(9) She that hath borne seven.--In the picture of the previous verse the glory of the mother was found in the valour of her son, here in the number of her children. "Seven," as the perfect number, represented, as in 1 Samuel 2:5, Ruth 4:15, the typical completeness of the family.
Her sun is gone down while it was yet day.--The image of this eclipse of all joy and brightness may possibly have been suggested by the actual eclipse of the sun (total in Palestine), Sept. 30; B.C. 610, the year of the battle of Megiddo, just as the earthquake in the reign of Uzziah suggested much of the imagery of Isaiah and Amos (Isaiah 2:19; Amos 1:1-2; Amos 4:11; Zechariah 14:5). A like image meets us in Amos 8:9.
Verse 9. - That hath borne seven; a proverbial expression (comp. 1 Samuel 2:5; Ruth 4:15). Her sun is gone down, etc. The figure is that of an eclipse (comp. Amos 9:9). She hath been ashamed, etc.; rather, she ashamed, etc. Ewald supposes the sun, which is sometimes feminine in Hebrew, to be the subject (comp. Isaiah 24:23); but the view of the Authorized Version is more probable. The shame of childlessness is repeatedly referred to (comp. Jeremiah 1:12; Isaiah 54:4; Genesis 16:4; Genesis 30:1, 23).
15:1-9 The Lord declares that even Moses and Samuel must have pleaded in vain. The putting of this as a case, though they should stand before him, shows that they do not, and that saints in heaven do not pray for saints on earth. The Jews were condemned to different kinds of misery by the righteous judgment of God, and the remnant would be driven away, like the chaff, into captivity. Then was the populous city made desolate. Bad examples and misused authority often produce fatal effects, even after men are dead, or have repented of their crimes: this should make all greatly dread being the occasion of sin in others.
She that hath borne seven languisheth,.... Either the mother that has borne many children, seven being put for a large number, now being able to bear no more, and being bereaved of what she had, and who were her staff and support, and from whom she had her expectation, faints away, and dies through grief and trouble; or Jerusalem, which formerly abounded with young men, is now in a forlorn and destitute state; her children, the inhabitants of it, being slain with the sword, or dying of famine and the pestilence. In the Talmud (i), this is interpreted of seven wicked kings of Israel, as Jeroboam, Baasha, Ahab, Jehu, Pekah, Menahem, and Hoshea; and elsewhere of seven kings of Judah, thus reckoned, Jehoram, Joash, Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah (k):
she hath given up the ghost; or, "blew out her soul (l)"; her breath departs; no life can be kept in her; she faints away at the calamities coming on her:
her sun is gone down while it was yet day; the darkness of affliction, and the evening of distress and calamity came upon her sooner than was expected, while in the midst of peace and prosperity that was promised, and hoped to be enjoyed for a long time to come; see Amos 8:9,
she hath been ashamed and confounded; of her vain hope, trust, and confidence:
and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord; that is; such who died not of the famine and pestilence, but at the breaking up of the city endeavoured to make their escape, these fell into the hands of the enemy, and perished by the sword, as the Lord here predicts; for whatsoever he says certainly comes to pass.
Her sun is gone down while it was yet day.--The image of this eclipse of all joy and brightness may possibly have been suggested by the actual eclipse of the sun (total in Palestine), Sept. 30; B.C. 610, the year of the battle of Megiddo, just as the earthquake in the reign of Uzziah suggested much of the imagery of Isaiah and Amos (Isaiah 2:19; Amos 1:1-2; Amos 4:11; Zechariah 14:5). A like image meets us in Amos 8:9.
she hath given up the ghost; or, "blew out her soul (l)"; her breath departs; no life can be kept in her; she faints away at the calamities coming on her:
her sun is gone down while it was yet day; the darkness of affliction, and the evening of distress and calamity came upon her sooner than was expected, while in the midst of peace and prosperity that was promised, and hoped to be enjoyed for a long time to come; see Amos 8:9,
she hath been ashamed and confounded; of her vain hope, trust, and confidence:
and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord; that is; such who died not of the famine and pestilence, but at the breaking up of the city endeavoured to make their escape, these fell into the hands of the enemy, and perished by the sword, as the Lord here predicts; for whatsoever he says certainly comes to pass.
(i) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 88. 1.((k) Vid. Jarchi & Abendana in loc. (l) "efflabit animam suam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "exspiravit animam suam", Cocceius.