Attributed commentary excerpt
Barnes' Notes on Isaiah 18:1
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Notes on the Whole Bible
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Woe to the land - (הוי hôy). This word, as has been already remarked (the note at Isaiah 17:12), may be a mere interjection or salutation, and would be appropriately rendered by ‘Ho!’ Or it may be a word denouncing judgment, or wrath, as it is often used in this prophecy (the note at Isaiah 5:8). Shadowing with wings - (כנפים צלצל tsı̂letsal kenāpāı̂ym). This is one of the most difficult expressions in the whole chapter; and one to which as yet, probably, no satisfactory meaning has been applied. The Septuagint renders it, Οὐαὶ γῆς πλοὶων πτέρυγες Ouai gēs ploiōn pteruges - ‘Ah! wings of the land of ships.’ The Chaldee, ‘Woe to the land in which they come in ships from a distant country, and whose sails are spread out as an eagle which flies upon its wings.’ Grotius renders it, ‘The land whose extreme parts are shaded by mountains.’ The word rendered, ‘shadowed’ צלצל tsı̂letsal, occurs only in this place and in Job 41:7, where it is translated ‘fish-spears’ - but as we know nothing of the “form” of those spears, that place throws no light on the meaning of the word here. The word is derived, evidently, from צלל tsālal, which has three significations: (1) “To be shady, dark, obscure;” and hence, its derivatives are applied to anything that “makes” a shade or shadow - particularly “shady trees” Job 40:21-22; the shades of night Song of Solomon 2:17; Song of Solomon 4:6; or anything that produces obscurity, or darkness, as a tree, a rock, a wing, etc. (2) It means “to tingle,” spoken of the ears 1Sa 3:11; 2 Kings 21:13; “to quiver,” spoken of the lips Habakkuk 3:16; and hence, its derivatives are applied to anything that makes a sound by “tinkling” - an instrument of music; a cymbal made of two pieces of metal that are struck together 2Sa 6:5; 1 Chronicles 15:16; 1 Chronicles 16:42; 1Ch 25:6; 2 Chronicles 5:12; Nehemiah 12:27; Psalms 150:5) (3) It means “to sink” Exodus 15:10. From the sense of making “a shade,” a derivative of the verb צלצל tselâtsâl - the same as used here except the points - is applied to locusts because they appear in such swarms as to obscure the rays of the sun, and produce an extended shade, or shadow, over a land as a cloud does; or because they make a rustling with their wings. The word used here, therefore, may mean either “shaded, or rustling, or rattling,” in the manner of a cymbal or other tinkling instrument. It may be added, that the word may mean a “double shade,” being a doubling of the word צל tsêl, a “shade, or shdow,” and it has been supposed by some to apply to Ethiopia as lying betwen the tropics, having a “double shadow;” that is, so that the shadow of objects is cast one half of the year on the north side, and the other half on the south. The word ‘wings’ is applied in the Scriptures to the following things, namely: (1) The wing of a fowl. This is the literal, and common signification. (2) The skirts, borders, or lower parts of a garment, from the resemblance to wings Numbers 15:38; 1Sa 24:5, 1 Samuel 24:11; Zechariah 8:13. Also a bed-covering Deuteronomy 33:1. (3) The extremities or borders of a country, or of the world Job 37:3; Isaiah 24:16; Ezekiel 17:3, Ezekiel 17:7. (4) The “wing” or extremity of an army, as we use the word “wing” Isaiah 8:8; Jeremiah 48:40; Daniel 9:27. (5) The expanding rays of the morning, because the light “expands or spreads out” like wings Psalms 139:9; Malachi 4:2. (6) The “wind” - resembling wings in rapid motion Psalms 18:10, Psalms 18:21; Psalms 104:…
This public page shows a contextual excerpt from the locally available source text.
How to use this source
This excerpt is attributed to its named commentary. It is included as a historical study resource and should be evaluated in light of Scripture and other relevant evidence.
