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29.And as Isaiah had before said, etc. (314) He brings another testimony from the first chapter, where the Prophet deplores the devastation of Israel in his time: and as this had happened once, it was no new thing. The people of Israel had indeed no pre-eminence, except what they had derived from their ancestors; who had yet been in such a manner treated, that the Prophet complained that they had been so afflicted, that they were not far from having been destroyed, as Sodom and Gomorrah had been. There was, however, this difference, that a few were preserved for a seed, to raise up the name, that they might not wholly perish, and be consigned to eternal oblivion. For it behoved God to be ever mindful of his promise, so as to manifest his mercy in the midst of the severest judgments.
(314) Isa_1:9. The words of the Septuagint are given literally, and differ only in one instance from the Hebrew; “” is put for “” but as “” in this case evidently means a small portion reserved for sowing, the idea of the original is conveyed. [Schleusner ] refers to examples both in [Josephus ] and [Plato ] in which the word “” is used in the sense of a small reserved portion. Its most common meaning in Scripture is posterity.
Paul has given “” from the Septuagint, which is the Hebrew untranslated. This word, in connection with God, is variously rendered by the Septuagint: for the most part in Isaiah, and in some other places, it is found untranslated as here; but in the Psalms and in other books, it is often rendered τῶν δυναμέων that is, Jehovah or Lord “ the powers,” and often παντοκράτωρ “omnipotent; ” and sometimes ὁ ἃγιος “ holy one.” But our version, “” or “ of hosts,” is the proper rendering. It means the hosts of animate and inanimate creatures; in fact, the whole universe, all created things; but, according to the context, it often specifically refers to material things, or to things immaterial. — Ed.