_And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the
waves of the sea._
This mode of rendering gives a turn to the sense of the passage, which is
wholly uncalled for, if not unwarranted by the original: which would be
more literally translated: _And affliction shall come over the sea_, &c.
But the Jew’s mode of rendering is equally correct, and better accords
with the context, thus: _He shall cause trouble to pass in the sea, and
shall smite the waves of the sea._ The latter expression amplifying and
explaining the former.
What is meant by the expressions, the sea, the isles, and the land, is a
point of no small importance. In prophetic language, the sea and the isles
always signify the western Gentiles, or European nations; while the land
signifies Palestine, or the Jewish nation. The Hebrew word ים (or םי)
means either the sea or the west. As the sea extends along the whole
western coast of Syria, sea and west came to be used synonymously. And as
the European nations lay beyond the sea they obtained the name of the
isles, or the isles of the Gentiles, as they are called in Gen. x. 5. Mr.
Lowth observes, on Isa. xi. 11. “The islands, in the prophetic style, seem
particularly to denote the western parts of the world, or the European
nations; the west being often called the sea in the Scripture language.”
Thus, “_causing affliction, or trouble, to come over the sea_,” and
“_smiting the waves of it_,” signify, as the Jew rightly explains, to
cause confusion and dismay among the Gentile nations of the west.