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Matthew Henry

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

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 29:17-24

Those that thought to hide their counsels from the Lord were said to turn things upside down (Isa. 29:16), and they intended to do it unknown to God; but God here tells them that he will turn things upside down his way; and let us see whose word shall stand, his or theirs. They disbelieve Providence: ?Wait awhile,? says God, ?and you shall be convinced by ocular demonstration that there is a God who governs the world, and that he governs it and orders all the changes that are in it for the... 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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 29:17

Is it not yet a very little while ,.... In a short space of time, in a few years, what follows would come to pass; when there would be a strange change and alteration made in the world, and by which it would appear, that the Lord not only knows, but foreknows, all things: and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field ; the forest of Lebanon should be as Carmel. The meaning is, that the Gentile world, which was like a forest uncultivated, and full of unfruitful trees, to which... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 29:17

And Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field "Ere Lebanon become like Carmel" - A mashal , or proverbial saying, expressing any great revolution of things; and, when respecting two subjects, an entire reciprocal change: explained here by some interpreters, I think with great probability, as having its principal view beyond the revolutions then near at hand, to the rejection of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles. The first were the vineyard of God, אל כרם kerem El , (if the... 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

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