For, behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water;
Parallel Translations
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For, behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water;
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For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
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For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah stay and staff, every stay of bread, and every stay of water;
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Isaiah 3:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Leviticus 26:26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight. You shall eat, and not be satisfied.
- Isaiah 1:24 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says: “Ah, I will get relief from my adversaries, and avenge myself on my enemies.
- Ezekiel 4:16-17 Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness. They will drink water by measure, and in dismay; that they may lack bread and water, be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.
- Ezekiel 14:13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal;
- Psalms 105:16 He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.
- Isaiah 2:22 Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?
- Isaiah 5:13 Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.
- Isaiah 36:12 But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”
- Isaiah 51:22 Your Lord Yahweh, your God who pleads the cause of his people, says, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more.
- Jeremiah 37:21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard. They gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
- Jeremiah 38:9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon. He is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (21 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Because they trusted in their abundance and prosperity, he…
Because they trusted in their abundance and prosperity, he showeth that they should be taken from them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of…
Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
Ver. 1. For, behold.] This is also part of the former sermon, though made the beginning of another chapter; for of our prophet that is some way true which Petrarch saith of Livy, viz., that he wrote many books, Quos in decades non ipse sed fastidiosa legentium scidit imperitia, which not himself, but others without any great skill divided into decades - sc., chapters.
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The Lord - doth take away.] Heb., Is taking away - i.e., He will surely and suddenly do it, and thereby pave a way to the utter ruin of all. For as it was a sign Samson meant to pull down the house when he pulled away the pillars, so that God is about to ruin a state when he plucketh away those that are the shores and props of it.
The stay and the staff.] Validum et validam, {a} so some render it, the Miriams as well as the Moseses. {Mic 6:4} Others, {b} baculum et bacillum, the staff and the little staff: all the supports and stays of the State, both great and small, one with another; cease ye therefore from man. {as Isa 2:22}
The whole stay of bread.] Sustenance as well as supporters, Quicquid alimento aut munimento esse poterat.
{a} Septuagint.
{b} Piscator.
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 Behold; look upon it as a thing as certain…
Behold; look upon it as a thing as certain as if it were already done.
The stay and the staff; all the supports of their state and church. The whole stay of bread, called elsewhere the staff of bread; whereby is understood either,
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1. The nourishing power of bread, which wholly depend upon God’s blessing; or rather,
2. Bread itself, as this phrase is understood, Lev 26:26; Psa 105:16; Eze 4:16, and directly explained, Eze 5:16, bread which is the staff of life.
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 The prophet, in the close of the foregoing chapter,…
The prophet, in the close of the foregoing chapter, had given a necessary caution to all not to put confidence in man, or any creature; he had also given a general reason for that caution, taken from the frailty of human life and the vanity and weakness of human powers. Here he gives a particular reason for it - God was now about to ruin all their creature-confidences, so that they should meet with nothing but disappointments in all their expectations from them (Isa 3:1): The stay and the staff shall be taken away, all their supports, of what kind soever, all the things they trusted to and looked for help and relief from. Their church and kingdom had now grown old and were going to decay, and they were (after the manner of aged men, Zac 8:4) leaning on a staff: now God threatens to take away their staff, and then they must fall of course, to take away the stays of both the city and the country, of Jerusalem and of Judah, which are indeed stays to one another, and, if one fail, the other feels from it. He that does this is the Lord, the Lord of hosts - Adon, the Lord that is himself the stay or foundation; if that stay depart, all other stays certainly break under us, for he is the strength of them all. He that is the Lord, the ruler, that has authority to do it, and the Lord of hosts, that has the ability to do it, he shall take away the stay and the staff. St. Jerome refers this to the sensible decay of the Jewish nation after they had crucified our Saviour, Rom 11:9, Rom 11:10. I rather take it as a warning to all nations not to provoke God; for if they make him their enemy, he can and will thus make them miserable. Let us view the particulars.
I. Was their plenty a support to them? It is so to any people; bread is the staff of life: but God can take away the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water; and it is just with him to do so when fulness of bread becomes an iniquity (Eze 16:49), and that which was given to be provision for the life is made provision for the lusts. He can take away the bread and the water by withholding the rain, Deu 28:23, Deu 28:24. Or, if he allow them, he can take away the stay of bread and the stay of water by withholding his blessing, by which man lives, and not by bread only, and which is the staff of bread (Mat 4:4.), and then the bread is not nourishing nor the water refreshing, Hag 1:6. Christ is the bread of life and the water of life; if he be our stay, we shall find that this is a good part not to be taken away, Joh 4:14; Joh 6:27.
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II. Was their army a support to them - their generals, and commanders, and military men? These shall be taken away, either cut off by the sword or so discouraged with the defeats they meet with that they shall throw up their commissions and resolve to act no more; or they shall be disabled by sickness, or dispirited, so as to be unfit for business; The mighty men, and the man of war, and even the inferior officer, the captain of fifty, shall be removed. It bodes ill with a people when their valiant men are lost. Let not the strong man therefore glory in his strength, nor any people trust too much to their mighty men; but let the strong people glorify God and the city of the terrible nations fear him, who can make them weak and despicable, Isa 25:3.
III. Were their ministers of state a support to them - their learned men, their politicians, their clergy, their wits and virtuoso? These also should be taken away - the judges, who were skilled in the laws, and expert in administering justice, - the prophets, whom they used to consult in difficult cases, - the prudent, who were celebrated as men of sense and sagacity above all others and were assistants to the judges, the diviners (so the word is), those who used unlawful arts, who, though rotten stays, yet were stayed on, (but it may be taken, as we read it, in a good sense), - the ancients, elders in age, in office, - the honourable man, the gravity of whose aspect commands reverence and whose age and experience make him fit to be a counsellor. Trade is one great support to a nation, even manufactures and handicraft trades; and therefore, when the whole stay is broken, the cunning artificer too shall be taken away; and the last is the eloquent orator, the man skilful of speech, who in some cases may do good service, though he be none of the prudent or the ancient, by putting the sense of others in good language. Moses cannot speak well, but Aaron can. God threatens to take these away, that is, 1. To disable them for the service of their country, making judges fools, taking away the speech of the trusty and the understanding of the aged, Job 12:17, etc. Every creature is that to us which God makes it to be; and we cannot be sure that those who have been serviceable to us shall always be so. 2. To put an end to their days; for the reason why princes are not to be trusted in is because their breath goeth forth, Psa 146:3, Psa 146:4. Note, The removal of useful men by death, in the midst of their usefulness, is a very threatening symptom to any people.
IV. Was their government a support to them? It ought to have been so; it is the business of the sovereign to bear up the pillars of the land, Psa 75:3. But it is here threatened that this stay should fail them. When the mighty men and the prudent are removed children shall be their princes - children in age, who must be under tutors and governors, who will be clashing with one another and making a prey of the young king and his kingdom-children in understanding and disposition, childish men, such as are babes in knowledge, no more fit to rule than a child in the cradle. These shall rule over them, with all the folly, fickleness, and frowardness, of a child. And woe unto thee, O land! when thy king is such a one! Ecc 10:16.
V. Was the union of the subjects among themselves, their good order and the good understanding and correspondence that they kept with one another, a stay to them? Where this is the case a people may do better for it, though their princes be not such as they should be; but it is here threatened that God would send an evil spirit among them too (as Jdg 9:23), which would make them, 1. Injurious and unneighbourly one towards another (Isa 3:5): "The people shall be oppressed every one by his neighbour," and their princes, being children, will take no care to restrain the oppressors or relieve the oppressed, nor is it to any purpose to appeal to them (which is a temptation to every man to be his own avenger), and therefore they bite and devour one another and will soon be consumed one of another. Then homo homini lupus - man becomes a wolf to man; jusque datum sceleri - wickedness receives the stamp of law; nec hospes ab hospite tutus - the guest and the host are in danger from each other. 2. Insolent and disorderly towards their superiors. It is as ill an omen to a people as can be when the rising generation among them are generally untractable, rude, and ungovernable, when the child behaves himself proudly against the ancient, whereas he should rise up before the hoary head and honour the face of the old man, Lev 19:32. When young people are conceited and pert, and behave scornfully towards their superiors, their conduct is not only a reproach to themselves, but of ill consequence to the public; it slackens the reins of government and weakens the hands that hold them. It is likewise ill with a people when persons of honour cannot support their authority, but are affronted by the base and beggarly, when judges are insulted and their powers set at defiance by the mob. Those have a great deal to answer for who do this.
VI. It is some stay, some support, to hope that, though matters may be now ill-managed, yet other may be raised up, who may manage better? Yet this expectation also shall be frustrated, for the case shall be so desperate that no man of sense or substance will meddle with it.
1. The government shall go a begging, Isa 3:6. Here, (1.) It is taken for granted that there is no way of redressing all these grievances, and bringing things into order again, but by good magistrates, who shall be invested with power by common consent, and shall exert that power for the good of the community. And it is probable that this was, in many places, the true origin of government; men found it necessary to unite in a subjection to one who was thought fit for such a trust, in order to the welfare and safety of them all, being aware that they must either be ruled or ruined. Here therefore is the original contract: "Be thou our ruler, and we will be subject to thee, and let this ruin be under thy hand, to be repaired and restored, and then to be preserved and established, and the interests of it advanced, Isa 58:12. Take care to protect us by the sword of war from being injured from abroad, and by the sword of justice from being injurious to another, and we will bear faith and true allegiance to thee." (2.) The case is represented as very deplorable, and things as having come to a sad pass; for, [1.] Children being their princes, every man will think himself fit to prescribe who shall be a magistrate, and will be for preferring his own relations; whereas, if the princes were as they should be, it would be left entirely to them to nominate the rulers, as it ought to be. [2.] Men will find themselves under a necessity even of forcing power into the hands of those that are thought to be fit for it: A man shall take hold by violence of one to make him a ruler, perceiving him ready to resist the motion: nay, he shall urge it upon his brother; whereas, commonly, men are not willing that their equals should be their superiors, witness the envy of Joseph's brethren. [3.] It will be looked upon as ground sufficient for the preferring of a man to be a ruler that he has clothing better than his neighbours - a very poor qualification to recommend a man to a place of trust in the government. It was a sign that the country was much impoverished when it was a rare thing to find a man that had good clothes, or could afford to buy himself an alderman's gown or a judge's robes; and it was proof enough that the people were very unthinking when they had so much respect to a man in gay clothing, with a gold ring (Jam 2:2, Jam 2:3), that, for the sake thereof, they would make him their ruler. It would have been some sense to have said, "Thou hast wisdom, integrity, experience; be thou our ruler." But it was a jest to say, Thou hast clothing; be thou our ruler. A poor wise man, though in vile raiment, delivered a city, Ecc 9:15. We may allude to this to show how desperate the case of fallen man was when our Lord Jesus was pleased to become our brother, and, though he was not courted, offered himself to be our ruler and Saviour, and to take this ruin under his hand.
2. Those who are thus pressed to come into office will swear themselves off, because, though they are taken to be men of some substance, yet they know themselves unable to bear the charges of the office and to answer the expectations of those that choose them (Isa 3:7): He shall swear (shall lift up the hand, the ancient ceremony used in taking the oath) I will not be a healer; make not me a ruler. Note, Rulers must be healers, and good rulers will be so; they must study to unite their subjects, and not to widen the differences that are among them. Those only are fit for government that are of a meek, quiet, healing, spirit. They must also heal the wounds that are given to any of the interests of their people, by suitable applications. But why will he not be a ruler? Because in my house is neither bread nor clothing. (1.) If he said true, it was a sign that men's estates were sadly ruined when even those who made the best appearance really wanted necessaries - a common case, and a piteous one. Some who, having lived fashionably, are willing to put the best side outwards, are yet, if the truth were known, in great straits, and go with heavy hearts for want of bread and clothing. (2.) If he did not speak truth, it was a sign that men's consciences were sadly debauched, when, to avoid the expense of an office, they would load themselves with the guilt of perjury, and (which is the greatest madness in the world) would damn their souls to save their money, Mat 16:26. (3.) However it was, it was a sign that the case of the nation was very bad when nobody was willing to accept a place in the government of it, as despairing to have either credit or profit by it, which are the two things aimed at in men's common ambition of preferment.
3. The reason why God brought things to this sad pass, even among his own people (which is given either by the prophet or by him that refused to be a ruler); it was not for want of good will to his country, but because he saw the case desperate and past relief, and it would be to no purpose to attempt it (Isa 3:8): Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen; and they may thank themselves. They have brought their destruction upon their own heads, for their tongue and their doings are against the Lord; in word and action they broke the law of God and therein designed an affront to him; they wilfully intended to offend him, in contempt of his authority and defiance of his justice. Their tongue was against the Lord, for they contradicted his prophets; and their doings were no better, for they acted as they talked. It was an aggravation of their sin that God's eye was upon them, and that his glory was manifested among them; but they provoked him to his face, as if the more they knew of his glory the greater pride they took in slighting it, and turning it into shame. And this, this, is it for which Jerusalem is ruined. Note, The ruin both of persons and people is owing to their sins. If they did not provoke God, he would do them no hurt, Jer 25:6.
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 For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,.... These…
For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,.... These titles of Jehovah, expressive of power and authority, are used to show that he is able to execute what he threatens to do; and the word "behold" is prefixed, to excite attention to what is about to be said:
doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judea; the present tense is used for the future, because of the certainty of what would be done to the Jews, both in city and country; for as in the preceding chapter Isa 2:1 it is foretold what shall befall the antichristian party among the nations of the world, this is a prophecy of the destruction of the Jews by the Romans; at which time there would be a dreadful famine, signified by the taking away
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the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water; bread and water being the stay and staff of man's life, which support and maintain it; and, in case of disobedience, a famine was threatened this people very early, and in much such terms as here, Lev 26:26 and as there was a very sore famine at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 52:6 so there was a very dreadful one when the city was besieged by the Romans, as related by Josephus, and predicted by Christ, Mat 24:7.
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 Great confusion on both people and rulers for their…
Great confusion on both people and rulers for their sin and impudence in it, ver. 1-9. Peace to the righteous, and misery to the wicked, ver. 10, 11. The oppression and covetousness of the rulers, ver. 12-15. The pride of women, and its judgments, ver. 16-26.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The whole of this chapter, with the first verse…
CHAPTER III
The whole of this chapter, with the first verse of the next, is
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a prophecy of those calamities that should be occasioned by the
Babylonish invasion and captivity. These calamities are
represented as so great and so general, that even royal
honours, in such a state, are so far from being desirable, that
hardly any can be got to accept them, 1-7.
This visitation is declared to be the consequence of their
profanity and guilt; for which the prophet farther reproves and
threatens them, 8-15.
Particular amplification of the distress of the delicate and
luxurious daughters of Zion; whose deplorable situation is
finely contrasted with their former prosperity and ease, 16-26.
NOTES ON CHAP. III
Verse 1. The stay and the staff - "Every stay and support"] Hebrew, "the support masculine, and the support feminine:" that is, every kind of support, whether great or small, strong or weak. "Al Kanitz, wal-kanitzah; the wild beasts, male and female. Proverbially applied both to fishing and hunting: i.e., I seized the prey, great or little, good or bad. From hence, as Schultens observes, is explained Isa 3:1, literally, the male and female stay: i.e., the strong and weak, the great and small." - Chappelow, note on Hariri, Assembly I. Compare Ec 2:8.
The Hebrew words משען ומשענה mashen umashenah come from the same root שען shaan, to lean against, to incline, to support; and here, being masculine and feminine, they may signify all things necessary for the support both of man and woman. My old MS. understands the staff and stay as meaning particular persons, and translates the verse thus: - Lo forsoth, the Lordschip Lord of Hoostis schal don awey fro Jerusalem and fro Juda the stalworth and the stronge.
The two following verses, 2, 3, are very clearly explained by the sacred historian's account of the event, the captivity of Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: "And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths; none remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land," 2Kg 24:14. Which is supplied by our version.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 3:1. For, &c. — The prophet, having in…
Isa 3:1. For, &c. — The prophet, having in the preceding chapter declared, in general terms, the terror of the day of the Lord, now descends to a more particular explication, and special confirmation of what he had advanced concerning it. Behold — Look upon what follows to be as certain as if it were already accomplished; the Lord doth take away, &c., the stay and the staff — All their supports, of what kind soever; all the things they trust to, and look for help and relief from; the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water — Bread is commonly called the staff of life: see Lev 26:26; Eze 14:13. But by bread and water here are meant all kinds of aliment, whereby the body is supported. This judgment seems to relate especially to the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, when bread and water were both very scarce: see Jer 14:1-6; Jer 37:21; Jer 38:9.
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 For - This is a continuation of the previous…
For - This is a continuation of the previous chapter. The same prophecy is continued, and the force of the argument of the prophet will not be seen unless the chapters are read together; see the Analysis prefixed to Isa. 2. In the close of the second chapter Isa 2:22, the prophet had cautioned his countrymen against confiding in man. In this chapter, a reason is given here why they should cease to do it - to wit, that God would soon take away their kings and princes.
The Lord - האדון hā'âdôn; see the note at Isa 1:24.
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The Lord of hosts - see the note at Isa 1:9. The prophet calls the attention of the Jews particularly to the fact that this was about to be done by Yahweh “of hosts” - a title which he gives to God when he designs to indicate that that which is to be done implies special strength, power, and majesty. As the work which was now to be done was the removal of the mighty men on which the nation was depending, it is implied that it was a work of power which belonged especially to the God of armies - the Almighty.
Doth take away - Is about to remove. In the Hebrew, the word here is a “participle,” and does not mark the precise time. It has reference here, however, to the future.
From Jerusalem ... - Note Isa 1:1.
The stay - In the Hebrew, the words translated “stay” and “staff” are the same, with the exception that the former is in the masculine, and the latter in the feminine gender. The meaning is, that God would remove “all kinds of support,” or “everything” on which they relied. The reference is undoubtedly to the princes and mighty men on whose counsels and aid the nation was resting for defense; see Isa 3:2-3.
The whole stay of bread - We use a similar expression when we say that “bread is the staff of life.” The Hebrews often expressed the same idea, representing the “heart” in man as being “supported or upheld” by bread, Gen 18:5 (margin); Jdg 19:5 (margin); Lev 26:26; Psa 105:16.
Stay of water - He would reduce them from their luxuries introduced by commerce Isa. 2 to absolute want. This often occurred in the sieges and wars of the nation; and in the famines which were the consequence of the wars. The reference here is probably to the invasion of the land by Nebuchadnezzar. The famine consequent on that invasion is described in Jer 38:21; Jer 38:9; Lam 4:4 : “The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his month for thirst; the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.”
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 Strong. Hebrew and Septuagint imply, "woman." (Haydock) --- Validam.…
Strong. Hebrew and Septuagint imply, "woman." (Haydock) --- Validam. (St. Cyprian, Test. i.) --- After the death of Christ, the Jews had none strong. (St. Jerome) --- Strength. Hebrew, "staff," or support (Leviticus xxvi. 26.) in the dreadful famine which fell on Jerusalem, Lamentations iv. 5, 10. Who then shall rely on the power of any man? (Chap. ii. 22.) (Calmet) --- The Jews were depressed at the sieges of their city, and will be so till the end of the world. (Worthington)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1-7. Cease ye from man is now the order.
1-7. Cease ye from man is now the order.
For behold — Attention is challenged.
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The Lord — (Ha-Adon.) “The Lord” as sovereign.
The Lord of hosts — The self-existent God, the revealed God; God, as it were, rallying all his forces of angels and subordinate agencies of whatever kind — for such is virtually the meaning of “Jehovah of hosts.”
Doth take away — Is taking, or is about to take, away.
Stay… staff — Both nearly the same word, but of different genders, the one masculine, the other feminine. Together they mean every kind of support on which they had depended. God was the true “stay “and “staff.” Isa_10:20; Isa_50:10.
Bread… water — Judah’s spiritual food here symbolized. Civil prosperity depends on this. Isa_3:9-10; Isa_3:16-18. The “stay” and “staff” are now particularized.
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 1. the Lord, the Lord of hosts] as in…
1. the Lord, the Lord of hosts] as in Isa_1:24 : the Sovereign, Jehovah of Hosts.
the stay and the staff] The second word is the fem. form of the first. The conjunction of similar-sounding words (like “bag and baggage” in English) frequently expresses exhaustiveness. The meaning is simply “every kind of prop.” Cf. Nah_2:10; Zep_1:15.
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the whole stay … water] This explanation is exceedingly unnatural in view of the enumeration which follows. The clause is probably a marginal gloss (readily suggested by such passages as Lev_26:26; Eze_4:16; Psa_105:16) which has crept into the text.
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 (1) For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,…
III.
(1) For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem . . .—From the general picture of the state of Judah as a whole, of the storm of Divine wrath bursting over the whole land, Isaiah turns to the Holy City itself, and draws the picture of what he saw there of evil, of that which would be seen before long as the punishment of the evil.
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The stay and the staff . . .—In the existing Hebrew text the words receive an immediate interpretation, as meaning the two chief supports of life—bread and water. So we have the “staff of bread” in Lev_26:26; Psa_105:16; Eze_4:16; Eze_5:16. Possibly, however, the interpretation is of the nature of a marginal gloss, which has found its way into the text, and “the stay and staff” (in the Hebrew the latter word is the feminine form of the former) are really identified with the “pillars of the state,” the great women as well as the great men who are named afterwards. On the other hand, Isa_3:7 implies the pressure of famine, and the prophet may have intended to paint the complete failure of all resources, both material and political.
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 Vers. 1-7. GOD"S JUDGMENT UPON JERUSALEM. The general denunciations…
Vers. 1-7. GOD"S JUDGMENT UPON JERUSALEM. The general denunciations against Israel of the two preceding chapters are here turned especially against Jerusalem. God will deprive her of all her superior and more honorable classes (vers. 1-3); and will give her "children" for her rulers (ver. 4). There will be continued oppression, and the rise of an insolent and undutiful spirit (ver. 5). Those fit to bear rule will refuse to do so (vers. 6, 7).
The Lord, the Lord of hosts (see note on Isa_1:24). The stay and the staff; rather, stay and staff. Neither word has the article. The latter is the feminine form of the former; and the intention is to announce that all support of every kind is about to be withdrawn. The whole stay of bread... of water. Mr. Cheyne agrees with Hitzig and Knobel that this clause is probably a gloss on the text, subsequently introduced into it, and a gloss which (lid not proceed from a very enlightened commentator. The "stay" and "staff" intended are certainly not, literal "bread" and "water," but the powerful and respectable classes enumerated in the two following verses. If the words are Isaiah"s, he must have intended them to be taken metaphorically.
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Vers. 1-7. Many steps in the decay of states.
Ruin does not often come on states at once, even when God has determined on it. There are many steps in the fall of a great nation.
I CESSATION OF A SUCCESSION OF GREAT AND WISE MEN. (Vers. 2, 3.) One of the first marks of decay is a falling off in this succession. When the intervals between one great man and another lengthen; when wise men, capable of giving the state good counsel, grow rare; when mediocrity everywhere prevails, and no one steps forth conspicuous by marked superiority to his fellows; then it may at once be proclaimed that decline has set in, and that the nation is verging towards its fall. The great and the wise are the salt which preserve society from corruption. Without them all goes wrong; the pulse of the national life slackens, energy disappears, foreign aggression is weakly resisted, a general debilitation becomes apparent in every part and function of the body politic. No state can long resist the insidious malady, which, like atrophy or anaemia, steals gradually over the entire frame, exhausting it and bringing about its dissolution.
II ACTIVE FOLLY IN THE RULERS. (Ver. 4.) When the great and the wise fail, government necessarily falls into the hands of the incompetent. If not "children" in age, they will be "babes" in respect of policy and statecraft. So long, however, as they are willing to follow the traditions of the past, to work upon well-known lines, and carry out established practices, no very great harm can arise. But they are seldom content for many years to act thus. A childish desire seizes them to attract attention, to exhibit their power. Hence they plunge into active follies, wild schemes of aggression and conquest, or imprudent and unsuitable alliances, as that of Ahaz with Tiglath-Pileser. (2Ch_28:16, 2Ch_28:20) The state is brought into difficulties and entanglements, and the wisdom is wanting that should have seen a way out of them. One embarrassment follows another. Unexpected circumstances arise, and it is not perceived how they should be met. The unwisdom of the good is perhaps as fatal as the folly of the wicked (e.g. Josiah"s uncalled-for resistance of Pharaoh-Nechoh, 2Ki_23:29), and leads to great disasters. Meanwhile other causes are at work, which advance the general confusion and accelerate the final catastrophe.
III DEVELOPMENT OF SELFISHNESS AMONG THE PEOPLE. (Ver. 5.) Society is based upon the principles of justice and mutual good will. While states prosper, it requires no extraordinary virtue in men to deal justly by their neighbors, and act towards them in a friendly spirit. But when the times are out of joint, when there is general impoverishment and distress, it is no longer easy to be amicable or even just. "Every man for himself!" becomes the cry; the spirit of selfishness is evoked and runs riot; "the people" (no longer the "rulers" or the "judges," Isa_1:10, Isa_1:23) "oppress every one another, and every one his neighbor". (Isa_3:5) This indulgence of the selfish spirit acts as a solvent loosens the bonds which have hitherto held society together, and goes far to reduce the united mass, in whose union was its strength, to a congeries of atoms.
IV CESSATION OF RESPECT FOR AGE OR SOCIAL RANK. (Ver. 5.) The disintegration of society tends to place all the atoms upon a par. While the social order was maintained, and the whole society felt itself one, the parts knew their need one of the other, and recognized their respective positions of inferiority and superiority. But with the loosening of the social ties comes naturally a general self-assertion. In a physical chaos atoms are of equal value, and why not in a disintegrated society? Hence the young in such a state throw off their allegiance to the old; even sons cease to respect or obey their fathers, and daughters their mothers. The humbler classes of toilers for daily bread no longer look up to their more favored brethren, but rather view them with jealousy and hatred. Class is alienated from class, and the tendency to a complete dissolution of society aggravated.
V NEGLECT OF THEIR CIVIL DUTIES ON THE PART OF THE WELL-TO-DO CLASSES. (Vers. 6, 7.) Noblesse oblige. In a distracted state of society, it is especially incumbent on those whose means place them beyond the reach of want, and allow them ample leisure, to come to the relief of their neighbors by undertaking those civil duties and offices on which the welfare of the body politic depends. But it is exactly at such times that we find this class of persons most inclined to ignore this obligation, and withdraw wholly from political life (ver. 7). Some, like Plato, justify themselves under the plea that nothing can be done to save society, and that they may be excused for taking refuge under the first shelter that offers while the storm rages and exhausts itself. Others plead the vulgarizing effect of active political life, and claim the right of keeping their superfine humanity free from the smears and stains which mixture with the crowd would bring upon it. On one excuse or another, or not infrequently without condescending to make any excuse, the upper classes in a distracted state stand aloof, neglect their civil duties, and refuse all the calls that are made on them to come to the rescue, and do their best to save the "ruin" that is tottering to its fall.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-7. A picture of anarchy.
The words carry on the sense of the closing saying of the preceding paragraph, Cease ye from man.
I THE RULERS OF THE PEOPLE REMOVED. Government is one of the necessities of human life. Hence the rulers are spoken of as "staff and stay, staff of bread and staff of water." Even bad rulers are better than none, so that they may be described as main props or supports of life. In the same way says Ezekiel, "I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem". (Eze_4:16 Eze_5:16) To see how truly good government may be thus described, let us remember that, by timely and wise legislation, bread and other necessaries of life have been cheapened and secured to the people. With good government men may be well fed and prosperous even in unkindly lands, while through evil government once fertile plains (like the Roman Campagna) have become wastes.
II THE NERVE AND STRENGTH OF THE NATION BROKEN. A nation needs heroes, men of courage for the battle-field. It needs men of discretion and integrity for the seat of justice and the bar. It needs men of religious faith and insight as prophets and teachers; and in every department, military, civil, ecclesiastical, scientific, there is a constant demand for able and honest men. There is to be a dearth of them in Jerusalem. The false leaders to whom the people have looked up, the idol-prophets and the magicians, are to be taken away along with the true. "Children" and "baby-boys," the prophet caustically says, shall become the princes and rulers of the nation. Ahaz was quite a young man; his "weakness of character and foolish humors would have been quite sufficient, in the sixteen years of his reign, to put the whole kingdom out of joint." The picture may remind us that men of intelligence and virtue are the great necessity in every time. If in the state statesmen are not being bred, and in the Church weak and illiterate men swarm, it is a sign of most certain moral weakness and decay.
III ANARCHY THE RESULT.
1. In private life. Good neighborhood is broken up, for it must rest on the common recognition of law and custom; and what if these be subverted? Age and rank no longer command respect. The beardless boy affronts the hoary head, the churl would level the gently born with himself. Nothing is more odious than the leveling temper of troublous times; for the fine gradations of rank are part essentially of a system of higher culture.
2. In public life. So extreme is the need of guidance and rule, that private proposals will be made to almost any seeming respectable man to take up the reins of government. But none will be found willing to govern "these ruins," or to be chief of so mere a rabble. We may use the picture as an allegory of the soul. When sin has set our being at variance with itself, and all our confidence and self has failed, we may be glad to find any yoke that we may creep beneath. Yet this may be denied. Those who, in the rebellion of lust and self-will, have sought to be "lords of themselves," may find a heritage of woe entailed. "The soul would never rule. It would be first in all things; but this attained, commanding for commanding sickens it. J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-8. National and spiritual anarchy.
We have a vivid picture here of
I NATIONAL ANARCHY.
1. Its cause is found in national rebellion against its rightful Lord. "Their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory" (ver. 8). Sin, both in word and deed, draws down the righteous indignation of God, and, under his just administration, the penalty of iniquity is paid.
2. Its signs are seen in:
(1) The loss of all fitting leaders (vers. 1-3). Those who constituted "the stay and the staff" are no longer found in positions of authority; those capable of ruling, those qualified to direct and to advise, those who have learnt political sagacity by long experience, these are not to be obtained; they have been deported, or they have withdrawn, or they are no more trained.
(2) The consequent elevation of the incapable (ver. 4). Those hold the high offices of state who are utterly incompetent to fill the lasts they have accepted.
(3) The presence of injustice and confusion (ver. 5). Instead of all doing that which is conscientious and right as between man and man, every one seeks to overreach his neighbor; fraud and violence are the rule rather than the exception; and instead of the natural subordination of the younger to the elder, there is insolence and presumption.
(4) The absence of unselfish patriotism (vers. 6, 7). They who are in a position to render help refuse to do so, untruly and unworthily excusing themselves.
3. Its issue. (Ver. 8.) "Jerusalem is being ruined (is ruined); Judah is falling (is fallen)." Bad as things are, they are not at their very worst; there remains a darker and sadder catastrophe yet to complete the destruction; and that, viz. dreary exile for the people and depopulation for the land, will soon arrive.
II SPIRITUAL ANARCHY. We trace the same cause here as in the case of the ruined nation.
1. Its cause is in rebellion against God, and his consequent high displeasure showing itself in just and appropriate penalty (ver. 8). 2. Its signs are found in:
(1) The dethronement of the soul"s true authorities: conscience, which directs us what we ought to do; reason, which leads us in the path in which it is wise to walk; pure affection, which draws us toward the objects we do well to love (vers. 1-3). When sin does its work within, these powers which were meant to rule are supplanted by unworthy rivals.
(2) The enthronement of the unfitting (ver. 4). As unsuited to govern a human soul are the rude, uncultured appetites and passions of our lower nature as are "children" and babes to rule over the great affairs of state.
(3) Internal struggle and insubordination (ver. 5). The animal appetites asserting themselves unduly and violently against spiritual aspirations and holy principles, and doing them dishonor.
(4) Appeal, without response, to our better nature (vers. 6, 7). It is one of the last stages in spiritual demoralization when an earnest, strenuous challenge is made to that which is left in the soul of the heavenly and Divine, and it makes no response, or none, but a miserable resort to that which is false. There is little hope left then; the last sparks are expiring:
2. Its issue. (Ver. 8.) A human spirit in such a state is hastening fast to utter and irretrievable ruin. It is in the very act of falling; it is coming to the ground, to be utterly humiliated and broken. It may be perhaps that on earth a soul is never in such complete ruin but that it may be repaired. Yet there are those who have fallen into such disorder that it may be said that the last destruction overhangs them. To such the Master"s warning words may well be uttered; (see Luk_17:31, Luk_17:32) for they must flee for their life, not losing a moment in starting, nor looking behind them when on their way. C.
The mission of famines.
The words stay and staff" are by the prophet referred to the two necessaries of life, bread and water. The judgments of God, in the older time, often came in the form of famine and drought; famine as the result of the drought. It was necessary, and it still is necessary, that men should be made to feel their entire dependence upon God for little things as well as great, for common everyday necessities as well as for special days" gifts and mercies. The necessaries of every day seem to be our right; famine-times remind us that they are always direct Fatherly providings. Entering into covenant with Noah, God promised that "while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease, "But the promise concerned the earth as a whole, and cannot be applied to particular portions of it. Seeding time has always been kept; harvesting work has always been done. Where man has not come to aid the operations of nature, God has provided seeding times and seeding ways for himself. In desert districts, where tribes wander, and corn cannot be grown, God makes two plants grow freely, whose fruitage is a harvest of necessaries for the people. Local and temporary failures there have been; but they have been due to special causes acting but locally over certain districts; terrible oftentimes for the sufferings they cause, when men are isolated from their fellows, but ameliorated when men dwell together in brotherhood, and the overplus of one land can be used to supply the deficiencies of another. The chief causes of harvest failure are lack of rain, destruction of growing crops by caterpillar and locust, and war which prevents the proper seeding of the fields. A special cause of famine in Egypt was the failure of the Nile-flood.
I GOD USES FAMINE TO KEEP UP MEN"S DEPENDENCE ON HIM. A tale is told of a widow woman who had lived for many years rent free in a cottage, through the good will and kindly arrangement of the owner. She lived in it so long that she came to think the place was her own, and quite forgot her dependent condition; so far forgot herself, indeed, as to send a message to her landlord threatening to leave the house if some repairs were not at once attended to. It might have been good for the poor woman to let her feel homeless for a while, so that she might learn to value her mercies. But we, like her, are in great danger of presuming on the goodness of God. We also get the feeling of a right to the things which God freely and graciously bestows. We call them ours. And then the temporary loss of them wakens us to thought; humbles us in the dust; calls upon us to look on the fields, and say, "They are God"s, not ours;" and on the sunny skies and genial rain, and say, "They are God"s, not ours." "Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.
II GOD USES FAMINE AS AN AGENT FOR PUNISHMENT. NO man is able to say of any particular famine, it must be a punishment; but we have a perfect right to say, famine may be a punishment. When God would visit David"s sin in numbering the people for his own vain-glorious purposes, he offered him a choice which included" seven years of famine for thy land." In the reign of Ahab the violent adoption of Baalism was visited by a terrible famine for the humbling of the willful king. And still we must keep hold of this truth all outward calamities may be visitations of Divine wrath. It settles nothing to say that pestilence follows on man"s disobedience of sanitary laws; and famine results from deficient government and hindered commerce; and wars spring out of national ambitions. That is all quite true, but we thus deal only with "second causes." God is still the First Cause. We, at least, will not push God out of the world he has made. We will trace his working everywhere. And just as we know he orders our personal circumstances so that they shall be chastisement and correction for our personal mistakes, willfulnesses, and transgressions, so we will be sure that the sins of cities, communities, and nations bring judgments and corrections by public calamities; famine may be the hand of the Almighty raised to smite and humble sinful peoples.
III GOD USES FAMINE TO KNIT THE LANDS IN BROTHERHOOD. In the older times of famine in Egypt, other nations and tribes were compelled to visit that land to secure their supplies of food, and so everybody became interested in the preservation of peace and kindly relations. The common distress made even hostile tribes forget their enmities. In the present day it is essential to the well-being of every nation that universal peace should be preserved. Every country is interested in keeping a free way for the world"s ships over the oceans. War is a calamity. The strong men who are slaughtered on battle-fields, ought to be toiling at the harvests, growing the world"s food, carrying it from laud to land, or making the things which should supply the world"s ever-varying and multiplied needs. We are dependent, as nations, on one another, and our mutual dependence ought to culture a spirit of brotherhood. England cannot grow from her soil, as at present cultivated, the supply of all her people"s needs. Heavily laden grain-ships bring the bounty of other lands for our relief week by week throughout the year; and so intercourse is maintained. We get to know and respect each other; we even, in a sense, sit down at each other"s tables; we eat bread and salt together, and so are bound to one another in eternal amity, as are the desert tribes. We eat bread from America, and Russia, and Hungary, and Egypt, and other parts, and at the common feast we cultivate the common brotherhood. And it may be further said, nothing binds men together and breaks down prejudices and enmities like a common trouble. How we are drawn together when a common woe lies upon our town, or upon the community to which we belong! Mutual sympathy and mutual sacrifice make us feel that God has "made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth;" and that brothers of the one family, whose Head is the everlasting Father, may well be brotherly and kind. In conclusion, gathering up what has been illustrated and enforced, it may be shown that
(1) famine makes a public testimony for the one, living God;
(2) famine, reaching to affect all classes, makes this testimony everywhere; and
(3) famine becomes everywhere a test of characters and beliefs. R.T.
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 For behold the Lord . . . doth take…
Isa_3:1-3
For behold the Lord . . . doth take away . . . the mighty man.
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National leaders removed
The Jewish nation, at this time, may be considered as represented by an old building, ready to fall into ruin, to prevent which many props had been added. These supports, on which it leaned, that were derived the authority, the prudence and fortitude of its leading men, God threatens to remove; in consequence of which the State should as certainly become ruinous as a decayed building, when the props on which it rested are taken away. (R. Macculloch.)
The death of the renowned
There is a tendency to trust in the arm of flesh. It would be most wicked if we were ungrateful for our great deliverers, raised up by that God to whom the shield of the earth belongeth; but, at the same time, it must be sinful to trust in them as if they were the authors of all, and, therefore, deserved all the glory.
1. We need the admonition which precedes this text--Cease ye from man (whether prince or senator, soldier or orator, counsellor or captain), whoso breath (whatever his strength or genius, talent or fame) is in his nostrils.
2. There is no such thing as chance; whether it be a hair which falls to the ground, or a sparrow that drops in its weary way across the field, or a prince smitten from his throne, or a dynasty broken--God is in them, giving, permitting, overruling, and sanctifying; it is not the shot or shell, the wave or wind, incident or accident, but God that takes away, and those things which we suppose to have played the principal part, are merely servants sent out by God to lead the soldier from his duty in the field, to receive the crown of glory and war no more.
3. But not only is it the Lord, but He has right and jurisdiction to do so. He not only reigns, but He rules. Unsanctified interpositions of God are the darkest judgments; whilst therefore, we recognise His hand in giving, let us recognise His hand in taking away. A father and his child walk. They pick up a stone with a green substance, which appears worthless, and fit only to be cast away; but they apply the microscope, and this green substance on the stone he finds to be a magnificent though tiny forest. So it is with any fact that occurs. Man looks at it with his own eyes, sees it uninstructive; but when seen in the light of Gods truth, he finds in it what is instructive and suggestive.
4. When God removes from a nation its props, pillars, and supports, He does so to lead that nation to see Himself more clearly and to lean on Him more entirely.
5. The Lord thus takes away in order to teach men impressively this lesson which man is very slow to learn--that death must come upon all. Death enters the cabinets of princes and statesmen, the camp of the hero, and the hut of the peasant, without paying the least respect to rank or royalty. (J. Cumming, D. D.)
The death of statesmen
I. Learn from the death of a great statesman THE WEIGHT OF GOVERNMENT IN A FALLEN WORLD. For when we see the mightiest minds that our country has produced, a Fox, a Pitt, a Liverpool, a Canning, one after another taking the weight of government upon them, and dropping under its weight into the arms of death--can we avoid thinking of the mighty mass of care that has pressed them down?
II. We are taught THE WEAKNESS OF THE SHOULDERS OF MORTAL MEN. However mighty his shoulders may be, he must be a bold man that would venture to take up a burden that has crushed so many: and yet there are many that will venture on it; for there are those who delight in danger, who sport with difficulties, and who delight in doing what no one else can do. And it is well for society that there are men of moral courage. If all preferred the comfort and quiet of domestic life, how could the affairs of government go on? Yet there are some burdens, the weight of which will crush any mind, for the sons of Anak are not omnipotent. And how knows any man how near he is to this point, when he shall be overwhelmed with his own duties, distracted with his own cares, become a prey to the very thing in which he delighted?
III. THE UNCERTAINTY OF ALL HUMAN AFFAIRS. We need to be taught this with a strong hand, for this warm piece of moving clay that is bustling about the earth, ready to drop to pieces every moment, is so swollen with vanity that it would fain fancy it is made of adamant. Therefore God supplies us with strong reasons, at certain seasons, to teach us the contrary.
IV. OUR ABSOLUTE DEPENDENCE ON THE SUPREME GOVERNOR. When we behold the profound counsellor and the mighty orator, and are entranced with their talents and execution, we grow idolatrous, and think these men are more than mortal, and that society could not go on without them; little thinking that He who made them as they are, to be employed as He pleases, and to be laid aside when He pleases, can raise others equally fitted as they are. (Exo_4:11.)
V. Another lesson which we should learn is, THE SACRED DUTY OF PRAYER FOR KINGS AND ALL IN AUTHORITY OVER US. We should make our supplications that councils may be assisted, that the cares of government may not overwhelm and destroy, that there may be a reasonable spirit prevalent in the public, so that it may be rendered less oppressive.
VI. IN YOUR SUPPLICATIONS ESPECIALLY REMEMBER ZION, THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD. The Church has been compared to a building, and the world to a scaffold placed around it in order to assist in rearing the edifice.
VII. LEARN TO PREPARE FOR OUR OWN DEATH. (J. Bennett, D. D.)
The death of the renowned excites special attention and interest
In the humble cottage on some mountain slope, in some shaded valley or distant forest, or in the living wilderness of some great city, are the young and the old, the brave and the fair, passing away in unbroken procession to the dust of the sepulchre, and to the destinies of the life to come But the great world without does not regard it. Like the leaves of autumn that strew our pathway, they sink into the grave, and their death is crowded from recollection by the never-ending succession of new events. But when the tall and graceful trees of the forest--the monarchs whose heads towered above the general altitude--are brought down by some resistless blow, their fall is attended with a louder crash, and the earth itself trembles beneath the shock: so, when the men who walk upon the loftier heights of place and power, when those whose intellectual stature as they move along the paths of science, of history, of literature, and of art, renders them preeminent above the general mass, are laid prostrate by the stroke of death, the event impresses itself more vividly upon the minds of men, and calls out from its hidden springs in the heart a profounder sentiment of sorrow. (J. A. Todd.)
The perils of greatness
Every state is set in the midst of danger, as all trees are set in the wind; but the tallest endure the greatest violence of the tempest. (Bishop J. Taylor, D. D.)
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 (Funeral Sermon for the Right Hon. George Canning.)
THE DEATH OF STATESMEN
(Funeral Sermon for the Right Hon. George Canning.)
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Isa_3:1; Isa_3:3. For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah … the counsellor, … and the eloquent orator.
By the death of a great statesman at the head of a government, we are reminded.—
I. Of the weight of government in a fallen world. It is a burden that has crushed many, and has brought them to an untimely grave.
II. Of the weakness of the shoulders of mortal men. The government of a single country, especially in troublous times, has proved a burden too great for the courage and the endurance of the strongest of men.
III. Of the uncertainty of all human affairs. Often does the statesman think of the uncertainty of arriving at the object of his ambition, but seldom of the uncertainty of his remaining there, except when he recollects how many are struggling to replace him. Little does he think of another foe, who lurks behind, and who in some unexpected moment will hush his eloquent tongue, and turn his fertile brain to dust.
IV. Of our absolute dependence on the Supreme Governor. We are apt to think that it is on the profound counsellor and mighty orator that the nation’s welfare depends, and to think little of Him who made them what they are, to be employed as He pleases, laid aside when He pleases, and replaced if He pleases, by others as richly endowed.
V. Of the necessity of personal preparation for death [541]J. Bennett, D.D., The British Pulpit, i. 297–304.
[541] So live, that, when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, that moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not like the quarry slave at night
Scourged to his dungeon; but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.—Bryant.
NATIONAL GREATNESS
Isa_3:1-8. For, behold, &c.
I. The elements of national greatness are intellectual and moral, rather than material. A nation may have “the staff of bread” and “the stay of water,” but lacking the persons enumerated in Isa_3:2-3, it cannot be a great nation. While, therefore, it is reasonable to put forth efforts to increase the material resources of the nation, we should be more concerned to improve the producers than the produce.
II. For the supply and continuance of these supreme elements of national greatness, we are absolutely dependent upon God. Well to remember that for all material blessings we are absolutely dependent upon Him. The moral value of a bad harvest is often great; it reminds us that, do what the most skilful agriculturists may, it is “God that giveth the increase.” Not less dependent are we upon Him for the men without whom no nation can be great. Wise statesmen, skilful inventors, eloquent orators, &c., are very special gifts of God; such men cannot be manufactured.
III. These essential elements of national greatness God will take away from those nations that are regardless of His goodness and defiant of His authority (Isa_3:1; Isa_3:8). National sins bring on national judgments. No national judgment is more severe or prolific of disasters than the removal or denial of great leaders.
IV. Not only can God abase the greatest nation, but He can reduce it to depths of humiliation which beforehand it would have regarded as inconceivable. See through what stages of national sorrow and shame the prophet declared that Israel should be led.
(1.) The diminution of its material resources and the removal of all its leaders of society (Isa_3:1-3).
(2.) The government entrusted to weak and childish rulers (Isa_3:4).
(3.) Social anarchy (Isa_3:5).
(4.) Social degradation so extreme, that men are solicited to rule merely because they have a little wealth (Isa_3:6).
(5.) The last stage of national degradation—its supreme places of authority have become so contemptible and perilous that no one can be induced to fill them (Isa_3:7).
These considerations concern us individually. The nation is but an aggregate of individuals; and what they are, it is. Hence it behoves us—
1. To strive after personal holiness. This seems a very small remedy for national evils. But it is only by each man adopting it that the nation can be made religious. If each drop in the ocean could eliminate the salt with which it is charged, the ocean would become fresh. Besides, by our example we may stimulate others to personal reforms, and they again others.
2. To entreat God to deal with us as a nation in the way of mercy, and not of judgment (Psa_103:10). There is a mighty power in intercessory prayer.
3. Diligently to promote all moral and social reforms. We must labour as well as pray. A Christian man will assist in all political reforms, because it is the will of God that righteousness should prevail in all things. But much more interested will he be in all movements and institutions having for their end the intellectual and moral advancement of the people: the school, the temperance society, better dwellings for the working classes, the diffusion of a pure literature, &c.
4. To put forth constant efforts to bring and keep our fellow-countrymen under the influence of the Gospel. Of all regenerative and conservative influences the Gospel is the most active and powerful. A nation composed entirely of genuine Christians would be at once the most happy, prosperous, and powerful the world has ever seen. The direct and short way to exalt Great Britain is to strive to lead all our countrymen to the knowledge and service of Christ. This is a work, not for ministers only, but for the whole Church. There would be more happy Christians if there were more working Christians. It is not the running brooks, but the standing pools, that become stagnant.
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.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain 1. Stay and the staff] A prophecy of famine:…
1. Stay and the staff] A prophecy of famine: cp. Isa_3:7, as the clause following explains. But if the latter clause is a gloss then 'stay and staff' would refer to the classes upon which the stability of the life of the community depends. 'Staff' in the Heb. is the fern, form of 'stay.'
2. The prudent] RV 'the diviner,' at this time in high estimation (Isa_2:6). The ancient] RM 'the elder,' who held offices in villages and towns (Rth_4:2, Rth_4:4; 2Ki_10:1).
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3. Artificer] cp. Jer_24:1 but RM 'charmer.' Eloquent orator] 'skilful enchanter.'
4. Children.. babes] in character rather than in years.
6, 7. The meaning is, the state of society shall be such that a man who apparently has the bare necessaries of life shall be invited to be dictator, but in vain.
9. The shew of their countenance] i.e. their expression; the meaning being that their character may be read in their face. But RM has, 'Their respecting of persons doth witness,' etc.
12. Cp. Isa_3:4. They which lead thee] lit. 'they that set thee right,' i.e. they that should set thee aright. The reference is to king Ahaz and his counsellors, amongst whom the queen-mother was prominent.
13. People] RV 'peoples.'
14. Ancients] see Isa_3:2. For ye] the pronoun is emphatic: RV 'It is ye that have eaten up.'
16f. A protest against prevalent luxury as evidenced in the extravagant toilette of the ladies of Jerusalem.
16. Tinkling] caused by silver bells on the ankles.
18. Cauls] RM 'networks.' Round tires like the moon] RV 'crescents'; mentioned as Midianitish ornaments (Jdg_8:21, Jdg_8:26).
19. Chains] RV 'pendants,' or 'eardrops'; mentioned as Midianitish ornaments (Jdg_8:26).
20. Bonnets] RV 'headtires.' The same word is used of a bridegroom's headdress (Isa_61:10).
Ornaments of the legs] RV 'ankle-chains.'
Headbands] RV 'sashes,' such as were worn by brides (Isa_49:18; Jer_2:32). Tablets] RV 'perfume boxes.' Earrings] RV 'amulets.'
21. Nose jewels] fastened to the nostril: see Gen_24:22.
22. Changeable suits of apparel] RV 'festival robes.' Wimples] RV 'shawls.' Crisping pins] RV 'satchels.'
23. Glasses] RV 'hand mirrors.' Hoods] RV 'turbans.'
24. Instead of, etc.] RV 'instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness.' Rent] RV 'rope,' i.e. binding the captive. Burning] RV 'branding.' i.e. of a slave.
25. 26. Thy, her] the pronouns refer to. Zion.
26. Sit upon the ground] a posture of mourning: cp. Lam_1:1.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain Judgments upon the Rulers and the Daughters Of Zion
CHAPTER 3
Judgments upon the Rulers and the Daughters Of Zion
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1. The judgment against the rulers (Isa 3:1-7) 2. Jerusalem’s sad condition (Isa 3:8-9) 3. Jehovah’s message (Isa 3:10-15) 4. The worldliness of the daughters of Zion (Isa 3:16-23) 5. Their humiliation in judgment (Isa 3:24-26; Isa 4:1)This chapter describes the corrupt conditions among the professing people of God in Isaiah’s day. A similar corruption and worldliness prevailing in our age demands divine judgment.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain God’s Threat of Punishment
God’s Threat of Punishment
v. 1. For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, a most solemn designation of the almighty Ruler of the universe, doth take away from Jerusalem, as the capital and center, and from Judah, the entire southern kingdom, the stay and the staff, He is engaged in this act, it is a judgment which is continuing, the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water, the heaping of synonyms indicating the seriousness of the situation and the Lord’s responsibility for sending famine and depriving the people of the things upon which they depended,
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v. 2. the mighty man and the man of war, the military power of the nation, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, the diviner, and the ancient, those whose counsel was based upon experience,
v. 3. the captain of fifty, the. smallest unit of the Jewish army, and the honorable man, the preferred favorite of the king, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, the state engineer and inventor, one versed in mechanical and military arts, and the eloquent orator, the expert enchanter. No definite order is observed in the enumeration of these officers, the specific Jewish being named together with the heathen, in order to show, how easily the Lord can overthrow all their pomp and power.
v. 4. And I will give children to be their princes, weak and inexperienced young men, and babes shall rule over them, incompetent and wanton youngsters, exercising power as they please.
v. 5. And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor, all respect for the God-given rights of others having vanished; the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, without the slightest regard for his superiors, and the base against the honorable, not only by ignoring all distinction of rank, but by setting aside the government instituted by God. In other words, tyranny is followed by mob-rule, and this, in turn, by anarchy, so that everything is in a turmoil, every semblance of governmental control has vanished.
v. 6. When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, having saved at least a decent suit of clothes in the general overthrow, be thou our ruler and let this ruin, what is left of the former nation, be under thy hand, in order to see whether there is still some chance of relief in this great emergency,
v. 7. in that day shall he, refusing to take this obligation upon himself, swear, saying, calling out loudly in protest, I will not be an healer, in trying to save the wreck; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing, he is just as poor and ragged as the others; make me not a ruler of the people, rather, with greater emphasis, "You shall not make me a ruler. " The entire description sets forth the disintegration, the decay, of the nations preceding the end.
v. 8. For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, outward and inward decay is evident, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, their apostasy and blasphemy have reached the limit, to provoke the eyes of His glory, the glorious appearance of His holy essence, for they challenge the wrath of the Lord by deliberately planning and executing evil.
v. 9. The show of their countenance, their whole appearance, the boldness expressed in their entire conduct, doth witness against them, their vices being imprinted upon their foreheads; and they declare their sin as Sodom, boasting of it without the slightest evidence of shame, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves, they are bound to bring punishment upon themselves. With a few strokes the prophet draws a picture of wantonness and moral filth, which fills the reader with loathing of such depths of wickedness.
v. 10. Say ye to the righteous, to the few who are still found in the midst of the general decay, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat of the fruit of their doings, their good works, the fruit of their faith, do follow them, Rev 14:13.
v. 11. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him, his will be a lamentable fate; for the reward of his hands, that which he earned by his evil deeds, shall be given him. The godless will have no one to blame but themselves when everlasting destruction comes upon them.
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 The word "see" here adds emphasis to what follows.…
See
The word "see" here adds emphasis to what follows. It can also be translated as "Listen" or "Indeed."
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support and staff
Both of these words refer to a walking stick, on which someone leans for support. This idea here stands for the things that people need the most in order to live: food and water. AT: "everything that supports you" or "everything that you depend on" (See: Metaphor)
the mighty man ... the skillful enchanter
This is a list of categories of people that others depend on. Since they do not refer to particular individuals, they can all be translated with plural nouns as in the UDB. AT: "the mighty men ... the skillful enchanters" (See: Generic Noun Phrases)
the one who practices divination
This is a person who claims that he can tell the future by looking at things like animal parts and leaves. See how you translated similar words in Isaiah 2:6.
the captain of fifty
Possible meanings are 1) the word "fifty" represents the exact amount of soldiers that the captain led. AT: "the captains of 50 soldiers" or 2) the word translated as "fifty" does not represent an exact number, but is the name of a small military unit. AT: "the captain of a small military unit" (See: Numbers)
fifty
"50" (See: Numbers)
translationWords
lord
Yahweh of hosts
Jerusalem
Judah
staff
bread
might
judge, judges
prophet
elder
citizen
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 3:1-12 These verses continue the subject of judgment against…
3:1-12 These verses continue the subject of judgment against Israel’s leadership (see 1:23-25). The removal of leadership at all levels would allow the mob to gain control. Chaos and famine would turn Judah and Jerusalem into a social wasteland.
3:1 take away . . . bread . . . water: God had long ago warned of famine, with its horrible conditions that sometimes led to desperate acts, as one possible judgment for wickedness (Lev 26:26-29).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.