Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 2:21
To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
21. See on Isa 2:10 ; Isa 2:19. Translate: to enter into the hollows of the rocks and clefts of the crags, &c.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To go – That is, that he may go.
Clefts of the rocks – see the note at Isa 2:19.
Into the tops … – The tops of such rocks were not easily accessible, and were, therefore, deemed places of safety. We may remark here, how vain were the refuges to which they would resort – as if they were safe from God, when they had fled to the places in which they sought safety from man. The image here is, however, one that is very sublime. The earth shaking; the consternation and alarm of the people; their renouncing confidence in all to which they had trusted; their rapid flight; and their appearing on the high projecting cliffs, are all sublime and terrible images. They denote the severity of Gods justice, and the image is a faint representation of the consternation of people when Christ shall come to judge the earth; Rev 6:15-17.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. See Clarke on Isa 2:19.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To go into the clifts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks,…. That is, the idolaters shall either go there themselves; or they shall cause their idols to go there, thither they shall cast them; though the former sense seems the best, because of what follows,
for fear of the Lord, &c. [See comments on Isa 2:10] [See comments on Isa 2:19].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“To creep into the cavities of the stone-blocks, and into the clefts of the rocks, before the terrible look of Jehovah, and before the glory of His majesty, when He arises to put the earth in terror.” Thus ends the fourth strophe of this “ dies irae, dies illa ,” which is appended to the earlier prophetic word. But there follows, as an epiphonem , this nota bene in Isa 2:22: Oh, then, let man go, in whose nose is a breath; for what is he estimated at? The Septuagint leaves this v. out altogether. But was it so utterly unintelligible then? Jerome adopted a false pointing, and has therefore given this marvellous rendering: excelsus ( bamah !) reputatus est ipse , by which Luther was apparently misled. But if we look backwards and forwards, it is impossible to mistake the meaning of the verse, which must be regarded not only as the resultant of what precedes it, but also as the transition to what follows. It is preceded by the prediction of the utter demolition of everything which ministers to the pride and vain confidence of men; and in Isa 3:1. the same prediction is resumed, with a more special reference to the Jewish state, from which Jehovah is about to take away every prop, so that it shall utterly collapse. Accordingly the prophet exhorts, in Isa 2:22, to a renunciation of trust in man, and everything belonging to him, just as in Psa 118:8-9; Psa 146:3, and Jer 17:5. The construction is as general as that of a gnome. The dat. Commodi (Ges. 154, 3, e) renders the exhortation both friendly and urgent: from regard to yourselves, for your own good, for your own salvation, desist from man, i.e., from your confidence in him, in whose nose ( in cujus naso , the singular, as in Job 27:3; whereas the plural is used in Gen 2:7 in the same sense, in nares ejus , “into his nostrils”) is a breath, a breath of life, which God gave to him, and can take back as soon as He will (Job 34:14; Psa 104:29). Upon the breath, which passes out and in through his nose, his whole earthly existence is suspended; and this, when once lost, is gone for ever (Job 7:7). It is upon this breath, therefore, that all the confidence placed in man must rest – a bad soil and foundation! Under these conditions, and with this liability to perish in a moment, the worth of man as a ground of confidence is really nothing. This thought is expressed here in the form of a question: At (for) what is he estimated, or to be estimated? The passive participle nechshab combines with the idea of the actual ( aestimatus ) that of the necessary ( aestimandus ), and also of the possible or suitable ( aestimabilis ); and that all the more because the Semitic languages have no special forms for the latter notions. The Beth is Beth pret , corresponding to the Latin genitive ( quanti ) or ablative ( quanto ) – a modification of the Beth instrumenti , the price being regarded as the medium of exchange or purchase: “at what is he estimated,” not with what is he compared, which would be expressed by eth (Isa 53:12; compare , Luk 22:37) or im (Psa 88:5). The word is , not , because this looser form is only found in cases where a relative clause follows ( eo quod , Ecc 3:22), and not bama=h, because this termination with a is used exclusively where the next word begins with Aleph , or where it is a pausal word (as in 1Ki 22:21); in every other case we have bammeh . The question introduced with this quanto ( quanti ), “at what,” cannot be answered by any positive definition of value. The worth of man, regarded in himself, and altogether apart from God, is really nothing.
The proclamation of judgment pauses at this porisma , but only for the purpose of gathering fresh strength. The prophet has foretold in four strophes the judgment of God upon every exalted thing in the kosmos that has fallen away from communion with God, just as Amos commences his book with a round of judgments, which are uttered in seven strophes of uniform scope, bursting like seven thunder-claps upon the nations of the existing stage of history. The seventh stroke falls upon Judah, over which the thunderstorm rests after finding such abundant booty. And in the same manner Isaiah, in the instance before us, reduces the universal proclamation of judgment to one more especially affecting Judah and Jerusalem. The current of the address breaks through the bounds of the strophe; and the exhortation in Isa 2:22 not to trust in man, the reason for which is assigned in what precedes, also forms a transition from the universal proclamation of judgment to the more special one in Isa 3:1, where the prophet assigns a fresh ground for the exhortation.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
21. And they shall enter into the clefts of the rocks This repetition is not superfluous, though Isaiah again employs the same words which he had lately used; for what is so difficult as to impress on the minds of men sincere fear of God? Nor is it only in hypocrites that we perceive this, but in ourselves, if we bestow careful attention; for how many things are presented to us by which our minds ought to be deeply affected, and yet we are scarcely moved! More especially, it was necessary that this judgment of God should be earnestly placed before hypocrites, who took delight in wickedness. But now he points out the severity of God’s vengeance by this consideration, that the ungodly choose rather to be swallowed up by the deepest gulfs than to come under the eye of God. This, too, is the passage from which Christ borrowed the threatening which he pronounces on the Jews,
In that day shall they say to the mountains cover us; and to the hills, Hide us. (Luk 23:30.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) To go into the clefts of the rocks . . .Comp. for the phrase, Exo. 33:22. The picture of Isa. 2:19 is reproduced, with some noticeable variations. As men feel shock after shock of the earthquake, and see the flashing fires, and hear the crash of the thunder, they leave the larger caverns in which they had at first sought shelter, and where they have left the idols that were once so precious, and fly to the smaller and higher openings, the clefts of the rocks, and the rents of the crags, in their unspeakable panic.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. The warning begun in Isa 2:10 continues.
To go This is an infinitive of purpose that these frightened idol worshippers may go into hiding-places away from the coming terror of Jehovah.
It is easy to conceive our prophet as delivering this fearful message in the temple courts at Jerusalem, or even in the royal courts, with his disciples about him (for it is presumable that he had a school of young prophets within or near Jerusalem) furnishing the choral refrains at Isa 2:11; Isa 2:17; Isa 2:19; Isa 2:21.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 2:21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
Ver. 21. To go into the clefts of the rocks. ] See Isa 2:10 . Only here the double repetition of this dreadful judgment is very emphatic, and may serve to teach preachers to inculcate upon their hearers God’s severity against sinners, and to remind them much of those last things, death, judgment, hell. Utinam ubique de his dissereretur, saith Chrysostom, that excellent preacher. Oh that these things might resound from all pulpits!
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
tops = fissures or crevices. Compare Rev 6:12-17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
go: Isa 2:10, Isa 2:19, Exo 33:22, Job 30:6, Son 2:14
Reciprocal: 2Sa 22:46 – out Job 2:4 – all that Job 9:6 – shaketh Isa 7:19 – in the holes Isa 10:3 – where Isa 30:22 – defile Isa 32:11 – be troubled Isa 44:9 – and their Jer 49:8 – dwell Jer 49:16 – dwellest Eze 20:7 – Cast Zep 1:18 – their silver Mat 18:8 – and cast Act 19:19 – and burned 2Th 1:9 – the glory Rev 21:23 – for