Isaiah 3:1-12

Judah to be Punished with Anarchy. The date is uncertain. That it was early in the reign of Ahaz is a dubious inference from Isaiah 3:12. The pillars of society will be removed, and control will thus be thrown into the hands of young, inexperienced upstarts. Social distinctions will be swept away, age and rank no longer secure respect. Tired of the anarchy, the people will offer the headship of their district to one whom they imagine equal to it, apparently because he belongs to the old order and has hereditary instincts for administration. But he will refuse, disclaiming the qualification. This impending ruin is due to Judah's rebellious provocation of Yahweh, its respect of persons (mg.), Sodom-like shamelessness in its sin. Blessed is the righteous, woe to the wicked; each shall reap what he has sown. The people is governed by oppressors and usurers, its leaders mislead it.

Isaiah 3:1. the whole. water: a gloss; stay and staff are the pillars of society.

Isaiah 3:6. Render, When a man shall take hold of his brother saying, In thy father's (reading 2nd person) house is a mantle (? robe of office), come be thou our ruler.

Isaiah 3:10 f. Perhaps a gloss; the Heb. is elliptical, the thought generalising, the standpoint that of the later individualism, which sharply differentiated the pious and wicked and asserted a corresponding difference in their fate. Say ye of: read Blessed is (-' ashre for -' imru).

Isaiah 3:12. Render, tormentors are their oppressors, and usurers (nô shim) rule over them. destroy: confuse.