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GOD'S JUDGMENT UPON JERUSALEM. The general denunciations against Israel of the two preceding chapters are here turned especially against Jerusalem. God will deprive her of all her superior and more honorable classes (Isa_3:1-3); and will give her "children" for her rulers (Isa_3:4). There will be continued oppression, and the rise of an insolent and undutiful spirit (Isa_3:5). Those fit to bear rule will refuse to do so (Isa_3:6, Isa_3:7).
Isa_3:1
The Lord, the Lord of hosts (see note on Isa_1:24). The stay and the staff; rather, stay and staff. Neither word has the article. The latter is the feminine form of the former; and the intention is to announce that all support of every kind is about to be withdrawn. The whole stay of bread … of water. Mr. Cheyne agrees with Hitzig and Knobel that this clause is probably a gloss on the text, subsequently introduced into it, and a gloss which (lid not proceed from a very enlightened commentator. The "stay" and "staff" intended are certainly not, literal "bread" and "water," but the powerful and respectable classes enumerated in the two following verses. If the words are Isaiah's, he must have intended them to be taken metaphorically.
Isa_3:2
The mighty man, and the man of war; or, hero and warrior. The first rank is given to those distinguished in war, as being held in the highest esteem, and perhaps as actually, under the coming circumstances, the men of most importance to the country. It is thus implied, as later (Isa_3:25, Isa_3:26) it is expressly taught, that the impending visitation will be a terrible invasion. The judge, and the prophet; literally, judge and prophet. The judge holds his place as one of the highest officers of the state (see Isa_1:26); the prophet holds a lower position than might have been expected, on account of the writer's humility. The prudent; rather, the diviner, as the word is translated in Deu_18:14; 1Sa_6:2; Isa_44:25; Jer_27:9; Jer_29:8; Eze_13:9; Mic_3:7; Zec_10:2; or soothsayer, as in Jos_13:22. Isaiah arranges the classes, not so much according to the order in which he values them, as to that in which they were valued by the people. The ancient; i.e. "the elder," as the word is translated commonly. The "elders" had an ascertained position in the state under the monarchy (2Sa_5:3; 2Sa_19:11; 1Ki_8:1; 1Ki_20:7; 2Ki_6:32, etc.).
Isa_3:3
The captain of fifty. "Captains of fifties" were scarcely at this period "civil officers" (Cheyne). They represent simply the lowest grade of officers in the army (2Ki_1:9, 2Ki_1:11, 2Ki_1:13). Honorable. The same expression is used again in Isa_9:15. It occurs also in 2Ki_5:1-27. I and Job_22:8. The cunning artificer. "All the craftsmen and smiths" in Jerusalem were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar in the captivity of Jehoiachin (2Ki_24:14; cf. Jer_24:1). They were among the most valuable of the population, in time of war no less than of peace, since on them depended the construction and repair of the military engines which were regarded as of so much importance (2Ch_26:15). The eloquent orator; rather, the expert enchanter (comp. Ecc_10:11; Jer_8:17).
Isa_3:4
I will give children to be their princes; rather, youths than "children." The extreme youth of the later kings of Judah at the date of their accession is very remarkable. After Hezekiah, only one was as much as twenty-five years old when he came to the throne. Jehoahaz was twenty-three (2Ki_23:31); Amon, twenty-two (2Ki_21:19); Zedekiah twenty-one (2Ki_24:18); Jehoiachin, eighteen (2Ki_24:8); Manasseh, twelve (2Ki_21:1); and Josiah eight (2Ki_22:1). Thus this prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. And babes shall rule over them; literally, puerilities shall rule over them; i.e. the youths shall behave in a childish way.
Isa_3:5
And the people shall be oppressed, etc.; rather, shall oppress each man his fellow, and each man his companion. This would be no new thing (see Isa_1:17, Isa_1:21, Isa_1:23), but perhaps might be more widely spread, having passed from the upper classes to the lower ones, as is usual with vices. The child; rather, the youth. Shall behave himself proudly; or, insolently. The respect for age inculcated by the Law (Le 19:32) shall disappear. Youths shall set at naught the counsel of the aged. The spirit of Rehoboam shall prevail over that of Solomon, with the usual result—rashness, recklessness, and failure. And the base, etc. Respect for station shall likewise disappear. The dregs of the people shall grow insolent towards those above them in the social scale; and thus the old social order shall be inverted.
Isa_3:6
When a man shall take hold of his brother. A new departure. In the general anarchy described (Isa_3:4, Isa_3:5) it will be felt that something must be done. A man will take hold of his brother (i.e. his fellow) in his (i.e. the latter's) father's house, where he lives in seclusion, and say to him, "Thou hast clothing", "thou must be our ruler; let this ruin" (i.e. "this ruined state") "be under thy band." This ruin; literally, this stumbling-block (see Zep_1:3; and compare the uniform translation of the kindred noun mikshol (Le 19:14; Psa_119:165; Isa_57:14; Jer_6:21; Ezekiel 52:20; Eze_7:10, etc.). The Jewish community is meant, which was full of stumbling itself, and might well cause all those to stumble who came into contact with it.
Isa_3:7
In that day shall he swear; or, lift up his voice—speaking with emotion (Kay). I will not be an healer; literally, a binder-up (comp. Isa_1:6); "I will not undertake to heal the calamities of the state." In my house is neither bread nor clothing; i.e. "I am not a wealthy man; I have no stores laid up; I am quite unfit to be the people's ruler." Make me not; or, ye shall not make me. The decently clad man entirely declines to be advanced to the helm of the state.
Isa_3:8-26
THE CAUSE OF THE JUDGMENT SHOWN TO BE THE SINS OF JERUSALEM.
1. The sins of the men. (Isa_3:8-15). These are declared to be partly sins of speech, but mainly sins of act (Isa_3:8). Of sins of speech the only one specified is the open and shameless declaration of their wickedness (Isa_3:9). Under the head of sins of act are enumerated
(1) childishness and effeminacy;
(2) irreligion and leading people away from God (Isa_3:12);
(3) oppression of the poor and afflicted (Isa_3:14, Isa_3:15).
The enumeration of the sins is mixed with exhortation and comment in such a way as to give rise to the conjecture that we have here, not the original prophecy as the author penned it, but a later "summary" of several prophetical discourses, which summary itself is "a little fragmentary" (Cheyne).
Isa_3:8
Jerusalem is ruined; or, has come to ruin—the "perfect of prophetic certainty" (Cheyne)—(comp. Amo_5:2, "The virgin of Israel is fallen"). Their tongue and their doings. Sins of the tongue are denounced in the Old Testament as well as in the New, though not, perhaps, so frequently (see Exo_20:7; Exo_21:17; Exo_22:28; Exo_23:1, Exo_23:2; Psa_31:18; Psa_94:4, etc.). To provoke the eyes of his glory. This is an unusual metaphor. God's glory seems here to be identified with himself, as being of his very essence; and thus "provoking the eyes of his glory" is simply provoking him to look on them with anger.
Isa_3:9
The show of their countenance doth witness against them. This is not in itself a sin, but it is a sign of frequent and habitual sin. Vice, long indulged in, stamps its mark upon the countenance, giving men what is called "a bad expression"—a guilty and hardened look. It does not require a skilled physiognomist to detect at a glance the habitual criminal or sensualist. They declare their sin as Sodom. Not only does their countenance betray them, but, like the Sodomites (Gen_19:5, Gen_19:9), they boldly and impudently declare their wicked purposes beforehand, and make no attempt at concealment. Hypocrisy has been said to be the homage that vice pays to virtue. Where there is none, where vice has ceased to shroud or veil itself, a very advanced stage of wickedness has been reached. They have rewarded evil unto themselves. They have "received in themselves the recompense of their error which was meet" (Rom_1:27). Their sins have at once marred their countenance and injured their moral nature.
Isa_3:10
Say ye to the righteous. The mention of the fact that the men of Jerusalem have permanently injured their moral natures by sin, and thus "rewarded evil to themselves," leads the prophet to declare at this point, parenthetically, the general law, which extends alike to the evil and the good—that men receive in themselves the recompense of their deeds. The righteous raise their moral nature, become better, and, in becoming better, become happier. "It is well with them, for of the fruit of their doings they eat." The wicked deprave and corrupt themselves, lower their moral nature, become worse than they were, and, in becoming worse, become more miserable. "Woe unto them! with them it is ill; for the achievement of their hands is given them."
Isa_3:12
As for my people. Return is now made to the sins of the dwellers in Jerusalem, and the first thing noted is that the people suffer from the childishness and effeminacy of their rulers. The rulers are called "oppressors" by the way here, the sin of oppression being dwelt on later (Isa_3:14, Isa_3:15). Here the emphatic words are "children," "women." Children (see Isa_3:4). The rulers are "children," or rather "babes"—foolish, capricious, cowardly. It is not clear that any prince in particular is meant; rather, by the plural form, the upper class generally seems to be intended, as in Isa_1:10, Isa_1:17, Isa_1:23, etc. Women; comp. Herod; 8.88, where Xerxes says that "his men have shown themselves women, and his women men;" and see also Virg; 'AEneid '—
"O vere Phrygia, neque enim Phryges."
The rulers were womanly, i.e. weak, wavering, timid, impulsive, passionate, and are therefore called actual "women." There is no allusion to female sovereigns. They which lead thee cause thee to err; or, they which direct thee lead thee astray. Professing to point out the right path, they led men away from it. Destroy the way; literally, swallow it up, or obliterate it.
Isa_3:13
The Lord standeth up to plead. The great sin of the time was oppression of the poor by the rich, and especially by the rulers (Isa_1:15, Isa_1:17, Isa_1:21). In noticing this, the prophet, to give more weight to his denunciation, introduces Jehovah as standing up, and coming forward on the popular side, to plead the people's cause, and remonstrate with their oppressors. There is great force in this sudden entrance on the scene of Jehovah himself, as Pleader and Judge. And … judge the people; rather, the peoples. Primarily, Israel is God's care; but he does not stop at this point. All the nations of the earth are also under his protection.
Isa_3:14
The ancients … the princes. These were the chief oppressors. They delivered the judgments, and it was by them that justice was perverted. Jehovah therefore enters specially into judgment with them. For ye have eaten up; rather, So ye have eaten up. Jehovah is supposed to address the unjust judges. He reproaches them with having "eaten up," or rather "scorched up," his vineyard, i.e. Israel (comp. Isa_5:1-7), and taxes them with having still their ill-gotten gains in their houses. "So ye," he says, "have thus acted—ye whose duty it was to have acted so differently."
Isa_3:15
What mean ye? i.e. "What has come over you?" or "What strange perversity has possessed yon?" (Kay). That ye beat my people to pieces, etc. The strongest possible expressions are used to mark God's abhorrence of the oppression to which the poor were subjected. Under the Law, he constituted himself the champion of such persons (see Exo_22:22-24).
2. The sins of the women. (Isa_3:16-26.) These may be summed up under the three heads of pride, wanton manners (Isa_3:16), and love of dress and ornament (Isa_3:18-23). It was natural that, with increased commerce (2Ki_14:22; Isa_2:16) and more frequent communication with foreign nations, such as Assyria (2Ki_16:7-10) and Babylon (2Ki_20:12, 2Ki_20:13), there should be an increase of luxury, and quite in accordance with Eastern ideas that the luxury should particularly show itself in the dress and adornment of the women. The Egyptian remains show an advanced state of luxury among the women at a time anterior to Moses; and in Assyria, though the evidence is less abundant, we find also indications of a similar kind. The Jews, whose regard for their women was high, are not likely to have been behindhand in the gallantry which shows itself in heaping ornament and the newest appliances of civilization on the weaker sex.
Isa_3:16
The daughters of Zion. It is over-fanciful to go beyond the plain meaning of the words here, and suppose allegory. "The daughters of Zion" are the female inhabitants of Jerusalem. Are haughty; or, proud—like the men (Isa_2:11, Isa_2:12, Isa_2:17). Walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes. Mr. Cheyne translates, "ogling eyes." Both actions indicate the desire to attract men's attention, and are shameless and immodest. Walking and mincing as they go; i.e. taking short steps in an affectedly childish way. Making a tinkling with their feet. This meaning is generally accepted, though not very certain. It has been suggested that the anklets which they wore (Isa_3:18) had silver bells attached to them.
Isa_3:17
Therefore the Lord will smite with a seal. Thus destroying their beauty by producing baldness (comp. Isa_3:24; and for the meaning "smite with a scab," see Le Isa_13:2; Isa_14:1-32 :56).
Isa_3:18
The bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet; rather, of their anklets. Anklets were worn by the Egyptian women from the time of the twelfth dynasty. They were, in general, plain rings of metal, but appear to have been sometimes set with precious stones. No bells appear attached to any; but bells were known in Assyria from the time of Sennacherib. Their cauls; margin, networks. The marginal rendering is probably correct (comp. LXX; ἐμπλόκια ). Network caps to contain the hair seem to be intended (so Kimchi, Saadiah, Jarchi, Rosenmüller, Kay). Mr. Cheyne prefers "wreaths worn round the forehead, reaching from one ear to the other." Round tires like the moon; rather, crescents. Flat ornaments in metal, like a young moon, generally worn suspended round the neck (see Jdg_8:26, where the same word occurs).
Isa_3:19
The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers; rather, the ear-drops, and the armlets, and the veils. Earrings were worn from very ancient times by both the Assyrians and the Egyptians. The ring had frequently a pendant hanging from it. Men wore armlets in Assyria, and both men and women in Egypt (Lepsius, 'Denktamer,' pt. 3. pl. 1). Yells have always been regarded in the East as almost a necessary part of female attire.
Isa_3:20
The bonnets; rather, the headgear. It is quite uncertain what this was, since we have no representations of Hebrew women. Egyptian women commonly wore a mere fillet with pendant ends. The Hebrew word here employed is used in Exodus of the head-dress of the priests (Exo_39:28). The ornaments of the legs. These are explained as chains connecting the two anklets together. The head-bands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings; rather, the girdles, and the scent-bottles, and the amulets. Scent-bottles and jars for holding sweet-smelling unguents are among the most frequent toilette articles recovered from Egyptian tombs and Assyrian palaces. Amulets have been worn in the East from very ancient times, and are still trusted in as much as ever. They frequently take the form of ornaments.
Isa_3:21
The rings; literally, seal-rings, or signet-rings. Such were known in Egypt from the time of Joseph (Gen_41:42), and probably earlier. It would seem from the present passage that their use was not confined to men. Nose-jewels. Actual nose-rings are not represented in any of the ancient remains; and the use of them seems to be confined to very barbarous communities. Probably the "nose-jewels" here mentioned were ornaments depending from the forehead and touching the upper part of the nose,
Isa_3:22
The changeable suite of apparel; rather, the festival robes (Revised Version), or the full-dress suits; i.e. those worn upon grand occasions, and then put off and set aside. The mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins; rather, the upper petticoats, the wraps, and the purses. An inner and an outer tunic or petticoat were commonly worn by females of the higher class in the East. The inner tunic was a simple linen vest; but the outer was generally of a better material, and richly ornamented. Outside this, a sort of wrap, or cloak, was worn occasionally (see Rth_3:15). Purses were, no doubt, carried by wealthy persons of both sexes; but their mention in this list does not seem very appropriate. Perhaps toilet-bags of some kind or other are intended (see 2Ki_5:23).
Isa_3:23
The glasses; rather, the mirrors. In ancient times these were not made of glass, but of some metal which took a high polish. Most commonly, the material seems to have been bronze. Many such mirrors have been found in Egypt, a few in Assyria, in Etruria a considerable number. They are of small size, intended to be carried in the hand, and have for that purpose a metal or a wooden handle, which is sometimes highly artistic. The fine linen; rather, the muslin robes. Sedin, the Hebrew word used, is probably a corruption or analogue of sin-don, the Greek name for Indian fabrics. It is only used here and in Jdg_14:12, Jdg_14:13; Pro_31:24. The hoods, and the vails; or, the turbans and the scarfs. The word translated" hood" is nearly the same as that which designates the head-dress of the high priest in Exodus (Exo_28:4, Exo_28:37, Exo_28:39; Exo_29:6, etc.) and Leviticus (Le Lev_8:9; Lev_16:4), which seems to have been a "turban" (see note on Exo_28:4). The other word, here translated "vail," occurs only in this place and So Lev_5:7. Its exact meaning is uncertain; but it can scarcely be a veil; since "veils" have been already mentioned (Lev_5:19).
Isa_3:24
Instead of sweet smell; literally, spice (comp. Exo_35:28; 1Ki_10:10, etc.). Stink; rather, rottenness, as translated in Isa_5:24 (compare the cognate verb in Le 26:39). Instead of a girdle a rent. So Lowth and Kay; but most moderns prefer the meaning given by the Septuagint and Vulgate, "instead of a girdle, a rope." The word used occurs only in this place. Instead of well-set hair baldness (compare above, Isa_5:17). By "well-set hair" seems to be meant "hair arranged with such exactness and order as to look like a work of art." The exact arrangement of the hair is very remarkable, both in the Egyptian and the Assyrian sculptures. Instead of such elaborate attempts to improve their looks, the daughters of Jerusalem would soon pluck their hair out by the roots, or shave it off, in mourning. A girding of sackcloth (comp. Gen_37:34; 2Sa_3:31, etc.; and for the adoption of the custom by women, see 2Sa_21:10; Joe_1:8). Burning instead of beauty. This meaning is now generally acknowledged, the sense of "burning" being borne out by the cognate verb used in Pro_6:28; Isa_43:2, and the cognate noun used in Exo_21:25. The" burning" intended is probably branding by a barbarous enemy.
Isa_3:25
Thy men; rather, thy people; i.e. the inhabitants of Jerusalem generally. Note here the first distinct statement that the coming visitation will be one of war.
Isa_3:26
Her gates. The sudden change of person is common in Oriental poetry. Shall lament and mourn. On account of their destruction, which would be very complete (see Lam_1:4; Lam_2:9; Neh_1:3; Neh_2:13). Conquerors could not do more than break breaches in the walls of a town, but they carefully destroyed the gates. Being desolate; or, emptied—plundered of everything, and so far "cleansed" from her abominations. Shall sit upon the ground. In deep grief (see Job_2:13; and comp. Isa_47:1; Lam_2:10). So in the coin of Vespasian, the captive Judah (Judea capta) sits upon the ground.
I. CESSATION OF A SUCCESSION OF GREAT AND WISE MEN. (Isa_3:2, Isa_3:3.) One of the first marks of decay is a falling off in this succession. When the intervals between one great man and another lengthen; when wise men, capable of giving the state good counsel, grow rare; when mediocrity everywhere prevails, and no one steps forth conspicuous by marked superiority to his fellows;—then it may at once be proclaimed that decline has set in, and that the nation is verging towards its fall. The great and the wise are the salt which preserve society from corruption. Without them all goes wrong; the pulse of the national life slackens, energy disappears, foreign aggression is weakly resisted, a general debilitation becomes apparent in every part and function of the body politic. No state can long resist the insidious malady, which, like atrophy or anaemia, steals gradually over the entire frame, exhausting it and bringing about its dissolution.
II. ACTIVE FOLLY IN THE RULERS. (Isa_3:4.) When the great and the wise fail, government necessarily falls into the hands of the incompetent. If not "children" in age, they will be "babes" in respect of policy and statecraft. So long, however, as they are willing to follow the traditions of the past, to work upon well-known lines, and carry out established practices, no very great harm can arise. But they are seldom content for many years to act thus. A childish desire seizes them to attract attention, to exhibit their power. Hence they plunge into active follies, wild schemes of aggression and conquest, or imprudent and unsuitable alliances, as that of Ahaz with Tiglath-Pileser (2Ch_28:16, 2Ch_28:20). The state is brought into difficulties and entanglements, and the wisdom is wanting that should have seen a way out of them. One embarrassment follows another. Unexpected circumstances arise, and it is not perceived how they should be met. The unwisdom of the good is perhaps as fatal as the folly of the wicked (e.g. Josiah's uncalled-for resistance of Pharaoh-Nechoh, 2Ki_23:29), and leads to great disasters. Meanwhile other causes are at work, which advance the general confusion and accelerate the final catastrophe.
III. DEVELOPMENT OF SELFISHNESS AMONG THE PEOPLE. (Isa_3:5.) Society is based upon the principles of justice and mutual good will. While states prosper, it requires no extraordinary virtue in men to deal justly by their neighbors, and act towards them in a friendly spirit. But when the times are out of joint, when there is general impoverishment and distress, it is no longer easy to be amicable or even just. "Every man for himself!" becomes the cry; the spirit of selfishness is evoked and runs riot; "the people" (no longer the "rulers" or the "judges," Isa_1:10, Isa_1:23) "oppress every one another, and every one his neighbor" (Isa_3:5). This indulgence of the selfish spirit acts as a solvent—loosens the bonds which have hitherto held society together, and goes far to reduce the united mass, in whose union was its strength, to a congeries of atoms.
IV. CESSATION OF RESPECT FOR AGE OR SOCIAL RANK. (Isa_3:5.) The disintegration of society tends to place all the atoms upon a par. While the social order was maintained, and the whole society felt itself one, the parts knew their need one of the other, and recognized their respective positions of inferiority and superiority. But with the loosening of the social ties comes naturally a general self-assertion. In a physical chaos atoms are of equal value, and why not in a disintegrated society? Hence the young in such a state throw off their allegiance to the old; even sons cease to respect or obey their fathers, and daughters their mothers. The humbler classes of toilers for daily bread no longer look up to their more favored brethren, but rather view them with jealousy and hatred. Class is alienated from class, and the tendency to a complete dissolution of society aggravated.
V. NEGLECT OF THEIR CIVIL DUTIES ON THE PART OF THE WELL-TO-DO CLASSES. (Isa_3:6, Isa_3:7.) Noblesse oblige. In a distracted state of society, it is especially incumbent on those whose means place them beyond the reach of want, and allow them ample leisure, to come to the relief of their neighbors by undertaking those civil duties and offices on which the welfare of the body politic depends. But it is exactly at such times that we find this class of persons most inclined to ignore this obligation, and withdraw wholly from political life (Isa_3:7). Some, like Plato, justify themselves under the plea that nothing can be done to save society, and that they may be excused for taking refuge under the first shelter that offers while the storm rages and exhausts itself. Others plead the vulgarizing effect of active political life, and claim the right of keeping their superfine humanity free from the smears and stains which mixture with the crowd would bring upon it. On one excuse or another, or not infrequently without condescending to make any excuse, the upper classes in a distracted state stand aloof, neglect their civil duties, and refuse all the calls that are made on them to come to the rescue, and do their best to save the "ruin" that is tottering to its fall.
Isa_3:9-11
Isa_3:16-24
1. The vanity and love of admiration which show themselves in excessive attention to dress and ornament.
2. The wantonness and immodesty which sometimes characterize their conduct.
3. The pride and haughtiness which under certain circumstances they display. All these are corrupting influences in a state, and help forward its decay and ruin.
I. VANITY AND LOVE OF ADMIRATION, AS SHOWN IN EXCESSIVE ATTENTION TO DRESS AND ORNAMENT. The desire to please is not in itself wrong, and attention to dress within certain limits is to be commended. A woman does not prove herself perfectly virtuous by being a sloven. But there is an attention to such matters and a quasi-devotion to them which is plainly excessive, and which has often the most injurious consequences. A tone of frivolity is engendered by much consideration of matters so trivial, which unfits a woman for dealing with the difficult problems of life and action. The management of her household and the training of her children, which are the principal duties, at any rate, of married women, are apt to be neglected by the woman of fashion, who dresses five times a day, and passes half her time at her toilet-table. Serious inroads are made upon a husband's means, sometimes to the extent of actual ruin, by the extravagance of those who cannot bear to see any one better dressed than themselves. Selfishness, worldliness, littleness, are impressed on the character, all higher aims being set aside, and nothing sought but the admiration of the other sex.
II. WANTONNESS AND IMMODESTY often follow on the love of admiration and grow out of it. A woman who courts admiration forgets the reserve which becomes her sex, and is tempted to enhance her charms by an indecorous display of them. Once let the limits of modesty be overstepped, and one defense falls after another. Facilis descensus Averni. Wanton glances (verse 16) are succeeded by immodest words, and these lead on to immodest deeds; and at last every barrier is thrown down, and the world sees a Messalina or a Lucrezia Borgia. General immodesty in the women of a state is of infrequent occurrence; but where it occurs, is an almost certain indication of approaching social dissolution. The most flagrant instance is that of Rome. There, from the time of the establishment of the empire, the disorders of married and domestic life were excessive. "A kind of rivalry in impurity grew up between the two sexes; and there were more seducers than seduced of the female sex". "In Rome the women, deprived of all moral support, became just what the men made them, and so sank with them incessantly deeper and deeper". Historians generally, ascribe the fall of the Roman empire to no cause more than to the corruption of the Roman women.
III. PRIDE AND HAUGHTINESS are not natural vices of women; but, when developed, they attain vast proportions, and lead on to great calamlties. Jezebel and Athaliah in Old Testament history, Amestris and Parysatis in Persian, Tanaquil in Roman, are examples of the power of women for evil, when they step out of their sphere, assume to direct the policy of states, dispense life and death, and lord it over the people of a kingdom. In such cases their haughtiness outdoes that of men, and provokes a more intense feeling of dissatisfaction and resentment. Revolution often follows, or in any case disaffection towards the government; and an additional element of danger is introduced, which becomes fatal under certain circumstances. Altogether, it would seem that women have quite as much influence as men towards producing the ruin of states, and are quite as responsible for political catastrophes.
I. THE RULERS OF THE PEOPLE REMOVED. Government is one of the necessities of human life. Hence the rulers are spoken of as "staff and stay, staff of bread and staff of water." Even bad rulers are better than none, so that they may be described as main props or supports of life. In the same way says Ezekiel, "I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem" (Eze_4:16; Eze_5:16). To see how truly good government may be thus described, let us remember that, by timely and wise legislation, bread and other necessaries of life have been cheapened and secured to the people. With good government men may be well fed and prosperous even in unkindly lands, while through evil government once fertile plains (like the Roman Campagna) have become wastes.
II. THE NERVE AND STRENGTH OF THE NATION BROKEN. A nation needs heroes, men of courage for the battle-field. It needs men of discretion and integrity for the seat of justice and the bar. It needs men of religious faith and insight as prophets and teachers; and in every department, military, civil, ecclesiastical, scientific, there is a constant demand for able and honest men. There is to be a dearth of them in Jerusalem. The false leaders to whom the people have looked up, the idol-prophets and the magicians, are to be taken away along with the true. "Children" and "baby-boys," the prophet caustically says, shall become the princes and rulers of the nation. Ahaz was quite a young man; his "weakness of character and foolish humors would have been quite sufficient, in the sixteen years of his reign, to put the whole kingdom out of joint." The picture may remind us that men of intelligence and virtue are the great necessity in every time. If in the state statesmen are not being bred, and in the Church weak and illiterate men swarm, it is a sign of most certain moral weakness and decay.
III. ANARCHY THE RESULT.
1. In private life. Good neighborhood is broken up, for it must rest on the common recognition of law and custom; and what if these be subverted? Age and rank no longer command respect. The beardless boy affronts the hoary head, the churl would level the gently born with himself. Nothing is more odious than the leveling temper of troublous times; for the fine gradations of rank are part essentially of a system of higher culture.
2. In public life. So extreme is the need of guidance and rule, that private proposals will be made to almost any seeming respectable man to take up the reins of government. But none will be found willing to govern "these ruins," or to be chief of so mere a rabble. We may use the picture as an allegory of the soul. When sin has set our being at variance with itself, and all our confidence and self has failed, we may be glad to find any yoke that we may creep beneath. Yet this may be denied. Those who, in the rebellion of lust and self-will, have sought to be "lords of themselves," may find a heritage of woe entailed. "The soul would never rule. It would be first in all things; but this attained, commanding for commanding sickens it."—J.
Isa_3:8-15
I. ANTAGONISM TO THE DIVINE RULE. In word and deed.
1. In current talk, writing, speechifying, it is difficult to detect where the falsehood lies. It consists in the suppression of certain important sides of truth, and in putting forward interested, partial views of things. The literature of a people cannot be sound, if it be sunk in greed of gold and luxury as Judah had been. The hollowness consists in the reference of everything to a low standard of value. Not until a great preacher, prophet, or writer—a Savonarola, a Latimer, a Carlyle—arises to shed the splendor of eternal truth upon our ways, do we discover how false and mean they have been.
2. We find we have "provoked the eyes of God's majesty" by our way of life. What hard-heartedness and brazen defiance of humanity and morality is brought to light from time to time, when some reformer directs attention to an abuse! Men cynically "make fortunes" out of the flesh and blood of their fellow-creatures. Have not in our time the cries of factory children, and over-toiled seamstresses, and drowning sailors, and "gutter children" gone up into the cars of the Lord of hosts? Isaiah is modern as well as ancient, for the Word he delivers is eternal.
II. THE NEMESIS OF EVIL, THE RECOMPENSE OF GOOD.
1. Wickedness is suicidal. "Woe to their soul, for to themselves they did evil!" Here lights the deepest curse, here rankles at last the arrow; in the soul! Dante sees in hell (c. 12.), in three circles, those who have wronged their neighbor, their God, and themselves. But every species of wrong works out its woe in self.
"Man can do violence
To himself and his own blessings; and for this
He in the second round must aye deplore
With unavailing penitence his crime.
Whoe'er deprives himself of life and light,
In reckless banishment his talent wastes,
And sorrows there where he should dwell in joy."
Men may afford the loss of property, of a limb, of health; but not of love, not of the soul. The denial of love, or the waste of it, means the loss of the soul.
2. Goodness is self-rewarding. Often is the good man compared to a tree, bringing forth fruit by a law of nature, according to its kind and in its season. There is strict and beautiful sequence in life and character. No curse, no blessing, "causeless comes." The bitter fruit we bring forth comes from interference with the Divine nature God has given us. It is said that wanton Arabs sometimes
"Foil a dwarf palm
Of bearing its own proper wine and oil,
By grafting into it the stranger-vine,
Which sucks its heart out, sly and serpentine,
Till forth one vine-palm fastens to the root,
And red drops moisten the insipid fruit."
Such is sin and sin's result on the being; a parody and mockery of that sound and true life so beautifully presented under the image of a tree in the first psalm.
III. MISRULE. There has been weakness and effeminacy in high places. And this is often more mischievous than strong and open violence. A vast growth of vicious and interested passions springs up in the neighborhood of a weak court. It is the opportunity for many bad men to exert their ambition. A powerful will generally works some good at the head of affairs, even though its wielder be not a good man. But feebleness is always baneful in public life. Everything is uncertain when the purpose is vacillating, and no settled principle exists. The feeble ruler will be swayed by every gust of caprice, by every personal influence that attacks his ear, every passion that enslaves his heart. Several of our kings—John, Richard II; the Charleses—have been examples of this. The country may be compared to a beautiful vineyard which the rulers have been appointed to keep (Isa_5:1-7). They have trampled it down and despoiled it, and have "ground the sufferers' faces." The image is taken from the mill, where a substance is worn down until nothing is left. The contemporary prophet Micah uses still stronger language (Mic_3:2, Mic_3:3). The rulers flay the people, and cutting them in pieces, cast them, as it were, into a caldron. Unhappily this picture has its counterpart today in many Eastern lands. The women of the harem practically rule and devour the people in their greed. Personally, the description may be applied. God has entrusted to each of us a garden or vineyard to keep. Diligence and faithfulness will have their reward. For sloth, neglect, waste, and abuse, God will enter into judgment with us.—J.
Verse 16-Isa 4:1
I. THEIR PRIDE. The picture is minute and scathingly satirical. The daughters of Zion walk with "necks held up."
II. THEIR LASCIVIOUSNESS. The "rolling eyes" are often mentioned as characteristic of Aphrodite or Ashtoreth, the unchaste goddess of sensual love.
III. THEIR FINERY AND LUXURY. A complete catalogue of articles of personal adornment is given. The instinct for dress and decoration, so strong in women and so graceful if followed with moderation, easily passes beyond the bounds, and becomes an offence and vice.
IV. THE REVERSE OF THE PICTURE. The perfumes will be exchanged for a stench, the waistband for the rough cord of poverty, the abundance of flowing hair will be replaced by repulsive baldness. "A brand instead of beauty!" Their husbands will fall in the war. There will be melancholy groups gathering at the public place, the gates; and in vain will they, once lapped in luxury, seek the protection and the honor of the marriage state (cf. 1Co_7:36). One of our poets has called up the picture of Venice and her women in old days of mirth and folly, which may be compared.
"As for Venice and her people, merely born to bloom and drop,
Here on earth they bore their fruitage—mirth and folly were the crop.
What of soul was left, I wonder, when the kissing had to stop?
Dust and ashes!"
Only the "sweet and virtuous soul" can give to woman an immortal charm, and ensure her from corrupting and being corrupted.—J.
I. MEN CANNOT PREVENT SELF-REVEALING. As the New Testament says, "They that be otherwise cannot be hid." There is no concealment in nature. The hidden seed springs up even in the cleft of a rock. There is always some damaging witness waiting for an evil man. As the snow reveals the footsteps of the beast of prey, as the wind of the desert drifts the sand from the body that is buried in it, so sin will surely be found out. A bad man's face is a tell-tale of levity and scorn and shame. If God is not in the heart, the light of his presence will not be in the countenance.
II. MEN CANNOT LONG ACT A PART. Nature is against insincerity. You cannot forge her handwriting. You cannot make your artificial rock so that it shall remain unknown beside hers. No. And it is so with voice and face. Hypocrisy drops unconsciously its mask. The same words are spoken differently by sincere and insincere men. We read of hollow laughter. So there is hollow exhortation which does not exercise inspiration over our hearts. So men cannot twist their countenances into false witnessing. There is a blatant iniquity about the wicked which cannot be concealed by long effort. "They declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not."
III. MEN CANNOT AVERT PUNISHMENT. "Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves." They create their own inquisition-chamber. Memory is their misery. No theories of unaccountability can live. Excuses there are none. The conscience tears them to pieces like a spider's web. Life is personal and accountable. We all feel that. "Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him." Reward, then, is not always blessing; it is harvest of golden sheaves or gathered tares, according to our planting. Verily a light from within fills the countenance even of godly men. The prayer is fulfilled. "Cause thy face to shine upon us." "Who is the Health of my countenance, and my God"—W.M.S.
I. NATIONAL ANARCHY.
1. Its cause is found in national rebellion against its rightful Lord. "Their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory" (Isa_3:8). Sin, both in word and deed, draws down the righteous indignation of God, and, under his just administration, the penalty of iniquity is paid.
2. Its signs are seen in:
(1) The loss of all fitting leaders (Isa_3:1-3). Those who constituted "the stay and the staff" are no longer found in positions of authority; those capable of ruling, those qualified to direct and to advise, those who have learnt political sagacity by long experience,—these are not to be obtained; they have been deported, or they have withdrawn, or they are no more trained.
(2) The consequent elevation of the incapable (Isa_3:4). Those hold the high offices of state who are utterly incompetent to fill the lasts they have accepted.
(3) The presence of injustice and confusion (Isa_3:5). Instead of all doing that which is conscientious and right as between man and man, every one seeks to overreach his neighbor; fraud and violence are the rule rather than the exception; and instead of the natural subordination of the younger to the elder, there is insolence and presumption.
(4) The absence of unselfish patriotism (Isa_3:6, Isa_3:7). They who are in a position to render help refuse to do so, untruly and unworthily excusing themselves.
3. Its issue. (Isa_3:8.) "Jerusalem is being ruined (is ruined); Judah is falling (is fallen)." Bad as things are, they are not at their very worst; there remains a darker and sadder catastrophe yet to complete the destruction; and that, viz. dreary exile for the people and depopulation for the land, will soon arrive.
II. SPIRITUAL ANARCHY. We trace the same cause here as in the case of the ruined nation.
1. Its cause is in rebellion against God, and his consequent high displeasure showing itself in just and appropriate penalty (Isa_3:8).
2. Its signs are found in:
(1) The dethronement of the soul's true authorities: conscience, which directs us what we ought to do; reason, which leads us in the path in which it is wise to walk; pure affection, which draws us toward the objects we do well to love (Isa_3:1-3). When sin does its work within, these powers which were meant to rule are supplanted by unworthy rivals.
(2) The enthronement of the unfitting (Isa_3:4). As unsuited to govern a human soul are the rude, uncultured appetites and passions of our lower nature as are "children" and babes to rule over the great affairs of state.
(3) Internal struggle and insubordination (Isa_3:5). The animal appetites asserting themselves unduly and violently against spiritual aspirations and holy principles, and doing them dishonor.
(4) Appeal, without response, to our better nature (Isa_3:6, Isa_3:7). It is one of the last stages in spiritual demoralization when an earnest, strenuous challenge is made to that which is left in the soul of the heavenly and Divine, and it makes no response, or none, but a miserable resort to that which is false. There is little hope left then; the last sparks are expiring:
3. Its issue. (Isa_3:8.) A human spirit in such a state is hastening fast to utter and irretrievable ruin. It is in the very act of falling; it is coming to the ground, to be utterly humiliated and broken. It may be perhaps that on earth a soul is never in such complete ruin but that it may be repaired. Yet there are those who have fallen into such disorder that it may be said that the last destruction overhangs them. To such the Master's warning words may well be uttered (see Luk_17:31, Luk_17:32); for they must flee for their life, not losing a moment in starting, nor looking behind them when on their way.—C.
Isa_3:9-11
II. THAT SIN, IN ITS LATER STAGES, SCORNS TO BE SCREENED FROM VIEW. "They declare their sin …they hide it not" (verse 9). In the further stages of iniquity there is no attempt, for there is no desire, to hide the wrong thing from view. Shame gradually declines until it passes away, and in its place there grows up a horrible pride in sin. Men come to gloat over that from which they ought to shrink with utmost sense of humiliation; they "glory in their shame" (Php_3:19). This is eminently true of acts of rapacity and fraud; it also applies to sins of direct ungodliness and of self-indulgence.
III. THAT SIN IS ALWAYS WORKING TOWARDS RUIN. "Woe unto their soul; they have rewarded evil unto themselves" (verse 9). "Woe unto the wicked," etc. (verse 11). Sin sometimes prospers long; the "sinner may do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely we know … that it shall not be well with the wicked" (Ecc_8:12, Ecc_8:13). Nor is it well when the end comes (see Psa_73:1-20).
1. Sin tends to temporal ill-being, to penury, to sickness, to early death.
2. Sin tends to isolation, to the withdrawal of confidence and affection on the part of the good and worthy, to dishonor, and even degradation.
3. Sin must inevitably lead to spiritual deterioration and, if it be persisted in, to spiritual death. "The wages of sin is death."
4. Sin finally conducts to condemnation and exile from the home of God. Alas! for the soul that is impenitent, that seeks not Divine mercy, that does not return on its way to the living God and to his righteousness. There is a world of meaning in that one small word which constitutes here such a significant sentence "ill."
IV. THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS MAY REST SECURE IN HOPE. (Verse 10.) It may seem ill to the righteous; "weeping may endure for a night." He may find himself inclined to sigh, "All these things are against me" (Gen_42:36). But "unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." The converse of all that applies to the ungodly is true of the godly. Righteousness
(1) tends to prosperity here;
(2) begets trust and love;
(3) results in moral excellency—the good man finds that honesty, purity, truthfulness, sobriety, kindness, etc; issue in spiritual increase, in a harvest of inward good, and he "eats the fruit of his doings;"
(4) conducts at last to the heavenly land, where he who does the will of God "is recompensed at the resurrection of the just."—C.
Isa_3:12-15
I. THAT THE NATURAL RESULT OF FOLLY IS TO BE GOVERNED BY THOSE WHO HAVE NO RIGHT TO RULE.
1. The nation suffers this penalty. As with Judah now (Isa_3:12), so with each and every country in its turn and in its way. Unmanliness, frivolity, wickedness among the people, will be reflected in the sovereign power. A nation that lives supremely for material enrichment, or for military conquest, or for pleasurable excitement, must expect to see upon the throne—in the government—men who will represent their evil genius, who will pamper their evil tastes, who will "cause them to err" more wildly, and "destroy them in the way of thy paths." Action and reaction are here as everywhere; the folly of the people expresses itself in the weakness and perversity of the ruler, and these qualities on his part tell in their time and measure upon them.
2. The Church endures the same evil. Unspirituality, discord, unbelief, laxity in the Christian community, will certainly issue in a degenerate ecclesiastical authority, and the ruler, using or abusing his opportunity, will lead astray and destroy.
3. The individual finds the same natural law operating on him and on his life. By his folly he allows passions instead of principles, impulses instead of convictions, men instead of God, to be his rulers, his "oppressors;" and these cause him to err; they pervert the way of his paths.
II. THAT THEY WHO ARE GUILTY OF MISRULE AND PERVERSITY MUST LOOK FOR THE RIGHTEOUS VISITATION OF GOD. (Isa_3:13-15.) "The Lord standeth up to plead," "to judge the people." He confronts and confounds those who have wronged and oppressed his people. If the usurper, the tyrant, the oppressor, the debauchee, the misleader of the nation (the Church), should not meet with the resentment and feel the blows of those whom he has wronged, he must lay his account with the facts that God takes note of all that passes in our human communities, that he holds those who are in power responsible for the effects of their administration, that he regards with severest indignation those who abuse their trust, that he will visit them in his own time and way, here or hereafter, with proofs of his Divine displeasure.—C.
Isa_3:16-26
I. THAT THE LAST AND SADDEST SYMPTOM OF NATIONAL DECLINE IS FOUND IN WOMANLY FOLLY. "Moreover … the daughters of Zion," etc. (Isa_3:16). Corruption may have spread far and done much evil work in the community, but there is hope for the city or the Church so long as the wives and the mothers, the daughters and the sisters, retain their moral and spiritual integrity. When that is gone all is gone. Purity and worth find their last retreat under the domestic roof; if they be driven thence they are doomed to die, and with them perish the prospects of the land.
II. THAT PRIDE AND VANITY IN WOMAN ARE OFFENSIVE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. His prophet here condemns them "because they are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks" (Isa_3:16); he also describes, evidently in the spirit of strong reprobation, the various articles and instruments of vanity (Isa_3:18-23). Here are denounced the two sins of pride and vanity—the overweening estimate of self, and the foolish desire to excite the attention and the passing admiration of others. To be blind to our own defects and, at the same time, to magnify our own excellences, thus gaining and exhibiting a sense of our own goodness and importance quite beyond the measure of our deserts,—such pride is hateful to God (Psa_18:27; Psa_101:5; Pro_6:17; 1Pe_5:5). And vanity is nearly as offensive as pride. To be studying, by every art, to attract the notice of our fellows, and to be peevishly, nervously anxious to secure their praise, instead of seeking first the approval of God and then the commendation of our own conscience,—this is sinful in the sight of the holy and the true One. We may safely say—
III. THAT THESE ARE NOT ONLY HEINOUS OFFENCES AGAINST GOD, BUT PITIABLE MISTAKES IN THE SIGHT OF MAN.
1. Those who assume a worth to which they are not entitled, and hence walk arrogantly before the world, do not receive the tribute of honor which they claim; they only excite derision and contempt.
2. They who, by meretricious ornamentations of their person or their style, endeavor to draw to themselves admiring observation, only succeed in provoking the smile of pity or disdain.
IV. THAT FRIVOLITY IN MAN OR WOMAN WILL MEET ITS DOOM IN THE DAY OF DIVINE PENALTY. (Isa_3:24-26.) This will involve:
1. The removal of the sources of frivolous delight. These "the Lord will take away" (Isa_3:18). For how brief a day do the pleasures of sense last! How soon the sun goes down on the trivialities and temporalities with which the sons and daughters of men amuse themselves and waste their time!
2. A visitation answering to the folly (Isa_3:24). Sin finds itself paid in its own coin.
3. The sorrow which comes with a sense of desolation (Isa_3:26).