The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Ver. 1. _The vision of Isaiah._] That which was not unfitly affirmed of a modern expositor, _a_ that his commentaries on this prophecy of Isaiah are... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. Ver. 2. _Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth._] _Exordium patheticum!_ Moses-like, he calleth heaven and earth, _brutas illas mutasque creaturas,_ to rec... [ Continue Reading ]
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: [but] Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ver. 3. _The ox knoweth his owner._] Yea, helpeth him; whence these creatures are called _iumenta a iuvando,_ and the ass hath his name in Greek _a_ from his _usefulness._ Yea, the most... [ Continue Reading ]
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Ver. 4. _Ah sinflul notion._] _Hoi goi chote._ He beginneth his complaint with a sigh, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. Ver. 5. _Why should ye be stricken any more?_] This was the heaviest stroke that ever Judah felt from the hand of God; like as Ephraim's sorest judgment was, "He is joined to idols,... [ Continue Reading ]
From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Ver. 6. _From the sole of the foot._] _Totum est pro vulnere corpus,_ The whole body politic was... [ Continue Reading ]
Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, as overthrown by strangers. Ver. 7. _Your country is desolate._] Here the prophet speaketh plainly, what before, parabolically. Thus many times the Scripture explai... [ Continue Reading ]
And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Ver. 8. _And the daughter of Zion._] Jerusalem, which is called the daughter of Zion, say some, because standing at the foot of that hill as a daughter; it comes out from between th... [ Continue Reading ]
Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, [and] we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Ver. 9. _Except the Lord._] Jehovah, the _Essentiator et Induperator,_ the Maker and Monarch of the universe. _ Had left unto us a very small remnant._] Which... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. Ver. 10. _Hear the word of the Lord, ye princes of Sodom._] Having mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah, Isa 1:9 he maketh further use thereof, _probrosa hac appellatione auditores suos conveniens; _ sha... [ Continue Reading ]
To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. Ver. 11. _To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices._] All which, wi... [ Continue Reading ]
When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Ver. 12. _When ye come to appear before me._] Heb., To be seen; else all had been lost. Hypocrisy is very ostentous, it would be noted and noticed; whereas true devotion desireth not to be seen of any save hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Ver. 13. _Bring no more vain oblations._] Vain, because unacceptable, ineffectual, unsubstantial. _Epitheton argumen... [ Continue Reading ]
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear [them]. Ver. 14. _Your new moons._] These were commanded to be kept, to mind them of God's governing of all things, as from whom come all alterations and changes, and so to teach them to rely on... [ Continue Reading ]
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Ver. 15. _And when ye spread forth your hands._] This was the ancient guise and garb in extraordinary and most earnest prayer, especially to spread for... [ Continue Reading ]
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Ver. 16. _Wash ye, make ye clean._] "Wash your hearts from wickedness, that ye may be saved"; Jer 4:14 "yea, cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Jam 4:8 But how... [ Continue Reading ]
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Ver. 17. _Learn to do well._] Turn over a new leaf, take out a new lesson. "Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest God's soul depart from thee." Jer 6:8 Deliver thyself wholly up to his discipline; rel... [ Continue Reading ]
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Ver. 18. _Come now, let us reason together._] In the Greek Church, at the beginning of divine service, the deacon cried out,... [ Continue Reading ]
_If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:_ Ver. 19. _If ye be willing and obedient._] If ye love God and keep his commandments; Exo 20:6 if ye love to be his servants; Isa 56:6 willing in all things to live honestly. Heb 13:18 _Tantum velis et Deus tibi praecurret._ _a_ Say... [ Continue Reading ]
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it]. Ver. 20. _But if ye refuse and rebel._] The Romans sent the Carthaginians _caduceum et hastam,_ that they might take their choice of peace upon submission, or war upon refusal so to do. Simi... [ Continue Reading ]
How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. Ver. 21. _How is the faithful city._] Here beginneth, as some think, a new sermon; and it beginneth, as Jeremiah's Lamentations do, with an _Ecack,_ "How!" a particle of admiration mix... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: Ver. 22. _Thy silver is become dross._] Heb., Drosses, a proverbial kind of speech, deciphering apostasy. It is as if the prophet had said, There is nothing pure in thee, nothing sincere or simple: _sed omnia fallacia, omnia fucata, omnia inqui... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy princes [are] rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Ver. 23. _Thy princes are rebellious._] Or, Revolters, apostates. There is an elegance in the original, su... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:_ Ver. 24. _Therefore thus saith the Lord._] _Dominator,_ Dεσποτης, Dυναστης, the great housekeeper of the world. _a_ The Lord of hosts.] Heb., Jehovah of a... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: Ver. 25. _And I will turn my hand upon thee._] So Zechariah 13:7, I will turn my hand upon the little ones; so soon doth it repent the Lord concerning his servants. Here he mitigateth the former fearful m... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. Ver. 26. _And I will restore._] By new minting the commonwealth, _Velut adulterinum nummum_ _as _ Jer 9:7 Mal 3:3 This I will do for... [ Continue Reading ]
Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. Ver. 27. _Zion shall be redeemed in judgment._] Or, By judgment executed on her enemies, who are also God's enemies. Isa 1:24 _ And her converts._] Such as were Manasseh, made of a lion a lamb; Matthew, of a publican an evan... [ Continue Reading ]
And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners [shall be] together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed. Ver. 28. _And the destruction._] Heb., The shivering or shattering. Tremellius rendereth it, the fragments or scraps - _sc., _ of the dross above mentioned; these shall... [ Continue Reading ]
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. Ver. 29. _For they shall be ashamed of the oaks._] _Pudefient et Peribunt; _ they shall be ashamed of their false ways of worship, but not with a godly shame, such as was Eph... [ Continue Reading ]
_For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water._ Ver. 30. _For ye shall be as an oak._] _Peccato poenam accommodat; _ By oaks they sinned, and by a withering _a_ oak is their punishment set forth: as also by a garden that wanteth water, wherein everything fadeth an... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench [them]._ Ver. 31. _And the strong shall be as tow._] The idol is here called the strong one, either by an irony, _sicut siquis scelestum bonum virum dicat,_ as if one should say... [ Continue Reading ]