Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn’t overtake us. We look for light, but see darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.
Parallel Translations
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Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn’t overtake us. We look for light, but see darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.
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Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
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Therefore is justice far from us, neither doth righteousness overtake us; we look for light, but behold darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Isaiah 59:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 5:30 They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.
- Job 30:26 When I looked for good, then evil came. When I waited for light, darkness came.
- Jeremiah 8:15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay!
- Jeremiah 14:19 Have you utterly rejected Judah? Has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you struck us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay!
- Lamentations 5:16-17 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! For this our heart is faint. For these things our eyes are dim.
- Amos 5:18-20 “Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light. As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him. Won’t the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
- Micah 1:12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waits anxiously for good, because evil has come down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem.
- Habakkuk 1:13 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (20 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain God’s protection to defend us.
God’s protection to defend us.
That is, God’s vengeance to punish our enemies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither…
Isa 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, [but] we walk in darkness.
Ver. 9. Therefore is judgment far from us.] Here followeth the complaint of the godly party, together with their confession; this they knew well to be the readiest way to get off with comfort. God, say they here, hath neither avenged us on our enemies, nor showed us favour; he letteth our foes deal with us as we have dealt one with another.
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We wait for light, but behold obscurity.] We promised ourselves a better estate, but ‘the matter mendeth with us,’ quoth that martyr, ‘as sour ale doth in summer.’
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 Therefore is judgment far from us: this seems to…
Therefore is judgment far from us: this seems to be spoken in the person of those Jews that did partake of these sins, giving the reason by way of complaint of those evils that they groaned under. Justice: judgment, and so justice, is herb taken for deliverance, Isa 1:27; q.d. God doth not defend our right, nor revenge our wrong, nor deliver us, because of these outrages and acts of violence, injustice, and oppression that are committed among us; so that deliverance is called here judgment and justice by a metonymy of the efficient: q.d. If he had executed judgment and equity among one another, they would not now have been far from us. As works are sometimes put for the reward of works, Job 7:2; Psa 109:20, so judgment and justice is put for the reward of judgment and justice. Or wicked men are in power and seats of judicature, that execute no judgment or justice in the behalf of the oppressed.
We wait for light: how the Hebrews use light and darkness, see before on Isa 58:8,10.
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But we walk in darkness; or, mist; we are in such a thick mist, that which way soever we look, we see no way out, no hope of deliverance; we are still in captivity, and like so to be, till we see judgment and justice executed, and then we may expect good days.
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 scope of this paragraph is the same with…
The scope of this paragraph is the same with that of the last, to show that sin is the great mischief-maker; as it is that which keeps good things from us, so it is that which brings evil things upon us. But as there it is spoken by the prophet, in God's name, to the people, for their conviction and humiliation, and that God might be justified when he speaks and clear when he judges, so here it seems to be spoken by the people to God, as an acknowledgment of that which was there told them and an expression of their humble submission and subscription to the justice and equity of God's proceedings against them. Their uncircumcised hearts here seem to be humbled in some measure, and they are brought to confess (the confession is at least extorted from them), that God had justly walked contrary to them, because they had walked contrary to him.
I. They acknowledge that God had contended with them and had walked contrary to them. Their case was very deplorable, Isa 59:9-11. 1. They were in distress, trampled upon and oppressed by their enemies, unjustly dealt with, and ruled with rigour; and God did not appear for them, to plead their just and injured cause: "Judgment is far from us, neither does justice overtake us, Isa 59:9. Though, as to our persecutors, we are sure that we have right on our side; and they are the wrong-doers, yet we are not relieved, we are not righted. We have not done justice to one another, and therefore God suffers our enemies to deal thus unjustly with us, and we are as far as ever from being restored to our right and recovering our property again. Oppression is near us, and judgment is far from us. Our enemies are far from giving our case its due consideration, but still hurry us on with the violence of their oppressions, and justice does not overtake us, to rescue us out of their hands." 2. Herein their expectations were sadly disappointed, which made their case the more sad: "We wait for light as those that wait for the morning, but behold obscurity; we cannot discern the least dawning of the day of our deliverance. We look for judgment, but there is none (Isa 59:11); neither God nor man appears for our succour; we look for salvation, because God (we think) has promised it, and we have prayed for it with fasting; we look for it as for brightness, but it is far off from us, as far off as ever for aught we can perceive, and still we walk in darkness; and the higher our expectations have been raised the sorer is the disappointment." 3. They were quite at a loss what to do to help themselves and were at their wits' end (Isa 59:10): "We grope for the wall like the blind; we see no way open for our relief, nor know which way to expect it, or what to do in order to it." If we shut our eyes against the light of divine truth, it is just with God to hide from our eyes the things that belong to our peace; and, if we use not our eyes as we should, it is just with him to let us be as if we had no eyes. Those that will not see their duty shall not see their interest. Those whom God has given up to a judicial blindness are strangely infatuated; they stumble at noon-day as in the night; they see not either those dangers, or those advantages, which all about them see. Quos Deus vult perdere, eos dementat - God infatuates those whom he means to destroy. Those that love darkness rather than light shall have their doom accordingly. 4. They sunk into despair and were quite overwhelmed with grief, the marks of which appeared in every man's countenance; they grew melancholy upon it, shunned conversation, and affected solitude: We are in desolate places as dead men. The state of the Jews in Babylon is represented by dead and dry bones (Eze 37:12) and the explanation of the comparison there (Isa 59:11) explains this text: Our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts. In this despair the sorrow and anguish of some were loud and noisy: We roar like bears; the sorrow of others was silent, and preyed more upon their spirits: "We mourn sore like doves, like doves of the valleys; we mourn both for our iniquities (Eze 7:16) and for our calamities." Thus they owned that the hand of the Lord had gone out against them.
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II. They acknowledge that they had provoked God thus to contend with them, that he had done right, for they had done wickedly, Isa 59:12-15. 1. They owned that they had sinned, and that to this day they were in a great trespass, as Ezra speaks (Ezr 10:10): "Our transgressions are with us; the guilt of them is upon us, the power of them prevails among us, we are not yet reformed, nor have we parted with our sins, though they have done so much mischief. Nay, our transgressions are multiplied; they are more numerous and more heinous than they have been formerly. Look which way we will, we cannot look off them; all places, all orders and degrees of men, are infected. The sense of our transgression is with us, as David said, My sin is ever before me; it is too plain to be denied or concealed, too bad to be excused or palliated. God is a witness to them: They are multiplied before thee, in thy sight, under thy eye. We are witnesses against ourselves: As for our iniquities, we know them, though we may have foolishly endeavoured to cover them. Nay, they themselves are witnesses: Our sins stare us in the face and testify against us, so many have they been and so deeply aggravated." 2. They owned the great evil and malignity of sin, of their sin; it is transgressing and lying against the Lord, v. 13. The sins of those that profess themselves God's people, and bear his name, are upon this account worse than the sins of others, that in transgressing they lie against the Lord, they falsely accuse him, they misrepresent and belie him, as if he had dealt hardly and unfairly with them; or they perfidiously break covenant with him and falsify their most sacred and solemn engagements to him, which is lying against him: it is departing away from our God, to whom we are bound as our God and to whom we ought to cleave with purpose of heart; from him we have departed, as the rebellious subject from his allegiance to his rightful prince, and the adulterous wife from the guide of her youth and the covenant of her God. 3. They owned that there was a general decay of moral honesty; and it is not strange that those who were false to their God were unfaithful to one another. They spoke oppression, declared openly for that, though it was a revolt from their God and a revolt from the truth, by the sacred bonds of which we should always be tied and held fast. They conceived and uttered words of falsehood. Many ill thing is conceived in the mind, yet is prudently stifled there, and not suffered to go any further; but these sinners were so impudent, so daring, that whatever wickedness they conceived, they gave it an imprimatur - a sanction, and made no difficulty of publishing it. To think an ill thing is bad, but to say it is much worse. Many a word of falsehood is uttered in haste, for want of consideration; but these were conceived and uttered, were uttered - deliberately and of malice prepense. They were words of falsehood, and yet they are said to be uttered from the heart, because, though they differed from the real sentiments of the heart and therefore were words of falsehood, yet they agreed with the malice and wickedness of the heart, and were the natural language of that; it was a double heart, Psa 12:2. Those who by the grace of God kept themselves free from these enormous crimes yet put themselves into the confession of sin, because members of that nation which was generally thus corrupted. 4. They owned that that was not done which might have been done to reform the land and to amend what was amiss, Isa 59:14. "Judgment, that should go forward, and bear down the opposition that is made to it, that should run in its course like a river, like a mighty stream, is turned away backward, a contrary course. The administration of justice has become but a cover to the greatest injustice. Judgment, that should check the proceedings of fraud and violence, is driven back, and so they go on triumphantly. Justice stands afar off, even from our courts of judicature, which are so crowded with the patrons of oppression that equity cannot enter, cannot have admission into the court, cannot be heard, or at least will not be heeded. Equity enters not into the unrighteous decrees which they decree, Isa 10:1. Truth is fallen in the street, and there she may lie to be trampled upon by every foot of pride, and she has never a friend that will lend a hand to help her up; yea, truth fails in common conversation, and in dealings between man and man, so that one knows not whom to believe nor whom to trust." 5. They owned that there was a prevailing enmity in men's minds to those that were good: He that does evil goes unpunished, but he that departs from evil makes himself a prey to those beasts of prey that were before described. It is crime enough with them for a man not to do as they do, and they treat him as an enemy who will not partake with them in their wickedness. He that departs from evil is accounted mad; so the margin reads. Sober singularity is branded as folly, and he is thought next door to a madman who swims against the stream that runs so strongly. 6. They owned that all this could not but be very displeasing to the God of heaven. The evil was done in his sight. They knew very well, though they were not willing to acknowledge it, that the Lord saw it; though it was done secretly, and gilded over with specious pretences, yet it could not be concealed from his all-seeing eye. All the wickedness that is in the world is naked and open before the eyes of God; and, as he is of quicker eyes than not to see iniquity, so he is of purer eyes than to behold it with the least approbation or allowance. He saw it, and it displeased him, though it was among his own professing people that he saw it. It was evil in his eyes; he saw the sinfulness of all this sin, and that which was most offensive to him was that there was no judgment, no reformation; had he seen any signs of repentance, though the sin displeased him, he would soon have been reconciled to the sinners upon their returning from their evil way. Then the sin of a nation becomes national, and brings public judgments, when it is not restrained by public justice.
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 Therefore is judgment far from us,.... These are the…
Therefore is judgment far from us,.... These are the words of the few godly persons in those times, taking notice of prevailing sins, confessing and lamenting them, and observing that these were the source of their calamities under which they groaned; "therefore", because of the above mentioned sins, and in just retaliation, no justice or judgment being among men; therefore, in great righteousness "judgment is far from us"; or God does not appear to right our wrongs, and avenge us of our enemies, but suffers them to afflict and distress us:
neither doth justice overtake us; the righteousness of God inflicting vengeance on our enemies, and saving and protecting us; this does not come up with us, nor do we enjoy the benefit of it, but walk on without it unprotected, and exposed to the insults of men:
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we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness; or "for brightnesses" (y); for much clear light; but
we walk in mists (z); in thick fogs, and have scarce any light at all. The meaning is, they waited for deliverance and salvation; but instead of that had the darkness of affliction and distress; or they were expecting latter day light and glory, the clear and bright shining of Gospel truths; but, instead of that, were surrounded with the darkness of ignorance and infidelity, superstition and will worship, and walked in the mists and fogs of error and heresy of all sorts: this seems to respect the same time as in Zac 14:6.
(y) "in splendores", Pagninus, Montanus; "magnum splendorem", Vitringa. (z) "in ealiginibus", Montanus, Cocceius; "in summa caligine", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "in densa caligine", Vitringa.
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 Justice - Judgment, and so justice is here taken…
Justice - Judgment, and so justice is here taken for deliverance. God doth not defend our right, nor revenge our wrong, because of these outrages, and acts of violence, injustice, and oppression.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 59:9-11. Therefore is judgment far from us —…
Isa 59:9-11. Therefore is judgment far from us — Because we have no regard for justice or honesty, God will not plead our cause against our oppressors; neither doth justice overtake us — He does not defend our rights, nor avenge our wrongs; as if he had said, If we had executed judgment and equity among one another, they would not now have been far from us. We wait for light — In what sense the Hebrews use the terms light and darkness, see before, on Isa 58:8; Isa 58:10. But behold obscurity — We are in a state of such thick darkness, that, which way soever we look, we see no hope of deliverance. We grope for the wall like the blind — As a blind man, that hath no other means of perceiving and distinguishing objects than his hands, feels for the wall, from whence he expects either direction or a resting-place to lean on; so we expect salvation, as it were, blindfold, not taking direction from the prophets, but hoping to obtain it by our cries and fasts, though we continue in our sins; and therefore may be well said to grope after it. And, or rather, yea, we grope as if we had no eyes — As if we were stark blind; we stumble at noon-day — This denotes their exceeding blindness, as a man must needs be exceedingly blind who can discern no more at noon-day than if it were midnight. We are in desolate places as dead men — He compares their calamitous state to that of men dead, without hope of restoration. We roar like bears, &c. — Thus he expresses the greatness of their anguish, which forced from them loud outcries and sorrowful lamentations. We look for judgment, &c. — See note on Isa 59:9.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Therefore is judgment far from us - This is…
Therefore is judgment far from us - This is the confession of the people that they were suffering not unjustly on account of their crimes. The word ‘judgment’ here is evidently to be taken in the sense of vengeance or vindication. The idea is this, ‘we are subjected to calamities and to oppressions by our enemies. In our distresses we cry unto God, but on account of our sins he does not hear us, nor does he come to vindicate our cause.’
Neither doth justice overtake us - That is, God does not interpose to save us from our calamities, and to deliver us from the hand of our enemies. The word justice here is not to be regarded as used in the sense that they had a claim on God, or that they were now suffering unjustly, but it is used to denote the attribute of justice in God; and the idea is, that the just God, the avenger of wrongs, did not come forth to vindicate their cause, and to save them from the power of their foes.
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We wait for light - The idea here is, that they anxiously waited for returning prosperity.
But behold obscurity - Darkness. Our calamities continue, and relief is not afforded us.
For brightness - That is, for brightness or splendor like the shining of the sun an emblem of happiness and prosperity.
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 Therefore. The wicked Jews nevertheless confess that their sins…
Therefore. The wicked Jews nevertheless confess that their sins prove their destruction.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain a) The transition from the Mournful Present to the…
2.THE TRANSITION UPWARD
a) The transition from the Mournful Present to the Blessed Future by means of the Nation’s Penitent Confession
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Isa_59:9-15 a
9Therefore Isaiah 11 judgment far from us,
Neither doth justice overtake us:
We wait for light, but behold obscurity;
For brightness, but we walk in darkness.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind,
And we grope as if we had no eyes:
We stumble at noonday as in the 12night;
13We are in desolate places as dead men.
11 We roar all like bears,
And mourn sore like doves:
We look for ajudgment, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far off from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,
And our sins testify against us:
For our transgressions are with us;
And as for our iniquities, we know them.
13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord,
And departing away from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 And ajudgment is turned away backward,
And justice standeth afar off:
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
15 aYea, truth faileth;
And he that departeth from evil 14maketh himself a prey.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See List for the recurrence of the words: Isa_59:9. אֲכֵּלָה–נְגֹהָה Isa_59:10. גָשַׁשׁ, comp. מָשַׁשׁ.
Isa_59:10. He parag. accented the first time, the second time unaccented, seems to me to be with reference to merely rhetorical effect, corresponding only to the outward difference between עורים and אין עינים (Isa_40:29).—כַּנֶּשֶׁף with the preposition omitted, comp. Isa_1:25; Isa_5:18; Isa_5:29; Isa_10:14; Isa_28:21.—אַשְׁמָן is an adjective form from שָׁמֵן pinguis fuit, like אֵיתָן ,אַכְזָב ,אַכְזָר. The Prophet could write בַּשְׁמֵנִים, but he coined a new word in order to intimate that he would have the word taken in more than the common, in an intensified sense. Jdg_3:29 שָׁמֵן is used parallel with אִישׁ־חַיִל: they smote ten thousand Moabites כָּל־שָמֵן וְכָל־אִישׁ חַיִל. Also in Psa_78:31 מִשְׁמַנִּים is placed in parallelism with בַּחוּרִים (comp, Isa_10:16). Since the words באשׁמנים כמ׳ as far as כָּשַׁלְנוּ stand in the same grammatical relation as בצהרים כנשׁף, and correspond to these words in parallelism, they must have an analogous sense. There lies in the former the same antithesis as in the latter. See Exeg. and Crit..
Isa_59:12. ענתה בנו comp. Isa_3:9; and as regards the singular predicate with the plural subject comp. Isa_1:6; Isa_34:13; Isa_35:9.
Isa_59:13. נָסוֹג inf. absol. Niph. from סוּג, comp. Zep_1:6.—הֹגוֹ ,הֹרוֹ are inff. abss. Poel from הָרָה and הָגָה; they both occur only here. They are evidently meant for a paronomasia.
Isa_59:14. The discourse returns to the verb. fin.
Isa_59:15. משׁתולל, with reflexive-causal meaning; comp. Psa_76:6.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. From the present, whose contemplation he begins in chap, 58, the Prophet would prepare a way for himself to behold the remote future. The sins and vices of the present, which he had to oppose to the people’s charge of injustice on God’s part, prevent the coming of the salvation to which the people had a certain right as to something promised. But these sins can be blotted out, a way to Israel’s right to salvation can be made, if Israel repents. That will come about. Hence in the present section the Prophet describes the penitent Israel. That this repentance may appear spontaneous and real, he lets Israel itself speak. He was the more moved to do this, as he comprehends together relative and absolute present, and accordingly would include himself and his own time. With על־כן, “therefore” (Isa_59:9), the Israelites join on to the charge of the Prophet. They admit thereby that their sins are the cause of their sad condition, which they now proceed to describe (Isa_59:9-11). To this “therefore” corresponds the causal כי, “for,” Isa_59:12 : what they should know as the consequence of the Prophet’s charges, that they now prove by a candid confession of sin (Isa_59:12-15 a). In direct contrast, therefore, with that bold statement, Isa_58:2-3, that Jehovah was unjust toward His people, Israel here confesses emphatically, in a double turn of discourse intertwined like a chain, and in connection with the mirror of its sins that the Prophet holds before it, Isa_59:2-8, that its wretchedness is the consequence of its sin (Isa_59:9-11), and its sin is the cause of its wretchedness (Isa_59:12-15 a).
2. Therefore—far off from us, Isa_59:9-11. With therefore begins a great and important turn in the discourse. Israel no longer boasts of its righteousness and innocence, as in Isa_58:2-3, but confesses that the Prophet was entirely right in his accusations, Isa_59:2-8; it confesses that on account of these sins its right is far from it. But what strange confession of sin is this when Israel says: On account of my sins I rightly do not receive my right; right is done me that I suffer wrong. Evidently there is implied here a double right. On the one hand there exists for Israel an absolute right, that is founded on its election to be a peculiar people, and on the promise given to the fathers and often repeated afterwards. This is the right (משׁכּט) and the righteousness (צדקה) spoken of in Isa_59:9; Isa_59:11. By virtue of this right a wrong seems to have happened to Israel when it has been conquered, oppressed, carried off captive by the heathen. But such times of distress are only obscurations of right, i.e. transitory veilings of that right that stands immovable as the sun, occasioned by Israel’s sin for the time being, that makes necessary the manifestations of God’s relative right, i.e. transitory moments and periods of punishment. In Isa_59:9 now, the people confess that the present obscuration of its (absolute) right is not an absolute, but only a relative injustice, i. e. in relation to its present misbehaviour a well founded right. That Israel itself speaks, and that it is not solely the Prophet that declares of Israel that it has come to a right view, is evidently intended, so that Israel’s confession of repentance may be heard from its own mouth, thus from the most reliable source, and also as a voluntary one.—The expression לא תשׂיגנו צדקה recalls the בְּרָכוֹת or קְלָלוֹת הִשִׂיגֻךָ of Deu_28:2; Deu_28:15. Comp. also Isa_35:10; Isa_51:11. From Isa_59:9 b and on, this condition of Israel devoid of its right is described in figures. The people compare it to the situation of those that in darkness hope for light, and yet never see the hope fulfilled. Next they compare themselves in their helplessness and want of counsel to blind men that grope along by touching the wall. Further they compare themselves to the blind that stumble at midday as in the twilight; then to the dead, i.e. to the shades of the dead that move among the living, strengthless and without support, with tottering gait (comp. the ἀμενηνὰ κάρηνα or φῦλα ἀνθ ρώπωνFr. V. Naegelsbach,Homer. Theol. VII., § 25). The word אשׁמנים, which occurs only here, can, in my opinion, only mean “the fat,” i.e. those in vigorous life, in contrast with the unsubstantial shades. So also Delitzsch, Seinecke, Rohling, etc. See Text. and Gram. The light of midday does not help the blind; he stumbles any way. It does not help the shade of a dead man to move about in the environment of men rejoicing in life; he totters and is unsteady just the same. One might say that then it ought to read כמתים באשׁנים. But the intention of making the last member of the parallelism like the first prevails. The explanations: “as the dead in darkness, or in desolate places, or in fat regions,” partly do not correspond to the parallelism, partly are ungrammatical. But one must now distinguish the substance from the image. What would the Prophet say by this figure? I am surprised that even Delitzsch here follows in the steps of Knobel, and thinks he must find the Prophet’s point of view in the last decade of the Exile, and that the meaning is: When, after his conquest over Croesus, Cyrus hesitated to march against Babylon, hope and fear unceasingly alternated in the souls of the Exiles. Verily, the Prophet’s standpoint is one much higher, his circuit of vision a much broader one. He would here even pave the way to the distant views of chapters 60. sqq. The thing that hinders the appearance of the deeds of salvation there promised, is Israel’s sin. Let the partition wall of sin be cleared away by knowledge of it and proper fruits of repentance, then can the Lord arise to put Israel in possession of its right. Wherever and whenever Israel truly recognizes its misery and the cause of it, it must so speak as is here represented. For there it must measure its situation by the measure of God’s promises, and must ask itself: Am I what, as the people of God, I ought to be? Then it must see the imperfection and uncertainty of its situations—now high up, then deep down; at one time unrighteously dominated over, at another unrighteously dominating—and confess that Israel can only find its eternal, inalienable right in and with its God.
Isa_59:11. Israel compares itself to bears growling for hunger (illustrative passages from the classics find in Bochart, Hieroz. II., p. 134), and to doves that for like reason plaintively coo and sigh (ibid. II., p. 539 sq.). הָמָה and הָגָה are nearly related in sound and meaning. The first is used of the dove, Eze_7:16; the latter is used also of the lion (Isa_27:8; Isa_31:4). We had it for the sighing of the dove already, Isa_38:14. By comparing themselves to the growling of the bear and to the sighing of the dove, the Israelites let it be understood that both the strong and the weak, each in his way, make audible complaint concerning the prevailing distress.
3. For our transgressions—himself a prey, Isa_59:12-15 a. As already remarked, the כִּי, “for,” that begins Isa_59:12, corresponds to the “therefore” that begins Isa_59:9. It is the same chain-like succession as that of e. g.Isa_51:12-13; Isa_53:4-5; Isa_53:12. “The people strike up the Widduj (the confession) that is marked by the rhyming inflexions anu and enu” (Delitzsch).—The second כי “for,” in Isa_59:12 is not co-ordinate with the first, but subordinate. For Israel would not have been able to say: Our sins stand before thee and testify against us, had it not before owned to having such sins. The consciousness of its sinfulness betrayed in Isa_59:12 b was alone able to determine it to the declaration of Isa_59:12 a. In Isa_59:13 follows a specification of the sins of which Israel is conscious. The first and chief is apostacy from Jehovah, idolatry. It is characterized in a three fold way. We may understand פשׁע to denote the inward revolt against the Lord,כחשׁ the denial of Him practised in words (בַּיהוה is to be referred to both, comp. Isa_1:2; Isa_43:27; then Hos_9:2; Jer_5:12), נסוג וגו׳, the outward actual falling away by exchanging the worship of Jehovah for heathen worship. One may say that Isa_59:13 a treats of transgressions against the first table of the law, Isa_59:13 b of transgressions against the second. For Isa_59:13 b speaks of violations of the duties we owe our neighbors. דבר עשׁק וסרה is to carry on discourse (conversation, agreement) that aims at oppression of others and departure from the law. The expression דַּבֶּר־סָרָה, wherever else it occurs (Deu_13:6; Jer_28:16; Jer_29:32), is used only of the false doctrine of the false prophets. Thus here Isaiah would have principally in mind the seductive discourses of false prophets. In antithesis to הָרָה, concepit, הָנָה can here only mean “breathing forth,” the proferre by means of speech.
Isa_59:14, At first sight and by comparison with Isa_59:9, one is tempted to understand 14a (with Hitzig and others) to refer again to the hindrance in the way of Israel having the right belonging to it in the theocratic sense (see above). But Isa_59:14 b conflicts with that; for there the fides publica is evidently spoken of that must underlie the administering of justice and all trade and conduct. Where fidelity wavers, and no one can any more believe and trust another; where all propriety and decorousness, all honestum is formally held aloof, excluded, put under the ban, there can be no mention of right and justice in the market (ברחוב, in foro); of course there fidelity must gradually be wholly missing (Isa_34:16; Isa_40:26), while if any one only does not join in, would let the wickedness alone, he incurs the danger of being singled out for plunder.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa_58:2-3. There are also to-day many men that hold up their good works to God (Luk_18:11 sqq.), and who, out aloud or silently, reproach Him for not adequately rewarding them for them. But one can distinguish here two classes: those that boast of having done works of undoubted moral worth; and such as found their pretensions essentially on works that are morally indifferent, as ceremonies of worship and the like. Of course there is a difference between these, for the former can, under some circumstances, really deserve praise; whereas the latter under all circumstances accomplish something more or less morally worthless, yea, possibly, as miserable hypocrites, directly provoke the wrath of God. But never has the creature the right to accuse God. It may be debated whether such accusation is more folly or wickedness. It is tinder all circumstances a presumptuous judgment. For, as long as we live, results are not assured, and we lack ability to see all. Only the day will make it clear what is the relation between God’s doing and ours, and that He has not let the just recompense be wanting (Isa_1:18; Isa_43:26).
2. On Isa_58:4 sqq. The Prophet finds fault with the fasting of the Jews in two respects. First, because they combined them with works of unrighteousness. Second, because they held the “bodily exercise” to be the chief thing. Perhaps in the Sermon on the mount our Lord had our text in mind when He said: “When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance.” Mat_6:11. He makes prominent one particular that probably hovered before our Prophet also. For it is possible that he saw in the “hanging the head” an artificial, affected, and so hypocritical expression of a piety that did not exist inwardly; although it is not absolutely necessary that this letting the head hang and making one’s bed in sand and ashes took place with hypocritical intent. But our Lord expressly demands that one do not let appear the harassed, sickly look, that was the perhaps quite natural consequence of fasting. He says (Mat_6:17): “but thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secret.” One sees, therefore, that in the Sermon on the mount the Lord by no means rejects corporeal fasting. He only shows abhorrence of men’s hypocritically abusing fasting for the gratification of pride. But the Prophet also does not reject fasting. But he would have corporeal fasting be the faithful expression of a simultaneous moral doing of penitent self-denial and compassionating love.
3. On Isa_58:6-9. As the apostle James pressingly urges against dead works, that even Abraham’s faith was in itself a grand moral act, so here, too, the Prophet insists on right works as opposed to false works. But neither declares essentially anything concerning the true ground and origin of the works that they mean, because the context of their discourses does not call for it. We are to supply this from passages that professedly speak to this point, which they silently take for granted, according to the measure of intelligence given to them. For even Isaiah knows right well that that which satisfies and strengthens is not to be obtained by one’s own labor and effort (55).
4. On Isa_58:7. “Flesh denotes here in this context something more still, which J. von Mueller has remarked: “The remembrance of universal brotherhood, and how we are all exposed to like things”—as ἅνθρωποι ὁμοιοπαθεῖς. Verily flesh has need of covering. When therefore thou seest the naked, then see and feel therein the need of thine own flesh, and do not, proudly selfish, conceal or cover only thyself with thy garment that belongs to the other as also being thy flesh.” Stier.
5. On Isa_58:7. Concerning the expression כָּרֹם לֶחֶם see Doctrinal and Ethical on Jer_16:7.
6. [On Isa_58:13-14. “From the closing portion of this chapter we may derive the following important inferences respecting the Sabbath. (1) It is to be of perpetual obligation. The whole chapter occurs in the midst of statements that relate to the times of the Messiah. There is no intimation that the Sabbath was to be abolished, but it is fairly implied that its observance was to be attended with most happy results in those future times.... (2) We may see the manner in which the Sabbath is to be observed. In no place in the Bible is there a more full account of the proper mode of keeping that holy day. We are to refrain from ordinary travelling and employments; we are not to engage in doing our own pleasure; we are to regard it with delight, and to esteem it a day worthy to be honored. And we are to show respect to it by not performing our own ordinary works, or pursuing pleasures, or engaging in the common topics of conversation. In this description there occurs nothing of peculiar Jewish ceremony, and nothing which indicates that it is not to be observed in this manner at all times. Under the gospel assuredly, it is as proper to celebrate the Sabbath in this way as it was in the times of Isaiah, and God doubtless intended that it should be perpetually observed in this manner. (3) Important benefits result from the right observance of the Sabbath. In the passage before us these are said to be, that they who thus observed it would find pleasure in Jehovah, and would be signally prospered and be safe. But those benefits are by no means confined to the Jewish people. It is as true now as it was then, and they who observe the Sabbath in a proper manner find happiness in the Lord—in His existence, perfections, promises, law, and in communion with Him—which is to be found no where else... And it is as true that the proper observance of the Sabbath contributes to the prosperity and safety of a nation now as it ever did among the Jewish people. It is not merely from the fact that God promises to bless the people who keep His holy day—though this is of more value to a nation than all its armies and fleets; but it is that there is in the institution itself much that tends to the welfare and prosperity of a country.... Any one may be convinced of this who will be at the pains to compare a neighborhood, a village, or a city where the Sabbath is not observed with one where it is; and the difference will convince him at once that society owes more to the Sabbath than to any single institution beside.” Barnes.]
7. On Isa_59:2. “Quia quotidie apud nos crescit culpa, cur non et simul crescat poena?” Augustine. “The public sins are compared to a thick cloud, that sets itself between heaven and earth, and as it were hinders prayers from passing through (Lam_3:44).” Starke. “There is great power in sin, for it separates God and us from one another.” Cramer. “There are times when the hand of the Lord lies long and heavy on His children. One feels that God has withdrawn from him and hidden His countenance. But one does not sufficiently investigate the cause. One seeks it in God, and it lies in us, who, by sins unacknowledged and not repented of, make it impossible to God to turn to us in grace.” Weber.
8. On Isa_59:3-8. The register of sins that Isaiah here holds up to the Jews is a mirror in which many a Christian, many a nation, many a time may recognize its own image. The Prophet declares here very plainly the poison nature, the serpent origin of sin. Sin is the poison that the old serpent knew how to bring into our nature. He that has stolen a taste of a product of this poison, as Eve did of the tree of knowledge, supposing that he will thereby receive some good, will go to ruin by it. But he that would be no lover of sin, but would stand forth as its opponent, may count upon it that the reptile will press its malignant fang in his heel, as was even held in prospect to the great trampler of the serpent’s head Himself (Gen_3:15).
9. On Isa_59:9-15 a. Here is for once an honest and thorough confession of sins. Nothing is palliated here, nothing excused. It is freely confessed that Israel is itself to blame for all its wretchedness, and this guilt is acknowledged to be the consequence of the apostacy from Jehovah and of the workings of a depraved heart, whose malignant fruits have become manifest in words and works. Comp. Jer_3:21 sqq.—Here therefore is given a model for all who would know wherein true repentance must consist.
10. On Isa_59:15 b sqq. “Si tu recordaberis peccatorum tuorum, Dominus non recordabitur.” Augustine. “God wonders that men let sin become so great and His righteousness so small.” Oetinger in Stier.—It is a divine privilege to need no helper. With God there is no difference between willing and being able. With Him the being able follows the willing ad nutum. And there is nothing to which God, when He wills, has not also the right. We men, when we have the will and the power, are often without the right, and this takes the foundation from under our feet.
Isa_59:17. This is the original source of the Apostle Paul’s extended description of the spiritual armor, Eph_6:14; Eph_6:17. Also in 1Th_5:8 there underlies the same representation of the equipment required by Christians. On the other hand God is conceived of as an equipped warrior, e.g., Psa_7:13-14; Psa_35:2-3. In Exo_15:4 He is directly called “a man of war.”
11. On Isa_59:18-20. Regarding the time of the fulfilment of this prophecy, the honorable and thorough confession of sin in Isa_59:9-15 a, assumes the conclusion of the judgments against Israel and the conversion of the Gentiles. So Paul understood our passage, who cites it, Rom_11:26, to prove that only then will the Jews partake of the salvation when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in. Therefore the Prophet distinguishes three great periods of time. The first comprehends all the stages of time in which Israel will be impenitent, and hence deprived of its theocratic rights. This period will conclude with a condition wherein Israel’s scale, as too light, hurries upwards to the highest elevation, while the scale of the Gentiles, by reason of its weight, will sink deep down. Just this situation will bring about the turning of the scale. Israel will repent; but those Gentiles and those Israelites that will not have repented will be overtaken by the judgment (Isa_59:18; Isa_59:20 שׁבי כשׁע ביעקב). For neither the “fulness of the Gentiles,” nor “all Israel” excludes there being still unconverted Gentiles and Jews. The third period is then the period of salvation, when the Goel [“Redeemer”] will come to Zion and raise up the covenant (Isa_59:21).
12. On Isa_59:21 “Does the Spirit of God remain, then does also His word; does the word remain, then preachers also remain; do preachers remain, then also hearers do; do hearers remain, then there remain also believers, and therefore the Christian church remains also, to which ever some still will be gathered out of the Jews (Rom_11:26).”—“Although in general God has promised that His word and Spirit shall not depart from the church of God, still no one must become so secure about that (comp. Jer_18:18) as if it were impossible that this or that particular church (and even the Romish church is nothing more) could err.” Cramer.
HOMILETICAL HINTS
1. On Isa_58:1. Penitential Sermon. The text teaches us two things: 1) What one ought to preach on a day of repentance [fast-day]; viz., hold up to the people their sins. 2) How one should preach: a. boldly, b. without sparing, loud as a trumpet.
2. On Isa_58:2-9 This text contains the outlines of a popular theodicy. First we hear, Isa_58:2-3 a, the popular complaint that the divine Providence that guides the affairs of the world is unjust, and that He is not fair to the claims of reward that each individual fancies he has. Then in Isa_58:3 b–9, we hear the divine justification. It consists of two parts. In the first part God shows that the claims of men are unfounded in two respects. First for this reason, because they do not do good purely, but along with the good have still room in their hearts for evil, consequently imagine that they can serve two masters (Isa_58:3 a., 4). Second, their claims are unfounded, because founded in the illusion that it is sufficient to fulfil the divine commands in a rude, outward manner. Thus men suppose, e.g., that they can satisfy the divine command to fast by harassing the body by hunger, and lying on sack-cloth and ashes (Isa_58:5). In the second part God shows what must be the nature of the performances that would satisfy the demand of His holiness, and give a claim on His righteousness for reward. That is to say, men must first of all, by practical repentance, make restoration for all injustice done by them, and make manifest by works of mercy their love to God and their neighbor (Isa_58:7). Then divine salvation and divine blessing will be constantly with them, and in every necessity their prayer for help will find certain hearing (Isa_58:8-9 a).
3. [On Isa_58:3. “Having gone about to put a cheat on God by their external services, here they go about to pick a quarrel with God for not being pleased with their services, as if He had not done justly or fairly by them.” M. Henry.]
4. [On Isa_58:4. “Behold, you fast for strife and debate. When they proclaimed a fast to deprecate God’s judgments, they pretended to search for those sins that provoked God to threaten them with His judgments, and under that pretence, perhaps, particular persons were falsely accused, as Naboth in the day of Jezebel’s fast, 1Ki_21:12. Or the contending parties among them upon those occasions were bitter and severe in their reflections one upon another, one side crying out, ‘It is owing to you,’ and the other, “It is owing to you, that our deliverance is not wrought.’ Thus, instead of judging themselves, which is the proper work of a fast-day, they condemned one another.” M. Henry.]
5. [On Isa_58:5; Isa_58:7. “Plain instructions given concerning the true nature of a religious fast. 1. In general a fast is intended: (1) For the honoring and pleasing of God (Isa_58:5, a fast that I have chosen, an acceptable day to the Lord). (2) For the humbling and abasing of ourselves, Lev_16:29. That must be done on a fast-day which is a real affliction to the soul, as far as it is unregenerate and unsanctified, though a real pleasure and advantage to the soul as far as it is itself. II. What will be acceptable to God and afflict our corrupt nature to its mortification. (1) Negatively, what does neither of these, a. To look demure, put on a melancholy aspect and bow the head like a bulrush, Mat_6:16. Though that were well enough so far, Luk_18:13. b. It is not enough to mortify the body a little, while the body of sin is untouched. (2) Positively, a. That we be just to those with whom we have dealt hardly (Isa_58:6). b. That we be charitable to those that stand in need of charity (Isa_58:7).” After M. Henry.]
6. On Isa_58:7. The compassionate love of the Samaritan. 1) What does it give? a. food, b. housing, c. clothing. 2) To whom does it give? To its flesh, i. e., to its neighbor in the sense of Luk_10:29 sqq.
7. On Isa_58:9. “What if the Lord were to make us priests, and if He were to give us the light and righteousness that Aaron bore on his heart as often as he went in unto the Lord, and by which the Lord gave him answer when He inquired,—if He were to give all of us that in our hearts, who are priests of the new covenant? And assuredly I believe that He will also do this. What He has already promised by the Prophets, He will much more fulfil in us: Thou shalt call, and the Lord shall answer thee; when thou shalt cry, He will say: here I am.” Tholuck.
8. On Isa_58:7-9. “O God, our great, sore, horrible blindness, that we so disregard such a glorious promise! To whom are we harsh, when we do not help poor people? Are they not our flesh and blood? As in heaven and earth there is no creature so nearly related to us, it ought to be our way: what we would that men should do to us in like case, that let us do to others. But there that detestable Satan holds our eyes, so that we withdraw from our own flesh and become tyrants and blood-hounds to our neighbors. But what do we accomplish by that? What do we enjoy? We load ourselves with God’s disfavor, curse and all misfortune, who might otherwise have temporal and eternal blessing. For he that takes on him the distress of his neighbor, his light shall break forth like the morning dawn, i.e., he shall find consolation and help in time of need. His recovery shall progress rapidly, i.e., God will again bless him, and replace what he has given away. His righteousness shall go before him, i.e., he shall not only have a good name with every one, but God will shelter him from evil, and ward off from him temporal misfortune, as one may see that God wonderfully protects His own when common punishments go about. And the glory of the Lord will take him to itself, i. e., God will interest Himself for him, [as follows Isa_58:9]. Lo, of such great mercy as this does greed rob us, when we do not gladly and kindly help the poor!” Veit Dietrich.
9. [On Isa_58:12. Thou shalt be called (and it shall be to thy honor) the repairer of the breach, the breach made by the enemy in the wall of a besieged city, which whoso has courage and dexterity to make up, or make good, gains great applause. Happy are those who make up the breach at which virtue is running out, and judgments are breaking in. M. Henry].
10. On Isa_59:1-2. It is often in human life as if heaven were shut up. No prayer seems to penetrate through to it. To all our cries, no answer. Then people murmur (Isa_8:21 sq.; Lam_3:39) and accuse God, as if He were lame or deaf. But they ought rather to seek the blame in themselves. There still exists a wall of partition between them and God, a guilt unatoned for, the sight of which still continuously provokes the anger of God, and hinders the appearance of His mercy (Isa_1:15 sqq.; Isa_64:5 sqq.; Dan_9:5 sqq.: Pro_1:24 sqq.). Hence Christians must be pointed to what they must guard against in seasons of long-continued visitation and what they should strive after at such times before all things. As they would avoid great harm to soul and body, they must beware of laying any blame on God, as if He were wanting in willingness or ability. Rather, by sincere repentance, their endeavor should be that heaven may be pure and clear, that their guilt may be forgiven for Christ’s sake, and that, as children of God, with the testimony of the Holy Spirit (Rom_8:16) in their hearts, they may have free access to the heart of their heavenly Father.
11. On Isa_59:3-8. The description the Prophet gives here of the depraved moral condition of Israel is also a description of human sinfulness generally. And the Apostle Paul has adopted parts of it in the portrait he gives of the condition of the natural man (comp. Isa_59:7 with Rom_3:15). Therefore, where one would draw the picture of the natural man, he may make good use of this text.
12. [On Isa_59:13. Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. “They were words of falsehood, and yet they were said to be uttered from the heart, because though they differed from the real sentiments of the heart, and therefore were words of falsehood, yet they agreed with the malice and wickedness of the heart, and were the natural language of that; it was a double heart, Psa_12:2.” M. Henry.]
13. On Isa_59:15 b–21. One may preach on this text in times of great distress and conflict for the Church. The Lord the protection of His Church. 1) The distress of the Church does not remain concealed from Him, for He sees: a. that the Church encounters injustice (Isa_59:15 b), b. that no one on earth takes its part (Isa_59:16) 2) He stirs Himself (Isa_59:16 b; Isa_59:17 a, Isa_59:19 b): a. to judgment against the enemy (Isa_59:17 b, Isa_59:18), b. to salvation for the Church (Isa_59:17 helmet of salvation): a. with reference to its deliverance from outward distress (Isa_59:20), β. with reference to inward preservation and quickening of the Church (Isa_59:20 b, 21), c. to rescue the honor of His own name (Isa_59:19 a), because the Church is even His kingdom, the theatre for the realization of His decrees of salvation. Comp. Homil. Hints on Isa_49:1-6.
14. [On Isa_59:16 sqq. “How sin abounded we have read, to our great amazement, in the former part of the chapter; how grace does much more abound we read in these verses. And as sin took occasion from the commandment to become more exceedingly sinful, so grace took occasion from the transgression to appear more exceedingly gracious.” M. Henry.]
Footnotes:
[11]right.
[12]twilight.
[13]Among the flourishing (with life) as the dead.
[14]Or, is accounted mad.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain judgment far--retribution in kind because they had shown "no…
judgment far--retribution in kind because they had shown "no judgment in their goings" (Isa 59:8). "The vindication of our just rights by God is withheld by Him from us."
us--In Isa 59:8 and previous verses, it was "they," the third person; here, "us . . . we," the first person. The nation here speaks: God thus making them out of their own mouth condemn themselves; just as He by His prophet had condemned them before. Isaiah includes himself with his people and speaks in their name.
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justice--God's justice bringing salvation (Isa 46:13).
light--the dawn of returning prosperity.
obscurity--adversity (Jer 8:15).
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 9-14. In these six verses the prophet includes himself,…
9-14. In these six verses the prophet includes himself, as he makes confession for the people, as Jeremiah does in Isa_14:19-20 of his book.
9. Therefore — As the consequence of the foregoing.
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Is judgment — Or, real vindication.
Far from us — We as a people are utterly undeserving.
Neither doth justice overtake us — The meaning is, God doth not interpose for us. Note here, that the verbs are all of the Hebrew future-present, indicating prospective continuance of action.
We wait for light — For divine favour.
Behold, obscurity — No guiding relief comes. Same meaning in parallel member.
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. Therefore] on account of these sins and disorders,…
9. Therefore] on account of these sins and disorders, and not on account of Jehovah’s remissness (Isa_59:1-2).
judgment … justice (R.V. righteousness) are here again synonyms for salvation, right manifested by a judicial interposition of Jehovah, as in Isa_59:11 and the latter part of ch. Isa_56:1.
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overtake us] The nation has struggled on its dreary and difficult way in the confident expectation that salvation would not tarry long behind, but hitherto this hope has been disappointed.
9–11. The sorrow and dejection of the people is depicted in striking and pathetic images. It is the better mind of the community which is here expressed,—its intense desire for the fulfilment of the divine promises, its weariness through hope deferred making the heart sick. The contrast to the buoyant enthusiasm of the second Isaiah is very great, and it is hardly credible that the state of feeling here described should have arisen in the short interval which elapsed between the announcement of deliverance and the actual release from captivity.
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) Therefore is judgment.—The pleading of the prophet is…
(9) Therefore is judgment.—The pleading of the prophet is followed by the confession which he makes on their behalf. They admit that the delay in the manifestation of God’s judgment against their enemies, and of His righteousness (i.e., bounty) towards themselves, has been caused by their own sins.
We wait for light.—The cry of the expectant Israelites is, mutatis mutandis, like that of the “How long?” of Zec_1:12; Rev_6:10. On the assumption that the words come ideally from the Babylonian exiles, the first of these passages presents an interesting coincidence.
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. 9-15. ISRAEL HUMBLY CONFESSES ITS SIN"S TO GOD.…
Vers. 9-15. ISRAEL HUMBLY CONFESSES ITS SIN"S TO GOD. Isaiah, anxious to bring the people to confession and amendment, makes humble confession in their name, joining himself with them, as if he had been a participator in their iniquities.
Thereforei.e. on account of these sinsis judgment far from us; i.e. "does God refrain from judging our enemies." Neither doth justicei.e. the righting of the wrongs which we suffer at the hands of the heathen overtake us. We are left by God unavenged, and our enemies are left unpunished on account of our many transgressions. We wait for light. We look for a bright dawn to succeed the night of our trouble; but we wait in vain the obscurity continues.
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Vers. 9, 10. The goal of guilt.
A course of conduct or a principle of action is rightly judged by the issue to which it tends. All is well that ends well, and all is ill that ends ill. If we look far enough and deep enough in our estimate of consequences , we shall always find that the goal of guilt is wretchedness and ruin. It ends in
I A SENSE OF WRONG. The nation feels that "judgment and justice" are lacking and the enemy is triumphant; the individual feels that he is injured, that his rights are withheld from him, and he goes on his way dispirited and complaining.
II DEEP DISAPPOINTMENT. "We wait for light, and behold obscurity," etc. Men who seek not their refuge and their portion in God and in his service are always subject to a profound dissatisfaction. Life does not yield the good they crave. They look for success, and behold failure; for joy, and behold weariness, heartache, ennui; for sweet communion, and behold isolation and loneliness; for laughter, and behold disgust.
III AGGRAVATED BLINDNESS. "We grope... like the blind... we stumble at noonday," etc. It is one of the saddest consequences of sin that the power of spiritual perception continually lessens; the "eyesight" of the soul becomes weaker and weaker. Great truths are less clearly apprehended. Confusion takes the place of distinctness, until at length good is mistaken for evil, and evil for good: "the light that is in us becomes darkness;" the very organ of spiritual understanding misleads us. And the aggravating circumstance is that this failure of the soul"s sight takes place "at noonday," when others are walking and rejoicing in the light of the Lord.
IV DEATHFULNESS. "In desolate places or perhaps rather, "in luxuriant fields, we are as the dead." The thought of Christ and of his apostles is that to live in selfishness, in ungodly pleasure, is death in life. To exist apart from God; to be severed from him in thought and feeling, in speech and act; to be utterly regardless of his will and then defiantly antagonistic to his cause; this is death indeed, and it is consummated in the death which is eternal. 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 Therefore is judgment far from us
Isa_59:9-11
Therefore is judgment far from us
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Dejection and trouble the outcome of sin
The sorrow and dejection of the people is depicted in striking and pathetic images.
It is the better mind of the community which is here expressed--its intense desire for the fulfilment of the Divine promises, its weariness through hope deferred making the heart sick. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
A sad sequence
Therefore,--on account of these sins and disorders, and not on account of Jehovahs remissness (Isa_59:1-2). (Ibid.)
We wait for light
Help for seekers of the light
I. DESCRIPTIVE.
1. These persons are in some degree aware of their natural darkness. They are looking for light.
2. They have a high idea of what the light is. Brightness.
3. They have some hope that they may yet obtain this light; in fact they are waiting for it, hopefully waiting.
4. They are such as have learned to plead their case with God, for our text is a complaint addressed to the Lord Himself.
5. The person I am desirous of comforting is quite willing to lay bare his heart before God, to confess his desires whether right or wrong, and to expose his condition whether healthy or sound.
II. ASSISTANCE. It shall be my happy task to assist into the light those who would fain flee from the darkness. We will do so by trying to answer the query, How is it that I, being desirous of light, have not found it yet?
1. You may have been seeking the light in the wrong place. You may have been the victim of the false doctrine that peace with God can be found in the use of ceremonies. It is possible, too, that you have been looking for salvation in the mere belief of a certain creed. You have thought that if you could discover pure orthodoxy, and could then consign your soul into its mould, you would be a saved man.
2. You may have sought it in the wrong spirit. Some appear to deal with God as if He were bound to give salvation; as if salvation, indeed, were the inevitable result of a round of performances, or the deserved reward of a certain amount of virtue.
3. Others have not obtained peace because they have not yet a clear idea of the true way of finding it. What thou hast to do is but to accept what Jesus has finished.
4. Perhaps thou hast not found light because thou hast sought it in a half-hearted manner.
5. Is it not possible that there may be some sin within thee which thou art harbouring to thy souls peril?
6. It may be that you have only sought peace with God occasionally.
7. The great reason, after all, why earnest souls do not get speedy rest lies in this, that they are disobedient to the one plain Gospel precept, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, etc.
III. A few words by way of AROUSING. What an unhappy state is thine! You have been in the dark year after year, when the sun is shining, the sweet flowers arc blooming, and everything waiting to lead thee forth with gladness. What joys you lose by being an unbeliever! What sin you are daily committing! for you are daffy an unbeliever! Unless Jesus Christ be your shield and help you are undone!
IV. ENCOURAGEMENT. There are many around you who have trusted Jesus and found light. They once suffered your disappointments, but have now found rest to their souls. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
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 Isa_59:9. We wait for light, but behold obscurity; for…
HELP FOR SEEKERS OF THE LIGHT
Isa_59:9. We wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
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I. I address myself, through the words of the text, to persons who are desirous of obtaining the true and heavenly light, who have waited hoping to receive it, but instead of obtaining it are in a sadder state than they were, and they are almost driven into the dark foreboding that for them no light will ever come; they shall be prisoners chained for ever in the valley of the shadow of death.
1. These persons are in some degree aware of their natural darkness. They are looking for light. They are not content with their obscurity, they are waiting for brightness. They discover in their nature much of evil, they would fain be rid of it; they find in their understanding much ignorance, and they would fain be illuminated. They pant to escape from this ignorance, they desire to know the truth which saves the soul; and their desire is not only to know it in theory, but to know it by its practical power upon the inner man.
2. They have a high idea of what the light is. In the text they call it “brightness.” They wait for it, and are grieved because it comes not.
3. They have some hope that they may yet obtain this light; in fact, they are waiting for it, hopefully waiting, and are somewhat disappointed that after waiting for the light, behold, obscurity has come. They are evidently astonished at the failure of their hopes.
4. They have learned to plead their case with God, for our text is a complaint addressed to the Lord Himself. It is a declaration of inward feelings, a laying bare of the heart’s agonies to the Most High.
II. It shall now be my happy task to endeavour to assist into the light those who would fain flee from the darkness, by trying to answer the query, “How is it that I, being desirous of light, have not found it yet? Why has not the Lord revealed Himself to me?”
1. You may have been seeking the light in the wrong place. Many, like Mary, seek the living amongst the dead. You may have been the victim of the false doctrine that peace with God can be found in the use of ceremonies, &c. You may have been looking for salvation in the mere belief of a certain creed.
2. You may have sought it in the wrong spirit. When we ask for pardon, reconciliation, salvation, we must remember to whom we speak, and who we are who ask the favour. Some appear to deal with God as if He were bound to give salvation; as if salvation indeed were the inevitable result of a round of performances (H. E. I. 3431, 3432), or the deserved reward of a certain amount of virtue. You must come down from such vainglorious notions; you must sue out your pardon, as our law courts put it, in formâ pauperis; you must come before God as a humble petitioner, pleading the promises of mercy, abhorring all idea of merit, confessing that if the Lord condemn, He has a right to do it; and that if He save, it will be an act of pure, gratuitous mercy.
3. Others have not obtained peace because they have not yet a clear idea of the true way of finding it. The way of peace with God is seen through a haze by most men, so that if you put it ever so plainly, they will, if it be possible, misunderstand you. They will not give a simple look to the Saviour, and rely alone on Him. The waters of Abana and Pharpar are preferred by proud human nature, but the waters of Jordan alone can take away the leprosy.
4. Perhaps you have not found light because you have sought it in a half-hearted manner. None enter heaven who are but half inclined to go there. Cold prayers ask God to refuse them (H. E. I. 3831–3835).
5. There may be some sin within thee which thou art harbouring to thy soul’s peril. Art thou willing to give sin up? If not, it is all lost time for me to preach Christ to thee, for He is not meant to be a Saviour of those who persevere in sin. He came to save His people from their sins, not in them; and if thou still must needs cling to a darling sin, be not deceived, for within the gates of heaven thou canst never enter (H. E. I. 2823, 2856, 4597–4602).
6. It may be that you have only sought peace with God occasionally. After an earnest sermon you have been awakened, but when the sermon has been concluded, you have gone back to your slumber like the sluggard who turns again upon his bed. After a sickness, or when there has been a death in the family, you have then zealously bestirred yourself; but anon you have declined into the same carelessness as before. Oh! fool that you are, remember he wins not the race who runs by spurts, but he who continues running to the end.—C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 884.
Isa_59:12. Conviction of sin. I. Our transgressions are revealed in the light of God’s countenance. II. Testify against us. III. Produce condemnation in the conscience. IV. Cannot be evaded—we know them.
Confession of sin. Includes—I. A perception of its guilt—committed against God—multiplied. II. An acknowledgment of its guilt—“They testify,” &c. Justly awaken God’s displeasure. III. A sense of its misery. Condemnation—compensation. IV. A full conviction of our own demerit and helplessness.—Dr. Lyth.
Isa_59:13. Sin and its aggravation. I. In its lowest form it is transgression against God. II. Is aggravated by apostacy. III. Still more by its propagation. IV. Most of all, when it is conceived and uttered of set purpose.
Isa_59:14-15. Society in a demoralised condition. I. Right and justice perverted. II. Truth and equity excluded. III. Falsehood predominant. IV. The good oppressed. V. God justly displeased.
Isa_59:16-19. God’s interposition for His people. I. The occasion. They were in distress—helpless—no deliverer. II. The display of His power. He brings salvation—by righteousness—His own. III. His weapons. Righteousness—salvation—vengeance. IV. The glorious issue. Recompense to His enemies. Deliverance for His people.—Dr. Lyth.
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Iniquities Make Blind and Helpless
Iniquities Make Blind and Helpless
v. 9. Therefore is judgment far from us, the Jews themselves complaining that the sentence of deliverance is not spoken in their behalf, neither doth justice, deliverance and salvation, overtake us, they cannot reach them, cannot help them; we wait for light, for good fortune and happiness, but behold obscurity, misfortune and destruction; for brightness, but we walk in darkness, in the very midst of disaster.
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v. 10. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as If we had no eyes, seeking for a way out of the dungeon of misery; we stumble at noonday as in the night, increasing their misery and sorrow in their fruitless groping for light; we are in desolate places as dead men, as dead people in the midst of healthy and strong men. While the true believers enjoy life in the fellowship with Jehovah, the hypocrites and wicked people are on their way to eternal destruction.
v. 11. We roar all like bears, moaning and growling for food, and mourn sore like doves, with plaintive calls; we look for judgment, for the sentence of deliverance, but there is none, for salvation, but it is far off from us, by their own fault.
v. 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, in their breaches of the covenant faithfulness, and our sins testify against us, as witnesses of their guilt; for our transgressions, by which they denied the covenant faithfulness, are with us, are in evidence before the eyes of all men; and as for our iniquities, we know them, bound to acknowledge and confess them;
v. 13. in transgressing, unfaithful to the covenant, and lying against the Lord, trying to cover their perfidy with hypocrisy, and departing away from our God, in a denial of the covenant Lord, speaking oppression and revolt, in rebellion against Jehovah, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood, untrue and destructive speeches, which encourage rebellion.
v. 14. And judgment, the deliverance which the Lord would otherwise grant, is turned away backward, and justice, the sentence of deliverance, standeth afar off, so that salvation will not come to these reprobates; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter, both faithfulness and probity being out of the question, not being permitted to testify openly.
v. 15. a. Yea, truth faileth, faithfulness is forsaken; and he that departeth from evil, taking an open stand against perfidy and wickedness, maketh himself a prey, becomes the object of violence on every side. This is the experience which all believers may have at one time or another, that their witnessing for the truth brings upon them the hatred of the wicked.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Isaiah continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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justice is far from us
Here "us" refers to Isaiah and the people of Israel. "Far" represents that justice is gone and difficult to get. AT: "justice is gone and very difficult to get" (See: Inclusive "We" and Metaphor)
We wait for light, but see darkness; we look for brightness, but we walk in darkness
Each of these phrases means that the people are waiting for God's goodness, but it seems like he has abandoned them. (See: Parallelism and Metaphor)
We grope for the wall like the blind ... like dead men
This means that because God is not coming to them, they feel helpless, not finding the right path and despairing of the future, with no hope for a vibrant life. (See: Simile)
translationWords
just
righteous
light
walk
darkness
stumble
die
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 59:9-15 Israel’s history of rebellion was well established. The…
59:9-15 Israel’s history of rebellion was well established. The prophet here confesses the nation’s sins and laments that they could not apprehend the light of God’s salvation.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.