Isaia 57:7 Commento

The prophet, in this chapter, makes his observations, I. Upon the deaths of good men, comforting those that were taken away in their integrity and reproving those that did not make a due improvement of such providences (Isa 57:1, Isa 57:2). II. Upon the gross idolatries and spiritual whoredoms which the Jews were guilty of, and the destroying judgments they were thereby bringing upon themselves (Isa 57:3-12). III. Upon the gracious returns of God to his people to put an end to their captivity and re-establish their prosperity (Isa 57:13-21).

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 57 This chapter contains complaints of the stupidity and idolatry of the people, described in the latter part of the preceding chapter; and some promises of grace to the people of God. The stupidity of the former is observed, Isa 57:1 they not taking notice of the death of good men, nor of impending calamities they were taken from, whose happiness is described, Isa 57:2, then these idolatrous people are summoned before the Lord, Isa 57:3 and are charged with deriding the saints with idolatry and murder, Isa 57:4 and their idolatry is represented under the notion of adultery, attended with very aggravating circumstances, Isa 57:7 and yet these people still entertained presumptuous hopes of happiness, and boasted of, and trusted in, their righteousness and good works, which would be exposed, and be of no advantage to them, Isa 57:10, next follow promises of grace to the saints, that such that trusted in Christ should inherit the holy mountain, Isa 57:13 that the stumblingblock of his people should be removed, Isa 57:14, that he should dwell with the humble and contrite, Isa 57:15, and not be always wroth and contend with them, for a reason given, Isa 57:16 and that though he had smote them, and hid his face from them because of their sins, yet would heal them, lead them, and comfort them, and speak peace unto them, Isa 57:17 and the chapter is concluded with the character of the wicked, and an assurance that there is no peace for them, Isa 57:20.

Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed,.... Temples and altars, which are usually built on high places, where they commit spiritual adultery; that is, idolatry, in imitation of the Heathens, who had their temples and altars on high places; and the idolatry of the church of Rome, in this context, is all along expressed in language agreeable to the Heathen idolatry, and in allusion to it. Some think this phrase denotes impudence in their idolatrous worship; for not content to worship under trees, in valleys, and under clifts of rocks, and such dark places; now, as not blushing at, or being ashamed of their actions, erect their altars in the most public places. Perhaps some reference may be had to the city of Rome itself, built on seven mountains, the seat of antichrist, and where the principal bed for idolatry is set up. The Targum is, "on a high and lofty mountain thou hast the place of the house of thy dwelling;'' which agrees very well with the great city, the seat of the beast. Even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice; the sacrifice of the mass, to do which the idolaters go to their high places, their temples, and to their high altars, and especially in the great city.

(Verse 7.) You have placed your dwelling on a high and lofty mountain, and there you ascended to offer sacrifices. And behind the door and beyond the threshold, you have set up your memorial. The Septuagint says the same. The sacred history tells that on high mountains and hills, the gods of the nations offered sacrifices to Israel, and like a shameless prostitute, spread her legs for all the demons. There was no place that was not polluted by the filth of idolatry, to the extent that they would place idols after the doors of their houses, called domestic Lares, and even shed the blood of their own souls, both publicly and privately. Many cities of various provinces struggle with this error and the worst habit of antiquity: even Rome itself, the mistress of the world, venerates Tutela's image with wax and lamps in each island and house, which they call by that name for the protection of their homes, so that both those entering and exiting their houses are always reminded of their unfamiliarity. The heretics as well, whose hearts are lifted up in pride, and who, despising Ecclesiastical humility, promise themselves lofty things, ascend the highest mountains of their own doctrines, and there they prostitute their couch to demons. And because, according to the Prophet, they turned back, imitating Lot's wife (Gen. XIX), they are transformed into a pillar of salt, having the image of Ecclesiastical condiment, and not having any taste at all: who are thrown out and are useful for nothing, except to be trampled under the feet of all. Therefore, the Lord warns in the Gospel, that whoever holds the plow's handle, should not look back (Luke VIII).

Upon a high and lofty mountain. Here he sets out the lofty places in which they sacrificed: your bed; he says this in likeness to a harlot, who prostitutes herself to lovers: they made them statues (2 Kgs 17:10) and committed fornication in them.

After mentioning the removal of righteous persons as an awful symptom of the approach of Divine judgments, Isa 57:1, Isa 57:2, the prophet goes on to charge the nation in general with idolatry, and with courting the unprofitable alliance of idolatrous kings, Isa 57:3-12. In opposition to such vain confidence, the prophet enjoins trust in God, with whom the penitent and humble are sure to find acceptance, and from whom they should obtain temporal and spiritual deliverances, Isa 57:13-19. Awful condition of the wicked and finally impenitent, Isa 57:20, Isa 57:21. I shall give Bishop Lowth's translation of the two first verses, and give the substance of his criticisms with additional evidence. Isa 57:1. The righteous man perisheth, and no one considereth;And pious men are taken away, and no one understandeth,That the righteous man is taken away because of the evil. Isa 57:2. He shall go in peace: he shall rest in his bed;Even the perfect man: he that walketh in the straight path.

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. (Isa. 57:1-21) 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, &c. (Isa 56:9; Isa 57:13). So Ahijah's death is represented as a blessing conferred on him by God for his piety (Kg1 14:10-13; see also Kg2 22:20).

Upon . . . high mountain . . . bed--image from adultery, open and shameless (Eze 23:7); the "bed" answers to the idolatrous altar, the scene of their spiritual unfaithfulness to their divine husband (Eze 16:16, Eze 16:25; Eze 23:41).

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. אבד, 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 Kg2 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" (shâlōm, acc. loci s. status; Ges. 118, 1); "they rest upon their beds," viz., the bottom of the grave, which has become their mishkâb (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 נכח, that which lies straight before a person; whereas נכח with נכח נכחו, signifying probably fixedness, steadiness of look, related to Arab. nkḥ, to pierce, נכה, percutere, is used as a preposition: compare Pro 4:25, לנכח, 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.

The prophet now proceeds with perfects, like שׁפכתּ and העלית (addressed to the national community generally, the congregation regarded as a woman). The description is mostly retrospective. "Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set up thy bed; thou also ascendedst thither to offer slain offerings. And behind the door and the post thou didst place thy reminder: for thou uncoveredst away from me, and ascendedst; thou madest thy bed broad, and didst stipulate for thyself what they had to do: thou lovedst their lying with thee; thou sawest their manhood." The lovers that she sought for herself are the gods of the heathen. Upon lofty mountains, where they are generally worshipped, did she set up her bed, and did all that was needed to win their favour. The zikkârōn, i.e., the declaration that Jehovah is the only God, which the Israelites were to write upon the posts of their houses, and upon the entrances (Deu 6:9; Deu 11:20), for a constant reminder, she had put behind the door and post, that she might not be reminded, to her shame, of her unfaithfulness. That this explanation, which most of the commentators adopt, is the true one, is proved by the expression מאתּי כּי which follows, and according to which זכרון is something inconvenient, which might and was intended to remind them of Jehovah. מאתּי, away, far from me, as in Jer 3:1, and like מתּחתּי, which is still more frequently used. It is unnecessary to take gillı̄th with ערותך understood (Eze 23:18) as equivalent to "thou makest thyself naked," or with reference to the clothes = ἀνασύρεις. משׁכּב is the common object of all three verbs, even of ותּעלי (with double metheg), after Gen 49:4. On ותּכרת for ותּכרתי (cf., Jer 3:5), see Ewald, 191, b. The explanation "thou didst bind," or "thou didst choose (some) of them to thyself," is contrary to the general usage, according to which ל כּרת signifies spondere (Ch2 7:18), and (עם כּרת pacisci (Sa1 22:8), in both cases with בּרית to be supplied, so that מן (בּרית) כּרת would mean stipulari ab aliquo, i.e., to obtain from a person a solemn promise, with all the force of a covenant. What she stipulated from them was, either the wages of adultery, or the satisfaction of her wanton lust. What follows agrees with this; for it is there distinctly stated, that the lovers to whom she offered herself gratified her lust abundantly: adamasti concutibum eorum (mishkâb, cubile, e.g., Pro 7:17, and concubitus, e.g., Ezra 23:17), manum conspexisit. The Targum and Jewish commentators adopt this explanation, loco quem delegisti, or (postquam) locum delegisti. This also is apparently the meaning of the accents, and most of the more modern commentators have adopted it, taking יד in the sense of place or side. But this yields only a very lame and unmeaning thought. Doederlein conjectured that יד was employed here in the sense of ἰθύφαλλος; and this is the explanation adopted by Hitzig, Ewald, and others. The Arabic furnishes several analogies to this obscene use of the word; and by the side of Eze 16:26 and Eze 23:20, where the same thing is affirmed in even plainer language, there is nothing to astonish in the passage before us. The meaning is, that after the church of Jehovah had turned away from its God to the world and its pleasures, it took more and more delight in the pleasures afforded it by idolatry, and indulged its tastes to the full.