Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
tacklings—Continuing the allegory in Isaiah 33:21, he compares the enemies' host to a war galley which is deprived of the tacklings or cords by which the mast is sustained and the sail is spread; and which therefore is sure to be wrecked on "the broad river" (Isaiah 33:21), and become the prey of Israel.
they—the tacklings, "hold not firm the base of the mast."
then—when the Assyrian host shall have been discomfited. Hezekiah had given Sennacherib three hundred talents of silver, and thirty of gold (II Kings 18:14-16), and had stripped the temple of its gold to give it to him; this treasure was probably part of the prey found in the foe's camp. After the invasion, Hezekiah had so much wealth that he made an improper display of it (II Kings 20:13-15); this wealth, probably, was in part got from the Assyrian.
the lame—Even the most feeble shall spoil the Assyrian camp (compare Isaiah 35:6; II Samuel 5:6).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Isaiah 33:23:
Zephaniah 3:8
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