John Gill Commentary Isaiah 3

For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts These titles of Jehovah, expressive of power and authority, are used to show that he is able to execute what he threatens to do; and the word "behold" is prefixed, to excite attention to what is about to be said: does take away from Jerusalem, and from Judea; the present tense is used for the future, because of the certainty of what would be done to the Jews, both in city and country; for as in the preceding chapter (Isaiah 2:1–22) it is foretold what shall befall the antichristian party among the nations of the world, this is a prophecy of the destruction of the Jews by the Romans; at which time there would be a dreadful famine, signified by the taking away the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stayof water;

bread and water being the stay and staff of man's life, which support and maintain it; and, in case of disobedience, a famine was threatened this people very early, and in much such terms as here, (Leviticus 26:26) and as there was a very sore famine at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, (Jeremiah 52:6) so there was a very dreadful one when the city was besieged by the Romans, as related by Josephus, and predicted by Christ, (Matthew 24:7) .

The mighty man, and man of war. The meaning is either that these should die in war, as thousands of them did; or that men fit to be generals of armies should be removed by death before this time, so that they should have none to go out with their armies, and meet the enemy.

The judge and the prophet: There should be none to sit upon the bench, and administer justice to the people in civil affairs, and to determine causes relating to life and death; and none to instruct them in religious matters, and deliver the mind and will of God to them. Before this time the Jews were under the Roman jurisdiction, and had a Roman governor over them, and had not power to judge in capital cases, in matters of life and death, as they suggest (John 18:31). They say ^F26 that forty years before the destruction of the temple this power was taken from them. At the time that Jerusalem was besieged and taken by the Romans, and before that, they had no prophets among them; for though there were prophets in the Christian churches, yet none among them. This shows that this prophecy cannot be understood of the Babylonish captivity, because there were prophets then, as Jeremy, Ezekiel, and Daniel, but of Jerusalem's destruction by the Romans.

And the prudent and the ancient: With whom are wisdom, and who are fit to give advice and counsel in matters of difficulty; but these would be removed by famine or sword. The first of these words is used sometimes in an ill sense, for a diviner or soothsayer (Deuteronomy 18:10–14). The Jewish writers ^F1 interpret it of a king, according to (Proverbs 16:10), and it is certain they were without one at this time, and have been ever since (Hosea 3:4).

FOOTNOTES:

• F26: T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 15. 1. Sanhedrin, fol. 41. 1. and Beracot, fol. 58. 1.
• F1: T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 14. 1. Jarchi in loc.

The captain of fifty A semi-centurion, such a one as in (2 Kings 1:9–13) . So far should there be from being captains of thousands, and of hundreds, that there should not be one of fifty:

and the honourable man ; by birth, breeding, and behaviour, through riches and greatness; and one of power and authority among the people, and in their favour and esteem: and the counsellor ; one able to give advice in matters of moment and difficulty, and in controversy between man and man; it suggests that nothing should be done with advice and counsel, with wisdom and discretion, but all tumult and sedition, as the history of these times shows: the Jews ^F2 interpret this of one that knows how to intercalate years, and fix the months:

and the cunning artificer : in any kind of metal, old, silver, brass, and iron, and in any sort of wood, and in any kind of manual and mechanical business; which would now be laid aside, shops shuts up, and all trade and business neglected and discouraged, occasioned partly by the siege without, and chiefly by their internal divisions and robberies, and by their zealots and cutthroats, which swarmed among them. The Septuagint render it, "the wise architect", or "masterbuilder"; the same word is used by the apostle in (1 Corinthians 3:10) :

and the eloquent orator ; who has the tongue of the learned, and can speak a word in season to the distressed; or who is able to plead at the bar the cause of the injured and oppressed, the widow and the fatherless. Aben Ezra interprets it of one that is skilful in enchanting serpents; that charms wisely, as in (Psalms 58:5) it may be rendered, "one that understands enchantment" ^F3 : with the Septuagint it is a "prudent hearer"; sad is the case of a nation when men of so much usefulness are taken away from them. See (2 Kings 24:15) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F2: T. Bab. Chagiga & Jarchi, ut supra. (fol. 14. 1. Jarchi in loc.)
• F3: (vxl Nwbn) "intelligentem incantationis", Vatablus.

And I will give children [to be] their princes
Either in age, or in understanding, who are really so, or act like such; and in either sense, when this is the case, it is an unhappiness to a nation, (Ecclesiastes 10:16) : and babes shall rule over them ;
which is the same as before.

The Targum is,``the weak shall rule over them;'' such who are weak in their intellectuals, or are of mean pusillanimous spirits, "effeminate", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; and so as "children" are opposed to the "ancient", that should be taken away, these are opposed to "men of might" and courage, who would now be wanting: or "men of illusions", as in the margin; such as were subtle as foxes, and should deceive them, and impose upon them, and were audacious and impudent, and would mock at them, and despise them. So Jarchi and Abarbinel; and according to this sense of the word the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "mockers shall rule over them".

And the people shall be oppressed, everyone by another,
and everyone by his neighbour
There being no governors, or such as were unfit for government, no decorum was kept and observed, but a mere anarchy; and so everyone did as he pleased, as when there was no king in Israel; and everyone rushed into the house of his neighbour, and plundered his goods; this was the case of Jerusalem, at the time of the siege, it abounding with robbers and spoilers:

the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient ;
show no respect to them, nor honour them, as the law requires in (Leviticus 19:32) but behave insolently towards them; and so the Jews say ^F4 , that when the son of David is come, as he now would be, young men shall make ashamed the faces of old men, and old men shall stand before young men:

and the base against the honourable ;
persons of a mean birth and extract would rise up against and insult such as were men of families and fortune, of noble birth and of high degree.

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 97. 1.