Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 57

The righteous perishes – This refers, I suppose, to the time of Manasseh (see the Introduction, Section 3). Grotius supposes that it refers to King Josiah; Vitringa, that it refers to martyrs in general. But it seems probable to me that the prophet intends to describe the state of apathy that prevailed in his own time. He appears to urge, as one proof of this, that the pious part of the nation was taken away by violent death, and yet the nation was not affected by it.

Such was the guilt of Manasseh; so violent was the persecution he instigated against the righteous, that it is said of him that he shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another (2 Kings 22:16). There is evidence (see the Introduction, Section 2) that Isaiah lived until Manasseh's time, and it is probable that he himself ultimately fell victim to Manasseh's reign. Although, due to his great age, he had retired from the public functions of the prophetic office, he could not have been insensible to the existence of these evils. His spirit would not allow him to be silent, even though bowed down by age, when the land was filled with abominations and when the best blood of the nation was poured out like water. The word rendered ‘perishes’ (אבד 'ābad) as well as the word rendered ‘taken away’ (אסף 'âsaph) denotes violence and indicates that they were removed by a premature death.

And no one lays it to heart – No one is aroused by it, or is concerned about it. The sentiment of the passage is that it is proof of great spiritual dullness and guilt when people see the righteous die without concern. If the pious die by persecution and others are not aroused, it shows that they acquiesce in it, or have no confidence in God, and no desire that His people should be preserved. If they die in the ordinary way and the people are unaffected, it shows their spiritual dullness. The removal of a pious person from the earth is a public calamity. Their prayers, example, and life were among the richest blessings of the world, and people should be deeply affected when they are withdrawn. It shows their guilt and spiritual dullness when they see this with indifference.

It increases the evidence of this guilt when, as is sometimes the case, the removal of the righteous by death is an occasion of joy. The wicked hate the silent rebuke furnished by a holy life, and they often feel a secret exultation when such people die.

And merciful men – The margin offers ‘men of kindness’ or ‘godliness’ as alternative renderings. Lowth and Noyes translate it as ‘pious men.’ The Septuagint translates it as Ἄνδρες δίκαιοι (Andres dikaioi) – ‘just men.’ The Hebrew word here (חסד chesed) signifies mercy or kindness. It likely refers to ‘men of mercy’—that is, people who are recipients of God's mercy, those who are pious or devoted to Him.

Are taken away – In Hebrew, this phrase means ‘are gathered.’ That is, they are gathered to their ancestors by death.

None considering – They were not concerned to understand the purpose of Divine Providence in permitting it.

From the evil to come – This means 'from the evil that is to come' (or, as the margin puts it, 'from that which is evil'). The idea here is evidently that severe calamities were coming upon the nation. God was about to give them up to foreign invasion (Isaiah 56:9 and following), and the true reason the righteous were removed was so that they might not be subject to the divine wrath that would come upon the nation. They would not be required to witness the painful state of things when an enemy would set fire to the cities, the palaces, and the temple, and cause the sacred services of religion to cease. It was a lesser evil for them to be removed by death—even by the painful death of persecution—than to be compelled to experience these coming sorrows. At the same time, this passage may be regarded as teaching a more general truth.

This truth is that the pious are often removed so that they may not be exposed to evils they would experience if they were to live longer. These evils could include the pains and sorrows of persecution, long and lingering disease, poverty and want, or the prevalence of iniquity and unbelief over which their hearts would bleed. There might also be long and painful conflicts with their own evil hearts, or the danger that they would fall into sin and dishonor their high calling. For some or all these reasons, the righteous may be withdrawn from the world. If we could see these reasons as God does, nothing more would be necessary to lead us to acquiesce entirely in the justice of His dealings.

He shall enter into peace - Lowth, ‘He shall go in peace.’ So the margin. Vulgate, ‘Peace shall come.’ Septuagint, ‘His sepulture (ἡ ταφὴ αὐτοῦ hē taphē autou) shall be in peace.’ The idea is that by his death the righteous man shall enter into rest. He shall get away from conflict, strife, agitation, and distress. This may either refer to the peaceful rest of the grave, or to that which awaits the just in a better world. The direct meaning here intended is probably the former, since the grave is often spoken of as a place of rest. Thus Job (Job 3:17), speaking of the grave, says:

There the wicked cease from troubling;
And there the weary be at rest.

The connection here seems also to demand the same sense, as it is immediately added, ‘they shall rest in their beds.’ The grave is a place of peace:

Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear,
Invade your bounds; no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here,
While angels watch the soft repose.
- Watts

At the same time it is true that the dying saint ‘goes in peace!’ He has calmness in his dying, as well as peace in his grave. He forgives all who have injured him, prays for all who have persecuted him, and peacefully and calmly dies.

He lies in a peaceful grave—often represented in the Scriptures as a place of repose, where the righteous ‘sleep’ in the hope of being awakened in the morning of the resurrection.

He enters into the rest of heaven—the world of perfect and eternal repose. No persecution comes there; no trial awaits him there; no calamity shall meet him there.

Thus, in all respects, the righteous leave the world in peace; and thus death ceases to be a calamity, and this most dreaded of all evils is turned into the highest blessing.

They shall rest in their beds - That is, in their graves.

Each one walking in his uprightness - Margin, ‘Before him.’ The word נכח nakkoch means “straight, right,” and is used of one who walks straight forward. It here means an upright man, who is often represented as walking in a straight path—in opposition to sinners, who are represented as walking in crooked ways (Psalms 125:5; Proverbs 2:15; Isaiah 59:8; Philippians 2:15). The sense here is that all who are upright shall leave the world in peace, and rest quietly in their graves.

But draw near here – That is, come near to hear the solemn sentence which God pronounces regarding your character and doom. This is addressed to the impenitent and unbelieving part of the nation and is designed to set before them the greatness of their sin and the certainty that they would be punished.

You sons of the sorceress – You who are addicted to sorcery and enchantments; who consult the oracles of the pagan rather than the only true God. On the meaning of the word used here, see the notes at (Isaiah 2:6). The Hebrews, like other inhabitants of the East, were much addicted to this, and particularly in the time of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:6): And he made his sons pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits, and wizards. So much were they devoted to this in his time, that they might be called, by way of eminence, the sons of the sorceress; as if a sorceress had been their mother, and they had grown up to walk in her steps and to imitate her example.

The seed of the adulterer – Implying that the obligations of the marriage contract were disregarded and that licentiousness prevailed in the nation. Amidst the other abominations which existed under the wicked and corrupt reign of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:0), there is every probability that these sins also abounded. Licentiousness had been the invariable attendant on idol-worship; and dissoluteness of manners is the usual accompaniment of all other crimes.

It is observable also that the Savior often charges the same sin on the nation in his own time (Matthew 12:39; Matthew 16:4; John 8:1 and following). In the language here, however, there is a reference to the fact that the nation had apostatized from God, and they were guilty of spiritual adultery – that is, of unfaithfulness to God. They fixed their affections on other objects than God and loved the images of idol-worship more than they did their Creator.

Against whom do you sport yourselves? - The word here rendered ‘sport’ (ענג ‛ānag) means properly “to live delicately and tenderly”; then “to rejoice, to take pleasure or delight.” Here, however, it is evidently used in the sense of making sport of someone, that is, to deride; and the idea is, probably, that they made a sport or mockery of God, and of the institutions of religion. The prophet asks, with deep indignation and emotion, against whom they did this. Were they aware of the majesty and glory of that Being whom they thus derided?

Against whom do you make a wide mouth? - That is, in derision or contempt (Psalms 35:21): Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me.

And draw out the tongue? - Lowth, ‘Loll the tongue;’ or, as we would say, ‘run out the tongue.’ Perhaps it was done with a rapid motion, as in mockery of the true prophets when they delivered the message of God (compare 2 Chronicles 36:16). Contempt was sometimes shown also by protruding the lips (Psalms 22:7): They shoot out the lip; and also by gaping upon a person (Psalms 22:13): They gaped upon me with their mouths.

Are you not children of transgression? - That is, in view of the fact that you make a sport of sacred things, and deride the laws and the prophets of God.

A seed of falsehood - A generation that is unfaithful to God and to his cause.

Inflaming yourselves — Burning, that is, with lust. The whole language here is derived from adulterous intercourse. The sense is that they were greatly addicted to idolatry and that they used every means to increase and extend the practice of it. The Vulgate, however, renders this, ‘Who console yourselves.’ The Septuagint renders it, ‘Invoking (παρακαλοῦντες parakalountes) idols.’ But the proper meaning of the Hebrew word חמם châmam is, “to become warm; to be inflamed, or to burn as with lust.”

With idols — Margin, ‘Among the oaks.’ Hebrew, באלים bā'ēlı̂ym. Vulgate, In diis — ‘With the gods.’ Septuagint, Εἴδωλα Eidōla — ‘Idols.’ So the Chaldee and Syriac. The Hebrew may denote ‘with gods,’ that is, with idol-gods; or it may denote, as in the margin, ‘among the oaks,’ or the terebinth groves, from איל 'ēyl — plural אילים 'ēylı̂ym — or אלים 'ēlym (the terebinth). See the word explained in the note at Isaiah 1:29. Kimchi and Jarchi here render it by ‘the terebinth tree.’ Lowth renders it, ‘Burning with the lust of idols;’ and probably this is the correct interpretation, for, if it had meant oaks or the terebinth tree, the phrase would have been “under” (תחת tachath) instead of “in” or “with” (ב b).

Under every green tree — (See the notes at Isaiah 1:29; 2 Kings 17:10; 2 Chronicles 28:4).

Slaying the children — That is, sacrificing them to the idol-gods. This was commonly done by burning them, as when they were offered to Moloch, though it is not improbable that they were sometimes sacrificed in other ways. It was a common custom among the worshippers of Moloch.

Thus it is said of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:3), that he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire. The same thing is said of Manasseh, to whose time the prophet most probably refers. And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom (2 Chronicles 33:6).

The same thing was practiced in the countries of the Babylonian empire (2 Kings 17:31), and from Deuteronomy 12:31, it is evident that it was commonly practiced by pagan nations. The Phoenicians, according to Eusebius (Praep. Evan. iv. 16), and the Carthaginians, according to Diodorus Siculus (xx. 14), practiced it.

In the valleys — The place where these abominations were practiced by the Jews was the valley of the son of Hinnom (see the references above); that is, the valley of Jehoshaphat, lying to the south and southeast of Jerusalem. A large hollow, brass statue was erected, and the fire was kindled within it, and the child was placed in his heated arms and thus put to death. The cries of the child were drowned by the music of the תף tôph — or kettle-drums (see the notes at Isaiah 5:12, where this instrument is fully described), and hence, the name of the valley was Tophet.

Under the clefts of the rocks — Dark and shady groves, and deep and sombre caverns were the places where the abominable rites of the pagan superstitions were practiced (compare the notes at Isaiah 11:1).