Isaiah 1:24

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

²¹See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers! ²²Your silver has become dross, your fine wine is diluted with water. ²³Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them. ²⁴Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: "Ah, I will be relieved of My foes and avenge Myself on My enemies.²⁵I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross; I will remove all your impurities. ²⁶I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. After that you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City." ²⁷Zion will be redeemed with justice, her repentant ones with righteousness. ²⁸But rebels and sinners will together be shattered, and those who forsake the LORD will perish. ²⁹Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen. ³⁰For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered, like a garden without water.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the mighty: Isaiah 30:29, Isaiah 49:26, Isaiah 60:16, Jeremiah 50:34, Revelation 18:8

Ah: Deuteronomy 28:63, Deuteronomy 32:43, Proverbs 1:25, Proverbs 1:26, Ezekiel 5:13, Ezekiel 16:42, Ezekiel 21:17, Hebrews 10:13

Reciprocal: Numbers 31:2 - Avenge Deuteronomy 32:41 - I will Proverbs 21:7 - robbery Isaiah 3:1 - the Lord Isaiah 7:13 - will ye Isaiah 27:9 - this therefore Isaiah 42:21 - well Isaiah 43:24 - filled me Isaiah 59:18 - fury Jeremiah 5:9 - and shall Jeremiah 7:19 - they provoke Jeremiah 9:9 - General Jeremiah 17:11 - he that Jeremiah 44:22 - could Ezekiel 38:12 - turn Hosea 10:10 - in my Amos 3:13 - the Lord Zephaniah 1:18 - he shall Zechariah 6:8 - quieted Malachi 2:4 - that my Luke 1:49 - he 1 Thessalonians 4:6 - the Lord

Cross-References

Genesis 1:9
And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear." And it was so.

Genesis 1:10
God called the dry land "earth," and the gathering of waters He called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 6:20
Two of every kind of bird and animal and crawling creature will come to you to be kept alive.

Genesis 7:14
they and every kind of wild animal, livestock, crawling creature, bird, and winged creature.

Genesis 8:19
Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird-everything that moves upon the earth-came out of the ark, kind by kind.

Job 39:1
Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?

Job 39:5
Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?

Job 39:9
Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?

Job 39:19
Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane?

Job 40:15
Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He feeds on grass like an ox.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel,.... All these names and titles, which are expressive of the majesty, power, and authority of God, are used to give the greater solemnity and weight to what follows; and to show that he is able to accomplish what he determines and threatens to do.

Ah! which is a particle, either expressive of grief at their wretched and miserable condition, or of indignation at their provoking sins and transgressions:

I will ease me of mine adversaries; or, "I will take comfort n of" them, by destroying them; expressing the pleasure and satisfaction he should take in avenging his justice on them: they had been a trouble to him, and had wearied him with their sins, and now he will ease himself of them by removing them. The Targum is,

"I will comfort the city of Jerusalem;''

not taking the sense of the words:

and avenge me of mine enemies; the Jews, who were enemies to Christ and his Gospel, and would not have him to reign over them, and which was the cause of the destruction of their city, temple, and nation; see

Luke 19:14.

n אנחם "consolationem capiam", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. "Consolabor me", Cocceius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Therefore saith the Lord ... - The prophet having stated the guilt of the nation, proceeds to show the consequences of their crimes; or to foretell what would happen. The name of God is repeated, to attract attention; to fill the mind with awe; and to give emphasis to the solemn sentence which was about to be uttered.

The Lord - אדון 'âdôn. This word properly denotes master, lord, owner. Genesis 24:9 : “lord over his whole house.” 1 Kings 16:24 : “owner of the hill Samaria.” It is applied here to Yahweh, not as a special title, or as one of the names which he assumes to himself, but as owner, proprietor, master, ruler of the nation. The word, when applied to God as one of his special titles, has the form of an ancient plural termination, אדני 'ădonāy. The root is probably דוּן dôn, to judge, which in ancient times was also closely connected with the idea of ruling.

The Lord of hosts - Yahweh - ruling in the hosts of heaven, and therefore able to accomplish his threatenings; note, Isaiah 1:9.

The mighty One of Israel - He who had been their defender in the days of their peril; who had manifested his mighty power in overthrowing their enemies; and who had shown, therefore, that he was able to inflict vengeance on them.

Ah - הוי hôy. This is an expression of threatening. It is that which is used when an affront is offered, and there is a purpose of revenge; see Isaiah 1:4.

I will ease me - This refers to what is said in Isaiah 1:14, where God is represented as burdened with their crimes. The Hebrew word is, I will be consoled, or comforted - that is, by being delivered from my foes - אנחם 'enâchem from נחם nâcham, in Niphil, to suffer pain, to be grieved; and hence, to have pity, to show compassion. In Piel, to console or comfort one’s-self; to take revenge. The idea included in the word is that of grief or distress, either in beholding the sufferings of others, or from some injury received from others. Hence, in Piel, it denotes to obtain relief from that distress, either by aiding the distressed object, or by taking revenge. In both instances, the mind, by a law of its nature, finds relief. The passion expends itself on its proper object, and the mind is at ease. It is used here in the latter sense. It is an instance where God uses the language which people employ to denote passion, and where they obtain relief by revenge. When applied to God, it is to be understood in accordance with his nature, as implying simply, that he would punish them; compare the note at Isaiah 1:13. It means that he had been pained and grieved by their crimes; his patience had been put to its utmost trial; and now he would seek relief from this by inflicting due punishment on them. An expression explaining this may be seen in Ezekiel 5:13; ‘Then shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted.’ Also, Deuteronomy 28:63 : ‘As the Lord rejoiced over you, to do you good; so the Lord will rejoice over you, to destroy you.’

Mine adversaries - The enemies to his law and government among the rebellious Jews. The expression in this verse is a remarkable instance of God’s adapting himself to our apprehension, by using our language. Instances occur often in the Scriptures where language expressive of human passions is applied to God; and as human language must be employed in revelation, it was indispensable. But those expressions are not to be understood as they are when applied to the passions of mankind. In God, they are consistent with all that is pure, and glorious, and holy, and should be so understood. The Chaldee renders this verse, ‘I will console the city of Jerusalem; but woe to the impious, when I shall be revealed to take vengeance on the enemies of my people.’ But this is manifestly a false interpretation; and shows how reluctant the Jews were to admit the threatenings against themselves.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 1:24. Ah, I will ease me - "Aha! I will be eased"] Anger, arising from a sense of injury and affront, especially from those who, from every consideration of duty and gratitude, ought to have behaved far otherwise, is an uneasy and painful sensation: and revenge, executed to the full on the offenders, removes that uneasiness, and consequently is pleasing and quieting, at least for the present. Ezekiel, Ezekiel 5:13, introduces God expressing himself in the same manner: -

"And mine anger shall be fully accomplished;

And I will make my fury rest upon them;

And I will give myself ease."

This is a strong instance of the metaphor called anthropopathia, by which, throughout the Scriptures, as well the historical as the poetical parts, the sentiments sensations, and affections, the bodily faculties qualities, and members, of men, and even of brute animals, are attributed to God, and that with the utmost liberty and latitude of application. The foundation of this is obvious; it arises from necessity; we have no idea of the natural attributes of God, of his pure essence, of his manner of existence, of his manner of acting: when therefore we would treat on these subjects, we find ourselves forced to express them by sensible images. But necessity leads to beauty; this is true of metaphor in general, and in particular of this kind of metaphor, which is used with great elegance and sublimity in the sacred poetry; and what is very remarkable, in the grossest instances of the application of it, it is generally the most striking and the most sublime. The reason seems to be this: when the images are taken from the superior faculties of the human nature, from the purer and more generous affections, and applied to God, we are apt to acquiesce in the notion; we overlook the metaphor, and take it as a proper attribute; but when the idea is gross and offensive as in this passage of Isaiah, where the impatience of anger and the pleasure of revenge is attributed to God, we are immediately shocked at the application; the impropriety strikes us at once, and the mind, casting about for something in the Divine nature analogous to the image, lays hold on some great, obscure, vague idea, which she endeavours to comprehend, and is lost in immensity and astonishment. See De Sacr. Poesi. Hebr. Praeel. xvi. sub. fin., where this matter is treated and illustrated by examples.