The Prophet and His Day: Isaiah 1-39 - Free Bible Commentary

He has made it deep and large,A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.30:27-33 This strophe reflects God’s judgment on Assyria in the idiom of a theophany as anapproaching storm (cf. Exod. 19:16ff; Jdgs. 5:4-5; Ps. 18:7ff; 50:3-5; Hab. 3:3-4).1. elements of theophany – vv. 27, 30a-c, 33e2. elements of storm – vv. 28, 30d3. elements of restoration – v. 294. elements of judgment – Assyria, vv. 31-3330:27NASB “dense is His smoke”NKJV “His burden is heavy”NRSV “in thick rising smoke”NJB “heavy his threat”The MT has $",, BDB 457, KB 451, CONSTRUCT BDB 673, “rising smoke.” The first word canmean1. be heavy2. weighty3. burdensome4. honoredThe second term (%!”/, BDB 673, KB 640) is found only here in the OT. BDB says it means“the uplifted” (cloud). KB says it means “lifting up, exaltation,” but it also lists Jdgs. 20:38-40 as aparallel where ;!”/, v. 38, denotes rising smoke from a burning city. The context of 30:27 is one oftheophany and judgment, so both fit.1. exaltation, denoting a cloud (i.e., Shekinah)2. heavy smoke30:28 “Which reaches to the neck” This same idiom was used of the Assyrian invasion in 8:8. Herethe idiom is reversed and YHWH fights on Judah’s side against Assyria.30:29 “the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel” These are idioms for the temple inJerusalem because of parallelism. Often “the rock” refers to YHWH Himself (cf. 17:10; Deut.32:4,18,30; I Sam. 2:2; Ps. 18:2,31,46; 28:1; 31:3; 42:9).30:30 “His voice” Literally, “the majesty (BDB 217) of His voice.” God’s will is accomplishedthrough speaking (i.e., creation, Genesis 1). His voice is effective (cf. Isa. 45:23; 55:11; Matt. 24:35).The imagery of Jesus with a two-edged sword (cf. Heb. 4:12) coming out of His mouth (cf. Isa. 49:2;Rev. 1:16; 2:12,16; 19:15) is theologically parallel, as is “the rod of His mouth” in Isa. 11:4.} “hailstones” God used them in Josh. 10:11 as a way to defeat the Canaanites and give victory toIsrael (cf. Josh. 10:14,42; 23:3,10).30:31NASB, TEV,NJBNKJVNRSV“will be terrified”“will be beaten down”“will be terror-stricken”304