Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 32:20

Sowing freely. This is part of the description of restored prosperity when the national troubles are removed. "While the enemy shall be brought low, the Jews shall cultivate their land in undisturbed prosperity." The Assyrians must have almost entirely stopped all agricultural processes, and this involved terrible losses and sufferings. In explanation of the figure of the text it is suggested that, where the seed is sown in the soil covered by water, it was customary to send oxen into the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 32:13

Upon the land of my people - A description similar to this, in regard to the consequences of the invasion of Sennacherib, is given in Isaiah 7:20-25 (see the notes at that passage).Yea, upon all the houses of joy - Margin, ‘Burning upon.’ The marginal readling has originated from the supposition that the word כי kı̂y is derived from כיה kâvâh, “to be burned.” This conjecture has been adopted by Junius and Tremellius, and by some others. But it is evidently mere conjecture, and is not... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 32:14

Because the palaces shall be forsaken - That is, the palaces in the cities and towns which Sennacherib would lay waste. Or, if it refers, as Lowth supposes, to the invasion of the land in the time of the Chaldeans, then it relates to the palaces in Jerusalem. Vitringa supposes that the temple at Jerusalem is particularly designated by the word rendered palaces. But that is not the usual word to denote the temlple, and it is not necessary to suppose that that is particularly referred to. The... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 32:15

Until the Spirit - The Spirit of God, as the source of all blessings, and especially as able to meet and remove the ills of the long calamity and desolation. This evidently refers to some future period, when the evils which the prophet was contemplating would be succeeded by the spread of the true religion. If the prophet meant to confine his description of calamities to those which would attend the invasion of Sennacherib, then this refers to the piety and prosperity which would prevail after... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 32:16

Then judgment shall dwell - Or, justice shall make its appropriate dwelling-place there.In the wilderness - In the place that was a wilderness, but that shall now be turned to a fruitful field.In the fruitful field - In the nation that is like a fruitful field; in Judea restored. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 32:17

And the work of righteousness - That which righteousness produces; or the effect of the prevalence of righteousness on the nation.Shall be peace - There shall be no internal agitation, and no conflicts with foreign nations.Quietness and assurance - This is a beautiful description of the happy effect of the prevalence of piety; and it is as true now as it was in the time of Isaiah. True religion would put an end to strifes and litigations; to riots and mobs; to oppressions and tumults; to alarms... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 32:18

And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation - In cities and towns that would not be alarmed bv internal or external foes.And in sure dwellings - In dwellings that would be secure from invasion. - All this is descriptive of the peaceful times, and the general security which followed the return from Babylon. To this period of happiness and prosperity, Isaiah, as well as the other prophets, often refers. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 32:19

When it shall hail - Hebrew, ברדת ברד bârad beredeth - ‘And it shall hail in coming down. There is a paranomasia in the original here, which cannot be expressed in a translation - a figure of speech, which, as we have seen, is common in Isaiah. ‘Hail’ is an image of divine vengeance or punishment; and the reference here is, doubtless, to the storms of indignation that would come on the enemies of the Jews, particularly on the Assyrians (see the notes at Isaiah 30:30).Coming down on the forest... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 32:20

Blessed are ye - The sense of this verse is, that while the enemies of the Jews would be overthrown, they themselves would be permitted to cultivate their lands in security. Instead of predicting this directly, the prophet implies that this would occur, by declaring that those who were permitted to do this were happy.That sow beside all waters - Hebrew, ‘Upon (על ‛al) all waters.’ This may mean that they selected places near running streams as being most fertile; or it may refer, as Lowth... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 32:13-14

Isaiah 32:13-14. Upon the land, &c., shall come up thorns and briers If any of you think there is no great cause for such trembling and lamentation, on account of a calamity which shall last but for a year and some days, know that this affliction by the Assyrians is but an earnest of further and sorer judgments. For the time is coming when this land shall be laid desolate; and, instead of vines and other fruits, it shall yield nothing but briers and thorns. Yea, upon all the houses of... read more

Group of Brands