But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
I will remove far off from you the northern army. The Hebrew expresses that the north in relation to Palestine is not merely the quarter whence the invader comes, but is his native land, 'the northlander'-namely, the Assyrian or Babylonian (cf. Jeremiah 1:14-15; Zephaniah 2:13, "the north ... Assyria"). The locust's native country is not the north, but the south, the deserts of Arabia, Egypt, and Libya. Therefore, the literal locust cannot be meant in the ulterior sense. Assyria and Babylon are the type and forerunner of all Israel's foes, Rome, and the final Antichrist, from whom God will at last deliver His people, as He did from Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35). Balaam, ages before, when Israel was on the borders of the Holy Land, had foretold the captivity in Assyria, and the destruction in turn of that great world-power, by a power coming from the west (Numbers 24:22, "Asshur shall carry thee away captive"). Abijah had foretold to Jeroboam I. that "the Lord would root up Israel out of the good land which He gave to their fathers, and would scatter them beyond the river" (1 Kings 14:15).
And will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea - more applicable to a human army's van and rear than to locusts. The northern invaders are to be dispersed in every other direction but that from which they had come: "A land barren and desolate" - i:e., Arabia Deserta: "the eastern (or front) sea" - i:e., the Dead Sea: "the utmost (or hinder) sea" - i:e., the Mediterranean. In front and behind mean east and west, as in marking the quarters of the world they faced the east, which was therefore "in front;" the west was behind them, the south was on their right, and the north on their left. And his stink shall come up. Metaphor from locusts, which perish when blown by a storm into the sea or the desert, and emit from their putrifying bodies such a stench as often breeds a pestilence.
Because he hath done great things - i:e., because the invader hath haughtily magnified himself in his doings. Compare the margin, Hebrew, he hath magnified to do; cf. as to Sennacherib, 2 Kings 19:11-13; 2 Kings 19:22; 2 Kings 19:28. This is quite inapplicable to the locusts, who merely seek food, not self-glorification in invading a country.