And thou shalt be brought down
To the ground, and laid level with it, even the city of
Jerusalem, as it was by the Romans; and as it was predicted by
Christ it would, ( Luke 19:44 ) though some
understand this of the humbling of the inhabitants of it, by the
appearance of Sennacherib's army before it, and of which they
interpret the following clauses: [and] shalt speak out of
the ground, and thy speech shall be low
out of the dust;
which some explain of the submissive language of Hezekiah to
Sennacherib, and of his messengers to Rabshakeh, ( 2 Kings
18:14 2 Kings
18:26 ) as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; but it is expressive of the
great famine in Jerusalem, at the time of its siege by the
Romans, when the inhabitants were so reduced by it, as that they
were scarce able to speak as to be heard, and could not stand
upon their legs, but fell to the ground, and lay in the dust,
uttering from thence their speech, with a faint and feeble voice:
and thy voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit,
out of
the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the
dust:
or peep and chirp, as little birds, as Jarchi and Kimchi, as
those did that had familiar spirits; and as the Heathen oracles
were delivered, as if they came out of the bellies of those that
spoke, or out of caves and hollow places in the earth; and this
was in just retaliation to these people, who imitated such
practices, and made use of such spirits; see ( Isaiah 8:19 ) .