John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"in that day shall he lift up [his voice], saying, I will not be a healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: ye shall not make me ruler of the people." — Isaiah 3:7 (ASV)
In that day shall he swear
Or "lift up", that is, his hand F5 , which was a gesture used in swearing, and therefore is so rendered;
the meaning is, that he shall at once immediately give an answer, and for the solemn confirmation of it shall say an oath with it, saying, I will not be a healer ,
or "a binder"; that is, of wounds, of political wounds, made in the nation, and which were incurable. See (Isaiah 1:6) for the meaning is, that he neither was fit to be, nor could he be, a healer of the distempered state of the nation, it was so desperately bad.
The Targum is, ``I am not fit to be a head or governor;'' and so Kimchi explains it of a governor, who, he says, is so called, because he binds and imprisons those that transgress his commands; and to this sense Jarchi and Abarbinel:
for in my house [is] neither bread nor clothing ;
not a sufficiency of either to support such grandeur and dignity; not enough to keep a proper table, and a suitable equipage:
make me not a ruler of the people ;
this shows that the state of the nation must be very bad indeed, that men, who are naturally ambitious of power and honour, should refuse government when offered to them.