Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 3:13
The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
13. The verse reads: Jehovah has stationed himself to plead, and is standing to Judge peoples. Instead of “peoples” LXX. reads “his people” (cf. Deu 32:36), which is easier, since there is nothing to indicate that a world-judgment is contemplated. It is doubtful whether the word can denote the separate tribes of Israel. If the Heb. text be retained, the idea must be that of a general assize, in which Israel is judged first.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
13 15. A judgment scene, somewhat loosely connected with what has gone before, but expressing in another form the same sympathy with the oppressed which appears in Isa 3:12. Jehovah, at once accuser and judge, comes to vindicate the cause of the poor against their oppressors.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Lord standeth up – To stand up may mean the same as to arise. God would not sit in silence and see their wicked conduct; but he would come forth to inflict on them exemplary and deserved chastisement.
To plead – To litigate, to contend with, that is, to condemn, to inflict punishment.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 3:13-15
The Lord standeth up to plead
Gods controversy
The management of this controversy.
I. GOD HIMSELF IS THE PROSECUTOR.
II. THE INDICTMENT IS PROVED BY THE NOTORIOUS EVIDENCE OF THE FACT (Isa 3:15).
III. THE CONTROVERSY IS ALREADY BEGUN IN THE CHANGE OF THE MINISTRY. To punish those that had abused their power to ill purposes, God sets those over them that had not sense to use it to any good purposes (Isa 3:12). (M. Henry.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. The people – “His people”] ammo, Septuagint.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Lord standeth up; he will shortly and certainly stand up as a judge, to inquire into the cause, and to give sentence.
To judge the people, i.e. to defend and deliver them, or to judge for them, as this phrase is oft used.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. standeth upno longersitting in silence.
pleadindignant againsta wicked people (Isa 66:16;Eze 20:35).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The Lord standeth up to plead,…. His own cause, or the cause of his son against the Jews that rejected him, and the Scribes and Pharisees that led them to an ill opinion of him:
and standeth to judge the people. Both expressions show indignation and resentment; he rises up out of his place, and stands up in defence of his cause, and avenges himself on a wicked and ungrateful people: it seems to have reference to the judgments of God on the people of the Jews, the tribes of Israel.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This was how it stood. There was but little to be expected from the exhortations of the prophet; so that he had to come back again and again to the proclamation of judgment. The judgment of the world comes again before his mind. – “Jehovah has appeared to plead, and stands up to judge the nations.” When Jehovah, weary with His long-suffering, rises up from His heavenly throne, this is described as “standing up” ( kum , Isa 2:19, Isa 2:21; Isa 33:10); and when He assumes the judgment-seat in the sight of all the world, this is called “sitting down” ( yashab , Psa 9:5, Joe 3:12); when, having come down from heaven (Mic 1:2.), He comes forward as accuser, this is called “standing” ( nizzab or amad , Psa 82:1: amad is coming forward and standing, as the opposite of sitting; nizzab , standing, with the subordinate idea of being firm, resolute, ready). This pleading ( ribh , Jer 25:31) is also judging ( din ), because His accusation, which is incontrovertible, contains the sentence in itself; and His sentence, which executes itself irresistibly, is of itself the infliction of punishment. Thus does he stand in the midst of the nations at once accuser, judge, and executioner (Psa 7:8). But among the nations it is more especially against Israel that He contends; and in Israel it is more especially against the leaders of the poor misguided and neglected people that He sets Himself.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
13. Jehovah standeth up to plead So long as wickedness rages without control, and the Lord sends no relief from on high, we think that he is idle and has forgotten his duty. More especially, when the nobles themselves are spared, he appears to grant them liberty to commit sin, as if they were most sacred persons that must not be touched. Accordingly, after having complained of the princes, he adds that the Lord will do what his authority demands, and will not permit such flagrant crimes to pass unpunished. For there is hardly any conduct more offensive, or more fitted to disturb our minds, than when the worst examples of every sort are publicly exhibited by magistrates, while no man utters a syllable against them, but almost all give their approbation. We then ask, Where is God, whose glory, a great part of which, consisting in authority, is taken away, ought to have been illustriously displayed by men of that rank? Isaiah meets this difficulty by saying, “Though the nation is wicked, yet because the princes themselves are very greatly corrupted, and even pollute the whole nation by their vices, God sits as judge in heaven, and will at length call them to account, and assign to every one his reward.” Although he does not exempt the multitude from guilt, yet that the sources of the evils may be known, he particularly attacks the rulers, and threatens them with the punishment which they deserved.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE PLEADER AND THE JUDGE
Isa. 3:13-15. The Lord standeth up to plead, &c.
I. THE PLEADER WHO HERE PRESENTS HIMSELF. Note
1. His majesty. The ancient idea of an advocate was that of a venerable person who would be heard for his own sake, and who would therefore be able to secure for the cause of his clients an attention that would not otherwise he accorded to it. The ideal of a pleader was that of a person noble in birth and blameless in character. To a considerable extent this ideal has been preserved in our English courts of law. A barrister must be a gentleman (at least in this sense, that he has never earned his bread by manual labour), and of good repute as a man of honour. Certain barristers have established such a reputation, not only for ability and learning, but also for character, and are always listened to with respect; happy therefore is the suitor who is able to secure their advocacy. But this Pleaderhow august and venerable is He! How infatuated are those who do not stand prepared to listen carefully and respectfully to whatever He may advance!
2. His benevolence. The ancient idea of a pleader was again that of a person who undertook to advocate the cause of another out of a sense of justice and compassion. Advocacy was esteemed too sacred a thing to be purchased with money. In the course of time the practice sprang up of rewarding the exertions of an advocate by an honorarium; but the distinction that still exists between a barrister and an attorney, shows us what the ancient idea of the advocate was. In God this idea is perfectly fulfilled. Without fee or reward, out of pure compassion and justice, He has become counsel for the poor and oppressed. Of this fact there is abundant evidence in Scripture, and surely it should kindle within us admiration and love. We justly venerate Howard, Clarkson, Wilberforceshall we not still more greatly honour God, who stoops to regard them that are of low degree, and becomes the advocate of those who have no other friend?
3. His earnestness. The advocate is supposed to make the cause of his client for the time being his own. Often the supposition is realised in a remarkable degree. But in God it is perfectly realised. The oppressed for whom He pleads He speaks of, not merely as these people, but as my people. In all their afflictions He is afflicted. However frequently men may forget it, He remembers that He is the Father of all mankind, and the wrongs of His children He feels to be His wrongs; the feebler they are, the less able they are to defend themselves, the more do their wrongs wound Him, and provoke Him to angerThis is the Advocate who stands up to plead for the oppressed. Will the oppressors be so infatuated as to turn a deaf ear to His pleading? Let those who are tempted to do so pause, and consider
II. THAT HE WHO NOW PLEADS BEFORE THEM WILL BE THEIR JUDGE. An astonishing reversal of circumstances is about to take place: the Advocate is about to ascend the judicial bench, and those before whom He pleads are to stand at His bar. He has announced beforehand the principles upon which then He will proceed.
1. He will have no regard to rank. He will enter into judgment with the ancients and princes. In many countries, great criminals have been able to defy the judge; but none shall be able to defy this Judge [562]
2. He will pronounce mere indifference to want and suffering a crime (Mat. 25:42-45).
3. Those who have inflicted suffering He will judge upon the strict rule of retribution, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (Jas. 2:13).
[562] Justice, when equal scales she holds, is blind,
Nor cruelty nor mercy change her mind.
When some escape for that which others die,
Mercy to those, to these is cruelty:
A fine and slender net the spider weaves:
Which little and slight animals receives;
And if she catch a summer bee or fly,
They with a piteous groan and murmur die;
But if a wasp or hornet she entrap,
They tear her cords, like Sampson, and escape;
So, like a fly, the poor offender dies;
But like the wasp, the rich escapes and flies.
Sir John Denham.
In the corrupted currents of this world,
Offences gilded hand may shove by justice,
And oft tis seen, the wicked prize itself
Buys out the law. But tis not so above:
There is no shuffling, there the action lies
In its nature; and we ourselves compelld,
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,
To give in evidence.
Shakespeare.
By these truths let us be guided in our use of whatever power over others that may have been entrusted to us. Let us hear God proclaiming that the poor are His people, and let us so comport ourselves towards them, that in the end we may come to know the fulness of the meaning of the Masters declaration, that blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(13) The Lord standeth up to plead . . .The people may think that the prophet is their censor. He bids them know that Jehovah is their true accuser and their judge. Ye, he says, with all the emphasis of a sudden change of person, as if turning, as he spoke, to the nobles and elders, ye have devoured the vineyard, ye have spoiled the poor. (Comp. Isa. 5:1-8; Pro. 30:12-14.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. This headlong life of the nation cannot last.
The Lord standeth up He cometh forward (that is the verb’s meaning) after sufficient trial and endurance.
To plead To litigate, to contend, to inflict punishment.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 3:13 The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.
Ver. 13. The Lord standeth up to plead. ] Or, To debate, Job 9:3 Pro 25:8-9 to argue the case, and to hear pleas. He is content, for the clearing of his justice and conviction of sinners, to submit his courses unto scanning. See Isa 5:3 . Iudicate quaeso, Judge, I pray you. so Jer 2:9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, and with your children’s children will I plead. But when that is done,
He standeth to judge the people.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 3:13-15
13The Lord arises to contend,
And stands to judge the people.
14The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people,
It is you who have devoured the vineyard;
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
15What do you mean by crushing My people
And grinding the face of the poor?
Declares the Lord God of hosts.
Isa 3:13-15 YHWH enters into a dispute (i.e., court scene, cf. Isa 1:2) with His people’s leaders (elders and princes). They have destroyed His community (i.e., vineyard, Isa 3:14). They have taken advantage of the poor, helpless, and powerless of society.
They used the legal system inappropriately (cf. Isa 3:9) to their advantage, and must now stand before YHWH’s judgment.
The prophets hold Israel/Judah accountable to the requirements of the Mosaic covenant, obedience had consequences and disobedience had consequences!
Isa 3:13
NASB, NKJV,
TEV, NJB,
LXX, Peshitta,
REBpeople
NRSVpeoples
The SINGULAR comes from the LXX followed by the Peshitta. The MT has the PLURAL. In this context the SINGULAR fits best because the prophet is addressing Judea (i.e., Isa 3:14). In other contexts in Isaiah the nations, the peoples, is used. Context, context, context! The MT is not inerrant! Context must be the final guide!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
people = peoples.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 3:13-24
Isa 3:13-15
“Jehovah standeth up to contend, and standeth to judge the peoples. Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders of his people, and the princes thereof: It is ye that have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses; what mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the face of the poor? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.”
On these verses, God stresses the fact that he does indeed judge “the peoples,” all the nations of men; but he includes here the stern warning that his own people are sorely in need of judgment, that it is the rulers and princes of the chosen nation itself that have eaten up God’s vineyard and oppressed his people. In Isaiah 5, Isaiah will return to this subject; but this statement of the Lord is not less damning than Isaiah 5. The charges against the false leaders are powerful indeed. They crush … eat-up, and grind God’s people.
Hailey pointed out that God’s warning here to ancient Israel should also prove as a warning to our own generation:
“Micah describes how easy it is for a false prophet to lead the people astray. “If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood do lie, saying I will prophecy unto thee of wine and strong drink, he shall even be the prophet of this people” (Mic 2:11). The same principle can be observed today. Our country is on the verge of political and economic ruin because of unsound leadership. Also, the church has experienced apostasy and spiritual chaos because of the leadership of elders, preachers, and leaders who regard not the Lord’s way, but follow their own.
Isa 3:13-15 RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH. It is not merely with foreign nations they shall have to contend-Almighty God, the Lord of Hosts, arises to contend with this people. The great sin of the time was oppression of the poor by the rich. God is represented as the advocate and helper for the cause of the downtrodden. He enters into judgment with the leaders and elders of Judah and accuses them of having oppressed and defrauded His people (Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, accuses the rich of skinning the poor alive!). Such sin exemplifies precisely the injustice, greed, and irresponsibility of the rich and ruling and is a perfect example of the cruelty which God hates. The rich and ruling had devoured for themselves what did not belong to them-Gods own people (vineyard). When the prophets came to warn them to leave the harvest of Gods vineyard to Him, they killed the prophets. And when the Heir (the Son) came, they killed him (Cf. Luk 20:9-18). How brazen could they be-how did they dare to mistreat the precious heritage of the Almighty God?
Isa 3:16-17
“Moreover Jehovah said, because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet; therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will lay bare their secret parts.”
Clarkson described the womanly folly of this section as “The latest and saddest symptom of Israel’s decline,” adding:
“Corruption may have spread far and done much evil in the community; but there is hope for the city or the church so long as the wives and the mothers, the daughters and the sisters retain their moral and spiritual integrity. When that is gone, all is gone. Purity and worth find their last retreat under the domestic roof; if they be driven thence, they are doomed to die; and with that death any community, church or nation shall soon perish.
“Outstretched necks and wanton eyes …” Many translators understand this to mean “shameless and immodest behavior” designed to attract men. Peake rendered “ogling eyes” for “wanton eyes.
“And will lay bare their secret parts …” This was literally the shameful punishment that was given to women convicted of adultery, as described in Nah 3:5-6 –
“I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face; and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and will make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock.”
In Nahum this was described as the punishment God would inflict upon Nineveh; and here the same punishment is promised for apostate Israel.
Isa 3:18-23
“In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, and the cauls, and the crescents; the pendants, and the bracelets, and the mufflers; the headtires, and the ankle chains, and the sashes, and the perfume-boxes, and the amulets; the rings, and the nose-jewels; the festival robes, and the mantles, and the shawls, and the satchels; the hand-mirrors, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the veils.”
“These twenty-one items of finery make a little kingdom of their own, enough to occupy the whole mind, and utterly vulnerable. What a catalogue of feminine vanity is represented by a list like this! It carries a reminder of the court of Louis XIV. “Although these particular trivialities may seem remote, all generations of both sexes have their own solemn absurdities which can be all-absorbing.
The meaning of some of the items treasured by these sophisticated females of Jerusalem is not always certain. The ankle-chains were worn to limit the gracious ladies to short mincing steps. The crescents were ornaments identified with the Midianites and were probably connected with some kind of idolatry. The nose-jewels were of the type worn through the cartilage separating the nostrils as seen in certain African tribes. Veils have always constituted a necessary part of female attire in the Mid-east. The festival garments were the grand costumes worn on designated occasions. Hand-mirrors were made of highly polished metal, usually of brass; and were adorned with an attractive handle. Lowth tells us that the item given in our version (Isa 3:23) as “fine linen” is actually “a transparent garment, designed to `betray through its clear texture every tender limb, heightening the charms it only seemed to shade. If we knew the full meaning and utility of all these items so treasured by those women called by Peake, “Those West End Ladies,” it is likely we should find other aids and encouragements to immorality prevalent in that era.
Isa 3:16 THE REASON: Wantonness (i.e., undisciplined; unruly; unchaste; lewd; licentious; extravagant; arrogant recklessness) of the women. The daughters of Zion means the women of the covenant nation. The women were haughty and proud and concerned with luxurious adornment of themselves in order to bring attention to themselves. This is immodesty! They copied every fad and fashion of their heathen neighbors. Outstretched necks probably means walking with the nose in the air. Mincing steps means to walk with short little steps so as to affect primness or daintiness. It was all exaggeration in order to draw attention to themselves. Fabulous amounts of money were spent on adornment. Many hours of each day were wasted by these women primping and beautifying themselves. When women are wholly vain and self-centered, the cancer of moral decay has begun to consume a nation or a people. Proper adornment and true beauty in women should never call attention to themselves but should direct the beholders attention to God and His Son. When women cultivate beauty only for itself, they are infringing upon and detracting from the glory of God. Such vainglory might be expected in women of the world, but the daughters of Zion (which today is the church) must exemplify the beauty of holiness!
Is Isaiah, or the Bible, against all feminine or masculine adornment? Hardly! It is the misuse of adornment against which the Bible speaks. In fact, God has made certain parts of the human body to be alluring and attractive. The Song of Solomon gives a great deal of detail about both natural beauty of the human body and the adornment of it. But the Song does not indicate such beauty and adornment should be used for prideful purposes, rather for God-ordained purposes of love.
When one pauses to consider the disparity between the billions of dollars spent each year by American females (and males) on vain and selfish cosmetics and clothing and the few dollars given each year to the work of the Gospel which transforms men and women into the beauty of holiness, one wonders what God must think!
Isa 3:17-24 THE JUDGMENT: They will reap what they sow. Those who delight in immodest exposure will be rewarded with immodest exposure at the hands of vile men. Why are those women who delight in overtly attracting men by their immodesty always so shocked and offended when immodest and vulgar men demonstrate their attractions?! Laying bare their secret parts probably means they will be raped by pagan soldiers. Their indulgences will inevitably result in physical afflictions and loss of real beauty. There will be a loss of their luxury when their pagan neighbors, attracted by their exaggerated showiness, will plunder their jewels and finery.
a. anklets: ornamental chains with bangles attached which made a tinkling sound when they minced along.
b. cauls: front-bands, head-bands, amulets
c. crescents: some sort of metallic jewelry in the shape of moons
d. pendants: like small pearl earring, or tear-drop shaped earrings.
e. bracelets: decorated bands to fit about the arms (or necks)
f. mufflers: or veils, to muffle the face
g. headtires: diadems, or circlets of gold or silver
h. ankle chains: may have been chains designed to force short steps
i. sashes: wide, gaudy, expensive bands of cloth around the waist
j. perfume boxes: probably like the alabaster boxes of Luk 7:37 etc.
k. amulets: charms, probably inscribed with incantations,
l. rings: finger rings with jewels, etc.
m. nose jewels: nose rings, (Cf. Est 3:12; Gen 41:42; Gen 24:22; Gen 24:47).
n. festival robes: festal robes, state gowns, holiday dresses
o. mantles: overtunics
p. shawls: cloaks
q. satchels: purses
r. hand-mirrors: small metallic mirrors, highly polished metal
s. fine linen: lingerie, undergarments of expensive cloth
t. turbans: head wrappings, head garments
u. veils: same as mufflers
Isaiah predicts that all this finery will be replaced with ugliness because of their selfish, haughty, unbelieving perversion of it all. Instead of rich sashes, they will wear the ropes of captivity and slavery around their waists; instead of intricately coiffed hair-dos, their hair will either fall out or be cut off by their enemies; instead of rich garments, they will be wearing the sackcloth of mourning; instead of beauty marks, they will wear the ugly scars of the branding-irons, (it was a practice of pagan armies in that day to brand or disfigure slaves-especially by castrating men and using branding-irons on women-to forever mark them as slaves).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Vanity and Selfish Luxury Condemned
Isa 3:13-26; Isa 4:1-6
This paragraph opens with the majestic figure of Jehovah Himself, who arises to judge the misrulers and plead the cause of the poor. The prophet enumerates the trinkets of the women of Israel, who had given themselves up to luxury and corruption. Woman is the priestess and prophetess of the home and religion, and when she forsakes the level of spiritual influence for that of physical adornment, the salt has lost its savor and the whole commonwealth suffers. The manhood of a land is lost, morally and spiritually when woman falls from her high estate; and there could be no hope for Jerusalem until the divine fire had consumed the filth of her daughters, and the oppressive selfishness of her sons. Then once more each home in Jerusalem would have the same blessed signs of the divine presence as had once been granted to the Tabernacle-the shadowing cloud by day and the gleam of the Shekinah-fire by night. Let us claim these for our homes also!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
standeth up: Psa 12:5, Pro 22:22, Pro 22:23, Pro 23:10, Pro 23:11, Hos 4:1, Hos 4:2, Mic 6:2
Reciprocal: Psa 7:6 – Arise Jer 2:9 – I will Joe 3:12 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 3:13-15. The Lord standeth up to plead He will shortly and certainly stand up as a judge to inquire into the cause, and to give sentence; and standeth to judge the people To call the wicked into judgment, and to denounce upon them as they deserve; or to defend and deliver his own people, judging for them, as this phrase often means. Will enter into judgment with the ancients The princes or rulers, as it is explained in the next clause, often called elders, because they were commonly chosen from those that were advanced in years. For ye have eaten up the vineyard Destroyed, instead of preserving and dressing it, as you should have done. The church and commonwealth of Israel is often called Gods vineyard, and here the vineyard, by way of eminence, intrusted to the care of these rulers. The spoil of the poor is in your houses The goods which you have violently taken away from them. What mean ye that ye beat my people? What warrant have ye for it? How durst you presume to do it? and grind the faces of the poor A strong metaphor to denote grievous oppression; but it is exceeded by the Prophet Mic 3:1-3.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 3:13-15. Yahweh Judges the Rulers.Probably an independent oracle, presumably, though not certainly, uttered early in Isaiahs career. Yahweh has taken up the cause of the wronged, and calls elders and princes to account. They are the keepers of the vineyard (Isa 5:1-7), but they have abused their position to their own profit; they crush Yahwehs people, and grind between the millstones the faces of the poor.
Isa 3:13. Isaiah would hardly speak of a judgment of the nations. Read his people (LXX).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Yahweh is the ultimate Judge of His people, and He would contend with His human representatives who used their positions to fatten themselves rather than feeding their people (cf. Zec 11:1-17). Their possessions witnessed to their stealing from their neighbors. The vineyard is a common figure for Israel (cf. Isa 5:1; Isa 5:7; Psa 80:8-18; Jer 2:21; Jer 12:10; Eze 15:6-8; Hos 10:1). The people belonged to the Lord, not these abusing leaders who crushed them and ground them down to get out of them as much as they could for themselves (cf. Lev 19:9-10; Deu 24:20-21).