A verse by verse commentary on Isaiah 57.

1. ISAIAH 57 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 The righteous perish,
and no one takes it to heart;
the devout are taken away,
and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.
1.BARNES, “The righteous perisheth - This refers, as I suppose, to the time of Manasseh
(see the Introduction, Section 3). Grotius supposes, that it refers to king Josiah; Vitringa, that it
refers to martyrs in general. But it seems probable to me that the prophet designs to describe the
state of stupidity which prevailed in his own time, and to urge as one proof of it, that the pious
part of the nation was taken away by violent death, and that the nation was not affected by it.
Such was the guilt of Manasseh; so violent was the persecution which he excited against the just,
that it is said of him that he ‘shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from
one end to another’ 2Ki_22:16. There is evidence (see the Introduction, Section 2), that Isaiah
lived to his time, and it is probable that he himself ultimately fell a victim to the race of
Manasseh. Though he had, on account of his great age, retired from the public functions of the
prophetic office, yet he could not be insensible to the existence of these evils, and his spirit
would not suffer him to be silent even though bowed down by age, when the land was filled with
abominations, and when the best blood of the nation was poured out like water. The word
rendered ‘perisheth’ (‫אבד‬ 'abad) as well as the word rendered ‘taken away’ (‫אסף‬ 'asaph) denotes
violence, and is indicative of the fact that they were removed by a premature death.
And no man layeth it to heart - No one is aroused by it, or is concerned about it. The
sentiment of the passage is, that it is proof of great stupidity and guilt when people see the
righteous die without concern. If the pious die by persecution and others are not aroused, it

2. shows that they acquiesce in it, or have no confidence in God, and no desire that his people
should be preserved; if they die in the ordinary mode and the people are unaffected, it shows
their stupidity. The withdrawment of a pious man from the earth is a public calamity. His
prayers, his example, his life, were among the richest blessings of the world, and people should
be deeply affected when they are withdrawn; and it shows their guilt and stupidity when they see
this with indifference. It increases the evidence of this guilt when, as is sometimes the case, the
removal of the righteous by death is an occasion of joy. The wicked hate the secret rebuke which
is furnished by a holy life, and they often feel a secret exultation when such people die.
And merciful men - Margin, ‘Men of kindness,’ or ‘godliness.’ Lowth and Noyes render it,
‘Pious men.’ The Septuagint, ᅖνδρες δίκαιοι Andres dikaioi - ‘Just men.’ The Hebrew word
denotes “mercy” or “kindness” (‫חסד‬ chesed). Here it probably means, ‘Men of mercy;’ that is,
people who are the subjects of mercy; people who are pious, or devoted to God.
Are taken away - Hebrew, ‘Are gathered.’ That is, they are gathered to their fathers by
death.
None considering - They were not anxious to know what was the design of Divine
Providence in permitting it.
From the evil to come - Margin, ‘That which is evil.’ The idea here evidently is, that severe
calamities were coming upon the nation. God was about to give them up to foreign invasion
(Isa_56:9 ff); and the true reason why the just were removed was, that they may not be subject
to the divine wrath which should come upon the nation; they were not to be required to
contemplate the painful state of things when an enemy should fire the cities, the palaces, and the
temple, and cause the sacred services of religion to cease. It was a less evil for them to be
removed by death - even by the painful death of persecution - than to be compelled to
participate in these coming sorrows. At the same time this passage may be regarded as
inculcating a more general truth still. It is, that the pious are often removed in order that they
may not be exposed to evils which they would experience should they live. There might be the
pains and sorrows of persecution; there might be long and lingering disease; there might be
poverty and want; there might be the prevalence of iniquity and infidelity over which their
hearts would bleed; there might be long and painful conflicts with their own evil hearts, or there
might be danger that they would fall into sin, and dishonor their high calling. For some or all
these reasons the righteous may be withdrawn from the world; and could we see those reasons
as God does, nothing more would be necessary to induce us to acquiesce entirely in the justice of
his dealings.
2. CLARKE, “The righteous perisheth - ‫הצדק‬‫אבד‬ hatstsadik abad. There is an emphasis
here which seems intended to point out a particular person. See below. Perisheth - As the root
‫אבד‬ abad signifies the straying of cattle, their passing away from one pasture to another, I feel
inclined to follow the grammatical meaning of the word “perish,” pereo. So the Vulgate, justus
periit, from per, By or Through, and eo, to Go. In his death the righteous man may be said to
have passed through life, and to have passed by men, i.e., gone or passed before them into the
eternal world. A similar mode of speech is used by our Saxon ancestors to express death: he
went out of sight; and he went away; and to fare forth, to die.
There are very few places in Isaiah where Jesus Christ is not intended; and I am inclined to
think that He is intended here, That Just One; and perhaps Stephen had this place in view, when

3. he thus charged the Jews, “Ye denied τον ᅋγιον και δικαιον, that Holy and Just One,” Act_3:14.
That his death was not laid to heart by the wicked Jewish people, needs no proof.
Merciful men - If the first refers to Christ, this may well refer to the apostles. and to others
of the primitive Christians, who were taken away, some by death and martyrdom, and others by
a providential escape from the city that they knew was devoted to destruction.
The evil to come - That destruction which was to come upon this disobedient people by the
Romans.
3. GILL, “The righteous perisheth,.... Not eternally; he may fear he shall, by reason of sin
and temptation; he may say his strength and hope are perished; and his peace and comfort may
perish for a time; but he cannot perish everlastingly, because he is one that believes in Christ,
and is justified by his righteousness, from whence he is denominated righteous; and such shall
never perish, but have everlasting life: but the meaning is, that he perisheth as to his outward
man, or dies corporeally, which is called perishing, Ecc_7:15 and so the Targum renders it,
"the righteous die.''
Or it may be rendered, "the righteous man is lost" (b); not to himself, his death is a gain to him;
but to the church, and to the world, which yet is not considered:
and no man layeth it to heart; takes any notice of it, thinks at all about it, far from being
concerned or grieved; instead of that, rather rejoice, and are pleased that they are rid of such
persons; which will be the case when the witnesses are slain, Rev_11:10. The Targum is,
"and no man lays my fear to heart;''
or on his heart; whereas such providences should lead men to fear the Lord, and seek to him,
and serve him, as it did David, Psa_12:1,
and merciful men are taken away; or "gathered" (c); out of the world, to their own people,
to heaven; these are such who obtain mercy of the Lord, and show mercy to others, holy good
men: the former character may respect the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, this his
grace implanted in them, discovered by acts of mercy and goodness; for one and the same
persons are intended:
none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come; that there
are evil times coming, great calamities, and sore judgments upon men; and therefore these
righteous ones are gathered out of the world, and are gathered home, and safely housed in
heaven, that they may escape the evil coming upon a wicked generation; and who yet have no
thought about it, nor are they led to observe it as they might, from the removal of good men out
of the world; see 2Ki_22:20. All this may be applied to the martyrs of Jesus in times of Popish
persecution; or to the removal of good men by an ordinary death before those times came.
4. HENRY, “The prophet, in the close of the foregoing chapter, had condemned the
watchmen for their ignorance and sottishness; here he shows the general stupidity and
senselessness of the people likewise. No wonder they were inconsiderate when their watchmen
were so, who should have awakened them to consideration. We may observe here,

4. I. The providence of God removing good men apace out of this world. The righteous, as to this
world, perish; they are gone and their place knows them no more. Piety exempts none from the
arrests of death, nay, in persecuting times, the most righteous are most exposed to the violences
of bloody men. The first that died died a martyr. Righteousness delivers from the sting of death,
but not from the stroke of it. They are said to perish because they are utterly removed from us,
and to express the great loss which this world sustains by the removal of them, not that their
death is their undoing, but it often proves an undoing to the places where they lived and were
useful. Nay, even merciful men are taken away, those good men that are distinguished from the
righteous, for whom some would even dare to die, Rom_5:7. Those are often removed that
could be worst spared; the fruitful trees are cut down by death and the barren left still to cumber
the ground. Merciful men are often taken away by the hands of men's malice. Many good works
they have done, and for some of them they are stoned. Before the captivity in Babylon perhaps
there was a more than ordinary mortality of good men, so that there were scarcely any left,
Jer_5:1. The godly ceased, and the faithful failed, Psa_12:1.
II. The careless world slighting these providences, and disregarding them: No man lays it to
heart, none considers it. There are very few that lament it as a public loss, very few that take
notice of it as a public warning. The death of good men is a thing to be laid to heart and
considered more than common deaths. Serious enquiries ought to be made, wherefore God
contends with us, what good lessons are to be learned by such providences, what we may do to
help to make up the breach and to fill up the room of those that are removed. God is justly
displeased when such events are not laid to heart, when the voice of the rod is not heard nor the
intentions of it answered, much more when it is rejoiced in, as the slaying of the witnesses is,
Rev_11:10. Some of God's choicest blessings to mankind, being thus easily parted with, are
really undervalued; and it is an evidence of very great incogitancy. Little children, when they are
little, least lament the death of their parents, because they know not what a loss it is to them.
III. The happiness of the righteous in their removal.
1. They are taken away from the evil to come, then when it is just coming, (1.) In compassion
to them, that they may not see the evil (2Ki_22:20), nor share in it, nor be in temptation by it.
When the deluge is coming they are called into the ark, and have a hiding-place and rest in
heaven when there was none for them under heaven. (2.) In wrath to the world, to punish them
for all the injuries they have done to the righteous and merciful ones; those are taken away that
stood in the gap to turn away the judgments of God, and then what can be expected but a deluge
of them? It is a sign that God intends war when he calls home his ambassadors.
2. They go to be easy out of the reach of that evil. The righteous man, who while he lived
walked in his uprightness, when he dies enters into peace and rests in his bed. Note, (1.) Death
is gain, and rest, and bliss, to those only who walked in their uprightness, and who, when they
die, can appeal to God concerning it, as Hezekiah (2Ki_20:3). Now, Lord, remember it. (2.)
Those that practised uprightness, and persevered in it to the end, shall find it well with them
when they die. Their souls then enter into peace, into the world of peace, where peace is in
perfection and where there is no trouble. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Their bodies rest in
their beds. Note, The grave is a bed of rest to all the Lord's people; there they rest from all their
labours, Rev_14:13. And the more weary they were the more welcome will that rest be to them,
Job_3:17. This bed is made in the darkness, but that makes it the more quiet; it is a bed out of
which they shall rise refreshed in the morning of the resurrection.
5. JAMISON, “Isa_57:1-21. The peaceful death of the righteous few: The ungodliness of the
many: A believing remnant shall survive the general judgments of the nation, and be restored
by Him Who creates peace.

5. In the midst of the excesses of the unfaithful watchmen (Isa_56:10, Isa_56:11, Isa_56:12),
most of the few that are godly perish: partly by vexation at the prevailing ungodliness; partly by
violent death in persecution: prophetical of the persecuting times of Manasseh, before God’s
judgments in causing the captivity in Babylon; and again those in the last age of the Church,
before the final judgments on the apostasy (2Ki_21:16; Mat_23:29-35, Mat_23:37; Rev_11:17).
The Hebrew for “perisheth,” and “is taken away,” expresses a violent death (Mic_7:2).
no man layeth it to heart — as a public calamity.
merciful men — rather, godly men; the subjects of mercy.
none considering — namely, what was the design of Providence in removing the godly.
from the evil — Hebrew, from the face of the evil, that is, both from the moral evil on every
side (Isa_56:10-12), and from the evils about to come in punishment of the national sins, foreign
invasions, etc. (Isa_56:9; Isa_57:13). So Ahijah’s death is represented as a blessing conferred on
him by God for his piety (1Ki_14:10-13; see also 2Ki_22:20).
6. K&D, “Whilst watchmen and shepherds, prophets and rulers, without troubling
themselves about the flock which they have to watch and feed, are thus indulging their own
selfish desires, and living in debauchery, the righteous man is saved by early death from the
judgment, which cannot fail to come with such corruption as this. “The righteous perisheth, and
no man taketh it to heart; and pious men are swept away, without any one considering that
the righteous is swept away from misfortune. He entereth into peace: they rest upon their
beds, whoever has walked straight before him.” With “the righteous” the prophet introduces, in
glaring contrast to this luxurious living on the part of the leading men of the nation, the standing
figure used to denote the fate of its best men. With this prevailing demoralization and
worldliness, the righteous succumbs to the violence of both external and internal sufferings. ‫ד‬ ַ‫ב‬ፎ,
he dies before his time (Ecc_7:15); from the midst of the men of his generation he is carried
away from this world (Psa_12:2; Mic_7:2), and no one lays it to heart, viz., the divine accusation
and threat involved in this early death. Men of piety (chesed, the love of God and man) are swept
away, without there being any one to understand or consider that (kı̄ unfolds the object to be
considered and laid to heart, viz., what is involved in this carrying away when regarded as a
providential event) the righteous is swept away “from the evil,” i.e., that he may be saved from
the approaching punishment (compare 2Ki_22:20). For the prevailing corruption calls for
punishment from God; and what is first of all to be expected is severe judgment, through which
the coming salvation will force its way. In Isa_57:2 it is intimated that the righteous man and
the pious do not lose the blessings of this salvation because they lose this life: for whereas,
according to the prophet's watchword, there is no peace to the wicked, it is true, on the other
hand, of the departing righteous man, that “he enters into peace” (shalom, acc. loci s. status; Ges.
118, 1); “they rest upon their beds,” viz., the bottom of the grave, which has become their mishkab
(Job_17:13; Job_21:26), “however has walked in that which lay straight before him,” i.e., the one
straight plain path which he had set before him (‫נכחו‬ acc. obj. as in Isa_33:15; Isa_50:10, Ewald,
§172, b, from ּ‫כ‬ָ‫נ‬ַ‫ח‬ , that which lies straight before a person; whereas ‫ח‬ ַ‫ּכ‬‫נ‬ with ‫ח‬ ַ‫כ‬ֵ‫נ‬ ‫חוֹ‬ ְ‫כ‬ִ‫,נ‬ signifying
probably fixedness, steadiness of look, related to Arab. nkhʖ, to pierce, ‫ה‬ ָ‫כ‬ָ‫,נ‬ percutere, is used as a
preposition: compare Pro_4:25, ‫ח‬ ַ‫ּכ‬‫נ‬ ְ‫,ל‬ straight or exactly before him). The grave, when compared
with the restlessness of this life, is therefore “peace.” He who has died in faith rests in God, to

6. whom he has committed himself and entrusted his future. We have here the glimmering light of
the New Testament consolation, that the death of the righteous is better than life in this world,
because it is the entrance into peace.
7. CALVIN, “1.The righteous man hath perished. Isaiah continues his subject; for, after having shown
how fearlessly hypocrites indulge in their luxuries, and with what impudence they despise the word of
God, he likewise complains that they do not consider the works of God. We have been placed here, as in
a spacious theater, to behold the works of God; and there is no work of God so small that we ought to
pass by it; lightly, but all ought to be carefully and diligently observed.
And no man layeth it to heart. The Lord holds out as a mirror this event of his providence, more
remarkable than all others, that he takes away good and worthy men out of this life, when he determines
to chastise his people severely. But no man considers it, or reflects that it is a token of approaching
destruction, that God gathers them, and places them in safety from being distressed by prevailing
afflictions. The general meaning is, that wicked men grievously deceive themselves by supposing that
there is no greater happiness than to have life continued to a great age, and by thus pluming themselves
on their superiority to the servants of God, who die early. Being attached to the world, they likewise
harden themselves by this pretense, that, by nothing else than a manifestation of God’ favor towards
them, while others die, they continue to be safe and sound.
Men of mercy are gathered. If by “ of mercy” be meant kind or tender-hearted men, this description ought
to be carefully studied, by which the Prophet shows what is the true righteousness of the children of God;
for hypocrites reckon this to be of no value. But nothing is more acceptable to God than kindness, by
which we give evidence of our righteousness, and manifest that our heart is free from all hypocrisy. Yet
we may with equal propriety take the phrase “ of mercy” in a passive sense, as meaning those whom the
Lord has embraced by his mercy; for it is a phrase of frequent occurrence in Hebrew writings. Nor will it
be inappropriate to suppose that there is an implied contrast between the grace of God and the wicked
and unfavorable judgments of men; for they are wont to look on those persons as condemned who are
taken away in the flower of their age. But, since God, in many passages of Scripture, represents
gentleness and kindness as a distinguishing mark of his children, this may be, as I have said, a definition
of true righteousness.
Hence we see that the Lord, at that time, gathered many good men, whose death portended some
dreadful calamity, and yet that the Jews paid no regard to such forewarnings, and even proceeded to
more daring lengths of wickedness; for they thought that all went well with them, when they were the
survivors of many excellent men. This doctrine is highly appropriate to every age. It frequently happens
that God takes good men out of this world, when he intends to punish severely the iniquities of the
ungodly; for the Lord, having a peculiar regard to his own people, takes compassion upon them, and, as it
were, snatches them from the burning, that even survivors may perceive in it the wrath of God. And yet
this is not an invariable rule; for righteous men are frequently involved, along with the reprobate, in
temporal punishments; but it is so frequent that it rarely happens otherwise. (105)
In our own times a remarkable instance of this was given in the death of Luther, who was snatched from
the world a short time before that terrible calamity befell Germany, which he had foretold many years
before, when he exclaimed loudly against that contempt of the Gospel, and that wickedness and
licentiousness which everywhere prevailed. Frequently had he entreated the Lord to call him out of this

7. life before he beheld that dreadful punishment, the anticipation of which filled him with trembling and
horror. And he obtained it from the Lord. Soon after his death, lo, a sudden and unforeseen war sprang
up, by which Germany was terribly afflicted, when nothing was farther from her thoughts than the dread of
such a calamity.
Instances of this kind occur every day; and if men observed them, they would not so heedlessly flatter
themselves and their vices. But I thought it right to take special notice of this event, both because it
happened lately, (106) and because in so distinguished a preacher of the Gospel and prophet of God it
must be more clearly seen. We ought, therefore, to consider diligently the worlds of the Lord, both in the
life and in the death of “ righteous,” but especially in their death, by which the Lord calls them away to a
better life, that they may be rescued from those afflictions in which the wicked must be plunged.
(105) “ is a beautiful sentiment, that God removes righteous and good men from a world unworthy of
them, and takes them to himself, so that they are not stained by the offenses of their time, or mingled with
the prevailing corruption that universally devours, and do not consent to it, or connive at it, and thus
expose themselves to similar judgments of God, which have been decreed and appointed for the ungodly.
It has undoubtedly been remarked by the wise in every age, that the sudden death of good and judicious
men is a clear indication of the approaching ruin of a state.” Vitringa.
(106) “Pource que c’ une chose avenue depuis peu d’.” “ it is an event that happened but a few years
ago.”
8. BI, “The righteous perishing
In view of this prevailing demoralization and worldliness (Isa_56:9-12), the righteous one
succumbs to the grinding weight of external and internal sufferings: he “perishes,” dies before
his time (Ecc_7:15), from the midst of his contemporaries, disappearing from this life (Psa_12:1;
Mic_7:2), and no man lays it to heart, i.no one considers the Divine accusation and threatening
implied in this early death. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
“Merciful men”
Literally, men of piety. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
Good men die
Righteousness delivereth from the sting of death, but not from the stroke of it. (M. Henry.)
Death of the righteous
1. One reason why, when the righteous dieth, no man layeth it to heart is because the world
do not know the righteous.
2. Another reason is, disinclination of all men by nature to lay such things to heart.

8. 3. They do not think it of much importance. But the death of every good man is a loss to the
world, a loss to the Church militant—the people of God are the salt of the earth, and the
more taken away and the less left, the less likely are we to be blessed as a nation. (James
Wells.)
Early death
Such early removals form a problem insoluble by our poor reason. They seem, at first sight,
inconsistent alike with the Divine wisdom and power and love. They look almost like the
frustration of God’s plans and purposes, a failure in His sovereign designs. It is the architect just
completing His work when that work comes with a crash to the ground. It is the sculptor putting
the finishing strokes of his chisel on the virgin marble, when the toil of months or years strews
the floor of his studio. It is the gardener bringing forth from his conservatory the long-
husbanded plants in their freshness and beauty, to bask in early summer sun, when a frost or
hailstorm unexpectedly comes, and in one night they have perished! (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
Early death
Why is the young soldier stricken clown just; when the armour of life has been assayed?
Wherefore hath God apparently thus made His noblest work in vain? The words of Isaiah give a
twofold answer to these questions and mysteries; the one negative, the other positive.
I. THE NEGATIVE ANSWER. “The righteous is taken away from the evil to come.” It was so in
the case of Josiah (2Ki_22:18-20).
II. THE POSITIVE EXPLANATION. “He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds,
each one walking in his uprightness; or rather, as it has been rendered, each one walking
straight before him, or as Bishop Lowth translates it, “he that walketh in the straight oath.”
1. Josiah, the good, the pious, when he died, “entered into peace.” It is a beautiful Old
Testament evidence of the immediate blessedness of the departed righteous. His body rested
in the tomb, as in a “bed” or couch; his spirit—the spirit that walked so “uprightly on earth,
with no divergence from the path of duty and piety—continues, in a loftier state of existence,
this elevated “walk.” The work cut short in this lower world is not arrested; it is only
transferred. In a higher and loftier sphere he still pursues these active ministries of
righteousness. There is an evident contrast between these opening words of the chapter and
the terrible refrain with which it closes—“There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked;”
none in life, none in death, none in their limitless future. But “the righteous,” thus taken
away, “enter into peace.”
2. Another thought, too, is brought out in the original which we miss in our translation, and
which suggests the same assurance of immediate bliss. It occurs in the words just quoted—
“The righteous is taken away,” “Merciful men are taken away;” this in the Hebrew is, “The
righteous, the merciful, are gathered”—gathered to their fathers.
3. One other thought on early death may be suggested by these words. While the spirit is
pursuing its onward path of bliss and glory, it has not, in the truest sense, bid farewell to its
earthly sphere. The lips are silenced, the music of the voice is hushed, the blank of the absent
is too painfully realized. But “the righteous” survive dissolution even in this world; in their
deathless memories of goodness and worth, they continue to “walk.” The old promise
dictated by the sweet singer of Israel (apparently paradoxical) becomes literally true,
regarding those prematurely taken away—“With long life will I satisfy him, and show him

9. My salvation.” For what, after all, is long life? Is it measured and computed by formal
arithmetic? counted by days, or weeks, or months, or years? No! the fourscore years of a
misspent life is no life at all. It is a bankruptcy of being. It may be a life only sowing and
perpetuating baneful influences; an untimely birth would be better. Whereas, that is the
truest length of days, where, it may be for a brief but bright and consecrated season, some
young life has shone gloriously for God, and which, though now a fallen meteor, has left a
trail of light behind it, for which parent and brother and sister will for ever bless Him who
gave the transient boon! (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
The death of the good
I. THEIR DEATH IS THE PERISHING OF THE BODY
1. Why, then, pamper the body?
2. Why centre interests on the wants and enjoyments of the body?
II. THEIR DEATH IS GENERALLY DISREGARDED BY MANKIND. How soon the best of men
are forgotten. There are two reasons for disregarding the death of the good.
1. The thought of death is repugnant to the heart.
2. The concerns of life are all-absorbing.
III. THEIR DEATH IS A DELIVERANCE FROM ALL THE EVILS THAT ARE COMING ON
THE WORLD. “Taken away from the evil to come.”
IV. THEIR DEATH IS A STEP INTO A HIGHER LIFE. “He shall enter into peace: they shall
rest in their beds.”
1. The death of the good as to the body is only sleep—natural, refreshing, temporary.
2. Their souls march on. “ Each one walking in his uprightness.” Endless progress. “ It doth
not yet appear what we shall be.” (Homilist.)
The righteous is taken away from the evil to come
Spared future evil
1. It may be from the evil of personal suffering. The prolongation of life to old age often
involves an immense amount of bodily ills and pains.
2. It may be to spare the heart of affection sore trials. How often do children grow up, to
break the hearts of fond parents.
3. It may be to take His child out of harm’s way.
4. It may be to shield him from some impending calamity that is coming upon the Church or
the world.
5. Or (if we accept the marginal reading) it is to save them “from that which” is “evil.” Life
itself, under the curse of sin, is evil, even in its best estate, and the God of mercy cuts it short
and receives His loved one into His bosom. (Homiletic Review.)
The blessings of short life

10. We all spend much time in panegyric of longevity. But I propose to preach about the blessings of
an abbreviated earthly existence.
I. IT MAKES ONE’S LIFE WORK VERY COMPACT.
II. MORAL DISASTER MIGHT COME UPON THE MAN IF HE TARRIED LONGER.
III. ONE IS THE SOONER TAKEN OFF FROM THE DEFENSIVE.
IV. ONE ESCAPES SO MANY BEREAVEMENTS.
V. IT PUTS ONE SOONER IN THE CENTRE OF THINGS. (T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D.)
2 Those who walk uprightly
enter into peace;
they find rest as they lie in death.
1.BARNES, “He shall enter into peace - Lowth, ‘He shall go in peace.’ So the margin.
Vulgate, ‘Peace shall come.’ Septuagint, ‘His sepulture (ᅧ ταφᆱ αᆒτοሞ he taphe autou) shall be in
peace.’ The idea is, that by his death the righteous man shall enter into rest. He shall get away
from conflict, strife, agitation, and distress. This may either refer to the peaceful rest of the
grave, or to that which awaits the just in a better world. The direct meaning here intended is
probably the former, since the grave is often spoken of as a place of rest. Thus Job Job_3:17,
speaking of the grave, says:
There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary be at rest.
The connection here seems also to demand the same sense, as it is immediately added, ‘they
shall rest in their beds.’ The grave is a place of peace:
Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear,
Invade thy bounds; no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here,
While angels watch the soft repose.
- Watts
At the same time it is true that the dying saint ‘goes in peace!’ He has calmness in his dying, as
well as peace in his grave. He forgives all who have injured him; prays for all who have
persecuted him; and peacefully and calmly dies. He lies in a peaceful grave - often represented
in the Scriptures as a place of repose, where the righteous ‘sleep’ in the hope of being awakened

11. in the morning of the resurrection. He enters into the rest of heaven - the world of perfect and
eternal repose. No persecution comes there; no trial awaits him there; no calamity shall meet
him there. Thus, in all respects, the righteous leave the world in peace; and thus death ceases to
be a calamity, and this most dreaded of all evils is turned into the highest blessing.
They shall rest in their beds - That is, in their graves.
Each one walking in his uprightness - Margin, ‘Before him.’ The word ‫נכח‬ nakkoch
means “straight, right,” and is used of one who walks straight forward. It here means an upright
man, who is often represented as walking in a straight path in opposition to sinners, who are
represented as walking in crooked ways Psa_125:5; Pro_2:15; Isa_59:8; Phi_2:15. The sense
here is, that all who are upright shall leave the world in peace, and rest quietly in their graves.
2. CLARKE, “He shalt enter into peace “He shall go in peace” - ‫יבוא‬‫שלום‬ yabo shalom;
the expression is elliptical, such as the prophet frequently uses. The same sense is expressed at
large and in full terms, Gen_15:15 : ‫ואתה‬‫תבא‬‫אל‬‫אבותיך‬‫בשלום‬ veattah libbo al abotheycha beshalom,
“and thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace.”
They shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness “He shall rest
in his bed; even the perfect man” - This obscure sentence is reduced to a perfectly good
sense, and easy construction by an ingenious remark of Dr. Durell. He reads ‫ינוח‬‫על‬‫משכבו‬‫תם‬
yanuach al mishcabo tam, “the perfect man shall rest in his bed.” Two MSS. (one of them ancient)
have ‫ינוח‬ yanuach, singular; and so the Vulgate renders it, requiescat, “he shall rest.” The verb
was probably altered to make it plural, and so consistent with what follows after the mistake had
been made in the following words, by uniting ‫משכבו‬ mishcabo and ‫תם‬ tam into one word. See
Merrick’s Annotations on the Psalms, Addenda; where the reader will find that J. S. Moerlius, by
the same sort of correction, and by rescuing the adjective ‫תם‬ tam, which had been swallowed up
in another word in the same manner, has restored to a clear sense a passage before absolutely
unintelligible: -
3. GILL, “He shall enter into peace,.... Or "shall go in peace" (d); the righteous man goes in
peace now; he has peace from his justifying righteousness; he has peace through believing in
Christ; he has peace in, though not from, his obedience and holiness of life; and he has peace in
the midst of the many trials he is exercised with; and he goes out of the world in peace, with
great serenity and tranquillity of mind, as Simeon desired he might, having views of an interest
in Christ, and in the glories of another world; and as soon as he is departed from hence he enters
into peace, into a state where there is everything that makes for peace; there is the God of peace;
there is Christ, the Prince of peace; there is the Spirit, whose fruit is peace; and there are the
angels of peace, and good men, the sons of peace: and there is nothing there to disturb their
peace, no sin within, nor Satan's temptations without, nor any wicked men to annoy and molest
them; and there is everything that can come under the notion of peace and prosperity; for the
happiness of this state is signified by riches, by glory and honour, by a kingdom, and by a
paradise; and into this state the righteous may be said to enter immediately upon death, which
is no other than stepping out of one world into another; and this they enter into as into a house,
as it really is, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; and, entering into it, they
take possession of it, and for ever enjoy it:

12. they shall rest in their beds, their souls in the bosom of Abraham, in the arms of Jesus; their
bodies in the grave, which is a bed unto them, where they lie down and sleep, till they are
awaked at the resurrection; and where they rest from all toil and labour, from all diseases and
distempers, pains and tortures, and from all persecuting enemies; see Rev_14:13,
each one walking in his uprightness; in the righteousness of Christ, and in the shining
robes of immortality and glory, and in perfect purity and holiness: or, "before him" (e); before
God, in the sight or presence of him, and by sight, and not by faith, as now. Though this is by
some considered as the character of the righteous man in life, so Aben Ezra; and then the sense
is, that he that walks in his uprightness, in the uprightness or righteousness of Christ, and by
faith on him; that walks uprightly in his life and conversation before God, and "before himself";
following the rule before him, and walking according to the rule of the Gospel, and in the
ordinances of it blameless, when he comes to die, he enters into peace and rest. And to this
sense is the Targum, which paraphrases it,
"that are doers of his law;''
see Rom_2:13. In the Talmud (f) it is interpreted of that peace and happiness righteous men
enter into when they die.
4. JAMISON, “Or, “he entereth into peace”; in contrast to the persecutions which he suffered
in this world (Job_3:13, Job_3:17). The Margin not so well translates, “he shall go in peace”
(Psa_37:37; Luk_2:29).
rest — the calm rest of their bodies in their graves (called “beds,” 2Ch_16:14; compare
Isa_14:18; because they “sleep” in them, with the certainty of awakening at the resurrection,
1Th_4:14) is the emblem of the eternal “rest” (Heb_4:9; Rev_14:13).
each one walking in ... uprightness — This clause defines the character of those who at
death “rest in their beds,” namely, all who walk uprightly.
5. K&D, “Whilst watchmen and shepherds, prophets and rulers, without troubling themselves
about the flock which they have to watch and feed, are thus indulging their own selfish desires,
and living in debauchery, the righteous man is saved by early death from the judgment, which
cannot fail to come with such corruption as this. “The righteous perisheth, and no man taketh it
to heart; and pious men are swept away, without any one considering that the righteous is
swept away from misfortune. He entereth into peace: they rest upon their beds, whoever has
walked straight before him.” With “the righteous” the prophet introduces, in glaring contrast to
this luxurious living on the part of the leading men of the nation, the standing figure used to
denote the fate of its best men. With this prevailing demoralization and worldliness, the
righteous succumbs to the violence of both external and internal sufferings. ‫ד‬ ַ‫ב‬ፎ, he dies before
his time (Ecc_7:15); from the midst of the men of his generation he is carried away from this
world (Psa_12:2; Mic_7:2), and no one lays it to heart, viz., the divine accusation and threat
involved in this early death. Men of piety (chesed, the love of God and man) are swept away,
without there being any one to understand or consider that (kı̄ unfolds the object to be
considered and laid to heart, viz., what is involved in this carrying away when regarded as a

13. providential event) the righteous is swept away “from the evil,” i.e., that he may be saved from
the approaching punishment (compare 2Ki_22:20). For the prevailing corruption calls for
punishment from God; and what is first of all to be expected is severe judgment, through which
the coming salvation will force its way. In Isa_57:2 it is intimated that the righteous man and
the pious do not lose the blessings of this salvation because they lose this life: for whereas,
according to the prophet's watchword, there is no peace to the wicked, it is true, on the other
hand, of the departing righteous man, that “he enters into peace” (shalom, acc. loci s. status; Ges.
118, 1); “they rest upon their beds,” viz., the bottom of the grave, which has become their mishkab
(Job_17:13; Job_21:26), “however has walked in that which lay straight before him,” i.e., the one
straight plain path which he had set before him (‫נכחו‬ acc. obj. as in Isa_33:15; Isa_50:10, Ewald,
§172, b, from ּ‫כ‬ָ‫נ‬ַ‫ח‬ , that which lies straight before a person; whereas ‫ח‬ ַ‫ּכ‬‫נ‬ with ‫ח‬ ַ‫כ‬ֵ‫נ‬ ‫חוֹ‬ ְ‫כ‬ִ‫,נ‬ signifying
probably fixedness, steadiness of look, related to Arab. nkhʖ, to pierce, ‫ה‬ ָ‫כ‬ָ‫,נ‬ percutere, is used as a
preposition: compare Pro_4:25, ‫ח‬ ַ‫ּכ‬‫נ‬ ְ‫,ל‬ straight or exactly before him). The grave, when compared
with the restlessness of this life, is therefore “peace.” He who has died in faith rests in God, to
whom he has committed himself and entrusted his future. We have here the glimmering light of
the New Testament consolation, that the death of the righteous is better than life in this world,
because it is the entrance into peace.
6. CALVIN, “2.Peace shall come. The Prophet describes what shall be the condition of believers in
death; for the wicked, who think that there is no life but the present, imagine that good men have
perished; because in death they see nothing but ruin. For this reason he says that “ shall come,” which is
more desirable than a thousand lives full of trouble; as if he compared them to discharged soldiers, who
are and allowed to enjoy case and quietness.
They shall rest in their beds. He adds the metaphor of sleep, in order to show that they shall be absolutely
free from all the uneasiness of cares, just as if they were safely pleasantly asleep “ their beds.”
Whosoever walketh before him. (107) I do not think that the verb “” is connected with ‫,שלום‬ (shalom,) “” as
some do, who suppose the meaning to be this, that peace shall go before believers, so as to be, as it
were, the guide of their life. But I am of opinion that believers, on the contrary, are described by it; as if he
had said, “ walketh before God shall enjoy peace.” Thus, when righteous men die, and their various
labors are finished, and their course is ended, they are called to peace and repose. They “ in their beds,”
because they do not yet enjoy perfect blessedness and glory; but they wail; for the last day of the
resurrection, when everything shall be perfectly restored; and that, I think, is what Isaiah meant.
It will be said, “ not righteous men enjoy this peace while they live?” for the fruit of faith is, that; “ patience
we may possess our souls.” (Luk_21:19) Although faith produces peace in our hearts, (Rom_5:3) yet we
are tossed about by various storms and tempests; and never in life are we so calm and peaceful as when
the Lord takes us to himself. Peaceful and calm, therefore, is the death of the righteous, (Psa_116:15) for
it is “ in the sight of God;” but stormy is the death of the wicked. (108) Hence also we may learn that souls
are immortal; for if souls had no feeling, (as some fanatics have dreamed,) they could not enjoy “” Thus
they enjoy peace and repose, because they live in Christ.

14. (107) “ in his uprightness, or, before him.” (Eng. Ver.) “ phrase denotes, ‘ who walks straight before him,’
so as to follow constantly the rule, not turning aside from it to the right hand or the left, and observing and
keeping the straight line and road towards the end or mark which the Lord has held out to them,
according to the example of the Apostle. (Phi_3:14)” — Vitringa.
(108) “Mais celle des meschans est effroyable.” “ that of the wicked is frightful.”
7. DAVID GUZIK, “ Judah’s idolatry is like spiritual adultery.
1. (Isaiah 57:1-2) The persecution of the righteous.
The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, while no one
considers that the righteous is taken away from evil. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in
their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
a. The righteous perishes: Carrying on the rebuke of Judah’s leaders from the previous
chapter, the LORD speaks to the persecution of the righteous. In this case, it is
persecution through neglect (the righteous perishes and no man takes it to heart).
i. When Isaiah proclaimed this is important. Many critics of the Bible demand that
Isaiah was written after the Babylonian exile, because so many events after the
exile are precisely prophesied. But the sins described in this chapter are
strictly before the exile. This chapter is a marvelous proof that the book of Isaiah
was written in the days of Isaiah, by one author, and before the exile.
ii. “There is no evidence of corresponding post-exilic practices. A prophet in the
post-exile could not have written like this.” (Motyer) “All in all we prefer to think of
the reign of Manasseh, for the abominations of this king are all found in this
chapter.” (Bultema)
b. The righteous is taken away from evil. He shall enter into peace: Though the
righteous were ignored and persecuted by the wicked leaders of Judah, God would not
forsake them. When they perished, when merciful men were taken away, God used it to
bless the righteous, to take them away from evil and to allow them to enter into peace.
3 “But you—come here, you children of a sorceress,

15. you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
1.BARNES, “But draw near hither - That is, come near to hear the solemn sentence
which God pronounces in regard to your character and doom. This is addressed to the
impenitent and unbelieving part of the nation, and is designed to set before them the greatness
of their sin, and the certainty that they would be punished.
Ye sons of the sorceress - You who are addicted to sorcery and enchantments; who consult
the oracles of the pagan rather than the only true God. On the meaning of the word used here,
see the notes at Isa_2:6. The Hebrews, like other inhabitants of the East, were much addicted to
this, and particularly in the time of Manasseh 2Ki_21:6 : ‘And he made his sons pass through
the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits, and
wizards.’ So much were they devoted to this in his time, that they might be called, by way of
eminence, ‘the sons of the sorceress;’ as if a sorceress had been their mother, and they had
grown up to walk in her steps, and to imitate her example.
The seed of the adulterer - Implying that the obligations of the marriage contract were
disregarded, and that licentiousness prevailed in the nation. Amidst the other abominations
which existed under the wicked and corrupt reign of Manasseh 2 Kings 21, there is every
probability that these sins also abounded. Licentiousness had been the invariable attendant on
idol-worship; and dissoluteness of manners is the usual accompaniment of all other crimes. It is
observable also that the Saviour often charges the same sin on the nation in his own time
(Mat_12:39; Mat_16:4; Joh_8:1 ff.) In the language here, however, there is a reference to the
fact that the nation had apostatized from God, and they were guilty of spiritual adultery - that is,
of unfaithfulness to God. They fixed their affections on other objects than God, and loved the
images of idol-worship more than they did their Creator.
2. DAVID GUZIK, “(Isaiah 57:3-10) The spiritual adultery of God’s people.
But come here, you sons of the sorceress, you offspring of the adulterer and the harlot! Whom do
you ridicule? Against whom do you make a wide mouth and stick out the tongue? Are you not
children of transgression, offspring of falsehood, inflaming yourselves with gods under every
green tree, slaying the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? Among the smooth
stones of the stream is your portion; they, they, are your lot! Even to them you have poured a
drink offering, you have offered a grain offering. Should I receive comfort in these? On a lofty and
high mountain you have set your bed; EVEN there you went up to offer sacrifice. Also behind the
doors and their posts you have set up your remembrance; for you have uncovered yourself to
those other than Me, and have gone up to them; you have enlarged your bed And made a
covenant with them; you have loved their bed, where you saw their nudity. You went to the king
with ointment, and increased your perfumes; you sent your messengers far off, and even
descended to Sheol. You are wearied in the length of your way; yet you did not say, “There is no
hope.” You have found the life of your hand; therefore you were not grieved.
a. Whom do you ridicule? The wicked among God’s people made fun of the righteous.
They mocked them, and God heard it. Here, the LORD challenges them, simply asking
“Who do you think you are? Who are you mocking? Are you not children of
transgression, offspring of falsehood?”

16. i. This speaks to a common sin of human nature - to see the sins or the problems
of others, while being blind to our own sins or problems.
b. Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree: Here, the LORD begins to
expose the spiritual adultery of His people. They are “hot” with passion for other gods,
worshipping them in the ritual worship places of Canaanite paganism (every green tree .
. . among the smooth stones of the stream . . . on a high and lofty mountain).
i. In this picture, the LORD is the husband of Israel, and their passionate, chronic
attraction for idols was like the lust of an adulterer. His people pursued the false
gods like a lover runs after the focus of their love, and they yield themselves to
the idols as a lover yields themselves to their beloved (you have uncovered
yourself to those other than Me).
ii. “According to the presentation of verse seven, the whoredom of Judah is
compared to that of an adulteress who has become so impudent that she no
longer commits her sins in secret but publicly and shamelessly. She acts without
and restraint and refuses to blush with shame.” (Bultema)
c. Under every green tree: The picture of “spiritual adultery” is especially fitting, because
many of the pagan gods the Israelites went after were “worshipped” with illicit sex rituals.
A green tree might be a place of such idolatry, because the evergreen tree spoke of
constant fertility.
d. Slaying the children in the valleys: One of the Canaanite gods the Israelites
worshipped was named Molech, and he received children as sacrifices. Molech was
“worshipped” by heating a metal statue representing the god until it was red hot, then by
placing a living infant on the outstretched hands of the statue, while beating drums
drowned out the screams of the child until it burned to death. Molech was one of the
“lovers” God’s people forsook the LORD for in their spiritual adultery.
i. People who would not make a small sacrifice for the LORD God would kill their
own children for a pagan idol! “And as the love of harlots is oft hotter than that of
husband and wife, so superstition many times outdoeth true religion.” (Trapp)
e. Even to them you have poured a drink offering, you have offered a grain
offering: These are the sacrifices that should have been given to the LORD. But His
unfaithful people gave them to idols instead. “For the devil is God’s ape, and idolaters
used the same rites and offerings in the worship of idols which God has prescribed in his
own [worship].” (Poole)
f. Also behind the doors and their posts you have set up your remembrance:
InDeuteronomy 6:4-9, God told Israel to inscribe His name and His word on every door
post. Here, there is a perverse twisting of that - the remember their pagan gods behind
the doors and their posts.
i. “The sensitive Israelite reader would, of course, remember that it was the word
of God - and, most aptly, the assertion that there is only one God - that was the
be inscribed on the doors.” (Grogan)
g. You are wearied in the length of your way: As time went on, the spiritual adultery of
God’s people wasn’t rewarding. After the initial thrill of their spiritual adultery wore off,
they were wearied. But even then they would not repent (Yet you did not say, “There is
no hope”).

17. 3. GILL, “But draw near hither,.... The death of the righteous, and their happiness after it,
being observed: the wicked, who thought themselves safe from danger, and the happier that they
were rid of the righteous, those witnesses and prophets which had tormented them, and
therefore rejoiced on that account, are here summoned to the divine tribunal, to hear their
character, and receive their doom, as follows:
ye sons of the sorceress; the children of Jezebel, the witch, and the prophetess that taught
the servants of the Lord to commit fornication, and bewitched with her witchcrafts the sons of
the apostate church of Rome; by whose sorceries all nations have been deceived, and of which
she repents not, Rev_2:20,
the seed of the adulterer and of the whore; of the great whore of Babylon, with whom the
kings of the earth have committed fornication; and whose subjects and children are the seed of
this whore, and the sons of this idolatrous church: or, "that committeth whoredom" (g); which
aggravates the character, that they were not only the children of adulterous persons, but
committed whoredom themselves.
4. HENRY, “We have here a high charge, but a just one no doubt, drawn up against that wicked
generation out of which God's righteous ones were removed, because the world was not worthy
of them. Observe,
I. The general character here given of them, or the name and title by which they stand indicted,
Isa_57:3. They are told to draw near and hear the charge, are set to the bar, and arraigned there
as sons of the sorceress, or of a witch, the seed of an adulterer and a whore, that is, they were
such themselves, they were strongly inclined to be such, and their ancestors were such before
them. Sin is sorcery and adultery, for it is departing from God and dealing with the devil. They
were children of disobedience. “Come,” says the prophet, “draw near hither, and I will read you
your doom; to the righteous death will bring peace and rest, but not to you; you are children of
transgression and a seed of falsehood (Isa_57:4), that have it by kind, and have it woven into
your very nature, to backslide from God and to deal treacherously with him,” Isa_48:8.
5. JAMISON, “But ... ye — In contrast to “the righteous” and their end, he announces to the
unbelieving Jews their doom.
sons of the sorceress — that is, ye that are addicted to sorcery: this was connected with the
worship of false gods (2Ki_21:6). No insult is greater to an Oriental than any slur cast on his
mother (1Sa_20:30; Job_30:8).
seed of the adulterer — Spiritual adultery is meant: idolatry and apostasy (Mat_16:4).
6. K&D, “The reproachful language of the prophet is now directed against the mass of the
nation, who have occasioned the “evil” from which the righteous is swept away, i.e., the
generation that is hostile to the servants of Jehovah, and by whom those sins of idolatry are still
so shamelessly carried on, which first led to the captivity. “And ye, draw nearer hither, children
of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer, and of her that committed whoredom! Over whom do ye

18. make yourselves merry? Over whom do ye open the mouth wide, and put the tongue out long?
Are ye not the brook of apostasy, seed of lying?” They are to draw nearer hither (hennah as in
Gen_15:16), to the place where God is speaking through His prophet, to have themselves
painted, and to hear their sentence. Just as elsewhere the moral character of a man is frequently
indicated by the mention of his father (2Ki_6:32), or his mother (1Sa_20:30), or both parents
(Job_30:8), so here the generation of the captivity, so far as it continued to practise the idolatry
by which its ancestors had brought upon themselves the Chaldean catastrophe, is called first ‫ה‬ָ‫נ‬ְ‫ּנ‬‫ע‬
‫י‬ֵ‫נ‬ ְ (or more correctly ‫ה‬ָ‫נ‬ֲ‫ּנ‬‫ע‬), sons of the sorceress (possibly the maker of clouds or storm, Isa_2:6,
Jer. auguratricis), one who made heathen and superstitious customs her means of livelihood,
viz., the community as it existed before the captivity, which really deserved no better name, on
account of the crying contradiction between its calling and its conduct; and secondly, with
regard to both the male and female members of the community, ‫ה‬ֶ‫נ‬ְ‫ז‬ ִ ַ‫ו‬ ‫ף‬ ֵ‫א‬ָ‫נ‬ ְ‫מ‬ ‫ע‬ ַ‫ר‬ֶ‫,ז‬ semen adulteri et
fornicariae (Jer.), though Stier, Hahn, and others adopt the rendering semen adulterum et quod
(qui) scortaris. A better rendering than this would be, “Seed of an adulterer, and one who
committest adultery thyself,” viz., (what would be indicated with this explanation by the fut.
consec.) in consequence of this descent from an adulterer. But as ‫ע‬ ַ‫ר‬ֶ‫ז‬ (seed, posterity), wherever
it is more minutely defined, is connected with a genitive, and not with an adjective, the
presumption is that ‫ותזנה‬ ‫מנאף‬ denotes the father and mother. ‫ה‬ֶ‫נ‬ְ‫ז‬ ִ ַ‫ו‬ is an attributive clause
regarded as a genitive (Ges. §123, 3, Anm. 1), and more closely connected with ‫מנאף‬ htiw than if it
was written ‫תזנה‬ְ‫ו‬ = ‫ה‬ָ‫זוֹנ‬ְ‫,ו‬ Isa_1:21): Seed of an adulterer, and consequently (Ewald, §351, b), or
similarly, of one who gave herself up to whoredom. Idolatry, prostitution, and magic are most
closely allied. The prophet now asks, “Over whom do ye find your pleasure? For whom are your
common contemptuous actions intended?” ‫ג‬ֵ ַ‫ע‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ה‬ is only used here, and denotes the feeling which
finds pleasure in the sufferings of another. The objects of this malicious contemptuous pleasure
(Psa_22:8., Psa_35:21) are the servants of Jehovah; and the question, as in Isa_37:23, is one of
amazement at their impudence, since the men over whom they make merry are really deserving
of esteem, whereas they themselves are the refuse of Israel: Are ye not a brook of apostasy, seed
of lying? As apostasy and lying, when regarded as parents, can only produce something
resembling themselves; the character of those from whom they are descended is here imputed to
the men themselves, even more clearly than before. The genitives of origin are also genitives of
attribute. Instead of ‫י‬ ֵ‫ד‬ ְ‫ל‬ַ‫י‬ (e.g., Isa_2:6) we have here ‫י‬ ֵ‫ד‬ ְ‫ל‬ִ‫י‬ before makkeph, with the shortening of
a into i.
7. CALVIN, “3.And draw near, ye sons of the sorceress. After having spoken of the happy and
peaceful death of good men, he breaks out with very great vehemence against the wicked, who did not
cease to lead a base and shameful life, and were not moved by the death of believers. As he had said
that good men enjoy peace, so he threatens that the wicked shall have ceaseless war. He taught that to
the holy servants of God death shall even be like a hiding-place, to shelter them from the whirlwind, and
storm, and other tempests, that he might threaten the worst of evils against the obstinate despisers of
God. Here we ought to observe the contrast, between good men who walk before God, and the wicked,
who cease not rebelliously to resist God. The former shall enjoy peace when they die; the latter shall
have no peace during life, and shall feel dreadful torments in death.

19. He orders them to come forth to the judgment of God, which they hope that they will be able to escape by
their disguises; and therefore he affirms that they gain nothing by their refusal, for they shall be dragged
against their will. The more hardened they were, the sharper were the excitements that must be applied
to them; and therefore the harshness of the Prophet could not be excessive, either in arousing their
stupidity, or in casting down their pride. And indeed it is well known how insolent was the vanity of the
Jews on account of their genealogy; for which reason the prophets frequently beat down their
haughtiness and pride, and affirmed that they were not the children of Abraham, because they were
bastards and traitors.
On this account Isaiah calls them “ seed of the adulterous and the whore.” In like manner Ezekiel
reproaches them, “ father is an Amorite; thy mother a Hittite.” (Eze_16:3) Similar forms of expression are
found ill many parts of Scripture. Thus he beats down their intolerable hardihood, and drags them forward
unwillingly and reluctantly, that they might not think that they could escape the judgment of God.
4 Who are you mocking?
At whom do you sneer
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not a brood of rebels,
the offspring of liars?
1.BARNES, “Against whom do ye sport yourselves? - The word here rendered ‘sport’
(‫ענג‬ ‛anag) means properly “to live delicately and tenderly”; then “to rejoice, to take pleasure or
delight.” Here, however, it is evidently used in the sense of to sport oneself over anyone, that is,
to deride; and the idea is, probably, that they made a sport or mockery of God, and of the
institutions of religion. The prophet asks, with deep indignation and emotion, against whom
they did this. Were they aware of the majesty and glory of that Being whom they thus derided?
Against whom make yea wide mouth? - That is, in derision or contempt Psa_35:21 :
‘Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me.’

20. And draw out the tongue? - Lowth, ‘Loll the tongue;’ or, as we would say, ‘run out the
tongue.’ Perhaps it was done with a rapid motion, as in mockery of the true prophets when they
delivered the message of God (compare 2Ch_36:16). Contempt was sometimes shown also by
protruding the lips Psa_22:7 : ‘They shoot out the lip;’ and also by gaping upon a person
Psa_22:13; ‘They gaped upon me with their mouths.’
Are ye not children of transgression? - That is, in view of the fact that you make a sport
of sacred things, and deride the laws and the prophets of God.
A seed of false-hood - A generation that is unfaithful to God and to his cause.
2. GILL, “Against whom do ye sport yourselves?.... Is it against the ministers of the
Gospel, the prophets of the Lord, the true and faithful witnesses, over whose dead bodies you
triumph? know that it is not so much against them, as against the Lord himself, whose
ministers, prophets, and witnesses they are; see 1Th_4:8, "against whom make ye a wide mouth,
and draw out the tongue?" gestures used by way of scorn and derision; see Psa_22:7. So the
Papists open their mouths, and draw out their tongues, in gibes and jeers, reproaches and
calumnies, against the true Christians, calling and despising them as heretics and schismatics;
which abuse and ill usage of them will be resented another day. The Targum is,
"before whom do ye open your mouth, and multiply to speak things?''
as antichrist is said to have a mouth open, speaking great things and blasphemy against God, his
name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven, Rev_13:5,
are ye not children of transgression; given up to all manner of sin and wickedness; or
children of the wicked one, as the Targum, either of Satan, or of the man of sin; or, as the
Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "children of perdition"; of the same character,
complexion, and religion, as the son of perdition is: "a seed of falsehood"; or a lie, given to lying;
to believe a lie, and to speak lies in hypocrisy; professing a false religion; embracing false
doctrines; a spurious breed, and not the sons of the true church of Christ.
3. HENRY, “The particular crimes laid to their charge.
1. Scoffing at God and his word. They were a generation of scorners (Isa_57:4): “Against
whom do you sport yourselves? You think it is only against the poor prophets whom you
trample upon as contemptible men, but really it is against God himself, who sends them, and
whose message they deliver.” Mocking the messengers of the Lord was Jerusalem's measure-
filling sin, for what was done to them God took as done to himself. When they were reproved for
their sins, and threatened with the judgments of God, they ridiculed the word of God with the
rudest and most indecent gestures and expressions of disdain. They sported themselves, and
made themselves merry, with that which should have made them serious, and under which they
should have humbled themselves. They made wry mouths at the prophets, and drew out the
tongue, contrary to all the laws of good breeding; nor did they treat God's prophets with the
common civility with which they would have treated a gentleman's servant that had been sent to
them on an errand. Note, Those who mock at God, and bid defiance to his judgments, had best
consider who it is towards whom they conduct themselves so insolently.

21. 2. Idolatry. This was that sin which the people of the Jews were most notoriously guilty of before
the captivity; but that affliction cured them of it. In Isaiah's time it abounded, witness the
abominable idolatries of Ahaz (which some think are particularly referred to here) and of
Manasseh. (1.) They were dotingly fond of their idols, were inflamed with them, as those that
burn in unlawful unnatural lusts, Rom_1:27. They were mad upon their idols, Jer_50:38. They
inflamed themselves with them by their violent passions in the worship of them, as those of
Baal's prophets that leaped upon the altar, and cut themselves, 1Ki_18:26, 1Ki_18:28. Note,
Vile corruptions, the more they are gratified the more they are inflamed. They worshipped their
idols under every green tree, in the open air, and in the shade; yet that did not cool the heat of
their impetuous lusts, but rather the charming beauty of the green trees made them the more
fond of their idols which they worshipped there. Thus that in nature which is pleasing, instead of
drawing them to the God of nature, drew them from him. The flame of their zeal in the worship
of false gods may shame us for our coldness and indifference in the worship of the true God.
They strove to inflame themselves, but we distract and deaden ourselves. (2.) They were
barbarous and unnaturally cruel in the worship of their idols. They slew their children, and
offered them in sacrifice to their idols, not only in the valley of the son of Hinnom, the
headquarters of that monstrous idolatry, but in other valleys, in imitation of that, and under the
cliffs of the rock, in dark and solitary places, the fittest for such works of darkness. (3.) They
were abundant and insatiable in their idolatries. They never thought they could have idols
enough, nor could spend enough upon them and do enough in their service. The Syrians had
once a notion of the God of Israel that he was a God of the hills, but not a God of the valleys
(1Ki_20:28); but these idolaters, to make sure work, had both.
4. JAMISON, “sport yourselves — make a mock (Isa_66:5). Are ye aware of the glory of Him
whom you mock, by mocking His servants (“the righteous,” Isa_57:1)? (2Ch_36:16).
make ... wide mouth — (Psa_22:7, Psa_22:13; Psa_35:21; Lam_2:16).
children of transgression, etc. — not merely children of transgressors, and a seed of false
parents, but of transgression and falsehood itself, utterly unfaithful to God.
5. K&D, “
6. CALVIN, “4.On whom have ye made sport? The Prophet shows that there is no reason why the
Jews should boast so proudly on the pretense of their birth, seeing that they mocked at God and the
prophets. They thought that they had to deal with men, when they rejected the word; as we see that
wicked men in the present day, while they fearlessly despise the doctrine of God and laugh at ministers,
nevertheless shelter themselves, and falsely glory in the name of God. This is the reason why the
Prophet bears hard upon them and censures with severity.
On whom have ye opened the mouth? The meaning of the words is, “ ye put forth the tongue against
God, and mock his word, do ye think that ye have to deal with a mortal man?” The question (“ whom?“
means that they resorted to disguises and concealments, in order to conceal their impiety; for wicked men
do not confess that they are rebels against God, and even complain that they are very unjustly treated.
But they must be dragged to the light and convicted of their wickedness; for if there be a God in heaven,
they carry on war with him, by attacking and rejecting his word and treating it as a fable.

22. To “ the mouth” and to “ forth the tongue” mean the same thing, except that by these expressions he has
more fully described their wickedness, in not only rejecting God, but also mocking him. The inward
contempt of the heart had driven them to open jeers and blasphemies, so that they were not moved by
any fear of disgrace.
Seed of the adulterer and the whore. At length he concludes that they are treacherous children, a lying
seed, and that he has justly reproached them with being “ children of the whore;” for such contempt of
God could not be found in the children of Abraham. Hence we learn in what manner wicked men ought to
be treated, and with what severity they ought to be reproved, that they may not flatter themselves; and
the more they despise everything that is held out in the name of God, the more ought their sacrilegious
wickedness to be exposed and dragged forth to public view.
5 You burn with lust among the oaks
and under every spreading tree;
you sacrifice your children in the ravines
and under the overhanging crags.
1.BARNES, “Inflaming yourselves - Burning, that is, with lust. The whole language here
is derived from adulterous intercourse. The sense is, that they were greatly addicted to idolatry,
and that they used every means to increase and extend the practice of it. The Vulgate, however,
renders this, ‘Who console yourselves.’ The Septuagint renders it, ‘Invoking (παρακαλοሞντες
parakalountes) idols.’ But the proper meaning of the Hebrew word ‫חמם‬ chamam is, “to become
warm; to be inflamed, or to burn as with lust.”
With idols - Margin, ‘Among the oaks.’ Hebrew, ‫באלים‬ ba'elı ym. Vulgate, In diis - ‘With the
gods.’ Septuagint, Εᅺδωλα Eidola - ‘Idols.’ So the Chaldee and Syriac. The Hebrew may denote
‘with gods,’ that is, with idol-gods; or it may denote, as in the margin, ‘among the oaks,’ or the
terebinth groves, from ‫איל‬ 'eyl, plural ‫אילים‬ 'eylı ym, or ‫אלים‬ 'elym (the terebinth). See the word
explained in the note at Isa_1:29. Kimchi and Jarchi here render it by ‘the terebinth tree.’ Lowth
renders it, ‘Burning with the lust of idols;’ and probably this is the correct interpretation, for, if it

23. had meant oaks or the terebinth tree, the phrase would have been “under” (‫תחת‬ tachath) instead
of “in” or “with” (‫ב‬ b).
Under every green tree - (See the notes at Isa_1:29; compare Deu_22:2; 2Ki_17:10;
2Ch_28:4).
Slaying the children - That is, sacrificing them to the idol-gods. This was commonly done
by burning them, as when they were offered to Moloch, though it is not improbable that they
were sometimes sacrificed in other ways. It was a common custom among the worshippers of
Moloch. Thus it is said of Ahaz 2Ch_28:3, that he ‘burnt incense in the valley of the son of
Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire.’ The same thing is said of Manasseh, to whose time
the prophet most probably refers. ‘And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the
valley of the son of Hinnom’ (2Ch_33:6; compare Jer_7:31). The same thing was practiced in
the countries of the Babylonian empire 2Ki_17:31, and from Deu_12:31, it is evident that it was
commonly practiced by pagan nations. The Phenicians, according to Eusebius (Praep. Evan. iv.
16), and the Carthagenians, according to Diodorus Siculus (xx. 14), practiced it.
In the valleys - The place where these abominations were practiced by the Jews was the
valley of the son of Hinnom (see the references above); that is, the valley of Jehoshaphat, lying
to the south and the southeast of Jerusalem. A large hollow, brass statue was erected, and the
fire was enkindled within it, and the child was placed in his heated arms, and thus put to death.
The cries of the child were drowned by the music of the ‫תף‬ toph, or kettle-drums (see the notes
at Isa_5:12, where this instrument is fully described), and hence, the name of the valley was
Tophet.
Under the clefts of the rocks - Dark and shady groves, and deep and sombre caverns were
the places where the abominable rites of the pagan superstitions were practiced (compare the
notes at Isa_11:1).
2. GILL, “Inflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree,.... Or, "inflamed
with or among oaks" (h); with images made of oaken wood, such as the Papists worship,
Rev_9:20 expressing a burning zeal for their idols, and being as hot upon them, as impure
persons burn in lust one towards another: or "with mighty ones" (i); the kings and potentates of
the earth, with whom the whore of Rome commits her fornication, even in every flourishing
kingdom and state in Europe, compared to a green tree; alluding to the custom of the Heathens,
who used to set up their idols under green trees and groves, and there worship them, which were
pleasing to the flesh; and I wish, says Musculus on the text, there were no instances of this kind
in the Papacy.
Slaying the children in the valleys, under the clifts of the rocks? this may refer to the
cruelty of these idolatrous worshippers; for, as they burn with zeal to their idols, so with rage
against those that oppose their idolatrous practices, not sparing men, women, and children; and
such butcheries have been committed in many places, and especially in the "valleys" of
Piedmont; nor could the cragged rocks secure them from their falling a sacrifice unto them. Or it
may intend the ruining and destroying the souls of such, who, before they fell into their hands,
were innocent as children, by their superstitious worship and idolatry, committed in low and
dark places, under cragged rocks, and in caves and dens; such as the above mentioned
commentator speaks of, a very dark one, under a prominent rock, in which the ignorant and

24. unhappy people, some time ago, worshipped and invoked a certain blessed saint, he knew not
who, which could scarce be looked into without horror; and such was the cave in which they
worshipped the angel Michael.
3. HENRY, “Scoffing at God and his word. They were a generation of scorners (Isa_57:4):
“Against whom do you sport yourselves? You think it is only against the poor prophets whom
you trample upon as contemptible men, but really it is against God himself, who sends them,
and whose message they deliver.” Mocking the messengers of the Lord was Jerusalem's
measure-filling sin, for what was done to them God took as done to himself. When they were
reproved for their sins, and threatened with the judgments of God, they ridiculed the word of
God with the rudest and most indecent gestures and expressions of disdain. They sported
themselves, and made themselves merry, with that which should have made them serious, and
under which they should have humbled themselves. They made wry mouths at the prophets, and
drew out the tongue, contrary to all the laws of good breeding; nor did they treat God's prophets
with the common civility with which they would have treated a gentleman's servant that had
been sent to them on an errand. Note, Those who mock at God, and bid defiance to his
judgments, had best consider who it is towards whom they conduct themselves so insolently.
2. Idolatry. This was that sin which the people of the Jews were most notoriously guilty of before
the captivity; but that affliction cured them of it. In Isaiah's time it abounded, witness the
abominable idolatries of Ahaz (which some think are particularly referred to here) and of
Manasseh. (1.) They were dotingly fond of their idols, were inflamed with them, as those that
burn in unlawful unnatural lusts, Rom_1:27. They were mad upon their idols, Jer_50:38. They
inflamed themselves with them by their violent passions in the worship of them, as those of
Baal's prophets that leaped upon the altar, and cut themselves, 1Ki_18:26, 1Ki_18:28. Note,
Vile corruptions, the more they are gratified the more they are inflamed. They worshipped their
idols under every green tree, in the open air, and in the shade; yet that did not cool the heat of
their impetuous lusts, but rather the charming beauty of the green trees made them the more
fond of their idols which they worshipped there. Thus that in nature which is pleasing, instead of
drawing them to the God of nature, drew them from him. The flame of their zeal in the worship
of false gods may shame us for our coldness and indifference in the worship of the true God.
They strove to inflame themselves, but we distract and deaden ourselves.
4. JAMISON, “Enflaming yourselves — burning with lust towards idols [Gesenius]; or else
(compare Margin), in the terebinth groves, which the Hebrew and the parallelism favor (see on
Isa_1:29) [Maurer].
under ... tree — (2Ki_17:10). The tree, as in the Assyrian sculptures, was probably made an
idolatrous symbol of the heavenly hosts.
slaying ... children — as a sacrifice to Molech, etc. (2Ki_17:31; 2Ch_28:3; 2Ch_33:6).
in ... valleys — the valley of the son of Hinnom. Fire was put within a hollow brazen statue,
and the child was put in his heated arms; kettle drums (Hebrew, toph) were beaten to drown the
child’s cries; whence the valley was called Tophet (2Ch_33:6; Jer_7:3).
under ... clifts — the gloom of caverns suiting their dark superstitions.

25. 5. K&D, “The participles which follow in the next v. are in apposition to ֶ ፍ, and confirm the
predicates already applied to them. They soon give place, however, to independent sentences.
“Ye that inflame yourselves by the terebinths, under every green tree, ye slayers of children in
the valleys under the clefts of the rocks. By the smooth ones of the brook was thy portion; they,
they were thy lot: thou also pouredst out libations to them, thou laidst meat-offerings upon
them. Shall I be contented with this?” The people of the captivity are addressed, and the idolatry
handed down to them from their ancestors depicted. The prophet looks back from the
standpoint of the captivity, and takes his colours from the time in which he himself lived,
possibly from the commencement of Manasseh's reign, when the heathenism that had for a long
time been suppressed burst forth again in all its force, and the measure of iniquity became full.
The part. niphal ‫ים‬ ִ‫מ‬ ָ‫ח‬ֵ ַ‫ה‬ is formed like ‫ן‬ ַ‫ח‬ֵ‫נ‬ in Jer_22:23, if the latter signifies miserandum esse.
The primary form is ‫ם‬ ַ‫ח‬ִ‫,נ‬ which is doubled like ‫ר‬ָ ִ‫נ‬ from ‫ר‬ ַ‫ר‬ָ in Job_20:28, and from which ‫ם‬ ַ‫ח‬ֵ‫נ‬ is
formed by the resolution of the latent reduplication. Stier derives it from hsilgnE:egaugnaL}; but
even if formed from this, ‫ם‬ ַ‫ח‬ֵ‫נ‬ would still have to be explained from ‫ם‬ ַ‫ח‬ִ‫,נ‬ after the form ‫ת‬ ַ ִ‫.נ‬ 'Elı̄m
signifies either gods or terebinths. But although it might certainly mean idols, according to
Exo_15:11; Dan_11:36 (lxx, Targ., and Jerome), it is never used directly in this sense, and Isaiah
always uses the word as the name of a tree (Isa_1:29; Isa_61:3). The terebinths are introduced
here, exactly as in Isa_1:29, as an object of idolatrous lust: “who inflame themselves with the
terebinths;” ְ‫ב‬ denotes the object with which the lust is excited and inf Lamed. The terebinth ('ela
h) held the chief place in tree-worship (hence ‫,אלנם‬ lit., oak-trees, together with ‫,אלם‬ is the name
of one of the Phoenician gods),
(Note: See Levy, Phönizische Studien, i. 19.)
possibly as being the tree sacred to Astarte; just as the Samura Acacia among the heathen Arabs
was the tree sacred to the goddess 'Uzza.
(Note: Krehl, Religioin der vorisl. Araber, p. 74ff.)
The following expression, “under every green tree,” is simply a permutative of the words “with
the terebinths” in the sense of “with the terebinths, yea, under every green tree” (a standing
expression from Deu_12:2 downwards) - one tree being regarded as the abode and favourite of
this deity, and another of that, and all alluring you to your carnal worship.
From the tree-worship with its orgies, which was so widely spread in antiquity generally, the
prophet passes to the leading Canaanitish abomination, viz., human sacrifices, which had been
adopted by the Israelites (along with ‫שׁחטי‬ we find the false reading ‫,שׂחטי‬ which is interpreted as
signifying self-abuse). Judging from the locality named, “under the clefts of the rocks,” the
reference is not to the slaying of children sacrificed to Moloch in the valley of Hinnom, but to
those offered to Baal upon his bamoth or high places (Jer_19:5; Eze_16:20-21; Hos_13:2;
Psa_106:37-38). As we learn from the chronique scandaleuse many things connected with the
religious history of Israel, which cannot be found in its historical books, there is nothing to
surprise us in the stone-worship condemned in Isa_57:6. The dagesh of ‫י‬ ֵ‫ק‬ ְ ַ‫ח‬ is in any case
dagesh dirimens. The singular is wither ‫ק‬ ָ‫ל‬ ָ‫ח‬ after the form ‫י‬ ֵ‫מ‬ ְ‫כ‬ ַ‫ח‬ (cf., ‫י‬ ֵ‫ב‬ ְ‫צ‬ ַ‫,ע‬ Isa_58:3), or ‫ק‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ח‬ after
the form ‫י‬ ֵ‫ד‬ ְ‫ל‬ַ‫.י‬ But ‫ק‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֶ‫,ח‬ smoothness, never occurs; and the explanation, “in the smoothnesses, i.e.,
the smooth places of the valley, is thy portion,” has this also against it, that it does not do justice
to the connection ְ ‫ק‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֵ‫,ח‬ in which the preposition is not used in a local sense, and that it leaves
the emphatic ‫ם‬ ֵ‫ה‬ ‫ם‬ ֵ‫ה‬ quite unexplained. The latter does not point to places, but to objects of

26. worship for which they had exchanged Jehovah, of whom the true Israelite could say ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫ק‬ ְ‫ל‬ ֶ‫,ח‬
Psa_119:57, etc., or ‫ה‬ ְ‫ב‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ‫ק‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֵ‫,ח‬ Jos_22:25, and ‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ָ‫וֹר‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫וֹמ‬ְ‫ך‬ ‫ה‬ ָ ፍ (Thou art He that maintaineth my
lot), Psa_16:5. The prophet had such expressions as these in his mind, and possibly also the
primary meaning of ‫גורל‬ = κλᇿρος, which may be gathered from the rare Arabic word 'garal,
gravel, stones worn smooth by rolling, when he said, “In the smooth ones of the valley is thy
portion; they, they are thy lot.” In the Arabic also, achlaq (equilvaent to chalaq, smooth, which
forms here a play upon the word with ‫ק‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֵ‫,ח‬ chalaq) is a favourite word for stones and rocks. ‫י־‬ ֵ‫ק‬ ְ ַ‫ח‬
‫ל‬ ַ‫ח‬ַ‫,נ‬ however, according to 1Sa_17:40 (where the intensive form ‫וּק‬ ַ‫,ח‬ like ‫וּל‬ⅴ ַ‫,שׁ‬ is used), are
stones which the stream in the valley has washed smooth with time, and rounded into a pleasing
shape. The mode of the worship, the pouring out of libations,
(Note: Compare the remarks made in the Comm. on the Pentateuch, at Gen_29:20, on the
heathen worship of anointed stones, and the Baetulian worship.)
and the laying of meat-offerings upon them, confirm this view. In Carthage such stones were
called abbadires (= ‫,אדיר‬ ‫;)אבן‬ and among the ancient Arabs, the asnam or idols consisted for the
most part of rude blocks of stone of this description. Herodotus (3:8) speaks of seven stones
which the Arabs anointed, calling upon the god Orotal. Suidas (s.v. Θεሞς ᅎρης) states that the
idol of Ares in Petra was a black square stone; and the black stone of the Ka'aba was, according
to a very inconvenient tradition for the Mohammedans, an idol of Saturn (zuhal).
(Note: See Krehl, p. 72. In the East Indies also we find stone-worship not only among the
Vindya tribes (Lassen, A.K. i. 376), but also among the Vaishnavas, who worship Vishnu in
the form of a stone, viz., the salagram, a kind of stone from the river Gandak (see Wilson's
Sanscrit Lexicon s.h.v. and Vishnu-Purân, p. 163). The fact of the great antiquity of stone
and tree worship has been used in the most ridiculous manner by Dozy in his work on the
Israelites at Mecca (1864). He draws the following conclusion from Deu_32:18 : “Thus the
Israelites sprang from a divine block of stone; and this is, in reality, the true old version of
the origin of the nation.” From Isa_51:1-2, he infers that Abraham and Sara were not
historical persons at all, but that the former was a block of stone, and the latter a hollow; and
that the two together were a block of stone in a hollow, to which divine worship was paid.
“This fact,” he says, “viz. that Abraham and Sarah in the second Isaiah are not historical
persons, but a block of stone and a hollow, is one of great worth, as enabling us to determine
the time at which the stories of Abraham in Genesis were written, and to form a correct idea
of the spirit of those stories.”)
Stone-worship of this kind had been practised by the Israelites before the captivity, and their
heathenish practices had been transmitted to the exiles in Babylon. The meaning of the
question, Shall I comfort myself concerning such things? - i.e., Shall I be contented with them
(‫ם‬ ֵ‫ח‬ָ ֶ‫א‬ niphal, not hithpael)? - is, that it was impossible that descendants who so resembled their
fathers should remain unpunished.
6. CALVIN, “5.Inflaming yourselves. Others render it, “ delight” or “” but the Prophet makes use of a
metaphor which is often found in Scripture, and which is exceedingly adapted to the present subject; for
the Lord compares the ardor by which idolaters are hurried along to the love of a harlot, by which poor
wretched men are inflamed so as to be transported with blind eagerness. (Jer_3:1; Hos_2:2) Idolaters

27. have no moderation, and do not permit themselves to be reclaimed from their madness by any
arguments. In the sight of God idolatry is a very base kind of fornication.
Under the oaks, or, with the gods. Some translate ‫אלים‬ (elim) “” and others “” (109) I leave every one at
liberty to adopt either reading; for the meaning will always be the same, and commentators are agreed
that the Prophet condemns idolatry. I do not dispute, therefore, about the reading; though it is probable
that the same thing is twice repeated, in accordance with the practice of Hebrew writers, in a particular
and in a general form, and yet that the Prophet, by means of an ambiguous word, alludes to “ gods.”
Sacrificing children. Here he bears still harder on the Jews, and shows that they are not the true seed of
Abraham; seeing that they pollute themselves with superstitions of every kind. In consequence of the
delight which the Jews took in such practices, he exposes their vileness. “ shelter yourselves, indeed,
under the name of religion, but I declare that you commit fornication with idols.” In this manner it was
proper to expose and freely to point out that wickedness which base and malicious men endeavor to
cloak under various pretenses; and thus the Prophet boldly discharges his duty by summoning men to the
judgment of God, and holding them to be guilty, though they wish to take every method of excusing
themselves. He shows that they are treacherous, and have departed from the law of God by abominable
idolatry, and mentions one kind of shocking and even accursed and monstrous worship; namely, the “ of
children,” from which it is very evident how powerful is the spirit of error, when men have once turned
aside from God. Satan seizes their minds (2Th_2:9) in such a manner that he drives them altogether to
madness and rage. They who do not hesitate to slay their children, as if on the ground of its being a
righteous sacrifice, must be in a state of furious madness.
And yet those cruel murderers of their children did not want some pretense; for they cloaked their crime
under the example of Abraham, who did. not spare (Gen_22:16) his only son; and the ancient Hebrew
writers pronounce it to have been ( κακοζηλία) a wicked imitation “ we are Abraham’ descendants, we
ought not to spare our children.” But Abraham did this (Gen_22:2) by the command of God; while they did
it of their own accord, and without God’ command. It was an extraordinary example, by which the Lord
intended to try and attest Abraham’ faith. Besides, Isaac was not sacrificed; for the Lord was satisfied with
Abraham’ cheerful and ready will. (Gen_22:12) They slew their children. It was, therefore, a perverse and
damnable imitation, for they differed widely from their father This should be carefully observed; for a large
portion of superstitions has proceeded from this source of ( κακοζηλία) wicked imitation. Men have rashly
and without discrimination seized on everything that was done by the fathers.
6 The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are
your portion;
indeed, they are your lot.

28. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings
and offered grain offerings.
In view of all this, should I relent?
1.BARNES, “Among the smooth stones of the streams - In the original here, there is a
paronomasia, which cannot be fully retained in our English version. There has been also
considerable diversity of opinion in regard to the sense of the passage, from the ambiguity of the
words in the original. Jerome (the Vulgate) renders it, In partibus torrentis pars tua - ‘Thy
portion is in the parts of the torrent.’ The Septuagint translates it ‘This is thy portion; this is thy
lot. The word rendered in our version, ‘smooth stones’ (‫חלק‬ cheleq), means properly
smoothness, hence, barrenness or bare place; and supposes that the idea is, their lot was in the
bare places of the valley, that is, in the open (not wooded) places where they worshipped idols -
an interpretation not very consistent with the fact that groves were commonly selected as the
place where they worshipped idols. It seems to me, therefore, that the idea of smoothness here,
whether of the valley or of the stones, is not the idea intended. Indeed, in no place, it is believed,
does the word mean ‘smooth stones;’ and it is difficult to conceive what was the exact idea which
our translators intended to convey, or why they supposed that such worship was celebrated
among the smooth or much-worn stones of the running stream. The true idea can probably be
obtained by reverting to the primitive sense of the word as derived from the verb. The verb ‫חלק‬
chalaq means:
1. To smooth.
2. To divide, to distribute, to appropriate - as the dividing of spoil, etc.
Hence, the noun also means dividing, or portion, as that which is divided - whether an
inheritance, or whether the dividings of spoil after battle. Retaining this idea, the literal sense, as
I conceive, would be this in which also something of the paronomasia will be retained: ‘Among
the dividings of the valley is thy dividing,’ that is, thy portion In the places where the valley
divides, is thy lot. Thy lot is there instead of the place which God appointed. There you worship;
there you pour out your libations to the false gods; and there you must partake of the protection
and favor which the gods whom you worship can give. You have chosen that as your inheritance,
and by the results of that you must abide.
Of the stream - The word rendered here ‘stream’ (‫נחל‬ nachal), means either a stream, or a
rivulet of water Num_34:5; Josh. 15:4-47; or it means a valley with a brook or torrent; a low
place with water. Here it means evidently the latter - as it cannot be supposed they would
worship in a stream, though they undoubtedly worshipped in a vale or low place where there
was occasionally a rivulet of water. This entire description is strikingly applicable to the valley of
Jehoshaphat - a low vale, broken by chasms and by projecting and overhanging rocks, and along
the center of which flowed a small brook, much swelled occasionally by the waters that fell from
the adjacent hills. At some seasons of the year, however, the valley was entirely dry. The idea
here is, that they had chosen their portion in the dividings of that valley instead of the adjacent
hills on which the worship of God was celebrated. That valley became afterward the emblem of
punishment: and may it not be implied in this passage that they were to inherit whatever would

29. descend on that valley; that is, that they were to participate in the punishment which would be
the just expression of the divine displeasure?
Even to them hast thou poured out - That is, to these idols erected in the valleys.
A drink-offering - A libation, or drink-offering was usually poured out in the worship of
pagan gods Jer_7:18. It was common also in the worship of the true God (see Gen_35:14).
Among the Hebrews it consisted of wine and oil Exo_29:40; Num_15:5-7; Lev_23:13.
Thou hast offered a meat-offering - On the word used here (‫מנחה‬ minchah) see the notes
at Isa_1:13; Isa_43:23. The word ‘meat’ formerly denoted in the English language food in
general, and was not confined as it is now to animal food. Hence, the word ‘meat-offering’ is so
often used in the Scriptures when a sacrifice is intended which was not a bloody sacrifice. The
mincha was in fact an offering of meal, fine flour, etc., mingled with oil Lev_14:10; Num_7:13,
and was distinguished expressly from the bloody sacrifice. The word ‘meal-offering’ would much
more appropriately express the sense of the original than ‘meat-offering.’ This was a common
offering made to idols as well as to the true God, and was designed as an expression of
thankfulness.
Should I receive comfort in these? - It is implied that God could not behold them but
with displeasure, and that for them he would punish them. The Vulgate and the Septuagint
express it well as: ‘On account of these things shall I not be enraged?’
2. CLARKE, “Among the smooth stones of the stream “Among the smooth stones of
the valley” - The Jews were extremely addicted to the practice of many superstitious and
idolatrous rites, which the prophet here inveighs against with great vehemence. Of the worship
of rude stones consecrated, there are many testimonials of the ancients. They were called βαιτυλ
οι and βαιτυλια· probably from the stone which Jacob erected at Beth-el, pouring oil upon the top
of it. This practice was very common in different ages and places. Arnobius, lib. i., gives an
account of his own practice in this respect before he became a Christian: Si quando
conspexeram lubricatum lapidem, et ex olivi unguine sordidatum; tanquam inesset vis
praesens, adulabar, affabar, et beneficia poscebam nihil sentiente de trunco. “When I have met
with a smooth stone, smeared with oil, supposing a spiritual power to be connected with it, I
worshipped it, paid my addresses to it, and requested blessings,” etc. Clemens Alex., Strom. lib.
vii., speaks of a worshipper of every smooth stone in a proverbial way, to denote one given up to
superstition. And accordingly Theophrastus has marked this as one strong feature in the
character of the superstitious man: Και των λιπαρων λιθων των εν ταις τριοδοις παριων, εκ της ληκυθ
ου ελαιου καταχειν, και επι γονατα πεσων και προσκυνησας απαλλαττεσθαι. “Passing by the anointed
stones in the streets, he takes out his phial of oil, and pours it on them; and having fallen on his
knees, and made his adorations, he departs. “Kimchi says: “When they found a beautiful
polished stone in a brook or river, they paid Divine adoration to it.” This idolatry is still
prevalent among the Hindoos. The stone which is the object of their adoration is called salgram.
They are found about eighty miles from the source of the river Sown, in the viceroyalty of Bahar,
on the coast of Bengal. Ayeen Akbery vol. 2 p. 29.
3. GILL, “Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion,.... Or thy god; but the
portion of Jacob is not like them, stocks and stones, Jer_10:16. Whenever they could pick up

30. smooth stones, and such as were fit for their purpose, whether in the stream of a brook, or in a
valley, as the word also signifies, they polished and formed them into an image, and made gods
of them; and these were their portion and inheritance, and which they left to their children.
There is an elegant play on words (k) in the Hebrew tongue, between the word for "smooth
stones", and that for a "portion (l)", which cannot be expressed in our language: or, "in the
smooth or slippery places of the valley shall be thy portions"; see Psa_35:6.
They, they are thy lot; even those stones. Jarchi's note is, to stone thee with, the punishment
of idolaters with the Jews; suggesting that those idols would be their ruin; as they will be the
ruin of the idolatrous members of the church of Rome, who repent not of worshipping their
idols of stone among others, Rev_9:20,
even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering;
or a "bread offering", as well as a libation of wine, respecting the sacrifice of the mass, which
consists of bread and wine, which is offered up in honour of their idols, angels and saints; hence
"Michael mass" and "Martin mass", &c.
Should I receive comfort in these? be pleased with such idolatrous sacrifices? no. The
Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions render it, "should I not be angry for these?" I
will; I have just reason for it. Or it may be rendered, "shall I repent of these (m)?" of the evil I
have threatened to bring, and am about to bring upon these idolaters? I will not.
4. HENRY, “They had gods of the valleys, which they worshipped in the low places by the water
side (Isa_57:6): Among the smooth stones of the valley, or brook, is thy portion. If they saw a
smooth carved stone, though set up but for a way-mark or a mere-stone, they were ready to
worship it, as the papists do crosses. Or in stony valleys they set up their gods, which they called
their portion, and took for their lot, as God's people take him for their lot and portion. But these
gods of stone would really be no better a portion for them, no better a lot, than the smooth
stones of the stream near which they were set up, for sometimes they worshipped their rivers.
“They, they, are the lot which thou trustest to and art pleased with, but thou shalt be put off with
it for thy lot, and miserable will thy case be.” See the folly of sinners, who take the smooth stones
of the stream for their portion, when they might have the precious stones of God's Jerusalem,
and the high priest's ephod, to portion themselves with. Having taken these idols for their lot
and portion, they stick at no charge in doing honour to them: “To them hast thou poured a
drink-offering, and offered a meat-offering, as if they had given thee thy meat and drink.” They
loved their idols better than their children, for their own tables must be robbed to replenish the
altars of their idols. Have we taken the true God for our portion? Is he, even he, our lot? Let us
then serve him with our meat and drink, not, as they did, by depriving ourselves of the use of
them, but by eating and drinking to his glory. Here, in a parenthesis, comes in an expression of
God's just resentment of this wickedness of theirs: Should I receive comfort in these - in such a
people as this? Can those expect that God will take any pleasure in them, or accept their
devotions at his altar, who thus serve Baal with the gifts of his providence? God takes comfort in
his people, while they are faithful to him; but what comfort can he take in them when those that
should be his witnesses against the idolatries of the world do themselves fall in with them?
Should I have compassion on these? (so some), or should I repent me concerning these? so
others. “How can they expect that I should spare them, and either adjourn or abate their