Bibelkommentare

The prophet, in this chapter, goes on to foretel the desolations that were coming upon Judah and Jerusalem for their sins, both that by the Babylonians and that which completed their ruin by the Romans, with some of the grounds of God's controversy with them. God threatens, I. To deprive them of all the supports both of their life and of their government, Isa 3:1-3. II. To leave them to fall into confusion and disorder, Isa 3:4,5,12. III. To deny them the blessing of magistracy, Isa 3:6-8. IV. To strip the daughters of Zion of their ornaments, Isa 3:17-24. V. To lay all waste by the sword of war, Isa 3:25,26. The sins that provoked God to deal thus with them were, 1. Their defiance of God, Isa 3:8. 2. Their impudence, Isa 3:9. 3. The abuse of power to oppression and tyranny, Isa 3:12-15. 4. The pride of the daughters of Zion, Isa 3:16. In the midst of the chapter the prophet is directed how to address particular persons. (1.) To assure good people that it should be well with them, notwithstanding those general calamities, Isa 3:10. (2.) To assure wicked people that, however God might, in judgment, remember mercy, yet it should go ill with them, Isa 3:11. O that the nations of the earth, at this day, would hearken to rebukes and warnings which this chapter gives!

The whole of this chapter, with the first verse of the next, is a prophecy of those calamities that should be occasioned by the Babylonish invasion and captivity. These calamities are represented as so great and so general, that even royal honors, in such a state, are so far from being desirable, that hardly any can be got to accept them, Isaiah 3:1-7. This visitation is declared to be the consequence of their profanity and guilt; for which the prophet farther reproves and threatens them, Isaiah 3:8-15. Particular amplification of the distress of the delicate and luxurious daughters of Zion; whose deplorable situation is finely contrasted with their former prosperity and ease, Isaiah 3:16-26.

INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 3

In this chapter the Jews are threatened with various calamities, on account of their sins, which would issue in their entire ruin and destruction. They are threatened with a famine, Isaiah 3:1 with a removal of useful men in church and state, and in common life, Isaiah 3:2 with ignorant and effeminate governors; the consequences of which would be oppression and insolence, Isaiah 3:4 yea, that such would be their state and condition, that men, though naturally ambitious of honour, would refuse to have the government of them, Isaiah 3:6 the reasons of these calamities, and of this ruin and fall of them, are their evil words and actions against the Lord, which were highly provoking to him; and their impudence in sinning like Sodom, which was to their own harm, Isaiah 3:8 yet, in the midst of all this, it is the will of God that the righteous should be told it shall be well with them, with the reason of it; when it shall be ill with the wicked, as a just recompence of reward, Isaiah 3:10 the errors and mistakes of the people are attributed to their childish and effeminate governors, Isaiah 3:12 wherefore the Lord determines to plead their cause, and contend with their elders and rulers, because they had spoiled and devoured the poor, Isaiah 3:13 and particularly the women are threatened, for their pride and luxury, to have their ornaments taken from them, which are particularly mentioned, Isaiah 3:16 and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy, that their mighty men should perish by the sword in war, and the city should be desolate, Isaiah 3:25.

Ch. Isaiah 3:1 to Isaiah 4:1. Judgement on the Rapacity and Luxury of the Upper Classes in Judah

The passage falls into two sections:—

i. Isaiah 3:1-15. A prediction of the impending dissolution of social order, due to the selfishness and tyranny of the ruling classes.

(1) Jehovah is about to remove all the existing pillars of the state, and hand over the land to the miseries of incompetent and capricious government (1–4). A state of anarchy will ensue, which will be felt to be intolerable even by those who have helped to bring it about. A graphic picture is presented of the futile efforts of the people to restore some semblance of authority (5–7).

(2) The reason of this visitation is next stated; the unblushing wickedness which prevails in the land has provoked the “eyes of Jehovah’s glory,” the chief guilt lying at the door of the court and the nobles (8–12). The section closes with a vision of judgment; Jehovah appears in person and sternly calls the authorities of His people to account for their abuse of the trust committed to them (13–15).

ii. Isaiah 3:16 to Isaiah 4:1. The second section, which is perhaps somewhat fragmentary, is devoted to the fashionable women of the capital. It contains:—

(1) A diatribe against the frivolity and extravagance of the ladies of Jerusalem, combined with a threat of the degradation in store for them (16–24).

(2) A picture of the desolation of the city, bereft of her defenders, who have fallen in war (25, 26).

(3) A description of the effect of this disaster on the surviving women, who in the depletion of the male population will scarcely find husbands to take away their reproach (Isaiah 4:1).

Throughout the passage the prophet’s point of view is somewhat different from that occupied in ch. Isaiah 2:6 ff. There it is the religious aspect of the people’s sin that is emphasised: pride, idolatry, and reliance on worldly power; here it is dealt with in its social aspect, as misgovernment, cruelty, luxury, &c. Again, the judgment in ch. 2 is represented as an overpowering physical catastrophe; here it is conceived as a destruction of the invisible bonds of society and a setting loose of the unruly passions of men to prey upon each other. This vivid apprehension of the evils of anarchy is instructive as the earliest indication of the statesmanlike quality of Isaiah’s genius, and his profound sense of the value of good government as the primary condition of national well-being.

1 ff. The collapse of the social fabric is to be brought about by the removal of the classes that contribute to the order and stability of the state. The state of things described might be the effect either of war and captivity (cf. 2 Kings 24:14; Jeremiah 24:1; Jeremiah 29:1) or of a political. revolution. The former view is the more natural, but it should be noted that in ch. Isaiah 9:8 ff. (addressed to North Israel, and nearly contemporary with this) a period of revolutionary anarchy precedes the crowning disaster of the Assyrian invasion.

Isa 3:1-26.

1. For--continuation of

Isa 2:22.

Lord of hosts--therefore able to do as He says.

doth--present for future, so certain is the accomplishment.

stay . . . staff--the same Hebrew word, the one masculine, the other feminine, an Arabic idiom for all kinds of support. What a change from the previous luxuries

(Isa 2:7)!

Fulfilled in the siege by Nebuchadnezzar and afterwards by Titus

(Jer 37:21; 38:9).

For - This is a continuation of the previous chapter. The same prophecy is continued, and the force of the argument of the prophet will not be seen unless the chapters are read together; see the Analysis prefixed to Isaiah 2. In the close of the second chapter Isaiah 2:22, the prophet had cautioned his countrymen against confiding in man. In this chapter, a reason is given here why they should cease to do it - to wit, that God would soon take away their kings and princes.

The Lord - האדון hā'âdôn; see the note at Isaiah 1:24.

The Lord of hosts - see the note at Isaiah 1:9. The prophet calls the attention of the Jews particularly to the fact that this was about to be done by Yahweh "of hosts" - a title which he gives to God when he designs to indicate that that which is to be done implies special strength, power, and majesty. As the work which was now to be done was the removal of the mighty men on which the nation was depending, it is implied that it was a work of power which belonged especially to the God of armies - the Almighty.

Doth take away - Is about to remove. In the Hebrew, the word here is a "participle," and does not mark the precise time. It has reference here, however, to the future.

From Jerusalem ... - Note Isaiah 1:1.

The stay - In the Hebrew, the words translated "stay" and "staff" are the same, with the exception that the former is in the masculine, and the latter in the feminine gender. The meaning is, that God would remove "all kinds of support," or "everything" on which they relied. The reference is undoubtedly to the princes and mighty men on whose counsels and aid the nation was resting for defense; see Isaiah 3:2-3.

The whole stay of bread - We use a similar expression when we say that "bread is the staff of life." The Hebrews often expressed the same idea, representing the "heart" in man as being "supported or upheld" by bread, Genesis 18:5 (margin); Judges 19:5 (margin); Leviticus 26:26; Psalm 105:16.

Stay of water - He would reduce them from their luxuries introduced by commerce Isaiah 2 to absolute want. This often occurred in the sieges and wars of the nation; and in the famines which were the consequence of the wars. The reference here is probably to the invasion of the land by Nebuchadnezzar. The famine consequent on that invasion is described in Jeremiah 38:21; Jeremiah 38:9; Lamentations 4:4 : "The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his month for thirst; the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them."

The stay and the staff "Every stay and support" - Hebrew, "the support masculine, and the support feminine:" that is, every kind of support, whether great or small, strong or weak. "Al Kanitz, wal-kanitzah; the wild beasts, male and female. Proverbially applied both to fishing and hunting: i.e., I seized the prey, great or little, good or bad. From hence, as Schultens observes, is explained Isaiah 3:1, literally, the male and female stay: i.e., the strong and weak, the great and small." - Chappelow, note on Hariri, Assembly 1. Compare Ecclesiastes 2:8.

The Hebrew words משען ומשענה mashen umashenah come from the same root שען shaan, to lean against, to incline, to support; and here, being masculine and feminine, they may signify all things necessary for the support both of man and woman. My old MS. understands the staff and stay as meaning particular persons, and translates the verse thus: - Lo forsoth, the Lordschip Lord of Hoostis schal don awey fro Jerusalem and fro Juda the stalworth and the stronge.

The two following verses, Isaiah 3:2, Isaiah 3:3, are very clearly explained by the sacred historian's account of the event, the captivity of Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: "And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths; none remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land," 2 Kings 24:14. Which is supplied by our version.

For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,.... These titles of Jehovah, expressive of power and authority, are used to show that he is able to execute what he threatens to do; and the word "behold" is prefixed, to excite attention to what is about to be said:

doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judea; the present tense is used for the future, because of the certainty of what would be done to the Jews, both in city and country; for as in the preceding chapter Isaiah 2:1 it is foretold what shall befall the antichristian party among the nations of the world, this is a prophecy of the destruction of the Jews by the Romans; at which time there would be a dreadful famine, signified by the taking away

the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water; bread and water being the stay and staff of man's life, which support and maintain it; and, in case of disobedience, a famine was threatened this people very early, and in much such terms as here, Leviticus 26:26 and as there was a very sore famine at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 52:6 so there was a very dreadful one when the city was besieged by the Romans, as related by Josephus, and predicted by Christ, Matthew 24:7.