Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 47:14
Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: [there shall] not [be] a coal to warm at, [nor] fire to sit before it.
14. They cannot even save their own lives, much less the State. themselves ] their (own) life.
there shall not be a coal &c. ] Better: It is no (glowing) coal to warm oneself withal; no fire to sit before! i.e. no genial hearth for comfort, but an all-consuming fire! The sentence is prosaic and unnecessary, and might readily be sacrificed (with Duhm) to the exigencies of the strophe and the elegiac measure.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold, they shall be as stubble – They shall be no more able to resist the judgments which are coming upon the city, than dry stubble can resist the action of the fire. A similar figure is used in Isa 1:31 (see the notes at that verse). Compare also Isa 29:6; Isa 30:30, where fire is a symbol of the devouring judgments of God.
They shall not deliver themselves – Margin, as Hebrew, Their souls. The meaning is, that they would be unable to protect themselves from the calamities which would come upon them and the city.
There shall not be a coal to warm at – The meaning is, that they would be entirely consumed – so completely, that not even a coal or spark would be left, as when stubble, or a piece of wood, is entirely burned up. According to this interpretation, the sense is, that the judgments of God would come upon them and the city, so that entire destruction would ensue. Rosenmuller, however, Cocceius, and some others, suppose this should be rendered, there shall not remain a coal so that bread could be baked by it. But the more common, and more correct interpretation, is that suggested above. Compare Gesenius and Rosenmuller on the place.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 47:14
Behold, they shall be as stubble
Gods judgment as consuming fire
The flame is no comfortable fire for warmth, no hearth-fire (Isa 44:16) to sit in front of; but, on thecontrary, consuming, eternal, i.annihilating flames (Isa 33:14). (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
The portion of the ungodly
I. With reference to the FIRST SENTENCE.
1. One of the most striking thoughts which it conveys to the mind is this, that the punishment of the wicked will be easily inflicted. They shall be as stubble. Nothing can be more easy than to kindle stubble when it is fully dry. Oh, ungodly and impenitent man, there is that in thyself to-day which, let alone and permitted to ripen, will bring a hell upon thee. Thou hast in thyself the power of memory, and that power shall become a vehicle of sorrow to thee. Thou hast, beside thy memory, a conscience; a con science which thou hast striven to silence; but, even drugged and gagged as it is, it sometimes makes thee feel unhappy. You will then find that you cannot palliate the guilt of sin. Thy memory and thy conscience shall be as two great millstones grinding thee to powder. Then, added to thy memory and to thy conscience, there shall come thy increased knowledge. Thou knowest enough now to leave thee without excuse, but then thy knowledge shall increase so as to leave thee without pretence of apology. Thou shalt then perceive the craft of the tempter who deluded thee. Thou shalt then see the blackness and the filthiness of sin as thou dost not see it now. Then shalt thou understand the greatness and the goodness of the God whom thou hast despised; thou shalt then discern the glory of the heaven which thou hast lost; thou shalt then begin to get an idea of that eternity which shall roll over thy head for ever. Beside, think of thy companions. Shut up fifty drunkards and profane men together, and would they not soon make a hell for themselves without any interposition of Divine power? What will it be when they are bound up in bundles; when the tens of thousands of those who obey not Christ shall find themselves in their own place?
2. This punishment shall be most searching and terrible. The metaphor of fire is used in Scripture because it is that which of all things causeth the most pain, and is the most searching and trying. As fire consumes, and so reaches to the very essence of things, so shall the wrath to come reach to the very essence and subsistence of the soul.
3. This destruction will be most inevitable. They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There is hope now; there shall be no hope then. The Lord Jesus, though the most loving of spirits, was the most awful of preachers; and in His sermons, while there is everything that could melt and woo, there is no lack of the great and terrible thunderbolt, and the sounding forth of wrath to come, and the judgment which must await the impenitent.
II. BUT OUR TEXT NOW CHANGES ITS FIGURE. Thus saith the Lord, There shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it; by which is meant that there shall be nothing in hell that can give the sinner a moments comfort; nothing.
III. And now our text bids us BEHOLD, therefore I pray ye turn not away your eyes from this meditation.
1. Children of God, behold it; it will make you grateful. Does not the thought of the misery from which you have escaped make you love your Saviour? And oh, will it not make you love poor sinners too?
2. But specially, you that are unconverted, the text says, Behold. It is a gloomy subject for you to think upon, but better to think of it now than to think of it for ever. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
They shall not deliver themselves, and much less thee,
from the power of the flame; they shall be totally consumed, and all the comfort which thou didst expect from them shall utterly vanish.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. (Isa 29:6;Isa 30:30).
not . . . a coalLikestubble, they shall burn to a dead ash, without leaving a live coalor cinder (compare Isa 30:14),so utterly shall they be destroyed.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them,…. That is, these astrologers and diviners shall be like stubble; weak as that, as the Targum; they shall be no more able to stand before the fire of divine wrath, or before the judgments of God, by the hands of the Medes and Persians, than stubble can stand before a consuming fire:
they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; from those dreadful calamities that shall come upon them like flames of fire; and if they cannot deliver themselves by their art and skill, how should they deliver others?
there shall not be a coal to warm, nor fire to sit before it; stubble, when burnt, leaves no coals to warm a man with; and though it gives a blaze for a short time, while burning, it is quickly out, and gives no light nor heat for a man to sit by, so that there is little or no profit by it; which signifies that there were no hope, or help, or comfort, to be expected from those sorts of persons.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
14. Behold, they shall be as stubble. With still greater eagerness he attacks those astrologers who strengthened the pride of Babylon by their empty boasting; for impostors of this sort are wont to take away all fear of God out of the hearts of men, by ascribing everything to the stars, so that nothing is left to the providence of God. Hence arises contempt of God and of all his threatenings; for punishments are not ascribed to the judgment of God, but to some fate and relation of things which they foolishly imagine. For this reason he kindles into such indignation against the Babylonians, and says that they shall be buming “stubble,” which is quickly consumed; for he does not compare them to wood, which is of some use for giving heat, but to “stubble,” in order to shew that nothing is so light or useless.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) There shall not be a coal to warm at.Better, it shall not be . . . The destroying flame shall be altogether other than the fire on the hearth, at which a man can sit and warm himself.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. The prophet further says,
They shall be as stubble All the astrologers, or wise men, in whom Babylon trusted, and Babylon itself. Fire shall consume them; not, indeed, material fire, but what will be as destructive. The whole power of Babylon shall be consumed, as fire consumes stubble, and there shall be no help for them.
Not a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it The original is somewhat obscure, but the sense appears to be: The consumption of every thing shall be so complete that not a coal nor cinder shall be left to warm one by, or to bake one’s bread before it.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Behold they will be as stubble,
The fire will burn them.
They will not deliver themselves from the power of the flame.
It will not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit in front of.”
All such people will be burned up along with all their paraphernalia, as stubble is burned in the fields. They will be unable to deliver themselves from the flames because of their intensity, for this will be no friendly brazier but intense flames.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 47:14. Behold, they shall be as stubble The judgment to be inflicted upon the professors and encouragers of the vain arts above mentioned is here elegantly and metaphorically described. The prophet says, that all those mentioned in the 13th verse, like stubble, should be set on fire by the divine wrath, and so wholly consumed, that nothing of them should remain which could be serviceable for any purpose whatever; for, as from wood and other fuel, when burned, there remain embers, before which a person may warm himself, and glowing ashes before which one may sit, to drive away the cold; these, on the contrary, should be consumed like stubble, so as to be wholly destroyed, and to leave nothing for any use or service. See Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: [there shall] not [be] a coal to warm at, [nor] fire to sit before it.
Ver. 14. Behold, they shall be as stubble. ] As dried stubble. Nah 1:10 See Trapp on “ Nah 1:10 “
They shall not deliver themselves.
There shall not be a coal to warm at.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
themselves = their souls. Hebrew. nephesh.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
they shall: Isa 40:24, Isa 41:2, Eze 15:7, Psa 83:13-15, Joe 2:5, Oba 1:18, Nah 1:10, Mal 4:1, themselves Heb. their souls, Mat 10:28, Mat 16:26
there shall: Isa 30:14, Jer 51:25, Jer 51:26, Rev 18:21
Reciprocal: Exo 5:12 – stubble Exo 15:7 – consumed Isa 5:24 – devoureth Jer 50:35 – her wise men
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: [there shall] not [be] a coal {m} to warm at, [nor] fire to sit before it.
(m) They will utterly perish, and no part of them remain.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
However, their powers would be no match for the consuming judgment of God that was coming on them like a fire. It would sweep everything in its path away, the astrologers as well as their predictions. They would become the fuel for this fire that would be like a wild forest fire, not a comfortable campfire.
"They [the astrologers] do not even have the enduring power of wood in the fire, for they are consumed instantly [as stubble], and are not able to save themselves from the flame that devours them. If they cannot save themselves it is foolish to look to them to save Babylon." [Note: Young, 3:243.]
False religion offers the comfort of a fire, but it turns into a furnace of destruction. The philosophical leaders of Babylon would not be saviors in that day of judgment. In fact, there would be none to save then.
"These few words at the end of Isa 47:15 capture the whole argument of chs. 40-47: everybody needs a savior; the gods and the magical worldview on which they rest cannot save; the Lord who stands outside the cosmos and directs it according to his good purposes can save; which shall we choose?" [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 256.]
The fulfillment of this prophecy came when Cyrus invaded Babylon in 539 B.C. But the similarities between this chapter and Revelation 17, 18 remind us that a future eschatological destruction of Babylon is also coming.
"Those who have turned from the living God to the daily horoscope in our own society would do well to heed this passage." [Note: Grogan, p. 278.]
"The point of chapters 41-47 is that the entire structure and system of the Babylonian Empire (represented by her idols) was developed by humans [cf. the Tower of Babel, Genesis 11]; Babylon had no lasting divine sanction. Just as an idol is of human fabrication, with no autonomous power or usefulness of its own, so the entire Babylonian system of society, economics, and politics was a human fabrication which in time would collapse. Israel, then, must reserve her worship, her ultimate commitment, for YHWH. This commitment must stand above all other systems and values. YHWH may grant these systems (including Assyria, Persia) temporary sanction to do his will, but he also reserves the right to repudiate and destroy them. Only YHWH deserves worship." [Note: John D. W. Watts, "Babylonian Idolatry in the Prophets As a False Socio-Economic System," in Israel’s Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison, p. 121.]