Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 3:3

The captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

3. honourable man] lit. “man of respect”; either one high in the king’s favour (2Ki 5:1) or a man of good social standing, without official rank (Job 22:8).

cunning artificer ] lit. “skilled in arts.” It is disputed whether the arts in question are mechanical or magical; hence the alternative “charmer “in R.V. marg. At all events

eloquent orator should be skilful enchanter (R.V.).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The captain of fifty – By this was probably denoted an officer in the army. The idea is, that the commanders of the various divisions of the army should be taken away.

The honourable man – Hebrew nes’u’ panym. The man of elevated countenance. That is, the man high in office. He was so called from the aspect of dignity which a man in office would assume. In the previous chapter, the phrase is used to denote rather the pride which attended such officers, than the dignity of the office itself.

And the counselor – Note, Isa 1:26.

The cunning artificer – Hebrew, The man wise in mechanic arts: skilled in architecture, etc.

And the eloquent orator – n^ebon lachash. literally, skilled or learned in whispering, in conjuration, in persuasion. The word lachash denotes properly a whispering, sighing, or calling for help; (Isa 26:16, they have poured out a prayer, lachash – a secret speech, a feeble sigh for aid.) It is applied to the charm of the serpents – the secret breathing or gentle noise by which the charm is supposed to be effected; Psa 58:6; Jer 8:17; Ecc 10:11. In Isa 3:20 of this chapter it denotes a charm or amulet worn by females; see the note at that verse. It is also applied to magic, or conjuration – because this was usually done by gentle whispering, or incantation; see the note at Isa 8:19. From this use of the word, it comes to denote one that influences another; one who persuades him in any way, as an orator does by argument and entreaty. Ancient orators also probably sometimes used a species of recitative, or measured cadence, not unlike that employed by those who practiced incantations. Jerome says that it means here, a man who is learned, and acquainted with the law, and the prophets. Chaldee, The prudent in council. It may be used in a good sense here; but if so, it is probably the only place where the word is so used in the Old Testament. A prophecy similar to this occurs in Hos 3:4 : For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

The captain of fifty; there shall not be a man left able to command and manage fifty soldiers, and much less such as could command hundreds or thousands, which yet were necessary. The honourable man; men of high birth, and place, and power, and reputation. The counsellor; wise and learned statesmen. The cunning artificer, who could make either ornaments for times of peace, or instruments for war; which therefore conquerors took away from those nations whom they subdued, 1Sa 13:19,20; 2Ki 24:14.

The eloquent orator, Heb. the skilful of charm; whereby he understands either,

1. Charmers, whom he threatens to take away, not as if such persons were blessings to a people, or the removing of such were a curse, but only because they made great use of them, and trusted to them. And so he signifies that God would remove all the grounds of their confidence, both right and wrong, and make their case desperate. As, in like manner, and for the same reason, God threatens the Israelites that they should be, as without a sacrifice, so without teraphim, Hos 3:4. Or,

2. As most understand it, such as could powerfully persuade, and, as it were, chain that ungovernable beast, the multitude of common people, by their eloquence, to do those things which were necessary for their peace and safety; for this word may be taken in a good sense, as divination is, Pro 16:10.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

3. captain of fiftynot onlycaptains of thousands, and centurions of a hundred, but evensemi-centurions of fifty, shall fail.

honourableliterally,”of dignified aspect.”

cunningskilful. Themechanic’s business will come to a standstill in the siege andsubsequent desolation of the state; artisans are no mean “stay”among a nation’s safeguards.

eloquent oratorrather,as Vulgate, “skilled in whispering,” that is,incantation (Ps 58:5). See Isa8:19, below; and on “prudent,” see on Isa3:2.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

The captain of fifty,…. A semi-centurion, such an one as in 2Ki 1:9. So far should there be from being captains of thousands, and of hundreds, that there should not be one of fifty:

and the honourable man; by birth, breeding, and behaviour, through riches and greatness; and one of power and authority among the people, and in their favour and esteem:

and the counsellor; one able to give advice in matters of moment and difficulty, and in controversy between man and man; it suggests that nothing should be done with advice and counsel, with wisdom and discretion, but all tumult and sedition, as the history of these times shows: the Jews b interpret this of one that knows how to intercalate years, and fix the months: and the

cunning artificer: in any kind of metal, old, silver, brass, and iron, and in any sort of wood, and in any kind of manual and mechanical business; which would now be laid aside, shops shuts up, and all trade and business neglected and discouraged, occasioned partly by the siege without, and chiefly by their internal divisions and robberies, and by their zealots and cutthroats, which swarmed among them. The Septuagint render it, “the wise architect”, or “masterbuilder”; the same word is used by the apostle in 1Co 3:10:

and the eloquent orator; who has the tongue of the learned, and can speak a word in season to the distressed; or who is able to plead at the bar the cause of the injured and oppressed, the widow and the fatherless. Aben Ezra interprets it of one that is skilful in enchanting serpents; that charms wisely, as in Ps 58:5 it may be rendered, “one that understands enchantment” c: with the Septuagint it is a “prudent hearer”; sad is the case of a nation when men of so much usefulness are taken away from them. See 2Ki 24:15.

b T. Bab. Chagiga & Jarchi, ut supra. (fol. 14. 1. Jarchi in loc.) c “intelligentem incantationis”, Vatablus.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(3) The captain of fifty, and the honourable man.The first title implies a division like that of Exo. 18:21, of which fifty was all but the minimum unit. So we have the three captains of fifty in 2Ki. 1:9-15. The honourable man (literally, eminent in countenance) would seem to occupy a position in the civil service of the State analogous to that of the captain of fifty in the military.

The counsellor, and the cunning artificer.From the modern stand-point the two classes seem at opposite extremes of the social order. The latter, however (literally, masters in arts), would seem to have occupied a higher position in the East, like that of military or civil engineers or artists with us. So in 2Ki. 24:14, Jer. 24:1, the craftsmen and the smiths are grouped with the men of might who were carried to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, and contrasted with the poor who were left behind. The military works of Uzziah had doubtless given a prominence to the cunning men who were employed on them (2Ch. 26:15). By some critics, however, the word is taken as equal to magician.

The eloquent orator.Literally, skilled in speech. The Authorised Version suggests the idea of the power of such skill in controlling the debates of popular assemblies. Here, however, the thought is rather that of one who says the right words at the right time; or possibly the enchanter who has his formul (the word implies the whisper of incantations, as in Isa. 8:19) ready at command for all occasions.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Isa 3:3. The eloquent orator The skilful charmer, or enchanter. Le Clerc.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Isa 3:3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.

Ver. 3. The captain of fifty. ] One of the least and lowest commanders in war; such also shall fail, and therefore all must needs fall to wreck and ruin. This Epaminondas when he was dying foresaw at Thebes, and therefore counselled his countrymen to make peace upon any terms. a

And the honourable. ] Heb., The man eminent in countenance; Sept., Y , a man of respect and authority. In the eyes of Augustus Caesar sat such a rare majesty, as a man could hardly endure to behold them without closing of his own.

And the cunning artificer. ] Such as was Hiram, whom for honour’s sake Solomon called father; Archimedes, and such others who are of great use to a State, for making of engines and instruments.

And the eloquent orator. ] Heb., Skilled in charms. Quintilian describes an orator thus: Vir bonus dicendi peritus, A good man well spoken. Ille regit dictis animos et pectora mulcet, He carrieth the people which way he pleaseth. The Athenians called such , and set a high price upon them, as they did on Pericles, Demosthenes, Phocion, &c. b

a Plutarch.

b Intelligentem, meditatam et gravem orationem. – Oecolamp.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)