Isaiah 11

8. play--literally, "delight" himself in sport.
cockatrice--a fabulous serpent supposed to be hatched from the egg of a cock. The Hebrew means a kind of adder, more venomous than the asp; BOCHART supposes the basilisk to be meant, which was thought to poison even with its breath.

9. my holy mountain--Zion, that is, Jerusalem. The seat of government and of Messiah's throne is put for the whole earth ( Jeremiah 3:17 ).
sea--As the waters find their way into every cavern of its depths, so Christianity shall pervade every recess of the earth ( Habakkuk 2:14 ). As Isaiah 11:1-5 describe the personal qualities of Messiah, and Isaiah 11:6-9 the regenerating effects of His com ing on creation, so Isaiah 11:10-16 the results of it in the restoration of His people, the Jews, and the conversion through them of the Gentiles.

10. root--rather, "shoot from the root" (compare Note, Isaiah 53:2 , Revelation 5:5 , 22:16 ).
stand--permanently and prominently, as a banner lifted up to be the rallying point of an army or people ( Isaiah 5:26 , John 12:32 ).
the people--peoples, answering to "the Gentiles" in the parallel member.
to it . . . seek--diligently ( Job 8:5 ). They shall give in their allegiance to the Divine King ( Isaiah 2:2 , 60:5 , Zechariah 2:11 ). HORSLEY translates, "Of Him shall the Gentiles inquire"; namely, in a religious sense, resort as to an oracle for consultation in difficulties" ( Zechariah 14:16 ). Compare Romans 15:12 , which quotes this passage, "In Him shall the Gentiles trust."
rest--resting-place ( Isaiah 60:13 , Psalms 132:8 Psalms 132:14 , Ezekiel 43:7 ). The sanctuary in the temple of Jerusalem was "the resting-place of the ark and of Jehovah." So the glorious Church which is to be is described under the image of an oracle to which all nations shall resort, and which shall be filled with the visible glory of God.

11. set . . . hand--take in hand the work. Therefore the coming restoration of the Jews is to be distinct from that after the Babylonish captivity, and yet to resemble it. The first restoration was literal, therefore so shall the second be; the latter, however, it is implied here, shall be much more universal than the former ( Isaiah 43:5-7 , Isaiah 49:12 Isaiah 49:17 Isaiah 49:18 , Ezekiel 37:21 , Hosea 3:5 , Amos 9:14 Amos 9:15 , Micah 4:6 Micah 4:7 Zephaniah 3:19 Zephaniah 3:20 , Zechariah 10:10 , Jeremiah 23:8 ). As to the "remnant" destined by God to survive the judgments on the nation, compare Jeremiah 46:28 .
Pathros--one of the three divisions of Egypt, Upper Egypt.
Cush--either Ethiopia, south of Egypt, now Abyssinia, or the southern parts of Arabia, along the Red Sea.
Elam--Persia, especially the southern part of it now called Susiana.
Shinar--Babylonian Mesopotamia, the plain between the Euphrates and the Tigris: in it Babel was begun ( Genesis 10:10 ). In the Assyrian inscriptions RAWLINSON distinguishes three periods: (1) The Chaldean; from 2300 B.C. to 1500, in which falls Chedorlaomer ( Genesis 14:1-17 ), called in the cuneiform characters Kudur of Hur, or Ur of the Chaldees, and described as the conqueror of Syria. The seat of the first Chaldean empire was in the south, towards the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. (2) The Assyrian, down to 625 B.C. (3) The Babylonian, from 625 to 538 B.C., when Babylon was taken by the Persian Cyrus.
islands of . . . sea--the far western regions beyond the sea.

12. In the first restoration Judah alone was restored, with perhaps some few of Israel (the ten tribes): in the future restoration both are expressly specified ( Ezekiel 37:16-19 Jeremiah 3:18 ). To Israel are ascribed the "outcasts" (masculine); to Judah the "dispersed" (feminine), as the former have been longer and more utterly castaways (though not finally) than the latter ( John 7:52 ). The masculine and feminine conjoined express the universality of the restoration.
from the four corners of the earth--Hebrew, "wings of the earth."

13. envy . . . of Ephraim . . . Judah--which began as early as the time ( Judges 8:1 , 12:1 , &c.). Joshua had sprung from, and resided among the Ephraimites ( Numbers 13:9 , Joshua 19:50 ); the sanctuary was with them for a time ( Joshua 18:1 ). The jealousy increased subsequently ( 2 Samuel 2:8 , &c. 2 Samuel 19:41 , 20:2 , 3:10 ); and even before David's time ( 1 Samuel 11:8 , 15:4 ), they had appropriated to themselves the national name Israel. It ended in disruption ( 1 Kings 11:26 , &c. 1 Kings 12:1-33 ; compare 2 Kings 14:9 Psalms 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" ( Ezekiel 37:15 Ezekiel 37:17 Ezekiel 37:19 ).

14. With united forces they shall subdue their foes ( Amos 9:12 ).
fly--as a bird of prey ( Habakkuk 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 Numbers 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 ( Jeremiah 49:28 Jeremiah 49:29 ).
lay . . . hand upon--take possession of ( Daniel 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 ( Psalms 68:22 , Exodus 14:22 , Zechariah 10:11 ). The same deliverance furnishes the imagery by which the return from Babylon is described ( Isaiah 48:20 Isaiah 48:21 ).
destroy--literally, "devote," or "doom," that is, dry up; for what God dooms, perishes ( Psalms 106:9 Nahum 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" ( Exodus 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" ( Isaiah 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 ( Revelation 16:12 ).

16. highway--a highway clear of obstructions ( Isaiah 19:23 , 35:8 ).
like as . . . Israel . . . Egypt--( Isaiah 51:10 Isaiah 51:11 , Isaiah 63:12 Isaiah 63:13 ).