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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 43:22-28

This charge (and a high charge it is which is here exhibited against Jacob and Israel, God's professing people) comes in here, 1. To clear God's justice in bringing them into captivity, and to vindicate that. Were they not in covenant with him? Had they not his sanctuary among them? Why then did the Lord deal thus with his land? Deut. 29:24. Here is a good reason given: they had neglected God and had cast him off, and therefore he justly rejected them and gave them to the curse (Isa. 43:28);... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 43:23

Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings ,.... The kids and the lambs, which, according to the law, should have been brought for burnt offerings daily, morning and evening; and much less did they bring the larger cattle of burnt offerings, as oxen and bullocks. The Targum and Vulgate Latin render it, "the rams of thy burnt offerings"; the Septuagint version, "the sheep"; and the Syriac and Arabic versions, "the lambs"; and these were not brought to him, but to their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 43:24

Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money ,.... Or "calamus" F18 קנה "calamum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "calamum odoratum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Vitringa. , which was used in the anointing oil, and for the perfume or incense, Exodus 30:7 , this they thought too expensive, and so left it out of the composition, or neglected the whole this being put a part for the whole. Jarchi gives it as the sense, that they had no need to buy it, since it grew in great... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 43:22-25

Righteousness, guilt, mercy. We notice here— I. THE REASONABLENESS OF GOD 'S SERVICE . "I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense." God's service is not a servitude, a slavery; nor is it a burdensome task, hard and heavy to be borne. Under the Mosaic Law, special provision was made for the poor, so that the sacrifices asked of them should be within their reach (Le Isaiah 5:7 ; Isaiah 12:1-6 :8; Isaiah 14:21 ). Women and children were... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 43:22-28

A REPROACH ADDRESSED TO CAPTIVE ISRAEL FOR ITS PAST OMISSIONS AND SINS . The thought of Israel in the future, redeemed, restored, and "telling out God's praise" ( Isaiah 43:21 ), raises naturally the con-trusted thought of Israel in the present and the past, disobedient, full of shortcomings ( Isaiah 43:22-24 ), too often guilty of overt acts of sin ( Isaiah 43:24-28 ). While reproaching his people, and reminding them that the exile is the wellmented punishment of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 43:22-28

The folly of self-justification before God. Self-justification, addressed by man to God, is doubly foolish— I. AS HAVING NO BASIS IN TRUTH , AND THEREFORE EASILY CONFUTED . There is no fact more certain, whether we accept the statements of Scripture as authoritative, or pin our faith on our own observation and experience, than that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" ( Romans 3:23 ). Each man is conscious to himself of sin, and no one claims... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 43:22-28

Memories of exile. I. THE FAITHLESSNESS OF THE PEOPLE . They have forgotten the covenant of their God. They have neglected one of its first duties—prayer, which marks dependence; or they had prayed to other gods; or their prayers had been merely ritual and formal. And this was the less excusable as the burden of sacrifices had not laid upon them during the exile. II. THE MINDFUL MERCY OF JEHOVAH . He promises to blot out their sins; and this simply for his own sake. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 43:23

Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings . If this reproach is regarded as addressed to captive Israel, who could not offer sacrifices, we must explain it by the analogy of the expression, "the calves of your lips" ( Hosea 14:2 ). All prayer may be regarded as a sort of offering, and withholding it as withholding sacrifice. But it is possible that the prophet is not addressing captive Israel only, but carrying his thoughts back to the period preceding the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 43:24

Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money . "Sweet cane" is mentioned in the Law only in connection with the "holy anointing oil" ( Exodus 30:23 ). But the present passage raises a suspicion that it was practically used in the burnt offerings of private persons (see the next clause). That it was anciently used in Babylonia in sacrifice, appears from the Deluge Tablets. But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins . "The sins of Israel," as Delitzsch observes, "pressed upon Jehovah, as... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 43:23

Thou hast not brought me - As a people you have witcheld from me the sacrifices which were commanded. They had not maintained and observed his worship as he had required.The small cattle - Margin, ‘Lambs,’ or ‘kids.’ The Hebrew word (שׂה s'eh) denotes properly one of a flock - a sheep or a goat. It should have been so rendered here. These animals were used for burnt-offerings, and the Jews were required to offer them daily to God.Of thy burnt-offerings - (Compare Exodus 29:38; Numbers 28:3).... read more

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