This chapter is closely connected in sense with the preceding, and is designed to illustrate the same general sentiment; that the reason why the religious services of the nation were not accepted, and the nation delivered from calamity, was their hypocrisy and their other sins. The previous chapter... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THE LORD’S HAND IS NOT SHORTENED - On the meaning of this phrase, see the notes at Isaiah 50:2. NEITHER HIS EAR HEAVY, THAT IT CANNOT HEAR - On the meaning of this phrase, see the notes at Isaiah 6:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT YOUR INIQUITIES - That is, the sins which the prophet had specified in the previous chapter, and which he proceeds further to specify in this. HAVE SEPARATED - The word used here (בדל _bâdal_) conveys the idea of division, usually by a curtain or a wall Exodus 26:33; Ezekiel 42:20. Thus the ‘fi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YOUR HANDS ARE DEFILED WITH BLOOD - The prophet proceeds here more particularly to specify the sins of which they were guilty; and in order to show the extent and depth of their depravity, he specifies the various members of the body - the hands, the fingers, the lips, the tongue, the feet as th... [ Continue Reading ]
NONE CALLETH FOR JUSTICE - Or rather, there is no one who brings a suit with justice; no one who goes into court for the purpose of obtaining justice. There is a love of litigation; a desire to take all the advantage which the law can give; a desire to appeal to the law, not for the sake of having s... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY HATCH COCKATRICE’ EGGS - Margin, ‘Adders’.’ On the meaning of the word rendered here ‘cockatrice,’ see the notes at Isaiah 11:8. Some poisonous serpent is intended, probably the adder, or the serpent known among the Greeks as the basilisk, or cerastes. This figurative expression is designed to... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR WEBS SHALL NOT BECOME GARMENTS - The spider’s web is unfit for clothing; and the idea here is, that their works are as unfit to secure salvation as the attenuated web of a spider is for raiment. The sense is, says Vitringa, that their artificial sophisms avail nothing in producing true wisdom,... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR FEET RUN TO EVIL - In accordance with the design of the prophet to show the entireness of their depravity, he states that all their members were employed in doing evil. In Isaiah 59:3. he had remarked that depravity had extended to their hands, their fingers, their lips, and their tongue; he h... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WAY OF PEACE THEY KNOW NOT - The phrase ‘way of peace’ may denote either peace of conscience, peace with God, peace among themselves, or peace with their fellow-men. Possibly it may refer to all these; and the sense will be, that in their whole lives they were strangers to true contentment and h... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
WE GROPE FOR THE WALL LIKE THE BLIND - A blind man, not being able to see his way, feels along by a wall, a fence, or any other object that will guide him. They were like the blind. They had no distinct views of truth, and they were endeavoring to feel their way along as well as they could. Probably... [ Continue Reading ]
WE ROAR ALL LIKE BEARS - This is designed still further to describe the heavy judgments which had come upon them for their sins. The word rendered here ‘roar’ (from המה _hâmâh_, like English, to hum, German, hummen, spoken of bees), is applied to any murmuring, or confused noise or sound. It somet... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR SINS TESTIFY AGAINST US - Hebrew, ‘Answer against us.’ The idea is, that their past lives had been so depraved that they became witnesses against them (compare the notes at Isaiah 3:9). WE KNOW THEM - We recognize them as our sins, and we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that we are trans... [ Continue Reading ]
IN TRANSGRESSING - That is, we have been guilty of this as a continuous act. AND LYING AGAINST THE LORD - We have proved false to Yahweh. Though we have been professedly his people, yet we have been secretly attached to idols, and have in our hearts been devoted to the service of false gods. AND D... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JUDGMENT IS TURNED AWAY BACKWARD - The word ‘judgment’ is not used, as in Isaiah 59:9, to denote the divine interposition to avenge and deliver them, but it is used in the sense of justice, or lust decisions between man and man. The verse contains a further confession of the evil of their course... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, TRUTH FAILETH - That is, it is not to be found, it is missing. The word used here (from עדר _‛__âdar_) means “to be left, to remain” 2 Samuel 17:22; then “to be missing or lacking” 1 Samuel 30:19; Isaiah 40:26. Here it means that truth had no existence there. AND HE THAT DEPARTETH FROM EVIL MA... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAW THAT THERE WAS NO MAN - That is, no wise and prudent man qualified to govern the affairs of the people. Or, that there was no man qualified to interpose and put an end to these evils; no one qualified to effect a reformation, and to save the nation from the calamities which their sins des... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE PUT ON RIGHTEOUSNESS - That is, God the Redeemer. The prophet here introduces him as going forth to vindicate his people clad like an ancient warrior. In the declaration that he ‘put on righteousness,’ the essential idea is, that he was pure and holy. The same image is used by the prophet in... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS - The general sentiment of this verse is plain, though there is not a little difficulty in the construction of the Hebrew. Lowth pronounces the former part of the verse, as it stands in the Hebrew text, to be ‘absolutely unintelligible. By a slight change in the Hebrew as it... [ Continue Reading ]
SO SHALL THEY FEAR - That is, the result of the divine interposition to punish his enemies, shall be to secure the acknowledgment of the existence and perfections of Yahweh in every part of the world. See especially the notes at Isaiah 45:6. WHEN THE ENEMY SHALL COME IN - There has been great varie... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE REDEEMER SHALL COME - On the meaning of the word rendered here ‘Redeemer,’ see the notes at Isaiah 43:1. This passage is applied by the apostle Paul to the Messiah Romans 11:26; and Aben Ezra and Kimchi, among the Jews, and Christians generally, suppose that it refers to him. TO ZION - On th... [ Continue Reading ]
AS FOR ME - In the previous part of the chapter, the prophet has spoken. Here Yahweh is introduced as speaking himself, and as declaring the nature of the covenant which he would establish. In the verse previous, it had been stated that the qualifications on the part of people for their partaking of... [ Continue Reading ]