Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 9:20
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
20. And one snatched on the right hand and was hungry (still) and devoured on the left hand and they were not satisfied, &c.
every man the flesh of his own arm ] The image would be that of men maddened with hunger and gnawing their own flesh. The words are reproduced exactly, with the omission of a single letter, in Jer 19:9, which gives the sense “every man the flesh of his neighbour.” It might be better to assimilate the text here to that reading, since it is the “cruelty of rival factions” that seems to be described.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he shall snatch – Hebrew, He shall cut off. Many have supposed that this refers to a state of famine; but others regard it as descriptive of a state of faction extending throughout the whole community, dissolving the most tender ties, arid producing a dissolution of all the bonds of life. The context Isa 9:19, Isa 9:21 shows, that the latter is meant; though it is not improbable that it would be attended with famine. When it is said that he would cut off his right hand, it denotes a condition of internal anarchy and strife.
And be hungry – And not be satisfied. Such would be his rage, and his desire of blood, that he would be insatiable. The retarder of those on one side of him would not appease his insatiable wrath. His desire of carnage would be so great that it would be like unappeased hunger.
And he shall eat – The idea here is that of contending factions excited by fury, rage, envy, hatred, contending in mingled strife, and spreading death with insatiable desire everywhere around them.
They shall eat – Not literally; but shall destroy. To eat the flesh of anyone, denotes to seek ones life, and is descriptive of blood-thirsty enemies; Psa 27:2 : When the wicked, even mine enemies and foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell; Job 19:22 :
Why do ye persecute me as God,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Compare Deu 7:16; Jer 10:25; Jer 30:15; Jer 50:17; Hos 7:7; see Ovids Metam. 8, 867:
Ipse suos artus lacero divellere morsu
Coepit; et infelix minuendo corpus alebat.
The flesh of his own arm – The Chaldee renders this, Each one shall devour the substance of his neighbor. Lowth proposes to read it, The flesh of his neighbor. but without sufficient authority. The expression denotes a state of dreadful faction – where the ties of most intimate relationship would be disregarded, represented, here by the appalling figure of a mans appetite being so rabid that he would seize upon and devour his own flesh. So, in this state of faction and discord, the rage would be so great that people would destroy those who were, as it were, their own flesh, that is, their nearest kindred and friends.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. The flesh of his own arm – “The flesh of his neighbour”] ” , the Septuagint Alexand. Duplex versio, quarum altera legit reo, quae vox extat, Jer 6:21. Nam rea, , Ge 43:33. Recte ni fallor.” – SECKER. I add to this excellent remark, that the Chaldee manifestly reads reo, his neighbour, not zeroo, his arm; for he renders it by karibeyh, his neighbour. And Jeremiah has the very same expression: veish besar reehu yochelu, “and every one shall eat the flesh of his neighbour,” Jer 19:9. This observation, I think, gives the true reading and sense of this place: and the context strongly confirms it by explaining the general idea by particular instances, in the following verse: “Every man shall devour the flesh of his neighbour;” that is, they shall harass and destroy one another. “Manasseh shall destroy Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh;” which two tribes were most closely connected both in blood and situation as brothers and neighbours; “and both of them in the midst of their own dissensions shall agree in preying upon Judah.” The common reading, “shall devour the flesh of his own arm,” in connexion with what follows, seems to make either an inconsistency, or an anticlimax; whereas by this correction the following verse becomes an elegant illustration of the foregoing. – L.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shall snatch; every one shall greedily and violently seize upon any provisions that come in his way; which implies, either great scarcity, or insatiable covetousness, as is manifest from the next clause.
Shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm; either,
1. Properly; so it notes extreme famine; in which case men are apt to eat their own flesh. Compare Jer 19:9. Or,
2. Metaphorically, which seems best to suit with the following verse, the flesh of his brethren by nation and religion, which are as it were our own flesh, and are so called, Isa 58:7; Zec 11:9; and, consequently, the flesh of their arm is in a manner the flesh of our own arm. And one tribe was to another as an arm, i.e. a support or strength, which is called an arm, 2Ch 32:8; Jer 17:5, and elsewhere.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. hungrynot literally.Image from unappeasable hunger, to picture internal factions,reckless of the most tender ties (Isa9:19), and insatiably spreading misery and death on every side(Jer 19:9).
eatnot literally, butdestroy (Psa 27:2;Job 19:22).
flesh of . . . armthosenearest akin: their former support (helper) (Isa32:2) [MAURER].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry,…. Either with his hand, and rob and plunder all within his reach; or, with his teeth, as cannibals, or beasts of prey, catch at, tear, and rend in pieces, whatever comes in their way; and yet hungry after more, and unsatisfied, as follows:
and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; ravage and spoil on every side, and yet not content. The Targum is,
“he shall spoil on the south, and be hungry; and he shall destroy on the north, and not be satisfied:”
they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm; destroy their near relations, who are their own flesh and blood, or take away their substance from them; so the Targum,
“they shall spoil every man the substance of his neighbour:”
which will give some light to Re 17:16.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
20. Every one shall snatch on the right hand. It is equivalent to a phrase in common use, prendre et ravir a toutes mains , to take and seize at all hands. This mode of expression denotes either insatiable covetousness or insatiable cruelty; for the eagerness to snatch excites to savage cruelty. That they will be insatiable he expresses more emphatically, by saying that, in consequence of being impelled by blind fierceness and inconceivable rage, they will suck their brother’s blood as freely as they would devour the flesh which was their own property. The bitterness of the vengeance is greatly heightened by this circumstance, that the children of Abraham, and the holy posterity of the chosen race, break out into such beastly fury. Let us therefore remember that it is a dreadful proof of heavenly punishment, when brothers are hurried on, with irreconcilable eagerness, to inflict mutual wounds.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
20. Snatch on the right hand This figure is a famine view, as the result of inordinate self-will and cruelty in times of anarchy.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 9:20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
Ver. 20. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry. ] Inexplebilem illorum avaritiam et rapacitatem notat. They shall rape and scrape by right or wrong, and yet as sick of a bulimy, or under the curse of dissatisfaction, they shall never have enough. Ecc 5:10 See Trapp on “ Ecc 5:10 “
They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm.
a Imbelles damae quid nisi praeda sumus?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
eat. not be satisfied. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 26:26).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
And he: Isa 49:26, Lev 26:26-29, Jer 19:9, Lam 4:10
snatch: Heb. cut
Reciprocal: Gen 41:21 – still 2Ki 6:28 – Give thy son Job 13:14 – I take Ecc 4:5 – eateth Isa 8:21 – hardly bestead Isa 36:12 – that they may Jer 13:14 – I will dash Eze 5:10 – the fathers Zec 8:13 – O house Zec 12:6 – on the right Mar 3:24 – General Luk 6:25 – hunger Luk 11:17 – Every Gal 5:15 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 9:20-21. He shall snatch on the right hand They shall plunder and devour one another, without ever being satisfied, or ceasing. They shall eat every man the flesh, &c. They shall destroy one another by their intestine wars: see Isa 49:26. But it was literally fulfilled when they were reduced to that extremity that they ate the flesh of their own children, 2Ki 6:28; Jer 19:8-9; a judgment denounced for their sins by Moses, Deu 28:53, where see the note. They together shall fall on Judah When those tribes have preyed upon and nearly destroyed one another, they shall turn their rage on Judah. The prophet in the above verses describes the infatuation of the Israelites and Jews, who, instead of uniting in a confederacy against their common enemies, the Syrians and Assyrians, with whom they were not singly able to contend, fell out among themselves, and so far destroyed each other, that they became, one after the other, an easy prey to those heathen nations, whom, humanly speaking, they would have been able to have repelled, had they united in a league, and aided each other. But God suffered them to be infatuated, as a punishment of their sins.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
9:20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the {r} flesh of his own arm:
(r) Their greediness will be insatiable, so that one brother will eat up another, as though he should eat his own flesh.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
They even consume themselves to satisfy themselves. The tribes of Israel were consuming each other for the same purpose, even brother tribes like Ephraim and Manasseh that had come from one father, Joseph (cf. Jdg 12:1-6). The Hebrews described the members of their own tribe or family as their "arm" because they supported and sustained them. Whereas Judah had defended his brothers in the days of the patriarchs (Gen 44:18-34), now the descendants of Joseph were trying to destroy the descendants of Judah. For this reason God’s hand of judgment was still extended against Ephraim.