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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Isaiah 32 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/isaiah/32.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/isaiah/32-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > Isaiah 32</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../isaiah/31.htm" title="Isaiah 31">◄</a> Isaiah 32 <a href="../isaiah/33.htm" title="Isaiah 33">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-1.htm">Isaiah 32:1</a></div><div class="verse">Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 1-8.</span> - A PROPHECY OF MESSIAH'S KINGDOM. It is generally allowed that this prophecy is Messianic; but some critics insist that it is not so "in a narrow sense." They regard Isaiah as expecting Messiah's kingdom to follow immediately on the discomfiture of Sennacherib, and as looking to Hezekiah to inaugurate it. According to this view, Hezekiah, renovated in character, was to be the Messiah, and might have been so had he been "equal to the demands providentially made upon him." But he was not; and the task of establishing the kingdom fell to "another," at a later date. It is simpler to regard the prophet as looking for a greater than Hezekiah (comp. <a href="/isaiah/7-14.htm">Isaiah 7:14</a>; <a href="/isaiah/9-6.htm">Isaiah 9:6</a>), but ignorant how soon, or how late, his coming would be. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">A king... princes</span>. Delitzsch and Mr. Cheyne translate, "the king... the princes;" but the Hebrew gives no article. The announcement is vague, and corresponds to those of other prophets, as of Jeremiah (<a href="/jeremiah/23-5.htm">Jeremiah 23:5</a>), "Behold, the days come that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper;" and of Zechariah (<a href="/zechariah/9-9.htm">Zechariah 9:9</a>), "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion... behold, thy <span class="accented">King</span> cometh unto thee." The "princes" of the text are the minor authorities whom the king would set over his kingdom - i.e., the apostles and their successors. <span class="cmt_word">In righteousness... in judgment</span>. Messiah's rule will be a rule of strict justice and right, offering the strongest contrast to that under which the Jews have been living since the time of Jehoshaphat (see <a href="/isaiah/1-15.htm">Isaiah 1:15-23</a>; <a href="/isaiah/3-1.htm">Isaiah 3:1-12</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-2.htm">Isaiah 32:2</a></div><div class="verse">And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">A man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind</span>, etc. Modern critics mostly render, "each man" - <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the king, and each of his princes. But it is, to say the least, <span class="accented">allowable</span> - with Vitringa and Kay - to regard the word as referring <span class="accented">to</span> the king only (comp. <a href="/zechariah/6-12.htm">Zechariah 6:12</a>, where <span class="accented">ish</span>, a man, is used in the same vague way of One who is clearly the Messiah). There was never but <span class="accented">one</span> man who could be to other men all that is predicated in this verse of the "man" mentioned (comp. <a href="/isaiah/25-4.htm">Isaiah 25:4</a>, where nearly the same epithets are predicated of God). <span class="cmt_word">A covert</span>; <span class="accented">i</span>.<span class="accented">e.</span> a protection against Divine wrath. Such is Messiah in his mediatorial character. <span class="cmt_word">Rivers of water</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> refreshing and invigorating (comp. <a href="/isaiah/55-1.htm">Isaiah 55:1</a>; <a href="/john/4-14.htm">John 4:14</a>; <a href="/john/7-37.htm">John 7:37</a>). The shadow of a great rook. At once refreshing and protecting (see <a href="/isaiah/25-4.htm">Isaiah 25:4</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-3.htm">Isaiah 32:3</a></div><div class="verse">And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The eyes of them that see shall not be dim</span>. In Messiah's kingdom there shall be no judicial blindness, such as that threatened in <a href="/isaiah/6-9.htm">Isaiah 6:9, 10</a>, and described in <a href="/isaiah/29-10.htm">Isaiah 29:10, 11</a>; but men shall see the truth clearly (comp. <a href="/isaiah/29-18.htm">Isaiah 29:18</a>; <a href="/isaiah/35-5.htm">Isaiah 35:5</a>; <a href="/matthew/13-16.htm">Matthew 13:16</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">The ears.., shall hearken;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "shall both hear and <span class="accented">understated"</span> (compare "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear"). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-4.htm">Isaiah 32:4</a></div><div class="verse">The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The heart also of the rash</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> of those who <span class="accented">were</span> rash and hasty, who would not give themselves time to understand the warnings addressed to them, or to think of the real character of their actions. These shall, in Messiah's kingdom, "have the gift of discernment to perceive things in their true nature" (Delitzsch). <span class="cmt_word">The tongue of the stammerers</span>. The tongue of those who hitherto have spoken hesitatingly and inconsistently on moral and religions subjects shall be <span class="cmt_word">ready</span> - i.e., prompt and eager - to speak upon them with clearness and elegance. The grace given to the uneducated fishermen of Galilee enabled them to preach and teach gospel truth, not only with clearness, but with refinement. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-5.htm">Isaiah 32:5</a></div><div class="verse">The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said <i>to be</i> bountiful.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The vile person shall be no more called liberal</span>; rather, <span class="accented">the foolish person</span> - as <span class="accented">nabal is</span> commonly translated (<a href="/deuteronomy/32-6.htm">Deuteronomy 32:6</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/3-33.htm">2 Samuel 3:33</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/13-13.htm">2 Samuel 13:13</a>; <a href="/psalms/14-1.htm">Psalm 14:1</a>; <a href="/psalms/39-8.htm">Psalm 39:8</a>; <a href="/psalms/74-22.htm">Psalm 74:22</a>, etc.) - such a man as the "Nabal" of <a href="/1_samuel/25.htm">1 Samuel 25</a>. Men are apt to confound moral distinctions, and to call the "fools" who waste their substance in feasting and revelry "generous" or "liberal," and the niggards (<span class="cmt_word">churls</span>) who hoard their riches "warm men," "wealthy men," "men well to do in the world" (see <a href="/isaiah/5-20.htm">Isaiah 5:20</a>; and comp. Arist.,' Eth. Nic.,' 2:8, § 3; Thucyd., 3:82). This perversion of truth shall not obtain in Messiah's kingdom. <span class="cmt_word">Bountiful</span>; rather, <span class="accented">wealthy</span> (comp. <a href="/job/34-19.htm">Job 34:19</a>, where the same word is translated "rich"). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-6.htm">Isaiah 32:6</a></div><div class="verse">For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For the vile person will speak villany</span>, etc.; rather, <span class="accented">for the fool speaketh folly</span>, <span class="accented">and his heart doeth wickedness</span>, <span class="accented">practising profanity and uttering error against Jehocab</span>, <span class="accented">making empty the soul of the hungry - yea</span>, <span class="accented">the drink of the thirsty will he cause to fail</span>. The prophet seems to have the portrait of Nabal in his mind, and to take him as the type of a class. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-7.htm">Isaiah 32:7</a></div><div class="verse">The instruments also of the churl <i>are</i> evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The instruments</span>. Mr. Cheyne translates, "the machinations," which gives a better sense; but the rendering is scarcely borne out by any parallel use of the term <span class="accented">c'li</span> in Scripture or elsewhere. <span class="accented">C'li</span> properly means "vessels," "weapons," "implements." <span class="cmt_word">He deviseth wicked devices</span>; rather, <span class="accented">he deviseth plots</span>. The word "he" is emphatic. Unlike the fool, who passively does evil through thoughtlessness, the niggard actively devises crafty plans against his fellow-men. He seeks to cheat the poor out of their rights by false witness (comp. <a href="/isaiah/1-17.htm">Isaiah 1:17, 23</a>; <a href="/isaiah/3-14.htm">Isaiah 3:14, 15</a>; <a href="/isaiah/5-28.htm">Isaiah 5:28</a>, etc.), <span class="cmt_word">Even when the needy speaketh right</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "has right on his side." The translation in the text is to be preferred to that in the margin. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-8.htm">Isaiah 32:8</a></div><div class="verse">But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">By liberal things shall he stand</span>; or, <span class="accented">to liberal things</span>. The Hebrew will bear either sense. SECTION IX. FURTHER DENUNCIATIONS OF ISRAEL, JOINED WITH PROMISES (<a href="/isaiah/32-9.htm">Isaiah 32:9-20</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-9.htm">Isaiah 32:9</a></div><div class="verse">Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 9-12.</span> - A REBUKE OF THE WOMEN. It might seem at first sight as if we had here a detached utterance of the prophet, accidentally conjoined with the preceding passage (vers. 1-8). But vers. 15-18 furnish a link of connection between the two portions of the chapter, and make it probable that they were delivered at the same time. Mr. Cheyne supposes that the indifference of a knot of women, gathered at some little distance from the men to whom Isaiah had addressed vers. 1-8, provoked the prophet suddenly to turn to them, and speak to them in terms of warning. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Rise up</span>. The "careless daughters" are sitting, or reclining upon couches, at their ease. The prophet bids them stand up, to hear a message from God (comp. <a href="/judges/3-10.htm">Judges 3:10</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Ye women that are at ease</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "that are self-satisfied and self-complacent." The word employed has almost always a bad sense (see <a href="/2_kings/19-28.htm">2 Kings 19:28</a>; <a href="/job/12-5.htm">Job 12:5</a>; <a href="/psalms/123-4.htm">Psalm 123:4</a>; <a href="/amos/6-1.htm">Amos 6:1</a>; <a href="/zechariah/1-15.htm">Zechariah 1:15</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Hear my voice</span>. This clause should be attached to the first half of the verse. The order of the words in the original is, "Ye women that are at ease, rise up and hear my words; ye careless daughters, hearken unto my speech." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-10.htm">Isaiah 32:10</a></div><div class="verse">Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Many days and years shall ye</span> <span class="cmt_word">be troubled</span>; rather, <span class="accented">in a year and days</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "in less than two years." The object of the prophet is not to fix the duration of the trouble, but to mark the time of its commencement (comp. <a href="/isaiah/29-1.htm">Isaiah 29:1</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Shall ye be troubled</span>; rather, <span class="accented">shall ye tremble</span>, or <span class="accented">shudder</span> (so <a href="/deuteronomy/2-25.htm">Deuteronomy 2:25</a>; <a href="/psalms/77-18.htm">Psalm 77:18</a>; <a href="/psalms/99-1.htm">Psalm 99:1</a>; <a href="/isaiah/5-25.htm">Isaiah 5:25</a>; <a href="/isaiah/64-2.htm">Isaiah 64:2</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/33-9.htm">Jeremiah 33:9</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">Ye careless women</span>; rather, <span class="accented">ye confident ones</span>. The word is different from that employed in vers. 9 and 11. <span class="cmt_word">The vintage shall fail</span>; literally, <span class="accented">has failed -</span> "the perfect of prophetic certitude" (Cheyne). Some critics understand a literal failure, or destruction, of the vintage through the invasion of the Assyrians. Others suggest a refer-once to <a href="/isaiah/5-4.htm">Isaiah 5:4-7</a>. The vineyard of the Lord (Judah) has utterly failed to bring forth grapes - there is no ingathering - therefore destruction shall fall upon it. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-11.htm">Isaiah 32:11</a></div><div class="verse">Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird <i>sackcloth</i> upon <i>your</i> loins.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Tremble... be troubled</span>. The repetition of this verse is, as usual, emphatic. Its object is to impress those whom the prophet is addressing with the certainty of the coming judgment. <span class="cmt_word">Strip you, and make you bare</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "bare your breasts," in preparation for the beating which is to follow (see the comment on the next verse). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-12.htm">Isaiah 32:12</a></div><div class="verse">They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">They shall lament for the teats</span>, etc.; rather, <span class="accented">they shall beat upon the breasts for the pleasant fields</span>, <span class="accented">etc</span>. (so the LXX., the Vulgate, Jarchi, Gesenius, Ewald, Maurer, Knobel, Delitzsch, and Mr. Cheyne). Dr. Kay prefers the rendering of the Authorized Version, understanding by "the teats" such "dry breasts" as Hosea speaks of (<a href="/hosea/9-14.htm">Hosea 9:14</a>). But nothing has been said in this place of any such affliction. <span class="cmt_word">For the pleasant fields</span>, etc.; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> for their loss (see ver. 10). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-13.htm">Isaiah 32:13</a></div><div class="verse">Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns <i>and</i> briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy <i>in</i> the joyous city:</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 13-20.</span> - A FURTHER MINGLING OF THREATS WITH COMFORTING PROMISES. The women require, like the men, to be both warned and comforted, wherefore the prophet addresses to them, as to the men in <a href="/isaiah/30.htm">Isaiah 30</a>. and 31, an intermixture of threatening (vers. 13, 14) with promise (vers. 15-20). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briars.</span> This was the punishment with which the unfruitful vineyard was threatened in <a href="/isaiah/5-6.htm">Isaiah 5:6</a>. It may be understood either literally or of the wickedness that would abound when the time of judgment came. <span class="cmt_word">Yea, upon all the houses of joy</span> (comp. <a href="/isaiah/5-9.htm">Isaiah 5:9</a>). If Sennacherib carried off, as he declares (G. Smith, 'Epenym Canon,' p. 134), more than two hundred thousand captives from Judaea, he must have left many houses without inhabitants. The solitude begun by him was completed by the Babylonians. <span class="cmt_word">The joyous city</span> (see <a href="/isaiah/22-2.htm">Isaiah 22:2</a>). The word used has generally the sense of unholy mirth (comp. <a href="/isaiah/23-7.htm">Isaiah 23:7</a>; <a href="/isaiah/24-8.htm">Isaiah 24:8</a>; <a href="/zephaniah/2-15.htm">Zephaniah 2:15</a>; <a href="/zephaniah/3-11.htm">Zephaniah 3:11</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-14.htm">Isaiah 32:14</a></div><div class="verse">Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The palaces shall be forsaken</span>; literally, <span class="accented">the palace</span>; but the word is used in a generic sense. The prophet sees in vision Jerusalem deserted by her inhabitants, the grand houses of the rich empty, the strongholds haunted by wild beasts, and the slopes of the hills fed on by sheep, and even occasionally visited by the timid and solitude-loving wild ass. The description suits well the time of the Babylonian captivity, but not any earlier period. Probably it was not revealed to the prophet how soon the condition would be reached. <span class="cmt_word">The multitude of the city shall be left</span>. The real meaning is, as Bishop Lowth expresses it, "The populous city shall be left desolate." But the whole passage is. as Delitzsch observes, "grammatically strange, the language becoming more complicated, disjointed, and difficult, the greater the wrath and indignation of the poet." <span class="cmt_word">The forts and towers</span>; rather, <span class="accented">hill and tower</span>, with (perhaps) a special reference to the part of Jerusalem called Ophel (<a href="/2_chronicles/27-3.htm">2 Chronicles 27:3</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/3-26.htm">Nehemiah 3:26</a>, etc.), the long projecting spur from the eastern hill, which points a little west of south, and separates the Kedron valley from the Tyropoeon. <span class="cmt_word">Shall be for dens</span>; literally, <span class="accented">for caves</span>; but dens for wild beasts seem to be meant (comp. <a href="/isaiah/13-21.htm">Isaiah 13:21</a>; <a href="/isaiah/34-14.htm">Isaiah 34:14</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/50-39.htm">Jeremiah 50:39</a>). <span class="cmt_word">For ever</span>. This expression must not be pressed. Hyperbole is a recognized feature of poetry written under strong excitement. <span class="cmt_word">A joy of wild asses</span>. The wild ass is not now found nearer Palestine than Mesopotamia, or perhaps Northern Syria. It is exceedingly shy, and never approaches the habitations of men. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-15.htm">Isaiah 32:15</a></div><div class="verse">Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Until</span>. The expression "until" modifies the previous "forever," showing that the desolation was <span class="accented">not</span> always to continue. <span class="cmt_word">The Spirit be poured upon us from on high.</span> An effluence from the Holy Spirit of God on individuals of eminence, prophets, kings, artificers, to fit them for their tasks, is recognized in many of the earlier books of Scripture, and especially in the Davidical psalms. But a general effluence of the Spirit of holiness on a nation, to produce a change of heart, seems to be first announced by Isaiah. The nearly contemporary prophecy of Joel (<a href="/joel/2-28.htm">Joel 2:28, 29</a>) is, perhaps, as wide in its scope, but limited to the prophetic gift, which is not necessarily conjoined with spiritual-minded-ness or holiness of life. Isaiah, the "evangelical prophet," first teaches that the conversion of a nation is God's work, effected by the Holy Spirit, and effectual to the entire change of the heart of a people. <span class="cmt_word">And the wilderness be a fruitful</span> <span class="cmt_word">field</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "the community long cursed with barrenness of good works" (ver. 10) "becomes once more fruitful of them." <span class="cmt_word">And the fruitful field be counted for a forest</span>. An order of climax seems to be here intended. The <span class="accented">midbar</span>, the bare pasturage-ground, becomes a Carmel, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> carefully cultivated; the Carmel becomes like Lebanon, a rich and luxurious forest. There is no close parallel between this verse and ver. 17 of <a href="/isaiah/29.htm">Isaiah 29</a>. The prophet is not tied down by his previous metaphors. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-16.htm">Isaiah 32:16</a></div><div class="verse">Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness</span>. In all parts of the kingdom of Christ, the lowest as well as the highest, "judgment" and "righteousness" shall prevail (comp. ver. 1). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-17.htm">Isaiah 32:17</a></div><div class="verse">And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The work of righteousness shall be peace</span>. Peace - a true peace, not a false one (<a href="/jeremiah/6-14.htm">Jeremiah 6:14</a>) - shall be the result of the reign of righteousness. War, quarrels, enmity, hostile feelings, are all of them the fruit of unrighteousness. In the kingdom of the Messiah, just so far forth as it is thoroughly established, "the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace" (<a href="/james/3-18.htm">James 3:18</a>). <span class="cmt_word">The effect of righteousness</span>; literally, <span class="accented">the service of</span> righteousness, which perhaps means here "the wages of righteousness." <span class="cmt_word">Quietness and assurance</span>; or, <span class="accented">quietness and confidence</span> (comp. <a href="/isaiah/30-15.htm">Isaiah 30:15</a>). The final happiness of the blessed in Christ's kingdom is always spoken of as a state of "rest and quietness" (see <a href="/psalms/95-11.htm">Psalm 95:11</a>; <a href="/job/3-17.htm">Job 3:17</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/6-16.htm">Jeremiah 6:16</a>; <a href="/matthew/11-28.htm">Matthew 11:28</a>; <a href="/hebrews/4-9.htm">Hebrews 4:9-11</a>, etc.). The "confidence" felt would be an assured confidence, not a rash and foolish one, like that of the women of vers. 10, 11. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-18.htm">Isaiah 32:18</a></div><div class="verse">And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-19.htm">Isaiah 32:19</a></div><div class="verse">When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">When it shall hail, coming down on the forest</span>; rather, <span class="accented">but it shall hail in the coming down</span> (<span class="accented">i.e.</span> the destruction) <span class="accented">of the forest</span>. "The forest" has commonly been regarded as Assyria, on the strength of <a href="/isaiah/10-18.htm">Isaiah 10:18, 19, 33, 34</a>. Mr. Cheyne, however, suggests Judah, or the high and haughty ones of Judah, whose destruction was a necessary preliminary to the establishment of Christ's kingdom. May not God's enemies generally be meant? <span class="cmt_word">The city.</span> Nineveh (Lowth, Gesenius, Rosenmüller); Jerusalem (Delitzsch, Knobel, Cheyne, Kay); "the city in which the hostility of the world to Jehovah will, in the latter days, be centralized" (Drechsler, Nagel) - the "world-power," in fact. The last view seems to give the best sense. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/32-20.htm">Isaiah 32:20</a></div><div class="verse">Blessed <i>are</i> ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth <i>thither</i> the feet of the ox and the ass.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters</span>. The idyllic picture, begun in ver. 15, terminates here. The people of the kingdom have a well-watered land (<a href="/isaiah/30-25.htm">Isaiah 30:25</a>), where they live peacefully, sowing their seed beside the water-courses, and having abundant pasture for their peaceful beasts - the ox and the ass (comp. <a href="/isaiah/30-24.htm">Isaiah 30:24</a>). A spiritual meaning doubtless underlies the literal sense. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 by <a href="//biblesoft.com">BibleSoft, inc.</a>, Used by permission<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../isaiah/31.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Isaiah 31"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Isaiah 31" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../isaiah/33.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Isaiah 33"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Isaiah 33" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/isaiah/32-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><br /><br /></td></tr></table></div></div></div> <div id="bot"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhpar.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></body></html>