Isaiah 10:29

Isa 10:29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.

Ver. 29. They are gone over the passages,] i.e., The straits, between two rocks. {1Sa 13:22}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

passage--the jaws of the wady or defile at Michmash (Sa1 13:23; Sa1 14:4-5).

lodging--their quarters for the night, after having passed the defile which might have been easily guarded against them.

Ramah--near Geba; seven miles from Jerusalem.

Gibeah of Saul--his birthplace and residence, in Benjamin (Sa1 11:4), distinct from Gibeah of Judah (Jos 15:57).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 29. They are gone over the passage - "They have passed the strait"] The strait here mentioned is that of Michmas, a very narrow passage between two sharp hills or rocks, (see 1Sa 14:4-5,) where a great army might have been opposed with advantage by a very inferior force. The author of the Book of Judith might perhaps mean this pass, at least among others: "Charging them to keep the passages of the hill country, for by them there was an entrance into Judea; and it was easy to stop them that would come up, because the passage was strait for two men at the most," Judith 4:7. The enemies having passed the strait without opposition, shows that all thoughts of making a stand in the open country were given up, and that their only resource was in the strength of the city.

Their lodging] The sense seems necessarily to require that we read למו lamo, to them, instead of לנו lanu, to us. These two words are in other places mistaken one for the other.

Thus Isa 44:7, for למו lamo, read לנו lanu, with the Chaldee; and in the same manner Ps 64:6, with the Syriac, and Ps 80:7, on the authority of the Septuagint and Syriac, besides the necessity of the sense.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lift up that voice, O daughter of Gallim,.... In a mournful and lamentable manner, and yet with such a clear loud voice, as to be heard afar off: the word is sometimes used for making a joyful sound, and of the neighing of horses. The inhabitants of Gallim are meant by its daughter; of this place was Phalti, who married Michal, Saul's daughter; very probably it was in the tribe of Benjamin. Jerom (f) makes mention of Accaron, a village, which was called Gallim.

Cause it to be heard unto Laish; if this was the place the Danites took, and called it Dan, it was on the northern border of Judea, in the furthermost part of the land; hence the phrase, from Dan to Beersheba; it was near to Caesarea or Paneas, from whence the river Jordan took its rise; and was a great way off, either of Gallim or Anathoth, for the voice of them to be heard.

O poor Anathoth! this was a city in the tribe of Benjamin, Jos 21:18 it was the native place of the Prophet Jeremiah, Jer 1:1 according to Josephus (g), it was twenty furlongs from Jerusalem; and, according to Jerom (h), three miles: it is called "poor", because it was but a poor mean village; or because it would now become so, through the ravages of the Assyrian army.

(f) De locis Hebraicis, fol. 92. D. (g) Antiqu. l. 13. c. 7. sect. 3. (h) Comment. in Hieremiam, l. 1. fol. 121. H. & l. 2. fol. 132. F. & l. 6. 161. C.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They are gone over the passage - The word “passage” (מעברה ma‛ebı̂râh) may refer to any passage or ford of a stream, a shallow part of a river where crossing was practicable; or it may refer to any narrow pass, or place of passing in mountains. The Chaldee Paraphrase renders this, ‘They have passed the Jordan;’ but this cannot be the meaning, as all the transactions referred to here occurred in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and long after they had crossed the Jordan. In 1Sa 13:23, the ‘passage of Michmash’ is mentioned as the boundary of the garrison of the Philistines. Between Jeb’a and Mukhmas there is now a steep, precipitous valley, which is probably the ‘passage’ here referred to. This wady, or valley, runs into another that joins it on the north, and then issues out upon the plain not far from Jericho. In the valley are two hills of a conical form, having steep rocky sides, which are probably the rocks mentioned, in connection with Jonathan’s adventure, as a narrow defile or way between the rock Bozez on the one side, and Seneh on tbe other; 1Sa 14:4-5. This valley appears at a later time to have been the dividing line between the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin, for Geba on the south side of this valley was the northern limit of Judah and Benjamin 2Ki 23:8; while Bethel on its north side was on the southern border of Ephraim; Jdg 16:1-2. - Robinson’s “Bib. Researches,” ii. p. 116. Of course it was an important place, and could be easily guarded - like the strait of Thermopylae. By his having passed this place is denoted an advance toward Jerusalem, showing that nothing impeded his progress, and that he was rapidly hastening with his army to the city.

They have taken up their lodging at Geba - They have pitched their camp there, being entirely through the defile of Michmash. Hebrew, ‘Geba is a lodging place for us;’ that is, for the Assyrians. Perhaps, however. there is an error in the common Hebrew text here, and that it should be למו lāmô, ‘for them,’ instead of לנוּ lānû, ‘for us.’ The Septuagint and the Chaldee so read it, and so our translators have understood it. “Geba” here is not be confounded with ‘Gibeah of Saul,’ mentioned just after. It was in the tribe of Benjamin 1Ki 15:22; and was on the line, or nearly on the line, of Judah, so as to be its northern boundary; 2Ki 23:8. It was not far from Gibeah, or Gibeon. There are at present no traces of the place known.

Ramah - This city was in the tribe of Benjamin. It was between Geba and Gibea. It was called “Ramah,” from its being on elevated ground; compare the note at Mat 2:18. “Ramah,” now called “er-Ram,” lies on a high hill a little east of the road from Jerusalem to Bethel. It is now a miserable village, with few houses, and these in the summer mostly deserted. There are here large square stones, and also columns scattered about in the fields, indicating an ancient place of some importance. A small mosque is here with columns, which seems once to have been a church. Its situation is very conspicuous, and commands a fine prospect. It is near Gibeah, about six Roman miles from Jerusalem. So Jerome, “Commentary” in Hos 5:8 : ‘Rama quae est juxta Gabaa in septimo lapide a Jerosolymis sita.’ Josephus places it at forty stadia from Jerusalem; “Ant.” viii. 12, 3.

Is afraid - Is terrified and alarmed at the approach of Sennacherib - a beautiful variation in the description, denoting his rapid and certain advance on the city of Jerusalem, spreading consternation everywhere.

Gibeah of Saul - This was called ‘Gibeah of Saul,’ because it was the birthplace of Saul 1Sa 11:4; 1Sa 15:34; 2Sa 21:6; and to distinguish it from Gibea in the tribe of Judah Jos 15:57; and also a Gibeah where Eleazar was burled; Jos 24:33. Jerome mentions Gibeah as in his day level with the ground. - “Epis. 86, ad Eustoch.” It has been almost wholly, since his time, unnoticed by travelers. It is probably the same as the modern village of Jeba, lying in a direction to the southwest of Mukhmas. This village is small, and is half in ruins. Among these there are occasionally seen large hewn stones, indicating antiquity. There is here the ruin of a small tower almost solid, and a small building having the appearance of an ancient church. It is an elevated place from which several villages are visible. - Robinson’s “Bib. Researches,” ii. p. 113.

Is fled - That is, the inhabitants have fled. Such was the consternation produced by the march of the army of Sennacherib, that the city was thrown into commotion, and left empty.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lodging. Here, say the Assyrians, we will encamp.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The passage; some considerable passage then well known, possibly that 1Sa 14:4. The people fled to Jerusalem for fear of the Assyrian.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

29-34. The towns or villages lay within from two to twelve miles (English) north-northeast from Jerusalem.

“He comes from Ayyath; (Ai, probably ten to twelve miles from Jerusalem;) passes through Migron, (a place not now identified.) In Michmash (two miles south of Ai) he leaves his baggage; (hills and gorges here are impassable to carriages:) they go through a pass. Let Geba be our quarters for the night. (This is a command to the army.) Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees; (both places are three or four miles bearing north.) Scream aloud, O daughter of Gallim; (twice mentioned in the Old Testament, but site unknown.) Only listen, O Laish. (The course is now doubtless zigzag.) Poor Anathoth! (Jeremiah’s home, a priestly city quite near to Jerusalem.) Madmenah hurries away. The inhabitants of Gebim rescued! He (the Assyrian) still halts at Nob today, (close upon Jerusalem;) swings his hand over the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. (Almighty providence now interferes.) Behold, the Lord Jehovah of hosts lops down the branches with terrible force, and those of towering growth are hewn down, and the lofty are humbled.” Branches… lofty… towering growth. (These terms imply the leaders of the army. Some crushing blow is seen to strike down the forest of leaders, nobles, commanders.) And he fells the thickets of the forest with iron. (The “thickets” are the serried battalions, cut down as by the sword of an unseen or unnamed army.) And Lebanon, it falls by a majestic one. (Assyria is the towering cedar, collectively named Lebanon, the mount in the north on which it grows.) Thus the fate of the imperial power of the world is given in this short, quick, and awful description. For geographical names the reader will be instructed by Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible. It is quite the habit of commentators to apply the above picture to Sennacherib, the great Assyrian king. Even those who claim this prophetic section, from chap. 7-12 inclusive, as belonging to and as having been delivered during the period of Ahaz, find it convenient to see Sennacherib as the foremost character in that scene. It may be so. But if so, the prophet overleaps dates and defined periods in the pictures he draws, and makes anachronisms of small account. And this is easy to believe. He sees things perspectively in juxtaposition, yet in some sort of succession, indeed; and some things may loom up and brighten on his vision, though beyond and out of range with the particular period about which in specific detail he may be treating. Sennacherib was in the last years of his troubling Syria and Egypt, and king Hezekiah; according to the canon of Ptolemy, in the last seven years, according to 2Ki_18:13 and Isa_36:1, in the last fifteen years, of Hezekiah’s reign. But it matters little. The chief object of the above picture was not to place Sennacherib as a great figure in it, though the prophet, for aught we know, may have seen him there according to laws of prophetic vision. The great object was illustrative instruction to Israel and Judah — to the latter, certainly, to Ahaz and those around him and the remnant, the better few — to trust in Jehovah and not to trust in nor fear the Assyrian, who, after his aid to Judah in quelling Syria and Ephraim, had turned to subject Judah to himself.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They are gone over the passage. The "passage of Michmash" (1Sa_13:23) the deeply sunken valley, called now the Wady Sutveinit, between Michmash (Mukkmas) and Geba (Jeba). They have taken up their lodging at Geba; or, at Geba they rest for the night. Having crossed the wady, they bivouac on the crest of the hills enclosing it on the south. Ramah... Gibeah of Saul. Ramah is, no doubt, Er-Ram , a village on an eminence, as the name implies, about six miles north of Jerusalem, and on the direct road from Beitin. Gibeah of Saul is thought to have occupied the site of the modern Tuleil-el-Ful, two miles nearer Jerusalem. It is certainly a distinct place from Geba. The inhabitants evacuate these two places during the night.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Fled - The people fled to Jerusalem for fear of the Assyrian.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

They have passed the pass, a narrow passage between Michmash and Geba, (1Sa 13:3; 1Sa 13:5 etc), a spot no doubt easily maintained against an enemy. Their passing it implies that they met with no resistance, or had overcome it, and that there was now little or nothing to impede their march. In Geba they have taken up their lodging (literally, lodged a lodging). Geba appears from 1Ki 15:22 to have been on or near the line between Benjamin and Judah. There is a small village now called Jeba, half in ruins, with large hewn stones and the remains of a square tower, on the opposite side of the valley from the ancient Michmash. This place Robinson and Smith supposed at first to be Geba, but afterwards concluded that it must be Gibeah of Saul, and that the site of Geba must be further down, where they heard of ruins, but had not time to explore (vol. 2. pp. 114, 115). Thus far he has described what the Assyrians themselves do - “they cross the line at Ajath - pass through Migron - leave their baggage at Michmash lodge at Geba”. Now he describes what the places themselves do; “Ramah trembles -Gibeah of Saul flees.” Ramah was a city of Benjamin, near Gibeah, but further from Jerusalem. It is still in existence as Er-ram. It is about half a mile nearly due west of Jeba, but hidden from it by intervening heights (Robinson, vol. 2. pp. 108-114). It is two hours north of Jerusalem, on the eastern side of the road to Nablus. The identity of this place with the ancient Ramah was long lost sight of, but has been clearly ascertained by Smith and Robinson. Ramah trembles (or is afraid) at the enemy’s approach, a strong and beautiful personification, or the place may be simply put for its inhabitants. The trembling and flight of these towns is naturally represented as occurring while the enemy was resting at Geba. It may imply, either that Ramah was not in the direct line of the march but within sight and hearing of it, or on the contrary, that it was the next place to be reached, and trembling in apprehension of it. A still stronger metaphor is used as to the next place. Gibeah of Saul, so called because it was his birth-place and residence, and to distinguish it from others of the same name, is fled. There is here a rapid but marked climax. “While Ramah trembles, Gibeah flees.”

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

they lodged Heb. לָנוּ, an expression of lodging.

Gib’ath Saul fled Fled, they all fled because of his armies.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

מעברה. The passage, or the name of a place.

לנו. They have taken up their lodgings. Comp. ללון, To stay over night. (Gen. 24:23.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.