would thrust down Philistia from its imaginary height. But from the
time of the original composition of the prophecy, that of its
_repetition_ must be distinguished. That took place, as is just shewn
by the prophecy's being received in the cycle of the _burdens_, at the
time when the invasion of Sennacherib was immediately impending. The
Assyrians were the power from the _North_, [Pg 135] by whom the
threatened destruction would break in upon the Philistines; and the
truth of the word should be verified upon them, that prosperity is only
the forerunner of the fall. In the view of the fulfilment, Isaiah
repeated the prophecy.

From the series of these _burdens_, we shall very briefly comment upon
those which are of importance for our purpose. First,

CHAPTERS XIII. l.-XIV. 27.

This prophecy does not contain any characteristically expressed
Messianic element; but it is of no small consequence for bringing out
the whole picture of the future, as it was before the mind of the
Prophet. It is in it that Babel meets us distinctly and definitely as
the threatening world's power of the future, by which Judah is to be
carried away into captivity.

The genuineness is incontrovertibly testified by the close; and it is
only by a naturalistic tendency that it can be denied. With the
announcement of the deliverance from Babel is first, in chap. xiv. 24,
25, connected an announcement of deliverance from Asshur; and then
follows in ver. 26 and 27, the close of the whole prophecy from chap.
xiii. 1, onward. Vers. 26 and 27, which speak of the whole earth and of
all the nations, refer to chap. xiii., where the Prophet had spoken of
an universal judgment, comp. ver. 5, 9, 10, &c.; while, in the verses
immediately preceding, one single people, the Assyrians only, were
spoken of It is thereby rendered impossible to separate chap. xiv. 24,
27 from the whole.

Behind the world's power of the present--the Assyrian--the Prophet
beholds a new one springing up--the Babylonish. Those who have asserted
that the prophecy against Babel is altogether without foundation as
soon as Isaiah is supposed to have composed it, are utterly mistaken.
Although the prophecy was by no means destined for the contemporaries
only, as prophecy is generally destined for all times of the Church,
yet, even for the Prophet's contemporaries, every letter was of
consequence. If Israel's principal enemies belonged to the future, how
very