Isaiah 29:17-30:17

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 29:17

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 29:13-17

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 29:17

Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field . Lebanon, the wild forest, shall become smiling garden-ground, while garden-ground shall revert into wild uncultivated forest. An inversion of the moral condition of Judaea is shadowed forth by the metaphor. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:17-24

A RENEWAL OF PROMISE . God's judgment ( Isaiah 29:14 ), whatever it is, will pass. In a little while there will be a great change. The lowly will be exalted, the proud abased. From the "meek" and "poor' will be raised a body of true worshippers, who will possess spiritual discernment ( Isaiah 29:18 ), while the oppressors and "scorners" will be brought to naught. When Isaiah expected this change is uncertain; but he holds out the hope of it here, as elsewhere so frequently ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:17-24

Religious revivals. It is sometimes supposed that religious revivals are modern inventions, concessions to the weakness of the degenerate man of the nineteenth century; and no doubt there have been features in many so-called "revivals" which have justified this view of them. But, in point of fact, revivals, if we follow out the history of religion, are found to be movements which have belonged to all ages, and without which it appears more than probable that religion in this world would... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 29:17-24

A time of regeneration. A time of refreshing and of renewal is, notwithstanding all the gloom of preceding pictures, at hand. I. THE CHANGE IN NATURE . "One of Isaiah's most characteristic ideas is a future transformation of nature corresponding to that of man" (Cheyne). The forest will be turned into the garden-land. Lebanon stands for the wild or uncultivated land (cf. Isaiah 10:18 , Isaiah 10:34 ). The passage in Isaiah 32:15 is parallel. When God again begins to bless... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 29:17

Is it not yet a very little while - The idea here is, ‘you have greatly perverted things in Jerusalem. The time is at hand when there shall be “other” overturnings - when the wicked shall be cut off, and when there shall be poured out upon the nation such judgments that the deaf shall hear, and the blind see, and when those who have erred in spirit shall come to understanding’ Isaiah 29:18-24.And Lebanon shall be tutored into a fruitful field - This is evidently a proverbial expression,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 29:17

Isaiah 29:17. Is it not a very little while, &c. The following paragraph, to the end of the chapter, relates to the times of the gospel; the prophet foretelling therein, in figurative language, the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles. Lebanon, a barren mountain, a desolate wilderness, here stands for the Gentile world. This was to be turned into a fruitful field Hebrew, לכרמל , into Carmel, or the vineyard of God, as the word signifies. On the other hand, the... read more

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