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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 56:12

I will fetch wine "Let us provide wine" - For אקחה ekchah , first person singular, an ancient MS. has נקחה nikchah , first person plural; and another ancient MS. has אק ak upon a rasure. So the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate render it. The spirit of this Epicurean sentiment is this: Let us indulge ourselves in the present time to the utmost, and instead of any gloomy forebodings of the future, let us expect nothing but increasing hilarity for every day we shall live. Thus they, ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 56:1-8

AN EXHORTATION TO OBSERVE THE LAW , ESPECIALLY THE LAW OF THE SABBATH , COMBINED WITH PROMISES . There was much of the Law which it was impossible to observe during the Captivity. Sacrifice had ceased, the temple was destroyed, almost all the ceremonial law must have been suspended; even the command to do no work on the sabbath day cannot have been kept by a nation of slaves, whose masters would certainly not have permitted them to be idle one day in seven.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 56:1-8

The true observance of the sabbath. Foreign converts are commended for their observance of the sabbath, and promised an appropriate reward. The day was more strictly observed during the Babylonian and Persian periods ( Jeremiah 17:19-27 ; Ezekiel 20:11-21 ; Ezekiel 22:8 , Ezekiel 22:26 ; Nehemiah 13:15-22 ; cf. 2 Kings 11:11-16 with 1 Macc . 2:32-38). Its estimation rose with the estimation of prayer (Cheyne). I. THE DUTY OF OBEDIENCE . The Law is "the objective... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 56:3-8

The open gate. The temple or house of God ( Isaiah 56:7 ) stands for his kingdom of righteousness; and in exalted vision the prophet foresees the time when it shall stand open to every man—to the stranger or heathen, and even to those physically debarred. It is to be called "a house of prayer for all people. " It is worthy of note that it should be called a house of prayer; the truth is intimated that, in the kingdom of God, sacrifice performed by the few on behalf of the many will... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 56:8

The Lord God ; rather, the Lord Jehovah—Adonai Jehovah. An unusual phrase. Which gathereth together the outcasts of Israel ; i.e. the Lord who has pledged himself to bring back Israel from captivity, and to gather together Israel's outcasts from all regions ( Isaiah 11:11 ; Isaiah 27:12 , Isaiah 27:13 ; Isaiah 43:5 , Isaiah 43:6 , etc.). This same Lord now promises something further: "He will gather others also to Israel, besides his own gathered ones." Introduced with such... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 56:9

Beasts of the field … beasts in the forest; i.e. "all wild beasts of whatever kind"—all the enemies of God's flock (see Jeremiah 12:9 ; Ezekiel 34:8 ). Come to devour. Make haste, now is your opportunity. The people have none to protect them, and will be an easy prey. Come, set to work; devour. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 56:9-12

SECTION V.—A WARNING TO THE WICKED ( ISAIH , Isaiah 56:9 -57.). THE BLIND GUIDES OF ISRAEL REBUKED . A sudden change of style marks the introduction of an entirely new prophecy. The eye of the prophet, apparently, goes back from the period of the exile, which he has been so long contemplating, to his own day, or at any rate to the pre-exile period, and rests upon Israel in their own land. He sees them misled by their teachers ( Isaiah 56:10-12 ), given to idolatry... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 56:9-12

When their spiritual guides go astray, the flock of Christ suffers Spiritual guides are bound to watch for the flock, as "they that must give account" ( Hebrews 13:17 ). It is ill for the flock when they are even negligent in their duties—still worse when they engage actively in evil courses. Israel's guides at this time were open to both charges, and are blamed on both accounts. Isaiah taxes them with being— I. BLIND GUIDES , destitute of spiritual wisdom and spiritual... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 56:9-12

Unfaithful ministry. Three truths appear as we consider these strong words. I. THAT GOD HAS PLACED THE WELFARE OF THE MANY IN THE CHARGE OF THE FEW . Practically, the moral and material condition of the country in the course of the next twenty years depends greatly on the character of those of its citizens who are parents. The fathers and mothers in the land are determining its future to a large extent by their parental wisdom or folly. But we may narrow the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 56:10

His watchmen are blind . Israel's "watchmen" are his guides and teachers, the prophets ( Isaiah 6:1-13 :17; Ezekiel 3:17 ; Habakkuk 2:1 , etc.). At the time of which Isaiah speaks, they are "blind" ( Isaiah 29:18 ; Isaiah 35:5 ; Isaiah 42:7 , Isaiah 42:16 , Isaiah 42:18 , Isaiah 42:19 ; Isaiah 43:8 , etc.), or without knowledge—like the "blind guides" of the Gospel ( Matthew 15:14 ; Luke 6:39 , etc.). They have not the spiritual discernment which would enable them to... read more

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