Isaías 28:15

La Biblia Reina-Valera Gomez

Porque habéis dicho: Hemos hecho un pacto con la muerte, e hicimos un acuerdo con el infierno; cuando pase el turbión del azote, no llegará a nosotros, pues hemos hecho de la mentira nuestro refugio, y en la falsedad nos hemos escondido.

Parallel Translations

La Biblia de las Americas
Porque habéis dicho: Hemos hecho un pacto con la muerte, hemos hecho un convenio con el Seol; cuando pase el azote abrumador, no nos alcanzará, porque hemos hecho de la mentira nuestro refugio y en el engaño nos hemos escondido.

La Biblia Reina-Valera
Porque hab�is dicho: Concierto tenemos hecho con la muerte, � hicimos acuerdo con la sepultura; cuando pasare el turbi�n del azote, no llegar� � nosotros, pues que hemos puesto nuestra acogida en la mentira, y en la falsedad nos esconderemos:

Sagradas Escrituras (1569)
Porque hab�is dicho: Pacto tenemos hecho con la muerte, y con la sepultura; hicimos acuerdo que cuando pasare el turbi�n del azote, no llegar� a nosotros; porque pusimos nuestra acogida en mentira, y en la falsedad nos esconderemos;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

We have: To be in covenant with a thing, says Bp. Lowth, is a proverbial expression to denote perfect security from mischief or evil of which it is the cause. Isaiah 5:18, Isaiah 5:19, Ecclesiastes 8:8, Job 5:23, Job 15:25-27, Jeremiah 44:17, Ezekiel 8:12, Hosea 2:18, Zephaniah 1:12

when: Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:8, Daniel 11:22

we have made: Isaiah 30:10, Jeremiah 5:31, Jeremiah 14:13, Jeremiah 16:19, Jeremiah 28:15-17, Ezekiel 13:16, Ezekiel 13:22, Amos 2:4, Jonah 2:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11

Reciprocal: Genesis 27:19 - I am Joshua 7:21 - they are hid Judges 9:46 - an hold 2 Samuel 15:8 - I will serve Psalms 10:5 - thy judgments Psalms 56:7 - escape Psalms 62:10 - Trust Proverbs 13:1 - but Proverbs 16:25 - General Isaiah 10:22 - the consumption Isaiah 16:6 - but Isaiah 28:2 - as a tempest Isaiah 28:17 - and the hail Isaiah 28:22 - be ye Isaiah 29:15 - seek Isaiah 30:12 - and trust Isaiah 33:14 - sinners Isaiah 44:20 - Is there Isaiah 47:10 - thou hast trusted Isaiah 50:11 - all ye Jeremiah 5:12 - have belied Jeremiah 7:8 - ye trust Jeremiah 13:25 - trusted Jeremiah 36:23 - he cut Jeremiah 44:25 - Ye and Ezekiel 11:5 - Thus have Ezekiel 12:27 - for Ezekiel 13:11 - there shall Ezekiel 21:23 - as a Amos 5:18 - desire Amos 6:13 - Have Amos 9:10 - The evil Habakkuk 2:9 - set Malachi 3:13 - Your Romans 5:5 - hope

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Because ye have said,.... Within themselves; they thought so, if they did not say it in express words; and their conduct and behaviour showed that these were the sentiments and presumptions of their minds:

We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement: as safe from death, and secure from hell, or the grave, as if a covenant and compact had been formally entered into between them. The phrases are expressive of their being fearless of them, and of their confidence and assurance that they should not be hurt by them. Some interpret this of their deadly enemies, as Sennacherib king of Assyria particularly, with whom they had made peace, and had entered into a covenant of friendship and alliance, and so had nothing to fear from the threatenings of the Lord by the prophet; but Vitringa, better, of the covenant and agreement with the Romans, which the Jewish rulers were careful to observe, and thought themselves safe on account of it; see Revelation 6:8:

when the overflowing scourge shall pass through; when the judgments of God shall come upon the earth, and pass through the whole world, as a chastisement and correction of men for their sins, and as a punishment for them, like a mighty torrent spreading itself, and carrying all before it; or particularly when the Assyrian monarch with his army shall pass through the land of Judea, signified, in

Isaiah 28:2, by a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, a flood of mighty waters overflowing; or rather the Roman army invading Judea:

it shall not come unto us; who were in the city of Jerusalem:

for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves; not what they themselves reckoned so, but what the prophet Isaiah, or the Lord by him, called so, whose words they used, and in whose language they spoke; meaning either their lying prophets, as Kimchi, and the false doctrines they delivered to them, promising them peace when destruction was at hand; or their idols, as Jarchi, which are falsehood, lying vanities, and work of errors; or their carnal policy, arts of dissimulation, sinful compliances, and crafty methods of acting with their enemies, by which they hoped to deceive them, and secure themselves from destruction, as others; or else their wealth and riches, got by lying and fraud, which is the sense of some interpreters; and perhaps all may be intended in which they might put their trust and confidence, and on account of them expect security from threatened evils, though no other than lies and falsehood; and the same may be observed of all outward acts of religion, rites and ceremonies, and works of righteousness done by men, in which they place their trust, and hope to be saved by them from wrath to come.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

We have made a covenant with death - We are not to suppose that they had formally said this, but that their conduct was as if they had said it; they lived as securely as if they had entered into a compact with death not to destroy them, and with hell not to devour them. The figure is a very bold one, and is designed to express the extraordinary stupidity of the nation. It is most strikingly descriptive of the great mass of people. They are as little anxious about death and hell as if they had made a compact with the king of terrors and the prince of darkness not to destroy them. They are as little moved by the appeals of the gospel, by the alarms of God’s providence, by the preaching of his word, and by all the demonstrations that they are exposed to eternal death, as though they had proved that there was no hell, or had entered into a solemn covenant that they should be unmolested. A figure similar to this occurs in Job 5:23 :

For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field;

And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

Compare Hosea 2:18.

And with hell - Hebrew, ‘Sheol’ - the land of shades, or of departed spirits (see the note at Isaiah 5:14). It is nearly synonymous here with death.

When the overflowing scourge shall pass through - There is here, in our translation, a little confusion of metaphor, since we speak usually of an overflowing “stream,” and not of an overflowing “scourge.” The word ‘scourge’ (שׁיט shayiṭ) means usually “a whip, a scourge,” the same as שׁוט shôṭ, and then means any punishment or calamity (see the note at Isaiah 10:26; compare Job 9:23; Job 5:21. Here its means severe judgments or calamities, as overflowing like water, or inundating a people.

We have made lies ... - That is, they acted as if they had a safe refuge in falsehood. They sought security in false doctrines, and regarded themselves as safe from all that the prophets had denounced.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 28:15. A covenant with death — To be in covenant with, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote perfect security from evil and mischief of any sort: -

"For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field;

And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee."

Job 5:23.

"And I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of

the field.

And with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things

of the ground."

Hosea 2:18.

That is, none of these shall hurt them. But Lucan, speaking of the Psylli, whose peculiar property it was to be unhurt by the bite of serpents, with which their country abounded, comes still nearer to the expression of Isaiah in this place: -

Gens unica terras

Incolit a saevo serpentum innoxia morsu

Marmaridae Psylli.__

Pax illis cum morte data est.

Pharsal. ix. 891.

"Of all who scorching Afric's sun endure,

None like the swarthy Psyllians are secure:

With healing gifts and privileges graced,

Well in the land of serpents were they placed:

Truce with the dreadful tyrant death they have,

And border safely on his realm the grave."

ROWE.

We have made a covenant with death and with hell are we at agreement — עשינו חזה asinu chozeh, we have made a vision, we have had an interview, struck a bargain, and settled all preliminaries. So they had made a covenant with hell by diabolic sacrifice, כרתנו ברית carathnu berith. "We have cut the covenant sacrifice;" they divided it for the contracting parties to pass between the separated victim; for the victim was split exactly down the middle, so that even the spinal marrow was exactly divided through its whole length; and being set opposite to each other, the contracting parties entered, one at the head part, the other at the feet; and, meeting in the centre, took the covenant oath. Thus, it is intimated, these bad people made an agreement with שאול sheol, with demons, with whom they had an interview; i.e., meeting them in the covenant sacrifice! To such a pitch had the Israelitish idolatry reached at that time!