Isaiah 43:17

Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(17) Quenched as tow—i.e., as the wick of a lamp going out. (See Note on Isaiah 42:3.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

43:14-21 The deliverance from Babylon is foretold, but there is reference to greater events. The redemption of sinners by Christ, the conversion of the Gentiles, and the recall of the Jews, are described. All that is to be done to rescue sinners, and to bring the believer to glory, is little, compared with that wondrous work of love, the redemption of man.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse - The reference here is, undoubtedly, to the occurrences which are recorded in Exodus 14:4, following, when Pharaoh and his host are said to have followed the Israelites, but were all submerged in the sea. God is said to have brought them forth in accordance with the general statement so often made, that he controls and directs princes and nations (see the note at Isaiah 10:5-6).

They shall lie down together - They shall sink together to death, as Pharaoh and his army sunk together in a watery grave.

Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them:

They sank as lead in the mighty waters.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

17. the power—the might of the enemies host, every mighty warrior.

they shall lie down together—as Pharaoh's army sank "together" in a watery grave.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; or rather, Who brought forth the chariots, &c., i.e. Pharaoh, and his chariots, and homes, and army; as may be gathered from the next verse, where the things here mentioned are called former things, and things of old. They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; or, they did lie down together, (to wit, in the bottom of the sea,) they did not rise; they sank like lead, as it is said, Exodus 15:10, and they never rose again to molest the Israelites, as God promised, Exodus 14:13. These two Hebrew verbs are of the future tense, but that seems to be put for the preter tense, because the two following verbs, which treat of the same thing, and are added to explain these, are of the preter tense.

They are quenched as tow; as the wick of a candle when it is put into the water is wholly extinguished, and not the least spark of fire left, so were they utterly destroyed, and not one of them remained.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Which bringeth forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the power,.... Who brought forth the chariots and horses, and the mighty army of Pharaoh, out of Egypt, to pursue the Israelites into the Red sea, where they were drowned. The present tense is put for the future, as in the preceding verse; the future is put for the past tense in the next clause:

they shall lie down together, they shall not rise; they lay down in the Red sea, where they sunk to the bottom, and perished, and never rose more, at least to life, nor never will, till the general resurrection:

they are extinct, they are quenched as tow; or flax, or as the wick of a candle (p), when put into water, is quenched at once; so the Egyptian, became extinct in the Red sea. Some observe an allusion to the commodity of flax, for which Egypt was famous. Kimchi interprets the whole of the army of Sennacherib, which was brought out of their own land to Jerusalem, and was destroyed in one night by an angel. Aben Ezra of the Chaldeans being brought out to fight with the Persians. But others rather of the army of the Medes and Persians being brought against them, by whom they became extinct as tow or flax.

(p) "ut ellychnium" Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gataker, Vitringa.

Geneva Study Bible

Who bringeth {r} forth the {s} chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as a wick.

(r) When he delivered his people out of Egypt.

(s) Pharaoh and his mighty army.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

17. which bringeth forth] i.e. allows them to come forth to their destruction (cf. Ezekiel 38:4, where the same expression is used with regard to the expedition of Gog, king of Magog). The next words should be rendered simply chariot and horse (without art.).

the army and the power] Perhaps: army and warrior. The second word is found elsewhere only in Psalm 24:8 (A.V. “mighty”) in apposition with the common word for “hero.” Here it may be used collectively.

they shall lie down] Better: they lie down.

quenched as tow] extinguished like a wick; the same words as in ch. Isaiah 42:3. The alternation of tenses in the original is noteworthy and very graphic. The participial construction first gives place to the descriptive impf., and this again to two perfects of completed action.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 17. - Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse. Still the reference is to the events of the Exodus, whereof Israel is reminded, since "the redemption out of Egypt was a type and pledge of the deliverance to be looked for out of Babylon" (Delitzsch). God then "brought out" after Israel, to attack him, "chariot and horse, army and power;" but the result was their destruction. They shall lie down... they shall not rise; rather, they lie down... they do not rise (so Cheyne and Delitzsch). The future has here, as so often, the force of a present, the present being the praesens historicum. What the prophet describes in a few touches is the complete overthrow of Pharaoh's host in the Red Sea, and the entire extinction of that life which had just before shown itself as "lusty and strong." Quenched as tow (comp. Isaiah 42:3). The metaphor is not drawn from burning tow, which is not very readily extinguished, but from the wick of a lamp, which a single breath puts out. Isaiah 43:17

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

There now follows a second field of the picture of redemption; and the expression "for your sake" is expounded in Isaiah 43:16-21 : "Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth a road through the sea, and a path through tumultuous waters; who bringeth out chariot and horse, army and hero; they lie down together, they never rise: they have flickered away, extinguished like a wick. Remember not things of olden time, nor meditate upon those of earlier times! Behold, I work out a new thing: will ye not live to see it? Yea, I make a road through the desert, and streams through solitudes. The beast of the field will praise me, wild dogs and ostriches: for I give water in the desert, streams in solitude, to give drink to my people, my chosen. The people that I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise." What Jehovah really says commences in Isaiah 43:18. Then in between He is described as Redeemer out of Egypt; for the redemption out of Egypt was a type and pledge of the deliverance to be looked for out of Babylon. The participles must not be rendered qui dedit, eduxit; but from the mighty act of Jehovah in olden time general attributes are deduced: He who makes a road in the sea, as He once showed. The sea with the tumultuous waters is the Red Sea (Nehemiah 9:11); ‛izzūz, which rhymes with vâsūs, is a concrete, as in Psalm 24:8, the army with the heroes at its head. The expression "bringeth out," etc., is not followed by "and suddenly destroys them," but we are transported at once into the very midst of the scenes of destruction. ישׁכּבוּ shows them to us entering upon the sleep of death, in which they lie without hope (Isaiah 26:14). The close (kappishtâh khâbhū) is iambic, as in Judges 5:27. The admonition in Isaiah 43:18 does not commend utter forgetfulness and disregard (see Isaiah 66:9); but that henceforth they are to look forwards rather than backward. The new thing which Jehovah is in the process of working out eclipses the old, and deserves a more undivided and prolonged attention. Of this new thing it is affirmed, "even now it sprouts up;" whereas in Isaiah 42:9, even in the domain of the future, a distinction was drawn between "the former things" and "new things," and it could be affirmed of the latter that they were not yet sprouting up. In the passage before us the entire work of God in the new time is called chădâshâh (new), and is placed in contrast with the ri'shōnōth, or occurrences of the olden time; so that as the first part of this new thing had already taken place (Isaiah 42:9), and there was only the last part still to come, it might very well be affirmed of the latter, that it was even now sprouting up (not already, which עתה may indeed also mean, but as in Isaiah 48:7). In connection with this, תדעוּה הלוא (a verbal form with the suffix, as in Jeremiah 13:17, with kametz in the syllable before the tone, as in Isaiah 6:9; Isaiah 47:11, in pause) does not mean, "Will ye then not regard it," as Ewald, Umbreit, and others render it; but, "shall ye not, i.e., assuredly ye will, experience it." The substance of the chădâshâh (the new thing) is unfolded in Isaiah 43:19. It enfolds a rich fulness of wonders: אף affirming that, among other things, Jehovah will do this one very especially. He transforms the pathless, waterless desert, that His chosen one, the people of God, may be able to go through in safety, and without fainting. And the benefits of this miracle of divine grace reach the animal world as well, so that their joyful cries are an unconscious praise of Jehovah. (On the names of the animals, see Khler on Malachi 1:3.) In this we can recognise the prophet, who, as we have several times observed since chapter 11 (compare especially Isaiah 30:23-24; Isaiah 35:7), has not only a sympathizing heart for the woes of the human race, but also an open ear for the sighs of all creation. He knows that when the sufferings of the people of God shall be brought to an end, the sufferings of creation will also terminate; for humanity is the heart of the universe, and the people of God (understanding by this the people of God according to the Spirit) are the heart of humanity. In v. 21 the promise is brought to a general close: the people that (zū personal and relative, as in Isaiah 42:24)

(Note: The pointing connects עם־זוּ with makkeph, so that the rendering would be, "The people there I have formed for myself;" but according to our view, עם should be accented with yethib, and zū with munach. In just the same way, zū is connected with the previous noun as a demonstrative, by means of makkeph, in Exodus 15:13, Exodus 15:16; Psalm 9:16; Psalm 62:12; Psalm 142:4; Psalm 143:8, and by means of a subsidiary accent in Psalm 10:2; Psalm 12:8. The idea which underlies Isaiah 42:24 appears to be, "This is the retribution that we have met with from him."' But in none of these can we be bound by the punctuation.)

I have formed for myself will have richly to relate how I glorified myself in them.