Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 37:28
But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
28, 29. All the acts of the Assyrian are under the strict surveillance of Jehovah, who will shew His power over him by dragging him back, like a wild beast, to his place. If the emendation of Wellhausen (see on Isa 37:27) be accepted, Isa 37:28 would read: Before me is thy rising up and thy sitting down (cf. Psa 139:2), and thy going out and thy coming in I know, and thy raging against me.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But I know – The language of God. I am well acquainted with all that pertains to you. You neither go out to war, nor return, nor abide in your capital without my providential direction (see the notes at Isa 10:5-7).
Thy abode – Margin, Sitting. Among the Hebrews, sitting down, rising up, and going out, were phrases to describe the whole of a mans life and actions (compare Deu 6:7; Deu 28:6; 1Ki 3:7; Psa 121:8). God here says that he knew the place where he dwelt, and he was able to return him again to it Isa 37:29.
And thy rage against me – (See Isa 37:4).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
28. aboderather, “sittingdown” (Ps 139:2). Theexpressions here describe a man’s whole course of life (Deu 6:7;Deu 28:6; 1Ki 3:7;Psa 121:8). There is also aspecial reference to Sennacherib’s first being at home, thengoing forth against Judah and Egypt, and raging againstJehovah (Isa 37:4).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in,…. Where he dwelt, what he did at home, his secret councils, cabals, contrivances, schemes and plans for the compassing of his ends, the subduing of kingdoms, and setting up an universal monarchy; and his going out of Babylon, his marches, and counter marches, and his entrance into the land of Judea; there was not a motion made, or a step taken in the cabinet or camp, but what were known to the Lord; so the Targum,
“thy sitting in council, and thy going out abroad to make war, and thy coming into the land of Israel, are manifest before me:”
and thy rage against me; against his people, against the city that was called by his name, against the temple where he was worshipped, particularly against his servant Hezekiah, because he would not immediately deliver up the city to him. The Targum and Syriac versions render it, “before me”; and then the meaning is, “thy rage”, wrath and fury, “is before me”: or manifest to me; and which he could restrain at pleasure, as he promises to do in the next verse.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Asshur is Jehovah’s chosen instrument while thus casting down the nations, which are “short-handed against him,” i.e., incapable of resisting him. But Jehovah afterwards places this lion under firm restraint; and before it has reached the goal set before it, He leads it back into its own land, as if with a ring through its nostril. Fifth turn, “And thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy entering in, I know; and thy heating thyself against me. On account of thy heating thyself against me, and because thy self-confidence has risen up into mine ears, I put my ring into thy nose, and my muzzle into thy lips, and lead thee back by the way by which thou hast come.” Sitting down and rising up (Psa 139:2), going out and coming in (Psa 121:8), denote every kind of human activity. All the thoughts and actions, the purposes and undertakings of Sennacherib, more especially with regard to the people of Jehovah, were under divine control. is followed by the infinitive, which is then continued in the finite verb, just as in Isa 30:12. (another reading, ) is used as a substantive, and denotes the Assyrians’ complacent and scornful self-confidence (Psa 123:4), and has nothing to do with (Targum, Abulw., Rashi, Kimchi, Rosenmller, Luzzatto). The figure of the leading away with a nose-ring ( c hach with a latent dagesh, to prick, hence c hoach , Arab. choch , chocha , a narrow slit, literally means a cut or aperture) is repeated in Eze 38:4. Like a wild beast that had been subdued by force, the Assyrian would have to return home, without having achieved his purpose with Judah (or with Egypt).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
28. I know thy sitting down and thy rising up. He returns to the insufferable pride of that tyrant, who claimed everything for himself, as if he had not been subject to any one, and dared to despise God as compared to himself, and to load him with reproaches. He rebukes that man’s pride and insolence, “But I know thy sitting down.” This being the cause of the fierceness of wicked men, that they think that no one is above them, and that they are not even subject to the providence of God, he shews that they can absolutely do nothing except so far as he permits them. By sitting down, and rising up, are here denoted deliberations, plans, and schemes. Wicked and irreligious men enter into various deliberations how they may be able to oppress and destroy the people of God; but to whatever hand they turn, and which way soever they pursue, they will accomplish nothing without the will of God. The providence of God restrains them, and drives them hither and thither, so that frequently, contrary to their intention, they are conducted to a very good end, as God thinks fit, to whom it peculiarly belongs to “direct the steps of men.” (Pro 16:9.)
And thy indignation against me. He warns Sennacherib that he is well aware of his rage, and declares that, while wicked men storm on the earth, he preserves calm silence, and laughs at their madness; and because Sennacherib was furious, and thought that he would not be punished for it, the Prophet expressly adds this, that believers may not think that this is new or unknown to God, or that he pays no attention to them.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) Thy abode . . .The three words include, in the common speech of the Hebrews, the whole of human life in every form of activity (Psa. 121:8; Psa. 139:2).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. The expressions, thy abode going out coming in, are commonly agreed to mean all the actions of life. Psa 139:2. These, Jehovah says to the Assyrian general, he has always known.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
abode = sitting down.
going out, and thy coming in. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), for life in general
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I know: Psa 139:2-11, Pro 5:21, Pro 15:3, Jer 23:23, Jer 23:24, Rev 2:13
abode: or sitting
Reciprocal: Deu 32:27 – lest their 1Sa 17:36 – seeing 1Sa 17:45 – defied 2Sa 3:25 – and to know 2Sa 22:28 – but thine 2Ki 19:27 – thy going out 2Ch 32:17 – to rail Psa 66:7 – let Psa 129:5 – be confounded Psa 139:20 – for they speak Isa 36:10 – General Isa 52:5 – my name Isa 66:18 – I know Jer 48:30 – know
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
37:28 But I know thy abode, and thy {t} going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
(t) Meaning, his counsels and enterprises.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord knew everything about the Assyrians, including their raging against Himself. Because they raged against Him and felt complacent about controlling their own destiny, He would teach them who was sovereign. He would lead them away as they had led prisoners they had taken captive in war, by putting hooks in their noses. Assyrian monuments picture this. As they directed the horses they took so much pride in, God would put a bit in their mouths and turn them back to their homeland.
Isaiah next offered a sign to Hezekiah to assure him that God would indeed do what he had said. Compare the sign that God gave believing Hezekiah’s unbelieving father Ahaz (Isa 7:14; cf. Isa 38:7; Exo 3:12).
"Some signs are aids to faith, like that in Isa 38:7. But others, like this one, aid later recognition that God was indeed at work." [Note: Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 45.]