Then the LORD said to me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.
Then the LORD said to me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.
Then Jehovah said unto me, Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Then the Lord said to me, Out of the north evil will come, bursting out on all the people of the land.
Then the LORD said to me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Then Yahweh said to me, "Out of the north evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land.
Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Shall break forth - תפתח tippathach, shall be opened. The door shall be thrown abroad, that these calamities may pass out freely.
Out of the north ... - The caldron represents the great military empires upon the Euphrates. In Hezekiah's time, Nineveh was at their head; but stormed by the armies of Cyaxares and Nabopalassar it is itself now the victim whose limbs are seething in the caldron, and the seat of empire has been transferred to Babylon. But whoever may for the time prevail, the tide of passion and carnage is sure finally to pour itself upon Judaea.
An evil shall break forth - "The evil shall be opened," shall show itself, be disclosed from the north: that special evil, which from the days of Micah M1 Corinthians 3:12 all the prophets had denounced upon the Jews if they lapsed into idolatry. At present the caldron is fiercely boiling upon the Euphrates. As soon as either of the parties struggling there gains the victory it will pour the whole seething mass over other countries in the shape of an invading army (see Jeremiah 25:17-26).
1:14 North - From Babylon.