Isaiah 18 Commentary

“Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:”

Cymbal. Or sistrum, commonly used in Egypt. Septuagint, “ship sails.” — Ethiopia, or Chus, lying between the Nile (the branches of which are styled rivers) and the Red Sea. He alludes to the kingdom of Tharaca, 4 Kings xix. 8. (Calmet)

“That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! scattered: or, outspread and polished meted: or, that meteth out and treadeth down: Heb. of line, line, and treading under foot have: or, despise”

Ambassadors. Hebrew, “images,” (Bochart) in honour of Adonis; (St. Cyril) or rather Ezechias, or Tharaca send to demand troops. (Calmet) — Bulrushes. Literally, “paper.” (Haydock) — Formed of rushes which grow on the banks of the Nile. (Pliny, [Natural History?] vii. 56., and xiii. 11.) — Angels. Or messengers. — Pieces. With factions after the death of Sabacon, or by the inroads of Sennacherib. — Other. He derides the vanity of the Egyptians. (Calmet) — Expecting the overflowing of the Nile. (Haydock) — Hebrew, “of line,” (Calmet) with which they marked out each person’s property, after the waters had subsided. (Strabo 17.) — Foot. They worked their dough with their feet, and sent swine to trample on the seed, which required no more cultivation. (Herodotus ii. 14., and 36.) — Spoiled. The Nile made considerable alterations.