When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take [them]: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
13. When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee ] Cf. Jer 2:28. The word for “companies” does not occur elsewhere; it means them which thou hast gathered (R.V.): thy rabble of idols (R.V. marg.) (see Mic 1:7).
vanity ] R.V. a breath.
The second half of the verse forms a transition to the next section, which is a promise of salvation to the true Israel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
When thou criest – That is, when you are in trouble, and feel your need of help.
Let thy companies deliver thee – The word used here ( qibuts) means, properly, a gathering; a throng; a collection. Here it refers either to the throngs of the idols which they had collected. and on which they relied; or to the collection of foreigners which they had summoned to their assistance. The idea is, that if people trust to other objects for aid than the arm of God, they will be left in the day of trial to such assistance as they can render them.
But the wind shall carry – They shall be like the protection which the wind sweeps away. The Saviour expresses a similar sentiment in Mat 7:26-27.
Vanity shall take them – Lowth and Noyes, A breath shall take them off. The word hebel, properly means a breath; and probably denotes here a gentle breeze, the slightest breath of air, denoting the entire instability of the objects on which they trusted, when they could be so easily swept off.
Shall possess the land – The assurances of the favor and friendship of God are usually expressed in this way (compare the notes at Isa 49:8). See Psa 37:11; The meek shall inherit the earth. Compare Psa 69:35-36; Mat 5:5.
And shall inherit my holy mountain – In Jerusalem. That is, they shall be admitted to elevated spiritual privileges and joys – as great as if they had possession of a portion of the mount on which the temple was built, and were permitted to dwell there.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. Let thy companies deliver thee – “Let thine associates deliver thee”] Thirty-nine MSS. (ten ancient) of Dr. Kennicott’s, and two of my own, and the two oldest editions have yatstsiluchu, plural.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
When thou criest, to wit, unto me for deliverance,
let thy companies deliver thee; expect it not from me, whom thou hast forsaken and despised, but from those foreign troops to whom thou hast sought and trusted for succour.
But the wind shall carry them all away; but they shall be so far from saving thee, that they shall not be able to deliver themselves, but shall be carried away suddenly and violently by the blast of mine anger.
Vanity; a vapour or puff of breath which quickly vanisheth away. It is the same thing in effect with the wind. Shall take them; or, take them away, as this verb signifies, Hos 4:11, and elsewhere.
Shall inherit my holy mountain; shall enjoy my favour and presence in my temple.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. When thou criestIn thetime of thy trouble.
companiesnamely, ofidols, collected by thee from every quarter; or else, of foreigners,summoned to thy aid.
wind . . . carry . . . away(Job 21:18; Mat 7:27).
vanityrather, “abreath” [LOWTH].
possess . . . land . . .inheritthat is, the literal land of Judea and Mount Zion; thebelieving remnant of Israel shall return and inherit the land.Secondarily, the heavenly inheritance, and the spiritual Zion(Isa 49:8; Psa 37:9;Psa 37:11; Psa 69:35;Psa 69:36; Mat 5:5;Heb 12:22). “He that puttethhis trust in Me,” of whatever extraction, shall succeed to thespiritual patrimony of the apostate Jew [HORSLEY].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee,…. From distress and impending ruin, if they can; meaning not the allies and auxiliaries of the Jews, the Egyptians and Assyrians, they sent to for help, as Kimchi, and others; rather, as Jarchi, their idols and graven images they worshipped, angels and saints departed, the Papists pray unto; let them now, in the time of Rome’s ruin, renew their addresses to them for help and deliverance, if they can give it: or, “thy gathered ones” z; the kings of the earth the whore of Rome has gathered unto her to commit fornication with her: and who, by her emissaries, will be gathered together to the battle of the Lord God Almighty, and to make war with the Lamb, but will be overcome; as also her many religious societies and convents of Jesuits, friars, priests, c. these will stand afar off, and lament her in her distress; even the kings and merchants of the earth, ship masters, and all company in ships, but will not be able to relieve her, Re 18:9:
but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them; so far will they be from helping her in the time of her calamity, that the wind of God’s power and wrath shall carry them away as chaff; a puff of his “breath”, or the least breath of air a, shall dissipate them, and bring them to nothing; they will be no more able to stand before him than the lightest thing that can be thought of can stand before a blustering wind or tempest. The phrase denotes an utter and easy destruction of the whole jurisdiction and hierarchy of the church of Rome:
but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; such of God’s people as will be in Babylon a little before its fall, and will be called out of it, who shall betake themselves to the Lord as their only refuge, and put their trust and confidence in him, rejecting all idolatry and superstitious worship, shall enjoy the communion of the true church of Christ, and partake of all the ordinances of it: it may be this may have also a particular respect unto the Jews, who will be called about this time; who, upon their believing in Christ, will return to their own land, and dwell in Jerusalem, God’s holy mountain, as it used to be called. Hence it follows:
z “collectitii tui”, Tigurine version; “congregati a te”, Vatablus; “copiae tuae collectae”, Vitringa. a “halitus” Cocceius; “aura” V. L. “aura levisima” Vitringa.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Vanity of Idols; Divine Greatness and Condescension. | B. C. 706. |
13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; 14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. 15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
Here, I. God shows how insufficient idols and creatures were to relieve and succour those that worshipped them and confided in them (v. 13): “When thou criest in thy distress and anguish, lamentest thy misery and callest for help, let thy companies deliver thee, thy idol-gods which thou hast heaped to thyself companies of, the troops of the confederate forces which thou hast relied so much upon, let them deliver thee if they can; expect no other relief than what they can give.” Thus God said to Israel, when in their trouble they called upon him (Judg. x. 14), Go, and cry to the gods which you have chosen, let them deliver you. But in vain is salvation hoped for from them: The wind shall carry them all away, the wind of God’s wrath, that breath of his mouth which shall slay the wicked; they have made themselves as chaff, and therefore the wind will of course hurry them away. Vanity they are, and vanity shall take them away, to vanity they shall be reduced, and vanity shall be their recompence. Both the idols and their worshippers shall come to nothing.
II. He shows that there was a sufficiency, an all-sufficiency, in him for the comfort and deliverance of all those that put their confidence in him and made their application to him. Their safety and satisfaction appear the more comfortable because their hopes are crowned with fruition, when those that seek to other helpers have their hopes frustrated: “He that puts his trust in me, and in me only, he shall be happy, both for soul and body, for this world and the other.”
1. Observe, in general, (1.) Those that trust in God’s providence take the best course to secure their secular interests. They shall possess the land, as much of it as is good for them, and what they have they shall have it from a good hand and hold it by a good title. Ps. xxxvii. 3, They shall dwell in the land, and verily they shall be fed. (2.) Those that trust in God’s grace take the best course to secure their sacred interests. They shall inherit my holy mountain. They shall enjoy the privileges of the church on earth, and be brought at length to the joys of heaven; and no wind shall carry them away.
2. More particularly,
(1.) The captives, that trust in God, shall be released (v. 14): They shall say (that is, the messengers of his providence, in that great event shall say), Cast you up, cast you up, prepare the way. When God’s time shall have come for their deliverance the way of bringing it about shall be made plain and easy, obstacles shall be removed, difficulties that seemed insuperable shall be speedily got over, and all things shall concur both to accelerate and facilitate their return. See Isa 40:3; Isa 40:4. This refers to the provision which the gospel, and the grace of it, have made for our ready passage through this world to a better. The way of religion is now cast up; it is a highway; ministers’ business is to direct people in it, and to help them over the discouragements they meet with, that nothing may offend them.
(2.) The contrite, that trust in God, shall be revived, v. 15. Those that trusted to idols and creatures for help went with their ointments and perfumes (v. 9); but here God shows that those who may expect help from him are such as are destitute of, and set themselves at a distance from, the gaieties of the world and the delights of sense. God’s glory appears here very bright, [1.] In his greatness and majesty: He is the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity. Let this inspire us with very high and honourable thoughts of the God with whom we have to do, First, That his being and perfections are exalted infinitely above every creature, not only above what they have themselves, but above what they can conceive concerning him, far above all their blessing and praise, Neh. ix. 5. He is the high and lofty One, and there is no creature like him, nor any to be compared with him. The language likewise intimates his sovereign dominion over all and the incontestable right he has to give both law and judgment to all. He is higher than the highest (Eccl. v. 8), than the highest heavens, Ps. cxiii. 4. Secondly, That with him there is neither beginning of days nor end of life, nor change of time; he is both immortal and immutable. He only has immortality, 1 Tim. vi. 16. He has it of himself, and he has it constantly; he inhabits it, and cannot be dispossessed of it. We must shortly remove into eternity, but God always inhabits it. Thirdly, That there is an infinite rectitude in his nature, and an exact conformity with himself and a steady design of his own glory in all that he does; and this appears in every thing by which he has made himself known, for his name is holy, and all that desire to be acquainted with him must know him as a holy God. Fourthly, That the peculiar residence and manifestation of his glory are in the mansions of light and bliss above: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and will have all the world to know it.” Whoever have any business with God must direct to him as their Father in heaven, for there he dwells. These great things are here said of God to inspire us with a holy reverence of him, to encourage our confidence in him, and to magnify his compassion and condescension to us, that though he is thus high yet he has respect unto the lowly; he that rides on the heavens by his name JAH stoops to concern himself for poor widows and fatherless,Psa 68:4; Psa 68:5. [2.] In his grace and mercy. He has a tender pity for the humble and contrite, for those that are so in respect of their state. If they be his people, he will not overlook them though they are poor and low in the world, and despised and trampled upon by men; but he here refers to the temper of their mind; he will have a tender regard to those who, being in affliction, accommodate themselves to their affliction, and bring their mind to their condition, be it ever so low and ever so sad and sorely broken–those that are truly penitent for sin, who mourn in secret for it, and have a dread of the wrath of God, which they have made themselves obnoxious to, and are submissive under all his rebukes. Now, First, With these God will dwell. He will visit them graciously, will converse familiarly with them by his word and Spirit, as a man does with those of his own family; he will be always nigh to them and present with them. He that dwells in the highest heavens dwells in the lowest hearts and inhabits sincerity as surely as he inhabits eternity. In these he delights. Secondly, He will revive their heart and spirit, will speak that to them, and work that in them by the word and Spirit of his grace, which will be reviving to them, as a cordial to one that is ready to faint. He will give them reviving joys and hopes sufficient to counterbalance all the griefs and fears that break their spirits. He dwells with them, and his presence is reviving.
(3.) Those with whom he contends, if they trust in him, shall be relieved, and received into favour, v. 16. He will revive the heart of the contrite ones, for he will not contend for ever. Nothing makes a soul contrite so much as God’s contending, and therefore nothing revives it so much as his ceasing his controversy. Here is, [1.] A gracious promise. It is not promised that he will never be angry with his people, for their sins are displeasing to him, or that he will never contend with them, for they must expect the rod; but he will not contend for ever, nor be always wroth. As he is not soon angry, so he is not long angry. He will not always chide. Though he contend with them by convictions of sin, he will not contend for ever; but, instead of the spirit of bondage, they shall receive the Spirit of adoption. He has torn, but he will heal. Though eh contend with them by the rebukes of providence, yet the correction shall not last always, shall not last long, shall last no longer than there is need (1 Pet. i. 6), no longer than they can bear, no longer than till it has done its work. Though their whole life be calamitous, yet their end will be peace, and so will their eternity be. [2.] A very compassionate consideration, upon which this promise is grounded: “If I should contend for ever, the spirit would fail before me, ever the souls which I have made.” Note, First, God is the Father of spirits, Heb. xii. 9. Those with whom he will not always contend are the souls that he has made, that he gave being to by creation and a new being to by regeneration. Secondly, Though the Lord is for the body, yet he concerns himself chiefly for the souls of his people, that the spirit do not fail, and its graces and comforts. Thirdly, When troubles last long, the spirit even of good men is apt to fail. They are tempted to entertain hard thoughts of God, to think it in vain to serve him; they are ready to put comfort away from them, and to despair of relief, and then the spirit fails. Fourthly, It is in consideration of this that God will not contend for ever; for he will not forsake the work of his own hands nor defeat the purchase of his Son’s blood. The reason is taken not from our merit, but from our weakness and infirmity; for he remembers that we are flesh (Ps. lxxviii. 39) and that flesh is weak.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
13. When thou shalt cry, let thy troops deliver thee. He states more fully what he had slightly touched in the former verse, that, when they shall come to close quarters, they shall be ashamed; for the potential mood, “Let them deliver,” amounts to saying, “They will not do it.” He alludes to what he had formerly said, (verse 9) “Thou wentest to the king with ointments.” And accordingly he gives the name of “troops” to all the means of defense by which the Jews thought that they would be safe; for, by trusting to them, they abandoned themselves to every kind of vices, as if they should be certain of escaping punishment, because they were guarded and fortified on every side. But the Lord shows how unavailing are all the troops which are assembled without his authority.
“
Cry” denotes here that calamity by which they were to be afflicted; for, relying on their treaties and on the aid of allies, they thought that they would enjoy profound peace, as if they had never at any former period been deceived. But he declares that all the military defenses which they have collected for themselves shall be of no advantage to them whatever. Detestable and accursed is that confidence which men, having forsaken God, place in things of this world or in human defenses. (Jer 17:5) Formerly he brought it as a reproach against the people, that they were not satisfied with the gentle waters of Shiloah, and desired to have the rapid and impetuous rivers which would at length overflow them. (Isa 8:6) This actually happened; for the Assyrians and Egyptians, and lastly the Babylonians, were not only unprofitable, but even ruinous, to the Jews whose allies they were.
But he who hopeth in me. Next follows a contrast, in which he invites them to confidence in God, which is the remedy that ought to be employed against all evils; as, on the other hand, all evils arise from unbelief and distrust. As to the promise of an inheritance to those who hope in God, it amounts to this, — “What else do you seek than to remain safe and sound, and to have your inheritance uninjured? It is I who can do this. For who brought you into this country? Who gave you possession of it? And yet you run after Egypt, and seek from men assistance which will be of little avail, and disregard my help.”
Shall have the land by inheritance. I have no doubt that by the word “inheritance” he means Judea, in which the Jews were desirous to remain in safety; for he afterwards mentions the “mountain of his holiness,” that is, the mountain on which the temple was built. So, then, the Jews did not ascribe to the Lord that which belonged to him, when they fled, not to him, but to the Assyrians or Egyptians, for help. Hence we ought to draw a universal doctrine, namely, that our affairs will succeed admirably, if we hope in the Lord; and if we throw away confidence in him, we certainly need not wonder if we waver and are tossed about in various ways.
When he calls the mountain to which the Jews were to be brought back “the mountain of holiness,” he means that life and all its comforts are not in themselves desirable, except that we may worship God; for the end of human life is this, that God may have a people who shall render to him purity of worship. Let our eyes, therefore, be always fixed on the worship and service of God, if we desire life, or deliverance, or any of the comforts of life.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) Let thy companies . . .The word is used contemptuously of the crowd of gods introduced by the confluent idolatry of Manasseh. (Comp. 2Ch. 33:3-7.) The prophet taunts the worshipper with their impotence, Let them save thee, if they can, but that taunt is followed by a declaration that true help and strength will be given to all who trust in Jehovah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 57:13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take [them]: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
Ver. 13. When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee. ] “Thy companies”; Heb., Thy gathered ones, or troops. See Deu 32:37-38 Jdg 10:13-14 . See Trapp on “ Jdg 10:14 “
But the wind shall carry them all away. criest. In distress.
thy companies. The paramours of Isa 57:8.
wind. Hebrew. ruach. App-9.
vanity. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), for vain men. Compare Psa 144:4. Jam 4:14.
putteth his trust = fleeth for refuge to. Hebrew. hasah. See App-69.
holy. See note on Exo 3:5.
trust
(See Scofield “Psa 2:12”).
let: Isa 57:9, Isa 57:10, Jdg 10:14, 2Ki 3:13, Jer 22:22, Zec 7:13
but the: Isa 40:24, Isa 41:16, Job 21:18, Psa 1:4, Psa 58:9, Hos 13:3
but he: Isa 26:3, Isa 26:4, Psa 37:3, Psa 37:9, Psa 84:12, Psa 125:1, Pro 28:25, Jer 17:7, Jer 17:8
my holy: Isa 11:9, Isa 56:7, Isa 65:25, Isa 66:20, Eze 20:40, Joe 3:17
Reciprocal: Isa 28:20 – the bed Isa 64:6 – our iniquities Isa 65:11 – my holy
57:13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind {q} shall carry them all away; vanity shall take [them]: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
(q) Meaning, the Assyrians and others, whose help they looked for.
In that day of judgment, the idols that the Israelites had trusted in, even in captivity, would be of no help. They would be as useless and lightweight as what the winds blow away. In contrast, those who made Yahweh their refuge from the storms of life would inherit the land and possess the Zion of the future Millennium (cf. Isa 11:9; Isa 24:23; Isa 25:6-8; Isa 65:25; Isa 66:20; Mat 5:5).
"One of the best ways to find out whether we have idols in our lives is to ask ourselves, ’Where do I instinctively turn when I face a decision or need to solve a problem?’ Do we reach for the phone to call a friend? Do we assure ourselves that we can handle the situation ourselves? Or do we turn to God to see[k] His will and receive His help?" [Note: Wiersbe, p. 66.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)