_A.M. 3244. B.C. 760._ Great confusion on both people and rulers for their sin, and impudence in it, Isaiah 3:1. Peace to the righteous, and misery to the wicked, Isaiah 3:10; Isaiah 3:11. The oppression and covetousness of the rulers, Isaiah 3:12. The pride of women, and their judgments, Isaiah 3:... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_, &c. The prophet, having in the preceding chapter declared, in general terms, the terror of the day of the Lord, now descends to a more particular explication, and special confirmation of what he had advanced concerning it. _Behold_ Look upon what follows to be as certain as if it were already... [ Continue Reading ]
_The mighty man_, &c. Strong and valiant men. _The judge_ The civil magistrates; _and the prophet_ Either strictly so called, the want of whom is matter of grief, (Psalms 74:9,) or more largely taken, so as to include all skilful and faithful teachers; _and the prudent_ Whose wisdom and conduct were... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I will give children to be their princes_ Either, 1st, Children in age, whose minority corrupt ministers of state commonly abuse, to the producing of much evil: or, 2d, In understanding and experience. When all the eminent persons, mentioned Isaiah 3:2, were removed, the necessary consequence m... [ Continue Reading ]
_A man shall take hold of his brother_ Of his relation, friend, or neighbour. To take hold of another implies entreating his assistance; see Isaiah 4:1; Zechariah 8:23; _saying, Thou hast clothing_ We are utterly undone, and have neither food nor raiment; but thou hast something left to support the... [ Continue Reading ]
_The show of their countenance_ Their pride, wantonness, and impiety, manifestly show themselves in their very looks and whole behaviour, and will be swift witnesses against them, both before God and men. _They declare their sin as Sodom_ They commit it publicly, casting off all fear of God, and rev... [ Continue Reading ]
_Say ye to the righteous_ O ye priests and Levites, in your sermons and exhortations to the people; _that it shall be well with him_ Even when it is ill with the wicked, and with the nation in general; _for they shall eat the fruit of their doings_ God will be their safeguard and portion in the comm... [ Continue Reading ]
_As for my people_ In this and the following verses, says Dr. Dodd, “the prophet describes the incapacity and weakness, the ignorance and corruption, the oppression and cruelty of the priests and rulers of the people; such as we learn from history they were before the Babylonish captivity.” _Childre... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord standeth up to plead_ He will shortly and certainly stand up as a judge to inquire into the cause, and to give sentence; _and standeth to judge the people_ To call the wicked into judgment, and to denounce upon them as they deserve; or to defend and deliver his own people, judging for them... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moreover, the Lord saith_ After God had reproved the rulers of the Jews for their iniquity, injustice, and rapacity in spoiling the people, “he draws an argument of the same kind from the pride and luxury of the noble matrons and virgins, whose ornaments, collected from the spoils of the people, we... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore the Lord will smite_, &c. _Will humble the head of the daughters of Zion; and Jehovah will expose their nakedness._ Thus Bishop Lowth renders the verse, observing, that “it was the barbarous custom of the conquerors of those times to strip their captives naked, and to make them travel in... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that day the Lord_, &c. “Punishment, which, though slow, always follows vice, is here denounced upon the luxurious and proud women: first, _taking away_, not only the _ornaments_, wherewith they set off their beauty, but also their garments, which were of necessary use, to Isaiah 3:24; secondly,... [ Continue Reading ]
_The embroidered robes, and the tunics, and the cloaks, and the little purses, Isaiah 3:22_. _The transparent garments_ A kind of silken dress, transparent like gauze; worn only by the most delicate women, and such as dressed themselves, as Sallust observes, “elegantius quam necesse esset probis,” _... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy men shall fall_, &c. We have in these verses the second evil; the desolation and widowhood of the matrons and virgins: see Lamentations 2:21. But we must observe, that the prophet here does not address the women themselves, but Zion, which frequently is spoken of and represented in the characte... [ Continue Reading ]