Isaiah 59:1-5 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 59:1-8

The prophet here rectifies the mistake of those who had been quarrelling with God because they had not the deliverances wrought for them which they had been often fasting and praying for, Isa. 58:3. Now here he shows, I. That it was not owing to God. They had no reason to lay the fault upon him that they were not saved out of the hands of their enemies; for, 1. He was still as able to help as ever: His hand is not shortened, his power is not at all lessened, straitened, or abridged. Whether we... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:1

Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save ,.... It is not for want of power in the Lord, that he has not as yet destroyed the enemies of his people, antichrist, and the antichristian states, and saved them out of their hands, and made them to triumph over them; or brought on the glorious state of the church, and fulfilled the promises of good things, suggested in the latter part of the preceding chapter. His hand is as long as ever, and as able to reach his and their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:2

Like a partition wall dividing between them, so that they enjoy no communion with him in his worship and ordinances; which is greatly the case of the reformed churches: they profess the true God, and the worship of him, and do attend the outward ordinances of it; but this is done in such a cold formal way, and such sins and wickedness are perpetrated and connived at, that the Lord does not grant his gracious presence to them, but stands at a distance from them: and your sins have hid his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:3

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity ,.... From a general charge, the prophet proceeds to a particular enumeration of sins they were guilty of; and idolatry not being mentioned, as Jerom observes, shows that the prophecy belongs to other times than Isaiah's, when that sin greatly prevailed. He begins the account with the sin of shedding blood; the blood of innocents, as the Targum; designing either the sin of murder, now frequently committed in Christian... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:4

None calleth for justice ,.... Or, "righteousness"; not for civil justice in courts of judicature, as if there were no advocates for it there; or that put those in mind of it, to whom the administration of it belongs; or that see to put the laws against sin in execution, and to relieve those that are oppressed; though of this there may be just cause of complaint in some places: but there are none or few that call for evangelical righteousness, either that preach it, proclaim and publish it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:5

They hatch cockatrice eggs, and weave the spider's web ,.... Invent false doctrines according to their own fancies, which may seem fair and plausible, but are poisonous and pernicious; as the "eggs of the cockatrice", which may look like, and may be taken for, the eggs of creatures fit to eat; and spin out of their brains a fine scheme of things, but which are as thin, and as useless, and unprofitable, as "the spider's web"; and serve only to ensnare and entangle the minds of men, and will... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 59:2

His face - For פנים panim , faces, I read panaiv , his face. So the Syriac, Septuagint, Alexandrian, Arabic, and Vulgate. פני panai , MS. Forte legendum פני panai , nam מ mem , sequitur, et loquitur Deus ; confer cap. Isaiah 58:14 . "We should perhaps read פני panai ; for מ mem follows, and God is the speaker." - Secker. I rather think that the speech of God was closed with the last chapter, and that this chapter is delivered in the person of the prophet.... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 59:3

Your tongue "And your tongue" - An ancient MS., and the Septuagint and Vulgate, add the conjunction. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 59:4

They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity - There is a curious propriety in this mode of expression; a thought or purpose is compared to conception; a word or act, which is the consequence of it, to the birth of a child. From the third to the fifteenth verse inclusive may be considered a true statement of the then moral state of the Jewish people; and that they were, in the most proper sense of the word, guilty of the iniquities with which they are charged. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 59:1

The Lord's hand is not shortened; i.e. God is not less able to help than of old; his "hand" has lost none of its power. That he does not help is owing to the iniquities of his people, which have separated between him and them ( Isaiah 59:2 ). It is the same fact which has made his ear heavy. He cannot hear prayers that are not sincere—not from the heart. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 59:1-8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 59:5

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 59:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 59:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 59:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 59:1

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