All you animals of the field, come to devour, all you animals in the forest.
Parallel Translations
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All you animals of the field, come to devour, all you animals in the forest.
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All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
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All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Isaiah 56:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 12:9 Is my heritage to me as a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the animals of the field. Bring them to devour.
- Deuteronomy 28:26 Your dead bodies will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away.
- Isaiah 18:6 They will be left together for the ravenous birds of the mountains, and for the animals of the earth. The ravenous birds will eat them in the summer, and all the animals of the earth will eat them in the winter.
- Ezekiel 29:5 I’ll cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.
- Ezekiel 39:17 “You, son of man, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal of the field, “Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat meat and drink blood.
- Revelation 19:17-18 I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, “Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, small and great.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (23 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, the enemies of the Church, as the Babylonians,…
Meaning, the enemies of the Church, as the Babylonians, Assyrians, etc., thus he speaketh to fear the hypocrites and to assure the faithful that when this cometh, they may know it was told them before.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 56:9 All ye beasts of the field, come…
Isa 56:9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, [yea], all ye beasts in the forest.
Ver. 9. All ye beasts of the field, come to devour.] Statim quasi vehementer ira accensus, &c. All upon the sudden, as one much enraged against the wicked priests especially, as greatest traitors to the state, the Lord thundereth and threateneth terribly. By the beasts here called for, we may understand the Babylonians, Grecians, Syrians, Egyptians, but especially the Romans, who made clean work of them, whenas they were grown extremely wicked, and even ripe for ruin, as Josephus witnesseth. See Jer 50:17.
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 This invitation or proclamation is a prediction of Israel’s…
This invitation or proclamation is a prediction of Israel’s destruction by their cruel enemies, which are oft expressed in Scripture under the names of ravenous beasts. But the great question is, What connexion this part of the chapter hath with the former? Which may be thus conceived: The prophet having largely discoursed concerning the Messiah, and his church and kingdom, and particularly of the great accession and conversion of the Gentiles to it, and of the infidelity, apostacy, and manifold wickednesses of the Jewish nation, and having comforted and encouraged the Gentiles with God’s gracious promises made to them, he now proceeds to terrify the unbelieving and ungodly Jews, and to show that as the Gentiles should believe, and be saved, so they should reject their Messiah, and be utterly destroyed; although we need not labour much about the coherence; for this may be a new sermon, and therefore many learned interpreters make this the beginning of the 57th chapter.
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 From words of comfort the prophet here, by a…
From words of comfort the prophet here, by a very sudden change of his style, passes to words of reproof and conviction, and goes on in that strain, for the most part, in the three following chapters; and therefore some here begin a new sermon. He had assured the people that in due time God would deliver them out of captivity, which was designed for the comfort of those that should live when God would do this. Now here he shows what their sins and provocations were, for which God would send them into captivity, and this was designed for the conviction of those that lived in his own time, nearly a hundred years before the captivity, who were now filling up the measure of the nation's sin, and to justify God in what he brought upon them. God will lay them waste by the fierceness of their enemies, for the falseness of their friends.
I. Desolating judgments are here summoned, Isa 56:9. The sheep of God's pasture are now to be made the sheep of his slaughter, to fall as victims to his justice, and therefore the beasts of the field and the forest are called to come and devour. They are beasts of prey, and do it from their own ravenous disposition; but God permits them to do it, nay, he employs them as his servants in doing it, the ministers of his justice, though they mean not so, neither does their heart think so. If this refers primarily to the descent made upon them by the Babylonians, and their devouring them, yet it may look further, to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation by the Romans, after these outcasts of them (mentioned Isa 56:8) were gathered in to the Christian church. The Roman armies came upon them as beasts of the forest to devour them, and they quite took away their place and nation. Note, When God has bloody work to do he has beasts of prey within call, to be employed in doing it.
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II. The reason of these judgments is here given. The shepherds, who should have been the watchmen of the flock, to discover the approaches of the beasts of prey, to keep them off, and protect the sheep, were treacherous and careless, minded not their business, nor made any conscience of the trust reposed in them, and so the sheep became an easy prey to the wild beasts. Now this may refer to the false prophets that lived in Isaiah's, Jeremiah's, and Ezekiel's time (who flattered the people in their wicked ways, and told them they should have peace though they went on) and to the priests that bore rule by their means. Or it may refer to the wicked princes, the sons of Josiah, that did evil in the sight of the Lord, and other wicked magistrates under them, who betrayed their trust, were vicious and profane, and, instead of making up the breach at which the judgments of God were breaking in upon them, made it wider, and augmented the fierce anger of the Lord instead of doing any thing to turn it away. They should have kept judgment and justice (v. 1), but they abandoned both, Jer 5:1. Or it may refer to those who were the nation's watchmen in our Saviour's time, the chief priests and the scribes, who should have discerned the signs of the times and have given notice to the people of the approach of the Messiah, but who, instead of that, opposed him, and did all they could to keep people from coming to the knowledge of him and to prejudice them against him. It is a very sad character that is here given of these watchmen. Woe unto thee, O land! when thy guides are such. 1. They had no sense or knowledge of their business. They were wretchedly ignorant of their work, and very unfit to teach, being so ill-taught themselves: His watchmen are blind, and therefore utterly unfit to be watchmen. If the seers see not, who shall see for us? If the light that is in us be darkness, how great is that darkness! Christ describes the Pharisees to be blind leaders of the blind, Mat 15:14. The beasts of the field come to devour, and the watchmen are blind, and are not aware of them. They are all ignorant (Isa 56:10), shepherds that cannot understand (Isa 56:11), that know not what is to be done about the sheep, nor can feed them with understanding, Jer 3:15. 2. What little knowledge they had they made no use of it; no one was the better for it. As they were blind watchmen, that could not discern the danger, so they were dumb dogs, that would not give warning of it. And why are the dogs set to guard the sheep if they cannot bark to waken the shepherd and frighten the wolf? Such were these; those that had the charge of souls never reproved men for their faults, nor told them what would be in the end thereof, never gave them notice of the judgments of God that were breaking in upon them. They barked at God's prophets, and bit them too, and worried the sheep, but made no opposition to the wolf or thief. 3. They were very lazy, and would take no pains. They loved their ease, and hated business, were always sleeping, lying down and loving to slumber. They were not overcome and overpowered by sleep, as the disciples, through grief and fatigue, but they lay down on purpose to invite sleep, and said, Soul, take thy ease. Yet a little sleep. It is bad with a people when their shepherds slumber (Nah 3:18), and it is well for God's people that their shepherd, the keeper of Israel, neither slumbers nor sleeps. 4. They were very covetous and eager after the world - greedy dogs that can never have enough. If they had ever so much, they would think it too little. They so love silver as never to be satisfied with silver, Ecc 5:10. All their enquiry is what they shall get, not what they shall do. Let them have the wages, and they care not whether the work be done or no; they feed not the flock, but fleece it. They are every one looking to his own way, minding his own private interests, and have no regard at all to the public welfare. It was St. Paul's complaint of the watchmen in his time (Phi 2:21), All seek their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's. Every one is for propagating his own opinion, advancing his own party, raising his own family, and having every thing to his own mind, while the common concerns of the public are wretchedly neglected and postponed. They look every one to his gain from his quarter, from his end or part of the work. They are for fain from every quarter (Rem rem quocunque modo rem - Money, money, by fair means or by foul we must have money), but especially from their own quarter, where they will be sure to take care that they lose nothing, nor miss any thing that is to be got. If any one put not into their mouths they not only will do him no service, but they prepare war against him, Mic 3:5. 5. They were perfect epicures, given to their pleasures, never so much in their element as in their drunken revels (Isa 56:12): Come (say they), I will fetch wine (they have that at command; their cellars are better furnished than their closets) and we will fill ourselves, or be drunk, with strong drink. They were often drunk, not overseen (as we say) or overtaken in drink, but designedly. The watchmen did thus invite and encourage one another to drink to excess, or they courted the people to sit and drink with them, and so confirmed those in their wicked ways, and hardened their hearts, whom they should have reproved. How could they think it any harm to be drunk when the watchmen themselves joined with them and led them to it! 6. They were very secure and confident of the continuance of their prosperity and ease; they said, "Tomorrow shall be as this day and much more abundant; we shall have as much to spend upon our lusts tomorrow as we have today." They had no thought at all of their own frailty and mortality, though they were shortening their days and hastening their deaths by their excesses. They had no dread of the judgments of God, though they were daily provoking him and making themselves liable to his wrath and curse. They never considered the uncertainty of all the delights and enjoyments of sense, how they perish in the using and pass away with the lusts of them. They resolved to continue in this wicked course, whatever their consciences said to the contrary, to be as merry tomorrow as they are today. But boast not thyself of tomorrow when perhaps this night thy soul shall be required of 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 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour,....…
All ye beasts of the field, come to devour,.... Which may be understood either literally of savage beasts being called to devour the slain, signifying a great slaughter that should be made, like that in Rev 19:17 to which the fowls of the heaven are invited, as to a supper; and so Kimchi interprets it of such creatures being called to feed upon the carcasses in the camp of Gog and Magog, agreeably to Eze 39:17, but it seems better to understand it figuratively of people and nations, comparable to the beasts of the field for their strength, cruelty, and voraciousness. The Targum of the whole is,
"all the kings of the people that shall be gathered to oppress thee, O Jerusalem, shall be cast in the midst of thee; they shall be for food to the beast of the field, the beast of the forest shall be satisfied with them.''
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Though it seems most correct to interpret these beasts of the kings of the people themselves; by whom some understand the Chaldeans, Babylonians, and other nations along with them, and under them, who spoiled the people of the Jews, and carried them captive; but rather the Romans are intended. And so the prophet, after he had foretold the gathering in of the remnant, according to the election of grace, among the Jews, and the addition to them from among the Gentiles, proceeds to give an account what should become of the rest of the Jewish nation that rejected the Messiah and his Gospel; that the Romans should be brought in upon them, who should devour them; which destruction would be owing to the following sins abounding among their principal men. But I am inclined to the opinion of Cocceius and Vitringa, that the barbarous nations of the Goths and Vandals, and others, coming into the Roman empire, become Christian, though greatly corrupted, are here meant (t); since this seems to be a prophecy of what should happen between the first gathering of the Jews and Gentiles to Christ in the first times of the Gospel, and the later gathering of them in the latter day; and the following words aptly describe the ignorance, stupidity, avarice, and intemperance of the priests of the apostate church of Rome; and the following chapter, which is a continuance of this prophecy, better agrees with the idolatry of the church of Rome than with the Jews, who, especially at the time of their destruction by the Romans, were not given to idolatry. Yea,
all the beasts in the forest: a herd of them, which, like an inundation, ran over the Roman empire, and tore it to pieces, and spread ignorance and corruption every where, next described; for now the beast of Rome arose with his ten heads. Some think that a new chapter should begin here.
(t) Agreeably to which, the words, according to the accents, are thus rendered by Reinbeck, De Accent. Heb. p. 427. "all ye beasts of the field; come ye, to devour all the beasts in the forest"; so Munster; one sort of beasts are called upon to devour another sort.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Come - This is a prediction of Israel's destruction…
Come - This is a prediction of Israel's destruction by their cruel enemies. The prophet having largely discoursed concerning the Messiah, and his kingdom, and having encouraged the Gentiles with God's gracious promises made to them, now proceeds to terrify the unbelieving Jews, and to shew that as the Gentiles would believe, and be saved, so they would reject their Messiah, and be destroyed.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. All ye beasts of the field] Here…
Verse 9. All ye beasts of the field] Here manifestly begins a new section. The prophet in the foregoing chapters, having comforted the faithful Jews with many great promises of God's favour to be extended to them, in the restoration of their ruined state, and in the enlargement of his Church by the admission of the Gentiles; here on a sudden makes a transition to the more disagreeable part of the prospect, and to a sharp reproof of the wicked and unbelievers; and especially of the negligent and faithless governors and teachers, of the idolaters and hypocrites, who would still draw down his judgments upon the nation. Probably having in view the destruction of their city and polity by the Chaldeans, and perhaps by the Romans. The same subject is continued in the next chapter; in which the charge of corruption and apostasy becomes more general against the whole Jewish Church. Some expositors have made great difficulties in the 9th verse of this chapter, where there seems to be none. It is perfectly well explained by Jeremiah, Jer 12:7; Jer 12:9, where, having introduced God declaring his purpose of punishing his people, by giving them up as a prey to their enemies the Chaldeans, a charge to these his agents is given in words very nearly the same with those of Isaiah in this place: -
"I have forsaken my house; I have deserted my heritage;
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I have given up the beloved of my soul into the hands of her
enemies.-
Come away, be gathered together, all ye beasts of the field;
Come away to devour."
All ye beasts in the forest - "All ye beasts of the forest."] Instead of ביער baiyaar, three MSS. have יער yaar, without the preposition; which seems to be right, and is confirmed by ali the ancient Versions.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 56:9. All ye beasts of the field, come…
Isa 56:9. All ye beasts of the field, come to devour — “Here,” says Bishop Lowth, “manifestly begins a new section. The prophet, in the foregoing chapters, having comforted the faithful with many great promises of God’s favour to be extended to them, in the restoration of their ruined state, and of the enlargement of his church by the admission of the Gentiles, here, on a sudden, makes a transition to the more disagreeable part of the prospect, and to a sharp reproof of the wicked and unbelievers, and especially of the negligent and faithless governors and teachers, of the idolaters and hypocrites, who would still draw his judgments upon the nation; probably having in view the destruction of their city and polity by the Chaldeans, and perhaps by the Romans.” Vitringa, however, thinks the enemies of the Christian Church may be here pointed out, such as the Goths, Vandals, Turks, and others, who committed great devastations upon it after it declined from the first faith, and became extremely corrupt; as is particularly specified in the next verses. It seems very evident that this is a prediction, either of Israel’s destruction, or that of the fallen Christian Church, by their cruel enemies, who are often represented in Scripture under the emblem of ravenous beasts. Thus Jer 12:7-9, I have forsaken my house, I have deserted my heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. Come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain All ye beasts of the field - This evidently…
All ye beasts of the field - This evidently commences a new subject, and refers to some invasion of the land of Judea. In the previous chapter, the prophet had comforted the people by the assurance of the coming of the Messiah, and by the fact that they should be enlarged by the accession of the Gentiles. He proceeds here to a more disagreeable part of the subject. The design is, to reprove particularly the sins of the rulers of the people, and to assure them that such conduct would incur the vengeance of heaven. The sins reproved are indolence and inattention to duty Isa 56:10-12; a spirit of self-indulgence and of slumber, avarice and selfishness, and luxury and intemperance. The vengeance here referred to, Lowth supposes to be the invasion of the land by the Chaldeans, and perhaps by the Romans. Grotius supposes that it refers to the Egyptians, and to bands of robbers from the Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites. Vitringa strangely enough refers it to the barbarous nations which broke in upon the Christian church to lay it waste and destroy it during the decline of the Roman empire, particularly the Huns, Saracens, Turks, Turcomans, Tartars, etc. But the connection seems to demand that it should be understood of some events, not far distant from the time of the prophet, which would be a proper punishment of the crimes then existing. According to this interpretation, the reference here, I suppose, is to the invasion of the land by the Chaldeans. They would come as wild beasts, to spread terror and devastation before them. And so great were the national crimes, that the prophet calls on them to come and devour all before them. The comparison of invaders to wild beasts is not uncommon in the Scriptures. Thus Jer 12:9 -
Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird,
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The birds round about are against her;
Come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field,
Come to devour.
So Jer 50:17 -
Israel is a scattered sheep;
The lions have driven him away;
First the king of Assyria hath devoured him,
And last this Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, hath broken his bones.
See also Isa 9:11.
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 Beasts. Here a fresh discourse begins to chap. lxi.…
Beasts. Here a fresh discourse begins to chap. lxi. The Chaldeans and Romans are invited to punish God’s people for their sins, committed before the captivity, Zacharias xiv. 2. (Calmet) --- The prophet foresees the negligence of some pastors, and denounces their rigorous chastisement. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain beasts--Gentile idolatrous nations hostile to the Jews, summoned by…
beasts--Gentile idolatrous nations hostile to the Jews, summoned by God to chastise them (Jer 12:7-9; Jer 50:17; Eze 34:5): the Chaldeans and subsequently the Romans. The mention of the "outcasts of Israel" (Isa 56:8) brings in view the outcasting, caused by the sins of their rulers (Isa 56:10-12).
to devour--namely, Israel.
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 9. An abrupt change of the current of thought…
9. An abrupt change of the current of thought here occurs. The prophet’s bright prospect is checked, and he turns to things as they are in his own times. In the reign of Abaz, idolatry prevailed. Hezekiah, at the time of the great reform, caused the temple, which had been closed, (2Ch_29:3-36,) to be opened, when an outward improvement among the people followed. But to the prophet’s eye evil continues; beginning with Manasseh, idolatry and national infidelity return with fearful power. There are other views held of this verse and what follows, founded on the Masoretic text, (one of which, that sustained by Birks, is exceeding fanciful;) but the majority of commentators agree on what is above stated.
Beasts of the field — Some regard these expressions as denoting outside nations invited to make invasions on unfaithful Judah. More probably, they denote unspiritual teachers, irreligious guides, who, (excepting during the reign of Josiah,) disturbed Judah as long as its government lasted.
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Forest — This term is used simply to balance “field,” in the parallelism.
Come to devour — Equivalent to, Ye beasts — meaning, the false prophets — do “come to devour” — this is your purpose, your mission — ye wolves in sheep’s clothing embrace every opportunity to devour the flock or people of the land. John, chap. 10, borrows its illustration hence.
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 9. The apostrophe to the wild beasts is suggested…
9. The apostrophe to the wild beasts is suggested by the following comparison of the people to an ill-guarded and therefore defenceless flock. That a new chastisement at the hands of the heathen is actually contemplated need not be assumed. A close parallel is found in Jer_12:9; cf. Eze_34:5; Eze_34:8.
Ch. Isa_56:9 to Isa_57:21. A Protest against the Unworthy Shepherds of God’s Flock, and the arrogant Heathenism by which it is threatened; followed by a Message of Consolation to True Israelites
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This sombre and impassioned discourse is composed of three parts:
i. ch. Isa_56:9 to Isa_57:2.—The defenceless condition of the community, due to the incompetence of its spiritual leaders.
(1) All the wild beasts of the field and the forest are invited to come and devour the unprotected flock (Isa_56:9). (2) For its rulers neglect their duty; they are inefficient as dumb dogs, they are slothful, greedy and sensual (Isa_56:10-12). (3) In consequence of their incapacity the righteous perish, none regarding their fate (Isa_57:1-2).
ii. Isa_57:3-13 a. A bitter tirade against an insolent and aggressive paganising party, animated by a contemptuous hostility towards the true religion.
(1) This party, which is characterised as a bastard and hybrid race, the illegitimate offspring of an adulterer and a harlot, is summoned to the bar to hear the Divine sentence on their career of flagrant idolatry (Isa_57:3-4). (2) The indictment follows, in the form of a recital of the varied heathen rites to which they were addicted (Isa_57:5-9), and in which with infatuated perversity they still persist in spite of all the teachings of experience (Isa_57:10-11). (3) Judgement is then pronounced; Jehovah will unmask the hypocrisy of their pretended righteousness, and leave them to the protection of the false deities whom they have so diligently served, but who shall be unable to save them (Isa_57:12-13).
iii. Isa_57:14-21. The prophet now turns with a message of comfort to the depressed and contrite people of God. The obstacles in the way of their salvation shall be removed (Isa_57:14); Jehovah, whose condescension brings Him near to the lowly in heart, will at length avert His anger, and bring healing and peace (Isa_57:15-19); only the wicked who persist in their impenitence are excluded from the promised blessing (Isa_57:20-21).
Isa_56:9 to Isa_57:2. Denunciation of the worthless rulers of the Jewish community.—The difficulty of supposing that this passage refers to the state of things in the Exile is obvious. Israel is compared to a flock in charge of its own shepherds; and these shepherds are responsible both for the internal disorders from which it suffers, and the outward dangers which threaten it. An invitation to the wild beasts (the heathen nations) to come and devour a people already “robbed and spoiled” (Isa_42:22) by foreign conquest, is almost inconceivable. It is of course possible, as many scholars hold, that the verses are extracted from a pre-exilic prophecy; but the description is at least as applicable to the conditions which existed after the return from Babylon. The books of Malachi and Nehemiah reveal incidentally a state of affairs which would go far to account for the dark picture here presented of the ruling classes in the restored community.
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 (9) All ye beasts of the field . .…
(9) All ye beasts of the field . . .—The sudden change of tone indicates that we enter on an entirely new section, which extends to the close of Isaiah 57. The contents of that section fit in with the assumption of its having been written early in the reign of Manasseh, better than With that of a date after the exile. The opening words summon the enemies of Israel to do their work of punishment, and this is followed naturally by a denunciation of the sins which had made it necessary. For the form of the summons, comp. Eze_34:8; Jer_12:9.
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 Section V A WARNING TO THE WICKED. (Isa_56:9-12; Isa_57:1-12)
Section V A WARNING TO THE WICKED. (Isa_56:9-12; Isa_57:1-12)
Vers. 9-12. THE BLIND GUIDES OF ISRAEL REBUKED. A sudden change of style marks the introduction of an entirely new prophecy. The eye of the prophet, apparently, goes back from the period of the exile, which he has been so long contemplating, to his own day, or at any rate to the pre-exile period, and rests upon Israel in their own land. He sees them misled by their teachers (vers. 10-12), given to idolatry, (Isa_57:3-9) and offering themselves a ready prey to their enemies. (Isa_56:9) Many modern critics regard the passage as the composition of an unknown prophet belonging to the time of Manasseh. But there is no sufficient evidence of this. The prophecy has many Isaiah characteristics.
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Beasts of the field....beasts in the forest; i.e. "all wild beasts of whatever kind all the enemies of God"s flock. (see Jer_12:9 Eze_34:8) Come to devour. Make haste, now is your opportunity. The people have none to protect them, and will be an easy prey. Come, set to work; devour.
Vers. 9-12. When their spiritual guides go astray, the flock of Christ suffers
Spiritual guides are bound to watch for the flock, as "they that must give account". (Heb_13:17) It is ill for the flock when they are even negligent in their duties still worse when they engage actively in evil courses. Israel"s guides at this time were open to both charges, and are blamed on both accounts. Isaiah taxes them with being
I BLIND GUIDES, destitute of spiritual wisdom and spiritual discernment. "The priest"s lips should keep knowledge". (Mal_2:7) It is the office of priests and ministers to guide aright the souls committed to their charge, and for this purpose they require a large fund of "the wisdom which is from above," a large experience of human life and of the human heart, and a deep acquaintance with the written Word, wherein treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid away. "Blind guides" constitute a terrible danger. "If the blind lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the pit?". (Mat_15:14) What havoc may not be wrought by a "blind guide," who undertakes to be the director of thousands or even hundreds of souls! And yet how lightly do young men, after no more than a year or two of experience, seek to obtain "sole charges"! "Sole charges" should be reserved for those who have been thoroughly tried and tested, and have shown themselves able ministers of the Word and wise directors of men"s consciences.
II DUMB DOGS. If we are without knowledge, it is better to be "dumb" than to speak. But to have knowledge, to be able to direct and improve others, and, having undertaken the ministerial office, then to draw back and remain silent, through sloth and laziness, because we would fain "lie down, and dream, and slumber," and pass our life without care, or anxiety, or trouble, this is a most "dangerous downfall," a shirking of our responsibilities, a "drawing back unto perdition of the soul". (Heb_10:39) There are ministers even now, in this latter part of the nineteenth century, whose object in their ministerial life seems to be to do as little as possible, who preach little, visit less, reprove and rebuke vice least of all, whose desire seems to he always for "a little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands to sleep". (Pro_6:10) Such persons will one day experience a terrible awakening!
III GREEDY DOGS. Ministers are bound to be patterns to the flock. If they preach the doctrines of the gospel self-sacrifice, spirituality, unworldliness and are themselves greedy of gain, conspicuous examples of the worldly and covetous spirit which they denounce, what possible effect for good can their preaching have? Such men do more harm than infidels. They dishonour their Master, bring scorn and contempt upon religion, do their best to create the impression that Christianity is a sham, a make-believe, a device for bolstering up a rotten state of society and repressing revolutionary effort. "The labourer is worthy of his hire", (Luk_10:7) and they that preach the gospel are entitled to "live of the gospel"; (1Co_9:14) but a hard, grasping, or even niggardly spirit in a Christian minister is a disgrace to his profession, a scandal to the Church whereto he belongs, and a danger to society. Such as "look to their own way," and seek their own gain, "to the uttermost," as did the pseudo-prophets of Isaiah"s day, are wholly unfit to bear the message of him who, "though rich, for man"s sake became poor", (2Co_8:9) and chose "the poor of this world" for his ministers. (Jam_2:5)
IV WINE-BIBBERS. Intemperate habits are, if possible, more unbecoming to the minister of Christ than even covetousness. Covetousness may be secret, and escape detection; intemperance is a public scandal. The man of intemperate habits can scarcely have the face to rebuke any vice in others, seeing that his own vice is so open and patent to all. He is thus utterly disqualified for the ministerial office, which he degrades and disgraces so long as he bears it. Fortunately, at the present day, intemperance is recognized as incompatible with the cure of souls; and the intemperate minister, in modern Churches, can scarcely remain a minister for many months.
Ver. -Joh 10) As the flock becomes a prey to the wild beasts when there is no shepherd, or when he neglects his care, so Israel, bereft of her natural defenders, lies at the mercy of the great heathen empire. (cf. Eze_13:4 Eze_34:8 Eze_39:4 Jer_12:9 Rev_19:17, Rev_19:18) Especially the prophets are referred to. (cf. Eze_3:17 Isa_21:11) These "dumb dogs" are opposed to the faithful shepherd. (Job_30:1) "We must suppose that the prophets referred to were no better than the ancient soothsayers, who gave oracles respecting the difficulties of everyday life, but were silent on the great moral questions" (Cheyne). Immersed, perhaps, in sin themselves, they were blind to the national sins. "God requires knowledge in his ambassadors. Ignorance of the truth; of the nature, existence, and pollution of sin; of the claims of God and of the way of pardon, is an effectual disqualification for the office.
II THEIR SLUGGISHNESS AND GREED. They are like those who rave in sleep, moving among idle phantasms rather than serious realities. The false teacher not only does not know the truth, he falls into some species of delusion, and leads his flock along with him. He "loves to slumber." "Alas! that this should be too true of multitudes who bear the sacred office, and are appointed to warn their fellow-men of danger! Some are afraid of giving offence; some have no deep sense of the importance of religious truth; some embrace false opinions; some engage in worldly projects, and fill up their time with the cares and plans of this life; and some are invincibly indolent. An inactive and unfaithful ministry suffers the great enemy to come and bear away the soul to death, as an unfaithful mastiff would suffer a thief to approach the dwelling without warning the inmates. Instinct prompts the faithful animal to act the part God intends; but alas! there are men whom neither conscience, reason, hope, fear, nor love will rouse to put forth efforts to save a soul from hell! Their greed. They "keep up the old custom, rejected by the higher prophets as an abuse, of taking fees" (see references in Cheyne). Each and all are bent upon private interest and gain, and upon selfish enjoyment. One of them is represented as inviting another to a carouse of two days.
III THE CONTRASTED FATE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. They "perish prematurely cut off; a contradiction peculiarly great from an Old Testament point of view. (Ecc_7:15) It seemed as if this premature departure were an ill reward for faithful service; but it was dictated by mercy. The godly were delivered from sights of horror which might have vexed their souls. "O Brettinoro! wherefore tarriest still, Since forth of thee thy family hath gone, And many, hating evil, join"d their steps?
Moreover, they were spared from the coming retribution; so Abraham goes to his fathers in peace, and Isaiah is not to see all the evil which God will bring upon the place. "His soul is pleasing to God; therefore he hastens with him out of the evil life". (RAPC Wis 4:14) Here was a warning to the wicked; great must be the evil doomed to be so punished. A few remaining righteous might have saved the city. (Gen_18:23-32) Sorer punishment was therefore at hand. The departure of a good man is a public calamity. His example and his influence are among the richest blessings of the world. If men are not deeply affected by the withdrawal of them, it is a proof of guilt and stupidity. Who knows, asked a heathen poet, if dying be not life, and life dying? On the hither side of the grave the wicked remain steeped in sin and sloth; on the further side there is rest and peace. "Let them rave, thou art quiet in thy grave." "Who does not envy those who have seen to an end their manful endeavour? Who that sees the meanness of our public life, but in]y congratulates the pure statesman or teacher that he is long wrapped in his shroud, and for ever safe; laid sweet in his grave, the hope of humanity not subjugated in him? Who does not sometimes envy the good and brave, who are no more to suffer from the tumults of the natural world, and await with curious complacency the speedy term of his own conversation with finite nature? Yet the love that will be annihilated sooner than treacherous, has already made death impossible, and affirms itself no mortal, but nature of the deeps of absolute and inextinguishable being" (Emerson). J.
Vers. 9-12. Unfaithful ministry.
Three truths appear as we consider these strong words.
I THAT GOD HAS PLACED THE WELFARE OF THE MANY IN THE CHARGE OF THE FEW. Practically, the moral and material condition of the country in the course of the next twenty years depends greatly on the character of those of its citizens who are parents. The fathers and mothers in the land are determining its future to a large extent by their parental wisdom or folly. But we may narrow the issue considerably; we may say that what the next generation will be, in respect of conviction and conduct, depends on the character of the ministry it is receiving at the hands of its religious teachers. If these are loyal to their Lord, and do faithfully the work committed to their care, the community will know the truth and do the will of God. And so long as the nation walks in the light of the Lord it will be prosperous and strong; its worst enemies will not prevail against it; it will grow in wisdom, in honour, in power.
II THAT MEN MAY PROVE UTTERLY UNWORTHY OF THE HIGH POSITION TO WHICH THEY ARE CALLED. It may be said that no one has a right to take a step which may result in the responsibilities of parentage, unless he or she is prepared to teach and train children in the knowledge and fear of God. It must certainly be said that no one has a right to take on himself the functions of a Christian minister unless he is qualified to teach Christ"s truth and to commend his gospel to the minds and the hearts of men. It is the grave misfortune of the Church and the world that so many have incurred responsibility without any such qualifications. They have failed either in doctrine, having been as "dumb dogs," not warning sinners of the perils besetting them, wilfully and culpably silent; or in understandably, being "blind" and "ignorant," never having understood the truth, or having become insensible to its excellence by reason of their unfaithfulness; or in consistency of life, failing into the sin of idleness (ver. 10), or that of covetousness and consequent rapacity (ver. 11), or that of bodily indulgence (ver. 12). And sin is never so ugly a garment as when it clothes the person of a minister of Jesus Christ.
III THAT AN UNWORTHY MINISTRY SEALS THE FATE OF THE UNFORTUNATE COUNTRY ON WHICH IT IS IMPOSED. There is little hope for a land cursed with an unfaithful and an ungodly ministry. Not only is the truth of God withheld from men, but it is made positively distasteful and repugnant to the more spiritual by being associated with such professors. Its power is reduced to the very lowest possible point; the people are abandoned to error and to folly. It will soon be time for the enemy to appear at the gates for the destroying beast to ravage the flock (ver. 9).
1. Let all but those whom God has fitted for it shrink with holy diffidence from the sacred office.
2. Let the Church of Christ take the greatest care whom it invites to be "over it in the Lord. C.
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 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour.
Isa_56:9-12
All ye beasts of the field, come to devour.
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The defenceless condition the community owing to the incompetence of its spiritual leaders
1. All the wild beasts of the field and the forest are invited to come and devour the unprotected flock.
2. For its rulers neglect their duty; they are inefficient as dumb dogs; they are slothful, greedy, and sensual.
3. In consequence of their incapacity the righteous perish, none regarding their fate (Isa_57:1-2). (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
The metaphor of wild beasts
The people being represented in the following verses as a flock, their destroyers are naturally represented here as wild beasts. (J. A. Alexander.)
That a new chastisement at the hands of the heathen is actually contemplated need not be assumed. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
The flock: its guardians and its devourers
These words (Isa_56:9) are to be understood as a note of warning, a sound of alarm. It is not that God wishes His flock to be devoured that He thus summons the beasts of prey to gather round the fold; on the contrary, He is concerned for their safety, and warns them of the danger in which they stand. No style of address was better fitted to startle both flock and shepherds from their careless security. Gods flock is still surrounded by ravenous beasts.
I. THE UNPROTECTED STATE OF THE FLOCK.
1. In the case before us the sheep are shamefully neglected.
2. The opposite course must tend to secure the safety and well-being of the flock. Pray, then, for your minister.
II. THE WILD BEASTS THAT THREATEN TO DEVOUR THE FLOCK. Some are open and undisguised; others are wily and insidious. Conclusion: We point you to the Chief Shepherd. (W. Guthrie, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Isa_56:9-12; Isa_57:1-21; Isa_58:1-14; Isa_59:1-21
CHAPTER XXIII
THE REKINDLING OF THE CIVIC CONSCIENCE
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Isa_56:9-12; Isa_57:1-21; Isa_58:1-14; Isa_59:1-21
IT was inevitable, as soon as their city was again fairly in sight, that there should re-awaken in the exiles the civic conscience; that recollections of those besetting sins of their public life, for which their city and their independence were destroyed, should throng back upon them; that in prospect of their again becoming responsible for the discharge of justice and other political duties, they should be reminded by the prophet of their national faults in these respects, and of Gods eternal laws concerning them. If we keep this in mind, we shall understand the presence in "Second Isaiah" of the group of prophecies at which we have now arrived, Isa_56:9-12; Isa_57:1-21; Isa_58:1-14; Isa_59:1-21. Hitherto our prophet, in marked contrast to Isaiah himself, has said almost nothing of the social righteousness of his people. Israels righteousness, as we saw in our fourteenth chapter, has had the very different meaning for our prophet of her pardon and restoration to her rights. But in Isa_56:9-12; Isa_57:1-21; Isa_58:1-14; Isa_59:1-21 we shall find the blame of civic wrong, and of other kinds of sin of which Israel could only have been guilty in her own land; we shall listen to exhortations to social justice and mercy like those we heard from Isaiah to his generation. Yet these are mingled with voices, and concluded with promises, which speak of the Return as imminent. Undoubtedly exilic elements reveal themselves. And the total impression is that some prophet of the late Exile, and probably the one whom we have been following, collected these reminiscences of his peoples sin in the days of their freedom, in order to remind them, before they went back again to political responsibility, why it was they were punished and how apt they were to go astray. Believing this to be the true solution of a somewhat difficult problem, we have ventured to gather this mixed group of prophecies under the title of the Rekindling of the Civic Conscience. They fall into three groups: first, Isa_56:9-12; Isa_57:1-21; second, chapter 58; third, chapter 59. We shall see that, while there is no reason to doubt the exilic origin of the whole of the second, the first and third of these are mainly occupied with the description of a state of things that prevailed only before the Exile, but they contain also exilic observations and conclusions.
I. A CONSCIENCE BUT NO GOD
Isa_56:9-12; Isa_57:1-21
This is one of the sections which almost decisively place the literary unity of "Second Isaiah" past possibility of belief. If Isa_56:1-8 flushes with the dawn of restoration, Isa_56:9-12; Isa_57:1-21 is very dark with the coming of the night, which preceded that dawn. Almost none dispute that the greater part of this prophecy must have been composed before the people left Palestine for exile. The state of Israel, which it pictures, recalls the descriptions of Hosea, and of the eleventh chapter of Zechariah. Gods flock are still in charge of their own shepherds, {Isa_56:9-12} -a description inapplicable to Israel in exile. The shepherds are sleepy, greedy, sensual, drunkards, -victims to the curse against which Amos and Isaiah hurled their strongest woes. That sots like them should be spared while the righteous die unnoticed deaths {Isa_57:1} can only be explained by the approaching judgment. "No man considereth that the righteous is taken away from the Evil." The Evil cannot mean, as some have thought, persecution, -for while the righteous are to escape it and enter into peace, the wicked are spared for it. It must be a Divine judgment, -the Exile. But "he entereth peace, they rest in their beds, each one that hath walked straight before him,"-for the righteous there is the peace of death and the undisturbed tomb of his fathers. What an enviable fate when emigration, and dispersion through foreign lands, are the prospect of the nation! Israel shall find her pious dead when she returns! The verse recalls that summons in Isaiah 26, in which we heard the Mother Nation calling upon the dead she had left in Palestine to rise and increase her returned numbers.
Then the prophet indicts the nation for a religious and political unfaithfulness, which we know was their besetting sin in the days before they left the Holy Land. The scenery, in whose natural objects he describes them seeking their worship, is the scenery of Palestine, not of Mesopotamia, - terebinths and wadies, and clerts of the rocks, and smooth stones of the wadies. The unchaste and bloody sacrifices with which he charges them bear the appearance more of Canaanite than of Babylonian idolatry. The humiliating political suits which they paid-"thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thine ambassadors afar off, and didst debase thyself even unto Sheol" (Isa_57:9)-could not be attributed to a captive people, but were the sort of degrading diplomacy that Israel earned from Ahaz. While the painful pursuit of strength (Isa_57:10), the shabby political cowardice (Isa_57:11), the fanatic sacrifice of manhoods purity and childhoods life (Isa_57:5), and especially the evil conscience which drove their blind hearts through such pain and passion in a sincere quest for righteousness (Isa_57:12), betray the age of idolatrous reaction from the great Puritan victory of 701, -a generation exaggerating all the old falsehood and fear, against which Isaiah had inveighed, with the new conscience of sin which his preaching had created. The dark streak of blood and lust that runs through the condemned idolatry, and the stern conscience which only deepens its darkness, are sufficient reasons for dating the prophecy after 700. The very phrases of Isaiah, which it contains, have tempted some to attribute it to himself. But it certainly does not date from such troubles as brought his old age to the grave. The evil, which it portends, is, as we have seen, no persecution of the righteous, but a Divine judgment upon the whole nation,- presumably the Exile. We may date it, therefore, some time after Isaiahs death, but certainly-and this is the important point-before the Exile. This, then, is an unmistakably pre-exilic constituent of "Second Isaiah."
Another feature corroborates this prophecys original independence of its context. Its style is immediately and extremely rugged. The reader of the original feels the difference at once. It is the difference between travel on the level roads of Mesopotamia, with their unchanging horizons, and the jolting carriage of the stony paths of Higher Palestine, with their glimpses rapidly shifting from gorge to peak. But the remarkable thing is that the usual style of "Second Isaiah" is resumed before the end of the prophecy. One cannot always be sure of the exact verse at which such a literary change takes place. In this case some feel it as soon as the middle of Isa_57:11, with the words, "Have not I held My peace even of long time, and thou fearest Me not?" It is surely more sensible, however, after ver. 14, in which we are arrested in any case by an alteration of standpoint. In ver. 14 we are on in the Exile again-before Isa_57:14 I cannot recognise any exilic symptom-and the way of return is before us. "And one said,"-it is the repetition to the letter of the strange annoymous voice of Isa_40:6, -" and one said, Cast ye up, Cast ye up, open up," or "sweep open, a way, lift the stumbling block from the way of My people." And now the rhythm has certainly returned to the prevailing style of "Second Isaiah," and the temper is again that of promise and comfort.
These sudden shiftings of circumstance and of prospect are enough to show the thoughtful reader of Scripture how hard is the problem of the unity of "Second Isaiah." On which we make here no further remark, but pass at once to the more congenial task of studying the great prophecy, Isa_57:14-21, which rises one and simple from these fragments as does some homogeneous rock from the confusing debris of several geological epochs.
For let the date and original purpose of the fragments we have considered be what they may, this prophecy has been placed as their conclusion with at least some rational, not to say spiritual intention. As it suddenly issues here, it gathers up, in the usual habit of Scripture, Gods moral indictment of an evil generation, by a great manifesto of the Divine nature, and a sharp distinction of the characters and fate of men. Now, of what kind is the generation to whose indictment this prophecy comes as a conclusion? It is a generation which has lost its God, but kept its conscience. This sums up the national character which is sketched in Isa_57:3-13. These Israelites had lost Jehovah and His pure law. But the religion into which they fell back was not, therefore, easy or cold. On the contrary, it was very intense and very stern. The people put energy in it, and passion, and sacrifice that went to cruel lengths. Belief, too, in its practical results kept the people from fainting under the weariness in which its fanaticism reacted. "In the length of thy way thou wast wearied, yet thou didst not say, It is hopeless; life for thy hand"-that is, real, practical strength-"didst thou find: wherefore thou didst not break down."
And they practised their painful and passionate idolatry with a real conscience. They were seeking to work out righteousness for themselves (Isa_57:12 should be rendered: "I will expose your righteousness," the caricature of righteousness which you attempt). The most worldly statesman among them had his sincere ideal for Israel, and intended to enable her, in the possession of her land and holy mountain, to fulfil her destiny (Isa_57:13). The most gross idolater had a hunger and thirst after righteousness, and burnt his children or sacrificed his purity to satisfy the vague promptings of his unenlightened conscience.
It was indeed a generation which had kept its conscience, but lost its God; and what we have in Isa_57:15-21 is just the lost and forgotten God speaking of His Nature and His Will. They have been worshipping idols, creatures of their own fears and cruel passions. But He is the "high and lofty one"-two of the simplest adjectives in the language, yet sufficient to lift Him they describe above the distorting mists of human imagination. They thought of the Deity as sheer wrath and force, scarcely to be appeased by men even through the most bloody rites and passionate self-sacrifice. But He says, "The high and the holy I dwell in, yet with him also that is contrite and humble of spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." The rest of the chapter is to the darkened consciences a plain statement of the moral character of Gods working. God always punishes sin, and yet the sinner is not abandoned. Though he go in his own way, God "watches his ways in order to heal him. I create the fruit of the lips," that is, "thanksgivings: Peace, peace, to him that is far off and him that is near, saith Jehovah, and I will heal him." But, as in chapter 48, and chapter 50, a warning comes last, and behind the clear, forward picture of the comforted and restored of Jehovah we see the weird background of gloomy, restless wickedness.
II. SOCIAL SERVICE AND THE SABBATH
(chapter 58)
Several critics (including Professor Cheyne) regard chapter 58 as post-exilic, because of its declarations against formal fasting and the neglect of social charity, which are akin to those of post-exilic prophets like Zechariah and Joel, and seem to imply that the people addressed are again independent and responsible for the conduct of their social duties. The question largely turns on the amount of social responsibility we conceive the Jews to have had during the Exile. Now we have seen that many of them enjoyed considerable freedom: they had their houses and households; they had their slaves; they traded and were possessed of wealth. They were, therefore, in a position to be chargeable with the duties to which chapter 58 calls them. The addresses of Ezekiel to his fellow-exiles have many features in common with chapter 58, although they do not mention fasting; and fasting itself was a characteristic habit of the exiles, in regard to which it is quite likely they should err just as is described in chapter 58. Moreover, there is a resemblance between this chapters comments upon the peoples enquiries of God (Isa_58:2) and Ezekiels reply when certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of Jehovah. (Ezekiel 21, cf. Eze_33:30 f.) And again Isa_58:11-12 are evidently addressed to people in prospect of return to their own land and restoration of their city. We accordingly date chapter 53 from the Exile. But we see no reason to put it as early as Ewald does, who assigns it to a younger contemporary of Ezekiel. There is no linguistic evidence that it is an insertion, or from another hand than that of our prophet. Surely there were room and occasion for it in those years which followed the actual deliverance of the Jews by Cyrus, but preceded the restoration of Jerusalem, -those years in which there were no longer political problems in the way of the peoples return for our prophet to discuss, and therefore their moral defects were all the more thrust upon his attention; and especially, when in the near prospect of their political independence, their social sins roused his apprehensions.
Those who have never heard an angry Oriental speak have no idea of what power of denunciation lies in the human throat. In the East, where a dry climate and large leisure bestow upon the voice a depth and suppleness prevented by our vulgar haste of life and teasing weather, men have elaborated their throat-letters to a number unknown in any Western alphabet; and upon the lowest notes they have put an edge, that comes up shrill and keen through the roar of the upper gutturals, till you feel their wrath cut as well as sweep you before it. In the Oriental throat, speech goes down deep enough to echo all the breadth of the inner man; while the possibility of expressing within so supple an organ nearly every tone of scorn or surprise preserves anger from that suspicion of spite or of exhaustion, which is conveyed by too liberal a use of the nasal or palatal letters. Hence in the Hebrew language "to call with the throat" means to call with vehemence, but with self-command; with passion, yet as a man; using every figure of satire, but earnestly; neither forgetting wrath for mere arts sake, nor allowing wrath to escape the grip of the stronger muscles of the voice. It is "to lift the voice like a trumpet,"-an instrument, which, with whatever variety of music its upper notes may indulge our ears, never suffers its main tone of authority to drop, never slacks its imperative appeal to the wills of the hearers.
This is the style of the chapter before us, which opens with the words, "Call with the throat, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet." Perhaps no subject more readily provokes to satire and sneers than the subject of the chapter, -the union of formal religion and unlovely life. And yet in the chapter there is not a sneer from first to last. The speaker suppresses the temptation to use his nasal tones, and utters, not as the satirist, but as the prophet. For his purpose is not to sport with his peoples hypocrisy, but to sweep them out of it. Before he has done, his urgent speech, that has not lingered to sneer nor exhausted itself in screaming, passes forth to spend its unchecked impetus upon final promise and gospel. It is a wise lesson from a master preacher, and half of the fruitlessness of modern preaching is clue to the neglect of it. The pulpit tempts men to be either too bold or too timid about sin; either to whisper or to scold; to euphemise or to exaggerate; to be conventional or hysterical. But two things are necessary, the facts must be stated, and the whole manhood of the preacher, and not only his scorn or only his anger or only an official temper, brought to bear upon them. "Call with the throat, spare not, like a trumpet lift up thy voice, and publish to My people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sin."
The subject of the chapter is the habits of a religious people, -the earnestness and regularity of their religious performance contrasted with the neglect of their social relations. The second verse, "the descriptions in which are evidently drawn from life," tells us that "the people sought God daily, and had a zeal to know His ways, as a nation that had done righteousness,"-fulfilled the legal worship, -"and had not forsaken the of their God: they ask of Me laws of righteousness,"-that is, a legal worship, the performance of which might make them righteous, -"and in drawing near to God they take delight." They had, in fact, a great greed for ordinances and functions, -for the revival of such forms as they had been accustomed to of old. Like some poor prostrate rose, whose tendrils miss the props by which they were wont to rise to the sun, the religious conscience and affections of Israel, violently torn from their immemorial supports, lay limp and wind-swept on a bare land, and longed for God to raise some substitute for those altars of Zion by which, in the dear days of old, they had lifted themselves to the light of His face. In the absence of anything better, they turned to the chill and shadowed forms of the fasts they had instituted. But they did not thereby reach the face of God. "Wherefore have we fasted," say they, "and Thou hast not seen? we have humbled our souls, and Thou takest no notice?" The answer comes swiftly: Because your fasting is a mere form! "Lo, in the very day of your fast ye find a business to do, and all your workmen you overtask." So formal is your fasting that your ordinary eager, selfish, cruel life goes on beside it just the same. Nay, it is worse than usual, for your worthless, wearisome fast but puts a sharper edge upon your temper: "Lo, for strife and contention ye fast, to smite with the fist of tyranny." And it has no religious value: "Ye fast not" like "as" you are fasting "today so as to make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, -a day for a man to afflict himself? Is it to droop his head like a rush, and grovel on sackcloth and ashes? Is it this thou wilt call a fast and a day acceptable to Jehovah?" One of the great surprises of the human heart is that self-denial does not win merit or peace. But assuredly it does not, if love be not with it. Though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Self-denial without love is self-indulgence. "Is not this the fast that I choose? to loosen the bonds of tyranny, to shatter the joints of the yoke, to let the crushed go free, and that ye burst every yoke. Is it not to break to the hungry thy bread, and that thou bring home wandering poor? when thou seest one naked that thou cover him, and that from thine own flesh thou hide not thyself? Then shall break forth like the morning thy light, and thy health shall immediately spring. Yea, go before thee shall thy righteousness, the glory of Jehovah shall sweep thee on," literally, "gather thee up. Then thou shalt call, and Jehovah shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here am I If thou shalt put from thy midst the yoke, and the putting forth of the finger, and the speaking of naughtiness"-three degrees of the subtlety of selfishness, which when forced back from violent oppression will retreat to scorn and from open scorn to backbiting, -"and if thou draw out to the hungry thy soul,"-tear out what is dear to thee in order to fill his need, the strongest expression for self-denial which the Old Testament contains, -"and satisfy the soul that is afflicted, then shall uprise in the darkness thy light, and thy gloom shall be as the noonday. And guide thee shall Jehovah continually, and satisfy thy soul in droughts, and thy limbs make lissom; and thou shalt be like a garden well-watered, {Jer_31:12} and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. And they that are of thee shall build the ancient ruins; the foundations of generation upon generation thou shalt raise up, and they shall be calling thee Repairer-of-the-Breach, Restorer-of-Paths-for-habitation." {Cf. Job_24:13} Thus their "righteousness" in the sense of external vindication and stability, which so prevails with our prophet, shall be due to their "righteousness" in that inward moral sense in which Amos and Isaiah use the word. And so concludes a passage which fills the earliest, if not the highest, place in the glorious succession of Scriptures of Practical Love, to which belong the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, the twenty-fifth of Matthew and the thirteenth of First Corinthians. Its lesson is, -to go back to the figure of the draggled rose, -that no mere forms of religion, however divinely prescribed or conscientiously observed, can of themselves lift the distraught and trailing affections of man to the light and peace of Heaven; but that our fellow men, if we cling to them with love and with arms of help, are ever the strongest props by which we may rise to God; that character grows rich and life joyful, not by the performance of ordinances with the cold conscience of duty, but by acts of service with the warm heart of love.
And yet such a prophecy concludes with an exhortation to the observance of one religious form, and places the keeping of the Sabbath on a level with the practice of love. "If thou turn from the Sabbath thy foot," from "doing thine own business on My holy day; {Amo_8:5} and tallest the Sabbath Pleasure,"-the word is a strong one, "Delight, Delicacy, Luxury, -Holy of Jehovah, Honourable; and dost honour it so as not to do thine own ways, or find thine own business, or keep making talk: then thou shalt find thy pleasure," or "thy delight, in Jehovah,"-note the parallel of pleasure in the Sabbath and pleasure in Jehovah, -"and He shall cause thee to ride on the high places of the land, and make thee to feel upon the portion of Jacob thy father: yea, the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken."
Our prophet, then, while exalting the practical Service of Man at the expense of certain religious forms, equally exalts the observance of Sabbath; his scorn for their formalism changes when he comes to it into a strenuous enthusiasm of defence. This remarkable fact, which is strictly analogous to the appearance of the Fourth Commandment in a code otherwise consisting of purely moral and religious laws, is easily explained. Observe that our prophet bases his plea for Sabbath-keeping, and his assurance that it must lead to prosperity, not on its physical, moral, or social benefits, but simply upon its acknowledgment of God. Not only is the Sabbath to be honoured because it is the "Holy of Jehovah" and "Honourable," but "making it ones pleasure" is equivalent to "finding ones pleasure in Him." The parallel between these two phrases in Isa_58:13 and Isa_58:14 is evident, and means really this: Inasmuch as ye do it unto the Sabbath, ye do it unto Me. The prophet, then, enforces the Sabbath simply on account of its religious and Godward aspect. Now, let us remember the truth, which he so often enforces, that the Service of Man, however, ardently and widely pursued, can never lead or sum up our duty; that the Service of God has, logically and practically, a prior claim, for without it the Service of Man must suffer both in obligation and in resource. God must be our first resort-must have our first homage, affection, and obedience. But this cannot well take place without some amount of definite and regular and frequent devotion to Him. In the most spiritual religion there is an irreducible minimum of formal observance. Now, in that wholesale destruction of religious forms, which took place at the overthrow of Jerusalem, there was only one institution, which was not necessarily involved. The Sabbath did not fall with the Temple and the Altar: the Sabbath was independent of all locality; the Sabbath was possible even in exile. It was the one solemn, public, and frequently regular form in which the nation could turn to God, glorify Him, and enjoy Him. Perhaps, too, through the Babylonian fashion of solemnising the seventh day, our prophet realised again the primitive institution of the Sabbath, and was reminded that, since seven days is a regular part of the natural year, the Sabbath is, so to speak, sanctioned by the statutes of Creation.
An institution, which is so primitive, which is so independent of locality, which forms so natural a part of the course of time, but which, above all, has twice-in the Jewish Exile and in the passage of Judaism to Christianity-survived the abrogation and disappearance of all other forms of the religion with which it was connected, and has twice been affirmed by prophecy or practice to be an essential part of spiritual religion and the equal of social morality, -has amply proved its Divine origin and its indispensableness to man.
III. SOCIAL CRIMES
(Chapter 59)
Chapter 59 is, at first sight, the most difficult of all of "Second Isaiah" to assign to a date. For it evidently contains both pre-exilic and exilic elements. On the one hand, its charges of guilt imply that the people addressed by it are responsible for civic justice to a degree which could hardly be imputed to the Jews in Babylon. We saw that the Jews in the Exile had an amount of social freedom and domestic responsibility which amply accounts for the kind of sins they are charged with in chapter 58. But ver. 14 of chapter 59 (Isa_59:14) reproaches them with the collapse of justice in the very seat and public office of justice, of which it was not possible they could have been guilty except in their own land and in the days of their independence. On the other hand, the promises of deliverance in chapter 59 read very much as if they were exilic. "Judgment" and "righteousness" are employed in Isa_59:9 in their exilic sense, and God is pictured exactly as we have seen Him in other chapters of our prophet.
Are we then left with a mystery? On the contrary, the solution is clear. Israel is followed into exile by her old conscience. The charges of Isaiah and Ezekiel against Jerusalem, while Jerusalem was still a "civitas," ring in her memory. She repeats the very words. With truth she says that her present state, so vividly described in Isa_59:9-11, is due to sins of old, of which, though perhaps she can no longer commit them, she still feels the guilt. Conscience always crowds the years together; there is no difference of time in the eyes of God the Judge. And it was natural, as we have said already, that the nation should remember her besetting sins at this time; that her civic conscience should awake again, just as she was again about to become a civitas.
The whole of this chapter is simply the expansion and enforcement of the first two verses, that keep clanging like the clangour of a great high bell: "Behold, Jehovahs hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is His ear heavy that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have been separators between you and your God, and your sins have hidden" His "face from you, that He will not hear." There is but one thing that comes between the human heart and the Real Presence and Infinite Power of God; and that one thing is Sin. The chapter labours to show how real God is. Its opening verses talk of "His Hand, His Ear, His Face." And the closing verses paint Him with the passions and the armour of a man, -a Hero in such solitude and with such forward force, that no imagination can fail to see the Vivid, Lonely Figure. "And He saw that there was no man, and He wondered that there was none to interpose; therefore His own right arm brought salvation unto Him, and His righteousness it upheld Him. And He put on righteousness like a breastplate and salvation" for "a helmet upon His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped Himself in zeal like a robe." Do not let us suppose this is mere poetry. Conceive what inspires it, -the great truth that in the Infinite there is a heart to throb for men and a will to strike for them. This is what the writer desires to proclaim, and what we believe the Spirit of God moved his poor human lips to give their own shape to, -the simple truth that there is One, however hidden He may be to mens eyes, who feels for men, who feels hotly for men, and whose will is quick and urgent to save them. Such a One tells His people that the only thing which prevents them from knowing how real His heart and will are-the only thing which prevents them from seeing His work in their midst-is their sin.
The roll of sins to which the prophet attributes the delay of the peoples deliverance is an awful one; and the man who reads it with conscience asleep might conclude that it was meant only for a period of extraordinary violence and bloodshed. Yet the chapter implies that society exists, and that at least the forms of civilisation are in force. Men sue one another before the usual courts. But none "sueth in righteousness or goeth to the law in truth. They trust in vanity and speak lies." All these charges might be true of a society as outwardly respectable as our own. Nor is the charge of bloodshed to be taken literally. The Old Testament has so great a regard for the spiritual nature of man, that to deny the individual his rights or to take away the peace of God from his heart, it calls the shedding of innocent blood. Isaiah reminds us of many kinds of this moral murder when he says, "your hands are full of blood: seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." Ezekiel reminds us of others when he tells how God spake to him, that if he "warn not the wicked, and the same wicked shall die in his iniquity, his blood will I require at thy hand." And again a Psalm reminds us of the time "when the Lord maketh inquisition for blood, He forgetteth not the cry of the poor." {Isa_1:17; Psa_9:12} This is what the Bible calls murder and lays its burning words upon, -not such acts of bloody violence as now and then make all humanity thrill to discover that in the heart of civilisation there exist men with the passions of the ape and the tiger, but such oppression of the poor, such cowardice to rebuke evil, such negligence to restore the falling, such abuse of the characters of the young and innocent, such fraud and oppression of the weak, as often exist under the most respectable life, and employ the weapons of a Christian civilisation in order to fulfil themselves. We have need to take the bold, violent standards of the prophets and lay them to our own lives, -the prophets that call the man who sells his honesty for gain, "a harlot," and hold him "blood-guilty" who has wronged, tempted, or neglected his brother. Do not let us suppose that these crimson verses of the Bible may be passed over by us as not applicable to ourselves. They do not refer to murderers or maniacs: they refer to social crimes, to which we all are in perpetual temptation, and of which we all are more or less guilty, -the neglect of the weak, the exploitation of the poor for our own profit, the soiling of childrens minds, the multiplying of temptation in the way of Gods little ones, the malice that leads us to blast anothers character, or to impute to his action evil motives for which we have absolutely no grounds save the envy and sordidness of our own hearts. Do not let us fail to read all such verses in the clear light which John the Apostle throws on them when he says: "He that loveth not abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Isa_56:9. All ye beasts of the field, come to…
THE FLOCK: ITS GUARDIANS AND ITS DEVOURERS
Isa_56:9. All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
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These words are to be understood as a note of warning, a sound of alarm. It is not that God wishes His flock to be devoured that He thus summons the beasts of prey to gather round the fold; on the contrary, He is concerned for their safety, and warns them of the danger in which they stand. So defenceless and unprotected is the flock, that ferocious animals may come and devour as much as they please without resistance or opposition. No style of address was better fitted to startle both flock and shepherds from their careless security. God’s flock is still surrounded by ravenous beasts. The Church needs to be on the watch against pernicious doctrines, evil influences, and corrupt practices, that would undermine her faith and rob her of her life. Her enemies are as defiant as ever, and assail her in various forms. It may be well for us, then, to hear and attend to this warning voice.
I. THE UNPROTECTED STATE OF THE FLOCK. The figure employed is familiar to us. A minister is a pastor, i.e. a shepherd, and the people of his charge, a flock. They have been solemnly intrusted to his care, and he is responsible for their spiritual guidance, protection, and support. He is to lead them by the green pastures of Divine truth, and tenderly and lovingly to watch over their highest interests, defending them from harmful influences. In the East, the shepherd has such a genuine interest in his flock that he makes it his constant care. Hence the aptness of the figure. But in the case before us the sheep are shamefully neglected. The fold is open to attack, and the beasts of the field and of the forest have but to come and devour to their hearts’ content. Read what follows the text, and you will find the explanation. What could the state of the flock be with such shepherds—careless, indolent, unfaithful, selfish, and sensual? The picture is drawn from the life, and may well be pondered by every minister of the Word. Those who exercise the sacred office may here learn the special sins which they are liable to indulge, the gross faults from which they ought to be entirely free.
There is another use which may be made of this fearful indictment brought against Israel’s leaders and teachers. If this shameful neglect of theirs left the flock exposed to the ravages of wild beasts, the opposite course must tend to secure its safety and well-being. Pray, then, for your minister (Eph_6:19; Php_1:19; 2Th_3:1). It is always a cheering reflection that if, through the human weakness and incapacity of the earthly shepherd, the flock does stand exposed to attack at some points, the Chief Shepherd never for a moment intermits His care, and can overrule for blessing the ravages of the destroyer (Eze_34:12-16). The fiercest onsets of the foe will only reveal the almighty power that guards the flock. It is the duty of the Church’s overseers to protect their charges, to warn them of possible onsets, and to keep watch at the gate of the fold. If they neglect these precautions, they are only playing into the hands of those who come to devour.
II. THE WILD BEASTS THAT THREATEN TO DEVOUR THE FLOCK.—In the field, in the forest, they growl and rage, watching their opportunity of seizing some stray sheep, or of entering the fold when the gate is left open. In the East several shepherds lead their flocks into the same fold, and intrust them to an under-shepherd or porter, who closes the gate, and remains with them all night. If he be careless, much havoc may be wrought before daybreak (Joh_10:12-13). We may expect that prowlers will always be hanging about the fold. Scripture itself forewarns us (Act_20:29-30). In all the generations of the past the Church of Christ has been menaced by devourers, and has suffered much from their depradations. Satan goeth about as a roaring lion (1Pe_5:8), but he has numerous assistants and agents in his service. Some are open and undisguised; others are wily and insidious. When the lion, the bear, the wolf are seen in their own proper shape, or are heard growling around the fold, the shepherd has but one course—steady resistance, closed gates. With infidels and agnostics, whose aim is to undermine faith and morals,—with Romanists, who sadly pervert the truth, we can deal only in the way of determined and deathless opposition. But it is otherwise with the second class of assailants. The roaring lion does not always roar to give signal of his approach; sometimes he presents himself as a bright angel of light (1Co_11:13-14). The wolves do not always growl as they rush to the onset; they can come up stealthily in sheep’s clothing, so artfully put on that you can scarcely detect the deception. With much show of zeal, and spirituality, these professed friends are really pernicious enemies. They craftily conceal their real principles, until their victim is fairly ensnared. Their aim is “to draw away disciples after them.” They do not labour among the careless: their efforts are directed to the subversion of church members. They save themselves the trouble of excavating, by seizing on the stones already quarried and dressed. Laying hold of the young convert, they instil the subtle poison of their pernicious doctrines into his mind.
CONCLUSION.—
1. Neglect not the means of grace. If it be the pastor’s duty to feed and warn you, it is your part to heed the warning he may find it necessary to give (1Th_5:12-13; Heb_13:17; 2Co_1:24).
2. We point you to the Chief Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep. He can restrain the enemies of the flock (Eze_34:23-25). He can and will keep His own (Joh_10:27-28). On which side do you find yourselves? In Christ’s fold, or among its ravenous spoilers? (Mat_13:30).—William Guthrie, M.A.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain The Idolatries of Israel
The Idolatries of Israel
It is difficult to determine the date of this section with certainty. Many scholars assign it, with the rest of Isaiah 40-66, to the period of the exile, or to a date after the return; but some give it a pre-exilic date, on the following grounds: (a) The picture that is drawn of the self-indulgent and infatuated leaders of the nation (Isa_56:10-12) would, it is thought, apply more accurately to the period preceding the exile, than to the exile. (b) The idolatrous rites alluded to (Isa_57:5-9) are those practised in the later days of the Jewish monarchy, (c) Isa_57:1 implies persecution of the true servants of Jehovah, such as marked the reign of Manasseh. (d) The natural features in Isa_57:5-6 are Palestinian, (e) The allusion in Isa_57:9-10 seeking foreign alliances suits the days of the monarchy better than the exile period. Those who assign the section to the exile period maintain that the above reasoning is scarcely conclusive, because the writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel show that heathen rite, such as are here described prevailed right up to the exile, and the tendency to practise them no doubt was strong amongst the Jews generally during the exile: cp. Isa_65:3-5, Isa_65:11; Again, there were other and later persecutions than that under Manasseh; and that the Jewish exiles were subject to persecution is shown by the case of Daniel and his friends. The Palestinian setting of the idolatrous sacrifices referred to may be accounted for by supposing that these are described as they had been practised by the nation in Palestine.
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Chs. Isa_56:9-12 - Isa_57:2. Rebuke of the unworthy leaders of the nation. Israel is exposed to danger because the rulers are infatuated, self-seeking, self-indulgent, and careless of justice.
C. Isa_57:3-10. Rebuke of those given to idolatry. A picture of the idolatrous rites in which they have indulged.
11-14. Jehovah will not endure this, but will interpose.
15-21. He points the way of restoration through penitence.
9. Israel pictured as a neglected and helpless flock, exposed to the attacks of wild beasts.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain Chapters 56:9-57:14 must be read continuously.
Chapters 56:9-57:14 must be read continuously.
CHAPTERS 56:9-57:21
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The Condition of the Apostate Nation and the two Classes
1. The condition of the shepherds of Israel (Isa 56:9-12) 2. Apostate Israel (Isa 57:1-14) 3. The two classes (Isa 57:15-21) The final chapter of this second section corresponds to the last chapter of the first section (chapter 48). The sad condition of the people Israel is pictured. This is their national apostasy throughout this age, while strangers are joined to the Lord and the church is gathered. The worst is yet to come. Chapter 57:9 looks forward to the great apostasy during the great tribulation. The king is the Antichrist, who takes his seat in the temple and claims worship 2Th 2:1-17). They worship him, the masterpiece of Satan, and thus they debase themselves unto hell.
Gracious is the promise to the feeble remnant, those who are contrite and humble. “I have seen his ways and will heal him. I will lead him also and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.” Peace is promised to him that is afar off (Gentiles) and to him that is near (Israel). It will be fully realized in the kingdom. “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” It is the same solemn declaration which stands last in chapter 58. Comfort and peace for all, except for the wicked. It is a complete answer to the heresy of the present day, which claims that all Israel, including the wicked dead, will be saved and have a share in the Kingdom of Peace.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Neglect of Jehovah’s Flock by its Shepherds
The Neglect of Jehovah’s Flock by its Shepherds
v. 9. All ye beasts of the field come to devour, yea, all ye beasts In the forest! It is an ironical call to the enemies of the Church to take advantage of Israel’s helplessness, since she is lying there without protection, her shepherds living a life of ease and indulgence.
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v. 10. His watchmen, the men on the lookout in the watch-tower of city or fold, in this case the prophets of Israel, are blind, the false teachers deliberately blinding themselves against the needs of the people; they are all ignorant, lacking in true spiritual understanding, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark, like shepherd dogs too lazy or indifferent to raise the alarm at the coming of the wolves; sleeping, lying down, idle dreamers and sluggards, loving to slumber, delighting in self-indulgence. Instead of feeding the flock of the Lord with the Word of God entrusted to them, the false prophets of all times have only their own comfort, the enrichment of their own lazy selves, in mind. Physical laziness usually goes together with intellectual and spiritual relaxation.
v. 11. Yea, they are greedy dogs, which can never have enough, the covetousness of false prophets having become proverbial, and they are shepherds that cannot understand, that is, they want to be shepherds, they desire so to be regarded, and yet they have no insight into the demands of their position, they do not realize that their actions give the lie to the title which they bear; they all look to their own way, following the desire of their own evil heart, every one for his gain, from his quarter, to the very end of the gain which they may get out of their position, every one intent upon getting as much as possible out of the people and out of his office.
v. 12. Come ye, say they, in the spirit which always characterizes their self-indulgence, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink, in an orgy of bestial drinking; and tomorrow shall be as this day and much more abundant, literally, "great, much more in excess," a strong expression denoting the habitual and intentional indulgence in intoxicants, with all its accompanying bestiality.
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 All you wild beasts of the field, come and…
All you wild beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts in the forest
God is calling armies of other nations by comparing them to animals to come and attack the people of Israel. (See: Metaphor)
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All their watchmen are blind
This means Israel's leaders cannot or perhaps do not want to see what is going on in society.
They are all silent dogs
The leaders are supposed to open their mouths and warn the people, but they do not. Comparing someone to a dog in this society is a great insult. (See: Metaphor)
They dream, and lying down they love to sleep
This means the leaders are not bringing God's word of warning to Israel but prefer their own comfort.
translationWords
devour
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 56:9–57:13 This is a reflection on the prevalence of…
56:9–57:13 This is a reflection on the prevalence of evil among God’s people; they were greedy (56:9-12), hostile to the righteous (57:1-2), and idolatrous (57:3-13).
56:9 Wild animals are here a metaphor for the hostile nations surrounding Judah.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.