Seek ye out of the book of the Lord... — The phrase is an exceptional one. Isaiah applies that title either to this particular section, or to the volume of his collected writings. When the time of the fulfilment comes, men are invited to compare what they shall then find with the picture which Isaiah had drawn. Keith and others have brought together from the descriptions of modern travellers, illustrations of the condition of Edom as it is well summed up by Delitzsch in loc. “It swarms with snakes, and the desolate heights and barren table-lands are only inherited by wild crows and eagles; and great flocks of birds.” It has to be remembered, however, that the decay was very gradual. The ruins of Petra and other Idumæan cities are of Roman origin, and indicate a period of culture and prosperity stretching far into the history of the Empire.
His spirit. — In the sense of the creative Breath of the Almighty working in Nature (Psalms 104:30).