Isaiah 9:18

“For wickedness burneth as the fire, &c.] That is, the punishment of their sins, as the Targum interprets it; the wrath of God for sin, which is poured out like fire, and consumes as that does; unless wicked men are meant, who are consumed with the fire of divine vengeance; the sense is the same: it shall devour the briers and thorns; sinners and ungodly, so the Targum paraphrases it; and Aben Ezra observes, they are the wicked; who are compared to briers and thorns, for their unfruitfulness in themselves, harmfulness to others, and for their weakness to stand against the fury of incensed Deity, (see <102306>2 Samuel 23:6 <232704>Isaiah 27:4): and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest.…”

“Third strophe. burneth--maketh consumption, not only spreading rapidly, but also consuming like fire: sin is its own punishment. briers . . . thorns--emblem of the wicked; especially those of low rank (Isa 27:4; Sa2 23:6). forest--from the humble shrubbery the flame spreads to the vast forest; it reaches the high, as well as the low. mount up like . . . smoke--rather. "They (the thickets of the forest) shall lift themselves proudly aloft [the Hebrew is from a Syriac root, a cock, expressing stateliness of motion, from his strutting gait, HORSLEY], in (in passing into) volumes of ascending smoke" [MAURER].”

“For wickedness - This commences the third part of the prophecy, which continues to the end of the chapter. It is a description of prevailing impiety. The effects and prevalence of it are described by the image of a raging, burning flame, that spreads everywhere: first among the humble shrubbery - the briers and thorns, then in the vast forests, until it spreads over the land, and sends a mighty column of flame and smoke up to heaven. Burneth as the fire - Spreads, rages. extends as fire does in thorns and in forests. In what respects it burns like the fire, the prophet immediately specifies. It spreads rapidly everywhere, and involves all in the effects. Wickedness is not unfrequently in the…”

“Burneth - Shall burn you, as it follows, shall devour. Thorns - The low and mean persons; for these are opposed to the thickets of the forest, in the next clause. Forest - In the wood, where the trees are tall, and stand thick, having their bows entangled together, which makes them more ready both to catch and to spread the fire. Smoak - Sending up smoak like a vast furnace. Isaiah 9:21”

“9:18-21 Following the decimation of leadership, civil war would destroy the nation like an out-of-control brushfire.”

“wickedness: Isa 1:31, Isa 30:30, Isa 30:33, Isa 33:12, Isa 34:8-10, Isa 66:16, Isa 66:17; Num 11:1-3; Deu 32:22; Job 31:11, Job 31:12; Amo 7:4; Nah 1:6, Nah 1:10; Mal 4:1; Mat 13:49, Mat 13:50, Mat 25:41; Mar 9:43-50 it shall: Isa 10:16-18, Isa 27:4; Heb 6:8 shall kindle: Eze 20:47, Eze 20:48 mount: Isa 5:24; Psa 37:20; Hos 13:3; Joe 2:20; Rev 14:11 Isaiah 9:19”

“Strophe 3. "For the wickedness burneth up like fire: it devours thorns and thistles, and burns in the thickets of the wood; and they smoke upwards in a lofty volume of smoke. Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts the land is turned into coal, and the nation has become like the food of fire: not one spares his brother. They hew on the right, and are hungry; and devour on the left, and are not satisfied: they devour the flesh of their own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: these together over Judah. With all this His anger is not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still." The standpoint of the prophet is at the extreme end of the course of judgment, and from that he looks…”