Isaiah — Chapter 39
Synopsis Capitis
Synopsis: The Babylonian embassy — Hezekiah foolishly shows all his treasures to Babylonian ambassadors. Isaiah's rebuke and the prophecy that all these treasures, and even Hezekiah's sons, will be carried to Babylon. Hezekiah's ambiguous reply ('Good is the word of the Lord') interpreted by Lapide as combining genuine piety ('God's will be done') with sinful complacency ('At least peace in my days'). The chapter is the hinge between First and Second Isaiah: the Babylonian captivity predicted here becomes the assumed backdrop of ch.40 onwards.
Verse 2
And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he showed them the house of his aromatical spices, and the silver and gold, and the diverse precious odours, and the storehouse of his furniture, and all that he had in his treasuries. Ezechias's pride: showing all his wealth to the Babylonian ambassadors — exactly what he should not have done with envoys from the future captors. Lapide: this is the fault of vainglory — trusting that worldly prosperity will impress others and secure friendship. It always backfires.
Verse 6
Ecce dies venient et auferentur omnia quae sunt in domo tua
Behold, the days shall come when all that is in your house shall be carried to Babylon — the precise prediction of the Babylonian captivity, spoken a full century before Nebuchadnezzar. Lapide: this demonstrates the supernatural character of prophecy, transcending all natural foresight. No human prudence could have foreseen, a century in advance, the specific nation (Babylon, then a minor power under Assyrian suzerainty) that would conquer Judah and carry away these specific treasures. Isaiah's prophecy is thereby proven divine.