ISAIAH THE ARGUMENT THE teachers of the ancient church were of two sorts: 1. Ordinary, the priests and Levites. 2. Extraordinary, the prophets. These were immediately called by God, and inspired, as with other singular gifts and graces, so particularly with a supernatural knowledge of Divine…

The vision, or, the visions; the word being here collectively used, as it Isa. 22:1, 1 Sam. 3:1. The sense is, This is the book of the visions or prophecies. As prophets were called seers, 1 Sam.

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: he directeth his speech to these senseless creatures, that thereby he might more awaken and affect the Israelites, whom he hereby proclaimeth to be so dull and stupid that they were past hearing, and therefore gives them over as desperate; and calleth in the…

The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; the most stupid brute beasts acknowledge and obey their Lord and Benefactor, as experience showeth. Israel doth not know, to wit, me, their Owner and Master, which is easily and necessarily understood out of the former clause.

Ah: this particle implies both his wonder, and anger, and grief, and shame that they were such. Laden with iniquity, Heb. of heaviness of iniquity, i.e. of heavy or great sins; for heavy is commonly put for great or grievous, as Isa. 21:15, Isa. 30:27. Laden not with the sense of sin, as Matt.

Why should ye be stricken any more? it is to no purpose to seek to reclaim you by one chastisement after another; and therefore I will utterly forsake and destroy you at once. Ye will revolt more and more; I see you are incorrigible, and turn even your afflictions into sin.

From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; you have been all of you punished, from the highest to the lowest, from the worst to the best.

All this and what follows was verified in the days of king Ahaz, 2 Chron. 28:0, in whose time, and upon which occasion, this prophecy seems to have been delivered, as more exactly agreeing with that time than with any other.

The daughter of Zion, i.e. Zion, or Jerusalem; for these two names are promiscuously used of the same place; the name of daughter being frequently given to cities or countries. Thus the daughter of Babylon is put for Babylon itself, Ps. 137:8, Isa. 47:1.

If God, by his infinite power and goodness, had not restrained our enemies, and reserved some of us, the whole nation and race of us had been utterly cut off, as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were; so great was the rage and power of our enemies, and so utterly unable we were to deliver ourselves.

Hear the word of the Lord; I speak not my own fancies or passions, but the message of your Lord and Governor, to whom you owe all reverence and obedience. Rulers of Sodom; so called for their resemblance of them in wickedness: compare Deut. 32:32, Ezek. 16:46, Ezek. 16:48.

To what purpose? they are vain and useless, being neither accepted by me, nor beneficial to you. Unto me, who am a Spirit, and therefore cannot be satisfied with such carnal oblations, but expect to be worshipped in spirit and truth, and to have your hearts and lives, as well as, your bodies and…

When ye come to appear before me, upon the three solemn feasts, Ex. 23:17, Ex. 34:23, or upon other occasions. Who hath required this at your hands, to wit, in this manner, and upon these terms? The thing that I commanded was not only nor chiefly that you should offer external sacrifices to me, but…

Bring no more; I neither desire nor will accept of any upon these terms. Oblations, Heb. meat-offerings; of which see Lev. 2:1, Num. 15:4. Incense is an abomination, unto me; so far is it from being a sweet savour to me, as you foolishly imagine.

When ye spread forth your hands; when you pray with hands spread abroad, as the manner was; of which see Ex. 9:29, Ex. 9:33, Job 11:13;c. I will hide mine eyes from you; which is a gesture of contempt and loathing. I will take no notice of your persons or requests.

Make you clean; cleanse your hearts and hands from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and do not content yourselves with your ceremonial washings. Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; reform yourselves so thoroughly, that you may not only approve yourselves to men, but to me,…

Learn to do well; begin and inure yourselves to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Seek judgment; show your religion to God, by studying and practising justice to men, and neither give nor procure any unrighteous judgment. Relieve the oppressed; be not only just, but merciful.

Come now, and let us reason together; I am willing to lay aside my prerogative, and to submit the matter to a fair and equal trial, whether I do not deal justly in rejecting all your services, which are accompanied with such gross hypocrisy and wickedness, and whether I do not deal very graciously…

If ye be willing and obedient; if you are heartily willing and fully resolved to obey all my commands. Ye shall eat the good of the land; together with the pardon of your sins, you shall receive many temporal and worldly blessings.

If ye refuse and rebel; if you obstinately persist in your disobedience to me, as hitherto you have done. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it; he hath said it, who can as easily do it as speak the words, and who cannot lie, and therefore will do it.

How, a note of admiration at so strange, and sad, and sudden a change, is the faithful city, Jerusalem, which in the reign of former kings was faithful to God, become an harlot is filled with idolatry, which is commonly called whoredom.

Thou art woefully degenerated from thy former purity. If there be any remainders of religion and justice in thee, they are mixed with many and great corruptions.

Thy princes are rebellious against me, their sovereign Lord; they cast off my yoke, and make their own wills and lusts the rule of their life and government.

I will ease me, Heb. I will comfort myself; ease my mind, and satisfy my justice, by taking vengeance, as the next clause explains this. The same expression is used in the same sense Ezek. 5:13.

I will turn my hand upon thee, to chastise thee again, which God threatened that he would not do, Isa. 1:5, but now promiseth that he will do it, not in fury, or so as utterly to destroy them, but in mercy, and with moderation, so as to purge them, as it here follows.

I will restore thy judges, I will give thee such princes and magistrates, as at the first, Heb. as thou hadst in the beginning; either, 1. Of thy commonwealth, such as Moses and Joshua; or, 2. Of thy kingdom, such as David.

Zion, the Jews that live in or near Zion, and worship God in Zion, shall be redeemed, shall be delivered from all their enemies and calamities, with judgment; or, by judgment, i.e.

And; or rather, but, as that particle is oft used; for here is a manifest opposition. The destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together; though I will deliver my people from the Babylonish captivity, yet those of them who shall still go on in their wickedness shall not have…

They shall be ashamed; not with an ingenuous and penitential shame for the sin, but with an involuntary and penal shame for the disappointment of their hopes which they had in their idols.

As you have sinned under the oaks and in gardens, so you shall be made like unto oaks and gardens, not when they are green and flourishing, but when they wither and decay.

The strong; either, 1. Your idols, which you think to be strong, and able to defend you, as appears by your confidence in them. Or, 2. The strongest persons among you, who think to secure themselves against the threatened danger by their wealth, or power, or wisdom; and much more they that are weak…