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ISAIAH.
#10.
Woes and Glories (28: - 35:).
Jerusalem, and its trust in Egypt (29: - 31:).
pp. 155 - 159
In the preceding chapter Isaiah has spoken of the sin and the punishment of Samaria.
He now turns to the rulers and people of Jerusalem and Judah and denounces in them the
self-same spirit that brought about the downfall of Samaria, the self-same instrument
being used for their abasement, namely, the king of Assyria, though this time it was
Sennacherib in the place of Shalmaneser. Chapters 29:, 30: and xxxi are devoted to
Judah's woes (because of their alliance with Egypt, and because of their blindness to the
Word), and Judah's future glories, for which the Lord waits to be gracious. There are six
references to Egypt in these three sections.
Because of its introductory nature, chapter 29:, with its twofold woe, must first of
all be considered. It explains the reasons that led both to lack of trust in the Lord and
putting trust in Egypt, which, however, is not named in it.
"Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill
sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall
be unto Me as Ariel" (Isa. 29: 1, 2).
With such cryptic terms Isaiah opens his mouth against Judah. What does he mean?
The name Ariel has two distinct meanings dependent upon whether the word ari is
taken to mean "a lion", as it does in II Sam. 23: 20, or "an altar", as it does in
Ezek. 43: 15, 16. The reader unacquainted with the Hebrew may appreciate a word of
explanation concerning this ambiguity.
Ari, if derived from arah, "to pluck or to tear", denotes a "lion", but if ari be derived
from arah (from charah), "to burn", it denotes a "hearth" or "altar". There is, however,
the possibility that the word in Ezek. 43: 15, 16 is Har-el, "the Mount of God", for this
is the spelling of the first occurrence of "altar" in these verses. However, the matter is
too involved for more than a note here, and the array of names, including such scholars as
Vitringa and Gesenius on the one hand and Grotius and Delitzsch on the other, is such
that we must perforce accept the difficulty and do the best we can. As the name is
repeated by Isaiah, it must be recognized that there is always the possibility that he
played upon the double meaning of the word. If so, his message would read: "Woe to
the lion of God, To the altar-place of God." The words: "Add ye year to year; let them
kill the sacrifices", are spoken ironically and have the sense: "Go on, year after year, let
the feasts go round." But the Lord had already repudiated such sacrifices and feasts:
"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? . . . . . Bring no more
vain oblations, incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the
calling of assemblies, I cannot away with" (Isa. 1: 11-13).