Isaiah 29:16

Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? SURELY YOUR TURNING OF THINGS UPSIDE DOWN SHALL BE ESTEEMED AS THE POTTER'S CLAY. So the Hebrew accents require. But Lowth, etc., translate, 'Ah! your perverseness! or, your turning of things upside down.) Should [ 'im (H518)] the potter be esteemed as the clay?' 'Ye invert (turn upside down) the order of things, putting yourselves instead of God,' and vice versa, 'just as if the potter should be esteemed as the clay' (Horsley). Isaiah 45:9; Isaiah 64:8) The Arabic, Syriac,...

16._Is your turning reckoned like potter’s clay! _There are various ways of explaining this verse, and, indeed, there is some difficulty on account of the two particles, אם (ĭ_m_) and כי (_kī_). אם (ĭ_m_) is often used in putting a question, and sometimes in making an affirmation; and therefore some translate it _truly_. The word הפך (_hāphăch_) is considered by some to mean “turning upside down,” (276) as if he had said, “Shall your turning upside down be reckoned like clay?” Others render it “turning,” that is, the purposes which are formed in the heart. But the most generally received rendering is, “turning upside down” or “destruction.” As if he had said, “I would care no more about destroying you, than the potter would care about turning the

9-16 The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be full of his love and fear, out of the abundance of it the mouth will speak; but there are many whose religion is lip-labour only. When they pretend to be speaking to God, they are thinking of a thousand foolish things. They worship the God of Israel according to their own devices. Numbers are only formal in worship. And their religion is only to comply with custom, and to serve their own interest. But the wanderings of mind, and defects in de...

SURELY YOUR TURNING OF THINGS UPSIDE DOWN - Your perversion of all things. They had no just views of truth. They deemed mere formality to be all that was required. They attempted to conceal their plans even from Yahweh; and everything in the opinions and practice of the nation had become perverted and erroneous. There has been much diversity in rendering this phrase. Luther renders it, ‘O how perverse ye are.’ Lowth renders it, ‘Perverse as ye are! shall the potter be esteemed as the clay?’ Rosenmuller also accords with this interpretation, and renders it, ‘O your perversity,’ etc. The sense of the passage seems to be this: ‘Your “changing of things” is just as absurd as it would be for the thing formed to say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? It is as absurd for you to find fault with the government of God as it would be for the clay t

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 29:1 A WARNING TO JERUSALEM. Expostulation is followed by threats. The prophet is aware that all his preaching to the authorities in Jerusalem (Isaiah 28:14) will be of no avail, and that their adoption of measures directly antagonistic to the commands of God will bring on the very evil which they are seeking to avert, and cause Jerusalem to be actually besieged by her enemies. In the present passage he distinctly announces the siege, and declares that it will commence within a year. ISAIAH 29:1 WOE TO ARIEL, TO ARIEL, THE CITY WHERE DAVID DWELT! "Ariel' is clearly a myst

SURELY YOUR TURNING OF THINGS UPSIDE DOWN,.... Revolving things in their minds, throwing them into different shapes, forming various schemes, and inverting the order of things by their deep counsels, and seeking to hide things from the Lord: or, "O the perverseness of you" z; in imagining and saying that no eye saw, nor anyone knew, what they did, not the Lord himself. So the Vulgate Latin version, "this is your perverse thought"; namely, what is before related. The Targum is, "do you seek to pervert your works?'' Our version joins it with what follows; though a stop should be made here, because of the accent: SHALL BE ESTEEMED AS THE POTTER'S CLAY: their perverse counsels and designs shall be made of no more account with God, and be as easily turned about and brought to nought, as the clay can be formed, and shaped, and marred by the potter, at his pleasure: "if" or "surely as the po...

CHAPTER 29 The Second Woe Against Ariel and the Third Woe 1. _The fall of Ariel (Jerusalem) predicted (Isaiah 29:1)_ 2. _Their enemies dealt with by Jehovah (Isaiah 29:5)_ 3. _The people's condition: Blinded and religious formalists (Isaiah 29:9)_ 4. _The third woe (Isaiah 29:15)_ 5. _In that Day: joy and blessing for the meek and iniquity punished (Isaiah 29:17) _ Ariel means “the lion of God.” It is one of the names of Jerusalem. A great siege of Jerusalem is predicted. Neither Sennacherib's invasion nor the sie

SAY. Compare Isaiah 45:9....

Isaiah 29:15-24 A Messianic forecast The third "Woe" (Isaiah 29:15), directed against the political intrigue with Egypt, merely serves as a point of attachment for a glowing description of the regenerated Israel. The course of thought is as follows: The prophet, having unmasked the designs of the conspirators, expostulates with them for pitting their foolish plans against the purpose of the Almighty (Isaiah 29:15). Ere long, Jehovah will prove His power by a marvellous transformation of nature and society; the word of the Lord will be received by the people, now deaf and dumb to spiritual things; the poor and oppressed shall rejoice in their God ...

WOE UNTO THEM, &C.— _Woe unto them who with deep dissimulation seek to hide their counsel,_ &c. Isaiah 29:16. _This perverseness of yours is as if the potter were reputed as clay; that the work should say of its maker, He made me not; or the thing framed, say of him that framed it, He hath no understanding._ Vitringa. The plain meaning of the prophet is, that their proceedings who attempted to hide their worldly counsels and subtle devices from Jehovah, were as absurd as if the clay should set itself against the potter. This reproof is levelled against the Sadducees, the Herodians, and those other sects among the Jews who, disclaiming dependence upon God, were for relying on the aid and protection of the Roman powers....