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. THE VISION OF ISAIAH. THE GENERAL TITLE or PROGRAMME applying to the entire book: for the vision is spread over the reigns of four kings. IN THE D... [ 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. HEAR, O HEAVENS. The very words of Moses, Deuteronomy 32:1. This implies that the law was the charter and basis of prophecy (Isaiah 8:20). THE LORD HATH... [ Continue Reading ]
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. THE OX KNOWETH HIS OWNER ( ), AND THE DONKEY HIS MASTER'S CRIB - the stall where it is fed (). Spiritually, the Word and ordinances. The mute brute teaches a lesson to man. It recogniz... [ 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. AH SINFUL NATION - Hebrew, goi: the term for the Gentiles. Israel has now by sin beco... [ 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. WHY, [ `al (H5921) meh (H4100)] or, as Vulgate, On What part. Image from a body covered all over with marks of blows (Psalms 38:3). There is no part in which you have not been smi... [ 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. FROM THE SOLE OF THE FOOT EVEN UNTO THE HEAD (THERE IS) NO SOUNDNESS IN IT - From the lowest to t... [ 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. YOUR COUNTRY IS DESOLATE, YOUR CITIES (ARE) BURNT WITH FIRE. Judah had not in Uzziah's reign recovered from the ravages of the Syrians in Joas... [ 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. THE DAUGHTER OF ZION - the city () Jerusalem and its inhabitants (); daughter, feminine singular being used as a neuter collective noun, comprehending all the sons (see below, ma... [ 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. EXCEPT THE LORD OF HOSTS HAD LEFT UNTO US ... - Yahweh of Sabaoth; i:e., God of the angelic and starry hosts (; ; ). The latter were objects of idolatry, calle... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. HEAR ... YE RULERS OF SODOM - spiritually (; ; ; ).... [ 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. TO WHAT PURPOSE IS THE MULTITUDE OF YOUR SACRIFICES UNTO ME? God does not here... [ Continue Reading ]
When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? WHEN YE COME TO APPEAR BEFORE ME - in the temple, where the Shechinah, resting on the ark, was the symbol of God's presence (; ). WHO HATH REQUIRED THIS AT YOUR HAND - as if you were doing God a service... [ 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. BRING NO MORE VAIN OBLATIONS - unbloody: "meat (old English sense, not flesh) offerings;" i:e., of flour, fruits, o... [ Continue Reading ]
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. YOUR APPOINTED FEASTS - the Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. They alone were fixed on certain times of the year. I AM WEARY TO BEAR THEM - (.)... [ 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. (; ; .) WHEN YE SPREAD FORTH YOUR HANDS - in prayer (.). I WILL HIDE MINE EYES FROM YOU ... YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD - Hebrew, 'bloods,' put f... [ Continue Reading ]
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; WASH YOU, MAKE YOU CLEAN. God saith to the sinner. WASH YOU ..., that he finding his inability to "make" himself "clean," may cry to God, Wash me (; ; ). PUT AWAY THE EVIL OF YOUR DOINGS FROM... [ Continue Reading ]
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. SEEK JUDGMENT - justice, as magistrates, instead of seeking bribes (; ). JUDGE (VINDICATE) THE (CAUSE OF THE) FATHERLESS - (; .)... [ 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. COME NOW ... LET US REASON TOGETHER. God deigns to argue the case with us, that all may see the just, nay, loving principl... [ Continue Reading ]
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: IF YE BE WILLING AND OBEDIENT, YE SHALL EAT THE GOOD OF THE LAND. Temporal blessings in "the land of their possession" were prominent in the Old Testament promises, as suited to the childhood of the Church (). The New Testament spiri... [ Continue Reading ]
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT. Isaiah's prophecies of temporal prosperity in the land in the event of obedience, and vice versa, rest on the law (). God alters not His word ().... [ Continue Reading ]
How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. HOW IS THE FAITHFUL CITY BECOME AN HARLOT! "Faithful" - as a wife (; ; Hosea 2:19). HARLOT - (.) So the once faithful "woman" becomes "the harlot" Babylon in the New Testament (Re... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: THY SILVER IS BECOME DROSS, THY WINE MIXED WITH WATER - Thy princes and people are degenerate in solid worth ("silver," ; ; Ezekiel 22:18), and in their use of the living Word ('the undiluted wine,' ). MIXED - mahul; literally, circumcised... [ 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. THY PRINCES (ARE) ... COMPANIONS OF THIEVES - by connivance (). EVERY ONE LOVETH GIFTS - (.) A nation's... [ 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: THEREFORE SAITH THE LORD, THE LORD OF HOSTS - 'Adonaay (H136), Yahweh (H3068). THE MIGHTY ONE OF ISRAEL - mighty to take vengeance, as before to save.... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: I WILL TURN MY HAND - not in wrath, but in grace (Zechariah 13:7). UPON THEE - as Isaiah 1:26-23 show; contrasted with the enemies, of whom He will avenge Himself (Isaiah 1:24). PURELY - literally,... [ 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. I WILL RESTORE THY JUDGES AS AT THE FIRST - The early and best days of Israel under Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and the judges. As the d... [ Continue Reading ]
Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. ZION SHALL BE REDEEMED WITH JUDGMENT - temporally, civilly, and morally; type of the spiritual redemption by the price of Jesus Christ's blood (1 Peter 1:18), the foundation of "judgment" and "righteousness," and so of pa... [ Continue Reading ]
And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed. AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TRANSGRESSORS, [ sheber (H7667)] - literally, the breaking into shivers, as a potter's vessel (Revelation 2:27). In announcing that "Zion sha... [ 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. THEY SHALL BE ASHAMED (Romans 6:21) OF THE OAKS. Others translate ( 'eeyliym (H352)) elms; or else the terebinth or turpentine trees. Groves were dedicated to idols. The D... [ Continue Reading ]
For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. YE SHALL BE AS AN OAK - ye shall be like the "oaks," the object of your "desire" (). People become like the gods they worship: they never rise above, their level (). So men's sins become their own scourges (). WHO... [ 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. THE STRONG - powerful rulers (Amos 2:9). SHALL BE AS TOW, AND THE MAKER OF IT - rather, his work. Piscator supports the English version, taking it as a participle, poe... [ Continue Reading ]