Therefore my people are gone into captivity
Or rather, as Kimchi explains it, "shall go into captivity"; the past for the future; for this cannot be understood even of the captivity of the ten tribes, for they were not carried captive until the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign, ( 2 Kings 17:6 ) ( 18:1 ) whereas this prophecy was delivered out many years before, even in the time of Uzziah, as is manifest from the following chapter, ( Isaiah 6:1 ) and much less it cannot design the captivity of Judah, but respects the captivity by the Romans, in future time. Because [they have] no knowledge;
of the work of the Lord, and the operations of his hands; the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "because they knew not the Lord", the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, the true Messiah; they knew not his person, office, grace, and Gospel; they did not own and acknowledge him, but despised and rejected him; their ignorance was affected and voluntary; they had the means of knowledge, but did not make use of them; they would not know him, they would not attend to the strong and clear evidence of his being the Messiah, which prophecies, miracles, and his doctrines, gave of him; the things belonging to their peace they knew not, these were righteously hid from them, and hence destruction came upon them, ( Luke 19:42-44 ) the words may be rendered in connection with the former, "therefore my people shall go into captivity without knowledge" {b}, unawares, unthought of, and unexpected; and the Jews, to the last; did not think their city would be taken, but that in some way of other salvation and deliverance would be wrought for them: and their honourable men [are] famished, and their multitude dried
up with thirst;
or "shall be"; this is expressive of a famine of bread and water, which all, both high and low, prince and people, should be affected with; see ( Isaiah 3:1 ) and was true not only when Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldeans, ( Jeremiah 52:6 ) ( Lamentations 4:4 Lamentations 4:5 Lamentations 4:8-10 ) ( Jeremiah 5:10 ) but when it was besieged by the Romans, in which the rich suffered as well as the poor; and was so great, that even women ate their own children, as Josephus F3 relates: this is threatened as a punishment of their rioting and drunkenness, ( Isaiah 5:11 Isaiah 5:12 ) .