Isaiah 1:31

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 strong: Ezekiel 32:21

as tow: Isaiah 27:4, Isaiah 43:17, Isaiah 50:11, Judges 15:14, Revelation 6:14-17

the maker of it: or, his work

and they: Isaiah 34:9, Isaiah 34:10, Isaiah 66:24, Ezekiel 20:47, Ezekiel 20:48, Malachi 4:1, Matthew 3:10, Mark 9:43-49, Revelation 14:10, Revelation 14:11, Revelation 19:20, Revelation 20:10

Reciprocal: Judges 9:15 - let fire Isaiah 9:18 - wickedness Jeremiah 11:16 - with Jeremiah 17:27 - shall not Jeremiah 21:12 - none Lamentations 2:3 - he burned Ezekiel 6:6 - your works Ezekiel 15:4 - the fire Amos 5:6 - there Habakkuk 2:18 - that the Matthew 3:12 - with

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:2
Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Genesis 1:5
God called the light "day," and the darkness He called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day.

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day.

Genesis 1:13
And there was evening, and there was morning-the third day.

Genesis 1:19
And there was evening, and there was morning-the fourth day.

Genesis 1:23
And there was evening, and there was morning-the fifth day.

Genesis 2:2
And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.

Exodus 20:11
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Job 38:7
while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the strong shall be as tow,.... החסון, "that strong one", who is eminently so; the little horn, whose look is more stout than his fellows, Daniel 7:20 the beast who had great power and authority given by the dragon, Revelation 13:2 who shall be cast alive into the lake of fire; when he will be like tow in those devouring flames, easily, quickly, and irrecoverably consumed, Daniel 7:11

Revelation 19:20

and the maker of it as a spark, or "his work"; so the Targum,

"and the work of their hands shall be as a spark of fire;''

or like the embers and ashes of a coal, which are blown away and lost at once: so antichrist, and all his evil works, as well as all his evil workers under him, will be entirely consumed: or, as it may be rendered, "he that wrought him": that is, Satan, for his coming is after the working of Satan; he has his seat, power, and authority, from the dragon, the old serpent, and the devil, and may be truly called a creature of his, 2 Thessalonians 2:9

and they shall both burn together; both the pope and the devil in the lake of fire and brimstone, into which they will both be cast,

Revelation 20:10

and none shall quench [them]; that fire will be unquenchable and everlasting; they will be tormented for ever and ever, and so will all the worshippers of the beast, Matthew 25:41. The Chaldee paraphrase is,

"so the wicked shall be consumed, and their evil works, and there shall be no mercy upon them.''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the strong - Those who have been thought to be strong, on whom the people relied for protection and defense - their rulers, princes, and the commanders of their armies.

As tow - The coarse or broken part of flax, or hemp. It means here that which shall be easily and quickly kindled and rapidly consumed. As tow burns and is destroyed at the touch of fire, so shall the rulers of the people be consumed by the approaching calamities.

And the maker of it - This is an unhappy translation. The word פעלו po‛ălô may be indeed a participle, and be rendered ‘its maker,’ but it is more commonly a noun, and means his work, or his action. This is its plain meaning here. So the Latin Vulgate, the Septuagint, and the Chaldee. It means, that as a spark enkindles tow, so the works or deeds of a wicked nation shall be the occasion or cause of their destruction. The ambition of one man is the cause of his ruin; the sensuality of a second is the cause of his; the avarice of a third is the cause of his. These passions, insatiable and ungratified, shall be the occasion of the deep and eternal sorrows of hell. So it means here, that the crimes and hypocrisy of the nation would be the real cause of all the calamities that would come upon them as a people.

Shall both burn together - The spark and the flame from the kindled flax mingle, and make one fire. So the people and their works would be enkindled and destroyed together. They would burn so rapidly, that nothing could extinguish them. The meaning is, that the nation would be punished; and that all their works of idolatry and monuments of sin would be the occasion of their punishment, and would perish at the same time. The “principle” involved in this passage teaches us the following things:

(1) That the wicked, however mighty, shall be destroyed.

(2) That their works will be the “cause” of their ruin - a cause necessarily leading to it.

(3) That the works of the wicked - all that they do and all on which they depend - shall be destroyed.

(4) That this destruction shall be final. Nothing shall stay the flame. No tears of penitence, no power of men or devils, shall “put out” the fires which the works of the wicked shall enkindle.