Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
Ver. 7. Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee?] Rend and tear thee as hunting dogs do the beast they pursue. See Isaiah 13:14; Isa 13:21 Jeremiah 51:58. The interrogation here used importeth both the certainty of the thing and their security, as if no such thing could possibly befall them. Suddenly, therefore, saith the prophet, shalt thou be surprised and spoiled by the Persians, when thy city Babylon is held impregnable, and boasteth of provision enough laid in for twenty years' siege. Security is the certain usher of destruction, as we see in Benhadad's army, and those Midianites, Judges 7:12; Judges 7:20,23, and the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 30:16,17; and Pompey's marching against Caesar; and the French at the battle of Agincourt; so confident they were of a victory, that they sent to our King Henry V, who was then in the field against them, and got the day, to know what ransom he would give.