16. Rather, "Ah! your perverseness! just as if the potter should be esteemed as the clay!" [MAURER]. Or, "Ye invert (turn upside down) the order of things, putting yourselves instead of God," and vice versa, just as if the potter should be esteemed as the clay [HORSLEY], (Isaiah 45:9; Isaiah 64:8). read more
The remedy for spiritual blindness 29:15-24The remedy for this spiritually blind state is the subject of the next "woe" (Isaiah 29:15-24). It begins with a word of condemnation for deception (Isaiah 29:15-16), proceeds to explain what God will do (Isaiah 29:17-21), and ends with a summary statement (Isaiah 29:22-24). read more
These politicians turned things upside down. They denied the Lord’s distinctiveness, sovereignty, and wisdom-and attributed those characteristics to themselves (cf. Isaiah 29:14; Isaiah 45:9; Isaiah 64:8; Genesis 2:7; Jeremiah 18:1-6; Romans 1:25; Romans 9:19-21). They told the Lord what to do rather than trying to discover what He wanted to do."It is the forgetting of God’s right as Maker that leads to ethical relativism." [Note: Oswalt, p. 537.] read more
This chapter and the three which follow and complete the section, evidently belong to the very eve of Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in701 b.c.1-8. Jerusalem is besieged and at the last extremity, but the enemy shall be suddenly discomfited. 9-24. Judah’s infatuation at this crisis, contrasted with the very different and teachable spirit that shall mark its future.1. RV ’Ho Ariel.’ Ariel is a symbolic name for Jerusalem, meaning either (1) lion of God, i.e. hero (2 Samuel 23:20), the lion... read more
(16) Surely your turning of things upside down.—The words are better taken as exclamatory, O your perversity! Isaiah was indignant at that habit of always taking things at their wrong end, and looking on them from the wrong side.Shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay . . .—Better, Shall the potter be counted as the clay? The Authorised version is scarcely intelligible. Taken as a question, the words bring out the character of the perversity, the upside-downness, of which the prophet speaks. The... read more
CHAPTER XIIARIEL, ARIELABOUT 703 B.C.Isaiah 29:1-24IN 705 Sargon, King of Assyria, was murdered, and Sennacherib, his second son, succeeded him. Before the new ruler mounted the throne, the vast empire, which his father had consolidated, broke into rebellion, and down to the borders of Egypt cities and tribes declared themselves again independent. Sennacherib attacked his problem with Assyrian promptitude. There were two forces, to subdue which at the beginning made the reduction of the rest... read more
CHAPTER 29 The Second Woe Against Ariel and the Third Woe 1. The fall of Ariel (Jerusalem) predicted (Isaiah 29:1-4 ) 2. Their enemies dealt with by Jehovah (Isaiah 29:5-8 ) 3. The people’s condition: Blinded and religious formalists (Isaiah 29:9-14 ) 4. The third woe (Isaiah 29:15-16 ) 5. In that Day: joy and blessing for the meek and iniquity punished (Isaiah 29:17-24 ) Ariel means “the lion of God.” It is one of the names of Jerusalem. A great siege of Jerusalem is predicted.... read more
29:16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed {o} as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing formed say of him that formed it, He had no understanding?(o) For all your craft says the Lord, you are not able to escape my hands any more than the clay that is in the potter’s hands has power to deliver itself. read more
JUDAH AND EGYPT These chapters make a unit since, with the exception of the opening part of chapter 28, they chiefly deal with Judah’s futile alliance with Egypt. Isaiah 28:0 Israel, or the kingdom of the ten tribes, is addressed under the name of her leading tribe “Ephraim” (Isaiah 28:1 ). Her great sin is strong drink. “The head of the fat valley” is Samaria the capital, which is soon to be overthrown by the Assyrians (Isaiah 28:2-4 ). Observe, however, the usual forecast of the end of the... read more
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Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Isaiah 29:15-16
Isaiah 29:15-16. Woe unto them, &c.— Woe unto them who with deep dissimulation seek to hide their counsel, &c. Isaiah 29:16. This perverseness of yours is as if the potter were reputed as clay; that the work should say of its maker, He made me not; or the thing framed, say of him that framed it, He hath no understanding. Vitringa. The plain meaning of the prophet is, that their proceedings who attempted to hide their worldly counsels and subtle devices from Jehovah, were as absurd as if... read more