The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.
Parallel Translations
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The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.
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The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
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The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and godly men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Isaiah 57:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 22:20 ‘Therefore behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.’ ” ’ ” So they brought this message back to the king.
- 2 Chronicles 34:28 “Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes won’t see all the evil that I will bring on this place and on its inhabitants.” ’ ” They brought back word to the king.
- Psalms 12:1 Help, Yahweh; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.
- Micah 7:2 The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.
- Isaiah 42:25 Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him, and the strength of battle. It set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know. It burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”
- Isaiah 47:7 You said, ‘I will be a princess forever,’ so that you didn’t lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the results.
- Malachi 2:2 If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart.
- 1 Kings 14:13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam will come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.
- 2 Chronicles 32:33 Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent of the tombs of the sons of David. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
- 2 Chronicles 35:24 So his servants took him out of the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
- Isaiah 57:11 “Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held my peace for a long time, and you don’t fear me?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (21 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain From the plague that is at hand, and also…
From the plague that is at hand, and also because God will punish the wicked.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth…
Isa 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth [it] to heart: and merciful men [are] taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil [to come].
Ver. 1. The righteous perisheth.] So the world deemeth, but not rightly, for "the righteous hath hope in his death," when "the wicked dying is driven away in his wickedness" {Pro 14:32} - by "him that had the power of death, even the devil" {Heb 2:14} - having been "through fear of death all their lifetime subject to bondage." The Lacedaemonians all the time of their life adored death. The righteous can defy death, with Paul, and sing, Death, where is thy sting? hell, where is thy victory? He is not "killed with death," as Jezebel’s children were; {Rev 2:23} but dieth in peace, though he die in battle, as Josiah did, of whom some interpret this text.
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And no man layeth it to heart.] Heb., Upon his heart, that it may sink and soak into it, so as to be soundly sensible of God’s holy hand and end in such a providence. See Isa 5:12. There is a woe to oscitancy and stupidity of this kind.
And merciful men.] Heb, Men of piety or pity, such as all righteous persons are. They have received mercy, and they can show it; {Col 3:12} they have steeped their thoughts in the mercies of God, which have dyed theirs as the dye fat doth the cloth.
Are taken away.] Heb., Gathered, as grain is into the garner, or fruit into the storehouse; so they into Abraham’s bosom. As men gather flowers, and candy them, and preserve them by them, so doth God his pious ones.
No man considering.] None of those debauched ones {Isa 56:12} to be sure of. These are glad to be rid of the righteous, as the Sodomites were of righteous Lot; as the heathen persecutors were of the martyrs, whom they counted καθαρματα, the "sweepings of the world, and the offscourings of all things." {1Co 4:13}
That the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.] As was Methuselah a year before the flood; Jeroboam’s best son, before the downfall of his father’s family; {1Ki 14:12-13} Josiah before the captivity and first destruction of Jerusalem; {2Ki 22:20} James before the second; {Act 12:2} Augustine a little before the sack of his city Hippo, by the Vandals. Felix Nepotianus qui haec non vidit, saith Jerome. Stilico said, that when Ambrose was dead great changes would follow; and it happened accordingly. Luther was taken away in peace, {a} a little before the calamity of Germany, which he foretold, for contempt of the gospel. Pareus died a little before Heidelberg was taken, futuro malo substractus. Mr Brightman was buried a day or two before the pursuivant was sent for him. God had housed him, as he had Lot before the storm; hid him, as he had done Moses in the hole of the rock, till the tempest was blown over; dealt by him, as once by Daniel, {Dan 12:13} who was bid to go away and rest before those great clashings and confusions should come, which had been foreshown to him. Howbeit this is not generally so; for Jeremiah lived to see the first destruction of Jerusalem, John the Evangelist the last. Mr Dod and many other holy men outlived our recent unhappy wars, and deeply shared in them. But usually God taketh away his most eminent servants from the evil to come. As when there is a fire in a house or town men carry out their jewels; ωκυμοροι οι θεοφιλεις, saith an ancient, {b} the best die first commonly. The comfort is, that though as grapes they be gathered before they are ripe, and as lambs, slain before they be grown, yet this benefit they have, that they are freed from the violence of the winepress that others fall into, and they escape many storms that others live to taste of.
{a} Calvin, in hunc locum,
{b} Dion., Prus. Orat. 28.
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 The righteous; just and holy men, who are the…
The righteous; just and holy men, who are the pillars of the place and state in which they live; yea, as the Jews call them, the pillars of the world.
No man; few or none of the people. So he showeth that the corruption was general, in the people no less than in the priests.
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Layeth it to heart; is duly affected with this severe stroke and sad sign of God’s displeasure.
Merciful; or, godly; the same whom he now called righteous, whose duty and practice it is to exercise both mercy or kindness, and justice.
From the evil to come; from those dreadful calamities which are coming upon the nation.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The prophet, in the close of the foregoing chapter,…
The prophet, in the close of the foregoing chapter, had condemned the watchmen for their ignorance and sottishness; here he shows the general stupidity and senselessness of the people likewise. No wonder they were inconsiderate when their watchmen were so, who should have awakened them to consideration. We may observe here,
I. The providence of God removing good men apace out of this world. The righteous, as to this world, perish; they are gone and their place knows them no more. Piety exempts none from the arrests of death, nay, in persecuting times, the most righteous are most exposed to the violences of bloody men. The first that died died a martyr. Righteousness delivers from the sting of death, but not from the stroke of it. They are said to perish because they are utterly removed from us, and to express the great loss which this world sustains by the removal of them, not that their death is their undoing, but it often proves an undoing to the places where they lived and were useful. Nay, even merciful men are taken away, those good men that are distinguished from the righteous, for whom some would even dare to die, Rom 5:7. Those are often removed that could be worst spared; the fruitful trees are cut down by death and the barren left still to cumber the ground. Merciful men are often taken away by the hands of men's malice. Many good works they have done, and for some of them they are stoned. Before the captivity in Babylon perhaps there was a more than ordinary mortality of good men, so that there were scarcely any left, Jer 5:1. The godly ceased, and the faithful failed, Psa 12:1.
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II. The careless world slighting these providences, and disregarding them: No man lays it to heart, none considers it. There are very few that lament it as a public loss, very few that take notice of it as a public warning. The death of good men is a thing to be laid to heart and considered more than common deaths. Serious enquiries ought to be made, wherefore God contends with us, what good lessons are to be learned by such providences, what we may do to help to make up the breach and to fill up the room of those that are removed. God is justly displeased when such events are not laid to heart, when the voice of the rod is not heard nor the intentions of it answered, much more when it is rejoiced in, as the slaying of the witnesses is, Rev 11:10. Some of God's choicest blessings to mankind, being thus easily parted with, are really undervalued; and it is an evidence of very great incogitancy. Little children, when they are little, least lament the death of their parents, because they know not what a loss it is to them.
III. The happiness of the righteous in their removal.
1. They are taken away from the evil to come, then when it is just coming, (1.) In compassion to them, that they may not see the evil (Kg2 22:20), nor share in it, nor be in temptation by it. When the deluge is coming they are called into the ark, and have a hiding-place and rest in heaven when there was none for them under heaven. (2.) In wrath to the world, to punish them for all the injuries they have done to the righteous and merciful ones; those are taken away that stood in the gap to turn away the judgments of God, and then what can be expected but a deluge of them? It is a sign that God intends war when he calls home his ambassadors.
2. They go to be easy out of the reach of that evil. The righteous man, who while he lived walked in his uprightness, when he dies enters into peace and rests in his bed. Note, (1.) Death is gain, and rest, and bliss, to those only who walked in their uprightness, and who, when they die, can appeal to God concerning it, as Hezekiah (Kg2 20:3). Now, Lord, remember it. (2.) Those that practised uprightness, and persevered in it to the end, shall find it well with them when they die. Their souls then enter into peace, into the world of peace, where peace is in perfection and where there is no trouble. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Their bodies rest in their beds. Note, The grave is a bed of rest to all the Lord's people; there they rest from all their labours, Rev 14:13. And the more weary they were the more welcome will that rest be to them, Job 3:17. This bed is made in the darkness, but that makes it the more quiet; it is a bed out of which they shall rise refreshed in the morning of the resurrection.
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 The righteous perisheth,.... Not eternally; he may fear he…
The righteous perisheth,.... Not eternally; he may fear he shall, by reason of sin and temptation; he may say his strength and hope are perished; and his peace and comfort may perish for a time; but he cannot perish everlastingly, because he is one that believes in Christ, and is justified by his righteousness, from whence he is denominated righteous; and such shall never perish, but have everlasting life: but the meaning is, that he perisheth as to his outward man, or dies corporeally, which is called perishing, Ecc 7:15 and so the Targum renders it,
"the righteous die.''
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Or it may be rendered, "the righteous man is lost" (b); not to himself, his death is a gain to him; but to the church, and to the world, which yet is not considered:
and no man layeth it to heart; takes any notice of it, thinks at all about it, far from being concerned or grieved; instead of that, rather rejoice, and are pleased that they are rid of such persons; which will be the case when the witnesses are slain, Rev 11:10. The Targum is,
"and no man lays my fear to heart;''
or on his heart; whereas such providences should lead men to fear the Lord, and seek to him, and serve him, as it did David, Psa 12:1,
and merciful men are taken away; or "gathered" (c); out of the world, to their own people, to heaven; these are such who obtain mercy of the Lord, and show mercy to others, holy good men: the former character may respect the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, this his grace implanted in them, discovered by acts of mercy and goodness; for one and the same persons are intended:
none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come; that there are evil times coming, great calamities, and sore judgments upon men; and therefore these righteous ones are gathered out of the world, and are gathered home, and safely housed in heaven, that they may escape the evil coming upon a wicked generation; and who yet have no thought about it, nor are they led to observe it as they might, from the removal of good men out of the world; see Kg2 22:20. All this may be applied to the martyrs of Jesus in times of Popish persecution; or to the removal of good men by an ordinary death before those times came.
(b) , Sept. (c) "colliguntur", V. L. Munster, Piscator, Cocceius; "congregantur", Pagninus.
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 The blessed death of the righteous, not duly lamented…
The blessed death of the righteous, not duly lamented by the Jews, who also commit idolatry, and trust in man: they are threatened, ver. 1-12. Evangelical promises to the penitent, ver. 13-19. No peace to the wicked, ver. 20, 21.
The righteous - Just and holy men. No man - Few or none. Layeth it to heart - Is duly affected with this sad sign of God's displeasure.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain After mentioning the removal of righteous persons as an…
CHAPTER LVII
After mentioning the removal of righteous persons as an awful
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symptom of the approach of Divine judgments, 1, 2,
the prophet goes on to charge the nation in general with
idolatry, and with courting the unprofitable alliance of
idolatrous kings, 3-12.
In opposition to such vain confidence, the prophet enjoins
trust in God, with whom the penitent and humble are sure to
find acceptance, and from whom they should obtain temporal and
spiritual deliverances, 13-19.
Awful condition of the wicked and finally impenitent, 20, 21.
NOTES ON CHAP. LVII
I shall give Bishop Lowth's translation of the two first verses, and give the substance of his criticisms with additional evidence.
Isa 57:1. The righteous man perisheth, and no one considereth;
And pious men are taken away, and no one understandeth,
That the righteous man is taken away because of the
evil.
Isa 57:2. He shall go in peace: he shall rest in his bed;
Even the perfect man: he that walketh in the straight
path.
Verse 1. The righteous perisheth] הצדק אבד hatstsadik abad. There is an emphasis here which seems intended to point out a particular person. See below. Perisheth - As the root אבד abad signifies the straying of cattle, their passing away from one pasture to another, I feel inclined to follow the grammatical meaning of the word "perish," pereo. So the Vulgate, justus periit, from per, BY or THROUGH, and eo, to GO. In his death the righteous man may be said to have passed through life, and to have passed by men, i.e., gone or passed before them into the eternal world. A similar mode of speech is used by our Saxon ancestors to express death: [Anglo-Saxon], he went out of sight; and [A.S.], he went away; and [A.S.], to fare forth, to die.
There are very few places in Isaiah where Jesus Christ is not intended; and I am inclined to think that He is intended here, THAT Just One; and perhaps Stephen had this place in view, when he thus charged the Jews, "Ye denied τον ἁγιον και δικαιον, that HOLY and JUST One," Ac 3:14. That his death was not laid to heart by the wicked Jewish people, needs no proof.
Merciful men] If the first refers to Christ, this may well refer to the apostles, and to others of the primitive Christians, who were taken away, some by death and martyrdom, and others by a providential escape from the city that they knew was devoted to destruction.
The evil to come.] That destruction which was to come upon this disobedient people by the Romans.
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 57:1-2. These two verses “contain a kind of…
Isa 57:1-2. These two verses “contain a kind of prelude to the distressful scene which is opened immediately after: for the prophet, designing to describe the melancholy state of the adulterous church, to be chastised by the severe judgments of God, beholds, as it were in an ecstasy, the few pious and good men yet remaining in the church gradually falling off, and taken away, either by an immature or violent death: while there were but few who laid this matter to heart, and observed it as a presage of the judgment threatening the church. This stupidity he sadly deplores; immediately subjoining, however: an alleviation, to show that this complaint pertained not to the deceased, as having attained a happier lot, and as blessed in this respect, that they were taken away from the evils and calamities of their times.” — Vitringa. The following short paraphrase on the words will render their sense more apparent. The righteous perisheth — Just and holy men, who are the pillars of the place and state in which they live. And no man layeth it to heart — Few or none of the people are duly affected with this severe stroke and sign of God’s displeasure. Thus he shows that the corruption was general in the people no less than in the priests. And merciful men — Hebrew, אנשׁי חסד, men of benignity, or beneficence, the same whom he before called righteous: those whose practice it was, not only to exercise piety and justice, but also mercy and kindness; none considering — None reflecting within himself, and laying it to heart; that the righteous is taken away from the evil — That dreadful calamities are coming on the church and nation, and that the righteous are taken away before they come. He shall enter into peace — The righteous man shall be received into rest and safety, where he shall be out of the reach of the approaching miseries. They — The merciful men; shall rest in their beds — In their graves, not unfitly called their beds, or sleeping- places, death being commonly called sleep in Scripture; each one walking in his uprightness — That walked, that is, lived, in a sincere and faithful discharge of his duties to God and men. Vitringa thinks “the completion of this prophecy is to be sought in the latter end of the ninth, and in the following centuries; when the papal power greatly prevailed, and the corruption of the church was as great as the persecutions and troubles of the pious were many.”
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 The righteous perisheth - This refers, as I suppose,…
The righteous perisheth - This refers, as I suppose, to the time of Manasseh (see the Introduction, Section 3). Grotius supposes, that it refers to king Josiah; Vitringa, that it refers to martyrs in general. But it seems probable to me that the prophet designs to describe the state of stupidity which prevailed in his own time, and to urge as one proof of it, that the pious part of the nation was taken away by violent death, and that the nation was not affected by it. Such was the guilt of Manasseh; so violent was the persecution which he excited against the just, that it is said of him that he ‘shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another’ 2Ki 22:16. There is evidence (see the Introduction, Section 2), that Isaiah lived to his time, and it is probable that he himself ultimately fell a victim to the race of Manasseh. Though he had, on account of his great age, retired from the public functions of the prophetic office, yet he could not be insensible to the existence of these evils, and his spirit would not suffer him to be silent even though bowed down by age, when the land was filled with abominations, and when the best blood of the nation was poured out like water. The word rendered ‘perisheth’ (אבד 'ābad) as well as the word rendered ‘taken away’ (אסף 'âsaph) denotes violence, and is indicative of the fact that they were removed by a premature death.
And no man layeth it to heart - No one is aroused by it, or is concerned about it. The sentiment of the passage is, that it is proof of great stupidity and guilt when people see the righteous die without concern. If the pious die by persecution and others are not aroused, it shows that they acquiesce in it, or have no confidence in God, and no desire that his people should be preserved; if they die in the ordinary mode and the people are unaffected, it shows their stupidity. The withdrawment of a pious man from the earth is a public calamity. His prayers, his example, his life, were among the richest blessings of the world, and people should be deeply affected when they are withdrawn; and it shows their guilt and stupidity when they see this with indifference. It increases the evidence of this guilt when, as is sometimes the case, the removal of the righteous by death is an occasion of joy. The wicked hate the secret rebuke which is furnished by a holy life, and they often feel a secret exultation when such people die.
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And merciful men - Margin, ‘Men of kindness,’ or ‘godliness.’ Lowth and Noyes render it, ‘Pious men.’ The Septuagint, Ἄνδρες δίκαιοι Andres dikaioi - ‘Just men.’ The Hebrew word denotes “mercy” or “kindness” (חסד chesed). Here it probably means, ‘Men of mercy;’ that is, people who are the subjects of mercy; people who are pious, or devoted to God.
Are taken away - Hebrew, ‘Are gathered.’ That is, they are gathered to their fathers by death.
None considering - They were not anxious to know what was the design of Divine Providence in permitting it.
From the evil to come - Margin, ‘That which is evil.’ The idea here evidently is, that severe calamities were coming upon the nation. God was about to give them up to foreign invasion (Isa 56:9 ff); and the true reason why the just were removed was, that they may not be subject to the divine wrath which should come upon the nation; they were not to be required to contemplate the painful state of things when an enemy should fire the cities, the palaces, and the temple, and cause the sacred services of religion to cease. It was a less evil for them to be removed by death - even by the painful death of persecution - than to be compelled to participate in these coming sorrows. At the same time this passage may be regarded as inculcating a more general truth still. It is, that the pious are often removed in order that they may not be exposed to evils which they would experience should they live. There might be the pains and sorrows of persecution; there might be long and lingering disease; there might be poverty and want; there might be the prevalence of iniquity and infidelity over which their hearts would bleed; there might be long and painful conflicts with their own evil hearts, or there might be danger that they would fall into sin, and dishonor their high calling. For some or all these reasons the righteous may be withdrawn from the world; and could we see those reasons as God does, nothing more would be necessary to induce us to acquiesce entirely in the justice of his dealings.
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 The just. Christ, (Calmet) Josias, (Grotius) or any whose…
The just. Christ, (Calmet) Josias, (Grotius) or any whose cause is just, yet finds no protection from such corrupt magistrates. (Haydock) --- Evil, by the wicked, or to prevent his fall, 4 Kings xii. 20. People little consider what a loss the world sustains, when those die who might have averted the divine wrath. (Calmet) --- They are usually taken away, that they may not witness such misfortunes, and are settled in eternal peace. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1, 2. The righteous perisheth — Under ministrations above…
1, 2. The righteous perisheth — Under ministrations above described. Moral starvation stares them in their faces. Honest seekers after truth come to disappointment.
Merciful men — Men who, amid general discoloration of morals and manners, strive for reformation, find their efforts unavailing. And they pass away — are taken from the evil to come — Spared from witnessing even worse things.
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He shall enter — Rather, He entereth. That is, pious men as a class.
They… rest in their beds — Their quiet is to be found in their graves. Every one that walks “in his uprightness” goes to the grave in peace, with conscious sincerity in seeking, but with failure in finding, the path he desired. This under the influence of false teachers. Nevertheless God receives them, for (Isa_26:19) “Thy dead… shall live again.”
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 Isa_57:1-2. The most alarming feature of the situation, though…
Isa_57:1-2. The most alarming feature of the situation, though the least noticed, is the gradual removal of the righteous members of the community. Comp. Psa_12:1.
merciful men] lit., men of piety (cf. ch. Isa_55:7, Isa_28:14).
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none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come] The idea conveyed by this rendering is that the natural death of many good men was a divine intimation, little heeded by the community, that some great calamity was impending. The translation is perfectly admissible, and the thought is in accordance with the religious sentiment of the O.T. (cf. 2Ki_22:20); yet it is doubtful if we are entitled to read so much into the prophet’s language. There is nothing to indicate that “the evil” is future, nor is it likely that the prophet has in view a future of terror for the righteous. The clause may be equally well rendered that (or for) the righteous is swept away before the evil; and this is probably all that is meant. The “evil” is the prevailing wickedness and oppression caused by the misgovernment described in Isa_56:10-12. The words “none considering” are parallel to “no man layeth it to heart,” and mean that the community takes no note of the fact that its best members are disappearing from its midst.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) The righteous perisheth . . .—The words seem…
LVII.
(1) The righteous perisheth . . .—The words seem written as if in the anticipation or in the actual presence of Manasseh’s persecution of the true prophets. Even before that persecution burst out in its full violence, the “righteous” survivors of Hezekiah’s régime may well have vexed their souls even to death with the evils that were around them. The prophet finds comfort in the thought that their death was a deliverance from yet worse evils. The singular number points to the few conspicuous sufferers.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 1, 2. THE EARLY DEATH OF RIGHTEOUS MEN…
Vers. 1, 2. THE EARLY DEATH OF RIGHTEOUS MEN ACCOUNTED FOR. The Hebrews were given to expect that long life should, as a general rule, accompany righteousness; (Exo_20:12 1Ki_3:14 Psa_91:16 Pro_3:1, Pro_3:2, etc.) and under the Mosaical dispensation we must suppose that it did so. But there were exceptions to the rule. Wicked persecutors, like Ahab, Jezebel, and Athaliah, cut off the righteous ere they had seen half their days. So probably did Manasseh. (2Ki_24:3, 2Ki_24:4) And God sometimes removed the righteous from earth by a natural death before they had grown. (Ecc_7:15 Ecc_8:14) At the time of which Isaiah is here speaking there had been such removals; and of this he takes note, partly to rebuke those who lightly passed over the phenomenon, partly to justify God"s ways to such as were perplexed by it.
The righteous perisheth. The word translated "perisheth" does not imply any violence; but the context implies a premature death. The righteous disappear are taken from the earth before their natural time. Yet no man layeth it to heart; i.e. no one asks what it means no one is disturbed, no one grieves. The general feeling was either one of indifference, or of relief at the departure of one whose life was a reproach to his neighbours. Merciful men; rather, godly men, or pious men. (comp. Mic_7:2) Are taken away; literally, are gathered in. Compare the phrase so frequently used, "gathered to his fathers". (Gen_49:29 Num_27:13 Jud_1:2:10 2Ki_22:20 2Ch_34:28) From the evil; or, out of the way of the evil in order that he may escape it, (comp. 2Ki_22:20, where Josiah is promised that he shall be gathered to his fathers prematurely) in order that he may escape the sight of the evil that was coming on Jerusalem soon after his decease.
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HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1, 2. Three pictures of the human.
Our attention is called to
I A PICTURE OF HUMAN GOODNESS. A good man is represented as "the righteous," as "the merciful," as one who "walketh in uprightness." These characterizations include:
1. The fear of God reverence for his Name, the worship of his Divine Spirit, the recognition of his righteous claims, a supreme regard for his holy will.
2. The love of man a practical acknowledgment of his claims on our sympathy and our succour, a hearty and practical desire to promote his well-being.
3. The regulation of daily life, in all stations and spheres, by the laws of truth, purity, honesty, sobriety. A righteous, merciful, and upright man is one who will be making an honest and earnest endeavour to realize all this in his character and his career. Nothing less will satisfy his aspiration.
II A PICTURE OF HUMAN THOUGHTLESSNESS. "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart." When a community nation or Church has not been living and walking in the light of the Lord, it becomes dull of apprehension, spiritually blind, incapable of estimating the true character of events.
1. It fails to appreciate the worth of one good man"s life. What an incalculable blessing a single true, pure, and holy life may be, and indeed must be! and what a fountain of good is dried up when one who leads such a life is taken away! It is a bad time, indicative of evil and prophetic of decline and death, when human worth is disregarded.
2. It fails to feel the injury and wrong done by arbitrary violence; it ought to resent it with keenest indignation, and to take vigorous steps to arrest and remove it.
3. It fails to recognize a valuable mitigation: "None considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." It is natural enough for men to wish to go on into the future, that they may see what is coming, and that they may help to shape the event; but the wise and thoughtful will consider that there may be a future impending from which they would earnestly pray God to save them. It was not a threat, but a promise, sent to Josiah, "I will gather thee to thy fathers... neither shall thine eyes see all the evil which I will bring upon this place". (2Ki_22:20) Many are they who have outlived the period of prosperity and peace, to whom an earlier death would have been a happier lot. We cannot be sure that a sudden and even (what we call)a premature death may not be a most merciful removal from intolerable pain, or from overwhelming temptation, or from grievous burdens and sorrows. We sing, "Our times are in thy hand," and we do well to continue, "O God, we wish them there.
III A PICTURE OF HUMAN REPOSE. "He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds." From the tumult and the strain, from the battle and the burden of life, even the rest of the grave is welcome. But how much more welcome to the weary spirit is that rest which Jesus Christ has revealed, and which remaineth for the people of God! rest in the home, in the likeness, in the glory, in the untiring service of the ascended Saviour. C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. Mercy and wrath in the death of the righteous.
Possibly the good king -Josiah is here prophetically referred to. His untimely death seems a strange dispensation of Providence even to us now. Josiah"s case may be taken as illustrating the general truth which is thus stated by Bishop Wordsworth: "Good and merciful men, who are taken away in the midst of their efforts to do good in their generation, and whose endeavours appear to be disowned by God, and to be blighted and withered by him, may perhaps seem to men to be cut off by a violent stroke of Divine indignation, and may be mourned by some as having died an untimely death; but the truth is which these Scriptures reveal they are gently gathered by God in love, and are in peace. " The terms used have precise significations. The "righteous" means "those who walk straight, and stand upright." An honoured pastor lay upon his dying bed, and a member of his congregation stood beside it, whose business ways were known to be somewhat shifty. Beckoning him to bend down close to him, the pastor solemnly said these few, but searching, words, "William, go straight!" "Merciful men" are men of kindness; gracious men, who, having themselves felt the loving-kindness of God, deal kindly with their fellowmen.
I MERCY IS SHOWN IN SPARING THE RIGHTEOUS FROM COMING CALAMITIES. We have often to notice how graciously the death of our friends is timed. At first we wonder why they were taken just then, but the lapse of a few months satisfies us that they were taken "from the evil to come." The widow is removed before her little estate is wrecked by some inefficient or unfaithful trustee. The honorable business man is gathered in before some wrong-doer brings disgrace on his firm which would have broken his heart. Methuselah died the year before the Flood; Augustine a little before the sacking of Hippo. Pareus just before the taking of Heidelberg; Luther a little before the wars broke out in Germany. We have known beloved ones who all their life long prayed that they might not be spared to become troublesome to anybody, and mercy called them away almost suddenly, ere bodily powers began to decay. Most graciously the time, the place, the manner, of our exit from earth are divinely arranged; and in this matter too we may perfectly trust.
II WRATH IS SHOWN IN REMOVING THE BARRIERS TO ONCOMING JUDGMENTS. This is one point which the prophet would enforce. The death of good men should be regarded as a sign that calamity is at hand. Righteousness can held back judgment, as is seen in Abraham"s pleading for Sodom. Prayers and intercessions can hold back judgment. Then the removal of the righteous men and the intercessors removes barriers and lets free the flood. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The righteous perisheth
Isa_57:1-2
The righteous perisheth
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The righteous perishing
In view of this prevailing demoralization and worldliness (Isa_56:9-12), the righteous one succumbs to the grinding weight of external and internal sufferings: he perishes, dies before his time (Ecc_7:15), from the midst of his contemporaries, disappearing from this life (Psa_12:1; Mic_7:2), and no man lays it to heart, i.no one considers the Divine accusation and threatening implied in this early death. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
Merciful men
Literally, men of piety. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
Good men die
Righteousness delivereth from the sting of death, but not from the stroke of it. (M. Henry.)
Death of the righteous
1. One reason why, when the righteous dieth, no man layeth it to heart is because the world do not know the righteous.
2. Another reason is, disinclination of all men by nature to lay such things to heart.
3. They do not think it of much importance. But the death of every good man is a loss to the world, a loss to the Church militant--the people of God are the salt of the earth, and the more taken away and the less left, the less likely are we to be blessed as a nation. (James Wells.)
Early death
Such early removals form a problem insoluble by our poor reason. They seem, at first sight, inconsistent alike with the Divine wisdom and power and love. They look almost like the frustration of Gods plans and purposes, a failure in His sovereign designs. It is the architect just completing His work when that work comes with a crash to the ground. It is the sculptor putting the finishing strokes of his chisel on the virgin marble, when the toil of months or years strews the floor of his studio. It is the gardener bringing forth from his conservatory the long-husbanded plants in their freshness and beauty, to bask in early summer sun, when a frost or hailstorm unexpectedly comes, and in one night they have perished! (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
Early death
Why is the young soldier stricken clown just; when the armour of life has been assayed? Wherefore hath God apparently thus made His noblest work in vain? The words of Isaiah give a twofold answer to these questions and mysteries; the one negative, the other positive.
I. THE NEGATIVE ANSWER. The righteous is taken away from the evil to come. It was so in the case of Josiah (2Ki_22:18-20).
II. THE POSITIVE EXPLANATION. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness; or rather, as it has been rendered, each one walking straight before him, or as Bishop Lowth translates it, he that walketh in the straight oath.
1. Josiah, the good, the pious, when he died, entered into peace. It is a beautiful Old Testament evidence of the immediate blessedness of the departed righteous. His body rested in the tomb, as in a bed or couch; his spirit--the spirit that walked so uprightly on earth, with no divergence from the path of duty and piety--continues, in a loftier state of existence, this elevated walk. The work cut short in this lower world is not arrested; it is only transferred. In a higher and loftier sphere he still pursues these active ministries of righteousness. There is an evident contrast between these opening words of the chapter and the terrible refrain with which it closes--There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked; none in life, none in death, none in their limitless future. But the righteous, thus taken away, enter into peace.
2. Another thought, too, is brought out in the original which we miss in our translation, and which suggests the same assurance of immediate bliss. It occurs in the words just quoted--The righteous is taken away, Merciful men are taken away; this in the Hebrew is, The righteous, the merciful, are gathered--gathered to their fathers.
3. One other thought on early death may be suggested by these words. While the spirit is pursuing its onward path of bliss and glory, it has not, in the truest sense, bid farewell to its earthly sphere. The lips are silenced, the music of the voice is hushed, the blank of the absent is too painfully realized. But the righteous survive dissolution even in this world; in their deathless memories of goodness and worth, they continue to walk. The old promise dictated by the sweet singer of Israel (apparently paradoxical) becomes literally true, regarding those prematurely taken away--With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation. For what, after all, is long life? Is it measured and computed by formal arithmetic? counted by days, or weeks, or months, or years? No! the fourscore years of a misspent life is no life at all. It is a bankruptcy of being. It may be a life only sowing and perpetuating baneful influences; an untimely birth would be better. Whereas, that is the truest length of days, where, it may be for a brief but bright and consecrated season, some young life has shone gloriously for God, and which, though now a fallen meteor, has left a trail of light behind it, for which parent and brother and sister will for ever bless Him who gave the transient boon! (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
The death of the good
I. THEIR DEATH IS THE PERISHING OF THE BODY
1. Why, then, pamper the body?
2. Why centre interests on the wants and enjoyments of the body?
II. THEIR DEATH IS GENERALLY DISREGARDED BY MANKIND. How soon the best of men are forgotten. There are two reasons for disregarding the death of the good.
1. The thought of death is repugnant to the heart.
2. The concerns of life are all-absorbing.
III. THEIR DEATH IS A DELIVERANCE FROM ALL THE EVILS THAT ARE COMING ON THE WORLD. Taken away from the evil to come.
IV. THEIR DEATH IS A STEP INTO A HIGHER LIFE. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds.
1. The death of the good as to the body is only sleep--natural, refreshing, temporary.
2. Their souls march on. Each one walking in his uprightness. Endless progress. It doth not yet appear what we shall be. (Homilist.)
The righteous is taken away from the evil to come
Spared future evil
1. It may be from the evil of personal suffering. The prolongation of life to old age often involves an immense amount of bodily ills and pains.
2. It may be to spare the heart of affection sore trials. How often do children grow up, to break the hearts of fond parents.
3. It may be to take His child out of harms way.
4. It may be to shield him from some impending calamity that is coming upon the Church or the world.
5. Or (if we accept the marginal reading) it is to save them from that which is evil. Life itself, under the curse of sin, is evil, even in its best estate, and the God of mercy cuts it short and receives His loved one into His bosom. (Homiletic Review.)
The blessings of short life
We all spend much time in panegyric of longevity. But I propose to preach about the blessings of an abbreviated earthly existence.
I. IT MAKES ONES LIFE WORK VERY COMPACT.
II. MORAL DISASTER MIGHT COME UPON THE MAN IF HE TARRIED LONGER.
III. ONE IS THE SOONER TAKEN OFF FROM THE DEFENSIVE.
IV. ONE ESCAPES SO MANY BEREAVEMENTS.
V. IT PUTS ONE SOONER IN THE CENTRE OF THINGS. (T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain (Funeral Sermon.)
THE DEATH OF THE GOOD
(Funeral Sermon.)
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Isa_57:1-2. The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, &c.
I. Though God’s people are the excellent of the earth, yet they must die. Though “righteous” and “merciful,” and on these accounts so precious in God’s eyes, and so useful in His cause, they are not exempted from that sentence of death which is passed upon all men. Were we consulted concerning many of them, we should entreat that they might be spared, and we see not how the cause of truth can be maintained without them. But they are “taken away,” to show us that though God uses them as instruments, they are not indispensable to Him. It is our want of faith and our selfishness that cause us to wish them not to be removed. They themselves desire to “depart,” &c.
II. Their death is a great blessing to themselves. They are “taken away,” but—
1. It is to be with Christ. The word here translated “taken away” is often translated “gathered.” When saints die, it is merely a gathering to Christ, And will not they account this a blessing? Being gathered to Christ includes, not simply His presence (though this is the choicest part of heaven), but the presence of the angels and of the spirits of the just made perfect. What a varied and glorious company do they form!
2. It is from the evil to come. From calamities and distresses that would otherwise befall them. From Satan’s temptations. From the persecutions of an ungodly world. From the sad corruptions of their own hearts, which distress them daily. From all the cares, conflicts, and sorrows connected with a mortal existence and a sinful state.
3. It is to rest and peace.
III. It is a grievous, though a common sin, that when men behold the death of the righteous, they do not lay it to heart.
1. As a public loss! When such men die, the Church loses its ornaments, the world its best friends. Well may we mourn individually, when the hallowing influence of a godly character ceases to be exerted upon us.
2. As a public warning!
CONCLUSION.—
1. Let us make the best use of our godly relations and friends while they live.
2. When our godly friends are “taken away,” let us not sorrow as those who have no hope.
3. Let us make sure that we are gathered to Christ now, that we may be gathered to Him hereafter.—James Sherman: Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iv. pp. 1–12.
The characteristics here described are those produced by the operation of God’s grace in human hearts.
I. The prophet notices a familiar fact.
We find it difficult to regard death as other than an enemy. With the exception of Enoch, and Elijah, and perhaps Moses, and those who will be alive when the Lord comes, the reign of death is universal (Ecc_9:2; Rom_5:12; H. E. I. 1536, 1537). God’s people do not escape. Here a question arises: Since the redemption in Christ removes their sins, why should they be retained under the bondage of death? We suggest in answer—
1. That possibly man was never intended to abide perpetually on the globe, but after a lengthened probation to be removed to a higher existence.
2. The necessity for the removal of one generation to make room for another.
3. The wisdom of the arrangement by which old age is ultimately relieved of the weariness and infirmity incident to it.
4. The danger to the spiritual affections of the saints involved in a perpetuated residence on earth.
5. The exemption of believers from death would be an open declaration of and mark upon them; but such open destruction does not accord with the design of this world as a state of trial and discipline.
6. That by the grace of Christ the aspect of death is entirely changed to believers.
7. That the humiliation and sorrow of death are amply compensated by the glorious resurrection and immortal life.
II. The prophet laments the general indifference with which this familiar fact is treated.
This may refer specially to the time of Manasseh, but it is still true.
1. The world does not love the righteous, because they are such. If they care for them at all, it is for other reasons. So far as what is peculiar to them severally is developed, it is antagonistic.
2. The world is indifferent to the fact that the death of the righteous is a public loss. Godly men in their families, neighbourhoods, the nation, by their character, prayers, public spirit are a preserving influence. Sodom could not be destroyed while Lot was in it.
3. The world does not consider the true import and consequence of the death of the righteous. It is not considered in relation to eternity; but only in relation to time. Such a one is dead, his new life is not considered.
III. The prophet suggests the sufficient consolation. To the righteous death is—
1. Exemption from evil. Terrible evil was coming on Israel which those escaped who died at that time. There may be public, domestic, and personal evils impending, from which the Lord snatches His people away.
2. Enjoyment of good. The Gospel does not conduct its votaries to the bed of death, and then leave them there in dark uncertainty. The change that is made by death is their entrance into peace and rest. For there is final and undisturbed security, and the perpetual presence of the objects to which the believer’s spirit has been most closely united; God in Christ, holy angels, glorified saints, perfect purity.
1. How interesting to those left behind, to think of them thus!
2. See that you are among those of whom such thoughts are suitable.
3. Beware of being among those who are indifferent to the people of God and their fate. The world’s indifference to the Church is the reflection of its indifference to Christ.—J. Rawlinson.
The visitations of death are frequently mysterious. Often the most talented, and pious, and useful are cut down, while mere cumberers of the ground are spared, &c. Piety exempts none from the arrests of death; it delivers from the sting of death, but not from its stroke. How affecting the death of a statesman, a minister, an influential Christian, or a pious parent in the meridian of life and usefulness, &c. Isaiah was deeply moved in consequence of the death of good men, and the indifference of his countrymen, &c. It matters little that we cannot accurately determine who these good men were, or the manner of their death. Consider—
I. The character of the good as here portrayed.
1. They are righteous. As none are so naturally, a real and radical change in the governing dispositions of the heart is implied, &c. Believing in the Lord Jesus, and being accepted righteous in Him, they come under an obligation to practise universal righteousness, and to present to the world a character of uniform and sustained holiness (Rom_6:18-19; 1Jn_3:7). They are men of rectitude—men right in their moral relations and in their principles of action—right in heart, and habit, and life (1Jn_3:7). Such a man, however, will always feel that his claim to be regarded as a righteous man is not to be traced to what he is in himself, but to what he owes to the grace of God.
2. They are merciful. Not only the subjects of God’s mercy, but merciful in their own dispositions—“men of kindness or godliness” (margin); forgiving offenders, compassionating the suffering, helping the weak and needy, and evincing kindness, consideration, and bountifulness towards all (Gen_32:10; Psa_119:64; Joe_2:13; Rom_12:8; Col_3:12). In nothing do we imitate God more than in showing mercy. And we have abundant opportunity to do it, for the world is full of sin and misery, which we may help to relieve, &c.
3. They walk in their uprightness. They avoid the crooked path of sin, and pursue the straight line of righteousness (Psa_125:5; Pro_2:15; Isa_59:8; Php_2:15). The Christian life does not consist in mere sentiment or feeling, &c. Feeling and practice, like twin sisters, must go hand in hand. Christianity is pre-eminently a practical system. The doctrine of the kingdom is, that “faith without works is dead”—that faith contains a seed of virtue or holy living, so that good works are not an adjunct of faith, but a necessary fruit of faith. Light must shine, and where there are the principles of holiness there will be all the habits of holiness pervading the whole life.
Is this a description of your character? Have you sought and secured “the righteousness of faith;” are you showing mercy to all men, walking uprightly, &c.?
II. The death of the good as here presented.
1. As the perishing of the body. The soul lives on, and will do for ever; but the mortal body decays, returns to its native dust, &c. The bodies of all the untold myriads of the human race have perished. The mightiest share the same fate as the meanest. Evident to all. Then why pamper the body, &c.
2. As disregarded by the vast majority. Only the few lay it to heart—lament it as a public loss, and regard it as a public warning. How soon the best are forgotten! How can we account for this?
(1.) The commonness of the event.
(2.) The thought of death is repugnant.
(3.) The concerns of life engross both the time and attention of the multitude. This general disregard of the death of the good is to be lamented because it implies—
(1.) Painful ingratitude. Good men are the world’s greatest benefactors, “the salt of the earth,” &c.
(2.) Deplorable moral insensibility. Their removal is a public calamity, for they are the strength of a nation and the safeguard of the land, &c. To treat their death with stolid indifference indicates the highest degree of moral blindness and perversity. Of such a state of things there is but one explanation—“God is not in all their thoughts.” Little children least lament the death of their parents, because they know not what a loss it is to them, &c.
3. As a blessing to themselves.
(1.) They are delivered from the miseries which attend the sins of man. Whatever they are, the good man escapes them by death (1Ki_14:10-13; 2Ki_22:20).
(2.) They enter into peace—rest Their bodies “rest in their beds” or graves. The grave is a quiet resting-place, out of which they shall rise refreshed on the morning of the resurrection. No agitations or alarms can disturb their peaceful slumbers (Job_3:17; Job_17:16; Psa_16:6; 2Ch_11:14; Isa_14:18). Their souls enter into the rest of heaven—the world of eternal repose, where peace is in perfection. They rest not only from all trouble, but from all sin, and sorrow, and strife, from everything that can create pain and uneasiness, for “the former things are done away” (Rev_14:13; Heb_4:9). No wave of trouble shall roll into that beautiful and peaceful haven, and the sense of past trouble will only add to the intensity of present enjoyment.
Such are the prospects of the good. If they were highly consoling and encouraging to the troubled prophet, they ought to be the more so to us, for we have added the disclosures of the Gospel, by which “life and immortality are brought to light.” Then let us take encouragement as the rest and recompense opens to the eye of faith, &c. Sweet thought; we are nearing it every Sabbath. But no such prospects gladden those of you who are unconverted. If you would die the death of the righteous, you must live the life of the righteous, &c. (P. D. 1124).—A. Tucker.
Isa_57:5-9. I. The abominable idolatries of Israel. II. A parallel found in the covetousness and worldliness of professing Christians. III. These evils proceed from the same principles of unbelief. IV. Are equally offensive to God and debasing to the human mind. V. Must as certainly occasion final retribution.
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.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain Isa 57:15-21
Isa 57:15-21
I. A contrite heart does not merely mean a broken heart; it means more. It means literally a heart crushed, a heart ground to powder. You can have no stronger word. It was this heart which God wished to breed in these rebellious Jews. A heart like Isaiah’s, when he said, after having seen God’s glory, "Woe is me! for I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell among a people of unclean lips." A heart like Jeremiah’s, when he said, "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears." A heart like Daniel’s, when he confessed before God that to him and all his people belonged shame and confusion of face.
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II. With God one day is as a thousand years. In one day of bitter misery He can teach us lessons which we could not teach ourselves in a thousand years of reading and studying, or even of praying. In sorrow, He is making short work with our spirits. He grinds hearts to powder, that they may be broken and contrite before Him; but only that He may heal them; that out of the broken fragments of the hard, proud, self-deceiving heart of stone He may create a new heart of flesh, human and gentle, humble and simple. And then He will return and have mercy. He will show that He does not wish our spirits to fail before Him, but to grow and flourish before Him to everlasting life. He will show us that He was nearest when He seemed farthest off; and that just because He is the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, who dwelleth in the high and holy place, for that very reason He dwells also with the humble and contrite heart, because that heart alone can confess His height and its own lowliness—confess its own sin and His holiness; and so can cling to His majesty by faith, and partake of His holiness by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit.
C. Kingsley, Town and Country Sermons, p. 302.
References: Isa 57:15.—J. Oswald Dykes, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 52 (see also Old Testament Outlines, p. 237; C. Kingsley, The Good News of God, p. 370; Pulpit Analyst, vol. iii., p. 592; C. Molyneux, Penny Pulpit, Nos. 280, 281; G. Brooks. Outlines of Sermons, pp. 43, 142; E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons to a Country Congregation, 1st series, p. 74; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. x., p. 147. Isa 57:16.—D. Moore, Penny Pulpit, No. 3087; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 142. Isa 57:16-18.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1490. Isa 57:18.—Ibid., vol. xxii., No. 1279; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 245. Isa 57:19.—Ibid., Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1558; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 143. Isa 58:2.—Ibid., p. 262.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain 2. The peace of the grave is better than…
2. The peace of the grave is better than the condition of unrest under their rulers (Isa_57:1).
Shall enter.. shall rest] RV 'entereth.. rest.'
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3, 5. Sons, etc.] i.e. descendants, perpetuating the character of their ancestors. Seed, etc.] i.e. through your idolatry violating the mystical union between Jehovah and His people: cp. Eze_16:44.
4. Sport yourselves] implying that they find delight in the misfortune of the servants of Jehovah.
5. Enflaming] The word describes the excitement attending the orgies which accompanied the celebration of heathen rites: cp. 1Ki_18:26, 1Ki_18:28. Slaying, etc.] referring to human sacrifices practised under Ahaz and Manasseh (2Ch_28:3; 2Ki_21:6).
6. An allusion to stone-worship (Jer_3:9). Large stones, such as those referred to, were fetiches of the Semitic races in early times, and were thought to be abodes of a deity: cp. the action of Jacob, Gen_28:11, Gen_28:18. Thy lot] whereas Jehovah was their true portion (Jer_10:16; Psa_16:5). Should.. these?] RV 'shall I be appeased for these things?'
7. Thy bed] Idolatry is in OT. commonly figured as adultery (Exo_34:15; Deu_31:16); hence bed is put for the place of idol-worship.
8. Remembrance] RV 'memorial,' i.e. idolatrous inscription, in place of the memorial of God's law (Deu_6:9).
9. The figure is that of a woman trying to attract admirers. Judah had coquetted with foreign kings, especially with the king of Assyria (2Ki_16:7, 2Ki_16:10). Or perhaps for the king we should read 'Moloch'; the reference then is to idolatry, as in the preceding vv.
Messengers] RV 'ambassadors.' Unto hell] i.e. Hades, put for the lowest abasement.
10. In the greatness] RV 'with the length.' Hast found.. hand] RV 'didst find a quickening of thy strength,' i.e. Judah imagined her power increased by foreign alliances.
Grieved] RV 'faint.'
11. Of whom] i.e. heathen gods. Lied] in outwardly recognising Jehovah, while in heart faithless to Him.
Of old] RV 'of long time.'
12. Ironical.
And thy works, etc.] RV 'and as for. thy works, they shall not profit thee.'
13. Companies] RM 'rabble,' alluding to the numerous gods introduced. Vanity, etc.] RV 'a breath shall carry them away.'
14. Let all barriers to the return be removed.
15. Jehovah remembers and will restore the faithful among the exiles.
16. For the spirit should fail] i.e. mankind could not survive God's judgments.
17. God hid His face and was angry, in order to turn His people from their sins. Covetousness] cp. Jer_6:13; Amo_8:4.
18. His ways] of repentance.
19. I create, etc.] i.e. Jehovah gives men occasion to praise Him. Far off.. near] referring to the dispersed Israelites, those far off from Jerusalem, and those near to it: cp. Dan_9:7.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 1. The righteous perisheth, namely, while the false…
v. 1. The righteous perisheth, namely, while the false teachers are forsaking their duties, and no man layeth it to heart, no one is aware of the fact that the hand of God interferes in graciously taking the believing Israelite out of this world before the great Judgment descends upon it; and merciful men are taken away, by a sudden death, apparently before their time, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
v. 2. He shall enter into peace, namely, the one to whom Jehovah thus shows His mercy; they shall rest in their beds, slumbering safely in the chambers of their graves, each one walking in his uprightness. This fact, rightly considered, is a source of comfort in every form of bereavement among the faithful, since the Lord, by taking His believers away from this vale of tears, spares them many a bitter experience to which they are subject as long as they sojourn in this sinful world.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the people of covenant faithfulness
the people of covenant faithfulness
The abstract noun "faithfulness" can be stated as "faithful." See how you translated "covenant faithfulness" in Isaiah 16:5. AT: "the people who are faithful to the covenant" or "the people who are faithful" (See: Abstract Nouns)
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are gathered away ... rest in their beds
Both of these refer to dying. (See: Euphemism)
that the righteous is gathered away from the evil
This can be stated in active form. AT: "that the righteous people die, and Yahweh takes them away from all that is evil" (See: Active or Passive)
He enters into peace
"The righteous enter into peace"
those who walk in their uprightness
"those who have done what is right"
translationWords
righteous
perish
covenant faithfulness
evil
peace
rest
walk
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 57:1-2 This is a lament for the righteous who…
57:1-2 This is a lament for the righteous who suffer in a wicked society.
57:1 the evil to come: Judgment that would come on the wicked nations. • protecting them: At times, God allows the godly to die in order to protect them from harsher times to come.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.