And the inhabitants of this isle shall say, in that day,
&c.] Not of Ashdod, ( Isaiah 20:1 ) or the isle of Caphtor, ( Jeremiah 47:4 ) but the land of Israel, as both Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; so called, because it bordered on the sea, as such countries are sometimes called isles; see ( Jeremiah 25:22 ) ( Ezekiel 27:3 Ezekiel 27:15 ) . Ben Melech interprets it of Jerusalem, and observes that the word signifies a place or country, whether it has a river or sea encompassing it, or not; besides, the land of Canaan had the Mediterranean sea on one side of it, and the sea of Galilee and Tiberias on the other, and was moreover separated from all other countries by the power, providence, and presence of God: behold, such [is] our expectation, whither we flee for help, to be
delivered from the king of Assyria;
signifying that it was vain and foolish, and they had acted a very weak, as well as a wicked part, in having recourse to the Egyptians and Ethiopians to help them against the Assyrians, as it plainly appeared by both nations now being conquered by them: and how shall we escape?
seeing they had not, who were more powerful than they were; and how could they think that they could save them, who could not save themselves? and so the Targum,
``if they have not delivered their souls (themselves), how shall we be delivered?''