Isaiah's Inaugural Vision It is now universally acknowledged that this chapter records Isaiah's initiation into the office of a prophet. The opinion of many older commentators that it represents a renewal or recovery of the prophetic consciousness after several years of public activity, was based o... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the year that king Uzziah died_ i.e. about 740 b.c.; see Chronological Note, pp. lxxv f. Whether the event happened before or after the king's death cannot be determined. It lends an additional interest to the vision if we adopt the latter view, and regard this as the divine answer to the anxiou... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah appears to the prophet in human form, and as a King, seated on a throne, surrounded by ministering servants who sing His praise (cf. 1 Kings 22:19 ff.). The scene is the Temple (Isaiah 6:1), where Isaiah probably was when the vision occurred. There is no occasion to suppose that a "heavenly... [ Continue Reading ]
_Above it … seraphims_ better, SERAPHIM WERE STANDING OVER HIM, i.e. in the attitude of service. One standing in the presence of another who is seated is always said to be _over_him, whatever their mutual relations may be: 1 Kings 22:19; Genesis 18:2; Genesis 18:8; Exodus 18:13, &c. The Seraphim (pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_And one cried unto another_ (frequentat. impf.). Cf. Revelation 4:8. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS JEHOVAH OF HOSTS: THAT WHICH FILLS THE WHOLE EARTH IS HIS GLORY. The word "holy," thrice repeated as if it struck the chord to which the whole nature of these pure beings vibrated (the ancient church found... [ Continue Reading ]
_the posts of the door moved_ THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE THRESHOLDS SHOOK (R.V.). _was filled_( BEGAN TO FILL) with _smoke_ The smoke symbolises the "dark side of Jehovah's self-manifestation" (Revelation 15:8), the reaction of His holy nature against sin. It answers to the rising consciousness of alie... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaiah is overwhelmed with the sense of his own unworthiness; he feels himself cut off by a spiritual defect from participation in the solemn mystery which he, alone of mortals, has been privileged to behold; his _eyes_have seen, but his _lips_are impure. _I am undone_ The Vulgate and other ancient... [ Continue Reading ]
The ceremony of purification is in many respects unique, and seems to involve several ideas: (1) It shews that contact with the fire of the divine holiness is not necessarily destructive even to man. It is possible to "dwell with devouring fire" (ch. Isaiah 33:14). (2) It signifies the removal from... [ Continue Reading ]
_and thine iniquity … purged_ AND THY GUILT PASSES AWAY AND THY SIN IS ATONED FOR. The last word is the technical term for the expiatory effect of the sacrificial ritual.... [ Continue Reading ]
Now for the first time Isaiah hears the voice of God, the purification of his lips having fitted him for personal converse with Jehovah and spiritual sympathy with His purposes. _who will go for us?_ The plural is not that of majesty, but includes the "council of the holy ones" (Psalms 89:7), or th... [ Continue Reading ]
_this people_ A contemptuous designation of Israel, peculiar to Isaiah: cf. ch. Isaiah 8:6; Isaiah 8:12; Isaiah 9:16; Isaiah 28:11; Isaiah 28:14; Isaiah 29:13 f. _Hear ye indeed_ Rather: HEAR YE CONTINUALLY, BUT PERCEIVE NOT And see ye continually, but understand not. The verbs, of course, are... [ Continue Reading ]
The first effect of Isaiah's prophetic work: to increase the spiritual insensibility of the people. The prophet's words will go hand in hand with the "work of Jehovah," the development of His purpose in history (Isaiah 6:12, cf. Amos 3:7); the people shall hear the one and see the other, but neither... [ Continue Reading ]
_Make the heart … fat_ i.e. callous, unfeeling, Psalms 119:70. In Hebrew idiom, the "heart" includes the understanding. _shut_(lit. SMEAR) ITS _eyes_ cf. Isaiah 29:10; Isaiah 44:18; Isaiah 42:19 f. The difficulties created in our minds by this startling, and even harsh, statement of a great law of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lord, how long?_ The prophet feels that in the divine counsels there must be a limit to this process of judicial hardening, that it must reach a crisis with a day of hope beyond it. But the answer is "Not till the existing Israel has been annihilated." _Until the cities … without man_ (Omit _the_.... [ Continue Reading ]
The hardening of the people in unbelief is to be accompanied by a series of external judgments, culminating in the utter ruin of the nation.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and_there be _a great forsaking … land_ Better, AND GREAT BE THE VACANCY IN THE MIDST OF THE LAND. The word "vacancy" (deserted place) is used in Isaiah 17:9: for the thought cf. ch. Isaiah 5:9; Isaiah 7:16 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse reads: AND SHOULD THERE STILL BE IN IT A TENTH, IT MUST AGAIN PASS THROUGH THE FIRE, LIKE THE TEREBINTH AND LIKE THE OAK, TO WHICH A STUMP (REMAINS) WHEN THEY ARE FELLED; A HOLY SEED IS THE STUMP THEREOF. The last clause is wanting in the LXX., and with its omission it undoubted... [ Continue Reading ]