CHAPTER LVIII _This elegant chapter contains a severe reproof of the Jews on_ _account of their vices, particularly their hypocrisy in_ _practising and relying on outward ceremonies, such as fasting_ _and bodily humiliation, without true repentance_, 1-5. _It then lays down a clear and comprehe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:3. _HAVE WE ADOPTED OUR SOUL_ - "Have we afflicted our souls"] _Twenty-seven_ MSS. (_six_ ancient) of Dr. _Kennicott's, thirty-six_ of _De Rossi's_, and _two_ of my own, and the old edition of 1488 have the noun in the plural number, נפשינו _naphsheynu, our souls_; and so the _Septua... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:4. _YE FAST FOR STRIFE AND DEBATE_] How often is this the case! A whole nation are called to fast to implore God's blessing on wars carried on for the purposes of wrath and ambition. _TO SMITE WITH THE FIST OF WICKEDNESS: YE SHALL NOT FAST AS_ YE DO THIS _DAY__ _- "To smite with th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:6. _LET THE OPPRESSED GO FREE_] How can any nation pretend to fast or worship God at all, or dare to profess that they believe in the existence of such a Being, while they carry on the _slave trade_, and traffic in the souls, blood, and bodies, of men! O ye most flagitious of knaves,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:7. _DEAL THY BREAD TO THE HUNGRY_] But this thou canst not do, if thou eat it _thyself_. When a man fasts, suppose he do it through a religious motive, he should give the food of that day, from which he abstains, to the poor and hungry, who, in the course of providence, are called to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:8. _AND THINE HEALTH SHALL SPRING FORTH SPEEDILY_ - "And thy wounds shall speedily be healed over"] Et cicatrix vulneris tui cito obducetur; "And the scar of thy wounds shall be speedily removed." _Aquila's_ Version, as reported by Jerome, with which agrees that of the _Chaldee_. _T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:10. _AND_ IF _THOU DRAW OUT THY SOUL TO THE HUNGRY_ - "If thou bring forth thy bread to the hungry"] "To draw out thy soul to the hungry," as our translators rightly enough express the present Hebrew text, is an obscure phrase, and without example in any other place. But instead of נ... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:11. _AND MAKE FAT THY BONES_ - "And he shall renew thy strength"] Chaldaeus forte legit יחכיף עצמתך _yachaliph_ _otsmathecha; confer cap_. xl. 29, 31, et xli. 1. - SECKER. "The _Chaldee_ perhaps read יחליף עצמתך _yachaliph otsmathecha_." The _Chaldee_ has וגופך יחיי בחיי עלמא _veguph... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:12. _THE RESTORER OF PATHS TO DWELL IN _- "The restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants."] To this purpose it is rendered by the _Syriac, Symmachus_, and _Theodotion_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:13. _IF THOU TURN AWAY THY FOOT FROM THE SABBATH_] The meaning of this seems to be, that they should be careful not to take their pleasure on the Sabbath day, by paying visits, and taking country jaunts; not going, as _Kimchi_ interprets it, more than a Sabbath day's journey, which w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 58:14. _THEN SHALT THOU DELIGHT THYSELF_] If all _fasts_ and religious observances be carried on in the spirit and manner recommended above, God's blessing will attend every ordinance. But in public fasts, prescribed not in the Book of God, but by the rulers of nations in general (very... [ Continue Reading ]