Isa 11:13-16 | JFB | STEP | 13. envy ... of Ephraim ... Judah-- which began as early as the time ( ; , &c.). Joshua had sprung from, and resided among the Ephraimites ( ; ); the sanctuary was with them for a time ( ). The jealousy increased subsequently ( , &c.; 19:41; 20: ); and even before David's time ( ; ), they had appropriated to themselves the national name Israel. It ended in disruption ( , &c.; ; compare ; ). adversaries of Judah-- rather, "the adversaries from Judah"; those of Judah hostile to the Ephraimites [Maurer]. The parallelism "the envy of Ephraim," namely, against Judah, requires this, as also what follows; namely, "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" ( , ).

‏ Isaiah 11:13-16

13. envy ... of Ephraim ... Judah--which began as early as the time (Jud 8:1; 12:1, &c.). Joshua had sprung from, and resided among the Ephraimites (Nu 13:9; Jos 19:50); the sanctuary was with them for a time (Jos 18:1). The jealousy increased subsequently (2Sa 2:8, &c.; 19:41; 20:2; 3:10); and even before David's time (1Sa 11:8; 15:4), they had appropriated to themselves the national name Israel. It ended in disruption (1Ki 11:26, &c.; 1Ki 12:1-33; compare 2Ki 14:9; Psa 78:56-71).

adversaries of Judah--rather, "the adversaries from Judah"; those of Judah hostile to the Ephraimites [Maurer]. The parallelism "the envy of Ephraim," namely, against Judah, requires this, as also what follows; namely, "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" (Eze 37:15, 17, 19).

14. With united forces they shall subdue their foes (Am 9:12).

fly--as a bird of prey (Ha 1:8).

upon the shoulders--This expresses an attack made unexpectedly on one from behind. The image is the more apt, as the Hebrew for "shoulders" in Nu 34:11 is used also of a maritime coast ("side of the sea": Hebrew, "shoulder of the sea," Margin). They shall make a sudden victorious descent upon their borders southwest of Judea.

them of the east--Hebrew, "children of the East," the Arabs, who, always hostile, are not to be reduced under regular government, but are only to be despoiled (Jr 49:28, 29).

lay ... hand upon--take possession of (Da 11:42).

Edom--south of Judah, from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea; "Moab"--east of Jordan and the Dead Sea.

Ammon--east of Judea, north of Moab, between the Arnon and Jabbok.

15. There shall be a second exodus, destined to eclipse even the former one from Egypt in its wonders. So the prophecies elsewhere (Psa 68:22; Ex 14:22; Zec 10:11). The same deliverance furnishes the imagery by which the return from Babylon is described (Is 48:20, 21).

destroy--literally, "devote," or "doom," that is, dry up; for what God dooms, perishes (Psa 106:9 Na 1:4).

tongue--the Bubastic branch of the Nile [Vitringa]; but as the Nile was not the obstruction to the exodus, it is rather the west tongue or Heroöpolite fork of the Red Sea.

with ... mighty wind--such as the "strong east wind" (Ex 14:21), by which God made a way for Israel through the Red Sea. The Hebrew for "mighty" means terrible. Maurer translates, "With the terror of His anger"; that is, His terrible anger.

in the seven streams--rather, "shall smite it (divide it by smiting) into seven (many) streams, so as to be easily crossed" [Lowth]. So Cyrus divided the river Gyndes, which retarded his march against Babylon, into three hundred sixty streams, so that even a woman could cross it [Herodotus, 1.189]. "The river" is the Euphrates, the obstruction to Israel's return "from Assyria" (Is 11:16), a type of all future impediments to the restoration of the Jews.

dry shod--Hebrew, "in shoes." Even in sandals they should be able to pass over the once mighty river without being wet (Re 16:12).

16. highway--a highway clear of obstructions (Is 19:23; 35:8).

like as ... Israel ... Egypt--(Is 51:10, 11; 63:12, 13).