Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 3:12
[As for] my people, children [are] their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause [thee] to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
12. The threat of Isa 3:4 is already on the way to be fulfilled; the conditions of anarchy are present in the childish character of the reigning monarch, Ahaz. Cf. Ecc 10:16. The prophet’s pity for the nation breaks out in the repeated exclamation, “ My people! ”
children are their oppressors, &c. ] Rather, his tyrant (plural of majesty) is a child and women role over him (i.e. the people): the queen-mother and women of the harem attain an undue and dangerous influence under such a rgime.
they which lead thee cause thee to err ] thy leaders are misleaders, an expression found again in Isa 9:16. The word for “lead” is that used in Isa 1:17, “set right.”
destroy ] have swallowed up; according to others: “have confused.” The meaning is that the landmarks of national righteousness have been effaced from the minds of the people by the conduct of its statesmen and guides.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As for my people, children are their oppressors – This refers, doubtless, to their civil rulers. They who ought to have been their protectors, oppressed them by grievous taxes and burdens. But whether this means that the rulers of the people were literally minors, or that they were so in disposition and character, has been a question. The original word is in the singular number ( meolel), and means a child, or an infant. It may, however, be taken collectively as a noun of multitude, or as denoting more than one. To whom reference is made here cannot easily be determined, but possibly to Ahaz, who began to reign when he was twenty years old; 2Ki 16:2. Or it may mean that the character of the princes and rulers was that of inexperienced children, unqualified for government.
Are their oppressors – literally, are their exactors, or their taxers – the collectors of the revenue.
And women rule over them – This is not to be taken literally, but it means either that the rulers were under the influence of the harem, or the females of the court; or that they were effeminate and destitute of vigor and manliness in counsel. The Septuagint and the Chaldee render this verse substantially alike: Thy exactors strip my people as they who gather the grapes strip the vineyard.
They which lead thee – Hebrew They who bless thee, or call thee blessed. (See the margin.) This refers, doubtless, to the public teachers, and the false prophets, who blessed or flattered the people, and who promised them safety in their sins.
Cause thee to err – Lead you astray; or lead you into sin and danger.
And destroy – Hebrew Swallow up.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 3:12
As for My people
A protest
A protest against the influence of women and children, concubines and minions (what we should call the harem influence) in the kings counsels.
(E. H.Plumptre, D. D.)
The rule of corrupt women
The celebrated Aspasia, first the mistress and afterward the wife of Pericles, had from her extraordinary talents a great ascendency over his mind, and was supposed frequently to have dictated his counsels in the most important concerns of the State. She was believed to have formed a society of courtesans, whose influence over their gallants, young men of consideration in the republic, she thus rendered subservient to the political views of Pericles . . . Such were the powers of her mind and the fascinating charms of her conversation, that even before her marriage, and while exercising the trade of a courtesan, her house was the frequent resort of the gravest and most respectable of the Athenian citizens; among the rest, of the virtuous Socrates. (Tytlers History.)
O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err
The character of rulers to be proved from the principles they inculcate and the policy they pursue
The Divine compassion is not only exercised towards men in reference to the danger of their immortal souls; it is also most strikingly to be witnessed with regard to their temporal miseries The Lord is lamenting, in this chapter, the miseries which were coming upon His professed people as the fruit of their doings; and as the consequence of that course of procedure which He would be constrained to adopt as the only means, devised by infinite wisdom, which could either work for their good, or be consistent with His character and glory. That order of dealing would, in many respects, be exceedingly mortifying and painful How lamentable must be the condition of any nation or people when the words of the text are literally fulfilled in them!
I. IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT THEY WHO ARE ENTRUSTED WITH THE RULE AND GUIDANCE OF OTHERS SHOULD THEMSELVES BE RULED AND GUIDED BY THE FEAR AND WORD OF THE LORD. The text is not the only passage in which the Lord speaks of the misery and ruin brought on the people by the errors, vices, and mismanagement of their rulers (chap. 9). Here you see, not only who the leaders of this people are, and how they are led astray by them, but what are the consequences of being under such an erring influence. The leaders are the head and the tail; the ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. Under this two-fold guidance, the people are led astray; and the result is, they that are led of them are destroyed. Advert again to the case before us. How came the paths of the people to be destroyed in the days of the prophet? They that led them, caused them to err. Now, could this have taken place if their lying prophets and wicked rulers themselves had been governed in the fear, and guided by the Word, of God? Psa 81:13-16.) Now, does not the same truth apply with equal force to ourselves, to our own rulers and our own people? Should anyone be disposed to object to this statement and say, May not a line of policy be good although not founded upon this principle? or, May not a man be a good ruler who follows no other guidance than his own wisdom or will?–we deny the assertion altogether. We deem nothing to be good which is not done in the fear, or according to the truth, of God. Now, can anyone rule in that fear who does not live under its influence? Can anyone lead others in the right way, who is not himself walking in it! Can anyone enforce on others the maxims and precepts of the Divine Word–the only standard of truth and error, and the only test of good and evil–unless that Word be made the light of his own feet, and the lamp of his own path? Morally speaking, the thing is impossible. Or, if he were to attempt to do so, would not indecision, ignorance, uncertainty, and error characterise all his proceedings?
II. IT IS NO DIFFICULT THING TO ASCERTAIN THE REAL CHARACTER OF SUCH PERSONS, ESPECIALLY IN THEIR PUBLIC CAPACITY, WHETHER THEY ARE UNDER SUCH AN INFLUENCE OR GUIDED BY SUCH A RULE, OR NOT. How are we to ascertain whether they who are entrusted with the rule and guidance of others are men to be confided in, as being themselves under the rule and guidance of the fear and Word of the Lord? We may ask in return, By what means are we to ascertain the true character of any other person or thing, so far as man is authorised and able to judge, which is brought under our notice, and whose real state and condition it may be of importance to determine? By whatever standard we are directed in the one case, by the same should we be guided in the other. We must be guided in our decision by the conduct and actions which are constantly exhibited before our eyes, and not merely by any fair professions which are totally contradicted, or, at least, exceedingly weakened, and continually to be called in question, by the life and conversation.
III. THE MANNER IN WHICH SUCH RULERS AND GUIDES GENERALLY MISLEAD OTHERS IS NOT ONLY PERNICIOUS IN ITSELF, BUT IS OPEN AND MANIFEST TO ALL BEHOLDERS.
1. By the inculcation of dangerous and pernicious principles. A man is what his principles are; and his actions and life will of necessity, be according to the principles by which he is governed. But how are we to ascertain the real character of principles? By the same test as we try men and actions. To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.
2. By the introduction of a crooked and perverse course of policy. Principles and policy in the affairs of nations, like faith and works in the things of God, will always go hand in hand together; or, at least, they will be so intimately blended with each other that they can never remain far asunder, because, in fact, as the one is the fruitful cause, so the other is the native effect produced.
3. By the exhibition of a wicked and contagious example.
4. By an unwarrantable abuse of their power, and by the countenance afforded to unworthy characters, and sanction given to wicked measures. Here, then, is a loud call–
(1) To survey and ponder the imminent peril to which we are exposed.
(2) To be humbled for our sins, and to sue to God for His mercy.
(3) And how does the subject speak to all those who lead the people astray, and destroy the way of their paths! How great must be their guilt! How heavy will be their condemnation! (R. Shittler.)
Ungodly national leaders to be deprecated
Surely it ought to be for a lamentation, when the present and eternal interests of any nation or people are committed to persons who know not the Lord, and are determined not to walk in His paths! If any spark of proper feeling were in exercise, we should grieve over a family placed under the care of such parents! we should mourn over a parish or diocese entrusted to the hands of such a shepherd! we should lament the fate of the crew of that vessel, which, instead of being steered amidst the perils of the storm, by an experienced and careful pilot, into the harbour for safety, should by some rash and unskilful hand be conducted into the quicksands or dashed upon the rock! We should feel the risings of national indignation, if the admirals of our fleets, or the commanders of our armies, instead of resisting an opposing foe, should sully their character, disobey their orders, disregard their king and their country, and, either from incompetency, or fear, or cowardice, or treason, should play into the enemys hand, betray the honour of the nation, abuse the confidence of their prince, and with reckless indifference sacrifice the lives of their men! Everyone would cry out, and that justly, against them. What then ought to be our feelings–how ought we to be affected–when such a dishonour is cast upon the Majesty of heaven; when His fear is disregarded; when His Word is set at nought; when His authority is despised; and the present and eternal welfare of millions is sacrificed by the wickedness or weakness of those who reject the only rule of all safe guidance–who lead a whole nation into sin, and bring down the wrath of God upon a guilty land! (R. Shittler.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Err – “Pervert”] billeu, “swallow.” Among many unsatisfactory methods of accounting for the unusual meaning of this word in this place, I choose Jarchi’s explication, as making the best sense. “Read billalu, ‘confound.’ Syriac.” – Dr. Judd. “Read beholu, ‘disturb or trouble.'” – Secker. So Septuagint.
This verse might be read, “The collectors of grapes shall be their oppressors; and usurers (noshim, instead of nashim, women) shall rule over them.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Women; either,
1. Properly so called, by their favour and power with the rulers; or,
2. Weak and effeminate rulers, such being called women both in sacred and profane writings.
They which lead thee; thy rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, whose duty it is to show thee the right way. Or, as others, they that bless thee, i.e. thy false prophets, which flatter thee, and speak peace to thee.
Destroy the way of thy paths; keep thee from the knowledge or practice of that way which leads to thy salvation, and mislead thee into evil courses, by their wicked counsels or examples.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. (See Isa3:4).
oppressorsliterally,”exactors,” that is, exacting princes (Isa60:17). They who ought to be protectors areexactors; as unqualified for rule as “children,” aseffeminate as “women.” Perhaps it is also implied that theywere under the influence of their harem, the women of their court.
leadHebrew,“call thee blessed”; namely, the false prophets, whoflatter the people with promises of safety in sin; as the political”rulers” are meant in the first clause.
way of thy paths (Jer6:16). The right way set forth in the law. “Destroy”Hebrew,“Swallow up,” that is, cause so utterly to disappear thatnot a vestige of it is left.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[As for] my people, children [are] their oppressors,…. Or rulers; for , in the Ethiopic language, signifies a king: or “exactors”, as in Isa 60:17 princes are so called, because they exact tribute of their subjects, and sometimes in a tyrannical and oppressive manner, and so get the name of oppressors. The sense is the same with Isa 3:4. The words may be rendered, “as for my people, everyone of their governors, is a child” n; not in age, but in understanding:
and women rule over them, or “over him” o; either over the people of Israel, as Alexandra before Hyrcanus, and Helena queen of the Adiabenes; or over the child their governor, as women had great influence over their husbands, the governors of Judea, in those times, as Herodias, Bernice, and Drusilla; or it may be understood of men, weak, effeminate, and given to pleasure:
O my people, they which lead thee: as the former may design their political governors, this their ecclesiastic rulers, who were to direct and lead them in the paths of religion and truth. Some render the words, “who praise thee”, as the Targum; “or bless you”, or “call you blessed”, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions, though guilty of the most flagitious crimes:
cause [thee] to err, or wander from the way of God’s commandments,
and destroy the way of the paths, by turning them out of the right way; by enjoining them the traditions of the elders; by taking away the key of knowledge from them, and not suffering them to go into the kingdom of heaven, or attend the ministry of the Gospel and ordinances; as did the Scribes and Pharisees, who were blind leaders of the blind.
n “exactorum ejus quisque parvulus est”, Piscator. o “in eum”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “in illum”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“My people, its oppressors are boys, and women rule over it; my people, thy leaders are misleaders, who swallow up the way of thy paths.” It is not probable that m eolel signifies maltreaters or triflers, by the side of the parallel nashim ; moreover, the idea of despotic treatment is already contained in nogesaiv . We expect to find children where there are women. And this is one meaning of m eolel . It does not mean a suckling, however, as Ewald supposes (160, a), more especially as it occurs in connection with yonek (Jer 44:7; Lam 2:11), and therefore cannot have precisely the same meaning; but, like and (the former of which may be contracted from m eolel ), it refers to the boy as playful and wanton ( Lascivum , protervum ). Bttcher renders it correctly, pueri , lusores , though m eolel is not in itself a collective form, as he supposes; but the singular is used collectively, or perhaps better still, the predicate is intended to apply to every individual included in the plural notion of the subject (compare Isa 16:8; Isa 20:4, and Ges. 146, 4): the oppressors of the people, every one without exception, were (even though advanced in years) mere boys or youths in their mode of thinking and acting, and made all subject to them the football of their capricious humour. Here again the person of the king is allowed to fall into the background. but the female rule, referred to afterwards, points us to the court. And this must really have been the case when Ahaz, a young rake, came to the throne at the age of twenty (according to the lxx twenty-five), possibly towards the close of the reign of Jotham. With the deepest anguish the prophet repeats the expression “my people,” as he passes in his address to his people from the rulers to the preachers: for the m eassherim or leaders are prophets (Mic 3:5); but what prophets! Instead of leading the people in a straight path, they lead them astray (Isa 9:15, cf., 2Ki 21:9). This they did, as we may gather from the history of this crowd of prophets, either by acting in subservience to the ungodly interests of the court with dynastic or demagogical servility, or by flattering the worst desires of the people. Thus the way of the path of the people, i.e., the highway or road by whose ramifying paths the people were to reach the appointed goal, had been swallowed up by them, i.e., taken away from the sight and feet of the people, so that they could not find it and walk therein (cf., Isa 25:7-8, where the verb is used in another connection). What is swallowed up is invisible, has disappeared, without a grace being left behind. The same idea is applied in Job 39:27 to a galloping horse, which is said to swallow the road, inasmuch as it leaves piece after piece behind it in its rapid course. It is stated here with regard to the prophets, that they swallow up the road appointed by Jehovah, as the one in which His people were to walk, just as a criminal swallows a piece of paper which bears witness against him, and so hides it in his own stomach. Thus the way of salvation pointed out by the law was no longer to be either heard of or seen. The prophets, who ought to have preached it, said m um , m um , and kept it swallowed. It had completely perished, as it were, in the erroneous preaching of the false prophets.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verse 12-26: A CONDEMNATION OF OPPRESSION, LUXURY AND PRIDE
1. The people of Judah are ruled, with tyranny, by women and capricious children – misleaders; who cause them to err and confuse the course of their paths. ,
2. The cries of the oppressed having reaching the ear of the Lord God of hosts, He is pictured as rising up to judge His people -beginning with the elders and princes who have devoured His vineyard and enriched themselves by the plunder of the poor, (Isa 5:7; Isa 10:1-2; Mic 6:2; Hos 4:1; Hos 12:2; Mic 3:1-3; comp. Eze 20:35-38; Mat 21:33-44).
3. He demands to know what they expect to gain by the brutal suppression of His people – grinding the faces of the poor!
4. The judgment coming upon the nation reaches all who have contributed to the national guilt; here He specifically condemns the “daughters of Zion”.
a. They are proud, haughty and luxuriously robed.
b. They are scandalously seductive in the way they attract attention to themselves.
c. Provoked to anger by their sin, the Lord humbles them -smiting their heads with scabs, taking away their extravagant adornments, and revealing them as they really are, (comp. Ezekiel 16).
5. Warfare, captivity and utter humiliation is foreseen for the daughters of Zion.
a. Their men will fall by the sword so that the ultimate reproach, the one most feared by women of Palestine, comes upon them – widowhood, or the lack of a husband.
b. Their desperation is clearly portrayed by the prophet in Isa 4:1.
“And In that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12. The oppressors of any people are children (60) Here also is reproved the madness and sottishness of the people, because they shut their eyes at noon-day. There is nothing which men are more reluctant to allow than to have a yoke laid on them; nor do they willingly submit to be governed by nobles. Feeble and cowardly, therefore, must be the minds of those who obey delicate and effeminate men, and permit themselves to be oppressed by them; nor can it be doubted that God has struck with a spirit of cowardice those who offer their shoulders, like asses, to bear burdens. The power of a tyrant must indeed be endured, even by men of courage; but the reproach which Isaiah brings against the Jews is, that while they obstinately shake off the yoke of God, they are ready to yield abject submission to men, and to perform any services, however shameful or degrading.
For the Jews could not complain that they were compelled by violence, when of their own accord they obeyed those whose authority they would gladly have declined. Hence it is evident that they were struck by the hand of God, and were shaken with terror, so that they had no strength either of body or of mind.
This is also the vengeance which God had formerly threatened by Moses; for the general doctrine of Moses, as we have already said, is continually alluded to by the prophets. (61) or how was it possible that men who had the power of resistance should of their own accord undergo a slavery from which they would willingly have escaped, had not God deprived them of understanding and forethought that he might in this manner take vengeance on their crimes? Whenever, therefore, anything of this kind shall befall us; let us not imagine that it came by chance. On the contrary, whenever it shall happen that we are governed by men who are of no estimation, and which are more insignificant than children, let us acknowledge the wrath of the Lord, if we do not choose that the Prophet shall charge us with the grossest stupidity.
They who govern thee (62) He continues to teach the same doctrine, that when God lets loose the reins against the wicked, so as to disturb everything, he shows that he is highly offended at the Jews; for if they had enjoyed his favor, there was reason to hope that his government would be most holy and blessed. At the same time it is probable that the common herd of men were so foolishly devoted to their rulers, that they revered as oracles both their injunctions and their conduct; and hence arose all the corruption that everywhere prevailed. Since, therefore, the contagion was spreading farther without being perceived by the people, Isaiah cries aloud that they ought to guard against the governors themselves, who corrupt and destroy the people.
Others explain it, they who bless thee; but as the participle which he employs may be taken from ישר, ( yashar,) which signifies to rule, I shall rather adopt that interpretation, for it is more agreeable to the context. (63) I do acknowledge that the false prophets flattered the people, but I see no reason why their flatteries should be mentioned here. But it applies very well to the rulers and heads, that they were the cause of the destruction; for as princes are raised to their office for the sake of the public safety, so no plague is more destructive than when they are bad men, and rule according to their own caprice. He says, therefore, that they who rule are the causes of the evils, and that they corrupt everything, since it was their duty to correct other men, and to point out the way by their own example.
(60) As for my people, children are their oppressors. — Eng. Ver
(61) Our author appears to have particularly in his eye, Lev 26:36, And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth. — Ed.
(62) They which lead thee. — (Eng. Ver.) The marginal reading is, they which call thee blessed. — Ed.
(63) The reading of the Septuagint is, οἱ μακαρίζοντες ὑμᾶς, they who bless you. Undoubtedly מאשרים comes from אשר, and not from ישר, which in the corresponding participle gives מישרים. From the Kal of אשר, to go, the Pihel, taking a Hiphil meaning, denotes to cause to go, or to lead. Not improbably our Author meant that the one verb borrows one of its meanings from the other; but this would need proof. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
BLIND LEADERS
Isa. 3:12. O my people, they which lead thee [550] cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
[550] The marginal reading, they which call thee happy (Mal. 3:12; Mal. 3:15), represents vividly the method adopted by the false prophets; who, instead of warning the people against the dangers of prosperity, were ever felicitating them upon it, saying, Peace, peace, when there was no peace. But the textual rendering appears to be the preferable one.Kay.
This is at once a lament and a condemnationa lament over the misfortunes of those who are misguided, a condemnation of their folly and wickedness in permitting themselves to be led astray.
I. Men need to be led.
1. This is our need as individuals. Every day we need an answer to the questions, What ought I to do? Which way should I go In the journey of life, we continually come to crossings at which we are conscious of our need of guidance.
2. Guidance is still more necessary for men collectively. What shall be the belief of a community? What its action? Like the apostolic band (Joh. 21:2-3), communities remain idle, undecided, until the born leader says, I go a-fishing, and instantly they say to him, We also go with thee. Men are naturally gregarious; like a flock of sheep they crowd and inconvenience each other, not knowing which way to turn, until one bolder than the rest breaks away from the flock, and then instantly the flock begins to follow him.
II. As a rule men are misled. Boldness and wisdom do not always go together. Not seldom the courage which prompts men to become the leaders of others, and which goes so far to command the assent of others, is a compound of self-conceit and ignorance. Men are always prone to trust in the self-confident: they will believe the boastful quack rather than the diffident philosopher. Hence in all ages men have been caused to errthe blind have been led by the blind. How true this is to-day in political matters, in social, in commercial, in religious! [Give instances.] On every hand, in all these realms of thought and action, there are those who can only rightly be described as leaders who cause the people to err. Yea, all men carry within them two leaders, in whom they are disposed implicitly to trust, but by whom in the majority of instances they are misledreason and conscience. How absolute is the confidence placed in these guides, and how seldom it is justified!
III. To be misled is one of the most terrible of evils.
1. It involves the loss of all the good to which right leadership would have conducted men.
2. It involves disappointment, shame, sorrow, and often irretrievable ruin.
3. It plunges men into painful perplexities, so that even when they have begun to suspect that the path they are pursuing is erroneous, they know not how to discover the true one; it seems to them to be destroyed; they search for it in vain. They are like travellers who, in the darkness following Will-of-the-Wisp, have strayed from the highway into a morass: to stand still is impossible, and yet to step in any direction, may plunge them into worse perils (Mat. 15:14). How criminal is the conduct of those who betray their fellow-men into misery such as this!
In view of these facts,
1. We should not entrust ourselves to the first guide who offers himself to us. Let us examine the credentials of those who ask us to trust ourselves to their care (Mat. 24:24; 1Jn. 4:1-3; Isa. 8:20).
2. In weighing the claims of men to be our leaders, we should have regard supremely to their moral qualifications. Their intellectual competency is, of course, not to be disregarded, but moral character is infinitely more important. Not all good men are fitted to be leaders; but no bad man can safely be followed by others. He is continually apt to be guided by policy, rather than principle, and policy leads to perdition [553] Policy is at the best but guess-worksteering by the current: the man who is governed by principle steers by the stars, and neither can be long misled, nor will he wilfully mislead others. Practical Application.Never vote for any candidate for a public office, however clever he may be, if his integrity is doubtful.
3. Every man needs guidance more close and intimate than any of his fellow-men can afford him: he needs to be led even in choosing his leaders. Whither shall he look for this guidance? To his reason, his conscience? These guides themselves need instruction [556] in the absence of it, they have led millions to perdition. We need supernatural and sure guidance, and we have it
(1) in Gods Word, and
(2) in Gods Spirit (Pro. 3:5-6). The man who follows these guides will be led always in the paths of righteousness and peace.
[553] Men know where they are going when they follow a principle; because principles are rays of light. If you trace a ray of light in all its reflections, you will find that it runs back to the central sun; and every great line of honesty, every great line of honour, runs back towards the centre of God. And the man that follows these things knows that he is steering right Godward. But the man that follows policies, and worldly maxims, does not know where he is steering, except that in general he is steering toward the devil.Beecher.
[556] Reason is Gods candle in man. But, as a candle must first be lighted, ere it will enlighten, so reason must be illuminated by Divine grace, ere it can savingly discern spiritual things.Toplady, 17401778.
Conscience, as an expression of the law or will and mind of God, is not now to be implicitly depended on. It is not infallible. What was true to its office in Eden, has been deranged and shattered by the fall; and now lies, as I have seen a sun-dial in the neglected garden of an old, desolate ruin, thrown down from its pedestal, prostrate on the ground, and covered by tall, rank weeds. So far from being since that fatal event an infallible directory of duty, conscience has often lent its sanction to the grossest errors, and prompted to the greatest crimes. Did not Saul of Tarsus, for instance, hale men and women to prison; compel them to blaspheme; and imbrue his hands in saintly blood, while conscience approved the deedhe judging the while that he did God service? What wild and profane imaginations has it accepted as the oracles of God? and as if fiends had taken possession of a God-deserted shrine, have not the foulest crimes, as well as the most shocking cruelties, been perpetrated in its name? Read the Book of Martyrs, read the sufferings of our forefathers; and, under the cowl of a shaven monk, or the trappings of a haughty Churchman, you shall see conscience persecuting the saints of God, and dragging even tender women and children to the bloody scaffold or the burning stake. With eyes swimming in tears, or flashing fire, we close the painful record, to apply to Conscience the words addressed to Liberty by the French heroine, when, passing its statue, she rose in the cart that bore her to the guillotine, and throwing up her arms, exclaimed, O Liberty, what crimes have been done in thy name! And what crimes in thine, O Conscience! deeds from which even humanity shrinks; against which religion lifts her loudest protest; and which furnish the best explanation of these awful words, If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!
So far as doctrines and duties are concerned, not conscience, but the revealed Word of God, is our one, only sure and safe directory.Guthrie.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(12) Children are their oppressors . . .This points, as before (Isa. 3:4), to the youth and yet more the character of Ahaz. The influence of the queen-mother or of the seraglio was dominant in his counsels. Cowardly (Isa. 7:2), idolatrous, delighting in foreign worships and foreign forms of art (2Ki. 16:10), such was the king who then sat on the throne of Judah. And the evil worked downwards from the throne. Those who should have been the leaders of the people were quick only to mislead. Princes, priests, judges were all drifting with the current of debasement.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Through a vista of years the prophet sees the Jews much reduced in power, pusillanimous in character, enslaved to evil-doing, and so helpless in that slavery, that he says, children that is, men of weakest moral force are allowed to overpower them; and women, women of the royal court, that is, from the royal harem, rule over them. The statement here seems made in a tone of contempt. The law as to the sexes seems reversed. (Gen 3:16.) The divine order was first invaded by Solomon, whose wives prattled to him about Chemosh and Milcom, and prevailed.
They which lead thee cause thee to err Compromises with idolatry are destructive of moral and civil order.
The way of thy paths The way appointed for Israel; the guide-marks of which along the whole way become obliterated, in so far as any taint of idolatry infests the heart of the people.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Failure Of The Leaders of the People ( Isa 3:12-15 ).
Isa 3:12-15
‘As for my people, children are their oppressors (taskmasters),
And women rule over them.
O my people, those who should set you right cause you to err,
And swallow up the way of your paths.
Yahweh stands up to plead,
And stands to judge the peoples.
Yahweh will enter into judgment,
With the elders of his people, and its princes.
“It is you who have eaten up the vineyard.
The spoil of the poor is in your houses.
What do you mean that you crush my people,
And grind the face of the poor?”,
Says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.’
Isaiah now bemoans the lack of leadership that will have brought God’s people to their situation, continuing the theme that the people have no one to rely on. They are oppressed by ‘children’ and ruled by ‘women’, people who are immature and callous and weak. That is why the people are in their present state, because those who should set them right have rather caused them to err. The ‘ways of their paths’ have been swallowed up. This may mean that the course they have taken has led to their judgment, or alternately that the signposts they should have been given have instead been taken away.
It is open to question whether ‘women’ should be taken figuratively or literally. If the former it is the derogatory ‘they are a lot of women’, if the latter it refers to women manipulating their menfolk. Compare the parallel in Isa 3:4.
But Yahweh has now taken up His stance to judge the peoples, He will therefore enter into judgment with these elders and princes who have led them astray. The elders are the civic leaders, the princes, the executive. He will point out to them that they have ‘eaten up the vineyard’ (literally ‘burned’ and therefore ‘laid bare’) which is Israel, have fleeced the poor and made themselves rich at their expense, and have thus crushed them and ‘ground’ their faces so as to produce benefits for themselves. It is a disgraceful thing when politicians are corrupt and greedy, and especially when the leaders of God’s people utilise their position to make themselves rich at the expense of others.
Note that Israel is here God’s vineyard. Compare Isa 5:1-7. Jesus had people such as this in mind when He spoke of the wicked husbandmen over the vineyard in Mar 12:1-11.
‘Yahweh stands up to plead, and stands to judge the peoples.’ For a similar picture of Yahweh calling the whole earth together so that He may judge His people see Psalms 50.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Vanity of the Women of Jerusalem
v. 12. As for My people, v. 13. The Lord standeth up to plead, v. 14. The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of His people, v. 15. What mean ye that ye beat My people to pieces, v. 16. Moreover, the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with stretched-forth necks, v. 17. therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, v. 18. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery, v. 19. the chains, v. 20. the bonnets, v. 21. the rings, v. 22. the changeable suits of apparel, v. 23. the glasses, v. 24. And it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell, v. 25. Thy men shall fall by the sword, v. 26. And her gates,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Isa 3:12-15. As for my people, &c. In these verses the prophet describes the incapacity and weakness, the ignorance and corruption, the oppression and cruelty of the priests and rulers of the people; such as we learn from history they were before the Babylonish captivity.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Reader! do not fail to observe, both indeed in this place, and through the word of God at large, that amidst all the backslidings of Israel, the Lord still keeps up the remembrance of their relationship. The name is not lost; As for MY people, saith the Lord. And how doth the Lord expostulate with their enemies that cause them to stray: what mean ye, that ye beat my people? Precious Lord Jesus! and dost thou not plead with all our enemies in this way? And wilt thou not punish and confound them for the deliverance of thy people? That is a sweet scripture to this amount. Pro 22:23 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 3:12 [As for] my people, children [are] their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause [thee] to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
Ver. 12. As for my people. ] Now the “people of my wrath, and of my curse”; Loammi, discovenanted, discarded.
Children are their oppressors.
O my people, they which lead thee.
Destroy the way of thy paths.
a Heyl. Cosmography.
b Dan. Hist., p. 257.
c Qui beatificant te. , who blesses you.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
children = little ones.
destroy = have swallowed up.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
children: Isa 3:4, 2Ki 11:1, Nah 3:13
lead thee: or, which call thee blessed, Isa 9:15, Num 6:23-27, Jer 5:31, Mat 15:14
destroy: Heb. swallow up, Mat 23:14
Reciprocal: Lev 25:14 – General Jos 3:11 – passeth 2Ch 33:1 – twelve Pro 28:16 – prince Ecc 10:16 – when Isa 9:16 – the leaders Isa 28:7 – err in Isa 43:27 – and thy Jer 18:15 – caused Jer 23:32 – to err Hos 4:6 – My people Heb 9:7 – errors Jam 5:19 – err
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 3:12. As for my people In this and the following verses, says Dr. Dodd, the prophet describes the incapacity and weakness, the ignorance and corruption, the oppression and cruelty of the priests and rulers of the people; such as we learn from history they were before the Babylonish captivity. Children are their oppressors Persons young in years, of little experience, and who have not due consideration, but, following the impulse of their passions, without regard to any thing else, have the power in their hands, which they use at their pleasure, of exacting tribute of the people; and women rule over them Weak and effeminate rulers. Or, perhaps he speaks of the wives and concubines of their kings and great men, who, by their arts, gaining an ascendency over their husbands, induced them to act as they desired, though frequently to the peoples prejudice, and in a manner contrary to all the laws. Thus it was in the reign of Jehoram, king of Judah, whose wife Athaliah, a cruel and weak woman, occasioned great disorders in the state; see 2 Chronicles chap. 21. and 22.; and thus undoubtedly it frequently happened after the time Isaiah uttered this prophecy. They who lead thee Thy rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, whose duty it is to show thee the right way; or, as , may be properly rendered, they that bless thee; that is, thy false prophets, who flatter thee, and speak, peace to thee; cause thee to err From the way of truth and duty, from the way of safety and prosperity. Instead of leading thee to repentance and reformation, they encourage thee to go on in sin and rebellion against him, on whom thou art dependant for all things. Those teachers are indeed impostors, that pronounce a people safe and happy who continue in sin; for it is contrary to the very nature of things, that any people can be happy who are contemners of the divine laws. Their punishment may be delayed, but it is not therefore remitted; and every step they take in such a way is a step toward misery and ruin. And destroy the way of thy paths Keep thee from the knowledge or practice of those paths which lead to safety and happiness, and mislead thee into evil courses, by their wicked counsels or examples.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:12 [As for] my people, {k} children [are] their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they who lead thee cause [thee] to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
(k) Because the wicked people were more addicted to their princes than to the commandments of God, he shows that he would give them such princes, by whom they would have no help, but that they would be manifest tokens of his wrath, because they would be fools and effeminate.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Isaiah personally bemoaned the plight of the people who had already begun to experience the frustration of incompetent leaders and who would have to endure still more of the same. In his day, women did not have the educational advantages that men enjoyed, and so were less equipped to lead than men. Children, in spite of their lack of maturity, experience, perspective, and wisdom, were nonetheless needed to lead adults. Unqualified leaders were leading the people astray and giving them confusing directions concerning God’s will. God’s special gift to His people throughout history involved furnishing inspired leaders. Now He would withdraw them. [Note: Watts, p. 41.]