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79 lines
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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Title = 'The Book of the Prophet Isaiah';
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SubTitle3 = 'CHAPTER 58';
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<p id="Chapter58" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 58
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<p id="Isa58_1"><a onclick="return mV('Isa',58,'1-14');">Isa 58:1-14</a>. REPROOF OF THE JEWS FOR THEIR DEPENDENCE ON MERE OUTWARD FORMS OF WORSHIP.
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<p><b>1. aloud</b>—<i>Hebrew,</i> "with the throat," that is, with full voice, not merely from the lips (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',1,13);">1Sa 1:13</a>). Speak loud enough to arrest attention.
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<br><br><b>my people</b>—the Jews in Isaiah's time, and again in the time of our Lord, more zealous for externals than for inward holiness. ROSENMULLER thinks the reference to be to the Jews in the captivity practising their rites to gain God's favor and a release; and that hence, <i>sacrifices</i> are not mentioned, but only <i>fasting</i> and <i>Sabbath observance,</i> which they could keep though far away from the temple in Jerusalem. The same also applies to their present dispersion, in which they cannot offer <i>sacrifices,</i> but can only show their zeal in <i>fastings,</i> etc. Compare as to our Lord's time, <a onclick="return mV('Mat',6,16,23);">Mat 6:16, 23</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',18,12);">Luk 18:12</a>.
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<p id="Isa58_2"><b>2.</b> Put the stop at "ways"; and connect "as a nation that," etc. with what follows; "As a nation that did righteousness," thus answers to, "they ask of Me <i>just judgments</i>" (that is, as a matter of justice <i>due to them,</i> salvation to themselves, and destruction to their enemies); and "forsook not the ordinance of their God," answers to "they desire the drawing near of God" (that <i>God would draw near</i> to exercise those "just judgments" in behalf of them, and against their enemies) [MAURER]. So JEROME, "In the confidence, as it were, of a good conscience, they demand a just judgment, in the language of the saints: Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity." So in <a onclick="return mV('Mal',2,17);">Mal 2:17</a>, they affect to be scandalized at the impunity of the wicked, and impugn God's <i>justice</i> [HORSLEY]. Thus, "seek Me daily, and desire (<i>English Version</i> not so well, 'delight') to know My ways," refers to their requiring to know why God delayed so long in helping them. <i>English Version</i> gives a good, though different sense; namely, dispelling the delusion that God would be satisfied with outward observances, while the <i>spirit</i> of the law, was violated and the heart unchanged (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',58,'3-14');">Isa 58:3-14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',33,31,32);">Eze 33:31-32</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',18,28);">Jhn 18:28</a>), scrupulosity side by side with murder. The prophets were the commentators on the law, as their <i>Magna Charta,</i> in its inward spirit and not the mere letter.
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<p id="Isa58_3"><b>3. Wherefore</b>—the words of the Jews: "Why is it that, when we fast, Thou dost not notice it" (by delivering us)? They think to lay God under <i>obligation</i> to their fasting (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',73,13);">Psa 73:13</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mal',3,14);">Mal 3:14</a>).
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<br><br><b>afflicted...soul</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Lev',16,29);">Lev 16:29</a>).
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<br><br><b>Behold</b>—God's reply.
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<br><br><b>pleasure</b>—in antithesis to their boast of having "<i>afflicted</i> their soul"; it was only in outward show they really <i>enjoyed</i> themselves. GESENIUS not so well translates, "business."
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<br><br><b>exact...labours</b>—rather, "<i>oppressive</i> labors" [MAURER]. HORSLEY, with <i>Vulgate,</i> translates, "Exact the whole upon your <i>debtors</i>"; those who owe you labor (<a onclick="return mV('Neh',5,'1-5','8-10');">Neh 5:1-5, 8-10</a>, etc.).
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<p id="Isa58_4"><b>4. ye shall not fast</b>—rather, "ye do not fast at this time, so as to make your voice to be heard on high," that is, in heaven; your aim in fasting is strife, not to gain the ear of God [MAURER] (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',21,9,12,13);">1Ki 21:9, 12-13</a>). In <i>English Version</i> the sense is, If you wish acceptance with God, ye must not fast as ye now do, to make your voice heard high <i>in strife.</i>
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<p id="Isa58_5"><b>5. for a man to afflict his soul</b>—The <i>pain</i> felt by abstinence is not the <i>end</i> to be sought, as if it were meritorious; it is of value only in so far as it leads us to amend our ways (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',58,6,7);">Isa 58:6-7</a>).
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<br><br><b>bow...head...sackcloth</b>—to affect the outward tokens, so as to "<i>appear</i> to men to fast" (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',6,17,18);">Mat 6:17-18</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Ki',21,27);">1Ki 21:27</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Est',4,3);">Est 4:3</a>).
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<p id="Isa58_6"><b>6. loose...bands of wickedness</b>—that is, to dissolve every tie wherewith one has unjustly bound his fellow men (<a onclick="return mV('Lev',25,49);">Lev 25:49</a>, etc.). Servitude, a fraudulent contract, etc.
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<br><br><b>undo...heavy burdens</b>—<i>Hebrew,</i> "loose the bands of the yoke."
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<br><br><b>oppressed</b>—literally, "the broken." The expression, "to let go free," implies that those "broken" with the yoke of <i>slavery,</i> are meant (<a onclick="return mV('Neh',5,'10-12');">Neh 5:10-12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',34,'9-11',14,16);">Jer 34:9-11, 14, 16</a>). JEROME interprets it, broken with poverty; bankrupt.
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<p id="Isa58_7"><b>7. deal</b>—distribute (<a onclick="return mV('Job',31,'16-21');">Job 31:16-21</a>).
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<br><br><b>cast out</b>—rather, reduced [HORSLEY].
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<br><br><b>naked...cover him</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',25,36);">Mat 25:36</a>).
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<br><br><b>hide...thyself</b>—means to be strange towards them, and not to relieve them in their poverty (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',15,5);">Mat 15:5</a>).
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<br><br><b>flesh</b>—kindred (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',29,14);">Gen 29:14</a>). Also brethren in common descent from Adam, and brethren in Christ (<a onclick="return mV('Jam',2,15);">Jam 2:15</a>).
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<p id="Isa58_8"><b>8. light</b>—emblem of prosperity (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',58,10);">Isa 58:10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Job',11,17);">Job 11:17</a>).
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<br><br><b>health</b>—literally, a long bandage, applied by surgeons to heal a wound (compare <a onclick="return mV('Isa',1,6);">Isa 1:6</a>). Hence <i>restoration</i> from all past calamities.
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<br><br><b>go before thee</b>—Thy conformity to the divine covenant acts as a leader, conducting thee to peace and prosperity.
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<br><br><b>glory...reward</b>—like the pillar of cloud and fire, the symbol of God's "glory," which went <i>behind</i> Israel, separating them from their Egyptian pursuers (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,12);">Isa 52:12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Exd',14,19);">Exd 14:19-20</a>).
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<p id="Isa58_9"><b>9. Then...call...answer</b>—when sin is renounced (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',65,24);">Isa 65:24</a>). When the Lord's call is <i>not</i> hearkened to, He will not hear our "call" (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',66,18);">Psa 66:18</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Pro',1,24,28);">Pro 1:24, 28</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Pro',15,29);">15:29</a> <a onclick="return mV('Pro',28,9);">28:9</a>;).
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<br><br><b>putting forth of...finger</b>—the finger of scorn pointed at simple-minded godly men. The middle finger was so used by the Romans.
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<br><br><b>speaking vanity</b>—every <i>injurious</i> speech [LOWTH].
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<p id="Isa58_10"><b>10. draw out thy soul</b>—"impart of thine own subsistence," or "sustenance" [HORSLEY]. "Soul" is figurative for "that wherewith thou sustainest thy soul," or "life."
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<br><br><b>light...in obscurity</b>—Calamities shall be suddenly succeeded by prosperity (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',112,4);">Psa 112:4</a>).
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<p id="Isa58_11"><b>11. satisfy...in drought</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',41,17,18);">Isa 41:17-18</a>). Literally, "drought," that is, parched places [MAURER].
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<br><br><b>make fat</b>—rather, "strengthen" [NOYES]. "<i>Give thee the free use of</i> thy bones" [JEROME], or, "<i>of thy strength</i>" [HORSLEY].
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<br><br><b>watered garden</b>—an Oriental picture of happiness.
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<br><br><b>fail not</b>—<i>Hebrew,</i> "deceive not"; as streams that disappoint the caravan which had expected to find water, as formerly, but find it dried up (<a onclick="return mV('Job',6,'15-17');">Job 6:15-17</a>).
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<p id="Isa58_12"><b>12. they...of thee</b>—thy people, the Israelites.
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<br><br><b>old waste places</b>—the old ruins of Jerusalem (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',61,4);">Isa 61:4</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',36,'33-36');">Eze 36:33-36</a>).
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<br><br><b>foundations of many generations</b>—that is, the buildings which had lain in ruins, even to their <i>foundations, for many ages;</i> called in the parallel passage (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',61,4);">Isa 61:4</a>), "the <i>former</i> desolations"; and in the preceding clause here, "the <i>old</i> waste places." The literal and spiritual restoration of Israel is meant, which shall produce like blessed results on the Gentile world (<a onclick="return mV('Amo',9,11);">Amo 9:11,12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Act',15,16);">Act 15:16,17</a>).
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<br><br><b>be called</b>—appropriately: the name truly designating what thou shalt do.
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<br><br><b>breach</b>—the calamity wherewith God visited Israel for their sin (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',30,26);">Isa 30:26</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Ch',15,13);">1Ch 15:13</a>).
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<br><br><b>paths to dwell in</b>—not that the <i>paths</i> were <i>to be dwelt in,</i> but <i>the paths leading to their dwellings</i> were to be restored; "paths, so as to dwell in <i>the land</i>" [MAURER].
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<p id="Isa58_13"><b>13.</b> (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',56,2);">Isa 56:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Neh',13,'15-22');">Neh 13:15-22</a>). The Sabbath, even under the new dispensation, was to be obligatory (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',66,23);">Isa 66:23</a>).
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<br><br><b>foot</b>—the instrument of motion (compare <a onclick="return mV('Pro',4,27);">Pro 4:27</a>); men are not to <i>travel</i> for mere pleasure on the Sabbath (<a onclick="return mV('Act',1,12);">Act 1:12</a>). The Jews were forbidden to travel on it farther than the tabernacle or temple. If thou keep thy foot from going on thy own ways and "doing thy pleasure," etc. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',20,10,11);">Exd 20:10-11</a>).
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<br><br><b>my holy day</b>—God claims it as <i>His</i> day; to take it for our pleasure is to rob Him of His own. This is the very way in which the Sabbath is mostly broken; it is made a day of carnal pleasure instead of spiritual "delight."
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<br><br><b>holy of the Lord</b>—not the predicate, but the subject; "if thou call the holy (day) of Jehovah honorable"; if thou treat it as a day to be honored.
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<br><br><b>him</b>—or else, <i>it,</i> the Sabbath.
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<br><br><b>not doing...own way</b>—answering to, "turn away thy foot from the Sabbath."
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<br><br><b>nor finding...pleasure</b>—answering to, "doing thy pleasure." "To keep the Sabbath in an idle manner is the sabbath of oxen and asses; to pass it in a jovial manner is the sabbath of the golden calf, when the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose again to play; to keep it in surfeiting and wantonness is the sabbath of Satan, the devil's holiday" [BISHOP ANDREWES].
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<br><br><b>nor speaking...words</b>—answering to, "<i>call</i> Sabbath a delight...honorable." Man's "<i>own</i> words" would "call" it a "weariness"; it is the spiritual nature given from above which "calls it a delight" (<a onclick="return mV('Amo',8,5);">Amo 8:5</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mal',1,13);">Mal 1:13</a>).
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<p id="Isa58_14"><b>14. delight...in...Lord</b>—God rewards in kind, as He punishes in kind. As we "delight" in keeping God's "Sabbath," so God will give us "delight" in Himself (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',15,1);">Gen 15:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Job',22,'21-26');">Job 22:21-26</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',37,4);">Psa 37:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>ride upon...high places</b>—I will make thee <i>supreme lord</i> of the land; the phrase is taken from a conqueror riding in his chariot, and occupying the hills and fastnesses of a country [VITRINGA], (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',32,13);">Deu 32:13</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mic',1,3);">Mic 1:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hab',3,19);">Hab 3:19</a>). Judea was a land of <i>hills;</i> the idea thus is, "I will restore thee to thine own land" [CALVIN]. The parallel words, "heritage of <i>Jacob,</i>" confirm this (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',27,28,29);">Gen 27:28-29</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gen',28,'13-15');">28:13-15</a>).
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<br><br><b>mouth of...Lord...spoken it</b>—a formula to assure men of the fulfilment of any solemn promise which God has made (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',40,5);">Isa 40:5</a>).
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