They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together [that are] makers of idols.
16, 17. The prophet now speaks, presenting in sharp contrast the confusion of the idolaters ( Isa 45:16) and the everlasting salvation enjoyed by Israel. The verbs should be rendered as presents.
They shall be ashamed &c. ] Better: they are ashamed, yea confounded all of them; they are gone away in confusion (i. e. disgrace) etc. The perfect in Heb. depicts that which will have happened in that day.
The word for “idol” is used in the sense of “form” in Psa 49:14 (R.V. marg.), only here of an idolatrous image.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They shall be ashamed and confounded – That is, they shall find all their hopes fail, and shall be suffused with shame that they were ever so senseless as to trust in blocks of wood and stone (see the notes at Isa 1:29; Isa 20:5; Isa 30:5; Isa 43:17).
They shall go to confusion – They shall all retire in shame and disgrace. That is, when they have gone to supplicate their idols, they shall find them unable to render them any aid, and they shall retire with shame.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. They shall be ashamed – “They are ashamed”] The reader cannot but observe the sudden transition from the solemn adoration of the secret and mysterious nature of God’s counsels in regard to his people, to the spirited denunciation of the confusion of idolaters, and the final destruction of idolatry; contrasted with the salvation of Israel, not from temporal captivity, but the eternal salvation by the Messiah, strongly marked by the repetition and augmentation of the phrase, to the ages of eternity. But there is not only a sudden change in the sentiment, the change is equally observable in the construction of the sentences; which from the usual short measure, runs out at once into two distichs of the longer sort of verse. See Prelim. Dissert. p. 66, &c. There is another instance of the same kind and very like to this, of a sudden transition in regard both to the sentiment and construction in Isa 42:17.
“His adversaries”] This line, to the great diminution of the beauty of the distich, is imperfect in the present text: the subject of the proposition is not particularly expressed, as it is in the line following. The version of the Septuagint happily supplies the word that is lost: , “his adversaries,” the original word was tsaraiv. – L.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They; the idolatrous Gentiles, as it is explained in the end of the verse, opposed to Israel in the beginning of the next verse.
Makers; either the artificers, or the chief masters that set them on work, and consequently all their worshippers; although the makers being most guilty, and the cause of the sins of others, might justly expect a higher degree of confusion.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. ashamed“disappointed”in their expectation of help from their idols (see on Isa42:17; Psalm 97. 7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them,…. This refers not to any persons spoken of before; not to Israel or the church, or converts among the Gentiles that came to her; but to those that follow, of whom the same is said in other words:
they shall go to confusion together, that are makers of idols; the Targum is,
“worshippers of images;”
both may be designed: this refers to the first times of the Gospel, and its coming into the Gentile world, and its success there; when the oracles of the Heathens were struck dumb; idols and idol temples were forsaken; and Paganism was abolished in the Roman empire; and when the gods they served could not help them, but they fled to the rocks to hide them from the wrath of God and the Lamb, Re 6:15.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The way in which this God who hides Himself is ultimately revealed as the God of salvation, is then pointed out in Isa 45:16, Isa 45:17: “They are put to shame, and also confounded, all of them; they go away into confusion together, the forgers of idols. Israel is redeemed by Jehovah with everlasting redemption: ye are not put to shame nor confounded to everlasting eternities.” The perfects are expressive of the ideal past. Jehovah shows Himself as a Savour by the fact, that whereas the makers of idols perish, Israel is redeemed an everlasting redemption (acc. obj. as in Isa 14:6; Isa 22:17; Ges. 138, 1, Anm. 1), i.e., so that its redemption is one that lasts for aeons ( , Heb 9:12) – observe that t e shuah does not literally signify redemption or rescue, but transfer into a state of wide expanse, i.e., of freedom and happiness. The plural olamm (eternities = aeua ) belongs, according to Knobel, to the later period of the language; but it is met with as early as in old Asaphite psalms (Psa 77:6). When the further promise is added, Ye shall not be put to shame, etc., this clearly shows, what is also certain on other grounds – namely, that the redemption is not thought of merely as an outward and bodily one, but also as inward and spiritual, and indeed (in accordance with the prophetic blending of the end of the captivity with the end of all things) as a final one. Israel will never bring upon itself again such a penal judgment as that of the captivity by falling away from God; that is to say, its state of sin will end with its state of punishment, even , i.e., since has no plural, .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
16. and 17. They shall all be put to shame. Here the Prophet compares the Jews with the Gentiles, in order to meet a grievous and dangerous temptation, by which they might be assailed, when they saw the Gentiles enjoying prosperity; (207) for, amidst so great troubles, they might have suspected that God was favorable to the Gentiles, or that he had cast away the care of his people, or that everything was governed by the blind impulse of fortune. The Prophet, therefore, assures them that, although for a time the Gentiles flourish and appear to be exalted to heaven, (208) yet the result must be, that they shall perish and Israel shall be saved. In a word, he exhorts them not to judge of the power of God from the present condition of things, not to have their minds fixed on temporary happiness, but to raise them to eternal salvation, and, when struck by the hand of God, patiently to bear their condition, and, on the other hand, not to envy the prosperity of the wicked, which shall be followed by a moumful reverse, as it is excellently described by the Psalmist. (Psa 37:1.)
This statement is added to the preceding; for whoever shall know that God, when he is a “Savior, ” is “hidden,” will not wonder that wicked men enjoy prosperity, and that good men are poor, and despised, and tried by various afflictions. Thus the Lord makes trial of our faith and patience, and yet no part of our eternal salvation is lost; but they who now appear to be a thousand times safe and happy shall at length perish, and all the wealth which they possess shall plunge them in deeper ruin; because they abuse God’s benefits, and, like robbers, seize on what belongs to other men, even though they appear to possess all of them by a just title. Whenever, therefore, this thought arises in our minds, “Wicked men are at ease, and therefore God favors them, and the promises on which we rely are unworthy of credit;” let us betake ourselves to this declaration of the Prophet as the surest anchor, and let us fortify ourselves by it, “The Lord will not disappoint our expectation, but we shall at length be delivered, even though we be now exposed to the reproaches, slanders, mockings, and cruelty of the wicked.”
(207) “ En voyant les Gentils avoir toutes choses a souhait.” “When they saw the Gentiles have everything to their wish.”
(208) “ Et semblent estre elevees jusqu’ au ciel.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
16, 17. They shall be ashamed Israel shall be saved A marked antithesis. The sixteenth verse states the disappointment and disgust with idol religion on the part of its old devotees, (Isa 42:17,) both among Gentiles and idolatrous Jews. On the other hand, both faithful and reformed Israel, and converts thereto, with confident mien shall rejoice in conscious salvation now and evermore.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 45:16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together [that are] makers of idols.
Ver. 16. That are makers of idols. ] The word rendered idols, signifieth properly Tormina, cruciatus, pains, and throes, and straits. Idolaters heap up sorrows to themselves, and terrors of conscience. See Psa 16:4 . See Trapp on “ Psa 16:4 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
idols = images. Hebrew. zirim. Occurs in this sense only here.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 45:20, Isa 41:19, Isa 42:17, Isa 44:9, Isa 44:11, Psa 97:7, Jer 2:26, Jer 2:27, Jer 10:14, Jer 10:15
Reciprocal: Exo 20:4 – General Psa 31:17 – wicked Isa 1:29 – ashamed Isa 30:3 – your confusion Isa 36:20 – that the Lord Isa 54:4 – Fear not Jer 7:19 – the confusion Jer 14:3 – they were Jer 17:13 – all that Jer 20:11 – everlasting Jer 48:13 – ashamed Dan 9:7 – unto us Hos 10:6 – receive Hab 2:18 – profiteth Rom 5:5 – hope 1Pe 2:6 – shall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 45:16-17. They The idolatrous Gentiles, as it is explained in the end of the verse, opposed to Israel in the beginning of the next verse, shall be ashamed, &c. Hebrew, , They are ashamed, they are even confounded, all of them; that is, after the completion of this prophecy. They shall go Hebrew, , they go, to confusion together, the makers of idols Both the artificers, and the masters that set them on work, and consequently all their worshippers. The reader cannot but observe the sudden transition from the solemn adoration of the secret and mysterious nature of Gods counsels in regard to his people, to the spirited denunciation of the confusion of idolaters, and the final destruction of idolatry; contrasted (Isa 45:17) with the salvation of Israel, not from temporal captivity, but the eternal salvation by the Messiah, strongly marked by the repetition and augmentation of the phrase, , usque ad secula eternitatis, to the ages of eternity. Bishop Lowth.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The idols would humiliate their makers when it became clear that they have no power to save. But God’s ability to save His people forever will not result in His being put to shame. Yahweh’s deliverance of Israel to continued existence would impress the Gentiles after Cyrus’ decree (Isa 45:14-15). But God would provide an eternal salvation for His people that only Gentiles after the coming of Christ could appreciate (cf. Rom 9:33; Rom 10:11; 1Pe 2:6).