Isaiah 66:15-17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 66:15-24

These verses, like the pillar of cloud and fire, have a dark side towards the enemies of God's kingdom and all that are rebels against his crown, and a bright side towards his faithful loyal subjects. Probably they refer to the Jews in captivity in Babylon, of whom some are said to have been sent thither for their hurt, and with them God here threatens to proceed in his controversy; they hated to be reformed, and therefore should be ruined by the calamity (Jer. 24:9); others were sent thither... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 66:15

For, behold, the Lord will come with fire ,.... Either with material fire, with which mystical Babylon or Rome shall be burnt, Revelation 18:8 , or with indignation and wrath, which shall be poured out like fire, and be as intolerable and consuming as that: and with his chariots like a whirlwind ; making a great noise, and striking great terror; alluding to chariots in which men used formerly to fight: to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire ; a heap of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 66:16

For by fire, and by his sword, will the Lord plead with all flesh ,.... With the Mahometans, the Turks, the Ottoman empire, against whom he will call for a sword, and will rain upon them fire and brimstone, signified by Gog and Magog, Ezekiel 38:22 and with the other antichristian powers at the battle of Armageddon; and when the fourth vial will be poured upon the sun, and men will be scorched with fire; see Revelation 16:8 , and the slain of the Lord shall be many ; that is, those... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 66:17

They that sanctify themselves ,.... This is a description of the enemies of the Lord, and of his people, who shall be slain at this time; not who are sanctified by the Spirit and grace of God, but who sanctify themselves, pretend to make themselves holy, and give out that they are holier than others; professing great outward sanctity, as the Papists do, but destitute of real inward holiness: or, "that prepare themselves", as the Targum; to go and worship such an idol, on such a day, as... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 66:15

The Lord will come with fire "Jehovah shall come as a fire" - For באש baesh , in fire, the Septuagint had in their copy קאש kaesh , as a fire; ὡς πυρ . To render his anger with fury "To breathe forth his anger in a burning heat" - Instead of להשב lehashib , as pointed by the Masoretes, to render, I understand it as להשב lehashshib , to breathe, from נשב nashab . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 66:17

Behind one tree "After the rites of Achad" - The Syrians worshipped a god called Adad, Plin. Nat. Hist. 37:11; Macrob. Sat. 1:23. They held him to be the highest and greatest of the gods, and to be the same with Jupiter and the sun; and the name Adad, says Macrobius, signifies one; as likewise does the word Achad in Isaiah. Many learned men therefore have supposed, and with some probability, that the prophet means the same pretended deity. אחד achad , in the Syrian and Chaldean dialects,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 66:15

Behold, the Lord will come with fire. "Fire" is a usual accompaniment of a "theophany." God descended on Sinai "in fire" ( Exodus 19:18 ), and led the Israelites through the wilderness by the pillar of the cloud and of fire ( Exodus 13:21 , Exodus 13:22 ), and filled the tabernacle with a glory as of fire ( Exodus 40:34 ), and "answered David from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering'' ( 1 Chronicles 21:26 ), and in the same way answered Solomon ( 2 Chronicles 7:1 )... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 66:15-17

The purging of the earth by the destruction of the wicked. The kingdom of Christ cannot be fully set up in all its blessedness until the earth is prepared for its reception; and the main preparation required is the elimination from it of those wicked persons who, while they remain, must always constitute a disturbing element, inimical to the earth's peace and a hindrance to the Church's happiness. The teaching of Scripture is that, before the Church is finally established in the blissful... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 66:15-18

THE VENGEANCE WHICH GOD WILL TAKE ON HIS ENEMIES . A signal outpouring of God's vengeance upon his enemies precedes the settlement of the Church in its final glorious condition, both in Isaiah and in the Revelation of St. John (see ch. 34; 35, and Revelation 19-21.). The wicked have to be removed before the righteous can be established in peace. Here the agencies employed against the wicked are "fire" and "sword"—fire pointing (as Delitzsch remarks) to destructive occurrences... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 66:15-24

The manifestation of Jehovah. I. IT IS A MANIFESTATION IN FIRE . Very common is the representation of this coming by or in the element of fire. Its associations are of judgment , vengeance—devouring fire ( Psalms 50:3 ). So it is associated with the pestilence ( Habakkuk 2:5 ). It consumes God's enemies ( Psalms 97:3 ). Nor can we deny that such representations do in part enter into Christianity ( 2 Thessalonians 1:8 ; Hebrews 10:27 ; 2 Peter 3:7 ; cf. also ... read more

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