of the host" (Kg2 25:19; Jer 52:25). The Assyrian records are free from the exaggerations of Egyptian records. Two scribes are seen in every Assyrian bas-relief, writing down the various objects brought to them, the heads of the slain, prisoners, cattle, sheep, &c. receiver--"weigher," Margin. LAYARD mentions, among the Assyrian inscriptions, "a pair a scales for weighing the spoils." counted . . .…”

“Thine heart - The heart of the people of Jerusalem. Shall meditate terror - This is similar to the expression in Virgil: - forsan et haec olim meminisse jurabit. AEn. ii. 203. The sense here is, ‘You shall hereafter think over all this alarm and distress. When the enemy is destroyed, the city saved, and the king shall reign in magnificence over all the nation then enjoying peace and prosperity, you shall recall these days of terror and alarm, and shall then ask with gratitude and astonishment, Where are they who caused this alarm? Where are now they who so confidently calculated on taking the city? They are all gone - and gone in a manner suited to excite astonishment and adoring gratitude.’…”

“Thine heart - This is a thankful acknowledgment of deliverance from their former terrors and miseries. Where - These words they spoke in the time of their distress. The scribe, whom we call muster - master, was to make and keep a list of the soldiers, and to call them together as occasion required: the receiver, received and laid out the money for the charges of the war; and he that counted the towers, surveyed all the parts of the city, and considered what towers or fortifications were to be made or repaired. And unto these several officers the people resorted, with great distraction and confusion. Isaiah 33:19”

“33:18 Assyrian officers brought great terror to Judah when the Assyrians defeated various cities around Jerusalem (2 Kgs 18:13).”

“heart: Isa 38:9-22; Sa1 25:33-36, Sa1 30:6; Psa 31:7, Psa 31:8, Psa 31:22, Psa 71:20; Co2 1:8-10; Ti2 3:11 Where is the scribe: Co1 1:20 receiver: Heb. weigher, Gen 23:16; Kg2 15:19, Kg2 18:14, Kg2 18:31 where is he: Isa 10:16-19 Isaiah 33:19”

“The tribulation has passed away like a dream. "Thy heart meditates upon the shuddering. Where is the valuer? where the weigher? where he who counted the towers? The rough people thou seest no more, the people of deep inaudible lip, of stammering unintelligible tongue." The dreadful past is so thoroughly forced out of mind by the glorious present, that they are obliged to turn back their thoughts (hâgâh, meditari, as Jerome renders it) to remember it at all. The sōphēr who had the management of the raising of the tribute, the shōqēl who tested the weight of the gold and silver, the sōpher 'eth hammigdâl who drew up the plan of the city to be besieged or stormed, are all vanished. The…”