For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Yahweh, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Parallel Translations
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For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Yahweh, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
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For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
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For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Isaiah 3:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 9:9 Then he said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion; for they say, ‘Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn’t see.’
- 1 Corinthians 10:22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
- Hosea 7:16 They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.
- Malachi 3:13-15 “Your words have been stout against me,” says Yahweh. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies? Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’
- 2 Chronicles 28:5-7 Therefore Yahweh his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They struck him, and carried away from him a great multitude of captives, and brought them to Damascus. He was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with a great slaughter. For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed in Judah one hundred twenty thousand in one day, all of them valiant men, because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers. Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the ruler of the house, and Elkanah who was next to the king.
- 2 Chronicles 28:18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and also Gimzo and its villages; and they lived there.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6-7 He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits and with wizards. He did much evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s house, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 Therefore Yahweh brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17-19 Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or gray-headed. He gave them all into his hand. All the vessels of God’s house, great and small, and the treasures of Yahweh’s house, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. They burned God’s house, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all of its valuable vessels.
- Psalms 73:8-11 They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression. They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance. They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
- Isaiah 1:7 Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
- Isaiah 5:18-19 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope, who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”
- Isaiah 9:17 Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Isaiah 57:4 Whom do you mock? Against whom do you make a wide mouth and stick out your tongue? Aren’t you children of disobedience and offspring of falsehood,
- Isaiah 65:3-5 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks; who sit among the graves, and spend nights in secret places; who eat pig’s meat, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.
- Jeremiah 26:6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”
- Jeremiah 26:18 “Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “ ‘Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’
- Lamentations 5:16-17 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! For this our heart is faint. For these things our eyes are dim.
- Ezekiel 8:4-6 Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain. Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and saw, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you will again see yet other great abominations.”
- Ezekiel 8:12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘Yahweh doesn’t see us. Yahweh has forsaken the land.’ ”
- Ezekiel 8:17-18 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger. Behold, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore I will also deal in wrath. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.”
- Micah 3:12 Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.
- Habakkuk 1:13 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,
- Matthew 12:36-37 I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- Jude 1:15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 3:8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is…
Isa 3:8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings [are] against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Ver. 8. For Jerusalem is fallen.] Therefore I will not meddle, since it is a very sad thing to be physician to a dying State, quando conclamatum est, when men are forsaken of their hopes.
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Because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord] They set their mouths against heaven, and like so many wolves they howl upwards; they lay the reins on the neck, and let their unruly tongues run riot. And as they talk so they act, doing "wickedly with both hands earnestly," against the author of their being and well being.
To provoke the eyes of his glory.] His eyes run to and fro through the earth; and all the wickedness in the world is committed before his face This they know, and yet go on in sin, as if they did it on purpose to provoke him, and to see what he can do. Oecolampadius noteth, that God’s eyes are here mentioned, because men are easily provoked to anger by a hurt in the eye. And Junius here observeth that God’s eyes are called the eyes of his glory, because as he is glorious in himself, so he is either to be glorified by us, or else he will surely glorify himself upon us, such especially as are obstinate and impudent, as here.
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 Of his glorious majesty, whom they ought to reverence…
Of his glorious majesty, whom they ought to reverence and adore.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, This…
For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, This is a reason given why the government of them is refused; they were fallen into such a ruinous condition, that there was no probability of recovering them. And the reason of this their fall and ruin is,
because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord; against the Lord Jesus Christ, whom they reproached and vilified as an impostor, a blasphemer, and a seditious person; and whom they spit upon, buffeted, scourged, and crucified:
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to provoke the eyes of his glory; whose glory, as seen by some in the days of his humiliation, was as the glory of the only begotten of the Father; and, upon his ascension, he was crowned with glory and honour: and as his eyes saw, as well as his ears heard, all their blasphemy and wickedness; so they refusing to have him to reign over them, he was provoked to come in his kingdom with power, and cause his wrath to fall upon them to the uttermost, in the destruction of their country, city, and temple.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. The eyes - "The cloud"] This word…
Verse 8. The eyes - "The cloud"] This word appears to be of very doubtful form, from the printed editions, the MSS., and the ancient versions. The first yod in עיני eyney, which is necessary according to the common interpretation, is in many of them omitted; the two last letters are upon a rasure in two MSS. I think it should be ענן anan, "a cloud," as the Syriac reads; and the allusion is to the cloud in which the glory of the Lord appeared above the tabernacle; see Ex 16:9-10; Ex 40:34-38; Nu 16:41-42.
Either of the readings gives a very good sense. The allusion may be to the cloud of the Divine presence in the wilderness: or the eyes of the Lord may be meant, as they are in every place beholding the evil and the good. And he cannot look upon iniquity but with abhorrence; therefore, the eyes of his glory might be well provoked by their crimes.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For Jerusalem ... - The prophet proceeds to show…
For Jerusalem ... - The prophet proceeds to show the cause of this state of things. ‘These are the words of the prophet, and not of him who was chosen leader.’ - “Jerome.”
Is ruined - It would be so ruined, and the prospect of preserving it would be so completely taken away, that no one could be induced to undertake to defend and protect it.
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Judah - The kingdom of Judah, of which Jerusalem was the capital; Note Isa 1:1.
Is fallen - Hebrew, “falls;” that is, is about to fall - as a tower or a tree falls to ruin. If the “capital” fell and was ruined, the kingdom would also fall as a matter of course.
Because their tongue ... - This is the “reason” why Judah was ruined. By word and deed - that is, in every way they opposed God. The “tongue” here represents their “language,” their manner of speaking. It was proud, haughty, rebellious, perhaps blasphemous.
To provoke - To irritate; to offend.
The eyes of his glory - This is a Hebrew expression to denote “his glorious eyes.” The eye quickly expresses anger or indignation. We perceive these passions in the flashing of the eye sooner than in any other part of the countenance. Hence, to “provoke the eyes,” is an expression signifying simply to excite to anger, or to excite him to punish them. Lowth proposes to render this ‘to provoke the cloud of his glory’ - referring to the Shekinah or cloud that rested over the ark in the temple. By a slight variation of the Hebrew text, reading ענן ‛ânân instead of עני ‛ēnēy, it may be so read, and the Syriac so translates it: but the change in the Hebrew text does not seem to be authorized.
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 For. The prophet tells what will happen. (Menochius) ---…
For. The prophet tells what will happen. (Menochius) --- And their. Septuagint, "are sinful, disbelieving what regards the Lord. Wherefore now their glory is brought low." (Haydock) --- They must have followed a very different Hebrew copy from ours. (Calmet)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Reason given by the prophet, why all shrink from…
Reason given by the prophet, why all shrink from the government.
eyes of his glory--to provoke His "glorious" Majesty before His "eyes" (compare Isa 49:5; Hab 1:13). The Syriac and LOWTH, by a slight change of the Hebrew, translate, "the cloud of His glory," the Shekinah.
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 8. The causes of this ruin are now stated.…
8. The causes of this ruin are now stated. Its character is implied in its causes. It is moral ruin, drawing after it, of course, ruin political and national. “Jerusalem reels, Judah falls,” all because of their tongue and their doings. They have mocked God in pretended temple worship. They have at the same time insulted him in acts of idolatry among the hills, groves, and gardens. They have provoked the eyes of his glory. They have affronted — brazenly faced down — “the eyes of glory,” which streamed forth in love for his faithful ones. The eye, as an outward sense, is the quickest to indicate thought and emotion — to light up with joy or flash in indignation. The word “glory” is a probable allusion to the shekinah, which, in its shining and its withdrawal, or darkening, gave outward expression to the emotions of Jehovah.
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 8. Jerusalem is ruined] A reference to the “ruin,”…
8. Jerusalem is ruined] A reference to the “ruin,” Isa_3:6.
their tongue and their doings] In word and deed they defy Jehovah and provoke the eyes of His glory. Cf. Hab_1:13, “of too pure eyes to behold evil.”
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8, 9. The ruin so vividly depicted is to the prophet’s mind as certain as if it had been already accomplished, because the moral condition of the country, and especially of its present rulers, is one that Jehovah cannot tolerate. The perfects in Isa_3:8 are those of prophetic certainty.
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 (8) For Jerusalem is ruined . . .—The outward…
(8) For Jerusalem is ruined . . .—The outward evils of the kingdom are traced to their true source. Men have provoked, in the prophet’s bold anthropomorphic language, “the eyes of His glory,” the manifestation of His being as All-knowing, Almighty, All-holy.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 8-26. THE CAUSE OF THE JUDGMENT SHOWN TO…
Vers. 8-26. THE CAUSE OF THE JUDGMENT SHOWN TO BE THE SINS OF JERUSALEM.
1. The sins of the men. (Vers. 8-15). These are declared to be partly sins of speech, but mainly sins of act (ver. 8). Of sins of speech the only one specified is the open and shameless declaration of their wickedness (ver. 9). Under the head of sins of act are enumerated
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(1) childishness and effeminacy;
(2) irreligion and leading people away from God (ver. 12);
(3) oppression of the poor and afflicted (vers. 14, 15).
The enumeration of the sins is mixed with exhortation and comment in such a way as to give rise to the conjecture that we have here, not the original prophecy as the author penned it, but a later "summary" of several prophetical discourses, which summary itself is "a little fragmentary" (Cheyne).
Jerusalem is ruined; or, has come to ruin the "perfect of prophetic certainty" (Cheyne) . (comp. Amo_5:2, "The virgin of Israel is fallen Their tongue and their doings . Sins of the tongue are denounced in the Old Testament as well as in the New, though not, perhaps, so frequently. (see Exo_20:7 Exo_21:17 Exo_22:28 Exo_23:1, 2 Psa_31:18 Psa_94:4, etc.) To provoke the eyes of his glory. This is an unusual metaphor. God"s glory seems here to be identified with himself, as being of his very essence; and thus "provoking the eyes of his glory" is simply provoking him to look on them with anger.
Vers. 8-15. The reasons of judgment.
In man"s sufferings they must own they are subject to the reasonable rule of him who is eternal Reason.
I ANTAGONISM TO THE DIVINE RULE. In word and deed.
1. In current talk, writing, speechifying, it is difficult to detect where the falsehood lies. It consists in the suppression of certain important sides of truth, and in putting forward interested, partial views of things. The literature of a people cannot be sound, if it be sunk in greed of gold and luxury as Judah had been. The hollowness consists in the reference of everything to a low standard of value. Not until a great preacher, prophet, or writer a Savonarola, a Latimer, a Carlyle arises to shed the splendor of eternal truth upon our ways, do we discover how false and mean they have been.
2. We find we have "provoked the eyes of God"s majesty" by our way of life. What hard-heartedness and brazen defiance of humanity and morality is brought to light from time to time, when some reformer directs attention to an abuse! Men cynically "make fortunes" out of the flesh and blood of their fellow-creatures. Have not in our time the cries of factory children, and over-toiled seamstresses, and drowning sailors, and "gutter children" gone up into the cars of the Lord of hosts? Isaiah is modern as well as ancient, for the Word he delivers is eternal.
II THE NEMESIS OF EVIL, THE RECOMPENSE OF GOOD.
1. Wickedness is suicidal. "Woe to their soul, for to themselves they did evil!" Here lights the deepest curse, here rankles at last the arrow; in the soul! Dante sees in hell (c. 12.), in three circles, those who have wronged their neighbor, their God, and themselves. But every species of wrong works out its woe in self. "Man can do violence To himself and his own blessings; and for this He in the second round must aye deplore With unavailing penitence his crime. Whoe"er deprives himself of life and light, In reckless banishment his talent wastes, And sorrows there where he should dwell in joy.
Men may afford the loss of property, of a limb, of health; but not of love, not of the soul. The denial of love, or the waste of it, means the loss of the soul.
2. Goodness is self-rewarding. Often is the good man compared to a tree, bringing forth fruit by a law of nature, according to its kind and in its season. There is strict and beautiful sequence in life and character. No curse, no blessing, "causeless comes." The bitter fruit we bring forth comes from interference with the Divine nature God has given us. It is said that wanton Arabs sometimes "Foil a dwarf palm Of bearing its own proper wine and oil, By grafting into it the stranger-vine, Which sucks its heart out, sly and serpentine, Till forth one vine-palm fastens to the root, And red drops moisten the insipid fruit. (R. Browning, "Sordello." p. 131. )
Such is sin and sin"s result on the being; a parody and mockery of that sound and true life so beautifully presented under the image of a tree in the first psalm.
III MISRULE. There has been weakness and effeminacy in high places. And this is often more mischievous than strong and open violence. A vast growth of vicious and interested passions springs up in the neighborhood of a weak court. It is the opportunity for many bad men to exert their ambition. A powerful will generally works some good at the head of affairs, even though its wielder be not a good man. But feebleness is always baneful in public life. Everything is uncertain when the purpose is vacillating, and no settled principle exists. The feeble ruler will be swayed by every gust of caprice, by every personal influence that attacks his ear, every passion that enslaves his heart. Several of our kings John, Richard II, the Charleses have been examples of this. The country may be compared to a beautiful vineyard which the rulers have been appointed to. (Isa_5:1-7) They have trampled it down and despoiled it, and have "ground the sufferers" faces." The image is taken from the mill, where a substance is worn down until nothing is left. The contemporary prophet Micah uses still stronger language. (Mic_3:2, Mic_3:3) The rulers flay the people, and cutting them in pieces, cast them, as it were, into a caldron. Unhappily this picture has its counterpart today in many Eastern lands. The women of the harem practically rule and devour the people in their greed. Personally, the description may be applied. God has entrusted to each of us a garden or vineyard to keep. Diligence and faithfulness will have their reward. For sloth, neglect, waste, and abuse, God will enter into judgment with us. J.
The secret of national ruin.
"Their tongue and their doings are against the Lord." This is given distinctly as the reason and the explanation of the ruin of Judah. The prophet goes right past all accidents and all national events, and fixes on the moral cause of the ruin. A nation is bad at the core when it can doubt and dishonor God; and no such nation can stand long. God will surely arise to vindicate himself and to shake terribly the earth. Isaiah uses a singular figure: "To provoke the eyes of his glory." The offence which willfulness and iniquity give to the holiness of God is compared to the sensitiveness of the human eye. Matthew Henry says, "In word and action they brake the Law of God, and therein designed an affront to him; they willfully 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.
I REBELLIOUS SPEECH A CORRUPTING FORCE. Apply to boastful, self-conceited speech; the speech of the masterful and ambitious man. Apply to the influence of the infidel lecturer, or infidel literature, The young especially are carried away by it to self-indulgence, and find in it excuse for vicious practices. Infidelity never lays foundations for virtue to build on. It is ever the substratum of vice. Illustrate from the French Revolution.
II REBELLIOUS DEEDS A CALL FOR JUDGMENT. The bad deeds are the proper fruitage of bad speech. Illustrate by the evil work of the demagogue. Break down the sacred restraints of faith in God, and evils rush in like a flood. When man feels free to do what he likes, his likes are sure to be bad ones. Impress that no account of a man"s ruin, or a nation"s ruin, will suffice which deals only with his circumstances. Nobody was ever ruined by accident. Man"s tongue and doings will always provide the explanation of his extreme calamities. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain For Jerusalem is ruined
Isa_3:8
For Jerusalem is ruined
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Jerusalem is ruined!--forfeited privilege
What a verse is the eighth! We cannot even now read it without quailing under the awful representation--For Jerusalem is ruined.
We thought Jerusalem never could be ruined: the mountains were round about her, and to the old psalmists those mountains signified the security of the righteous. Is beauty no protection? is ancient history of no account? will not the dead kings of Judah speak for her in the time of her trial? We cannot live upon our past, upon our forefathers, upon our vanished glories; morality must be as fresh as the dew of the morning; our righteousness must be as clear, personal, and definite as the action which we perform at the living moment. A man cannot lay up a character and fall back upon it if his present conduct is out of keeping with it; he himself takes the juice and sap out of the character which he once lived. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The eyes of His glory
The glory of God is that eternal manifestation of His holy nature in its splendour which man pictures to himself anthropomorphically, because he cannot conceive of anything more sublime than the human form. It is in this glorious form that Jehovah looks upon His people. In this is mirrored His condescending yet jealous love, His holy love, which breaks forth into wrath against all who requite His love with hate. (F. Delitzsch.)
The fall of the Campanile at St. Marks, Venice
Latterly it had been ignobly used as an office for the State lotteries which are demoralising Italy. In cutting the wall for the purposes of that office, the whole building had been weakened. The event spoke as a parable whose meaning could not be missed. That great, stately tower, with its history of a thousand years, fell, because of the little lottery office which cut into it and weakened it. There is an application of the parable to our own national life. Is it possible that a great empire like ours can fall through the gambling habit--the lowest and meanest of the vices--insidiously spreading through all classes of the community? Is it possible to conceive that such a vice should so undermine the character of the people, that the stately structure, built by heroic men in the past, shall crash down in swift ruin at the end? (R. F. Horton, D. D.)
Ruinous effect of sin
Its is just like what happens sometimes in a forest. In a calm day, when all else is silent, something crashes heavily through the branches, and we know a tree has fallen, No axe was lifted, no white lightning streamed, there was only a passing breeze. The wind that did but gently sway the little flower, shook down that towering tree, because long before the catastrophe, its vital progress had been disturbed, and millions of foul insects had entered it, which, leaving its bark untouched, and its boughs unshorn of their glory, had slowly, silently, withered its strong fibres and hollowed its core. (C. Stanford.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
The prophet begins to comment on this situation.
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Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen
Disobeying God is spoken of as if it were stumbling and falling. (See: Metaphor)
the eyes of his glory
Here "the eyes" stands for God himself, who is glorious. AT: "him who is glorious" or "Yahweh who is glorious" (See: Synecdoche)
The look on their faces witnesses against them
Expressions of arrogance on people's faces are spoken of as if the expressions were persons who could testify against the proud people. AT: "The prideful looks on their faces show that they oppose Yahweh" (See: Personification)
they tell of their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it
Here the people of Judah are said to be like the people of Sodom, because they openly boasted about their sins. AT: "like the people of Sodom, they talk about their sins and let everyone know about them" (See: Simile)
For they have completed a catastrophe for themselves
The catastrophe is still coming, but the people have finished doing what will cause it to come. The catastrophe's causes are spoken of here as if they were the catastrophe itself. AT: "For they have done everything that will cause a catastrophe to happen" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Jerusalem
Judah
Yahweh
testimony
sin
Sodom
woe
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:8-9 The failure of human strength and societal organization…
3:8-9 The failure of human strength and societal organization can be a form of divine judgment. • to his face: The people of Judah had become bold in their wickedness like the people of Sodom (3:9; see also 1:9-10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.