If thieves came to thee - That is, if thieves entered thy dwellings, they would not have taken every thing; they would have laid hold on thy wealth; and carried off as much as they could escape with conveniently; if grape-gatherers entered thy vineyards, they would not have taken every bunch; some gleanings would have been left. But the Chaldeans have stripped thee bare; they have searched out all thy hidden things, Obadiah 1:6, they have left thee nothing. Hour art thou cut off! Thou art totally and irretrievably ruined! The prophet speaks of this desolation as if it had already taken place.
If thieves came to thee - The prophet describes their future punishment, by contrast with that which, as a marauding people, they well knew. Thieves and robbers spoil only for their petty end. They take what comes to hand; what they can, they carry off shortness of time, difficulty of transport, necessity of providing for a retreat, limit their plunder. When they have gorged themselves, they depart. “Their” plunder is limited. The “grape-gatherer” leaves gleanings. God promises to His own people, under the same image, that they should have a remnant left Isaiah 17:6; Isaiah 24:13. “Gleaning grapes shall be left in it.” It shall be, “as gleaning grapes, when the vintage is done.” The prophet anticipates the contrast by a burst of sympathy. In the name of God, he mourns over the destruction which he fore-announces. He laments over the destruction, even of the deadly enemy of his people. “How art thou destroyed!” So the men of God are accustomed to express their amazement at the greatness of the destruction of the ungodly Psalm 73:19. “How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!” Isaiah 14:4, Isaiah 14:12. “How hath the oppressor ceased! How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” Jeremiah 50:23. “How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!” Jeremiah 51:41. “How is Sheshach taken! How is the praise of the whole earth surprised.”