Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For Yahweh has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers. All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t, for it is sealed;” and the book is delivered to one who is not educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t read.”
The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught; therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”
Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?” You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay; that the thing made should say about him who made it, “He didn’t make me;” or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding?”
Isn’t it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest?
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Muse hereon as long as ye list, yet shall…
Muse hereon as long as ye list, yet shall ye find nothing but occasion to be astonied: for your Prophets are blind, and therefore cannot direct you.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–17 Isa 29:9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out,…
Isa 29:9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Ver. 9. Stay yourselves, and wonder.] Sistite gradum, stand still, and stand amazed at this people’s stupendous stupidity and desperate security. Piscator rendereth the text thus: Cunctantur, itaque admiramini; deliciantur, itaque vociferamini. They delay (to return), therefore wonder ye at it; they sport at it, but cry ye out, as lamenting their folly. {Eze 9:4, where the original is very elegant} Some translate the words thus: Obstupefacite vos ipsi, et sitis stupidi, et excaecate vos ipsi et sitis caeci, stupify yourselves and be stupid; blind yourselves and be blind; do so, I say, for you will do so undoubtedly. And here begin their spiritual miseries. See Isa 29:1; Isa 6:9-10.
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They are drunk, but not with wine.] But yet with that which is much worse, viz., with a spirit of stupidity; {Isa 29:10} they are not only drunk with a dry drunkenness, but deadly sick of a lethargy, being dulled in their understandings, lulled asleep in their sinful practices, ready to fly in the face of one that shall offer to awake them. Other drunkenness a man may sleep out, sleep himself sober, as Noah did; not so here, as Nazianzen {a} well observeth upon this text.
{a} Homil. de plaga grandinis.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Stay yourselves, and wonder; pause upon it, and you…
Stay yourselves, and wonder; pause upon it, and you will see cause to wonder at the stupidity of this people, of which he is now about to speak. He directeth his speech, either to the religious part of the people, or to those particular persons who heard him when he delivered this prophecy.
Cry ye out, and cry; cry out again and again, either in way of supplication for them; or rather through astonishment and horror. Or, they take pleasure or sport themselves, (as this word most commonly signifies,) and riot; in the midst of all these threatenings and dangers, they are secure, and give up themselves to sensuality; which is matter of just wonder.
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They are drunken, but not with wine; but either,
1. With drinking the cup of God’s fury, wherewith they are said to be made drunk, Isa 51:17,20. And then, they are drunk, is put for, they shall be drunk, after the manner of the prophets. Or,
2. With the spirit of giddiness or stupidity, which makes them like drunken men, insensible of their danger, and not knowing what to do.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv9, 17 Here, I. The prophet stands amazed at the stupidity…
Here, I. The prophet stands amazed at the stupidity of the greatest part of the Jewish nation. They had Levites, who taught the good knowledge of the Lord and had encouragement from Hezekiah in doing so, Ch2 30:22. They had prophets, who brought them messages immediately from God, and signified to them what were the causes and what would be the effects of God's displeasure against them. Now, one would think, surely this great nation, that has all the advantages of divine revelation, is a wise and understanding people, Deu 4:6. But, alas! it was quite otherwise, Isa 29:9. The prophet addresses himself to the sober thinking part of them, calling upon them to be affected with the general carelessness of their neighbours. It may be read, "They delay, they put off, their repentance, but wonder you that they should be so sottish. They sport themselves with their own deceivings; they riot and revel; but do you cry out, lament their folly, cry to God by prayer for them. The more insensible they are of the hand of God gone out against them the more do you lay to heart these things." Note, The security of sinners in their sinful way is just matter of lamentation and wonder to all serious people, who should think themselves concerned to pray for those that do not pray for themselves. But what is the matter? What are we thus to wonder at? 1. We may well wonder that the generality of the people should be so sottish and brutish, and so infatuated, as if they were intoxicated: They are drunken, but not with wine (not with wine only, though with that they were often drunk), and they erred through wine, Isa 28:7. They were drunk with the love of pleasures, with prejudices against religion, and with the corrupt principles they had imbibed. Like drunken men, they know not what they do or say, nor whither they go. They are not sensible of the divine rebukes they are under. They have beaten me, and I felt it not, says the drunkard, Pro 23:35. God speaks to them once, yea, twice; but, like men drunk, they perceive it not, they understand it not, but forget the law. They stagger in their counsels, are unstable and unsteady, and stumble at every thing that lies in their way. There is such a thing as spiritual drunkenness. 2. It is yet more strange that God himself should have poured out upon them a spirit of deep sleep, and closed their eyes (Isa 29:10), that he who bids them awake and open their eyes should yet lay them to sleep and shut their eyes; but it is in a way of righteous judgment, to punish them for their loving darkness rather than light, their loving sleep. When God by his prophets called them they said, Yet a little sleep, a little slumber; and therefore he gave them up to strong delusions, and said, Sleep on now. This is applied to the unbelieving Jews, who rejected the gospel of Christ, and were justly hardened in their infidelity, till wrath came upon them to the uttermost. Rom 11:8, God has given them the spirit of slumber. And we have reason to fear it is the woeful case of many who live in the midst of gospel light. 3. It is very sad that this should be the case with those who were their prophets, and rulers, and seers, that those who should have been their guides were themselves blindfolded; and it is easy to tell what the fatal consequences will be when the blind lead the blind. This was fulfilled when, in the latter days of the Jewish church, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, were the great opposers of Christ and his gospel, and brought themselves under a judicial infatuation. 4. The sad effect of this was that all the means of conviction, knowledge, and grace, which they enjoyed, were ineffectual, and did not answer the end (Isa 29:11, Isa 29:12): "The vision of all the prophets, true and false, has become to you as the words of a book, or letter, that is sealed up; you cannot discern the truth of the real visions and the falsehood of the pretended ones." Or, every vision particularly that this prophet had seen for them, and published to them, had become unintelligible; they had it among them, but were never the wiser for it, any more than a man (though a good scholar) is for a book delivered to him sealed up, and which he must not open the seals of. He sees it is a book, and that is all; he knows nothing of what is in it. So they knew that what Isaiah said was a vision and prophecy, but the meaning of it was hidden from them; it was only a sound of words to them, which they were not at all alarmed by, nor affected with; it answered not the intention, for it made no impression at all upon them. Neither the learned nor the unlearned were the better for all the messages God sent them by his servants the prophets, nor desired to be so. The ordinary sort of people excused themselves from regarding what the prophets said with their want of learning and a liberal education, as if they were not concerned to know and do the will of God because they were not bred scholars: It is nothing to me, I am not learned. Those of better rank pretended that the prophet had a peculiar way of speaking, which was obscure to them, and which, though they were men of letters, they had not been used to; and, Si non vis intelligi, debes negligi - If you wish not to be understood, you deserve to be neglected. Both these are groundless pretences; for God's prophets have been no unfaithful debtors either to the wise or to the unwise, Rom 1:14. Or we may take it thus: - The book of prophecy was given to them sealed, so that they could not read it, as a just judgment upon them; because it had often been delivered to them unsealed, and they would not take pains to learn the language of it, and then made excuse for their not reading it because they were not learned. But observe, "The vision has become thus to you whose minds the god of this world has blinded; but it is not so in itself, it is not so to all; the same vision which to you is a savour of death unto death to others is and shall be a savour of life unto life." Knowledge is easy to him that understands.
II. The prophet, in God's name, threatens those that were formal and hypocritical in their exercises of devotion, Isa 29:13, Isa 29:14. Observe here,
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1. The sin that is here charged upon them - dissembling with God in their religious performances, Isa 29:13. He that knows the heart, and cannot be imposed upon with shows and pretences, charges it upon them, whether their hearts condemn them for it or no. He that is greater than the heart, and knows all things, knows that though they draw nigh to him with their mouth, and honour him with their lips, yet they are not sincere worshippers. To worship God is to make our approaches to him, and to present our adorations of him; it is to draw nigh to him as those that have business with him, with an intention therein to honour him. This we are to do with our mouth and our lips, in speaking of him and in speaking to him; we must render to him the calves of our lips, Hos 14:2. And, if the heart be full of his love and fear, out of the abundance of that the mouth will speak. But there are many whose religion is lip-labour only. They say that which expresses an approach to God and an adoration of him, but it is only from the teeth outward. For, (1.) They do not apply their minds to the service. When they pretend to be speaking to God they are thinking of a thousand impertinences: The have removed their hearts far from me, that they might not be employed in prayer, nor come within reach of the word. When work was to be done for God, which required the heart, that was sent out of the way on purpose, with the fool's eyes, into the ends of the earth. (2.) They do not make the word of God the rule of their worship, nor his will their reason: Their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men. They worshipped the God of Israel, not according to his appointment, but their own inventions, the directions of their false prophets or their idolatrous kings, or the usages of the nations that were round about them. The tradition of the elders was of more value and validity with them than the laws which God commanded Moses. Or, if they did worship God in a way conformable to his institution in the days of Hezekiah, a great reformer, they had more an eye to the precept of the king than to God's command. This our Saviour applies to the Jews in his time, who were formal in their devotions and wedded to their own inventions, and pronounces concerning them that in vain they did worship God, Mat 15:8, Mat 15:9.
2. It is a spiritual judgment with which God threatens to punish them for their spiritual wickedness (Isa 29:14): I will proceed to do a marvellous work. They did one strange thing; they removed all sincerity from their hearts. Now God will go on and do another; he will remove all sagacity from their heads. The wisdom of their wise men shall perish. They played the hypocrite, and thought to put a cheat upon God, and now they are left to themselves to play the fool, and not only to put a cheat upon themselves, but to be easily cheated by all about them. Those that make religion no more than a pretence, to serve a turn, are out in their politics; and it is just with God to deprive those of their understanding who part with their uprightness. This was fulfilled in the wretched infatuation which the Jewish nation were manifestly under, after they had rejected the gospel of Christ; they removed their hearts far from God, and therefore God justly removed wisdom far from them, and hid from their eyes the things that belonged even to their temporal peace. This is a marvelous work; it is surprising, it is astonishing, that wise men should of a sudden lose their wisdom and be given up to strong delusions. Judgments on the mind, though least taken notice of, are to be most wondered at.
III. He shows the folly of those that though to act separately and secretly from God, and were carrying on designs independent upon God and which they projected to conceal from his all-seeing eye. Here we have, 1. Their politics described (Isa 29:15): They seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, that he may not know either what they do or what they design; they say, "Who sees us? No man, and therefore not God himself." The consultations they had about their own safety they kept to themselves, and never asked God's advice concerning them; nay, they knew they were displeasing to him, but thought they could conceal them from him; and, if he did not know them, he could not baffle and defeat them. See what foolish fruitless pains sinners take in their sinful ways; they seek deep, they sink deep, to hide their counsel from the Lord, who sits in heaven and laughs at them. Note, A practical disbelief of God's omniscience is at the bottom both of the carnal worships and of the carnal confidences of hypocrites; Psa 94:7; Eze 8:12; Eze 9:9. 2. The absurdity of their politics demonstrated (Isa 29:16): "Surely your turning of things upside down thus, your various projects, turning your affairs this and that way to make them shape as you would have them - or rather your inverting the order of things, and thinking to make God's providence give attendance to your projects, and that God must know no more than you think fit, which is perfectly turning things upside down and beginning at the wrong end - shall be esteemed as the potter's clay. God will turn and manage you, and all your counsels, with as much ease and as absolute a power as the potter forms and fashions his clay." See how God despises, and therefore what little reason we have to dread, those contrivances of men that are carried on without God, particularly those against him. (1.) Those that think to hide their counsels from God do in effect deny him to be their Creator. It is as if the work should say of him that made it, "He made me not; I made myself." If God made us, he certainly knows us as the Psalmist shows, (Psa 139:1, Psa 139:13-16); so that those who say that he does not see them might as well say that he did not make them. Much of the wickedness of the wicked arises from this, they forget that God formed them, Deu 32:18. Or, (2.) Which comes to the same thing, they deny him to be a wise Creator: The thing framed saith of him that framed it, He had no understanding; for if he had understanding to make us so curiously, especially to make us intelligent beings and to put understanding into the inward part (Job 38:36), no doubt he has understanding to know us and all we say and do. As those that quarrel with God, so those that think to conceal themselves from him, do in effect charge him with folly; but he that formed the eye, shall he not see? Psa 94:9.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–17 Stay yourselves, and wonder,.... Stop a while, pause a…
Stay yourselves, and wonder,.... Stop a while, pause a little, consider within yourselves the case and circumstances of these people, and wonder at their stupidity. Kimchi thinks these words were spoken in the times of Ahaz, with respect to the men of Judah; and so Aben Ezra says, they are directed to the men of Zion; and it is generally thought that they are spoken to the more religious and sober part of them; though, by the following verse Isa 29:10, it appears that the case was general, and that the people to whom this address is made were as stupid as others:
cry ye out, and cry; or, "delight yourselves" (s), as in the margin; take your pleasure, indulge yourselves in carnal mirth, gratify your sensual appetite in rioting and wantonness, and then "cry" and lament, as you will have reason to do. Kimchi says, his father rendered the words, "awake yourselves, and awake others"; that is, from that deep sleep they were fallen into, afterwards mentioned:
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they are drunken, but not with wine; not with that only, for otherwise many of them were given to drunkenness in a literal sense, Isa 28:7 but they were like drunken men, as stupid, senseless, and secure, though in the utmost danger:
they stagger, but not with strong drink; unsteady in their counsels and resolutions, in their principles and practices, and stumble in their goings.
(s) "oblectate vos", Cocceius; "delicias agunt", Junius & Tremellius; "deliciantur", Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Wonder - At the stupidity of this people. Cry…
Wonder - At the stupidity of this people. Cry - Cry out again and again through astonishment. They stagger - With giddiness or stupidity, which makes them like drunken men, insensible of their danger.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 13, 17 Verse 9. Stay yourselves, and wonder] התמהמהו hithmahmehu, go…
Verse 9. Stay yourselves, and wonder] התמהמהו hithmahmehu, go on what-what-whatting, in a state of mental indetermination, till the overflowing scourge take you away. See Clarke on Ps 119:60.
They are drunken, but not with wine] See Clarke on Isa 51:21.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 13, 15, 17 Isa 29:9-10. Stay yourselves and wonder — The prophet,…
Isa 29:9-10. Stay yourselves and wonder — The prophet, having described the temporal judgment coming on the Jews, (see the contents of the chapter,) proceeds now to predict the spiritual one, the first gradation of which is contained in these and the two following verses, which both describe the judgment and the consequence of it. It is the same with that predicted Isa 6:9-12; and Isa 8:14-15. On which see the notes. Hebrew, התמהמהו ותמהו, Pause and be astonished. Stop and consider the stupidity of this people, and you cannot but wonder at it. Cry ye out, and cry — Through amazement and horror. They are drunken, but not with wine — But with stupidity and folly, which makes them, like drunken men, insensible of their danger, and not knowing what to do. For the Lord hath poured out upon you — Hath suffered to come upon you, in a way of righteous judgment, and as a punishment for your loving, darkness rather than light; the spirit of deep sleep — Hardness of heart, and insensibility of your danger and misery. The prophets and your rulers — Your magistrates and ministers, whose blindness and stupidity are a great curse to the people; hath he covered — Permitted to be covered with the veil of ignorance and stupidity; that is, he hath withdrawn his abused light and grace from them, so that they no more see things in a true light than if a thick veil were spread over them. The prophets and seers here mean the same persons.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–17 Stay yourselves - Thus far the prophet had given…
Stay yourselves - Thus far the prophet had given a description of the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib, and of his sudden overthrow. He now turns to the Jews, and reproves their stupidity, formality, and hypocrisy; and the remainder of the chapter is occupied with a statement of the prevalence of these sins, of the judgments that must follow, and of the fact that there should yet be an extensive reformation, and turning to the Lord. The word rendered ‘stay yourselves’ (התמהמהוּ hı̂temahemehû) means properly “to linger,” tarry, delay Gen 19:16; Gen 43:10; 2Sa 15:28. Here it seems to denote that state of mind in which anyone is “fixed in astonishment;” in which one stops, and stares at some strange and unexpected occurrence. The object of amazement which the prophet supposes would excite astonishment, was the stupidity, dulness, and hypocrisy of a people who had been so signally favored (compare Hab 1:5).
Cry ye out, and cry - There is in the original here a paronomasia which cannot be conveyed in a translation. The word which is used (השׁתעשׁעוּ hı̂sheta‛ashe‛û) is one form of the verb שׁעע shâ‛a‛, which means, usually, to make smooth, rub, spread over; hence, in the Hithpael form which is used here, to be spread over; and hence, is applied to the eyes Isa 6:10, to denote blindness, as if they were overspread with something by reason of which they could not see. Here it probably means, ‘be ye dazzled and blinded,’ that is, ye be astonished, as in the former part of the verse. The idea seems to be that of some object of sudden astonishment that dims the sights and takes away all the powers of vision. The word is used in the same sense in Isa 32:3; compare Isa 35:5; Isa 42:19. Probably the idea here would be well expressed by our word “stare,” ‘stare and look with a stupid surprise;’ denoting the attitude and condition of a man who is amazed at some remarkable and unlooked for spectacle.
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They are drunken, but not with wine - The people of Jerusalem. They reel and stagger, but the cause is not that they are drunken with wine. It is a moral and spiritual intoxication and reeling. They err in their doctrines and practice; and it is with them as it is with a drunken man that sees nothing clearly or correctly, and cannot walk steadily. They have perverted all doctrines; they err in their views of God and his truth, and they are irregular and corrupt in their conduct.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17 Be, &c. Though God spared the city, for the…
Be, &c. Though God spared the city, for the sake of the good, He will not fail to punish scoffers, in due time, as He now declares. (Haydock) --- Drunkenness. You shall suffer for your crimes, (chap. xxviii. 7.) or be affrighted.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v13 13 Wherefore the Lord said,
2. THE SECRET COUNSEL OF MEN, AND THE SECRET COUNSEL OF GOD
Isa_29:13-24
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13 Wherefore the Lord said,
Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,
And with their lips do honor me,
But have removed their heart far from me,
And their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men;
14 Therefore, behold, 16I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people,
Even a marvellous work and a wonder;
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark,
And they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 17Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay;
For shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?
Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while,
And Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see
Out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also 18shall increase their joy in the Lord,
And the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought,
And the scorner is consumed,
And all that watch for 19iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man an offender 20for a word,
And lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate,
And turn aside the just 21for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham,
Concerning the house of Jacob,
Jacob shall not now be ashamed,
Neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 22But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him,
They shall sanctify my name,
And sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
And shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit 23shall come to understanding,
And they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_29:13. That we are to read not נִגַשׂ (with the Targum and many MSS. and Editions, in the sense of “to urge, trouble, torment one’s self,”) but נִגַשׁ, is shown by the antithetic רִחַק. That contrary to the accentuation בפיו is to be connected with נגשׁ, is apparent from this, that the people are to be reproached, not with drawing near to God in general, but with the outward, deceitful approach to Him. The great liberty which in Hebrew is indulged in with reference to person and number, is seen from כבדוני and יראתם in relation to בפיו, שׂפּתיו and לבו. We have to take רחק as a causative, and at the same time intensive Piel (to make removal with zeal = to strive to get away).
Isa_29:14. On יוֹסִף as the third person comp. on Isa_28:16. [יוֹסִף is the third person of the future. There is an ellipsis to be supplied: Behold, I (am he who) will add, etc.—D. M.]. אֵת after הפליא is not the sign of the accusative, but is the preposition. Instead of a second infinitive, a noun of the same stem פלא is attached to the infinitive absolute (comp. Isa_22:17-18; Isa_24:19).
Isa_29:15. חעמיק is the proper causative Hiphil=to make a deepening, a sinking. At the same time the construction with מִן is a pregnant one; but לסתיר [syncopated Hiphil comp. Isa_23:11—D. M.] is not a statement of the design, but is the ablative or gerundine infinitivus modalis, which when united with a causative conjugation, can be expressed by us by a verb with any adverb, as here: who deep from Jehovah hide, etc. Comp. Jer_49:8; Jer_49:30, and as to the usus loquendi Isa_7:11; Isa_30:33; Isa_31:6. אִם in Isa_29:16 corresponds to the Latin an, and marks the second member of a disjunctive question, the first of which is to be supplied.
Isa_29:20. שָׁקֵד σπουδάζειν, alacrem esse, vigilare, invigilare, is elsewhere always construed with עַל (Jer_1:12; Jer_5:6; Jer_31:28; Jer_44:27; Pro_8:34; Job_21:32). This word is found in Isaiah only here. The construction in this place is to be judged according to such forms of expression as שָׁבֵי פֶשַׁע (Isa_59:20), חֲלוּץ צָבָא (Num_32:27) and similar phrases. The form יְקשׁוּן might, considered by itself, be the perfect (comp. יָקשְׁתִּי Jer_50:24), as the form יָקשֽׁוּ with the primitive ן must be יְקשֽׁוּן according to the rule that a closed syllable can be without the tone only when it has a short vowel, and an open syllable precedes (comp. יְקוּמֽוּן—יָֽקוּמוּ Ewald, § 85, a; 88, c). But if we have regard to the syntax, the imperfect (future) is more correct, because the Prophet has in his mind not merely single definite facts, but the permanent habit of those people. The form is in this case to be derived from קוֹשׁ, which occurs only here.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Prophet urges the people to fear Jehovah, and to trust in Him alone. Even in Hezekiah’s times the people were not pleased to do so. On this account the preceding announcement (Isa_29:1-8), notwithstanding the glorious promise with which it ends, was to so many an offence (Isa_29:9-12). The Prophet, therefore, directs now his discourse against those who honor the Lord with merely external, ceremonial service, and not from the heart (Isa_29:13), and announces that the Lord will deal strangely with them, and that their wisdom will be brought to shame (Isa_29:14). He further reproves those who imagine that they can carry out in the most profound secresy the plans of their untheocratic policy (Isa_29:15), by reminding them that the clay can never be equal to the potter, or the work formed from clay be able to deny the potter, or accuse him of ignorance (Isa_29:16). A great change will soon happen: Assyria, which is like Lebanon, shall be brought low; Judah, which resembles only Carmel, shall be highly exalted. Then people will understand the words of the Prophet, which they had before despised, and will perceive that they are true and salutary. But behind that deliverance, which belongs to the history of the nation, the Prophet discerns also Messianic blessing. The comparison has therefore this meaning also for him, that the wilderness shall become uncultivated land, while uncultivated land shall become a wilderness (Isa_29:17). This means that a poor condition of external nature shall be remedied by the divine favor, and, conversely, a condition of high culture shall, by the withdrawal of the divine favor, pass into a state of wildness; the deaf shall hear, the blind see (Isa_29:18); the poor and oppressed shall become strong and joyful in the Lord (Isa_29:19). The violent and false shall be exterminated (Isa_29:20-21). For the Lord, who redeemed Abraham will bring Jacob to honor (Isa_29:22). For when Jacob shall see the Lord’s wonderful work for his salvation, he will sanctify the Lord (Isa_29:23), and understand what makes for his peace (Isa_29:24).
2. Wherefore the Lord said——be hid.
Isa_29:13-14. By means of ויאמר the Prophet connects what he has to say with the immediately foregoing. He indicates by this verbal form that what follows is occasioned by the stupid and perverse behaviour of the people (Isa_29:9-10). That perversity had its root in the people trusting more in themselves and their wisdom than in the Lord. They, therefore, thought that they could satisfy the Lord, whose worship Hezekiah lately imposed on them, by the performance of outward ceremonial service. For the rest, in what concerned their life and conduct, and especially in their policy, they went their own ways. The Lord had already said (Deu_6:4 sqq.), that He is not satisfied with mere ceremonial service, but desires hearty love from His people. But it was this chief and greatest commandment (Mat_22:38) which Israel never learned. Hence till the time of the exile the inclination to idolatry prevailed, and if they at times served the Lord, this was only as a pause in the song. And the reformations of Hezekiah and Josiah were no expression of the mind of the people, and were consequently not of long duration. Manasseh followed Hezekiah, and Jehoiakim and Zedekiah followed Josiah. But Isaiah here takes up earlier utterances (Psalms 50; Amo_5:21 sqq.; Mic_6:6 sq.). He afterwards returns to this subject (Isa_58:2 sqq., comp. Isa_1:11 sqq.). The expression מצוה מלמדה is found only here. When we compare such expressions as עֶגְלָה מלמדה. Hos_10:11, מְלֻמּדֵי שִׁיר1Ch_25:7, מלמדי מלהמהSon_3:8, we perceive that in מלמדה as here used, there lies the idea of training, of external discipline and accustoming. [The complaint is that their religion, instead of being founded on the authority of God’s word, rested on human ordinances.—D. M.]. The punishment for this hypocritical conduct of the people towards Jehovah is that the Lordcontinues to deal with them in a wonderful way. Wonderful had been all the ways which the Lord had from the beginning pursued towards the people. The Prophet seems to wish by the word הסתתר to prepare the transition to Isa_29:15. From the wisdom, which must hide itself, because it is brought to disgrace, he passes over to the wisdom which desires to hide itself, while it cannot do so.
3. Woe unto them——understanding.
Isa_29:15-16. We clearly perceive here how significant was the position of the great Prophets. They might be said to be the eye and the mouth of Jehovah. They watched over the course of the theocracy, and the leaders of it could not but respect them. If then the policy approved by the leaders was untheocratic, they must fear the word of the Prophets. For their word was the word of Jehovah. When, therefore, there was a consciousness of an untheocratic aim, care was taken to conceal the political measures from the Prophets. Thus Ahaz sought to hide from Isaiah his Assyrian policy (7). Here likewise Hezekiah tries to keep secret his Egyptian policy. For even Hezekiah does not seem to have risen to the height of the only truly theocratic policy, which must consist in having the Lord alone as their support. והיה וגו׳. Not merely is the plan secretly concocted, but the execution of it, too, takes place with all secresy. מחשׁך, in Isaiah besides only Isa_42:16. מעשׂיהם, so far as the form is concerned, might be singular. But as the copula הָיָה precedes, מעשׂיחם can also be the plural, and this view corresponds better to the usus loquendi elsewhere (Isa_41:29; Isa_59:6; Isa_66:18). הפככם Isa_29:16 is an exclamation: O your perverting! That is, how ye pervert things! They act, as if their wisdom were greater than the wisdom of God, as if they could therefore review, determine, and according to their pleasure influence and direct the thoughts of the Lord, while they are but clay in the hand of the potter. The word הפככם (on account of the Dagesh lene, not from the Infin Kal, but from the substantive הֹפֶךְ, which occurs only here, comp. הֵפֶך הֶפֶךְEze_16:34) is to be taken in an active signification, so that it marks not so much perversity, as the perversion of ideas which proceeds from perversity, as is in Isa_29:15 implicitly, and in Isa_29:16 explicitly evinced. If the potter were clay, and the clay were potter, then the clay could determine and direct the potter, could for this purpose lead him astray, deceive him, etc. Either, then, the Israelites are perverse, or the potter is not clay. If indeed the clay were potter, then the former could justly say: he, the potter made me not,—or he understands and observes nothing. This is what Israel says in imagining that he is able to lead astray the Prophet, that is, the omniscient Lord Himself. While the politicians forge Hezekiah’s plans, they think that they knead them, as potters do their vessels, according to their pleasure, and unobserved by the Lord, while they themselves are yet but clay.
4. Is it not yet——a thing of nought
Isa_29:17-21. An end will be put to this evil condition. The Lord Himself will reform His people, and that thoroughly. Then the deaf will hear, and the blind see, and to the poor the Gospel will be preached. But those proud, imperious and infatuated politicians, who forcibly suppress all opposition against their line of action, will go to ruin. When the Prophet holds out the prospect of this reformation within a brief period, he does this in the exercise of that prophetic manner of contemplation which reckons the times not according to a human but a divine measure. For in fact the Prophet here beholds along with, and in what is proximate the time of the end. The prospect of blessedness which he presents belongs also to the days of the Messiah, as we clearly perceive from Isa_29:18-19. The expression עוד מעט מזער is used thus in Isa_10:25 also. Comp. Isa_26:20; Isa_54:7. In a short time, therefore, Lebanon shall become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field a forest. The expression can be variously explained. It seems to me to denote primarily that the Lord can bring down that which is high, and raise that which is low. And in this sense the word was fulfilled in the overthrow of Sennacherib. Then Assyria, the lofty Lebanon, became the low Carmel; but Judah, which was a little mount, and low plain, became a lofty wooded mountain-range. Thereby it became at the same time evident how false the untheocratic policy was in its calculation, and how truly the Lord’s mouth spoke by the Prophet. Lebanon and the forest represent wild nature, or the natural wilderness; the fruitful field again represents a state of culture (Isa_10:18; Isa_37:24). All depends on the essential character, the nature of a thing. What in its nature and essence is good, although it looks rough and wild as the wooded mountain-range, shall yet gradually, even in outward appearance, become a fruitful cultivated land; but what is in its nature rough and wild, even when it appears to be cultivated, will certainly sooner or later manifest its true nature as a wilderness, in a corresponding external appearance. In short, the true nature of things must at last be manifest. [“The only natural interpretation of the verse, is that which regards it as prophetic of a mutual change of condition, the first becoming last and the last first.”—Alexander. D. M.].
This form of speech was probably proverbial, and seems to me in the form in which it here lies to bear the meaning assigned to it. That it was used in yet another form, and then naturally in a signification modified as the case required, we can see from Isa_32:15. Instead of שָׁב we find וְהָיָה in Isa_32:15. The passage before us seems to be the only one in which שׁוּב is undoubtedly employed in this wider signification = to turn one’s self from one direction to another (it properly signifies; to turn one’s self back). The definite article before כרמל and יער is the generic (comp. Isa_29:11). כרמל is used nine times by Isa_10:18; Isa_16:10; Isa_29:17 (bis); Isa_22:15-16; Isa_33:9 and Isa_35:2 (proper name); Isa_37:24. The expression יֵחָשֵׁב לְ is not meant to affirm that the fruitful field is merely esteemed as a forest, without really being such. That it really is such, is what the Prophet means to affirm. In the following verses the proverbial and figurative expression, Isa_29:17, is illustrated. The deaf shall in that day (i. e., in the time indicated by מעט מזער) hear words of the writing, and the blind will see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.—When the bound senses of the deaf and dumb can freely unfold themselves, when the love of life, which is kept under in the poor and wretched, can display itself without impediment, then Lebanon, the wooded mountain range, has become a fruitful field, for then nature has advanced from neglected disorder to a well-ordered, cultivated condition. When it is said that the deaf will hear, דברי ספר, the word ספר seems superfluous. But the Prophet alludes evidently to Isa_29:11, from which it is at the same time clear that he is not speaking of physical deafness, etc. It was there declared of the people present that the Lord had poured out upon them a spirit of sleep (in which, as all know, one does not hear), and bound up their eyes so that the prophecy was to them as the words of a sealed book. When then Lebanon has become a fruitful field, and nature shall have given place to grace, then too the ears of the people that were previously deaf will be opened, and they will understand the דִּבְרֵי סֵפֶר הֶחָתוּם, i. e., the words of the prophecy proceeding from the Lord through His Prophets, and will emerge from gloom. (אֹפֶל only here in Isaiah) and darkness, (in which they hitherto were with their eyes bound up by the Lord), so as to behold the light (comp. 30. 5). They will, therefore, perceive also the errors of their policy, and see that the word of the Prophet which shocked them, pointed out the true way of safety. They who were deaf and blind were also unhappy, just for this cause. When they hear and see, then are they happy men, delivered from oppression and distress, and joyful in their God. ענוים outwardly and inwardly oppressed, in Isaiah besides Isa_11:4; Isa_61:1; [ענו means meek, and is to be distinguished from עניpoor.—D. M.]. יספו comp. Isa_37:31; they obtain joy not only once, but continually, i. e., they increase joy.ביהוה comp. ἐν κυρίῳ in the New Testament; it is therefore not merely = through, but = in the Lord, namely as those who are rooted and grounded in the Lord. The expression אביוני אדם is found only here, comp. Exo_23:11. קדושׁ י׳ comp. on Isa_1:4. יגילו,—the rejoicing too has the Lord first for its basis, afterwards for its object (Isa_41:16). Is not the purport of these two verses, 18 and 19, reproduced in the saying of Christ, “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them” (Mat_11:5; Luk_7:22)? In this passage in the Gospel allusions are commonly found only to Isa_35:5; Isa_61:1. Without wishing to deny these references, we yet remark that Isa_29:18-19 contains the ideas conjoined, which the other places present apart. And when the Lord in dealing with John, who had fallen into doubt regarding His Messiahship, describes His works by pointing to this passage, are we not justified in saying that this passage is of Messianic import? We of course admit that Mat_11:5 is not an exact quotation of our passage. The joy of the pious has as its condition the removal of the wicked, whose unchecked display of themselves is identical with the deterioration of the fruitful field into a forest. Hence Isa_29:20-21, which explain Isa_29:17 b, are connected by כִּי with what immediately precedes. אָפֵס besides only Isa_16:4. לֵץ only here in Isaiah, but comp. Isa_28:14; Isa_28:22. Hiphil החטיא to make, to declare a sinner, (Deu_24:4; Ecc_5:5), only here in Isaiah. They make people sinners by words,i. e., they bring about their condemnation not by actual proofs, but merely by lying words. [The rendering of the E.V. is much more easy and natural: that make a man an offender for a word, and is justly preferred by Ewald, Alexander and Delitzsch.—D. M.]. מוֹכִיחַ the reprover, reprehensor, he who maintains the truth. Comp. Job_32:12; Job_40:2; Pro_9:7; Pro_24:25, et saepe;Eze_3:26. Isaiah seems to have had specially before him Amo_5:10. הִטָּה with the accusative of the thing (Deu_27:19; Pro_17:23; Amo_2:7), or the person (Pro_18:5; Amo_5:12), to designate a violent deed perpetrated by wresting judgment, is of frequent occurrence. But where it is joined with בְּ, it denotes the sphere in which, or the means by which the wresting of judgment is accomplished, not the terminus in quem. As moreover תֹּהוּ denotes everywhere in Isaiah what is null, vain, empty, and is synonymous with רוּחַ (wind) אֶפֶם ,הֶבֶל (comp. Isa_24:10; Isa_34:11; Isa_40:17; Isa_40:23; Isa_41:29; Isa_44:9; Isa_45:18-19; Isa_49:4; Isa_59:4), we have to regard תֹּהוּ as designating the empty lying accusations which were brought against the Prophet.
5. Therefore thus saith—doctrine.
Isa_29:22-24. These verses contain the comprehensive close. According to verses 13 and 14, Israel had omitted to serve the Lord in the proper manner, and according to verse 15, they had omitted to trust in the Lord alone. That on this double sin a double crisis must follow, which will make the good elements of the people ripe for salvation, the bad elements ripe for judgment, had been declared Isa_29:16-21. Now the close follows: As the ancestor of Israel had been delivered from the danger of idolatry like a brand plucked from the fire, so shall Israel also be delivered, when it shall have seen that judgment on the wicked. It will sanctify the name of the Lord, it will learn the true wisdom, and that will be its safety. אֶל־בֵּית י׳ Isa_29:22 = in reference to the house of Jacob (comp. Gen_20:2; Psa_2:7 et saepe), for in what follows it is spoken of in the third person. The clause אשׁר פדה וגו׳ refers to יהוה. That God, who had formerly saved Abraham, the progenitor of Israel, from the snares of idolatry (Jos_24:2; Jos_24:14-15), will also redeem Israel from the internal and external dangers which now threaten him. Israel will in the end not be put to shame (Isa_19:9; Isa_20:5; Isa_37:27; Isa_45:16-17; Isa_54:4 et saepe). חָוַר candidum esse, pallescere isἅπ. λεγ. Delitzschhere observes “that people whose faces are of a bronze color know in their language only of a growing pale for shame, and not of a blushing for shame.” Both the correction (Isa_29:20-21), and the deliverance (Isa_29:18-19), will bear fruit. The Prophet intends both when he speaks of the work of Jehovah among the people. When Israel (i.e., not the patriarch but his descendants, ילדיו is added by way of explanation to בראותו to obviate any misunderstanding) shall see this, he will sanctify the Lord,i. e., regard Him as holy (comp. on Isa_8:13, and the first petition of the Lord’s prayer). [But the E.V., which puts the work of my hands in apposition to his children, is better, comp. Isa_49:18-21.—D. M.]. The Prophet states in Isa_29:23 b, that the effect of the sanctification of the name of God will be that the people will esteem as holy the Holy One of Jacob, and will fear the God of Israel. Beside the variation of Jacob and Israel, which is so frequent in the second part of Isaiah, mark how the Prophet distinguishes between sanctifying the name of God, and sanctifying the Holy One of Jacob. This sanctification must be substantially one and the same. But when the Holy One of Jacob and the God of Israel is named as object of the second sanctification (Isa_29:23 b), a sanctifying seems to be thereby intended, which gives in a way which all men can perceive, the glory to this God above the gods of the heathen. The fruit of the inward disposition of heart which is externally perceptible and operative, seems to be thereby intended. As יּקדישׁו שׁמי refers to Isa_8:13, so יעריצו refers to Isa_8:12. Thus Israel will become truly wise. That wisdom which they thought they must conceal from God, was both foolishness and destruction. But when they shall have learnt to sanctify the Lord, then they who hitherto erred in spirit (comp. Psa_95:10), will attain the true wisdom, and they who heretofore murmured against God’s counsel and direction (רגן Kal only here), will be satisfied with the discipline of God, and let it have its effect upon them (לֶקַח what one takes, Pro_1:5; Pro_4:2 et saepe, only here in Isaiah).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa_29:1-8. The Prophet designates Jerusalem as Ariel in a four-fold sense. Taking Ariel as denoting the city of God, the name suits Jerusalem as the holy, separated dwelling-place in which the church of God, and all saving ordinances have their seat and centre. Taking Ariel as the lion of God, the names applies to Jerusalem as the ecclesia militans, as the host of God fighting against the worldly power and conquering it. Taking Ariel as denoting the Altar of God, it sets forth Jerusalem as the place in which reconciliation with God, and the bestowal of all the gifts of His grace take place. And, lastly, Jerusalem appears as Ariel in the signification of Mount of God, because it is the height of God which overtops all other heights, in which He manifests His glory to all the world, and to which all nations flow in order to worship Him (Isa_2:2 sqq.). But when Jerusalem forgets these her high honors, and neglects the obligations thereby laid upon her, she is corrected and humbled as any other city. [There may be an allusion made by the Prophet to the two-fold meaning of Ariel as lion of God, and hearth of God, but sober exegesis will be slow to admit the other meanings attached to the name of Ariel, and supposed to be here significantly alluded to by Isaiah.—D. M.].
2. Isa_29:3. [“It was the enemy’s army that encamped against Jerusalem; but God says that He will do it, for they are His hand, He does it by them. God had often, and long, by a host of angels, encamped for them round about them, for their protection and deliverance; but now He was turned to be their enemy, and fought against them: The siege laid against them was of His laying, and the forts raised against them were of His raising. Note, when men fight against us, we must, in them, see God contending with us.” Henry.—D. M.].
3. On Isa_29:7 sq. “A very consolatory comparison. The Romans and all enemies of the church are as blood-thirsty dogs. But when they have drunk up a part of the blood of the saints, and imagine, that they have swallowed up the church, it is only a dream. Since we see, that Christ and His Christians are, thank God, not yet destroyed.”—Cramer.
4. On Isa_29:9-12. “Awful description of the sorest punishment from God, which is spiritual, confirmed blindness; which is at this day so manifest in the Jews. For although they are confuted by so many clear and plain Scriptures of the Prophets, although they must themselves confess that the time is past, the place no more in existence, the lineage of David extinct, so that they can have no certain hope of a Messiah, they yet remain so hardened and obstinate in their opinion, as if they were drunken, mad and drowned in the snares of the devil by which they are bound, and could not come to sober and rational thoughts. This we ought to take as a mirror of the wrath of God, that we, while the book is yet open to us, may freely and diligently look into it, that it may not be closed and sealed before our eyes also.—Cramer.
5. On Isa_29:9-12. To all those who bring to the reading of the Holy Scripture not the Spirit, from whom it proceeded, but the opposite spirit, the spirit of the world, the Scripture must be a sealed book, into which they can stare with plastered eyes, which see and yet do not see, which watch and yet at the same time sleep (Isa_6:9-10; Luk_8:10; Act_28:26-27).
6. On Isa_29:13. Ah! how pious people would be, if only piety consisted in lip-service, and external behavior! Dévotion aisée, convenient religion, that is the business of all those who would willingly give to God what is God’s, and to the devil, what is the devil’s; that is, who would like to have a religion because it is required by a voice within the breast, and the power of custom and example, without thereby paining the flesh. Comp. Isa_1:11 sqq.; Isa_58:2 sqq.; Amo_5:23; Mat_15:7 sqq.
7. On Isa_29:14. [“They did one strange thing, they removed all sincerity from their hearts; now God will go on and do another, He will remove all sagacity from their heads: the wisdom of their wise men shall perish. They played the hypocrite, and thought to put a cheat upon God, and now they are left to themselves to play the fool; and not only to put a cheat upon themselves, but to be easily cheated by all about them …. This was fulfilled in the wretched infatuation which the Jewish nation were manifestly under, after they had rejected the gospel of Christ … Judgments on the mind, though least taken notice of, are to be most wondered at.—Henry, D. M.].
8. [Formalism in worship is here assigned as the cause of the judicial blindness which has happened to Israel. Mark the logical connection between Isa_29:13-14. The same judgment inflicted for the same reason, has befallen a large part of the nominal Christian Church. They who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. We are amazed at the ignorance in matters of religion displayed by men of great mental capacity and learning, who have appeared among the Jews, and professors of a corrupt Christianity. That which excites our astonishment is here accounted for.—D. M.].
9. On Isa_29:18 sqq. “Here everything is reversed. Before, he had said, the wise shall be blind. Here he says, the blind shall see. The scope of all that is said is that they who were in office and were called priests and Levites, together with the bulk of the people, should be blinded for their unbelief. On the other hand, the poor, wretched people, that had neither office nor reputation, together with the heathen, shall be called, and shall be the people of God, who truly know God, invoke His name, and have joy, comfort and help in Him.” Veit. Dietrich.
10. On Isa_29:23. [“The emphatic mention of the Holy One of Jacob and the God of Israel, as the object to be sanctified, implies a relation still existing between all believers and their spiritual ancestry, as well as a relation of identity between the Jewish and the Christian church. Alexander.—D. M.].
HOMILETICAL HINTS
On Isa_29:1-8. How the Lord regards and deals with His church. 1) She is precious in His eyes, a. as the city of God; b. as the lion of God; c. as the altar of God; d. as the mount of God. 2) He brings her very low (Isa_29:2-6). 3) He delivers her wonderfully (Isa_29:7-8).
2. On Isa_29:9-12. As the light of the sun does not illuminate, but dazzles and closes an eye which is not adapted for receiving it (e. g., that of the mole), so also the word of God is for those who are not born of God and cannot receive the Spirit of God, by no means a light which enlightens their inner sense, but rather an element which dazzles their mental eye, and confuses their senses, so that they stand before the word as one who can read stands before a sealed book, or as one who cannot read before a writing which is handed to him.
3. On Isa_29:13-14. Warning against hypocrisy. 1) Its nature (it consists in honoring God with self-invented, external, ceremonial service, while yet the heart is far from Him); 2) its punishment (the wisdom which is self-asserting and forgets God will come to shame).
4. On Isa_29:15-24. Every man has his task in this life. Some, however, are minded to transact their affairs without God. For either they do not believe that there is a God, or if they believe it, they wish to be independent of Him. They wish to execute everything according to their own mind and their own lusts. But when they imagine that they can carry out their plans as it were behind God’s back, unobserved by Him, this cannot be (Isa_29:15-16). This is great folly, too. For such a work cannot succeed. Therefore the Prophet utters a woe on such an attempt, Isa_29:15. They, on the other hand, who do everything with God, partake of the most manifold blessing; the deaf hear, the blind see, the wretched rejoice, the poor are enriched, the oppressed and despised are delivered.
Footnotes:
[16]Heb. I will add.
[17]O your perverting! Or is the clay esteemed like the potter, that the work should say to its maker, etc.
[18]Heb; shall add.
[19]mischief.
[20]by word.
[21]by deceit.
[22]For when he, when his children, see the work of my hands, etc.
[23]Heb. shall know understanding.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–17 Stay--rather, "Be astounded"; expressing the stupid and amazed incredulity…
Stay--rather, "Be astounded"; expressing the stupid and amazed incredulity with which the Jews received Isaiah's announcement.
wonder--The second imperative, as often (Isa 8:9), is a threat; the first is a simple declaration of a fact, "Be astounded, since you choose to be so, at the prophecy, soon you will be amazed at the sight of the actual event" [MAURER].
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cry . . . out . . . cry--rather, "Be ye blinded (since you choose to be so, though the light shines all round you), and soon ye shall be blinded" in good earnest to your sorrow [MAURER], (Isa 6:9-10).
not with wine--but with spiritual paralysis (Isa 51:17, Isa 51:21).
ye . . . they--The change from speaking to, to speaking of them, intimates that the prophet turns away from them to a greater distance, because of their stupid unbelief.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9, 13, 15, 16, 17 9-12. Stay… wonder; cry — The original, and our…
9-12. Stay… wonder; cry — The original, and our version from it, in this verse are obscure. Credibly the meaning is: “Stare with amazed look at the prophecy just given, if you will. [Isaiah is addressing the nobles and priests and prophets of Jerusalem.] Revel in sensual pleasures if you will. Deeper blindness will be the certain result. Cling still to your policy of rejecting Jehovah’s aid and seeking Egypt’s.” They stagger, etc. — Here the prophet apparently soliloquizes: “Here they stagger and are stupefied by something quite different from the usual wine.” Isa_28:7. What this something is he now states to them. Jehovah hath poured… deep sleep, etc. — God creates not moral evil; but when projected from the creature, he causes it to react upon and punish itself. Sin stupefies the moral nature. It works “a deep sleep.” It makes dull, or even blind, the intellectual and the spiritual eye. Since, therefore, ye will blind yourselves to divine prophecy, Jehovah allows you all the results of your wilful blindness.
The prophets — They are not God’s prophets. Pretending to be prophets they are not true men. They pander to popular vices for popular favour and applause.
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Your rulers — Your head men, men who have wickedly attained to leadership, claiming to be seers, that is, statesmen.
Hath he covered — Covered as to the eyes. They see not the plain truths of God. (It is the same over again in all ages, down to Christ’s time, down to these times.) God leaves them in their blindness. “Like priest, like people.”
The vision of all is become… as… a book that is sealed — Parabolic words, these, which teach that what God reveals avails the people nothing. Prophecy by God’s true men is thrown away through the corrupting influence of such leaders.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 9. Stay yourselves, and wonder] Rather (as R.V. marg.),…
9. Stay yourselves, and wonder] Rather (as R.V. marg.), Be ye amazed and wonder. The first verb is of uncertain derivation. Probably both express the idea of astonishment. Cheyne (Comm.) rendered: “astonish yourselves and be astonished.”
cry ye out, and cry] Render: Blind yourselves and be blind. The root of both verbs is that used in ch. Isa_6:10 of “smearing” the eyes: the doom then threatened is now being fulfilled.
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they are drunken … they stagger] These perfects should probably be pointed and translated as imperatives; “be drunken” (so the LXX.).
9–12. The people meet their doom in a state of spiritual stupor, unobservant of Jehovah’s work, and heedless of the warnings given to them.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 (9) Stay yourselves . . .—Better, Astonish yourselves. We…
(9) Stay yourselves . . .—Better, Astonish yourselves. We can perhaps best understand the words by picturing to ourselves the prophet as preaching or reciting the previous prediction to his disciples and to the people. They are staggered, startled, incredulous, and he bursts into words of vehement reproof. The form of the verb implies that their astonished unbelief was self-caused. The change from the second person to the third implies that the prophet paused for a moment in his address to describe their state as an observer. Outwardly, they were as men too drunk to understand, but their drunkenness was not that of the “wine” or the “strong drink” of the fermented palm-juice, in which, as in Isa_28:7, the prophet implies that they habitually indulged. Now their drunkenness was of another type.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–17 Vers. 9-12. NEITHER WARNING NOR PROMISE COMPREHENDED BY THOSE…
Vers. 9-12. NEITHER WARNING NOR PROMISE COMPREHENDED BY THOSE TO WHOM THEY HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED, "Who hath believed our report?" says the prophet in another place, (Isa_53:1) "and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" It was among the most painful circumstances attaching to the prophetical office, that scarcely ever was the prophet held in any esteem among his own people, or in his own lifetime. Isaiah knows that his warning will fall dead that the people and their rulers have neither "eyes to see" nor "ears to hear." He places on record this knowledge, while at the same time striving if by any means he may arouse some from their condition of dull apathy.
Stay yourselves, and wonder; rather, stand stupefied and be astonished. The prophet bids them act as he knows that they will act. They will simply "stare with astonishment" at a prophecy which will seem to them "out of all relation to facts" (Cheyne). They will not yield it the slightest credence. They will only marvel how a sane man could have uttered such egregious folly. Cry ye out, and cry. Delitzsch and Mr. Cheyne translate, "Blind yourselves, and be blind," which certainly gives a much better sense, and is justified by the use of the same verb in Isa_6:10. As Pharaoh began by hardening his own heart, and then God hardened it ("Pulpit Commentary" on Exodus, pp. 103, 166, 203, etc.), so those who blind their own eyes, and will not see when they have the power, are, in the end, if they persist, judicially blinded by God. They are drunken, but not with wine. "The drunkards of Ephraim" (Isa_28:3) were such literally. They "erred through strong drink"; (Isa_28:7) they "were swallowed up of wine;" but the case was different with the infatuated ones of Judah. They were morally, not physically, intoxicated. Their pride and self-trust rendered them as irrational and as.
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Vers. 9, 10. Two kinds of spiritual blindness.
Spiritual blindness is not the natural condition of man. God has given to all men a certain power of spiritual discernment. He is "the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world". (Joh_1:9) Children are invariably found to be teachable at an early age to have a power of receiving and appreciating spiritual verities. The spiritually blind have become such, and in their condition we may trace two stages.
I THE INITIAL STAGE. The commencement of spiritual blindness is a willful shutting of the eyes. Instead of seeking to see, striving to see, looking out for the spiritual in life and action, men turn away from it, "wink with their eyes," put veils over them, refuse to let the light of truth shine in upon their understandings. They "love darkness rather than light". (Joh_3:19) The whole of life should be a continual exercise of the spiritual discerning power. Men give the power as little exercise as possible. They weaken it by disuse. After a while they deprave it, so that its judgments become uncertain even false.
II THE FINAL STAGE. In Scripture the final stage is called a reprobate mind," literally, "an undistinguishing mind (adokimo )." By the law of God"s providence, the willful shutting of the eyes leads on to an inability to see. The moral vision becomes actually distorted. The "light that is within a man becomes "darkness;" and then, "how great is that darkness!" "Bitter is put for sweet, and sweet for bitter", (Isa_5:20) "good for evil, and evil for good." The state is hopeless, irremediable. It results naturally from the repeated sins against light of the first stage; but it is none the less God"s judgment upon the sinner. Hence it has been called "judicial blindness an expressive name.
Vers. 9-12. Spiritual incapacity.
Our powers, as men and women, are limited enough; and it may well be that those of God"s children who move in wider spheres and are endowed with greater capacities look down in wonder, if not with amusement, on our large pretensions. Yet we talk freely of the incapable, the feeble, the helpless, as if we ourselves were strong. There are various degrees of
I ITS DOMAIN. The prophet treats of spiritual helplessness. We see and lament physical incapacity in the shape of blindness, deafness, paralysis, etc. We also have to treat mental incapacity in the form of intellectual feebleness, decline, imbecility, insanity. But by far the saddest sight in the view of God is spiritual incapacity that moral condition in which the soul has lost its native powers, is destitute of those acquirements which would enable it to stand side by side with the holiest of the heavenly world, lacks the wisdom by which it might defend itself against its adversaries, and is therefore the prey of the worst evils, forfeits its birthright, and moves towards its doom. This incapacity affects the soul in all its higher and more serious relations in its relation to God, to those to whom it is under obligation, to its own character.
II ITS TWO PRINCIPAL MANIFESTATIONS.
1. Blindness. "The spirit of deep sloop" the closing or covering of the eyes (ver. 10). The last, or nearly the last, effect of sin is to take away the faculty of spiritual insight; so that a man cannot see those things which a human soul ought to recognize at once, the recognition of which is indispensable to its very life; viz. the presence, the claims, the power of God; the excellency of his service; the unworthiness and insufficiency of sensual gratifications and worldly ambitions; the deathfulness of sin, etc. But to the spiritually incapable these things are as if they were not. Such souls are as unconscious of these realities as is a man in a deep sleep, or as is one whose eyes are covered, of the objects which are before him.
2. Error. "They stagger, but not with strong drink" (ver. 9). As a man under the influence of stimulants cannot "walk straight," but staggers from side to side or wanders out of his way altogether, so men who are robbed of their rightful powers by sin fail to walk straight on in the path of rectitude: they deviate into
(1) false notions about God and man, about life and destiny; and into
(2) evil habits, into sad departures from purity, from uprightness, from truth, from wisdom.
III ITS COMPLETENESS.
1. It extends to the highest, he has covered the eyes of "your rulers" (ver. 10); to those who lead and who, being blind themselves, will certainly mislead; (Mat_15:14) to those whose social influence is strong and, in ibis ease, most pernicious.
2. It includes the specialists the privileged, those who profess to have peculiar access to truth: "The seers hath he covered." Woe to the land, to the Church, whose religious teachers are unable to see the directing finger of God, and are giving way to dreams of their own imagination!
3. It embraces those instructed in oilier thin, is. It is not only the unlearned that cannot read at all, but the learned men also, who are blind to the truths of God (vers. 11, 12). Here, in nature, in providence, in Scripture is a glorious, three-volumed work, the full work of God; here are sacred truths which enlarge the mind and elevate the soul, which beautify and ennoble life, prepare for death, and fit for immortal blessedness. But, with powers diminished, depraved, or destroyed by sin, they who can learn other lessons and read other secrets are as undiscerning as the most illiterate boor in presence of a language of which he does not know the alphabet, as helpless as the finished scholar in presence of a roll the seal of which he cannot break!
IV ITS EXPLANATION. How can we account for this depravation of man"s spiritual powers? It is the fitting penalty of sin; it comes in the righteous judgments of God: "The Lord hath poured out upon you," etc. (ver. 10). It is the retribution attached to a guilty non-use or misuse of spiritual faculty; it is a "woe" that is always working: "From him that hath not does not use, or abuses his talents be taken away even that which he hath". C. (Mat_25:29)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 13, 15, 17 Stay yourselves, and wonder, they are drunken, but not…
Isa_29:9-12
Stay yourselves, and wonder, they are drunken, but not with wine
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Spiritual drunkenness
By spiritual drunkenness (Isa_29:9) we are probably to understand unsteadiness of conduct and a want of spiritual discernment.
(J. A. Alexander.)
Spiritual drunkenness worse than bodily, and more prevalent
Drunkenness in itself is a horrible vice, and it is the mother of innumerable more. But besides this there is a spiritual drunkenness.
I. This worse drunkenness, says the text, is SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS, SPIRITUAL INSENSIBILITY, OR INSANITY. In this respect it resembles the other drunkenness. The man who is drunk has eyes, but he cannot see; ears, but he cannot hear; a heart that has not ceased to beat, but he cannot understand. He mistakes one person and thing fur another. So it is with the spiritual sort in regard to the spiritual world. Look at a few of the varieties. Drunkenness--
1. From ignorance of the truth.
2. From perversion or profanation of the truth.
3. From rejection of the truth.
II. WHAT IS THE QUALITY OR CURSE OF THIS SPIRITUAL DRUNKENNESS, compared with the other? Compare it--
1. In regard to the drunkards intelligence or powers of perception.
2. In regard to the drunkards life, affections, passions, habits.
3. In regard to the drunkards state before God, the salvation of soul and body. What shall we say, if we discover the terrific truth?
(1) That the spiritual is more besotting and blinding to the spirit.
(2) That it is more maddening and brutalising to the drunkards life. What crime will the drunkard not perpetrate? But what is the life of the spiritual drunkard who goes on in his wickedness? One lifelong defiance of God.
(3) That it is a drunkenness still more infernal, more devilish, and more deadly to both soul and body. (R. Paisley.)
Judicial blindness
The Jews are represented as given over by God to a judicial blindness. Now, we regard it as a fixed principle in the interpretation of Scripture that God never does more than leave men to themselves; doing nothing directly to harden them in wickedness, or to place them out of the reach of forgiveness. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Drunken, but not with wine
Are there, then, other forms of insobriety and resultant demoralisation distinct from that of the familiar cup? The phrases which suggest this abnormal state are continually in our mouths. Thus, we speak of people being intoxicated with delight, with fanaticism, with political excitement, or with the spirit of gambling. Wendell Holmes speaks of people who become intoxicated with music, with poetry, with love, with religious enthusiasm. He remarks how convalescents are sometimes made tipsy by a beef steak. It is said of one that he was too intoxicated with certain good news to be able to imbibe anything else. Indeed, it is told of certain company that it was so intoxicating that some of the circle were compelled to drink to keep themselves sober. (J. J.Ingram.)
Intoxication
What are the main characteristics of intoxication? The drunken man is one who has lost his power of self-control, one to whose eye and thought the proportions and relationships of life have become disordered, one whose vigour, both physically and mentally, has become enfeebled and inefficient. He is a man who for the time being loses his true relation to the things of outer life. He is abnormal. His appetites are deranged, his engrossments disproportionate, his views beclouded or oblique. (J. J. Ingram.)
For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep
The spirit of a deep sleep
The Lord hath poured out, etc. That is an appalling judgment. What have been the steps which have led up to so terrible a consummation? Men do not lose their moral sensitiveness by a stroke; it is the ultimate issue of a process. Drowsiness precedes sleep; the twilight ushers in the night. We do not reach moral abysses by a precipice; we reach them by a gradient. We do not drop into bondage; we walk into it.
1. Here are the men of my text; what was the first step in the degradation? We have it clearly indicated in the thirteenth verse. If we take the thirteenth verse, and place it before Isa_29:9, we have unfolded before us the process of degeneracy, which is re-enacted in multitudes of lives in every succeeding age. The first step towards moral benumbment is the evisceration of religious worship. Take the heart out of worship, and you will take the life out of morals. And their fear of Me is a commandment of men which has been taught them. What does that mean? The man-made has supplanted the God-born. And what does that further mean but the intrusion of the casuist into religion? The casuist is he who turns a shining principle into a dull maxim, who makes breaches and loopholes of escape in the great moral law, who changes the searching inwardness of religion into an easy external ordinance, who removes the fearful sense of the eternal, and makes us feel perilously at home in the small demands of his own commandments.
2. Now let us mark the progress of the degeneracy. Religious formalism issues in moral laxity. Note the analysis of the process which is given in the ninth verse. First there is dimness of moral vision. Tarry ye and wonder. The figure is that of a man who pulls himself up in bewilderment. He does not remember quite clearly whether this is the way, or whether he should take the next turning. Moral law does not stand out in clear bold relief. His conscience does not act readily. There is hesitancy. He tarries! There is confusion He wonders! Take your pleasure and be blind. With dimness there comes wilfulness. The little truth they saw they resented. The people liked the restfulness of the dulness. There was nothing searching or self-revealing in the adulterated light. They preferred the twilight in which they can partially hide. Let us go on with the analysis. Moral dimness; moral wilfulness; what is the next step in the degeneracy? Moral stupor. They are drunk, but not with wine. They stagger, but not with strong drink.
3. Now let us proceed to the third step in the appalling gradient. When a man has eviscerated his religion, changing its inwardness to a thin superficialness, and from this proceeds to moral laxity, I am told by the words of my text that by a judicial act of God his stupor becomes fixed. If a man will not, he shall not! Ye have taken the cup of wilfulness, and drugged yourselves into sin, and the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep.
4. What is the next step in the awful gradient? And all vision is become to you as a book that is sealed. The great writings of the great books have no illuminating message. The books are sealed! What books? There is the book of conscience. Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. That book is sealed. There is the book of experience, the teachings of yesterday, the witness of history. Ask now of the days that are past. That book is sealed. There is the book of nature. The book of nature began to be read by William Wordsworth when the atmosphere of English life had been warmed by the evangelical revival. When the evangelical is dead natures inner significance is concealed. Let us therefore watch, with intensest vigilance, against the intrusion of all insincerity into our worship. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v13 Isa_29:13-14. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people…
LIP-SERVICE INSTEAD OF HEART-WORSHIP
Isa_29:13-14. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near to Me with their mouth, &c.
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The charge against the people is clear; it is that of a heartless religion, formal and full of hypocrisy. “Their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” That is, their religion is a mechanical following of human directions, instead of the spontaneous uprising of a heart inspired with the fear and love of God.
I. The charge against the Jews in Isaiah’s day. It is twofold—the removal of the heart and the substitution of a lip-service.
1. The removal of the heart. God demands the service of the heart (Pro_23:26; Jer_29:13). The Psalmist felt how reasonable was this demand when he said, “I will praise Thee, O Lord, with the whole heart” (Psa_9:1). A man may do some things with a slack hand and yet be blameless, but to steer an Atlantic steamer in a storm, he needs the whole force of both hands. Unless our whole soul be in God’s service, our worship will be thrown back upon us with the withering words, “Who hath demanded this at your hands?” This worthless thing! “Bring no more vain oblations.” How strikingly our Lord put this principle of supremacy (Luk_14:26): “In every man’s heart I must be supreme, or therein I cannot dwell.” Infidels most ignorantly misread this passage. One of their counts against Christianity is that it frowns on family joys; while every day’s facts prove that the truest Christian is the best husband, father, &c. God being first in a man’s heart, that heart is humanised, its generosity enlarged, so as to take in, not only the family, but “all mankind.” But some, after having given their hearts to the Lord, withdraw them from His service (Mat_13:22; 2Ti_4:10).
II. This charge has been true in every generation. The heart’s weakness and the world’s force are ever the same. This evil existed in our Lord’s day (Mat_15:8-9). For long years before the Reformation whole nations of Christendom presented to God a mere formal worship. And to-day, of how many congregations may the words of Ezekiel be said! (Eze_33:31).
III. The worthless substitution presented to God. “And with their lips do honour Me.” The instinct of worship is so strong within the soul that men everywhere worship something. It may be the hideous fetish of the African or the artistic statue of the refined Greek, but something the Greek and the barbarian must have. When that young mother, in the days of Solomon, arose in the morning and found a dead child by her side instead of her own living one, how severe must have been the shock! Had there been no child by her side, no dead substitute, she might have thought that her own child lived somewhere and might sometime be found. But that dead substitute at first nearly killed her by despair. It is bad to withdraw a living heart from the Lord, but to substitute a dead one is first to rob God and then wickedly insult Him (H. E. I., 5066–5070).
IV. The threat (Isa_29:14). The threat is that of cherished expectations bitterly disappointed. In times of extremity, full of confidence in the wisdom of their leaders, they shall seek light and leading, and behold nothing but darkness and folly. How often have the leaders of a nation been stricken with folly, and, like a blinded steersman, have driven the ship to destruction! “The wisdom of their wise men shall perish.” Disappointment! It is only another expression about the foolish man disappointed in his false security, his house resting on the sand, and of those who “make lies their refuge, and under falsehood hide themselves.” The threat is that “the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.” Though men may not admit that their worship is mere lip-service, and their neighbours not see their hypocrisy, yet to the eye of God
“The painted hypocrites are known
Through the disguise they wear.”
—William Parkes, F.R.G.S.
Two conditions under which religion is in a declining state.
1. When the ordinances of divine worship are generally neglected.
2. When the attendance on worship, however large, does not represent a religious state of mind, but is simply an outward performance. The latter was the state into which religion had fallen in Judea. The religious observances of the people were not inspired by knowledge of God’s Word, but by human authority. The text—
I. Describes a great privilege. “This people draw near me.” God speaks after the manner of men. When we desire to speak closely to a friend we get near him. This is coming close to God (Psa_73:28; Heb_10:22; Heb_7:19; Jas_4:8). Is it not a wonder that the Almighty permits us to draw nigh to Him? Men make it difficult for their inferiors to obtain access; but the Infinite and Eternal One makes Himself accessible to His creatures. Not only so; He has made a way for creatures stained by sin. The Lord Jesus Christ stands between God and man by virtue of His atoning death and interceding life. The guilty, condemned, utterly impure, have only to renounce their sinfulness and avail themselves of this new and living way. If there is truthfulness and sincerity, they will be welcome. In the sanctuary, in meeting for prayer, in the family, in the closet, in the round of daily duty, we may draw near to God. Do you know anything of the blessedness of this privilege? Enjoyment, comfort, purity, fitness for intercourse with men, for the battle of life, for the work of the world, do they not all come through this privilege?
II. Points out a serious abuse (Isa_29:13). Their sin was not the abandonment of worship. That is a measure of ungodliness not reached without a long process. Unsettled faith, indifference to spiritual blessings, habits of sinful indulgence, conduct to it. What multitudes have reduced themselves to this predicament? But it was not their case. They had not relinquished the ordinances of worship; they observed them. But there was a twofold defect: the heart was absent and the motive was wrong.
1. Something was present that ought to have been absent. “Their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men.” Their piety was only out of respect for some human authority. Our Lord quoted this part of the text in His exposure of externalism as exemplified by the Pharisees of His time (Mat_15:9). Human authority in religion is here distinctly denounced. One man may hand the Word of God to another, but no man must impose his notions of religion on another by his mere authority. A man’s religious service must be the result of his personal conviction. If he is religious because some one else is, or because it is respectable, or because it may promote his worldly interest, or because it is recognised and imposed by the authority of the state, it is not really the honour and worship of God at all, but of man.
2. Something was absent that ought to have been present. “But have removed their heart far from Me.” God must be worshipped with the heart. Apart from the outward expression of inward reality, the movement of the lips and the utterance of the mouth are nothing. Real worship is the consent of the understanding, will, affections, to the homage which is paid by the lips. Without this they are mockery, as when one who stands in the king’s presence is alienated from his allegiance.
III. Utters a solemn warning (Isa_29:14). Their religion was only the counsel of man. It was unavailing for its purpose, and would come to nothing (1Co_1:19). Such worship is:
1. Unacceptable. God is not deceived. Realise the terribleness of being rejected. He says, “It is not the kind of worship I require.” After all your wisdom (Isa_1:11-15).
2. Unsuccessful. The prayers offered only by the lips are not heard. No answer comes, no blessing descends. This comes of the policy which followed the precepts of men.
3. Unstable. After such religion reaction may be expected. There is no inward life to sustain the outward exercises. Does not the test point to that deeper spiritual blindness which follows the attempt to put the wisdom of man in the place of the wisdom of God?
In religion and at its worship take care:
1. That there is sincerity. See that the heart is right with God. “Ye must be born again.”
2. That there is simplicity. Let there be no superfluous externalism in worship; only what is necessary to the suitable expression of the heart’s worship.
3. That there is earnestness.
And if a merely formal worship is rejected, what is the predicament of those who do not even offer that, but who live without any acknowledgment of God?—John Rawlinson.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v13 The Counsel of God
The Counsel of God
v. 13. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people, the men of the Southern Kingdom, the children of Judah, draw near Me with their mouth and with their lips do honor Me, in a mere outward form of worship, but have removed their heart far from Me, faith being lost entirely, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men, their outward morality being based wholly upon the rules of conduct in vogue among men, not upon the way of sanctification prescribed by God, Cf Mat 15:8-9,
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v. 14. therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, by an exceptional act of judgment; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, so that the counsel and help of those upon whom Judah depended would no longer appear, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid, their leaders becoming dull and stupid without knowing it.
v. 15. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, trying to conceal their object from the eyes of God, as even Hezekiah did at times, and their works are in the dark, as they think, hidden from the omniscience of the Lord, and they say, Who seeth us, and who knoweth us?
v. 16. Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay, the sentence being like an exclamation: "Alas upon your perversion! As clay is the potter to be considered?" For shall the work, the vessel as it comes from the potter’s hands, say of him that made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing framed, that which is formed by the artist’s skill, say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? The leaders of Judah were turning things upside down, ignoring God and even placing themselves in His stead.
v. 17. Is it not yet a very little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? The reference is to the time of the Messiah, when the hearts of men, moral deserts without the Lord, will be reclaimed so as to bear fruits of righteousness.
v. 18. And In that day shall the deaf, those whose ears had, by their natural perversity, been closed to the voice of the Lord, hear the words of the Book, of the written revelation, and the eyes of the blind, those suffering with spiritual blindness, shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness, for the Lord Himself would enlighten the eyes of their understanding.
v. 19. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, the godly among the afflicted finding their one satisfaction in communion with Him, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Cf Mat 5:3; Luk 6:20.
v. 20. For the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, both the tyrants and the mockers, the enemies of Jehovah being laid low, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off, their wickedness in watching for opportunities to commit iniquity being duly punished,
v. 21. that make a man an offender for a word, unjustly condemning him, no matter what his cause may he, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, one who has a matter at issue in the courts, which were commonly held in the gates of the cities, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught, bringing lying accusations against him, this being the way of the world everywhere.
v. 22. Therefore, thus saith the Lord who redeemed Abraham, by calling him away from his father’s house, out of the midst of idolatry, concerning the house of Jacob, the congregation of people chosen by Him, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale, the Church of the Lord no longer being subject to shame and disappointment.
v. 23. But when he seeth his children, the work of Mine hands, a new generation of sincere believers in Him, in the midst of him, as a new congregation and assembly of saints, they shall sanctify My name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel, the lesson of Judah’s punishment and of the overthrow of the Lord’s enemies serving to make the hearts more willing to accept the doctrines of the Lord.
v. 24. They also that erred in spirit, those whose spirit had forsaken the way of the Lord, shall come to understanding, namely, that of God’s will and ways, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine, receive the discipline or instruction of the Lord. God desires His children of all times to learn the true wisdom from Him, to hear and heed His Word and be found on the ways of sanctification.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17 Astonish yourselves and be astonished
Astonish yourselves and be astonished
The word "yourselves" refers to the people of Jerusalem. Why they are astonished can be made explicit. AT: "Be astonished at what I am telling you" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Doublet)
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blind yourselves and be blind
The people ignoring what Yahweh says is spoken of as if they would make themselves blind. AT: "keep being ignorant and spiritually blind to what I am showing you" (See: Metaphor)
Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with beer
The people being senseless and not understanding what Yahweh is doing is spoken of as if they were drunk. AT: "Be senseless like a drunk person, but it is not because you have drank too much wine or beer" (See: Metaphor)
For Yahweh has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep
Here "the spirit of" means "to have the characteristic of" being asleep. Yahweh causing the people to be asleep is spoken of as if "the spirit" were a liquid that he poured out on the people. Also "deep sleep" is a metaphor that means the people are senseless and cannot understand what Yahweh is doing. AT: "The reason you are senseless is because Yahweh has caused you to be spiritually asleep" (See: Metaphor)
He has closed your eyes, the prophets, and has covered your heads, the seers
Yahweh causing the people to be senseless and not to understand what he is doing is spoken of as if he closed their eyes and covered their heads so they could not see. AT: "It is as though Yahweh has closed the eyes of the prophets and covered the heads of the seers" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
amazed
wine
Yahweh
spirit
prophet
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 29:10 a spirit of deep sleep: The people’s folly…
29:10 a spirit of deep sleep: The people’s folly was reinforced by God’s judgment on them (cp. Rom 1:24-32; 11:8); they had no perception of reality. • Prophets were also sometimes called visionaries. Neither the people nor their prophets would understand what God was doing (Isa 6:9-10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.