Nazarene Commentary 2000©
21st Century Paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures©
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21st Century Version of the Christian Scriptures©
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THE PROPHET ISAIAH
CHAPTER THIRTY:
MESSAGES AGAINST EGYPT AND ASSYRIA
Summary
Israel’s reliance on Egypt is condemned. Israel’s true protection is YHWH and not political forces such as Egypt and Assyria. Jehovah is coming like an all-consuming fire to destroy Assyria.
Isaiah 30:1-5 – Trusting in Egypt
IS30:1 YeHoWaH declares: “Woe! to insubordinate
children! Those carrying out a purpose
but not Mine! Those weaving a web
– one not in harmony with My spirit
– so that they may pile sin on top of sin.
| 1247 | Insubordinate: Or, rebellious, disloyal, stubborn; LXX: apostate [APOSTATAI] children. Return to Isaiah 1:3. [Isaiah 63:10; 65:2]
Compare Acts 7:51. |
| 1248 | Those carrying out a purpose: Or, LXX: framed counsel; NJB: who make plans; RHM: executing
a purpose. Return to Isaiah 29:15. |
| 1249 | Those weaving a web: Or, RHM: pouring out a libation [footnote: so entering a league]; JPS: weaving schemes; NJB: making alliances not inspired by me; LXX: covenants. |
| 1250 | One not in harmony with My spirit: Or, LXX: not by my spirit [PNEUMATOS]; JPS: against My wishes. Plans that ignore God’s Spirit or Pneuma are doomed from the beginning. [See James 4:13-15.] |
| 1251 | So that they may pile sin on top of sin: Or, RHM: add sin to sin; JPS: piling guilt on guilt. [Hosea 13:2] |
IS30:2 Those who have started out to go down to Egypt
– not asking Me what I might say – seeking the protection of Pharaoh, searching for shelter in Egypt’s shadow.
| 1252 | Go down to Egypt: That is, for help against Assyria and Babylon. |
IS30:3 As
a result Pharaoh’s protection will embarrass all of you, and the shelter of Egypt’s shadow will become a humiliation.
IS30:4 For their royalty have been in Zoan,
and their ambassadors have approached Hanes.
| 1253 | For their royalty have been in Zoan: Or, princes. Return to note on Isaiah 19:11. |
| 1254 | Hanes: An unknown location, possibly located in or near Egypt where Jewish envoys went to seek aid from Egypt. |
IS30:5 Those
places have been embarrassed because [Egypt] could be of no help to them – neither aid or assistance. Instead they are all ashamed and have surely become a reproach.
Isaiah 30:6-8 – Message against Southern Beasts
IS30:6 The weighty message against the Beasts of the South:
“Passing through a land of agony and hardship – with lions and lionesses, vipers and flying snakes with flaming venom – they carry their wealth on the backs of young donkeys – and their treasures on the humps of camels – taking
it all to a people who cannot help them.
| 1255 | Beasts of the South: Or, LXX: the vision of the quadruped in the desert; NJB: Negeb; JPS: [Hebrew uncertain]. Possibly Egypt. |
IS30:7 But the help of the Egyptians proved to be uselessness and emptiness.
So I make a proclamation and call this one: ‘Rahab-Shebeth!’
| 1256 | Uselessness and emptiness: Or, RHM: vanity and emptiness; JPS: vain and empty; NJB: vain and futile. |
| 1257 | Rahab-Shebeth: Or, NJB: Rahab-the-collapsed; JPS: they are a threat that has ceased; RHM: Insolent! They sit still!; BAS: She is Rahab,
who has come to an end. “Rahab” is a cryptic name for Egypt. [Psalm 87:4, 10] |
IS30:8 Now, go write that upon a tablet right in front of them – also inscribe it in a scroll
– so that it may become useful in the future, a witness throughout all future periods of time.
Isaiah 30:9-11 – An Insubordinate People
IS30:9 “These are an insubordinate people – children cunning in deception
– children refusing to listen to the Law of YeHoWaH.
| 1258 | Cunning in deception: Or, RHM: apt at deceiving; JPS: faithless children; NJB: lying children; LXX: false children. [Isaiah 59:3;
Jeremiah 9:3] |
IS30:10 They have told their visionaries: ‘You must not see!’ And to their prophets: ‘Do not prophesy any rebuke!
Instead
speak to us only flattering things.’
[2 Timothy 4:3] Prophesy illusions!
| 1259 | Do not prophesy any rebuke: Or, NJB: do not prophesy the truth to us; RHM: reproofs. The language shows that a prophet was not
someone limited to predicting the future, but rather a speaker or preacher. |
| 1260 | Speak to us only flattering things:
Or, RHM: smooth things; BAS: say false things to give us pleasure. The language may have been borrowed by Paul at 2 Timothy 4:3 where Christian congregations acquire their own teachers who will say what they want them to say. It is a danger thing when a Christian
teacher starts to tell people only what they want to hear. [Isaiah 58:1] |
| 1261 | Prophesy illusions: Or, NJB: have illusory visions; JPS: prophesy delusions. Note Jeremiah chapter 23. |
IS30:11 Leave the path. Get off the trail! Make as though the Holy One of Israel does not exist as far as we are concerned.’” | 1262 | Make as though the Holy One of Israel does not exist as far as we are concerned: Or, DAR: cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us; YLT: Cause to cease from before us the Holy One of Israel. The thinking of the atheistic evolution. |
Isaiah 30:12-14 – Crushed for Rejecting the Word
IS30:12 And so, this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because all of you have rejected this message
– trusting instead in fraud and deceit,
using them for support –
| 1263 | Rejected this message: Or, LXX: refused to obey these words. BAS: not give ear to this word. Return to Isaiah 5:25. [Amos 2:4] |
| 1264 | Trusting instead in fraud and deceit: Or, LXX: trusted in falsehood; NJB: put your trust in fraud and disloyalty; JPS: in that which
is fraudulent and tortuous; RHM: trusted in oppression and perverseness. [Jeremiah 13:25; Micah 3:11] |
IS30:13 so this terrible mistake on your part
will become just like a breached wall bulging high up and about to topple, the collapse occurring suddenly like the blink of an eye.
| 1265 | This terrible mistake on your part: Or, RHM: this iniquity; NJB: guilt; LXX: this sin. |
| 1266 | Suddenly like the blink of an eye: See notes on Isaiah 26:20. |
IS30:14 Surely
someone will break it, just like smashing a potter’s clay jar and having no further need of it. For among all its broken pieces there is none large enough to use in scooping ash from a fireplace, or skimming water from a cistern.”
Isaiah 30:15-17 – How to Be Saved
IS30:15 For the Sovereign Lord YeHoWaH of [angelic] armies – the Holy One of Israel – has said: “You will be saved if you just return and relax.
Keeping quiet and trusting will be the source of your strength.
But you will not do it!
| 1267 | You will be saved if you just return and relax: Or, NJB: your salvation lay in conversion and tranquility; JPS: you will triumph
by stillness and quiet; RHM: returning and resting shall ye be saved. That is, return from going down to Egypt for help and quietly waiting on YHWH to deliver them. |
| 1268 | Keeping quiet and trusting will be the source of your strength: Or, JPS: your victory shall come about through calm and confidence; NJB: your strength in serenity and trust. Return to Isaiah 26:3. |
IS30:16 For you said: ‘Never! We will flee on horses.’ [So on horses you will take flight!] And, you said: ‘We will surely ride on something fast!’ [So those chasing you will be fast!]
IS30:17 One thousand will flee just because of the shout
of one person, but when five give the war-shout you will take flight, leaving until you look like a pole atop a mountain, or a flag on a hill.” | 1269 | Shout: Or, threat, war-cry, rebuke. |
| 1270 | Look like a pole atop a mountain, or a flag on a hill: Or, BAS: till you are like a pillar by itself on the top of a mountain, and like a flag on a hill; DAR: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and
as a banner on a hill. That is, isolated and alone and a clear target. |
Isaiah 30:18-21 – A God of Judgment Shows Mercy
IS30:18 And so YeHoWaH will wait so He may grant you favor,
arousing Himself so He may show you compassion.
For YeHoWaH is a God of judgment!
Blessed are those who keep waiting for Him.
| 1271 | YeHoWaH will wait so He may grant you favor: Or, JPS: waiting to show you grace; NJB: Yahweh is waiting to be gracious to you;
LXX: may pity you; BAS: may be kind. This is part of God’s nature. [Exodus 34:6] |
| 1272 | Show you compassion:
Or, LXX: mercy; NJB: pity; JPS: He will arise to pardon you. [Psalm 102:13] |
| 1273 | YeHoWaH is a God of judgment:
Or, RHM: a God of justice; NJB: Yahweh is a God of fair judgment; LXX: your God [HO THEOS] is a judge. Abraham calls YHWH “the Judge of all the earth” in the first use of such a designation. Judgment is a major theme of the Bible and precedes salvation.
For details see the Biblical Article God and Judgment. See Romans chapter 2. [Psalm 99:4; Jeremiah 10:24] |
| 1274 |
Blessed are those who keep waiting for Him: Or, BAS: there is a blessing on all whose hope is in him; DAR: O the blessedness of all waiting for Him. [Psalm 112:1; Proverbs 16:20; Jeremiah 17:7] It takes patience and endurance to wait for anyone. |
IS30:19 For when a people will dwell in Zion – in Jerusalem – they who weep will weep no more! Those who are favored He will grant favor. The moment He hears the sound of your outcry He will answer you!
| 1275 | The moment He hears the sound of your outcry He will answer you: Or, BAS: he will certainly have mercy on you at the sound of your cry; when it comes to his ear, he will give you an answer. [Psalm 50:15] |
IS30:20 Though YeHoWaH gives you a little bread of affliction
and a mere swallow of the water of oppression,
even so your Revelator will not hide Himself anymore.
Your own eyes will continue seeing your Revelator.
| 1276 | A little bread of affliction: Or, NJB: bread of suffering; JPS: meager bread; RHM: bread it short measure; BAS: give you the bread
of trouble. |
| 1277 | A mere swallow of the water of oppression: Or, RHM: water in scant allowance; JPS: scant water;
NJB: water of distress; BAS: water of grief. See the Mosaic Curse in Leviticus 26:26. [Psalm 80:5] |
| 1278 | Your Revelator
will not hide Himself anymore: Or, NJB: your teacher will hide no longer; JPS: then your Guide will no more be ignored; RHM: Teacher [footnote: Revealer]; DAR: thy teachers shall not be hidden any more. The word “teacher” is in the plural but
most think it the plural of majesty. [Psalm 71:17; 119:102] YHWH God reveals Himself throughout history to important men or people who will serve within His “eternal purpose.” The first mention of such is at Genesis 35:7 with an appearance to Jacob
[Israel]. The Egyptian Pharaoh gives Joseph the name, “Reveal of Secrets.” [Genesis 41:45] YHWH will be a Reveal to His people. [Deuteronomy 29:29] Compare this revelation in Isaiah 22:14; 40:5; 53:1. [See Daniel 2:19, 22, 28, 29, 47; 10:1.] |
IS30:21 Then your own ears will hear
a message coming from behind
[Revelation 1:10] you, “This is
The Way
[Acts – walk in it!
– lest you turn to the right,
or if you might turn to the left.”| 1279 | A message coming from behind: Or, JPS: the command from behind you; NJB: hear these words
behind you. The phrase is very similar to Revelation 1:10. |
| 1280 | This is The Way – walk in it: Or, RHM:
this is the way, walk ye therein; NJB: keep to it; JPS: this is the road, follow it; LXX: this is the way, let us walk in it. [Psalm 25:8] Compare Acts 9:2 and one of the first designations for the Christian community. |
| 1281 | Right… left: A phrase used in relation to the Law of God. Compare Deuteronomy 5:32; Joshua 1:7; Proverbs 4:27. |
Isaiah 30:22-26 – Blessings upon the Iconoclasts
IS30:22 Then all of you must consider unclean
your carved images of silver, as well as the gold plating on your molten idols. You will throw them away like a menstruating woman does her cloth.
You will yell: “Away!”
| 1282 | You must consider unclean: Or, LXX: pollute; JPS: treat as unclean; NJB: hold unclean; RHM: defile. That is, consider ceremonially
unclean the gold and silver instead of melting it down for reuse. [2 Kings 23:4; 2 Chronicles 34:4; Zechariah 13:2] |
| 1283 |
Throw them away like a menstruating woman does her cloth: Or, KJV: cast them away as a menstruous cloth; RHM: as a woman the token of her sickness; NJB: like the polluted things they are. [See Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance #1739.] Compare
Genesis 18:11; Leviticus 15:19, 20, 24-26. |
| 1284 | Away: Or, out, good riddance, begone. |
IS30:23 It will be then that He will give you rain for your seed, and so you will plant your land. Then your land will produce nourishing, moist bread.
In that day your herds will feed on large pastures.
| 1285 | Nourishing, moist bread: Or, RHM; fertile and fat; NJB: rich and nourishing. |
IS30:24 Then the oxen and donkeys tilling the land will be given salted fodder that has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
IS30:25 Then atop every mountain and every rolling hill there will be flowing streams and water ducts.
Isaiah 30:26-29 – YHWH Heals His People
IS30:26 On that day of great slaughter
– when fortress towers collapse – then the moonlight will be more like sunlight;
and sunlight will be seven times brighter as the sum of light on seven days.
It will be like that on that day when YeHoWaH binds the wounds of His people, when He heals the brutal wound caused by repeated whippings.
| 1286 | On that day of great slaughter: Or, JPS: heavy slaughter; LXX: when many perish. |
| 1287 | Moonlight will be more like sunlight: Or, RHM: light of the moon be as the light of the sun. Perhaps a metaphor for the change of circumstances between gloom and illuminated restoration. |
| 1288 | Sunlight will be seven times brighter as the sum of light on seven days: Or, BAS: the light of the sun will be seven times greater, as the light of seven days, in the day when. See Isaiah 60:20. [Habakkuk 3:4, 11; Revelation 21:23; 22:5] That is, matters will turn considerably brighter for Israel. Note the use of the number “seven.” |
| 1289 | When He heals the brutal wound caused by repeated whippings: Or, BAS: when the Lord puts oil on the wounds of his people, and makes them well from the blows they have undergone; DAR: healeth the wound of their stroke. [Deuteronomy 32:39; Jeremiah 33:6; Hosea 6:1; Amos 9:11] |
IS30:27 Behold! The Name of YeHoWaH approaches from far in the distance
– His anger aflame with a brooding storm
– with His lips full of indignation.
His tongue is like an all-consuming fire.
| 1290 | The Name of YeHoWaH approaches from far in the distance: Or, RHM: Name of Yahweh coming in from afar; LXX: the name of the Lord
comes after a long time; ASV: the name of Jehovah cometh from far. Search “the name of” in the Bible, particularly Isaiah for the emphasis on the Name’s importance. [Isaiah 18:7; 24:15; 30:27; 48:1; 50:10; 56:6; 59:19; 60:9] |
| 1291 | His anger aflame with a brooding storm: Or, LXX: burning wrath; RHM: His anger kindling, a heavy storm; NJB: blazing in his anger, heavy
in his threat; BAS: burning with his wrath, with thick smoke going up; DAR: burning with his anger—a grievous conflagration. Return to Isaiah 10:7. [Nahum 1:6; Zephaniah 3:8] |
| 1292 | With His lips full of indignation: Or, BAS: his lips are full of passion, and his tongue is like a burning fire. |
IS30:28 His
spirit is like a torrential deluge reaching neck-high.
[He comes] to sift the nations with a calamitous sieve.
Leading to desolation by the bridle in the jaws of the hordes of people.
| 1293 | His spirit is like a torrential deluge reaching neck-high: Or, NJB: his breath; JPS: his breath like a raging torrent reaching
half way up to the neck; RHM: his breath [footnote: spirit] like an overflowing torrent even unto the neck; LXX: his breath [PNEUMA] as rushing water. Return to Isaiah 8:8. God’s Spirit [or, Pneuma] is compared to the force [or, pressure] of a deluge. |
| 1294 | Sift the nations with a calamitous sieve: Or, LXX: to confound the nations for their vain error; RHM: sieve of calamity; NJB: siege of destruction; JPS: to set a misguiding yoke upon nations. [Amos 9:9] |
| 1295 | Leading to desolation by the bridle in the jaws of the hordes of people: Or, BAS: he will put a cord in the mouths of the people; DAR: bridle into the jaws of the peoples. [2 Kings 19:28; Psalm 32:9] |
IS30:29 Then all of you people will sing a song, like that in the evening of a hallowed festival.
You will sing with a glad heart, just as one ascends the mountain of YeHoWaH, playing the flute unto the Rock of Israel.| 1296 |
Evening of a hallowed festival: Or, NJB: festal night. Jewish festivals begin at sundown. [Psalm 42:4; 81:2] |
Isaiah 30:30-33 – YHWH’s Voice an All-Consuming Fire
IS30:30 At that time YeHoWaH will cause His own voice to be heard, His own resounding voice.
They will see His arm coming down in angry rage, with the flame of an all-consuming fire – an exploding thunder-storm and a downpour of hailstones!
| 1297 | His own resounding voice: Or, NJB: majestic voice ring out; LXX: glorious voice. [Psalm 29:3] Note Revelation 1:15 and the “voice”
associated with the sound of thunderous waters. |
| 1298 | An exploding thunder-storm and a downpour of hailstones:
Or, BAS: with a cloud-burst, and storm, and a rain of ice; DAR: with waterflood and storm and hailstones. |
IS30:31 For at the sound of YeHoWaH’s voice
Assyria will be smashed to bits with His crushing rod!
| 1299 | Assyria will be smashed to bits with His crushing rod: Or, BAS: through the voice of the Lord the Assyrian will be broken, and
the Lord’s rod will be lifted up against him; DAR: through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be broken down: he will smite him with the rod. Return 9:4. [Isaiah 37:36] |
IS30:32 Then
it will happen that every time YeHoWaH strikes with the Staff of Doom
there will be the musical sounds of tambourines and harps.
He will fight against the Assyrians with threatening gestures of battle.
| 1300 | Staff of Doom: Or, JPS: appointed staff. |
| 1301 | There will be the musical sounds of tambourines and harps: The image with its sounds conjures up a symphony playing resounding music as each blow is stroke. |
| 1302 | With threatening gestures of battle: Or, DAR: with tumultuous battles will he fight with it; JPS: as he waves it; RHM: with battles of brandished
weapons. |
IS30:33 Before all of this occurs [the garbage dump of] Topheth has been made ready,
prepared for the king [of Assyria]. YeHoWaH has made [the pit] deep, enlarging it, surrounded by plenty of wood for the fire. The very breath of YeHoWaH
– a torrent of brimstone – is ready to start the fire!| 1303 | Topheth has been made ready: Meaning, “Place of Fire.”
This is a place outside of Jerusalem where paganized Israelites first sacrificed their children to false gods. [2Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31-33; 19:3-14; 32:35] A Jewish scholar described the place: “The name of the place where
they caused their sons to pass through [the fire] to Molech. The name of the place was Topheth, and they said it was called thus because at the time of worship they would dance and strike tambourines [Heb., tup·pim’] so that the father would not hear his son’s cries when they were causing him to pass through the fire, and that his heart might not become agitated over him and he take him from their hand. And this place was a valley that belonged to a man named Hinnom, and it was called ‘Valley of Hinnom’ and ‘Valley of the Son of Hinnom’… And Josiah defiled that place, reducing it to an unclean place, to cast there carcasses and all uncleanness, that it might never again come up into the heart of a man to cause his son and his daughter to pass through in the fire to Molech.” [David Kimhi; Biblia Rabbinica, Jerusalem, 1972] |
| 1304 | Breath of YeHoWaH: The Hebrew is NESH-SHAMAH’ [STRONG’S EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE#5397]. See notes on Genesis 2:7. |
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Nazarene Commentary 2000©
Mark Heber Miller
©2000 All Rights Reserved
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