Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 59:15

"Yea, truth is lacking; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice." — Isaiah 59:15 (ASV)

Indeed, truth fails - That is, it is not to be found; it is missing. The word used here (from עדר ‛ âdar) means “to be left, to remain” (2 Samuel 17:22); then “to be missing or lacking” (1 Samuel 30:19; Isaiah 40:26). Here it means that truth had no existence there.

And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey - The margin reads, ‘Is accounted mad.’ Noyes translates this, ‘And he that departeth from evil is plundered.’ Grotius translates it, ‘The innocent man lies open to injury from all.’ The Septuagint states, ‘They took away the mind from understanding;’ or, ‘They substituted opinion in the place of knowledge’ (Thompson’s Translation).

The phrase, ‘He who departs from evil,’ evidently means a man who did not, and would not, participate in the prevailing iniquitous practices, but who maintained a life of honesty and piety. It was one of the evils of the times that such a man would be harassed, plundered, and mistreated.

The word translated ‘makes himself a prey’ (משׁתולל mish^etôlēl from שׁלל shâlal) usually signifies to strip off, to plunder, to spoil. Some have supposed that the word means to make foolish, or to account mad, in Job 12:17 and Job 12:19.

Thus, in the passage before us, the Septuagint understood the word in this way, and this sense of the word our translators have placed in the margin. However, there is no reason to depart here from the usual meaning of the word as denoting to plunder or spoil. The idea is that people of honesty and piety were subject to the rapacity of the avaricious and the oppression of the mighty. They regarded them as lawful prey and took every advantage in stripping them of their property and reducing them to want.

This completes the statement of the nation's crimes. The existence of such deeds of violence and iniquity formed the basis on which God was led to intervene and bring about deliverance. Such a state of crime and consequent suffering demanded divine intervention; and when Yahweh saw it, He was led to provide a way for deliverance and reform.

The passage before us primarily referred to the prevalence of iniquity in the Jewish nation. However, its language also describes just as appropriately the moral condition of the world, laying the foundation for the necessity of divine intervention by the Messiah. Indeed, the following verses undoubtedly refer to Him. It is believed that no one can attentively read the passage and doubt this.

The prophet's mind is fixed on the depravity of the Jewish nation. The hands, the tongue, the eyes, the feet, the fingers—all were polluted. The whole nation was sunk in moral corruption, and this was only a partial description of what was occurring everywhere on earth. In such a state of affairs in the Jewish nation, and in the whole world, the question inevitably arose: could no deliverer be found?

Was there no way of pardon, no way by which deserved and impending wrath could be diverted? Therefore, from this melancholy view, the prophet turns to Him who was to be the Great Deliverer. The rest of the chapter is occupied with a very beautiful description of the Redeemer and of the effect of His coming. The sentiment of the whole passage is that “the deep and widespread depravity of man was the foundation for the necessity of divine intervention in securing salvation, and that in view of people's guilt, God provided One who was a Glorious Deliverer, and who was to come to Zion as the Redeemer.”

And the Lord saw it - He saw there was no righteousness; no light; no love; no truth. All was violence and oppression: all was darkness and gloom.

And it displeased Him - The margin reads, ‘Was evil in His eyes.’ Jerome similarly states, ‘It appeared evil in His eyes.’ The Septuagint, Καὶ οὐκ ἤρεσεν αὐτῷ Kai ouk ēresen autō - ‘And it did not please Him.’ The Hebrew, וירע vayēra‛, literally means, ‘It was evil in His eyes.’ This means it was painful or displeasing to Him. The existence of so much sin and darkness was contrary to the benevolent feelings of His heart.

That there was no judgment - No righteousness; no equity; and that iniquity and oppression abounded.