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;
the mighty man, the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the diviner, the elder,
the captain of fifty, the honorable man, the counselor, the skilled craftsman, and the clever enchanter.
I will give boys to be their princes, and children shall rule over them.
The people will be oppressed, everyone by another, and everyone by his neighbor. The child will behave himself proudly against the old man, and the wicked against the honorable.
Indeed a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, “You have clothing, you be our ruler, and let this ruin be under your hand.”
In that day he will cry out, saying, “I will not be a healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing. You shall not make me ruler of the people.”
For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Yahweh, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They don’t hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought disaster upon themselves.
Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.
Yahweh stands up to contend, and stands to judge the peoples.
Yahweh will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and their leaders: “It is you who have eaten up the vineyard. The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
What do you mean that you crush my people, and grind the face of the poor?” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
Moreover Yahweh said, “Because the daughters of Zion are arrogant, and walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, walking to trip as they go, jingling ornaments on their feet;
therefore the Lord brings sores on the crown of the head of the women of Zion, and Yahweh will make their scalps bald.”
In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, the headbands, the crescent necklaces, the earrings, the bracelets, the veils, the headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the perfume containers, the charms, the signet rings, the nose rings, the fine robes, the capes, the cloaks, the purses,
the hand mirrors, the fine linen garments, the tiaras, and the shawls.
It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair, baldness; instead of a robe, a wearing of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty.
Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty in the war.
Her gates shall lament and mourn. She shall be desolate and sit on the ground.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25 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 On vv1–26 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 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 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 On vv1, 9, 16 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 On vv1–26 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 On vv1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 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 On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 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 On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 22, 25 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 On vv1–26 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 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, 18, 22, 24, 25, 26 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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v16 B.—The judgment upon the godless women
B.—The judgment upon the godless women
Isa_3:16 to Isa_4:1
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16 Moreover the Lord saith,
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
And walk with stretched forth necks
And 1wanton eyes,
Walking and 2mincing as they go,
And making a tinkling with their feet:
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab
The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,
And the Lord will 3discover their secret parts.
18 In that day the Lord will take away
The bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet,
And their 4cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
19 The 5chains, and the bracelets, and the 6mufflers,
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands,
And the 7tablets, and the earrings,
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles,
And the wimples, and the crisping pins,
23 The glasses, and the fine linen,
And the hoods, and the veils.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell, there shall be stink;
And instead of a girdle, a rent;
And instead of well set hair, baldness;
And instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth;
And burning, instead of beauty.
25 Thy men shall fall by the sword,
And thy 8mighty in the war.
26 And her gates shall lament and mourn;
And she being9 10desolate shall sit upon the ground.
Isa_4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying,
We will eat our own bread,
And wear our own apparel:
Only 11let us be called by thy name,
12To take away our reproach.
[For the different renderings of the commentator see the comment itself. On the importance of them see J. A. A’s note on Isa_3:18 below.—Tr.]
Exegetical And Critical
1. This section, too, has for its subject an event that cannot possibly coincide with the last judgment to which 2, refers. For that great day, the last of all, will not have to do with a mere sinking down from the heights of luxury and pride to the plane of poverty; it will not treat of the exchange of a girdle for a rope, of a mantle for a sack, nor of a defeat in war, nor of mournful sitting on the ruins of the city; there will be nothing said of wives wanting nothing beside the prop of a man. For in that day all will be over; the old world generally shall be out and out destroyed in order to make room for a new. Thus this section, too, makes the impression of being some declaration, meant originally to serve some special object, but inserted here in order to complete the grand picture of the future in this particular aspect. The Prophet had occasion once, and this may likely have been in the days of Uzziah or Jotham, to declare himself against the irruption of pomp of dress and luxury. This declaration, or at least a part of it, he pieces in here to his comprehensive prophecy of judgment. And he may do this. For whenever this denunciation against the arrogance of woman may have been fulfilled, such fulfilment always constitutes a part of the great whole of judgment which is to be completed with the judgment of the last day. The Prophet assumes in the prophecy that stands at the head (Isa_2:2-4), that Israel itself, too, must be subjected to a judgment. For only by a great process of refining can the mountain of Jehovah rise to the height which, according to Isa_2:2, it must attain, and only when Zion itself is full of the Spirit of God can it become the embodied ideal for all nations. How this refining is to take place in every respect and at different times is described in what follows up to Isa_4:1. In this description the Prophet makes use also of older utterances, which were perhaps too short to appear independently, and that might more suitably be joined in just here than elsewhere. Thus there was a section of this sort that referred to the men, Isa_3:1 sqq.; so now, too, we have one that has the women for a theme. The connecting formula, “and Jehovah said,” favors the view that this is a joined on piece. It would be quite superfluous if the discourse proceeded from one mould. Comp. on this the comment on Isa_3:16. The order of thought is as follows: The luxurious pride of the women, too, shall be humbled (Isa_3:16-17). In the day that this shall happen all their splendid garments shall be taken from them (Isa_3:18-23) and replaced by wretched ones to correspond (Isa_3:24). Their husbands, too, they shall lose in a brief space (Isa_3:25), lamenting and desolated, they shall sit in the gates (Isa_3:26); yea, their want shall be so great that seven women shall attach themselves to one man, without demanding support from him, only thereby to escape the misfortune of being unmarried (Isa_4:1).
[On Isa_3:16 sqq. “The Prophet here resumes the thread which had been dropped or broken at the close of Isa_3:12, and recurs to the undue predominance of female influence, but particularly to the prevalent excess of female luxury, not only as sinful in itself but as a chief cause of the violence and social disorder previously mentioned, and therefore to be punished by disease, widowhood, and shameful exposure. These two verses (16, 17), like the sixth and seventh, form one continued sentence. And Jehovah said (in addition to what goes before, as if beginning a new section of the prophecy), because the daughters of Zion (the women of Jerusalem, with special reference to those connected with the leading men,” etc.)—J. A. A.
On Isa_3:18. “As in other cases where a variety of detached particulars are enumerated simply by their names it is now very difficult to identify some of them. This is the less to be regretted, as the main design of the enumeration was to show the prevalent extravagance in dress, an effect not wholly dependent on an exact interpretation of the several items. The interest of the passage in its details is not exegetical but arch-æological.”—J. A. A.
On Isa_3:26. “The gates of Ziou are said to mourn, by a rhetorical substitution of the place of action for the agent, or because a place filled with cries seems itself to utter them. She is described, not as lying, but as sitting on the ground. So on one of Vespasian’s coins, a woman is represented in a sitting posture, leaning against a palm-tree, with the legend Judœa Capta.”—J. A. A.]
2. Moreover the Lord—secret parts.
Isa_3:16-17. The formula “and the Lord saith” occurs in Isaiah on the whole, relatively not often. It occurs in all thirty-two times; of these, sixteen times in the historical chapters 36–39, where it indicates the actual exchange of words in conversation. Beside that, it is only employed where the Lord appears actually speaking, and speaks of Himself in the first person (comp. Isa_23:12; Isa_29:13; Isa_49:3; Isa_49:6; Isa_63:8). But in our passage Jehovah is immediately spoken of again in the third person. “The Lord will smite, the Lord will uncover” Isa_3:17. Moreover, in what follows, the Lord Is not introduced again as speaker. It is thus seen that by this formula what follows is only marked as God’s word so far as its contents are concerned, and not formally so. But as this is self-evident, it is further plain, that the formula is meant to serve as a transition, a link, a means of uniting. We recognize, therefore, in it a sign that here is a piece of an address, already on hand, that has been skilfully strung on here. As in Isa_2:11 it was said that all lofty looks shall be humbled and all haughtiness of men be bowed down, so the Prophet here with entire justice declares that also feminine arrogance must expect its share in this judgment. Are proud, etc., stands, therefore, in direct relation with the entire section Isa_2:6-17. What is said there in general of riches (Isa_3:7), of arrogance and haughtiness (Isa_3:11-12; Isa_3:17) of works of splendour (Isa_3:16), has its special application to the proud display of the women. But our passage stands in still closer connection with מַשְׁעֵנָה supportress Isa_3:1. We showed there that this expression points to the second half of this chapter where the women are spoken of. That these, too, are called “supports,” staffs, refers evidently to the fact that women, even in the commonwealth of Israel, played a considerable part. Let it be remembered that the Book of Kings expressly names the mother of each king. Individual women are designated as enjoying political influence in a high degree; Deborah (Judges 4); Bathsheba (1 Kings 1); Jezebel (1Ki_16:31 sqq.); Athaliah (2 Kings 11). We are expressly informed that Solomon’s wives had a bad influence over him (1Ki_11:3 sqq.). As long as a regular king ruled there must be a woman’s court household. If there were none such. then there would be surely no king. How closely kingdom and harem hung together, may be seen from the fact that the possession of the harem obtained as a sign that the royal dignity had been received. Therefore Absalom lay publicly with the coucubines of his father (2Sa_16:21). David, too, inherited the wives of Saul, and this is related in a connection (2Sa_12:8) that leads us to conclude that the fact must have been important to the recognition of David’s succession to the throne being a rightful one. Adonijah, after David’s death, begs for the hand of Abishag the Shunamite, and we see from Solomon’s reply that he regarded this request as an attempt to use the possession of the concubine as a step to the throne (1Ki_2:22). Comp. Michaelis,Mos. Recht, I. p. 207. Saalschuets,Das Mos. Recht, p. 85. According to this the harem was, in some measure, a political institution, an attribute of royalty as such, and in so far in a special sense a support of the life of the state. Yet if Isaiah here has especially in mind the royal ladies, that does not exclude the other noble and proud women from a share in his reproachs.
In וַתֵּלַכְנָה the imperfect with vav. consec. is not necessarily to be construed as aorist. The word מְשַׂקְּרוֹת is ἄπαξ λεγ. The root שָׂקַר even does not again occur in all the Old Testament. The Aramaic סְקַר may be most suitable to compare here, which means “intueri, conspicari.” The Piel then may have the meaning “blinking, winking:”עֵינַיִם stands in the accusat., like גָּרוֹן. There is indeed a סָקַרִ that means to color, to paint, whence also, the Chald., Abarbanel and others express this idea (Luther: with painted faces). But the custom of painting the eye-brows black is so universal a custom or the Orient, that it has been justly objected, Isaiah would hardly have spoken out against it. Moreover the rest of the reproachful expressions relate to bodily gestures. Buxtorfin Lex. Chald., Talm, et Rabb., p. 1542 cites the talmudic dictum: “Non creavit deus mulierum ex capite Adami, ne caput suum nimium ornaret and efferret; negue ex oculo, ne essetסַקְרָנִית, oculis omnia observans.”Hitzig, justly cites Plaut. Aulul. I. 1, Isaiah 2 : “circumspectatrix cum oculis tuis emissiciis,” although this is spoken of an old tramp with thievish propensities. Also טָפַף (from which טַףToppler, Tripler, Child) is ἄπ. λεγ. The tripping short steps are the necessary consequences of the step-chains which were fastened by means of a ring (עֶכֶם, Isa_3:18, again only in Pro_7:22) surrounding the leg above the ankle joint. The little chains themselves were called צְעָדוֹת Isa_3:20. The verb עִכֵּם, which occurs only here, is denominative. According to the context the meaning can be nothing else than; rattling the rings to make a noise, to clink. Comp. Herzog’sR. Encycl. VII. p. 731. As chastisement for such arrogance the daughters of Zion shall be punished with disgraceful disorders. Their proud head shall become scurfy, covered with scabs, thus loathsomely unclean (Lev_13:2; Lev_13:6-8; Lev_14:56). שִׂפַּח, (which, written with שׂ, occurs here only), is according to some a denominative from מִסְפַּחַת ,סַפַּחַת, scab. scurf (vid. Lev_13:14) Still it is possible שִׂפַח means, to make flow, suppurate, and thus deprive of the hair, and that, so derived, ספחת means the fluid scab or scurf. Comp., at Isa_37:30. Their shame, to whose impure pleasure those luxurious gestures were meant to minister, shall be disgracefully exposed (Isa_47:3; Jer_13:22; Jer_13:26; Eze_16:37, etc.). The singular פֹּת (from פּוּת ,פָּתָה פָתַח, pat-ere) occurs only here; the plural 1Ki_7:50 of the cardo femina from an obvious resemblance.—עָרָה (from which עֶרְוָה and עָרוֹתloca nuda (Isa_19:7) which does not occur in the Kal, means nudum esse, hence Piel to make bare, (in Isaiah again only Isa_22:6); Hiphil, (because what has been hitherto concealed, when it is laid bare, is at the same time poured out) effundere, (Isa_53:12), Niphal, effundi (Isa_32:15).
Without excluding the literal rendering of Isa_3:17, we may still construe the language first in an inexact sense and generalize it. In the day of judgment loathsome uncleanness shall take the place of the splendor of Zion’s daughters; disgrace and shame the place of their prond display. The Prophet has in this expressed something in general which he proceeds to specify in what follows. Feminine interest revolves chiefly around two poles: the decking out of the body and the surrender of the body to the husband; therefore about dress and husbands. Therefore the disgrace of the daughters of Zion in what follows is portrayed in these two respects. And first it is shown of what they shall be deprived in the way of dress (Isa_3:18-23), and what shall be given them instead (Isa_3:24).
3. In that day—instead of beauty.
Isa_3:18-24 “In that day,” refers back immediately to Isa_3:17. But we showed above that not the day of the last judgment is meant here, but only a prelude to it, which, of course, however, combines with the last judgment to make a unity of divine world-judgment. In that day, then, the Lord will take away the adornment (תפארת). All that follows is summed up-under this word. The word is found often in both parts of Isa_4:2; Isa_10:12; Isa_13:19; Isa_44:13; Isa_52:1; Isa_62:3; Isa_63:14, etc.). Concerning the עכסים comp., at Isa_3:16. Concerning the שׁביסים there are two views held. From Schroeder down a number of expositors (Rosenmueller, Winer, Ewald, Knobel, Drechsler) have taken the word for a kindred form of the Arabic schumeisa (diminutive of schems, the sun), the letters m and b being interchanged, as is common between these two kindred letters: Schroeder proves, besides, from Theoph,hist. pl. IX. 4 and Plin. H. N. XII. 14, Σαβις to have been a name of the sun among the Arabians. The meaning then would be little suns i.e., a metallic ornament shaped like a sun. That would suit very well to the following שׁהרן, crescents, as generally to the words that precede and follow, all of which designate metal ornaments. In as much as in the following list occur several expressions borrowed from the Arabic (comp. Drechsler on Isa_2:6), and this word in Hebrew is ἄπ λεγ., and even the root שָׁבַם does not again occur, so that word and thing both appear to be of foreign origin, I prefer this view. The other view takes שָׁבָם in the sense of שָׁבָץ and (Aram,) שְׁבָשׁ“plectere, to braid,” and שָבִים therefore, for opus reticulatum (LXX ἐμπλόκια) network. hair net: (Delitzsch, “ribbons for the forehead worn underneath the hair net, and braided of gold or silver thread:” Buxtorf, Lex. Chald., p. 2315, “Ornamentum,” etc., a peculiar ribbon ornament, extending in front from one ear to the other”). The שׂהרנים are lunulœ, μηνίσκοι, moonshaped, or rather half-moon shaped decorations. They are mentioned Jdg_8:21; Jdg_8:26 as neck ornaments of camels. That they had a moon shape appears from this, that sahro in the Syriac, schahr in the Arabic mean the moon. Here, too, therefore word and thing are certainly of foreign origin. ־וֹן is a diminutive ending, comp. אִישׁוֹן; Ewald § 167, a.—נְטִפוֹת (Jdg_8:26) from נָטַףto drop (comp. Exo_30:34, dropping resin, and Job_36:27) are a drop shaped ornament, as they were likely worn as pendants from the ears (ear drops). שֵׁרוֹת (ἄπ. λεγ,) from שָׁרַרtorquere, to twist, is torques, a collar, chain, not for the neck, however, but an armlet, bracelet, as is to be seen from the dialects. Onkelos,e.g., translates, Gen_24:22; Gen_24:30; Gen_24:47, the Hebrew word צָמִיד (the proper word for bracelet for the arm) by שֵׁירָא. Comp., too, שַׁרְשְׁרָה and שַׁרשָׁהchainsExod. Isa_28:14; Isa_28:22.—רְעָלוֹת (ἄπ. λεγּ) from רָעַלto tremble, wave, are veils, and that, as appears, of a costly kind: viz.Herzog,R. Encycl. VII. p. 728.—פְּאֵרִים are diadems, tiarœ., that are also elsewhere named as part of the head ornament of the priesthood (Exo_39:28; Eze_44:18), or of the dress of a bridegroom (Isa_61:10). What part of the head covering or what sort, is not clear.—צְעָדָה from צָעַד, to march, pace, on account of the etymology seems most naturally to mean the step chains (comp. on תּעכסנה, Isa_3:16). But 2Sa_5:24 and 1Ch_14:15, where the word occurs, it seems to mean “the stepping, walking along;” and Num_31:50; 2Sa_1:10אֶצְעָדָה designates arm bands, arm clasps, as one sees clearly in 2Sa_1:10 from the עַל־זְרֹעוֹ. Hence many expositors, both old and new, (among the last, Ewald), translate “arm clasps.” And yet it is only אֶצְעָדָה that has this meaning. The circumstance that צִעָדָה occurs twice in the sense of “walking along” is no obstacle to its meaning step-chainlets. For the abstract word could easily be taken in a concrete sense; the walking in the sense of the instrument of walking.—קִשֻּׁרִים from קָשַׁרto bind) are, according to Jer_2:32, comp. Isa_49:18, mentioned as pieces of a bride’s outfit. But whether the girdle is meant or bandages (perhaps the breastband, στηθόδεσμος LXX. in Jer_2:32) is uncertain.—בָּתֵּי הַנֶּפֶשׁ are smelling bottles. For בית often stands for receptacle, place of storage generally (comp. Exo_26:29; Job_8:17; Eze_41:9, and for the very common use of this word in Aram, and Rabb. language, see Buxtorf, Lex. p. 301 sqq.). נֶפֶשׁ, however is breath, scent (comp. Niphal הִנָּפֵשׁrespirare, to breathe out, Exo_23:12; Exo_31:17. עֲצַת נֶפִשׁ. fragrant wood, Pro_27:9; and the original passage Gen_1:20; Gen_1:30; Job_41:13). The expression occurs only here—לְחָשִׁים (comp. Isa_3:3; Isa_26:16) are instruments of magic, amulets.—טַבַּעַת from טָבַע, imprimere, is the ring, generally, and especially the signet ring. Comp. Gen_41:42; Exo_25:12; Exo_25:14, and many places beside in Exodus.—נִזְמֵי הָאַף are the nose rings which are in use in the East to the present day. Comp. Pro_11:22; Eze_16:12; WinerR. W. B. the word, nose-ring.
So far the prophet has named articles of embellishment made of metal. In what follows he chiefly enumerates articles of clothing proper.—The מַחֲלָצוֹת, according to Zec_3:4, are such as are the opposite of filthy garments, therefore stately, splendid clothes. According to the fundamental meaning (חָלַץ, extrahere, exuere) they are clothes that one takes off at home, comp. חֲלִיפוֹת. The expression appears to be one of general meaning, and occurs only here, and in the passage cited from Zech.—מַֽעֲטָפוֹת (properly covers, from עָטַףoperire) are mentioned only here. The word in Arabic signifies the second tunic, broader, longer and provided with sleeves, that corresponds to the Roman stola, the garment peculiar to women.—מִטְפַּחַת from טפחexpandere (Isa_48:13) is the great wide over all, shawl (Rth_3:15, the only place beside that the word occurs). חָרִיט is found beside only 2Ki_5:23, from which place it is seen that it means a bag or pocket that may serve to carry money.—גִּלְיֹנִים, according to LXX. would be διαΦανῆ Δακωνικά, i.e., Lacedæmonian gauze dresses that expose the body more than cover it. But גִּלָּיוֹן, Isa_8:1, is the smooth, polished tablet. Such served for mirrors, as the ancients knew nothing of glass mirrors. Travellers assure us that such mirrors in the form of small plates set in a ring are worn to this day. Comp. Herzog,R. Encycl. XIV., p. 666.—סְדִינִים are σινδόνες, i.e., garments of fine India linen. It is debated whether undergarments, such as shirts, are meant, or some sort of light thing to throw over one. The word is found again Jdg_14:12 sq.; Pro_31:24.—צְנִיפוֹת (from צָנַף, tegere, velare) are the head-band, turban. The word bands, turbans, occurs Isa_62:3; Job_29:14; Zec_3:5.—רָדִיר (from רָדַדspread, spread under, spread out, Isa_45:1; Psa_144:2; 1Ki_6:32) is the wide veil that covered over the rest of the clothes (Arab, rida ridat) Son_5:7.—But not only shall all תִּפְאֶרֶתadornment, Isa_3:18, be taken away, they shall also be replaced by worse things. Instead of בּשֶֹׁם, balsam, (product of the balsam bush, vid.Exo_30:23; Eze_27:22; 1Ki_10:10) מַק shall be given. This latter word is only found again Isa_5:24, where, however, it is written מָק, which has no effect on the meaning. The root מָקַק, diffluere is used of the flowing of matter from a wound; e. g.Psa_38:6. מַק seems therefore rather to mean matter than the dry decay. In place of חֲגוֹרָה (apron, Gen_3:7; girdle, Isa_32:11; 1Ki_2:5) shall be a rope, נִקְפָּה. The word is ἅπ. λεγ. There is conflict regarding the meaning. Some derive it from נָקַףpercutere, to strike (Isa_10:34; Isa_17:6) and take it in the sense of vulnus (so the Chald. and the most of the Jewish expositors). But this meaning does not well suit the context. It is better to derive it from נָקַף=circuire, gyrare, circle, gyrate (see Isa_29:1; Hiphil הִקִּיף). נִקְפָּה would be, then, feminine of נֵקֶף or נֶקֶף=turning around, i. e., that resulting from twisting. Delitzsch derives it from קָפַה, contorquere, but this does not occur in biblical idiom, which uses only קָפָא, to contract, congeal.
Instead of the artistically curled hair, shall baldness be given. מִקְשֶׁה (ἄπ. λεγ.,) in apposition with מַֽעֲשֶׂה is synonymous with מִקְשָׁהExo_25:18; Exo_25:31; Exo_25:36; Jer_10:5, opus tornatile, twisted, turned work. Baldness, compare 2Ki_2:23; for women it is doubly disgraceful. And instead of a splendid mantle, shall be given a girding of sackcloth. פְּתִינִיל, ἄπ. λεγ., is of uncertain derivation and meaning. Expositors waver between the derivation from פָּתַגamplum esse, with affix –ִיל (like כַּרְמִיל from כֶּרֶם) and that from פְּתִיdistance, גִּילfestival joy, and between the meanings fascia pectoralis (Vulg.) and broad mantle; yet the grammatical and hermeneutical grounds for the latter overbalance. מהגרת, too, is ἄπ. λεγ. Girding with sackcloth, as is known, is often mentioned as sign of the deepest mourning and humiliation: Gen_37:34, Isa_15:3; Isa_22:12; Jer_6:26, &c.
The conclusion of this list of mournful exchanges is made by the phrase: “Branding for beauty.” The words are strange. They appear disjointed and unsymmetrical. For וְ, and, is wanting which connects all the preceding members, and thus this small member of the sentence stands independent, and by its inversion (the thing given stands first) in contrast with all that goes before. It appears to me as if the prophet recalled a passage of the law wherein a number of exchanges or recompenses are defined by means of the preposition “instead of.” Such a passage is Exo_21:23-25. Among these specifications occurs, “burning for burning.” כּוִיָּה תַחַת כְּוִיָּה. The Prophet, however, was not speaking of jus talionis, therefore the idem per idem or idem pro eodem, “like for like,” did not suit his purpose. He speaks of the recompense that threatened the daughters of Zion. Among the things to be taken from them he had not mentioned beauty, the direct gift of nature, which to women is of the greatest price. He had to this point spoken only of productions of art. Now as beauty is יְפִי (in Isa. again only Isa_33:17), he might easily happen to think of כְּוִיָּה as a suitable rhyme for it. However, כְּוִיָּה itself does not rhyme, but a word of kindred root, properly its simple masculine form, כְּוִי, which appears only to have been used in the contracted form כִּי (comp. רִי ,צִי ,עִי ,אִי). Thus too the inversion explains itself. For as we find the words, they most resemble the passages in Exod.; much more than if they read “instead of beauty burning.” כִּי or כְּוִי is ἄπ. λεγ. Its root is כָּוָה“to burn,” and means, like כְּוִיָּה, and like the Arabic kej, the branded mark, στίγμα. If even it cannot be proved that it was customary to mark captives by branding them, that does not affect the matter. It was also not customary to offer them pus instead of balsam. Such traits of poetic speech must not be pressed. Enough if the thought in itself affords a suitable meaning. I think, therefore, the established meaning “brand mark,” which indicates a strong contrast with “beauty,” is not to be departed from, and we need not with Knobel understand “scratchings.”
4. The women—our reproach.
Isa_3:25 to Isa_4:1 But the misery of the daughters of Zion is not yet exhausted. Worse things yet must happen to them. They shall be robbed, too, of the men. From the singular suffix, it is seen that the Prophet Isa_3:25 now addresses Zion itself, thus not “the daughters of Zion,” Isa_3:16, but “daughter of Zion.” The loss of splendid garments is not to be understood as if only articles of luxury would be taken from the women of Zion. It is seen from Isa_3:25 that the blow is to be universal, falling upon all. Therefore all shall suffer under it: but the rich and noble most of all. The loss of the men however, shall concern all in equal measure. For this reason the Prophet no longer addresses the daughters, but the daughter of Zion. מְתִים does not appear to involve the notion of strength, manhood. For it is wont to stand where inferiority, lowness are predicated of the subject man. מְתֵי מִסְפָּר, people of number, a few, Gen_34:30, and often. מ׳ מְעַט Deu_26:5; Deu_28:62. מ׳ שָׁוְא Psa_26:4; מ׳ אָֽוֶז Job_22:15. מ׳ רָעָכ Isa_5:13 : and Isa_41:14מְתֵי יִשְׁרָאֵל stands directly parallel with תּוֹלַעַת יַעֲקבworm Jacob. It stands then as the antithesis of גְּבוּרָתֵןְthe troops, and designates not the manhood with emphasis, but only masculine individuals (people). גְּבוּרָה (a word of frequent occurrence in Isa_11:2; Isa_28:6; Isa_63:15, &c.) only here stands in a concrete meaning=troops. For Jer_49:35 there is no reason for taking it in any other than the usual abstract sense, strength.
And her gates, etc. Isa_3:26. אָנָה, to sigh, groan, occurs only here and Isa_19:8, where, too, it stands with אבל. The latter word is in general more frequent, and common, too, in Isaiah: 24:4, 7; Isa_33:9; Isa_66:10. Most expositors translate; “and her gates groan and lament.” With that פֶּתַחgate, is personified and used by metonymy for the assemblies in the gate, which is grammatically allowable. But I would make three objections: 1) It is surprising that we do not read, then, שַׁעַר, gate. For פֶּתַח is only the door opening (hence so often פתח השׁער, door of the gate, Jos_20:4; Jdg_9:35; Jdg_9:44 : 2Sa_10:8; Jer_1:15; Jer_19:2; Pro_1:21, etc.), while שַׁעַר stands for gate in its emphatic, and also its comprehensive meaning. 2) Does it not seem strange in this exposition, that the discourse suddenly turns from the women to speak of the totality of the people? For the gates do not represent the women alone, but the entire people; whence Drechsler justly calls attention to the fact that this exposition occasions “something fluctuating in the connection of ideas.” 3) פֶּתַח, times without number, stands as acc. localis to the question where? or whither? without a preposition, vid. Lexicon and Concordances. It comes very natural therefore to translate; “and they (the women) groan and sigh at her gates.” There they await, and there they receive the mournful intelligence. The suffix in פתחיה relates naturally to Zion addressed in the verse before.
The following words are obscure. וְנִקָּתָה can be nothing else than Niph. perf. 3 pers. fem., from נָקָהpurum esse. Niphal often occurs in the sense of culpa vacuum, immunem esse, which gives no sense here. Purificari here can only mean “swept out, cleared up, emptied, desolated.” In this sense the word does not again occur; only Zec_5:3, may in some degree be compared. Hofmann (Schriftbeweis II. 2, p. 503) translates: “on the bareness, off on the bare ground sits she.” But נקתה is neither participial nor nominal form. If now we translate: “and she was emptied, desolated, on the ground she sits,”—we must first remark concerning the construction, that Drechsler is right in connecting the two verbs so that the first contains an adverbial qualification of the second. Sitting on the ground is the posture of those mourning: Isa_47:1; Job_2:13; Lam_2:10. The subject of נקתה as well as of תשׁב is Zion, to which also the suffixes in Isa_3:25-26, refer. Therefore if the widows of Zion weep at the gates, Zion itself appears desolate and lies on the ground. Yet I confess that this exposition is not entirely satisfactory, although it fits the existing text. Perhaps the text is corrupt in נקתה.
At all events, according to Isa_3:25, a great scarcity of men exists. For the Hebrew woman that was the greatest misfortune. For in its most ancient parts the Old Testament knows no other genuine life than that on this earth, and thus no other continuation of living after death than by means of children. To be childless was, then, the same as being deprived of continuance after death. It corresponded to the being damned of the New Testament. Physical reasons, therefore, were not all that made marriage appear as a pressing necessity. It is now said here that seven women (notice the sacred number) shall lay hold of one man and, renouncing all claim of support and clothing, beg only the right to be called his wives.—Only let thy name, etc.—As the temple was called the house that bears the name of Jehovah, without however the temple being called Jehovah Himself, so, among the Hebrews, the wives were not called by the same name as their husbands, which would be to transfer modern customs to the ancients; but the name of the husband was named on her, when she was called this or that man’s wife. Comp. “Sarai, Abram’s wife,” Gen_12:17, “Rachel, Jacob’s wife,” Gen_46:19. Gesenius quotes the beautiful parallel from Lucan, Pharsal. II. 342, which was first adduced by Grotius.
——da tantum nomen inane
Connubii, Liceat tumulo scripsisse: Catonis
Marcia * * * * * * *
—Give only the empty name of marriage. Let my monument be inscribed: Cato’s Marcia.
אָסַף with the meaning “auferre, demere,” bear away, like Isa_16:10; Isa_57:1. As a parallel expression comp., too Zec_8:23. The division of chapters is evidently incorrect here. That the words “seven women,” etc., were carried over to chap. 4, as Vitringa remarks, happened because it was supposed that the seven women represented the seven graces of the Holy Spirit (Isa_11:1-2), thus Jerome and Cyril—or the believing women under the one man or Christ, the Branch, Isa_3:2.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa_2:2. Domus Dei, etc. “The house of God is built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, who, themselves, too, are mountains, quasi imitators of Christ. (They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, Psa_125:1) Whence, also, upon one of the mountains Christ founded the Church and said: Thou art Peter, etc., Mat_16:18.” Jerome.——“We can understand Jerusalem by the mountain of God, for we see how the believing run thither, and how those that have accepted the testimony come thither and seize the blessing that proceeds thence. But we may also by the house of God understand the churches spread over land and sea, as we believe St. Paul, who says, ‘we are the house of God,’ Heb_3:6. And so we may recognize the truth of the prophecy. For the Church of God stands shining forth, and the nations, forsaking wickedness that has long had dominion over them, hasten to her and are enlightened by her.” Theodoret.——Ecclesia est, etc. “The church is a mountain exalted and established above all other mountains, but in spirit. For if you regard the external look of the church from the beginning of the world, then in New Testament times, you will see it oppressed, contemned, and in despair. Yet, notwithstanding, in that contempt it is exalted above all mountains. For all kingdoms and all dominions that have ever been in the world have perished. The church alone endures and triumphs over heresies, tyrants, Satan, sin, death and hell, and that by the word only, by this despised and feeble speech alone. Moreover it is a great comfort that the bodily place, whence first the spiritual kingdom should arise, was so expressly predicted, that consciences are assured of that being the true word, that began first to be preached in that corner of Judea, that it may be for us a mount Zion, or rule for judging of all religions and all doctrines. The Turkish Alcoran did not begin in Zion—therefore it is wicked doctrine. The various Popish rites, laws, traditions began not in Zion—therefore they are wicked, and the very doctrines of devils. So we may hold ourselves upright against all other religions, and comfort our hearts with this being the only true religion which we profess. Therefore, too, in two psalms, Psalms 2, 110, mount Zion is expressly signified: “I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion;” likewise: “The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion.” Luther.
2. On Isa_2:2. Luther makes emphatic, as something pertaining to “the wonderful nature of this kingdom,” that “other kingdoms are established and administered by force and arms. But here, because the mountain is lifted up, the nation shall flow (fluent), i.e., they shall come voluntarily, attracted by the virtues of the church. For what is there sweeter or lovelier than the preaching of the gospel? Whereas Moses frightens weak souls away. Thus the prophet by the word fluent, “flow,” has inlaid a silent description of the kingdom of Christ, which Christ gives more amply when He says: Mat_11:12, “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force,” i.e. “they are not compelled, but they compel themselves.” “Morever rivers do not flow up mountains, but down them; but here is such an unheard-of thing in the kingdom of Christ.”—Starke.
3. Luther remarks on “and shall say: come,” etc. “Here thou seest the worship, works and efforts and sacrifices of Christians. For they do only the one work, that they go to hear and to learn. All the rest of the members must serve their neighbors. These two, ears and heart, must serve God only. For the kingdom rests on the word alone. Sectaries and heretics, when they have heard the gospel once, instantly become masters, and pervert the Prophet’s word, in that they say: Come let us go up that we may teach him his way and walk in our paths. They despise, therefore, the word as a familiar thing and seek new disputations by which they may display their spirit and commend themselves to the crowd. But Christians know that the words of the Holy Ghost can never be perfectly learned as long as we are in the flesh. For Christianity does not consist in knowing, but in the disposition. This disposition can never perfectly believe the word on account of the weakness of the sinful flesh. Hence they ever remain disciples and ruminate the word, in order that the heart, from time to time, may flame up anew. It is all over with us if we do not continue in the constant use of the word, in order to oppose it to Satan in temptation (Matthew 4). For immediately after sinning ensues an evil conscience, that can be raised up by nothing but the word. Others that forsake the word sink gradually from one sin into another, until they are ruined. Therefore Christianity must be held to consist in hearing the word, and those that are overcome by temptations, whether of the heart or body, may know that their hearts are empty of the word.”
4. Vitringa remarks on the words, “Out of Zion goes forth the law,” Isa_5:3. “If strife springs up among the disciples concerning doctrine or discipline, one must return to the pattern of the doctrine and discipline of the school at Jerusalem. For יָצָא “shall go forth,” stands here only as in Luk_2:1, “There went forth a decree from Cæsar Augustus.” In this sense, too, Paul says, 1Co_14:36, “What? came the word of God out from you?” The word of God did not go forth from Corinth, Athens, Rome, Ephesus, but from Jerusalem, a fact that bishops assembled in Antioch opposed to Julius I. (Sozom. hist. eccl. III. 8, “the orientals acknowledged that the Church of Rome was entitled to universal honor—although those who first propagated a knowledge of Christian doctrine in that city came from the East”). Cyril took יָצָא in the false sense of κατελἐλοιπε τὴν Σιών, “has forsaken Zion.” When the Lord opened the understandings of the disciples at Emmaus, to understand the Scriptures and see in the events they had experienced the fulfilment of what was written concerning Him in the law, Prophets and Psalms, He cannot have forgotten the present passage. Of this we may be the more assured since the words: “Thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem.” Luk_24:46-47, point clearly to Isa_2:2-3 of our passage. Therefore too, Justin Martyr Apol. i. (commonly ii.), § 49, says: “But where the prophetic spirit predicts the future, he says: from Zion shall go forth the law, etc. And that this finally came to pass in fact, you may credibly assure yourselves. For from Jerusalem have men gone forth into the world, twelve in number, and these were unlearned, that knew not how to speak. But by the might of God they have proclaimed to all mankind that they were sent by Christ in order to teach all the word of God.”
“Zion is contrasted here with Mount Sinai, whence the law came, which in the Old Testament was the foundation of all true doctrine: But in the New Testament Mount Zion or Jerusalem has the privilege to announce that now a more perfect law would be given and a new Covenant of God with men would be established. Thus Zion and Jerusalem are, so to speak, the nursery and the mother of all churches and congregations of the New Testament.”—Starke.
5. Förster remarks on the end of Isa_2:3, that the gospel is the sceptre of Jesus Christ, according to Psa_110:2; Psa_45:7 (the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre). “For by the word Christ rules His church (Rom_10:14 sqq.).”
6. On Isa_2:4. “Pax optima rerum.” Foerster. The same author finds this prophecy fulfilled by Christ, who is our peace, who has made of both one, and broken down the partition that was between, in that by His flesh He took away the enmity (Eph_2:14). Foerster, moreover, combats the Anabaptists, who would prove from this passage that waging war is not permitted to Christians. For our passage speaks only against the privata Christianorum discordia. But waging war belongs to the publicum magistratus officium. Waging war, therefore, is not forbidden, if only the war is a just one. To be such, however, there must appear according to Thomas, part. 2 th. quœst. 40. 1) auctoritatis principis, 2) causa justa, 3) intentio bellantium justa, or ut allii efferunt: 1) jurisdictio indicentis, 2) offensio patientis, 3) intentio finem (?) convenientis.
7. On Isa_2:4. Jerome regarded the time of Augustus, after his victory at Actium, as the fulfilling of this prophecy. Others, as Cocceius, refer the words, “they shall turn their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks,” to the time of Constantine the Great; and the words “nation shall not lift up sword against nation” to the period of the restoration of religious peace in Germany,—finally the words: “they shall no more learn war,” to a future time that is to be hoped for. Such interpretations are, however, just as one-sided as those that look only for a spiritual fulfilment of prophecy. For how is an inward fulfilment of this promise of peace to be thought of which would not have the outward effects as its consequence? Or how is an outward fulfilment, especially such as would deserve the name, conceivable without the basis of the inward? Or must this peaceful time be looked for only in heaven? Why then does the promise stand here? It is a matter of course that there is peace in heaven: for where there is no peace there can be no heaven. The promise has sense only if its fulfilment is to be looked for on earth. The fulfilment will take place when the first three petitions of the Lord’s prayer are fulfilled, i.e. when God’s name shall be held holy by us as it in itself is holy, when the kingdom of God is come to everything, without and within, and rules alone over all, when the will of God is done on earth as in heaven. Christendom makes this prayer quite as much with the consciousness that it cannot remain unfulfilled, as with the consciousness that it must find its fulfilment on earth. For, if referred to heaven, these petitions are without meaning. Therefore there is a time of universal inward and outward peace to be looked for on earth. “It is not every day’s evening,” i.e. one must await the event, and our earth, without the least saltus in cogitando, can yet experience a state of things that shall be related to the present, as the present to the period of trilobites and saurians. If one could only keep himself free from the tyranny of the present moment! But our entire, great public, that has made itself at home in Philistia, lives in the sweet confidence that there is no world beside that of which we take notice on the surface of the earth, nor ever was one, nor ever will be.
8. On Isa_2:4. Poets reverse the figure to portray the transition from peaceful to warlike conditions. Thus Virgil, Georg. I. 2:506 sq.:
Non ullus aratro
Dignus honos, squalent abductis arva colonis.
Et curvæ rigidum falces conflantur in ensem.
Aeneide VII. 2:635 sq.:
Vomeris huc et falcis honos, huc omnis aratri
Cessit amor; recoquunt patrios fornacibus enses.
Ovid, Fast. I. 2:697 sqq.:
Bella diu tenuere viros. Erat aptior ensis
Vomere, cedebat taurus arator equo.
Sarcula cessabant, versique in pila ligones.
Factaque de rastri pondere cassia erat.
9. On Isa_2:5. As Isaiah puts the glorious prophecy of his fellow prophet Micah at the head, he illuminates the future with a splendid, shining, comforting light. Once this light is set up, it of itself suggests comparisons. The questions arise: how does the present stand related to that shining future? What difference obtains? What must happen for that condition of holiness and glory to be brought about? The Christian Church, too, and even each individual Christian must put himself in the light of that prophetic statement. On the one hand that will humiliate us, for we must confess with the motto of Charles V.: nondum! And long still will we need to cry: Watchman what of the night (Isa_21:11)? On the other hand the Prophet’s word will also spur us up and cheer us. For what stronger impulse can be imagined than the certainty that one does not contend in vain, but may hope for a reward more glorious than all that ever came into a man’s heart? (Isa_64:4; 1Co_2:9).
In the time of the second temple, in the evenings of the first days of the feast of Tabernacles, great candelabras were lighted in the forecourt of the temple, each having four golden branches, and their light was so strong that it was nearly as light as day in Jerusalem. That might be for Jerusalem a symbol of that “let us walk in the light of the Lord.” But Jerusalem rejoiced in this light, and carried on all sorts of pastime, yet it was not able to learn to know itself in this light, and by this self-knowledge to come to true repentance and conversion.
10. On Isa_2:8, “their land is full of idols.” “Not only images and pictures are idols, but every notion concerning God that the godless heart forms out of itself without the authority of the Scripture. The notion that the Mass is effective ex opere operato, is an idol. The notion that works are demanded for justification with God, is an idol. The notion that God takes delight in fasts, peculiar clothes, a special order of life, is an idol. God wills not that we should set up out of our own thoughts a fashion of worshipping Him; but He says: “In all places where I record My name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee,” Exo_20:24—Luther.
11. On Isa_2:9-21. When men have brought an idol into existence, that is just to their mind, whether it be an idolum manu factum, or an idolum mente excogitatum, there they are all wonder, all worship. “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Then the idol has a time of great prosperity and glory. But sooner or later there comes a time when the judgment of God overtakes the idol and its servants. God suffers sin to become ripe like men let a conspiracy, like they let fruit ripen. But when the right time comes then He steps forth in such a fashion that they creep into mouse-holes to hide themselves, if it were possible, from the lightning of His eye and His hand. Where then are the turned-up noses, the big mouths, the impudent tongues? Thus it has often happened since the world began. But this being brought to confession shall happen in the highest degree to the puffed-up world at that day when they shall see that one whom they pierced, and whom they thought they might despise as the crucified One, coming in His glory to judge the world. Then they shall have anguish and sorrow, then shall they lament and faint away with apprehension of the things that draw nigh. But those that believed on the Lord in His holiness, shall then lift up their heads for that their redemption draws nigh. At that time, indeed, shall the Lord alone be high, and before Him shall bow the knees of all in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and all tongues must confess that Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12. On Isa_2:22. Of what do men not make idols! The great industrial expositions of modern times often fill me with dismay, when I have seen how men carry on an actual idolatrous worship with these products of human science and art, as if that all were not, in the end, God’s work, too, but human genius were alone the creator of these wonders of civilization. How wickedly this so-called worship of genius demeans itself ! How loathsome is the still more common cultus of power, mammon and the belly!
13. On Isa_3:1 sqq. Causa σωστική, etc. “The saving cause of the commonwealth is the possession of men of the sort here mentioned, which Plato also knew, and Cicero from Plato, each of whom judge, commonwealths would be blessed if philosophers, i.e., wise and adept men were to administer them.”—Foerster. The same writer cites among the causes why the loss of such men is ruinous, the changes that thence ensue. All changes in the commonwealth are hurtful. Xenoph. Hellen. Isaiah 2 : “εἰσὶ μὲν πᾶσαι μεταβολαὶ πολιτειῶν θανατηΦόροι.” Aristot. Metaph. Isaiah 2 : “ᾱἱμεταβολαὶ πάντων ταραχώδεις.”
14. On Isa_3:1. “The stay of bread,” etc. Vitringa cites Horat. Satir. L. II., 3 5:153 sq.:
Deficient inopem venœ te, ni cibus atque
Ingens accedit stomacho fultura ruenti.
And on Isa_3:2 sq. he cites Cicero, who, De Nat. Deorum III., calls these “prœsidia humana,” “firmamenta reipublicœ.” On Isa_3:6 sq. the same author cites the following passage from Livy (26 chap. 6): “Cum fame ferroque (Capuani) urgerentur, nec ulla spes superesset iis, qui nati in spem honorum erant, honores detrectantibus, Lesius querendo desertam et proditam a primoribus Capuam summum magistratum ultimus omnium Campanorum cepit!” On Isa_3:9 he quotes Seneca: De vita beata, chap. xii.: “Itaque quod unum habebant in peccatis bonum perdunt peccandi verecundiam. Laudant enim ea, quibus erubescant, et vitio gloriantur.”
15. On Isa_3:4; Isa_3:12. Foerster remarks: Pueri, etc. “Boys are of two sorts. Some are so in respect to age, others in respect to moral qualifications. So, too, on the contrary there is an old age of two sorts: “For honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. But wisdom is the true gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is the true old age.” Wis_4:8-9. Examples of young and therefore foolish kings of Israel are Rehoboam (“the young fool gambled away ten whole tribes at one bet” 1 Kings 12). Ahaz, who was twenty years of age when he began to reign (2Ki_16:2). Manasseh who was twelve years (2Ki_21:1,) and Amon who was twenty-two years (2Ki_21:19).
16. On Isa_3:7. Foerster remarks: Nemo se, etc. “Let no one intrude himself into office, especially when he knows he is not fit for it,” and then cites: “Seek not of the Lord pre-eminence, neither of the king the seat of honor. Justify not thyself before the Lord; and boast not of thy wisdom before the king. Seek not to be judge, being not able to take away iniquity.” Sir_7:4-6.”—“Wen aber Gott schickt, den macht er auch geschickt.”
17. On Isa_3:8. “Their tongue and their doings are against the Lord.” Duplici modo, etc. “God may be honored by us in two outward ways: by word and deed, just as in the same way others come short; “to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Judges 15.—Vitringa.
18. On Isa_3:9. “They hide not their sin.” Secunda post, etc. “The next plank after shipwreck, and solace of miseries is to hide one’s impiety.”—Jerome.
19. On Isa_3:10. “Now He comforts the pious as in Psalms 2. His anger will soon kindle, but it shall be well with all that trust in Him. So Abraham, so Lot was delivered; so the apostles and the remnant of Judah when Jerusalem was besieged. For the Lord helps the righteous (Psa_37:17; Psa_37:39).”—Luther.
20. On Isa_3:13-14.
“Judicabit judices judex generalis,
Neque quidquam proderit dignitas papalis,
Sive sit episcopus, sive cardinalis,
Reus condemnabitur, nec dicetur qualis.”
“Rhythmi vulgo noti,” quoted byFoerster.
21. On Isa_3:16 sq. Usus vestium, etc. “Clothes have a four-fold use: 1) they are the badge of guilt, or souvenir of the fall (Gen_3:7; Gen_3:10; Gen_3:21); 2) they should be coverings against the weather; 3) they may be ornaments for the body, (Pro_31:22; Pro_31:25); 4) they may serve as a mark of rank (2Sa_13:18).—The abuse of clothes is three-fold; 1) in regard to the material, they may be costlier or more splendid than one’s wealth or rank admits of; 2) in respect of form, they may betray buffoonery and levity; 3) in respect to their object, they may be worn more for the display of luxury and pride than for protection and modest adornment.”—Foerster.
22. On Isa_4:2. “Germen Jehovae est nomen Messiœ mysticum, a nemine intellectum, quam qui tenet mysterium Patris et Christi. Idem valet quod filius propago Patris naturalis, in quo patris sui imago et gloria perfectissime splendet, Jessaiae in seqq. (Isa_9:5) בן ,ילד, filius, Joanni ὁ λόγενής τοῦ θεοῦ,ὁυἱὸς πρωὀτοκος μονογενής, processio Patris naturaλis. Est hic eruditi cujusdam viri elegans observatio, quae eodem tendit, quam non licet intactam praetermittere. Comparat ille inter se nomina Messiœ צמח דוד (Jer_23:5) et צמח יהוה in hoc loco. Cum autem prior appellatio absque dubitatione innuat, Messiam fore filium Davidis, docet posteriorem ἀναλογικῶς non posse aliud significare quam filium Jehovae, quod nomen Christi Jesu est μυστικώτερον, omni alio nomine excellentius. Addit non minus docte, personam, quae hic germen Jehovae dicitur, deinceps a propheta nostro appellari Jehovam (Isa_28:5).”—Vitringa. This exposition, which is retained by most Christian and orthodox commentators, ignores too much the fundamental meaning of the word צֶמַח, “Branch.” It is, nevertheless, not incorrect so far as the broader meaning includes the narrower concentrically. If “Branch of Jehovah” signifies all that is the personal offshoot of God, then, of course, that one must be included who is such in the highest and most perfect sense, and in so far the passage Isa_28:5 does not conflict with exposition given by us above.
[J. A. Alexander joins with Vitringa and Hengstenberg in regarding “the fruit of the earth,” as referring to the same subject as “the branch of the Lord,” viz.: the Messiah; and thus, while the latter term signifies the divine nature of the Messiah, the former signifies His human origin and nature; or if we translate “land” instead of earth, it points to his Jewish human origin. Thus appears an exact correspondence to the two parts of Paul’s description, Rom_1:3-4, and to the two titles used in the New Testament in reference to Christ’s two natures, Son of God and Son of Man.—Tr.].
23. On Isa_4:3-4. Great storms and upheavals, therefore, are needful, in order to make the fulfilment of this prophecy possible. There must first come the breath of God from above, and the flame of God from beneath over the earth, and the human race must first be tossed and sifted. The earth and mankind must first be cleansed by great judgments from all the leaven of evil. [J. A. Alexander, with Luther, Calvin, Ewald, maintains concerning the word Spirit in Isa_4:4, that “the safest and most satisfactory interpretation is that which understands by it a personal spirit, or as Luther expresses it, the Spirit who shall judge and burn.”—Tr.]. What survives these judgments is the remnant of which Isaiah speaks. This shall be holy. In it alone shall the Lord live and rule. This remnant is one with the new humanity which in every part, both as respects body and soul, will represent the image of Christ the second Adam. This remnant, at the same time, comprehends those whose names are written in the book of life. What sort of a divine book this may be, with what sort of corporal, heavenly reality, of course we know not. For Himself God needs no book. Yet if we compare the statements of the Revelation of John regarding the way in which the last judgment shall be held, with certain other New Testament passages, I think we obtain some explanation. We read Mat_19:28, that on the day of the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, the twelve apostles, too, shall sit on twelve thrones to judge the generations of Israel. And 1Co_5:2, we read that the saints shall judge the world. But, Rev_20:11, we find again the great white throne, whereon sits the great Judge of the living and the dead, after that, just before (Rev_4:4), it was said: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.” Afterwards it reads (Rev4:12): “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” And (Rev 4:15). “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” From this description there seems to me to result that the books necessarily are meant for those who are, by the Supreme Judge charged with the judgment of particular ones. To this end they need, in the first place, many books that contain the works of individuals. God has a book-keeping for the life of every man. This divine record will be produced to every single one at the day of judgment. Is he a Jew? by one of the twelve Apostles. Is he a heathen? by some other saint. No man shall be able to remonstrate against this account for it will carry the evidence of truth in itself, and in the consciences of those to be judged. Should such a protest occur, the arraigned will be referred to the book of life. This is only one. For it contains only names. After this manner will the separation be accomplished, spoken of in Mat_25:32 sq. For those whose names are found in the book of life go to the right side; the rest to the left. Then the great Judge Himself takes up the Word in the manner described in Mat_25:34 sqq., and calls the righteous to Himself, that they may inherit the kingdom that is prepared for them. But the wicked He repulses from Him into everlasting fire, that is prepared for the devil and his angels, in regard to which the account of the judgment in Matthew 25, as far as the end is concerned, harmonizes entirely with Rev_20:15.
24. On Isa_4:5-6. “The pillar of fire and cloud belongs to the miraculous graces by which the founding of the Old Testament kingdom of God was glorified just as the New Testament kingdom was by the signs that Jesus did, and by the charismata of the Apostolic time. But that appearance was quite appropriate to the state of developed revelation of that time. This had not reached the New Testament level, and not even the prophetic elevation that was possible under the Old Testament, but only the legal in which the divine stands outwardly opposed to the human. God is present among His people, but still in the most outward way; He does not walk in a human way among men; there is, too, no inward leading of the congregation by the Holy Spirit, but an outward conducting by a visible heavenly appearance. And, for these revelations to the whole people, God makes use entirely of nature, and, when it concerns His personal manifestation, of the elements. He does so, not merely in distinction from the patriarchal theophanies, …, but, particularly in contrast with heathenism, in order to accustom the Israelitish consciousness from the first not to deify the visible world, but to penetrate through it to the living, holy God, who has all the elements of nature at command as the medium of His revelation.”—Auberlen.
As at the close of John’s Revelation (chaps. 21, 22) we see the manifestation of the Godhead to humanity return to its beginning (Genesis 2, 3, 4), in as much as that end restores just that with which the beginning began, i.e. the dwelling of God with men, so, too, we see in Isa_4:5-6, a special manifestation of the (relative) beginning time recur again in the end time; the pillar of fire and cloud. But what in the beginning was an outward and therefore enigmatical and unenduring appearance, shall at last be a necessary and abiding factor of the mutual relation between God and mankind, that shall be established for ever in its full glory. There shall come a time wherein Israel shall expand to humanity and humanity receive power to become Israel, wherein, therefore, the entire humanity shall be Israel. Then is the tabernacle of God with men no more a pitiful tent, made of mats, but the holy congregation is itself the living abode of God; and the gracious presence of Almighty God, whose glory compares with the old pillar of fire and cloud, like the new, eternal house of God, with the old perishable tabernacle, is then itself the light and defence of His house.
25. On Isa_4:5-6. “But give diligence to learn this, that the Prophet calls to mind, that Christ alone is destined to be the defence and shade of those that suffer from heat and rain. Fasten your eyes upon Him, hang upon Him as ye are exhorted to do by the divine voice, ‘Him shall ye hear!’ Whoever hearkens to another, whoever looks to any other flesh than this, it is all over with him. For He alone shelters us from the heat, that comes from contemplating the majesty (i.e. from the terror that God’s holiness and righteousness inspire), He alone covers us from the rain and the power of Satan. This shade affords us a coolness, so that the dread of wrath gives way. For wrath cannot be there where thou seest the Son of God given to death for thee, that thou mightest live. Therefore I commend to you that name of Christ, wherewith the Prophet adorns Him, that He is a tabernacle for shade against the heat, a refuge and place of concealment from rain and tempest.”—Luther.—With some modification, we may apply here the comprehensive turn Foerster gives to our passage: 1) The dwelling of Mount Zion is the church; 2) the heat is the flaming wrath of God, and the heat of temptation (1Pe_4:12; Sir_2:4-5); 3) tempest and rain are the punishments of sins, or rather the inward and outward trials (Psalms 2.; Isa_57:20); 4) the defence or the pillar of cloud and fire is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10).
26. On Isa_5:1-7. This parable has a brother in the New Testament that looks very much like it. I might say: the head is almost the same. For the beginning of that New Testament parable (Mat_21:33; Mar_12:1), “A man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a wine-fat and built a tower,” is manifestly imitated after our passage. But here it is the vineyard that is bad, while there, in the New Testament, the husbandmen are good for nothing. Here the Lord appears as at once owner and cultivator of the vineyard; there the owner and cultivators are distinguished. This arises from the fact that the Lord Jesus apparently had in His mind the chiefs of the people, “the high-priests and elders” (Mat_21:23-24). From this it is manifest that here as there the vineyard is the nation. In Isaiah, however, the vineyard, that is to say the vine itself is accused. The whole people is represented as having equally gone to destruction. In the Synoptists, on the other hand, it is the chiefs and leaders that come between the Lord and His vineyard, and would exclude Him from His property, in order to be able to obtain it wholly for themselves, and divide it amongst them. Therefore there it is more the wicked greed of power and gain in the great that is reproved; here the common falling away of the whole nation.
27. Isa_5:8. Here the Prophet denounces the rich, the aristocracy, and capital. Thus he takes the part of the poor and lowly. That grasping of the rich and noble, which they display sometimes like beasts of prey, at other times gratify in a more crafty and legal fashion, the Prophet rebukes here in the sharpest manner. God’s work is opposed to every sin, and ever stands on the side of those that suffer oppression, no matter what may be their rank. God is no respecter of persons (Deu_10:17 sq.).
28. Isa_5:11-17. The morning hour, the hour when light triumphs over darkness, ought to be consecrated to works of light, as it is said: Aurora Musis amica, ἡώς τοι προΦέρει μἑυ, προφέρει δὲκαὶ ἕργου (Hesiod. ἑργ. κ. ήμ. 540) Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund. “It was,” says Foerster, “a laudable custom among the Persians, that the chamberlains entering in to their kings early in the morning, cried out with a loud voice: ‘Arise, O king, attend to business, as Mesoromastes commands.” On the other hand, “they that be drunken are drunken in the night,” 1Th_5:7 sq. So much the worse, then, when men do the works of night even in the early hour, and dare to abuse the light. “Plenus venter despumat in libidines,” says Augustine. In vino ἀσωτία (Eph_5:18). Corpus, opes, animam luxu Germania perdit. Melancthon. On Isa_5:15 Foerster cites the expression of Augustin: “God would not suffer any evil to be done in the world unless some good might thence be elicited.”
29. Isa_5:18. “Cords of vanity are false prejudices and erroneous conclusions. For example: no one is without sin, not even the holiest; God does not take notice of small sins; he that is among wolves must howl with them; a man cannot get along in the world with a scrupulous, tender conscience; the Lord is merciful, the flesh is weak, etc. By such like a man draws sin to him, binds his conscience fast, and resists the good motions of preventing grace. Thick cart-ropes signify a high degree of wickedness, the coarsest and most revolting prejudices. For example: God has no concern about human affairs; godliness delivers no one from misery and makes no one blessed; the threatenings of the prophets are not to be feared; there is no divine providence, no heaven, no hell (Deu_29:17-19). Out of such a man twists and knots a stout rope, with which he draws to him manifest blasphemy, entangles himself in it, so that often he cannot get loose, but is sold as a servant under sin (Rom_6:16; 1Ki_21:20; 1Ki_21:25).” Starke.
30. Isa_5:19. “The wicked mock at the patience and long-suffering of God, as if He did not see or care for their godless existence, but forgot them, and cast them out of mind (Psa_10:11), so that the threatened punishment would be omitted. They would say: there has been much threatening, but nothing will come of it; if God is in earnest, let Him, etc.; we don’t mind threats; let God come on if He will! Comp. Isa_22:12-13; Isa_28:21-22; Amo_5:18; Jer_5:12; Jer_8:11; Jer_17:15; Eze_12:21 sqq.” Starke.
31. Isa_5:20. “To make darkness of light, means to smother in oneself the fundamental truths that may be proved from the light of nature, and the correct conclusions inferred from them, but especially revealed truths that concern religion, and to pronounce them in others to be prejudices and errors. Bitter and sweet have reference to constitution, how it is known and experienced. To make sweet of bitter means, to recommend as sweet, pleasant and useful, what is bad and belongs to darkness, and is in fact bitter and distasteful, after one himself believes he possesses in the greatest evil the highest good.” Starke.
32. Isa_5:21. “Quotquot mortales” etc. As many as, taking counsel of flesh, pursue salvation with confidence of any sort of merit of their own or external privilege, a thing to which human nature is much inclined, oppose their own device to the wisdom of God, and, according to the prophet, are called wise in their own eyes (Isa_28:15; Isa_30:1-2; Jer_8:8-9; Jer_9:23 sq.; Jer_18:18). Vitringa.
33. Isa_5:26 sqq. The Prophet here expresses in a general way the thought that the Lord will call distant nations to execute judgment on Jerusalem, without having in mind any particular nation. Vitringa quotes a remarkable passage from the excerpts of John Antiochenus in Valesius (p. 816), where it is said, that immediately after Titus had taken Jerusalem, ambassadors from all the neighboring nations came to him to salute him as victor and present him crowns of honor. Titus refused these crowns, “saying that it was not he that had effected these things, but that they were done by God in the display of His wrath, and who had prospered his hands.” Comp. also the address of Titus to his soldiers after the taking of Jerusalem in Joseph. B. Jud. VII. 19.
HOMILETICAL HINTS
1. Isa_2:6-11. Idolatry. 1) What occasions it (alienation from God, Isa_2:6 a); 2) The different kinds: a. a coarse kind (Isa_2:6 b, Isa_2:8), b. a more refined kind (Isa_2:7); 3) Its present appearance (great honor of the idols and of their worshippers, Isa_2:9); 4) Its fate at last (deepest humiliation before the revelation of the majesty of God of all that do not give glory to Him (Isa_2:10; Isa_2:18).
2. Isa_2:12-22. The false and the true eminence. 1) False eminence is that which at first appears high, but at last turns out to be low (to this belongs impersonal as well as supersensuous creatures, which at present appear as the highest in the world, but at last, in the day of the Lord of Hosts, shall turn out to be nothing); 2) The real eminence is that which at first is inconspicuous and inferior, but which at last turns out to be the highest, in fact the only high one.
3. Isa_3:1-9. Sin is the destruction of a people. 1) What is sin? Resisting the Lord: a. with the tongue, b. with deeds, c. with the interior being (Isa_3:8-9); 2) In what does the destruction consist (or the fall according to Isa_3:8 a)? a. in the loss of every thing that constitutes the necessary and sure support of the commonwealth (Isa_3:1-3); b. in insecure and weak props rising up (Isa_3:4); c. in the condition that follows of being without a Master (Isa_3:5); d. in the impossibility of finding any person that will take the governance of such a ruinous state (Isa_3:6-7).
4. Isa_3:4. Insurrection is forbidden by God in express words, who says to Moses “that which is altogether just thou shalt follow,” Deu_16:20. Why may not God permit an intolerable and often unjust authority to rule a land for the same reason that He suffers children to have bad and unjust parents, and the wife a hard and intolerable husband, whose violence they cannot resist? Is it not expressly said by the Prophet “I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them?” “I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath,” Hos_13:11. Tholuck.
5. Isa_3:10-13. “Let us learn to distinguish between false and real comfort.” 1) False comfort deals in illusion: the real deals in truth; 2) The false produces a present effect; the real a lasting one; 3) The false injures the one comforted; the real is health to him.” Harms.
6. Isa_4:2-6. The holiness of God’s Church on earth that is to be looked for in the future. 1) Its preliminary: the judgment of cleansing and purifying (Isa_4:4); 2) What is requisite to becoming a partaker? a. belonging to the remnant (Isa_4:2-3); b. being written in the book of life (Isa_4:3); 3) The surety of its permanence: the gracious presence of the Lord (Isa_4:5-6).
7. Isa_5:21. The ruin of trusting in one’s own Wisdom 1) Those that have such confidence set themselves above God, which is: a. the greatest wickedness, b. the greatest folly; 2) They challenge the Divine Majesty to maintain its right (Isa_5:24).
Footnotes:
[1]Heb. deceiving with their eyes.
[2]Or, tripping nicely.
[3]Heb. make naked.
[4]Or, networks.
[5]Or, sweet balls.
[6]Or, spangled ornaments.
[7]Heb. houses of the soul.
[8]Heb. might.
[9]Or, emptied.
[10]Heb. cleansed.
[11]Heb. let thy name be called upon us.
[12]Or, Take thou away.
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 vv2–26 Fulfilled (Kg2 24:14).
Fulfilled (Kg2 24:14).
prudent--the Hebrew often means a "soothsayer" (Deu 18:10-14); thus it will mean, the diviners, on whom they rely, shall in that day fail. It is found in a good sense (Pro 16:10), from which passage the Jews interpret it a king; "without" whom Israel long has been (Hos 3:4).
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ancient--old and experienced (Kg1 12:6-8).
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 vv1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 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 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 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 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 (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 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 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 On vv1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 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 On vv1, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 (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 On v1 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 On v1 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 On vv1, 12 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 On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24 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 On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 25 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.