And it shall burn and devour his thorns "And he shall burn and consume his thorn" - The briers and thorns are the common people; the glory of his forest are the nobles and those of highest rank and importance. See note on Isaiah 9:17, and compare Ezekiel 20:47. The fire of God's wrath shall destroy them, both great and small; it shall consume them from the soul to the flesh; a proverbial expression; soul and body, as we say; it shall consume them entirely and altogether; and the few that escape shall be looked upon as having escaped from the most imminent danger; "as a firebrand plucked out of the fire," Amos 4:11; ὡς δια πυρος, so as by fire, 1 Corinthians 3:15; as a man when a house is burning is forced to make his escape by running through the midst of the fire.

I follow here the reading of the Septuagint, כמאש נסס kemash noses, ὡς ὁ φευγων απω φλογος χαιομενης, as he who flees from the burning flame. Symmachus also renders the latter word by φευγων, flying.

few. Heb. number

Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand...

If Then the Prophets Prophesied that the Son of God was to Appear Upon The...
If then the prophets prophesied that the Son of God was to appear upon the earth, and prophesied also where on the earth and how and in what manner He should make known His appearance, and all these prophecies the Lord took upon Himself; our faith in Him was well-founded, and the tradition of the preaching (is) true: that is to say, the testimony of the apostles, who being sent forth by the Lord preached in all the world the Son of God, who came to suffer, and endured to the destruction of death …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

"Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge"
God's favor toward Israel had always been conditional on their obedience. At the foot of Sinai they had entered into covenant relationship with Him as His "peculiar treasure. . . above all people." Solemnly they had promised to follow in the path of obedience. "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do," they had said. Exodus 19:5, 8. And when, a few days afterward, God's law was spoken from Sinai, and additional instruction in the form of statutes and judgments was communicated through Moses, the …
Ellen Gould White—The Story of Prophets and Kings

A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3