Isaiah 3 - Introduction
_THE GREAT CONFUSION WHICH COMETH BY SIN. THE IMPUDENCE OF THE PEOPLE. THE OPPRESSION AND COVETOUSNESS OF THE RULERS. THE JUDGMENTS WHICH SHALL BE FOR THE PRIDE OF THE WOMEN._ _Before Christ 760._... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE GREAT CONFUSION WHICH COMETH BY SIN. THE IMPUDENCE OF THE PEOPLE. THE OPPRESSION AND COVETOUSNESS OF THE RULERS. THE JUDGMENTS WHICH SHALL BE FOR THE PRIDE OF THE WOMEN._ _Before Christ 760._... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR BEHOLD, THE LORD, &C.— The prophet had, in the preceding chapter, declared in general the terror of the day of the Lord. He now descends to a more particular explication of it. The connecting particle _for,_ in this verse, evidently shews its connection with what has preceded. We have in this pr... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ELOQUENT ORATOR— _The skilful charmer,_ or _enchanter._ Le Clerc.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BABES SHALL RULE OVER THEM— _And they shall wantonly lord it over them._ Schultens. See Ecclesiastes 10:16. This was the state of things in Judaea, after the carrying away of Jehoiachin to Babylon.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PEOPLE SHALL BE OPPRESSED, &C.— _Shall deal hardly one by another,_ &c. See the 38th chapter of Jeremiah throughout, and his Lamentations 4:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN A MAN, &C.— In these verses the description of the confused state of the nation, mentioned in the fifth verse, is continued under an elegant figure, whereby the government, which otherwise is anxiously sought after, is refused by a person to whom it is offered. _I have neither clothing nor brea... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR JERUSALEM IS RUINED— The fourth member of the second part of this discourse begins here, which contains the justification and explanation of the divine judgment hitherto set forth, and may be thus divided: The _first_ part is general, against the whole people, whose manners are described, Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEY SHALL EAT THE FRUIT OF THEIR DOINGS— The certain consequence of righteousness is, by the divine determination, happiness either in this world or the next; as the contrary is the certain consequence of wickedness, Isaiah 3:11. This is an admirable sentence to support the souls of the pious,... [ Continue Reading ]
AS FOR MY PEOPLE, &C.— In these verses 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.... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER, THE LORD SAITH— After God had accused the rulers of the Jews of iniquity, injustice, and rapacity, in spoiling the people, he draws an argument of the same thing from the _pride_ and _luxury_ of the noble matrons and virgins, whose ornaments, collected from the spoils of the people, were b... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THE LORD WILL SMITE— Punishment, which, though slow, always follows vice, is here denounced upon the luxurious and proud women: First, A _taking away_ not only of the _ornaments_ with which they set off their beauty, but also their garments, which were of necessary use; which is proposed i... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY THE LORD WILL TAKE AWAY, &C.— _In that day will the Lord take from them the ornaments, of the feet-rings, and the net-works, and the crescents; the pendents, and the bracelets, and the thin veils; the tires, and the setters, and the zones, and the perfume-boxes, and the amulets; the ring... [ 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. We may observe, that the prophet here does not address the women themselves, but Sion; which frequently is spoken of and represented in the character of a... [ Continue Reading ]