Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 37:31
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
31. Comp. ch. Isa 27:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the remnant that is escaped – (See the margin.) Those that are left of the Jews. The ten tribes had been carried away; and it is not improbable that the inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah had been reduced by want, and by the siege of Lachish, Libnah, etc. It is not to be supposed that Sennacherib could have invaded the land, and spread desolation for so long a time, without diminishing the number of the people. The promise in the passage is, that those who were left should flourish and increase. The land should be at rest; and under the administration of their wise and pious king their number would be augmented, and their happiness promoted.
Shall again take root downward – Like a tree that had been prevented by any cause from growing or bearing fruit. A tree, to bear well, must be in a soil where it can strike its roots deep. The sense is, that all obstructions to their growth and prosperity would be removed.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 37:31-32
The remnant
The root and fruit of Christianity
I.
THE REMNANT THAT ARE SAID TO HAVE ESCAPED. Truly this is a description of the Lord s Church in every age. Strait is the gate, &c. Even so now also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. This remnan that is left is in great distress. A peculiar characteristic of this very small remnant is that they have escaped. They are apart from the great bulk of professors. They have escaped from the reigning power of sin; from the sentence of the law; from self and self-confidence, and from all apprehension of the Second death.
II. Glance at THEIR BEING THE OFFSPRING OF A DISTINGUISHED TRIBE. Although Joseph had an exuberance of blessings pronounced upon him by his fond father, and he probably realised them all, both in a temporal and spiritual point of view; yet the true dignity rested upon the house of Judah. Mark here the Gospel sense of this declaration, that Judah, the little chosen few, the Lords own living Church, have the sceptre among them–the sceptre of righteousness of their glorious Lord who sprang out of Judah, and is ruling and reigning among them. His presence is enjoyed, His love tokens are felt, the joys of His salvation are experienced amongst those that are a minority, the little flock that He has chosen and redeemed for Himself.
III. THE ORIGIN OF THEIR LIFE. They have a root. What is a root? It is a concealed, hidden life. If you have no more religion than what is seen, it is not worth your possessing. The real Christian has a hidden life. It is an abiding and downward growing principle. Even in wintry seasons and trying times, there should be at least the fruits of humility and self-abasement and meekness and gentleness, the fruits of the mind of Christ. And this is taking root downwards.
IV. THEIR TENDENCY UPWARD WITH FRUITFULNESS. The believer in Jesus has a life which is always tending upwards. If earth content you, your religion is not worth a straw. The fruits which this tribe bear upwards are diverse and profuse. The fruits of the Spirit, are said to be love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, gentleness, faith; against such there is no law. They are outlaws–there is no law for them. The fruits of righteousness are by Jesus Christ. Mark their upward tendency–to the praise and glory of God. (J. Irons.)
The remnant
The sacred writers are frequent in speaking of a remnant as alone inheriting the promises. The word remnant, so constantly used in Scripture, is the token of the identity of the Church, in the mind of her Divine Creator, before and after the coming of Christ. (J. H.Newman, D. D.)
Gods remnant
We may learn–
1. Not to entertain mean thoughts of our Lord, because there are but few sincere Christians.
2. To value the true religion and the professors of it.
3. Gods zeal for His children in working such marvellous deliverances for them, though they are so few in number.
4. Let us own our dependence upon God, and regard Him as our only defence and salvation in time of trouble, seeking to Him, as Hezekiah did here, by devout prayers and supplications, and craving the assistance of His Church and ministry, as this king did of the prophet Isaiah, to obtain of Him an answer of peace and love. (W. Reading, M. A.)
Rooting and fruiting
This is a promise for the encouragement of a downcast people. It is the seers way of looking through the clouds and finding the sunshine. Judah had stood like a splendid tree, with roots deep and branches wide. The hurricane had struck it, and it was plucked up by the roots. The kings of Assyria had swept down on the people of God like a very besom of destruction. Their cry to God brought back the assurance that His hand was still on the kings of Assyria and that He had a large hope to offer Judah, the hope that the remnant should grow again, taking root downward and bearing fruit upward. It does not take a large start to come to large growth. Rooting for the sake of fruiting–it is a familiar scriptural thought. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which bringeth forth his fruit in his season. In the parable, the seed that grew so quickly withered away because it had no root. The fig-tree which bore no fruit was dried up from the very root. And so on, probably twenty times in Scripture, where rooting and fruiting are connected. Of course you observe the simple naturalness of it. That is what we are accustomed to everywhere else. That is what we are to expect in the spiritual life. Trees and plants take root downward and bear fruit upward. So do souls; each in its appropriate soil and each in its appropriate fruit, but by processes that are as natural in one case as in the other. You cannot explain the process in either case without God; you need Him at the start of it, and in the progress of it, and at the end of it. And you find Him working through the laws He has made. The spiritual life is not an exception to the rest of the round of life; it is the same natural life, has its laws as native to it as the natural laws are native to the rest of life. Then you observe how the rooting is unseen, underground, unthought of, and the fruiting is above ground, in evidence, out in the light. Here is a laying bare of the necessity of the inner life and the outer life as well. Neither is indifferent to the other. You do not want roots for their own sake, and you cannot have fruit Without them. If you are going to improve the quality of the fruit, you must often start in a better care of the root. In that fact lies one of the puzzles of history and of human life. It is not difficult to find when the fruit began to appear, but the root is always baffling. So it is difficult to find the influence of the fruit already borne on the fruit that is riper and richer. Take the sphere of education. It is not difficult to find when the first school that might fairly be called a public school appeared; but it is quite impossible to find who first originated the idea of which it is the fruit–the idea of the equality of the mental rights of men. It is quite certain that there was a time when that idea was not fruit-bearing, if it existed. And it is evident, too, that the fruit borne through the years of the schools has reacted on the root idea, enlarging it and making it better. We have better schools now because we have a better root idea out of which to grow them. And so we come to a word about the two parts of our personal lives–this unseen root-life we are living, and the seen fruit-life we are meant to live. There is always peril that one may be neglected in the care of the other. On the one hand there are many who are seeking to develop the inner life, as though for its Own sake, seeking to gain new inner beauty and grace and assurance, without letting that inner life assert itself in outer seen life. On the other, there are some who are caring well for the outer life, doing much for the Master, active in every good work, but caring little for the inner life, the root-life, out of which must grow the seen life if it be a secure life. Both are to be commended for what they do; each is to be warned for what he does not do. The life that is hid with Christ in God is meant to be seen of men for the glory of Christ. There is to be, do you not see, a measure of concealment and a measure of publicity, a certain hiding of life and a certain revealing of life, a degree of secrecy and a degree of openness? The men whom you most admire, I suspect, are men who always seem to have a measure of reserve power, but they are not men who live behind barriers, whom you never approach with any sense of companionship. They have an inner life, a taking root downward, out of your sight, and you do not forget it in your dealing with them; but they have also an outer, assertive life, the fruit of that inner life. Carry it just a little farther in the personal life into the fundamentals of religion. Every man of us carries about with him a certain bundle of convictions, a certain set of creed-articles, which are his personal and inviolable property. They may be like or unlike anybody elses bundle. There are some of us whose possessions in this way are very small, and we tend to think that creeds and doctrines are not important; we go in for action, for conduct. We say that the world does not judge you by what you believe, but by what you do. And there is a measure of truth in it, of course: But are we so ignorant as not to know the power of a mighty conviction? Do we not realise the tremendous energy o| a fruit-yielding root of belief? It is not enough, therefore, that we say we do this or that that is good. That is bearing fruit upward; hut the power to bear fruit and the quality of the fruit, its power to feed and refresh the world, will be limited, be sure of it, by the amount of strength the roots of the life have gathered. They must go deep and far, or the branches will soon be stunted and starved. This same principle of root and fruit applies to the church of Christ. There have been times of a mistaken accent on either of the two phases of life. Sometimes the church has seemed to exist for its own sake, caring for itself, counting its task ended when it had done so, and careless of that true fruit-bearing which is meant to be its glory. Then there have been times when, in the joy of fruit-bearing, the inner strength of the church has been neglected. That is a strong accent on the root of the church, its creed, its inner life. On the other hand, who has not observed the weakness of the mere gathering together of people around no particular standard? That is one extreme. There are not a few churches which touch the other extreme. The preaching is faithful and truthful, the people are well indoctrinated in the faith, they hold the great truths of the gospel without wavering, but they make no successful onslaught on the world. And the same need and the same danger are not only in the pulpit, but also in the pew. I suppose there are few churches whose people are not called to constant care in maintaining the balance between the demands of their own church, which is root-work, and the demands of the kingdom at large, which is fruit-work. It appears markedly in the matter of benevolence. There are always a few to whom it is almost positive pain to see money going away from the church. Some resent all that goes to foreign missions; some all that goes out anywhere. They rejoice far more in a large gift for local expenses than they do in a large gift for charity or missions. On the other hand, there are some who neglect the demands of the home church, chafe under calls for it, are attracted by the outlying thing. I have not described the rank and file of any church in these extremes, but I have stated the two brood lines of peril to which a church is subject. For each is a peril. One is a magnifying of the root and a stunting of the fruit; the other is a magnifying of the fruit and a neglect of the root. But you cannot express the essential fact of rooting and fruit-bearing in terms of money. It yields to no terms except that of life. Leaving the church as an organisation, let your mind turn again to yourself as a living Christian, meant to take root downward and bear fruit upward. The Word makes plain what the rooting soil of the Christian must be That ye being rooted and grounded in love, may grow up into Him in all things. Of the early Christians it was said, See how they love one another. The strength of the church in history has been the intimate fellowship that has bound its people together and made them one body. Its inner power has been in large part in its being rooted in love. But not in that alone. The Word again bids us be rooted and built up in Christ Himself. Therein lies real power, the sending of the life root down deeper and deeper into Him, until the nourishment of life comes from Him. We have seen numberless enterprises start in the name of religion, flourish as did the seed of the parable and presently wither away, their root not running down into feeding soil. And what has thus appeared in a large way appears in many a life in the small way. Men individually also are striving to bear fruit without rooting in Christ, without drawing the very life sap of their beings from Him. God keep His church true to its soil, rooting it in love, rooting it in Him who is the very life of God revealed to us men for our salvation. (C. B.McAfee, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
31. remnantJudah remainedafter the ten tribes were carried away; also those of Judah whoshould survive Sennacherib’s invasion are meant.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah,…. The few that escaped out of the cities of Judah, upon Sennacherib’s invasion of the land, and besieging and taking the fenced cities thereof, who fled to Jerusalem for safety; these were a type of the remnant, according to the election of grace, the few that are chosen of God, the special people redeemed by Christ, the little flock of his, the small number that enter in at the strait gate, and are saved; and who escape, not the fall of Adam, nor the imputation of his sin, nor the corruption of nature, nor the pollutions of the world in a state of nature; but who escape the vengeance of divine justice, the curse of a righteous law, wrath to come, and the damnation of hell; which is owing to the love of God, the covenant of his grace, the suretyship engagements of Christ, and his performance of them; these are the household of faith, God’s confessing and professing people, who are Jews inwardly, of whom there are but a few; of these it is said, they
shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. The Targum is,
“as a tree which sends forth its roots below, and lifts up its branches above.”
The sense is, that those people that fled from their own habitations to Jerusalem should return thither again upon the breaking up of the siege, and be firmly settled, and live peaceably and prosperously, abounding with all good things, which may be applied, mystically, to true believers taking root again in the love of God, which is a hidden root, and is the source of salvation, and all the blessings of it, and is in itself immovable; and though the saints are secured in it, and by it, and nothing can root them out of it, yet they are sometimes shaken with doubts and fears about their interest in it; when there is again a fresh taking root in it, and that is, when they have a strong and lively persuasion of it, which produces fruitfulness in the exercise of faith, hope, and love, and in Gospel obedience; and also to their taking root in Christ, who is as a root unto them, hidden, and out of sight to the world, mean and abject, yet the source of all happiness to the saints, who have a being in him, are born by him, and receive sap and nourishment from him; and though their faith of interest in him may be sometimes shaken, yet there is a fresh taking root by new acts of faith upon him, which produce fruitfulness; the fruits brought forth by such are good works, which spring from the seed of grace, are owing to divine goodness, to the dews of grace, are pleasant and acceptable to God through Christ, and profitable unto men; these are called the fruits of the Spirit, and of righteousness, and are meet for repentance, and are brought forth openly and publicly, which may be signified by being bore upwards.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Seventh turn, “And that which is escaped of the house of Judah, that which remains will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For from Jerusalem will a remnant go forth, and a fugitive from Mount Zion; the zeal of Jehovah of hosts (K. chethib omits tsebha’oth ) will carry this out.” The agricultural prospect of the third year shapes itself there into a figurative representation of the fate of Judah. Isaiah’s watchword, “a remnant shall return,” is now fulfilled; Jerusalem has been spared, and becomes the source of national rejuvenation. You year the echo of Isa 5:24; Isa 9:6, and also of Isa 27:6. The word ts e bha’oth is wanting in Kings, here as well as in Isa 37:17; in fact, this divine name is, as a rule, very rare in the book of Kings, where it only occurs in the first series of accounts of Elijah (1Ki 18:15; 1Ki 19:10, 1Ki 19:14; cf., 2Ki 3:14).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
31. And that which shall be preserved of the house of Judah. He follows out the former statement; for he declares that the Lord will deliver Jerusalem so as not to east away his care of her afterwards, but will be her savior to the end. And indeed all the blessings that the Lord bestows upon us are a sign and testimony of continued kindness towards us, that we may know that we shall never be forsaken by him. But here we ought chiefly to remember what we formerly remarked, that the defense of Jerusalem belonged to God, because he had chosen it to be his sanctuary, and because the Messiah would proceed from it.
And that which shall be left. פליטה (peletah) literally signifies deliverance; but here it is a collective noun for “men delivered,” in the same manner as in other passages, “captivity” is put for “captives.” (Psa 14:7; Jer 29:14.) And it is not without reason that he promises increase to a small remnant; for although the siege had been raised, still the people, being greatly diminished, had slight cause of joy, and full restoration could scarcely be expected by so small a number of persons. For the purpose of soothing this grief, therefore, he declares that the land will be full of inhabitants, as if a very abundant harvest would fill the granaries which had formerly been empty.
Nor was it merely the desolation of the land of Judah that might have discouraged the hearts of believers or pierced them with sorrow, but likewise that greater diminution which arose from the ten tribes being led into captivity. (2Kg 15:29.) Although they have been thus cut down, Isaiah declares that the Lord will cause them to recover their former condition, and a vast multitude to spring up; for the Lord permits his people to be thus diminished and brought very low, that his glory may afterwards be illustriously displayed in their deliverance. What he accomplished at that time ought also to be expected in the present day; so that in proportion as we see the strength of the Church weakened and brought low, we may be more fully convinced that. God has in his power the means of multiplying a small number; for this restoration must not be measured by our powers of judging.
Shall strike root downward. He declares that there will be so great desolation that it shall seem as if the Church had been uprooted, and had utterly perished; and indeed the destruction of the kingdom of Israel was a very sad spectacle of cutting off. But the Prophet says, that there shall be such an increase that the tree which had been nearly torn up shall “strike its roots” deep; for although the Church does not make professions of towering greatness, as is commonly done by the rulers of this world, yet the Lord imparts a secret vigor which causes it to spring up and grow beyond human expectation. Let us not be terrifled, therefore, when no roots are seen, or when we think that they are dead; for he hath promised that he will cause it to “strike root downwards.”
And bear fruit upwards. This is added, because the Church does not only flourish like grass, (which was formerly said of the condition of the wicked, (69)) but brings forth abundant fruit; and thus the Lord completes in her what he hath once begun.
(69) See verse 28.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH A CONTINUATION OF THE JEWISH
Isa. 37:31. And the remnant that is escaped, &c.
When the power and splendour of the family of David were failing, the prophets foretold that the kingdom of the saints should one time be restored. Has this promise yet been fulfilled or not and if fulfilled, in what sense?
There are other prophecies parallel to the text, e.g., Jer. 31:31-33; Eze. 34:23; Isa. 41:14-15; Isa. 62:1-2.
That these and a number of other prophecies are fulfilled in the Christian dispensation is plain from the express assertions of inspired persons (Act. 15:13-17). This explains the language of Moses, in which the perpetual obligation of the law is asserted, Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, &c.; and after punishment, return of prosperity was promised, on condition of returning to the law (Deu. 4:30; Deu. 11:22-25).
Consider one or two difficulties
1. It may be said that the prophecies have not been, and never will be, fulfilled in the letter, because they contain expressions and statements which do not admit, or certainly have not, a literal meaning. But the use of figures in a composition is not enough to make it figurative as a whole; we constantly use figures of speech whenever we speak, although the main course of our conversation is to be taken literally. Now this will apply to the language of the prophets. The words David, Israel, Jerusalem, and the like, are not so much figures as proper names which have a figurative origin, or words which, having first had a confined sense, come, as language proceeds, to have a wide one. All these words convey a literal truth in their substance.
2. It may be asked whether it is possible to consider the Christian Church, which is so different from the Jewish, a continuation of it. It may be argued that Christ founded His Church as a new thing in the earth. Observe
(1.) That the chosen people had in former ages gone through many vicissitudes, many transformations, before the revolution which followed on Christs coming. They had been shepherds, slaves; the place of Gods presence had moved about; they had been governed by a lawgiver, by judges, by kings, by priests. The change when Christ came from a local into a catholic form, was not abrupt, but gradual; what was first a dispersion became a diffusion. And let it be observed, a change in externals was anticipated as regards the city of God in the Old Testament. Thou shalt be called by a new name, says the prophet (chap. Isa. 62:4).
(2.) It may be objected that the change was internal, not external only; it became a Church of Gentiles, instead of a Church of Jews. But changes of this kind had occurred before, e.g., the change which destroyed the substantive existence of the ten tribes; in an earlier age, only two of those who left Egypt with Moses entered the promised land. The line of continuity, surely, was not less definite when the Church became Christian. The sacred writers show themselves aware of this peculiarity in the mode in which Gods purposes are carried on from age to age. They are frequent in speaking of a remnant as alone inheriting the promises (Rom. 11:2-5; Isa. 1:9; Eze. 11:13; Jer. 40:15; Hag. 1:14; Joe. 2:32; Mic. 5:8; Zec. 8:12). There was no substitution of a new Church for an old; it was but a manifestation of the old law of the remnant, by which the many were called and the few chosen. We may consider, then, the word remnant, so constantly used in Scripture, to be the token of identity of the Church, in the mind of her Divine Creator, before and after the coming of Christ. Paul expressly inculcates that the promises made to Israel are really accomplished, without any evasion, in the Divine protection accorded to Christians.
To conclude:
1. Whether we can clear up these points or no, they are not greater than the difficulties which attend on other confessedly fulfilled and very chief and notable prophecies, as that of the dispersion of the Jews. They were threatened with the evils which have befallen them, supposing they did not keep their law; whereas in the event the punishment has come upon them apparently for keeping it; because they would not change the law for the Gospel, therefore have they been scattered through the nations. In this it is implied that in rejecting the Gospel they in some way or other rejected their law, or that the Gospel is the continuation or development of the law. In a similar way are the prophecies concerning the elect remnant fulfilled in the history of the Christian Church. 2. If the prophecies in their substance certainly have had a literal fulfilment, then this will follow, viz., that the very appearance of separation and contrast does but make it more necessary that there should be some great real agreement and inward unity between one and the other, whether we can discover what it is or not on account of which they are called one. All Scripture has its difficulties; but let us not, on account of what is difficult, neglect what is clear. Perchance, if we had learnt from it what we can learn by our own private study, we should be more patient of learning from others those further truths which, though in Scripture, we cannot learn from it ourselves.John Henry Newman: Sermons on Subjects of the Day, pp. 180198.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(31) And the remnant that is escaped.We note the remnant of the familiar formula of Isaiahs earlier days. The name of Shear-jashub had not ceased to be an omen of good (Isa. 7:3). And that remnant should be as the scion from which should spring in due course the goodly tree of the future (Isa. 6:13).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31, 32. The remnant Literally, the escaped: the context seems to imply these were few.
House of Judah In this invasion of Judah large numbers of the inhabitants perished. Though not mentioned, the pestilence had possibly begun its ravages. The remaining survivors are now to be undisturbed, to flourish and prosper, or, in the words of the prophet, to take root downward, and bear fruit upward. This with the prophet is a settled fact, wrapped in the remnant is the Messianic kernel. He repeats it with emphasis to assure Hezekiah.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts His intense interest in behalf of Judah, will accomplish this. See Isa 9:7.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 37:31-32. And the remnant that is escaped The prophet passes from fields to men, and from the cultivation of land to the nation and the church; for, having just said, that, being delivered from the Assyrians, they should cultivate their land as usual, he adds, that it should also come to pass that the nation and the church, delivered from this calamity, should flourish again, increase, and bring forth much fruit; which we know happened under Hezekiah. See 2Ch 32:22. However, this passage and the next verse are by no means to be restrained to this period only. Comp. ch. Isa 10:20-21.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
shall. Hezekiah refers to Jehovah’s repeated promises on which he relies (compare 2Ki 19:30-34). See Psa 121:2-8; Psa 124:1-3, Psa 124:6; Psa 125:2; Psa 126:2, Psa 126:3; Psa 127:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah: Heb. escaping of the house of Judah that remaineth, Isa 1:9, Isa 6:13, Isa 10:20-22, Jer 44:28
take: Isa 27:6, Isa 65:9, 2Ki 19:30, 2Ki 19:31, Psa 80:9, Jer 30:19, Rom 9:27, Rom 11:5, Gal 3:29
Reciprocal: Pro 12:12 – the root Isa 4:2 – them that are escaped Isa 28:5 – residue Isa 41:19 – plant Jer 31:7 – remnant Eze 7:16 – they Mic 5:5 – when the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
37:31 And {a} the remnant that hath escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
(a) They whom God has delivered out of the hands of the Assyrians will prosper: and this properly belongs to the Church.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Additionally, the surviving remnant of the Judahites would increase in numbers and become stronger, like the plants just mentioned. They would enjoy security and prosperity.