Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 59
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Isaiah 59
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Isaiah 59
"Behold, Jehovah`s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:" — Isaiah 59:1 (ASV)
Behold, the Lord’s hand ... —The declaration is an implied answer to the complaint, like that of Isaiah 58:3, that the glorious promises had not yet been fulfilled. The murmurers are told that the hindrance is on their side.
"but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear." — Isaiah 59:2 (ASV)
Have separated — i.e., have become, as it were, a middle wall of partition excluding them from the Divine presence.
His face. — Better, the face. The Hebrew has neither article nor possessive pronoun, the substantive being treated almost as a proper name.
"For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue muttereth wickedness." — Isaiah 59:3 (ASV)
Your hands are defiled with blood. —The accusation of the “grand indictment” of Isaiah 1:15 is reproduced verbatim.
"None sueth in righteousness, and none pleadeth in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity." — Isaiah 59:4 (ASV)
None calleth for justice. — Better, none prefers his suit with truthfulness. The words point chiefly to the guilt of unrighteous prosecutions, but may include that of false witness also.
They trust in vanity. — Literally, in chaos — the characteristic tohu of both parts of Isaiah (Isaiah 24:10; Isaiah 29:21; Isaiah 40:17; Isaiah 40:23).
"They hatch adders` eggs, and weave the spider`s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth; and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper." — Isaiah 59:5 (ASV)
They hatch cockatrice’ eggs. —Better, basilisk’s, as in Isaiah 14:29. The schemes of the evildoers are displayed in their power for evil and their impotence for good. To “eat of the eggs,” which are assumed to be poisonous, is to fall in with their schemes, and so be ruined; to “crush” them is to oppose and so to rouse a more venomous opposition. Men break the egg, and the living viper darts forth to attack them.
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