Isaiah 37:29

37:29 my hook . . . my bit: The Assyrians would be led away like animals, just as they had led so many of their captives away.

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

Because Sennacherib showed himself, as a devouring fish and furious beast, he useth these similitudes, to teach how he will take him and guide him.

Thou shalt lose thy labor.

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

tumult--insolence.

hook in . . . nose--Like a wild beast led by a ring through the nose, he shall be forced back to his own country (compare Job 41:1-2; Eze 19:4; Eze 29:4; Eze 38:4). In a bas-relief of Khorsabad, captives are led before the king by a cord attached to a hook, or ring, passing through the under lip or the upper lip, and nose.

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. Will I put my hook in thy nose] Et fraenum meum: Jonathan vocem מתג metheg, interpretatus est זמם zemam, i.e., annulum, sive uncum, eumque ferreum, quem infigunt naribus camelae: eoque trahitur, quoniam illa feris motibus agitur: et hoc est, quod discimus in Talmude; et camela cum annulo narium: scilicet, egreditur die sabbathi. "And my bridle: Jonathan interprets the word metheg by zemam, a ring, or that iron hook which they put in the nostrils of a camel to lead her about, check her in her restiveness, c. And this is what we mean in the Talmud, when we say, And the camel with the ring of her nostrils shall go out on the Sabbath day." - Jarchi in 2Kg 19:28. Ponam circulum in naribus tuis. "I will put a ring in thy nostrils." - Jerome. Just as at this day they put a ring into the nose of the bear, the buffalo, and other wild beasts, to lead them, and to govern them when they are unruly. Bulls are often ringed thus in several parts of England. The Hindoos compare a person who is the slave of his wife to a cow led by the ring in her nose.

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

(29) Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose . . .—The Assyrian sculptures represent both beasts and men as dragged in this way (Eze_38:4). (Comp. the same image in Isa_30:28.)

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

29. For tumult render with R.V. marg. careless ease. “Raging” and “careless ease” form a contrast, like “rising up” and “sitting down” in the previous verse.

therefore will I put my hook in thy nose] Cf. Eze_19:4; Eze_29:4; Eze_38:4.

I will turn thee back …] See Isa_37:7; Isa_37:34.

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.

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah,.... The few that escaped out of the cities of Judah, upon Sennacherib's invasion of the land, and besieging and taking the fenced cities thereof, who fled to Jerusalem for safety; these were a type of the remnant, according to the election of grace, the few that are chosen of God, the special people redeemed by Christ, the little flock of his, the small number that enter in at the strait gate, and are saved; and who escape, not the fall of Adam, nor the imputation of his sin, nor the corruption of nature, nor the pollutions of the world in a state of nature; but who escape the vengeance of divine justice, the curse of a righteous law, wrath to come, and the damnation of hell; which is owing to the love of God, the covenant of his grace, the suretyship engagements of Christ, and his performance of them; these are the household of faith, God's confessing and professing people, who are Jews inwardly, of whom there are but a few; of these it is said, they

shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. The Targum is,

"as a tree which sends forth its roots below, and lifts up its branches above.''

The sense is, that those people that fled from their own habitations to Jerusalem should return thither again upon the breaking up of the siege, and be firmly settled, and live peaceably and prosperously, abounding with all good things, which may be applied, mystically, to true believers taking root again in the love of God, which is a hidden root, and is the source of salvation, and all the blessings of it, and is in itself immovable; and though the saints are secured in it, and by it, and nothing can root them out of it, yet they are sometimes shaken with doubts and fears about their interest in it; when there is again a fresh taking root in it, and that is, when they have a strong and lively persuasion of it, which produces fruitfulness in the exercise of faith, hope, and love, and in Gospel obedience; and also to their taking root in Christ, who is as a root unto them, hidden, and out of sight to the world, mean and abject, yet the source of all happiness to the saints, who have a being in him, are born by him, and receive sap and nourishment from him; and though their faith of interest in him may be sometimes shaken, yet there is a fresh taking root by new acts of faith upon him, which produce fruitfulness; the fruits brought forth by such are good works, which spring from the seed of grace, are owing to divine goodness, to the dews of grace, are pleasant and acceptable to God through Christ, and profitable unto men; these are called the fruits of the Spirit, and of righteousness, and are meet for repentance, and are brought forth openly and publicly, which may be signified by being bore upwards.

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

Because thy rage and thy tumult - Or rather, thy pride, thy insolence, thy vain boasting.

Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose - This is a most striking expression, denoting the complete control which God had over the haughty monarch, and his ability to direct him as he pleased. The language is taken from the custom of putting a ring or hook in the nose of a wild animal for the purpose of governing and guiding it. The most violent animals may be thus completely governed, and this is often done with those animals that are fierce and untameable. The Arabs often pursue this course in regard to the camel; and thus have it under entire control. A similar image is used in respect to the king of Egypt Eze 29:4. The idea is, that God would control and govern the wild and ambitious spirit of the Assyrian, and that with infinite ease he could conduct him again to his own land.

And my bridle - (See the note at Isa 30:28).

And I will turn thee back - (See Isa 37:37).

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

Lips, and treat thee like some ungovernable beast. (Haydock) (Ezechiel xxix. 4., and xxxviii. 4.) (Calmet)

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).

29. Because thy rage — Thy violent carrying out of thine own will. This gives the hithpael sense of the word — a moving to and fro, an active insolence.

Thy tumult — Arrogant self-confidence.

Is come up into mine ears — Denoting good knowledge from hearing.

Hook in thy nose — The figure of the nose-ring (Eze_38:4) for leading wild, intractable animals, is applied to this untamed man, showing to what humiliations he is to be subjected. The Assyrian is to be led home like a wild beast, without having conquered either Jerusalem or Egypt.

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

Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose. (comp. Eze_29:4 Eze_38:4 2Ch_33:11) The Assyrians were in the habit of passing "hooks" or "rings" through the noses or lips of their more distinguished prisoners, and attaching a thong to the hook or ring, by which they led the prisoners into the royal presence ("Ancient Monarchies," vol. 1. p. 304; vol. 3. p. 436). The expressions used derive their force from these practices, but are not in the present place to be understood literally. God "turned Sennacherib back" and reconducted him to Nineveh. not with an actual "hook" or "thong," but by the "bridle" of necessity.

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

“Because of thy raging against me, and (because) thy arrogance has come up into my ears, I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will cause thee to return by the way by which thou camest.” The figures in the last clause are drawn from the customary method of controlling horses, and from a less familiar mode of treating buffaloes and other wild animals, still practiced in the east and in menageries. (Compare Eze 19:4; Eze 29:4; Eze 38:4; Job 41:1). The figure may be taken in a general sense as signifying failure and defeat, or more specifically as referring to Sennacherib’s hasty flight.

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

you have raged against Me Your raging and your becoming overpowering toward Me (acc. to Parshandatha).

and your tumult (וְשַׁאֲנַנְךָ) like וּשְׁאוֹנְךָ.

My ring (חַחִי in Heb.) It is a kind of ring that is inserted into the lip of an unruly animal by which to pull it.

and My bit Jonathan renders וּזְמַם, which is made of iron, and which they insert into the nostrils of a female camel. This is what we learned, “and the female camel with a nose ring” in Tractate Shabbath (5:1). (This is difficult in view of the wording of the verse, which places חַח in the nose and מֶתֶג in the lips.)

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.