Isaiah 3:1

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of bread and water,²the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder, ³the commander of fifty and the dignitary, the counselor, the cunning magician, and the clever enchanter. ⁴"I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them." ⁵The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable. ⁶A man will seize his brother within his father's house: "You have a cloak-you be our leader! Take charge of this heap of rubble." ⁷On that day he will cry aloud: "I am not a healer. I have no food or clothing in my house. Do not make me leader of the people!" ⁸For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they spoke and acted against the LORD, defying His glorious presence.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

behold: Isaiah 2:22

the Lord: Isaiah 1:24, Isaiah 36:12, Isaiah 51:22

the stay: Leviticus 26:26, Psalms 105:16, Jeremiah 37:21, Jeremiah 38:9, Ezekiel 4:16, Ezekiel 4:17, Ezekiel 14:13

Reciprocal: Genesis 18:5 - comfort Genesis 44:1 - Fill the Judges 10:18 - What man Job 12:20 - taketh Psalms 104:15 - bread Proverbs 28:2 - the transgression Isaiah 22:3 - thy rulers Jeremiah 52:6 - the famine Lamentations 5:4 - have Ezekiel 4:10 - General Ezekiel 5:16 - and will Ezekiel 16:27 - and have Micah 4:9 - is there

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied, "and I ate."

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Ecclesiastes 4:10
For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!

Isaiah 27:1
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan, the fleeing serpent-Leviathan, the coiling serpent-and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

Matthew 4:3
The tempter came to Him and said, "If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Matthew 4:6
"If You are the Son of God," he said, "throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.'"

Matthew 4:9
"All this I will give You," he said, "if You will fall down and worship me."

Matthew 10:16
Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

2 Corinthians 11:14
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,.... These titles of Jehovah, expressive of power and authority, are used to show that he is able to execute what he threatens to do; and the word "behold" is prefixed, to excite attention to what is about to be said:

doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judea; the present tense is used for the future, because of the certainty of what would be done to the Jews, both in city and country; for as in the preceding chapter Isaiah 2:1 it is foretold what shall befall the antichristian party among the nations of the world, this is a prophecy of the destruction of the Jews by the Romans; at which time there would be a dreadful famine, signified by the taking away

the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water; bread and water being the stay and staff of man's life, which support and maintain it; and, in case of disobedience, a famine was threatened this people very early, and in much such terms as here,

Leviticus 26:26 and as there was a very sore famine at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 52:6 so there was a very dreadful one when the city was besieged by the Romans, as related by Josephus, and predicted by Christ, Matthew 24:7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For - This is a continuation of the previous chapter. The same prophecy is continued, and the force of the argument of the prophet will not be seen unless the chapters are read together; see the Analysis prefixed to Isaiah 2:0. In the close of the second chapter Isaiah 2:22, the prophet had cautioned his countrymen against confiding in man. In this chapter, a reason is given here why they should cease to do it - to wit, that God would soon take away their kings and princes.

The Lord - האדון hā'âdôn; see the note at Isaiah 1:24.

The Lord of hosts - see the note at Isaiah 1:9. The prophet calls the attention of the Jews particularly to the fact that this was about to be done by Yahweh “of hosts” - a title which he gives to God when he designs to indicate that that which is to be done implies special strength, power, and majesty. As the work which was now to be done was the removal of the mighty men on which the nation was depending, it is implied that it was a work of power which belonged especially to the God of armies - the Almighty.

Doth take away - Is about to remove. In the Hebrew, the word here is a “participle,” and does not mark the precise time. It has reference here, however, to the future.

From Jerusalem ... - Note Isaiah 1:1.

The stay - In the Hebrew, the words translated “stay” and “staff” are the same, with the exception that the former is in the masculine, and the latter in the feminine gender. The meaning is, that God would remove “all kinds of support,” or “everything” on which they relied. The reference is undoubtedly to the princes and mighty men on whose counsels and aid the nation was resting for defense; see Isaiah 3:2-3.

The whole stay of bread - We use a similar expression when we say that “bread is the staff of life.” The Hebrews often expressed the same idea, representing the “heart” in man as being “supported or upheld” by bread, Genesis 18:5 (margin); Judges 19:5 (margin); Leviticus 26:26; Psalms 105:16.

Stay of water - He would reduce them from their luxuries introduced by commerce Isaiah 2:0 to absolute want. This often occurred in the sieges and wars of the nation; and in the famines which were the consequence of the wars. The reference here is probably to the invasion of the land by Nebuchadnezzar. The famine consequent on that invasion is described in Jeremiah 38:21; Jeremiah 38:9; Lamentations 4:4 : “The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his month for thirst; the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER III

The whole of this chapter, with the first verse of the next, is

a prophecy of those calamities that should be occasioned by the

Babylonish invasion and captivity. These calamities are

represented as so great and so general, that even royal

honours, in such a state, are so far from being desirable, that

hardly any can be got to accept them, 1-7.

This visitation is declared to be the consequence of their

profanity and guilt; for which the prophet farther reproves and

threatens them, 8-15.

Particular amplification of the distress of the delicate and

luxurious daughters of Zion; whose deplorable situation is

finely contrasted with their former prosperity and ease, 16-26.

NOTES ON CHAP. III

Verse Isaiah 3:1. The stay and the staff - "Every stay and support"] Hebrew, "the support masculine, and the support feminine:" that is, every kind of support, whether great or small, strong or weak. "Al Kanitz, wal-kanitzah; the wild beasts, male and female. Proverbially applied both to fishing and hunting: i.e., I seized the prey, great or little, good or bad. From hence, as Schultens observes, is explained Isaiah 3:1, literally, the male and female stay: i.e., the strong and weak, the great and small." - Chappelow, note on Hariri, Assembly I. Compare Ecclesiastes 2:8.

The Hebrew words משען ומשענה mashen umashenah come from the same root שען shaan, to lean against, to incline, to support; and here, being masculine and feminine, they may signify all things necessary for the support both of man and woman. My old MS. understands the staff and stay as meaning particular persons, and translates the verse thus: - Lo forsoth, the Lordschip Lord of Hoostis schal don awey fro Jerusalem and fro Juda the stalworth and the stronge.

The two following verses, Isaiah 3:2-3, are very clearly explained by the sacred historian's account of the event, the captivity of Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: "And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths; none remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land," 2 Kings 24:14. Which is supplied by our version.