Prophesying the restoration from exile (Isaiah 61), Isaiah says that at teh return the mourners in Zion will be comforted. That is filled out as a triple gift (v. 3): 1. Beauty for ashes 2. Oil of joy for mourning 3. Garments of praise for spirit of heaviness Several observations on these . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah is full of wordplay. A number of examples come up on chapter 2:5-22. 1. It seems to me that the word for “idol” ( eliyl ) puns on various words for God: el and elohim . Eliyl means nothing, vapor, empty, which is precisely the opposite of the character of Yahweh. 2. . . . . Continue Reading »
Translations confuse the point of Isaiah 2:9. The NAS has “So the common man has been humbled, and the man of importance has been abased, but do not forgive them.” The italicized words are not in the Hebrew, which reads more simply: “And bowed down will be man ( adam ) . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah uses the word “fill” four times in 2:6-8. A fourfold fullness is a fullness that extends to the four points of the compass. From one boundary to another, Judah is filled from the east, with gold and silver, with horses and chariots, with idols. There is a progression . . . . Continue Reading »
Initially in the Bible, Yahweh alone has a treasury. His heaven is a treasury of rain, and therefore of abundance (Deuteronomy 28:12). When Joshua defeats the Canaanites, the plunder goes into Yahweh’s earthly-heavenly treasury, the tabernacle (Joshua 6:19, 24). One of the . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah charges that the people of Judah are “filled from the east” (2:6). What does that mean? As the passage goes on, Isaiah condemns Judah’s “filling” with silver and gold, horses and chariots; these are the things that Judah is bringing from the east. There . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah uses the phrase “days of east” ( yemey-qedem ) several times in his prophecy (23:7; 37:26; 51:9). At times, the word “east” by itself is used in context where it seems to have a temporal significance ( 45:21; 46:10). East is the direction of the sunrise, . . . . Continue Reading »
Does Isaiah follow a creation week sequence in 2:5-22? The details don’t match, it seems, but in general and roughly there is a movement from the “light of Yahweh” in verse 5 to the exaltation of Yahweh in the splendor of His majesty in verse 21 - perhaps a sabbatical image. In . . . . Continue Reading »
INTRODUCTION The House of Jacob has wandered into darkness. If they want to avoid destruction, they must turn to the light (v. 5), because a day of reckoning is coming (v. 12). THE TEXT “O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD. For You have forsaken Your . . . . Continue Reading »
For two reasons, Isaiah 2:5 should be taken as the introduction to what follows, rather than as the conclusion to 2:1-4. First, the exhortation of v. 5 is to walk in the “light” of Yahweh, and the following passage refers to the “splendor” of Yahweh (vv. 10, 19, 21), as well . . . . Continue Reading »
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