Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 24:2
And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
2. The judgment affects all classes alike, without distinction of rank or fortune.
as with the people priest ] Cf. Hos 4:9. It would hardly be safe to infer from this proverbial expression that at the time of the author the priests formed the aristocracy of the Jewish people. the buyer the seller ] Eze 7:12. the taker the giver of usury ] Jer 15:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As with the people, so with the priest – This does not mean in moral character, but in destiny. It does not mean that the character of the priest would have any influence on that of the people, or that because the one was corrupt the other would be; but it means that all would be involved in the same calamity, and there would be no favored class that would escape. The prophet, therefore, enumerate the various ranks of the people, and shows that all classes would be involved in the impending calamity.
As with the taker of usury – He who lends his money at interest. It was contrary to the Mosaic law for one Israelite to take interest of another Lev 25:36; Deu 23:19; Neh 5:7, Neh 5:10; but it is not probable that this law was very carefully observed, and especially in the corrupt times that preceded the Babylonian captivity.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 24:2
And it shall be, as with the people, go with the priest
The mutual assimilation of minister and people
The minister makes the people and the people make the minister.
I. THE MINISTERS INFLUENCE.
1. As a preacher and teacher–upon the conceptions of truth and duty, the understanding of the Word of God, and the practical conduct of the people.
2. As a man, in his own example and life.
3. As a pastor, in his pastoral intercourse with his flock.
4. As a public leader of reforms, etc.
II. THE PEOPLES INFLUENCE.
1. In getting him audience. Giving him their own ears and attention and gathering in others.
2. In making him eloquent. Gladstone says, Eloquence is pouring back on an audience in a shower what is first received from the audience in vapour.
3. In making him spiritual. They can encourage him to spiritual growth and culture; to earnest and edifying preaching. They can pray for him and help him to feel that they want and wish only spiritual food.
4. In making him a power for good. Aristotle says, Truth is what a thing is in itself, in its relations and in the medium through which it is viewed. Goethe says, Before we complain of the writing as obscure we must first examine if all be clear within. In the twilight a very plain manuscript is illegible. So the attitude of a hearer largely limits the power of a preacher; the cooperation of a Church member may indefinitely increase the effectiveness of a pastors work. (Homiletic Review.)
Preachers affected by their congregations
A few years ago, after a minister had been preaching in a Wesleyan chapel not far from my house, one of the older officials of the circuit began to talk to him of the glories of a past generation, and said with some fervour, Ah, sir, there were great preachers in those days. Yes, was the reply of the minister, and there were great hearers in those days. The answer was a wise and just one. If preachers form and discipline their congregations, it is equally true that congregations form and discipline their preachers. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)
As with the buyer, so with the seller
Buying and selling
Buying and selling are of very ancient date. The earliest instance we read of occurs in the history of Abraham. The purchase made was a burying place; and is connected with the death of Sarah, Abrahams wife. Various nations and states have distinguished themselves at different times by their trade and commerce. In ancient times we may enumerate Arabia, Egypt, and especially Tyre–the crowning city where merchants were princes–where traffickers were the honourable of the earth. In more moderntimes we may mention Greece, Rome, Venice, the Hanse, Spain, Portugal, and above all Great Britain. Well might Napoleon Buonaparte call us a nation of shopkeepers. (R. W. Overbury.)
The relative duties of buyers and sellers
I. POINT OUT SOME OF THE EVILS BY WHICH THE RELATION BETWEEN BUYER AND SELLER IS VIOLATED. This relation is violated by every violation of those two important principles that lie at the foundation of all society–justice and truth. Justice consists in giving everyone his due; and truth or veracity in keeping our engagements, and avoiding lying and dissimulation. These principles and the relative duties arising out of them are violated–
1. By the practice of any and every kind of fraud in the transaction of business.
2. By the contracting of debts without any reasonable prospect of being able to pay them.
(1) But what is an individual to do who in the course of regular business finds himself, through the fluctuation to which every branch of trade is liable, insolvent at the end of the year? If he be a man of an honourable character and standing in trade, he will not want friends who are willing to lend him a sufficient sum to extricate him from his present difficulties, and to enable him to make a fresh trial under the blessing of God to succeed in that line of business which he has hitherto followed. But if, after having renewed the attempt, Divine providence does not see fit to succeed his endeavours, then from a false shame of appearing what he is in worldly circumstances before his fellow men, to keep on in business till he involve many others in ruin is most unjustifiable.
(2) Further, if an individual who has failed in anothers debt, should at any future time possess the means of paying his debts, we hold it that justice requires that he should so pay them.
3. Another way in which the relation between buyers and sellers is violated is, by making ourselves responsible for the debts of others, when we are not in possession of sufficient capital to warrant it.
4. By the very prevalent practice of underselling. Where does the injury fall? First, upon the poor operatives, who labour day and night by the sweat of their brow, to furnish conveniences and luxuries for the higher ranks of society, whilst their labour is remunerated at a price that hardly keeps them and their families from starving. The other party upon whom the injury falls is other tradesmen in the same line, who, shrinking from the use of such unscrupulous and oppressive means of realising large profits, lose either a part or the whole of their custom.
II. SHOW THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT.
1. In a secular view. The permanent prosperity of our trade, and consequently the temporal welfare of society depend upon the principles which pervade our business transactions. Every deviation from right principles inflicts injury somewhere, and in proportion to the extent of that deviation contributes to augment the sum of national distress. Nations, as such, are punished in this life–individuals hereafter. An invisible Being, too little recognised in the marts of trade, presides over our national affairs, and distributes or withholds national blessings in proportion as the principles of eternal truth and justice are practically acknowledged.
2. In a religious view. It has been well said, that a Christian is the highest style of man.
(1) A man who cares not by what means he obtains money, provided he succeeds in making a fortune, cannot be a Christian. The character and doom of such are too plainly written in Scripture to be mistaken for a single moment.
(2) We do not, perhaps, sufficiently reflect that the predominance of the love of gain is equally incompatible with true piety; although a feeling of justice and benevolence, joined with self-respect, may lead us to abhor and reject all that is dishonourable in business.
(3) Nor must we omit to observe, that whilst the habitual predominance of a worldly spirit is incompatible with personal piety, the too great prevalence of it is highly injurious. It either lifts a man up with vanity and pride, or it depresses him with anxiety and care; both of which unfit him for the service of God. In proportion as the spirit of the world prevails over the people of God, it stints their piety and usefulness, and counteracts the end for which they are constituted a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,–that ye should show forth the praises of Him, who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. (R. W. Overbury.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
It shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; the approaching calamity shall be universal, without any respect or distinction of persons or ranks of men; the priests themselves, having been partakers of the peoples sins, shall also partake with them in their plagues.
As with the buyer, so with the seller; the purchaser of lands shall have no more left than he that hath sold all his patrimony; and all persons shall be made equal in beggary and slavery.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. as with the people, so with thepriestAll alike shall share the same calamity: no favoredclass shall escape (compare Eze 7:12;Eze 7:13; Hos 4:9;Rev 6:15).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest,…. Or, “prince” p; no order or rank of men will fare better than another; their dignity, in things civil or ecclesiastical, will not secure them from ruin; it will be no better with princes and priests than the common people; they shall all alike share in the common destruction. Not Jeroboam’s priests, but rather the Romish priests, are here meant, who have led the people into superstition and idolatry; blind leaders of the blind, and so both fall into the ditch together:
as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; there shall be no distinction of superiors and inferiors; as not of prince and subjects, so not of master and servant, mistress and maid; no respect will be had to persons, but the one shall be treated even as the other:
as with the buyer, so with the seller; the one that bought an estate, and thought to enjoy it, will be no better off than he that sold it, and perhaps spent the money; the one will be possessed of no more than the other, seeing what the one had bought, and the other sold, will now be in the possession of a third:
as with the lender, so with the borrower; their condition will be equal; he that was so poor that he was obliged to borrow to carry on his business, or for the necessaries of life, and so he that was so rich that he was capable of lending, now the one will be no richer than the other, but both on a level; the substance of the lender being taken from him:
as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him; this was forbidden the Jews by a law, De 23:19 wherefore not the land of Judea is here meant, but the antichristian states, among whom this practice has greatly prevailed.
p “ac praesidi”, Junius Tremellius “sic gubernator”, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. And it shall be. By these words he means the utmost desolation, in which there will be no longer any distinction of ranks or any appearance of a commonwealth; for so long as there is a tolerably regular form of government, some distinction continues to be maintained between “the people” and “the priests.” By a figure of speech, in which a part is taken for the whole, ( συνεκδοχικῶς,) he mentions one department instead of the whole class, as is frequently done in the Scriptures; though we might take כחנים, ( kōchănīm,) to mean those who hold any high rank; for Hebrew writers frequently give this name to princes, and especially to those who are of royal blood; but I have no reluctance to view it as an instance of the figure of speech which I have mentioned.
Since Isaiah reckons this confusion among the curses of God, and declares that, when the distinction of ranks is laid aside, it is a terrible display of the vengeance of God, we ought to conclude, on the other hand, how much God is pleased with regular government and the good order of society, and also how great a privilege it is to have it preserved among us; for when it is taken away, the life of man differs little from the sustenance of cattle and of beasts of prey. We ought therefore not only to acknowledge the dreadful vengeance of God, but also to lay it to the blame of our own sins, whenever he breaks down order and takes away instruction and courts of law; for when these fall, civilisation itself falls along with them. It ought also to be considered that, when the Lord executes his judgments, he spares no rank, not even the most sacred. What was this order of priests, which the Lord had so splendidly adorned, and had determined to consecrate to himself, and of which the people also boasted as if it had been unchangeable and eternal? Yet even the rank of priesthood is involved in the judgment of God, because there is no respect of persons, but, on the contrary, the more highly any have been favored, and the higher the rank to which they have been exalted, the more severely will he punish them, if they shall shew themselves to be ungrateful and abuse his benefits.
As the servant, so his master; as the buyer, so the seller. This statement is to the same effect with what goes before; for these ranks are manifestly lawful, and are not usually set aside, unless when the Lord determines to chastise his people with dreadful vengeance, as we have already said; for in a well-ordered society the distinction between master and servant must be observed. In like manner, no public government can be lasting without the transactions of commerce; and therefore, when the distinction between rich and poor has been taken away, every scheme for gaining a livelihood among men is destroyed. The meaning of the Prophet is, that all civil government will be broken up, because in such calamities, they who were the wealthiest are reduced to the lowest poverty. In short, he describes the most appalling desolation, which will be followed by unwonted change.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) It shall be, as with the people . . .In the apparently general classification there is, perhaps, in the last two clauses a trace of the prophets indignation at the growing tendency of the people to the luxury which led to debt, and to the avarice which traded on the debtors necessities. Israel, it would seem, was already on the way to become a nation of money lenders.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. As with the people, so with the priest; as so, etc. Judgment is entered upon all alike. There is no favoured class. All fall under the one doom, which is utter and final.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 24:2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
Ver. 2. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest. ] Or, Prince. Dignity and wealth hindereth him not; doth he esteem nobility or riches, or anything that fortifieth strength? Poverty or meanness findeth no favour with him. In a common calamity, all commonly share and fare alike.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
as . . . so. Figure of speech Simile.
the lender . . . the borrower. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 22:25, Exo 22:27. Deu 15:2; Deu 24:10, Deu 24:11). See App-92.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
as with the people: Isa 2:9, Isa 3:2-8, Isa 5:15, Isa 9:14-17, 2Ch 36:14-17, 2Ch 36:20, Jer 5:3-6, Jer 23:11-13, Jer 41:2, Jer 42:18, Jer 44:11-13, Jer 52:24-30, Lam 4:13, Lam 5:12-14, Eze 7:12, Eze 7:13, Eze 14:8-10, Dan 9:5-8, Hos 4:9, Eph 6:8, Eph 6:9
priest: or, prince, Gen 41:50, *marg.
Reciprocal: Pro 22:7 – the borrower Isa 7:20 – head Jer 6:21 – fathers Jer 8:12 – therefore Jer 16:6 – the great Mal 2:12 – the master and the scholar 1Co 7:29 – that both Jam 4:13 – and buy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 24:2-3. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest, &c. The calamity shall be universal, without any respect or distinction of persons or ranks of men; the priests themselves, having been partakers of the peoples sins, shall also partake with them of their plagues. As with the buyer, so with the seller The purchaser of lands shall have no more left than he that hath sold his patrimony; but all persons shall be made equal in beggary and slavery. The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled Shall be deprived both of its riches and inhabitants. As the public calamities coming upon the land were to be repeated, at various times and in various manners, the sacred writer is thought by some interpreters to have accommodated his discourse to these calamities, and divided it into various articles and gradations. See Vitringa.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
24:2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the {b} priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him.
(b) Because this was a name of dignity it was also applied to them who were not of Aaron’s family, and so signifies also a man of dignity, as in 2Sa 8:18; 2Sa 20:25, 1Ch 18:17 and by these words the prophet signifies a horrible confusion, where there will be neither religion, order nor policy, Hos 4:9 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
God’s actions will affect all individuals in all types of relationships, including religious, domestic, and commercial ones. Positions, possessions, and power will make no difference to God (cf. 1Sa 16:7).