Isaiah 50:3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 50:1-3

Those who have professed to be the people of God, and yet seem to be dealt severely with, are apt to complain of God, and to lay the fault upon him, as if he had been hard with them. But, in answer to their murmurings, we have here, I. A challenge given them to prove, or produce any evidence, that the quarrel began on God's side, Isa. 50:1. They could not say that he had done them any wrong or had acted arbitrarily. 1. He had been a husband to them; and husbands were then allowed a power to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 50:3

I clothe the heavens with blackness ,.... With gross and thick darkness; perhaps referring to the three days' darkness the Egyptians were in, Exodus 10:12 , or with thick and black clouds, as in tempestuous weather frequently; or by eclipses of the sun; there was an extraordinary instance of great darkness at the time of Christ's crucifixion, Matthew 27:45 . and I make sackcloth their covering ; that being black, and used in times of mourning; the allusion may be to the tents of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 50:1-3

Explanation of exile. The Lord would impress on his exiled people that their calamities found their explanation not in him but in themselves; and we shall find, when we look, that this is the account of our estrangement and distance from God. I. WHAT ACCOUNTED FOR ISRAEL 'S EXILE ? 1 . It was not any fickleness in God. He had not acted toward Israel as a husband often acted toward the wife of whom he was weary; there had been no changeableness on his part. 2 . It was ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 50:1-11

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 50:2-3

God's power over nature. Modern pseudo-science, or "un-science," as it has been called, seems to hold that nature, having been once for all arranged and ordered by God, was thenceforth left to itself, being an automatic machine, bound to work in a certain way, needing no superintendence, and brooking no interference thenceforward. Hence miracles are regarded as impossible, or at any rate as non occurrent; and we are invited to ascribe to the combined influence of priestcraft and credulity... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 50:3

I clothe the heavens with blackness . The Egyptian plague of darkness ( Exodus 10:21-23 ) is not adequate to the expressions here used. God means to assert his power of leaving all nature in absolute darkness, if he so choose—a power necessarily belonging to him who said, "Let there be light; and there was light" ( Genesis 1:3 ). I make sackcloth their covering (see Revelation 6:12 , "The sun became black as sackcloth of hair"). read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 50:3

I clothe the heavens with blackness - With the dark clouds of a tempest - perhaps with an allusion to the remarkable clouds and tempests that encircled the brow of Sinai when he gave the law. Or possibly alluding to the thick darkness which he brought over the land of Egypt (Exodus 10:21; Grotius). In the previous verse, he had stated what he did on the earth, and referred to the exhibitions of his great power there. He here refers to the exhibition of his power in the sky; and the argument is,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 50:2-3

Isaiah 50:2-3. Wherefore, &c. The general accusation, delivered in the last words, he now proves by particular instances: When I came was there no man. How comes it to pass, that, when I sent to you by my servants the prophets, there was no man that regarded my message and offer of grace, and complied with my will? Whereby he implies that the generality of the Jews were guilty of gross infidelity and obstinate disobedience, and therefore might justly be rejected. When I called them... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Isaiah 50:1-3

Israel rebuilt (49:8-50:3)Once more God promises the return of the captive Jews to their homeland. God will protect them along the journey and help them as they rebuild their ruined country (8-10). Whether exiled in Babylon or scattered in other places, the people will return home amid much rejoicing (11-13).Some of the Jews thought God had forgotten them. God now shows that for him this is impossible (14-16). Israel will return and rebuild its homeland. Opponents who try to ruin Israel’s work... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Isaiah 50:1-3

Isaiah 50:1-3. Thus saith the Lord— In the preceding period of the last chapter, a doubt respecting the great enemy of the church was removed: but another doubt exercised the afflicted church about the same time in which we have placed the scene of this prophesy: for as at that time the Jewish nation was engaged in a war with the Romans, which seemed to threaten the entire destruction of their state, the true church, among the Jews, plainly perceived from hence, that God had entirely cast off... read more

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