Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.”
Parallel Translations
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Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.”
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Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
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Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge My might.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Isaiah 33:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 48:10 As is your name, God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness.
- Ephesians 2:11-18 Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision” (in the flesh, made by hands), that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility through it. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
- Isaiah 49:1 Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother, he has mentioned my name.
- Daniel 3:27–4:3 The local governors, the deputies, and the governors, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies. The hair of their head wasn’t singed. Their pants weren’t changed, the smell of fire wasn’t even on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked toward me. How great are his signs! How mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His dominion is from generation to generation.
- Joshua 2:9-11 She said to the men, “I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.
- Joshua 9:9-10 They said to him, “Your servants have come from a very far country because of the name of Yahweh your God; for we have heard of his fame, all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.
- 1 Samuel 17:46 Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you, and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
- Psalms 46:6-11 The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice and the earth melted. Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, see Yahweh’s works, what desolations he has made in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
- Psalms 97:8 Zion heard and was glad. The daughters of Judah rejoiced because of your judgments, Yahweh.
- Psalms 98:1-2 Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. Yahweh has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
- Psalms 99:2-3 Yahweh is great in Zion. He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is Holy!
- Psalms 147:12-14 Praise Yahweh, Jerusalem! Praise your God, Zion! For he has strengthened the bars of your gates. He has blessed your children within you. He makes peace in your borders. He fills you with the finest of the wheat.
- Psalms 148:14 He has lifted up the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints, even of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise Yah!
- Isaiah 18:3 All you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, look! When the trumpet is blown, listen!
- Isaiah 37:20 Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, even you only.”
- Isaiah 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near,” says Yahweh; “and I will heal them.”
- Daniel 6:25-27 Then king Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. “I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; “for he is the living God, and steadfast forever. His kingdom is that which will not be destroyed. His dominion will be even to the end. He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”
- Acts 2:5-11 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky. When this sound was heard, the multitude came together and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language. They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, aren’t all these who speak Galileans? How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!”
- Exodus 15:14 The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain His vengeance shall be so great, that all the…
His vengeance shall be so great, that all the world shall talk thereof.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 33:13 Hear, ye [that are] far off, what…
Isa 33:13 Hear, ye [that are] far off, what I have done; and, ye [that are] near, acknowledge my might.
Ver. 13. Hear, ye that are afar off.] Longinqui, propinqui. God’s great works are to be noted and noticed by all. The Egyptians heard of what God had done to the Assyrian army, and memorised it by a monument, as Herodotus {a} relateth.
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{a} Herod., lib. ii.; Justin.
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 My power and justice in destroying the Assyrians shall…
My power and justice in destroying the Assyrians shall be so evident, that people, both far and near, shall be forced to acknowledge it.
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 Here is a preface that commands attention; and it…
Here is a preface that commands attention; and it is fit that all should attend, both near and afar off, to what God says and does (Isa 33:13): Hear, you that are afar off, whether in place or time. Let distant regions and future ages hear what God has done. They do so; they will do so from the scripture, with as much assurance as those that were near, the neighbouring nations and those that lived at that time. But whoever hears what God has done, whether near or afar off, let them acknowledge his might, that it is irresistible, and that he can do every thing. Those are very stupid who hear what God has done and yet will not acknowledge his might. Now what is it that God has done which we must take notice of, and in which we must acknowledge his might?
I. He has struck a terror upon the sinners in Zion (Isa 33:14): Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. There are sinners in Zion, hypocrites, that enjoy Zion's privileges and concur in Zion's services, but their hearts are not right in the sight of God; they keep up secret haunts of sin under the cloak of a visible profession, which convicts them of hypocrisy. Sinners in Zion will have a great deal to answer for above other sinners; and their place in Zion will be so far from being their security that it will aggravate both their sin and their punishment. Now those sinners in Zion, though always subject to secret frights and terrors, were struck with a more than ordinary consternation from the convictions of their own consciences. 1. When they saw the Assyrian army besieging Jerusalem, and ready to set fire to it and lay it in ashes, and burn the wasps in the nest. Finding they could not make their escape to Egypt, as some had done, and distrusting the promises God had made by his prophets that he would deliver them, they were at their wits' end, and ran about like men distracted, crying, "Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire? Let us therefore abandon the city, and shift for ourselves elsewhere; one had as good live in everlasting burnings as live here." Who will stand up for us against this devouring fire? so some read it. See here how the sinners in Zion are affected when the judgments of God are abroad; while they were only threatened they slighted them and made nothing of them; but, when they come to be executed, they run into the other extreme, then they magnify them, and make the worst of them; they call them devouring fire and everlasting burnings, and despair of relief and succour. Those that rebel against the commands of the word cannot take the comforts of it in a time of need. Or, rather, 2. When they saw the Assyrian army destroyed; for the destruction of that is the fire spoken of immediately before, Isa 33:11, Isa 33:2. When the sinners in Zion saw what dreadful execution the wrath of God made they were in a great fright, being conscious to themselves that they had provoked this God by their secretly worshipping other gods; and therefore they cry out, Who among us shall dwell with this devouring fire, before which so vast an army is as thorns? Who among us shall dwell with these everlasting burnings, which have made the Assyrians as the burnings of lime? Isa 33:12. Thus they said, or should have said. Note, God's judgments upon the enemies of Zion should strike a terror upon the sinners in Zion, nay, David himself trembles at them, Psa 119:120. God himself is this devouring fire, Heb 12:29. Who is able to stand before him? Sa1 6:20. His wrath will burn those everlastingly that have made themselves fuel for it. It is a fire that shall never be quenched, nor will ever go out of itself; for it is the wrath of an everlasting God preying upon the conscience of an immortal soul. Nor can the most daring sinners bear up against it, so as to bear either the execution of it or the fearful expectation of it. Let this awaken us all to flee from the wrath to come, by fleeing to Christ as our refuge.
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II. He has graciously provided for the security of his people that trust in him: Hear this, and acknowledge his power in making those that walk righteously, and speak uprightly, to dwell on high, Isa 33:15, Isa 33:16. We have here,
1. The good man's character, which he preserves even in times of common iniquity, in divers instances. (1.) He walks righteously. In the whole course of his conversation he acts by rules of equity, and makes conscience of rendering to all their due, to God his due, as well as to men theirs. His walk is righteousness itself; he would not for a world wilfully do an unjust thing. (2.) He speaks uprightly, uprightnesses (so the word is); he speaks what is true and right, and with an honest intention. He cannot think one thing and speak another, nor look one way and row another. His word is to him as sacred as his oath, and is not yea and nay. (3.) He is so far from coveting ill-gotten gain that he despises it. He thinks it a mean and sordid thing, and unbecoming a man of honour, to enrich himself by any hardship put upon his neighbour. He scorns to do a wrong thing, nay, to do a severe thing, though he might get by it. He does not over-value gain itself, and therefore easily abhors the gain that is not honestly come by. (4.) If he have a bribe at any time thrust into his hand, to pervert justice, he shakes his hands from holding it, with the utmost detestation, taking it as an affront to have it offered him. (5.) He stops his ears from hearing any thing that tends to cruelty or bloodshed, or any suggestions stirring him up to revenge, Job 31:31. He turns a deaf ear to those that delight in war and entice him to cast in his lot among them, Pro 1:14, Pro 1:16. (6.) He shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He has such an abhorrence of sin that he cannot bear to see others commit it, and does himself watch against all the occasions of it. Those that would preserve the purity of their souls must keep a strict guard upon the senses of their bodies, must stop their ears to temptations, and turn away their eyes from beholding vanity.
2. The good man's comfort, which he may preserve even in times of common calamity, Isa 33:16. (1.) He shall be safe; he shall escape the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings; he shall have access to, and communion with, that God who is a devouring fire, but shall be to him a rejoicing light. And, as to present troubles, he shall dwell on high, out of the reach of them, nay, out of the hearing of the noise of them; he shall not be really harmed by them, nay, he shall not be greatly frightened at them: The floods of great waters shall not come nigh him; or, if they should attack him, his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks, strong and impregnable, fortified by nature as well as art. The divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. God, the rock of ages, will be his high tower. (2.) He shall be supplied; he shall want nothing that is necessary for him: Bread shall be given him, even when the siege is straitest and provisions are cut off; and his waters shall be sure, that is, he shall be sure of the continuance of them, so that he shall not drink his water by measure and with astonishment. Those that fear the Lord shall not want any thing that is good for them.
III. He will protect Jerusalem, and deliver it out of the hands of the invaders. This storm that threatened them should blow over, and they should enjoy a prosperous state again. Many instances are here given of this prosperity.
1. Hezekiah shall put off his sackcloth and all the sadness of his countenance, and shall appear publicly in his beauty, in his royal robes and with a pleasing aspect (Isa 33:17), to the great joy of all his loving subjects. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given them, and their water sure, but they shall with an eye of faith see the King of kings in his beauty, the beauty of holiness, and that beauty shall be upon them.
2. The siege being raised, by which they were kept close within the walls of Jerusalem, they shall now be at liberty to go abroad upon business or pleasure without danger of falling into the enemies' hand: They shall behold the land that is very far off; they shall visit the utmost corners of the nation, and take a prospect of the adjacent countries, which will be the more pleasant after so long a confinement. Thus believers behold the heavenly Canaan, that land that is very far off, and comfort themselves with the prospect of it in evil times.
3. The remembrance of the fright they were in shall add to the pleasure of their deliverance (Isa 33:18): Thy heart shall meditate terror, meditate it with pleasure when it is over. Thou shalt think thou still hearest the alarm in thy ears, when all the cry was, "Arm, arm, arm! every man to his post. Where is the scribe or secretary of war? Let him appear to draw up the muster-roll. Where is the receiver and pay-master of the army? Let him see what he had in bank, to defray the charge of a defence. Where is he that counted the towers? Let him bring in the account of them, that care may be taken to put a competent number of men in each." Or these words may be taken as Jerusalem's triumph over the vanquished army of the Assyrians, and the rather because the apostle alludes to them in his triumphs over the learning of this world, when it was baffled by the gospel of Christ, Co1 1:20. The virgin, the daughter of Zion, despises all their military preparations. Where is the scribe or muster-master of the Assyrian army? Where is their weigher (or treasurer), and where are their engineers that counted the towers? They are all either dead or fled. There is an end of them.
4. They shall no more be terrified with the sight of the Assyrians, who were a fierce people naturally, and were particularly fierce against the people of the Jews, and were of a strange language, that could understand neither their petitions nor their complaints, and therefore had a pretence for being deaf to them, nor could themselves be understood: "They are of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive, which will make them the more formidable, Isa 33:19. Thy eyes shall no more see them thus fierce, but their countenances changed when they shall all become dead corpses."
5. They shall no more be under apprehensions of the danger of Jerusalem-Zion, and the temple there (Isa 33:20): "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities, the city where our solemn sacred feasts are kept, where we used to meet to worship God in religious assemblies." The good people among them, in the time of their distress, were most in pain for Zion upon this account, that it was the city of their solemnities, that the conquerors would burn their temple and they should not have that to keep their solemn feasts in any more. In times of public danger our concern should be most about our religion, and the cities of our solemnities should be dearer to us than either our strong cities or our store-cities. It is with an eye to this that God will work deliverance for Jerusalem, because it is the city of religious solemnities: let those be conscientiously kept up, as the glory of a people, and we may depend upon God to create a defence upon that glory. Two things are here promised to Jerusalem: - (1.) A well-grounded security. It shall be a quiet habitation for the people of God; they shall not be molested and disturbed, as they have been, by the alarms of the sword either of war or persecution, Isa 29:20. It shall be a quiet habitation, as it is the city of our solemnities. It is desirable to be quiet in our own houses, but much more so to be quiet in God's house and have none to make us afraid there. Thus it shall be with Jerusalem; and the eyes shall see it, which will be a great satisfaction to a good man, Psa 128:5, Psa 128:6. "Thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem, and peace upon Israel; thou shalt live to see it and share in it." (2.) An unmoved stability. Jerusalem, the city of our solemnities, is indeed but a tabernacle, in comparison with the New Jerusalem. The present manifestations of the divine glory and grace are nothing in comparison with those that are reserved for the future state. But it is such a tabernacle as shall not be taken down. After this trouble is over Jerusalem shall long enjoy a confirmed peace; and her sacred privileges, which are the stakes and cords of her tabernacle, shall not be removed from her, nor any disturbance given to the course and circle of her religious services. God's church on earth is a tabernacle, which, though it may be shifted from one place to another, shall not be taken down while the world stands; for in every age Christ will have a seed to serve him. The promises of the covenant are its stakes, which shall never be removed, and the ordinances and institutions of the gospel are its cords, which shall never be broken. They are things which cannot be shaken, though heaven and earth be, but shall remain.
6. God himself will be their protector and Saviour, Isa 33:21, Isa 33:22. This the principal ground of their confidence: "He that is himself the glorious Lord will display his glory for us and be a glory to us, such as shall eclipse the rival-glory of the enemy." God, in being a gracious Lord, is a glorious Lord; for his goodness is his glory. God will be the Saviour of Jerusalem and her glorious Lord, (1.) As a guard against their adversaries abroad. He will be a place of broad rivers and streams. Jerusalem had no considerable river running by it, as most great cities have, nothing but the brook Kidron, and so wanted one of the best natural fortifications, as well as one of the greatest advantages for trade and commerce, and upon this account their enemies despised them and doubted not but to make an easy prey of them; but the presence and power of God are sufficient at any time to make up to us the deficiencies of the creature and of its strength and beauty. We have all in God, all we need or can desire. Many external advantages Jerusalem has not which other places have, but in God there is more than an equivalent. But, if there be broad rivers and streams about Jerusalem, may not these yield an easy access to the fleet of an invader? No; these are rivers and streams in which shall go no galley with oars, no man of war or gallant ship. If God himself be the river, it must needs be inaccessible to the enemy; they can neither find nor force their way by it. (2.) As a guide to their affairs at home: "For the Lord is our Judge, to whom we are accountable, to whose judgment we refer ourselves, by whose judgment we abide, and who therefore (we hope) will judge for us. He is our lawgiver; his word is a law to us, and to him every thought within us is brought into obedience. He is our King, to whom we pay homage and tribute, and an inviolable allegiance, and therefore he will save us." For, as protection draws allegiance, so allegiance may expect protection, and shall have it with God. By faith we take Christ for our prince and Saviour, and as such depend upon him and devote ourselves to him. Observe with what an air of triumph, and with what an emphasis laid upon the glorious name of God, they comfort themselves with this: Jehovah is our Judge, Jehovah is our Lawgiver, Jehovah is our King, who, being self-existent, is self-sufficient, and all-sufficient to us.
7. The enemies shall be quite infatuated, and all their powers and projects broken, like a ship at sea in stress of weather, that cannot ride out the storm, but having her tackle torn, her masts split, and nothing wherewith to repair them, is given up for a wreck, Isa 33:23. The tacklings of the Assyrian are loosed; they are like a ship whose tacklings are loose, or forsaken by the ship's crew, when they give it over for lost, finding that they cannot strengthen the mast, but it will come down. They thought themselves sure of Jerusalem; but when they were just entering the port as it were, and though all was their own, they were quite becalmed, and could not spread their sail, but lay wind-bound till God poured the fury of his wrath upon them. The enemies of God's church are often disarmed and unrigged when they think they have almost gained their point.
8. The wealth of their camp shall be a rich booty for the Jews: Then is the prey of a great spoil divided. When the greater part were slain the rest fled in confusion, and with such precipitation that (like the Syrians) they left their tents as they were, so that all the treasure in them fell into the hands of the besieged; and even the lame take the prey. Those that tarried at home did divide the spoil. It was so easy to come at that not only the strong man might make himself master of it, but even the lame man, whose hands were lame, that he could not fight, and his feet, that he could not pursue. As the victory shall cost them no peril, so the prey shall cost them no toil. And there was such abundance of it that when those who were forward, and came first, had carried off as much as they would, even the lame, who came late, found sufficient. Thus God brought good out of evil, and not only delivered Jerusalem, but enriched it, and abundantly recompensed the losses they had sustained. Thus comfortably and well do the frights and distresses of the people of God often end.
9. Both sickness and sin shall be taken away; and then sickness is taken away in mercy when this is all the fruit of it, and the recovery from it, even the taking away of sin. (1.) The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. As the lame shall take the prey, so shall the sick, notwithstanding their weakness, make a shift to get to the abandoned camp and seize something for themselves; or there shall be such a universal transport of joy upon this occasion that even the sick shall, for the present, forget their sickness and the sorrows of it, and join with the public in its rejoicings; the deliverance of their city shall be their cure. Or it intimates that, whereas infectious diseases are commonly the effect of long sieges, it shall not be so with Jerusalem, but the inhabitants of it with their victory and peace shall have health also, and there shall be no complaining upon the account of sickness within their gates. Or those that are sick shall bear their sickness without complaining as long as they see it goes well with Jerusalem. Our sense of private grievances should be drowned in our thanksgivings for public mercies. (2.) The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity, not only the body of the nation forgiven their national guilt in the removing of the national judgment, but particular persons, that dwell therein, shall repent, and reform, and have their sins pardoned. And this is promised as that which is at the bottom of all other favours; he will do so and so for them, for he will be merciful to their unrighteousness, Heb 8:12. Sin is the sickness of the soul. When God pardons the sin he heals the disease; and, when the diseases of sin are healed by pardoning mercy, the sting of bodily sickness is taken out and the cause of it removed; so that either the inhabitant shall not be sick or at least shall not say, I am sick. If iniquity be taken away, we have little reason to complain of outward affliction. Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven thee.
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 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have…
Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done,.... Not meaning the destruction of the Assyrian, as it is commonly interpreted; but the ruin of antichrist, the beast, and false prophet, and the burning of the city and whore of Rome; for, whoever will be the instruments, the work is the Lord's, and therefore it will be done: "she shall be utterly burnt with fire, for strong is the Lord who judgeth her", Rev 18:8 and this shall be heard of far and near, who shall applaud the mighty work, and give God the glory of it, Rev 19:1,
and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might; even his omnipotence, which will be seen, observed, and owned by multitudes, who will say, "Allelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth", Rev 19:6 there will be some that will be nigh, that shall stand afar off, lamenting her case, and will not own the hand of God in it, Rev 18:9 but others will.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Hear, ye that are far off - This is…
Hear, ye that are far off - This is an address of Yahweh, indicating that the destruction of the Assyrian army would be so signal that it would be known to distant nations, and would constitute an admonition to them.
Ye that are near - Ye Jews; or the nations immediately adjacent to Judea. The phrase ‘far and near,’ is equivalent to all.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I…
4. THE ALARM OF SINERS; THE COMFORT OF THE PIOUS
Isa_33:13-22
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13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done;
And, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
Fearfulness hath surprised the 9 hypocrites.
Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
15 He that walketh 10 righteously, and speaketh 11 uprightly
He that despiseth the gain of 12 oppressions,
That shaketh his hands from holding of bribes,
That stoppeth his ears from hearing of 13blood,
And shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
16 He shall dwell on 14 high:
His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks:
15 Bread shall be given him;
His waters shall be sure.
17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty:
They shall behold 16 the land 17 that is very far off.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror.
Where is the scribe? where is the 18 receiver?
Where Isaiah 19 he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see 20 a fierce people,
A people of deeper speech than thou canst perceive:
Of a 21 stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities:
Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation,
A tabernacle that 22 shall not be taken down;
Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed,
Neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21 But there the glorious Lord will be unto us
23 A place 24 of broad rivers and streams;
Wherein shall go no galley with oars,
Neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our 25 lawgiver,
The Lord is our king; he will save us.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_33:14. רעדה only here in Isaiah. Comp. Psa_2:11; Psa_48:7; Job_4:14.—גּוּר with accus. loc. comp. Jdg_5:17; Psa_5:5; Psa_120:5. Elsewhere Isaiah construes גּוּר with prepositions; Isa_11:6; Isa_16:4; Isa_54:15.—לָנוּ is the so called dativus ethicus. Though elsewhere this dative refers to the actual subject (comp. Gen_21:16; Gen_31:41; Isa_2:22; Isa_31:8; Isa_36:9, etc.), according to which it would need to read here מִי יָגוּר לוֹ it is in this place related to the ideal subject, i.e., to the speakers, who properly affirm of themselves this inability to dwell with Jehovah. This dative everywhere represents a phrase that affirms an intensive relation to the interests of the speaker: in this place say: who will dwell (we say this in relation to ourselves, in our own interest) with devouring fire, etc.?—מוקד again only Psa_102:4.—מִי יָגוּר is the beginning of Psalms 15. Moreover the words הולך צ׳ וד׳ מישׂ׳׳ Isa_33:15 recall Psa_15:2.
Isa_33:15. The plural צדקות, juste facta occurs again in Isa_45:24; Isa_64:5.—דבר מישׁרים comp. Pro_23:16; the latter word again in Isa_26:7; Isa_45:19.—בצע (comp. Exo_18:21) again in Isa_56:11; Isa_57:17. What sort of בצע is meant is explained by the addition מעשׁקות (oppressiones, again only Pro_28:16).—נער see Isa_33:9.—The construction with מן is constr. prægnans. For the preposition depends on the notion of refraining ideally present in נער, “to shake.”—שׁחד comp. Psa_15:5; Isa_1:23; Isa_5:23; Isa_45:13.—אֹטֵם אָזְנוֹ with following מן occurs Pro_21:13,comp. Pro_17:28.—דָּמִים is “bloodshed, murder,” (comp. Exo_22:1; Isa_4:4).—עצם rhyming with אטם, we find here in Kal. with the same meaning that it has in the Piel Isa_29:10.—ראה ברע “to look on evil with pleasure.”
Isa_33:16. מרומים, plural, in Isaiah only here; comp. Jdg_5:18; Pro_8:2, etc.—מְצָדוֹת as st. constr. comp. 1Sa_24:1.—משׂגב , “asylum,” “refuge,” again only Isa_25:12.
Isa_33:17. The 2 pers. masc. suffix, as in Isa_33:6; Isa_33:20, refers to the nation regarded as a unit.
Isa_33:18. הָגָה, “to think, consider, meditari” (Jos_1:8; Psa_1:2; Psa_2:1, etc.; Isa_59:13) may relate also to what is past.—אֵימָה, “terror,” only here in Isaiah.—סֹפֵר again Isa_36:3; Isa_37:2.—שֹׁקֵל as substantive only here in Isaiah; the verb “to weigh out” money Isa_46:6; Isa_55:2.
Isa_33:19. The two halves of this verse contain the antithesis of seeing and hearing. This proves that the explanation of נוֹעָז= לוֹעֵז barbare loquens (Psa_114:1), does not agree with the context. That נועז means “mute beckoning” according to the Arab. wa‘asa (Hitzig) is disproved by Gesen. Thes. p. 607 sq. There remains thus the explanation that takes נוֹעָז as part. Niph. from עָזַז = יָעַז (comp. יָחַם and יָמַשׁ ,חָמַם, and יָרַק ,מָשַׁשׁ and רָקַק) and that with the meaning “hard, audacious, overweening conduct” (Symm. ἀναιδής, Vulg. impudens). The word, moreover, is ἅπ. λεγ. and for this reason it may be possible that Isaiah hints at some Assyrian word at present unknown to us.
Isa_33:20. צָעַן ἅπ. λεγ. Arab. ta‘ana of the roaming of the nomads.
Isa_33:21. כי ים corresponds to the negations of Isa_33:21.—אדיר in Isaiah again only Isa_10:34.—Delitzsch after Luzzatto has proved that מקום is not to be taken=loco, “instead.” The suffixes in בו and יעברנו are manifestly to be referred to מקום—שַׁיִט “oar” (comp. מָשׁוֹט Eze_27:29 and מִשּׁוֹט Eze_27:6) is ἅπ. λεγ.—צִי contracted from צְוִי, cavum, rotundum aliquid, is a great bellied-out ship (Num_24:24; Eze_30:9; Psa_105:41).
Isa_33:22. Since it does not read מוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ (Isa_43:3; Isa_47:15, etc.), I would accord with Hitzig, who takes מלכנו, מחקקנו ,שׁפטנו, not as predicates but as apposition with יהוה, so that ושׁיענו is the sole predicate of the foregoing three subjects which are comprehended emphatically in the הוא.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Here we have the final and broadest circuit of waves before us. According to Isa_33:10, Jehovah was about to arise and come to the rescue. He has done so. The rescue is accomplished in an astounding fashion. The present passage belongs to time after the rescue. It presupposes it. For it contains glances into the future, that rest upon that deed as their foundation. First the Lord summons those far and near to give proper attention to what He does (Isa_33:13). Then the Prophet describes the effect of what has been done on the sinners in Jerusalem. They are terrified: they would flee the neighborhood of this mighty God, for they are ill-at-ease in it. Hence they ask: who can abide by this devouring fire? (Isa_33:14). To this is replied: this fire is harmless for the pious, the lovers of truth, the righteous (Isa_33:15), for such will dwell in Jerusalem in security and abundance (Isa_33:16); and will see the king of Israel sitting in might and glory at the head of a wide empire (Isa_33:17). As one thinks of something that has disappeared from memory, so shall men reflect on the time of war’s distress (Isa_33:18), and of the terrific presence of the barbaric nation in the land (Isa_33:19). Zion will be a secure fortress, a quiet, abiding place of worship, and no more a shifting tabernacle as in the time of the journey through the wilderness (Isa_33:20). For Jehovah is there Himself in His majesty; protecting waters surround the place (Isa_33:21), and the Lord Himself as judge, law-giver and king is the deliverer of His people (Isa_33:22).
2. Hear—my might
Isa_33:13. The piece begins with the cry of a herald that makes known to the whole world the accomplished mighty act. For the perfect אשׂיתי without doubt designates the act of rescue as accomplished, which verses 1, 3, 10 held in prospect; and we must regard גְּבֻרָה (as often in the Books of Kings, where גברה and אשׂה continually stand parallel: 1Ki_15:23; 1Ki_16:27; 1Ki_22:46, etc.), in the concrete sense as a display of power, and, because of אשיתי, as already come to pass. But the herald’s cry would intimate that an event of vast and wide effect has happened, of concern to all men, even to those far remote. For they may know from this who is the true, and therefore also who is their God. For He that did what happened to the Assyrian host in the neighborhood of Jerusalem in Hezekiah’s time must be God over all gods (comp. Isa_36:18-20; Isa_37:10-13) and Lord over all lords. Those near are plainly the Israelites, who had in great part been witnesses of the deed. These should acknowledge the demonstration of the Lord’s power. According to their inward condition they should draw from it comfort or warning.
3. The sinners—seeing evil.
Isa_33:14-15. The Prophet first presents that mighty deed as a warning to the wicked. Such were the idolaters who had no joy in a proof so irrefragable of the sole power and divinity of Jehovah. Therefore these sinners (Isa_1:28; Isa_13:9) and the unclean (Isa_9:16; Isa_10:6; Isa_32:6—there lies in the word a hint at idolatry) in Zion are terrified. Devoid of the right knowledge of God, because they would not, not because they could not have it, the nearness of this almighty, and above all of this holy God is in the highest degree burdensome to these people. Living in Jerusalem where this God has His fire and His furnace (Isa_31:9) is painful to them. Hence they cry: who among us,etc. It is manifest that by the devouring fire they mean Jehovah. By the strages Assyriorum He had proved Himself to be such. And shall they ever remain near this power that is as irresistibly present as it is terrible? The expression is taken from Deu_4:24; Deu_9:3, comp. Isa_29:6; Isa_30:27; Isa_30:30. מוקד designates here the place where the fire burns, “the hearth.” By calling this everlasting they judge themselves: for they show by that a knowledge, that it is a veritable divine fire, that burns there, not an imaginary one. But just with this they will have nothing to do.
The Prophet (Isa_33:15) replies to their inquiry, that one may dwell very well by this burning fire. But with the Holy One, one must live holy. The image He proceeds to draw of a holy life is an Old Testament one. The traits of it are chiefly taken from passages in the Psalms (see Text. and Gram.). Shaking the hands, (thus refraining them) from taking a bribe, is a strong expression for striving to keep and prove the integrity of the hands.
4. He shall dwell——will save us.
Isa_33:16-22. This is the confirmation that one may dwell happily with the devouring fire. For these verses show what blessings they shall have who live agreeably to the holy being of God. And since there shall never be wanting such in Zion, the salvation and glory of Zion is assured for all time. Thus these verses contain the same thought uttered by the Prophet already Isa_28:16 sqq.; Isa_29:22 sqq.; Isa_30:15; Isaiah 19 sqq.; Isa_31:6 sq.; Isa_32:1 sqq., 15 sqq., that Israel’s deliverance depends on an upright and thorough conversion to the Lord; that on this condition, however, it is secure forever. נאמן “what is certain, never deceives expectation, never fails” (comp. Isa_33:6; Jer_15:18; Isa_22:23; Isa_22:25). As happened Isa_33:5-6, so here, for the Prophet the salvation of the near present merges into one with the great, final Messianic period. And so, influenced perhaps by the then oppressed look of the king of Judah, he contemplates the latter beaming with the joy of victory, and at the same time as the type of the Messiah, resplendent in the supremest beauty and glory, whose beauty the author of Psalms 45. (Isa_33:3) had also seen prefigured in the appearance of the bridegroom-king whom he celebrated. That the Prophet’s glance penetrates into the Messianic future appears from the expression the land that is very far off (Isa_8:9; Jer_8:19). The expression is too strong to be understood merely of free motion in the land in contrast with the confining siege, or of the normal extending of Israelitish territory according to Deu_1:7; Deu_11:24. As royal pomp and beauty adorns the person of the king, so immeasurable extent does his land. ארץ מ׳ is thus not a far distant, but a wide extended land. It is the same thought that meets us Isa_2:2 sqq.; Isa_9:7; Isa_11:10; Isa_25:6 sqq.
The Prophet in Isa_33:18-19 connects his glorious image of the future with the mournful condition of the present. For he describes it as a chief blessing of that future, that the bad things of the present will be present to thoughtful contemplation as things that one rejoices to have overcome. Et hoc meminisse juvabit. In his graphic way the Prophet gives prominence to particular terrors that must have left a peculiarly deep impression. The סֹפֵר, “writer,” and the שֹׁקֵל, “weigher,” before whom one had to appear and pay tribute, and who then weighed the valuables received, and made a list of them, were certainly persons of terror from whose mouths they had often had experience of the Vae victis (Livy, 5, 48). [“The Apostle Paul in 1Co_1:20, has a sentence so much like this, in the threefold repetition of the question where, and in the use of the word scribe, that it cannot be regarded as a mere fortuitous coincidence.” “It may be regarded as a mere imitation, as to form and diction, of the one before us.”—J. A. Alexander,in loc.]. Again it must have made a terrible impression, when from the walls they saw the enemy taking the first steps toward attacking the city by one of the leaders riding around the walls, regarding the towers, counting them and taking notes of his observations (comp. Psa_48:13). What happiness to be able to call out: “where are they now those fearful men? They have disappeared forever!” What felicity to be quit of the foreign, repulsive appearance of this enemy; no more to be compelled to see the overweening nation; no more to hear its barbarous sounds! The Israelites will no more hear “the nation too deep of lip to be understood” and “stammering and jabbering with the tongue (comp. on Isa_28:11; Isa_37:22) without meaning.”
The Prophet having enumerated the bad things, now directs attention to the good that is to be seen in and about Jerusalem. He first describes Zion as the religious centre of the nation. There is the temple; there Jehovah dwells (comp. on Isa_33:14); thither the people assemble to worship the Lord and keep His feasts. Thus He calls the city קרית מועדנו (comp. הַר מוֹעֵד14:13, comp. Isa_1:14). That he intends an antithesis to אהל מועד appears from Isa_33:15. Israel then has no more a tabernacle, a city for festival gathering (of the people with one another, and with Jehovah). As such Zion must be especially looked to. And if one looks more narrowly, then the meaning of this designation appears to be that Jerusalem will be a secure, quiet abode (Isa_32:18), of course still a tabernacle, but no longer so in the original, nomadic sense; not like the travelling tent of the wilderness, but one that does not move about. The Prophet signifies that there shall happen to it neither a voluntary nor a violent breaking up of the tabernacle (נתק means a violent rending, comp. Isa_5:27, not the usual striking of a tent). This permanent tabernacle shall be attended with a glorious rest for the people of God in the future that is described, that shall be founded on the presence in the midst of them of Jehovah, the highest Majesty. The Lord is called a place of rivers, of course in a figure. In all this figurative description lies the notion of defence, refuge. Hence “a place of rivers” may as appropriately be used of Jehovah, as “rock, tower, shield, horn of salvation,” (Psa_18:3). But commentators are right in saying that the Prophet has in mind cities like Babylon, Nineveh, No-Ammon (Nah_3:8), that were defended by great rivers and river canals. The present Jerusalem lacked such defences, but, such is the meaning, Jehovah Himself will be river-defences. נחרים may allude to the cities of Mesopotamia, and יארים to the similarly located cities of Egypt; for הַנָּהָר is κατ’ ’εξοχὴν the Euphrates (Isa_8:7; Isa_11:15) and יְאֹר the Nile (Isa_19:7-8; Isa_23:10). Those streams and canals that recede right and left, and thus are very broad, are called רחבי ידים (comp. Psa_104:25; Isa_22:18; Gen_34:21; Jdg_18:10; 1Ch_4:10; Neh_7:4). Neither oared-ship, nor sail-ship shall be able to pass these mighty waters. The Prophet ends with rhymes that make the conclusion sound like a hymn. Jehovah, Israel’s judge (Isa_2:4; Isa_11:3-4), lawgiver (comp. Deu_33:21), and king, is also its deliverer.
Footnotes:
[9]unclean.
[10]Heb. in righteousness.
[11]Heb. uprightness.
[12]Or, deceits.
[13]Heb. bloods.
[14]Heb. heights, or, high places.
[15]His bread.
[16]a wide extended land.
[17]Heb. of far distances.
[18]Heb. weigher.
[19]the inscriber of the towers.
[20]the audacious.
[21]Or, ridiculous.
[22]that does not wander.
[23]A place of streams, of rivers broad on either side.
[24]Heb. broad spaces, or hands.
[25]Heb. statutemaker.
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 far off--distant nations.
far off--distant nations.
near--the Jews and adjoining peoples (Isa 49:1).
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 13-16. And then, as if this judgment were accomplished,…
13-16. And then, as if this judgment were accomplished, the prophet turns to the sinners by whom himself, as counsellor to the pious king, has been so long baffled in Jerusalem. These he addresses as the near ones; those living to witness the power of the Almighty in breaking the Assyrian yoke. Hitherto they had scouted Isaiah’s theory of deliverance from such a source, and they sought aid from Egypt. The far-off peoples are also called to witness this almighty power in behalf of Israel. The sinners in Jerusalem are now struck dumb, and they are forced to say,
Who among us shall — rather, can — dwell with the devouring fire… everlasting burnings — That is, in such a fire as that which has so signally destroyed the Assyrian forces? The parallel member states the same thing, only with more intense emotion. The answer is, in substance, the same as Psalms 15. He that walketh righteously, etc., in all the relations of life; despiseth the gain of oppressions, hazarding every thing to be just, absolutely just, etc: only such can endure the presence and power of a just God, and they, seeking to be entirely righteous, shall, in all events, be secure. Spiritual plenty shall abound to them. Those who are of this character in Jerusalem now realize their own more exultant fortune over the sinners that have counselled opposition in civil affairs in Judah.
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 13. The signal deliverance of Jerusalem will be a…
13. The signal deliverance of Jerusalem will be a great demonstration to all the world of the omnipotence of Israel’s God. The verse is usually taken, and perhaps rightly, as an introduction to the second half of the poem, which deals mainly with the consequences of the great act of judgment.
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 (13) Hear, ye that are far off . .…
(13) Hear, ye that are far off . . .—The fate of Assyria is proclaimed as a warning to other nations, and to Israel itself. For the “sinners in Zion” also there is the furnace of fire of the wrath of God. “Who,” they ask, “can dwell with that consuming fire, those everlasting (œonian?) burnings,” which are one aspect of the righteousness of God?
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. 13-24. REFLECTIONS ON ASSYRIA"S OVERTHROW VIEWED AS ACCOMPLISHED.…
Vers. 13-24. REFLECTIONS ON ASSYRIA"S OVERTHROW VIEWED AS ACCOMPLISHED. The prophet"s first thought is, how wonderfully the overthrow has manifested the might of God (ver. 13). Next, how it must thrill with fear the hearts of the wicked among his people (ver. 14). Thirdly, how the righteous are by it placed in security, and can look back with joy to their escape, and can with confidence look forward to a future of happiness and tranquil lily (vers. 15-24). Messianic ideas intermingle with these latter thoughts (vers. 17, 23), the image of a happy, tranquil Judah melting into that of Messiah"s glorious kingdom.
Hear, ye that are far off, etc. Jehovah speaks by the mouth of his prophet, and calls on the nations of the earth, far and near, to consider and acknowledge his might, as shown in his judgment on Assyria. (comp. Exo_15:14-16)
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Vers. 13-16. Living near to God.
Jehovah has uprisen; he has revealed his might in the destruction of the Assyrian host; he calls through the prophet upon all the nations to acknowledge him.
I THE AWFULNESS OF GOD. We see it reflected from the horror-struck faces of the ungodly and the profane, He is indeed seen to be a "consuming Fire," having his "furnace in Jerusalem". (Isa_31:1-9) And all the immoral and the unprincipled, the heedless and the worldly, feel themselves as fuel for his wrath they whom the continual returns of the Word preached do not alter, so that their old sins remain firm, entire, and unbattered, the baseness of their inclinations unchanged, the levity of their discourse and behavior; those whose former distresses and disasters have not laid low in the valleys of humility, nor circumscribed the lashings out of their luxury; they whose past miseries and restraints give only a relish instead of a check to present pride and intemperance; those whom all the caresses of Providence have not been able to win upon, so as to endear them to a virtuous strictness, or deter them from a vicious extravagance; all such unless the great God be trivial and without concern in his grand transactions with our immortal souls during this condition, so far as we can judge, are fashioning for wrath. "He is a probationer for hell, and carries about with him the desperate symptoms and plague-tokens of a person likely to be sworn against by God, and hastening apace to a sad eternity" (South).
II DWELLING NEAR TO GOD. Who can endure the vicinity of this devouring Fire? Only they who have intrinsic spiritual worth, which when tried by fire will appear unto "praise and glory." "Only that which yields itself willingly to be God"s organ can abide those flames. (cf. on the burning Exo_3:2) "Of all else, like briars and thorns, the "end is to be burned". (Isa_10:17 Isa_30:27) The fire ever burning on the altar (Lev_6:13) is the symbol of him in whose nature wrath and love unite; the wrath being the symptom of love, which must ever glow against evil. The answer to the question is given in the picture of the good man which follows; his character positively and negatively, his consequent security.
III PICTURE OF TRUE PIETY.
1. Its completeness. He walks in "perfect righteousness." Not so the righteousness of "scribes and Pharisees," partial and imperfect, but rounded out to the full requirements of the Divine Law. The hypocrite "singles out some certain parts, which best suit his occasions and least thwart his corruptions." The proud or impure man may be liberal to the poor, may abhor lying and treachery, and may be ready in the fulfillment of duties which do not jostle his darling sin. But it "will not suffice to chop and change one duty for another; he cannot clear his debts by paying part of the great sum he owes" (South). To offend in one is to be guilty of all. (Jam_2:10) The chain of duty is broken by the removal of a single link. "Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments". (Psa_119:6) It is not a handsome feature or a handsome limb which makes the handsome man, but the symmetry and proportion of all. So, not the practice of this or that virtue, but an entire complexion of all, can alone render a man righteous in the sight of God.
2. Its leading characteristics. It unites what human corruption is ever tending to dissever, religion and morality. It imitates the Father in heaven in the justice of his perfect Being. It rejects unjust gain, flings the bribe as a thing of pollution from the hand. It is abstinent from the greed of gold, that most downward and degrading vice, making the soul all earth and dirt, burying that noble thing which can never die." "Thou shalt not take a gift, because a gift blinds the eyes of the wise". (Deu_16:9; cf. 1Sa_12:3 Ecc_7:7) Covetousness is a thing directly contrary to the very spirit of Christianity; which is a free, a large, and an open spirit open to God and man, and always carrying charity in one hand, and generosity in the other (South). It is exclusive in reference to evil, as inclusive in reference to good. The good man walks with ear and eye shut against the moral contagion around him. As the leaven of disease will not develop save in the unhealthy body, so moral evil will not grow to a head in the soul antipathetic to it. He "seals up the avenues of ill." By listening and looking come all our best and all our worst inspirations. Dead to sin, he "neither hears nor sees;" alive to God, he is all ears and all eyes, for his words, his inspirations. The chastity of the spirit extends to the senses, and if the mind be full of the love of purity, "each thing of sin and guilt" is driven far from it. Itself remains intact as the sunbeams glancing on the garbage-heap.
3. Its security and satisfaction. The good man dwells on the heights, (cf. Ps 15 24:3, 4) inaccessible to miasmata from the poisonous swamps below, braced by the different air, enlivened by glorious prospects. He will have food, and that in abundance. To "eat and be satisfied" is the simplest and strongest figure for intellectual satisfaction, for a rich inner life; as hunger that of an empty, distressed, self-torturing spirit. But as food is of no service without an appetite for it, so this spiritual satisfaction can only be theirs who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who have fixed their minds upon an Object, which still invites the most boundless and unlimited appetite. The nobler senses are never weary of exercise upon objects which delight them. We do not surfeit upon noble music, nor do rare pictures cloy. The desires of the righteous are so agreeable to the ways of God that they find a continual freshness growing upon them in the performance of duty; like a stream, which, the further it has ran, the more strength and force it has to run further (South). J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Sinners Alarmed, the Pious Comforted
The Sinners Alarmed, the Pious Comforted
v. 13. Hear, ye that are far off, all the distant nations of the world, what I have done; and, ye that are near, the Jews and the nations near them, acknowledge My might, so Jehovah calls out through His herald.
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v. 14. The sinners in Zion, those who falsely professed the religion of Israel, though their heart was not in their worship, are afraid, terrified because their hypocrisy is about to be revealed; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites, who were often addicted to secret idolatry while they continued their outward membership in the true Church. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Such is the cry of the sinners as they contemplate the devouring fierceness of Jehovah’s anger. Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? They themselves realize and must admit it that they cannot endure the flames of God’s divine anger which is bound to strike them in righteous judgment. The prophet himself, on the basis of Psalms 15; Psa 24:3-6 answers their question:
v. 15. He that walketh righteously, practicing the proper righteousness of life in every respect, and speaketh uprightly, without a trace of hypocrisy; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, repudiating the very idea of enriching himself by means which savor of blackmail, that shaketh his hands, interlocking them tightly, from holding of bribes, his act being conducive to that end, helping him to refrain from accepting bribe money, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, refusing to listen to any plan which involves revenge, hatred, or violence, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, sanctioning wickedness or yielding to lust, in short, one who "rejoiceth not in iniquity" in any form, 1Co 13:6,
v. 16. he shall dwell on high, in places inaccessible to the foe, his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks, the fastnesses of the mountains, where he dwells under the protection of Jehovah; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure, he will have both food and drink in rich abundance. Thus the prophet draws a sketch of one who, under the guidance and by the power of Jehovah, does not need to fear the judgment of wrath which will came upon those who delight in wickedness. The description causes the prophet to forget the sordid present and to look forward to the time when the congregation of the Lord would consist entirely of such desirable members.
v. 17. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty, the Messiah in the glory of His redemptive work; they shall behold the land that is very far off, for the Messiah’s kingdom would extend over the whole earth.
v. 18. Thine heart, once more conscious of the mournful condition of the present, so unlike the future glorious state, shall meditate terror, considering what fearful things have been left behind. Where is the scribe? the man who supervised the paying of tribute according to the assessments entered in his books. Where is the receiver? the weigher, who weighed the valuables received as tribute and was most exacting in his demands. Where is he that counted the towers? making a plan of the city, which was to be taken by storm. All these officers in the employ of the enemy were well known to the Jews, the mere mention of whose names filled their hearts with terror. But the prophet comforts his people with reassuring words.
v. 19. Thou shalt not see a fierce people, for the terrible enemies will then have disappeared forever, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive, whose language is difficult to understand; of stammering tongue, indistinguishable to those not familiar with the dialect, that thou canst not understand. It is a picture of happy deliverance which the prophet paints before the eyes of the true Israel.
v. 20. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities, where Jehovah dwells and the people assemble for worship, to praise the Lord and to keep his feasts; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down, as was the case with the Tabernacle in the wilderness; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken, both the tent-pins and the guy-ropes remaining intact forever. The reference is to the security and stability of the Church of God, as established upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, the entire passage reminding one strongly of Psalms 46.
v. 21. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams, that is, by virtue of the indwelling of God in the midst of His people the Church would be like a great city, which is both defended and watered by rich streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship, one of the mighty sail-ships which ventured out on the mighty ocean, pass thereby, Jehovah Himself being the defense of His people and protecting them against all enemies.
v. 22. For the Lord is our Judge, who watches over His people’s rights and honor; the Lord is our Lawgiver, He who wields the general’s staff in their midst; the Lord is our King, His throne of power and mercy being established in their midst; He will save us, to Him they could confidently look for deliverance from all harm and danger. And so the chapter concludes with a description of the City of God, the Church of Christ, its present distress being contrasted with its future glory.
v. 23. Thy tacklings are loosed, Jerusalem being considered a ship whose cables and rigging have been torn by adverse winds; they could not well strengthen their mast, for the mast had no hold without the cables, they could not spread the sail, for the same reason, their vessel thus practically being at the mercy of wind and waves. Then is the prey of a great spoil divided, immense booty is distributed, at the very moment of the greatest helplessness the Lord grants victory; the lame take the prey, the very cripples being able to share in the plunder.
v. 24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick, not one of them shall be subject to illness or weakness; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity, this, in fact, being the secret of their strength. And thus the Church of God is constituted—it consists of people who have come to the full realization of their own helplessness, who are deeply repentant, and who, as a consequence, have received the gift of the forgiveness of their sins and draw upon the Lord alone for all their strength. That is the abiding comfort of all believers.
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 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues to speak.
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You who are far away, hear what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might
Yahweh uses the words "far away" and "near" to mean all people. The word "might" can be expressed with the adjective "mighty." AT: "All people everywhere hear what I have done and acknowledge that I am mighty" (See: Merism and Abstract Nouns)
trembling has seized the godless ones
This speaks of the godless people trembling as if their trembling were an enemy that had seized them. AT: "the godless ones are overwhelmed with trembling" (See: Personification)
Who among us ... burnings?
It is implied that the sinners in Zion ask these questions. AT: "They say, 'Who among us ... burnings?'" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Who among us can sojourn with a raging fire? Who among us can sojourn with everlasting burnings?
These rhetorial questions have basically the same meaning and emphasize that no one can live with fire. Here fire represents Yahweh's judgment. AT: "No one can live with raging fire! No one can live with everylasting burns!" or "No one can live bearing Yahweh's judgment, it is like an everlasting fire!" (See: Rhetorical Question and Metonymy)
sojourn
live in a place that is not one's home
translationWords
might
sin
Zion
fear
eternity
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.