And they shall come
The Egyptian and Assyrian armies, when the Lord calls for them in
his providence, and his time is come to make use of them as a
scourge to his people: and shall rest all of them in the
desolate valleys:
made so by war; this is said in allusion to flies and bees
resting on trees and flowers; and signifies that these armies,
after long and tedious marches, should all of them, without being
diminished by the way, enter the land of Judea, fill all places,
and take up their abode there for a while: and in the holes
of the rocks.
Kimchi thinks that the former phrase designs cities in valleys,
and this fortified cities which are upon rocks: and upon
all thorns, and upon all bushes;
in allusion to flies and bees. Kimchi interprets this of unwalled
towns and villages. The Targum of the whole verse is,
``and they shall all of them come and dwell in the streets of the cities, and in the clifts of the rocks, and in all deserts full of sedges, and in all houses of praise.''The sense is, that they should be in all cities, towns, and villages, whether fortified or not, and in all houses of high and low, rich and poor, in cottages and in palaces; there would be no place free from them, nor no escaping out of their hands.