Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 50:9
Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who [is] he [that] shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
9. who is he that shall condemn me?] Comp. Rom 8:33 f.
wax old (better, be worn out) as a garment; the moth &c. ] Common images of gradual but inevitable destruction (cf. ch. Isa 51:6; Isa 51:8; Psa 39:11; Psa 102:26; Job 13:28 &c.).
Two striking parallels to the latter part of this discourse occur in the Book of Jeremiah. See ch. Jer 17:17 f.; “Thou art my refuge in the day of evil. Let them be ashamed that persecute me, but let not me be ashamed bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction”: and Jer 20:7; Jer 20:11 ff.: “I am become a laughingstock all the day, every one mocketh me.” “But the Lord is with me as a mighty one and a terrible; therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be greatly ashamed” &c. Cf. also Jer 22:6-21.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Lord God will help me – (See Isa 50:7). In the Hebrew this is, The Lord Jehovah, as it is in Isa 50:7 also, and these are among the places where our translators have improperly rendered the word yehovah (Jehovah) by the word God.
Who is he that shall condemn me? – If Yahweh is my advocate and friend, my cause must be right. Similar language is used by the apostle Paul: If God be for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31; and in Psa 118:6 :
Jehovah is on my side; I will not fear:
What can man do unto me?
They all shall wax old – All my enemies shall pass away, as a garment is worn out and cast aside. The idea is, that the Messiah would survive all their attacks; his cause, his truth and his reputation would live, while all the power, the influence, the reputation of his adversaries, would vanish as a garment that is worn out and then thrown away. The same image respecting his enemies is used again in Isa 51:8.
The moth shall eat them up – The moth is a well known insect attached particularly to woolen clothes, and which soon consumes them (see the note at Job 4:19). In eastern countries, where wealth consisted much in changes of raiment, the depredations of the moth would be particularly to be feared, and hence, it is frequently referred to in the Bible. The sense here is, that the adversaries of the Messiah would be wholly destroyed.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
That shall condemn me; that dare attempt it, or can justly do it.
They all, mine accusers and enemies,
shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up: shall pine away in their iniquity, as God threatened, Lev 26:39; shall be cut off and consumed by a secret curse and judgment of God, which is compared to a
moth, Hos 5:12, whilst I shall survive and flourish, and the pleasure of God shall prosper in my hands, as is said, Isa 53:10.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. (Compare “deal,” or”proper,” Isa 52:13,Margin; Isa 53:10; Psa 118:6;Jer 23:5).
as a garment (Isa 51:6;Isa 51:8; Psa 102:26).A leading constituent of wealth in the East is change of raiment,which is always liable to the inroads of the moth; hence thefrequency of the image in Scripture.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, the Lord God will help me,…. This is repeated from Isa 50:7, [See comments on Isa 50:7]; to show the certainty of it, the strength of his faith in it, and to discourage his enemies:
who is he that shall condemn me? make me out a wicked person c, prove me guilty, and pass sentence upon me, when thus acquitted and justified by the Lord God? The Apostle Paul seems to have some reference to this passage in Ro 8:33,
lo, they all shall waste old as doth a garment; his enemies, those that accused him, the Scribes, Pharisees, and chief priests; and those that condemned him, the Jewish sanhedrim, and the Roman governor:
the moth shall eat them up; they shall be like a worn out or motheaten garment, that can never be used more. The phrases denote how secret, insensible, and irrecoverable, their ruin should be, both in their civil and church state, all being abolished and done away.
c “quis ipse impium faciet me”, Pagninus, Montanus; “impium vel praevaricatorem et iniquum faciet me”, Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
9. Who is he that condemmeth me? Paul appears to allude to this passage, in his Epistle to the Romans, when he says, “It is God that justifieth; who shall condemn?” (Rom 8:33.) We may safely have recourse to the judgment-seat of God, when we are well assured that we have obtained his righteousness by free grace through Christ. But here Isaiah handles a different subject; for he does not speak of the universal salvation of men, but of the ministry of the Word, which the Lord will defend against the attacks of wicked men, and will not suffer his people to be overwhelmed by their fraud or violence.
Lo, they shall all wax old as a garment. He now shews more clearly that it is not in the shade or at case that he boasts of his courage, as if none were giving him any disturbance; but he declares that, though he is assailed by deadly foes, still he boldly maintains his position; because all who fight with the Word of God shall fall and vanish away through their own frailty. In order to place the matter before their own eyes, he employs a demonstrative particle, “Behold, like garments shall they perish, being consumed by worms.” The Psalmist makes use of the same metaphor, when he compares the men of this world to the children of God. (Psa 49:14.) The former, though they make a show and shine like dazzling garments, shall perish; but believers, who now are covered with filth, shall at length obtain new brightness and shine brilliantly like the stars. Here he speaks literally of fierce dogs that attack and bark at godly teachers. Though such persons are held in high estimation by men, and possess very high authority among them, yet their lustre shall perish and fade away, like that of garments which are eaten by worms.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) They all shall wax old as a garment.An echo of Job. 13:28; Psa. 102:26; reproduced in Isa. 51:6.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 50:9. Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment The simple sense of this metaphorical expression is, that all the adversaries of Christ should be abolished and done away, like a garment, which grows vile and useless by wearing, and is at length consumed by the moths. This is expressed plainly and literally, chap. Isa 41:11. See also Psa 73:27. Some think that here is an allusion to the old oeconomy, which, under the dispensation of the new, was entirely to grow old and vanish away. See Psa 102:26-27 compared with Heb 1:10-12.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 50:9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who [is] he [that] shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
Ver. 9. Behold, the Lord God will help me. ] See Isa 50:7 .
Who is he that shall condemn me.
Lo, they shall all wax old as a garment.
The moth shall eat them up,
a K .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
condemn Me = prove Me lawless.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
they all: Isa 51:6-8, Job 13:28, Psa 39:11, Psa 102:26, Heb 1:11, Heb 1:12
Reciprocal: Isa 50:7 – the Lord Isa 51:8 – the moth Hos 5:12 – as a Rom 8:33 – It is Jam 5:2 – your garments