Isaiah 29:15-16 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 29:9-16

Here, I. The prophet stands amazed at the stupidity of the greatest part of the Jewish nation. They had Levites, who taught the good knowledge of the Lord and had encouragement from Hezekiah in doing so, 2 Chron. 30:22. They had prophets, who brought them messages immediately from God, and signified to them what were the causes and what would be the effects of God's displeasure against them. Now, one would think, surely this great nation, that has all the advantages of divine revelation, is a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:15

Woe unto them ,.... Or, "O ye", that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord ; which they consulted against Christ, to take away his life, to persecute his apostles, and hinder the spread of his Gospel; which though they consulted in private, and formed deep schemes, imagining they were not observed by the Lord, yet he that sits in the heaven saw them, and laughed at their vain imaginations, Psalm 2:1 , and their works are in the dark ; in the dark night, as if the darkness... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:16

Surely your turning of things upside down ,.... Revolving things in their minds, throwing them into different shapes, forming various schemes, and inverting the order of things by their deep counsels, and seeking to hide things from the Lord: or, "O the perverseness of you" F26 So some in Gataker; הפככם "subversio vestra", Pagninus, Montanus. ; in imagining and saying that no eye saw, nor anyone knew, what they did, not the Lord himself. So the Vulgate Latin version, "this is your... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:13-16

A RENEWAL OF WARNING . The inability of the Jews to comprehend Isaiah's threatening prophecies probably arose in part from their accomplishment seeming to be inconceivable, since they ran counter to the covenant promises made by God to Israel. Isaiah is therefore instructed to inform them that it was a most marvelous and almost inconceivable thing that God was now purposing to do, yet a thing justified by their hypocrisy (verse 13) and their rebellion (verses 15, 16). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:13-16

Lip-service and dissimulation. I. THE SEMBLANCE WITHOUT THE REALITY OF RELIGION . To "draw men" is a Scripture phrase full of expressiveness for true worship. To draw near to God is to assume our holiest mood of feeling; it is to humble one's self in the presence of the Highest and Holiest. The distance between ourselves and the Supreme is not to be overcome by an effort of thought; it is in the sphere of intelligence that that distance is most deeply felt, which mere thought... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:13-17

The Church which God condemns. Here is— I. A CHURCH CONDEMNED OF GOD . It has four characteristics of which the Lord complains. 1. Unspiritual worship . "This people draw near me with their mouth," etc. ( Isaiah 29:13 ). The service of the lip without the homage of the heart is an unacceptable sacrifice to God (see Psalms 50:1-23 .; Psalms 78:36 , Psalms 78:37 ; Isaiah 50:1-11 .; Ezekiel 33:31 ; Matthew 15:8 , Matthew 15:9 ; John 4:24 ). To take sacred... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:15

Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord . The allusion is to the schemes which were afloat for calling in the aid of Egypt. As Isaiah had long since denounced these schemes as the height of folly ( Isaiah 19:11-17 ), and prophesied their failure ( Isaiah 20:5 , Isaiah 20:6 ), every effort was made to conceal them from his knowledge end from the knowledge of all who were like-minded (comp. Isaiah 30:1 , Isaiah 30:2 ). Steps were probably even now being taken... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:15

God the Mind-Searcher. Foolish indeed are they who "seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord." The first reference of this warning may be to the secret schemes of the party in Jerusalem which advocated an offensive and defensive alliance with Egypt in the national emergency. Such a policy was so evidently untheocratic that, in the days of the good Hezekiah, they were obliged to work in the dark. It may be noticed that the Divine omniscience of all events and circumstances is a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:16

Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay ; rather, O for your perverseness! Shall the potter be reckoned as clay? They were so perverse and wrong-headed that they inverted the relation in which they stood to God and God to them. God was to be passive, or merely give opportunities of action, and they were to mould their own plans and carve out their own destinies. For shall the work say, etc.? rather, for the work saith . Taking their... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 29:15

Woe unto them that seek deep ... - That is, who attempt to conceal their “real” intentions under a plausible exterior, and correct outward deportment. This is most strikingly descriptive of the character of a hypocrite who seeks to conceal his plans and his purposes from the eyes of people and of God. His external conduct is fair; his observance of the duties of religion exemplary; his attendance on the means of grace and the worship of God regular; his professions loud and constant, but the... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 29:9-16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:15

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:13-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:13-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:13-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 29:15

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