Isaiah 33:9

Isa 33:9 The earth mourneth [and] languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed [and] hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off [their fruits].

Ver. 9. The earth mourneth and languisheth.] {a} Or the land luget et languet. Thus they go on in their doleful relation: Miserrima sunt omnia, atque miseranda. What sad work hath Antichrist made of late years in the Christian world? what desolations in all parts?

Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down, Sharon is like a wilderness.] East, west, north, and south of the land are laid waste by the enemy and the avenger, that "boar out of the wood," that "bear out of the forest." {Psa 80:13}

{a} Metaphora Prosopopoetica.

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.

33:9 Sharon, Bashan, and Carmel were all fertile areas. Their desolation represents the destruction Assyria had inflicted on Israel.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which was a plentiful country, meaning, that Sennacherib would destroy all.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(Isa 24:4).

Lebanon--personified; the allusion may be to the Assyrian cutting down its choice trees (Isa 14:8; Isa 37:24).

Sharon--south of Carmel, along the Mediterranean, proverbial for fertility (Isa 35:2).

Bashan--afterwards called Batanea (Isa 2:13).

fruits--rather, understand "leaves"; they lie as desolate as in winter.

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 9. Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits - "Bashan and Carmel are stripped of their beauty."] Φανερα εσται, made manifest. Sept. They read ונערה veneerah.

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

(9) The earth mourneth . . .—Lebanon, with its cedars, the Sharon (as we say, the Campagna), Bashan, with its oaks (Isa_2:13), Carmel, with its copse-wood, are the types of beauty and fertility, now languishing and decaying. Possibly the embassy referred to was sent in the autumn, so that the prophet saw in the natural features of that season the symbols of failure and decay.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. The earth mourneth and languisheth] (cf. ch. Isa_24:4; Isa_24:7) in sympathy with the distress of God’s people. It is the language of poetry. The “earth” is neither the whole world, nor merely the land of Palestine; its equivalent in modern parlance might be “Nature.” The spots mentioned are those famous for their luxuriant vegetation, and the standing types of natural beauty and perennial verdure (cf. ch. Isa_35:2; Zec_11:2; Son_7:4 f.). Instead of hewn down render with R.V. withereth away. The verb “shake off” requires an object to be supplied, but “their leaves” (as in R.V.) is decidedly better than “their fruits.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The earth mourneth and languisheth,.... All Christendom, being now under the power, dominion, and tyranny of antichrist, and the church's faithful witnesses slain, and a stop put to all Gospel ministrations; and therefore the church must be in a very languishing condition, and great reason for mourning:

Lebanon is ashamed, and hewn down; being stripped of its stately cedars; as now the church of Christ, comparable to that goodly mountain Lebanon, will be deprived of its able ministers, which were like tall and spreading Cedars, for their gifts, grace, strength, and usefulness:

Sharon is like a wilderness; such parts, as Great Britain, which have been most fruitful (as Sharon was a very fruitful place) for the Gospel, and Gospel ordinances, in the purity of them, and for professors of religion, being fruitful in grace, and in good works, shall now be like a desert; there being no ministry, no ordinances, nor any, that dare to make an open profession of the true religion:

and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits; before they are ripe, or come to anything; places noted for being fruitful, and pastures for flocks; and denote, as before, such spots in Christendom where the Gospel has most flourished, but now should be like barren heaths, and desert places.

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

The earth mourneth - The land through which he has passed. For the sense of this phrase, see the note at Isa 24:4.

Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down - For the situation of Lebanon, see the note at Isa 10:34. Lebanon was distinguished for its ornaments of beautiful cedars. Here iris represented as being stript of these ornaments, and as covered with shame on that account. There is not any direct historical evidence that Sennacherib had advanced to Lebanon, though there are some intimations that this had occurred (see the note at Isa 14:8), and it was certainly a part of his boast that he had done it (see Isa 37:24). There is no improbability in supposing that he had sent a part of his army to plunder the country in the vicinity of Lebanon (see Isa 20:1).

Sharon is like a wilderness - Sharon was the name of a district south of mount Carmel along the coast of the Mediterranean, extending to Cesarea and Joppa. The name was almost proverbial to express any place of extraordinary beauty and fertility (see 1Ch 5:16; 1Ch 27:29; Son 2:1; Isa 35:2; Isa 65:10). There was also another Sharon on the east side of the Jordan, and in the vicinity of Bashan, which was also a fertile region 1Ch 5:16. To this, it is more probable that the prophet here refers, though it is not certain. The object seems to be to mention the most fertile places in the land as being now desolate.

Bashan - For an account of the situation of Bashan, subsequently called Batanea, see the note at Isa 2:13.

And Carmel - (see the note at Isa 29:17).

Shake off their fruits - The words ‘their fruits,’ are not in the Hebrew. The Septuagint reads this: ‘Galilee and Carmel are made bare’ (φανερὰ ἔσται, κ.τ.λ. phanera estai, etc.) The Hebrew word נער no‛ēr probably means to shake; to shake out or off; and refers here to the fact probably that Bashan and Carmel are represented as having shaken off their leaves, and were now lying desolate as in winter.

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

Confounded. Its trees were cut down, chap. xxxvii. 24.

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 earth mourneth, being desolate and neglected.

Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down by the Assyrians. Or, as the word signifies, and is here rendered by others, withereth or languisheth, because its trees are not now used by the Jews for their buildings, as they have been; and because they are spoiled and destroyed by the Assyrians.

Sharon; a pleasant and fruitful place, as appears from 1Ch 27:29; Son 2:1; Isa 35:2.

Bashan and Carmel; two places eminent for fertility, and especially for good pastures, Deu 32:14; 1Sa 25:2, which are here synecdochically put for all such places.

Shake off their fruits; are spoiled of their fruits. Or, as it is rendered by some others, yell or roar, as this word is rendered Jer 51:38.

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

The earth mourneth; rather, the land. Lebanon is... hewn down; rather, as in the margin, is withered away. (comp. Isa_19:6) Lebanon, Sharon, Carmel, and Bashan are the four most beautiful regions of the Holy Land, taking the word in its widest extent. Lebanon is the northern mountain-range, one hundred and twenty miles in length, clad with cedars and firs, and generally crowned with snow, whence the name (from laban , white). Sharon is "the broad rich tract of land" which stretches southwards from the foot of Carmel, and melts into the Shefelah, noted for its flowers (Son_2:1) and forests (Josephus, Ant. Jud:," 14:13, Carmel is the upland dividing Sharon from the Esdraelon plain, famous for its rocky dells" and "deep jungles of copse." Finally, Bashan is the trans-Jordanic upland, stretching from the flanks of Hermon to Gilead, celebrated for its "high downs" and "wide-sweeping plains," for its "forests of oak," and in ancient times for its herds of wild cattle. All are said to be "waste," "withered," and the like, partly on account of the Assyrian ravages, but perhaps still more as sympathizing with the Jewish nation in their distress for them, and clad in mourning on their account. Shake off their fruits; rather, perhaps, shake down their leaves. Mr. Cheyne conjectures that the prophecy was delivered in autumn.

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

Mourneth - Being desolate and neglected. Hewn - By the Assyrians. Bashan - Two places eminent for fertility, are spoiled of their fruits.

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

“The land mourneth, languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed, it pines away; Sharon is like a wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel cast (their leaves).” The most fertile and flourishing parts of the country are described as desolate. That the language is figurative, may be inferred from the fact that none of the places mentioned were in Judah.

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

The land mourns and withers away

This speaks of the land becoming dry as if it were a person mourning. AT: "The land becomes dry and its plants wither away" (See: Personification)

Lebanon is ashamed and withers away

Here "Lebanon" represents Lebanon's trees. This speaks of the trees withering and decaying as if they were a person who is ashamed. AT: "Lebanon's trees wither and decay" (See: Metonymy and Personification)

Sharon ... Bashan ... Carmel

Many trees and flowers once grew in these places.

Sharon is like a desert plain

This compares how dry Sharon is to a desert plain. AT: "Sharon is as dry as a desert plain" (See: Simile)

Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves

Here Bashan and Carmel are represented by their trees. AT: "there are no more leaves on the trees in Bashan and Carmel" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

mourn

Lebanon

Sharon

desert

Bashan

Carmel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

mourns (אָבֵל) an expression of mourning.

it was cut off Dried and cut off.

became (הָיָה, lit. was.) This is the past tense.

the Sharon The name of a region of pasture for animals, as we learned (Men. 87a): Rams from Moab, calves from Sharon.

like the plain a ruin.

have become emptied (וְנֹעֵר) An expression of shaking out. Comp. (Ex. 14:27): “And the Lord shook (וַיְנַעֵר).”

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.

אבל אמללה ארץ The earth mourneth and languisheth. ארץ is sometimes used as a masculine noun; comp. 9:18. This phrase overthrows the rule laid down by R. Moses Hakkohen (Job 20:26), that words which can be used both as masculine and feminine nouns, cannot be joined with a feminine attribute, after having been joined with a masculine one in the same phrase.

החפיר לבנון He—the king of Assyria—put the Lebanon to shame. החפיר is transitive. קמל Till it was hewn down.

השרון Sharon. Comp. Song 2:1.

ונער בשן וכרמל And Bashan and Karmel shake off. Comp. נעור shaken (Neh. 5:13)

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.