Isaiah 30:21

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁸Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him. ¹⁹O people in Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious at the sound of your cry; when He hears, He will answer you. ²⁰The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself-with your own eyes you will see Him. ²¹And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: "This is the way. Walk in it."²²So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying, "Be gone!" ²³Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures. ²⁴The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder that has been winnowed with the shovel and pitchfork. ²⁵And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall. ²⁶The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter-like the light of seven days-on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He inflicted.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thine ears: Isaiah 35:8, Isaiah 35:9, Isaiah 42:16, Isaiah 48:17, Isaiah 58:11, Psalms 25:8, Psalms 25:9, Psalms 143:8-10, Proverbs 3:5, Proverbs 3:6, Jeremiah 6:16, 1 John 2:20, 1 John 2:27

when ye turn to the right: Deuteronomy 5:32, Joshua 1:7, Joshua 23:6, 2 Kings 22:2, Psalms 32:8, Proverbs 4:27

Reciprocal: Genesis 22:13 - behind Genesis 48:15 - did walk Exodus 18:20 - the way Exodus 33:13 - show Deuteronomy 4:12 - only ye heard a voice Deuteronomy 28:14 - the right 1 Kings 8:36 - the good way 1 Chronicles 17:3 - word 2 Chronicles 6:27 - good way Ezra 8:21 - to seek Job 22:28 - the light Psalms 27:11 - Teach Psalms 73:24 - Thou Psalms 107:7 - he led Proverbs 15:19 - the way of the righteous Jeremiah 3:15 - And I Ezekiel 16:26 - with the Joel 2:23 - the former Amos 8:11 - but Matthew 1:20 - while Matthew 2:22 - being Matthew 7:14 - narrow John 8:32 - ye shall Acts 16:6 - forbidden Revelation 10:8 - the voice

Cross-References

Genesis 30:1
When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. "Give me children, or I will die!" she said to Jacob.

Genesis 30:3
Then she said, "Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, and she will bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family."

Genesis 34:26
They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away.

Genesis 46:15
These are the sons of Leah born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, in addition to his daughter Dinah. The total number of sons and daughters was thirty-three.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee,.... Which may be said in reference to the backsliding and declining state of the people, Isaiah 30:11 and is thought by some to be an allusion to schoolmasters, who stand behind their scholars, or at their backs, to guide, teach, and instruct them; and by others to shepherds following their flocks, who, when they observe any of the sheep going out of the way, call them back; or to travellers, who, coming to a place where are several ways, and being at a loss which way to take, and inclining to turn to the right or left, are called to by persons behind them, and directed in the right way. This "voice behind" is by the Jews e interpreted of Bath Kol; and by others of the voice of conscience; but it rather intends the Spirit of God, and his grace; though it seems best to understand it of the Scriptures of truth, the word of God, the only rule of faith and practice; the language of which is,

saying, This [is] the way, walk ye in it; it directs to Christ the way, and who is the only way of life and salvation to be walked in by faith, and to all the lesser paths of duty and doctrine, which to walk in is both pleasant and profitable, and which is the right way; so the Targum paraphrases it,

"this is the right way;''

to which agree the comments of Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi; though the Arabic and Syriac versions, following the Septuagint, represent them as the words of seducers, directing to a wrong way: but the words are a promise of being led right, and not a threatening of being led wrong:

when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left; through ignorance or inadvertency, through the prevalence of corruption, or force of temptation; and as it is promised there should be such a voice, so they should have ears to hear, their ears erect to attend to what is said, to observe it, and act according to it.

e T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 32. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And thine ears shall hear a word - A command or admonition. You shall not be left without spiritual guides and directors.

Behind thee - That is, says Vitringa, the voice of conscience, as an “invisible” guide, shall admonish you. The idea, however, seems to be that if they were ignorant of the way, or if they were inclined to err, they should be admonished of the true path which they ought to pursue. The idea is taken either from the practice of teachers who are represented as “following” their pupils and admonishing them if they were in danger of going astray (Grotius; or from shepherds, who are represented as following their flocks, and directing them when they wandered. The Jews understand this voice ‘from behind’ to be the כל בת bath kol - ‘the daughter of the voice;’ a divine admonition which they suppose attends the pious. The essential thought is, that they would not be left without a guide and instructor; that, if they were inclined to go astray, they would be recalled to the path of truth and duty. Perhaps there is the idea, also, that the admonition would come from some “invisible” influence, or from some unexpected quarter, as it is often the case that those who are inquiring on the subject of religion receive light from quarters where they least expected, and from sources to which they were not looking. It is also true that the admonitions of Providence, of conscience, and of the Holy Spirit, seem often to come from “behind” us. that is, they “recall” us from the path in which we were going, and restrain us from a course that would be fraught with danger.

When ye turn to the right hand ... - When you shall be in danger of wandering from the direct and straight path. The voice shall recall you, and direct you in the way in which you ought to go.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 30:21. When ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left - "Turn not aside, to the right or to the left."] The Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate, translate as if, instead of כי־וכי ki-vechi, they read לא־ולא lo-velo.