Thus saith the LORD; Though [they be] quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.
Ver. 12. Thus saith the Lord] To thee, O Jerusalem, and for thy comfort. The Lord will speak peace to his people; and ministers are charged to speak to their hearts, Isaiah 40:1 .
Though they be quiet] Or still, well disciplined, as the Turkish army is, to the wonder of all that pass through it, Turcae perpetuum silentium tenent ut muti (Cuspin. de Caesar.) There was no falling out nor complaining in the Assyrian hosts; therefore, and by this means, did their king march on, pass through.
And likewise many] How great an army they were may be gathered from the many thousands of them that were slain by the angel, Isaiah 37:36. It is all one with God whether it be done against a nation or against a man only, Job 34:29; he stands not upon multitudes, who "taketh up the isles as a very little thing," Isaiah 40:15 .
Yet thus shall they be cut down] Heb. shorn; with as little ado as one would shear a sheep, mow down a meadow, or shave off hair with a sharp razor. The prophet seemeth to allude to that text in Isaiah (with whom, as his contemporary, he hath many things common), Isaiah 7:20, and to threaten the Assyrian, that he shall be paid home in his own coin; and that as he had done to Israel so should it be done again to him. God loveth to retaliate.
When he shall pass through] Heb. And he passeth, or away he goeth, sc. to his own country, after the loss of his army, slain by the angel, so Jerome. Others, they shall be cut down, sc. by the hand of a mighty one, as Isaiah 10:34, or of an angel, when he, that is, Sennacherib, and every one of his army hath passed through, sc. the land without restraint or control, and now maketh account that he is master of all.
Though I have afflicted thee, yet I will afflict thee no more] sc. By these Ninevites; no, nor by any other enemies, unless there be a very great need, 1 Peter 1:6. The Church hath ever had her halcyons, her interchanges of prosperity and adversity. God will not always chide, Psalms 103:9, he delighteth in the prosperity of his servants, Psalms 35:27, and wisheth, O that this people were wise, &c. "O that my people had hearkened," &c., Psalms 81:13,15. There is another reading of the words, as may be seen in the margent. This is Junius. The Chaldee paraphraseth thus: Although the Ninevites enjoy great peace, and by peace are so multiplied that they are very numerous, yet shall they be shorn and cut down.